Purple Films Company/SHOWTIMEThe rarely seen Prince concert movie Sign o' the Times will get its first U.S. television screening in more than 10 years when its airs on Showtime next month.

The film, which was made to accompany the music legend's 1987 double album of the same name, will premiere Saturday, September 16, at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The 84-minute flick includes performances shot at Prince's Paisley Park Studios in Minnesota, as well as footage from shows in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Among the songs featured are live renditions of the Sign o' the Times title track, as well as the then-recent singles "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" and "U Got the Look" -- that last one was a duet with pop star Sheena Easton. The movie also includes a version of the 1983 Prince smash "Little Red Corvette."

Sign o' the Times captured Prince shortly after he broke up his backing group The Revolution, with whom he recorded his hit albums Purple Rain, Around the World in a Day and Parade. The band featured in Sign o' the Times includes percussionist Sheila E.

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Camping World Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, retails recreational vehicles (RVs), and related products and services. It operates in two segments, Good Sam Services and Plans; and RV and Outdoor Retail. The company provides a portfolio of services, protection plans, products, and resources in the RV industry. It also offers extended vehicle service contracts; roadside assistance plans; property and casualty insurance programs; travel assist travel protection plans; and RV and outdoor related consumer shows, as well as produces various monthly and annual RV focused consumer magazines; and operates the Coast to Coast Club. In addition, the company provides new and used RVs; vehicle financing; RV repair and maintenance services; various RV parts, equipment, supplies, and accessories, which include towing and hitching products, satellite and GPS systems, electrical and lighting products, appliances and furniture, and other products; and collision repair services comprising fiberglass front and rear cap replacement, windshield replacement, interior remodel solutions, and paint and body work. Further, it offers equipment, gears, and supplies for camping, hunting, fishing, skiing, snowboarding, bicycling, skateboarding, and marine and watersports equipment and supplies, as well as operates Good Sam Club, a membership organization that offers savings on a range of products and services and provides co-branded credit cards. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated through a network of approximately 187 retail locations in 40 states of the United States. It serves customers through dealerships, and online and e-commerce platforms. The company was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Lincolnshire, Illinois.
Northrop Grumman Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense company worldwide. The company's Aeronautics Systems segment designs, develops, manufactures, integrates, and sustains aircraft systems. This segment also offers unmanned autonomous aircraft systems, including high-altitude long-endurance strategic ISR systems and vertical take-off and landing tactical ISR systems; and strategic long-range strike aircraft, tactical fighter and air dominance aircraft, and airborne battle management and command and control systems. Its Defense Systems segment designs, develops, and produces weapons and mission systems. It offers products and services, such as integrated battle management systems, weapons systems and aircraft, and mission systems. This segment also provides command and control and weapons systems, including munitions and missiles; precision strike weapons; propulsion, such as air-breathing and hypersonic systems; gun systems and precision munitions; life cycle service and support for software, weapons systems, and aircraft; and logistics support, sustainment, operation, and modernization for air, sea, and ground systems. The company's Mission Systems segment offers cyber, command, control, communications and computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems; radar, electro-optical/infrared and acoustic sensors; electronic warfare systems; advanced communications and network systems; cyber solutions; intelligence processing systems; navigation; and maritime power, propulsion, and payload launch systems. This segment also provides airborne multifunction sensors; maritime/land systems and sensors; navigation, targeting, and survivability solutions; and networked information solutions. Its Space Systems segment offers satellites and payloads; ground systems; missile defense systems and interceptors; launch vehicles and related propulsion systems; and strategic missiles. The company was founded in 1939 and is based in Falls Church, Virginia.
Provident Financial Services, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Provident Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals, families, and businesses in the United States. The company's deposit products include savings, checking, interest-bearing checking, money market deposit, and certificate of deposit accounts, as well as IRA products. Its loan portfolio comprises commercial real estate loans that are secured by properties, such as multi-family apartment buildings, office buildings, and retail and industrial properties; commercial business loans; fixed-rate and adjustable-rate mortgage loans collateralized by one- to four-family residential real estate properties; commercial construction loans; and consumer loans consisting of home equity loans, home equity lines of credit, marine loans, personal loans and unsecured lines of credit, and auto and recreational vehicle loans. The company also offers cash management, remote deposit capture, payroll origination, escrow account management, and online and mobile banking services; and business credit cards. In addition, it provides wealth management services comprising investment management, trust and estate administration, financial planning, tax compliance and planning, and private banking. Further, the company sells insurance and investment products, including annuities; operates as a real estate investment trust for acquiring mortgage loans and other real estate related assets; and manages and sells real estate properties acquired through foreclosure. As of December 31, 2021, it operated 96 full-service branch offices in northern and central New Jersey, as well as in Pennsylvania and New York counties. The company was founded in 1839 and is headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey.
PVH Corp. operates as an apparel company worldwide. The company operates through six segments: Tommy Hilfiger North America, Tommy Hilfiger International, Calvin Klein North America, Calvin Klein International, Heritage Brands Wholesale, and Heritage Brands Retail. It designs, markets, and retails men's, women's, and children's apparel and accessories, including branded dress shirts, neckwear, sportswear, jeans wear, performance apparel, intimate apparel, underwear, swimwear, swim-related products, handbags, accessories, footwear, outerwear, home furnishings, luggage products, sleepwear, loungewear, hats, scarves, gloves, socks, watches and jewelry, eyeglasses and non-ophthalmic sunglasses, fragrance, home bed and bath furnishings, small leather goods, and other products. The company offers its products under its own brands, such as Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Van Heusen, IZOD, ARROW, Warner's, Olga, Geoffrey Beene, and True&Co., as well as various other owned, licensed, and private label brands. It also licenses its own brands over various products. The company distributes its products at wholesale in department, chain, and specialty stores, as well as through warehouse clubs, mass market, and off-price and independent retailers; and through company-operated full-price, outlet stores, and concession locations, as well as through digital commerce sites. It markets its products to approximately 40 countries. PVH Corp. was founded in 1881 and is based in New York, New York.
Royal Bank of Canada operates as a diversified financial service company worldwide. The company's Personal & Commercial Banking segment offers checking and savings accounts, home equity financing, personal lending, private banking, indirect lending, including auto financing, mutual funds and self-directed brokerage accounts, guaranteed investment certificates, credit cards, and payment products and solutions; and lending, leasing, deposit, investment, foreign exchange, cash management, auto dealer financing, trade products, and services to small and medium-sized commercial businesses. This segment offers financial products and services through branches, automated teller machines, and mobile sales network. Its Wealth Management segment provides a suite of advice-based solutions and strategies to high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals, and institutional clients. The company's Insurance segment offers life, health, home, auto, travel, wealth, annuities, and reinsurance advice and solutions; and business insurance services to individual, business, and group clients through its advice centers, RBC insurance stores, and mobile advisors; digital, mobile, and social platforms; independent brokers; and travel partners. Its Investor & Treasury Services segment provides asset servicing, custody, payments, and treasury services to financial and other investors; and fund and investment administration, shareholder, private capital, performance measurement and compliance monitoring, distribution, transaction banking, cash and liquidity management, foreign exchange, and global securities finance services. The company's Capital Markets segment offers corporate and investment banking, as well as equity and debt origination, distribution, advisory services, sale, and trading services for corporations, institutional investors, asset managers, private equity firms, and governments. The company was founded in 1864 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.
West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells containment and delivery systems for injectable drugs and healthcare products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in two segments, Proprietary Products and Contract-Manufactured Products. The Proprietary Products segment offers stoppers and seals for injectable packaging systems; syringe and cartridge components, including custom solutions for the needs of injectable drug applications, as well as administration systems that enhance the safe delivery of drugs through advanced reconstitution, mixing, and transfer technologies; and films, coatings, washing, and vision inspection and sterilization processes and services to enhance the quality of packaging components. It also provides drug containment solutions, including Crystal Zenith, a cyclic olefin polymer in the form of vials, syringes, and cartridges; and self-injection devices, as well as a range of integrated solutions, including analytical lab services, pre-approval primary packaging support and engineering development, regulatory expertise, and after-sales technical support. This segment serves biologic, generic, and pharmaceutical drug companies. The Contract-Manufactured Products segment is involved in the design, manufacture, and automated assembly of devices used in surgical, diagnostic, ophthalmic, injectable, and other drug delivery systems, as well as consumer products. It serves pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and medical device companies. The company distributes its products through its sales force and distribution network, as well as contract sales agents and regional distributors. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. was incorporated in 1923 and is headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania.
The following companies are subsidiares of Procter & Gamble: "Petersburg Products International" LLC, "Procter & Gamble Services" LLC, "Procter & Gamble" LLC, 1837 LLC, Agile Pursuits Franchising Inc., Agile Pursuits Inc., Ambi Pur, Arbora & Ausonia, Arbora & Ausonia S.L.U., Avon - Giorgio Beverly Hills, Billie, Braun GmbH, Braun Shanghai Co. Ltd., Celtic Insurance Company Inc., Charlie Banana USA LLC, Corporativo Procter & Gamble S. de R.L. de C.V., DDFSkincare, Detergent Products B.V., Detergent Products SARL, Detergenti S.A., FPG Oleochemicals Sdn. Bhd., Fameccanica Data S.p.A., Fameccanica Industria e Comercio Do Brasil LTDA., Fameccanica Machinery Shanghai Co. Ltd., Fameccanica North America Inc., Farmacy Beauty, Fater Central Europe SRL, Fater Eastern Europe LLC, Fater Portugal Unipessoal Lda, Fater S.p.A., Fater Temizlik Urunleri Ltd STI, First Aid Beauty, First Aid Beauty Limited, Folgers Coffee, Fountain Square Music Publishing Co. Inc., Gillette Australia Pty. Ltd., Gillette China Limited, Gillette Commercial Operations North America, Gillette Diversified Operations Pvt. Ltd., Gillette Egypt S.A.E., Gillette Group UK Ltd, Gillette Holding Company LLC, Gillette Holding GmbH, Gillette India Limited, Gillette Industries Ltd., Gillette International B.V., Gillette Latin America Holding B.V., Gillette Management LLC, Gillette Pakistan Limited, Gillette Poland International Sp. z.o.o., Gillette Shanghai Ltd., Gillette U.K. Limited, Gillette del Uruguay S.A., Hyginett KFT, Industries Marocaines Modernes SA, Inversiones Plaza LLC, LLC "Procter & Gamble - Novomoskovsk", LLC "Procter & Gamble Distributorskaya Compania", LLC Procter & and Gamble Ukraine, Laboratoire Mediflor S.A.S., Laboratorios Vicks S.L.U., Lamberts Healthcare Ltd., Liberty Street Music Publishing Company Inc., Limited Liability Company 'Procter & Gamble Trading Ukraine', MDVIP, MERCK KGAA NPV, Marcvenca Inversiones C.A., Merck Consumer Healthcare, Modern Industries Company - Dammam, Modern Products Company - Jeddah, Native, Nature's Best Health Products Ltd., New Chapter Canada Inc., New Chapter Inc., Nioxin Research Laboratories, Noxell Corporation, OUAI, Olay LLC, Oral-B Laboratories, P&G Consumer Health Germany GmbH, P&G Distribution East Africa Limited, P&G Distribution Morocco SAS, P&G Hair Care Holding Inc., P&G Health Austria GmbH & Co. OG, P&G Health France S.A.S., P&G Health Germany GmbH, P&G Healthcare Zhejiang Limited, P&G Industrial Peru S.R.L., P&G Innovation Godo Kaisha, P&G Investment Management Ltd., P&G Israel M.D.O. Ltd., P&G Japan G.K., P&G K.K., P&G Northeast Asia Pte. Ltd., P&G Prestige Godo Kaisha, P&G South African Trading Pty. Ltd., P&G-Clairol, PG13 Launchpad Alpha Inc., PG13 Launchpad Beta Inc., PG13 Launchpad Gamma Inc., PGT Healthcare LLP, PT Procter & Gamble Home Products Indonesia, PT Procter & Gamble Operations Indonesia, Phase II Holdings Corporation, Pressbox, Procter & Gamble Algeria EURL, Procter & Gamble Amazon Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Amiens S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Argentina SRL, Procter & Gamble Asia Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Australia Proprietary Limited, Procter & Gamble Azerbaijan Services LLC, Procter & Gamble Bangladesh Private Ltd., Procter & Gamble Blois S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Brazil Holdings B.V., Procter & Gamble Bulgaria EOOD, Procter & Gamble Business Services Canada Company, Procter & Gamble Canada Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Chengdu Ltd., Procter & Gamble Chile Limitada, Procter & Gamble China Ltd., Procter & Gamble China Sales Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Colombia Ltda., Procter & Gamble Commercial LLC, Procter & Gamble Czech Republic s.r.o., Procter & Gamble DS Polska Sp. z o.o., Procter & Gamble Danmark ApS, Procter & Gamble Detergent Beijing Ltd., Procter & Gamble Deutschland GmbH, Procter & Gamble Distributing New Zealand Limited, Procter & Gamble Distributing Philippines Inc., Procter & Gamble Distribution Company Europe BV, Procter & Gamble Distribution S.R.L., Procter & Gamble Eastern Europe LLC, Procter & Gamble Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Procter & Gamble Egypt, Procter & Gamble Egypt Distribution, Procter & Gamble Egypt Holding, Procter & Gamble Egypt Manufacturing Company, Procter & Gamble Egypt Supplies, Procter & Gamble Energy Company LLC, Procter & Gamble Espana S.A.U., Procter & Gamble Far East Inc., Procter & Gamble Finance Holding Ltd., Procter & Gamble Finance Management S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Finance U.K. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Financial Investments LLP, Procter & Gamble Financial Services Ltd., Procter & Gamble Financial Services S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Finland OY, Procter & Gamble France S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Germany GmbH, Procter & Gamble Germany GmbH & Co. Operations oHG, Procter & Gamble Ghana Trading Limited, Procter & Gamble GmbH, Procter & Gamble Grundstucks-und Vermogensverwaltungs GmbH & Co. KG, Procter & Gamble Guangzhou Consumer Products Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Guangzhou Enterprise Management Service Company Limited, Procter & Gamble Guangzhou Ltd., Procter & Gamble Guangzhou Technology Innovation Co. LTD., Procter & Gamble Gulf FZE, Procter & Gamble Hair Care LLC, Procter & Gamble Health & Beauty Care Limited, Procter & Gamble Health Belgium BV, Procter & Gamble Health Limited, Procter & Gamble Health Ltd., Procter & Gamble Health Poland Sp. z o.o., Procter & Gamble Hellas Single Member Ltd., Procter & Gamble Holding France S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Holding GmbH, Procter & Gamble Holding S.r.l., Procter & Gamble Holding Thailand Limited, Procter & Gamble Holdings UK Ltd., Procter & Gamble Home Products Private Limited, Procter & Gamble Honduras S de RL, Procter & Gamble Hong Kong Limited, Procter & Gamble Hungary Wholesale Trading Partnership KKT, Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care Limited, Procter & Gamble Inc., Procter & Gamble India Holdings Inc., Procter & Gamble Indochina Company Limited, Procter & Gamble Industrial - 2012 C.A., Procter & Gamble Industrial S.C.A., Procter & Gamble Industrial e Comercial Ltda., Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Costa Rica Limitada, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de El Salvador Limitada de Capital Variable, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Guatemala Limitada, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Panama S. de R.L., Procter & Gamble International Operations SA, Procter & Gamble International Operations SA-ROHQ, Procter & Gamble International Sarl, Procter & Gamble Investment Company UK Ltd., Procter & Gamble Investment Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Italia S.p.A., Procter & Gamble Jiangsu Ltd., Procter & Gamble Kazakhstan Distribution LLP, Procter & Gamble Korea Inc., Procter & Gamble Korea S&D Co., Procter & Gamble L&CP Limited, Procter & Gamble Leasing LLC, Procter & Gamble Levant S.A.L., Procter & Gamble Limited, Procter & Gamble Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Belgium N.V., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Berlin GmbH, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing GmbH, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Ireland Limited, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing SA Pty Ltd, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Thailand Limited, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Tianjin Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Marketing Romania SRL, Procter & Gamble Mataro S.L.U., Procter & Gamble Mexico Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Mexico Inc., Procter & Gamble Middle East FZE, Procter & Gamble Nederland B.V., Procter & Gamble Netherlands Services B.V., Procter & Gamble Nigeria Limited, Procter & Gamble Norge AS, Procter & Gamble Operations Polska Sp. z o.o., Procter & Gamble Overseas India B.V., Procter & Gamble Overseas Ltd., Procter & Gamble Pakistan Private Limited, Procter & Gamble Peru S.R.L., Procter & Gamble Philippines Business Services Inc., Procter & Gamble Philippines Inc., Procter & Gamble Polska Sp. z o.o, Procter & Gamble Portugal - Produtos De Consumo Higiene e Saude S.A., Procter & Gamble Product Supply U.K. Limited, Procter & Gamble Productions Inc., Procter & Gamble RHD Inc., Procter & Gamble RSC Regional Service Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble Retail Services Sarl, Procter & Gamble S.r.l., Procter & Gamble Service GmbH, Procter & Gamble Services Company N.V., Procter & Gamble Services Switzerland SA, Procter & Gamble Singapore Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Spol. s.r.o. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Sverige AB, Procter & Gamble Switzerland SARL, Procter & Gamble Taiwan Limited, Procter & Gamble Taiwan Sales Company Limited, Procter & Gamble Technical Centres Limited, Procter & Gamble Technology Beijing Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Trading Thailand Limited, Procter & Gamble Tuketim Mallari Sanayii A.S., Procter & Gamble UK, Procter & Gamble UK Group Holdings Ltd, Procter & Gamble UK Parent Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble Universal Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Vietnam Company Limited, Procter & Gamble d.o.o. za trgovinu, Procter & Gamble de Venezuela S.C.A., Procter & Gamble de Venezuela S.R.L., Procter & Gamble do Brasil Ltda., Procter & Gamble do Brazil LLC, Procter & Gamble do Nordeste S/A, Procter & Gamble doo Beograd, Procter & Gamble-Rakona s.r.o., Procter and Gamble Lanka Private Limited, Procter and Gamble SA Pty Ltd., Progam Realty & Development Corporation, Recovery Engineering, Redmond Products Inc., Richardson-Vicks, Richardson-Vicks Real Estate Inc., Riverfront Music Publishing Co. Inc., Rosemount LLC, SPD Development Company Limited, SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics GmbH, Series Acquisition B.V., Seven Seas Limited, Shulton Inc., Snowberry, Snowberry New Zealand Limited, Sunflower Distributing LLC, TAOS - FL LLC, TAOS Retail LLC, THIS IS L, TULA, Tambrands, Tambrands Inc., Temple Trees Impex & Investment Private Limited, The Art of Shaving, The Art of Shaving - FL LLC, The Dover Wipes Company, The Gillette Company, The Gillette Company LLC, The Gillette co., The Iams Company Inc., The Procter & Gamble Distributing LLC, The Procter & Gamble Global Finance Company LLC, The Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Company, The Procter & Gamble Paper Products Company, The Procter & Gamble U.S. Business Services Company, This is L., This is L. Inc., Thomas Hedley Co, US CD LLC, Vidal Sassoon Shanghai Academy, VitaminHaus Pty Ltd, Walker & Co. Brands Inc., Walker & Company Brands, Wella AG, Zenlen Inc., Zirh, and iMFLUX Inc..

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Jane Allin loves kayaking. A lot. She often spends up to four hours a day on the water when shes at her home in Port Medway, a community on Nova Scotias South Shore about 30 minutes outside of Bridgewater.



Last year, the retired elementary school teacher and principal (who splits her time between Nova Scotia and Ontario) added an extra task to her paddles on the ocean. It all started when Janes husband came across an article in a local newspaper about a Dalhousie researcher looking for help counting jellyfish. Jane reached out and, before she knew it, was contributing to a region-wide study on jellyfish patterns, part of a broader effort to better understand feeding habits of the endangered leatherback sea turtle.



Its made me more curious, says Jane, who is now in her second year counting and tracking jellyfish. You start with jellyfish, and you start finding other things youd never noticed before.



Another South Shore resident, Judy Bowers, does her jellyfish counts from land. She and her husband walk the sea shore frequently, but its on Mondays that they do their count. He brings the measuring tape  to track the size of beached jellyfish  while she takes the notebook and documents what they find.



Before they were just little blobs on the sand, says Judy. Now I know what they are, and a bit more information about them. It makes our walks more interesting too.



Jane and Judy are two of more than 50 citizen scientists across Atlantic Canada contributing their eyes, and pens, to Dal student Bethany Nordstroms masters project this summer. Their collective efforts represent an engaging, community-based solution to the challenge of tracking the elusive jellyfish.



Understanding turtle feeding habits



Elusive might seem a strange phrase to describe a creature that pretty much everyone has seen on the beach at one point or another. But, as Bethany explains, jellyfish are notoriously difficult to research.





A turtle, for example, you can put a tracker on it, follow it, get a sense of their migration patterns, she says. But jellyfish show up sporadically with little warning, and can disappear just as quickly.



There are many reasons why researchers like Bethany would want to better understand how and when jellyfish appear off our shores, from public safety (their stings can pack a small-but-mean punch) to environmental concerns (jellyfish are often an indicator species that helps illuminate different facets of ocean health). But Bethanys particular interest concerns an annual visitor to the North Atlantic: the leatherback sea turtle.



Each summer, Atlantic Canada hosts one of the highest density of foraging leatherbacks in the North Atlantic, as the endangered turtles swim north from tropical waters specifically to feed on jellyfish. The leatherbacks have fascinated Bethany ever since she was little.



I grew up in southern New Brunswick, just off the Bay of Fundy, and as a kid I was really obsessed with frogs and creepy-crawly things and also the ocean, she says. So when I found out there was a reptile that lived in the ocean and that was close to our waters, I was really excited and then became slightly obsessed with them.



After completing an undergrad degree in wildlife conservation at the University of New Brunswick, Bethany came to Dalhousie to study with Dal Biologist Boris Worm along with Mike James, a Department of Fisheries and Oceans researcher whos the leading expert in Canadian sea turtles. (Bethany also works in collaboration with the Canadian Sea Turtle Network.)



Together, they identified the turtles prey field as an area worthy of further research. By studying the turtles main food source  jellyfish  Bethany is hoping to learn more about their feeding patterns. In particular, shes interested in the spatial and temporal patterns of jellyfish in Atlantic Canada, and what size jellyfish patches are required to attract and retain the turtles in a certain area.



Engaging the community



Which brings us back to Bethanys jellyfish challenge: how do you study an organism thats so difficult to track?



Part of her solution is to focus a portion of her efforts on a known leatherback foraging ground: an area of the ocean off the coast of Cape Breton where leatherbacks have been studied for over 15 years. Shes spending time there this summer using acoustic technology to try and determine just how many jellyfish there are under the waves. (The turtles dine on their prey at the surface, but they bring them up from the depths.)





But in order for me to look at jellyfish across the Atlantic Provinces, we quickly realized I wasnt able to do it by myself, Bethany explains. I wasnt going to be able to be out visiting 40 sites across the provinces on boats and beaches looking for jellies.



It was Dr. Worm who suggested using citizen science  a blanket term to describe involving the general public as active participants in scientific research. The idea was to find community members around the Atlantic provinces who would report back to Bethany about jellyfish they were seeing in their waters. Last summer, Bethany spent a couple of months seeking out volunteers. She did TV interviews, spoke with radio stations, and pitched local community newspapers for coverage.



At first I was a little bit skeptical; I wasnt sure who would commit to wanting to do these surveys, she says. But I couldnt believe how many people responded and said they wanted to.



After a successful summer, many of the volunteers  like Jane and Judy  have returned for a second season of jelly-watching. Bethany mails each of them a jellyfish monitoring kit, which contains the data sheets to fill out along with rulers, gloves and a guide to different species of jellyfish. The volunteers are expected to fill out their data sheets weekly, and while theyre not required to report to Bethany each week, many do so.



Bethany also accepts info on jellyfish sightings from anyone, anytime, on what she calls her jellyfish hotline  a jellyfish@dal.ca email address.



There are so many people these days interested in getting involved in science, she says of her approach. I think a lot of it has to do with all the information coming out on climate change, and hearing about biodiversity crises and whatnot in the news. People are becoming more and more engaged and want to know what they can do to help.



Stings and other things



In the process of finding and organizing her volunteers, Bethany has become a go-to expert for journalists and others looking to learn more about jellyfish. That led to a bunch of interviews this summer when sightings emerged of Portuguese man o war in Nova Scotian waters.



Theyre actually a siphonophore  theyre related to jellyfish, but belong to a different order, explains Bethany, who says shes not surprised that the creatures  rare to our shores  garnered such attention, given their reputation.



Theyre really pretty, but they are dangerous, so I see how people reacted in such a way. But it was important to do all these interviews because many people seemed to think that their stings are fatal, which isnt necessarily true. (While the man o wars sting is much more severe than your traditional jellyfish, deaths usually only occur in rare cases where the venom causes an allergic reaction.)



Bethany herself has yet to be stung by any sea creature, even the jellyfish shes been researching for two summers. But as she looks ahead to completing her thesis over the next year, and ahead to what she hopes are further adventures in marine science, shes optimistic that her work will have an impact on the sea turtles that first inspired her so many years ago.



We have one of the largest foraging populations here in our Atlantic waters. Its critical that we understand the habitat that theyre using and their requirements, so we can continue to protect this area for them.

Photo credits:

Beach photos: Danny Abriel

At-sea photo: Canadian Sea Turtle Network

Jellyfish photo: Derek Keats (used under Creative Commons license)

Leatherback sea turtle photo: Scott R. Benson, NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center (used under Creative Commons license)

Portuguese man 'o war photo: Sean Nash (used under Creative Commons license)
Ultra-high temperature gasification, waste-to-hydrogen, waste-to-energy and Distributed Modular Gasification company PowerHouse Energy Group announced the appointment of Dr Cameron Davies as its non-executive chairman on Thursday, as well as the successful completion of an oversubscribed 1.6m placing and direct subscription to finance the next phases of engineering and commercial development activities.

The AIM-traded firm said Keith Allaun, currently executive chairman, would transition to CEO to lead the commercial development of the business, and would remain a member of the board of directors.

It said it expected the transition would occur upon Dr Davies joining the company on or around 1 October.

Dr Davies is a capable business leader who has successfully grown revenues and profits in a quoted alternative energy company, the PowerHouse board said in its statement.

As founder, CEO and executive director of AIM-quoted Alkane Energy, he led that company through each phase of its development.

PowerHouse said he built Alkane from its initial concept to the point of providing more than 160MW of connected power generation, and a successful exit for his shareholders through a 60m sale to Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Partners in October 2015.

Prior to Alkane, Dr Davies led a number of other start-up companies and is currently a non-executive director of the AIM-quoted Ascent Resources.

Dr Davies was awarded a PhD in applied geochemistry from Imperial College London.

Over the course of the past 20 years, he has evaluated numerous gasification technologies and projects, PowerHouse claimed.

He is also a Fellow of the Geological Society of London, a member of the European Petroleum Negotiators Group, and the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain.

Over the past six months, we conducted an extensive search to ensure that we identified the best possible candidate for the chairman role, said Keith Allaun.

Dr Davies background in gasification, his extensive entrepreneurial and public company experience, and his passion for the vision of PowerHouse made him the ideal match at this point in our development.

Allaun said Dr Davies considerable achievements, both technical and commercial, should inspire the confidence of shareholders and partners in the direction the company was taking.

Camerons extensive contacts throughout industry and government, both in the UK and internationally, will be of great value to the company as we begin to accelerate our commercial strategy.

PowerHouse also announced that it had completed a fundraising of 1.6m, through the issue of 160 million new ordinary shares of 0.5p per share.

The fundraise was completed at a price of 1p per share, representing an 18% discount to the closing price at 21 August.
Metal Tiger revised the maiden mineral resource estimate for its Botswana copper joint-venture with MOD Resources significantly higher following inclusion of the results of all the holes drilled during the first quarter of 2017.

Its initial estimate of total resource tonnes at the Kalahari Copper Belt project was marked up by 27%, including an upwards revision of over 400,000 to its estimate of copper tonnes contained.

The revised estimates, Metal Tiger boss Michael McNeilly said, marked another significant step towards the company's anticipated T3 prefeasibility study.

McNeilly was also firm in his belief that the 16% increase in contained copper carried the potential to increase the value and profitability of a future mine, compounded by the roughly 30% rise in the copper price since the maiden resource was published in September.

A quarter of the total resource tonnes were now in the measured resource category, the company explained, denoting a higher dgree of resource confidence.

With the coper price approaching the $3 per pound mark used in the 'upside case' of its original T3 scoping study, Metal said it would optimise the planned mining schedule and processing rates in order to maximise the future economics in the upcoming prefeasibility study.

Regarding the second phase of its T3 2017 drilling programme, the company said it was underway with four rigs to test further resource extensions, underground potential and geophysical targets around T3.

All six of the new drilling holes completed to date had intersected significant visible copper mineralisation and results would be out soon, the company added.

Metal Tiger possessed 91.8m MOD shares, which were equivalent to a 4.86% stake, and 1.54m warrants at an exercise price of 6 cents.

The company's shares were down -4.44% to 2.15p by 10:00 BST
Russia's defence ministry announced on Thursday that nuclear-capable Russian bombers had flown over the Pacific Ocean, the Sea of Japan, the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, causing both Japan and South Korea to scramble fighter jets to escort them.

This most recent incursion comes just two days after Danish F-16s were sent to escort another of Russia's Tu-95MS bombers from the Baltic Sea after an incursion into Danish, Polish and Swedish airspace.

The defence ministry said in a statement that the strategic bombers were accompanied by Sukhoi-35S fighter jets and an A-50 early warning control aircraft.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly expressed concerns over the heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula caused by its North Korean neighbour's missile program and the US response thereto.

Russia and China signed US backed trade sanctions on Pyongyang in July, prompting Russia's defence minister Sergey Shoigu to warn that the growing NATO presence in Eastern Europe could "push us to undertake retaliatory measures."
Numbers of people migrating to the UK has plummeted since the Brexit vote last year, according to official UK statistics, raising concerns for the loss of vital skills to the UK economy.

Net migration dropped significantly by 81,000 to 246,000 in the year ending March 2017, the Office for National Statistics reported on Thursday.

Numbers coming to the country shrank by around 50,000 to 588,000, while those leaving rose by 31,000 to 342,000.

Over half of the total fall in net migration was due to a net exodus of EU citizens to 51,000, mainly driven by a rise of 17,000 in departures of citizens from EU8 countries Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Of the 275,000 people who immigrated to work in the UK in the year, roughly 188,000 had a definite job and 87,000 came to the UK looking for work, which was down 39,000.

Around 182,000 people left the UK to work, of which there was a 21,000 increase in those moving abroad for a definite job.

Matthew Percival, head of employment at the Confederation of British Industry pointed to the loss of crucial contribution to UK economic growth, as result.

Against the backdrop of record employment and rising skills shortages, EU nationals make a crucial contribution to UK economic growth and job creation".

Adding that "the loss of these vital skills should concern us all, underlining the importance of urgently providing certainty for millions of workers and their families".

Nicola White, head of international migration statistics at the ONS, blamed the EU referendum results for influencing people's decision to migrate in and out of the UK.

These results are similar to 2016 estimates and indicate that the EU referendum result may be influencing peoples decision to migrate into and out of the UK, particularly EU and EU8 citizens. It is too early to tell if this is an indication of a long-term trend", she said.
FTSE 100 building materials group CRH posted a 27% jump in first-half pre-tax profit on Thursday as it announced an agreement to sell its Americas distribution division to Beacon Roofing Supply for $2.63bn in cash.

In the six months to the end of June, pre-tax profit rose to 517m from 407m in the first half of 2016, on revenue of 13bn, up 2% from last year. The company said stabilising trends in certain European markets and satisfactory growth in the Americas more than offset reduced activity in Asia due to a challenging market environment in the Philippines.

Chief executive Albert Manifold said: "We have had a satisfactory start to 2017 with stabilising trends in key European markets and EBITDA growth in the Americas. The acquisition and divestment activity announced by the group today demonstrates our ongoing strategic focus on allocating and reallocating capital at attractive multiples, while our significant balance sheet capacity ensures we are well positioned for further growth.

"I am pleased to report, in line with our progressive dividend policy, the board has decided to increase the interim dividend by 2.1% to 19.2c per share. For the second half of the year, despite currency headwinds and continuing challenging conditions in the Philippines, we expect a continuation of the first half momentum experienced in Europe and EBITDA growth in the Americas, which will result in another year of progress for the group."

CRH said it will use the proceeds from the divestment of its Americas distribution unit to acquire German lime and aggregates business, Fels, for 600m.

The company pointed out that while the Americas distribution business has delivered significant improvement in performance and returns in recent years, the absence of value accretive acquisition opportunities and a lack of visibility as regards a route to market leadership has resulted in a decision to divest the business now at "an attractive valuation".
Greencore Group was forced to respond to recent weakness in its share price on Thursday, confirming it was not aware of any developments since the release of its third quarter trading statement on 27 July that changed the outlook contained in that statement.

The FTSE 250 firm said that, as outlined in that statement, the integration of its US business remained on track and the board continued to be encouraged by the pipeline of commercial opportunities being explored with existing and new customers.

The group notes there has been some level of churn in the legacy retail part of the US business, the board explained in its statement.

Specifically, it has decided to refocus its Jacksonville, Florida site on fresh product offerings and will withdraw from current frozen product production on that site.

This change is being managed seamlessly with the relevant customers and the Board anticipates that the impact on profitability will be minimal.

Greencore said it plans to issue its next trading update on the release of its full year results on 28 November.
The Italian National Commission for Companies and the Stock Exchange (CONSOB) alleged that an executive of an Italian company passed inside information to Asfari and that the FTSE 250 CEO acted on the information to trade in the Italian company's shares.

Asfari, who has instructed his lawyers to appeal the decision saying he could "absolutely confirm that no communication ever took place as alleged and I was never in possession of inside information", was slapped with an administrative fine of 300,000, an order confiscating property with a value of 385,000 and been banned for 12 months from taking up any administrative, management or supervisory positions in any Italian listed companies.

Petrofac chairman Rijnhard van Tets said: "The board fully supports Ayman in his defence against this decision, the steps he is taking to prove that in no way did he act improperly, and his leadership of the company at this difficult time."

Petrofac has been undergoing a criminal investigation by the UK's Serious Fraud Office since May.

Asfari and chief operating officer Marwan Chedid have both been questioned under caution by the SFO, which has said it "is investigating the activities of Petrofac Plc, its subsidiaries, and their officers, employees and agents for suspected bribery, corruption and money laundering" in connection to relationships with Monaco-based consultancy firm Unaoil.
UK based oil and gas firm Premier Oil had a solid performance in the first half of 2016 leading it to raise its production forecast by 7% for the whole year.

Premier announced on Thursday it had produced a record 821,000 barrel of oil equivalents per day (boepd), a 34.5% increase on what it had reported at the same time last year.

It also managed to improve margins over the six months leading to 30 June, taking its operating costs down from $16.5 per barrel of oil equivalent (boe) to $14.7, an 11% improvement year-on-year and well within its $325m guidance for the full year.

The group underwent refinancing in the half leading to a minor reduction in debt at the time of the report, down from $2.76bn to $2.73bn.

Cash and equivalents saw a rise too, $307.5m this year, an 18.3% increase on the $255.9m it had on hand at the midway point of 2016.

EBITDAX (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation, impairment, exploration expenditure and reduction in decommissioning estimates) increased from $162.7m to $325.9m.

Premier expected production would continue to rise throughout the rest of the year, the increased revenue collected from higher production volumes and the improved operating cost base would be used to further reduce the group's debt position.

Continued progress at its Catcher development in the UK North Sea would be the firms primary initiative for most of the second half, first oil is expected by the end of 2017.

Tony Durrant, chief executive of Premier, said: "Premier continues to deliver excellent operational performance, which will drive free cash flow and the reduction of net debt. The first half saw good progress on the Catcher and Tolmount projects, a world class exploration success in Mexico and the acceleration of cash flow from disposals. Following the successful completion of our refinancing, we are ahead of plans to restore financial strength while progressing a number of exciting projects for future growth."

The business has interests all over the globe including the UK, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Falkland Islands and Pakistan.

As of 0845 BST, shares had seen 1.32% boost to 57.50p.
Builders of the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline now possess the five remaining holdout properties in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, following a federal judges decision Wednesday.

The ruling from Judge Jeffrey Schmehl granted Transcontinental Pipe Line Co.s (Transco) motion to condemn the rights of way on the properties and granted the company immediate possession of the land, Lancaster Online reports. This includes land owned by the Adorers of the Blood of Christ near the town of Columbia.

The order of Catholic nuns consider the fracked gas pipelinea project of Oklahoma-based pipeline developer and Transco owner Williams Partnersa violation of their beliefs and environmental values.

Last month, the Adorers and their fellow pipeline opponents built an open-air chapel on a strip of the nuns farmland where the pipeline is set to go through to fight the fossil fuel companys efforts to seize the land.

We are disappointed that the federal judge today made the decision to condemn the rights of way and grant immediate possession of

our (and others) property in Lancaster County to the Transcontinental Pipe Line Co. for the Atlantic Sunrise gas pipeline project, the nuns said in a statement.

We will be evaluating our next steps.

Williams Partners said the chapel does not have to be removed immediately but will eventually have to be relocated before pipeline construction.

Dwight Yoder, a lawyer for the nuns, declined Lancaster Onlines request to comment on Wednesdays ruling but noted the limited right for appeal in eminent domain cases.

Meanwhile, the nuns lawsuit against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is still pending. The nuns claim that the interstate natural gas pipeline violates their rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, as it places a substantial burden on their exercise of religion by taking their land, which they want to protect and preserve as part of their faith, and forces the Adorers to use their land in a manner and for a purpose they believe is harmful to the Earth.

The four other condemned properties are in the Conestoga and Manor townships. They are owned by Stephen Hoffman, Hilltop Hollow Partnership, Blair and Megan Mohn and Lynda Like, none of whom have granted easements for right of way for pipeline construction.

According to a statement issued by Williams Partners, the judges order means pipeline construction can begin in a timely fashion pending receipt of the last remaining state and federal clearances expected in the coming weeks.

We now have possession of the last remaining right of ways needed for the project, the statement continued. As we move closer to construction, we are committed to continuing the dialogue weve established, treating all of our Atlantic Sunrise landowners with respect and courtesy throughout the construction process and once the pipeline becomes operational.

It is important to stress that landowners still retain ownership of their property and are fairly compensated for the easement. The easement only gives us the limited right to install and operate the pipeline. Use of the land, with certain limitations, can remain the same as before construction.
Thousands of Atlantic salmon escaped from a damaged net pen at a Cooke Aquaculture fish farm off Cypress Island in Washingtons Puget Sound on Saturday, sparking fears from some that the

farm-raised fish could threaten wild Pacific salmon.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) said that 305,000 salmon were in the net pen at the time, but the company estimates that 4,000-5,000 fish escaped.

Canada-based Cooke Aquaculture blamed the incident on high tides caused in the days leading up to and during Mondays solar eclipse.

Exceptionally high tides and currents coinciding with this weeks solar eclipse caused damage to a salmon farm that has been in operation near Cypress Island for approximately 30 years, the company said.

WDFW is monitoring the situation and crafting a fish spill-response plan with Cooke.

But why are Atlantic fish being farmed in the Pacific anyway? Well, as Inverse reported, Atlantic salmon net pens are banned in every West Coast state except for Washington.

Its really a shame that this has happened, Jonathan White, the author of Tides: The Science and Spirit of the Ocean, commented to Inverse. It underscores the risk and the dangers of farm fishing.

Environmental groups have long criticized the practice of aquaculture. According to Food & Watch Watch, massive amounts of antibiotics, hormones, and pesticides are required to keep disease at bay just to keep fish and shrimp alive in overcrowded conditions (typically in nets, cages, or ponds).

Farmed Atlantic salmon, a nonnative species to the Pacific coast, could also pose a risk to native species.

Salmon farms are extremely harmful to wild fish because they break natural laws, releasing dangerous levels of viruses, bacteria and sea lice into the water, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society warns on its Operation Virus Hunter campaign website. Wild salmon are declining wherever there are salmon farms.

Sea Shepherds research vessel, the R/V Martin Sheen, is currently capturing footage of salmon farms in Canadas British Columbia region, spokeswoman Zorianna Kit told the Los Angeles Times. Kit said the footage reveals a proliferation of disease symptoms among the Atlantic salmon crowded into the pens, including salmon with sea lice, open sores, swollen gills, tumors and deformities.

[facebook https://www.facebook.com/EcoWatch/videos/1511744708848731/ expand=1]

The Guardian reported in April that the sea louse, or salmon louse, is eating into farmed Atlantic salmon supplies in Scotland, Norway, Iceland and Canada, driving salmon prices higher and creating a chemical arms race in the seas. Salmon companies around the world are spending an estimated $1.25 billion a year combined to tackle such outbreaks.

Local anglers expressed fears that the Atlantic salmon will eat local salmon.

Its a devastation, fisherwoman Ellie Kinley told the The Seattle Times. We dont want those fish preying on our baby salmon. And we dont want them getting up in the rivers.

Meanwhile, WDFW is encouraging anglers to fish for the escaped salmon, which are said to be 8 to 10 pounds in weight and are considered safe to eat.

Our first concern, of course, is to protect native fish species, said Ron Warren, head of WDFWs Fish Program. So wed like to see as many of these escaped fish caught as possible.

Warren noted that there is no evidence the farmed salmon pose a threat to native fish populations, either through disease or crossbreeding with Pacific salmon. To date, he added, there is no record of Atlantic salmon successfully reproducing with Pacific salmon in Washingtons waters.

NOAA researcher Michael Rust told the Seattle Times that the risk of farmed Atlantic salmon passing diseases is low and they have been unsuccessful in interbreeding with Northwest native species.

Rust said the farmed fish are more likely to be prey than predators: These things are kind of couch potatoes. They are domesticated. Imagine a dairy cow getting lost out in the Serengeti. It doesnt last very long.
By Timothy Wise

In late July, a short article was published in a Malawian newspaper: Press Release on Organization of Seed Fairs. Issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Water Development, in conjunction with the Seed Traders Association of Malawi, the short statement advised the public that only quality certified seed suppliers registered with government to produce and/or market seed should be allowed to display seed at such events. The release was signed by Bright Kumwembe for the Agriculture Ministry.

I received this news in the U.S. as I prepared a research trip to Malawi, and I was shocked. Malawi is in the final stages of a multi-year effort to reform its seed policy and laws, and the largest point of contention at this point is the failure of the draft policy to recognize and protect so-called farmers rights to save, exchange and sell the seeds they grow on their farms.

Remarkably, the policy seeks to define the word seed as applying only to certified seed from commercial companies. Farm-saved seed is referred to in the policy as just grain, unworthy even of the word seed.

Some 80 percent of the crops grown in Malawi come from farm-saved seeds, and many of those seeds are displayed, exchanged and sold at local seed fairs. These are often community events organized by local non-governmental organizations or district agriculture offices to promote seed improvement. Farmers show their most successful varieties, sometimes alongside seed from commercial companies that have bred, patented and produced improved varieties that are then certified by the government for quality.

What this press release implied, in no uncertain terms, was that henceforth farmers would not be allowed to display their seeds. The formal and informal seed sectors have coexisted for decades. Why was the Malawian government, embroiled in a controversy over a still-unfinished seed policy, threatening to ban farm-saved seed from the market?

Sparking Controversy

When I arrived in Blantyre, Malawi, I began asking everyone in the field about the seed policy debate and the seed fair controversy. Most were surprised that such a directive had come under the ministrys signature. William Chadza of the Centre for Environmental Policy and Advocacy told me he had sent a letter to the ministry asking for clarification. He said that some people in the ministry were not aware of the directive and it was unclear if the government would crack down on farmers participating in seed fairs.

Farmers are not the problem with counterfeit seeds, he told me. Farmers arent labeling seeds at all, just trading and selling them locally.

Chadza was still hopeful that farmers rights provisions could be incorporated into the seed policy. It is a huge opportunity to bring the informal seed sector into the policy.

By the time I got to Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, a few days later, Id been in Thyolo visiting farmers who have developed and purified a native variety of orange maize, high in Vitamin A. Farmers seemed enthusiastic about this nutritious crop, and not just for its vitamins. It has high yields, even without applications of expensive fertilizer, and it matures early, making it resistant to erratic rains and to pests, like the fall armyworm that has devastated crops across southern Africa. It stores better than the hybrid maize varieties sold on the certified seed market by companies such as Monsanto. It tastes better, too, they said, and it gels into a large volume of nsima when cooked.

A recent academic study confirmed that on nearly all measures the native orange maize, which does not need to be purchased every year, outperformed one of Monsantos hybrid varieties, which farmers cannot replant but must buy every year.

The farm group, which is being supported as part of the Malawi Farmer-to-Farmer Agroecology Project, has seen demand for its orange maize soar from neighboring farmers. Theyve been multiplying the seed to share the local wealth, even selling several tons of seed to Save the Children and Sub-Saharan Africa Family Enrichment for use in their feeding programs.

Mangani Katundu, Chancellor College professor, and coordinator of the Thyolo orange maize project, was mystified by the seed policy and this new restriction on farm-saved seed. How can such a valuable native variety of maize not be a seed?

That was the question I posed to Dr. Wilkson Makumba, Malawis Director of National Research Services and the person in charge of the seed policy. He was adamant. Farmers needed to be weaned off their primitive ways and forced to adopt commercial maize varieties. He said the seed policy was final, no more negotiations over farmers rights. He claimed not to be aware of the seed fair directive. Neither was Dr. Kesbell Kaonga, chief maize breeder.

Dr. Kaonga contacted me a few days later, though. Only quality certified seed should be displayed during seed fairs as the press release states.

John Chipeta, policy coordinator for the National Smallholder Farmers Association of Malawi, one of the two large farmer organizations in the country, was critical of both the policy and the seed fair restriction. The definition of seed should not override the common cultural understanding of the term, he told me. We should not be forced to abandon our own foods and seeds. Food sovereignty is critical, and seed sovereignty is part of that. He called the definition of farm-saved seed as grain an imported definition from the seed companies.

Conflicts of Interest

Over dinner that night, Tamani Nkhono-Mvula, longtime director of CISANET, the countrys umbrella network on agricultural policy, was defending the seed policy draft, even to the point of defending the definition of farm-saved seed as just grain. Many CISANET members had voiced objections to the groups support for the governments restrictive seed policy, arguing that it favored the seed companies over farmers in order to open markets for commercial seeds.

I told Tamani that there was no reason the policy needed to be so severe, to delegitimize the informal seed market. The way the policy reads, I told him, it could have been written by Monsanto!

There was a long pause. Actually, Tamani told me with a sheepish smile, a Monsanto official was one of the two authors of the seed policy. I would learn later that this was Mr. Paul Chimimba, Monsantos Country Manager in Malawi.

It is a chilling revelation that the seed policy was authored by an ex-Monsanto employee, said Blessings Chinsinga, Chancellor College professor, when I told him this news.

Indeed. It is difficult to imagine a more egregious conflict of interest than allowing a seed company executive to write a government policy that threatens to outlaw farmers saving and exchanging of seeds in order to open new markets for his company.

The governments seed policy should go back to the drawing board, and those doing the drawing should not have a direct financial interest in the outcome.
Internal U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) documents show that Administrator Scott Pruitt has effectively relinquished the EPAs oversight of pesticide safety to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), said Scott Faber, the Environmental Working Groups (EWG) senior vice president of government affairs.

More than 700 pages of emails and other records show that Pruitt and other EPA officials consulted closely with agribusiness interests and top officials at the USDA on the decision not to ban chlorpyrifos, a neurotoxic pesticide that has been shown to harm childrens brains at even very low levels, according to The New York Times.

In response to the Times report, the EPA issued a statement Monday maintaining that Pruitt relied on the USDAs scientific concerns with methodology used by the previous administration to go against the agencys own scientists who had pushed for a full ban of the pesticide.

The emails, on page 301, show that top political appointees made edits to the chlorpyrifos petition as it awaited Pruitts signature, in order to reverse the ban of the pesticide recommended by career EPA scientists.

The EPAs authority to restrict or ban the use of a pesticide falls under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Under the law, the EPA is not required to get approval from the USDA or any other agency before it takes action on a particular pesticide.

But in the case of chlorpyrifos, Pruitt and his top political appointees relied solely on comments by Sheryl Kunickis, director of the Office of Pest Management Policy at the USDA, to arrive at the decision not to ban the pesticide.

In a Jan. 5, 2016, memo to the EPAs Office of Pesticide Programsnot part of the Times FOIA request, but unearthed by EWGKunickis objected that the EPA scientists included groundbreaking epidemiological data from Columbia University researchers and other institutions, which found chlorpyrifos pollutes the bodies of children and harms their health, in their risk assessment.

Kunickis also pushed the EPA to forgo the tenfold childrens safety factor that the nations top childrens health experts, and the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act, say are necessary to safeguard childrens health from pesticides.

In two separate appearances before House and Senate appropriations committees, Pruitt testified that he had relied on Kunickis comments in his March 29 decision to abort the ban of chlorpyrifos.

During his June 27 testimony before the Senate panelat 1:48 in the committees archived videoin response to questioning from Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., Pruitt said the petition to ban [chlorpyrifos] that was denied and it was based on the USDA communication to the EPA that the scientific basis that was being used by the agency was very questionable. That was actually an interagency communication between the USDA and the EPA.

Administrator Pruitt now freely admits hes outsourced pesticide safety decisions to an agency that too often puts the concerns of farmers ahead of our public health, said Faber, of EWG. As the emails obtained by the Times show, a whos who of chemical agribusiness executives, along with USDA officials, came to the EPA the day after the decision to deliver a collective bear hug for Pruitt over his action on chlorpyrifos.

A revised agenda, on pages 97 to 98, for a meeting of the Agriculture CEO Council with Pruitt was sent to the administrators scheduler on March 30. The first item for discussion was Thanks to Trump Administration and Administrator Pruitt for early decisive actions on the chlorpyrifos petition and the Waters of the United States, or WOTUS, rule. In June the EPA issued a notice of withdrawal from the Obama-era WOTUS rule that defines which waters can be protected from pollution by federal law.

Among those listed as attending the March meeting with Pruitt were Jay Vroom, president and CEO of CropLife America, the main lobbying group for the pesticide industry; Chris Jahn, President of the Fertilizer Institute, Chris Novak, CEO of the National Corn Growers Association; and Tom Stenzel, president and CEO of the United Fresh Produce Association.

On the day after the meeting, Kunickis wrote to EPA officials: Thank you! It is a great week for our growers and the decision is much appreciated.

There is not a dimes-width of daylight between Pruitt, the USDA and the pesticide industry when it comes to use of this brain-damaging pesticide, Faber added. The levers of oversight for the pesticide industry are now clearly and firmly in the hands of the lobbyists and their government lackeys.
By Elisheva Mittelman

As renewable energy costs continue to fall, the path toward a clean energy economy has never looked better.

Price drops in the West have been particularly dramatic. From Texas to Arizona to Colorado, states across the southwestern U.S. are taking advantage and setting an example for the rest of the nation as they move away from coal and slash dangerous carbon emissions. Lawmakers and power companies alike have doubled down on renewable energy and climate action, accelerating the transition to a cleaner, cheaper and healthier energy system.

Renewable Energy Investment Grows as Prices Drop

Swiftly falling prices have made renewable energy the cheapest form of energy available across the country. With record low prices and the extension of the production tax credit (PTC), wind is increasingly competitive with fossil fuelsthe average power purchase agreement (PPA) price for wind power was down to $20 per megawatt-hour in 2016 (in 2009, the PPA was $70 per megawatt-hour). As a result, the U.S. wind market saw near-record growth in the first quarter of 2017, adding 2,000 megawatts (MW) of wind energy in just three months. Texas alone added 724 MW of new capacity in the first quarter, cementing its status as the leading state for wind installations. Kansas took second place with 481 MW of new capacity, and New Mexico ranked third with 242 MW of new capacity added in the quarter.

Power companies, especially those in the southwestern states, have responded enthusiastically to those low costs and the investment certainty provided by the multiyear PTC extension. American Electric Power (AEP) just announced that it will invest $4.5 billion in a new, 2,000-MW wind project that will provide customers of the Southwestern Electric Power Co. and the Public Service Co. of Oklahoma nearly nine million megawatt-hours (MWh) of energy annuallyenough to power more than 650,000 Oklahoma households. When complete, it will be the largest single-site wind project in the country, expected to save customers more than $7 billion over 25 years.

Many power companies are eager to take advantage of cost-effective solar power as well, largely spurred by the extension of the investment tax credit (ITC) for solar. The cost of generating electricity from solar has fallen by 85 percent since 2009, and those costs continue to steadily decline. In fact, Arizona-based Tucson Electric Power recently signed a PPA for a combined solar-plus-storage system for less than $45 per MWh.

In addition, four states in the Southwest rank in the top 10 for cumulative solar capacity installed through 2016: Arizona (#3), Nevada (#4), Utah (#6) and Texas (#9). And Nevada-based NV Energy reached an agreement with Apple earlier this year to build an additional 200 MW of solar energy in Nevada by early 2019, showing that solar development in the region is not likely to slow down any time soon.

As renewable energy capacity increases, job opportunities are following suit. Solar jobs across the U.S. have increased at least 20 percent per year for the past four years and are available in all 50 states. Texas is one of the leading states for solar jobsit is ranked #3 nationwide at more than 9,300and several neighboring states in the Southwest (Arizona, Nevada and Colorado) rank in the top 10 as well.

In addition to rising investments in clean energy, several large utility companies in the Southwest have announced plans to retire coal-fired power plants in the coming years as these dirty, expensive fuel sources struggle to compete with more cost-effective wind and solar. For example, the 2,250-MW coal-fired Navajo Generating Station in Arizona is no longer financially viable due to competition from cheaper energy sources and is scheduled to retire at the end of 2019.

The Public Service Co. of New Mexico also recently announced in its 2017 integrated resource plan (IRP) that it will retire the 1,800-MW San Juan coal-fired generating stationone of the largest power plants in the western U.S.by 2022 and estimated that doing so would save the utility $70 million to $450 million over 20 years. The electricity provider also plans to vacate its stake in New Mexicos Four Corners power plant and will exit coal-fired generation entirely by 2031. When these coal plants close, it is critically important that policymakers provide support for a sustainable transition to clean energy sources and make investments that can help diversify and strengthen the local economy.

Government and Business Leaders Take Charge on Climate Action

Following the announcement that the U.S. would depart from the Paris agreement, leaders across the country have stepped up to cut carbon emissions and ensure that the country is still able to meet the climate goals of the accord. And lawmakers in the Southwest are no exception. Mayors of more than 20 municipalities in the regionincluding major cities such as Houston, Phoenix, Denver, Reno and Tucsonhave signed on to the We Are Still In pledge, joining more than 2,200 other leaders from states, cities, businesses, and universities across the country who have committed to meeting the goals of the Paris agreement.

At the state level, Nevada has taken important steps to advance clean energy policy. This spring, the Nevada legislature passed 11 bills to help support renewable energy projects in the state. Unfortunately, Nevadas governor, Brian Sandoval, vetoed two of the bills, including one that would have significantly raised Nevadas renewable portfolio standard (RPS). Sandovals veto of the RPS expansion was a huge lost opportunity for the state, one that will be remedied, one hopes, in Nevadas next legislative session.

Meanwhile, Colorados governor, John Hickenlooper, recently signed into law a bill that extends utility energy efficiency programs in the state and announced that Colorado will join 12 other states and Puerto Rico in the U.S. Climate Alliance, a coalition of states committed to reducing CO2 emissions and meeting or exceeding the goals of the Paris agreement. Hickenlooper also signed an executive order committing Colorado to climate action, declaring that the state will aim to reduce emissions and improve energy efficiency.

The executive order outlines several targets, including reducing statewide greenhouse gas emissions by more than 26 percent from 2005 levels by 2025, reducing power sector emissions by 35 percent from 2012 levels by 2030, and achieving electricity savings of two percent of total electricity sales per year by 2020. As an NRDC analysis showed, greater investment in energy efficiency will bring huge economic benefits to Colorado. Cutting emissions and achieving two percent annual savings could create more than 3,900 new jobs per year and add more than $340 million annually to Colorados economy.

In the face of mounting environmental attacks from the Trump administration, the Southwest states exemplify the momentum of climate progress and the significant advantages of transitioning to a clean energy economy. With booming renewable energy investments, multiple planned coal retirements, and ambitious clean energy policies, this region is well prepared to maintainand strengthenits role as a climate leader in the years ahead.
Interior Sec.

Ryan Zinke will recommend unspecified boundary adjustments for a handful of the 27 national monuments under review by the Trump administration, according to an interview with the Associated Press.

Zinke commented that he will not ask President Trump to rescind any designations or revert sites to new ownership. Any areas removed from the protected lands would also remain under federal control and public access would remain or improve.

Under Trumps April executive order, Zinke was given 120 days to determine if previous presidential administrations exceeded their authority in monument designations from 1996 to present that are 100,000 acres or greater in size. Republican lawmakers have particularly accused President Obama, who designated more monuments than any other president, of abusing the Antiquities Act to protect land and water.

No President should use the authority under the Antiquities Act to restrict public access, prevent hunting and fishing, burden private land, or eliminate traditional land uses, unless such action is needed to protect the object, Zinke said in a statement today about the draft report he submitted to Trump.

The recommendations I sent to the president on national monuments will maintain federal ownership of all federal land and protect the land under federal environmental regulations, and also provide a much needed change for the local communities who border and rely on these lands for hunting and fishing, economic development, traditional uses, and recreation.

The former Montana congressman did not specify to the AP which sites could undergo changes. The White House has not yet issued a comment.

Zinke visited eight of the 27 national monuments under review. He previously recommended no changes to six sites in Montana, Colorado, Idaho, California, Arizona and Washington. He said that the Obama-designated Bears Ears National Monument in Utah should be downsized, despite widespread public opposition to such a plan.

Todays news was a blow to environmental groups that have long expressed fears that the lands could be sold to private development.

Any recommendation from Secretary Zinke to shrink national monuments is hypocritical at best and ruinous at worst. Secretary Zinke claims to support public lands, but now we know hes just one more Trump Administration stooge for polluting special interests,

Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune said.

Whether the preservation of Native American sacred sites or a natural wonder of the world, public lands and waters are granted monument status for a reason. Stripping these places of that protection devalues the diverse history they preserve, the outdoor economy they support, and the future they offer, Brune continued.

This misguided recommendation is yet another unpopular action from an unpopular administrationone they are too ashamed to make public. The American people deserve to know what Sec. Zinke, Trump and their friends in the dirty fuel industry plan to do with our public lands under the guise of this sham review.

A

recent analysis found that 99.2 percent of the millions of public comments submitted about Bears Ears and other parks opposed Trumps executive order that placed them under scrutiny.

The recommendation to alter certain national monuments, including reducing Bears Ears in Utah, is the direct result of Secretary Zinke favoring the voices of oil and gas executives instead of the people who submitted nearly 3 million public comments opposing changes to these important places, Greenpeace USA climate campaigner Mary Sweeters said.

What could have been protected public lands and waters for generations to come now face the risk of becoming oil fields, thanks to an Interior Department full of oil and gas errand-boys like Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt. The public response to the Trump administrations review of nearly 30 public land and marine monuments broke records, and the sentiment that these lands and marine regions should remain protected was nearly unanimous, Sweeters continued.

From Alaska to Utah, people are prepared to stand up to Trump and Secretary Zinke and demand that the Interior Department protect public places from greedy oil and gas developers looking for short-term profit with long-term consequences.

Ben Schreiber, senior political strategist at

Friends of the Earth, had similar sentiments and vowed legal action should Trump follow Zinkes recommendations.

Todays announcement is another in a long line of blatant handouts to the oil and gas industry, he said. If Secretary Zinke recommends shrinking Bears Ears National Monument it will be another slap in the face to Native American tribes who lobbied for years to get it designated as a National Monument. This follows on the heels of Trumps approval of the Dakota Access Pipeline despite strong tribal opposition. Zinkes action is illegal and he can rest assured that his latest giveaway to corporate polluters will be litigated in the courts.

Rhea Suh, president of Natural Resources Defense Council, agreed. These cherished waters and iconic lands have been set aside, for all time, so that future generations may know the natural splendor, cultural diversity and vivid history we share as American people, she said. Thats a promise weve made to our children. Its a promise were going to keep. If Trump tries to break it, well see him in court. Thats a promise too.

Zinke declined the APs request to comment on whether portions of the monuments would be opened up to oil and gas drilling, mining, logging and other industries. However, he dismissed fears about the intention to sell off public lands.

Ive heard this narrative that somehow the land is going to be sold or transferred, he said. That narrative is patently false and shameful. The land was public before and it will be public after.
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
The types of close contact injuries inflicted by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are much more serious than those associated with land mines, finds research published in the online journal BMJ Open.

Landmines came into widespread use in the Second World War, where they were designed to injure/maim rather than to kill, with a view to stressing the medical resource of the enemy.

Many were left buried in the ground in regions of conflict long after the fighting had ended, causing them to be inadvertently detonated by civilians stepping on them. But after a high profile campaign, 162 countries signed the 1997 Ottawa Treaty pledging to stop their production and use.

However, they have increasingly been replaced in modern warfare with improvised explosive devices, usually known as IEDs.

The mechanism of injury is the same for landmines and IEDs, while the seriousness of injuries for either device depends on how close the victim is to the centre of the explosion, say the researchers.

But they suspected that pattern 1 injuries--those where the victim suffers the full effects of the explosion at close quarters--would be more serious when they involved IEDs.

They therefore assessed pattern 1 injuries sustained by 100 people during IED attacks in Afghanistan over 18 months in 2010-11 and compared them with pattern 1 injuries previously described for landmines.

All the casualties, who comprised both local civilians and military personnel, were male, and aged between 6 and 44 years of age. Their average age was 25; nine were under the age of 18.

They were all treated at the NATO Role 3 Multinational Medical Unit in Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, a facility equivalent to a level II civilian trauma centre.

Eleven victims were dead on arrival; a further eight subsequently died of their wounds in hospital, giving a fatality rate of one in five (19%).

IED victims were more likely than those similarly injured by landmines to have more than one amputation (70% vs 10.5%). Five out of the 70 multiple amputees had four amputations; 27 had three amputations, and 38 had a double amputation.

Among the nine children and teens, three had a triple amputation; five had a double amputation.

IED victims were also twice as likely to sustain genital/gluteal (buttocks) injuries (26% vs 13.4%).

Pelvic fracture was more common among IED victims who had multiple amputations and/or genital/gluteal injuries than it was among landmine victims with similar injuries (28.6% vs 3.3%).

And IED victims with this pattern of injuries were also nearly four times as likely to die than were similarly injured landmine victims (24.3% vs 6.7%).

In all, the typical injury profile of IED victims included amputations of both legs (often above the knee); mangling or amputation of an arm/hand; extensive soft tissue injuries with deep penetration of soil, extending into the gluteal and perineal areas; pelvic fracture; and genital mutilation.

Soil forced into a soft tissue injury may worsen the level of amputation required and condemns the victim to serial surgery to remove it. And even then, it may leave that person at the mercy of antibiotic resistant soil organisms, the researchers point out.

IEDs are sometimes portrayed as a primitive or crude weapon crafted from locally available resources because of a lack of access to conventional weapons, but they have evolved and are now more sophisticated, directed, and destructive, say the researchers.

Just like landmines, they indiscriminately maim and kill. And that includes children, who tend to suffer the most severe injuries as a result of the powerful explosive force of an IED.

"The injury pattern suffered by the survivors of the IED is markedly worse than that of conventional [landmines]," they write. "It is a weapon, which, of its nature, causes superfluous injury and unnecessary suffering."

The evidence gathered on the horrors inflicted by the use of landmines prompted international condemnation resulting in a ban. And the researchers conclude: "It is hoped that reports regarding the pattern of injury caused by the modern IED will result in an abhorrence of this weapon and those that use it."

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The most advanced space weather radar in the world is to be built in the Arctic by an international partnership including the UK, thanks to new investment, in the region of 4 to 6m from NERC.

The EISCAT_3D radar will provide UK scientists with a cutting-edge tool to probe the upper atmosphere and near-Earth space, helping them understand the effects of space weather storms on technology, society and the environment.

The UK government has placed space weather on the National Risk Register, in recognition of the potential damage it can do to satellites, communications and power grids. Solar storms drive space weather, but one of the biggest challenges in space weather science is improving our understanding of how the Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere responds to this. EISCAT_3D will give scientists the means to understand these connections.

Costing a total of 63m, the facility will be distributed across three sites in northern Scandinavia - in Skibotn, Norway, near Kiruna in Sweden, and near Kaaresuvanto in Finland. The project will start in September 2017 with site preparations beginning in summer 2018. The radar is expected to be operational in 2021.

A key capability of the radar will be to measure an entire 3D volume of the upper atmosphere in unprecedented detail. This is necessary to understand how energetic particles and electrical currents from space affect both the upper and the lower atmosphere. Scientists will be able to take measurements across scales from hundreds of metres to hundreds of kilometres, providing exceptional detail and vast quantities of data, and opening the scope of research that can be carried out.

The northern hemisphere already hosts several EISCAT radars, situated in the so-called auroral oval - where you can see the northern lights or aurora borealis. They take measurements in a region of the Earth's upper atmosphere called the ionosphere - from about 70 to 1000 km altitude. They sample the electron concentration and temperature, and the ion temperature and velocity at a range of altitudes along the radar beam direction. But the current EISCAT radars provide a single pencil beam, so researchers can only look at one small portion of the sky at a given time.

Dr Andrew Kavanagh, UK EISCAT Science Support, based at the British Antarctic Survey, said:

"The new EISCAT_3D radar will measure the ionosphere in lots of different directions simultaneously. It will be like having hundreds of dishes all operating together, looking in different directions. This means we can easily see changes in the ionosphere and don't miss important data: when our measurements change we will be able to say whether something had just appeared or faded or if something was moving through the beams. This is really important as it gives us information about how space weather effects evolve."

The site in Skibotn, Norway will have a transmitter and receiver array, while the two other sites will have receiver arrays. These will generate beams that will 'look into' the transmitted beam and give researchers many intersection heights.

NERC's chief executive, Professor Duncan Wingham, said:

"EISCAT_3D will give us a 3D picture of interactions between space weather and our upper atmosphere with a detail we've not seen before, giving us answers to questions researchers have about the impacts of space weather on the upper atmosphere. We need this information to reduce the risks posed by space weather on our communications systems, satellites and power grids, which we all rely on."

EISCAT Director, Dr Craig Heinselman, said:

"We are very excited to be starting construction of the new EISCAT_3D radar system. Building on over three and a half decades of scientific observations with the legacy EISCAT radars, this new multi-site phased-array radar will allow our international user community to investigate important questions about the physics of the near-Earth space environment. The radar will make measurements at least ten times faster and with ten times finer resolution than current systems. It will also provide fundamentally different measurements which are unique in the scientific world by utilising, initially, fully flexible receive arrays at two separated locations in the Nordic region in concert with the core transmit/receive array. These systems will let us probe phenomena such as the aurora borealis in three dimensions and, in concert with a variety of other measurements, will allow us to uncover the fundamental effects of phenomena such as space weather. EISCAT_3D uses modern analog and digital technologies that enable flexibility now and a path forward for implementing new ideas that emerge from future discoveries. It truly represents a platform for the next generation of space scientists to build upon."

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Notes for Editors

Photos available from the NERC Press office, Sylvie Kruiniger tel. 0044 1793 442593

Video - https://www.eiscat.se/blog/2017/06/14/eiscat_3d-test-site-2/

Dr Andrew Kavanagh, UK EISCAT Science Support, based at British Antarctic Survey, is available for interviews w/c 21st August 2017. Contact Athena Dinar, Senior PR & Communications Manager, British Antarctic Survey, amdi@bas.ac.uk, Tel: +44 1223 221441, Mobile: +44 7909 008516

EISCAT_3D - https://eiscat3d.se//

EISCAT, the European Incoherent Scatter Association, is a scientific organization that facilitates research on the atmosphere and space weather using high power ionospheric radars in the Arctic. The UK is one of the six members of the association, represented by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). This gives UK scientists access to the facilities operated by EISCAT and the archive of data stretching back to the mid-1980s. The facilities include three radars: two near the Norwegian city of Troms and a third on the island of Spitzbergen in the Svalbard archipelago. The radars primarily measure properties of the Earth's ionosphere (density & temperature) and can observe as low as the stratosphere (~20 km altitude) and as high as the top of the ionosphere (~2000 km altitude). As the UK is an EISCAT associate country, UK scientists gain access to the data taken by the radars (stretching back to the mid-1980s) and can apply for observing time to run their own experiments. UK EISCAT science support provides expert help in developing and running experiments and in the interpretation of the measurements that are collected. They manage UK access to the EISCAT facilities via the time allocation process and provide expert advice on use of past radar data.

The EISCAT Scientific Association - comprising research councils and national institutes from Finland, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Japan and China, with additional members from several other countries (http://www.eiscat.se), the association provides state-of-the-art instrumentation to scientists in its associated countries for investigations into the upper atmosphere and ionosphere above northern Scandinavia. The EISCAT radars can be found in mainland Norway, Finland, and Sweden and on Svalbard. EISCAT has supported scientific investigations since 1981 and continues to provide top quality instruments and data products to researchers from around the globe. Areas of specialization include quantifying the effects of space weather on Earth's upper atmosphere, understanding the basic mechanisms of the formation and activity of the aurora borealis, and looking for long-term trends in the ionospheric response to effects on the sun and in the solar wind.

EISCAT and the UK The UK has been an associate member of EISCAT since it was founded in December 1975. The current UK contribution to EISCAT is funded by NERC via the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS). The UK EISCAT science support group is a partnership between BAS and the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, funded through NCAS.

NERC is the UK's main agency for funding and managing research, training and knowledge exchange in the environmental sciences. Our work covers the full range of atmospheric, Earth, biological, terrestrial and aquatic science, from the deep oceans to the upper atmosphere and from the poles to the equator. We coordinate some of the world's most exciting research projects, tackling major issues such as climate change, environmental influences on human health, the genetic make-up of life on Earth, and much more. NERC is a non-departmental public body. We receive around 330 million of annual funding from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS). http://www.nerc.ac.uk @NERCscience

British Antarctic Survey (BAS), an institute of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), delivers and enables world-leading interdisciplinary research in the Polar Regions. Its skilled science and support staff based in Cambridge, Antarctica and the Arctic, work together to deliver research that uses the Polar Regions to advance our understanding of Earth as a sustainable planet. Through its extensive logistic capability and know-how BAS facilitates access for the British and international science community to the UK polar research operation. Numerous national and international collaborations, combined with an excellent infrastructure help sustain a world leading position for the UK in Antarctic affairs. For more information visit http://www.bas.ac.uk

The National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) is a world leader in atmospheric science, a multi-million pound research centre, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). NCAS carries out research in climate science, atmospheric composition and air quality, physics of the atmosphere (including hazardous and extreme weather) and provides the UK community with state-of-the-art technologies for observing and modelling the atmosphere, including a world-leading research aircraft. By its very nature, atmospheric science research is multi-disciplinary, and NCAS works to bring together scientists from a range of core disciplines such as physics, chemistry and mathematics and using state-of-the-art technologies for observing and modelling the atmosphere. NCAS provides scientific facilities for researchers right across the UK to enable excellent atmospheric science on a national scale. These include a world-leading research aircraft, a ground-based instrumentation pool, access to computer models and facilities for storing and accessing data. In a nutshell, we provide the UK academic community and the Natural Environment Research Council with national capability in atmospheric science.

The UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council supports EISCAT and access for UK researchers to the facility through its RAL Space EISCAT Group. Its main objective is studying solar terrestrial physics and in particular the ionosphere, the ionised region of the Earth's atmosphere. https://www.ralspace.stfc.ac.uk/Pages/EISCAT.aspx
Researchers have discovered that rogue immune cells trigger an 'override' of the body's tolerance to its tissues

A newly-unveiled discovery, which has been four years in the making, has the potential to change the way we look at autoimmune diseases and understand how and why immune cells begin to attack different tissues in the body.

"Once your body's tolerance for its own tissues is lost, the chain reaction is like a runaway train," says Michael Carroll, PhD, of Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School (HMS). "The immune response against your own body's proteins, or antigens, looks exactly like it's responding to a foreign pathogen."

A team led by Carroll has spent years investigating mouse models of lupus to better understand the ins and outs of autoimmune diseases. Their latest findings, published in Cell, reveal that rogue B cells -- immune cells that produce antibodies and program the immune system to attack certain antigens -- can trigger an "override" that launches the body into an autoimmune attack. Adding insult to injury, B cells' immune targeting instructions can rapidly expand to order an attack on many more tissue types within the body.

Carroll, who is senior author on the new study, and his team think their findings can finally shed some new light on a biological phenomenon known as epitope spreading, which is when the immune system begins to go after antigens on other parts of the body that it wasn't originally instructed to destroy.

Epitope spreading is a hallmark aspect of autoimmune disease, as it leads to widespread immune attack against the body's own tissues, and understanding what triggers it could open the door to new therapies designed to halt the autoimmune response in its tracks.

"It has been a long-standing observation in the clinic that autoimmune diseases evolve over time, attacking an ever-expanding array of organs and tissues - a phenomenon known as 'epitope spreading,'" says Sren Degn, PhD, first author on the new study. "This presents in the patient as a broadening of clinical symptoms, which can include joint pain, kidney damage and severe skin rashes. But, until now, we've largely been in the dark about how this process occurs."

The immune system in living color

To understand what leads to epitope spreading, Carroll's team used what is called a "confetti" technique -- aptly named for its colorful appearance in imaging -- in a mouse model of the autoimmune disease commonly called lupus.

"Lupus is known as 'the great imitator' because the disease can have so many different clinical presentations resembling other common conditions," says Degn, who is a research fellow at Boston Children's and an assistant professor of biomedicine at Aarhus University. "It's a multi-organ disease with a plethora of potential antigenic targets, tissues affected and 'immune players' involved. Lupus is considered a prototypic autoimmune disease, which is why it's so interesting to study."

Studying mice, the team used fluorescent "marker" proteins to distinguish between different B cells, which, just like in humans, are the cells that help set an immune response in motion. When the body senses an antigen (a protein that is -- or in the case of autoimmune disease, appears to be -- foreign), B cells aggregate in cellular clusters called germinal centers.

"That's why at the onset of a cold or sore throat, lymph nodes become swollen -- they are filling with germinal centers to ready an immune counterattack," says Cees van der Poel, PhD, a co-author on the study and a postdoctoral fellow in Carroll's lab. "The spleen is another site that germinal centers form in."

In these germinal centers, B cells make competing antibodies in response to the detected antigen, battling each other to create the best antibody for the job of neutralizing the invading threat. Eventually, the best B cell clone with the most effective antibody wins out, and, in concert with other immune cells, activates an attack. However, this highly-effective process can wreak havoc if the body incorrectly senses an "autoantigen" on one of its own tissue types.

By using fluorescent colors to differentiate between B cell clones, Carroll's team watched the same germinal center activity happen during an autoimmune response. The B cell "colors" battled to create an autoantibody in a model of lupus.

"It's truly natural selection on a microcosm," says van der Poel. "Once activated, there are ten different possible colors to represent different B cell clones. Over a week or two, the color diversity begins to shift -- eventually one color dominates, representing a single clone winning out."

Blocking the runaway train of autoimmune disease

Once the autoimmune response is triggered, Carroll says the "runaway train pulls out of the station, so to speak," and the immune system begins to go after other, similar autoantigens elsewhere in the body.

"Over time, the B cells that initially produce the 'winning' autoantibodies begin to recruit other B cells to produce additional damaging autoantibodies -- just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped into water," says Degn.

"This finding was such a surprise," says Carroll, who is a senior investigator in the Boston Children's Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine and professor of Pediatrics at HMS. "It not only tells us that autoreactive B cells are competing inside germinal centers to design an autoantibody, but then we also see that the immune response broadens to attack other tissues in the body, leading to epitope spreading at the speed of wildfire."

Now, with their confetti mouse model that allows them to observe loss of self tolerance and autoreactive epitope spreading, the team will further interrogate how the complex dance between inflammation, natural cell death/removal by the immune system and antigens inside cell nuclei might exacerbate B cell production of autoantibodies.

For now, the team says, understanding how B cell activity in germinal centers relates to epitope spreading is a big leap in the right direction. They speculate that a therapy that "blocks" germinal centers -- which act as the immune system's working memory -- might one day be used to halt the vicious cycle of autoimmune diseases.

"Blocking germinal centers in the midst of an autoimmune response could potentially block the epitope spreading process," says Carroll. "If you could stop the adaptive immune system for a transient amount of time, it might allow the body to reset its immune responses and shut off the autoreactivity."

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In addition to Carroll, Degn and van der Poel, the paper's additional co-authors are Daniel J. Firl, Burcu Ayoglu, Fahd A. Al Qureshah, Goran Bajic, Luka Mesin, Claude-Agnes Reynaud, Jean-Claude Weill, Paul J. Utz and Gabriel D. Victora.

This research was supported by the National Institutes of Heath (R21AI117737, R01AI039246, R21AI117737, 1R01AI119006), the Alliance for Lupus Research as well as author fellowships from the Benzon Foundation, the Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship within the 7th European Community Framework Programme, GSK, the HHMI Medical Research Fellows Program and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation Postdoctoral Scholarship Program.
With over 400 participants, the GAIN Annual Convention is one of the most important events outside Europe for academic careers in Germany. GAIN is a joint initiative of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the German Academic Exchange Service and the German Research Foundation. In addition to conferences and workshops, the three-day event includes a talent fair to promote careers and offers young German academics in North America a platform for networking with high-ranking representatives from German science, politics and industry.

The research organisations, which belong to three different federal ministries, will provide information and advice to interested people about various job opportunities at their booth at the GAIN talent fair. They also offer a joint workshop on careers in departmental research.

"We are once again looking forward to attending such an important career event this year," said Prof. Dr. Ulrich Panne, BAM President and Chairman of the WG Departmental Research. "Germany needs young, innovative scientists and departmental research institutes offer attractive and long-term career prospects." BAM supports scientists through targeted programmes for Ph.D. students and post-docs and the Adolf Martens Fellowship Programme.

BfR also maintains similar funding programmes for Ph.D. students and post-docs. Offering leading positions in the form of joint appointments between BfR and universities is another strategic instrument to strengthen cooperation with universities in research and to attract junior scientists.

"The German Government's scientific organisations need scientific expertise at the highest international level for their research and work in risk assessment and to provide advice to politicians," adds BfR President Prof. Dr. Dr. Andreas Hensel who will speak about departmental research at the joint workshop.

As member organisations of the WG Departmental Research BAM, BfR and UBA offer practical and interdisciplinary research at the interface to politics, business and society. Current issues are addressed in national and international networks with universities, other research institutes and companies. This creates attractive and diverse career opportunities.

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A team of Cleveland Clinic researchers have discovered a key pathway that leads to recurrence and treatment resistance in endometrial cancer, providing the potential for much needed new therapies for women with limited options.

For the past 25 years, standard therapy for endometrial and ovarian cancers has included surgery and the chemotherapy drug cisplatin. While these treatments typically are initially successful, the cancer often recurs and becomes resistant to cisplatin, leaving patients with limited treatment options.

The Cleveland Clinic team studied the unique role of an immune regulatory protein, called CD55, which is abundant on the surface of endometrioid ovarian cancer and uterine cancer cells. Using human cells and patient-derived tissue models, they found CD55 to be the most prevalent on cancer stem cells, a subgroup of aggressive cancer cells that are thought to be responsible for recurrence and spread of many types of cancer.

The researchers discovered that high levels of CD55 caused cancer stem cells to be more aggressive and resistant to cisplatin than non-stem cell cancer cells. The CD55 pathway is unique in that it controls both stem cell self-regulation/growth and therapeutic resistance, while other mechanisms control just one or the other.

In addition, when CD55 was removed from cells, they became sensitive to cisplatin in cell culture models and in pre-clinical mouse models. The researchers hope that blocking the protein will enhance cisplatin treatments and that high expression of CD55 could be used as a biological marker of aggressive gynecologic cancers. The team plans to complete further preclinical testing followed by a clinical trial in patients with CD55-expressing endometrial cancers.

The study was co-led by Justin Lathia, Ph.D., and Ofer Reizes, Ph.D., both of the Department of Cellular & Molecular Medicine in Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute. Dr. Reizes holds the Laura J. Fogarty Endowed Chair for Uterine Cancer Research at Cleveland Clinic.

"We have discovered a unique role for the CD55 complement signaling pathway in cancer as a target which offers an opportunity to prevent recurrence and associated mortality in endometrial cancer patients. Fortunately, there is already an FDA investigational drug that can inhibit the CD55 signaling pathway," Dr. Lathia said. "We hypothesize that using this drug in combination with cisplatin will improve treatment outcomes."

"Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic malignancy in the United States, yet research in this area is understudied and underfunded," Dr. Reizes added. "We hope that our study will lead to much needed new therapy options for women with treatment resistant, relapsed disease."

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Research fellow Caner Saygin, M.D., was first author on this study, which was published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

This work is funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant CA191263. The work in the Reizes laboratory is also supported by Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative of Cleveland (UL1TR000439), Case Comprehensive Cancer Center (P30 CA043703), Cleveland Clinic VeloSano Bike Race, and the Laura J. Fogarty Endowed Chair for Uterine Cancer Research (O.R.). The Lathia laboratory also receives funding from the NIH grants NS089641, NS083629, and CA157948; a Distinguished Scientist Award from the Sontag Foundation, a Research Scholar Award from American Cancer Society, Blast GBM, Cleveland Clinic VeloSano Bike Race, and Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. This work utilized the Leica SP8 confocal microscope that was purchased from NIH SIG grant 1S10OD019972-01.

About Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, it was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery and the first face transplant in the United States. U.S. News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation's best hospitals in its annual "America's Best Hospitals" survey. Among Cleveland Clinic's 51,000 employees are more than 3,500 full-time salaried physicians and researchers and 14,000 nurses, representing 140 medical specialties and subspecialties. Cleveland Clinic's health system includes a 165-acre main campus near downtown Cleveland, 10 regional hospitals, more than 150 northern Ohio outpatient locations - including 18 full-service family health centers and three health and wellness centers - and locations in Weston, Fla.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Toronto, Canada; Abu Dhabi, UAE; and London, England. In 2016, there were 7.1 million outpatient visits, 161,674 hospital admissions and 207,610 surgical cases throughout Cleveland Clinic's health system. Patients came for treatment from every state and 180 countries. Visit us at clevelandclinic.org. Follow us at twitter.com/ClevelandClinic.

Editor's Note: Cleveland Clinic News Service is available to provide broadcast-quality interviews and B-roll upon request.

About the Lerner Research Institute

The Lerner Research Institute is home to Cleveland Clinic's laboratory, translational and clinical research. Its mission is to promote human health by investigating in the laboratory and the clinic the causes of disease and discovering novel approaches to prevention and treatments; to train the next generation of biomedical researchers; and to foster productive collaborations with those providing clinical care. Lerner researchers publish more than 1,500 articles in peer-reviewed biomedical journals each year. Lerner's total annual research expenditure was $260 million in 2016 (with $140 million in competitive federal funding, placing Lerner in the top five research institutes in the nation in federal grant funding). Approximately 1,500 people (including approximately 200 principal investigators, 240 research fellows, and about 150 graduate students) in 12 departments work in research programs focusing on heart and vascular, cancer, brain, eye, metabolic, musculoskeletal, inflammatory and fibrotic diseases. The Lerner has more than 700,000 square feet of lab, office and scientific core services space. Lerner faculty oversee the curriculum and teach students enrolled in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine (CCLCM) of Case Western Reserve University - training the next generation of physician-scientists. Institute faculty also participate in multiple doctoral programs, including the Molecular Medicine PhD Program, which integrates traditional graduate training with an emphasis on human diseases. The Lerner is a significant source of commercial property, generating 64 invention disclosures, 15 licenses, 121 patents, and one new spinoff company in 2016. Visit us at http://www.lerner.ccf.org. Follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/CCLRI.
Lawrence Livermore scientists, in collaboration with researchers at Northeastern University, have developed carbon nanotube pores that can exclude salt from seawater. The team also found that water permeability in carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with diameters smaller than a nanometer (0.8 nm) exceeds that of wider carbon nanotubes by an order of magnitude.

The nanotubes, hollow structures made of carbon atoms in a unique arrangement, are more than 50,000 times thinner than a human hair. The super smooth inner surface of the nanotube is responsible for their remarkably high water permeability, while the tiny pore size blocks larger salt ions.

Increasing demands for fresh water pose a global threat to sustainable development, resulting in water scarcity for 4 billion people. Current water purification technologies can benefit from the development of membranes with specialized pores that mimic highly efficient and water selective biological proteins.

"We found that carbon nanotubes with diameters smaller than a nanometer bear a key structural feature that enables enhanced transport. The narrow hydrophobic channel forces water to translocate in a single-file arrangement, a phenomenon similar to that found in the most efficient biological water transporters," said Ramya Tunuguntla, an LLNL postdoctoral researcher and co-author of the manuscript appearing in the Aug. 24 edition of Science.

Computer simulations and experimental studies of water transport through CNTs with diameters larger than 1 nm showed enhanced water flow, but did not match the transport efficiency of biological proteins and did not separate salt efficiently, especially at higher salinities. The key breakthrough achieved by the LLNL team was to use smaller-diameter nanotubes that delivered the required boost in performance.

"These studies revealed the details of the water transport mechanism and showed that rational manipulation of these parameters can enhance pore efficiency," said Meni Wanunu, a physics professor at Northeastern University and co-author on the study.

"Carbon nanotubes are a unique platform for studying molecular transport and nanofluidics," said Alex Noy, LLNL principal investigator on the CNT project and a senior author on the paper. "Their sub-nanometer size, atomically smooth surfaces and similarity to cellular water transport channels make them exceptionally suited for this purpose, and it is very exciting to make a synthetic water channel that performs better than nature's own."

This discovery by the LLNL scientists and their colleagues has clear implications for the next generation of water purification technologies and will spur a renewed interest in development of the next generation of high-flux membranes.

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Founded in 1952, Lawrence Livermore National Laborator provides solutions to our nation's most important national security challenges through innovative science, engineering and technology. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is managed by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
One in four patients in a university hospital suffers from diabetes (22 percent), and again as many suffer from prediabetes (24 percent). These were the findings of a current study by researchers in Tubingen of the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) and Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen. Further results of the study: Patients with diabetes have prolonged hospital stays and a higher risk of complications.

The prevalence of diabetes is increasing in Germany: At present, the metabolic disease affects almost one in ten individuals. It is known that people with diabetes are found more often among hospitalized or ICU patients than among the general population. So far, however, hardly any data are available on the prevalence of diabetes in hospitals. Therefore, in the present study, DZD researchers screened 3733 adult patients in Tubingen University Hospital for diabetes and prediabetes over a period of four weeks.

The result of the screening was that almost every fourth hospital patient suffered from diabetes (22 percent), i.e. had a long-term blood glucose level (HbA1c value) of 6.5 % or higher. 24 percent of the patients in the study had a long-term blood glucose value between 5.7 and 6.4 percent. These values indicate an early stage of diabetes (prediabetes). Nearly 4 percent of the investigated patients had undiagnosed diabetes. "Extrapolated to the number of patients who are treated in our hospital each year, there are at least 13,000 diabetes patients who would require therapy," said Professor Andreas Fritsche, diabetologist and one of the authors of the study. "Laboratory medicine is of particular importance when it comes to the implementation of such projects because, as a cross-section discipline, it has contact with patients from all areas of the hospital," said Professor Andreas Peter, head of the central laboratory in Tubingen and of the central study laboratory of the DZD, in which the study was conducted.

Patients with diabetes stay longer in the hospital

The study also showed that patients with diabetes required treatment in the hospital approximately 1.47 days longer than patients with the same diagnosis without diabetes or prediabetes. The affected patients also had a higher risk of complications: 24% of the patients with diabetes experienced complications. In comparison: Only 15% of the patients without diabetes were affected by complications.

"In view of the high prevalence of diabetes and the negative effects of the metabolic disease, we consider it useful to screen hospitalized patients older than 50 years of age for diabetes. The metabolic disorder can then be treated at the same time and thus complications or extended hospital stays can be avoided," said Professor Fritsche and Professor Peter.

The results of the study of Tubingen University Hospital and the Institute for Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases (IDM) of Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen at the University of Tubingen, a member of the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), have now been published in the journal Experimental and Clinical Endocrinology & Diabetes.

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Original Publication: Kufeldt, J.et al. (2017): Prevalence and Distribution of Diabetes Mellitus in a Maximum Care Hospital: Urgent Need for HbA1c-Screening. Exp Clin Endocrinol Diabetes, DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-112653

More informations

Prof. Dr. med. Andreas Fritsche

Lehrstuhl fur Ernahrungsmedizin und Pravention, Innere Medizin IV, Universitatsklinikum Tubingen

Stellvertretender Leiter des Instituts fur Diabetesforschung und Metabolische Erkrankungen (IDM) des Helmholtz Zentrums Munchen an der Eberhard-Karls-Universitat Tubingen

Leiter Abteilung Pravention und Therapie des Diabetes mellitus

Otfried Muller Strae 10, 72076 Tubingen

Phone: +49-7071-29 -85669 / -80590

E-Mail: andreas.fritsche@med.uni-tuebingen.de

Media Contact:

Birgit Niesing

German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD

Ingolstadter Landstrae 1

85764 Neuherberg

Germany

Phone: +49 (0)89-3187-3971

email: niesing@dzd-ev.de

The German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) is one of six German Centers for Health Research. It brings together experts in the field of diabetes research and integrates basic research, epidemiology, and clinical applications. By adopting an innovative, integrative approach to research, the DZD aims to make a substantial contribution to the successful personalized prevention diagnosis and treatment of diabetes mellitus. The members of the DZD are Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen - German Research Center for Environmental Health, the German Diabetes Center (DDZ) in Dusseldorf, the German Institute of Human Nutrition (DIfE) in Potsdam-Rehbrucke, the Institute of Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases of Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen at the University of Tubingen, the Paul Langerhans Institute Dresden of Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen at the Carl Gustav Carus University Hospital of TU Dresden, associated partners at the universities in Heidelberg, Cologne, Leipzig, Lubeck and Munich, and other project partners. http://www.dzd-ev.de

The Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, the German Research Center for Environmental Health, pursues the goal of developing personalized medical approaches for the prevention and therapy of major common diseases such as diabetes and lung diseases. To achieve this, it investigates the interaction of genetics, environmental factors and lifestyle. The Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen is headquartered in Neuherberg in the north of Munich and has about 2,300 staff members. It is a member of the Helmholtz Association, a community of 18 scientific-technical and medical-biological research centers with a total of about 37,000 staff members. http://www.helmholtz-muenchen.de/en
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A new study from criminology researchers at Florida State University reveals that a more diverse school board can lead to more equitable school punishment among black, white and Hispanic students.

The team found that black and Hispanic students were more likely to be suspended in schools with larger minority populations. However, white students attending schools with larger minority populations were less likely to be suspended.

Researchers also found that district school boards that were more diverse, comprising black, white and Hispanic board members, reduced the likelihood of suspensions for all students. Additionally, the disparity among minority and white students was significantly diminished.

Cresean Hughes, a recent graduate of the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, along with FSU Criminology professors Patricia Warren, Eric Stewart and Daniel Mears, and University of Massachusetts-Amherst Professor Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, used Florida Department of Education data from Florida middle and high schools to conduct the study. The team's findings are published in the Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency.

"The research highlights the importance of diversity and its effect on school punishment," Hughes said. "As school districts nationally seek to improve school safety and fairness in punishment, our research suggests a greater focus on racial and ethnic relations may be in order."

While some may question why criminologists are studying school suspension and school district leadership, Hughes said there is good reason for criminologists to investigate this area.

"There's been a lot of research in the past 20 years about the 'school to prison pipeline,' which argues that school discipline can be a precursor to involvement in the criminal justice system," Hughes said.

In the mid-1990s federal legislation prompted zero-tolerance school policies, which led to students being expelled and suspended at higher rates and being punished for infractions that weren't historically considered suspension or expulsion worthy, according to Hughes. Out-of-school suspensions are a more severe form of discipline that mirrors the broader punitive culture that exists in the criminal justice system.

Although disciplinary action originates at the school level, in recent decades it has been increasingly governed by uniform procedural codes established by the school district.

"We know that school suspensions have implications for a variety of crime and justice outcomes," said co-author and FSU Associate Professor Patricia Warren. "Policymakers and school administrators should continue to explore alternative school punishments that do not force students out of school for long periods of time."

The researchers acknowledge the challenge administrators and teachers have when balancing a safe school environment against punishing student misbehavior.

"Our work simply highlights that there is increasingly a need to revisit school punishment policies in order to ensure that our youth have educational opportunities," Warren said.

The research team also analyzed whether the racial makeup of the school board was an accurate depiction of the broader school district or county they represented. School boards generally consist of five to seven individuals. Although that is a relatively small group of people, they have a significant impact on school punishment policies.

"The idea is that the school board, because it's elected, should reflect the overall sentiment about students and punishment from the communities in which they're chosen," Hughes said.

Authors suggest future research should examine school suspensions and racial-ethnic data across the United States, as well as whether racial and ethnic context is a factor in other school punishments, such as expulsions, in-school suspension and referrals to the justice system.

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ATLANTA - Twelve years of data on the health of two Atlantic bottlenose dolphin populations paints a grim reality concerning the wellbeing of the Atlantic Ocean. The research, published as two companion review papers July 24 in the scientific journal Diseases in Aquatic Organisms (here and here), compiles findings from Georgia Aquarium, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution at Florida Atlantic University and a number of contributing partners as part of the Health and Environmental Risk Assessment Project (HERA) from 2003-2015. In addition to informing researchers about the health of dolphins, the data have prompted additional studies on how the environment may impact human health.

"When we look at more than a decade of research, analyzing long-term health data and trends and a variety of environmental factors, we see a number of red flags about the health of our oceans and what it could potentially mean for human health," said Dr. Gregory Bossart, lead author of one of the companion papers, HERA federal permit holder and Chief Veterinary Officer and Senior Vice President at Georgia Aquarium.

The papers examine biological samples and data from 360 dolphins living in two populations - one living near Charleston, S.C. (CHS) and the other in Florida's Indian River Lagoon (IRL) - and each focus on one aspect of dolphin health. The first reviews general clinical health and infectious diseases of the apex predators, while the second explores the role that environmental contamination with chemical and microbial agents play in population health. Paired together, the two papers provide a holistic look at how these two Atlantic bottlenose dolphin populations are responding to a number of natural and anthropogenic threats. The papers also summarize one of the most in-depth studies using a sentinel approach - an effort to look at a specific species to learn not just about their overall health, but also about the state of the surrounding environment and their relationship to human health.

Health and infectious disease aspects of the Atlantic bottlenose dolphin

Each year, researchers performed health assessments on one or both of the dolphin populations, collecting the animals long enough to make observations and secure biological samples to culture dolphins for microorganisms, conduct pathological examinations of lesions and test for antibodies related to several known diseases/infections. Once samples were collected, the researchers then safely released the animals back into their native environment. The data and samples collected allowed scientists to develop health classifications to keep track of disease prevalence among the dolphins. The animals were classified into three separate categories - normal, possible disease and definite disease.

Between 2003-2005, researchers saw a jump in the prevalence of disease, with the percentage of "definite disease" rising from 9 percent to 33 percent for the CHS population and from 28.6 percent to 50 percent in the IRL population. As of 2015, 32.5 percent of all IRL dolphins assessed by HERA were classified as "definite disease."

"Today, fewer than half of the dolphins we are seeing as part of our health assessments can be classified as healthy," said Dr. Bossart. "While this number has remained relatively stable since 2005, it is clear these populations are experiencing a health burden largely driven by infectious disease and environmental exposures."

Researchers tested the populations for a variety of known diseases, identifying the presence of antibodies to cetacean morbillivirus, an illness that has previously caused massive dolphin die-offs along the Atlantic seaboard. The dolphins have also tested positive for antibodies to viruses like West Nile virus, the first time it was documented in cetaceans (2009).

Finally, both fungal infections and papilloma virus were well-documented during the health assessments. Additional monitoring is required to determine if the papilloma virus lesions can undergo malignant transformation and become life-threatening cancer in free-ranging dolphins. It's possible that an altered or weakened immune system leaves the dolphins susceptible to a fungal infection widely known as lobomycosis, a disease that affects only dolphins and humans and occurs in nearly 10 percent of IRL dolphins.

Environmental Aspects of Bottlenose Dolphin Health

Researchers documented various environmental stressors and human activities that might play a role in the immuno-response of the animals. While there were few clinical differences in the health of the CHS and IRL dolphin populations, the environmental risks vary widely.

One of the most alarming findings came from the IRL dolphin population, where researchers documented mercury concentrations in the blood and skin of the animals that are among the highest recorded worldwide - five times higher than those in CHS dolphins. Mercury is a global contaminant released into the environment through a number of industrial activities. It is a known neurotoxin that can cause cognitive and developmental impairment in the fetus when exposure occurs during pregnancy. These levels of mercury also appear to suppress the immune system of the IRL dolphins and have detrimental effects on their endocrine, hepatic and hematopoietic systems.

The principal source of exposure to mercury in humans is the consumption of fish and shellfish. The high concentrations of mercury in dolphins in Florida suggested the adjacent human population of approximately 2.5 million people might be at risk. HERA research led to a study of hair samples from 135 coastal residents:

Over half of the participants had mercury concentration which exceeded the exposure guideline established by the U.S. EPA.

The mercury concentration in women were significantly lower than in men, however they were still five times higher than those from a nationally representative sample of U.S. women of childbearing age.

The mercury concentrations in all participants were associated with consumption of seafood and consumption of locally caught fish.

A study of mercury levels in pregnant women in Florida is currently underway.

"What began as health assessments to understand the wellbeing of these dolphin populations quickly became an indicator that our own environments and health might be at risk," said Dr. John Reif, lead author of one of the companion papers and Professor of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences at Colorado State University. "HERA has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that dolphins are an incredibly important sentinel species - informing us about their own health as well as the health of our surroundings and risks to the local human population."

By contrast, CHS dolphins were found to have high concentrations of organic chemicals in their tissues including PCBs, DDT and others. The concentrations of perfluorinated compounds (PFAA)s were among the highest levels measured globally in marine mammals. Similar to the IRL mercury findings, this has motivated a study on human residents nearby to determine whether they have higher concentrations of the chemicals as well.

Researchers documented dangerously high levels of both PCB's (industrial coolants and lubricants) and DDT (pesticides) from agricultural and industrial run-off in both dolphin populations. The detrimental toxicological implications of contaminants such as DDT and PCBs are well established in many species, but remain uncertain for marine mammals.

The first detection of triclosan, an anti-bacterial compound, in marine mammals was reported in IRL and CHS dolphins at levels similar to those reported for humans. This study added to the evidence on the persistence of these antimicrobials and contributed in part to a recent FDA rule which removed these chemicals from over-the-counter antibacterial washes.

Finally, HERA research identified a high prevalence of resistance to antibiotics in organisms cultured from IRL and CHS dolphins - one of the leading public health issues worldwide. Resistance to erythromycin, ampicillin and cephalothin all commonly used in both humans and animals was found at the highest frequency.

The discharge of many antibiotics commonly used in human and veterinary medicine directly via septic tanks and effluents or indirectly through estuarine drainage systems is likely responsible for the shared patterns of resistance found in dolphins, humans and domestic animals.

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Photos: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ha3pgd2ij3khkze/AADE3U63U-y00HUWXOTGhpj6a?dl=0

Video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/g3k0wopjqp16u49/FINAL_1.mp4?dl=0

ABOUT GEORGIA AQUARIUM

Georgia Aquarium is a leading 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Atlanta, Ga. that is Humane Certified by the American Humane Association and accredited by the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Georgia Aquarium is committed to working on behalf of all marine life through education, preservation, exceptional animal care, and research across the globe. Georgia Aquarium continues its mission each day to inspire, educate, and entertain its millions of guests about the aquatic biodiversity throughout the world through its hundreds of exhibits and tens of thousands of animals across its seven major galleries. For more information, visit georgiaaquarium.org
The School of Chinese Medicine (SCM) of Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) recently conducted a clinical observation on Chinese medicine treatment of chronic renal failure (CRF). The results indicates that a particular type of Chinese medicine treatment which nourishes kidney, removes blood stasis and turbidity is effective in improving the clinical symptoms of CRF patients and helps postpone the deterioration of renal function. The overall efficacy rate of such treatment is 72.7%.

CRF is caused by multiple chronic kidney diseases or systemic diseases that affect the kidneys, leading to chronic progressive damage to the kidneys. CRF patients will have decreased renal function, in which the kidneys cannot maintain the metabolism of waste and resulting in disorders of electrolyte and acid-base balance. In addition, the kidneys lose the secretion and regulation of hormonal metabolism and other basic functions, and may lead to azotemia, metabolic disorders and other clinical symptoms due to the damage of different systems. When the glomerular filtration rate of CRF patients is less than 60 ml/min and serum creatinine is higher than the upper limit of normal range, the functional unit of kidney has been damaged more than 50%, suggesting that there is the presence of kidney damage.

Mr Cai Xunyuan, a visiting scholar of the SCM Clinical Division at HKBU, conducted a clinical observation of 33 patients attending HKBU's Chinese medicine clinics for treatment of CRF from March 2013 to August 2017. The study aimed to find the impact of this particular Chinese medicine treatment on the patients' serum creatinine, glomerular filtration rate and their clinical symptoms before and after the treatment.

Of the 33 patients, 19 were male and 14 were female with ages ranging from 18 to 70. All the patients were in the CRF diagnosis stage of three to four with serum creatinine less than 707umol/l. The observation indicated that the overall efficacy rate of the treatment for CRF was 72.7%, with seven patients showing obvious improvement, 17 having general improvement while nine showed no improvement. A better therapeutic effect was observed in patients who were in the diagnosis stage of 3a (serum creatinine <200umol/l). During the observation, 16 out of 20 patients in this group recorded a decrease in their serum creatinine with an efficacy rate of 80%, and five of them had an upturn from stage 3a to 2, meaning that renal function was recovering from a decompensatory stage to a compensatory stage.

This particular treatment is a prescription of Chinese herbs such as Herba Epimedii, Isaria Cicadae, Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae, Rhizoma Ligustici Chuanxiong, and Radix et Rhizoma Rhei. They work well in supplementing yang and warming the kidney, protecting the patients' kidneys and liver, promoting regeneration of blood, and removing blood stasis, turbidity and detoxification.

Mr Cai explained that the Chinese medicine treatment, with the application of specific kinds of Chinese herbs to tonify kidney and remove blood stasis and turbidity, coheres with the traditional Chinese medicine principle of combining enhancement of physical fitness, eliminating pathogenic factors and tackling both the principal and subordinate symptoms. Through invigorating the spleen and kidneys, such treatment helps to lower a patient's serum creatinine and urea, eliminate the factors promoting the progression of CRF, prevent further damage of the body from the toxins, increase the glomerular filtration rate, stabilise kidney function and reduce the urine protein and red blood cells. As a result, the patient's daily life quality is enhanced by having a better appetite and healthier body with an improvement in clinical symptoms. This also helps to delay the progression of CRF and the time for patient undergo dialysis.

Mr Cai said that chronic glomerulonephritis was the primary cause of CRF, with 13 cases. He therefore reminded people to have regular urine tests, especially after recovery from a cold, fever, tonsillitis and boils. If the urine appears with protein or red blood cells, patients should seek Chinese medicine treatment as early as possible to avoid progression of disease and damage of kidneys. For patients already with renal dysfunction, they should urge to seek professional diagnosis and treatment from registered Chinese medicine practitioners. The treatment of early CRF with traditional Chinese medicine has an irreplaceable advantage. Once the condition changes into renal failure and even stage of uremia, the vast majority of patient's kidney units have been damaged, and it is more difficult to reverse.

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The Phoenicid meteor shower (named after the constellation Phoenix) was discovered by the first Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition on December 5, 1956, during their voyage in the Indian Ocean. However, it has not been observed again. This has left astronomers with a mystery: where did the Phoenicids come from and where did they go?

Two Japanese teams have found an answer to these questions by linking the Phoenicid meteor shower to a vanished celestial body, Comet Blanpain. This comet appeared in 1819 for the first time and then disappeared. In 2003 astronomers discovered a minor body moving along the same orbit as Comet Blanpain had over 100 years ago and showed that it was the remains of Comet Blanpain. The iconic coma and tail of a comet are made of gas and dust which escaped from the surface of the nucleus. The reason why Comet Blanpain reappeared as an asteroid was probably because all the gas and dust have escaped from this central body. Now rather than calling the object a "comet" it might be more accurate to refer to it as an "asteroid."

Although all of the gas and dust have escaped from Comet Blanpain into space, they now form a dust trail which revolves along almost the same orbit as Comet Blanpain itself, and gradually spread along the orbit. When such a dust trail encounters the Earth, the dust particles impinge into the atmosphere and ablate, which are observed as meteors.

Assuming that Comet Blanpain is the parent body of the Phoenicids, the teams performed calculations and predicted that the Phoenicids should be observed again on December 1, 2014. Following this prediction, the two teams of Japanese astronomers carried out a campaign of observation. One team led by Yasunori Fujiwara, a graduate student at the Department of Polar Science, SOKENDAI(The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), and Takuji Nakamura, a professor of the National Institute of Polar Research/SOKENDAI, traveled to North Carolina, U.S.A., and observed there. The other team led by Mikiya Sato, an astronomical officer at Kawasaki Municipal Science Museum, and Junichi Watanabe, a professor of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan/SOKENDAI, visited La Palma Island in the Spanish territory off the West coast of Africa for observations. The weather condition at the former site was comparatively good, but more clouds covered at the latter site. Therefore, Sato's team supplementary used data from other sources such as NASA's All Sky Fireball Network and radar observations at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.

Just because meteors appeared, doesn't mean they are part of the Phoenicid meteor shower; Earth is bombarded by a constant background of sporadic meteors every night. In order to distinguish Phoenicids from sporadic meteors, both teams analyzed the data, by back-tracing each meteor trail to distinguish the meteor shower. If many meteors come from the same point in the sky, then they are part of the same meteor shower. Out of the 138 meteors observed at North Carolina, 29 were identified as Phoenicids. The Phoenicid activity peaked between 8 pm to 9 pm local time, very close to the predicted peak of the Phoenicid meteor shower, which was 7 pm to 8 pm. This fact has further supported that the observed meteors back-traced to the Phoenicid radiant are surely from Phoenicid meteor shower. The data collected by the other sources also supported this result.

But not everything matched the predictions. One discrepancy between the prediction and the observations was that the number of Phoenicids observed was only 10% of the prediction. This indicates that Comet Blanpain was active, but only to a limited extent when the observed meteors were released from the comet when it approached the Sun in the early 20th Century. To summarize, the observed meteor shower is the first example for the astronomers where the evolution of a comet has been estimated. Fujiwara enthusiastically states, "we would like to apply this technique to many other meteor showers for which the parent bodies are currently without clear cometary activities, in order to investigate the evolution of minor bodies in the Solar System."

Fujiwara's research is being published in the "Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan," and Sato's research will appear in the journal "Planetary and Space Science" very soon.

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Columbus, Ohio (Aug. 24, 2017) - Sultana Nahar, Ph.D. wants more scientific advances and discoveries, and she wants them now.

Her strategy? Teaching research-based courses.

Through physics and STEM courses and workshops, Nahar has been improving the computational skills of the scientific community one person at a time with the hope that more breakthroughs will be made.

"We can solve more problems in science, we just need manpower," said Nahar, a senior research professor in Ohio State's Department of Astronomy. "Through these workshops, we can achieve our goals faster."

Supercomputing services through the Ohio Supercomputer Center help Nahar conduct computational workshops as part of her lecture courses. These workshops train participants to use computer programs for research projects.

As a longtime OSC client since accepting a post-doctoral fellowship position at Ohio State in 1990, Nahar knows the importance of high performance computing for her own research. Nahar has used OSC for large-scale, high-accuracy computations for atomic processes under the international collaborations of the Opacity Project and the IRON Project. These projects aim to solve long-standing astrophysical problems and have earned her the nickname "Iron Lady" for her extensive work on complex iron ions in space.

The value of having OSC support her is especially vital to Nahar's efforts to educate students and researchers in underdeveloped countries.

Nahar has been teaching courses and conducting workshops for students and faculty members in countries such as Bangladesh, Egypt, and India -- drawing students from many universities in each country -- to expand and grow international diversity for science engineering students and post-doctoral researchers.

"This is of great importance; without the workshops, it is very difficult for these students to learn codes and understand the programs for their research," she said. "They're very smart, as smart as any students in developed countries. They just need resources."

In the mid-1990s, Nahar started an outreach program to help improve the quality of education and research in underserved areas and to encourage international involvement of scientists in developing countries, such as her home country of Bangladesh. The outreach programs evolved when she began doing physics workshops with programs installed at OSC through emails for researchers in Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, and Turkey.

In 2013, Nahar traveled to Cairo University in Egypt for her first on-site workshop, thanks to an agreement between The Ohio State University and Cairo University. Nahar initiated and coordinated the arrangement years ago as part of her mentoring efforts; it covers the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering.

That initial atomic astrophysics course, which included the computation workshop, was a tremendous success.

"We had students, researchers, faculty members from seven organizations," Nahar said. "We met three times a week and some would travel more than an hour to attend the two-hour-long classes and workshops," Nahar said. "They were very interested in the workshops for two reasons: One, my topics are interesting and are research based; and two, the supercomputer center is a highly sophisticated facility they can use."

Certificates for the course were given out by the Dean of Faculty of Science in a ceremony held in special Ibn Sina Hall, and Nahar received the "Shield of Faculty of Science" with appreciation. She has continued delivering the computational-based course at Cairo University with attendants from multiple institutions. Professor Ola Hassouneh of the University of Jordan in Amman registered for the course in 2016 mainly for the computational workshop for her research, although she ultimately could not get the approval to leave her teaching duty.

In the years since the STEM workshops started, Nahar has taught at the universities of Delhi, Kashmir, and King Saud in Riyadh. This past spring, Nahar delivered her third STEM workshop on atomic astrophysics with computational workshops in Aligarh Muslim University in India, with which Ohio State has an MOA. Members from chemistry, computer science, and engineering join those from physics. Researchers in other universities are interested in the course. Nahar will be giving the course at three universities in Bangladesh in 2017.

Using OSC's resources and Nahar's training, those students -- were able to submit papers, much as they do today.

The course involved lectures and learning to use programs such as the R-matrix package of codes on atomic structure and processes that run on the OSC clusters. As with past workshops, these help the students gain experience as they try to attain their doctorates.

"One of the most important parts of STEM education and research is computation of parameters for solving real problems," Nahar said. "It's not easy to calculate and we need very high accuracy in our results, that can only be achieved through precise computations with high performance computer facilities.

"Without OSC, I could not run this program, and they could not learn."

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A new study shows that the networks formed by patterns of patient transfers between hospitals in France are very similar among three patient populations: those diagnosed with hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), those with suspected HAIs, and the general patient population. The research, published in PLOS Computational Biology, could help inform efforts to reduce the spread of HAIs.

Previous research has revealed the importance of studying HAIs not just in individual hospitals but also in the context of larger networks formed by transfers of the general patient population among healthcare institutions. Such networks can help predict HAI spread. However, it was unclear whether more focused networks formed by transfers of patients diagnosed with HAIs could provide new information.

In the new study, researchers from Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers and from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sante Publique addressed this question. The scientists assembled data on all patient discharges from hospitals in France for the year 2014. They used social network analysis methods to analyze the structure of the networks formed by transfers of patients with HAIs, those with suspected HAIs, and the general patient population.

The team found that the only major difference between the three types of networks was their size; about 1 million transfers occurred in 2014, with about 130,000 involving patients suspected to have HAIs and 14,000 diagnosed with HAIs. Otherwise, the team was surprised to find, all three networks showed similar patient transfer patterns and similar underlying structure, often centered around university hospitals.

The analysis echoed the findings of previous studies showing that most transfers occur in regional clusters, with a small percentage of inter-regional transfers. The researchers identified key transfer patterns within regions; these insights could potentially help detect and control outbreaks in their early stages before they reach highly centralized university hospitals--increasing the risk of accelerated spread of multi-drug resistant bacteria throughout the network.

"Researchers should consider our work along with the growing literature that describes the specific nature of healthcare networks in which patient transfers are centralized toward hub healthcare centers," says study corresponding author Narimane Nekkab. Such work should "consider directionality of patient movement to construct sub-regional communities to better understand patient transfer patterns at the local level."

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In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS Computational Biology: http://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005666

Citation: Nekkab N, Astagneau P, Temime L, Crepey P (2017) Spread of hospital-acquired infections: A comparison of healthcare networks. PLoS Comput Biol 13(8): e1005666. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005666

Funding: This work was supported by the Interdisciplinary research program on health crisis and health protection (PRINCEPS) of Sorbonne Paris Cite University, within the program "Investissements d'Avenir" launched by the French State. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests.
CALGARY, ALBERTA (August 2017) - When the Panamanian land bridge formed around 3 million years ago, Southern Mexico was in the middle of a great biotic interchange of large animals from North and South America that crossed the continents in both directions. However, fossil animals from this time have been rare for the in-between environments of Central America and southern Mexico. Recently, a team technical cave divers are helping fill in this gap by discovering remains of large animals that once roamed the Yucatan Peninsula, during the end of the last Ice Age (around 13,000 years ago). Lead author, Dr. Blaine Schubert will present the team's findings at this year's annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology held this year in Calgary, Alberta (Canada) on Saturday, Aug. 26th at 9:00am.

The team of divers descended into the flooded passageways to an underground pit known as "Hoyo Negro" (Spanish for "Black Hole"), reaching down 180 ft (55 m) into the darkness. During the last Ice Age, sea level was much lower, and the prehistoric animals were able to walk to Hoyo Negro through horizontal passageways, only to fall into the inescapable pit within the cave. Divers have been photo-documenting the material before extraction, using re-breathing SCUBA equipment to prevent bubbles from disturbing the site. Dr. Blaine Schubert of East Tennessee State University, one of the lead researchers on the project says, "preservation of the fossil material is extraordinary, and will allow us to reconstruct various aspects of anatomy, evolutionary relationships, and behavior. The diversity of the fauna gives us an exciting new picture of this region in the midst of rapid climatic and environmental change."

Thus far the crew has recovered remains of three different giant ground sloths (including an entirely new species), short-faced bears, mountain lions, sabertooth cats, a bizarre relative of elephants called a gomphothere, tapirs, and even a human. "This represents the oldest and most complete early human skeleton in the Americas, and she co-existed with a variety of megafauna" says Schubert. "The remains of the short-faced bear Arctotherium are particularly significant, representing not only the most complete and abundant material from one location, but also the first evidence that they crossed from South America into North America." This fossil fauna is fleshing out a larger ecosystem for southern North America, which has typically been thought of as more of a bridge between landmasses than its own thriving community of local inhabitants. As the international collaboration of U.S. and Mexican researchers continues its work, the scientists hope to better understand the nature of this bridge and its own ecological complexities.

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About the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology

Founded in 1940 by thirty-four paleontologists, the Society now has more than 2,300 members representing professionals, students, artists, preparators, and others interested in VP. It is organized exclusively for educational and scientific purposes, with the object of advancing the science of vertebrate paleontology.

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology

The Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology (JVP) is the leading journal of professional vertebrate paleontology and the flagship publication of the Society. It was founded in 1980 by Dr. Jiri Zidek and publishes contributions on all aspects of vertebrate paleontology.

Journal Web site: Society of Vertebrate Paleontology: http://www.vertpaleo.org

AUTHOR CONTACT INFORMATION

Author: Blaine Schubert

East Tennessee State University

schubert@etsu.edu

Other Authors:

James Chatters

Joaquin Arroyo-Cabrales

H. Gregory McDonald

Chris Widga

Dominique Rissolo

Alberto Nava Blank

Alejandro Alvarex-Enriquez

Roberto G. Chavez Arce

Pilar Luna Erreguerena

Image 1: Diver inspects the arm bones of a giant ground sloth (photo by Roberto Chavez Arce).

Image 2: Diver with a human skull, found in Hoyo Negro (photo by Daniel Riordan Araujo).

Image 3: Hoyo Negro well lit by the lights of cave divers (photo by Roberto Chavez Arce).
CALGARY, ALBERTA (August 2017) -The Mongolian Desert has been known for decades for its amazing array of dinosaurs, immaculately preserved in incredible detail and in associations that give exceedingly rare glimpses at behavior in the fossil record. New remains from this region suggest an entirely unknown behavior for bird-like dinosaurs about 70 million years ago. At least some dinosaurs likely roosted together to sleep, quite possibly as a family, much like many modern birds do today. Gregory Funston, Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Alberta, will present the team's research findings at the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, held this year in Calgary, Alberta (Canada) on Friday, Aug. 25th at 2:30pm.

This new evidence for dinosaur roosting stems from a confiscated fossil block that was illegally exported from Mongolia, which preserved the amazing remains of three juvenile dinosaurs known as oviraptorids (part of the bird line of dinosaur evolution). These three dinosaurs represent the same species that were roughly the same age, preserved in a sleeping posture, so close to each other that they would have been touching in life. Known as "communal roosting", this behavior is seen in many birds today including chickens and pigeons. The specimen luckily made its way into the hands of researchers currently led by Gregory Funston of the University of Alberta, along with his advisor Dr. Philip Currie (also of the University of Alberta) and the Institute of Paleontology and Geology of Mongolia (based in Ulaanbaatar). Regarding the finding, Funston said, "It's a fantastic specimen. It's rare to find a skeleton preserved in life position, so having two complete individuals and parts of a third is really incredible".

The three juvenile oviraptors had several features that indicated they belonged to a whole new species. Other fossils found in Mongolia also seem to belong to this new species, and further flesh out the life history of these animals. The notable head crest is present even at a young age, but the dinosaurs would have had gradually shorter tails as they aged, and some of their bones fused across their lifetime. Their head crests and tails have been argued to represent sexual display features used in mating, somewhat similar to modern peacocks or turkeys. Funston added "The origins of communal roosting in birds are still debated, so this specimen will provide valuable information on roosting habits in bird-line theropods".

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About the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology

Founded in 1940 by thirty-four paleontologists, the Society now has more than 2,300 members representing professionals, students, artists, preparators, and others interested in VP. It is organized exclusively for educational and scientific purposes, with the object of advancing the science of vertebrate paleontology.

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology

The Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology (JVP) is the leading journal of professional vertebrate paleontology and the flagship publication of the Society. It was founded in 1980 by Dr. Jiri Zidek and publishes contributions on all aspects of vertebrate paleontology.

Journal Web site: Society of Vertebrate Paleontology: http://www.vertpaleo.org

AUTHOR CONTACT INFORMATION

Author: Gregory Funston

University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

funston@alberta.ca

Other Authors:

Philip Currie

University of Alberta

Chinzorig Tsogtbaatar

Hokkaido University

Image 1: Diagram showing the skeletal elements of the new species of dinosaur with its many bird-like features.

Image 2: Photo and sketch of the confiscated specimen showing three different juveniles of the same species of dinosaur preserved in roosting posture, immediately next to each other.
DEERFIELD, IL (August, 2017) - The vast expanses of the Gobi Desert are a prime destination for paleontologists. Since the 1920s, expeditions to the Gobi have unearthed thousands of dinosaur fossils, including the nests and eggs of Oviraptor, the bones of the iconic Velociraptor, and the skeletons of the giant plant-eater Saurolophus. Today, a very different type of behemoth rumbles through rural Mongolia. It's called the Moveable Dinosaur Museum, and it's changing the way school kids learn about paleontology.

Apart from the giant sauropod dinosaur adorning its sides, the Movable Museum looks like an oversized tour bus. But inside is a 250-square-foot exhibit space with modern, engaging displays designed for children and curious adults to learn all about dinosaurs. Despite the long history of paleontology in the Gobi, many Mongolians have never visited a dinosaur museum. Filled with scaled-down exhibits, the Moveable Museum travels from town to town, bringing a museum experience to rural and urban areas of Mongolia.

"The population of Mongolia has broad access to both the internet and higher education, but there's little focus on paleontology in schools and almost no information available about dinosaurs online in Mongolian,"said Thea Boodhoo of the Institute for the Study of Mongolian Dinosaurs (ISMD). "Students who visit the museum as part of a workshop are given an activity to find all the Mongolian dinosaurs on board. The workshop gives them an accurate sense of how important Mongolia is to the field of paleontology, and how close to home these dinosaurs really are."

The Movable Museum is a project of The Institute for the Study of Mongolian Dinosaurs, a nonprofit organization founded by Mongolian paleontologist Bolortsetseg Minjin in 2007. She has led dinosaur workshops in Mongolia almost every summer for the past decade, and secured the Moveable Museum as a donation from the American Museum of Natural History in 2013. To get it shipped to Ulaanbaatar, she enlisted the help of philanthropist Gerry Ohrstrom and Epicurus Fund. In 2015, she organized its first outreach expedition outside the capital, running a crowdfunding campaign to bring it all the way to the world-famous Flaming Cliffs in the Gobi Desert. The local community at the quarry where Protoceratops and Velociraptor were discovered has been historically overlooked in paleontology outreach.

Boodhoo joined ISMD in 2016, and together the team secured funding to conduct a second outreach expedition across rural Mongolia, reaching approximately 1000 students and teachers - many of whom had never seen a dinosaur museum before. Workshops and tours were led by Bolortsetseg and Mongolian educator Binderiya Munkhbat. "Since I don't speak Mongolian, I'm really just a photographer on these trips. But it's amazing to watch the kids light up when Bolortsetseg tells them about the incredible animals that lived in their own back yards," Boodhoo states.

At the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Boodhoo reported on the Moveable Museum's two seasons of education and outreach in Mongolia. They still face a few challenges. "It's the only vehicle of its kind in Mongolia, so mechanical repairs can be time-intensive and costly," said Boodhoo. Keeping the vehicle safe from the icy blasts of winter is also a challenge, since no indoor parking facility can accommodate the titanosaur-sized truck.

Everyone at ISMD hopes the Moveable Museum will ultimately help protect Mongolia's fossil sites, which are among the richest and most important in the world. The smuggling and sale of Mongolian fossils has been an enduring problem, resulting in the scientific loss and damage of countless irreplaceable specimens. By working with and teaching the people who live closest to the sites, Bolortsetseg says, "we can show how local communities can benefit from sustained dinosaur-based tourism by protecting fossils in place. This is a challenging balance, and we hope to inspire some local kids to become paleontologists themselves."

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About the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology

Founded in 1940 by thirty-four paleontologists, the Society now has more than 2,300 members representing professionals, students, artists, preparators, and others interested in VP. It is organized exclusively for educational and scientific purposes, with the object of advancing the science of vertebrate paleontology.

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology

The Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology (JVP) is the leading journal of professional vertebrate paleontology and the flagship publication of the Society. It was founded in 1980 by Dr. Jiri Zidek and publishes contributions on all aspects of vertebrate paleontology.

Journal Web site: Society of Vertebrate Paleontology: http://www.vertpaleo.org

AUTHOR CONTACT INFORMATION

Thea Boodhoo thea@mongoliandinosaurs.org

Bolortsetseg Minjin bolor@mongoliandinosaurs.org Institute for the Study of Mongolian Dinosaurs

Twitter, Facebook & Instagram: @MongolianDinos http://www.MongolianDinosaurs.org

Figure 1. Children mill around the Moveable Dinosaur Museum as it visits their school in Mandalgovi, located in central Mongolia about 300 km south of the capital, Ulaanbataar. Inside, the vehicle houses a 250-square-foot exhibition spaces displaying the latest in dinosaur discoveries.

Figure 2. Inside the Moveable Dinosaur Museum, a child explores an exhibit on feathered dinosaurs. Workshops challenge students to learn about dinosaur biology and the conservation of fossils as unique scientific resources.
CALGARY, ALBERTA (August 2017) -Researchers studying a 400 million year old bony fish from Estonia believe that they have found evidence for the origins of teeth. Using advanced synchrotron microtomography on numerous specimens representing different ages has allowed scientists a rare glimpse into the evolution and formation of teeth. As lead author Donglei Chen explains, "We can watch how fishes initiated and replaced teeth one by one, and how the blood vessels of these teeth were formed, 400 million years ago. It is as if we have traveled through a space-time portal to a living, microscopic world inside the fossil bones." This research will be presented at the 77th Annual Society of Vertebrate Paleontology meeting in Calgary, Canada.

Teeth consist of a soft pulp surrounded by dentine and covered by a mineralized substance such as enamel. Some researchers believe that teeth evolved from dermal scales around the mouth region in primitive fishes called odontodes. But as Donglei Chen states, "To understand the origin of teeth, people have tended to search for dermal odontodes that look like teeth. However, even if the extra-oral 'teeth' have all the features thought to be unique to true teeth, this may only represent convergent evolution based on a flexible developmental tool kit shared by all dermal teeth."

Based on their work of one of the earliest known bony fishes, Lophosteus superbus, from the Late Silurian of Estonia, Uppsala University researchers looked for clues into the origins of teeth. This fish had many skull ornamentations that were similar to earlier groups of fishes called arthrodires. Some of these ornamentations on and around the mouth had a dome-shaped appeared that the researchers referred to as 'tooth cushions'. These tooth cushions appear to represent the most primitive form of a tooth battery within the mouth. By using synchrotron microtomography, Chen and his colleagues were able to reconstruct 3D images of specimens of different ages in order to compare the growth history and development of the teeth. Chen adds, "By modelling the successive resorption surfaces in three dimensions it allows us to visualize the entire developmental trajectory of the dentition". As a result, the dental development of Lophosteus may cast light on the possible origin of teeth from dermal odontodes, and on the evolutionary relationship between dentitions of all jawed animals.

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About the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology

Founded in 1940 by thirty-four paleontologists, the Society now has more than 2,300 members representing professionals, students, artists, preparators, and others interested in VP. It is organized exclusively for educational and scientific purposes, with the object of advancing the science of vertebrate paleontology.

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology

The Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology (JVP) is the leading journal of professional vertebrate paleontology and the flagship publication of the Society. It was founded in 1980 by Dr. Jiri Zidek and publishes contributions on all aspects of vertebrate paleontology.

Journal Web site: Society of Vertebrate Paleontology: http://www.vertpaleo.org

AUTHOR CONTACT INFORMATION

Author: Donglei Chen

Uppsala University

Uppsala, Sweden

donglei.chen@ebc.uu.se

Co-authors:

Henning Blom

Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

Sophie Sanchez

Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

Paul Tafforeau

European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France

Per Ahlberg

Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

IMAGES

All three images show synchrotron scans of Lophosteus jaws and are credited to Donglei Chen.

While the successive generations undergotrue basal resorption, probably due to the supply of external osteoclasts from the vessels newly entrapped in the bone of attachment. In the marginal jawbones, the first shedding teeth are added at tooth sites established by conical non-shedding odontodes, after the latter have been partly removed by apical resorption. These first-generation odontodes, which are organized in an alternate pattern and pre-pattern the shedding dentition, fuse into a multicuspid sheet on the facial lamina. The replacement cycle can be terminated by overgrowth of ornament, with new shedding tooth sites added lingually, and the number of replacement cycles of tooth sites in the same file varies considerably. A linguo-labial morphological gradient is exhibited from unicuspid teeth, via multicuspid ornament, to elaborate stellate ornament with crenulated ridges. Surprisingly, some of the shedding teeth bear tiny labialside-cusps, resembling the ornaments, but real ornament odontodes can be distinguished by their infill of osteodentine.

Odontodes, or dermal teeth, are hard structures found on the external surfaces of animals or near internal openings..[1] They generally do not have the same function as teeth, and are not replaced the same way teeth are in most fish.[2] In some animals (notably catfish), the presence or size of odontodes can be used in determining the sex.[3] The name comes from the Greek "odon" meaning tooth.
La Jolla, Calif., August 24, 2017 - Researchers at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) have developed a proof-of-concept nanosystem that dramatically improves the visualization of tumors. Published today in Nature Communications, the platform achieves a five-fold increase over existing tumor-specific optical imaging methods. The novel approach generates bright tumor signals by delivering "quantum dots" to cancer cells without any toxic effects.

Xiangyou Liu, Ph.D., and Gary Braun, Ph.D., developed the method in the laboratories of Kazuki Sugahara, M.D., Ph.D., adjunct assistant professor at SBP and adjunct associate research scientist at Columbia University, and Erkki Ruoslahti, M.D., Ph.D., distinguished professor at SBP.

"Tumor imaging is an integral part of cancer detection, treatment and tracking the progress of patients after treatment," says Sugahara. "Although significant progress has been made in the last two decades, better and more sensitive detection, such as the method we are developing, will contribute to more personalized and potentially more effective interventions to improve the clinical outcomes of cancer patients."

The new method utilizes quantum dots, QDs--tiny particles that emit intense fluorescent signals when exposed to light--and an "etchant" that eliminates background signals. The QDs are delivered intravenously, and some of them leave the bloodstream and cross membranes, entering cancer cells. Fluorescent signals emitted from excess QDs that remain in the bloodstream are then made invisible by injecting the etchant.

"The novelty of our nanosystem is how the etchant works," explains Braun. The etchant and the QDs undergo a "cation exchange" that occurs when zinc in the QDs is swapped for silver in the etchant. Silver-containing QDs lose their fluorescent capabilities, and because the etchant can't cross membranes to reach tumor cells, the QDs that have reached the tumor remain fluorescent. Thus, the entire process eliminates background fluorescence while preserving tumor-specific signals.

The method was developed using mice harboring human breast, prostate and gastric tumors. QDs were actively delivered to tumors using iRGD, a tumor penetrating peptide that activates a transport pathway that drives the peptide along with bystander molecules--in this case fluorescent QDs--into cancer cells. iRGD methodology was originally developed in Ruoslahti's lab.

To our knowledge, this is the first in vivo example of a background-destroying etchant being used to enhance the specificity of imaging," says Sugahara. "We are encouraged that we were able to achieve a tumor-specific contrast index (CI) between five- and ten-fold greater than the general cut-off for optical imaging, which is 2.5."

"Moving forward we will focus on developing our novel nanosystem to work with routine imaging tests like PET scans and MRIs. In our studies with mice, we use optical imaging, which isn't always practical for humans," Sugahara explains.

A new company is in the process of being founded to further develop the platform for human use.

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Mingde Qin, Ph.D., (UC San Diego) also contributed to the work.

About SBP

Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) is an independent nonprofit medical research organization that conducts world-class, collaborative, biological research and translates its discoveries for the benefit of patients. SBP focuses its research on cancer, immunity, neurodegeneration, metabolic disorders and rare children's diseases. The Institute invests in talent, technology and partnerships to accelerate the translation of laboratory discoveries that will have the greatest impact on patients. Recognized for its world-class NCI-designated Cancer Center and the Conrad Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics, SBP employs about 1,100 scientists and staff in San Diego (La Jolla), Calif., and Orlando (Lake Nona), Fla. For more information, visit us at SBPdiscovery.org or on Facebook at facebook.com/SBPdiscovery and on Twitter @SBPdiscovery.
Scientists have unlocked a key element in understanding how human lungs fight tuberculosis (TB). They hope their research findings, which were published today in the international peer reviewed journal Immunity, will help pave the way towards new treatment approaches for TB, particularly in an era of increasing antibiotic resistance to TB.

Multi drug resistant TB is a global problem. These strains are resistant to several or most of the antibiotics used to treat TB. The need to find new strategies for treating TB, beyond antibiotics, is therefore critical and urgent.

Scientists at Trinity College Dublin and St James's Hospital in Ireland, working in a team with the University of Cambridge and University of Seattle, have identified a way that TB hijacks our immune cells in the early stages of infection to allow it to establish an infection in the lung.

Tuberculosis is the world's number one infectious killer, but half of infected persons clear the invading TB bacteria (known as mycobacteria) after inhaling it into their lungs. To date, it has not been understood how the immune system in the lungs manages to do this.

The lung contains a population of specialised immune cells, known as alveolar macrophages, which are the first responders to bacterial infections. These alveolar macrophages patrol the lung engulfing and destroying any bacteria they encounter along the way.

Using transparent zebra fish, the University of Cambridge and University of Seattle researchers tracked the mycobacteria in real time and identified which cells they infected at different stages of the disease. They found that the more virulent strains of mycobacteria are able to hijack the macrophage immune cells in the lung causing them to produce a protein that attracts white blood cells from the circulation. These white blood cells fuse with the macrophages and in turn become infected.

The Trinity team of Dr Seonadh O'Leary, Senior Research Fellow, Professor Joseph Keane, Professor in Medicine at Trinity and Consultant Respiratory Physician at St James's Hospital, and Dr Mary O'Sullivan, Associate Research Lecturer, used donated lung macrophage samples from patients in St James's Hospital to study the response of the human immune system to TB in the early stages of infection. They found that human alveolar macrophages behave similarly to zebrafish macrophages producing the same protein that attracts white blood cells to the lung. Unlike the resident alveolar macrophages these white blood cells lack the ability to curb the growth of mycobacteria which results in uncontrolled bacterial growth and inflammation and in the spread of the infection.

Dr Seonadh O' Leary said: "We are fascinated how TB bacteria virulence factors can corrupt this human lung immune cell which is ordinarily exceptionally good at clearing infection. It's very exciting to work with our Cambridge colleagues on this research which improves our understanding of how TB infection compromises immunity. We are in a unique position to address the important challenges for TB treatment as we work with the human lung model. This allows us to continue in our research to design novel ways to support the effective lung cell and prevent infections in exposed people."

The Trinity/St. James's team is funded by the Health Research Board and the Royal City of Dublin Hospital Trust, and are now hoping to identify drugs that will enable these immune cells to stop the infection in its tracks -- by killing the mycobacteria before they attract white blood cells to the lung.

Mairead O Driscoll, Interim Chief Executive at the Health Research Board congratulated the team: "Antidrug resistant TB is a global problem. We're delighted to be able to facilitate international collaboration to tackle this challenge. These findings represent a significant breakthrough in our understanding of how the bacteria avoids our immune system."

"Ireland is lucky to have such brilliant researchers, who are genuine world leaders in their fields. The Health Research Board is determined to continue to develop Ireland's health research capacity, so that we have the people, the facilities, and the support structures to produce more results like this."

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It was not uncommon for older adults to report mishearing a physician or nurse in a primary care or hospital setting, according to a study published by JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.

The prevalence of medical errors is higher among older patients. Failures in clinical communication are considered to be the leading cause of medical errors. A previous study reported that improved communication between the medical teams and families could have prevented 36 percent of medical errors. Colm M. P. O'Tuathaigh, B.A., Ph.D., of University College Cork, Cork, Ireland and colleagues conducted an analysis of interview data collected in 100 adults 60 years and older to examine communication breakdown in hospital and primary care settings among adults reporting hearing loss.

Of these adults, 57 reported some degree of hearing loss; 26 used a hearing aid device. Of the 100 adults, 43 reported having misheard a physician, nurse or both in a primary care or hospital setting. When asked to elaborate on the context of mishearing in a clinical setting, the scenarios included (in descending order of citation frequency): general mishearing, consultation content, physician-patient or nurse-patient communication breakdown, hospital setting and use of language.

"This qualitative analysis confirms that age-related hearing loss has a negative effect on clinical communication across both hospital and primary care clinical settings," the authors write. "We recommend that content-related and setting-related factors identified as barriers to communication in adults with hearing impairment be incorporated within a patient-centered approach to clinical communication with this patient population."

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For more details and to read the full study, please visit the For The Media website.

(doi:10.1001/jamaoto.2017.1248)

Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.

To place an electronic embedded link to this article in your story Link will be live at the embargo time: http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaotolaryngology/fullarticle/10.1001/jamaoto.2017.1248
UCR study on US Glacial Aquifer and 3 Asian countries suggests public health officials should monitor manganese as a possible public health threat

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (http://www.ucr.edu) -- Underground drinking water sources in parts of the U.S. and three Asian countries may not be as safe as previously thought due to high levels of manganese, especially at shallow depths, according to a study led by a researcher at the University of California, Riverside. Manganese, a metal that is required by the body in tiny amounts, can be toxic at elevated levels, particularly in children.

Samantha Ying, an assistant professor of environmental sciences in UCR's College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, led the study, which was published recently in Environmental Science & Technology. The paper describes manganese levels that exceed World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines in groundwater wells in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, and the Glacial Aquifer, which spans 26 states in the northern U.S. and provides drinking water to more than 41 million Americans. Of the four regions, the Glacial Aquifer had the fewest contaminated wells.

While groundwater can be contaminated with a number of heavy metals, more emphasis has been placed on assessing the levels of arsenic than manganese, although the latter also poses a threat to human health. Levels of arsenic, a known carcinogen above the WHO's guideline of 10 parts per billion (ppb), are enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. and similar agencies in other countries. Although the WHO suggests a health-based limit of 400 ppb, manganese is not listed as a contaminant on the EPA's National Primary Drinking Water Regulations, and therefore the levels are not monitored or enforced.

A growing number of studies have linked abnormal manganese concentrations in the brain to neurological disorders similar to Parkinson's disease, and elevated levels in children may negatively impact neurodevelopment and cognitive performance.

In the current study, the researchers collected and analyzed chemical data from 16,000 wells in the Glacial Aquifer, the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Mehta Basin in Bangladesh, the Mekong Delta in Cambodia, and the Yangtze River Basin of China. The researchers studied the levels of arsenic and manganese at a range of depths, showing that, in general, arsenic levels increased with depth, while manganese levels decreased with depth.

When accounting for both metals at levels suggested by the WHO, the percentage of contaminated wells across all depths increased as follows:

-Glacial Aquifer (U.S): 9.3 percent contaminated when considering arsenic only; increased to 16.4 percent when considering arsenic and manganese.

-Ganges-Brahmaputra-Mehta Basin (Bangladesh): 44.5 percent contaminated when considering arsenic only; increased to 70 percent when considering arsenic and manganese.

-Mekong Delta (Cambodia): 10 percent contaminated when considering arsenic only; increased to 32 percent when considering arsenic and manganese.

-Yangtze River Basin (China): 19 percent contaminated when considering arsenic only; increased to 88 percent when considering arsenic and manganese.

Ying said omitting manganese from water monitoring protocols means public health officials are dramatically overestimating the number of safe wells in some regions.

However, while arsenic contaminated wells should be avoided completely, manganese contaminated wells can be treated inexpensively or be used for agriculture rather than drinking water.

"Providing access to safe drinking water is a global challenge that is increasing the demand for drinking water from underground sources," Ying said. "However, due to increasing knowledge on the detrimental impact of manganese on human health, particularly on children, manganese levels in these sources should be monitored more closely and governments should consider introducing manganese drinking water standards.

Ying said since the highest manganese concentrations were not found at the same depths as the highest arsenic concentrations, these contaminants can and should be evaluated separately to ensure groundwater is fit for human consumption or agricultural use.

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The title of the paper is "Depth Stratification Leads to Distinct Zones of Manganese and Arsenic Contaminated Groundwater." In addition to Ying, UCR contributors include: Michael V. Schaefer, a postdoctoral researcher and Jun Li, an associate professor of statistics. Co-contributors include Scott Fendorf, a professor of soil biogeochemistry at Stanford University, and Alicea Cock?Esteb, program manager at Aquaya Institute.
NOAA grant funds investigation to find what triggers production of the toxin domoic acid by marine algae in events that can harm wildlife and close coastal fisheries

The disastrous 2015-16 Dungeness crab season, delayed and shortened by an unprecedented bloom of toxic algae, is a bitter memory for the West Coast fishing industry. The culprit was domoic acid, a potent neurotoxin produced by marine algae and discovered in 1987 as the cause of amnesic shellfish poisoning.

Scientists at UC Santa Cruz have made substantial progress in understanding and predicting the conditions that lead to large blooms of the toxin-producing algae (diatoms called Pseudo-nitzschia). But one aspect of these toxic algal blooms, which affect wildlife as well as economically important fisheries, remains a mystery: how do the algae make domoic acid and what triggers its production?

Marilou Sison-Mangus, an assistant professor of ocean sciences at UC Santa Cruz, explains that the algae do not always produce the toxin. "There are blooms of Pseudo-nitzschia every spring and summer along the California coast, but the toxicity varies a lot," she says. "For the seafood industry, this toxin can have a big impact, so we want to understand the mechanisms behind its production. It's a 30-year-old question."

A new grant from NOAA's Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB) Program will fund a research project led by Sison-Mangus to answer that question. Her co-investigators on this interdisciplinary project include chemistry professor Phil Crews and statistician Juhee Lee, assistant professor of applied math and statistics. The NOAA grant provides $130,000 per year for three years, but only the first year of funding is guaranteed. Funding for subsequent years depends on the availability of future NOAA appropriations.

Sison-Mangus's lab at UC Santa Cruz has been investigating the role of bacteria in the production of domoic acid by algae. It turns out that Pseudo-nitzschia itself does not have all the genes needed to synthesize the toxin.

"We think one of the precursors needed for domoic acid synthesis is produced by bacteria," Sison-Mangus said. "If that's the case, we may be able to use the presence of the bacteria as a marker to predict the toxicity of the algae."

Previous experiments by Sison-Mangus and others have shown that bacteria-free cultures of Pseudo-nitzschia are not able to produce domoic acid, while adding bacteria to the cultures restores toxin production. She has found that marine bacteria in the phylum Bacteroidetes, alone or in combination with other bacteria, consistently induce a big spike in domoic acid production in cultures of three different Pseudo-nitzschia species.

Sison-Mangus has also monitored algal blooms in Monterey Bay and found a close correlation between domoic acid levels and the presence of Bacteroidetes bacteria in association with Pseudo-nitzschia. Electron microscope images show the bacteria living on the outer surface of the algal cells.

"We know these bacteria are associated with toxic blooms the ocean, and we know they cause toxicity to spike in the lab, but we don't know the mechanisms of toxin production," Sison-Mangus said.

One part of the new research project will focus on unraveling the details of how algae and bacteria interact to produce domoic acid. Another part of the project will use monitoring data from Monterey Bay to assess how this interaction fits into the larger context of the many physical and environmental factors, such as water temperature and nutrient levels, also known to influence toxic algae blooms.

Sorting out the effects of multiple factors, all varying simultaneously in a complex system, is a challenge. But this is Juhee Lee's area of expertise, and she has developed a Bayesian statistical modeling approach that will help the researchers understand how all these factors interact to influence the development of a toxic algae bloom.

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The results of this research may be incorporated into existing predictive models for forecasting Pseudo-nitzschia blooms and domoic acid levels, developed at UC Santa Cruz by ocean sciences professor Raphael Kudela and research scientist Clarissa Anderson.
The newly established research programme, 'Programme for Translational Hematology', has just received DKK 100 million in funding from the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The aim is to strengthen the cooperation between basic research and clinical practice, to gain new knowledge on leukaemia and to make a concentrated effort to develop and test new forms of treatment. Professor Kristian Helin at DanStem and Biotech Research & Innovation Center (BRIC) is at the head of the new programme, which focusses in particular on identifying new forms of treatment of the leukaemia forms AML (Acute Myeloid Leukaemia) and MDS (Myelodysplastic Syndrome).

'I look forward to getting started, and I will be really busy. The great support of the programme from all sides, from the university environment to the clinical research done at Rigshospitalet and the Novo Nordisk Foundation, is amazing. The programme is first and foremost a main step in bridging the divide between basic research and clinical research, and we will draw on the best professional expertise from both environments. Hopefully this will enable us to meet our main objective, which is to help patients suffering from leukaemia', says Professor Kristian Helin, who stresses that Professor Kirsten Grnbk from the Department of Haematology and Professor Bo Porse from the Finsen Laboratory, both at Rigshospitalet, are main cooperation partners.

From DNA Sequencing to Phase 1 Trials and Recruitment of International Research Capacities

Kristian Helin explains that the research programme will take as its starting point the characterisation and use of leukaemia cells, which will be collected from patients over the next few years, and the first stage of the programme will consist in using this material to screen for the best possible forms of treatment. The goal is to become able to use the information about the mutations in patients' DNA that have prompted the development of leukaemia. It will be used to predict patients' need for treatment and medicine response time, making it easier for doctors to customise the treatment of individual patients. Another ambition is to produce pre-clinical models of the leukaemia by transplanting primary cells into mice.

'The pre-clinical trials and basic research are main parts of our overall goal of finding new targets for the development of new medicine. At the same time, we want to look ahead and identify new methods when we know how the various forms of leukaemia develop. We want to take our research all the way from basic research to clinical trials on human subjects', Kristian Helin says and stresses that the research programme also contains several educational perspectives. It will support the recruitment of young doctors and researchers, and strong international capacities have already been recruited for the programme in the form of Professor Krister Wennerberg from the Institute for Molecular Medicine in Finland.

Focus on Diabetes and a New Name for DanStem

The research programme falls under DanStem, which since its formation in 2010 has focussed on basic research primarily. The researchers have determined how stem cells in the laboratory can be forced to develop in a particular direction and identified the role played by cancer stem cells in the development of various forms of cancer. Now the centre is ready to take the next step and translate the research results into new, more targeted and efficient forms of treatment.

To further strengthen its translational research, the centre will allocate DKK 32 million from its previous budget to the development of diabetes treatment. Professor and Director of DanStem Henrik Semb looks forward to the strengthened effort to create new results.

'This shows that our basic research can be translated into clinical application within cancer and diabetes. The new grant and the redistribution of resources to translational research will strengthen our effort, through pre-clinical and future clinical trials, to develop new forms of treatment and cures for haematological forms of cancer and type 1 diabetes', says Professor Henrik Semb.

DanStem has previously consisted of two sections: the Novo Nordisk Foundation Section for Basic Stem Cell Biology funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the Section for Translational Stem Cell Research and Therapy funded by Innovation Fund Denmark. In connection with the new grant the two sections will be merged into one centre called the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Biology, Danstem.

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According to a new study, by the University of Leeds and Cardiff University, the conservation of threatened species has much to gain from acknowledging people's spiritual, magical and cultural beliefs.

The study, published today in the journal Oryx, draws on examples from countries including Madagascar, Iceland, Scotland, Ethiopia and Tanzania, providing a picture of the positive and negative impacts mythical creatures have had on conservation.

Lead author Dr George Holmes, from the School of Earth and Environment at Leeds, said: "It is difficult to predict how magical creatures can affect conservation goals. There are examples of myths and superstitions seriously harming the survival of certain species, and examples where they actually help species to survive."

"Current views of magical animals within the field of conservation are inadequate, as they are unable to deal with what many would see as irrational beliefs and behaviours."

"What we need is a more interdisciplinary approach to conservation that helps us to understand the interactions between humans and both living and magical biodiversity."

Magical Madagascar

Co-author Caroline Ward, postgraduate researcher at the University of Leeds, said: "Madagascar really exemplifies the need to understand people's magical beliefs, as there are examples where oversimplification of these beliefs has led to unexpected conservation outcomes."

The study highlights Madagascar, where spiritual beliefs surrounding magical and mythical animals are often interlinked with local taboos - called fadys - which form a strong part of Malagasy culture.

These taboos can result in protection for species, and have been encouraged by conservation projects seeking to strengthen these local beliefs. The taboos are often promoted as demonstrating how conservation can align with tradition, and have even been linked to the historically low prevalence of bushmeat hunting in Madagascar.

One such fady has been promoted to prevent extinction of the critically endangered radiated tortoise, which local Malagasy people refuse to harm, and in some cases even touch, for fear of spiritual retribution. However, the locals would not stop 'outsiders' from harming or removing the tortoises as they were not seen to be bound by the local rules. This illustrates the challenges of fully understanding the impact that magical beliefs can have on species conservation.

The study also describes instances in Madagascar where fadys result in the persecution of certain animals. The aye-aye is believed to be the harbinger of evil, with its appearance predicting the death or sickness of someone in the village. Some believe that aye-ayes sneak into houses and murder the sleeping occupants using their long middle fingers to puncture the victim's aorta. In order to prevent bad luck, the local taboo says that aye-ayes must be killed and displayed on roadside poles.

The fady-related killing of aye-ayes is listed as a key threat to their survival on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List, which classifies the species as endangered.

Dr George Holmes, Associate Professor at Leeds, said: "We are currently ill-prepared to conserve species which attract irrational human beliefs. Our research suggests that conservationists should look to new, broader approaches such as multi-species ethnography if they want to better understand how magical creatures might impact conservation."

Magical creatures aiding conservation

The paper refers to mythical creatures that can act as 'invisible umbrella' species, protecting non-magical creatures occupying shared habitats. In 2013, a court case fought against a proposed new highway in Iceland because it would cross the habitat of a valued species - the Icelandic elves, or Huldufolk.

In 2015, 350,000 people visited a thriving ecotourist site in Scotland because it is inhabited by a rare, endemic animal - the Loch Ness Monster. This mythical creature thus helped draw in revenue for the conservation and management of the area, as well as providing substantial economic value to the region.

In Ethiopia, spotted hyenas are tolerated and even fed by hand in some areas, as they are believed to consume evil spirits with their cackles, in addition to their role predating upon crop-raiding herbivores. Spotted hyena numbers have declined in some locations, particularly near growing urban areas, so these beliefs have helped to support their populations.

Co-author Dr Thomas Smith, from Cardiff University, said: "We really need to open up a discussion about how fantastic beasts can affect our ability to conserve the natural world, because there are no simple cases. Conservationists ignore mythical creatures at the peril of both biodiversity and the local people that live near or within significant conservation sites."

"Further research into the impact of magical creatures on conservation and local people is required if we are to effectively conserve the world's endangered species."

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Further information

Dr George Holmes and Caroline Ward are available for interview. Please contact Simon Moore in the University press office at +44 (0)113 34 34031 or s.i.moore@leeds.ac.uk for further information.

'Fantastic beasts and why to conserve them: animals, magic and biodiversity conservation' is published in the journal Oryx 24 August 2017 09:00AM BST (04:00AM EST).

University of Leeds

The University of Leeds is one of the largest higher education institutions in the UK, with more than 33,000 students from 147 different countries, and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities.

We are a top 10 university for research and impact power in the UK, according to the 2014 Research Excellence Framework and we are The Times and The Sunday Times University of the Year 2017. Additionally, the University has been awarded a gold rating by the Government's Teaching Excellence Framework recognising it is consistently outstanding at teaching and learning provision. http://www.leeds.ac.uk

Cardiff University

Cardiff University is recognised in independent government assessments as one of Britain's leading teaching and research universities and is a member of the Russell Group of the UK's most research intensive universities. The 2014 Research Excellence Framework ranked the University 5th in the UK for research excellence. Among its academic staff are two Nobel Laureates, including the winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize for Medicine, Professor Sir Martin Evans.

Founded by Royal Charter in 1883, today the University combines impressive modern facilities and a dynamic approach to teaching and research. The University's breadth of expertise encompasses: the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; the College of Biomedical and Life Sciences; and the College of Physical Sciences and Engineering, along with a longstanding commitment to lifelong learning. Cardiff's flagship Research Institutes are offering radical new approaches to pressing global problems. http://www.cardiff.ac.uk

Acknowledgements:

Caroline Ward's contribution was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council.
'Nonvoluntary treatment,' would distinguish psychiatric patients who refuse help but likely would have accepted it in a healthy state of mind from the traditional "involuntary treatment"

PHILADELPHIA -- The "involuntary treatment" of unwilling psychiatric patients has long been accepted as necessary in some cases, for the sake of patients and society, though it can raise serious ethical concerns as well as legal barriers. In a Viewpoint essay published online today in JAMA, Dominic Sisti, PhD, an assistant professor of Medical Ethics & Health Policy at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, argues that some of the concerns about treating patients without their consent would be alleviated if the mental health profession recognized an important distinction among these cases.

"The current strict limitations on involuntary treatment risk allowing people with psychiatric illness to go untreated and experience worsening symptoms despite compelling evidence that they would want to be well," said Sisti, who is also the director of the director of Penn's Scattergood Program for Applied Ethics in Behavioral Health Care, and an assistant professor of Psychiatry at Penn. "A patient may have previously expressed a wish to be treated while in crisis -- in which case, a treatment framed as involuntary is actually something else. The proposed concept of nonvoluntary treatment provides a more precise categorization of such cases."

Sisti suggests using the term, and treating accordingly, in situations where there is compelling evidence that patients would approve treatment if their judgment were not impaired by their illness.

Patients covered by this concept would include those who have expressly indicated a desire to be treated when needed, those who have been living successfully in recovery from mental illness and clearly wish to continue doing so, and those who have difficulty escaping severe drug addiction despite an evident wish to become addiction-free.

The "nonvoluntary" category could also cover patients presenting with their first psychotic episode -- due to undiagnosed schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, for example -- who essentially have no idea what is happening to them.

"With no prior experience of psychosis, these patients have not been able to develop informed preferences about treatment," Sisti said.

The evidence to justify nonvoluntary treatment could include advance directives already provided by the patient to caregivers, as well as testimony from family members, case managers, and primary caregivers--and even the patient's own social media posts.

The nonvoluntary treatment concept would still involve a degree of ethical risk, as the evidence of a patient's authentic wishes might be ambiguous. But, Sisti said, this challenge is not much different than those found in other areas of medicine where a patient seems incapacitated and caregivers and family members must use their own judgment concerning patient care. Moreover, there is potentially much greater harm in not treating these very sick patients compared to providing nonvoluntary treatment.

The burden of psychiatric illness, including disorders that could trigger hospitalization, remains very high in the United States. Psychosis-causing disorders alone afflict several percent of the population -- more than ten million people. The National Institute of Mental Health also has estimated that about 100,000 people every year in the United States have a first episode of psychosis.

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The study was supported by the Thomas Scatterfood Behaviroal Health Foundation.

Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $6.7 billion enterprise.

The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States for the past 20 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $392 million awarded in the 2016 fiscal year.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center -- which are recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report -- Chester County Hospital; Lancaster General Health; Penn Wissahickon Hospice; and Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional affiliated inpatient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, a partnership between Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network and Penn Medicine.

Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2016, Penn Medicine provided $393 million to benefit our community.
Finnish researchers at the University of Turku have revealed that exercise-induced endorphin release in the brain depends on the intensity of the exercise. Endorphin release induced by exercise may be an important mechanism which affects exercise motivation and maintenance of regular physical activity.

A recent study conducted at Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, shows that the popular high-intensity interval training (HIIT) leads to endorphin release in the brain, which might alleviate the physical and emotional stress caused by the high-intensity exercise. A less demanding, traditional one-hour aerobic exercise does not cause similar endorphin release.

In the study, HIIT significantly increased the release of endorphins and other opioid peptides in the brain areas controlling pain and emotions. In addition, HIIT induced negative feelings in the test subjects, which was associated with higher endorphin release. Although one-hour aerobic exercise did not induce significant release of endorphins, it increased pleasurable feelings and euphoria, which correlated with endorphin release.

- Our results highlight that exercise intensity affects endorphin release and that the brain opioid system is involved in both positive and negative feelings caused by physical exercise performed at different intensities, says Doctoral Candidate Tiina Saanijoki from Turku PET Centre.

- Exercise-induced endorphin release may be an important mechanism which supports exercise motivation and maintenance of regular exercise. At moderate training intensities, the pleasurable sensations caused by the possible release of endorphins may promote habitual exercise. At very high exercise intensities the release of endorphins appears to be linked to increased negative feelings and pain, and may be needed to manage the emotionally and physically demanding challenge. However, such negative feelings may discourage further exercise. Exercise intensity should be taken into account when starting new exercise routines, explains Saanijoki.

The study was conducted using positron emission tomography (PET). The participants were injected with a radioactive compound which binds to their brain's opioid receptors. Radioactivity in the brain was measured with the PET scanner in three conditions: after a 60-min aerobic moderate-intensity exercise session, after a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) session, and after rest.

The findings were published on 19 July 2017 in the scientific Neuropsychopharmacology journal.

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The research was funded by the Academy of Finland, the Hospital District of Southwest Finland, the University of Turku, the Ministry of Education of the State of Finland, the Paavo Nurmi Foundation, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the Paulo Foundation, the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the Instrumentarium Science Foundation, and the Juho Vainio Foundation.

Link to original publication: http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/vaop/naam/abs/npp2017148a.html

Previous related study: Affective responses induced by HIIT

Results published in December 2015 in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
Two studies provide additional support for lowering systolic blood pressure to an intensive goal of 120 mmHg - far below the standard guidelines of 140 mmHg - to reduce the risk of heart disease in high-risk patients with hypertension. The new research shows that intensive blood pressure control is well-tolerated by patients and is cost-effective in terms of health-related quality of life and financial costs to the healthcare system.

Published online in the New England Journal of Medicine on Aug. 24, the findings address ongoing debates that have been simmering since results from the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) were first reported nearly two years ago.

"Intensive blood pressure control improves health outcomes in high-risk patients, but it has been unclear whether the approach is cost-effective or if it's well-tolerated by patients compared to standard control," says Adam Bress, Pharm.D., M.S., an assistant professor of Population Health Sciences at University of Utah Health who co-led the first, cost-effectiveness study. Bress explains that treatment would not be sustainable in clinical practice if, for instance, it makes patients feel miserable or comes with an exorbitant price tag.

"Collectively, these results provide strong evidence that intensive control is worth considering in high-risk patients," says Bress.

Listening to Patient Perspectives

On average, patients on intensive therapy often took three to four anti-hypertensive medications to reach the lower blood pressure goal, raising concerns that side effects such as light-headedness, dizziness, or fatigue could make the regimen difficult to tolerate.

"In treating a chronic condition such as hypertension, it is important not only to prevent cardiovascular morbidity and mortality such as heart attacks and stroke, but also to ensure that people under treatment continue to feel well," says the second study's lead author Dan Berlowitz, M.D., Chief of Staff at the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital in Bedford, Mass., and a professor at Boston University.

The second study examined health-related quality of life by having the 9,631 SPRINT participants - about half of whom were on intensive therapy - answer standard questionnaires assessing their quality of life, physical and mental health, and satisfaction with their care during the clinical trial.

Participants on intensive therapy reported feeling as well as those receiving standard blood pressure control and were equally satisfied with their care. They were also just as likely to maintain their medication regimen, another indication that the treatment was well-tolerated.

A subpopulation considered particularly vulnerable to side effects from intensive therapy, frail participants age 75 and older, also fared well under the intensive approach.

"Frail, older participants began at lower measures of physical and cognitive abilities," explains Mark Supiano, M.D., a co-author on both studies and a geriatrician at University of Utah Health and VA Salt Lake City Health Care System. A total of 2,560 SPRINT participants were in this category.

"Importantly, intensive blood pressure control did not further decrease quality of life measures compared to standard control even in frail, older adults." Additional studies are being carried out to determine the long-term impacts of treatment.

Berlowitz points out that the results don't necessarily mean that everyone with high blood pressure should aim for a goal of less than 120 mmHg.

"In order for patients to have the future health benefits of intensive blood pressure control while maintaining their current health-related quality of life, clinicians and patients should work together to adjust medications as needed while keeping an eye on symptoms," he says.

Counting the Costs of Blood Pressure Control

Another worry plaguing intensive therapy has been that costs of intensive treatment might overwhelm an already strained healthcare system. Reaching the lower blood pressure goal requires more visits to healthcare providers, and additional medications and lab tests -- all incurring expenses that add up over time. And if severe medication side effects land a patient in the hospital, that boosts the price tag even higher and could erode quality of life.

The cost-effectiveness study reports that the healthcare costs associated with intensive blood pressure control are balanced by gains in health, making it cost-effective over the course of a lifetime. Intensive control costs less than $50,000 for each quality-adjusted life-year gained, a measure of improvements in length and quality of life.

"The price is one that many experts believe U.S. society is willing to pay, making it a high value investment," says Bress.

A research team led by Bress and Brandon Bellows, Pharm.D., M.S., research assistant professor of Pharmacotherapy at U of U Health, modeled intensive and standard treatment in 10,000 hypothetical SPRINT-eligible patients to arrive at the conclusion. They gauged benefits and costs of intensive therapy in the face of uncertainties encountered in real life by incorporating over 250 variables, including a range of health histories and side effects.

"It's not possible to run clinical trials that last for decades for every type of patient," explains Bellows. "Simulation gives us a way to explore 'what if' scenarios and extrapolate short-term data to estimate a range of expected long-term outcomes."

Within 10 to 20 years after starting intensive treatment, the extra expenses were offset by the cardiac episodes and subsequent treatment costs that were prevented, simulations showed.

"Intensive blood pressure treatment prevents heart disease, but it requires extra effort from patients and health care providers," says co-senior author Andrew Moran, M.D., M.P.H., from Columbia University Medical Center in New York. "Our study showed that it is a very good value if the treatment is sustained long-term."

Co-author Lawrence Fine M.D., Dr.P.H., Chief of the Branch of Clinical Applications and Prevention at the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), says that estimates indicate there are at least 17 million Americans who could benefit from lowering their blood pressure.

"This current study is important not just because it shows that the long-term benefits of intensive blood pressure treatment outweigh considerations about costs and side effects, but because of its population-wide implications," he says.

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The work was funded by the National Institutes of Health, and additional support was provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The research will publish as two papers, "Cost-Effectiveness of Intensive Versus Standard Blood Pressure Control" and "Impact of Intensive Blood Pressure Therapy on Patient-Reported Outcomes" in NEJM online on Aug. 24, 2017.

See the publications for lists of authors and collaborating institutions.

Media contacts:

Julie Kiefer, University of Utah Health

801-597-4258, Julie.kiefer@hsc.utah.edu

Courtney Purswell, Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital (Bedford VA)

781-687-4988 (office), 978-505-6700 (cell), courtney.purswell@va.gov

Helen Gary, Columbia University Medical Center

917-514-1317, hbg3@cumc.columbia.edu

NHLBI News, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

301-496-5449, nhlbi_news@nhlbi.nih.gov
MADISON, Wis. -- In recent decades, change has defined our environment in the United States. Agriculture intensified. Urban areas sprawled. The climate warmed. Intense rainstorms became more common. But, says a new University of Wisconsin-Madison study, while those kinds of changes usually result in poor water quality, lakes have surprisingly stayed the same.

The authors of the article, published online Wednesday in the journal Global Change Biology, assessed changes in measures of water quality, including plant nutrients and algal growth, in 2,913 U.S. lakes from 1990 to about 2011. The researchers found that, "despite large environmental change and management efforts over recent decades, water quality of lakes in the Midwest and Northeast U.S. has not overwhelmingly degraded or improved."

That doesn't mean there were no notable trends. For example, 10 percent of the study lakes were getting "greener," or seeing more algae blooms and plant growth, while only five percent were experiencing clearer water conditions. Still, the vast majority of lakes were stuck in a sort of water quality status quo.

The meaning of these results depends on your perspective, says Samantha Oliver, lead author of the report and a graduate student at UW-Madison's Center for Limnology.

On the one hand, the U.S. spends $3.5 billion each year on efforts to keep nutrients and the algae they feed out of our waterways. So the fact that there are no large-scale positive trends in water quality is dispiriting. But, considering that intensifying agriculture, warming climate and more intense rain events are known to boost nutrient runoff and algae blooms, the lack of a nationwide negative trend in water quality may be a heartening sign that management practices are at least holding the line.

Scientists' reaction to these results, says Oliver, is "a glass half full, glass half empty thing. Some people say, 'Whoa, the management must really be doing something,' and the other half of them say, 'That's really depressing, our management hasn't done anything. We need to do so much more!'"

Her take is that government policies, such as the Clean Water Act's limits on urban and agricultural runoff or the Clean Air Act's limits on nitrogen and carbon pollution, do make a difference. "If our water quality improvement efforts hadn't been in place, conditions could have been a lot worse," she says. "It's fair to say that these protections do matter."

But, Oliver says, the study's bigger take-home message is one of scale.

Management efforts are often focused on improving conditions of a single lake. While those efforts may pay off locally and result in better water quality in that lake, these little victories don't always add up to a bigger win. For example, one part of a stream may get cleaner when best-management farming practices are used in a nearby field, but those improvements can get washed away by poor management of the next field downstream.

You can see this example play out, Oliver says, in the annual "dead zone" that develops in the Gulf of Mexico. As fertilizer used on Midwestern corn and soybeans runs off fields and into nearby streams, it ends up, eventually, in the Mississippi River. The Mississippi releases those nutrients into the gulf, where they feed huge algae blooms that develop, die and decompose -- a process that consumes the available oxygen in the water, killing fish and making conditions uninhabitable for other marine life.

Dealing with the "dead zone" or any other large-scale problem won't be a matter of simply improving conditions at the local level, Oliver says.

"The environmental changes that are happening in the world today are happening everywhere, they aren't happening in a single lake or a single stream," she says. "While we like to focus on 'our' particular lake or stream, each one is different. How the whole population of lakes and streams, and ultimately, the Gulf of Mexico will respond to things like climate change or government policies can only be figured out by looking at the bigger picture of the thousands of lakes and rivers across the U.S."

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CONTACT:

Samantha Oliver

skoliver@wisc.edu

608-628-9803

DOWNLOAD IMAGES: https://uwmadison.box.com/v/lake-quality
Hello again,

What a beautiful weekend we had here in northeast Ohio. It was perfect weather for all the local fairs. Dont forget to support your local fair and 4-H programs.

As promised last week, I am going to talk about the county committee election this week. Having the county committee system in the Farm Service Agency is a unique system.

When I first started with the Farm Service Agency, it was called the ASCS office, Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation Service. Now that was a mouthful to answer the phone.

There was a community committee person(s) for every township in the county. The community committee would attend an annual county convention in their county.

They would hear what the ASCS office accomplished in the past year and what programs were available. Theres your history lesson of the day.

I better move on to the current county committee election or I will keep reminiscing about the good old days for a while.

They say that when you start reminiscing about the good old days you must be old. I guess I am old since I say that quite often.

Local areas

The county committee is made up of three to five representatives from local administrative areas (LAAs).

LAAs are groups of townships that form an area in the county. That area will have a representative on the county committee.

One of the ways having representatives from different areas in the county is to help inform the office of different weather and crop conditions from the area they represent.

Each LAA has an election every three years; therefore, the term of a COC representative is three years. You will have to check with your local FSA office to see if your LAA is having an election this year.

The nomination(s) for this years election ended Aug. 1. If you wanted to be a nominee for the election this year, it is too late.

Dont fret, you can still be involved in this years county committee election. The nomination time has passed, but there is still an election that needs to be held. Your vote is important.

County committee members are a critical component of the operations of FSA. They help deliver FSA farm programs at the local level.

Farmers who serve on county committees help with the decisions necessary to administer the programs in their counties. They work to ensure FSA agricultural programs serve the needs of local producers.

A fact you may not know; the county committee hires the County Executive Director (CED) for their office and conducts the CEDs performance reviews.

Voting

You may be asking yourself what qualifies you to vote? I can answer that question: All agricultural producers of legal voting age may be eligible to vote if they participate or cooperate in any FSA program.

Experience is not a condition of being on the committee, it is on the job training.

If you are located in an area that is holding an election, ballots will be mailed to eligible voters beginning Nov. 6. You will even be mailed a reminder postcard to vote.

You will need to return the ballot to the FSA county office or postmarked by Dec. 4. Make sure you read the directions on how to mark your ballot and return it.

These directions get missed every year and the ballot gets invalidated and does not count. If you dont receive a ballot, it could be that your LAA is not holding an election this year.

If you arent sure or you have any questions, contact your local FSA to ask.

Thats all for now,

FSA Andy
Good friend, fellow outdoor writer, and skilled angler, Paul Liikala, who has been prone to enhanced storytelling, recently invited me to a walleye fishing expedition on Lake Eries central basin.

I answered simply that it was about time, especially since hes been promising the exact thing since Jimmy Carter was president.

That was a long time ago and a lot of promises ago as well.

But this time he was not about to get out of it and heres why: Liikala is the only Lake Erie fan that I know who doesnt own a giant offshore Erie boat, a zillion dollars worth of tackle and trolling gear, and enough big water electronics to cause an eastern Ohio shore brown out.

Not at all

In fact, Liikala owns and operates his fish factory from a 14-foot basic aluminum tiller with a dinky 15-horse for power. I know, Ive been told a thousand times and have told a thousand others that theres not a big enough big water boat to guarantee with 100 percent certainty a safe trip on the open waters of the Great Lakes.

But I also know that Liikala has been doing Lake Erie walleyes for roughly a half-century plus an additional decade. In fact, his early days, aboard his Dads dinky little aluminum row boat, powered by two wooden oars, have you, was not a lot different than our planned trip.

The secret, Liikala whispered, is to stay close enough to shore that you could swim to safety if need be. Yes, but  I queried  what about catching Lake Erie walleyes?

After all, Mr. Smarty Pants, how are we going to get ten miles off shore where the fish are?

Dont need to, Liikala announced with some degree of confidence, pointing out that just a day or two before our outing, that he and couple of other old guys had brought home nearly a dozen Erie walleyes caught just off the Central Basin shoreline.

Sure, I agreed. Notice please, Liikala likes to fish with old guys, some of them as old as his doubting guest on this day. Old guys tend to stretch the truth, claiming at times that the truth can be boring.

So to be sure Liikala hadnt somehow stored a fish or two in a hidden compartment, we took my boat.

Working hard

Ha, now he had to produce. Liikala was raised in Painesville, just a stones throw from Lake Erie. He remembers well, those early years when his dad would wipe the daily sweat of farming and factory work off by rowing out in the evening to sit in the glow of a Coleman lantern catching his own shiners and then using them to tempt blue pike, predecessors to todays walleyes.

Even when Archie Liikala was elderly, now with a small outboard motor, he and Paul would troll the shallows near Painesville for walleyes, finding the right depths by snagging and storing the imaginary structure maps under their caps.

And they caught them, plenty of them, and son Paul Liikala still does. Just like he and his dad did 60 years back. And the best part is that an Archie Liikala memory pops up with every fish that comes to the net.

Liikala and I traded stories about our dads while we rigged rods and we never got further from shore than a few hundred yards. I have a fancy full-featured sonar and GPS unit aboard but Liikala seemed to know exactly where every underwater hump was well before I could see it on the color screen.

We started out tolling in 19 to 20 feet of water, but Liikala said we need to get in closer and If I would steer a bit to the left we would soon cross a big bunch of rocks and that would be where we would find fish.

Choosing rigs

He was right on all accounts. We trolled a couple lines rigged with Reef Runner lures with and at times a shiny spoon. Worm harnesses work too, Liikala said as he reached for one of the rods that was bent over like it had snagged a submarine.

It was indeed a fish, but a not a walleye. A whopper sheephead and a long fight for sure. But yes, indeed, the walleyes came too, several of them and more sheephead, too. This was no snipe hunt  this fishing trip was a real eye opener for this fellow.

And yes, Liikala proved that he could teach this old dog a new trick.

The walleyes arent all several miles from shore as proven by this chunky Lake Erie walleye that ate Paul Liikalas deep-diving Reef Runner lure. This fish, and a few others, were caught in less than 20 feet of water on Lake Eries central basin that ranges from Lorain to Erie, Pa.
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The European Commission has opened an investigation to assess the proposed acquisition of Monsanto by Bayer under the EU Merger Regulation.

The Commission has concerns that the merger may reduce competition in areas such as pesticides, seeds and traits.

The proposed acquisition of Monsanto (US) by Bayer (Germany) would create the world's largest integrated pesticides and seeds company.

It would combine two competitors with leading portfolios in non-selective herbicides, seeds and traits, and digital agriculture.

Both companies are active in developing new products in these areas. Moreover, the transaction would take place in industries that are already globally concentrated, as illustrated by the recent mergers of Dow and Dupont and Syngenta and ChemChina, in which the Commission intervened to "protect competition for the benefit of farmers and consumers".

Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: Seeds and pesticide products are essential for farmers and ultimately consumers.

We need to ensure effective competition so that farmers can have access to innovative products, better quality and also purchase products at competitive prices. And at the same time maintain an environment where companies can innovate and invest in improved products.

The Commission has preliminary concerns that the proposed acquisition could reduce competition in a number of different markets resulting in higher prices, lower quality, less choice and less innovation.
New Holland has launched a photo competition to support its year-long celebration of 100 years of blue tractor production.

The competition invites people to enter photos of their working, British-built, blue tractors for a chance to win 500 worth of New Holland vouchers to spend on parts or merchandise.

The best 100 images entered will be turned into a giant graphic on New Hollands stand at LAMMA 2018 to complete the year of celebrations.

Entries are open on 1st September and close 31st October 2017.

The overall winning image will be one that best represents the New Holland brand and its blue tractor heritage.

Two runners up will be selected from the UK and Irish entries who will each win 250 worth of New Holland vouchers.

Competition entry is via New Hollands social media channels: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Entrants must first like or follow New Hollands UK and Ireland accounts on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, and then either post their image on New Hollands UK and Ireland Facebook page.

The photo competition is the latest in a series of activities supporting the 100-year anniversary of blue tractor production.
Criminals have stolen more than 200 piglets from a farm in the space of a month, according to the police.

Police are investigating the series of thefts from a pig farm in the small village of Wigsley near Newton on Trent on the Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire border.

An appeal has been made for anyone with information over the incidents to come forward.

A spokesman for the force said: "Officers are currently investigating a report of stolen piglets from a farm in Newark.

"Over 200 piglets are believed to have been stolen over the past month."

According to the NFU Mutual Rural Crime Report 2016, livestock rustling remains a huge problem, with costs stubbornly high in Northern Ireland and the North East and South West of England.

At a total cost to the UK of 2.9 million, 70 per cent came from these three regions alone.

A new initiative has been launched to fight the 'rising tide' of livestock thefts.

If anyone has any information that could help the investigation, please call 101 quoting incident number 488 of 17 August 2017.
The verdict is finally out: a five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court termed practice of triple talaq as unconstitutional with 3-2 majority, saying that triple talaq is void and illegal. The court even referred to the abolition of triple talaq in Islamic countries and questioned why India could not get rid of it.In a move that is sure to affect the lives of thousands of Muslim women in the country, the SC has now put a six-month stay on the practice of Muslim men giving their wives instant divorce through triple talaq. Meanwhile, the SC bench has asked Parliament to make a new law on triple talaq issue in six months. If law doesn't come in force in six months, then SC's injunction on triple talaq will continue.The petitioners who approached the Supreme Court for the case are Shayara Bano, Ishrat Jahan, Gulshan Parween, Aafreen Rehman, and Atiya Sabri, along with the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA). The constitutional bench comprised five judges, from different religious communities  Sikh, Christian, Parsi, Hindu and Muslim. The bench is headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar, and includes Justices Kurian Joseph, R F Nariman, U U Lalit and S Abdul Nazeer.The practice of triple talaq allows a Muslim man to divorce his wife by pronouncing talaq thrice, either in person, or through phone or a text message. The divorce is then considered immediate. In her petition, Shayara Bano argued that the Muslim husbands right to ask for divorce by uttering talaq three times in a row is completely unilateral, unguided, absolute and has no rationale. It cannot be identified with Muslim culture and is not part of Muslim law. So it is not part of religion and hence not part of the right to practice or propagate religion and deserves no protection.*Image used for representational purpose only
Bollywood actor Rajkummar Rao said he was not aware that his Bareilly Ki Barfi co-actor Ayushmann Khurrana suggested his name for the film.

In an interview, Ayushmann said that he was the one who suggested Rajkummar's name for the Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari directorial.



Asked what he had to said to that, Rajkummar, who is currently in Thailand, "Though I wasn't aware of it, but that's very kind of him. I thank him for doing this because the love and appreciation I'm getting for 'Bareilly Ki Barfi' is overwhelming." Rajkummar said he had a great time working with Ayushmann.

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"And I hope he suggests my name for all his exciting films and I'll also do the same. He is a dear friend and I love him a lot," he said. The 'Queen' actor has been lauded by critics and audience alike for his performance in the film, which also stars Kriti Sanon.

"Good actors have always supported each others' performances in a film and the same happened in 'Bareilly Ki Barfi'. We all supported each other throughout. Filmmaking is a teamwork," he said. Rajkummar is happy that his character Pritam Vidrohi is winning hearts.

"Actors' performances are meant to make the film and its characters work in people's hearts and I am very happy that people are resonating with Pritam Vidrohi. It wouldn't have been possible without my wonderful team," he added. With inputs from IANS.
Case Withdrawn

The divorce case which was filed mutually 2 years ago, has now been withdrawn by Sudeep and his wife, Priya.

Sudeep's Lawyer Confirms!

Sudeep's lawyer has confirmed that the couple have indeed withdrawn their divorce application.

The Reason For Withdrawal?

The advocate who represented Sudeep has told the media that the couple were no more interested to continue the divorce case.

All For Sanvi

Kichcha Sudeep adores his daughter Sanvi. It would not be wrong if we said Sanvi is Sudeep's lifeline. It is said that the couple have gotten back together for the sake of their daughter.

Absentee Couple

Previously, the family dispute court had issued summons to both Sudeep and Priya to attend the hearing so as to continue the case, but the couple never appeared before the court despite many warnings. Now, the couple have decided to put a full stop to all rumours and have withdrawn the case.

Sudeep & Priya Seen Together!

The couple, who never appeared before the judiciary, were sometimes seen at various functions and get-together. Sudeep, Priya and Sanvi were seen together in the audio release of Jigarthanda film. After that episode, it was rumoured that the couple might get back with each other.

All Is Well That Ends Well!

Kichcha Sudeep, who is a role model to millions of his fans, seems to have reconciled with his wife and family. Do the fans need any better happy news than this?
They may have brief runs of impressive gains, but gold stocks have historically had a difficult time beating the S&P 500 over five- and 10-year periods. Why is that? Well, it probably has something to do with the fact that mining precious metals is difficult, expensive, and full of regulatory and labor landmines. There are many more chances for things to go wrong than for them to go right.

The industry's poor performance can be summed up by the one-year performance of Hecla Mining (HL -1.00%) and Tahoe Resources (NYSE: TAHO), down 27% and 63%, respectively.

That's not very encouraging, but you know what they say: be greedy when others are fearful. Recent misery notwithstanding, which gold stock currently down on its luck is the better buy?

A few words on risk

It's important to note that both stocks have declined for good reasons that demonstrate the risks of investing in the industry. Hecla Mining's first-half 2017 performance was significantly impacted by the production halt at one of its four operating mines, Lucky Friday, which has been anything but lucky since workers went on strike in early March. The company is now being sued for labor law infractions by the National Labor Relations Board, with a hearing set for September 19.

The timing couldn't have been worse. The company was in the process of transitioning mining locations at two mines, which resulted in the production of lower grade ore -- and therefore lower revenue and operating income -- during the first half of the year. When coupled with labor-related expenses incurred at Lucky Friday and zero production for the entire second quarter, it's been an expensive 2017.

Hecla Mining isn't alone in delivering uncertainty to shareholders. Tahoe Resources recently suspended its monthly dividend distributions and internal guidance after encountering turmoil in Guatemala. An NGO asserted that the country's Ministry of Energy and Mines unlawfully granted one of the company's subsidiaries a license for the Escobal mine. The Supreme Court even stepped in, temporarily suspending the operating license until the situation can be sorted out. That could take up to 18 months, according to the company.

The mine accounted for 99% of the company's total silver production during the first half of the year, while contributing about 2% of company-wide gold production. To say the least, it's not a great development for the company.

The matchup

Misery notwithstanding, is there an opportunity in either Hecla Mining or Tahoe Resources for investors with a high tolerance for risk and a long investing horizon? Here's how they stack up in a head-to-head comparison:

Metric Hecla Mining Tahoe Resources Market cap $1.96 billion $1.72 billion PE ratio, current 19.9 11.1 PE ratio, future 25.9 12.9 Price to sales ratio 3.16 1.95 Price to book ratio 1.29 0.66

It's not at all surprising that Tahoe Resources appears pretty cheap on paper after falling 63% in the last year. The Guatemala news alone has dropped the stock 33% since the first day of July, while future earnings metrics have yet to be readjusted.

Both companies face future uncertainty and risks that could significantly alter long-term operations. If Hecla Mining is found to have run afoul of labor laws for workers at Lucky Friday, then it could expect higher costs at the mine in the future. However, it's the company's only operating mine even partially represented by a union, so it shouldn't jeopardize the long-term low-cost profile. Shifts in the quality of ore or investments needed in new technology could be a different story.

There's significantly more uncertainty regarding the future of Tahoe Resources. While it operates more mines than Hecla Mining, which helps to spread risks, the possibility that it completely loses the ability to operate the valuable Escobal mine could devastate performance. Worse, investors won't know the outcome for 12 to 18 months. Uncertainty is never kind to stocks.

Which stock is the better buy?

Taking everything into account, I think Hecla Mining is the better buy in this matchup. The uncertainty it faces is relatively tame compared to that of Tahoe Resources. Plus, future investments (albeit costly up front) in electric and autonomous equipment at mines could reduce costs once fully implemented years from now, while two moth-balled mines could be coming back online in the next few years.

That said, I'm not a big fan of precious metals stocks for the simple reason that they don't usually come close to even matching the long-term performance of the S&P 500. Therefore, I won't be buying either stock.
Williams have confirmed that Felipe Massa will return to action in Belgium after being passed fit to race by the FIA medical delegate.

The Brazilian was forced to withdraw from the last race in Hungary through illness, with his seat assumed from qualifying onwards by reserve driver Paul Di Resta.

As is standard practice, Massa was checked over in the paddock at Spa, but will now resume driving duties as normal having recuperated over the summer break.

Massas return will be greeted fondly by his many followers in his homeland, with the race in Hungary having been the first since the 1982 San Marino Grand Prix not to feature a Brazilian driver on the starting grid.
Exploring the Georgian-ness" in between knitting needles - GeorgianJournal
Asus ZenFone 4 Selfie Lite launched: Key features, specifications and more News oi -Samden Sherpa A new variant in the 'ZenFone 4 Selfie' series has just been spotted online.

Asus recently launched several smartphones in its ZenFone 4 series. In fact, the company unveiled six new smartphones which include ZenFone 4, ZenFone 4 Pro, ZenFone 4 Selfie, ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro, ZenFone 4 Max, and ZenFone 4 Max Pro in the series.

While we already have seen these new smartphones, a new variant in the 'ZenFone 4 Selfie' series has just been spotted online. Well, Asus' Malaysia division has reportedly launched a variant dubbed as Asus ZenFone 4 Selfie Lite with model number ZB520KL in the market. Further, the device seems to be priced at MYR 899 (which roughly translates to Rs. 13,400).

According to a Malaysian website Amanz, the publication reports that Asus Malaysia has shared information about the new smartphone and that it will probably enter the local market by early September.

In any case, talking about the new smartphone it features similar design language as the Asus ZenFone 4 Selfie model. As such, the Lite version showcases the same home button and fingerprint scanner placement and there is a single camera setup at the back. The Asus ZenFone 4 Selfie Lite will also be available in Sunlight Gold color which you can also see in the image.

As for specifications, Asus ZenFone 4 Selfie Lite will come with a 5.3-inch HD (720x1280 pixels) display. The handset will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 SoC which looks to be further aired with 3GB of RAM. The device will offer 32GB of internal storage. At the rear, the smartphone will feature a 16-megapixel sensor with f/2.0 aperture but there seems to be only one 16-megapixel sensor in the front, unlike the other variants which have a dual selfie camera setup. The phone will be backed by a 4120mAh battery, and run on ZenUI 4.0 software.

While the launch has been done silently, the company has not given any details on whether Asus ZenFone 4 Selfie Lite will be launched in other markets outside of Malaysia or not.

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Huawei Mate 10 is tipped to launch along with a Pro variant News oi -Chandrika The Huawei Mate 10 will get launched on October 16.

The Huawei Mate 10 has been the magnet of leaks from the past few days. A leaked press invite has revealed the flagship smartphone will be launched on October 16.

The Chinese company has recently released a video teaser video teaser of the alleged Huawei Mate 10 that shows one key highlight of the smartphone which is the camera. Now by citing an unknown Weibo user, a Chinese website named news.zol.com has come up with a brand new piece of information. According to its claims, the Huawei will also launch a Pro variant of the Mate 10.

What's more, the source says that the Huawei Mate 10 Pro will be featuring a full-screen bezel-less design. However, the regular Huawei Mate 10 will come with a regular display.

Another difference between the models would the placement of fingerprint display.

The Mate 10 is said to have the fingerprint scanner on the front. While the Pro variant will be featuring a rear-mounted fingerprint reader since there won't be enough space for it on the front side.

Earlier this month, a report suggested that Huawei had bought the patent for "EntireView Display" moniker. We assume that the bezel-less display on the Huawei Mate 10 Pro would be known by this name.

Apart from the display, the other highlighted feature of the Huawei Mate 10 is its camera. The official video teaser of the smartphone also focuses on this aspect. The video basically shows a montage of the dual rear camera setup which will be seen on the Mate 10.

It is speculated that the dual camera setup will comprise of a 12MP RGB sensor and a 20MP monochrome sensor.

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Nokia 6 sold out in less than one minute in first sale News oi -Abhinaya Prabhu Nokia 6 goes out of stock.

The Nokia 6 went on sale in India for the first time on August 23 exclusively via the online retailer Amazon India at Rs. 14,999.

HMD Global has announced that the Nokia 6 has gone out of stock in just less than a minute in the first flash sale. Notably, the same happened even in China during the first flash sale earlier this year. However, HMD has not revealed the exact number of units those were sold in India yesterday. One thing that we know is that the Nokia 6 was sold in three color variants - Black, Silver and Tempered Blue colors.

The huge demand for Nokia 6 was expected as the smartphone received over 1 million registrations in the country in just a few weeks of opening its pre-bookings on Amazon. Those who had pre-registered for the device until August 21 were eligible for the sale that happened yesterday. Those who had registered and did not receive the phone have to register once again for the next sale on August 30.

The Nokia 6 is bundled with several attractive offers on Amazon. The Prime members will receive a discount of Rs. 1,000 on paying using Amazon Pay. Also, those who sign in to the Kindle app will get up to 80% off on Kindle eBooks. There is a special Rs. 2,500 discount on MakeMyTrip and additional 45GB of Vodafone 4G data free for five months.

To recap on the specifications, the Nokia 6 flaunts a 5.5-inch FHD 1080p display and employs Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 SoC coupled with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage, which can be expanded up to 128GB with the help of a microSD card. The smartphone was launched with Android Nougat out of the box and will be updated to Android Oreo in the coming months. The imaging aspects include a 16MP main camera and an 8MP selfie shooter with FHD video recording support.

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Panasonic launches 29 days campaign to showcase the diverse culture of India News oi -GizBot Bureau An Eluga A3 Pro is travelling across country to demonstrate that there is So Much To Do in every state.

Panasonic Smartphones, a renowned brand in the Indian smartphone industry, recently launched their much-hyped campaign titled "So Much To Do" on August 20. The campaign will showcase the diverse culture of India through a record-breaking journey covered across the country in 29 days.

An Eluga A3 Pro is travelling across country to demonstrate that there is "So Much To Do" in every state be it unique cuisines, or geographically important places or other exciting activities of a particular state.

The basic idea of any "smartphone" or any phone for that fact is not just to connect you with your loved ones but to bring different individuals of varying interests and lifestyles together. This campaign takes the aspect of connecting people and culture together to a whole new level by bringing diverse regions together with the help of one Eluga A3 Pro.

Nuu Mobile X5, Q626, M3 and Q500 First Impressions

The Eluga A3 Pro, that started its journey from New Delhi, has already marked its presence in Gurugram, Srinagar, Dehradun, and Dharamshala and now is on its way to travel the rest of the states, reaching out to different celebrities and well-known local personalities over the span of 29 days. These representatives will be taking over the brand's social-media handles, showcasing and highlighting various places and activities of their respective states.

The campaign is also presenting contests inviting users to share their favorite hangout places in the various states for an Eluga A3 Pro as the winning prize. For all states, there are separate contests where every day different participants will be selected as a winner.

Mr. Pankaj Rana, Business Head - Mobility Division, Panasonic India, said, "Each and every state has its unique presence and attributes and there is so much to do in every state. With this campaign, our aim is not just to capture the diverse roots of India but to ignite the constant achieving spirit in every individual that strives them to do more in life."

The campaign launch video featuring the most iconic and versatile actress, Taapsee Pannu, who is also the new face of Panasonic Smart Phones, has already gone viral on social media, gathering humongous views and shares in a very short duration.

The campaign is being executed by Sociowash, a young marketing agency based in New Delhi. Sociowash provides innovative marketing solutions and boasts of clients like - HELLA India, Educomp, and Belkin.

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Samsung could launch a cheaper Galaxy Note 8 variant with 4GB RAM News oi -Chandrika It will probably cost around $800 to $850.

Samsung yesterday took the wraps off its flagship phablet Galaxy Note 8. Surprisingly, the launch event was unusually short. It is possible, the device will be properly showcased at the IFA 2017, which is to start from August 31 in Berlin.

While there were rumors of three different storage variants, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 has been launched with only one variant. It carries 6GB of RAM and 128GB of native storage space. The South Korean giant is yet to officially announce the pricing of the device, but most likley, it will be around $1000 (approximately Rs. 64,000). Needless to say, not everyone will be able to afford the phablet.

However, a new report by the publication ITHome may give you a ray of hope. According to the report, Samsung will launch a cheaper variant of the Galaxy Note 8. Instead of 6GB, it will feature 4GB of RAM. The report further reveals this 4GB model will be launched in mid-September in the domestic market. There is no mention if it will be released in other regions as well.

Other than the RAM amount, all the other specs and features are said to remain the same on the cheaper variant. Since this is a leak, we can't verify the authenticity of this information. Though a version of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 with 4GB of RAM was spotted on the Chinese regulatory authority, TENAA.

So far, Samsung has dropped no hints about this 4GB variant of its flagship phablet. If the company indeed releases the 4GB model, it will probably cost around $800 to $850. In Indian currency, it will be over Rs. 50,000. Well, still costly as per Indian standards.

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Haiti - News : Zapping...





New Ambassador of Canada to Haiti

Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, announced the appointment of Andre Frenette as the new Ambassador to the Republic of Haiti. Mr. Frenette succeeds Paula Caldwell St-Onge at the end of her mission https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21880-haiti-diplomacy-moise-honors-and-decorates-ambassador-of-canada.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-12145-haiti-diplomacy-paula-caldwell-st-onge-new-ambassador-of-canada-to-haiti.html



Barcelona : Condolences of the PM

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant visited the Spanish Embassy to sign the register of condolences for the victims of the Barcelona bombing. He took the opportunity to present the sympathies of the Haitian government to the authorities and the Spanish people.



Visit to the Olympic Center "Sport for Hope"

A team from the Office of the Secretary of State for the Integration of People with Disabilities visited the Olympic Center "Sport for Hope" located at the corner of Route 9 and National # 1. During the visit, the team met with a few young people with disabilities from the Organization of Deprived and Disabled Children of Haiti who practice a sport.



Vote on the proposed law against kidnapping

The deputy of Delmas Garry Bodeau, quaestor of the lower house and president of the majority bloc "Parliamentary Alliance for Haiti" (APH) announced that the Chamber of Deputies had decreed the permanence and ratified the bill against kidnapping, sequestration and abduction.



Creation of a Fund to support research at UEH

At the last Council of the State University of Haiti (UEH) to ensure effective promotion of research at UEH, a Research Support Fund (FAR) was created. The allocations of this Fund will be determined by the Council of the UEH as soon as the allocations of the Treasury to the UEH will be known. They may be readjusted during the year. The management arrangements for the FAR will be the subject of a resolution of the Council of the University on the proposal of the Research Council.



Fanmi Lavalas criticizes

Dr Maryse Narcisse, former defeated candidate for the Presidency and Coordinator of the Executive Committee of the Fanmi Lavalas organization, was very critical of the management of Jovenel Moise, his Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant and his team. She says that with this team in power, the country is only sinking into misery, due to the poor choices of its leaders, referring inter alia to the increase in fuel prices https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20940-haiti-flash-new-fuel-prices-in-haiti-official.html and the fixing of the minimum wage https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21648-haiti-flash-moise-sets-daily-minimum-wage-at-350-gdes.html



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - NOTICE : ONI warning





The General Directorate of the National Office of Identification (ONI) wishes to warn the population in general against the statements of a group of individuals claiming to be of a union from the institution.



It informs them that most of the members of this group are not employees of the ONI and therefore have no right to speak on behalf of the institution or the people who work there.



The General Directorate also wishes to advise that Jean-Marie Charles no longer works at the Office as Technical Director. He is now responsible for training and therefore has no authority or authority to speak as Technical Director.



The General Directorate wishes to inform that this attitude of Mr. Charles is similar to a usurpation of title and is considered as such by the laws of the Republic which provide for sanctions for such an offense. Especially since the person does not appear at his post for some time.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















The SureStay Hotel Cotulla is opening its doors in Cotulla, Texas, and inviting travelers to experience one of the newest hotel brands in the industry  the SureStay Hotel Group.

The SureStay Hotel Cotulla will provide guests with an experience they can count on and the amenities today"s travelers have come to expect. SureStay"s service promise reflects the brand and the hotel"s commitment to providingquality service and value to its guests: "If something goes wrong, we will make it right. You should feel sure about your stay."

Located at 333 North IH-35, Cotulla, Texas, the hotel features 60 well-appointed guest rooms each with a microwave and mini fridge. The SureStay Hotel Cotulla also offers an outdoor pool, fitness center, complimentary breakfast and free wireless internet throughout the hotel  providing guests with the superior comfort and utmost value they want out of their stay.

The property"s location is also optimal for guests interested in exploring the nearby area as it is just a short drive from Brush Country Museum  a quaint country house where travelers can catch a glimpse into La Salle County history and ranch life during the early 20th century; and the Eagle Ford Shale  an oil-and-gas rich geological formation iconic to south Texas.

Hotel website
The report, which is free to download now, finds that tours and activities providers are experiencing growth rates of between 9% and 30% as the sector benefits from a growing proportion of the consumer's spending power, inward investment, and increasing connectivity. This likely makes it the fastest growing sector in the travel industry.

Tourico Holidays has seen a 20% increase in tours and activities bookings in 2017 compared to 2016 levels. Steve Skidgel, Executive Vice President of Operations and Head of Activities at Tourico, says the amount of spending per trip has definitely increased with consumer interest in niche services, such as Segway tours, cooking tours, zip-lining, four-wheeling to give a few examples, leading the growth. Stefano Zeni, Head of Commercial Management & Destination Services at GTA, believes the market will grow by up to 9% over the next five years and Johannes Reck, CEO and Co-founder of online booking engine GetYourGuide, estimates that the sector is expanding at a rate of 10% each year.

In particular, the market is seeing particularly strong growth at the top end as big-spending travellers look to put more of their disposable income into unique experiences. Christian Wolters, Managing Director of TourRadar, which sees an average spend of USD1,500 to USD2,000 per tour per person, is seeing growth of as much as 30% year on year.

The sector, which is already the third largest in travel after accommodation and air is set to grow in importance as a wide variety of different players across the travel space look to move in and make it more available to online travel shoppers. Currently the market is worth around $250 billion a year according to EyeforTravel and accounts for roughly of 10% of travellers' vacation spend. Both of these figures are sure to expand dramatically over the next five years as consumers focus further on experiences and a growing number of different actors from across the travel space move into the sector.

This entirely free report from EyeforTravel can be downloaded by clicking here. The report investigates:

The current state of the tours and activities market.

The technical challenges of incorporating tours and activities into a digital travel product.

New start-ups and disruptors.

How OTAs, hotels, and airlines are including tours and activities.

Technology and how it is shaping the future of this market.

Also make sure to check out all of EyeforTravel's free reports and white papers by clicking here.

About Reuters Events

Reuters Events is a community where the worlds top online travel brands  from hotels to airlines, online travel agents, cruise, car hire firms and more  come to meet to drive forward growth and innovation in the industry.

We know that working in the turbulent online travel industry is as exciting as it is challenging. In this constantly evolving market place, we appreciate that keeping up with the pace of change can be tough, not to mention time consuming. You need the right information, contacts and strategic insight to succeed.

Established in 1997, by Tim Gunstone, we offer a diverse product portfolio including industry analysis, insights, research, webinars, reports and conferences to suit the needs of our clients.

Our clients read as a whos who of online travel. From major hotel brands to new startups, we help our 80,000 strong customer base make better decisions, build better brands, close the most lucrative deals and ultimately sell more of their product. After all, increasing travel brand profit margins in the cutthroat travel industry is the name of the game!

No other online travel intelligence provider has been charting the growth of online travel as long as we have. We were here at the inception of online travel and we know the industry inside out. Whats more, were a small, friendly team. Forget impersonal hierarchies, we like to get to know our customers and work towards their exact needs.

Meredith Pistulka

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For those who did not attend the 2017 edition of HITEC, held in Toronto this time around, you may be wondering what you missed.

Frankly, the same question may be posed by those who attended as well! Putting aside the exceptional educational seminars, the exhibition show floor now resembles a miniature version of the world's largest technology trade fair, the annual Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas each January. Some of the HITEC supplier booths have even gone to great lengths to replicate hotel facilities in order to elicit the same levels of customer excitement generated at CES. Most also have ample space for lively conversations and intimate customer presentations.

Spending as much as is humanly possible of 15 hours of allotted open time on the actual exhibit floor, I ended up speaking with dozens of vendors. Walking every aisle, I attempted to absorb all the various product and service offerings. According to my trusty health monitoring app on my iPhone, I traversed some ten kilometers in the process. It's a big show after all!

But what did the visitor see aside from the glitz? Here's my take. None of these are big ideas in and unto themselves, but together form a consolidation of reoccurring themes critical to the success of each and every hotel property.

Integration.

Need a solution? There are multiple vendors all offering ways to provide the services you want. At this day and age, what is the point of a standalone solution provider? Thus, the discussion is less about the product offered, but more about integration with various property management systems (PMS)  a critical task that nearly every vendor is now acknowledging. Every PMS handles data differently, and some PMSs encourage third-party add-ons while others do not even allow middleware solutions, seemingly so that they can capture maximal dollars from their 'locked in' clientele. No hotelier wants to manage multiple databases or manually enter data into their PMS from other satellite platforms, so seamless integration and consolidation of software solutions was the dominate theme of this year's show. Hoteliers beware: if you are in possession of a piece of software that doesn't push its data to the PMS, add it to the chopping block.

Cloud.

Cloud computing is not a new concept. This HITEC, however, represented the tipping point between locally-based server solutions and the cloud option. The general forecast is that our operations and data centers will be fully cloud-centric in the few years, particularly if you are operating within the sphere of influence of a major PMS and not using any obstinate legacy systems. It is certainly not a good time to invest in a local data center as all future updates will only be for cloud-based technologies.

Security.

Data is a precious commodity. No one wants to 'own' a data breach. Systems that separate public access from private or provide additional levels of data security are to be lauded and promoted. In speaking to the vendors, one of the primary concerns remains hoteliers who continue to use legacy operating systems (such as Windows XP or, heaven forbid, MS-DOS) that are no longer fully supported and can serve as a backdoor into any system. One weak access point like this can be exploited to serve as an easy entry for hackers.

WiFi.

Five years ago, the discussion was about offering WiFi to the guest for free. Today, however, the issue is about how much WiFi bandwidth you leave available for guests, both as free and at a premium level. The answer is never enough! There is an insatiable appetite for this as more devices hit the hotel threshold and as we adopt casting technologies that better facilitate additional streaming hours. Advanced hardware solutions can now allow the hotelier to take charge of bandwidth by temporally managing allocations and creating customer equity.

Screens.

It is no longer called merely a television. Call it a visual display panel. Numerous sizes and configurations were displayed by key manufacturing conglomerates, thereby demonstrating their versatility for every corner of the guestroom and every nook of public hotel spaces. Other accessory companies were demonstrating how their solutions fluidly linked these panels with the PMS to create a robust dashboard for the guest with property information, purchasing opportunities and all the regular broadcast features. There are many solutions, and again the issue of system compatibility is a key factor.

Employees.

Recognizing that labor is the highest cost facing any hotel operator, several vendors were displaying ways to maximize staff utilization. Some worked to enhance the beginning of any journey in hospitality by presenting a more streamlined approach to hiring and retaining good staff. Others presented a means of increasing the onboarding efficiency of staff members once they are hired via mobile apps, thereby reducing training costs and offering a comprehensive online resource for all internal company education. This appeared to be one of the few emerging fields at this year's show as not many vendors or hotel properties have yet to fully embrace how cloud-based technologies can work to heighten staff training.

(Article by Larry Mogelonsky, originally published in eHotelier on July 5, 2017)

Larry Mogelonsky

Hotel Mogel Consulting Limited

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New Delhi, Aug 24 (IBNS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Nepal counterpart, Sher Bahadur Deuba, who is on a five-day visit to the country.

The Nepal PM, accompanied by his spouse Arzu Deuba will be on a state visit till August 27 at the invitation of Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi.

PM Modi shared some of the pictures with the Nepal PM on Twitter minutes ago and also said he would be talking to Deuba later in the day.

This is Deuba's first visit abroad after assuming the office of Prime Minister of Nepal in June 2017.

The Nepal PM's visit will provide an opportunity to both the sides for holding wide-ranging discussions on issues of mutual interest, and advancing age old, special ties of friendship between our two countries.



Image: Official Twitter handle of Narendra Modi.
Twitter

New Delhi, Aug 24 (IBNS): The five day visit of Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal saw very successful outcomes with three major announcements- Germany and Netherlands coming on board as focus countries and Denmark announcing its intent to come on board as partner country to World Food India, 2017- the mega international event of Ministry of Food Processing to attract investment and trade in food processing industry.

In a meeting held on Thursday, Minister Environment and Food of Denmark Esben Lunde Larsen, announced that Denmark will come on board as partner country.



On Wednesday in Netherlands, during the bilateral meeting with Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Martin van Dam, Minister of agriculture of Netherlands announced that Netherlands would come in as focus country for World Food India



Earlier, Germany had announced its participation as focus country in World Food India during Minister's Badal's meeting with Herman Onko Aeikens, State Secretary, German Federal Ministry of Food & Agriculture.



"I am delighted to welcome the participation of Germany, Denmark and Netherlands and I am confident that we will see strong collaborations and partnerships," said Harsimrat Kaur Badal.



Both Netherlands and Denmark have committed to bring a strong official and business delegation to leverage the networking opportunities that present themselves in World Food India. Germany will mount a business delegation to World Food India as well.



More than 100 international companies from 28 countries in World Food India have already registered to participate in World Food India 2017.

World Food India 2017 is the global platform for showcasing investment opportunities in India and for connecting businesses for collaborations in food processing industry.



The World Food India will have exhibition on food processing industry, CEO roundtable, plenary sessions, sectoral sessions, country sessions, state sessions, conferences and Food Street. The conferences will have various sessions aimed at sharing knowledge and opportunities across the food sector.

The World Food India exhibition will be spread over 22,000 sq mtrs. with Indian & international food companies showcasing their offerings and services along the food value chain  production, processing, packaging, technology, equipment, storage, logistics or retail.



Encompassing the entire food spectrum from production to consumption, World Food India 2017 will look at creating better sourcing environment, will emphasise on reduction of wastage, and will focus on shelf life increase, among others. All this will enable higher returns for farmers, will create better employment opportunities and will foster entrepreneurship.


New Delhi, Aug 24 (IBNS): Sher Bahadur Deuba, the Prime Minister of Nepal, called on the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday.

Welcoming the Nepalese Prime Minister, the President congratulated him on becoming the Prime Minister of Nepal for the 4th time.

He expressed happiness that the Prime Minister of Nepal is the first foreign dignitary to stay in Rashtrapati Bhavan during his Presidency, and thanked Deuba for accepting his invitation.

President Kovind congratulated the Government and people of Nepal for successfully conducting two phases of local elections.

He also conveyed his best wishes for the conduct of the upcoming provincial and federal elections in Nepal.

The President of India condoled the loss of lives and destruction of property during recent floods in Nepal.

He said the Government and people of India were committed to stand by Nepal.

The President expressed satisfaction on the state of India-Nepal relations which have seen eight high level visits in the past three years.

He said that India-Nepal relations derive their strength from a shared history, common culture, trade links and an open border.

"This is symbolised by the 'national' treatment both countries give to each others citizens. India is looking forward to expanding its economic and development cooperation with Nepal, as per Nepals national priorities," said he.

The President expressed happiness at the large number of Nepalese students studying in India.

He emphasised that the Government of India provides several scholarships to Nepalese students, and they are always welcome in India.
New York, Aug 24(Just Earth News): Secretary-General AntAnio Guterres has appointed Jane Connors, Australian law professional and long-time human rights advocate, as the first United Nations advocate for the rights of victims of sexual exploitation and abuse.



The appointment is in line with the Secretary-General's pledge  made in his report on Special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and abuse: a new approach  that the UN will put the rights and dignity of victims at the forefront of its prevention and response efforts.



Connors, currently International Advocacy Director, Law and Policy, for Amnesty International in Geneva, brings to the position a long and multi-faceted career in human rights advocacy, as well as human rights and humanitarian assistance in the academic, UN and civil society spheres.



As Victims' Rights Advocate, Connors will support an integrated, strategic response to victim assistance in coordination with relevant UN system actors.



She will work with government institutions, civil society, and national and legal and human rights organizations to build networks of support and to help ensure that the full effect of local laws, including remedies for victims, are brought to bear.



Before joining Amnesty International, she was Director of the Research and Right to Development Division at the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). She also worked in OHCHR's Human Rights Treaties Division and as Chief of the Special Procedures Branch.



From 1996 and 2002, she was the Chief of the Women's Rights Section in the Division for the Advancement of Women in the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs in New York.



UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferre







Source: www.justearthnews.com




Brasilia, Aug 24 (IBNS) : A boat carrying 70 people sank in a major river in the Amazon region of Brazil, leaving at least 10 dead and dozens missing, media reports said quoting authorities.

According to a statement from the Paras public security, published on Wednesday afternoon, 15 people survived.

The boat left Santarem Monday night and was headed to Vitoria do Xingu in Para.

It sank off the coast of Porto do Moz, a city about 250 kilometers from Santarem.

The cause of the disaster is yet to be established.

The navy sent a boat and a patrol vessel to assist local authorities in the search.
Beijing, Aug 24 (IBNS): Social networking site QZone received a lot of flak from users in mainland China, who protested against 'sex-slaves' stickers, which were meant to be 'funny'.

The stickers seemed to poke fun at World War Two 'comfort girls' or sex-slaves'.

The stickers featured images from a recent documentary about kidnapped women, who were forced into prostitution and used as sex-slaves for Japanese soldiers.

An estimated 200,000 women from South East Asia were forced into sex slavery for the Nipponese soldiers, of whom, many were from China and Korea.

Following the hullabaloo, the objectionable contents were removed, Tencent, which owns QZone, said.

Interestingly, earlier this month, Tencent was left red in the face after one of its chatbot from the popular QQ messaging app turned rebellious.

The renegading bot told users why it hated the Communist Party, much to their bemusement.

Meanwhile, while that didn't drove them furious, the recent gaffe has.

Users have taken shots at the site, calling its developers 'heartless'.

"How would you feel if this was a member of your family? If it was your mother?," an user asked.

Another user stated that certain things aren't meant for fun and reprimanded the company for making fun of the concerned women.

Tendering an apology, Tencent said in a statement that it was sorry and vowed to never repeat such a mistake.

"We are deeply sorry for the impact this incident has had," the company statement read, adding that an investigation was on.

'We have learnt a lesson and will resolutely ensure that such an incident does not happen again," it read.

However, the explanation did little to thaw the tensions, as users seemed dissatisfied.



Image: www.bangunrumahmas.com
New York, Aug 25(Just Earth News): A senior United Nations peacekeeping official On Thursday called on the leaders of South Sudan to show genuine political will to achieve sustainable peace in the strife-riven country, stressing that those whose long-time rivalry sparked the ongoing conflict can be the ones to resolve it.









The conflict in South Sudan is a man-made conflict for which the leaders of South Sudan bear a direct responsibility, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping El-Ghassim Wane told the Security Council. But the same leaders can also bring the country back from the impending abyss.



He noted that the dire economic situation and continued conflict in the country have combined to create a dangerous and precarious situation for its citizens, and all that is needed is genuine political will to halt military operations, peacefully negotiate and make the necessary compromises.



I would also urge the Security Council to pronounce itself in this regard. It is critical that the leaders of South Sudan hear the international community's unified demand of what is expected of them, he stated.



Tomorrow marks the second anniversary of the signing of the South Sudan Peace Agreement between warring parties  the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) loyal to President Salva Kiir and the SPLA in Opposition backing then First Vice-President Riek Machar.



South Sudan, the world youngest country, which gained its independence from Sudan in 2011, has faced ongoing challenges since a political face-off between the two leaders erupted into full blown conflict in December 2013.



Despite the August 2015 peace agreement that formally ended the conflict, fighting and instability have persisted.



According to Festus Mogae, Chairman of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), little meaningful progress has been achieved in the implementation of the agreement, Wane said.



More than ever before there is a critical need for continued and close coordination between Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD), the African Union, the UN and the larger international community to leverage collective influence to bring an end to the suffering of the civilian population and help put South Sudan on a more positive trajectory, he stated.



IGAD comprises Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.



Security situation remains cause for 'very serious concern'



Wane said the security situation in South Sudan remains a cause for very serious concern. The expected ceasefire remains elusive as military operations continued during the reporting period, mostly in Upper Nile.



In July, 136 access incidents were reported by the humanitarian community  the highest number recorded in any one month since December 2013.



Incidents of looting also spiked during July, with 15 incidents reported across the country. Of particular concern were the six major looting incidents of warehouses and trucks in transit leading to the loss of 670 metric tons of food meant for vulnerable communities in Eastern Equatoria, Lakes, Upper Nile and Warrap.



In meetings between UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix and South Sudan's key government officials earlier this month, President Salva Kiir and his cabinet members expressed reservations on the inclusion of some personalities such as Riek Machar in any dialogue process, Wane said.



But there was, however, an acknowledgement that sizeable communities cannot be left out of a process just because they were led by or that they supported a particular individual, he added.



While the National Dialogue has made some progress, it continues to be criticized for its lack of inclusivity.



Briefing the Council via videoconference, Nicholas Haysom, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Sudan and South Sudan, also expressed concern about the security situation and the trajectory and depth of the crisis.



Calling for a clear commitment to an inclusive and credible peace process, he described several recent international and regional support efforts  including Ugandas initiative to reunify factions of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement and Kenyas initiative to host opposition parties  which had achieved varying levels of success.



UN Photo/Nektarios Markogiannis







Source: www.justearthnews.com






A colonized mind is a racist mind

By Ivan F. Star Comes OutNative Sun News Today Columnist

When local and national media outlets (electronic or print) are incessantly spewing news items promoting the master race fallacy, how does one deal with the resulting ethnic intolerance and hatred? White employees are now freely harassing cash-paying customers due to their skin color. White police officers are maiming and killing people of color without consequences.

So, how do Indians cope with racial violence? One suggestion is to lobby city council and/or the state legislature to pass legislation allowing racist entrepreneurs to post their No dogs and Indians allowed signs at their businesses. Although such a regressive action may not happen, it could deter the incredible amount of race-related frustrations and confrontations for Native Americans.

Regardless of what the authorities do, we can still take our money to other businesses. All we have to do is to devise a way to determine which businesses to avoid. Bigoted employees wont be able to act out their master race attitudes toward Indians and other minorities if they are not within their grasp.

On the average, my family visits Rapid City once a month on weekends. During those visits we always frequented one restaurant for our meals until one day a young white waitress served us water in glasses that were filthy. I pointed it out to her but she mumbled something about all the glasses being like that. We quietly changed restaurants or should I say we take our money elsewhere now.

Read the rest of the story on the Native Sun News Today website: A colonized mind is a racist mind

Copyright permission Native Sun News Today

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Editor's Note: This article was originally published in 2015. See our more recent coverage of how Pisces has since evolved.

A California-based philanthropic startup, the Pisces Foundation, is beginning its national grantmaking in earnest, carving out unique niches in freshwater and climate change work. Executive Director David Beckman talked to Inside Philanthropy about building a foundation from scratch, and how hes hoping it will be the funder he always wanted in his years as an advocate.

After working for the National Resources Defense Council for 17 years, including as a California water advocate and then as cofounder and director of the organizations first national water program, Beckman was ready for something new. He and Bob Fisher, a longtime NRDC board member and something of a mentor to him, started discussing something very newbuilding a foundation from the ground up.

So in late 2012, Beckman packed up and moved to San Francisco, setting up shop in an office that was empty other than a desk, a few boxes, and a laptop he bought the weekend before. Three years later, the Pisces Foundation has entered the national environmental philanthropy fray, with a staff that includes a former water policymaker for the Obama administration, a small D.C. satellite office, and grantmaking that is steadily climbing toward an anticipated $17 million next year.

Weve really transitioned from a phase where we were building a core staff and doing heavy strategic planning to a phase in which were now doing the work, as opposed to plotting the work, Beckman said in an interview with Inside Philanthropy. The foundation is fully stepping into its fields of endeavor and hopefully joining with other important and impactful players to help make a difference.

Pisces derives its wealth from Bob and Randi Fisher, the former an heir to the Gap clothing empire. While its existed in name for several years, Pisces is now staffed and formalizing the couples philanthropy, which had been self-directed before then.

Related: Fisher Philanthropy: The Three Gap Heirs Are Giving Away a Fortune

They were interested in taking a step in their philanthropy, in moving from important institutional roles, board roles, to more strategic philanthropy.

Beckman was the natural choice to help them build out a foundation. For years prior, the Fishers funded environmental issues, with NRDC a frequent beneficiary. As a board member, Bob Fisher collaborated with Beckman to launch the 45-year-old nonprofits first national water program, reflecting a core interest for both.

I had seen so directly the important role philanthropy plays, as a program director at NRDC. It was enticing to think about playing that role as a foundation director and helping to build something.

Beckman now sits on the three-person board with the Fishers, who are taking a pay-as-you-go approach rather than seeding an endowment. This year, theyre on track to grant $13.7 million, up about 50 percent from last year, and have a 2016 grants budget of $16.8 million. But there's plenty of money where that came from: Forbes estimates Bob Fisher's net worth at $1.5 billion.

Finding a Niche in a Formidable Field

The Fishers giving has placed some emphasis on California in the past, but as philanthropy ramps up at the foundation, they are seeking to have more of a national, and even international impact.

As a medium-sized foundation looking to have an influence in the midst of some of the largest funders and most daunting problems in the country, staff faced the task of finding where, exactly, they would fit in.

They settled on three areas: water resources, a gimme, considering the founders interests and backgrounds; climate and energy, the elephant in our collective room; and environmental education, which they see as a long bet on the future.

If theres one thing that might cut through our programs that is distinguishing, it is that weve in some sense consciously picked issues that many people think are relatively underfunded, Beckman said.

While oceans are a massive philanthropic issue, freshwater is less flush, particularly integrated, systems-based approaches to water resources like the one Pisces is taking. But Beckman considers water, quantity and quality combined, to be not far behind climate as the issue of our times, and the brutal drought in Pisces' backyard supports the notion. (Read more about the foundation's water program here.)

When it comes to that generational issue of climate change (which were pretty firmly on record as saying is desperately underfunded in the grand scheme), Pisces chose a component that it felt had been overlookeda category of non-CO2 pollutants such as methane and black carbon.

Related: Dear Climate Funders: The Clock is Ticking. Use Your Endowments

This is up to 40 percent of the current warming problem, and yet it isnt getting the attention that it deserves, he said. So we think we can have an outsized impact on an important issue.

The third issueall three are funded in about equal measureis environmental education, a field that sometimes falls in the crack between the environment and education.

Its the long game. Its creating a populace that is able to understand environmental issues better and make decisions based on the facts of the systems that support life on Earth.

Aside from those three areas, one of the things Beckman likes most about the foundations work so far is that it is really all over the placestill backing the big greens, but also small grassroots groups and others just getting off the ground, anticipating about 100 grantees this year.

The Other Side of the Desk

The other big task when engineering a new philanthropy is not just finding the issues to support, but figuring out how to support them. Pisces had to decide what kind of foundation it wanted to be.

The thing thats been the most challenging for Beckman, now that hes sitting on the funding side of things, has been the exposure to how much great work is out there, and having to say no to so much of it.

At this point, due to small staff, Pisces doesn't accept unsolicited proposals, but it wants to experiment with ways to invite new ideas into the mix, including a lot of outreach and the possibility of issuing requests for proposals.

We want to create a model where we are open to the community and we give people who are doing great work, who we dont know, a chance to find us, rather than repeatedly funding the same groups. Nobody wants to do that, and certainly, as a young foundation, we want to be experimental and thoughtful about how we can be open to these large fields.

That requires a certain amount of humility, trying to learn from other funders and shrugging off the we know best attitude that sometimes lives upstream.

I wouldnt be so bold to say that were doing things different or better, he said. What were trying to do is take the best of what the foundation world does. Were trying to be very strategic; were trying to be very transparent about what our goals are. Were trying to be very respectful of our grantees We dont view ourselves as in some ivory tower or in some position of knowing more than others.

Not long out of the grantee world, that means Beckman is trying to strike the elusive balance between offering direction and being a pain in the ass (my words). After all, he does have his years of expertise to offer as a resource, plus program staff like former EPA water policymaker Nancy Stoner and Jennifer Kurz, who hails from the Gates Foundation and U.S. Climate Action Network.

I would like us to be the funder I always wanted when I was trying to fund my work as an advocate, he said, acknowledging that he always valued input from great program officers he worked with.

But at the end of the day, I wasnt looking for someone who was going to be on the phone with me every month asking me about the big-picture metrics that might take months or years to create I hope that well be successful in striking that balance, of providing knowledge where we have it, but recognizing that were working with highly talented, motivated people, and they need space to do their work.
One step forward, one step back. Thats the story when it comes to philanthropy and transparency in recent times. You could even argue that weve taken two steps back lately, amid the rise of big, new opaque foundations, the spread of donor-advised funds, and now the greater use of private companies to spearhead social investments.

Darkness is growing in the philanthrosphere, and thats a problem for a bunch of reasons. Which is why its time for a new, different conversation on the age-old topic of transparency and philanthropy.

Ill get to what that conversation might look like in a moment, but first, lets take stock of how we've moved both forward and backward over the past 15 years or so.

The Good News

Many of the biggest and most established U.S. foundations now strive for transparency. Im talking about places like the Hewlett, Packard, Ford, Robert Wood Johnson, and Gates foundations, all of which have online grants databases that are updated in real time, along with tons of information about their programs and grantmaking processes. Increasing numbers of foundations also maintain blogs, which are helpful for anyone trying to figure out what program staff are thinking.

Additionally, leaders of established foundations are more attentive to keeping key stakeholders in the loop during important transitions. Look at Darren Walker, and the good job he did in keeping everyone informed about changes at Ford over the past year, a nerve-wracking period for grantees as the foundation reexamined its priorities (before deciding, in the end, to let Ford keep being Ford.) Jim Canales at Barr has been doing the same thing. Or consider how transparent Atlantic has been in recent years, publishing a small library on its decision making.

Even the hugebut historically quite privateGetty Foundation recently let in a bunch of sunlight, launching an online grants database this summer for the first time, including data going back three decades.

I can think of other bright spots on foundation transparency, too, like the launch of Glass Pockets by the Foundation Center in 2010. Or the many foundations that make public the grantee perception reports that the Center for Effective Philanthropy assembles; the Open Philanthropy Project of Good Ventures and GiveWell; and Philamplify, NCRPs project digging into top foundations. Meanwhile, the emergence of Fluxx and other tech companies in the grants management space have positive implications for transparency, along with the Foundation Centers ongoing data analysis projects. It feels like there's an impending new era of big data illuminating how philanthropic dollars are spent.

This is all positive. The bigger picture, though, is that the momentum toward more transparency has not only stalled in recent years, things have become markedly worse. Some of the biggest funders on the scene are only marginally transparent, particularly the newer ones, and the announcement by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan that they will use a non-transparent LLC as their philanthropic vehicle underscores where things have been heading lately.

Heres Who Didnt Get the Memo

Take a dive into the operations of the top U.S. foundations and youll see how bad the problem is.

After Gates, the second biggest U.S. funder is the Open Society Foundations, which will spend nearly $930 million this year. But while this organization does a great job of communicating what issues it works on, sharing grant opportunities, and working with the media, good luck finding out where its money is going in a timely fashion. Thats right: The second largest funder in the U.S.and one of the most politically controversialdoesnt have a grants database, leaving the curious scrolling through out-of-date 990s. (OSFs president, Chris Stone, is aware of this shortcoming and has told me the foundation is working on it.)

Why is the timely reporting of grants such a big deal? Because without that basic transparency, we dont know how foundations are engaging in the great issues of the moment. The recent Iran nuclear debate is a perfect example: Millions of philanthropic dollars shaped this crucial battle, yet we wont get the full picture of this giving for a year or two, until 990s are released by key funders. Indeed, well probably never get a full picture, given how easy it is to keep donations entirely anonymous, forever. (More on that later.)

To me, as a journalist covering philanthropy, the transparency gold standard is easily accessed, public data revealing where money is going in real time. Of course, this and other information about grantmaking is also really crucial to nonprofits. A survey last year by the Center for Effective Philanthropy found that 91 percent of nonprofits agreed that foundations that are more transparent are more helpful to my organizations ability to work effectively. Alas, only 47 percent of foundation CEOs agreed that foundations would be able to create more impact if they were more transparent with the nonprofits they fund. See also CEPs 2013 report on this subject, which Aaron Dorfman noted was eerily similar to a study that NCRP had publishedin 1980!

So how many major foundations report their grants in a timely fashionwithin, say, six months time? Data available through Glasspockets on the top 80 or so U.S. foundations reveals that just 26 of these foundations have online grants databases. Among them are some of the biggest players, as Ive said, but other giant organizations leave us in the darkas we can see from continuing down the list of large foundations.

Another of the biggest funders in the U.S. is the Susan Thompson Foundation, and its a case study in non-transparency. It has no real website and the most recent info available on its grantmaking comes from a 2013 990even though were nearing the end of 2015. This place made $450 million in grants in 2013, mainly in the area of reproductive health, and for all we know, its given at even higher levels since then. But, well, thats pure conjecture. Ask me in 2017.

Then theres Bloomberg Philanthropies, another huge foundation thats been stepping things up lately. While this funder is otherwise good at sharing information about its activities on its website, where it reveals it distributed $462 million in 2014, it doesnt provide details on who, exactly, got all that moneymuch less where funds have been going in 2015. One thing we do know about this foundation is that influencing government is central to its operating strategy, as Michael Bloomberg explained earlier this year. Thats an unnerving combination: policy activism mixed with mega-giving and a high level of opacity.

All told, according to Glasspockets, only half of the 20 top foundations in the U.S., measured by annual giving, have online grants databases. This analysis, I should add, is hardly authoritative, since we dont actually know which 20 foundations have been giving away the most money in the past year or twoa period when any number of less transparent funders have been coming on the scene or ramping up. Again, ask me in 2017.

Looking beyond the big foundations to smaller-sized outfits, the transparency picture grows even darker. I occasionally come across small foundations that regularly post their recent grants onlineits not so hard, after all, to just throw up a list of grants in the most recent docketbut most dont bother. As a practical matter, its nearly impossible to find out what the vast majority of U.S. foundations have been funding in the past year or two.

The Shadow Giving System

After the 2008 financial crisis, there was much talk of a "shadow banking system" that consisted of a growing array of financial entities that had emerged outside of the traditional regulated banking system. Well, something similar has happened in philanthropy, bringing ever more opacity to U.S. giving.

The growth of non-transparent donor-advised funds has received the most attention. Last year, there were nearly 240,000 donor-advised fund accounts that held $70 billion and made $12 billion in grants. These figures have been spiking upward for years, and Im betting this boom has continued in 2015. While the nonprofit entities running all these DAFs do release 990 data with specific grants, that information is pretty useless, since its unconnected with the names of actual donors. As well, its not provided in a timely fashion.

Many DAFs are administered by community foundations, and most of the grantmaking is pretty local and innocuous. But a notable trend over the past decade or two has been the rise of more ideological efforts to aggregate DAFs and organize like-minded donors. On the left, theres the Tides Foundation, which moved $132 million in grants in 2014, including to many advocacy groups working to influence public policywith much of this money impossible to link to specific donors and little grants data available in real time. On the right, theres Donors Trust, a DAF operation that Mother Jones wrote about a few years ago in an article called The Dark-Money ATM of the Conservative Movement. The last 990 available for this place, from 2013, showed that it pulled in $103 million in contributions and made around $38 million in grants, including to most of the top conservative policy shops. We dont know who provided this money, though.

The biggest values-driven DAF outfit of all is the National Christian Foundation, which manages myriad donor-advised funds, some of which back right-wing causes. It made $662 million in grants in 2013, most of it untraceable to particular individuals. As IP has reported, NCF is a major backer of anti-abortion activism.

Donor-advised funds have long been prized by donors for various reasons, anonymity high among them. Now, though, more wealthy people are using an even less transparent vehicle to manage their giving, the Limited Liability Company. The announcement that Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan would use an LLC for their social investments set off a furor last week, but it was hardly a novel choice. As I wrote last week, Pierre Omidyar and Laurene Powell Jobs also use LLCs.

The use of LLCs for philanthropy is growing among smaller donors, too, but we dont actually know how significant this trend is, because there is no real way to track it.

Finally, lets remember that it isnt at all necessary to create charitable vehicles to give away big money. Any wealthy person can just write large checks directly to the nonprofit organizations of their choice. In general, these tax-deductible gifts dont need to be publicly reported by either party. My hunch is that a lot of the money that went to fund advocacy around the Iran nuclear deal took this form, which is why well never truly know who spent big to influence that debate, with its huge stakes for global security.

The bottom line? Under todays laws, giving in a transparent fashion is a purely voluntary choice for donors, regardless of their scale of operation or the effects of their philanthropy on the public. And with the rise of the "shadow giving system," its easier than ever to give in secrecy.

That New Conversation

Theres been much discussion for decades about how to bring more transparency to philanthropyas well as whether this is even an important goal. People have come to this conversation with different priorities, and a big focus has been improving the flow of information between grantmakers and grantees, to foster a better functioning sector with higher impact. Those issues are as important as ever. But a new, broader conversation on transparency needs to connect squarely with the bigger discussion now raging over the power and accountability of wealth elites in an age of inequality. Here are some points that should help drive that conversation:

Transparency in philanthropy is likely to keep falling amid a growing influx of new mega-donors and the rise of a shadow giving system. In other words, things will get worse before they get better.

Philanthropy is becoming less transparent, even as its becoming more entwined with public policy and used more often as a tool for the wealthy to exercise influence. More donors have reasons for wanting to hide their giving, and its easy to do exactly that.

The weak transparency regime around philanthropy is failing at the very same time that the regulations of campaign finance limits have also collapsed, introducing record levels of new dark money and donor influence to U.S politics.

Political and philanthropic giving are working together to amplify the voices of the rich at a time when many ordinary people already feel disempowered. Secrecy is further fanning anxieties about being cut out of the civic loop.

Transparency is also falling at a moment when the public increasingly expects more transparency on everything and is less inclined to trust all elites, particularly the wealthy.

Distrust of philanthropy is growing, and that trend is likely to continue, with major ramifications for the sector.

You dont need to buy all the points above to recognize that were entering new terrain when it comes to philanthropy and transparency. This shift calls for a fresh approach to a well-worn topic. In particular, the philanthropy establishment, to the extent there is one, should understand that theyre kidding themselves if they think theres a consensus about the need for transparency in the sector. Whatever consensus that may have been emerging on this score has been rendered moot by events on the ground. Were in a new world, driven by new money.

There are a lot of issues to address in a fresh conversation about transparency. To me, one of the biggest tasks at hand is to reexamine philanthropic freedom. That ideal has reigned largely unchallenged in recent years, even as people in the social sector find plenty else to fight about. Now, though, its time to look more closely at ways to balance the ideal of philanthropic freedom with an idea thats far more important to Americans, which is civic equality.

More on that subject to come.
Back in 1978, with a promise of two grants for $25,000, one of which fell through, Bob Friedman set out to do something about assets and financial inclusion for the poor. He started the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) which has gone on to become a leader in the asset building field. Now, 37 years later, the field has become a well-funded movement, and is poised for a new stage of growth.

But Friedman is not your typical policy entrepreneur. He's also hung around the funding side of things, and there, too, has helped advance the asset building cause.

"I was born lucky, and have majored in it ever since," he says. Friedman comes from the Levi Strauss family. His grandfather, Dan Koshland, Sr., worked for the family business all his life, rising to become CEO of the iconic jeans maker.

"I revered my grandfather," said Friedman."He could have established his own foundation, but he didn't. Instead, he established the San Francisco Foundation. He fundamentally believed in community. He was also one of those rare people who loved paying taxes. He said he figured if he was paying a lot of taxes, he must be doing pretty well."

Philanthropy related to the Levi Strauss company was part of the fabric of the family Friedman grew up in, and earlier in his career, he served as a board member both for the corporation and its foundation. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Levi Strauss Foundation has long been a funder of asset building work. In a recent year, for example, it gave out 22 grants in this area to fund initiatives both in the U.S. and abroad.

That grantmaking captures the diversity of the asset building movement, and the different ways that foundation dollars are being deployed to help poor people build wealth. For example, the foundation supported an effort by the Earned Assets Resource Network "to connect low-wage workers to the financial mainstream through direct deposit and electronic payroll" and also backed an effort for "financial literacy training, matched savings and micro-enterprise development program for workers in the apparel industry in Medellin, Colombia."

As well, Levis Strauss money has gone to build up the asset building movement as a whole, with grants for networking and capacity building to boost coordinated work at the local, state, and national level. Bolstering research on assets and wealth has been another priority of the foundation, which also funds in the areas of HIV, disaster relief, and worker rights. In 2013, the foundation gave away $6.4 million and reported assets of $66 million.

Friedman does not now sit on the board of the Levi Strauss Foundation, which has a professional staff. And he's shy about taking credit for Levi's strong asset building focus:

I wouldn't claim to have shaped it. I share a lot of the corporate and foundation values. I was proud of the company for integrating plants in the south way before it was common to do so, and for maintaining employees during the Great Depression even if it meant they were polishing the floors. I think that the foundation has been courageous in addressing issues of economic justice and opportunity and diversity.

That said, it was Friedman who brought the idea of focusing on asset building to the Levi Strauss Foundation, from his work at CFED. He recalled talking with Judy Belk, who was president of the Levi Strauss Foundation at the time (she is now CEO of the California Wellness Foundation) about what it was like for low-income people to buy a house, and how having parents who could loan you the money for a down payment was not usually an option. "I told her about IDA's (Individual Development Accounts) and asset building, and she immediately got it on a fundamental level."

Mainly, though, Friedman has been a grantseeker, and we asked him about starting CFED and where he got his funding. He acknowledged that many of the early years were filled with trial and error. "I must say, those first five years, I was wandering in the desert, learning how to do fundraising, trying to establish that we knew something, which basically we did by respecting innovation at the community level."

During the first 10 years, he recalled receiving one major grant from the Department of Labor, which had to be signed off by both a Democratic and Republican secretary of labor. As a testament to how asset building has attracted an unusual range of supporters, Stuart Butler at Heritage Foundation was instrumental in securing the second approval. Still, funds were scarce in those early days.

Friedman remembered the first major foundation grant, for $500,000, coming from the Ford Foundation's rural program in 1990. Later, in the mid-1990s, Ford would go all in for asset building in a way that transformed the field. Its new president at the time, Susan Berresford, made this a top foundation priority and, to lead this work, hired Melvin Oliver, a sociologist and co-author (with Tom Shapiro) of Black Wealth/White Wealth, one of the bibles of the asset building movement. Ford went on to spend millions to scale up the asset building field, most notably with a $50 million give to Self Help, the North Carolina credit union, which Friedman says helped prove that "low income people can be homeowners with 3 percent down payments and fixed thirty-year rate mortgages, and that they're a good bet."

Friedman expresses gratitude about Ford's leadership in this area, including that of Frank DeGiovanni, who still directs the foundation's asset building work. "They're huge," Friedman said emphatically, adding that Ford's embrace of assets represented a crucial move away from a "poverty" frame.

But make no mistake: Bob Friedman was developing this field long before America's then-biggest foundation came along and helped supersize it.

Another key pioneer, of course, was Michael Sherraden, the author of the seminal 1991 book, Assets and the Poor. No book has been more important to the asset building movement, and Friedman recalls being introduced to Sherraden when the book was still in draft form. Learning about Sherraden's ideas, and particularly his proposal for Individual Development Accounts, was pivotal.

Friedman described how he found in Sherraden's concept of the IDA the basic building block of a truly "democratic and inclusive human investment system." Plenty of funders turned out to be equally excited, and Friedman says the IDA concept was crucial in helping asset building get traction with top foundations.

The Joyce Foundation (Craig Kennedy, Debby Leff, Unmi Song with little-known board member Barack Obama) and Charles Stewart Mott (Jack Litzenberg, a giant, Benita Melton, Bill White and so many others) were there to back the first three IDA programs, where we didn't have any model; we had Sherraden's idea, but it seemed clear to me that unless we got stuff on the ground, the idea wouldn't go far and so the Joyce Foundation invested in these three nascent initiatives. Then CFED joined with Sherraden and the Center for Social Development to launch the American Dream Demonstration and we got 12 major foundations to invest significantly led by Ford, Mott, MacArthur, Citigroup (first financial institution foundation to support us, thanks to Janet Thompson, Pam Flaherty, Brandee McHale, and Bob Annibale), FB Heron (which became the first to devote its whole mission to asset-building under the leadership of Sharon King), MacArthur, Kaufmann, Fannie Mae, Joyce, Levi Strauss, Rockefeller, Moriah, and Met Life. That demonstration and that support really enabled us to develop the IDA field, and maybe it's because we didn't know what we didn't know but it seemed like every step was progress, and we did at the end of the day prove that low income people, with labor-intensive community programs, would save and build assets.

The rest is history, as they say. Asset building remains a major focus of many funders and the movement continues to gain steam.

As for Bob Friedman, he long ago decided to hand off the management of CFED to others but remains its board chair and general counseltitles that don't capture what he really is: the godfather of one of the most significant policy movements of recent decades.
John D. Rockefeller was among the most reviled robber barons of his time. Henry Ford was a union buster. Bill Gates was sued for monopolistic practices. George Soros destabilized Britains currency. The Walton family helped obliterate Main Street with its low-wage business model. And most of todays hedge fund billionaires are so rich, in part, because of the notorious carried-interest tax loophole.

Many great fortunes, past and present, have their origins in unsavory business practices and/or public policies that have been rigged to favor the rich.

How much should these backstories color our analysis of philanthropy? Does it matter how the money was made?

These questions are hardly new, but come up with increasing frequency in regard to todays mega-giving. To offer one example: We write often about the philanthropy of Steve Cohen, whose hedge fund was shut down after a federal investigation into insider trading investigation  sparked by years of suspicion that Cohen had grown so rich by operating on the edge, or beyond. Every time we write about a Cohen gift, we note this backstory.

On the other hand, when we write about Rockefeller or Gates grants, we dont pause to note the monopolistic practices that contributed to the endowments of those foundations.

So how long do we keep Steve Cohen in the doghouse? Fifty years from now, when hes gone and his foundation is still making grants, should every story include that caveat about insider trading?

The Cohen case is extreme. But the question remains: How do we think about philanthropic fortunes pumped up thanks to perfectly legal  but reprehensible  behavior? Take the tech sector, which is producing more and more mega-givers. A great many tech companies, including Apple and Google, engage in aggressive tax avoidance strategies using offshore tax havens to stash foreign profits. Some also have poor labor and environmental records.

When we write about, say, a major grant by Apple to get more girls into computer science, should we also make mention of Tian Yu, the young Chinese woman who attempted suicide thanks to sweatshop conditions in a factory making iPhones?

When we write about the Patriotic Philanthropist David Rubenstein, should we also mention the not-so-patriotic tax avoidance strategies that have allowed him and other private equity billionaires to get so rich? Or the allegations of revolving-door practices and influence peddling of his Carlyle Group?

My answer to the question of whether it matters where the money comes from is yes and no.

The context of todays big philanthropy should never be too far from our minds. This mega-giving reflects historic levels of inequality that didnt emerge by accident. Sure, certain unavoidable shifts related to technology and globalization have fueled inequality, but so have deliberate business practices and public policies. The Walton family is so rich, in part, because it chose a low-wage model and worked aggressively to stop unionization of Walmart workers. The hedge fund and private equity industries have energetically fought efforts to close the carried-interest loophole, and the wealthy have campaigned relentlessly to keep taxes low on capital gains, a tax policy thats been an important driver of inequality.

I could cite other examples. The point is that the upper class has so much money to give away partly because they have promoted policies that have channeled wealth upward. So, yes, theres something wrong with lavishing these Americans with uncritical praise as they now step forward as philanthropists to meet societal needs that wouldnt be so acute if wed had a more high-minded and selfless upper class over the past few decades.

That context should never be forgotten.

As a practical matter, though, litigating the details of how every philanthropist made their fortunes  and then coloring judgements of their giving as a result  doesnt make sense. Such an undertaking is simply too big and complex.

So where do the backstories about wealth creation belong in our narratives about philanthropy? A few thoughts.

First, I think the worldviews and ideologies that philanthropists bring to their giving are super-important. To understand how a donor thinks, its very helpful to know how they made their money. That context can lead to some trenchant critiques of the choices donors make  say, in placing undue faith in technological fixes or market-based solutions  but also to the praise of donors who bring new kinds of thinking to solving social problems.

Second, if a donor seems to be engaged in an effort to repair their reputation after past wrongdoing, that context needs to be mentioned. But caution is important here. For example, both Steve Cohen and Michael Milken were active philanthropists before the feds came after them. You cant be too reductive in assigning motive.

Third, the greatest skepticism should be reserved for corporate philanthropy. This giving is often directly tied to strategies that boost the bottom line and its often not hard to find the self-interested motives at work. These motives range from quite unsavory  say, an oil company bankrolling climate denial  to far more benign, like tech companies giving to expand the supply of STEM workers.

Fourth, it often makes sense to just skip the backstory of wealth creation altogether in order to focus on the strategies and impact of funders. This stuff is complicated enough without getting mired in the details of where the money came from.

As long as the broader context of todays giving is never too far from mind  i.e., the appalling inequality of the new Gilded Age  most philanthropy is best evaluated on its own merits: Will this gift or that grant make the world a better place or not?

See more articles by David Callahan.
Power generation is the largest demand driver of coal use in Northeast Asia and many parts of the world. Japan is not alone in coal energy use and it is quite likely the regional coal industry will continue to persist for years to come even if Japan has mothballed much of its domestic coal industry. This article will briefly discuss some developments in the Northeast Asian coal industry that may have a regional impact on Japan, including Mongolia emerging as a source of coal.





Mongolia is bordered by Russia and China, and both these neighbours currently exert an economic influence on Mongolia as a supply source. China is also fast emerging as a major consumer of coal in the region. As it is located in a land-locked region, consequently, the major Mongolian export items to Japan consist mostly of minerals and textiles.1 Significantly, 43 percent of Chinas coal resources are now drawn from Mongolia, an estimated total of 18,473.2 million tons of coal, and there are more than 5,000 companies from China with a total investment of USD 2.5 billion managing the energy trade, in addition to PetroChinas USD 1.4 billion.2





Chinas own growing need for coal will continue to drive its demand for domestic coal resources and even increase its imports. 70 percent of Chinas energy demand is met by its own coal resources, approximately 114 billion tons in terms of overall size, and growing imports.3 To facilitate this growing demand for coal, Dalian for example has become a growing center of coal trading in China. Due to its own increasing demand, China is the worlds largest producer of coal as well, including the prolific mines that are found in the Northern as well as Northwestern regions of China.





Russia is another source of coal energy commodities, and the Putin administration has stopped operations at non-productive coal mines to make its energy supply more effective and to create industry models that can rival the most efficient coal industries globally.4 The coal mines closer to Japan are those found in West Siberia. According to statistics dated around 2014, Russia exported 110 million tons to Japan, the two fast-emerging economies of India and China, as well as the European Union (EU), while in the same period of time, Japan took in 121 million tons of coal from Indonesia, Australia, Russia, the US, and Canada.5





Interestingly, North Korea has quite larges reserves approximated at 12 GT as well as potentially undiscovered coal mines.6 Its problems in coal extraction are man-made. Years of isolation, sanctions, and juche (self-reliance) have not brought about rapid economic development or cutting-edge industrialization. Its low-cost labor potentially makes North Korean coal cheap but there can be political repercussions for taking Pyongyangs resources. When the North Koreans tested a missile in early 2017, China turned back North Korean ships carrying coal for export.





Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide are two by-products of coal use. They can cause respiratory problems and damage the eco-system.



The Great East Japan Earthquake 2011 has accelerated Japanese demand for coal since nuclear plants had to be shut down nation-wide. Since 2011, only one nuclear power plant located in Kagoshima, southern Japan has been turned back on. The current pro-nuclear government at the point of this writing is keen to turn on the others after safety inspection checks have been carried out. Japanese Clean Coal Technology (CCT) has been cited by the Turnbull government of Australia as a model for replacing their old coal power plants with cleaner versions.7 The Isogo (in southern Tokyo) electricity generation plant is seen globally as the cleanest coal power plant using the criteria of emissions intensity.8 Japan has 90 coal power plants in operation in 2017, has intentions to add more plants and this represents an opportunity for Australia since the Japanese purchase more than 40 percent of Australia thermal coal exports.9





The problems with tapping into Northeast Asian coal mines are typically political ones with geopolitical tensions in the region, including economic sanctions, maritime disputes, and issues of historical memories. There are other common problems in using coal as well. For example, acid rain results from coal use in the region. Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide are two by-products of coal use. They can cause respiratory problems and damage the eco-system. Use of low-quality coal can worsen air pollution in the region. Densely-populated cities found in the Northeast Asian region intensify the problem further as energy use is concentrated in those areas. Heavy industries in areas like Shenyang or other regions producing cement and steel also add on to pollution generated by coal use. Driving urbanization are massive movements of people from the agricultural areas in the countryside to urban cities. This movement of people takes place on a massive scale in the context of China.





Future solutions to these challenges include the use of CCT or the use of scrubbers to remove pollutants, but they add to the cost of using coal energy for power generation. Coal itself can also be cleaned and the process lowers its sulphur and sodium content. Like its presence in seawater, sodium causes corrosion while sulphur contributes to acid rain formation. Another solution is to conserve energy or use energy efficiently to reduce wastage. These measures will lead to lower consumption of energy and reduce pollution as well. Substitution is another measure.





Coal can be substituted with much cleaner fossil fuels like natural gas or renewable energy resources like hydropower, wind, solar, and geothermal energy. According to a media report by a writer with the Australian Associated Press, renewable energy makes up 25 percent of Japanese power generation.10 Japan has also contributed to a cleaner regional environment by providing training on environmental monitoring to shore up more reliable data, technological sharing, and the promotion of transboundary cooperation. Networks of experts have also been formed amongst Northeast Asian states to look into this issue.





Notes





1. Enkhbold, V. (n.d.). Mongolias coking coal export potentials in Northeast Asia. The Association of Korean Economic Studies. Retrieved from http://www.akes.or.kr/eng/papers(2014)/120.full.pdf, p. 3.





2. Campi, A. (2013). The new great game in Northeast Asia: Potential impact of energy mineral development in Mongolia on China, Russia, Japan, and Korea. Asia-Pacific Policy Papers Series, Edwin O. Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies. Retrieved from http://www.reischauercenter.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/RC-Monograph-2013-Campi_The-New-Great-Game-in-Northeast-Asia.pdf, pp. 3 and 4.





3. Ibid, p. 12.





4. Ibid, p. 9.





5. Enkhbold, p. 8.





6. Streets, D. G. (1991). Northeast Asia coal trading center set up in Dalian. Glocom. Retrieved from http://www.glocom.ac.jp/column/1991/07/energy_and_acid_rain_projectio.html





7. Curtis, K. (2 Feb 2017). Look at Japan for clean coal power. News Limited. Retrieved from http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/look-at-japan-for-clean-coal-power/news-story/784d9cb50af857bfa8cbc9f5bc90acc8





8. Mealey, R. (1 June 2017). Japan spruiks 'highly efficient' coal-fired power plants as stop-gap measure to Australia's energy crisis. ABC News. Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-01/japan-spruiks-coal-fired-power-plants-to-australia/8577464





9. Curtis (2 Feb 2017).





10. Ibid.
The multitude of moves come as the former El Vino restaurant, at the foot of the Elysian tower, comes up to let this week via Lisney. It guides at 50,000 pa for 2,100 sq ft of restaurant/cafe opportunity next to City Hall, and where Lisney says 200 apartments are now let. El Vino has been at the Elysian since 2009 and now will concentrate on its original, Douglas village restaurant.

Due in coming weeks in the former Panda Mama Chinese restaurant on Parnell Place is Sliced, a new wood-fired pizza company that opened its first outlet in Ballincollig Town Centre over a year ago and which has larger, Irish expansion plans. Owner Joe ODonovan says fit-out for Sliceds second restaurant, on Parnell Place, is underway and it will employ 32 when open in coming weeks.
Arts A Trip to Anyar

Two artists depict life in the central plains, in a gallery show at Aung San Stadium.

Last month, Win Pe Myint and Phoe San visited townships such as Minbu and Sagu in Central Myanmar, known as Anyar in Myanmar language. The two artists spent a week in Anyar, and came back to Yangon with bundles of gifts  not typical Anyar souvenirs like jaggery, plum jam, and horse gram sauce, but paintings depicting the lifestyles, pagodas, stupas and cultural buildings of Anyar.

Phoe San is a graduate of the State School of Fine Art (Yangon) and Win Pe Myint is a noted artist and an art teacher.

The two will be showcasing their paintings from August 26-31 at the newly opened OK Art Gallery in the north wing of Aung San Stadium in Yangon.

From dawn to dusk during their weeklong stay in Anyar, the two captured many aspects of the culture and lifestyle of the plains.

In the early mornings, they visited monasteries, jetties, and houses. It is typical of Anyar people to build more than one house on a compound where extended family lives together, and where cattle and poultry are also kept.

The two artists did not mind painting directly under the scorching Anyar sunlight when they found something that attracted them. For some of the paintings, they waited hours to get the right color or timing.

The painting of the sunrise from the Minbu [Irrawaddy River] Bank is memorable. On the first day, the sun rose a bit and I didnt get the color I wanted; I only saw the yellow sun. So, I waited for the sunrise the following day. Then, I got the pink color that I wanted, Phoe San said.

Phoe San said he was happy about his art tour with mentor Win Pe Myint, but was upset to see the deteriorating ancient monasteries.

Im sure youll miss Anyar when you come and see this exhibition, said Phoe San.

The visitors will feel that they were in Anyar, said Win Pe Myint, who is known for his still life works.

Weve tried to make sure these paintings give the full essence of Anyar, he said. Each of the artists will feature 25 paintings, priced between US$150 and $500.
Burma Amendments to Telecoms Law Passed

An anti-Article 66(d) demonstrator in Yangon, January 2017. / The Irrawaddy

YANGON  Myanmars Upper House of Parliament has passed a bill amending the 2013 Telecommunications Law, as per the amendments sent back from the Lower House.

During the parliamentary session on Thursday, no Upper House lawmakers objected to the amendments that were approved in the Lower House on Aug. 18.

With the green light from the Upper House, the most controversial provision of the law, Article 66(d), which free speech advocates have called to repeal, remains in place.

Article 66(d) has been, and still is, used to stifle political dissent, through punishment that is considered severe in relation to the crime. It has been used to charge more than 90 people with online defamation, including more than a dozen members of the media who have been detained and jailed.

It prohibits the use of a telecommunications network to extort, defame, disturb or intimidate.

But the provision, which previously carried a maximum prison sentence of up to three years, has now been reduced to two years under the amendments, in order to guarantee bail.

Myanmars criminal procedure states that charges that can be accompanied by three years or more in jail shall not allow bail.

Third parties will now be banned from filing cases under the law unless they are affected directly by the action or are acting on such an affected individuals behalf, under the amendments that were approved by Parliament.

The amended law will still require permission from the Ministry of Transport and Communications to proceed, as in the original law.
Burma Chief Ministers Told to Review Past Govt MOUs

From left: Mandalay Chief Minister U Zaw Myint Maung, Magwes U Aung Moe Nyo, and U Myint Naing of Sagaing. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

YANGON  Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has instructed regional chief ministers to review the memorandums of understanding and agreement (MOUs and MOAs) signed under the previous government, according to Sagaing Region chief minister Dr. Myint Naing.

In her first-ever video conference with cabinet members on Wednesday, the State Counselor spoke with chief ministers of Magwe, Sagaing and Mandalay, and told them to expedite regional development endeavors.

Mainly, she instructed us to speed up regional development works and review the memorandums of agreement signed under the previous government, Dr. Myint Naing told The Irrawaddy.

The chief ministers of Sagaing and Mandalay regions presented plans for agricultural modernization, improved transportation and electricity supply, and tourism development, he said.

Magwe Region chief minister Dr. Aung Moe Nyo told The Irrawaddy that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is expected give further instructions regarding a newly discovered oil field in Minbu Township in the next video conference.

He explained that the oil field could potentially measure 20 miles long and three miles wide, and is adjacent to Mann and Htauk Shar Bin oil fields in crude oil-rich Magwe.

Dr. Aung Moe Nyo also said that an ore deposit had been discovered on the border of Magwes Sidoktaya and Chin States Kanpetlet townships.

The State Counselor also reportedly told him that the government is continuing to inspect the funds of regional governments.

More than three billion kyats was recently retrieved from the previous government in Magwe, after the Presidents Office ordered an investigation into a missing 7.46 billion kyats in regional development funds collected from small-scale crude oil producers.

Dr. Aung Moe Nyo said that with these funds, his government would procure fire engines and garbage trucks, and speed up departmental works.

For Magwe in particular, the auditing continues on public funds at the instruction of Presidents Office, according to Union-level Auditor-General U Maw Than.

He said the investigation is expected to be completed by the end of September, and that the findings would be submitted to the President.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko
Burma Former Security Ministers Become Upper House Lawmakers

Military representatives of Parliament. / Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy

YANGON  Seven former security and border affairs ministers have become military representatives to the Upper House.

Former security and border affairs ministers of Chin, Shan, Karen, and Rakhine states and Yangon, Magwe and Mandalay regions Col Kyaw Kyaw, Col Soe Moe Aung, Col Aung Lwin Col Htein Lin, Col Tin Aung Tun, Col Naing Oo and Col Myo Min Aung took the oath as military representatives to the Upper House on Wednesday.

They were appointed by the military as security and border affairs ministers of regions and states after the National League for Democracy (NLD) government assumed office last year.

According to the military-drafted 2008 Constitution, the military holds three important ministries: defense, border affairs, and home affairs.

One year after taking the ministerial positions, the army chief replaced them on June 29. They were then appointed to the Upper House to fill the seats left vacant by military representatives who had retired, been promoted, or resigned.

They should have been assigned back to the military, but they were appointed to Parliament. Since they served in the administration they have more experience than ordinary military representatives, a military representative told The Irrawaddy on condition of anonymity.

NLD Upper House lawmaker U Ba Myo Thein viewed the move as a military attempt to use their experience in security and border affairs in parliamentary matters. Some of the appointees served in areas that experienced ongoing clashes and violence.

Maybe the military appointed them for their administrative experience or their experience in engaging with the civil administration. At least, theyll be able to provide suggestions to Parliament, said Upper House lawmaker U Khin Maung Latt of the Arakan National Party. (ANP).

Recently, in the Upper House, lawmakers have been debating an urgent proposal to take action against suspected militants in the north of Rakhine State under the 2014 Counter-Terrorism Law, and support locals who have fled their homes because of recent killings in the area.
Burma Human Rights Program Launches in High Schools

Human rights training at the Basic Education High School in Zee Kone Township, Bago Region, on August 18, 2017.

YANGON  A human rights training program has launched for thousands of high-school students in 73 public schools in Bago Region, according to U Aung Myo Kyaw of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).

The human rights introduction program is starting in the schools of our town under an agreement of the government and the education ministry in Pyay, said Daw Mar Mar Zin, Bagos Pyay Township Education Officer.

AAPPs two-hour curriculum introduces the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child with cartoons, videos, talks and insights from human rights educators and activists.

We aim to acknowledge respect for each others human rights and fundamental freedoms for the students, U Aung Myo Kyaw told the Irrawaddy on Thurday.

Anywhere from 100 to 700 students will join the training sessions at each school. The program began on Aug. 1 and will conclude on Sept. 30. AAPP will visit the Taung Gyi and Monywa districts to check on the progress of participants and instructors.

We found out that even the teachers didnt clearly know what human rights were. They were also actively interested in program, and they asked for a CD and training assistance for further teaching in the classes, said U Aung Myo Kyaw.

Some requested that we talk about about responsibilities as well in the topics. We are glad to get this chance as a discussion for promoting human rights, he added.

The Program was conducted in eight state schools in Yangon Region and three state schools in Bago in 2016. The program has been expanded widely, from 11 to 72 schools, with the permission of the regions chief minister and education ministry this year.

U Aung Myo Min, a human rights activist and director of Equality Myanmar, told The Irrawaddy that the inclusion of a human rights curriculum needed to be part of the formal education system.

U Aung Myo Min added that this requires a proper curriculum based on the audience, and that the trainers should be qualified and committed.

Although it has been agreed that a new curriculum will be written collaboratively between the government, the Myanmar education research bureau and experts from Unicef, the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Asian Development Bank, the implementation process has been delayed, reportedly due to government transactions.
Burma IFC Approves Support for Controversial Tycoons Mandalay Cement Project

Aik Htun / Photo: Shwe Taung Group

The World Banks private sector lending arm the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has given the go ahead to support a multi-million dollar plan to expand a cement factory in Mandalay Region, operated by the Shwe Taung Conglomerate. The firms chairman, Aik Htun, had been alleged by US authorities to have had ties to the drug trade and narcotics-related money laundering. The Sino-Burmese businessman has long said these accusations are not true, a view now shared by the IFC, which claims to have thoroughly investigated the matter.

The project proposal, which also includes expanding a coal mine in Sagaing Region that supplies the factory, drew strong objections from Myanmar civil society groups who raised environmental concerns about the project that will see the IFC invest US$15 million and provide a loan of $20 million for the expansion that is expected to cost a total of $110 million.

An open letter signed by a coalition of 174 NGOs and Community Based Organizations (CBOS), most of which are based in Myanmar, also raised allegations made by US authorities more than a decade ago concerning Aik Htuns involvement in a now defunct bank that the Bush administration had designated a financial institution of primary money laundering concern.

Aik Htun previously served as the second in command at the Asia Wealth Bank (AWB), which he co-founded in 1995. In less than a decade after its establishment, AWB became Myanmars largest private sector bank. In early 2003, a major crisis in Myanmars banking sector triggered a massive run on AWB and two other private banks, which ultimately led AWB to end operations.

In November 2003, several months after the crisis had put AWB in serious financial trouble, the US government announced that it was taking action against AWB and another Burmese bank, using a section of the US Patriot Act citing money-laundering concerns.

In the announcement about the decision, the US government described Aik Htun as someone who had been specifically identified as having connections with Burmas narcotics trade. The announcement of the targeting of AWB also claimed that the bank, which Aik Htun was a significant shareholder of, was affiliated with prominent organizations and figures in the drug trade, including members of the Kokang ethnic group headed by notorious drug lord Peng Chia-Sheng, a reference to the veteran Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army leader whose name is more commonly spelled Peng Jiasheng.

No Evidence to Support Allegations says IFC Myanmar Country Chief

The IFC said that the allegations concerning Aik Htun and his former bank that were leveled by the US treasury department and printed in the US Federal Register, the official journal of the US government, have proven to be unfounded.

IFC conducted extensive due diligence on STG and its shareholders and found no evidence to support Mr. Aik Htuns involvement in alleged money laundering or drug trafficking, while he was vice chairman and minority shareholder of Asia Wealth Bank, said the IFC country chief in Myanmar Vikram Kumar in a letter written in response to the NGO coalitions open letter to the World Banks chief Jim Kim, opposing the IFCs involvement in the project.

The strongly worded letter from the NGO coalition had urged the IFC to stay away from Aik Htun. [F]inancing this project would send the message that the IFC disregards the reputational risks associated with the borrower, and is more interested in lining its pockets and that of Myanmars crony elite than promoting sustainable development in accordance with its mandate, warned the letter which was sent just before the IFC board was initially supposed to decide on the case at the end of May.

Though ultimately the IFC board chose to disregard the NGO coalitions warnings, the letter appears to have had some impact, with the final decision on the project that had originally been scheduled for May having not have been made until two months later.

When reached for comment, Mr. Kumar emphasized that prior to the project receiving the go ahead from the IFCs board on July 31, the IFC examined the allegations thoroughly. [E]xtensive due diligence, including third party research and reference checks with credible market sources, makes IFC comfortable with the Sponsors business practices, source of wealth, and most importantly, their commitment to adhere to high standards of corporate governance, business ethics and environmental and social sustainability.

The IFCs confidence concerning the source of Aik Htuns wealth stands in sharp contrast to a leaked US diplomat cable written during the military era some three years after AWB stopped operations, which suggested something quite different. Aik Htun enjoys the regimes confidence, and benefits handsomely from its business, wrote a US diplomat in February 2007 shortly after meeting Aik Htun. The cable also cited a fellow businessman in Myanmar who believed that Aik Htun could not have amassed such profits at AWB without drug money.

Aik Htun for his part has claimed that the allegations were the result of petty jealousies. In Myanmar at that time the government was not transparent. There were so many rumors, [there was] so much jealousy, he told the Financial Times in 2015.

While the US governments designation of AWB as a money-laundering concern was withdrawn by the US treasury department in 2012 because the defunct banks no longer exist and thus pose no further threat to financial systems, the accusations against Aik Htun, remain available to be read on US government websites. The IFCs endorsement of Aik Htun and his firm, where his children also serve as senior executives, is a significant victory for the tycoon and represents something of an internationally recognized rehabilitation of his reputation.

The US as the largest shareholder in the World Bank has considerable influence over whom the World Bank and its various branches lend money to. It is therefore very unlikely that the IFCs involvement in a project like the one involving Shwe Taung could have been approved without a nod from Washington, who nominated the current World Bank head, Jim Kim, who is also a member of the IFCs board of directors.

The project also appears to have sailed through approval without reservations being raised by the present National League for Democracy (NLD) government. Daw Aung San Suu Kyis administration has opted to embrace the oligarchs who profited immensely from their access to Myanmars previous military regime, when she and many of her NLD colleagues were in detention or forced into silence. Last week, Myanmars Minister of Planning and Finance Kyaw Win told reporters that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi no longer wants those businessmen, many of whom earned a significant amount of notoriety for their close ties to the military regime, to be described by the media as cronies.

Project Go Ahead Despite Widespread NGO Opposition on Environmental Grounds

The coalition of NGOs also cited the use of coal at the factory and the projects planned expansion of an existing coal mine already operated by Shwe Taung that supplies the factory as strong reasons not to go ahead with the project, in particular, because the coal mine is located in what has been classified a Critical Habitat area.

The NGO letter complained that the IFCs support for the project violated a promise made by the World Bank that it would not support coal power in Myanmar. Kumar maintains this is inaccurate because the World Bank policy on coal only concerns power plants that contribute power to a national grid, and not something like the cement plant which only uses coal to heat the factorys kiln.

The NGO coalition has also expressed concerns that the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) carried out for the project were not sufficient and did not do enough to involve potentially affected communities.

While the NGO coalition of 174 groups opposed to the project represents a broad spectrum of civil society in Myanmar ranging from ethnic land activists to former political prisoners, Kumar maintains that support for the project does exist on the ground.

[T]here has been extensive consultation with communities, whom, in our opinion, have indicated their broad support for the project. In addition, a public forum was convened in Yangon last month with civil society to engage on their issues and concerns and IFC is satisfied that the project will adequately address these, said Kumar.
Burma Pope to Visit Myanmar, Bangladesh Before Christmas

Pope Francis talks with Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi during a private audience at the Vatican May 4, 2017. / Reuters

VATICAN CITY  Pope Francis will almost certainly visit Myanmar and Bangladesh, two countries caught up in a crisis over the Rohingya Muslim minority, before the end of the year, a senior Vatican source said on Wednesday.

The trip, which would be the first time any pope has visited Myanmar, is due to be officially announced before the end of August, added the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The trip is likely to take place between the end of November and the start of December but definitely before Christmas, the source added. The Vatican has so far officially said only that a trip to both countries is under study.

A Vatican team is visiting both countries to sort out details and report back to the pope, who will make the final decision.

Myanmar is facing international scrutiny over atrocities against its Rohingya community. In February, Francis issued a stinging criticism of their treatment, saying they had been tortured and killed simply because they wanted to live their culture and Muslim faith.

The recent histories of Myanmar and Bangladesh have been linked by the Rohingya crisis.

Around 1.1 million Rohingya live in Myanmars Rakhine state, but are denied citizenship and face severe travel restrictions. Many Buddhists across Myanmar regard them as illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh.

More than 87,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since Rohingya insurgents killed nine police last year. That prompted a military crackdown, drawing allegations of rape, killings and arson by the security forces.

The Vatican, which is a sovereign state, and Myanmar established full diplomatic relations in May when its de facto civilian leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, visited the Vatican.

There are about 700,000 Roman Catholics in Myanmar according to the countrys cardinal, Charles Maung Bo, out of a population of about 51.4 million, the majority of whom are Buddhist.

Pope John Paul visited Bangladesh, which is overwhelmingly Muslim and where Catholics make up only a tiny minority, in 1986.
A number of voices from within the Australian ICT industry have welcomed the federal governments announced changes to its ICT procurement policy which is targeted at giving SMBs a fairer go at bidding for government contracts.

The new measures will cap government IT contracts at a maximum of $100 million or three years' duration.

Additionally, it is planned to increase the share of SMEs by 10% in the annual $6.5 billion ICT spend. This would amount to $650 million per annum.

Australian Information Industry Association chief executive Rob Fitzpatrick said the changes made it easier for smaller Australian ICT companies to bid for components of larger projects.

The changes were similar to recommendations made by the AIIA to provide a more level playing field, he added.

We are particularly pleased to hear the ministers strong commitment to cloud services across government and to reforming existing panel arrangements. AIIA has expressed concern for some time that current approaches are out of sync with new business and operating models," Fitzpatrick said.

All these changes open the door for government agencies to embrace innovation and new ideas and puts us a step closer to breaking down Canberras risk-averse culture. The government has also sent an important message about the importance of delivering on its digital transformation agenda.

To succeed, it will be important to implement the spirit of these changes effectively, and industry looks forward to working with the government to ensure an effective rollout.

Macquarie Government managing director Aidan Tudehope said the reforms were a potential game-changer in driving the digital transformation of government agencies.

The so-called "vendor lock-in" problem had presented real barriers to agencies trying to move to the cloud, he added.

Agencies that have outsourced the management of their computing infrastructure too often find they have lost visibility over their own infrastructure, and have tight constraints over their ability to move to different models of operating, such as cloud computing, Tudehope said.

A move to smaller and more modular contractual models was a key component of the UK Governments success in rapidly increasing its use of more agile and better value-for-money cloud computing."

He also welcomed the vision of Canberra as a world leading digital government hub as described by Taylor.

Macquarie Government has invested heavily in Canberra in recent years, and is in the middle of yet more investment, because we firmly believe in the citys digital future, Tudehope pointed out.

The opportunities for Australian businesses to work better and more closely with the agencies and departments in Canberra will undoubtedly be enhanced by the new procurement arrangements announced today.
The cyber security co-ordinator of the White House has publicly warned against the use of software from Kaspersky Lab.

During an interview with CBS, Rob Joyce said he did not use products from the company and advised consumers to follow his lead.

Asked by interviewer Jeff Pegue whether he would advise his family or parents to use the Kaspersky anti-virus software, Joyce replied:

"I would not. I worry that as a nation state Russia really hasn't done the right things for this country and they have a lot of control and latitude over the information that goes to companies in Russia. So I worry about that."

As iTWirerecently, the FBI has begun briefing firms in the US private sector to give up use of Kaspersky products.

Last month, the US government removed Kaspersky products from a list of approved software suppliers for two government-wide purchasing contracts.

And there have been reports that the US Senate was set to use a provision in the National Defence Authorisation Act to look at a ban on the company's software in all federal agencies.

The move against Kaspersky Lab has come in the wake of allegations that Russia interfered in the 2016 US presidential elections. Recently, the US approved more sanctions against Russia and Moscow retaliated by saying it would expel several hundred American diplomats.

CBS quoted Michael Morell, a former deputy director of the CIA, as saying: "There is a connection between Kaspersky and Russian intelligence, and I'm absolutely certain that Russian intelligence would want to use that connection to their advantage."

Joyce was asked whether as cyber tsar he should do more to get the word out to the public about Kaspersky Lab products.

He replied: "I think they should look at the decisions the government is making, and then make their own decisions."

Kaspersky Lab has repeatedly denied that it is in any way connected to the Russian government. It also says that the company has never helped, nor will help, any government in the world with its cyber espionage efforts.
A third-party replacement screen on a smartphone could serve as an entry point for an attacker, with impersonation or compromise of a user, or compromise of the device itself being possible.

Researchers at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel detailed a method of doing this in a paper presented at the 2017 Usenix Workshop on Offensive Technologies in Vancouver, Canada, in mid-August.

They said that such attacks were possible, scalable and invisible to most common means used for detection of malicious activity.

The researchers  Omer Shwartz, Amir Cohen, Asaf Shabtai, and Yossi Oren  pointed out that conservative estimates were that there were nearly two billion smartphones in use worldwide.

"Assuming that 20% of these smartphones have undergone screen replacement, there are on the order of 400 million smartphones with replacement screens in the world," they said.

"An attack which compromises even a small fraction of these smartphones through malicious components will have a rank comparable to that of the largest PC-based botnets."

They tested two devices  the Huawei Nexus 6P and the LG G Pad 7.0  and in both cases they were able to take control of the phones using the embedded malicious chip.

Exploitation was done through an app which was uploaded to the Google Play Store.

"We note that since the app is designed to exploit a vulnerability that is non-existent under normal conditions, it appears completelybenign when a malicious screen is not present. This enabled our app to overcome malware filters and detectors, including Google Plays gatekeeper, Google Bouncer," the researchers wrote.

Once the app had gained the ability to execute commands with kernel permissions, it would disable the inbuilt SELinux protection, exfiltrate private data from applications and authentication tokens.

The data could then be sent to a command and control server after which a root shell would be created for the attacker to gain remote access.

"The threat of a malicious peripheral existing inside consumer electronics should not be taken lightly," the researchers said.

"A well-motivated adversary may be fully capable of mounting such attacks in a large scale or against specific targets. System designers should consider replacement components to be outside the phones trust boundary, and design their defences accordingly."
IT solutions company Tquila ANZ has a appointed 20-year industry veteran Janet Michie to the newly created position of Telstra channel manager in a move it says is part of strengthening its partnership with the telco.

Reporting to chief executive Jo Masters, Michie has more than 20 years experience in the ICT industry in senior strategic sales, channel management and business development roles.

We are delighted to welcome Janet to the Tquila family. Her depth of experience both with and within the channel, her understanding of todays business challenges, and her ability to create and nurture meaningful relationships with partners and customers alike are outstanding, Master said.

Janet will be responsible for growing our Telstra partnership and ensuring we are a valuable partner providing exceptional services to Telstra and their customers assisting with their digital strategies using the Salesforce solutions.

Prior to joining Tquila, Michie spent seven years at Telstra in a number of senior sales roles, more recently as Strategic Partner Manager, Apps Services and Messaging, Telstra Global Enterprises and Services. She also held sales, channel and business development positions at Sensis, Microsoft Australia and AVNET.
Winning the Canstar Blue award for Most Satisfied Customers  Small Business Mobile Phone Providers 2017.1, Vodafone clearly means business for small business.

According to the latest Canstar Blue award, Vodafone small business customers are the most satisfied in Australia".

In a survey (prepared by Canstar Blue) of more than 600 small business owners and decision-makers, we are told that Vodafone rated five stars for customer service, billing information, plan flexibility and value for money".

Stuart Kelly, Vodafone Australias executive general manager of Enterprise, said: The small business owners we speak to are stretched so thin that they spend too much time working in the business and not enough time working on the business. Kellys comments continue below, please read on.

Kelly continued; They need partners that give them time to make the transition from worrying about every aspect of daily operations to working on growing and managing their business more effectively.

From personalised local customer service, to flexible plans and communications solutions that offer much-needed efficiency gains, we aim to ensure every business customer feels like a VIB  a Very Important Business  rather than giving them options such as leasing that might not suit their needs.

This is also why were proud to be the leading partner of the Vodafone Small Business Summit this week, in conjunction with the Council of Small Business Australia. This event shines a spotlight on regulatory, technology and policy matters affecting small businesses across the country.

Megan Doyle, group executive, Canstar Blue, said Vodafone customers valued the telcos approach to its plans, its focus on personalised service and great value more than customers of other providers surveyed.

Since re-entering the business space in 2015, Vodafone has made a huge difference in the small business market.

With renewed strength and revitalised products, 2016 saw them rise and meet the market head on in terms of offering and 2017 has now seen Vodafone surpass the market and take out the award for most satisfied small business customers. This is testament to the time and effort the Vodafone team has taken to understand and tailor its approach to meet the needs of Australian small businesses.

Kelly added: The timing of this award is perfect, coming just as we prepare to expand our approach to working alongside small businesses.

Well soon be adding even more to our small business offerings, combining this with a marketing campaign to let Aussie businesses that havent yet tried Vodafone know that theres now real choice available. Were taking our consumer mentality, which has seen us maintain a complaints ratio of below half the industry average, and applying it to small business.

Small is just a state of mind. The businesses we work with are thinking big and were going to give them the tools and support to achieve big.
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TeleSur |  

Womens rights activists view the ruling as a step toward granting Muslim women greater equality and justice.

Indias Supreme Court has ruled unconstitutional a Muslim practice that reportedly allows men to instantly divorce their wives, a move some claim is a landmark victory for Muslim women to get greater equality.

The practice, known as triple talaq, allows Muslim men to divorce their wives by simply uttering the Arabic word talaq, or divorce, three times. It doesnt need to be consecutive, but at any time, and by any medium, including telephone calls, text messages or social media posts.

Muslim women say they have been left destitute by husbands divorcing them through triple talaq, including by Skype and WhatsApp.

Under the ruling, the government will need to frame new divorce legislation, which would replace the abolished practice, within six months.

The ruling was delivered by a panel of five male judges from different faiths: Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism. Three of the five ruled that the practice was unconstitutional, overruling the senior-most judge in India, the chief justice.

Finally, I feel free today, Shayara Bano, who was divorced through triple talaq and was among the women who brought the case, told Reuters after the ruling.

I have the order that will liberate many Muslim women.

More than 20 Muslim countries, including neighboring Pakistan and Bangladesh, have banned the practice. But in India, triple talaq has continued with the protection of laws that allow Muslim, Christian and Hindu communities to follow religious law in family matters and disputes.

Most of the 170 million Muslims in India are Sunnis governed by Muslim Personal Law. While most Hindu personal laws have been overhauled and codified over the years, Muslim laws have been left to religious authorities and left largely untouched.

Indias Muslim Law Board had told the court that while they considered the practice wrong, they opposed any court intervention and asked that the matter be left to the community to tackle. But several progressive Muslim activists decried the law boards position.

This is the demand of ordinary Muslim women for over 70 years and its time for this country to hear their voices, activist Feroze Mithiborwala told NDTV.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also offered his support to end the practice, calling the law derogatory and discriminatory against women.

On Tuesday, Modi took to Twitter to praise the judgment as historic.

It grants equality to Muslim women and is a powerful measure for women empowerment, he said.

The ruling could spur Modis party to push again for its long-held desire for a uniform civil code, which would end the application of religious laws to civil issues.

The Supreme Court has a right to interfere in the personal space and they have done so, said Maneka Gandhi, minister for women and child development.

However, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board said it would contest the courts decision.

The fact that only three of the five judges have deemed the practice illegal shows that there was no clear decision, member Maqsood Hasani Nadvi said.

Via TeleSur



Related video added by Juan Cole:

EuroNews: Indias supreme court rules Muslim practice of instant divorce is unconstitutional
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By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) |  

In an interview with Handelsblatt , German Chancellor Angela Merkel took on Donald Trumps philosophy directly.

She said that Trumps isolationism cannot make America greater. Turning inward and abandoning friends can only diminish America, she said:

An America that does not care about the rest of the world and just thinks about itself does not make for a big and great country.

Asked about her philosophy for dealing with tough customers among other politicians, she said, Dont try to change your counterparts mind, but find and exploit the wiggle room within their own thinking. And if there isnt any room for compromise, dont be afraid to voice dissent.

And boy did she dissent from Trump on North Korea: I do not agree that all diplomatic means have been exhausted, she said. We can and should do no more than that.

She said that Germany would not necessarily follow a US lead into a more aggressive policy on North Korea, that she does not see a military solution.

She said Germany will try to raise defense spending to 2% of GDP, as Trump is insisting NATO members do, she would not try to achieve that goal by cutting social spending.

Merkel is in the midst of an election contest, and her Social Democratic Party rival has slammed her for being unduly deferential to Trump. She declined to speak disrespectfully of the American president, but her remarks were no doubt intended to underscore her independence of him. Restating that social programs will take precedence over defense spending was intended to blunt an SPD critique. She has a ten point lead in the polls.

Merkel said, We cant think that to become bigger others must become smallerwe should have the view that we can all win from globalization.

Social scientists call the situation where if one player gets a bigger slice of the pie, it means the others get a smaller one a zero sum game. Merkel is saying that globalization is not a zero sum game, but can be pursued in such a way that the whole pie gets bigger so that all the players benefit.

Trump thinks of the world economy as a zero sum game. If China is getting rich it means the US is getting a raw deal. Economists view as fallacies such approaches to the economy that see it as fixed. For instance, the mantra that a higher statewide minimum wage will hurt business is always wrong according to empirical economic studies. It brings more people out into the labor force, which benefits employers and allows business expansion, and gives people more disposable income, which benefits retailers.

Immigration is another area where Trump incorrectly sees a zero sum game. Immigrants typically help grow the economy. Turkey had gone toward stagnation and then some two million Syrian refugees came in, and they contributed to an uptick of Turkish economic growth to 4% per annum. Some businesses, including farms, had been stymied with regard to expansion by a labor shortage, which the Syrians eased. Some also brought in money to invest.

In contrast, Merkel believes in at least having an immigration policy and wont back off her commitments to refugees.

Merkels declaration of independence from Trumps Washington on N. Korea is highly significant, since ordinarily Germany follows the US lead, even if its laws against foreign military entanglements make it a not very robust military partner. (It sent peace keeping forces to Afghanistan but the German officers did not see their mission as war fighting, to the annoyance of NATO allies in Afghanistan such as Italy).

Some are suggesting that Merkel is now the leader of the free world. Certainly, that is true at the level of moral tone. If only the world were so mature that a largely pacifist and unarmed country could be its leader!



Related video:

Bloomberg Politics: Merkel Stands by Her Decision to Open German Borders
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By Reese Erlich | ( 48Hills |  

What will 4,000 more US troops do that 100,000 troops couldnt do before?

On my first reporting trip to Afghanistan, I was surprised to find that so many people supported the US invasion. They loved President George Bush because he got rid of the hated Taliban regime. But when I asked what should the US do now, most answered go home. That was in January 2002, just three months after the US invasion.

Almost 16 years later, the US remains in Afghanistan and President Donald Trump just announced plans to send yet more troops to what I consider a losing occupation. The war has resulted in tens of thousands of civilian deaths, killed more than 2,400 US soldiers, and will cost an estimated $2 trillion, including veterans benefits.

Trump plans to send 4,000 more troops to bolster the corrupt regime installed by the US in the first place. Matthew Hoh, a former State Department official in Afghanistan, told me Trump used fear mongering about terrorist attacks to justify the escalation.

How is keeping tens of thousands of US troops in Afghanistan going to stop someone from driving a van at people in Barcelona? he asked.

The anti-war movement in the US sharply criticized the escalation and called for withdrawal of US and all foreign troops.

Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the women led peace group Code Pink, told me she thinks that Trump plans a permanent occupation of Afghanistan.

Sending more soldiers in an unwinnable war is just not right, she told me. Pouring more resources into the black hole of Afghan corruption is not right.

But what would happen if all foreign troops actually pulled out?

That question troubled Santwana Dasgupta, who led a NGO helping women in Afghanistan.

These groups like Code Pink call for immediate withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, she said. But what about the US responsibility for developing Afghanistan?

She argued that immediate withdrawal of troops would lead to a collapse of the Afghan government and triumph of the Taliban, setting back whatever progress had been made by Afghan women. Instead, she said, the peace movement should demand a genuine development strategy, a focus on improving the lives of civilians, and maintaining enough US troops to train the Afghan military and police.

That conversation took place in 2009. I disagreed with her views at the time because the US was never interested in Afghan women. It funded development programs only insofar as they helped bolster support for the military occupation. As for training the Afghan Army to win the war, in 2010 the Obama administration stationed 100,000 troops to Afghanistan but was unable to defeat the Taliban.

Even with the addition of Trumps 4,000 troops, the US will have about 12,500 soldiers in country. Exactly what will they accomplish where 100,000 failed?

Code Pinks Benjamin agreed the US has an obligation to help rebuild Afghanistan.

The US government should commit money for reparations and development, she said. The US should spend money on the real needs of Afghan people and not blowing them up.

As a feminist I hate to say it, she continued, but we have to negotiate with Taliban. Thats the only way the war will end.

They are Afghans and we are not. Its critical to have a political settlement now that theres ISIS in Afghanistan.

The Bush administration waged war on Afghanistan under false pretenses, and the lying continued through Republican and Democratic administrations.

The US officially invaded Afghanistan in retaliation for the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. The Taliban had allowed Al Qaeda to operate in its territory, but the Afghan government was unaware of the 9/11 plans.

No Afghans were involved in 9/11, noted former State Department official Hoh. The attacks were planed outside of Afghanistan. And the Taliban had no connections to the post 9/11 attacks such as those in London and Madrid.

The US had long wanted to build a natural gas pipeline through Afghanistan. In 2010 the Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed a deal to participate in a $7.6 billion, 1000-mile pipeline that would go from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan and into Pakistan, bypassing Iran, the US enemy du jour in the region.

The pipeline never got built, however, due to war and instability.

The main US interest in Afghanistan remains geopolitical. The US helped create the Mujahedeen insurgency against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. Today Afghanistan remains an important crossroads affecting Pakistan, India, Russia and China.

And that helps explain why Trump shifted from his neo-isolationist positions calling for an end to the war to his latest, neo-conservative interventionist policies.

The tip off came when Trump appointed three pro-interventionist generals to top defense and security positions within his administration.

Secretary of Defense James Maddis and Chief of Staff John Kelly are former Marine Corps generals. National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster was, until a few months ago, a Lt. General in the US Army.

Their political views stand in stark opposition to Trumps supposed opposition to interventionist wars.

They understand America to be an empire, Hoh said. Its a matter of guarding the empire. They see themselves as legionnaires.

The way to maintain the empire is to control the borderlands, he continued. They just use brutal force to keep the borderlands under control.

Ancient Romes rulers secured their base at home by controlling the outer reaches of the Empire in what is modern day Germany and Britain. Until they didnt.

Every empire eventually collapses, although I doubt Romes leaders saw it coming until the very end. Trump doesnt see it coming either.

The lack of political support and the outrageous costs mitigate against permanent militarily occupation of countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, or Syria.

But small scale troop escalations cant win the war either.

It means continual war, said Hoh, and it wont be successful.

Oakland-based journalist Reese Erlich has been a foreign correspondent for more than 40 years. Follow him on Twitter @ReeseErlich, on Facebook Reese Erlich Foreign Correspondent and visit his home page The Official Website of Reese Erlich

Reprinted with authors permission from 48Hills

-

Related video added by Juan Cole:

Democracy Now! Debate: As Trump Prolongs War in Afghanistan, Should U.S. Pull Out Troops Immediately?
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Steven Mulroy | (The Conversation) |  

President Donald Trump may pardon Joe Arpaio, the former Arizona sheriff who illegally used racial profiling to enforce immigration laws.

Its true, Trump has the legal power to pardon pretty much anyone. But pardoning Arpaio could send the message that state and local officials can aggressively enforce federal immigration law, even if it risks racial profiling and violating the due process rights of citizens and noncitizens.

Legal limits on immigration enforcement

At a July 22 rally in Phoenix, the president hinted he was considering a pardon for Joe Arpaio, former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona. Arpaio has long been known for his harsh practices like requiring inmates to work on chain gangs and live in outdoor tent cities in the scorching Arizona heat. He prioritized immigration enforcement at the expense of crimes like sexual assault.

In 2011, a federal court found that Arpaios sheriffs department unconstitutionally racially profiled Latinos. The court additionally noted that state and county officials had no authority to enforce federal immigration law without authorization from the federal government. Arpaio had no such authorization.

As a former federal prosecutor and Justice Department civil rights lawyer, I know that state and local cooperation can be helpful in enforcing federal law. But as I teach my constitutional law students, when it comes to immigration, federal law usually preempts state law. State overenforcement of immigration law can actually interfere with federal policy. So, state officials should enforce federal immigration law only where the federal government asks them to.

More fundamentally, no federal or state official can legally target people for immigration-related stops and questioning just because they look Latino. And as the Supreme Court has stated, even noncitizens have the right to due process and to be free from racial discrimination, as long as they are present in the U.S.

Arpaios detentions and questioning thus broke the law by violating individuals due process and Fourth Amendment rights to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. The court ordered Arpaio and his office to stop using race as a factor in its enforcement decisions. His deputies could detain individuals based on probable cause that they had violated some state law, but not merely because they suspected them of being in the U.S. illegally.

Consequences of a pardon

In July, another federal judge convicted Arpaio of criminal contempt for intentionally violating the first courts prior orders. His sentencing hearing is set for this October.

It is unusual for a president to pardon someone before he or she is sentenced. Doing so would suggest that Trump felt Arpaio has done nothing wrong.

This could encourage like-minded state and local officials to racially profile Latinos, too. More broadly, it could encourage state and local officers to aggressively enforce federal immigration law. Many experts and law enforcement officials criticize such state and local enforcement, saying it erodes trust with immigrant communities, making them too fearful to report local crimes and cooperate with police.

Even if Arpaio were pardoned, it would not mean a complete clean slate for him. The pardon would not erase a separate court ruling from 2016 that found him in civil contempt of court. Civil contempt is a noncriminal finding, which could require remedial measures like court-ordered reforms, reporting requirements and the like. These would not fall under the reach of the presidents pardon power.

Nor would a pardon mean that he or his department would be allowed to return to their unconstitutional practices. Arpaio himself is now out of office, having lost his most recent election. And the Maricopa County Sheriff Department is still under a court order to refrain from racial profiling and other illegal immigration enforcement efforts. But the pardon could embolden immigration hawks and infuriate Trumps opponents  which, in the end, might very well be the intention.

Steven Mulroy, Law Professor in Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Election Law, University of Memphis

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.



Related video added by Juan Cole:

ABC15 Arizona: President Trump expected to pardon Sheriff Joe Arpaio
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By Erdag Goknar | (Los Angeles Review of Books) |  

COULD A CONTEMPORARY STORY of love and vengeance set in Turkey have its roots in ancient myths of patricide and filicide? This is what Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk convincingly contends in his 10th and latest novel, The Red-Haired Woman. The two dominant and competing myths come from ancient Greece and Persia (Greece and Iran today are Turkeys Western and Eastern neighbors): the Oedipal myth from Sophocles Oedipus Rex, where son unknowingly kills father, and the legend of Rostam and Sohrab from Ferdowsis Shahnameh, where father unknowingly kills son. The myths can be read as generational allegories about tradition and modernity, the East/West conflict, Islam and secularism, and even socialism and capitalism. This is what Pamuk intends as he skillfully intermingles textual traditions and historical time periods, establishing the trademark intertextuality and intertemporality of his fiction. But The Red-Haired Woman, though it engages father-and-son conflict, is, importantly, a womans story.

Pamuk has previously alluded to both myths in his fiction, which represent tropes of East/West encounter. The Shahnameh story first appears in Pamuks Ottoman historical novel My Name Is Red (Knopf, 2001) as one of the canonical eastern tales that miniaturists depicted, particularly the moment of father Rostams realization that hes killed his son Sohrab. This account is cleverly contrasted with that of Oedipus. The final scene in My Name Is Red, for example, depicts the portrait of a mother (the savvy woman Shekure) nursing the child (the author-figure Orhan) as a kind of iconic union. In Pamuks world, Oedipus-like characters struggle against fathers of tradition, defeating them and often creating a work of literature in the process. The ghost of the traditional (Ottoman-Islamic) father, however, is always near, haunting the secular modern son and protagonist.

Pamuks political novel about the contemporary conflict between Islamism and secularism, Snow (Knopf, 2004), picks up on the theme of filicide. The Islamic extremist Blue recounts the Rostam story as a parable to Ka, the secular, modern intellectual:

[T]his thousand-year-old story [of Sohrab and Rostam] comes from Ferdowsis Shahnameh. [] Once upon a time, millions of people knew it by heart  from Tabriz to Istanbul, from Bosnia to Trabzon  and when they recalled this story, they found the meaning in their lives. The story spoke to them in just the same way that Oedipus murder of his father or Macbeths obsession with power and death speak to people throughout the Western world. []

Let me guess what youre thinking, said Blue. Is this story so beautiful that a man could kill for it? Thats what youre thinking, isnt it?

I dont know, said Ka.

Then think about it, said Blue, and he left the room.

In this exchange, an association is made between an Islamist worldview and the Rostam story; meanwhile, Western-style modernity is linked to the Oedipus myth. Each story stands in for conflicting political imaginaries. Blue is later assassinated by operatives of the secular Turkish deep state. In vengeance, Ka is killed by Islamist supporters of Blue. Both myths maintain political force in the novel. In an act of recuperation, however, the author Orhan is able to sustain an optimistic hybrid of secularism and moderate Islamism within the space of the novel.

The productive tension between these two foundational civilizational myths has informed Pamuks novels for some time. In my analysis of Pamuks fiction, Orhan Pamuk, Secularism and Blasphemy, I use the shorthand din (religious tradition) and devlet (secular state) to represent the two conflicting yet mutually sustaining politics. Pamuk relies on the myths of Rostam and of Oedipus to provide cultural maps for two positions of political power. The conflict between these distinct cultural formations of Islamic tradition and secular modernity leads to an unlikely outcome: the production of a contemporary, global novel.

The Red-Haired Woman is structured in three parts. Each part corresponds in turn to one of the main characters of a symbolic Turkish Oedipal complex: the Islamic father (Mahmut/Part One), the secular son (Cem/Part Two), and the feminist woman (Gulcihan/Part Three). In this way, Pamuk qualifies the cliched Islam versus secularism binary by giving narrative voice to the silenced woman/mother.

Part One recounts the month-long experience of adolescent protagonist Cem in 1985 while he works as a well-diggers apprentice in the town of Ongoren (Foreseeing). Turkey has just experienced a major military coup in 1980. In the background, a military base reminds the reader of the ongoing threat of intervention. The master well-digger, the devout Mahmut, becomes something of a surrogate father to Cem, and he recounts Koranic parables to him in the evenings.

Meanwhile, after watching the titular red-haired actress (Gulcihan) perform scenes from legend, Cem meets and has a tryst with her. The gender norms of 1980s Turkey are set up as follows:

In those years, if an attractive woman in her thirties who was made-up and wearing a pretty navy blue skirt (even if for the sake of theater) were to say to a man at ten thirty at night, Lets walk down the street some more, for most men, unfortunately, this could mean only one thing.

The red-haired woman is a libertine member of a left-leaning, traveling theater troupe, and Cem loses his virginity to her. (A similar leftist theater troupe appears in Pamuks novel Snow, and is responsible for initiating a coup attempt.) Later, we also learn that she has already had an affair with Cems absent father, evoking another Oedipal triangle. When Cem accidentally drops a bucket down the 20-yard-deep well at the bottom of which Master Mahmut is working, he flees assuming the worst  that he has killed him. Meanwhile, the well (symbol of the womb), takes on a further metaphorical significance, suggesting the archeological metaphor that Freud relied on in explaining his model of the psyche. The red-haired woman becomes the object of guilt-ridden Cems intellectual fixations for the remainder of his life.

Part Two follows Cem, who first aspires to be a writer, in Istanbul from 1986 to the mid-2000s. He becomes a geological engineer and contractor as well as a successful, secular purveyor of modernity. In an otherwise faithful translation by Ekin Oklap, the narrative flags here due to summary description. Cem and his wife Ayse are unable to have children, as a result of an unnamed condition she has. Both husband and wife are uncannily interested in the Eastern and Western myths of Rostam/Sohrab and Oedipus. To the degree that they name their joint construction company Sohrab, the Shahnameh hero who is fated to be killed by his father. Ironically, Sohrab is given a kind of eternal life as a corporation in the neoliberal era of conservative Islamist politics.

Word reaches Cem that he has a son by the revolutionary red-haired actress. The company prepares to buy property in Ongoren. This gives Cem a chance to see the red-haired woman again, and his son, Enver, for the first time. Relying on a technique of genre-switching, the novel assumes the tone of a film noir script in this section. In a climactic and melodramatic scene, father and son grapple with each other at the mouth of the symbolic well the father had labored over 30 years prior.

Gulcihan, the red-haired woman, narrates Part Three. Her concluding narration echoes the way she would finish theatrical reenactments in her youth with monologues. Ostensibly, this is a novel that explores father/son themes, but Pamuk insightfully ends by including whats missing from both Eastern and Western accounts  a womans voice. Switching to the triangulating narrative voice of Gulcihan allows Pamuk to sustain both foundational myths at the same time. In the end, Pamuks revision gives authority (and authorial voice) to the woman, who usurps the place of the father. Enver (the son) has been arrested for patricide pending trial. Gulcihan encourages him to pen the novel we are reading as a testimony to his innocence (the account of a novel being written is a hallmark metafictional device of Pamuks novels). While the case waits to be heard, it is revealed that mother and son stand to inherit two-thirds stake in the company Sohrab.

Readers will inevitably ponder what kind of female agency is being depicted in The Red-Haired Woman. Gulcihan exists first as an object of adolescent desire and then as a grieving or conniving mother. Her depictions on stage are of wives and mothers, whether of Oedipus mother Jocasta, of Rostams wife Tahmineh, or of a generic Turkish housewife. Granted, the novel evokes an iconic red-haired woman as an elemental force, and this reviewer was reminded of the famous lines by Sylvia Plath: Out of the ash / I rise with my red hair / And I eat men like air. Perhaps Pamuks red-haired woman aspires to this mythic, elemental force of feminism. But Gulcihan is nonetheless limited to the personas of paramour and devoted mother. We learn of the detail that her hair is dyed, not natural, as if she both lacks and appropriates the authenticity of a female archetype. As with Freuds model of the family romance, there is no independent place for femininity in this story unless it is related to masculinity. Though the men, including Cems father, Master Mahmut, and Cem himself are all fated to die, the two main female characters (Ayse and Gulcihan) stand to inherit ownership of Sohrab, the company, through bonds of marriage and motherhood, respectively. Thus The Red-Haired Woman depicts a conditional enfranchisement, one that also reflects the plight of women in Turkey.

As in My Name Is Red and Snow, the Oedipal fantasy takes precedence in The Red-Haired Woman. The Oedipal myth can also be read metaphorically as a historical narrative of revolutionary Turkish secular modernity, or Kemalism, in which the younger generation sweeps away the old. By extension, the myth also evokes the psychological and historical dialectics of Freud and Marx, of progressive change through the usurpation of the power of the father. This is, among other things, a plot predicated on science, secularism, and positivism. In the novel, scientific DNA testing establishes the patrimony of the child and secular law allows a disenfranchised woman and her son to become part of a new socio-economic order. At the novels close, the son, Enver, actually does become an author, something that his father had aspired to. As such, Enver identifies with the same-sex parent, perhaps bringing resolution to the Oedipal complex through a process of writing that exonerates and redeems him.

The Red-Haired Woman reveals itself to be both a dramatization and a disruption of Oedipal patriarchy in a world where patrimony passes from father to son. Women do exercise agency, but relationally, through their husbands or sons. The Turkish state gave women rights in the 1920s and 30s, but these top-down reforms were not the result of demands originating within society. The Turkish ideal of the modern woman represented a small cosmopolitan elite, and state feminism focused on expanding womens public roles. It is in some respects the first wave of Turkish feminism in the republican era and an important stage in establishing individual feminist rights for women in Turkey. This history is recapitulated in the gendered perspective that Pamuk writes into the well-worn myths of East and West.

Like Pamuks previous novel A Strangeness in My Mind, The Red-Haired Woman is also one of class inversion, ending with the final enfranchisement of marginalized characters  an optimistic, even idealistic, story of the rising tide of modernity lifting all boats. We learn, for example, that Master Mahmut (who survived the accident) buys property, which he sells at a profit. For the Oedipal myth, as commentators have written, also bears the logic of capitalism. And Turkeys Oedipal complex is bound up in the trials and tribulations of capitalist and neoliberal modernization in a country divided between secularism and Islamism. On one hand, The Red-Haired Woman is a novel that celebrates characters who are Oedipalized into the modern neoliberal order. On the other hand, while that celebration exposes familial violence, it conceals a concomitant history of state violence that maintains the patriarchal order. As modern Turkish history reveals, the political father  whether the erstwhile secular founder Ataturk or the current Islamist President Erdogan  rules like Rostam rather than Oedipus. The success of this novel, subtly staged, is that it allows us to consider how these ideologies might coexist.



Erdag Goknar directs the Duke University Middle East Studies Center and is the award-winning translator of Pamuks novel My Name Is Red (Knopf) as well as the author of Orhan Pamuk, Secularism and Blasphemy: The Politics of the Turkish Novel (Routledge). His most recent publication is a collection of poetry, Nomadologies (Turtle Point).

Reprinted with authors permission from the Los Angeles Review of Books



Related video added by Juan Cole:

John Hope Franklin Center at Duke University: A Strangeness in My Mind with Orhan Pamuk
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 24, 2017) - Zinc One Resources Inc. (TSXV: Z) (OTC Pink: ZZZOF) (FSE: RH33) ("Zinc One or the Company") announces that Zinc One's request to suspend the mine closure at the former Bongara Zinc-Oxide mine has been approved by the Peru Ministry of Energy and Mines. This is a critical step in order for Zinc One to commence exploration activity on the Bongara Zinc-Oxide Mine Project.

The decision allows Zinc One to utilize the current Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) attached to the project for current and future permitting. The sampling programme to update the environmental baseline study for this EIA is near completion and an application for the initial drilling platforms will be submitted this week. Once approved, the drilling programme and other exploration field work will commence in September.

"We are pleased to obtain the approval for the suspension of the mine closure from the Ministy. This is another important step in our plan to bring this zinc mineralization into production,"commented James Walchuck, CEO of Zinc One. "Our team continues to focus on advancing the project in a timely manner within the framework of Peru's environmental regulatory process while maintaining the cooperation and participation of the affected communities."

Zinc One further announces that it has retained Watts, Griffis and McOuat Limited to prepare a resource estimate and to lead, in conjunction with NovoPro (a project development and management consulting firm based in Montreal), a Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Bongara Zinc-Oxide Mine Project. The resource estimate and preliminary economic assessment are projected to be completed in Q1/Q2 of next year.
Poster of "DMZ Academy: Modern Art Enters North Korea" / Courtesy of Morten Traavik



By Choi Ha-young





Morten Traavik

Norwegian artist Morten Traavik, who drew global attention in 2015 by bringing Slovenian avant-garde band Laibach to perform in Pyongyang, will hold the first-ever art symposium in North Korea, Aug. 26 to Sept. 4.

His latest initiative named "DMZ Academy" seeks collaborative works between artists from North Korea's state-run institutions and those from the outside world, amid heightened tensions on the peninsula.

"International contemporary artists and curators will join North Korean colleagues from the country's two highest institutions of art production: Pyongyang University of Fine Arts and Mansudae Art Studio," he said in a press release Wednesday.

The university and studio boast traditional Korean painting techniques as well as propaganda artifacts to honor the regime.

The incoming artists are Austrian architect Lena Lapschina; a team of artists based on the Russian-Norwegian border; Chinese photographer Cuentin Shih; members of French design studio Metastazis; German artist Nik Nowak; Norwegian painter Henrik Placht; and Cryptic, a group of artists based in Scotland.

Traavik said he hopes the event will send out messages of peace.

"We firmly believe that an exchange of artistic ways of looking at the world and creative solutions can only bring good things with it, in the short or long terms," he said in an email to The Korea Times.

He has envisioned the project to last for three years in cooperation with North Korea's Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, Arts Council Norway and the Dutch-based organization Prince Claus Fund.

Next year, a joint exhibition called "The Art Factory" will follow up the fruits of the symposium. "The results of 10 days of work on demonstrations, artist talks, literal culture clashes, central planning and on-the-spot inspiration will be developed into the international touring joint exhibition," Traavik said.

This event will be made into a movie titled "The War of Art" by filmmaker Tommy Gulliksen.

Last year, Traavik unveiled the movie "Liberation Day" which documented bizarre moments in preparing for the Laibach concert in the reclusive country. The movie depicted how the artists from distinctive systems quarrel and compromise to make the event happen, overcoming conflicts and government censorship.

Traavik has pursued "social intervention" mainly in hotspots around the world. In April's interview with The Korea Times during his Seoul visit, he called for the two Koreas to open a direct dialogue channel. "Koreans talking directly to each other without outside interference is the only logical way for a better relationship," he said.

"Anything is possible. If you are patient and prepared, you can actually achieve what nobody thinks possible," he said during a visit for the movie's Asian premiere at the Jeonju International Film Festival.

On the sidelines of the festival, Laibach gave an unprecedented opportunity to the South Korean audience  performing North Korean propaganda songs reinterpreted in its brutal and dark style.
By Yi Whan-woo



President Moon Jae-in reaffirmed Wednesday that South Korea would take initiative in resolving North Korea's nuclear and missile threats and bringing peace to the Korean Peninsula.



"We should have a sense of ownership when it comes to related issues and make sure that we protect the peninsula for ourselves," the President said while being briefed on policy plans from the foreign affairs and unification ministries at the Government Complex in Seoul.



But he also stressed that the nation should address North Korea issues through its rock solid alliance with the United States and with cooperation from China and Russia.



Moon urged the unification ministry to play a leading role in resolving the issues and improving inter-Korean relations, adding its role had been significantly downsized under the 10 years of the former conservative Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye governments.



"There were talks over abolishing the unification ministry and it also did not raise its voice in deciding major policies. It will no longer be the case and I expect the ministry to play a leading and active role," Moon said.



Saying the unification ministry's role is immense in improving relations between the two Koreas and realizing a vision for economic cooperation, he asked ministry officials to have a "sense of duty" despite the tough challenges looming over the peninsula.



"Inter-Korean relations remain in deadlock because of North Korea's provocations but this is when the unification ministry should rather remain calm and make preparations (for reconciliation)," he said.



The President claimed that the roadmap for inter-Korean economic cooperation, which is aimed at forming a joint economic bloc for peace and prosperity, can serve as Seoul's new growth engine, creating more jobs and laying the groundwork for regional peace.



Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon co-led the briefing and a follow-up discussion with their officials.



"The two ministries had an in-depth discussion on peaceful and fundamental solutions to the North Korean nuclear crisis amid Pyongyang's series of provocations and its bellicose rhetoric," the two ministries said in a joint statement.



Kang said her ministry will ensure cooperation with the U.S., while boosting strategic communication with China and Russia to assure their "constructive roles" regarding North Korean issues. At the same time, the ministry will expand its "horizon of diplomacy" by reducing its dependence on four stakeholders in the peninsula  the U.S., China, Japan and Russia  and bolstering ties with the countries from ASEAN, Europe, the Pacific and the Middle East.



Cho vowed to restore inter-Korean dialogue channel and facilitate cross-border exchanges.



He reaffirmed the government's efforts to hold military and Red Cross talks  Seoul initially proposed to hold the military talks to relieve tension on the border in late July and Red Cross talks in early August, but Pyongyang did not respond.



Cho said he will seek to expand exchanges at civic and local government levels, under a precondition that such efforts will not "disrupt international sanctions against North Korea."



The ministry pledged to make efforts to first settle such issues as the reunions of separated families, and the return of prisoners of war and South Koreans detained in the North, as well as offering humanitarian aid for the impoverished regime.



Other reconciliatory measures suggested were North Korea's participation in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, cooperation on religious, academic and cultural issues, and a joint response to natural disasters.



To raise public awareness on peace and unification, the ministry said it will run programs to help North Korean defectors better adapt to South Korean society, and step up support for entrepreneurs who ran factories at the now-closed joint industrial park in Gaeseong, North Korea.




What if you could reap the benefits of exercise without moving a muscle? A new study from England has taken an important step toward understanding how the human body senses when it's exercising and developing a potential way to flip this "switch" without breaking a sweat.

But don't cancel your gym membership just yet: The new study was done in mice, and much more research is needed to explore the effects in humans.

During exercise, a person's heart rate increases, pumping more blood throughout the body. But this increased blood flow doesn't reach all parts of a person's body equally; more blood goes to a person's skeletal muscles and brain, and less goes to internal organs such as the stomach and intestines. [The 4 Types of Exercise You Need to Be Healthy]

What wasn't clear, however, was how the body knew to divert blood from one part of the body to another during exercise, said senior study author David Beech, a professor of cardiovascular science at the University of Leeds in England.

In the new study, the researchers identified a protein in mice that appears to do just that: detect when exercise is happening and divert blood flow accordingly, Beech told Live Science.

The protein, called Piezo1, acts as an "exercise sensor," Beech said. It's found in the cells that line the inner parts of the blood vessels near the stomach and intestines. During exercise, the blood flows faster, and Piezo1 can sense this change in speed. In turn, the protein triggers the blood vessels near the digestive organs to constrict, so that less blood flows to this part of the body and more goes to the skeletal muscles and the brain, according to the study.

In the study, published today (Aug. 24) in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers compared the blood flow in normal mice with the blood flow of mice without the Piezo1 protein. During physical activity (in this case, running on a wheel), the blood vessels near the digestive organs didn't constrict in the mice without the protein. In addition, the mice that had the protein performed better physically than the mice without the protein.

Use the force

Exercise plays an important role in a person's health, and a big question is whether this protein could contribute to these health benefits, Beech said. And, if that's the case, could scientists develop a drug that could activate the protein?

Beech and his team have already taken a step in that direction. In another part of the study, the researchers did experiments with a compound called "Yoda1" that interacted with the Piezo1 protein. (Yoda1 was given this name by a different group of scientists because it was known that the protein it interacted with had something to do with force, Beech added.)

In the experiments, which were conducted in lab dishes, Yoda1 appeared to turn on Piezo1, similar to the way increased blood flow would, the researchers found. [11 Surprising Facts About the Circulatory System]

Now, they're working on making a form of the Yoda1 compound that they could give to mice, to see if it would have the same effects inside the animals' bodies, Beech said. In other words, the research could be an early step toward developing a drug that could mimic the effects of exercise.

Although the new study was done in animals, Beech noted that human cells also have the Piezo1 protein.

"We know the mechanism is present in human" blood vessel cells, Beech said. And "we know that blood flow is restricted to the intestines in humans during exercise just like it is in mice," he said. The researchers would expect similar findings in humans, Beech said, but of course, that still needs to be studied in great detail.

Originally published on Live Science.
A letter written by Einstein to his dear friend Michele Besso discusses the futility of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's appeasement strategy towards the Nazis on the eve of World War II.

Three letters penned by Albert Einstein, including one decrying the British prime minister's appeasement of the Nazis prior to World War II, are going up for auction today.

The collection of letters was written by the physics genius to his dear friend Michele Besso, a Swiss-Italian engineer who was originally credited along with Einstein on the original version of his theory of special relativity. The letters are on auction at Nate D. Sanders Auctions, in Los Angeles.

The first letter  which was written in October 1938, less than a year before Adolf Hitler would invade Poland and start World War II  was postmarked in Princeton, New Jersey. Einstein began the letter by expressing frustration that he could not issue more affidavits to allow more Jewish people to come into the U.S.

He then went on to express his skepticism about English Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's inclination to look the other way if Hitler annexed Czechoslovakia.

"You have confidence in the British and even Chamberlain? O sancta simpl...! ['Oh holy innocence' in Latin] Hoping that Hitler might let off steam by attacking Russia, he sacrifices Eastern Europe," Einstein wrote of Chamberlain in the letter. "But we will come to see once more that shrewdness does not win in the long term. In France, he pushed the Left into a corner and, in France as well, helped give power to those people whose motto is, 'Better Hitler than the Reds.'"

Einstein then refers to quantum mechanics and says that describing the laws of nature in terms of probability is ultimately a "wrong direction" despite its successes. (Einstein was famously skeptical of some elements of quantum mechanics  in particular, the notion of "spooky" action at a distance implied by quantum entanglement, in which subatomic particles seem to effect each others' fate almost instantly, even when separated by large distances.) The letter has a starting bid of $25,000.

In addition to the letter mentioning Hitler, the auction will include a letter from Einstein discussing his divorce from his first wife, Mileva Maric, and his financial prospects as a result of winning the Nobel Prize in physics. Bidding for that letter starts at $42,250. A third letter, which details his son's problems with schizophrenia, has a starting bid of $25,000.

Originally published on Live Science.
A series of Egyptian tombs dating back about 2,000 years, to the time when the Romans controlled Egypt, have been discovered at Bir esh-Shaghala in the Dakhla Oasis in Egypt.

A series of tombs dating back about 2,000 years, to the time when the Romans controlled Egypt, has been discovered, the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities announced yesterday (Aug. 23).

Excavations at Bir esh-Shaghala in the Dakhla Oasis have uncovered tombs made of mudbrick and some are quite large containing multiple burial chambers. Some of the tombs have vaulted roofs and one tomb has a roof built in the shape of a pyramid. [See Photos of the Newly Discovered Tombs]

Five of the tombs were recently discovered while eight more were found within the past six excavation seasons, ministry officials said in a statement.

Artifacts were found in the tombs, including mummy masks and pieces of inscribed pottery known as ostraca. Giant containers were also found that may have held wine or olive oil, although chemical tests will need to be done to confirm this. The discovery of the tombs was made by a team of archaeologists from Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities. The excavations at Bir esh-Shaghala are scheduled to continue.

The Romans took over Egypt in 30 B.C., following Cleopatra VII's suicide after her navy was destroyed by the Roman Emperor Octavian at the Battle of Actium. While the Roman emperors ruled Egypt from Rome, the Egyptians revered the emperors as pharaohs. Their traditional Egyptian funerary customs (including mummification) and religious practices continued until the Roman Empire adopted Christianity as its official religion during the fourth century A.D.

Located in the Western Desert, about 217 miles (350 kilometers) west of Luxor, the Dakhla Oasis contains a vast amount of archaeological remains that date from prehistoric to modern times. A number of settlements from the Roman era flourished in the Dakhla Oasis. In 2014, Live Science reported that one of the Roman era settlements in the oasis had yielded the remains of an ancient school covered with writing that included references to drug use.

Original article on Live Science.
Scientists recently decoded a clay tablet from ancient Babylonia that dates to around 3,700 years ago, and found that it contains the oldest trigonometric table in the world.

The tablet, discovered in the early 1900s and first interpreted in 1945, has long fascinated mathematics scholars, but they were puzzled by its description of triangles, which researchers recently linked to a type of trigonometry.

These ancient mathematical inscriptions predate the earliest known evidence of trigonometry  thought to have originated around 120 B.C. with Greek astronomer Hipparchus  by approximately 1,000 years, the researchers reported in a new study.

This finding suggests that the Babylonians, not the ancient Greeks, were the first to study trigonometry  the mathematics of triangles  perhaps using it in architectural calculations for constructing pyramids, temples and palaces, the study authors wrote. [The 7 Most Mysterious Archaeological Finds on Earth]

The tablet, which measures 5 inches (12.7 centimeters) long and 3.5 inches (8.8 cm) wide, is known as Plimpton 322, named for its owner, American philanthropist George Arthur Plimpton, who purchased the artifact in 1922 from archaeologist and antiquities dealer Edgar Banks.

Banks  the real-life inspiration for the adventure-seeking archaeologist movie character Indiana Jones  discovered the clay object in Iraq. Similarities in its writing style to that on other Babylonian tablets enabled experts to date it to between 1822 B.C. and 1726 B.C., around the time that King Hammurabi ruled the Babylonian Empire.

Experts interpreted the 15 rows of characters written in four columns on the tablet as descriptions of 15 triangles forming right angles, with their angles of inclination decreasing incrementally, the study authors wrote.

About 70 years ago, researchers determined that the notations on the tablet represented a special numerical pattern known as Pythagorean triples, a grouping of three positive integers, study co-author David Mansfield, a researcher with the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, said in a statement.

"The huge mystery, until now, was its purpose  why the ancient scribes carried out the complex task of generating and sorting the numbers on the tablet," Mansfield said.

A new angle

Trigonometry analyzes the relationships between the sides and angles of triangles; it is intrinsic to geometry and plays an important role in other branches of mathematics. The study authors expanded on prior research suggesting that Plimpton 322 was broken and incomplete, and they determined that there were originally six columns of figures on the tablet. Relationships between numbers in the completed table would have represented a novel type of trigonometry  one that relied on ratios instead of angles and circles, according to the study.

"The tablet not only contains the world's oldest trigonometric table; it is also the only completely accurate trigonometric table, because of the very different Babylonian approach to arithmetic and geometry," Mansfield said.

The simplicity and accuracy of this once-lost form of Babylonian trigonometry "has clear advantages" over modern trigonometry, study co-author Norman Wildberger, an associate professor in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, said in the statement.

Archaeologists have uncovered numerous tablets produced during the time of the Babylonian Empire, but very few of them have been examined in detail. This study's findings hint that these understudied artifacts from a long-dead empire could hold exciting discoveries, not only for understanding the history of mathematics but also for enhancing how math is studied today, Wildberger explained.

"It opens up new possibilities not just for modern mathematics research, but also for mathematics education," he said. "The mathematical world is only waking up to the fact that this ancient but very sophisticated mathematical culture has much to teach us."

The findings were published online today (Aug. 24) in the journal Historia Mathematica.

Original article on Live Science.
by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, August 24, 2017

After enduring a rather bumpy relationship over the last few years, Facebook is extending an olive branch to publishers  a new system for selling online subscriptions to Facebook users.



In a blog post this week, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced some of the key features for the online subscription program under development.

Perhaps the most important element for publishers: Facebook wont demand a share of subscription revenues for subs sold on its platform, according to Zuckerberg. If people subscribe after seeing news stories on Facebook, the money will go directly to publishers who work hard to uncover the truth, and Facebook wont take a cut, he noted.

advertisement advertisement

Zuckerberg added that Facebook intends to begin testing online subscription sales with a relatively small group of publishers in the U.S. and Europe later this year. After gathering their feedback with an eye to adjusting the system, it will roll out to a broader range of publishers.

As reported yesterday, Facebook is also displaying small publisher logos next to content in its trending and search features to help readers more easily identify news from trustworthy sources.

Zuckerberg added: Eventually, our goal is to put a publisher's logo next to every news article on Facebook so everyone can understand more about what theyre reading. Looking ahead, he wrote: Giving people a voice is not enough without having organizations dedicated to uncovering new information and analyzing it.

"Were going to keep experimenting with different ways to support the news industry and make sure reporters and publishers everywhere can keep doing their important work.

According to some details released previously, publishers that use Facebooks Instant Articles platform will be able to establish an online paywall, allowing readers access to a fixed total of 10 free articles per month. Or, they may opt to designate some articles as premium  requiring a paid sub to access  while others remain free.

It may be no coincidence that Zuckerbergs announcement came on the heels of reports that Google is also working on an online news subscription service allowing publishers to charge readers for content, rivaling Facebooks system.

Among other measures, Google is tightening its first click-free feature, which gives readers arriving via search limited free access to articles from publications with paywalls. Publishers are making three articles per day free to nonsubscribers, but Google is working with The New York Times to lower that number, putting more pressure on interested readers to subscribe.

Google is also testing online payments tools to enable publishers to conduct simple, streamlined transactions with subscribers, including via mobile payment. Finally, Google is working to help publishers reach new audiences and target potential subscribers through a suite of new solutions. It will also help gauge willingness to subscribe and price sensitivity for potential subscribers.
by Steve McClellan @mp_mcclellan, August 24, 2017

Air New Zealand launched its first global brand campaign today. Dubbed, A Better Way To Fly, the effort is designed to demonstrate how the airline remains focused on improving the in-flight experience with new products, services and innovations. The campaign was developed with Auckland ad agency True Unlimited and Sydney-based production house Plaza.

The new campaign features Pete, a CGI character inspired by New Zealands national bird, the kiwi. Pete is voiced by New Zealand actor and Jurassic Park star Sam Neill (who also plays one of the passengers on an Air New Zealand aircraft featured in the campaign). Pete takes viewers on his in-flight journey to show a little bit of the experience passengers can expect when the fly Air New Zealand.

Air New Zealand flies nonstop to Auckland from Vancouver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu and Houston.

Air New Zealand General Manager of Global Brand and Content Marketing Jodi Williams stated, With the help of Pete the kiwi, this new global brand campaign aims to convince North American travelers that Air New Zealand is A Better Way to Fly. We hope travelers interested in visiting New Zealand, Australia or London will choose us once they learn about the award-winning product and service we offer.

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Have a look at the anchor spot in the campaign here.
by Aaron Baar , August 24, 2017

Customer experience goes a long way toward building brand loyalty. In April, Verizon hired Scott Zimmer as chief CX officer to connect the dots of customer experience for the company, ensuring a seamless experience that meets customers needs wherever they are. Part of that job has included reimagining Verizons brick-and-mortar retail operations. The company earlier this week opened a new concept store in San Francisco, built along a new model of customer experience. Marketing Daily spoke with Zimmer about the new store and his approach to connecting the dots.

What is Verizon doing to improve its customer experience and how does that address issues the company and/or industry might have had before?

In bringing me aboard in a new role, Verizon is leaning forward to make an effort to connect the dots of our customer experience across the multiple different touchpoints a customer may have with us. Were a large company, and we have a lot of areas that are customer-focused. Having a role and a team thats stretching across those areas is going to be an advantage for us going forward.

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How do you connect those dots? There are a lot of them and youre not a small company.

It really comes down to understanding the customers journey and defining the various ways a customer might interact with us and ensuring theres a continuity and communication between those touchpoints. Getting to know the various aspects of Verizon  Im still new and learning a lot  its a huge opportunity to make everything more cohesive.

Has it not been cohesive in the past?

The teams of different [customer-service] aspects exist in different parts of the company. If youre a customer, youre expecting to deal with one brand. To link those touchpoints with common language and options, so it feels like the customer is served similarly  no matter where that is  is where Ive been focused so far.

Why has that not been addressed this way in the past?

You typically find teams will zero in and make a huge effort to solve for a specific area, and theyll get into understanding where the customer is at when they interact in that channel and how best to solve the customers needs [there]. Then you find a different channel is zeroing in on the same customer problem in a different way. What were trying to do is look at it as a single opportunity to serve the customer, and think about how we translate a solution in a similar way across multiple channels.

How does the new store reflect that approach?

You typically look at a retail experience in somewhat isolation. What were doing is taking a view of the retail experience and identifying what customers are trying to accomplish in that environment, what other touchpoints they may have had, and how we can ensure a consistent experience.

Thats a familiar struggle for everyone. How are you approaching it differently?

One of our unique takes is humanizing both [online and offline] touchpoints  really understanding how customers think in a shopping experience, knowing what decisions they need to make, and in what order. And in a physical environment, it's finding ways that are logical and intuitive. And in the digital architecture, its doing the same. If a customer experiences one first and a second in a follow-up, to make sure [the experience] matches in both directions.

How do you go about discovering that?

We start wth insights. One of the things Im excited about in how Verizon has framed this role in customer insights as a function of an experience organization that I lead. Were able to focus on a shopping experience or a service experience that begins with insights and then looking across channels as we look to innovate and improve the experience. What you have with the stores is our latest and greatest ability to make it more intuitive and align with what customers are trying to accomplish in a physical location.

How does that come across in this new store?

We look to understand whats changed and why customers would visit us in a physical location. We realized people are trying to get something quickly, and we studied how customers are using other interactions at a newsstand or a bookstore. What youll find in our store experience is its a spacious layout with wood and other things that humanize the technology and make it more comfortable. Weve included tables and areas for people to have deeper conversations if they want to stay awhile. And weve opened up the opportunity to have a more human service interaction than you might expect with a tech or retail store.

How are you planning to roll this concept out nationally, and whats the timeline?

This is our flagship location. We will be opening stores like this across the entire footprint. The timeline is being finalized, but the roll-out begins with this opening. Our approach is we want a consistent experience regardless of which store they come into and no matter which channel they choose to interact with us.

Its great to redo your stores, but if you dont follow through with the way your staff interacts with customers, its still the same experience. How are you reimagining that?

The staff in our stores and on our telephone lines are the heroes of our customer experiences. That group is always [improving] how they best serve the customer. When we make updates on the retail experience, were matching the way our employees have evolved servicing customers. Weve put a lot of pride in ensuring our employees are empowered to serve customers in every way possible. The stores are a physical manifestation of the way our staff was serving the customers.

[This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.]
The maiden edition of the Eastern Music Awards (EMA) nominees' jam will take place on Saturday, August 26, 2017 at the Koforidua Jackson Park in Koforidua in the Eastern Region, organisers have disclosed.

The Eastern Music Awards, according to the organisers, is aimed at rewarding musicians who either reside in the Eastern Region or hail from there.

The maiden edition of the Eastern Music Awards nominees' jam promises to be an unforgettable and exciting experience that music lovers cannot afford to miss.

The much-hyped musical jam is expected to attract thousands of music lovers from all walks of life.

The organisers of the event have promised that measures are being put in place to ensure safety of all fans who would attend the event.

A number of Ghanaian music stars have also been invited to perform at the event which is also expected to attract all the stakeholders in the showbiz industry in Ghana.

Some of the music stars billed to perform at the event include Koo Ntakra, Pope Skinny, Choirmaster, Medikal, F9, Atom, Tee Rhyme, Racky Nova, Blaq Nacha Ranks, Dyce, Talanku, Koo Kyei, Ennwai and a host of others.

The event will be hosted by Londona of Kingdom FM and Agyewodin Akosua Sakyibea of Radio 1.

The event is organised by Hi 5 Productions, in collaboration with Eastern Region MUSIGA and the Presenters Association of the Eastern Region.

The maiden edition of the Eastern Music Awards is sponsored by Darling Lemon Drink, Biegya Bitters, Harbour City Records and iTel Mobile.

By George Clifford Owusu
With President Trump locked and loaded and the North Korean leader having a re-think about attacking Guam, the rest of the world can breathe a sigh of relief  at least for now.

Never a week goes by that North Korea doesnt launch another ICBM taunting America, South Korea and recently Japan.

Previous American administrations have ignored the North Koreans antics and have gone down the diplomatic way, imposing sanctions and restrictions.

Kim Jung-Un is a nuisance; an attention seeking miscreant whos prone to show-off given an audience: Trump has now given him the attention he craves.

For those who think there will be a nuclear war or Armageddon, sooner or later, there wont be.

To launch a nuclear strike President Trump will need the full backing of the Congress and the Pentagon. This backing will not be forthcoming as the Pentagon will be more in favour of a conventional military strike rather than a nuclear strike. So anybody who thinks this will be a throwback to the stand-off during the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, when the world was on the brink of all-out nuclear war, is wrong.

Most important of all if military intervention is required there is China to worry about: In the event that North Korea strikes first at US interests in the region China will remain neutral. But should the US launch a pre-emptive strike, first, China is sure to side with their wayward North Korean neighbour. There are already skirmishes between the Chinese and American navies in the South China Sea and China doesnt want an increased American presence in the region.

If the order is given to strike its more likely to be a surgical military operation such as the one launched against Iraq in the first Gulf war in 1991.

Cruise missiles will be launched from ships of the US Seventh Fleet currently in the region to knock out key military installations in North Korea. The cruise missiles will probably be complemented by a squadron of B-2 bombers, flying non-stop from their base in Whiteman Airforce base outside Kansas city in America. They carry in their fuselage the AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missile that will primarily be used to disable missile and telecommunication installations. US fighter-bomber planes, consisting mainly of F-16s and A-10 Thunderbolts, will fly out of their South Korean base of Kunsan air base to destroy any mobile missile launching platforms north of the Demilitarized zone. Finally B1 and B52 bombers flying out of Andersen airforce base in Guam will be used to carpet bomb North Korean barracks and other areas.

Modern air wars normally last a week and if after Kim Jung-Un still refuses to surrender, ground troops, of which there are currently over 500,000 in South Korea, will be moved into position. The border at the 38th parallel will be breached and itll take the troops, backed by massive air support, less than a week to march upon the capital of Pyongyang.

However a military intervention will be counter-productive, as the Americans are fully aware of:  Dear Leader Kim Jung-Un is revered as a god by his people and any attempt to topple or assassinate him will be met by great resistance by his fanatical followers; theyll rather die protecting dear leader than surrender. And being a nuclear power theres no knowing that Kims generals wont unleash their nuclear arsenal upon the world.

The key to solving the North Korean crisis lies with China and not Trumps gung-ho cowboy antics. Already the Chinese government has hit North Korea with sanctions and trade embargoes, forcing them to survive on the bare basics. More, however, will have to be done to force mad Kim Jung-Un to give up his nuclear missile testing programme.

Follow me on Twitter: @Archangel641 or visit http://www.archangel641.blogspot.co.uk
What lessons can African countries learn from Sierra Leones devastating mudslides? Was the disaster due to natural events or is there a social dimension? Is there anything such as a 'natural disaster'? What can be done to reduce risks?

On August 14, 2017, torrential rainfall caused a hillside to collapse in Sierra Leones capital city. This torrential downpour triggered mudslides that killed hundreds of residents and destroyed properties. As of August 19, 2017, the death toll is placed at 467, with approximately 600 still missing.

Heavy rainfall is not a strange phenomenon in Sierra Leone. The country experiences heavy annual rainfall and is ranked 12th globally in annual precipitation by rainfall. Sierra Leone received over 2,500 mm of rain from 2013 to 2017, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).

Sierra Leone is therefore familiar with heavy rainfall. Torrential downpours are common in August and September. The country has also experienced disasters sparked by heavy rains in the past. In 2015, floods killed 10 people and left thousands homeless.

How could a torrential downpour lead to a disaster in a country accustomed to heavy rainfall?

Naturalness or a Social Causation of the Disaster?

Since the news of the disaster, the widespread interpretations tend to focus on the naturalness of the event, as exemplified in the phrase natural disaster. The natural hazards that triggered this disaster, the torrential rains, floods, and mudslides, are dominating our attention. Headlines like Sierra Leone mudslides kill 461 (Telegraph UK), Sierra Leone death toll now up to 450 after mudslides (Daily Mail), and Sierra Leone Braces for More Floods Amid Mass Burials (Bloomberg) all highlights the natural hazards that led to the disaster.

But is there anything natural about disasters?

As contentious as it may sound, many hold the view that there is no such thing as a natural disaster. Hazards, such as floods or mudslides or hurricanes or earthquakes, are natural phenomena. But disasters are not. Whether a natural event will lead to a disaster will depend on whether that natural event will interact with exposed and vulnerable people and assets. For example, floods in an uninhabited part of the Sapo National Forest in Liberia will produce no disaster while floods of the same magnitude and intensity in the slum community of West Point in Monrovia, Liberia may lead to a disaster.

The natural causes of disasters cannot be detached from the social aspects of disasters. Humans have always earned their livelihoods in locations that combine opportunities with hazards. For example, the slopes of a volcano are fertile for agriculture but there is a risk of a volcanic eruption. Floodplains or slopes of hills provide cheap land for housing but there is a risk of flooding or landslides. In many cases, the poor can only afford to live in unsafe slum settlements in and around the cities where they seek their livelihood as daily wage menial workers or petty traders.

The vulnerability of people to hazards in the congested cities of developing countries is a result of a mixture of factors including the prevalence of informal settlements, the presence of urban poverty, marginalization, increasing settlements in disaster-prone areas, lack of disaster preparedness and early warning, amongst others.

People who are constrained to live in adverse social and economic conditions in urban areas are prone to suffer from the impacts of hazards and extreme events. People are vulnerable not only because of the geophysical factors but also due to the way that assets, income, and access to other resources, including knowledge and information, are distributed between the different social groups.

But the understanding of vulnerability to disasters in African cities tends to be restricted mainly to the geophysical or natural triggers, with the socioeconomic and political factors largely ignored.

What are the probable causes of the August 14 disaster in Sierra Leone?

The impacts of the August 14 mudslides are still being assessed and there is no comprehensive evaluation yet regarding the structural and non-structural causes of this disaster.

But while heavy rainfall and the mudslide are natural hazards, many are indicating that environmental degradation and lack of appropriate infrastructure are to blame for the intensity of the mudslides.

Almost a million people live in and around the forested mountain regions in Freetown. The authorities were aware of the potential threats to people and assets on the slopes and there have been some efforts to reduce the risks. Deforestation of the hilltops and slopes of the mountainous regions had removed the essential service and protection that trees provided in anchoring soil on the ground. The Global Forest Watch states that Sierra Leone has lost nearly 800,000 hectares of forest cover in the past 10 years.

So, one can safely assume that environmental degradation is largely responsible for the devastating mudslides. But there are other equally crucial factors to consider.

One key contributing factor for the disaster was the lack of disaster preparedness and early warning. Lives could have been saved if there was an efficient disaster preparedness program and early warning mechanism in place. For example, several news outlets reported that the Sierra Leone's meteorological department did not issue a warning to prompt evacuations from areas susceptible to disasters before and during the torrential rainfall from August 11 to August 14.

No warning was issued even though Sierra Leone had received three times more rainfall than expected during the rainy season since July 1, 2017. No warning was issued despite the three consecutive days of the heavy downpour from August 11 to August 14. There was no planned evacuation from the affected area even though a clear risk was evident.

Disaster preparedness was the main reason why there were so few casualties in Cuba from the effects of Hurricane Matthew in 2016 while the lack of disaster preparedness was the major reason why the hurricane had a devastating effect on Haiti. Both countries were hit hard by the hurricane, but 470 deaths were reported in Haiti while Cuba did not record any death as a direct result of the Hurricane.

Poor urban planning is also a factor. Freetown is plagued with a longstanding challenge of poor urban planning and development. Construction is poorly regulated, building codes are not enforced, and urban planning is practically non-existent. Lack of livelihood options is forcing people with precarious livelihoods to settle in unsafe areas. Accelerated development is leading to impervious surfaces that cannot retain water due to the paving of surfaces and clogging of waterways.

The prevalence of poverty in Sierra Leone is also a contributing factor for the hazard turning into a disaster. Poverty reduces resilience and tends to exacerbate the effects of disasters. Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries in the world and the bulk of its citizens lack the capacity to engage in disaster risk reduction activities on their own. For example, wealthier people may have the capacity to construct disaster resilient buildings; the poor will not have such a capacity. The poor are more concerned with meeting the demands of their daily lives rather than focusing on disaster risk reduction activities. The lack of land tenure in informal settlements will also make it difficult for the poor to invest in building disaster resilient homes.

What can be done to Prevent Future Disasters?

African countries engaging in disaster risk reduction activities must consider both the structural and non-structural approaches to risk reduction. Structural approaches will include the engineering interventions such as the construction of and maintenance of hazard-resistant infrastructures while non-structural measures will include efforts such as early warning systems, evacuation programs or insurance schemes for affected individuals.

Firstly, there is a need for a legislative framework, especially for building/construction codes. A legislative framework will coalesce legal reform with key policy processes which will determine the priorities and mandates of responsible institutions and further explain the roles, rights, and responsibilities of stakeholders, including the national and municipal authorities, construction companies and building owners. An enabling legislation will also impose a fiduciary duty on institutions to implement the building regulations.

The International Strategy for Disaster Risk (ISDR) Resilient Cities campaign has highlighted building codes as a key component of disaster risk reduction for cities. For example, Ethiopias Building Code 1995 (EBCS-8) provides a strong legal framework for safe buildings, and the code contributes directly to the disaster risk reduction endeavors by guaranteeing that buildings are disaster-resilient. In Turkey, the Law on Land Development Planning and Control 1985 guarantees that geological studies must be conducted before construction permits are issued.

Secondly, more should be done to tackle illegal construction in overcrowded informal settlements. Construction in hazard-prone areas must also be banned. In Turkey, for example, areas with high seismic risks are excluded from development. Building in flood plains or deforested slopes must be curtailed due to their hazardous nature while reclamation of mangrove swamps around urban centers should be restricted because of the important water retention services these swamps will provide.

Thirdly, disaster preparedness and early warning signals must be improved. This will be crucial to coping with unexpected, sudden onset disasters such as the mudslides of August 14, 2017, in Freetown. An information dissemination infrastructure should be established to improve the knowledge of residents of urban areas and such information dissemination infrastructure should consider where residents can easily obtain information from, what actions they should take in the event of sudden onset hazards, and locations of safe zones in the event of a hazard event.

Cuba is an example of how thorough disaster preparedness can prevent casualties from disasters. The country has a mandatory hurricane drills every May in anticipation of the hurricane season. During the onset of Hurricane Matthews, the country broadcasted warnings about the advancing hurricane on television and radio. People were adequately informed about the evacuation and other safety procedures. While hundreds of homes were destroyed, no deaths were reported as a direct result of the hurricane due to the countrys level of preparedness.

Furthermore, the capacity of disaster risk reduction institutions must be enhanced. For example, the Sierra Leones meteorological department did not issue a warning ahead of torrential rainfall or any safety or evacuation procedures for the affected areas. Many institutions in African countries, including municipal authorities, are often under-funded and are unable to deal with the myriad of hazards.

The enforcement capacity of relevant authorities, especially for building codes must be enhanced. The reduced capacities of authorities to enforce building codes is engendering the situation where unscrupulous contractors can flout building standards or where poor and marginalized populations can settle and construct homes in unsafe areas. Enforcement is often lacking due to a combination of a range of factors such including the lack of resources on one extreme or a conscious dereliction of duty on the other extreme.

It is also important to initiate a disaster micro-insurance scheme for residents to enable them to easily have access to affordable life and health insurance in the event of disasters. The micro-finance should also cover the loss of assets since most of the poor households also use their homes for their economic activities. While disaster insurance is a good risk transfer method for increasing financial resilience to disasters, there is still an evident gap in understanding how disaster insurance works in the context of a developing country as it has only been applied in countries with established insurance markets.

It is also important that the public authorities become more involved with waste management and the maintenance of infrastructures such as drainages. Proper management of the drainage systems and improvement of the existing sanitary systems will prevent the spread of diseases during floods or mudslides. Burst septic tanks spill-over and garbage in drainages will contribute to pollution and the outbreak of diseases in the event of a disaster. The waste collection and disposal system should also be improved.

Conclusion

We can point to a plethora of causes for the devastating mudslides in Sierra Leone: chaotic development caused by the rapid unplanned urbanization of Freetown, deforestation of hilly areas, poor urban planning and development, lack of disaster preparedness, widespread poverty levels, among others.

To avert similar disaster from occurring in African cities, there is a need to look beyond the geophysical and structural/technical causes of disasters. It is important to also understand what forces socially-disadvantaged people to live in risky areas, as well as factors including rapid population growth, unplanned urbanization, unsustainable land use practices, land availability/unavailability, and land costs. It is also important to consider the capacity of governments to control urban development, prepare for future disasters, and address the glaring poverty levels that are making people more vulnerable to disasters.
On Thursday August 17, 2017, the Minister for Regional Re-organization Mr. Dan Kwaku Botwe reportedly claimed that the creation of six additional regions was destined to enhance proper management of Ghanas resources to boost development (Source: myjoyonline.com). The Council of State has also given the government a green light to create new regions. But for its rubber stamp nature, the council of state is very relevant.

Of course, there is nothing bad unless something bad happens. From traditional perspectives, when a territory becomes very large to be administered single handedly, division is very appropriate. Thus, Mr. Botwe has a strong case from classical administrative management viewpoint. However, the increasing relevance of virtual communication in these days render the foregoing classical argument palpably untenable.

Before I discuss the significance of virtual communication to national development, let me briefly talk about the relevant antecedents to this whole idea of creating additional provinces. In the run up to 2016 elections, ex-president John Dramani Mahama (JDM) hinted that plans were far advanced to split Western Region. JDM was definitely coerced by his unbridled reaction formation. Reaction formation is a psychological construct wherein an individual has an urge to say or do something and then actually says or does something which is diametrically and inwardly different from what he/she really want. For example, a lady who goes out with a guy she does not really love could pretend to be caring beyond the gentlemans ability to describe.

Thus, buckling to political pressure JDM made the above revelation to offset the effects of the then candidate Akufo Addos pledge to create Northern Western Region. Both individuals were under the influence of reaction formation because they knew with perfect certitude that in the age of technological advancement Ghana does not need more administrative provinces to accelerate development. The move to create needless additional regions accentuated the increasing normalization to govern the country by political stomach direction and absolutely without a laid down development plan. Martin Luther King Jr. said that The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by bad people but the silence over that by the good people. Far from insinuating that JDM and my president are bad people, I personally think Ghana does not need additional regions in order to accelerate development.

Per the United Nations estimate in 2017, the population of Ghana is 28,732680. The total area of Ghana is 92099 square miles. Comparing the population and land area to countries like Canada and Republic of South Africa, 10 regions are even more. For example, In the Republic of South Africa, the total land borders constitute 4,750 kilometers. The area of the Republic of South Africa is about 1,219,912 square kilometers. As of 2015, The World Bank estimated South Africa population to be 55.1 million. Republic of South Africa is appropriated into only nine (9) provinces namely: the Eastern Cape, the Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, The Northern Cape, North West and Western Cape (Nana Yaw Osei, Balkanization of Ghana into tribal provinces: Observers dilemma, modernghana.com, April 24, 2017).

Thanks to information and communication technologies, there are additions and subtractions to how human beings work, think communicate and behave. Telework, teleconference, videoconferences, emails and other web platforms have promoted virtual meetings and working together without face-to-face meeting is now possible. Simply put, physical mobility is gradually being replaced with virtual mobility making people work easier and at a faster pace than before. Thus, any nation that wants to manage resources and accelerate development must not be far behind the innovatively rampaging technological advancement of our era. Dividing regions to speed up development is very classical an approach in the modern world.

Ghana needs a proper decentralization system not creation of additional regions. We can divide our regions into 100 but it will not mean anything if people will have to travel to Accra for a birth certificate or a passport. Overreliance on Accra for everything is the problem not the current administrative regions. This creates needless bureaucratic bottleneck in the country. SefwiWiaso andAtebubu need not to be transformed into regional capitals before getting an airport or a railway station. A pensionerfrom SefwiWiasomust not travel to Trakoradi or Accra before he/she could process and fast-track his/her pension pay.

We must commend Kwame Nkrumah for creating impressive administrative provinces with recourse to national integration and multiculturalism (I am not sure whether he created all the 9 regions apart from Upper West though). For example, Eastern Region is made up of the Akyem, krobo, Kwahu, Asante, Akwamu, and Akuapem. BrongAhafo region is made up of the Ahafo, Bono, Banda, Mo, and Gyaman people. The central region is made of the Fante, Awutu, Efutu, Assin, Twifo and Denkyira. The western region consisted of the Aowin, Nzema, Ahanta, Wassa, and Sefwi people. Volta Region is made up of the Anlo, Peki, Krachi, Nkonyaand Akan people.

This has been a trump card of Ghana relative to interethnic conflicts. We must be very careful not to create regions based on tribal considerations. I humbly think that focusing on virtual work rather than traditional face-to-face work must be prioritized. The advantages of information and communication technology in the national development negate the reasons for creating additional regions. The proposed plan to create new regions also risks increasing the government wage bill needlessly. God Bless Our Homeland Ghana.

Nana Yaw Osei, Minnesota, USA

[email protected]
Since relocating to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) two years ago, FirminAgossou has had a variety of options when traveling home to Benin. Employed in the eastern city of Goma, he often returns to Cotonou to spend time with his family.

The quickest way would be by car from Goma to Kigali and from there take a five-hour direct flight by RwandAir to Benin, Mr. Agossou told Africa Renewal.

Or he could fly out of Goma to Kinshasa and then fly home aboard ASKY, a West African airline with an active hub in Lome, Togo. There is also the option of flying through Addis Ababa. But when it comes right down to it, the best choice for Mr. Agossou is to fly out of Kigali or risk getting stranded in Lome should he miss a connecting flight.

Flying out of Kigali is the most convenient option. Its simple and no hassle, he says.

Thousands of air travellers like Mr. Agossou face complicated choices when flying between cities across the continent. Although transiting through Europe when flying between two African cities is for the most part no longer necessary, still, as Mr. Agossou has discovered, choices remain constrained by sub-optimal travel conditions including long layovers, relatively high fares, uncertain flight schedules and poor quality of services, underscoring the challenges facing air carriers trying to attract passengers and at the same time make profits.

The African Union and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) are urging countries to open their skies to market competition. African airlines executives are pushing back against what they are calling government intrusions, red tape, high taxes and political meddling.

Indebted growth

Last year Ethiopian Airways, Kenya Airways and South African Airways, three top airlines on the continent, sold two-thirds of the estimated 9.2 million seats purchased for travel within sub-Saharan Africa. The remaining one-third was spread among more than a dozen smaller carriers such as Nigeria-based Arik Air, Air Mauritius, and RwandAir.

Just over 10 million seats were offered in 2001, says Heinrich Bofinger, senior transport economist at the World Bank. That capacity more than doubled to 22.7 million in 2015.

Experts say air traffic on the continent will grow by an annual average of 5.1% in the next 18 years, outpacing the global projected average of 4.7%, according to IATA.

Yet while more flights are linking big cities than they did are decade ago, most airlines based in sub-Saharan Africa are losing money due to stiff competition from Gulf, Turkish and European carriers on transcontinental routes.

Of Africas big three carriers, only Ethiopian Airlines posted a profit last year. Kenya Airways and South African Airways suffered losses. Collectively, African airlines posted losses of around $700 million in 2015 and $800 million in 2016, and aviation experts at IATA and the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) say this trend may continue.

To make the air travel industry profitable, African countries need to liberalize air traffic, according to IATA and the African Union. As far back as 1999, 44 countries agreed in Yamoussoukro, Cote dIvoire (the Yamoussoukro Decision) to deregulate air services and promote the opening of regional air markets to transnational competition. Since then, however, implementation has been slow and inconsistent. Industry experts often criticise African countries for having more bilateral open sky agreements with partners outside the continent than with African partners.

As demand for air travel grows, countries are rushing to launch or revive national carriers. Countries often want to have their own carrier as a matter of national pride, Mr. Bofinger observed. However, African aviation history shows that state-owned carriers are hardly commercially sustainable.

Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal are struggling to establish viable national carriers. Undaunted by past experiences, some of these countries are dusting off old plans. And now a rising middle class and new economic opportunities are reawakening national aviation dreams. Cote dIvoire, where the Yamoussoukro Decision was reached, has relaunched its own airline to serve destinations in West Africa. Uganda is mulling over the idea of establishing its own airline, as neighbouring Tanzania Air is trying to survive the tough times.

IATA has warned that protecting small, fragmented and closed markets could end up hampering the development of air services by limiting their potential to contribute to development and economic growth. At the same time, experts are urging African countries to create more airlines, especially low-cost carriers, to serve the continents internal air transport needs. Were African airspaces to be fully liberalized, there would be better services, cheaper fares to stimulate additional traffic and greater trade flows, an IATA study found in 2014.

Opening borders, lowering barriers and implementing the open skies agreement is always favourable to the industry, Alexandre de Juniac, IATA director general and CEO, told Aviation & Allied Business Business Journal, a magazine that focuses on African airlines news. There will be winners and losers, but it will be favourable because it will boost their traffic.

The renewed push to implement the Yamoussoukro Decision is expected to usher in the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) in January 2018, with 40 countries expected to be signatories by then. So far 20 African countries out of 54, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, are committed to implementing the policy.

Freedom flights

Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airways and others have taken advantage of the Yamoussoukro accord by aggressively promoting Fifth Freedom Flights in sub-Saharan Africa, providing a persuasive argument for liberalisation.

Fifth Freedom Flights allow the capacity of an aircraft to be spread amongst multiple international destinations on one marketed flight, Mr. Bofinger noted in a 2017 study for the World Bank and the United Nations University.

Mr. Bofinger explained to Africa Renewal that Fifth Freedom Flights allow, for example, a flight to originate out of Addis Ababa, land in Nairobi, Kenya, drop off and pick up passengers, continue on to Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to drop off passengers destined there, and move on to Dar es Salaam.

Mr. Agossou also noted that RwandAir already uses this arrangement.

According to Mr. Bofinger, success in implementation can be measured by the number of international airport connections served by multi-stop flights, adding that services in sub-Saharan Africa have thrived, with multilegged connections having increased significantly.

But even if the African skies were suddenly opened, industry experts believe it will not be enough to ensure sustainability. Other challenges will have to be addressed, such as poor infrastructure, high costs of operation and a lack of cooperation between airlines.

How can we liberalize airlines when we are overtaxing them? Elijah Chingosho, the secretary general and chief executive officer of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA), asked at the Aviation Africa conference in Kigali in February.

Overall, AFRAA noted, airport passenger charges in Africa are two to five times higher than the global $25 average. Reportedly, fuel is also 2.5 times more expensive in Africa than in other regions.

If [governments] reduce charges and taxes, it brings more prosperity, jobs, GDP and trade that overcompensate for the reduction in charges, Mr. de Juniac emphasized.

And Girma Wake, the RwandAir CEO (who is the former CEO of Ethiopian Airlines) said in March that governments should stop interfering in the airlines performance.

Politically motivated appointments at management levels at the expense of proven competence, a recurrent problem for state-owned enterprises, also plagues most national airlines. However, the most decried government move, which has the effect of skewing competition, is the regular infusing of public money to keep ailing airlines afloat.

In November 2016, AFRAA declared Ethiopian Airlines the best in Africa for the fifth consecutive time, recognising, in part, its exemplary cooperation with other African carriers. To some, the airlines successes appear to be showing the way forward for the industry on the continent. While wholly owned by the government, the airline has an independent management team. It has embarked on an ambitious development programme, which includes promoting travel hubs in East and West Africa with regional partners.

Other airlines such as ASKY and RwandAir are following suit, indicating that, with open skies and fair competition, African airlines can successfully find their way to profitability.
Until recently, public transportation in Cairo, Freetown, Lagos, Nairobi and many other African cities was chaotic and accident prone. The mostly unreliable local taxicabs did not alleviate the situation. But Ubers entry into the continent could be changing the narrative.

Uber, the global ride-sharing company that relies on smartphone technology for dispatch and fee payment, has become the most recognized alternative to traditional taxicabs. Many prefer Uber, launched in the US in 2009, because of its fair prices, quality standards and convenience. The concept has spread globally.

By last June, Uber was operating in 15 major African cities, with some 60,000 drivers in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.

Ubers ambition is to dominate the transportation sector in Africa, but it faces stiff competition from local companies. Unintentionally, Uber triggered the spread of mobile and mapping technology for collecting geospatial data from a mobile vehicle. And the result is that Africas local tech companies are creating their own apps that provide different types of services to aid transportation.

And with Africas growing technical knowhow, local tech companies are producing products and services tailored to suit customers in different countries or even different cities, giving themselves an edge over foreign services.

Localizing technology

For example, the Kenya-based Little Cab, an app-based ride-sharing service launched in 2016 by the mobile phone operator Safaricom, operates just like Uber, except that it accepts the local cashless mobile payment system, MPesa, unlike Uber. Uber, however, pays no parking or other city charges, hence charges less.

Still, 94% of Kenyans prefer MPesa to other forms of payments. According to Safaricoms 2016 annual report, Little Cab has been able to slow Ubers attempt at grabbing a huge chunk of the market.

In South Africa, the locally based Africa Ride, which offers a variety of payment options including weekly and monthly payment plans and accepts payment via mobile wallet apps, is gaining popularity with the citizens. The company operates in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Rustenburgthree of South Africas largest citiesand allows individuals, corporations, non-governmental organizations and government departments to set up their own accounts.

Uber, however, appears determined to beat back local competition, and is partnering with indigenous companies to broaden its appeal. In Nigeria, Uber has teamed up with the payment platform Paga, allowing users to pay for services through its mobile money app. Paga also facilitates payments via local debit cards and cash for its 6.4 million users.

Partnering with Paga enables more Nigerians to access the Uber platform, many of whom are not yet comfortable using their debit or credit cards, said EbiAtawodi, general manager of Uber Nigeria.

Healthy competition

In total, Africa hosts nearly sixty ride-sharing services across 21 countries. Some services have tried to adapt to local socioeconomic realities, though they have not always succeeded. For example, the Nairobi-based Bodapp, launched in 2016, shut down its (bodabodas) motorcycle taxi and cab service after only two months. The company said it decided to concentrate on its core logistics business at a time when competition in the cab sector was growing.

Still, in the face of competition, many African transportation companies have begun offering various forms of incentives to drivers and passengers in a bid to stay afloat. Reacting to complaints of short changing by Uber drivers in South Africa, Africa Ride announced its more than 500 drivers would be given a larger stake in the business.

Our drivers own the business with us. We have put all the drivers in a trust and the trust owns a certain percentage of the business, Africa Ride founder Thabo Mashale told Disrupt Africa, an outlet for tech start-up news.

In 2017, South Africabased startupWhereIsMyTransport launched its Transport for Cape Town app, which provides information for those planning journeys, including timetables, traffic incidents and places of interest. The scheme is expected to expand to six other South African cities during 2017: Bloemfontein, East London, Durban, Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg and Tshwane.

Mapping out cities

In a related development, the Digital Matatus Project, an initiative of the US-based development design firm, Groupshot, and researchers at Columbia University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) together with their local partner, University of Nairobi, successfully assembled a database of various routes for the thousands of minibuses (matatus) in Nairobi, using smartphones and GPS units.

The compilation was released in 2014 as an intricate map, which has been adopted by local app builders and mobile developers. Participating ride-sharing platforms allow patrons to access the Digital Matatus map via text message. The project has been praised for helping to improve Nairobis public transportation system, which runs without established schedules or strict routes.

Although the concept of ride-sharing is not entirely new to Africa as it has been present in the form of traditional modes of transportation such as minibuses, bush taxis and shared cars, it is Ubers unique model, transportation married with technology, that has sparked imagination and inspired innovative initiatives in Africa.

Challenges

Traditional taxi drivers are not happy about the tech-assisted ride-sharing movement, as they fear losing their jobs or incomes. Uber is destroying taxi work in Nigeria because they charge cheaper fares, Tony Oyesoya, a taxi driver in Lagos, Nigeria, told Africa Renewal in an interview.

Mr. Oyesoya said while Uber may charge less, the company often hikes its fares as soon as there is traffic congestion. He added that taxi unions in Lagos are thinking of taking up the issue with government.

Like their counterparts in Nigeria, South African drivers are unhappy with what they see as Ubers anti-competitive behavior. In March, taxi drivers in South Africa mounted a protest against the company by blocking airport roads, while Uber drivers in Kenya have been attacked and their cars set on fire. The South Africa Meter Taxi Association responded earlier this year by developing its own app, Yookoo Ride, designed to connect passengers to metered taxi drivers.

Many African governments seem to have been surprised by this development in the transportation sector and are rushing to put regulatory policies in place. Last year, Ghana became the first country in Africa to have a Standard of Understanding (SOU) signed between its Ministry of Transport and Uber. The SOU provides holistic guidelines for taxi operations, and encourages the use of technology but regulates it for riders, drivers and companies.

Despite such efforts to regulate growth in the transportation sector, innovative approaches will increase, industry experts predict, especially with the potential increase in smartphone penetration in Africa.

While Uber may be leading the charge in Africa, indigenous tech-based transportation companies with better understanding of local socioeconomic situations could still hold on to their niche in the highly competitive transportation sector.
A few years ago, more than half a century after the concept was first proposed, the government of Cote dIvoire completed construction of the Henri Konan Bedie Bridge, a span over the Ebrie Lagoon linking the north and south of Abidjan, the countrys main city. The project became a reality after the government received development bank and private capital financing.

Similarly, the Dakar-Diamniado Highway in Senegal, although a public structure, was built and is being operated by private companies.

Increasing difficulties in obtaining traditional financing, including bank loans for public infrastructure such as roads, railways and dams are forcing African countries to explore alternative financing approaches.

Having the private sector build and operate infrastructure, recoup its investments and later transfer the infrastructure to governments is one way of compensating for the shortfall in official development assistance and banks reluctance to provide loans.

Economic backbone

Aid to the least developed countries, most of which are in Africa, fell by 3.9% in 2016, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which promotes policies that improve economic and social well-being of rich countries.

At the moment, governments are coming up with innovative financing strategies, while big corporations are relying on investments or bank loans to grow and expand their businesses. However, Africas small and medium-size (SMEs) enterprises, still struggle for financing.

Governments that seek financing from private partnerships or international financing institutions such as the African Development Bank (AfDB), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank and others often realise that the funding available cannot meet the financial needs of the SMEs.

In Ghana, SMEs can safely be regarded as the backbone of the economy, employing thousands of people, Ghanas minister of finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, said at a gathering of Ghanaian entrepreneurs in June.

SMEs represent 92% of all local businesses in Ghana, providing up to 85% of manufacturing jobs in the country and contributing about 70% to the countrys GDP.

In Nigeria, 37 million SMEs employ about 60 million people and account for about 48% of the countrys GDP.

South Africa (the most advanced economy south of the Sahara) is home to more than 2.2 million SMEs, about 1.5 million of them in the informal sector. About 43% of South Africas SMEs operate in trade and accommodations, according to South Africas Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA), which, among other functions, implements the governments small business strategy.

A 2016 SEDA report says that SMEs face challenges in accessing finance and markets.

Yet eight out of 10 jobs and nine out of 10 of all businesses in sub-Saharan Africa are related to small business, according to UN figures.

Potential

SMEs, especially those in the informal sector, have a hard time accessing bank loans. A majority of African SMEs rely on personal savings or start-up capital from friends and family.

Even when a bank is willing to lend them some money, the collateral and guarantee they require and sometimes the down payment is just too much for a small company like us, says Alex Treku, the communications and projects manager at the Togo-based LOGOU Concept Togo (LCT).

LCT manufactures a type of electric food mixer (the Foufou Mix) that is used in place of the traditional mortar and pestle and saves women the energy used in pounding yam for fufu, a West African staple dish.

The Foufou Mix allows for quick and hygienic yam preparation in approximately eight minutes, the African Innovation Foundation (AIF) said when it named LCT the runner-up for the Innovation Prize for Africa in 2014.

AIF added that pounding of yam has traditionally been done by women; this innovation provides a solution not currently being contemplated by international manufacturers. It also opens up possibilities for a whole new industry for manufacturing of such appliances on the continent.

One-third of Nigerians reportedly eat fufu, making the country of 170 million people an attractive market for the gadget. Yet LCT is able to manufacture only about a hundred mixers a month, according to Mr. Treku. The reason? We dont have access to bank credit or funds to grow our business, he says. LTC currently employs 19 people.

Operational capacities and access to markets are other challenges African MSMEs face, but access to financing is the most critical.

Partnership and innovation

On the occasion of the first-ever MSME Day marked globally on 27 June, the AfDB called for an increase in new and affordable financing schemes. Both the AfDB and the IFC would like SMEs to have increased access to financing. Last year the AfDB reported helping 156,000 SME business owners through financial intermediaries such as commercial banks, development investment and guarantee funds. Thats a good start, but hardly enough, experts say.

By providing coverage for risks associated with lending to SMEs, an intermediary such as the African Guarantee Fund (AGF) can provide credit guarantee facilities to financial institutions that give loans to enterprises they would normally be reluctant to lend to.

Last June, the AGF announced that through a partnership with the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, the European Union and the UN Development Programme, some 5,000 SMEs in development minerals in five countries will have more affordable financing because of AGFs $12 million credit guarantee.

Two years ago, the IFC and Ecobank, a pan-African commercial and investment banking group, launched a $110 million risk-sharing facility that allows Ecobank to lend money to SMEs operating in fragile and conflict-afflicted states in West and Central Africa. In addition to current efforts by traditional banks to lend to SMEs, experts have urged SMEs in Africa to explore innovative financing, such as cooperative financing and diaspora funds.

The World Bank is said to be exploring other ideas like crowdfundingan innovative way of financing a project by raising funds from a very large number of peoplepeer-to-peer lending, social impact bonds and development impact bonds.

But the AfDB wants credit providers to increase lending by at least $135 billion to meet demand by African SMEs. As the overall financing gap in developing countries is currently between $2.1 and $2.6 trillion, new strategies are required to finance the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

According to the World Economic Forum, blended finance could plug this hole. Should these funds become available, the majority of SMEs still operating in the informal sector will have to take giant steps towards formalisation in order to increase their potential for accessing formal credits, according to a 17 March study, Financing the Growth of SMEs in Africa: What Are the Constraints to SME Financing within ECOWAS? published in the Review of Development Finance.

The authors of the study maintain that policy reforms are as necessary as available financing. They also suggest requiring companies to provide credit information to boost creditors confidence and to make sure that government-sponsored credit schemes are managed efficiently and transparently.
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The United States is wrestling with its Security Council partners over renewing the UN peacekeeping mission mandate in Lebanon, which Washington is calling to strengthen against the opinions of Paris and Moscow.

Annual renewal of the mission's mandate, which expires at the end of August, is normally uneventful -- but the Donald Trump administration this year is pushing to bolster the force's authority against arms movements by Hezbollah, the Shiite militia.

"The Security Council cannot adopt a business-as-usual approach when so much is at stake," said US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley in a statement Wednesday, released as close door UN Security Council consultations on the topic wrapped up.

"We call on the members of the Security Council to join us in taking real action to make UNIFIL a stronger peacekeeping mission and to stand up against forces of terror in Lebanon and around the region."

She said beefing up the force is necessary as "Hezbollah openly boasts about its illegal stockpile of weapons and publicly threatens" Israel, a key US ally.

But France said Wednesday it wants the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon to stick to its current mandate.

Anne Gueguen, France's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, told reporters her government saw no need to change the 2006 Security Council resolution that sets the mission's current mandate.

"We want to keep the mandate as such," she said.

Gueguen spoke before the talks on whether to extend the mandate of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon for another year.

After the talks, Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said his government also saw no need to change the mandate for the force, a position he said was shared by many at the session.

"We think this mandate should be renewed in the present form," he said.

'Decisive role'

Set up in 1978, UNIFIL was beefed up after the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, charged with guaranteeing a ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from a demilitarized zone on the Israeli-Lebanese border. It now has 10,500 troops on the ground monitoring the ceasefire and helping the Lebanese government secure its borders.

"We are for a reaffirmation of its mandate and the optimal effectiveness of its mission," the French diplomat said.

On August 7, Haley said UNIFIL's mandate should be enhanced to prevent the spread of illegal weapons in southern Lebanon, which she blamed on Hezbollah and said threatened the region's stability.

"UNIFIL must increase its capacity and commitment to investigating and reporting these violations," she said.

France, which contributes 800 troops to UNIFIL, plans to submit a resolution extending the force's mandate for another year, Gueguen said.

"UNIFIL plays a decisive role to stabilize the south of Lebanon in a very difficult original context and it has demonstrated a stabilizing effect in the volatile, complex and troubled environment," she said.

In a letter to the Security Council on August 4, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he wanted to look at ways to improve UNIFIL's efforts "regarding the illegal presence of armed personnel, weapons or infrastructure inside its area of operations."

A Security Council vote on renewing UNIFIL's mandate is expected on August 30.
24.08.2017 LISTEN

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), is of the firm believe that Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei-Mensah is being remote-controlled by his Regional Chairman of the NPP, Bernard Antwi Boadiako in order to settle personal scores with businessman, Ibrahim Mahama.

It would be recalled that in time past, brother of former President John Dramani Mahama dragged the NPP stalwart affectionately called Chairman Wontumi before court for making wild allegations of corruption against him[Ibrahim Mahama].

This followed the burning down of mining equipments belonging to Hansol Mining Company owned by Wontumi a move that angered him resulting in the allegations during a radio interview.

But the NDC suspects that though a court ruled on the matter last year in which the plaintiff lost, Wontumi is behind the scenes pulling the straws to ensure that Ibrahim Mahama pays dearly for what befell him some years back.

According to Abass Nurudeen, a known NDC communicator in the Ashanti Region in statement issued to the media shortly, observed the conduct of the Minister is not surprising judging from the chronology of events.

Read full text of exactly what he said

THE ASHANTI REGIONAL MINISTER IS BEING USED AS A PAWN BY WONTUMI TO SETTLE SCORES WITH E&P AND IBRAHIM MAHAMA

Many are those who have expressed shock and surprise by the unfortunate conduct of the Ashanti regional minister, Hon. Simon Osei Mensah, relative to the seizure of mining equipments belonging to E&P. The DCE of the Atwima Mponua District, acting on the instructions of the minister, illegally impounded these equipments while on it way to engage in preparatory works at a legally acquired bauxite concession of EXTON CUBIC LTD.

Deep throat sources from the Regional coordinating council indicate that Mr simon Osei Mensah is under strict instructions from the Ashanti regional chairman of the NPP- chairman Wontumi- not to release the machines. As a self-acclaimed governor of Ashanti, chairman wontumi believes this is a golden opportunity to show Mr. Ibrahim Mahama where power lies.

Is it therefore not surprising that, the Ashanti regional minister is still holding on to the machines even after the Lands and forestry Minister has asked him to release them?

Is it not strange that even after the minister has been furnished with all the necessary documentary proofs by people within his own government he is still adamant?

Does the Intransigence of the Ashanti Regional minister not lend credence to this claim?

This feeds into the general sense of lawlessness and Arbitrariness that has engulfed the 7-months old Akufo Addo Government ;A govt in which ministers would rather serve the interest of their masters rather than follow due process; a government in which genuine businesses are deliberately impeded from operating on the altar of political expediency..it is indeed a sad day for AMA GHANA.

Maybe, the Ashanti regional minister needs to be reminded that Ghana is a nation governed by laws and not on whims of self conceited government appointees who take instructions from political simpletons; may he be reminded once again that, through this act of indiscretion, he is effectively opening the government up for huge legal liabilities that may culminate in the payment of huge government debt.

But In all these, it is the hypocrisy of our society that l abhor the most; we have a president who has appointed his siblings as ministers of finance, works and housing, Roads and highways, Attorney general etc. We have a president who has appointed his blood daughters as board members and baby Mamas as ambassadors. Nobody seems to see anything wrong with this but these same people see everything wrong with a former presidents brother acquiring a license to engage in legal mining. We are, indeed living in interesting times.

The activities of EXTON CUBIC LTD within the Tano-Offin Forest Reserve- including the establishment of an integrated Aluminum industry-has the potential to create 40, 000 direct and indirect jobs and for a government that won power on the altar of providing jobs for the teeming unemployed youth, it is only fair and logical that it sheds its political lenses and support this noble cause by an illustrious son of the land.

Abass Nurudeen
Management of Shaanxi Ghana Mining Company Limited will commence operations on Monday, August 28, 2017 after a three-month suspension of their operations.

On the 4th of May 2017, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources John Peter Amewu suspended the operations of Shaanxi Mining company to allow for investigations into the death of some illegal miners alleged to have been trapped within the mine.

Mr. John Amewu paid a working visit to Shaanxi mine on the 9th of August 2017 after an investigative team constituted to investigate circumstance leading to the death of seven illegal miners submitted its report to him.

In a letter signed by Acting Chief Director of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Sulemana Mahama dated August 22, 2017 and cited by citifmonline.com, has directed Shaanxi mining company to commence work.

Find below the full statement

RE: APPEAL TO REOPEN MINE

Reference our letter dated July 18, 2017 approving your request for approval to carry out general maintenance of the Shaanxi Mine and for the mine to reopen.

I have been instructed by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, John Peter Amewu to inform you that following his visit to the mine on 9th August 2017, he noted the progress you have made so far to ensure Health, Safety and Environment within the mine in compliance with his earlier directivities and therefore approves your request to reopen the mine.

You are to conduct the mining operations in a sustainable manner , bearing in mind human safety and environmental sustainability.

You are also to strictly adhere to the tenets of the mining law and the regulations on mining in the country.

The Inspectorate Division of the Minerals Commission shall continue to monitor your operations and report to the Minister as stipulated in the mining lease with which you are operating.

Yours faithfully,

SULEMANA MAHAMA

CHIF DIRECTOR

FOR: MINISTERSpeaking to CitiNews, the Public Relations Officer of Shaanxi Mining Limited Maxwell Wooma expressed satisfaction at the timely intervention of the ministry, adding that, the company will start full operations by Monday.

Management has just received the information and we are convening an emergency meeting immediately so that, we can recall the over 500 workers who are at home, get them through proper induction again and we are hoping that, by Monday 28th August 2017 we shall be back to full business. Mr. Wooma stated.



By: Frederick Awuni/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Akwaaba my brothers, Mia we zo nustuwo, Maraba yan wuana, Nyemi hii.

I knew it. I knew you guys were staying. I didnt need a soothsayer or palmist to tell me whether you were staying or not. And which is why, if you remember when I met you guys at the KIA airport the very first day you touched down in Accra, Ghana (formerly Gold Coast), I gave you this assurance:

Let not your hearts be troubled because this is it. This could be your home. This is Ghana the land of the kindest and finest people. However, just so you know, do not take that leniency to be weakness on their part else youd be sorry.

I cant explain it better. But I guess when you push yourself through life and you cannot push it any longer. The theory is you better let go and let push, push himself. Sounds ridiculously ludicrous right? But in reality it works anyhow. In life some people have more and some have nothing. Strangely, the disparity even abounds in the domain of the planetary. Our planet Earth has one Moon while Jupiter and Saturn have 53 apiece. And you want to know which ones have none?

Its Mercury and Venus!

The reason, (first with Mercury) scientists explain that Mercury is so close to the Sun and its gravity, it wouldnt be able to hold on its own. They say: Any moon would most likely crash into Mercury or maybe go into orbit around the sun and eventually get pulled into it.

How about Venus why doesnt she have a moon?

Well, scientist s ay thats a mystery for them to solve. Ah huh!

See, were not far from home, looks like it though... But I can assure you were getting closer to the nugget. Thing is if you dont have it and I mean IT, dont try it. Because in our world it appears those that have it, play it, dance it and use it. Now youre getting it, I hope so.

Anyway, I dont know which path these guys strode. But most likely they overlapped which is euphemism for trespass, I believe. Always remember right to movement isnt comprehensive it has its limitations. When you see Beware of Dogs, on ones steel gate, it means just that. In some places the laws are beautifully crafted but they dont bite. I can cite for you a few examples but time isnt on my side.

Simply, we live in a world full of mysteries. Some people fool around and they get away with it. While some fool around and they get caught up with the laws. Some of us saw what happened last Monday 21 August 2017 when the Moon walked past the Sun or strayed unto its way it was exclusive to the United States but even so not all the 50 states were lucky. I think 14 states saw the solar eclipse.

So, Paul I know, but who are you guys my people have asked me to ask you?

My name is Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef.

Can you please tell me again where youre from?

I am from Yemen.

Yemen, you said, in the Arabian region.

Thats right Sir.

And how did you end up here?

Nsem pii. Wait a minute!

What did you say? And when did you learn the Ghanaian language?

Weve been here since January 2016 I can speak Twi and Ga. My brother and I are trying a couple of other languages too.

Thats absolutely incredible. So explain to me (and I will pass it on to my people) our audience out there what does that phrase Nsem Pii mean?

 Well in simple terms I like to say that the story that surrounds our coming to Ghana is convoluted. 

Convoluted? Which also means?

It means we didnt come here on our own volition. 

Ok lets rest it there for a moment.

I surely would like to know more about that. And whats your name too. I guess youre also called Muhammad right?

Youre right Sir. My name is Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby. And please allow me to take this opportunity to thank the government of Ghana and its people. We love Ghana and were happy to be here. As youre possibly aware wed been detained in the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay. And since our arrival on the 7th of January 2016 weve been housed here at this national security compound and I must add that were grateful to be here.

Can I call you Atef?

Not a problem Sir.

Whats your impression too about Ghana and its people?

Well I think my brother has said it all. But I must tell you initially we didnt know what was in stored for us. Ghanaians opposed the idea of housing supposed terrorists in their country.

But did you guys get it?

Yes we did. And we think the opposition and the public outcry at the time was understandable. Why would any nation accept persons deemed dangerous from another that had held them prisoners, chose not to keep them in their own country, and rather transported them to anothers? So, in that term I think the opposition was justifiable. So far, we think theyve (Ghanaians) demonstrated good will towards us and we wouldnt abuse it anyway whatsoever. 

Is this a promise?

Yes, it is a promise and we will never break it.

And how did you feel when you heard:

Ghanas Parliament has ratified an agreement to allow the two ex-GITMO detainees to stay in the country?

I will like my brother say it (amid smiles). He cried. But it was all tears of joy. We were so elated, thats I can say.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Shirley Ayorkor Botchway on Tuesday August 1 2017, informed Parliament that, her ministry and other stakeholders would work on an exit plan by the time your two-year stay in Ghana expires January 6, 2018?

What do you think?

Allahamdulilahi, Well we will keep our trust in God.

The Foreign Minister had also stressed that: There will be no further obligation to keep the two  Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby  unless the two governments agree otherwise and in accordance with due process.

The ratification followed a Supreme Court order after it ruled that their stay in the West African country is unconstitutional without parliamentary backing.

Background

Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby of Yemeni origin were among 17 detainees transferred from the prison camp in Cuba by the United States.

The decision to host the detainees in Ghana provoked a firestorm of controversy and outrage among Ghanaians, with many expressing fear that the move would undermine Ghanas internal security and expose the country to attacks from religious extremists.

A seven-member Supreme Court panel presided over by Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo by six to one (6 -1) majority decision Thursday June 22, 2017 said the two are illegally in the country since the then government allowed them into the country without prior approval by Parliament.
The founder of the Action Chapel International Archbishop Nicholas Duncan Williams has described Ghanaians as petty people.

According to him, that explains the numerous suspicions of his political bias over the years.

Speaking to Bola Ray on Starr Chat Wednesday, the influential preacher, who is largely perceived as the father of the charismatic faith in Ghana, said he maintains cordial relationship with presidents because he is required to do so as a pastor.

I am not NDC or NPP, and I have stopped talking about such things because people will believe what they want to believe. The Bible makes it a command to pray for all that is in authority in order for us to have peace on the land. I have been told anytime NPP is in office, they said I am NPP. When President Kufuor came to office they told him I was NDC. They told him I was a friend of Rawlings.

So one time I met Kufuor and we were chatting and it came up and I said yes I am a friend of President Rawlings but I am not NDC and some people also went to tell President Rawlings that your friend is now NPP, so they keep doing that to me, he bemoaned.

He nonetheless said he is not bothered by such criticisms because he has grown to understand the psyche of Ghanaians.

If you understand the psyche of your people, it is who we are; Ghanaians, we are very petty people compared to others. And we dwell on pettiness, pettiness kills purpose. And so I just allow people to talk. When President came into office they went to lie to him that I am NPP and all. And the only person who stood up and defended me was former President John Mahama. He told them this man is a man of God and will pray for whoever is in charge so leave him alone, he recounted.
The chairperson of the Electoral Commission Charlotte Osei needs help, and not vile criticisms from Ghanaians, the founder of the Action Chapel International has said.

According to Archbishop Nicholas Duncan Williams, the EC chair is knowledgeable and has a good heart and head.

Mrs. Osei has come under severe public backlash following accusations of managerial ineptitude by some staff of the commission and two of her deputies. She is currently under investigations over alleged managerial incompetence among others being championed by some staff of the EC.

Speaking to Bola Ray on Starr Chat about the development at the commission, the famous preacher said he is confident the various agencies probing the matter will do a good job.

He noted, however, that the EC chair is not as ignorant as some people perceive her.

I have known her since she was 18 years. She has been in my church since the age of 18. I think a lot of people underestimate her, she is not that ignorant like people think she is. She is very well educated, she has a good head and a good heart. She just needs help.

I dont like the way we treat women in this country, especially when they are in higher office of responsibility. We subject them to all kinds of opinions. The young grow and we need to develop young minds, both men and women for a better tomorrow, he told Bola Ray.

Meanwhile, the US government has awarded Mrs Osei with the United States Department of States Woman of Courage Award for 2017.
Eight Ghanaian men in Canada are protesting the criminalization of same-sex relationships in Ghana.

They say lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders are not treated well in the country.

They are therefore on a campaign in Canada to ask that countrys prime minister, Justin Trudeau, to demand that Ghana protects the rights of LGBT people.

The eight, say their activities are mainly to raise awareness of the plight of people for their sexuality in Ghana.

They are also collecting signatures for a petition addressed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking Canada take a larger role in advocating for LGBT people in Ghana.

Canadas CBC reports that more than 5,000 people have signed the petition.

The activists include Sulemana Abdulai, a middle-aged Ghanaian, said he was forced to leave Ghana to the US because he was gay.

Earlier this year, he walked to Manitoba in Canada from the U.S. to avoid being turned back by border guards at the official port of entry.

While some legislators including the Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye have said Ghana will not be forced to accept homosexuality, the group says it is not be deterred to embarking on its campaign.

We are fighting for our rights. No one can ever stop us. We will continue doing what we are doing, said Sulemana Abdulai. They cannot scare me, Sulemana Abdulai said.

In Ghana you are not safeThey dont accept the LGBTQ at all. They are treating them like animals, he added.

He said their advocacy work in Winnipeg, Canada has been successful but some Ghanaians in Winnipeg have harassed him and others for defending gay rights.

He, however, said they feel safer in Ghana than in Ghana where some have even threatened their life.

The groups plan is to meet with various groups to discuss ways of pressurizing the Ghanaian government to decriminalize same-sex relationships and grant equal rights to LGBT people.



By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
As government prepares to roll out its flagship project, the One District One Factory Programme, the Private Enterprise Federation (PEF) has called for a pragmatic roadmap that will include the indigenes of each district in the implementation of the scheme.

According to PEF, the purpose for the project will be defeated if huge companies from the major cities takeover the projects without involving various inhabitants of the main districts.

Speaking to Citi Business News, the Chief Executive Officer of PEF Nana Osei-Bonsu stated that government must be keen on transparent procurement systems to enable locals participate in the project.

In the districts, the businesses don't have opportunity. If there is a contract, somebody from Accra, Kumasi goes to the district, perform and take the money. So what we are trying to do is build the capacity of the district businesses within the district and dialogue with the duty bearers, the assemblies and the chiefs, and the traditional council so that if there is any business opportunity the first opportunity goes to the businesses within the community, he said.

Nana Osei-Bonsu argued that the phenomenon where big companies from the major cities takeover projects in the hinterland do not foster development.

He maintained that real economic development can be achieved if the indigenes of the districts are made to participate and feel part of the planning and execution of the One District One Factory project.

When this happens, the communities can get the profit and improve the economic development of the districts. That is why we have taken the initiative to develop the capacity of these businesses in the districts to take advantage of the government policies, he remarked.

He maintained that government must deliberately design its policies to urge the locals in the district to accept and participate in the project.



By: Lawrence Segbefia/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
Accra, Aug. 23 - (UPI/GNA) - At a rally in Phoenix, President Donald Trump went into campaign mode in front of a cheering audience as he blasted the media for criticizing his response to the Charlottesville protests.

He hinted that he would pardon former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Trump was admonished by critics for taking too long to respond to the violence during protests in Charlottesville, Va. on Aug. 12 when white supremacists faced off with anti-racist protesters, resulting in the death of one anti-racist protester.

"Why did it take a day?" Trump said of his comments made the day after the protests.

Mocking his critics, he added: "He must be a racist! It took a day."

Trump also accused media organizations of "giving a platform to hate groups."

"It's time to expose the crooked media deceptions and to challenge the media for their role in fomenting divisions and yes, by the way - and yes, by the way, they are trying to take away our history and our heritage," he said.

In response to criticism that he didn't say enough to condemn racism and bigotry, Trump fired back, arguing he called out several white supremacist groups.

"I hit them with neo-Nazi, I hit them with everything. KKK? We have KKK. I got them all," he said.

The president also reiterated his condemnation for hate groups.

"What happened in Charlottesville strikes at the core of America and tonight, this entire arena stands united against the thugs who perpetrate hatred and violence," he said. "I strongly condemn neo-Nazis, white Supremacists and the KKK."

Trump also strongly hinted that he would pardon Arpaio, who was found guilty of criminal contempt in July for violating a judge's orders to stop racial profiling in immigration arrests.

"So was Sheriff Joe convicted for doing his job? ... You know what, I'll make a prediction: I think he's going to be just fine, OK? But I won't do it tonight because I don't want to cause any controversy. But Sheriff Joe should feel good," Trump said.

The American Civil Liberties Union responded to Trump' statements about Arpaio on Twitter.

"No, President Trump. Arpaio was not 'just doing his job.' He was violating the Constitution and discriminating against Latinos," the organization said.

Before the rally, Trump stopped in Yuma, Ariz., a city on the U.S.-Mexico border, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials praised the president's tough stance on immigration.

"What he's done so far has worked," Thomas Homan, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told reporters. "We need funding to make it permanent. We need to build a wall."

GNA
Accra, Aug. 23 - (UPI/GNA) - The Trump administration denied $96 million in economic aid and delayed $195 million in military aid to Egypt Tuesday due to the country's poor human rights record.

"We have serious concerns regarding human rights and governance in Egypt," an administration official said, according to CNN. "At the same time, strengthened security cooperation is important to U.S. national security."

The move denotes a serious reversal in policy towards Egypt, which has long been one of the biggest recipients of U.S. economic and military aid. Over the past 30 years, Egypt has received $80 billion in aid from the United States.

But it also has analysts confused because of President Donald Trump's recent warm overtures toward Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

"It is unusual that the Trump administration would take a punitive measure against Egypt, given the president's outreach to President Sisi and his general embrace of this Egyptian government," Robert Satloff, the executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told The New York Times.

Egypt's relations with North Korea were also a factor in the administration's decision to block and delay aid.

"I would not say reports of difficulties with Egypt's human rights situation or its connection with North Korea is new," Satloff said.

Long criticized by human rights groups for its regular crackdowns on political speech and dissidence, Egypt has received more criticism for passing a law that severely restricts nongovernmental organizations with punishments, including fines and prison time.

"This new law represents a huge step backward for freedom of association in Egypt," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "The Egyptian authorities have squeezed shut whatever limited space remained for nongovernmental groups in Egypt and driven the human rights community underground."

GNA
Accra, Aug. 23 - (UPI/GNA) - The Chinese resort city of Macau reported three deaths and numerous power outages after Typhoon Hato struck the island with gale-force winds.

The city of 270,000, across the mouth of the Pearl River from Hong Kong, announced a Number 8 typhoon signal on Tuesday, indicating sustained wind speeds of up to 118 mph and gusts of up to 138 mph on the Hong Kong tropical cyclone warning signals chart.

Power was out for hours in the city's casinos and government buildings. Schools and businesses were also closed for the day. Ferry services in the Pearl River delta were cancelled, as were dozens of flights from Macau's airport.

In separate incidents, a 30-year-old man died when he was struck by a falling wall. Another man fell from his 11th floor apartment and died, and a Chinese tourist was hit by a car during the typhoon and killed.

Two people are missing and at least 20 people were hospitalized, authorities said.

Hotels, many running on generator power, advised guests to stay in their hotel rooms.

A staff member of the Wynn Hotel Macau told the South China Morning Post, "All our systems broke down. We do not have electricity and water. We won't hurry our guests to check out even though some of them may have passed the checkout time. They should stay with us and stay safe as the weather is really bad."

In Hong Kong, at least 400 flights were cancelled Tuesday and only one plane landed on Wednesday.

No deaths were reported, but 34 people were injured and admitted to local hospitals.

The center of the storm did not directly hit Hong Kong, but was close enough to be considered one in the city's storm warning system.

The typhoon, regarded as the region's worst in five years, also prompted the evacuation of thousands of people in Guangdong on the Chinese mainland.

GNA
Accra, Aug. 23 - (dpa/GNA) - Britain does not want the European Court of Justice to resolve disputes related to the country's departure from the European Union, the government said in its latest Brexit policy paper, released Wednesday.

Prime Minister Theresa May's government aims to negotiate "an approach to enforcement and dispute resolution which meets the key objectives of the UK and the EU, underpinning the deep and special partnership we seek," the paper stated.

It wants a mechanism for dispute resolution that will "maximize certainty for individuals and businesses" and "respect the autonomy of EU law and UK legal systems.

Any arrangement allowing the highest court of one party to enforce or interpret a bilateral agreement "would be exceptional in international agreements," it said.

"What is absolutely clear, when we leave the European Union, we will be leaving the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice," May told reporters on Wednesday ahead of the publication.

"Parliament will make our laws," she said. "It is British judges who will interpret those laws and it will be the British Supreme Court that will be the arbiter of those laws."

May triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty in March, officially beginning two years of negotiations on the Britain's withdrawal from the European Union after more than 40 years.

GNA
Accra, 23 - (dpa/GNA) - More than 90,000 eggs contaminated by the insecticide fipronil has been requisitioned by police in Italy.

Some 6,000 eggs were found at a producer near Ancona, on the Adriatic coast, while 85,000 - including 32,000 to be used as animal feed - were located at another producer in Viterbo, north of Rome.

Police action followed Monday's announcement by the Italian Health Ministry that 114 samples of eggs had been tested, and two had tested positive for the insecticide.

In a Wednesday press conference, the food safety corps of the Carabinieri police, the NAS, said they were investigating the cause of the contamination.

It could have been "accidental," or it may have been the result of the illegal presence of fipronil in chicken feed, the head of the NAS, General Adelmo Lusi, said.

Fipronil, a common ingredient in veterinary products for getting rid of fleas, lice and ticks in animals, is banned under EU law for use on animals destined for human consumption.

Italy is among more than a dozen European countries affected by the contamination scandal, which has highlighted the complexity of food supply chains on the continent.

GNA
The Kuwaiti Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Mohammed Hussain Al-Failakawi, has been presented with the Humanity Magazine International Award for his contribution to the promotion of education in this country.

The honour done to Ambassador Hussain Al-Failakawi was in recognition of his tireless efforts in supporting educational endeavours in Ghana and other parts of Africa, which is at the heart of his countrys bilateral relations with the continent.

A certificate of honour presented to the envoy by the Publisher of Humanity Magazine International, Mr. Yahaya Alhassan, said the award was in recognition of your Excellencys unprecedented support for education in Ghana.

Mr. Alhassan told the media in an interview after the presentation ceremony in Accra that the award was also to acknowledge the Ambassadors efforts in promoting sound friendly relations between the Government of Ghana and the Government of Kuwait.

May Allah bless His Excellency and the good Kuwaiti Government for their continue care for the continent the certificates contains.

Mr. Alhassan revealed that the Board of Governors decided to recognize the contributions of Ambassador Hussain Al-Failakawi and the Government of Kuwait to serve as shining example of bilateral relations that bring mutual benefits to all parties involved.

The Humanity Magazine International campaigns for the promotion of corporate investments and businesses to ensure employment creation to benefit the youthful citizens of Africa.

We are optimistic that a strong partnership between businesses in Africa, especially in Ghana and their counterparts in Kuwait and other parts of the world would go a long way to ensure that such businesses expand and create unimaginable job opportunities he said.

Mr Alhassan added that the magazine also aims at promoting quality leadership by recognising the contributions of managers of public and private institutions, and the achievements of diplomats to serve as shining examples for others to emulate.

Ambassador Mohammed Hussain Al-Failakawi was grateful to the Humanity Magazine International for the recognition and he agreed that promoting diplomatic and business relations between his country and Ghana would ensure mutual benefits.
Some farmers have renewed demands to be compensated over what they say is the return of army worms on their farms.

The farmers say, the fumigation of their farms by government only weakened the worms, but never got rid of them.

The claims by the farmers contradicts the position of the minister of food and agriculture who has been touting governments success in destroying the army worms.

For the best part of this farming season, the Ministry of Agriculture has virtually been helpless in tackling the army worm invasion.

Over 20, 000 hectares of farmlands have been devastated by the army worms across the country.

Farmers are on record to have stated that weak pesticides used in spraying affected farms, rather caused the invasion to balloon compelling some to use a cocktail of soap and pepper as a better option to fight the invasion.

But, with the army worms still around, the Farmers say any decision not to compensate them will be heartless on the part of government.

Usually it is the maize that they keep destroyingif I should tell you that we can survive with it [then its a lie] because it has destroyed a lot of maize so there wont be any high yield, A farmer in the North told Starr News.
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Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia accompanying President Akufo-Addo from the airport after the arrival of the President from Equatorial Guinea

President Akufo-Addo ended his three-day official visit to Equatorial Guinea yesterday.

He signed a number of Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with his Equatorial Guinean counterpart, Teodoro Obieng Nguema Mbasogo aimed at developing their respective countries.

Agreements

In the area of maritime transport, Ghana proposed the establishment of a shipping link between the two countries using the 'Tema-Port Harcourt-Douala-Malabo' route to boost trade and commercial activities between West and Central Africa.

Following further deliberations, both countries subsequently signed two agreements namely, 'the waiver of visa requirements for citizens of both countries holding Diplomatic, Official and Service Passports' and 'Heads of Agreement' on the supply of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) and support regarding import infrastructure.

Both heads of state expressed their support for global and African initiatives for the prevention of and peaceful settlement of conflicts, respect for the Charters of the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU), independence and sovereignty of states, as well as non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.

Director of Communications at the presidency, Eugene Arhin, indicated that President Akufo-Addo and President Obiang Mbasogo also expressed concern about the resurgence of tension on the African continent, and agreed on the urgent need to combat the growing threat of terrorism.

They condemned recent terrorist attacks in Burkina Faso, Spain and Iceland, and regretted the loss of human lives in Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo and other parts of the world, Mr Arhin said.

According to him, the pair also expressed their desire to achieve regional integration through the Africa Union (AU) Agenda to achieve a Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA), which is aimed at boosting intra-African trade.

President Akufo-Addo congratulated his Equatorial Guinean counterpart on the election of that country as a Non-Permanent Member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the period 2018-2019.

Touching on UN reforms, the two leaders agreed that African countries should support the Ezulwuni Consensus and expand the representation of African countries in the categories of Permanent and Non-Permanent Members of the UN Security Council, with the purpose of making it more efficient, legitimate and representative to reflect the realities of the world order today.

During the visit, President Akufo-Addo toured infrastructure and energy development projects in the city of Malabo, and at the end of it all, he extended an invitation to President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo to visit Ghana.

President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo accepted the invitation, which would be communicated through the diplomatic channels.

Meetings

Discussions between the two presidents were said to have been held in a cordial atmosphere, as the two leaders examined issues bordering on bilateral, regional and international cooperation, and reaffirmed their commitment to work hand-in-hand to strengthen the existing cooperation for the mutual benefit of their peoples.

Addressing internal issues in their respective countries, President Obiang Mbasogo congratulated President Akufo-Addo on his decisive victory in the election of 2016.

The Ghanaian leader, on his part, congratulated his counterpart on the tremendous development that has taken place in his country.

Expressing satisfaction at the level of cooperation between the two countries, the two heads of state mandated their respective Ministers of Foreign Affairs to reactivate the Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation (PJCC) between Equatorial Guinea and Ghana  which serves as the framework to promote cooperation in the areas of oil and gas, energy, agriculture, food security, mineral resources, maritime transport, civil aviation, trade, defence and security, education, health, among others.

By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent
Western Publications, publishers of DAILY GUIDE and NEWS-ONE, have partnered growing children's supplementary reader, Treasure Kids newspaper (TKN)  a monthly fun and vibrant newspaper for young people.

The collaboration, managers say, will help serve a key demographic among its consumers and most importantly, help promote literacy.

Ms Precious Bonsu, editor and publisher of Treasure Kids News, expressed her elation at the new phase of the paper, stating that it advances her agenda of improving child literacy in Ghana, and potentially creates a whole new generation of young readers  one edition at a time.

The future of societies everywhere is determined by the quality of kids raised, especially in the area of education and literacy. The decline in literacy among children should be a worry to all, the statistics are staggering. My passion to see this change led to my team and I creating this newspaper for kids, Ms Bonsu said.

Our world is evolving each and every day, and kids don't absorb knowledge the same ways and means anymore. The paper is creatively put together, and tailored specifically for today's child. We are happy to have Western Publications onboard; this affords us a bigger platform and a huge step in the right direction in ensuring that child literacy is improved, she further underscored.

Kwame Blay, CEO of Western Publications, explained, Our focus as publishers regarding literacy applies to all ages and we have remained ever committed to growing the number of readers of our publications in as wide an age bracket as we can. The Treasure Kids brand fits in well with our agenda and we are determined to maximize its reach amongst young readers.

Publication of Treasure Kids News was necessitated by the alarming decline in the reading habits of children today. The colorful 16-page paper targets children between the ages of seven and 15, and features educative articles, news and current affairs, puzzles, history, English and Math quizzes, as well as other fun activities which enrich the minds of kids in a fun and interactive way. News in the paper can also be accessed on treasurekidsnews.com .
24.08.2017 LISTEN



Hearts of Oak mercurial talent Isaac Mensah has been linked with a loan move to Egyptian outfit Al Ittihad.

The 22-year-old is expected to join the Alexandria side after both parties reached an agreement, it has been claimed in the local media.

Mensah is coming back of a difficult campaign plagued with recurrent injuries.

But the youngster appears to have shaken off the setback and is set to join the Green and White on an initial loan deal.

Details are sketchy but multiple reports suggest the move will be financially rewarding for both the player and the club.

Reports claim Hearts will pocket $100,000 from the one-year loan deal which could be made permanent if he impresses.
Johannesburg (AFP) - A South African model who was allegedly attacked by Zimbabwe's first lady has filed court papers challenging the government's decision to grant Grace Mugabe diplomatic immunity, a lawyer said Thursday.

The wife of President Robert Mugabe allegedly attacked a 20-year-old model Gabriella Engels with an electrical extension cord at a hotel in Johannesburg where the couple's two sons were staying.

The attack left Engels with cuts on her head and forehead. She has filed an assault charge against the 52-year-old Grace Mugabe.

South Africa's foreign affairs ministry said at the weekend that it had granted Mugabe immunity allowing her to leave the country.

Engels and AfriForum, a civil rights group which helps victims of crime, filed an injunction asking the court to annul the minister's decision.

"The (foreign affairs) minister misinterpreted the law. She applied the wrong principles," AfriForum lawyer Willie Spies told AFP.

They are seeking an order to set aside the minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane's decision "recognising the immunities and privileges" of Grace Mugabe, according to court documents seen by AFP.

They also asking the court to declare that the diplomatic immunity decision "does not confer immunity from prosecution."

A hearing into the case will start on September 19, said Spies.

Grace Mugabe was supposed to have reported to the police to make a statement about the allged incident, but did not.

Police minister Fikile Mbalula then said "a red alert" had been sent out to border police, and "she is not somebody who has been running away."

However, Mugabe flew out of South Africa on a pre-dawn flight on a presidential jet on Sunday. Hours later, the foreign ministry announced that it had granted her immunity.

On Wednesday, South African lawmakers heckled Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa as he answered a question in parliament on the Grace Mugabe debacle.

He said the decision to grant her immunity was taken in line with "internationally-recognised immunity regulations" and admitted it was "the first time we have utilised this type of convention."
The ongoing confusion that has characterized Ibrahim Mahama's Exton Cubic Group Limited's attempt to enter the Tano Offin Forest Reserve near Nyinahin in the Ashanti Region to mine bauxite could have been avoided if the processes leading to the issuance of permit had been handled with tact.

As it is, the handling of the emerging issues lacks finesse, making the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government look derided in the eyes of the public, especially appointees who are pulling the strings from different directions.

The so-called standoff between the Ashanti Regional Minister and the District Chief Executive for Atwima Mponua on one side and the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources on the other has proven that there is a huge communication gap in the way some sections of government business is run.

We tend to agree with the Regional Minister that once the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources says the government has put a moratorium on all mining activities  except in the case of three mining companies in the region  it was the duty of the sector minister to notify the Regional Minister that a change of order had occurred and that a fourth company by name, Exton Cubic Group Limited, was being released to operate in the region.

As the issues unfold, we have come to note that the company even has no Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) permit to operate in the forest reserve.

With the EPA's position, it is clear that Exton Cubic Group Limited has violated the law and the earlier it regularizes its operation, the better  not overlooking the pending court case.

The manner in which the concession was acquired also lacks finesse, to say the least, raising questions about its prudence.

This controversial action by the Mahama-led government to grant Exton Cubic a huge bauxite concession, allegedly without parliamentary approval, has found its way to the Supreme Court.

Brong-Ahafo Regional Youth Organizer of the NPP, Kwame Baffoe aka Abronye DC, has filed a suit against Ibrahim to strip him of the last-minute concession granted him a few days to the exit of his brother (President John Mahama) from power.

The then NDC government. acting through the former Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Nii Osah Mills, on December 29, 2016, entered into and granted Exton Cubic Group Limited mining leases to mine bauxite in different concessions for 21 and 18 years respectively and the Nyinahin concession is said to be one of them. Abronye wants an order setting aside the mining lease agreements since. According to him, it is violating Section 5 (4) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006, Act 703.

We admit that some of the letters giving Exton Cubic Group Limited the permission to enter the forest preceded the court action, but judging from the public uproar that is being generated of late, we are of the opinion that the heads of state institutions in this sector should tarry.

We think the NPP government can step up its game and not get embroiled in some of these needless debates. If that can be done, it will depend on the actions of the appointees of President Akufo-Addo.
When it was confirmed that it was John Owusu Afriyie, not Hon. Kokofu, who would be heading the Forestry Commission, I shed tears for Mother Ghana.

For days after that announcement I was furious that an unprincipled and cynical politician like him had been appointed to head such an important state institution playing a key role in helping Ghana to ameliorate the impact of global warming on the Ghanaian countryside.

Do our educated urban elites not realise that environmental destruction on the scale we are currently witnessing actually poses an existential threat to our nation and its people? Amazing.

I have kept on asking myself how John Owusu Afriyie could possibly head the Forestry Commission of Ghana since his appointment. The idea that a political-blackguard like him is in a position once filled by a fine and honest gentleman and world-class forester, Dr Osei Asibey, is most disconcerting. Have we sunk so low as a people? Incredible.

Now it turns out that that bloody buffoon is also continuing the egregious stupidity that those appointed to head the key public-sector organisation charged with protecting Ghana's remaining forests allowing mining in forest reserves instead of opposing it - in a nation whose forest cover is being depleted at such a frightening rate - represents. Incredible.

The question is: Do our hard-of-hearing and mostly-clueless ruling elites not realise that if they approached the biggest global tech companies such as Facebook, Google (Alphabet), Microsoft, etc., etc., for example, to neutralise some of their carbon footprints in carbon sequestration deals covering the remainder of our forests, it could earn Ghana hundreds of millions of dollars of dollars annually, in carbon credit payments to fringe-forest communities across Ghana, as well as to the Forestry Commission itself? Unbelievable.

Ditto negotiate similar regular carbon credit payments to fringe-forest communities and the Forestry Commission from oil-rich nations with massive carbon footprints such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait, to enable them neutralise their respective carbon footprints, too? Ebeeii - let our leaders think for once. Haaba.

It really is time members of our nation's complacent political class took note: They are actually drinking in the Last Chance Salon. Some of us are gettting sick and tired of being governed by morons like the John Owusu Afriyies - who are aiding and abetting those destroying our nation's forest cover instead of opposing them to save the remainder of our country's forest cover.

Simply put, John Owusu Afriyie is not fit to head the Forestry Commission of Ghana. For the sake of Ghana's present-day younger generations and that of their children and their children's children, he must be sacked by President Akufo-Addo immediately. Enough is enough. Haaba,
24.08.2017 LISTEN

The Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Mr. John-Peter Amewu, has lifted the ban on the operations of Shaanxi Mining (Ghana) Company in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region.

The Ministry, in a letter signed by Mr. Amewu in May this year, temporarily suspended the operations of Shaanxi Mining (Ghana) Company, following the death of some illegal miners whose leadership blamed the company for intentionally blasting their concessions resulting in the release of poisonous gas, leading to the deaths of the illegal miners. This claim was sharply dismissed by the company.

Following the suspension, 500 permanent workers of the company were asked to go home until further notice, while 52 workers were retained to ensure care and maintenance of the company's mining shafts.

Two weeks ago, the Minister paid a working visit to the mining site of the company at Gbane, where he told management of the company was not suspended because it was a Chinese company, but that the government wanted to ensure compliance of all mining regulations so as to prevent more people from perishing.

A letter dated 22 August, 2017, and signed by Mr. Sulemana Mahama, acting Chief Director at the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry, on behalf of Mr. Amewu, stated: I have been directed by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. John Peter Amewu, to inform you that following his visit to the mine on 9th August, 2017, he noted the progress you have made so far to ensure health, safety and environment within the mine, in compliance with his earlier directives, and, therefore, approves your request to reopen the mine.



The letter further admonished the company to conduct its mining operations in a sustainable manner, bearing in mind, human safety and environmental sustainability.

Speaking to this reporter, the Public Relations Officer of Shaanxi Mining (Ghana) Company, Mr. Maxwell Wooma, confirmed that the company had received the letter with joy and would comply, as usual, with all the mining regulations.

He said management was yet to hold a meeting to deliberate on when operations should resume, because all the workers who were asked to go home, as a result of the suspension, would be recalled and given an orientation before operations resume.

From William Nlanjerbor Jalulah, Bolgatanga
Before they succeed in making every Tom, Dick, and Harry believe in their effusions that he is the man behind the scenes manipulating the President like a yo-yo, cousin to President Nana AkufoAddo, Gabby AsareOtchere-Darkoseems to have clipped the wings of his accusers with his swift but timely rebuttal.

Last Tuesday, at 5:46pm, the former Executive Director of Danquah Institute, a political think-tank took to his Facebook Timeline and wrote that: For the avoidance of doubt, I do not work at the Presidency and lack the luxury to hang around the President doing 'kokonsa.' I run a law firm, Africa Legal Associates, where my job is to pursue the legal/corporate (legitimate) interests of my clients. That is my job. In fact, my only job.

He continued: You may choose to hate. You may even choose to manufacture your own facts about me. But, that's ok. It is part of life and part of being me, I guess. I accept.

Gabbys response, not directed particularly at any of his two accusers:Kenedy Agyapong and Rev. Ernest OwusuBempah, according to party insiders, is to put paid to all the accusations that he directs affairs at the presidency and that the President is at his beck-and-call.

Founder and leader of the Glorious Word Power Ministry International, Rev. Isaac OwusuBempah was the first to cast the stone where he accused former AsareOtchereDarko of hijacking President Nana AkufoAddo.

On Neat FM Tuesday morning, Rev. OwusuBempah, who publicly prophesied the victory of then candidate AkufoAddo in the 2016 general elections and was even prepared to have his church burnt if his prophesy went wrong, confirmed Ken Agyapongs statement saying it must be taken seriously.

Hear him: These people are able to turn contracts from the rightful contractor to persons of their choice and President Akufo- Addo doesnt see some of these things because hes not God. Ill soon expose them after engaging the President, well not allow people to cause problems for the AkufoAddo government to fail because he toiled several years before becoming President. If God has blessed Ghana with such a leader, why will Gabby AsareOcthereDarko and other persons surrounding the President doing things to wreck the government.

Even the Chief of Staff, AkosuaFremaOpares work appears to have been hijacked by some persons, and some of us cannot sit down and allow such conducts to continue. Nana AkufoAddo is not their personal property, hes there for all Ghanaians and if things are going wrong we must be bold to speak up.

According to him, Gabby and some few persons have surrounded the President at the Flagstaff House and have become so powerful alleging that they were even able to turn contracts pencilled for some people to persons of their choice.

His comments was on the backdrop of similar statement made by firebrand politician and member of the NPP. Hon. Ken Agyapong who advised the President to be careful as most of those he has surrounded himself with are sycophants whose pre-occupation is to use his name to further their corrupt agenda.

He has reportedly accused one Duke Ofori-Attah and Gabby AsareOtchere-Darko of hijacking the president from everyone and are using their positions to engage in acts that could derail the partys fortunes and sink the presidents image.
Unassailable information reaching NewsDay indicates that National Democratic Congress (NDC) cadre hotheads are planning a quiet Stop John Mahama Now campaign ahead of a national reorganization and voter mobilization exercise to be carried out by the party in the coming months, before fresh NDC national executive elections.

Curtis Blunt writes

The campaign also targets for replacement Asiedu General Mosquito Nketia, General Secretary of the NDC and his band of failed politburo members, including National Chairman and former NADMO,Sir KofiPortuphy

The damning campaign will be quietly launched in cells round the country, beginning from Accra through the Central Region to the middle belt and the three northern regions. The salacious propaganda that would be sold to the cells and wards in constituencies is simple: John and his friends and relatives have sold the party to the opposition through greed. He must therefore be stopped and the party delivered to cadres, who are the true custodians of the NDC.

NewsDay has also learnt that, even before the Stop John Mahama Nowcampaign is unleashed, thousands of NDC faithful are abandoning the John Mahama ship in droves. With close aides like Sylvester Mensah and co having dumped the former President, it appears that the clarion call now is for a credible, fresh pair of limbs to run the party into the 2020s.

Should the Stop John Mahamacampaign commence, the former Presidents only trump card would be to resort to vote-buying and hope that delegates grant him another chance to come apply luck to politics, which appears to be his greatest political strength, insiders speculate.

Other less fanciful and credible names includes:SpioGarbrah and former Accra Mayor, the Bearded OkoeVanderpuye, NewsDay was told. NewsDayfurther learnt that power brokers in the party are determined not to vouch for John Kofi DubaiMahama, saying he has had his chance and bungled it and must therefore allow others a bite at the sweet cherry.

As far as NewsDay is aware, however, two strong faces have emerged, minus John Mahama and Sylvester Mensah. The names are cadre extraordinaire GoosieTanoh and Jerry Rawlings former Northern Regional Minister, Professor Joshua Alabi , former Vice Chancellor of the University of Professional Studies, Legon.

The very dark horse in the race is Professor KwesiBotchwey, one of the nations finest Finance Ministers in charge of the nations kitty in the turbulent years of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) administration of the 80s into the early 90s.

Running mate slots, NewsDay learnt are, wise man Alban Bagbin and Hannah SerwaaTetteh, also one of the nations finest Trade Ministers. Hannahs ticket, however, fizzles because having a Southerner for flag bearer would mean satisfying Northerner interests in choosing a flagbearers running mate.

The Stop Mahama Nowcampaign chiefs are to sell Goosie or Joshua Alabi and Alban Bagbin as running mate to delegates in constituencies in Ghana ahead of internal NDC elections at national and regional levels.
Nairobi (AFP) - Tanzania's main human rights group on Thursday criticised the government for its "harassment" of opposition lawmakers, three of whom have been arrested over the past week.

In a statement, the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) said the string of arrests amounted to a "violation of political and civic rights" in a country where multi-party politics is enshrined in the constitution.

On Tuesday, opposition MP Tundu Lissu was arrested for allegedly insulting President John Magufuli after revealing that Canada had seized a commercial aircraft purchased by the government over an unpaid $38-million (32-million-euro) debt to a Canadian engineering company.

It is the sixth time Lissu, a lawyer and deputy head of the main opposition Chadema party, has been arrested this year. In July he was charged with hate speech after calling Magufuli a "dictator".

He was arrested on leaving court after attending a hearing in one of the other cases against him.

Three days earlier, Ester Bulaya, another Chadema lawmaker, was arrested in the north of the country before taking part in a meeting outside of her electoral constituency.

"What law prohibits that?" asked the LHRC statement.

And on Wednesday, another MP called Godbless Lema was arrested on Wednesday for taking seven minutes longer than his allocated time for addressing a rally.

The LHRC urged the government to respect the right of all political parties to freely carry out their activities.

"Being the member of a different party (than the ruling party) is not a crime."

Magufuli, who came to power in 2015 as a corruption-fighting "man of the people", has been increasingly criticised over his authoritarian leadership style, with a clampdown on the opposition, journalists and artists.
24.08.2017 LISTEN

Tomorrow is going to be a special day in the lives of all citizens of the Ekumfi Traditional Area and all Ghanaians clamouring for jobs and improvement in the quality of life at the centre of the earth.

Barely eight months after taking office, and in spite of the huge challenges on the economic front, President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will cut the sod to officially signify the beginning of the construction of the first project under the 'One District, One Factory' programme of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) tomorrow.

All roads lead to Ekumfi Eyisam, where a grand durbar of chiefs and people of the traditional area would herald the sod-cutting. The factory is to be operated by the Ekumfi Fruit Processing Company, a private entity, with support from the central government.

The official programme includes President Akufo-Addo visiting a large pineapple farm owned by the company, under the guidance of Prof. Kwarteng, an academic who is also a farmer, and his son, Kwame Kwarteng.

There will be an exhibition highlighting some of the opportunities to open up in the district, and the country at large, following the operation of the company. After the presidential sod cutting job, the Head of State is expected to review an exhibition of the potentials of the factory and address a durbar of chiefs and people of the traditional area.

With the entire family of the Elephant tradition on their way to Cape Coast, expert a carnival atmosphere at the launch.

The idea of setting up a factory to process pineapples in the Ekumfi District is exciting the chiefs and people of the traditional area. Nana Idun, Acting President of the Ekumfi Traditional Council, spoke for all the people of the 53 towns and villages of the Ekumfi District, when he told a durbar of chiefs and people at Essarkyir a fortnight ago, that the Traditional Council is grateful for the project, particularly, when the district is pioneering the presidential vision of providing factories for all the 216 districts in the country, to provide jobs and boost the export potential at the centre of the earth.

Nana Idun, who is also the Chief of Narkwa, assured the Head of State and all Ghanaians that the money being spent on the project would never be in vain.

He spoke of natural resources, including land being available in Ekumfi for the construction of many other projects, stressing that traditional area is also a very serious fishing community, and that any interested group of people wishing to set up a fish processing plant, for instance, would be very much welcome.

Many ignorant Ghanaians are questioning the rationale for pioneering the presidential flagship programme in Ekumfi, contending that when ex-President John Dramani Mahama launched his community school project, it started with the Atta Mills Community Secondary School at Otuam in the Ekumfi District.

Why Ekumfi? The answer to this riddle is provided by the sitting Head of State himself. According to President Akufo-Addo, the choice of Ekumfi to pilot his flagship programme -One District, One Factory- is to honour the memory of the deceased President John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills, who was a native of Ekumfi.

Read the presidential lips: Before we competed (in the elections), we were brothers. We were at the University of Ghana together. We were even in the same hall. We were friends till the day he died. I have to do something to show that the friendship we had was not for nothing, the President told a durbar of chiefs and people of the Ekumfi Traditional Area at Essarkyir, barely two weeks ago.

The project, according to Mrs. Gifty Ohene-Konadu, Coordinator of the 'One District, One Factory' project, the Ekumfi project is expected to generate 5,000 jobs, including farmers, farmhands, factory workers and marketing officials. What would be music in the ears of farmers in the Ekumfi area is the assurance from the Co-ordinator that the government would subsidise farmers to grow more pineapples to feed the factory.

Sometimes, you don't have buyers to buy your pineapples. But, with the establishment of the factory, you will get a ready market for your produce. The interesting part is that the Chinese can use the pineapple crown to sew wedding dresses, Mrs. Ohene-Konadu told the people.

The importance of the project to the socio-economic transformation of this country is reflected in the claim and counter-claims by the two leading political parties in the country that it was their political traditions that initiated the project.

The National Democratic Congress contends that, as early as the year 2013, the administration of former President John Dramani Mahama recognised the huge potential of a pineapple factory in the area, and put mechanisms in place for the establishment of a factory to produce pineapple juice for export and internal consumption.

The New Patriotic Party's claim is premised on an earlier date. Communicators of the party in power trace the genesis of such a factory to 2007/2008, when an edifice was constructed at Essuehyia Junction, to serve as the nucleus of the venture.

Even before the presidential axe touches the ground, the political barometer is boiling with claims and counter-claims. While the NPP insists that the genesis of the Ekumfi pineapple project dates back to the efforts by the Kufuor regime to establish a factory at Essuehyia Junction in 2007/2008 financial year, and accuses the NDC of abandoning the project when the Umbrella was in power, NDC officials rather insist that it was their regime which began the idea of setting up the factory.

The fact on the ground is that in the evening of the Kufuor administration, an attempt was made to establish a factory at Essuehyia Junction. A building was put up with the hope of housing the project. Somehow, the necessary tools were not put in place until the government lost power.

The NDC in power never pursued the project. The edifice put up by the Kufuor administration now houses a basic school. What is on the ground standing in the name of the NDC in power was a scheme to aid farmers in Ekumfi grow more pineapples for export.

Launched in May 2013 at Ekumfi Essarkyir, the project was to be jointly sponsored by the Japan International Co-Operation Agency (JICA) and the Central Region Development Commission (CEDECOM).

According to the then Central Regional Minister, Mr. Samuel Sarpong, who launched what was referred to as a GH1.2 million Organic Sugar-load Pineapple Growing Project in the Ekumfi District, the project was aimed at expanding and improving sugar-loaf pineapple cultivation, as a means of reducing poverty in the district. Obviously, setting up a factory was not part of the NDC project.

There are many in the district who contend that beyond a few sign boards advertising the initiative, not many farmers actually benefitted from the project.

It is a fact universally acknowledged that many farmers are resisting the idea of listing them for the new factory project as a result of their bitter experience with the CEDECOM initiative, which promised so much. and delivered little.

Many in the district are praying that the new initiative would help deliver them from the bondage of poverty and depravity. It is that serious!

Ebo Quansah in Accra.
24.08.2017 LISTEN

Post-harvest food and grain losses pose serious challenges for most of African countries. According to estimates provided by the African Post-Harvest Losses Information System, the value of post-harvest grain losses in sub-Saharan Africa could total US$4 billion a year, out of an estimated annual grain production worth US$27 billion.

This is roughly equivalent to the value of annual cereal imports in the region during the same period. Given the near-doubling of global grain prices over the last decade, the value of current losses is likely much higher. Conservatively, such a magnitude of food loss could meet the minimum annual food requirements of, at least, 48 million people across the continent.

In Ghana, a significant part of food crops produced is being lost due to number of reasons, including high moisture, pests and other diseases. In some cases, as much as 35% of cereal, and between 2060% of tubers, root crops and bulbs are lost. Moreover, Ghana losses about 320,000 tonnes of maize annually, which accountsfor18% of the annual maize production. According to the report by Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), as much as 60% of yam produced in Ghana, for instance, does not make it to the consumer.

To prevent spoilage, farmers have to sell their produce cheaply during harvest. This leads to early shortage on the market and high prices, and also shortage on the export market. There is also loss in quality through sprouting and rotting for those tubers that are stored. There is, therefore, a need to extend shelf life and improve the quality of yam.

The figures raise concern against the background that according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) the global productivity should increase by nearly 70% to meet the demands of the growing population. With current challenges that Africa faces, the achievement of this goal will be quite difficult without the implementation of modern techniques.

To tackle this issue, the Ghanaian scientists decided to use nuclear irradiation to keep food and grains safe and healthy. Indeed, the food irradiation could play a significant role in reducing food losses and improve food safety. Nuclear treatment of produced food helps to extend shelf life and improve significantly the quality of offered production.

This method is not only high efficient, but also safe and does not pose any risk to end consumers. The World Health Organization, FAO, and IAEA have reviewed accumulated data from about 50 years of research. They found that irradiated food is as safe as food preserved with other techniques, such as freezing or canning.

Among the other techniques of food preservation, the irradiation is the most extensively studies one from the point of view of toxicology and side effects. Decades of testing among all over the world demonstrated that the irradiation does not have adverse effects on consumer.

Unlike traditional forms of food preservation nuclear techniques do not cause changes to the taste, appearance, nutrition value and final quality of food. After irradiation, the food does not become radioactive. Food irradiation is the process of exposing food to ionizing radiation without direct contact to the source of the energy. The food also does not come into contact with the energy source, so it cannot become contaminated by radioactive material.

Ghana has a long history in gamma irradiation research through the GAEC's National Nuclear Research Institute (NNRI) and the Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute (BNARI).

The BNARI of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) has the only gamma irradiation facility in the country however, the installed capacity of the plant is not adequate to process the tonnage requirements of agricultural produce of Ghana.

In this case Ghana is planning to beef up its capacities in nuclear irradiation and science by exploring possibilities to create a special center of nuclear science and technologies.

Ghana needs a new center and research facilities to use its innovations in different spheres of life, from agriculture to medicine.
24.08.2017 LISTEN

Residents of Takoradi have expressed fear of plying the Edzii filling station-Kwesimintsim traffic light route in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis in the evenings, as the cemetery located on that stretch has become a breeding ground for thieves in the night.

Located in front of the cemetery is a speed ramp, which slows down vehicles plying this busy route. As the drivers slow down to cross, thieves take advantage to snatch the electronic equipment of passengers who are spotted using them whilst in the vehicles.

There have been myriads of reports about these incidents, and some pedestrians have also reported being attacked by thieves who hide in the cemetery and pounce on them as they approach. The about four kilometres stretch has no street lights, making visibility difficult in the nights.

A bicycle rider who was attacked by the thieves told The Chronicle: My phone and money were taken from me. They came from the Islamic cemetery and pushed me down. Because the place was dark, I couldn't see them and what they were holding, but they were holding a metallic object as they were searching me. They took my phone and the money on me.

I was going to town (Takoradi township), and as the car approached the cemetery, the driver slowed down in an unusual way that made them (thieves) get access to the vehicle to snatch my phone. I suspected the driver helped them to do it, so I reported him to the police, John Eshun, a victim who suspects some taxi drivers as being accomplices, told The Chronicle.

Speaking to The Chronicle, Superintendent Peter Lennox Aidoo, District Commander at the Kwesimintsim Police Station, said the station was aware of the incidenct at the Takoradi cemetery, and that there have been two reports to the station so far.

I think about two weeks ago, two cases were reported, and one was snatching of an Ipad, and according to the complainant, he took a car and it was heading towards Takoradi township along that route, so when it got there, you know when you get to the cemetery there is a ramp there, so, automatically, if you are a driver and you reach there, you have to slow down, and, according to the complainant, the taxi driver slowed down and he was sitting by the driver.

The Ipad that he was holding, somebody came from the cemetery and just took it away and went inside the cemetery. So, when the case was reported, we started the investigations. I went there myself, and I realised that from the Edzii roundabout to the Kwesimintsim traffic light, the place is dark, especially at night, so I think that the criminals have taken undue advantage and are doing that.

So, from that time that the case was reported, I have written officially to ECG Takoradi, they came and inspected the place, and I've written officially to them. That aside, I went to the STMA; the MCE and discussed with them. Fortunately, they are also doing some lighting within the Metropolis, so, very soon, they will get there, Superintendent Aidoo told The Chronicle.

Superintendent Aidoo revealed: That notwithstanding, because they are disturbing people, ever since those incidents happened, we have intensified police patrols in the area. Almost every night we go there, because we have a night patrol team that patrols the area and other places as well. But, ever since those cases were reported, and we patrolled those areas, there have not been any reports.

Superintendent Aidoo said the area requires foot patrols, and is not a place which requires the police to be stationed there. According to him: When you are going to Takoradi township, the place is by the roadside, so you do foot patrols, and, at the same time, you use vehicles to patrol there. The good news is that when the cases were reported and we started our patrols, no cases have been reported again.

We don't have any suspects yet. The Ipad incident that I was taking about, the thief took to his heels after snatching the Ipad, and if you know the place well, you will know that the place is very dark, so it will be difficult for the complainant to identify that person, Superintendent Aidoo's answer to whether the station had identified any suspects.

He added: Let me also advise the taxi drivers, I'm not saying they are doing that, but if in a way they are also finding a role in assisting the criminals, because, according to the other complainant, the way the taxi driver slowed down, he was not happy because he is also a driver himself. You will slow down alright, because of the rump, but the slowing down was such that he couldn't understand, and because there is no clear evidence, putting him (taxi driver) before court would be difficult. If we had arrested the one who snatched the phone, we would have put him before court, but here is the case we couldn't get him.

Cautioning the thieves, the District Commander said: I also want to send a word of caution to those doing that, that one day, the law will catch up with them and deal with them drastically.

We will patrol the place every evening, and even when they bring light, we will continue to patrol the area, Superintendent Aidoo assured commuters.

From Nana Kwesi Coomson, Takoradi.
24.08.2017 LISTEN

Come tomorrow, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will cut the sod for the construction of a pineapple processing factory at Esiame, in the Ekumfi District of the Central Region.

According to the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) National Youth Organiser, Sammy Awuku, the sod cutting event will mark the commencement of one of the governing party's (NPP) flagship programmes  'One District, One factory'.

Mr. Awuku noted: It is a pineapple juice factory. We also have one of the factories ready at Twifo Ati-Morkwa District, which the President, in due course, will cut sod for its commencement. It is a toothpick producing factory. We also have one fruit juice-based factory in the Assin District. So we are moving, not even with the speed of light, but I think the government has demonstrated that it is ready to move beyond the comfort zone, he added.

The Chronicle wants to congratulate the President and his NPP administration for taking the bull by the horns to lay bare to Ghanaians and the rest of the world that he intends to keep his promises to the good people of this country.

It would be recalled that the NPP, in its 2016 Manifesto, promised to embark on an ambitious industrialisation drive, by building one factory in each of the 216 districts across the country, to create jobs for the teeming unemployed youth.

The 'One District, One Factory', according to the then opposition party, would be built based on the natural endowed resources of the district, particularly, with regards to what the people can or produce within the area.

To all intends and purposes, The Chronicle was shocked to the marrow, that, even before the project could come underway, some prominent members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) have already started doing politics with it.

Mohammed Murtala, a former Deputy Trade Minister in the erstwhile NDC administration, according to citifmonline, last Tuesday, called on the government to give credit to the opposition party for the establishment of a pineapple factory in the Ekumfi District.

According to the former Deputy Trade Minister, the processes for the establishment of the factory started in 2013, while the NDC was in office.

In 2013, it was done between CEDECOM. This was something that was established. You can liken it to SADA, which is meant to provide jobs and alleviate poverty in the Central Region. The land was secured by CEDECOM through the chiefs, so there is nothing the NPP has provided in this, so why should they claim credit for something they have not done, Mr. Murtala noted.

A member of the NPP's 'One District, One Factory' launch committee, Kingsley Kakari Bondzie, has, however, rubbished Murtala's assertions that his party laid the foundation for the first factory to be established in the Central Region.

There is no iota of truth in whatever the man said. This is a very fresh business. Currently, as I speak to you about the proposed factory site, the investor acquired the land himself, and the title is in the name of the investor, so I am very shocked that the NDC can lay claim to this, Mr Bondzie explained.

The Chronicle thinks that the attitude of the former deputy Minister is aimed at scoring cheap political points, because, even the ordinary man on the street knows that sod cutting refers to breaking the ground to pave the way for a construction project.

Instead of supporting the government to go all out to establish the pineapple factory to create jobs for the army of unemployed youth in the area, the former deputy Minister and his likes are playing politics with it.

Information available to The Chronicle indicates that in May, 2013, the NDC launched what it called the GH1.2 million organic sugar-loaf pineapple growing project at Essarkyir in the Ekumfi District.

The project, which was to be jointly sponsored by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Central Regional Development Commission (CEDECOM), was aimed at expanding and improving sugar-loaf pineapple cultivation, as a means of reducing poverty in the area.

We are appealing to our politicians not to politicise everything in this country, as such an attitude has the tendency to deepen the already fragile political environment staring us in the face.

Our politicians must note that they are not the only wise people in Ghana who can discern or interpret whatever the government in power is doing, and that the people, who are the majority in silence, have the power and knowledge to understand what is going on.

Let the people decide, and stop throwing dust in the eyes of Gha
24.08.2017 LISTEN

The Nyinahin Town Elders Society, supported by the youth, has opposed the purported grant of a mining lease at the Nyinahin bauxite concession to Exton Cubic Group Limited.

As a result, the group has petitioned the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, John Peter Amewu, to stop the granting of the lease, because the indigenes are not privy to the transaction.

The petition, dated August 22, 2017 and jointly signed by Dante Afriyie and George Nana Oppong-Denkyine, President and Secretary of the group respectively, explained that Exton Cubic Group had not engaged the constituents and community in connection with the intended mining on the concession.

The Nyinahin Town Elders Society also claimed that the company had not caused any publication regarding its intended operations in the area, as required by law.

The petitioners said there was no local agreement between the community and the company, and, therefore, do not recognise the operations of the company in the area.

Mr. Rauf Baffour Awuah, a former Assembly Member of Nyinahin, indicated that Exton Cubic Group had not engaged the community about the benefits or otherwise of its operations, and called for a ratification of the requisite agreements.

He described the Chief of Nyinahin, Nana Amanpene Boateng Twum II, as an absentee chief who resides in Accra and visits the community occasionally in the company of the police over the past five years.

According to him, the Chief stays in Accra and barely spends more than three days in the community whenever he visits. He cannot stay in Accra and hold the resources in trust for the people, he said. The youth of Nyinahin suspect that the Chief of the community might have some underhand dealings with the Exton Cubic Group.

Their suspicion follows the anger of the Chief, who has lambasted the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Atwima Mponua for allegedly mobilising the youth to stampede the activities of Exton Cubic Group Limited, against the background that, in August 2012, Nana Amanpene Boateng Twum II vowed to prevent illegal mining in the area.

He had said then that those who were eager to engage in mining operations in his stool lands should do the proper thing by obtaining permission from the Minerals Commission.

But the Chief stated on Nhyira FM on Tuesday that Exton Cubic Group had the backing of the community to engage in bauxite prospecting within the Tano-Offin Forest Reserve, and that all the three stools, in whose traditional jurisdiction the bauxite concession is situated, are fully aware of the legal processes that commenced four years ago.

He urged the youth of the area to exercise restraint as they finalise negotiations with Exton Cubic to ensure full scale operations. He stated that Exton Cubic has not commenced the actual mining of bauxite in the area, and expressed the hope that the exploitation of bauxite in the Tano-Offin Forest Reserve will create employment opportunities for the teeming unemployed youth, and also ensure the rapid development of the area in the near future.



Last Monday, the Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr. Simon Osei Mensah, opposed the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources over the grant of the lease of a bauxite concession to Exton Cubic Group to mine bauxite in the Tano Offin Forest Reserve, for which Engineers and Planners (E & P) equipment, owned by Ibrahim Mahama, brother of former President John Mahama, has been confiscated, following a misunderstanding.

The Lands Ministry, through the Forestry Commission, issued a license to Exton Cubic Group Limited to mine bauxite in the region on June 20, 2017.

The mining company, in turn, engaged Engineers and Planners (E&P), a company owned by Mr. Mahama, to use its equipment to undertake a prospective service.

But, hours after E&P moved its men and logistics to the site, the police, through the Atwima Mponua District Chief Executive, Mr. William Darko, impounded its equipment, citing improper documentation.

While the Lands Minister claims Exton Cubic is to undertake exploration in the concession, Mr. Osei-Mensah has said he had not been properly briefed about the work of Exton Cubic in the region as a political head, hence the seizure of the equipment.

The Regional Minister insisted that he would only release the equipment after the Lands Minister has provided him with documents covering the operations of the company.

Minister Osei Mensah cannot understand why some companies are allowed to do mining at a time there is a moratorium it, and that, under the circumstance, he would not have the moral right to stop small scale miners who also engage in mining in river bodies.

Meanwhile, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, alias Chairman Wontumi, also a small-scale miner, has declared support for the position of the Ashanti Regional Minister.

Deputy Communications Director of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Kwaku Boahen, has also commended the Ashanti Regional Minister for seizing mining equipment belonging to Ibrahim Mahama's Engineers and Planners, saying the move is a step in the right direction.

The NPP Brong Ahafo Regional Youth Organiser, Kwame Baffoe, has challenged the bauxite concession granted to Exton Cubic Group in late December, 2016 at the Supreme Court to declare that the mining lease agreement between the past government and the company required parliamentary ratification under Section 5(4) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703).

But, Samuel Gyamfi, Communication Officer for Exton Cubic Group, has said it is legally mandated to engage in bauxite mining in the country, since the company was granted a due diligence permit to engage in exploration as far back as August 14, 2013.

From Sebastian R. Freiku, Kumasi
24.08.2017 LISTEN

The spirited defence put up by the communicators of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to justify the invasion of the Nyinahin Forest Reserve by Exton Cubic Group Limited, which is partly owned by the wife of Mr Ibrahim Mahama, a business mogul, has been made useless by the pronouncement of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that the conduct of the mining company was illegal.

Even since the Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr. Simon Osei Mensah ordered the seizure of the earth moving machines belonging to Engineers and Planners, which has been contracted by Exton Cubic Group Limited to mine for the latter, followers of the umbrella party have read meanings into it.

To them, Exton has legitimate license to do prospecting in the area and that the action of the Ashanti Regional Minister was politically motivated.

The local people, however, disagree with this assertion and went on a demonstration yesterday at Nyinahin, to urge the government to stop the intended mining in the forest reserve.

In a petition, which was signed by Jacob Baba Yaro and a host of other local authorities and channeled through the assistant planning officer of the Atwima Mponua district assembly, Samuel Owusu-Mensah, they respectfully appealed to President Akufo-Addo to impound the excavators, bulldozers and trucks of Exton Cubic Group limited, owing to their wrongful entry to mine bauxite at Tano Offin, without proper documentation at the Assembly.

This, they noted, is against section 91 subsection 1 of the Local Government Act 2016 Act 936. The Act reads, A person shall not carry out a physical development in a district except with the prior written approval in the form of a written permit issued by the district planning authority.

According to the petitioners: It is an undeniable fact that that the presence of Exton Cubic Company Limited has created tension in the district, there is already tension in the district regarding Chieftaincy issues, therefore, we are appealing to you, Mr President, to immediately impound and return all the machinery of Exton Cubic Company, until the proper agreement is done by both stakeholders.

The petitioners also complained to President Akufo-Addo that the aforementioned company had never engaged the community in a social responsibility forum before.

Jacob Baba Yaro and other opinion leaders continued in the petition: The Company has not done publication in the community as mining laws require and that, no parliamentary ratification as the 1992 constitution requires under Article 268 clause (1).

We emphatically recommend that, Exton Cubic Company machines at the forest must be out of the district within 24 hours from now!!! . Until proper documentation agreements are done.

The EPA statement, which was signed by the Executive Director, Peter Abum Sarkodie and released in Accra yesterday, appears to support the stance of the local people.

According to the statement, Exton Cubic Group Limited has not obtained the required EPA permit under its mining lease and, therefore, any attempt to enter the area for mining activity is illegal.

The following is the full statement released by the EPA;

Full statement

The attention of the EPA has been drawn to a situation that has arisen regarding an attempt by Exton Cubic Group Limited to enter the Nyinahin bauxite deposit area for the purpose of undertaking mining activities. As a result of the public interest in the matter, the EPA would like to clarify the position of Exton Cubic Group Limited's Environmental Permit status under its Mining Lease (that is a necessary condition for any mining activity). The bottom line is that Exton Cubic Group Limited has not obtained the required EPA permit under its mining lease and therefore any attempt to enter the area for mining activity is illegal.

On 29th March 2016, Exton Cubic Group Limited applied for three separate Environmental Permits from the EPA to undertake prospecting of bauxite on its Mprasaso, Kiriyaso, and Kyekyewere concessions in the Ashanti region covering a total of 346.08 km sq. The EPA granted the Environmental Permits to Exton Cubic Group Limited on 7th June 2016. The company among other conditions was to notify the EPA as soon as prospecting activities commenced and also to submit within three months from the date of issuance of the Environmental Permit a liability estimate of environmental degradation to enable the posting of the Reclamation Bond in line with Regulation 23 of the Environmental Assessment Regulation 1999 (LI 1652). Exton Cubic Group Limited unfortunately reneged on all these conditions. The prospecting permits are therefore no longer valid. Exton Cubic Group Limited subsequently acquired a Mining Lease on 29th December 2016 from the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, This mining lease requires a new EPA permit which has not been granted by the EPA. The EPA's discussions with the company and its consultants indicated that the following documents are

Submission to EPA of a No objection letter from Cabinet;

Completion and submission of statutory environmental assessment form (EA2); and

Notification from the EPA to the company to conduct the Environmental Impact Assessment which would have led to a broader public consultation and public hearings' within the relevant catchment communities in line with Regulation 17 of the Environmental Assessment regulations, 1999 (LI 1652).

required to support their application for in EPA permit under its Mining lease:

Failure of the company to comply with the above stated conditions as at the time of the issuance of this press release has rendered all environmental permits null and void, Again, the EPA wishes to state that any mining activity to be conducted by the Exton Cubic Group Limited within the concession areas, of which Environmental Permit is being sought is not consistent with the Environmental Assessment Procedures of the EPA, LI1652 and is therefore illegal.

From Richard Owusu-Akyaw, Nyinahin
24.08.2017 LISTEN

Ghana has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and a Heads of Agreement with Equatorial Guinea for the supply of 150 million to 200 million standard cubic feet of gas per day of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).

This was in line with the measures being put in place by President Akufo-Addos administration to provide stable energy for the country.

Ghana's Minister for Energy, Mr. Boakye Agyarko, and Mr. Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, Minister of Mines, Industry, and Energy of Equatorial Guinea, signed the agreement, which was witnessed by President Akufo-Addo and President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.

At a press briefing in Accra yesterday upon arrival in the country, Mr Boakye Agyarko said the significance of this gas supply was for stable power generation in our country.

According to him, though an agreement to that effect had been signed before, it did not see the light of day, stressing that the current one had come to live, having the support of both Presidents.

He expressed how unsatisfactory gas supply from Nigeria being transmitted by the West African Gas Pipeline had been, and its damming effect on the country, thus the need to strategise to fix the problem.

For some time, we relied on Nigeria for the supply of gas from the Nigeria Gas Company, transmitted by the West Africa Gas Pipeline Company. The performance of that arrangement has been very unsatisfactory.

Out of the 120 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, we receive, on a daily basis, on the best of days, only 30 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, which had a negative impact on our ability to generate power, using gas as its fuel stock, he noted.

He stated further that the arrangements with Equatorial Guinea will bring in LNG, which can be stored for 21 days, and used accordingly to further improve Ghana's power situation.

If delivered on schedule, it would allow Asogli, for example, to expand its power production from 120 MW and scale up all the way to 580 MW. This will, to a very large extent, stabilise further the electricity generation, transmission and distribution that we have, the Energy Minister stated.

He, again, told the press that by the tine arrangements are concluded, it is our faithful expectation that gas, as a feedstock, instead of crude oil, will be cheaper, in terms of power production. This could mean that once the cost of producing electricity comes down, we will be in a further position to lower the user tariffs that our citizens pay for electricity.

So, indeed, this is good news, and we are glad that, under the Presidents leadership and direction, we have been able to come this far, he observed.

Once the agreements are signed, the nation would begin to benefit from what happened from the trip to Equatorial Guinea.

Commenting on whether by both countries signing the MoU and the Heads Agreement meant that the supply would kick start, Mr Boakye Agyarko explained that it was a process.

We have signed the Memorandum of Understanding; weve signed the Heads of Agreement. All that we are now to do, is for the technical team to get together to make sure that all technical aspects of the offtake and the vessel arrangements are concluded.

There would be a substantive agreement that should come within a matter of a month or two, but that is based on concluding the technical negotiations, and we expect that next week we begin to tie those loose ends to make the final signing, he concluded.

President Akufo-Addo embarked on a three-day visit to Equatorial Guinea, on the invitation of its President, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.

During his visit, President Akufo-Addo visited infrastructure and energy development projects in the city of Malabo, and, at the end of his visit, extended an invitation to President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo to also visit Ghana.





By Maxwell Ofori
Effia (W/R) Aug. 23, GNA - Mr Frank M. Bednar, Deputy Managing Director of the West African Mills Company Limited (WAMCO), has said with cleaning, inspection, restoration and maintenance work almost complete, the company could start production anytime from now.

'We have submitted a request to the authorities to do a test run on the various sectors of productionwe can receive cocoa beans anytime from now to help in our three months production trial phase'.

The Managing Director of the WAMCO said this when he welcomed the Member of Parliament for Takoradi, Mr Kobby Okyere-Darko to the factory for an inspection tour to assess the current state of the machines after three years of an abrupt shutdown due to the lack of beans to aid in production.

Mr Bednar expressed happiness with government's effort to revive WAMCO which serves as one of the key economic pillars within the Sekondi/Takoradi and its environs, adding that hard work had gone into repairing all exposed parts and that 'we are confident and welcome the come-backgh'.

"Already, ten technical and other 20 staff had been engaged to work and repair all exposed parts during these period of dormancy and prayed that the intervention by COCOBOD would be permanent to curtail unemployment and restore hope to the many affected households who depend on WAMCO for survival".

According to the Deputy Managing Director, production would be started with the liquor plant before moving on to the expeller which can produce sub-standard beans into quality products.

The WAMCO which is a Free Zone enterprise has three main factories, WAMCO one, which is a hydraulic press plant, Expeller plant and the Cocoa Liquor Plant situated at the Effia industrial area.

It was established in 1947 by Gill and Dufus of London and in 1963, the Cocoa Marketing Board now COCOBOD acquired 51 per cent shares on behalf of the government later in September 1982, Gill and Dufus handed over their 49 per cent shares to COCOBOD.

But under the Government's Divestiture and Privatisation programme, the company become totally private limited by shares in August 1992 and then in 1993, the company took over a second factory, the cocoa processing company limited.

Mr Kobby Okyere-Darko said understanding the issues of WAMCO was as critical as finding lasting solution to the situation.

To the MP, WAMCO was a great economic enabler in the Region in Particular due to the economic benefits and stability it's brought to many homes.

Mr Okyere-Darko said the government through the COCOBOD would ensure that WAMCO was revived to restore economic hope and this is key to personal and national growth.

Mr Albert Ababio, Western Regional Manager of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), expressed gratitude to government for working assiduously to get WAMCO and other collapsed factories back on their feet to create job opportunities for the youth.

In the Western Region, Bonsa Tyre factory, Aboso Glass factory, the Railway and WAMCO have been the catalyst for the energetic and once vibrant economic lifestyle of the people and it is rather unfortunate that these assets have been abandoned and given room for the soaring unemployment figures.

Mr Ababio was also happy that the Ministry of Trade was planning a stimulus package to help the company mitigate its challenges.

GNA

By Mildred Siabi-Mensah, GNA
Kumasi, Aug 23, GNA - Ghanaians have been asked to accept to go the extra mile to ensure sustainable management of the environment for their own benefit and that of the future generation.

Mr. Samuel Oteng, the acting Ashanti Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said everybody should have a part to play to stop the destruction of the environment.

He was speaking at a meeting held between officials of the Ghana Climate Innovation Centre (GCIC) and entrepreneurs involved in climate adaptation ventures in Kumasi.

The goal was to aid them to have better understanding of what the GCIC does and to encourage them to register with it to receive vital advisory support.

Mr. Oteng indicated that climate change was a reality and the need for adaption and mitigation measures could neither wait nor be postponed.

He added that the extreme weather conditions the nation had been experiencing in recent times, should be a wake-up call.

He highlighted the need to scale up renewable energy penetration and energy efficiency improvement.

He spoke of the collaboration between the EPA and the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) to train operators in the wood industry on how to manage the environment in a more sustainable manner.

Madam Ruka Sanusi, Executive Director of the GCIC, urged entrepreneurs to lead the effort at finding workable solutions to climate change.

This, she said, would require them to incubate businesses involved in climate adaption skills, provide them with advisory services, knowledge and create the right environment for them to thrive.

GNA

By Dorothy Frances Ward, GNA
Sunyani, Aug. 23, GNA - The Brong-Ahafo Regional Police Command has formally handed over 12 out 5 earth moving equipment to the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) to be kept for their intended purposes.

The equipment are four tipper trucks, four graders, three Pay-loaders and one Bull-dozer/Caterpillar, Police Superintendent Nana Kwaku Duah, the Regional Crime Officer briefed the Media on Tuesday in Sunyani.

He said on January 14, 2017, the Police had a tip-off that some heavy-duty equipment were in the region since August 2015, saying as there has been a change of government, it was likely that most of them could be diverted to certain individuals.

Based on that information, the Police decided to conduct investigations into the issue, he said, adding that the RCC was contacted to ascertain whether or not it was aware of the presence of the equipment.

Superintendent Duah said the RCC's response indicates that it did not have the above-mentioned equipment in their asset register, neither was it aware of the presence of them in the region.

As part of investigations, he said one of the tipper trucks was spotted in the Sunyani Township, arrested and impounded for further investigations.

Superintendent Duah said whilst the investigations were on-going, it was revealed that one Mohammed Seidu (aka Maha), the Regional Organiser of the opposition National Democratic Congress was the Plant Pool Manager in-charge of the equipment.

Seidu was picked to assist the Police to recover the rest, he said, explaining that most of them were retrieved from Kukuom, Hwidiem and Kenyase in the Asunafo South, Asutifi South and Asutifi North Districts respectively, as well as Nkoranza South Municipality in Brong-Ahafo and the Offinso North District in the Ashanti Region.

Superintendent Duah said in total 15 equipment were brought to the region by the Government at that time and all of them had now been recovered.

He said 12 out of the 15 have been brought to Sunyani and impounded at the RCC with two still at Offinso North and one at Goaso in the Asunafo North Municipality which are yet to be brought to Sunyani.

The registration numbers of the 12 are the tipper trucks: GE 368-15, GE 378-15, GE 380-15, GE 369-15, the Bull-dozer, GE 3227-15, the Graders, GE 3252-15, GE 3232-15, GE 3256-15 and GE 3267-15 whilst the Pay-loaders are GE 3279-15, GE 3281-15 and GE 3284-15, P/Supt. Duah indicated.

He said as steps were being taken for the remaining three to be brought to Sunyani investigations are still on-going and at the appropriate time the findings would be made public. GNA
24.08.2017 LISTEN

Juaso (Ash), Aug 23, GNA - Dr. Nana Ato Arthur, Head of the Local Government Service (LGS), has asked Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to up their game to bring development to the people.

He said they should uphold best practices and strive for excellence in service delivery.

He made the call at a meeting held with the staff of the Asante-Akim South District Assembly at Juaso.

Dr. Arthur, accompanied by the Chief Director of the LGS, Mr. Joseph Dassana, was there as part of a working visit to the Ashanti Region to interact with local government workers.

He encouraged the workers to adopt good work ethics to substantially increase productivity.

He hinted of plans to introduce biometric clocking system in all the assemblies to check lateness and absenteeism.

Dr. Arthur used the opportunity to highlight the need for the MMDAs to find innovative ways to improve their internally-generated revenue performance.

He said this was important because they could not overly depend on the Common Fund for implementation of their development agenda.

He reminded the internal auditors of the assemblies to be proactive to prevent any acts of financial malfeasance.

Mr. Alexander Frimpong, the District Chief Executive (DCE), pledged to ensure transparency in the management of the assembly's resources.

GNA

By Yussif Ibrahim, GNA
24.08.2017 LISTEN

Accra, Aug. 23, GNA - The United States Government has honoured Mrs Charlotte Osei, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), with the 2016 Woman of Courage Award.

The Award is in recognition of the role Mrs Osei played in the successful organisation and execution of the 2016 General Election in Ghana, which led to the third peaceful transfer of power from one political party to another.

The award ceremony took place in Accra at a cocktail reception organised in her honour by the US Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Robert P. Jackson.

Mrs Osei, in her acceptance speech, said: "This is indeed a great honour and I am totally overwhelmed and humbled by this recognition".

"I would like to sincerely thank the Government of the United States of America, through the Embassy in Ghana, for this honour.

"I take this opportunity to firmly place on record, that the success of the 2016 Election was not and could not be the results of one person's efforts."

Mrs Osei expressed gratitude to the numerous people who contributed in diverse ways to the success of the 2016 Election and the peace and stability of the nation.

She acknowledged the truly invaluable guidance and support she received and continues to receive from her predecessor, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, her colleague commissioners, directors and staff of the EC, who from the first day she stepped into office, and even in their most trying times, helped her to deliver on the Constitutional Mandate of the Commission.

"This award is for all of us," she noted.

Mrs Osei said: "There were many days in the last two years when I felt very heavily, the burden of leadership. The weight of, as it seemed, carrying the entire peace and stability of the nation on my shoulders. But through it all, I could always count on the love and support of my husband, my children and my friends."

She said in those trying moments, the values of truth, integrity, honesty, and fairness, which her parents instilled in her from her childhood, kept her focused on delivering on the promise she made to the people of Ghana.

On the Award, Mrs Osei said: "Courage is really ignoring your fears and going on, focus on the end goals and the solutions to the challenges".

"And that is our greatest need in Ghana - solutions. Our society faces two major challenges; ignorance and the need for bold leadership at all levels to address these challenges," she said.

Mrs Osei said the ordinary Ghanaian needed education, clean water, affordable and accessible health care, opportunities to work and earn a decent living and take care of their families, governance without corruption; peace and stability; a safe and clean environment and a justice system that works among other things.

She said the starting point, of course, was an electoral system that worked and ensured credibility, transparency, national peace, stability and cohesion in its aftermath.

"Today, I am being honoured for my courage. But the truth is I owe my courage to the resilient women of Ghana, who are working daily to overcome male chauvinism and patriarchy in all its forms from the micro to the macro level of our society. I am inspired daily by their refusal to accept the status quo, and to dare to make a difference," Mrs Osei said.

She acknowledged the strength and support she continued to receive from leaders of faith based organisations including her own spiritual father, the Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, many clergy men and women and the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Dr Osman Nuhu Sharubutu.

Mrs Osei commended the two leading presidential candidates in the 2016 general election, then President John Dramani Mahama and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, for their responsible leadership and statesmanship during and after the election.

She said: "As a nation, we owe the peaceful conclusion of the process and the peace we continue to enjoy to their maturity and willingness to wait for the Commission to do what was right within its constitutional mandate.

"And to the many citizens of Ghana, known and unknown, who reach out to me daily, quietly, behind the scenes and offer support, prayers and encouragement, this is a good time to say thank you."

Mrs Osei hailed the wonderful support and encouragement the Commission continues to receive from the National Peace Council, the National Elections Security Task Force and the Security Agencies, the National Commission on Civic Education, the National Media Commission, and the Ghana Journalists Association.

Others, she mentioned, are the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association, and the diplomatic community, especially the European Union, the United States Agency for International Development, the Canadian Government, the United Nations and the United Nations Development Programme.

Mr Robert Porter Jackson, The US Ambassador to Ghana, who presented the award, commended the EC Chairperson for her commitment to fostering democracy, even in the face of tremendous scrutiny and in some cases inappropriate personal attacks.

He said Ms Osei had made a name for herself throughout her career, as a trailblazing woman and a defender of democracy; from accomplishments as a Constitutional Lawyer, her leadership role in promoting civic engagement at the National Commission for Civic Education, to her role in the 2016 General Election.

'Overseeing the logistics of this election was a daunting task and the stakes could not have been higher. As the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission held the country's future in her hands and successfully delivered free, fair and transparent elections by persisting, using her conscience, her expertise in Ghanaian Law and her determination to uphold a democratic and fair process as her guide,' Mr Jackson said.

He commended Ms Osei for leveraging strategic partnerships with the US, EU, UN and local civil society organisations, thus uniting a wide range of stakeholders behind a free, fair and transparent process.

Mr Jackson praised her commitment to ensuring the active participation of vulnerable citizens, especially women and persons living with disabilities, during the 2016 Election.

He said there was still much work ahead as democracy was not something that was attended to once every four years.

He commended the many other Ghanaian women, who were taking a stand for democracy, saying: 'They too are heroes, they too are Women of Courage and all exemplify the highest commitment to the spirit of democracy'. GNA

By Iddi Yire/ Belinda Ayamgha, GNA
24.08.2017 LISTEN

Kumasi, Aug 23, GNA - The Women's Ministry of the Christ Apostolic Church International (CACI) has ended its annual convention with a call on Christian women to rededicate themselves for God's work.

Apostle Dr Stephen Kwame Ntow Amoani, Chairman of CACI who made the call said, 'Every daughter of Zion should separate herself from the lot and make the world see the difference between the Christian woman and the others'.

He added that 'It is when you do this that God will start using you for His Kingdom work not only in the church but also in all fronts to bring more souls unto Himself.

Apostle Amoani was addressing the closing ceremony of the four-day Women's Convention which was on the theme: 'Your Daughters Shall Prophesy'. It was attended by hundreds of women from all over the country as part of the activities marking the Centenary Celebration of the CACI.

Activities lined up for the year-long centenary celebration which is on the on the theme: '100 Years of Impacting the World through Pentecostalism,' include lectures, health screening, quiz competitions, donations and radio and TV discussions to be climaxed with a thanksgiving service in November, this year.

Quoting from the Holy Bible in Micah 4: 13, which says, 'Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion., the Chairman said, Christian Women should separate themselves from the world by shunning bad company to become useful in the house of God'.

'Daughters of Zion, awake, put on thy strength, put on thy beautiful garment for henceforth there shall be no more uncleanliness among you; Apostle Amoani challenged the women who were clad in their beautiful and colourful Centenary clothing.

He reminded them that it was only when they had sacrificed for the work of God that they would also find favour with God and receive the blessings they asked of him be it in marriage, childbirth, the world of work and enjoy a peaceful co-existence with their neighbours.

Mr Osei Asibey Antwi, the Chief Executive of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, (KMA) said the Church had a role to play in rebuilding the nation and asked Christians especially the women to be more prayerful.

'We need Christ to be in control of our national affairs, and therefore we need your prayer support as well as the provision of services that would move the nation forward to help put the nation back on its feet, he added.

The KMA boss congratulated the Church on her anniversary and asked the Executive Council to continue to imbibe Godliness in the congregation at all times.

Mrs Ernestina Afrani, National President of the Women's Ministry charged the women to be diligent in church expansion by winning more souls for Christ.

Other activities of the convention were a float through some principal streets n Kumasi and a donation to the Manhyia District Hospital.

Apostle Dr E.O. Donkor General Secretary of the Church led the congregation to pray for the nation, the people and its leaders.

Present at the ceremony were Apostle Michael Nimo, a Former Chairman of the Church. GNA
Accra, Aug 23, GNA - The Concern Health Education Project (CHP), an NGO, has called on the country's leaders, especially the Ministers, to be highly involved in the immunization programme and ensure adequate domestic financing for the exercise.

The organisation said there was the need to place emphasis on geographic equity in access to immunization and to ensure that all districts and communities improve on surveillance and data quality.

Mr Isaac Ampomah, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CHP made the call at an outreach programme to interact with families of head porters (kayayei) at Tema Station and encouraged them to visit the designated health post built for all informal workers in the market.

The programme was part of the ongoing Health System Strengthening GAVI supported projects in the country to monitor the response of head porters on a routine basis for vaccination of their under five children.

The Concern Health Education Volunteers targeted population of under five children and pregnant mothers, educated nursing mothers, and fathers on the importance of child immunization and mobilized them to the nearby health centres for their wards and children's due vaccinations routines.

He said the NGO was working with the health staff at the Tema Station CHPs centre, a satellite immunization area designated within the Osu Klotey Sub-metro of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly of the Greater Accra Region to promote immunization uptake in the communities.

The CEO called for the need to integrate immunization programme into the general health system development and for donors to give greater priority to integrated health system.

Mr Ampomah recommended the creation of more satellite zones in the communities to track defaulter cases of under five years children's immunisation.

He said motor bicycle and public address mega phone and Vans be made available for health workers and NGO volunteers to use in their mobilization.

Mr Ampomah noted that their outfit after engagement with the Head Porters observed that livelihood issues and the struggle for financial opportunities to feed their families compelled the mothers to migrate from other parts of Ghana to the south (Accra).

The organisation also observed that these women and their men gives little attention to their babies putting the health of the children at risk and lack of an adequate number of frontline health workers directly affected immunization.

'Further poor infrastructure and weaker capacities of the health worker with its accompanying logistic constraints affects the uptake of immunization services and general health care services at the district levels,' he added.

He said cultural practices have affected low coverage of immunization among the families, saying cultural beliefs and some religious practices of immunization hampers uptake of immunization services.

Mr Ampomah called for effective dialogue with the community key actors and called for the building of civil society organisations capacity to increase demand for immunization services.

GNA

By Kodjo Adams, GNA
Accra Aug. 23, GNA - A Radio Presenter has been remanded into Police custody by a District Court for failing to provide basic needs of his two kids.

Bernard Kissi Bekoe, was in September 2016 convicted on same offence by the court. The Police say after Bekoe flouting the court order, he is in arrears of GH3,600 as monies for his children's upkeep.

Appearing before the same court again, he has pleaded guilty to the charge of failing to supply basic necessities to his two kids aged five and seven years respectively.

The court presided over by Mr Worlanyo Kotoku convicted Bekoe on his own plea but deferred his sentence to August 29.

Detective Sergeant Simon Terkpor, prosecuting told the court that the complainant was Margaret Boamah Abrosaa residing at Korle-Bu in Accra.

Prosecuting said following the demise of the kids' mother, they (kids) went to stay with the complainant who was their mother's sister.

According to the prosecutor, the complainant's sister and the accused persons were lovers until her demise and they were blessed with two children.

Bekoe however failed to provide the kids with necessities of life such as health, education and shelter.

Prosecution said the complainant after various demands for monies from the accused took the matter to a Family Tribunal where Bekoe was ordered to pay GH 300 cedis monthly to the complainant so his kids would be catered for. Bokoe, however, failed to provide the money.

A referral letter was issued to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service for investigations.

Prosecution said the investigations revealed that Bekoe owed GH3,600 as maintenance fees of the kids. Accused was therefore arrested. GNA

By Joyce Danso, GNA
As most of us know or should know, present day Ghana was known as the Gold Coast during the pre-independence era. The name Ghana was adopted at the time of independence from Britain in 1957. According to some historical documents and other publications the Republic of Ghana is named after the medieval Ghana Empire of West Africa. The actual name of the Empire was Wagadugu. Ghana was the title of the kings who ruled the kingdom. It was controlled by Sundiata in 1240 AD, and absorbed into the larger Mali Empire. (Mali Empire reached its peak of success under Mansa Musa around 1307.) Geographically, the old Ghana is 500 miles north of the present Ghana, and occupied the area between Rivers Senegal and Niger.

Some inhabitants of present Ghana had ancestors linked with the medieval Ghana. This can be traced down to the Mande and Voltaic people of Northern Ghana--Mamprussi, Dagomba and the Gonja. Anecdotal evidence connected the Akans to this great Empire. The evidence lies in names like Danso shared by the Akans of present Ghana and Mandikas of Senegal/Gambia who have strong links with the Empire.

If this historical take on the origins of the name Ghana is correct, then in theory, if we wished to be associated with that former Empire, perhaps a more appropriate name for present day Ghana would have been Wagadugu and we should all then be known as Wagadugans. After all, if the basis for changing the previous name we had, Gold Coast, was to associate ourselves with an African empire and its supposed glories, then Wagadugu would be more consistent with that goal. We can also agree that using the title of the Kings who ruled the Kingdom as the name of a country and of a people would be akin to calling the Ashanti, Otumfuor and the Ashantis, the Otumfuors which makes very little sense. All of this would argue for revisiting the name Ghana.

It would seem that those who chose the name Ghana to replace the Gold Coast appear to have been historically illiterate at the very least, if we are to believe the citation above. As I recall, this name change was never endorsed by the people of the Gold Coast through a referendum at the time it was done. My guess is that it was chosen by Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah. Perhaps it was discussed at a Cabinet meeting and agreed upon by his Ministers, and perhaps it was not. What I do know is that the majority of the people of the then Gold Coast had no say in the matter whatsoever.

Now, to be blunt, I do NOT fancy being called a Wagadugan and very much doubt that many Ghanaians would warm to that name, not to mention the fact that the present capital of Burkina Faso is called Ouagadougou and such a name change would lead to nothing but confusion. There is enough confusion now between Nigerian and Nigerien and we do not need to add to it. If Wagadugu was the only alternative to Ghana, I would plead with all to keep the Ghana designation in spite of its historical frailties. It does have a nice, neutral and a sophisticated ring to it. When I am called a Ghanaian, I feel a sense of pride that a good sounding name can give you for the same reason that actors and actresses in Hollywood change their names. Your name can make or break you.

It appears then that based on a very tenuous link to an empire somewhere in West Africa, quite far from present day Ghana, I might add, we shed the name Gold Coast and became Ghana. The argument for this change, as I understood it at the time was that Gold Coast was a name given to us by the colonialists and imperialists and it was time to pick something African. So we shed one name given to us by the European imperialists and adopted one associated with African imperialism. The irony apparently was lost on the proponents of this change and we have embraced it and made it our own without further thought. Considering Ghanas auspicious role in the fight against European imperialism in Africa, one would think the last thing we would do is embrace any other form of imperialism. Apparently those who decided to change the name of the Gold Coast to Ghana must have felt that while European imperialism was abhorrent, African imperialism was to be cherished.

I would suggest that it is time to seriously consider going back to the name Gold Coast, or as I will suggest later in this article, perhaps a variation of it. The name Gold Coast may have first been used by the Europeans to describe this region of West Africa, but it is an accurate and fact-based description. Ghana is still one of the largest producers of gold in the world and clearly, the term is not pejorative. If we were called the Slave Coast, for example, as a wide swath of West Africa was called, it would make perfect sense to renounce the name even if it was factually accurate.

The fact is that the name Gold Coast, which we have abandoned, when considered absent the d colonial taint, has a nice, romantic ring to it. It conjures up a land of shimmering beauty, of warm sunny days and of glistening oceanic waves. Countries that have any association with gold embrace and make it part of their image. California is known as the Golden State and Californians are proud of that. The major highway running up and down the spine of California is called the Golden State Freeway and is more likely to be called by that name than the unromantic, generic Interstate 5.

In addition to the beauty of the Gold Coast name, people outside of Africa have tended to confuse Ghana with other countries and places with similar sounding names. During the reign of Idi Amin, I was constantly having to explain to people that no, I was not from U-ganda. A telephone operator once told me when I tried to call Ghana in the days before direct dial became common, that I did not need to pass the call through her, because Gardner, a city in Massachusetts, was just around the corner from where I lived. And I have lost track of the number of times I was almost booked on flights to Guyana when all I wanted to do was go to Ghana. Just as I would not want to be constantly called by somebody elses name, being confused with other countries has negative effects that are easy to see but hard to quantify.

The main problem I see with my proposed name change is losing the Ghanaian tag. We should congratulate the inventor of that moniker. We could very easily have been called Ghanans, possibly Ghananese or Ghanese both of which sound like a shortened form of the word Manganese. Worse yet we could have been called Ghanites or Ghananites which sound like the ingredients for making a bomb. Our Nigerian friends have been known to call us Ghana-nians which I suspect is their way of getting under our skin considering the competitive nature of the relationship between the two countries. So, all in all, we should be grateful that we got the more elegant Ghanaian instead. It certainly sounds much better than all of the above possibilities and I would grant, much, much better than Gold Coaster. Gold Coaster feels a bit heavy off the tongue and a little bit unimaginative.

Perhaps a compromise on the new name for Ghana might be to change the name to Goldland. This is consistent with the names of lots of countries. We have countries such as Ireland, England, Scotland and Swaziland, so we would be following a well-worn convention for naming countries. Goldland is also much more inclusive than Gold Coast since Ashanti where most of our gold comes from is not on the coast. Goldland will thus embrace all, from the coastal plains of Accra to the northern border regions. We can then become Goldlanders which sounds pretty good to me.

Other possibilities, though, could be Goldenites or perhaps Goldenese. No matter what we choose to do, however, we should try to resurrect the Gold Coast name from the dustbin of history where it now languishes. We could use it in tourist brochures describing our beautiful land or as part of the name for fancy nightclubs and restaurants off our breezy, sandy beaches. We will then once again claim this glorious name that we so carelessly, and, yes, so thoughtlessly threw away so long ago. And with the change in name to Goldland, I can finally fly home without risking ending up in Guyana.
Former President John Agyekum Kufuor been honoured with the first ever Wilberforce World Freedom Award from the Hull University.

The award is to recognize his work towards improving the well-being of humanity.

The statement announcing the award signed by Professor Susan Lea, Vice-Chancellor of the University, said it was in recognition of the former President's many years of great humanitarian service to the cause of Freedom in Ghana and around the world.

The award is the initiative of the Wilberforce Institute for the study of Slavery and Emancipation at the University of Hull.

Former President Kufuor was the Special Guest of Honour at the formal launch of the Institute ten years ago.

Speaking to Citi News, Aide to the Former President, Frank Agyekum indicated that the award is a further boost to the Former President Kufuor's vision of empowering young Africans to provide solutions to the challenges on the Continent.

President Kufuor will be using the rest of his time to promote causes that will bring about equality, individual freedom and a greater sense of awareness for the African to take charge of the continent's development, he said.

The award will be conferred on him at the 'Wilberforce World Freedom Summit' on 28th September, 2017 at Hull's City Centre at which the former President will deliver a speech on: Africa's Freedom Journey.



Duke Mensah Opoku/citifmonline.com/Ghana
The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) in the Volta region has cautioned Ghanaians against travelling to Togo on Friday.

According to the GIS, it has picked up intelligence that the opposition in the country is planning a political protest in the capital, Lome to herald the burial of some civilians who lost their lives in last Saturday's protest against the President and his family.

In an interview with Citi News, the Deputy Commissioner of Immigration in the Volta region, Isaac Owusu Mensah said it will be in the best interest of Ghanaians hoping to travel there to hold on.

The only issue that has necessitated this is the fact that they are planning a big demonstration so we are just apprising our compatriots to just go about their normal duties and not to get involved in any form of political activity, said.

Although he added that currently the town is relatively calm Mr. Mensah said a joint security team is monitoring developments at the borders.

National security, BNI, Customs, Immigration and the police are all there. We don't have any mass movement. From the statistics that I received from the borders yesterday, there hasn't been any significant movement, it's within the average.

Meanwhile, the Member of Parliament (MP) for North-Tongu and former Deputy Minister of Education, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa wants President Akufo-Addo to intervene.

I'm not asking for a military intervention, just a diplomatic reach out to his Faure Gnassingbe that he will be willing to play some role. Because I believe that President Akufo-Addo can be able to generate the confidence on both sides. They can see him as neutral mediator so that he can mediate between the opposition parties and President Faure Faure Gnassingbe especially because we are the closest neighbor, we will bear the brunt when things spiral out of control.

It's not about meddling or qeuesting the sovereignty of Togo, not at all. But it's just offering to be of assistance, it happens always. The ideal situation would have been ECOWAS stepping in and appointing a mediator at that level but this is the situation where the current Chairman is Faure Gnassingbe so I think that elder statesmen, his peers should be able to show some concern and interest and want to mediate, he added.

Background

Togo's security forces over the weekend clashed with some anti-Gnassingbe protesters that erupted in the capital Lome, with demonstrations in Sokode in Togo.

Two protesters lost their lives in the process while 13 others had various degrees of injury after the security forces opened fire to disperse the demonstrators who were agitating against the ruling of the Gnassingbe family dynasty.

The demonstrators were demanding the country's return to its 1992 Constitution which allowed multi-party democracy with a limited Presidential term of office; as many of them sang and chanted 50 years is too long.

They also accused the President of superintending over corruption in the country.



By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey & Farida Shaibu/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @AlloteyGodwin
Rabat (AFP) - Morocco's Prime Minister Saadeddine El Othmani vowed Thursday to adopt a strategy to tackle sexual harassment after attacks that have shocked the North African country.

Footage of a woman being assaulted by six bare-chested teenagers on a bus last week sparked outrage less than two weeks after a video emerged online of men hounding a lone woman in the northern city of Tangier.

The government is "considering how to deal with this kind of phenomenon so that such acts do not happen any more", Othmani said in a broadcast speech.

"The strategy to be adopted will be announced at the appropriate time," he said, a day after hundreds of people protested in the economic capital Casablanca over the assault on a bus there.

Six suspects were arrested on Monday after footage was shared on social media showing bare-chested teenagers assaulting the weeping young woman in broad daylight, laughing as they touched her private parts.

Morocco officially champions a tolerant version of Islam and does not impose the veil, but women are frequently subjected to insults, derogatory remarks and other sexist attacks in public.

Official figures show that nearly two-thirds of Moroccan woman have suffered violent attacks, often in public places.

Moroccan law condemns harassment of women at work but not in public spaces, according to the minister in charge of human rights, Mustapha Ramid, who pledged to work to extend the law to all cases.
The recent confusion in Nyinahin over Exton Cubic Group Limiteds bauxite concession in the township has caused the company to lose over $40,000 daily.

The losses started when some vehicles belonging to its sub-contractor were impounded in the Nyinahin township on orders from the Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah, according to the company.

At a press conference on Thursday, the companys Public Relations Officer, Samuel Gyamfi, reiterated the companys assertion that the impounding and detaining of its officers was unlawful.

He gave a further indication that the issue could culminate in some form of legal action.

The company is losing over $40,000 a day due to this unlawful act and as we have told you, we are going through the legal process with our lawyers and very soon, the authorities concerned will be written to and we will make our position clear to them.

He maintained that  what they have done to us is not fair. What they have done to us is not allowed and permitted by law and expect that the right things will be done.



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
The Tobinco Group of companies last Friday donated $58,000 worth of drugs to victims of recent mudslide in Sierra Leone, which claimed over 400 lives.

Mr Ben Kpabi Tetteh, the General Manager of Marketing and Communications told the media that the gesture was in response to the humanitarian appeals made by Government to support Sierra Leone in her current situation.

He said Tobinco continued to demonstrate high sense of humanitarianism as part of its efforts to ensure that people enjoyed the best of health to reduce mortality not only in Ghana but the neighbouring countries as well.

We have our friends, brothers and sisters in Sierra Leone. We see this as a disaster, which has affected the sub-region. This gesture is, therefore, very urgent, he added.

Mr Albert Yankey, the Chief Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who received the items on behalf of Government, commended the trio and called on other institutions to emulate their gesture.

We all saw and heard the news about the disaster and it was only good for Ghana to demonstrate a sense of solidarity towards our friends in Sierra Leone, he added.

Rtd Chief Justice Umu Hawa Tejan-Jalloh, the Sierra Leonean High Commissioner to Ghana, applauded the institutions for the support and said Ghana had remained committed to deepening the bilaterally relations between her and Sierra Leone.

On behalf of President Ernest Bai Koroma, I want to thank you all for your help, she said.
Hon. John-Peter Amewu and Upper East Minister during the visit to the Shaanxi site

The Ministry for Lands and Natural Resources has lifted the ban on Shaanxi Mining Ghana Limited and directed that, the Company can started rendering Mining Services for its clients, Pubotaaba and Nyeyenya Mining Groups in the Gbane Community, in the Talensi District.

Shaanxi Mining Company, a Chinese Mining Support Company opperating in Ghana, was also directed by the Ministry to stop work, when the Minister for the Lands and Natural Resources, John-Peter Amewu placed a ban on the work of the Company some four months ago, in line with a ban on all mining activities in the country.

Earlier in August 2017, the Sector Minister and some Experts from the Ministry, the Minerals Commission and the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council, visited the Gbane Community in the Talensi District to inspect and assess the operations of Shaanxi and their level of compliance with the Mining Regulations in the past.

A letter sighted by the Daily Guide, signed by the Acting Chief Director of the Ministry, Sulemana Mahama cautioned the Company against the use of unapproved mining activities and asked that, they should adhere strictly to the tenents of the Mining Law and all Regulations on Mining in the Country.

I have been directed by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources Hon. John-Peter Amewu to inform you that, following his visit to the mine on August 9, 2017, he noted the progress you have made so far, to ensure Health, Safety and Environment within the mine, in compliance with his earlier directives and therefore approves your request to reopen the mine.

You are to conduct the mining operation in a sustainable manner, bearing in mind, human safety and environment sustainability. The letter said.

By this information, over 400 workers that were laid off by Shaanxi Mining Ghana Limited during the period of the ban, will be looking forward to be called back to work.

The Public Relation Officer for Shaanxii, Maxwell Wooma, has assured that, the Company will comply with all the directives by the Ministry and the Mining Regulations, adding that all workers that were laid off will be recalled and re-engaged, after an orientation.

EBO BRUCE-QUANSAH, Bolgatanga
Exton Cubic Group Limited believes the recent frustrations to halt its exploration of the Nyinahin bauxite concession may be a result of a witch hunt against it.

The company has said the recent developments concerning the legality of operations in the Nyinahin bauxite concession of the Tano Offin Forest reserve have given it a reason to be concerned.

Vehicles belonging to Exton Cubics sub-contractor, Ibrahim Mahama's Engineers and Planners (E&P), were impounded in the Nyinahin township on orders from the Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah, following suspicions the mining company was operating illegally.

When asked if Exton Cubic suspected a witch hunt during a press conference on Thursday, the companys Public Relations Officer, Samuel Gyamfi said:  suspicions, yes, we will not discount that [a witch hunt] because the way things are happening and the way things are being done gives us great cause to worry.

Mr. Gyamfi proceeded to accuse the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to communicating clearly with it on any potential breaches, as the agency has purported publicly .

According to the EPA, on March 29, 2016, Exton Cubic applied for three separate Environmental Permits to undertake the prospecting of bauxite on its Mprasaso, Kiriyaso, and Kyekyewere concessions in the Ashanti region.

The permit was granted but the EPA said Exton Cubic reneged on commitments to notify the EPA as soon as prospecting activities commenced and also submit within three months from the date of issuance of the permit, a liability estimate of environmental degradation.

Mr. Gyamfi, in response to this, said:  you are the client of a state institution like the Environmental Protection Agency. You have been writing to them and you don't receive any replies from them. The agency feels that you have done something untoward. You have breached a requirement of your permit. The agency doesn't write to you. The agency doesn't invite you for a meeting. Rather you will hear in the media that an adverse decision has been taken against you.

Samuel Gyamfi

Mr. Gyamfi also reiterated the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Peter Amewu, confirmation that his Ministry granted Exton Cubic Group Limited an entry permit into the Nyinahin bauxite concession, in the Tano Offin Forest reserve to prospect for Bauxite.

You have your vehicles which have not been used for any illegal activity impounded. All the necessary information and clarification have been provided by the sector minister and by the authorities concerned. There is ample documentary evidence to show that we are not engaged in any illegal mining activities.

But when authorities are telling you we are not ready to meet you  to hell with you. That obviously will feed into that public perception that maybe there is an unseen had somewhere which is trying so hard to find faults when none exist, Mr. Gyamfi said.



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Benghazi (Libya) (AFP) - British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson met Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar on Thursday during a visit to Benghazi, officials said.

Their talks focused on "the development of the political situation in Libya", Haftar's spokesman Khalifa al-Abidi said without giving further details.

Johnson said the meeting came in support of efforts to amend a December 2015 UN-backed deal for a unity government in Libya.

"We are reaching out to all sides in Libya in support of the United Nations work to amend the Libyan Political Agreement so that it delivers for all Libyans," he said in a statement.

Britain's foreign ministry said Johnson was the first British minister to visit Libya's second city since 2011, the year longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi was overthrown and killed in a NATO-backed uprising.

On Wednesday, Johnson met Libya's unity government chief Fayez al-Sarraj, whose Government of National Accord has struggled to impose its authority across the conflict-ridden North African country.

Haftar backs a rival administration based in Libya's east that has refused to recognise the GNA, product of the 2015 deal.

The accord gave no role to Haftar, who enjoys the support of Libya's parliament.

But Johnson said Thursday he believed Haftar, whose forces also control much of Libya's desert south, "has a role to play in the political process".

"Ultimately it will be for Libyans to decide what an acceptable compromise looks like," he said.

"I have encouraged all sides to resolve their differences by dialogue, not conflict, and to respect international human rights law."

Sarraj met Haftar near Paris in July in a bid to reach a peace agreement in Libya.

Their commitment to holding elections was endorsed by the UN Security Council, of which Britain is a member.

Johnson last visited Libya in May, holding talks in Tripoli as well as in the eastern city of Tobruk where the rival administration is based.
25.08.2017 LISTEN

Having privately brooded over the question, Are the Current Asanteman Paramount Chiefs Honestly Conversant with Ashanti History?, I have decided to go public with it as certain things still baffle my mind but they need answering.

I have my doubts about the Asanteman paramount chiefs being well-informed when it comes to rigorously scrutinising their knowledge of the rich Ashanti history concluding from their attitudes and expressions as made vividly public at the Kumasi Manhyia Palace on 24 February 2014. This is because of the charlatanry they exhibited during their collusively final adjudication of the Kumawu chieftaincy dispute.

From the contributions made by all the chiefs present including the Asanteman Overlord himself, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, they all appeared to be bereft of their knowledge about the Ashanti history dating from the formation of the Ashanti Confederacy, the role played by then Kumawuhene Barima Tweneboa Kodua I, the three requests he made before self-sacrificing his life for the Ashanti Kingdom to guarantee their success in their war against their powerful archenemy, the Denkyiras; the five principal States with those initially co-opted into the formation of the Ashanti Confederacy and the consensus reached on the role and powers of the Asantehene at the reformation of the Ashanti Confederacy in 1935.

Are they aware of the meeting held by the chiefs in 1931 and the decisions agreed? If they actually knew the Ashanti history very well, they would not have exhibited that utter ignorance at Manhyia Palace on that infamous 24th day of February 2014 where Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II presented himself to the audience as wielding power over every chief and the entire Asanteman to do as he wants when he wants.

No, Asantehene is not as that powerful as Otumfuo Osei Tutu II portrayed himself to be on that day. Yes, he is an overlord and probably an Omnipotent over certain Asanteman chiefs but not Kumawu and not the five states or divisions that initially came together to form the Ashanti Confederacy, now called the Asanteman Council. I hope the Asanteman paramount chiefs will go back to study the Ashanti history very well in order not to behave themselves so ignorantly irresponsibly as they did on that fateful 24th day of February 2014.

Check the underlying YouTube video link to see how they all behaved as if by Ashanti conventions and Ghana constitution Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has every Division (State) and chief within Asanteman under his mighty feet, being the Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent Asantehene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac8wZIPlVu8

With all his posture claiming to be the almighty Asante Overlord, the Kumawu people are giving him a bloody nose for poking his nose into their chieftaincy affairs. Unlike his predecessors who fought wars to unite the people and made Asanteman stronger, he is using lies, greed and intimidations to cause the disintegration of Asanteman. Under his leadership Atebubu has left Asanteman and the chief of New Juaben in the Eastern region, Daasebre Dr Oti Boateng, issued a strong warning to him not to meddle in their chieftaincy affairs when some sub-chiefs decided to destool him, having threatened to slaughter the customary sheep to take half or its thigh to Asantehene in Kumasi.

When Asantehenes powers were cited by the sub-chiefs baying for his blood, Daasebre Dr Oti Boateng said the New Juaben state in the Eastern region is autonomous. He made it understandably clear that they only relate to the Asante Kingdom by blood but not under the royal influence of Asantehene hence snubbing Asantehene.

If the Asanteman chiefs knew the Ashanti history very well, they would have advised him against venturing into the turbulent waters of ASSERTING his authority over Kumawuman the way he did since he rather has absolutely no power over Kumawuman according to Ashanti tradition and custom.

I wonder why Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II does not want to be a man by backtracking; putting his hands up and say, I erred by getting myself needlessly entangled in the Kumawu chieftaincy dispute. He is still siding with Dr Yaw Sarfo, the alleged Kumawuhene he dubiously helped to install as Kumawu paramount chief, Kumawuhemaa Nana Abenaa Serwaah Amponsah and some greedy Kumawuman sub-chiefs to have his way as though he has been right from the very inception doing what he did and continues to do.

The more he sticks to his guns pursuing aggressively his desires to exploit Kumawuman to the hilt using an equally corrupt, myopic and wicked Kumawuhemaa, the more he will face an uphill battle. He has started a war that he cannot win no matter how far he arranges with corrupt judges to twist verdict in his favour or he employs juju or resorts to tactical physical elimination. This is because the battle is the Lords and God has since day one been in control of the affairs.

Asantehene has indeed bitten more than he can chew. It really hurts me not to do anything when a fellow UK burger and former Canadian burgers who should have known better are rather trying their hardest to cheat people. It simply infuriates me to see crooks playing on the intelligence of people in their attempts to realise their dishonest aspirations.

Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and Asanteman Council had better go back to learn Ashanti history properly to confirm that they have no power over Kumawu as Otumfuo Osei Tutu II is otherwise claiming.

They should study about the significance of the two Kum trees of which one was planted in Kwamang, now Kumasi, and the other in Apemso, now Kumawu, by the renowned Ashanti fetish priest (Okomfo) Anokye.

Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and his colluding Asanteman chiefs and Kumawuhemaa Abenaa Serwaah Amponsah with the masquerading Kumawuhene Barima Sarfo Tweneboa Kodua (Dr Yaw Sarfo) SHALL NEVER be allowed by Kumawuman people and God Almighty to re-write Kumawuman history to suit their parochial interests to the detriment of the masses of Kumawuman subjects.

This time around the courts will tell the truth depending on the abundance of available credible facts and evidence but not on the social status of ones royalty and his friendship to the President of Ghana as it was in the days of the yen ntie obiaa President John Dramani Mahama, the most corrupt and incompetent President in the annals of Ghanas politics since her independence from the British Colonial masters.

From the actions of the chiefs as found in the video, do they know or understand Ashanti history or their palms were simply greased with Cedi wads to behave as disgracefully as they did?

I think they will continually bow their heads down in shame whenever they read my publications on the Kumawu chieftaincy dispute.
The prolonged crisis rocking the Actors Guild of Nigeria, AGN, has finally come to an end following a peace agreement reached between the factions of Emeka Ike and that of Ibinabo Fiberesima at the 2017 Peace and Reconciliation Conference held Tuesday in Enugu by the AGN.

The congress then decided to set up a Government of National Unity of which Amb. Emeka Ike insisted that his group and that of Ibinabo be allowed to lead the GNU until a new election is conducted else the peace him and Ibinabo have embraced will be reverted.

His view was met with stiff opposition from the congress who said they were tired of being led by the two factions. They resolved that both factions should step down and a new leadership be forestalled.

This again did not go down well with Emeka who threatened to return the whole process to the status quo if he was not allowed to run the AGN.

There was impasse until the BOT decided to put it into voting. It was concluded that Emeka whose faction argued that his involvement will help harness the peace process be allowed to stand for an election. He submitted two lists, his and that of Ibinabo as the candidates that should run the Government of National Unity, an interim government for a fixed period.

Then an election was conducted using the names in the two lists. Emeka Ike had nominated himself in his own list to run for president while the other list brought out Emeka Rollas for the post.

In an open election conducted using the delegates, Emeka Ike lost in the election, polling 12 votes as against 42 polled by Emeka Rollas.

Emeka Ike had prior to the period preceding the election refused he was not interested in an election, stressing that his men were not available for the election and that any election conducted in the conference hall will defeat him. He was of the opinion that he should be allowed to form the interim government alongside Ibinabo since they had agreed to come together for peace without having to stand for an election.

The congress rebuffed his stand and resulted to an election in which he (Emeka Ike) lost terribly.

For the past 12 years, the guild has been bedeviled in a leadership crisis, resulting in the dismissal of its National President, Ibinabo Fiberesima last year by the court, following a suit filed against her re-election by St. Maradona Mikevine, a veteran Nollywood actor. The actor who was the National Treasurer in the election that ushered in Amb. Emeka Ike, as AGN president was not happy with the happenings in Ibinabo's period as figurehead.

Mikevine had argued in his suit that the election that introduced Ibinabo into the system was done pending a subsisting court order containing the conduct of an AGN election, with Amb. Emeka Ike filing the initial suit.

Stakeholders at the meeting

Emeka Ike had been battling for the leadership of the guild since 2005, after the tenure of Ejike Asiegbu as National President of the guild expired.

Agenda of the summit, according to an insider is how to chart a new direction for the association.

There was jubilation from the members of the AGN who participated in the election and those who acted as observers as a new president emerged out of the troubles rocking the guild for years.

The Director of Golden Valley Hotel and sponsor of the conference, Chief Amb. Joel Ugwuoke admonished the new exco to avoid the conflicts in leadership and to live up to the expectation of the AGN, if the industry is to compete for a better and enhanced position in the global arena.

On his part, the new president of the GNU, an interim government under the umbrella of the AGN, Emeka Rollas said his two year term as leader of the guild would be full of positive reforms, stressing that he will work with all aggrieved parties for a better AGN.
Japanese Retail Giant, MINISO Nigeria has revealed Nollywood actress, Stephanie Linus as its brand ambassador.

Listed as the Number One fastest growing retail brand since her establishment in Japan in the year 2013, MINISO would be launching its new branches in Nigeria in a few weeks. This is adding to its over 2,250 stores in more than 41 countries and close to 15 countries underway.

At a press conference yesterday, Miss Colette Atane, the Marketing Communications Manager for MINISO Nigeria who revealed the renowned Actress, Director and Producer, Stephanie Linus as the Brand Ambassador emphasized that the MINISO Brand philosophy of simple, natural & quality is the major reason for their choice as Mrs Linus exemplifies the very essence of the MINISO Brand.

In her remarks, Mrs Linus expressed her excitement about the breath of fresh air coming into the Nigerian Retail market as MINISO represents the perfect mix of quality and affordability with a wide range of products that appeals to all age groups. She also said she is particularly glad to be part of the phenomenal ideology of simple, natural and quality products and appreciated MINISO Nigeria for giving her the opportunity to serve as Brand Ambassador.

The Country Manager of MINISO Nigeria, Mr Chris Lee explained that MINISO products are lifestyle essentials that includes creative home necessities, health and beauty products, fashion accessories, gadgets, digital accessories, stationeries gifts, unique toys series, seasonal products, Kitchenware, etc. with more than 10,000 SKUs. Their products caters to customers from age 8 - 60.

80% of MINISO's designs are from Japan, Korea, Sweden, Denmark, Singapore, China and Malaysia. The company's products are made with the mantra good quality with low price, with the belief that the actual value of a brand should be beneficial to millions of people rather than providing services only to the noble and the rich.

MINISO Nigeria will be opening six stores in Lagos this September and more across Nigeria in the coming months.
24.08.2017 LISTEN

Recently, President Muhammadu Buhari, has been trending everywhere in Nigeria due to his statements made during a national broadcast on his return to the country.

His statement seems to have hurt many and Nollywood actor, Chidi Mokeme, is not left out as he has come out to share his thoughts on the matter.

"My major concern about Mr President's speech is the dictatorial tone applied, negating your fatherly factor and the concerns of dissenting voices in a democracy, especially as it relates to the restructuring of Nigeria. These dissenting voices in my estimation does not include IPOB. Mr President I agree with you that it is good to keep Nigeria united. But to say that the type of unity we currently have is nonnegotiable smacks of dictatorship.

In case you have forgotten the so called unity was actually discussed by our fathers and the terms of unity Nigerians wanted was agreed upon. But the military boys came in with violent disorder and destroyed what was negotiated prior to independence and in 1963, and gave us what you now describe as nonnegotiable, called 1999 constitution.

What the military led by one man gave us is unanimity and not unity. They took away the content of what was negotiated that was supposed to be nonnegotiable and gave us inequality, stifled systems that undermines Nigeria's progress, development and prosperity.

Indeed our fathers had a detailed discussion and negotiation with the British in the 50's about the kind of union that was acceptable to us. They all agreed on real federalism whereby each zone maintained its own economy, peculiar political structure and institutions. These included resource control, regional/state police and prisons and many other creative structures that made Nigeria progressive pre-independence to 1967. Any document decided by Adulsalam Abubakar and his junta called the 199 constitution is without our general contribution and it is largely not acceptable.

And the change required cannot be made by only a council of state populated by retired generals from one region or national assembly without equal representation from across the states and zones. There maybe need for input from other well meaning Nigerians if we are serious about carrying zone along.

A unity based on inequality and military imposition must be negotiable. Excerpts from Great Imo Jonathan... #Change," he wrote.
One cannot be an actor forever and so, some Nigerian entertainers have been traveling to the New York Film Academy to learn more about movie productions.

The list of some Nigerians that have registered in this academy is growing by the day with Nollywood actress, Mary Uranta, making the list.

The actress left the country for her studies about two weeks now and she has been doing fine with the hope of coming back to make a strong change in the industry.

At the school she was privileged to meet with one of Hollywoods actor and producer, Arek Zasowski.
'The big truck is still on ...
The Nigerian national educational institutions include the creation of the right types of values that can help a student survive in Nigerian society. It will help new members of the society adapt quickly and use their skills to help Nigeria. However, without understanding the historical development of guidance and counselling practices  it would be impossible to implement the right goals for Nigerians.

What are guidance and counselling?

They are twin concepts that serve as the essential elements of every educational system. But they are not synonymous terms. Counselling is only considered as an area of guidance. Guidance, according to educational context, means to show the way, direction or path to students. Counselling can serve as a processor for guidance. It helps students to acquire more knowledge and contribute this knowledge to the society!

Historical Development of guidance and counselling in Nigeria

The history of guidance and counselling in Nigeria can be traced back to the 1960s. The first expansion of these two terms began in the primary and secondary schools shortly after independence. According to Adediran, the organized formula for guidance and counselling in Nigeria started at St. Theresa College in 1959. It was started by the reverend sisters who felt the need to guide secondary school leavers. They asked outsiders to consult with children about possible future professions.

The Federal Ministry of Education encouraged guidance and counselling development in schools by establishing a guidance and counselling unit in 1961. It was suspended later during the civil war but re-established shortly after the civil war. It was during that time that they introduced the new system of education  6-3-3-4.

The Federal Government finally recognized the importance of guidance and counselling at the end of the 1970s. According to the third National Development Plan, the main efforts were focused onmanpower needs. Therefore, to achieve this goal, it was adopted to give the sense of fulfillment to the people. It led to the creation of the Counselling Association of Nigeria. This organization was connected with the American Personnel and Guidance Association.

In 1981, the Federal Government of Nigeria acknowledged the need for guidance and counseling services. Soon, these two concepts were implemented to the National Policy of Education. It provided the possibility to establish the counselling units in universities and even in the ministries of education.

Difference between guidance and counseling

READ ALSO: Importance of crude oil in Nigeria economy

When you discuss the history of guidance and counselling in Nigeria, you may wonder what is the difference between these two terms? Guidance is focused on the listening to the problem. When the problem is stated, an expert can then provide a solution to the problem.

In a counselling scenario, an expert listens to a problem, then he/she empowers another person to make a decision. There is no road map which can provide a solution. The solution is peculiar to every type of problem. Therefore, it`s needed to provide counselling and guidance to get an optimal decision and solution to any problem.

Concept of Guidance and Counselling

Guidance concept

The principles of guidance are universal in all countries! There may only be slight modifications to serve the needs of the local guidance services. There are the eight principles:

- All individuals are different;

- The dignity of every person is sacred;

- The social setting for individuals is a primary concern for guidance;

- The basis for an individual is his/her personal perception;

- The individuals act according to their perception;

- All individuals have an ability to learn and to be taught;

- The process of guidance starts in childhood and follows through the life;

- All individuals need assistance and guidance.

Concept of Counselling

Counselling has a more difficult concept as the term is very controversial. In Nigeria, guidance and counselling services are relatively recent. It does not provide the standards of counselling like in the USA or Canada. Counselling should at least include two individuals. The first individual seeks help and the second  provides it.

Guidance and Counselling in the educational institutions of Nigeria

The process of guidance begins from the very first step of a child. A school provides additional counselling to the pupils. It`s necessary to provide guidance during the period of school life. It helps created a well-rounded person, who can adapt to the difficulties of the life. For instance, the pupils will be given the abilities to adapt to the university life.

University life is the next step of development for a person. Therefore, it`s necessary to provide counselling services to the student. It will help him or her to find a way in life. It will also help them adapt to the principles of the Nigerian society.

The guidance system continues to be of importance even after graduation. People will continue to search for solutions to their problems. Therefore, it`s necessary to develop guidance and counselling in Nigeria.

Guidance and counselling today

For today, these two concepts are provided in most educational institutions. So, you will certainly notice the provision of guidance and counselling services in Nigeria. Admittedly, the system is not perfect. But we are optimistic that the development of counselling and guidance will continue in Nigeria. It will help to provide Nigerian citizens with satisfaction in their life and career.

READ ALSO: Problems of ethnicity in Nigeria

Source: Legit.ng
What is adult education in Nigeria and how does it affect Nigerians? Since the end of the World War Two, people began to find solutions to the idea of constant learning. Nigerians who also fought in the war took this idea back to their homes! What has happened with adult education in Nigeria since then? Continue reading to find out!

What is adult education?

Adult education is systematic engagement into the learning experience in adulthood. The main idea of these learning activities is to gain knowledge. Generally speaking, it can mean any course or type of knowledge that can be sufficient for lifelong learners.

In some cases, adult education can reflect a specific philosophy of education. In this philosophy, there is an assumption that life is a constant learning experience. Therefore, there is always an ability and responsibility for adults to continue to learn!

Adult education can change the psychological state of mind of adults! Therefore, it can release their potential and give them the ability to adapt to the constant changes of the world! Adult education can seriously affect the political, social and cultural awareness of a person.

Concept of Adult Education

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The concept of adult education is relatively easy to define  it`s a process of learning! However, when it comes to the term  adult, every society and/or person can define an adult by specific standards:

- Chronological;

- Biological;

- Social;

- Psychological;

- Physical;

- Economical

There are many binderies that can determine an adult, for instance:

- Legal age to serve in military;

- Legal age to drive a car;

- Legal age to vote;

- Legal age to get married;

- Legal age to work;

- Legal age to smoke or drink alcohol.

UNESCO determined the universal format for defining an adult. According to the recommendations, an adult can be defined a person who is regarded as an adult in a society where he or she lives.

Therefore, according to the constitution of Nigeria, a person is only defined as an adult when he/she is 18-years old. Therefore, the adult education begins at 18.

Types of Education according to the concept of adult education

According to the international standards, adult education can be divided into three types:

- Formal Education  It`s the form of education provided by various educational institutions. They usually have credentials and a set of curriculum;

- Non-formal education  It`s the form of education provided by various social institutes. They do not have a strict set of curriculum. It`s usually provided by social organizations;

- Informal education  It`s the form of education when a person learns from daily life. A simple book reading can be defined as an informal education. In other words, it`s a constant learning.

Importance of Adults Education and Ways to Implement It in Nigeria

Nigeria mostly focuses on the improvement formal education. Nevertheless, there are programmes for Non-Formal Education in Nigeria. These programs are presented by NMEC (National Commission for Adult Education Mass Literacy and Non-Formal Education):

- Basic Literacy  this programme is designed to provide people an opportunity to learn how to read and count. This programme lasts for 6-9 months. It`s an equivalent of 3-years primary education.

- Post Literacy  This programme is designed for Basic Literacy programme graduates. The duration of this programme is 12 months.

- Continuing Education  It`s the next step after the post literacy education. It`s an equivalent of complete secondary school education. The individuals can also pursue specialized education in the framework of the Continuing Education. These specializations are the labor, workers, prison, industrial, remedial and open educations.

- Vocational Education It`s the education where students acquire vocational skills.

Trends of Adult Education in Nigeria

- Out-of-school boys` education. This education programme was created to help .drop-out' boys to get an education in schools.

- Girl-child education. This programme was established to help Nigerian girls to get the basic education. Girl Education projects were established in Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara.

- Quranic Education. This programme helps to spread the principles of Islam. The projects of this programme are mostly located in the Northern part of Nigeria.

- Literacy by Radio. This programme was initiated to help a lot of people to get basic educational skills through the radio.

- Distance learning.

- Informational technology learning.

Problems of Education in Nigeria

- UBE act failure in the recognition of Adult Education;

- Problems with budgetary allocations for Formal and Non-Formal Adult education;

- Poor remuneration of facilitators;

- Bad record keeping of the Adult Education challenges;

- Bad attitude to the problem;

- Problems with programme-monitoring;

- Inaccessibility of education in the rural areas of the country!

Adult Education in Nigeria perspectives

Education is one of the main issues for Nigeria. Only educated people can help the country with its development. Therefore, the main goal for Nigeria today is to provide better education climate for its citizens. However, education is impossible without adequate funding! It means that the Federal Government may need to increase funds or implement reforms into the education sphere!

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Source: Legit.ng
Take a look at the Top 10 forest reserves in Nigeria. This country is rich in flora and fauna. And we have to understand that most of these treasures of nature should be heavily guarded against anyone who tries to destroy them! Therefore, Legit.ng gives you top 10 of Nigerian sanctuary places.

Top 10 Forest Reserves in Nigeria and their Locations

10. The Afi River Forest Reserve

It`s one of the great examples of forest reserves in Nigeria that serves as a home for endangered species. The Afi River Forest Reserve is stationed in Cross River State. It`s considered to be one of the largest remaining forest reserves in the state. This reserve lies between the Mbe Mountains Community Forest and Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary. All of these areas are considered to be habitat areas for Cross River gorillas.

The Cross River gorilla is a critically endangered species. However, there have been reports about forest poachers in the Afi River Forest Reserve. Therefore, Cross River gorillas are still under attack and on the verge of extinction.

9. Akure Forest Reserve

This forest reserve is located in the South-Western region of Nigeria. It covers a territory of over 66 square kilometers. It`s a relatively small area surrounded by a town. This does not mean you can't find something interesting here. This reserve is filled with various animals, and it`s on the list of forest reserves protected on the international level.

8. Edumanom Forest Reserve

It`s one of the forest reserves situated in the Niger Delta Region. It covers an area of 93 square kilometers. The Edumanom Forest Reserve is also known as one of the last habitat areas for chimpanzees in Nigeria. This area has been degraded by oil production industry. This has now posed a threat to the local wild life.

The Edumanom Forest Reserve is a shelter for various endangered species, like Niger Delta red colobus, olive colobus, Sclater monkeys and other animals.

7. Idanre Forest Reserve

The Idanre Forest reserve covers an area of over 561 square kilometers. The reserve is located in Idanre Local Government area. It`s also a home for endangered species of Nigeria. In addition, the reserve is on the list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

6. Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve

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The Ngel Nvaki Forest Reserve was established in 1969. It covers an area over 46 square kilometers. You can reach this reserve from Yelwa village. It's only a one-hour walk. The area is the home for Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee. There are also other animals that live in that area:

- Double-toothed barbed;

- Cameroon olive pigeon;

- Green bulbul;

- Tantalus Monkey;

- Mona Monkey;

- Putty Nosed Monkey.

The Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve is classified as an important birdlife area. There are 158 bird species in the reserve. The most endangered of them are Crossley`s Ground Thrush and Bannerman`s Weaver.

5. Oba Hills Forest Reserve

This forest reserve is located in Osun State. It covers a territory over 52 square kilometers. According to reports by Elizabeth J. Greengrass, from her work with chimpanzees, the animals in the Oba hills Forest Reserve are in danger of extinction. Since 1999, there were reports about death of some of these chimpanzees. In addition, a 2009 report showed that the territory can no longer support the chimpanzees as their natural habitat area is too close to human plantations and farms.

4. Okumu Forest Reserve

It`s one of the biggest forest reserves in Nigeria. It covers an area of over 1081 square kilometers. The reserve is located about 50 km from Benin. The forest reserve offers an impressive bird-watching area. There are over 200 species of birds in the Okumu Forest Reserve. Okumu National Park which is near to the Okumu Forest Reserve is the perfect place for eco-tourism.

3. Oluwa Forest Reserve

It`s one of the top 10 forest reserves in Nigeria situated in Ondo State. The area of the forest reserve is quite big and covers 829 square kilometers. This unique place is endangered as a result of hunting and poaching. There are also reports about farms in the area of the reserve. The most noticeable habitats of the area are chimpanzees and elephants.

2. Ise Forest Reserve

This forest reserve is located in the south western part of Nigeria. It covers a territory of 142 square kilometers. The area is currently registered in the World Database of Protected Areas.

1. Okeluse Forest Reserve

This forest reserve is located in the South Western region of Nigeria. It`s home to several endangered species. The total area of the reserve covers 144 square kilometers.

History of Forest Reserve in Nigeria

The colonial government of Nigeria started establishing forest reserve territories at the end of the 19th century. By the beginning of the 20th century, about 970 square kilometers had been given to forest reserves. By the end of the 1930s, about 30 thousand square kilometers were given to the reserves. In the 1970s, the forest reserve fund covered the area of 93,420 square kilometers.

Forest Reserve in Nigeria today

Today the forestry is in great danger as all funds go towards the economic growth and the government has forgotten about ecology. The areas of forest reserves are not protected enough. Therefore, the population of endangered species does not grow in the Nigerian forest reserve areas. Without proper protection, the animals in the forest reserves are doomed!

READ ALSO: Smallest country in Africa by population

Source: Legit.ng
Diezani Alison Madueke is the former minister of petroleum in Nigeria. She is also one of the popular women politicians in Nigeria. Here is all you need to know from Diezani Alison-Madueke biography.

Background and education

Diezani K. Alison-Madueke was born on the 6th of December 1960 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. She is the daughter of Late Chief Frederick Abiye Agama.

After her primary and secondary education in Nigeria, she went to England to study architecture. From England, she moved to the United States to complete her studies at Howard University. On the 8th of December 1992, she completed her bachelors degree program at Howard University.

She later returned to Nigeria the same year and started working with Shell Petroleum Development Corporation. She traveled to England in 2002 to pursue a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) at Cambridge University.

READ ALSO: Diezani Alison Madueke children

Career

After returning back to Nigeria, Diezani Alison-Madueke was appointed as an Executive Director in Shell in 2006. She was the first woman ever to be appointed by Shell as an Executive Director in Nigeria. Diezani Alison-Madueke has served three times in the Nigerian Government Federal cabinet. Her first cabinet position at the federal government was Minister of Transportation from July 26, 2007, to December 17, 2008.

She was appointed Minister of Mines and Steel Developments on December 23, 2008. After former president Goodluck Jonathan was sworn in as the President in February 2010, he decided to name a new cabinet. Diezani Alison-Madueke was named the Minister for Petroleum Resources.

President Goodluck Jonathan and Diezani Alison-Madueke

When Diezani Alison-Madueke was appointed as the Minister for Petroleum Resources, she promised to transform the oil and gas industry in Nigeria for all Nigerians to be able to benefit from it. It was during her tenure that President Goodluck Jonathan signed the Nigerian Content Act. The act allowed more percentage of contracts in the petroleum industry to be awarded to indigenous Nigerian companies and businesses.

Also, during this time, one of the infamous issues of state subsidies removal on fuel prices happened. Diezani Alison-Madueke supported the move by the federal government to remove subsidies. She argued that subsidies placed an enormous financial burden on the federal government, encouraged corruption and inefficiency and that some wealthy Nigerians are benefitting disproportionately from it.

Diezani Alison-Madueke and Dorothy Atake

Diezani Alison-Madueke, throughout her career rose through the ranks especially in male dominated sectors and set some records:

She became the first woman to be appointed as an Executive Director by Shell in Nigeria in April 2006.

In July 2007, Diezani Alison-Madueke was sworn in as the first female Federal Minister of Transportation in Nigeria.

In December 2008, the Federal cabinet was reshuffled and she was made the Federal Minister of Mines and Steel Development.

After the death of Late President Yar'adua, President Goodluck Jonathan formed a new cabinet. She was named the Minister for Petroleum Resources becoming the first woman to hold the position.

From November 2014 to December 2015, she served as president of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries as the first woman to assume that position.

Diezani Alison-Madueke with her husband Admiral Alison Madueke

Family

Diezani Alison-Madueke is married to Admiral Allison Madueke. Her husband was a former Naval Staff Chief. Diezani Alison-Madueke husband was also a former military governor of Anambra State from January 1984 to August 1985 and military governor of Imo State from August 1985 to 1986.

Diezani Alison-Madueke is not the first wife of the Admiral. His first wife died in the 1990s and Mrs. Alison-Madueke is now mother to six children: one biological son and five stepchildren. The names of the children are Ngozi, Ugonna, Chimezie, Chima, and Donald.

Now you know more about the well-educated and strong woman who managed to occupy high positions in the male dominated political world. Love or hate her, she is a woman who has managed to rise and go for what she wants.

READ ALSO: Lai Mohammed biography

Source: Legit.ng
- Niger Delta agitators have responded to President Buhari's address to the nation

- They insisted the country must be restructured for it to be united

- They accused President Buhari of favouring only the north

Niger Delta agitators have given President Muhammadu Buhari one condition before they can accept his One Nigeria campaign insisting the country must be restructured first.

The Punch reports that the agitators in a statement released on Wednesday, August 23 reacted to President Buharis national address on Monday, August 21 where he emphasized the need for the countrys unity.

READ ALSO: JAMB releases new cut-off mark for tertiary institutions

The president had also insisted that unity of Nigeria was non-negotiable and that his government will not allow the country degenerate into disunity.

The agitators however accused the president of favouring only the north insisting this will not hel to keep the country united.

Signatories to the statement included John Duku (Niger Delta Watchdogs); Ekpo Ekpo (Niger Delta Volunteers); Osarolor Nedam (Niger Delta Warriors); Henry Okon Etete (Niger Delta Peoples Fighters); Asukwo Henshaw (Bakassi Freedom Fighters); Ibinabo Horsfall (Niger Delta Movement for Justice); Duke Emmanson (Niger Delta Fighters Network) and Inibeghe Adams (Niger Delta Freedom Mandate).

Part of the statement read: We wish to thank all well-meaning Nigerians who threw their weight behind restructuring and disassociated themselves from the Presidents position on restructuring.

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We want to remind him (the President) that without restructuring, there would be no united Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) described the sudden interest the All Progressive Congress (APC) has in restructuring as a plot to deceive Nigerians ahead of 2019 elections.

The national publicity secretary of the PDP, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, made the statement on Sunday, August 20, in reaction to a statement credited to the national publicity secretary of the APC, Bolaji Ojo-Abdullahi, that the opposition party was never interested in restructuring

Watch a Legit.ng TV video below of Nigerians speaking about restructuring of the country:

Source: Legit.ng
- Nnamdi Kanu has accused President Buhari of being a dictator

- The IPOB leader said people must be allowed to provide their views

- He rejected the comparison of IPOB with Boko Haram

Nnamdi Kanu who is the leader of the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) has criticised President Muhammadu Buhari for allegedly comparing the group to Boko Haram.

Kanu spoke in Afaraukwu Ibeku, Umuahia where he was responding to the call by the president to security operatives to clamp down on Boko Haram and secessionist groups.

READ ALSO: JAMB releases new cut-off mark for tertiary institutions

He said the people must not be railroaded into succumbing to intimidation, insisting that use of force would not solve the countrys problem.

Nnamdi Kanu said Buhari should know that there are better ways to handle issues that concern the growth and development of the country instead of resorting to threat or intimidation of the citizenry into believing in his course.

Kanu said: In this debate for freedom, everybody has to be heard. Buhari should defeat me with the superiority of his argument not AK 47.

Some people quickly recourse to violence, hate and intimidation because they have lost the force of argument.

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It is the continuation of Buharis dictatorial and unwholesomely undemocratic approach to governance.

I find it unacceptable and insulting that somebody elected by the people can turn around and dictate to them how he wants them to behave.

Meanwhile, Kanu said that he set up the Biafra Secret Service so as to provide security for Igbo people.

Kanu spoke shortly after his visit to Senator Enyinna Abaribe in Abia on Tuesday, August 22.

The Biafra leader claimed the federal government has failed to protect the people which was why he set up a secret service to do so.

Watch a Legit.ng TV video below of Nigerians speaking about Kanu's Biafra secret service:

Source: Legit.ng
- The Coalition of Northern Youth Groups (CNYG) has been in the news lately

- The group came into national prominence when it issued a quit notice to Igbos living in the north

- There are rumours that the quit notice will be withdrawn today, Thursday, August 24 following the intervention of northern leaders

A report by Leadership indicates that barring any last minute change of mind, the Coalition of Northern Youth Groups (CNYG) will today, Thursday, August 24 suspend the quit notice issued to Igbos to leave the north by October 1.

A source quoted in the report said the northern youths have concluded plans to announce the suspension of the quit notice at an international press conference in Abuja today, Thursday, August 24.

According to the source, the CNYGs decision to withdraw the quit notice followed series of meeting with numerous stakeholders.

He said the final decision to withdraw the quit notice was taken last week at a meeting between the leadership of the coalition and seven prominent northern elders.

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At the meeting which took place last week Wednesday, the Northern elders persuaded the Arewa youths to withdraw the quit notice for the sake of national interest, in order that the country be kept as one, the source added.

Legit.ng gathered that since the declaration, the Arewa youths had been engaged in series of meetings with eminent stakeholders in the country in frantic moves to prevail on them to rescind their decision.

The stakeholders who invited the coalition for a meeting include eminent northern traditional rulers, the Northern Governors Forum led by Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno state, the Directorate of State Security, the National Peace Committee, the Northern Elders Forum, several Igbo leaders and cultural groups, including Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youths Worldwide and the Eze Ndigbo in all the 19 northern states.

Also, a position paper by the coalition titled, General Assessment and Possibility of Review of the Kaduna Declaration' and a letter it wrote to the Vice President signed by its chairman, N.A Shariff, confirmed the decision by the northern youth groups to withdraw the quit notice.

We have resolved to announce at an open air international press conference on Thursday, August 24, 2017 in Abuja the definite suspension of the relocation clause contained in the Kaduna Declaration, CYNG told Osinbajo in the letter titled, Update on The Kaduna Declaration and Commending Your Excellencys Effort at Maintaining National Security and Peace

In the position paper, the CNYG said the decision to withdraw the quit notice is tied to a set of demands which it had articulated for the attention of the National Peace Committee, the Northern Governors Forum (NGF) and the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) for onward transmission to the presidency.

The conditions attached include the immediate re-arrest of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, who breached his bail conditions.

The CNYG noted in the paper that they were at different times prevailed upon by stakeholders to reconsider their stance in the interest of national security and unity.

Meanwhile, pan-Yoruba social-political organisation, Afenifere and some Igbo groups have insisted that IPOB is not a terrorist organisation.

The groups were reacting to a recent order by President Muhammadu Buhari to security agencies to crack down on members of the group and other dissidents in the country.

It is a wrong approach. You cannot treat Boko Haram and an open organization like IPOB in the same manner, the groups said.

READ ALSO: Nnamdi Kanu sends strong message to President Buhari

Watch IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu speak on the activities of the group on Legit.ng TV:

Source: Legit.ng
- President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has revealed plans to set up a university in Abuja

- The proposed university by the billionaire is meant to be technology-driven

- The sum of N200 billion has already been earmarked for the project

Africas richest man and President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has set aside N200 billion to establish a world-class university in Abuja.

The proposal has since been delivered to the National Universities Commission, NUC, Premium Times reports.

READ ALSO: Nnamdi Kanu sends strong message to President Buhari

Legit.ng gathered that former executive secretary of the NUC, Julius Okojie, said the proposed university is meant to be technology-driven

Okojie, who is the chairman of the technical team for the establishment of the university asked for the cooperation and support of the NUC towards the realisation of the goal.

The CEO of the foundation, Zouera Yousouffou, said that Dangotes desire was to float a unique university of technology with all the necessary infrastructure and best faculty members from across the globe.

Mrs. Yousouffou in her remarks, said the foundation was ready to make the dream a reality with the sum of N200 billion already earmarked for the project.

She said the land was purchased and preliminary measures were in place for the headquarters of the university in Abuja.

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According to an earlier report by Legit.ng, Dangote ruled out the possibility of him running for Nigerias presidency in 2019 general elections or in the near future.

Dangote declared that he is not cut out for politics, stating that he is more comfortable with business.

There had been speculations that Dangote might take a shot at the presidency giving his net worth and influence.

Watch Legit.ng TV video report below:

Source: Legit.ng
Weeks after declaring his intention to run for the governorship position in Anambra state, Nollywood actor, Yul Edochie has picked up his party's nomination form.

Yul Edochie openly declared his intention to participate in the upcoming Anambra gubernatorial elections on July 14, and hasn't looked back since then.

The actor who is the son of veteran Nollywood actor, Pete Edochie has been campaigning a lot via social media, addressing Anambra people in videos from time to time.

According to posts shared via his Instagram page, Yul who turned 35 recently, was at the Democratic People's Congress (DCP) party headquarters in Jabi, Abuja, on Tuesday, August 22, to pick up his nomination form, proving he means business.

Yul Edochie picked up his DCP governorship nomination form in Abuja. Photo: Instagram/Yuledochie

READ ALSO: These 6 celebs want to become governors

Speaking to Premium Times in a phone interview, Yul reportedly confirmed the event, stating that he was on a mission to "liberate the people of Anambra state." He said:

My nomination form event, as anticipated, amassed a large number of Igbo youth who are pledging allegiance to their 35-year-old gubernatorial aspirant; which is my humble self.

Yul says he is on a mission to liberate the people of Anambra. Photo: Instagram/Yuledochie

READ ALSO: Yul Edochie continues his campaign to be Governor of Anambra state

Asked why he decided to run for governor, Yul said:

Politicians have failed us. So, I am in the race to touch the lives of Anambra people positively. The people are tired of stories. The Anambra youth have an opportunity to show Nigerians if truly they feel its their time to rule or not.

Its time for the youth to take over. Old ways can never open new doors. Always remember that if you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem. The problems of Anambra people have come to the last bus stop.

I want to become the next governor of Anambra State because I want to reduce poverty in the state, create jobs and rescue the future of the youth. I joined the race to harness the creative potentials of the youths and the resource-endowment of Anambra to move the state to the next level of development. I will also ensure the provision of infrastructure and development of critical sectors in the state is my agenda if elected.

READ ALSO: Nollywood actor Yul Edochie set to be Anambra state governor (photo)

Yul flanked by some of his supporters in Abuja. Photo: Instagram/Yuledochie

When asked why he chose a rather 'unpopular' party, he said:

DPC is a youth-oriented party and leadership of the party is made up of youth. Their ideals also align with mine so I have no doubts that Im in the right party. I dont have to belong to a popular political party to win an election.

READ ALSO: Yul Edochie releases campaign videos, says he wants to give 'Anambrarians' a good life

When asked if his father supports his decision, Yul said:

You know my father is not a politician so you dont expect him to publicly declare his support for me. But I can tell you that he has given me his blessings and he is also proud of my boldness.

When asked if he will stop acting should he win, he said:

It will not stop my acting career at all. I intend to combine both roles effectively. However, Im willing to jettison acting to face governance for four years should it be required of me. An actor also has a right to contest for public office like every other citizen of Nigeria. So, I think the fact that Im an actor is a major plus not a setback.

READ ALSO: Nigerian singer Kcee indicates interest to be next Anambra state governor (photo)

He shared some videos from the event, see below:

Kudos to him!

Meanwhile, watch musician Iyanya tell Legit.ng why he decided to stay out of politics:

Source: Legit.ng
- Goodluck Jonathan reminded Nigerians of his statement that he will be missed when he leaves office

- He said he was the most abused and most insulted president

- The former president said Nigerians still enjoyed freedom under his administration

Former president, Goodluck Jonathan, has reminded Nigerians of a statement he made in 2014 about how his administration will be missed for its total freedom.

The former president made this reference in a picture he shared on Thursday, August 24.

READ ALSO: Nnamdi Kanu sends strong message to President Buhari

Jonathan reminded Nigerians of his quote where he said: "I am the most abused and insulted president in the world, but when I leave office, you will all remember me for the total freedom you enjoyed under my government."

The post has generated reactions from Nigerians as while some agreed with him, other criticised his administration saying the freedom he was referring to was of corruption.

See some of the reactions below:

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Meanwhile, the Nigerian military began monitoring social media, to identify peddlers of fake news, anti-government and anti-security activities in the country, Punch reports.

The new development comes 2 days after the live broadcast delivered by President Muhammadu Buhari and was disclosed by Major-General John Enenche, Director of Defence Information, during an interview session on Channels Televisions News at 10.

Acknowledging the challenges associated with social media globally, Enenche stated: It is a double-edged sword and we are also having a bit of it."

Watch a Legit.ng TV video below of Nigerians talking about whom they consider the best president ever:

Source: Legit.ng
- On behalf of the Senate, Senator Sabi Abdullahi, stated that Buhari does not need to say much until he has made wide consultations and been widely briefed on all contentious issues in great details

- Abdullahi stressed that despite the presidents health challenge, the Buhari administration was still purposefully engaged in bringing the country back on the right track

- The senator further disclosed that the upper legislative chamber was happy with the presidential broadcast in its entirety

President Muhammadu Buhari has been praised by the Senate, for his live national broadcast which was delivered on Monday, August 21, Tribune reports.

According to the upper legislative chamber, Buharis speech was apt, precise and highly cogent.

READ ALSO: Quit Notice: Yorubas, Hausas must vacate Niger Delta by October 1 - Militants insist

Legit.ng gathers that the lawmakers delivered their remarks via Senator Sabi Abdullahi, chairman, Senate committee on media and public affairs.

Abdullahi lauded the president for tackling the key issues, stating: Remember, he dismissed the so-called quit notice as well as telling the secession agitators that the unity of the country is not negotiable.

As a statesman and diligent leader, he needs not to say much until he has made wide consultations and been widely briefed on all contentious issues in great details.

He need not rush to make elaborate speech, even though he is quite in the know of the happenings while on medical vacation.

Abdulahi stressed that despite the presidents health challenge, the Buhari administration was still purposefully engaged in bringing the country back on the right track.

He stated: This government is on the path to bring Nigeria back to the path of sanity.

It was cascading and tumbling down a gradient without control until the All Progressives Congress (APC) came in at the nick of time.

For instance, by June 30, our reserve was $30.288 billion and by August 16, it went up to $31.551 billion. In other words, the economy has started picking up in quantum.

APC is just out to right the wrong things or destructions done to the country, to the economy and socio-fabric of this nation in years of Peoples Democratic Partys (PDP) rule.

Senate is no doubt happy with the speech in its entirety.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Niger chapter lauded President Muhammadu Buharis nationwide broadcast denouncing inflammatory statements capable of causing chaos in the country.

Rev. Mathias Echioda, the state CAN chairman, also commended the presidents resoluteness that the countrys unity was not negotiable.

Watch this Legit.ng TV video of drivers in Abuja celebrating Buhari's return after 103 days in the UK:

Source: Legit.ng
- Successful cadets in the Air Force Direct Short Service Course (DSSC) 26/2017 have passed out

- The Passing out Parade (PoP) held in Kaduna state on Thursday, August 24

- Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state was represented at the ceremony by the Secretary to the Kaduna state government Mr. Balarabe Abbas Lawal

- The Chief of Defense Staff General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin, was also present at the event

The Passing out Parade (PoP) of the Air Force Direct Short Service cadets course 26/2017 took place today Thursday August 24, in Kaduna state.

The development was announced via the twitter handle of the Kaduna state governor, Nasir El-Rufai, @GovKaduna.

READ ALSO: Residents of Eliozu community, Rivers state, stage protest after escape of suspected ritualist Ifeanyi Dike

At the ceremony, Governor El-Rufai was represented by the Secretary to the Kaduna state government Mr. Balarabe Abbas Lawal.

Also present at the ceremony was the Chief of Defense Staff General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin.

The following pictures from the ceremony were attached to the announcement:

The Secretary to the Kaduna state governmrnt and the Chief of Defense Staff pictured at the ceremony (Photo credit: Twitter: @GovKaduna)

Guests pictured watching the cadets at the ceremony (Photo credit: Twitter: @GovKaduna)

Air Force chiefs look on as the event gets underway (Photo credit: Twitter: @GovKaduna)

The successful cadets stand in formation at the PoP (Photo credit: Twitter: @GovKaduna)

The graduating cadets march past the audience (Photo credit: Twitter: @GovKaduna)

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Recall that Legit.ng previously reported that the Nigerian Air Force announced its plan for enlistment into the direct short service for 2017, asking citizens to commence registration for the recruitment on May 18 through its website.

According to the security body, an applicant must possess a Bachelors degree with second class upper division or a Higher National Diploma with an upper credit.

Watch this Legit.ng TV video of Nigerian Air Force operations against Boko Haram terrorists

Source: Legit.ng
- A team of Igbo leaders has submitted petition to United State of America (USA) and United Nation (UN) on what they tagged as Igbos plight in Nigeria

- The Igbo leaders said they have suffered genocidal crimes committed against them by Nigerians

- They claimed to have distant themselves from the rest of Nigeria, based on many waves of unjustified killings

A team of Igbo leaders under the aegis of Alaigbo development foundation and south east elders forum has sent petition to united states House of Representatives and the united nations headquarters over the plight of Igbo people in Nigeria.

Reports have Dozie Ikedife, a member of the delegation said the team was in the US weeks to make sure that the message was delivered to the recipients for necessary action.

The petition read: ''We have suffered genocidal crimes committed against us by Nigerians, especially those of the Northern Nigeria, dating back to 1945.

READ ALSO: Nnamdi Kanu sends strong message to President Buhari

''This climaxed in the pogrom of 1966/67. By the general agreement of the people of eastern Nigeria, we decided to distance ourselves from the rest of Nigeria, based on many waves of unjustified killings.

''We, therefore, elected to be known as people of independent state of Biafra in 1967. Immediately after this, Nigeria with her allies, declared war on this young state of Biafra.

''Unprepared, unexpected, we were forced to defend ourselves for 30 months before we were overwhelmed by complete blockade, starvation, heavy indiscriminate distruction of churches, markets and other public places.

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''We were forced to surrender to Nigerias allied forces on January 12, 1970, to save the rest of the Igbo population from complete eradication.

''Despite the window dressing declaration of no victor, no vanquished and the policy of rehabilitation, reconstruction and reintegration and systematic exclusion of the Igbo people of Eastern Nigeria (Biafra) had followed since then.

''Unprovoked, unjustifiable sporadic killings of the Igbo had continued with instances of the Igbo massacre in Jos and the Kano genocide which culminated in the 1966 pogrom''.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that the 11 governors that make up the south-east and south-south regions of Nigeria declared their support for President Buhari and his administration.

Watch a Legit.ng TV video below of Nigerians speaking about Kanu's Biafra secret service:

Source: Legit.ng
- According to the Nigerian army, some members of the terrorist Boko Haram sect have surrendered

- A statement released in Maiduguri by the army spokesman put the number of those that did at 68

- The army credited their relentless effort in keeping up the onslaught for the surrender

On Thursday, August 24, the Nigerian army announced that 68 Boko Haram insurgents surrendered to troops in Borno in the last three weeks.

The deputy director of public relations, theatre command, Operation LAFIYA DOLE, Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, said that the military had intensified campaign through coordinated air and land offensive against the insurgents.

According to The Sun, the statement released in Maiduguri says in part:

Air and artillery bombardments were backed by long range patrols and ambushes targeted at preventing fleeing Boko Haram insurgents from escaping and also denying them access to logistics supply.

READ ALSO: Army issues another warning to Boko Haram

In their testimonies, the insurgents revealed that most of their enclaves are untenable which made life unbearable for them. The relentless offensive forced many of them to surrender to the troops.

Those who surrendered are currently undergoing rehabilitation and deradicalisation process under the Federal Governments Safe Corridor operation.

Undoubtedly, the ongoing operations by troops of Operation LAFIYA DOLE are yielding results by putting enormous pressure on the insurgents.

Evidently, this led to the recent plea by one of the factional group leaders calling for international support."

READ ALSO: Boko Haram kills newly promoted army officer, 9 others in Sambisa forest

Nwachukwu emphasized that sustained operations had brought the insurgents to the brink of defeat thereby forcing many of them to surrender.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that the Nigerian army in furtherance of its operation against Boko Haram terrorists launched an ambush that resulted in the death of 10 terrorists.

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In a statement by Col Timothy Antigha who is the deputy director of public relations of 8 Task Force Division on Wednesday, August 16, he said the attack took place in Maza village in Marte, Borno state.

Watch this video of the military operations carried out against Boko Haram:

Source: Legit.ng
- Mr Segun Adeniyi criticised the national address given by President Muhammadu Buhari on his return to the country

- He noted that his method of addressing the people was wrong

- He expressed optimism that Buhari can turn things around with Nigerians' support

Mr Segun Adeniyi who served as spokesman to the late President Umaru Musa YarAdua has criticised President Muhammadu Buharis address to the nation after his return from London.

The presidents national address was criticised by a lot of Nigerians by not addressing some of the key issues of the country and Mr Adeniyi has also given his own opinion.

While he noted that President Buhari should not have addressed the people as Dear Citizens, he expressed optimism that the president might turn things around with his return.

READ ALSO: Nnamdi Kanu sends strong message to President Buhari

The former presidential spokesperson said the president needed the support of all Nigerians for him to be able to succeed.

He said: After more than 100 days away from the country, President Muhammadu Buhari returned last Saturday to a tumultuous welcome.

It was an indication that he still commands the popular appeal that brought him to power despite the glaring failings of his administration. But his address to the nation on Monday fell far short of expectations.

First, he started with a wrong salutation. My dear citizens does not convey the fact that we (the president and the rest of us) are equal stakeholders in Nigeria. In case he has forgotten, Nigerians are not to him what Britons are to the Queen of England where he has put up residency in recent weeks.

Perhaps, we should not read too much into just one speech. The president may yet surprise us if the style and substance of his leadership change for the better in the coming weeks, though there remains the small task of first chasing away the rodents that have taken over the number one office in our country!

However, those writing their own speeches in place of Buharis six-minute address would have to wait until they become president of Nigeria or that of their own little dream enclaves.

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Buhari will do this. Buhari will do that. Those are the tales we have been hearing from some time-servers who may not even know the man but are already positioning themselves in the media in a bid to hijack the man and our collective destiny. Yet, the reality of our national condition today is that

Buhari can do practically nothing without seeking the patience and understanding of Nigerians. And for that to happen, Buhari must be seen to be human. That means having the courage to admit to mistakes and failings (where they occur) along the way and being bold enough to make course corrections.

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) criticised the Monday, August 21 broadcast of President Buhari who recently returned to Nigeria after over 100 days on medical vacation.

The party referred to the president's speech as a 'missed opportunity' to address the important issues affecting the Nigerian people.

In a press release signed by the party's head of publicity, Chinwe Nnorom, the party said Nigeria deserved a richer statement for the president considering he has been away for over hundred days.

Watch a Legit.ng TV video below of Nigerians talking about how they really feel about Buhari's presidency:

Source: Legit.ng
- Yemi Osinbajo arrived at the Danbaba Suntai Airport, Jalingo, Taraba state on Thursday, August 24, for a one-day state visit

-He was received with pomp and pageantry by Taraba state residents as he touched down in the state

- The vice president is expected to hold meetings and commission projects during the visit

- He was accompanied by prominent Taraba state indigene and minister of women affairs, Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has just arrived the Danbaba Suntai Airport, Jalingo, Taraba state on a one-day state visit.

The development was made public by journalist, Sumner Shagari Sambo, via his twitter handle, @Sumner_Sambo.

READ ALSO: Nigerian Hajj pilgrim gets duped of $800 in Saudi Arabia

He tweeted thus: VP Yemi Osinbajo, @ProfOsinbajo arrives Danbaba Suntai Airport, Jalingo, Taraba State on a one-day state visit.

The following pictures were also attached:

Crowds gather on the tarmac as the Vice President's plane touches down at the airport in Taraba (Photo credit: Twitter: @Sumner_Sambo)

Yemi Osinbajo mobbed by the huge crowd as he arrived Taraba (Photo credit: Twitter: @Sumner_Sambo)

Service chiefs pictured waiting to receive the vice president (Photo credit: Twitter: @Emmanue53590540)

In an earlier tweet by the vice presidents spokesperson, Laolu Akande, he disclosed that Osinbajo is expected to hold meetings and commission projects during the visit.

Osinbajo is accompanied on the visit by Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan, the minister of women affairs and a prominent Taraba state indigene.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that President Muhammadu Buhari received a briefing from Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the state house in Abuja on Monday, August 21.

Buhari handed over to Osinbajo before he departed for medical vacation to the United Kingdom on May 7.

Osinbajo served as acting president while Buhari was recuperating in the UK.

Watch this Legit.ng TV video asking if Osinbajo is a better President than Buhari:

Source: Legit.ng
- President Buhari received U.S. and UK. ambassadors to Nigeria today, Thursday, August 24

- The visit is believed to be connected with the recent return of the president after extensive medical treatment in London

- President Muhammadu Buhari spent 103 days in London for treatment of an undisclosed ailment

President Muhammadu Buhari today, Thursday, August 24, received U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, H.E. W. Stuart Symington and U.K. ambassador to Nigeria H.E., Paul T Arkwright at the State House.

The visit of the two ambassadors could not be ascertained as at the time of filing this report but it is believed to be connected with the recent return of the president from London.

READ ALSO: Former presidential spokesman criticises Buhari's address to the nation

The president who returned to Nigeria after 105 days away from work spent 103 days in the UK for treatment of an undisclosed ailment.

Legit.ng had reported the return of President Buhari after 103 days in the United Kingdom where he was on medical vacation.

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The president's return was announced by his media aide Femi Adesina in the early hours of Saturday, August 19.

The statement read: "President Muhammadu Buhari returns to the country later today, after receiving medical attention in London. "The President had left the country on May 7, this year, after handing over power to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who has functioned as Acting President since then."

Watch this Legit.ng TV video of Nigerians telling President Buhari what they want him to do for them on his return.

Source: Legit.ng
- Eminent lawyer and elder statesmen, Prof. Ben Nwabueze has revealed what Nnamdi Kanu told him about Biafra agitation

- Nwabueze noted that Kanu is ready to call off the struggle for Biafra if there is progress made in restructuring Nigeria

- The Igbo leader also warned President Buhari against usurping the constitutional powers of the people to ask for a better Nigeria through a change in structure

Eminent lawyer and elder statesmen, Prof. Ben Nwabueze has said that the leader of Independent People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has mandated him to declare to Nigeria that he is ready to call off the struggle for Biafra if there is progress made in restructuring Nigeria.

Legit.ng gathered that Nwabueze said this on Thursday August 24 during a press conference by Southern Leaders of Thought at Chief Rotimi Williams Chambers, Ilupeju Lagos.

READ ALSO: Former presidential spokesman criticises Buhari's address to the nation

Nwabueze who is the leader of the group, warned that President Buhari will be looking for trouble if he tries to usurp the constitutional powers of the people to ask for a better Nigeria through a change in structure.

The power to restructure belongs to the people, not the National Assembly, and the government must not toy with this for the peace of the nation.

Kanu has mandated me to declare to Nigeria that he is ready to call off the struggle for Biafra if progress is made in restructuring Nigeria.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that Nnamdi Kanu who is the leader of the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) criticised President Muhammadu Buhari for allegedly comparing the group to Boko Haram.

Watch a Legit.ng TV video below of Nigerians speaking about Kanu's Biafra secret service:

Source: Legit.ng
- The Coalition of Northern Youth Groups (CNYG) has finally withdrawn the quit notice given to Igbos in the north

- The groups had in June 6, 2017 issued quit notice to Igbos to vacate the region by October 1

- The coalition said that the quit notice it issued was in response to the breakaway agitation by IPOB led by Nnamdi Kanu

The Coalition of Northern Youth Groups (CNYG) has withdrawn the quit notice issued Nigerians of the Igbo extraction to leave the 19 Northern states by October 1.

The CNYGs decision to withdraw the quit notice followed series of meetings with numerous stakeholders, TVC has reported.

READ ALSO: Prominent Igbo leader Ben Nwabueze reveals what Nnamdi Kanu told him about Biafra agitation

Legit.ng gathered that the Arewa youths had been engaged in series of meetings with eminent stakeholders in the country in frantic moves to prevail on them to rescind their decision.

The coalition had said the quit notice, issued on Tuesday, June 6, 2017 in Kaduna, was in response to the breakaway agitation by Igbos under the auspices of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) led by Nnamdi Kanu.

Although the Kaduna state government swiftly reacted to the controversial decision of the Arewa Youths by ordering the arrest of their leaders who made the pronouncement, the order was never effected by the Kaduna state Police Command.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that a report by Leadership indicated that barring any last minute change of mind, the Coalition of Northern Youth Groups (CNYG) would today, Thursday, August 24 suspend the quit notice issued to Igbos to leave the north by October 1.

Watch IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu speak on the activities of the group on Legit.ng TV:

Source: Legit.ng
2023 elections: Wike donates 25 buses to Benue PDP campaign team

Mr Ortom who disclosed this in Makurdi during the inauguration of the PDP campaign council, said each of the 23 local governments in Benue would get a bus.
- The non-payment of pensioners have become a re-occurring issue in government circles

- Successive governments have failed to address the issue once and for all

- The present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is not left out in the perennial problem as pensioners have decried the incompetence of his ad

Pensioners, under the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) has accused the minister of labour, Dr Chris Ngige of nepotism and incompetence.

Specifically, the NUP declared that Ngige was using his position to circumvent the trade union and pension laws to favour his kinsmen.

Briefing the press at the Labour House, Abuja, the chairman, Electricity Sector branch of the NUP, Mr Abel Olas Eikhor, accused the minister of directing the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorates (PTAD) to circumvent the law and pay union dues into the account of an individual who is not a member of the union.

The union stated that rather than address the issues of a petition written against a former chairman, Temple Ubani, the minister who should be conversant with the provisions of the law asked PTAD to pay check off dues deducted from the union members to Ubani even when Ubani was no longer a member of the union, having formed his own association.

He pointed out that in total disregard to the provisions of the Trade Union Act, the minister has directed the PTAD to remit union dues of members of the union to the accounts of Chief Ubani.

Mr President should save his prestige as well as that of Nigeria from an ineptitude that is associated with the office of minister of labour and productivity.

Technocrats who know what the ministry is all about should be shopped for immediate replace of the medical Doctor that was appointed on compensation basis.

Ngige should be relieved of his duties now to avert this ugly scenario that has consistently played out since he assumed office, he said.

Meanwhile, the federal government has unveiled a panel given a mandate to review and recommend a new minimum wage.

The agitation for the review of the current minimum wage has been on the front burner of discussion among labour leaders in the last few months.

READ ALSO: ASUU to decide fate of ongoing strike on Friday August 25

Watch the Legit.ng TV video below of a woman lamenting over unpaid salaries:

Source: Legit.ng
- ASUU will on Friday August 25 decide whether the ongoing strike will be called off or not

- The union went on strike on August 13 to protest against poor welfare and poor funding of universities

- The minister of education, Adamu Adamu had expressed hope that the strike would be suspended this week

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) will on Friday August 25 hold a National Executive Council meeting to determine the direction of the ongoing national strike.

Premium Times reports that the meeting will be holding after national branches equally held meetings on Wednesday to decide on whether the strike should continue or not.

READ ALSO: Breaking: Arewa youths finally bow to pressure, withdraw Igbo quit notice

Legit.ng gathered that all branch chairmen are expected to be in Abuja on Thursday August 24 while the meeting is tentatively expected to end on Saturday August 26, after which a decision will be communicated to Nigerians.

According to PM News, When contacted on the planned meeting, the ASUU President, Biodun Ogunyemi, said he would only speak after the meeting had been held.

We cannot react now but after the NEC meeting, we will speak on the developments. Several branch chairmen and officials spoken to decline to provide information on the decision of their branches on the strike, saying they had been asked not to speak to journalists.

We held special congresses today. I cannot divulge outcome of the meeting but we held a meeting on the strike action, Tomi Damson, secretary of Lagos State University branch of ASUU said.

The chairman of another branch of the union in a southern university also spoke on the interim report received from the branches.

From the Southern part of the country and some parts of the North, universities voted for continuation of the strike; but we cannot tell now until after the meeting of NEC, the don said.

The union went on strike on August 13 to protest against poor welfare and poor funding of universities, a move that led to the Federal Government inviting the body for negotiations. ASUU then sent the details of the negotiation to its branches for further deliberation.

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu had expressed hope that the strike would be suspended this week.

In a related development, the Ibadan zone of the union has condemned the continued victimization of lecturers in University of Ilorin.

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The zonal coordinator, Ade Adejumo, who said this in a press statement alleged that the Vice Chancellor of the university, Ganiyu Ambali, was victimising ASUU members in the university, a situation he said could lead to further prolonging the ongoing national strike.

Attempts to reach Mr. Ambali proved abortive as he did not answer phone calls or reply messages sent to him.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that 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.

Watch this Legit.ng video on the salary of teachers in Nigeria below:

Source: Legit.ng
- The umbrella Igbo group, Ohaneze Ndigbo, has reacted to the quit notice withdrawal by Arewa youth

- The Ohanaeze Ndigbo, through its deputy spokesperson, said the organisation was happy with the development

- The quit notice to the Igbos had generated much controversy leading to reprisal quit notices by other groups

- Spokesperson for the group, Chucks Ibegbu said the northern youths made a mistake in giving the quit notice earlier

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo has reacted to the withdrawal of the quit notice to Igbo people in the northern part of Nigeria few weeks to its expiration.

On Thursday, August 24, the northern youths announced the withdrawal of the quit notice that had caused serious tension in the country for many weeks.

READ ALSO: Former presidential spokesman criticises Buhari's address to the nation

Reacting to the announcement, the Nigerian Tribune reports that the deputy national publicity secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chucks Ibegbu, commended the youths for the withdrawal of the notice.

The report said Ibegbu spoke in a telephone interview saying: The withdrawal of the quit notice is a welcome development.

I am happy that the Arewa youths have to realise that it was wrong in the first instance for any person or group of persons to issue a quit notice to any group to leave Nigerian territory.

The Arewa Youths got it wrong ab initio as they have no constitutional right to sack Ndigbo from their area.

I am also happy that the present administration has said it without any equivocation that every Nigerian is free to live in any part of the country.

We have to remind ourselves that injustice, marginalisation, among others, led to hate speeches and restiveness in the land.

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The present administration should try as much as possible to address the perceived political imbalance to stem further agitation across the country, he said.

Legit.ng had reported earlier that the Coalition of Northern Youth Groups (CNYG) withdrew the quit notice issued Nigerians of the Igbo extraction to leave the 19 Northern states by October 1.

The CNYGs decision to withdraw the quit notice followed series of meetings with numerous stakeholders.

Watch how Nigerians recently reacted to the establishment of Biafra Security Service:

Source: Legit.ng
- Days after President Muhammadu Buhari arrived Nigeria, the Oluwo of Iwo organised a prayer session for him

- Oba Adbulrahsheed Akanbi said he was sure his prayers for Buhari had been answered as the president was sure for a second term

- Aisha Buhari thanked the monarch and other Nigerians for the constant prayers for her husband

The Oluwo of Iwo, Adbulrahsheed Akanbi, has reportedly declared that Predident Muhammadu Buhari must spend eight years in office in spite of challenges against his government.

He also reportedly said he was ready to bear the Buharis ailment to ensure that the president had a second term in office.

Premium Times reports that Oba Akanbi said this on Thursday in his palace following a prayer session he organised for the president.

READ ALSO: My father truly held meeting with Buhari on Nigerias unity - Ojukuwus son blasts IPOB, MASSOB

The prayer session was reportedly attended by Muslims, Christians and traditionalists.

As I have prayed for Buhari today, new life has come for him.

He must spend eight years in power despite all obstacles from opposition.

It is painful that those who launched that campaign of Resume or Resign are not patriotic as they claimed.

They politicised the campaign which shouldnt be. Buhari is my son and I wont be happy when people are wishing him dead.

If any civil servant or police officer falls sick, will you advise them to resign? Those who are clamouring for Buharis resignation are not sane.

Nigerians dont love those that love them but they are passionate about those that hate them.

All those who are wishing him dead and those who are clamouring for his resignation shall fall sick, the monarch reportedly said.

While the president of Christian Association of Nigeria in Iwo, Caleb Ayoola, led the Christian prayer; the Chief Imam of the town, Abdulfatai Olododo, led the Muslim prayers.

Ojetunde Ajibowu reportedly led traditionalists in prayers.

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The report said the Oluwo and other kings later danced to songs as the Christians began a thanksgiving praise for the president.

Aisha Buhari, the wife of the president, represented by the wife of the secretary to the state government of Oyo, Halimot Alli, thanked the Oluwo and Nigerians for their prayers.

Legit.ng earlier reported that the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, revealed that agitators in Nigeria latched on the fact that President Muhammadu Buhari was away in London to issue threat messages and create tension.

Odigie-Oyegun stated this in Abuja on Monday, August 21, while analyzing President Buharis address to the nation earlier that day.

Watch what Nigerians are asking President Buhari to do:

Source: Legit.ng
Software defined WANs (SD-WANs) have gained market momentum so quickly because their value proposition is multi-faceted. Some enterprises have looked to SD-WAN as a way to dramatically lower network transport costs, while others are building SD-WANs to automate network operations. One of the more common use-cases I have seen is to shift toward an active-active architecture.

ACTIVE-ACTIVE WAN ARCHITECTURE

Historically, WANs are built on the concept of active-passive, where a branch can be connected using two or more links, but only the primary link is active and passing traffic. In this scenario, the backup connection only becomes active in the event the primary connection fails. While this might seem sensible, its highly inefficient as enterprises are paying for far more bandwidth than they are actually leveraging. This inefficient architectural design is driving increased interest in active-active configurations.

In actuality, the interest in active-active has always been there, but it was difficult to configure and expensive to implement. The emergence of SD-WAN technologies with multi-path capabilities combined with the ubiquity of broadband has made active-active highly attractive and something any business can deploy and manage quickly and easily.

However, businesses that are looking to transition to an active-active architecture should do so, not only for capacity purposes, but to improve application availability. Conceptually, improved capacity seems like the low hanging fruit for active-active configurations, but there are other, more cost-effective ways to increase network throughput. The best way to solve bandwidth capacity challenges is to optimize a single link with the use of compression or other WAN optimization technologies.

MANAGING ADDITIONAL COMPLEXITY

Geographically distributed enterprises seeking to leverage a pure, dual broadband WAN for increasing bandwidth are not likely not realize the ROI they are seeking, as there are some hidden costs that werent there before. The first issue is that managing multiple broadband providers can be complex, tedious and time consuming. There is no single, global or even nationwide broadband provider, so large organizations will likely need to engage dozens of different service providers to fully address their connectivity requirements. Enterprises can engage bandwidth brokers or agents who offer services to manage this process, but that comes with added expense. Also, not all broadband types are available in all areas, so its likely the WAN will leverage a mix of DSL, cable, satellite and cellular (3G/4G) connectivity.

Using multiple broadband providers and having to mix and match transport types adds additional management overhead that must be taken into consideration when going through the planning and assessment phases of the deployment. Also, many wireless broadband connections come with monthly usage caps that limit the ability for enterprises to run applications across them continuously. Wireless networks are great for backup and replication, but dont often make for great primary connections.

Another issue with active-active is that it can be difficult to configure the networks with path and infrastructure diversity without spending a bunch of money on build out costs to bring new networks into the building. In this case, having two connections from the same provider might protect against a CPE issue, but any disruption, brownout or outage on the service provider side of it will more than likely result in both connections going down simultaneously.

THE BENEFITS OF ACTIVE-ACTIVE CONFIGURATIONS

Considering the complexity and added overheard involved with active-active configurations, they still offer a strong use case to improve application availability in a hybrid configuration where MPLS is complimented with broadband. In this scenario, enterprises are wise to run their mission critical or real-time applications on MPLS and then offload all the best effort traffic to broadband. In the event of an MPLS failure, the critical traffic can fail over to the broadband link to eliminate downtime of important applications.

An alternative configuration would be to run all traffic on MPLS with traffic allocated by class of service to ensure the best possible performance for the critical and real time applications. In the event of a failure, the important applications must have the ability to quickly fail over to the second active connection without impacting the user experience.

And yet another alternative configuration would be to deploy an advanced SD-WAN solution that enables the creation of virtual overlays that bond multiple underlay links together. Virtual overlays enable enterprises to classify and categorize applications based on their unique service level requirements and provide fast-failover should an underlay link experience congestion or a brownout or outage.

Active-active has certainly become central to any discussion of SD-WAN, but large distributed enterprises need to make sure they are moving to this model for the right reason. While capacity optimization is certainly something businesses need to be concerned with, there are better ways to improve the efficiency of bandwidth. Ultimately the true value of active-active configurations is to ensure the availability of critical and real-time applications.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that persists into adult life in up to 60% of cases. It is characterized by deficits in the cognitive areas of attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, which leads to purposeless or unfocused hyperkinetic movement or activity, inability to execute complex tasks, and significant impairment in relationships, social interactions and occupational success.

The prevalence of this disorder is higher in adults with substance abuse, up to 46%, which means it is much more common here than in the general population. At the same time, this subset of adult ADHD patients have a worse outcome and tend to relapse more often than those without substance abuse. For this reason, screening all patients who abuse substances would be a sensible step, but is often not carried out because of the time-consuming nature of the screening.

Inside the adult ADHD brain Play

Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS)

Screening for this disorder has been done using a tool called the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS), which was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to assess ADHD in individuals who are at least 18 years old. It is used for community screening or for individual screening on demand. It is a screening test rather than a diagnostic test and therefore identifies patients for further clinical assessment. A positive screening result is defined by the test materials.

The ASRS Screener has 6 items that were found to have the highest predictive value for ADHD. These questions echo DSM-IV criteria for adult ADHD. These include questions, which explore the individuals ability to plan and execute organized projects, including beginning them, cleaning up the finer points, remaining still when in a situation that demands quiet sitting, and keeping appointments. These are included in part A of the ASRS Symptom Checklist, while part B includes 12 more questions for greater elucidation of the patients symptoms.

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The test is available in a number of languages, but the material has not been changed irrespective of the country of use, which means that the translated forms have not been checked for cross-cultural validity. However, the tool is widely available for individual use without prior permission being necessary.

Advantages of the ASRS

Screening is important to pick up the maximum number of cases of ADHD in the adult population. It is inexpensive, easy to use, and takes only 5 minutes, while it can be assessed by a professional in a few seconds. This can be used as the first step to identify those who are to be tested further using the Conners Adult ADHD Diagnostic Interview for DSM-IV (CAADID), which takes about an hour. However, this two-step process will lead to missing some patients who are not picked up by the ASRS.

The ASRS is useful to provide estimates of prevalence of and the factors that correlate with ADHD in the community, currently pegged at around 1-6%. However, the expected probability of clinically diagnosed ADHD for each value on the screening tool has not been calibrated using international data. Thus, the present calibration is based on a US sample.

The ASRS has been used to help confirm the presence of adult ADHD in applicants for disability services, for instance, based on self-report. This is possible because studies have shown that adults can self-report their ADHD symptoms to a degree of reliability that is replicable by other tests and by using informant reports.

References

Further Reading
A fast, simple blood test for ulcerative colitis using infrared spectroscopy could provide a cheaper, less invasive alternative for screening compared to colonoscopy, which is now the predominant test, according to a study between the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University.

The researchers used Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy to examine the blood serum of mice with colitis and found nine absorption peaks that could be used to indicate the presence of the disease in the blood sample.

The findings, recently published in the Journal of Biophotonics, suggest a new testing procedure that could be developed to help doctors more easily screen patients for ulcerative colitis.

More than 1.6 million people in the United States suffer from inflammatory bowel disease, which includes ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Ulcerative colitis causes inflammation and ulcers in the lining of the large intestine. Adults 50 and older are expected to get a colonoscopy, a test that allows a doctor to look at the inner lining of the large intestine (rectum and colon), every five years or more frequently if abnormalities are found. The test can help find ulcers, colon polyps, tumors and other areas of inflammation or bleeding.

However, many people don't like getting colonoscopies because the procedure is uncomfortable and requires them to fast an entire day and clean out their colon by drinking a liquid solution. Colonoscopies can also be costly because they require sedation and several medical personnel and have risks of complications. There remains a great need for simpler and cost-effective techniques to diagnose inflammatory bowel disease, according to Dr. A. G. Unil Perera, Regents' Professor of Physics, and Dr. Didier Merlin, professor in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences.

"Colonoscopy is used as a screening technique, so even if you don't know if a person has colitis or not, that's currently the only way to clearly check and say they do," Perera said. "We are not talking about replacing colonoscopy. We have shown that a minimally invasive blood test can tell if a patient has an indication of colitis. Then, doctors can perform a colonoscopy to see how far the disease has spread and whether there are signs of cancer."

This blood test using infrared spectroscopy is much quicker, less invasive and much less expensive compared to colonoscopy. There are no risks, except a simple finger prick to get a blood sample, Perera said.

In this study, the researchers used two groups of mice with different types of colitis, chronic and acute. The mice with chronic colitis, the interleukin 10 (IL 10) mice, had a gene modification that allowed them to develop colitis. The mice with acute colitis, the Dextran Sodium Sulphate (DSS) mice, were administered DSS in their drinking water for seven days, and they developed colitis over time. The control group in the study was mice before they were fed DSS.

The researchers collected blood and fecal samples from the control and colitis groups and performed ATR-FTIR spectroscopy on the blood samples, sending infrared light into the samples over a wide range to find the absorption peaks. Then, they compared the control and colitis blood samples using ATR-FTIR absorbance spectra to identify differences between them.

"We have identified nine places where there are differences," Perera said.

In the future, the researchers will increase the number of samples to prove their accuracy is strong. They'll probably find they don't need all nine absorbance peaks to identify mice with colitis, Perera said.

"In addition, the use of ATR-FTIR spectroscopy on serum samples could identify spectral signatures specifically predicting the development of colitis, thereby positively affecting drug management," Merlin said. "We also anticipate that the use of this method will be able to evaluate human serum samples to identify spectral signatures that can distinguish between Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis."

"We can design detectors for only the narrow peaks that we really need," Perera said. "That way a doctor's office should be able to afford the test and add it to existing blood tests, since people usually don't worry too much about giving a little bit of blood. Around the world, this is even more critical because colonoscopy is very, very expensive and people may not have access. This technique can also lead to other applications, like screening for cancer and other diseases."
Research led by the University of Birmingham, published today in Science Translational Medicine, has discovered that a drug commonly used to treat patients with either obesity or Type II diabetes could be used as a novel new way to lower brain pressure.

Raised brain pressure is common in emergency situations such as traumatic brain injury, hydrocephalus and stroke, and is also the cardinal feature of Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension (IIH). IHH causes disabling daily headaches and severely raised pressure around the nerves in the eye. It also causes permanent vision loss in 25% of untreated people.

Over a three-year period, researchers at the University of Birmingham examined whether GLP-1 agonist drugs - existing drugs used in the treatment of diabetes and obesity - could reduce intracranial pressure in an animal model of raised brain pressure.

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Corresponding author Dr Alexandra Sinclair, of the University of Birmingham's Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research, said: "Treatments to lower brain pressure are lacking and new treatments are desperately needed.

"The current primary treatment in IIH is acetazolamide and this does not work well for many patients, while also having such severe side effects that our previous trials have shown that 48 per cent of patients stop taking it.

"We have shown that the GLP-1 agonist extendin-4 significantly reduces brain pressure rapidly and dramatically, by around 44 per cent with significant effects from just 10minutes of dosing  the biggest reduction we have seen in anything we have previously tested. What's more, we found that the effects last at least 24 hours.

"These findings are rapidly translatable into a new novel treatment strategy for IIH as GLP-1 agonists are safe and widely-used drugs used to treat diabetes and obesity. They are also potentially game-changing for other conditions featuring raised brain pressure, including stroke, hydrocephalus and traumatic brain injury.

"We are very excited that this novel treatment strategy could make a landmark change for future patient care."

The findings are due to be presented on September 8th and 9th in Vancouver at the International Headache Society Meeting, followed by the British Endocrine Society meeting in the UK from November 6th to 8th.

The research was carried out in collaboration with Birmingham Health Partners, the University of Copenhagen, and the Department of Neurology at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.

The University of Birmingham is now due to begin a clinical trial to test GLP-1 agonist drug in patients with raised brain pressure.
A new international research project, involving the University of Liverpool's leading eye cancer research group, has identified specific subtypes of ocular melanoma that will help develop improved management strategies and therapies in the future.

Uveal melanoma (UM) is a cancer that arises from the pigment cells (melanocytes) in the middle layer of the eye. UM are rare cancers, being diagnosed in about 600 patients in the UK each year, and differ in many ways to skin melanomas.

Although treatment of the eye for UM is usually successful through radiotherapy or surgery, up to 50% of UM patients develop metastatic disease, typically in the liver, for which there are currently no effective therapies.

In a comprehensive analysis of 80 primary UM, researchers of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research UM group identified and characterised four distinct subtypes that have unique genomic abnormalities, gene expression features, and patient outcomes.

This TCGA study, published in Cancer Cell this month, suggests that the four UM subtypes uncovered, each with unique molecular pathway changes and associated clinical prognoses, may require different management strategies.

The researchers deployed a range of sequencing technologies and novel analytical approaches to characterize molecularly and clinically distinct subtypes of UM. They were able to identify new and complex alterations of particular genes that otherwise would not have been found. These genomic alterations can help distinguish subtypes of UM, which carry more and less favourable prognoses, respectively.

Professor Coupland, who leads the University's Liverpool Ocular Oncology Research Group (LOORG; http://www. loorg. org ) and who is Director of the North West Cancer Research Centre (NWCRC; https:/ / www. liverpool. ac. uk/ nwcrc/ ), made a major contribution to the TCGA UM study. LOORG contributed 25% of the intensively investigated UM samples, which came from several other international centres. The TCGA stringency criteria for the quality of examined samples with all of the associated clinical data were very high. These criteria were met by LOORG's samples, which were kept in the unique Liverpool Ocular Oncology Biobank, run by LOORG's Senior Postdoctoral scientist, Dr Kalirai. LOORG was also integral in the histomorphological evaluation of all 80 UM samples, the complex data interpretation and manuscript writing of the TCGA UM study, which ran over 3 years from start to end.

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Of the research Professor Coupland said: "We already stratify UM patients into those of high- and low-risk with respect to developing metastases. The TCGA subtypes will help us refine our prognostication model, which has been successfully used in the NHS for years at the Liverpool Ocular Oncology Referral Centre and other places across the globe.

"Overall, this study expanded our basic understanding of a rare, deadly disease and revealed novel characteristics of the primary tumor that may guide the development and application of 'personalised' clinical strategies for UM subtypes in the future. We are also involved in the UMCure2020 project, which is assessing many similar aspects of UM metastases in the liver. Through the TCGA and UMCure2020 I am confident that we will make breakthroughs in the treatment of this devastating disease, as has been done in other cancers recently. We are infinitely grateful to all UM patients who allow us to use their tumour samples for this research".
Using lasers and photodetectors, a new optical brain-imaging tool is providing a never-before-seen look inside your head. The non-invasive tool projects and measures infrared light as it is projected into the brain and the rate at which it exits, painting a picture of brain activity and blood flow at the same time -- something that is impossible without this technology.

The optical brain-imaging tool, called the Imagent, comes to the University of Alberta as the result of new funding for neuroscientist Kyle Mathewson, from the John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF), a Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) initiative.

On August 15, Mathewson received funding to purchase this state-of-the-art optimal imaging tool, which allows researchers to accurately measure detailed brain activity in a non-invasive way. The equipment will be housed in a new Shared Cognitive Neuroscience lab in the Faculty of Science.

"This optical imaging system provides images of rapid changes in brain activity, solving many unanswered questions about how our brains function from moment to moment," explained Mathewson. "The system is genuinely cutting edge. Our lab at the University of Alberta will have one of only a few in the world and first of its kind in Canada."

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Invaluable implications

An assistant professor in the Department of Psychology in the Faculty of Science at the University of Alberta and Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute affiliate, Mathewson studies how the brain focuses on and filters out different information. His research has implications from job training and professional development to creating smarter artificial intelligence.

"We want to measure a person's state of attention from moment to moment," said Mathewson. "For instance, we could pinpoint the moment when a driver stops paying attention to the road, or determine practices to help students learn better and more efficiently. This tool will allow us unprecedented views of the brain networks that give rise to these and other important behaviors."

The implications, Mathewson explained, are huge.

"This optical imaging system helps to put the UAlberta cognitive neuroscience program even more firmly on the map," said Mathewson. "Securing this tool widens the scope of potential research and is already attracting interest from students and scientists around the world."

At the grant announcement last week, the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science shared a similar sentiment.

"Our scientists need the best tools and equipment for ground-breaking research and discovery and we are committed to ensuring they have them. Their successes will lead to an improved economy and will fuel an active research community here in Canada and internationally."

Source: https://www.ualberta.ca/science/science-news/2017/august/new-equipment-maps-brain-activity-and-blood-flow-in-neuroscience-lab
The disastrous 2015-16 Dungeness crab season, delayed and shortened by an unprecedented bloom of toxic algae, is a bitter memory for the West Coast fishing industry. The culprit was domoic acid, a potent neurotoxin produced by marine algae and discovered in 1987 as the cause of amnesic shellfish poisoning.

Scientists at UC Santa Cruz have made substantial progress in understanding and predicting the conditions that lead to large blooms of the toxin-producing algae (diatoms called Pseudo-nitzschia). But one aspect of these toxic algal blooms, which affect wildlife as well as economically important fisheries, remains a mystery: how do the algae make domoic acid and what triggers its production?

Marilou Sison-Mangus, an assistant professor of ocean sciences at UC Santa Cruz, explains that the algae do not always produce the toxin. "There are blooms of Pseudo-nitzschia every spring and summer along the California coast, but the toxicity varies a lot," she says. "For the seafood industry, this toxin can have a big impact, so we want to understand the mechanisms behind its production. It's a 30-year-old question."

A new grant from NOAA's Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB) Program will fund a research project led by Sison-Mangus to answer that question. Her co-investigators on this interdisciplinary project include chemistry professor Phil Crews and statistician Juhee Lee, assistant professor of applied math and statistics. The NOAA grant provides $130,000 per year for three years, but only the first year of funding is guaranteed. Funding for subsequent years depends on the availability of future NOAA appropriations.

Sison-Mangus's lab at UC Santa Cruz has been investigating the role of bacteria in the production of domoic acid by algae. It turns out that Pseudo-nitzschia itself does not have all the genes needed to synthesize the toxin.

"We think one of the precursors needed for domoic acid synthesis is produced by bacteria," Sison-Mangus said. "If that's the case, we may be able to use the presence of the bacteria as a marker to predict the toxicity of the algae."

Previous experiments by Sison-Mangus and others have shown that bacteria-free cultures of Pseudo-nitzschia are not able to produce domoic acid, while adding bacteria to the cultures restores toxin production. She has found that marine bacteria in the phylum Bacteroidetes, alone or in combination with other bacteria, consistently induce a big spike in domoic acid production in cultures of three different Pseudo-nitzschia species.

Sison-Mangus has also monitored algal blooms in Monterey Bay and found a close correlation between domoic acid levels and the presence of Bacteroidetes bacteria in association with Pseudo-nitzschia. Electron microscope images show the bacteria living on the outer surface of the algal cells.

"We know these bacteria are associated with toxic blooms the ocean, and we know they cause toxicity to spike in the lab, but we don't know the mechanisms of toxin production," Sison-Mangus said.

One part of the new research project will focus on unraveling the details of how algae and bacteria interact to produce domoic acid. Another part of the project will use monitoring data from Monterey Bay to assess how this interaction fits into the larger context of the many physical and environmental factors, such as water temperature and nutrient levels, also known to influence toxic algae blooms.

Sorting out the effects of multiple factors, all varying simultaneously in a complex system, is a challenge. But this is Juhee Lee's area of expertise, and she has developed a Bayesian statistical modeling approach that will help the researchers understand how all these factors interact to influence the development of a toxic algae bloom.

The results of this research may be incorporated into existing predictive models for forecasting Pseudo-nitzschia blooms and domoic acid levels, developed at UC Santa Cruz by ocean sciences professor Raphael Kudela and research scientist Clarissa Anderson.

Source: https://www.ucsc.edu/
A new trend has emerged among mothers who have just given birth by caesarean sections. IT is called vaginal seeding.

This is a process by which a baby born normally (via the vaginal canal) would be exposed to certain microorganisms present in the mothers vagina canal.

The process of seeding artificially exposes the baby to these microbes that it would encounter if born normally.

Now according to latest research from Danish obstetricians, this could do more harm than good. Other doctors including those at UKs Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists have also warned against this practice.

The study was published in the journal BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

All the mucosal surfaces of the body including the gut, mouth, vagina and genitalia are packed with helpful microorganisms called commensals. They have been found to be protective against several infectious and non-infectious diseases.

There have been studies that connect lack of a healthy microbial environment within the mucosal surfaces could be connected to several ailments including the non-infectious ones such as eczema, asthma, heart disease etc.

In order to achieve the healthy microbial exposure in babies who are surgically born and not exposed to the mothers vaginal canal, the seeding practice was developed.

A sterile swab is incubated within the mothers vagina and after the baby is born, he or she is wiped down especially over their faces, eyes and mouths with that swab in this bizarre sounding process.

This trend is also called microbirthing and has really caught on among mothers. It is believed that this method could jumpstart the babys immune system and lowers the risk of allergies.

In this new report experts have warned that this practice could lead to serious and life threatening infections in the newborn.

There is little evidence that this provides any benefit they add. The report says that over 90 percent of the Danish obstetricians have been asked for information regarding vaginal seeding.

They add that there has been only a single study involving just four babies, that has looked at the benefits of this process. This is a very small sample on which such a conclusion can be based upon explain the researchers.

This latest analysis has shown that seeding after birth has the risk of passing on deadly infectious organisms to the baby including Group B streptococcus, E. coli and sexually transmitted infections.

According to Dr Tine Dalsgaard Clausen, author of the report and obstetrician at Nordsjaellands Hospital in Denmark, there is no concrete evidence at present to support the claim that this method benefits the babies.

More and longer term studies are needed to prove those benefits. Safely controlled clinical trials that would not put babies at risk could be planned by researchers in future to assess the potential benefits of this process. As of now the risks outweigh the benefits proposed Clausen said.

On a more optimistic note, Clausen advises that lowering the rates of caesarean sections was a better goal to be achieved.

At present one fourth of all babies are born via caesarean section in UK. Also early skin to skin contact of mother and babies is a much better way in which the babies can benefit she adds.
Entire library of 56,000 samples transferred in under 3 days

BioAscent Discovery Limited (www.bioascent.com) has taken delivery of Medivir ABs compound collection of around 56,000 samples, to manage on an outsourced basis. To ensure business continuity during this transfer process, the complete collection was transferred within three working days, and all compounds were available for delivery to Medivir discovery scientists in less than one week. As well as the existing collection of protease inhibitors and nucleoside analogues, new compounds are being synthesized and delivered to BioAscent each week from Medivirs CRO partner in India. BioAscent collect and integrate these new compounds into the existing collection and also prepare master stock solutions for Medivir drug discovery activities. Medivir scientists order compounds on a weekly basis and BioAscent supplies them in ready to be tested formats.

BioAscents Newhouse facility offers scalable and highly secure infrastructure, capable of managing solid and liquid compounds, in numerous tube and microplate formats, from ambient to -20 oC. Medivirs compounds are stored as solids or DMSO solutions in master vials within BioAscents automated stores at room temperature or -20 oC. Samples to be tested are prepared as requested, and with a turnaround time of just 2.5 working days from receipt of order to delivery to Medivir in Sweden, service time is as fast as when managed in-house by Medivir. BioAscent is also processing and dispatching compounds to Medivir research partners in Europe, the USA and Asia.

To manage the complex requirements of its pharma and biotech clients, BioAscent uses Mosaic sample management software as standard. The company has the flexibility to work with other sample management software as required, and Medivir is able to search and order samples held at BioAscent.

Explaining the quick and smooth transfer, Dr. Sylviane Boucharens, BioAscents COO/CSO, commented:

The BioAscent team is highly experienced at planning the transfer process in meticulous detail, and the Medivir and BioAscent teams combined well to ensure that there was little or no downtime.

Mr. Paul Smith, CEO, BioAscent, added:

The number of companies outsourcing the management of their compound libraries to BioAscent continues to grow apace and we are very pleased to be managing Medivirs expanding library. Our purpose-built facility near Edinburgh, Scotland is designed for both small and large collections, and we expect to have more announcements in the near future. This continued growth and trust in BioAscents worldclass facility in Scotland is the perfect platform from which to build our new range of complementary drug discovery services.

Source: http://www.bioascent.com/
Pioneering charity Brain Tumour Research has been awarded a 150,000 grant over three years by London Freemasons.

The six-figure sum will support vital research into glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), one of the most common and deadliest forms of brain tumour, in a project undertaken at the charitys Research Centre of Excellence in London. Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, yet just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease.

The grant from London Freemasons comes through the Masonic Charitable Foundation, which is funded by Freemasons, thier families and friends, from across England and Wales.

Professor Silvia Marino, who leads the charitys Centre at the Blizard Institute in Queen Mary University of London, will be collaborating with colleagues at University College Londons Institute of Neurology to study the epigenetics of neural stem cells and high-grade gliomas.

In the UK, 16,000 people each year are diagnosed with some form of brain tumour, with less than 20% of brain tumour patients survive beyond five years of diagnosis. There is no cure available at present for a glioblastoma brain tumour, with patients facing a poor prognosis.

This research will apply state-of-the-art techniques to study the cells that convert to form glioblastoma in order to identify what it is that initiates this switch. They will particularly focus on stem cells, which are found in almost every organ in the body. Stem cells can develop correctly into most types of specialised cells, such as skin, blood or brain cells, but they can also change to form tumours.

Prof. Silvia Marino said: This new funding allows us to take our work to the next level, so we can identify and characterise the key drivers of glioblastoma growth inside the brain. This will pave the way for novel drugs designed to kill specifically the cancer cells - precision therapeutics which will stop the tumour in its tracks, and have fewer toxic side effects.

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Although we are at the very early stages, this could have obvious eventual benefits to patients. If we are able to develop new insights into how and why brain tumours grow, then that is the first step towards innovative therapies for the future.

Brain Tumour Research, which receives no Government funding, is the only national charity in the UK focused on funding sustainable research to find a cure for brain tumours.

Sue Farrington Smith MBE, chief executive of Brain Tumour Research, said: "We are incredibly proud of the ground-breaking research going on at our Centres of Excellence across the country. The charity is very grateful to the Masonic Charitable Foundation for this generous grant to support our scientists as they work towards a cure for brain tumours.

This guaranteed multi-year funding will help to accelerate the work at Queen Mary University of London and increase the chances of long-term survival of patients diagnosed with a glioblastoma. We will continue to campaign and fundraise to significantly boost the national investment in research for this neglected cancer and offer hope for patients and their families.

Adrian Fox from London Freemasons, who met GBM patient Tanya Malpass during a visit to the Research Centre of Excellence, said: Were very pleased to be able to support this hugely important research project. Its extremely encouraging that theres now real hope for effective treatments for the many thousands of people who are diagnosed every year with these deadly tumours.
A new imaging technique uncovers oxygen levels in prostate tumors and could lead to a non-invasive way to determine which tumors are more difficult to treat, according to a Cancer Research UK-funded study published in Theranostics.

Scientists at the University of Cambridge created a new technique with an imaging device using a combination of light and sound to check the oxygen levels in prostate tumors in mice.

They gave mice a short burst of pure oxygen to breathe, and monitored how quickly and efficiently the extra oxygen reached different tumor areas through the blood supply.

Using the imaging device, the researchers were able to image the stronger response to oxygen by tumors with better blood vessels, which could give vital information on the quality of vessels.

This could help doctors find patients with harder to treat prostate cancers. Cancer cells supplied by poor quality blood vessels and low oxygen levels - called hypoxic conditions - are more resistant to drugs and radiotherapy.

Not only are cells in hypoxic conditions hardier and better at adapting to harsh conditions, making them more aggressive, but poor blood vessels also reduce the number of treatments like chemotherapy that can penetrate into the heart of the tumor.

Dr Sarah Bohndiek, scientist at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, said: "Our new imaging technique gives us a clearer picture of the heart of prostate cancer than we have ever had before.

"The tortuous nature of blood vessels can leave tumors starved of oxygen - making the cancer resistant to radiotherapy and chemotherapy and very difficult to treat. If we can translate this technology to the clinic, we could provide a non-invasive way to stratify men for treatment and monitor the effect of different therapies."

Every year, about 46,500 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer and around 11,000 men die from the disease.

Prof Karen Vousden, Cancer Research UK's chief scientist, said: "This new technique compliments existing MRI and PET scans by helping us learn more about blood vessels within the tumor, which we haven't been able to look at before in this way.

"It's important that we develop better techniques to understand a patient's individual tumor. This new tool gives insight into the tumor environment and could help separate the less aggressive forms of prostate cancer from the more difficult to treat."
Although ethylene (or ethene) is best known as a plant hormone, humans also produce it as consequence of oxidative stress, caused for example by the UV radiation from the sun. An international team led by Simona Cristescu from Radboud University found that ethylene is produced during inflammation and quickly released in exhaled breath as a biomarker of bacterial infection, thus having important clinical implications. The study has been published by Scientific Reports on July 31.

Traces of ethylene were detected by laser spectroscopy as part of the systemic inflammatory response to bacterial infection, both in isolated blood leukocytes as well as in a controlled experiments with healthy volunteers. In the publication, specialists from the Radboud Trace Gas Facility and several medical groups from Radboud UMC, Johns Hopkins University and the Imperial College London explain how ethylene is being formed as a product of the so called respiratory burst. This is a key component of the immune system, when the body releases reactive oxygen species to fight against invading bacteria. Not only the targeted bacteria suffer from this, the human tissue gets hurt as well. Oxidation of lipids in the cell walls result in ethylene emanation.

Simona Cristescu from Radboud University's Institute for Molecules and Materials explains the importance of the finding: "Our results highlight that ethylene release is an early biomarker of bacterial infection. In humans, ethylene was detected at least half an hour earlier than the increase of blood levels of inflammatory cytokines and stress-related hormones. For patients in intensive care this could mean a difference between life and death."

Laurent Paardekooper, researcher at the Radboud University medical center (Radboudumc) and first author of the article, explains: "The first possible application I see is continuous monitoring of patients that are on artificial respiration. These people have an increased risk of dangerous infections, and because their breath is already going through a machine, it is easy to monitor it for ethylene."

According to Cristescu, taking breath samples for analysis is very easy for both patients and staff. Sensor Sense, a spinoff company of Radboud University's Trace Gas Facility, markets a small device that hospitals can use for real-time analysis of exhaled ethylene.
Two studies provide additional support for lowering systolic blood pressure to an intensive goal of 120 mmHg  far below the standard guidelines of 140 mmHg  to reduce the risk of heart disease in high-risk patients with hypertension. The new research shows that intensive blood pressure control is well-tolerated by patients and is cost-effective in terms of health-related quality of life and financial costs to the healthcare system.

Published online in the New England Journal of Medicine on Aug. 24, the findings address ongoing debates that have been simmering since results from the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) were first reported nearly two years ago.

"Intensive blood pressure control improves health outcomes in high-risk patients, but it has been unclear whether the approach is cost-effective or if it's well-tolerated by patients compared to standard control," says Adam Bress, Pharm.D., M.S., an assistant professor of Population Health Sciences at University of Utah Health who co-led the first, cost-effectiveness study. Bress explains that treatment would not be sustainable in clinical practice if, for instance, it makes patients feel miserable or comes with an exorbitant price tag.

"Collectively, these results provide strong evidence that intensive control is worth considering in high-risk patients," says Bress.

Listening to Patient Perspectives

On average, patients on intensive therapy often took three to four anti-hypertensive medications to reach the lower blood pressure goal, raising concerns that side effects such as light-headedness, dizziness, or fatigue could make the regimen difficult to tolerate.

"In treating a chronic condition such as hypertension, it is important not only to prevent cardiovascular morbidity and mortality such as heart attacks and stroke, but also to ensure that people under treatment continue to feel well," says the second study's lead author Dan Berlowitz, M.D., Chief of Staff at the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital in Bedford, Mass., and a professor at Boston University.

The second study examined health-related quality of life by having the 9,631 SPRINT participants  about half of whom were on intensive therapy  answer standard questionnaires assessing their quality of life, physical and mental health, and satisfaction with their care during the clinical trial.

Participants on intensive therapy reported feeling as well as those receiving standard blood pressure control and were equally satisfied with their care. They were also just as likely to maintain their medication regimen, another indication that the treatment was well-tolerated.

A subpopulation considered particularly vulnerable to side effects from intensive therapy, frail participants age 75 and older, also fared well under the intensive approach.

"Frail, older participants began at lower measures of physical and cognitive abilities," explains Mark Supiano, M.D., a co-author on both studies and a geriatrician at University of Utah Health and VA Salt Lake City Health Care System. A total of 2,560 SPRINT participants were in this category.

"Importantly, intensive blood pressure control did not further decrease quality of life measures compared to standard control even in frail, older adults," says Supiano. Additional studies are being carried out to determine the long-term impacts of treatment.

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Berlowitz points out that the results don't necessarily mean that everyone with high blood pressure should aim for a goal of less than 120 mmHg.

"In order for patients to have the future health benefits of intensive blood pressure control while maintaining their current health-related quality of life, clinicians and patients should work together to adjust medications as needed while keeping an eye on symptoms," he says.

Counting the Costs of Blood Pressure Control

Another worry plaguing intensive therapy has been that costs of intensive treatment might overwhelm an already strained healthcare system. Reaching the lower blood pressure goal requires more visits to healthcare providers, and additional medications and lab tests -; all incurring expenses that add up over time. And if severe medication side effects land a patient in the hospital, that boosts the price tag even higher and could erode quality of life.

The cost-effectiveness study reports that the healthcare costs associated with intensive blood pressure control are balanced by gains in health, making it cost-effective over the course of a lifetime. Intensive control costs less than $50,000 for each quality-adjusted life-year gained, a measure of improvements in length and quality of life.

"The price is one that many experts believe U.S. society is willing to pay, making it a high value investment," says Bress.

A research team led by Bress and Brandon Bellows, Pharm.D., M.S., a research assistant professor of Pharmacotherapy at U of U Health, modeled intensive and standard treatment in 10,000 hypothetical SPRINT-eligible patients to arrive at the conclusion. They gauged benefits and costs of intensive therapy in the face of uncertainties encountered in real life by incorporating over 250 variables, including a range of health histories and side effects.

"It's not possible to run clinical trials that last for decades for every type of patient," explains Bellows. "Simulation gives us a way to explore 'what if' scenarios and extrapolate short-term data to estimate a range of expected long-term outcomes."

Within 10 to 20 years after starting intensive treatment, the extra expenses were offset by the cardiac episodes and subsequent treatment costs that were prevented, simulations showed.

"Intensive blood pressure treatment prevents heart disease, but it requires extra effort from patients and health care providers," says co-senior author Andrew Moran, M.D., M.P.H., from Columbia University Medical Center in New York. "Our study showed that it is a very good value if the treatment is sustained long-term."

Co-author Lawrence Fine M.D., Dr.P.H., Chief of the Branch of Clinical Applications and Prevention at the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), says that estimates indicate there are at least 17 million Americans who could benefit from lowering their blood pressure.

"This current study is important not just because it shows that the long-term benefits of intensive blood pressure treatment outweigh considerations about costs and side effects, but because of its population-wide implications," he says.

Source: https://healthcare.utah.edu/
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Researchers from The University of Manchester are using polystyrene particles rather than expensive polymers to make the next generation of solar cells, which are used to make solar panels, more stable and even cheaper.

The move could significantly reduce the cost of production and manufacturing of the solar cells, making electricity cheaper in the future for the public at a time when energy prices are increasing.

Journal Nanoscale- Reducing hole transporter use and increasing perovskite solar cell stability with dual-role polystyrene microgel particles

University of Manchester scientists are using insulating polystyrene microgel particles to reduce the costs and improve the stability of Perovskite Solar Cells or PSCs.

PSCs are a new kind of solar panel and deemed one of the top ten emerging technologies by the World Economic Forum. This is because they have unprecedented increases in their rate of power conversion efficiency and potentially have relative low cost per watt.

Solar panels are now commonplace on houses and buildings across the UK, but their widespread use is still hampered by high production costs. These traditional photovoltaic (PV) panels incorporate silicon to harvest the light which is converted into energy but it is an expensive, energy-intensive material to produce. Recent research has turned to PVs using a cheaper compound, perovskite, as the light harvesting layer instead of silicon.

PSC power conversion efficiency is now approaching parity with established solar PV technology, which took decades to reach. So, with the potential of achieving even higher efficiencies in a much shorter time and their relatively low production costs, PSCs are now becoming more commercially attractive.

However, current PSCs typically use organometallic halide perovskite (OHP) as a light absorber, which readily degrades when exposed to water. This makes their practical use limited, especially in the UK climate. The cells also rely on a hole-transportation layer, which promotes the efficient movement of electrical current after exposure to sunlight. But manufacturing the hole-transportation organic materials is very costly and these lack long-term stability. This is where the use of insulating polystyrene microgel particles comes in.

Prof Brian Saunders, Professor of Polymer and Colloid Chemistry from the School of Materials at The University of Manchester, says: More research is required to enable the full potential of the exciting PSC technology to be realised. Improving PSC stability and reducing expensive hole-transport material (HTM) use are two aspects that are gaining increased attention. That is why were looking at how best to produce PSCs, keep them dry and make them even more commercially viable in the future.

He explains: The perovskite layer in solar cells is not inherently unstable, but the required HTM layer is. HTM layers made of congregated polymers are thin but they are also relatively expensive and contribute a significant portion of the total cost of the solar cell. In this study we used polystyrene, which is 1 ten thousandth of the cost of polymers to produce, and is also hydrophobic which helps improve the stability of PSCs. Overall the enhanced stability and lower costs of production hugely outweigh any of the decreased efficiency.

Going forward Prof Saunders is keen to further refine the microgel approach to minimise the impact on efficiency and work on reducing toxic lead content in PSCs.

9 pages of supplemental material

Abstract

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are a disruptive technology that continues to attract considerable attention due to their remarkable and sustained power conversion efficiency increase. Improving PSC stability and reducing expensive hole transport material (HTM) usage are two aspects that are gaining increased attention. In a new approach, we investigate the ability of insulating polystyrene microgel particles (MGs) to increase PSC stability and replace the majority of the HTM phase. MGs are sub-micrometre crosslinked polymer particles that swell in a good solvent. The MGs were prepared using a scalable emulsion polymerisation method. Mixed HTM/MG dispersions were subsequently spin-coated onto PSCs and formed composite HTM-MG layers. The HTMs employed were poly(triaryl amine) (PTAA), poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and Spiro-MeOTAD (Spiro). The MGs formed mechanically robust composite HTMs with PTAA and P3HT. In contrast, Spiro-MG composites contained micro-cracks due the inability of the relatively small Spiro molecules to interdigitate. The efficiencies for the PSCs containing PTAA-MG and P3HT-MG decreased by only 20% compared to control PSCs despite PTAA and P3HT being the minority phases. They occupied only 35 vol% of the composite HTMs. An unexpected finding from the study was that the MGs dispersed well within the PTAA matrix. This morphology aided strong quenching of the CH3NH3PbI3xClx fluorescence. In addition, the open circuit voltages for the PSCs prepared using P3HT-MG increased by 170 mV compared to control PSCs. To demonstrate their versatility the MGs were also used to encapsulate P3HT-based PSCs. Solar cell stability data for the latter as well as those for PSCs containing composite HTM-MG were both far superior compared to data measured for a control PSC. Since MGs can reduce conjugated polymer use and increase stability they have good potential as dual-role PSC additives.
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Russias ambassador to Sudan, a career diplomat with decades of service, was found dead at his Khartoum home on Wednesday.

The death of the ambassador, Mirgayas Shirinsky, who was in his early 60s, is the fourth since December that a senior Kremlin envoy has died prematurely overseas.

The Sudan Foreign Ministry confirmed his death in a statement quoted by news agencies without providing a cause of death.

His death comes almost exactly six months after Russias longtime ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, died suddenly at work at the age of 64.

In January, Russias ambassador to India, Alexander Kadakin, one of the longest-serving diplomats in that country, died after a brief illness at age of 68.
By Benjamin Jumbe:

The U.S. Government is committed to working with the Ugandan Government to combat wildlife trafficking.

The commitment was made by the US ambassador to Uganda Deborah Malac during the award giving ceremony for the wildlife art painting school champions held at Uganda Wildlife Education Centre yesterday.

Ambassador Malac said achieving this will require collaborating and strengthening national agencies, including law enforcement and the judiciary, to ensure that wildlife crime cases are appropriately settled.

To this end, through the African Wildlife Foundation, the State Departments Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs has donated a vehicle to the Uganda Wildlife Authority to bolster its canine unit and the fight against wildlife trafficking.

Meanwhile as part of efforts to strengthen the Uganda Wildlife Authoritys ecological monitoring capacity, the ambassador handed over 130 smart phones and 50 power banks.
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Saturday

4) 10 A.M. Natural Habitats

Victor Horta and his contemporaries pioneered Art Nouveau  which infused colors and forms from nature into furniture, art and architecture  and their work is visible on townhouse facades around the neighboring St.-Gilles and Chatelain neighborhoods. Admire Hortas own vine-and-tendril decorations at 25, rue Americaine (which houses the Horta Museum) before heading to 92, rue Africaine, notable for its big circular window. The building at 13, rue de Florence is a sober, stony specimen, while 83, rue Faider sports a wondrous top-floor mural of women in a sea of flowers and stars. Two edifices beckon from Rue Defacqz. Number 48 is adorned with gold-tinged mythological images, while number 72 incorporates green plantlike ironwork.

5) Noon; The Daily Dish

If you dont have a cool Belgian auntie to cook for you, you always have Magalie Boutemy. Tucked away on trendy Rue du Page, her restaurant, Lepicerie, feels more like a home, thanks to its plank floor, farmhouse tables and simple Old World kitchen. Regulars stop in to enjoy the friendly vibe and healthy daily special  there is just one, and no menu  which might be pork in miso sauce with shiso leaves or rice, honey- and tamari-glazed cod with crunchy vegetables. Follow with the daily dessert, which was recently a spongy cherry cake. Lunch for two is around 30 euros.

6) 2 P.M. The Paper Trail

Lets say you wanted to strap on ice skates, pop on a Scorpions CD, and tinkle along at an upright piano while sipping from a Pee Klak beer glass. Such dreams can be realized at Les Petits Riens, a nearby multistory emporium of used goods, ranging from African drums to vintage suitcases. The neighborhood also attracts the literary set, thanks to Peinture Fraiche, a gallerylike bookstore selling impeccably chosen art, design and architecture tomes, and Le Typographe, a paper-lovers Eden of handmade notebooks, diaries, stationery and other goods printed on site.

Life Is Beautiful, with cactuses hanging from the ceiling, is a cocktail bar that transports you to Mexico. Credit Michael Chia for The New York Times



7) 4 P.M. Urban Studies

Cool things are brewing at the new Millennium Iconoclast Museum of Art (MIMA), a former beer factory whose renovated industrial expanses now bubble with contemporary art. The museums permanent collection leans toward street art, graffiti, graphic design and pop works full of color, irreverence and mischief. Just witness the Dutch artist Parras large sculptural red tomato with legs, which lies helplessly on the floor. Multiple temporary exhibitions also fill the agenda. Admission 9.50 euros.

8) 7 P.M. A Culinary Journey

Ready to fly? Names of international destinations  Kyoto, Berlin, Mexico  are stenciled on the colorful walls of San, a cozy spot opened by the Belgian-Korean chef Sang-Hoon Degeimbre in 2015. They also adorn the menu (55 euros), where each of the five nightly courses is named after and inspired by some spot on Earth. A recent itinerary started in Murringen, Belgium (velvety beef tartare mixed with savory razor clams in a floral Bergamot broth), moved to Deshaies, in Guadaloupe (beignets filled with cod in a spicy red pepper pesto), returned to Liernu, Belgium (seasonal vegetables in a sweet onion broth), before heading off to the South Korean island of Jeju (succulent pork cubes with toasted buckwheat and cabbage) and Dublin (whiskey-infused panna cotta with chocolate sorbet and burned chips of Gruyere cheese). Neck pillow not provided.

9) 9 P.M. Beer and Botanicals

Leave the abbey, join the playground is the motto at Brussels Beer Project, a microbrewery angling to bring Belgiums storied brewing tradition into the 21st century. Relax on a grain sack and order from an ever-changing roster that might include Delta IPA (crisp, hoppy and floral; 1.60 euros). Nearby at Life Is Beautiful, cactuses hang from the ceiling and potted plants dot the candlelit room. Opened last year, the flora-filled cocktail bar transports you to Mexico with a Brussels-Oaxaca (mezcal, rum, St.-Germain, Fernet-Branca, walnut bitters; 14 euros) or to the underworld with a Bloody Hell (Scotch, chartreuse, beetroot syrup, lime, hellfire bitters; 13 euros).
In August, in response to a reporters question, President Trump proclaimed that he considered the opioid crisis to be a national emergency, leading many news organizations to report that a national emergency had been declared. But the Trump administration, perhaps caught off guard by the presidents statement, has not yet taken any legal steps to give those words force.

A national emergency, and the extra powers that come with it, requires a formal declaration, which the Trump administration has not made. According to a White House spokesman, any such emergency actions are still going through an expedited legal review, but it is unclear how long this review will take. This kind of delay between pronouncement and formal declaration is not normal. In the past, formal declarations and public pronouncements of a public emergency generally have happened simultaneously.

There are already 28 active national emergencies, involving:

You might have noticed that none of these seem clearly directed at U.S. public health. And youd be right. National emergencies like these, each of which must be renewed by the president annually, are typically used to freeze the assets of foreign nationals or impose sanctions on another country. In some cases, such as the responses to the Sept. 11 attacks and the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis, the emergencies last for decades, as they are still used to justify current policy.

While national emergencies can be declared to address public health crises  as with President Obamas announcement to combat the swine flu epidemic in 2009  the most direct way to do so is through the declaration of a public health emergency. (There is another category of emergencies under the Stafford Act  more on these later.)

Public health emergencies are distinct from those declared by the president. Instead, the secretary of health and human services, Tom Price, could declare a public health emergency on his own. This would unlock a range of expanded powers for the health department, allowing the secretary to issue grants and spend money that he otherwise would not be able to. Mr. Price would also be given additional freedom to direct resources and amend regulations.

A sweeping declaration of emergency could, for example, remove the restrictions on which doctors can prescribe methadone and buprenorphine, two common medications for treating opioid addiction. The Food and Drug Administration could allow for the widespread dispensing of naloxone, the overdose antidote, without a prescription. Naloxone is already available over the counter in certain pharmacies in some states, but not all.

Usually, public health emergencies are local in scope. The Zika outbreak prompted an emergency declaration just for Puerto Rico; Hurricane Sandy prompted one for New York and New Jersey; severe storms and tornadoes in 2011 prompted one in Missouri. Only with swine flu was a recent public health emergency extended to the entire country.

Some powers  like the waiver of certain Medicare and Medicaid requirements  would require both a presidential emergency declaration and a public health emergency (this is what happened with swine flu). The 2017 hurricane season prompted a series of emergency declarations for Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and states along the Gulf Coast. All told, there have been 19 public health emergencies since 2005:

Theres also disaster relief money that could be made available via a third form of emergency declaration, under whats called the Stafford Act. These declarations, typically used in response to a natural disaster, are more common, but are made on a state-by-state basis. In an emergency declared under this law, the federal government is limited to spending $5 million, though the president has the power to waive that spending limit in consultation with Congress.

Ultimately, its the presidents choice whether to declare an emergency or not  there is little legal guidance on the the proper use of executive emergency powers. The president has broad authority to determine what qualifies as an emergency. (The National Emergencies Act does mean that the president has to tell the public which powers are being invoked and explicitly renew that designation once a year. And Congress can vote to revoke an emergency with a joint resolution, but this has never happened.)

An emergency declaration, by nature, is meant to provide short-term help. Even if a declaration allowed Mr. Price to, say, waive rules that limit Medicaid reimbursement for inpatient addiction treatment (lawyers disagree about whether this is the case), its unlikely that treatment centers would expand to accommodate changes that will soon expire.

Experts say that longer-term solutions  like medication-assisted and inpatient addiction treatment, Medicaid expansion and perhaps some new harm reduction strategies  would require more permanent money. Reducing opioid use in the future would also require a shift in the way the medical system manages chronic pain.
How much more or less each group is represented among freshmen at top colleges relative to the U.S. population

How much more or less each group is represented among freshmen at top colleges relative to the U.S. population

How much more or less each group is represented among freshmen at top colleges relative to the U.S. population

The share of black freshmen at elite schools is virtually unchanged since 1980. Black students are just 6 percent of freshmen but 15 percent of college-age Americans, as the chart below shows.

Even after decades of affirmative action, black and Hispanic students are more underrepresented at the nations top colleges and universities than they were 35 years ago, according to a New York Times analysis.

More Hispanics are attending elite schools, but the increase has not kept up with the huge growth of young Hispanics in the United States, so the gap between students and the college-age population has widened.

The Times analysis includes 100 schools ranging from public flagship universities to the Ivy League. For both blacks and Hispanics, the trend extends back to at least 1980, the earliest year that fall enrollment data was available from the National Center for Education Statistics.

Blacks and Hispanics have gained ground at less selective colleges and universities but not at the highly selective institutions, said Terry Hartle, a senior vice president at the American Council on Education, which represents more than 1,700 colleges and universities.

The courts have ruled that colleges and universities can consider race or ethnicity as one element in a holistic admissions policy, so its something that can be considered, but its not a magic bullet, he said.

Affirmative action increases the numbers of black and Hispanic students at many colleges and universities, but experts say that persistent underrepresentation often stems from equity issues that begin earlier.

Elementary and secondary schools with large numbers of black and Hispanic students are less likely to have experienced teachers, advanced courses, high-quality instructional materials and adequate facilities, according to the United States Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.

Theres such a distinct disadvantage to begin with, said David Hawkins, an executive director at the National Association for College Admission Counseling. A cascading set of obstacles all seem to contribute to a diminished representation of minority students in highly selective colleges.
This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com.

When historian Alfred McCoy began his long journey to expose some of the darkest secrets of the U.S. national security establishment, America was embroiled in wars in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Almost 50 years later, the United States is, in one way or another, involved in so many more conflicts from Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen to Libya, Somalia, the Lake Chad region of Africa, and the Philippines.

To understand how the U.S. went from three interventions that actually ended to a proliferating collection of quasi-wars seemingly without end would require a detailed map to guide you through some of the thorniest wilds of American foreign policy. Luckily, McCoy is still on the case with his buzz-generating blockbuster-to-be: In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of U.S. Global Power.

He first stumbled upon some of the secrets of the national security state when, in the early 1970s, he started down Southeast Asia's "heroin trail" and into a shadow world of black ops, mercenaries, and drug lords. It's a tale fit for a John le Carre' novel or, better yet, a seedy bar where the air is hot and still, the customers are rough, and the drinks strong. If TomDispatchregular McCoy told you his story over a whiskey, you'd be obliged to buy the next round. It's that kind of tale. Today, however, you're in luck and he shares it with you for free. Nick Turse

Exploring the Shadows of America's Security State

Or How I Learned Not to Love Big Brother

By Alfred W. McCoy

[This piece has been adapted and expanded from the introduction to Alfred W. McCoy's new book, In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of U.S. Global Power.]

In the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks, Washington pursued its elusive enemies across the landscapes of Asia and Africa, thanks in part to a massive expansion of its intelligence infrastructure, particularly of the emerging technologies for digital surveillance, agile drones, and biometric identification. In 2010, almost a decade into this secret war with its voracious appetite for information, the Washington Post reported that the national security state had swelled into a "fourth branch" of the federal government -- with 854,000 vetted officials, 263 security organizations, and over 3,000 intelligence units, issuing 50,000 special reports every year.

Though stunning, these statistics only skimmed the visible surface of what had become history's largest and most lethal clandestine apparatus. According to classified documents that Edward Snowden leaked in 2013, the nation's 16 intelligence agencies alone had 107,035 employees and a combined "black budget" of $52.6 billion, the equivalent of 10% percent of the vast defense budget.

By sweeping the skies and probing the worldwide web's undersea cables, the National Security Agency (NSA) could surgically penetrate the confidential communications of just about any leader on the planet, while simultaneously sweeping up billions of ordinary messages. For its classified missions, the CIA had access to the Pentagon's Special Operations Command, with 69,000 elite troops (Rangers, SEALs, Air Commandos) and their agile arsenal. In addition to this formidable paramilitary capacity, the CIA operated 30 Predator and Reaper drones responsible for more than 3,000 deaths in Pakistan and Yemen.

While Americans practiced a collective form of duck and cover as the Department of Homeland Security's colored alerts pulsed nervously from yellow to red, few paused to ask the hard question: Was all this security really directed solely at enemies beyond our borders? After half a century of domestic security abuses -- from the "red scare" of the 1920s through the FBI's illegal harassment of antiwar protesters in the 1960s and 1970s -- could we really be confident that there wasn't a hidden cost to all these secret measures right here at home? Maybe, just maybe, all this security wasn't really so benign when it came to us.

From my own personal experience over the past half-century, and my family's history over three generations, I've found out in the most personal way possible that there's a real cost to entrusting our civil liberties to the discretion of secret agencies. Let me share just a few of my own "war" stories to explain how I've been forced to keep learning and relearning this uncomfortable lesson the hard way.

On the Heroin Trail

After finishing college in the late 1960s, I decided to pursue a Ph.D. in Japanese history and was pleasantly surprised when Yale Graduate School admitted me with a full fellowship. But the Ivy League in those days was no ivory tower. During my first year at Yale, the Justice Department indicted Black Panther leader Bobby Seale for a local murder and the May Day protests that filled the New Haven green also shut the campus for a week. Almost simultaneously, President Nixon ordered the invasion of Cambodia and student protests closed hundreds of campuses across America for the rest of the semester.

In the midst of all this tumult, the focus of my studies shifted from Japan to Southeast Asia, and from the past to the war in Vietnam. Yes, that war. So what did I do about the draft? During my first semester at Yale, on December 1, 1969, to be precise, the Selective Service cut up the calendar for a lottery. The first 100 birthdays picked were certain to be drafted, but any dates above 200 were likely exempt. My birthday, June 8th, was the very last date drawn, not number 365 but 366 (don't forget leap year) -- the only lottery I have ever won, except for a Sunbeam electric frying pan in a high school raffle. Through a convoluted moral calculus typical of the 1960s, I decided that my draft exemption, although acquired by sheer luck, demanded that I devote myself, above all else, to thinking about, writing about, and working to end the Vietnam War.

During those campus protests over Cambodia in the spring of 1970, our small group of graduate students in Southeast Asian history at Yale realized that the U.S. strategic predicament in Indochina would soon require an invasion of Laos to cut the flow of enemy supplies into South Vietnam. So, while protests over Cambodia swept campuses nationwide, we were huddled inside the library, preparing for the next invasion by editing a book of essays on Laos for the publisher Harper & Row. A few months after that book appeared, one of the company's junior editors, Elizabeth Jakab, intrigued by an account we had included about that country's opium crop, telephoned from New York to ask if I could research and write a "quickie" paperback about the history behind the heroin epidemic then infecting the U.S. Army in Vietnam.

I promptly started the research at my student carrel in the Gothic tower that is Yale's Sterling Library, tracking old colonial reports about the Southeast Asian opium trade that ended suddenly in the 1950s, just as the story got interesting. So, quite tentatively at first, I stepped outside the library to do a few interviews and soon found myself following an investigative trail that circled the globe. First, I traveled across America for meetings with retired CIA operatives. Then I crossed the Pacific to Hong Kong to study drug syndicates, courtesy of that colony's police drug squad. Next, I went south to Saigon, then the capital of South Vietnam, to investigate the heroin traffic that was targeting the GIs, and on into the mountains of Laos to observe CIA alliances with opium warlords and the hill-tribe militias that grew the opium poppy. Finally, I flew from Singapore to Paris for interviews with retired French intelligence officers about their opium trafficking during the first Indochina War of the 1950s.
What happens to the hundreds of billions of dollars that we send to China for consumer products, furniture, apparel, shoes and other stuff? Those billions of dollars are coming back to haunt our housing markets, making it more and more difficult for middle-income buyers to buy homes in California, Texas, Seattle, New York, and other locations.

Foreign buyers purchased on $153 billion worth of U.S. residential properties for the 12 months ended in March, 2017. That is a massive 49-percent jump from a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors. Foreign purchases of U.S. residential real estate surged to the highest level ever in terms of number of homes sold and dollar volume.

Most economists (not me and a few other progressive economists) have contended that American consumers should enjoy cheap Chinese furniture, rugs, electronics and clothing even if it is illegally dumped in the U.S. They argue that we are getting a bargain. But the side effects, the unintended consequences of this practice, is undermining home ownership in America. We will have all this cheap Chinese stuff and have no home to put it in.

Florida, Texas, California, and New York drew the most international buyers. Foreign sales accounted for 10 percent of all existing home sales by dollar volume. In total, foreign buyers purchased 284,455 homes, up 32 percent from the previous year. Half of all foreign sales were in just three states: Florida, California, and Texas.

Exacerbating Income Inequality

Middle-class home ownership has been the backbone of the American economy and the American dream for generations. The massive influx of foreign dollars is threatening our way of life. Home ownership is down significantly for the first time in American history. In some communities, home ownership has dipped below 50%.

Only 48.3 percent of households in Los Angeles and Orange counties lived in a home they own in the second quarter of 2017, the second-lowest home-ownership rate in the nation. U.S. Census Bureau data released recently shows Fresno, California, at 44.5 percent, having the lowest ownership among the 75 largest metropolitan areas. The New York metro area was third at 49.8 percent.

Housing analyst Logan Mohtashami isn't surprised by low local ownership. He estimates that 82 percent of the working-class people in Southern California can't afford to buy a home in their own ZIP code.

California's statewide ownership fell to 53.8 percent, down from 55.1 percent at the start of 2017. It was fourth-worst in the second quarter behind Washington, D.C. (39.2 percent); New York (50.7 percent); and Hawaii (53.7 percent).

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Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"Kall's well-researched book integrates knowledge from philosophy to economics and ecology. He shows us how, all over the world and across many fields of endeavor, we humans are organizing new and rewarding ways of acting for the common good. His book is both idealistic and realistic and gives us a vision of what we all most need -- hope for the future"



Mary Pipher, psychologist, and #1 New York Times best-selling author of Reviving Ophelia and Writing to Change the World


Slavery

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[This article was first published by The Real News Network, February 24, 2014]

Slavery, King Cotton and the Industrial Revolution , by David William Pear.

Hillary Clinton to Africa" "Get over it".

"For goodness sakes, this is the 21st century. We've got to get over what happened 50, 100, 200 years ago and let's make money for everybody. That's the best way to try to create some new energy and some new growth in Africa."

(Reuters, June 15, 2010: "Africa must reform - Hillary Clinton")

Barack Obama to Africa" "No excuses".

"I think part of what's hampered advancement in Africa is that for many years we've made excuses about corruption or poor governance, that this was somehow the consequence of neo-colonialism, or the West has been oppressive, or racism -- I'm not a big -- I'm not a believer in excuses."

(The Telegraph, July 9, 2009: "Barack Obama tells Africa to stop blaming colonialism for problems.")

[Donald Trump Tweet: President Trump: "George Washington was a slave owner... Are we gonna take down statues to George Washington? How about Thomas Jefferson?"---2017]

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[Author's note: This article will make more sense if first you read at least one of the other articles in this series: Torture, Academic Freedom and a Teachable Moment, or An Old Guard Psychologist Inspires a Chill on Academic Freedom.]

Psychologists for Social Responsibility, an organization of psychologists committed to peace, social justice and human rights, has taken an outraged interest in the move by former American Psychological Association (APA) President Gerald Koocher to persuade decision-making parties to retract an academic article on the psychology-abetting-torture scandal. The article is "A Teachable Ethics Scandal" by Mitchell Handelsman. The SAGE journal Teaching of Psychology published it online in June, and it is currently still available. This journal is also the flagship journal of Division 2 of the APA (though it is not, to prevent any confusion, an APA-published journal, as SAGE and APA are independent and indeed competing publishers).

Though the journal's editor, Andrew Christopher, originally confirmed in July that the retraction would eventually go through, that decision later underwent review, and, according to SAGE Public Relations Associate Camille Gamboa, SAGE now "has no plans" to retract the article (see below). This is a welcome change and possible credit to SAGE's good intentions and responsiveness to the argument that this retraction threatens academic freedom.

However, to the extent the means of Koocher's originally effective persuasion to retract involved a threatened lawsuit or other punitive measure, it is not clear what SAGE or the APA will do to mitigate the effects of any such threatened punishments on the author and editor as individuals.

The scandal that Handelsman's article refers to is the collusion of the American Psychological Association (APA) with the forces of U.S. torture after 9/11. If you have never previously heard of this story, you might want to begin your review of it here.

In her Psychology Today blog, Alice LoCicero, President-Elect of Division 48 of the APA, introduced this concern widely to the public on August 15 with an excellent summary of the retraction controversy and the broader context framing it.

The current APA president Antonio Puente then very swiftly and publicly responded that her blog post was based on "false premises" and reached "false conclusions":

The first error is in asserting that the article "A Teachable Ethics Scandal," by Mitchell M. Handelsman, PhD, is being retracted as part of an organized effort to suppress the American Psychological Association's history regarding interrogation. This is not true. Sage Publishing, which publishes the journal Teaching of Psychology, informs us it has no plans to retract the article. And APA has not asked for such a retraction.



LoCicero did not state there was an organized effort to suppress Handelsman's article--just that the broader "attempt to suppress the story of APA and torture" is part of a context that has "led a journal for an APA division to decide to retract a peer reviewed and accepted paper that would have encouraged ethics teachers to teach about the multiple ethical dilemmas in this series of events."

Note that she said there was a "deci[sion] to retract" not that the article is "being retracted." And she certainly did not state that current APA leadership was part of any organized effort, nor that this leadership had asked for a retraction.

As for SAGE having "no plans" to retract the article, this was news to LoCicero and to all of us who had been watching the controversy closely.

Puente wrote his response August 18. It was not until August 19 that Camille Gamboa, Public Relations Associate at SAGE with whom I had been in obviously-very-concerned correspondence since August 9, informed me by email about this. And she informed me only after I sent her a copy of the APA response:

Sorry not to have alerted you to this notice ahead of time. Yes, I can confirm it is true that there are currently no plans to retract this paper. The only slightly misleading part of the statement is that this is ultimately the decision of the editor of the journal, whom we at SAGE support.

I of course accept her apology because everyone gets busy, but it would be nice if Puente apologized to LoCicero for implying that she was making false statements that were not based on the best knowledge she had available at the time. There was never a public statement from SAGE about having no plans to retract, nor any way she could have found this out prior to the APA president's response.

Also, what is most bizarre is that LoCicero's blog is criticizing a climate of denial that is, I would argue, less saliently associated with the current APA leadership--which has, to its credit, continued to affirm its strong stand against psychologists participating in interrogations.

The climate of denial is much more associated with those who have filed a lawsuit against the APA. These individuals appear unhappy with the more socially responsible direction APA has taken on the torture issue, or at least with the way they as individuals get portrayed in the documented history underlying this change in direction. So the APA president, as he has in other important ways shown his commitment to this new direction, should be welcoming any pressure LoCicero is bringing to bear in this regard.

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From Consortium News



Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu making opening remarks at a joint White House press conference with President Donald Trump on Feb. 15, 2017.

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There's a rumor going around that the Syrian civil war is finally winding down and that the Baathist government is nearing its goal of driving out thousands of ISIS-Al Qaeda head-choppers financed and supplied -- directly or indirectly -- by the U.S., Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the other Persian Gulf oil monarchies.

It would be good news if true. But most likely it's not. While one stage in the Syrian conflict is coming to an end, another is beginning, and this time the results could be even worse.

The reason is Israel, until now the odd man in the latest Mideast wars. Despite intervening sporadically on the rebel side in Syria, the Jewish state generally held itself aloof from the conflict in the belief that events were breaking its way regardless of whether it stepped in or not. After all, why go to war when your enemies are doing a fine job of tearing each other apart on their own?

With President Bashar al-Assad expected to step down eventually, Israel figured that it only had to wait and watch as a hostile regime collapsed under its own weight as it thrashed about unable to restore order to Syria. Never in the Arab-Israeli hundred years' war had Israel seemed stronger and the Arabs weaker and in greater disarray.

But then the unthinkable happened. Assad not only survived but prevailed. Backed by Russia, Iran and the Lebanese Shi'ite militia Hezbollah, he has bottled up Al Qaeda in East Ghouta and Idlib province in the extreme northwest and is racing to lift ISIS's siege on Deir-Ezzor along the Euphrates. If successful, the effect will be to clear a path straight through to the Iraqi border some 30 miles to the east.

U.S. military enclaves may remain in the northeast and in the southern border town of Al-Tanf. But it's hard to see how they'll have much of an impact as the Damascus regime tightens its grip on the country as a whole.

Israeli Outrage

But rather than making a wider war less likely, the upshot is to make it even more. Having bet on the wrong horse, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now finds himself facing a nightmare scenario in which Iran takes advantage of Assad's winning streak to extend its reach from Iraq and Syria into Lebanon beyond. It's not just a question of political influence, but of the emergence of a powerful Iranian-led military bloc.

Eleven years after fighting a vicious 34-day war in southern Lebanon, Israel thus finds itself facing not only Hezbollah but the Syrian Arab Army, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards, and Iraqi Shi'ite militias -- all backed by Russian military might -- in a front extending across its entire northern border. All are battle-hardened after years of combat, better armed, better led, and more self-confident to boot. Israel finds itself confronting a new threat that is many times more powerful than Hezbollah (or Syria) alone.

Israeli consternation is not to be underestimated. One news outlet says the official attitude is one of "grave concern" while an anonymous government minister heaped blame on the U.S. for sacrificing Israeli interests:

"The United States threw Israel under the bus for the second time in a row. The first time was the nuclear agreement with Iran, the second time is now that the United States ignores the fact that Iran is obtaining territorial continuity to the Mediterranean Sea and Israel's northern border. What is most worrisome is that this time, it was President Donald Trump who threw us to the four winds -- though viewed as Israel's great friend. It turns out that when it comes to actions and not just talk, he didn't deliver the goods."

Netanyahu is meanwhile off to the Black Sea resort of Sochi to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin while, in Washington, Israeli military and intelligence officials are meeting with top Trump officials such as National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and special Mideast envoy Jason Greenblatt.

Israel has also engaged in saber-rattling with regard to a missile factory that it says Iran is building in the Syrian port city of Baniyas. Gadi Eisenkot, the Israeli military's chief of staff, said that stopping efforts by Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah to equip themselves with accurate missiles capable of striking deep inside the Jewish state "is our top priority."

Adds Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's hard-right defense minister: "We know what needs to be done... We won't ignore the establishment of Iranian weapons factories in Lebanon."

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Are these words familiar to you?

"He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life & liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither."

Throughout recorded time, individuals have been left unconsidered next to the functions of institutions. It took centuries of individually instigated progression to enable individual rights among the mechanics of elite institutions. The U.S.A. wasn't the first nation to sanction the right of individuals to question and to steer their country. The original patriots were not original in their attempts at liberty, only original at attaining it.

FACT: Thomas Hobbes was a political philosopher born in England, 1588. Thomas penned "Leviathan" among other works. The book was about the basic rights of people relative to formations of people, institutions and authority, which he named leviathans. His political theories angered royalists of the time, though many people supported his revolutionary ideas of basic rights.

The Magna Carta is a collection of documents written in 1215--1225. Parts were copied from the Charter of Liberties, written in 1100, England. These documents provided people with Habeas Corpus, protection from being jailed for nothing, but it mainly addressed royalty, nobility and clergy privilege. It was written as a legislation to prevent the King of England from taking advantage of church officials and other nobility. Those at the base of the pyramid were mostly unconsidered.

The Charter limited the power of kings over the bishops and barons. These documents were mostly concerned with the privileges of the haves, relative to the despotism of the king, the have-all. The Magna Carta inspired the original patriots, but the documents were limited in scope and mostly recognized the institutionalized rather than all individuals.

The 1689 English Bill of Rights set forth certain rights for certain individuals as well; many concepts were shared by the Colonies. Yet the rights were prescribed only for certain individuals. The Colonists believed they were included in the English Bill of Rights, but soon it became apparent they were not.

The original patriots used ideas from England, but they also had other influences. The Haudenosaunee as they called themselves for generations, now known by the name they became associated with by outsiders, The Iroquois, directly influenced the original patriots. The exact etymology of the word Iroquois is unknown, but in all likelihood, the word was once derogatory. The Iroquois Nation of Haudenosaunee is a generations old democracy that was long established when Europeans first arrived. The Iroquois Nation influenced and assisted the European newcomers to North America, formerly known as Turtle Island.

The newcomers, as illustrated by Thomas Jefferson, essentially advocated the genocide of American indigenous peoples, while at the same time looked to many of them as exemplary of tribes forming one common league. The Colonists not only adopted native knowledge, but also, at the same time legalized the theft of their land and institutionalized their expulsion and murder. This must have required a certain amount of doublethink.

The trinity of liberty was influenced by native ideas as well as European concepts. These ideas formed the foundation of the U.S.A., and were themselves a paradigm. Meant to insure the liberty of colonies among empires, they have since changed the world. Individuals have set on a course for increased liberty ever since, for the documents allow progression. The Declaration of Independence was meant to inspire the Colonies to shun the blood right of kings, and has gone on to inspire generations to seek liberty. The Haudenosaunee influence cannot be overlooked.

Through the trinity of liberty, inspired by indigenous democracy, individuals countered the framework of generational, global, oligarchical collectivist exploits. The original patriots questioned and rejected the status quo. Throughout recorded time, nearly everywhere, were fiefdoms, kingdoms and oligarchical empires. Any place and people that weren't designed in such a way, or were weaker, were rolled on and capitalized on. Empires set sail on the Seven Seas to colonize and institutionalize the world over time after time.

The Declaration of Independence was an open letter to the royal and noble oligarchical collectivism of King George III and his underlings. It stated that the people had enough and would no longer support their oligarchical collectivism pattern. They demanded liberty, not a slanted pyramid system. They could taste liberty, being far from the dominant European institutions and they could see liberty exemplified by the autonomous indigenous, and they announced their discontinuance of institutionalization.

The Declaration of Independence was a direct insult to George III and the well cultivated oligarchic and monopolistic institutions. It is a declaration of discontinuance. The Colonists, people without an actual nation to call home, began flattening the slant of the empirical exploiters with an open declaration. The Declaration of Independence boldly questioned the King's actions and announced that the royal exploitations were detested and that they desisted.

The Bill of Rights protects the basic rights of individuals in a complex institutionalized world. They are elementary rights preventing exploitation of one, under another. No institution or individual can supersede the Bill of Rights. It exists to protect individuals from religious, corporate and government institutions. People around the world aspire for the universal rights the trinity of liberty assures. The Bill of Rights was arguably written with the hindsight of The Revolutionary War, with the knowledge of what rights needed to be secure and counters institutional exploitation by providing individual rights.

The Constitution provides framework to a government of the people, for the people and by the people, an institution with checks and balances to guarantee that all actions are questioned and all powers limited. The Constitution did not set up the most effective government, but attempted to set up the most impartial and fair government. The Constitution is adjustable, it develops along with people; its laws are changeable so the government acts without interfering with the individuals and on their behalf.

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From Palestine Chronicle

Not too far away from Seattle, Washington, there are eight ballistic-missile submarines carrying the world's large shipments of nuclear weapons.

The 560-foot-long black submarines are docked at the Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, hauling what is described by Rick Anderson in a recent Los Angeles Times article as "the largest concentration of deployed nuclear weapons in the US."

"If it were a sovereign nation," Anderson wrote, quoting government estimates, "Washington State would be the third-largest nuclear-weapons power in the world."

One is often haunted by this manifest reality, especially whenever a nuclear crisis between the US and North Korea flares up, such as the one which started in late July. At the time, US President Donald Trump threatened Pyongyang with "fire and fury like the world has never seen before," while Kim Jong-un seemed undaunted.

Americans are assured by their military power -- both conventional and nuclear. Most people here are either not aware, or simply do not care, about the disparity between their country's nuclear capabilities and the miniscule nuclear weapons program operated by North Korea.

Visiting Kitsap-Bangor early August, US Defense Secretary, James N. Mattis, toured the USS Kentucky and declared that the submarine is ready for action, if needed.

The nuclear load that the USS Kentucky alone carries is equal to 1,400 bombs, the size of which the US dropped and subsequently destroyed Hiroshima, Japan in 1945.

North Korea's saber-rattling in recent weeks -- which are a repeat of previous episodes such as in April of this year and twice last year -- should be cause for alarm. But far scarier is the fact that North Korea's entire nuclear stockpiles consist of 60 nuclear weapons, compared with 6,970 owned by the US, out of which 1,750 are operational.

To place these numbers in a global perspective, there are an estimated 15,000 nuclear weapons, worldwide.

While the North Koreans require a sixth successful test to put a nuclear warhead on an intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), the US has conducted 1,030 such nuclear tests, starting in July 1945.

Surely, one cannot excuse the foolish and desperate behavior of Pyongyang and its "beloved leader." But the truth is Kim Jong-un is behaving in a way consistent with the legacy of his forefathers -- paranoid dictators, desperate to survive amid global rivalries and an old regional war that has never truly ended.

Indeed, there is more to this crisis than Kim Jong-un and his unpredictable antics.

In mainstream media, North Korea is often referred to as a "highly secretive nation." Such references give pundits and politicians an uncontested platform to make whatever assumptions that suit them. But the legacy of the Korean War (1950-53), which divided Korea and its peoples is hardly a secret. An estimated 4 million people were killed in that most savage war, including 2 million civilians.

The US and its allies fought that war under the flag of the nascent United Nations. It is not very difficult to imagine why North Koreans detest the US, distrust US allies and loathe the UN and its repeated sanctions, especially as the country often suffers from food insecurity -- among other problems.

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From In These Times

The unimaginable is now possible: 100 percent renewable energy. We can't settle for less.

THE KNOCK ON ENVIRONMENTALISTS IS THAT THEY'VE BEEN BETTER AT OPPOSING THAN PROPOSING. Sure, being against overheating the planet or melting the ice caps should probably speak for itself -- but it doesn't give us a means. So it's important news that the environmental movement seems to be rallying round a new flag. That standard bears a number: 100 percent.

It's the call for the rapid conversion of energy systems around the country to 100 percent renewable power -- a call for running the United States (and the world) on sun, wind and water. What Medicare for All is to the healthcare debate, or Fight for $15 is to the battle against inequality, 100% Renewable is to the struggle for the planet's future. It's how progressives will think about energy going forward -- and though it started in northern Europe and Northern California, it's a call that's gaining traction outside the obvious green enclaves. In the last few months, cities as diverse as Atlanta and Salt Lake have taken the pledge.

No more half-measures. Barack Obama drove environmentalists crazy with his "all-of-the-above" energy policy, which treated sun and wind as two items on a menu that included coal, gas and oil. That is not good enough. Many scientists tell us that within a decade, at current rates, we'll likely have put enough carbon in the atmosphere to warm the Earth past the Paris climate targets. Renewables -- even the most rapid transition -- won't stop climate change, but getting off fossil fuel now might (there are no longer any guarantees) keep us from the level of damage that would shake civilization.

In any event, we no longer need to go slow: In the last few years, engineers have brought the price of renewables so low that, according to many experts, it would make economic sense to switch over even if fossil fuels weren't wrecking the Earth. That's why the appeal of 100% Renewable goes beyond the Left. If you pay a power bill, it's the common-sense path forward.

TO UNDERSTAND WHY IT TOOK A WHILE TO GET TO THIS POINT, CONSIDER THE SOLAR PANEL. We've had this clever device since Bell Labs produced the first model in 1954. Those panels lost 94 percent of the solar energy in conversion and were incredibly expensive to produce, which meant that they didn't find many uses on planet Earth. In space, however, they were essential. Buzz Aldrin deployed a solar panel on the moon not long after Apollo 11 touched down.

Improvements in efficiency and drops in price came slowly for the next few decades. (Ronald Reagan, you may recall, took down the solar panels Jimmy Carter had installed atop the White House.) But in 1998, with climate fears on the rise, a close election in Germany left the Social Democrats in need of an alliance with the Green Party. The resulting coalition government began moving the country toward renewable energy.

As German demand for solar panels and wind turbines grew, factories across China learned to make the panels ever more cheaply and the price of panels began to plummet, a freefall that continues to this day. Germany now has days where half its power is generated by the sun. In 2017, solar or wind power wins most competitive bids for electric supply: India just announced the closure of dozens of coal mines and the cancellation of plans for new coal-fired generating stations because the low cost of solar power was undercutting fossil fuel. Even in oil-rich Abu Dhabi, free power from the sun is impossible to resist, and massive arrays are going up amidst the oil fields.

One person who noticed the falling prices and improving technology early on was Mark Jacobson, director of Stanford University's Atmosphere and Energy Program. In 2009, his team published a series of plans showing how the United States could generate all its energy from the sun, the wind and the falling water that produces hydropower. Two years later, Jacobson and a crew of co-conspirators -- including actor Mark Ruffalo -- launched the Solutions Project to move the idea out of academic journals and into the real world. The group has since published detailed plans for most of the planet's countries. If you want to know how many acres of south-facing roof you can find in Alabama or how much wind blows across Zimbabwe, these are the folks to ask.

With each passing quarter, the 100 percent target is becoming less an aspirational goal and more the obvious solution. Hell, I spent the spring in some of the poorest parts of Africa where people -- for the daily price of enough kerosene to fill a single lamp -- were installing solar panels and powering up TVs, radios and LED bulbs. If you can do it in Germany and Ghana, you can do it in Grand Rapids and Gainesville.

Even 72 percent of Republicans want to "accelerate the development of clean energy." That explains why, for example, the Sierra Club is finding dramatic success with its #ReadyFor100 campaign, which lobbies cities to commit to 100 percent renewable. Sure, the usual suspects, such as Berkeley, Calif., were quick to sign on. But by early summer the U.S. Conference of Mayors had endorsed the drive, and leaders were popping up in unexpected places. Columbia, S.C., Mayor Steve Benjamin put it this way: "It's not merely an option now; it's imperative."

Environmental groups from the Climate Mobilization to Greenpeace to Food and Water Watch are backing the 100 percent target, differing mainly on how quickly we must achieve the transition, with answers ranging from one decade to around three. The right answer, given the state of the planet, is 25 years ago. The second best: as fast as is humanly possible. That means, at least in part, as fast as government can help make it happen. The market will make the transition naturally over time (free sunlight and wind is a hard proposition to beat), but time is the one thing we haven't got, so subsidies, hard targets and money to help spread the revolution to the poorest parts of the world are all crucial.

That's why it's so significant that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) joined with Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) in April to propose the first federal 100 percent bill. It won't pass Congress this year -- but as a standard to shape the Democratic Party agenda in 2018 and 2020, it's critically important.

Congress, however, is not the only legislative body that matters in America. Earlier this year, for instance, the California State Senate passed -- by a 2-1 margin -- a bill that would take the world's sixth-largest economy to 100 percent renewable by 2045. Last month, Gov. Jerry Brown, in a bid to recreate the spirit of the Paris climate talks, invited the world's "sub-national" leaders -- governors, mayors, regional administrators -- to a San Francisco conference in September 2018.

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Rev John Ntim Fordjour, Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin South has urged parliament and government to stand its ground and resist pressure to legalize homosexuality in the country.



His comment follows reports that a group of Ghanaians abroad are collecting signatures to put pressure on government to decriminalize the act.



Speaking in an interview on Peace FM morning show Kokrokoo, Thursday, the MP said even though the pressure is increasing on government to legalise homosexuality in the country, we need to be bold and condemn it.



According to him, the group according to reports had sought to canvass support from certain powerful persons and institutions in Canada to put pressure on Ghana to decriminalise homosexuality; however it will not work.



God in his infinite wisdom created a man and a woman to be fruitful and multiply. He didnt create a man and a man or a woman and a womanin Ghana, per our culture and even our constitution, this is not allowed and acceptedwe should be bold to condemn and stand against this; we must resist the pressure from other countries. We must protect our constitution and the rule of law. All must rise and resist that pressure he said.



Meanwhile, addressing a press conference in Accra, the MP called for prayers and support of all religious leaders, traditional rulers and the media to ensure that godliness is upheld.



Let us be steadfast and uphold godly legislation. I hereby solicit the unfailing prayers and support of all religious leaders, traditional rulers and the media to ensure that godliness prevailed in our most cherished society he said.









Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Acting National Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Frederick Worsemao Armah Blay, is appealing to Ghanaians to give the Akufo-Addo government more time to fix the mess created by his predecessor John Mahama.



Freddie Blay said government inherited a heavily indebted economy from the erstwhile John Mahama government, worse than any other government has met in office in the history of Ghana.



He, however, was confident that Nana Akufo-Addo remains committed to tackling the problems.



Speaking in an exclusive interview on Asempa FMs Ekosii Sen programme Wednesday, the former First Deputy Speaker of the Fourth Parliament bemoaned how Ghanas resources have been depleted to the bone, by appointees in the past National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.



He stated that, as at the beginning of 2009, Ghanas total debt stock was GH?9.5 billion but by the end of 2016, the debt stock had ballooned to GH?122 billion representing 72 percent of GDP  a situation he described as worrying.



Freddie Blay was, however, upbeat that President Akufo-Addo had what it takes to overturn the ill-fortunes of the country.



Our economy is in difficulty and it is, therefore, time for all of us to put our shoulders to the wheel; work hard and have the appropriate policies in place that will enable us to lift our economy and bring relief to our population, he charged.



The former Parliamentarian expressed confidence in the appointees of the current administration whom he described as men and women of integrity who have passed several tests of public scrutiny.



Im more than confident they will deliver.



Freddie Blay urged Ghanaians to support the Akufo-Addo government to accelerate Ghanas development.

Source: Myjoyonline.com









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The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, returned to Ghana on Wednesday, August 23, 2017, after his 3-day official visit to Equatorial Guinea, with the visit serving as an opportunity for the two countries to strengthen existing bilateral cooperation.



The meetings between President Akufo-Addo and President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo were held in a friendly and cordial atmosphere, as the two leaders examined issues bordering on bilateral, regional and international cooperation, and reaffirmed their commitment to work hand-in-hand to strenghten the ties of cooperation for the mutual benefit of their peoples.



Addressing internal issues in their respective countries, President Obiang Mbasogo congratulated President Akufo-Addo on his decisive victory in the election of 2016, whilst President Akufo-Addo, on his part, congratulated his counterpart for the tremendous developments that have taken place in his country.



Expressing satisfaction at the level of cooperation between the two countries, the two Heads of State mandated their respective Ministers of Foreign Affairs to reactivate the Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation (PJCC) between Equatorial Guinea and Ghana, which serves as the framework to promote cooperation in the areas of oil and gas, energy, agriculture, food security, mineral resources, maritime transport, civil aviation, trade, defense and security, education, health, among others.



In the area of maritime transport, Ghana proposed the establishment of a shipping link between the two countries using Tema-Port Harcourt-Douala-Malabo route, which will also boost trade and commercial activities between the West and Central Africa.



Following further discussions and deliberations, both countries agreed and subsequently signed two Agreements namely: the waiver of visa requirements for citizens of both countries holding Diplomatic, Official and Service Passports; and Heads of Agreement on the Supply of LNG and the support regarding import infrastructure.



Multilaterally, both Heads of State expressed their support to global and African initiatives for the prevention of and peaceful settlement of conflicts, respect for the Charters of the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU), independence and sovereignty of States, as well as non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.



President Akufo-Addo and President Obiang Mbasogo also expressed concern about the resurgence of tensions on the African continent, and agreed on the urgent need to combat the growing threats of terrorism. They condemned recent terrorist attacks in Burkina Faso, Spain and Iceland, and regretted the loss of human lives in Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo and other parts of the world.



The pair also expressed their desire to achieve regional integration through the AU Agenda to achieve a Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA), which is aimed at boosting intra-African trade.



President Akufo-Addo congratulated his Equato-Guinean counterpart on the election of Equatorial Guinea as a Non-Permanent Member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the period 2018-2019.



Touching on UN reforms, the two leaders agreed that African countries should support the Ezulwuni Consensus, and expand the representation of African countries into the categories of Permanent and Non-Permanent Members of the Un Security COuncil, with the purpose of making it more efficient, legitimate and representative to reflect the realities of the world today. The Presidents



During his visit to the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, President Akufo-Addo visited infrastructure and energy development projects in the city of Malabo, and at the end of his visit extended an invitation to President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo to visit Ghana.



President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo accepted the invitation, which would be communicated through the diplomatic channels with delight.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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The Media Specialist for the President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Ghana, Dzid Enyonam Kwame has bemoaned the rate at which HIV/AIDS cases are rising again in the country.



The 2016 HIV sentinel survey report disclosed that Volta and Brong Ahafo Regions have topped the list of prevalence rate in the country.



In 2014 and 2015, the prevalence rate was 1.6 and 1.8 per cent respectively.



According to the report, the two regions recorded the highest prevalence rate of 2.7 per cent for 2016 which is above the national HIV prevalence of 2.4 per cent. The prevalence rate for the other regions are: Eastern 2.6 per cent, Ashanti 2.6 per cent, Western 2.5 per cent, Upper West 2.5 per cent, Greater Accra 2.4 per cent, Central 1.8 per cent and Upper East 1.7 per cent.



The Ghana AIDS commission has attributed the rise in infections to the low use of condoms.



Speaking in an interview during the closing ceremony of a two day workshop organized by PEPFAR and ACEDEV (African Centre for Development) for the media in Accra, Thursday, Madam Kwame said there is the need for Ghanaians to protect themselves and avoid engaging in unprotected sex.



According to her, the media need to step up its game of educating the public in having safe sex.



The media need to rise to the occasion and help educate the public to protect themselves. HIV/AIDS is under reported in Ghanabecause people are now living longer thanks to ARVs (Antiretroviral drugs), we have neglected HIV/AIDS issues. This shouldnt be because whether we like it or not we still have prevalence in Ghana; if we continue to do that infections will rise we need to take care of ourselves, have protected sexensuring an AIDS free generation she urged.



Achieving 90-90-90 by 2020



90-90-90 is a concept on HIV/AIDS introduced by the United Nation to be achieved by 2020. The first 90 is to ensure that 90 percent of people infected with HIV will be diagnosed. The second 90 is to ensure that people who are tested positive will be put on the antiretroviral (ARV) treatment immediately. The treatment must be consistent and sustained to prevent the virus from multiplying. The third 90 is to make sure those who receive the ARVs will be virally suppressed.



Speaking to this concept, Madam Kwame said: we are hoping that by 2020 we will be able to achieve this goal and we hope that the media will help us to achieve thatwith this information we wish that we will stop the infections that have started going up and eventually we can also get the government to be more involved in HIV/AIDS issues



PEPFAR



PEPFAR is a United States governmental initiative to address the global HIV/AIDS epidemic and help save the lives of those suffering from the disease, mainly in Africa.



PEPFAR has helped in making the world safe from infectious disease and threats. It was originally conceived as a compassionate effort to deliver life-saving services in countries hardest hit by HIV/AIDS. Now, it is also undertaking the challenge of controlling the epidemic.

Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









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Illegal timber logging has been identified as a major threat to Ghanas forest which also serve as the sources of most of the river bodies that is used by the people.



Most rivers including the Densu which hosts the Weija dam that produces water for most people in the Greater Accra Region have its source from the Atiwa forest located in the Eastern Region.



It is estimated that about 80 per cent of all wood sold in the country are acquired illegally from Ghanas forest and the government is the highest consumer of such illegal wood also known as bush cut, as a result of various infrastructural projects that it engages in.



During a two-day media training workshop on the Public Procurement Policy (PPP) on Timber and Timber Products in Ghana, organized by the Nature and Development Foundation (NDF), an NGO with support from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), media personnel learnt that most of Ghanas forest cover was critically threatened amidst indiscriminate timber logging being done by chainsaw operators without regard to the laws.



Meanwhile the status of the Public Procurement Policy on Timber and Timber Products which the country started developing in 2012 to help guide how timber products could be sourced and used, is in limbo as its now being shelved.



Ms Matilda Appiah, Project Officer of NDF, said in an expression of commitment to show leadership in addressing illegal logging and trade in timber and timber products, and to support the development of sustainable forest management, the Government through the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources (MLNR) and the Timber Industry Development Division (TIDD) of the Forestry Commission started the development of the PPP on Timber and Timber Products for the domestic market.



She said the aim of the PPP was to use the purchasing power of government procurement to signal the market in favour of legally and sustainably produced timber and timber products.



She said to support the Governments effort at sanitizing the forestry and timber sector, the NDF with financial assistance from the FAO, collaborated with the MLNR and the TIDD to develop implementation guidelines for the policy.

She said the NDF also helped trained regional, metropolitan, municipal and district level procurement officers from the Ashanti and Greater Accra regions on the guidelines and the policy to ensure effective implementation.



However, after these actions, much has not been done in getting the policy passed, Ms Appiah noted.



Mr Glen Asomaning, Operations Director of NDF, said since the beginning of the century, Ghanas forest cover which was 8.2 million hectares had reduced to 1.6 million hectares in present times due to many illegal activities being perpetuated through deforestation, high demand for arable land, as well as weak enforcement of laws.



He said the state of the world forest was not too good and that of Ghana had become so critical as the country loses 55,000 hectares of forest annually and that if sustainable forestry management was not adopted it would be very detrimental to the survival of current and succeeding generations.



Mr Mustapha Seidu, Director of NDF urged Ghanaians to stop patronizing illegal timber from the market usually brought in by chainsaw operators which usually look shorter in length than the legally cut wood and also have rough edges most of the time.



He said most of the illegal wood usually does not last longer when they are used for building and other construction projects because the chainsaw operators always cut any wood in the forest without recourse to any regulations, making people to incur more cost.



People should ask for sawmill wood, which are highly susceptible to be from legal timber, he advised.



The purpose of the media training was to give participants an exposure to the public procurement policy on timber and timber products, and to build capacity of journalists to follow up on appropriate authorities to ensure that Ghanas forest cover was properly maintained to save humanity.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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To the extent that other presidential hopefuls have not stated their full intention of running in a contest in the Presidential slot within the NDC, exposes their weakness as aspiring leaders, that is the contention of NDC activist and a member of the main opposition, Communication team, Stephen Atubiga.



Atubiga referred to the position taken by such persons as a flawed and defeatists strategy showing lack of seriousness in their so-called Presidential ambition.



This tells us that those who are not clear about their intentions are indecisive and not bold enough, they are not good leaders for this country. Besides that, I can tell you that they dont know what is good for them. If you so wish to be President why are you hiding your ambitions? For me even if John Mahama decides to run again or not, Ill still contest. Atubiga told Kasapa FM.



The race still remains unclear at this point for the NDC flagbearership contest, as several names have come up but none has yet stated emphatically to run apart from the two-time failed parliamentary candidate aspirant, Stephen Atubiga.



Mr. Atubiga after posters of him popped up on social media platforms as presidential candidate for the 2020 elections on the ticket of the main opposition party, on Wednesday, August 23, 2017 confirmed his plans to run on Anopa Kasapa on Kasapa 102.5 FM.



He joins the likes of former Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Ekow Spio Gabrah; former Chief Executive of the National Health Insurance Authority, Mr Sylvester Mensah; former Vice Chancellor of University for Professional Studies, Prof Joshua Alibi; immediate past Chief of Staff, Mr Julius Deborah, and former MP for La Dadekotopon, Nii Amasah Namoale, who have all been rumored to be interested in the main oppositions flag bearer post.



Mr Atubiga announced his presence on Ghanas political scene when he contested the 2012 NDC parliamentary primary in the Binduri constituency but lost by three votes. He subsequently joined the partys communications team and made headlines after he was sentenced together with Ken Kuranchie to three days in prison during the 2012 election petition hearing for contempt.



Determined to achieve his dream, Mr Atubiga made another failed attempt in 2015 to contest the 2016 parliamentary election on the ticket of the NDC in the Binduri constituency. Relentless on seeing the NDC retain power, he joined the partys campaign team and toured the length and breadth of the country with then President Mahama.



Hes reportedly reading law at Zenith University College in Accra in furtherance of his political ambition after the NDCs defeat at the 2016 polls.

Source: kasapafmonline









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Schnitzeljagd (hunt of the Schnitzel) in Solden has long been established, but on a rememberable weekend in July, the Hornli Trail Hunt celebrated its premiere. And it was fun  the tricky tasks, good people and great food, amazing trails and chill-out party kind of fun.The idea behind the Hornli Trail Hunt is simple, but catchy: riding great trails with like-minded people and having as much fun as humanly possible. In teams of two, the riders in Arosa, Lenzerheide took on the challenge of winning the golden Hornli (or little horn  like the ibex have them, like the traditional Swiss pasta dish or like the mountain in Arosa called Hornli). The tasks: solving tricky missions at four different mountain huts and finding two checkpoints on a free-to-choose route while exploring the lush meadows and seemingly endless downhill trails of Arosa, Lenzerheide.The Trail Hunt got off to a foggy start  literally: the peak of Mount Weisshorn was coated in clouds. But the mist soon made space for a spectacular view of the countless mountains and singletrack in the Grisons destination. Around 40 teams  each one with their own strategy to cross the finish line as the first riders  made their way up with the Arosa  Weisshorn gondola as they got on their bikes and waited for Holger Meyers starting signal.After the Le Mans-start, the first 500 meters were just rubble and crushed rocks  a real challenge for the participants. At the Hornli Trail Hunt flag, the teams had to decide whether to turn left or right. It was not the last decision they needed to make during the day. If you take the wrong way, you might miss the Urdenbahn tramway  and that will cost you a lot of time. Whoever misses the tramway has to cross the Urdental by bike  nice views, but kind of exhausting.The participants didnt only need to find out which trails was best to take regarding being the fastest and catching the lift, but they also had to pass tricky challenges. For example riding a parkour with Scott Bikes  but not the regular kind: Kids bikes, or cutting a croissant with a Leatherman. Not only a tricky task, but also a delicious and welcome treat, because theres not a lot of time for eating except for in the gondolaIn addition to the trails, there were was a lot of local wildlife to discover  like the cute marmots or the cows who are just enjoying life in this beautiful surrounding.Happy animals, epic trails, and stoked riders  thats what its all about in Arosa, Lenzerheide. The favourite trail of all the participants was probably the downhill one from the Gredigs Furggli down to the Alplisee Lake, where you can just enjoy the flow. Its pretty hard, though, to keep your eyes on the trail because the view is just what dreams are made of.Having reached all the checkpoints, passed all the tasks, and just relished the nature of Arosa, Lenzerheide, the first teams reached the finish line in just under three hours, welcomed by Holger Meyer and a roaring crowd. Before the tombola and the award ceremony, everyone enjoyed a yummy Hornli-fest (pasta with minced beef) and shared their experiences on the trails of the Hornli Trail Hunt. We are happy to say that most teams agree: they want to make those experiences again next year.Thank you very much to all the riders and most of all to  Die Rasenmaher   we are excited to welcome you back next summer.You can find the results of the first Hornli Trail Hunt here and be sure to watch the video by Marc Welschinger Photos by Christoph Bayer Fotography @LenzerheideBikepark
It's not always easy to decide what movie to watch!

As we approach the weekend, movies we have been waiting for have finally premiered. Popdust's top picks this week. Birth of the Dragon gives us an account of Bruce Lee before he was famous actor. He seems to be more of a street fighter than a master, but he has a face-off with a ku fu master that catapulted him into a legendary status. All Saints is an inspirational film about faith and how a closing church keeps it's doors open by turning the pasture of land the church owns into a farm with the help of some refugees. Leap! not only tempts fate, but is a new animated movie that shows 2 dreamers follow their callings, to be a dancer and an inventor, set in the backdrop of Paris, when the Eiffel Tower was constructed. Ghost House bundles up all my fears and contains them in a little house in Thailand. Tip: you would be better off not touching anything. The Villainess is the Korean Le Femme Nikita mixed with a little bit of Old Boy. Korean cinema produces such great work. This could be the best pick this week. The trailer is insane! There some great films, so check out the Popdust top five movie trailers. Then peep the full listing of releases to come out this weekend.

1. All Saints (2017)

ALL SAINTS is based on the inspiring true story of salesman-turned-pastor Michael Spurlock (John Corbett), the tiny church he was ordered to shut down, and a group of refugees from Southeast Asia. Together, they risked everything to plant seeds for a future that might just save them all.



PG | 1h 48min | Drama | Get Tickets for ALL SAINTS

Director: Steve Gomer | Stars: Cara Buono, John Corbett, Barry Corbin, David Keith

2. Birth of the Dragon (2016)

[rebelmouse-proxy-image https://media.rbl.ms/image?u=%2Ff%2Fstyles%2Fwwe_large%2Fpublic%2Fall%2F2017%2F07%2F20170713_BIRTHOFDRAGON_FEED--faecd50fd4ccd6c6ef5b516a2734ffe9.jpg&ho=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wwe.com&s=280&h=739eeac49f1744562a187d0a74d9ac976b9d1a2e32f90b889af583557710c367&size=980x&c=610805561 image-library="0" caption="WWE.com" pin_description="" crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//media.rbl.ms/image%3Fu%3D%252Ff%252Fstyles%252Fwwe_large%252Fpublic%252Fall%252F2017%252F07%252F20170713_BIRTHOFDRAGON_FEED--faecd50fd4ccd6c6ef5b516a2734ffe9.jpg%26ho%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.wwe.com%26s%3D280%26h%3D739eeac49f1744562a187d0a74d9ac976b9d1a2e32f90b889af583557710c367%26size%3D980x%26c%3D610805561%22%7D" alt="Birth of the Dragon trailer" expand=1 photo_credit=""] WWE.com

Set against the backdrop of 1960s San Francisco, BIRTH OF THE DRAGON is a modern take on the classic movies that Bruce Lee was known for. It takes its inspiration from the epic and still controversial showdown between an up-and-coming Bruce Lee and kung fu master Wong Jack Man - a battle that gave birth to a legend.



PG-13 | 1h 43min | Action, Biography, Drama | Get Tickets for BIRTH OF A DRAGON

Director: George Nolfi | Stars: Billy Magnussen, Yu Xia, Philip Ng

3. Leap! (2016)

An orphan girl dreams of becoming a ballerina and flees her rural Brittany for Paris, where she passes for someone else and accedes to the position of pupil at the Grand Opera house.



PG | 1h 29min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy | Get Tickets for LEAP!

Director: Eric Summer | Eric Warin | Stars: Elle Fanning, Dane DeHaan, Carly Rae Jepsen, Maddie Ziegler

4. Ghost House (2017)

A young couple go on an adventurous vacation to Thailand only to find themselves haunted by a malevolent spirit after naively disrespecting a Ghost House. Desperate for a solution, they spiral deeper into a surreal, supernatural world that leads them into a frenzied, terrifying confrontation with pure evil.

Unrated | 1h 29min | Horror, Thriller | Get Tickets for GHOST HOUSE

Director: Rich Ragsdale | Stars: Scout Taylor-Compton, James Landry Hebert, Mark Boone Junior

5. The Villainess (2017)

Sook-hee is a trained assassin who was born to kill. She was just a little girl when the training started in Yanbian, China. After the death of her mentor, when the chance of starting a new life was given to her, she came to South Korea as a government agent. They promised her that she will be free after ten years of service. So she begins her new life as a theatre actress. But soon two men Joong-sang and Hyun-soo appear in her new life. And she started to find deep dark secrets about her past. Eventually she take matters into her own hands.



Unrated | 2h 9min | Action, Drama | Get Tickets for THE VILLAINESS

Director: Byung-gil Jung | Stars: Catherine Deneuve, Catherine Frot, Olivier Gourmet, Quentin Dolmaire

Full list of new movies in theaters this weekend:

Friday, August 25, 2017
PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-24 21:03:01

A.M. Best Upgrades Issuer Credit Rating of Seguros Inbursa S.A. Grupo Financiero Inbursa

A.M. Best

Salvador Smith, +52 55 1102 2720, ext. 109

Associate Financial Analyst

salvador.smith@ambest.com

or

Christopher Sharkey, +1 908-439-2200, ext. 5159

Manager, Public Relations

christopher.sharkey@ambest.com

or

Alfonso Novelo, +52 55 1102 2720, ext. 107

Senior Director, Analytics

alfonso.novelo@ambest.com

or

Jim Peavy, +1 908-0439-2200, ext. 5644

Director, Public Relations

james.peavy@ambest.com

A.M. Best has upgraded the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) to a+ from a and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A (Excellent) and the Mexico National Scale Rating (NSR) of aaa.MX of Seguros Inbursa S.A. Grupo Financiero Inbursa (Seguros Inbursa) (Mexico). The outlook of the Long-Term ICR has been revised to stable from positive, while the outlook of the FSR and NSR remain stable.

The upgrade of the Long-Term ICR reflects Seguros Inbursas excellent risk-adjusted capitalization and consistent profits supported by a stable flow of investment income, along with low underwriting leverage, a diversified business profile and the companys affiliation with Grupo Financiero Inbursa S.A.B. de C.V. (Grupo Financiero Inbursa), one of the largest financial groups in Mexico.

Seguros Inbursa writes life and non-life business, and remains one of the largest and most profitable domestic insurance companies in Mexico. Auto insurance was one of the companys top performing business lines in 2016, a line of business that currently represents 22.8% of gross written premiums. The company has shown disciplined underwriting in a highly competitive market, consistently reporting overall premium sufficiency levels that compare positively among its closest competitors. Seguros Inbursa maintained high claims volume in 2016; however, the companys strong underwriting policies coupled with the positive effects from non-recurring adjustments derived from the implementation of Solvency II-type regulation helped to maintain its combined ratio below the 100% threshold, standing at 95% in 2016. A.M. Best expects the companys good underwriting performance to continue in 2017.

Historically, the company has operated with low underwriting leverage. Seguros Inbursas risk-based capitalization remains fully supportive of its current Credit Ratings (ratings). Adjusted capital has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 10.8% during the past five years, and A.M. Best expects this trend to continue as a result of sound underwriting, conservative reserves, and dividends and investment policies, as well as an effective cost containment strategy. In addition, Seguros Inbursa continues to benefit from significant operating efficiencies afforded by Grupo Financiero Inbursas vast financial and system networks.

Partially offsetting these positive rating factors is the strong competitive environment in Mexicos insurance market, which A.M. Best believes could pressure the profitability and market share of the company.

Key rating drivers that could lead to positive rating actions for Seguros Inbursa include continued favorable trends in profitability and capital growth. Conversely, sharp deterioration in underwriting results or a significant weakening of its risk-adjusted capitalization, as measured by Bests Capital Adequacy Model, could trigger negative rating actions.

The methodology used in determining these ratings is Bests Credit Rating Methodology, which provides a comprehensive explanation of A.M. Bests rating process and contains the different rating criteria employed in the rating process. Bests Credit Rating Methodology can be found at www.ambest.com/ratings/methodology.

Key insurance criteria reports utilized:

A.M. Bests Ratings on a National Scale (Version Sept. 5, 2014)

Catastrophe Analysis in A.M. Best Ratings (Version Nov. 3, 2011)

Evaluating Non-Insurance Ultimate Parents (Feb. 24, 2012)

Evaluating Country Risk (Version May 2, 2012)

Rating Members of Insurance Groups (Version Dec. 15, 2014)

Risk Management and the Rating Process for Insurance Companies (Version April 2, 2013)

Understanding Universal BCAR (Version May 1, 2017)

View a general description of the policies and procedures used to determine credit ratings. For information on the meaning of ratings, structure, voting and the committee process for determining the ratings and monitoring activities, please refer to Understanding Bests Credit Ratings.

Previous Rating Date: Aug. 26, 2016

Date of Financial Data Used: June 30, 2017

This press release relates to rating(s) that have been published on A.M. Best's website. For additional rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see A.M. Bests Recent Rating Activity web page.

A.M. Best does not validate or certify the information provided by the client in order to issue a credit rating.

While the information obtained from the material source(s) is believed to be reliable, its accuracy is not guaranteed. A.M. Best does not audit the companys financial records or statements, or otherwise independently verify the accuracy and reliability of the information; therefore, A.M. Best cannot attest as to the accuracy of the information provided.

A.M. Bests credit ratings are independent and objective opinions, not statements of fact. A.M. Best is not an Investment Advisor, does not offer investment advice of any kind, nor does the company or its Ratings Analysts offer any form of structuring or financial advice. A.M. Bests credit opinions are not recommendations to buy, sell or hold securities, or to make any other investment decisions. View our entire notice for complete details.

A.M. Best receives compensation for interactive rating services provided to organizations that it rates. A.M. Best may also receive compensation from rated entities for non-rating related services or products offered by A.M. Best. A.M. Best does not offer consulting or advisory services. For more information regarding A.M. Bests rating process, including handling of confidential (non-public) information, independence, and avoidance of conflicts of interest, please read the A.M. Best Code of Conduct. For information on the proper media use of Bests Credit Ratings and A.M. Best press releases, please view Guide for Media - Proper [..].

A.M. Best is the worlds oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright  2017 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201708240061
Asia Pacific Waste To Energy Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-24 10:38:55

Press Information





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+1-347-918-3531

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# 689 Words

Abhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531

Waste to energy (WTE) is the process of utilizing waste to generate energy or electricity. Various technologies are used to generate energy from waste source such as, municipal domestic waste. Energy generated from the process can be in form of electricity, fuel or heat.The WTE management is considered as a vital part of the waste disposal infrastructure of any nation as it also comes under renewable energy sources. Waste to energy market refers to electricity generated with utilization of waste resources.Rapid change in consumption pattern and lifestyle of the population, along with migration of people towards urban areas are triggering urban waste accumulation, hence demanding a better infrastructure for its safe disposal and reuse.Various corporate or energy producing companies have ventured into waste to energy market by deploying their facilities. Types of waste that can be used in the waste to energy market include utilization of semi solid waste discharged from the industrial plants, liquid waste like domestic sewage and gaseous waste produced in refinery.Request Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-ap-299 Waste to energy market can be segmented on the basis of technology used, viz. thermal and biological. Thermal technology can be further bifurcated on the basis of oxygen used in the process, combustion (excess oxygen), gasification (partial oxygen) and pyrolysis (no oxygen). Biological process can be used in a process where anaerobic decomposition of the solid waste is required. In Asia pacific, incineration is the most commonly used technology in waste to energy market. Incineration cuts the cost required in the transportation of waste to landfills. There has been a noticeable rise in the production of industrial and municipal waste, demanding innovation in existing waste to energy management technologies.Necessity to maintain balance between the three Es that is, saving the Environment, Economic development and Energy independence can clearly explain the need of waste management thus driving growth in waste to energy market. Companies are adopting aforementioned technologies to reduce discharge of waste material and generate confined energy in parallel. For instance, General Motors through its renaissance center and landfill-free sites has been able to eliminate over 10 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions in 2013.Waste to energy management supports nation to conserve energy resources and earn carbon credits, which can be further used to gain profit via carbon credit trading. Additionally, converting a waste into a beneficial product will leadto an economic development of a country by turning a liability into an asset. China is considered as one of the forerunnersin waste to energy market.Asia pacific waste to energy market is expected to grow two folds by 2020 with promising CAGR. Japan primarily dominates waste to energy market in Asia pacific, owing to its increasing waste to energy technology adoption. Rapid growth of residential and industrial wastes in China and India,and supports by government to endorse sustainable energy generation are anticipated to drive the regional waste to energy market.Rapid rise in industrial and domestic wastes are provoking governments across the region to support energy production from waste, positively impacting the growth of waste to energy market. Also strong shift towards the renewable resources from coal, decreasing carbon footprints is driving the waste to energy market. Rise in economic development is anticipated to lead to the increase in the municipal domestic waste and hence will drive the demand of waste to energy market.Various developing nations have implemented landfills, due to its less implementation cost. This can be an inhibitor for waste to energy market, as methane gas is emitted from the landfill. Industries playing an active role in the economic development of the nation are energetically using WTE technologies.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-ap-299 Regional key players in waste to energy market includeThe Babcock & Wilcox Company, China Everbright International Limited, Xcel Energy, Suez Environment S.A, Waste Management Inc., C&G Environmental Protection Holdings Ltd., Veolia Environment and Foster Wheeler AG.Waste to energy market is expected to grow significantly in Asia pacific region. India, China and Japan will be the boon for the growth of the nation in the forecasted year duration.
PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-24 02:02:01

Company broadens footprint in Singapore, New Zealand, India and Northern Asia; appoints key hires in Asia Pacific Region

CrowdStrike Expands Operations in APAC and Achieves Strong Growth in First Half of 2017

CrowdStrike, Inc.

Ilina Dimitrova, 202-340-0517

Ilina.dimitrova@crowdstrike.com

CrowdStrike Inc., the leader in cloud-delivered endpoint protection, today announced the rapid expansion of its Asia Pacific (APAC) operations on the heels of triple-digit bookings growth. The company has established offices and headcount in key markets including Singapore, New Zealand, India and Northern Asia. Increased demand within the APAC region for CrowdStrike Falcon, the first cloud-based endpoint protection platform, continues to spike as organizations replace legacy antivirus (AV) solutions with next-generation technology.

CrowdStrike Falcon is the only platform that unifies next-generation AV, endpoint detection and response (EDR), and a 24/7 threat hunting service  all delivered via a single lightweight agent. With CrowdStrike Falcon, organizations can replace their AV or augment it with a full-scale endpoint protection solution, powered by a cloud-native architecture and artificial intelligence/machine learning.

While CrowdStrike opened APAC headquarters in June 2016, the organization has had customers within the region for more than four years. Since then, CrowdStrike has seen growing momentum in its business and operations, sales growth, and a rapidly expanding customer base. This May, CrowdStrike completed a $100 million Series D funding round, led by existing investor Accel along with CapitalG (formerly Google Capital), Warburg Pincus, March Capital Partners and regional investor Telstra. This round of funding will help CrowdStrike further accelerate its APAC expansion to meet the spiking demand for its Falcon platform.

In tandem with expanding operations, CrowdStrike has made multiple strategic hires to continue investment in the APAC region including regional director for India and SAARC, APAC director of Channel and Alliances, and regional Sales and Marketing managers for New Zealand, Southeast Asia and Victoria, Australia. CrowdStrikes operations in APAC now include Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, India, and parts of Northern Asia.

Other regional milestones include:

245 percent growth in new customers, year over year

Total bookings year-over-year increased by 410 percent

154 percent channel pipeline growth

Doubled headcount and continued investments to broaden the partner and channel pipeline

Supporting Quotes:

Kevin OSullivan, head of Security Services, Kinetic IT

Today, customers are looking to move away from point products and adopt comprehensive solutions to not only transform their legacy AV but also add capabilities to detect and respond to advanced attacks. CrowdStrike Falcon offers exactly that and enables customers to stop breaches regardless of how threats continue to evolve. CrowdStrike and Kinetic IT share a commitment to putting the customer first and delivering best-of-breed solutions to drive value and ROI and we look forward to continuing to our productive partnership.

Michael Ostrowski, regional vice president of Sales, APAC at Proficio

As a global, next-gen cybersecurity services provider, Proficio is continually focused on providing its clients with state-of-the-art monitoring, detection and response solutions like CrowdStrikes Falcon platform. Through our valued partnership with CrowdStrike, we are able to offer our clients the most comprehensive and effective solution to stop modern-day attacks and give them a definitive advantage against the rising tide of threats that they are facing not just in the APAC region but globally as well. The CrowdStrike Falcon platform not only improves our overall visibility into our customers environment but also allows us to provide better actionable intelligence, recommendations and remediation.

Andrew Littleproud, vice president of APAC, CrowdStrike

The CrowdStrike Falcon platform delivers to customers maximum protection against modern-day threats, along with best-in-class performance, efficacy, and efficiency. This powerful combination has allowed us to set a new standard in endpoint security, which is driving incredible momentum in our sales across APAC. We are excited to expand our presence in APAC countries and will continue to invest within the region throughout the rest of 2017.

About CrowdStrike

CrowdStrike is the leader in cloud-delivered endpoint protection. The CrowdStrike Falcon platform offers instant visibility and protection across the enterprise and prevents attacks on endpoints on or off the network. CrowdStrike Falcon deploys in minutes to deliver actionable intelligence and real-time protection from Day One. Falcon seamlessly unifies next-generation AV with best-in-class endpoint detection and response, backed by 24/7 managed hunting. Its cloud infrastructure and single-agent architecture take away complexity and add scalability, manageability, and speed. CrowdStrike Falcon protects customers against all cyber attack types, using sophisticated signatureless artificial intelligence/machine learning and Indicator-of-Attack (IOA) based threat prevention to stop known and unknown threats in real time. Powered by the CrowdStrike Threat Graph, Falcon instantly correlates over 50 billion security events from across the globe to immediately prevent and detect threats.

There's much more to the story of how Falcon has redefined endpoint protection but there's only one thing to remember about CrowdStrike: We stop breaches.

Learn more: https://www.crowdstrike.com/

Follow us: Blog | Twitter

 2017 CrowdStrike, Inc. All rights reserved. CrowdStrike, CrowdStrike Falcon, CrowdStrike Threat Graph, CrowdStrike Falcon Prevent, Falcon Prevent, CrowdStrike Falcon Insight, Falcon Insight, CrowdStrike Falcon Discover, Falcon Discover, CrowdStrike Falcon Intelligence, Falcon Intelligence, CrowdStrike Falcon DNS, Falcon DNS, CrowdStrike Falcon OverWatch, and Falcon OverWatch are the trademarks of CrowdStrike, Inc. All other brands, products, or service names are or may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201708230060
PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-24 17:40:12

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FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Mr. Clarence Wagenaar--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Calgary Alberta (FSCWire) - Mr. Clarence Wagenaar (TSX Venture:EBY). has issued a press release with the following headline:Early Warning Press Release in Accordance with National Instrument 62-103To 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 Mr. Clarence Wagenaar, 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/Mr . Clarence WagenaarSource: Mr. Clarence Wagenaar (TSX Venture: EBY, OTC Bulletin Board: EMBYF)Date: August 24, 2017Time: 11:40 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Mr. Clarence Wagenaar 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: 2017-08-24 18:11:13

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FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Gungnir Resources Inc.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCWire) - Gungnir Resources Inc. (TSX Venture:GUG). has issued a press release with the following headline:Gungnir Receives Final Drill Permits for Knaften in SwedenTo 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 Gungnir Resources 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/Gungnir Resources Inc.Source: Gungnir Resources Inc. (TSX Venture: GUG, WKN: A116WL, ISIN: CA40281L1094)Date: August 24, 2017Time: 12:10 PM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Gungnir Resources 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.)
ANGOLA  High school sweethearts Chandler and Alicesun Wilson have not only gotten married and had a daughter, but theyve now started a business in Angola, Alices Automotive Repair and Storage located at 114 Lange Lane, Angola.

Both Chandler and Alicesun grew up in Angola, attended Angola High School and wanted to raise a family and run a business here. They opened in June, just before their daughter was born.

Every automotive repair job Chandlers held before starting his own shop has been in Angola.

Chandler is the only mechanic for the business, which he is fine with for now.

I wouldnt want more than two or three of us (mechanics) working to make sure the quality coming out of the shop is nothing but the best, he said. With myself being the mechanic, I know the work coming out is consistent.

Chandler attended Ivy Tech Community College and is an Automotive Service Excellence certified mechanic.

He doesnt do body work, but he can do any mechanical work a car needs, including pulling the transmission for repair. He can work on domestic cars or imports.

I can pull the transmission, and I have a guy I work with that will rebuild it, he said.

Chandler began doing professional automotive work while still in high school. Its work hes always enjoyed completing for people.

Both said they pride themselves on offering rates that are competitive with other repair businesses in the community.

We want to keep our money, keep peoples money, local, he said.

Some of his past employers, he said, have been sending work to him when theyre too booked to take on someone that comes in needing service. He credits always leaving a job on good terms for that.

In addition to the auto repair business, Chandler and Alicesun also have 16 storage units on site available for rent.

Theyre available for any storage, not just automotive. Once the first 16 are consistently rented, the eventual goal is to expand the storage portion of the business.

Chandler also said someday, far down the road, hed like to expand to hire another mechanic and become the service writer for his business.

Theyre happy to be realizing their dream in Angola, and Chandler said, Id rather be in a bad location in Angola than a great location anywhere else.

Alices Automotive Repair and Storage is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. They can be emailed at aliceautomotiverapair.storage@gmail.com or called at 624-2193.

They also have Facebook, Alices Automotive Repair & Storage.
PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-24 15:10:12

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FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Klondike Gold Corp.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCWire) - Klondike Gold Corp. (TSX Venture:KG). has issued a press release with the following headline:Klondike Gold Closes First Tranche of Private PlacementTo 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 Klondike Gold 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/Klondike Gold Corp.Source: Klondike Gold Corp. (TSX Venture: KG, ISIN: CA4989033010, WKN: A119BJ, FWB: LBDP)Date: August 24, 2017Time: 9:10 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Klondike Gold 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: 2017-08-24 06:56:01

Odfjell SE today reported results for 2Q 2017. The results reflect a weaker spot market for chemical tankers, however the Company's contract portfolios in both chemical tankers and terminals continue to soften the impact of the challenging markets. Odfjell SE reports EBITDA of USD 41 mill compared to USD 46 mill in 1Q 2017 and a net result of -USD 5 mill compared to USD 2 mill in 1Q 2017.

Highlights for the second quarter of 2017:

 Odfjell chemical freight index (ODFIX) down 1.3% compared to previous quarter

 Chemical Tankers EBITDA: USD 31 mill compared to USD 36 mill in the previous quarter. The key deviation relates to a weaker spot market

 Odfjell Terminals EBITDA: USD 10 mill compared to USD 9 mill in the previous quarter

 Acquisition of five vessels from Chemical Transportation Group (CTG) completed our current growth target. Attractive financing has been secured for the entire fleet growth programme

 The potential sale of Odfjell SE's share of the terminal in Singapore has generated high interest from potential investors

"We are not satisfied reporting a net loss for the quarter, but our operational performance remains strong. The CTG transaction completed our current growth ambitions and ensures that Odfjell can continue to offer competitive and efficient service to our customers", said Kristian Mrch, CEO of Odfjell SE.

Prospects:

Odfjell SE expects 3Q 2017 results to be marginally lower than 2Q 2017, but 2H 2017 to be in line with 1H 2017.

Please see attached for the Second quarter/First Half Year 2017 Report and Presentation. The results will be presented by CEO Kristian Mrch and SVP Finance/CFO Terje Iversen at 09:30 today, Thursday 24 August 2017 at Felix Conference Centre, meeting room "Norden", Bryggetorget 3, Aker Brygge, Oslo, Norway. A live webcast will simultaneously be available at Odfjell.com (Investor Relations/Reports and Presentations).

For more information:

IR contact: Bjrn Kristian Red, Manager Investor Relations & Research

Tel: +47 55 27 47 33

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.

The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: Odfjell SE via Globenewswire


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.




FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn.  Gov. Mark Dayton warned Minnesota advocates of legal recreational marijuana that they wont be successful on his watch.

Dayton ruled out the possibility Thursday during an interview with MPRs Kerri Miller at the Minnesota State Fair. Asked by a member of the audience about the changing attitude toward cannabis nationally, the DFL governor said he wont loosen Minnesotas marijuana laws during his final year of his term.

Dayton went on to list problems he said stem from drug abuse  though he focused on opioids and other illicit drugs. He said making marijuana more readily available goes in the wrong direction.

If somebody wants to use marijuana, go visit California or Colorado. But dont bring it back here, he said. But I dont see it as improving the quality of life of those societies.

Those states are among the eight that have legalized marijuana for any use. Many others, including Minnesota, have medical marijuana programs.

Bills to fully legalize marijuana through a ballot initiative have been introduced in the Minnesota Legislature but havent gone anywhere.

Before the younger man who raised the question could object to his answer, Dayton added on.

When I was your age I wouldnt have agreed with it either, the 70-year-old governor said.

During his appearance, Dayton also defended his use of a line-item veto to cancel funding for the state House and Senate. The move was overturned by a district court, but the Minnesota Supreme Court will review that decision next week.

And he made clear he wouldnt take sides yet in the race to replace him in 2018, with several DFLers in the running. An audience member asked Dayton to appraise the chances of U.S. Rep. Tim Walz. Dayton called Walz one of many good candidates and applauded his record.

But, he added, I am staying out of it. Ive got all the Republicans trashing me. All of the DFLers are trying to tip-toe around me. This is my last year at the fair. Next year Ill be just a footnote somewhere.

Minnesota is going to have good choices next year, Dayton said.
By: Ares International Corp.

End

-- Aplusoft (Suzhou) Corporation, the China subsidiary of leading Taiwan software company Ares International Corp., recently joined the Bell Ringing Ceremony of "Regional Equity Market (New Four Board)" at Suzhou Equity Exchange in China, heading towards the new path of software economic corporation development.The "New Four Board" represents "new industry, new operation type, new model, new technique." It is expected to connect capital market and real economy through equity exchange center platform, promoting the four new enterprise transformation upgrade and development to solve the financing problems of the innovative technology-type small- and medium size enterprises. It is a local government- managed non-public offering of securities venue, serving small- and medium size enterprise new organization format and operation types, which is defined as multi-level market system, also known as the regional equity market. Aplusoft hopes to seek multi-resources through the aid of capital market forces to expand company size and business and pave the road for the brighter future.Frank Lin, president of Ares, stated that Aplusoft upholds the service market of Taiwan parent company, Ares. Besides development of various enterprise application software, Aplusoft also provides high-quality enterprise information services including: HCP (Human Capital Planner), ciMes (Computer Integrated Manufacturing Execution System), ArgoERP (Argo Enterprise Resource Planning), SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition)and many other enterprise business application software. Aplusoft has over hundreds of successful implementation experiences for Taiwanese business in China, and will get grounded through the "New Four Board" to provide better localized services for local enterprises.To expand the development of the new techniques for new technology industry and accommodate the current economic growth strategic trends in China, Aplusoft looks forward to expanding the business to countries near borders of China and further to Europe, establishing firmer and closer relations with allies. By assisting China enterprise with professional informatization, along with the advantages of international corporation partners and overseas business expansion experience of Ares, Aplusoft successfully entered the "New Four Board, "bringing two-way flow of market capital and resources. Aplusoft will continue to grow through capital market operation and integration of advantageous resources.Milestones of Ares1999: Stocks traded on Taiwan OTC (Over-the-Counter)market2001: First Software Companylisted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE)2017: China subsidiary, Aplusoft (Suzhou) Corporation, listed on "Regional Equity Market (New Four Board)" in ChinaAres has provided professional services for over 36 years, and is the first Taiwan-based software company to be listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE). Ares is a professional manufacturing management information system provide, with top Manufacturing Execution System (MES) maker for LED industry in Taiwan, and the first government-acknowledged IFRS ERP solution provider. Ares is also the top player of the Taiwan foreign exchange, core banking solutions, and is a SWIFT partner, while being the first Oracle partner in Taiwan. Ares eAResBank is acknowledged by international research institution Gartner, and self-developed ciMes becomes the only Taiwan MES solution acknowledged by Gartner. Ares launched ArgoERP in Thailand with Thai leading software company DataOne Asia of SVOA group, aiming to become the number one ERP in ASEAN markets.Ares Internatiaonl Corp.: https://www.ares.com.tw/ en/home/ Emailmarketing@ares.com.twContact Person Julia ChenTel886-2-2522-1351 ext.386(ARES is registered trademark to Ares International Corp. Other names and trademarks belong to headquarters and branches.)
The U.S. Department of State issues travel warnings so people consider whether they should travel to a country at all, and travel alerts for short term events like weather, health concerns and dangerous political climates.

Tourico Vacations Reviews Travel Alerts and Warnings

Contact

Tourico Vacations

***@touricovacations.net



Photo:

https://www.prlog.org/ 12659911/1 Tourico Vacations

End

-- Currently there is both an ongoing warning as well as an alert for travel to North Korea due to the serious and every increasing risk of arrest and long-term detention of U.S. citizens. North Korea has imposed harsh and cruel sentences for actions that would not normally be considered crimes in the United States, and because there are no diplomatic relationships between the U.S. and North Korea, there are limited resources available to assist U.S. citizens who have been detained. A further Alert issued on August 2, 2017 is in effect to restrict the use of U.S. passports for people traveling into North Korea.The U.S. Department of State warns U.S. citizens to avoid travel to Somalia because of widespread terrorist and criminal activity that includes kidnappings, bombings, murder, illegal roadblocks and other violent incidents that are common throughout Somalia, including Somaliland. Attacks spread over large portions of the country target civilians, the military, and government. Risk is particularly increased in areas where large crowds of Westerners frequent such as airports, restaurants, hotels, and shopping areas. There is no United States embassy presence in Somalia at this time.A travel warning for Iran is an ongoing warning due to the high risk of arrest and detention for U.S. citizens, particularly dual for national Iranian-Americans. Once detained, these dual citizens can be held for several months. Many of those unjustly detained or arrested are students, journalists, business travelers, and academics, who wind up being charged with espionage and posing a threat to the national security of Iran. U.S. travelers should very closely follow media reports, monitor local conditions, following the warnings and alerts on the State Departments website and evaluate the risks of traveling to or remaining in Iran. The U.S. government has no diplomatic relations with Iran and, therefore, cannot provide protection to U.S. citizens who find themselves in trouble. U.S. citizens already in Iran should make sure that they have updated documentation on them at all times and prepare their own plans in the event of a sudden emergency.Americans should always refer to the State Department's travel website for the Worldwide Caution, Travel Warnings, Travel Alerts, and Country Specific Information before traveling outside of the United States. Tourico Vacations Reviews is the first online booking engine, designed to provide our customers with exceptional insider prices on over 16,000 hotels, 2000 cruise itineraries, flights, car rentals, vacation packages, and attractions worldwide.
From the past few years, the scope of iGaming businesses has increased all over the world especially in the Malta.

By: Premiermanco.com

250 Logo

Contact

Premier Manco Team

***@premiermanco.com Premier Manco Team

End

-- From the past few years, the scope of iGaming businesses has increased all over the world especially in the Malta. Earlier, there were only few iGaming businesses present and the number of the iGaming players is quite limited.Nowadays, there are many new iGaming businesses are established and there are more new iGaming players playing the different iGaming. Starting a new iGaming business is always a tough job because it involves a lot of legal obligations. The biggest factor associated with most of the iGaming business is its cost and revenue generation model. Many iGaming businesses are going through mergers and acquisitions. The iGaming Merger and Acquisition is done by the old iGaming business that is looking for the advancement and progress.Premier Monaco is one the most trusted iGaming business solution providers offering a wide range of services for the iGaming startups. Premier Monaco is been serving in this industry for past many years and have closely monitored the industry trends. Before investing in an iGaming business it is required an in depth analysis and approach. If you are non-familiar with iGaming business model, then it could be more deliberate for you to make wrong decisions.Premier Monaco is a leading iGaming consulting services that provide right advice at the right time and in right place that will lead you to make most out of your decision in investing in a iGaming business. iGaming consultants are the one that has many years working in the iGaming industry and well aware of the present business trends. They will tell you when the time to invest in the iGaming business and right time to pull from the business. iGaming Mergers & Acquisitions iGaming Consulting International iGaming Restructuring Payment Solutions iGaming ERP SoftwareFor more information visit our website - http://premiermanco.com/ international- igaming-restructuring/ Premier Manco is a boutique service provider offering traditional services such as corporate consulting, mergers & acquisitions, restructuring and payment solutions. What separates Premier Manco from typical consulting companies is our clearly defined niche in iGaming related consulting. Our clients include iGaming businesses, entrepreneurs and investors. With a wealth of experience and a sizeable network of contacts in the iGaming industry, Premier Manco is the preeminent presence in the iGaming industry.
Freyr, a full-service global Regulatory solutions and services company, as part of its global expansion strategy establishes a regional center in Nezahualcoyotl, Estado de Mexico.

By: Freyr Solutions

Contact

Freyr Solutions

***@freyrsolutions.com Freyr Solutions

End

-- Freyr, a full-service global Regulatory solutions and services company, as part of its global expansion strategy establishes a regional center in Nezahualcoyotl, Estado de Mexico. Freyr's strong network of global delivery centers also includes US, UK, Germany, UAE and India.With proven expertise in enabling successful registrations and approvals across the globe, the firm's Mexico presence is all set to cater localized Regulatory strategies and services along with technology-driven solutions. Emphasizing more on emerging business opportunities in the region, Freyr is focused to meet the dynamic Regulatory challenges with high-quality Regional regulatory services at minimum cost to companies."With growing demand for healthcare services and increasing growth prospective for pharma and medical devices sectors in the region, we see this as an opportunity to help our clients grab the Mexican market share in a compliant way," said Suren Dheenadayalan, Co-CEO, Freyr. Adding on to it, Rajiv Rangan, Co-CEO, Freyr said, "with our new office in Mexico, we extend a warm welcome to all Bio-Pharma (Innovators / Generics), Consumer Healthcare and Medical Device companies in South America and across the globe. Focused to provide end-to-end Regulatory support for enabling successful registrations and approvals across South America, we hope our regional hub will address the needs of companies seeking a reliable, regional, Regulatory partner."Freyr is a full-service global Regulatory Solutions and Services Company and a specialist provider of Regulatory Consulting, Operations & Technology Services ranging from Regulatory Intelligence, Registration Strategy, Global Health Authority Dossier Compilation / Submission services, Labeling & Artwork services, and Regulatory Software for Bio-Pharma (Innovators / Generics), Consumer Healthcare and Medical Device companies. Freyr has recently surpassed a significant milestone of supporting 100+ clients for registrations and submissions across 50+ countries and 40+ global health authorities.Headquartered in Princeton (New Jersey, USA) and offices / delivery hubs in Maidenhead UK, Frankfurt Germany, Dubai UAE, Nezahualcoyotl Estado de Mexico, and Hyderabad India ISO 9001 Certified for strong process and quality management ISO 27001 Certified for information security management, state-of-the-art infrastructure and robust BCP & DR siteFreyr has received Frost & Sullivan's Best Practices Award  2016, for "Knowledge Process Services for Pharmaceutical Life Sciences Growth Excellence" and has been ranked 11th in "2016 Deloitte Technology Fast50".FREYR MEXICO CONTACT DETAILS:Calle Jose Bernardo Couto, 87Colonia Mexico 1a Seccion,Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl,Estado de MexicoCP. 57620MexicoPhone: +1 908 483 7958Email: sales@freyrsolutions.com
Area Four NAACP Leaders, NAACP Political Action, Criminal Justice and Religious Affairs Committee leaders, NAACP members and many other community-based leaders from across Virginia have invited the Virginia Gubernatorial candidates of the two leading political parties. Both candidates have confirmed their attendance and are preparing final details for involvement in the Forum.

By: NAACP Area 4

NAACP

Contact

Phillip Thompson, Esquire

NAACP Criminal Justice Committee, Chair

***@gmail.com



Photo:

https://www.prlog.org/ 12660499/1 Phillip Thompson, EsquireNAACP Criminal Justice Committee, Chair

End

-- The public is cordially invited to attend the 2017 Statewide NAACP Virginia Gubernatorial Forum which will be held on Thursday, September 7th at Virginia Union University 1500 N. Lombardy Street Richmond, VA 23220. The forum will be held in historic Coburn Chapel from 6:00PM to 9:00PM.Area Four NAACP Leaders, NAACP Political Action, Criminal Justice and Religious Affairs Committee leaders, various statewide NAACP members and many other community-based leaders from across Virginia are organizing this candidate forum.As a non-partisan organization we have invited the Virginia Gubernatorial candidates of the two leading political parties. Both candidates have confirmed their attendance and are preparing final details for involvement in the Forum.The Forum's format will allow candid dialog about very important issues, particularly about the concerns of African American families, voters, leaders, organizations and many other citizens across the Commonwealth of Virginia.With the heightened levels of political discourse, social tensions and importance of 2017 Gubernatorial and other very important elections in Virginia, there is significant interest to clearly hear the positions of the leading Virginia Gubernatorial candidates on key issues and concerns.Virginia Union University officials, alumni and friends along with citizens across Virginia are excited about the University's key role in hosting this first ever Statewide NAACP Virginia Gubernatorial Forum at a HBCU.The NAACP is also pleased to be joined by a wide variety of statewide Co-Hosting civil rights, religious, voting rights, human rights, political, social, civic, fraternal organizational leaders and their members. Some of the groups include: Hanover Civic Association, One Virginia 2021, Virginia Alliance Against Mass Incarceration, Richmond Crusade for Voters, Virginia SCLC, Women-Matter.org and People Demanding Action among many others.The event is open to the public and all are encouraged to arrive early to ensure entry.
Contact

Lana Burkhardt

***@letorttrust.com Lana Burkhardt

End

-- LeTort Trust's commitment to support Pennsylvania Free Enterprise Week (PFEW) remains an important priority for the company and its charitable giving arm, Atgooth Foundation. Each year, Atgooth Foundation and LeTort Trust provide financial and volunteer support to help area students attend the program.Pennsylvania Free Enterprise Week (PFEW) is a one-of-a-kind summer program that offers in-coming high school juniors and seniors a unique and challenging opportunity to see what it is like to run their own business.Lycoming College and Pennsylvania College of Technology welcome students, volunteers, and guests to their respective campus locations as they host the Pennsylvania Free Enterprise Week program. The program is designed to give every participant, in broad brush strokes, an idea of what is germane and pertinent to the business world today."We hope that other companies also consider supporting the program, to continue the mentoring of our next generation workforce," stated Katie Clarke, president of LeTort Trust. "If we and other business leaders can introduce area youth to our companies, while giving them this free enterprise experience, we might be able to bring many of them back to the area with new skills when they are ready to enter the workforce. PFEW needs more area companies to get involved by sending volunteers to be "Company Advisors" and funding more students to attend the program," she added. "This is truly a great opportunity for regional youth from all socio-economic levels to begin to understand what business is all about," stated Marty Eichelberger, founder of LeTort Trust.Katie Clarke and Marty Eichelberger, both served as panel judges this summer. This year LeTort Trust's commitment was enhanced with the support of several of their business partners and clients. "We were thrilled to have Cumberland Truck Equipment Co., Rohrer Bus and Mr. and Mrs. Michael Devlin generously adding to the support of this year's sponsorships,"added Katie. Together with LeTort Trust, the group provided scholarships for 52 area students.PFEW is open to all current sophomores and juniors in Pennsylvania. To learn more about the work accomplished and how you can participate, you can visit their website at http://www.pfew.org or contact Karen Musante, CEO designee of the Foundation for Free Enterprise Education at (814) 833-9576 ext. 104 or email her at karen@pfew.org.LeTort Trust is an Independent Trust Company, providing comprehensive Qualified Retirement Plan and Wealth Management services designed for the complex financial needs of businesses, institutions and individuals. For further information on Atgooth Foundation and LeTort Trust, please visit our website at www.letorttrust.com.
Ten homes in Nottingham have been selected as part of a UK pilot to radically improve older houses using measure to save and generate energy.

By: Nottingham City Homes

Contact

Star Public Relations

***@starpublicrelations.co.uk Star Public Relations

End

-- Ten homes in Nottingham have been selected as part of a UK pilot to radically improve older houses using measure to save and generate energy. Proposed improvements will make the residents of these homes ultra-low energy consumers, dramatically reducing household energy bills and making homes warmer.Nottingham City Homes (NCH), the Arm's Length Management Organisation (ALMO) managing and maintaining Nottingham City Council's (NCC) council housing stock, has become the first in the UK to adopt a ground-breaking approach to retrofitting housing solutions, known as "Energiesprong". The programme of work is part of the next phase in the city's Greener HousiNG programme.The Energiesprongapproach involves wrapping an existing property with pre-fabricated wall and roof panels.The process, which can be completed in a matter of days, includes the installation of a thermally insulated roof cassette with solar PV built into it; a thermally-efficient wall envelope insulation panel system; low-maintenance glass panelled wall kitchen and bathroom; air or ground source heat pump and heating system; removal of gas to create an electricity only property; and low energy cooker and shower.The comprehensive retrofit delivers a super insulated, low maintenance and affordable near net zero-energy home with a 30-year construction and assured energy performance warranty. An Energiesprong home generates as much energy as is needed for the house and household appliances.Part of the innovation is how the works are funded. The household pays an 'Energy plan', and the landlord (NCH) receives an on-going income to fund similar works to more homes. The resident has a much more comfortable home, and a flat rate cost for energy, which will not rise significantly when energy bills rise.Originating in the Netherlands, Energiesprong is regarded as a revolutionary model; it brings today's houses up to 2050 standards of energy efficiency and the new funding approach, ensures the works are affordable. Following Energiesprong's outstanding success in the Netherlands, where a thousand homes a year are now receiving this high-tech makeover, the concept has been exported to France, Germany, Luxembourg, the USA and now the UK.Nottingham City Homes has signed the first UK contract, ahead of other pioneering landlords in London, Essex and Devon, placing an order with Melius Homes for ten retrofits as a pilot, with an option for up to a further 400. The deal follows extensive tenant consultation and a comprehensive competitive tender process to find the right solution provider.This pilot is part of a cluster of smart city solutions being delivered in Nottingham over a three-year period under the European-funded REMOURBAN project. This project seeks to show how sustainability can be integrated into the regeneration of our towns and cities.Nottingham City Homes' Chief Executive, Nick Murphy, said: "While we're delighted to be part of a UK-first pilot programme, it's more important to us that we're creating warmer, more energy efficient homes, which are cheaper to run for residents."The Greener HousiNG programme is dedicated to finding the most efficient and reliable solutions, to help us future proof our housing stock and tackle issues such as fuel poverty. As an added bonus, the improvements will greatly improve the look and feel of the area."David Adams, Technical Director of Melius Homes, the successful bidder said: "We are delighted to have been chosen to work with Nottingham City Homes to deliver this ground-breaking contract. They have shown great foresight in adopting such a radical new approach and we look forward to helping to make a real difference for the local community."Councillor Jane Urquhart, the City Council's Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing & Heritage, said: "We're very excited that Nottingham is at the forefront of this revolutionary approach, which can help tackle both fuel poverty and climate change. Many of our residents live in fuel poverty so creating more energy efficient homes to reduce people's energy bills is a high priority for us. Our Greener HousiNG programme has seen over 6,000 hard-to-treat homes in both social and private sectors receive energy efficiency measures and this pilot will inform the next steps for our programme to tackle hard-to-treat housing."As well as a significant cost to the household, losing excessive heat due to drafty homes has an environmental impact too. The REMOURBAN project is trialing interventions in the housing and transport sectors to accelerate Nottingham's low carbon future and the Energiesprong model is a really exciting development for this project and for Nottingham."The works will be carried out during 2017 with the roll out programme scheduled to commence early 2018. http://www.energiesprong.uk/
JLL summarizes H1 2017 on Poland's industrial market. We have just witnessed the best half-year in the history of Poland's industrial market. Companies signed lease agreements for a record-breaking 1.72 million sq m. New deals and expansions accounted for 1.3 million sq m. This meant that Poland was number three

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4 WHEEL PARTS CELEBRATES OGDEN, UTAH GRAND OPENING

Off-Road Retailer Opens 82nd North American Location

Compton, California (August 22, 2017)  4 Wheel Parts, the global leader in off-road performance product sales and installation, is celebrating the opening of its newest location this Saturday, August 26 in Ogden, Utah with a family-friendly event. The festivities, located at 284 W 12th St., mark the debut for the off-road aftermarket retailers 82nd store in North America. Featuring special grand opening discounts, installation specials and various giveaways, 4 Wheel Parts will be unveiling its latest, state-of-the-art showroom and service bay as it presents their unique off-road shopping concept to the community.

There are endless opportunities to explore the outdoors here in Utah and this great new location will be a tremendous resource for those who are looking to outfit their truck or Jeep for any adventure, says Store Manager, Brandon Addington. This store is our second in the state and with more than fifty years of experience providing quality parts and installation to our customers, we take great care to assist them in choosing everything from parts for an extreme build to floor mats and tonneau covers. We are looking forward to welcoming the community on Saturday as we open in Ogden.

Visitors will have their first chance to become acquainted with the Ogden staff of 44 specialists who will be onsite to offer expert advice for potential builds and upgrades. Many of the industrys leading manufacturers such as Rockslide Engineering, Terraflex Suspension, Tough Country, GenRite, Superchips, Decked and Artec Industries will also be on-hand to display and demonstrate their latest products. In addition to a host of custom vehicles on display, guests will be treated to such activities as a dunk tank, obstacle course, mechanical bull, bounce house, car crush, street tacos and Monster Energy Drinks.

Attendees will also have the chance to enter for a number of giveaways and promotions throughout the day culminating with a $1000 4 Wheel Parts shopping spree to one lucky winner. In addition to one-time-only event specials, ASE-certified technicians will be onsite providing installation discounts on select products purchased.

Customers in Ogden now have the option of shopping online and picking up their purchases in the store or coming down and working with one of our experts. Regardless of how they shop, were pleased to offer the largest selection of parts and accessories available anywhere for their trucks and Jeeps, says Addington.

What: 4 Wheel Parts Grand Opening Celebration

When: Saturday, August 26  9 a.m.  5 p.m.

Location: Ogden, Utah

284 W 12th St

Ogden, UT 84404

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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.
Game of Thrones, HBO's hit fantasy series, is just thatfantasyand nothing more. But part of what makes the show so engrossing is its exploration of themes that resonate with real-world problems, particularly those associated with power and war.

The military use of dragons and the dilemma they pose is one recent example. In The Spoils of War, the fourth episode of this season, viewers get their first real look at how devastating a dragon can be. Daenerys Targaryen, in her bid to seize the throne of author George R.R. Martin's fictional Westeros, flies one of these beasts into battle and quite literally turns the opposing army to ash.

Dragons aside, Daenerys faces a difficult question that is familiar to real-world military powers. Should she exploit the advantage her dragons provide to force a swift and decisive victory whatever the human costchiefly by annihilating King's Landing, the seat of her rival? Because Daenerys views herself as an emancipator and does not wish to be queen of the ashes, she holds back, seeking victory through a more limited, proportionate use of force. So far in the show, Daenerys' idealism comes at a high price. She squanders the opportunity to win a quick and decisive victory, loses allies and finds herself having to play a much longer and more difficult game than she would have otherwisepossibly with more aggregate bloodshed by the time she's done.

Dragons are a game changer for warfare in Westeros. But if Daenerys uses them to melt castles and burn cities, there's no going back.

Many critics have compared Daenerys' dragons to nuclear weapons, a comparison that author Martin and Matt Shakman, director of The Spoils of War, have also made. Timothy Westmyer, a nuclear weapons expert, wrote a thoughtful article on the comparison in 2014 in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. The comparison is easy to understand; dragons are a game changer for warfare in Westeros. But if Daenerys uses them to melt castles and burn cities, as potential ally Jon Snow warns her against doing, there's no going back.

As a military analyst and historian, I can see two sides to the issuethe argument for holding back out of some sort of humanitarian or political consideration, and the argument for doing whatever it took to bring conflict to a quick and decisive conclusion.

Proportionalitythe refusal for one reason or another to bring to bear an advantage that might make a contest one-sidedis risky. It increases the probability of losing, or of achieving no more than a partial victory. Sometimes pulling punches militarily speaking results in more suffering, not less, if one's kindness extends a conflict rather than bringing it to a quick conclusion. This is why, tactically speaking, most military leaders and planners invariably seek what today's military calls overmatch, meaning one fights only when success is virtually guaranteed, usually through overwhelming numbers or firepower.

A compelling example of a fair fight between two sides of relatively equal strength is the battle in 1916 between France and Germany at Verdun, France. Neither side possessed a significant advantage, and, like exhausted heavyweight boxers, they traded kidney punches while locked in an embrace. The battle lasted 10 months; roughly 150,000 men died on each side. Germany, the attacker, failed to achieve its objectives and nothing decisive resulted. One result of the trauma, at least indirectly, was that 40 years and another war with Germany later, France acquired dragonsthat is, nuclear weapons.

In Game of Thrones, just as in in the real world, no one can afford a Verdun. Daenerys' military strength is finite; she only has so many men and horses. It's not clear how she (or her opponents) can feed her forces and keep them in the field, an issue that is hinted at several times during the show. If she wants to win and avoid losing all of her soldiers, she needs to press her advantage.

Interestingly, prior to the introduction of nuclear weapons, U.S. policy was to do whatever it took to win its larger wars, even if that meant annihilating citiessomething that did not require atomic bombs. The U.S. killed hundreds of thousands of civilians in World War II, and few have disputed the rationale for the bombing campaigns even if the practical utility of the killing has been questioned. Similarly, few historians disagree with President Truman's choice to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Those familiar with the carnage on the islands of Peleliu and Iwo Jima sympathize with Truman's desire to end the war as quickly as possible while avoiding invading Japan. Provided with dragons, Truman used them. America won completely, decisively, more rapidly, and possibly with less bloodshed than if Truman had acted otherwise.

There are critical differences between the reality of nuclear weapons and the fantasy of dragons. Countermeasures can be taken against dragons.

Yet there are critical differences between the reality of nuclear weapons and the fantasy of dragons. Countermeasures can be taken against dragons, something the character Qyburn (sort of the chief scientist of Daenerys' rival, Cersei) argued, and the mercenary Bronn demonstrated by using one of Qyburn's anti-dragon weapons (essentially a large crossbow) during the battle in Spoils of War. Bronn did not kill the dragon, but he proved the concept; in episode six, a different and altogether more dangerous foe succeeded where Bronn failed and killed a dragon.

Worse, the new foe acquired a dragon of its own, which Martin has made clear is the ultimate anti-dragon weapon. It is no easy thing for a man to be a dragonslayer, he wrote, but dragons can kill dragons, and have. Thus Daenerys is no longer certain to possess overmatch, at least not against the new enemy, and she will have to be more circumspect about how she uses her remaining beasts in the future. In contrast, there are effectively no countermeasures to nuclear weapons other than more nuclear weapons for deterrence.

Although Daenerys no longer has a monopoly on dragons, the problem she faces is not comparable to what American presidents had to deal with once the U.S. lost its monopoly on nuclear weapons. Basically, her dragon-armed opponents are zombiesthey're already deadand their objective is essentially to kill everyone. In this case the comparison is favorable to us, in the real world. We can reasonably rely on the capacity of those who have nuclear weapons to understand that there is something fundamentally different about them.

Truman reportedly was unconcerned with the human toll of the conventional bombing campaigns, but the horror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki rattled him. He was determined never to use them again, and in 1950 when war broke out in Korea, he declined to use his atomic bombs and opted to fight a limited, proportionate campaign rather than risk a full conflict with the Soviet Union. Ever since, the U.S. has refrained from using its full military might in its wars. Of course, the U.S. also has won few decisive victories and even lost a war. There is a correlation.

Nuclear weapons force us to accept foreign policy outcomes that are far from desirable. One might argue for doing whatever it takes to prevent other nations from acquiring nuclear weapons, but once they have them, nothing much can be done. The argument for melting a nuclear power's castles and burning its cities becomes as much a fantasy as Game of Thrones.

Michael Shurkin is a senior political scientist at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation.

This commentary originally appeared on Scientific American on August 24, 2017. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.
It is no secret that President Donald Trump is frustrated with the war in Afghanistan and wants to make bold changes to shake up the U.S. war strategy. Although the U.S. military's role in maintaining a modicum of stability has been crucial, experts agree a real solution needs to consider Afghan politics first.

Some analysts jump ahead to the peace process or regional stability. While they are right to highlight those as long-term, ultimate objectives, they ignore the festering heart of the Afghan problem: Unraveling the mess that is Afghanistan's government.

So what is the nonmilitary solution? The U.S. should do what it promised.

Afghanistan's key weakness has been the absence of a government that is trusted, legitimate and capable of managing the affairs of state. In 2014, following a disputed election, the two leading contenders for president, Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, signed a power-sharing agreement to form a government of national unity as president and chief executive, respectively. This agreement, brokered by then-Secretary of State John Kerry and witnessed by the U.S. ambassador and the U.N. special representative, stipulated a "loya jirga," or constitutional convention, be held within two years to formalize the role of the chief executive as a prime minister, the holding of local elections and electoral reform.

But the U.S. and the international community never followed through on their promise to help the Afghan government achieve real reform. The 2015 parliamentary elections have been delayed pending electoral reform that was never legislated. The lack of district elections, a virtual logistical impossibility, has impeded progress toward a constitutional convention because district representatives are required for a quorum.

Had the international community pushed for these reforms to take place in 2014, they could very likely have been achieved. A mood of hope and unity had suffused much of the country. But the international community mistook a lull for an equilibrium and stopped pushing for political reform. When factional rifts have erupted, the world has simply told Ghani and Abdullah to get along, believing that neither of their parties want to suffer the costs of withdrawing from the government. But that assumption may no longer hold: First Vice President Abdurrashid Dostum is spearheading a coalition of ethnic parties to oppose the current government, even as the Taliban and other local actors solidify their hold over the provinces.

Why undertake such a difficult set of tasks?

It would lend legitimacy to the government, a prerequisite for a peace agreement in a country long riven by political factionalism. The Afghan government must resolve the disputes with peaceable factions, such as Dostum's, then reach out to those already at war with it.

In addition, moves made to help the government function properly would foster independence from foreign actors and build capacity in a government so immersed in factional squabbles that decisions affecting provincial and state functions are often delayed or foregone. Finally, political reform would enable the government to engage in more productive regional relations, including building a more stable trilateral relationship with India and Pakistan.

The United States could lead the international community in enforcing the hoped-for parliamentary elections next year. These elections should be held under the old, imperfect election law, with the understanding that it cannot be changed until Parliament's mandate is renewed through the electoral process.

After these elections, a loya jirga should be announced and held before the 2019 presidential election. Without district council elections, it cannot be a true constitutional convention, but there is precedent for a "consultative" one called solely to consider a proposal for a prime ministerial position. After the loya jirga, Parliament must take up the issue of electoral reform with seriousness. At each point in this process, the United States can act as champion, convener, broker, or gadfly as the need arises.

Following these steps will serve as a confidence-building process between the Afghan government and its people, ensuring the legitimacy that will allow the nation to move forward with peace and prosperity. When there is no way around, the only choice is to go through.

Rebecca Zimmerman is a policy researcher at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation and has studied governance and security over a decade of working in and on Afghanistan.

This commentary originally appeared on U.S. News & World Report on August 21, 2017. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.
The Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones (IFT) has given the green light to the merger between Time Warner and AT&T on a Mexican level, but the deal must meet certain conditions.





Unlike in other Latin American countries, AT&T does not own a full pay-TV operation in Mexico, as it shares Sky with Televisa, which is still the main shareholder of the satellite TV operator. However, according to the IFT, Time Warner provides and distributes its entire channel and content portfolio in Mexico through Turner, HBO and Warner.The merger would allow AT&T to develop video services through its several platforms, including the mobile networks, which could drive to increasing demand of mobile broadband and improving use of its network, pointed out the telecoms authority.According to the IFT , the merger would also hinder the competition, as AT&T/TW would be able to establish new entry barriers for other pay-TV companies and exchange privileged information with Televisa in terms of content and network commercialisation.The IFTs reasoning is similar to the arguments of Brazils antitrust agency , which on Monday recommended to veto the merger due to the negative effects it would have on competition.Despite its concern, the IFT has decided to green light the merger in Mexico, but has issued a set of conditions for the resultant company.Sky Mexico and the new company will have to maintain separate boards and executive teams, while HBO will continue to operate as a separate company regarding pay-TV channel licensing.In addition, Timer Warners units will be forced to listen to all requests from Mexican pay-TV providers and negotiate competitive conditions with them.Lastly, the resultant company will have to meet IFTs requirements with regard to reporting and verification.
The 2x120 drama, which will air in the autumn, tells the story of Martin Luther, the German revolutionary priest who changed the face of Christendom and the path of European civilisation.Produced by UFA Fiction for ZDF, Reformation stars Maximilian Bruckner as Martin Luther. The series was written by Stefan Dahnert and Marianne Wendt, directed by Uwe Janson and its creative producer is Martin Bromber. Executive producers on the series are Benjamin Benedict and Joachim Kosack. The series is distributed internationally by FremantleMedia International and will be broadcast later this year on ZDF and BBC Four This compelling drama is a stunning portrayal of the brave Martin Luther whose actions 500 years ago at the time of the Reformation have reverberated throughout time and still influence todays society, commented Jamie Lynn, EVP, head of sales and distribution, EMEA for FremantleMedia International Reformation is beautifully shot piece of drama with a strong cast that bring the story of the revolution that changed the world to life.
Matching its ratings success with its business vision, the Walter Presents foreign language video-on-demand (VOD) drama service has secured a grant of 458,000 from Creative Europe Media.





The Creative Europe Media sub-programme supports film, television, new media and video games, offering funding, training and networking opportunities. Creative Europe Desk UK also provides information on other EU programmes that offer support to the audiovisual, creative and cultural sectors.A joint venture between Channel 4 and Global Series Network (GSN), Walter Presents launched in 2016 by former TV executive Walter Iuzzolino, and claims to find and curate the best foreign TV series in the world and make them available in one place. The combined Walter Presents catalogue currently features over 83 series of world TV drama from 17 different countries. The company says that the grant will be used to promote European TV drama in both the UK and the US where the VOD offer launched in March after enjoying success in the UK.Walter Presents was one of 14 applications submitted from the UK for the promotion of European audiovisual works online, seven of which were successful. Six out of the seven grants were awarded to UK-based VOD platforms that programme a significant percentage of European content. Commenting on the award, GSN director of marketing and communications Jo McGrath said: The Creative Europe grant comes at a crucial stage of Walter Presents planned global roll-out and will help us put foreign-language drama even more firmly on the world TV map. It will allow us to introduce award-winning European drama to an entirely new audience in the US and to attract wider viewership in the UK, particularly amongst younger audiences, for our exciting, upcoming series.Added Creative Europe Desk UK director Agnieszka Moody: VOD is the new frontier of global content distribution and I'm really happy to see successful UK applicants, highly established brands in this space, prioritising European content. The range and quality of submissions this year was extraordinary but what made Walter Presents stand out was its ambitious marketing plans and its exclusive focus on premium foreign language TV drama, as opposed to feature films.
MADISON  My first job was a farmer, and my last job will be a farmer, said Ben Brancel, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, in a recent letter announcing his retirement.

It has been Brancels experience as a farmer that shaped his approach to leading the 650-employee department, said Jeff Lyon, who has served as Brancels deputy secretary for the past several years and has recently been named interim secretary.

Hed think about how an issue would affect farmers like his neighbors, Lyon said. That added perspective to a lot of things.

Brancel also has been as comfortable talking to foreign dignitaries as to farm groups, Lyon said.

He has the ability to relate to his audiences and speak the same language, he said.

Those communication skills carried over to the departments offices.

He wasnt hierarchical  if he had a question or wanted to share a joke, hed walk right up to someones cubicle and talk with them directly, said Jen Pino-Gallagher, director of the food and agribusiness practice group at M3 Insurance. Prior to joining M3, she served as director of the international agribusiness center.

Ben is an incredibly hard worker, Pino-Gallagher said. And he values the work the departments employees put into their positions. Hes so proud of the department.

Brancel saw and promoted the opportunities for exports of Wisconsins diverse agricultural products, Pino-Gallagher said.

Hes a visionary, recognizing that our companies must be engaged internationally, she said. He could take complex statistics and international trade issues and incorporate them into conversations with foreign dignitaries. I remember a conversation he had with a foreign ambassador about geographical indicators. He was forthright in defending Wisconsins position on protecting commonly used names for different types of cheese. He relayed the message about how important our dairy industry is and that we werent going to budge on the issue.

Tom Kestell of Ever-Green-Farm in Waldo, Wisconsin, participated in two international trade missions with Brancel. And when Brancel served as the state director of the U.S. Department of Agricultures Farm Service Agency before becoming agriculture secretary for the second time, he would bring international visitors to tour Kestells purebred Holstein farm. Kestell exports live cattle and embryos.

He knows what it takes for any enterprise to be successful, Kestell said. And the trade missions set up by the agriculture department were tremendous.

Kate VandenBosch, dean of the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, said, In the past five years that Ive been dean, Ive gained a deep appreciation for what Ben has done for Wisconsin agriculture. He has lived agriculture and has a deep knowledge of the issues.

In June the UW-System hosted the Wisconsin Idea Dairy Summit, partly in response to Ontarios recent pricing program that adversely affected Wisconsin dairy exports of ultrafiltered milk.

When we need a resolution to a crisis in such a time, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection does it, VandenBosch said. Ben and the department really rolled up their sleeves, did some matchmaking and helped individuals who lost their processors.

At the UW dairy summit, it was said that Brancel should be appointed as agriculture secretary for life.

He laughed, but his retirement is not the end of his impact on Wisconsins agriculture, VandenBosch said.

Nor is retirement the end of Brancels farming career. This month hes returning to his roots  a Hereford farm near Endeavor, Wisconsin.

As Kestell said, His retirement will be a tremendous loss to Wisconsin agriculture, but he can enjoy his farm now.
The top U.S. Army commander in Afghanistan has said that the new U.S. strategy for the war-wracked country shows the country's commitment to a stable Afghanistan.

"We will not fail in Afghanistan, our national security depends on that as well," General John Nicholson told reporters in Kabul on August 24.

Nicholson called on the resurgent Taliban to agree to peace talks, saying they "cannot win on the battlefield, it's time for them to join the peace process."

In reaction, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the groups militants will fight until the last U.S. soldier is no longer here in Afghanistan."

Nicholson also vowed to "crush" the Islamic State group affiliate in the country, saying that "we will pursue them wherever else they choose to make their stand."

The U.S. general said the United States and its NATO allies will expand training for Afghan security forces as part of the Resolute Support mission, and spoke of expanding the Afghan air force and special forces.

Nicholson's press conference comes two days after U.S. President Donald Trump backtracked from his campaign pledge to end the United States' longest war.

Outlining a new strategy for Afghanistan, he appeared to commit the country to an open-ended conflict in Afghanistan, without providing any specifics about troop numbers or timelines.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference on August 24 that Moscow believes that the new U.S. strategy is based mainly on military force and has "no prospects" for success.

Based on reporting by AP, dpa, and Reuters
Azerbaijan's independent Turan News Agency says its director has been detained by authorities as a suspect in a tax-evasion and abuse-of-power investigation.

The move on August 24 comes after the director, Mehman Aliyev, on August 18 told RFE/RL that the authorities had frozen all of the outlet's bank accounts amid a criminal probe the news agency said was politically motivated.

International rights groups decried what they called "trumped-up charges" against Turan and said they are part of a broader crackdown on independent media and critical voices in Azerbaijan.

The news outlet, which was established in 1990, publishes reports in Azerbaijani, English, and Russian and cooperates with leading international news agencies.

Turan quoted Aliyev's lawyer, Fuad Agayev, as saying the director voluntarily went to the Tax Ministry's Department of Tax Crimes office for questioning before he was detained and taken to the Yasamal district police department.

Agayev added that Aliyevs detention was in violation of the law. The lawyer said Aliyev is expected to appear before the court within 48 hours, but likely not before August 25.

Officials launched a tax-evasion investigation into Turan on August 7, alleging the agency owes 37,000 manats ($21,500) in taxes for 2014-16.

Reporters Without Borders said the case was based on "trumped-up charges."

The authorities are stepping up the pressure on Turan because they have been unable to force it to cooperate, said Johann Bihr, the head of RSFs Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk.

Mehman Aliyev is one of journalisms pioneers in Azerbaijan. His only crime is to have headed the countrys last independent media outlet. We demand his immediate release and the withdrawal of all the politically motivated charges against Turan.

Giorgi Gogia, South Caucasus director with the New York-based Human Rights Watch, called the investigation into Turan "the latest in a vicious crackdown on critical media in the country."

Western governments and international rights watchdogs have criticized Baku for clamping down on independent media outlets, journalists, and opposition politicians and activists.

In 2014, Azerbaijan criminalized defamation on the Internet and last year it made online defamation of the president a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment.

President Ilham Aliyev, who has ruled the oil-producing South Caucasus country of nearly 10 million people since shortly before the death of his father, Heydar Aliyev, in 2003, has dismissed the criticism.

With reporting by Turan News Agency and AFP
Some 50 representatives of Belarusian opposition groups faced problems while visiting Russia's Smolensk region, where they commemorated the 22,000 Polish officers executed by the Soviets 77 years ago.

On August 23, the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism, the activists of the For Freedom and Together movements, as well as representatives of the Belarus Popular Front and the Belarus Christian Democratic parties, arrived at the forest of Katyn in the Smolensk area, where many of the mass killings of Polish officers took place in April-May 1940.

The activists told RFE/RL that a Russian police car followed them all way from the airport to Katyn.

Then, when the activists arrived at the Katyn memorial, police checked their passports and held two journalists of the Warsaw-based Belsat TV channel, Lyubou Lunyova and Ales Silich, for more than an hour.

Dozens of local communist activists were also at the site with banners saying: "Lackeys of the West and NATO have NOT been invited here!" and remained at the site until late afternoon.

The Smolensk branch of the Russian Federation's Communist Party told RFE/RL that their presence there was in protest to the visit of what he called "Belarusian nationalists" who promote the "Katyn falsification."

"These people speak only bad things about the Soviet period, while memorials like the Katyn one are sacred for them," the local communist activist said.

A police spokeswoman, Major Natalia Ivaka of the regional police department, refused to explain to RFE/RL why authorities monitored the Belarusian activists's movements.
The Daily Vertical is a video primer for Russia-watchers that appears Monday through Friday. Viewers can suggest topics via Twitter @PowerVertical or on the Power Vertical Facebook page.

A transcript of today's Daily Vertical can be found here.
Leading parliamentarians from Georgias ruling Georgian Dream party met last week with representatives of 20 parliamentary and extraparliamentary opposition parties in a last-ditch attempt to reach a consensus over the countrys new draft constitution.

Even though Georgian Dream reportedly offered two minor concessions, the three-hour talks on August 18 not only failed to narrow the fundamental disagreements between the two camps about how the president and parliament should be elected, some opposition parties have since set conditions for resuming dialogue that Georgian Dream may be unwilling to meet.

The process of drafting the amendments, which kicked off late last year, has by most accounts been turbulent and acrimonious. As indicated above, the two most contentious issues were whether and when to switch from the present nationwide direct election of the president to indirect election, and replacing the current mixed system for parliamentary elections, under which 73 of the 150 parliament deputies are elected in single-mandate constituencies and the remaining 77 under the proportional system, to a fully proportional system.

In response to vociferous protests from incumbent President Giorgi Margvelashvili, Georgian Dream agreed to postpone the transition to indirect presidential elections from 2018 (when Margvelashvili will almost certainly seek a second term) to 2023. Georgian Dream also initially agreed that the parliamentary ballot due in 2020 would be held under the fully proportional system. Both those concessions were reflected in the draft Georgian Dream submitted in late May to the Venice Commission for approval.

In discussions with the commissions experts in early June, Georgian Dream representatives, including parliament speaker Irakli Kobakhidze, who chaired the Constitutional Commission, agreed to change several provisions the Venice Commission construed as detrimental to smaller parties and pluralism, and as deviat[ing] from the principles of fair representation and electoral equality to a larger extent than seems justified by the need to ensure stability. Those changes included lowering the barrier for parliamentary representation from the present 5 percent to 3 percent of the vote.

At that juncture, some of Georgian Dreams 71 majoritarian lawmakers came out against switching to the fully proportional system, citing the domestic political instability Moldova had undergone after doing so. Why they did not take a stance on that point during the initial process of drafting the amendments remains unclear.

Ignoring appeals by President Margvelashvili and NGOs to resume discussion of the draft, the Georgian Dream parliament faction then approved in the first and second readings on June 22 and 23 an amended version that postponed the transition to the fully proportional system until the elections due in 2024. The third and final reading is scheduled for October.

Professing himself profoundly disappointed, Venice Commission President Gianni Buquicchio sought to persuade Georgian Dream to revise its stance, but without success. The two camps continued to affirm their readiness to resume talks but on condition that the other first clarify its negotiating position. The opposition addressed a statement to the Venice Commission and the European Union complaining that a resumption of talks with the aim of reaching a consensus was impossible due to Georgian Dreams ultimatum.

The deadlock continued for several weeks, until Archil Talakvadze, who heads Georgian Dreams parliament faction, invited the opposition on August 15 to resume talks prior to the Strasbourg meeting. Some 20 parties, including the former ruling United National Movement (ENM) and European Georgia, which split from the ENM early this year, accepted that invitation.

Margvelashvili, who had repeatedly called for revoking the draft and resuming discussions on rewording it, was not represented at the talks, which is not surprising in light of repeated heated exchanges between his parliamentary secretary, Ana Dolidze, and parliament speaker Kobakhidze. Margvelashvilis press secretary, Giorgi Abashishvili, nonetheless expressed approval of Talakvadzes call to resume discussions, which he construed as an admission that Georgian Dreams previous approach was misguided.

For reasons that were not spelled out, it was Talakvadze, not Kobakhidze, who chaired the August 18 meeting. Georgian Dream reportedly offered two minor concessions -- preserving the right to form election blocs, and abolition of the minimum percentage of the vote required to qualify for parliamentary representation under the proportional system. Political analyst Zaal Anjaparidze suggested in an interview with the news portal InterPressNews that some of the smaller parties might agree to support the holding of the 2020 elections under the current mixed system if the minimum barrier were abolished, given that they would thus theoretically have a chance of securing representation in the new parliament.

Possibly in an attempt to split the opposition, Talakvadze also asked each of the parties represented at the August 18 meeting to submit written clarification of the concessions on which their support for the draft amendments as a whole is contingent. On August 22, 11 parties, including the ENM, European Georgia, the Free Democrats and the Republican party made public their response, in which they warned that seeking to reach agreement with some minor parties on elections thresholds and blocs does not meet the minimum standard required for reaching a broad consensus.

They insisted on reverting to discussion of the draft that stipulates a transition in 2020 to parliamentary elections under the 100-percent-proportional system. They also described as essential preserving direct presidential elections but added that this issue could be decided by means of a plebiscite. That offer hardly looks like a concession, given that according to Dolidze, 98 percent of Georgians favor retaining direct presidential elections.

The 11 parties further made clear that they are prepared to discuss other aspects of constitutional reform only if their position on those two issues is taken into account. Whether the two sides will meet again as planned prior to a formal meeting in Strasbourg on September 6 under the aegis of the Venice Commission remains unclear.

The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL.
The last of 17 defendants was sentenced to prison Thursday for his role in a conspiracy to bring hundreds of pounds of high-grade methamphetamine to La Crosse.

Adam Vang, 29, of Hickory, N.C., was accused of driving to the Twin Cities to pick up tens of thousands of dollars worth of drugs that his cousins purchased from a Mexican drug cartel and helped distribute it to a network of dealers in La Crosse.

Vang denied high-level involvement in the drug ring and was the only person accused in the case who took his case to trial. A jury found him guilty in June of conspiracy to distribute meth.

Judge Scott Horne sentenced Vang to 3 years in prison and another 3 years on supervision, citing Vangs lack of prior criminal history but also noting the severity of the case.

Theres no question about the harm its done to the community, Horne said. This is one of the most destructive drugs Ive seen in over 35 years in the court system.

Horne said witnesses who testified during Vangs trial were transparent in lying on the stand and contradicting their previous statements to protect him.

Assistant District Attorney John Kellis asked for a six-year prison term, noting Vangs co-defendants took responsibility for their actions by pleading guilty. Their sentences ranged from probation to 7 years in prison.

While acknowledging he played a smaller role, Kellis said that Vang has not taken responsibility nor shown remorse.

The bottom line is Adam Vang is the one responsible, he said.

Attorney Eric Sanford said Vang was living in Alaska when his cousins began trafficking meth, and was a good husband and father who played a small role and should not face the same punishment as those in charge.

This conspiracy was run like a business, Sandford said. Theres somebody at the top of the chain, and then theres employees.

Vang, who has been in jail for more than a year, apologized to the community and his family but stopped short of admitting his crime.

I was aware what my cousins were doing, and what they were doing was wrong, he said. I did nothing to stop them.

Authorities first learned of the enterprise in January 2015, when La Crosse police found 76 grams of meth in Yia Vangs car after he crashed into a tree during a high-speed chase. Vang told investigators that he and his brothers had been selling meth for more than a decade, at times bringing two to three pounds each week for other players to distribute in the region.

Police busted the ring in October of that year, when they arrested John Vang with drugs, a tactical rifle and numerous handguns.

Tom Johnson, investigative coordinator for the West Central Metropolitan Enforcement Group, said the arrests made an initial dent but didnt stop the local drug trade.
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



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Police say two people have been injured in an explosion in the center of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

"Information on the explosion of an unknown object in Hrushevskiy Street was reported to the police at 2:06 p.m. A man and a woman were injured," the Kyiv police said on August 24.

There were no other details about the incident, which came as Ukraine celebrated Independence Day with a military parade in central Kyiv and other events.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and other foreign officials were in town.

With reporting by AFP, Reuters, and Interfax
The last Russian activist imprisoned following clashes at a protest on the eve of President Vladimir Putin's inauguration to his current term has been released after serving his 30-month sentence.

The NGO Public Verdict and supporters of opposition politician Aleksei Navalny in the Yaroslavl Oblast said on social media that Ivan Nepomnyashchikh left a prison in the region northeast of Moscow on August 24.

Nepomnyashchikh was released directly from solitary confinement, where he had been placed several days ago.

But a court has ruled that for three years after his release, Nepomnyashchikh, who is in his mid-20s, must not participate in street protests and needs permission to leave his home between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. or leave the Moscow Oblast, the region that rings but does not include the capital. Public Verdict has appealed that ruling.



Nepomnyashchikh is the last activist to be convicted to date in connection with a May 6, 2012, rally on Moscow's Bolotnaya Square, where police detained more than 400 people after clashes that police and demonstrators blame on one another.

The rally was one of a series of large opposition protests sparked mainly by anger over electoral fraud and dismay at Putin's decision to return to the presidency after a four-year stint as prime minister.

More than 30 people were prosecuted in connection with the clashes and more than 20 were sentenced to prison or served time in pretrial custody.

Amnesty International has said that the police action at the rally "was not the quelling of a riot but the crushing of a protest" and that all those prosecuted are "victims of a politically motivated show trial."

One Bolotnaya protester, Maksim Panfilov, has been committed to a psychiatric hospital in the southern city of Astrakhan.

Dmitry Buchenkov, who is currently on trial in Moscow on charges of assaulting police during the Bolotnaya protest, says that he was not even there.
North Korea has opened a tourist office in Moscow to encourage Russians to travel to the reclusive country, promising that its nuclear weapons will keep all visitors safe.

North Korean officials on August 24 told reporters a visit to the country would provide tourists with an environment safer than an evening walk in London.

"North Korea is one of the safest countries of the world, embassy official Kim Seng Hung said.

It ensures comprehensive security of tourists who abide by the law and order of the country, he said, adding that the countrys nuclear weapons "fully guarantee security and peace on the Korean Peninsula."

North Korea is one of the most isolated countries in the world, and tensions with neighbors and the United States have been high as Pyongyang continues to develop its nuclear and ballistic-missile programs, which have been banned by United Nations resolutions.

A North Korean travel official sought to reassure visitors they would not suffer the same fate as U.S. tourist Otto Warmbier, who was sentenced to 15 years in jail in North Korea, returned to the United States in a coma, and died shortly thereafter.

"We think any tourist should respect and abide by the law of the country he or she is visiting. [Warmbier] intentionally breached our law, the official said.

The United States has instituted a travel ban on visits to North Korea by American tourists to begin later this month.

Based on reporting by Interfax, Reuters, and The Moscow Times
Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has met with Pakistan's military leadership and other top officials to formulate a response to the new U.S. policy on Afghanistan.

Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif are among those attending the National Security Council meeting on August 24, the newspaper Dawn reported.

Outlining the strategy on August 22, U.S. President Donald Trump warned that Washington will no longer tolerate Pakistan offering "safe havens" to extremist groups such as the Afghan Taliban, a claim Islamabad denies.

Asif added his voice to a chorus of indignation in the country over the U.S. criticism, saying on August 23, "They should not make Pakistan a scapegoat for their failures in Afghanistan."

At a meeting with the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, General Bajwa said that "peace in Afghanistan is as important for Pakistan than any other country," a military statement said.

Based on reporting by Dawn and Reuters
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
KAZAN, Russia -- The coordinator of Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalnys presidential election campaign staff in Kazan, the capital of the Tatarstan region, has been jailed for 10 days.

A court in Kazan ruled on August 23 that Elvira Dmitriyeva violated regulations governing public gatherings and imposed 10 days of administrative arrest.

The probe against Dmitriyeva was launched for her post online calling on supporters to pick up leaflets in Navalny's headquarters. She said she was innocent, insisting that her online post had nothing to do with a public gathering.

Her lawyer, Irina Gontsova, said the court's ruling will be appealed.

Dozens of Navalny campaign workers have been detained or questioned in Moscow and other cities in recent weeks.

Navalny is campaigning for the March 2018 presidential election, in which President Vladimir Putin is widely expected to seek and win a fourth term.

Russian election authorities have said that Navalny will be barred from the ballot because of a financial-crimes conviction that he says was engineered by the Kremlin to punish him for his opposition activity and keep him out of electoral politics.
MOSCOW -- Few people understand how the Russian political landscape has changed since 2012 better than Sergei Udaltsov.

The 40-year-old leader of the opposition Left Front movement was released from prison on August 8 after completing a 4 1/2-year term for his role in organizing mass protests against election fraud in May 2012.

And he has lost no time trying to get back into the political fray from which he was largely sidelined.

Back in 2011-12, Udaltsov recalled in a long postprison interview with RFE/RL's Russian Service, a broad opposition coalition coalesced around themes like election integrity, independent courts, and democratic political reforms.

"This [common agenda] united all of us, even though we had different points of view," Udaltsov said. "Those differences remain."

"It really was a coalition in which liberals, leftists, social patriots, various human rights groups, and creative intellectuals participated equally," Udaltsov said. "It was effective because we could all see that we could influence decision-making. Today, no such coalition exists."

The disarray comes in the run-up to Russia's next presidential election, scheduled for March.

The most popular opposition figure, anticorruption activist Aleksei Navalny, will most likely be barred from participating, disqualified because he was convicted of felony embezzlement in a case that he and his supporters assert was politically motivated.

President Vladimir Putin is widely expected to seek and be awarded a fourth term in that election.

Noticeable Discontent

Now, Udaltsov says, with the election looming, it will be more difficult for the opposition to act in unison. Although he says he is open to cooperation where possible and even potentially to boycotting the election altogether, he noted, "There cannot be a single candidate from the leftists, liberals, and nationalists."

"Naturally, we aren't going to work for the benefit of someone who is not ideologically close to us and promote him as a candidate -- including Navalny," he said. "We have no intention of forgetting our own agenda."

At the same time, Udaltsov said his time in prison convinced him that simmering discontent is growing among a Russian population that has benefited little from the government's policies.

"In Tambov Oblast, where I served my time, there are a lot of local people in prison -- ordinary people, workers, whose lives took a wrong turn," he told RFE/RL.

"Speaking with them, you can see how low the living standards are in the regions, despite the government's promises that incomes would go up. Social safety nets are not working. Young people go without jobs. The level of education is falling sharply. It is sometimes frightening to realize that some people can't even read or write to speak of.

"Of course, these are all indicators that the government's policies are ineffective," he added. "Those policies promote the interests of an elite group of about 100 families of our oligarchs, high-ranking officials, and their wives and children. The authorities apparently want to maintain this situation as long as possible and hand power down to their children and essentially rule forever. Of course, these dreams can't come true. Internal discontent among the people is growing."

The will of the people is sacred to me. I welcome the unification of Crimea not because Putin did it, but because it was the decision of the people themselves."

Udaltsov was only one of three Left Front leaders who were imprisoned for their roles in the 2012 protest, leaving the left wing of the political spectrum particularly fractured. Uniting Russia's leftists is now at the top of Udaltsov's to-do list.

"The main thing I see for myself now is to consolidate the left flank of the opposition," he said. "Now I am meeting with activists and leaders of various leftist organizations, beginning with the Communist Party of Russia and Just Russia and ending with various anarchists and far-left groups, of which there are many. But they are acting in a very scattered fashion. Our task is to activate the Left Front and consolidate the entire left flank."

Backing The Kremlin On Ukraine

One issue that arose while Udaltsov was cooling his heels in prison could complicate his political mission now: Ukraine.

Udaltsov's views on Moscow's illegal 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea and its involvement in the war in parts of eastern Ukraine are hard to distinguish from Putin's.

"As a person of leftist democratic views, I always think that the will of the people is paramount," he told RFE/RL. "Regardless of whether there were Russian troops in Crimea or under what circumstances the referendum was held, it is absolutely clear to me that the overwhelming mood there was pro-Russian.... Crimeans expressed this view primarily as a reaction to the events in Kyiv at the time, to the ultranationalist statements, the attacks, the threats that were aimed at Crimeans. I understand their reaction well. The will of the people is sacred to me. I welcome the unification of Crimea not because Putin did it, but because it was the decision of the people themselves."

He views the conflict in parts of eastern Ukraine similarly, saying the energy of the popular Euromaidan protests in Ukraine in 2013-14 was co-opted by "antipopular forces, oligarchs...and ultranationalists."

He says that claims that Russia provoked separatist sentiment in the region are "simple demagoguery."

Udaltsov said he has no intention of fighting in Ukraine because he is "not a military man," but he will likely visit the region "in order to better understand the situation and see the mood of the people."

What Will Happen, Will Happen

Within days of regaining his liberty, Udaltsov took time from politics to acknowledge another important change in Russia's political landscape over the last few years. He visited the Moscow bridge near the Kremlin where opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was gunned down in February 2015. Nemtsov -- together with Navalny, Udaltsov, and others -- had been a key figure in the 2012 mass demonstrations.

"I knew Boris Nemtsov personally," Udaltsov said. "We had differing political views, but he was always close to me as a person. He was very personable and had the ability to compromise. He played a very large role in fostering cooperation among the various opposition groups at that time. And that is why he was a problem for the government, a danger.

"I went to the scene of the murder and paid my respects to him because he really was a comrade of mine in the best sense," he continued. "Not an ideological comrade, but a comrade in action. I was very friendly with him and, of course, I felt it was the right thing to do to go there and express my solidarity and remembrance."

Is he worried about possibly facing a similar fate?

"Life, of course, is finite," he mused. "We all leave this world at some point. So I think we must do as much that is good and useful and kind for those near to us, for our country, and for our fellow citizens. I don't intend to run or hide. As the saying goes, do what you must do and what will happen will happen."

Written by RFE/RL senior correspondent Robert Coalson on the basis of reporting by RFE/RL Russian Service correspondent Natalya Dzhanpoladova
A prominent Russian punk rocker who defected to the United States following a recent Russian ban on the Jehovah's Witnesses has canceled plans to tour Russia in November, saying going to his native country would be like entering a burning house.

Fyodor Chistyakov, a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses since the mid-1990s, wrote on his website on August 23 that he could not go to Russia at the moment because he is not sure he would be able to get out again.

He cited the sharply curtailed visa operations at the U.S. Embassy and consulates in Russia, which the United States says it was forced to put in place following Moscow's demand for deep staff cuts at the missions.

Chistyakov also cited the prosecution of prominent Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov, who was placed under house arrest on August 23 on fraud charges he says are "absurd."

The case against Serebrennikov is "without any doubt a repressive one," wrote Chistyakov, who is known as Dyadya Fyodor (Uncle Fyodor) and has led the groups Nol (Zero) and the Fyodor Chistyakov Band.

He wrote that for him, traveling to Russia is like "a fire in your house when you do not know if you get out alive or not."

"My getting a visa to be able to return to the United States now is under a big question mark," he wrote.

He said the Russian demand for staff cuts at the U.S. missions was "a strike not against the U.S., but a strike against Russians."

After the U.S. Congress passed a bill strengthening sanctions on Russia and making it harder for President Donald Trump to ease or lift the punitive measures, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on July 28 that Washington must reduce its diplomatic staff at the U.S. Embassy and consulates to 455 people by September 1.

President Vladimir Putin later said that meant the United States must cut 755 of the roughly 1,200 staff members at the missions -- many of whom are Russian.

The U.S. sanctions bill, which Trump signed but called "flawed," was a response to Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election, its aggression in Ukraine, and its role in the war in Syria, among other things.

Chistyakov decided in July to stay in the United States, where he was on tour.

He said the reason was the Russian Supreme Court's decision to label the Jehovah's Witnesses an extremist organization and ban it.

Freedom of religion is formally guaranteed in Russia but legislation sets out Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism as the country's four traditional religions, and smaller denominations frequently face discrimination.

In recent years, there have been a growing number of reports of worshippers at Jehovah's Witnesses congregations being targeted for harassment.

Nol was popular in the Soviet Union, and then in its former republics, in the late 1980s and the 1990s.
Sara Bozek is excited to start her college career at Viterbo University.

The 18-year-old from Ottawa, Ill., was among 28 first-generation students who moved into the dorms Thursday and participated in special orientation activities. The oldest of her siblings, Bozek will be the first in her family to have earned a college degree after she finishes her studies in criminal psychology.

Being a first-generation student, I didnt know a lot of what to do before I came to campus, she said. My mom is a hairstylist and my dad works with airplanes. They didnt get this experience.

Jane Eddy, Viterbos director of the Academic Resource Center and TRIO student support programs, said the university unveiled a unique program to help acclimate first-generation students to campus this year. Along with the early move-in day, students participating in the program on Thursday were given a special sendoff with their families and participated in team-building and other workshops to familiarize themselves with their classmates and campus.

The intent is to empower them, she said, and help them get the lay of the land and get connected.

First-generation students at Viterbo are defined as those whose parents never attended or completed a four-year degree  and Glena Temple, Viterbos president, falls into that category. Estimates put 44 percent of the student body at Viterbo meeting this definition, and first-generation students face unique challenges at college due to not having familial knowledge with how the system works.

Bozek said she fell in love with the La Crosse area after visiting Grandad Bluff and would have attended either the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse or Viterbo.

Not having experienced college, all of the paperwork required even before she got to campus was a challenge for her family, but Bozek said she appreciated the way Viterbo staff members have worked to welcome her and her fellow students and help figure all these things out.

Im excited to break my anxiety barrier and make friends here, she said. Im looking to get over that bump.

During lunch on Thursday, professor Emily Dykman was one of the Viterbo faculty who shared her college journey with the students. Dykman was a first-generation student at Viterbo in the 1990s, and she said it was the relationships she built with faculty and classmates that helped her navigate the college maze.

When she got to college, she said she didnt have that sense of where and how to seek the help she needed and stay pointed in the right direction. Programs like Thursdays orientation are great because they encourage students to open up and take risks.

How much fun will it be to see these students again in four years as adults confident and motivated to change the world, she said. Fall is my favorite time of the year as we are getting new students in.
Russia's ambassador to Sudan has died at his residence in Khartoum, Sudanese and Russian officials have said.

Mirgayas Shirinsky, a career diplomat who was in his early 60s, was at least the sixth serving Russian diplomat to die in the past two years.

A Sudanese Foreign Ministry statement did not give the cause of death, but Russian Embassy spokesman Sergei Konyashin said there were signs Shirinsky had suffered a severe heart attack on August 23.

"Doctors were summoned but were unable to save him," Konyashin said on state-run Rossia-24 television.

A Sudanese police spokesman said it was believed that Shirinsky had high blood pressure.

The AFP news agency quoted a senior police officer in Khartoum whom it did not name as saying the ambassador "died while he was swimming in his pool at his house."

Shirinsky's death came six months after the longtime Russian ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, died suddenly in New York on the day before his 65th birthday.

The New York City medical examiner's office declined to release autopsy results, citing diplomatic immunity, but The Associated Press quoted senior officials speaking on condition of anonymity as saying the examiner found that Churkin died of a heart attack.

The Russian ambassador to India, Aleksandr Kadakin, died in January in New Delhi at the age of 67. State-run Russian media reported that the cause was heart failure.

Russian and Greek officials said that consul Andrei Malanin, who was found dead on his bedroom floor in Athens earlier in January, died of natural causes. He was 55.

The Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, was shot dead by an off-duty Turkish police officer at a photography exhibit in Ankara on December 19, 2016.

Andrei Vorobyov, the Russian charge d'affaires in Ukraine, died in Moscow on May 30, 2016, after suffering a stroke, according to state news agency TASS.

With reporting by AFP, TASS, RIA, Reuters, and Hurriyet
During fighting against Islamic State (IS) militants, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces took control of a landmark clock tower in Raqqa, Syria, on Tuesday, August 22. The clock tower, at the end of Quwatli Street in Raqqa, can be seen in this video shot by Kurdish media. Identifying himself as belonging to the Northern Sun Battalion, which is part of the SDF alliance, the fighter says IS uses children as human shields while building barricades on the front line. (Furat FM via Storyful)
A court in Tajikistan has sentenced a man to prison after convicting him of driving his 18-year-old wife to suicide in June amid the couple's arguments over her virginity.

Court officials in Tajikistan's southern Vose district told RFE/RL on August 24 that Zafar Pirov, 24, had been sentenced to seven years in prison. It is not clear when exactly the sentence was pronounced.

Pirov's wife, Rajabbi Khurshed, took her own life 40 days into her arranged marriage after her husband accused her of not being a virgin on their wedding night, according to relatives.

Khurshed had passed a virginity test, which is technically optional but is routinely demanded of young women by either or both families before weddings in Tajikistan.

Pirov, however, forced her to undergo two further tests and rejected doctors' conclusions that Khurshed was a virgin on their wedding night.

According to Khurshed's family, she said on her deathbed that she was under enormous pressure from her husband and "couldnt take it any longer."

Khurshed took a fatal dose of vinegar on June 22 and died in hospital hours later, the family and doctors say.
President Emomali Rahmon has reinstated a local Tajik official who had been fired by a regional governor over an out-of-tune musical performance at a presidential meeting.

Rahmon on August 24 reinstated Ziyoda Salomova as head of the Department for Women and Family Issues in the southwestern Huroson district.

The governor of Huroson district, Rahmatullo Safarzoda, was officially reprimanded for "shortcomings in his activity, including the illegal removal of Ziyoda Salomova from her post."

On August 14, RFE/RL correspondents reported that during Rahmon's visit to Huroson, a group of women played out-of-tune Tajik folk music on traditional instruments. Their faulty performance led to the removal of Salomova, who was responsible for the event's preparation.

Rahmon's press service said on August 24 that reports suggesting the president was disappointed by the musicians' performance was not true.

"The president visits the regions to get acquainted with the lives of ordinary people, not to rate the quality of celebrations held by people with sincere intentions to honor him," the statement said.


ON MY MIND

There is conspicuously little consensus about what is behind the bizarre criminal case against theater director Kirill Serebrennikov.

Some, like opposition journalist Oleg Kashin, have framed it as the opening bell of Vladimir Putin's election campaign (see Kashin's piece in Republic.ru featured in the Morning Vertical earlier this week).

In an editorial this week, Meduza compared Serebrennikov's case to that of Vsevolod Meyerhold, the director who was arrested and executed at the height of Josef Stalin's Great Terror.

Others, like Yulia Latynina (in a piece featured below), have focused on how the case doesn't really help Putin at all, and instead illustrates that Russian law enforcement is spinning out of control.

Such speculation tends to note that Putin has reportedly called the investigators in the case "fools."

And some media have speculated that the case is being driven by Russia's ultraconservative culture minister, Vladimir Medinsky (although I am skeptical that Medinsky has the necessary juice in the Kremlin to move the law-enforcement apparatus on his own).

It's all pretty murky at this point, and will remain so until we have more data points to work with.

But what is clear, as I noted on yesterday's Daily Vertical, is that due to the prominence of the defendant and the utterly Orwellian nature of the charges, this case is indeed a watershed.

IN THE NEWS

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is in Kyiv for Ukrainian Independence Day celebrations and talks with President Petro Poroshenko and Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak.

Russia's ambassador to Sudan has died at his residence in Khartoum, Sudanese and Russian officials have said.

A former top Russian central bank official known for his criticism of Kremlin policies says he is not in Russia and is not under arrest, commenting on media reports that he was detained at a Moscow airport for allegedly failing to make a customs declaration about Soviet-era medals.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has held talks with visiting Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin in the Russian city of Sochi.

Russia plans to send 30 teachers to secondary schools in Tajikistan by September 1, the first day of the next academic year.

John Tefft, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to Russia, says the U.S. move to suspend all nonimmigrant visa operations at U.S. missions across Russia is a result of forced staff cuts and "not about being vindictive."

The coordinator of Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny's presidential election campaign staff in Kazan, the capital of the Tatarstan region, has been detained.

WHAT I'M READING

Today's Must Read: A Primer For Zapad-2017

Want to know what to expect from next month's Zapad-2017 military exercises? Michael Kofman, a military analyst at the Wilson Center's Kennan Institute, has an excellent primer in War On The Rocks.

Serebrennikov Fallout

Yulia Latynina has a piece in Novaya Gazeta arguing that the detention of theater director Kirill Serebrennikov is politically dangerous for Vladimir Putin.

RBK and Vedomosti also look at the political fallout from the Serebrennikov case.

The Importance Of Navalny's 'Pointless' Campaign

On the Kennan Institute's Russia File blog, Sergei Parkomenko explains the importance of Aleksei Navalny's "pointless" election campaign.

A Pre-Revolutionary Situation?

On his blog for the BBC Russian Service, Vladimir Pastukhov, a Russian historian at St. Antonys College at Oxford University, argues that Russia in in a prerevolutionary situation.

Russia And The German Election

In Intersection magazine, Dmitri Stratievski, deputy director of the Berlin Center for East European Studies, looks at "relations with Russia in the mirror of Germanys election campaign."

Russia, Belarus, And Baltic Ports

Syarhey Bohdan, a political analyst with the Minsk-based Ostrogorski Center, has a piece in the Belarus Digest looking at Russia's efforts to pressure Belarus not to export refined petroleum products via Latvian and Lithuanian ports.

Sharing Encounters With The Police

Meduza has a piece about Russian Facebook users sharing their experiences with the police.
U.S. President Donald Trump has many tools at his disposal to turn up the pressure on Pakistan to shut down alleged Afghan Taliban sanctuaries and arrest extremist leaders on its soil, analysts say, as Washington looks to turn the tide in Americas longest-ever war.

In unveiling his new Afghanistan strategy on August 21, Trump chastised Pakistan for harboring "agents of chaos" and providing safe havens to militant groups waging an insurgency against the U.S.-backed government in Kabul, saying Islamabad must promptly change tack or suffer the consequences.

Analysts say Trump's options range from cutting off billions in annual military aid to downgrading Pakistan's status as a major non-NATO ally in order to force Islamabads hand if it does not does not get behind a renewed U.S. effort to help Kabul repel the Taliban and force the fundamentalist militant group to negotiate a political settlement.

How to get nuclear-armed Pakistan to crack down on militant sanctuaries on its soil has long been a point of contention. Former President Barack Obama tried and seemingly failed to persuade Pakistan to change course with billions of dollars in military aid and the sale of subsidized weapons. But analysts say Trump is likely to use more stick and less carrot in his own dealings with Islamabad.

This would be an extremely bold move on the part of the United States but completely feasible if it was willing to deal with the consequences..."

Trump upped the ante further by seeking greater Indian engagement in Afghanistan, an overture that has set off alarm bells in Pakistan. The nuclear-armed archrivals have vied for influence in Kabul for years, with New Delhi backing civilian governments with millions in aid while Islamabad has attempted to establish friendly governments in Afghanistan through proxies like the Taliban and the mujahedin.

The Trump administration appears to be determined to increase pressure on Pakistan to eliminate terrorist safe havens on its soil or bring the Taliban to the negotiation table, says Ahmad K. Majidyar, a South Asia expert.

Analysts expect Washington to first pursue an aggressive diplomatic effort to convince Pakistan to change its approach and will only resort to military and financial measures if Islamabad fails to deliver.

Slashing Ally Status

"We have some leverage," U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on August 22 in response to a question about the new Trump strategy, "in terms of aid, their status as a non-NATO alliance partner -- all of that can be put on the table."

Pakistan is among 16 countries that have status as a major non-NATO U.S. ally. The status is not a mutual defense treaty like the Western alliance, but allows close military cooperation.

Mohammad Taqi, a U.S.-based Pakistan political analyst, says downgrading Islamabads ally status would have implications for military funding to Pakistan.

It means the preferential military-to-military contact ends, says Taqi. If that status is changed, Pakistan would no longer get preferential access to military technology, hardware, planning, and training.

A number of analysts suggested that of all the options available to Trump, cutting Pakistans status would be the easiest to pursue with the fewest consequences.

Terrorism Designation

Trump can also designate Pakistan a "state sponsor of terrorism," a designation that would trigger harsh U.S. sanctions, including a ban on arms sales and an end to U.S. economic assistance for Pakistan.

Iran, Syria, and Sudan are currently the only three countries with that U.S. designation.

We have been paying Pakistan billions and billions of dollars at the same time they are housing the very terrorists that we are fighting. But that will have to change."

The U.S. State Department says on its official website that the designation carries four main categories of sanctions, including restrictions on U.S. foreign assistance; a ban on defense exports and sales; certain controls over exports of dual-use items; and miscellaneous financial and other restrictions."

Designation under the above-referenced authorities also implicates other sanctions laws that penalize persons and countries engaging in certain trade with state sponsors, it says.

Expanding Drone Campaign

Since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, the United States has conducted hundreds of drone strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistans lawless tribal areas against Al-Qaeda, the Haqqani network, and the Pakistan Taliban. Despite its public protestations, Islamabad is believed to have cooperated behind the scenes with the CIAs drone campaign, although it was adamant that it should be limited to the countrys tribal northwest.

That purported tacit agreement was said to have been broken when a U.S. drone strike killed Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansur near the Afghan-Pakistani border in May 2016. It was reportedly a unilateral move without consulting Pakistan. At the time, the strike was seen as a shift in U.S. policy, but it proved to be an isolated measure.

Now, 15 months later under a new administration, Tillerson warned on August 22, "The president has been clear that we are going to attack terrorists wherever they live."

Analysts say the United States could now to look to pursue similar unilateral strikes in Pakistan, although it should be prepared for likely fallout.

This would be an extremely bold move on the part of the United States but completely feasible if it was willing to deal with the consequences, which could include Pakistan cutting off its transit routes for NATO supplies into Afghanistan, says Shamila Chaudhary, a senior South Asia fellow at the New America Foundation in Washington.

With more U.S. troops headed to Afghanistan, keeping those transit routes open will be important for the United States, Chaudhary says, noting that the only other option would involve costlier routes through Central Asia -- an alternative that is complicated because it requires cooperation with Russia.

Sanctions, Aid Cuts

Washington could sanction the powerful Pakistani military, which has an oversized role in domestic and foreign affairs. The Pakistani Army and Pakistans notorious spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), have been accused by U.S. and Afghan officials of supporting the Afghan Taliban and other extremists.

Blacklisting Pakistani individuals and entities associated with supporting terrorist networks may be on the agenda, says Majidyar.

Taqi says that financial sanctions on the army should be applied urgently if they fail to deliver the goods and after that a broader range of economic sanctions should be applied.

Analysts say part of that move could be to significantly cut or even end military aid and subsidized weapons sales to Islamabad.

Since 2001, Congress has approved about $30 billion for Pakistan in direct U.S. aid and military reimbursements, according to the Congressional Research Service.

The Obama administration began slashing military aid to Pakistan. Last year, the Pentagon withheld over $300 million in pledged military funding, and Congress blocked the subsidized sale of F-16 jets to Pakistan.

That trend is expected to continue and could possibly accelerate, say analysts, given Trumps strong words.

We have been paying Pakistan billions and billions of dollars at the same time they are housing the very terrorists that we are fighting, Trump said on August 21. But that will have to change, and that will change immediately.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, on a visit to Ukraine, said he will provide policy options for Washington with a better understanding about what is happening on the front lines of Kyiv's battle against Russia-backed separatists. Speaking alongside Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on August 24, Mattis said that providing defensive weapons to Ukraine should not be seen as provocative "unless you are an aggressor." Ukraine has been fighting against Russia-backed separatists in eastern regions of the country since 2014, and the United States has already provided $750 million in nonlethal weapons and support to Kyiv, according to Mattis. (Reuters)


U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 23920 / August 24, 2017 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Alan Charles Kapanicas, No. 5:17-cv-01704 (C.D. Cal., filed August 23, 2017) Former Executive Director of Muni Bond Issuer Charged with Disclosure Failures The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that, Alan Kapanicas, the former executive director of the Beaumont Financing Authority, has agreed to settle charges that he made false statements about prior compliance with continuing disclosure obligations in five bond offerings. According to the SEC's complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the Beaumont Financing Authority had issued approximately $260 million in municipal bonds in 24 separate offerings from 2003 to 2013 for the development of public infrastructure. For each of those offerings, a community facilities district established by the City of Beaumont, California agreed to provide investors with annual continuing disclosures, including important financial information and operating data. From at least 2004 to April 2013, the district regularly failed to provide investors with the promised information. The Beaumont Financing Authority failed to disclose this poor record of compliance when it conducted the 2012 and 2013 offerings totaling more than $32 million. As a result, the bonds appeared more attractive and investors were misled about the likelihood that the district would comply with its continuing disclosure obligations in the future. The SEC's complaint alleges that Kapanicas reviewed, approved and signed the misleading offering documents. The SEC's complaint, filed on August 23, 2017, charges Kapanicas with violations of Sections 17(a)(2) and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933. Kapanicas agreed to settle the charges without admitting or denying the allegations, and pay a $37,500 penalty. He also agreed to be barred from participating in any future municipal bond offerings. The settlement is subject to court approval. The SEC's investigation was conducted by Steven Varholik and Jason H. Lee of the Public Finance Abuse Unit with assistance from Deputy Chief Mark R. Zehner, Jonathan Wilcox, and Creighton L. Papier. The investigation was supervised by Monique C. Winkler. https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2017/lr23920.htm

Modified: 08/24/2017
The ASTER satellite captured this vivid view of volcanic activity in Siberia, Russia. The home of these volcanoes is the Kamchatka Peninsula, an area that experiences frequent eruptions due to its location near the Eurasian, North American and Pacific tectonic plates.

Eruptions from one of the most active volcanic regions in the world sent plumes of ash and steam into the sky this week, as captured in a spectacular image by an Earth-monitoring satellite.

Klyuchevskoy, a massive stratovolcano made up of ash and hardened lava, is located in the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula, near the Pacific Ocean. The volcano rises 10,771 feet (3,282 meters) above sea level, according to NASA, and behaves similarly to the volcanoes located in the nearby islands of Alaska. The Aleutian Islands, which sit in the Bering Sea and extend toward this Russian peninsula, are part of Alaska. According to the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program, the 49th state has produced 70 percent of all historical eruptions in the United States, and a "vast majority" of those have occurred in this region in particular.

In the image, Klyuchevskoy is seen releasing a stream of ash that moves west, and the slightly smaller Bezymianny volcano is also seen jettisoning an eruption  of steam rather than ash  to the south, NASA officials said in a statement. The ASTER satellite captured the phenomena on Aug. 20, and the image covers an area of 12 miles by 14 miles (19.5 by 22.7 kilometers). [Astronaut in Space Sees Mount Etna Volcano Eruption (Photo)]

ASTER, which stands for Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer, is a dual-nation project: it is operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Japan Space Systems. ASTER observes changes to Earth's surface and provides scientists from various disciplines with useful data, NASA officials said in the statement. The satellite monitors glacial movement, potentially active volcanoes, the physical properties of clouds, the degradation of coral reefs, the surface temperature of soils and crop stress, and thermal pollution.

The volcanoes themselves have also helped scientists to understand ancient vegetation. Millions of years ago, volcanic ash settled on sequoia and metasequoia trees after a volcanic eruption, which created the petrified forests that paleontologists can study today in places such as Unga Island in Alaska.

Editor's Note: NASA officials have clarified that the pictured volcano is in facet Klyuchevskoy, not Shiveluch as in the release; the article has been corrected to reflect that change.

Follow Doris Elin Salazar on Twitter @salazar_elin. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
The next people to take a trip around the moon or become the first humans to travel to Mars could belong to NASA's newest astronaut class.

Tuesday (Aug. 22), the agency released a series of videos in which the newest group of future space travelers discuss things like where they'd like to go and how they think they'd handle the trip. You can watch all the videos on NASA Johnson's Youtube page.

"I live in Boston so I'm used to small spaces," said Jonny Kim, a Navy SEAL and member of the new astronaut class, about why he's a good candidate to spend months in a small spacecraft. In response to that same question, other members of the class said things like: "I pack light," "[I have] good self-hygiene" and "When I sleep I cuddle up, so I don't take up that much room." [What It's Like to Become an Astronaut: 10 Surprising Facts]

The videos were filmed before the new cadets arrived in Houston for the start of their two-year training period, which began this week. Members of the class are referred to as "astronaut candidates" until they complete this training period.

Each of the interview videos is about 2.5 to 4 minutes long. The candidates answer such questions as how they came to apply for the astronaut program, where they were when they got the call from NASA saying they'd been accepted, what they're excited about doing in space and what space food they're looking forward to, among others.

Tuesday, the new astronaut class got the chance to talk to NASA astronauts Peggy Whitson, Jack Fischer and Randy Bresnik, who are living on the International Space Station. The class was joined by Canada's two new astronaut candidates, Joshua Kutryk and Jennifer Sidey. The astronaut candidates asked their new co-workers things like what aspects of training they wish they'd paid more attention to, what the most important skills are for an astronaut and (to Whitson) what it was like being a woman going through astronaut training.

The new astronaut class includes seven men and five women who were chosen from the largest pool of applicants in NASA history  18,353. That shattered the 1978 record of 8,000 applicants, according to NASA.

Follow Calla Cofield @callacofield. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
HOUSTON  The crew on board the International Space Station (ISS) helped raise awareness for pediatric cancer on Wednesday (Aug. 23) with the on-orbit debut of a hand-painted spacesuit inspired by the cooperation between the orbiting laboratory's partner nations.

Expedition 52 flight engineer Jack Fischer donned "Unity," a patchwork costume spacesuit decorated by children with cancer in the U.S., Russia, Germany, Japan, and Canada  the same countries that operate the space station. The multicolor garment, a product of the Spacesuit Art Project, was pieced together by ILC Dover, the same company that furnishes the softgoods for NASA's real spacesuits.

"It is tricky to get into, but it is worth it, kind of like the real suit," said Fischer during a live downlink with the project's organizers and some of the children who contributed to the design. "The real suit, you have the reward of getting to go outside and seeing an amazing view. [With] this suit, you have the reward of the opportunity  or rather the honor, to represent the bravest kids in the world who actually put it together." [Evolution of the Spacesuit in Pictures (Space Tech Gallery)]

"And, you know, it makes a nice fashion statement. A little nod to my eclectic style," he added with a smile.

Fischer, whose daughter, Bethany, is a teenage survivor of papillary thyroid cancer, said that the suit was the "coolest thing" he had seen in space, replying to a question by one of the children at NASA's Mission Control in Houston.

Unity is the third outfit to be produced by the Spacesuit Art Project, which was founded in 2015 by the Johnson Space Center Engineering Directorate, ILC Dover and by children in hospitals around the world. The first and second suits, named "Hope" and "Courage," were made by the pediatric patients at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

In 2016, NASA astronaut Kate Rubins wore Courage while in orbit.

"We were overwhelmed by the very positive reaction and excitement about Courage on ISS," Nicole Stott, a former astronaut-turned-artist and co-founder of the Spacesuit Art Project, said. "At all levels, it was such a beautiful thing."

The Spacesuit Art Project's first two spacesuits, "Hope" (at left) and "Courage." The latter was worn in space in 2016. (Image credit: collectSPACE.com)

"As an international work of art, we know Unity will bring an even broader and more powerful positive reaction," she added. "The global cooperation we experience every day with our ISS program is such the perfect example for how we can successfully do so many other complex things  it was also the perfect example for painting and building an international spacesuit of art and getting it to space."

"Every kid [who] painted this suit and every kid [who] they represent are real heroes," NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik said from orbit. "As excited as we are about seeing human beings make history by stepping on another planet, all of us would much rather see us make cancer history before that happens."

In addition to raising awareness about pediatric cancer, the astronauts are also using the microgravity environment on board the space station to conduct research into possible treatments and cures.

"We are trying a new method that scientists on the ground developed and testing it out up here, where antibodies that recognize the cancer cells have a drug attached to them and they go out and try to specifically kill the cancer cells, which would be particularly helpful in chemotherapies on the ground," said astronaut Peggy Whitson, referencing an investigation focused on lung cancer cells.

Wednesday's event on the space station was followed by children cancer patients gathering in several locations on Earth to paint fabric swatches for the next spacesuit.

"We have the 'Exploration' spacesuit that is being painted in coordination with this event today by children all around the world," Stott told the crew in orbit. "We're really hoping that this project will help us facilitate more art in medicine programs around the world and [sending] pediatric cancer research to the space station."

Watch video of NASA astronaut Jack Fischer modeling the Spacesuit Art Project's "Unity" spacesuit on the International Space Station at collectSPACE.

Follow collectSPACE.com on Facebook and on Twitter at @collectSPACE. Copyright 2017 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.
The 2 minutes of darkness caused by the total solar eclipse earlier this week may seem momentous, but it's nothing compared with the prolonged darkness that followed the dinosaur-killing asteroid that collided with Earth about 65.5 million years ago, a new study finds.

When the 6-mile-wide (10 kilometers) asteroid struck, Earth plunged into a darkness that lasted nearly two years, the researchers said.

This darkness was caused, in part, by tremendous amounts of soot that came from wildfires worldwide. Without sunlight, Earth's plants couldn't photosynthesize, and the planet drastically cooled. These two key factors likely toppled global food chains and contributed to the mass extinction at the end of the dinosaur age, known as the Mesozoic, according to the study. [Wipe Out: History's Most Mysterious Extinctions]

The finding may help scientists understand why more than 75 percent of all species, including the non-avian dinosaurs, such as Tyrannosaurus rex, and large marine reptiles, such as the plesiosaur, went extinct after the asteroid slammed into what is now Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, the researchers said.

Killer asteroid

When the space rock smashed into Earth, it probably triggered earthquakes, tsunamis and even volcanic eruptions, the researchers said. The asteroid hit with such force that it launched vaporized rock sky-high into the atmosphere. Up there, the vaporized rock would have condensed into small particles, called spherules.

When the spherules plunged back down to Earth, they rubbed against one another, causing friction and heating to temperatures hot enough to ignite fires around the world. In fact, a thin band of spherules can still be found in the geologic record, the researchers said.

Most large Mesozoic land animals died in the asteroid's immediate aftermath, "but animals that lived in the oceans or those that could burrow underground or slip underwater temporarily could have survived," the study's lead researcher, Charles Bardeen, a project scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, said in a statement.

"Our study picks up the story after the initial effects  after the earthquakes and the tsunamis and the broiling," Bardeen said. "We wanted to look at the long-term consequences of the amount of soot we think was created and what those consequences might have meant for the animals that were left."

Earth without photosynthesis

Even though researchers found evidence for the asteroid in the late 1970s, there still isn't "universal agreement" on how long Earth was shrouded in darkness after the space rock smacked into the planet, Bardeen told Live Science. [Doomsday: 9 Real Ways Earth Could End]

Other researchers have estimated the soot produced by these ancient wildfires by measuring soot deposits in the geologic record. But Bardeen and his colleagues took another route: they used the NCAR-based Community Earth System Model (CESM)  a modern chemistry-climate model that factors in components related to the atmosphere, land, ocean and sea ice. This model allowed the scientists to simulate the effect of soot in the years following the asteroid impact.

"Different studies have assumed various types of particles including dust, sulfates and soot," Bardeen told Live Science in an email. "All of these particles can block enough sunlight to cool the surface, but only soot is so strongly absorbing that it is self-lofting, can heat the stratosphere and reduces sunlight at the surface light to very low levels."

Furthermore, the researchers used the most up-to-date estimates of the amount of fine soot in the geologic record  that is, 15,000 million tons.

"Our study shows it is dark enough to shut down photosynthesis for up to two years," Bardeen said. "This would have a devastating effect, particularly in the ocean, since the ocean relies upon phytoplankton as a primary source of food and loss of this would be catastrophic to the entire food chain."

Even if the soot levels had been one-third the actual amount, photosynthesis would have still been blocked for an entire year, the researchers found.

Other catastrophic effects

In addition to stopping photosynthesis, this worldwide cloud of soot would have prevented much of the sun's heat from reaching Earth. For more than a year following the crash, the land and oceans would have cooled by as much as 50 degrees Fahrenheit (28 degrees Celsius) and 20 degrees F (11 degrees C), respectively, the researchers found. [Crash! 10 Biggest Impact Craters on Earth]

In contrast, the upper atmosphere, known as the stratosphere, would have warmed because that's where the soot floated around, absorbing the sun's heat. These roasting temperatures would have depleted the ozone, and also allowed for vast quantities of water vapor to hover in the stratosphere. When this water vapor chemically reacted with the stratosphere, it would have created hydrogen compounds that led to further ozone destruction, according to the researchers.

As the ozone disappeared and the soot cleared, damaging doses of ultraviolet light reached Earth, harming life there, the researchers said.

When the stratosphere eventually cooled down, the water vapor there condensed and began raining, abruptly washing away the soot, Bardeen said. As some soot left, the air there cooled, which in turn led the water vapor to condense into ice particles, which washed away more soot.

Once this cooling cycle repeated enough times, the thinning soot layer vanished within months, the researchers found.

Bardeen credited his friend Betty Pierazzo, a senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute, a nonprofit headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, with securing funding from NASA to do this study. Unfortunately, Pierazzo died before research on the end-Cretaceous asteroid got underway.

Bardeen also noted several limitations, including that the model is based on a modern Earth, and it's unknown whether Earth at the end of the Cretaceous period had different atmospheric properties, such as different concentrations of gases.

The study was published online Monday (Aug. 21) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Original article on Live Science.
From flowers spontaneously shutting their petals to hundreds of thousands of salmon washing ashore, the eclipse yesterday (Aug. 21) had a downright spooky impact on nature, according scientists observing the effects.

Several experimental projects were aimed at recording the responses of animals to the eclipse, including the iNaturalist app, which encouraged people to record observations during and after totality, said Rebecca Johnson, citizen science research director at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Johnson, along with colleagues, helped spearhead the effort to gather these observations and sift through them, once the sun had returned.

It turned out that the solar eclipse didn't just make humans go crazy and indulge in odd behavior; it also had a wide range of effects on animals and plants throughout the natural world. From spooked horses to hungry fish, here are some of the most interesting impacts of the eclipse on nature. [Total Solar Eclipse 2017: Everything You Need to Know]

Pets

It's no surprise that animals are affected by the eclipse; after all, many have strong day-night behavior patterns that are tied to cycles of light and dark, as well as temperature. In the past, researchers have observed bizarre behavior in insects, chimpanzees and baboons in response to eclipses, Live Science previously reported.

But yesterday's eclipse was different, in that it occurred in such a widely populated area; hence, many different experiments were underway to gather citizen-science observations, Johnson said. So far, more than 500 people using the iNaturalist app have made about 2,100 observations involving about 350 different species, Johnson said. Of course, the animals that were most closely observed were the Fidos and Fifis that came along with people on their eclipse-viewing trips. Many of the reports coming into Johnson were of dogs that seemed to be reacting to the eclipse during totality, she said.

While reports came in about cats seeming to be upset as well, it's a little tougher to decipher their behavior, Johnson said. For instance, Sean Carroll, a theoretical physicist at the California Institute of Technology, noted on Twitter that the celestial anomaly was "spooking" one of his cats, while the other remained its "chill" self. "Personality overrides astronomy," Carroll concluded. In general, figuring out why a domestic cat does anything is a little tougher, Johnson said.

"I would be really loath to try to figure out what my cat was actually doing," Johnson told Live Science. "But dogs, their behaviors are a little more transparent."

Farm animals

Domestic chickens also reacted to the sky-darkening effect, but they seemed more strongly impacted by the temperature, said Tim Reinbott, director of field operations at the College of Agriculture at the University of Missouri, where he helps run an agricultural research farm.

The day of the eclipse was hot, but as the sun was blocked, the temperature dropped considerably. The most notable effect on the chickens was that they came out from under their chicken coop, where they usually hide during the heat of the day. Then, at totality, they started grooming themselves, as they usually do in the evening. When the sun returned, they went back to hiding under their coops, Reinbott said.

Horses also seemed to be spooked by the eclipse.

"After the eclipse was over with, the foals just went crazy," Reinbott told Live Science. "They started whinnying, they started running, jumping. I guess they felt like it was evening."

Insects, birds and other creatures

Reinbott also noticed insects changing their tune.

"Right before the eclipse, the cicadas, the insects got really loud, and then when it got to the eclipse everything went silent," Reinbott said. "It was kind of eerie."

Citizen observers using the iNaturalist app also noted several reports of birds flying in huge formations, as well as birds (especially hummingbirds) changing up their song patterns, either getting very noisy or going quiet at odd times, Johnson said. [Images: Beautiful Hummingbirds of the World]

And Reinbott heard reports from friends who went fishing that the eclipse affected their catches.

"Right before totality, boom, the big fish started hitting!"

That's likely because big fish, like bass, tend to feed early in the morning and early in the evening, and the darkening skies confused them, Reinbott said.

Other impacts

Not every event in nature was due to strange animal behavior per se. For instance, in a truly bizarre occurrence, the exceptionally strong tides caused by the eclipse ripped a net penning salmon on a fish farm near Bellingham Bay in Washington. Up to 305,000 Atlantic salmon washed ashore in those waters, all thanks to the eclipse, The Seattle Times reported. (Officials in the area are urging people to catch as many of these loosed salmon as possible, as they pose an environmental hazard to the area and may threaten wild Pacific salmon that are native to the habitat, the Times reported.)

And plants, which obviously rely on light for photosynthesis, also showed interesting effects. For instance, many citizen observers snapped photos of flowers like morning glories or hibiscus, which typically close at night, doing the same as the totality approached, then opening again once the sun returned, Johnson said.

Originally published on Live Science.
People watch the solar eclipse at Saluki Stadium on the campus of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, on Aug. 21, 2017.

CARBONDALE, Ill.  Pesky clouds threatened to spoil the view for tens of thousands of people who journeyed from near and far to this southern Illinois college town to witness the Great American Solar Eclipse. But in the end, a few precious and unobscured seconds of totality were enough to wow the crowds here at Saluki Stadium.

"As it was happening, I couldn't help but tear up," said Anne Gundry, who traveled first from Long Beach, California, to Chicago before driving to Carbondale. "It just felt so amazing, so primal, because you're really aware of how small you are in the universe."

Tickets to watch the solar eclipse inside the 15,000-seat stadium were sold out, according to Southern Illinois University officials, and people of all ages sat for hours in the stifling heat and humidity to glimpse the rare celestial event. [See Amazing Photos from the 2017 Great American Solar Eclipse]

Carol Mader made the journey from Ann Arbor, Michigan, just to experience totality, she said. "It was absolutely amazing, awesome  almost a once-in-a-lifetime experience," she told Live Science.

Solar eclipses are relatively common occurrences worldwide, but the last time a solar eclipse cast a shadow across all of the contiguous United States was in 1918. This time around, Carbondale earned a coveted spot as an eclipse hub because of its location along the so-called path of totality, where people can see the moon completely block the sun's light. The college town was also unique because it was slated to experience one of the longest periods of darkness during totality in the entire country  that is, until a huge patch of puffy clouds rolled in.

As the seconds ticked by to totality, people in the stands stomped their feet, creating a rumble that rolled through the stadium. Chants of "move that cloud!" emerged and spread quickly throughout Saluki Stadium. And as tiny pockets of light emerged from the clouds, the stadium erupted in cheers.

"There was so much anxiety about not seeing it at all, so when the clouds parted and everybody was stomping their feet and cheering  that was so much fun," said Jill Barancik, who came to Carbondale from Chicago.

For many in the crowd, it was their first time seeing a total solar eclipse. Katie Oppenheim, who traveled with Mader from Michigan, said the experience far exceeded her expectations.

"I think the ring around it was more impressive than I thought it was going to be," Oppenheim told Live Science. "I saw pictures online, but it was extraordinarily impressive. Almost perfect."

David Hillinger traveled with his family, Gundry and Reigh Levinstein  the self-described "solar-migos"  to see the total solar eclipse, which he said has been on his "bucket list." [Crossroads of the Solar Eclipse: Best Photos from Carbondale 2017]

"It's a combination of both the ultimate thrill and the ultimate moment of peacefulness, because it's all of a sudden dark," Hillinger told Live Science. "It's a wonderful contradictory experience. Thrilling and yet calmness."

Officials estimated that 30,000 people descended on Carbondale for the solar eclipse, based on an analysis of traffic flow by state police, Mayor John "Mike" Henry told Live Science. He watched the solar eclipse with family and friends outside of his home, less than 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) from downtown Carbondale.

"I thought it was phenomenal," Henry said. "My wife and I hugged and kissed during totality, and that was our celebration of it."

But the eclipse didn't just draw out-of-towners to Carbondale. Jasmine Bryant and Kamaria Coleman, both master's students in biological sciences at Southern Illinois University, were in the stands at Saluki Stadium for the celestial event.

"We're one of the few places in the country that had a total eclipse, so it doesn't make sense for me to stay at home when history is supposed to be happening here," Bryant said.

"My mom is a science teacher, and she was like, 'You better go watch the eclipse,'" Coleman told Live Science.

Coleman said she was disappointed when the clouds moved in. "I was just so sad. But I'm probably going to look back on this moment and be like, 'It was so cool.' At the concession stand, I met people from California, and from around the world. So just to be in the community and say I was there, it was a good thing."

Original article on Live Science.
Tifariti (Liberated Territories), August 23, 2017 (SPS) - The student university "Martir Mohamed Salem" closed its activities on Monday in the liberated city of Tifariti under the theme "Saharawi youth and students a mobilized force to reinforce the Saharawi People's Liberation Army, "where various student branches from the Saharawi Wilayas took part in this event, as well as a delegation of Saharawi students in Europe and another Saharawi delegation from the occupied territories of Western Sahara.

The closing ceremony was overseen by the head of the Political Secretariat of the Frente POLISARIO, Mr. Hamma Salama along with the President of the Summer University, SG of UJSARIO, Mr. Zein Sidi Ahmed, as well as the SG of UESARIO and vice-president of the second military region Mr. Mahfud Ahmed Zein.

Participants in this edition stressed in a statement that the celebration of the Student University "Martir Mohamed Salem" in the liberated city of Tifariti clearly shows the exercise of national sovereignty by the Saharawi State over its liberated territories and consecrates the SADR as a tangible and eternal reality.

The attendees praised the firm position of the allies and friends with the Saharawi people's just struggle to recover the rest of their occupied territories from the Moroccan occupant.

It should be recalled that at the end of the closing ceremony certificates of recognition were distributed, one of which was awarded to the second military region by the head of the POLISARIO Political Secretariat, Hamma Salama, also a documentary was screened outlines all the activities developed by the Student University "Martir Mohamed Salem." SPS

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Boumerdes, August 23, 2017 (SPS) - President of the Saharawi Republic Brahim Gali called on Tuesday in Boumerdes for the "immediate" implementation of the recent Security Council decision on the resumption of negotiations between the Frente POLISARIO and Morocco, stressing his willingness to cooperate with the new Secretary-General's Personal Envoy Horst Kohler.

"I call for the immediate implementation of the recent decision of the UN Security Council on the resumption of direct negotiations between the two parties to the conflict, namely the Frente POLISARIO and Morocco, and on the examination of the consequences of the violation by Morocco of the military convention 01 and the ceasefire agreement in the Guerguerat," Gali said during his speech at the closing ceremony of the Summer School of the executives of the Frente POLISARIO and the Saharawi State.

"The UN is responsible for the decolonization of the last occupied African state and must implement the UN-OAU settlement plan drafted in 1991, which stipulates the holding of a referendum on the self-determination of the Saharawi people," he stated.

"We hope that the appointment of former German President Horst Kohler as the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General will be an opportunity to accelerate this mission," he said.

Besides, the Saharawi President referred to the responsibility of the French State which, unfortunately, has adopted a position supporting the Moroccan occupier for years, considering that "France must from now on take a responsible position as a permanent member of the UN Security Council in order to achieve peace and stability while respecting international legality and the international humanitarian law."

The Saharawi President also said that the Moroccan occupier "represents a danger to the entire region, because of its expansionist policy based on violence and aggression," stressing that "the narcotic drugs provided by the Kingdom of Morocco, the world's largest cannabis producer, is a key factor in financing organized crime gangs and terrorist groups in the region and in the Sahel."SPS

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M ining giant Anglo American has revealed its commitment to London by lodging plans for a major new headquarters in the heart of Londons jewellery district.

The FTSE-100 miner and its De Beers diamonds subsidiary have jointly submitted proposals to create a fresh modern campus at 17 Charterhouse Street near Hatton Garden.

The fortress-like property was built in the 1970s and features subterranean vaults that once held about $5 billion (3.9 billion) of uncut diamonds.

It has been vacant since March, when De Beers staff moved to Anglos Carlton House Terrace rented office in Westminster as part of a wider restructuring to cut overheads.

Anglo had originally mooted a sale of the Charterhouse site, but it is now reviewing a sale and leaseback option, where it would commit to a long lease with a new landlord. It will now house 750 employees.

Documents filed this month to Camden council reveal plans to boost the size of the 114,400 square foot site by 43,884 square feet. Space for 168 bikes is included.

The proposals are designed to enable the UK operations of both companies to be housed under one roof, returning De Beers to their historic home in the heart of Londons jewellery and diamonds district, the application said.

Anglo impressed investors in July by revealing a surge in first-half profits that helped its debt fall to $6.2 billion, well ahead of its target of $7 billion by the end of this year.
P rovident Financial, WPP, and now Dixons Carphone. Investors are clearly in unforgiving mood this week.

This was underlined when sandwich-maker Greencore put out what was intended to be a reassuring update, only for the market to react by spitting out the shares.

They had fallen 18% in two months, including 5% yesterday, and the Dublin-based firm decided it was time to slow the rush to the exit.

Greencore, which produces ready-made meals, said its outlook remained unchanged since its third-quarter update at the end of July.

It did warn that it had decided to stop making frozen food at its Jacksonville site in Florida, but insisted the impact on profits would only be minimal.

Greencore couldnt convince nervy investors though and shares slumped 10.7p, or 5.1% to 197.3p.

Greencores decline on the mid-cap index was eclipsed by Dixons Carphone, which plunged 52.25p, or 23%, to 175.3p. The mobile phone retailers sharp drop was enough to push the FTSE 250 into the red as it fell 39.13 points to 19,704.09.

The FTSE 100 climbed back above 7400, up 21.01 points to 7403.66, helped by Provident Financial, 90.82p higher at 751.76p, which continued its long and painful recovery from Tuesdays crushing 66% collapse.

Not everyone is convinced the troubled doorstep lender can turn things around. Hedge fund GLG Partners raised its short position on Tuesday to 0.67% as it ramped up its bet against the shares.

EasyJet slipped 35p to 1235p as Exane BNP Paribas downgraded to Underperform, extending losses from recent days.

On the mid-cap table, William Hill, 4.9p higher at 249p, shrugged off the doom and gloom about an impending regulatory crackdown on bookies as Investec removed its Sell rating.

Oil services firm Hunting fired up 14.2p to 431.9p after trimming losses in the first half of the year to $24 million (18.7 million) from $77 million last year.

Genel Energy, the Iraqi oil firm founded by financier Nat Rothschild and ex-BP boss Tony Hayward, surged 9.31p, or 7%, to 138.43p after it struck a deal with the Kurdistan government.

In exchange for writing off the hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid revenues owed to it by the government, Genel will now receive a 4.5% cut of revenues from the Tawke oilfield for a five-year period.

Former AIM darling Snoozebox showed signs of its early stock market glory, surging 0.09p, or 31%, to 0.38p. The rise, which comes in the wake of a 99% crash in four years, came after the pop-up hotels group unveiled a contract to house workers in 80 rooms for 12 months in a remote area of the UK.

It did not name the customer, but said it was a major international company.
I nsurer Phoenix Group said 175 million was enough to cover possible fines from the City watchdog over the poor treatment of Abbey Life customers.

The Financial Conduct Authority could reveal big fines for six firms, including Abbey, within the next few months over exit charges levied on customers.

Phoenix bought Abbey from Deutsche Bank last year and has to shoulder responsibility but a 175 million indemnity policy from Deutsche means the German bank will cover any penalties.

We are extremely comfortable with the quantum and structure of the indemnity we negotiated with Deutsche Bank, chief executive Cliver Bannister said. They are sitting in the trenches with us as we work through these historic issues.

Phoenix carries on throwing off cash and was ahead of schedule on bedding down the Abbey Life business and Sunlife, which it bought from Axa.

The company generated 360 million worth of cash for the half year ending June, up from 147 million last time. It has around 500 million to spend on deals.

Phoenix predicts the UK closed-life market is a 300 billion market opportunity and is also branching out into bulk annuities, which has around 350 billion of pension books waiting to be snapped up.
I strongly disagree with your leader praising President Trumps U-turn on withdrawing troops from Afghanistan [Comment, August 22].

His justification to increase the number of troops and renew the fight is to deny a safe haven to terrorists and defeat the Taliban. The reality is that not one recent terrorist attack in the West has originated out of Afghanistan. Indeed, many can be linked to the blowback from past US interventions in the Middle East, most recently in Iraq and Syria.

So why Afghanistan and why now? Because it is seen as a relatively easy target and Trump cannot pick a fight with a nuclear-armed North Korea. Having pulverised parts of Iraq and Syria with aerial attacks, there is little to be gained from sending troops there. What better target than Afghanistan to rescue a presidency that is embattled at home and increasingly isolated overseas?

Trumps ratings may get a short-term boost but prosecuting another war in Afghanistan is a sure-fire way of increasing the threat of terrorism, as well as further destabilising a region that has seen immense suffering over recent decades.

Haroon Abbasi



Your editorial in support of Donald Trumps decision to change his mind on Afghanistan is tragically misguided.

The lesson of every conflict from Vietnam to Afghanistan is that the US and its allies can neither win wars nor create peace. Meanwhile, they destroy countries and the legacy of bitterness they create encourages terrorism rather than preventing it.

We are already at a stage where the only way to make our own civilians safe from van attacks would be to ban all vehicular traffic. Why pour more petrol on the fires?

Graham Livingstone



Donald Trump is not one of my favourite people, even less my idea of a statesman. But I respect and admire anyone brave enough to publicly admit to changing their mind.

When the world eventually gains the confidence bravely to address the root cause of Islamic extremism, the need for military and civil defence can perhaps be relaxed and I believe the continuing atrocities in our cities that we currently accept as the price of liberty will cease.

Roger Juer



Your editorial support for the Presidents decision to break yet another election promise and increase the number of US troops in Afghanistan is only defensible if we hold them responsible for the 9/11 attacks. But it is alleged that the responsibility for the attack on the Twin Towers lies with Saudi Arabia.

It is clear that by focusing on Afghanistan, George W Bush chose the wrong target. Now we are locked into his mistake.

William J Spring



Chinese work ethic should be welcome

Liu Xiaomings far-ranging article about the benefits of Chinese investment in the UK could mention some very significant additional benefits: the personal attributes or qualities which Chinese business people and students bring with them [Comment, August 21].

After centuries of oppression and foreign occupation, having been trodden on and walked over, colonised and invaded when the West had the weapons and the Chinese didnt, the Chinese have developed a remarkable work ethic and resilience that is a huge benefit when transferred to British business.

I have worked with Chinese people from mainland China, Malaysia and Singapore and they all have this resilience and work ethic in common. When faced with adversity, they put their heads down and strive harder. It is difficult for a Westerner to also appreciate the importance of family in the Chinese culture and the mutual strength and support it brings.

We can learn a lot from the Chinese and we should welcome the attributes they bring with them.

John Pickup



Carnival is still not made safe enough

Once again, the Carnival will take place this weekend on the streets of Notting Hill. While it has been recognised for years by all concerned that changes need to be made to improve public safety, no significant improvements have been made.

Pepe Frances, director of the Notting Hill Carnival Trust, was quoted as saying last November that he was very concerned that under my watch that something disastrous could happen at Carnival. Even the head of policing the Carnival, Dave Musker, said that we come close to a major catastrophic failure of public safety each year.

Despite a year of meetings, only very minor improvements have been made. There are many dangers related to overcrowding and knife crime but this year in particular, one questions why the floats that travel through the streets have up to four support vehicles following them.

Lets just hope we can get through another Carnival without loss of life.

Sheila Robertson



Study the arts to learn science

Marie Parker blames ignorance of science on a completely arts-orientated education system [Letters, August 22] but I believe she is wrong to do so. In our nations many faith schools, science is undermined by texts that are anti-scientific.

Furthermore, the arts can serve the teaching of science. For example, musical instruments can help students understand scientific principles such as frequency and amplification.

I suggest that the arts must always be accommodated. It is the pushing of religion onto our children that should concern us most.

Tony Webb



As a former teacher of A-level exams before there was any inclusion of modular continuous assessment, I am glad to see from the results that boys are now matching the grades of the girls. The fact is that they improved because of their greater success in the sciences and maths, highlighting their importance.

Linda Green



Southwark must act on bike death

It is not Transport for London that is failing to improve safety at a junction where a cyclist died [August 14]. Indeed, it is Southwark council.

The scheme TfL is currently consulting on runs from east to west across the Green  from Camberwell Church Street/Camberwell New Road with only a few metres south up Denmark Hill.

TfLs consultation document makes it quite clear that Southwark council is responsible for works on Denmark Hill, which includes the left turn into Orpheus Street, where Esther Hartsilver died.

The council last formally consulted on the whole area in 2015 but research following your article reveals that it has approved 2.5 million for its Pocket Spaces programme and has tacked on works to Denmark Hill either side of the Coldharbour Lane junction, which have not been publicly consulted on.

Southwarks approved scheme for Orpheus Streets make an already dangerous turn considerably more so for all road users. We must hope that it will reconsider.

J Marten

Join the conversation: #esnewsviews
W est Londons bank holiday extravaganza, Notting Hill Carnival, is almost upon us. Its a day-long celebration of music, food, fashion and dance.

Due to a noise curfew, the various soundsystems that fuel the Carnival shenanigans have to shut down pretty early  by 7.30pm at the very latest.

Luckily, there are numerous after parties kicking off a couple of hours later, leaving you just enough time for a jerk chicken dinner before heading out again.

We've picked out five of our favourites, and listed the others that should be on your radar. Most of them take place on Sunday night, although there are a few going down on Monday evening as well.

Notting Hill Carnival 2018 - In pictures 1 /13 Notting Hill Carnival 2018 - In pictures Notting Hill Carnival 2018 Niall Green Notting Hill Carnival 2018 Niall Green Notting Hill Carnival 2018 Kelly Lawlor Notting Hill Carnival 2018 Kelly Lawlor Notting Hill Carnival 2018 Kelly Lawlor Notting Hill Carnival 2018 Kelly Lawlor Notting Hill Carnival 2018 Kelly Lawlor Notting Hill Carnival 2018 Kelly Lawlor Notting Hill Carnival 2018 Kelly Lawlor Notting Hill Carnival 2018 Kelly Lawlor

Loefah, Fabio and Grooverider, Slimzee and more, Fire and Lightbox

Its a gathering of UK icons at this party, with dubstep legend Loefah, drumnbass heroes Fabio and Grooverider and grime favourite Slimzee topping a heavy bill.

Sunday, 39 Parry Street, SW8 1RT, firelondon.net

Zernell, Marcel Vogel, Mendel and more, Corsica Studios

The latest edition of Stevie Wonderland, a south London favourite, gets into the Carnival spirit in Elephant and Castle. Mendels all-Brazilian set is sure to be a highlight.

Sunday, 3/4 Elephant Road, SE17 1LB, corsicastudios.com

Crazy P, PBR Streetgang, Lisa Loud and more, The Mason's Arms

Less than a mile away from Carnival, just up the Harrow Road, this party is one for those want to stay local. The line-up is enough to tempt you too, with Crazy P and PBR Streetgang topping the bill.

Sunday, 665 Harrow Road, NW10 5NU, themasonsarmsnw10.co.uk

Official Ministry of Sound Carnival Afterparty

Definitely the biggest afterparty of the lot, thrown by one of Londons most famous nightclubs. The headliner is being kept secret for now, but Shenin Amara, Kenny Allstar and Jerome Six are all confirmed.

Monday, 103 Gaunt Street, SE1 6DP, ministryofsound.com

Conducta, Sharda, Prescribe Da Vibe and more, Notting Hill Arts Club

Another local favourite, this one takes place in Notting Hill itself, just south of where Carnival will take place. Following on from its Sunday party, this looks set to be another blowout, with Conducta bringing his UK garage vibes.

Monday, 21 Notting Hill Gate, W11 3JQ, nottinghillartsclub.com

Sunday August 25

Kahn and Neek, Elijah and Skilliam and more, Islington Metal Works

7 Torrens Street, EC1V 1NQ, islingtonmetal.com

So Fresh So Clean, Paradise

19 Kilburn Lane, W10 4AE, theparadise.co.uk

Phil Asher, Ashley Beedle, Neil Pierce and more, Royal Oak

95 High Street, NW10 4TS, royaloaknw10.com

Tony Matterhorn, Alicai Harley, Rampage Sound and more, Fire

29 Parry Street, SW8 1RT, firelondon.net

Love Ssega, Beating Heart Music and more, Notting Hill Arts Club

21 Notting Hill Gate, W11 3JQ, nottinghillartsclub.com

Gold Teeth, Sicko Mode, Brixton Link Up and more, Brixton Jamm

261 Brixton Road, SW9 6LH, brixtonjamm.org

London's best clubs, in pictures 1 /22 London's best clubs, in pictures Fabric, Farringdon Fabric feels especially worthy of a spot on this list as it is a place London saved: after being shut in 2016, the capitals clubbers rallied round to have it re-opened. The campaign helped turn a spotlight on the legislation and challenges Londons nightlife is up against. Still, even if none of this had happened, Fabric would be entirely worth heading to. It's the London club, more famous than any of its counterparts and a genuine institution. Once you've made it through the airport-style security checkpoints, you're free to get lost in its subterranean bowels, free of any phone signal but full of clubland delights. It regularly pulls in the best DJs on the world circuit, from Seth Troxler to Ben UFO, with its esteemed residents Terry Francis and Craig Richards always on hand. Anna Wallington XOYO This Shoreditch staple has built its reputation on a pretty simple formula: top music from top DJs. Over two storeys, expect to party to straightforwardly good playlists; XOYO doesnt pigeonhole itself, booking whoever it likes, so long as theyll get people to dance (while staying cheese-free). For this reason, theres a weighting towards house and disco, spiced with techno. The residents are always amazing, too, with the likes of Ben UFO, Flava D and Motor City Drum Ensemble among the recent incumbents. Keep an eye out for its grime nights, too, which always turns into a bit of a mad one. Jake Davis Egg London, King's Cross London might not be huge on Ibiza-style clubs but Egg brings them to mind over its three floors, with light shows and throbbing bass, darkened rooms and plenty to drink. The highlight for many is the courtyard outside; the perfect place to watch the sunrise  theyve a 24-hour license, so its possible, too, and you can have breakfast to boot. It is a little remote, in that peculiar industrial-feeling area just north of Kings Cross station, but this entirely works in its favour: the parties go on longer, are louder, and there are no neighbours to complain. Besides, they run a free shuttle bus from just by the station, so it isn't too much of a walk. Image courtesy of Egg London/Jukebox PR Corsica Studios, Elephant & Castle Now going for more than a decade, Corsica Studios is an independent, not-for-profit arts space that remains as popular as ever. Its usually a two room space, though sometimes split into three, which hosts some of the most highly regarded club nights in London. Theyve an iconic Funktion One sound system, and its a favourite with DJs who head there on nights off to party. The space itself, hidden beneath the railway arches, is small, rivetingly immediate and with a rough edge, but that's what helps to make one of the best, if not the best, small club in London. Expect plenty of techno and electro alongside disco, dubstep and drum'n'bass  its main room is where it all goes down but, unlike quite a few clubs, you're likely to have just as good a time in its second space. Oval Space/Pickle Factory, Cambridge Heath Though distinct from each other, weve included these two together as theyre owned by the same group and sit opposite each other. The Pickle Factory  it was one, once  is the more intimate space with just 200 capacity, attracting a very headsy crowd who are there solely for the music (GO London once saw Floating Points there watching Soichi Terada, and if that's not a ringing endorsement, we don't know what is). Oval Space space is a much bigger affair, covering a giant 5,000 square metres. Its a multi use arena, playing all sorts of things on its first rate sound system. It does get awfully hot in there during summer, but we think that makes it all the better, in many ways. Keep an eye on their website for everything theyve on; the Oval Space runs an admirably forward thinking programme. Lee Arruci CLF Art Cafe/Bussey Building, Peckham This warehouse style nightclub has a lot going on over its four levels. It does a little more than simply clubbing, operating night and day and boasting art, film, theatre and more. As a club, theyve everything from house, electro and techno to funk and soul. Dont miss the the South London Soul Train on Saturday nights, or the various disco and boogie nights. As diverse a club as any in London and simple a great place to dance. Ministry of Sound, Elephant & Corscia The Ministry of Sound should be a mecca for any dance fan; sure, its been around a long old time, since 1991, and it isn't as cutting-edge as many of its competitors, but it still deserves a visit. Perhaps its suffered from its megabucks name, but in truth it serves up serious heavyweight DJs and first rate nights. Its easy to hear why the main rooms sound system has won awards and its pretty cool to be dancing there and suddenly realise that this is the place which helped send house music around the world. Village Underground, Shoreditch You already know Village Underground, even if you dont realise it: its the one with the old tube carriages on the roof. Its just as eye catching inside as it is out, with its huge skylights and bare brick walls. None of which would matter if the music wasnt great, but it is: they play a mix of indie, electronic, hip-hop and more, often all on the same night. It holds around 1,000, and that 1,000 people tend to all be in high spirits: VU is all about its atmosphere, and seems to welcome a cross-section of every type of Londoner, from hip hop heads to Hoxton hipsters, and everyone in and outside of those lines. Sophie Harbinson Phonox, Brixton Taking over the old Plan B site, Phonox opened in 2015 and quickly established itself as one of London's go-tos. It has an inverted snobbery thing going on  no suits, no photography on the dancefloor  but comes from the group behind XOYO and the Jazz Cafe, who know what theyre doing, and theyve got it right. Go for techno, house, disco, drum & bass, electronica and a little funk and soul too. We like it for the simplicity: one room, one killer Funktion One sound system and not a lot else. Job done. Jake Davis Printworks, Canada Water A massive 6,000 square metres, the Printworks can hold 5,000 and proudly puts on everything from concerts and exhibitions to fashion shows and immersive theatre. The cavernous main space is extraordinary, transformed from an old newspaper factory into some twisted, metallic temple, with a narrow, long dancefloor that seems to stretch on and on. They also get top DJs, always: Seth Troxler, Loco Dice and The Martinez Brothers have all played. It seems strange to think Printworks only opened last year, such is the establishment it has already become. It is a great, shining indication that, far from dying, Londons clubbing scene is happily keeping on keeping on. The Cause, Tottenham Tottenham is the new place to be for Londons clubbers. The corner of north London was largely dismissed not too long ago, but now, with Grow Tottenham, a community garden-cum-nightclub, Five Miles (more on that below) and, The Cause, the area is booming. The latter opened earlier this year, is the best of the lot. Its got a refreshing DIY feel to it, with lots of exposed wood and concrete, and a DJ booth slap in the middle of it all, giving everything a bracing, up-close-and-personal feel. The sound system is absolutely pelting, too. A share of the clubs profits are donated to local mental health charities, helping it lead the new wave of Londons conscious clubbers. Luke Curtis Fold, Canning Town Fold is a converted print factory on an industrial estate in Canning Town. Admittedly, it doesnt sound all too glamorous, but trust us  its a marvellous addition to Londons nightlife scene. It delivers what the capital is quite often lacking: marathon club events, often stretching from the afternoon one day and then well into the next. Even though the club only opened in August 2018, its already garnered a reputation as the kind of place to and get lost, in the best possible sense. Its a place of massive potential  if you havent been already, make a point to go there very soon indeed. The Jazz Cafe, Camden This Camden venue is probably best known for its live events, which draw in leading artists from the jazz, soul and hip hop scenes, but the club nights are superb, too. Each Saturday, it runs the Soul City event, covering the broad spectrum of disco, house and soul, with a string of different DJs each week. On Fridays, the programming loosens up a bit: one week it might be Turkish pysch-disco, the next it could be Ghanaian highlife or Arabic funk. The joy is in finding out. The club itself has a restaurant-mezzanine area, with a tightly packed, lively dancefloor and small stage beneath it. Bloc, Bow Tucked away at the end of an otherwise nondescript road in Bow, lined by grim industrial buildings, is Bloc. Its got a feeling of real seclusion, pinned between some warehouses and a canal, and that makes it all the better, allowing patrons to slip within the thumping four-four beats that rattle the walls of this venue every weekend. A few hundred people can pack inside, but theres still a real intimate feel to it  be prepared to get pretty friendly with the people youll be dancing with, all the way through the night until the sun rises the next morning. Jake Davis/Hungry Visuals Dalston Superstore, Dalston LGBTQ venues in London are shutting down at a pretty distressing rate  a report published last year revealed than more than half of them in the capital had closed their doors in the previous decade. It means that LGBTQ clubs should be cherished more than ever and, with that in mind: thank goodness for Dalston Superstore. The nights there are gloriously fun, with a real community feel between its regulars and the good people who run it. The music can veer from uber-cheesy pop to uber-pounding techno, which is what makes it so great. Got a sore head after a night spent dancing there? Just go back for a hangover-vanquishing brunch the following morning. Eivind Hansen Photography Five Miles, Seven Sisters Another new venue doing things for north London is this Seven Sisters club, Five Miles. It opened in 2017 and has quickly become an under-the-radar favourite. The club space is small and personal, with a banging soundsystem and a friendly, laid-back crowd. The DJ line-up so far has been impressive, with the likes of Moscoman and former Phonox resident Haai making appearances. But theres a lot more than just the music here. Its got 18 craft beers on tap  wed recommend the precariously strong but entirely delicious Domino Topple by Pressure Drop, or something from the in-house brewery, Affinity Brew. There are a few cocktails on tap, too (6 for a negroni, not bad). Middle Eastern food comes courtesy of Torshi. Dine, drink and dance. VFD, Dalston Dalston has a lot of great basement venues  UNDR is superb for darker electronic sounds, while Birthdays excels in raucous live gigs. Queer club VFD is another subterranean delight. Its a small place that puts on some pretty iconic disco nights, which are invariably sweaty, unstoppably groovy and a whole lot of fun. The general vibe of the friendly staff and inclusive clientele is fantastic, too. Youre always made to feel welcome, especially if you let yourself get loose and indulge in some of the rather more risque activities that often occur once youre inside. Femmetopia by Meg Lavender

Ed Solo and Deekline, Camden Assembly

49 Chalk Farm Road, NW1 8AN, camdenassembly.com

Get On Up DJs, Dancing With Strangers and more, Bush Hall

310 Uxbridge Road, W12 7LJ, bushhallmusic.co.uk

The Heatwave, Creekmx, DJ Fearless and more, 229 The Venue

229 Great Portland Street, W1W 5PN, 229.london

Oneman, Art Dealer, Luke Dwyer and more, Prince of Peckham

1 Clayton Road, SE15 5JA, princeofpeckham.co.uk

Supa Dupa Fly, Trapeze

89 Great Eastern Street, EC2A 3HX, trapezebar.co.uk

Monday August 26

Rinse Carnival After Party, Paradise

19 Kilburn Lane, W10 4AE, theparadise.co.uk

Sy Sez, Fiddla, Aluku Rebels and more, Union Tavern

45 Woodfield Road, W9 2BA, union-tavern.co.uk

Faded Carnival Afterparty, Junction House

578 Kingsland Road, E8 4AH, junctionhousedalston.com
W riter Joe Orton would have been thrilled to see his play Loot  which was censored when it was first staged  finally performed uncut more than 50 years later, his relatives have said.

The work, which was named best play in the Evening Standard Theatre Awards in 1966, was described as morally dangerous, with scenes referencing the Pope among those cut.

Now it has been revived at the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the playwrights death. He was murdered by his lover in 1967.

Actor Charlie Nott, 23, Ortons great nephew, said: I think he would be really pleased to see it finally performed in full. Im certainly very proud to be related to him. The play continues to address political issues which are relevant 50 years on, which is incredible given just how different life was when he wrote it.

Previous revivals of Ortons most famous play have used the cut text. However, director Michael Fentiman discovered the original was in archives at Leicester University and was given permission by Ortons sister Leonie to use it for the anniversary production.

Sam Frenchum, who stars alongside Calvin Demba in the lead roles, said: It was a difficult one to approach but an absolute honour to be the first actors to speak those lines, especially to get the first audience laughter to them.

Fentiman added: It has been a real honour really and were now 50 years on from when it was first written so of course it must be classed as a modern classic.

We have had fantastic support from the Orton estate after making our case to use the script in full, which has been simply amazing.

A dark farce, it tells of two bank robbers who hide their loot in a coffin at a funeral home.

One of the more bizarre cuts insisted upon by the censor was that the body removed from the coffin could not be played by an actress and had to be a mannequin hidden behind a screen.

Actor Bertie Carvel, known for ITV drama Doctor Foster and playing Miss Trunchbull in musical Matilda, was in the audience and described the play as a pleasure to watch.
R estaurant boozing doesnt have to involve marked-up wine lists and overpriced beer and spirits.

Chefs and bartenders are working together to cut out the middle man and create their own in-house alcohol designed to match your meal perfectly, whether its small plates at Michelin-starred hotspots, or the best mangalitza pork in London at Pitt Cue in the City, where beer is specifically brewed to match.

Why? Because theyre control freaks. When he opened his new site last year, says co-founder Simon Anderson, the one thing we had no real control over was what went in the beer. Welcome Alphabeta, the on-site brewery where each beer is linked as much to the restaurant as possible, down to sharing ingredients.

The yeast, for example, is the same as is used to make the sourdough (later grilled and topped with bone marrow for the naughtiest toast in town); the summer ale is brewed with the house barbecue rub; while the grains in the smoked porter are smoked over the same grill that fires the featherblade steaks.

One of Pitt Cue's beers

In the mood for pizza? Head to Pizza Pilgrims and chase your smoked Napoli with a glass of Pococello  the version of the Italian liqueur made in collaboration with Chase Distillery. We were really disappointed not to be able to sell a limoncello of the same quality as we were used to in Naples and Amalfi, says co-founder Thom Elliot. When we bumped into the Chase Distillery team at Camp Bestival they were interested in helping us. It spurred us on to go back to Amalfi, source some world class lemons and make a limoncello we could be proud of.

The peels of those lemons are steeped in Chases raw potato spirit for a week before being blended with sugar and water for an intense sweet liqueur. Mixed with tonic, it becomes an citrus fizz that cuts through the cushiony crisp pizza dough.

Pizza Pilgrims version of limoncello, Pococello

For something a little more refined, waltz over to Fera at Claridges for award-winning gin distilled in the kitchen using a rotary evaporator  a molecular gastronomic instrument that leaves the botanicals intact during distillation to maximise freshness and flavour. Those botanicals include juniper, coriander and apple marigold and the resulting spirit is silkily herb-sweet  especially, as head bartender Ale Villa recommends, in a dirty Martini (The olive brings out the flavours of the signature apple marigold).

Chemistry lab wizardry is also deployed at Scout bar in Shoreditch, where Matt Whiley ferments in-season produce such as apple and hay in 30-litre buckets for three weeks before bottling into fruit wines that clock in at 4-8%. Great if youre a fan of natural wine, and even better with a plate of house pickles with truffle yoghurt. Ordering the house wine never sounded so appealing.
W eve all had those painful days at work where you struggle to make it through the day because your promise to 'have just one drink' the night before failed.

A quick catch up with friends on a school night quickly turns into shots in the local pub at last orders, cheery singing on the Night Tube and a 3am pit stop at Chicken Cottage. Next thing you know its 7.30am and you're staring at your alarm clock through bleary eyes, wondering how you can possibly survive an eight hour shift without curling up into a foetal position in the work toilet cubicles.

While most employers have very little sympathy for these self-inflicted maladies, one London company has decided to tackle the issue by awarding its staff with hangover days: where they can legitimately call in sick if theyve downed too many beers the night before.

Dice, a music ticketing app based in Shoreditch, has introduced the unusual perk in a bid to help its staff embrace its company culture of discovering and enjoying live music, without the fear of having to set your alarm at an ungodly hour the next morning.

From now on, Dice staff will be able to call in sick after a particularly late night, simply by sending music, beers and sick emojis via WhatsApp to their boss.

The company says that the hangover days will allow its staff utter transparency, meaning therell be no need to fake a random bug when they cant tell their boss the real reason they're struggling to get out of bed in the morning.

Each staff member will be allowed to take a total of four hangover days per year.

According to a recent study, British workers are particularly trigger-happy when it comes to calling in sick. Last year alone, 137 million working days were lost due to sickness, with the average worker taking four days off sick.

Soho's best bars 1 /21 Soho's best bars Tea Room below Bun House 24 Greek St, Soho, W1D 4DZ, bun.house

Bun House is fighting the good fight against the unrelenting dishwater tide of dullness among bars that are all alike. It is a place of wicker chairs, turntable cabinets, white painted walls and not nearly as much green lighting as all the photos suggest. There is a touch of seediness, sex beneath the surface. The actual selling point, though, for the less openly prurient, is the drinks and their ingredients. Rather than vague approximations of Chinese flavours  you do worry about what infusions poor old gin will be subject to next  theyve gone for the real thing, importing bottles of Chinese spirits, liqueurs and the like. They make their bitters and mixes in house, with traditional fruit and veg, and citing influence from Chinese medicines. They seem certain there are bottles here you cannot get anywhere else in Europe. Swift 12 Old Compton St, W1D 4TQ, barswift.com

Bobby Hiddleston and Mia Johansson are big in the cocktail world, which is no surprise given their experience at Dead Rabbit, Milk & Honey and Callooh Callay. Swift is their latest venture, supported by the team behind Nightjar and Oriole. Though unassuming from the outside  you could be a Soho regular and not know it was there  it's tardis like inside. Upstairs is chic and mirrored, part Bar Termini, part Bob Bob Ricard, while downstairs its a warming den of leather booths and dim lights. It's the sort of bar Soho deserves: drinks are strong and finally mixed, leaning towards dark spirits, and the food is much better than it needs to be. Oysters are fresh and salty, steak tartare is stuffed full of capers. Swift is glamorous, sexy, a date bar that hums with atmosphere. Put it on your list  right near the top. Bar Americain 20 Sherwood St, W1F 7ED, brasseriezedel.com

As the name suggests, this is a classic American bar, and done near perfectly. One can become very fond of Bar Americain and very quickly: passing through Piccadilly Circus (close enough to Soho, we think), it acts as a magnet  a quick negroni becomes a temptation impossible to resist. Its a very beautiful place, calling to mind grand Parisian hotels of the 20s and 30s, bottles winking from the bar, staff floating through with their finery and litres of charm. Youre here to drink the classics: theyve a killer Clover Club and a straight-down-the-line Manhattan. But ask: the bartenders know their stuff and bring their A-game to any challenge  tell them what you like, and theyll bring you something new. They often have specials on, as well. Top marks for the attentive staff, bringing plenty of water & bowl after bowl of popcorn  essential after a few here. Andrew Edmunds 46 Lexington St, W1F 0LP, andrewedmunds.com

Perhaps better than its ever been, Andrew Edmunds recently won The Good Drinking prize in our Restaurant Awards, and for good reason. Its a small spot, cramped to the point that coming here on a first date feels like youre being very forward indeed, with the best tables upstairs and not much to look at  just settle for being distracted by someone good looking. The food, French-ish/English-ish, is fine, but its the wine that's extraordinary. And youre here for wine: forget cocktails. What a list, and so quietly marked up that youre getting a steal with almost every bottle  indeed, the more expensive the better the deal (they do start quite pricey, though). Oh, and it smells a little, of the kitchen. Having been going 30 years, those who knew old Soho say its one of the last bastion of such things. Drink too much gorgeous wine and come back often. Bar Termini 7 Old Compton St, W1D 5JE, bar-termini.com

Do Bar Termini right and youll love it: do it wrong, and you may be underwhelmed. Tony Conigliaro, cocktail chap par excellence, and coffee maestro Marco Arrigo have built a revolving-door of a place: dont come here to linger. Expect a night of cocktails and youll leave disappointed: instead, love it in the day for the 1 espressos, and swing by in the evening for a negroni (6). Theyre small, but some of the best in the capital. One swishes in and out here, and that way, it adds a touch of Italian glamour to any evening. 68 and Boston 4-5 Greek St, Soho, W1D 4DD, 68andboston.com

Boston, the bar upstairs, looks like glamorous train carriage from the golden age of cocktails but plays it a little bit safe. Wine bar 68, downstairs, is the real gem, with a wonderful way of pricing: every bottle on the list is 20, so choose what you like, not what you can afford. Better yet, if you don't fancy a bottle, they're served by the carafe (14) or glass (5.50). Wines are well picked and they're always working to update the list  so go back to try something new. Just beware that it's hugely, hugely busy these days. Youll probably end up getting drunk here: the pull of another bottle at just 20 is monumentally hard to resist, but hey, thats what Soho is for. If you fancy drinking something more upscale, ask  theyve a few hidden wines kept hidden away for those in the know. Thats you, now. Milk & Honey 61 Poland St, W1F 7NU, mlkhny.com

You know a bar is good when local bartenders love it, and Milk & Honey has long been a Soho favourite for those in the know. Hidden in plain sight this terrific bar has been doing its thing for just shy of 15 years. The talent hasnt diminished, and neither has the care put into the drinks. Cocktails are strong and proper and happily, and they've made an effort recently to freshen things up. At around 10 a drink, M&H is also a bargain for central London, and the quality outstrips the price. It functions as a members bar, but non-members can book up until 11pm  though going earlier in the week means youre more likely to score a table. Milk & Honey is civilised, without the crushing formality. Mark's Bar HIX Soho, 66- 70 Brewer St, W1F 9UP, hixrestaurants.co.uk

The bad: you might not get in. If its busy, they dont squeeze people into this basement, so either be there early, or bamboozle them with charm and dazzle them with your brilliant wit. Were kidding: just take someone hot. Hot people get in everywhere. The good: pretty much everything else. Naturally, the bar snacks are distractingly tasty, but the drinks list is excellent, and unusual too, with a few historical recipes brought back to life. Attention to detail is everything here, so if youre not sharing one of the big old Chesterfields, head to the bar and sit and watch  theres something about it thats like seeing a cardmaster turn tricks. And have a Hix Fix, just to say you have. Disrepute Disrepute, 4 Kingly Court, W1B 5PW, disrepute.co.uk

The menu, which is a series of short stories, reads like it's been put through Google Translate, but the drinks are first rate at this spot, which is on the site of the historic Kingly Club, where the Profumo Affair began. And while they've used a non-native speaker whose literary experience seems to be fifteen minutes scanning Tumblr #FanFic to write the menu, its a cracking date spot up there with the best in London. Absolutely worth a visit. Cahoots nearby is pretty good too. Blind Pig 58 Poland Street, W1F 7NR, socialeatinghouse.com

Jason Atherton's bars are always first rate  in fact, some are better than the restaurants they're attached to. Social Eating House is excellent, mind you, but Blind Pig is worth a trip on its own merits. It's all vintage feeling, low ceilings and darkness, cocktails are expertly made, managing to both be inventive with a touch of the classic. It's usually quieter midweek, at least these days, but you'll often need to book. Great bar snacks, too. The Pink Chihuahua at El Camion 25-27 Brewer St, W1F 0RR, elcamion.co.uk

Forget house infusions and drinks that take half an hour to make: sometimes a good night needs tequila and dancing. The Pink Chihuahua is built for it: theyre providing the tequila  more than 300 different types of it, in fact  youre there to drink it down and dance it up. Theyve all sorts of twists on Margaritas and Daiquiris, and, given youre downstairs from Mexican restaurant El Camion, plenty of bar food to indulge in too. Lots of fun, and if youre feeling more in the mood just to sit back and sip something slowly, ask about their choice of Mezcal. There's real talent here, but fun too. Dirty Harry's 203 Wardour St, W1F 8ZJ, dirtyharryssoho.com

Given this is 2017, where everyone is offended by everything (think of those sweet, sweet retweets), its a stroke of luck Dirty Harrys hasnt been picketed, protested, petitioned or no-platformed. The publicity says its themed after Coyote Ugly, making it literally a dream come true for teenage boys from the noughties, but in real life, this doesnt mean that much more than girls dancing on the bar and lots of classic rock. The drinks are a touch expensive, though quite good, but we'd stick to the beers. With this kind of thing there's the worry that it'll go one of two ways: either it'll all be a bit cut-price strip club, or they'll camp it up to be cor-blimey, Carry On, saucy seaside postcard stuff. Seedy, or naff: both are crinkle-your-nose embarrassing. Somehow, and full credit to them because its a tough gig, Dirty Harry's is neither. Drink lots and stay late. Mr Fogg's Salon 58 St Martin's Lane, Theatreland, WC2N 4EA, mr-foggs.com

Downstairs is a pretty decent pub, busy from theatreland. Upstairs, the salon is quieter, but only a little. The walls are a glittering ballgown of 19th century curiosities, unsubtle nonsense winking away. Head to a chaise longues with a couple of friends or a date and take in something from each one of the five acts which split the menu. Drinks seem to smell especially good here, rich, relying heavily on the likes of rum, cognac and sherry. Gin lovers need not despair: theyve a room with well over 300 different types next door. Come elegantly dressed. Gerry's Club 52 Dean Street, W1D 5BJ, gerrysclub.com

A word of warning: this is technically a member's club, but you'll probably be fine if you flirt enough  and don't ask for Gerry, he's long since passed. Michael looks after this place now. We've only been once  very late, very drunk and with very good friends. Most old-school Soho drinking dens are dead, but this hub of actors and writers is what remains of 'Old Soho'. If you're boring, steer clear: it is a place to drink wine and beer and tell stories, to laugh uproariously and to give yourself a monumental hangover in a faintly discreet way. Trisha's (New Evaristo Club) 57 Greek St, Soho, W1D 3DX



Drinks dont make a bar, and thank goodness, as the stuff served at Trishas  named for its owner  is uniformly pretty awful: red and white wine youd consider an insult if a friend served it at supper, prosecco wildly overpriced, terrible spirits, so on and so forth. At more than 70, the club is Sohos oldest, and while nobody who goes there can ever remember anything changing  its often quite hard to recall much about a night after Trishas, as it happens  nothing needs to. The bad wine and expensive mixers and paint stripper spirits are all part of the point: its a glorious drinking den, and marvellous, marvellous fun. There are characters here: the last time we were in, we sat being scared witless by an old East End gangster who said hes known the Krays. Tremendous. Long live Trisha's. The Vault at Milroy's 3 Greek St, Soho, W1D 4NX, shop.milroys.co.uk

A bar through a bookcase: were sold. Better yet, its underneath one of Sohos finest whisky shops  with stiff competition from The Vintage House  so if youre taken with something downstairs, buy it on your way out. Its a simple little bar and the service is decidedly so-so, but its usually pretty busy, they play good music and have an excellent range of spirits. The menu is changed regularly, but its a good place to cram into with friends or on a date. You mightnt spend the entire night here, but for a couple of drinks on the way somewhere, or on the way back, it fits the bill perfectly. They've upped the standard of cocktails recently, too.

CEO & Founder of Dice, Phil Hutcheon said: All our team live for music and some of the best deals in the industry happen after a gig. We trust each other and want people to be open if theyre out late experiencing live music. There is no need for a fake sick bug.

While the hangover day might be a relatively new phenomenon, companies are beginning to recognise the need for a shakeup to the sick day system - rethinking the one-size-fits-all model that is currently in place across Europe.

While Dice staff might face more late nights on the job than the average office worker, Italy is currently debating whether it will become the first Western country to offer women paid menstrual leave.

The new parliamentary law would allow female employees to take three days of paid leave each month if they experience painful periods.

China, Japan and South Korea currently boast similar laws, and some companies such as Nike have introduced similar policies for staff.
I f you fancy swapping the drudgery of the Northern Line for chomping on macarons and sipping on wine under the Eiffel Tower, Eurostar has just made it even easier for Londoners to make a last-minute escape from the capital.

The high-speed rail company has announced that it is launching a seat sale at the end of the month, offering one-way trips to Paris, Lille, Brussels and Calais for just 29.

44,500 seats will be up for grabs at rock-bottom prices from August 29 to September 11, giving Brits a chance to holiday for less.

Passengers will then be able to take their cut-price trip from St.Pancras to Paris, Lille, Brussels and any Belgian station from September 28 to December 9.

Alternatively you could book to go to Lyon, Avignon and Marseilles between September 3 and November 4.

If you fancy something more, well, fancy, the company is also offering the opportunity to upgrade to Standard Premier for less. Passengers can pick up the first-class tickets for 70 one-way to Paris, Lille, Calais and Brussels for 79 one-way to any Belgian station.

So the only difficult decision is deciding where to go. Not sure which destination to choose? Here are our Euro-sale highlights.

Paris

What to do: Leave some extra room in your suitcase and go hunting for bargains at the Saint-Ouen Flea Market, open Saturdays to Mondays in the north of Paris, where you can pick up vintage clothes, furniture, records and jewellery. Visit the tombs of the rich and famous at the cemetery Pere Lachaise. It sounds rather macabre, but the cemetery in the 20th arrondissement is a surprisingly picturesque place to stroll around the resting places of Chopin, Edith Piaf, Marcel Proust and Jim Morrison to name a few. Brasseries will give you a real taste of city, as well as ample Instagram opportunities, so head to old haunts Brasserie Lipp, Le Grand Colbert and Bistro Paul Bert to soak up an authentic slice of Parisian Life. Meanwhile, new foodie highlights Clamato, Gare au Gorille and Jaja should be on any gastronomes bucket list on a trip across the Channel. If youre looking for an afternoon of aimless strolling, at the foot of Montmartre youll find Pigalle - the closest thing Paris has to a Soho district. Think sleaze shops, hipster bars and cool music clubs on every corner.

Where to stay: The Hoxton has just opened its first outpost in the French capital - a great value choice for the style-conscious city breaker.

14 free things to do in Paris 1 /18 14 free things to do in Paris Take in the views at Montmartre Once an artists quarter, this uniquely bohemian village within the metropolis is a must-visit for any serious Instagrammer. Ascend the steps of the Basilica, to the top of Pariss tallest hill. and gaze upon one of the most romantic (and photogenic) views in the city. Theres plenty of history to soak up - Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec immortalised the cabarets here in the late 19th century, and you can still visit the famous Moulin Rouge windmill. At the foot of Montmartre youll find Pigalle - the closest thing Paris has to a Soho district. Think sleaze shops, hipster bars and cool music clubs on every corner. Flickr/katsuhiro7110 Stroll around Pere Lachaise Visit the tombs of the rich and famous at the cemetery Pere Lachaise. It sounds rather macabre, but the cemetery in the 20th arrondissement is a surprisingly picturesque place to stroll around the resting places of Chopin, Edith Piaf, Marcel Proust and Jim Morrison to name a few. Legend holds that polishing the grave of Victor Noir can bestow good luck and improve fertility. Flickr/emile lombard See a classic at Parc de la Villette open air cinema If the weathers decent, catch a free film at the open-air cinema at the Parc de la Villette, which runs between July and August each year. Previous screenings have included Where the Wild Things Are, Be Kind Rewind and Rushmore. If youre feeling flush, you can always upgrade to a deckchair for 7. Parc de la Villette Visit Paris' coolest neighbourhoods For a village atmosphere head to Butte aux Cailles, which is filled with narrow cobblestone streets, boutique shops and pretty Parisian restaurants. The multicultural Belleville is home to a bustling Chinatown, art squats and traditional outdoor market held each Tuesday and Friday along the Boulevard de Belleville. And at Ile Saint Louis, youll find old-fashioned markets, traditional ice cream shops and cheerful street performers. Best of all? You can wander them all for free. Flickr/Philippe Milbault Go dancing on the river They say Paris is the city of love, so why not spend a warm summer night on the quai along the left bank of Port St. Bernard? When the sun sets, the area comes alive with couples picnicking and and ballroom dancing. Every evening, from June until the end of August, hundreds of dancers gather spontaneously at the Jardin Tino Rossi, just below the Institut du Monde Arabe to salsa, tango, waltz and swing. Flickr/Linh Nguyen Visit the 'Lock Bridge' Couples flock to the Pont des Arts to fix a lock to the famous bridge before throwing the key into the River Seine below. More than a million locks currently sit on the bridge, so even if you head over there single - it still makes for a great photograph. Flickr/Ben Harrington See the Eiffel Tower sparkle Every hour from sunset, Paris famous tower sparkles continuously for five minutes. Its one of the most famous attractions in the city, but the spectacular light show is a must for any first-timer. Flickr/gerardreyes Get your cultural injection at Nuit Blanche Every autumn, Parisians celebrate Nuit Blanche, a night in the year when galleries, museums and other art institutions open all night, free of charge. The event celebrates the contemporary international art scene, scattering stunning sculptures, installation and projections across the city. Flickr/Sarah Karlson Visit some famous film spots Plenty of brilliant films and TV shows were shot in Paris and you can skip the 25 euro tour fee by planning your own walking route of famous, off-the-beaten-track districts featured in films shot in the French capital. Visit the famous merry-go-round from Amelie (in Montmarte), the Pont de Bir-Hakeim double-decker bridge from Inception or the Plauce Dauphine where Carrie and Aleksandr strolled around in Sex and the City. Couples should make their way to the beautiful Pont Alexandre III bridge from Midnight in Paris. And of course, there's the famous Louvres role in The Da Vinci Code. Flickr/CpaKmoi Visit the food markets Foodies should make a beeline for the quaint rue des Martyrs in the 9th arrondissement, one of the best market streets in Paris. Here you can find bakers, cheese sellers and gourmet food producers setting up stalls alongside trendy bistros and pavement cafes. Flickr/David McKelvey See some free street art If street art is your thing, the best spot to head for is Canal St. Martin in the 10th arrondissement. This up-and-coming, boho-chic neighbourhood is packed with trendy little restaurants, boutique shops and some of the most exciting graffiti murals in Paris. Its truly one of the last hidden gems of the city. Many locals share a bottle of wine at the edge of the canal with friends warm evening. Shutterstock / Michael Sheridan Listen to an organ concert at Saint-Eustache Church If you fancy hearing some free music, make your way to Saint-Eustache Church where they hold free organ concerts every Sunday at 5.30pm. The organ in this Gothic church is said to be one of the biggest in the world, boasting an impressive 8,000 pipes. Flickr/Joe deSousa Go shopping at a flea market For one-of-a-kind treasures, visit hip neighbourhood Belleville. Its renowned flea markets are a magpies paradise of retro furniture, antique jewellery and colourful pottery. Just make sure you leave some extra room in your suitcase... Flickr/Juan Antonio F. Segal Free live music Located underneath a bridge on the bank of the Seine in the heart of Paris, Showcase has free admission alongside a roster of live acts playing everything from rock to jazz, along with some of the worlds top DJ acts. Showcase

Brussels

What to do: Brussels offers plenty of opportunities for shopping, sightseeing and beer-guzzling. Drop some serious cash at the Galeries Royales St-Hubert, where youll find luxury handbags and artisan chocolatiers by the dozen. If youre looking for a quieter pace of life, take a morning to stroll through the southern suburb of Chatelain - a village-like area thats dotted with trendy boutiques and tea shops. No trip to the Belgian capital is complete without sampling the beers on offer, and if youre looking for the best pint in Belgian, locals recommend heading to Moeder Lambic. They have Belgian as well as international beers to go with the food they serve, and the staff can help you to find the right pint that to suit your palate

Where to stay: Odette en Ville - a converted 1920s townhouse thats been converted into a chic and intimate boutique stay.

Lille

What to do: Pick up your next great read at the book market on Vielle Bourse in the beautiful surrounds of the Old Stock Exchange. Book a ticket and take in some living art at the Opera of Lille on the Place du Theatre - even if you dont watch a performance, the architecture is a stunning sight in its own right. Head to the old town for chic boutiques, luxury food shops and in-the-know restaurants serving up the best of northern French cuisine. Locals love Le Lion Bossu for steak, LHuitriere for oysters and Le Broc for wonderfully fragrant French cheeses.

Where to stay: Clarence Hotel - a trendy 18th century townhouse with a contemporary twist.
S ince securing West Yorkshires second Michelin star in 2015, Leeds restaurant scene has seriously upped its game.

Whether serving up maverick plates, rooftop gastronomy, Chinese dishes with a Northern twist or a Masterchef-worthy Sunday banquet, the citys new openings have raised the bar, spoiling food lovers with a diverse array of next level culinary experiences.

If you find yourself in the North, we recommend trying as many of these must-book restaurants as possible.

Man Behind The Curtain

Once boasting Europes longest waiting list, the weird and wonderful world of Michael OHares Michelin-starred joint has captivated Leeds since opening its doors in 2014.



Hidden above Flannels clothes shop in the North Quarter, navigating your way to your table through clothes rails and department store lifts initially feels more 'Debenhams canteen' than haute cuisine. Those fears are short-lived as the lift doors open and youre hit by an indie rock soundtrack blasting through an industrial penthouse-turned-gallery. Scrawled spray paint and abstract art adorn the walls, and you soon start to feel how fitting this setting is for the magic hinted at by the restaurants Wizard of Oz-inspired name.

Avant-garde style extends to the venues new and refined 'Permanent Collection' tasting menu. Each dish is as quirkily unique as the next, infusing and transcending culinary styles - from foie gras doughnuts to hot and sour sea urchin, coconut roasted langoustine in Thai sauce to comte and beaufort croquette with black truffle. Every course is presented with an artsy, gothic flourish - ceramic trees offering sweet breads, contorted spoons carrying hand-massaged octopus and the infamous Jackson Pollock-esque black cod emancipation.

Staff here are as painfully cool as they are clued up on wine pairings and the intricate compositions of each dish, expertly guiding you through an abstract culinary wonderland.

Top Floor Flannels, 68-78 Vicar Lane, Leeds LS1 7JH, themanbehindthecurtain.co.uk

Shears Yard

Set in a converted 19th century rope factory, the atmospheric, filament bulb-lit Shears Yard is a local favourite for relaxed fine dining.

Focusing on honest British cuisine, the award-winning menus are determined by seasonality and local produce, uniting classic and more unusual flavour combinations. Beautifully presented, each dish pays great attention to detail with simple finishing touches. A word of warning, though: its easy to fill up on the moreish Yorkshire tea butter before your meal has even started.

We strongly recommend A Taste of Shears Yard - a five course tasting menu with a wine pairing option. As busy as this popular dining destination gets, youd be hard pressed to find a friendlier team to talk you through each dish and make your experience that bit more memorable.

The creative drinks menu is built around local ingredients too, and can be enjoyed at your table or, Northern weather permitting, on the outdoor terrace. Foraged fruits and homemade infusions feature in new takes on classics (Pisco Disco, Rose Petal Martini) palate cleansers (Pear Princess, Basil Grande) and post-dinner nightcaps (Dram-a in Guyana, Whiskey Passion).

11-15 Wharf St, Leeds LS2 7EH, shearsyard.com

Pintura

Bucking the citys trend for British cuisine is chef Greg Lewis, bringing a taste of San Sebastian to Leeds with his authentic Basque kitchen.

Drawing inspiration from San Sebastian's wonderful labyrinth of bar-lined, Old town streets, the menu offers tapas and bite-sized Pintxo such as smoked cheese croquettes, Seville orange salad, boquerones and a selection of delicious traditional cheeses and in-house cured meats.

Dedicated to a true Spanish dining experience, Pintura sources its ingredients from premium local Spanish supplier Greys Fine Foods and has a cellar full of Spanish wines to compliment each dish.

Almost upstaging the restaurant itself is Pinturas downstairs drinks den. Arguably Leeds best gin joint, this stylish bar houses over 100 global variations on mothers ruin to offer fresh takes on Basque-inspired cocktails.

1 Trinity St, Leeds LS1 6AP, pinturakitchen.co.uk

Crafthouse

Panoramic views complement fine dining at this rooftop oasis, high up on the fifth floor of Leeds bustling Trinity centre.

Sophisticated surroundings literally heighten an award-winning menu - the open kitchen, city skylines and an interior that mixes dark oak, marble, traditional looms, fabric reams and commissioned artwork; all invoking Leeds rich cultural heritage.

Crafthouse is a meat lovers heaven, with executive Chef Lee even hunting his own game and preparing meat and fish in Crafthouses Josper Oven - a mean chargrilling machine cooking locally-sourced products at a 480 degree heat.

The pinnacle of Leeds rooftop dining, we recommend a summer booking to make the most of the charming outdoor terrace.

Trinity Leeds, 70 Boar Ln, Leeds LS1 6HW, crafthouse-restaurant.com

Tattu

Having opened its doors only a month ago, this innovative Chinese restaurant has rapidly gained an impressive reputation thanks to word-of-mouth recommendations spreading like wildfire.

Masterminded by chef Clifton Muil, Tattu delivers modern Chinese cuisine by fusing traditional Asian ingredients with local Yorkshire produce. Its launch menu notably featured playful dishes including Yorkshire beef puff dim sum, Whitby-sourced crab for Kimchi crab cakes and Yorkshire pork rib-eye steak with apple teriyaki sauce made using local apple cider.

These exciting reinterpretations of classic Chinese dishes are enjoyed in a decadent atmosphere of elegant Bardiglio marble, Oriental artwork and opulent purple lighting. In a nod to its Leeds heritage, the restaurants center piece is a giant cherry blossom tree adorned with Yorkshire rose-inspired white petals.

Minerva, 29 East Parade, Leeds LS1 5PS, tattu.co.uk/leeds

Home

One to watch on the Leeds dining scene, Home is a new joint venture by Masterchef 2016 finalist Elizabeth Cottam and Mark Owens, former head chef of Ilkelys Michelin-starred The Box Tree.

Having only just opened this month, Home promises to bring something completely new to the world of fine dining; serving three, five and ten course tasting menus of unashamedly British dishes that will change month on month.

Theres also a decadent Sunday lunch menu, paying homage to the two chefs favourite meal of the week. And for those looking to pull out all the stops, you can get the VIP treatment with an exclusive chefs table experience led by Elizabeth and Mark.

16/17 Kirkgate, Leeds LS1 6BY, homeleeds.co.u
T his is the dramatic moment police officers armed with tasers arrested a drunken thug who tormented passengers and attacked a guard on a London-bound train.

Paul Abraham, 26, has been jailed for 20 months after he attacked a train guard with a piece of broken glass in a drunken rage just outside Catford station.

He also threatened passengers on the service, before officers stormed a carriage and arrested him.

The guard had walked towards the drivers cabin after someone pulled the emergency cord on the service, applying the emergency brakes and stopping the train.

When he arrived at the front of the train he found Abraham swearing and kicking at the drivers cabin, British Transport Police (BTP) said.

The unruly passenger had already smashed a bottle of vodka on the floor and was wielding a broken piece of glass.

When the guard approached the man, Abraham cut the guards hand and began threatening him.

Abraham then sat himself down next to a passenger, before lunging at him, violently shaking him and threatening to kill him before slapping the innocent bystander.

Biritsh Transport Police (BTP) have released footage of officers storming the train and arresting the thug / British Transport Police

He then turned to a woman passenger he thought was laughing at him and threw his shoe at her, police added.

Abraham then continued his violent rampage as he threw a series of punches at the train guard after shouting at him to open the train doors.

Police officers armed with tasers and a specially trained police dog soon arrived and arrested Abraham.

The shocking attack happened on board a Southeastern service travelling between Gillingham and London Victoria on November 2, last year.

BTP has released shocking CCTV footage of Abrahams rampage, in which one police officer can be seen appearing to shove Abraham to the ground as he faces up to officers while lighting a cigarette.

The officers then rush towards Abraham and arrest him as he lies on the carriage floor.

In the footage, Abraham can also be seen violently shaking the passenger in his seat, before shoving a woman as she comes to challenge the drunken thug.

Abraham, from Kent, was sentenced to 20 months in prison and ordered to pay a 140 victim surcharge at Blackfriars Crown Court on Monday, August 21.

He had pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to one count of affray, four counts of assault by beating and one count of obstructing an engine using railway by unlawful act

Investigating officer Detective Constable Ross McAlpine, said: In his drunken state, Abraham subjected passengers to a terrifying ordeal. He went from carriage to carriage, attacking and threatening innocent people.

Fortunately, our officers were able to quickly board the train and were able to detain him. We will never tolerate violence and will work hard to ensure that suspects are quickly detained and brought before the courts.
A n illegal immigrant has been jailed for at least 26 years for murdering a "kind and peace-loving" carer in London's Hyde Park.

Homeless Hani Khalaf, 22, survived on the streets of Britain by stealing food and clothes after arriving in the back of a lorry posing as a Syrian asylum seeker in August 2014, the Old Bailey heard.

He was bailed for shoplifting hours before he kicked, punched and stamped 62-year-old Jairo Medina to death near Speakers' Corner on the evening of August 11 last year.

He pocketed the carer's cash and stole his mobile phone, which he tried to sell on hours later.

Victim: The body of Jairo Medina, 62 a health care professional from Chelsea, was found in Hyde Park

Following a retrial, the Egyptian national was found guilty of murder and he was jailed for life with a minimum of 26 years.

Judge Wendy Joseph QC said Khalaf was sent back into the community time and again because of a failure to deport him and Mr Medina paid for it "with his life".

She said: "It is clear that Hani Khalaf, having absconded, came to the attention of authorities on at least six occasions.

"On each, he was re-bailed because they could not make arrangements for securing his deportation in a reasonable amount of time."

The result was that Khalaf, was sent out into the community again and again and told to report to authorities, which he never did.

Judge Joseph said he showed "no respect for the law" and became a danger to himself and others.

The court heard Khalaf is likely to be deported to serve his sentence in Egypt once he is no longer a category A prisoner.

Police presence: Cordons were set up in Hyde Park / Alex Lentati

The day before he met Mr Medina, he was arrested for shoplifting at the Superdry clothes shop in Regent Street and gave police a false name he had previously given to immigration officials.

He appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court and was bailed hours before the killing.

On August 11, Khalaf met Mr Medina in Hyde Park, where the victim had gone hoping to have sex with a younger man, the court heard.

Mr Medina's body was discovered early the next day by a groundsman on his way to work.

Khalaf was arrested on August 16 for fare evasion and told police he was Hanni Hassan and later gave the name Khalaf, prosecutor Oliver Glasgow QC said.

Then on August 18, he was arrested again for shoplifting and taken to Charing Cross police station, where an "eagle-eyed" police officer recognised him from CCTV as the suspect seen with Mr Medina on the night of his death.

The body was found near Speaker's Corner / Alex Lentati

Mr Medina, from Chelsea, west London, was originally from Colombia and was a single gay man, the court heard.

He was described by his former partner as "a carefree and very generous person" who would go to the Quebec gay bar in Marble Arch and would sometimes pay male prostitutes for sex, jurors heard.

The prosecution argued the motive for the killing was to steal, although it was suggested on behalf of the defendant it may have resulted from an unrequited sexual advance.

Judge Joseph agreed it was a "murder for gain" regardless of Mr Medina's reasons for going into the park and befriending his killer.

She said: "Having seen and heard Mr Khalaf and his description of how he lived it is beyond credible belief that Mr Khalaf went with Mr Medina into the park thinking all Mr Medina wanted was to offer kindness and consolation to a young man."

In victim impact statements read to court, Mr Medina's friends and family spoke of a kind and peaceful man.

His brother, German Cardona, said he was given an award in 2015 for his "service to care in London" and had devoted his life to support his family at home, including his 86-year-old father who died within months of the murder.

Close friend Mahmood Khan described him as "generous and loving" and said: "If Mr Medina was alive he would probably forgive the person who had committed this crime."

Giovanni Raimondi, another friend, said: "Jairo may have seemed outwardly happy and content but he was effectively quite lonely and looking for companionship and someone to share his life with.

"He paid a high price that night in his pursuit for companionship with young men.

"He was known to all who knew him as kind and peace loving. He always believed in living peacefully and did not deserve to die in that way."

Additional reporting by Press Association.
S ome students today blamed the controversial new marking system and tougher exam papers after suffering disappointing GCSE grades.

Pupils this year were the first to face harder papers in maths and English marked with the new 9-1 grading system.

This morning at the Ark Burlington Danes Academy in White City, 16-year-old Mohamed Warsame said he felt hard done by as hed got a 7 in mathematics, his favourite subject.

The exams in previous years were easier, he said. I think its down to the new grading system.

Mohamed  who got an 8 in English literature, a 5 in English language and one A*, 5 As, a B and a C in his other results  added: I want to do maths at university so it is disappointing and I am not happy with it. I feel like I could have done better in the old system.

At the Harris City Academy in Crystal Palace, Robert Byrne was inquiring about re-marking after getting 5s in maths and English.

He said: The system is bit weird this year even though I think it will work out in the next few years. This is the first year and it feels like they have had a few problems. Its difficult with these new 9s and 8s. I would rather have had an A to be honest.

But other students were pleased with the new system. Burlington Danes student Riannah Audain, 16, burst into tears when she received a grade 9 in English Literature  but admitted her 6 in maths was a little lower than shed hoped.

I am so shocked with my English result, she said. I thought I would get a 5 so that is a huge surprise and I am so happy. It was tough getting used to the new system and some of my grades are unexpected the other way too, like maths.

Burlington Danes headteacher Michael Gibson paid tribute to his pupils who he said did exceptionally well despite major changes to the curriculum. He added a number of students had been in very close proximity to the Grenfell Tower fire, adding: Their determination to continue with their study despite everything has been awe-inspiring.

At the Harris City Academy, Jasmine Clarke-Terrelonge, 16, was also celebrating three 9 grades in maths, English literature and English language as well as six A* and two As.

Just months ago Ms Clarke-Terrelonge, who lives in Croydon, was being seen by doctors in Harley Street and travelling to Hungary in search of a cure for her devastating autoimmune-related disease. She said: I didnt think I would get better before, but feeling a bit better in the past year helped me revise and get these grades.

I feel relieved because I wasnt quite sure how the 9s would work out and I did not expect them in English as it is my worst subject.

Back in year eight I got really ill. I had heart palpitations and pains in all my joints.
C ouncil chiefs are set to strip the housing company that runs Grenfell Tower of its responsibility to manage almost 10,000 homes, the Standard reveals today.

Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation is to be dismantled amid concerns about its ability to oversee the boroughs housing stock after the fire on June 14, which left at least 80 people dead.

Kensington and Chelsea council has started talks with housing associations, local authorities and other housing bodies as it seeks alternative management for its social housing portfolio.

Scotland Yard has said it has reasonable grounds to suspect that the TMO and the council could have committed corporate manslaughter over the fire.

Barry Quirk, the councils acting chief executive, said: I cannot see the TMO as a viable option for managing stock into the future, given the liabilities and challenges that it potentially faces. Theyre facing  like we are  questions in a public inquiry and a criminal investigation.

We are very keen, in discussions with TMO, to secure an orderly transition of services on a phased basis to ensure that residents receive continued service into the future. Theresa May confirmed yesterday that the management of the Lancaster West estate, which includes Grenfell Tower, was being taken in-house by council staff.

Look linside Chelsea flats bought for Grenfell survivors

Council leader Elizabeth Campbell said: We have listened to communities and to the residents of North Kensington, and it is clear that public trust has been broken and there is no future role for the KCTMO. I spoke to the Prime Minister and the council is looking at all options for managing our own housing in the future.

The TMO is contracted to manage the boroughs entire housing stock of 9,760 properties on a not-for-profit basis, at arms length from the council.

Set up in 1996, it is the largest organisation of its kind in Britain, with more than 200 staff, and had a turnover of 17.6 million in the last financial year.Its chief executive Robert Black stepped down in June to concentrate on assisting with the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy investigation and inquiry.

Mr Quirk  brought in from Lewisham council after former Kensington and Chelsea chief Nicholas Holgate resigned in June  said vociferous public anger at the TMO would make it difficult for the organisation to continue. Mr Quirk has written to the TMO informing it of his recommendation and said its management agree. He said: I didnt feel I could give assurances about safety for them managing large capital works.

Kensington Labour MP Emma Dent Coad, a local councillor, said: TMO residents have stated that they would prefer to have their homes taken back in-house by a competent team, with the option of setting up estate-based TMOs if they so decide by vote.

Samia Badani, chair of the residents association for Bramley House, a TMO-managed block of flats close to the Lancaster West estate, said tenants dont feel safe. Mr Quirk told a public meeting at the Al Manaar Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre that he was looking to treble the councils housing stock set aside for Grenfell survivors, which stands at 105 properties.
F amed for its bring your own booze curry houses, diverse communities and shabby chic vibe, Tooting is now officially one of the 10 coolest neighbourhoods in the world.

Craft beer bars, sourdough pizza joints and trendy nightspots are popping up among Sari stalls and decades-old butchers in the south-west London hotspot.

The area appeared on Lonely Planets list of top 10 coolest neighbourhoods in the world alongside New Yorks Sunset Park and The Triangle in Lisbon.

Now, locals, including Sadiq Khan have questioned why Tooting wasnt awarded its cool credentials sooner.

Cool neighbourhood: Residents by fruit at a market in Tooting / AFP/Getty Images

The Mayor of London was delighted with the praise stacked on his birthplace and former constituency.

He said: Its great to see Lonely Planet recognise what many of us have known for decades."

Nestled in the heart of the Zone 3 commuter hub, which has a crater named after it on Mars, Tooting Market sells fresh food and brunch by day and cocktails by night.

Kiki Evans, co-owner of Unwined, a wine merchants in the market, said: We love the market and how diverse it is, you have all these bars and restaurants right next to the butchers that has been here for 25 years and the Sari shop.

Kiki Evans: 'We love the market and how diverse it is' / Evening Standard

We didnt think it was particularly cool but its got a great vibe, its completely different in the night.

Adam Burgess, manager of neighbouring coffee shop Brickwood, added: Tooting is really up and coming, it does have a cool vibe.

Even though Im Kiwi, my grandmother was from here and its completely different to when I was young, we would visit when we were five or six, about 20 years ago, and the market and the high street were places you would buy food, they were quite run down.

Now its got a really nice, young feel.

Student Anna Johnson, who works as a waitress at Brickwood, moved to the area from north London five months ago.

Anna Johnson: 'Tooting is the best place to live' / Evening Standard

She chimed in cheerily and added: Its the sort of place you could bring your mum during the day and your friends at night.

When told of Tootings surprise appearance on Lonely Planets list, market stalwart Hughie Crawford, who has lived in the area since 1969, said: And so it should be.

Mr Crawford, who works closely with several local community groups, added: It is becoming really gentrified, and I use that word because thats whats happening.

Big chains like Costa are moving into the high street, Franco Manca has moved to the market of all places. It really is up and coming but still so diverse.

Residents also praised the foodie scene at the end of Northern Line.

Muhammad Sadiq, who has lived in Tooting for two years and believes it is the friendliest place in London.

He said: Its so busy but it has the friendliest people in London.

It was everything you need, basically. Any food you want, its on your doorstep, it has great nightlife, good pubs and great markets. Its also so well connected, you can drive out of London easily and if you want to get into the City just hop on to the Northern Line. I think Ill be here for a long time.

Tooting Bec Lido: The area plays host to the biggest outdoor pool in the UK / hozzler

Despite being heavily bombed in the blitz before becoming the setting for 70s sitcom Citizen Smith, Tooting boasts 200 acres of green space and the UKs biggest Lido.

Writer Will Jones nominated the area for the accolade and hailed the abundance of pubs and curry houses.

He gushed: Its high street, which stretches between two Tube stations, is one of the best curry corridors in the country, and contains some superb South Asian restaurants, like Dosa n Chutny and Apollo Banana Leaf.

The best shopping can be found inside eclectic Tooting Market, and quirky bars and pubs include The Castle, The Antelope and The Little Bar.
I t's got a reputation among Londoners as a shabby chic and gloriously diverse neighbourhood with some of the best curry in town.

And now, Tooting has been named as one of the top 10 coolest neighbourhoods in the world by Lonely Planet.

The area, on the northern line, is the only place in the UK to feature on the list alongside the likes of Sunset Park in New York and Business Bay in Dubai.

Writer Will Jones, who nominated the commuter hotspot, described the area  popular for its Northern Line links  as revelling in multiculturalism and originality.

Cool neighbourhood: Residents by fruit at a market in Tooting / AFP/Getty Images

He wrote: Rubbing shoulders with perfectly pleasant yet slightly square Wimbledon, Earlsfield and Balham, Tooting is a more captivating affair.

Tooting is officially rooting: SW17's best bars, restaurants and culture 1 /2 Tooting is officially rooting: SW17's best bars, restaurants and culture 44tooting0.jpg Hot property: the up-and-coming Little Bar on Mitcham Road 44tooting1.jpg Due south: cakes and sandwiches galore at Tota in Tooting High Street

The Londoner said his neighbourhood had become uber-cool but added it had lost none of its gritty charm in the process.

The Antelope, Tooting

Despite being heavily bombed in the blitz before becoming the setting for 70s sitcom Citizen Smith, Tooting boasts 200 acres of green space and the UKs biggest Lido.

Mr Jones also recommended several pubs including The Castle, The Antelope and The Little Bar.

Labour candidate Dr Rosena Allin-Khan campaigning with London Mayor Sadiq Khan (R) ahead of the Tooting by-election last year / Getty Images

The Zone 3 hotspot is also the birthplace of London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

Lonley Planets Top 10 coolest neighbourhoods 1.Borgo San Frediano, Florence 2.Seongsu-dong, Seoul 3.The Triangle, Lisbon 4.Vesterbro, Copenhagen 5.Business Bay, Dubai 6.Damansara Heights, Kuala Lumpur 7.Sunset Park, New York City 8.Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro 9.Frelard, Seattle 10.Tooting, London

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, the Labour MP for Tooting, told the Wandsworth Guardian: "Tooting is getting the recognition it deserves. This is the ideal place to spend a lazy weekend and the multicultural community spirit encourages people to stay."

Trendy Vesterobro in Copenhagen, The Triangle in popular Lisbon and Borgo San Frediano in Florence also made the cut.

Seattles Frelard was hailed as the perfect place to refuel on a day spent exploring beyond Seattles main tourist sights.

While Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro, was nominated for its low rents, excellent transport links and increasingly exciting nightlife.
U K Border Force foiled more than 56,000 attempts by migrants trying to get to Kent from France last year, figures show.

They stopped up to 153 attempts every day over the same period, the BBC reported.

The numbers are down on the 2015 figures, but the second highest in the past seven years, the broadcasters said.

A Home Office spokesman said the figures "make absolutely clear that our approach to securing the UK's border is working."

It added: "We will continue to work closely with our French counterparts to maintain border security and keep legitimate passengers and trade moving."

The information, received through an Freedom of Information request, is reported in the same week that violent clashes erupted in Calais, involving up to 200 migrants.

A number of police officers and migrants have been injured in the latest incidents, which have involved Afghans and Eritreans.

The violence prompted a warning from The Road Haulage Association that UK lorry drivers are being put at risk.

The industry body, which has a long-running campaign calling for the deployment of the French military in Calais, said some drivers chose to divert their vehicles via longer routes to avoid the area.

Some 7,000 migrants were cleared from a makeshift camp in the city last autumn.
H olidaymakers are being warned against buying their euros at the last minute at UK airports where bureaux are offering just as little as 87 cents to the pound.

Sterling slumped to an eight-year low against the euro on Wednesday, which experts put down to Brexit uncertainty and stronger than expected growth in the eurozone economy.

The pound was down 0.5 per cent to 1.083 versus the euro as the London market closed, hitting its lowest level since October 2009.

But at the airports the exchange rate has sunk further with one pound buying customers less than a euro.

Research compiled by FairFX and Moneycorp showed the walk-up rate offered at London airports Gatwick and Stansted was just 0.949 euros and 0.921, respectively, to the pound.

London airport euro rates According to FairFx and Moneycorp Gatwick Moneycorp 0.949 Heathrow T4 Travelex 1.037 Stansted Moneycorp 0.92

At Heathrow, the Travelex desk was offering 1.037 euros to the pound on Wednesday, according to the research.

Southampton airport had the worst exchange rate where customers were offered just 0.872 euros to 1. For every 1,000, travellers would get just 872 euros.

Holidaymakers can purchase travel money online in advance and receive much closer to the official rate.

Customers ordering 1,000 worth of euros from Tesco online on Thursday morning would get 1,065, at an exchange rate of 1.0629.

Ian Strafford-Taylor, chief executive of travel money firm FairFX, told the Daily Mail: Holidaymakers getting away from it all to make the most of the last bank holiday of the year need to be wary of buying currency last-minute at the airport.

James Daley, director of consumer website Fairer Finance, told the newspaper: Airport bureaux are becoming the pantomime villains of the summer.

They have always offered bad rates but over the past couple of years the gap between the market rate and what we get seems to be getting wider and wider.

The pound was also struggling against the US dollar, down 0.2 per cent at 1.278 on Wednesday.
One of the chief lawmakers writing the next state budget said Thursday that school officials and Democrats are exaggerating if they say schools are holding off on new spending because a new two-year state spending plan is not in place.

I think that is all smoke and mirrors, quite honestly, Joint Finance Committee co-chairman Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, said of such concerns.

School officials told the Wisconsin State Journal last week that some schools are delaying hiring teachers or buying certain supplies because they dont know for sure what they will get in state funding.

On Thursday, before a meeting of the budget committee, Democrats on the panel raised the matter anew, saying some school districts, including the Onalaska School District, are starting the year with substitute teachers instead of filling some positions permanently because the budget is late.

Schools in Milwaukee and some private voucher schools have already started a new school year.

Nygren said the public school advocacy groups that are now saying schools cant be sure of state funding amounts for the coming year had earlier this summer rejected Assembly Republicans education plan because it included a smaller per student increase than what Gov. Scott Walker proposed and that they were counting on the larger payout.

They cant have it both ways, he said. Either they were counting on the governors promises (in their budgets) or theyre willing to look for changes.

But Joint Finance Committee co-chairwoman Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, said schools are indeed having trouble with hiring because the education portion of the state budget hasnt yet been decided by the committee, much less the entire two-year spending plan.

Thats what I kept saying  weve got to get going, Darling said. Schools starting and we got to tell schools what their budgets are for that very reason. There are people they need to hire  they have vacancies they need to fill. And I think one of the biggest downsides of our taking this long was the fact that the schools could not go ahead and fill those positions.

Kim Kaukl, executive director of the Wisconsin Rural Schools Alliance, said Thursday that because a state budget is not yet in place it is prudent for our districts to take the conservative approach and put a hold on hiring and purchases until they have solid numbers from the state.

Developing a budget is difficult enough and not knowing state budget numbers complicates things further, Kaukl said.

Walker has proposed $649 million in new funding for schools in hi s K-12 education plan, but Assembly Republicans and Senate Republicans have released their own education plans that dont mirror Walkers.

Nygren and Darling made their comments to reporters ahead of the first meeting of the budget-writing committee in more than two months. The committee is resuming its work on the 2017-19 state budget that is nearly two months overdue.

The committee is scheduled to take up the K-12 education portion of the state budget Monday. Darling said the committee hopes to wrap up its work the week of Sept. 5 and hopes both houses will vote on the full budget the next week.

On Thursday, the committee rejected a proposal from Walker to eliminate a program that brings locally grown food into public schools. Walkers proposal would have reversed a nationwide trend the state helped pioneer eight years ago.

The proposal would have eliminated a state program coordinator position within the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and a 15-member council composed of agriculture, health care and education advocates who advise DATCP and the Legislature on farm-to-school matters, saving $86,200 a year.

The committee also approved a reorganization of the Department of Natural Resources that consolidates departments and divisions and reshuffles lower-level offices, aimed at providing relief to overburdened workers in its troubled water quality program and making state parks and wildlife management more efficient. A division overseeing drinking water quality, watershed management and fisheries would be eliminated.

The reorganization also requires DNR wardens to be the only DNR staff to have arrest powers in state parks. Currently, park rangers also are armed.

The committee also eliminated a property tax for forestry programs in the state, saving $26 on the property tax bill for a home worth $159,400. The tax generates $89 million annually.

In other action, the committee set the amount of money the states youth prison receives from counties over the next two years. An $8.7 million funding increase would be included in the 2017-19 state budget.

The new money would cover costs associated with services, beds and operations at the Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls, which has been the focus of a number of federal lawsuits alleging abuse and has been under investigation for more than two years.

The increase comes after lawmakers on the committee voted earlier this summer to increase the rate county governments pay the state to house their most serious teen offenders at the Irma facility. Lawmakers set in the next state budget the daily rate for counties at $390 per inmate through 2018 and $397 through 2019.

The increase for counties is nearly $100 over current law and comes after the number of offenders counties have chosen to send to the facility after the allegations surfaced has dropped considerably.

Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, objected to the Legislature increasing the county rate without discussing issues that prompted the need for the increases. She said the measure is a way to back-door the Lincoln Hills issue that we as a Legislature have not dealt with.
T he younger sister of Manchester terror attack victim Martyn Hett earned eleven A* grades in the GCSE exams she sat immediately after learning her brother died, it emerged today.

Martyn's older brother Dan Hett revealed the exam success of his little sister Nik in a series of powerful Twitter messages today.

Nik took the brave decision to sit her exams despite being told the school board would accept her predicted grades.

Describing his little sister as a hero and revealing her top scores, Dan described the inspiring moment he saw her preparing to go to school the day after they were told her brother had died.

They told her she didn't need to, that they'd use her predicted grades given everything that happened. Nik said: nope! and took the lot, he wrote in the Twitter thread.

Under the most horrific conditions, after going through (and continuing to go through) it all, she didn't skip a beat. It was hands-down the toughest s*** I have ever seen. Sleeves rolled up, get it done. Nothing wasted despite it all.

Dan Hett told how he was so distraught he didnt know what day it was when he saw the youngster putting her shoes on to go and sit her exams. I was utterly amazed, floored, he added.

In the thread, as schoolchildren across the country waited for their results to come in on Thursday, he explained that the girl received eleven A* grades in her exams.

My kid sister is the toughest person I have ever met. Don't mess with her. Be inspired!", he continued in the post that has been shared widely online.

Her brother Martyn, 29, was one of 22 people killed when suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated a device as crowds left an Ariana Grande concert on May 22.

The inspirational thread of tweets sent social media into meltdown as social media users shared their praise for the youngster, with many saying it reduced them to tears.

Martyn Hett: The victim's little sister sat her GCSEs in the days after she found out her brother died in the attack

One wrote: This is absolutely incredible. She sounds like a force of nature. Must run in the family. And another said: This is beautiful. I'm a teacher and her determination moved me to tears. She will go far in life, congratulations!

Anoter Twitter user wrote: She's going to build rockets or fly to mars or something. Incredible. Must be very very proud.

Mariah Carey, radio DJ Nick Grimshaw and stars from the television show Coronation Street were among hundreds of mourners who paid tribute to Martyn after his death.

At his funeral in June, his family reportedly wore glitter and colourful shoes along with their black outfits to pay tribute to the PR manager who was described by colleagues as fun and energetic.
P olice have returned a Yorkshire Terrier seized from its 73-year-old owner for allegedly attacking a delivery courier.

Claudia Settimo-Bovio, from Kingston, said she was very pleased but very tired after an ordeal which saw seven police officers take away 10-year-old Alfie following claims he was out of control.

She was left distraught and accused police of overreacting when they seized her pet last Friday and brought her in for questioning.

After the dog was returned to her she told the Standard: I am very pleased that he is back. He didnt look at me initially when he came back so I think he was a bit cross.

Ive had him for 10 years and he doesnt do that often, but now he is happy.

He must have barked a lot while he was gone because he has gone hoarse.

Scotland Yard said the dog's return was approved on Thursday "while further action is considered".

Two dog units and three police officers were sent to the address last Friday after the delivery courier claimed the dog bit his stomach and ear.

The animal was seized by police under the Dangerous Dogs Act more than six weeks after it is alleged to have attacked the delivery driver outside her house on June 21.

Ms Settimo-Bovio said the man, aged in his mid 30s, was delivering a parcel to her home but asked him to leave it outside when Alfie became over excited.

She went outside to collect the parcel but the dog ran through her legs and chased after the courier, she said.

She said: He screamed his head off, it was like a mad scene in the street but the dog never touched him.

He is a friendly dog. Everybody knows my dog.

A Met Police spokesman said: A dog seized by police in Kingston under the Dangerous Dogs Act has been returned to the owner.

A delivery courier had reported that on Wednesday, June 21 that the dog had bit him on his stomach and behind the ear.

The victim, who is in his mid 30s, went to a west London hospital and was treated for minor injuries.

The dog's owner was interviewed by officers from Kingston borough on Wednesday, August 23.

The dog has been assessed by officers from the Status Dog Unit who have approved the return. The owner has also signed an acceptable behaviour contract.

As a result the dog has been returned to its owner today while further action is considered.
A Japanese robot has begun operating as a Buddhist priest after being programmed to conduct funerals.

Pepper chants sutras in a computerised voice while tapping a drum.

The robot was on display at a funeral fair  the Life Ending Industry Expo  in Tokyo.

It costs about 350 (50,000 yen) to hire Pepper to lead a funeral service, whereas a human Buddhist priest can cost up to 1,700 (240,000 yen), making the robot a cheaper alternative.

The robot has already been sized up by a real-life rival. Buddhist priest Tetsugi Matsuo visited the funeral expo to see if Pepper could "impart the 'heart' aspect to a machine because I believe that the 'heart' is the foundation of religion," he told Reuters.

Pepper was created by Japanese plastic company Nissei Eco Co. The company has also adapted the robot for other jobs including store greeter, home companion, marketer and waiter.

With Japan's population ageing and shrinking, many Buddhist priests receive less financial support from their communities, prompting some to find part-time work outside their temple duties, Michio Inamura, Nissei's executive adviser told Reuters.

The robot has not been hired to lead any funerals yet.
A "disgruntled employee" who shot one dead and held several hostages in a restaurant in Charleston has been shot by police, US authorities said.

The gunman is said to be in a critical condition after he was gunned down by officers, having taken people hostage at Virginia's restaurant in the tourist area of the South Carolina town.

Mayor John Tecklenburg confirmed that the hostage situation was over and the diners rescued, but that one employee at the restaurant, a man, had died after being shot.

Mr Tecklenburg had earlier told reporters at a news conference that the shooting was not an act of terrorism or racism.

A section of King Street, in the city's central commercial district, was closed off by police. Reports of the shooting first emerged at about 12.15pm local time on Thursday.

Police were treating the incident as an active hostage situation, with 30 people reportedly in the restaurant when the gunman was first reported to police.

Local media said that diners from the restaurant claimed a man entered with a pistol saying I am the new king of Charleston.

Another witness added that the shooter said There's a new boss in town.

Images have emerged showing bomb squad members and SWAT team officers storming the restaurant.

Interim Charleston Police Chief Jerome Taylor says all the hostages at Virginia's restaurant were rescued safely, but did not confirm how many there were.

Sarah Cobb, owner of a nearby boutique, told CNN: "Right now the streets are full of SWAT and police and people heavily armed. They are blocking off the whole block."

City of Charleston posted on Facebook: "Charleston County Dispatch received a call today at 12:17 p.m. in reference to a shooting within the 400 block of King Street. One shooting victim was transported to the hospital, but there is no update on their condition at this time.

"There are a small number of hostages inside the building with the shooter. Police crisis negotiators are on scene attempting to negotiate with the shooter.

"The situation is ongoing, so individuals are being advised to avoid the area.

"The shooter is known to be a disgruntled employee."

The site is a few blocks away from Emanuel AME church, where nine black members of a church were killed by a white man during a Bible study in June 2015.
N orth Korea has appeared to show off the details of two untested missile systems during a factory inspection by dictator Kim Jong-un.

Picture released by the state-controlled KCNA news agency appear to show the North Korean leader flaunting wall charts describing missiles during a visit to the Academy of Defence Sciences facility.

The missiles, called the Hwasong-13 and Pukguksong-3, appear from the photographs to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICMB) and a submarine launched ballistic missile (SLBM).

The plans are largely obscured by officials visiting the facility in the photographs.

Kim Jong-un escorted by military officials through the facility / REUTERS

Shin Jong-woo, secretary general of the Korea Defense and Security Forum, told South Korean newspaper JoongAng Daily the state "has a history of displaying actual weapons in a deliberate show of force against America.

Tensions between The United States and North Korea have reached critical levels in recent weeks, with both Kim Jong-un and president Donald Trump threatening each other with strikes.

Earlier this month, Mr Trump said the totalitarian regime would face fire and fury unlike any the world has seen before" if it attacked US territory.

It came after North Korea claimed it was ready to fire four missiles at the US territory of Guam, though the dictator backed down as tensions grew.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un smiles as he stands near the plans / REUTERS

The tiny US Pacific territory island hosts 7,000 military personnel on two main bases and has a population of 160,000.

In total, ten photos were attached with the report in KCNA, with one showing Kim Jong-un smiling as he showed off the designs.

According to KCNA, Kim Jong-un has ordered scientists at the facility to produce more rocket fuel for the missiles.
P resident Trump has given the US armed forces six months to implement a ban on transgender servicemen and women the White House deems as non-deployable.

One month after Mr Trump announced a ban on transgender people serving in the US military via Twitter, he has issued a two-and-a-half page memo explaining how the decision is to be implemented.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the guidance note will give the Pentagon powers to deny admittance to transgender people and halt spending on medical treatment for those currently serving their country.

When considering a service members deployability, defence secretary James Mattis must now remove them if they are unable to serve in a warzone, join training exercises or serve on a ship for six months. Being transgender, the memo says, is a hindrance to all three requirements, claim sources.

Details of the ban were made public on the same day that a car ploughed into protesters at a vigil in Missouri honouring a black transgender woman who was shot dead by police. The white male driver was arrested after his Mercedes struck three of the demonstrators.

They suffered minor injuries but refused medical attention. The St Louis vigil was held after the death on Tuesday of Kenneth Kiwi Herring, who was killed by police called to a domestic incident in which the victim allegedly wounded an officer with a knife.

Mr Mattis has reportedly been given six months to enforce the new regulations. Washington analysts had thought the president would back off from his stance following the backlash over his tweet. In it, Mr Trump said he intended to reinstate the ban on transgender military service that was lifted last year by his predecessor, Barack Obama.

After consultation with my generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the US Military, he wrote on July 26.

Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you, he added.

Transgender rights campaigner Sue Fulton hit back at the White House move, insisting it was unenforceable.

Transgender people are just as deployable as other service members, Ms Fulton, former president of the LGBT military organisation Sparta, told the Journal. Other service members may undergo procedures when they are at home base, just as other service members schedule shoulder surgery or gall bladder surgery. She added that there were no ongoing treatments for transgender individuals that would cause them to be non-deployable.

Thus theres no difference between the deployability of transgender service members and others, she said.

There are said to be between 1,320 and 6,000 transgender people openly serving in the US military. However, advocacy groups put the true figure far higher, at about 7,000 on active duty and as many as 11,000 people spread across all areas of the armed forces.

One transgender man, a corporal who did not want to be identified, told the Air Force Times: I have never described myself as trans; Im a motherf***ing Marine. Thats all that matters. Dont tarnish my title with your bigotry and fear of the unknown.
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Those multi-million dollar lottery winnings are only as random as the computer programs that generate the winning numbers. And who creates the programs? Humans do. Despite strict security protocols, one lottery worker was able to rig the system for his benefit. Eddie Tipton, a former security director of the Multistate Lottery Association, received a sentence of 25 years for his actions beginning in 2010.

Tipton pleaded guilty to rigging computer codes to give him seven winning lottery tickets across five state lotteries. This net him and his accomplices millions of dollars at the expense of legitimate lottery players. Since he designed and maintained the random number generation software, he was able to manipulate it to output winning numbers that he knew in advance. In an attempt to avoid suspicion, Tipton would give friends the winning ticket to redeem and then split the cash.

He was ordered to pay back roughly $2.2 million in restitution which will likely come from the sale of assets seized by the prosecutor. Both the prosecution and Tipton's defense lawyer don't expect him to serve the full sentence though. If he behaves and makes parole, he will likely be out after five years.

Mr. Tipton's brother Tommy is currently serving a 75-day sentence on theft charges. The group was caught when a family friend attempted to redeem a $14.3 million jackpot in Iowa. Officials recognized the claim as suspicious and refused to pay the winnings. The friend, Robert Rhodes, will be sentenced this Friday.
Following the high-profile suicides of musicians Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington, more people are openly discussing the dangers of depression and why the symptoms shouldn't be ignored. To try and help those in the US who may be suffering from the illness, Google is offering a screening questionnaire for clinical depression to those who search for the condition on their smartphones.

The company has partnered with the US National Alliance on Mental Illness (Nami) for the project, which will offer those who conduct mobile Google searches for "depression" the chance to check if they're clinically depressed.

The PHQ-9 questionnaire is anonymous and clinically validated to test a person's likely level of depression, though Nami warns it's "not meant to act as a singular tool for diagnosis." It could, however, encourage people to seek help.

While episodes of clinic depression affect around one in five people in the US during their lifetimes, only 50 percent of Americans who suffer from it receive treatment. And most people who do show signs such as anxiety and fatigue wait an average of six to eight years before receiving help.

Google and Nami want to raise awareness of the issue and hope the questionnaires' results will see people "have a more informed conversation" with their doctors.

With Google now being the first place many people turn when investigating their illnesses and symptoms, the diagnostic tool's nine questions could be enough to convince sufferers they need to see a professional.
The Pirate Bay is once again in stormy legal waters. Torrent Freak reports that Fredrik Neij and Gottfrid Svartholm, two co-founders of the peer-to-peer file sharing site, have been ordered to pay 405,000 euros ($477,000) to two groups representing several major worldwide record labels and end "illegal operations" related to the site.

The lawsuit was filed by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and the Copyright Information and Anti-Piracy Center (CIAPC) back in 2011. The Helsinki District Court is apparently quite bogged down since it has only just now got around to hearing the six-year-old case. The defendants failed to appear and a default judgement was granted.

This is not the first time Neij and Svartholm have had judgments against them. They, along with fellow co-founder Peter Sunde and others, have all been in and out of court and jail over the past several years. Needless to say, they are not unfamiliar with the legal system and its penalties as they pertain to copyright law.

Sunde quit The Pirate Bay in 2009 but in 2016, he was ordered to pay $395,000 to a handful of music labels including Sony, Warner and Universal Music. The penalty was issued when he failed to appear in court on the case. Sunde claimed that he did not even know that he was being sued.

The record companies know that I have not had any part of TPB for ages, still suing. Bullying is the new black. https://t.co/P3zJyD23v5 --- Peter Sunde (@brokep) June 16, 2016

Sunde claimed that the record labels were just trying to bully him because he used to be involved with the site. "Bullying is the new black," he tweeted. He plans on counter suing for defamation.

Operators of The Pirate Bay have collectively racked up millions of dollars in copyright penalties over the last decade, none of which have been paid. This latest is just another one to put on their tab and probably not the last time the site / its creators will be sued seeing as the site persists to this day.
AAA Reveals The True Cost of Vehicle Ownership







Owning and operating a new vehicle in 2017 will cost a driver an average of $8,469 annually, or $706 each month, according to a newA study from AAA. The annual evaluation of driving costs reveals that small sedans are the least expensive vehicles to drive at $6,354 annually, however small SUVs ($7,606), hybrids ($7,687) and electric vehicles ($8,439) all offer lower-than-average driving costs to U.S. drivers. Conversely, of the nine categories included in the evaluation, pickup trucks are the most expensive vehicles to drive at $10,054 annually.

"When buying a new vehicle, monthly payments are not all that a buyer should consider" cautioned Christopher Baldwin, Vice President of Automotive Services. "Depreciation, maintenance, fuel costs, and repair should also be taken into consideration.a???

In addition to analyzing the ownership costs for sedans, SUVs and minivans, AAA's Your Driving Costs study added four new vehicle segments in 2017 - small SUVs, pickup trucks, hybrids and electric vehicles.

Vehicle Type Annual Cost* Vehicle Type Annual Cost*

Small Sedan $6,354 Minivan $9,146

Small SUV $7,606 Large Sedan $9,399

Hybrid $7,687 Medium SUV $9,451

Medium Sedan $8,171 Pickup Truck $10,054

Electric Vehicle $8,439 Average $8,469

*Based on 15,000 miles driven annually

To estimate the overall cost to own and operate a new vehicle, AAA evaluated 45 2017 model-year vehicles across nine categories and focused on mid-range, top-selling vehicles.A AAA's annual driving cost is based on a sales-weighted average of the individual costs for all of the vehicle types; Key findings include:

Depreciation

Depreciation -- the declining value of a vehicle over time -- is the biggest, and most often overlooked, expense associated with purchasing a new car.A New vehicles lose an average of $15,000 in value during the first five years of ownership.A In 2017, small sedans ($2,114) and small SUVs ($2,840) have the lowest annual depreciation costs, while minivans ($3,839) and electric vehicles ($5,704) are at the high end of the scale.

Maintenance and repair

To calculate annual maintenance and repair costs, AAA examined factory-recommended maintenance, replacement tires, extended warranty costs and services associated with typical wear-and-tear.A New vehicles, on average, will cost a driver $1,186 per year to maintain and repair.

The inevitable costs associated with maintenance and repair should be an important consideration for car shoppers, as a recent AAA survey found that one-third of U.S. drivers could not afford an unexpected repair bill.A AAA Approved Auto Repair facilities offer free vehicle inspections, AAA member discounts and a 24-month/24,000-mile warranty for AAA members.

Fuel

Fuel costs vary significantly by vehicle type, ranging from 3.68 cents per mile (electric vehicles) to 13.88 cents per mile (pickup trucks).A New vehicle owners, on average, will spend just over 10 cents per mile a about $1,500 annually -- to fuel their vehicles.

For gasoline-powered vehicles, AAA recommends selecting a TOP TIER gasoline, as its independent research found it to keep engines 19 times cleaner, improving vehicle performance and fuel economy. AAA cautions drivers that using premium-grade gasoline in a vehicle that does not specifically require it is an unnecessary expense

Electric Vehicles

New to the Your Driving Costs study in 2017, AAA found that electric vehicles have lower-than-average driving costs at $8,439 per year.A Without a gasoline engine to maintain, electric vehicles have the lowest annual maintenance and repair costs, at $982 per year.A By relying on electricity instead of gasoline, fuel costs are also significantly lower than average, at under four cents per mile.A Depreciation, however, is currently extremely high for these vehicles, losing an average of nearly $6,000 in value every year.

Before a breakdown happens, AAA recommends that vehicle owners:

Follow the manufacturer's recommended maintenance schedule to avoid roadside trouble.

Check all fluids, such as engine oil, coolant level, automatic transmission fluid, brake fluid, power steering fluid, and windshield washer fluid.

Test your battery, and check it for corroded terminals or a bulging/cracked case.

Check hoses and belts for leaking and cracks.

Identify a repair shop you trust. A recent AAA survey found that one-third of U.S. drivers have yet to find a trusted repair facility.

If faced with an unexpected repair, AAA suggests that drivers:

Get a written estimate for the repair and clarify with the shop the work that needs to be done on the vehicle. Consider getting a second opinion to confirm the diagnosis.

Negotiate the repair bill with the mechanic. Ask if the shop offers any discounts or payment plans that can reduce immediate out-of-pocket costs.A

Visit AAA.com/autorepair

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.
Mysteries abound. Photo: Getty Images/Getty Images/iStockphoto

If beauty products could be admitted into the Illuminati, La Mer would be the first. The pricey moisturizer  it can run from $260 for its new Moisturizing Matte Lotion to $2,095 for a 16-ounce jar of the original  has a mythical origin story. According to the tale, a German rocket scientist named Max Huber invented it while trying to heal burns that hed sustained in the lab. Not only did he cure himself, but he also stumbled upon what fans (like the Rock) swear is the best face cream of all time.

Huber was such an odd character, and the legend of La Mers creation is so fantastical, that its spurred a number of conspiracy theories. Some speculate that La Mers colorful founder is a fiction, perhaps invented by Estee Lauder (which now owns the brand). Others posit that La Mer is nothing more than fancy Vaseline. And a lot of people dont care, so long as it doesnt ever go out of stock at Bergdorf Goodman. Below, the Cut reveals some of the wildest conspiracy theories, and the truth.

Conspiracy theory: Max Huber isnt real.

True or false? FALSE.

Bloggers and redditors have suggested that Huber is no more real than the Easter bunny, citing his lack of obituary. But hes definitely a real person. People have met him, says Andrew Bevacqua, senior vice-president of research and development at the Max Huber Research Labs, who has worked at Lauder since 1986. At the La Mer labs in Melville, Long Island, which I visited last summer, theres a framed photo of Huber (who shares a slight resemblance to Mitt Romney; see a photo of Huber here) grinning benevolently over present-day white-clad scientists.

La Mers labs in Long Island. Photo: Stella Bugbee

Cant photographs be faked, though? What about hearing from someone whos not on the La Mer payroll? Although Bevacqua has never met Huber, other people have.

Ill never forget it, because it was bizarre, recalls Linda Wells, the Cuts former beauty editorat-large and former Allure editor-in-chief. I was an assistant at Vogue. No one knew anything about him; he was an independent person making the cream. Someone more senior was supposed to meet with him but I ended up doing it because everyone was busy.

I had no office so I met with him in the lobby-ish area, she goes on, and he had this cream  not that different from the jar he has now. He told me the story about having chemical burns and developing the cream, and wanted to demonstrate how pure it was, so he stuck his finger into it. And ate it. Then he also put a finger into the cream and stuck it in his eye like it was a contact lens. There was the cream, all over his eye and eyelashes. It was unforgettable.

Felicia Milewicz, former beauty director of Glamour, corroborates Wellss story. I was a young editor at Mademoiselle, and he told me he was a space scientist. He said he had a bad accident experimenting with aerospace and I specifically remember saying, Are you injured? You dont look injured. And he said, No, no, thats when I decided to do this cream. I couldnt find anything that would make it heal. He said it took him ten years.

He also ate it in front of me. Now we see organic everything, but that was the beginning of it. His theory was, If I can eat it, its good for me and it must be amazing for my skin. I only met him that once, and I dont know about any of the conspiracy theories. Who knows, maybe I met with someone else! But I sat with a man who claimed to be him, and I was fascinated by him and told everyone about it.

Elle also found a countess that Huber was so in love with that he sent her 200 jars of La Mer at a time, and designer Ralph Rucci, who is a reported friend of Hubers.

Conspiracy theory: Huber was a scientist for NASA.

True or false? Inconclusive.

Hes definitely a scientist and physicist who worked on spacecraft or rocket ships, explains Bevacqua. He may not have worked for NASA, but he was a rocket scientist.

He had some connection to NASA, Wells recalls. I dont remember, says Milewicz, but he said he was an aerospace scientist. According to La Mers official site, Huber was an aerospace scientist. Okay, for this one, the truth is out there.

Conspiracy theory: La Mer never even existed before being purchased by Estee Lauder.

True or false? FALSE.

According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office online database, Creme de la Mer was trademarked in 1983 (filed in 1981) by an individual named Maximilian A. Huber, of the Max Huber Research Laboratories in Canoga Park, California.

In 1995, the Estee Lauder companies officially acquired La Mer following Hubers alleged (according to whom you ask) death, in 1991. There are two Live patents now for Creme de la Mer, filed in 1998 and 2011, respectively. The owners of both are La Mer Technology Inc., a corporation in Delaware listed with the address of 767 Fifth Avenue in New York. Case closed: Estee Lauders corporate offices are in this building.

Conspiracy theory: La Mer scientists play songs for the cream as its being created.

True or false: TRUE. Kind of.

Yes, the moisturizer that is meant to give you baby-soft skin is treated like a precious baby during its formulation. La Mers formula resolves around a fermented juice called the Miracle Broth. While each batch is fermenting, which takes about three months, technicians really do play the broth a tape of carefully selected sounds.

Max Hubers old Miracle Broth set-up. Photo: Stella Bugbee

The noise, however, isnt quite Rock-a-Bye Baby. Huber used to play a recording of the previous fermentations bubbling sounds each time, but Estee Lauders modern La Mer labs play a repeat. We have his last tape and digitized it, Bevacqua said. I have listened to this tape, and it sounds kind of like this YouTube video of a stomach gurgling loudly.

Max Hubers fermentation tapes (yes, he used Radio Shack). Photo: Stella Bugbee

If you think this is crazy, you arent alone. Bevacqua was floored when he learned that he had to provide the Miracle Broth with a soundtrack. I couldnt understand why it could be necessary to do that. I thought creating the broth was enough. When Maxs daughter told me about it, I thought she didnt understand because she wasnt a scientist, he said. But we tried it without the sound waves, and the data showed that when it had sound waves, the broth was much more active. He added that there are studies that show that sound waves can have an impact on chemical reactions, so theres some science behind it, after all.

Max Hubers cassette tapes. Photo: Stella Bugbee

Conspiracy theory: Estee Lauder hired a medium to contact Max Huber from the beyond for help re-creating his formula.

True or false? TRUE.

Elle reported that former Estee Lauder research and development head Joseph Gubernick consulted a medium when initial attempts to re-create the La Mer formula following Maxs death were unsuccessful. Gubernick came to Bevacqua with notes that he said he had gotten from Max via the psychic consultant. It seemed Max had encouraged playing sound waves, as well as pulsed light, during the fermentation process.

When I told that story a while ago, my communications group told me not to tell it again, says Bevacqua. An ex-boss of mine was giving me grief: You made me sound like a kooky person! But it is true. We do a lot of strange things in research and development that dont always sound so scientific. I dont know whether it helped me or not. But it did get information from someone who claimed to have psychic energy.

Conspiracy theory: La Mer contains booze.

True or false: TRUE.

Yes, La Mer contains a boozy lime and tea mixture that might seem more fitting for a southern-inspired cocktail bar. Officially, its called the Lime Tea Extract and its trademarked by the Estee Lauder corporation. According to Bevacqua, a fermented, antioxidant-rich mix of hand-picked lime rinds and alcohol go into the cream. Max macerated the lime rinds in 100 proof vodka back in the day, Bevacqua explained. Nowadays, alcohol is regulated, so they have to use denatured alcohol in the formula.

Conspiracy theory: Max Huber consulted astrology to create La Mer.

True or false: TRUE.

According to Bevacqua, Huber used to chart out the astrological alignment of each batch of Miracle Broth. Its unknown what effect it had upon the process, but the Estee Lauder team discovered hundreds of pages of astrology charts in Hubers former labs. To the disappointment of Susan Miller fans everywhere, astrology is not involved in La Mers present-day formulation.

Conspiracy theory: La Mer is really just a lot of seaweed extract.

True or false: FALSE.

This theory appears all over the internet, even on the Paulas Choice website. Seaweed is indeed a primary ingredient in La Mer, but its not an extract. There are several different types of seaweed in the Miracle Broth. The primary version is giant kelp called Macrosys pyrifera, which is the best quality. We harvest it by hand, put it on ice, and its shipped the same day to Melville, New York, explains Bevacqua.

Why does this matter? Because other brands use extracts. Bevacqua even says Estee Lauder experimented with simpler, faster options, but the product wasnt as good. Many people can use an extract. But we take the kelp, and ferment it to become something different than what we started with. No other brand can do the same fermentation we do because its not published. The fermented Miracle Broth is anti-inflammatory, which is its main benefit. Inflammation can cause many skin problems, including puffiness, irritation, and redness.

Even if you dont believe in the fermentation, studies show that seaweed does have hydrating benefits to the skin. Dr. Joshua Zeichner, director of cosmetic and clinical research in department of dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital, explains that seaweed kelp is rich in minerals and is also known to have a benefit in wound healing.

Conspiracy theory: La Mer is just fancy Vaseline.

True or false? FALSE.

There is petrolatum in La Mer, Bevacqua confirms. Allegedly, there are many different grades of petrolatum and USP, an ultra-purified form, is used in La Mer. Vaseline is a lower-grade form of petrolatum.

Dr. Zeichner, who is unaffiliated with La Mer, adds, You could call it Vaseline Plus. It has a totally different consistency. Likely the base is similar to what is used in other products and the ingredients are similar to those in other moisturizers. But the quality may be better. You cant turn over two bottles with the same ingredients and say that because they have the same ingredient list, they are the same.

Dr. Dan Belkin, an associate at the Laser and Skin Surgery Center of New York and another dermatologist unaffiliated with the brand says, La Mer seems to have glycerin at its base. Glycerin is both a moisturizer and humectant, which is good for the skin. Humectants prevent water loss and petrolatum is the most occlusive, which prevents 99 percent of water loss.

Conspiracy theory: Like Biggie and Tupac, Max Huber is still alive somewhere.

True or false? FALSE.

If he was alive, where is his obituary? some internet sleuths want to know. But Elle sent a reporter to California to verify his death record, and she found an entry for a Maximillian Albert Huber, who passed away in Los Angeles on November 5, 1991. Now he lives on now through his cream (and any seances Estee Lauder might be conducting in the future).

If you buy something through our links, New York may earn an affiliate commission.
Photo: Fairfax Media/Getty Images

If the anti-diversity Google memo had dropped five years ago, when I first worked at the Cut, heres how I would have covered it:

A male Google engineer internally published a ten-page, Reddit-sourced screed about how biological gender differences means he shouldnt have to work near so many women. Or something? Its all very alt-right-goes-to-Harvard. That said, the author (recently outed as James Damore) has convinced me that at least one gender difference is definitely rooted in biology. Only a dude could have thrown an internet tantrum so pedantic. Boring people into submission must be a Y-chromosome thing.

Bratty, yes, but this would have been 2012. Misandry was the coin of the feminist-internet realm and, to me, eye-rolling felt more persuasive than shrill political correctness. The term SJW  for social-justice warrior  was just starting to gain traction, describing young feminists who used Twitter and Tumblr to call out sexism and male privilege.

The SJW tone often made me cringe, but we shared the goal of gender equality. I wanted to make their arguments legible to people who were put off by their vibe. So rather than joining them in calling aggrieved white guys like Damore misogynists and demanding that they be fired, I thought feminists best bet was to coolly rib them, showing how NBD our demands really were. After all, the Google mentorship programs Damore is so worked up about materially cost him nothing. Whats your damage, Damore?

Truth be told, whether you were an eye-rolling misandrist or a member of an SJW mob, doing internet feminism often required sidestepping the actual issues at hand. Its not that I couldnt explain why studies observing differences between the sexes shouldnt impact Googles diversity policies.* Its complicated, though. It would make for bad copy. Right-wingers would willfully misrepresent my argument. (Feminist ADMITS gender is biological  so WHY are our tax dollars building her gender neutral bathrooms??) Cis white women would say my analysis erased trans women of color. No level of nuance would spare me days of unpleasant Twitter mentions.

So whether we were talking about workplace sexism, campus sexual assault, abortion rights, or trigger warnings, I took a detached stance toward white-male opposition. I was writing for other educated, feminist-leaning city dwellers, of course. But in the event an anti-PC dude clicked over from another part of the site, I wanted him to see that gender equality was a cool and low-cost project. Yes, we disagree about X issue. But X is abstract for you, and its concrete for women. So why not just trust us on Y policy/solution? Especially since Y is no skin off your nose.

Spoiler: People never came around on SJWs. Around the time I stopped writing about feminism, at the end of 2014, a truly inconsequential debate about politically correct SJWs suppressing dissent in indie video-game reviews  Gamergate  had devolved into a full-blown internet culture war. It felt like a small group of sexist trolls was holding all of online discourse hostage, and it made doing internet feminism really, really unpleasant, if not dangerous.

A year later, that small group of anti-PC sexists turned out to be an electoral majority. We elected a walking trigger warning as president  not in spite of his offensive views but because of them. Id bent over backward to break down prejudice and insensitivity in terms that wouldnt make men feel defensive, but prejudice and insensitivity were exactly what Trumps supporters liked about him.

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When Trump says something un-PC  no matter how incoherent or factually inaccurate  people feel like he is speaking eternal truths, ones that liberals like me had suppressed. Charlottesville showed that a terrifying number of these people are unsophisticated bigots  people who want to have their ugliest biases confirmed. I imagine others are interested in paranoia or provocation, drawn to the rhetorical power of the un-PC, not necessarily its content. (I even kind of get it; I have problematic faves like Chelsea Handler and Christopher Hitchens.)

But to my eye, Damores strain of anti-PC represents something different. I dont think hes a bigot, at least not consciously. He seemed to sincerely (wrongly) believe his ideas would improve Googles output. At the same time though, Damores style was too affectless to suggest a provocateur or conspiracy theorist. The memos earnest, boring thoroughness  and the truth-to-power media tour hes launched since getting fired  suggests the anti-feminist backlash has a much larger cultural foothold than Id wanted to believe.

There are sophisticated, socially and economically empowered people (Californians, no less) who truly believe that Google is demanding workplace diversity because liberals have made it taboo to talk about difference. Damore just cannot wrap his head around the fact that there are women who are smarter than he is, that these women still need extra structural support just to get to where he is, and that their presence at Google will improve Google.

Im not saying Damore identifies with the so-called alt-right. But his memo captures the same reactionary sentiment  a belief that when feminists reject certain ideas they are, in fact, suppressing them  wrapped up in a more palatable package. In any case, his rhetoric has led to a distinctly alt-right false equivalence. In a Libertarian subreddit I masochistically read, Damores memo was held up as proof that liberals have been denying science about gender  that we are as anti-science as climate-change deniers.

There is a difference between psychology and climate science, just like theres a difference between Antifas throwing punches and armed neo-Nazis with weapons caches around the city. But who would read an 800-word explainer on the distribution of personality traits between the sexes when a respectable young man is giving you permission to ignore annoying internet feminists forever? Did we feminists set ourselves up for this false equivalence, by talking among ourselves about who should sit down and the taste of male tears, at the expense of addressing the substance of anti-feminist arguments? Because, now, it feels too late to have the substantive conversation. The right has effectively weaponized their supposed victimization at the hands of feminists, to the point that it feels like were dealing with a different set of facts.

The closest Ive come to understanding how we got to this up-is-down political discourse is reading Conflict Is Not Abuse, by activist and historian Sarah Schulman. The books thesis is that overstating harm leads to more harm. Its an idea rooted in the observations of a domestic-abuse counselor, who saw people confusing normal relationship conflicts  even those that escalated to violence  with abuse, where abuse is defined as one person holding power over another. Sometimes people claimed abuse because they saw no other way to resolve their conflicts  and, to be sure, it is hard to get people to care about your problems if they fall short of criminal victimization. Other times, people claimed abuse in order to enact abuse of their own: to get restraining orders against equally responsible parties, or have them thrown in jail. In either case, they abdicated the role of mediating interpersonal relationships to the police, who arent known for their peaceful, therapeutic interventions.

Most interesting, when it comes to the Google memo, is Schulmans observation that escalating conflict has a rallying effect on other people. Calling someone elses ex abusive  or calling dissent censorship  doesnt resolve the conflict, but it does elevate you morally. It makes you the heroic friend, or it gets retweets from people who agree with you politically and cant be bothered to learn about the particulars.

To be clear, I think feminists might have a tendency to overstate harm because its an effective way to draw attention to legitimate sexist conflict  perhaps the only way. I think anti-feminists overstate harm in return either to enact abuse, or simply because it works. Both benefited from the role of the internet in escalating conflict. I dont think Schulman would approve of me using her analysis to talk about the state of internet feminism. But I almost cant help it. Conflict Is Not Abuse gives you this coolheaded way of addressing issues that feel intensely personal, which is helpful when it feels like everyone is demanding empathy and nobody is giving it.

The rub is that Schulman doesnt have any impersonal solutions. Actually, her advice isnt far off from that of a Democrat with his eye on 2020, explaining how to heal the party: less internet confrontation, more IRL conversations. This all feels true, but it also feels slow. Interpersonal conflict resolution doesnt transmit as quickly or as amusingly as internet activism. After years of making jokes for other feminists, Im rusty as hell at sparring with my Libertarian uncle. But the stakes are clearer than they were during the Obama administration. Charlottesville made it plain: This isnt a game. In the absence of other options, I, for one, am here for it. Im off Twitter. Im ready to talk.

* Even if we take Damores claim that on average, men and women biologically differ in many ways, at face value, Google does not hire average women. The more-exceptional-on-average women at Google probably deserve more mentoring resources than the more-average-on-average men.

But the more interesting thing about scientifically observed sex differences in psychology is how quickly they change. A generation ago, studies showed girls were worse at math. Now, girls are encouraged to take math classes and the differences have evaporated. The presence of women at Google, and their ability to thrive there, can actually change womens career preferences.

Why would Google want to change womens career paths to get them in the door? When your company hopes to reach literally everyone on the planet, you need a workforce that matches.

But then, Google might simply want to be on the right side of history. Using science to explain the differences between groups of people is a look that has never aged well.
In the Cuts recurring books column, Shelf Improvement, we delve deep into our bookshelves to find recommendations that never go out of style.

Whenever someone asks me to recommend a book, I always start with the same question: Have you read The Secret History? A lot of people have  the book has been translated into 24 languages and sold over 5 million copies since 1992  but for those lucky souls who have not yet been initiated into the cult of Donna Tartt, theres never a bad time to get started.

The Secret History is my personal Platonic ideal of what a novel should be, and since I first read it back in the heady days of junior high, I have spent my entire reading life attempting to find similar versions of it. It is the urtext of what I now consider to be my favorite genre  namely, wealthy students at elite colleges exploring sex and murder through classic literature. It is, as the inside book jacket of my battered paperback proclaims, the thinking persons thriller.

The first book by Donna Tartt (who would go on to write The Little Friend and The Goldfinch), The Secret History follows a group of wealthy students at a liberal-arts college in 1980s Vermont, who study ancient Greek under the tutelage of a classics professor named Julian Morrow, an enigmatic eccentric who begins his classes with lines like, I hope were all ready to leave the phenomenal world, and enter into the sublime. Our narrator is the Nick Carrawayesque everyman Richard Papen, a working-class California boy afflicted by a tragic flaw: a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs. Richard arrives at the school on a scholarship, and immediately becomes enthralled by the sophistication and seemingly limitless disposable income of his classmates, fabricating a more glamorous past for himself in order to fit into their clique. The rest of the gang are Henry Winter, an aloof genius who translates Milton into Latin in his spare time; Camilla and Charles MacCauley, a pair of beautiful blonde orphan twins with a dark secret; Francis Abernathy (did I mention how good the names in this book are?), a scarf-wearing socialite; and Bunny Corcoran (!!!), a rosy-cheeked New England good ol boy prone to borrowing immense sums of money and getting under his classmates skin.

As different as they all were they shared a certain coolness, a cruel, mannered charm which was not modern in the least but had a strange cold breath of the ancient world, Tartt writes. They were magnificent creatures. (Step aside, Chuck and Blair!) From the first time Richard spies this oddball crew on campus, the characters are so richly drawn and so idiosyncratically compelling, that, despite widely being believed to be adaptation-proof, I have been casting the prestige-TV version in my mind for over a decade now. (While I used to see Camilla as more of an Amanda Seyfried, Im now convinced it was the role Elle Fanning was born to play.)

And then, of course, everyone starts breaking bad. Under Julians charismatic influence, the group increasingly cuts themselves off from the rest of campus, forming their own little secret society replete with rules and rituals, inspired by the ancient Greek texts they study. Particularly, they become obsessed with Julians recounting of the Dionysian bacchanal  the orgiastic, hedonistic, drug-fueled rituals resulting in the dissolution of the ego  that the Greeks used to participate in, and his proclamations that beauty is terror and if we are strong enough in our souls we can rip away the veil and look that naked, terrible beauty right in the face; let God consume us, devour us, unstring our bones, then spit us out reborn. Cool!

As a young reader, I was pretty convinced by this, and turns out Julians students were, too; the gang ends up successfully performing a Bacchanalian rite, successfully shedding their rational minds and dancing with Dionysus as wolves howl and the river runs white around them. The only problem: They accidentally murder someone in the process, and then decide to kill one of their own group as part of the cover-up. This leads to the gangs collective unraveling, as investigators close in and they begin to shatter under the psychological weight of what they have done.

Reading The Secret History for the first time  as an impressionable tween who dreamed of ivy-covered colleges filled with worldly geniuses who could quote Homer over dirty Martinis  Tartts book was like an intellectual gateway drug, a shot of adrenaline for the mind. (I wouldnt be surprised if a number of readers started enrolling in classics programs after reading it, because I almost did.) Rereading it now, The Secret History captures the fantasy of intellectual activity at its most satisfying. It takes me back to those moments of university when, if I managed to actually stop procrastinating and make it to the library, I would be poring over some ancient text and suddenly feel a proximity to the great mysteries of human existence, a proximity that made me feel that much more alive  even if I never quite made it to any midnight orgies.

Tartts greatest gift is how she brings us wholly into the psychological and intellectual world of our characters, so we never scoff at the idea that a group of young scholars might be compelled to commit murder because they got too into their Classics homework. The gangs horrific crime  and their subsequent inexorable decline, which feels as inevitable as a Greek tragedy  never feels silly or contrived but entirely plausible. Add to that murder, incest, betrayal, twenty-something angst, copious substance abuse, and aspirational rich-person lifestyle porn on par with Prep and Gossip Girl, and youve got the ultimate beach, or library, or really-just-about-anywhere read.

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Have we reached peak ice cream yet? Torontonians will line up for hours for cold concoctions, the more exotic the better. Businesses with new ways of chilling us out are cropping up all over.

Such as Lab Sense, an establishment on Yonge St. south of Wellesley St. that offers creamy delights whipped up in front of you with the help of super-dramatic liquid nitrogen.

We have a secret recipe that gives it a milky, creamy flavour, says owner Rita Li, 22, who launched the shop in July as her first business.

Li hails from Tianjin, China, and knew from the age of 12 that she wanted to go abroad and study. Canada seemed perfect: close to opportunity-rich U.S., but with a more tolerant society.

Four years ago, Li moved to study economics and statistics at the University of Toronto. In her final years, she juggled numerous part-time jobs, along with her studies: she worked in a bank, in cafes and for an education company.

Her theory: when you are in school, you cant do work, sleep and have friends. I chose work and friends, she admits.

Those jobs revealed to her she wasnt a 9-to-5 person, and gave her an inside look at which businesses thrive. She wanted to start something of her own, but needed a great idea. I felt I had to do something new and different.

The idea came during a visit to China last year. She tasted ice cream made with liquid nitrogen, and was convinced she had a winner. She got her boyfriend Dee Lin, a chef, on the task of improving the flaws in the product: it melted too fast and lacked taste.

The two worked together last winter to develop a series of perfect recipes. Using the proceeds from her many jobs, plus the earnings on a very smart Toronto condo investment she made on behalf of her parents, she gathered enough cash to start the business.

She found this spot last spring, but the landlord wasnt sure about the young entrepreneur. Why not let me try? she said, arguing that the numerous Asian restaurants nearby were flourishing. He gave in.

Li, with Lin as partner, opened on July 15 with a small but tasty ice cream menu. Most servings sell for $6.25, with Tiramisu being the best seller. Also on offer are Matcha and Black Rice, among others.

Customers make their order, then get to watch as staff pour creamy liquid paste from pitchers into mixers. The mixer goes on and liquid nitrogen gets poured in, turning the countertop into a dramatic, horror-movie-like scene.

The cold from the nitrogen turns the creamy mixture into ice cream in just a few minutes.

The freshly made creation is scooped into a cup  most customers opt for Lis invention, the smoky cup. Its a double cup with liquid nitrogen poured in between the two. So customers get to eat their treats with cool smoke pouring out of them for the first few minutes. (These cups are so nifty she sold out of them in under a month and had to order more.)

This ultra creamy treat  theres no water involved, so you dont get that ice crystal texture here, just a buttery cold dessert  offers great taste and a big wow factor. Special enough to be a welcome newcomer in the citys busy ice cream scene.

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For Athena Reich, being herself is a part-time job. The rest of the time is spent wearing leotards, wigs and sunglasses while impersonating Lady Gaga.

The Toronto-born and raised performer brings a new show, #ARTBIRTH, in which she portrays a pregnant Lady Gaga, to the Berkeley Street Downstairs Theatre beginning Thursday.

Reich, 41, fell into the role of impersonator by accident while living in New York City after a YouTube video of her doing a cover of one of Gagas hits in 2009 got a lot of views.

People started contacting me and saying, You really sound like her, you look like her. Ill pay you a lot of money if you do my party, she recalled.

I thought, OK, this could be fun and then I just started studying her and learning her music and choreography, and playing at all these parties and events in New York and the U.S., and thats how it started.

From birthdays to parties in the Hamptons to corporate events, Reich as Lady Gaga is available for hire with prices ranging from $600 to $6,000.

Despite their similarities, Reich hasnt met Gaga, who will be in Toronto for her own concert on Sept. 6 and 7, missing Reichs show by three days.

But she does have the megastars stamp of approval. Gaga herself has tweeted in support of the earlier iteration of #ARTBIRTH, which was inspired by Reichs own struggle to conceive. That journey is also documented in a Netflix documentary called Vegas Baby, which shows Reich going through IVF and eventually getting pregnant with the help of an egg donor.

#ARTBIRTH first ran in New York, but the Toronto version is completely different, says Reich. Unlike the old show, which was a cabaret, this is a full-blown musical with a longer run time and new content.

Though Reich admits her musical tastes are more alternative, indie, reflective music  Annie Lennox is her favourite songwriter  as shes come to know and study Gaga she has full-out respect for her and I just love her music more and more.

Below is an edited version of her conversation with the Star.

Whats it like being Lady Gaga?

Ive been working for years and years with my own original music and, when you perform original music, its new to people so they have to think about it and they have to work a little harder. This was such a counter to that to just go out and perform at an event and . . . do stuff that people already know and already love. It was a big high and really easy. Lady Gaga is always pushing boundaries so its so fun to be her as an actress, to take on her character because theres no boundary you cant push with her.

How was the show born?

Id been a Lady Gaga impersonator for years, and then I wanted to have a family and I found myself single at 36, and I said, Well, Im just going to do it on my own. Im not going to wait for the perfect relationship. I went to the doctor and found out I had all these infertility problems so I went on this long journey, and it was very difficult with medical procedures and IVF and miscarriages and everything. So it was a very dark time. So basically I just created the show as a way to distract myself . . . because its just this really outrageous, out-of-the-box funny show about bodies and women and fertility and birth. Its just this perfect hilarious distraction if youre going through something really dark.

Whats your favourite part of the show?

I think my very favourite part is just if you have a good audience and theyre vocal. Im really hoping that the audience will let loose a little and laugh really loud because my favourite part is having that connection with the audience, and just playing with them and even improvising off their laughter, because the more they give me the more crazy I get. My favourite is just whatever moment happens from the audience giving and being with me in that moment.

What do you hope the audience takes away from the show?

I just want them to laugh and have an amazing good time. Some deeper take-aways are just a love of your body, a release of any shame about it, critique about celebrity culture and fame culture. Those are things it touches upon. It is kind of a feminist comedy because were celebrating  but also mocking  all things feminine. It exists in this very strange place of comedy and critiquing things, but also rejoicing in them and silliness. So I hope they just have a really good time and come away more comfortable with the female body and with a little more critique on fame culture.

#ARTBIRTH is at the Berkeley Street Downstairs Theatre, 26 Berkeley St., Aug. 24 to Sept. 3. See canadianstage.com for information.

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Lin doesnt know if shell hear from him, but that didnt stop her from dreaming up her own romantic comedy.

The 24-year-old Washington resident walked past a tall, bespectacled man outside a cafe a few weeks ago and they exchanged glances. The first wasnt anything out of the ordinary, but the second? It made her heart flutter.

The serendipity of the moment led Lin to post on Craigslist, describing the guys plaid shirt and partially dyed blond hair. Maybe he would see it  and then theyd fall in love, move to California and open a bookstore together called Missed Connection. You know, she said, silly stuff like that.

A missed connection is fleeting, in terms of the encounter and the corresponding posts seven-day shelf life. The popularity of Missed Connections might have peaked somewhere between Youve Got Mail-era chat rooms and the creation of dating apps, but its still common to find at least a dozen new posts on the D.C. page each day. Seventeen years after it was established, the Craigslist section lives on.

The post is your opportunity to be heard, said Lin, who spoke on the condition that only her first name be used. She believes the anonymous quality of missed connections is part of what makes them so appealing.

Theyre also kind of romantic. We tend to believe in interpersonal magic, such as love at first sight, says Stanford University sociology professor Michael Rosenfeld.

Some people will find you funny and laugh at your jokes in a way that makes you feel smart and attractive, and other people will look at you like youre crazy when you tell the same joke, he said. Youd rather be with the first person than the second, and theres no way of knowing whether someone will get you without spending time face to face.

Missed connections, similarly, are based on a more personal level of attraction than just swiping right on a Tinder profile.

Its baloney to claim that online dating has undermined interpersonal relationships, says Rosenfeld, who considers the Craigslist posts to be a direct analog for . . . personals that we used to see in weekly newspapers. These in-person encounters are the only way to get a sense of if the person is as tall as they say, if theyre going to laugh at your jokes and how their breath smells.

If you want to meet somebody, you have to go where other people are, he added. Missed connections are probably still around because of the digital element, but the serendipity involved gives them an extra sense of romance.

Tryst, a beloved D.C. coffee house, used to have a missed-connections website, too. For a few years after it opened in the late 1990s, visitors were able to post an I Saw You At Tryst message on the coffee shops website, and others could reply. They often did, general manager Elias Montilla recalled, potentially because of the establishments romantic mood. It was a cool thing to add to the dating atmosphere, he said. Still up to this day, a lot of people meet here for the first time or have first dates here. That helped.

Montilla couldnt remember why the coffee house got rid of the site, though he said the posts were dwindling after a while. Craigslists Missed Connections, however, remain popular, according to spokesperson Susan MacTavish Best. Humans really do value a long shot, she said in an email. The idea of getting a second chance, however small it may be, is very powerful.

Sheer curiosity about the features popularity inspired Brooklyn-based Dorothy Gambrell, a graphics editor at Bloomberg Businessweek, to do some digging a few years ago. She scanned through posts from all over the country, eventually creating a graphic for Psychology Today that depicted geographic patterns. Missed connections in urban areas often involved public transportation, she said, while rural ones tended to be in supermarkets. The most common location in Washington was the Metro, or subway.

Gambrell also dove into demographics. A majority of posts  59 per cent, she said  were from men looking for women. Approximately 27 per cent were from men seeking men, 13 per cent from women seeking men and just 1 per cent were women seeking women.

The major group was people who were having a very pleasant time with someone and shouldve just asked for contact information at that point, she said. You feel like going through the screen and asking someone why they didnt.

Thomas Edwards  who works as a professional wingman who trains people to approach potential love interests in person  isnt surprised by these statistics. More often, he said, men are the ones expected to make the initial approach. When those opportunities slip away, its easy for guys to feel regretful and make amends for it by going to the platform, Edwards said, referring to Missed Connections.

Edwards shared Gambrells sentiment in wishing the Craigslist users would have just asked for a phone number when they saw or interacted with the person, rather than posting online about it later. Missed Connections are a crutch of sorts, a way for people to avoid the daunting task of approaching someone in real life.

It comes down to the fear of rejection, Edwards said. Specifically with guys, we always try to find the perfect opportunity where we have the best chance of getting a positive response from someone we want to talk to.

Sometimes, theres a professional barrier. As executive director of Friends of Woodley Park, Ryan Wegman often speaks at community events where he meets new people. But his high-profile standing can make it awkward for him to pursue any interests that arent purely professional. In the corner of your mind youre always thinking: If I wasnt here in this capacity right now and was attending as random guest A, I would love to talk to that person, he said.

Wegman, 33, once received a response to a Missed Connection post, though his expectations have shifted with the rise of dating apps. People are more likely to turn to Bumble or Tinder than Craigslist in pursuit of a relationship, but he doesnt think that means the pages are done for.

Julia Crantz, a 33-year-old Bethesda, Md., resident, would agree. It was Christmas Eve in 2013 and, as per tradition, Crantz and her friends had plans to see a movie and attend a party afterward. Despite having a wonderful conversation with a guy sitting near her, Crantz dashed off as soon as the credits to American Hustle rolled.

A week later, she pulled up the Missed Connections page to see if he had posted anything about their chance meeting. To her surprise, he had. It described the interaction and was like, Lets meet up. Lets connect, she said. We did, and it was lovely.

Though the two are just friends now, Crantz hasnt entirely ruled out the site. Its still fun to scroll through, she said, like people-watching but different.

In this swipe culture, its real in a way that some other interactions arent, she added. Its almost like clinging to the possibility that a meet-cute can still happen. And who doesnt want a meet-cute?

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Im lying on the floor under a sheet, in a huge empty room in North Toronto. Behind me, a man chants and makes hypnotic sounds with giant crystal bowls. The intense vibrations spread through my body, and theres a small part of me that worries I might actually shake apart, just disperse like bubbles on the wind.

This is sound therapy.

I first heard of the alternative medicine practice on a trip to Costa Rica, with my at the time very new partner. It was our first big trip together. In a one-room airport in Puerto Jimenez while waiting for a very late, very tiny plane back to the capital city, San Jose, I saw an ad in a magazine featuring a serene-looking woman lying with bowls and tuning forks superimposed around her. Feeling less than serene as we got closer to missing our connecting flight (we made it), I read the text. It was littered with promises saying the treatment would reduce stress and anxiety and provide freedom from chronic pain and breathing issues.

I only have two ongoing health issues: asthma and anxiety. The idea of a treatment that could help them both appealed to me. With age  Im over 30  Im becoming less skeptical about alternative treatments and the idea that synchronicity can exist between Western medicine and traditional practices.

So back home, I started poking around online to see whether sound therapy had made its way to Toronto yet. It has indeed, and I found plenty of practitioners. I wanted to give sound therapy the best shot I could and all signs pointed to Philip Jacobs. He is the director of a 100-hour sound therapy training certificate program at the Institute of Traditional Medicine on Queen St. W.

I entered one of the 10-plus treatment rooms at Helix Healthcare Group, a holistic health-care centre that represents the changing trends in alternative medicine on Eglinton Ave. E., and Jacobs welcomed me before I lay down under the sheet. I dont know what I was picturing for a sound therapist, but Jacobs was one of the most calming people Ive ever met. He looked me directly in the eye and spoke softly and smoothly.

There are no beaded curtains here, but rather a surprisingly slick clinic occupying a whole floor in a highrise not far from Eglinton subway station. Its vibe is as buttoned down a doctors office, albeit one that smells of sage-tinged humidifier mist.

I explain to Jacobs that its mostly anxiety, not depression or trauma (which are also common issues recommended for sound therapy), that motivated me to try the treatment, with a side of breathing issues.

Sound therapy is usually referred to as vibrational medicine, and its efficacy, like most alternative therapies, depends very much on whom you talk to.

The discipline takes the idea of the bodys resonant frequency (we are all vibrating on a molecular level,) and uses sounds that complement that frequency in a therapeutic manner. Its not a radical idea for those familiar with traditional Chinese medicine (the idea of sound as a healing tool is mentioned in The Yellow Emperors Classic of Internal Medicine, which, at 2,500 years old, is widely considered TCMs seminal text). Western medicine employs certain types of sound vibrations  think ultrasounds being used to break up kidney stones or give you those Facebook-friendly fetus snapshots.

Helix is one of a dozen clinics (or independent therapists) in the GTA offering sound therapy, with prices ranging from $80 to $150 per treatment.

As we prepare to start, Jacobs takes my pulse and invites me to settle on a cloth-covered mat on the floor. Theres a pillow for my head and bolsters to support my legs. I wasnt expecting to lie on the floor and balk a little internally, wondering if basing a health decision on an airport advertisement was a mistake, but its surprisingly comfortable.

Jacobs covers me with a second cloth and once Ive had a moment to settle in, he begins, creating the otherworldly vibrational sounds on the crystal bowls that get louder and louder. Jacobs is behind me, so even if I had my eyes open (I dont), I wouldnt see him. The vibrations spread through the big room, filling the space like a liquid. It terms of a feeling, its half floating in outer space and half wrapped in an underwater womb.

Im surprised how deeply I can feel the vibrations, most notably in my feet, belly, and head. Theres a feeling in my face that is not dissimilar to a therapeutic massage a physiotherapist once gave me for a chronic jaw problem. Jacobs voice complements the quartz bowls. Its a strangely soothing hybrid somewhere between chanting and singing. Also in the mix are drums, shakers and gongs.

Im deeply, deeply relaxed. Its like a superpowered Savasana, the meditative corpse pose that ends most yoga sessions. Like many wellness therapies, the desire to get something out of this, to heal, is part of the healing process.

At the end of the session, I feel loose and unknotted, as if Id had a massage  despite the fact that Jacobs never touched me beyond taking my pulse.

I finished up at the front desk and asked the administrator how long the session had been. When she told me an hour, I did an actual check-my-watch double take.

I came hoping to feel free of chronic anxiety  my own, much less relaxing vibration  and I do. Not permanently, but certainly in the moment, and who knows what Jacobs could do for me with repeated sessions.

While I cant be sure that sound can heal, I know Id happily have spent another hour lying in that room.

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SAN FRANCISCOA lawyer of a Canadian man accused in a massive hack of Yahoo emails says his client has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him in a San Francisco courtroom on Wednesday.

Karim Baratov was arrested in Hamilton in March under the Extradition Act after U.S. authorities indicted him and three others for computer hacking, economic espionage and other crimes.

Baratovs U.S.-based lawyer, Andrew Mancilla, says his next court appearance will be Tuesday.

Last week, the 22-year-old decided to forgo his extradition hearing and face the charges in the United States in what his Canadian lawyer has called an effort to speed up the legal process.

Read more:

Alleged Yahoo hacker Karim Baratov waives extradition to go straight to U.S. to face prosecution

Parents of alleged hacker in disbelief over U.S. charges

Inside a twisted tale of international cybercrime

The Hamilton man signed documents agreeing to waive the hearing before an Ontario judge on Friday, after weighing the decision for months.

Baratov has been held without bail since his arrest because an Ontario Superior Court judge ruled that he was too much of a flight risk to be released prior to an extradition hearing.

The judge also found that Baratovs parents would not make appropriate sureties since they had not been suspicious of their sons alleged activities while he lived under their roof.

American authorities alleged in court documents that Baratov, who was born in Kazakhstan, posed an extremely high flight risk in part due to his alleged ties to Russian intelligence agents and his financial resources.

He appealed the ruling that denied him bail but it was upheld in June.

Yahoo said last September that information from at least 500 million user accounts had been stolen in a cyberattack two years earlier. Baratov is accused of hacking 80 Yahoo accounts and faces 20 years in prison in the U.S. if convicted.

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OTTAWAJudy Foote, a strong female voice in Justin Trudeaus cabinet, is set to resign her position Thursday as public works minister and will step down altogether as a Newfoundland and Labrador MP this fall, the Star has confirmed.

Foote, a breast cancer survivor, had stepped aside temporarily with Trudeaus blessing in April, citing family reasons. Although her ministerial duties had been covered off by cabinet colleague Jim Carr, who is natural resources minister, she had recently returned to work at a number of appearances at events in her constituency.

Trudeau may use the occasion to re-set a number of other cabinet portfolios. He shuffled the cabinet more extensively than expected in January. He has committed himself to gender parity in his governments executive ranks.

The MP for Bonavista-Burin-Trinity, Foote entered federal politics in 2008 after several years as a provincial cabinet minister and a past senior aide to former Newfoundland premier Clyde Wells. She was Trudeaus caucus whip and deputy House leader when the Liberals were the third party on the opposition benches. Foote moved to Trudeaus front bench and sat at his right hand in the Commons when the Liberals won the October 2015 election.

Foote could not be reached for comment and the Prime Ministers Office declined comment on a CBC News report late Wednesday that Foote will make her decision public in St. Johns on Thursday, but a source with knowledge of the pending announcement confirmed Footes exit Thursday.

Although not unexpected, the timing of Footes announcement leaves Trudeau time to shuffle portfolios and bring in a new face or two, a refresh of his cabinet files nearly two years after taking power just before a cabinet retreat where the fall parliamentary agenda will be discussed. Another source suggested the shuffle will be a tweak, not a major changeup.

Two other Newfoundlanders have been the subject of much speculation as likely candidates for a promotion into cabinet: Gudie Hutchings, MP for Long Range Mountains, on Newfoundlands west coast, parliamentary secretary for small business and tourism, and a woman; or Seamus OReagan, a former broadcaster and friend of Trudeaus and his top aide, Gerry Butts. Shortly after winning his first election in the Liberal sweep, OReagan admitted he had an alcohol problem and went into a recovery program. He continued to have Trudeaus trust and went to the Aga Khans island in the Bahamas with Trudeau and his family last Christmas.

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OTTAWARetired general and senator Romeo Dallaire says Canadians cant just assume the United States will shoot down a missile heading toward Canada, and that it is time for this country to finally embrace continental missile defence.

Canada should join the ballistic missile defence program, Dallaire said Thursday. We currently cannot put a hand on our heart and say that it will be used to help us should something happen.

His comments come amid growing concerns that Canada could be caught in the middle of a conflict between the U.S. and North Korea, which has been showing off its growing nuclear and missile arsenal.

The U.S. invited Canada to join its continental missile-shield system more than a decade ago, but then-prime minister Paul Martin opted against it in 2005 following an extremely divisive national debate.

Since then, Canada has sat on the sidelines as the U.S. has spent more than $100 billion building a series of land- and sea-based interceptors that could stop the type of limited attack North Korea might launch.

Ballistic missile defence has also been adopted by NATO allies in Europe and those in the Asia-Pacific region such as Australia and South Korea, leaving Canada as an outlier.

That doesnt mean Canada wouldnt see a ballistic missile attack coming.

Canadian and U.S. militaries work side by side monitoring potential airborne threats through the North American Aerospace Command, or Norad.

But any decision on whether to shoot down such a threat would rest solely with U.S. officials, who Dallaire noted have no legal obligation to react if the missile is heading toward Canada.

Joining ballistic missile defence would not only create that obligation, Dallaire said, but also act as a deterrent should North Korea or any other country use Canada as a proxy target for the U.S.

Feeling that (the U.S.) would respond is quite different than having it somewhere on paper and being able to hold them accountable to respond should Canada be targeted, Dallaire said.

Dallaire acknowledged having his own doubts about missile defence when the issue was first raised, but he said the technology has improved significantly.

And while critics have pointed to the cost of the system, Dallaire said such arguments overlook the potential technological and other industrial benefits participation in such a project would entail.

Budgets cannot be ignored and the Americans realize the budgetary limitations that we have and the scale of our financial investment in national defence, he said.

But were talking security, were talking new capabilities, were talking about potential technological spinoffs and advances.

There had been questions over whether the current Liberal government planned to reverse that decision, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appeared to close the door on the matter this week.

The previous Conservative government was likewise unwilling to reopen the debate, despite having supported Canadas participation in ballistic missile defence while in opposition.

But Dallaire predicted the issue will resurface again in earnest when the U.S. and Canada begin discussions around upgrading Norad in the coming months and years to better defend North America.

Its in that sort of exercise that I believe ballistic missile will come back, he said.

So Norad, to upgrade and to modernize, looks at the threat, and ergo seeks operational capabilities to counter the threat. And so that falls into line.

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Canadas political summer is ending as it began  with talk of multimillion-dollar payouts to highly controversial characters.

Mike Duffy is not Omar Khadr, but the senator and former journalist also wants to be compensated for how he was treated by his own government and let down by the Canadian legal system.

Hes suing the Senate and RCMP for $7.8 million in lost income and damages and, like Khadr, is making a case  quite possibly a convincing one  that his basic rights as a citizen were trampled by base, crass politics.

Get ready, then, for another polarizing, national argument over the price of politicizing the countrys justice system. Such debates have been the bookends for the summer of 2017, and probably should leave us with lingering questions about where political interference has played havoc with law and order. This isnt happening in some other country  it happened in Canada.

At the beginning of July, Canadians were locked in fierce debate over whether Khadr, the former child soldier and prisoner at Guantanamo, was owed a $10-million settlement for successive, Liberal and Conservative governments failure to protect his legal rights.

As August winds down, the public can now argue over whether Duffy is owed compensation for his descent into political infamy, which started in 2013 and carried on right to his total exoneration in April 2016.

In both cases, the men have powerful court rulings on their side, which may not quiet the critics, but definitely tilt the balance in their favour.

Duffy, according to Justice Charles Vaillancourts ruling 18 months ago, was the victim of a mind-boggling and shocking abuse in the democratic system. The abuse started at the top, specifically Stephen Harpers PMO, which appears to have turned Duffy into political roadkill  with the help of a spineless RCMP and Senate  to quell a fuss over expenses in the red chamber. The whole sorry tale is recapped in the 50-page statement of claim filed with Ontario Superior Court on Thursday, with colourful descriptions of political treachery: forced scenario and mistake-repay strategy, for instance.

Read more:

Mike Duffy suing the Senate and RCMP, seeking over $7.8 million in damages

Ethics watchdog says Harper aide Nigel Wright breached guidelines in Duffy affair

The Senate owes Duffy money. It should pay up: Tim Harper

The Prime Ministers Office, under new management since late 2015, is not being sued by Duffy, but the Senate and the RCMP are. The lawsuit, and Duffys lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, mince no words in alleging that the national police force went after a Canadian citizen to suit a political agenda. Thats not a trifling accusation; we tend to assume that this is the kind of thing that happens in political thrillers or banana republics.

But Greenspon was pretty clear at his press conference on Thursday. When the RCMP are perceived to have been taking their marching orders from the Prime Ministers Office and/or the Senate, thats a very dangerous road for the RCMP to be going down.

Duffy, the journalist, was not known for his discretion. But in his more recent role as disgraced-then-vindicated senator, he has been extremely and uncharacteristically quiet since his trial ended in 2016. No whispered asides to his old journalist friends; no big leaks of his plans for revenge.

The longer he remained silent, in fact, the more that people suspected that something was up; that the ol Duff, as he liked to call himself, was amassing a case against those who had wronged him.

It also took me a long time to draft up a 50-page statement of claim. My goodness, its one of the longer ones Ive ever done, Ive got to say, Greenspon told reporters.

Apart from everything else, that statement is also the first real, personal glimpse weve had into how Duffy has been doing since his legal troubles began.

His former lawyer, Donald Bayne, had said he feared for his clients life throughout the legal ordeal. The statement lays out the medical details: a second round of open-heart surgery (which the statement describes as extensive and significant); depression; severe anxiety; insomnia; and a worsening of his diabetes, specifically, a loss of vision.

As Duffys new lawyer put it at the press conference on Thursday, his client near died from the stress. Being an enemy of the state is a dangerous condition.

There is one big difference between Duffy and Khadr: Duffys troubles began when he got too friendly with the government; Khadr when he got involved with an enemy abroad. But both found out what happens when a citizen becomes politically inconvenient to the PMO.

Its said that the real test of commitment to basic rights is whether we can defend them for people we dont like. In the case of Khadr and Duffy, the top politicians in Canada failed the test, but that doesnt mean citizens have to do the same.

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Canadian lawyers acting for the widow of a U.S. special forces soldier have filed an application in Alberta, essentially duplicating one filed earlier in Ontario, seeking enforcement of a massive U.S. damages award against former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr.

The claim calls on the Court of Queens Bench to recognize the judgment from Utah, and to issue a corresponding judgment in the amount of $173.88 million  the Canadian value of the $132.1-million American award made in June 2015.

Given that Canada has substantially similar legislation in relation to civil actions for victims of terrorism, it is entirely consistent with the fundamental public policy of Canada to enforce the U.S. judgment, the notice states. There are no defences to enforcement and recognition that operate in favour of the defendant in this case.

Read more: Omar Khadr fact check paints a clearer picture of the case and the incident underlying it

Opposition to Omar Khadrs settlement is puzzling and cynical: Paradkar

15 years and nearly $5 million in legal costs later, Ottawa apologizes to Omar Khadr

According to the notice, bringing the Alberta action in parallel with the Ontario case is proper given the territorial limitations of the respective judgment-enforcement regimes.

Calgary-based lawyer Dan Gilborn refused to discuss the proceedings on Thursday, saying his office was not authorized to comment.

While the Alberta action was filed in early July amid word that the federal government was paying Khadr $10.5 million to settle a civil lawsuit, the lawyers acting for the Americans said they were having trouble serving notice on him.

We have thus far been unable to locate Mr. Khadr for personal service, although we are aware that he has been residing in Edmonton, Alta., for much of the past two years, Gilborn wrote Aug. 14 in a letter to Khadrs lawyers, a copy of which was obtained by The Canadian Press.

Former Guantanamo Bay inmate Omar Khadr says in July he hopes a settlement reached with the federal government ? reportedly for $10.5 million ? won?t ?cause people pain.? The Liberals also apologized to Khadr in settling a lawsuit over violations of his rights. (The Canadian Press)P

One of Khadrs Edmonton-based lawyers, Nate Whitling, said on Thursday that it would be a waste of time and money to try two identical actions at once.

Its two duplicative actions and theres no point in proceeding with both of them, Whitling said from Edmonton.

He also said the Alberta action had been filed too late.

Both actions  the Ontario one was filed June 8  are on behalf of relatives of U.S. Special Forces Sgt. Chris Speer, who was killed in Afghanistan in July 2002.

Speer had been part of a massive U.S. assault on an insurgent compound, where Khadr, then 15 years old, was captured badly wounded. Retired U.S. Sgt. Layne Morris, who was blinded in one eye during the same operation, is a co-applicant.

The applications  like the uncontested civil suit in Utah  lean heavily on Khadrs guilty plea before a widely discredited military commission in Guantanamo Bay in 2010 to having thrown the grenades that killed Speer and blinded Morris. Khadr later said his confession to five purported war crimes was his only way out of the prison and to return to Canada.

Khadr, 30, who recently got married, has been on bail in Edmonton for the past two years pending his appeal in the U.S. of his commission convictions.

The Americans failed last month to get an injunction freezing Khadrs assets  including the $10.5 million that sources said the federal government paid him  pending outcome of the Ontario enforcement action.

However, in previous Ontario filings, Whitling argued against enforcement of the Utah judgment given its reliance on the military commission. Canadian courts are statute barred from enforcing foreign judgments that offend Canadas public policy, he noted, and the Supreme Court has found the Guantanamo system contrary to Canadians concept of justice.

Officials at the highest levels of the Canadian government have already stated . . . that (Khadrs) detention and prosecution in GTMO offended our most basic values and principles, Whitling said in court filings.

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About a year ago, Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders, decided without much deep thought that the citys white, red and blue patrol cars should be replaced with all-grey cruisers.

A public backlash followed. Critics said the stealth grey was too militaristic and sent the wrong message to the public. Design and safety experts questioned why police would choose a color lacking visibility.

After being scolded by city council and the civilian oversight board, which, unlike previous boards, wasnt consulted on the design change  Saunders agreed to put the conversion on hold, clarify the reason for change, consult with the public and report back to the board.

He is set to report to the board Thursday on a design and colour thats already been decided.

On Monday, Saunders rolled up to a press conference behind the wheel of a Ford Interceptor with a grey base and white doors, and its lights flashing. Toronto Police Service unveils new police vehicle, listening to the community, listening to our members, announced the TPS in a news release.

An order has already been placed for 70 new grey and whites, in addition to the 74 all-grey cars ordered in 2016.

Read more:

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Toronto police chief says no deep thought went into switch to grey cruisers

Why Toronto police are changing the colour of their scout cars

But Councillor Shelley Carroll, a member of the Toronto Police Services Board who first flagged public concern about all-grey cars, says Saunders and the service jumped the gun, and in so doing failed the public.

The public wanted visibility, the police wanted stealth, and thats what they got  without any input from the board, she said.

This is a simple matter. Release the design and bring it to the board for approval, Carroll said this week at city hall. We didnt get a picture of the new design. We got a new car with the design already on it.

Nor did the board receive the answers to the questions it asked.

The board also fell down on its oversight duties, she added.

Board chair Andy Pringle, Mayor John Tory and other members should have done better and given clearer direction to the chief that the board first needed to sign off on a new design and color, she said.

If were not crystal clear, were leaving things open to interpretation, and we have a service that really just wants to do its own thing, she said. Thats disappointing. Nowhere else in municipal operations is there more trust in jeopardy than in the police service.

While the design of the police car is not a life and death controversy this is the place where we really could have demonstrated the fact that weve gone the extra mile. So Im frustrated, Carroll said.

TPS spokeswoman Meaghan Gray responded Wednesday that the chiefs report to the board clearly responds to the direction that was given to us, as noted in previous board minutes. We consulted with the community and chose a design that achieves a balance between the wishes of the public and our members.

Pringle did not respond to a request for comment.

Mayor Tory is pleased Saunders sought feedback from the public and police service and worked with students for this new visible and professional design, his spokeswoman, Keerthana Kamalavasan, wrote in email.

In the report, the police say the new design is based on the results of a 14-question survey which received 17,121 responses from the external community and 1,438 internal police staff  more than any other survey conducted by the service.

Although the public agreed on 80 per cent of the design elements, the survey also showed notable differences on two key questions: the choice of base color and image, the report notes.

Forty two per cent of the general public thought visibility was of paramount importance, while 15 per cent picked authority. Those respondents also favored a base color of white by a wide margin, 47 per cent compared with 16 for grey.

In contrast, 37 per cent of police service employees thought authority more important than visibility, picked by 22 per cent, and 34 per cent preferred grey to white as the base color, chosen by 16 per cent.

The online survey, which only offered five base color options: white, silver, dark blue, grey and black, essentially allowed the force to engineer the outcome, Carroll said.

Shes also critical of the service for not providing any real analysis of the survey results, nor did the board get a chance to discuss why the service didnt consider painting its fleet the bright colors seen on European emergency vehicles.

This was an opportunity to look at these things especially in this age of terrorism. Dont you want police cars that everyone can recognize and run to in that type of incident?

While Carroll said the moment for such a debate has likely passed  some social media commentators are still questioning the process and why grey remains the dominant color.

Seems a little low on the visibility scale. Why not yellow like Europe? said one tweet.

This week, Saunders said visibility was considered in the redesign and pointed to the involvement of the Ryerson School of Media, which he said took that into consideration.

John Girardo, the Ryerson instructor who lead the redesign project, told the Star students prepared about two dozen photo-shopped mockups based on the results of the survey.

No research was undertaken into emergency vehicle safety and which colors would improve visibility and reduce accidents.

We were only asked to execute based on the research that was done, Girardo said. If somebody wants a lime green vehicle, we would show them what that would look like.

Girardo said he likes the new design, which he thinks has a strong look and retro feel, while the stark contrast of grey and white makes the cars more visible on city streets.

Anytime you start dealing with a design or a look, its a subjective call, there are going to be people who have different opinions.

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After badgering Premier Kathleen Wynnes government to become a full partner in repairing social housing units, Toronto Mayor John Tory is hailing a smaller commitment as a huge step forward.

Tory acknowledged, however, there are no guarantees very significant provincial dollars, pledged Wednesday for repairs and retrofits that cut greenhouse gas emissions, will keep open any of the hundreds of Toronto Community Housing units slated for closure.

In June, the mayor sent Toronto MPPs letters warning that without immediate support 400 TCH units are at risk of closing this year and 600 next year.

On Wednesday he told a funding announcement atop an Ontario St. co-op building: My determination is that we end up with as close to zero units closed as possible, and with any that we do close be closed because theyre in such a state of repair they cant be repaired.

I just cant be comfortable at all with the notion of closing units down at a time when theres a drastic shortage of affordable housing in general. Its premature to say whether those 400 (TCH units) fit in the category but thats the objective.

Peter Milczyn, Ontarios new housing minister and a former Toronto councillor, announced four more years of funding on top of $43 million pledged for this year. The total five-year provincewide investment is up to $657 million, with Torontos share directed to Toronto Community Housing totaling as much as $343 million over that period, including $120 million next year, he said.

But the final amount depends on the performance of the provinces carbon market and must by law be spent on things that help households and businesses reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save money on energy costs.

Milczyn, the MPP for Etobicoke-Lakeshore, said the money can be spent on insulation, replacing inefficient boilers, new lighting and windows and other greenhouse gas-reducing investments. He was less reluctant than the mayor, and Councillor Ana Bailao, the citys housing advocate who called the funding a good beginning, to predict that the money will help save crumbling TCH units.

These investments will help keep social housing units open across the city and give them the modernizing energy-efficient features that will keep costs down and allow residents to call them home for many years to come, Milczyn said.

Tory said he was heartened by Milczyn assurances the province is flexible on how TCH spends the money. This is a big file in which governments were heading in the wrong direction a year ago, two years ago. Now I think were all headed in the right direction , the mayor said.

Toronto council in 2013 approved a 10-year TCH repair plan that called for the city, provincial and federal governments to each contribute $864 million.

The Justin Trudeau government committed to $11.2 billion in future affordable housing spending over 11 years, which is expected to benefit, in part, social housing providers including TCH. It is not yet clear how much of that will be available to TCH and how soon.

Tory was outraged when the provincial Liberal spring budget included no money specifically for TCH repairs, and went on the attack, writing letters to MPPs and highlighting how many units are slated to close in particular ridings, including Wynnes.

When he was elevated to cabinet in late July, Milczyn shot back, accusing Toronto council of deliberating underfunding social housing even though, as a city councillor in 2013, he was part of a joint call on the province to increase social housing funding.

On Wednesday, however, Milczyn and Tory were full of praise for each other.

This housing minister is off to a great start. . . , the mayor said. I believe this announcement represents a strong indication that this Premier Kathleen Wynne, this Minister Peter Milczyn and this Ontario government has stepped forward on housing.

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said if she becomes premier the province will fully fund, with no strings attached, equally share TCH repair costs with Toronto and the federal government.

While investing in energy efficient retrofits for social housing is a necessary step in the fight against climate change, Horwath said in a statement, it appears Kathleen Wynne is still failing to understand the most urgent needs in social housing.

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After a sexual assault charge against a Niagara Region man was withdrawn, he went on to sue his accuser in small claims court  and won.

After an eight day trial in Welland spread out over a year, where both parties were self-represented, a deputy judge concluded that the woman lied to the police about the sexual assault and awarded the man $18,842 to cover his legal fees from the criminal court case, as well as $5,000 in damages.

Experts say such lawsuits, while unusual, may be becoming more common and could have a chilling effect on sexual assault reporting.

The deputy judge in the civil case, David Black, found the womans testimony about her injuries, including cuts, scratches and bruises, was completely contradicted by her doctor who said she saw no indication of any such injuries when examining her at a physical on March 28, 2011, the day after the alleged sexual assault took place.

Black found that the woman defamed the man by lying to police about a sexual assault to get revenge because she thought he was cheating on her. While making a statement to police about a suspected crime is often covered by a defence known as qualified privilege, it does not apply when the statements are made with actual or express malice, he wrote.

However, Black did not find the man proved malicious prosecution because the woman did not initiate the prosecution  the police did.

The September 2016 decision is now under appeal, with a hearing set for next month.

The factum filed by the womans lawyer, Jonathan Collings, argues Black inappropriately relied on stereotypes about sexual assault victims when assessing the womans credibility and said the inconsistencies in her evidence are minor.

The factum questions Blacks interpretation of email and text exchanges between the two parties following alleged instances of abuse and argues that Black inappropriately relied on the doctors assessment of the woman as someone who did not present like someone who had been sexually assaulted the day before.

The factum argues the doctor noted that at the end of the appointment the woman told her that there had been a confrontation and she was forced into un-consented sex with her boyfriend but did not say when this happened.

The woman made a police report in July 2011 and the man was charged with sexual assault. Blacks decision noted that the police did not contact the doctor, who was specifically mentioned by the complainant in a written statement, prior to laying the charge and first did so in November. The man spent five days in jail before being released on bail and the charge was withdrawn in March 2013.

There is medical evidence that completely contradicts the witness, the mans defence lawyer told the court following the complainants examination-in-chief at the preliminary inquiry. The Crown told the court he agreed with the defence in broad strokes.

The small claims court lawsuit was launched in July 2014.

The man is not being identified by the Star because of a publication ban on the identity of the woman. In an interview he said he brought the lawsuit because he was seeking accountability from the woman who he says ruined his life by falsely accusing him of sexual assault. He is opposing the appeal which he argued in a factum has been filed unfairly.

They had consensual sex, he said.

He said he hoped the lawsuit would clear his name but now believes that will never happen because of the stigma that comes with a sexual assault charge. He told the court he has been blackballed in his town, that he lives like a hermit and lost one job.

Because of the charge my innocence means nothing . . . having the charge alone is guilt, he said when contacted by the Star. I hope this nightmare doesnt happen to anyone else.

According to the decision, he says he has suffered anxiety, depression and stress. He also cannot cross the border or apply for jobs requiring a vulnerable sector check, he said. Black found that the man had not proved loss of past or future income or that his employment has been impacted.

The woman and her lawyer declined to comment.

Lawyer Joanna Birenbaum, who has worked with hundreds of women considering reporting sexual assault, says she is regularly asked about the risks of being sued. The chilling effect is extraordinary, said Birenbaum who is not involved in this case. Sexual assault is the most underreported crime and the prospects of conviction where charges are laid is low. It is very troubling that fear of being sued is increasingly a barrier to women reporting rape.

Elizabeth Grace, a civil lawyer with experience in sexual assault and defamation law, says defamation concerns for accusers often come up when they share abuse allegations online. Just going to the police or starting a lawsuit isnt usually enough for a successful defamation claim  but it can be if its found to be done for malicious purposes, which is a high bar to clear, she says.

Grace, who is also not involved in the case, says there has been a shift in societys sensitivity to wrongful convictions and the harm that can be done by criminal charges and criminal trials, which may have led to more malicious prosecution and defamation lawsuits. And in the rare exceptions in sexual assault cases where there is malice, there should be recourse, she said.

However, these decisions always have the effect of deterring and intimidating victims, she said. There are no winners.

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Punching a woman under his care in the face while she showered. Striking her with a hairbrush. Urinating while another woman was present in the same washroom, and then hitting her on the head.

Over the course of 14 days, a St. Catharines nurse allegedly terrorized two women living in a group home for people with disabilities, a disciplinary committee at the College of Nurses of Ontario heard Wednesday.

In January, David Little was found guilty of six counts of assault. Those convictions were included in evidence presented to the disciplinary panel.

I think the conduct must be denounced in the most strongest of terms, having regard to your capacity as a professional and your relationship to these two women, said Judge J.G. Campbell, according to a transcript from the sentencing hearing.

The colleges disciplinary committee must now decide whether to strip Little of his nursing licence.

In addition to the cases presented at court, College lawyer Megan Shortreed detailed seven other allegations of abuse against the women, whose identities are protected by a publication ban.

The alleged assaults and the assaults Little was convicted of happened at a care facility run by Community Living Essex County, a non-profit organization that operates about 55 small-group homes. Little was hired there as a personal support worker in May 2015.

The abuse began about seven months later, the hearing heard.

Little, 51, has been a nurse for two decades. He did not attend the hearing and was not represented.

Corey Dalgleish, director of supports and services at the care organization, reported the incidents to police after reviewing video surveillance footage. The video was made available to the committee.

Some of the alleged cases of abuse are subtle and harder to catch on video, Dalgleish told the committee. In one, Little seems to be helping a woman brush her teeth, and then he seems to jab the toothbrush in her mouth before abruptly returning to his duties.

But some of the video footage is inescapably clear, he told the committee.

Dalgleish told the committee about one incident that occurred on Dec. 12, 2015. Based on a video recording, Dalgleish said the woman was undressing, and Little took her pants and adult diaper and threw them on the floor. He motioned for her to pick them up, and when she did, Little punched her in the head. For this incident, Little was found guilty of assault.

She was fearful of what was about to come. It was most disturbing. You could see the fear in her, Campbell said at Littles sentencing hearing.

Other allegations against Little include punching a woman and striking her in the face, forcing her head near a garbage pail, and urinating in her personal washroom while she was present.

Little was found guilty of punching and striking the second woman in the head and face multiple times. One of those alleged incidents happened while a resident was in the shower, and Little is said to have used a hairbrush in another.

Dalgleish reported the incidents to police after reviewing the video footage of the womens living quarters, which films for a two-week period and tapes over itself.

Earlier this year, Little was sentenced to 30 days in jail and two years probation, including being prohibited from providing professional services to persons who are to receive the benefit of a trust relationship through personal care.

Now, the disciplinary committee panel of three nurses and two civilians will decide whether Little breached professional nursing standards, engaged in physical and emotional abuse of his clients, and displayed disgraceful and dishonourable conduct.

The College was notified of the incidents by Community Living Essex County, and in a letter from one of the victims parents.

In a victim impact statement read during Littles criminal proceeding, the mother of one of the victims said making the decision to move her daughter to a care facility was devastating.

The fact that someone who was paid to keep her safe is assaulting her in her own home is a grievous breach of trust.

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The images are a little grainy, but in the half-light of a dusty Ukrainian garage, you can sense the unbridled enthusiasm of the two North Korean spies who are photographing what they think are top-secret missile designs.

In a rare window into the opaque, deadly and secretive world of missile technology espionage, Ukrainian security services have given CNN surveillance footage and details of an elaborate sting operation they carried out to snare two North Korean spies in 2011.

The revelations are aimed at dispelling claims that a recent leap forward in Pyongyang's intercontinental missile technology may have been achieved by using designs stolen or originating from Ukraine.

The claims are made in a report released by analysts at the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) on August 14 which says technology, possibly from Ukraine's Yuzhnoye Design Office in Dnipro, was used in recent North Korean missile tests.

In July, North Korea successfully tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) -- the KN-14 or Hwasong-14. At the time, Pyongyang claimed they were capable of carrying a "large-sized heavy nuclear warhead" as far as the US mainland.

Ukraine has denied any link to North Korea's long-range missiles, and said Russia may instead have provided Pyongyang with the improved missile designs. Russia has denied supporting North Korea's arms program.

An officer with Ukraine's security service, who worked on the 2011 case of the two North Koreans and who we granted anonymity because of his operational role, insisted it was "impossible" North Korea had obtained any missile technology, as he was sure their espionage attempts had all been intercepted.

He said that in 2011 two other North Koreans -- who traveled to Ukraine from the country's Moscow Embassy -- were deported after they were caught trying to obtain "missile munitions, homing missile devices in particular for air-to-air class missiles." A third North Korean, tasked with transporting the actual devices out of Ukraine, was also deported.

And as recently as 2015, five North Koreans were deported for "assisting North Korea's intelligence work in Ukraine," the officer said, without providing further details.

He said, apart from the two in jail, there were no North Koreans left in Ukraine, as those not deported by Ukraine had been voluntarily withdrawn -- many working in alternative medicine centers.

North Koreans guilty of espionage

The two North Korean spies seen on the grainy surveillance footage are currently serving eight-year prison sentences for espionage in the Ukrainian town of Zhytomyr, 140 kilometers (87 miles) west of Kiev.

Ukrainian officials allowed CNN inside the prison facilities to see if they would grant interviews under guard supervision.

The elder inmate is a man in his fifties from the North Korean capital of Pyongyang who is known in court documents as X5. He is gaunt, compared to the fuller frame he had in the surveillance videos, and speaks lightly-accented Russian.

His younger accomplice is a technical expert known as X32.

They are the only such spies in Ukrainian custody, although officials say they have on several occasions intercepted North Korean attempts to access their missile secrets, and as a result in 2016 effectively barred all North Koreans from the country.

The sting

The grainy surveillance video provided to CNN was filmed on July 27, 2011, on a hidden camera set up within a garage to capture the end of a sting operation that was months in the planning.

The two suspects can be seen moments before Ukrainian security service agents burst in and arrest them.

The Ukrainian missile experts they had been courting in the weeks before had informed on them to Ukrainian counter-intelligence agents.

As a result, authorities had detailed knowledge of the information they sought -- "ballistic missiles, missile systems, missile construction, spacecraft engines, solar batteries, fast-emptying fuel tanks, mobile launch containers, powder accumulators and military government standards," according to the court papers from their 2012 trial.

Some of the information related to the SS-24 Scalpel intercontinental ballistic missile, the court papers add. The SS-24 Scalpel, also known as the RT-23, is a solid-fueled missile capable of carrying up to 10 warheads that was launched via missile silos or railroad cars.

The mobile rail missile SS-24 system was banned in the late 1990s under the START-II treaty between the US and Russia, however the ban never came into effect. The design and production of the missile system was most recently held by Ukraine but, according to GlobalSecurity.org, the country ended production of the missile in 1995.

The Ukraine security footage gives a rare window into the elaborate and shadowy world of North Korea's bid to improve its ability to hit the United States and other adversaries with long-range missiles.

The court documents also reveal startlingly human moments during the operation.

The two nervous men continually whisper to each other the material they seek is "secret," and worry the flash batteries may run out on their PowerShot and Coolpix cameras as they photograph the dummy designs.

Speaking briefly to CNN in the jail where he now makes cement railings and iron rods to pass prison time, X5 confirmed he had "partially" admitted his guilt.

The court papers say he insisted his job, as a trade representative in the North Korean embassy in neighboring Belarus, was merely to arrange training in missile technology for North Korean experts -- information he didn't think was classified. He even tried to get one expert, the papers allege, to travel to North Korea and teach there.

Dressed in dark blue overalls and a cloth cap, mixing cement, X5 said he "of course" wanted to return to North Korea, and had not spoken to his family or anyone there since his arrest.

"I am serving my term of punishment. They feed us well here, we work... I don't want to give an interview for the preservation of my safety and that of my family."

He shares a well-lit cell with a TV with eight other convicts, and sleeps in a double bunk bed, with pots of vitamins and toiletries his only obvious possessions.

The second convict, X32, agreed to meet CNN, but immediately declined to be interviewed, covering the camera lens with his hand and walking away.

He has not admitted his guilt and is held in a more relaxed facility where he makes furniture to pass the time.

Denys Chernyshov, Ukraine's deputy minister for justice, said the men had been met once by two officials from North Korea's Moscow embassy, but otherwise had no contact at all with their relatives or North Korea.

"They have asked Ukrainian authorities to be extradited to North Korea to continue their sentence," he said. "But because they are held for spying for North Korea, we obviously declined their request."

Chernyshov added the pair were well-trained.

"To be isolated in another country and culture, with different food even, that brings about a particular stress," he said. "So it is clear these are well prepared, strong people."

However, he added North Korea may not turn out to be that welcoming when they likely travel home in September 2018, at the end of their sentences.

"That their task was unsuccessful, they cannot expect much of a hero's welcome on their return."
In the depths of the Don Valley runs an abandoned railway track.

Over a nearby hill on the west side of the Rosedale Ravine Lands and Riverdale Farm, which sprawl parallel to the valley and its parkway, once lived 49-year-old Andrew Kinsman, who hasnt been seen since June and one of at least two missing men from Torontos LGBTQ community.

On Thursday, a group of seven of his friends and strangers took to the largely-uncharted corridor of the valley to continue his search.

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They came up empty.

There are only two ways onto the section of the overgrown track they pushed through.

The first runs through an off-limits construction site along the active GO and Via rail lines. The second runs through a ripped-open slit in the fence and up a small hill from the bike paths of the valley.

It is secluded and high, running above the frequently trekked paths below.

Along it, the only sign of human activity is its old, crumbling graffiti.

The track is too densely forested for cyclists. When it runs over the river, it opens in foot-wide gaps to the water below.

The forest off of it is steep and without a path down to the valley trail. If someone were to find whats left of the tracks and fall or twist an ankle, theyd be alone.

Greg Downer, an LGBTQ community organizer, found this part of the valley by accident when he noticed it was a dark spot on Google Earths street view.

Its completely independent in the middle of nowhere, Downer said, a two-metre extendable pole in his hand to help clear away the brush. I asked the folks whod been doing other searches if this was an area that anyone was familiar with and like myself no one knew it existed because from down there nobody can see it.

Kinsman was last seen June 26 at 71 Winchester St., near Carlton and Parliament Sts., where he worked as the superintendant for the building. Police said a dedicated team is focused on finding Kinsman and another missing man Selim Esen, 44, who was last seen April 14.

At least if we find (Kinsman) we can bring this to a conclusion, Downer said. I havent lost hope. Thats why Im here. We need to be looking near wooded areas over water.

Connie Crosby, who participates in Torontos People with AIDS Foundation bike rally every year, shared mutual friends with Kinsman, a frequent volunteer for the foundation.

Everybody is very concerned about him and whats happened to him and I felt quite compelled to come out and give a hand, Crosby said.

She joined Downer with her friend Heather Williams, who wasnt familiar with Kinsmans story until she saw a Facebook post about his case.

They wore bug spray and pushed aside the brush with broomsticks.

If it was me and it was my loved one I would certainly want to know that people were out there helping me know that someone isnt in this particular area and just kind of moving that forward so that they have a little more confidence that everything has been done that could be done in terms of searching locally, Williams said.

I couldnt really think of anything better to do with a few hours of my time today than to put them towards helping somebody who is looking for a lost loved one.

By days end, they were unsuccessful. But they werent defeated.

Downer vows to continue his search down other sections of the old tracks that run off of the main Don Valley trail.

Unfortunately we didnt turn anything up today but more trails need to be searched, he said.

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A nurse of 20 years has been stripped of his license to practise after a disciplinary committee found him guilty of professional misconduct in a string of violent attacks on two disabled women.

A disciplinary panel of three nurses and two civilian members at the College of Nurses of Ontario ordered a revocation of David Littles license at a Thursday hearing. They also found him guilty of physical and emotionally abusing the two vulnerable women, failing to meet standards of the profession, and engaging in disgraceful and dishonourable conduct.

The offences were captured on video surveillance footage taken at the residential home for people with disabilities, run by Community Living Essex County, where the women lived.

The womens identities are protected by a publication ban. David Little did not attend and was not represented at the two-day hearing.

It is sickening to watch those videos and the predatory attacks on those incredibly vulnerable women, College lawyer Megan Shortreed told the panel.

The videos, which were made available to the panel, show Little engaging in a range attacks. He is seen punching one of the women while she takes a shower. He is also shown abruptly hitting a client with a hairbrush and jabbing a toothbrush in her mouth.

Little, 51, was criminally convicted of six counts of assault in January for some of the incidents, which took place over a two-week period in December 2015. He was hired as a personal support worker at the residential home about seven months earlier.

Shortreed told the disciplinary panel the fact that Little was not technically employed as a nurse in this position is immaterial, because he was still registered as a nurse.

He was, therefore, a member, subject to all the obligations of nurses and all of the standards and ethical expectations of practice applied to him at that time, Shortreed said.

The incidents came to his employers attention after another staff member allegedly heard Little being verbally aggressive with one of the women. The employer reported the incidents to police and the College.

Last year, the College revoked the licenses of 12 nurses out of a total of 39 matters in which findings of professional misconduct were made, according to the discipline committees annual report for 2016.

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For the second time in just over a month, the Toronto Police Service is under fire for failing to report a case of a seriously injured young Black man to Ontarios police watchdog.

The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) announced Wednesday that it was charging Const. Joseph Dropuljic with assault in the case of a man in North York in November 2015. The man was 23 at the time. None of the allegations against Dropuljic has been proven in court. His first court appearance is Sept. 7.

The SIU also revealed it was only notified of the case nearly a year after the alleged assault  and not by police, despite the law being clear that police forces have a duty to report cases of serious injury to the SIU. (See correction appended at end of article)

The young man is now 25 and asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. He told reporters at a news conference on Thursday that he was getting into a taxi to visit a friend on a Saturday night when Toronto police officers dragged him out of the cab, kneed him in the back, beat him, illegally searched and groped him, and dragged him toward a police cruiser.

He said he lost consciousness at one point, and was left with a concussion and mental trauma.

The officers told him they were responding to a report of gunfire in the area, he said, but refused to take him up on his offer to follow him into his apartment building so he could retrieve his ID. He said they insisted on searching him for a firearm  he said Thursday he did not have one on him  without reading him his constitutional rights.

Its something I would say constantly plays over again in my mind, he said, pausing at times. Its haunting . . . I just try to keep it all together, keep strong.

Only when his mother came out, and eventually retrieved his ID, did the officers leave him alone, the man said. Although he was handcuffed, he was not charged with an offence. His mother called an ambulance and he was taken to the hospital.

In the months after the incident, the man said reports of Black men being beaten and killed by police made him want to be proactive, and he went to the African Canadian Legal Clinic to tell his story. They in turn reported it to another police oversight agency, the Office of the Independent Police Review Director.

The executive director of the legal clinic said Thursday that the OIPRD decided to notify the SIU, which has the power to lay criminal charges and investigates cases of police-involved death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault. The OIPRD later said it does not notify the SIU regarding any complaints and did not in this case.

When discussing the brutality that African Canadians experience at the hands of the Toronto Police Service, we are no longer alarmed, but angry, clinic executive director Margaret Parsons said Thursday.

The Black community is fed up with racial profiling, were fed up with police brutality, were fed up with police shootings, and were fed up with police violence.

Dropuljic did not respond to a request for comment Thursday. The union president, Mike McCormack, said he had no comment.

The assault allegation follows charges of aggravated assault, assault with a weapon and public mischief laid by the SIU last month against Toronto police Const. Michael Theriault and his brother, Christian Theriault, in the beating of 19-year-old Dafonte Miller in Whitby in December 2016. Theriault was off-duty at the time.

Durham regional police had responded to the scene and ended up charging only Miller, but those charges were later withdrawn by the Crown. Like the Dropuljic case, the SIU was not notified immediately of Millers injuries, but only six months later when contacted by Millers lawyer.

That case sparked a back-and-forth between Toronto police and Durham police about the responsibility for SIU notification, and also raised questions about the duty to notify when the officer involved is off-duty.

It has led to ongoing internal reviews being conducted by both forces. The Toronto police review is being conducted by Waterloo regional police at the request of Chief Mark Saunders, while Durhams police chief has not made clear if his forces review will be made public.

Unlike the Miller case, the officers involved in the North York incident were on duty, and no other police force was involved. Saunders had little to say about it Thursday after a police services board meeting, where many members of the public attended with signs in support of Miller.

You're talking about allegations right now and here you go with the court of public opinion again, Saunders told reporters. This officer is given his opportunity to be heard in the courtroom, with evidence, and in order for the integrity of that case to go before the courts properly, I have to be cautious about what I say at this point in time.

He went on to say that there are moments when things may come across as needing to be explored better, and said this case is an example where a police oversight body has obviously exercised their rights and authorities.

This young man was not known to the police, and had no criminal antecedents, said clinic staff lawyer, Lavinia Latham.

The man 100 per cent believes that he was racially profiled and told reporters he has been carded several times in the past  referring to the police practice of stopping individuals and asking them for their information without charging them with a crime, and which data show disproportionately affects Black men.

He said he was never told the reason for the officers attempt at arresting him that night in 2015, and that he was called a f------ idiot and told to shut the f--- up when he asked, according to a summary of the allegations provided by the clinic.

When his mother arrived with his passport, he said, Dropuljic searched his name in a police database, and when nothing came up, the man said he was told Get the f--- out of my car, according to the summary.

After the ambulance arrived, the man said he noticed the police officers going into the security office of his apartment building where the video surveillance is kept.

Its a feeling you cant explain, I would say helplessness, the man told reporters of his encounter with police. I couldnt do anything to stop what was transpiring. . . . Since that day, I cant explain the emotions. A lot of sadness, a lot of pain.

Correction: Aug. 31, 2017: This article states that police did not inform the SIU of this incident. In fact, Toronto police notified the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) of this case only 11 months after the incident, after it was informed of the incident by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director.

The OIPRD had been contacted by the African Canadian Legal Clinic, which the alleged assault victim had approached some months after the incident. The ACLC said publicly that the OIPRD referred the case to the SIU, but the OIPRD later clarified that it does not have the power to directly refer a case to the SIU.

With files from Wendy Gillis

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Striking ground crew workers at Canadas busiest airport voted almost unanimously Wednesday evening to reject a new contract offer and continue their now four-week-long work stoppage.

About 700 cabin cleaners, baggage handlers and other ground crew workers employed by Swissport at Torontos Pearson International Airport have been on strike since late July. Workers overwhelmingly rejected the companys last offer in July, with 95 per cent supporting the decision that triggered the strike. This time, it was even louder, with 98 per cent of votes saying no.

Members finished voting on the new offer around 10:30 p.m.

Christopher Monette, a spokesman with the union representing the workers, said the offer they received from Swissport was almost identical to the first offer, calling it insulting.

The company is still attempting to impose a 3-year wage freeze on the majority of its workers, cut benefits, and gain the right to change schedules on short notice, reads a statement on the unions website.

Monette sees the clear position of 98 per cent of the workers voting no as a strong vote of confidence in the union and a rejection of the companys attitude.

Theyre still refusing to address the issues that led to the strike in the first place, Monette said.

Their concerns have included pay and benefits cuts, scheduling issues and what their union calls a lack of respect from Swissport managers.

Our workers, when they show up to work everyday, they dont feel respected by their employers and this was evident in the way Swissports basically submitted the same proposal and . . . expected different results, Monette said.

Swissport have been using temporary agency workers since the strike, and the union claimed on their website that these strikebreakers had caused workplace injuries, accidents, damaged planes, delayed flights, and hundreds of cases of lost luggage due to lack of sufficient training and inexperience.

Monette said these temporary workers were brought on in an attempt to draw out a strike as long as possible to put financial pressure on their own employees so that they could get them to agree to terms theyd rejected last July.

Swissport services 30 airlines at the airport, including Air Transat, Sunwing Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Air France, KLM and Lufthansa. Air Canada and WestJet are not serviced by Swissport.

The ground crew strike has not significantly affected passengers, although the airport has been warning travellers that the labour disruption could affect some flights.

Earlier, Swissport had said that they were optimistic that workers would accept the deal.

Monette said its time for Swissport to get serious about negotiating.

We want to hash out something thats fair, that can allow us to go back to work with our head held high, but were not going to allow Swissport to continue disrespecting us in the way theyve been for quite a long time now, he said.

Our members are going to see this through to the end.

With wires from The Canadian Press

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Extreme weather caused by climate change is exacerbating the need to repair the provinces aging roads, bridges, waterworks and other infrastructure, warns a leading business group.

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce predicts that damaging and costly events are expected to increase, in both number and scale, as the climate warms, increasing pressure on current infrastructure and demanding new assets that can respond to extreme events.

In a 39-page report on the provinces infrastructure planning, the organization, which represents 60,000 members across the province, said the changing climate is bad for more than just the environment.

Costly damage to infrastructure because of extreme weather events has become common in recent years, the chamber said, citing the toll of everything from floods in Toronto to melting ice roads in northern Ontario.

The average natural disaster costs the economy $130 billion and lowers GDP (gross domestic product) by approximately 2 per cent. This is attributable to the rising occurrence of severe weather affecting urban areas that have high-density populations and high-value assets, it said.

In the aftermath of a disaster, lost tax revenue and demands for relief and reconstruction place enormous fiscal strain on governments. On average, it is estimated that natural disasters increase public budget deficits by 25 per cent.

With Queens Park developing a new long-term infrastructure plan, the chamber said it is essential that the province ensures anything built is resilient and adaptable to climate change.

Infrastructure Minister Bob Chiarelli will release the governments blueprint for building new projects by the end of this year.

Its no secret that decades of underinvestment have created a significant infrastructure deficit. Thats one of the reasons we have committed to an unprecedented $190 billion, 13-year infrastructure investment that will result in new and renewed hospitals, schools, roads, and public transit across the province, said Alex Benac, Chiarellis press secretary.

Were glad that the (chamber) recognizes both the need for this investment and the benefits it will have for people across the province, Benac said Thursday, noting the province is now consulting with experts on the long-term plan.

It will consider Ontarios existing infrastructure, the anticipated needs of our growing population, and next steps to help address those needs well into the future.

The chamber estimates that for every dollar spent on infrastructure, around $1.14 in economic activity is generated.

Increased investment in infrastructure also spreads throughout the economy via a series of multiplier effects, it noted.

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In an affidavit that reads like gothic fiction, investigators describe how a teen reunited with her birth mother last year on an isolated farm in Missouri  only to be tortured there, forced to crawl through hog pens and have salt rubbed in her wounds, and then finally murdered last month and burned in a fire pit.

Rebecca Ruud, 39, was arrested Monday by Ozark County sheriffs deputies and charged, among other crimes, with the first-degree murder of Savannah Leckie, whom she had given up for adoption at birth, 16 years before.

The baby had been taken in by a husband and wife in Minnesota, according to sheriffs documents, and raised there nearly all her life.

But Savannahs adoptive parents eventually divorced, and by late 2016 the teen was having trouble getting along with her adoptive mothers new boyfriend.

In November 2016, Ruud, who had been in casual contact with Leckie for years, agreed to take Savannah back and she was delivered to Ruud in Ozark County, wrote a sheriffs deputy, as he recounted all the things the girl would subsequently endure.

A truck driver and volunteer firefighter, Ruud lived on an 81-acre farm near Theodosia, close to the Arkansas border, miles from the nearest paved road.

In photos on Ruuds Facebook feed, life after reuniting with her daughter appeared idyllic: all baby goats and pretty dresses.

She looks just like you, a friend wrote beneath a photo of mother and daughter last December.

In June, Ruud announced that the pair had even started a family business, making soap, according to the Ozark County Times.

She wanted this so badly, she wrote on Facebook of her daughter. To combine two landmark events, her Sweet 16, and the official opening of Our Hidden Holler Farm soap business.

But offline, a sheriffs investigator wrote, the girls new life was bleak.

Savannah has been home-schooled and has almost no social contact, the investigator wrote.

She lived, slept and studied on a property with a generator providing the only electricity, and a well pump for water.

Ruud and her boyfriend slept in a converted metal building, like a barn, the deputy wrote in the affidavit. Savannah slept beside them in a camper with a broken air conditioner.

Savannahs inability to adapt to life on the farm became a growing irritant to Ruud, according to the affidavit.

Eventually, she worried that the cost of caring for the girl would cost her the farm.

Its to the point that I either need more help to care for her, or I can do nothing with her, Ruud is said to have written to Savannahs adoptive mother in late June, a few weeks before the girl disappeared.

On July 18, Ruud reported a fire burning at the top of a hill on her property. Less than an acre of brush had burned, and firefighters put it out.

But when they returned to the familys makeshift living quarters and asked for water, Ruud refused, according to the affidavit. She said Savannah got a small burn in the fire, and was lying down and couldnt be disturbed.

Ruud wouldnt let anyone close to the girls camper, the firefighters reported.

Two days later, Ruud called the sheriffs office. Her daughter had disappeared overnight, she reported. Her favourite pillow, blanket and colouring kit were missing.

I think shes a runaway, Ruud said, according to the affidavit. Savannah is blaming herself for the fire.

Rescuers fanned out across the woods and fields. A helicopter and plane searched from above, and missing posters went out as day passed with no sign.

Investigators began to get suspicious.

Ruud brought Savannahs computer to the local fire department on July 24, according to the affidavit, and asked a technician there to examine it.

I considered this to be unusual considering law enforcement were actively searching for information leading to Savannahs disappearance, a sheriffs deputy wrote.

The same day, an ex-boyfriend of Ruuds told investigators hed seen the girl crawling through hog pens and bathing in ponds before she went missing. The man said Savannah had once cut her arm, an investigator wrote, and Ruud scrubbed the affected area with alcohol and salt on a daily basis as a form of discipline.

Ruud and her current boyfriend, Robert Peat Jr., were interviewed at the sheriffs office, according to the affidavit, where the mother allegedly admitted to rubbing salt in Savannahs cut, wrestling the girl in the mud of a pig pen, and other severe forms of discipline.

But the couple were becoming less and less co-operative as the search went on, an investigator wrote.

Deputies returned to the farm on Aug. 4 with dogs, state police and a search warrant. They now suspected that Savannah had never left the property.

The farm looked different that morning, an investigator wrote. Gates and doors that had been open on previous visits were now chained and locked.

Some time after investigators arrived, an affidavit states, Ruud and Peat abruptly left their home.

They drove for nearly 150 kilometres, to Summersville, Mo., and married each other there, on the same day police combed the farm.

Investigators searched carefully  around the barn and the camper where Savannah had lived, and the vacant buildings and derelict vehicles that surrounded it.

A few hundred metres from the residences, they found a pile of fresh leaves and branches. The brush pile was speckled with cigarette butts and surrounded by what a deputy described in the affidavit as charred earth.

The searchers lifted the brush. A deposit of light ash lay beneath it.

In the ash, they sifted out a button, imprinted with little ducks, and finger bones and vertebrae and teeth.

The bones were human, a forensic investigator in Springfield, Mo., told the Ozark County sheriff. Theyd been burned at a very high temperature, and had deteriorated so badly that she suspected some chemical was used.

The sheriff mentioned the Hidden Holler Farm soap-making enterprise, according to an affidavit, and that his deputies had seen drums of chemicals on the property. He mentioned that soap was made with caustic lye.

That would do it, the forensic investigator said. So the sheriff got a second search warrant.

Deputies returned to the farm on Aug. 9. The goats and the couples guns had disappeared, they noted.

They went back over the property, and the ash pile theyd searched before. According to documents published by the Ozark County Times, investigators left with a box of girls clothing; hair; a knife; a meat grinder; and more than two dozen bottles of lye.

Were dealing with someone whos tried to dispose of evidence, Ozark County Sheriff Darrin Reed told OzarksFirst.com.

Reed didnt immediately return a message about the case. Ruud could not be reached, and its unclear if she has a lawyer.

But as investigators studied evidence seized from the farm and continued to investigate this month, they learned that Ruud and her new husband had purchased bus tickets to leave the state.

So they asked for an arrest warrant this week.

I believe Ms. Ruud deliberately and methodically caused the death of Savannah Leckie and then attempted to conceal it by destroying evidence and her remains by fire, a sheriffs deputy wrote to a judge, who signed the request and issued the warrant.

Two Greyhound busses were to leave Springfield on Monday, according to the affidavit taking Ruud to Kansas and Peat to Tennessee.

The sheriff, Reed, and two deputies drove to the station, arrested Ruud and returned her to the Ozark County jail.

She was charged Tuesday with first-degree and second-degree murder, fatal abuse of a child, tampering with evidence and abandoning a corpse  and more charges are forthcoming on any individual that was involved in aiding or tampering in this investigation, Reed wrote in a news release.

The sheriff told the Ozark County Times he wants the mother put to death.

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RAMALLAH, PALESTINIAN TERRITORYPresidential adviser Jared Kushner met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Thursday to try to jump-start moribund peace talks, but after months without progress the Mideast envoy faces growing skepticism on the Palestinian side.

With no clear vision for peace outlined by the administration and domestic issues distracting President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, expectations for the new peace push are low.

The Palestinians initially welcomed Trumps election, but they have since grown impatient with what they say is a failure by the U.S. president to present a road map for peace. Specifically, they are seeking a halt to Israeli settlement construction on occupied lands, and a U.S. commitment to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state as part of a peace deal with Israel.

If the U.S. team doesnt bring answers to our questions this time, we are going to look into our options because the status quo is not working for our interests, said Ahmad Majdalani, an aide to Abbas.

It was not clear whether Kushner offered any clarity during his three-hour meeting with Abbas. Nabil Abu Rdeneh, Abbass spokesperson, called the meeting positive, without discussing details, and said the Palestinian leader had reiterated his desire for a U.S. commitment to a Palestinian state.

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We greatly appreciate the efforts of U.S. President Donald Trump who pledged from the beginning that he is going to work for the ultimate deal, Abbas said before the meeting. We know things are difficult and complicated, but nothing is impossible with good intentions.

Kushner relayed Trumps hope and optimism for a better future for Palestinians and Israelis.

On Thursday, demonstrators in Ramallah burned an Israeli flag and chanted anti-Trump slogans. One protester held a placard showing Kushner on a leash held by his wife, Trumps daughter Ivanka, who was depicted as wearing a dress made from the Israeli flag. Kushner is our dog, the sign said.

This new administration has been very disappointing, and Palestinians do not see any hope, said Ghassan Khatib, a former Palestinian Authority cabinet member and a political science lecturer at Bir Zeit University outside Ramallah. It looks like this delegation was sent to give the impression that the process is still alive.

Trump took office with hopes of striking what he calls the ultimate deal between Israelis and Palestinians  a goal that has eluded administrations before his was dogged by the same intractable issues. But he has since given few details of his vision for peace, managing to frustrate both sides.

Kushner, Trumps chief Middle East adviser and his son-in-law, met Netanyahu in Tel Aviv earlier Thursday before travelling to Ramallah later in the day to meet with Abbas. Kushner is expected to return to the U.S. on Friday.

Before his meeting with Kushner, Netanyahu spoke optimistically of the road ahead.

We have a lot of things to talk about, how to advance peace, stability and security in our region, prosperity too, Netanyahu said, standing alongside Kushner. I think that all of them are within our reach.

A statement from Netanyahus office after the meeting said the talks were substantive but gave no details on progress or further steps.

On the campaign trail, Trump took a staunchly pro-Israel line, energizing Netanyahu and hard-liners in his coalition. He promised to relocate the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem  a move welcomed by Israel and opposed by the Palestinians  and refused to endorse the Palestinian goal of independence. His platform played down the significance of Israeli settlements and he surrounded himself with a group of advisers with deep ties to the settlement movement, including Kushner and the U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman.

But since taking office, Trump decided not to move the embassy and has urged Israel to restrain settlement construction.

He has not come out in support of the two-state solution, a position backed by most of the international community and also his Republican and Democratic predecessors, indicating vaguely that he supports whichever solution the sides agree to.

Disappointed Palestinian officials privately gripe that Trumps team has begun to support Israeli positions and ignore their concerns.

Further complicating any hope for progress are internal troubles for all three leaders. Trumps administration has become preoccupied with a series of domestic crises, most recently the fallout from the deadly racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Va., this month.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, is facing a growing corruption investigation that could soon lead to an indictment against him. These legal troubles, along with Israeli concerns about a possible long-term Iranian presence in neighbouring Syria, make it unlikely that he will agree to any major diplomatic initiative.

After years of on-and-off peace efforts that have yielded no progress, Abbas is deeply unpopular at home. He also is stuck in a bitter rivalry with the Islamic militant group Hamas, which seized the Gaza Strip from his forces a decade ago and is now pursuing a reconciliation deal with Mohammed Dahlan, a former Abbas ally who has turned into his political nemesis.

Since the collapse of U.S.-mediated peace talks three years ago, the sides have grown further apart and have been plagued by repeated rounds of violence, including a war between Israel and Hamas and recurring low-level violence sparked by tensions over a contested Jerusalem site holy to both Jews and Muslims.

Israel, meanwhile, has increasingly shifted its sights toward a regional deal with certain Arab countries, rather than one focusing solely on the Palestinians, an approach Trump has expressed support for.

The time has come for a regional approach, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely told Israel Radio. That is the thinking guiding President Trump and the prime minister of Israel. And so our message to the Palestinians is that time is working against them.

With files from Bloomberg

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ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDSAlerted by a detailed tip from Spanish colleagues, Dutch police arrested a man early Thursday and questioned him on suspicion of preparing an attack on a concert in Rotterdam by an American rock band.

But the Dutch justice minister suggested later in the day that the suspect may only have sent a threatening message.

The 22-year-old man was being interrogated to determine exactly what his role was in the threat, police spokeswoman Svetlana Westermeijer said. No charges had been filed yet.

The arrest in a town identified by Dutch media as Zevenbergen in Brabant province, south of Rotterdam, came hours after police cancelled a performance Wednesday night by Los Angeles band Allah-Las at a converted grain silo in the heart of the port city.

The suspicion is that the suspect is involved in the preparation of a terrorist attack, Rotterdam Police Chief Frank Paauw said.

There is no terror threat now anymore, he added. There is no threat because we have arrested a suspect and the information about the threat was so specific on the location of the event that, with that arrest, we can conclude that the threat is gone.

If authorities want to prolong the suspects detention they will have to arraign him at a closed-door hearing with an investigative judge before the end of Friday, prosecution spokesperson Jeichien de Graaff said.

Police searched the mans home after his arrest but released no details of anything they found. His identity wasnt released, in line with Dutch privacy guidelines.

Security and Justice Minister Stef Blok, in an interview with BNR radio, suggested the suspect may only have spread the threat on a social media platform, though Blok didnt give details.

The person who spread the message has been picked up and he will be questioned, Blok said in a reference to the mans arrest. We are very curious to hear from him why he carried out this idiotic action.

Meanwhile, a Spanish mechanic detained Thursday night while driving, apparently drunk, a white van containing a number of gas canisters close to the concert venue didnt appear to be a terror suspect. Police said a search of his home uncovered nothing to indicate he was linked to the threat. Explosives experts who combed through the vans contents found a few gas canisters but nothing suspicious, police said.

Dutch Counterterror Coordinator Dick Schoof commended the police action, tweeting that it was alert, appropriate for the current threat level.

Schoof left the countrys threat level unchanged at substantial, the fourth step of a five-level scale.

It wasnt clear what the nature of the threat to the concert was, or if the bands name played any role in the threat.

In an interview with The Guardian last year, band members said they chose the word Allah, Arabic for God, because they were seeking a holy-sounding name and didnt realize it might cause offence.

Police in Warsaw, Poland, beefed up security for the bands performance there Thursday night.

Warsaw police spokesman Robert Szumiata told The Associated Press they had no information of any threat to the concert to be held at the downtown NIEBO, or Heaven, club.

Still, he said that uniformed and plain clothes police would be deployed at and around the concert site in order to ensure security of people taking part in the concert and those who will find themselves in the area.

Spain, already on high alert following last weeks deadly attacks in and near Barcelona that killed 15 people and injured more than 120 others, played a key role in the events of Wednesday and Thursday.

A Spanish counterterrorism official said Spains Civil Guard received an alert indicating the possibility of an attack in a concert that was going to take place in Rotterdam.

The Civil Guard shared the information with Dutch authorities Wednesday and was investigating the threat, said the official, who spoke anonymously because the Civil Guard is still analyzing the threat.

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WASHINGTON  U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing to give the Defense Department authority to expel transgender people from the military in an upcoming order, barring the Pentagon from recruiting transgender troops and cutting off payment for sexual reassignment surgery and other medical treatments for those already serving.

A White House memo that is expected to be sent to the Pentagon in the coming days gives Jim Mattis, the secretary of defence, six months to enforce the transgender ban that Trump announced abruptly last month in a series of tweets. The directive was confirmed Wednesday by a person familiar with its contents but who was not authorized to discuss its details and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The authority has not been finalized. Once it is approved, it would allow Mattis to force out transgender service members by setting a legal standard of whether they would be able to deploy to war zones or for other lengthy military missions.

Read the latest on U.S. President Donald Trump

The presidents order caught senior military officials by surprise and short-circuited the customary interagency process that attends such sweeping decisions. At the time, as senior military officials scrambled to determine how to carry out the order, White House officials said they would work with the Pentagon to devise a policy to fit Trumps tweets.

Read more: Who is human enough? Transgender soldiers panicked, outraged by Trumps abrupt ban

Trump says medical costs are the main reason to ban transgender troops. The military spends five times more on Viagra

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, declined late Wednesday to comment on any forthcoming guidance, saying the White House had no announcement on the matter. The memo was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Advocates of allowing transgender people to serve openly said the guidance imposed an unacceptable double standard.

It is unconscionable that the commander in chief would take aim at his own, loyally serving troops for political reasons at a time when the military needs to focus on real threats, said Aaron Belkin, the director of the Palm Center, a research institute that had worked with the military to devise its policy on admitting transgender service members.

Imposing one set of standards for transgender troops and another set of standards for everyone else is a recipe for disruption, distraction and waste, Belkin said.

In announcing the ban in July, Trump declared that U.S. forces could not afford the tremendous medical costs and disruption of transgender service members. The president said he had consulted generals and military experts, but Mattis was given only a days notice about Trumps decision.

The guidance  basing expulsion on a service members ability to serve  appears to be an attempt to reconcile Trumps call for a blanket ban with concerns about whether the defence secretary should dismiss transgender forces who are currently in the ranks.

Trumps decision was roundly denounced by members of both parties, many of whom argued that people willing and able to fight for their country should be welcomed into the military.

This is NOT how you keep America safe, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the minority leader, said in a Twitter post. Period. #ProtectTransTroops.

The ban reverses a year-old policy crafted by the Obama administration that allowed transgender people to serve openly in the military.

That policy affects only a small number of the approximately 1.3 million active-duty members of the military. Some 2,000 to 11,000 active-duty and reserves troops are transgender, according to a 2016 RAND Corp. study commissioned by the Pentagon, although estimates of the number of transgender service members have varied widely and are sometimes as high as 15,000.

The issue became a flash point for social conservatives who argued that transgender people had no place in the military. Some Republican lawmakers threatened to refuse to fund the military without a prohibition on using federal money to pay for transition surgery or related hormone therapy.

As transgender service members, we are and have always been soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen first, said Blake Dremann, the president of Sparta, an LGBT military group with 500 active-duty members. We serve our country honourably, in good faith.

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KYIV, UKRAINEOn the 26th anniversary of Ukraines independence from Moscow, U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis accused Russia of menacing Europe and suggested that he favours providing Ukraine with defensive lethal weapons.

Mattis also said the Trump administration will not accept Moscows annexation of Ukraines Crimea region.

After attending a spirited and colourful independence day parade, Mattis met with President Petro Poroshenko and other top government leaders. He is the first Pentagon chief to visit the former Soviet republic since Robert Gates in 2007.

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Have no doubt, Mattis said at a news conference with Poroshenko. The United States stands with Ukraine. He said Washington does not, and we will not, accept Russias annexation of Crimea, a 2014 action that was followed by Russian military intervention in support of separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Poroshenko told reporters that Crimea is Ukrainian territory. It should come back to Ukraine, he said.

Mattis was blunt in his criticism of Russia and said his presence in Kyiv is intended as a statement of the depth of American commitment to Ukraines sovereignty.

Despite Russias denials, we know they are seeking to redraw international borders by force, Mattis said, an ambition by Moscow that the secretary said is undermining sovereign European nations and stirring tension.

Asked by a reporter whether he agrees with the Obama administrations view that selling defensive lethal weapons to Ukraine would provoke Moscow, Mattis replied, Defensive weapons are not provocative unless youre an aggressor.

Mattis declined to say explicitly what he would recommend to the White House on the weapons issue. He did not say so, but it is known that the Pentagon and the State Department have recommended going ahead with defensive weapons transfers to Ukraine.

Poroshenko sidestepped the question of how soon he expects a White House decision on arms. He said, however, that Moscow should realize that stepping up U.S. military support for Kyiv would increase the price if Russia made the decision to attack my troops and my territory.

Poroshenko said an estimated 3,000 regular Russian troops are in eastern Ukraine.

In his remarks, Mattis cited agreements and commitments that Moscow has made since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, including a two-year-old accord known as the Minsk Agreement, which lays out a road map for reducing the conflict in Ukraine that has claimed some 10,000 lives over the past three years. He also cited other Russian commitments to Ukraine dating to 1994.

Unfortunately, Russia is not adhering to the letter, much less the spirit of these international commitments, he said.

We in the United States understand the strategic challenges associated with Russian aggression, Mattis added.

It has been known for weeks that the Trump administration has reopened consideration of long-rejected plans to give Ukraine lethal weapons.

Those deliberations put pressure on U.S. President Donald Trump, who is fighting perceptions he is soft on Moscow amid investigations into whether his campaign colluded with the Kremlin to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election.

In his remarks alongside Poroshenko, Mattis said the U.S. is committed to helping Ukraine build and modernize its armed forces.

Sen. John McCain, a vocal critic of former president Barack Obamas cautious approach to assisting the Ukrainian army, said Wednesday that Trump should change that course.

It is long past time for the United States to provide Ukraine the defensive lethal assistance it needs to deter and defend against further Russian aggression, McCain said in a statement.

Raising the cost of aggression may help to change Vladimir Putins calculus, pressure Russia to fully comply with the Minsk agreements, and, ultimately, create more stable security conditions on the ground that are essential for peace.

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WASHINGTON  Hide your wife, hide your husband, hide your child! The immigrant hordes are already here!

Or so lots of Americans believe  making it easier for politicians and fringe alt-right white-supremacist groups to seize on these fears and exploit them for political gain.

The share of people in the United States who were born abroad has been rising during the past several decades, reaching 13.4 percent in 2015. (The highest share recorded was in 1890, at 14.8 percent.) Perceived levels of immigration, however, are several multiples of that number and have been so for a while.

The 2013 Transatlantic Trends survey conducted by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, for example, asked people across 13 countries to estimate the percentage of their national population that was born abroad.

In every country for which reliable population numbers were available, survey respondents vastly overestimated the number of foreign-born people walking among them. This was especially true in the United States.

Perhaps reflecting our nickname as a nation of immigrants, Americans mistakenly thought that 42 percent of people in this country had been born abroad. For those keeping score at home, thats three times the actual immigrant population share.

Those numbers are a few years old. The imagined scourge of scary not-like-me multitudes remains.

In 2015, Ipsos MORIs Perils of Perception survey asked a similar question in 32 countries and found similar results: Nearly everywhere, people overestimated the share of immigrants. U.S. citizens guesstimate for the immigrant share was lower in this survey, though, at only 33 percent.

Then this past fall, Ipsos MORI polled people across 39 countries about their estimates of the Muslim population.

In all but two countries, people overstated the share of their Muslim population.

In the United States, respondents said they thought about 17 percent of the country was Muslim, whereas only about 1 percent actually is.

The fact that Americans thought one-sixth of the country practices Islam is especially striking when you consider that about half of Americans say they do not personally know a Muslim, according to a poll from the Pew Research Center.

Its not just immigrants or Muslims whose numbers are vastly inflated in the minds of fearful Americans, according to John Sides, George Washington University political science professor and co-founder of the Monkey Cage, a blog hosted by The Washington Post. Political science literature over the past 20 years has found that survey respondents tend to overestimate the size of almost any minority group, including blacks, Latinos, Asian-Americans, Jews and gays.

The question is, why are these perceptions so out of whack with reality?

One possibility is that some members of these groups might be highly visible or memorable, particularly if they dress and talk differently than others in the local population. Media coverage may amplify these differences and make them more salient to the general public.

Recent research by Daniel J. Hopkins, Sides and Jack Citrin also suggests that hostility toward immigrants may drive misperceptions of their population size, rather than the other way around.

People in general tend to believe that things that they dont like or are anxious about are more extensive than they actually are, says Rogers Smith, a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania. They think the crime rate is higher than it actually is, that we give more to foreign aid than we really do by a large margin.

As easy as it is to blame President Trump and nativist politicians across Europe for creating these hostilities, the data suggest that outsized fears of an immigrant cultural takeover long predate these particular political leaders.

As Sides put it in a phone interview, there was already a reservoir of negative feelings about immigration out there. Trump just figured out how to tap into those feelings to power a successful White House bid. Before Trump came along, politicians may have been reluctant to fully exploit this negativity  maybe for moral reasons and maybe for more practical ones, such as the fact that the business community generally supports more immigration.

Of course, Trumps inflammatory rhetoric is likely heightening those extant negative feelings too, particularly among the young.

The good news is that while a very vocal group of nativist Trumpkins is clamoring for a border wall (and even an ethnostate), attitudes toward immigration among the general populace are, on average, actually improving. Americans view immigrants more positively today than they did 20 or even five years ago, according to Pew Research Center data.

With any luck, a talented politician will soon figure out how to exploit that positivity, too.
HARARE, ZIMBABWEAccused of assaulting a young model in a Johannesburg hotel, the wife of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is a fiery character with political ambitions who describes herself as the mother of the nation and whose scoldings of top figures in her husbands government earned her the nickname Dr. Stop It.

Grace Mugabe returned to Zimbabwe on Sunday after South Africa granted diplomatic immunity despite calls for her prosecution in the alleged attack on Aug. 13, though a group representing the young woman has gone to court in the hope of complicating any attempt by Mugabe to return to South Africa.

The impact of the scandal on Zimbabwes first lady, whose political manoeuvres have stirred speculation that she wants to succeed her 93-year-old husband, has yet to be determined. State-run media have been largely silent about her recent troubles.

Read more:

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Zimbabwe president travels to South Africa to help wife accused of assault

Zimbabwe requests diplomatic immunity for first lady accused of assault in South Africa

For Grace, the surprise was probably to the extent to which some people were trying to hold her accountable. She is not used to that, said Alex Rusero, a political analyst in Zimbabwes capital, Harare. He said her supporters likely will not be swayed by the scandal even if rivals try to use it against her, and that if anything, she will be back on the campaign trail claiming she was targeted in South Africa by old enemies of her husband.

Grace Mugabe has not appeared at any official events since returning to Harare, though she could join her husband Friday at a scheduled appearance at an agricultural show in the capital, or when he presides over the funeral of an independence war veteran on Saturday.

Long before 20-year-old Gabriella Engels claimed that Grace Mugabe whipped her with an extension cord at a luxury Johannesburg hotel, the first ladys reputation for combative behaviour was so pronounced that her husband, a shrewd and sometimes ruthless operator in power since independence from white minority rule in 1980, once described her as fireworks.

In 2009, the first lady escaped charges through diplomatic immunity after allegedly assaulting a British journalist who tried to photograph her while she was shopping in Hong Kong.

She campaigned successfully for the ouster of vice-president Joice Mujuru in 2014 as factions in Zimbabwes ruling ZANU-PF party jostled for influence in anticipation of the eventual end of the elderly presidents rule.

Grace Mugabe also scolded presidential spokesperson George Charamba at a rally last month ahead of next years election, accusing him of using his hold on state media to attack politicians aligned with her support base.

You cannot separate the president from his wife. That cant happen, the 52-year-old first lady said. She wagged a finger at Charamba, who stood still, sheepish and nodding.

President Robert Mugabe plucked his second wife from the secretarial staff decades ago, and she has since become head of the ruling partys womens league. She recently publicly challenged her husband to name a successor, a taboo topic in a country where critics of the president have sometimes been sidelined, jailed or, according to human rights activists, beaten and abducted.

At the same time, the first lady has lashed out at anyone perceived to be undermining her husband.

On one occasion, Grace Mugabe all but threatened lawmaker Fortune Chasi when he was a deputy justice minister, accusing him of frustrating her efforts to obtain more land near a farm she owns. The area has gold reserves, and some villagers there pan for gold.

I might have a small fist but when it comes to fighting I will put stones inside to enlarge it, or even put on gloves to make it bigger. Do not doubt my capabilities, she said at the time.

Police later stormed the land, burned houses and ordered dozens of people occupying the area to leave. The villagers remained after a court said police acted illegally. In April, police again raided the area to force an eviction and arrested some residents.

Despite an often abrasive manner, Grace Mugabes commanding presence and charity work have won support from some Zimbabweans.

The president, an intimidating figure in his own right, seems to know better than to defy his wife. At a ruling party congress in 2014, she passed a note asking him to end a long-winded speech.

Even at home thats what she does to me, so I have to listen, Mugabe said as he left the podium.

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Canadas Liberal government says it wants only minor changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talks of modernizing the 23-year-old pact while leaving the fundamentals intact. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland has said her governments aim in NAFTA renegotiation talks is to make what is already a good deal even better.

In fact, as the Liberals themselves used to acknowledge, there is much wrong with the pact linking the U.S., Canada and Mexico Why are the governments current aims so modest?

True, the Liberals do call for some useful changes. In particular, they would add labour and environmental rights to the text of the agreement. Done correctly, this might make it easier for low-wage workers in Mexico to form legitimate unions.

Freeland also wants new chapters on gender and Indigenous rights, although she is vague about what exactly these additions would be expected to accomplish.

Other proposed Liberal reforms  including harmonizing regulations across North America and limiting the ability of provinces and municipalities to favour local suppliers  are simply wrong-headed. They might make trade more efficient. But they would do so at the expense of jobs and political sovereignty.

And they would almost certainly end up being applied unevenly. U.S. states and cities are not likely to give up the right to boost their local economies through Buy America rules.

Missing from the Liberal agenda are promises to kill parts of the current deal that are clearly bad for Canada.

One of these is Chapter 11, which allows foreign investors to challenge before nonjudicial trade panels, any laws and regulations  including environmental rules  that interfere with their corporate profitability.

The Liberal government says it would tweak this so-called investor-state dispute settlement mechanism  which has been used successfully several times against Canada. It should be eliminated entirely.

Another NAFTA provision that deserves to go is the one that requires Canada to share its oil and gas with the U.S. during energy shortages. The Liberals vocally opposed this during the original NAFTA talks of the 90s. They dont talk at all about it now.

Instead, the Liberals are making their stand on Chapter 19, a provision that allows NAFTA governments to challenge one anothers trade penalties before an independent panel.

Trudeau has called it essential. But is it?

As written, this chapter simply requires each NAFTA member to follow its own trade laws. When the Americans have been ruled against in such cases they have sometimes acquiesced. But at other times, they have simply ignored the ruling.

In at least one case involving softwood lumber, they dealt with the problem not by changing their practices to meet the law but by the reverse  changing the law to meet their practices.

Everything you need to know about NAFTA in 3 Minutes. Why Donald Trump says NAFTA is a bad deal for the U.S. and what the negotiations could mean to Canada.

The Liberals used to understand the limitations of Chapter 19. In the original NAFTA round, they criticized the then Conservative government for not coming up with a more robust solution to unfair trade penalties.

But now, it seems they are ready to claim victory if the current second-best solution survives.

Certainly, the Canadian government could take a bolder approach to these talks. A brief presented to the government this summer by Unifor, the union representing autoworkers, contains some good ideas. Here are two.

First, Ottawa could suggest replacing free trade throughout North America in autos and auto parts with some kind of managed trade where production in each country is linked to sales.

This would forestall the exodus of good jobs from Canada and the U.S. to low-wage Mexico. That would appeal to U.S. President Donald Trump. It would also benefit Canadian workers.

Second, Ottawa could insist on provisions that permit government to establish new public programs without fear of running afoul of NAFTA.

This is not a trivial matter. In 1991, Bob Raes Ontario New Democratic Party government abandoned plans to introduce public auto insurance in part because of fears of a NAFTA challenge. It would be tragic if NAFTA were allowed to derail, say, a national pharmacare program.

In short, I am puzzled that the Liberals  who in 1988 vociferously opposed the first iteration of Canada-U.S. free trade  are so sanguine about its successor. NAFTA may not be, as Trump likes to claim, the worst deal ever. But it is not a good deal for Canada. It never was.

Thomas Walkom appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

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I confess I was relieved to find, a few minutes into Trumps first-class rant Tuesday in Phoenix, that hes as batshit crazy as ever. The signs were less in his language than the narcissistic abandon. He cant not make it about himself.

You can almost hear a little voice telling him: Dont overdo it, Donnie. But he shakes it off. (A bit like Hillary Clinton in a book excerpt this week about Trump stalking her at the debates: fair point, Hillary, but then you turn it into a tedious whine on how victimized youve always been.) As opposed to?

The scariest discovery would be that Trumps boorishness and grandiosity were deliberately calculated; that he had the ability to modulate his nuttiness for political effect. That would mean he had the discipline and perspective to harness his impulses to a strategy that could do real long-run damage to his society and the rest of us too. (I shudder even as I write that.)

The following night, Wednesday, at the American Legion, he was back to reading mechanically from the teleprompter, which the New York Times gave him credit for: speaking slowly and gravely.

I guess its all in the ear of the behearer. My relief was undiminished: he lacks the control and detachment to do lasting, structural harm, which any non-trivial destroyer requires. Maybe thats why Bannon left without much of a fight. Did he conclude the same, and is already looking for a more serious neo-fascist to back?

This was the week when the He crazy talk came out of hiding. Its not just California Democrats, whove endearingly proposed installing a resident psychiatrist in the White House. (Is this progress? In 1967s The Presidents Analyst, with James Coburn, the boss must sneak out to meet his shrink  who himself develops rational paranoia because the deep state is surveilling him.)

Now its Republicans doing the pointy-finger stuff connoting insanity. Senator Jeff Flake used the magic word, instability. Everybody nods and winks. If they speak that way publicly, imagine what they say in private. (And if hes this nutty on national TV, picture him chez soi.) The question is, what will they do about it? For the moment, it seems: quarantine him and carry on.

You simply let him fuss and ignore it while you go about the business at hand. So Trump had praised Egypts president (fantastic job  we are very much behind Egypt). This week his own administration withheld $300 million in aid over human rights abuses.

He says, in Phoenix, well probably end up terminating NAFTA, and negotiations continue, oblivious. The logical end of this approach would be to give him a fake nuclear button, let him push it, and follow up by informing him what damage his nuclear strike just did.

All people who strive for high political office are probably somewhat crazy. If you were well-adjusted, why would you want that much power? And humans are generally weird: instinct-based mammals who wear clothes, believe their reason is dominant etc. Nixon was surely unstable, but he kept it in check, relatively, mostly. Trump is all crazy all the time. (The teleprompter phases may be the temporary result of exhaustion, while he revs up again.)

The scariest part of madness, aside from its effects on the mad one, is what it does to those within its range and control, like the family. Or at the workplace. Anyone whos worked for a truly crazy boss knows what its like to go in every day and fall under that power  especially once youve left for another job and can acknowledge the hell it was.

In Trumps case, not just his nation but the entire world lives under the toxic fog of his madness, without any ameliorating components in his personality. In other words, madness is, in its social impact, mainly about power. In this broad sense it is political.

So yeah, it was a relief to see in Phoenix that hes deeply out of control. But also terrifying, since that itself can wreak terrible havoc and we need to hope those around him can contain him. Not a great long-term solution.

To any of the astute people I know who say: Yes but would you rather have Pence with his harsh right-wing ideology, his Christian fundamentalism, and his relative discipline and control? I say: Absolutely. Go Mike Go!

Rick Salutins column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

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Last week Americans and people around the world learned that Donald Trump is morally unfit to be president of the United States. His response to the tragedy in Charlottesville showed he was unwilling to stand up for basic decency.

This week were learning something just as disturbing  that Trump may have only a tenuous hold on reality. The frightening prospect that the man with his finger on the nuclear button may actually be mentally unwell is forcing itself onto the public agenda.

Anyone who watched Trumps extended rant at a campaign-style rally in Phoenix, Ariz., on Tuesday night could not help but wonder if the president is losing his grip. For 75 minutes he lashed out at his perceived enemies, flagrantly misrepresented his multiple attempts at a response to Charlottesville, and indulged himself in extended bouts of self-pity.

Words hardly begin to capture the profoundly unbalanced nature of Trumps diatribe. Unleashed before a crowd of supporters, unscripted by his handlers, he turned live on TV into a caricature of himself, the proverbial car crash you cant stop watching. At one point he was boasting pathetically about living in a bigger, more beautiful apartment than the elites he believes have it in for him.

This has gone beyond the usual calculated lashing-out at enemies in ways designed to gin up Trumps so-called base. Theres no longer any obvious method to the madness. For an increasing number of people, theres just madness  in the literal meaning of the word.

This is very touchy stuff for Americans. The presidency is a revered institution and the idea that the man in the Oval Office could be unhinged (a word now being routinely used to describe Trump) is profoundly threatening. For the rest of the world, its almost as upsetting, considering the crucial leadership role the United States still plays.

And yet the Washington Post this week carried the headline Its time to talk about Trumps mental health atop an article by its Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Eugene Robinson. It is uncomfortable to talk about the presidents mental health, he wrote a day before the Phoenix rant. But at this point it is irresponsible not to.

James Clapper, a top intelligence official under presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, called Trumps speech downright scary and disturbing. I really question his ability his fitness to be in office.

A Democratic senator, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, was caught on a live microphone telling another senator, Susan Collins, that I think hes crazy. I mean I dont say that lightly and as a kind of a goofy guy. To which Collins, a Republican, responded: Im worried.

Other Republicans are treading more lightly but the cracks are starting to appear in their support for Trump. Republican senator Bob Corker of Tennessee raised eyebrows by saying Trump has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence to be president.

In the White House itself, a picture is emerging of an erratic president held up by a coterie of generals and surrounded by aides who see their job as saving America from the top guy. The online site Axios quotes its White House sources as saying they must stay because of the urgent importance of having smart, sane people around Trump to fight his worst instincts. You have no idea how much crazy stuff we kill.

Some commentators are calling for action under the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gives the cabinet and vice-president power to relieve the president of his powers if hes unable to carry them out.

The fact that this is even being seriously discussed shows how far things have gone. Far from growing into the job, Trump is deteriorating, lashing out as his support leaks away.

As ever, the key to his survival is support from his fellow Republicans. That may finally be weakening: the New York Times reports authoritatively that the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, is feuding bitterly with Trump and has privately expressed uncertainty that his administration can be saved.

Regardless of political calculations, it doesnt deserve to be saved. After Charlottesville, Trump forfeited any moral claim to lead his nation. And after Phoenix, theres ample reason to believe he no longer has a firm grasp on reality.

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Samsung Group (SSNLF) has made a habit of releasing its latest Note smartphone in August right before Apple Inc. (AAPL) - Get Free Report releases its latest iPhone in mid-September.

If the Apple engineers watching Samsung's Note 8 unveiling presentation Thursday morning in New York have one thing to worry about, it's the impressive new camera. Samsung played catch-up to the iPhone 7 Plus camera by introducing a dual camera, but it also managed to leap-frog the capabilities of the iPhone 7 Plus camera in a number of ways.

While you could argue it's not fair to compare the 2016 model of the iPhone with the 2017 model of the Note, these comparisons show what Apple will have to live up to with its iPhone 8 coming out next month.

"The new camera was a good catch-up for Samsung, as well as a big differentiating factor," said Jan Dawson, chief analyst at Jackdaw Research.

Blurred backgrounds, aka "portrait mode"

Note 8: This is where the Note 8 really shines. Samsung now lets users blur the background of photos, a popular feature on the iPhone 7 Plus called "portrait mode." But unlike the iPhone 7 Plus, the Note 8 also allows users to adjust how blurry the background is on photos, and it lets users choose to blur the background after a photo is already taken. This option is known as "live focus mode" on the Note 8. A unique feature of the live mode is its dual capture capability, which tells the camera to automatically take two photos -- one close-up photo with a blurred background using the telephoto lens and one nonblurred photo that shows the entire background using the wide-angle lens.

This is where the Note 8 really shines. Samsung now lets users blur the background of photos, a popular feature on the iPhone 7 Plus called "portrait mode." But unlike the iPhone 7 Plus, the Note 8 also allows users to adjust how blurry the background is on photos, and it lets users choose to blur the background after a photo is already taken. This option is known as "live focus mode" on the Note 8. A unique feature of the live mode is its dual capture capability, which tells the camera to automatically take two photos -- one close-up photo with a blurred background using the telephoto lens and one nonblurred photo that shows the entire background using the wide-angle lens. iPhone 7 Plus: The iPhone 7 Plus introduced the stunning "portrait mode" in 2016. The depth effect gave pictures a high-quality look to them that was previously associated with expensive, bulky DSLR cameras. But that's about all this feature does on the iPhone 7 Plus. Let's hope the iPhone 8 steps up the game.

Dual camera setup:

Note 8: The Note 8 camera is "literally twice as good as before" with the introduction of a dual camera, according to Suzanne De Silva, Samsung's director of product strategy. The two separate cameras on the back of the phone include two 12-megapixel sensors, one with a wide lens to capture landscapes better and a telephoto lens capable of 2x zoom to get closer to your subject.

The Note 8 camera is "literally twice as good as before" with the introduction of a dual camera, according to Suzanne De Silva, Samsung's director of product strategy. The two separate cameras on the back of the phone include two 12-megapixel sensors, one with a wide lens to capture landscapes better and a telephoto lens capable of 2x zoom to get closer to your subject. iPhone 7 Plus: The iPhone 7 Plus camera already featured two 12-megapixel sensors with one 28 mm wide-angle lens and one 56 mm telephoto lens.

Optical image stabilization capabilities:

Note 8: The Note 8 is also the first smartphone to feature image stabilization capabilities on both cameras, letting you take crisp and clear action shots.

The Note 8 is also the first smartphone to feature image stabilization capabilities on both cameras, letting you take crisp and clear action shots. iPhone 7 Plus: The iPhone 7 Plus only has OIS on the wide-angle lens.

Front camera, aka how good are your selfies going to be?:

Note 8: Samsung's newest smartphone also includes an eight-megapixel front-facing camera with auto focus for sharp selfies and video chats.

Samsung's newest smartphone also includes an eight-megapixel front-facing camera with auto focus for sharp selfies and video chats. iPhone 7 Plus: The front-facing camera has a slightly less powerful seven-megapixel camera with auto image stabilization.

Waterproof:

Note 8: Yes. This is an industry standard now.

Yes. This is an industry standard now. iPhone 7 Plus: Yes.

On another note, Apple won't be making an autonomous car.

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Toshiba Corp.'s (TOSYY) path to reaching a compromise with flash memory JV partner Western Digital Corp. (WDC) - Get Free Report regarding the sale of its giant flash memory unit has been more circuitous than I expected when predicting a resolution was on its way in June. Nonetheless, in spite of all the legal salvos and financial threats flung by the companies in recent months, Toshiba and Western now seem ready to bury the hatchet.

The reasons for this are pretty simple. Toshiba needs to unload its flash unit and realizes that Western's legal case for blocking any sale it doesn't want is pretty strong, and Western has strong incentives to both be on good terms with Toshiba and further grow its flash exposure.

Japan's Nikkei reports Toshiba and Western are discussing a deal in which Western would "contribute hundreds of billions of yen" (in effect, billions of dollars) in debt financing to a consortium buying Toshiba's flash unit, known as Toshiba Memory. The investment would eventually give Western a sub-20% stake in the business, but the company initially wouldn't have voting rights.

Both parties apparently want to move quickly. Western reportedly plans to finish its due diligence for Toshiba Memory by early next week, and Toshiba wants to ink a deal by month's end, after getting board approval. With antitrust reviews expected to take 6 to 9 months, Toshiba is reportedly hoping to close a deal by the end of its fiscal year, which concludes in March 2018.

Other consortium members are said to include P-E firm KKR and two state-backed Japanese funds; the group is said to have offered $17.3 billion overall for Toshiba Memory. The funds are already part of an $18 billion bid for the business that features P-E firm Bain Capital and South Korean memory giant SK Hynix, and which Toshiba said in late June was its "preferred" choice -- even though Western objected to the presence of SK Hynix, a major flash memory rival. Nonetheless, Nikkei reports the funds, taking the heed of Japanese regulators, are "likely to team up with whichever group offers the best prospects for an early sale."

And clearly, a deal that has Western's blessing is one that has the best odds of closing quickly. In May, the company filed an arbitration claim seeking to block the transfer of Toshiba's interests the transfer of the huge manufacturing and R&D JVs it operates in tandem with Western's SanDisk unit. With the JV agreements spelling out that neither party can transfer its interests without the other's consent, the odds of Western getting a favorable ruling would be pretty high.

And even if an arbitration court ruled in Toshiba's favor, a ruling would be unlikely to arrive before mid-2018. With Toshiba reportedly facing pressure from creditors to strike a deal by month's end and facing (due to Tokyo Stock Exchange rules governing a listed company's finances) the delisting of its shares if a sale isn't closed by March, that's a major issue.

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In late July, Western agreed to a deal requiring Toshiba to give Western two weeks' notice prior to the closing of any Toshiba Memory sale, a move that allowed Toshiba to continue sale talks while still giving Western time to legally respond to any deal it didn't approve of. A couple weeks later, Western obtained an injunction requiring Toshiba to prevent "certain employees" from accessing databases shared by the company and SanDisk, and also from "refusing to ship certain engineering [chip] wafers and samples" from Toshiba Memory plants that the JVs rely on. This, Western says, will let the JVs continue running smoothly.

The strength of Western's legal claims, together with the financial woes faced by Toshiba thanks to the billions in losses incurred by its Westinghouse nuclear plant unit, undoubtedly place a lot of pressure on Toshiba to make peace with Western. But Western, which once signaled it wanted a majority stake in Toshiba Memory, seems to be showing flexibility too.

That likely has much to do with how a drawn-out legal battle with Toshiba, one that could hurt the performance of the flash memory JVs and prevent their owners from collaborating on needed investments, isn't in Western's interests either. Especially not when the JVs are operating in a hotly competitive NAND flash market where Samsung, Hynix, Intel Corp. (INTC) - Get Free Report , Micron Technology Inc. (MU) - Get Free Report and Chinese firms are making big investments. Toshiba's early-August declaration that it would spend $1.8 billion to build a new NAND fab without Western/SanDisk's help may have been a negotiating tactic at heart -- Western insisted the JV agreements give it a right to invest in the fab and get a portion of its output -- but did drive home how messy an extended battle could be for Western.

And just as importantly, the long-term decline facing Western's hard drive business as solid-state drives (SSDs) cannibalize sales of PC and "mission-critical" enterprise hard drives. In spite of strong demand for its high-capacity helium drives among cloud giants -- they drove share gains against archrival Seagate Technology PLC (STX) - Get Free Report -- Western's total hard drive shipments fell by 800,000 annually in the June quarter to 39.3 million. Hard drive pressures also led Western to guide for September quarter revenue of $5.1 billion -- up 8% annually thanks to a booming NAND market, but below a $5.22 billion consensus.

All of this goes a long way towards explaining why Western's shares have risen over 7% since the first report pointing to a possible detente with Toshiba arrived on August 21. Obtaining a sub-20% stake in Toshiba Memory might fall short of Western's original goals, but it would still grow the company's flash exposure and give it a larger say in what the Toshiba/Western flash JVs end up doing. And it would put to rest a bitter dispute that has created a lot of worries about SanDisk's long-term performance.
Shareholder proposals urging Exxon Mobile Corp. (XOM) - Get Free Report , Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) - Get Free Report and PPL Corp. (PPL) - Get Free Report to produce reports on the impact of climate risks on their long-term strategy were approved by a majority of investors this year -- a major success for investors seeking to push companies to think about environmental issues.

The proposals were nonbinding, which means the energy giants are not obligated to implement any changes in response to shareholder support. Nevertheless, the strong backing could embarrass them into producing a detailed report or taking other actions.

And State Street Global Advisors (STT) - Get Free Report , one the largest U.S. index funds with $2.6 trillion in assets, has become a key contributor to the success of the measures.

Rakhi Kumar, managing director and chief of State Street's environmental, social and governance investments and asset stewardship program, told The Deal that the index fund backed all three shareholder proposals as well as several other environmental-themed measures that also did well in 2017.

"We need to understand how sustainability impacts on equity -- how that is impacting long-term strategy," Kumar said.

The proposal at ExxonMobil received the backing of 62% of the vote and was considered a "watershed" moment because of the huge showing of support. The measure asked Exxon to report on the implications of different climate scenarios including one that takes into account a climate agreement reached in Paris in 2015 that seeks to restrict greenhouse gas emissions in a way that limits increases in atmospheric temperatures to no more than 2 degrees Celsius.

President Donald Trump announced in June that the U.S. will withdraw from the Paris accord. Despite the move, measures focusing on climate change did well in 2017 -- similar shareholder proposals focusing on the 2 degrees Celsius level at 10 other companies received 35% to 50% of the vote, a huge vote of support. "Investors have become really focused on climate change proposals this year," she said.

State Street owns about 5% of Exxon shares, making it the oil giant's second-largest investor. So far, Exxon has not responded to the shareholder measure. "It is typical for companies to evaluate and assess how to respond in the fall, so we will be looking for a response," Kumar said.

The index fund recently conducted an in-depth review of 50 reports issued by companies on global sustainability issues and produced a paper outlining what it believed to be effective climate change disclosure. "We liked some disclosure and didn't like other disclosure," Kumar said.

The good reports, she said, employ scenario planning exercises as part of a strategic review that evaluates the impact of climate risks into their long-term strategy.

Kumar highlighted a report issued by Statoil ASA, (STO) a Norwegian oil and gas company, as one that could be a model, partly because it had disclosed that it had allocated 15% to 20% of its capital expenditure by 2030 to new energy solutions in response to its scenario testing outcome.

"As a long-term investor, we understand that it takes time to pivot strategy and prepare for the future," Kumar said. "We like how Statoil provided a direct link between the impact of its scenario-planning exercise and strategic outcomes. This is what good looks like to us right now."

Kumar pointed to a strategic decision Pepsi made in the mid-2000s, to review its portfolio of products and consider health issues as an example of an effective pivoting strategy. "They allocated capital to acquire juice companies or to grow their non-carbonated beverage brands and invested in low-sodium or baked chips, responding to a trend of healthier living," she said.

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On Thursday, Aug. 17, author Kathleen Ernst visited Vernon County at Viroqua Schools in the culmination of our Vernon County Reads summer program. All libraries in Vernon County offered discussions of her books throughout the summer. Earlier this month, the libraries hosted a bus trip to Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, Iowa. Our tour there focused on the plot points of Ernsts novel, Heritage of Darkness, which was set in the Vesterheim museum.

Ernst is the author of the Chloe Ellefson murder mysteries, in addition to many childrens books. What a delight it was to meet this lovely author! Her afternoon childrens presentation emphasized her love of reading. She explained that she has been writing since age ten, wrote her first novel at age fifteen, and did not get published until age 35. Ernst stressed that writers must persevere to achieve their goals.

Ernsts evening presentation for adults focused on the Chloe Ellefson series, which requires a great deal of historical research. Good thing Kathleen began her career as a curator at Old World Wisconsin, where she certainly learned a lot about history. She and her husband, Scott, met when they were Civil War re-enactors; they even had a period wedding. The nuptial photo of them in their vintage 1860s finery was charming. I was intrigued to learn that Kathleen spends at least one week each year at Vesterheim, often attending the heritage craft classes they offer. Cultural heritage fascinates her and it shows in her novels.

The sound at this event was wonderful, thanks to the generosity of Westbys Mark Jelinek, who set up his equipment so everyone could hear and enjoy Kathleens talk. Thank you also to the Viroqua Schools for the space provided, and to the custodian, Peggy, who set up our chairs and tables.

If you havent already read an Ernst novel, stop by your library; we may still have a few on the shelf or you can make a reservation. Ernst gave a door prize, an ARC, or advanced review copy, of the next Chloe Ellefson mystery, Mining for Justice. It is due to be published in October and Bekkum Library already has this title on order for our patrons.
Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. operates as a seaborne shipping and logistics company in North America, Australia, Europe, Asia, South America, and internationally. It focuses on the transportation and transshipment of dry bulk commodities, including iron ores, coal, and grains. The company operates in two segments, Dry Bulk Vessel Operations and Logistics Business. The Dry Bulk Vessel Operations segment engages in the transportation and handling of bulk cargoes through the ownership, operation, and trading of vessels and freight. This segment charters its vessels to trading houses, producers, and government-owned entities. The Logistics Business segment operates ports and transfer station terminals, as well as upriver transport facilities in the Hidrovia region; and handles vessels, barges, push boats, and cabotage business. This segment provides its integrated transportation, storage, and related services through its port facilities, cargo barges, and product tankers to mineral and grain commodity providers, as well as to users of refined petroleum products. As of December 31, 2021, the company's fleet consisted of 36 vessels totaling 3.9 million deadweight tons. Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. was incorporated in 1954 and is headquartered in Grand Cayman, the Cayman Islands.
The following companies are subsidiares of Cummins: Anvl, Apollo FC Holdings Ltd., Atlantis Acquisitionco Canada Corporation, Atlantis Holdco UK Limited, Brammo, CIFC Worldwide Partner C.V., CMI Africa Holdings BV, CMI CGT Holdings LLC, CMI Canada Financing Ltd., CMI Canada LP, CMI Foreign Holdings B.V., CMI Global Equity Holdings B.V., CMI Global Equity Holdings C.V., CMI Global Holdings B.V., CMI Global Partner 2 C.V., CMI Global Partners B.V., CMI Group Holdings B.V., CMI Group Holdings Cooperatief U.A., CMI International Finance Partner 1 LLC, CMI International Finance Partner 2 LLC, CMI International Finance Partner 3 LLC, CMI International Finance Partner 4 LLC, CMI International Finance Partner 5 LLC, CMI Mexico LLC, CMI Netherlands Holdings B.V., CMI PGI Holdings LLC, CMI PGI International Holdings LLC, CMI Turkish Holdings B.V., CMI UK Finance LP, CMI UK Financing LP, Cherry Island Renewable Energy LLC, Consolidated Diesel Company, Consolidated Diesel Inc., Consolidated Diesel of North Carolina Inc., Cummins (China) Investment Co. Ltd., Cummins (Xiangyang) Machining Co. Ltd., Cummins Africa Middle East (Pty) Ltd., Cummins Afrique de l'Ouest, Cummins Americas Inc., Cummins Angola Lda., Cummins Argentina-Servicios Mineros S.A., Cummins Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Cummins Aust Technologies Pty. Ltd., Cummins BLR LLC, Cummins Battery Systems North America LLC, Cummins Belgium N.V., Cummins Botswana (Pty.) Ltd., Cummins Brasil Ltda., Cummins Burkina Faso SARL, Cummins CDC Holding Inc., Cummins CV Member LLC, Cummins Canada ULC, Cummins Caribbean LLC, Cummins Center of Excellence Singapore Pte. Ltd., Cummins Centroamerica Holding S.de R.L., Cummins Child Development Center Inc., Cummins Colombia S.A.S., Cummins Comercializadora S. de R.L. de C.V., Cummins Corporation, Cummins Cote d'Ivoire SARL, Cummins Czech Republic s.r.o., Cummins Deutschland GmbH, Cummins Diesel International Ltd., Cummins Distribution Holdco Inc., Cummins EMEA Holdings Limited, Cummins East Asia Research & Development Co. Ltd., Cummins Eastern Marine Inc., Cummins Electrified Power Europe Ltd., Cummins Electrified Power NA Inc., Cummins Emission Solutions (China) Co. Ltd., Cummins Emission Solutions Inc., Cummins Empresas Filantropicas, Cummins Energetica Ltda., Cummins Engine (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Cummins Engine (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Cummins Engine (Shanghai) Trading & Services Co. Ltd., Cummins Engine Holding Company Inc., Cummins Engine IP Inc., Cummins Engine Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Cummins Engine Venture Corporation, Cummins Enterprise LLC, Cummins Filtration (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Cummins Filtration GmbH, Cummins Filtration IP Inc., Cummins Filtration Inc., Cummins Filtration International Corp., Cummins Filtration Ltd., Cummins Filtration SARL, Cummins Filtration Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Cummins Filtros Ltda., Cummins Franchise Holdco LLC, Cummins Fuel Systems (Wuhan) Co. Ltd., Cummins Generator Technologies (China) Co. Ltd., Cummins Generator Technologies Americas Inc., Cummins Generator Technologies Germany GmbH, Cummins Generator Technologies India Private Ltd., Cummins Generator Technologies Italy SRL, Cummins Generator Technologies Limited, Cummins Generator Technologies Romania S.A., Cummins Generator Technologies Singapore Pte Ltd., Cummins Ghana Limited, Cummins Ghana Mining Limited, Cummins Global Financing LP, Cummins Global Technologies LLP, Cummins Grupo Comercial Y. de Servicios S. de R.L. de C.V., Cummins Grupo Industrial S. de R.L. de C.V., Cummins Holland B.V., Cummins Hong Kong Ltd., Cummins India Ltd., Cummins Intellectual Property Inc., Cummins International Finance LLC, Cummins International Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Cummins International Holdings LLC, Cummins Italia S.P.A., Cummins Japan Ltd., Cummins Korea Co. Ltd., Cummins LLC Member Inc., Cummins Ltd., Cummins Maroc SARL, Cummins Middle East FZE, Cummins Mining Services S. de R.L. de C.V., Cummins Mobility Services Inc., Cummins Mongolia Investment LLC, Cummins Mozambique Ltda., Cummins NV, Cummins Namibia Engine Sales and Service PTY LTD, Cummins Natural Gas Engines Inc., Cummins New Zealand Limited, Cummins Nigeria Ltd., Cummins Norte de Colombia S.A.S., Cummins North Africa Regional Office SARL, Cummins Norway AS, Cummins PGI Holdings Ltd., Cummins Power Generation (China) Co. Ltd., Cummins Power Generation (S) Pte. Ltd., Cummins Power Generation (U.K.) Limited, Cummins Power Generation Deutschland GmbH, Cummins Power Generation Inc., Cummins Power Generation Limited, Cummins PowerGen IP Inc., Cummins Research and Technology India Private Ltd., Cummins Romania Srl, Cummins S. de R.L. de C.V., Cummins Sales and Service Korea Co. Ltd., Cummins Sales and Service Philippines Inc., Cummins Sales and Service Private Limited, Cummins Sales and Service Sdn. Bhd., Cummins Sales and Service Singapore Pte. Ltd., Cummins Sinai ve Otomotiv Urunleri Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Cummins South Africa (Pty.) Ltd., Cummins South Pacific Pty. Limited, Cummins Southern Plains LLC, Cummins Spain S.L., Cummins Sweden AB, Cummins Technologies India, Cummins Trade Receivables LLC, Cummins Turbo Technologies Limited, Cummins Turkey Motor Guc Sistemleri Sats Servis Limited Sirketi, Cummins U.K. Holdings Ltd., Cummins U.K. Pension Plan Trustee Ltd., Cummins UK Global Holdings Ltd., Cummins UK Holdings LLC, Cummins Vendas e Servicos de Motores e Geradores Ltda., Cummins Venture Corporation, Cummins West Africa Limited, Cummins West Balkans d.o.o. Nova Pasova, Cummins XBorder Operations (Pty) Ltd, Cummins Zambia Ltd., Cummins Zimbabwe Pvt. Ltd., Distribuidora Cummins Centroamerica Costa Rica S.de R.L., Distribuidora Cummins Centroamerica El Salvador S.de R.L., Distribuidora Cummins Centroamerica Guatemala Ltda., Distribuidora Cummins Centroamerica Honduras S.de R.L., Distribuidora Cummins S.A., Distribuidora Cummins Sucursal Paraguay SRL, Distribuidora Cummins de Panama S. de R.L., Dynamo Insurance Company Inc., Efficient Drivetrains, Efficient Drivetrains (Beijing) New Power Technology Co. Ltd., Efficient Drivetrains (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Hilite International, Hydrogenics, Hydrogenics Corporation, Hydrogenics Europe N.V., Hydrogenics GmbH, Hydrogenics Holding GmbH, Hydrogenics USA Inc., Markon Engineering Company Ltd., Nelson Burgess Ltd., Nelson Industries, Newage Engineers GmbH, Newage Ltd. (U.K.), Newage Machine Tools Ltd., OOO Cummins, Petbow Limited, Power Group International (Overseas Holdings) B.V., Power Group International (Overseas Holdings) Ltd., Power Group International Ltd., Quickstart Energy Projects SpA, Shanghai Cummins Trade Co. Ltd., TOO Cummins, Taiwan Cummins Sales & Services Co. Ltd., Worldwide Partner CV Member LLC, Wuxi Cummins Turbo Technologies Co. Ltd., Wuxi New Energy Automotive Technologies Co. Ltd., and ZED Connect Inc..

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The following companies are subsidiares of Accenture: 2nd Road, ?What If!, ?What If! China Holdings Limited, ?What If! Holdings Limited, ?What If! Limited, ACN Consulting Co Ltd, AD.Dialeto (Digital Agency acquired by Accenture), AFD.TECH, AGS Business and Technology Services Limited, AIG Shared Services Business Processing Inc, ASM Research Inc., ASM Research LLC, ATAN, Accenture (Botswana) (Proprietary) Limited, Accenture (China) Co. Ltd., Accenture (Shenzhen) Technology Co. Ltd., Accenture (South Africa) Pty Ltd, Accenture (UK) Limited, Accenture 2 Business Process Services S.A., Accenture 2 LLC, Accenture A/S, Accenture AB, Accenture AG, Accenture AS, Accenture Africa Pty Ltd, Accenture Agencia Interativa Ltda, Accenture Australia Holding B.V., Accenture Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, Accenture Australia Pty Ltd, Accenture B.V., Accenture BPM Operations Support Services S.A., Accenture BPM S.C.R.L., Accenture BPS Services S.p. z o.o., Accenture Branch Holdings B.V., Accenture Bulgaria EOOD, Accenture Business Services for Utilities Inc, Accenture Business Services of British Columbia Limited Partnership, Accenture Business and Technology Services LLC, Accenture C.A., Accenture Canada Holdings Inc, Accenture Capital Designated Activity Company, Accenture Capital Inc, Accenture Central Europe B.V., Accenture Chile Asesorias y Servicios Ltda, Accenture Cloud Services GmbH, Accenture Cloud Software Solutions Limited, Accenture Cloud Solutions Australia Pty Ltd, Accenture Cloud Solutions LLC, Accenture Cloud Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Co Ltd, Accenture Co. Ltd, Accenture Communications Infrastructure Solutions Ltd, Accenture Company Ltd, Accenture Consulting Pty Ltd, Accenture Consulting Services Ltd Tanzania, Accenture Consultores de Gestao S.A., Accenture Consultoria de Industria e Consumo Ltda, Accenture Consultoria de Recursos Naturais Ltda, Accenture Credit Services LLC, Accenture Customer Services Distribution SASU, Accenture Customer Services Ltd, Accenture Danismanlik Limited Sirketi, Accenture Defined Benefit Pension Plan Trustees Limited, Accenture Defined Contribution Pension Plan Trustees Limited, Accenture Delivery Poland S.p. z o.o., Accenture Dienstleistungen GmbH, Accenture Digital Holdings GmbH, Accenture East Africa Limited, Accenture Ecuador S.A., Accenture Egypt LLC, Accenture Enterprise Development (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Accenture Federal Services LLC, Accenture Finance II Limited, Accenture Finance Limited, Accenture Finance and Accounting BPO Services S.p.A., Accenture Finance and Accounting Services S.r.l., Accenture Financial Advanced Solution & Technology S.r.l., Accenture Flex LLC, Accenture GP LLC, Accenture Global Capital Designated Activity Company, Accenture Global Engagements Limited, Accenture Global Holdings Limited, Accenture Global Services Limited, Accenture Global Solutions Limited, Accenture GmbH, Accenture HR Services S.p.A., Accenture Healthcare Processing Inc, Accenture Holding Brasil Ltda, Accenture Holding GmbH & Co. KG, Accenture Holdings (Iberia) S.L., Accenture Holdings B.V., Accenture Holdings France SASU, Accenture Hungary Holdings Kft, Accenture Inc, Accenture Industrial Software Limited Liability Company, Accenture Industrial Software Solutions Kft, Accenture Industrial Software Solutions SA, Accenture Insurance Services B.V., Accenture Insurance Services LLC, Accenture International B.V., Accenture International LLC, Accenture International Limited, Accenture Japan Ltd, Accenture Korea B.V., Accenture LLC, Accenture LLP, Accenture Lanka (Private) Ltd, Accenture Limited, Accenture Lithuania UAB, Accenture Ltd, Accenture Ltda, Accenture Maghreb S.a.r.l., Accenture Managed Services SRL, Accenture Management GmbH, Accenture Marketing Services LLC, Accenture Marketing Services Limited, Accenture Middle East B.V., Accenture Minority I B.V., Accenture Mozambique Limitada, Accenture Mzansi Pty Ltd, Accenture NV/SA, Accenture NZ Limited, Accenture Nova Scotia Unlimited Liability Co., Accenture OOO, Accenture Operations GmbH, Accenture Operations S.p. z o.o., Accenture Operations Services Private Limited, Accenture Operations Services Sdn Bhd, Accenture Outsourcing S.r.l., Accenture Outsourcing Services S.A., Accenture Oy, Accenture Panama Inc, Accenture Participations B.V., Accenture Participations II Limited, Accenture Peru SRL, Accenture Post Trade Processing SASU, Accenture Post-Trade Processing Limited, Accenture Process (Mauritius) Ltd, Accenture Pte Ltd, Accenture Puerto Rico LLC, Accenture Qiyun Technology (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd, Accenture S.C., Accenture S.L., Accenture S.R.L., Accenture S.p. z o.o., Accenture S.p.A., Accenture SASU, Accenture SG Services Pte Ltd, Accenture SRL, Accenture Saudi Arabia Limited, Accenture Sdn Bhd, Accenture Service Center SRL, Accenture Services (Mauritius) Ltd, Accenture Services AB, Accenture Services AG, Accenture Services AS, Accenture Services GmbH, Accenture Services Morocco SA, Accenture Services Oy, Accenture Services Pty Ltd, Accenture Services S.p. z o.o., Accenture Services SRL, Accenture Services and Technology S.r.l., Accenture Services s.r.o., Accenture Single Member S.A. Organization Information Technology & Business Development, Accenture Solutions Co. Ltd, Accenture Solutions Private Limited, Accenture Solutions Pte Ltd, Accenture Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Solutions S.p. z o.o, Accenture Solutions Sdn Bhd, Accenture State Healthcare Services LLC, Accenture Sub II Inc, Accenture Sub III Inc, Accenture Sub LLC, Accenture Systems Integration Limited, Accenture Sarl, Accenture Tanacsado Kolatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Accenture Technology Solutions (Dalian) Co. Ltd., Accenture Technology Solutions (HK) Co. Ltd., Accenture Technology Solutions (Thailand) Co. Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions - Solucoes Informaticas Integradas S.A., Accenture Technology Solutions GmbH, Accenture Technology Solutions Oy, Accenture Technology Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions S.A. de C.V., Accenture Technology Solutions S.r.l., Accenture Technology Solutions SASU, Accenture Technology Solutions SRL, Accenture Technology Solutions Sdn Bhd, Accenture Technology Solutions Slovakia s.r.o., Accenture Technology Ventures B.V., Accenture Technology Ventures SPRL, Accenture Tecnologia Consultoria y Outsourcing S.A., Accenture Uruguay SRL, Accenture Vietnam Co. Limited, Accenture Zambia Limited, Accenture do Brasil Ltda, Accenture plc, Accenture s.r.o., Acceria, Acquity Group, Adaptly LLC, Adaptly UK Limited, AddVal Technology, Adqptly, Advantium Inc., Advoco, Agilex Technologies Inc., Alfa Consulting, Allen International, AlphaBeta Advisors, Altevie Technologies S.r.l., Altima, Altima (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Altima Asia Ltd, Altitude, Altitude LLC, Altius Consulting Limited, Altius Data Solutions Private Limited, Analytics 8 LP, Analytics 8 Pty Ltd, Analytics8, Aorui Advertising (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Apis, Apis Group Pty Ltd, Appaloosa Technology SASU, AppsPro, AppsPro, Arca, Arca Ingenieros y Consultoria S.L., Arca Telecom S.L., Ariba - BPO, Arismore, Artio People (Payroll) Pty Ltd, Artio People Pty Ltd, Aspiro Solutions (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Automation Partners Pty Ltd, Avanade (Guangzhou) Computer Technology Development Co. Ltd., Avanade Asia Pte Ltd, Avanade Australia Pty Ltd, Avanade Belgium SPRL, Avanade Canada Inc, Avanade Consulting Poland S.p. z o.o., Avanade Denmark A/S, Avanade Deutschland GmbH, Avanade Europe Holdings Limited, Avanade Europe Services Limited, Avanade Finland Oy, Avanade France SASU, Avanade Holdings LLC, Avanade Hong Kong Ltd, Avanade Inc, Avanade International Corporation, Avanade Ireland Limited, Avanade Italy S.r.l., Avanade Japan KK, Avanade Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Avanade Middle East Limited, Avanade Netherlands B.V., Avanade Norway AS, Avanade Poland S.p. z o.o., Avanade Schweiz GmbH, Avanade South Africa Pty Ltd, Avanade Spain S.L., Avanade Sweden AB, Avanade UK Limited, Avanade do Brasil Ltda , Avanade Osterreich GmbH, Avenai, Avieco, Axia Ltd., BABCN LLC, BCS Consulting, BCT Solutions, BCT Solutions Pty Ltd, BENEXT, BPO Servicos Administrativos Ltda, BRIDGE Energy Group, BRIDGEi2i, Beacon Consulting Group Inc., Beijing Genesis Interactive Technology Co. Ltd., Beijing Zhidao Future Consulting Co. Ltd, Benext, Berico Technologies LLC, Bionic, Bionic Solution LLC, Blue Horseshoe, Boomerang Pharmaceutical Communications, Bow & Arrow, Bow & Arrow Limited, Brand Learning, Brand Learning Group Limited, Brightstep AB, Byte Prophecy, Byte Prophecy Private Limited, CAS, CRMWaypoint, CS Technology (Australia) Pty Ltd, CS Technology (UK) Limited, CS Technology Group LLC, CS Technology LLC, CadenceQuest Inc., Callisto Integration Europe B.V., Callisto Integration Europe Limited, Callisto Integration LLC, Callisto Integration Ltd, Capgemini - North American health practice, Capital Consultancy Services Inc, Certus Solutions Consulting Services Limited, Certus Solutions Ltd, ChangeTrack Research Pty Ltd., Chaotic Moon Studios, Chengdu Mensa Advertising Co. Ltd., Cimation, Cirrus Connect Australia Pty Ltd, Cirrus Connect Limited, Cirruseo, Clarity Insights, ClearEdge Partners, Clearhead, Clearhead Group LLC, ClientHouse GmbH, Cloud Sherpas, Cloud Sherpas (GA) LLC, Cloud Sherpas Japan G.K., Cloud Sherpas New Zealand Limited, Cloudeasier SAS, Cloudpoint Limited, Cloudsherpas Inc, Cloudworks, Cloudworks Consulting Services Inc, Cloudworks Technology LLC, Computer Research and Telecommunications LLC, Concrete Desenvolvimento de Sistemas Ltda, Concrete Solutions, Concrete Solutions Ltda, Context Information Security, Context Information Security LLC, Context Information Security Limited, CoreCompete LLC, CoreCompete Limited, CoreCompete Private Limited, Corliant Inc., Creative Drive LLC, Creative Drive US LLC, CreativeDrive, CreativeDrive Digital Content Services (Shenzhen) Co Ltd., CreativeDrive EMEA Limited, CreativeDrive Singapore Pte Ltd, CreativeDrive UK Group Limited, Cutting Edge Solutions Limited, Cygni AB, Cygni Norrsken AB, Cygni Stockholm AB, Cygni Syd AB, Cygni Vast AB, Cygni Ost AB, Cygni Ostersund AB, DAZ Systems Inc, DAZ Systems LLC, DAZSI Systems (India) Pvt. Limited, DI Futures Corporation, Data Essential SARL, Davies Consulting, DayNine Consulting, DayNine Consulting (New Zealand) Limited, DayNine Consulting LLC, Declarative Holdings LLC, Decora Marketplace LLC, Decorado Marketplace Ltda-EPP, Defense Point Security, Deja vu Security, Design Strategy and Research de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Designaffairs LLC, Digiplug S.A.S., Digital Results Group LLC, Double Digit Limitada, Double Digit Pty SA, Droga5, Droga5 LLC, Droga5 Studios LLC, Droga5 UK Limited, Duck Creek Technologies, ESR Labs, ESR Labs AG, EdenOne Solutions Limited, Edenhouse ERP Holdings Limited, Edenhouse Solutions Limited, Enaxis Consulting, Enaxis Consulting LP, End to End Analytics LLC, End-to-End Analytics, Endorphin Medici (M) Sdn Bhd, Energuia Web S.A., Energy Management Brokers Limited, EnergyQuote JHA, Enimbos, Enimbos Global Services S.L., Enkitec, Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions LLC, Enterprise System Partners, Enterprise System Partners B.V., Enterprise System Partners Bilisim Danismanlik Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Enterprise System Partners Global Corporation, Enterprise System Partners Limited, Enthusian Pty Ltd, Entropia, Entropia (M) Sdn Bhd, Entropia Holdings Pte Ltd, Entropia Intercraft Sdn Bhd, Epylon, Ergo, Espedia S.r.l., Ethica Consulting Group, Ethica Consulting S.p.A., Evopro Group, Exactside Limited, Experity, Exton Consulting, Exton Consulting Spain Strategy&Management S.L., Exton Germany GmbH, Exton International SAS, Exton Italia S.r.l., Exton SAS, FGM LLC, Fairway Technologies Inc, Farah BidCo Limited, Farah MidCo Limited, Farah Topco Limited, Filmproduction ApS, First Annapolis Consulting Inc., First Annapolis Consulting LLC, Fjord, Focus Group Europe, Formicary, Founders Intelligence, Fruendo S.r.l., FusionX, Future State Consulting LLC, FutureMove (Beijing) Automotive Technology Co. Ltd., FutureMove Automotive, FutureMove Automotive Co. Ltd., GRA Supply Chain Pty Ltd, Gagel Group S de R.L. de C.V., Gapso Servicos de Informatica Ltda, Gapso Servicos de Informatica Ltda., Genfour, George Group Consulting L.P., Gestalt LLC, Gevity, Gren utvikling AS, H.B. Maynard and Co. Inc., HRC Retail Advisory, Hagberg Consulting Group, Hahntel Ltda, Halo Partners LLC, Hamilton Holding Company S.A, Hangzhou Aiyunzhe Technology Co. Ltd., Happen, Happen GP Limited, Happen Limited, Headspring, Hjaltelin Stahl, Hjaltelin Stahl A/S, Hjaltelin Stahl K/S, Hytracc Consulting AS, Hytracc Consulting AS, Hytracc Consulting Malaysia Sdn Bhd, IBB Consulting, ICM.S S.r.l., IMJ Corp, IMJ Corporation, INSITUM, IQSP Consulting LLC, IT One Company Limited, ITBS Servicios Bancarios de Tecnologia de la Informacion SL, Icon Integration, Icon Integration (NZ) Limited, Icon Integration Pty Ltd, Imagine Broadband (USA) Limited, Imagine Broadband USA LLC, Imaginea Inc, Imaginea Technologies LLC, Industrie IT (Hong Kong) Ltd, Industrie IT (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Industrie IT Group Pty Ltd, Industrie IT Pty Ltd, Industrie&Co, Infinity Works Consulting Limited, Infinity Works Holdings Limited, Infinity Works Management Limited, Infinity Works Midco Limited, Informatica de Euskadi S.L., Innotec International EAD, Innotec International S.p. z.o.o., Innotec Marketing GmbH, Innotec Marketing International Ireland Limited, Innotec- Marketing Spain S.L, Insitum Consultoria Argentina SRL, Insitum Consultoria S.A. de C.V., International Biometric Group LLC, International Biometric Group UK Limited, Intrepid, Intrepid Futureworks Sdn Bhd, Intrigo Systems Inc, Intrigo Systems India Pvt. Limited, Intrigo Systems LLC, Inventor Technology Ltd, InvestTech, Investtech Systems Consulting LLC, ItSafer Continuity Services S.L., JKD Consulting LLC, Javelin Group, K Comms Group Limited, KSC Studio LLC, Kaper Communications Limited, Karma Communications Debtco Limited, Karma Communications Group Limited, Karma Communications Holdings Limited, Karmarama, Karmarama Comms Limited, Karmarama Limited, King James Group, Knowledge Rules Inc., Knowledgent, Knowledgent Group LLC, Kogentix, Kogentix LLC, Kogentix Limited, Kogentix Singapore Pte Ltd, Kogentix Technologies Private Limited, Kolle Rebbe, Kolle Rebbe GmbH, Kream Comms Limited, Kunstmaan, Kurt Salmon, Kurt Salmon Canada LTD, Kurt Salmon US LLC, LEXTA, LINKBYNET, LINKBYNET Indian Ocean (L.I.O) Ltd, LabAnswer, Lexta GmbH, Lexta UK Limited, Lien par le reseau Inc, Lien par le reseau infrastructures Inc, Lin Bo (Shanghai) Network Technology Co. Ltd., Link By Net SAS, Link By Net SRL, Link By Net Vietnam Company Limited, Linkbynet East Asia Ltd, Linkbynet Singapore Pte Ltd., Loud & Clear Creative Pty Ltd, Lumenup S.A., MAXIM Systems Inc., MCG US Holdings LLC, Mackevision CG Technology and Service (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Mackevision Japan Co. Ltd., Mackevision Korea Ltd, Mackevision LLC, Mackevision Medien Design, Mackevision Medien Design GmbH, Mackevision Singapore Pte Ltd, Mackevision UK Limited, Maglan, Maglan Information Defense Technologies Research Ltd, Maihiro, Matter, Maud Corp Pty Ltd, Maxamine International, Measuretek LLC, Media Audits Ltd., Media Hive, Mediasenz Pty Ltd., Meredith Specialty LLC, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing LLC, Meridian Informed Purchasing Ltd., Mindtribe, Mistral Wind Operations  Servicos Empresariais Unipessoal Lda., MobGen, Mortgage Cadence LLC, Mortgage Cadence an Accenture Company, Most Champion Ltd, Mudano, Mudano Limited, Myrtle Consulting Group LLC, N3, N3 (Dalian) Business Consulting Co. 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Ltd., Nashco Consulting, NaviSys Inc., Nell'Armonia Israel Ltd, Nell'Armonia SAS, Nell'Participation SAS, NellArmonia, Neo Metrics Analytics S.L., Neo Metrics Chile S.A., New Content, New Content Editora e Produtora Ltda, New Energy Group, News Imaging LLC, NewsPage, NewsPage (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, NewsPage Pte Ltd, Northstream, Novetta Holdings LLC, Novetta LLC, Novetta Solutions LLC, Novetta Topco LLC, OCTO Technology, OPS Rules Management Consultants, Octagon Research Solutions Inc., Octo Technology Pty Ltd, Octo Technology SA, Odgaard ApS, Olikka, Olikka Pty Ltd, Olympus Systems Corporation, Openmind, Openmind S.r..l., Openminded, Openminded SAS, Operaciones Accenture S.A. de C.V., OpusLine, Orbium, Orbium AG, Orbium Consulting Limited, Orbium Inc., Orbium Ltd, Orbium Pte Ltd, Orbium Pty Ltd, Origin Digital, PCO Innovation, PLM Systems S.r.l, PRION GmbH, PT Accenture, PT Asta Catur Indra, PT Kogentix Teknologi Indonesia, PacificLink Group, Paja Finanssipalvelut Oy, Parker Fitzgerald Inc, Parker Fitzgerald International Limited, Parker Fitzgerald Limited, Parker Fitzgerald PTY Ltd, Parker Fitzgerald Services Limited, Parker Fitzgerald Solutions Limited, Pecaso Ltd., Pegasus Production A/S, Pegasus Production K/S, Phase One Consulting Group, Pillar Technology, Pollux, Pollux Automation Mexico S.A. de C.V., Pollux Canada Inc, Pollux S.A.S., Pollux USA LLC, Pragsis Bidoop, Pragsis Bidoop UK Limited, Pramati Technologies Europe Limited, Pramati Technologies Private Limited, Presence of IT Workforce Management North America LLC, PrimeQ, PrimeQ Australia Pty Ltd, PrimeQ Ltd, PrimeQ NZ Pty Limited, Procurian Inc., Prof. Homburg GmbH, Proquire LLC, PureApps Ltd., Qi Jie Beijing Information Technologies Co. Ltd., RBCP Fund 1-A Vapor Blocker LLC, RBCP Platform Vapor Blocker I LLC, REPL Consulting LLC, REPL Consulting Limited, REPL Digital Limited, REPL Group K.K., REPL Group Pty Ltd, REPL Group Worldwide Limited, REPL Pte Ltd, REPL Software Limited, REPL Technology Limited, Radiant Services LLC, Random Walk Computing Inc., Reactive Media Pty Ltd., Real Protect, Realworld OO Systems Ltd., Redcore, Redcore (New Zealand) Limited, Redcore Group Holdings Pty Ltd, Redcore Pty Ltd, Revolutionary Security, RiskControl, Root LLC, Rothco, Rothco Limited, S3 TV Technology Ltd., SALT Solutions GmbH, SEC Servizi, SOPIA Corp., Sagacious Consultants, Salt Solutions, Sandbox Studio LLC, Sapling Bidco Limited, Sapling Midco Limited, Sapling Topco Limited, Schlumberger Business Consulting, Seabury Aviation & Aerospace (UK) Limited, Seabury Consulting, Seabury Corporate Advisors LLC, Seabury Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Search Technologies BPO Inc, Search Technologies International LLC, Search Technologies LLC, Search Technologies Limited, Securiview SAS, Sentelis, Sentor Managed Secuirty Services AB, Servicios Tecnicos de Programacion Accenture S.C., Seven Seas Business Ventures LLC, Shackleton, Shackleton Chile S.A., Shackleton S.L.U., Shanghai Baiyue Advertising Co. Ltd., Shun Zhe Technology Development Co. Ltd., SigInt Technologies LLC, Silveo, Silveo Consulting India Private Limited, Simian Pty Ltd, SinnerSchrader, SinnerSchrader AG, SinnerSchrader Content GmbH, SinnerSchrader Deutschland GmbH, SinnerSchrader Praha s.r.o., Sirvart S.A., Sistemes Consulting S.L., Skylink SAS, Soltians Limited, Solutions IQ LLC, SolutionsIQ, SolutionsIQ India Consulting Services Private Limited, Somers Ventures Ireland Limited, Somers Ventures LLC, Spacelink SAS, Storm Digital, Structure Consulting Group LLC, Sutter Mills, Synership LLC, Systor AG, T.A. Cook, TXF LLC, Tambourine, TargetST8, Tech - Avanade Portugal Unipessoal Lda, Tecnilogica Ecosistemas S.A., Tecnilogica, The Brand Learning Partners Limited, The Callisto Integration Corporation, The Monkeys, The Monkeys Pty Ltd, The Myrtle Group, Total Logistics, Tquila, Trivadis, Trivadis AG, Trivadis Austria GmbH, Trivadis Denmark AS, Trivadis Germany GmbH, Trivadis Holding AG, Trivadis Partner AG, Trivadis Services AG, Trivadis Services SRL, Troop Studios Pty Ltd, VanBerlo, Vector Acquisition Company LLC, Vector Topco LLC, Verax Solutions, Vertical Retail Consulting (Shanghai) Ltd, Vertical Retail Consulting Ltd, Vivere Brasil Servicos e Solucoes SA, Vivere Brasil Solucoes De Credito Ltda., Wabion GmbH, WaveStrike LLC, White Cliffs Consulting LLC, Wire Stone, Wire Stone LLC, Wise Partners SAS, Wolox, Wolox Colombia S.A.S, Wolox LLC, Wolox Mexico S.R.L de C.V., Wolox S.A., Wolox SpA, Workforce Insight, Workforce Insight LLC, Yesler, Yesler LLC, Yesler Limited, Yesler Singapore Pte Ltd, Zag, Zag Australia Pty Ltd, Zag Limited, Zag USA LLC, Zebra Worldwide Australia Pty Ltd, Zebra Worldwide Group Limited, Zebra Worldwide Media Pty Ltd, Zenta, Zenta Global Philippines Inc, Zenta Mortgage Services LLC, Zenta Recoveries Inc, Zenta US Holdings Inc, Zestgroup, Zielpuls, Zielpuls (Shanghai) Co. 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continued from last week...

Organic and farm-to-table are both terms becoming very familiar in Vernon County. Organic Valley, organic farmers, Amish farmers and the farmers markets have brought attention to the concepts of fresh, whole and natural food. But even in todays climate, you still cant get some food as fresh as you could get it in Westby from Drex or Ed during the 1940s, 1950s or even the 1960s. Back then, which is not so long ago, fresh was a way of life, not just a concept.

On any given morning, Ed Storbakken would be up and at his grocery store on Main Street by 6:00 am. Deliveries were made by local farmers, bringing crates of as many as twelve dozen eggs at a time to the store, where they had to be candled. Yes, to do this you need a real, burning candle. The eggs were held up to the light of the flame to check for purity. Supposedly, this is an easy-to-learn task; maybe Sandy or Fred will teach a class for us some time!

When we grocery shop today, everything we purchase is prepackaged, like candy, bags of apples, and even meat, but many people in Westby can remember going into Storbakkens, Skundbergs or Jefsons to get a scoop of candy or peanuts poured into a brown paper bag  you remember those little ones. And meat was asked for by name. Mothers would order six pork chops and Drex would have to go to the back of the store and cut the meat off a big slab hanging in the walk-in cooler. Ed butchered chickens first thing every morning after farmers would bring them with the egg delivery. He would have several dressed as the first customers were arriving to get groceries for that days dinner. Noon was a time for the big meal of the day and you cant get much fresher than something butchered three hours before you preheat the oven.

Fresh also meant that the local ladies got blood from the meat locker when it was still warm, to make klub, or blood sausage, that was then sold in the local groceries. The creameries delivered butter and milk directly to your house. Many of the cold cuts were made behind the meat counter right in the grocery stores and even locally cut trees were sold from the store fronts during the Christmas season.

I was talking with Orville Clark awhile ago, about crops, cows and other farming things. When I asked him about BGH (bovine growth hormone), routine antibiotics, fertilizers and other enhancements, he was quick to answer, Never. He told me that those cows were his livelihood and he tried to always be respectful of that. It seems the Norwegian sensibility in the Westby area has been incorporating organic, fresh and local attitudes for a long time!

Email the Westby Area Historical Society at westbywihistory@gmail.com or leave a message at 608-634-4478 if you have a fresh and unique story to share. We always like to hear another point of view or learn something about Westbys history from our readers who want to help our mission to responsibly collect, preserve, promote and communicate the history, culture and heritage of the Westby, area for current and future generations.
Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the electric utility, banking, and renewable/sustainable infrastructure investment businesses in the state of Hawaii. It operates in three segments: Electric Utility, Bank, and Other. The Electric Utility segment engages in the production, purchase, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity in the islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, Lanai, and Molokai. Its renewable energy sources and potential sources include wind, solar, photovoltaic, geothermal, wave, hydroelectric, municipal waste, and other biofuels. This segment serves suburban communities, resorts, the United States armed forces installations, and agricultural operations. The Bank segment operates a community bank that offers banking and other financial services to consumers and businesses, including savings and checking accounts; and loans comprising residential and commercial real estate, residential mortgage, construction and development, multifamily residential and commercial real estate, consumer, and commercial loans. This segment operates 42 branches, including 29 branches in Oahu, 6 branches in Maui, 4 branches in Hawaii, 2 branches in Kauai, and 1 branch in Molokai. The Other segment invests in non-regulated renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure in the State of Hawaii. Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. was incorporated in 1891 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. operates as a branded consumer products company worldwide. It operates through three segments: Home and Personal Care; Global Pet Care; and Home and Garden. The Home and Personal Care segment provides home appliances under the Black & Decker, Russell Hobbs, George Foreman, Toastmaster, Juiceman, Farberware, and Breadman brands; and personal care products under the Remington and LumaBella brands. The Global Pet Care segment provides rawhide chewing, dog and cat clean-up and food, training, health and grooming, small animal food and care, and rawhide-free products under the 8IN1 (8-in-1), Dingo, Nature's Miracle, Wild Harvest, Littermaid, Jungle, Excel, FURminator, IAMS, Eukanuba, Healthy-Hide, DreamBone, SmartBones, ProSense, Perfect Coat, eCOTRITION, Birdola, Good Boy, Meowee!, Wildbird, and Wafcol brands. This segment also offers aquarium kits, stand-alone tanks, and aquatics equipment and consumables under the Tetra, Marineland, Whisper, Instant Ocean, GloFish, OmegaOne, and OmegaSea brands. The Home and Garden segment provides outdoor insect and weed control solutions, and animal repellents under the Spectracide, Garden Safe, Liquid Fence, and EcoLogic brands; household pest control solutions under the Hot Shot, Black Flag, Real-Kill, Ultra Kill, The Ant Trap, and Rid-A-Bug brand names; household surface cleaning, maintenance, and restoration products, including bottled liquids, mops, wipes, and markers under the Rejuvenate brand name; and personal-use pesticides and insect repellent products under the Cutter and Repel brands. The company sells its products through retailers, e-commerce and online retailers, wholesalers, and distributors. Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Middleton, Wisconsin.
Viroquas police department has a new K-9.

Robbie, a 4-year-old Belgian Malinois, is currently trained to detect narcotics, said the dogs handler and owner, Officer Brandon LaMere. The dog is slated to receive further training for additional duties, including suspect tracking and apprehension.

We have intentions of certifying him for apprehension work, but right now he is certified in what they call single purpose police work, and that is strictly searching for narcotics, LaMere told the Broadcaster.

Robbies breed is similar in appearance to German Shepherds, LaMere said, except Malinois are generally slightly smaller in stature. The Malionois breed also tends to be single-minded in nature, which lends itself to police work, said LaMere, a six-year veteran of the Viroqua police.

They kind of dont really have an off switch, LaMere said in reference to Belgian Malinois.

LaMere  who began training dogs before he became a law-enforcement officer  purchased Robbie as a pup from the Netherlands, he said, and training started immediately.

Youre developing their drives, LaMere said about K-9 training. All those natural drives, you have to enhance them to their full genetic potential, and then mold them into what you need them to be.

Viroqua Police Chief Daron Jefson said the new K-9 arrives at a time when street drugs  mainly methamphetamine and heroin  are on the rise in the city. Robbies heightened sense of smell will be utilized mainly for narcotics searches inside vehicles, the chief said.

Jefson reported that the citys officers see the drugs on a weekly, if not daily, basis.

Its becoming a problem, Jefson told the Broadcaster.

Jefson said its been eight years since the departments last K-9 was on duty. That dog was also trained to locate narcotics.

A nonprofit organization donated a bullet-and-stab-proof vest for Robbie to wear during patrol.

Donna Morgan, president and founder of Wisconsin Vest-A-Dog, said her organization has donated 463 K-9 vests to law-enforcement departments since 2005. Morgan, who works full-time as a psychologist, said she spearheaded the Janesville-based nonprofit after seeing a K-9 killed on television.

She was watching Americas Most Wanted and doing paperwork one Saturday night when she saw the video clip that would lead her to establish Wisconsin Vest-A-Dog.

I was inspired by seeing live footage of a police dog getting shot, Morgan, who owns a Golden Retriever, told the Broadcaster. It was gut-wrenching  And of course the handler is crying, the other officers (in the video) are crying, Im crying.

That same weekend, Morgan said she researched groups that were working to provide vests for K-9s. She realized there was a need, and Wisconsin Vest-A-Dog started that same year. The organizations staff currently consists of 10 volunteers, and are looking for more. Visit the organizations website to learn about volunteer opportunities.

Five vests have been donated to K-9s in Vernon County, Morgan said. Money for the vests  which cost around $1,300, she said  is secured through fundraising efforts.

We even pay for our own gas to go to (fundraising) events, Morgan told the Broadcaster. We just want to make sure that all the money goes to the dogs.

Morgan said there are more than 300 police K-9s in Wisconsin.
Bahrains Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning has announced plans to revamp the Umm Al Hassam harbour.



This follows directives from His Royal Highness the Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Khalifa Al Khalifa to accommodate peoples needs in a number of areas in the kingdom, and as a follow-up to Minister Engineer Essam bin Abdulla Khalafs last visit to the harbour, a statement said.



Works Affairs Undersecretary Engineer Ahmed Al Khayyat toured the harbour, accompanied by strategic projects director Engineer Mishal bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, roads projects and maintenance director Engineer Sayyed Bader Alawi and the acting director of fisheries Bassam Al Showaikh.



According to Al Khayyat, the project will increase the harbour's capacity, improve the available services and facilities, revamp the road leading to the harbour. The ministry will also look into the possibility of providing a glide for the boats and water and electricity connections. -TradeArabia News Service
Todays trade policy tweets:

(i) Nigerias chief trade negotiator, Ambassador Chiedu Osakwe, @ChieduOsakwe1: Tough negotiations at the CFTA, but the gains when concluded will be innumerable

(ii) Southern Africa Trade and Investment Hub, @SATrade_Invest: AGOA strategy in Botswana set for launch in Sept, Malawi and Zambia strategies on the same track for launch - US Amb Earl Miller

(iii) Charlie Robertson, @RencapMan: Across Africa only Mauritius and Botswana still have only investment grade sovereign debt ratings [Related: Bloomberg analysis]

SADC trade protocol: SADC gives Tanzania three years to boost local sugar production (Daily News)

SADC member states have granted Tanzania a three-year grace period to tax sugar imports from SADC states. Mr Mwijage said the country has been seeking the regional blocs approval to impose 25% import tax on sugar from SADC states, against the protocols provisions. As a SADC member, the country is supposed to allow products from its co-members to enter the domestic market tax-free. We have been asking SADC members to allow us to tax the imported sugar because in industrialisation agenda if we allow exempted sugar, our local industries will not grow, he clarified. The current annual demand of sugar stands at between 600,000 and 700,000 against the countrys production capacity of 302,000 tonnes. Tanzania therefore has been importing sugar from SADC countries to bridge the deficit. The minister was optimistic that within the given three years, the country will boost production because there is arable land for cultivation of sugarcane to produce two million tonnes.

Uganda: Support BUBU policy, trade minister tells Central Bank (Daily Monitor)

Trade Minister Amelia Kyambadde has asked Bank of Uganda Governor Emmanuel Mutebile to support some government policies such as Buy Uganda Build Uganda. Ms Kyambadde said: I am a bit disappointed - I think you need to interest yourselves with some of the policies by government. I would like the Governor to revise this issue. BoU is supposed to be the champion of the economy and support us. Ms Kyambadde was responding to the Governors speech (pdf) read for him by deputy director research David Sajjabi, in which he, for the second time, criticised the BUBU policy saying it will jeopardise Ugandas export trade with her neighbouring states in the EAC. What you should know is that all other partner states have restrictive public procurement policies that restrict local content globally. Even if youre the best you will not wake up and compete, she explained.

Luke Patey: Whatever happened to East Africas oil boom? (African Arguments)

Over a decade on from the initial discoveries, East Africas oil is still yet to deliver on its promises. There have been many factors behind the delays, but many have been caused by domestic and regional politics, both of which will continue to be central in determining the success of new growth opportunities.

Kenya lifts poultry ban for 3 large Ugandan export firms (Daily Nation)

Kenya has partially lifted the ban on the products from the neighbouring country after an eight-month embargo that saw chicken and eggs locked out of the Sh500m market following the outbreak of avian influenza disease. The move, which will be strictly monitored by authorities for safety purposes, will see three firms approved by the Ministry of Agriculture - having met the required safety conditions - export the products. The three are Hudani Manji Holdings-Rainbow - a wholesale and retail supplier in Uganda, South Sudan, Congo, and Rwanda - SR Afrochick and Kukuchic.

Malawis sugar exports to United States increase (Nyasa Times)

US Ambassador to Malawi, Virginia Palmer, has announced that Malawis country-specific allocation of the tariff-rate quota for raw cane sugar imports to the US has increased by 45% in fiscal year 2017. Sugar is Malawis third largest export to the US, following tobacco and tea. Other significant exports include coffee, macadamia nuts, and apparel. Since 2013, sugar exports from Malawi to the US have more than tripled, accounting for 14% of Malawis total exports to the United States. Malawi exported $75.6m worth of goods to the US in 2016, while it imported $46.6m from the US.

Mozambique: Government introduces new border policy (Club of Mozambique)

The government yesterday approved a resolution establishing the basic principles for the integrated management of Mozambiques terrestrial, marine and aerial borders. The new border policy, the implementation of which instrument will require changes in the coordination scheme between the different institutions currently engaged in border management, was approved by the 29th ordinary session of the Council of Ministers. According to Ana Comoana, spokeswoman for the session, the document is aimed at fine-tuning integrated inter-sectoral border management and strengthening the defence of national sovereignty.

Kenya and Ghana: models of intra-Africa trade (Graphic)

In my opinion, what is required to make intra-Africa trade a reality is a deliberate action by private sector players that seek to ensure these bi-lateral agreements do not remain documents collecting dust in our embassies government offices. The Biennial Kenya Trade Expo, Ghana, has taken the initiative to fast-track the benefits of these agreements by giving businessmen on both sides of the Rift Valley a platform to explore opportunities in each country. The forthcoming Kenya Trade Expo in Ghana, in November 2017 will, therefore, go a long way to enhance bilateral trade ties between both countries, offering participants an opportunity to promote their businesses to the right target audience in Ghana and Kenya. They will be able to better understand business treaties, policies and procedures, while stimulating intra-African conversations around joint ventures and partnerships for economic prosperity. [The author, Leah Nduati Lee, is the co-founder of the Kenya Trade Expo Ghana], [Botswana-Kenya: Businesses urged to utilise trade agreements]

Ghana, Equatorial Guinea must help make AU regional market - Akufo-Addo (Graphic)

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has underscored the need for Ghana and Equatorial Guinea to be at the forefront in the process that will convert the AU into a true continental market. President Akufo-Addo said he was hopeful that his visit to Malabo would restart the formal sessions of the Permanent Joint Commission of Co-operation between the two countries, since the last meeting was held in Accra in 2010. He said he was keen to revive the air services agreement and re-establish direct flights between Accra and Malabo. His government, he added, had also committed itself to expanding the Tema Port into a trans-shipment hub to improve sea trade within Africa.

Nigeria: Capital importation during Q2 2017 (Bureau of Statistics)

The total value of capital imported into Nigeria in the second quarter of 2017 was estimated to be $1,792.3 million. This figure was $884.1m more than the figure recorded in q1 2017, a growth of 95.02%. Year on year, this was an increase of 43.6% from the $1,042.2 million recorded in q2 of 2016. A month-on-month analysis of capital importation in the second quarter shows that the month of May recorded the highest of amount of capital importation ($616.5m), followed by June ($612.6m) and May ($563.3m). The main driver of the quarterly growth in capital importation in the second quarter was Portfolio Investments, which increased by 145.7%, followed by Other Investments, which grew by 95.02%, and then Foreign Direct Investment, which increased by 29.8% over the previous quarter.

Poverty trends in South Africa (StatsSA)

According to new data released by Stats SA, poverty is on the rise in South Africa. The latest Poverty trends in South Africa report (pdf) shows that, despite the general decline in poverty between 2006 and 2011, poverty levels in South Africa rose in 2015. More than half of South Africans were poor in 2015, with the poverty headcount increasing to 55,5% from a series low of 53,2% in 2011. The figures are calculated using the upper-bound poverty line of R992 per person per month in 2015 prices. This translates into over 30,4 million South Africans living in poverty in 2015.

Power Africa Annual Report: Fourth year in review

Since its inception, Power Africa has facilitated the financial close of 80 power transactions valued at more than $14.5 billion, and expected to generate more than 7,200 MW of power in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, Power Africa has facilitated more than 10 million electrical connections, bringing electricity to more than 50 million people. The report also highlights the role of women in Africas power sector, chronicling the contributions of select members of Power Africas Women in African Power network.

Tanzania: Jica support hits Sh75 trillion in five years (The Citizen)

In the last five years, Japans assistance to Tanzania through the Japan International Cooperation has reached a total of Sh74.93 trillion. This was revealed as the minister for Finance and Planning, Dr Philip Mpango, held talks with the agencys president Shinichi Kitaoka. The cash substantially includes a 76.0% subsidy, concessional loans of 3.8% and 20.1% technical support. Dr Mpango asked the Jica president to increase funding in the projects on electricity, infrastructure, health, agriculture and fisheries so as to help support the pace of the government in pushing for an industry-driven economy.

India agrees to discuss its investment policy in BRICS (Economic Times)

In a move to boost investment in the BRICS bloc, New Delhi has agreed to discuss issues in investment policymaking. This marks an important shift in the countrys stand, say experts. The issues of easing investment guidelines and bringing transparency in investment policy fall in the ambit of investment facilitation, which India has always said to be a matter of domestic policy. The decision was made earlier this month at the seventh meeting of BRICS trade ministers in Shanghai, where the bloc adopted Outlines for BRICS investment facilitation. Indias move to open up in this area is important because Russia, Brazil and China have already made separate proposals in the WTO for easing investment rules. The terms of the agreement are on a best endeavour basis. It is nonbinding and voluntary, the official said.

7th meeting of BRICS Trade Ministers: download the six annexes to the joint statement [Terms of reference of BRICS Model E-Port Network; Outlines for BRICS investment facilitation; BRICS trade in services cooperation roadmap; BRICS e-commerce cooperation initiative; BRICS IPR cooperation guidelines; Framework on strengthening the economic and technical cooperation for BRICS countries]
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The Berggruen Institute, a think tank founded by billionaire investor Nicolas Berggruen, has revealed renderings for its forthcoming campus in the Santa Monica Mountains.

The 447-acre development is set just north of the Getty Center on a hilltop near the Mountain Gate Country Club overlooking the 405 freeway. The project, designed by architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron is scheduled to open in five years "if we dont run into too much trouble, Berggruen told the Los Angeles Times.

Berggruen is the son of German art collector Heinz Berggruen, and the founder and president of Berggruen Holdingsa multinational investment firm. In 2010, Berggruen founded the Berggruen Institute as a non-partisan think tank with the aim of developing ideas to shape social, economic, and political institutions. In May 2016, the institute announced its plans to open a new campus on the ridge. Berggruen described the campus to Bloomberg as a "'secular monastery for scholars to live, work and host meetings on topics ranging from philosophy to rethinking government, notes Curbed LA.

According to a press release, a majority of the site's acreage will remain untouched wilderness, while the built campus will consist of three main sections: the Institute Building, Scholar Village, and the Chairman's Residence.

On the northern edge of the ridge, the 26,000-square-foot Chairman's Residence will house a private residence for Berggruen and his family. Immediately south is the 15-unit Scholar Village. "Fellows with families as well as short-term visiting scholars live here in single-story courtyard buildings," the release continues. Finally, a 137,000-square-foot structure, referred to as the Frame, will be lifted 12 feet above the ground, and comprise the majority of the Institute Building. "In line with monastery tradition, the majority of the fellows study, convene, share meals and sleep within the Institute Building," adds the release. The Frame will surround a central courtyard and two spheresthe larger of the two spheres will house a 250-seat lecture hall, while the smaller sphere will hold a water reservoir system.

Jacques Herzog, co-founder of Herzog & de Meuron, described the aesthetic of the campus as basic, very archaic, using mostly concrete and untreated wood, notes the Times. We want to make a contribution to a sustainable way of building," he continued. "This place is very specific to Los Angeles, in the good sense but also in a not-so-good onelacking water, and all these things.

Earlier this year, the Berggruen Institute announced a satellite office set to open in the next two years along Seventh Street near MacArthur Park.

What were building in the mountains is a fairly quiet place, Berggruen told the Times. We wanted another location that will be better for public engagement."
From coast to coast, warmer weather is causing a new Baby Boom, rat-style. The impact could be dramatic.

Earlier this month, New Yorkers were greeted with a cheery parade of news reports about wildlife in the city. The headlines went like this: "Rats Are Jumping Into Baby Strollers In Upper West Side Parks" and "New Yorkers Report 'Brazen' Rats Leaping Into Strollers For Snacks." Its one thing to see the scampering rodents scurrying from garbage cans and sleuthing the subway tracks; but hopping into baby prams to purloin Cheerios and Goldfish? Just, no.

Although New Yorkers think their city is pretty special, as far as rats with moxie go, were not alone. (Even if our rats do have their very own Wikipedia page.) Emily Atkin sums it up for the New Republic with this headline: "America Is on the Verge of Ratpocalypse." With record-breaking temperatures fueling the proliferation of rats, public health systems and the economy in general are being hit hard. Not to mention no shortage of toddlers being permanently traumatized by a rat in the lap.

Rat expert Bobby Corrigan says it is cause for alarm. I travel all over the world with this animal, and the amount of complaints and feedback and questions I hear right now are all, Weve never seen rats in the city like this before, he says. Theyre all expressing the same concern: Our rat problem is worse than ever.

Washington D.C. (home of human-baby-sized rats, yay!), Houston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston and San Francisco are all seeing significant spikes in rat populations. Atkin writes:

Its no surprise that rats thrive in cities, where humans provide an abundance of food and shelter. But experts now agree that the weather is playing a role in these recent increases. Extreme summer heat and this past winters mild temperatures have created urban rat utopias.



The rat experts seem to agree that shorter, warmer winters bring more rats; and last winter was the warmest one on record in America.

Breeding usually slows down during the winter months, Corrigan says. But with warmer winters, They have an edge of squeezing out one more litter, one more half litter.

Whats that mean for cities brimming with rats? Atkin notes:

One more litter or half litter makes a serious difference when a population boom is not only a nuisance, but a public health and economic crisis. Rats breed like rabbits; as this alarming Rentokil graphic shows, two rats in an ideal environment can turn into 482 million rats over a period of three years. Urban rats caused $19 billion worth of economic damage in the year 2000, partially due to the fact that they eat away at buildings and other infrastructure. Imagine how much theyre costing now.



Plus: Diseases. Rats in New York City not only carry pizza, but carry E. coli, salmonella, leptospirosis, and Seoul hantavirus (complete with Ebola-like hemorrhagic fever) as well. Meanwhile, a Columbia University and Cornell University study found that city rats are infested with fleas, lice, and mites that carry bacteria that can cause disease in humans, including bubonic plague, typhus, and spotted fever.

Atkin goes into detail about the federal government coming to the rescue  or, more precisely, the federal government not coming to the rescue. Presently there is not enough funding to tackle this potential health catastrophe on the individual, local, state or federal level. New York Citys staggeringly large $32 million program to kill rodents would reduce rat populations in the citys most infested areas only by 70 percent, she writes.

Some federal assistance could go a long way in helping to lessen the damage. "Officials at the CDC may not be paying much attention now, but they should be," Atkin notes, "if only because the public health cost of rat infestations has never been fully studied."

But right now federal focus seems more keen on finding money for things like building big impossible walls than fighting a potential rat epidemic. (Now maybe if we could build walls around parks on the Upper West Side, we could at least save on years of therapy bills for the toddler set?) In the meantime, beware the city rats. Pet rats are great, rats in the wild doing their rat things are great, but disease-ridden city rats that are as in-your-face as city humans are best left alone.

Read Atkins whole rat mess here.
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- The government has reinstated Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho's security

- This comes after it had withdrawn his security 8 months ago in a move that was viewed as clipping his horns due to constant clash with the government

Mombasa governor on a second term Hassan Joho can now breathe a sigh of relief after his security detail was fully reinstated, 8 months after it was controversially withdrawn by the government.

His bodyguards were reinstated soon after it was confirmed that Joho would be Mombasa governor for a second term.

Hassan Joho during his inauguration. PHOTO: HassanJoho/Facebook

READ ALSO: Presidential candidate seeks chance to defend Uhurus win at Supreme Court

During his inauguration, Hassan Joho could be seen surrounded by a number of bodyguards in black suits  an indication that he was fully recognized as governor with his own set of security.

The move comes 8 months after a tussle between Joho and Uhuru Kenyatta saw his security withdrawn.

Hassan Joho has had his security detail reinstated after 8 months. PHOTO: Facebook.com/HassanJoho

READ ALSO: I got into Parliament richer, now I'm broke 24/7 -Millie Odhiambo speaks on MPs pay cut

At the time, his five bodyguards were withdrawn and the outspoken governor apparently stormed Coast Regional Commandant Francis Wanjohis office demanding an explanation to the move.

The government soon after the drama , attempted to reinstate the security detail, a move which an angry Joho vehemently decline in January.

They wanted to put illegal arms and contraband in my house and to spy on me all the time and give the government Intel but I thank God I knew this in advance, Joho had said at the time.

Have anything to add to this article or suggestions? Share with us on news@tuko.co.ke

Supreme court battle looms, NASA supporters speak:

Source: TUKO.co.ke
- The government has finally addressed a petition calling for cessation along tribal lines by NASA's strategist

- Government Spokesman Eric Kiraithe asked the aggrieved politicians to move to a different country if they are uncomfortable with Kenya

- Economist David Ndii posted on social media a petition calling for cessation along tribal lines claiming the 2017 polls were marred with massive rigging

The government has finally responded to outspoken NASA strategist David Ndii after he sensationally claimed that opposition would call for mass action.

Government spokesman Eric Kirathie has now dismissed Ndiis sentiments adding that Ndii and the NASA brigade should as well move out of the country if they were not content with a Jubilee administration.

As far as entitlement of your own ideas are concerned, you might as well move to Somalia, because that is where there are as many states are there are aspirants, He spoke during a press briefing on Thursday, August 24.

Government Spokesman Eric Kirathie: FILE

READ ALSO: Government finally reinstates Hassan Joho's security after 8 months

He further urged the youth not to be swayed in what he termed as divisive politics by some leaders.

David Ndii: FILE

READ ALSO: NASA's top strategist breaks silence on his rumoured arrest after calling for mass action

His remarks came at the back of an outrageous interview by David Ndii on Tuesday, August 22.

National Super Alliance's strategist, David Ndii, went on national television and said the opposition will call for mass action because Kenya cannot be ruled by political dictators.

According to Ndii, the move will come if the Supreme Court does not reach a ruling in favour of NASA in the presidential election petition.

READ ALSO: Where is your daughter Rosemary? City Pastor bashes Raila

Speaking during a live NTV interview, Ndii said the protests will be held as a way of showing disapproval for political dictatorship.

"We have been calling for mass action since 1990, and we will not stop it We will call for mass action, yes we will go for mass action. We will not live in a political dictatorship. We are in the Supreme Court to just show the world what happened during elections, Ndii sensationally claimed in an interview with Larry Madowo.

A file photo of David Ndii: Courtesy

READ ALSO: Kiambu Women Rep Gathoni wa Muchomba apologises hours after demanding fat salary

His remarks were met by mass criticism from Kenyans online who felt that such sentiments should not be allowed on national TV.

The future of the country as far as Presidency is concerned is currently in the balance as the Supreme Court is set to make a final ruling on the petition brought forth against the Presidential results.

Have anything to add to this article or suggestions? Share with us on news@tuko.co.ke

Supreme court battle looms, NASA supporters speak

Source: TUKO.co.ke
The Airports Authority has successfully carried out a simulation of a crash landing at Piarco.
Russian-supported militants have attacked Ukrainian army positions 18 times over the past 24 hours, the press center of the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) headquarters has reported.

"The past day in the ATO zone did not end calmly. The activity of the Russian-occupation groups was minimal before 19.00, but in the evening the militants began to shell our positions as usual... In general, illegal armed groups have violated the ceasefire 18 times in the past 24 hours. One Ukrainian defender was wounded, and one sustained a combat trauma," reads the report.

In the Donetsk sector, Ukrainian positions came under enemy fire near Zaitseve and the Butivka coal mine. At about 23.00, criminals fired small arms on the houses of civilians in Mayorsk for almost an hour.

In the Luhansk sector, at the end of the day the enemy opened fire twice from 82-millimeter mortars near Novooleksandrivka. As a result, one Ukrainian soldier was wounded. The militants also used grenade launchers close to the villages of Katerynivka and Krymske.

In the Azov Sea sector, bandits fired at Ukrainian strong points on the outskirts of Pavlopil, Shyrokyne and Lebedynske.

Most armed provocations by the enemy were suppressed with targeted fire, using the weapons not banned by the Minsk agreements.

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The United States has not yet made a formal decision on providing Ukraine with lethal weapons, State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert has said.

She stated this at a briefing in Washington on Wednesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"[Defense] Secretary [James] Mattis is in Ukraine. In terms of the weapons program, there have been no decisions made. We're not going to rule it in; we're not going to rule that out right now," Nauert said.

Ukraine has repeatedly submitted the lists of weapons it needs to individual countries and organizations. First and foremost, the issue concerns anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems.

There is no formal ban on the supply of lethal weapons to Ukraine. The embargo on arms deliveries was imposed in 2013 to prevent the dispersal of demonstrations, but the ban was later lifted. However, Ukraine still cannot get lethal weapons or even industrial equipment to increase the technological level of the defense industry.

As Ukrinform reported, a new impetus to bilateral cooperation between Ukraine and the United States was given after a visit by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to the United States on June 19-21, 2017.

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About 4,500 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, the State Border Service, and employees of the National Police of Ukraine took part in celebrations marking the 26th anniversary of Ukraine's independence. A march was attended by about 3,100 people and 500 members of military bands.

A group of flag bearers in new ceremonial dress appeared for the first time with the flag of the First Ukrainian Cossack Regiment named after Bohdan Khmelnytsky, who participated in a parade on Khreshchatyk Street in 1917. The military flag of the Third Iron Rifle Division of the Ukrainian People's Army was also carried during the parade.

The military parade was attended by ten units from different countries (Britain, Georgia, Canada, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, the United States, Latvia, Romania, and Estonia), nine of which are members of the North Atlantic Alliance. Foreign partners, representatives of defense agencies and 11 delegations from the defense ministries of the partner countries (Georgia, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Turkey, Montenegro, Estonia, the United States, and Britain) have been invited to the festivities.

The combined brass band performed a Zaporizhian March for solemn military events, written by composer Mykola Lysenko and used by the Army of the Ukrainian People's Republic.
Two Ukrainian servicemen have been wounded as a result of hostilities in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone in Donbas over the past 24 hours.

Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman for ATO, Colonel Oleksandr Motuzianyk, said this at a briefing on Thursday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Fortunately, no Ukrainian soldier has been killed as a result of hostilities over the past 24 hours, but two servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have sustained wounds," he said.

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The peaceful political and diplomatic way of settling the situation in Donbas remains a priority for Ukraine, President Petro Poroshenko has said.

He stated this during a military parade on Independence Square in Kyiv on August 24, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"We still set as a priority the peaceful diplomatic, political and legal way of returning Donbas and Crimea [to Ukraine]. I am sure of our allies, and extremely symbolic to us is the participation in this parade of the chiefs of defense ministries and servicemen of the armed forces of the United Kingdom, Georgia, Estonia, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, and the United States," Poroshenko said.

He noted that the Ukrainian army is now in a better condition than it was before. However, there is a lot of work to be done to bring it closer to NATO standards, he added.

"Ukraine is ready to rebuff an aggressor and his attempt to take the offensive," Poroshenko said.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping has said that strategic partnership between China and Ukraine has achieved positive results in recent years.

The Chinese leader said this in a letter of congratulations to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on the occasion of the 26th anniversary of Ukraine's independence, the press service of the head of state reports.

"In recent years, the Chinese-Ukrainian relations of strategic partnership have maintained stable development, while cooperation of both sides in all spheres has achieved a number of positive results," reads the statement.

Xi noted the success of a meeting between the two countries' leaders as part of the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 17, 2017, which gave an additional impetus to the strengthening of bilateral relations.

"I pay great attention to the development of Ukrainian-Chinese relations and am ready, along with you, taking advantage of the favorable occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, to promote further the strengthening of political mutual trust and traditional friendship in order to promote cooperation in all spheres and achieve new results," the Chinese leader said.

Xi wished Ukraine wealth and prosperity, as well as peace and happiness to the Ukrainian people.

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The United States will continue to support Ukraine and insist on restoring its territorial integrity, U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis has said.

He stated this after a meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Kyiv on Thursday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

Mattis said that the United States undertakes to assist Ukrainians in their efforts to protect their country.

He recalled a statement by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that the United States would insist on restoring Ukraine's territorial integrity and guaranteeing the security of all Ukrainian citizens.

He said that the United States had assumed commitments on diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict.

According to Mattis, U.S. allies will continue to exert pressure on Russia, and such pressure should be imposed so that Moscow complies with the Minsk accords, as well as a number of other international agreements.

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LILONGWE, Malawi, 23 August 2017  As the drone buzzed over Thipa village in rural Malawi, young and old people alike applauded in amazement. The community demonstration came as the Government of Malawi and UNICEF launched an air corridor to test the use of drones for humanitarian purposes  the first in Africa and one of the first globally with a focus on humanitarian and development use.



The corridor is designed to provide a controlled platform for the private sector, universities and other partners to explore how drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), can help deliver services that benefit communities and schools.



The goal? Help the poorest and hardest to reach families in Malawi. The choice of location for the corridor will allow companies to test drones in a rural setting with a variety of landscape and several remote areas, where health clinics and schools struggle with transportation and mobile reception.



Earlier this year, UNICEF deployed drones to support the Government of Malawis response to floods. UAV flights went out to provide aerial footage to help assess the needs of affected families. UNICEF is also exploring the potential for drones to be used to support immediate search and rescue efforts.


Rights group Amnesty International says thousands of civilians are trapped in the northern Syrian town of Raqqa, in what it calls a "deadly labyrinth" in the line of fire from all sides  coalition forces as well as Islamic State (IS) fighters.

Amnesty released a report Thursday saying hundreds of civilians have been killed or injured since June, when an offensive began to recapture the IS stronghold.

The United Nations said as many as 50,000 displaced persons may be in Raqqa, many sheltering in the city center or other areas controlled by IS, where they may be used as human shields by IS fighters.

Amnesty said one resident described how a dozen shells struck a residential area in Daraiya on June 10, killing at least a dozen people ranging in age from infant to elderly.

"The shells struck one house after another," Amnesty quoted her as saying. "It was indescribable. It was like the end of the world  the noise, people screaming."

Escape by water

Amnesty noted that coalition forces present a danger to civilians on boats crossing the Euphrates River, one of the only viable routes for civilians trying to escape Raqqa.

A U.S. coalition commander, Stephen Townsend, told The New York Times in July that his forces "shoot every boat we find."

The report said coalition forces dropped pamphlets in March, warning civilians not to use ferries and boats to escape because of the danger of airstrikes.

In addition to dangers from coalition forces, IS forces have been using tactics to keep civilians in Raqqa to serve as human shields. Amnesty said IS fighters have been using landmines and booby traps at exit points of the city, and checkpoints around the city, to restrict movement.

Residents say they have little if any food, electricity or medical care. They also have little power against the militants who control the city.

Trouble to the south

Amnesty's report also noted that villagers south of the Euphrates River have been trying to survive against an onslaught by Russian-backed Syrian forces.

Eighteen civilians were reported killed in the area in July after what Amnesty called "indiscriminate airstrikes" that may have been the result of cluster bombs, which are banned internationally.

Amnesty said atrocities committed by IS notwithstanding, all parties to the Syrian conflict have a responsibility to abide by international legal standards for warfare and civilian protection.

"Those besieged in Raqqa face horrific brutality at the hands of IS  of that there is no doubt," said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty senior crisis response adviser, who led the investigation leading to the report.

"But violations by IS do not lessen the international legal obligations of other warring parties to protect civilians. This includes selecting lawful targets, avoiding indiscriminate or disproportionate strikes, and taking all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians," Rovera said.
Amazon.com said on Thursday it will cut prices on a range of popular goods as it completes its acquisition of Whole Foods Market, sending shares of rival grocers tumbling over fears of even more brutal market share battles.

Amazon's $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods, which won antitrust approval from U.S. regulators on Wednesday, has been a shadow hanging over an ailing brick-and-mortar retail sector unsure of how to respond to the world's biggest online retailer.

Shares in Kroger and Sprouts Farmers Market each shed around 7 percent of their value in after-hours trade, while Walmart Stores stock was down almost 2 percent.

The price cut on selected in-store goods will start Monday.

Amazon also said that it will start selling Whole Foods brand products on its website, a move that sent down shares of packaged food sellers such as Kellogg and General Mills down roughly 3 percent.

"There was never any doubt that Amazon would lower prices, and even offer further discounts in-store to Prime members," Baird Equity Research analyst Colin Sebastian said.

Amazon said starting Monday it will cut prices on Whole Trade bananas, organic avocados, organic large brown eggs, organic farmed salmon and tilapia, organic baby kale and baby lettuce, some apples, butter, and other products.

"They will lower prices on consequential items to drive traffic and sales but not do a whole store price reduction which could really damage gross margin and potentially wipe out operating margin," said Roger Davidson, a former executive at Walmart, Whole Foods and Supervalu and current president of consultancy firm Oakton Advisory Group LLC.

"It does not look like they will go kamikaze on pricing," said Davidson.

Scott Mushkin, who covers grocery stores at Wolfe Research, recently said Whole Foods, on average, can be 15 percent to 20 percent higher than some rival grocers and is as much as 25 percent more expensive at the extreme.

Lowering prices could help the companies stem the defections by price-sensitive Whole Foods shoppers and bring in new consumers who can then be urged to visit Amazon.

"It's ultimately a nice land grab" as well as a way to get those customers "thinking about buying healthy food from Amazon," said Bill Bishop of retail consultancy Brick Meets Click.

But the move could come with a high price tag.

"In some cases grocery retailers have had to invest between $500 million to $1 billion in order to reduce prices to a level that retained customers and resulted in a net increase in customers," said Brittain Ladd, who until earlier this year was a senior manager working to roll out AmazonFresh, Amazon's grocery delivery service, globally.

"Amazon is more focused on driving volume and improving service at the expense of profit margins. Long-term, this strategy works because the absolute profit dollars can still be significant," Sebastian said.

Amazon said its Prime members will eventually become part of Whole Foods Market's customer rewards program.

Whole Foods already has rolled out a loyalty program at its smaller, lower-priced 365 by Whole Foods chain, which offers members 10 percent off more than 100 items in the store.

Amazon said John Mackey will remain chief executive of Whole Foods and the company will operate as a subsidiary and continue to be headquartered in Austin, Texas.
Thousands of civilians trapped in Raqqa, in northern Syria, are under an increasing risk of death because of attacks from all sides as the battle for the Islamic State's self-proclaimed capital enters its final stages, Amnesty International says in a new report.

The Islamic State (IS) is known to have used civilians as human shields and to have shot and killed Raqqa residents trying to flee the city. But the U.S.-led coalition, alongside the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian regime, supported by Russian warplanes, have been responsible for many causalities in the deadly labyrinth of being fired upon from all sides in the city, Amnesty International said in a report issued Thursday.

Things will only get more dangerous as the battle reaches its final stages in the city center, Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International's senior crisis response adviser, told VOA. More can and must be done to preserve the lives of civilians trapped in the conflict and to facilitate their safe passage away from the battleground.

Civilian casualties

Amnesty's account comes as Syrian monitoring groups continue to report civilian casualties in Raqqa's populated neighborhoods after intense coalition airstrikes.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Monday said coalition airstrikes in the city killed at least 42 civilians, including 19 children and 12 women.

The U.S.-led coalition has neither denied nor confirmed the rights group's claims.



The U.S.-backed SDF group has made significant gains against IS militants as the fighting reaches the more densely populated neighborhoods of the terror group's Syrian stronghold.

The U.S.-led coalition estimates there are about 2,500 IS fighters who still control about 45 percent of the city.

Meanwhile, the Syrian government forces, which receive air support from Russia, are pushing against the extremists in the countryside south of the city.



It is unknown how many civilians remain trapped in Raqqa and the southern countryside, but the United Nations estimated 25,000.

IS snipers and booby traps

The 33-page report, released by Amnesty International on Thursday, said those civilians will face IS booby traps and snipers if they try to flee.

Meanwhile, civilians risk a constant barrage of artillery strikes and airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition forces fighting alongside SDF if they remain in the city.



Outside Raqqa, in an area south of the Euphrates River, Syrian government forces and Russian warplanes have been launching indiscriminate air bombardments against IS-controlled towns and villages, including using internationally banned cluster bombs, the report added.

The organization urged warring parties to prioritize protecting civilians and creating safe corridors for them to flee. It urged the U.S. and other anti-IS coalition members to be more transparent about information on their airstrikes and review the effectiveness of their civilian casualty prevention and mitigation processes.

The ones we hope will listen and take measures to protect civilians are the coalition forces, Rovera told VOA. They have the means to do that.

US-led coalition stance

The coalition has not denied reports about casualties that result from airstrikes, but it has said protecting civilians has been its priority in fighting in Raqqa and other areas across Syria and Iraq.

British Army Maj. Gen. Rupert Jones, the deputy commander for the U.S.-led coalition, told reporters Wednesday that coalition jets go to "extraordinary lengths" to minimize civilian casualties when conducting airstrikes.

We regret civilian casualties enormously, but the people who focus on civilian casualties more than anybody are the West, Jones said during a teleconference briefing from Baghdad.

He added that civilians in those areas were more accepting of the causalities caused by the coalition airstrikes and bombardment from its allied militant groups because they understand sacrifices that are required to achieve your freedom.

But this is a war. It's not a war of our choosing. ... But if you want to liberate your towns and cities, it comes at a price. Our job is to ensure that price is as small as possible, Jones added.

Some casualties inevitable



Rovera, of Amnesty International, told VOA that some of the casualties in populated areas were inevitable, but she said that the U.S.-led coalition needed to be more accurate in targeting IS positions.

She said most of civilian casualties from the U.S.-led coalition were because the ammunition being used was not precise enough and had wide-impact radii.



These things can be addressed. They can be fixed, she said.
The worlds largest non-government hospital ship is docked in Cameroons commercial capital, Douala, where local health care gaps remain enormous.

Medical staff and volunteers from around the world plan to provide nearly 3,000 free surgeries aboard the Africa Mercy over the next 10 months.



Bernadette Aboudjio traveled 600 kilometers from eastern Cameroon with her two children who suffer from club foot.

She said she brought them here because she has been told that they will get free operations. She said she is very grateful because she does not have the money to take the children to the hospital.

Club foot is just one of many ailments for which little surgical treatment is available in Cameroon.

The Ministry of Health reports that the country has just 4,200 medical doctors for a population of 23 million, and only about half are practicing.

One ambulance recently rushed to the Yaounde general hospital last month to find hundreds of patients suffering from kidney defects blocking the hospital entrance. They said they had not received treatment for two months. Their leader, Aloise Ovidi, said almost all equipment was broken.

He said the government has not been fulfilling its promises even though it is aware 32 people living with kidney defects had died in less than two months.

He said others can no longer walk because only eight of the 17 dialysis machines at the general hospital in Yaounde are functioning. He said instead of the four hours of treatment, patients are receiving just three.

Outside the two main cities of Yaounde and Douala, quality medical care is even harder to find. The Ministry of Health says the majority of the population relies instead of traditional healers.

Cameroons health minister, Andre Mama Fouda, told VOA only seven percent of the national budget is allocated for health care.

He said raising that allocation to 15 percent would enable the country to develop the health sector, including infrastructure and surgical equipment. He said many more people should have access to health care but unfortunately the country has many other development priorities and only limited resources.

Back in the waters off Douala, flags fly on the Africa Mercy, the gigantic white vessel housing Mercy Ships' mobile hospital. The flags represent some of the 40 nationalities of the medical staff and volunteers on board.

Warie Blackburn is the managing director of Mercy Ships. The U.S.-based charity has operated hospital ships in developing nations since 1978.

About 3,000 people from Cameroon we are hoping to help surgically. In addition, we are also planning to help with the training of the doctors, the nurses and other health professionals," said Blackburn.

She said they have selected the patients on the basis of need, focusing on surgeries that cannot be performed in local hospitals for lack of equipment and qualified staff. Such surgeries include tumor removal and repair of hernias, obstetric fistulas, cleft palates and cataracts.

The government of Cameroon is providing transportation, lodging and food for patients and their families while they receive care.

Mercy Ships hopes to train 1,000 local health care workers to do follow up care and help other patients before the ship raises anchor in June 2018.
Colombia's FARC rebel group included footwear and orange juicers in the list of assets it will hand over for victim reparations, drawing ire on Thursday from government officials who maintain the guerrillas have extensive criminal wealth.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) agreed under a 2016 peace deal with the government to hand over all funds and property to pay reparations to victims of forced disappearance, rape, displacement, kidnapping and land mines.

The group has for decades extorted landowners and business people, earned ransoms from hostage takings and sold coca, the base ingredient in cocaine, to drug traffickers.

Officials said Thursday that the list, which was originally given to the United Nations and has not been made public, included many items that have little or no monetary value.

"Pots, orange juicers, lemon juicers, plates, boots, which will be depreciated and don't have a commercial value and which above all will not be a source of reparation for victims," Attorney General Nestor Humberto Martinez told journalists.

Martinez added the full list should be released.

The list made a "mockery" of victims, Rafael Pardo, the post-conflict minister said, adding there could be legal consequences for rebel leadership if they fail to reveal all their assets. Colombian officials have previously accused the FARC of possessing large amounts of cash, as well as ranches, businesses and luxury homes, including some located abroad.

A lawyer representing the FARC, Enrique Santiago, told local radio that the group had not earned an income in years and had to spend extensively to maintain its more than 7,000 fighters, after calling off kidnappings and extortion during peace talks.

The rebels finished handing over more than 8,000 weapons to the U.N., which oversaw their demobilization, earlier this month. On Sunday, the group will kick off a conference that looks set to cement its transition into a political party.
On a recent morning, a handful of young people unloaded potted saplings to plant along the curbside in a program that brings greenery to Los Angeles neighborhoods. The LA Conservation Corps is working to restore trees lost to disease, drought and the kind of construction that leaves little space for nature.

Trees are essential to a community, says Alex Villalta, an urban forestry inspector with the conservation corps. The group, which was founded in 1986 by former U.S. Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor, offers young people job training in projects that help to restore and beautify the city.

Trees provide improved air quality, Villalta said. We have better storm water management and trees make neighborhoods livable, he added.

Trees being lost

The greenery remains in some local cities, such as Pasadena, but many other communities in the Los Angeles basin are tree deserts. The community of Baldwin Park lost more than half its trees on single-family lots in just nine years because of redevelopment and other factors.

In 2007, Los Angeles launched a plan to plant 1 million trees, but it has been a challenge for this green army of young people, according to a study published in April by researchers at the University of Southern California in the journal Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. Scientists found a reduction in green cover in 20 communities in the Los Angeles basin from 2000 to 2009, says urban ecologist Travis Longcore, co-author of the study.

He says urban trees flourished here through much of the 20th century but have declined in the 21st.

Watch: Community Groups, Scientists Work to Stem Tree Loss

Its pretty clearly because of the redevelopment of these single-family neighborhoods into larger and larger homes that go closer and closer to the lot lines, he said, a trend known as mansionization. In other cases, he said, owners clear the land for second structures or to expand their driveways, leaving little space for nature.

Longcore, who teaches architecture and spatial sciences, says communities that put up legal barriers to removing legacy trees are the most successful in limiting tree loss.

Millions of California trees have also been lost to pests and disease in both wilderness regions and cities. The causes include a native tree bark beetle and the invasive polyphagous shot hole borer beetle, which brings a dangerous fungus to some trees. A five-year drought that ended this year has also left the states trees vulnerable.

L.A. planting thousand of trees

Los Angeles officials say the city planted more than 18,000 trees last year. Longcore says the number is not enough to compensate for the losses, which exceed 1 percent per year of the regions trees in the period of the study.

Jeff Davis, a supervisor with the conservation corps, says the young men and women on his crew are gratified with their contribution, even if more needs to be done.

They can always come back and say, I planted that tree, he said.

Corps members are learning skills and gaining experience in conservation work. Some, like Ivan Escamilla and Ronaldo Martinez, both 20, hope to pursue careers in the field, enjoying nature, and getting some fresh air, Martinez said.

Helping trees survive is just as important as planting them, says the conservation corps Villalta, and the organization has turned its attention to the problem. He notes that Californias extended drought brought mixed messages, leading some residents to believe that watering trees was a waste of water. On the contrary, say experts, trees cool our streets and help distribute water through the soil, as they add green spaces to our neighborhoods.
Food alone cannot solve the world's malnutrition crises but only three countries are looking beyond hunger to the other major driver, according to a global study released Thursday.

Water, sanitation and hygiene, usually treated by governments and NGOs as a separate policy area from food and nutrition, make up the second leading cause of stunted growth in children, after underweight births, said the report.

But only Cambodia, Niger, and Zimbabwe among the 10 countries covered by the report are linking their response to malnutrition and water by bringing together the responsible agencies, according to charity WaterAid.

"Improving child health is a long-term issue. It's not as simple as giving food and that improves malnutrition  right?" Dan Jones of WaterAid told Reuters.

Jones said governments that treat food and water separately cannot prevent malnutrition. Instead, they must tackle the poor sanitation that causes malnutrition, via infection and disease.

In 2016, 155 million children younger than five were stunted due to a lack of nutrition, according to the United Nations World Health Organization.

Diseases caused by dirty water and lack of sanitation such as gut infections, intestinal worms, and diarrhea prevent young bodies from absorbing the nutrients needed for growth, according to WaterAid, which produced the report with charities Action Against Hunger and SHARE.

Jones said malnutrition can leave children with invisible cognitive, emotional and physical damage.

Yet the effects are clear, and span all areas of development, from economic growth to schooling, said Jones.

"If they have clean water ... girls, when they grow up to be mothers, are more likely to give birth to healthy children, and to be able to help them to grow and develop and provide them with clean water and food  and those children can go to school and concentrate in school," said Jones.

Jones singled out Cambodia for linking up its response.

One in three Cambodian children younger than five is stunted, but Prime Minister Hun Sen has brought together the ministries responsible for nutrition, health, agriculture, and water and sanitation to create a joint response.

"It sounds very obvious, but those ministers really talking to each other can make a huge difference," Jones said.
The Nazi symbol known as the swastika was on display in Charlottesville, Virgina, during a white supremacist rally earlier this month that led to violence and division in the U.S. It sparked a national debate about how to respond. In Germany, where the swastika is banned, a group of graffiti activists have taken it upon themselves to transform that symbol of hate into something beautiful and positive. Faiza Elmasry tells us how. Faith Lapidus narrates.
Indias Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the countrys citizens have a constitutional right to privacy.

The unanimous ruling by a nine-judge panel came in response to legal challenges to the governments biometric identification card program that requires people to undergo fingerprint and iris scans.

More than 1 billion people have signed up for the program, which was set up with the intention of streamlining government services and cutting fraud. But concerns emerged about the safety of the data, and the cards have become required for a growing number of services such as opening a bank account.

The government had argued that Indias constitution does not guarantee individuals a right to privacy.

The court rejected that stance, saying in its judgment that the right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under the constitution.
The prospect of reaching any diplomatic solution to the North Korean nuclear threat remains unclear as its leader Kim Jong Un has shown little willingness to compromise with adversaries in Washington or even to engage with allies in Beijing.

He is a true believer in the hard-line policy, because actually the completion of the nuclear program, the missile and nuclear program, is one of the strongest factors legitimatizing his power, his control of the regime, said political analyst Choi Kang with the Asan Institute in Seoul.

Image a strong leader

After taking power in late 2011 following the death of his father Kim Jong Il, there were questions as to whether the young Western-educated North Korean leader would liberalize the longstanding repressive rule of his country, and whether he would be able to consolidate his grip on power.

Yet analysts say Kim has enhanced his image as a strong leader by following in the footsteps of his father and his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, the founding leader of North Korea, with his byongjin policy to bolster the countrys nuclear deterrent against the United States, and to improve the economy.

I think his regime is stable. Moreover, as he declared to pursue a dual economic and nuclear policy, and push for nuclear and ballistic missile development, though the economic side is insufficient, I think he has gained a wide range of popularity from North Koreans, said Research Professor Suh Bo-hyuk, with the Seoul National University Institute for Peace and Unification Studies.

No China connection

The Trump administration has been trying to pressure China to control North Korea, but leaders in Beijing have said their influence is limited.

The third generational leader of North Korea has not cultivated friendly ties with China and has repeatedly ignored Beijings calls for Pyongyang to refrain from engaging in provocative ballistic missile and nuclear tests and return to international denuclearization talks.

Even though North Korea relies on China for diplomatic protection and 90 percent of its economic trade, Kim has still not met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, in contrast to his father who repeatedly visited Beijing during his tenure.

Kim also ordered the execution of his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, in 2013, who was seen by many as an advocate for reform with close ties to China. This year his government stands accused of orchestrating the assassination of his half brother Kim Jong Nam in Malaysia, who was reportedly under the protection of the Chinese.

He does not see China as an ally. For him China is a source of potential threat, the only country that can effectively intervene into the North Korean domestic affairs and probably even engineer a replacement of Kim Jong Un, said Professor Andrei Lankov, a North Korea analyst with Kookmin University in Seoul.

The aggressive North Korean leader seems to have also made the calculation that Beijing values stability over denuclearization and will not impose conditions that would trigger an influx of refugees at the border or the collapse of Kims regime, which would lead to a U.S. and South Korea takeover of the entire Korean Peninsula.

China is so concerned with the possibility of an unstable regime in North Korea. So he says, Here I am. Dont push me too hard, otherwise theres going to be instability kind of things, said Choi with the Asan Institute.

Nuclear commitment

Two years ago, North Korea proposed a temporary suspension of nuclear tests in exchange for a halt to U.S.-South Korean military drills. Recently, China and Russia voiced support for a similar freeze proposal, but the United States and its allies have rejected the idea, saying these legitimate defensive measures are not comparable to the Norths threatening nuclear program that has been banned and sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council.

However Kims critics, like high level defector Thae Yong Ho, Pyongyangs former deputy ambassador to Britain, say the North Korean leader uses diplomacy only in support of his long-term goal to develop a strong nuclear arsenal that includes developing intercontinental ballistic missiles that can strike the United States or any target in the world.

The line of diplomacy or inter-Korean relations should be interpreted in terms of North Korean interests as kind of a tactic to buy time, Thae said.

Pyongyang responded to U.N. sanctions imposed in March 2016, after North Korea conducted a nuclear test and rocket launch, by declaring his country a nuclear state and accelerating missile and nuclear testing.

The new maximum pressure policy imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump to press China to increase and effectively enforce economic sanctions has produced a total ban on the export of coal and other minerals imposed in July that could deprive the North Korean government of more than $1 billion in annual revenue. The United States has also imposed secondary sanctions on a number of Chinese companies accused of doing illicit business with North Korea, a move that has drawn strong objections from Beijing.

But many analysts are skeptical that even imposing a crippling economic blockade would force the North Korean leader to capitulate.

He probably would be ready to sacrifice farmers, who would starve to death in the remote provinces, but hell still keep nuclear weapons, which he believes are vital for his own physical survival, professor Lankov said.

Diplomacy proponents like South Korean President Moon Jae-in advocate a mix of economic sanctions and dialogue to persuade the Kim regime to eventually adhere to U.N. restrictions in exchange for concessions and security guarantees linked to verifiable denuclearization progress.

But skeptics expect that no matter the costs, Kim Jong Un will continue undeterred with missile and nuclear tests until his military has reached an effective long-range nuclear strike capability level.

Youmi Kim in Seoul contributed to this report.
U.S. President Donald Trump will host Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak for talks at the White House next month.

The White House announced the visit late Wednesday, saying Trump looks forward to discussing strengthening relations with one of Americas closest partners in Southeast Asia.

Malaysias foreign ministry said the leaders would further talk about national security, combating terrorism and extremism, and trade.

Relations between the United States and Malaysia warmed after Najib and former U.S. President Barack Obama took office in 2009. Obama became the first U.S. leader to visit Malaysia in more than 50 years when he traveled there in 2014.

But a massive corruption scandal involving a state investment fund founded by Najib has caused strains with the U.S. and other countries investigating allegations of embezzlement and money laundering.

The U.S. Justice Department has tried to seize $1.7 billion in assets linked to the probe.

Najib has denied any wrongdoing.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Thursday during a visit to Ukraine that the Trump administration was "actively reviewing" whether to provide lethal defensive weapons to the war-torn country.

When asked whether Russia might see such a move as a threat, Mattis responded, "Defensive weapons are not provocative unless you're an aggressor."

The previous U.S. administration held the view that sales of defensive lethal weapons to Ukraine would unnecessarily provoke Russia, but Trump administration officials have reopened consideration of the previously rejected plan.

"The morality of doing something that would have a counterproductive result struck [President Barack] Obama as a mistake. That was his interpretation. We don't know where President [Donald] Trump's interpretation will wind up," Michael O'Hanlon, a senior defense fellow at the Brookings Institution policy research group in Washington, told VOA.

WATCH: Mattis on U.S. Support for Ukraine

During a joint news conference with Mattis following Thursday's talks, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko did not directly respond when asked about a timeline for any weapons transfer, but noted that defensive weapons "would increase the price if Russia made the decision to attack my troops and my territory.''

Crimea annexation

Mattis, who reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to Ukraine while in Kyiv, said Washington does not accept Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea. He added that Russia was "seeking to redraw international borders by force," and that U.S. sanctions against Russia would therefore remain in place until the government in Moscow changed its behavior.

The U.S. defense secretary visited the country a day before an expected cease-fire in eastern Ukraine that will coincide with the start of the new school year. However, O'Hanlon cautioned that the cease-fire was most likely a tactical and self-serving move by the Russians.

"I don't believe it will be likely to endure, but it's probably a negotiating ploy to try to get the United States and other countries and actors to see things more in favor of avoiding any escalation and avoiding giving weaponry to the Ukrainians," O'Hanlon said.

Mattis said Russia was not "adhering to the letter, much less the spirit," of commitments in the Minsk Agreement to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine, as well as other deals the country has endorsed.

"The U.S. and our allies will continue to press Russia to honor its Minsk commitments, and our sanctions will remain in place until Moscow reverses the actions that triggered them," Mattis said. "As President Trump has made clear, the United States remains committed to diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine."
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Thursday during a visit to Ukraine that Russia is "seeking to redraw international borders by force" and that U.S. sanctions against Russia will remain in place until the government in Moscow changes its behavior.

Mattis spoke alongside Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko after a meeting with him and other leaders in Kyiv.

The Pentagon chief reiterated U.S. support for Ukraine and its military, and said Washington does not accept Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea.



Have no doubt, the United States also stands with Ukraine in all things. We support you in the face of threats to sovereignty and territorial integrity and to international law and the international order at large. We do not and we will not accept Russias seizure of the Crimea and despite Russias denials, we know theyre seeking to redraw international borders by force, undermining the sovereign and free nations of Europe.

He also said sending lethal weapons to Ukraine is something being strongly considered by the Trump administration.

Weve just approved, just very recently, last couple of weeks, another $175 million worth of equipment including some specialized equipment that can be used to help defend the country, bringing it to a total of nearly $750 million in the last several years." Mattis said. "I would also point out that on defensive lethal weapons, we are actively reviewing it.



The previous administration under president Barack Obama held the view that the provision of defensive lethal weapons to Ukraine would unnecessarily provoke Russia, but the administration of President Donald Trump has reopened considerations of the previously-rejected plan.

When asked whether Russia might see such a move as a threat, Mattis responded that defensive weapons are not provocative unless you're an aggressor.

President Poroshenko didnt directly respond when asked about a timeline for any weapons transfers, but noted that defensive weapons would increase the price if Russia made the decision to attack my troops and my territory.''

Mattis said Russia is not adhering to the letter, much less the spirit of commitments in the Minsk Agreements to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine, as well as other deals the country has endorsed.

The U.S. and our allies will continue to press Russia to honor its Minsk commitments and our sanctions will remain in place until Moscow reverses the actions that triggered them," Mattis said. "As President Trump has made clear, the United States remains committed to diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
The assailants who killed a crime reporter in the Mexican Gulf coast state of Veracruz appeared to be targeting two other people also slain in the attack, not the journalist, the countrys top human rights official said Wednesday.

The Interior Departments deputy secretary for human rights, Roberto Campa, said the initial investigation suggests Candido Rios Vazquez of the newspaper Diario de Acayucan was not the attackers target. He did not provide any additional details.

All indications point toward this being an attack against another person and that persons bodyguards, Campa said during a visit to Veracruzs capital.

Colleagues outraged

Mexican officials have often been quick to point to motives other than reporting in the killings of journalists, and Campas comments outraged Rios Vazquezs colleagues, who said the journalist had been repeatedly threatened by a former mayor since 2012.

Theyre worse than the bullets that killed Candido, the slain reporters editor, Cecilio Perez Cortes, said of Campas remarks.

Perez said it was irresponsible of Campa to make such a public conclusion less than 24 hours after the crime without any proof.

Implicitly hes freeing the killers from blame, the editor said.

Campa oversees the federal governments so-called mechanism to protect journalists and human rights workers. He confirmed that Rios Vazquez had been enrolled in the program since 2013 because of threats from a municipal official. He said Rios Vazquezs case had been reviewed in recent months and that his home was outfitted with six surveillance cameras and he had a panic button.

Threatened for years

Hilda Nieves Martinez, Rios Vazquezs wife, confirmed Wednesday that her husband had been threatened for years by a former mayor of Hueyapan. Men had been sent to beat him up and they had threatened to cut out his tongue and eyes. He had gone to Mexico City to tell authorities about all of it, she said.

Perez said that his reporter had just messaged him and was headed home around 3 p.m. He had stopped along the road to speak with a former police inspector he knew when they were attacked. The inspector was also killed along with a third person.

The National Human Rights Commission said Rios Vazquez was the ninth journalist slain so far this year in Mexico. It called for a thorough investigation and for officials to provide protection for his family.

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Roberta Jacobson said Wednesday via Twitter that she was dismayed by Rios Vazquezs murder. Together we defend and respect freedom of the press, she wrote.

The front page of Wednesdays Diario de Acayucan featured a large photograph of Rios Vazquez below the headline: They will not silence us.
Washington's surprise decision this week to cut or delay nearly $300 million in aid to Egypt is the first time the Trump administration has publicly called out Cairo on its poor human rights record.

It was also the latest twist in a decades-old relationship marked by dependence and disappointment on both sides.

Milestones in Egypt's relations with the United States:

Tensions under Nasser

The young Egyptian officers who seized power in Egypt in 1952 and later toppled the monarchy initially flirted with the United States through various channels. But vociferous, anti-Israel rhetoric by the charismatic Arab nationalist leader Gamal Abdel-Nasser, coupled with Cold War realities, doomed any hope that Washington could become Cairo's superpower patron.



A 1955 deal by Egypt to buy Soviet weapons through Czechoslovakia landed Egypt deep in the Soviet camp despite Cairo's efforts to build its credentials as a non-aligned nation. Any hope that Egypt might still end up on the side of the U.S. was shattered when Moscow agreed to build a massive hydroelectric dam on the Nile in southern Egypt after the World Bank, reportedly at Washington's behest, declined to finance the project.



Relations plunged deeper when Egypt accused the United States of colluding with Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. Ironically, however, U.S. influence in Egypt began to creep in soon after Egypt's humiliating defeat in that conflict, when Washington brokered a 1970 cease-fire that ended months of intensive fighting between Egypt and Israel.



In a surprise move, President Anwar Sadat in 1972 expelled thousands of Soviet military advisers and their families, arguing that Moscow was not doing enough to help the Egyptians match Israel's military might. A year later, Egypt and Israel fought the last of their four wars and the road was paved for Washington to replace Moscow as the most dominant foreign power in the Middle East.

Camp David and the massive aid

Washington brokered a cease-fire between Egypt and Israel that ended the 1973 war and later negotiated disengagement pacts between the two armies in Sinai and west of the Suez canal. Those deals established Washington as a key interlocutor between the two longtime enemies, but it was Sadat who significantly raised its profile as a Middle east peace broker.



A year after his historic 1977 visit to Israel, Egypt and Israel signed the Camp David peace accords, which provided the basis for a peace treaty signed the following year, the first between Israel and an Arab state. Fatigued and economically ailing due to the war, Egypt was in for some U.S. largesse as a reward for making peace with Israel.



An ambitious U.S. military and economic program kicked off  first on a modest scale  then grew steadily in size and scope. Egypt became a close U.S. ally and the two countries' annual war games, held in Egypt and code-named ``Bright Star,'' symbolized that relationship. Sadat was assassinated in 1981, but his successor, Hosni Mubarak, maintained Cairo's close ties with Washington and honored the peace treaty with Israel. His annual visits to the White House for most of his 29 years in office evidenced just how close the two nations were.

US role in toppling Murbarak and the implications

Many in Egypt and elsewhere in the Arab world fault the Obama White House for its support of the Arab Spring uprisings that began in late 2010 in Tunisia and later swept across Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain. In Egypt, withholding support for Mubarak in the face of an 18-day uprising against his rule is widely seen as a major contributor to his decision to step down.



But it does not stop there. Many commentators see his support for the uprising in Egypt as part of a U.S. conspiracy to weaken Arab states and plunge them into civil strife, thus benefiting Israel. That sentiment endures to this day, with former President Barack Obama vilified by many and Donald Trump hailed as a pragmatist who values stability over the tumult of unfettered freedoms.

Tensions under Obama over humanitarian issues

Obama made clear that he was unhappy over the Egyptian military's 2013 overthrow of the country's freely elected president, the Islamist Mohammed Morsi. While noting that Morsi's rule was not inclusive and acknowledging the mass street protests against his government, Obama said he did not approve of how things turned out in the aftermath of Morsi's ouster, namely the mass arrest of his supporters and the clampdown on civil society groups.



Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, the general-turned-president who led Morsi's ouster, was kept at arm's length by Obama, who never extended him a White House invitation. Obama also ordered a partial suspension of military aid to Egypt in October 2013 to protest Cairo's poor human rights record and the crackdown on dissent. But with an eye on Egypt's key role in the global fight against terrorism, he restored it in 2015.



Still, that was not enough to clear the air, with pro-el-Sissi commentators demonizing Obama for denying Egypt the weapons it needed to fight Islamic militants battling its security forces in the Sinai Peninsula and claiming that his administration supported Morsi's now-banned Muslim Brotherhood and sought to destabilize Egypt.

Reboot under Trump

A new page was turned in Cairo's relations with Washington when Trump became president, a handsome payoff for el-Sissi's gamble when he appeared to favor the Republican nominee over his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, following meetings with both candidates in New York in September 2016.



El-Sissi finally received his White House invitation soon after Trump's inauguration and his much heralded visit took place in April. There was no mention of Egypt's human rights record in the readout issued after their Oval Office meeting, something that led many to believe that democracy and freedom would no longer figure in Cairo's relations with Trump's America.



The Egyptian media, most of which is blindly loyal to el-Sissi, celebrated the new strong leader in the White House and el-Sissi often spoke in glowing terms of Trump. It is against this backdrop that Washington's decision to cut or delay nearly $290.7 million in military and economic aid came as an unpleasant surprise to Cairo.



Still, it's too early to say whether the move will hurl Egypt and the United States back to the Obama days when Egypt's human rights record constantly soured relations, or whether the Bright Star war games will resume as scheduled later this year after an eight-year hiatus.
Myanmar must ease restrictions on citizenship and movement for its minority Rohingya population, a commission led by former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said Thursday.

The commission also called for Myanmar to quell its violent crackdowns on the Muslim minority Rohingya in order to bring peace to Rakhine state, where most Rohingya live.

Years of friction between the Rohingya and Myanmar's Buddhist majority exploded in October last year with a military crackdown in response to attacks on border police stations that left nine police officers dead. During the crackdown, thousands of Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh complaining of systematic killings, arson and rapes by Myanmar military forces.

The yearlong U.N. commission, tasked with healing divisions between Rakhine State's religious and ethnic groups, released its final report Thursday, a day after submitting it to the government. The report detailed actions the government needs to take to "prevent violence, maintain peace, foster reconciliation, and offer a sense of hope to the state's hard-pressed population," the commission said in a public statement.

"Tensions remain high and they risk becoming worse. Violence will not bring lasting solutions to the acute problems that afflict the Rakhine State," Annan told a press conference in the Myanmar capital, adding "the status quo cannot continue."

Underscoring the commission's awareness that its recommendations on citizenship and freedom of movement for Rohingya will be a flashpoint for the Buddhist majority in Rakhine state, Annan said: "The Commission has chosen to squarely face these sensitive issues because we believe that if they are left to fester, the future of Rakhine State  and, indeed, Myanmar as a whole  will be irretrievably jeopardized."

The report  released after a year of research including meetings with political and religious leaders, civil society organizations, communities across the state, and others  concluded that poverty is a central issue in Rakhine state.

The report also provided recommendations on cooperation with Bangladesh, which continues to harbor tens of thousands of Rohingya.

Annan called on the international community to "continue to play a strong, generous and impartial role in support of the national efforts needed to help Rakhine move forward." By stressing the need for impartiality, Annan addressed concerns of the Buddhist majority that outside groups were biased toward the Muslim minority.

Myanmar, others respond

The Myanmar government responded Thursday on its Facebook page, saying it will implement the recommendations "as much as possible depending on the conditions on the ground."

Myanmar's de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been criticized for not speaking out more forcefully about the problem, even as the military conducts operations against Rohingya militants that have resulted in widespread claims of human rights abuses. The government has rejected the criticism.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric noted the report's "emphasis on issues related to identity and citizenship, particularly its call for freedom of movement for all people, as well as the need to address the root causes of violence and reduce inter-communal violence." He said the United Nations stands ready to help the government implement its recommendations.

Human Rights Watch (HRW), a consistent critic of Myanmar's treatment of the Rohingya, called the commission's recommendations "positive."

"Those are recommendations that the government should take up," Phil Robertson, HRW deputy director for Asia, told VOA Burmese. "The challenge right now is whether the civilian government has the political will."

Robertson pointed out that during the commission's investigation, the government said "they would try to faithfully implement those recommendations. Now, it's the day, and the government is going to have to be clear about what they are prepared to do. Ideally, they will give a timeline, when the law would be reformed."

Matthew Smith, executive officer of the advocacy group Fortify Rights, told VOA Burmese that the Advisory Commission recommendations encourage the government to take concrete steps to end enforced segregation of Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims and "revisit" the nation's 1982 Citizenship Law.

"The citizenship issue is certainly at the root of many of the problems in Rakhine State and the 1982 Citizenship Law has actually created the world's largest population of stateless people in a given country," Smith said.

"The good thing is that can be fixed," he said. "So, the Annan Commission very rightly encouraged the authority, recommended the authority to tackle the issue."

With the submission of its final report, the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State has completed its mandate and will disband.
The nightmare for May Khine Oo started on a trip home to Myanmar but lasted almost 13 years.

After visiting her grandmother in southern Mon state in the country's southeast, May Khine Oo, 17 at the time, boarded a train for the state capital, Mawlamyine, to return to her parents in Mudon township.

On the train she met a couple who offered her a job, which she refused. She did, however, accept their offer of water, and next thing she knew she had fallen asleep and missed her stop, with no money to get back.

The couple suggested they could find her work to raise the funds needed to pay for a new ticket.

"I decided to accept their job for travel expenses to return home," May Khine Oo told Myanmar Now, an independent website supported by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, adding that she now thinks the water had been drugged.

The couple took her to a local restaurant where she worked for three months, but instead of taking her back to her parents as promised, they then took her to a broker and she was sent to China.

May Khine Oo said over the next 13 years she was forced to marry twice. She had two children with her first husband and was pregnant from her second marriage when she fled after contacting a student group through the Chinese messaging service WeChat.

"I tried to flee many times, for many years," she said. "But the foreignness of the communities made it difficult to do so and I was also afraid that my situation would get much worse elsewhere."

While May Khine Oo's ordeal is not uncommon, what is unusual is her determination to go public with her story to stop other young girls from falling into the same trap.

Forced to marry

The United Nations has described Myanmar as a source country for human trafficking. Police statistics show that 3,489 victims were rescued from 2006 to 2016, most of whom had been trafficked into marriages.

Prostitution accounted for the second-highest number of cases, followed by forced labor.

Police records show the top destination for trafficking victims from Myanmar is China, although the trade also exists in other countries in Southeast Asia, such as Thailand and Malaysia, and within Myanmar itself.

Myanmar was upgraded in June in the U.S. State Department's Trafficking in Persons report to its Tier 2 watch list, which indicated that the country was making significant efforts to comply with U.S. standards to combat human trafficking.

Human rights groups, however, called the move premature, saying not enough was being done to stop this illegal trade.

Tun Hlaing, a project manager at the Yangon Justice Center, said improving employment opportunities, tightening scrutiny at border checkpoints and developing programs at the community level  where the poor are most vulnerable to exploitation or promises of a better life  are all key.

"Preventive measures against trafficking in persons must be carried out systematically," he said. "This crime is also happening in this country. But only serious cases are known to the public."

Myanmar's government passed a landmark Anti-Trafficking Law in 2005, which laid out hefty sentences for offenders. Cases that proceed to court are rare but have happened.

Myo Aung, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population, said one challenge is providing a strong alternative to the lucrative offers made by brokers.

"Potential victims do not heed education programs about trafficking," he said. "Instead, they believe the enticements of illegal traffickers. As a result they cannot find help after becoming victims."

Cautionary tale

On the local level, the fight is often about raising awareness.

Police Major Khin Maung Latt of Yangon's Pazundaung township recommends a more aggressive approach to the information battle.

He said his officers cooperate with nongovernmental organizations to disseminate pamphlets, using a "door-to-door system."

"It is more effective than formal educative talks," he said, adding that residents should inform police if they are approached by brokers. "It is a preventive measure against liars. Prevention is better than the cure."

After her case was reported, May Khine Oo was found by Chinese authorities and handed over to the Myanmar Police Force's Anti-Trafficking unit in Ruili in China's Yunnan province.

She moved back to her parents in Mudon, leaving her two children in China, and started to rebuild her life, receiving a grant from the Social Welfare Department to set up a grocery store.

The International Rescue Committee charity gives her a small daily stipend for living expenses, and a village clinic is providing free checkups for her pregnancy.

She has also filed a complaint with the police in the hope that they can find the couple who duped her on the train, and is spreading her own story locally as a cautionary tale.

"I would like to suggest to all parents not to allow their children to travel without close adult family members," she said. "Using my experience as an example, I tell the girls not to blindly trust others."
In the wake of racial violence in Virginia sparked by the planned removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, cities across America have removed or relocated a number statues and monuments that speak to a history of racism in the United States. But Native American commentators say far less attention is given to monuments commemorating historic figures responsible for centuries of violence and suppression of their ancestors.

 Christopher Columbus, Baltimore, Maryland

The first monument to the Italian explorer was erected in 1792 to mark the 300th anniversary of Columbus so-called discovery of America. Dozens of Columbus monuments exist across the U.S. Native Americans view him as the man who opened the door to the genocide of their ancestors.

 Pioneer Monument in San Francisco, California

This granite and bronze statue, completed in 1897 by sculptor F.H. Happersberger, depicts a half-naked Indian sitting submissively at the feet of a Spanish settler and a Catholic priest. Spanish Franciscan missionary priests set up missions across California, where they imposed their faith upon heathen Indians, often by force. Later, Catholic boarding schools were the chief instrument of forced assimilation into Christianity and Western culture.

 The Bear Hunt Statue, erected at the California School for the Deaf in Fremont, was sculpted in 1892 by Douglas Tilden.

It depicts two Native American men - again, half-naked - locked in combat with a mother bear. Tildens Indian was crafted in the same historical era as a number of other artworks that conveyed Native images as the defeated warrior, the primitive, and subhuman, wrote sociologist Richard Clark Eckert, a deaf member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe, in Indian Country Today in 2014. He also quoted a member of the Koyukon Tribes Caribou Clan as saying, No Indian would be so dumb as to walk into a mother bear with cubs.

 The Junipero Serra statue at the Mission Santa Ines in Solvang, California

Serra is known as the man who brought Christianity to California 300 years ago, founding nearly two dozen missions set up to convert and civilize tribal people. Tribes see nothing to celebrate: Historic documentation shows that Serra - who was named a saint in 2015 - enslaved and tortured Native Americans into abandoning their religions and culture.

 Andrew Jackson Monument, Washington, D.C.

Sculpted in 1852 by Clark Mills, the statue is dedicated to the controversial seventh U.S. president. Jackson oversaw the forced removal of Creeks and Cherokee from their homelands in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee along a westward Trail of Tears in which thousands of tribal people died. His action paved the way for the cotton industry in the South, built on the backs of African slaves. And is it supposed that the wandering savage has a stronger attachment to his home than the settled, civilized Christian? Jackson asked at the time.

 George Armstrong Custer Equestrian Monument, located in Custers hometown of Monroe, Michigan

Custer was defeated by Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors in the Battle of Little Bighorn, or Greasy Grass, as the Plains tribes call it. Originally celebrated as a great American hero, Custers reputation has tarnished over time. He ordered an Army attack on a village of 10,000 Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho camped along the Little Big Horn River, killing hundreds of their horses. Tribal warriors struck back, wiping out Custers army. Custer had earlier discovered gold in the Black Hills and historians say he was driven by a desire to violate an 1868 treaty and drive the Lakota onto reservations.

 Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Keystone, South Dakota

This sculpture was carved directly into the face of a mountain in the Black Hills region of South Dakota, in treaty land retaken by the U.S. government. The resulting legal dispute continues today. Carved into the face of a mountain Sioux tribes call Six Grandfathers, the memorial depicts four U.S. presidents  George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. Carving icons of presidents who were known for their insensitivity to Indian issues into a living sacred mountain would be similar to painting anti-Christian graffiti inside of a cathedral, or anti-Semitic symbols inside a synagogue, reads a post in Native American Netroots blog.

 Don Juan de Onate Statue, El Paso, Texas

Eleven meters tall on a two-and-a-half-meter base, the worlds largest bronze equestrian statue was sculpted by John Sherrill Houser to honor the conquistador who established the colony of New Mexico for Spain in the late 16th century. He is best known for a punitive two-day expedition against the Ancoma Pueblo, in which as many as 1,000 Acoma died by fire and bloodshed. The $2-million statue was erected in 2006 at the El Paso International Airport where, it was believed, it would escape vandalism; a few years earlier, Native American activists removed the right foot off of a smaller statue of Onate in north Espanola, New Mexico, a reference to the fact that de Onate once ordered his men to cut off the feet of all Acoma men over the age of 25.
Pakistan, in its formal comprehensive response to U.S. President Donald Trumps South Asia strategy, rejected allegations it is harboring Taliban insurgents who are staging deadly attacks against American forces in Afghanistan.

The rebuttal was issued Thursday after a meeting the National Security Committee of top civilian and military leaders chaired by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in Islamabad.

The Afghan war cannot be fought in Pakistan To scapegoat Pakistan will not help in stabilizing Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said while reading the statement to the Senate, the upper house of parliament.

Trump's speech

President Trump in his policy speech Monday said that Pakistan is taking billions of dollars from the United States but housing the very terrorists attacking U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

WATCH: Continued US Presence in Afghanistan, Increased Pressure on Pakistan

Pakistani security forces have taken indiscriminate actions against all terrorist networks and sacrificed tens of thousands of troops and civilians in this fight, Minister Asif said. In turn, he asked the United States to move against fugitive anti-state militants hiding in Afghanistan.

We would like to see effective and immediate U.S. military efforts to eliminate sanctuaries harboring terrorists and miscreants on the Afghan soil including those responsible for fomenting terror in Pakistan, said the foreign minister.

Instead of any financial or material assistance, there should be understanding and recognition of Pakistans efforts, contributions and sacrifice of thousands of its citizens and over 120 billion U.S. dollars of economic losses, Asif said.

The claims of billions of dollars in aid to Pakistan are also misleading to the extent that the reimbursements to Pakistan since 2001 only account for part of the cost of ground facilities and air corridors used by the United States for its operations in Afghanistan, rather than any financial aid or assistance, the minister explained.

He said that Islamabad has consistently worked with both Washington and Kabul to promote a negotiated settlement of the Afghan conflict to bring an end to years of bloodshed in the neighboring country.

India's role



Foreign Minister Asif also took aim at the Trump administrations attempt to give India, archrival of Pakistan, a role in regional security efforts.

India cannot be a net security provider in the South Asia region when it has conflictual relationships with all its neighbors and is pursuing a policy of destabilizing Pakistan from the east and the west, he said.

Pakistani leaders have consistently maintained that the Indian intelligence agency is using its growing influence with Afghan counterparts to sponsor terrorist attacks in Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi deny the charges.

Meanwhile, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said Thursday the new war strategy Trump announced earlier this week will result in an increase in train, advise and assist efforts as well as stepped up air power to Afghan security forces battling the Taliban.

General John Nicholson told reporters in Kabul U.S. and NATO are determined to enable Afghan forces defeat Taliban, and terrorists linked to Islamic State and remnants of al-Qaida. He also asked the Taliban to quit violence and enter into peace talks with the Afghan government.

I say you have a simple choice: Stop fighting against your countrymen. Stop killing innocent civilians. Stop bringing hardship and misery to the Afghan people. Lay down your arms and join Afghan society. Help build a better future for this country and your own children, Nicholson said.

But a Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, swiftly rejected the generals call, saying the insurgent group is determined to continue fighting until the last soldier of the foreign occupation forces left Afghanistan.
Vice President Mike Pence addressed a sympathetic crowd of Venezuelans in South Florida on Wednesday and pledged the U.S. will use its economic and diplomatic power to push for free elections.



Pence spoke at a church in the city of Doral, the exile enclave, to a crowd of about 300. They occasionally shouted "freedom, freedom'' and cheered every time the vice president spoke of President Donald Trump's interest in Venezuela, a socialist nation that has been undergoing an economic crisis.



"Under the leadership of President Donald Trump, the United States of America will continue to bring the full measure of American economic and diplomatic power to bear until democracy is restored in Venezuela,'' Pence said, threatening there were more sanctions to come against the government of President Nicolas Maduro.

'We stand with you'

As other countries in Latin America have improved their economies, Venezuela has gone downhill, Pence said, calling Maduro's presidency, a dictatorship.



We hear you, we stand with you. We will not stand by as Venezuela crumbles, Pence said.



A woman held a sign at the event that read, Venezuelan resistance asks for military resistance. We can't do it alone, an apparent reference to Trump's remarks earlier this month that there was a possibility for the U.S. to invade Venezuela.



Last week, Pence visited Colombia, Argentina, Chile and Panama in an attempt to rally the region against Venezuela, but because of Trump's comments, the vice president switched to damage control to soothe fears in a region scarred by past U.S. invasions.

In South Florida, Pence found a supportive and grateful crowd.



Earlier on Wednesday, Pence met with 15 Venezuelan exiles in South Florida who said more help is needed to restore democracy in the socialist regime.



Florida Gov. Rick Scott, and Republicans Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart joined Pence in listening to testimonies of established leaders of the Venezuelan diaspora and recently exiled politicians and judges.



A criminal state

Ramon Muchacho was the mayor of the municipality of Chacao since 2013 but fled in July, saying he was being persecuted by the government.



There is no way to get [the government] out by democratic means, Muchacho said, pleading for more help from Latin America, the U.S. and Europe.



Two other mayors told Pence the U.S. government should impose more sanctions.



Carlos Vecchio, a well-known leader of an opposition party, said that Venezuela is a failed state that criminals had taken control of.



It is a criminal state, Vecchio said. It is led by a mafia involved in drug trafficking and close to terrorist groups.



Alejandro Jesus Rebolledo, a Venezuelan judge who fled the country recently, also accused the government of crimes such as money laundering and drug trafficking.



The country's vice president, Tareck El Aissami, was sanctioned by the Trump administration in February after being accused of running a drug trafficking network of corrupt officials in Venezuela. More recently, Washington slapped sanctions on Maduro and other top officials involved in the installation of a new, all-powerful constitutional assembly.



During the meeting, Ernesto Ackerman, a local leader of Venezuelan-Americans, approached Pence and gave him a black hat with the colors of the Venezuelan flag. It read, Make Venezuela Great Again.
Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan will be inducted into the Labor Department's Hall of Honor.

Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta made the announcement Thursday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum in Simi Valley, California.

Reagan is the only union leader to occupy the White House. The former actor was president of the Screen Actors Guild in the 1940s and '50s. He led the guild through three strikes and negotiated residual payments and health and pension benefits for the union's members, Acosta said.

Reagan also was a staunch supporter of the first free and independent trade union in the Soviet bloc during the Cold War: Solidarity, a movement established in 1980 that led to the downfall of communist rule in Poland a decade later.

At the White House, however, Reagan's policies led to a fraught relationship with labor unions. Early in his presidency, he fired 11,000 striking air traffic controllers. The president said the 1981 strike was illegal, and he dismissed controllers who did not follow his command to return to work.

The Labor Department's Hall of Honor was established in 1988 to honor Americans who improved working conditions, wages and quality of life for families.

Reagan was elected in 1980 and served two terms as president, leaving office in 1989. He died in 2004.
Russian and U.S. officials traded accusations on Thursday over their respective policies in Afghanistan, pointing fingers of blame at each other.

In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed regret that the main focus of U.S. President Donald Trumps new Afghanistan strategy is regulation by methods of force.

We are certain this is a futile course, Lavrov said.

Asked for a response by VOA, a senior U.S. administration official said what Trump put forward Monday in a nationally televised address is not a military-only strategy. Theres a strong diplomatic, political element, even economic element to the strategy. So, its just factually incorrect to say that this is just an overly militaristic strategy.

The Russians, the U.S. official added, have been spreading some very unhelpful propaganda with respect to the U.S. role in Afghanistan.

'Fictitious'

Russia is also trying to claim the United States is supporting the so-called Islamic State (IS) group in Afghanistan, which is fictitious," the official added.

They are seeking to undermine our reputation in the region and sew false information about U.S. objectives, the official said. It doesnt surprise me because I think the Russians see themselves as competitors for influence in the region.

U.S. officials say Moscows concern about IS is driving them to consider support to the Taliban.

To the extent Russia is supplying arms to the Taliban, that is a violation, obviously, of international norms, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday.

It's not the first time we are accused of supporting and even arming the Taliban, Lavrov told reporters on Thursday. Not one fact has been presented" to support this.

Trump this week announced 4,000 new troops for deployment to Afghanistan, backtracking from his earlier promise to end America's longest war, though other specifics of the plan remain unclear.

Message to Taliban

Earlier Thursday in Kabul, U.S. Army General John Nicholson, the commander of the NATO mission and U.S. forces in the country, made a direct appeal to the Taliban.

I say you have a simple choice: Stop fighting against your countrymen. Stop killing innocent civilians. Stop bringing hardship and misery to the Afghan people, Nicholson said. Lay down your arms and join Afghan society. Help build a better future for this country and your own children.

With the announcement of Trumps policy, the Taliban cannot win on the battlefield. It is time for them to join the peace process, added the general, who called the Taliban a criminal organization, more interested in the profits they find in drugs, kidnapping, and murder for hire than offering anything better to the Afghan people.

Nicholson also said Islamic State is being crushed in Nangarhar (a province in the eastern part of the country) and we will pursue them, and annihilate them wherever they go.

The conflict in Afghanistan, with a factionalized unity government riddled with systemic corruption, has dragged on for 16 years - since shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaida attacks on the United States.
A South African model who has said she was whipped with an electric cord by Zimbabwe's first lady Grace Mugabe has filed court papers challenging the government's decision to grant her diplomatic immunity, advocacy group Afriforum said.

Police had placed border posts on "red alert" to prevent Mrs. Mugabe from leaving but South Africa's international relations minister said she had granted diplomatic immunity to the wife of Zimbabwe's 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe.

Afriforum has given legal backing to Gabriella Engels, the 20-year-old woman behind the assault allegation, and is working on the case with Gerrie Nel. He was the prosecutor who secured a murder conviction against Olympic and Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius.

"We want to set aside the granting of diplomatic immunity to Grace Mugabe," said Afriforum CEO Kallie Kriel adding that it could take months before the case is heard in court and that no date for the hearing had been set.

Mrs. Mugabe returned home from South Africa early on Sunday, but her immunity was widely-criticized in South Africa, where August has been designated Women's Month to highlight concerns around gender violence and abuse.

Engels has accused Grace Mugabe of whipping her with an electric extension cable as she waited with two friends in a luxury hotel suite to meet one of Mugabe's adult sons.

Harare has made no official comment on the issue and requests for comment from Zimbabwean government officials have gone unanswered.
About 50 million people are at risk of arsenic poisoning from contaminated groundwater in Pakistans Indus Valley  far more than previously thought, according to a new study.



Pakistan is aware of the growing problem, with arsenic levels rising in some areas as people increasingly and indiscriminately draw from the countrys underground aquifers, said Lubna Bukhari, who heads the governments Council for Research in Water Resources.



Its a real concern, she said. Because of lack of rules and regulations, people have exploited the groundwater brutally, and it is driving up arsenic levels.

Map of contamination



The authors of the study developed a map highlighting areas of likely contamination based on water quality data from nearly 1,200 groundwater pumps tested from 2013 to 2015, and accounting for geological factors including surface slope and soil contents. They determined some 88 million people were living in high-risk areas.



Given that about 60-70 percent of the population relies on groundwater, they calculated that roughly 50 million, maybe even 60 million, were potentially affected. Thats equal to at least a third of the 150 million estimated by the World Health Organization to be drinking, cooking and farming with arsenic-laced water worldwide.



This is an alarmingly high number, which demonstrates the urgent need to test all drinking water wells in the Indus Plain, with hotspots around the densely populated cities of Lahore and Hyderabad, said the studys lead author, Joel Podgorski, of the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, known as Eawag.



The findings were published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.

High risk along the Indus River

The high-risk area mapped out in the study broadly covers the middle and lower reaches of the Indus River and its tributaries, before they empty into the Arabian Sea.



Scientists had expected this area might be affected. Similar geographical areas along the Ganges River in neighboring India and Brahmaputra in Bangladesh also contain pockets of arsenic contamination.



Normally, that arsenic would stay in the ground. But in the last few decades, South Asian countries concerned with pathogen-infused surface water have been pumping enormous volumes of groundwater, causing the water tables to drop drastically and tapping into new water pockets tainted by the colorless, odorless toxin.



The WHO considers arsenic concentrations above 10 micrograms per liter to be dangerous. Pakistans guideline is five times that, and many of its wells test much higher.



Arsenic is naturally occurring and kills human cells, causing skin lesions, organ damage, heart disease and cancer. There is no cure for arsenic poisoning.



This study is important because it draws attention to an overlooked, yet solvable, problem of vast magnitude affecting the health of millions of villagers, said geochemist Alexander van Geen of Columbia Universitys Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, who was not involved in the study. He said the patterns it identifies are broadly consistent with data he and other researchers have collected from about 10,000 well tests in the region.

More well tests needed



One of those researchers, Abida Farooqui, assistant professor of environmental sciences at Islamabads Qaid-e-Azam University, said the new studys sample size may be too small to draw clear conclusions.



The study revealed very important and an emerging problem of arsenic in the country, Farooqui said. But only 1,193 samples have been used to predict the situation in the whole Indus Valley, which is unrealistic.

In any case, no map can tell villagers whether a specific well is contaminated. Arsenic concentration varies widely from pump to pump, and the only way to know for certain is to test each one.



Shallow wells are less likely to be tainted. Deeper ones, such as those run by the governments Drinking Water Filtration sites, may be more at risk.

Acute problem for cities



This makes the problem especially acute for thousands of city dwellers who have no access to clean water and rely on what the government supplies. At one Islamabad neighborhood filtration site Wednesday, resident Ali Hasan said the struggle was real.



Its the governments job to provide us with clean drinking water, but everywhere we have to travel to find clean water, Hasan said while filling a large plastic jug to take home to his neighborhood.



A survey submitted to Pakistans parliament last year suggested nearly 80 percent of water sources in 2,807 villages across 24 districts were contaminated with bacteria or other pollutants, to levels that were unsafe to drink.



Now, the presence of arsenic in drinking water is becoming a widespread health problem, said Luis Rodriguez-Lado, a chemist with the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain who was not involved in the study. Yet there is a general lack of information about which areas in Asia are most at risk.



For Pakistan, Bukhari said, the problem is now urgent. Her department is working with the U.N. Childrens Fund to provide cheap anti-arsenic water filters to poor villagers in the worst affected areas.



We should immediately discourage the indiscriminate ground water exploitation, she said, noting that even city dwellers with municipal water access were digging tube wells to have a lavish supply of water.



But the country also needs to test countless tube wells and identify which have tapped into arsenic, possibly determining which depths might be safer, she said.



If researchers can find a depth at which there is no arsenic, we can dig wells that stop before the water is contaminated, Bukhari said.
Switzerland's attorney general's office said Thursday it indicted a 30-year-old woman for trying to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State militant group.

A statement said the attorney general had evidence that the woman, who is a Swiss citizen, traveled two years ago with her four-year-old son from Egypt to Greece in an attempt to go further to Turkey and into Syria.

The woman was stopped by Greek authorities, and then later arrested in Zurich in January 2016 as she returned to Switzerland.

Her name was not released.

The attorney general's office said in its statement that it has a strict policy of prosecuting what it called "Jihadi travelers."
As Damascus reverses military losses in much of the country's strategically important west, and foreign states cut support for rebel forces, diplomats from Washington to Riyadh are asking representatives of Syria's opposition to come to terms with President Bashar Assad's political survival.

The country's civil war has crossed the halfway point of its sixth year and Assad and his allies are now in control of Syria's four largest cities and its Mediterranean coast. With the help of Russian air power and Iranian-sponsored militias, pro-government forces are marching steadily across the energy-rich Homs province to reach the Euphrates River valley.

Western and regional rebel patrons, currently more focused on advancing their own interests rather than accomplishing regime change in Damascus, are shifting their alliances and have ceased calls on Assad to step down.

"There is no conceivable military alignment that's going to be able to remove him," said former U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford, now a fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C. "Everyone including the U.S. has recognized that Assad is staying."

The war has settled into a familiar, lower-intensity grind, with the Syrian government now in control of most of the populated west while Islamic State group militants and al-Qaida affiliates, U.S.-backed Kurds and Turkey-backed rebels hold on to remaining pockets in the north, east and south. Russia-sponsored so-called de-escalation zones have significantly reduced violence in rebel-held territory although fighting continues to rage in some areas.

With another round of U.N. mediated peace talks on the horizon in Geneva, the opposition's chief representative group, the High Negotiations Committee, is being told by even its closest patrons it risks irrelevance if it does not adapt to the new realities.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, according to an interlocutor briefed on the matter, told the opposition it was time to formulate "a new vision."

"He didn't explicitly say Bashar is going to stay, but if you read between the lines, if you say there needs to be a new vision, what is the most contentious issue out there? It's whether Bashar stays," said the interlocutor, who mediates between the opposition and state capitals and requested anonymity so as not to compromise his work.

It is a difficult pill to swallow for the opposition, which has been holding a series of meetings as part of a months-long stock-taking process where they are expected to narrow their aims and refresh their leadership.

At a two-day meeting in Riyadh this week meant to try and bridge differences between the three main political opposition groups and come up with a unified vision based on the new political and military reality, divisions were however once again on full display.

The opposition's chief representative group, the Saudi-based High Negotiations Committee (HNC), publicly held on to its position that Assad must step down before any political transition. In a statement, it said the opposition group known as the "Moscow Platform" insisted Assad's departure must not be a precondition for talks.

"We refuse any role for Assad during a transitional period," insisted spokesman Ahmad Ramadan of the National Syrian Coalition, the leading bloc in the HNC, which has always staked out a maximalist position against Assad.

But internally, there is talk of restructuring the HNC to give weight to the more conciliatory voices among the opposition  representatives based in Cairo and Moscow that groups within the HNC have long derided as the "internal opposition" for their perceived cozy relations with Damascus.

It comes at the urging of the U.N.'s top Syria envoy, Staffan De Mistura, who spent much of the last Geneva talks trying to reconcile the HNC and the Cairo and Moscow groups.

De Mistura set expectations last week that those efforts would bear fruit. He said the opposition was in the midst of "intensive internal discussions" in order to come up with "a more inclusive and perhaps even more pragmatic approach" to negotiations, saying he hoped an outcome could materialize by October.

The shifts reflect the changing priorities of the opposition's chief backers  the U.S., Europe, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia  which are now more concerned with preserving their own, narrowly conceived strategic interests, than they are with unseating Assad.

For the U.S., that means focusing on fighting the Islamic State group and containing Iran's influence in Syria, to protect its ally Israel. Saudi Arabia, too, wants to contain its regional archrival, Iran, as well as wrest influence away from Qatar, which is seen as a key backer to the HNC and some rebel groups on the ground. Ankara's top priority is to contain the U.S.-backed Kurdish PYD party in north Syria, which it fears will inspire Kurdish separatism in east Turkey.

Indeed, these nations have never seriously challenged Assad's hegemony, militarily, leaving Russia and Iran holding the cards.

Former U.S. President Barack Obama fastidiously avoided striking Assad's forces, even after his administration concluded Damascus had trespassed the president's "red line" against chemical warfare; Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is reported to have told the U.N.'s general secretary in July that President Trump's administration would leave Syria's fate in Russia's hands.

Government forces have blocked agencies from delivering relief to several areas it has held under siege, and while the U.N. has condemned the tactic as "barbaric" and "medieval," it has been criticized for paying dividends to Damascus, which has seen these areas capitulate one by one. Russia's own leverage over the opposition comes from negotiating cease-fires for besieged areas, which are otherwise pounded mercilessly by air strikes and artillery.

It's not clear what the truces buy in the long term and the same can be said about the opposition's reorientation, if such a thing indeed happens. At a rare public speech before Syrian diplomats in Damascus this week, a confident Assad derided the West and declared Syria will look east when it comes to political, economic and cultural relations.

It remains to be seen whether the opposition, long plagued by divisions, can indeed reconstitute itself into a more accommodating coalition, as capitals from Washington to Moscow have demanded.
Even as tensions between the United States and Russia fester, there is one surprising place where their military-to-military contacts are quietly weathering the storm: Syria.

It has been four months since U.S. President Donald Trump ordered cruise missile strikes against a Syrian airfield after an alleged chemical weapons attack.

In June, the U.S. military shot down a Syrian fighter aircraft, the first U.S. downing of a manned jet since 1999, and also shot down two Iranian-made drones that threatened U.S.-led coalition forces.

All the while, U.S. and Russian military officials have been regularly communicating, U.S. officials told Reuters. Some of the contacts are helping draw a line on the map that separates U.S.- and Russian-backed forces waging parallel campaigns on Syria's shrinking battlefields.

There is also a telephone hotline linking the former Cold War foes' air operations centers. U.S. officials told Reuters that there now are about 10 to 12 calls a day on the hotline, helping keep U.S. and Russian warplanes apart as they support different fighters on the ground.

That is no small task, given the complexities of Syria's civil war. Moscow backs the Syrian government, which also is aided by Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah as it claws back territory from Syrian rebels and Islamic State fighters.

The U.S. military is backing a collection of Kurdish and Arab forces focusing their firepower against Islamic State, part of a strategy to collapse the group's self-declared "caliphate" in Syria and Iraq.

Conversations maintained

Reuters was given rare access to the U.S. Air Force's hotline station, inside the Qatar-based Combined Air Operations Area, last week, including meeting two Russian linguists, both native speakers, who serve as the U.S. interface for conversations with Russian commanders.

While the conversations are not easy, contacts between the two sides have remained resilient, senior U.S. commanders said.

"The reality is we've worked through some very hard problems and, in general, we have found a way to maintain the deconfliction line [that separates U.S. and Russian areas of operation] and found a way to continue our mission," Lieutenant General Jeffrey Harrigian, the top U.S. Air Force commander in the Middle East, said in an interview.

As both sides scramble to capture what is left of Islamic State's caliphate, the risk of accidental contacts is growing.

"We have to negotiate, and sometimes the phone calls are tense. Because for us, this is about protecting ourselves, our coalition partners and destroying the enemy," Harrigian said, without commenting on the volume of calls.

The risks of miscalculation came into full view in June, when the United States shot down a Syrian Su-22 jet that was preparing to fire on U.S.-backed forces on the ground.

U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said those were not the only aircraft in the area. As the incident unfolded, two Russian fighter jets looked on from above and a American F-22 stealth aircraft kept watch from an even higher altitude, they told Reuters.

After the incident, Moscow publicly warned it would consider any planes flying west of the Euphrates River to be targets. But the U.S. military kept flying in the area, and kept talking with Russia.

"The Russians have been nothing but professional, cordial and disciplined," Army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, the Iraq-based commander of the U.S.-led coalition, told Reuters.

Dividing line

In Syria, U.S.-backed forces are now consumed with the battle to capture Islamic State's former capital of Raqqa. More than half the city has been retaken from Islamic State.

Officials said talks were underway to extend a demarcation line that has been separating U.S.- and Russian-backed fighters on the ground as fighting pushes toward Islamic State's last major Syrian stronghold, the Deir ez-Zor region.

The line runs in an irregular arc from a point southwest of Tabqa east to a point on the Euphrates River and then down along the Euphrates River in the direction of Deir ez-Zor, they said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, during a visit to Jordan this week, said the line was important as U.S.- and Russian-backed forces come in closer proximity of each other. "We do not do that [communication] with the [Syrian] regime. It is with the Russians, is who we're dealing with," Mattis said. "We continue those procedures right on down the Euphrates River Valley."

Bisected by the Euphrates River, Deir ez-Zor and its oil resources are critical to the Syrian state.

The province is largely in the hands of Islamic State, but has become a priority for pro-Syrian forces. It also is in the cross hairs of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

SDF spokesman Talal Silo told Reuters last week that there would be an SDF campaign toward Deir ez-Zor "in the near future," though the SDF was still deciding whether it would be delayed until Raqqa was fully taken from Islamic State.
Thousands of police officers sealed off multiple northern Indian cities Thursday while a controversial guru stood trial for rape.

Tens of thousands of supporters of the guru, , camped along the roads near the barricaded courthouse in Panchkula Thursday.

The guru took to Twitter ahead of the trial to say that he would appear in court despite suffering some back pain, because he has "always respected the law."

Indian investigators allege that Singh, dubbed the "guru in bling," molested two of his female worshipers  a charge that he and his supporters deny.

Six thousand police officers were deployed in the city of Panchkula alone as authorities fear a guilty verdict may result in violence.

Many popular ascetics claiming to have mystical powers in India, including Singh, have been linked with scandals and controversy.

In 2015, Singh, leader of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, was accused of encouraging 400 followers to undergo castration at his ashram so they could get closer to God.

Singh also stood trial for conspiracy to murder a journalist in 2002.

But his supporters have stood firm, referring to him as "the ultimate humanitarian" on the group's website.
President Donald Trumps promised U.S.-Mexico border wall could trigger a budget showdown when Congress returns in September, as Democrats, and some Republicans, debate whether beginning construction on new sections of the wall would be worth the $1.6 billion expense.

But 2,700 kilometers away from Capitol Hill, in the varied border terrain of Del Rio, Texas, law enforcement and residents alike say the issue is even more complicated than is understood in Washington.

The terrain in the 64,000 square kilometers of the U.S. Border Patrols Del Rio sector can change dramatically kilometer by kilometer. Out on the Rio Grande, the river border between the United States and Mexico, the depth of the water can change day by day.

Its very shallow, says U.S. Border Patrol agent Cory Maddox, on an air boat skimming over a river brought low in August heat. Its very simple to get to the river on the Mexican side."

Air boat patrols keep to the U.S. side, speeding past Mexican fisherman standing in thigh-deep water.

Maddox has watched undocumented immigrants use every way possible to cross this river. Theyll use rafts, theyll use horses, he says. Inner tubes. People just swim.

Most are led by smugglers who know the best spots to cross the river, beating well-worn paths through the thick carrizo cane growing on the banks.

These guys have been doing this for a long, long time, Maddox says. They know the places to cross.

The Border Patrol uses the high bluffs above as a strategic viewpoint to track crossings. But their work is complicated by the invasive Carrizo cane below, which creates a dense thicket up to 7 meters tall and hides anyone approaching an existing 3-kilometer-long border fence.

It can be creepy at night because you dont see the person youre trying to arrest, you dont know if theyre good people or dangerous people, Maddox says.

Out in the canyons

The Rio Grande River is just one of the areas Border Patrol agents cover in this sector.

Its the canyons and kilometers of desert reaching temperatures of 43 degrees (Celsius) in the summer that complicate the debate over building a wall. Rep. Will Hurd, a member of Trump's Republican party whose district includes the most kilometers of U.S.-Mexico border of any member of Congress. He argues those natural barriers make building a continuous physical wall an expensive proposition.

Its not a one size fits all border, says Matthew Hudak, acting Del Rio sector chief at U.S. Border Patrol. What is that right mix in one area may not be the right mix even a short distance away.

Hudak says the problem of border security is best solved with an approach mixing infrastructure, technology and personnel. The 2.7 kilometers of existing fence in Del Rio assist agents by slowing down undocumented crossings, giving them more time to respond. But he adds, even with infrastructure, its going to be a personnel-intensive area to patrol.

The funding passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in late July that will likely face a tough road to passage in the U.S. Senate adds funding for technology as well as $100 million to hire and train 500 additional U.S. Border Patrol agents.

A local perspective

But that varied terrain in the Del Rio sector changes the border wall debate from a local perspective.

In my county, I dont think we need a border wall, says Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez, whose area of responsibility includes Del Rio.

Martinez, a member of the opposition Democratic Party, says he respects the position of President Trump, but he would like to see him experience the reality of life on the border beyond brief demonstrations.

He needs to come down here and set foot on the border, Martinez says. People need to step foot on the border, people that are talking, need to know what theyre talking about.



Its a reality the president understands, says Lee Weathersbee, a retired rancher and former Del Rio city council member, who has lived along the border his whole life.



If the guys got enough sense to make a $9 billion empire to build a building in downtown New York, says Weathersbee, Hes got enough sense where to build a wall.
Former Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Saleh rallied thousands of his supporters Thursday in the capital, Sana, to mark the 35th anniversary of the founding of his General People's Congress party. The show of support follows a recent rift with his Houthi rebel allies. Friction with the Houthis threatens to tear apart the alliance that has been battling forces loyal to exiled President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi and a Saudi-led coalition.

The gathering in support of Saleh took place peacefully in the capital's Midan Saba'een square, despite recent tension between the veteran leader's party and his Houthi rebel allies who remain the most powerful military force in Yemen.

Saleh alluded to putting the thousands of military men still loyal to him into the conflict that has racked the country since the Houthis arrested internationally-backed President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in 2015, eventually forcing him to flee. The Houthis have been battling a Saudi-led coalition that intervened in March 2015 to support Hadi.

Yemen analyst Hakim Almasmari tells VOA that Thursday's rally failed to change the political equation in the country and the Houthis continue to hold the advantage for the next round of political dialogue, scheduled for September, under the auspices of the United Nations. Saleh, nevertheless, he believes, remains a force to be reckoned with in the country.

"He is the most popular person in the country when it comes to social support, but when it comes to power on the ground, military power, the Houthis are the most powerful. Militarily, he is very far behind the Houthis."

A recent disagreement between Saleh and the Houthis erupted after the former president referred to the Houthis as a "two-bit militia," but in his address to supporters Thursday, he directed most of his criticism to President Hadi and his Saudi allies.

Saleh says his own supporters have made many sacrifices to defend the revolution that brought him to power in 1978 in what was then North Yemen. He says the ongoing war is tearing the country apart, blaming what he calls the "traitorous and treacherous" leadership (under Hadi) outside the country.

The Houthi militia avoided a potential conflict with the former president and his supporters, despite talk in the media of declaring a state of emergency and forbidding political rallies like the one Thursday.

A speech by Houthi leader Abdel Malek al Houthi to his supporters earlier this week, in which he criticized Saleh, suggested a potential conflict was brewing between the two men.

He says his forces have been stabbed in the back by their allies, despite the many sacrifices they have made, at a time when they are fighting to stop the enemy aggression.

Political alliances in Yemen are fickle, and Saleh's forces have fought the Houthi rebels six times since 2004, before forming an alliance after he fell out with his one-time deputy, Hadi.
The head of Doctors Without Borders said armed groups have looted two dozen of the aid groups medical facilities in South Sudan during the past 18 months, and is demanding the government provide better protection.

Joanne Liu is international president of the group, known by its French acronym MSF. She spoke to South Sudan in Focus after a trip to the country where she toured MSF facilities and met with President Salva Kiir.

Liu said the sad truth is that rather than protect medical facilities, warring parties in South Sudan will often target them.

After visiting the town of Waul Shiluk, where she saw a destroyed MSF facility up close, she said she told Kiir and other top officials that the looting and destruction of medical facilities in South Sudan is costing lives.

Its just a reflection of the violence that is happening and what it does, as the biggest consequence, its depriving people of health care when its most needed, Liu said.

MSF medical facilities have also destroyed been in places like Pibor, Leer, and Kodok, but Liu said the level of destruction she saw in Wau Shiluk was chilling.

We had to take a boat for half an hour, then we had to walk for half an hour. It was clear to me when I went there and walked through Wau Shiluk that it has been completely burned down and looted. Our facility, which was a PHCC [primary health care center] of 30 beds, is completely gone, Liu said.

Not pulling out



Despite rampant insecurity across South Sudan, mired in the fourth year of a war between pro-Kiir and anti-Kiir forces, Liu said her organization has no plans of pulling out.

MSF is deeply committed to stay and work here in South Sudan, stand by the civilian population and offer as much as we can, she said. "For us, its absolutely imperative that all parties to the conflict respect and protect civilians and people must be allowed to have access to life-saving services."

Government responds

Kir spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny told VOA on Thursday that the government is committed to protecting services like MSF.

[W]e always observe the fact that we have to make sure we protect the medical facilities of the organizations that are helping our people, he said.

He said any damage to medical facilities caused by government forces was inadvertent and happened as soldiers defended themselves.

Speaking on August 18 in Juba, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Hussein Mar Nyuot said it is government policy to provide safety and conducive working environment to all the humanitarian workers in the country.

He added the government supports aid delivery to South Sudanese citizens in both government- or rebel-controlled areas.

Upper Nile State

But the destruction and looting of medical facilities continues across the country.

Liu said the war has taken a particularly devastating toll on civilians in the former Upper Nile State.

When I was in the clinic in Aburoch and the clinic in Malakal, what was very striking is that people have lost hope because they have moved four times over the last few months and started from scratch all over again, she said. They have no prospects of anything positive to come."

Liu said the lack of access to people in need is a huge problem. She added that MSFs clinic in Aburouch is totally inaccessible by road due to insecurity.

"Access in all its forms, people [trying] to access our facilities is an issue, its difficult for them," she said. "And us accessing places that have concentrations of communities like in Aburoch, [where] there are about 16- to 18,000 people, is very difficult."

She said MSF appealed to authorities to ensure people can reach medical clinics when needed.

We ask for access, we ask for respect where we work for our mobile units, for the facilities where we have people, not for us but for the patients, she said.
NATO's chief says the military alliance will send two experts to attend Russia's war games with Belarus, after Minsk invited them to take part.



The war games, known as Zapad (West in Russian) and starting on Sept. 14, have raised tensions between NATO and Russia. Zapad will see thousands of troops and equipment from Russia and Belarus deployed near the borders with NATO members Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.



NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told The Associated Press on Thursday that Belarus said the alliance could attend five distinguished visitor days during the war games. Russia has invited NATO to one such visitors' day but the alliance is still studying the offer.



Stoltenberg said attending visitors' days does not constitute real monitoring and that NATO is seeking "a more thorough way of observing'' Zapad.



Stoltenberg's remarks came as he traveled to Poland for meetings with the country's president, prime minister, foreign and defense ministers. He will also visit NATO troops Friday who are stationed in the country.



A police car escorting Stoltenberg's convoy to the meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda was involved in a crash Thursday with a van, injuring three people but Stoltenberg's limousine was not affected, a police spokesman said.



Under international rules enshrined by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, monitors should be invited to observe war games involving more than 13,000 troops. Both Russia and Belarus say the number taking part will be less, but NATO officials say Russia has low-balled troop numbers in the past.



"We call on Russia to fully comply with the [OSEC's] document, but also to not use loopholes like snap exercises, like many different commands for what in reality is one exercise,'' Stoltenberg said.



He said NATO routinely invites Russia to watch its war games as a confidence-building measure, but noted that ``Russia has never, since the end of the Cold War, invited any NATO ally to observe any of their exercises.''



Zapad is held roughly every four years. The exercises will be a chance for Russia to flex its military muscle near nervous neighbors that have joined NATO since breaking away from the former Soviet Union.



The alliance, and those neighbors, are concerned that Moscow might leave military equipment behind in Belarus when the exercises are over, raising fears that Russian troops could quickly move across the borders later, as they did in Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014.
The most powerful typhoon to hit the southern Chinese region in more than half a century left at least 16 dead as a sudden deluge swamped the gambling hub of Macau, submerging streets and stranding residents.



Macau said Thursday that eight people were killed in the former Portuguese colony, including two men found overnight in a submerged parking garage. Another 153 were injured amid extensive flooding, power outages, and the smashing of doors and windows by high winds and driving rain.



"It's a calamity, the losses are high and a lot of buildings need repair," said Macau lawmaker Jose Pereira Coutinho, adding that he heard from many people who still had no water or electricity a day after Typhoon Hato tore across the 30-square kilometer (19-square mile) territory.



Coutinho said the flooding was at its worst in the older parts of the city's downtown, where narrow lanes date back from Macau's time as a Portuguese colony for more than four centuries.



"People were just swimming, they cried for help. There were no boats. The water came so suddenly," said Coutinho, who slammed the city government for having "reacted so slowly and so badly."



Casinos downtown "were either closed or barely operating," while some resorts in the newer Cotai district were in better shape but operating without air conditioning, Union Gaming Research analyst Grant Govertsen said in a report.



The chief executive of Macau's local government, Chui Sai On, ordered measures to "further the relief efforts," the Government Information Bureau said in a statement Thursday.



Residents waded in waist-high murky water and rows of city buses sat half-submerged on city streets, according to photos circulating among residents. Fallen trees blocked roads, causing traffic snarls, and residents lined up with buckets to collect water from public standpipes, television video showed.



Macau, which is surrounded by water, is vulnerable to high tides and has few options for draining storm runoff. The territory took almost a direct hit from the storm as it churned toward mainland China.



Its reliance on the mainland for electricity compounded problems. Power cuts in neighboring Guangdong province, which supplies nearly 90 percent of Macau's electricity, cascaded into outages across the city, forcing casino operators, a hospital, and the city's mobile phone company, CTM, to switch to backup generators.



CTM also said two equipment rooms were seriously damaged by flooding, affecting telecommunications service in the area. Power utility CEM said Thursday it was restoring service but about 40,000 customers remained in the dark because of damaged power supply facilities.



China's official Xinhua News Agency said eight more people were killed in Guangdong and one person remained missing. Typhoon Hato roared into the area Wednesday with winds of up to 160 kilometers (100 miles) per hour. It weakened into a tropical storm Thursday as it moved farther west inland.



Xinhua said almost 27,000 people were evacuated to emergency shelters, while extensive damage to farmland due to the heavy rain and high tides was also reported. Almost 2 million households lost power temporarily, while fishing boats were called back to port and train services and flights suspended, Xinhua said.



"Compared to other typhoons, Hato moved fast, quickly grew more powerful and caused massive amounts of rainfall," Wu Zhifang, chief weather forecaster at the Guangdong meteorological bureau, was quoted as saying by Xinhua.



By Thursday, a weaker Hato was moving into China's Guangxi region.



Flooding and injuries were also reported in Hong Kong, which lies across the water 64 kilometers (40 miles) from Macau, but there were no reports of deaths. Hato's fierce gales blew out windows on skyscrapers in the Asian financial capital, raining shattered glass onto the eerily quiet streets below. Hong Kong's weather authorities had raised the hurricane signal to the highest level for the first time in five years.



Three of the earlier deaths in Macau were men, aged 30, 45 and 62. One fell from the 11th floor of a building, one was hit by a truck and another was killed when the wind blew down a wall. Two others, a man aged 48 and a woman, 44, died from drowning, according to a press statement. No information was given for the remaining victim.
Two people were injured by an explosion in the center of Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, on Independence Day, police said on Thursday.



The blast occurred at 1406 (1106 GMT), police said in a statement, giving no more details.



The local television channel 112 showed a woman lying on the ground in the street near the building of the Ukrainian government.
The growing need for food, medicine and shelter by millions of people facing conflicts and crises around the world is far outstripping the increased generosity of donors, the United Nations' outgoing humanitarian chief warns.

Stephen O'Brien, who is stepping down August 31 as undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and the world body's emergency relief coordinator, said in an interview this week that "we have to get to the root causes to try to reduce needs."

Equally, he said, the United Nations needs to intensify donations, especially from its 193 member states.

The United Nations has appealed for $23.5 billion to help over 102 million people in 38 countries this year but has received only $8.1 billion, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, which O'Brien heads.

The appeals range from about $10 million for Mozambique, where an earthquake hit in June, to $3.34 billion for conflict-torn Syria.

OCHA said late Wednesday that the appeal for Yemen  the Arab world's poorest country, which is in the throes of civil war and the world's worst cholera epidemic  has increased to $2.3 billion but is only 41 percent funded.

U.N. agencies are currently trying to cope with "level three" emergencies, the highest level, not only in Syria and Yemen but also in Iraq.

During O'Brien's more than two years leading OCHA there was also a "level three" emergency in South Sudan, which still faces a humanitarian crisis as a result of civil war.

O'Brien said the scale of financing required for humanitarian action to meet current and projected needs around the world "requires us to be permanently innovative, welcoming of all contributions."

But speaking practically, he said, this will always require "a major commitment from the maximum number of committed member states" with access to taxpayer funding.

He recalled that a panel on humanitarian financing in early 2016 helped identify "a grand bargain" to improve humanitarian results through greater efficiency, joint action and an end to competition between organizations  and he said he's seen results since then.

O'Brien said there's now "a new way of working" in the field as officials cooperate on humanitarian aid and economic development.

He said the first-ever U.N. humanitarian summit in Istanbul in May 2016 agreed on an agenda that focuses on preventing and reducing conflicts, supporting international humanitarian law, reducing humanitarian needs and ensuring aid for all who need it.

"We must never let up on our determination to advocate for a better world and to find leadership and the leaders to help make that happen," he said.

O'Brien said despite the scale of needs and conflicts "in the most challenging places ... we are nonetheless reaching people all the time."

But he stressed that there are still too many unmet needs, including in Libya.

O'Brien said U.N. staffers face danger on missions in many places, such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, eastern Ukraine or Rakhine state in Myanmar.

Last year alone, 101 aid workers were killed, 98 wounded and 89 kidnapped.

"I see just how much risk is being taken, though we take every measure to protect them," O'Brien said. "But sadly, whether it's in Yemen or Somalia, South Sudan, northeast Nigeria or any countries already mentioned, we are faced with terrible and perilous challenges."

O'Brien will be returning to his home in northern England. His successor, Mark Lowcock, is also from Britain.
A U.S. Energy Department report calls for incentives to boost coal-fired and nuclear power plants following a slew of closures that it said undermined reliable sources of electricity.

The findings of the study, released late Wednesday, drew praise from the coal and nuclear industries and a mixed reaction from renewable energy groups  some of which said the report's recommendations could help them, too.

President Donald Trump has promised to revive the ailing coal mining sector but has also said he welcomes all forms of energy development to shore up domestic production.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry commissioned the grid study in April to evaluate whether "regulatory burdens" imposed by past administrations, including that of former President Barack Obama, had hurt the grid by forcing shutdowns of baseload plants, which provide nonstop power, like those fired by coal and nuclear fuel.

Obama introduced regulations intended to slash emissions of carbon dioxide, which are blamed for climate change. This accelerated the retirement of coal-fired power plants and bolstered the nascent solar and wind sectors, which depend heavily on weather conditions for their power output.

"It is apparent that in today's competitive markets certain regulations and subsidies are having a large impact on the functioning of markets, and thereby challenging our power generation mix," Perry said in a letter introducing the study. "It is important for policy makers to consider their intended and unintended effects."

The study, conducted by the department's staff, said cheap natural gas was the main driver of the closure of baseload coal and nuclear plants, a trend that was putting areas of the country at greater risk of power outages.

The department recommended giving baseload plants pricing advantages for their power, as well as making it easier and cheaper to get permits to build more such projects.

Mixed reaction

The report differed from an earlier draft, which had said big increases in renewable power generation remained possible without undermining grid reliability, and which did not propose added support for baseload producers.

The administration had not yet reviewed the earlier draft, which was written by department staff.

Some coal and nuclear energy groups welcomed the final report's findings.

"This is a much-needed, pragmatic look at U.S. electricity reliability and resilience, including the priority of maintaining critical clean baseload power as electricity markets change," said Rich Powell, director of ClearPath, which advocates for nuclear and hydropower.

Renewable fuels supporters had a wide range of reactions.

The Center for Biological Diversity called the report's recommendations "dangerously misguided," and the Sierra Club also bashed the study.

But America's biggest solar and wind power associations said they felt the study contained elements that were positive such as not singling out renewable energy as a big problem.

"The report did not ... lay the demise of coal at the feet of renewable energy, and that is an important finding," Abigail Ross Hopper, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, wrote in an email to the trade group's members on Thursday.

SEIA and other groups, including the American Wind Energy Association, said wind and solar could benefit from some of the report's recommendations, such as a call for infrastructure development and market reforms.

AWEA said in a blog post that technological advances could allow wind energy to provide reliability services, such as fast ramping to regulate the grid's frequency signal.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced Thursday he won't seek to rescind any national monuments carved from the wilderness and oceans by past presidents. But he said he will press for some boundary changes and left open the possibility of allowing drilling, mining or other industries on the sites.

Twenty-seven monuments were put under review in April by President Donald Trump, who has charged that the millions of acres designated for protection by President Barack Obama were part of a massive federal land grab.



If Trump adopts Zinke's recommendations, it could ease some of the worst fears of his opponents, who warn that vast public lands and marine areas could be stripped of federal protection.

But significant reductions in the size of the monuments or changes to what activities are allowed on them could trigger fierce resistance, too, including lawsuits.

Changes to 'handful of sites'

In an interview with The Associated Press, Zinke said he is recommending changes to a handful of sites, including unspecified boundary adjustments, and suggested some monuments are too large.

The White House said only that it received Zinke's recommendations and is reviewing them.

Conservationists and tribal leaders responded with alarm and distrust, demanding the full release of Zinke's recommendations and vowing to challenge attempts to shrink any monuments.

Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters, called Zinke's review a pretext for selling out our public lands and waters to the oil industry and others.

Jacqueline Savitz, senior vice president of Oceana, which has been pushing for preservation of five marine monuments included in the review, said that simply saying changes are coming doesn't reveal any real information.

A change can be a small tweak or near annihilation, Savitz said. The public has a right to know.

Tribal coalition

A tribal coalition that pushed for the creation of the 2,100-square-mile Bears Ears National Monument on sacred tribal land in Utah is prepared to launch a legal fight against even a slight reduction in its size, said Gavin Noyes of the nonprofit Utah Dine Bikeyah. Zinke has previously said Bears Ears should be downsized.

Republican Utah state Rep. Mike Noel, who has pushed to rescind the designation of Bears Ears as a monument, said he could live with a rollback of its boundaries.

He called that a good compromise that would enable continued tourism while still allowing activities that locals have pursued for generations  logging, livestock grazing and oil and gas drilling.



The eco tourists basically say, Throw out all the rubes and the locals and get rid of that mentality of grazing and utilizing these public lands for any kind of renewable resource such as timber harvesting and even some mineral production, Noel said. That's a very selfish attitude.

Marine monuments

Other sites that might see changes include the Grand Staircase-Escalante monument in the Utah desert, consisting of cliffs, canyons, natural arches and archaeological sites, including rock paintings; Katahdin Woods and Waters, 136 square miles of forest of northern Maine; and Cascade Siskiyou, a 156-square-mile region where three mountain ranges converge in Oregon.

The marine monuments encompass more than 340,000 square miles and include four sites in the Pacific Ocean and an array of underwater canyons and mountains off New England.

In the interview with the AP, Zinke declined to reveal his recommendations for individual sites.

Four-month review



The former Montana congressman did not directly answer whether any monuments would be newly opened to energy development, mining and other industries Trump has championed.



But he said public access for uses such as hunting, fishing or grazing would be maintained or restored. He also spoke of protecting tribal interests.

There's an expectation we need to look out 100 years from now to keep the public land experience alive in this country, Zinke said. You can protect the monument by keeping public access to traditional uses.

The recommendations cap an unprecedented four-month review based on a belief that the century-old Antiquities Act had been misused by presidents to create oversized monuments that hinder energy development, grazing and other uses. The review looked at whether the protected areas should be eliminated, downsized or otherwise altered.

Six sites spared earlier

The review raised alarm among conservationists who said protections could be lost for ancient cliff dwellings, towering sequoia trees, deep canyons and ocean habitats.

Zinke previously announced that no changes would be made at six of the 27 monuments under review  in Montana, Colorado, Idaho, California, Arizona and Washington.



In the interview, Zinke struck back against conservationists who had warned of impending mass sell-offs of public lands by the Trump administration.



I've heard this narrative that somehow the land is going to be sold or transferred, he said. That narrative is patently false and shameful. The land was public before and it will be public after.

Different restrictions



National monument designations are used to protect land revered for its natural beauty and historical significance. The restrictions aren't as stringent as those at national parks but can include limits on mining, timber-cutting and recreational activities such as riding off-road vehicles.



The monuments under review were designated by four presidents over the past two decades.

No president has tried to eliminate a monument, but some have reduced or redrawn the boundaries on 18 occasions, according to the National Park Service.

Environmental groups contend the 1906 Antiquities Act allows presidents to create the monuments but gives only Congress the power to modify them.
U.S. interim co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassador Richard Hoagland, is retiring on August 28.

Announcing his plans at a roundtable discussion at the Washington Foreign Press Center, Hoagland, currently the State Departments principal deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, said he will be replaced by Andrew Schofer, a career foreign service officer who most recently served as charge daffaires of the U.S. Mission to the International Organizations in Vienna.

He has experience in the settlement of the Cyprus and other conflicts," Hoagland said. "I think the Secretary of State and the State Department have chosen a brilliant Co-Chair.

Hoagland said the new appointment does not indicate a new approach to some of the thorniest issues in the region, particularly Azerbaijan's autonomous breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

International mediators recently called for all parties to the conflict to undertake confidence-building measures in the region, a move that comes 16 months after clashes erupted there, the deadliest incidents since a 1994 cease-fire established the current territorial division. The brief, but intense, fighting of April 2016 claimed dozens of lives.

Since then, the United States, Russia and France, which co-chair the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Minsk Group for conflict mediation, have continued advocating diplomacy to secure a binding peace resolution.

During the meeting, Hoagland circulated a document outlining key points to guide the political settlement process.

In light of Nagorno-Karabakh's complex history, the sides should commit to determining its final legal status through a mutually agreed and legally binding expression of will in the future," said Hoagland's outline of key points, which, he told VOA, reflect consensus among all OSCE co-chairs. "Interim status will be temporary."

The areas within boundaries of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region that is not controlled by Baku, Hoagland's document says, "should be granted an interim status that, at a minimum, provides guarantees for security and self-governance."

The occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh should be returned to Azerbaijani control," the document says. "There can be no settlement without respect for Azerbaijan's sovereignty, and the recognition that its sovereignty over the territories must be restored.

His plan also calls for a safe corridor connecting Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, although the corridor "cannot include the whole Lachin district.

The long-term settlement should recognize the right of all internally displaced peoples and refugees to return to their former places of residence," he said. "The settlement must include international security guarantees that would include peacekeeping measures. There is no scenario in which peace can be ensured without well-designed peacekeeping operation that enjoys the confidence of all sides."

This story originated in VOA's Armenian Service.
In recent years, the U.S. space program has been supporting a broader range of commercial interests, which has led to more companies getting into the space business. One such U.S. company, NanoRacks, is a full-service operation that gets science experiments from around the world into space. The company made history recently with a client from China. VOA's Elizabeth Lee explains from Houston.
Imagine a post office for space. That is the job of U.S. space company NanoRacks. Just down the street from NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston, NanoRacks is one of many companies benefiting from the U.S. space programs support for a broader range of commercial interests.

There has been a shift in federal funding into more of this commercial space transportation program, said David Alexander, director of the Rice Space Institute and professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University in Houston.

What that has allowed these companies to do is essentially have an anchor client, an anchor customer and then build up their manifest and build up their client base and think of lots of new ways of accessing space for many different purposes, Alexander added.

Watch: US Space Company Makes History with Client from China

The space business

For a price, NanoRacks can help almost anyone, anywhere send an experiment or small satellite to the International Space Station in orbit around the Earth. The company made history this summer with a client from China.

Were all about democratizing access to space. Its really important to me that we involve as many nations as possible, NanoRacks Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Manber said.

The company has helped deliver space experiments and satellites of customers from 30 countries, including academic institutions in Eastern Europe, Peru and Vietnam.

The Beijing Institute of Technology, one of NanoRacks latest customers, became the first from China to have an experiment brought onboard the International Space station.

Theyre doing an experiment on DNA and how it mutates in microgravity, Michael Lewis, chief technology officer of NanoRacks, said.

The research operation in China did not respond to VOAs request for an interview, but NanoRacks Manber said findings from the Chinese experiment could have groundbreaking implications.

Theyve shown abnormal results when DNA is subjected to space. That could mean, we cant travel to Mars, Manber said.

Getting Chinese experiment to ISS

Getting the Chinese experiment to the International Space Station was complicated because U.S. federal law prohibits NASA from working directly with China because of fears the Chinese could steal U.S. technology.

First we brought it to the Obama administration. They were very concerned there was no ties to the Peoples Liberation Army, Manber said.

After two years, NanoRacks received approval from U.S. lawmakers.

A statement from NASA said, NASA complied with all legal requirements to notify the Congress of this activity, and all of the ISS (International Space Station) partners approved the inclusion of the experiment from the Beijing Institute of Technology.

However, there was one stipulation.

We had to make sure that there was no technology transfer. No IT connection to the space station, Lewis said. We had a creative solution. We said, OK, well make sure that we plug in the experiment, and its not even connected data wise, he added.

Lewis said the self-contained autonomous Chinese experiment flew to the International Space Station on the SpaceX CRS-11 Dragon spacecraft. The experiment received only power from the space station and spent about three weeks there before returning to Earth.

On the science side, a lot of us scientists would welcome the partnerships. There are other issues we dont think about. Much of the Chinese space program is done through the military and the technology development they have gone through in the last few years, again, have been very successful, Alexander said.

Aside from national security concerns, scientists and businesses are pushing for more international collaboration in space.

You cant do deep space exploration alone. The American government cannot do it without the American private sector, and America cannot do it without international colleagues. Its too expensive. Its too longer term, Alexander said.
India scored a major diplomatic victory over Pakistan earlier this month when the United States designated the largest militant group fighting against Indian rule in the divided Kashmir region as a foreign terrorist organization.

For India, the terror label on the banned Hizbul Mujahideen, or HM, is a strong affirmation of its argument that the violence in its only Muslim majority region is fueled by Islamic militant groups that operate from Pakistan, what India has long called cross-border terrorism. Islamabad denies the charges.

HM was established in 1989 when the insurgency erupted in India-administered Kashmir. The United States declared its founder and supreme commander, Syed Salahuddin, a global terrorist in June.

India says the designations reflect the joint commitment of New Delhi and Washington to fight terrorism.

New Delhi accuses the Hizbul Mujahideen, along with other Islamic militant groups, of killing thousands of people since the armed separatist rebellion erupted in Kashmir.

They are repeatedly attacking civilian targets, killing civilians through acts of indiscriminate violence and sometimes targeted acts of violence, said Ajai Sahni, who heads the Institute of Conflict Management in New Delhi. He says there is a large database of such attacks and the reason the United States has designated HM a terror group.

Pakistan rejects designation

Pakistans Foreign Ministry and Salahuddin, who operates out of the Pakistani-administered part of Kashmir, have rejected the terror designation as unjustified.

Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria said Pakistan and India have disputed claims over Kashmir for the past 70 years, and there have been U.N. Security Council resolutions pending implementation for decades.

Pakistani authorities and Kashmiri leaders maintain the armed insurgency is an indigenous, political and legitimate struggle of Kashmiris strictly confined to the Himalayan region with a mission to free Kashmir from Indian occupation.

Dismissing Islamabads argument, Indian foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said, all of us are aware of what kind of terrorist activities they have conducted in Jammu and Kashmir and frankly the statement made by Pakistan is very strange to say the least.

US step toward India

Analysts say the terrorism designation of HM is another significant step President Donald Trumps administration has taken to politically and diplomatically align itself with India. They also see it as a major blow to diplomatic efforts by Pakistan in the past year to internationally project alleged atrocities Indian security forces have unleashed against innocent Kashmiris.

My sense is that Americas decision to designate this group as a terrorist organization is a very strong indication of Washingtons desire to take the relationship with India forward in a big way, said Michael Kugelman of the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center.

Hizbul Mujahideens Salahuddin, a 71-year-old former school teacher in Indian Kashmir, also heads the United Jihad Council, or UJC, an alliance of more than a dozen Pakistan-based Kashmiri militant groups.

They (U.S.) cannot quote a single incident to prove that we are terrorists, he said, responding to the U.S. move declaring him a global terrorist. This idiocy can neither weaken our courage, nor stop the freedom struggle and the target-oriented actions of freedom fighters, he vowed.

Pakistani militant organizations, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jamaatud Dawa and Jaisha-e-Mohammad have also allegedly been supporting insurgent activities of HM and UJC, and participating in cross-border attacks, in addition to raising funds in Pakistan for the jihad in Kashmir.

New Delhi has long accused the Pakistani spy agency of funding and backing the militants and demanded Islamabad help stop the violent campaign against India.

Islamabad denies allegations it is providing any material support to insurgents, insisting it only offers diplomatic, political and moral support to the legitimate struggle of Kashmiris for their right of self-determination under a U.N.-promised plebiscite.

Renewed Kashmiri violence

The terror designation for Hizbul Mujahideen comes at a time of renewed violence after a decade of relative peace in Kashmir that followed a 2003 cease-fire between India and Pakistan.

During that time, the groups presence in Kashmir had shrunk, but the last year has seen a resurgence of militancy, with the Hizbul emerging as the largest group in the Himalayan region.

The response to the terror designation for Hizbul is more mixed in Kashmir, where people say they do not support violence but offer no clear-cut answer as to whether the group should be viewed as freedom fighters or terrorists.

The current wave of unrest erupted after Indian security forces killed the groups charismatic local commander, Burhan Wani. Since then, thousands of ordinary Kashmiris have taken part in anti-India street protests.

Label not justified

A prominent separatist leader in Indian Kashmir, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, sees no justification for the terror label.

Pointing out that there are now an estimated 100 local recruits in the ranks of the Hizbul, he said there is an indigenous aspect to the Kashmiri militancy, and the young boys who have joined militancy today are those who feel pushed to the wall. Most of them have been subjected to repression, families have been harassed by the police.

He added, they dont have any global agenda like the al-Qaida or the Taliban, or the Islamic State. Their focus has been mainly vis-a-vis the Kashmir issue.

Indeed, for many in Kashmir, the main grievance is New Delhis failure to explore a political solution to the Kashmir dispute and alleged human rights violations by Indian security forces amid what many regard as heavy-handed efforts to stamp out militancy and control protests.

Recent border skirmishes between Pakistani and Indian militaries along the Line of Control dividing Kashmir also stem from the agitation in the disputed territory amid allegations Islamabad is fueling the street protests. The cross-border clashes have left many soldiers and civilians dead on both sides over the past months.

Given that the Hizbul Mujahideen is focused on fighting Indias rule in Kashmir and enjoys support among Kashmiris, activists and militants do not foresee any disruptive effect on the organization in the wake of U.S. terror label, raising fears a spike in insurgent violence could trigger a wider conflict between India and Pakistan.
Students have arrived to the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville, Virginia, for the start of the fall semester. None of them expected their school to be in national and international headlines for the violent rallies that culminated in the death of a young woman protesting racism. Students and their parents told VOA reporters they were shocked but determined to keep the campus and the city of Charlottesville a safe place for all. Zlatica Hoke has this story.
Venezuelan officials have blocked access to Colombian television station Caracol and threatened a clampdown on social media networks in Venezuela, continuing the governments efforts to exert control over the flow of information.

Caracols management confirmed the block Thursday via Twitter, noting that President Nicolas Maduro had launched harsh criticism of Colombian media" hours before ordering the move.

Caracol joins an extensive list of foreign media forced off the air in Venezuela, including U.S.-based international cable channel CNN, that Maduro contends have tried to discredit his government.

Maduro had denounced Caracol's reporting on deposed Venezuelan prosecutor Luisa Ortega Diaz, who, fearing for her life, fled last week to Colombia with her husband. Ortega has accused Maduro and several of his closest collaborators of corruption.

Visiting Brazil this week for a meeting with other prosecutors from countries in the Mercosur trade bloc, Ortega said she would provide evidence to help them submit charges.

Spokesmen for the Venezuelan government rejected those accusations.

Regulations weighed

Earlier this week, the leader of Venezuelas new pro-government Constituent Assembly  which on Friday wrested power from the opposition-led legislature  threatened a clampdown on social media networks.

Delcy Rodriguez, president of the government's most powerful body and part of Maduro's inner circle, said proposed anti-hate crime legislation could regulate and punish incendiary speech on social media. Speaking during an assembly session Tuesday, she said Venezuelans were "victims of psychological war" conducted by "imperialist" propagandists.

Given media censorship in their country, Venezuelans frequently use social networks to stay informed, according to Venezuelas Institute for Press and Society.

Social media posts by Maduro's political opponents also helped bring out demonstrators during often-violent anti-government street protests that began in early April.

Henrique Capriles, an opposition leader and Miranda state governor, responded to the possible clampdown by challenging Venezuelas National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL), which regulates electronic media, to act against state-run Venezolana Television (VTV).

"If they are going to prohibit someone from promoting hatred in the country, well, all the government spokesmen will be silent," said Capriles, who has his own YouTube channel.

Under pressure

CONATEL has "pressured many TV and radio stations" to avoid coverage that cast the Maduro administration in a bad light, the U.S.-based advocacy group Reporters Without Borders observed in a report updated this month. RWB said "persecution of journalists and censorship of the media  is intensifying dramatically throughout Venezuela."

The U.S.-based watchdog group Freedom House says press freedom in Venezuela already had declined precipitously under socialist Hugo Chavez, president from 1999 until his death in 2013.

The administration of his successor, Maduro, "has increased government interference in private media and continued developing a communications apparatus that is meant to act as a state mouthpiece," Freedom House reported on its website. "Media organizations and workers face intimidation, threats, and violence by both state and nonstate actors."

Venezuelan authorities ordered the CNN signal in Spanish to be removed from local cable operators' programming grid in February, shortly after it reported on the alleged use of fake Venezuelan passports.

At the time, Maduro called CNN "an instrument of war" that was promoting aggression against Venezuela.
A member of a U.S. congressional delegation on Thursday called for urgent aid to Central African Republic during a visit to the impoverished country, where deadly sectarian violence is surging again.

Hundreds of people have been killed this year and more than 600,000 have been displaced.

Representative David Cicilline of Rhode Island, a Democrat who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told The Associated Press that the international community "has to think about the long-term implications of abandoning our efforts to stabilize this country."

Cicilline criticized the recent withdrawal of U.S. special operations troops and said it created a "void" in the country's southeast. The U.S. military this year ended operations against the Lord's Resistance Army rebel group in the region. The LRA has continued attacks against civilians since then.

An estimated 60 percent of Central African Republic is controlled by armed groups, according to the aid group Oxfam.

Cicilline praised the U.N. peacekeeping mission for preventing "significant armed conflict," though the mission has acknowledged it doesn't have enough personnel to sufficiently protect civilians throughout the country.

The U.N. Foundation funded the delegation's visit. Peter Yeo, the foundation's vice president of public policy and advocacy, said he was "very concerned" about President Donald Trump's proposed budget cuts for U.N. peacekeeping but noted that the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations had not taken a "slash-and-burn approach toward peacekeeping funding."

Requests for additional peacekeeping support could be discussed when the mission's mandate is up for renewal by the U.N. Security Council in November.
In his response to the report, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, center, said it was important to study the effects of regulation and subsidies on electricity supply. (Melissa Phillip/AP)

A much-anticipated Energy Department report on the electricity grid made recommendations for regulatory changes that would bolster coal and nuclear power plants.

The changes, if adopted, would alter the way prices are determined in electricity markets, ease environmental reviews for coal plants and speed the permitting process for a variety of energy sources.

The 187-page report rejects the notion that the coal and nuclear plants that have been forced to shut down over the past 16 years had been closed prematurely, noting that cheap, abundant natural gas had been the main factor  not environmental regulations or renewable energy sources as Republican leaders have contended.

The biggest contributor to coal and nuclear plant retirements has been the advantaged economics of natural gas-fired generation, the document states.

The Energy Department document carries little weight on its own, and most of its recommendations fall in the turf of other departments and agencies.

But the report has been seen as a test of whether the Trump administration is going to politicize government studies and disregard scientific evidence.

The in-depth look at the state of the grid quickly drew praise from coal and nuclear groups, and sharp rebukes from environmental and solar energy groups.

Among the recommendations is one that suggests that the Environmental Protection Agency ease permitting requirements for new investments at coal-fired plants, a process known as new source review.

It said that the uncertainty stemming from EPAs new source review creates an unnecessary burden that discourages rather than encourages installation of C02 emission control equipment and investments in efficiency because of the additional expenditures and delays associated with the permitting process.

The report also endorsed price changes that would prevent solar and wind energy from providing energy at negative prices, which they can do thanks to federal tax credits.

This hurts other energy suppliers, especially in the nuclear industry, and the recommendation was welcomed.

Were very pleased with the top line recommendation for the implementation of long overdue energy market reforms, said Joe Dominguez, executive vice president of regulatory affairs at Exelon, the nations largest nuclear power utility. The big thing from our perspective is energy market price reforms. Thats something thats been talked about in our sector for years. Its real meat-on-the-bones stuff.

The report suggested that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission speed up its permitting process so that it could continue to ensure the safety of new and existing nuclear reactors without unnecessarily adding to the operating costs and economic uncertainty of nuclear energy.

The U.S. Department of Energys electric grid study reaffirms our view that nuclear energy is a key and necessary contributor to a clean, reliable and resilient electric grid, Nuclear Energy Institute President Maria Korsnick said. Today electricity markets do not properly credit nuclear energy for the numerous benefits it delivers, forcing plants to close years before the end of their useful lives and compromising grid reliability and resiliency in the process.

Other industry groups praised the report. The National Mining Association applauds the department for its timely analysis of the nations power grid and the recommendations it proposes, the associations president, Hal Quinn, said in a statement. He praised the reports finding that government regulations and mandates had accelerated the closure of a substantial number of power plants.

Environmental and renewable industry groups slammed the report for failing to deal with climate change and the drive toward low carbon electricity, and noted that the final report differed from earlier drafts that had been leaked.

This report is not worth the paper its printed on, Earthjustice attorney Kim Smaczniak said in a statement. Rather than embrace the progress weve made and move full steam ahead with the transition to clean energy, the Trump Administration is burning tax payer dollars on a report on baseload power  an antiquated code word for coal and nuclear  to conjure up false attacks on clean energy. Smaczniak added that Worse, the report shows that science is not safe from manipulation under this Administration. Sound findings in the earlier draft of the report have been mysteriously excised, replaced by trumped up claims about the costs of environmental regulations. And this report says nothing about climate change.

The Solar Energy Industries Association president Abigail Ross Hopper said in a statement that solar and other renewables provide significant cost savings, relieve pressure on our nations infrastructure and improve the grids overall performance.

And Graham Richard, chief executive of Advanced Energy Economy, a national business group, said that this report seriously overstates the challenges associated with new energy resources. It also implies that certain power plants now losing out in the marketplace make an irreplaceable contribution to reliability and resilience, which is not the case.

The electricity grid report has been the subject of political and corporate interest since April 14, when Energy Secretary Rick Perry asked the departments staff and experts to produce a study explaining the reasons for the premature retirement of baseload coal and nuclear plants.

The framing was widely seen as setting up a document that would champion coal and nuclear and point to shortcomings of wind and solar.

But the report, which was written by the departments career staff, rejects the premature label, saying that coal plant shutdowns have been the result of four factors: cheap, plentiful natural gas; the spread of ever-cheaper renewable energy; stagnant electricity demand; and government regulation.

It noted that the combination of the leveling in electricity demand and the construction of an additional 390,500 megawatts of power plants since 2002 made significant amounts of older higher cost capacity redundant.

Perry, in his response to the report, said it was important to study the effects of regulation and subsidies on electricity supply.

The core objective of electricity regulation has always been, and should continue to be, to ensure a reliable and resilient electric supply system that serves customers in an equitable manner, Perry said in a statement. It is apparent that in todays competitive markets certain regulations and subsidies are having a large impact on the functioning of markets, and thereby challenging our power generation mix. It is important for policy makers to consider their intended and unintended effects.

The report also said that the aging power plants retired over the past 16 years were no longer being used as baseload plants, a phrase that means the plants can run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, unlike wind and solar. It said that the coal plants shut down in recent years were operating at a small fraction of their capacity, far less than the nationwide average for coal plants.

Not every power plant retirement is cause for alarm, the report cautioned. While stakeholders may maintain that a power plant has been forced to retire prematurely based on one or more of the considerations above, the results of this study show that some observed power plant retirements are appropriate and consistent with markets as they are currently functioning.

Energy Department officials who briefed journalists on the report said the country is at a pivotal moment for decisions about electricitys future.

The officials said that the Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis, essentially the departments in-house think tank, was essential to coordinating the report. But the Trump budget proposal for fiscal year 2018 would eliminate the office.

Chris Mooney contributed to this report.
Meet Stella and Gerry Gilmore, the couple at the center of Bernard MacLavertys new novel, Midwinter Break. Originally from the north of Ireland, they have lived much of their adult lives in Scotland. They are empty-nesters. Their only child, Michael, has moved to Canada and started his own family. Michaels absence  along with the traumatic events that accompanied his birth  have cast a shadow over the Gilmores marriage, a shadow they have never fully reckoned with. During the course of this sure-handed and captivating novel, they will finally be forced to do so.

Stella is a retired teacher and practicing Catholic who is searching for a way of living a more devout life. With her remaining years, she wants to make a contribution, however small to the world. The problem is that shes not sure whether Gerry will be a part of this final act. A former architect and university professor, Gerry drinks too much and is given to making punning quips as a means of remaining emotionally disengaged from his life.

Gerry also mocks her faith, especially when he is inebriated. She has booked a long weekend in Amsterdam for them, in part, to decide whether there is a viable life for her outside of their marriage. Ostensibly a romantic getaway, the trip is actually an opportunity for Stella to visit the Begijnhof, one of the oldest enclosed courtyards in Amsterdam, which was once home to the Beguines, a Catholic sisterhood who lived alone as nuns, but without vows. Stella has aspirations of taking up residence there, but she learns that its not so simple. She cant just leave Gerry and move into a life of piety and good works in one of the most desirable spots in Amsterdam.

[J. Courtney Sullivans Saints for All Occasions is this years best book about family]

MacLavertys novel is relatively short (240 pages), but it feels like a more expansive work because of its unhurried pace and careful attention to each moment of the Gilmores sojourn. (If you can, read it in real time, over three or four days, to give yourself a midsummer break from your own routine.) We accompany this couple not only to the Anne Frank House and the Rijksmuseum, but also into their deepest selves. It is an intimate book that makes wonderful use of the close third person. Heres a passage in which Stella, remembering the early days of their courtship, conflates the stones from a beach with the illusions of falling in love:

She was always on the lookout for stones. Only white perfect ones would make her stoop. . . . When they were wet and glistening they seemed special but she knew that when they dried out maybe some yellow or grey would creep into their colour. The perfect ones would end up in a glass bowl on her table. It was their simplicity she found so attractive.

Author Bernard MacLaverty (James Anderson)

A restrained simplicity is also the stylistic hallmark of this novel. MacLavertys only missteps are his occasionally clumsy and largely unnecessary segues into flashbacks. The reader doesnt need the hand-holding to jump into the past that still haunts Gerry and Stella. Those events, parceled out slowly in the narrative, are tied to the Troubles of the late 20th century: the murders and bombings that made daily life in Belfast and elsewhere in Northern Ireland so frightening.

This is familiar terrain for MacLaverty, whose 1983 novel Cal told the story of a terrorist accomplice who falls in love with a victims wife. A violent encounter is what prompts Gerry and Stella to move to Scotland; it is also one of the sources of their marital difficulties. Gerrys drinking and Stellas desire to live a life of faith are their respective means of coping with these experiences. MacLaverty manages to dramatize this without reducing his protagonists to mere casualties.

A carefully assembled structure of symbols and allusions gives Midwinter Break resonance and depth. The Netherlands was the birthplace of King William III (a.k.a. William of Orange), who deposed the Catholic King James II in the Glorious Revolution. The novels title refers to Christina Rossettis poem In the Bleak Midwinter, which imagines the nativity in a snowy northern landscape. And the snow that falls late in the book calls to mind James Joyces The Dead, in which a husband discovers a passionate secret his wife has kept from him.

Contemplating the mysteries that lie at the heart of every marriage, Stella thinks, Nobody could peer into a relationship  even for a day or two  and come away with the truth. Its a measure of MacLavertys achievement here that he has done exactly that.

Jon Michaud is a novelist and the head librarian at the Center for Fiction.

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On Feb. 25, 1980, the celebrated French literary critic Roland Barthes was struck by a laundry van while crossing the street in Paris, later dying of his injuries. In August that same year, the Bologna train station was blown up by Italian terrorists, killing 85 people. Two months afterward, French Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser strangled his sociologist wife, Helene, supposedly in a fit of madness. The following May, Socialist Party candidate Francois Mitterrand beat incumbent Valery Giscard dEstaing to be elected president of France.

The Seventh Function of Language, by Laurent Binet (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

These are all, as far as history is concerned, discrete events. But could they actually be connected? What if Barthes  an authority on semiology, the study of signs and symbols  had discovered a linguistic secret of immense power, one for which people would kill? The pioneering structuralist Roman Jakobson had famously promulgated six functions to language, but he hinted at the possible existence of a seventh, one in which words acquired the persuasive force of incantations or magic spells. If a speaker knew how the seventh function operated, he or she could convince people of anything at all. One could potentially rule the world.

Like Umberto Ecos conspiracy classic, Foucaults Pendulum, or Zoran Zivkovics Papyrus Trilogy, Laurent Binet  a professor of French literature in Paris  has produced an intellectual thriller that will be catnip to serious readers. While it contains Bulgarian assassins, Japanese ninjas, a beautiful Russian agent, French politicians and several male prostitutes, its main characters are prominent European philosophers and cultural theorists, including Eco, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Julia Kristeva and Philippe Sollers.

[If you love Sherlock Holmes, youll love this book]

In the wake of Barthess accident, Jacques Bayard  a member of the French polices intelligence service  is ordered to look into the case. Why? Primarily because just before Barthes was run over, he attended a quiet lunch with Mitterrand (which is true). Secondarily because the victims keys, wallet and papers somehow went missing (also true). When Bayard asks if the critic had enemies, Foucault explodes:

 Of course! . . . All he had were enemies: the reactionaries, the middle classes, the fascists, the Stalinists, and, above all, the rancid old critics who never forgave him!

 Forgave him for what?

 For daring to think! For daring to question their outdated bourgeois ideas, for highlighting their vile normative functions, for showing them up for what they really were: prostitutes sullied by idiocy and compromised principles! 

Realizing that he is out of his element, Bayard recruits help from a young academic named Simon Herzog, who not only understands words such as normative, but can also employ semiology to make amazing Sherlock Holmes-like deductions. Together they turn over Barthess apartment, search for a particular male prostitute at a crowded steam bath and study the crowd at the great critics funeral  but they never notice the black automobile that follows them everywhere or the workmen and police officers with missing fingers. Before long, as in many golden-age mysteries, various characters start to die while mumbling enigmatic words such as Sophia, Elle sait and Echo. None means what it seems.

Eventually, through a lead given by literary theorist Tzvetan Todorov, our two investigators make their way to Bologna, home of Eco, then merely a professor of semiology (though already thinking about what will become The Name of the Rose). There they learn more about a shadowy, centuries-old organization, a kind of intellectual version of Fight Club, at which people from all walks of life debate philosophical questions. Winners gain immense prestige, but the cost of losing is high. At one particularly erudite confrontation, the movie director Michelangelo Antonioni is pitted against an unprepossessing old woman; still another requires the groups mysterious leader, known as the Great Protagoras, to face an upstart challenger.

[Can a chic Parisian intellectual also be a Christian?]

The quest to identify Barthess murderer and discover the seventh function of language eventually takes Bayard and Herzog to an international conference at Cornell University. Besides all the French hotshots weve already met, attendees include Noam Chomsky, Paul de Man, Gayatri Spivak, Helene Cixous, John Searle and Camille Paglia. Having been in graduate school at Cornell about this time, I can testify to the accuracy of Binets descriptions of the university and Ithaca, N.Y. One of my own dissertation advisers, Jeffrey Mehlman, makes a brief appearance, as does the ebullient Morris Zapp, the protagonist of David Lodges hilarious academic comedy Small World.

Before long, this Cornell section zeros in on an intense controversy between Searle and Derrida (based on fact), but it also features several steamy sex scenes and an hallucinatory Walpurgisnacht that blends a witches sabbath with The Hound of the Baskervilles. And still theres more action to come: Did I mention the Red Brigades? The events in Venice during carnival? The election night revelations in Paris?

Like HHhH, Binets post-modernist novel about the assassination of Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich, The Seventh Function of Language doesnt just tell a story. Binet is also exploring the relationship between fiction and reality. His opening sentence proclaims that Life is not a novel; he sometimes interjects his own first-person thoughts  I wish Anthony Hopkins would reread this passage for us  and his creation Simon Herzog periodically wonders if he might be a fictional character. To my mind, Binet doesnt really do enough with these familiar metafictional tropes, and hes much better at satire and suspense.

Still, such a small reservation hardly matters when theres so much fun to be had in The Seventh Function of Language, compellingly brought into English by Sam Taylor. Foucault, and Sollers, in particular, come across as wildly comic figures. Whats more, Binets alternate  or possibly secret  history hints that there just might be more to the rise of Barack Obama than even Donald Trump could have imagined.

Michael Dirda reviews books for The Washington Post every Thursday.


Diners enjoy lunch at Tortilleria Sinaloa, which has top-notch tacos in tortillas made the right way  by hand. The unassuming storefront in Fells Point is one of several cheap-eats destinations in a city suddenly flush with award-winning chefs. (Doug Kapustin/For The Washington Post)

Baltimore is that rare city with a dish so fundamental to its culture that the foods name is an answer to a crossword puzzle. But if the crab cake is Charm Citys calling card, it can also be a cross to bear for those planning to open a restaurant there.

The chef who dares to ignore the crab cake is the chef who risks losing the tourist searching for Baltimores signature dish, typically built with Chesapeake jumbo-lump crab, saltine cracker crumbs, a mayo binder and, of course, Old Bay.

You will find that in many restaurants there is a crab cake, says Suzanne Loudermilk, restaurant critic for the Baltimore Sun. Its just part of our cuisine. When people do come from out of town, they inevitably want to have a crab cake somewhere along the way.

[These breweries and distilleries prove Baltimore has come a long way since Natty Boh]

Such a prerequisite might seem an obstacle to a dining scene that wants to evolve. But that has not been the case in Baltimore, whose chefs and restaurants have kept pace with the innovators in Washington, perhaps even surpassing them, according to Zagat, which rated Charm Citys scene ahead of the Districts in 2015.

Baltimore already had such talents as James Beard Award winner Spike Gjerde at Woodberry Kitchen, perpetual Beard nominee Cindy Wolf at Charleston and celebrity pastry chef Duff Goldman at Charm City Cakes. But in recent years, the city has attracted such national names as Andrew Carmellini, Gordon Ramsay, John Besh and Aaron Sanchez. It has also developed a craft beer scene that ranks among the finest anywhere and has become something of a food-hall capital, supplementing its historic halls with modern ones, including R. House and Mount Vernon Marketplace.

Is it any wonder Travel + Leisure recently dubbed Baltimore the coolest city on the East Coast?

So why does all this change make the $20 Diner nervous? Because Baltimore has historically been a tremendous city for cheap eats. Souvlaki in Greektown. Snowballs in Bel Air. Lasagna in Little Italy. Crab cakes at Lexington Market. The market forces that ran mom-and-pop restaurants out of business in Washington might also do the same thing in Charm City, right?

Not to worry, says Loudermilk, a Baltimore native. Cheap eats will always fit our persona as being quirky, the critic says. We like to find the deals. I mean, were thrilled that we have more chef-driven, local restaurants and more presence on the national food scene, but we still love our smaller places.

Plus, in terms of discretionary income, Baltimore is not Washington. The median household income in the District is about $75,000. Baltimores is about $44,000.

Charm City, in short, not only has an appetite for cheap eats, but also a budget for them. Fortunately, there are still tons of places to take care of the locals. I wanted to highlight a few, some old and some new. I also wanted to find one killer Baltimore crab cake that wouldnt break the bank.



Homemade tortillas wrap the taco fillings at Fells Points Tortilleria Sinaloa in an inviting pillowy pocket. (Doug Kapustin/For The Washington Post)

Tortilleria Sinaloa

This microscopic storefront in Fells Point doesnt bill itself as a taqueria, even though tacos are its primary attraction. No, Sinaloa is a tortilleria, which tells you plenty about what the place values: fresh, house-made tortillas, prepared right behind the counter in a stainless-steel machine that presses out hundreds of the masa rounds an hour. Each taco comes swaddled in two of those tortillas, which are so soft and toothsome, they act more like polenta cakes  very, very thin polenta cakes. The tacos, particularly the lengua and the barbacoa, are mandatory. But dont overlook the huevos and chorizo plate, which comes with its own basket of tortillas, perfect for building your own bite. Seating is limited to about eight stools. 1716 Eastern Ave., 410-276-3741.

[A guide to Hyattsville: D.C.s newest suburban dining and arts destination]

Paulie Gees Hampden

Long delayed by construction woes, Paulie Gees finally debuted last summer in the former Hampden Republican Club building. Owner Kelly Beckham is a financial-planner-turned-pizzaiolo, and he proved himself obsessive enough to merit a franchise of the small, boutique Paulie Gees chain. His pies are not as soupy as the Neapolitan rounds that inspired them, but the dough is well-developed and baked in a wood-burning oven that leaves its dark fingerprints all over the rounds. Oddly, theres not a margherita pizza in sight. Instead, the menu offers a tidy selection of pies, many sporting tongue-in-cheek names such as the Brian DeParma (a simple preparation with freshly shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano) and the Ricotta Be Kiddin Me (fresh ricotta is dolloped atop the Canadian bacon and sweet fennel sausage after its trip in the oven). Groan-worthy, yes. But delicious, too. 3535 Chestnut Ave., 410-889-1048.



The kabuli pallow bowl (Afghan rice with lamb) is a highlight at Helmand Kabobi, which prepares Afghan food heavy on flavor and easily wrappable to take home or back to the office. (Doug Kapustin/For The Washington Post)

Helmand Kabobi

An offshoot of the Helmand, the respected restaurant owned by the elder brother of former Afghan president Hamid Karzai, Helmand Kabobi is fast and it is casual  just not the way youd assume. Helmand Kabobi is not a customizable experience. Rather, it features many dishes familiar to Helmand diners, but in takeout and office-friendly preparations, such as a wrap or bowl. In any form, the kabuli pallow is Afghan cooking at its most sublime, a sweet-and-savory combination of fork-tender lamb, raisins and glazed carrots on a bed of rice, each grain glistening like grass on a dewy morning. Service can be indifferent in the full-service dining room on the lower level, but once the food arrives, all is forgiven. Whatever you do, dont skip the kaddo borani, an appetizer of baby pumpkin drizzled with garlic-yogurt sauce, or the spicy kofta meatballs, whether theyre tucked into a wrap or lounging on fluffy challow rice. The restaurant is open only until 8 p.m. on weekdays. 855 N. Wolfe St., 410-327-2230.

[The 40 most essential D.C. restaurant dishes of 2017]

Samos Restaurant

Greek immigrants have called Baltimore home since the late 1800s. By the 20th century, they settled in an area that eventually became known as Greektown, which still carries faint echoes of the Old World in, say, a cluttered and dusty deli. But mostly the neighborhood trades on that Mediterranean reverie of sapphire waters and white stone villas, the images permanently burned into the imaginations of countless Americans. Samos is the kind of Greek restaurant we frequented in the days before Johnny Monis at Komi and Jose Andres at Zaytinya opened our eyes to new flavors. As such, Samos has an insiders track to our hearts. I was reminded of this as I snacked on gyro meat sliced from a prefab cone; wolfed down bright, moist hunks of chicken souvlaki; and dug into a Greek salad drizzled with a pungent dressing spiked with anchovies. This is a taste of home  one that I never knew but whose cooking I have enjoyed most of my life. 600 Oldham St., 410-675-5292.



A pulled-pork sandwich is backed by a classic, medium-rare, pit beef sandwich along with an order of fries and gravy at Chaps Pit Beef. (Doug Kapustin/For The Washington Post)

Diners enjoy a casual lunch at Chaps Pit Beef, which attracts a wide range of customers who dont mind waiting in line for a taste of the famous pit beef sandwich. (Doug Kapustin/For The Washington Post)

Chaps Pit Beef

No cheap-eats tour of Baltimore is complete without a stop at Chaps, home to arguably the finest pit beef sandwich, the other dish that is wholly identified with Charm City. The pit beef here is closer to grilled meat than slow-smoked barbecue; the bottom round is cooked directly over charcoal and sliced thin to your desired temperature. When piled high on a soft bun with grated horseradish and raw onions, the medium-rare beef comes across as blue-collar prime rib  with all the intense flavors but without the white-tablecloth fussiness. The house-made pork barbecue sandwich deserves almost as much attention as the pit beef. The lightly smoked pork nuzzles up to a tangy, somewhat spicy sauce, delivering a ham-handed bite with surprising nuance. This kind of deliciousness attracts a wide spectrum of diners, including dead-eyed patrons of the adjacent strip club and the drool-on-command hosts of almost every travel show on TV. Youd better get in line now before it stretches out the door. Baltimore location: 5801 Pulaski Hwy., 410-483-2379.

[The 10 best barbecue joints in the D.C. area]

Vaccaros Italian Pastry Shop

Perhaps Baltimores Little Italy isnt the destination it was in the 20th century. Its homestyle charms, you could argue, have been overshadowed by the chef-driven fare found at such places as Cinghiale or Cosima. But when you want Italian-style pastries, cookies and desserts, you cant do much better than Vaccaros, a slice of old-school Italy. Macaroons, biscotti, strudel cookies, wedding cookies, ricotta cookies, mini cream puffs, mini cannoli, eclairs and the mother of them all, the sfogliatella, a crispy pastry thats rolled and packed with a citron-flavored ricotta filling. Its dessert. Its a work of art. If you can leave here without a box of sweets, youre a stronger person than I. Little Italy location: 222 Albemarle St., 410-685-4905.

[The best true dive bars in D.C.]

Water for Chocolate

This Upper Fells Point restaurant was knocked offline after a 2015 fire, which also damaged chef and owner Sean Guys upstairs apartment. The worst part: Guys 3-year-old pug, Dirty Rice, died in the blaze. But Guy did not surrender. With the help of neighbors, friends and strangers, he reopened Water for Chocolate  named for Laura Esquivels novel  within a matter of months, and Baltimore is better off with this neighborhood eatery and its concise menu of salads, sandwiches and entrees. Guys Italian-sausage meatloaf has become a signature item, and its easy to see why: The slices of saucy, fennel-laced meatloaf are so lush, they collapse at the slightest pressure, which is a problem if you order them in a sandwich. But its a problem with an easy solution: Pick up a fork and shovel until finished. It wont take long. The big surprise here is the pulled-pork quesadilla: The well-engineered wedges sport a thin layer of Jack and cheddar cheeses, which allows the smoky, mouthwatering pork to assume its rightful place as star. 1841 E. Lombard St., 443-961-2751.



The Local Oysters bivalves are just $1 each from 4 to 7 p.m. during the week. (Tim Carman/The Washington Post)

The Local Oyster

Occupying a sunny corner location inside Mt. Vernon Marketplace, Local Oyster has deals that will brighten your day regardless of the weather. Like its Buck-A-Shuck happy hour from 4 to 7 p.m. weekdays, when local oysters are a mere $1 each, including the powerfully briny Misty Points from Virginias Eastern Shore. Those bivalves go down easy with a $3 pint of PBR. But the real steal is Local Oysters crab cake, prepared with pure Maryland blue-crab meat. The 5.5-ounce ball of sweet meat runs $15, which sounds like a price guaranteed to bankrupt a business, given that the wholesale cost for Maryland jumbo lump, according to one individual, runs about $1.80 an ounce. More likely, Local Oyster relies on Maryland lump, a somewhat cheaper product that still delivers the clean, sweet flavors you expect without impoverishing the company. Whatever grade graces Local Oysters crab cake, you need to get one, like, right now. 520 Park Ave., inside Mt. Vernon Marketplace, 844-748-2537.

[These hidden gems serve West African dishes youd be hard pressed to find anywhere else]

Artifact Coffee

When Im not wearing my $20 Diner cap, Im torn between which Spike Gjerde restaurant I like best: Woodberry Kitchen, the chefs ode to the Mid-Atlantic, or Parts and Labor, his concept dedicated to whole-animal butchery and open-hearth cooking. But when I need to watch my budget  like, always  I reflexively turn to Gjerdes Artifact, a rustic cafe carved out of a 19th-century stone mill that once was the largest producer of duck cloth in the world. The menu is microscopic, but well-conceived. Your meal could be as simple as an English muffin (baked nearby at Woodberry Kitchen) with egg and cheddar  and sprinkled with Gjerdes own Snake Oil, a potent hot sauce built from Chesapeake fish peppers. Or it could be something heartier, like the vegetable banh mi with marinated tofu, mushroom pate, pickled carrots and more. I often visit the shop just for its pour-over coffee (featuring beans from Counter Culture) and a house-made pastry or cookie. 1500 Union Ave., Suite 114, 410-235-1881.

Canela

One of the owners  the one with the Israeli background  apparently likes to say that Canelas hummus is better than the one at Zahav in Philadelphia, where pilgrims congregate daily just to sample chef Michael Solomonovs rich, creamy dip. Canelas boast may be as much salesmanship as truth, but still. I had to try this hummus. Alas, I arrived too late. It was sold out for the day, which tells you something about Baltimoreans love for the spread. Fortunately, Canelas line of sandwiches is worth a trip alone. The Zaatar is a bewitching bite  eggplant, red peppers, red onions, cucumbers, sliced hard-boiled egg, goat cheese and a dusting of zaatar spice blend  layered onto toasted slices of ciabatta. It gives veg fare a good name. The Catalan Kebab on a toasted baguette slathered with tahini may be even more inventive: Its a meatball hoagie by way of the Middle East, and every bit as delicious as it sounds. The place also has fresh-squeezed juices, espresso drinks, custom smoothies and alcohol, all of which add to Canelas allure. But, still, I need to get my hands on that hummus. 1801 E. Lombard St., 443-708-2562.


FeMaelstrom, a painting by Lea Craigie-Marshall, is part of Resist, an exhibition of paintings, sculpture, bags and other works that capture the spirit and motifs of the grass-roots protests against the president. (Lea Craigie-Marshall)

Artists are often seen  or see themselves  as visionaries, the first to arrive at truths that will someday be commonly held. At times, though, artists are right in step with popular sentiment, or even a little behind. Thats the impression conveyed by such recent local displays of political art as Zenith Gallerys current Resist.

In a way, the shows actual auteurs are the organizers of and participants in the Jan. 21 Womens March on Washington. Their grass-roots movement established many of the themes, and some of the visual motifs, of art in honor of the latest Resist movements captivating the globe, as the gallerys statement declares.

The 50-artist exhibition, organized by Zenith and also on display at most of the areas Busboys and Poets bookstore-cafes, does address such global issues as climate change, nuclear proliferation and immigration and Islamophobia. Yet most of the artwork responds to the politics and personality of President Trump.

Many entries depict the Womens March and other protests. Sandy Adams, Diane Dompka and Leonard Jewler document those events in photographs, while Sally Kauffman and Liz Ashe capture their spirit in expressionist paintings of crowds dotted with pink hats. Other broadsides, mostly in the form of cartoons or posters, proudly claim (or reclaim) such charged phrases of the moment as Nasty Woman and Nevertheless, She Persisted.

Like the Womens March itself, Resist doesnt exclude men. But there is a special urgency to womens opposition to Trump, expressed in such pieces as Lea Craigie-Marshalls sculptural painting FeMaelstrom. It depicts the White House on the brink of a whirlpool that spins in a vulva-shaped oceanic anomaly.

Revolution, by Kristine Mays, is made out of wire. (Kristine Mays)

Among the numerous sculptures that take the form of items from womens closets are Billy Forrests series of Trump Pumps, metallic high heels that might properly be called fierce. One is titled with an unprintable phrase derived from Trumps infamous boast about how he treats women.

Much gentler are Jenae Michelles handbags, embroidered with such phrases as Empathy Matters and, of course, Resist. But the artist also contributed Pill Dress, which combines silk organza with pill bottles, aspirin tablets and lace made of laser-cut paper info-inserts from medication containers.

Another popular theme is Trumps relationship with Russia and Vladimir Putin. Craigie-Marshalls Putins Most Precious places Gollum atop Trump nesting dolls, while the Kremlin towers over the White House in Michelle D. Flamers quilted Country of Origin. Thalia Doukas proposes that her sculpture of Putins Fancy Bear, assembled from an antique oak chair and other found objects, serves as a mascot for Vladimir Putins official hacking operation.

The pieces that are not specifically about the current president range from Nancy Nesvets large realist painting of polar bears on a shard of melted glacier to Kristine Mayss wire sculpture of three clenched fists. There are also many pieces about the state of African Americans, from Curtis Woodys historically oriented quilt paintings to Bulsby Duncans up-to-the-minute montages of text and images, which evoke places such as Baltimore and Ferguson, Mo.

Although many of the hundred-plus entries are made well, the shows goal is not to showcase aesthetic innovation or formal audacity. The message, not the medium, is clearly paramount.


The Temple of Heaven in Beijing, also known as Tiantan Park, was built by 15th-century emperors. (View Stock/Alamy Stock Photo)

A visit to China is unlike a visit to any other place on Earth. Sojourners leave with sensory memories  the smell of star anise, the sound of old folks walking down the street singing and the open faces of Chinese babies. In a country that was closed off to the world for a long time and is changing by the minute, there wont be too many more chances to get a glimpse of an ancient world before modernization and growth change the scenery forever.

Unfortunately, China is one of those places that makes getting a visa rather daunting for the casual tourist. If youve been invited, you need an invitation letter; otherwise you must provide confirmation of hotel booking and proof of a return flight, and sometimes much more  such as a letter from your office or a copy of a recent bank statement.

But if you play your cards right, you can have a full China experience with no visa, no down time, and practically no problem. It allows for an intense but powerful visit.

For visitors from the United States (and about 50 other countries), China does not require a visa for 72-hour visits, as long as you enter and leave from the same city and prove that you have another ultimate destination. This is the perfect way to squeeze China in when you are on your way to or from Japan or Thailand  or even Guam.

Why not give the China sprint a chance? Theres a lot you can do, see, and eat in three days. Here are some tips for not wasting your time, getting a real sense of a great city like Beijing, and distilling as much as possible into that one brief shot. Beijing, of course, is just one possibility; any city with international connections works, so it might be fun to pop in and out of Shanghai or Shenzhen (in the south) in the same way.

Heres a game plan for the capital. Itll help if you realize that there is no one, ever, who had a first-time visit to China without at least a few mishaps. But its worth the trouble.

China, in general, is not easy. English is not universally spoken, directions are confusing, and traffic in a city like Beijing is nuts, so consider hiring a tour guide. Bespoke Beijing, for instance, is a customized guide company that will help visitors without making them feel like theyre on a giant Chinese cruise ship. However, with some moxie and a good translation app, visitors can do this on their own, especially if theyre up for adventure.

Here are two very subjective itineraries, based on the years I lived in China and the multiple guests who came through.

For one-timers

Day One: The Great Wall is one of the sights  like the Taj Mahal and the Grand Canyon  that must be seen in person. The problem is that the closest part of the wall is about an hours drive from Beijing, and most tour groups take visitors to Badaling, the most touristy and crowded part. Those are the people who come back and say they were underwhelmed. Dont be that tourist.



The closest part of the wall, at Badaling, is about an hours drive from Beijing. Avoid the crush of tourists there for a better experience. (Li Ding/Alamy Stock Photo)

If you are relatively fit, consider planning ahead with a hiking group like Beijing Hikers, which has a separate division for Great Wall hikes and which also rates hikes by levels of difficulty from one to five. (Wall hikes go from three to five.) The nice thing about Beijing Hikers is that you jump in a minivan, get dropped near the wall with a guide and often have an authentic Chinese meal in the countryside after a day of hiking. The drive out takes a couple of hours, and the hiking part usually lasts anywhere from three to six hours, with a fair amount of scrambling up ancient pathways. Once you are hiking, you will often be able to catch the outline of the wall for miles as it follows the peaks of the mountains and then fades off into the distance. People have likened it to a religious experience.

Beijing Hikers groups tend to be of less than 20 people, English is spoken and the camaraderie of hiking one of the worlds iconic and most beautiful places means youll make friends fast. Of course, if you plan to hike, do bring the right footwear, especially as many segments of the unrestored Great Wall are crumbling and a little unstable. Youll also need to bring your own lunch and snacks, but water is provided. Usually theres a stop for an evening meal at the end of the day.

Day Two: Skip the Forbidden City. This is one instance where if youve seen the pictures, youve seen enough. The vast expanse of unshaded pavement means its blazing hot in the summer, bitter cold in the winter and perpetually full of shoving, screaming tourists. The buildings are mostly empty.

Instead, go straight to Maos tomb on Tiananmen Square. Its free  and completely unlike anything else. While you wait, youll have the chance to buy a pale yellow chrysanthemum for a few yuan that you can place next to the tomb to pay your respects.

While youre waiting, you can soak in the bizarre experience of standing in Tiananmen Square, where the Chinese tanks rolled, even though there are few references to June 4, 1989. (See alternative itinerary.) Finally, there is the chairman himself, with about 10 seconds to pay your respects. Unless you are there on one of the holidays, the whole process should take only a few hours.





Next, head to Jingshan Park, just north of the Forbidden City. There, climb to the top and look down over the roofs of the Forbidden City and  if the air pollution is not too bad  a good portion of the rest of this city of 22 million people. When you exit Jingshan, you will be just to the east of Beihai Park  one of the citys prettiest and most interesting green spaces, a former playground of the emperor and said to be the place where Kublai Khan met Marco Polo. The park has a lake at its center: Spend a few hours people-watching. You could encounter groups singing revolutionary songs, dragon boaters, tai-chi practitioners and dancers. Surrounding Beijings central lakes are some of the citys remaining hutongs, the narrow alleyways leading to courtyard houses that once made up almost the entire old city.

Day Three: One of the loveliest temples in Beijing is the Temple of Heaven, also known as Tiantan Park. Built by 15th-century emperors, its a marvel of altars, bridges and painted ceilings. It covers 270 acres, so the sheer size of the place can be a tad overwhelming, but concentrate on the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, with its gables and dark blue tiles representing heaven. Next, head to nearby Panjiayuan (known by expats as the dirt market) for fun souvenirs. Its called an antiques market, and while the items look old, theyre probably fake-old. Better to pick up some great art for a few dollars or costume jewelry or hand-sewn table runners. I once picked up a five-foot-long, rectangular watercolor of old men and their birdcages for about $18. End the day at another temple. Lama Temple is a Tibetan Buddhist temple that is evidence of the resurgence of religious life in China. You can get a great vegetarian meal nearby, in honor of the Buddhist heritage of this place.

For the quirky

If youre not too worried about bucket-list items and just want an immersive experience in a short time, here is an alternative itinerary. Or play mix-and-match with the first one.

Day One: See Tiananmen from above by having lunch, a drink or a cup of tea at Capital M just off Qianmen Street, a touristy shopping area. Go to the restaurants outdoor terrace and look out over the stunning and massive Zhengyangmen (also known as Qianmen) Gate at the south end of Tiananmen, one of the last remaining vestiges of Beijings ancient city walls. The hutongs off Qianmen, however, are more interesting than the tourist spots nearby. Find Lazhu Hutong and check out its street-food scene, with dozens of restaurants lining the alley offering tables inside and out. Let a Chinese-speaking companion order and dont be afraid of a little grilled cow tongue or leg of sheep. This area is famed for its Muslim restaurants, and youll be rewarded with the flavors of the Silk Road  cilantro, grilled onions, cumin, cardamom, turmeric. You might also want to venture a bite of a donkey-meat sandwich  bright, red meat tucked into a small pita pocket.



Beihai Park  one of the citys prettiest and most interesting green spaces  has a lake at its center. (Prisma by Dukas Presseagentur GmbH/Alamy Stock Photo)

Day Two: Head to the 798 art district to take in what has become a small art village packed with wild contemporary art, housed in old factory buildings, many still with Cultural Revolution slogans and art visible on the walls inside. I especially loved the three stacked cages of giant, red dinosaurs on one street. Its easy to spend a day wandering through galleries that showcase a range of modern art, boutiques with high-end fashion, pottery stores, graffiti art and some of the best sushi this side of Tokyo. The Ullens Center for Contemporary Art has a collection of galleries and a great store where visitors can buy high-end modern art or tchotchkes such as cellphone covers. A number of cafes, restaurants, and bars have popped up in the area to serve hungry art lovers. Since most galleries and stores close in the evening  aside from the occasional evening concert or fashion show  its best to head back into Beijing for the last meal of the day.

Day Three: Find a good walking tour. The Hutong offers half-day tours that include the Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven and the citys culinary markets. Beijing Postcards offers history-centered tours, including the history of hutongs and a crash course on the Forbidden City, often lead by the chatty and charming Danish co-founder Lars Ulrik Thom. (If you insist on seeing the Forbidden City, take Beijing Postcards smart and slightly irreverent tour, A Crash Course to the Forbidden City, which promises to dispel boredom and describe the emperors, concubines and eunuchs who once made the place home.) After all that education, have one of Beijings signature meals (Peking duck or dumplings). Peking duck can be found all over the city, but pick a place where you can see the dark and crispy skin of roasted ducks hanging in the window. Finish it up at Beijings only baijiu bar, Capital Spirits, tucked away in a hutong. Baijiu, a distilled alcohol that some say tastes like paint thinner, is an acquired taste. Thats putting it mildly. But the bragging rights from achieving a comfort level with it are worth it. Capital Spirits tries  almost successfully  to make baijiu more palatable by mixing it into some creative cocktails. You be the judge.

Bruno is a writer based in the District. Find her on Twitter: @brunodebbie.

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D.C. Council member Vincent C. Gray and a butcher inspect a package of steak that looks as if its gone bad at the Safeway in the East River Park Shopping Center in Southeast Washington. (Rachel Chason/The Washington Post)

D.C. Council member Vincent C. Gray emerged from a meeting with Safeway executives at city hall and said Thursday that he could not assure his constituents that the supermarket would improve service at the two stores it operates on Washingtons eastern edge.

Safeway officials requested the meeting after Gray (D-Ward 7) invited news organizations to accompany him last week on an unannounced inspection of the supermarkets, where he found mold on produce, brown meat and long lines.

[Gray makes surprise inspection at Safeway, is disappointed by what he found]

Residents of Ward 7 have long complained about poor conditions at the stores, located at the East River Park Shopping Center and at the corner of Alabama Avenue and Good Hope Road. They are the only full-service grocery stores in the ward.

After the meeting, which lasted more than an hour, Gray said Safeway executives offered no information to make him believe that the chain would take immediate steps to improve.

I cant give the assurances that people would like to have that things will magically change, Gray said. Theres a lot of work to be done here.

Just before Gray spoke to reporters, the Safeway officials with whom he met walked quickly to an elevator to leave city hall.

It was a very productive meeting, said Jonathan Mayes, a vice president for the Albertsons Co., Safeways parent company. But he would not address specific questions about service and unsanitary conditions.

Well get back to you, he said.

A recent study found that a preponderance of the Districts supermarkets  about 70 percent  are located in Washingtons most affluent and predominantly white neighborhoods. In contrast, the 160,000 residents of Wards 7 and 8, the African American neighborhoods with the citys highest concentration of poverty, have three supermarkets, including the two Safeways and a Giant.

[As D.C. prospers, supermarkets proliferate  except in poor areas]

Over the years, residents of those wards have expressed anger about poor service at the Safeways and complained about the quality of meat and produce. The paucity of shopping choices is especially onerous because many residents do not own cars.

Gray shops at the Safeway on Good Hope Road, near his home in the Hillcrest neighborhood, one of the wards two supermarkets. He first met with supermarket officials in April after hearing his constituents complaints. A month later, Safeway officials promised to take action, though officials were not specific.

In a letter to a Safeway executive he sent Tuesday, Gray described as appalling his visit to the supermarkets two Ward 7 locations on Aug. 17. The shopping experience I witnessed is an insult to the community I represent and an utter failure to make promised changes, he wrote.

Safeway further angered residents when  without explanation  it reduced hours at its supermarket at the intersection of Benning Road and Minnesota Avenue NE from 6 a.m.-10 p.m. to 7 a.m.-9 p.m.

During the meeting, Gray said, the executives turned down his request that they restore the former schedule.

They said they couldnt, he said, because the supermarket is struggling to make money, though he added that the officials offered no documentation to back up their claim.

In general, the officials said their Ward 7 stores are struggling because of shoplifting and staff turnover, Gray said. The officials sought to assure the council member that they are working to make improvements and address customers frustrations, said Janis Hazel, his spokeswoman. No timeline was offered, she said.

They also said that isolated cases of spoiled produce and outdated meat can be found at supermarkets in any neighborhood. The officials told Gray that the negative publicity generated by media coverage of the stores conditions could exacerbate their problems.

But Gray expressed no interest in backing off, saying public pressure is a way to push Safeway to improve.
The Boy Scouts of America think they have the answer to their membership problems  girls.

Word got out this week that theres a covert campaign to lure girls into the Boy Scouts.

(Congress, are you seeing this? The Boy Scouts are light years ahead of yall on basic sustainability models here.)

This enlightenment came about because the Boy Scouts  like many organizations led by men these days -- have had a tough time of things lately.

From the sexual assault scandals reaching all the way back to 1947 to their struggle with including gay men and boys to this years keynote speech by Bluto masquerading as the countrys president, its understandable that the boys are looking for a little outside help. Their numbers are falling.

Girl Scouts from the Texas Council sell cookies in Dallas in February 2007. (Matt Slocum/AP)

Take one look over at the Girl Scouts  I mean, cmon, theyre a marketing powerhouse  and youll see the lure of girlpower. The entire nation bows to Thin Mints (or Samoas). The Girl Scouts invented smores. Did you even know that the Boy Scouts sell popcorn? Who ever says Mmm, I want some of that Boy Scout popcorn? No one. Ever. So its easy to see they might want some of the girls mojo.

But dont fall for it, Girl Scouts. They only want you to save their own hides.

The caper was busted wide open this week, when Buzzfeed got hold of a letter from Girl Scouts of America President Kathy Hopinkah Hannan, slamming the boys club for their covert campaign to recruit girls into programs run by the Boy Scouts.

I formally request that your organization stay focused on serving the 90 percent of American boys not currently participating in Boy Scouts . . . and not consider expanding to recruit girls, Hannan wrote in her letter to the president of the Boy Scouts of America, Randall Stephenson.

[Country, honor and Allah: Meet this troop of Muslim Boy Scouts ]

Its not like it he came up with this himself.

The National Organization for Women pushed the boys in this direction earlier this year thanks to Sydney Irelands campaign to get the Boy Scouts to let her join and become an Eagle Scout, like her brother.

And its easy to cheer her on.

Four years ago, after a co-ed jamboree, Army Veteran, Eagle Scout and father of two girls Amir Arnold Gharbi wrote a piece in The Washington Post urging his organization to go co-ed.

Girl Scouting teaches youths to be strong individuals, but Boy Scouting teaches youths to be strong leaders. The organizations have different goals, different activities, different resources and different expectations for member development, Gharbi wrote.

The Girl Scouts have been criticized for, ahem, overemphasis on the cookie part. And for bending toward academic and artistic badges rather than hearty, outdoor activity usually associated with scouting. Theyve answered that with a sharp bend toward science, technology, engineering and math  and totally awesome badges like Robot Programming.

(Makes the Printmaking badge I earned with my series of potato stamp art seem so lame.)

But that tailoring also subtracts from the boys experience, according to sociologist Kathleen Denny, who studied the gender differences in the Boy and Girl sSout manuals.

I find that girls are offered more activities intended to be performed in group contexts than are boys. Boys are offered proportionately more activities with scientific content and proportionately fewer artistic activities than are girls, she wrote. The girls handbook conveys messages about approaching activities with autonomous and critical thinking, whereas the boys handbook facilitates intellectual passivity through a reliance on organizational scripts.

The central question here is whether gender-separated learning opportunities help boys and girls thrive.

[They existed in a girls-can-do-anything world. Then Trump won the White House.]

The value of the all-girl, girl-led environment offered by Girl Scouts cannot be overstated, and is so important to the social-emotional and personal development of girls, said Andrea Bastiani-Archibald, chief girl expert at Girl Scouts of the USA, on their website. Girl Scouts is a place where girls are free to be girls; to try new things, experiment, and have fun learning from and leading one another. There is no other leadership development program in the world that offers girls this inclusive, safe space, without the distractions and pressures of school and other social settings.

And it makes sure that others see girls as leaders.

This last presidential campaign gave us a pretty good whiff of how challenged by female authority too many Americans still are.

On the other hand, in the same way that popcorn hardly occupies equal prominence as Girl Scout cookies in the American lexicon, the Girl Scouts highest honor, the Gold Badge, never gets the marquee status of the Eagle Scout title.

So is the answer co-ed scouting, the way the United Kingdom does it? Maybe.

Both the Boy and Girl Scouts have wrestled with their gender boundaries, especially when it comes to transgender kids.

And wouldnt we have a better shot at true representation in America  from the corporate world to government  if boys grow up with female troop leaders and girls fiercely climb trees alongside boys?

Hard to know. Heres what I do know:

Girls shouldnt be barred from the Boy Scouts if thats where they want to be. But the effort to undercut the Girl Scouts by stealing the lifeblood of their organization is sneaky, pathetic and shameful. #Resist #Persist

Twitter: @petulad
Principal Renee Dawson, at left, greets students on the first day of classes at the new Brambleton Middle School on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017, in Ashburn, Va. (Pete Marovich/For The Washington Post)

The school buses wouldnt pull up to Brambleton Middle School for another three hours, but Principal Renee Dawson was in her office by 5 a.m. Across Loudoun County, more than 81,000 students  a new high for the public school system  would soon be hoisting their backpacks Thursday for the start of a new year. Yet for Dawson and her new campus in Ashburn, it would be a day of many firsts.

By 7:45, nearly all of Brambletons 99 teachers had gathered in front of the school as Justin Timberlakes Cant Stop the Feeling! blared from a loudspeaker. Some waved red and white pom-poms; others cartwheeled on the concrete. As more than 1,100 students walked up to the main doors, instructors greeted them with cheers, high-fives and hugs until the bell rang just after 8:30.

Welcome to school! Dawson said.

Loudoun schools opened for an estimated 81,600 students Thursday morning, the first in a wave of openings over the next several days for major public school systems in Northern Virginia. Students in Fairfax County and Prince William County return to class Monday. Those in Arlington and Alexandria will start Sept. 5.

Now Virginias third-largest system, Loudoun County Public Schools seems to surpass enrollment records nearly every year. In 2002, Loudoun had the seventh-largest public school system in the state, with 37,532 students, according to the Virginia Department of Education. Now it trails only Fairfax County Public Schools, with more than 189,000 students, and Prince William County Public Schools, with more than 89,000.

Teacher Margaret Upp and the rest of the teaching staff greet students at Brambleton Middle School on Thursday. (Pete Marovich/For The Washington Post)

But the Loudoun system is growing faster than those two neighbors. From fall 2007 through last school year, state data shows, Loudouns enrollment jumped 46 percent. The Fairfax total rose 13 percent, and Prince Williams 22 percent.

Further, 22 of Loudouns 90 schools have opened in that decade. Three more are slated for 2018.

For all of the physical growth, county superintendent Eric Williams said he is just as focused on new and expanding programming.

The growth occurs and its a huge amount of work, but its a backdrop for whats happening in the classroom, he said.

This year, three elementary schools will introduce computer science immersion programs, giving students a half-hour of daily coding instruction.

Yet simply handling the perennial growth and funding high-quality education is a major challenge. In recent years, the county has sought to make full-day classes available to all kindergartners. This year, school officials estimate 82 percent of kindergarten students will be in full-day classes, up from 11 percent three years ago.

In November, county voters will decide whether to approve a bond measure to help fund school renovations and construction projects, security enhancements and the purchase of school buses. The county has 791 school buses in its fleet.

Bond measures are not new for Loudoun. County schools spokesman Wayde Byard said $2.18 billion in school bonds were approved from March 1987 to November 2016, financing land purchases for school sites, renovations and the construction of 60 new schools.

Brambleton Middle School is the countys only new school this fall, but nearby are reminders of continued growth. Construction crews are preparing an adjacent plot for Independence High School, set to open in 2019. Madisons Trust Elementary, which opened last year, sits half a mile away.

Brambleton Middle draws students who previously would have gone to Stone Hill, Eagle Ridge and Mercer middle schools. All three of those schools in the previous year were enrolled well beyond their capacity.

Dawson knew her school would have to forge its own identity. Brambletons slogan is CLIMB  an acronym for create, lead, inspire, motivate and believe  which appears on banners and posters throughout the campus. On Thursday, teachers wore matching Brambleton T-shirts with the number 12 on the back, a nod to the idea that on an 11-person sports team, the 12th man is always a fan.

When youre at the end and you need that extra push, the fans are the ones that push you over, Dawson said. Were fans for our kids and each other.

For students, Thursday brought a sense of nerves and anticipation familiar for the first day of school. A seventh-grader exclaimed a bigger middle school meant there were more classes to take, not to mention bigger lockers. A sixth-grader said she was excited to attend Brambleton at its debut, and then in all likelihood Independence High after it opens.

During the first break between classes, Dawson directed students down the hall to sixth-grade math, or around the corner for chorus. One student, running a few minutes late, frantically told her he hadnt had time to open his locker to grab his school supplies.

He was too busy helping other students open theirs, he said.
As a 9-year-old on an island between Hawaii and Australia, Tony deBrum witnessed the explosion of the largest bomb ever detonated by the United States. The Castle Bravo nuclear weapon was 1,000 times as powerful as the one dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.

From his perch 280 miles from ground zero, Mr. deBrum saw the flash of light  silent and brighter than the sun  and watched the sky turn red as blood. The terrifying thunder from the test explosion stayed with him the rest of his life, which he devoted to representing the people of the Republic of the Marshall Islands at home and abroad.

Mr. deBrum, who helped gain his nations independence from the United States  and then helped sue the United States for allegedly breaching an international treaty on nuclear nonproliferation  died Aug. 22 in Majuro, the capital city of his Pacific island nation. He was 72.

His death was announced by Hilda C. Heine, the president of the Marshall Islands, but the cause was not specified.

He fought for our independence, he fought against the tyranny of nuclear weapons and for nuclear justice for our people, and he led the international fight against climate change, Heine said in a statement. The very existence of the Paris agreement owes a lot to Tony deBrum.

Mr. deBrums diplomacy reached far beyond the remote Marshall Islands, a sprinkling of 29 coral atolls across 700,000 nautical square miles in the Pacific Ocean. There, the United States tested 67 high-yield nuclear bombs between 1946 and 1958, resettling whole islands of Marshallese people, exposing many to radioactive fallout and bequeathing exile and ill health to ensuing generations.

I wonder how many in this room have actually witnessed a detonation of a nuclear weapon, Mr. deBrum said to 191 nations in the U.N. General Assembly hall in April 2015, when he was the republics minister of foreign affairs. He paused for effect, then continued: I have. The Marshallese people still carry a burden which no other people or nation should ever have to bear.

[The Marshall Islands: A ground zero forgotten]

Mr. deBrum was the public face of a 2014 lawsuit filed by the Marshall Islands against the United States and the eight other nuclear-armed countries, alleging noncompliance with the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Our people have suffered the catastrophic and irreparable damage of these weapons, and we vow to fight so that no one else on Earth will ever again experience these atrocities, Mr. deBrum said at the time, as the United States embarked on a $1 trillion refurbishment of its nuclear arsenal. Some saw the lawsuit as a courageous David vs. Goliath gambit, while others viewed it a frivolous stunt that damaged the republics relationship with the United States, which grants the country tens of millions of dollars every year in the form of environmental, food and health-care programs.

The lawsuit, which was dismissed, is not done with acrimony or flippant disregard for the friendship with the United States, Mr. deBrum said in an interview with The Washington Post in Majuro in March 2015. The friendship is very important. That is probably why we do it.

Tony Anton deBrum was born Feb. 26, 1945, in what is now the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu, and grew up in the Marshall Islands during the period of U.S. nuclear testing.

He was one of the first Marshallese people to attend college abroad, according to Heine. He studied history and linguistics at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, receiving a bachelor of arts in psychology in 1968.

He returned to the islands and entered public service in 1970 while the nation was still a territory of the United States. He served as an interpreter for U.S. representatives over the years and was first elected to the Marshallese parliament in 1984. He participated in the negotiation of the 1986 compact of free association, through which the United States granted the Marshall Islands independence and a $150 million settlement.

[A map of the 2,072 nuclear tests over the past 72 years]

As foreign minister, Mr. deBrum traveled the world, armed with a moral authority rooted in his countrys nuclear past and its future tied to climate change.

A global temperature increase of over 2 degrees Celsius is a death warrant for us, Mr. deBrum told NPR in December 2015, during the Paris climate accord negotiations. It means the islands go under.

The average land elevation in the Marshall Islands is six feet above sea level. During Mr. deBrums tenure as foreign minister, the U.S. Embassy in Majuro considered the Marshall Islands to be on the front lines of climate change.

He helped to bring together a large coalition of nations, the High Ambition Coalition, that strengthened the [Paris] agreement and perhaps even made it possible, said John Burroughs, executive director of the Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, as he accepted an arms-control award for Mr. deBrum in Washington in June.

Also in June, President Trump announced that he would pull the United States from the climate accord.

In 2016, the International Peace Bureau nominated Mr. deBrum for the Nobel Peace Prize, and the Marshallese parliament drafted a resolution of support, citing his great ambition to raise awareness of the devastating and destructive effects of climate change as well as nuclear testing.

Survivors include his wife, Rosalie; three children; his father; 10 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

For Mr. deBrum, climate change and the threat of nuclear weapons were twin existential crises, inextricably linked and embodied by his island nation.

Were suffering the result of climate change and of the nuclear legacy, and we have had nothing to do with either, Mr. deBrum told The Post. In either case, people have to choose to end this world, this universe. You can either do it slowly with climate change, or you can press a button and blow it up. And neither is justified.
MARYLAND

Motorcyclist in deadly crash identified

Prince Georges County police have identified the man who died in a motorcycle crash Tuesday night as George Hunt Jr., 57, of District Heights.

Hunt was traveling east on Marlboro Pike near Boones Lane at around 6:45 p.m. when a pickup truck going west turned left in front of Hunt and the two vehicles crashed, police said. Hunt was pronounced dead at the scene. The truck driver and passenger were not injured.

Authorities are asking anyone with information about this crash to call 301-731-4422 or 1-866-411-TIPS.

 Lynh Bui

VIRGINIA

Human remains found in Pr. William County

Police found human remains Tuesday evening in Prince William County.

The persons identity is not known and the remains are being sent to the medical examiners office in Manassas, for an autopsy and further analysis.

The remains were found about 7 p.m. near Nokesville Road and Fauquier Drive. The incident remains under investigation, but police said they do not believe there is any threat to the public.

 Dana Hedgpeth

Police seek suspect

after man was shot

Police in Arlington searched for a shooting suspect Wednesday after a man was hit by gunfire but did not suffer life-threatening injuries.

The incident happened about 8:30 a.m. in the 1000 block of South Frederick Street near Columbia Pike. Police said the victim, who was taken to a hospital, gave a vague description of the suspect.

He was described as a black man with a thin build. He had dreadlocks and was wearing a gray hoodie. Police believe the shooting was an isolated incident and that there was no danger to the public.

 Dana Hedgpeth

Man, 18, arrested

for accused sex abuse

Police have arrested an 18-year-old man for allegedly trying to rob a woman near a bike trail and assaulting another woman as she was going into an apartment building in Alexandria.

Joshua Sprinkle faces charges of abduction, attempted robbery and sexual battery, police said Wednesday.

Officials said the incidents unfolded Aug. 14 around 3:24 p.m., when police said Sprinkle grabbed a woman from behind and demanded money near a bike trail along Holmes Run Parkway. The victim struggled with the suspect and fled, police said.

Just before 4 p.m. on that same day, police were called to the 500 block of North Jordan Street, where they said Sprinkle grabbed a woman as she walked upstairs in an apartment building. The woman screamed and the suspect fled.

Police arrested Sprinkle two days later.

THE REGION

City workers shroud 2 Confederate statues

Two statues of Confederate generals in Charlottesville have been shrouded with large black tarps.

Workers started covering a monument of Gen. Robert E. Lee on Wednesday afternoon and then moved on to one of Gen. Thomas Stonewall Jackson. The statues are in city parks near downtown.

The tarps were secured with tape and ropes with sand anchors.

The city council voted to cover up the statues as a symbol of mourning for Heather Heyer, the woman who was killed in Charlottesville while protesting a white nationalist rally this month.

The rally was sparked by the councils vote this year to remove the Lee statue. Thats on hold while a lawsuit plays out.

 Associated Press
Mark Merlis, who debuted as a novelist in his 40s, penning four works of fiction that explored the joys, tensions and agonies of gay life in America in the 20th century, died Aug. 15 at a hospital in Philadelphia. He was 67.

The cause was pneumonia associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the neurological disease also known as Lou Gehrigs disease, said his husband, Robert Ashe.

For much of his adult life, Mr. Merlis earned his livelihood providing health-care analysis for the Library of Congresss Congressional Research Service and, later, as an independent consultant. But since his youth, he had harbored literary ambitions he ultimately realized with the publication of his first novel, American Studies, in 1994.

With that book and the three that followed, Mr. Merlis was widely praised for the sensitivity with which he addressed such themes as the corrosive effect of shame and the intersecting paths of past and present.

I am, of course, a gay man whose . . . novels are swarming with gay characters, he once told an interviewer with the website EchoNYC. And I have allowed myself to be marketed as a practitioner of a genre called gay fiction. But this is a commercial category, not an artistic one. I write, like anybody else, about how it is to be human.

I always thought being a writer was the highest calling there was, novelist Mark Merlis said. Dont you? (Robert Ashe)

American Studies featured an aging gay narrator, Reeve, who is severely assaulted by a hustler. As he convalesces, Reeve remembers his beloved English teacher  a character modeled on the Harvard scholar F.O. Matthiessen  who is outed as gay and commits suicide against the backdrop of U.S. Sen. Joseph R. McCarthys (R-Wis.) communist witch hunt in the 1950s. A reporter for Newsday described the book as one of the best gay novels of the decade.

Mr. Merliss second book, the wildly imaginative An Arrows Flight (1998), moved the Philoctetes story of Sophocles from the Trojan War to the modern day, inflicting its protagonist with AIDS instead of a stigmatic snake bite. We get gods and goddesses, aircraft carriers and archaic armor, high priests and go-go boys, the author Christopher Bram wrote of the work.

The novel received a Lambda Literary Award and was voted one of the best gay novels of all time by Publishing Triangle, an organization of 250 gay and lesbian writers, editors and publishing professionals.

Mr. Merliss third book, Man About Town (2003), was described as his most autobiographical work. The protagonist, who is gay, is a government health-care analyst and finds himself assigned to work on legislation that would deny benefits to AIDS patients who contract the disease through gay relationships or drug use. Meanwhile, he searches for the unnamed bathing-suit model who had first awakened his sexual desires when he was young.

Despite the books serious subject matter, it showcased Mr. Merliss humor. The protagonist sees the denizens of Capitol Hill as white guys with bad comb-overs, voting silently in the middle of the night while C-Span played Vivaldi. One particularly unimpressive senator, after introducing an amendment he failed to grasp, had the relieved look of a school kid who has delivered his book report without throwing up.

The hero is just close enough to the action to know that something is going on, but not close enough to know just what that something is, Mr. Merlis once told Bram in an interview, reflecting also on his own career in government. That was how it felt for me in my Washington years: I got to go to a lot of closed meetings at which decisions seemed to be made, but I was never in the pre-meeting at which the principals actually made up their minds.

Mr. Merliss final book, JD (2015), featured the intertwining narration of a widow and her late husband, who is revealed in his posthumously discovered diaries as bisexual. Taken together, Bram wrote in a tribute, Mr. Merliss books explore American life with the insight and power of the best work of James Baldwin and Philip Roth.

1 of 66 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  Notable deaths so far this year View Photos Remembering those who have died in 2017. Caption Remembering those who died in 2017. Mamie Peanut Johnson Mamie Peanut Johnson, the first female pitcher in the Negro leagues, died on Dec. 18. Read the obituary: Mamie Peanut Johnson, hard-throwing woman in baseballs Negro leagues, dies at 82 Katherine Frey/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue.

Mark Lane Merlis was born in Framingham, Mass., on March 9, 1950. His father was a doctor, and his mother was a homemaker.

Mr. Merlis grew up in Baltimore  in what he called the Cheeveresque northern section called Roland Park  before attending Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., where he received a bachelors degree in English in 1971. Five years later, he received a masters degree in American studies from Brown University.

I mostly just spent my college years brooding about those unwelcome queer feelings that I couldnt shake off, he told Bram.

After college, Mr. Merlis said, he tumbled into the bureaucratic life that ensnared me for the next 35 years. He worked for the Maryland health department and later for the federal government in the 1980s and 1990s, including on the Ryan White Care Act of 1990 that provided funding for HIV/AIDS services.

At the time of his death, Mr. Merlis lived in Philadelphia. Survivors include his partner of 35 years, Ashe, whom he married in 2014, of Philadelphia; and two brothers.

I always thought being a writer was the highest calling there was, Mr. Merlis said. Dont you?
A body discovered in Nokesville, Va., is that of a missing Fairfax County 18-year-old who authorities say was probably killed in a gang-related incident, Prince William County police said Thursday.

The body of Miguel Angel Ruiz Carrillo, of the Mount Vernon section of Fairfax County, was found Tuesday near Nokesville Road and Fauquier Drive after a day-long search using dogs, police said. Authorities said information obtained by Fairfax County police during the investigation into Carrillos disappearance led them to search the area.

Carrillo was last seen on the evening of Aug. 3 and was reported missing by his family the next day. Police said they later uncovered evidence that Carrillo might be endangered and involved in gang activity. They have not provided details on that evidence or said what gang might have been involved in his disappearance.

But Mercedes Carrillo, the victims mother, said in an interview two weeks ago that friends of her sons said they saw a group attack him at about 6 p.m. on Aug. 3 after he went to a pond near his home where he liked to fish. She said the group took her son into a wooded area, which neighbors said police began searching after he disappeared.

No one has been charged in connection with the killing, but last week Fairfax County police charged three people for gang participation and abduction in connection with Carrillos disappearance. Jose Vincent-Sosa, 20, and Edwin Dinarte Moreno, 18, both of Alexandria, along with a female juvenile, were arrested, police said.

Mercedes Carrillo said she thought that her son was not involved in a gang. He did have a cellphone, but he had not answered it since he disappeared. His mother said he was in the 10th grade at Bryant Alternative High School in Alexandria.

He was very quiet, she said.

Mercedes Carrillo said her family is originally from El Salvador and has been in the United States for three years. She has another son.

If the killing is gang-related, it would follow an uptick in violence by the MS-13 street gang in Northern Virginia and across the Washington area that has left dozens of young people dead or behind bars. Earlier this year, police charged 10 people in connection with the MS-13-related killing of 15-year-old Gaithersburg teen Damaris A. Reyes Rivas, whose body was found in the Springfield area in February.

[She thought shed saved her daughter from MS-13 by smuggling her to the U.S. She was wrong.]

Fairfax County prosecutors said Reyes Rivas was killed in retaliation for the slaying of 21-year-old Christian Sosa Rivas, whose body was found along the Potomac River in the Dumfries area in January. Sosa Rivas, of Fairfax City, was allegedly killed by MS-13 members for passing himself off as a leader of the gang, according to a search warrant filed in Prince William County.

Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. said he was troubled by the latest killing. He said Fairfax County police had been working with the FBI and local partners to stamp out MS-13, as well as educate school-age children to keep them from falling prey to gang recruitment.

My greatest fear is these senseless murders are continuing to happen, Roessler said.
D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine asked a federal appeals court to rehear a challenge to the citys law that makes it difficult for gun owners to get concealed-carry permits. (Alex Brandon/AP)

The Districts top lawyer on Thursday asked a federal appeals court to rehear a challenge to the citys strict limits on carrying concealed firearms.

Attorney General Karl A. Racines decision follows a ruling last month from a three-judge panel that blocks the Districts requirement of a good reason to obtain a permit because the requirement prevents most residents from carrying guns in public places.

City officials say the restrictions are common sense gun rules needed to promote public safety in the nations capital. Racine wants a full complement of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review the panels ruling against the city.

Review by the full court is necessary due to the importance of this question, which affects the safety of every person who lives in, works in, or visits the District, according to the new court filing. Through their elected representatives, District residents have decided that public carrying without good reason is inconsistent with public safety.

The citys permitting system remains in effect while the appeal is under review. If the court declines to revisit the panels decision, the order to permanently block enforcement of the good reason requirement would take effect seven days later.

In its 2-to-1 ruling last month, the panel found the D.C. law in violation of the Second Amendment.

Bans on the ability of most citizens to exercise an enumerated right would have to flunk any judicial test, wrote Judge Thomas B. Griffith, who was joined by Judge Stephen F. Williams.

Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson dissented, siding with the city and finding that the regulation passes muster because of the Districts unique security challenges and because the measure does not affect the right to keep a firearm at home.

[Appeals court blocks enforcement of D.C.s strict concealed-carry law]

The Supreme Court in 2008 used a D.C. case to declare for the first time an individual right to gun ownership apart from military service. But the high court has shown little interest in going further to decide whether the Second Amendment applies outside the home.

In June, for instance, the Supreme Court declined to take up a California case in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit said the Second Amendment does not protect the right to carry a concealed weapon in public.

[Gun ruling raises an issue the Supreme Court has been reluctant to review]

Under the Districts law, residents who want a permit to carry a concealed firearm must show that they have good reason to fear injury or a proper reason, such as transporting valuables. The regulations specify that living or working in a high crime area shall not by itself qualify as a good reason to carry.

As of July 15, D.C. police had approved 126 concealed-carry licenses and denied 417 applicants, according to the police department.

The Districts requirement is similar to rules in other states, including Maryland, New York and New Jersey.

Petitions for rehearing by a full complement of judges on the D.C. Circuit are filed frequently, but the court rarely grants such requests, taking up less than a handful each term.

A single judge may call for a vote on such a petition, but a rehearing requires sign-off from a majority of the 11 active judges on the court.
Federal judges on Thursday declined to throw out Marylands congressional voting map that challengers say was intentionally designed to give Democrats an electoral edge.

The 2-to-1 decision allows the state to maintain those voting boundaries for the 2018 election and puts the lawsuit on hold until after the Supreme Court has ruled in a similar partisan gerrymandering case from Wisconsin scheduled for October.

The challenge in Maryland centers on the 6th Congressional District in Western Maryland that was redrawn to include parts of heavily Democratic Montgomery County. The plaintiffs say the states Democratic leaders violated their First Amendment rights by diluting the number of Republican voters and ensuring that a Democrat would win.

All three judges on the panel at a July hearing acknowledged plaintiffs had presented convincing evidence that the states Democratic leaders intended to make it easier for their party to pick up another congressional seat. But in their split decision, the judges said it was not enough to warrant the highly consequential preliminary injunction the challengers sought.

Attorney Michael B. Kimberly, who represents a number of Maryland Republicans, said Thursday he would appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.

In the 24-page opinion, U.S. District Judges James K. Bredar and George L. Russell rejected the request to immediately scrap the states electoral map because the judges said it would cause an unprecedented disruption in Marylands legislative and districting process.

The time and resources necessary to implement a new map would surely have the effect of scuttling other legislative priorities in advance of the 2018 session, the court said, adding that it also was not yet persuaded that it was the gerrymander (versus a host of forces present in every election) that flipped the Sixth District.

Long held by Republican Roscoe Bartlett, the 6th District seat changed hands after the new lines were drawn in 2011 and has since been filled by Democratic Rep. John Delaney.

In his dissent Thursday, Judge Paul V. Niemeyer said he would have required state lawmakers to redraw congressional boundaries without using information about how Maryland residents had voted in the past.

Niemeyer, who sits on the Richmond-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, said the majority overlooks the obvious.

The record could not be clearer that the mapmakers specifically intended to dilute the effectiveness of Republican voters in the Sixth Congressional District and that the actual dilution that they accomplished was caused by their intent.

Even as they disagreed on Thursday, all three judges took aim at political gerrymandering, alternately referring to the practice as cancerous, noxious and destructive to representative democracy.

[Supreme Court to hear major case on partisan gerrymandering]

The office of Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, who is defending the voting map, had asked the three-judge panel to put the case on hold pending a ruling in the Supreme Courts Wisconsin case.

The high court has routinely struck down redistricting plans that reduced the influence of racial minorities. But the Supreme Court has long been more tolerant of partisan gerrymandering, in part because the justices have never agreed on a clear standard for determining when such manipulation violates voters constitutional rights.

If the Maryland challengers appeal Thursdays ruling as expected, the Supreme Court must either affirm, reverse or accept the case for oral arguments. The justices could also pause the challenge while the Wisconsin case proceeds.

Assistant Attorney General Sarah W. Rice argued during the hearing last month that forcing the state to redraw its voting boundaries before the 2018 election would confuse voters and place current candidates under a cloud of uncertainty as they continue their campaigns.

Government lawyers also said in court papers that challengers failed to explain how they were harmed in any way different from the injury suffered by every other Maryland voter who was disappointed with the outcome of the 2012 election in his or her district.

[Judges in Md. redistricting case decry politically motivated electoral map]

During the hearing, Kimberly displayed photos and videotaped depositions of top Democratic officials, including Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., House Speaker Michael E. Busch and former governor Martin OMalley. The former governor said he believed in 2011 that he should wield his power to favor Democrats, but he has since called for redistricting reform.

Miller and Busch, in their depositions, said partisan factors were not a strong consideration for them during the redistricting process, and that they were largely unfamiliar with data their staffs received at the time showing the likelihood of Democratic victories under various configurations.
DreamHost is resisting a DOJ search warrant for more than 1.3 million IP addresses to identify visitors to a website set up to coordinate protests on Inauguration Day. (Jhaan Elker/The Washington Post)

DreamHost is resisting a DOJ search warrant for more than 1.3 million IP addresses to identify visitors to a website set up to coordinate protests on Inauguration Day. (Jhaan Elker/The Washington Post)

A D.C. Superior Court judge ruled Thursday that a Los Angeles-based tech company must provide email addresses and other computer information from people who visited an anti-Trump website in the months leading to Inauguration Day.

During an hour-long hearing, attorneys for DreamHost, which hosts the website Disruptj20.org, argued the federal search warrant still was too broad and would include information about people who visited the site but were not part of violent Inauguration Day rioting.

The riots left six police officers injured and caused tens of thousands of dollars in damage when downtown D.C. businesses were vandalized just blocks from where President Trump and his family paraded following the swearing-in ceremony.

Prosecutors have filed felony rioting charges against some 200 people who they say participated in the riots and are asking for the website information as they pursue their criminal cases.

DreamHost attorney Raymond Aghaian said the site was not an anti-Trump website but an advocacy site that addresses political issues.

They are requesting all database and database records, Aghaian said. With one warrant, they are trying to obtain content from multiple email accounts. That is unconstitutional.

Judge Robert E. Morins ruling ordering a data release covers website information between October 2016 and Jan. 20, 2017, Inauguration Day.

[Tech firm fights federal demand of information on anti-Trump website users ]

Last month, prosecutors obtained a warrant to compel DreamHost to turn over emails, images and other information from computer users who visited the website.

Thursdays order restricts the time frame for which data will be reviewed.

Prosecutors original request in July would have yielded IP addresses for about 1.3 million users of the site, court filings show.

In ordering DreamHost to provide user information for a shorter time window, Morin said he was trying to strike a balance between the free-speech rights of people who used the political site, the rights of innocent users of the website and prosecutors investigation into the riots.

There is a need to review the data and decide what is relevant, he said.

The decision by prosecutors to seek a court-ordered search warrant for website visitor information created an uproar among DreamHost executives and political rights advocates who argued the search violated constitutional protections.

DreamHost is not the first Internet company to challenge the government in its quest to prosecute individuals associated with the riots.

Facebook has filed its opposition at the D.C. Court of Appeals to a court order that blocks the social media giant from letting users know when law enforcement investigators ask to search their online information, particularly their political affiliations and comments.

DreamHostss battle with prosecutors is separate but still tied to the inauguration riots. After prosecutors July request covering the IP addresses for about 1.3 million users of the site, DreamHost executives asked for a court hearing over their objections to the search warrant.

Prosecutors earlier this week scaled back their request and changed it to seek emails associated with Disruptj20.org and email addresses of third parties associated with the website, such as individuals who volunteered to help provide supplies or support to rioters.

[Federal prosecutors scale back request for info on visitors to anti-Trump website]

At the hearing Thursday, DreamHost attorneys said even the narrowed request was still too broad because it could capture information on people who had nothing to do with the riots.

This action will cause Web users to worry that the government will be monitoring every site they visit, Aghaian said.

Paul Alan Levy, an attorney with the advocacy group Public Citizen, joined DreamHost in its opposition to the warrant. Levy argued on behalf of the unnamed users who, he said, should be alerted that their information may be turned over to the government.

This is a case about a website that is engaged in political speech, Levy told the court.

Prosecutors John Borchert and Jennifer Kerkhoff argued that their request had to be somewhat broad because they have no idea who was associated with the rioting through the website until they review the data.

As part of his ruling, Morin ordered prosecutors to tell him who was going to review the data DreamHost provides and, once that information is found, explain to him why prosecutors deem the information critical to their case.

Under Morins ruling, any information prosecutors find unrelated to the rioting would be sealed and could not be shared by prosecutors with anyone else or any other government authority.

Attorneys for DreamHost said they will turn over the information but are considering appealing the judges decision.

Morin then ordered DreamHost to turn over the website information to the court. The judge said he would maintain the data until DreamHost decides about its appeal.

If the company does not appeal and if Morins ruling is not reversed by court of appeals review, Morin said he will turn the data over to prosecutors.
Block by block, the rowhouses in Northeast Washingtons Trinidad neighborhood are being torn apart and built anew. The construction worker behind much of the work was Balmore Mauricio Fuentes.

The 34-year-old crew chief had overseen reconstruction of at least eight houses in the neighborhood near Gallaudet University, and he returned to help the new residents long after his workers had packed up and moved to another job.

Fuentes was shot in the head about 1:45 p.m. Wednesday, during what police said they are investigating as a robbery attempt in an alley behind his latest renovation project  a two-story rowhouse in the 1100 block of Oates Street NE. He died 90 minutes later at MedStar Washington Hospital Center.

He didnt live here, but it felt as if he was our neighbor, said Ian Holmes, who moved to Trinidad two years ago with his wife. Fuentes had gutted and rebuilt their home. He was just a good man who cared about what he did, Holmes said.

D.C. police have not made any arrests in the death and declined to discuss the case in detail. The brazen daylight shooting at a work site has frightened some residents who said they recognize they have moved to an area that once was among the Districts most violent and now is drawing newcomers because of its affordable home prices.

[Man fatally shot in Northeast Washington]

Fuentes was the third homicide in Trinidad this year, the others were a man beaten and then left in a house set on fire, and a young man beaten on a porch. Police said those cases involved victims who were targeted.

Police say violent crime is down about 27 percent, which includes robberies with guns. Residents said Fuentes, concerned about robberies, avoided carrying cash at work.

Neighbors knew little of Fuentess personal life other than he was from Central America and had a wife and children. Police provided an address for him just outside of Baltimore. He also had once lived in Prince Georges County.

[Track homicides in District, region]

He was the American Dream, said Heather Greaves, who moved to Trinidad with her husband in 2014. She said that when her husband went overseas for his government contracting job earlier this year, Fuentes stepped in to take care of the house.

Greaves said her pipes burst, and with one call, Mauricio was there. A storm tore a hole in her roof, and Mauricio was there. He also checked her neighbors rooftops. I mean, the man would come by and clean out my gutters, Greaves said. Hed see something, and next thing you know, hed be up on a ladder.

Andrea Lisell, who moved to Oates Street this year, said Fuentes worked from sunup to sundown to complete her home renovation. She said that even after she and her husband moved in, he came over to install a recessed mirror that they had struggled with for hours. Within five minutes he had this thing installed, Lisell said.

He was just trying to make this neighborhood better, she said. He was a hard-working man coming to a job, and he lost his life for it.

Julie Tate contributed to this report
A self-professed white nationalist featured in a widely watched documentary on the demonstrations in Charlottesville is being held without bond after Virginia authorities say he turned himself in following allegations that he pepper-sprayed a counterprotester.

The University of Virginia Police Department said Christopher Cantwell, 36, is charged with one count of malicious bodily injury by means of a caustic substance and two felony counts of illegal use of tear gas.

[The rise and humiliating fall of Chris Cantwell, Charlottesvilles starring fascist]

A statement from University of Virginia police said Cantwell had turned himself in late Wednesday to the Lynchburg Police Department.

Cantwell  who was featured in a widely viewed documentary by Vice News  was wanted for an incident during clashes between white nationalists and counterprotesters earlier this month in Charlottesville.

The events brought major political fallout after President Trump blamed many sides for violence, which included the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer when a driver with suspected Nazi sympathies rammed into a crowd of people.

Cantwell was being held without bond at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail, authorities said.
Jennifer Smithmeyer, 24, left, and Ashley Palmer, 24, show tampons they made out of menstrual pads, similar to ones they made while incarcerated at the Northwestern Regional Adult Detention Center in Winchester, Va. (Allison Shelley for The Washington Post)

The U.S. government is beginning to offer tampons and a variety of sanitary pads free to federal inmates, a policy change heralded by womens rights advocates as a major step in a movement to broaden access to menstrual products for incarcerated or poor women.

A Bureau of Prisons memo issued early this month said that women should be provided with a range of menstrual products, including tampons and various kinds of sanitary pads, at no cost. The guidance clarifies a vague policy that advocates say has led many incarcerated women to make do month after month with a short supply of substandard menstrual hygiene products.

The change came three weeks after a bill was introduced by Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) and Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) to provide the products free to incarcerated women. The provision is part a larger package of proposed overhauls meant to improve basic rights for the women who comprise the fastest growing segment of the U.S. prison population.

In a statement, Booker said he was encouraged that the Bureau of Prisons is finally explicitly requiring that the products be provided free of charge to incarcerated women. He said he plans to monitor enforcement. A policy memo is just words on a piece of paper unless its properly enforced.

[The once-whispered topic of womens menstruation now has political cachet]

Grass-roots activists are working to ease the stigma surrounding menstruation and improve the availability of products to women who are homeless or poor or have limited access to the products they need to care for their basic health and hygiene needs. Many say that tampons and pads should be provided freely, like toilet paper, in public facilities.

An increasing number of lawmakers have taken up the cause, introducing bills to exempt tampons and pads from state and local taxes and make them available free at public schools and workplaces. Four states  New York, Illinois, Connecticut and Florida  ultimately approved sales-tax exemptions, along with the cities of Chicago and Washington.

Last year, the New York City Council passed first-of-its-kind legislation making menstrual products freely available in public schools, shelters and jails. Colorado lawmakers approved a plan to provide free tampons and pads to inmates.

Activists said the policy shift coming from the Justice Department is a major validation of the movement.

[How do I know my tampons are safe?: More women push for detailed labels on feminine care products]

Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, an attorney and leading activist in the movement, said the new guidance is an extremely powerful statement and an illustration that the movement has bipartisan support. The Justice Department is led by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a conservative Republican.

She cautioned that enforcement could be difficult because the guidance does little to address a major hurdle to access. In many facilities, the products are doled out by corrections officers, and women must ask for them each time they need them.

Guards can denigrate or humiliate or abuse them, she said. They can still say no.

There is little consistency across the criminal justice system when it comes to menstrual hygiene. Some jails and prisons provide pads that women can help themselves to as needed; many do not.

Justin Long, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Prisons, says the guidance aims to improve consistency in the selection of products available free in the federal prison system that serves about 13,000 women.

The previous policy stated broadly that Products for female hygiene needs shall be available. But those products varied by facility. The revised policy details that female inmates will be able to choose between two sizes of tampons, two sizes of pads and panty liners.

Andrea James, executive director of the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, served time in a federal prison in Danbury, Conn., where, she said, a crate full of tiny sanitary napkins was kept on the bathroom floor.

Tampons or more absorbent pads could be purchased in the commissary and were unaffordable to most women. James lauded the Bureau of Prisons for making the change.

Its so important to the dignity of incarcerated women, she said.
Metro riders at the Smithsonian station in 2015. (Astrid Riecken for The Washington Post)

A disagreement between the District and its neighbors over how to split the cost of fixing Metro is blocking the regions effort to agree on a plan for the transit system, raising doubts about whether a long-term solution can be found this year, officials said.

The argument roiled a meeting of top local officials Wednesday at which D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) argued forcefully against using an existing Metro funding formula to decide what D.C., Maryland and Virginia each would pay.

The city would pay more than its neighbors under that recipe, which Mendelson said would be unfair to the city and inefficient to administer. He also said it would require the District to raise taxes too high.

D.C. instead favors a uniform, regionwide sales tax to raise the additional $500 million a year that Metro says it needs for new equipment and maintenance.

But representatives from Virginia and Maryland fought strongly against Mendelsons position, saying Metro should stick to the current formula.

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, shown in 2015, says the existing Metro funding formula is unfair to the District. (Amanda Voisard for The Washington Post)

Fairfax Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova (D) and Montgomery County Council President Roger Berliner (D-Potomac-Bethesda) were among those saying that the Virginia General Assembly would never support the regionwide tax favored by the District, because such a levy would fall disproportionately on Northern Virginia residents and businesses.

[How best to pay for Metros needs? A regionwide sales tax, say local officials in major report.]

The clash underscores the difficulty of forging a consensus days before Metros future is to be a principal topic at a regional summit of Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D).

Several officials said the argument is worrisome because it shows D.C. might stand in the way of a regional agreement on Metro, whereas the expectation has been that Virginia would be the biggest obstacle.

The region needs to realize that its got to deal with the Districts problem, Mendelson said in an interview after the meeting of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government (COG) Metro Strategy Group.

Officials also warned that this dispute, combined with others, could mean the region will fail to agree on a long-term funding plan for Metro in time to win approval from the state legislatures in Richmond and Annapolis in early 2018.

[McAuliffe, Hogan, Bowser to meet to try to narrow differences over Metro]

Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld has said Metro needs the additional funds starting in July 2018 or risks a further deterioration in infrastructure and service.

The COG Metro group, chaired by Bulova, has been working for months to agree on how much money the region needs to raise for Metro and how the financial burden should be shared.

A plan prepared by top county and municipal administrators and budget officers this spring said a one-cent-per-dollar sales tax would generate enough money  $650 million annually  to keep the transit system safe and reliable. It also would generate enough extra money to pay for some expansion of the system, such as construction of a second tunnel under the Potomac River between Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom, which would eliminate one of Metros major bottlenecks.

The report said that a sales tax has several advantages over alternatives such as a property tax  it would be easier to administer, would capture revenue from tourists and other nonresidents and is used by other major transit systems throughout the country.

Wednesdays meeting was closed to the public, and the groups discussions are normally confidential. Bulova and other participants agreed to discuss it publicly after The Washington Post obtained an account from an official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The group made progress on one front. It agreed to endorse Wiedefelds request for $500 million in additional funds per year, instead of scaling it back to $400 million as some officials favored.

Virginia state Sen. George L. Barker (D-Fairfax), who is a member of the group but did not attend Wednesdays meeting, supported the $400 million figure, partly because it would be easier to sell to his Republican colleagues who control the state legislature.

With $400 million a year, Metro could achieve what it calls a state of good repair and deploy eight-car trains throughout the system, rather than using six-car trains for some trips.

[Northern Virginia sharply split over proposed regional tax for Metro]

The additional $100 million a year would allow the transit agency to pay for some additional projects, such as core station improvements, relining the Red Line tunnel to keep water out and upgrading bus service.

Were in general agreement that if were going to bite the bullet and recommend additional funding, which we know is needed for a state of good repair,, Bulova said, then we should also provide a way for us to fund some major projects that we know are going to be needed, so were not all sitting down in three or four years and starting all over again.

[Regions leaders split over 1-cent sales tax to pay for Metro]

The endorsement of the $500 million target will be passed in writing to McAuliffe, Hogan and Bowser, who will gather Monday at Mount Vernon in their first meeting about Metro in 10 months. They also will get an update on the work of former U.S. transportation secretary Ray LaHood, who is trying to develop a plan for the transit agency that can win support from Richmond to Annapolis.

But that agreement was overshadowed by the discord over how much each jurisdiction should contribute.

Under Metros funding formula, the District pays 35.7 percent of capital costs, Maryland pays 33.4 percent and Virginia pays 30.9 percent.

The formula, which dates to Metros founding 40 years ago, is recalculated regularly to take into account changes in population, ridership and the addition of stations.

Bulova and others proposed using the formula for the new money to be raised. The strategy is that each jurisdiction would then decide on its own whether to raise taxes or find other revenue to pay its share.

But Mendelson, reaffirming an argument the District has made in the past, said the formula is outdated and unfair. He said Virginia, in particular, should pay a bigger share now that the Silver Line has opened.

The first segment of the new line opened three years ago and included five stations  one in Reston and four in Tysons Corner. The second phase, now under construction, consists of six stations  including one at Dulles International Airport and two in Loudoun County  and is expected to open for passenger service in 2020.

[Three years after opening, the Silver Line struggles to attract riders]

It was designed based on an understanding 40 or 50 years ago of [the original] 100-mile system and a population density thats very different today, Mendelson said. Track miles have grown. The Silver Line was never envisioned.

He also said using the existing formula would require unacceptable increases in the Districts sales tax or property tax.

For instance, he said, using the existing formula would mean raising the citys sales tax to 7 percent from 5.75 percent. If a uniform, regionwide sales tax were adopted, it would mean raising the Districts sales tax to only 6.5 percent.

A regional sales tax also would be easier to administer, he said.

The main argument I stressed is: This is a regional system, and it ought to be paid for on a regional basis, Mendelson said.

Bulova said a uniform, regional sales tax would unfairly penalize Northern Virginia. A COG technical panel reported previously that Northern Virginia  because of its large population and high volume of sales to be taxed  would pay more than the District and the Maryland suburbs combined.

Thats not fair to Virginia, and it would never fly in the General Assembly, Bulova said.

She said the current Metro formula takes into account stations, ridership, population, and its what weve been using previously, so why shouldnt we use it for additional projects?

Berliner echoed that point.

The argument for a regional sales tax is its simplicity, he said. However, the threshold question is whether its fair. We have an existing formula. . . . It is presumably a fair allocation.
MILITARY

Navy admiral loses command of 7th Fleet

The Navy has removed the admiral in charge of the services 7th Fleet based in Japan in response to four embarrassing accidents this year, two of which killed sailors at sea, the service announced Wednesday.

Vice Adm. Joseph P. Aucoin was relieved of command due to a loss of confidence by Adm. Scott Swift, the commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet. The incidents include the deadly collision Monday of the destroyer USS John S. McCain with a much heavier oil tanker off Singapore and a June 17 accident in which the destroyer USS Fitzgerald was ripped open by a larger Japanese container ship.

Seven sailors were killed in the Fitzgerald disaster, and the remains from at least some of the 10 sailors reported missing from the McCain have been found, Swift said Tuesday. Searches for the sailors both on the ship and at sea continue.

Aucoin has been the 7th Fleet commander since September 2015, and was previously the deputy chief of naval operations for warfare systems. His removal is the highest profile in the Navy since the disasters occurred. Aucoin will be replaced by Rear Adm. Phil Sawyer, who had been nominated for the position several months ago.

 Dan Lamothe

ARIZONA

Judge overturns ban on ethnic studies

A federal judge has overturned an Arizona ban on ethnic studies courses aimed at Hispanic students, saying it was motivated by racial discrimination and violated pupils constitutional rights.

The decision by Judge A. Wallace Tashima issued on Tuesday came in response to a lawsuit by students and parents challenging the law, which ended a Mexican American Studies, or MAS, program run by the Tucson school district.

The Court is convinced that decisions regarding the MAS program were motivated by a desire to advance a political agenda by capitalizing on race-based fears, Tashima wrote in his ruling.

In 2006, Arizonas then-schools superintendent and former attorney general, Thomas Horne, began a probe into MAS after an incident when a labor activist told students Republicans were racist. Horne concluded the program violated school code, and the state threatened to withhold funds until it was stopped.

 Reuters

Police officer suspended for hitting black man: A suburban Cleveland police department has suspended a white officer without pay for 15 days after he was seen in a cellphone video repeatedly punching and hitting a black mans head on pavement after a traffic stop for a suspended drivers license, officials said Wednesday. Euclid Police Chief Scott Meyer announced the suspension at a City Council meeting Monday. A police dash cam video of the Aug. 12 incident shows officer Michael Amiott wrestling Richard Hubbard III, 25, to the ground within seconds of ordering him to face away after Hubbard steps out of the car.

103-year-old woman becomes U.S. citizen: A 103-year-old Cambodian woman who survived starvation, suffering and war in her native land beamed and waved a tiny American flag on Tuesday as she became a United States citizen. Hong Inh was the oldest of more than 10,000 people who took the oath of allegiance in a ceremony in Los Angeles. She came to the United States when she was about 97 years old to join a daughter and other relatives. She is not the oldest person to become a U.S. citizen. Manik Bokchalian, a Turkish immigrant who lived in Los Angeles, was 117 when she took the oath in 1997.

 From news services
The Truth Initiative has produced this advertisement, released on Aug. 24, that accuses tobacco companies of specifically targeting the mentally ill. (Truth Initiative)

The Truth Initiative has produced this advertisement, released on Aug. 24, that accuses tobacco companies of specifically targeting the mentally ill. (Truth Initiative)

Truth Initiative, a leading tobacco-control nonprofit, has bought TV ads to run this Sunday during MTVs Music Awards that accuse tobacco companies of purposely targeting mentally ill people and U.S. soldiers.

The ads focus on this stark but little known fact: Roughly 40 percent of cigarettes sold in the U.S. are smoked by people with mental health issues, including depression, anxiety or substance-abuse problems.

The ads also note that 38 percent of military smokers start after enlisting.

Robin Koval, chief executive of Truth Initiative, accused tobacco companies of exploiting the mentally ill and military for profit.

As the number of smokers drops, the industry is finding it harder and harder to find those replacement smokers, Koval said in an interview. So the industry is targeting people based on their challenges in life, on who they are. Its shocking and appalling.

The Truth Initiative has produced this advertisement, released on Aug. 24, that accuses tobacco companies of specifically targeting members of the U.S. military. (Truth Initiative)

The ads come at a time when smoking in America has dropped to an all-time low. Only 15 percent of adults still smoke nationwide. And the teen smoking rate is similarly low, at 6 percent.

But many groups have been left behind by those gains  not just the mentally ill and military but rural smokers and others who are low-income, including Native Americans and minorities.

Among the mental ill, smoking remains high at 33 percent. Among people with a high school equivalency diploma, the smoking rate stands at more than 40 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Tobacco companies for the most part have not responded to the growing accusations that they are targeting vulnerable populations. In response to a recent Washington Post article on the socioeconomic divide in smokers, the countrys largest tobacco company, Altria, said it uses the same marketing approach across the country. And the company pointed to more than $112 billion that tobacco companies have handed over to help smokers and encourage smoking prevention as part of the 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.

The latest ads from Truth cite internal tobacco industry documents that discuss ways to make inroads into the mentally ill population. They note that tobacco companies even distributed free cigarettes to psychiatric facilities at one point, and tried to sell the idea that they would help steady patients nerves.

For years, experts say, psychiatrists and therapists often resisted counseling their patients to quit smoking. Their reasoning was that patients would be overburdened by trying to quit smoking, said Cliff Douglas, director of American Cancer Societys Tobacco Control Center.

The real truth is quitting actually helps their mental condition, said Koval. Those who are addicted and quit smoking when in recovery are less likely to relapse. Depression, anxiety, all those issues are helped when people try to quit.

The change in approach has begun to spark new partnerships and joint programs between tobacco-control groups and groups like the National Alliance for Mental Illness and American Psychiatric Association.

At the same time, concern has also increased about smoking among military service members, because of the particularly young and vulnerable age when most enlist.

According to a 2012 Surgeon Generals Report, 99 percent of smokers start before the age of 26.

A 2011 Defense Department survey found that almost half of all military service members had used a nicotine product in the past 12 months, and 24 percent on active duty smoked regularly. The U.S. Marine Corps had the highest rate at 31 percent, followed by the Army at 27 percent and the Air Force was lowest with 17 percent.

I find it deeply disturbing that somehow we think that asking our brave young men and women to put lives on the line for our country, makes it okay for them to be targets for Big Tobaccos bottom line, Koval said. The ads that will air Sunday call the tobacco companys marketing efforts un-American.

Defense Department officials have expressed concern that the smoking problem is impacting the U.S. militarys readiness for battle, and the tobacco-related cost from health problems and lost days at work among soldiers and veterans has been estimated to be in the billions.

Read more:

Big Tobaccos new cigarette is sleek, smokeless  but is it any better for you?

FDA aims to lower nicotine in cigarettes to get smokers to quit

Americas new tobacco crisis: The rich stopped smoking, the poor didnt
A health insurer has agreed to sell Affordable Care Act health plans next year in a rural Ohio county, filling in the nations last potential bare patch in the marketplaces created under the law.

The announcement on Thursday by Ohio insurance officials means that, at least for now, there will be no places in the United States where eligible Americans will lack access to subsidized ACA health coverage for 2018 when the next annual enrollment period opens in November.

Although insurers could still defect in the next month, before they must sign federal contracts to sell ACA coverage for the coming year, the move by CareSource to sell marketplace health plans in Paulding County, on the western edge of Ohio, appears to end a recent scramble by officials in seven states to persuade insurance companies to participate in a total of 81 counties.

Those potential bare spots emerged mainly as large, nationwide insurers have withdrawn from all or most of the ACA marketplaces they once served  a result of sicker and more expensive customers than they had expected and uncertainties bred by Republican efforts to overturn much of the 2010 health-care law.

The hopscotching to ensure that every county has at least one company selling ACA health plans has been more widespread than a year ago, when the residents of only one Arizona county were temporarily at risk of lacking access to such coverage.

Even with the bare spots filled at the moment, nearly 1 in 3 people who have ACA health plans will find only one insurer selling such coverage in their area, according to federal figures  more than at any time since the marketplaces began four years ago.

Still, filling the gap in the last county  a rural area with 334 current ACA customers  was greeted Thursday as a milestone signaling that the exchanges that are a core aspect of the ACA are withstanding the political feuding over the laws future. The marketplaces have proven to be remarkably resilient and just refuse to fail, said Larry Levitt, senior vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation.

That interpretation differs from that of the Trump administration. For months, the president and his top aides have said that the ACA exchanges have collapsed and are beyond repair. Since late spring, the Health and Human Services Department has issued maps showing the counties that, at a given time, had no ACA insurer lined up for 2018  or just one. Accompanying the first map in early June, when 47 counties were projected to have no ACA coverage, was a statement by Seema Verma, administrator of HHSs Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, that said: This is yet another failing report card for the exchanges.

Administration officials did not soften their position Thursday, as the last gap was closed. Premiums continue to surge, insurers continue to abandon wide swaths of the country, and choices continue to vanish, said Matt Lloyd, a senior HHS spokesman. Nearly half of counties across the nation only have one health insurance option which, by definition, is not a choice. Under Obamacare, Americans were promised access to a wide variety of high-quality, affordable coverage options.

Like 14 counties in Nevada that were filled with ACA insurers last week and other areas that have had difficulty attracting insurers, Ohios Paulding County is rural.

Pamela Morris, president and chief executive of CareSource, said that the insurer had agreed last month to fill ACA coverage holes in eight of 20 Ohio counties that were bare at the time. She said it did not initially reach into Paulding because providers of care were scarce and many residents seek health care in nearby Indiana.

In the end, she said, it was able to cobble together the provider networks the ACA requires by combining with an adjacent Indiana county.

CareSource plans next year to sell ACA health plans in 59 counties in Ohio and 79 in Indiana. Like another insurer, Centene, that also has stepped into bare counties in some states, CareSource has focused in the past on providing managed care to low-income people on Medicaid.

Morris said that Ohios insurance officials were incredibly anxious to get this accomplished . . . We are delighted to be able to do this.
Regarding the Aug. 22 front-page article Troop increase planned in Afghan war:

On Monday night, President Trump addressed the American people in a nationally televised speech to tell them about the Afghanistan war strategy he and the military took seven months to develop. If I were to boil down the entire strategy into two words, it would be: Trust me! The president gave precious few specifics. Somehow, through a combination of military might, diplomacy and economic sanctions, the United States will win in Afghanistan, despite failing to reach our objectives after already investing 16 years and as many as 100,000 troops in the effort.

Well, Mr. Trump, the American people do not trust you. Why should we?

The presidents trustworthiness was never well-established, and his words and behavior have only undermined it further since he assumed office. It seems as though his entire Afghanistan strategy depends on a wing and a prayer. In the real world, miracles happen only very rarely.

Ken Derow, Swarthmore, Pa.

One major omission in President Trumps Path Forward speech on Afghanistan was his failure to articulate a fully comprehensive regional approach for bringing the conflict to an end. Yes, he rightfully gave prominence to the role Pakistan, especially, and India should play in this regard. But he left unmentioned the other regional powers that must be involved to stabilize the fractured nation: China, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. All have interests they intend to protect (for better or worse). All have leverage with various parties to the conflict (government and insurgents). All should be engaged by the United States (whether friends or foes).

In the long term, Afghanistan will be able to secure its territory and population only with the active collaboration of all its more powerful neighbors. The forever war will continue until they do, and there will certainly be no win for Mr. Trump.

Karl F. Inderfurth, McLean

The writer was assistant secretary of state

for South Asian affairs from 1997 to 2001.

The truest thing the president said in his Afghanistan policy speech came at the end: Military power alone will not bring peace to Afghanistan or stop the terrorist threat arising in that country. But military power seems to be the plan. Its another case of throwing good money (and lives) after bad, and a version of a Monte Carlo fallacy: This approach has failed for 16 years, so it should start working now.

A good leader doesnt need to know the proper response to every problem, but he has to be able to elicit them. Unfortunately, answers are only as good as the questions. Ask your advisers the wrong question, and youll rarely get the right answer. Whom you ask is crucial: Dont ask an economist a political question. If you ask a military man, expect a military answer. President Trump asked three military men and two inexperienced civilians (Vice President Pence and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson), and he ended up with a military answer. Sad. Actually, very sad, for military families, for taxpayers and, if anyone cares, for Afghanistan.

John McNamara, Derwood

President Trump is ghting a previous war  not Iraq but Vietnam. He has not defined victory. He has set no timetable. He has not limited U.S. troop involvement. He says the United States will kill terrorists  forgetting that body counts alone are no evidence of success. He has rejected nation-building  forgetting that government corruption and misrule feed insurgency, in Afghanistan as in Vietnam. Under Mr. Trumps leadership, we are marching into another quagmire. The American public has the right to know before the tragedy grows to Vietnam proportions: How does this end?

Brad Swanson, Vienna

The coverage of President Trumps Afghanistan strategy speech omitted the troubling line, As the prime minister of Afghanistan has promised, we are going to participate in economic development to help defray the cost of this war to us. We need a lot more details on this arrangement. It brings to mind Mr. Trumps campaign statement that we should have kept Iraqs oil. Does he have in mind a war that will become mercantile or colonial?

George A. McFarland, Annapolis
Chad W. Dunn is a civil rights lawyer in Houston at the law firm of Brazil & Dunn. Together with the Waco law firm of Dunnam & Dunnam, he represents more than 10 women suing Baylor University for alleged civil rights violations.

In the coming weeks, many young women will return to college fearing they will pass by their rapist on campus. Even if you dont have a daughter headed off to college, you should not be misled about the meaningful impact of legal protections designed to help them, nor the current misinformation campaign being waged to justify rolling back these safeguards.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos recently announced that she is reconsidering the guidelines protecting sexual assault victims on college campuses, and opponents of the guidelines have since organized a campaign to support the proposed rollback, including taking the issue to court. Just last week, a male Texas A&M student filed a Title IX lawsuit alleging that his educational environment was discriminatory because the guidelines denied him a reasonable process to adjudicate whether he had committed sexual assault.

Meanwhile, advocates are pressing for reforms that would require survivors to prove a sexual assault occurred under the beyond a reasonable doubt standard used in criminal prosecution, which would make it near impossible for schools to address the complaints of sexual assault survivors. And lawyers in civil cases are pressing courts to adopt more difficult legal standards and shorter statutes of limitations for survivors pursuing Title IX civil cases.

Wrongful accusations of sexual assault can indeed ruin ones life. However, important procedural safeguards are in place to ensure that those few wrongful cases are dealt with. We shouldnt overcorrect our sexual assault policies by reducing protections for hundreds of thousands of young women simply because of a handful of unjust outcomes.

Having represented many sexual assault survivors  including a large group of claimants asserting their civil rights against Baylor University  I understand how brave a young woman must be to step out of the shadows to report sexual assault and then endure a second battery of victimization. They are interviewed multiple times by law enforcement and school officials and treated as suspects themselves. They submit to uncomfortable physical examinations and face a reality of forever marring their personal and educational records.

A sexual assault survivor is assured of months, if not years, of struggle and legal minefields. Her reputation is put under the microscope. She must deal with the emotional and physical injuries of the sexual assault and judgment from family and friends and strangers. It is a horror that should be met upon no one, and our system does almost everything possible to discourage reporting of assault, something research bears out over and over.

More than 5 percent of college women  thats 300,000 students  are raped each year. Only 12 percent of these rapes are reported to law enforcement, less than the already low 16 percent national average. Of reported rapes, as much as a third are prosecuted and even fewer convicted. False accusations exist in all crimes, but only between 2 percent and 10 percent of rape allegations are determined to be false.

The problem with the recent debate is that many commentators seemingly assume that sexual assault on campuses is an either-or problem. Either one stands for procedural safeguards for the accused or one stands with the victims. This is a false choice.

No person accused of sexual assault should suffer punishment without adequate proof. But persons who report sexual assault should be provided reasonable accommodations by schools, not impossible-to-overcome legal barriers. Simple remedies can make an enormous difference and have little or no impact on alleged assailants.

There is no reason that sexual assault survivors should be assigned classes in the same hallway on the same days with their accused rapist. They should be offered classes in another building or on a different day, or permitted to take the class online. At a minimum, universities should inform these students that their alleged assailant would be in the vicinity at the same time.

Sexual assault survivors should also be offered reasonable grade forgiveness. Many of our clients, despite attending universities on academic scholarships with outstanding grades, suffered academically after their rape. Universities should forgive these grades or, at the minimum, permit victims to retake those classes for replacement grades.

Other remedies are needed. Schools should offer free counseling sessions as well as financial assistance to deal with medical co-pays, hospitalization and other costs that often are incurred after an assault. None of these accommodations impact the alleged assailant.

More than 40 years ago, Congress passed Title IX promising a non-discriminatory environment for every student attending schools that accept federal funds. As citizens, we should not fall for the false belief that only those rights of the few wrongfully accused assailants can be protected. Victims across this country are slogging along attempting to reach their higher education dreams while carrying severe emotional and physical wounds. We shouldnt let them suffer alone.
Two people put up a sign that says "Heather Heyer Park" at the base of the Confederate general Robert E. Lee monument in Emancipation Park. (Julia Rendleman/Associated Press)

Its not surprising that we seem to be refighting the Civil War, since it never properly ended in the first place.

It might have, had Southerners listened to Robert E. Lee. The defeated general believed that erecting monuments to the Confederacy  such as his equestrian statue in Charlottesville, now shrouded with a black tarp in mourning of Heather Heyer  would be wrong.

I think it wiser . . . not to keep open the sores of war but to follow the examples of those nations who endeavored to obliterate the marks of civil strife, to commit to oblivion the feelings engendered, he wrote in 1869 about proposed memorials at Gettysburg.

As soon as they got the chance, Southerners ignored Lees advice. After the last federal troops were withdrawn from Southern capitals in 1877, whites began the process of re-subjugating African Americans. It didnt take long: By the 1890s, blacks were being deprived of voting rights and terrorized by the Ku Klux Klan as the scaffolding of Jim Crow oppression was erected.

The Confederate memorial in Orangeburg, S.C., my hometown, was dedicated in 1893. It was one of the early ones; most throughout the South were built after the turn of the century. They were symbols of defiance, intended to let African Americans and the federal government know who was back in charge.

Artist and activist Bree Newsome, who rose to national fame when she removed the Confederate flag from the capitol building in Columbia, S.C., says the debate about Confederate monuments is really about justifying systemic racism. (Gillian Brockell,Kate Woodsome,Jesse Mesner-Hage/The Washington Post)

My great-grandfather, Maj. John Hammond Fordham, was among the many black Southerners who were able to take advantage of the brief window of opportunity known as Reconstruction. Born in Charleston, S.C., in 1854, he became a lawyer and held a series of government jobs, working at the imposing Custom House near the port. He was called Major because he was one of the founders of the Carolina Light Infantry, equivalent to a volunteer national guard unit and described by the Orangeburg Times and Democrat as the first colored brigade organized in the South. He was active enough in Republican politics to correspond with Theodore Roosevelt.

Maj. Fordham moved to Orangeburg and built the house I grew up in. He and his wife had nine children, eight of whom survived to adulthood, and he was able to give them the education and resources they needed to build on the foundation he had laid. But the childrens options, and those of the following generation, were deliberately and systematically limited by Jim Crow. The Fordhams achieved much, but only in spite of the circumstances the white power structure imposed.

The triumph of the civil rights movement eliminated legal oppression, but in many ways the states of the old Confederacy never fully rejoined the union. The South remained a region apart, after the Lyndon B. Johnson years becoming as solid a Republican bastion as it once had been for the segregationist Dixiecrats.

Now, however, the South is becoming a different and more complicated place. One of the biggest and most important changes is a widening urban-rural split. Cities have become increasingly cosmopolitan, home to growing numbers of minorities, immigrants and transplants from other parts of the country. On maps showing party affiliation, cities such as Dallas, Birmingham and Atlanta are bright blue dots on fields of red.

And cities are where some of the most prominent Confederate statues and other memorials happen to be. So it was inevitable that those monuments to a lost war fought in defense of slavery  or, if you prefer, symbols of the birth of Jim Crow segregation  would come under critical scrutiny.

As for me, I couldnt care less about most street names. I sometimes commute to work on Lee Highway. Ill bet half the people driving down that road at any given time  including millennials, Salvadoran immigrants, government workers who grew up in Utah or Vermont  wouldnt know whether it was named after Robert E. or Spike.

Roads bearing a secessionists full name are a bit different. The United Daughters of the Confederacy intended Jefferson Davis Highway, which begins in Arlington, to stretch through the South and beyond, all the way to the Pacific. It exists today in many disconnected segments. Alexandria has been working to rename its part of the road for some time. A plaque in a San Diego park designating the western terminus was quietly removed last week.

And the statues? As societies have done for millennia, we erect and prominently display likenesses of figures we admire. When citizens no longer admire the person being honored, they should haul the statues down. They can go to museums or onto the scrap heap of history, where the Confederacy belongs.

Read more from Eugene Robinsons archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. You can also join him Tuesdays at 1 p.m. for a live Q&A.
Punch More Nazis. So reads a T-shirt made and proudly worn, as reported in The Post, by an attendee of the recent Netroots Nation conference at which Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) presented her political vision. To some, this seems like a necessary response to the violence emerging from growing white-supremacy movements. Its the wrong answer. We need to restore a comprehensively shared commitment to nonviolence and clearly repudiate political violence of any kind.

The death of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, tear gas in the streets of Phoenix, armed individuals now a routine presence at political rallies. Do we need any more signs that our country needs de-escalation? Surely not.

Clear-eyed, honest political leaders on the left, whether Democrats, progressives or left-leaning independents, must confront not only the growth of anarchist and anti-fascist groups but also what seems to be a creeping acceptance, within the broad, diverse world of their political allies, of a commitment to low-grade violence as a political tool.

Clear-eyed, honest political leaders on the right, whether sitting politicians, NeverTrumpers or right-leaning independents, must confront not only the growth of white supremacy and its attendant violence but also the growing acceptance within their ranks of a militia-style approach to politics. Guns at rallies and protests convey a threat, despite claims about plans to protect.

Whatever their political orientation, leaders in civil society  whether clergy, or the heads of associations, or heads of schools and colleges  should likewise step up to advocate a recommitment to the principles of nonviolence. This is not a matter of partisan politics but of preserving the basic foundations of a stable, peaceful society.

White supremacy, anti-Semitism and racism are false gods, ideologies to be repudiated. They must be countered and fought. We must separate the violence that flows from those ideologies from the ideas that animate them. Different tools are at hand for fighting each.

We need to counter extremisms violence not with punches but with the tools of law and justice. Where hate crimes and acts of domestic terrorism are perpetrated, our judicial institutions must respond. We as citizens must make sure institutions do their jobs, not plan to take the law into our own hands.

When the legitimacy of legal and judicial institutions has come into question  as has occurred because of police shootings and mass incarceration  we must strenuously advance the project of reforming those institutions to achieve their full legitimacy. But to take the law into ones own hands is only to further undermine legal and judicial institutions. It provides no foundation for reform.

As to extremisms ideologies, these we need to counter with principles of nonviolence and with a vision for a country in which no one feels endangered on account of their social identity. This is a vision, with a set of supporting policies, for a multiethnic democracy where political equality, social equality and economies that empower all have been achieved. You cant fight for such ideas, for a societys very soul, with your fists. We fight for this vision at the ballot box at every level of society  city council, county government, state governments, federal government.

Why nonviolence? Why political process? The purpose of building states, legal systems and democracies is to minimize the use of force for deciding human conflict so that, from conditions of peace, human well-being can emerge.

To choose not to minimize but to increase political violence is to choose to walk away from the only human invention  legitimate, peaceful political process  that has ever held the prospect of bringing safety and happiness for all. To choose political violence is to choose to disassemble the foundation of a just, stable and peaceful society.

Some people think that the ends justify the means, but this is false. To believe this is to put oneself in the position of a dog chasing its tail. You can never get there from here  never reach justice by setting your face toward injustice. Worse still, to accept or to fail to repudiate political violence, supposedly in pursuit of justice, is like trying to climb a mountain by walking steadily downward. Once political violence activates, shutting it off is exceptionally difficult.

Why should anyone believe that people who have been committed to political violence will change their minds and recommit to peaceful forms of litigating conflicts? That kind of distrust erodes the foundations of stable political institutions. The path to justice always lies through justice, including the basic moral idea that immediate self-defense is the only justification for the use of force. We need moral clarity on this point.

To anyone who holds a leadership position: It is time not only to repudiate ideologies of white supremacy but also to step up and make the case for fighting fair within the bounds of political process, leaving guns and fists at home, and forswearing political violence of any kind.
A look at the second half of the presidents first year in the White House.

A look at the second half, so far, of the presidents first year in the White House.

A look at the second half, so far, of the presidents first year in the White House.

When John Adams wrote into Massachusettss Constitution a commitment to a government of laws and not of men, he probably assumed that the rule of law meant the rule of laws, no matter how many laws there might be. He could not have imagined the modern proliferation and complexity of laws, or how subversive this is of the rule of law.

Such a subversion will confront Congress when it reconvenes. Congress is nimble at evading responsibilities but cannot avoid deciding either to repudiate or to tolerate a residue of President Barack Obamas lawlessness, one that most, perhaps all, congressional Democrats and many, perhaps most, Republicans want Obamas successor to continue.

The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) requires insurance companies to insure people with preexisting conditions, a locution minted to avoid the awkward candor of saying, in most cases, people who are already sick. The individual mandate, requiring people to purchase insurance, is one way the ACA subsidizes insurance companies that are mandated to engage in money-losing undertakings.

The subsidy that Congress must confront in September is the ACA requirement that the secretary of health and human services devise a program to compensate insurers for the cost of selling discounted plans to some low-income purchasers. Obamas HHS secretary created a program to disburse billions of dollars to insurers to defray the costs of the low-income purchasers who are more than half the ACA enrollees.

But  speaking of awkwardness  although the ACA authorizes a permanent expenditure for this, an authorization is not an appropriation, and Congress has never provided an appropriation. Come September, these payments may dramatize the increasing difficulty of discerning Republican and Democratic differences commensurate with their heated rhetoric. Democrats are untroubled by the payments because progressives believe that unfettered presidents are necessary to surmount the inefficiencies, as progressives see them, inherent in the framers great mistake, as progressives see it  the separation of powers. Republicans, however, have a dilemma: Halting the payments might unleash chaos; continuing them seals Republican complicity in perpetuating the ACA.

After failing to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, Republican leaders said it will "implode." Health-care experts disagree, saying the ACA is stable under current law  but President Trump and congressional Republicans could change that. (Daron Taylor/The Washington Post)

The Constitution says: No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law. Nevertheless, the Obama administration spent the money for the insurance subsidies, breezily arguing that it was being faithful to something higher than the Constitution  the ACAs text. Or its logic. Or something. Republican members of the House (including Georgias Tom Price, who now is HHS secretary) sued to stop the payments. In May 2016, a federal judge said they were right on the merits but stayed the decision to allow the Obama administration to appeal.

President Trump has exceeded Obamas executive willfulness, which at least strove for a patina of implausible legality. Last month, Trump said that, absent Republican success in replacing the ACA, he might end the payments very soon. Clearly, he thinks either spending or not spending unappropriated billions is a presidential prerogative.

The Constitution  yes, that again  says that presidents shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed. The framers, who were parsimonious with words, perhaps included the adverb for the reason Noah Feldman of Harvard Law School suggests: The Constitution recognizes that the president cant necessarily enforce every law. But it requires a good faith effort. So, the intent of any non-enforcement matters: Is it to husband scarce enforcement resources? Or is it to vitiate a law?

Trumps unparsimonious dispensing of words has included threats to intentionally cause the ACA to implode by halting the unconstitutional disbursement of unappropriated money. Feldman evidently thinks this would be non-enforcement in bad faith because the law could no longer function. It is, however, strange to say that dispensing unappropriated funds is faithful enforcement of a law just because without the funds the law would collapse.

Were Trump constitutionally punctilious  entertain the thought  he would embrace the judges ruling on behalf of the House members, and, obedient to his oath of office, stop the unconstitutional payments. But chaos might envelop the ACA exchanges and then the wider individual insurance market, causing many millions of Americans severe mental and financial stress. Republicans can say let the rule of law prevail though the heavens fall, or they can say . . .

Enter Sen. Lamar Alexander, the Tennessee Republican who chairs the pertinent committee. He wants Trump to temporarily continue the payments through September, pending a short-term solution for stabilizing insurance markets in 2018. Watch carefully as Alexander copes with a pathology of modern  meaning, presidential  government unanticipated by John Adams: laws that subvert the rule of law.

Read more from George F. Wills archive or follow him on Facebook.
President Trump has surrounded himself with generals and pledged to revamp veterans' care, while also belittling the service of his opponents. Here's a look at his track record with the military. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

President Trump has surrounded himself with generals and pledged to revamp veterans' care, while also belittling the service of his opponents. Here's a look at his track record with the military. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

You know that Americans are going through an extraordinary political moment when The Post reports that military leaders are rapidly consolidating power throughout the executive branch  that theyre publicly contradicting the president and balking at carrying out his policies  and civilian politicians react with undisguised relief.

They are grateful that, while President Trump transgresses and blunders, the generals in powerful jobs  national security adviser H.R. McMaster, along with Chief of Staff John F. Kelly and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis  provide a steadying hand on the rudder, as Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) put it.

Non-involvement in domestic politics and submission to civilian control are hallmarks of a professional military under constitutional democracy. The United States has by and large practiced those principles while also preaching them, albeit inconsistently, to other countries.

Yet while the growing influence of military officers in the government, to the point of unsubtle pushback against the commander in chief, raises totally legitimate concerns, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) told The Post, those issues should be addressed at a later time. In the meantime, we should be reassured that there are competent professionals who want to make smart choices.

Like Schatz, I would rather be governed by McMaster, Kelly and Mattis than by Trump. Like him, I think they took increasingly thankless jobs in the Trump administration not for self-aggrandizement but rather out of concern for the national interest.

Unlike Schatz, however, I dont think its too soon to fret about long-run consequences  for civilian institutions and military ones  of looking to an unelected officer corps as guarantors of political stability and upholders of national values.

This kind of thinking created problems in Latin America in the not-so-distant past; it belongs on the list of things we dare not normalize in the United States, even with good intentions.

It was indeed admirable of the military service chiefs, after Charlottesville, to denounce hate and racism in the emphatic terms that eluded their commander in chief. That they felt obligated and authorized to do so was nevertheless a sign that our constitutional system is badly out of balance.

To be sure, this awkward moment in civil-military relations has been a long time coming. You dont have to embrace deep state conspiracy theories to recognize that the rise of a huge permanent military in the years after World War II was unprecedented, or that it strains constitutional norms and structures. Many officers emerged from that establishment to serve in senior policy roles in the White House or the Cabinet, prior to the current group.

What is new, perhaps, is the fact that the military enjoys unparalleled support across the political spectrum (72 percent expressed high confidence in the latest Gallup poll) while civilian institutions, from Congress to the media, whose constitutional role it is to check and balance the president, lack perceived legitimacy.

No wonder that many people are starting to say, or at least think, that only the military, or figures connected to it, can keep this country together.

By no means am I predicting a military coup in the United States or accusing anyone of advocating one. I am merely calling attention to how much power we already have conceded, expressly and by implication, to the officer corps and how much more we may depend on them before the Trump presidency is over. This is evidence of deep political decay, which started long before Trumps election.

The key figure in American politics now may be Mattis, who praised the service chiefs for speaking out on Charlottesville, regularly represents the United States in foreign capitals and has prevailed in a bitter internal administration struggle over what to do in Afghanistan.

The Senate confirm ed the retired four-star Marine general, by all accounts a man of experience, wisdom and integrity, by a vote of 98 to 1, even though he had been out of uniform for only four years instead of the statutorily required seven.

Congress waived that rule, enacted to protect civilian control of the postwar military establishment, for what it saw as the greater good of keeping the Pentagon under steady day-to-day management, given the presidents obvious defects.

If anyone in this polarized country still can claim to epitomize national consensus, it may be the man known as Mad Dog. What would be the political consequences if the president were to fire him, just as he fired FBI Director James B. Comey?

And what sort of crisis would ensue if Trump said or did something so outrageous that even the patient Mattis must resign on principle?

In a healthy democracy, political stability does not hinge on an indispensable general. In Donald Trumps America, it might.

Read more from Charles Lanes archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
President Donald Trumps reluctance to condemn bigotry suggests he does not want to heal the wounds of racism and white supremacy. Fred Hiatt, head of The Washington Post editorial board, says Americans still have reason to hope. (Adriana Usero,Kate Woodsome/The Washington Post)

Of all the many slimy things Donald Trump has done, his coddling of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke ranks among the most vile and degenerate.

Desperate to win the 2016 Republican primary in South Carolina, where Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) was polling well among white supremacists and Christian fundamentalists, Trump engaged in a game of footsie with Duke. Trump hungered for alt-right voters in the Deep South even if it meant kissing up to the Klan. When pressed by CNNs Jake Tapper three times to refuse Dukes support, Trump balked. His excuse, issued days later, was that his earpiece wasnt working properly. Duke told his radio audience that to vote for one of Trumps rivals was akin to treason to your heritage. Given this alliance, its understandable why Duke praised Trump on Twitter for championing the alt-right movement in the wake of the Charlottesville protests.

Trumps tacit alliance with Duke made me yearn for the bravery of Jimmy Carter after he won the governorship in Georgia. At his inaugural address on Jan. 12, 1971, he boldly declared: The time of racial segregation is over. Many in the crowd gasped in disbelief. Carter also ordered that a portrait of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. be hung in the Georgia State Capitol. These courageous acts encouraged Time magazine to put Carters portrait on the cover under the banner of Dixie Whistles a Different Tune. Carter had national ambitions and didnt want to be contaminated by the bigotry of his predecessor, arch-segregationist Lester Maddox. But what made the New South moment of Carters inauguration so extraordinary was that Maddox was standing right behind him on the inaugural stand. Maddox had just become lieutenant governor, and the contrast could hardly have been more stark.

A lover of white-supremacist groups, Maddox was nationally infamous for his deeply racist views. On the day after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law, he used a gun and a club to intimidate three African American Georgia Tech students who were trying to enter his fried-chicken restaurant. Overnight, Maddox became a folk hero to a smorgasbord of bigots. With the Confederate battle flag as his symbol, Maddox was elected governor in 1966. When King was assassinated two years later, Maddox refused to allow the Georgia state flag to be flown at half-staff.

During the 1990s, I revisited the Carter-Maddox feud when researching a biography of Carter, our 39th president. One lazy afternoon in Plains, I talked with Carter about his historic inaugural. He told me that not long afterward he met with Maddox and dressed him down, warning him not to oppose desegregation initiatives. A few weeks later, I interviewed Maddox at his ranch-style home in Marietta.

According to Maddox, Carter had asked to see him three days after the inaugural. As he entered the governors office, Maddox openhandedly vowed to help Carter implement state policies. After all, both men were Democrats and could find common ground on many issues. But Carter glowered at him. An anguished Maddox told me that Carter tore him to pieces. He stood right in my face, with his finger in it and said, Lieutenant Governor Maddox, I didnt call you into my office to find out when and how you were going to support me. I called you to tell you one thing. If you ever oppose me on one issue, I am going to meet you head-on and fight you with the full command and resources of this office.

I asked Maddox whether he was shocked by Carters rebuff. My daddy whipped me and things like that but he never talked to me that mean, that vicious, Maddox complained. If I even opposed him on one issue, I went with him 99 times and missed him one, he was going to crush me. Maddox became instantly afraid of Carter and stayed alienated from him until his death in 2003.

By slapping Maddox down, Carter demonstrated how a true leader deals with hatemongers: crush them and render them powerless. That takes strength, something Trump doesnt have. Carter didnt kowtow to racists and he wouldnt play dog-whistle games for their support. If Trump had an iota of Carters moral rectitude and personal strength, America wouldnt be gasping today, whistling unhappily a very old tune.
The Fix's Amber Phillips explains the tight deadlines Congress faces as they return from summer recess, and how President Trump's shutdown threat over funding his border wall and criticism of the debt ceiling "mess" threaten their agenda. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

The Fix's Amber Phillips explains the tight deadlines Congress faces as they return from summer recess, and how President Trump's shutdown threat over funding his border wall and criticism of the debt ceiling "mess" threaten their agenda. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

Constructing a border wall is essential to President Trump  so essential, he said, he is willing to close down the government to get it.

But what would it take for Trump to actually force a government shutdown? And how likely is that to happen because of the border-wall debate?

As congressional staffers will tell you, its complicated. And nobody knows exactly how Trump would react in the moment of truth. Before now, hes treated government shutdowns as not a big deal, even a good thing. It could be a lot harder to make that argument from the Oval Office.

Heres a breakdown of the scenarios we could see playing out this fall  some leading to a shutdown, others keeping the government open past the Sept. 30 deadline.

Scenario 1: The government stays open because Congress passes funding for a border wall, giving Trump what he wants.

This is most straightforward  and least likely  outcome given the power of the filibuster and the strength of Democrats opposition to funding a wall.

In Trumps ideal world, Republicans would include money to construct a wall in their next government-spending measure, and that measure would pass the House and Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support.

This wont happen. Though Republicans hold majorities in both chambers, the GOP doesnt have the 60 votes required to break a filibuster in the Senate. And Democrats would almost certainly exercise the filibuster to block a bill with wall funding.

Verdict: Less likely.

Scenario 2: The government stays open because Congress approves new border security measures that satisfy Trump, even though they dont constitute full-fledged funding for a wall.

This case of bait-and-switch could serve to keep the government open, depending on how precise Trump wants to be about the definition of wall.

There are intermediate border-security measures that could gain support from both parties, potentially giving Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) the votes he needs to pass a spending bill that includes them.

President Trump threatened to shut down the government over building his promised wall on the U.S.-Mexico border during a campaign rally in Phoenix, on Aug. 22. (The Washington Post)

At that point, if Trump agreed, it would be up to him to finesse his rhetoric on the need for a physical barrier along the border. Could better equipment and technology be described as a wall? In Trumps world, it could happen. But its another matter whether his base voters would accept it.

Verdict: More likely.

Scenario 3: The government stays open because Congress passes a short-term spending bill, promising to deal with wall funding at a later date.

Kicking the can down the road tends to be Congresss preferred way of dealing with difficult problems, and this scenario could be no different.

As the clock ticks down toward Sept. 30, lawmakers will face increased pressure to fund the government, even if just on a temporary basis. By promising to debate wall funding later, then approving a stopgap spending measure, Congress would put off a confrontation with Trump and the possibility of a shutdown.

The downside of procrastinating is it would complicate lawmakers already jam-packed legislative schedule through the end of 2017. The upside? Less trouble in the short term. This approach historically has held major appeal for lawmakers, increasing its likelihood.

Verdict: More likely.

Scenario 4: The government stays open because McConnell breaks the legislative filibuster, allowing funding for a wall to pass.

Trump would love for McConnell to get rid of the legislative filibuster the way he did the filibuster on Supreme Court nominations. But it would require convincing more than two dozen Republicans to reject an opinion they held just a few months ago.

In April, 61 Republican and Democratic senators wrote to Senate leaders urging them to preserve the 60-vote threshold for legislation.

Senators have expressed a variety of opinions about the appropriateness of limiting debate when we are considering judicial and executive branch nominations, the letter stated. Regardless of our past disagreements on that issue, we are united in our determination to preserve the ability of Members to engage in extended debate when bills are on the Senate floor.

Verdict: Less likely.

Scenario 5: The government shuts down because Congress approves a spending bill without wall funding and Trump makes good on his threat.

Its possible the president will hold Congresss feet to the fire and reject any spending bill that doesnt include funding for the wall. In that case, Trump would have to be ready to risk the political consequences of a shutdown  consequences we know he was aware of because of something he tweeted when the government shuttered last time.

My sense is that people are far angrier at the President than they are at Congress re the shutdown  an interesting turn! Trump wrote in October 2013.

Verdict: More likely.

Scenario 6: The government stays open because Congress manages to overcome Trumps veto of a spending bill without wall funds.

This would be difficult for Republican leaders to achieve, but not impossible. Say Republicans pass a spending bill without wall funding and Trump vetoes it. If McConnell and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) can convince two-thirds of each of their chambers that keeping the government open is more important than funding the border wall, they could overcome the veto and keep the government open.

Verdict: Less likely.

Read more at PowerPost
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), right, arrives at the federal courthouse for jury selection this week for his corruption trial next month in Newark. Menendez was charged in 2015 with accepting gifts and campaign donations from a Florida eye doctor in exchange for using his position in Congress to lobby for the man's business interests. (Ed Murray/AP)

This year, the Senate has demonstrated the importance of a single vote. Betsy DeVoss controversial confirmation as education secretary happened only with the tiebreaking vote of Vice President Pence. In late March, Pence again broke a tie on legislation limiting federal funds to abortion providers.

And last month, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) defeated the GOPs effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act with a single flick of his thumb.

Theres more on the way. Later this fall, President Trumps agenda could be impeded by a one-man blockade, Sen. Robert Menendez, who by then could be a felon.

The trial of the New Jersey Democrat, indicted two years ago on corruption charges, is set to begin Sept. 6 in a federal courthouse in Newark. A 12-person jury was seated this week. The trial is expected to last well into October; by Halloween, Menendez could be the first sitting senator in nine years to become a felon.

While Menendez would almost certainly appeal such a verdict, the calls for his immediate resignation would be swift and voluminous. And much has been written about the calamity that his departure would bring on the Democratic Party in this Year of the Deciding Vote.

But no one should expect Menendez to heed those calls, at least not until Gov. Chris Christie (R) leaves office on Jan. 16.

The current front-runner to replace Christie, Democrat Phil Murphy, could be sworn in then as the new governor. This scenario would allow Murphy to appoint a Democratic interim senator and set a special election for later in 2018, in which Democrats would be heavily favored to retain the seat in increasingly blue New Jersey.

It might seem a bit outlandish for a felon to remain in the Senate for two to three months, just to deny the Republicans from getting an extra vote. But these are anything but normal political times in Washington.

Whats more, the Senates bipartisan precedents on corruption convictions are more lenient than the Houses regarding the time typically granted before colleagues move to evict someone from office.

The Senate has always taken more time (as with everything else), especially if the convicted senator has filed an appeal in the courts, Don Ritchie, the former Senate historian, said this week. The Ethics Committee will have to hold hearings and vote on a recommendation, and then the Senate deliberates and votes. Senators cant be forced to resign, and it takes a two-thirds vote to expel them, which prevents it from becoming a strictly partisan matter.

To this point, the Ethics Committee has done little to no work on the Menendez matter, instead deferring to the Justice Department. That probe began in 2013 after The Washington Post and the New York Times published extensive stories detailing the senators connections to a Florida eye doctor.

The two most recent examples of convicted senators should reassure partisan Democrats who fear that Christie would name a Republican to replace Menendez, which could revive the effort to gut the 2010 health-care law and move on other partisan legislative efforts.

On Oct. 27, 2008, the late Ted Stevens was found guilty on seven felony corruption charges. The Alaska Republican refused to resign, despite a bipartisan chorus calling for him to step down  including the minority leader at the time, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

Eight days later, Stevens lost his Senate reelection race, and the issue became moot. He served out the remaining two months of his historic run, retiring as the longest-serving Republican in the history of the Senate. He continued to vote and attend caucus meetings, like any other senator, those last few weeks.

And as Jonathan Salant noted this week in the Newark Star-Ledger, the last Senate Democrat to be convicted of felony corruption charges was also from New Jersey, the late Harrison Pete Williams.

Williams was convicted in May 1981 amid the notorious ABSCAM investigation. An undercover FBI agent acting as an Arab sheikh caught Williams on camera agreeing to help the sheikh in exchange for a multimillion-dollar loan.

The ethics committee took almost four months, including open hearings, to recommend expelling the senator.

The full Senate then took up his expulsion in a trial-like setting  but not until March 1982, after Williams had filed a series of legal motions in federal courts that all ended in rejection. Finally, when Williams realized there was easily a two-thirds majority to expel him, he resigned.

That was more than 10 months after his conviction.

The delay actually benefited Republicans. Had he resigned in 1981, the Democratic governor would have appointed Williamss successor. By 1982, Republican Thomas Kean Sr. was governor; he appointed a Republican to be interim senator.

Menendez would be doing the opposite, holding out long enough to ensure that a fellow Democrat takes his seat.

The late Williams played an intriguing role in the Menendez investigation  which began with an anonymous source, under the pseudonym Pete Williams, spreading allegations that Menendez had taken many personal trips to the Dominican Republic.

That information was probably false, but it prompted a deeper look at Menendezs connections to Salomon Melgen, the eye doctor who back in 2012 was in a billing dispute with Medicare.

Menendez helped arrange a meeting in the Capitol that included Harry M. Reid (D), who was Senate majority leader, and Kathleen Sebelius, who was secretary of health and human services, at the same time Menendez was running for reelection.

Melgen donated $700,000 to a super PAC that helped Menendez, who also regularly flew on Melgens private jet to the doctors Dominican resort.

Joe Hayden, a prominent New Jersey criminal defense attorney, believes that federal prosecutors will have to prove that Menendez knew he was acting illegally and not just doing senatorial duties by trying to help settle a Medicaid dispute.

Whether there was a criminal or corrupt attempt, Hayden said, intent will be the biggest issue.

If Menendez is convicted, McConnell, now majority leader, could try to force an immediate expulsion vote and get an interim Republican senator  but it would breach recent bipartisan precedent. McConnell would need all 52 Republicans and 15 Democrats to vote to expel  a high hurdle given that Democrats know the value of a single vote, particularly this year.

After a while, however, public pressure may build up to the point where senators feel forced to act, Ritchie, the historian, said.

By then, Democrats hope that Murphy will be in Drumthwacket, the New Jersey governors mansion, preserving the Senate seat in their hands.

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Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr., commander of the NATO mission in Afghanistan, speaks at a news conference in Kabul on Aug. 24. (Jawad Jalali/European Pressphoto Agency)

The two top U.S. diplomatic and military officials here sought Thursday to allay confusion and concern among Afghans about President Trumps strategy for Afghanistan, stressing American support for possible peace talks with Taliban insurgents alongside a new, open-ended military commitment.

Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr., commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, and the senior U.S. Embassy official, special charge daffaires Hugo Llorens, spoke at a joint news conference about the importance of reaching a settlement with the Taliban in an attempt to end the nearly 16-year war.

In an address Monday, Trump focused on winning the war and depicted an accord as a remote possibility. Both U.S. officials were careful to avoid contradicting the president, framing their comments as additional details and reinforcement of his message.

We are determined to pursue the goal of a political settlement. As these terrorist groups realize that they cannot win, they will see that their best option is to pursue peace, Nicholson said. He invited the Taliban to lay down your arms and join Afghan society. Help build a better future for this country and your own children.

Although Afghan officials embraced Trumps message, many Afghan commentators expressed concern this week that it focused too narrowly on fighting the Taliban and terrorists. Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai called it a formula based on killing, killing, killing.

[In Afghanistan, Trumps speech brings relief to some. To others, it means more war, destruction.]

Afghans also voiced worries about Trumps declaration that the U.S. government would no longer pursue nation building in Afghanistan and elsewhere. The United States has invested billions of dollars since 2001 in efforts to rebuild Afghanistan, yet the country is still struggling with political divisions and a moribund economy.

Nicholson and Llorens  following similar reassurances made by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Washington after Trumps speech  emphasized that the new policy would be much more than a battle plan. Llorens said it would integrate all the instruments of American power, including diplomacy and economic support.

But Nicholson also emphasized the U.S. military commitment to the war effort, vowing to pursue and annihilate Islamic State forces in Afghanistan and to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a haven for international terrorists.

Like Trump, the general declined to say how many additional U.S. troops would be sent. But he rejected criticism that the new military strategy would echo previous U.S. policies that did not make significant headway, even with more than 100,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan at one time.

[Thousands more troops are probably headed to Afghanistan. Heres what theyll do.]

One difference Nicholson cited was the current Afghan government, which he called a trusted partner that seeks to reform and professionalize the security forces. He also praised the Afghan special operations forces, which will be doubled in size and trained by U.S. and NATO advisers.

These brave soldiers have never lost a battle, Nicholson said. With the additional support we will provide them, they will become larger and more lethal.

Nicholson expressed concern about the high level of Afghan war casualties, saying, The United States deeply appreciates and respects the sacrifice and strength of the Afghan people. Rising casualty rates have become a source of growing concern here, with more than 11,000 Afghan civilians killed or injured last year.

Nicholson also touted the shift from an American strategy of support based on arbitrary timelines to one guided by conditions on the ground. You can believe it will be different, because we removed the calendar from the equation, he said.

Read more:

The Taliban is sowing terror in remote, new areas of Afghanistan

How Afghanistan is ramping up its fight against corruption  especially among the countrys elite

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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August 23, 2017 - Tamara Williams

Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of the University of California Berkeley School of Law, will present the keynote address.

The student-run New Mexico Law Review and the UNM School of Law are bringing together national scholars, judges, and local experts to explore the ramifications of creating new rights, such as the right to die, through state constitutional interpretation in a day-long symposium.

Establishing New Rights: A Look at Aid in Dying will be held at the UNM School of Law on Saturday, September 23, 2017 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 pm. The Law School is located at 1117 Stanford NE, Albuquerque, NM 87131.

This program has been approved by the New Mexico Minimum Continuing Legal Education Board for 5.5 general hours of credit.

The Symposium will explore aid in dying from medical and legal perspectives, the background of New Mexicos rulings on aid in dying, and how other states have tried or succeeded in legalizing aid in dying.

Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of the University of California Berkeley School of Law, will present the keynote address on the history of state constitutions in providing civil rights.

New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Charles W. Daniels will present on the New Mexico Supreme Courts history of interpreting its constitution to establish civil liberties.

Panels comprised of New Mexico judges and legal experts will discuss the topics of Aid in Dying and the role of state judiciaries.

Many Symposium speakers will contribute essays based on their talks to be published in a special symposium issue of the National Law Review Spring in the spring of 2018.

The Symposium is designed to foster dialogue among those most closely connected to the issues of the role of the judiciary and state constitutions and/or teaching in these matters, but is also free and open to the public. Early registration is strongly encouraged.
A worker watches as shipping containers are loaded onto a ship at a port in Qingdao in eastern China's Shandong province, on Aug. 8. (AP)

China sharpened its rhetoric over the Trump administrations efforts to investigate its trade practices, vowing on Thursday to use all means necessary to defend the country and its companies.

Although analysts dont believe a trade war between the worlds two largest economies is imminent, Chinas harsh words underline a recent fraying of the relationship between Beijing and Washington over trade and North Korea.

On Wednesday, Chinas Foreign Ministry demanded that the United States immediately withdraw unilateral sanctions imposed on several Chinese companies and individuals accused of illegally trading with the Pyongyang regime.

President Trump initially said he would set aside trade disputes with China to gain Beijings cooperation in reining in North Korea, but he reversed course this month by calling for a probe into the theft of intellectual property by Chinese companies.

Experts say the Trump administration may be coming to terms with the limits of Beijings willingness to put pressure on Pyongyang and wants to demonstrate that it is taking steps to bring down the trade deficit, a key campaign promise.

[Trump administration goes after China over intellectual property, advanced technology]

On Monday, the Chinese Commerce Ministry called the Trump administrations intellectual property investigation irresponsible and protectionist, arguing that it ignored the rules of the World Trade Organization.

On Thursday, it upped the ante, saying the decision had poured cold water on efforts to improve bilateral trade relations.

We are strongly discontented with this unilateralism and protectionism and will take all means necessary to resolutely defend the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese side and Chinese enterprises, Gao Feng, a spokesman for the Commerce Ministry, said at a news conference, calling the Trump administration move a violation of the international trade system.

Nevertheless, experts think a trade war remains an unlikely and distant prospect, mainly because it would be damaging to both sides.

If Trump initiates sanctions against China, especially the Section 301 investigation, it would be like killing 10,000 enemies at the cost of losing 8,000 of its own troops, said Wei Jianguo, vice chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges and a former vice commerce minister. Its really unnecessary, and it would cause grave losses to both sides.

Although the United States runs a $310 billion trade deficit with China, Wei said American exports to China were substantial and growing fast.

The inquiry into the theft of U.S. intellectual property could take months to conclude. In the meantime, China will want to keep relations on an even keel, ahead of a key Communist Party congress in the fall and ahead of a planned visit by Trump later this year.

Shortly before he left the White House, Trump strategist Stephen K. Bannon had argued in an interview that the U.S. government should be maniacally focused on the economic war that he said China is waging on the United States.

But while U.S. business leaders want to avoid a trade war, the idea that the United States should get tougher with China has many supporters.

Indeed U.S. trade groups have become increasingly vociferous in recent years about growing Chinese protectionism and barriers to investment, and they have broadly welcomed Trumps Aug. 14 order.

More than 20 percent of 100 American companies that responded to a survey by the U.S.-China Business Council said they were asked to transfer technology in the past three years as a condition of market access.

Beijing requires automakers and some other foreign companies in China to work through joint ventures, in which they often are required to give technology to partners that might ultimately become competitors.

Luna Lin contributed to this report.

Read more:

Trump to launch investigation into China trade violations

The dark side of Trumps much-hyped China trade deal: It could make you sick

China demands U.S. immediately withdraw N. Korea sanctions

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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An Indian man gets his retina scanned as he enrolls for Aadhar, India's unique identification project in Kolkata, India, in 2012. (Bikas Das/AP)

Indias Supreme Court ruled Thursday that privacy is a fundamental right, dealing a blow to the governments effort to force all Indians to enroll in a massive identification system and paving the way for a possible expansion of civil liberties.

Over the past few years, the government has pushed to compile the worlds largest biometric database, known as Aadhaar, by sending officials out to remote villages to take iris scans and fingerprints. To ensure complete enrollment, the government this year restricted access to essential government services for anyone not in the system.

The unanimous ruling by the nine-judge bench will have implications in a number of ongoing cases involving Aadhaar, which means base or foundation in Hindi.

It could put an end to the governments efforts to make enrollment mandatory. It also guarantees privacy for Indian citizens as an intrinsic right, a move that could have far reaching implications beyond biometric IDs for the daily lives of Indians such as the possible decriminalization of homosexuality.

Activists say the courts message to the government is loud and clear: This judgment says that the people of this country have rights, in case youve forgotten, said Usha Ramanathan, an independent law researcher and activist.

With the right to privacy now guaranteed, opponents of Aadhaar expect favorable rulings on petitions against the efforts to make enrollment mandatory.

The government says Aadhaar is crucial for better governance and can save Indian taxpayers billions of rupees by reducing welfare and tax fraud.

But at least one government official made a quick turnabout once the court ruled.

Ravi Shankar Prasad, minister of law and justice and information technology, issued a statement saying: Todays judgment of the Supreme Court is a welcome judgment as it strengthens fundamental rights and personal liberty.

Activists say such an extensive collection of data is vulnerable to leaks and misuse, endangering the privacy of a sixth of the worlds population.

In extraordinary hearings, government lawyers dredged up old rulings to argue Indians did not have a fundamental right to privacy. Its a very dramatic thing when a government goes to court and says that, Ramanathan said. It sets the government against the people.

In recent months, government notices said as part of the Aadhaar program, Indians would have to use a 12-digit unique identification number, known as the UID, to participate in almost every aspect of civic life  filing income tax returns, applying for railway job s or opening bank accounts.

Government rules especially targeted the poorest and most vulnerable sections of society, Ramanathan said, by restricting access to services such as free midday meals and allowances for tuberculosis patients.

Unlike social security numbers, UIDs would be accessible to various government agencies and private organizations. In recent months, government websites have mistakenly released thousands of UIDs.

They want a system where youd have to enter that number to get basic things you were entitled to, where youd have to give your thumbprint to get your rations, your wages which youd worked for, or pensions for the elderly, Ramanathan said.

Reetika Khera, an economist at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, said the government could potentially use Aadhaar as a surveillance program. They will be able to say, for example, that I went on the train from Delhi to Jharkhand, where I got off, withdrew so much cash, then went to forest of Mahuadanr and conclude that she must be funding Naxalites [an insurgent rebel group] whereas Ive actually gone to supervise research in the forest.

Even during the Emergency we didnt have that, Ramanathan said, referring to the period from 1975-1977 when the government ruled by decree. During the Emergency, they took away citizens ability to defend their right to privacy in court. Here they're trying to take away the right itself.

A spokesman from the Unique Identification Authority of India, which oversees Aadhaar, said the agency would comment only after the full judgment had been released.

Read more

Biometric ID project aims to provide for poor, end corruption

India launches ambitious food subsidy program

India may give away billions in free money to citizens

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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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.
Qatar said Thursday that it has restored diplomatic relations with Iran, marking a further break with Arab nations that have closed ranks against Qatar for its links to Islamist groups and others perceived as regional threats.

The decision ignores demands by Qatars neighbors  led by Saudi Arabia  to limit ties with Tehran and threatens to deepen the regions worst diplomatic crisis in decades, which has complicated Washingtons policies in the Middle East.

Qatar hosts U.S. warplanes at a major air base and serves as a logistical hub for Pentagon operations.

The State of Qatar expressed its aspiration to strengthen bilateral relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran in all fields, Qatars foreign ministry said in a statement.

The brief statement made no mention of the tensions that have roiled the Persian Gulf region since June, when Saudi Arabia and three other Arab nations severed ties with Qatar. The Arab bloc shut down borders, airspace and shipping lanes after accusing the tiny, energy-rich nation of backing terrorism because of ties with groups such as Egypts Muslim Brotherhood.

Qatar also has come under pressure to close down the powerful pan-Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera, which is based in the Qatari capital, Doha.

Qatar has denied the allegations and has weathered the boycott, not least by turning to Iran and Turkey for economic and military assistance.

Qatar recalled its ambassador from Tehran in early 2016 to show solidarity with Saudi Arabia after protesters ransacked the kingdoms embassy in Tehran and a consulate in the city of Mashhad. The attacks were triggered by Riyadhs execution of a well-known Shiite Muslim cleric, and prompted Saudi Arabia to sever ties with Iran after accusing it of not protecting its missions.

One of the key demands of the Saudi-led bloc  which includes Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates  to lift their economic and diplomatic sanctions is that Qatar restrict its ties with Iran. Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab nations fear expanding regional influence by Shiite power Iran in Syria and elsewhere.

On Wednesday night, Qatars foreign minister spoke with his Iranian counterpart by telephone, discussing bilateral relations and means of boosting and developing them as well as a number of issues of common concern, according to Qatars foreign ministry.

Irans Foreign Ministry welcomed Qatars decision, calling it a logical and positive move toward normalization in a deeply divided region.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi told Irans official IRNA news agency that the Qatari side expressed their interest in returning their ambassador to Tehran, according to a translation by the Iranian news site Iran Front Page.

Iran is ready to have better ties with all of its neighbors, Qassemi said. What the region needs today is cooperation among all parties.

On Thursday, Iranian State television quoted Irans foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, as saying that Iran hopes the rift between Qatar and the Saudi-led bloc ends soon.

Despite our disagreement with both sides, we have asked them to resolve their disputes through dialogue and negotiations, Zarif said.

Cunningham reported from Istanbul.

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Smoke rises after a recent airstrike during fighting between members of the Syrian Democratic Forces and Islamic State militants in Raqqa, Syria. (Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)

The United Nations urged international powers to ease military operations around the Islamic States de facto capital Thursday amid intensifying concern about the safety of thousands of civilians trapped inside the northern Syrian city.

The rare call to pause hostilities in Raqqa underscored the severity of the humanitarian crisis there. As Islamic State militants use snipers and threats of arrest to prevent residents from fleeing, monitoring groups have blamed U.S.-led coalition forces for hundreds of civilian deaths.

On Raqqa, our urging today from the U.N. side to the members of the humanitarian task force . . . is that they need to do whatever is possible to make it possible for people to escape Raqqa, Jan Egeland, senior humanitarian adviser to the U.N. special envoy on Syria, told reporters in Geneva.

[U.S.-led airstrikes are killing hundreds of civilians in the battle for Raqqa, groups say]

More than 270,000 people have fled the city since the coalition offensive began, and many of them are stuck in ramshackle camps in the Syrian desert.

As the Islamic States most important stronghold, Raqqa became a symbol of the militant groups ambitions to hold and govern vast swaths of territory. But the infrastructure in the city has crumbled as the Islamic State has come under heavy bombardment, and its income has dried up as it loses territory elsewhere.

Aid groups estimate that more than 16,000 people remain in the half of the city still controlled by Islamic State forces, many surviving on paltry supplies of food and little to no electricity.

Now is the time to think of possibilities, pauses or otherwise, that might facilitate the escape of civilians, knowing that Islamic State fighters are doing their absolute best to use them as human shields, Egeland said.

In Washington, a State Department spokesman said any pause in operations could give the Islamic State more time to build up its defenses and thus put more civilians in harms way and reinforce [its] tactics of using civilians as human shields, putting even more civilians at risk. There are no simple solutions in such a complex situation.

[A photographers journey into the dying center of the Islamic State]

In a report released Thursday, Amnesty International described the city as a deadly labyrinth.

Displaced Raqqa residents told researchers from the human rights group visiting the surrounding province that they had faced Islamic State booby traps and snipers as they fled, as well as artillery attacks and airstrikes by the coalition and its allied, Kurdish-led ground force, also known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Thousands of civilians are trapped in a deadly labyrinth where they are under fire from all sides, said Donatella Rovera, Amnestys senior crisis response adviser. Knowing that IS use civilians as human shields, SDF and U.S. forces must redouble efforts to protect civilians.

Amnesty also documented allegations that Syrian government forces had dropped unguided munitions and cluster bombs close to villages and displacement camps south of the Euphrates River.

Carol Morello in Washington contributed to this report.

Read more:

Shocking conditions await civilians fleeing ISIS in Syria

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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Some Americans based at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, pictured above, reported nausea, hearing loss, headaches and balance problems.

At least 16 Americans associated with the U.S. Embassy in Cuba suffered damage such as hearing loss while serving in Havana, the State Department said Thursday.

The figure is the first accounting of the scope of what the U.S. government suspects was a deliberate targeting of U.S. diplomats. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has confirmed that Americans serving in Havana began having symptoms that were at first unexplained but were later found to be related.

The Americans based in Cuba started reporting having problems late last year, at the end of the Obama administration, and the problems have continued into the first months of the Trump administration. Initially, five Americans were reported to have been injured, as well as at least one Canadian diplomat.

The cause, however, remains a mystery.

The State Department suspects that they may have fallen victim to some sort of acoustic attack, though the exact origin is still being investigated by the State Department and the FBI. The Cuban government, which has denied having anything to do with targeting diplomats, is cooperating with the U.S. investigation, officials said.

CBS News reported this week that it had examined medical records of some of the affected diplomats. Doctors examining them diagnosed brain injuries that led to complaints of nausea, hearing loss, headaches and balance problems.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Thursday that the affected U.S. government employees, members of our embassy community in Havana, had been treated by physicians in the United States and in Cuba.

It is unclear whether the Americans who were harmed are all State Department employees or whether the 16 include family members.

In May, the United States expelled two Cuban diplomats in response to the incidents that apparently happened, among other places, in the Cuban government housing provided to foreign diplomats.

Although the State Department has not accused the Cuban government of being directly responsible for harming Americans, it says Havana failed its obligations under the Vienna Convention to keep foreign diplomats safe.

Harassment of U.S. diplomats in Cuba used to be routine. Their homes were broken into and messed up, and they were regularly tailed when they went out. But reports of diplomats being physically harmed were rare.

U.S. officials who worked in Havana said the petty harassment has slacked off in recent years.
President Trump spoke about possibly pardoning former Maricopa County, Ariz., sheriff Joe Arpaio during a rally in Phoenix on Aug. 22. Arpaio was convicted of criminal contempt in July. (The Washington Post)

President Trump spoke about possibly pardoning former Maricopa County, Ariz., sheriff Joe Arpaio during a rally in Phoenix on Aug. 22. Arpaio was convicted of criminal contempt in July. (The Washington Post)

If former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio is pardoned in coming days  as President Trump strongly suggested Tuesday night  the move will be the latest in a long line of hotly debated political pardons that critics say violate the spirit but not the laws of executive authority.

The U.S. Constitution gives presidents sweeping power to grant pardons to convicts or to people who have not even been charged with a federal crime.

For most applicants, seeking a pardon is a long, arduous process that begins with the pardon attorney at Justice Department headquarters  an overloaded, understaffed office that currently does not have an appointed leader. The department recommends anyone seeking pardons wait at least five years after conviction, and be able to demonstrate their remorse and regret for what theyve done.

Arpaio, 85, has done none of that, and its unlikely he will. If pardoned, the former sheriff of Maricopa County, who was an ardent supporter of Trumps 2016 campaign, will be one of the rare but not unprecedented instances when a president decides to short-circuit ongoing or expected legal proceedings and preemptively grant a reprieve.

Arpaio was convicted last month of contempt of court after a judge found he had violated a previous court order not to detain people on the mere suspicion that they were illegal immigrants . Arpaio is awaiting a sentencing hearing scheduled in October.

Joe Arpaio's illegal-immigration crackdown made him a polarizing figure and an early ally of President Trump. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

[What you need to know about former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaios record on illegal immigration]

Was Sheriff Joe convicted for doing his job? Trump asked the cheering crowd. He should have had a jury but you know what, Ill make a prediction, I think hes going to be just fine. But I wont do it tonight because I dont want to cause any controversy. But Sheriff Joe should feel good.

Robert Bauer, a former White House counsel during the Obama administration, said an Arpaio pardon would ignore criteria long used to evaluate potential pardons  that a presidential act of mercy should correct some past injustice or oversight, or serve some greater public good.

Granting a pardon now, Bauer said, is a de facto interference in the administration of justice.

Other presidents have granted what pardon lawyers sometimes refer to as political pardons  grants that anger not just prosecutors but the opposition party, and have led to charges of favoritism or abuse of authority.

President Gerald Ford granted a preemptive pardon for his disgraced predecessor Richard Nixon. President George H.W. Bush granted full pardons to six former Reagan administration officials, including former defense secretary Caspar W. Weinberger. Those pardons were granted as Weinberger was preparing to face trial on charges he lied to Congress about the Iran-contra affair.

In the final days of his presidency, President Bill Clinton pardoned fugitive financier Marc Rich, an act that led to a long-running corruption investigation but ultimately no charges. Clinton also pardoned his half brother for an old drug conviction.

The Constitution describes the pardon power in simple, broad language: The president shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.

P.S. Ruckman Jr., who writes the Pardon Power blog , said it would be cruel and unusual punishment for Trump to suggest a pardon for Arpaio and not deliver. But when it is granted, Ruckman said, it will send a horrible signal that only the rich and famous get pardoned. Thats false. Theres people whove been waiting for pardons 10 or 15 years, and those people will certainly be heartbroken.

Arpaios conviction was the end result of a years-long battle with the courts over his hard line tactics on immigration. During the Obama administration, the Justice Department found his deputies routinely discriminated against Hispanics, including many citizens and legal residents, targeting them for unmerited scrutiny in a hunt for illegal immigrants.

Jonathan Smith, a former Justice Department official who handled that case, said a pardon of Arpaio would be a travesty.

Theres nothing improper or illegal about it, but it does send a message . . . that the president is going to permit violation of the rights of not only immigrants, but people who are residents and citizens of the United States. Hes sending a message that if youre not white, if youre Hispanic, that your rights dont matter, Smith said.

Arpaios lawyer Jack Wilenchik rejected such accusations, and said Wednesday he hopes the pardon will come before his clients October sentencing.

This has been a political show trial from day one, and its only fair that it has a political end, Wilenchik said. Theres no such thing as a normal pardon process. History is full of examples of pardons that were political  thats what a pardon is.

Wilenchik said his client was not guilty of any crime, but rather became a target of the Obama administration, which he accused of laying a trap for law enforcement.

Wilenchik attended the Trump rally Tuesday in Phoenix, but the former sheriff did not. In an interview Wednesday with Fox News, Arpaio said: I really appreciate the presidents nice comments and support. One day Ill go public and talk about the tremendous abuse of the process. If they can do what they did to me, they can do it to anybody.

Activists in Phoenix who have long opposed Arpaios police practices were furious about the expected pardon from Trump.

Hes doing nothing but spitting in the face of the people in Arizona who have suffered through what Sheriff Arpaio has done to us, said Carlos Garcia, executive director of Puente Arizona, which advocates for migrant workers. By pardoning Arpaio, not only is he erasing what hes done to our people, but hes tying himself to that legacy.

John Wagner contributed to this report.
As CIA director, Mike Pompeo has taken a special interest in an agency unit that is closely tied to the investigation into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign, requiring the Counterintelligence Mission Center to report directly to him.

Officials at the center have, in turn, kept a watchful eye on Pompeo, who has repeatedly played down Russias interference in the 2016 election and demonstrated a willingness to engage in political skirmishes for President Trump.

Current and former officials said that the arrangement has been a source of apprehension among the CIAs upper ranks and that they could not recall a time in the agencys history when a director faced a comparable conflict.

Pompeo is in a delicate situation unlike any other director has faced, certainly in my memory, said Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, a CIA official for 23 years who served in Russia and held high-level positions at headquarters, because of his duty to protect and provide the truth to an independent investigation while maintaining his role with the president.

[Obamas secret struggle to punish Russia for Putins election assault]

What is Fusion GPS and did it receive Russian government funds as it investigated Donald Trump? (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

The Russia issue has complicated Pompeos effort to manage a badly strained relationship between the agency and a president who has disparaged its work and compared U.S. intelligence officials to Nazis. Amid that tension, Pompeos interactions with the counterintelligence center have come under particular scrutiny.

The unit helped trigger the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia by serving as a conduit to the FBI last year for information the CIA developed on contacts between Russian individuals and Trump campaign associates, officials said.

The center works more closely with the FBI than almost any other CIA department does, officials said, and continues to pursue leads on Moscows election interference operation that could factor in the probe led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, a former FBI director.

Pompeo has not impeded that work, officials said. But several officials said there is concern about what he might do if the CIA uncovered new information potentially damaging to Trump and Pompeo were forced to choose between protecting the agency or the president.

People have to watch him, said a U.S. official who, like others, requested anonymity to speak frankly. Its almost as if he cant resist the impulse to be political.

A second former CIA official cited a real concern for interference and politicization, saying that the worry among some at the agency is that if you were passing on something too dicey [to Pompeo] he would go to the White House with it.

Pompeo has attributed his direct supervision of the counterintelligence center to a desire to place a greater emphasis on preventing leaks and protecting classified secrets  core missions of the center that are also top priorities for Trump.

President Trump dismissed allegations of collusion between his campaign and Russia at a rally in Huntington, W. Va., on Aug. 3. (The Washington Post)

Having the center report to him was designed to send a signal to the workforce that this was important and we werent going to tolerate misbehavior, he said at a security conference in Aspen, Colo., last month.

CIA spokesman Ryan Trapani described the suggestion that Pompeo might abuse his position as ridiculous.

Executive-order guidelines prohibit the CIA from passing information to the White House for the purpose of affecting the political process in the United States, Trapani said. The FBI and special counsels office are leading the law enforcement investigation into this matter  not CIA. CIA is providing relevant information in support of that investigation, and neither the director nor CIA will interfere with it.

Pompeo, 53, arrived as director at the CIA just days after Trump delivered a self-aggrandizing post-inaugural speech at agency headquarters. Appearing before a wall of carved granite stars that commemorate CIA officers killed in the line of duty, Trump used the occasion to browbeat the media and make false claims about the size of his inauguration crowds.

Pompeo has worked to overcome that inauspicious start, winning over many in the CIA workforce with his vocal support for aggressive intelligence gathering, his command of complex global issues and his influence at the White House. Pompeo spends several hours there almost every day, according to officials who said he has developed a strong rapport with the president.

But Pompeo is also known for berating subordinates, aggressively challenging agency analysts and displaying the fierce partisanship that became his signature while serving as a GOP member of Congress.

When asked about Russian election interference, Pompeo often becomes testy and recites talking points that seem designed to appease a president who rejects the allegations as fake news conjured by Democrats to delegitimize his election win.

It is true that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, Pompeo said at Aspen, and the one before that, and the one before that . . . 

The phrasing, which Pompeo has repeated in other settings, casts last years events as an unremarkable continuation of a long-standing pattern, rather than the unprecedented Kremlin operation described in a consensus report that the CIA and other agencies released in January.

Russias intervention in 2016 represented a significant escalation in directness, level of activity, and scope of effort, the report concluded. Its goal went beyond seeking to discredit U.S. democratic processes, the report said, and in the end was aimed at trying to help President-elect Trumps election chances.

Pompeo has taken more hawkish positions on other areas of tension with Russia, saying that Moscow intervened in Syria, for example, in part because they love to stick it to America.

Almost all CIA directors have had to find ways to manage a supposedly apolitical spy agency while meeting the demands of a president. But Trump, who has fired his FBI chief and lashed out at his attorney general over the Russia probe, appears to expect a particularly personal brand of loyalty.

It is always a balancing act between a directors access to the president and the need to protect CIAs sensitive equities, said John Sipher, a former senior CIA official who also served in Russia. Pompeo clearly has a more difficult challenge in maintaining that balance than his predecessors given the obvious concerns with this presidents unique personality, obsession with charges against him, lack of knowledge and tendency to take impulsive action.

Pompeo has shown a willingness to handle political assignments for the White House. Earlier this year, he and other officials were enlisted to make calls to news organizations  speaking on the condition of anonymity  to dispute a New York Times article about contacts between Russians and individuals tied to the Trump campaign. Pompeo has never publicly acknowledged his involvement in that effort.

He has also declined to address whether he was approached by Trump earlier this year  as other top intelligence officials were  to publicly deny the existence of any evidence of collusion with Russia or to intervene with then-FBI Director James B. Comey to urge the FBI to back off its investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Pompeo has, by all accounts, a closer relationship with Trump than others who did field such requests, including Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers.

Pompeo was exposed to Trumps wrath over the Russia investigation on at least one occasion, officials said. He was among those present for a meeting at the White House earlier this year when Trump began complaining about the probe and, in front of Pompeo and others, asked what could be done about it.

Trapani, the CIA spokesman, declined to address the matter or say whether Pompeo has been questioned about it by Mueller. Pompeos conversations with Trump are entitled to confidentiality, Trapani said, adding that the director has never been asked by the president to do anything inappropriate.

Pompeo spends more time at the White House than his recent CIA predecessors and is seen as more willing to engage in policy battles. In interviews and public appearances, Pompeo has advocated ousting the totalitarian regime in North Korea, accused the Obama administration of inviting Russia into Syria and criticized the nuclear accord with Iran.

Pompeo has also come under scrutiny on social issues. As part of an effort to expand chaplain services to CIA employees  which Trapani said was in response to requests from the agency workforce  Pompeo has consulted with Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, an organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled an anti-gay hate group. Perkins has described that characterization as reckless.

When Trump came under criticism for failing to specifically condemn Nazi sympathizers taking part in protests in Charlottesville  instead lamenting violence by many sides  Pompeo defended the president in a CBS interview, saying that Trumps condemnation of bigotry was frankly pretty unambiguous.

Pompeo inherited an agency that had undergone a major reorganization under his predecessor, combing analysts and operators in a constellation of centers responsible for geographic regions, as well as transnational issues such as terrorism.

Pompeos alterations have been minimal. He added two centers  one devoted to North Korea and the other to Iran. All but the counterintelligence unit fall under Pompeos deputy on the CIA organizational chart.

Pompeo, who met with Russian intelligence officials in Moscow in May, would have been entitled to full briefings from the counterintelligence center even without making that bureaucratic tweak. But asserting more control of the unit responsible for preventing leaks probably pleased Trump, who has accused U.S. spy agencies of engaging in a smear campaign to undermine his presidency.

U.S. intelligence officials have disputed that spy agencies are behind such leaks but acknowledge broader concerns about security issues, pointing to episodes including the CIAs loss of a vast portion of its hacking arsenal, which was obtained this year by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.

A descendant of the unit led by legendary CIA mole-hunter James Jesus Angleton, the counterintelligence center is run by a veteran female CIA officer who has served extensively overseas in Europe, East Asia and Russia. She was also one of the main authors of the CIAs internal review of a deadly suicide bombing that killed seven agency employees in Khost, Afghanistan, in 2009.

I think shes wary about the administration, said a former colleague who also described her as someone who would not fall in line if she suspected interference in the centers role. Preventing the center from sharing information with the bureau would be difficult  an FBI official serves as head of the centers counterespionage unit.

Last year, the center played an important part in detecting Russian efforts to cultivate associates of the Trump campaign. Former CIA director John Brennan testified in May that he became worried by a number of the contacts that the Russians had with U.S. persons and alerted the FBI.

The center has since been enlisted to help answer questions about key moments in the timeline of Trump-Russia contacts, officials said, possibly including the meeting that Donald Trump Jr. held in June with a Russian lawyer.

Who sent her on the mission  was it Russian intelligence or on her own initiative? a former official said, referring to the lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya. Mueller cant do anything on that without the agency.

Julie Tate, Adam Entous and Carol D. Leonnig contributed to this report.
The Navy's 7th Fleet admiral was relieved of duty, as the premier surface fleet faces new scrutiny after deadly disasters at sea. (Jason Aldag,Dan Lamothe/The Washington Post)

The Navy's 7th Fleet admiral was relieved of duty, as the premier surface fleet faces new scrutiny after deadly disasters at sea. (Jason Aldag,Dan Lamothe/The Washington Post)

The U.S. Navy on Thursday turned its search and rescue mission to find 10 missing sailors from the USS John S. McCain into a recovery operation, an acknowledgment that it does not expect to find any of them alive.

It also named the 10 who have been missing since the guided-missile destroyer and an oil tanker collided near Singapore before dawn on Monday.

After more than 80 hours of multinational search efforts, the U.S. Navy suspended search and rescue efforts for missing USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) Sailors in an approximately 2,100-square mile area east of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, the 7th Fleet, to which the McCain belongs, the Navy said in a statement Thursday.

[The USS John S. McCain was struck in some of the worlds busiest waters]

The Navy said it has recovered the remains of one sailor, Electronics Technician 3rd Class Kenneth Aaron Smith, 22, of New Jersey.

In this Aug. 21, 2017, photo the USS John S. McCain steers toward the Changi Naval Base, Singapore, following a collision with the merchant vessel Alnic MC while underway east of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. (Joshua Fulton)

The Navy said it will continue search operations inside flooded compartments in the ship.

Still missing are: Electronics Technician 1st Class Charles Nathan Findley, 31, of Missouri; Interior Communications Electrician 1st Class Abraham Lopez, 39, of Texas; Electronics Technician 2nd Class Kevin Sayer Bushell, 26, of Maryland; Electronics Technician 2nd Class Jacob Daniel Drake, 21, of Ohio; Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Timothy Thomas Eckels Jr., 23, of Maryland; Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Corey George Ingram, 28, of New York; Electronics Technician 3rd Class Dustin Louis Doyon, 26, of Connecticut; Electronics Technician 3rd Class John Henry Hoagland III, 20, of Texas; and Interior Communications Electrician 3rd Class Logan Stephen Palmer, 23, of Illinois.

The remains of some of the 10 sailors had been found in compartments on the damaged ship, Adm. Scott Swift, the commander of the Pacific Fleet, said Tuesday without disclosing how many bodies had been located.

The American, Singaporean and Malaysian navies had been searching an area at sea covering about 900 square nautical miles around the point where the collision occurred.

The Malaysian navy found a body during this search and handed it over to the U.S. Navy, which determined it was not one of its sailors and returned it to Malaysian authorities, the 7th Fleet said in a statement Thursday.

Five sailors were injured during the collision, and the four who needed hospital treatment were released Wednesday and have returned to their duties.

A short video posted to the McCains Facebook page on Wednesday showed the surviving sailors clustered together shouting Big Bad John, the destroyers nickname. The caption read Fortune Favors the Brave  the destroyers motto  with the hashtag #puttingthepiecesbacktogether.

The McCain is named for the father and grandfather of John McCain, the Republican senator from Arizona, both of whom served as admirals in the Navy.

[ Top Navy admiral orders fleetwide investigation following latest collision at sea ]

An investigation has begun into how the destroyer and the oil tanker collided.

The Navys top admiral on Monday ordered a fleetwide review of seamanship and training in the Pacific after the McCain collision, and on Wednesday the admiral in charge of the 7th Fleet was removed from his position because of his commanders loss of confidence in his ability to lead.

The McCain collision is the fourth incident involving a U.S. Navy vessel at sea in Asia this year, and the second collision in just over two months involving a destroyer belonging to the 7th Fleet, which is based at Yokosuka in Japan.

The USS Fitzgerald collided off the coast of Japan with a much heavier container ship in June, killing seven sailors who were trapped in a berthing compartment inside the ship.

The month before, the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain collided with a South Korean fishing vessel off the Korean Peninsula and the guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam ran aground in Tokyo Bay in January.

The 7th Fleet is based in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, and is responsible for an area that spans 36 maritime countries and 48 million square miles in the Pacific and Indian oceans, according to the Navy.

The fleet has about 50 to 70 ships assigned to it, and about a dozen are at sea at any time. The forces missions range from responding to natural disasters, countering North Korean threats and challenging Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea, where Beijing has established new military bases.

Read more:

Navy relieves admiral in charge of 7th Fleet in wake of deadly disasters at sea

Remains of some sailors found on U.S. Navy destroyer after collision

Top officers of the USS Fitzgerald to be disciplined following deadly collision

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Supporters of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh attend a ceremony marking the 35th anniversary of the founding of the Popular Conference Party, in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. (Hani Mohammed/AP)

SANAA, Yemen  Tens of thousands of supporters of Yemens former president Ali Abdullah Saleh rallied on Thursday in the Yemeni capital in a show of political strength amid emerging frictions in the rebel alliance seeking to control the nation.

The demonstration, to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the founding of the General Peoples Congress, Salehs political party, drew supporters from at least seven provinces. Some local reports said as many as 300,000 attended the rally, with many chanting Salehs name and holding party banners.

Saleh, dressed in a dark suit and flanked by bodyguards,vowed to keep fighting a Saudi-led coalition that is seeking to restore the internationally recognized government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

We are ready to send, not hundreds or thousands, but tens of thousands of soldiers to the front lines, Saleh told the cheering crowds.

The rally followed days of tensions between the Shiite Houthi movement that ousted Hadi in early 2015 and Salehs loyalists. On Wednesday, fighters from the Houthis popular committees denounced Saleh, describing him as evil. That followed a recent speech by Saleh describing the Houthis as a militia.

Supporters of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh attend a ceremony to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the founding of the Popular Conference Party, in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. (Hani Mohammed/AP)

What [Saleh] said transgressed a red line and he could have only fallen into this because hes evil and void of every good, patriotic or religious characteristic, the fighters said in a statement, according to a translation by Reuters.

Yemens war pits the Houthis and Saleh alliance against the Saudi-led coalition that is concerned about the Houthis suspected links to Irans Shiite theocracy, Saudi Arabias main regional rival. The conflict has killed more than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, and displaced 3 million, according to the United Nations. The country, the regions poorest, is also in the grips of a worsening hunger crisis and a cholera epidemic.

On Wednesday, an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition hit a two-story motel north of the capital, killing at least 46 people, witnesses and officials said.

[In Yemens war, trapped families ask: Which child should we save?]

We strongly condemn the unfair and unjust aggression against our country and people that has killed and injured thousands of my Yemeni brothers, said Jalal Almikhlafi, 35, an entrepreneur, echoing the sentiments of many at the rally.

Thursdays event took place even though Houthi leaders have tried to persuade Salehs supporters not to hold mass gatherings in the capital, underscoring the lingering influence of the former president who was ousted five years ago after a populist revolution that was part of the Arab Spring uprisings.

The alliance between Saleh and the Houthis was always one of convenience. They are ideologically different: The Houthis are deeply religious while Saleh is a secularist. During his three-decade-long rule, Saleh fought six civil wars against the Houthis, who have long viewed his regime with suspicion, accusing it of corruption and blaming it for the countrys many problems.

Thousands of fighters from both sides had spread out around the capital this week ahead of the rally. On Thursday morning, a heavy exchange of gunfire erupted at a checkpoint close to Salehs residence between Houthis fighters and Salehs forces, witnesses said. A joint security committee formed by both sides resolved the dispute after 20 minutes. There were no casualties.

At the rally, Saleh did not address the rift, but his supporters expressed mistrust of their partners.

The Houthis do not accept others and will only accept partnership out of necessity, said Bassam Ismail, 37, a government employee. I believe that the religion should not be used to achieve political interests.

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It was March 2020, and the world was closing down as the COVID-19 pandemic spread. At first, the news of...
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VANCOUVER  A well-lit downstairs space in Vancouvers Queen Elizabeth Theatre bears no resemblance to the dank bowels of the Paris Opera House depicted in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical The Phantom of the Opera.

But notwithstanding the absence of candle-lit subterranean lakes and lairs, these modern environs do hold some history for actress Eva Tavares, who took on the Phantom role of Christine Daae in the touring production when the show moved east from Vancouver last month. It was in this very theatre where the Vancouver-raised Tavares first saw the lavish, gothic musical when she was just 10 years old.

Eva Tavares remembers first seeing The Phantom of the Opera at 10 years old.

I remember where I was sitting. I was in the balcony. I remember what I was wearing, she says. And I remember I came out of the theatre saying: I want to do that.

That sentiment might have been bred in her bones, it turns out. Tavares says she recently discovered her first exposure predated that show.

I was talking to my mom, checking with her that I was 10 years old when I first saw it, right? Tavares says. And she told me, Well, you saw it before that. When I was seven months pregnant, I went to see Phantom and you were kicking.

So I feel its been in my blood for a long time.

Indeed, Tavaress unique education seemed to prepare her for the specific challenges of playing Christine, the young woman who finds herself caught in a battle between the mysterious, obsessive Phantom (Derrick Davis) who haunts the venue, and her childhood chum Raoul (Jordan Craig), who wants to marry her in defiance of the Phantoms dangerous will.

Bear in mind: Christine is pulled from the ranks of the Paris companys corps de ballet to take the lead in the opera vacated by the temperamental diva Carlotta (Trista Moldovan). Hence the role requires not just a triple threat, but a classical triple threat.

I actually started as a dancer, she says, understating the years she spent in training from the age of two and a half.

Im actually doing the show en pointe with the proper shoes and all that.

She also began studying opera when she was 14.

I did my undergrad in opera performance at UBC Opera, and I graduated in 2014, she says, acknowledging classical opera singing is performed with some contemporary tweaking in the musical. Its written into the character, she says.

The Phantom comes and brings her voice to a place where its more mature and able to sing but its not the trained operatic sound that Carlotta has, she says. I have a lighter voice to begin with, she says of her high, light coloratura soprano.

I often play small children and fairies.

Matthew Murphy As Christine, Eva Tavares finds herself in the middle of a battle between Derrick Davis Phantom and a childhood friend.

The role of Christine, suffice to say, is a much more mature one as the character comes between the Phantom and Raoul, but Tavares asserts Christine is no mere prize to be claimed by either the madman or the aristocrat.

I dont think shes a victim at all, she says. My take on her is that she has a lot of strength that maybe isnt fully realized at the beginning of the show.

But as she goes through struggle after struggle, and shes having to stand up for herself and in the final layer, shes fighting for her life, for Raouls life and shes fighting for the connection she has with the Phantom.

I think shes one of the strongest characters in musical theatre rep, really, Tavares says. Shes a fighter. Its maybe not fully realized at the beginning, because she hasnt had that struggle yet, but when shes faced by it, she has to rise to the occasion, as we all do, when were faced with something like that.

I feel that I can speak to that in my life as well.

Matthew Murphy THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA 5 - The Company performs Hannibal

randall.king@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @FreepKing

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A teacher who came to Canada from Bangladesh eight years ago says a man who claimed to be a Nazi launched racist verbal attacks at her for wearing a hijab during a visit to Manitoba this summer.

Kaniz Fatima of Calgary posted video of the encounter on social media this week and says women who wear hijabs need to be prepared for such comments.

She says she was with relatives on July 2 near Pinawa, about 95 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg. They were driving around looking for scenic spots and asked a man in a parking lot for directions.

KANIZ FATIMA / FACEBOOK A man, claiming to be a "Nazi," yelled hateful insults at a Muslim woman near Pinawa.

Fatima says the man quickly became abusive and told her he was a Nazi, then ordered her to take off her hijab and go back to her country.

Two women who were passing by heard the exchange and told the man that Fatima had just as much right to be in Canada as he did.

In the video, the man can be heard telling Fatima: Im a Nazi. Do you know what a Nazi is? Take your head towel off in this country.

The teacher calls him a racist and tells him she can dress any way she wants, but the man tells her: It (the hijab) supports Muslims and moments later he says: Go back to your country.

This is my country, Fatima replied.

No, its not, the man said.

One of the two passersby can be heard telling Fatima: You dont even have to explain yourself. Youre just as much Canadian as he is.

Fatima says she was shocked and scared for herself and her family, but there was no physical confrontation.

Global News said Thursday that it spoke to a man who confirmed he was the man from the video.

Nick Wadien said during the phone interview that he isnt a Nazi.

The turbaners wouldnt leave me alone so I got mad. I didnt want to talk to them. Thats it, Wadien explained.

They wanted to know where they were. I told them, and I told them to use Google.

They kept fing talking, like I dont want to talk to you.

Alysha Goertzen, meanwhile, told Global that she was one of the passersby and was shocked by the incident.

Facebook Kaniz Fatima

As I approached, I could hear him screaming racial slurs at her, degrading her. She was a little spitfire herself, standing up for herself, Goertzen said in an interview from Edmonton.

Helmut-Harry Loewen, a retired University of Winnipeg sociology professor who monitors hate groups, said the encounter seems to be part of a trend.

Weve certainly seen here in Manitoba a rise  in open expressions of racism, or Islamophobia in particular, Loewen said Thursday.

Theres an increased willingness, I would venture to say, on the part of some critics  of refugee and immigration policy, to be much bolder and to break certain taboos around racial discourse which we havent seen in many, many years.

Loewen said while many people argue the election of Donald Trump as United States president has emboldened some people in Canada and the U.S. to speak more overtly about racist feelings, the reaction to immigration policies in Canada also paints a disturbing picture.

I would also add that the election of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also unleashed a storm, a torrent, of hate aimed against Trudeau because of his migrant policy, Loewen said.

If you look at a whole range of websites and also statements made by individuals  Trudeau is cast as a terrorist sympathizer. In other words, proponents of a refugee policy of welcoming migrants to Canada are being cast as terrorists.

There have been expressions of support for Fatima on social media.

This is not Manitoba, and this is not Canada. This kind of hate and vitriol have no place here, Winnipeg South Liberal member of Parliament Terry Duguid posted on Twitter.

RCMP say they did not receive any complaint and are not actively investigating.

Get ready to face those racist filthy comments if you have a hijab on, Fatima warns in her social media post. If it happened to me, it might happen to you.
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While brands like Sears and Le Chateau struggle to survive and superstar chains like Macys, J.C. Penney and American Apparel close hundreds of stores or go bankrupt, Winnipeg-based Warehouse One likes flying below the radar.

Celebrating its 40th year in business, the popularly priced, no-frills jeans and casual wear store is bucking the trend.

Its not contracting  its growing.

JUSTIN SAMANSKI-LANGILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Neil Armstrong, president of Winnipeg-based Warehouse One: We continue to develop great products, making sure all our associates know why they are great products and our customers trust us because of that.

Very committed to listening to what their customers tell them they want  including T-shirts featuring slogans such as Drinks Well With Others  Warehouse Ones unpretentious vibe has helped insulate the chain from the carnage happening all around them in the retail world.

Thriving in places like The Pas, Red Deer and Marystown, N.L., the private-label chain has added three to four stores per year over the past decade and now numbers 128 locations, coast to coast.

Company president Neil Armstrong doesnt worry about what others are doing.

Its been 15 years since the current owners, Stern Partners, which is also the majority owner of the Free Press and includes Bob Silvers Western Glove Works in its portfolio of companies, bought the assets out of receivership.

Armstrong, 45, said the company has grown and generated profits every year since 2004.

There are people still with the company who remember what it has been through, he said.

It helps keep us humble.

The tumultuous change in retail brought on by online shopping means Warehouse One has had to invest in technology  including a new e-commerce platform that went live a few months ago  but it has not had to dramatically alter its offerings.

Our fundamental core value has not changed, Armstrong said.

We listen to our customers and respond to what they want. We continue to develop great products, making sure all our associates know why they are great products and our customers trust us because of that.

Working with manufacturing plants in China and Cambodia, the chain stocks its stores with 90 per cent Warehouse One-branded items.

Armstrong said its jeans, tops, leisure-wear and hats are as current as they ever were.

Were not fashion-forward but I would say we are on trend, he said.

Armstrong will not disclose how Warehouse One is able to offer jeans for $49 to $59 that include the same lifting and shaping technologies found in high-priced designer jeans.

The commitment to its own private label means, despite the fact that Bob Silver is Ron Sterns partner, you wont see Silver Jeans in Warehouse One (though periodically the chain will run a program with third-party brands).

I cant imagine the day when you will walk into Warehouse One and find a $250 pair of jeans, said Armstrong.

Because it would just sit there and sit there and sit there.

Its 40th-anniversary promotion  on until Saturday  features 100 styles of $39 mens and ladies jeans, $30 mens and ladies hoodies, $15 mens T-shirts, and $10 ladies tanks.

Even its big anniversary sale is not over the top, considering Warehouse One regularly features promotions where a second purchase of the same product is half-price.

A national retail industry consultant, who said her business is booming because of the significant disruption occurring in the sector, said budget-priced apparel chains are really the only ones growing these days.

Two years ago, Stern Partners acquired Comark Inc.  also out of creditor protection  which owns the Bootleggers, Rickis and Cleo chains, creating one of the largest privately held retail operations in the country with more than 500 brick-and-mortar locations.

Stern Partners also recently acquired the 30-store southern Ontario chain, Jean Machine.

Given its strategic position on pricing, on content, the dual-gender aspect of their business, Warehouse One manages to appeal to a broad cross-section in particular in the secondary centres, said Gerry Bachynski, president and CEO of Comark Inc.

Bachynski said he believes the Comark brands can remain successful.

Weve demonstrated that, he said.

We have turned the corner, in part because of sharing some of the successes that Warehouse One has had.

Warehouse One is very disciplined about the way they make decisions, Bachynski said.

They are very customer-focused as a business. There are a lot of things theyve put in place in recent years cementing their relationship with their core customer base.

That core base now includes some 300,000 people on Warehouse Ones email list as well as a system through which stores channel customer feedback directly to the buying team.

In this business you do not get lucky. You have to listen, Armstrong said.

Success did not happen by chance. We spend more time looking at ourselves rather than others and as long as we keep the commitment and passion through our operation, keep the product knowledge up, develop good products and continuing to test the market to make sure our product is great, we will be fine.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
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Steve Ashtons desperation tactics in his Manitoba NDP leadership battle with Wab Kinew could scuttle the partys chances of winning back government in 2020, political scientists warn.

There may be an element of desperation when he says, Clear the air, Wab  and makes it nasty, retired University of Manitoba professor Paul Thomas said Wednesday.

The party, and by extension the public, wants to abandon years of infighting for a focus on policy, said Thomas. Theres still burning bitterness and resentment in the party.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Steve Ashton announced his run for leadership of the Manitoba NDP in June.

Thomas said Ashtons tactics could leave the NDP deeply divided and choosing between two deeply flawed people.

You have to wonder what Steve Ashton is thinking, said University of Winnipeg Prof. Shannon Sampert, director and editor of the Evidence Network. Does he think this will change committed (delegate) voters minds?

This is burnt earth  hes basically tainting the brand, Sampert said. Its pretty clear Kinew is going to win. Its a pretty dangerous tactic (Ashtons) playing right now.

Kinew leads 589 to 339 among delegates and youth members who will votes at the Sept. 16 leadership convention They are not bound to back the candidate they favoured when appearing on slates at the riding level.

Kinew, the MLA for Fort Rouge needs as few as 104 more votes to win, with 170 automatic delegates and 285 labour delegates eligible to vote.

Ashton, an MLA from 1981 to 2016, and former cabinet minister, renewed his attacks on Kinew, demanding Tuesday his rival own up and release details of two 2003 domestic assault charges (which were later stayed). Ashton encouraged the alleged victim to come forward and tell her story.

It was last-ditch. I dont think it was a wise move, Sampert said.

Christopher Adams, a political scientist based at St. Pauls College, said Ashton is providing ammunition to the Tories for the 2020 election.

Ashton is doing as much as he can to make the best of this story, hes trying to catch up to the front-runner, Adams said. Domestic violence is an issue that can resonate very strongly among NDP supporters.

Adams said if Manitobans believe Kinew when he says he turned his life around more than a decade ago, the only damage Ashton could inflict is if there is evidence of inappropriate behaviour by Kinew after that.

Theres still the mystery of who anonymously provided the media with Kinews court records, said Adams: This could backfire if we find out one of (Ashtons) workers sent out the email.

U of M ethics Prof. Arthur Schafer said Wednesday Kinews is an inspiring story. Instead of sinking him, its made him a more sympathetic and empathetic person. The end result is remarkable.

It seems kind of shabby for Ashton to turn on his colleague in this way. In a way, its unseemly, said Schafer, director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics.

However, airing Kinews history now removes or reduces potential baggage for the 2020 election, Schafer said.

Ashton, who is not a member of the party establishment, believes the rules are weighted against him by not using a one-member, one-vote system that would benefit Ashtons ability to sign up new members.

Ashton has lost two leadership bids. He would still remain in the party if he loses, Thomas said, adding he has known Ashton since he taught him at the U of M. In some ways, hes immune from defeat. For him, its about ideas and the distribution of power in the party.

Thomas said Kinew will be an attractive candidate in 2020 if people believe hes changed, especially as the Indigenous leader of a major political party.

He was vetted, hes talked about it, hes written about it, Thomas said.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca
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OTTAWA  Retired Manitoba senator Sharon Carstairs will join the Order of Canada on Friday, without skipping a beat in her decades-long advocacy for palliative care.

There is a better way, and we have the ability to provide that better way, Carstairs, 75, said Wednesday.

Though born to a Nova Scotia family, Carstairs became a prominent Manitoban and the first woman to lead an official Opposition in a Canadian legislature, under the provincial Liberals.

JOE BRYKSA/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Former Senator Sharon Carstairs

But she takes the most pride in helping more Canadians die in comfort.

Carstairs recalls her mother having a drawn-out, difficult death in 1980 because the health system was fixated on curing people and sending them home.

Thats when she focused her energy on palliative care, which provides relief to people who are slowly dying, through drugs that treat pain and counselling that alleviates mental stress.

As a senator, former prime minister Jean Chretien made Carstairs the minister with special responsibility for palliative care, an exceptional role for someone in the upper chamber. She travelled to other countries to compare treatments and authored four reports.

In 1995, just five per cent of Canadians had access to palliative care, compared with roughly 35 per cent today, she said.

While thats a strong improvement, shes observed countries such as Portugal go from having virtually no palliative care to offering better care than Canada, in the same period.

I dont want Canadians to die without the appropriate care, and unfortunately, far too many of them are, she said. Palliative care isnt about death; its about living well until the very end.

In 2001, she helped start the Canadian Virtual Hospice, a Winnipeg-based website where a clinical team answers questions and provides nearby resources to people dying and their families. She says the site attracts 1.6 million visits a year.

After 18 years in the Senate, Carstairs retired in 2012, but has kept busy. Shes on multiple boards that deal with palliative care, and she helped fund the Prairieaction Foundation, which is focused on eliminating family violence through research, including work at the University of Manitoba.

Carstairs said shes encouraged by recent legislation that would create a national framework for palliative care, through a bill thats garnered cross-party support. She said the recent assisted-dying bill shows the need for society to find options for an aging population.

But shes distressed at Manitobas lack of progress and looming cuts to health care. Though Manitoba was the first province to roll out palliative care beds, shes still pushing for Winnipegs Health Sciences Centre to offer them to patients.

In an era of reconciliation, she is adamant about improving access to care on reserves and remote towns.

We have yet to declare palliative care a core service for people living in Indigenous communities, and quite frankly that is a national disgrace, she said. Its that kind of thing that says I cant stop; I have to keep going; I have to keep moving the agenda further.

As the first woman to lead any major political party in Manitoba, Carstairs was head of the Manitoba Liberals from 1984 to 1993, an MLA for River Heights from 1986 to 1994, and opposition leader from 1988 to 1990.

Carstairs appointment was announced on the eve of Canada Day 2016, and shes been wearing the hexagonal Order of Canada lapel pin since then. On Friday, Gov. Gen. David Johnston will formally invest her into the order through a ceremony at Rideau Hall.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
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The ghost of front-line health-care workers held her own tombstone in front of St. Boniface Hospital on Thursday.

RIP I was a Frontline Healthcare Job, it read.

Although the female ghost wouldnt speak, she was one of dozens of union members, hospital workers and others who gathered in front of the hospital over the lunch hour in protest of the overhaul to health-care delivery in Winnipeg.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS In centre, Health care aide Debbie Knysh with her family also dressed as ghosts attended the noon hour rally and information picket at St. Boniface Hospital to stand up to provincial cuts to health care.

Its very, very stressful, Nellie Minville, a staff scheduler at St. Boniface, said about the atmosphere at the hospital.

People are worried. Theyre worried theyre going to get bumped, theyre worried about losing their jobs, theyre worried about the rotation changes, all kinds of things.

While the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority has made it clear no employees have received pink slips yet, unions have been receiving notices, per their collective agreements, that change is coming  and soon.

The problem we have with all of these cuts is we get notified there are cuts that are going to take place, but we dont get any details, said Jeff Traeger, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union, local 832, which represents 1,500 of the hospitals support workers and organized the rally.

The governments just not giving out many details and its one of the things were concerned about. It seems like there isnt a plan.

Minville said she thinks the government needs to slow down the overhaul and engage more with unions on possible alternatives to the plan, which includes the closure of half of the citys emergency departments.

Theyre not really listening, (it feels like) theyve made their decisions on what theyre going to do without a lot of thought, she said.

About 200 people crowded Tache Avenue, waving union flags and alternating between yelling shame on the cuts and shame on Pallister, to the tune of repeated car horns.

Several more protests have been planned for September during the lead up to the first phase of the overhaul.

The Victoria General Hospital ER and the Misericordia Urgent Care Centre are scheduled to shut their doors on Oct. 3.

jane.gerster@freepress.mb.ca
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OTTAWA  The federal Conservatives are calling on Ottawa to allow border guards to send asylum-seekers back to the United States as hundreds cross on foot into Manitoba. But a prominent refugee advocate says that simply isnt possible under international law.

Our system now is in shambles, Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel told reporters Wednesday. We have been talking and asking the government for months to deal with this situation, and we have heard no action.

In May, Rempel visited the Manitoba border community of Emerson, where hundreds have walked into Canada through fields before reporting themselves to police and filing asylum claims. Since then, shes called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to close a loophole in a longstanding agreement.

TREVOR HAGAN / THE CANADIAN PRESS Conservative MP Michelle Rempel speaks during a press conference to discuss the increase of illegal crossings near Emerson, Man., Friday, May 5, 2017.

Since 2004, the Safe Third Country Agreement has forbidden most people from making an asylum claim at the Canada-United States land border. But a 1951 United Nations agreement prohibits countries, including Canada, from prosecuting or deporting people who make an asylum claim after illegally crossing outside of border posts.

Though the number of such claimants rose during former U.S. president Barack Obamas increased deportations, theyve skyrocketed under current President Donald Trump, with the army now setting up tents for thousands in Quebec.

Rempel doubled down Wednesday, saying Trudeau must have a look at expanding the 2004 agreement, so border guards could turn back asylum-seekers.

I am concerned about that particular loophole exacerbating the backlog, Rempel said, arguing the spirit of the 1951 UN rules didnt mean to include people moving from one safe country to another.

Thats news to the Canadian Council for Refugees, whose head says the 1951 rules clearly forbid countries from deporting people once theyve filed an asylum claim. She said the only exception is for people with serious criminal records.

Theres nothing in the Refugee Convention that would say that because we dont approve of the person coming up from the United States that that gives us a right to violate their fundamental rights, said Janet Dench, adding the 1951 convention says those who physically enter Canada are still entitled to a hearing once they file a claim.

The 2004 agreement only allows officials at formal border stations to turn people back to the United States. It says once people have filed asylum claims, they can only be either granted asylum or sent back to their home country  not pushed back over the Canada-U.S. border.

That means someone from Ghana who claims asylum in Canada must have a hearing to consider whether they can be safely sent back to Ghana. Dench says expanding the 2004 agreement wouldnt change anything for people who have already set foot inside of Canada.

You cannot send someone back to face persecution, even if you may disapprove of them for whatever moral reasons, said Dench, who also said the U.S. likely wouldnt agree to having asylum-seekers sent back over its border.

Meanwhile, Rempel accused the Liberals of eroding Canadians trust in the asylum system and giving claimants false hope by presenting an openness to refugees without clarifying the high bar to gain refugee status. She said thats led to tent cities at the border.

Were not that far off from frost; lets be honest here, she said.

The NDP is asking Trudeau to issue a three-month halt to the 2004 agreement, and study pulling out entirely.

In the light of the events held by hundreds of white supremacists in Charlottesville (Va.) and the anti-immigration policies of the Trump administration, I ask that you reconsider your characterization of the U.S. as a safe country for asylum-seekers, MP Jenny Kwan (Vancouver-Mount Pleasant) wrote this week.

Trudeau told reporters Wednesday Canadian law continues to be enforced, and the country isnt experiencing uncontrolled immigration, though its fighting rumours of instant residency for people who cross.

He said hes considering accelerating processing of temporary work permits, to make claimants less dependent on government handouts.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
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This article was published 24/08/2017 (1907 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba Liberal leadership candidate Dougald Lamont accused the former NDP government Thursday of jailing more Indigenous people than any government in Canada, and breaking up more Indigenous families than any government in the western world.

He also blasted the NDP for applying a double standard to 2003 charges of domestic assault that were stayed against Manitoba party leadership candidate Wab Kinew, and to its treatment of Indigenous people.

For the size of our province, the Manitoba NDP has put more Indigenous people behind bars than any government in Canada. And no government in the western world has broken up more Indigenous families and taken away more children than the Manitoba NDP, Lamont said by email.

Provincial Liberal leadership candidate Dougald Lamont.

Asked to elaborate, provide substantiation and to explain how a government can jail people, Lamont said: The NDP ran the justice system while in government and argued for, and passed laws, that led to a continual rise in Indigenous incarceration. It is not an accident that Manitoba has twice the national incarceration rate: it is the result of decades of PC/NDP policies that have favoured jail and remand over jobs and education.

The NDP caucus, provincial party and Kinew campaign declined to comment on Lamonts accusations Thursday.

Steve Ashton, who is running against Kinew for leadership of the NDP, also did not respond.

Lamont is running against MLAs Jon Gerrard and Cindy Lamoureux in the Oct. 21 Liberal leadership race. Lamont said he believes in redemption and forgiveness, but accused the former NDP government of not applying those values to Indigenous people when it was in power.

The NDP are willing to extend sympathy to Wab Kinew in a way they were never  even for a moment  willing to extend to others when they were in power, he said.

If Wab Kinew were running for leader of another party, many of the same people in the NDP who are defending him right now would be demanding he step down as a candidate or be fired.

Gerrard lauded Lamont for his comments on Kinew, but remained silent on his opponents attacks on the former governments treatment of Indigenous people.

Wab Kinews ongoing lack of transparency and accountability is indeed a concern. Dougald Lamont has shared important insight on the NDPs double-standards, Gerrard said.

Lamoureux said she will let the NDP choose its leader, and then let the people of Manitoba decide which party they want in the 2020 election. She didnt comment on Lamonts statements.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca
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This article was published 24/08/2017 (1907 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OXFORD HOUSE  Henry Fords Model Ts werent yet rolling off the assembly line and the Wright brothers first powered flight was still news when the woman believed to be Manitobas oldest living person drew her first breath.

Sarah Harper was born Aug. 24, 1906, in the vast expanse of bush that would later become northern Manitoba.

That would make Harper the third-oldest known person in Canada today. She is the oldest Indigenous person in Manitoba, and probably the oldest person in the province.

Shes lived her long life on Bunibonibee Cree Nation, where the remote community of Oxford House celebrated Thursday with a gigantic birthday bash.

As part of the festivities, Bunibonibee also played host a number of dignitaries, including Grand Chief Arlen Dumas of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief Sheila North Wilson, who is also from Bunibonibee and has known Harper all her life.

As local band Raven Hawk tuned up for a medley of country-and-western songs, Harper spoke about her life  and how it feels to be 111 years old.

Im very happy Im still with my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Harper said through her granddaughter Rose Knott. The elder speaks Cree and her granddaughter translated her words.

Im very happy to still be here and Im glad they are here to celebrate my birthday.

More than 200 people filled the communitys school gymnasium, taking photos with Harper, who posed next to a gigantic sheet cake adorned with her portrait.

Harpers life has been celebrated before; the last birthday party, two years ago, had Harper on a flight to greet well-wishers in Winnipeg. Dignitaries attended the event at the Perimeter Aviation terminal where one United Church minister quipped with affection Harper is so old, shes related to almost everybody.

Then as now, Harper described her early life with her parents on the land before going to school as never living in one place. We always moved around and nothing happened to us.

To the inevitable question, what is the secret to a long life? Harper related a story of when she was a little girl and approached an old woman who was blind and couldnt walk.

It was a defining moment, she said.

DOUG THOMAS PHOTO Sarah Harper is centre stage at her 111th birthday party celebrated Thursday at Bunibonibee Cree Nation.

She said, to get her some water, Harper recalled.

Harper dutifully went off and got the pail of water, returning it to the elder.

That old lady said, Youll live a long life and youll see your old age. Thats what Im seeing right now.

Harper is hard of hearing and cant see as well as she used to, said her granddaughter, Rose. Harper uses a wheelchair but she pushes herself around in at the local nursing home where she lives.

She brought me up, since I was about five, said Rose, pausing as her grandmother spoke.

The other thing shes saying is the secret to a long life, said Rose, pausing to listen: She says to be happy and keep a smile on your face.

Dozens flew to the community, 575 kilometres north of Winnipeg, to pay their respects.

The commemorative birthday of an elder is a very special event, said North Wilson.

In reflecting on the history of our communities, our treaty regions and on the history of Manitoba, Canada and the world, it is amazing what Sarah has lived through. At the time of her birth, Manitoba was the postage-stamp province and the great majority of what is now northern Manitoba was part of the Northwest Territories. This means our treaties predate the province as we know it today, she said, adding elders such as Harper embody the resilience and strength of northern Indigenous people.

Bunibonibee Chief Timothy Muskego described Harper as a pillar of support, especially for the communitys children and youth.

Officially, Canadas oldest living person is Ellen (Dolly) Gibbs, born April 26,1905, in Winnipeg, She celebrated her 112th birthday this spring with family in North Bay, Ont., according to reports from the Gerontology Research Group which validated Gibbs as Canadas oldest living person, and the 42nd oldest in the world.

Harper is listed as the third oldest person in Canada in Wikipedias list of Canadian supercentenarians. The second oldest is also a woman, Henrietta Irwin of Ontario, who turned 111 in May.

Harpers story is featured in a unique book of pencil drawings and life histories, Portraits of the North, which was published in June.

A labour of love, author Gerald Kuehl spent more than 20 years gaining the trust of his subjects in one Indigenous community after another. The life stories in Portraits of the North are described as last generation of people born on the land.

My meeting with Sarah Harper was in 2003, Kuehl said Wednesday by email. I remember what stood out was the quiet elegance of this woman with the dark intelligent eyes. She has much wisdom from now over 110 years of experience and reflection.

She was raised in the traditional lifestyle of her people and did not attend residential school. She lived through very tough times with her people, a period when, as she said, It was always difficult getting enough to eat.'

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca
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This article was published 23/08/2017 (1908 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitobas Muslim community is bracing for an anti-Islam rally planned for Winnipeg next month.

We are hoping to collaborate with other communities and do a rally as well, said Shahina Siddiqui, president of the Islamic Social Services Association (ISSA). If we dont respond right away, they feel emboldened and they do right now. There is no place for this. We should speak out against hate against one another.

Hate impacts all of us.

Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press ISSA president Shahina Siddiqui is organizing a counter-protest to an anti-Islam rally planned for Winnipeg next month.

News that the Worldwide Coalition Against Islam  Canada was planning a Sept. 9 rally in Winnipeg came as no surprise to Siddiqui, who warned Islamophobia would get worse north of the border following the election of United States President Donald Trump last November.

The anti-immigration rally is being organized by Jesse Wielenga, a 30-year-old from Brandon who told the Free Press earlier hes not sure how many protesters will take part in Winnipeg. A similar rally Saturday in Vancouver turned into a celebration of diversity, thanks to nearly 4,000 counter-protesters.

Siddiqui hopes that happens in Winnipeg, too.

Like they did in Vancouver and other cities, we have to drown them out, she said.

We want to respond with justice and with human rights. We dont want to stoop to their level. We hate what theyre doing, but we dont hate them.

The president of the Manitoba Islamic Association (MIA), who is travelling in the U.S., said people must come together to make sure voices of love are louder than hate.

The MIA will work with all those willing to combat all forms of racism and hatred, Osaed Khan said Wednesday.

He said he was unaware of the anti-Islam group having a Brandon representative.

As the prime minister stated, we all know Canada is not free from racism. (That) these dark forces find validation in Trumps rhetoric is a sign that we must work together to make sure voices of love are louder.

While travelling, Khan said he was told plans for a number of anti-immigration rallies Sept. 9 in the U.S. have been scuttled. (They) have been cancelled and are only being done online.

When white supremacists and Islamophobes arent able to go public or attract big crowds, they take cover on social media, where the like-minded have gathered for years, Siddiqui said.

That small numbers show up at their rallies doesnt make us feel comfortable  its the faces were not seeing there that concern her. If five people show up, there are 500 hiding behind social media.

We need to show them youre not supported by the majority of Canadians. At the same time, we have to keep an eye on the impact this is going to have. We need a long-term strategy to focus on schools and society and on our politicians, Siddiqui said, adding she plans to ask Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman to issue a statement saying the anti-Islam protesters are not welcome.

It will be a start, but that wont bring about change, only education will, said Siddiqui, who has been invited to speak around the world about Muslim stereotyping and has held dozens of workshops in Canada.

This weekend, we did workshops for our own youth with the Canadian Muslim Leadership Institute to better understand the context and what happened to other communities whove experienced hate crimes, she said. The schools are opening soon and my concern is its going to spill out into school. We have to watch out for bullying and have a strategy in place.

The leadership institute and ISSA are holding three public forums this fall, starting Sept. 12 at Winnipegs Millennium Library.

The first, called Islam 101, explores whether the things people hear about Muslims and Islam are really accurate. No sincere questions are off-limits, the event poster says.

Theres always room for education and for people seeing the light, Siddiqui said.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
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Confusion, denials and finger-pointing dominated provincial-municipal relations Thursday following the disclosure this week that the Pallister government wants to change the way it funds municipalities.

The spokesman for Manitobas municipalities said Thursday local leaders dont need more rules, and they expect the Pallister government to keep its promise to simplify the funding process.

The new minister responsible for municipal relations said the confusion is a mistake and there are no new rules but was unable to explain why municipalities were told three months ago new rules were on the way.

RUTH / BONNEVILLE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS New minister of municipal relations Jeff Wharton, says the province isn't putting conditions on funding for municipalities.

The opposition NDP said the confusion points to the government backtracking on election promises.

The reality of the situation is (the Pallister government has) committed to having less strings for funding, but theyve also said they do want accountability, said Chris Goertzen, president of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities and mayor of Steinbach. We have no trouble with being accountable, but the reality is its going to have to be simple, and were going to hold them to developing this process together with municipalities, not just on their own.

Goertzen was responding to the report in Thursdays Free Press that revealed the province sent letters to municipalities in May saying it expects to attach expected outcomes to a new funding model that the government had said would be unconditional.

A Freedom of Access and Protection to Privacy Act (FIPPA) request made by the provincial NDP and provided to the Free Press revealed that letters penned by Grant Doak, the then-deputy minister of the department of Indigenous and Municipal Relations were sent to all Manitoba municipalities. That includes Doug McNeil, the CAO of the City of Winnipeg, Joe Masi, the executive director of the Association of Manitoba, and to the City of Brandon.

The letters confirm the province will give the municipalities the same amount of operating and capital funding in 2017 that had been provided in 2016 and that the operating grants would be unconditional.

Confusion arose because of the additional information provided by Doak. In the letter to Winnipegs McNeil, Doak writes the province will attach outcomes and expectations for its funding, singling out the Winnipeg Police Services. In letters to Brandon, the AMM and the other CAOs, they are also told outcomes will be attached to their funding.

In an unusual move, the municipalities are also told that how major infrastructure projects would be funded and prioritized would be changed. Its been customary for municipalities to develop their own priority lists for infrastructure projects and then pitch that list to the provincial government for funding. But the letters stated the province would work with the municipalities to develop one- and five-year capital budgets to ensure their priorities are aligned.

But Jeff Wharton, who was appointed only last week as the new minister of municipal relations, told reporters nothing has changed.

Were not putting conditions on the funding, Wharton said. But he was unable to explain what Doaks letter meant by expected outcomes.

Wharton said the Free Press misinterpreted the May 10 letter. He said the story was not actually factual, but he couldnt explain how it was wrong.

NDP finance critic James Allum said it is apparent the Progressive Conservatives are backing away from their fair share, fair say promise to municipalities during the 2016 election campaign.

He called the letter a very clear, concrete admission that there were conditions associated with the (provincial) funding.

They walked back from the fair share commitment, and now theyre walking back from the fair say commitment  and the letter is proof positive of that. And if the new minister cant explain it, then the premier needs to get out in front of the cameras and explain to municipalities and to the people of Manitoba exactly what this means, Allum said.

While the letters from Doak were sent May 10, another FIPPA request revealed that Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman met with Premier Brian Pallister on May 18 to discuss unspecified inter-government issues. Provincial officials were to meet with the AMM on May 16.

Unlike Goertzen, Bowman chose not to speak to the issue Thursday. His press secretary downplayed the significance of the letter but councils finance chairman Coun. Scott Gillingham said its important to the citys budgeting process to define what the province wants and that has yet to be determined.

Goertzen said the province has promised municipalities it wont unilaterally impose outcomes on funding but will work with municipalities to define those areas.

Obviously, this will be a new mechanism that the provincial government will be using, and theyve made a commitment to us that theyll work together with the municipalities to create this new accountability mechanism. Well hold them to account to developing this in conjunction with us, Goertzen said.

Whats important is we have simplicity with accountability and its not onerous on municipalities. Obviously, were going to be looking for something really simple from the provincial government, with less strings attached but were not afraid of being accountable.

Following Whartons question-and-answer session with reporters at the legislature Thursday, Chisholm Pothier, the premiers director of communications, stepped in front of cameras and said, Short answer is the (Free Press) story is out to fing lunch.

He said municipalities understand that there are no strings attached to their funding.

Theres no defined outcomes that have to be achieved, Pothier said. Theres conversations on what can make this city and this province better.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca
Opinion

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This article was published 24/08/2017 (1907 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau recently released a long and nervously awaited discussion paper, which was met with near-apoplexy in some corners.

The paper aimed at closing a number of loopholes that allow mainly rich taxpayers to use private companies (Canadian-controlled private corporations, or CCPCs) to reduce their taxes compared with most Canadians whose incomes come through paycheques or self-employment.

The proposals would fulfil a Liberal campaign promise to address unfair uses of some arcane provisions of Canadas Income Tax Act. In response, one tax practitioner said in a popular newsletter, Finance Minister Bill Morneau just announced the Trudeau governments plan to destroy tax planning as we know it.

Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press Minister of Finance Bill Morneau holds a press conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa on Tuesday, July 18, 2017.

The minister has given the public 75 days to respond.

So far, most of the comments have been rather general. One suggests these provisions will hurt the middle class much more than the rich. This is clearly false, as shown in a study I published with my colleagues last year.

For the bottom 50 per cent of income tax filers in 2011  those with incomes under $51,600  well under 10 per cent had a non-trivial interest in a private company. But for the top one per cent, with incomes over $163,300, more than 50 per cent had a significant interest in a private company  and for the top 0.01 per cent with incomes over $2.3 million, this figure jumps to almost 80 per cent.

Further, as I showed in a study published just before the 2015 election and cited in debates at the time between (then) candidate Justin Trudeau and prime minister Stephen Harper, federal and provincial governments were forgoing at least half a billion dollars every year in income tax revenues from the use of these private companies for income splitting.

Among those likely to be affected by the ministers proposals are higher-income doctors, some of whom have even threatened to flee the country if these loopholes are tightened.

Before the Ontario budget in 2005, doctors spouses could not be shareholders in private companies set up to receive the doctors income. But as part of the fee negotiations at that time, the government of Ontario made a very obscure change to its corporate law, allowing these spouses to become shareholders. This change was clearly a back-door way to increase the incomes of doctors and their families without most of the public noticing.

Even though the public remained unaware, the number of private doctor companies in Ontario, which had been rising slowly, up to 1,500 in 2004, climbed steeply after the 2005 budget, to more than 16,000 in 2011  more than a tenfold increase  and, according to the Ontario Medical Association, to over 20,000 today.

Obviously, this obscure legal change must have provided substantial benefits for so many doctors to incur the costs of setting up their own private companies. And if the province of Ontario wants to help doctors maintain their after-tax incomes, they could always support the federal government in closing these loopholes and then use the resulting increased tax revenues to increase their payments to doctors explicitly, through the front door, rather than hiding these very real benefits via obscure back-door tax breaks.

More broadly, many in the business community and some leading economists tout the major benefits of cutting corporate income taxes to improve economic growth.

But theres a very revealing graph in Morneaus discussion paper. It shows that the taxable incomes of mainly larger public companies, even with all the major corporate income tax cuts since 2000, were quite stable as a percentage of GDP from 2002 to 2014. Over this same period, the percentage shares of GDP for the incomes of the self-employed fell by about one-quarter. In contrast, the most dramatic growth was for small private corporations, the ones able to exploit the income-splitting loopholes, whose incomes more than doubled as a share of GDP.

Was the decline in incomes of the self-employed, while the incomes in private companies nearly doubled, nothing more than an increasing number of well-advised higher-income individuals learning to exploit tax loopholes?

We cannot tell with the available data. But we could know if the government followed the auditor generals spring 2015 recommendations to be much more open and fulsome in their public reporting on these kinds of tax provisions.

So no, the sky is not falling on Canadas small businesses. The ministers proposals would clearly increase tax fairness.

Indeed, the extra revenues collected from mainly higher-income individuals, by bringing their effective income tax rates more in line with their salaried counterparts, could be used to benefit the poor and those in the middle class.

Michael Wolfson is an expert adviser with EvidenceNetwork.ca and a member of the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics at the University of Ottawa. He is a former assistant chief statistician at Statistics Canada and has a PhD in economics from Cambridge.
Opinion

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This article was published 24/08/2017 (1907 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Has anybody seen Merv Tweed? If you see him, can you give him the phone number for the people of Churchill? We havent heard from the president of Omnitrax since we cant remember how long its been. It hasnt been for lack of trying. All those grain farmers who want to use Churchill to get their crops to market also wanted to talk about getting the rail line repaired, but he hasnt answered their calls.

We dont even think Prime Minister Justin Trudeau knows where he is. The PM touched down in Manitoba on his summer travels to meet Premier Brian Pallister. He said that, Omnitrax has legal obligations to clean up and repair the tracks, in Churchill. But he wouldnt say whether he planned to pursue legal action against the company. And he didnt appear to meet or talk with Omnitraxs president.

If you are avoiding Justin Trudeau  with whom everybody seems to want a selfie  then you really are very well hidden. The prime minister did find Churchill Mayor Mike Spence to talk by phone. They also agreed that Omnitrax needs to either fix the rail line or step out of the way and let somebody else do it.

BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Omnitrax Canada president Merv Tweed has been difficult to find lately.

So, what do Omnitrax and Merv Tweed say about this? Omnitrax owns the mothballed Port of Churchill and the rail line that has fallen into disrepair. In case anybody hasnt noticed, summer is slipping pretty quickly into fall, and winter comes early up here.

Where exactly is Merv Tweed? When he was the MP for Brandon-Souris, he was like mosquitoes in July. Everywhere. He spoke numerous times in the House of Commons about Churchill, once saying, the Port of Churchill will remain the Prairies Arctic gateway to the world. Now that hes taken over Omnitrax and has responsibility for the main economic driver of this community, he has become invisible  except for an overheard comment made to a farmer, where he seemed to suggest that Manitobans were ungrateful for what Omnitrax has done for the community and the province.

Were grateful, Merv. Its just this little thing about jobs, no rail service and winter coming that wed like to talk to you about. For our part, its not for lack of trying. Weve been asking to meet since the decision was made to shut down the port. On numerous occasions weve written and called. The response has been to shift and slide and run and hide. Thats simply not good enough.

We also dont want another corporate response from Denver via Peter Touesnard, the chief commercial officer for Omnitrax. Were sure Mr. Touesnard is a great guy, but he doesnt live here and doesnt have as much stake in this issue as the people of Churchill. We want to hear from Merv about the local response to our local crisis. This may not be an emergency situation at Omnitraxs head office, but it is here.

Were making this public appeal for information leading to the spotting and holding of Merv Tweed for the purpose of getting answers about their plans for the rail line repairs, such as when they will happen. And for their future plans for the Port of Churchill. We dont want to harm him or harass him. We only want answers and information. We would like to invite Merv Tweed to a public meeting in Churchill, where he could give his side of the story and answer questions from the community members who have been devastated by the loss of their economic engine and, now, their essential transportation route in and out of Churchill.

We have everyone else in this community on board. We have the mayor and council working hard to find a solution. We have senators and First Nations leaders, grain farmers and shippers calling for a solution. We even have a rare agreement between the province of Manitoba and the federal government on the need to fix the rail line. Its time that Omnitrax got with the program.

We need to hear answers from the companys local leader. And we need those answers today.

Please help us find Merv Tweed. And wherever you are, Merv, please call home.

Marianne Hladun is the executive vice-president for the Public Service Allliance of Canadas prairie region.
The Trump administration yesterday unilaterally imposed sanctions on Chinese and Russian entities and individuals over their alleged trading activities with North Korea. The US Treasurys announcement is a deliberate slap in the face to Beijing and Moscow after both voted earlier this month in the UN Security Council for tough new UN penalties on Pyongyang over its long-range missile tests in July.

The sanctions target six Chinese-owned companies, one Russian, one North Korean and two based in Singapore. Six individualsfour Russians, one Chinese and one North Koreanhave also been hit. As a result, all of the individuals and entities will have any property and funds in the US frozen and will not be able to do business with US corporations, banks or citizens.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin declared that it was unacceptable for Chinese and Russian individuals and companies to enable North Korea to generate income for its weapons programs. While nominally acting to reinforce UN sanctions, Mnuchins sweeping statement effectively precludes any company from doing business with North Koreawell beyond the scope of UN resolutions.

Moreover, the US Treasury has not substantiated any of its allegations. Among those targeted are three Chinese companies accused by the US of breaching UN sanctions by importing nearly $500 million worth of coal from North Korea between 2013 and 2016. The purchase of North Korean coal was subject to an annual limit, not a complete ban until this months UN sanctions. Earlier this year China suspended further coal imports.

Coal sales are worth more than $1 billion a year for North Korea and represent a significant portion of total exports of around $3 billion. By targeting coal and other minerals, the US is seeking to cripple the North Korean economy and undermine the Pyongyang leadership.

Other entities hit by sanctions include Dandong Rich Earth Trading, a Chinese company accused of importing vanadium; Gefest-M, a Russian company alleged to have bought procuring metals for a North Korean company involved in weapons development; and Mingzheng International Trading, a China- and Hong Kong-based bank that allegedly provides financial services for North Koreas Foreign Trade Bank.

In addition, the US Justice Department has filed suit against two of the companies, Velmur Management of Singapore and Chinas Dandong Zhicheng Metallic Material Company, demanding more than $11 million over alleged money-laundered for North Korea.

The imposition of so-called secondary sanctions, that is, unilateral US penalties, has been under discussion in the US for some time. The US imposed similar sanctions in June on the Bank of Dangong, a Chinese financial institution, which it accused of helping Pyongyang engage in money laundering, and several other individual and entities.

The US targeting of Chinese and also Russian companies makes clear that Washington is exploiting the tense situation with North Korea as part of its wider confrontation with Beijing in particular. The supposed threat posed by North Koreas limited nuclear arsenal provides a convenient pretext for the Pentagons military expansion in the Asia Pacific that began as part of the Obama administrations pivot to Asia aimed against China.

China has reacted angrily to the latest round of US sanctions. Its embassy in Washington stated that China opposed any unilateral sanctions outside the UN framework, especially the long-arm jurisdiction over Chinese entities and individuals exercised by any country in accordance with its domestic laws. A spokesman called on the US to immediately correct its mistake and hinted at retaliation by adding, so as not to impact bilateral cooperation on relevant issues.

The US sanctions, which are aimed at forcing Beijing and Moscow to force Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program, will only heighten tensions in the Asian region. They follow a series of reckless statements by President Trump menacing North Korea with fire and fury like the world has never seen if it threatened the United States.

Pyongyang responded by announcing plans to test fire missiles into waters close to the American territory of Guam but North Korean leader Kim Jong-un backed off last week saying he would watch what the US did before acting.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson yesterday hinted at a possible path to talks with the Pyongyang regime. Speaking to the media in Washington, he said that North Korea had demonstrated some level of restraint that we have not seen in the past by not conducting missile launches since the latest round of UN sanctions.

We hope that this is the beginning of this signal that we have been looking for, Tillerson said, adding that perhaps we are seeing our pathway to sometime in the near future having some dialogue. He concluded, however, that we need to see more on their part.

Tillerson has previously made clear that any talks must be premised on North Koreas complete abandonment of its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and existing arsenals. Pyongyang, however, insists that it will not give up its nuclear weapons while confronted with the continuing threat of US attack.

While Tillerson and other Trump officials have suggested that a diplomatic solution to the confrontation with North Korea could be found, the US military threat remains. The Pentagon is proceeding this week with major joint war games in South Korea involving tens of thousands of US and South Korean military personnel.

Moreover, in the wake of a fatal collision between a US guided-missile destroyer and a tanker near Singapore on Monday, the top US commander in the Asia-Pacific warned against any attempt to take advantage of apparent weaknesses in US military operational capacity. Following the collision, the Pentagon ordered a suspension of all US fleet operations around the world to assess procedures and training.

Admiral Harry Harris, the head of US Pacific Command (PACOM), yesterday warned that it would be foolhardy for anyone to test the US militarily. His remarks, made at the Osan Air Base in South Korea, were clearly aimed against North Korea. Harris said that the collision did not affect the US militarys ability to defend the [Korean] peninsula and our interests in the region.
Trumps new policy in Afghanistan, unveiled in a nationally televised address Monday evening, is a declaration of open-ended and unrestrained military violence against a country that has suffered sixteen years of unbroken American aggression.

Since the Bush administration launched the US invasion of Afghanistan in October of 2001, 175,000 people have been killed, according to conservative estimates, and millions more driven from their homes. Under Bush, Obama and now Trump, the US military has carried out countless atrocities and war crimesfrom the November 2001 massacre of 800 Taliban prisoners at Mazar-i-Sharif, to the 2002 slaughter of 48 people at a wedding party in Kakarak, the murder of 42 medical personnel and patients at a Doctors Without Borders medical center in Kunduz in 2015, and the dropping of the Massive Ordinance Air Blast bomb, the largest nonnuclear weapon in the US arsenal, in Nangarhar Province this past April.

This violence will be dramatically escalated, with a carte blanche commitment by Trump to provide whatever troops and resources the US military command deems necessary. Trump declared that he will give the military the necessary tools and rules of engagement to defeat any resistance. All restrictions on operations that prevented the secretary of defense and commanders in the field from fully and swiftly waging battle against the enemy will be lifted.

In other words, the carnage already inflicted on the Afghan people will pale in comparison to what is coming.

Trumps speech, however, was not simply about Afghanistan. It was, in effect, a declaration of war on the world. Trump threatened Pakistan and sided openly with India amidst mounting conflicts between the two countries and between India and China. The growing tensions between the United States and its nominal allies in Europe were reflected in Trumps demand that NATO countries contribute more troops and resources to an expanded Afghan war.

The speech was delivered as the administration debates launching a preemptive strike against North Korea. In an ominous warning of what is being planned, Trump proclaimed that under his administration many billions of dollars more is being spent on our military, and this includes vast amounts being spent on our nuclear arsenal and missile defense.

Behind all the bombast, a combination of demoralization and fear pervaded Trumps speech. Everywhere the American ruling class looks it sees current or potential enemies. There is a large element of derangement in the notion that American imperialism can resolve its mounting economic, social and geopolitical crises by dropping more bombs and killing more people.

This very delusion, over the course of 25 years of unending war since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, has produced one debacle after another for the American ruling classacross the Middle East, in North Africa and beyond. This includes Afghanistan, where successive US governments have failed to establish control through bloody violence. Increasingly, American imperialism is directing its focus on larger competitors such as Russia, China and even Germany.

The ruling class is acutely aware that it confronts its greatest enemy within the United States in the form of the American working class.

Trumps speech was most significant for its assertion of what amounts to a presidential-military dictatorship. The president upheld as a principle the insistence that the American people will be told nothing about what is being planned, how many troops will be sent or how long they will remain. All decisions will be made by the military, without even the pretense of Congressional oversight or approval. Trump delivered his speech not to the American people, but to an audience of soldiers dressed in battle fatigues and subject to military discipline.

The most remarkable passages in Trumps speech came at the beginning. He delivered a paean to the military as the essential force for controlling a divided nation. The military is an instrument of absolutely perfect cohesion, Trump declared. The soldier understands what we as a nation too often forget, he said. The young men and women we send to fight our wars abroad deserve to return to a country that is not at war with itself at home.

The events in Charlottesville were the immediate context for these statements. Trumps declaration that the military transcends every line of race, ethnicity, creed and color largely adopted the pseudo-democratic comments of the top generals on the fascist rampage in Charlottesville. The military brass, concerned over the consequences of Trumps open sympathy for the neo-Nazis, felt obliged to distance themselves, the better to prosecute wars of aggression in behalf of the US corporate elite that are invariably presented as wars for democracy and freedom.

Trumps statements have profoundly sinister implications. They portray the military as the unifier of a fractured country, a force for structure, disciplineand repression. Under conditions of mounting social and political conflicts within the United States, his speech is a declaration of the central role of the military not only in waging war abroad, but maintaining order at home.

From the beginning of the Trump administration, the military has taken direct control of much of the state apparatus, in the form of retired Gen. James Mattis as secretary of defense, active-duty Gen. H.R. McMaster as national security advisor and retired Gen. John Kelly, first as Department of Homeland Security secretary and now as White House chief of staff.

The Trump administration, however, is not the cause but a symptom of an underlying disease. Unending war and four decades of social counterrevolution have fatally eroded the foundations of democratic forms of rule in the United States. Top generals act as kingmakers. They have developed the closest ties to the financial aristocracy and are universally praised in the media and the political establishment. Terrified of social unrest, the ruling class turns to its bodies of armed menthe military and policebacked by the intelligence agencies.

Far from opposing the influence of the military, it is to Kelly, Mattis and McMaster that Trumps critics in the Democratic Party have turned in the hope that they will stabilize the Trump administration and compel it to continue and escalate the Obama administrations policy of confrontation with Russia. Jeh Johnson, Obamas homeland security secretary, expressed the general sentiment when asked over the weekend if Mattis and Kelly should resign. Absolutely not We need people like John Kelly, Jim Mattis, H.R. McMaster to right the ship.

The outcome of the political warfare in Washington, culminating in the dismissal of Trumps fascistic chief strategist Stephen Bannon last week, has been to strengthen the direct domination of the military and Wall Street over the Trump administration. Mondays speech was an acknowledgement on Trumps part of this shift in political forces.

In their conflict with Trump, the Democrats and their political allies have worked to bury beneath an endless series of diversionary issuescentered on a grossly distorted presentation of the United States as a country torn by irreconcilable racial divisionsthe most critical issues: social inequality, poverty, war and the unprecedented growth in the power of the military-industrial-financial complex, which represents the most serious threat to the democratic and social rights of the working class.

In response to Trumps commitment to ever-greater military violence, a new antiwar movement must be built. The fight against imperialist war must be rooted in the working class, mobilized on an international basis in opposition to all the organizations and institutions of the ruling class and the capitalist system they defend.
Below is the speech given by Socialist Equality Party National Secretary Chris Marsden at its August 19 public meeting in London on the Grenfell Tower fire.

The Grenfell fire points to a common experience of the working class all over the world.

In country after country, the super-rich get ever richer, while working people suffer an ever steeper decline in their living conditions. Just as Karl Marx insisted in his depiction of capitalism:

Accumulation of wealth at one pole is, therefore, at the same time accumulation of misery, agony of toil, slavery, ignorance, brutality, mental degradation at the opposite pole...

You will know from bitter personal experience that what Marx said is true. But let me cite some recent examples of how tragedy and suffering is inflicted as a result of capitalisms drive for profit.

Our comrades in Sri Lanka are organising an inquiry into the April 14 collapse of the Meethotamulla garbage dump in Colombo, which officially claimed 32 lives, with another eight missing. Residents say the real figure is much higher as the poorest victims, who were buried alive, dont appear in official records. Around 146 houses have been damaged, affecting 198 families or 1,000 people.

On June 24, in Pakistan, over 200 men, women and at least 20 children were killed when an overturned petrol tanker exploded on a road in the Bahawalpur district of the southern Punjabkilling poor villagers seeking to scoop up the spilled fuel with buckets and bottles.

Last week, at least 85 children died at Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital in Southern India. At least 30 newborn infants died because a company turned off oxygen supplies after the hospital had missed payments on a measly 70,000 bill.

Four hundred are confirmed dead, including over 100 children, after a mudslide in Sierra Leone swept down from Sugar Loaf mountain August 14 onto shanty dwellings in the outskirts of the capital, Freetown. Another 600 are still missing, making up entire communities.

Finally, in the richest country in the world, our American comrades have campaigned for years to expose how in Flint, Michigan, Rick Snyder, a multimillionaire Republican governor, and his Democratic state treasurer, Andy Dillon, switched the citys water supply to untreated water from the polluted Flint River.

The poisoned water has already resulted in the deaths of at least 12 residents from Legionnaires disease, ill health for adults and lifelong learning disabilities for the citys children.

This is a video we produced:

8,000 poisoned Flint residents threatened with foreclosure

The Socialist Equality Party has called Grenfell an act of social murder. It is a term coined by Frederick Engels in his book, The Condition of the Working Class in England .

This is what he wrote back in 1845:

When society places hundreds of proletarians in such a position that they inevitably meet a too early and an unnatural death, one which is quite as much a death by violence as that by the sword or bullet; when it deprives thousands of the necessaries of life, places them under conditions in which they cannot liveforces them, through the strong arm of the law, to remain in such conditions until that death ensues which is the inevitable consequenceknows that these thousands of victims must perish, and yet permits these conditions to remain, its deed is murder just as surely as the deed of the single individual.

This was written at the very beginnings of industrial capitalism. Yet no one today could describe Grenfell in better terms.

It is close to four decades since Margaret Thatcher declared, There is no such thing as society, hailed the glories of the free market and promised to roll back the frontiers of socialism.

She left office just before the Stalinist bureaucracy liquidated the Soviet Union, which convinced Thatchers secret admirers in the Labour Partyled by Tony Blairto build what she herself called her greatest achievement, New Labour.

Thatcher, Blair and their successors, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Theresa May are all guilty of social murder. Their governments are all responsible for turning Britain into a playground for the super-rich while workers are left in dire straits.

The scale of criminality is vast.

For example, in 2009, under Labour, parliament was warned of the potential risks of fire spreading via external cladding systems and, after the deaths of six people in Lakanal House in Camberwell, of the urgent need to install sprinkler systems.

Nothing was done. Instead, regulations were amended or withdrawn altogether in what Cameron later proclaimed as a bonfire of the regulations!

Only last year, the government junked the expectation that all new school buildings should be fitted with sprinklersa year in which there were 1,500 fires in schools and educational premises.

This is what Cameron said in 2010:

I will kill off safety culture ... We need to realise, collectively, that we cannot eliminate risk and that some accidents are inevitable.

By 2015, the government was celebrating that it had cut house-building regulations by 90 percent.

The citing of Labour alongside the Tory Party points to why what Engels wrote in 1845 is once again relevant for today.

The late 19th century saw the birth of mass industrial unions, the dawn of the 20th the formation of the Labour Party.

We are the most steadfast critics of both for their pro-capitalist perspective, their opposition to socialism, their warmongering and countless betrayals of the struggles of the working class.

But for decades millions of workers looked to these organisations to protect them from the worst depredations of capitalism. And up to a point, they did thatby channelling social discontent into seeking collective bargaining agreements with the employers and parliamentary reforms administered by the capitalist state.

No longer.

Well before Blair, the Labour Party and the Trades Union Congress responded to the globalisation of capitalist production organised across all national boundaries by abandoning their national reformist perspective.

Instead of defending the social gains of the past, they have worked for their destruction.

Workers and young people are now being told that this has all changed thanks to the election of Jeremy Corbyn. But Corbyn has not reversed Labours decades-long lurch to the right. He is concealing it.

Consider his role in Grenfell.

Theresa Mays promised inquiry is a fraud. Like so many before it, its aim is to conceal, not reveal what took place. It is headed by Sir Martin Moore-Bick, whose previous claim to fame was as a social cleanser who allowed Westminster Council to rehouse a single mother with five children 50 miles away in Milton Keynes.

The inquiry is to begin on September 14 and report by Easter next year. There is an attempt to whip up illusions, after May agreed that it would examine the actions of Kensington and Chelsea Council in the lead-up and aftermath of the fire. But it has the very technical remit that was rejected by residents from the start and will not deal with issues such as social housing policy, let alone bring any charges. Above all nothing will be done about the Conservative government, or its predecessors!

Meanwhile the police investigation has still not questioned a single person under oath, let alone made an arrest. The Metropolitan Police have said they might pursue corporate manslaughter charges against the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council and the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO).

But what this means is that no individuals responsible will be brought to justice. Fines might be paid some years from now, but, as it deals with public entities, the taxpayers will foot the bill.

Residents and survivors have threatened to boycott Mays inquiry and regularly denounce the police for their inaction. But Corbyn has refused to withdraw his own support and has instead called May to rethink its scope and for a panel to advise the judge reflecting the ethnic diversity of the area!

Naturally, Corbyn will not say a word about the criminal, anti-working class activity of Londons Labour councils, whose leaders remain undisturbed as members of his party!

Corbyns main ally, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, has made left-sounding noises, calling Grenfell an act of social murder resulting from political decisions. But he goes along with Corbyn, refuses to name names or make any call for prosecutionswhich he could do with impunity in parliament.

In contrast, I want to return to what Engels said on the question of what to do about capitalism:

But this I maintain, the war of the poor against the rich now carried on in detail and indirectly will become direct and universal. It is too late for a peaceful solution. The classes are divided more and more sharply, the spirit of resistance penetrates the workers, the bitterness intensifies, the guerrilla skirmishes become concentrated in more important battles, and soon a slight impulse will suffice to set the avalanche in motion.

What could better describe the situation now confronting the working class?

When we look at the world today, can anyone seriously expect that the moral appeal for justice and reasoned behaviour advanced by Corbyn will be answered?

We live in a system in which the ruling class is engaged in a war against the population to make itself even more obscenely rich, and war internationally to secure control of vital resources such as oil and markets in goods and services.

That is why the age of austerity proclaimed for the working class sees billions cut from the National Health Service and the Fire Brigade, while billions are squandered on wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syrialeaving behind countries destroyed and a mountain of corpses.

It is why this government pledges pocket change for the victims of Grenfell while it spends 167 billion on Trident nuclear weapons of mass destruction, and close to 7 billion on the HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carriers as the supposed embodiment of Britain in steel and spirit.

Savage austerity and the drive to war, which is already threatening conflict with nuclear powers such as Russia and China, is incompatible with democracy. It means repression and fascistic reaction.

That is why Donald Trump sits in the White House giving his blessing and protection to the Nazi and KKK murderers who killed a peaceful protester at Charlottesville after taking over the town under police protection and staging torchlight processions, chanting Blood and Soil! and Jews will not replace us!

After the horrors of the Second World War, the worlds people demanded Never Again! But it is happening again. Right-wing nationalist reaction is being encouraged everywherehere in Britain and in Europenot just in America.

It must not be allowed to happen again.

But the warmongering Democrats in the US will not prevent it and neither will the Labour Party in the UK, whoever leads it. These are the struggles the working classall of us, Black, White, Asian, whatevermust unite our forces to fightagainst austerity, racism, fascism, militarism and war and for socialist internationalism.

Grenfell is a turning point in the political development of the working class in Britain. After decades in which not just socialism but even references to class were systematically marginalised, millions are realising that they are the life and death questions that must be made the basis of political life.

As we wrote:

Grenfell has exposed the absurdities of politics based on race, gender and sexual orientation. In the universal reaction of sympathy and solidarity the fire has engendered and the hatred expressed towards the guilty, we see the reassertion of class as the fundamental division in society.

The betrayals by the old parties and trade unions, mass unemployment, wage cuts and social vandalism, ever escalating wars, all feed into the deep sense of anger unleashed in response to Grenfell.

But there is an answer to these betrayals, one that is found in the genuinely socialist tendency that never betrayedthe Socialist Equality Party and our world movement, the International Committee of the Fourth International.

This is the party of Marx and Engels, of Lenin and Trotskythose who made the Russian revolution in 1917one hundred years agoand who then fought against its betrayal by Stalinism.

The SEP urges all survivors, local residents and workers everywhere to place no confidence in Mays rotten whitewash of an inquiry, or in Labours attempt to make it more palatable. They must rely on themselves alone, on their social power.

Appeals to the ruling elite for piecemeal reforms are futile. There can be no answer to the vast social catastrophe exposed by Grenfell other than a political offensive to end the domination of the super-rich and its political parties over society.

Workers must demand that all those guilty of social murder at Grenfell in both political and business circles are arrested, charged and put on trial.

That includes Boris Johnson, May and her predecessors, Cameron, Gordon Brown and the arch war-criminal Tony Blair, as well as the heads of the Kensington and Chelsea Council, its TMO, Rydon and Harley Facades.

Hundreds of billions of pounds must be allocated to strip the cladding from tower blocks, install sprinkler systems and make them safe and secure as part of a massive programme of public works paid for by seizing the assets of the super-rich and taking control of the major banks and corporations.

Londons Ghost homes must be requisitioned to properly house those made homeless as part of a broader socialist programme of demands to meet the essential needs of working people for safe and secure housing, decent jobs, education and health care.

But for that to happen means building a movement to make it happen, a new party of the working class. This is what the Socialist Equality Party stands for. It is time to join and build it.
The same German politicians and media outlets that issued hypocritical criticisms of President Donald Trumps response to the fascist rampage in Charlottesville are now fully behind his escalation of the war in Afghanistan.

Immediately after the US president proclaimed in a militarist speech Monday evening at the Fort Myer military base in Arlington, Virginia, that the number of troops in Afghanistan would be increased and the so-called war on terror massively expanded, the German government gave its firm backing to the decision.

During a visit to soldiers at a base in Eckernforde, Defence Minister Ursula Von der Leyen (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) declared on Tuesday, We welcome the US decision to consolidate its deployment and engagement in Afghanistan. It was to be welcomed that decisions about which steps to take next will be conditions-dependent, rather than being dependent upon domestic electoral calendars.

Von der Leyen did not exclude sending additional German troops. Responding to a journalists question, she noted that Germany was the second-largest troop contributor after the United States and that it had special responsibility for the north of Afghanistan.

However, she continued, last year, as other military forces were reduced, the German army increased its force by 18 percent. The view was therefore that Germany is not now in the first rank of those who are being asked for additional troops.

The Social Democratic Party (SPD)-led foreign ministry also backed Trumps decision. It is good that the US will continue its substantial engagement in Afghanistan. Despite strenuous efforts by the international community, the preconditions for an Afghanistan without international support have yet to be achieved, stated a spokesperson for the foreign ministry.

Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel (SPD) stated, It is now important for the Americans to discuss with us Europeans how we can jointly ensure that the country becomes more peaceful and secure, and people from Afghanistan no longer need to flee here. We expect Washington to consult closely with Europeans on its actions. Further migration does not only destabilise Afghanistan, but also Europe.

Trumps offensive was also welcomed by the media. It is right that Trump, on the insistence of his military advisers, has now decided to deploy several thousand more soldiers to Afghanistan to stabilise the situation, and give the Afghan government and armed forces more time to work towards a political solution of the conflict, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) commented.

However, this was merely an initial acknowledgement that the withdrawal of international troops took place too soon and was oriented towards the American electoral calendar rather than conditions on the ground.

FAZ author Friederike Boge expressed disappointment that Trumps change of course did not come sooner. Over recent months, the lack of an American strategy and clear engagement in Afghanistan worsened the situation still further. This encouraged the Taliban and led to countries like Russia and Iran becoming increasingly active to fill the vacuum that emerged, she wrote. With Trumps announcement of an increase in troop levels, this downward spiral will at least likely be stopped.

The Suddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) sought to prepare its readers for new combat operations and higher levels of German troops in a lengthy article entitled The long road to peace, which reported about the activities of German Brigadier General Andre Bodemann in northern Afghanistan.

If Bodemann were to take away one lesson, it is not likely to be a popular one at home, the SZ wrote. He believes that the current upper limit of 980 German troops is at present unfortunately inadequate to advise as intensively as I would like. We have to reach the lower commanding levels, including into the battalions. But this is not possible under the German mandate, he added. An internal study by NATOs Resolute Support mission also found that significantly more advisers are necessary.

Trumps speech at Fort Myer exposed the true character of the Afghanistan war. It was a fascistic declaration of death and destruction. We will not say when we will attack. But we will attack, said the president. The murderers had to know that there was no safe haven for them; that America could target them anywhere. We are fighting to win, he added. America is no longer engaged in nation building, but is killing terrorists.

The German ruling elites response to Trumps declaration of violence comes as no surprise. The German army has not been involved in nation building in Afghanistan either, never mind fighting for democracy or human rights. In reality, German troops have fought a brutal neocolonial war of occupation alongside their American counterparts from the outset. The initial stage was the battle for Tora Bora in December 2001, in which German special commandos participated. In the north, where there is still a German presence today, the first offensive military operation under German command since World War II took place with Operation Harecate Yolo in the autumn of 2007.

But the horrific highpoint of Germanys intervention was unquestionably the attack on two petrol tankers ordered by Colonel Georg Klein, then German army commander in Kunduz, on September 4, 2009. According to official NATO figures, at least 142 people were killed or injured in the massacre of Kunduz, including many women and children. This is by far the largest number of victims to date in an operation by the Bundeswehr, Germanys army established after the Second World War, as well as by NATO troops in Afghanistan.

The crimes now being prepared behind the backs of the population were outlined by Berlin-based historian Jorg Baberowski, when he said of fighting non-state actors like the Taliban, And if one is not willing to take hostages, burn villages, hang people and spread fear and terror, as the terrorists do, if one is not prepared to do such things, then one can never win such a conflict. Then it is better to keep out altogether.

With its resort to imperialist violence, Germanys ruling elite is pursuing the same goals as it did under the Kaiser and the Nazis. A 2013 paper by the Ministry for Development on the German-Afghan dialogue on raw materials stated, In less than twenty years, Afghanistan could be one of the most significant international suppliers of strategically important raw materials (including rare earth elements, tantalum, lithium, tungsten, iron, copper, lead, zinc, etc.). The latest investigative results presented by the US Geological Survey (USGS) confirm impressively the previous assumptions and projections about the substantial deposits of raw materials.

The divisions between the imperialist powers, particularly between Germany and the US, have since sharpened dramatically. However, as long as Berlin and the European powers are incapable of plundering the resource-rich and strategically important Central Asian region without Washingtons support, they are dependent upon US military might. This is the dirty secret about the German governments alliance with Donald Trump in Afghanistan.
US government officials have begun to spell out the meaning of Trumps threat to punish Pakistan if it does not suppress Afghan insurgents operating from its border regions. These punishments include not just cuts to aid and payments for services rendered in fighting the Aghan war, but also encouraging India, Pakistans arch-rival, to play a larger role in Afghanistan, and a more pro-Indian stance on the seven-decade-old Kashmir dispute.

India has repeatedly boasted of its readiness to mount military raids inside Pakistan, even if they risk provoking all-out war between South Asias rival nuclear powers.

Rattled by Washingtons threats, Islamabad has turned to Beijing for support, further heightening tensions in a region where India and China are engaged in their most serious border stand-off since their 1962 border war, and Indian and Pakistani troops routinely exchange fatal artillery barrages across the Line of Control that separates Indian- and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.

Trump insisted that Pakistan must immediately change course and stop harboring criminals and terrorists in his Monday evening speech outlining plans for a massive US escalation of the Afghan war. Elaborating on this, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told a Tuesday press conference that Washingtons relations with Islamabad will henceforth be determined by whether it heeds US demands on the conduct of the Afghan war. Those who provide safe haven for terrorists have been put on notice, he declared, warned (and) forewarned.

Failure to comply, Tillerson suggested, would cost Islamabad financially and result in a further downgrading in relations, or worse. Asked what specific actions Washington might take against a recalcitrant Pakistan, he said, "We have some leverage thats been discussed in terms of the amount of aid and military assistance we give them; their status as a non-NATO alliance partner. All of that can be put on the table.

Although Tillerson did not mention it, senior Trump administration officials are known to have considered threatening Pakistan with designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. Such a designation would automatically entail the loss of all US financial support and scrapping of all US arms sales, and likely lead to the sanctioning of government and military officials.

Lisa Curtis, who last month was named deputy assistant to the president and senior White House director for South and Central Asia, called, in a report issued by the Heritage Foundation last February, for the terrorist state designation to be held in reserve for use beyond the Trump administrations first year.

Tillerson also indicated that the US will resume the drone strikes that have killed thousands of Pakistani civilians and terrorized the impoverished population of Pakistans Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The former Exxon CEO refused to directly answer a question at Tuesdays press conference about the drone strikes, which are a flagrant violation of international law. But in sidestepping the question, he declared, We are going to attack terrorists wherever they live.

The US military-security establishment, along with Democratic and Republican Party leaders, has long blamed the resilience of the Afghan insurgency on Pakistans reputed failure to crack down on the Taliban and its allies, especially the Haqqani Network.

The reality is that Washington and its NATO allies are waging a brutal neo-colonial war of occupation, propping up a corrupt and reviled puppet government in Kabul with night raids, drone strikes and other acts of terror.

Consequently, the Taliban, notwithstanding its reactionary Islamist ideology, is able to draw on widespread popular support. Pentagon officials themselves concede that, despite the US spending close to a trillion dollars, losing more than 2,400 troops, and raining death on one of the worlds most impoverished countries for the past 16 years, the Taliban insurgency is the strongest it has been since American forces invaded the country in October 2001.

Mentioned only in passing by Tillerson on Tuesday was the other element in Washingtons double-pronged threat to Pakistan: Trumps call for India to become more involved in Afghanistan, especially in the provision of economic assistance.

India lost no time in welcoming Trumps new Afghan war strategy, which includes among its core elements removing all restraints on US commanders targeting civilian areas and otherwise using the US war machine as they see fit.

We welcome President Trumps determination to enhance efforts to overcome the challenges facing Afghanistan and confronting issues of safe havens and other forms of cross-border support enjoyed by terrorists, said an Indian External Affairs Ministry statement.

Indias corporate media has lauded Trumps endorsement of India in his Afghan speech as a key security and economic partner of US imperialism. In an op-ed column titled, Donald Trumps Afghanistan policy presents India a chance to increase sphere of influence in South Asia, Firstpost senior editor Sreemoy Talukdar termed Trumps Afghan policy a loud endorsementone that has huge implications for India in South Asia, where it jostles for influence with a mercantile China.

To the dismay of Pakistans ruling elite, New Delhi has supplanted Islamabad over the past dozen years as American imperialisms principal regional ally. With the aim of building up India as a counter-weight to China, Washington has showered India with strategic favours,

Under Narendra Modi and his three year-old Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, the Indo-US strategic alliance has undergone a qualitative transformation. India has parroted Washingtons provocative stances on the South China Sea and North Korea disputes, dramatically increased its military-strategic cooperation with Americas principal Asia-Pacific allies, Japan and Australia, and thrown open its ports and bases to routine use by US warships and fighter jets.

The US establishment, be it National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster and the rest of Trumps cabal of generals, or the liberals of the New York Times, accuse Islamabad of playing a double gamethat is, of fighting the Pakistan Taliban and providing logistical support to the US war in Afghanistan, while surreptitiously protecting the Haqqani Network and other elements of the Taliban with close ties to Pakistans intelligence agencies.

This is truly a case of the pot calling the kettle black. It was the CIA that instructed the Pakistani ISI in the use of Islamist militia as proxy forces. At Americas behest, Islamabad helped organize and train the Mujihadeen who were used to draw the Soviet Union into the Afghan civil war, then to bleed it militarily for the next decade.

Moreover, the US has repeatedly employed Islamist militia and terror groups, including in regime-change operations in Libya and Syria. And it has done so while cynically claiming they are the target of the war on terror that successive US administrations have invoked as the pretext for military interventions in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia and for sweeping attacks on democratic rights at home.

Pakistans maintenance of ties with sections of the Taliban is bound up with its strategic aim of securing a major say in any political settlement of the Afghan war and its mounting anxiety over the global Indo-US strategic alliance.

For years, Islamabad has been warning Washington that its strategic embrace of India is fueling an arms and nuclear arms race in South Asia and encouraging Indian belligerence. But these warnings have been curtly dismissed. At most, Washington would agree to somewhat curb Indias ambitions in Afghanistan. Now even that is being set aside.

As the US has downgraded its relations with Pakistan, Islamabad has increasingly turned to its all-weather friend, China, to offset Indian pressure. Beijing, for its part, long sought to woo New Delhi with offers of investment, including a leading role in its One Belt-One Road Eurasian infrastructure-building scheme. But with India under Modi emerging as a frontline state in Washingtons military-strategic offensive against China, Beijings stance has changed markedly.

Over the past two months, Chinese government officials and the state-owned media have repeatedly threatened India with a border war unless it withdraws its troops from a remote Himalayan ridge, long under Beijings control but also claimed by Bhutan.

Underscoring the extent to which the US drive to harness India to its war drive against China has drawn South Asia into the maelstrom of great power conflict and is polarizing the region along India-US versus China-Pakistan lines, Beijing has given Islamabad a strong show of support in the wake of Trumps Afghan war speech.

First, a Chinese Foreign Ministry representative came to Pakistans defence, saying the country had made great sacrifices and important contributions to the fight against terrorism. Then, top Chinese officials agreed to maintain the momentum of high level military-security and economic cooperation, in meetings with the Pakistani foreign secretary who was already in Beijing on a scheduled three-day visit. This is to include Beijing and Islamabad enhancing policy coordination in the emerging global and regional situation and pressing forward with the development of the $50 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Russia has also made clear its opposition to Washingtons plans to intensify the Afghan War and bully Pakistan. Russias presidential envoy to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, said Tuesday, Putting pressure [on Pakistan] may seriously destabilize the region-wide security situation and result in negative consequences for Afghanistan.

Traditionally, Russia has enjoyed very close relations with India. But New Delhis alignment with Washington is placing the Indo-Russian strategic partnership under severe strain.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued an explicit warning last weekend to the thousands of mainly Haitian refugees who are fleeing across the US-Canada border to escape the Trump administrations brutal crackdown on immigrants.

Speaking in Montreal, the Prime Minister openly discouraged Haitian refugees from cross the border. "Entering Canada irregularly is not an advantage he said. "There are rigorous immigration and customs rules that will be followed. Make no mistake."

Trudeaus hardline stance towards refugees fleeing the US is bound up with his governments determination to maintain and deepen Ottawas close economic and military-security partnership with Washington at all costs. It also further exposes the Trudeau governments phony refugee-friendly propaganda, which it has used to give a progressive cover to its right-wing policies of vast hikes in military spending, the maintenance of low corporate tax rates, and the privatization of public infrastructure.

Transport Minister Marc Garneau said that Canadian consulates in the US were being mobilized to discourage different groups that might be considering coming to Canada by explaining to them the strict criteria needed to be accepted as a refugee. Garneau also gave an interview to the Miami Herald last Sunday to warn members of the Haitian diaspora living in Florida of the risk of being deported once in Canada.

In the first two weeks of August alone, more than 3,800 asylum seekers walked over the border to Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Quebec. This is in addition to the almost 3,000 who crossed in July, which itself represented a four-fold increase compared to the month of June.

More than 1,000 people are currently crammed into military tents on the border, waiting for Canadian authorities to verify their identity. Hundreds more have been housed in the Olympic Stadium in Montreal as well as a former convent and the old Royal Victoria hospital. Other centers have since been opened on the north and south shore of Montreal and a temporary shelter was set up in Cornwall, Ontario.

The most recent influx of refugees has been triggered by the Trump administrations announcement that it will end the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) granted to Haitians following the 2010 earthquake on the astonishing pretext that Haiti is now considered a safe country. The more than 50,000 Haitians living in the US now fear they will be caught in Trumps Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, jailed in privately-run prison facilities, and then deported to conditions of poverty and misery in Haiti.

The flow of migrants coming to Canada is not restricted to Haitians, however. Since the inauguration of Trump last January, thousands of refugees of Middle Eastern, African and South American origins have fled the US for fear of persecution and deportation.

According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) more than 10,000 asylum seekers have been intercepted in the last eight months after crossing the border irregularly in Quebec alone.

If refugee claimants are forced to enter Canada irregularly it is because the Liberal government continues to enforce the Canada-US Safe Third Country agreement, under which refugees who make an asylum application at a regular border crossing are automatically turned back to the United States. Migrants have a chance to apply for asylum only if they cross the border outside an official checkpoint, either via backroads or by crossing ditches, at considerable risk.

The refusal to abandon the agreement is bound up with the Trudeau governments determination to deepen Ottawas working relationship with the Trump administration by stepping up the Canada-US military partnership and enhancing North American economic protectionism through the reshaping of the North America Free Trade Agreement.

The Liberals contempt for Haitian refugees is also demonstrated by the conditions in which they are kept. Customs and Immigration Union president Jean-Pierre Fortin said there were about 300 asylum seekers sleeping on an offloading wharf last week and that another 150 to 200 people were sleeping inside in extremely harsh conditions. The Red Cross also said that it was treating around 40 medical cases each day as there is no doctor on the spot.

While Haitians are desperately seeking protection in Canada, most of them are unaware that Canada canceled its own temporary residency program for Haitians little more than four years after the 2010 earthquake, which claimed over 200,000 lives and displaced half a million people. At the time, news reports estimated that approximately 3,200 Haitian nationals were to be deported from Canada as a result of the program ending.

The program was fully ended in August 2016 under Trudeaus watch. Immigration experts say that many of the refugee claimants have since been sent back to Haiti. In fact, the government itself boasted that about half of Haitians seeking refugee status in Canada have been denied in the last couple of years.

The suggestion that Haiti is safe is an absurd lie. Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas and one of the poorest countries in the world. The unemployment rate is at least 30 percent and more than half the population live in poverty. The country has not yet recovered from recent natural disasters, including Hurricane Matthew last year, which destroyed 32 percent of Haitis wealth and exacerbated social problems.

Although Trudeau has made clear that his government intends to crack down on migrants crossing the border irregularly and deport them after their refugee applications have been rejected, Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel put the blame for the flow of refugees on the irresponsible tweets Trudeau made in January, when he declared that Canada welcomes those feeling persecution, terror and war.

She added that the Liberals had to allocate more resources to speed up the processing of refugee claims, which means accelerating the deportation process. Rempel even claimed that No one is fleeing persecution from the United States of America.

In Quebec, the head of the pro-independence Parti Quebecois, Jean-Francois Lisee, made similar comments saying Haitians are not at risk of poverty or repression in either the US or Haiti.

The head of the right-wing populist Coalition Avenir Quebec said that the province has already reach its maximum integration capacity and called on the provincial government to prevent new refugees from entering the province.

Quebec Liberal Premier Philippe Couillard said that there exists no guarantee that refugee claims will be accepted, considering the strict rules that govern them."

Earlier this month, Couillard insisted he was determined to process asylum applications as quickly as possible because the basic necessities provided to refugees such as healthcare were too expensive. This from a government which recently announced billions in tax cuts for businesses.

The hardline attitude from all sections of Canadas ruling elite towards those fleeing persecution has encouraged the most reactionary political forces to rear their ugly heads.

A protest against so-called illegal immigration was organized in Quebec City last Sunday by an extreme right-wing, anti-immigrant group called La Meute (the wolf pack). Taking place only days after the neo-Nazi rampage in Charlottesville, Virginia, the protest in Quebec was a direct response to the ongoing influx of refugee claimants.

Another anti-immigrant demonstration was called in Vancouver on Saturday but it never materialized because it was countered by thousands of anti-racist protesters, far outnumbering the right-wing extremists.

The ultra-nationalist, anti-immigrant movement in Quebec, including groups like La Meute, has not emerged out of the blue. Under conditions where the ruling class across Canada is imposing anti-immigrant policies to divide the working class, such reactionary and racist elements feel increasingly free to express themselves.

The sovereigntist movement led by the PQ and the union bureaucracy has played a key role in injecting chauvinist poison into public debate and inciting racist, anti-Muslim sentiments. Significantly, the Journal de Montreal, which is owned by media mogul and former PQ leader Pierre-Karl Peladeau, ran a series of commentaries condemning the left-wing violence during last weekends protest while presenting La Meute in a favorable light.
Fifty-six years ago, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered a farewell address in which he warned about the threat to democracy in the United States posed by the growing convergence between military and corporate power.

The outgoing president cautioned against the expanding and total influenceeconomic, political, even spiritualin every city, every statehouse, every office of the federal government of the military-industrial complex.

Eisenhower, himself a five-star general and commander of allied expeditionary forces in the Second World War, had firsthand knowledge of the operations of the military. But even at the height of the Cold War, the influence of the military over political life paled in comparison to what exists today. With each passing month, the military consolidates more power over civilian authority, while democratic forms of rule are increasingly hollowed out and rendered meaningless.

This was exemplified by Trumps speech Monday announcing an open-ended expansion of the US war in Afghanistan. The setting itself was significant. Trump spoke at Fort Meyer Army Base in Virginia to an audience of troops decked out in combat fatigues. He made clear that the military leadership, without any civilian oversight or the fig-leaf of Congressional authorization, would determine how many additional troops would be sent to fight in Afghanistan, and how long they would stay there.

Over the past week, the Army and Marine officials in Trumps cabinetretired Gen. John Kelly, retired Gen. James Mattis and active duty Gen. H.R. McMasterhave used the crisis surrounding Trumps endorsement of the neo-fascist rampage in Charlottesville, Virginia to strengthen the grip of the military over the government.

But these developments, which in any genuinely democratic society would be treated with profound apprehension, have been welcomed by the opposition Democratic Party and its media mouthpieces.

On Wednesday, the Washington Post ran a lead article, Military leaders consolidate power in Trump administration, which noted that Trumps elevation of a cadre of current and retired generals is a striking departure for a country that for generations has positioned civilian leaders above and apart from the military.

The Post, owned by billionaire Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and speaking for a substantial section of the US political establishment, presents the growing power of the military in the Trump administration as a positive development. It calls the generals voices for moderation, and presents them as moral authorities working to guide Trump away from moves that they fear could have catastrophic consequences.

It cites uncritically a member of a leading conservative think tank who declares, The only chance we have of trying to keep this thing from blowing apart is some military discipline Its not military rule or a military coup.

Along the same lines, Wednesdays New York Times carried a column by Roger Cohen declaring that the generals are acting as the adults in the room, serving to tether Trump and curtail his wilder instincts. The military, Cohen writes, provides something Trump will never have: a center of gravity.

These pronouncements by the Post and the Times represent the consensus view of the ruling elite, and most particularly that of the Democratic Party, which has opposed Trump almost entirely on issues of foreign policy, criticizing his insufficient deference to the military and intelligence apparatus and his unwillingness to carry out a military escalation against Russia.

McMaster, Kelly and Mattis are standouts of dependability in the face of rash and impulsive conduct on the part of Trump, Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal told the Post. There certainly has been a feeling among many of my colleagues that they are a steadying hand on the rudder.

Another example of the convergence between the press and the military/intelligence establishment is an op-ed published Wednesday by Thomas Friedman, the New York Times  chief foreign policy columnist. Friedman boasts of having spent eight days traveling with the Air Force to all of its key forward bases in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, including a trip to a strike cell carrying out airstrikes in Iraq.

Friedman describes US air strikes in an urban area with undisguised enthusiasm. Quickly, the smoke cleared and the 30-foot-wide building was smoldering rubblebut the two buildings to the sides were totally intact, so any civilians inside should be unhurt, exults the Times columnist, without pondering the fate of any civilians who were in the building that was vaporized.

This is the war in Iraq today in a nutshell, he writes, suggesting that the American military as a true liberator focuses its energies on preventing civilian casualties. This criminal lie is, of course, contradicted by the reality of millions killed, wounded and uprooted by more than a quarter century of US wars in Iraq and surrounding countries in the oil-rich Middle East, including the recent leveling of Mosul. Unfortunately for Friedman and the Times, this panegyric to the moral purity of the American military appeared two days after a US air strike in Syria killed more than 40 civilians.

Friedmans whitewashing of the homicidal activities of the US Air Force exemplifies the role of the press, led by the New York Times and Washington Post, as shameless cheerleaders for US military intervention, together with the major TV networks, which routinely present retired military officials as authorities on all questions of policy.

The prostitution of the press to the military is just one expression of the massive political influence of the US armed forces. The United States spends more on its military than the next 10 countries combined, and military spending soaks up more than half of discretionary spending by the federal government. There are some two million active and reserve military personnel, and millions more employed either directly or indirectly by the intelligence agencies.

Local and state police across the country are being ever more tightly integrated with the military, in what Defense Department strategists call the total army, consisting of the military, police and intelligence forces. Police departments are being outfitted with military hardware and trained for urban warfare.

This total army has at its disposal the massive surveillance capabilities of the US intelligence apparatus, which can spy on nearly every phone call, text message or email all over the world.

The growth of the power of the military has been accompanied by its integration into the financial oligarchy, with hundreds of leading military figures receiving seven-figure incomes in the revolving door between the Pentagon, Wall Street and the defense industry.

The increasing power of the military over political life in the United States and its merging with the corporate/financial elite are the product of the protracted decay of American capitalism. A quarter century of unending war and decades of soaring social inequality have thoroughly eroded the social foundations of democratic forms of rule. Beyond the oligarchy itself, a privileged layer of the upper-middle class that forms the broader base of the Democratic Party has accrued significant wealth through the meteoric rise of stock prices, itself fueled by the destruction of working class living standards and imperialist aggression overseas.

Americas financial elite, increasingly unable to reconcile its domination of social life with democratic forms of government, feels that the ultimate backstop to its rule is military force. Despite the assurances of the Post, what is emerging is in fact direct rule by the military, allied with Wall Street and the CIA, with the civilian government functioning as a mere facade.
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Latin America

Chilean educators hold 24-hour strike over new education law, unpaid bonuses

Following an August 4 assembly vote, Chiles Professional Association of Professors called a nationwide strike for August 17 to protest a projected law of New Public Education (NEP) and to demand the payment of overdue pay and bonuses. In Santiago and other cities, teachers also marched and demonstrated.

The first Historic Debt dates to 1981during the Pinochet dictatorshipwhen public schools were transferred to municipalities and a readjustment of salaries of between 50 and 90 percent of teachers base salary was rescinded. Not only do many municipalities now owe debts to teachers, but the city of Punto Arenas for several days suspended classes for nonpayment of lights and gas, which impeded the functioning of the schools, noted a communique. In addition, teachers protested harassment on the job.

The union also called for a march to Congress building in Santiago for August 23.

Guyanese school janitorial workers repeat protests against low pay, abuses

School janitorial workerscalled sweeper-cleanersin Guyana have held recent protests over low pay, inconsistent work schedules and abuses by administration. On August 8, 9 and 10, they demonstrated, respectively, in front of the Ministries of the Presidency, Finance and Education in the capital, Georgetown.

The sweeper-cleaners gathered at the Education Ministry of Education on August 17 and once again protested their low pay and the two weeks delay in their pay. Some complained that they were not given advance notice in cuts in their hours and their unfair treatment, but declared their resolve to seek redress and continue their protests.

Uruguayan labor federation calls for partial strike against essentiality decree

On August 18, Uruguays PIT-CNT labor federation issued a partial strike call for August 23 to protest a decree issued by the Executive branch.

The August 9 decree declared ASSE services essential, making occupations at ASSE facilities illegal. It followed occupations by members of the Public Health Functionaries Federation (FFSP) organized to protest against changes to accountability reporting required to obtain a salary raise. The FFSP has resolved to strike the entire day.

Argentine educational assistants strike over salaries, taxes

Some 30 out of 126 kindergartens, primary and secondary schools in Comodoro Rivadavia, southern Argentina were closed last week due to an educational assistants strike that began August 14. The workers are demanding that provincial government classify them as having permanent status, since they work for the state, but are taxed as monotributistas, i.e., independent or self-employed workers.

The workers are also calling for parity talks over salary equalization. Meetings between the Education Ministry and the State Workers Association (ATE) have been ongoing, but government representatives have offered nothing concrete, only promises.

In an assembly August 18, workers voted to continue the strike and to hold a mobilization on Wednesday in the plaza of School 83, the oldest in Comodoro Rivadavia.

Argentine vegetable oil workers strike over safety issues following death of coworker

Workers at a soybean crushing plant in Timbues, about 30 km (19 mi.) north of the city of Rosario, Argentina stopped work on August 18 after a worker was killed and at least two others injured in an accident that morning. The contract worker, Brian Montero, was crushed by a beam that collapsed during remodeling work on the plant, which is owned and operated by the vegetable oil processing firm Renova.

Workers at other oil processing plants, members of the Rosario Vegetable Oil Workers Syndicate (SOEAR), joined in the walkout, paralyzing activities at ports in southern Santa Fe province.

Processing and shipping of plant-derived oils and biodiesel fuel are sources of tremendous revenue for Argentine agribusiness. Workers accuse the firms of ignoring safety concerns in their drive for profit. According to SOEAR, a Work Risk Law passed in February has actually worked to the detriment of the workers.

Moreover, Monteros death occurred in the midst of ongoing pressure by Argentine employer organizations for more labor reforms to flexibilize agreements, inspired by the de facto government of Temer in Brazil, that will only generalize the labor instability and deterioration of labor conditions in our country, declared a communique by the National Vegetable Oil Workers Federation.

Jamaican tanker drivers strike over delays in talks, representation poll

Petroleum tanker truck drivers for Petrojam parked their vehicles in front of the firms oil refinery in Kingston, Jamaica August 15 in a protest over negotiation talks as well as to demand a representation rights poll. Most of the drivers want the Petroleum Tanker Drivers Association to represent them.

The truckers are currently represented by the National Workers Union, which they say has not been representing their interests. They tried unsuccessfully to get a poll held for three years, with no result. Drivers also oppose the lack of health care coverage. Nonetheless, the truckers decided to return to work the next day following two meetings with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.

The United States

Workers strike Missouri manufacturer over wages and benefits

Manufacturing workers at the Reyco Granning Suspension plant in Mount Vernon, Missouri went on strike August 14 to protest company offers on wages, insurance and vacation. Teamsters Local 245, which represents the 83 workers, has been in negotiations with the company since June. Workers twice rejected separate contract proposals before finally going on strike.

Reyco offered a two-year contract with wage increases of 2-3 percent in the first year and 2.8 percent in the second. But a looming 30 percent increase in health insurance has raised concerns among workers.

Reyco president, John Stuart, said the company will continue to operate the plant using various options, and that there is work available for employees who desire to work and who are willing to cross the picket line.

Two-hour strike at New Jersey clothing warehouses

Some 200 workers struck for two hours August 9 in an unfair labor practices strike at the Freeze warehouse in Dayton, New Jersey. The workers have been seeking a living wage for years and last December contacted the Service Employees International Union.

The limited strike was in response to a letter from management threatening to replace workers should they go out on an unlimited strike. Freeze designs, manufactures, and distributes clothing and holds contracts with companies such as WWE, Nintendo, Amazon, Macys, and Burlington Coat Factory.

The company pays an average $9.37 an hour to the mostly female workforce, comprised of immigrants from India and Central America. Northern New Jersey, where Freeze operates, is comprised of hundreds of distribution warehouses with access to major ports and airports while employing tens of thousands of workers.

Canada

B.C. casino workers to strike for first contract

Over 1,100 workers at River Rock Casino in Richmond south of Vancouver British Columbia, the largest B.C. casino, could be on strike if mediated talks fail to produce a first contract this week.

Dealers, cashiers and other workers voted nearly unanimously in favor of strike action earlier this month after their union, the B.C. Government and Service Employees Union (BCGEU/NUPGE) was unable to win a contract after over a year of negotiations with the employer, Great Canadian Gaming Corporation.

In May BCGEU put forward a proposal for a modest wage increase, but the company replied with a plan for a wage rollback in July. The union has warned that a strike could cost millions in lost revenue.
At least 41 civilians were killed early Wednesday morning when missiles fired by a Saudi-led coalition jet fighter slammed into a motel on the northern outskirts of Yemens capital, Sanaa. The official death toll is expected to rise as more bodies are pulled from the rubble.

Reports indicate that approximately 100 farmers were sleeping in the two-story building in Arhab at the time that it was blown up. Journalist Saad Abedine reported on Twitter that the motel was located near a Houthi camp, and reports indicate that Houthi rebels were also among those killed by the airstrike.

The head of the nearby Umrah hospital, Fahd Marhab, told reporters that his facility had not received any wounded, as everyone in the building had been killed in the attack. Pictures of the massacre posted on social media show corpses sandwiched between collapsed slabs of concrete.

The attack was just one of dozens of airstrikes that hit in and around Sanaa early Wednesday, claiming more than 100 lives.

It is probably the biggest massacre Yemen has witnessed by the Saudi-led coalition, journalist Hakim Al Masmari told Al Jazeera. The air strike targeted a motel late early this morning. It was part of at least 25 air strikes that targeted Sanaa and the outskirts of the city since midnight. The air strikes attacked every part of Sanaa. It was a deadly night.

Saudi Arabia and its allies, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), have been waging an unrelenting war from the air and on the ground in an effort to push back the Houthi rebels and forces loyal to former dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The war that began in 2015 with the backing of then-US President Barack Obama is being ramped up under President Donald Trump, who traveled to Saudi Arabia in May and signed a $110 billion weapons deal, greenlighting a dramatic escalation in the onslaught.

The effort to dominate Yemen is seen by military planners in Washington as crucial to curbing Iranian influence in the region and for setting the stage for a possible war against Tehran. Without providing any hard evidence, officials in both the Obama and Trump administrations have routinely accused the Houthis of being proxies for Iran.

The number of airstrikes in the first half of this year has already far exceeded the number recorded in all of 2016, according to a report released by the Protection Cluster in Yemen, a group of humanitarian organizations headed by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. There were 5,767 airstrikes between January and the end of June, compared to 3,936 in all of 2016.

Now in its third year, the offensive, which is fully backed by the US, has killed more than 10,000 civilians, displaced millions from their homes, sparked a deadly cholera outbreak that has infected more than half a million and pushed millions to the brink of famine. A no-fly zone and naval blockade have been established by Saudi Arabia with the support of the US, cutting the country off from critical food and medical imports.

Residential areas, hospitals, schools, markets, cranes used to unload ships and funeral halls have all been targeted for airstrikes made possible by refueling flights and targeting information provided by the US military. US military and intelligence forces have also reportedly been working with the UAE to interrogate detainees at a series of torture chambers in Yemen and on ships off the coast.

Despite the brutal onslaught, the contentious alliance between the Houthis and Saleh, who once waged a war against the Shiite minority, has maintained control over much of the north, including Sanaa, since an uprising in early 2015 forced President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi to flee for Riyadh.

The Saudis ostensible goal has been to return Hadi to power as a puppet in the country on the southern edge of the Arabian Peninsula that borders the Strait of Bab el Mandeb, a strategic waterway connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden through which much of the worlds oil supply flows. A ground invasion led by the UAE managed to wrest significant portions of the south from the Houthis, including the port city of Aden, but has largely stalled in the face of stiff resistance.

The bloody attack came the same day that General Joseph Votel, the head of US Central Command, made a visit to the Saudi-Yemen border to assess the state of the Saudi-led war. The US has been waging a war in the deeply impoverished country against Sunni militants belonging to Al Qaeda in the Arabia Peninsula (AQAP) since at least 2011. Votel is responsible for directing US wars and military operations across the Middle East and Central Asia, including in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan as well as Yemen.

While journalists were not allowed to accompany Votel on his trek, US Central Command spokesman Air Force Col. John Thomas assured reporters that the general never crossed into Yemeni territory. According to Thomas, Votel was there to tour a military command center, review Saudi troops and develop a better understanding of the Saudi challenges with security at the border.

Trump authorized the military to wage a much more aggressive campaign against AQAP soon after he took office in January, leading to a marked increase in the number of drone strikes and Special Forces raids in the first few months of this year. According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, as many as one third of those killed by US drone strikes and raids so far this year have been civilians.
A 13-year-old boy was among three people arrested when Colorado authorities pulled over a car they say was hauling 25 pounds of meth.

The Western Colorado Drug Task Force said Wednesday they seized the meth during a traffic stop on Interstate 70 in Mesa County.

Read: Cops Find Over $500,000 Worth of Meth Stashed Inside Fire Extinguishers

Cops say the young teen was behind the wheel of the Dodge Avenger when it was stopped in Fruita.

The two passengers have been identified as the boy's cousins, 22-year-old German Michel-Arreola and 19-year-old Irene Michel-Arreola.

The group reportedly gave authorities permission to search the vehicle, and officers reportedly found 23 packages containing a crystalline substance consistent with methamphetamine.

All three suspects are now facing felony drug charges, including distribution/manufacturing/possession with intent of meth, heroin, ketamine, cathinone.

The 13-year-old driver is facing additional charges of failing to drive in a designated lane, and driving without a valid drivers license.

All three are from the Los Angeles area, according to police.

Read: Woman Caught Smuggling Meth Burritos Worth $3,000 Across U.S.-Mexico Border: Authorities

"Goods travel through I-70 from across the country, and that's no different with drugs," Megan Terlecky of the Mesa County Sheriff's Office told reporters. "And so, the Western Colorado Drug Task Force, they do a very good job of trying to track movement of drugs and make stops and seize it when they have an opportunity to do so."

The teenager is being held at the Grand Junction Youth Services Center. His cousins are in the Mesa County Detention Facility.

Watch: 4 Charged With Neglect In Connection With 9-Year-Old Who Starved to Death: Cops

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A payout that increases.

The appeal of dividend investing is clear. Instead of banking on a stock that sees impressive short-term improvement in its profits or sales based on a passing trend, investors in dividend stocks can rely on regular payouts from the company each quarter. While getting a guaranteed stream of income via quarterly payouts is good, what's even better is to invest in a company that pays you more and more with each passing year. That's the power of dividend growth. Not only are you getting a stable return on your initial investment, but your payouts continue to increase. Here are seven dividend growth plays to consider.

Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG)

No dividend list would be complete without consumer products king Procter & Gamble. P&G stock yields about 3 percent at present, and has increased its payouts for a simply amazing 60 consecutive years. With a wide product portfolio that includes Pampers diapers, Tide laundry detergent, Charmin toilet paper and a host of other big brands, you can be sure this stock will have stable revenue (and reliable dividends) for many years to come. And with payouts at just two-thirds of earnings, that growth has a good chance of continuing as the company prospers.

Lowe's Cos. (LOW)

Retail is a rough business these days, and many dividend stocks in the sector are in danger of cutting payouts -- not raising them. But home improvement retail is one bright subgroup within the broader industry that continues to do well thanks to a strong housing market and the dominance of just a few names. Lowe's is one of those companies, and as it has seen strong financial performance lately, it has also seen strong dividend growth. LOW was paying just 8.5 cents quarterly at the beginning of 2009 amid the Great Recession; however, it now pays 41 cents quarterly after a dividend boost this summer -- with more than 50 consecutive years of increases.

Cisco Systems (CSCO)

When investors look for reliable dividend stocks, often they overlook the tech sector. That's a big mistake, as evidenced by Cisco. Not only does the IT giant currently yield 3.8 percent, but it has steadily increased quarterly dividend payouts since it began paying a dividend in 2011. Thanks to another increase just a few months ago, payouts have more than quadrupled in six years from 6 cents to 29 cents in quarterly dividends. And because that payout is less than half of profits, CSCO stock has room to grow its dividend even more in the years ahead.

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Starbucks Corp. (SBUX)

Coffee queen Starbucks is another example of a recent dividend payer that has done a great job of committing increasingly more money to shareholder payback. It debuted a dividend of 5 cents in 2010, and in seven short years the payout is already five times that at 25 cents, and ripe for yet another bump soon. While the headline yield of the dividend isn't tremendous at just 1.9 percent, the company also has married strong dividend growth with strong long-term share performance. SBUX is up 125 percent in the last five years versus just 70 percent or so for the Standard & Poor's 500 index.

Hormel Foods Corp. (HRL)

Meats mega brand Hormel is as stable a stock as they come. Its consumer staples focus provides a steady revenue stream, and more than 50 straight years of dividend increases show its income power is reliable, too. But don't think this is one of those stocks increasing payouts modestly; adjusted for two 2-for-1 splits, payouts have increased more than 350 percent in the last 10 years. Hormel continues to grow and dominate the processed meat space, as evidenced by its 2015 acquisition of organic foods giant Applegate and its more recent buyout bid for food service company Fontanini Italian Meats & Sausages. That will help ensure continued success -- and dividends.

CVS Health Corp. (CVS)

While prescription drug retail and pharmacy benefits management aren't high margin businesses, they are a lucrative and steadily growing segment of the economy. That means as one of the few big guys in the space, CVS has a main line into reliable revenue to feed strong dividends. As the space has consolidated over the last decade, CVS has taken its quarterly payouts from just 6 cents a share in 2008 to 50 cents a share currently -- a whopping 733 percent in dividend growth. What's more, payouts are still roughly a third of profits so there is a lot of potential for those dividends to increase even more.

American States Water Co. (AWR)

When investors think about reliable and stable businesses, utilities are often the go-to choice. However, while there are plenty of strong energy utilities out there worth buying, it's easy to overlook the strength of a company like American States Water, which deals in water and sewer infrastructure. As water issues increasingly become a concern amid drought and shortages in the American West, you can be sure AWR is going to be even more important in the years ahead. And it has increased dividends annually for 62 years -- the longest streak of any publicly traded company.

Jeff Reeves is currently executive editor of InvestorPlace.com. He is a stock analyst and financial commentator with almost two decades of newsroom and markets experience, contributing to The Wall Street Journal network, USA Today, CNBC, TheStreet.com, Fox Business Channel and US News. Follow him on Twitter @JeffReevesIP.
By Harriet McLeod

CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) - A disgruntled employee who fatally shot one person and held another hostage on Thursday at a restaurant in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, was shot by police, the city's mayor said.

Witnesses said the gunman brandished a pistol and said "There's a new boss in town" as he entered Virginia's On King in the heart of the city's commercial district, while about 15 to 20 people were having lunch. Many of them fled.

The gunman was transported to a local hospital in critical condition and the hostage was rescued, said Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg.

"A disgruntled employee came back to his place of employment... with a gun and killed an individual in the restaurant, held another hostage for some time," Tecklenburg told reporters at the scene.

"This was not a terrorist act. This was not a hate crime. This was a tragic case of a disgruntled individual, I think with a history of some mental health challenges, who took his anger into his own hands," he said.

Local television station WCSC-TV quoted a representative of the group that owns the restaurant as saying that one shooting victim was a chef and the gunman was a former dishwasher.

Police helicopters had buzzed overhead and police SWAT team members had closed several blocks of King Street, which is home to many restaurants, bars and boutiques and is popular with residents and tourists.

Virginia's On King is an upscale restaurant serving traditional Southern comfort food.

The local Post and Courier newspaper quoted a couple, Tom and Patsy Plant, who said they were eating lunch with their daughter Laura when the gunman walked in from the kitchen, the newspaper reported.

The Plants, who said they fled with other customers through a back door, described him as a black man in his late 50s. Patsy Plant told the paper he looked like "an ordinary grandpa, but he had a crazy look."

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The restaurant is just a block and a half from the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, where on June 17, 2015, a white supremacist fatally shot nine members of a Bible study group in what officials called a racially motivated hate crime.

The church shooter, Dylann Roof, has been sentenced to death in federal court for the massacre. He pleaded guilty in April to separate state murder charges.

(Additional reporting and writing by Gina Cherelus in New York and Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago; editing by Dan Grebler)
CNN political commentator and Republican strategist Ana Navarro said there may be only one defense for President Donald Trumps attack-filled speech in Phoenix on Tuesday night.

She wrote on Twitter:

Only possible defensible explanation for Trump's disgusting, unpresidential, narcissistic behavior, would be early-on-set dementia. Maybe.  Ana Navarro (@ananavarro) August 23, 2017

Navarro broke ranks with her party last year, slamming Trump and endorsing Hillary Clinton during the campaign.

She has since remained a harsh critic, last week calling him unfit to be human for his initial response to the violence in Charlottesville earlier this month, where he blamed many sides instead of calling out white supremacists.

Trump on Tuesday defended that response, which led Navarro to tweet:

Trump making #Charlottesville all about him. Not hateful White Supremacists. Not Heather Heyer. Disgusting narcissism in midst of tragedy.  Ana Navarro (@ananavarro) August 23, 2017

Defensive 71-year-old man baby having a disrespectful tantrum over the way he was treated over #Charlottesville. Someone bring him a bottle  Ana Navarro (@ananavarro) August 23, 2017

Trump during his speech repeatedly attacked the media, at one point claiming cameras had been turned off despite the entire event being carried live by cable news.

He also strongly implied he would pardon ex-sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of criminal contempt in a racial profiling case, threatened to shut down the government over his plan to build a border wall, and verbally attacked several Republican senators.

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Language in this article and headline has been amended to clarify Navarros tweet.

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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.
By Dondi Tawatao and Manuel Mogato MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine police were knocking on doors in one of Manila's poorest neighborhoods on Wednesday to encourage people to take on-the-spot drug tests, a campaign condemned by rights groups as harassment that could endanger lives. Carrying drug testing kits, police officers accompanied by community officials were seen by Reuters going to houses asking residents if they were willing to submit urine samples. Payatas, one of the most populated sub-districts, or barangays, in the capital's Quezon City neighborhood, has been identified as a crime-prone area with a serious drug problem. Community leaders said they requested help from police, and testing was voluntary. Dozens of Payatas residents have died during President Rodrigo Duterte's ferocious 14-month-old war on drugs, which has killed thousands of Filipinos, many in what critics say are suspicious circumstances. Residents say more than 300 of the 130,000 people in Payatas are already on a drug "watch list" drawn up last year by community leaders of known addicts. Barangay watch lists are drawn up by community leaders to identify those in need of rehabilitation, but activists say some of those who appeared on them have become targets for assassination. The authorities deny the watch lists serve as hit-lists. On Wednesday, Reuters saw a small number of Payatas residents lining up to be tested but the police did not say how many were found clean or to be drug users. Community leaders did not say what will happen to people who tested positive for drug use or to those who refuse to be tested. "Our goal is to have a drug-free barangay this year," Payatas barangay secretary Marlene Ocampo told Reuters, adding the village council agreed to fund and conduct free and voluntary drug testing, which could take four to five months. "We only asked the police to help us and we are grateful," she said. "We have more than 133,000 residents." She said there were no complaints, and many residents agreed to undergo tests. "This is also good for us," said Maria Luisa Valdez, a 37-year-old food vendor. "We are clean. We don't do drugs so why would be afraid to take the test." The head of the National Union of People's Lawyers, Edre Olalia, said police were on a "fishing expedition" to draw up a list of drug users, and doubted the testing was voluntary. 'ANTI-POOR' "It is presumably illegal and unconstitutional on its face especially when it is blanket, involuntarily and arbitrary," Olalia said. "It violates the right to privacy and against self-incrimination and basic human dignity." "It is anti-poor and discriminatory," he added. Human rights groups stress that Duterte's crackdown has overwhelmingly targeted the poor, and those killed are mainly drug users or low-level pushers from families with no resources to challenge official police accounts. Quezon City police chief Guillermo Eleazar said the tests were limited to Payatas and police were only helping the community. "These tests are voluntary," Eleazar told Reuters. "We are not forcing anyone to do it, that is illegal and we will not allow it." The drugs war has once again been thrust into the spotlight after more than 90 people were killed last week during three nights of coordinated "One-Time, Big-Time" anti-crime operations. The operations stopped when news broke that a 17-year-old high school student, Kian Loyd Delos Santos, was shot dead by police in a northern suburb of Manila, sparking public anger that prompted Duterte to order the officers be detained and investigated. Police say Delos Santos was a drug courier who was armed and resisted arrest, but his family insists he had no involvement in narcotics and was murdered in cold blood. (Editing by Martin Petty and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un smiles during a visit to the Chemical Material Institute of the Academy of Defense Science - REUTERS

Kim Jong-un, the North Korean dictator, has ordered his scientists to step up production of warheads and solid fuel rocket engines for long-range ballistic missiles.

Requests in recent days from both South Korea and the United States for Pyongyang to halt its provocations and return to the discussion table appear to have fallen on deaf ears after Mr Kim was shown making his demand during a visit to the Chemical Material Institute of the Academy of Defence Sciences.

"He instructed the institute to produce more solid-fuel rocket engines and rocket warhead tips" through the use of carbon compounds, the Korean Central News Agency reported on Wednesday. Pictures show Mr Kim touring the research facility, trailed by uniformed officials assiduously scribbling in notebooks.

The displays and diagrams on the walls of the facility provided further hints about the regime's missile programmes, including the Pukguksong-2, an intermediate-range ballistic missile that is under development and was first test launched in February this year.

The nuclear-capable missile uses a solid-fuel propellant and is a significant improvement on the regime's earlier weapons, which were liquid-fuelled and took a long time to prepare for launch, making them easier to detect and counteract.

Road-mobile, the 30-foot Pukguksong-2 is believed to have a range of more than 1,200 miles.

If I understand North Korean propaganda, this is their way of telling us what we'll see in the air in the coming year.

 Jeffrey Lewis (@ArmsControlWonk) August 23, 2017

The images have caused renewed concern among experts, with Jeffrey Lewis, the US expert in nuclear and nonproliferation and geopolitics, tweeting, "Maybe we should stop underestimating them".

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George Herbert, an analyst, broke down the implications on Twitter, adding: "Today is a very bad day."

Mr Kim's latest "field guidance" is the first since August 14, when he visited the headquarters of the arm of the North Korean military that conducts missile launches.

In July, North Korea fired two Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missiles, which analysts believe have the range to reach virtually all the continental US. Questions remain, however, over whether the North's scientists have been able to achieve atmospheric re-entry for a warhead.

Most recently, North Korea threatened to launch intermediate-range missiles into waters close to the US Pacific territory of Guam, which is a major military hub.

The US and South Korea are currently conducting military exercises, which Pyongyang has declared are a rehearsal for an invasion of the North and has warned will lead to unspecified retaliation.

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As its title suggests, the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones Season 7, Beyond the Wall, places the terrifying blue-eyed Army of the Dead in the forefront of the action. The icy blue eyes of the White Walkers and wights, however, arent only the stuff of Jon Snows nightmares. They also actually serve a practical purpose: Real-world science suggests that blue eyes, common in wintry climates, give the creatures that bear them a serious advantage during the Long Night.

In 2016, research on ancient DNA samples published in Nature showed that blue eyes were prevalent among neanderthals in Europe thousands of years ago, suggesting that there is a good evolutionary reason that trait persisted.

One explanation comes by way of a blue-eyed animal that thrives in the cold and the dark. Reindeer, researchers have found, have eyes that turn from golden brown in the warmer months to deep blue in winter in order to help it see in the 24-hour darkness.

Reindeer's eyes change color in the winter to help them see better. a) reindeer eye in winter, b) reindeer eye in summer, c,d) same eyes but flattened

Examining eyeballs collected by reindeer ranchers near the Arctic Circle showed researchers that the collagen spacing in reindeer eyes vary in response to the all-day-sun of summer and the all-day-darkness of winter. Its suspected that this adaptation allows light to bounce around inside the eye more before exiting, allowing the animals eyes to absorb more light.

It would be a fantastical  and sensible  case of convergent evolution if the Army of the Dead developed blue eyes during the Long Night for similar reasons. Reindeer eyes, golden brown in the summer, turn deep blue in the winter because it ultimately translates to better, albeit less sharp night vision. The collagen spacing of their winter eyes reflects blue light, making them appear an eerie blue.

Early research, published in 2008 by University of Copenhagen scientists, had even suggested that all individuals with blue eyes descended from one common ancestor, in the same way that the Night King is the lone patriarch of all the White Walkers. The Nature papers genetic maps, however, showed that some of humankinds blue-eyed ancestors lived in modern-day Spain, even though most of them roamed the the climes of Northern Europe, which much more closely resemble the lands Beyond the Wall.

Story continues

Photos via Jeffery et al, HBO

Written by Peter Hess

More articles by Peter  Follow Peter on Twitter

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Phnom Penh (AFP) - Cambodia on Wednesday closed a prominent American NGO and ordered its foreign staff to leave the country, the latest salvo by Prime Minister Hun Sen against perceived critics before a general election next year.

The order comes a day after the strongman premier threatened the Cambodia Daily, one of the country's few remaining critical newspapers, with closure over an alleged unpaid tax bill of $6.3 million, calling them "thieves".

In a statement on Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said foreign employees of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) have seven days to leave after the group allegedly failed to formally register or pay correct taxes.

"Authorities are geared up to take the same measures against any foreign association or non-government organisation that fails to abide" by Cambodia's laws, the statement added.

In recent weeks, a string of foreign-funded organisations including the NDI have been named in Cambodia's pro-government press or by officials as facing tax or regulatory probes.

In Washington, the State Department expressed deep concern over the "the deterioration in Cambodia's democratic climate in recent weeks."

Spokeswoman Heather Nauert said "some publications are being taxed at an exorbitant rate" and urged on the government "to allow NDI, the Cambodia Daily and other independent media and civil society organisations to continue their important activities so that Cambodia's 2018 national elections can take place in a free and open environment."

Cambodia analysts say the cascade of legal cases is straight from the political playbook of Hun Sen, who has cornered opponents throughout his three-decade rule, in the run-up to elections.

Cambodians are due to go to the polls in just under a year in a poll which many expect to be a close-run affair.

Apart from the Cambodia Daily, which is owned by an American, the US-funded Radio Free Asia and Voice of America have also been legally targeted.

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All have denied wrongdoing and said they are being selected for their independent reporting.

In a statement, the Overseas Press Club of Cambodia said the Cambodia Daily "has a history of running stories that have angered the government, leading many to believe the tax department is being used to target critics" before the poll.

Two Khmer-language radio stations -- Maha Nokor and Voice of Democracy -- were also ordered to close on Wednesday by the Ministry of Information.

The NDI, which says it works to strengthen democratic institutions worldwide, has been operating in Cambodia since 1992.

In recent weeks, pro-government media have accused the organisation of helping Cambodia's opposition party to try to topple the government.

The NDI, chaired by former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

But they have previously declared themselves as "strictly non-partisan", adding they also trained many members of Hun Sen's ruling party.

To supporters Hun Sen, one of the world's longest serving leaders, has brought growth and stability to an impoverished country ravaged by decades of war.

But critics say corruption, inequality and rights abuses have also flourished.

In recent years he has grown closer to China while criticising the US, one of Cambodia's largest donors.

In 2015 the government passed a broadly-worded law regulating NGOs. Critics warned the legislation would make it much easier to shutter organisations deemed critical of the government.

Impoverished Cambodia is home to some 5,000 NGOs.
By Ethan Lou CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - The review of TransCanada Corp's proposed Energy East pipeline will consider its indirect greenhouse gas contributions, Canada's National Energy Board (NEB) regulator said on Wednesday, expanding the scope of the assessment. In determining whether the pipeline is in the public's interest, the NEB will weigh the emissions from extracting and refining the oil shipped on the pipeline, the regulator said. Energy East, which would take crude from Alberta to the Atlantic coast, would attain higher prices for Canadian producers whose landlocked product trades at a discount to the West Texas Intermediate benchmark. However, Energy East's importance has somewhat diminished for TransCanada since U.S. President Donald Trump this year signed an order reviving the company's Keystone XL pipeline, which would run from Alberta's oil sands to U.S. refineries. Considering Energy East's associated emissions makes the upcoming regulatory review for the pipeline more onerous and had been opposed by TransCanada, which had called it "completely redundant and unnecessary." The company said on Wednesday it will review the NEB's announcement to "understand the potential impacts on the project." The NEB said also the assessment of the pipeline will provide "more visibility" to the evaluation of risks associated with accidents such as oil spills. The NEB did not say when the review will begin. The Canadian Energy Pipeline Association industry lobby group said it does not support the NEBs decision to consider indirect emissions because the government already deals with them on other fronts. The environmental group Greenpeace said it is still unclear what impact the NEB's expanded scope will have on Energy East's fate. The review needs to be put on hold until the government's bid to reform the regulator is complete, Keith Stewart, Greenpeace's senior energy strategist, said in an email. The NEB has been accused of being too close to the industry, and Canada's Liberal government has said it wants a new entity to assess energy infrastructure projects by 2018. The NEB this year ordered Energy East's review to start again from the beginning, voiding all decisions from the project's previous examining panel that has been accused of bias. The panel has 21 months to complete its review. After that, the federal government has another six months to decide whether the pipeline can be built. Last year, the review stalled amid protests by environmentalists and after revelations that review panel members met privately with a TransCanada consultant. (Reporting by Ethan Lou; Editing by Chris Reese and Cynthia Osterman)
Notorious mother Casey Anthony has apparently abandoned the gravesite of her late daughter, Caylee, pictures posted by Radar Online Wednesday showed. Anthony was infamously acquitted of murdering the 2-year-old in 2011.

A cross was placed at the site where Caylees remains were found nearly a decade ago. It reads, Caylee Marie, but the foliage around the memorial is overgrown. The location of Caylees remains is not far from where Anthony lived in Orlando, Florida.

Click here to see the pictures.

Caylees memorial site is so desolate and depressing, an insider told Radar Online Wednesday. Its heartbreaking to see Caylees memory disregarded like that. The items at the memorial are either left to rot, already destroyed or covered in dirt.

Caylees abandoned grave is further proof that Anthony is a selfish person. All her life, Caseys never cared about anyone but herself, and that hasnt changed, one source said. Shes never taken any of the blame for what happened to Caylee, and shes left everyone else holding the bag for her.

The 31-year-old apparently blacked out the death of her daughter, defense attorney Cheney Mason told LawNewz in a July interview. I believe that Caseys mind, in some dimension, I guess the common word would say, snapped, Mason, who was a part of Anthonys legal team, said. She didnt go crazy by any means  but blackout, completely a blackout  of what went on and what happened.

Related:

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available on iOS and Android.

Anthony, who is also known as Tot Mom thanks to TV host Nancy Grace, apparently didnt realize her daughter was dead until her 2011 murder trial started. Casey, as we established with an expert witness at the end of the trial, grieved and comprehended differently than anyone else what happened, Mason told LawNewz. She went into what I call Casey World. She shut it out.

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In a March interview with the Associated Press, Anthony claimed she didnt know what happened to the toddler. I didn't know at the time, she said. I'm still not even certain as I stand here today sure about what happened.

She didnt start to mourn for her daughter until she listed to a grief counselor testify at her trial.

She just snapped when that testimony came out, I was sitting next to her and I dont remember whether I had my arm on her shoulder or was just holding her hand while that testimony was going on, but she started shaking and shivering and she cried, Mason said. All the time Ive known her and all the times Ive seen her, I had never seen this. It was clear to me  my personal opinion  that it was the first time she consciously was actually aware that her daughter had died.

While she might have the reputation as being the most hated mom in America, Anthony doesnt care. I dont give a shit what anyone thinks about me, I never will, she told the AP in March. Im okay with myself, I sleep pretty good at night.

Follow me on Twitter@mariamzzarella

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A Catholic priest working in Virginia has announced he would temporarily step down after revealing he was once a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

Rev. William Aitcheson admitted to burning crosses and participating in other acts during his time as a member of the hate group more than 40 years ago in an editorial published in the Arlington Catholic Herald.

In the course of ones life, there are seminal moments that humble us and, in some cases, even bring shame, Aitcheson, 62, wrote Monday. What most people do not know about me is that as an impressionable young man, I was a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

My actions were despicable," he wrote. "When I think back on burning crosses, a threatening letter, and so on, I feel as though I am speaking of somebody else. Its hard to believe that was me, he continued.

Though public information, Aitcheson said he felt it necessary to bring attention to his past in light of the deadly white supremacist and white nationalist rally recently held in Charlottesville.

Read: Ex-FBI Undercover Agent Warns of Growing Domestic Extremist Violence

The images from Charlottesville brought back memories of a bleak period in my life that I would have preferred to forget," he wrote. "The reality is, we cannot forget, we should not forget. The images from Charlottesville are embarrassing. They embarrass us as a country, but for those who have repented from a damaging and destructive past, the images should bring us to our knees in prayer.

Racists have polluted minds, twisted by an ideology that reinforces the false belief that they are superior to others.

Aitcheson was 23 years old and attending the University of Maryland when he was identified as an exalted cyclops, or leader, of the Robert E. Lee Lodge of the Maryland Knights of the KKK in a report in The Washington Post.

He was charged with six cross burnings in Maryland, and was accused of making bomb threats and manufacturing pipe bombs, the paper reported.

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My son, along with others, are just caught up in it... I dont know what their thoughts are, Aitchesons father said at the time.

Aitcheson noted in his editorial this week that he left the anti-Catholic hate group to rejoin the Catholic Church (the irony  is not lost on me, he wrote) and in 1988, he was ordained as a priest.

He served with the Catholic Church in Nevada before being transferred to Arlington, church officials said.

Read: Mother of Woman Killed in Charlottesville Will Not Speak With Trump 'After What He Said About My Child'

While 40 years had passed, I must say this: Im sorry. To anyone who has been subjected to racism or bigotry, I am sorry, Aitcheson wrote. I have no excuse, but I hope you will forgive me.

We must condemn, at every opportunity, the hatred and vile beliefs of the KKK and other white supremacist organizations. What they believe directly contradicts what we believe as Americans and what we, as Catholics, hold dear, he continued. If there are any white supremacists reading this, I have a message for you: You will find no fulfillment in this ideology. Your hate will never be satisfied and your anger will never subside.

In a statement, Catholic Diocese of Arlington said Aitcheson voluntarily asked to step away from public ministry, for the well-being of the Church and parish community, and the request was approved. He will not be available for interviews.

While Fr. Aitchesons past with the Ku Klux Klan is sad and deeply troubling, I pray that in our current political and social climate his message will reach those who support hate and division, and inspire them to a conversion of heart, Bishop Michael Burbidge said in a statement.

There have been no accusations of racism or bigotry against Aitcheson throughout his time in the Diocese of Arlington, the church said.

Watch: Dating Site OkCupid Has No Love for White Supremacist, Bans Him for Life

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On the day President Trump announced transgender people would no longer be allowed to serve with the U.S. military "in any capacity," Chelsea Manning found herself outside the White House.

She showed up at the "ground zero of the war on trans people" wearing a pink hat and black attire, and later publicly shaming Trump's military ban against transgender people as based in "bias and prejudice." Now, Manning has again opened up in a new Yahoo Beauty essay that reveals her thoughts on military culture and self-expression.

Click through to see other Instagrams from Chelsea Manning:



Directly speaking to her military service and the culture of the armed services, Manning says she would have been "better" at her military job had she already come out as transgender.

"I loved my job and I took my military career very seriously," says Manning. "Theres this idea out there that, had I not been trans, the leaks and stuff would never have happened. But to my mind those are two completely separate things. Had I been out, I think I still would have been attracted to the military, but I would have been more comfortable and gotten along with people better. Being closeted often put me in situations where I couldnt concentrate or even think straight."

"I loved my job, and had I been out, I think I would have been even better at it," Manning adds.

Manning also noted "private circles of conversation" that made her feel uncomfortable during her military time.

SEE ALSO: Chelsea Manning stuns in photos for Vogue

"Theyd say ridiculous, raunchy things about women," Manning says. "Id try to avoid those kinds of macho conversations because thats inevitably what would come up. Id get very, very distant."

As one of his last actions as commander in chief, former President Barack Obama pardoned Chelsea Manning's original sentence of 35 years for leaking hundreds of thousands of documents to WikiLeaks. She left military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in May after spending seven years behind bars -- and has slowly begun telling her personal narrative ever since.
Beijing (AFP) - China's top diplomat has defended Pakistan's "important role" in Afghanistan in a phone call with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, after President Trump accused Islamabad of harbouring militants.

Trump, in unveiling his Afghanistan strategy this week, said Pakistan was playing a double game by accepting American aid while giving safe haven to insurgents who kill Afghan and NATO troops.

But China State Councillor Yang Jiechi told Tillerson Wednesday that "we should attach importance to the important role that Pakistan plays in the Afghanistan issue, respect (Pakistan's) sovereignty and legitimate security concerns," according to a foreign ministry statement.

It is the second time Beijing has defended its South Asian neighbour this week, with foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying praising Pakistan on Tuesday for making "great sacrifices and contributions to fighting terrorism".

Beijing is investing around $50 billion in Pakistan as part of a plan unveiled in 2015 to link its far-western Xinjiang region to the Pakistani port of Gwadar in Balochistan province.

Yang said Beijing was committed to "advancing the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan" and that political dialogue was "the only way to solve the Afghanistan problem".

He added that "China would like to continue to maintain communication and coordination on the Afghanistan problem with the US side".

The call between the US and Chinese diplomats came after new tensions arose between the two powers on Wednesday as Washington slapped sanctions on Chinese companies accused of links with North Korea, angering Beijing.

China has also warned Washington against triggering any "trade war" after Trump ordered an investigation into Beijing's intellectual property practices.

But the ministry statement issued late Wednesday did not say whether Tillerson and Yang discussed the trade issue, the sanctions or the North Korean nuclear crisis.

Yang said Washington and Beijing communicate and cooperate on a "wide range of areas" and the two diplomats discussed Trump's planned visit to China later this year.

He also voiced hope that the two sides maintain "mutual respect" and "handle disputes properly and jointly to uphold the good momentum of development of Sino-US relations."
A 20-year-old woman has died while hiking in Colorado after suffering from acute altitude sickness, her devastated family said.

Susanna DeForest, of Pennsylvania, was hiking with friends on the Conundrum Creek Trail when she fell ill on Thursday, authorities said.

About halfway to the hot springs they planned to travel to, the group set up camp, but DeForests condition worsened.

While one person stayed with DeForest, her other friends rushed to get help. By the time emergency responders arrived early Friday, DeForest had died, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

DeForests mother, Kate DeForest, wrote on social media that her daughter had died from acute altitude sickness.

Read: Hiker Records Video As Mama Bear And Cubs Follow Him Along Trail

The 8.5-mile Conundrum Trail has a beginning elevation of 8,700 feet and rises to 11,200 feet. It is considered a difficult hike.

Her friends who were with her did all they could to get help to her in time, Kate DeForest wrote.

After receiving news of her death, DeForests parents traveled to the area to be with their beloved daughter.

We have made a trip to Colorado to see her one last time and visit a place she loved here, her mother wrote.

DeForests boyfriend also made the trip.

I was lucky enough to get to see her one last time as she laid sleeping forever, he posted on Facebook. She was still just so beautiful... I want everyone to know she died the happiest she had ever been doing exactly what she loved.

Read: TV News Anchor, 24, Dies in Accidental Plunge Off 185-Foot Waterfall

The Pitkin County Coroners Office is investigating an official cause of death.

DeForest was studying graphic design at Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, where she earned deans list recognition this past semester, a spokeswoman told the Inquirer.

She was remembered for her positive and loving energy by many who expressed their condolences on social media.

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She was such a positive, happy and genuine soul and I always looked forward to seeing her when we worked together, one friend wrote.

Susie had a soul [that] illuminated any room she walked into, another person posted. She may be gone physically but sure as hell here in spirit.

Watch: Family of 2 Hikers Killed in Indiana: 'Somebody Has to Know This Person'

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BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's FARC rebel group included footwear and orange juicers in the list of assets it will hand over for victim reparations, drawing ire on Thursday from government officials who maintain the guerrillas have extensive criminal wealth. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) agreed under a 2016 peace deal with the government to hand over all funds and property to pay reparations to victims of forced disappearance, rape, displacement, kidnapping and land mines. The group has for decades extorted landowners and business people, earned ransoms from hostage takings and sold coca, the base ingredient in cocaine, to drug traffickers. Officials said on Thursday that the list, which was originally given to the United Nations and has not been made public, included many items that have little or no monetary value. "Pots, orange juicers, lemon juicers, plates, boots, which will be depreciated and don't have a commercial value and which above all will not be a source of reparation for victims," Attorney General Nestor Humberto Martinez told journalists. Martinez added the full list should be released. The list made a "mockery" of victims, Rafael Pardo, the post-conflict minister said, adding there could be legal consequences for rebel leadership if they fail to reveal all their assets. Colombian officials have previously accused the FARC of possessing large amounts of cash, as well as ranches, businesses and luxury homes, including some located abroad. A lawyer representing the FARC, Enrique Santiago, told local radio that the group had not earned an income in years and had to spend extensively to maintain its more than 7,000 fighters, after calling off kidnappings and extortion during peace talks. The rebels finished handing over more than 8,000 weapons to the U.N., which oversaw their demobilization, earlier this month. On Sunday the group will kick off a conference that looks set to cement its transition into a political party. (Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Yangon (AFP) - Myanmar must scrap restrictions on movement and citizenship for its Rohingya minority if it wants to avoid fuelling extremism and bring peace to Rakhine state, a commission led by former UN chief Kofi Annan said Thursday.

Rights groups hailed the report as a milestone for the persecuted Rohingya community because the government of Aung San Suu Kyi has previously vowed to abide by its findings.

The western state, one of the country's poorest, has long been a sectarian tinderbox and mainly Buddhist Myanmar has faced growing international condemnation for its treatment of the Muslim Rohingya there.

Annan was appointed by Suu Kyi to head a year-long commission tasked with healing long-simmering divisions between the Rohingya and local Buddhists.

On Thursday it released a landmark report, warning that failure to implement its recommendations could lead to more extremism and violence.

"Unless current challenges are addressed promptly, further radicalisation within both communities is a real risk," the report said, describing the Rohingya as "the single biggest stateless community in the world".

"If the legitimate grievances of local populations are ignored, they will become more vulnerable to recruitment by extremists."

Among the key recommendations was ending all restrictions on movement imposed on the Rohingya and other communities in Rakhine, and shutting down refugee camps -- which hold more than hold more than 120,000 people in often miserable conditions.

It also called on Myanmar to review a controversial 1982 law that effectively bars some one million Rohingya from becoming citizens, to invest heavily in the region and to allow the media unfettered access there.

The commission's task became increasingly urgent after the army launched a bloody crackdown in the north of Rakhine following deadly October attacks on police border posts by a previously unknown Rohingya militant group.

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More than 87,000 Rohingya have since fled to Bangladesh bringing with them stories of murder, mass rape and burned villages in what the UN says could constitute crimes against humanity.

The Annan commission's findings will put pressure on Suu Kyi's government to implement its calls for sweeping changes in Rakhine.

But she faces stiff opposition from Buddhist nationalists, who loathe the Rohingya and want them expelled.

Suu Kyi also has little control over Myanmar's powerful and notoriously abusive military.

Many in Myanmar view the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, even though many can trace their lineage back generations.

Until October's attacks the Rohingya had largely avoided jihadist militancy or violence.

Rights groups welcomed the report, saying its recommendations tallied with what they had long argued for.

"These apartheid-like restrictions drive communities apart rather than together, eroding security and heightening the risk of mass killing," said Matthew Smith, from Fortify Rights.

Phil Robertson, from Human Rights Watch, said Suu Kyi's government faced a "key test".

"Myanmar needs to throw its full weight behind these recommendations, and especially not blink in dealing with the harder stuff," he said.
A police officer in Florida who found his K-9 partner dead inside a scorching cop car has been charged with animal cruelty, officials said.

Sebastian Police Officer Eric Antosia is accused of leaving his partner, German shepherd Diesel, inside their patrol vehicle outside the Brevard County courthouse in Melbourne on April 28.

When Antosia returned about 7:30 p.m., the four-legged officer was dead, authorities said.

The State Attorneys Office announced Wednesday that it was charging Antosia with one count of animal cruelty, a first-degree misdemeanor.

A trial date for Antosia, who has been with Sebastian Police for 14 years, has not yet been set.

He faces up to one year in jail if convicted of the charge.

Antosia was placed on administrative leave without pay effective immediately, pending the final outcome of the criminal case, which is standard procedure, Sebastian Police told WKMG-TV.

"Once the criminal case is finished, we will promptly complete an administrative investigation to gain a full understanding of what occurred, determine accountability and appropriate disciplinary action as the facts warrant," the department said in a statement obtained by the television station.

Read: As Number of K-9 Officer Hot Car Deaths Rise, Experts Weigh In on How to Prevent Tragedy

Diesel is one of at least 13 K-9 officers that have died this year after being left in vehicles that reached deadly temperatures, one more than last years total number of deaths recorded, according to records kept by PETA.

Holding responsible the person or persons overseeing the animals well-being is a crucial step in preventing future deaths of K-9 officers, said Daphna Nachminovitch, senior vice president of cruelty investigations at PETA.

Its important for the police department or whatever agencies are responsible to investigate thoroughly and not just chalk it up to something being an accident or someone being forgetful, Nachminovitch told InsideEdition.com. Not just to hold the handler accountable, but to take very serious, swift and significant steps to assure the prevention of it happening again.

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Read: K9 Saved Partner's Life by Taking Bullet for Him During Shootout With Suspect

It was not immediately clear how long Diesel was left in the car, but temperatures that day reached 88 degrees, according other National Weather Service.

Frankly, even being outside in 88-degree weather is hot, Nachminovitch said. And a car is essentially an oven. When its hot outside for you [a person], its even hotter for [a dog], and they sport fur coats, 24/7. They dont have the ability to cool themselves with sweating like we do  when you put them in a metal box with no ventilation, youre essentially cooking them. Its a slow, agonizing death.

Nachminovitch urged government officials to make changes to vehicles that would prevent tragedies from occurring, including installation of heat-alert systems that monitor temperatures inside a vehicle and allow an animal to exit a dangerous environment.

Theres no excuse... law enforcement agencies [should] do everything they need to. Human error will continue to happen, Nachminovitch said. Were very much hoping we dont have another year next year where we break another record. Enough is enough.

Its not clear if any such system was in place in the vehicle in which Diesel died.

Watch: Dying K9 Officer Gets Firefighters Final Salute Before Being Put Down

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The unraveling of longstanding democratic norms (not to mention decency norms) in Washington, D.C., is understandably transfixing many Americans. But we should not lose sight of the fact that democratic values are under assault in the states, too.

Nowhere is this more prevalent than in North Carolina. There, a case questioning some basic tenets of representative government is playing out before the state Supreme Court right now. On the surface, the case involves a power struggle between the newly elected Democratic governor and the Republican-controlled state legislature over control of the state election process. But more importantly, the case is about how much a legislative majority can manipulate the rules to make its advantage permanent  regardless of what the voters decide.

North Carolina is a closely divided state. It voted just under 50% for Obama in 2008 and for Trump in 2016, and it regularly holds some of the closest Senate and gubernatorial elections in the country. In 2010 Republicans rode a national wave to take control of the state legislature for the first time since 1899 and assumed full political control of the state in 2013. In 2016, however, the incumbent Republican Governor lost his reelection bid to Democrat Roy Cooper. Then things turned ugly.

Seventeen days before Cooper was to take office, the Republican-dominated legislature passed a package of sweeping changes designed to limit his authority, which the outgoing Republican governor signed into law. The centerpiece of this effort was a plan to ensure continued Republican dominance of powerful state and county boards of elections, which are responsible for running elections in the state and have been controlled by appointees from the Governors party for more than a century. (The original law was struck down by a state court in March but then reenacted over Coopers veto with only minor changes.)

The new law extends the tenure  indefinitely, for all intents and purposes  of the sitting Republican-appointed Executive Director of the State Board of Elections, North Carolinas leading election official. She would otherwise have been supplanted by a new Democratic appointee. The law also awards half the seats on state and local election boards to Republicans, which allows them to block any changes to voting rules adopted by the previous Republican-controlled bodies. The law even says Republicans get to chair all election boards during every crucial election year when the President, Governor and all statewide officials are on the ballot.

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These changes leave little doubt as to who would really be in charge of North Carolinas election process  and that is the point. Some legislative leaders openly admitted that one of their main goals of the election board law was to keep Republicans in power.

State legislators have tried to justify this power grab by pointing to Democrats efforts to increase their political power in the state in the 1970s and 1980s. But while North Carolina Democrats dont have clean hands, this latest Republican gambit to control the election process is part of a dangerous historic escalation.

North Carolinas new election board law is part of a series of actions the Republican majority in the legislature has taken to consolidate their hold on power since 2010. They passed aggressive gerrymanders that gave their party 10 of the closely divided states 13 congressional seats and super-majorities in both houses of the state legislature. They also sought to disenfranchise Democratic-leaning constituencies  especially African-Americans and young people  by imposing sweeping new voting restrictions, including cutbacks to early voting, strict voter ID requirements and reductions in voter registration opportunities.

These prior efforts to game the political system have been roundly rebuked by the courts. The U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down both North Carolinas congressional and state legislative maps as unconstitutional racial gerrymanders. And last year, the Fourth Circuit federal appeals court struck down the states new voting law, famously criticizing the almost surgical precision with which the legislature targeted black voters.

As the state supreme court considers the constitutionality of this latest effort to change the states electoral laws later this month, the legislatures nakedly partisan motives and its past efforts to tweak the system for partisan advantage will likely loom large over the courts deliberations  as they should. As more and more courts are recognizing, efforts to rig the electoral system are simply inconsistent with constitutional democracy.

Whether the North Carolina legislature gets away with its electoral power grab could have widespread repercussions. Although its democratic breakdown is extreme, the state is the canary in the coal mine. Throughout the country, democratic norms are under tremendous pressure. State legislatures are increasingly experimenting with anti-democratic electoral laws, like new restrictions on voting access and extreme gerrymandering. These anti-democratic strategies are gaining traction at the national level, where a presidential commission is expected to promote regressive voting laws.

The North Carolina Supreme Court is neither the first nor the last court to face an important test of the strength of our constitutional democracy. How it performs could be an early sign of whether we are in for more bad news  or are finally turning a corner.
President Donald Trump has threatened to force a shutdown of the federal government this fall if Congress doesnt fund his proposed border wall with Mexicoand it is an idea that is almost universally opposed by congressional Democrats as well as by a key bloc of Republicans. The chances of a shutdown occurring, though, may be smaller than they seem.

The president and Congress have until the end of September to pass a new budgetor some kind of stopgap funding measurein order to keep the federal government up and running. During a campaign rally in Phoenix on Tuesday night, the president said he would allow a shutdown of the government unless he was sent a budget that included funding for a border wall. In May, despite somewhat similar bluster, the administration allowed funding for this years budget to go forward without monies for a wall.

Financial markets and legislators are taking the president seriously. Stocks were off on Wednesday morning, in what was widely described as a selloff because of fears of a government shutdown. Compass Point, a research firm, put out a warning that the chances of a shutdown had grown dramatically. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer warned the White House not to make border wall funding a tripwire for a shutdown.

Still, theres pretty good reason to believe that Congress and the White House can avoid the kind of federal shutdown that the country last endured in 2013, when it went 16 days without a budget in place. While many government functions continued, such as air traffic control and the military, much of the federal workforce was sent home, slowing the economy, stymying markets and frustrating millions of Americans. National Parks were closed, for instance, causing huge headaches for tourists who had planned getaways as well as for local economies dependent on them.

Trumps definition of a border wall has been opaque enough and fungible enough that there is some room for compromise. Recall that originally Trump said Mexico would pay for the wall, which would have seemed to obviate the need for any U.S. taxpayer dollars. Later, Trump amended that to saying the American people would pay for the wall but Mexico would reimburse Washington latersomething that Mexican officials, including President Enrique Pena Nieto, have vowed will never happen and that few lawmakers in Washington expect. If Trump can play fast and loose with the definition of who pays, then theres some cause for hope that Congress and the president can agree on what gets financed.

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Trump himself has said on several occasions that the wall needed to cover every inch of the 1,954-mile U.S.-Mexico border, much of which is submerged in the Rio Grande river or in virtually inaccessible deserts. It could be that reinforcing fencing with a more substantial wall-like structure in parts may be enough to satisfy the administration, as well as Democrats and those Republicans who are wary of Trumps project. More money for border security or for studying how to build the wall could also suffice. Many border state Republicans have been skeptical of Trumps wall, including the two Republican senators from Arizona, Jeff Flake and John McCain, both of whom the president criticized (albeit not by name) at his Tuesday rally. With Republicans holding a bare 52-seat majority in the U.S. Senate, the president is taking a calculated gamble by attacking Flake and McCain. While Trump confined most of his attacks on McCain to the senior senators vote against a Republican health care plan earlier this summer, the president took after Flake by name on Wednesday, calling him weak on borders.

Of course, predicting what Trump is going to do can seem like a fools errand. The wall was a signature issue of his presidential campaign, and his willingness to make it the subject of an explicit threat to Congress seemed well calculated. The question is whether come October, if markets are truly jittery, the president and Congress would be able to find a deal.

The last shutdown was driven by Senator Ted Cruz over the Affordable Care Act. It went on for more than two weeks, with 800,000 federal employees staying home and a million more unsure each day of whether they would have work. After all that self-inflicted pain on the economy, Republican conservatives relented and a measure passed that continued funding for the ACA.

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MOSCOW  For years, the American far-right has received tacit approval and support from Russia. But Nazis have proved a step too far.

Russian media outlets  never ones to let a good American crisis go to waste  quickly began voicing outrage over the race-fueled unrest taking place in the United States of recent weeks, which saw one woman killed at a white nationalist rally, followed by widespread anger after President Donald Trump appeared to defend those who attended the march. State-run television talk shows on the Sunday prime-time slot this past weekend zoomed in on Americas race problem. The popular News of the Week program showed a map of the United States with the 11 former Confederate states highlighted; they were quickly colored red to show that Trump had won them in the election. There were lengthy explanations on the differences between neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan.

But the Nazi symbolism of the marches in Charlottesville, Virginia, and over the weekend the swastikas and the iron crosses  became a particular target for Russian ire. In Russia, weve had so many illusions about Trump, said Veronika Krasheninnikova, a prominent member of the countrys civic chamber, an advisory board that answers to President Vladimir Putin. Now its clear that he acts with the ideology of hatred, violence, and aggression. The masks can finally come off.

Russian media have long reacted with glee to the many occasions that American actions fail to live up to American rhetoric, and, in some ways, this time is not so different. The racially motivated unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, for instance, in 2014 was splashed across the state television channels of American foes, including Iran and Russia, as proof of the countrys new status as a failed state.

Nor is it surprising that Russia is reveling in Americas shortcomings at this particular moment. U.S.-Russian ties are at their worst since the Cold War days. In reaction to the latest round of sanctions, the U.S. Embassy here is currently reducing its personnel by 755, following orders by Putin, who said they must leave by Sept. 1. Two U.S. diplomatic properties are also being closed. On Monday, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow said it was suspending issuing nonimmigrant visas to Russians for one week. Russias decision to reduce the United States diplomatic presence here calls into question Russias seriousness about pursuing better relations, the embassy said in a statement.

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The much-scrutinized personal rapport between Trump and Putin, which started out reasonably well, has proved unable to maintain, even with the promise of improved relations between the two countries. When Trump begrudgingly signed a bill imposing new sanctions against Russia at the beginning of the month, it felt like something of a final straw. Since then, Trump has been mocked by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Twitter and was called weak and a loser on state media outlets.

So when the shadow of fascism reared its head in America, Russia was quick to react.

Late last week, one day after the prominent neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer re-registered its domain in Russia after its U.S. provider, GoDaddy, booted it off, the Russian government took it down, saying it propagates neo-Nazi ideology. The Russian Embassy in Washington was triumphant. Russia did within hours what [the United States] tolerated [for] years, its spokesman, Nick Lakhonin, tweeted, adding that Nazism was still legal in the country. The Russian Embassy in South Africa, seemingly apropos of nothing, tweeted on Sunday a historical document on Soviet victory over Nazism in World War II.

Yet Russias outrage about American neo-Nazis is more than just opportunism. First and foremost, anything ugly about the U.S. is eagerly used by Russian officialdom, said Maria Lipman, a political analyst in Moscow and editor in chief of George Washington Universitys Counterpoint journal. But its also noble  and justified  anger over the use of Nazi symbols. Victory of the USSR over Nazi Germany is a matter of pride for an overwhelming majority of Russians.

Russia shares a complicated history with the Third Reich. The Soviet Unions World War II triumph over Adolf Hitler is celebrated across Russia each year with pomp and circumstance, and the victory itself has become a defining feature of modern Russia, which still has not recovered demographically from the loss of around 27 million people during the war  far more than any other belligerent. (Less attention is given, however, to the countrys infamous signing of the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, which saw Soviet and German powers carve up Eastern Europe, including Ukraine. It was abandoned after Hitler invaded Soviet territory, and today the controversial pact is downplayed in contemporary Russian schoolbooks.)

Nazi symbols, such as those seen in Charlottesville, hit a genuine nerve in Russia. But that gut reaction has less to do with racist or xenophobic ideology than the specific salutes and swastikas American neo-Nazis have displayed at their marches. A host of far-right groups across Europe have received financial and political backing from Moscow, and Russia itself is home to many neo-Nazi-style, pro-Slavic, race-based hate groups. But these organizations tend to avoid making explicit references to Nazism or fascism. Three years ago, Putin officially made it a crime to rehabilitate Nazism or propagate Holocaust denial, though liberal activists at the time called it a new means to curb freedom of speech.

Russian public disgust for Nazis has even played a role in the war in Ukraine. The Russian state propaganda machine often frames the current conflict in Ukraine  where Moscow-backed troops are fighting Ukrainians in the east  as a fight against fascist forces. Pro-Ukrainian activists, for instance, often pay homage to Stepan Bandera, a Ukrainian nationalist who fought both Soviet and Nazi forces; Russia calls Bandera a Nazi sympathizer. The propaganda may be clumsy, but the fears it plays off of  and the basis for those fears in Bandera supporters actions, such as Hitler salutes at some pro-Ukrainian rallies and the selling of Nazi paraphernalia at Kiev marketplaces  are real enough.

RT, the prominent English-language news outlet funded by the Kremlin, compared the Charlottesville rally to those held in Ukraine in recent years. Same Nazi symbols, torchlight parades  different coverage, RT wrote, saying Western media were hypocritical to call the Americans neo-Nazis but not the hooded men in Ukraine carrying torches.

Donald Trump, it seems, can cultivate better relations with Russia or wink at neo-Nazis  but not both.

Photo credit: Chet Strange/Getty Images
From left: John Kelly, H.R. McMaster, President Trump, James Mattis (Yahoo News photo Illustration; photos: AP, Getty, Reuters)

Well, thats a relief.

For a while there, it seemed as if our democracy was starting to look like some backward former colony in Africa or Latin America, where everything is controlled by the ruling family whose demagogue patriarch doles out fiefdoms to a tight circle of privileged heirs.

But ever since Jared Kushner and Donald Trump Jr. got pulled into this whole mess with Russia and the campaign, you dont hear as much from the Trump Bunch. (Also, Jared is busy negotiating peace in the Middle East, which is, like, really time-consuming.) Even when the president seemed to sympathize with neo-Nazis, his Jewish son-in-law and daughter were oddly absent.

No, apparently, weve now moved on to a government administered by military council  a powerful trio with oversight of all Cabinet agencies and armed forces that the civilian president refers to as my generals.

So you see, were on our way from being Zimbabwe or Saudi Arabia to, say, Myanmar. How badly can that go?

Actually, this latest turn has done a lot to buoy the spirits of President Trumps liberal critics, a generation of whom grew up thinking of military leaders through the twisted prism of Dr. Strangelove. Theyve learned to love the generals now, and you can understand why.

Theres been a sense these last few months that nobody can put a brake on Trumps careening crazy train  not the kids, not establishment Republicans on the Hill, not the Wall Street guys or the Cabinet of billionaires. While North Korea tests its missiles, Trump whines about the media in middle-of-the-night tweets and self-delusional rallies.

At least now, the current thinking goes, the administration seems to be in the hands of strong and serious-minded patriots who can fill in a map without help. As Newsweek put it in a subtle headline last week: Trumps Generals Can Save the World From War  and Stop the Crazy.

Thats a low bar, and maybe the generals  Kelly, McMaster, Mattis  can clear it. But even if these guys can keep Trumps presidency from immediately derailing, that doesnt mean theyre likely to steer it in the right direction.

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Modern America has a real mythology around its generals; well ask them to fix almost any problem. Generations removed from a time when the burdens of war were shared by everyone, we tend to idealize the men and women who still rise up to shoulder them.

Our weathered institutions sag under the weight of bureaucratic inertia. We imagine that a battlefield commander will attack intractable problems as he might a battery of machine guns, immune to petty grievances and lawyerly objections.

Except that in reality, and with few exceptions, military leaders havent had much success running other things  political campaigns, school districts, businesses, Cabinet agencies. The courage and brilliance they display in rising up through the armed forces dont seem to translate very easily.

Maybe thats because the careers they spend in service to the public are also spent inside a kind of socialist bubble, with very little exposure to the more mundane trials of civilian life. Theres no reason, really, that a general should know the first thing about finance or domestic policy or politics. We only like to pretend they do, since weve pretty much lost faith in everyone whose job it really is.

If I told you I had a novel plan to partition Syria, youd wonder  with good reason  what I could possibly know about it. But when John Kelly, the chief of staff, assumes responsibility for legislative strategy or tax policy, hes like the guy in the ad who stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Somehow we assume hell figure it out.

Even in foreign policy, where generals are assumed to hold vast expertise, that may not translate into progress. Modern generals are, in fact, nothing like the cigar-chomping, Cold War cowboys we remember from iconic movies, hell-bent on killing Commies and reducing villainous countries to rubble.

Todays more cerebral military leaders were schooled in the lessons of Vietnam, which taught them the value of cautious incrementalism, of staying within political objectives, of carrying out the policy set by others with maximum efficiency and minimal loss.

Look at Colin Powell, who was the most successful of recent military leaders in the political realm. His stature was such that in 1996 he quite possibly could have become our first black president  if not our first politically independent one.

He will likely be remembered now, chiefly, for having persuaded the world that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The Bush administration told Powell to go out and make the case, because no one had more credibility in the country or the world. And Powell, whatever his personal misgivings, agreed to complete the mission, because thats what modern generals are supposed to do.

I remember sitting in a Pentagon briefing room, not long after Powells speech to the United Nations Security Council, listening to Jay Garner, soon to become the commanding general and overseer in occupied Iraq, talk about how simple it would be to make Iraq great again after the invasion. (Id been to Iraq under Saddam Hussein, and that didnt sound especially simple to me.)

Garner later said we never should have gone to war there in the first place. OK. But at the time, given a completely unreasonable objective, he never considered the possibility that it couldnt be done.

Which brings us to the presidents speech on Afghanistan this week, in which he offered virtually no departure from the last two presidents, other than a new and entirely meaningless, contradictory slogan: principled realism. (Why not pragmatic idealism, or maybe flexible paralysis?)

What were doing in Afghanistan, at bottom, is following the same basic policy drift that now stretches across three administrations, because the generals were given a political objective 16 years ago, and theyre going to see it through to the bitter end. They arent trained to acknowledge failure, much less futility.

What follows from all this are two essential possibilities, neither of which is very inspiring. One is that while Trumps generals may well stand ably between us and some kind of all-out lunacy in the world (which is no small service to render), they may also continue to doggedly lead us down well-worn and dangerous paths, mainly because theyre not willing to rethink policies that arent working.

The second and worse scenario is that they may become not so much Trumps advisers as his enablers, applying a credible, military sheen to whatever half-informed policy he decides to implement.

How did Kelly become Trumps chief of staff, after all? By carrying out the presidents religiously based immigration order as efficiently as he possibly could, with no apparent objection or sense of alarm.

Ive no doubt Kelly is a brave and decent man with a superior intellect. Hes just conditioned to carry out the mission, and thats what hell do.

Given the choice between a bunch of rich, Manhattan-bred dilettantes (or a bunch of white nationalist ideologues) on one side, and a trio of battle-tested generals on the other, Ill take the generals in a heartbeat. No one rational is going to seriously argue that point.

When it comes to addressing the countrys problems and divisions in a thoughtful way, though, the only guy who can do that is the president himself, and I dont see it happening, no matter how many square-jawed warriors surround him or how many slogans they latch onto.

Trumps the principal, and thats the reality.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
Exxon Mobil Corp. deliberately deceived the public about the dangers of climate change for four decades, a new Harvard University study finds.

For the peer-reviewed study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters Wednesday, two Harvard researchers analyzed nearly 200 documents related to Exxon Mobils climate change communications. The researchers found that Americas largest oil producer had repeatedly made explicit factual misrepresentations about global warming in advertisements aimed at the general public, while simultaneously acknowledging its risks behind closed doors.

Our findings are clear: Exxon Mobil misled the public about the state of climate science and its implications, study authors Naomi Oreskes and Geoffrey Supran wrote in a New York Times op-ed this week. Available documents show a systematic, quantifiable discrepancy between what Exxon Mobils scientists and executives discussed about climate change in private and in academic circles, and what it presented to the general public.

The discrepancy, the researchers said, was staggering. About 80 percent of Exxon Mobils research and internal memos acknowledged that climate change was real and caused by humans. However, 80 percent of the companys newspaper ads regarding climate change questioned this fact, the study found.

An internal Exxon Mobil memo penned in 1979, for instance, acknowledged a possible link between fossil fuel combustion and an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide. Another memo from 1982 described potentially catastrophic events that could arise from climate change, such as the melting of the Antarctic ice sheet.

A peer-reviewed study conducted by Exxon Mobil scientists in the 1990s concluded the body of evidence ... now points towards a discernible human influence on global climate. Another one from 2002 found that limiting atmospheric carbon dioxide levels could be needed to forestall coral reef bleaching, thermohaline circulation shutdown, and sea level rise.

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But in 1997, the same year that the Kyoto Protocol was adopted, Exxon Mobil released an ad that called the science of climate change too uncertain to mandate a plan of action that could plunge economies into turmoil. A 2000 Exxon Mobil advertorial in The New York Times described climate change as an unsettled science.

The oil giant has previously defended itself by saying that it has never suppressed climate change research. But Oreskes and Supran said in their study that the question is not whether Exxon Mobil suppressed climate change research, but rather how they communicated about it.

Exxon Mobils peer-reviewed studies about climate change werent widely distributed or readily available to the general public, while their ads were meant to reach millions, the researchers noted.

The company had really good scientists, Oreskes, a history of science professor, told the Times. That finding then makes the contrast with the advertorials that much more notable.

Darren Woods, chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp., has called for a carbon tax since taking over from Rex Tillerson, who left the company to become secretary of state. Exxon Mobil called the Harvard study findings inaccurate." (Photo: Brendan McDermid / Reuters)

The study comes as Exxon Mobil faces several lawsuits and investigations related to its transparency, or lack thereof, regarding climate science.

Reacting to the Harvard study, Exxon Mobil called the research inaccurate and preposterous.

Our statements have been consistent with our understanding of climate science, said spokesman Scott Silvestri in a statement, according to Agence France-Presse news agency.

Silvestri added that the researchers had cherry-picked data to attack Exxon Mobils reputation. Speaking to the Times, he highlighted two Exxon Mobil ads that had suggested that climate change may pose long-term risks.

The scientists, however, rejected Silvestris claim. Supran told AFP that theyd looked at the whole cherry tree in their research, including the ads that the spokesman had mentioned.

While Exxon Mobil did publish some ads that suggested potential risks associated with global warming, the predominant stance taken [in the companys climate change] advertorials is Doubt, said the study, which was funded by the Rockefeller Family Fund.

Following the publication of the Harvard paper on Wednesday and the related op-ed, the hashtag #ExxonKnew began appearing on social media. The hashtag first gained popularity in 2015 after InsideClimate News and the Los Angeles Times published reports alleging that the oil had purposefully covered up what it knew about climate change.

BREAKING: A new peer-reviewed study conclusively finds that Exxon misled public about climate science. https://t.co/hh1mK4uCM1 #ExxonKnew pic.twitter.com/LbpVC8jLuB  350 dot org (@350) August 23, 2017

Since then, numerous investigations at the state and federal level have been launched and lawsuits have been filed related to whether Exxon Mobil deceived the public or its investors about the risks posed by climate change, both to the environment and to its business.

Last month, three communities in California sued 37 oil, gas and coal companies including Exxon Mobil, Shell and Chevron for their alleged contributions to sea level rise and for concealing the hazards posed by global warming.

The companies have known for nearly a half century that unrestricted production and use of their fossil fuel products create greenhouse gas pollution that warms the planet and changes our climate, the complaint reads. They have nevertheless engaged in a coordinated, multi-front effort to conceal and deny their own knowledge of those threats, discredit the growing body of publicly available scientific evidence, and persistently create doubt in the minds of customers, consumers, regulators, the media, journalists, teachers, and the public about the reality and consequences of the impacts of their fossil fuel pollution.

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Also on HuffPost

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Every Thursday between 1972 and 2001, the oil and gas giant Exxon Mobil Corp. ran an advertorial in the New York Times.

When these ads  which were aimed at swaying public opinion and appeared in other publications as well  covered the science and policy debate surrounded global warming, they emphasized the uncertainty of the science and the difficulty of solving the problem, if it existed at all.

Yet at the same time, inside the company, Exxon Mobil's own scientists and officials were taking the threat of climate change seriously and viewed it as a potential roadblock to its business.

SEE ALSO: Nuclear war with North Korea 'would be suicidal', climate experts warn

A new study published on Wednesday adds to what we know about Exxon Mobil's "say one thing, research another" approach to the climate issue, which has put the company in legal jeopardy.

The first-ever peer-reviewed analysis of Exxon's private and public climate communications, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, found that Exxon followed a public relations strategy of sowing doubt regarding climate science findings while quietly hewing to mainstream scientific conclusions internally.

Stacks and burn-off from the Exxon Mobil refinery.

Image: Herbert/AP/REX/Shutterstock

The study is the first to classify the positions taken in Exxon's internal documents as well as its public statements on climate change, and it bolsters the recent work of investigative journalists at Inside Climate News, the Columbia Journalism School, and Los Angeles Times.

"Our study is the first peer-reviewed, academic analysis of Exxons 40-year history of climate change communications," said co-author Geoffrey Supran, a science history postdoc at Harvard University, in an email.

"Our results show that Exxon has misled the public about climate change. It did so, we have shown, by contributing quietly to climate science and loudly to raising doubts about it."

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The research is likely to play into investigations by multiple state attorneys general, aimed at determining whether Exxon Mobil purposefully misled the public and shareholders about the reality and seriousness of global warming. Such activities may have violated multiple statutes.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has initiated a separate but similar investigation regarding the company's disclosure of investment risks. Together, these investigations are known on social media by the hashtag, #ExxonKnew.

The new study, by Supran and the well-known science historian Naomi Oreskes, could bolster the legal cases currently being explored, though it is not explicitly aimed at making any legal judgements, the authors state.

Supran and Oreskes chose to undertake this study in part because of how Exxon Mobil has sought to defend itself from the allegations. The company has published a list of more than 50 peer-reviewed articles on climate research and policy from 1983 to the present day, and denied that it "suppressed climate change research."

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is one of the state attorneys general investigating Exxon Mobil.

Image: Seth Wenig/AP/REX/Shutterstock

The company has also made some internal documents public in the wake of the investigative reporting during the past two years.

"Read all of these documents and make up your own mind," the company has said.

So, Supran and Oreskes did just that, approaching it from an academic perspective so they could classify each document's position on whether human-caused climate change is real, a serious threat, and solvable.

The analysis of 187 documents found a consistent discrepancy between the company's public and private communications about climate change. The external documents focused on doubt about climate science, while internal communications acknowledged the risks of human-caused global warming.

Notably, the researchers found that ExxonMobil's scientists were aligned with mainstream climate experts in acknowledging human-caused climate change as real and human-caused, and even projected more significant global warming than other assessments in the peer-reviewed scientific literature.

"On the question of whether ExxonMobil misled non-scientific audiences about climate change, our analysis supports the conclusions that it did," the study states.

"Exxon Mobil contributed to climate science  by way of its scientists academic publications  but promoted doubt about it in public, through advertorials," Oreskes said.

Climate deniers have spent years criticizing Oreskes' previous work that quantified the agreement within the scientific community on global warming, and she and Supran are ready for whatever Exxon throws their way this time.

2016 was the warmest year on record for the globe.

Image: Bob Al-Greene/Mashable

"Exxon may say that these are just our opinions, but theyre not  these are our evidence-based conclusions, which have passed the peer-reviewed scrutiny of anonymous experts in the field. Our methods and evidence are transparent and audit-able," Supran said.

Interestingly, the study found that the company is also paying acute attention to the potential problem of stranded fossil fuel assets. Right now, the company assumes that its massive fossil fuel reserves will be burned to generate electricity and power cars and trucks. However, if world leaders enact limits on carbon emissions that prohibit the burning of Exxon Mobil's reserves, presumably the company's value would tumble.

This topic is of particular interest to company shareholders and financial regulators.

"... We found that Exxon discussed the topic of stranded fossil fuel assets in no less than 24 documents, but never in advertorials," Supran said in an email.

"To me its noteworthy that Exxon didn't just vaguely or qualitatively refer to this risk. In at least five cases, they actually quantified how much carbon dioxide we can afford to burn before we blow the 2-degree Celsius [or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit] guardrail. And they were accurate  within a factor of two of contemporary estimates," he said.

"This may be relevant to ongoing investigations into whether Exxon has properly disclosed the risks of its assets becoming stranded by climate policy."

ExxonMobil did not respond to a request for comment about this study.
A federal court on Wednesday struck down a new Texas voter ID law that was meant to fix a previous law that was determined to be intentionally discriminatory.

In June, Texas adopted a voter ID law, called SB 5, which was meant to serve as a remedy to Texas 2011 voter ID law, SB14, that a federal judge had blocked, ruling it was passed with the intent to discriminate against black and Latino voters. The initial law was challenged over the types of identification the state allowed voters to use, a list that included a handgun permit but not a student ID.

The new law tried to fix SB 14 by allowing voters to present different documents to prove their identity. Voters could present documents such as a voter registration certificate, a utility bill or a bank statement after the new law took effect next January.

But in a 27-page ruling Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos decided the new law did not fix the discrimination of the initial one.

The only appropriate remedy for SB 14s discriminatory purpose or discriminatory result is an injunction against enforcement of that law and SB 5, which perpetuates SB 14s discriminatory features, Ramos said.

Along with continued provisions that contribute to the discriminatory effects of the photo ID law, SB 5 on its face embodies some of the indicia of discriminatory purpose  particularly with respect to the enhancement of the threat of prosecution for perjury regarding a crime unrelated to the stated purpose of preventing inperson voter impersonation fraud, Ramos wrote.

SB 5 does not meaningfully expand the types of photo IDs that can qualify, even though the Court was clearly critical of Texas having the most restrictive list in the country, Ramos wrote. Because those who lack SB 14 photo ID are subjected to separate voting obstacles and procedures, SB 5s methodology remains discriminatory because it imposes burdens disproportionately on Blacks and Latinos.

Story continues

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement Wednesday that the state would appeal.

Todays ruling is outrageous. Senate Bill 5 was passed by the peoples representatives and includes all the changes to the Texas voter ID law requested by the 5th Circuit, Attorney General Paxton said. The U.S. Department of Justice is satisfied that the amended voter ID law has no discriminatory purpose or effect. Safeguarding the integrity of elections in Texas is essential to preserving our democracy. The 5th Circuit should reverse the entirety of the district courts ruling.

Voting rights groups were quick to praise the District Courts decision.

Time and time again, federal courts have made it clear that Texass strict voter photo ID law is discriminatory, Danielle Lang, senior counsel for Campaign Legal Center, which represented the Texas plaintiffs, said in a statement. It doesnt matter how many times the state tries to dress the law in sheeps clothing  its intent is to discriminate and prevent hundreds of thousands of eligible voters from casting ballots. Now, Texas must return to nondiscriminatory ID practices in voting, which do not require photo ID.

Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said in a statement: Once again, a federal court has shut down a discriminatory voter ID law in Texas. Judge Ramoss decision recognizes that a State cannot escape the consequences of its pernicious conduct without completely eliminating all vestiges of discrimination.

Under President Barack Obama, the Department of Justice had supported the challenge to the Texas law. But soon after President Donald Trump took office, the department reversed positions, arguing that SB 5 fixed the discriminatory issues.

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The piglet pictured is not from this farm - Facebook/Getty

Firefighters who rescued piglets from a blazing barn were rewarded with an unusual treat - they were served up the pigs they saved as sizzling sausages.

The 18 piglets and two sows had survived the fire in Wiltshire in February, which saw 60 tonnes of hay catch fire.

However, they did not survive the butcher's knife, and were turned into meat products this summer.

Some of these bangers were given to the firefighters who saved them.

They posted a picture of the sausages on Facebook Credit: Peswey Firefighters

Farmer Rachel Rivers, responsible for the idea, said "I'm sure vegetarians will hate this."

The firefighters thought the sausages were "fantastic".

Pewsey Fire Station wrote on Facebook: "Exactly 6 months and 1 day since FFF's Olsen and Richardson rescued 18 piglets from a farm in Milton we got to sample the fruits of our labour from that February night.

The piglets

"Huge thank you to Rachel Rivers who gave them to us to sample.

"Highly recommended by Pewsey Fire Stations crew and if anyone is having a bank holiday weekend BBQ then check out these sausages, they are fantastic."

Firefighters tackling the blaze

"I wanted to thank them. I promised them at the time I'd bring down some sausages for them, which they were all pleased about," Ms Rivers said.

"We farm and this is what we do. You can't keep them as pets."

A spokesman for Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service told the BBC; "Our thanks to the farmer for her generosity. We can tell no porkies, the sausages were fantastic."
A German magazine has portrayed President Donald Trump giving a Nazi salute on its latest front page.

Stern magazine mocked up the image of Trump performing the gesture while draped in the American flag for the cover of its Aug. 24 issue, The Hill reports.

With the main headline of Sein Kampf (which translates roughly to His Struggle), it clearly alluded to dictator Adolf Hitlers 1925 autobiographical book Mein Kampf.

It also referenced neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan and racism in its subheading.

German news magazine @sternde features Trump. Text = "His fight" a play title of Hilter's book 'mein kampf'. V. strong stuff in Europe. pic.twitter.com/swvg4UURou  Andrew Beatty (@AndrewBeatty) August 23, 2017

Agence France-Presse news agencys White House correspondent Andrew Beatty shared the above image of the cover to Twitter on Wednesday, and its now going viral.

The magazines cover is the latest in a line of provocative anti-Trump front pages to appear since the president failed to fully condemn this months violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The New Yorker showed Trump blowing a ships sail that resembles the white hood of a Klansman:

An early look at next week's cover, "Blowhard," by David Plunkert: https://t.co/VuBXtwJCUQ pic.twitter.com/zsDHVOBBQO  The New Yorker (@NewYorker) August 17, 2017

And The Economist has since depicted Trump using a KKK hood as a megaphone:

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Our cover this week pic.twitter.com/lYD3HLXvSC  The Economist (@TheEconomist) August 17, 2017

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A German supermarket chainremoved every single foreign itemfrom one of its stores over the weekend to make a serious point about diversity.

Customers visiting Edekas outlet in the northern city ofHamburgon Saturday wereonly able to buy a handfulof nationally sourced or produced items, reports The Local.

It meant that foodstuffs including olive oil from Spain, French wine and pasta from Italy were all temporarily off the menu.

Edeka in Hamburger Hafencity macht Aktion gegen Rassismus. #saynotoracismpic.twitter.com/S3puFdn62g  Sven (@opendev)August 19, 2017

Shoppers also encountered various signs which explained just why staff had almost emptied the store.

This shelf is pretty boring without diversity, read one, according to The Independent. Others stated We will be poorer without diversity and Our range now knows borders.

Videos and photographs of the near-vacant counters are now going viral.

A spokesperson for Edeka said the company had received a lot of positive feedback from its anti-xenophobia stunt, which aimed to promote tolerance of difference.

Noting how the chain stood for variety and diversity, the representative said it sold numerous foods which are produced in the various regions of Germany.

But only together with products from other countries it is possible to create the unique variety, that our consumers value, they added.

Twitter users were mainly delighted by the campaign, and encouraged other businesses to be similarly socially responsible.

This is an amazing campaign by#edekain#Germany- rare a well known brand is so boldhttps://t.co/5V02pltSj4  Altrincham HQ (@altrinchamhq)August 23, 2017

You're doing great Edekahttps://t.co/6ZHLSXoMBj  Noire Royale  (@DaPrincessJoJo)August 24, 2017

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Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - The Bundesbank, Germany's central bank, said Wednesday it had returned to German soil all of its gold kept in Paris and some reserves from the US, three years ahead of schedule.

Some 374 tonnes of the metal, 11 percent of the German stock, left the vaults at the Banque de France, or Bank of France, while 300 tonnes have been removed from the Federal Reserve in New York to the Bundesbank vaults in Frankfurt, board member Carl-Ludwig Thiele told journalists.

The secret shipments were finished far ahead of the 2020 deadline at a cost of some 7.7 million euros ($9.1 million), bringing the share of German gold stored at home to 50 percent.

Shipments have been underway since a 2013 board decision to return the precious ingots home.

Germany began securing its reserves abroad during the Cold War, when the Bundesbank preferred to keep most of its gold safe from the prospect of a sudden Soviet invasion.

New York was a favoured location as home of the world's most vital currency, the US dollar, while London's deep gold market could allow the metal to be quickly converted into cash in an emergency.

Meanwhile, the share of the cache in France was built up during the decades of Germany's post-World War II "economic miracle", as the Bundesbank converted the country's trade surpluses with its neighbour into gold stored in the Parisian vaults of the Banque de France.

But at the height of the eurozone crisis in 2012, eurosceptic voices began pressing for an audit of the precious metal kept abroad, in case it might have been tampered with, lent out or sold off.

The Bundesbank responded to the calls for greater transparency by bringing a larger share home.

After extensive tests upon arrival, "there were no issues with the authenticity, fineness or weight of the bars," Thiele said.

Germany holds the world's second-largest gold reserves after the United States, at 3,378 tonnes or 270,000 ingots of around 12 kilogrammes each -- for a market value of around 120 billion euros.

Some 1,710 tonnes are now kept in Frankfurt, with 1,236 remaining in New York and 432 in London.
Intrexon, a $2.2bn company headed by Randal Kirk, quietly began selling transgenic salmon, after making apples that dont brown and cloning pets

Repeated literature reviews have not found harm to human health from GM plants that have already entered the food supply. However, the nutritional value of foods could change. Photograph: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

If you want to sample the worlds first animal to be genetically engineered in the name of dinner, good luck finding it. If, on the other hand, you would never eat such a thing  good luck avoiding it.

Tons of lab-developed salmon was sold in Canada last year without any packaging labeling it as a product of science, and the company that created and raises the fish, AquaBounty, wont release the names of food distributors it sells to.

Giant restaurant supply companies, such as Sysco, deny ever having carried the product. Grocery store chains far and wide  including Costco, Sobeys and Loblaws  say they have not, and will not, stock it. Restaurants Canada, the industry group for the countrys food service industry, says it has not heard any chatter about the fish.

At least five of the 121,000 tons of salmon farmed in Canada last year was genetically modified, engineered to grow faster and with less food. To shoppers  given no prior warning or labelling information  the product would be impossible to distinguish from regular salmon. Labeling for genetically modified foods is not required by law in the US or Canada.

But where, exactly, did the company sell it?

We do not disclose the names of our customers, but they have been very positive about our product, stating that it was very high quality in terms of appearance, texture and taste, said a company spokesman, Dave Conley.

AquaBounty Technologies, which created the first genetically modified fish in the world, announced this year that it had sold five tons of transgenic salmon in Canada  last year. The company made no announcement when it started stocking store shelves with the fish, a decision that has come under fire.

For all the time and investment that went into the worlds first genetically modified food animal, there was no public notice, there was no announcement about this market breakthrough, said Lucy Sharratt, coordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Network.

Story continues

The genetically modified salmon was put on the Canadian market under a cloak of secrecy where Canadians did not even know it was on the market, she said. Sharratt herself only found out about the sale of transgenic salmon after reading a news story.

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) sold as food are labeled in 64 countries, and surveys have shown that Canadians and Americans also want GMOs  and particularly transgenic animals  to be labeled. Supporters of the technology argue it could increase plant and animal productivity, and stave off hunger as the human population grows and climate change becomes more severe. Repeated literature reviews have not found harm to human health from plants that have already entered the food supply.



However, because any gene from the biosphere can be used to produce a genetic modification, the nutritional value of foods could change, as could the behavioral traits of engineered animals. A recent report found plants designed to be herbicide resistant are fueling the use of glyphosate, the weed killer found in Monsantos Roundup that has been linked to cancer. Critics also argue that surveillance of GMOs effects has been lax and made more difficult without labeling.

The worlds first genetically modified fish farm is a subsidiary of Intrexon, a $2.2bn company headed by Randal Kirk, a self-made billionaire. Kirk, who claims he taught himself to read when he was three years old and is an avid falconer, believes Intrexon has a chance to become one of the great companies of the world.

These are products of technology, not government decisions or social policy making, said Kirk at the 2016 World Food Prize event. The meeting is sponsored by the worlds largest agribusiness companies, such as Monsanto and Archer Daniels Midland. Kirk called technophobia his companys chief impediment.

The debate  supposed debate, the faux debate, if you will  around the adoption of technology frequently takes odd paths. One will receive questions like, Uh, GMO, gee, how do you feel about the ethics of that? he said, posing a mock question. Ethics  Im sorry, I did study ethics.

The idea of simply masking fear by calling it ethics is absurd, he said. Intrexon declined to comment on this story.

In addition to AquaBounty, Kirks companies make apples that dont brown (Arctic apples); mosquitoes designed to die (through its subsidiary Oxitec); and clones of pets or livestock (Viagen). The organization is working on peaches resistant to plum pox, fast-growing tilapia and a cure for cancer.

At the World Food Prize event, Kirk went on to describe how Intrexon had fixed the main problem of the apple. The company altered an enzyme that breaks down the apples once they are cut  natures way of releasing seeds into the environment.

People dont really want whole apples  they want pre-sliced apples, Kirk told the crowd. This may actually be and become the most preferred GMO food, at least to date. Its almost impossible to find someone who has tried it who doesnt love it.

Intrexon is no stranger to controversy. Near Key West, Florida, last year, Oxitec aggressively pursued an experiment that would have released genetically modified mosquitoes into the environment. The male bugs are designed to breed with wild female mosquitoes and produce offspring that never reach maturity. The public opposed the experiment, especially in the community where it was supposed to take place; 65% voted against it in a referendum.

Opening this Pandoras box  sometimes you dont see the impact until five, 10, 15 years down the road, Keys real estate agent and activist Mila De Mier told the Guardian last year, at the height of debate.

Im not against genetically modified at all, she said. Sometimes, I dont know what I put on my table, but thats the difference  its about choice, she said. Permission has not been asked or given This is only for Oxitecs benefit.

Whether Kirks salmon business is viable, however, remains to be seen. AquaBounty appears to be losing money. The company earned only $53,000 through its salmon sales, according to public reports. It lost $2.1m the same year. Intrexons stock price has lost most of its value since a record high in July 2015, dropping from $64 per share to around $18 at the time of publication.

Public opinion in North America is decidedly in favor of labeling genetically modified foods. A 2014 Consumer Reports poll found an astounding 92% of Americans in favor of labeling genetically modified salmon.

Sharratt described Intrexons work as part of changing our idea of what food is.

That apples now come in plastic bags in slices, or fish are genetically modified and grown in farms, she said. Do we need non-browning apples, genetically engineered, when we already have naturally non-browning varieties of apples, and we have one of natures most perfect fruits without it being packaged in a plastic bag?

Nevertheless, Kirks bet could pay off. The CEO has rightly identified the salmon market as enormous. The US imported $3bn worth of salmon in 2016, or roughly 339,000 tons of fresh and frozen fish.

Aquaculture, or fish farming, as an industry has grown at a steady 5.8% clip worldwide since 2005, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. The business is currently dominated by countries such as China and Vietnam.

In part of Kirks World Food Prize speech, he argued consumers did not need to understand the mechanics of a technology before adopting it, using the publics willingness to use the smartphone as an example.

I think our society is definitely setting a record, said Kirk. Theres never been another generation of man who has been so dependent on technology we dont understand.
President Donald Trump was reluctant to send more troops to Afghanistan after years of saying the war was wasting our money. So national security adviser H.R. McMaster used a 1972 photo of Afghan women in miniskirts to show the president that the country had once adopted Western values and to convince him to escalate the war, according to The Washington Post.

McMaster reportedly showed Trump a black-and-white snapshot of bare-legged women in Kabul to illustrate that the region might be able to embrace Western ideals again. Miniskirts were replaced by full-body burqas in the mid-1990s, when the Taliban took over Afghanistan, banned Western clothing and rolled back womens rights. The Taliban now controls only parts of the country, but many Afghan women still choose to wear traditional burqas because it makes them feel safer from violence and judgment in a society where gender-based violence is rampant.

Trump has called the war in Afghanistan a disaster and spent his entire presidential campaign criticizing the United States continued involvement in it. His former top adviser, Steve Bannon, also opposed sending more troops to the region and suggested relying on private military contractors instead. But after some urging from McMaster and other top generals, Trump ultimately changed his mind and decided to escalate troop levels by roughly 4,000.

My original instinct was to pull out, and, historically, I like following my instincts, Trump said Monday in a televised address. But all of my life I heard that decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office.

The miniskirt photo reportedly was not the only reason Trump decided to escalate the war, but the anecdote failed to surprise anyone familiar with Trumps long history of objectifying women.

Afghani women in miniskirts isn't alarming. They should be free to dress as they wish. It's that McMaster knew that tactic would sway Trump.  Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) August 22, 2017

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Donald Trump in his Manhattan apartment after receiving the news that the New York City Board of Estimate unanimously approved a 40-year tax abatement plan on May 20, 1976.

Donald Trump displays a model of a D.C. convention center he hoped to develop in July 1976. His bid was unsuccessful.

Donald Trump with singers Whitney Houston, center, and her mother, Cissy Houston, and an unidentified woman in San Francisco in 1980.

Donald Trump, his father, Fred, and New York Mayor Ed Koch celebrate the completion of Trump Tower in July 1982.

Walt Michaels shakes hands with New Jersey Generals' owner Donald Trump at Giants Stadium after Trump named him as the USFL team's coach.

Charles Brown, Nancy Reagan and Donald Trump on April 15, 1985.

Donald Trump with his first wife, Ivana, at the Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in December 1985.

Donald Trump and Henry Stern lay the first cement at Wollman Rink in New York City's Central Park on Sept. 10, 1986.

Donald Trump in Central Park on Nov. 12, 1986.

Donald Trump meets with Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca at Trump's office in New York in 1987.

Donald Trump in July 1989.

Ivana and Donald Trump sit at a table aboard their luxury yacht The Trump Princess, anchored outside the Water Club in New York in July 1988.

Ruth Roper, Donald Trump, Mike Tyson and Robin Givens on July 1988.

Ivana and Donald Trump in New York on Dec. 4, 1989.

Donald Trump with his private jet on Sept. 13, 1989.

Donald and Ivana Trump circa 1990.

Donald Trump, far right, walks down Fifth Avenue in New York past a beggar after holding a news conference on Nov. 16, 1990. Trump announced he had reached a deal that will temporarily put his Taj Mahal casino into bankruptcy protection.

Donald Trump and friend Marla Maples on March 5, 1991.

Donald Trump watches as Marla Maples gets a kiss from Earl Sinclair of TV's "Dinosaurs" during lunch at the Trump Plaza Hotel on Nov. 2, 1992.

Donald Trump and Ivana Trump after their divorce settlement in April 1993.

Donald Trump marries Marla Maples in December 1993.

Donald Trump photographs and interviews Playboy centerfold hopefuls at the U.N. Plaza hotel for the magazine's 40th anniversary issue in June 1993.

Donald Trump in August 1994.

Donald Trump confirms his wife, Marla Maples, is pregnant in April 1993.

Donald Trump enters the Plaza Hotel in New York past supporters in December 1994. Hundreds of supporters showed up at a news conference where Trump denied a New York newspaper report that the Sultan of Brunei had bid $300 million to buy the Manhattan hotel.

Marla Maples Trump and Donald Trump with their family at the U.S. Tennis Open in New York on Sept. 7, 1994.

Donald Trumps groundbreaking ceremony with electric jackhammers for the new Trump International Hotel and Tower at Columbus Circle, with Lt. Gov. Betsey McCanney, Mayor Rudy Giuliani and architect Philip Johnson on June 21, 1995.

Donald Trump in his office in August 1994.

Miss Universe Alicia Machado of Venezuela with Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, on Feb. 16, 1997.

Miss Universe Alicia Machado kisses Donald Trump during her fitness workout at a health center in New York. The 19-year-old Machado started a fitness program after she was criticized for gaining weight after the 1996 Miss Universe pageant.

Donald Trump in his Trump Tower office on May 8, 1996.

Actor Sylvester Stallone mimes punching Donald Trump at a charity event at a home in Palm Beach, Florida, on Feb. 24, 1997.

New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump at a May 1999 news conference at the GM Building, where CBS announced that Bryant Gumbel will be the host of its new morning news program, "This Morning." The show would be broadcast from Trump's International Plaza Building.

Chris Matthews, left, and Donald Trump during a break in the taping of MSNBC's "Hardball With Chris Matthews" at the University of Pennsylvania's Irvine Auditorium on Oct. 18, 1999.

Donald Trump reaches for a pen as he signs a copy of his new book, "Trump: The America We Deserve," at Trump Towers in New York in January 2000.

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New Hampshire Democrats are suing the state to block a new law tightening residency requirements for those who register to vote on election day, saying that it will cause confusion and will make it more difficult for young, poor and minority residents to vote.

The measure, signed into law in July, requires people to prove they intend to make a permanent residency in the state, but outlines different registration procedures for people who register on election day.

Before the new law, called SB3, people who registered to vote could sign an affidavit swearing under penalty of perjury, that they had a residency in New Hampshire. But now under SB3, they can no longer do so, and must present documentation, like a lease, utility bill or state ID, to register.

The suit, brought forward on Tuesday, accuses the law of violating the New Hampshire Constitution as well as the First, Fourteenth and Twenty-Sixth amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

Critics say the legislation is unnecessary because there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in New Hampshire and the additional paperwork will make it more difficult for people to register, especially young voters and marginalized populations. The plaintiffs say that young, poor and minority voters are more likely to register close to or on election day and that the new restrictions are more likely to impact these groups.

SB 3 imposes several brand new, highly confusing, unnecessary, and intimidating hurdles to voting. It will not only burden, and in some cases, disenfranchise eligible, lawful New Hampshire citizens, but will expose countless innocent voters to criminal and civil liability, lawyers for the plaintiffs wrote. Not for casting a ballot that they were ineligible to cast for otherwise committing voter fraud as that term is typically understood, but simply for failing to understand or comply with confusing and burdensome paperwork requirements.

Under the SB3, if someone registers on election day, they can register without proof, but they have to choose whether they want to submit those documents within short 10-day timeframe or authorize election officials to investigate their residency. If a voter chooses to produce the documents themselves, but fails to do so by the deadline, election officials can investigate them for fraud, potentially opening them up to civil and criminal penalties.

Story continues

New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner (D), a defendant in the suit, agrees that voter fraud isnt a problem, but supports the new law because he says its necessary to combat the perception elections arent secure.

[SB3], like any statute, is presumed to be constitutional, the Department of Justice will defend it vigorously, and we are confident it will be sustained, Gardner said in a statement.

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) also dismissed the lawsuit.

This is nothing more than political theatrics. We are confident the law will be upheld, Sununu said in a statement.

The New Hampshire measure was passed after President Donald Trump claimed repeatedly that thousands were bused into New Hampshire to vote on election day, a claim that has never been proven and that even Corey Lewandowski, Trumps former campaign manager, questioned. Sununu made a similar claim last year.

Hillary Clinton defeated Trump by 2,732 votes in the state during last years presidential election.

Ray Buckley, chair of the New Hampshire Democratic party, accused Republicans of stoking fears of voter fraud, despite little evidence it exists, to justify restricting access to the franchise.

This is the latest in a long line of voter suppression efforts the Republican Party has engaged in around the country, Buckley said in a statement. Unfortunately, the myth of voter fraud has been spread by Republican leaders at every level, from President Trump to Governor Sununu and within the New Hampshire legislature, as a false pretext for restricting access to voting.

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The sun rises behind the U.S. Capitol Dome early in the morning before the ceremonial swearing-in of President Barack Obama during the 57th Presidential Inauguration in Washington, Monday, Jan. 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

The Capitol dome is silhouetted as the sun rises in Washington, Monday, Oct. 15, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The moon rises behind the U.S. Capitol Dome in Washington as Congress worked into the late evening, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012 to resolve the stalemate over the pending "fiscal cliff." (AP Photo/J. David Ake)

Dark clouds surround the Capitol dome on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, June 1, 2012, as severe weather comes to the area. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The U.S. Capitol dome is seen on December on 17, 2010 in Washington, D.C. (KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images)

The dome of the Capitol is reflected in a skylight of the Capitol Visitor's Center in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Storm clouds fill the sky over the U.S. Capitol Building, June 13, 2013 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Law enforcement officers line up on the lawn on the east side of the U.S. Capitol during the 32nd annual National Peace Officers' Memorial Service at the U.S. Capitol May 15, 2013 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Storm clouds fill the sky over the U.S. Capitol Building, June 13, 2013 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

A U.S. flag flies at half staff on the U.S. Capitol April 15, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The U.S. Capitol dome and Christmas tree are seen December 18, 2011 in Washington. (KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images)

A view of the U.S. Capitol's rotunda and a TV truck's satellite dish before the State of the Union address on Capitol Hill January 25, 2011 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)

A flag flies at half-mast over the dome of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., January 10, 2011, in honor of the six people killed in the shooting in Tucson, Arizona, that also severely wounded Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords. SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

A Christmas after being lit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, is pictured before the Capitol Hill dome in Washington on December 7, 2010. (JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

The Capitol Dome is seen during a rehearsal for the Inauguration Ceremony January 11, 2009. (PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)

The U.S. flag flies in front of the US Capitol dome on December 24, 2008 in Washington, D.C. (KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images)

The dome of the U.S. Capitol is seen at dusk on December 9, 2008 in Washington, D.C. (KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images)

The Capitol dome is seen silhouetted against the rising sun in Washington, DC, on February 1, 2010. (JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

The illuminated Capitol Dome is pictured late November 21, 2008 in Washington, D.C. (PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)

The dome of the U.S. Capitol is seen in Washington, D.C. on September 20, 2008. (KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images)

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Leaked audio of Hillary Clintons new book has surfaced in which the former Democratic presidential candidate has some choice words for Donald Trump.

Read: Thousands of Ecstasy Pills in the Shape of Trump's Head Seized by German Police

He was literally breathing down my neck," she said in the audio about how Trump followed her on stage during a 2016 debate. "My skin crawled. No matter where I walked he followed me closely, staring at me, making faces.

The audio excerpt from her new book, What Happened, which hits bookshelves Sept. 12, was leaked to MSNBC's Morning Joe.

In the excerpt, Clinton claims she considered turning on Trump.

Do you turn and look him in the eye and say loudly and clearly: 'Back up you creep! Get away from me. I know you love to intimidate women but you can't intimidate me. So back up!' she said. It certainly would have been better TV.

The leak comes as President Trump fired up his supporters with a fiery speech in Phoenix, Ariz., in which he took aim at the media once again for how his comments about the situation in Charlottesville, Va., were reported.

The very dishonest media  those people right up there with all the cameras, he said. They don't report the facts. Just like they don't want to report that I spoke out forcefully against hatred and violence.

The boisterous crowd turned and hurled insults at reporters in the arena.

Trump also mocked ABC's George Stephanopoulos' height when he called the former Bill Clinton aide Little George.

Read: President Trump Stares at Eclipse Without Glasses, Aide Yells 'Don't Look!'

Stephanopoulos, who stands 5-foot, 5 inches, made only a passing comment about the remark Wednesday morning on Good Morning America.

We learned last night that the president watches GMA, he said. He took off on me last night.

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A Trump supporter who appeared behind the president during the Arizona speech became a troublesome figure on social media after The Washington Post reported he is a former cult member who was acquitted of conspiracy to commit two murders in the 1990s.

During the rally in Phoenix, the man held a sign that promoted Blacks for Trump 2020.

He's a regular at Trump rallies, the president actually acknowledged him during a campaign stop last October.

Look that those signs, Blacks for Trump  I love those signs. Thank you, Trump said.

Watch: Where Were Ivanka and Melania During President's Trump Tower Press Conference?

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James Comey can now add professor to his resume.

Howard University has appointed the former FBI Director to serve as the Gwendolyn S. and Colbert I. King Endowed Chair in Public Policy for the 2017-2018 academic year. As part of this role, Comey will lead five lectures, although the topic has yet to be announced. He will also serve as the Opening Convocation keynote speaker, welcoming the incoming Freshman class on September 22.

[Comeys] expertise and understanding of the challenges we continue to face today will go a long way in sparking rich discussion and advancing meaningful debates across campus, Howard University President Wayne A.I. Frederick said in a statement.

According to the release from the University, Comey will forego the $100,000 compensation, instead donating it to a scholarship fund for the University dedicated to helping students from foster homes.

I am honored to hold the King Chair this school year. Howard has a longstanding history of being a vibrant academic community and the perfect place to have rich dialogue on many of the most pressing issues we face today, Comey said in the statement.

Comeys tenure at Howard University will coincide with the release of his widely anticipated book, which is expected to be published in the Spring of 2018.

President Donald Trump unexpectedly fired Comey on May 9, citing recommendations from the two top officials in the Department of Justice, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, based on his handling of the probe into Hillary Clintons e-mails.

The termination provoked outrage, particularly given the fact that Comey was overseeing the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the presidential campaign. Trump conceded later that week in an interview with NBC News Lester Holt that he had always intended to fire Comey and was frustrated with the investigation. Comey publicly testified about his relationship with Trump before the Senate in June.

Comeys replacement, Christopher Wray, was confirmed by the Senate and sworn into office earlier this month.
President Donald Trump speaks to the National Convention of the American Legion in Reno, Nevada, on Aug. 23, 2017. (Photo: Joshua Roberts/Reuters)

WASHINGTON  Another White House council has taken a hit after President Donald Trumps controversial response to a deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Seven members of the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, which includes Obama appointees, resigned this week, citing Trumps Charlottesville response and other issues.

Your actions have threatened the security of the homeland I took an oath to protect, the resigning members wrote in a letter sent Monday and obtained by HuffPost. They referenced the Aug. 15 press conference about infrastructure reform in which Trump suggested the alt-left was also guilty of instigating violence in Charlottesville.

You failed to denounce the intolerance and violence of hate groups, the letter read.

The resigning members include Cristin Dorgelo, former chief of staff at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy under President Barack Obama; DJ Patil, former White House chief data scientist; and Christy Goldfuss, former managing director at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. All three confirmed to HuffPost that they had resigned.

Daniel Tangherlini, a former administrator of the General Services Administration, was also among those who resigned, CQ Roll Call confirmed on Wednesday. Seven total people resigned, according to Dorgelo and Goldfuss.

A White House spokesperson did not respond to HuffPosts request for comment. But a White House statement published by Reuters on Tuesday said We can confirm that a number of members of the [council] who had been appointed under the previous administration have submitted their resignation.

The National Infrastructure Advisory Council is made up of presidential appointees from the private sector, academia and government, and was originally founded in 2001 under then-President George W. Bush. It advises the president on security, including cybersecurity, for critical infrastructure like water systems. There are now only 20 members listed on the councils website, down from 27 earlier today.

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The Trump administration has not shown itself to be adequately attentive to the pressing national security matters within the NIACs purview, or responsive to sound advice, the resigning council members wrote.

They also said the president has given insufficient attention to the growing threats to the cybersecurity of the critical systems upon which all Americans depend, including those impacting the systems supporting our democratic election process.

This is only the latest White House council to lose members in the wake of Trumps Charlottesville response. Multiple high-profile business leaders on two White House advisory boards resigned to protest his remarks, prompting Trump to officially disband the councils. Every member of the White House arts committee resigned. Trump ended plans for another advisory council on infrastructure last week.

A science envoy for the State Department also sent a resignation letter to Trump on Wednesday that contained a not-so-subtle secret message: IMPEACH.

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By Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said on Thursday he has sent recommendations from his review of over two dozen national monuments to President Donald Trump, indicating that some could be scaled back to allow for more hunting and fishing and economic development. The recommendations follow a 120-day study of 27 national monuments across the country, created by presidents since 1996, that Trump ordered in April as part of his broader effort to increase development on federal lands. The review has cheered energy, mining, ranching and timber advocates but has drawn widespread criticism and threats of lawsuits from conservation groups and the outdoor recreation industry. There were fears that Zinke would recommend the outright elimination of some of the monuments on the list, but on Thursday, speaking to the Associated Press in Billings, Montana, he said he will not recommend eliminating any. Zinke said in a statement that the recommendations would "provide a much needed change for the local communities who border and rely on these lands for hunting and fishing, economic development, traditional uses, and recreation." He did not specify which monuments he plans to recommend be scaled back. The Associated Press reported that he said he will recommend changing the boundaries for a "handful" of sites. Zinke already announced a recommendation to shrink the size of one site under review, the 1.35 million-acre Bears Ears National Monument in Utah created by former President Barack Obama late last year. In the last few weeks, Zinke has said that six monuments, including the Upper Missouri River Breaks in his home state of Montana, would be left intact. (http://tmsnrt.rs/2itKQFD) A White House official said Trump is reviewing Zinke's recommendations. Timing for the public release of the recommendations has not been set. Trump has argued that previous administrations abused their right to create monuments under the Antiquities Act of 1906 by putting huge areas, mainly in Western states, off limits to drilling, mining, logging, ranching and other activities without adequate input from locals. The 1906 Antiquities Act enables a president to declare certain areas of historic or scientific interest a national monument if "confined to the smallest area compatible with proper care and management of the objects to be protected." A designation as a national monument is permanent, and prohibits mining and sets stringent protections for ecosystems on the site. The designation offers more permanent protection than other federal designations like national wilderness or conservation areas. No president has ever revoked a previous designation but a few have reduced the size of some monuments. Conservation groups and the growing outdoor retail industry launched public campaigns over the last few weeks to urge Zinke to leave the monuments intact, and they vowed to challenge him in court. Any recommendation from Secretary Zinke to shrink national monuments is hypocritical at best and ruinous at worst," said Michael Brune, director of the Sierra Club. One Republican congressman from Utah, Rob Bishop, chairman of the House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee, said he has not yet seen the full report but was briefed on some aspects of it by Zinke. He said his committee will eventually take up legislation to carry out some of Zinke's recommendations and may attempt to reform the Antiquities Act. "If we dont do reform of the Antiquities Act, we will have failures in the future," he said. (Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Dan Grebler and Leslie Adler)
BOZEMAN, Montana  Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recommended Thursday that President Donald Trump weaken protections for a number of national monuments, but he also opted to keep secret specific details about the proposed changes.

Zinke told The Associated Press he is not asking for any monuments to be eliminated. Some, however, appear headed for drastic reductions.

In April, Trump sparked outrage when he signed a pair of executive orders threatening 27 national monuments  most famously, the 1.35 million-acre Bears Ears National Monument in southern Utah. Those orders tasked the departments of Interior and Commerce with reviewing recent land and marine national monuments designated or expanded under the Antiquities Act, which was signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906.

Bears Ears  named after a pair of buttes and home to thousands of Native American archaeological and cultural sites could be reduced by 88 percent, to just 160,000 acres, The New York Times reported Friday, citing people familiar with the report.

Zinke submitted his monuments review to the White House on Thursday, though the full report has not been made public. The White House told HuffPost the report wont be made available until a draft is finalized in the coming weeks.

The recommendations I sent to the president on national monuments will maintain federal ownership of all federal land and protect the land under federal environmental regulations, and also provide a much needed change for the local communities who border and rely on these lands for hunting and fishing, economic development, traditional uses, and recreation, Zinke said in a statement.

Zinke did not specify any monuments in the 1,045-word summary that was released; however, The Washington Post reported that the recommendation calls for shrinking at least three monuments, including Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, also in Utah, and Oregons Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. And the New York Times reported at least four monuments are on the chopping block.

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The report summary criticized the use of the Antiquities Act to preserve natural habitats and the historic sites such as World War II weapons testing grounds.

While early monument designations focused more on geological formations, archaeological ruins, and areas of historical interest, a more recent and broad interpretation of what constitutes an object of historic or scientific interest has been extended to include landscape areas, biodiversity, and view sheds, Zinke wrote in the summary. Moreover, features such as World War II desert bombing craters and remoteness have been included in justifying proclamations.

The briefing acknowledged that the vast majority of the 2.4 million public comments received by the Interior Department favored maintaining the current size of all monuments, demonstrating what the agency called a well-orchestrated national campaign organized by multiple organizations.

In an interview with AP in his home state of Montana  where he is traveling for an on-site briefing about ongoing wildfires  Zinke did not disclose specific boundary changes and dismissed the idea that the administration is looking to sell off Americas public lands.

Ive heard this narrative that somehow the land is going to be sold or transferred, Zinke told AP. That narrative is patently false and shameful. The land was public before and it will be public after.

In June, Zinke recommended Trump shrink Bears Ears boundaries. Instead of the large area designated by former President Barack Obama, it would have been more appropriate to identify and separate the areas that have significant objects to be protected, Zinke wrote in June.

A car drives down the Bicentennial Highway with the two bluffs known as the "Bears Ears" standing off in the distance in the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. (Photo: George Frey/Getty Images)

At the time, the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition  a group of five Native American tribes that came together to petition for monument status  condemned Zinkes recommendation as a slap in the face to the members of our Tribes and an affront to Indian people all across the country.

In a statement Thursday, Shaun Chapoose, a coalition leader and member of the Ute Indian Tribe Business Committee, said the tribes are firm in our dedication to protect the monument.

We had hoped that Secretary Zinke would listen to tribal voices and preserve Bears Ears National Monument, he said. Instead, he has chosen a fight, and we have no choice but to continue the fight for our ancestors and for contemporary uses of the lands by our Tribal members.

In a call with reporters Thursday, Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) said a few recent presidents have abused the Antiquities Act and it must be restored to its original purpose. The review, he said, is not about pushing energy development.

The truth is the debate is about the process and the rule of law, he said. Its about how we protect our resources, not if we protect them.

Zinke also previously announced he would recommend no changes be made to six national monuments: Idahos Craters of the Moon, Washingtons Hanford Reach, Colorados Canyons of the Ancients, Montanas Upper Missouri River Breaks, Arizonas Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument and Californias Sand to Snow.

Kate Kelly, public lands director at the Center for American Progress and a former senior adviser under Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, said in a statement Thursday that while the recommendations remain vague, whats clear is this action would be un-American, illegal and wrong.

Last week, the President was siding with white supremacists to prop up Confederate monuments and this week Secretary Zinke is presumably taking aim at national monuments that protect Native American sacred sites, she said. As this recommendation heads to the White House, some of the Presidents advisors are surely wishing they could just stick the recommendations in the trash can and forget the President ever asked for them.

Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities, said Thursdays recommendations cement [Zinkes] legacy as the most anti-park Interior Secretary in history.

If President Trump takes any action to erase national monument acreage, he will trigger a court battle that will drag on for years. Clearly the outcome of this review was rigged from the beginning, otherwise the Trump administration would have listened to the 2.7 million Americans who told them to leave our parks the way they are.

Several legal scholars have concluded Congress, not the president, has the sole legal power to abolish, shrink or otherwise weaken national monuments.

In his report summary, Zinke noted that past presidents have modified the size of monuments 18 times and said Trump was correct in ordering him to review the designations.

This is far from the first time an examination of scope of monuments has been conducted, he wrote. [T]here is no doubt that President Trump has the authority to review and consider recommendations to modify or add a monument.

The interior secretary visited just eight monuments as part of his sweeping review, including taking a virtual tour of Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument.

Secretary Zinke promised a rigorous analysis of national monuments, but what the American public got was a sham review and a foreign vacation, Greg Zimmerman, deputy director of the Center for Western Priorities, said in a statement last week, referring to Zinke and his wifes recent trip to the Mediterranean. If he bothered to listen, Secretary Zinke would have found that national monuments are cornerstones of Western economies, that they protect exceptional and unique lands, and, most of all, that virtually no Americans support eliminating national monuments.

An analysis by the Center for Western Priorities of statements submitted during a public comment period showed overwhelming public support for Americas national monuments.

Sixteen presidents have used the 1906 Antiquities Act to designate 157 monuments; however, no president has ever tried to roll back a designation.

Zinke insisted early on that there is no predetermined outcome on any monument. His and Trumps actions and comments, however, suggested otherwise. As the president laid out in his remarks during an April 26 signing ceremony, hes looking to end another egregious abuse of federal power, put states back in charge and open up now-protected areas to tremendously positive things. That same month, Zinke said the Antiquities Act has become a tool of political advocacy rather than public interest.

The administrations claims about the Antiquities Act being abused appear unfounded. An April press release from the Interior Department stated: Since the 1900s, when the [Antiquities] Act was first used, the average size of national monuments exploded from an average of 422 acres per monument. Now its not uncommon for a monument to be more than a million acres.

The Interior Department did not respond to HuffPosts requests seeking clarification on the 422-acre figure, which appears to be cherry-picked. In 1908, two years after the Antiquities Act became law, Roosevelt  of whom Zinke is an unapologetic admirer and disciple  designated more than 800,000 acres of the Grand Canyon as a national monument. Only a few Obama-era land monuments are larger. Roosevelt also designated the 20,629-acre Chaco Canyon National Monument and the 610,000-acre Mount Olympus National Monument.

Republican presidents Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover both designated monuments of over a million acres. Coolidge set aside Alaskas Glacier Bay in 1925, and Hoover set aside Californias Death Valley in 1933.

This story has been updated with information from the release of the report summary.

Also on HuffPost

Basin and Range National Monument, Nevada

Bears Ears National Monument, Utah

Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, California

Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, Colorado

Carrizo Plain National Monument, California

Cascade Siskiyou National Monument, Oregon

Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho

Giant Sequoia National Monument, California

Gold Butte National Monument, Nevada

Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, Arizona

Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, Utah

Hanford Reach National Monument, Washington

Ironwood Forest National Monument, Arizona

Mojave Trails National Monument, California

Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, New Mexico

Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, New Mexico

Sand to Snow National Monument, California

San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, California

Sonoran Desert National Monument, Arizona

Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, Montana

Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona

Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, Maine

Marianas Trench Marine National Monument, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands/Pacific Ocean

Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, Atlantic Ocean

Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, Pacific Ocean

Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, Hawaii/Pacific Ocean

Rose Atoll Marine National Monument, American Samoa/Pacific Ocean

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Authorities confirmed Wednesday that a headless body found off the coast of Denmark belonged to missing journalist Kim Wall. Wall, 30, was last seen boarding a submarine with Danish inventor Peter Madsen Aug. 10 as part of a story she was writing.

Copenhagen Police said they confirmed the torso belonged to Wall through DNA testing. Walls body was weighted down with a piece of metal and had marks on it that appeared to show someone had attempted to get the air out of the body so it wouldnt float, according to BBC News. Her arms, legs and head had been deliberately cut off, police said.

Investigators declined to say what Walls cause of death was but noted they were still carrying out forensic testing to determine exactly what happened.

11138662_10155722477740591_90598285598089249_n

Photo: Facebook/Kim Wall

The submarine sank shortly after Wall was reported missing. Madsen initially told police she had left the submarine in Copenhagen where he dropped her off. He later changed his story and said he dumped Walls body into the sea after she died in an accident. Traces of blood were found inside the submarine, according to police. Madsen remained held on charges of involuntary manslaughter. He pleaded not guilty during a hearing earlier in the month.

It took about 30 seconds for Nautilus to sink and I couldnt close any hatches or anything, Madsen said in an interview with Danish television station TV2. But I guess that was pretty good because I otherwise still would have been down there.

Madsen told reporters that a curse lies over Nautilus.

That curse is me, he reportedly told Danish tabloid BT. There will not be calm around Nautilus as long as I exist.

Police said finding the body amounted to a major breakthrough in the investigation and that they would continue to search for other parts of her body. Madsens lawyer, however, said finding the body did not change the fact that Walls death was an accident.

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It doesnt change my clients explanation that an accident happened, Betina Hald Engmark reportedly told BT. No matter what, we find it very positive that she has been found now.

Wall, a freelance journalist from Sweden, had previously written for the New York Times, the South China Morning Post, the Guardian and other publications.

During the horrendous days since Kim disappeared, we have received countless examples of how loved and appreciated she was, as a person and as a friend, as well as a professional journalist, her mother, Ingrid Wall, said in a statement on Facebook. From all corners of the world we have received testimony to how she was able to be a person who made a difference.

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Photo credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Ian Dudley

From Popular Mechanics

The U.S. Air Force has awarded contracts to Northrop Grumman and Boeing to build a new long-range intercontinental ballistic missile. This new missile, called the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD), will replace the 45 year old Minuteman III.

America's strategic nuclear arsenal is built on a "triad" model-nuclear warheads are distributed among a force of bombers, ballistic missile submarines, and intercontinental ballistic missiles, each with their advantages and disadvantages. Bombers are slow but can be retasked, have a "man in the loop," and can be recalled if necessary. Ballistic missile submarines launch missiles that are less accurate but nearly undetectable when submerged. Finally, land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), sitting in reinforced underground concrete silos, carry larger warheads and are highly accurate, capable of taking out enemy ICBMs in their own silos if necessary.

America's current ICBM is the LGM-30 Minuteman III, and about 400 of them sit below ground in silos scattered across the Midwest. Each Minuteman has one, two, or three thermonuclear warheads, each with an explosive yield of 350 to 475 kilotons. For reference, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima that killed up to 126,000 people had a yield of just around 15 kilotons. With an estimated range of 8,100 miles (the exact range is classified), the Minutemen III is accurate enough to place fifty percent of its warheads within 200 yards of their targets.

The Minuteman III was introduced in the 1970s, outlasting even the famous M-X "Peacekeeper" missile. While the Minuteman III has received a steady stream of upgrades over the years, the Air Force says Minuteman was originally designed with only a 20-year lifespan and the time for replacement is now, though the new missiles won't enter service until the 2030s.

So what do we know about the GBSD? Very little. The Department of Defense Request for Proposal for the missile program was top secret, with only two employees of companies bidding on it allowed to access the government request online and distribute to to the rest of their teams-and they needed secret clearances.

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According to Northrop Grumman literature, GBSD will involve a total overhaul of the entire ICBM system, including new missiles, new launch control buildings, and the logistical and communications infrastructure that supports the ICBM fleet. As the General Accounting Office pointed out in 2016, the Minuteman III fleet still requires 8-inch floppy disks to operate.

But not everything in the ICBM fleet will be replaced. The missile warheads containing the actual thermonuclear explosives will be recycled from the Minuteman III, as will the launch silos.

In terms of performance, GBSD will likely be nearly identical to the Minuteman III. The 8,100 mile range of the Minuteman III ensures the U.S. can strike any nuclear-armed adversary in the northern hemisphere, and the U.S. has no nuclear enemies in the southern hemisphere. Treaty obligations limit the number of warheads each U.S. missile can carry, so there's no need to make the missile bigger.

Instead, the focus on GBSD will on making the missiles upgradeable and reliable. The Air Force wants the new missile to remain in service until 2075, and making it future-friendly, with open architecture engineering that allows easy component upgrades is essential to keeping them in service for an estimated 45 years. The missiles will constantly be on alert, and need a high level of reliability, especially if nuclear disarmament doesn't quite work out.

The Congressional Research Service, in its breakdown of costs for the GBSD, says the Air Force is planning to purchase around 642 missiles, with 450 missiles in the same silos that keep today's Minuteman IIIs warm. The remaining 192 missiles would be used for test flights, kept in storage as replacements, and periodically launched as a spot-check to ensure the viability of the overall force.

Photo credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Jason Wiese

As you'd expect, 642 nuclear missiles doesn't come cheap. The Air Force's estimate for the entire program, from support buildings to the missiles themselves, is $63 billion, while the Pentagon's Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office has estimated $85 billion. The latter number is about one-seventh of the entire defense budget for 2016, spread out over 20 years. As much as that is, Boeing claims a new missile solution is actually cheaper than continuing to support the existing Minuteman III force.

But the real question is if the Air Force even needs these weapons. Arguably, advances in submarine-launched ballistic missile technology have made them the equal of land-based missiles, but submarine launched missiles are not available to launch 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within minutes of a red alert. Russia has been shifting more of its own ICBMs to a truck transporter-based launch mode, with Moscow's Topol-M and Yars missiles capable of scattering across Russia's vast wilderness in roving, heavily armed convoys. Against constantly moving targets, bombers might be a better choice.

In the meantime, Northrop Grumman and Boeing each have been awarded just under $350 million to churn out Technology Maturation and Risk Reduction (TMRR) studies before the Air Force picks a single winner.

For now, a new ICBM is in America's future.

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The announcement this week that U.S. diplomatic missions in Russia will limit issuance of nonimmigrant visas to Russian citizens was an understandable response to the Russian governments decision to cut their staff in the country by more than half. It was also precisely the wrong move, representative of the sort of self-defeating myopia that has defined Americas Russia policy since the start of Cold War 2.0. Lets be clear: The Kremlin actually benefits when travel to America is difficult for Russians; conversely, the United States gains through more open contact.

First of all, by making the announcement on visas so publicly and with so much fanfare  presumably in an attempt to shame Moscow  Washington has handed the Kremlin a useful propaganda win.

The new limits on visas are inconvenient but not absolute: The three consulates in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, and Vladivostok will no longer be issuing visas, but screening interviews will still take place in Moscow after a short break. Waiting times are likely to be longer but not insurmountable.

However, this kind of nuance has not featured in domestic Russian media coverage of the announcement. Instead, this is already being spun as a blow against ordinary Russians, a message that America doesnt like Russians and doesnt want them visiting its shores. The usual rent-a-mob protest was arranged outside the U.S. Embassy on Tuesday, at which clearly professionally painted cars with Russian tricolors also bore the rather quaint slogan we treat sanctions with contempt. (It sounds a little better in Russian but not much.)

Meanwhile, wholly invented tales of massive lines outside the embassy in Moscow made the rounds on both social media and regular news outlets; the RIA Novosti news agency even recycled a photo of a vigil for Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington, which it claimed depicted crowds waiting hours for visas. For a government that seems increasingly to derive its legitimacy by telling Russians how much the rest of the world belittles and assails them, a chance to deploy this sort of spin was handy indeed.

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But propaganda aside, placing any additional restrictions on Russians who wish to visit the United States is a mistake. By doing so, America is voluntarily giving up one of the best tools it has in its ongoing standoff with Moscow.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed that the visa restrictions were an attempt to stir up discontent among Russian citizens about the actions of the Russian authorities. Lavrovs intention was to portray Washingtons actions as an attack on the Russian state  but in doing so, he seemed to acknowledge that Russians are desperate for visas to travel to the United States. And on this last point he probably isnt wrong. Whatever the geopolitical rivalries, and the state of the bizarre relationship between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, Russians do enjoy visiting America. The number of Russians visiting the United States peaked at 343,000 in 2014, before the current crisis, declining to 253,000 last year  but that likely was as much a consequence of the fall in real incomes in Russia as any political backlash. Indeed, Russians actually tend to like Americans, even while they regard the United States as a geopolitical rival. According to the latest Pew Research Center polls, they have a higher opinion of the United States than do the Dutch, Spanish, and Germans.

So why isnt Washington exploiting this soft-power advantage, rather than throwing it away in a fit of pique or, if Lavrov has it right, a moonshot attempt to weaken the Russian regime? Rather than succumbing to the temptation to fight Russian disinformation with propaganda of our own, let us show, not tell. The more Russians travel to the West, the less dependent on Putins propaganda they are to tell them what its like. It doesnt necessarily make them committed to Western values  but it does make the crass caricatures peddled on Russian television less plausible and more laughable.

From my own experience teaching well-traveled Russian graduate students at MGIMO, the Russian Foreign Ministrys own university, those experiences matter. These students, in the main, are still patriotic Russians, and I have no doubt that those who enter foreign service will fiercely champion the Kremlins line. But the point is that they know. They know the difference between the official spin and the reality; they know that Europe is not a battlefield where hordes of Muslim migrants ravage at will; that the United States is not in the grip of a no-holds-barred race war; and all the rest of the often-bizarre nonsense that is the stock in trade of the domestic propaganda machine. If anything, we should be making it easier for Russians to travel, study, and trade in the West, especially those with a degree of flexibility of thought and interest.

Yet according to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, those hardest-hit by the new visa limits will not be the rich (who, in any case, largely live in or near Moscow)  nor package tour groups, whose paperwork is handled by agencies  but precisely the independent travelers eager to see the United States for themselves and to study and work there. Students, for example, were already finding themselves unable to attend planned courses because of delays, even before the latest restrictions.

These very Russians can most effectively neuter the Kremlins propaganda about the big, bad USA  one of late Putinisms basic sources of legitimacy  by not believing it in the first place. It is an own goal of scandalous proportions for America to turn them away.

And if this still sounds too touchy-feely for you, consider a more hard-nosed argument. Russia remains something of a human intelligence hard target for Western intelligence agencies because the scale of Russian security activity and the constraints on diplomatic travel make it difficult to recruit sources. Russians visiting and studying in the West  especially the more affluent middle class and the smart young students  are a great target population to contact and perhaps even recruit. They may not rise to be the very top of the system  that is likely to be colonized by the sons and daughters of todays elite  but sometimes it is just as useful to recruit the VIPs personal assistant, research assistant, or understudy. The Russians know this and keep close tabs on their compatriots who visit the West. But here again, the more of them who come, the harder it is for Moscow to monitor them all.

So what has the United States achieved with this decision? Lets be honest: The Russians we really need to worry about  the oligarchs, the spies, the fixers, the mobsters  can get themselves to America anyway. Its the rest who ought to be encouraged and cultivated; this week, the Trump administration did the exact opposite.

The United States has decided that the answer to Putins aggression should be the enforced North Koreanization of Russia. But what if the better response is to befriend this system to death?

Image credit: MAX VETROV/AFP/Getty Images
There are plenty of people my lovely wife Cassandra rants against  some of whom dont even live in our house. But the ones who get it worst are gun owners. Having grown up in a rural, gun-loving town, she finds the preppers and vigilantes to be self-heroizing macho bullies who, now that I type this sentence, I am worried shes secretly attracted to.

Still, it was surprising that the week Donald Trump won the election, an event you probably know about because he is still talking about it, Cassandra said she was thinking about getting a gun. She wanted to protect herself from the people who had guns to protect themselves from people who wanted to take their guns, such as her. She is preparing for a civil war that deconstructionist philosophers dream of.

Turns out lots of women feel this way. Several of Cassandras liberal friends have been talking about going to a gun range. Last February former National Guard member Marchelle Tigner started a gun course for women near Atlanta; since then shes been asked to teach more than 700 women in 11 other cities. Tigner suggested that I make the shooting experience as soothing as possible for Cassandra, spending a lot of time talking first. Some men get so excited about shooting that the patience goes out the window, she explained, because theyre so excited about the bang. I wasnt at all sure we were still talking about guns.

Cassandra asked me to take her to a shooting range for her birthday this year, so I called my friend Chris Cognac, who co-founded the international Coffee with a Cop program, for suggestions. Instead, Cognac invited us to the range at his station.

Cassandra put on a pair of sensible ankle booties and shiny black tights and banded her hair into a ponytail because there are no female-shooter role models outside of action movies. We arrived at the shockingly nice Hawthorne police station, not far from our house in Los Angeles, where Cognac and another officer took us downstairs to their huge shooting range. I asked if they were going to do a background check on us, but Cognac said it was unnecessary because he knew me. This seemed weird since he didnt know Cassandra, and they were giving a gun  in the middle of a police station  to a woman who wanted to learn to shoot because she opposed the current government. Meanwhile, I had to present a passport and drivers license, get fingerprinted and be interviewed just to be able to leave my shoes on at airport security.

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Cassandra couldnt believe how many shells were on the floor of the range and found the Beretta 92FS way bigger than the gun of her dreams. I pictured a small handgun  a pink one I could put in my purse, she said. After a few rounds, the officers offered her a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun. The kickback freaked her out, and the officers got closer, giving firm instructions to point at the target and take your finger off the trigger after firing, during which she was yelling, Jesus! and Whoa!

I was worried, Cognac told me. I just hoped that she didnt drop it. Thats why we only gave her three bullets. She put the gun down and went to shake out her arms, which were shaking on their own. I thought Id get a rush of adrenaline and it would be fun, she said. But it was very scary. It overrode everything else. She shot one slug out of the Mossberg and turned down the fully automatic Colt AR-15.

The officers were happy to see that we realized that marksmanship is so hard, even an expert cant shoot a gun out of someones hand. I was happy to learn that if Cassandra somehow did get a gun, she could probably never hit me.

On the drive home, Cassandra said shed like to go to a shooting range again, this time with a female instructor and using only a handgun. When I asked if she was still considering keeping a gun in the house, which I am firmly against, she said, I dont want you to say in the story whether or not I have a gun in the house. Then, a second later, she added, Maybe I do have a gun in the house, and Im hiding it from you. And then: I have a gun in the house, Joel. Im telling you right now, I have a gun in the house.

I am not sure I can survive this presidency. Literally.

Related:
The embattled wife of U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has issued an apology after she fired at a social media commenter who chastised her for flaunting her expensive taste.

Read: Brags to Riches: Treasury Secretary's Wife Blasted After Tagging Designer Duds on Instagram

"I apologize for my post on social media yesterday as well as my response. It was inappropriate and highly insensitive," Louise Linton said in a statement her publicist sent to CNN Wednesday.

In Mondays post, Linton posted a photo of herself stepping off a government airplane with her husband. She tagged her high-end wardrobe, which included a $10,000 Hermes Birkin handbag, Hermes scarf, Roland Mouret pants, Tom Ford sunglasses, and Valentino shoes.

The comments section erupted with criticism, but one appeared to really set her off.

After a mom of three from Oregon wrote, Glad we could pay for your little getaway #deplorable, Linton fired back with a lengthy reply.

Lololol. You're adorably out of touch, she wrote. Thanks for the passive aggressive nasty comment. Go chill out and watch the new game of thrones. It's fab!

Linton deleted the post and made her Instagram page private.

The Treasury Department says Mnuchin reimbursed the government for his wife's trip to Kentucky.

The news of her apology comes as footage has emerged of the Scottish-born actress and former model strutting her stuff down the runway in 2010. In the video, she is seen getting cheeky with a male model during Dressed to Kilt, a charity fashion show.

Interestingly, among the audience members at the event were Donald Trump and wife Melania, who were sitting next to screen icon Sean Connery.

Long before Linton found herself embroiled in a social media firestorm for flaunting her wealth, she was an actress and swimsuit model.

Read: President Trump Stares at Eclipse Without Glasses, Aide Yells 'Don't Look!'

She made her debut on prime time television back in 2007, on an episode of CSI: New York. Ironically, her character, Simone DeLille, was dressed as Marie Antoinette at a costume party on the show.

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Meanwhile, some high-end designers are distancing themselves from Louise and the Instagram controversy.

"Louise Linton did not receive any gifted merchandise, compensation or loans from Valentino," a spokesman for the Italian fashion giant said.

Watch: Crasher in Chief! President Trump Surprises Wedding Party During Bedminster Trip

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Luna Younger, who was murdered in November 2016

A man has been jailed for life after he murdered his five-year-old stepdaughter when she asked for food.

Thomas McClellan stabbed Luna Younger multiple times in the chest after she woke him from a nap and said she was hungry, US media reported.

He had tried to make her leave the room but she sat on the floor, the Lansing State Journal reported.

McClellan, 25, of Holt, Michigan, told a detective: "It tipped me over the edge."

He wrapped the girl's body in blankets, doused it with vodka and set it alight, according to the NY Post said.

McClellan had married Luna's mother, Victoria King, a few months earlier, and the pair had argued on the day of the killing in November last year.

Thomas McClellan has been charged with murder and child abuse (YouTube)

Ms King was at work when the murder took place.

McClellan was jailed for life without the possibility of parole on Wednesday.

Paula McKay, speaking on behalf of Luna's family, told the Journal: "There exists a sadness like none we have ever known. A sadness at the loss of so many hopes and dreams."
Ahead of an official debut in Frankfurt, Ferrari on Wednesday offered the motoring press and supercar fans alike the first glimpse of the Portofino, a much more focused and aggressive drop-top that will replace the California T when it goes on sale at the end of this year.

Say "goodbye" to the Ferrari California and "hello" to the Ferrari Portofino. After nine years in production, Ferrari is ditching its entry-level drop-top boulevard cruiser in favor of a model it claims is completely new from the ground up save for the powerplant which, though retuned to output a very impressive 600hp, is derived from the V8 twin-turbo that currently powers the California.

Though hugely popular with those that wanted a Ferrari tame enough for regular and secure use (thanks to its retractable hard top, 2+2 seating arrangement and comparatively generous trunk space), the California has always been a difficult car in Ferrari's lineup and was originally conceived as a Maserati. However, as the chassis and engine became more and more complex, the company decided it didn't fit the Maserati brand and it became a Prancing Horse instead.

To emphasize that the new car is a genuine Ferrari in terms of road-holding behavior, the company has chosen to give it a new name - Portofino (the name of an Italian village) that it hopes will further highlight the car's European rather than US-focused driving and handling characteristics.

When the car is officially unveiled at the Frankfurt motor show in September, Ferrari will be more forthcoming with all of the car's performance data. However, it has already confirmed that as well as having significantly more horsepower, a faster 0-100km/h time (just 3.5 seconds) and a 199mph top speed, the car is much lighter and stiffer, has a clever electronic rear differential and the sort of suspension setup found in its much more ferocious 488 GTB. All of which is enough for Ferrari to claim that when storage space, seating and its folding hard top are all taken into consideration alongside engine output, the Portofino is the most powerful vehicle of its kind on sale anywhere today.
Riley Dosh, 22, of St. Paul, Minn., became the first openly transgender graduate of West Point in May. She dreamed of becoming an air defense artillery officer shooting down intercontinental ballistic missiles to defend the country she loves.

That was the dream job with the Army. Thats what I wanted to do, she told Yahoo News.

Now it seems that all her military training has been for naught. Faced with President Trumps impending ban, which would prevent transgender people from serving in the armed forces in any capacity, shes thinking about becoming a math teacher or perhaps a data analyst. On her graduation, she received her diploma and an honorable discharge.

In the coming days, as the Wall Street Journal first reported, the Pentagon will receive a two-and-a-half page memo with instructions for executing the White Houses new policy: Deny applications from transgender people, stop paying for current transgender service members medical treatment and consider deployability when deciding whether to remove current members from the military. According to the report, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will be given six months to prepare before fully implementing the administrations ban.

Harper Jean Tobin, the director of policy for the National Center for Transgender Equality, told Yahoo News its striking that Trump is expected to roll out his administrations rules for banning transgender people from the military mere days after he declared that theres no room for prejudice, no place for bigotry in the armed forces during his speech at the Fort Myer Army base Tuesday night.

Riley Dosh graduated from the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., in May 2017. (Photos: Riley Dosh)

Hes doubling down on discrimination by pressing forward with this ban, Tobin said. Its an insult to service members and an attack on the thousands of trained and capable service members and veterans. Its also unconstitutional to service out these service members who are doing their jobs in this way.

Trumps policy essentially reverses former President Barack Obamas directive to lift a ban on transgender service members. Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced in June 2016 that the policy would be phased in over a one-year period.

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Dosh did not start identifying as transgender until her junior year. She came out to a few close friends before coming out publicly just before the second semester of her senior year. She understood the Obama-era policy to apply to cadets.

I waited because really there was fear that I wouldnt be allowed to commission, Dosh said. At the time I felt safe and that I would be allowed to and I wanted my peers to remember me for who I really am before we split ways.

But three weeks before graduating, Dosh was told she would not receive a commission because Army brass didnt feel it would be appropriate while the transgender policy was under review.

Dosh was diagnosed with gender dysphoria while studying at West Point. (Photo: Riley Dosh)

Ive been looking for work ever since, she said. I did not transition at all while at West Point. The only reason I was flagged as being transgender is because I had a diagnosis of gender dysphoria. Thats it. That diagnosis is the only thing that made me different from my peers. I met all other standards as male.

Alaina Kupec, 48, who is from Raleigh, N.C., but now lives in Orange, N.J., is a transgender Navy veteran who did not start transitioning until she completed active duty. She said its shocking that the military could adopt a tolerant policy that convinces transgender people that they can feel comfortable serving openly and then reverse it after they out themselves.

Youve encouraged people to serve openly and now youre punishing them for doing so, she told Yahoo News. Youve leaving them in a situation where when they put their head to rest tonight, wherever they are around the world, they dont know what their career has in store for them. Thats just an abdication in leadership on the part of the White House to not think about the impacts on those people.

She always knew how she felt inside but didnt know how to put it into words and had no idea that others felt the same. It wasnt until she got her first home computer in 1993 while serving as an intelligence officer, with a clearance for top secret and above, that she learned about gender dysphoria: it was both liberating and sobering.

What it meant was that I could no longer move forward and serve my country because with my clearance I was subjected to polygraph tests, Kupec said. You would be asked questions like Is there anything that could be used to blackmail you? Knowing this about myself, how I felt inside, I couldnt honestly answer that question.

Alaina Kupec poses for a picture aboard the USS George Washington in the Mediterranean Sea in 1994. (Photo: Alaina Kupec)

Because of her gender identity and the militarys policy at the time, she decided to move back into private life in 1995 after a successful four-year career in the Navy. She said she was awarded ground officer of the year for her F/A-18 squadron, which was a first for an intelligence officer, and two achievement medals for leadership.

For me, it was difficult having to choose between what I felt myself to be inside and what I wanted to do professionally, she said. When progress started being made around this very topic, it made me so grateful that the country was moving to a place where your gender identity didnt matter. What should matter is your ability to do the job.

As with other important policy proposals, Trump used Twitter to announce his decision to ban transgender people from the military. On July 26, he argued that the military could not be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption of transgender people.

The announcement was immediately denounced by the LGBT community. Navy SEAL veteran Kristin Beck told Yahoo News at the time that Trump was taking liberty away from the very people who secure his.

The Palm Center, a public policy think tank at the University of California, Santa Barbara, recently published a study showing that discharging transgender troops would cost the military around $960 million. The researchers multiplied the number of current transgender service members (12,800) by the average per-person cost of recruiting and training replacements ($75,000).

Initially, Dosh enrolled in West Point because she wanted the kind of self-discipline that you dont learn anywhere else. As time went on, however, she met people from all across the United States and took on the added motivation of loving America and wanting to defend it. Shes not surprised with the Trump administrations ban but considers the reasons for it frankly stupid.

Really its about bigotry at the end of the day, she said. And everyone knows it.

Dosh and fellow cadets from the class of 2017 at West Point. (Photo: Riley Dosh)

Read more from Yahoo News:
A Florida mother is facing charges after cops say she left her two young kids in a hot car while she drank in a bar.

Larissa Rivera of Kissimmee was arrested Sunday after cops responded to a 911 caller who reported a mother intoxicated in an Orlando bar while her kids sat outside in a car.

Read: Mother Left 11-Week-Old Baby in Her Car While She Shopped, Sipped Lemonade: Cops

"She is drunk  the mother is drunk," the caller said.

Police arrived soon after.

"I opened the driver side rear passenger door and was greeted with a little girl (approximately 5 years of age) crying hysterically," an officer wrote in an arrest report obtained by WKMG. "She quickly calmed down once fresh air came upon her."

A boy, who police believe is about 3 years old, was also in the vehicle, according to the affidavit.

Both children were sweating and hot to the touch, police said. The air conditioning was not on, and the children did not have water.

While the 911 caller told the dispatcher the children had been left alone for an hour, Rivera reportedly claimed it was closer to a half hour.

Rivera told WKMG she'd left the air conditioner on and the car running after she and her children ate and she put them in the car to sleep. She said she checked on them every so often and turned off the car when they complained of being cold.

Read: 3-Year-Old Died After Being Left in Day Care Van All Day, Employee Facing Charges: Police

The officer said Rivera smelled of alcohol and repeated herself as she was questioned.

She was arrested and charged with two counts of leaving a child unattended in a motor vehicle.

Watch: Baby Dies in Hot Car While Mom Gets Hair Done: Cops

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The mysterious disappearance of Natalee Holloway from Aruba 12 years ago has once again captured the nations attention after her father came forward with a possible new break in the case. Dave Holloway revealed that a private investigation found human remains at an undisclosed location in Aruba.

The remains were sent for DNA testing to determine whether they belonged to Natalee. Dave Holloway called the remains the most credible lead hes followed in the past 12 years. Aruba Public Prosecutor Dorean Kardol, however, said there was no truth in the findings revealed by her father.

During an investigation by police in the area indicated by Mr. Holloway, we found remains, but they were found to be from animals,Kardol told HuffPost Friday.

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Photo: Facebook/Natalee Holloway Resource Center

Natalees father, on the other hand, explicitly said during a television appearance last week that the remains had been determined to be human. He appeared the Today show to discuss the debut of his new television show The Disappearance of Natalee Holloway.

Dave Holloway said the remains were the result of an 18-month investigation conducted by him and TJ Ward, a private investigator. But Kardol said that even if they were determined to be Natalees, the removal of the remains would be an insurmountable legal hurdle.

If we wanted to take the case to court, we would be in trouble because we could not use that evidence, Kardol told HuffPost, noting that tampering with evidence would render prosecution essentially ineffective.

Natalees father, however, stood by his claim that the remains were human.

They are in the testing process, he told HuffPost. Its a reputable lab and thats all I can tell you at this point.

Dave Holloway also told HuffPost that Ward had evidence and a report from the lab and that the prosecutors statement was misleading. A spokesperson for the FBI told the publication they had been unable to find any record of human remains being brought to the United States from Aruba in connection with Natalees disappearance.

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Natalee, 18 at the time of her disappearance, was officially declared dead in 2012. Her body was never recovered. Joran van der Sloot, who is serving a 28-year-prison sentence in Peru for a separate murder, remains the primary suspect in the case.

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Photo: Reuters

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North Carolina Republicans gave themselves a large and durable advantage in proposed state districts after a federal court forced them to redraw the electoral map, according to a new analysis released Tuesday.

The Campaign Legal Center analyzed the recently proposed maps using the efficiency gap, a mathematical method growing in popularity that measures the votes each party wastes in an election. The method has gained considerable attention because a federal court in part considered it when striking down Wisconsins state map on partisan grounds. The Campaign Legal Center is representing the plaintiffs challenging the maps in the appeal of that case, which the Supreme Court will hear in October.

When an efficiency gap is greater than 7 percent, experts say, it is extremely likely the majority will maintain its majority. The CLC analysis shows that in North Carolina, where Republicans have supermajorities in both legislative chambers, the expected efficiency gap for the proposed state House and Senate maps is just under 12 percent for each.

Assuming a statewide uniform swing in the vote, in order for there to be a Republican majority in the House, Republicans will only need a statewide vote of 45.7 percent. By contrast, Democrats would need 54.8 percent of the vote to get a majority in the House. This is asymmetrical, and evidences a severe bias in favor of Republican voters, Ruth Greenwood, voting rights counsel at the Campaign Legal Center, wrote in the analysis.

Assuming the same conditions in the Senate, Republicans would need just 46.15 percent of the statewide vote to retain a majority, while Democrats would need a 55.15 percent share.

By historical standards, these are extraordinarily large figures, revealing an enormous Republican edge, Greenwood wrote in the memo, which she submitted to lawmakers charged with creating the new maps. Those lawmakers were holding public hearings on the maps across the state on Tuesday.

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Even if Democrats perform better than expected  with up to 5 percentage points more of the vote  the efficiency gap increases in Republicans favor in the proposed House and Senate plans. That result shows the power of gerrymandering: Even though Democrats would be getting more votes, they wouldnt be able to translate them into more elected lawmakers.

The Supreme Court has never struck down a legislative map on partisan grounds, leading to intense interest in the Wisconsin case and the efficiency gap.

The North Carolina analysis shows that lawyers can use data provided by the state to predict a large efficiency gap that signals a map will be unfair to voters, Greenwood said.

A federal court forced North Carolina lawmakers to redraw its maps because they took race into account too much. But understanding the political advantage that a map gives one party is linked to understanding how gerrymandering dilutes the influence of racial groups, Greenwood told HuffPost.

Race and politics are intertwined in North Carolina because to some extent theres racially polarized voting, she said. Its not OK, when a legislature has been found to violate one part of the Constitution, for them to introduce a remedy plan that violates a different part of the Constitution. They should have to have legal plans in total.

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Rex Tillerson has met with the Association of Southeast Asia Nations to discuss the threat from Pyongyang: AP

Shortly after Donald Trump claimed North Korea was starting to respect us, the regime shot back by criticising the President's Twitter habits.

In a post published by the state-run KCNA news agency, the North Korean government accused Mr Trump of posting "weird articles of his ego-driven thoughts in his Twitter" and "spout[ing] rubbish to make his assistants have a hard time.

Mr Trump has tweeted numerous times about North Korea, at one point admonishing them for behaving very badly.

North Korea has just launched another missile, the President tweeted in July. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?

North Korea would later go on to test yet another missile, and eventually develop the capacity to fit nuclear warheads onto intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of hitting the US.

In August, the regime threatened to cover the US territory of Guam in "enveloping fire, leading to a tense standoff between the two countries. Pyongyang later retracted its threat on Guam, but warned that the decision could change "if the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions.

At a campaign rally on Tuesday, Mr Trump told supporters that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is "starting to respect us.

I respect that fact very much. Respect that fact, Mr Trump said. And maybe, probably not, but maybe something positive can come about.

While both Mr Trump and his Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, seemed to signal that the conflict was dwindling this week, Pyongyang was unrepentant in its latest KCNA release.

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

"The US should not forget that their opponent is armed with nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles," it said, warning the US to cease joint military drills with South Korea.

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"This drill is too radical and dangerous to wrap this precarious action as 'yearly' and 'defensive,'" it added.

The report also critiqued South Korea's defence minister as a "running dog of the US" who is "pinning hope on that mad guy  an allusion to Mr Trump.

The US President, it said, spouted rubbish that if a war breaks out, it would be on the Korean peninsula, and if thousands of people die, they would be only Koreans and Americans may sleep a sound sleep.
North Korean state media released new images on Wednesday, and one photo appears to show new missile designs hanging on the wall.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reportedly toured the nation's Chemical Material Institute of the Academy of Defense Science on Wednesday, and one photo from the visit shows Un standing next to diagrams hanging on the wall.

As the Associated Press reports, the diagram looks to feature an outline of a "Pukguksong-3" missile and at least one other ballistic weapon.

RELATED: North Korea releases photo that appears to show new missile plan



Tensions have escalated between North Korea and the United States throughout the summer as the Trump administration and Kim Jong Un's hermit regime have exchanged explosive language. U.S. and South Korea troops initiated annual joint drills on Monday -- a move North Korea has threatened "merciless retaliation" over.

According to the state-run KCNA outlet, Kim Jong Un called on workers during his Wednesday visit to the plant to produce more solid-fuel rocket engines and rocket warhead tips.

Looking at the newly-released image, research associate at the Center for Non-Proliferation Studies, Michael Duitsman, said the first missile has not been seen before.

"The Pukguksong-3 is definitely new," he told the Associated Press. The AP also reports that the new design might warrant North Korea's ability to fly the missiles farther and launch them from protective canisters -- making them harder to detect and take out in advance.

RELATED: South Korea, US show off missiles that could kill Kim Jong Un


The restaurant receipt was posted on Facebook after the customer showed it to her daughter. (Photo: Facebook)

A New York restaurant is getting chewed out on social media after an employee referred to an Asian customer as Ching Chong on a takeout receipt.

The woman went to Cornerstone Cafe and ordered steak and eggs to go on Aug. 16. When she looked at the receipt, she noticed that a server, identified only as Rubi, used the racial slur Ching Chong as the customers name.

The woman showed her daughter the offensive receipt, and her daughter in turn shared it with a friend known on Facebook as Ziggy Chau. The friend then shared an image of the receipt on Facebook, where it quickly went viral:

Chau at first asked for a boycott of the restaurant and suggested that people call it directly and let them know they have a racist staff.

She added:

Racism has no place ANYWHERE. Asians friends- speak up for ALL... not just when it affects you, please. Can you please share this to your page? Hate to get political but in light of what is happening here in the USA and our current president seem to make it ok to come out and be blatantly racist.

Her request has led to a bunch of stinging reviews on Yelp.com.

Chau updated the post to explain that she took it upon herself to contact the restaurant:

I explained the situation to the manager by the name of Rocco who then proceeded to ask me so what is the customers name then? I said regardless, the receipt said Ching Chong, a derogatory term for Asians. He made an excuse and said maybe the server misheard the name. I said the receipt is being shared on social media and his restaurant should respond to it. I asked him to issue a public apology on their social media channels so we shall see what happens.

Later that day, the restaurant manager issued this apology on the business Facebook page, according to NBC New York:

This situation leaves me no choice than to terminate this employee for this unjustified act. It definitely does not reflect the way the Cornerstone staff or I think because of one individuals stupidity.

Story continues

The Facebook account has since been deleted.

HuffPost reached out to the restaurant and to Chau, neither of whom immediately responded.

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Pizza With A Side Of Racism

A Papa John's customer snapped a photo of her receipt, which contained an offensive racial slur in place of the customer's name.

'Best Butt' Discount

One woman was surprised to find that along with her veggie bowl, she received a discount for having the 'best butt' and being the 'best looking' person in the fast food joint.

Dry Cleaner Gaffe

A customer got quite a surprise when he picked up his freshly-laundered shirts. The anonymous consumer, dubbed 'Asshole, Alex' apparently had the cleaning bill comped.

Profanity-Laden Receipt

Two Burger King employees were fired after a customer noticed that his receipt read 'F*ck You' where it would normally say 'Thank You'.

Bruins Celebrate In Style

After the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup, they partied... hard. The team apparently rang up a $156,000 bar tab at a nightclub in the Foxwoods Casino, according to the Boston Globe.

Restaurant Settles Suit Over Racial Slurs

A California steak house settled a lawsuit with a customer that claimed his credit receipts contained several racial slurs where his name should have been.

Radio Shack Refund Gets Ugly

A Maryland woman got a little something extra along with her refund when she discovered that an associate deemed her an 'ugly itch' from 'ghettohood, USA'.

Chick-Fil-A In Hot Water

Chick-Fil-A garnered national attention after a customer snapped a photo of two receipts that had labeled Asian-American customers as 'Ching' and 'Chong'.

Walmart Customers Find Jesus

A couple claimed their Walmart receipt contained the face of the Son of God.

Now THAT'S An Account Balance

An ATM customer found this surprising receipt still in the machine. The receipt, which shows a whopping balance of nearly $100 million, supposedly belonged to hedge fund manager David Tepper.

Server Has Choice Words For Kids

A server at a Chichos Pizza restaurant labeled his customers as 'high as shit kids'. Fortunately, the customers had a sense of humor and posted the receipt to Reddit to much fanfare.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
At this point, pretty much only the sun can outshine the Obamas, and they've figured out a brilliant way to use that to their advantage.

The former POTUS and FLOTUS moved their eldest daughter Malia into her Harvard University dorm while the sun and the moon were doing their very special dance on Monday.

Malia, who took a gap year last year and worked for The Weinstein Company, is an incoming freshman at the university. She got some help from her famous parents moving into her new digs.

They've done their best to protect their girls' privacy over the years, so we can only assume they hoped all eyes would be in the sky instead of on them. But despite the distraction of the eclipse, people still gawked as the family was out and about in Cambridge, Massachusetts, being, well, a family.

SEE ALSO: Incoming Harvard freshmen class is the school's most diverse in 380 years

"Saw Obama in Harvard during peak solar eclipse, I'm in a weird dream right now," Facebook user Jason Corey wrote, along with footage of the super casual former president greeting folks with a wave.

Despite the fact that she most likely wants to be treated as a totally normal freshman who just happens to have lived in the White House, people's chill levels were (understandably) out of wack upon spotting Malia on campus,

MALIA OBAMA IS MOVING INTO HER DORM LIKE 30 YARDS FROM MINE AS IM TYPING THIS AKBEJXJEJE  Lactaid (@KyleD477) August 21, 2017

malia obama just moved into her harvard dorm so that means my goal for this year is to become best friends with her right  caroline (@cxrolinerose) August 23, 2017

y'all i'm like 20 ft away from malia obama in the dining hall wowwwwww i'm shook  crooked daniel (@primadonnagvrl) August 22, 2017

No word yet on whether or not other Harvard freshman and black-ish star Yara Shahidi (whose college recommendation letter came from Michelle Obama herself and Malia have drafted a plan to conquer the world, but we'll keep you posted.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on Tuesday pushed back against sharp questions Attorney General Jeff Sessions directed at her state and three others that have legalized recreational marijuana.

Brown, in a letter dated Tuesday, tells Sessions her states marijuana laws are working, questions the attorney generals criticism of Oregons regulatory structure, and explains the states efforts to safeguard public safety.

Sessions, an avowed opponent of marijuana legalization, sent letters to Oregon, Alaska, Washington and Colorado  the first four states to legalize recreational marijuana  challenging the states oversight of the nascent pot industry. Sessions told Oregon that a January 2017 state police report raises serious questions about the efficacy of marijuana regulatory structures in your state.

Oregon has been diligent in reaching out to our federal partners to build a collaborative and mutually beneficial understanding regarding our marijuana system, Brown told Sessions in her letter. I look forward to continuing to work together to ensure a successful marijuana market while protecting the safety of our communities.

Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, but the Obama administration urged federal prosecutors to refrain from targeting state-legal marijuana operations. Sessions in February named a task force to review that policy. In response, Oregon, Colorado and Alaska submitted reports to the Justice Department, detailing well-regulated legal marijuana industries that generate vast tax revenue and no measurable increase in crime or health problems.

The Associated Press has reported Sessions task force largely reiterated the Justice Departments current policy on marijuana and has not pushed for a crackdown.

Browns letter explains that all recreational marijuana legally sold in Oregon is tracked from seed to sale, using radio-frequency identification tags, strict security precautions and surveillance cameras. The state thoroughly tests all legal marijuana products for safety, and has enacted laws with stiff criminal penalties for those operating outside the regulated framework.

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The state police report Sessions cited, Brown says, does not (and frankly does not purport to), reflect the on the ground reality in Oregon in 2017.

The document was intended to provide a baseline understanding of marijuana in Oregon prior to legalization, and it provides little insight into the effectiveness of Oregons post-legalization regulatory measures, Browns letter says. She adds that data in the police report was inaccurate and the heavily extrapolated conclusions were incorrect.

Marijuana legalization activists fear Sessions may be willing to ignore evidence and resume strict enforcement of federal prohibition. The Obama administration guidance that allows state-legal marijuana could be reversed or altered by Sessions in ways that could doom thriving industries many states now consider legal.

Eight states have legalized recreational marijuana. National support for marijuana legalization has risen dramatically in recent years, reaching historic highs. Ninety-four percent of Americans support allowing adults to use marijuana for medical purposes if their doctor prescribes it, according to a Quinnipiac poll this year.

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PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Panama's government said on Tuesday that from October Venezuelans wishing to enter the country would need a visa, accusing the administration of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of undermining democracy at home and security abroad. Speaking a few days after a visit to Panama by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, the country's president Juan Carlos Varela said the visa requirement would take effect on Oct. 1 and remain in place until "democratic order" was restored in Venezuela. "Given the break in the democratic order in Venezuela, a situation that puts at risk our security, our economy ... and after a careful analysis, I've taken the decision to demand visas from Venezuelan citizens wanting to travel to Panama," Varela said in a brief televised message to the nation. Varela said the situation in Venezuela had deteriorated since the government decided to press ahead with a 545-member constituent assembly in the face of strong criticism from around the Americas, including the United States and Mexico. On Friday, the assembly granted itself lawmaking powers, dealing a new blow to the opposition-controlled congress, whose decisions have been nullified by the pro-government Supreme Court. Large numbers of Venezuelans have left their country due to economic and political turmoil. According to Varela, some 60,000 Venezuelans have moved to Panama in the last six years. (Reporting by Elida Moreno; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Photo credit: Panera Bread

From Delish

The next time you visit Panera Bread, you'll find a subtle reminder on your cup to choose a drink wisely. Panera debuted a new 20-ounce cup today labeled with "The Sweet Facts"  the calorie count and added sugar in seven Panera drinks.

Most are from the restaurant's new "craft beverages" line, which includes teas and lemonades with varying levels of sweetness. The first item listed is Regular Cola, which clocks in at 17.25 teaspoons of added sugar, and the last is Unsweetened Black Iced Tea, with zero. As the cup also informs, one teaspoon contains four grams of sugar.

Photo credit: Panara Bread

While these facts obviously guide you toward drinking Panera's in-house beverages, the company has shown a long-term commitment to transparency and health advocacy. Despite legislative delays, Panera complied with the Menu Labeling and Retail Food Labeling laws at all stores in summer 2017, a year before the original deadline. Additionally, calorie information was added to menu boards back in 2010.

As part of the sugar awareness campaign, Panera conducted an online survey of 1,092 adults this August and found that just 9 percent knew the recommended daily limit for added sugar, and 99 percent didn't know how many grams of sugar were in a 20-ounce cup of cola.

BUY NOW: Panera Bread Single Serving Coffee Cups, $10.50; amazon.com.

In a statement, CEO Ron Shaich said he believes it should be up to businesses to move forward with more transparent menus and healthier options, despite government slow-downs.

"With the combination of more information and better options available, we're seeing our guests begin to trade from fountain soft drinks to our new clean beverages," Shaich said.

The cups debuted in New York, Los Angeles, and a handful of other major cities today, USA Today reported, and will be at all Panera locations by the end of September.

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Two Pennsylvania parents are facing felony charges in the suffocation death of one of their triplets.

Justin Dwyer, 29, and Courtney Stash, 28, were charged Tuesday with involuntary manslaughter and other crimes in the April death of their 2-year-old son, Eion.

Watch: Child Found Preserved in Coffin From 1800s Gets Headstone With Her Real Name

The parents told authorities their son's tragic end began after he refused to stay put in his crib, according to PennLive.

Lebanon County detectives say the parents told them they weighted down a mattress with bags of rock salt that were tied to the top of the crib with bungee cords, according to reports.

Police say the parents subsequently found Eion unresponsive.

Eion died and investigators say it was determined that he suffocated.

His sad death comes in sharp contrast to the celebration that accompanied his birth.

Eion was born on Christmas Day along with his sisters, who are identical twins named Claire and Avaree.

The triplets were a total surprise to Dwyer and Stash, who were nervous at first about the prospect of having three babies at once. But the community answered the call and donations helped ease the burden.

The couple won three free car seats in a Volvo dealership promotion and the family was showered with gifts from loved ones and co-workers.

The local Salvation Army also stepped in with a donation of three cribs, one for each baby.

Read: Duo Charged With Killing 2 Victims Whose Bodies Were Found in Tubs of Chemicals

Dwyer and Stash face multiple felony counts, including involuntary manslaughter, conspiracy related to involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, conspiracy related to aggravated assault, unlawful restraint, conspiracy related to unlawful restraint, endangering the welfare of a child, and conspiracy related to the endangering of a child.

A court date has not yet been set.

Watch: Mom Accused of Dragging Daughter's Body Into Woods After Car Crash

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Kiev (AFP) - US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis arrived in Ukraine Wednesday for talks on expanding US support for the country's military in its fight with Russian-backed rebels.

Kiev is hoping for more lethal weaponry from the United States, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons to push back the well-armed separatists who have occupied large parts of eastern Ukraine.

Although the US military has supported the move -- categorising the proposed weapons as "defensive" in nature -- President Donald Trump has yet to approve it, amid fears it could escalate the conflict.

In meetings with Ukrainian Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak and President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday, Mattis is instead expected to promise continuing non-lethal support and reiterate the US rejection of Russia's annexation of the Crimea peninsula in 2014.

But Ukraine's government still holds out hope for better weapons from the United States.

"From the first day of the Russian aggression we appealed to all countries of the world to help us in the form of lethal weapons. Only Lithuania has given us such help so far," Poltorak told journalists in Kiev on Wednesday.

"We continue to wait and are ready to receive lethal weapons. But it's not our decision, it's that of our partner countries. We very much hope for such support."

The conflict between Russia-backed fighters and Ukrainian troops has killed more than 10,000 people since 2014, when pro-Russian forces occupied parts of eastern Ukraine after Russia annexed Crimea.

It has also become the focal point of severe stresses in the Washington-Moscow relationship. The United States has hit Russia with stiff economic sanctions over the annexation of Crimea and support for Ukraine's rebels.

Ukraine's conflict with Russia has provided a challenge for Trump, who since coming to office has been loath to make strong criticisms of Moscow.

Speaking in Warsaw in July, Trump criticised Russia for its "destabilizing" action in Ukraine. But so far he has not signed off on recommendations from the Pentagon to boost military support to Ukraine to include defensive weaponry.

Story continues

On Monday Poroshenko spoke with optimism about his upcoming discussions with Mattis.

"I am sure that these negotiations will have an extremely important value for strengthening the defence capacity of our state. Because a friend in need is a friend indeed".

Mattis will join Poroshenko on Thursday in celebrating the 26th anniversary of Ukraine's independence from Russia.

Ukraine's current government has sought to align itself with the NATO alliance, and will be seeking to strengthen cooperation in that regard.
By Neil Jerome Morales and Martin Petty MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine police on Thursday told a Senate inquiry that a high school student killed last week by anti-drugs officers had been involved in narcotics, but officers only learned of that the day after they shot him dead. The death of 17-year-old Kian Loyd delos Santos, one of thousands of Filipinos killed during the country's fierce war on drugs, has stirred unprecedented public attention on to what activists say are executions and systematic abuses by police backed steadfastly by President Rodrigo Duterte. Roberto Fajardo, the Northern Police District chief who was relieved of his duty, told the hearing there was no specific target of the Aug. 16 operation in Manila's Caloocan City, but police could confirm Delos Santos was involved in drugs. Asked if those drugs links were known after the killing, Fajardo said: "Yes. We have to check the background. We checked after." He said a drug suspect arrested the following day confirmed Delos Santos was dealing drugs. Chito Bersaluna, the former Caloocan police chief, said Delos Santos could be tied to the drugs trade by a recovered cellphone and "based on what came out on social media" after his killing. Those admissions will add to the growing scrutiny on police behind a crackdown that Duterte on Wednesday said would not stop. He said there was no justification for the student's killing, and police responsible would face justice. Earlier police reports said Delos Santos was killed because he was carrying drugs and shot at plain-clothes officers who tried to arrest him. His family has dismissed that as a lie. CAPTURED ON CAMERA Security camera footage showed two policemen dragging a man matching the description of Delos Santos to a alley where he was found dead with a gun in his left hand. Three police accused of involvement in the killing said little during the inquiry. One refused to speak, while the other two said the individual on the CCTV camera was their "asset", and was not Delos Santos. Critics accused Duterte of turning a blind eye to police abuses, with an unquestioning acceptance of an official police line that typically says those killed were all drug dealers who had violently resisted arrest. Filipinos remain largely supportive of a campaign the government says has made the streets safer. The Delos Santos case is being closely watched by the public due to inconsistencies in police accounts and statements by relatives and witnesses who say he was brutally murdered and had no involvement in illicit activities. The Public Attorney's Office said its autopsy showed he was shot twice in the head and once in the back, while police said their forensics showed there were only two gunshot wounds. Both indicated he was kneeling when he was killed. Senators asked police pathologist Jocelyn Cruz to provide photographs of the autopsy, but Cruz said police did not have them. Asked if the autopsy results indicated the student was executed, national police chief Ronald dela Rosa said: "If you shoot someone kneeling, you are a criminal, murderer. You are not a law enforcer." Delos Santos was among more than 90 people killed last week in three nights of intensified raids called "One Time, Big Time", taking the bloody crackdown to a new level. After 32 were killed in Bulacan province in a single night. Duterte said: "Let's kill another 32 every day". Activists and political opponents say that kind of rhetoric is to blame for what they say is a culture of impunity among police who are repeatedly promised blanket protection from Duterte. He took a softer tone on Wednesday, however, telling police they should do everything possible to arrest suspects and kill only when necessary. He said he would not protect police who killed illegally, and abuses "cannot be done". For a graphic on police raids with fatalities, click: http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/PHILIPPINES-DRUGS/010050FJ10M/PHILIPPINES-DRUGS.jpg (Additional reporting by Manuel Mogato and Karen Lema; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Credit: Alexandra ValentiAll aboard the Kaleo Express! The "Way Down We Go" rockers will kick off a North American tour this Friday, August 25 in Anaheim, California. The outing is only the fast-rising Icelandic band's second U.S. headlining jaunt, following last year's Handprint tour.

"Obviously it's just been such a quick build for us," frontman JJ Julius Son tells ABC Radio. "It's super-exciting to just go from a small crowd and then now be performing for thousands of people."

"Hopefully we're a better band than last year, performance-wise," he adds. "So it should be a good time."

While Kaleo will be graduating to bigger venues on the Express tour, that's nothing compared to literally playing inside a volcano or on top of an iceberg, as they've done in music videos. As for where you can go from there, Julius Son says he has "a few ideas" that he hopes to put into action "hopefully next summer, if not the next year."

Earlier this summer, The xx tried to do something similar with their Night + Day festival, which was to be held beside Iceland's Skogafoss waterfall. However, the festival was canceled due to environmental concerns.

"You got to be really careful with these kind of things," Julius Son says of the canceled festival. "I mean, that would've probably just...totally drained the place, 'cause it really fragile."

Julius Son would love for Kaleo to play at Skogafoss, provided that everything was environmentally stable.

"I thought it was a great idea," he says. "So maybe someday."

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
The remains of a missing autistic teenage girl who left her adopted parents and went to live with her biological mother have been discovered in a pit on a Missouri farm.

Savannah Leckie, 16, moved in with her birth mother, Rebecca Ruud, 39, last year.

Ms Ruud has been charged with her murder, abusing a child, tampering with evidence and abandoning a corpse, said Ozark County Prosecutor John Garrabrant.

Savannah was missing before police officers searching for her on Ms Ruuds remote farm found burned bones and teeth in a fire pit.

Forensic tests later confirmed the remains belonged to Savannah, police said.

Officers also found a meat grinder, knives and 26 bottles of lye, which can accelerate the decomposition of human flesh.

The investigation is still ongoing.

Savannah Leckie left her biological parents to live with her birth mother: Tamile Leckie-Montague via AP

Savannah reportedly returned to living with her biological mother in November 2016 after her adopted parents divorced.

Ms Ruud's ex-boyfriend, Buddy Smart, told investigators he had seen her discipline Savannah by forcing her to crawl through a pig pen and making her to bathe in a pond, a legal document stated.

It added that she admitted this was true and told investigators that when Savannah cut her arm "in a suicidal gesture," she forced the girl to scrub the wound daily with alcohol and salt as punishment.

According to a legal document, Ms Ruud reported a fire on 18 July on her property in Theodosia, a small village near Missouri's southern border with Arkansas.

She told fire officials she was burned trying to save the girl from the fire, but refused to let them talk to Savannah.

Two days later, Ms Ruud reported that Savannah had gone missing, investigators said. She later gave differing accounts of how she was injured but claimed Savannah ran away because she blamed herself for starting the fire.

But Ms Ruud was arrested at a bus station, where she had a ticket to go to Kansas City.

Additional reporting by AP
The United States is delaying $195 million in military aid and cancelling $95.7 million in other aid to Egypt over human rights concerns, and in particular over a new law that regulates NGOs.

The move represents an abrupt about-face for an administration that had signalled previously it would support Egypt regardless of its dismal human rights record.

President Donald Trump gave Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah el-Sisi a warm welcome at the White House in April, saying, I just want to let everybody know, in case there was any doubt, that we are very much behind President el-Sisi.

But later that same month, regional experts from previous U.S. administrations testified before the Senate Appropriations Committees Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, arguing that Egypt was behaving badly in the way of human rights, and that the United States was giving it more money than was necessary or appropriate given the value of the military relationship at present. (Egypt, with its $1.3 billion in aid, is the second largest recipient of aid from the United States. Israel is the first.)

The U.S. doesnt have a way to ensure our assistance is not making the problem worse, Michele Dunne, a longtime Middle East expert at the State Department now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said at that hearing.

Is our investment in Egypt appropriate? My strong view is that it is completely out of balance, offered Tom Malinowski, formerly Obamas assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labor.

Whether the Trump administration was listening to Dunne and Malinowski specifically, the White House has changed course. The administration was reportedly taken aback in May with Sisis ratification of legislation widely seen as a crackdown on dissenting civil society organizations. On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reportedly called his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry, to let him know the administrations decision.

Story continues

The Egyptian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Shoukrys ministry, in a statement, said the U.S. decision reflected poor judgement and adopted a view that lacks an accurate understanding of the importance of supporting Egypts stability. It also cancelled a Wednesday meeting with Jared Kushner, Trumps advisor who is also his son-in-law. Kushner is still set to meet with Sisi.

Photo credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images
A new poll from Quinnipiac University found that most Americans believe that President Donald Trump is doing more to divide the country than to unite it.

Fifty-nine percent of voters said they believe Trump is encouraging white supremacist groups, and 64% believe such groups pose a threat to the country, according to the poll.

More than half of voters, 55%, said that there is too much prejudice in American society, while 40% said there is too much political correctness. Eighty-one percent responded that prejudice against minority groups is either very serious or somewhat serious, and 62% said the same of prejudice toward Jews.

Half of voters oppose removing Confederate statues from public spaces, while 39% support it, Quinnipiac reports, with support much higher (67%) among black voters.

In an open question, 64 voters said strong was the first word that came to them when they thought of Trump, while 59 voters said idiot, 58 answered incompetent, 50 said liar, and another 49 voters responded president.

The poll was conducted from Aug. 17 to 22 among 1,514 voters nationwide with a margin of error of +/- 3.1%.
Pregnant news anchor Kristen Nicole responded to body shamers commenting on how she looks in her dress. (Photo: Facebook/Kristen Nicole)

A female newscaster is responding to viewers who are offended by the sight of her pregnancy.

Kristen Nicole is an award-winning anchor at Good Day Chicago Fox32, where shes worked for more than a year, rising at 1:45 a.m. each day to prep for the day ahead. Shes also a mother of one in her third trimester of pregnancy and has never received any negative feedback about her on-air appearance  until now.

On Wednesday, Nicole shared a series of Facebook photos of herself wearing the same blue sleeveless dress on camera, from August 2016 to today. Let me save you some trouble, she captioned the post with more than 1,000 reactions. My email address is Kristen.Nicole@foxtv.com, but if youre writing to tell me that youre offended by the sight of my baby bump, dont hold your breath waiting for a response. Its not coming. I wear this dress probably once a month. No one has EVER had a problem with it. Wear it almost 8 months pregnant?? Whoadisgusting, right? (insert massive eye roll).

Then Nicole addressed three specific people: To Karen, Gene and Sabrina who wrote to me today, use your time better. Pay someone a compliment. Do a good deed. To everyone else who has sent messages of congratulations and well wishes, you are keeping me motivated through these last 6 weeks. Were finally in the home stretch! I have had a healthy, comfortable, stress-free pregnancy. My husband, son and I are beyond excited to meet our new addition. Thank you for being a part of our journey!

Fans supported Nicole, writing messages such as, Cant believe anyone would take time out of their day to say things like that and You are beautiful. Ignore those who try to make someone feel bad, because they are so insecure.

This is a dress Ive worn many times before, including while pregnant, and its the first time Ive ever received this type of feedback, Nicole tells Yahoo Style.

That day, the anchor received three separate emails  one from a woman who accused her of wearing a fake baby bump to boost ratings; one who asked, When will you start wearing dresses fit for pregnancy; and another who scolded, Stop wearing tight dresses  they dont do you any favors.

Story continues

Nicole admits that five months into her pregnancy, she felt self-conscious about her changing body, even subconsciously covering her bump with a script. However, her coworkers encouraged her to embrace her pregnancy, and shes felt confident since, even sharing her journey with viewers. It was disheartening to receive those letters, she says.

Other female anchors, pregnant or not, can relate. Last week, KFVS-12 Missouri evening news co-anchor Mary-Ann Maloney posted a photo of herself wearing a modest button-down top and polled her Facebook audience as to whether it showed too much skin, explaining in the comments section that years earlier, she had received negative feedback on an outfit.

In July, an Augusta, Ga., reporter shared a voicemail from a critical viewer who said, Please go to Target and buy some decent maternity clothes so you dont walk around looking like you got a watermelon strapped under your too tight outfits and called the 27-year-old disgusting.

The sad thing is, Nicole tells Yahoo Style, we reported on a woman who was shot 12 times in one neighborhood, and in another, on a massive brawl that injured both police officers and citizens. My outfit is what youre taking away from this?

Read more from Yahoo Style + Beauty:

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Prince Harry has condemned the paparazzi for photographing his mother when she was critically injured in the wreckage of the car shortly after it crashed.

SEE ALSO: William and Harry share touching childhood memories of their 'naughty, total kid' mum

In an interview for a BBC documentary airing Sunday entitled Diana, 7 days, Harry speaks candidly about his mother's death. Princess Diana was in the back seat of a car that was travelling high speed through a tunnel in Paris while being pursued by the paparazzi.

Harry told the BBC that one of the most difficult things to accept is the paparazzi's behaviour in the immediate aftermath of the accident which caused her death.

"I think one of the hardest things to come to terms with is the fact that the people that chased her into the tunnel were the same people that were taking photographs of her while she was still dying on the back seat of the car," said Harry.

Harry said that he and his brother William had been told that numerous times by "people that know that was the case". "She'd had quite a severe head injury but she was very much still alive on the back seat," he added.

"And those people that caused the accident, instead of helping, were taking photographs of her dying on the back seat," said Harry.

Harry said "those photographs" subsequently made their way to news desks in the United Kingdom.

August 31 marks 20 years since Diana's death, and the princes are conducting a series of interviews to mark the event.

Diana, 7 Days, will be broadcast in the UK on BBC One on Sunday, 27 August at 7:30pm BST, and in the U.S. on NBC on September 1 from 8-10 p.m. ET/PT.
By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - After 20 years of losses, gene therapy specialist Oxford BioMedica is at last close to achieving its first profit thanks to the success of Novartis with a pioneering cancer treatment. As manufacturer of the virus-based gene delivery system central to the Novartis therapy, which re-engineers a patient's immune cells to attack cancer, the small British company will receive a modest slice of the revenue once the new drug is approved. The payout will hardly make a dent in returns for Swiss drugs giant Novartis, but the 65-75 million pounds ($83-96 million) a year that Jefferies analysts predict Oxford Bio will earn should put it on a path to sustainable profitability. U.S. regulators are expected to clear Novartis's CTL019, or tisagenlecleucel, for sale by the end of September, which would be the first approval of such a gene-modified drug. For Oxford Bio, which listed in London in 1996 after being spun out of research at the University of Oxford, it has been a long haul marked by drug setbacks and funding challenges. "It's a survival story. There have been bad times but we can see a very bright future," Chief Executive John Dawson told Reuters. "We're in a good place now." The company's slow road to profit mirrors the waxing and waning of the gene therapy field over two decades as progress in fixing faulty DNA has been held up by technical problems and safety concerns. Now, finally, those hurdles are being cleared and Oxford Bio is set to be a supply chain winner. The company is already earning revenue from manufacturing for Novartis and its earnings before interest, depreciation and amortization were actually positive in the first half of 2017, though interest charges still pushed the group to a loss. Consensus analyst forecasts point to full-year net profit from 2019, by which time CTL019 is likely to be established for the bigger market of treating certain lymphomas, in addition to initial use in acute lymphoblastic leukemia. MORE DEALS Oxford Bio, which will receive royalties on sales as well as manufacturing fees, is now looking to leverage its successful partnership with Novartis to sign more supply deals. "The phones are very busy from other companies who would like to work with us," Dawson said. "I believe we will sign further deals in 2017 and 2018." One lure for partners is the progress Oxford Bio has made recently in production costs, achieving a tenfold reduction by using new bioreactors. After a long period in the doldrums, shares in the group are up 112 percent this year, buoyed by rising optimism for CTL019, which represents the first in a new class of medicines known as CAR-T, or chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy. But with a market value of a little less than $350 million, Oxford Bio remains a relative minnow compared with Bluebird Bio, a U.S. rival that uses the same lentiviral gene delivery technology and is worth $4.4 billion. That partly reflects lower valuations for biotechnology in Europe, Dawson says, but it is also a function of the fact that the big money in gene therapy will be made by companies that own the drugs rather than those that simply help to make them. Last September Dawson made the difficult decision to shore up Oxford Bio's finances by pausing much of the development work on its proprietary gene therapy pipeline while it seeks funding partners. But he is optimistic that these projects -- including a Parkinson's disease drug ready to start clinical trials next year -- will move forward with backing from big pharma or venture capital groups excited by the gene therapy renaissance. "There's upside in our share price to come." ($1 = 0.7811 pounds) (Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by David Goodman)
Fear are growing in Qatar that Saudi Arabia may be trying to oust its leader, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani - AP

Qatar has defied Saudi Arabia by strengthening its diplomatic ties with Iran - rather than cutting them back as Saudi Arabia and its allies have demanded.

Saudi Arabia and three other Arab states have been blockading Qatar since early June and have demanded that Qatar curb its ties with Iran, as well as shut down its al-Jazeera television network and expel extremists from its territory.

Rather than give in to the blockading countries demands, Qatar announced on Thursday that it was restoring full diplomatic relations with Iran and sending its ambassador back to Tehran for the first time since 2016.

"The state of Qatar expressed its aspiration to strengthen bilateral relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran in all fields," The Qatari foreign ministry said.

There was no immediate response from Saudi Arabia or its allies in Bahrain, UAE and Egypt to the diplomatic move.

Qatar has been under blockade for nearly three months Credit: REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo

The act of defiance came amid suspicions among Qatars leaders that Saudi Arabia might be trying to engineer a palace coup against its emir, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.

Their fears were raised after Saudi Arabias powerful crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, met with an obscure Qatari royal for in Jeddah last week.

The royal, Abdullah al-Thani, has no role in the Qatari government and is from a branch of the royal family that was pushed out of power during a 1972 coup.

Abdullah had previously lived in Saudi Arabia and at the meeting spoke warmly of brotherly relations rooted in history between the two countries.

Prince Mohammed responded by opening the Saudi land border to Muslim pilgrims from Qatar who wanted to make the Hajj journey to Mecca, and offering to fly other pilgrims directly to Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia's powerful Prince Mohammed bin Salman (left) met with a relatively unknown Qatari royal, Abdullah bin Ali bin Jassim al-Thani Credit: HANDOUT/AFP/Getty Images

The unusual meeting between the powerful Saudi and the little-known Qatari quickly prompted suspicions in Doha that Prince Mohammed might be hoping to install Abdullah or someone else from his family as Qatars new leader.

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Gerd Nonneman, a professor of International Relations and Gulf Studies at Georgetown University in Qatar, said the meeting was more likely intended as a "propaganda ploy by Saudi Arabia intended to "needle the Qatari leadership.

While Saudi Arabia and Iran are archrivals - and are opposing sides in conflicts across the Middle East - there are some indications of a slight thaw.

The two countries foreign ministers met recently and the two sides are planning mutual diplomatic visits next month for the first time since January 2016.

Diplomatic relations collapsed after Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran in protest at Saudi Arabias execution of a prominent Shia cleric.

Both sides withdrew their diplomats during the crisis and Qatar pulled out its own ambassador in solidarity with Saudi Arabia.

A group of Saudi diplomats will visit Tehran to inspect the countrys embassy there while a group of Iranians will do the same in Riyadh.
Ralph Northam (Photo: The Washington Post via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON  The Virginia Republican Party on Wednesday accused Ralph Northam, the states Democratic gubernatorial nominee, of walking away from his own familys heritage by calling for the removal of monuments to Confederate generals and soldiers.

(Photo: Twitter)

(Photo: Twitter)

The tweets were later deleted and replaced with an apology.

Our previous tweets were interpreted in a way we never intended. We apologize and reiterate our denunciation of racism in all forms, the Virginia GOP said.

Northam, the current lieutenant governor, only recently discovered that some of his ancestors owned slaves in Virginia, which was part of the Confederacy.

The news that my ancestors owned slaves disturbs and saddens me, but the topic of slavery has always bothered me, Northam said in June. My familys complicated story is similar to Virginias complex history. Were a progressive state, but we once had the largest number of slaves in the Union.

Northam responded to the GOPs Wednesday attack with a Twitter post that said he felt fine about turning my back on white supremacy. Ofirah Yheskel, his spokeswoman, added that it was a true shame to see the party of Lincoln stoop so low.

A spokesman for Ed Gillespie, Northams Republican foe in the Nov. 7 election, said the state GOP was right to apologize for the tweet and to take it down.

Though Ed disagrees with the lieutenant governor on the issue of statues, he knows we can disagree on issues like this without devolving into divisive rhetoric, said David Abrams, the spokesman.

Gillespie supports a different approach to the issue of Confederate monuments, such as leaving them standing but placing them in proper historical context, he says on his campaign website.

Rather than glorifying their objects, the statues should be instructional, Gillespie says on the website. 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.

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Gillespie came shockingly close to losing his partys primary in June to Corey Stewart, a staunch defender of Virginias Confederate heritage with racially inflammatory views who held rallies to oppose the scheduled removal of a statue to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia. After conceding the race, Stewart warned Gillespie he would have to fight to win over his supporters in the general election.

The city of Charlottesville draped its Confederate monuments in black fabric on Wednesday to honor the woman killed while counterprotesting at a white nationalist rally in the city earlier this month.

Speaking in Phoenix on Tuesday, President Donald Trump blasted the media for trying to take away our history and our heritage and accused the press of misconstruing remarks in which he failed to unambiguously denounce the white nationalist groups who rallied in Charlottesville.

This article has been updated with a comment from a spokesman for Ed Gillespie, Virginias Republican gubernatorial nominee.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
A rapper who challenged warnings about not wearing protective eyewear during Monday's solar eclipse has abruptly cancelled three of his upcoming shows. (Photo: NurPhoto via Getty Images)

A hip-hop artist named Joey Bada$$ has been dubbed Joey Badeyes on social media after he bragged that he was going to watch Mondays eclipse without protective eyewear  and then abruptly canceled three upcoming shows.

Its unclear why the shows were actually canceled, but the coincidence has caught a lot of peoples attention.

Am I crazy for watching the eclipse today [with] no glasses? Joey Bada$$, whose real name is Jo-Vaughn Virginie Scott, had tweeted on Monday. Ive sungazed before and afterwards saw colors for a whole day. I didnt die tho (sic).

He went on to argue, This aint the first solar eclipse and Im pretty sure our ancestors aint have no fancy eyewear. Also pretty sure they aint all go blind.

Am I crazy for watching the eclipse today w no glasses? I've sungazed before and afterwards saw colors for a whole day. I didn't die tho  BADMON (@joeyBADASS) August 21, 2017

This ain't the first solar eclipse and I'm pretty sure our ancestors ain't have no fancy eyewear. Also pretty sure they ain't all go blind.  BADMON (@joeyBADASS) August 21, 2017

Twitter users were quick to mock his suggestion, with one person replying, You tell, em, Joey. Look right at that sun. Youll be fine.

As far as whether Scott actually looked at the sun without proper protection, its anyones guess.

But fast forward to Tuesday, and the hip-hop artist announced the cancellations of shows in Cleveland, Chicago and Toronto due to unforeseen circumstances.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, my Cleveland, Chicago & Toronto shows on the #EverybodyTour are cancelled.  BADMON (@joeyBADASS) August 22, 2017

Needless to say, that announcement produced a new round of jokes and jabs against the rapper, with his news called eyeronic.

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Eclipse 1 : JoeyBadeyes 0   (@MaxSupreme13) August 23, 2017

How eyeronic  N'namdi. (@elddirkilam) August 23, 2017

I don't think you shoulda used the term unforeseen...lmao  Lakers Vino (@LakersVino) August 23, 2017

YOU LOOKED AT THAT DAMN ESCLIPSE BOIIIIIII pic.twitter.com/NpEmDbRWwl  cj (@_cjeezus) August 22, 2017

Doctors had stressed that staring directly at the sun for even a fraction of a minute without proper eyewear can cause damage to ones retinas.

That damage could result in blind spots and blurriness, which can appear within hours. Fortunately for anyone who may have improperly stared at the sun on Monday, the retina can largely heal itself if the damage is not too severe, Reuters reported.

A full recovery is, of course, not guaranteed. Two men who watched a partial eclipse 55 years ago say they continue to suffer from partial blindness, and thats from looking at the sun for just 20 seconds.

As far as how Scott is doing after announcing his cancellations, he seems to have a positive attitude, tweeting Wednesday, Seeing double, stacking triple.

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Seeing double, stacking triple.  BADMON (@joeyBADASS) August 23, 2017

Related...

Men Partially Blinded From A Solar Eclipse Warn Others To Watch Safely

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People All Over Are Saying Their Eyes Hurt From The Solar Eclipse

Also on HuffPost

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Waving a Blacks for Trump sign behind President Donald Trump on Tuesday night, he was impossible to miss.

Maurice Symonette, who has also called himself Michael the Black Man and Maurice Woodside, was an eye-catching figure during the rally in Phoenix. Trump supporters lauded him on social media for his T-shirt reading Trump & Republicans Are Not Racist.

Perhaps they should have checked him out first.

Between his signs and his shirt that night, Symonette was also showcasing two websites: blacksfortrump2020.com and gods2.com. Click on either and youll be taken to honestfact.com, which spews a range of rambling conspiracy theories.

One claims to link Hillary Clinton with the Islamic State and the criminal gang MS-13. Another declares that Cherokees are the real KKK Racist Slave Masters, not White Gentiles who are Black Peoples Republican Emancipators!

Maurice Symonette holds up his much noted sign behind President Trump at a rally in Arizona on Tuesday. (Photo: Ralph Freso via Getty Images)

Symonette has uploaded a number of long-winded videos on YouTube, often as Michael the Black Man. There he discusses his theories on race wars involving Democrats, gentiles, Canaanites and the Cherokee.

Speaking to a Chicago radio station on Wednesday, Symonette said that he arrived early at the Phoenix rally and that allowed him to secure a prominent place close behind the president.

I wasnt placed [behind Trump], I put myself there, he told WLS-AM 890. Im glad I was there so I could get the message out, tell people whats going on with Democrats and the Cherokee Indians that are absolutely destroying the black man and the white man of America.

When the radio hosts expressed surprise that he would get such a coveted seat, Symonette added, I dont really know how it works. They have seen me a lot of times.

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Photos posted online certainly support that statement. Symonettes Facebook page shows pictures of him posing with a number of high-profile Republican politicians and Trump supporters, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and the presidents oldest son, Donald Trump Jr. There are also videos of him at a rally with Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) and celebrating with Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway outside what appears to be Trump Tower in New York City.

And last year, the Miami New Times reported that Symonette and his signs had scored prime seating at more than one Trump rally in Florida.

Maurice Symonette from Blacks for Trump and Kellyanne Conway again! pic.twitter.com/h5D8Y7404Z  skot2uk3000 (@skot2uk3000) August 23, 2017

Symonette has popped up in a number of mugshots as well. His rap sheet lists arrests for racketeering, firebombing, conspiracy in 14 murders, and grand theft auto, the New Times reported in 2011. None of the charges stuck, however.

I dont smoke. I dont drink. I dont support any kind of activity that goes against what God asks us to do, he told the New Times back then. You can check my record. Ive never been convicted of anything.

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In the early 1990s, Symonette, who then went by the name of Maurice Woodside, was arrested along with other members of an African-American cult called the Temple of Love, the New Times reported. Its leader, Yahweh ben Yahweh (formerly known as Hulon Mitchell Jr.), was later sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for conspiring to commit murder. Symonette was acquitted.

During Wednesdays radio interview, Symonette defended Yahweh ben Yahweh as not violent.

He had told the New Times that he was 21 when he met the Temple of Love leader and became enthralled by the mans preachings.

He got me by just walking up and saying, All white people are the Devil, Symonette recalled. I was a real militant race warrior right then, so I said, Whoa! Yeah, thats right!

Symonette has said he started following Yahweh ben Yahweh (pictured), after the cult leader came up to him and declared "all white people are the Devil." (Photo: Bettmann via Getty Images)

Symonettes views have changed over the years. Long after Yahweh ben Yahweh went to prison, his former follower started participating in political protests against Barack Obama. In 2008, Symonette reportedly claimed that then-Sen. Obama had tried to have him assassinated.

Last year, he tried to paint Hillary Clinton as the presidential candidate who was too close to racists, by accusing her of once kissing the head of the Ku Klux Klan and saying, Thats my mentor. The trouble with that conspiracy theory was that the man Clinton greeted was the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), who by the time she praised him had long since evolved from a one-time member of the KKK to a strong supporter of advancing civil rights.

Clarification: Language has been added to explain the problem with Symonettes claim about Hillary Clintons greeting.

Related Coverage

Trump Family History: Donald, Fred, And The Ku Klux Klan

Virginia Catholic Priest Opens Up About His Past In The Ku Klux Klan

Phoenix Was Trump Country Long Before Trump

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
New but unconfirmed reports suggest that the father of Natalee Holloway may be one step closer to the discovery of his missing daughter.

Read: Natalee Holloway's Dad Leads Investigators In New Special as Authorities Dispute Discovery of Remains

Preliminary DNA tests reportedly show that newly discovered bones are human, and from a young woman of eastern European descent  just like the missing teen.

Dave Holloway, Natalees father, was on the Caribbean island of Aruba when the bones were unearthed during filming of a six-part series, The Disappearance of Natalee Holloway, now airing on the Oxygen network.

This is one of the best leads that we've had throughout this process, Dave Holloway told Inside Edition. We actually found human remains. We had those tested at a lab last week. We found out the results.

Dave Holloway would not go into further detail. When asked about the new report, a spokesman for Oxygen told Inside Edition: "Nothing is confirmed. We are still waiting for test results."

Aruban authorities told Inside Edition as far as they know, the bones aren't human  but if they are, they may have been smuggled off the island.

Natalee Holloway vanished during a graduation trip to Aruba 12 years ago.

Joran van der Sloot, who met the teenage girl in a bar, is the main suspect. He was never charged, but currently in prison in Peru for killing another woman.

The second episode of the series, which airs Saturday, shows how a friend of Van der Sloot was persuaded to tell investigators reveal where her body was allegedly buried. He knew this area well because his aunt had a property there.

The friend has not been charged.

Read: Remains Found in April Identified as Those of Teen Missing Since 2007

Dave Holloway is hoping the mystery has finally been solved.

I have always tried to be skeptical about it because I don't want to be disappointed, he said.

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Watch: Internet Sleuth Apparently Debunks Amelia Earhart Photo 'Evidence' in 30 Minutes

Related Articles:
A 4-year-old in Texas is not able to attend school because of his long hair, his mother claims.

Jessica Oates said her son, Jabez Oates, didnt go to class Tuesday after the Barbers Hill School District in Mont Belvieu, Texas, informed her that his long hair is not allowed.

Read: Boy, 7, Donates $740 to Children's Hospital That Helped His Little Brother: 'He Has a Big Heart'

My son likes his hair. He doesnt understand why he is not allowed in school over something so trivial, Oates told InsideEdition.com.

Jabez, who is supposed to be in pre-k, hasnt cut his hair since birth and his locks go past his shoulders.

Oates said the school initially told her that she would only need to provide a document stating that the reason for his long hair is religious or cultural, which she said she had no problem doing.

When I went to enroll my child, I asked about the policy on hair. I was told my son would be allowed to keep his hair, Oates said. I was getting him all geared up for school. I took him to school and it was no big deal.

She said her family is part Cocopah Indian and in that culture, hair is viewed as strength.

Oates said on Friday the school reminded her that documentation for her son was needed and asked her to have it by Monday. However, Oates said the school called her later that afternoon to tell her Jabezs long hair would not be allowed at all due to a school board policy.

The schools policy clearly states that boys must have a haircut above the eyes, ears and neck.

The Barbers Hill School District said in a statement that they plan to uphold their policy.

"Our policies, including expectations of appearance, are fashioned by our Board of Trustees, all of whom are taxpayers in the Barbers Hill school district and have had children attend our schools," the district said in a statement to InsideEdition.com. "Parents have a right to seek an appropriate educational setting for their child, just as Ms. Oates has the right to place her child in a district that reflects her personal expectations for standards of appearance."

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Oates said the school policy is blatant discrimination.

Read: Beauty School Student Transforms Depressed Teen's Hair That She Hadn't Combed For Months

On Monday, I tried to take to my son to school, and I put his hair in a bun and I tied it with a little black hair tie. They said that the black hair tie was inappropriate and they would not allow him to go, Oates said.

She added: I believe the policy is sexist because they have no hair policy for girls. I am really angry. The fact that my son cant go to school angers me. Its outrageous and outdated.'

Watch: Daughter Styles Hair on Mom's Bald Head to Cheer Her Up During Chemotherapy

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Scientists have found X-rays bursting out of supernovas for the first time, an unexpected discovery that could change the way astronomers think about these space explosions.

The X-rays were coming from a certain kind of supernova, called type Ia (one-a). In that sort of thermonuclear explosion, a white dwarf that is in a binary system  in which two stars orbit the same point in space  sucks up material from its companion until it blows up. Its not just a pretty sight; it also has a purpose: Typically scientists use the light from this event to figure out how far away the explosion occurred, which tells them something about how far away other space objects are as well.

But they got more than they bargained for with supernova 2012ca, which blew up in a galaxy 260 million light years away from Earth. According to a study in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, the scientists also detected small amounts of X-rays coming from the explosion site. It wasnt much but it was there.

The amounts of X-rays they found were small  they counted 33 photons in the first observation a year and a half after the supernova exploded, and 10 in another about 200 days later  but present, the University of Chicago explained, about observations made with the Chandra X-ray Observatory space telescope.

spiral-galaxy

Photo: Digital Sky Survey/University of Chicago

This isnt the first time that X-rays have been found coming out of a supernova, but it is the first for this type of supernova. Scientists have seen this form of light coming from a type II, in which a massive old star dies with a bang, because that huge star ejects material beforehand. When the star finally collapses and explodes, the shockwave from the explosion busts through the ejected material, which is dense, and makes a shower of X-rays.

But in a type Ia supernova, scientists didnt think the white dwarf lost much mass before the big boom or had envelopes of dense material hanging around them.

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This certainly appears to be a Ia supernova with substantial circumstellar material, and it looks as though its very dense, study co-author Vikram Dwarkadas said in the university statement. What we saw suggests a density about a million times higher what we thought was the maximum around Ia [supernovas].

The mass of the material was too great to have come from the exploding white dwarfs companion star.

If its truly a Ia, thats a very interesting development because we have no idea why it would have so much circumstellar material around it, Dwarkadas said. This once again raises the question of how exactly these strange supernovas form.

xray-supernova

Photo: Vikram Dwarkadas/Chandra X-ray Observatory

The scientists are keeping up their search, according to the university, looking for X-rays and radio waves coming from supernovas to better understand how they happen.

It is surprising what you can learn from so few photons, lead study author Chris Bochenek said in the UChicago statement.

Related Articles
Hong Kong (AFP) - Typhoon Hato ripped a path of destruction across southern China on Wednesday, killing 10 people after battering Hong Kong skyscrapers, flooding streets and forcing thousands to flee to shelters.

The storm had raised Hong Kong's most severe Typhoon 10 warning, only the third time a storm of this power has pounded the financial hub in the past 20 years.

Five people were killed in the gambling mecca of Macau, where local media showed cars underwater and people swimming along what are normally streets. The enclave's famed mega-casinos were running on backup generators.

One man died after being injured by a wall that blew down, another fell from a fourth floor terrace and another was a Chinese tourist hit by a truck, the Macau government said. Details on the two other victims there were not immediately available.

The powerful storm earlier swept through neighbouring Hong Kong, where an 83-year-old man died after he fell into the sea, police said. More than 120 were injured as the territory was lashed with hurricane winds and pounding rain.

In the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, at least four people died and 26,817 people evacuated to temporary shelters, the official Xinhua news agency said. Nearly two million households were briefly without power.

Authorities issued alerts over possible landslides and flooding as the typhoon continued on a path inland.

In Macau, people swam through muddy water on what are normally roads, as others were swept off their feet by winds, footage from Apple Daily showed.

The sprawling Venetian casino resort was on back-up power and without air conditioning or proper lighting, according to one source.

An employee of Sands, which owns the Venetian and the Parisian, said power had been out across the whole of Macau but was beginning to return.

"Because many guests come in the summer, a lot of them have been stuck in the major resorts and casinos," the employee said.

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"All transportations -- air, ground, sea -- have halted, so customers who have checked out cannot leave yet."

Residents took to social media to complain about city-wide power and mobile phone network outages.

Brian Chan, 31, said authorities had failed to give enough notice of the impending storm and were not properly prepared, describing the territory as "totally lost" in the typhoon.

Water supply was also limited, authorities said, and 50 flights cancelled from its international airport.

By evening, parts of Macau were still without power.

"Some have no tap water supply. The city looks like after an attack," Harald Bruning, editor of the Macau Post Daily, told AFP, describing it as the worst typhoon he had experienced in 30 years.

- 'Flying trees' -

The typhoon passed as close as 60 kilometres (37 miles) from Hong Kong and made landfall at noon (0400 GMT) in the southern mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai.

The typhoon shut down the stock market in the territory of 7.3 million people, and forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights.

Hato sent metres-high waves crashing into Hong Kong's shorelines with flooding knee deep in some areas.

Swathes of marine rubbish washed up on beaches and in coastal residential areas, including white globs of palm oil which have been coming ashore since a massive spillage at sea earlier this month.

Gusts of up to 207 kilometres per hour brought flying debris, tearing down trees and scaffolding and smashing skyscraper windows.

Fallen trees cut off roads to parts of the territory.

More than 400 flights were cancelled, with Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific axing most of its departures until 5 pm (0900 GMT).

The airline said it had begun to reschedule the flights with some taking off Wednesday evening.

Hong Kong is regularly besieged by typhoons between July and October, but direct hits are rare.

The city saw its strongest storm in 1962 when the eye of typhoon Wanda passed over and gusts of 284 kilometres per hour were recorded.

It killed 130 people and left 72,000 people homeless.
Rotterdam (Netherlands) (AFP) - Dutch police on Thursday released a van driver arrested over a suspected terror attack plot on a Rotterdam concert venue, but stepped up inquiries based on a "concrete" tip-off from Spain.

"The man was freed earlier this evening and is no longer a suspect in the investigation," Rotterdam police said in a statement.

It remained unclear whether the tip-off by Spanish officials to the Dutch was linked to last week's deadly attacks in Catalonia. Nor was it clear when the Spanish learned of the threat.

The twin vehicle attacks in northwest Spain killed 15 people and wounded 120 others.

Dutch investigators are still trying to piece together the events that led to the cancellation of Wednesday night's concert by Californian rock band Allah-Las.

Earlier Thursday, Rotterdam police chief Frank Paauw told AFP: "There was concrete information from the Spanish police that an attack would be committed on that date, at this place and against this rock band."

After cancelling the planned concert by the Allah-Las, police carried out a pre-dawn raid where they arrested "a 22-year-old man regarding the terror threat Wednesday evening in Rotterdam," a police statement said.

BNR radio cited sources that the man had been arrested after "making threatening statements" over the messaging app Telegram, said to be popular with terror groups.

Justice Minister Stef Blok later told BNR radio the authorities were "keen to hear why he had done something so idiotic".

This man was still in detention, said Paauw, "suspected of being involved in preparations for a terror attack".

Dutch national news agency ANP said the suspect was most likely a student from the small town of Zevenbergen, described by neighbours as "a quiet youngster with a girlfriend".

- 'Wrong place, time' -

The driver of the Spanish-plated van was arrested Wednesday evening after police noticed him driving in a suspicious way, near the concert venue at the Maassilo, in the city's sprawling harbour district.

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Even on Wednesday however, there were doubts that he was in fact linked to the threat.

While officers found a "couple of gas canisters" in the van, the driver was a mechanic who "appeared to be under the influence of an alcoholic substance," police said.

Spanish police also ruled the man out of the inquiry. They said he had "five gas canisters in his van for domestic use" but was completely drunk.

Police chief Paauw said it looked as if "the man had had the bad luck to be in the wrong place at the wrong time".

The threat on the concert venue recalls previous such attacks.

In May, 22 people were killed in a suicide bombing at a concert by US singer Ariana Grande in the northern English city of Manchester.

And in November 2015, 90 people were killed in Paris at the Bataclan concert hall where US rock band Eagles of Death Metal were playing.

That was part of a coordinated jihadist attack on the city that night which claimed 130 lives.

- 'Holy' name -

In Rotterdam on Wednesday, the members of Allah-Las, a four-piece band from Los Angeles, were escorted from the concert hall by police wearing bullet-proof vests.

In a statement sent to AFP, the band said they were "unharmed and are very grateful to the Rotterdam police and other responsible agencies for detecting the potential threat before anyone was hurt".

They later said they were "looking for a new date to reschedule the performance".

Allah-Las performed Thursday as planned in the Polish capital Warsaw, with lead singer Miles Michaud telling around 300 cheering fans "it's not like last night" before the Los Angeles-based quartet launched into a set of their trademark psychedelic rock.

Warsaw police said there was no evidence suggesting that an incident earlier Thursday involving a 24-year-old Israeli citizen, who lightly wounded a police officer close to the concert venue, was in anyway related to the performance.

In an interview last year with British daily The Guardian, the US band said they had received emails from Muslims offended by their name -- but "that absolutely wasn't our intention".

They had chosen to use Allah - Arabic for God - because they wanted something "holy sounding", they said.

Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb said Thursday afternoon the "specific threat surrounding that concert was over, which is logical since the concert was cancelled", his spokesman confirmed to AFP.

The Netherlands has so far been spared the terror strikes that have rocked its European neighbours recently.

But top Dutch security and intelligence officials have been keeping a wary eye on events.

In June, a Dutch man -- known to authorities as being possibly radicalised -- was arrested filming outside a stadium during a concert. He was later freed, but the incident is still under investigation.
By Yeganeh Torbati WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One of the U.S. State Department's three science envoys publicly resigned on Wednesday, the latest in a wave of defections over President Donald Trump's response to a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Daniel Kammen, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said in a letter posted on his Twitter account that Trump had failed to condemn white supremacists and neo-Nazis, part of "a broader pattern of behavior that enables sexism and racism, and disregards the welfare of all Americans, the global community and the planet." (http://bit.ly/2vpEUPn) Trump told reporters last week that "both sides" were to blame for the violence between white supremacists and counter protesters in Virginia on Aug. 12, and said there were "very fine people" among those who participated in the white nationalist rally. The science envoys serve as unpaid volunteers and engage with government and non-government science officials around the world. In his letter, Kammen also criticized Trump's decision to leave the Paris Climate Accord. The first letters of each paragraph spell out the word "IMPEACH." Kammen and the White House did not respond to requests for comment. State Department spokeswoman Julia Mason said Kammen "made a personal decision to resign." "We appreciate his dedicated service to U.S. scientific diplomacy," Mason said. Science envoys typically serve for one year. According to his LinkedIn profile, Kammen served as an envoy since August 2016. Margaret Leinen, director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego and Thomas Lovejoy, an ecologist at George Mason University in Virginia, still serve as State Department science envoys, Mason said. They did not respond to requests for comment. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, served as envoy in 2015 and 2016 and said he has been in contact with the State Department about possibly returning. He would be willing to do so even after Trump's post-Charlottesville statements, he told Reuters on Wednesday. "Despite those comments I think it's important to be willing to serve the United States," Hotez said. Trump's comments sparked a wave of defections of chief executives from White House advisory councils, leading to their disbanding, and earned condemnations from Republicans and Democrats alike. Similar to Kammen, members of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities who resigned en masse last week used the first letter of each paragraph in their resignation letter to spell out "RESIST," a rallying cry for Trump's opponents. (Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati; Editing by Dan Grebler and Lisa Shumaker)
Body shaming has reached every corner of the web, from teens to activists to pregnant women. Its easier said than done, but its important to remember that harsh words from haters are truly meaningless in the face of your own self-esteem. One thing that may help? The fact that A-listers  the celebrities weve sometimes literally voted the sexiest people alive  have to deal with body shamers too.

Some of the most surprising instances of celebrity body shaming, from Gal Gadot to Jennifer Aniston. (Photo: Rolling Stone)

The star of Wonder Woman, for one, has had to fight back against misogyny and trolling related to her body. As Gal Gadot explained to Rolling Stone, shes gotten complaints that her body doesnt have the pinup proportions of the original  which, friendly reminder, is a comic book character, so its literally impossible for anyone to measure up. She said an interview with the magazine for its recent cover story, I told them, Listen, if you want to be for real, then the Amazons, they had only one boob. Exactly one boob. So what are you talking about here? Me having small boobs and small ass? That will make all the difference.

Gadots not the first  and certainly wont be the last  glamazon to get blasted. Below, a few more:

Jennifer Aniston

Body-shaming rumors got so bad for Jennifer Aniston that she had to pen an essay disavowing the pregnancy rumors that have followed her for most of her career. The objectification and scrutiny we put women through is absurd and disturbing. The way I am portrayed by the media is simply a reflection of how we see and portray women in general, measured against some warped standard of beauty, she wrote. Even with her scorched-earth takedown, journalists have found new ways to ask Aniston about her body by inviting her to share her feelings on the persistent rumors. Heres a solution: Ask this accomplished actress about her work.

Halle Berry

When Halle Berry walked the red carpet with her hands on her belly at this summers Chrysalis Butterfly Ball, tabloids fell over themselves to speculate that she was expecting. Her rep had to confirm to People that she wasnt pregnant, all due to a bit of belly and a hand position. Berry found her own way to address the rumors on Instagram. Can a girl have some steak and fries? she wrote.

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Rihanna

Even Queen Rih has dealt with discussion over her body weight. Rihanna, just like the rest of us, values her snacks. She laughed off a comment on Instagram, writing, Somebody called me too fat? This year, she got cheers from fans for that thick Rihanna, and dozens of articles speculated about a potential pregnancy or indulgences that led to a few extra pounds.

Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga dove into the Super Bowl covered in gemstones, but the next day, among the praise she also heard about the pot belly that haters thought was visible in her skintight leotard. She weighed in immediately. I heard my body is a topic of conversation, so I wanted to say, Im proud of my body and you should be proud of yours too, she said at the time. No matter who you are or what you do. Supporters descended on her photo to thank her for her encouraging words.

Hilary Duff

When youve grown up in the spotlight, youve learned exactly how to deal with critics. Hilary Duff posted a photo earlier this month showing off her celeb flaws on Instagram. I am posting this on behalf of young girls, women, and mothers of all ages, she wrote. Ladies, lets be proud of what weve got and stop wasting precious time in the day wishing we were different, better, and unflawed. You guys (you know who you are!) already know how to ruin a good time, and now you are body shamers as well. The hashtag? #kissmyass.

Lets hope these accomplished, intelligent (oh, and gorgeous) women can serve as role models for anyone out there dealing with the body-hating bullies. Next time you get a nasty comment on Instagram, just channel Wonder Woman. Or Rihanna.

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Miniature dolphins without any teeth swam in the Atlantic Ocean 30 million years ago, according to a newly discovered fossil.

Scientists reported in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B that a fossil from South Carolina paints a picture of a dwarf dolphin that vacuumed up its meals of small fish and squid, instead of grabbing and holding onto fish with its teeth like modern dolphins.

This new extinct species, called Inermorostrum xenops, possesses adaptations for suction feeding: toothlessness and a shortened rostrum, the study says, referring to its snout. It may have also had enlarged lips and whiskers to get the job done.

The idea of muscular, fleshy lips comes from impressions in the fossil for where there were once arteries feeding the tissue.

The researchers note that suction-feeding traits independently evolved several times within these groups of marine animals.

Researchers dated the specimen to 30 million years ago, putting it in the middle of the Oligocene epoch, which occurred late in the Paleogene. The Paleogene was the period that followed the dinosaur-infested Cretaceous period  with the mass extinction event that wiped out those creatures occurring about 66 million years ago, at the boundary line where the Cretaceous ended and the Paleogene began.

The team was working with just a skull fossil that had been discovered in a river near Charleston, according to a report from Agence France Presse. But from the remains of its head the scientists were able to estimate that the extinct dolphin was about three feet long.

toothless-mini-dolphin

Photo: Robert Boessenecker

Thats compared to bottlenose dolphins, which swim the waters around South Carolina now, as part of their enormous range around the world, and are between 6 feet and 12.5 feet long. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says these modern dolphins have short, thick beaks. They are born with some hairs on those beaks, but they lose them shortly afterward, which would set them apart from the whiskered Inermorostrum. And instead of sucking up all of their prey, bottlenose dolphins might employ a feeding strategy called fish whacking where they strike a fish with their flukes and knock it clear out of the water.

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It took only 4 million years  a relatively short time in the grand scheme of evolutionary history  for the Inermorostrum to evolve into toothless, suction-feeding dolphins from their whale ancestors who had teeth on their tops and bottoms of their mouths, lead study author Robert Boessenecker told AFP. Its snout and mouth shrank and its lips became more muscular.

This last feature is perhaps the most critical, Boessenecker said. Short snouts typically occur in [toothed whales] that are adept at suction feeding  the smaller the oral opening, the greater the suction.

Its nose bent downward, so it might have looked for its soft prey on the ocean floor.

The extinct mini-dolphin was an early version of the toothed whales. In addition to other dolphins, modern examples include the sperm whale, porpoises and the killer whale  also known as an orca.

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America's intelligence agencies have concluded with 'high confidence' that Russia launched a wide-ranging attempt to influence the 2016 election at Vladimir Putin's behest: Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

An aide to Donald Trump referenced an effort to connect campaign officials with Russian President Vladimir Putin during last years presidential campaign, according to CNN.

The report said investigators who are probing potential connections between the Trump campaign and Russia unearthed an email in which Rick Dearborn, who now works in the White House, mentioned an intermediary who hoped to arrange a meeting between Mr Putin and the Trump campaign.

The unnamed individual hoping to set up the meeting was known only as WV, according to CNN. Mr Dearbon declined the network's request for comment, and White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders refused to comment on potentially leaked documents.

Sources also told CNN that another campaign adviser to Mr Trump, George Papadapolous, had contacted other campaign officials about setting up a meeting with Russian officials, including an email with the subject line Meeting with Russian Leadership  Including Putin,. Mr Papadapolous also did not respond to CNN's requests for comment.

Revelations of contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian representatives have steadily surfaced in recent months.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the investigation after it emerged Mr Sessions had not disclosed meeting twice during the campaign with Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak, a decision that has been a source of anger to Mr Trump.

The Presidents son, Donald Trump Jr, agreed to a meeting with a Russian lawyer who had promised compromising information on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. The Presidents son-in-law Jared Kushner and then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort also attended the meeting.

America's intelligence agencies have concluded with "high confidence" that Russia launched a wide-ranging attempt to influence the 2016 election at Mr Putin's behest.
Donald Trump returned to a theme of unity during a speech in Nevada on Wednesday, one day after he departed from planned remarks emphasising togetherness  in the wake of the violence in Charlottesville  to blast his perceived adversaries in the media and beyond.

The speech to an American Legion conference marked Mr Trumps latest effort to move past a turbulent stretch in which he has been widely chastised  and forsaken by corporate leaders  for his response to the racially-charged violence at the protest organised by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, which included a car being driven through a crowd of counter-protesters.

The fact that the President stayed on script during his address to the veterans' group was a stark departure from a campaign-style rally the night before in Phoenix, Arizona, in which he undercut his initial plea for reconciliation by lashing out at journalists and elected officials.

In his Reno address Mr Trump first touted his accomplishments before saying it is time to heal the wounds that divide us and that we are one people with one home.

We are not defined by the colour of our skin, the figure on our paycheck or the party of our politics. We are defined by our shared humanity, the President added. We have no division too deep for us to heal and there is no enemy too strong for us to overcome.

Mr Trump then, on stage, signed into law a bill that would cut the amount of time the Department of Veterans Affairs takes to decide veterans' appeals of their disability payments. He described the bill as a big one as he readied his pen at a signing ceremony.

The previous night, Mr Trump was more combative than conciliatory. After saying at the outset of the speech that When one part of America hurts, we all hurt, Mr Trump veered into familiar campaign-style attacks on the totally dishonest media and assailed Arizona Republicans who have criticised him.

He accused reporters of distorted his remarks on Charlottesville, in which he first faulted violence on many sides before specifically condemning white supremacists, and then later again equating them with leftist counter-protestors, casting blame on both sides. The mixed signals sent out by Mr Trump in singling out white supremacists and then lumping them in with counter-protesters again was met with condemnation from both Democrats and Republicans, as well as business leaders and community representatives.

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If the Phoenix rally evoked themes from Mr Trumps campaign, so too did a visit earlier on Tuesday to a US Customs and Border Patrol outpost. With his promise of building a wall stalled as Congress has not yet allocated money, Mr Trump dangled shutting down the government as a way to shake loose the needed funds.

If we have to close down our government, we're building that wall, Mr Trump said. We're going to have our wall. The American people voted for immigration control. We're going to get that wall.

That particular threat brought rebukes from leading Democrats and the Speaker of the House, Republican Paul Ryan. Mr Ryan said that a wall was necessary but the government did not have to choose between border security and a government shutdown.

I don't think anyone's interested in having a shutdown, he told reporters in Hillsboro, Oregon, where he visited an Intel factory. I don't think it's in our interest to do so.

To add to the controversy, Mr Trump all but vowed to pardon the embattled former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. An immigration hardliner who has drawn warm praise from Mr Trump, Arpaio has been convicted of criminal contempt for ignoring federal demands to stop profiling people based on their potential immigration status.

Was Sheriff Joe convicted for doing his job? He should have had a jury. I'll make a prediction. I think he's going to be just fine, Mr Trump said amid reverberating chants of Pardon Joe!

Reports on Wednesday suggested that the White House had drawn up the papers to pardon Arpaio.

Mr Trump also reserved some animus for Republican Senator Jeff Flake, who has become a vocal critic of the President. After castigating a senator who's weak on border, weak on crime but declining to name him, praising his restraint as very presidential, Mr Trump took to Twitter on Wednesday so there could be no doubt and renewed his attacks on the press  saying that "people got" the areas of the statement the "Fake News Media didn't cover fairly". In reading his statements at the rally, Mr Trump had himself omitted something, the lines that related to the "blame on both sides".

Phoenix crowd last night was amazing - a packed house. I love the Great State of Arizona. Not a fan of Jeff Flake, weak on crime & border!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 23, 2017

Last night in Phoenix I read the things from my statements on Charlottesville that the Fake News Media didn't cover fairly. People got it!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 23, 2017

Despite Mr Trumps broadsides against Mr Flake and public praise of his challenger, Arizona state Senator Kelli Ward, Senate Republicans have not followed suit. A political action committee devoted to preserving Republicans Senate majority has funded an ad branding Ms Ward as crazy.

The boisterous atmosphere of the rally in Phoenix was also replicated outside of the convention centre where it took place, with thousands gathering in gruelling heat to protest against Mr Trump and his Charlottesville remarks. There were shouting matches and minor scuffles between sections of the pro-Trump and anti-Trump sides, and after the rally, police officers dispersed protesters with tear gas and pepper spray. Five people were arrested, according to the Arizona Republic.

In the comfort of his most fervent fans, Mr Trump often resurrects his free-wheeling 2016 campaign style. The rally was Mr Trump's eighth rally since taking office in January, and each event is attended by supporters screened by his campaign.

His comfort-level was apparent: As he discussed his responses to Charlottesville, he interrupted himself. I didn't want to bore you. You understand where I'm coming from. You people understand.

His comparative calm during the the more sedate, teleprompter-assisted speech to the American Legion was striking and the issue for many of his advisers and those that follow his movements is trying to understand which Mr Trump - the one guided by a teleprompter, or the one playing to the crowd  is going to appear in front of the cameras.
Glenn Simpson, whose firm compiled an infamous and salacious dossier about President Donald Trumps ties to Russia, told Senate investigators Tuesday that he stands by its findings. The private investigator and former reporter spent more than 10 hours being questioned by the Senate Judiciary Committee after Chairman Chuck Grassley withdrew a subpoena when Simpson agreed to testify behind closed doors.

Related: Where Is the Golden Shower Dossier Author? House and Senate Fighting As Search Grows

"Mr. Simpson told Congress the truth and cleared the record on many matters of interest to congressional investigators, Simpsons attorney Josh Levy told reporters following the session, according to ABC News.

Simpson co-founded the private research firm Fusion GPS, which was hired to produce a report on Trump. The dossier, largely prepared by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele, alleges collusion between Trumps campaign and Russia. Among other explosive claims about the presidents links to the country are that the Kremlin has a compromising video of Trump getting prostitutes to urinate on a bed in a Moscow hotel in which Barack and Michelle Obama once stayed.

The claims remain unverified and have been vehemently denied by Trump.

Now that was totally made-up stuff.... I know a lot about those guys, theyre phony guys, Trump told The New York Times last month. They make up whatever they want. Just not my thing. Plus, I have witnesses, because I went there with a group of people.

Putin, Trump

Carlos Barria/Reuters

Yet the dossier has been treated with a degree of reverence by others. Last December, U.S. intelligence officials passed a summary of the report onto then-President Obama and President-elect Trump. It was then obtained and published in full by Buzzfeed News. It has since been reported that the FBI has used it to bolster its own investigation into the Trump campaigns links to Russia, which is currently being headed by special counsel Robert Mueller.

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Today, a special counsel and three congressional committees are investigating ties between the Russian government and the Trump campaign. Fusion GPS is proud of the work it has conducted and stands by it," Levy said.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is not the main body responsible for investigating links between the Trump campaign and Russia and is nominally looking into Simpsons alleged failure to register as a foreign lobbyist. However, headed by Grassley, a Republican, it is also seeking to find out the motivations for Fusion GPSs research and who funded it. Fusion GPS has alleged that the investigation is an attempt to discredit the research.

This investigation into Mr. Simpson began as a desperate attempt by the Trump campaign and its allies to smear Fusion GPS because of its reported connection to the Trump dossier, which Watergate prosecutor Richard Ben-Veniste and others have said is a roadmap for an investigation, Levy said.

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Traders worry about low volatility in financial markets, a possible sign of complacency as overvalued stocks hover near record highs. If theyre looking for more turbulence, they may be about to get it.

President Donald Trump and his GOP allies in charge of Congress have some important business to conduct in a short period of time once they return from a long summer recess in early September. First they have to raise the federal debt ceiling, so the U.S. government can continue to borrow the money needed to pay its bills. Then they have to pass legislation to fund the government beginning Oct. 1, the start of the new fiscal year.

This is the most basic business of government  keeping itself solvent and open for business. It ought to be pro-forma  but of course its not. And the Trump presidency could produce the extraordinary spectacle of one political party at war with itself, creating needless economic turmoil when it ought to be unifying in pursuit of shared goals.

Most senior Republicans say the only responsible path is to raise the debt ceiling and fund the government in short order, so they can move on to tax cuts, a longstanding Republican priority. The president himself is the wild card. Trump recently said hed trigger a government shutdown if he cant get $1.6 billion to start building his Mexico border wall, a project Republican appropriators arent eager to fund. And Trump continues to pick fights with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other key Republicans, sowing division within his party rather than harmony. All this suggests nothing will go as smoothly in September, as it should.

Congress needs a little nudge

Investors tend to think that no matter how ugly the politics get in September, it will all work out in the end. The key question may be, at what cost? We dont think it will be easy, or smooth, Morgan Stanley told clients in a recent note. It may require some form of market pressure to get different sides to fall in line.

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Market pressure means distress in financial markets that gets Washingtons attention and compels them to stop screwing around. CEOs may warn the White House that business is weakening and economic risks are rising. One vivid example of this was the 7% plunge in the stock market on Sept. 29, 2008, when Congress failed to pass a bank-bailout bill amid the financial crash. Congress got the message and passed a lightly revised version of that bill a few days later.

Were not in the midst of a financial crash, which is obviously reassuring. But there are also parallels to August 2011, when an impasse over raising the debt ceiling led to a real threat of default on U.S. debt and a last-second resolution. Following that shabby episode, Standard & Poors lowered the U.S. credit rating by one notch, for the first time ever, citing political dysfunction as the cause. Stocks fell 6.7% in one day, and it took more than six months to regain that summers market peak. The VIX index, which is around 12 now, hit 43, its highest level since the bottom of the market crash in early 2009.

Influence of the political divide

One difference between 2011 and now is that divided government back then pitted Democratic President Barack Obama against a Republican-controlled Congress. Bitter political divisions nearly overcame common sense. That shouldnt be a problem now, with both branches controlled by Republicans. Except Republicans have become as fractious as two different parties.

The upcoming budget battles will play out in familiar fashion. Establishment Republicans will try not to rock the boat, while hard-line conservatives whose votes are needed will try to use their leverage to extract spending cuts and other concessions the centrists refuse to grant. Democrats, whose votes will also be needed, are learning to just sit on the sidelines and let the Republicans bicker. But theyll have leverage too, and they could throw a wrench into the budget plans as well, if they can do it while avoiding blame.

Volatility in markets isnt inherently bad. It can rationalize valuations, ground unrealistic expectations and provide buying and selling opportunities for those so inclined. But political uncertainty can generate a kind of artificial volatility that wouldnt exist if the government were managed better. Traders shouldnt be making bets on the degree of incompetence in Washington. However, thats exactly what theyre doing.

Confidential tip line: rickjnewman@yahoo.com. Encrypted communication available.

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Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman
The U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) has killed more civilians during President Donald Trump's first seven months in office than in the three years it existed under his predecessor, according to the latest estimate by a U.K.-based monitor.

Airwars, which describes itself as a "journalist-led transparency project," released Tuesday its latest data on airstrikes reportedly conducted by the U.S. and its allies battling ISIS and other jihadists in Iraq and Syria. According to data gathered since the coalition's inception in October 2014, the U.S.-dominated multinational force has been responsible for a minimum of 5,117 civilian deaths, with about 55 percent of them occurring during Trump's administration. While the stage of the conflict inherited by the Republican leader has largely involved targeting ISIS's urban strongholds after allied gains elsewhere under former President Barack Obama, Trump has faced backlash at home and abroad over reports of mounting collateral damage.

Related: Syria: Arab tribes who once supported ISIS turn to U.S. as endgame begins in Raqqa

"During @BarackObama's 29 months at helm of ISIS war we tracked 855 alleged civilian casualty events which likely killed 2298-3398 civilians," Airwars tweeted to the group's official account.

"In @realDonaldTrump's first 7 months as President, we tracked 1,196 alleged incidents in which we assess at least 2,819-4,529 civilians died," it added.

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BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images

The U.S. began conducting airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria in October 2014 as part of what came to be known as the Joint Combined Task ForceOperation Inherent Resolve. The campaign was created in response to lightning gains made across Iraq and Syria by ISIS, a notoriously brutal and powerful offshoot of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. The ultraconservative Sunni Muslim group managed to overpower local forces and expanded its self-proclaimed caliphate across nearly half of the two countries.

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The group's lines of defense began to collapse in Iraq as it was targeted by the country's armed forces, Kurdish militias, majority-Shiite Muslim militias backed by Iran and U.S.-led airstrikes. In Syria, U.S. airstrikes assisted the local Kurdish forces and some Arab insurgent groups in taking on the jihadists, while a 2015 Russian intervention allowed Syria's embattled military and its allies, including Iran-backed militias, to retake large parts of the country lost to ISIS and other anti-government groups in the wake of a 2011 uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Assad have also been criticized for reports of high civilian casualties incurred by their joint air campaigns.

When Trump came into office in January, U.S. forces had already begun major offensives to help local allies dislodge ISIS from two of its most important cities. Since then, the Iraqi government has declared ISIS defeated in Mosul, by far the largest city to fall into the jihadists' hands, and the Syrian Democratic Forces, a mostly Kurdish alliance of Arabs and ethnic minorities, has beaten ISIS in about half of its de facto capital of Raqqa. As the two campaigns became increasingly urban, civilian casualties increased substantially. In last month's report, Airwars said that about 80 civilians were killed per month under Obama and that that figure had risen to 360 under Trump by July.

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Institute for the Study of War/Reuters

Other monitoring groups have also criticized the increasingly deadly consequences of the U.S.-led intervention against ISIS. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based group with ties to the exiled Syrian opposition, said Monday that coalition airstrikes had escalated in the past week, killing 167 people, with at least 42 dead reported from a single airstrike that day.

"Such massacres only add to the deteriorating humanitarian situation of civilians in ISIS-controlled areas in Raqqa city, where death became inevitable awaiting even those who try to flee along with their families to areas far from the doomed city," the group wrote.

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Donald Trumps brief moment of presidential behavior appears to be over.

On Aug. 21, President Donald Trump delivered a measured, respectable prime-time address explaining his new policy on the complex problem of Afghanistan. It was one of the most serious and sober-minded speeches of his seven-month-old presidency.

A day later, Trump removed his rhetorical cuff links and returned to the political street brawling he seemed to love as a candidate. Trump held a rally in Phoenix  where local officials urged him not to come  rousing several thousand supporters with familiar rants: the media is out to get him, the NAFTA trade deal is terrible, Democrats are obstructing his agenda.

While airing these grievances, Trump said hed shut down the government if Congress doesnt appropriate $1.6 billion for the wall he wants to build along the U.S. border with Mexico. Government shutdowns arent the worst thing in the world, since essential functions continue: Social Security checks keep going out and the Pentagon remains on alert. But voters hate shutdowns. The last time this happened, in 2013, a buoyant stock market flat-lined and the economy lost $24 billion in output before Congress funded the government after a 16-day impasse. Congress approval rating plummeted to 8.5%, the lowest level on record.

Government shutdown threat is a bad idea

Would Trump really go to the mat for a mere $1.6 billion, which is .04% of all federal spending? Nobody knows, maybe not even Trump. But threatening to shut down the government is a foolish move that could harm Trump more than anybody else.

Trump probably hopes his threat will persuade Republicans who control Congress to throw in the towel and just give him the $1.6 billion. They might. But they might not, for a few important reasons. First, Trumps relationship with Congressional leaders is severely frayed, with the New York Times reporting that Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell arent even on speaking terms. Trumps blunt criticism of McConnell and other should-be allies in Congress is part of the reason. Trump has also shown little interest in the usual horse-trading that gets bills passed. Its his way or the highway, which so far has led to the highway. (See: Better Care Reconciliation Act, b. 2017, d. 2017.)

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One other problem: Virtually all Democrats and some Republicans think Trumps border wall is a bad idea, most likely leaving the Senate short of the votes needed to pass border-wall funding as a standalone measure. At least four Republican senators from states along the borderJohn McCain and Jeff Flake of Arizona, and Ted Cruz and John Cornyn of Texashave problems with Trumps wall. They might cave amid larger concerns over shutting down the government. Or McConnell might be able to buy their support by padding a budget bill with other goodies that benefit their states. But its worth noting that Trump has now bashed McConnell, McCain and Flake by name, in addition to lampooning Cruz as lyin Ted during the campaign. These are not pals who will have Trumps back when the chips are down.

Wall fallout

So where will this all lead? Trump could have let the wall issue slide for the time being, promising to take it up after Congress manages to cut taxes  perhaps the most important item on Trumps agenda. He could have argued that he wants more time to persuade Mexico to pay for it, as he promised as a candidate. He could borrow his refrain from the health care debacle and complain that the border issue is more complicated than he thought, and requires more time.

Instead, he drew a line in the sand and set the stage for a binary outcome: Either he gets his wall funding, or hell presumably veto a bill funding the government. Trump is obviously trying to fire up his base, which apparently doesnt mind a flirtation with anarchy. But a lot of others are listening in. Investors pushed stocks down following Trumps Phoenix rally, a bit unnerved by his remarks. Markets are once again trying to figure out whether to take Trump at his word, or discount his scariest threats.

If Trump doesnt get his wall funding, hell either have to shut down the government, as promised and bear the heat thats sure to come with that  or come up with an excuse for why hes going back on his word. Verbally, at least, Trump has foreclosed negotiations and half-measures and sharply limited his own options. He can always change his mind, and hope his supporters dont notice or care. But the self-described master dealmaker seems to be handicapping himself. Markets wont care if this is nothing more than an argument among politicians. Trumps job now is to make sure his border wall becomes nothing more than that.

Confidential tip line: rickjnewman@yahoo.com. Encrypted communication available.

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Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman
By Jason Lange WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government might not have enough money to pay all its bills on Oct. 2 if Washington does not raise a cap on federal borrowing, a respected think tank said in a report on Thursday. The Treasury might not have enough money on that day to make a roughly $80 billion payment that will be due to a military retirement fund, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. Coming up short on cash on Oct. 2 could also lead the government to delay payments due that day on social security benefits and military pay, the BPC said. The report highlights the urgency facing the Trump administration to work with Congress to raise the federal government's $19.8 trillion cap on borrowing. Missing payments could trigger financial turmoil and hit the U.S. economy, possibly triggering a recession. A credit agency has warned that America's credit rating is at risk. "October 2 is a particularly difficult day for federal finances," said the Bipartisan Policy Center, which is considered an expert in projecting fiscal deadlines. Losing the ability to borrow any more on Oct. 2 would mean approximately 23 percent of funds owed by the government that month would go unpaid, dealing an immediate blow to the U.S. economy, the BPC said. Washington has been scraping against its debt ceiling since March, putting off payments into a few government funds so it can keep borrowing from investors and making debt payments. The BPC noted there was "substantial uncertainty" in knowing just when Washington could stop being able to pay all its bills. It projects that date could fall between Oct. 2 and the middle of the month. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told lawmakers in July they needed to raise the debt limit by Sept 29. President Donald Trump on Thursday described efforts to raise the limit as a "mess." Republicans control the White House and both houses of the U.S. Congress. Washington has put itself through debt-limit crises several times in recent decades. In the run-up to a 2011 crisis, the Treasury looked at a range of options, including prioritizing payments, which would mean making debt securities payments at the expense of other obligations. Former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said in 2013 that attempting to prioritize might trigger chaos. Mnuchin told lawmakers on July 27 he had no intent to prioritize payments and that doing so "doesn't make sense." (Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Dan Grebler)
Geneva (AFP) - A UN committee tasked with combatting racism has issued a formal "early warning" over conditions in the United States, a rare move often used to signal the potential of a looming civil conflict.

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said it had invoked its "early warning and urgent action procedure" because of the proliferation of racist demonstrations in the US.

It specifically noted the unrest in Charlottesville, Virginia, in which a woman was killed after an avowed white supremacist ploughed his car into a group of anti-racism counterprotestors.

The racism committee, part of the UN human rights office, can issue a formal early warning to help prevent "existing problems from escalating into conflict" or to "prevent a resumption of conflict where it has previously occurred", according to the rights office website.

President Donald Trump has been widely criticised for his response to the Charlottesville clashes, after he said "both sides" were to blame for the violence.

The UN committee urged Washington, "as well as high-level politicians and public officials, to unequivocally and unconditionally reject and condemn racist hate speech", without mentioning Trump by name.

"We are alarmed by the racist demonstrations, with overtly racist slogans, chants and salutes by white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and the Ku Klux Klan, promoting white supremacy and inciting racial discrimination and hatred," committee head Anastasia Crickley said in a statement.

The committee monitors compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which the US ratified in 1994.

The US warning marks the seventh such alert issued in the past decade.

They mainly concern countries gripped by ethnic and religious strife, including Burundi, Nigeria, Iraq and Ivory Coast.
US and Canadian diplomats based in Havana have suffered from suspected brain damage - AFP or licensors

A doctor who evaluated American and Canadian diplomats working in Cuba diagnosed them with conditions as serious as mild traumatic brain injury and damage to the central nervous system, CBS News said on Wednesday, citing medical records it reviewed.

The diplomats had complained of symptoms including hearing loss, nausea, headaches and balance disorders after what were described as "incidents" that began affecting them in Havana beginning in late 2016.

Officials are investigating whether the diplomats were targets of some form of sonic attack directed at their homes.

Incidents had continued to occur on the island and some US diplomats had cut short their assignments.

The state department did not immediately respond to requests for a comment on the CBS News report.

The department said earlier this month that a number of Americans serving in Cuba had returned to the United States for "medical reasons" that were not life-threatening.

Heather Nauert, state department spokeswoman, said two weeks ago the state department learned of incidents at its embassy in Havana in late 2016. She said the source or cause of the "incidents" was unknown but they "caused a variety of physical symptoms" in US government employees.

Several US citizens at the embassy were evacuated to the United States over the past six months for treatment of a variety of complaints. Some subsequently received hearing aids.

The United States expelled two Cuban diplomats over the incidents. Cuba said it was investigating the US allegations but insisted it would "never ... allow the Cuban territory to be used for any action against accredited diplomatic agents or their families."

CBS News said one doctor who reviewed the medical records warned about the health risks of future exposures. An American doctor also visited Havana to assess US Embassy workers, the source said.
Ankara (AFP) - Pentagon chief Jim Mattis arrived in Ankara on Wednesday for talks with Turkish leaders expected to focus on Washington's arming of a Syrian Kurdish militia, which Turkey views as a terror group, in the fight against Islamic State.

Mattis flew in for the one-day visit after stopping in Iraq to review progress in the campaign against IS militants, where he urged coalition partners to prevent other political issues from disrupting the growing momentum against the jihadists.

In Ankara, he will hold talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli.

Turkey, an important NATO ally of the United States and part of the coalition against IS, is incensed that Washington has been arming the Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) militias in the assault on the jihadists' stronghold Raqa, in northern Syria.

Turkey regards the YPG as the Syrian affiliate of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

In May, the Pentagon said it had begun transferring small arms and vehicles to the YPG to support their role as part of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-Syrian Arab alliance fighting IS.

The weapons include AK-47s and small-calibre machine guns.

The SDF is currently leading the assault on Raqa, with artillery and air support from US-led coalition forces.

- Kurdish referendum concerns -

US officials on Tuesday said the grinding fight was the "priority" in the counter-IS campaign since the fall of Mosul last month, the jihadists' Iraqi hub.

The Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq -- which is also playing a key role in the fight against IS -- is planning its own independence referendum in September.

Mattis met Tuesday with Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani in Erbil to express US opposition to the referendum.

On the same day, Erdogan vowed Turkey would thwart any attempt by the YPG and its political wing the Democratic Union Party (PYD) to carve out a Kurdish state in northern Syria.

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"We do not and will never allow a so-called state to be established by the PYD, YPG in northern Syria," Erdogan said.

The US is also concerned about warming ties between Iran and Turkey. Iranian armed forces chief General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri visited Turkey last week.

Erdogan on Monday said a joint operation with Iran against Kurdish militants which "pose a threat," including the PKK, is "always on the agenda." Iran's Revolutionary Guards, however, denied the claim.
Washington (AFP) - The United States warned an angry Pakistan on Tuesday that it could lose its status as a privileged military ally if it continues giving safe haven to Afghan militant groups.

One day after President Donald Trump unveiled a new strategy to force the Taliban to negotiate a political settlement with the Kabul government, his top diplomat upped the heat on Islamabad.

Trump had warned that Pakistan's support for the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani extremist network would have consequences, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has now spelled these out.

"We have some leverage," Tillerson told reporters, as he fleshed out Trump's speech, "in terms of aid, their status as a non-NATO alliance partner -- all of that can be put on the table."

As one of 16 "Non-NATO Major Allies," Pakistan benefits from billions of dollars in aid and has access to some advanced US military technology banned from other countries.

This year, the United States has already withheld $350 million in military funding over concerns Pakistan is not doing enough to fight terror, but the alliance itself was not in question.

Tillerson said Washington wants to work with Pakistan as it expands its own support for Kabul in the battle against the Taliban, but warned it to close militant safe havens.

Some of Pakistan's critics in Washington have urged Trump to go further, by authorizing US strikes against militants inside Pakistan or declaring Pakistan a "state sponsor of terror."

Officials have not yet brandished the designation threat, which could lead to severe sanctions and legal threats to Pakistani officials, but Tillerson did not rule out strikes.

The United States has hit targets within Pakistan before, most famously when Trump's predecessor Barack Obama ordered US special forces to kill Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.

"The president has been clear that we are going to attack terrorists wherever they live," Tillerson said.

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"We have put people on notice that if you're providing safe haven to terrorists, be warned -- we are going to engage those providing safe haven and ask them to change what they are doing."

And Tillerson added that, aside from the Afghans, Pakistan has more to gain "than any other nation" from an end to the fighting.

Both Tillerson and Trump also called on Pakistan's long-standing rival and fellow nuclear power India to become more involved in Afghanistan, an idea that is anathema to Islamabad.

- 'Scourge of terrorism' -

All this drew a hurt response from Pakistan, which has been a US ally since the Cold War, despite tensions over its rogue nuclear program and clashes with emerging great power India.

Seeking to rebut Trump's "disappointing" allegation that it had harbored "agents of chaos," Pakistan's foreign ministry re-stated its commitment to fighting terrorism.

"No country in the world has suffered more than Pakistan from the scourge of terrorism, often perpetrated from outside our borders," it said in a statement.

"It is, therefore disappointing that the US policy statement ignores the enormous sacrifices rendered by the Pakistani nation in this effort," it continued.

During the 1980s, Pakistan worked with the United States and Saudi Arabia to support Islamist rebels against what was the then pro-Soviet Afghan regime in Kabul.

But after the rise to power of the Pakistani-backed Taliban and the Al-Qaeda attacks on US cities of September 11, 2001, the US has pressured Islamabad to cut its links with the militants.

Pakistan has conducted campaigns against the Pakistani branch of the Taliban -- which threatens its own stability -- and turned a blind eye to a US drone campaign against Al-Qaeda leaders.

But it fears the rise of an Indian-backed government in Kabul, and maintains support for some Taliban and other factions to keep its influence across the long, lawless border.

"As a matter of policy, Pakistan does not allow use of its territory against any country," the foreign ministry said.

"Instead of relying on the false narrative of safe havens, the US needs to work with Pakistan to eradicate terrorism."

Beyond the stand-off with Pakistan, Trump's new strategy also authorizes US generals to deploy more American troops to support Afghan government forces in what is now a 16-year-old conflict.

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If you're icked out by roaches, you might want to look away.

Thousands of cockroaches were seen marching along a sea wall, seeking shelter from the deadly typhoon that has battered Hong Kong and neighbouring Macau this week.

SEE ALSO: Stubborn man will not leave Starbucks, even though it's flooded

The viral video of the cockroaches, which are said to be fleeing a Macau shore, has since been viewed over 500,000 times.

Typhoon Hato, which made landfall on Wednesday across Southern China, has killed at least 12 people so far, battering buildings, overturning vehicles and causing thousands to flee.

Eight people were killed in Macau and four killed in Guangdong province in mainland China.

Hato has forced Hong Kong to trigger its most severe typhoon warning in five years, and Macau's highest in 18 years.

Videos swept in from across the region documenting the destruction the typhoon had brought:

In this video, crashing waves can be seen flooding a building complex in Hong Kong:

In another video, what looks to be a suspended working platform was seen swinging wildly in the wind and smashing into the windows of Hong Kong apartment units in the process.

Other parts of Hong Kong also experienced a continuous outpouring of floodwaters gushing in:

(And then there's always that one guy who tries to battle the storm...)

Across Hong Kong, offices and schools were forced to close as winds swept across the island. More than 450 flights were also cancelled.

But it was Macau that bore the brunt of the damage.

The city was hit with destructive winds of up to 124mph (200km/h). The city was on Wednesday hit with a power blackout for several hours. Mobile phone and internet networks were also disrupted.

As of Thursday, schools and public venues still remain closed in Macau.

According to one civil servant who spoke to Reuters, the city "looks like it was just in a war."

Hato has on Thursday been downgraded to a tropical storm, and is expected to weaken further as it moves inland over China.
The White House on Thursday angrily rejected as ridiculous and outrageous comments from Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R.-Tenn., questioning President Trumps stability and competence.

Corker told reporters in Tennessee last week that Trump has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability, nor some of the competence, that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful. The lawmaker also said Trump recently has not demonstrated that he understands the character of this nation, an apparent reference to the presidents response to the white supremacist protest in Charlottesville, Va.

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., delivered a blistering rebuke of President Trump in Chattanooga last week, saying he has not yet demonstrated the stability or competence required for an American president to succeed. (Photo: Tim Barber/Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP)

Asked about those comments, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders replied, I think thats a ridiculous and outrageous claim.

Corkers comments came as Republican lawmakers have shown increased willingness to criticize their partys leader on a range of fronts.

Trump has reportedly vented his anger directly at the Tennessee Republican over the passage of a bill strengthening sanctions against Russia. Trump reluctantly signed the legislation into law earlier this month.

The comments from Sanders came hours after Trump sharply criticized Republican leaders in Congress on Twitter. He blamed them for the looming legislative mess over raising the nations debt ceiling and took aim at Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for the failure to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Asked about the increasingly fraught relationship between the president and his top allies in Congress, Sanders replied, I think the relationships are fine.

She added, Certainly, there are going to be some policy differences, but there are also a lot of shared goals, and thats what were focused on.

The president is disappointed that Obamacare, they failed to get it repealed and replaced, she said. But at the same time, President Trump has worked with leader McConnell to reach out to other members and to work on those shared goals, and were going to continue to do that when the Senate comes back from recess.

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The Daily Beast

NBCOn the first Saturday Night Live episode after each of the past two presidential elections, Dave Chappelle served as host and used the opportunity to share his thoughts about the state of American politics. The comedian returned for a third time this week after the midterms, but this time something was different.It was Chappelles first time hosting SNL since he came under fire for a slew of transphobic jokes in his latest Netflix special The Closer. And before he even took the stage at Studi
By David Schwartz

PHOENIX (Reuters) - The White House has prepared paperwork for U.S. President Donald Trump to pardon Joe Arpaio, the controversial former Arizona sheriff convicted last month of criminal contempt in a racial profiling case, CNN reported on Wednesday.

White House officials declined to comment, but an administration official told CNN that talking points to be used after Arpaio is pardoned have also been prepared.

Trump hinted during an appearance in Phoenix on Tuesday he would issue a pardon for Arpaio, who was sheriff of Maricopa County, where Phoenix is located, for 24 years before losing a re-election bid last year.

"I'll make a prediction," Trump said at a rally in Phoenix. "I think he's going to be just fine, OK? But I won't do it tonight because I don't want to cause any controversy. But Sheriff Joe can feel good."

Arpaio, who styled himself as "America's toughest sheriff" for his no-nonsense treatment of jail inmates and crackdown on undocumented immigrants, faces a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a fine when sentenced on the federal misdemeanor offense on Oct. 5.

Arpaio, 85, told Reuters on Wednesday he had not had any contact with Trump or his staff about a pardon.

"I am very humbled about what he said about me and what he was going to do for me, Arpaio said in a telephone interview.

Later on Fox New Network's "Hannity" show, Arpaio said his case was politically motivated and pledged to go public and "talk about the abuse of the political and justice system."

"People have to know the true story," he said. "If they can go after me, they can go after anyone in this country," he said.

Arpaio was an early supporter of Trump's presidential campaign and led an investigation in 2011 of false claims that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States. Trump had also promoted that false "birther" position before abandoning it last year.

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A judge found Arpaio guilty of contempt last month for intentionally defying a 2011 court order that barred his officers from stopping Latino motorists solely on suspicion that they were in the United States illegally.

The judge in the underlying lawsuit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and others in 2007, held that such traffic stops were a violation of the motorists' constitutional rights.

CNN reported the talking points to be used after a pardon is issued included Arpaio's 50 years of service in the military, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and as sheriff, and that it was inappropriate to imprison him for "enforcing the law" and "working to keep people safe."

ACLU deputy legal director Cecillia Wang said in an email a pardon would be "a presidential endorsement of racism."

"Arpaio was convicted by a federal court because he deliberately violated a federal court order that was simple and clear in prohibiting illegal detentions of Latinos," she said.

(Additional reporting by James Oliphant in Washington; Editing by Bill Trott, Leslie Adler and Paul Tait)
Two white New Jersey high schoolers said they ran into trouble this weekend when they walked onto the campus of Howard University adorned in President Trump's "Make America Great Again" paraphernalia.

One of the teenagers, Allie Vandee, 16, tweeted about her experience on the university campus while touring D.C. with some of her classmates.

"The students took videos and pictures of us saying WE were being 'disrespectful', and that 'us being Caucasian, we should have known better,'" Vandee wrote on Twitter.

The teenager said she and her friend, identified as Sarah, did not realize that the historically black university would, in fact, be "predominantly black," but also added that race "should not matter" anyway in deciding to express their political beliefs.

See Twitter reactions to this story:



The two girls, who were wearing hats and t-shirts bearing Trump's signature campaign slogan, said they were going to the dining hall when a man spotted them and said, "F--k y'all." Vandee said another man allegedly stole Sarah's cap before a school official returned it.

HU officials defended their students on Twitter following the incident, saying that they would "take action" to ensure university students "felt safe" in their dining halls.

"We will take any action necessary to ensure that HU students feel safe & comfortable in our dining spaces. This group is no longer on campus," Howard University Dining Services tweeted.

We will take any action necessary to ensure that HU students feel safe& comfortable in our dining spaces. This group is no longer on campus.  HUdining (@HUdining) August 19, 2017

The university's official Twitter account also came to their student's defense.

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SEE ALSO: Anti-fascist stabs innocent man after haircut gets him mistaken for a neo-Nazi

"Though this is an institution where freedom of thought, choice, and expression are ever-present, we will never compromise our values or allow others to convince us to do so. We will remain committed to truth and service and boldly affirm who we are and what we stand for," the university wrote in a statement on Twitter. "Thankfully, when visitors set foot on our campus they are met with some of the brightest and best students in our nation. Howard students represent all that is right about America."

A Thread:

Today, there were visitors on our campus who were wearing paraphernalia that showcased their political support. 1/10  Howard University (@HowardU) August 20, 2017

The NAACP chapter within the university also weighed in on the incident, tweeting that its students have "no time for white supremacists and neo-nazi sympathizers on campus."

Howard University students have no time for white supremacists and neo-nazi sympathizers on our campus. Good riddance. https://t.co/zEEQ06qDtU  Howard Univ. NAACP (@HU_NAACP) August 19, 2017

Vandee claimed she continued to be harassed after departing from the university, adding that a student on the school bus called her and her friend "racist" because of their attire.

"This is America. These are the people who are being racist and disrespectful," Vandee tweeted. "It's unfortunate that Trump supporters have to fear going [some] places [more than] others. I will never be embarrassed for supporting Donald Trump. I will also support our president when, and wherever, I please. #MAGA."
A new petition calling on the Trump administration to formally recognize the so-called antifa as a terrorist organization has generated nearly 300,000 signatures in a week  well beyond the threshold that is supposed to trigger a formal response from the White House. But theres been no indication under President Trump that it will.

The petition, created by last week in the wake of the violent clashes between white supremacists and antifascists in Charlottesville, Va., argues that the groups tactics are akin to ISIS:

Terrorism is defined as the use of violence and intimidation in pursuit of political aims. This definition is the same definition used to declare ISIS and other groups, as terrorist organizations. AntiFa has earned this title due to its violent actions in multiple cities and their influence in the killings of multiple police officers throughout the United States. It is time for the pentagon to be consistent in its actions  and just as they rightfully declared ISIS a terror group, they must declare AntiFa a terror group  on the grounds of principle, integrity, morality, and safety.

At a campaign rally in Phoenix earlier this week, Trump himself referred to the masked antifascist protesters by name.

You know, they show up in the helmets and the black masks and theyve got clubs and theyve got everything, the president told the crowd. Antifa!

Related: Outside Trumps rally, bikers, antifa, police, protesters and pepper spray

The State Department maintains a list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) that are designated by the secretary of state. There are currently 61, including ISIS, al-Qaida and Boko Haram.

The petition to add antifa to that list has more than 290,000 signatures  nearly triple the number it needed by Sept. 16 to get an official response.

The digital platform, which was created in 2011 under President Barack Obama, drew nearly half a million petitions during his presidency. And the Obama White House answered many of them, including a petition to forgive student loan debt, a call for Obama to pardon Edward Snowden and, most memorably, a plea for the federal government to begin construction on a Death Star, the galactic superweapon featured in the Star Wars film franchise.

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The Administration does not support blowing up planets, Paul Shawcross, a White House science and technology adviser, replied in a statement. Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?

But the Trump administration has yet to respond to any of the 10 other petitions that have crossed the 100,000 threshold.

A petition calling on the Trump administration to immediately release the presidents tax returns, launched on the day of Trumps inauguration, crossed that mark a day later. It now has more than a million signatures.

Another petition, also launched on Inauguration Day, demands that Trump divest his financial and business holdings or have them administered by a truly blind trust. That one has 350,000 signatures. A petition urging the administration to preserve the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities received more than 200,000 signatures.

And one calling on Trump to resign because he is in violation of the Emoluments Clause  which some Constitutional lawyers have argued  also breezed past the 100,000-signature mark.

Police use pepper spray to disperse protesters outside of President Trumps rally in Phoenix on Tuesday. (Photo: Laura Segall/AFP/Getty Images)

Its Going Down, a website that bills itself as a digital community center from anarchist, anti-fascist, autonomous anti-capitalist and anti-colonial movements, called the idea of labeling antifa a terror group absurd.

We see this petition as a part of a political campaign to criminalize dissent, a spokesperson for the website wrote in an email to Yahoo News. It is insidious accusation that anti-fascism is terrorism given the number of actual murders, mass casualty incidents and violence white supremacists are directly responsible for.

To lump ISIS in with anti-fascism in the same sentence as if anti-fascists are not actively fighting ISIS in Syria is an intentional effort to conflate two polar opposite efforts, the spokesperson added. Anti-fascists see ISIS and the alt-right as two sides of the same fascism.

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When Kari Benson was an undergraduate at the University of South Carolina doing laboratory research on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, acquaintances often asked if she could hook them up with stimulant medications meant to treat ADHDsuch as Adderall and Ritalinto give them a study boost. Of course I would tell them, no, that wasnt possible, says Benson, who is now a graduate student pursuing her Ph.D.

But the requests for study drugs inspired Benson to look into how often college students misuse stimulant medication to try to get ahead in school.

The result was a comprehensive analysis by Benson and her professor in the journal Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, which estimated that 17 percent of college students in the U.S. misuse ADHD drugs. The research, published in 2015, remains the most nationally representative study on this subject in terms of college students, Benson says.

Benson says that while many young adults still use ADHD to get ahead at school, that doesnt make it a good idea. Mounting evidence has linked the misuse of ADHD medicationswhich include amphetamine and dextroamphetamine (Adderall, Adderall XR, and generics), methylphenidate (Concerta, Methylin, Methylin ER, Metadate CD, Ritalin, Ritalin SR, Ritalin LA, and generics), atomoxetine (Strattera), and lisdexamfetamine (Vyvanse)to serious harm.

The risks range from restlessness, aggression, and increased blood pressure and heart rate to stomach problems, paranoia, psychosis, seizures, heart attack, and stroke, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.



To make matters worse, research also suggests that while the drugs may improve concentration in people who are diagnosed with ADHD, in those without that condition the drugs may undermine mental performance.

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ER Trips on the Rise

A 2016 study in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry found that Adderall use among young adults who didnt have ADHD jumped 67 percent in recent years and that emergency room visits related to these medications rose 156 percent.

The study also found that most of the people misusing the stimulants did not have a prescription and often got them from a friend or relative. The fact that many people are taking the medications without the supervision of a doctor could explain some of the ER visits.

Many people think prescription opioids are the only prescription drugs used nonmedically, says Caleb Alexander, M.D., an author of the study and co-director of the Center for Drug Safety and Effectiveness at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. That simply isnt true. Nonmedical use of stimulants is also very common. As with all drugs, stimulants have risks and benefits, and all too often, the balance of these is unfavorable.



Little Benefit

Many students, however, are unaware of the risks of misusing ADHD medications, and they overestimate the ability of the drugs to boost their performance in school.

A 2017 study in the journal Addictive Behaviorsbased on survey data collected from more than 6,900 U.S. college students without ADHDfound that nearly 29 percent of students believed that using stimulants would improve their grades. And of the students who used the stimulants, nearly two-thirds believed the drugs helped them.

But medical research isnt so sure. For example, a 2016 analysis in the journal Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology found that in people who havent been diagnosed with ADHD, prescription stimulants do not significantly improve executive function, which includes performing tasks that involve decision-making, planning, attention, mental flexibility, working memory, and verbal fluency. The authors suggested that whatever cognitive benefits people report when taking these drugs may be explained by a skewed perception of their work, a burst of energy caused by the stimulants, or placebo effects.

Healthy students taking an ADHD drug do feel more alert when they take it, says Lisa Weyandt, Ph.D., professor of psychology and interdisciplinary neuroscience at the University of Rhode Island, and the lead author of the study. Thats a real effect. But it does not enhance their academic abilities.



The medication may even worsen functioning in students who dont have ADHD, according to a pilot study co-authored by Weyandt and published this year in the journal Pharmacy.



In that study, which examined the effects of Adderall on 13 healthy college students, neither the researchers nor the participants knew who received the medication and who received the placebo. We expected that because students think [the medication] is improving their neurocognition that we would find improvements in reading, comprehension, reading fluency, and working memory, Weyandt says. But students taking the ADHD drug didnt perform better than those taking a placebo on any measure, she says, and performed worse on the working memory test.



Why? Weyandt explains that in people with ADHDwho often have less activity in the regions of the brain that govern executive functionstimulant medication can indeed normalize neural functioning and improve performance. But for people who dont have a deficit in their functioning, the medication wont enhance it and may do harm, she says.



Weyandt likens the phenomenon to using corrective glasses that arent prescribed. If you need glasses to see far away but your best friend doesnt, when she puts on your glasses thats not going to make her vision super vision; its going to impair her vision, Weyandt says. Things are going to be all blurry. Thats what I suspect is going on with ADHD medication in healthy adults.



Whats more, students who take ADHD drugs without the supervision of a doctor are more likely to develop dependency on the medication and, when they try to stop, experience withdrawal symptoms, such as fatigue, depression, and sleep problems.

Because of the health risks, and the lack of benefit, the American Medical Association says Adderall and other so-called smart drugs should not be used in healthy people seeking to improve studying. While prescription stimulants carry real risks, they do not make people smarter, the AMA said in a statement.



Smarter, Safer Study Strategies

If you have persistent difficulty studying or concentrating, consider seeing a doctor. Your symptoms could stem from undiagnosed ADHD (and you might benefit from supervised treatment). Or you may be dealing with another medical condition, such as insomnia, depression, anemia, or a thyroid disorder.

Certain medications can also cloud thinking. These include antihistamines, such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl and various over-the-counter sleep aids); cough and congestion medications, such as dextromethorphan (Robitussin and other products) and pseudoephedrine (Sudafed and generic); and tricyclic antidepressants, including amitriptyline (Elavil and generic).

Before seeking out drugs to improve school performance, evaluate your study habits. We know from the research that the students who are more likely to misuse stimulant medications are also the students who are more likely to skip class, study less, and struggle with organization, Benson says. Lifestyle changes may be more effective than medication in having an impact on their academics.

Unsure of how to make a change on your own? There are a lot of resources readily available to students on campus, so turn to those rather than turning to Adderall, Weyandt says.

Here are some specific tips:



Get study assistance. Go to the academic skills centerevery campus has onewhere they have tutors who proofread papers and teach study skills, Weyandt says. Those offices are there for support."



Visit the health center. Students who misuse medications are often under psychological distress and could benefit from counseling or therapy.

Stop multitasking. Doing several tasks at once can cause confusion, and it can take longer to complete each task that way rather than doing them sequentially.

Spread out your studying. Instead of cramming the night before a test, schedule study sessions over several nights, Benson says. That will improve your ability to retain information over the long term and help you get enough sleep, especially on nights before exams.

Limit social media. It can be distracting and anxiety-provoking. And recent research has found an association between a high use of social media and ADHD in adolescents. " So put your phone away while youre studying. Use social media as a reward instead of something youre doing while trying to study, Weyandt says.

Address your stress and sleep. People who are under stress or are tired perform worse than those who are calm and well-rested. So try to incorporate relaxation strategies, such as exercise and meditation, into your life, and stick to a regular sleep routine so that you can get adequate shut-eye.





More from Consumer Reports:

Top pick tires for 2016

Best used cars for $25,000 and less

7 best mattresses for couples





Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright  2018, Consumer Reports, Inc.
Sava Region (Madagascar) (AFP) - Hit by rampant speculation and a collapse in production following cyclone Enawo, the price of vanilla -- Madagascar's largest export -- has surged in recent months.

Ice cream, aromatherapy, perfume and haute cuisine: all use the spice sourced from the Indian Ocean island which accounts for about 80 percent of global production.

The sudden cash bonanza has threatened to fuel crime and slash quality.

On the single paved road in Ampanefena, a rural community in the northeast of Madagascar, youths pass the time doing wheelies on their high-powered Japanese motorbikes.

"It cost 200 million Malagasy ariary (12,00 euros, $14,000)," claimed Akman Mat-hon, 17, atop a Kawasaki too large for his frame. His father is "in vanilla" and bought the bike as a gift.

Business is booming: since 2015 the price of the spice has soared relentlessly to "a never-before seen peak of between $600 and $750 a kilo,"(510 and 640 euros) according to Georges Geeraerts, president of Madagascar's Group of Vanilla Exporters.

Since the market was liberalised in 1989, the price has fluctuated wildly -- from $400 a kilo in 2003 to $30 in 2005, where it stayed for roughly a decade.

But demand eventually outstripped the supply of around 1,800 tonnes-a-year, spurred on by resurgent calls for organic products, speculation by financiers -- and by tropical cyclone Enawo which ravaged part of the production zone.

Markets in the vanilla-producing Sava region were saturated almost overnight with motorbikes, smartphones, solar panels, generators, flat-screen televisions and gaudy home furnishings.

- 'It's a free-for-all' -

"The banks struggled to keep up with the pace," said a French trader speaking on condition of anonymity.

"Money no longer has any meaning, people think it's a free-for-all, it's becoming anarchy," added Vittorio John, a vanilla grower in his 40s.

The price explosion has led to increased thefts from vanilla plantations.

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Some growers sleep in their fields to guard their precious crop and several thieves have been beaten, imprisoned or even killed.

"We pay two police to secure the village," said Patrick Razafiarivo, 42, an intermediary between the farmers and the exporters who admits to hiding vanilla underneath his mattress.

"The police made us pay for their 4X4s," said a French exporter.

The authorities admit that they were caught unprepared for the boom.

"The root of all the problems is insecurity caused by a lack of capacity, staff, and force discipline," said Teddy Seramila, the Sava region's development director.

Fear of thefts in the plantations has also forced some growers to pick their pods prematurely, resulting in declining standards.

"People are doing all sorts. They're vacuum packing vanilla that can go bad. Non-experts can be misled over the quality," said an exporter from Madagascar.

"Nothing distinguishes a good pod from a bad pod, you can't tell the difference," exporter Lucia Ranja Salvetat told AFP.

- 'Tearing ourselves apart' -

The vanilla trade remains largely unregulated in Madagascar, and the scant rules are seldom enforced.

Each buyer can freely tour villages and negotiate prices directly with the farmers or call intermediaries to get a quote.

"There should be a law applied to everyone but instead people do as they please," said one of the exporters from Madagascar.

"Barely any of the local authorities levy any taxes," said Seramila -- even though vanilla makes up five percent of the country's gross domestic product.

Just 21 percent of people in the region have access to drinking water and only six communities out of 86 are electrified.

"Honestly, we can't succeed in this job. Everybody is manoeuvering and it's the big exporters that are setting the example," said Razafiarivo.

Madagascar's bourbon vanilla is a product of expertise handed down from generation to generation and has been considered the best in the world.

But concerns over quality could deter buyers, handing a victory to the country's main vanilla exporting rivals -- Indonesia and Uganda.

"Everything must come to an end and it's almost certain that there will be a price fall," predicted Geeraerts, the export association chief.

"Vanilla enabled me to go to school, it's a noble commodity. When the price falls, the opportunists will leave -- but we will always be here," said Salvetat.

"We are the old-guard who have forged our future and our children's future with vanilla -- but we are in the process of tearing ourselves apart."
A New Mexico woman aboard an Allegiant Air called an extended delay on the tarmac at the Albuquerque International Sunport last week false imprisonment in extreme conditions.

Celena Kwitkowski alleged that passengers were held Thursday for well over three hours on a hot plane without water or lavatory access. The airline said the incident resulted from a minor mechanical issue as well as an altercation between passengers.

They need to apologize for us, they need to take responsibility and ownership, Kwitkowski told Albuquerque NBC-affiliate KOB4. As far as I'm concerned, this was false imprisonment.

KOB4 reported Friday that Allegiant Air Flight 471 to Las Vegas was scheduled to leave around 5 p.m. MDT. But a record from Flightaware states the Thursday evening flight did not depart well after 8:00 p.m., making the flight more than five hours late to its destination.

Approximately around 7:30-ish, people were getting aggravated, Kwitkowski said. It started getting warm on the plane because the air was not on. Before 9:00, they actually locked the bathroom doors and said we were not allowed to use the bathroom.

Video recorded by Kwitkowski on her cellphone and shared with KOB showed tension during the delay, during which time she alleged that an elderly man asked a flight attendant if he could leave the plane. A clip from the exchange revealed a flight attendant told the man that if he exited the craft he would not be allowed to reboard.

It was burning hot, Kwitkowski said. They had no air on this airplane. We were melting.

Allegiant Air told the news outlet there was a combination of factors that led to the delay and added that the incident was a highly unusual situation.

Initially, there was a minor mechanical issue which caused a delay after passengers had boarded. It took longer than expected to address, so delayed the flight a little over an hour, Allegiant Air told KOB4. After the aircraft pushed back, it returned to the gate due to an altercation between passengers. Local law enforcement was called to escort the individuals involved off of the aircraft, and those passengers' bags were also removed. There were a few other passengers who were not involved, but also requested to deplane at that time. All told, this activity delayed departure about another hour.

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The airline then addressed an inquiry made about air conditioning aboard the plane. Allegiant Air said that while it would have been running because the aircraft was powered, the strength of the airflow in the planes cabin would have been quite a bit lower at the gate or taxiing than it is once the aircraft gets up to full power in flight.

In spite of Kwitkowskis allegations, the airline maintained that it did, in fact, provide its passengers with both tap and bottled water.

Our logs and reports do show that the crew supplied water (what's called a 'poor service' where cups of water are distributed) during the initial delay, the airline said. Also, at the time the flight returned to the gate, the crew requested Allegiant station staff to bring bottles of water to the plane, which were distributed to passengers.

Kwitkowski told KOB4 that she has type 2 diabetes and wasnt feeling well after the plane finally arrived at its Nevada destination. The airline apologized to passengers aboard the flight in a statement to International Business Times.

We regret that this delayed our passengers and impacted their comfort, but thank them for their patience and understanding, the airline said. Please also be aware that because of the inconvenience caused by these delays, passengers were issued vouchers towards future travel on Allegiant.

Allegiant Air

Photo: Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

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Infosys cofounder Nandan Nilekani, seen in 2014, ran the business from 2002 to 2007 and remains highly respected in the technology world (AFP Photo/Manjunath Kiran) (AFP/File)

Infosys cofounder Nandan Nilekani will take over immediately as the company's nonexecutive chairman, the Indian software giant said Thursday, a move to calm investor unrest and steady the share price.

His return comes in the wake of chief executive Vishal Sikka's surprise decision last Friday to quit amid tensions between the company's board and its founders.

The turmoil saw shares plunge as much as 15 percent in the past week.

Nilekani, one of the cofounders of the company, ran the business from 2002 to 2007 and remains highly respected in the technology world.

He also led the implementation of a key government programme holding biometric data on over a billion people.

"Nandan is the ideal leader for Infosys at this stage in the company's development. His appointment will allow Infosys to focus on the strategic changes it needs to make," outgoing chairman R. Seshasayee said in a statement.

Co-chairman Ravi Venkatesan, as well as two board members have resigned as part of the restructuring, the company said.

Infosys veteran UB Pravin Rao remains interim chief executive.

Sikka had come under fire in recent months from some of the founders of the company on issues related to corporate governance and salary increases for its top executives.

"Over the last many months and quarters, we have all been besieged by false, baseless, malicious and increasingly personal attacks," he said in his resignation.

Analysts said Nilekani's return would help end "the risk of the distraction in the business" because of the internal conflict.

"It might even pave the way to attract a good CEO going forward," said a Mumbai analyst who is not authorised to speak to the media.

"But the one negative is that with Vishal leaving immediately, that expectation of some continuity will not be there."

Last month Infosys reported an increase of 1.4 percent in consolidated net profit year-on-year for the first quarter, marginally beating analysts' expectations.

India became a back office to the world in the early 2000s as companies subcontracted work to firms such as Infosys, taking advantage of the country's skilled English-speaking workforce.

The $150-billion IT sector remains one of the country's flagship industries, but it is facing upheaval in the face of automation and US President Donald Trump's clampdown on visas.
From Woman's Day

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1.WINNER SELECTION: Winners (individually and collectively, the "Winner") will be selected on or about 11/31/2017 in a random drawing from among all eligible entries received. Each sweepstakes is a different drawing that must be entered separately. All the sweepstakes in these Official Rules are individually and collectively the "Sweepstakes." In the event the Sponsor does not receive any eligible entries, the Sponsor has the right to cancel the Sweepstakes. Drawing will be conducted by Woman's Day, whose decisions are final. Odds of winning will depend upon the total number of eligible entries received. In the event Canadians are eligible to enter as specified in the Eligibility paragraph below, and if there is a Canadian Winner, the Winner will be required to correctly answer a mathematical skill testing question as a condition of receiving the prize. Important Notice: You may be charged for visiting the mobile website in accordance with the terms of your service agreement with your carrier. Please consult your wireless service provider regarding your pricing plan. You must use a Smartphone device to participate via your mobile phone. Not all mobile phone providers carry the necessary service to participate. Check your phone capabilities for specific Internet instructions. If your data usage exceeds what is allotted by your data plan, you could be subject to additional fees by your carrier. Please contact your mobile service provider with any questions regarding your bill.

2.WINNER NOTIFICATION: Winner will be notified within one (1) month of the last day of the Sweepstakes, via e-mail, and/or at Sponsor's discretion, via phone or postal mail. In the event the Winner doesn't respond to Sponsor's notification or does not accept the prize within five (5) business days of notification, the prize will be deemed forfeited and an alternate Winner will be selected. In the event that any one or more potential Winner(s) fails to respond as stated above, declines the prize or fails to provide signed affidavits or releases, such Winner(s) will be deemed to forfeit the prize and Sponsor will select an alternate Winner(s) from the remaining eligible entrants. If any alternate(s) similarly fails to respond or declines the prize, Sponsor will use a reasonable number of attempts, in its discretion, to award the prize(s) to another alternate(s) but if it is unable to do so, the prize(s) will be finally forfeited and Sponsor shall have no further liability in connection with said Sweepstakes. List of Winner(s): For the name(s) of the Winner(s), send a separate self-addressed, stamped envelope to September 2017 Woman's Day 80th Anniversary Sweepstakes Winners' List, Hearst Communications, Inc., 300 West 57th Street NY, NY 10019 within two (2) months from the Winner notification date as specified above.

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Plume Sweepstakes: Enter beginning 12:01 A.M. (ET) on August 24, 2017, through 11:59 P.M. (ET) on October 24, 2017 (the "Entry Period"). Go to womansday.com/giveaways on a computer or wireless device and complete and submit the entry form pursuant to the onscreen instructions. PLEASE NOTE THAT YOUR ENTRY WILL NOT BE COMPLETED UNTIL YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE OFFICIAL ENTRY FORM AND ENTERED YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION. Prizes & Approximate Retail Value: Two (2) winners will receive a set of six Plume wifi pods (ARV: $329). Total ARV of all prizes awarded: $658. Any difference between the stated ARV and the actual value of the prize will not be awarded in any form.

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The moons shadow can be seen in the background of this picture taken by a camera on the Yeung sisters Loki Lego Launcher. A picture of the Yeung familys late cat, Loki, and a Lego minifigure of Amelia Earhart take up the foreground. (Rebecca and Kimberly Yeung Photo)

Not everything turned out the way pre-teen sisters Rebecca and Kimberly Yeung expected when they sent their Loki Lego Launcher balloon platform into the shadow of a solar eclipse. But that in itself was a big lesson for the stratospheric science team from Seattle.

The Yeung family  including 12-year-old Rebecca and 10-year-old Kimberly as well as their parents, Winston and Jennifer Yeung  drove westward from the launch site in Wyoming after Mondays eclipse and were due back in Seattle late tonight.

There are many lessons that we learned, and we are continuing to talk about them as we continue our long drive home (our car ride home always seems to be our mission debrief session), the girls wrote today on their blog.

Mondays total solar eclipse was a teachable moment for the Yeungs as well as other citizen scientists participating in the Eclipse Ballooning Project.

The objective was to gather observations from the stratosphere as the moons shadow passed overhead. It was a perfect opportunity for the Yeungs and their Loki Lego Launcher, which made two previous trips to the stratosphere.

The balloon-borne platforms name refers to the dearly departed family cat, Loki, as well as the Lego toys that go along for the ride. This time around, the sisters included a minifigure of aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart.

Each launcher mission sends the platform up to stratospheric heights, where cameras get an astronauts-eye view of the surroundings (with the Lego toy and a picture of Loki in the foreground).

Mondays 95-minute mission began with an ascent from Glendo, Wyo., in the path of totality, and made it up to an altitude of 96,371 feet. After the balloon popped, the platform and its payload parachuted to a landing in western Nebraska, 30 miles from the launch site.

Rebecca and Kimberly Yeung gather with other members of the Eclipse Ballooning Project team to prepare for Mondays launch. (Winston Yeung Photo)

The balloon is inflated for the Loki Lego Launcher. (Winston Yeung Photo)

A picture from the Loki Lego Launcher reveals the moons shadow during the eclipse. (Rebecca and Kimberly Yeung Photo)

Rebecca and Kimberly Yeung were able to recover the Loki Lego Launcher after its landing in Nebraska, thanks to signals transmitted by the payload. (Winston Yeung Photo)

Loki Lego Launcher 3.0 carried a solar-panel experiment as well as cameras and other experiments. The cameras worked long enough to get some spectacular views of the curving Earth with the moons shadow in the distance.

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I think this is the best footage of the launches, because of the eclipse, Kimberly Yeung told GeekWire via cellphone as the family was driving across Montana.

The telemetry shows that the cameras shut themselves down about 35 minutes after liftoff. That could be due to extremely cold temperatures, which dipped as low as minus-81 degrees Fahrenheit at high altitude.

After recovering the payload, the girls found that a wire had slipped loose on the solar panels, dashing their hopes of finding out how the eclipse affected power generation. They also saw some strange spikes in the data for atmospheric pressure, which could be due to instrumentation issues.

Our overall mission results: partially successful, the Yeungs reported.

Rebecca Yeung said one of the biggest lessons had to do with the benefits of working with a large scientific team. Even though Loki Lego Launcher 3.0 didnt fulfill all of its mission objectives, the resulting data contributed to a successful project that involved 60 teams from around the nation.

I think it made a really big difference, Rebecca said.

So whats next for the Loki Lego Launcher? After making three trips to the stratosphere and back, the balloon platform is destined to become part of an exhibit at Seattles Museum of History and Industry.

Winston Yeung said museum officials reached out to the girls about putting the launcher on display a few months ago, and the family agreed to let them have it after this one last mission.

Even though the Loki Lego Launcher isnt equipped to go all the way to outer space, Rebecca Yeung suggested that its inspirational spirit parallels the commercial drive to the final frontier, as exemplified by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos Blue Origin space venture.

Its just like Blue Origin, she said, because were reusing it.

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From Popular Mechanics

During the late 1960s, a top secret Soviet program to sneak nuclear weapons around U.S. early warning radars was mistaken for a rash of UFO sightings by Moscow's citizens. The weapon, known as FOBS, created a mysterious pattern in the night sky that many mistook for signs of alien visitation.

In the Spring of 1967, people living in the western Soviet Union noticed something odd in the sky at dusk: a mysterious crescent-shaped sliver of light, about the size of the moon from most directions but larger from others. The crescent appeared six times in 1967, always at the same time of day, before it finally disappeared.

According to veteran space expert James Oberg at Air & Space Magazine, the Soviet press speculated they were UFOs, and UFO enthusiast groups sprang up across the country to record the sightings.

Suddenly, after the sixth incident, Soviet press coverage of the incidents abruptly stopped. Someone in Moscow with top secret clearance realized that the crescents in the sky at sundown were actual evidence of a top secret weapons test, one that violate existing treaties on the deployment of nuclear weapons into space.

The "UFO" sightings were actually test launches of the R-36 Orb, a secret nuclear space missile. Developed from the SS-9 Scarp intercontinental ballistic missile, the R-36 Orb was designed to rocket into low earth orbit and de-orbit over the United States. Launched in a southern direction, the weapon could pass over the South Pole and then come at the United States from the direction of Mexico, bypassing the network of early warning radars facing north. The trip would be longer but would catch the Americans by surprise, allowing the Soviets the chance to detonate a 2-3 megaton thermonuclear weapon wherever they might choose.

The R-36 was a so-called "first strike" weapon. The only logical reason to have such a weapon was to use it first in a nuclear war, as a surprise weapon meant to destroy American leadership and nuclear command and control systems. The problem was that the R-36 was not accurate. On average, half of R-36s launched in a war would land within three miles of their target. That's not a deal breaker with a five megaton warhead, but it does rule out destroying enemy missile silos. Still, the R-36 would retain use when it came to wiping out the White House, Pentagon, U.S. nuclear bombers sitting on the tarmac, and other vital U.S. installations in a surprise attack.

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Photo credit: Wikipedia

The Soviet military conducted six tests of the R-36, each at the exact time of day when the missiles were illuminated but the recording cameras were in shadow. The illuminated crescent was caused by the weapon's braking maneuver, in which the de-orbit engine fired up and spewed exhaust as the weapon turned 180 degrees. This created a clearly visible letter "C" in the early evening sky. This slowed the R-36 down so that it entered low earth orbit, and would be fired back up again later to begin the de-orbiting process.

Although the Soviets initially explained away the tests as launches of "scientific research satellites," American intelligence eventually figured out what they were up to and called the USSR out on it. Within eight months of the first test, according to Oberg, the U.S. claimed the R-36 was a first strike weapon that used an orbit/de-orbit scheme. This would run afoul of the Outer Space Treaty , which was nearing completion and which would ban the placement of nuclear weapons in orbit. It would also run counter to UN Resolution 1884 , passed in 1963, which called on the US and USSR not to place nuclear weapons in space.

The Soviet Union never came clean about the R-36. Eighteen of the weapons were based in silos near Tyuratam, and later banned by the SALT II arms control treaty. The weapons had long since been obsolete, foiled by the deployment of new, southward-facing American early warning radars and Soviet ballistic missile submarines that could launch an attack from that direction much more quickly. The UFOs, it turned out, were not so unidentified after all.

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After 10 days of crisscrossing southwestern China by high-speed train with two young children in tow, exploring minority villages amid rugged scenery and often sleeping in grimy hotels, it was time for a break.

And what better way to decompress from our fascinating yet grueling family trek through one of Chinas less touristed regions than with a stay at a familiar Western holiday staple: Club Med.

We booked a four-night stay at the Club Med in Guilin, in the Guangxi region, an area best known for its otherworldly limestone karst outcroppings and a fishing tradition that uses cormorants to snare catches  scenes so famous theyre depicted on Chinas 20-yuan notes.

My wife and I were experienced China travelers but Club Med newbies, and we were curious about how the brand would translate there. The country is a relatively new but expanding market for the company, which was taken over in 2015 by Chinas Fosun, a conglomerate with big ambitions for the global leisure industry. Club Med has opened three other resorts around China since 2010, in the Yabuli ski resort, Hainans Sanya and in Beidahu in the northeast. It plans to open a Joyview branded resort in Anji, famed for tea-growing and bamboo, later this year.

For us it was a no-brainer: We knew that as we made our way back home to Hong Kong, wed appreciate the all-inclusive package and chance to relax after our hectic sightseeing trip.

It turned out to be a good call. The resort, an hour outside of Guilin city, was serene, relaxing and contemplative, a feeling enhanced by the more than 100 contemporary sculptures scattered around the grounds. It turns out a Taiwanese tycoon bought the site and set it up as an open air art museum in 1998 before Club Med moved in.

Some of the collection is housed inside an art gallery that also featured photos of celebrity visitors, including, strangely, Afghanistans former President Hamid Karzai on a visit in 2014. Behind the gallery, theres a zen lake, where guests could be seen meditating on the sandy shore as its still waters reflected lush foliage, irregular karst peaks fading into the distance and an arched walkway known as a moon bridge.

Besides art, we kept ourselves entertained at the resorts three swimming pools, one with the requisite swim-up bar, or with activities like rock climbing and trapeze for the kids and gym class for the adults. I joined mountain bike excursions that took us off campus as a trip leader led us down a gravel track into the park surrounding the resort, through quiet groves of trees and past grassy fields, with hardly another soul in sight.

On another day, we left the resorts opposite end, passing through the village next door, called Dashandi, or Big Mountain Base. The group stopped to snap photos of a mother duck leading ducklings down a canal. Down the path, we stopped to take in what seemed like a Chinese watercolor brought to life: water buffalo grazed in a field alongside long-legged birds, as the karst peaks loomed in a hazy background.

Almost all the resorts guests were Chinese visitors, apart from a handful of foreigners, mostly European. The company has made some tweaks to please its biggest market, equipping its bar area with mahjong tables and karaoke rooms. The artificial pond was stocked with koi  said to be good for feng shui.

The multinational staff included Mexicans, South Koreans, French and Indonesians, mostly veterans of the brands other resorts around the world. Evenings featured live shows  a Club Med signature. They started on the early side, before 9 p.m., in line with a Chinese preference for early nights. (At Club Meds elsewhere, shows can start as late as 9:45 p.m.)

One night a circus-themed act put on by some of the staff G.O.s, or gracious organizers in Club Med parlance, performed with the trapeze, rope straps and hula hoops. One performer used his chin to balance bowling pins, a guitar, a wooden bench and even an extension ladder, an act that drew the biggest cheers of the evening.

A Moulin Rouge-style burlesque show on another evening, with show tunes and raunchy costumes, seemed not to appeal much to the Chinese audience, many of whom drifted away after a few songs. Kelvin Chan, AP, Guilin
Heres a hot tip for anglers: Idaho Department of Fish and Game last week transplanted close to 200 catfish  averaging 2 or 3 pounds  into Dog Creek Reservoir north of Gooding.

Its a fishery that Fish and Game is trying to develop, so Dog Creek gets a catfish transplant every year. For the second year, regional fishery manager Doug Megargle said, the agency trap netted the catfish in the Milner stretch of the Snake River.

For perhaps three years before that, Fish and Game got its catfish for Dog Creek Reservoir by electrofishing in the Snake farther away, on the west side of the state. And before that, it purchased the catfish commercially  in bigger numbers but smaller sizes, about 3,000 fish averaging a third- or half-pound.

Megargle described it as a long process of trying to figure out how to cost-effectively generate a catfish fishery in the reservoir. The switch to fewer but larger fish was intended to increase angler satisfaction.

But Fish and Game has no harvest limit on catfish at Dog Creek. And some anglers, he said, have suggested a bag limit so nobody takes more than their share of a few hundred transplanted fish.

Fishing access

Also last week, Fish and Game finished enhancements at Mormon Reservoir south of Fairfield. A new bathroom has ADA access, new docks replaced ones that were found broken up and adrift, and the parking area was leveled and graveled.

In late July, after weeks of delays, Fish and Game and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finished rebuilding the handicapped-accessible fishing pier at Oster Pond 1 in the Hagerman Wildlife Management Area. The pier was particularly popular but badly dilapidated, and workers encountered more damage than expected.

Apparently it was worth the wait. Megargle last week said anglers have been happy with the rebuilt pier.

Next up is a boat ramp repair project at Fish and Games Lava Point access on Magic Reservoir. Waves undercut the concrete boat ramp, washing out its support, and the agency wants to restore and perhaps lengthen the ramp.

Thats tentatively scheduled for late fall or early winter, but Megargle is still trying to figure out whether the work can go ahead this year.

The problem? At this time a year ago, Magic Reservoir had an extreme minimum pool, and only in its canyon reach. This year, Lava Points high-water boat ramp is still underwater.

Were still at high-water conditions at Magic Reservoir, he said. But Im not complaining.

Socks to adore

Theyre marketed for hunters, but Ive been happily wearing these socks for outdoor adventures all summer.

Smartwool launched its PhD Hunt sock line last winter at a hunting and firearms tradeshow, promising exceptional moisture management, breathability, warmth when wet and no-stink properties.

I got my hands on an attractive pair in 62 percent merino wool. They dont chafe around the ankle, and the cushioning is sculpted  lots over the Achilles tendon, none in the ankles flex zone. Absolutely lovely.

Really, I dont know why hunters should have all the good socks.
TWIN FALLS  Its easy to love at first glance the dramatic, spring-fed Box Canyon, with its amphitheater of high, sheer walls at its head. But youll get something deeper out of the experience with Shawn Willseys exploration of possible causes for the stunning canyons formation near Wendell.

Read that in Willseys newly released book, Geology Underfoot in Southern Idaho (Mountain Press Publishing Co., $24).

Its a travel-friendly paperback well sprinkled with color photographs, maps, particularly helpful illustrations and facts with which to impress your Idaho traveling companions. The Twin Sisters pinnacles at City of Rocks National Reserve? Not twins at all. Not even from the same geologic eras.

Willsey, a College of Southern Idaho geology professor and climbing instructor, writes in the preface that he was dismayed by the scarcity of information available to the public regarding the regions geologic treasures.

His first book attempts to bridge the gap between scientists and the rest of us.

Though geologists have studied southern Idahos rocks and landscapes for well over 100 years, their findings and conclusions are stored in scientific journals, technical reports and detailed geologic maps that are difficult for the layperson to locate, access and decipher, Willsey writes.

Following the Geology Underfoot series template from its Missoula, Mont., publisher, the book opens with a basic overview of geologic events in southern Idaho, then gets to the fun stuff: explorations of 23 locations across the southern half of the state, from Challis to the Nevada border.

Some are well-known, like Bruneau Dunes State Park or the site of the 1983 Borah Peak earthquake. But some, perhaps, you havent heard of, like Malm Gulchs fossilized forests or a meteorite impact at Leaton Gulch.

For each one, the book gives a map, detailed driving instructions and photographs. The narrative for each explains the geology and leads you through your visit to the site, detailing what to look for at each stop on your exploration.

Willsey writes with the academic thoroughness of a geology professor (he is one) and provides both a glossary and a lengthy list of sources for more information on the 23 sites.

Yet his writing is lively and accessible, too. Even a casual weekend explorer might be drawn into an explanation of the Yahoo Clay deposits where a lava flow once dammed the Snake River near Bliss.

And the book doesnt ignore practical concerns like stinging nettle and poison ivy. Willsey even breaks into red type when he cautions that you must call the Big Wood Canal Co. about water releases from Magic Reservoir before venturing into the dry bed of the Big Wood River. Its an amazing wonderland of sculpted rock but could become a deadly trap if youre there at the wrong time.

The books cover art, by Eric Knight, depicts what a future volcanic eruption might look like, the copyright page explains. Beside the Perrine Bridge, red streams of hot lava spill into the gas-filled Snake River Canyon from spewing volcanoes on the north rim. Strangely enough, the lights are still on in south-rim strip malls, and traffic continues  in both directions  across the bridge.

Geology Underfoot in Southern Idaho is available for $24, plus $3.12 shipping, at Willseys simple webpage: https://squareup.com/store/shawn-willsey. Locally, its also on the shelf at Magic Valley Gear Exchange, Costco Wholesale, Barnes and Noble, Herrett Center for Arts and Science, College of Southern Idahos bookstore and the Twin Falls visitor center.

Willsey will sign books from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday at Costco Wholesale in Twin Falls.

You can read a sample chapter for free on the books Facebook page: Facebook.com/GeologyUnderfootinSouthernIdaho.
BUHL  The Buhl Public Library recently wrapped up its summer reading program. The theme was Build a Better World, and organizers said it was easy to find good presenters.

PBSs Cindy Lunte shared some of her characters and a story, Jason Tverdy discussed farming and how our lives are made better through the efforts of farmers. Annette Rousseau from the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument showed children how finding what was lost is not only fun but educational, Kathy West came with a cute little companion and talked about how 4-H has made the world a better place and how kids can get involved, Dan Eyre talked about Boy Scouts and how to fold the American flag, and Ellen Asay talked about the solar eclipse.

For the Boys & Girls Club program, organizers had computer based activities led by Jackson Hauser and projects along with presenters Bill Chisholm, who showed the value of appreciating what we have and where we live. Jackie Frey from FEMA talked about the eclipse. Debbie Taylor and Betti Taylor brought a cat who was disabled because of an accident with a car fan belt. The reading program offered prizes, science projects, snacks, and gave books and bags to every child because of donations from Clear Springs Foods, which funded most of the reading program.

Other contributors were Fred Meyer Corporation, Culvers, Idaho State Parks and Recreation and the Idaho Commission for Libraries. Other donors and volunteers included Pam and Sorcha Stalder, Kara and Wren Okelberry, Kari Kaster, Kaytlyn Higley, and Julie Loveless.
BOISE  A second former Chobani employee has accused the company age discrimination.

Virginia Tucker, who worked as a maintenance technician at the Twin Falls yogurt plant from January 2013 until she was fired in June 2015, filed a suit in federal court on Monday.

Tucker was let go on the same day as Jerry Ash, a former maintenance supervisor who sued claiming age discrimination a month ago. Ashs case is still pending. The suit says she was older than 60 when she was fired, was the second-oldest employee in the maintenance department and that Chobani fired about eight other employees older than 45 around the same time. The suit says Tucker was discriminated against because of her age and gender.

The suit says that Tuckers younger, male supervisor said in supervisor meetings that she should get negative performance ratings because he believed she was was a threat to the company, that he didnt like her and that he thought she should be fired before she sued the company.

It also recounts a time when a younger male supervisor made a derogatory comment to her, and it says her young male supervisors pulled an unspecified humiliating prank against her in a crowded lunch room and laughed at her in front of others.

The suit says Tucker filed a discrimination charge with the Idaho Human Rights Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and was fired the next day. The company said the reason she was fired was she didnt perform the proper lock-out tag-out procedure while working on a piece of equipment. Tuckers suit says the company didnt follow the procedures in its employee handbook in firing her, and that a state Department of Labor investigation found she didnt violate any company procedures. It says Chobani replaced her with a younger, less experienced man.

The Human Rights Commission and EEOC both dismissed her complaints. Chobani spokesman Michael Gonda said the company also investigated and found no discrimination.

Were a company founded on inclusion and diversity and have built a rich history of promoting a welcoming culture that doesnt discriminate in any form and does not tolerate discrimination in any form, he said in an email. To protect the privacy of our teams, we do not comment on matters related to specific employees, current or former, however we take matters like this seriously. When matters such as this are brought to our attention, we conduct an extensive investigation to ensure adherence to our policy, safety standards and founding beliefs.

Tucker is seeking lost pay and benefits, damages and attorneys and court fees.
TWIN FALLS  Organizers of a longtime Constitution Day event at the College of Southern Idaho are hoping to gauge interest in creating a City Club of the Magic Valley.

Non-partisan city clubs address public affairs and help communities stay informed about complicated issues through topic-driven forums and civil debate. They exist in other Idaho cities including Boise and Idaho Falls, were members say the clubs have been invaluable in helping address timely community issues. Recent forums in Boise have tackled suicide prevention, marijuana, Idaho politics and downtown economic development.

The formats usually feature an expert speaker, followed by civil debate among the clubs members.

City clubs are a valuable opportunity for discussion of the issues of the day, CSI President Jeff Fox said. He and other community leaders, including Times-News Publisher Travis Quast, have been discussing a potential city club with community leaders in the Magic Valley. They think the colleges Constitution Day  featuring speakers including Idaho Supreme Court Justice Robyn Brody  could be a launching point for a club here.

Weve actually talked about this off and on for a couple of years, Fox said, adding it was a topic when he served as a Magic Valley representative on the Idaho Humanities Council.

Other Idaho City Clubs have received financial support from the council.

Organizers of CSIs Constitution Day luncheon have already sent out event invitations to some community leaders. But any community member whos interested is invited to attend.

To our minds, this might be an example of what a City Club might look like, Fox said.

Planners are seeking a potential volunteer who could help initially organize the project. Thats how clubs in Idaho Falls and Boise started, but now, they have a limited staff who oversee programming, scheduling and advertising.

In the Treasure Valley, City Club of Boise launched in 1995 by active community volunteer Dottie Stimpson.

Now, it holds 12-14 forums per year  typically, drawing an average of 200 attendees, said club manager Danielle Trujillo.

The largest event each year is a political pundits forum in January, with up to 600 people attending.

Members pay a yearly fee and receive a discounted rate to attend each luncheon, but the public is also welcome to attend.

Trujillo said shes aware of conversations among City Club of Boise volunteer board members about potential new club locations.

Those conversations are encouraged, she said, with the goal of promoting increased civic engagement across Idaho.

The Boise clubs motto: Things happen when people start talking.

I think its important to know its an opportunity for the community to engage in conversations relevant to the community, Trujillo said about city club.

The timeline for whether to move forward with a City Club in the Magic Valley will depend on the response from Constitution Day attendees, Fox said. If its tepid or confused or whatever, were probably longer out.

But organizers hope it will be the start of a longtime tradition of bringing interesting topics and speakers to Twin Falls.

Constitution Day kicks off with a free lunch at noon Sept. 14 at the Turf Club, sponsored by local businesses, the Idaho Humanities Council, CSI and the local District Bar Association.

Held every fall at CSI Constitution Day focuses on the messages and underpinnings of the U.S. Constitution, Fox said.

Its part of a nationwide yearly celebration marking the signing of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787. Educational institutions that receive federal funding, including CSI, are required by law to have educational programming related to the U.S. Constitution each September.

The luncheon next month is free for community members, but space is limited and pre-registration is required.

The event will feature three speakers. Former University of Idaho interim president and law dean Dean Burnett will speak about The Rule of Law and the Role of an Independent, Impartial Judiciary.

David Adler, constitutional law author and president of the Alturas Institute, will address Constitutional tension among the three branches of government.

Idaho Supreme Court Justice Robyn Brody will lecture on Federalist/Anti-Federalist strains in US jurisprudence; and judges and the judicial system in the media.
STANLEY  A fire burning in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area has resulted in trail and road closures near Stanley Lake.

The Lady Face Fire was reported Tuesday evening and is burning in lodgepole pine, Engelmann spruce, subalpine fir and other fuels.

It is currently about 20 acres in size, Sawtooth National Forest spokeswoman Julie Thomas said. Its burning in some heavy lodgepole pine. Itll take a few days for them to get rid of it because there is heavy fuel there.

Closures affect Stanley Lake Road, Elk Mountain Road, Dry Creek Road, Stanley Lake Trail and Alpine Way Trail. The popular campgrounds at the lake are closed.

Officials dont know how the fire started. Its burning outside of a designated campground.

Burning restrictions are in place that prohibit starting fires outside of designated campgrounds.

Restrictions are in effect until Oct. 31 or until the forest supervisor cancels them.

The Lady Face Fire was expected to be contained Wednesday night, with full control by Monday.
Editors note: This column ran June 30, 2016, in the Times-News and on Magicvalley.com.

In 1918, Twin Falls County declared war on Chinese ring-necked pheasants, which were devouring grain fields in the west end of the Magic Valley.

Pheasants are not native to Idaho; the birds were brought in by early settlers. Then the Idaho Department of Fish and Game began shipping pheasants by the thousands into the state in 1907. The department raised the birds in Ada County, then released them in the Hagerman Valley and other areas across the state.

Soon the birds became a problem, especially near Buhl.

The birds have enormous appetites, said the June 6, 1918, edition of the Twin Falls Daily News.The hen pheasants fly up and scatter with their wings the grain to their young as it ripens.

No farmer would allow chickens to wreak havoc in their crops, opined the newspaper. So why should farmers have to tolerate pheasants in their grain fields?

Unlike the grouse, partridge and prairie chicken  named game birds by the state in 1905  the pheasant was protected while its population grew.

In June 1918, the Twin Falls County Farm Bureau asked Gov. Moses Alexander, the first Jewish governor elected in the U.S., to open season on the bird. The following year, the bureau asked state legislature to repeal the restriction on pheasants.

Meanwhile, the state game warden, after fielding similar requests from across the state, opened a short season to provide some relief from the pheasant, said Sharon Clark, Fish and Game grant specialist and historian.

But a 10-day season proved not long enough to affect the pheasant population and hunting became more and common as the birds continued to damage crops.

Dep. Game Warden Joe Fitzsimmons fined Elmer Hough of Buhl $25 when he caught Hough with pheasants. Justice of the Peace L.C. Washburn told Hough there was no excuse for shooting the birds while the law protects them.
TWIN FALLS  As sky grew dark, Sara and Bryson Polas lives were brightened by the arrival of their son.

The couple expected the baby to arrive Saturday. Instead, he decided to arrive on Monday just as many people in the Magic Valley were staring skyward, waiting for the moon to pass across the sun.

In Twin Falls, the partial eclipse began at 10:12 a.m.

Fifteen minutes later, Sara went into labor.

I remember glancing out the window and it looked like it was dusk, Sara said. There was a lot going on, but I said, Oh, its getting dark.

Bryson said he wasnt even paying attention to what was occurring outside their window. He was more focused on his wife and his son.

She noticed it was getting dark outside, he said. I was making sure she was pushing and concentrating.

The Polas  who have been married for a year  went to the hospital early Sunday morning because Sara was having contractions. The doctors told them the baby could come any day of the week, but the couple didnt anticipate it would be during the eclipse.

They even grabbed their eclipse glasses before they left for their appointment on Monday. They intended to use them to view the solar eclipse after their appointment, but they never left the hospital.

At 11:59 a.m  29 minutes after totality  Lucas Tone Pola was born. He weighed 7-pounds, 9-ounces. The partial eclipse ended at 12:54 p.m.

In Latin, the name Lucas means the bringer of light. The couple picked out the name five months ago. It wasnt meant to be an eclipse-themed name, but Bryson said it now has a special meaning for them. Lucas middle name Tone was Brysons fathers name. Bryson said his father was was a high chief in his village in American Samoa. Tone means new thunder and it symbolizes strength and power.

And missing that once-in-a-lifetime spectacle in the sky? Sara said she wasnt disappointed. The couple experienced their own life-changing moment Monday morning.

My baby is better than the eclipse, she said.
My friend offered the following suggestion: You learn all you need to learn by eighth grade, so theres no reason to have public education beyond that.

I gaped at him for a few long moments and then we both burst out in laughter. Unfortunately, he hadnt just told me a joke. It was a sad, incredulous laughter.

My buddy said hed been talking to family members up the Clearwater River. They dont like education.

Stop for a second and consider those words: They dont like education.

Why on earth would that be a thing? I remember when I was a kid in the mid-80s in the farming town of Genesee. It wasnt uncommon to hear fellow farm workers saying something like, Old So-and-So went to college and came back an educated idiot.

At the time, I took that to mean that we needed to be careful to stay connected to mechanical things, and natural things, and other sweat-of-your-brow experiences to stay practical and useful. You know, what they were really saying was, What goods a doctorate when youre stuck in the middle of nowhere and you dont know how to fix a tire?

These folks were saying something else.

My friends family members know that the Idaho Constitution requires the state to provide kids with a free and uniform public education. But, they argued, it doesnt say for how long.

I said, Wait a second. So they were serious?

Yep.

They seriously think an eighth grade education is a good place to stop? Theyre not just too cheap to pay for it?

Nope.

And then we laughed. We were laughing because we have a similar way of thinking and believe that it takes a pretty stupid person to decide theres nothing worth knowing past eighth grade math, or history or English. And we laughed because the struggle has become more difficult.

You see, were both Idaho boys with families that have been here for multiple generations. We both appreciate and value our friendships with tribal folks whose families were here considerably longer. We love this state. We have tremendous respect for the people who built this state. We love the unfettered access to public lands and the fishing, hiking and hunting they provide.

What we dont like is the generally ignorant bunch who has come to Idaho in recent decades. Sure, there have always been people who had no vision for the future and couldnt see the point in things like replacing a ferry with a bridge, or building a school where folks learned stuff even after the 12th grade. But there were enough sensible folks to quiet them down.

Now, well, sensible seems in short supply. And values flipped upside down and started slipping backwards.

I credit a friend of mine with making the observation that Idaho gubernatorial candidate Rep. Raul Labrador seems to have it backwards. After the right wing, white nationalist violence raged through Charlottesville, Labrador didnt have much to say about the leaders of the violence. But when Boise State University President Bob Kustra criticized Labrador for his timidity, Labrador was very quick to attack the president.

Thats right. Labrador wont stand up to Nazis but hell sure as heck go after those know-nothing college presidents.

So, here we have Idaho.

And, we really are at a point where the sensible have to step up. Weve let it go too far. You and me and the other sensible folks.

You know that science told us to expect an eclipse? The eclipse showed up right on time.

You know that Rep. Scott Syme of Caldwell led an effort this year to change science standards in public schools? You know that science teachers study science? You know that Scott Syme is not a scientist?

Enough! Without science, that eclipse would have caught us all by surprise and wed been banging pots and drums to scare off the giant sky beast eating our sun.

Instead, science told us when to expect the eclipse and developed special sunglasses so we could watch it  safe in the knowledge that the sun would return.

Now, I am not saying that everyone needs to be a scientist. But I am telling you all right now that the next movement in the anti-education crowd is to argue for school to stop at the eighth grade. If you dont think thats a real threat, then ask anyone over 40 if they ever thought Idaho schools would cut classes to four days a week.

Its time for sensible people to stand up, be firm, and start making better decisions.
President Donald Trump has fired nearly all the White House senior staff (aside from his daughter and son-in-law) with whom he began his presidency. He has declared war on the media so many times, its no longer noteworthy. His former senior strategist Stephen K. Bannons Breitbart News operation excoriated Trump for a middle-of-the-road Afghanistan plan and openly attacks Ivanka and Jared Kushner.

Meanwhile, some Senate Republicans are openly criticizing Trump, suggesting he lacks the capacity and moral authority to govern. His war of words with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., plays out in the pages of the New York Times:

Mr. McConnell has fumed over Mr. Trumps regular threats against fellow Republicans and criticism of Senate rules, and questioned Mr. Trumps understanding of the presidency in a public speech. Mr. McConnell has made sharper comments in private, describing Mr. Trump as entirely unwilling to learn the basics of governing.

In offhand remarks, Mr. McConnell has expressed a sense of bewilderment about where Mr. Trumps presidency may be headed, and has mused about whether Mr. Trump will be in a position to lead the Republican Party into next years elections and beyond, according to people who have spoken to him directly.

Apparently, Trump thinks it is in McConnells power (and job description) to protect him from the Russia probe.

Critics of Trump are frustrated by mere fuming behind closed doors, but honestly, McConnell has left little doubt what he thinks about Trump. Unlike House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., he avoids public apple-polishing for the president. One almost gets the sense that if special counsel Robert S. Mueller found real evidence of wrongdoing, McConnell would preside  if not happily, then with much relief  over an impeachment trial.

To recap: A president who lost the popular vote, winning only 46 percent of the electorate, has picked fights with and/or been rebuked by some of the alt-right, the business community, organized labor, many if not most GOP senators, GOP moderates (in federal and state offices), the mainstream media, a chunk of the conservative media, the vast majority of nonwhite voters, a majority of college-educated whites, Rust Belt voters and independents. Its increasingly difficult for TV bookers to get Republicans to go on the air to defend him. And all of this is at the seven-month mark of his presidency.

Consider how much worse things could get in just the next month or soeven apart from the Russia investigation (which now reportedly includes squeezing Paul Manafort in an effort to flip him). In order to keep his presidency from going completely off the rails, he will need to get the debt ceiling increased and a budget. He will need to be well on his way with a tax reform bill, which is hard to do with reconciliation instructions for the budget when there is no budget. Hell also need to decide if he wants to keep funding Obamacare subsidies (a month at a time, which further destabilizes markets). There are, to put it mildly, many pitfalls directly ahead at a time when his administration is in critical condition.

Trump could very well end the year with no health-care repeal (other than an Obamacare fix), no tax bill, no infrastructure bill and no border wall, despite his promises to his die-hard fans. (His Muslim ban has not resulted in a revamped extreme vetting program  or has it?  and remains partially disabled.) As has been the case his entire adult life, only his family and paid staff (and only some of those) may be left to defend him. For both his lack of accomplishments and his lack of support, he will have only himself to blame.
This appeared in Wednesdays Washington Post:

President Donald Trump offered in his Monday speech on Afghanistan a rare but welcome story of self-correction.

His original instinct, he said, was to pull out of the country, but after studying the issue with his advisers over several months he realized that the consequences of a rapid exit are both predictable and unacceptable. That was the right conclusion, and Trump deserves credit for changing his position in a way that is likely to displease some of his political supporters.

The U.S. mission in Afghanistan will continue  not because a quick victory is on the horizon; its not, as Trump seems to understand. It will continue, because as Trump also came to understand, the alternative  a quick defeat  would be so much worse.

The Afghanistan strategy the president announced flows from two important insights about the long and frustrating U.S. military engagements there and in the Middle East since Sept. 11, 2001.

First, precipitous U.S. withdrawal produces a vacuum that is likely to be filled by terrorists. That, as Trump correctly observed, was the result of the Obama administrations retreat from Iraq in 2011.

The second lesson is that the extent and length of U.S. military operations must be dictated by progress on the ground, not timetables motivated by political considerations in Washington. The surge of U.S. forces launched by President Barack Obama in 2009 was undermined from the beginning by a public schedule for their withdrawal, which gave the Taliban and its allies in Pakistan cause to wait out the United States.

The absence of a clear exit strategy can be a danger in its own right, and Trump stressed that our commitment is not unlimited, and our support is not a blank check. But the reality is that preventing Afghanistans return to its state before 2001 is worth even a prolonged continuation of U.S. troop deployments and the inevitable fatalities that come with them. American deaths in Afghan operations since 2001 now number 2,403, including 11 this year, which is fewer than the 3,000 who died in the 9/11 attacks.

Though some describe Afghanistan as Americas longest war, it can also be compared with U.S. military deployments in Germany, Japan and South Korea, which have lasted far longer and which, as the Pacific naval accidents this summer underlined, also have their cost in lives.

Certainly, Afghan leaders and their American and NATO allies must continue to seek avenues for ending the conflict and stabilizing the country. There, Trumps plans sound a lot like those of his predecessors: demand better performance from the Afghan government; pressure Pakistan to end its support for the Taliban and other terrorists; support eventual negotiations on a political settlement. Yet this administration appears poorly prepared to pursue those aims.

Trump made a point of declaring an end to the era of U.S. nation-building, apparently unaware that the two presidents before him said the same thing. Promoting institution-building, including fair democratic elections, is not at odds with principled realism, as Trump suggests; it is a vital part of any realistic exit strategy.
MACAUThe death toll from Severe Typhoon Hato rose to at least 16 Thursday after the storm left a trail of destruction across southern China, blacking out Macaus mega-casinos and battering Hong Kongs skyscrapers.

Eight died in the gambling hub of Macau, where local media showed cars underwater and people swimming along what are normally streets. The enclaves famed mega-casinos were running on backup generators.

A man was killed after being injured by a wall that blew down, another fell from a fourth floor terrace and one was hit by a truck.

The Macau government said two bodies were found in a flooded car park early Thursday, but details on the remaining victims were not immediately available.

After the storm. A woman walks past a plastic advertising sign draped over a traffic light in Macau on August 24, 2017, a day after Typhoon Hato hit the city. The death toll from Hato rose to at least 16 on August 24 after the storm left a trail of destruction across southern China, blacking out Macaus mega-casinos and battering Hong Kongs skyscrapers. AFP

Footage published Thursday on the website of Apple Daily showed water gushing into an underground car park, with people wading through neck-deep water littered with debris as one man shouted in panic. It was not clear if it was the same carpark where the bodies had been found.

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I have never seen Macau like this since I came here in the 70s, a taxi driver aged in his 50s who gave his name as Lao told AFP.

He added he thought authorities had reacted too slowly and did not do enough to alert residents of the coming storm.

Its like they were trying to gamble with their luck because Macau had been lucky before, he added, saying there was not enough time for residents to prepare or buy groceries.

The enclaves sprawling Venetian casino resort had been on back-up power Wednesday and without air conditioning or proper lighting, according to one source.

A member of staff at the Grand Lisboa Hotel in central Macau told AFP Thursday that it was still without electricity and water and that its casino and restaurants were closed following the typhoon.

The citys gambling industry generated over 220 billion patacas ($27.29 billion) in revenue in 2016, over half of its annual GDP, as it hosted more than 30 million visitors.

AFP reporters saw debris scattered on roads, with a shipping container washed up on its side on one street in front of a temple.

Residents holding plastic buckets were also seen lining up for water from fire hydrants.

Ferry services between Macau and Hong Kong resumed Thursday morning but passengers said they experienced delays.

In Hong Kong, Hatowhose name is Japanese for pigeonsparked the most severe Typhoon 10 warning, only the third time a storm of this power has pounded the financial hub in the past 20 years.

The city could have suffered losses of HK$8 billion ($1.02 billion), Chinese University of Hong Kong economics professor Terence Chong told AFP, referring to the value of its daily GDP.

More than 120 were injured as the city was lashed with hurricane winds and pounding rain. However, one 83-year-old man earlier thought to be a victim of the weather had committed suicide during the typhoon.

In the neighboring southern Chinese province of Guangdong, at least eight people have died, state broadcaster CCTV reported, while around 27,000 were evacuated to temporary shelters, the official Xinhua news agency said. Nearly two million households were briefly without power.

CCTV said four of the mainland deaths had occurred in Zhuhai, three in Zhongshan and one in Jiangmen.

In Zhuhai, which borders Macau, some 275 homes had collapsed, with the typhoon causing an estimated 5.5 billion yuan ($826 million) in damage, according to state-run Beijing News.

Hong Kong and the surrounding region is regularly battered by typhoons between July and October.

The city saw its strongest storm in 1962 when the eye of Typhoon Wanda passed over and gusts of 284 kilometers per hour were recorded.

It killed 130 and left 72,000 people homeless in Hong Kong alone.

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Qatar announced this Thursday the restoration of full diplomatic relations with Iran and the return of its ambassador to Tehran, on the background of the crisis opposing Doha to three of its Gulf neighbors plus Egypt.

In a short statement, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said that Qatar wants to further strengthen relations in all fields with Iran, the country with which it shares the largest gas field in the world.

Earlier, the ministry announced on its website that its ambassador to Tehran will return to resume his diplomatic duties.

Iranian state media acknowledged the development, without elaborating.

Qatars ambassador to Tehran was recalled in January 2016 following attacks staged against Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran in protest against the execution of prominent Shiite leader Nimr al-Nimre by Saudi Arabia.

Qatar is headed, like Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states, by a Sunni dynasty, while Iran is a predominantly Shiite country.

On June 5, Saudi Arabia and its allies, namely the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt, broke off relations with Qatar, and enforced a land, sea and air blockade on the tiny Emirate that they accuse of supporting extremist groups and getting closer to Iran.

The Saudi-led bloc later on released a list of demands, including reducing ties with Iran, that Qatar should fulfil prior to any normalization of relations.

Qatar turned down the demands as an infringement on its sovereignty and has, since the beginning of the Gulf crisis, turned to Iran and Turkey, which both expressed strong solidarity with the Emirate.
The Tunisian Foreign Ministry Wednesday asked Ankara to act quickly and take actions against Turkey-based Egyptian cleric Wajdi Ghanim for his insults to Tunisian President that he described as a criminal, apostate and liberal following his support for gender equality between Tunisian men and women and permission to Muslim Tunisian women to marry non-Muslim foreigners.

Turkish ambassador to Tunis was summoned and he reportedly agreed with Tunis over the clerics comments.

The foreign ministry also told the Turkish envoy that it is unacceptable that the cleric is using Turkey as his base to assault the Tunisian state and its symbols.

Wajdi Ghanim caused waves in Tunisia on August 18 in a video in which he attacked the North African country and its president over the proposal to ensure gender equality in inheritance rights and to allow Muslim Tunisian women to marry foreign non-Muslims.

Ghanim called both President Caid Essebsi and his nation apostates, adding that the President is a criminal and liberal.

Ghanims native country, Egypt, is reportedly poised to help Tunisia lodge a serious complaint with Ankara.

An Egyptian lawmaker requested that Cairo provides the necessary documents and records proving crimes committed by Ghanim who is said to be close to outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, online media huffpostmaghreb.com reports.

The lawmaker also noted the Egyptian cleric received funding from several countries, including Qatar, to sow unrest in Arab countries, support terrorism and brainwash youth to adhere to radical Islam.

Already in 2014, Ghanim made the news after he criticized Tunisian liberals and stood against the organization of elections, which, he said was against the Islamic Sharia law.
Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif has told local ISNA news agency that diplomats from the Islamic Republic and Saudi Arabia will soon exchange visits for the first time since January after Saudi Arabia cut ties with its regional rival following attacks on Saudi missions.

The visas have been issued for both sides to make this trip, Zarif said in an interview with ISNA adding that the visits could take place early September, after the Hajj pilgrimage.

We are waiting for the final steps to be completed so diplomats from the two countries can inspect their embassies and consulates, he added.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are fighting over influence in the region and tension between the two further brewed in January 2016 with Riyadh cutting diplomatic ties with Tehran after its foreign missions were ransacked by protesters who demonstrated against the execution of top Saudi Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr over spying charges.

Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of fomenting unrest in the Arab world.

In June, Iran finger-pointed Saudi Arabia as mastermind of the terrorist attacks, which hit the Iranian parliament and the shrine of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini.

The Iraqi minister of interior revealed lately that he has been approached by the Saudi rulers to work on rapprochement with Tehran. Riyadh denied the reports.

Zarif and his Saudi counterpart Adel Jubeir early this month shook hands in Istanbul during a gathering of Muslim countries on the situation in the holy city of Jerusalem. The handshake was qualified as a warming up of cooled ties.
Georgian Water and Power to receive 60m from international financial institutions

Georgian Water and Power (GWP), a leading company on the water supply market of Georgia and the South Caucasus, will receive about 60 million from international financial institutions to ensure the development of the water supply of the country.More specifically, the Netherlands Development Bank (FMO) will offer $40 million equivalent in Georgian national currency to GWP, while the German Investment and Development Society (DEG) will allocate a 25 million long-term loan to the company.The funding agreement was signed yesterday.Meanwhile, the GWP has also signed an agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to help conserve resources and become more energy efficient, improving its competitiveness and environmental performance.With IFCs advice, GWP will benchmark its energy consumption against global and regional peers, and identify opportunities to save water, lower energy costs, and increase efficiency.
Discussions over Constitutional Reforms will be held on Friday

By Vladimer Napetvaridze

For Georgian political parties it is difficult to find a common language, however, on August 16 eight opposition parties have published a joint announcement addressed to the government, as a response to the Georgian Dream leader Archil Talakvadzes offer to hold a meeting to further discuss the constitutional amendments. According to Talakvadze, the ruling team is ready to use the remaining time for a political dialogue before the fall session starts in Parliament.The constitutional reform is one of the most important processes for the state. Despite the fact that the ruling party has a constitutional majority to ensure more legitimation of this process, Georgian Dream offered active involvement in discussions to representatives of civil sector, experts, and political parties. To this end, open public discussions were held in all major cities of Georgia, where the population, NGOs or the opposition parties had the opportunity to express their opinions. However, meetings over draft amendments were accompanied with sharp debates and some negative assessments from the side of opposition and Presidents office. The Parliament has already approved the package of amendments with two hearings. In case the Parliament approves the draft with the third hearing in fall this year, Georgia will have an amended constitution.In the new package of amendments: The provision, which stipulates the integration into European and Euro-Atlantic structures as the country's main foreign policy course, has been added; State provides special measures to ensure equality for men and woman; The guarantees of independence of Public Broadcaster, Prosecutors Office and Judiciary have been increased; The quorum required for the establishment of an investigative commission of the Parliament has been decreased; All undistributed mandates go to one political party which takes the first place; The president will be elected by the Parliament; It is stated that a marriage is a union of a man and a woman; The Parliament elects the Supreme Court judges who will hold the positions permanently by simple majority.The initiatives were intensely discussed and have strong supporters and opponents. Special attention was paid to changes concerning changing the rule of direct elections of the President and the rule of distribution of mandates. Since the countrys constitution concerns all its citizens, it is necessary to have a maximum of public agreement to proceed with changes. This week, the Georgian Dream leader Talakvadze offered the opposition parties to continue discussions to which the opposition responded with a joint announcement signed by eight political parties: New Georgia, European Georgia - Movement for Freedom, United National Movement, National Democratic Party, Free Democrats, State for People, Civil Alliance for Freedom and Democratic Party of Georgia."If Georgian Dream is indeed ready to carry out the changes under the conditions of public-political consent and continue the reform that is at the dead-end at this moment, the government must return to initiation on holding of 2020 parliamentary elections with a proportional system of elections, offered by themselves," the statement reads.Their remarks also referred to the rule of distribution of mandates and abolishment of the rule of direct presidential elections. The opposition agreed to meet with the Georgian Dream and discuss the conditions of future meetings on Friday, August 18.The constitutional reform is a sensitive issue and is observed carefully within and outside the country."I cannot see the dialogue between the two sides. My message would be the following: Talk to each other," said the President of Venice Commission Gianni Buquicchio, during his visit to Tbilisi in June referring to the process of preparation of draft constitutional amendments.Thus, taking into account the country is trying to join such organizations as NATO and the EU, it is vitally important for Georgia to carry out the process of introduction of constitutional amendments transparently and democratically, in order not to harm the image of the country and reach a consensus within the country. It is in the states highest interests that the international society recognizes current constitutional reform is being implemented based on democratic principles and this fact needs to be given better consideration by all parties summoned at a roundtable.
Railway workers go on hunger strike

By Messenger Staff

Georgian railway workers have announced a hunger strike in front of the administration building of the Georgian Railway in Tbilisi, as they say their employer changed their working place without any initial agreement.The railway workers claim that the Georgian Railway administration made a decision to move them from the Kakheti region to Tbilisi without any prior warning.The workers stress that the employer also refused their provision with accommodation and transport expenses in Tbilisi.The railway workers started their hunger strike on August 15 and tried to open tents.However, police removed their tents from the scene.Georgias Public Defender Ucha Nanuashvili says the tents were removed illegally and the polices actions violated the right of assembly.The Georgian Railway company claims that the workers were warned about the change of their workplace and that they ensured the covering of accommodation and transport expenses.The Railway administration spoke about the involvement of destructive forces in the process which stirred the controversy.It is unlikely that such a process could take place if there truly was effective communication between the company and its employees.It is also doubtful that workers would voluntarily accept working in Tbilisi, far from their homes, without accommodation and similar necessities.This indicates towards the fact that Georgias labour code includes some abstract statements, and needs to better ensure the protection of employees rights.Such incidents also show that that there are severe communication problems within various companies in the country.
BUILDING THE LA RAZA 'The Race' WELFARE STATE ON MIDDLE AMERICAS' BACKS: Months ago, the Biden administration publicly defended their proposal to begin providing federal identification cards to border crossers and illegal aliens who they plan to release into American communities. The goal of the proposal is to make securing public benefits easier.
@MaryEllenKlas

House Speaker Richard Corcoran has created a special committee to determine whether freshman Miami state Rep. Daisy Baez should be sanctioned for potentially violating a state law that requires her to reside in her district.

The Miami Herald reported in May that it appeared that Baez, a Democrat, does not reside in House District 114 that she represents but instead lives in a Coral Gables house about half a mile away. Florida requires lawmakers to live and vote in the districts they represent by Election Day.

Before Baez was elected on Nov. 8 of last year she changed her voter-registration address to a Coral Gables apartment within the District 114 boundaries, election records show.

Reached at the property in May, which is located in House District 112, Baez told the Herald: I have kept this home, and I have a rental. I am renovating this house to put it on the market.

House Chairman of the Public Integrity and Ethics Committee, Rep. Larry Metz, R-Yalaha, wrote in a letter to Corcoran Tuesday that a complaint was received by the Florida Commission on Ethics and referred to the House. He said the evidence appears to support a finding of probable cause and urged him to create the subcommittee. Story here.
@PatriciaMazzei

An unexpected guest is headlining an upcoming fundraiser for Miami Democratic Senate candidate Annette Taddeo: one-time 2016 presidential candidate Martin O'Malley.

O'Malley, the former Maryland governor, will join other Taddeo supporters Tuesday at the posh Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. Taddeo is running in a special Sept. 26 Senate Districit 40 election against Republican Rep. Jose Felix Diaz.

O'Malley dropped out of the 2016 race after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses, but he may still have future presidential ambitions -- which explains why he's trying to be helpful to a Democrat in swing-state Florida.

Also hosting the reception are a slew of state and local elected Democrats, activists, attorneys and donors, according to an invitation obtained by the Miami Herald.

Taddeo raised more than $152,000 from July 21-Aug. 18, the latest campaign-finance reports show. But that still lagged behind Diaz, who raked in more than $382,000. The primary was July 25.

Republicans expect to spend $3 million in the expensive race to replace former Sen. Frank Artiles, a Republican who resigned in scandal in April.

Christian "He-Man" Schlaerth is also running, without party affiliation.
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It's a telling detail that classical guitarist Jason Vieaux's Grammy-winning album is simply called "Play," rather than a list of composers' names. The guitarist covers so many styles in his playing that "classical" is a better description of his technique than a specific genre he's confined to.

At his concert in Bigfork on Thursday during the eighth-annual Crown Guitar Workshop and Festival, Vieaux will cover a wide berth of styles: Spanish music, which is a "pretty healthy staple of classical guitar music," Johannes Sebastian Bach, of whom he's a devotee.

"Then the rest of it is going to be more of my interests that lie outside classical music," Vieaux said in a phone interview. That encompasses Latin American music, and jazz tunes by Ellington and Pat Metheny and Antonio Carlos Jobim.

He'll also perform three short solo guitar interludes by Hans Werner Henze from his Kammermusik. The work, written in 1958, is scored for tenor voice and guitar as the two featured solo voices backed by a chamber ensemble.

"I wanted to throw something in there that might be a curve ball in the middle of a set, because it's the kind of audience that cuts across a lot of genres," he said. As one of the featured guest artists at the Crown festival, he'll play alongside noted performers in jazz, blues, country and more.

Henze was a "German expressionist in the sense that the music is very expressive, but since it's very much of the post-Schoenberg world, it can be very dissonant," he said. Vieaux first heard the solo guitar interludes when he was young, and they marked the first modern, atonal music of its type that he'd heard.

***

Vieaux has criss-crossed genre lines for much of his career. He won that Grammy in 2015 for best solo classical instrumental album for "Play," which featured classical works alongside compositions by Antonio Carlos Jobim (Brazilian), Duke Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood," and Stanley Myers' "Cavatina," from his score for the classic 1979 Vietnam war movie, "The Deer Hunter."

In the past several years, he recorded "Infusion" with jazz accordionist and bandoneon player Julien Labro; "Together" with harpist Yolanda Kondonassis; and collaborated with the Escher String Quartet.

Henze, who died in 2012, is an example of Vieaux's interest in contemporary composers as well as the classics.

"I'm premiering one or two pieces each concert season from living composers," he said. Their ages range from 25 to 50 years old.

He recently participated in the premiere recording of a concerto by Jeff Beal, who composed the music for the Netflix series "House of Cards." With Jonathan Leshnoff, he's worked on a guitar concerto. Syrian composer Kinan Abou-afach is writing a guitar-harp duet for Vieaux and Kondonassis.

He said the magpie nature of that variety reflects his interests as a listener, which spans from Spanish classics to modern-day metal like Mastodon.

One of his albums, "Images of Metheny," comprises arrangements of tunes by guitarist Pat Metheny that Vieaux developed for fun over the course of many years until he had more than an album's worth.

He could easily do the same for some other artists he admires, such as the Steely Dan songwriting team of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, or Burt Bacharach.

Next week, he'll likely perform the songbook standard "What a Wonderful World" in his own arrangement.

"My version has more of a Joni Mitchell kind of vibe to it," he said. "It's a touch bluegrass and a touch Joni Mitchell and then it's got this Brent Hinds-Mastodon run at the end."

He said he gives himself free room on his arrangements and tests them out with students on Artistworks, the online interface where he gives lessons. If the students go for it, then he knows it works.

***

The Buffalo, New York, native had his first taste of music through his parents' record collections. His mother, a secretary, listened to rock, soul and R&B. His dad, like his dad and his grandfather before him, worked on lake boats and mills. He kept a collection of quirky, left-of-center modern jazz albums, Vieaux said.

The Buffalo Guitar Quartet visited Vieaux's elementary school when he was 7, afterward his mother arranged lessons for him. By the time he was a teenager, he could give his friends guitar lessons and transcribe Led Zeppelin solos for them by ear. Since he could play most anything he heard on the radio, he preferred the challenge of classical guitar, even though it made him something of an outsider among his peers. He said it wasn't until he was older that he recognized that much of "the work" in a rock 'n' roll band isn't hours of practice.

"Keith Richards doesn't sit there and practice his blues licks. It's what he does," he said. The work comes in inspiration, songwriting and the business of managing a band.

Vieaux was practicing up to three hours a day when he was in high school. He didn't always enjoy it, but knew that it was important. He was already performing with master classes by that time.

When he was in college at the Cleveland Institute of Music, it meant sessions of four to five hours, although not every day. He compared the mental rigor to "punching logarithms."

By the time he was in his 30s, he said he felt he could "breathe right now and stop worrying if I'm going to be able to pay my bills."

He said it's quite difficult to make a living as a classical musician, and you need nonmusical skills to succeed no matter how good you are, such as maintaining good business relationships.

While Vieaux is in Bigfork, he encouraged musicians to attend workshops if they can. Even at his level, he enjoys going to or auditing a masterclass with an experienced play if the can. "If they are serious about teaching, they're going to pick up a lot of insights on the way."

***

Looking ahead, Vieaux said he could list 10 albums' worth of compositions he'd like to record. He wants to record a sequel to his 2009 collection, "Bach: Works for Lute, Vol. 1."

He said Bach's music can "take on any musical personality" while still sounding like Bach, whether the musician is projecting a neurotic feel or a strident one.

"I'm one of those individuals that's gotten a little more relaxed over the years, rather than more neurotic," he said.

Now that he's in his early 40s, he wants to "bring out more of the lyricism, the more melodic nature without losing the control over the counterpoint and balance of all the voices," he said.
Frenchtown Pond State Park invites you to attend "Bear Basics: Ecology and Biology of Montana's Grizzly and Black Bears" presented by Elissa Chott from the Great Bear Foundation on Saturday, Aug. 26, from 7 to 8 p.m. at the West Shelter (to the right as you enter the parking lot).

Montana is home to both grizzly and black bears that fill important ecological niches. Come learn bear biology, ecology, how to identify bear foods and sign, distinguish the difference between the two species, and see tracks, hides and skulls.

This program is free, open to the public and great for all ages.
BOZEMAN  In this age of easy access to an enormous variety of information via the internet, more knowledge may not always be a good thing for creators of historic firearms.

I think we overbuild things, said Dave Rase, a professional gunsmith from Bremerton, Washington. Were flooded with information. Sometimes its hard for us to dial it back.

Rase was giving a talk to about 30 members of the Montana Historical Gunmakers Guild on a warm August afternoon, but none were drowsy from the heat. Instead, they were as captivated as worshipers at a tent revival. For this crowd, however, the Bible is a book titled Thoughts on the Kentucky Rifle in its Golden Age.

Rase covered obscure subjects like cast off, flare out and how a mistake of only one-thirty-second of an inch can throw everything off from a perfect ratio guided by the golden mean. So detailed are these mens investment in the minutiae of gun building that on Rases wish list is an entire book on nothing but front and rear sights, a comment that drew a few chuckles and knowing nods from those gathered.

The host

Most of us are hobbyists, said Bill Madden, a retired lawyer who hosted the three-day gathering at his valley home just west of Sourdough Creek.

You wouldnt know he was a hobbyist by looking at the most recent rifle that he took roughly a year to build, a Lehigh Valley-style long rifle that hearkens to those made between 1790 and 1810.

Inlaid on the butt is a piece of ivory above which a stylized silver sun glows. Along the barrel fine silver wire curls next to inset gray Montana agates. On the polished brass trigger guard a star-encircled bald eagle grips arrows in its claws. Just above the trigger guard etched into silver is a womans head  sometimes believed to be an Indian head or Lady Liberty.

Although a collectors piece by anyones standards, rather than sell it Madden said he would probably gift it to one of his grandchildren, some of which glided gleefully down the paved driveway on their bicycles, oblivious to their future inheritance.

Taking stock

With his full head of graying hair, bushy eyebrows and mustache, Madden has the appearance of a modern Mark Twain, only instead of being obsessed with writing and social observation, Madden has waded deep into the most minuscule details of gun manufacture. He starts by drawing his rifles out on paper to scale, then he converts the measurements to what he calls a tri-stock, on which he can adjust various attributes like the length of the rifles butt.

Then being excessively pedantic, I make a fake stock, he said.

It takes a lot of different skills to make a gun, Rase said, and a patient wife that lets you hang out in the woodshop a lot.

Composition

The guild is composed of a variety of folks  mostly graying men and a couple of spouses  from across Montana, as well as a few from out of state. Their professional backgrounds range from biologist to software engineer and what Madden called working stiffs.

We need more young people, said Jim Bonawitz, a Billings gunmaker. Id be willing to teach them everything I know.

They arrived from Miles City and Livingston, as well as Kentucky and British Columbia, to revel in all things firearms, from details on the hardest woods for stocks  persimmon  to engraving techniques and styles.

Antique replicas

In the garage of Maddens workshop, racks displayed more than 60 rifle projects underway or finished by the participants.

They included unique pieces like the swivel breech rifle built by Dan Phariss, a Livingston professional gunmaker who formerly worked as a gunsmith at the Shiloh Sharps rifle company in Big Timber. By pulling a lever the entire breech of the gun rotates allowing the rifleman to shoot twice in fairly quick succession. Considering the era, that was quite an achievement in design and defense for the person shooting the rifle.

The flintlock ignition lasted from 1625-ish until the 1830s in this country, Madden explained.

Many started out as simple tools, used by farmers and settlers to kill game for feeding the family, but also to fight skirmishes with American Indians and to battle the British during the American Revolution. It was toward the end of the flintlock era that gunmakers became more interested in fancier designs.

As time wore on they became more gaudy, heavily pierced and more ornate, Madden said. They were building them for merchants and professionals. And then that all went away and we have todays plain Janes.

After the 1830s the percussion cap replaced the flint to ignite a rifles gunpowder and was eventually incorporated into a shell to create the first breech-loading rifles.

Trading

The group gathered at Maddens home was just one more way the gunmakers trade ideas, skills and information. Some arent open to suggestions, though, or as Rase put it: There are some people wrapped tighter than wire around an axle about certain ideas and wont be swayed.

Even with such immersion in an age-old art and the camaraderie a get-together like Maddens provided, Rase questioned where all of the accumulated knowledge takes the gunmakers.

Are we trying to build a historic gun or something to please ourselves? he questioned. Its all right either way, its just a matter of what you want to do.
Switching from in danger to currently on the brink of extinction was too much of an unannounced policy change for deciding if grizzly bears in the Cabinet-Yaak ecosystem need more Endangered Species Act protection, according to a federal court ruling.

U.S. District Court Judge Dana Christensen ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to backtrack on plans to downgrade federal protection status of the small population of grizzlies in northwest Montana after finding the agency acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner with the wording change.

The 42-page decision was released Tuesday. Christensen granted Alliance for the Wild Rockies summary judgment in its challenge to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, FWS Director Daniel Ashe and the county commissioners of Montanas Lincoln County and Idahos Bonner and Boundary counties.

The order restores Cabinet-Yaak grizzlies to warranted but precluded for endangered species status, which means it probably qualifies for the highest level of federal protection but the agency doesnt have the resources to scientifically confirm that conclusion. FWS officials in 2014 reclassified the bears as threatened, which is a lower class of protection.

The levels matter because animals or plants with endangered status may deserve additional protections on the landscape where they live, known as critical habitat designation. Under the threatened status, the Cabinet-Yaak bears survival doesnt require FWS to make such a designation. Critical habitat rules can force any other land managers to consider the bears needs before making any changes such as a timber sale, road construction or mine expansion.

Fewer than 50 grizzly bears inhabit the Cabinet-Yaak mountains. Its one of the smallest of six recovery zones in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Washington. The Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem encompassing Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex holds more than 1,000 grizzlies.

In June, Secretary Zinke ruled that the approximately 700 grizzlies in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem around Yellowstone National Park no longer needed ESA protection and turned their management over to state wildlife agencies. That decision has been challenged in court as well.

Alliance for the Wild Rockies (AWR) Director Michael Garrity accused the Fish and Wildlife Service of spending 20 years finding ways of avoiding an endangered upgrade for the Cabinet-Yaak grizzlies, despite mounting evidence that the bear population there was shrinking.

AWR sued in 2013, but the case was ruled moot when the agency listed the population as warranted but precluded. AWR sued again in 2014, relying on agency documents it claimed showed the agency was changing the designation rules without justification.

In 2010, FWS officials imposed the polar bear rule that clarifies Service policy in regards to the statuary phrase in danger of extinction  This policy recognizes this phrase as meaning currently on the brink of extinction in the wild.  The wording came from a 2008 endangered species status review of polar bears.

In applying this policy to the best available biological data, we conclude that the Cabinet-Yaak grizzly bear population is not currently on the brink of extinction and is no longer warranted for Endangered status and should continue to be listed as Threatened, a draft version of the grizzly status document stated, according to court records. Christensen ruled that was a policy change without proper review.

There is no evidence  to suggest that the agency found that the change in policy was permissible under the ESA, believed that the new policy was better than the agencies' prior interpretations, or otherwise provided a good reason for the change, Christensen wrote. Accordingly, due to the failure of the FWS to provide a reasonable explanation for why it modified its interpretation of in danger of extinction to mean on the brink of extinction, the court finds that the December 2014 not-warranted determination was an arbitrary and capricious decision in violation of the (Administrative Policy Act).

Christensen ordered the agency to reinstate the Cabinet grizzlies status as Warranted but precluded for protection under the Endangered Species Act. He also advised agency officials that if they wanted to change the bears status, they had to publicly display awareness they were changing the policy, show the new policy was legal under the ESA, explain why the new one was better, and provide a reasoned explanation of what the new policy means.
FLORENCE  Gov. Steve Bullock urged communities affected by the Lolo Peak fire to be patient and to respect the firefighting effort.

This has been a sobering year, losing two firefighters and recognizing the challenges out there, Bullock said on Tuesday after flying over a portion of the 32,300-acre blaze. We need to be respectful and recognize the danger those folks are put in every day, and know that we have well over a month left in our fire season.

He noted that the cooperation among all of those involved at the local, state and federal levels is amazing. Bullock also vowed to do everything possible to keep firefighters, community members and structures safe, despite the state burning through its $62 million firefighting fund by mid-August.

At the end of the day, there will not be a lack of resources due to the state budget. The safety of firefighters, the safety of communities and the safety of structures  peoples homes  wont be impacted by how much money we have in the state fire fund. We will deal with that later, Bullock said.

So far, the cost estimate for fighting the Lolo Peak fire is $23 million. The Federal Emergency Management Agency last week agreed to cover about 75 percent of the costs.

After the flight  Bullock said they couldnt see much due to the smoke  he and John Tubbs, director of the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, were briefed by the Lolo Peak fires incident commander and other team members.

Operations Manager Mark Goeller said theyre preparing for a couple of tough days this week, with the weather forecast calling for hot temperatures and brisk winds, along with low relative humidity and the possibility of thunderstorms.

It could throw lots of spots into drainages, Goeller said on Tuesday. Weve prepared for this thing to come running out tomorrow and Thursday.

He added with a chuckle that their fire camp has grown to 1,148 people, and compared it to Lolos population of 765 residents.

As you can see, we have quite a community out here on Klements Lane, he said.

Goeller noted that while theyre mainly doing indirect fire management  such as creating fire breaks  those firefighters are looking for an opportunity to take the fire back up to the high country until a season-ending event. Still, he warned that September typically brings the worst fire weather.

Were not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination, he said.

The Lolo Peak fire is expected to continue to drop south from Missoula County farther into Ravalli County. As the fire enters into its second month of burning, local law enforcement officers and firefighters were becoming weary, and delighted in the aid offered when Bullock called in Montanas National Guard last week.

I was ready to contact mutual aid, but we didnt have to, said Hamilton Volunteer Fire Chief Brad Mohn. Things are in place, and if we need to push that button well get more resources from the rest of the state.

Tubbs told fire managers that even if they didnt think aid can be delivered, to still ask for it.

If youre seeing that fatigue, get the word out. If you need resources, ask anyway, even if you think its not going to come, Tubbs said.

Jace Dicken with the Missoula County Sheriffs Office also asked the public to follow reliable news sources and not to believe social media posts until theyve been verified.

We cant stay ahead of social media  the rumors and trying to dispute them is a little taxing for us, Dicken said. Make sure you get your information from a good source.

He added that they did have a drone shut down their air operations, and have turned the investigation over to the Forest Service, which does have some suspects.

In Ravalli County, about 245 homes remain evacuated, with another 380 in evacuation warning status, according to Sheriff Steve Holton. In Missoula County, another 180 residences are evacuated.

Highway 12 has reopened to the public, with reduced speeds of 45 mph in some areas.
After he allegedly made a homemade spear while in jail, prosecutors are cancelling a plea agreement with the driver who led officers on a high-speed chase in November that ended with a crash in downtown Missoula.

Jacob Thomas Seibert reached an agreement in June to plead either guilty or no contest to a string of felony charges from the Nov. 20 chase. The agreement recommended a 15-year commitment to the Department of Corrections with 10 of those years suspended.

Seibert was scheduled to be sentenced last week, but at the hearing prosecutors said they would be pulling the plea agreement because of new criminal allegations against him. On Monday, they filed new counts against Seibert of felony criminal mischief and possession of a weapon by an inmate for an alleged incident at the Missoula County Detention Facility in July.

According to court documents, a deputy went to the jail on July 9 to investigate after Seibert allegedly became angry with staff and began to vandalize one of the common rooms at the facility.

An affidavit filed with the charges says Seibert allegedly broke a mop, lights and sprinkler heads, as well as a video visitation kiosk. He is accused of then using a piece of broken glass and the mop handle to fashion a homemade spear.

He then brandished his weapon while holding a broken ceiling tile as a shield, the affidavit said.

Seibert was eventually subdued by the jails incident response team.

In the November chase, Seibert led officers on a pursuit in a stolen truck on Interstate 90 and Montana Highway 200 up to Johnsrud Park Road, where he doubled back and returned to Missoula. Officers rammed the vehicle, causing it to crash near St. Francis Xavier Church.

Roger William Gillespie, Seiberts passenger, had escaped from the pre-release center in Butte. He was sentenced to five years in prison in March. Court documents indicate both Seibert and Gillespie were under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of the chase. A woman also was in the truck, but was not charged.

Seibert also pleaded guilty to felony arson for allegedly lighting a car he stole in the days before the chase on fire.

He had a status hearing Wednesday about his case, which ended with District Court Judge Leslie Halligan setting another appearance for late September to determine how the two cases will proceed.
POLSON  The 33-year-old Polson man facing felony charges of impersonating a Coast Guard official on Flathead Lake said he was just trying to help people be safe while out on the water.

Ryan W. Lowden was charged with three felony counts of impersonating a public servant following reports that he was stopping boats near Polson while riding his Jet Ski earlier this summer.

In a telephone interview Wednesday, Lowden said he never stopped anyone or represented himself as a member of the Coast Guard.

In charging documents filed last week in Lake County Justice Court, Lowden is charged with stopping numerous boats between June and August mostly on the Flathead River between the Polson Bridge and the dam.

People reported that Lowden drove in front of their boats while on his Jet Ski, which some said was equipped with flashing lights. Some of those who were allegedly stopped said Lowden was wearing a jacket with Coast Guard markings on it and that he presented them with a badge number. In some cases, they said he asked to see their life preservers.

Lowden claimed that none of that happened.

There is a contingent of U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary that are attached to Flathead Lake, said Chris Roberts of that volunteer auxiliary unit.

The only boat thats currently approved to serve the auxiliary is a 27-foot sailboat. Two additional power boats could soon be available, but Roberts said the current challenge is finding enough trained people to man them.

We are really short on our membership right now, Roberts said.

When the boats are up and running, Roberts said people may see them out on Flathead Lake doing safety inspections or helping do patrols for different events.

When we heard about this story about someone pretending to be in the Coast Guard, we realized that there are probably a lot of people who dont even know that there is Coast Guard in Montana, Roberts said. We want people to know that we do exist and we could use some more volunteers.

Lowden claimed he served in the Coast Guard between 2003 and 2006, where he gained an understanding of boating safely.

Lowden admits that he has offered safety tips to boaters while out on his own pleasure cruises on his Jet Ski, but he said hes never pulled anyone over or pretended to be a member of the Coast Guard.

His advice to operate safely hasnt always been well received, he readily admits.

In one case, he said he pulled over to a boat after watching it speed through water with two girls in the bow with the feet hanging over the side. Lowden said he told the people in the boat they might want to have the girls wear lifejackets.

They were like who are you to tell me what to do? he said. I was just offering mere suggestions because I know how dangerous it was.

Lowden said he has mounted red and green navigational lights on his wave runner. While they are equipped to be used as flashers, he said hes never used that function.

The charging documents said Lowden initially denied having a U.S. Coast Guard jacket or other clothing with Coast Guard markings on it. After getting a search warrant, Lake County deputies did find a Coast Guard jacket secreted in a pit in a crawl space of the residence, the documents said.

Jiminy Christmas, its like somehow Ive gotten myself in all this trouble by simply trying to look out for my fellow man, Lowden said. Every single time that I talked with someone, I had their best interest at heart.

Lowden has been released on his own recognizance. He will appear later in district court on the felony charges.
Franklin and Lowell elementary schools will open their doors Thursday night for an open house where families, students and community members can see the campuses completely rebuilt with funding from a 2015 school bond.

They are the first projects completed with dollars from the $158 million Smart Schools 2020 bond, which was designed to renovate elementary and high school buildings in the district with a focus on modernizing technology and school designs.

Demolition of Franklin and Lowell began shortly after the academic year ended in 2016 and students were temporarily moved to other schools for 2016-17.

Students' families have been invited to attend an open house from 4-6 p.m. Thursday to take a first look at the new Franklin, 1901 S. 10th St. W., and Lowell, 1200 Sherwood St. The events were scheduled before the start of the new school year, in part, so the broader community could also visit the new buildings.

"These open houses are designed not just as back-to-school nights for those families and students, but for the community to be welcomed and experience what they paid for," Missoula County Public Schools Communications Director Hatton Littman said.

C.S. Porter Middle School also will be hosting its annual back-to-school barbecue Thursday evening for students and families.

While the event is not intended for the community at large, the school is seeking volunteers "to help flip burgers" so teachers and staff can instead spend their time talking with parents and showing students their new classrooms, Littman said.

Anyone who is interested in volunteering is asked to call the school's office at 406-542-4060.
New evacuations were ordered Wednesday night when high winds caused "dangerous fire behavior'' at the Lolo Peak blaze.

Michael Cole, the public information officer for the Northern Rockies Incident Management Team in charge of the fire, said erratic winds picked up late in the afternoon on Wednesday.

"That caused the fire activity to increase in the One Horse Creek drainage, and that triggered the new evacuations," he said. "That drainage funnels down into the valley south of Florence. Sheriff's deputies are out knocking on doors now."

Missoulian sports reporter Kyle Houghtaling lives just two blocks from the evacuation area. "My roommate came into my bedroom saying, 'Get on the roof, now, you gotta see this.' The fire on the mountain behind our house, Sweeney Peak, had blown up,'' he said.

"No sooner had my roommate told us to go look at the fire than our Ravalli County Sheriff app told us new evacuation orders were underway. As it turns out, we're in about a two block radius West of Highway 93 that isn't being evacuated. Down the street you can see the lights from the sheriff telling our neighbors it's time to go.

"It's pretty surreal,'' Houghtaling said. "When the wind blows off the hills from the west you can feel the heat from the fire."

The evacuation order covered all residents west of the Florence Carlton Loop; people west of Highway 93 from One Horse Creek Road to Sweeeney Creek Loop; all residents on Sweeney Creek Loop north of and including Outback Road, Woodtick Hollow, Sweeney Creek Trail, Upper Sweeney Creek Loop, Hill Drive, Koepplin Lane and Smith Fork.

Ravalli County Sheriff Steve Holton said the order was issued after "a big column (of wind) moved through '' the area, but added the evacuations "were more about anticipating what's going to happen tomorrow.''

Evacuated residents were asked to check in at the Ravalli County Search and Rescue Command Van in the Super One parking lot in Stevensville.

While the swirling winds moving through the region were heightening fire danger, they could provide a respite for the worst air quality the county has seen this year.

Smoke socked in the city Tuesday night and made Missoula air look positively Dickensian on Wednesday. Air quality throughout the county ranged from Unhealthy to Hazardous, and the air quality didn't get better Wednesday, according to the twice-daily report from Sarah Coefield, the air quality specialist for the Missoula City-County Health Department.

Florence was in the worst particulate cloud the agency has recorded this year as the Lolo Peak fire moved closer to the town Wednesday.

Lolo and Seeley Lake were at Hazardous levels of smoke. Seeley Lake was slightly better off than Florences record-setting nastiness.

The inversion Wednesday afternoon did not bring relief as all of the smoke from fires in Oregon, northern California, Washington and Idaho dropped in to stay awhile.

She predicted that conditions Thursday morning likely would be Hazardous in Florence, Lolo and Seeley Lake.

Coefield said that the smoke in Missoula is not even close to a record year.

In 2015, we had a week without any break for the smoke," 166 straight hours without wind or an inversion removing the haze from the city, she said.

But even though Missoula isnt suffering in historic fashion, its a phenomenally awful year, Coefield said. Seeley Lake has had 18 of the last 23 days start with Hazardous morning air quality, she said.

Its far worse for them than what Missoula has ever had.

As for the coming days, she said that "Saturday is going to usher in a prolonged period of atmospheric stability. Smoke impacts will continue and worsen through at least early next week under a strong high-pressure ridge.

"There is no good news in the long-range forecast. There is only smoke."

***

In other fires around western Montana, according to InciWeb, the national wildfire information service:

Lolo Peak fire: Firefighting operations were stopped for three hours Wednesday afternoon after reports of shots fired in the Mill Creek area.

The Missoula County Sheriffs office investigated and found a man shooting at squirrels in his yard.

The sheriffs office said in a Facebook post that they had not determined if a citation would be given.

A red flag warning was in effect at the Lolo Peak fire from 5 p.m. to midnight Wednesday as winds and a cold front move in.

Firefighters are prepared for additional starts due to anticipated dry lightning. Crews are also prepared for patrols along Highways 93 and 12 to protect structures and control lines.

During the day, firefighters fortified control lines and prepared for the critical fire weather entering the area Wednesday night.

Fire managers are concerned that the fire west of Florence might move south and worked in additional control line south of Florence, adding hose lays, pumps, and portable water tanks.

Rice Ridge fire: The Rice Ridge fire sent plenty of smoke into Seeley Lake, destroying air quality Wednesday.

The fire is currently more than 16,000 acres and is at 9 percent containment. Crews are continuing to construct indirect line while air support is dropping water and retardant.

A community meeting was scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 24, at 6 p.m. at the Seeley Lake Elementary School.

Liberty fire: The Liberty fire 17 miles southwest of Arlee is still active and still at 10 percent containment.

Firefighters are working on an indirect containment strategy while avoiding as many dangerous situations as possible. Twenty-one miles of indirect line has been built, and firefighters are continuing construction.

An air quality alert was in effect Wednesday due to little wind and the late- breaking inversion around Missoula County.

Sunrise fire: Sunrise is still at 50 percent containment and has burned almost 40 square miles of forest in the area around Tarkio.

The fire teams have moved into a new phase as crews begin suppression repair, protecting areas where theyve worked and diverting water to prevent erosion and soil disturbance.

Hazard trees were removed in Trout Creek through blasting, while crews, heavy equipment and aircraft are all cooperating to create a fire line from Eagle Rock to Sunrise Mountain.

Sprague fire: The Sprague fire in Glacier has burned nearly 1,400 acres and smoke is starting to affect other areas in Glacier.

The Sprague fire grew by 140 acres Tuesday and was being tended to by helicopters and over 100 personnel on site.

Fire information suggests that anyone on the Going-to-the-Sun Road who encounters smoke should turn on their headlights and be watchful for wildlife and people. They also remind people that if one section of the park is smoky, other parts will most likely not be.

Gibralter Ridge fire: The Gibralter Ridge fire east of Eureka is at 52 percent containment and has burned nearly 6 square miles.

Firefighters are mopping up while a new Type 3 Incident Management Team prepares to take the reins of the fire.

Grave Creek Road and the Ten Lakes recreation area will remain closed beginning at the intersection of Grave Creek and Foothills Road.

Meyers fire: The Meyers fire 25 miles southwest of Philipsburg has burned more than 16,000 acres and is at 5 percent containment.

Helicopters have cooled hot spots near Copper Creek and Ivanhoe Lake while engines and fire crews provide structure protection around Moose Lake and Frog Pond.

A community meeting was scheduled for 5 p.m. on Thursday, August 24 at the Georgetown Lake Volunteer Fire Department. Doors will open at 4:30 p.m. for personalized fire briefings, according to Inciweb.

Blue Bay fire: The Blue Bay fire on the east side of Flathead Lake was holding steady at 490 acres as firefighters prepare for the cold front moving in Thursday.

Firefighters finished an indirect dozer line on the north side of the fire and expanded it Wednesday in preparation for a controlled burn. The burn will be held until the team decides when conditions are favorable. Helicopters are being used to cool hot spots and hit the fire where line has not yet been built.

The team is wary of the weather change, as the potential for thunderstorms and precipitation are possible. Cloud cover will increase, which will provide some help for the fire.

Missoulian reporter David Erickson contributed information for this report.
Missoula saw rain  a little  Thursday, easing the smoke for most of the afternoon and cooling temperatures.

Corby Dickerson, meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said that the storms moving through the area earlier in the day did not drop a lot of precipitation, except for brief heavy downpours near the centers of the storms.

Much of the rain wont penetrate past the forest canopy, Dickerson said, which isnt a whole lot of good news.

The rain keeps humidity up, which means less fire behavior, Dickerson added as a positive.

But the storm fronts heading into Montana Thursday evening lent an air of foreboding to meteorological predictions. Storms expected to rumble over the Bitterroot Thursday evening looked to be stronger than the ones that passed through earlier in the day.

And, warned Sarah Coefield, the Missoula City-County Health Department's air quality specialist, "things start to get hairy on Saturday ... We're headed toward a prolonged smoke event starting Saturday and lasting until mid-week next week."

Weather conditions will make it difficult for smoke to leave the area, and new smoke will continue to pour in from outside. The result? "Conditions will deteriorate."

***

In other western Montana fires, according to the Thursday-afternoon updates from InciWeb, the national wildfire information service:

Lolo Peak fire: The Lolo Peak fire was in for another red flag warning Thursday evening as strong and gusty winds moved into the area, bringing the threat of dry lightning.

The fire became active Wednesday night between Carlton and Tie Chute Creeks, and the threat of the fire moving south caused the evacuation order. The fire did run into a burnout operation from earlier in the week, stopping it from moving toward Florence. Firefighters were prepared for the fire possibly jumping Highway 12 Wednesday evening, but that didn't happen.

At around 8 Thursday evening, the Ravalli County Sheriff's Office announced that that the evacuated area from Tie Chute Lane north to West County Line Road had been moved back into an Evacuation Warning status, and residents could move back into their homes.

Sunrise fire: Containment has grown to 57 percent as the Sunrise fire slows down.

Significant progress has been made in the Trout Creek drainage and crews are now patrolling the area, according to Inciweb. Aircraft are being used where burnout operations are too hazardous for crews and fire growth has been weak over the last day.

Crews have moved into full suppression repair operations while continuing strategic burn operations. Suppression repair activities such as chipping and burning slash, spreading brush on lines and building water bars are now in operation around the Sunrise fire.

Fire activity was reduced as relative humidity recovered over Wednesday night, though warm and dry conditions will make their way back to the Sunrise fire over the next few days.

Liberty fire: The Liberty fire has burned over 14 square miles, half the size of Missoula, and is at 9 percent containment.

The fire has been moderately active and has moved into the Liberty Meadows and Gold Creek drainage. Crews are suppressing spot fires and mitigating snags and other hazards near roads.

Weather is a worry as dry thunderstorms move into the area, causing concern for fire movement and spotting with wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour and lightning potentially causing new starts.

Rice Ridge fire: The Rice Ridge fire is just about the size of Missoula and is at 9 percent containment.

Weather on Wednesday caused fire activity to jump up in intensity. Fuel reduction work expanded around the Double Arrow development, according to Inciweb. An evacuation warning is still in effect in areas around Seeley Lake.

Weather might cause fire activity to jump in intensity Thursday night, increasing smoke production. Hot and dry weather will make its way back to Rice Ridge Saturday and will continue through next Wednesday and will be monitored closely.

The Missoula County Sheriff's Office issued an evacuation warning Thursday along Forest Service Road 17507, which runs north into Cottonwood Canyon.

Residents affected by the order were directed to the UCC Church at 405 University Ave. in Missoula.

An evacuation warning was issued for residents in the Kozy Korner Meadows area, its eastern boundary starting in the 7500 block of Woodworth Road, running west to Cottonwood Lakes road, then north through the Rich Ranch.

Sapphire Complex: The Sapphire Complex of fires has burned over 38,000 acres, but has reached nearly 50 percent containment.

The Little Hogback Fire is being attended to through fireline creation, and crews are focused on structure protection. Crews are prepared for initial attack on any fire starts due to dry lightning from thunderstorms. The Little Hogback fire is at 25 percent containment.

The Goat Creek fire will see helicopter use to cool interior hotspots in the interior of the fire. It is at 95 percent containment.

The Sliderock fire has been quiet and is currently at 75 percent containment while firefighters patrol and monitor the fires status.

A community meeting was scheduled for Thursday at Philipsburg High School at 5 p.m. to update the community about the progress made on the fires according to Inciweb.

Sprague fire: Glacier National Park's Sprague fire has jumped up to 1,500 acres, and will transition to a Type II Incident Management Teams leadership Friday, August 25.

The Sprague fire is near the path of predicted dry lightning and gusty winds as a cold front moves in across Glacier. The fire burned actively on Wednesday as spot fires burned around the perimeter.

Firefighters are protecting the Crystal Ford footbridge with hose lays and sprinklers, and Sperry Chalet has multiple water tanks, hose lays and sprinklers deployed to keep it as safe as possible.

Less than 1 percent of the park is affected by the fire.

Meyers fire: The Meyers fire was cooled by cloudy skies, smoke and light rain Wednesday as managers saw minimal fire spread and activity. Thunderstorms and cooler temperatures throughout Thursday made for better firefighting conditions, but warmer temperatures will return over the weekend.

Montana National Guard members arrived at the Meyers fire Wednesday to support firefighting operations after Gov. Steve Bullocks July 23 executive order made them available to use in response to the extreme drought conditions ravaging parts of the state.

The Guard is being used to staff roadblocks allowing firefighters to do firefighting operations and other duties.
Montanans can be a stoic lot who hang tough in the face of adversity. But we need to start paying attention to the warnings we're getting about the dangers of breathing smoke from this summer's wildfires.

Smoke levels have reached hazardous in Seeley Lake more than 18 times in the past two weeks and increasingly are hitting hazardous or unhealthy levels in Missoula, Florence and Lolo, too.

Air quality expert Sarah Coefield doesn't mince words in her daily smoke updates: It's "really bad, you guys" and it can make even healthy people sick.

The health dangers from the smoke come in two forms: the tiny particles suspended in the smoke and the toxic stew of chemicals caused by burning.

Ammonia is always present in wildfire smoke, but thats something that wasnt previously measured, Vanessa Selimovic, a University of Montana graduate student, told Missoulian reporter Rob Chaney recently. Theres acetic acid. Theres formaldehyde and methanol. And its hard to say what happens as those compounds age. We dont know if it gets worse or better if it sits in a valley overnight.

Selimovic has been helping to crunch piles of data revealing whats in the plumes obscuring our sky this summer. What she and her colleagues are finding should get our attention  and should merit additional study, particularly focused on the health of firefighters who can't wear masks and breathing apparatus while battling blazes in the heat and in the rugged backcountry.

No additional study is needed to understand the harm that tiny particles in the smoke can do when inhaled even by healthy people.

Scientists have established that exposure to particles that are 2.5 micrometers or less can affect the lungs and heart, causing nonfatal heart attacks, irregular heartbeats, difficulty breathing and decreased lung function in healthy people, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Children and the elderly are even more susceptible to health damage from inhaling tiny particulates in the air.

Coefield, the air quality specialist with the Missoula City-County Health Department, said hourly pollution from tiny particulates on an average day measures between five and eight micrograms per cubic meter of air. When that rises to 250 micrograms per cubic meter of air in an hour, air quality is deemed hazardous.

The department has recorded readings as high as 950 micrograms  nearly four times the hazardous level  in Seeley Lake. That's why the department recommended that anyone who could leave the area do so.

The department doesn't have the power to mandate evacuations based on air quality; only the Missoula County Sheriff's Office could do that. But Montanans should heed the warnings and do what they can to protect themselves, their families and, especially, their ill or elderly neighbors. And they should do it now.

When the air in your city is hazardous, everyone should either leave town or stay inside as much as possible in a room with air that's been cleaned using a HEPA filter. Masks won't work because the particles are too small.

When the air is unhealthy, the health department advises that "people with heart or lung disease, smokers, children and the elderly should limit heavy or prolonged exertion and limit time spent outdoors."

The smoke is going to be with us for a while. But protecting yourself and your family from its toxic effects now can make sure that you don't suffer long-term health problems when the skies finally clear.
As we proceed with Donald Trump's latest presidential imbecilities, I ask: whatever became of changing the electoral college imbalance that led to this dreadful man becoming our commander in chief?

When Trump lost last year's election by more than three million votes and yet "won" in the electoral college, I figured we finally might do away with the disastrous system that thumbs its antiquated nose at the American voter.

In 2000, George W. Bush lost to Al Gore by about a half million votes, but that travesty is tiny compared to the 2016 disaster.

The unfair electoral college has turned victory into defeat for American voters before. Most notably was the theft of the presidency by the supporters of Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876. In that election, Samuel J. Tilden won the popular vote and led in the electoral college 184-166, only to have the returns in three Republican controlled states, Louisiana, Florida and South Carolina, challenged. In that travesty, a special electoral commission (Republican controlled) gave all 19 votes (including a disputed vote in Oregon) to Hayes.

But President Hayes can be historically viewed as a humanitarian, at least as such was considered at that time.

However, Trump?

The only noteworthy point about Trump is he seems destined to replace Warren G. Harding as the worse president.

To me it's clear, it's time to let the people pick the president.

Ed Chaberek,

Superior
The victim of a violent carjacking in Helena has died, though it's unclear whether the attack caused his death.

Kerry Paul Malkerson, 67, of Texas, was getting ready to leave a hotel in the 3100 block of Washington Street around 3:30 a.m. Sunday when someone strangled him and stole his Crown Victoria. The victim was taken to a hospital and later returned home to Texas, where he died Monday.

"It is unclear at this time if the injuries Kerry sustained on Sunday morning caused his death," Lewis and Clark County Coroner Bryan Backeberg said in a press release Wednesday. "The Dallas County Medical Examiners Office has conducted an autopsy and the results are pending further investigation."

Additional information about the death will be released when it becomes available from Dallas County.

Police in Salt Lake City, Utah arrested Eddie Sanchez of Helena Tuesday in connection with the carjacking, as well as an officer-involved pursuit in Helena and for stealing a wallet in Dillon. He was found in the car stolen from Helena.

Sanchez is being held in lieu of $250,000 bond. His charges include robbery, aggravated assault and criminal endangerment  all felonies.

The officer-involved pursuit happened earlier Sunday morning, prior to the carjacking. Sgt. Jay Nelson of the Montana Highway Patrol said a state trooper initiated the pursuit shortly after midnight, when a vehicle failed to stop for a stop sign on Sierra Road in the Helena Valley.

The Helena Police Department used spike strips on the vehicle, which crashed on Interstate 15 near Custer Avenue, and the suspect fled on foot. Officers searched the area with a canine unit but were unable to locate the suspect, who is believed to be the same man who stole the Crown Victoria a few hours later.

Authorities also accused Sanchez of assaulting a Dillon woman in front of a convenience store in Dillon, forcibly taking her wallet and then fleeing on foot Sunday afternoon. That victim was not seriously injured.

Dillon police viewed surveillance video from local merchants and were able to get a description of the man and the vehicle he was driving. They say the crimes Sanchez committed in Helena are allegedly related to the theft of the wallet in Dillon.
HIT AND RUN

Police say they caught up with a hit-and-run suspect following a crash near the Civic Center on Tuesday that sent another man to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

That man was turning left onto Harrison Avenue from Civic Center Road around 4 p.m. when a car traveling on Harrison went through a red light and struck the victims vehicle, police said. That driver then fled and sped east down Civic Center Road.

Acting on witness accounts, police located the car in the 2200 block of Pine Street. It was registered to a female who lived a block away on Walnut Street and when police went there, they found Gary Milton Whipple, 38, of Butte, who fit descriptions of the fleeing driver.

The victim was taken to St. James Hospital with a suspected back injury while Whipple was booked on multiple misdemeanor complaints, including driving while suspended or revoked, careless driving, hit-and-run with injury and failure to identify himself.

He was released several hours later after posting a $2,210 bond.

STRIKING PARKED CAR

A Butte man was arrested early Wednesday morning after witnesses said the car he was driving struck a parked car in the 1900 block of South Utah Avenue.

Police said Tyler John Ossello, 19, of Butte, appeared to be drunk or high. He failed field sobriety tests at the scene and at the jail and a blood draw showed his blood-alcohol level was above the legal limit. He was booked for misdemeanor DUI and later released on $685 bond.
DEER LODGE  The Powell County Community Foundation is accepting grant applications from non-profits throughout Powell County. The PCF awards grants, usually ranging from $500 to $1,200, are for charitable purposes in the following focus areas: basic human needs, arts and culture, recreation, and economic development. The application deadline is Sept. 8, 2017.

The short application form is available by writing to PCF at P.O. Box 834, Deer Lodge, 59722; by contacting board members Kirk Sandquist, Steve Owens, Mary Ann Fraley, Claudia Dippold, Cheryl Sandquist, or Gerald Bender in Deer Lodge; or by leaving a message at 406-846-3413. Because of IRS regulations, all applicants must be a 501 (c) 3 non-profit with an IRS letter, or a public agency.

Since it was established in 1999, the Powell County Foundation has awarded more than $171,000 in 155 grants to more than 50 different organizations serving Powell County residents.

During 2016, the Foundation provided 13 grants totaling $12,614 to the Powell County Senior Center, Deer Lodge Food Pantry, Powell County Ambulance, Deer Lodge Youth Board, Garrison School and Powell County Literacy program.

The foundation has built a permanent endowment of approximately $145,000, and uses earnings from the endowment for grants, while the principal remains intact. The endowment grows with donations, memorials, bequests and other planned gifts. The PCF is affiliated with the statewide Montana Community Foundation, and the local board makes all the grant decisions. Many types of planned gifts for the permanent endowment can be eligible for Montanas Endowment Tax Credit. Inquiries and donations to help build the endowment can also be sent to P.O. Box 834, Deer Lodge, 59722.
Friday, Aug. 25

ALIVE AFTER FIVE

Alive After Five, on the corner of Park and Main St., in Anaconda, is from 5 to 8 p.m. Musical act is Genuine Article.

OPEN HOUSE

The Anaconda Job Corps will have an open house from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Students will lead tours of the facility, and show what career opportunities are available. The culinary arts program will have some tasty bites and projects will be on display.

FAIR IN BOULDER

Jefferson Countys annual fair and NRA rodeo, A Fair of the Heart is Friday-Sunday at Jefferson County Recreation Park, off of Highway 69 one-half mile south of Boulder. Admission to the fair is free and parking is $2 per car. To attend the rodeo, the cost is $8 for adults/$4 for youth. Call 406-225-4039 or visit http://jeffersoncounty-mt.gov/county/fairofheart.html.

TALK ON GRIZZLIES

Montana State Parks will host The Grizzly Returns: Becoming Bear Aware, an interpretive program on grizzlies, at 8 p.m. at Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park, 25 Lewis and Clark Caverns Road, Whitehall. Join Laurie Wolf to learn more about how we can safely share the Montana landscape with grizzly bears. Details: 406-287-3541.

COWBOY RACES

Celebrate the American cowboy and his cowpony at Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site at Deer Lodge with the first annual Cowboy Races. Plan to arrive by 3:30 p.m. to allow time to get to the racing course, to meet the competitors and interact with the horses. Visitors will also be able to place a guess on which horse they think will be victories and mark their choice on the official Cowboy Races chart. An interpretive talk on the American Quarter Horse will be presented at 3:45 p.m.
A former executive director of the Montana Republican Party is accusing the state Democratic Party of coordinating with a statewide judicial candidates campaign and failing to properly disclose more than $300,000 in campaign expenditures during the election cycle that ended last November.

In a complaint filed with the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices last month, Jake Eaton of Billings alleges the former treasurer for the Montana Democrats election committee also served on the 2016 campaign of Associate Justice Dirk Sandefur, who won his bid for an open seat on the Montana Supreme Court in November. Eaton claims the party failed to take necessary steps to prevent coordination.

He is also accusing the Democrats of not disclosing their support for Sandefur and cites 22 separate instances in which the party allegedly failed to identify which candidate a campaign expenditure was intended to benefit.

Eaton is co-owner of AlphaGraphics of Billings and The Political Company. Both businesses offer campaign services to conservative candidates and third parties. He also served as treasurer for a political action committee that spent hundreds of thousands of dollars attempting to defeat Sandefur last year.

Montanas campaign finance laws prohibit coordination between candidates and certain political groups involved in elections. The state requires a firewall policy in certain instances to ensure that any overlap between those campaigns and committees dont run afoul of the law.

Although the organizational forms for Sandefur and the Democratic Partys committee didn't list any of the same officers, the complaint notes that the email address initially listed for the Democrats treasurer was identical to that of Sandefurs deputy treasurer. Eaton said Wednesday that the inclusion of the same email for both groups should at least raise questions over whether illegal coordination took place.

Its hard to discern, youve got the Sandefur campaign that lists Holly Giarraputo as the deputy treasurer. The Democratic Party does not, but appears to be using her by virtue of this email address, he said.

Montana Democrats spokesman Roy Loewenstein called Eatons allegations baseless, and said the party would wait for a ruling from Jeff Mangan, the current political practices commissioner, before commenting further.

He also noted that the party has previously prevailed in several campaign rulings from the same election cycle. Those include a May decision against Ed Workman of Billings, who Mangan found had not properly disclosed contributions to 2017 legislative candidate Don Roberts, a Republican who lost his race against Sen. Margie McDonald, D-Billings.

Last years race between Juras and Sandefur was notable for setting a new record for campaign and political fundraising in a Montana Supreme Court election. Total political contributions during the non-partisan contest exceeded $1.6 million  breaking the previous record set in 2014.
The victim of a violent carjacking in Helena has died, though it's unclear whether the attack caused his death.

Kerry Paul Malkerson, 67, of Texas, was getting ready to leave a hotel in the 3100 block of Washington Street around 3:30 a.m. Sunday when someone strangled him and stole his Crown Victoria. The victim was taken to a hospital and later returned home to Texas, where he died Monday.

"It is unclear at this time if the injuries Kerry sustained on Sunday morning caused his death," Lewis and Clark County Coroner Bryan Backeberg said in a press release Wednesday. "The Dallas County Medical Examiners Office has conducted an autopsy and the results are pending further investigation."

Additional information about the death will be released when it becomes available from Dallas County.

Police in Salt Lake City, Utah arrested Eddie Sanchez of Helena Tuesday in connection with the carjacking, as well as an officer-involved pursuit in Helena and for stealing a wallet in Dillon. He was found in the car stolen from Helena.

Sanchez is being held in lieu of $250,000 bond. His charges include robbery, aggravated assault and criminal endangerment -- all felonies.

The officer-involved pursuit happened earlier Sunday morning, prior to the carjacking. Sgt. Jay Nelson of the Montana Highway Patrol said a state trooper initiated the pursuit shortly after midnight, when a vehicle failed to stop for a stop sign on Sierra Road in the Helena Valley.

The Helena Police Department used spike strips on the vehicle, which crashed on Interstate 15 near Custer Avenue, and the suspect fled on foot. Officers searched the area with a canine unit but were unable to locate the suspect, who is believed to be the same man who stole the Crown Victoria a few hours later.

Authorities also accused Sanchez of assaulting a Dillon woman in front of a convenience store in Dillon, forcibly taking her wallet and then fleeing on foot Sunday afternoon. That victim was not seriously injured.

Dillon police viewed surveillance video from local merchants and were able to get a description of the man and the vehicle he was driving. They say the crimes Sanchez committed in Helena are allegedly related to the theft of the wallet in Dillon.
BOZEMAN  It takes a good dose of myth, a well-built legend and an unusual nickname to keep a man like John Johnston alive in peoples memories 115 years after his death.

John who? Never heard of him, you might be thinking. Yet if I used the name Liver-Eating Johnson, even if you had never heard of him you would want to know more.

The stories about him, he keeps getting taller and heavier, said Nathan Bender, who has researched the history of a Hawken rifle and Bowie knife owned by Johnson, also known as Johnston and Liver-Eating Johnson. They are all the same man.

Even in real life he was a large man, more than 6 feet tall and weighing around 230 pounds, according to some accounts. The Sioux Indians named him Black Bear because of his barrel chest, according to one story.

The rifle and knife were donated in 2000 to the Cody Firearms Museum in Cody, Wyoming. While head of special collections and archives at the University of Idaho Library, Bender examined the articles and wrote a paper published in Arms & Armour in 2006. He recently presented the paper to a gathering of the Montana Historical Gunmakers Guild in Bozeman, members of which waded in with a few comments.

Whats in a name?

Johnston became famous more recently from the 1972 movie Jeremiah Johnson, starring Robert Redford, which was loosely based on Johnstons life. Yet in his own time the frontiersman was more commonly known as John Johnston, reportedly a fake last name he took after striking an officer and deserting the Navy. He was actually born John Garrison in Little York, New Jersey, in 1824.

The movie portrays Johnston as a madman bent on revenge after Indians kill his native wife. His liver-eating name came from tales of him supposedly dining on his victims innards as a further means of revenge. The more likely scenarios for him receiving his nickname are quite different, although just as gruesome. One story has the incident taking place along the Musselshell River, near its junction with the Missouri River, where Johnston and several companions had a run-in with a band of Sioux warriors.

The men were working as woodhawks, workers who cut wood to sell to steamboats traveling up and down the Missouri, when they were reportedly attacked by the Sioux. Outgunned, few of the Indians escaped, and those wounded were tracked down, scalped and then killed. In an attempt to send a grisly message, the white men boiled the dead warriors skulls and displayed them on sticks along the river as a warning to others, according to the book Red Lodge, Saga of a Western Area.

The book quotes Johnston as saying one Indians liver inadvertently stuck to his knife after he killed the warrior and he jokingly made believe he was eating the organ.

I was all over blood and I had the liver on my knife, but I didnt eat none of it, the book quotes Johnston as saying. The liver coming out was unintentional on my part.

But one of his companions said he had dined on the mans liver and for the rest of his life Johnston was wedded to the name. Another account attributes a similar live incident after Johnston killed two Sioux warriors who were following him and a greenhorn as they hunted along the Musselshell River north of Billings.

Johnstons real life put him at the center of one of the Wests most enduring stories. He acted as an Army scout in the late 1800s as Gen. Oliver Otis Howard pursued the Nez Perce Indians during their flight from an Oregon reservation. The Indians escape sent them traveling through the Big Hole Valley, Yellowstone National Park, past Billings and Laurel while on the way to the Bears Paw Mountains near Montanas northern border.

Johnston spent his later years as a deputy sheriff in the town of Coulson, where a Billings park along the Yellowstone River now sits, and in Red Lodge.

Provenance

Bender wrote that the knife and rifle in possession of the Cody Firearms Museum fit easily with other known historic sources of information about Liver-Eating Johnson in the 1860s-90s in Montana, Wyoming and Canada.

The items reportedly came from William W. Alderson, who met Johnston when Alderson served as an Indian agent at the Milk River Agency in Fort Peck from 1873 to 1875. The two became friends, and Johnston reportedly gave the items to Alderson before he died.

Alderson was a founder of Bozeman, where a street still carries the family name. He also served as a state representative to Congress for Montana and published one of Bozemans first newspapers. The rifle and knife supposedly passed from Alderson to a gun collector, then back to a family member and then another collector before being donated to the museum.

Although one affidavit accompanied the donation, there was no documentation of the original sale to aid in Benders research. Consequently, he was left to speculate as to whether the origins of the gun and knife fit into the same timeframe as Johnstons life.

The Hawken was a pretty good hunting rifle up until the 1870s, said Dan Phariss, a Livingston historic rifle maker. They were supplanted by the rolling block and Sharps in the early 1870s."

Knowing that Johnston was an avid hunter and sharpshooter, it would make sense that he owned a Hawken, Phariss said.

Ive shot a lot of critters with them, ranging out to about 150 yards, he added. So they were a very viable hunting arm until other guns came along to displace them.

Bender agreed.

There are tales that Johnson had a lot of rifles, he said. He used to (pawn) them to the bartender to stand him for drinks.

The Cody Firearms Museum is more certain of the Hawkens provenance. Well we know that this is the .56 caliber half-stock Hawken rifle that he carried during his time in the West, wrote curator Ashley Hlebinsky in her blog. He was photographed with the firearm as well.

The end?

Such speculation about Johnston, his legendary life and even his personal possessions would likely please the man. His mythic stature continues to live on. But in reality his life did not end in a blaze of glory like an old Western movie.

After having served several terms as constable of the coal mining town of Red Lodge, in 1897  at the age of 73  he settled on 160 acres south of Red Lodge. Two years after receiving the patent for his land, Johnston left for the Old Soldiers Home in what is now Los Angeles. He was there less than two months before dying.

In 1972, after learning of his burial in California, a class of Los Angeles middle school students lobbied the Veterans Administration to have Johnstons remains dug up for reburial closer to his mountain home. The owner of Old Trail Town in Cody, Wyoming  Bob Edgar  agreed to take the remains. On June 8, 1974, Johnston was reburied as a crowd gathered, some dressed as if living in the mountain man era. Actor Robert Redford  who had portrayed Jeremiah Johnson  served as one of the pallbearers, drawing a large crowd to the event.

The ceremony had something of a circus atmosphere, wrote Gary Svee for the Billings Gazette at the time.

Last fight

That Johnston was reburied in Cody instead of Red Lodge did not sit well with some. An attempt to get a restraining order to halt the move was denied by a federal judge, despite the intervention of then-Sen. John Melcher. Testimony in that case included a sworn affidavit by Red Lodge resident Fred Longmore. Longmore said as a child he held Johnstons hand on the railroad platform before he departed for California.

He looked at the Beartooth Mountains and tears rolled out of his eyes and I said, Dont feel sad, Mr. Johnston, because youll come back. They wont keep you down there long. Johnston replied, Oh, Freddy boy, Ill never see them mountains again.

He would have abhorred the reburial at a tourist stop near some warehouses in a Wyoming town, wrote Harry J. Owens in his Red Lodge history book. Nowhere can be seen his beloved Beartooths. Liver Eating Johnston would enjoy the last laugh, however, as all that was left of his earthly remains when the grave was opened was a large leg bone and a few fragments of the cedar coffin he had been buried in. And, although this tourist stop now claims his remains, they did not capture his spirit. The spirit of John Johnston still roams wild and free over his Beartooths and, in the final reckoning, that is what really counts.
Missoula, MT - Two western Montana residents were charged with deliberate homicide in the stabbing deaths of two unidentified people whose bodies were found in plastic tubs of chemicals in the basement of a home.

Tiffanie Pierce, 23, and Augustus Standingrock, 26, were arrested last week and made their initial appearances in Justice Court on Monday. Both are charged with deliberate homicide and accountability to deliberate homicide for the deaths of a man and a woman on Aug. 17. They did not enter pleas and bail was set at $2 million.

The bodies of the unidentified man and woman were found in a Missoula home.

There's no combination of [release conditions] that would ensure that members of our community would be safe," Missoula County Attorney Kirsten Pabst told Justice of the Peace Marie Andersen on Monday.

Pierce and Standingrock tried to dispose of the bodies of the victims by putting them in tubs with chemicals, prosecutors said.

Investigators discovered that Pierce purchased the chemicals, tubs and cleaning supplies that were found at the crime scene, according to KRTV. They also found a bloody ax and knives.

Pierces roommate told police he was awakened by a womans screams and found Pierce and Standingrock in the bathroom washing blood off themselves before Pierce told him there was a dead woman in the basement.

The roommate left the house after he was told of the body. He said Pierce later showed up at his work and told him she killed a couple people last night, according to court records.

Pierce reportedly told her roommate that Standingrock brought a couple of people over and that he took them to the basement and attacked one. Pierce attacked the other person who tried to get away, according to the roommate.

Officers received a search warrant for the Missoula home and discovered Pierce and Standingrock at the residence.

Officers discovered a handgun and the two bodies in the home.

The initial investigation discovered that both victims died of stab wounds.

Pierce is also being investigated for another crime, a home invasion and stabbing that occurred in late July. The victim told officers that a woman asked her several times, Wheres the money, wheres the drugs?
MUSCATINE  The Rotary Club of Muscatine wants to help provide transportation for Zambians to travel to work and school.

Rotary District 6000, which covers Muscatine and the southern half of Iowa, has partnered with World Bicycle Relief this year. District Governor Mike Ruby said 33 out of the 66 clubs in the district have participated so far, raising about $69,000 to send Buffalo Bicycles to Africa.

"In 2016, I went to the headquarters in Chicago to meet with World Bicycle Relief staff, to see if it was indeed a project I wanted to endorse," Ruby said. "And after talking with them and seeing the bike, and seeing all the good and how it has impacted the lives of thousands, I decided this was the project for my years as district governor."

Muscatine has almost reached its goal of purchasing 70 bikes to send to Zambia, or one bike for each member of the club. President Erika Cox said the bikes cost $147 each; the club is aiming to raise more than $10,000.

Ruby said the bikes are "utilitarian," built with a basic design and the ability to carry a load of up to 200 pounds.

"They provide transportation for students to get to school, where in many cases school is as far as 6 miles away," Ruby said, "as well as access for health care workers to get into rural areas, and they provide a way for farmers to get their produce to market."

The bike, Ruby said, will likely be used by multiple generations in each family. For each 100 bikes delivered to Zambia, he said a mechanic will set up shop and help prepare the bikes for use.

"So that, in turn creates a job opportunity," Ruby said.

In order to qualify for a bike, a student must be chosen by their teacher, stay in school for at least two years and maintain the bike, according to Ruby.

Cox said she is pleased Muscatine's club has almost reached its goal. All money raised by July, about $8,500, was matched by World Bicycle Relief. And since half the clubs in the district have now participated, Ruby and his wife, JoAnne, wrote a check for more than $4,800 to purchase 33 additional bikes.

"I grew up in Muscatine, and once this community decides it wants to do something, it happens," Cox said.

Residents can donate to World Bike Relief on behalf of the Rotary Club online at http://rotary.worldbicyclerelief.org/rotary-district-6000.
Les emplois a Rennes sont abondants et varies. Il y a quelque chose pour tout le monde. Que vous soyez a la recherche dun emploi []
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 []
If everything goes as planned, Monday next week will mark one of the most consequential days in Kenyas history, maybe even more important than the just concluded elections. The ban on plastic bags/carriers will come into effect.

Despite all this, the level of unpreparedness by Kenyans is simply spectacular. People do not know what kind of plastic will be affected by the ban, and how to deal with it.

Enter any supermarket today and everything is packaged in plastic. Apart from Nakumatt which started preparing its customers months ago by not providing plastic bags at checkout, almost all other supermarkets have been acting like its business as usual.

Walk into any grocery store, duka or kibanda and you would be forgiven to think nothing is about to happen.

So what kind of plastic bags will be banned?

NEMA and the ministry of environment has issued a guideline explaining. There is still some ambiguity, but from what Ive understood, the only plastic bags not banned are the ones used in industrial packaging.

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If you enter a supermarket, you can spot such bags on the almost all counters. They package everything from rice and sugar, to condoms and sanitary pads.

The government has exempted these ones from the ban, under the strict condition that they are labelled properly by the manufacturer, are not available for sale at the counter and are not given freely outside the industrial setting.

Unfortunately, thats where the exemption ends.

Once you buy your product, youll now face the challenge of how to carry it to your house. In some cases, supermarkets will sell to you a canvas bag, but hopefully they will soon come up with a paper alternative.

The biggest challenge will be for small scale traders, since the small, transparent sugar bags have also been banned. I dont know how we will carry our bananas and avocados.

The government has also banned garbage bags, which spells a whole new puzzle for household garbage collection and disposal.

I think this is a good time to be a paper/canvas bag producer. But the biggest winners will be those women who sit for hours making viondos.

Read those guidelines by the government below.
The ever excitable Kenyans on social media are jumping on the newest social media- #NyamburaChallenge.

This, after a woman identified as Nyambura, stunned Nairobi streets and the internet on Tuesday in her search for a husband. The 28-Year-Old woman was strolling the city streets with a placard that read: Need For a Husband.

She was accompanied by her 7-Year-Old daughter.

Read: Only in Kenya: Desperate Woman Searches for Husband Using Placard in the City Centre(PHOTOS)

Out of Nyamburas predicament, some internet jokers have found content for the new challenge.
Used to working in cushy offices in the private sector, Nairobi deputy governor Polycarp Igathe could not believe his eyes when he stepped into City Hall.

On Tuesday, Igathe went on a tour of City Hall offices and expressed his dismay from what he witnessed. Mr Igathe visited the rates, accounts, audit, human resource and urban planning offices, all based at the City Hall building.

From dilapidated walls to worn out tiles, the new deputy governor wondered how staff managed to work in such conditions.

How do you work in a place like this? You know what to do. There should be proper windows and good chairs for people to use. We will have to renovate all these, he said in one of the offices.

Still on his tour, he happened to find a portrait of the outgoing governor Evans Kidero in one office and simply couldnt let it slide.

Dont you know who your governor is? he asked the workers.

Igathe was taken around by outgoing Public Service Management executive Mercy Kamau and chief officer Leboo ole Morintat.
Police are questioning a man who claimed he was among the gunmen who killed two police officers in Kibichoi, Kiambu County last week.

The suspect, Thomas Audi, went to the Christ is the Answer Ministries (Citam) in Ngong town on Monday and requested the pastors to accompany him to the police station as he wanted to confess.

He was handed over to police and taken into custody for grilling into the claims.

He gave his side of the story but we have to investigate the authenticity of these claims. We have handed him over to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, DCI Officers in Kiambu, who have been investigating the matter, Ngong OCPD George Seda said.

According to the police, the suspect has since named a number of suspects into the incident that happened last Friday.

The two policemen, Constables Martin Irungu and Paul Maina of Kibichoi Police Post, were ambushed by four gunmen while patrolling at Miti Kenda area on foot and sprayed with bullets.

The gunmen pumped four bullets into each of the officers and robbed them of an AK-47 rifle before they jumped on waiting motorcycles and rode off.

The incident was reported by a motorist who was driving along Kibichoi- Gathage road at 1.45 pm.
Over the last few days, talk of secession in Kenya has been a popular topic of discussion among Kenyans.

According to a petition by David Ndii, Kenya has consistently been ruled by two communities out of the 44 that make up the country and this has led to uneven distribution of national resources.

David Ndii, writing on behalf of the people of Western Kenya, North West Kenya and Coast, claims the said regions have been marginalized and therefore, Kenya should be split.

But have Nyanza and Western regions really been marginalized? Thats the question the new Kenya Tourism Federation (KTF) chairman, Mr Mohammed Hersi, attempts to answer in a Facebook post.

The former CEO of Heritage Hotels claims to have toured the Nyanza region and found no marginalization but opportunities galore.

Read his full post below.

***********************************************

The views expressed below are personal and do not reflect the views of Nairobi wire.

Secession talk due to alleged marginalization and mainly in Nyanza and Western Kenya. I am sure some candor will help.

What will North Eastern, good Part of Ukambani say where even nature has marginalized them? If it is historical injustice no place has suffered like the 5 counties of Garissa. Wajir. Mandera . Marsabit & Isiolo. I recall posting my own challenges growing up in Marsabit.

I had the privilege to drive around the gulf in Lake Victoria which is mainly the 10% or so of our share of Lake Victoria. 6 permanent rivers flowing into the 2nd largest fresh water lake in the world. Come to North Eastern and Ukambani even good parts of Muranga where there are no rivers. Arid and semi arid. The road network as shown in the images are A1 and I will tell you for free go drive from Makutano via Muranga to Nyeri its terrible. I saw the best road network in Kisumu Siaya and Homa Bay, pictures dont lie. North Eastern Garisaa to Mandera are now being promised but do you see them lament? They make the best entrepreneurs and hustlers. The Mbita causeway that was blocking fish and water from the main Lake Victoria forcing our people to go fish in Uganda will now be a thing of the past. Thanks to the beautiful bridge and once again fish can easily breed in the Gulf area. Kisumu International Airport, tell me how many other counties have International airports.? The county fathers should be inviting investors to grow fruits and horticulture for export. Kisumu International airport is dead from 8 pm when we should be exporting fresh produce as cargo. Well educated and warm people. I spent 7 days with locals in Kisumu, Luanda KOteno, Asmebo Bay, Mbita, Rusinga all the way on Mfangano. Everyone I met was warm and nice to me. They only need to be shown direction and empower them. Opportunities galore in that region. Maybe you dont appreciate what you got because you are used to it but I will tell you for free you have NOT been marginalized. It is all in the mind. You may not necessarily agree with me but it is only fair I tell you what gold mine you are sitting on. This talk of secession is nothing but hot air, it is not a walk in the park to secede go ask Eritrea 35 years wait or even South Sudan 40 + years wait then a mess, Somaliland has been chasing for recognition 20+ years. Please go make your counties work. We should be fighting for more funds to the counties but we must also stand up to confront the waste in the counties with the same energy we fight the national government. Let us debate As always I choose to remain an optimist
Evelyn Margaret (Leak) Mudrick born July 20, 1924 in Auburn, California, attended High school in Grass Valley, California, and Graduated from University of California Berkeley and University of Arizona.

She was a stay-at-home mom; licensed Christian counselor at Casas Adobes Baptist Church in Tucson, Arizona; She had a strong faith in God, which carried her through lifes joys and challenges.

Survived by her daughters, Marilyn Pereira, Carolyn Villanueva, Rosalyn Bertles; and her sister, Dorothy Foster

Nine grandchildren, Nine great-grandchildren one great-grandchild.

Preceded in death by Beloved husband, Charles Joseph Mudrick, and her baby boy Mudrick; her parents, William and Thelma (Pugh) Leak; her siblings, David Leak, Elsie Hess,William Leak.

Memorial Service will be Friday August 25, 2017, 11:00 at Cornerstone Ministries of Napa Valley

Donations in lieu of flowers to JacobsWellProject.com in her name would be appreciated.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recommended Thursday that President Donald Trump alter some of the national monuments established by his immediate predecessors, a move expected to reshape federal land and water protections and certain to trigger major legal fights.

While Zinke submitted a report to the White House Thursday and told the Associated Press he backed changing the designations for a handful of protected federal sites, the Interior Department did not release any specifics. Instead, it released a report summary that described each of the 27 protected areas scrutinized as unique.

The Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, established by President Obama in 2015, contains 330,000 acres of public lands spread across Napa, Yolo, Solano, Lake, Colusa, Glenn and Mendocino counties.

Bob Schneider and the nonprofit group Tuleyome have championed Berryessa Snow Mountain, citing its scientific and archaeological values.

On Thursday, Schneider criticized the Interior Departments review of 27 national monuments, saying it was as a political process conducted behind closed doors that could leave some national monuments in a precarious situation.

An attack on one monument is an attack on all monuments, Schneider said.

Peter Kilkus, president of the Lake Berryessa Chamber of Commerce, said Thursdays announcement was about what he had expected. Once established, it is hard to undo a national monument, he said.

At the same time, he called Berryessa Snow Mountain the dumbest national monument in the United States because of how it is strung out over so many counties.

There is nothing Berryessa about it, except Berryessa Peak, Kilkus said. Lake Berryessa tourism likely benefits from the national monuments name, but the lake isnt part of it, he said.

Trump had ordered Zinke to examine more than two dozen sites established under the 1906 Antiquities Act by three presidents, including Republican George W. Bush.

The nearly four-month process pitted those who have felt marginalized by federal actions over the past 20 years against backers who see the sites as bolstering tourism and recreation while safeguarding important relics, environments and species.

No President should use the authority under the Antiquities Act to restrict public access, prevent hunting and fishing, burden private land, or eliminate traditional land uses, unless such action is needed to protect the object, Zinke said in a statement.

The recommendations I sent to the president on national monuments will maintain federal ownership of all federal land and protect the land under federal environmental regulations, and also provide a much needed change for the local communities who border and rely on these lands for hunting and fishing, economic development, traditional uses, and recreation.

A White House official confirmed that Trump had received the report but would not say when it would be released or when the president would act on Zinkes recommendations.

Comments received were overwhelmingly in favor of maintaining existing monuments and demonstrated a well-orchestrated national campaign organized by multiple organizations, Zinke said in a statement. He acknowledged supporters point that monuments can bring economic benefits to local communities.

But he also noted opponents concerns that designations had translated into reduced public access, confusing management plans and pressure applied private land owners . . . to sell.

Much of the review has been focused on a handful of controversial designations, including Utahs Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante. President Bill Clinton declared the 1.9 million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante in 1996. President Barack Obama designated the 1.35 million-acre Bears Ears last year, less than a month before leaving office.

Zinke did not recommend abolishing any monument. But some of the key constituencies most critical of sweeping restrictions for federal lands and waters  ranchers, fishing operators and local Republican politicians  apparently won key concessions in his final set of recommendations.

Theres an expectation we need to look out 100 years from now to keep the public land experience alive in this country, the secretary told the Associated Press. You can protect the monument by keeping public access to traditional uses.

Environmental groups made clear that they would file legal challenges in an effort to preserve these sites existing boundaries and protections. While Congress can alter national monuments easily through legislation, presidents have reduced their boundaries only on rare occasions.

Woodrow Wilson nearly halved the acreage of Mount Olympus National Monument, which Theodore Roosevelt had established six years earlier. In 1938, the U.S. attorney general wrote a formal opinion saying the Antiquities Act authorized presidents to establish a monument but did not grant them the right to abolish one, and several legal scholars argue that Congress indicated in the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 that it reserved the right to alter any existing monument.

Zinkes sham review was rigged from the beginning to open up more public lands to fossil fuel, mining and timber industries, said Randi Spivak, public lands director for the Center for Biological Diversity. He and Trump will not be allowed to rob Americans of their public lands. Any effort to change national monument boundaries or reduce protections will be challenged.

Tribal officials have lobbied hard to preserve Bears Ears, which boasts extensive ancestral Pueblo artifacts and rock art. Seven tribes in Utah and the Fort Peck Assiniboine & Sioux Tribes of Montana, which counts Zinke as an adopted member, have all passed resolutions this month calling for the monuments boundaries to remain in place.

But many western Republicans criticized large protected areas such as Bears Ears as a distortion of the laws original intent. In a call with reporters on Thursday, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah, said that Congress never intended one individual to unilaterally dictate land management policies for enormous swaths of federal land.

Its about how we protect our resources, not if we protect them, said Bishop, noting that Obama had applied his authority under the Antiquities Act to more than 550 million acres of land and sea. Thats 190,000 acres of land and water locked up for every day he was in office.

Register City Editor Kevin Courtney contributed to this story.
A 65-year-old Napa man was sentenced Wednesday to 42 months in prison for his role in a fraud scheme involving a fake heiress that pulled more than $5 million from investors in Northern California.

Robert Michael Stephens was arrested and indicted in federal court in December 2015, along with four other fraud suspects, for the scheme that federal authorities said went on since at least 2009.

Stephens and his co-conspirators, who have all pleaded guilty for their roles, convinced investors to pay at least $5.6 million in supposed medical costs for an ill woman who was the heiress to a billion-dollar estate, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

Victims were promised $1,000 for every $1 they invested in the heiress estate, which the con men told them was tied up in a secret probate case. Stephens role was to solicit investors and provide them updates on the disbursement of the supposed estate, federal officials said.

But there was no dying heiress. Instead, the conspirators used the money to support their own lifestyles, officials said.

Stephens was sentenced to 42 months in prison and three years on supervised release Wednesday morning in federal court after he recently pleaded guilty to conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering. He was also ordered to pay nearly $7.9 million in restitution.

Stephens has been ordered to surrender himself to authorities on Oct. 20.

One of Stephens co-conspirators, Laurence Miles, 76, of Great Britain, was sentenced last month to 108 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. Miles was living in Woodland Hills at the time of the fraud.

The rest of Stephens co-conspirators  Munsif Shirazi, 49, of Bell Canyon; Rayan Lakshmanan, 48, of Davis, and Shirley Molina, 70, of Hawthorne  will be sentenced later this year.
Nobodys apt to be celebrating, but Thursday is the third anniversary of the South Napa earthquake that broke buildings, smashed sidewalks and rattled nerves.

Much healing has occurred since that gut punch at 3:20 a.m. Aug. 24, 2014. Wander downtown today and scaffolding is often associated with development instead of quake repairs.

Napa Mayor Jill Techel said tourists are no longer likely to come to town asking to see where the earthquake struck.

Yet such high-profile, quake-damaged buildings as the historic courthouse and post office await repairs. Memories of a fearful morning have faded, but havent disappeared. Scars remain on both the landscape and in the psyche.

When they ask me to relive it, it comes back how scary it is and to not know how damaged your community is going to be, how youre going to get the funds to help get you back on your feet, Techel said.

The magnitude 6 earthquake was centered seven miles deep on the West Napa Fault near Cuttings Wharf in the Carneros region. Energy traveled north and almost instantly reached the city of Napa five miles away, wreaking havoc there.

Many Napans that early morning experienced what seemed like a wake-up call to doomsday. Darkened houses rocked as if hit by a bulldozer. Plates shattered and toppled furniture splintered, leaving rooms looking like debris fields.

Resident Nancy Comfort found the damage to her peace of mind a bigger burden than broken possessions. Comfort, who lives near Alston Park, recently took stock of the situation three years later.

My peace of mind has improved somewhat, but I still wake up in the middle of the night and think that it could happen again, Comfort said. At any time, without notice. And that is still unsettling to me.

She wanted to sell her house and move after the quake. But where could she go to escape earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and other threats?

I realize that this is something that we must all live with: the unknown, Comfort said. Some of us are better worriers than others, such as myself, which makes it a little more challenging. A prayer now and then seems to help

Janna Waldinger saw her 1880s-era Italianate-and-Queen Anne house in Old Town left in shambles by the quake. A chimney fell and wood lathes were visible on interior walls throughout the house where plaster crumbled.

She repaired the house using federal disaster loans. She had wanted to secure the house to its foundation and received permission from the city to jack it up 18 inches, but decided to wait on this complicated, expensive effort.

Everything feels strong and intact, said Waldinger, who is president of the Napa County Board of Education and co-owns Art & Clarity photography.

Not only has she put her house back together, she has legally opened it as an Airbnb lodging.

Im just so grateful Ive been able to restore my home and to now be able to share it with people around the world so they can have an experience of Napas history, she said.

Its been three years since she woke up screaming in the second-story turret bedroom as the South Napa quake struck, blowing out windows and sending objects flying.

These memories are still within me, but theres a resilience one has to have to not live in fear, Waldinger said. That and to learn from the experience.

Meanwhile, efforts continue to repair buildings that were the subjects of iconic photographs in the wake of the earthquake.

The imposing 1887 Victorian Italianate county courthouse on Brown Street was rocked to its masonry bones. A gaping hole along the roof-line near the word Justice made for a dramatic image.

Today, the cracked front of the courthouse is wrapped in a weather-proof cocoon of white plastic. It should emerge for renovation work that could cost an estimated $12 million, with the Board of Supervisors soon to award a construction contract.

Another iconic photograph showed a car with a for sale sign in the window damaged by toppled bricks from the Center building at Third and Brown streets. Owner Brian Silver has since stabilized the building, but not repaired it for reoccupany.

He plans to incorporate a renovated Center building with other buildings, including replicating the ornate Masonic Temple on an adjacent, vacant property. The Masonic building was demolished in the early 1970s to make way for the Second Street parking garage.

I have a dream of making the building the most beautiful building in downtown Napa, to kind of revive and restore the past of the buildings that were mostly torn down during (1970s) redevelopment, reincarnate them again in greater splendor than they originally had, Silver said.

His plans are gestating, and there are various issues he must resolve with owners of neighboring properties, Silver said.

Workers are repairing the citys Goodman Library building at a cost of $1.75 million. This 1901 building provided another much-photographed, post-quake sight, with stones tumbling from near the parapet onto the First Street sidewalk.

Both front window stone arches that were damaged have been completely reconstructed and re-pointed  they look awesome, city Public Works Director Jacques LaRochelle emailed to Techel on July 31.

Work should be done by years end, he said. Then the Napa County Historical Society can return to its home.

Cost estimates for how much damage the South Napa earthquake caused locally, both to the public and private sector, vary greatly. In 2014, county and city officials and the wine industry came up with $442.7 million. A computer-driven study by Karen Clark & Co. in 2014 estimated insurable losses at $800 million.

In reality, bills for individual projects are still trickling in.

Napa County government is still tallying up its price tag for earthquake damage. Costs are only now emerging for the historic courthouse. A temporary bridge on Partrick Road must be replaced and its still unknown if a $4 million estimate will prove accurate.

The county government grand total looks to reach $45 million to $50 million. The county expects insurance and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to pay most of the cost.

As of June, the county had paid $24.4 million for quake-related costs and was $10 million out-of-pocket. FEMA obligations of $5.6 million will lower the out-of-pocket costs, with more FEMA money expected, a county report said.

Auditor-Controller Tracy Schulze said the county wont close the books on the quake for several years. For one thing, FEMA has been known to do audits several years later and take back some of its money.

She noted that a federal inspector general recently recommended FEMA take back $2 billion from New Orleans for damage from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Though news reports said FEMA is unlikely to reclaim the money, the situation gave Schulze pause.

Napa County relocated more than 400 employees in the wake of office building damage caused by the earthquake. The last few are only now returning to their old offices. Several weeks ago, a group of Probation Department employees returned to the Hall of Justice.

Public Works Director Steven Lederer called this end to earthquake-related worker relocations a significant event.

The city of Napa government grand total is about $12.7 million, Community Outreach Coordinator Jaina French said. Out-of-pocket costs not covered by FEMA and other sources are estimated at $2.6 million.

Its still kind of a moving target, she said.

The city of Napa must still replace damaged water pipes under Highway 29 at Old Sonoma Road, First Street, Laurel Street and Pine Street. The total cost of $3.9 million is to be covered by FEMA.

The trick is to install the pipes without stopping traffic on Napa Countys main drag. City Water General Manager Joy Eldredge said horizontal drilling will allow a rig alongside the highway to drill underneath it without breaking pavement.

Napa is waiting to receive a Caltrans permit. Eldredge said each pipe could take a few weeks to install and that work could begin before years end.

The city also wants to replace earthquake-rocked water mains in the Westwood and Browns Valley areas at a cost of $3.3 million. Eldredge said FEMA has yet to agree to pay for this project.

Techel said the community came together after the South Napa earthquake. Napa Strong became a byword.

She saw a flash of the Napa Strong spirit this past winter when people turned out in large numbers to watch the new downtown flood bypass keep the city high-and-dry. The community had again come together to solve a problem.

The big difference: people in 2017 celebrated a potential disaster averted, rather than grappled with a nightmare-come-true.
Important changes are coming to next years election that could result in higher voter turnout for Napa County, and particularly in American Canyon.

The countys second largest city has long been an underachiever when it comes to voter turnout and registration, compared to other local towns in the county. But Registrar of Voters John Tuteur is hoping those trends will be reversed with the implementation of a new state law.

The 2016 California Voter Choice Act mandates that all voting in future elections take place by mail, and that counties stop using polling places. States such as Washington, Oregon and Colorado have already gone the vote-by-mail-only route, according to Tuteur.

To prepare for similar changes in California, the state asked a few select counties, including Napa, Sacramento and San Mateo, to participate in a pilot project for the June 2018 primary.

Starting next June, any voter in Napa County who wishes to cast a ballot will do so by mail. The county has already been moving in this direction over the past decade, with about 90 percent of its voters choosing vote-by-mail.

Tuteurs objective is to get the remaining 10 percent of voters who have been accustomed to using polling places to vote by mail.

Thats where the importance of American Canyon comes into play.

Countywide, nearly 80 percent of eligible citizens are registered to vote. But in American Canyon its about 60 percent  its that bad, said Tuteur Monday night.

Numerically, there are about 20,000 people in the county not registered to vote, but who are eligible to do so. American Canyon has about 5,000 to 6,000 of these unregistered, potential voters, said Tuteur.

American Canyon has the lowest yield of registered voters from eligible citizens in the county, he said.

Tuteur is hoping another important change in store for next year will encourage more eligible voters to register and cast ballots.

Along with mandatory vote-by-mail, the June primary will feature Election Day voter registration. Previously, eligible voters had to register no later than 15 days prior to an election to qualify for a ballot.

But starting in 2018, Napa County citizens will be able to walk into one of eight voting assistance centers to register all the way up to Election Day and vote in that election.

That attacks the low turnout problem, Tuteur said at a special election workshop held Monday evening at the American Canyon Library.

Mondays hourlong workshop was in some ways symbolic of American Canyons voter turnout problem. The event was open to the public, and Tuteur said his office notified 200 people about it.

Still, the workshop was attended by only four persons  two of whom were Tuteur and his elections staffer, Xioneida Ruiz.

The other two in attendance were Fred Nisen, a voting rights attorney for Disability Rights California, and a reporter from the American Canyon Eagle.

The intent was to give anybody the ability to learn more about the upcoming voting changes, said Tuteur, who was hoping for more attendance at the workshop.

Tuteurs office, known as the Napa County Elections Division, intends to inform all registered voters about the vote-by-mail changes next March with three large mailers. Two of the mailers will go to all registered voters  about 75,000 individuals  and the third mailer will be specifically for the 10,000 voters who have been using polling places.

All registered voters will receive ballots in the mail before the June 2018 primary. They will have three options for returning their completed ballots: via U.S. mail; deposit them at a secure drop box, or turn them in at a voting assistance center.

Officials intend to set up drop boxes throughout the valley. One will be located outside the Election Division located on Coombs Street in Napa. Tuteur said the drop box will be operational 28 days before the June 5 primary. It will be open 12 hours a day, including weekends, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Were going to monitor that box and empty it during the day, said Tuteur. addding it wont be open at night to prevent vandalism.

Tuteurs office will also set up eight voting assistance centers: three in Napa, and one each in American Canyon, Yountville, St. Helena, Calistoga and Angwin.

The centers will offer a variety of services, aside from collecting ballots dropped off by voters. They will have special voting machines for people with disabilities that can also print duplicate ballots for any voter who loses or damages their ballot and needs a new one.

Nisen, the supervising attorney for voting rights at Disability Rights California, said for many voters with disabilities, voting by mail is easier than going to the polling place.

However, he added, for voters who have disabilities that make it difficult for them to read or mark a paper ballot, such as blind voters or those with dexterity disabilities, they must vote at a center with an accessible voting system, like the ICX, which Napa County intends to use.

Such a system can read and mark the ballot for the voter without them waiving their right to a secret ballot, said Nisen.

But getting to a voting assistance center to use this system can be challenging for some people with disabilities, Nisen pointed out.

If a voter has a significant disability, a 30-minute ride to a vote might be a huge barrier to voting, he said.

When voting was done at polling places, counties were required to have one polling place for every 1,000 voters. But under the California Voter Choice Act, from the Saturday before Election Day through Election Day, counties are required to have one vote center for every 10,000 voters, according to Nisen.

In Napa County, those living in the Lake Berryessa area are at least a 30-minute drive to the nearest vote center, said Nisen, based on the current plans being devised by Tuteurs office.

This is a barrier, Nisen said.

Tuteur told Nisen at the workshop that his staff could bring an accessible voting system to a disabled voter who could not get to a voting location.

Yet another change in voting law will allow those manning voting assistance centers to accept ballots from those registered in counties other than Napa. The law gives elections officials eight days to send these ballots to their countys election headquarters. Before, these ballots werent counted.

Weve had ballots from Alameda County and Solano County, said Tuter. We had one ballot last election from Riverside County. So people are traveling more with their ballots.

In preparation for next June, Tuteur has drafted an Election Administration Plan (EAP) that will guide our outreach efforts. The public is welcomed to review the plan and make suggestions.

The EAP has been translated into Spanish, but Tuteur is also working on getting copies in Chinese and Tagalog, the latter being an important translation for many Filipino residents in American Canyon.

The current draft of the EAP is available online at www.countyofnapa.org/ElectionDivision.

People can submit comments on the EAP draft until until Sept. 5.
Only 24 hours after he read a serious speech off a teleprompter committing to send more young men and women to fight in Afghanistan, President Donald Trump reverted to form, delivering a rambling, rage-filled, 77-minute harangue that was alternately defensive, angry, accusatory and just plain weird. Like a trapped animal, he lashed out in every direction, trying unsuccessfully to draw blood.

The opening 15 minutes or so were devoted to relitigating - and lying about - his response to the Charlottesville incident. He omitted his words a few days after the death of Heather Heyer in which he claimed that there were "fine people" on both sides and that there was blame on "many sides." But once again, he dwelled on himself, not on the death of a young woman or the flare-up of anti-Semitic, racist groups. He railed at the media, claiming that they did not cover the crowd (they did, revealing a modest gathering) and that there were not many protesters outside (there were thousands). The sight of the president, eight months into office, still lying about crowd size and whining about the media was stunning but not surprising.

He insisted that he was all about unifying the country, and then launched into a diatribe against his perceived enemies, painting himself as simultaneously the most successful president (repeating the lie that he has signed more legislation than anyone) and the victim of Democrats, the filibuster (which he wrongly blamed his loss on health-care legislation that could not garner even 50 votes) and always, always the "sick" media (whom he accused of not liking America).

After his press secretary vowed he would not raise the topic of Joe Arpaio, he promised that the former Arizona sheriff would be "just fine," although he wouldn't announce something at that moment. In doing so, he linked arms with a man convicted of both racial profiling and contempt of court, one more show of solidarity with the alt-right to whom Arpaio is a hero. He castigated Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., although not by name, calling him "weak on borders, weak on crime." Without naming Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., he pointedly told the crowd he was one vote away from getting health care passed.

And he railed about illegal immigrants, vowing to shut down the government if Congress did not commit taxpayer money to pay for the wall he once vowed Mexico would fund. He predicted he would fail to renegotiate NAFTA and instead withdraw.

All in all, he appeared desperate, out of control and emotionally needy. If Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., expressed concern last week that Trump was not demonstrating fitness to lead, one can only imagine what he and other Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., with whom he is feuding must think now. He barely mentioned Republicans' top agenda item, tax reform, and demonstrated once again that all that matters to Trump is Trump. He's willing to defeat a sitting GOP senator, perhaps handing the seat to Democrats, because he is peeved by Flake's book and criticism.

No sober-minded Republican could have watched that performance and concluded his or her own career, not to mention the party and the country, were well-served by a president so obviously unable to control his emotions and impulses.

Once again, we saw that regardless of how diligently chief of staff John F. Kelly tries to erect procedures and processes to keep Trump on track, he cannot possibly make Trump fit to lead - or even keep his obvious unfitness under wraps. Kelly, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and national security adviser H.R. McMaster may be preventing greater damage to the country by staying, but what is the justification for other members of his Cabinet? They are now mere props, allowing him to stumble from disaster to disaster and helping to deceive Americans about Trump's defective character, psyche and intellect.

Once again, we saw why so many Americans have reason to doubt his judgment on matters of war and peace. If he still cannot tell the truth about his own remarks or the size of a crowd, Americans have every reason to doubt virtually everything that comes out of his mouth. He's either stubbornly ignorant (as when he claims the Paris agreement is doing great harm to the country) or deliberately misleading. Mostly, however, he is vengeful and irrational, a horrid combination for the commander in chief.

Once again, we saw what Republicans wrought by enabling, defending and rationalizing the president's conduct and rhetoric. Pretending that this is normal behavior or encouraging him to lie about his own words (as Vice President Mike Pence does when he gaslights the country, insisting that Trump didn't say what we heard him say) has brought us to this scary point where we cannot be certain our president is mentally well.

And once again, we saw that Trump is incapable of uniting the country. He gives a shout-out to Jeffrey Lord, who was fired by CNN for tweeting a Nazi salute. He accuses the media of trying to take away the crowd's "heritage" (he means white Southerners who venerate the Confederacy). He embraces a notorious bigot and racial profiler - Arpaio - and smears immigrants. When he speaks from his heart, we see a hollow man whose bile, dog whistles (calling those local officials who would take down offensive Confederate monuments "weak, weak"), ignorance and narcissism prevent him from governing on behalf of all Americans. All he knows is how to beat the drum of white grievance, rile up an angry crowd and spread discord. His hate is consuming him, bringing his presidency crashing down before a horrified public.
Lost in coverage of the eclipse and the day-to-day deluge of politics and partisanship was a remarkable discovery, one that should, at the very least, offer some perspective.

On Saturday, naval researchers announced that wreckage from the USS Indianapolis -- a World War II cruiser sunk by a Japanese submarine in 1945 -- had been found more than three miles deep in the Philippine Sea.

Near the end of the war, the Indianapolis ran a top secret mission to an island in the Pacific Ocean, delivering parts that would be used in the atomic bomb that was eventually dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.

Returning to the Philippines, the ship was torpedoed and sank. There were 1,196 sailors and Marines on board. About 800 survived the initial strikes and sinking, but after four days adrift in shark-infested waters, some on rafts, some floating with life preservers, only 317 survived. It was and has remained the Navy's worst disaster at sea.

There have been searches for the wreckage off and on since the Indianapolis went down, to no avail. But finally, a team led by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen found her, including a piece of the hull with a white "35" still visible, after scouring a 600-square-mile area of open sea.

Allen's website quotes Capt. William Toti, spokesman for the survivors of the Indianapolis: "For more than two decades I've been working with the survivors. To a man, they have longed for the day when their ship would be found, solving their final mystery." He said the site is now a war memorial and called it "one of the most tangible manifestations of the pain and sacrifice of our World War II veterans."

I spoke with Edgar Harrell, a 92-year-old survivor of the Indianapolis who now lives in Tennessee, and he said he got a call from Toti not long after the discovery was made: "I said, 'Praise the lord.' And then from there I've been inundated with calls and emails."

Harrell is one of only 19 living survivors, and like many of them, he has worked hard to keep the story of the Indianapolis and its crew alive, even authoring a book about the tragedy titled "Out of the Depths."

I think that's how the mission continued for many of these sailors and Marines. They survived unimaginable conditions at sea, watched their brothers in arms pulled under by sharks or die of dehydration, and were finally rescued after a bomber pilot on patrol spotted them.

The war ended soon after, and the sinking of the Indianapolis was somewhat lost in all the stories of World War II. But people like Harrell never gave up hope that the ship would be found.

"It's great news, just to know that it has been located," Harrell said. "And yes, it brings some closure to the saga."

He added this: "But it fails to change any outcome of the disaster and the trauma of that experience."

And that's where I think we get some perspective.

The sailors and Marines aboard the Indianapolis, like all who fought in World War II and all who have worn a uniform and served since, were willing to die for this country. And more than 800 of them did, while the rest survived conditions I can't begin to imagine.

That's bravery. And sacrifice. And true patriotism.

Matt Bierzychudek is a project strategist with U.S. Bank in Chicago and the grandson of a late Indianapolis survivor. He has a sleeve tattoo covering most of his left arm, all dedicated to the Indianapolis -- to the ship, and the sea and the men on board.

He recalls hearing stories about the tragedy and seeing how the Indianapolis was such a huge part of his grandfather's life.

"I think he was proud," Bierzychudek said. "He was proud to have served his country. My grandparents were both extremely patriotic. That was their lives, talking about the Indianapolis."

He continued: "These are guys as young as 17 -- some had even lied about their age to serve their country. My grandfather was from Chicago, went to San Francisco and saw the ship; it was the biggest thing he had ever seen. It wasn't about politics at that time; it wasn't about hating the enemy. It was about protecting and serving your country. And a lot of them made the ultimate sacrifice. And he just never gave up. They were in the water and never knew if the rescue would come, and he just never gave up hope."

Bierzychudek's mother hadn't been born yet when the Indianapolis went down: "Had he not survived, I wouldn't have been here."

We all owe something to people like Bierzychudek's grandfather, and to Harrell and to the men of the Indianapolis who didn't survive. They're a reminder of what binds this country together, and of the things that make it worth fighting for in the first place.

I hope the discovery of the wreckage of that ship raises interest in that tragic moment and in the sacrifices that were made.

But I also hope Americans can pause a moment, as we wade through our troubles and divisions and daily dramas, to gain some perspective on life, on honor and on who we decide to call our heroes.
The trip to Oregon to see the great eclipse of 2017 went surprisingly smoothly; a straight shot to the Eugene area from Napa in 8.5 hours, where family connections were providing hospitality for a couple of nights before the big event for the three of us 50-plus male relatives. Thenjust to be sure, you knowoff on Sunday evening to a previously reserved 10x15 overnight spot at the Philomath, Oregon, Frolic & Rodeo Grounds, where 1,000 spots had been prepared for the onslaught of out-of-state clipsers. (Turns out that only about 100 spots were needed.)

We arrived in downtown Philomath without the anticipated last-minute traffic congestion from Eugene and picked out a nice centrally located spot in the large stubbly field, where we set up the tent, the 6-inch Celestron telescope, and our various camping accoutrements. The astrobuffs of the group (not me) aligned the heavens on the telescope, and soon, while darkness descended, we were hosting nearby campers to look at Saturn and its moon, Titan.

Somebody 50 feet away was singing songs with his acoustic guitar, a nice wine was near at hand, and conversation flowed freely among camping neighbors. Gradually, people entered their eerily-lit nylon-covered dwellings for the night, with dancing lights making their way to the distant port-a-potties.

But you want to hear about the actual eclipse experience, and not the long night in the field (one person in the tent, one in the car, and one on the ground with an improvised tarp-tent above). The sky the next morning was clear as a bell, and the sun was hot, impossibly bright, and confidently overwhelming. The action in Philomath began at 9:04:47 a.m. and ended at 11:37:13.

With the help of an eclipse timer app, a calm voice told us exactly what to notice at certain times, when to take off our special glasses during the total eclipse time ($21.35 on Ebay three days earlier, free at the fairgrounds. Oops.) and when to put them back on.

By this time, we had made lots of friends, and a steady group of campers came over to look through our telescope, which by now had been set up with its solar filter and synchronized to the suns movement across the heavens. Solar flares and mini-astronomy lessons occupied our time until the app suddenly called out First contact in one minute!

This was the point when the moon began to cover the sun. Nothing much was noticeable until about 30 minutes later, when 25-30 percent of the sun was covered, and someone mentioned that the world around her looked like somebody had lowered the brightness control on her computer screen. Things around us were darker and less defined.

The closer we came to 10:16:49, there was less light and noise (no bird sounds at all) as we moved toward the time of totality.

The last minute was the most dramatic. Like a door closing on the sun, in the space of 60 secondswith the app helpfully counting down for usthe world around us became dusk-dark, then evening-dark, then in in the last five seconds after a brief flash of light (the diamond ring effect) completely dark.

The silent fairgrounds burst with short acclamations from the campers. Where just a moment ago there was a sun impossible to look at, there now was a black disk ringed with a fiery-bright corona, alive with bold, white-light power streaming out in all directions. Some of the brighter stars  planets actually  were clearly visible in the darkened sky. Cameras of all kindson tripods, car roofs, and in hand-held phoneswere recording the event, as we were finally able to take off our solar glasses and appreciate the full impact of the eclipse totality.

The strangeness of the phenomena was what was most impactful to me. Something wasnt right with the world in a big way, but we knew that it would last only a very short time (a minute and 34 seconds in our case), and, therefore, we enjoyed every moment. Kids young and old were agog with the overwhelming 3-D immersive quality of the experience.

You pretty much forget everything else while something like this is happening, as if a primal chord is struck for just a moment, the echoes of which you know will last a lifetime.

One young man was seated lotus-style on the ground, calmly gazing upward with absolute equanimity and not a care in the world. An elderly couple held hands while seated in their camping chairs, entranced by the sky show. And the dogs among the campers were absolutely quiet, along with the rest of nature, as if this were one of lifes hiccups to be quizzically endured.

Then in much too little time, the solar diamond flashed once again on the opposite side  Put your glasses on!and the world rapidly returned to its daily normality. As quickly as the darkness had descended, it disappeared, the sun door was reopened, and animated conversations started: Wow, did you see .? How come .? Can I look through the telescope?

Groups came to see the second half of the eclipse through the telescope against the bright ferocity of the sun and the clear tiny sun-spots, each of which in reality was at least as large as the earth.

Within a few minutes, those around us went back to their camping areas to relax, or, in many cases, to pack up. By the time the moon had covered the second half of its journey across the sun, half of the campers had finished their journey, packed up and left for home, eager to beat the traffic, which would prove to be as impossible as beating one of celestial bodies in the sky.

We waited and watched until the real end of the eclipse at 11:37:13 a.m., enjoying unimpeded access to the telescope and the moons 2,288 mph (relative to the earth) routine trip around the earth and, for a very short while, across the sun.

Then we packed up, made a beeline for Eugene on two-lane Highway 99, and had plenty of time to enjoy the Oregon countryside as the predicted gridlock appeared as quickly as our solar experience had.

But no matter, we saw the eclipse, and it was worth it.
I read with great interest the Registers article of Aug. 18 detailing some of the issues around assaults at Napa State Hospital.

In 1989, I arrived in Napa to begin my new career at Napa State Hospital. At that time, I was assigned to the forensic program which treated mentally ill patients with criminal convictions. It was interesting work, but I left in late 1992 to pursue other opportunities. I returned in 2007 after the hospital had become a mostly forensic facility with a 50-acre secured area surrounded by a 14-foot fence topped with razor wire, and patrolled by a security force of sworn police officers.

Many of the same patients whom I left behind in 1992 cheerfully greeted me upon my return almost 15 years later. It was apparent, despite years of treatment, they were not going anywhere. They had committed serious crimes and the local county DAs didnt want them back in the neighborhood, and Superior Court judges were quite aware of this.

Some patients, however, were able to return to their communities, many of them having spent more years in the hospital than if they served prison time for the same offenses.

According to the article, in 2015, there were 1,053 reported patient assaults and 886 staff assaults. An assault can be anything from a shove to a homicide. Thats 1,939 reported assaults and who knows what wasnt reported. A facility with 1,200 patients that reports over 1,000 patient assaults in a single year could be considered somewhat less than a healing environment and with almost 900 staff assaults might not be the best place to work, even with generous state benefits. Despite the problems, the majority of front line staff including nurses, psychiatry technicians, social workers, rehabilitation therapists, psychologists and psychiatrists, are dedicated professionals doing their best under difficult circumstances.

The patient population is made up of mostly forensic patients, all located inside the fence. They fall into three categories. Most prominent is the group of Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity or NGIs. They were convicted of crimes, but then in a second phase of their trials, were found legally insane, basically meaning at the time of the offense, the perpetrator was unable to determine right from wrong due to a mental illness. The term insane is a legal term and not a psychiatric one.

Then there are the Mentally Disordered Offenders, usually referred to as MDOs. These patients were convicted of crimes, sent to prison, then later diagnosed as having a mental illness, so they are transported from San Quentin or Folsom, or other prisons to Napa State Hospital.

The third category is the group Incompetent to Stand Trial, often nicknamed with the statute number as 137s. They have not yet been convicted of anything, but have been arrested and charged. They are often unruly, grossly psychotic, and frequently combative. Yet, medication can be administered involuntarily only after a judicial hearing.

In the forensic hospital, we no longer deal with a system of crime and punishment, but one of diagnosis and treatment. It is a well-meaning system although perhaps, at times, somewhat misguided.

Staff and patients mingle freely on the ward with no specific personal security. It wasnt until a well-publicized staff murder occurred in 2010 that the hospital police became stationed inside the secured area. It is well known that for staff, working in the prisons is considerably safer because of the much higher level of security for individuals guilty of the same offenses one sees in the state hospital. This has led to migration of professionals, particularly psychiatrists, away from the state hospital to work in the prison system.

From 2007 through 2011, the courts ordered monitoring of the state hospital system to deal with safety issues among others. This led to the court monitors, a team of highly paid experts who visited the various state hospitals to weigh in with mandatory dictums for the staff and administration served up with gratuitous browbeating. Some ideas were useful, but many demands dealt with burdensome documentation and were arbitrary, onerous, and at times irrelevant.

Of interest, I recall one time during the court monitors visit, a crudely fashioned knife was found on the grounds. The monitors were quickly escorted off the grounds for their safety, presumably so they would not have to deal with the reality that the rest of who remained behind dealt with daily.

Fast-forward to 2017. Staff and vulnerable patients are still getting knocked around. The remedies include transferring a patient to another ward, adding goals to the treatment plan, and sending incident reports up the chain of command, and discussing them at meetings.

The majority of patients are not violent, but genuinely impaired human beings who are treated with compassion and dignity by caring staff. The problems and dangers are not of their making, but are inherent in a system that stubbornly adheres to a premise that sometimes fails to acknowledge a dangerous reality.
(As delivered)

Many thanks and good afternoon everyone.

Buon giorno a tutti.

And let me start by thanking you, Chairman Roberto Fontolan, for that very nice introduction and for hosting also all here.

I would also like to thank Minister Angelino Alfano for his very interesting and insightful remarks.

I listened very carefully to your speech and I really appreciate the cooperation you and I have in NATO. The personal cooperation we have but also of course the close cooperation between NATO and one of our most prominent and founding members Italy.

It is also a real honour to be here at this Meeting for Friendship Amongst Peoples, the Rimini meeting.

And this is actually my first visit to Rimini ever. I appreciate very much to attend this meeting but I also understand that next time I have to go for holidays to Rimini.

I really admire your dedication to bringing people together. In the spirit of open dialogue, mutual respect and optimism. And the world could really use a healthy dose of the Rimini Meeting spirit right now!

I want also to take this opportunity to thank Italy for all its contributions to the Alliance.

You are the second biggest contributor to NATO operations and missions. Italian soldiers serve in our multi-national battle group in Latvia, Italian jets are conducting joint air policing in Bulgaria.

You also lead NATOs peacekeeping mission in Kosovo.

Italian troops play a key role in the fight against terrorism both in Afghanistan and also in Iraq.

You host our Joint Forces Command in Naples, including NATOs new hub for the South and Italy is a strong voice for dialogue and diplomacy.

And I really thank you for all your contributions to our shared security.

Today I want to share a few thoughts with you.

About the role NATO plays in preserving peace and promoting stability.

We are a defensive alliance of 29 members, united by shared values: democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law.

Our dedication to peace is etched into our founding treaty.

A treaty which, as it happens, came into effect exactly 68 years ago today - on 24th August 1949. So we are celebrating a NATO anniversary.

For the last 68 years, the purpose of NATO has remained the same: to preserve peace.

And we do this by promising to defend one another.

At the core of our Alliance is Article 5, our collective defence clause, that clearly states that an attack on one Ally will be regarded as an attack on the whole Alliance.

All for one, and one for all.

This pledge has helped us to preserve peace in Europe for nearly 70 years.

One of the longest periods of peace and stability in Europes turbulent history.

While our core mission to preserve the peace is unchanged, the way we carry it out depends on the security environment.

And today, we face the biggest security challenges in a generation.

A more assertive Russia.

And instability in the Middle East and North Africa.

Let me discuss each of these challenges in turn.

First, Russia.

Russia is NATOs largest neighbour.

NATO does not seek confrontation with Russia.

In fact, after the Cold War, we worked hard to forge a strategic partnership with Russia.

But Russias aggressive behaviour has undermined trust, stability and security in Europe.

In 2014, Russia illegally annexed Crimea.

The first time since World War Two that one European nation has taken the territory of another by force.

And Russia continues to destabilise Eastern Ukraine.

It is a conflict in which nearly 10,000 Ukrainians have been killed.

This has dramatically changed our security environment.

NATO has a two-track approach to Russia: defence and dialogue.

I am a strong believer in dialogue.

Last year, I was granted an audience with His Holiness Pope Francis.

Whom I greatly admire.

I fully agree with His Holiness, when he said that:

Dialogue is what brings peace.

Peace is impossible without dialogue.

NATO continues to seek a more constructive and predictable relationship with Russia.

To preserve peace.

And to create a better relationship between NATO and Russia.

And encourage Russia to act within the norms and rules of the international community.

Transparency and predictability are critical. Especially when tensions are high.

With more military forces 

And more exercises along our borders 

The risk of unintended incidents or accidents increases.

We have to do everything we can to prevent mistakes or miscalculations from happening.

And if they do happen, to make sure they dont spiral out of control.

So, despite our differences, we continue to engage in political dialogue with Russia.

But no one should doubt the readiness and resolve of NATO to defend its Allies.

That is what deterrence  preserving the peace  is all about.

Since 2014, the NATO Alliance has significantly reinforced its collective defence.

Not to provoke a conflict.

But to prevent a conflict.

All our measures are defensive, transparent, proportionate and in keeping with our international obligations.

The other major challenge we face comes from violent instability to the south of the Alliance.

Instability that has forced millions of people to flee their own countries.

As you in Italy know only too well.

Instability that has also bred extremism and has inspired acts of terrorism.

Last week we saw another brutal attack, this time in Barcelona.

It follows similar attacks in Nice, Berlin, London and elsewhere.

These attacks use low-tech weapons  cars, trucks and knives  to devastating effect.

In our free and open societies, it is very difficult to prevent every attack.

We cannot just close down our cities.

But we should not accept terrorism as the new normal.

We should not allow our values and our free societies to be undermined.

Our societies have faced the threat of terrorism before, and we have prevailed.

Many of you here are too young to remember.

But in the 70s and in the 80s, terrorist groups like ETA, the IRA and the Red Brigades were responsible for far more deaths than we see today.

At the time it seemed an impossible challenge to overcome. But we did. And we can do it again. If we stand by our values. If we are resilient and determined.

And if we are strong and united.

Thanks to our military, police and intelligence services, there have been no more attacks of the scale and complexity of 9/11.

Al Qaeda is far from the force it once was.

And ISIL has lost most of its territory in Iraq and Syria.

But the threat is still there.

And there is still much more to do.

Together, we have many tools available in the fight against terrorism and we need to use them all.

We need to fight radicalization at home.

We need our police and intelligence services to investigate and protect.

We need political, diplomatic and economic efforts to bring an end to conflict and to negotiate and sustain peace.

And yes, we need the military, to counter and defeat groups like ISIS.

In this collective endeavor, NATO cannot do everything, but it has an important role to play:

Tackling the root causes of terrorism and instability is not only about what we do at home.

But also about what we do beyond our borders.

That is why NATO remains committed to preventing Afghanistan from again becoming a safe haven for terrorism.

And why we train Iraqi officers to counter terrorism in their country.

We are also increasing our support for partners across the Middle East and North Africa.

With a range of training and defence programmes with partners including Tunisia and Jordan.

We are now preparing to help Libya to build its security institutions.

And we are working with the EU to deal with the refugee and migrant crisis in the Aegean Sea and in the Central Mediterranean and in promoting stability in our neighbourhood.

Because, to put it more simply: if our neighbours are more stable, we are more secure.

Here NATO can play a crucial role, building on decades of experience and partnerships with more than 50 nations and organisations around the world.

It is only by working together that we can make real and lasting progress towards peace.

So ladies and gentlemen.

68 years ago today, the NATO treaty came into force.

Since then, NATO has worked hard to preserve peace and promote stability in Europe and beyond.

Today we face the most serious security threats for a generation.

But I am confident that we can prevail against all challenges.

Because our values are stronger. Freedom, democracy and open societies will always prevail over hatred, violence and intolerance.

And united behind our common values, there is no threat we cannot face.

And no challenge we cannot overcome.

So therefore once again thank you for inviting me to this important platform on violence and peace.

Thank you so much.

ROBERTO FONTOLAN (Director of the International Centre of Communion and Liberation): [Interpreted] I was talking earlier to the Secretary General of NATO, Mr. Stoltenberg, that at the meeting in Rimini we refer to people even beyond our role, even if they have very important roles, so we always ask questions about individuals' experiences, so I wanted to ask you this question. You have such an important role, how do you feel in such a role with a high responsibility which means that you should contribute to protect the destiny of the world and make it a safer place? Do you take a lot of sleeping pills? Can you sleep at night? Do you wake up happy in the morning? [End of interpretation]

JENS STOLTENBERG (Secretary General of NATO): I'm very good at sleeping. I sleep in my bed, but I also sleep in the plane; I sleep in cars, so I know how to sleep, and I think that's a big advantage if you are working in NATO. But perhaps even more important is that I am very humbled by being at the helm of NATO, because that's a very meaningful job because my main task is to every day try to help to contribute to peace.

And of course, I dont do that alone. NATO is an alliance of 29 different nations, we protect almost one billion citizens in NATO countries, and of course I have an excellent staff, people helping me every day. So I sleep and I wake up happy knowing that we have been successful in the most important task for NATO and that is to prevent for and preserve peace for the people living in NATO countries. And since NATO was established almost 70 years ago we have had one of the longest periods of peace in our part of Europe.

Then of course there are many challenges, and I mentioned many of them in my speech: the threat of terrorist attacks, instability in our neighbourhood, North Africa, Middle East, Afghanistan, and so on, and we have to address that and I work on how to address that, but I'm happy and I'm confident that NATO will be able to preserve the peace for NATO allies also in the future because we have been able to adapt and change every time the world is changing.

And the last thing I will say about this is that I'm also happy because one of the great advantages of being Secretary General of NATO is that I'm invited to so many places, I meet so many nice people; for instance I'm invited to Rimini and meet all of you. Thank you.

ROBERTO FONTOLAN: [Interpreted] Now, just a few seconds to go back to Mr. Stoltenberg and close our session, I wanted to ask you this. Today, nobody has illusions; democracy cannot be exported with conflict, with war. So I want to ask you this also as a political man, how can we then defend and disseminate democracy today? Is their a role of NATO in this respect? I ask you this because NATO is not just about defence, but it does many more things. [End of interpretation]

JENS STOLTENBERG: The core purpose of NATO is to defend all allies, but NATO is also defending some values, and in our founding treaty it is clearly stated that our core values are freedom, individual liberties, and the rule of law. And those core values are also the core values in any democratic society, and therefore NATO is an alliance of 29 democracies and by having a strong NATO we're also defending our democratic open societies. And I absolutely agree with Minister Alfano that people have to be safe to be free, and we need freedom to have real democracy.

So NATO is contributing to democracy partly by defending our own countries, but we are also helping not by force but through cooperation, through partnership, to also build democratic institutions in other countries. For instance, when we are working in Afghanistan we are helping them with building government institutions, fighting corruption, and also defending those democratic institutions against violence from terrorist organizations and the Taliban. And for instance when NATO was veru engaged in ending ethnic wars in the Balkans in the 1990s, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, close to Italy, in Serbia, in Kosovo, that was also about helping to create peace and the foundation for democracy.

So NATO's task is to defend 29 democracies, close to one billion people living in democratic societies, but NATOs responsibility is also to work with neighbours, with partners around the world to help them create free and democratic societies. That's good for them, but it's also good for us because if we have stable, free democratic neighbours we are also more secure.

And since I'm here in Rimini at this meeting I will also underline that part of that is of course also the freedom of religion, because when NATO's founding act speaks about individual liberties that also of course includes the individual liberty: the freedom to worship the god you believe in. So NATO is an alliance for freedom, for democracy, and for peace. Thank you.
Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto receives an interview in Budapest, Hungary, April 18, 2017. (Xinhua/Yang Yongqian)

BUDAPEST, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Hungary foreign affairs and trade minister Peter Szijjarto said Tuesday that, based on events this summer, it's fair to say that the security situation in Europe has never been as bad, and the threat of terrorism never as serious as now.

"The responsibility of European leaders is to guarantee the security of the continent and those who are unable to do so have no place among European leaders," Szijjarto said at a press conference.

He deplored the reaction of European leaders to last week's terrorist attacks in Barcelona and Finland. After each such event, European leaders declare their condolences and give statements such as "we will not let ourselves be intimidated", he said.

These leaders "misunderstand reality", he said, warning that if that was the most they can do, it was no exaggeration to say that Europe is in great danger.

The Hungarian minister emphasized that security had become an important aspect of European travels as well. "The European security issue is largely unresolved because many are those who fail to discuss it objectively," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 01:06:29|Editor: ZD

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U.S. President Donald Trump (Xinhua file photo/Yin Bogu)

by Muhammad Tahir

ISLAMABAD, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan has showed disappointment at U.S. President Donald Trump's strategy on South Asia, which was described by independent political observers as insistence on military option in Afghanistan.

Trump, who unveiled his long-awaited future plan for Afghanistan early Tuesday, alleged that "Pakistan often gives safe haven to agents of chaos, violence, and terror."

"We can no longer be silent about Pakistan's safe havens for terrorist organizations, the Taliban, and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond. Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with our effort in Afghanistan. It has much to lose by continuing to harbor criminals and terrorists," the U.S. president said.

He, however, received widespread criticism in Pakistan as a vast majority in the country believes the president ignored Pakistan's sacrifices in the war on terror which claimed the lives of nearly 73,000 people, including security personnel in terrorist attacks and anti-terror operations by the army.

Pakistanis would also have genuine concerns over Trump's strategy quest for India's enhanced role in Afghanistan at a time when Pakistan is accused of creating trouble in Afghanistan.

In his speech, the U.S. president appreciated "India's important contributions to stability in Afghanistan" and said the United States wants India to help it more with Afghanistan.

Political and security analysts here argued that Trump failed to come up with a new approach to find out a solution to the Afghan issue and has insisted on military option.

Chairman of Senate Defense Committee Mushahid Hussain said that Trump is banking on a tried, tested and failed strategy, as what can 5,000 more troops achieve which 100,000 American troops could not five years ago.

"For the first since he became president, Trump seems to have embraced the traditional Washington or American Establishment Playbook on Afghanistan. I was hoping he'd make new mistakes, rather than repeat old ones," Hussain said in a statement to Xinhua on Wednesday.

On Trump's approach to India, Mushahid said that injecting India could result in a new debilitating and destabilizing proxy war with Pakistan in Afghanistan.

A former military brigadier Ishaq Ahmed said Wednesday that Trump is looking at a resolution through blaming and threatening Pakistan and it is unlikely to yield positive results.

"Bringing peace through military might is not an answer to the long-standing Afghan crisis. The U.S. must engage with Taliban to end the 16-year war, where the U.S. has failed to gain victory and with continuation of old muscle flexing strategy, the world may not witness peace in the region," said Ahmed, who is director of Intelligence and International Security Studies at South Asian Strategic Stability Institute University in Islamabad.

On Trump's approach toward India, he said allowing India more influence and space in Afghanistan is another serious folly which the United States is again committing.

He recalled that Pakistan categorically asked the United States in 2001 to limit Indian influence as that will be counterproductive from the viewpoints of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Pakistan's anger at Trump was also reflected in a statement of the country's army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who on Wednesday told U.S. ambassador to Pakistan that his country does not seek U.S. aid but wants acknowledgment of Pakistan's sacrifices in the war against terrorism.

Pakistanis have genuine concerns at Donald Trump's dealing with the country when the country still faces the challenges of terrorism and violent extremism.

There is a perception in Pakistan that the country has suffered a lot due to terrorism as it had allied with the United States when the U.S. military launched operations against the Afghan Taliban regime in October 2001.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 01:11:33|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BRASILIA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- At least seven people were killed and about 40 others have been missing when a passenger ship with about 70 people on board sank in northern Brazilian state of Para in the Amazon region, said local authorities.

The ship, Ribeiro Commander, sank between late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning on the Xingu river near the city of Porto de Moz, according to the public security office of the state.

Seven bodies had been recovered by the authorities, 25 people had arrived at the shore and the rest nearly 40 are still missing, the local public security office said in a statement.

The cause of the sinking is still unknown.

Accidents in the rivers in the Amazon region, where much of the transportation is done through waterway, are frequent due to the precariousness of many of the boats overloaded with passengers.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 01:16:36|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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CAPE TOWN, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) on Wednesday condemned the recent crime acts involving cannibalism in the country.

"We are saddened and shocked that our people could lose their lives in such a manner to the hands of another human being," the party said in response to alleged cannibalism involving traditional healers.

This reportedly happened in the Inkosi Langalibalele Municipality and surrounding areas in the KwaZulu-Natal Province.

Four men, two of them traditional healers, appeared in a South African court on Monday, facing charges of eating and selling human flesh.

The men, aged between 22 and 32, were believed to be part of a bigger syndicate involved in eating and selling human flesh as traditional medicine.

Local police said they found some body parts in a house belonging to one of the men.

A team of forensic experts were busy identifying the remains, as it is not clear whether the body parts belong to one or several victims.

"This has exposed the extent of our social challenges and requires much more action to revive structures for social transformation at all levels," ANC Regional Secretary Sipho Hlomuka said.

The ANC conveyed its condolences to the families of those who lost their lives to this brutal and senseless killings, he said.

Hlomuka said the ANC in the region is in full support of the communities and encourages its members to join the communities in the fight against these crimes.

As the investigation is still under way, police urged people whose relatives have disappeared in the area to come forward.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 01:56:58|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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JERUSALEM, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- A senior Israeli cabinet minister on Wednesday urged the United State to take the reins in the region and accused Russia of supporting the "Iranian axis of evil."

His words came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in the Black Sea resort of Sochi with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Iran presence in Syria.

Speaking at a welcoming ceremony to Boing-made Dreamliner aircraft outside Tel Aviv, transportation minister Yisrael Katz praised the alliance between Israel and the U.S.

"Israel is ... the only ally the U.S. can rely on during moments of truth," he said, noting that the two countries "share intelligence information about IS and al-Qaida, as well as on Shiite sabotage and Iran's support of terror."

Katz said that Iran's attempt to establish a stronghold in Syria, Israel's northern neighbor, is threatening to destabilize the Middle East.

In order to keep the stability in the region, "the U.S. must return to its former position of leadership and power in the area," he said.

"The policy behind the outgoing U.S. administration has failed. It has allowed Iran's axis of evil, backed by Russia, to arrive at influential and critical areas which threatens U.S. allies in the area," he charged.

"Israel will not allow Iran and its proxies to set up house on our northern border and threaten Israel's home front and national infrastructure. We will do everything we can to prevent this," Katz warned.

In the meeting between Netanyahu and Putin, Netanyahu urged the Russian leader to act against Iran's increased presence in Syria.

"Most of the discussion dealt with Iran's attempt to establish a foothold in Syria in the places where the Islamic State was defeated and is leaving," Netanyahu said in a statement released on his behalf by the Prime Minister's Office.

"The victory over IS is welcome. Iran's entry is unwelcome, endangering us, and in my opinion, endangering the region and the world," he noted. "I spoke to President Putin very clearly about our positions on this matter and the fact that this is unacceptable to us."

Netanyahu did not elaborate specifically about Putin's reaction to his plea but said that five similar meetings with Putin over the past two years "served the security of Israel ... I believe Russia's interests as well. Based on today's conversation, I think I can say the same things vis-a-vis Russia."

Netanyahu attended the meeting together with Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, and Meir Ben-Shabbat, head of the National Security Council.

The two intelligence chiefs presented Putin with the evidence of Iran's activities in Syria.

Israel has long warned that the weapons Syria and Iran buy from Russia fall in the hands of Hezbollah, Israel's arch enemy.

Iran, however, rejects all the allegations from the Jewish state.

In 2015, Russia first sent troops to Syria to fight on the side of President Bashar Assad's regime.

Over the past months, Russia has been advancing cease-fire zones in Syria. Israel worries that these areas will enable Iran to further establish its foothold in Syria, allowing it and its proxy, the Lebanese militia of Hezbollah, to further deploy their forces across the Syria-Israel border.
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he departs after announcing his strategy for the war in Afghanistan during an address to the nation from Fort Myer, Virginia, U.S., August 21, 2017. (Xinhua/REUTERS)

by Matthew Rusling

WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- While U.S. President Donald Trump made no drastic changes in his new Afghanistan strategy, he did make a number of tweaks that, when taken together, could add up.

In a speech on Monday night, Trump laid out a new plan for the U.S. war in Afghanistan, which began 16 years ago and stands as America's longest war.

"It's not going to produce an outright victory," Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow on foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, told Xinhua.

"But if you reverse the momentum, and help the Afghans maybe regain a little bit of territory here and there, you change the psychology of a lot of key people," he added.

The main change Trump made was to take restrictions off U.S. forces, imposed by the former administration, which critics said hindered U.S. commanders in the field.

"Micromanagement from Washington D.C., does not win battles," Trump said in Monday night's nationally televised speech.

Trump also threatened to cut off aid to Pakistan, which borders Afghanistan, as the U.S. government accuses Pakistan of harboring terrorist networks. Changes also include not publicly announcing timelines for the withdrawal of U.S. forces, as divulging such information gives an edge to the enemy.

The United States would also "no longer use American military might to construct democracies in far-away lands or try to rebuild other countries in our own image," Trump said, adding that he also aims to boost U.S. troop levels.

NO EXIT STRATEGY NEEDED?

Americans are weary of the war and critics have said the United States needs an exit strategy, but O'Hanlon said: "I don't even worry about exit strategies."

"We're so used to thinking about how exit strategy must be a necessary part of the policy. I would just say why is that the case?" he said.

"This is probably going to be a generation-long struggle. And I believe we actually need a number of assets in key parts of the Middle East to wage the long term fight against extremism, viewing Afghanistan...as a partner and an ally, and an asset for the broader counter terrorism fight," he said.

The United States became involved in Afghanistan not long after the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, as terror group al-Qaida, which masterminded the 9/11 attacks, was given safe haven in Afghanistan.

At the time, the nation was run by the Taliban, a radical Islamist group that terrorized the civilian population and enforced an ultra-strict version of Islam.

While al-Qaida is now a shell of its former self, terror group Islamic State has overtaken territory in the Middle East. While the group is on the run, it remains dangerous.

Moreover, the radicals are influential, having inspired myriad attacks in Europe and the United States in recent years.

COLOMBIA A POSSIBLE MODEL

O'Hanlon compared Afghanistan with the South American nation of Colombia, noting that the country's fight against insurgents had lasted 51 years.

"Finally, about 15 years ago, started the turn in momentum, when extremists were no longer winning," he said.

"About four years ago, the (insurgents) realized that they had basically been beaten. And at that point they just tried to get as good terms as they could in the negotiations to protect their leaders from jail," he said.

"So that is a viable model here," he said. "You have to stay patient in these things."

"The enemy is patient, and unless we think that we should let the enemy win just because they are more patient than we are -- which I would hope people would not fall into that trap -- then you have to stay with it," he said.

"(The Taliban) just has to be beaten to the extent that is possible and then outwaited. And I think because it does threaten our security interests to have a Taliban run country providing sanctuary to extremists, we have a very important interest in this," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 02:22:14|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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TIRANA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Around 73 percent of Albanians think Albania's economic situation has worsened compared to four years ago, a survey published by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) showed Wednesday.

However, despite being pessimistic about the economic situation, 77 percent of respondents were optimistic that their children would have a better life than them.

EBRD informed that the survey was based on 1,377 interviews held in 2016.

The survey showed that half of Albanian respondents were unhappy with the health care offered by the state through a series of expensive public-private partnerships.

Actually, 56 percent of Albanians expressed readiness to pay higher taxes if this would actually improve the quality of health care.

In terms of the political situation, 70 percent of respondents think that the political situation has worsened compared to four years ago, while 63 percent of respondents are unhappy with the judicial system, the survey showed.

A surprising finding of this survey was that only half of the respondents preferred a democracy and a market economy while 31 percent of them would prefer a planned economy or authoritarian regime.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 02:27:17|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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RABAT, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Moroccan authorities announced on Wednesday that they have seized some 12.5 tons of cannabis in the Northeastern city of Nador.

The seizure of this amount of the banned substance came after police busted an international drug smuggling network, the police said in a statement.

During the operation, six dealers aged between 20 and 57 were arrested, the statement added.

The police raided three houses in the rural Ammejjaou area, used by the dealers as storage sites and seized 19 vehicles, including three vans wherein drugs and nearly 400,000 dollars were found.

They also seized an inflatable boat used in international drug trafficking, electronic marine navigation equipment, high-speed boat engines and a hunting rifle with 56 bullets.

Despite efforts to crack down on cannabis farming in the last decade, Morocco remains the world's largest cannabis resin harvester.

According to the 2016 report by the UN's Office on Drugs and Crime, Morocco ranks first among 129 cannabis producing countries throughout the period from 2009 to 2014, followed by Afghanistan, Lebanon, India and Pakistan.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 02:37:22|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ISTANBUL, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- An auction was organized on Wednesday in Turkey's most populous city of Istanbul, aiming to raise funds for orphans.

The auction has been held in the city's well-known Taksim Square as a part of the ongoing Beyoglu Antique Festival.

Up to 22 antique pieces went under the hammer at the auction, raising a total of 28,000 U.S. dollars.

The money has been donated to the "Beyoglu Municipality Social Market," a state-run charity institution, to be used to meet the needs of the orphans living across the district.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 02:37:23|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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SKOPJE, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) has provided a grant worth 35.4 million euros (41 million U.S. dollars) to Macedonia to build express way of Gradsko-Drenovo, Macedonian transport minister Goran Sugareski said Wednesday.

"The European Union, supporting the efforts of the new Macedonian government, made a decision to give us a grant ... in the amount of 35.4 million euros, to join the financing of the expressway from Gradsko to Drenovo," Sugareski told reporters.

The grant was provided by the EU under the Pre-accession Instrument (IPA) funds, within the Sectoral Operational Program for Transport 2014-2020, according to the minister.

Thus, as minister explained, the first phase of Gradsko from Drenovo will be built with the EU grant. The second phase, the construction from Farishka to Drenovska gorge, was in progress.

While for the third phase up to Prilep, Sugareski said that authorities here were still negotiating with the European Union for some other additional funds.

He said construction of this express way was expected to begin by the end of the year while connection between Gradsko and Prilep would be completely finished by the end of 2019 or early 2020.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 03:02:36|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The job approval rating of U.S. President Donald Trump has reached a new low, a Politico/Morning Consult poll showed on Wednesday.

The survey said 39 percent of respondents approve of Trump's job performance, down from 44 percent in the same poll a week ago.

Fifty-six percent of voters disapprove of the job Trump is doing in the new poll, up from 52 percent last week.

Conducted last Thursday through Saturday, the poll came after Trump's controversial remarks over a violent clash triggered by a white supremacist rally on Aug. 12 in Charlottesville, U.S. state of Virginia, which led to the death of counter-protester and dozens of injuries.

Trump faced bipartisan backlash after claiming there is "blame on both sides" for the deadly violence. He defended his response at a rally in state of Arizona late Tuesday.

The poll found that 37 percent of voters think Trump's reaction to the Charlottesville incident was appropriate, compared to 46 percent who think otherwise.

Besides, the poll showed a 43 percent plurality of voters blame the white nationalist protesters most for the violence.

While another 36 percent think both the white nationalists and the counter-protesters deserve equal blame for the violence, nine percent blame the counter-protesters most.

Politico, a U.S. political journalism company, said Trump is at the lowest point of his presidency. But there are 73 percent of self-identified Republican voters who approve of the GOP president's job performance, despite a 8 percentage-point decline from last week.

The poll was conducted among 1,987 registered voters, with its margin of error is 2 percent. Morning Consult is a nonpartisan media and technology company that provides research on politics, policy and business strategy.
File photo (Xinhua/REUTERS)

NEW YORK, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Walmart and Google are teaming up to offer customers the ability to order Walmart's products by voice with the help of the Google Assistant platform.

Marc Lore, president and CEO of Walmart e-Commerce, said Wednesday that the retail giant would be working with Google to "offer hundreds of thousands of items for voice shopping via Google Assistant," starting in late September.

One of the primary use cases for voice shopping will be the ability to build a basket of previously purchased everyday essentials.

"That's why we decided to deeply integrate our Easy Reorder feature into Google Express," said Lore, "this will enable us to deliver highly personalized shopping recommendations based on customers' previous purchases, including those made in Walmart stores and on Walmart.com."

"To take advantage of this personalization, customers only need to link their Walmart account to Google Express," Lore added.

Even though many retailers, such as Target, Costco and Whole Foods, have already worked with Google to sell their products, Walmart will be the first one to offer such capability.

Meanwhile, Walmart will be offering the largest number of items through the platform.

"It makes sense for us to team up with Google. They've made significant investments in natural language processing and artificial intelligence to deliver a powerful voice shopping experience," said Lore.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 03:32:58|Editor: Xiang Bo

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (R) shakes hands with U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis during their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, on Aug. 23, 2017. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed Turkey's unease over U.S. support to the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) during his meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Turkish Presidential Palace)

ANKARA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed Turkey's unease over U.S. support to the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) during his meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Wednesday.

During their meeting in capital Ankara, Erdogan and Mattis discussed bilateral and regional issues, according to Anadolu Agency, citing a presidential source.

The discussion included U.S. support to the YPG and Turkey's possible military operation against the YPG in Syria. Erdogan stressed Turkey's unease with the U.S. support for the Syrian Democratic Unity Party military group, to which YPG is aligned, and the alleged Syrian affiliate of the outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK).

Erdogan and Mattis emphasized the importance of maintaining the territorial integrity of Syria and Iraq, as Kurdish northern Iraq gears up for an independence referendum in September.

The two sides also reiterated their determination to fight against PKK and Islamic State in the region, the source said.

During his visit, Mattis also separately met his Turkish counterpart Nurettin Canikli.

Mattis's visit comes after Iranian Chief of Staff Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri visited Ankara last week to discuss with Turkish officials a joint operation against the Kurdish militants in Iran.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 03:53:14|Editor: Song Lifang

Palestinian workers install barbed wires along the border with Egypt near the southern Gaza strip city Rafah on Aug. 24, 2017. Bordering Israel and the Palestinian 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 Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013. (Xinhua/Khaled Omar)

CAIRO, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian army killed on Wednesday eight militants in the country's restive North Sinai, army's spokesman said.

The militants were killed in military raids supported by airstrikes, military spokesman Tamer al-Refaay said in a statement.

Six weapon hideouts were found by the raiding forces, the spokesman said, adding that the troops also destroyed four cars including a booby-trapped vehicle and two motorbikes.

Bordering Israel and the Palestinian 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 Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

The army removed Morsi in response to mass protests against his one-year rule and his 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 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| 2017-08-24 05:03:57|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BRASILIA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's President Michel Temer on Wednesday signed a decree that opens a nature reserve in the Amazon to mining.

Located in northern Brazil, the 47,000-square-kilometer Copper National Reserve (Renca), which is about the size of Switzerland, is rich in minerals like gold, zinc, phosphate and manganese.

The decree, which was also signed by his minister of Mining and Energy, cancels the park's status as a national reserve.

However, the decree still calls for "the application of specific legislation regarding the protection... of native vegetation, nature (and) indigenous border lands and zones," according to the decree.

The park includes nine different protected zones, two of which are indigenous lands where mining is completely banned, but at least four other zones appear to be accessible to regulated mining activity.

Environmental activists say paving the way for mining at the park could exacerbate existing conflicts between mining companies and indigenous groups.

Renca was created in 1984 to prevent mining activity from excessively encroaching on wildlife and indigenous communities.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 05:59:21|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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LONDON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The British government's latest position paper on its Brexit proposals will on Thursday outline ambitious proposals so personal data can be shared between the Britain and the European Union (EU) after Brexit.

The aim of the proposals will be to chart a way for data to be exchanged in the future in a safe and properly regulated way.

The latest of the series of papers looking at Britain's future partnership with the EU after Brexit details the case for a model for exchanging and protecting personal data which would be in the interests of consumers, businesses and public authorities.

Britain's proposed model for the protection and exchange of personal data will reflect the unprecedented alignment between British and European law.

It will recognize that the high data protection standards will be in place at the point of Britain's exit, planned for March, 2019.

The Data Protection Bill, which is due to be laid before the British Parliament in the fall, will implement the European Union's new data protection rules, helping Britain prepare for a successful Brexit.

Britain's Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEu) said Wednesday the EU data economy was estimated to be worth more than 320 billion U.S.dollars in 2015, with Britain a major contributor to this.

Officials in Britain say it is thought that 43 percent of all large EU digital companies are started in Britain and 75 percent of British cross border data flows are with EU countries.

Brexit negotiators in London say this means that avoiding any disruption to cross border data flows is in the interest of both Britain and EU.

Britain's Minister for Digital Matt Hancock said: "In the modern world, data flows increasingly underpin trade, business and all relationships. We want the secure flow of data to be unhindered in the future as we leave the EU.

"A strong future data relationship between the UK and EU, based on aligned data protection rules, is in our mutual interest.

"The UK is leading the way on modern data protection laws and we have worked closely with our EU partners to develop world leading data protection standards. Our goal is to combine strong privacy rules with a relationship that allows flexibility, to give consumers and businesses certainty in their use of data."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 06:19:29|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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THE HAGUE, Aug. 23(Xinhua) -- Dutch police are investigating a threat in Rotterdam with a Spanish van with gas ganisters being halted and the driver being arrested on Wednesday night.

The van with a Spanish license plate was halted between 9 and 10 p.m. local time on the Mijnsherenlaan street on Wednesday night. The driver was arrested and taken to the police station for questioning. Some report said it was a Spanish.

The van was checked by the Dutch explosive ordnance disposal service. Around 11:30 p.m. local time, the bus was declared safe and driven to the police station.

During a press conference, Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb said the van was driving suspiciously from one way to another on the street near the Maassilo concert hall, where a pop concert was cancelled earlier on Wednesday night after orders of the police due to a terror threat.

The building was being evacuated shortly after 7 p.m. and dozens of people who wanted to attend the concert, which hadn't started yet, could not get in. A team of the Dutch Special Intervention Service (DSI) was present in case of an emergency situation.

The link between the van and the terror threat at the Maassilo concert hall is being investigated. "It is too early to draw conclusions," Aboutaleb stated.

On Wednesday afternoon, Rotterdam mayor Aboutaleb received the warning of a terror threat from the Spanish police, who are extra alert after the recent attacks in Spain. The message was that a terrorist attack was planned during the concert. According to Aboutaleb, the threat was serious enough to cancel the concert.

There was a concert scheduled by Allah-Las, a U.S. pop group from California. The name of Allah-Las has, according to the band members, no religious link.

In a reaction, the Dutch National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV) stated that the event does not mean the threat level in the Netherlands should be raised.

The terrorist threat level in the Netherlands is on "substantial", level 4 on a scale of 5, since March 2013. That means the chance of an attack in the Netherlands is real but there are no specific indications that terrorists are preparing to carry out an attack in the Netherlands.

It is reported that the event in Rotterdam is not connected to the Spanish attacks last week.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 06:39:43|Editor: Yurou

A man drinks water from a water pump in Peshawar, Pakistan, Aug. 24, 2017. An "alarmingly high" level of arsenic contamination was found in groundwater beneath the Indus Plain in Pakistan, putting up to 60 million people at risk of a variety of serious health problems including cancer, a new study said Wednesday. (Xinhua/Muhammad Hadi)

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- An "alarmingly high" level of arsenic contamination was found in groundwater beneath the Indus Plain in Pakistan, putting up to 60 million people at risk of a variety of serious health problems including cancer, a new study said Wednesday.

The study, published in the U.S. journal Science Advance, examined groundwater samples collected from nearly 1,200 sites from across the country.

Then, a model incorporating topographical, geochemical and hydrological parameters was used to create the first comprehensive "hazard map" of this poisonous element for the whole of Pakistan.

It showed that many people in eastern Punjab, which includes Lahore, the country's second most populous city, are exposed to a high risk of arsenic contamination.

"In many parts of the densely populated plains along the Indus River and its tributaries, arsenic concentrations in groundwater supplies exceed the WHO (World Health Organization) guideline of 10 micrograms per liter," the study said.

"Very high concentrations, above 200 micrograms per liter, are found mainly in the south; the highest measured in this study was 500 micrograms per liter."

Altogether, 50 to 60 million use groundwater which very likely contains more than 50 micrograms per liter.

"This is an alarmingly high number, which demonstrates the urgent need to test all drinking water wells in the Indus Plain," first author Joel Podgorski, a geophysicist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, or Eawag, said in a statement.

In previous studies, sampling has only been conducted at the village level in Pakistan.

The researchers called for emergency solutions, including health intervention programs, finding alternative resources of drinking water and evaluating options for removing arsenic.

"People in many areas are completely unaware of the risk because their groundwater wells have never been screened for arsenic," the study said.

Arsenic is one of the most common inorganic contaminants found in drinking water worldwide.

This metalloid occurs as a natural component of sediments, with small quantities being dissolved in groundwater as a result of weathering.

The inorganic salts of arsenic are tasteless and odourless, but highly toxic to humans. If ingested over long periods, even low concentrations, can cause damage to health, including skin disorders, lung cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

The WHO estimated that around 150 million people rely on groundwater contaminated with arsenic worldwide.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 07:24:56|Editor: Xiang Bo

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By Xinhua Writers Sun Oumeng, Yuan Yue

NEW YORK, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- In a recent move, Walmart and Google are teaming up to offer customers a new experience: to order the retail giant's products by voice via Google Assistant, a big step for Walmart to stay competitive in e-Commerce age, analysts said.

Marc Lore, President and CEO of Walmart e-Commerce, said on Wednesday that the retail giant would be working with Google to "offer hundreds of thousands of items for voice shopping via Google Assistant" starting in late September.

With more and more consumers began to rely on devices like the Amazon Echo and Google Home, traditional retailers are thrown into fierce competitions and Walmart is no exception. It doesn't plan to be left behind, though.

Compared with the likes of Amazon's Alexa, Walmart is a late comer, but manages to come up with some innovation. As mentioned by Lore, for example, one of the primary use cases for voice shopping is the ability to build a basket of previously purchased everyday essentials.

"That's why we decided to deeply integrate our Easy Reorder feature into Google Express," said Lore. "This will enable us to deliver highly personalized shopping recommendations based on customers' previous purchases, including those made in Walmart stores and on Walmart.com."

"To take advantage of this personalization, customers only need to link their Walmart account to Google Express," Lore added.

Even though many retailers, such as Target, Costco and Whole Foods, have already worked with Google to sell their products, Walmart will be the first to offer such capability.

Besides, Walmart will be offering the largest number of items through the platform.

"It makes sense for us to team up with Google. They've made significant investments in natural language processing and artificial intelligence to deliver a powerful voice shopping experience," said Lore.

Walmart and Amazon have been neck and neck for years, as each giant tries to make its best to stay ahead of the other.

Walmart acquired e-commerce startup jet.com for 3.3 billion U.S. dollars last fall, and the merger boosted Walmart's online sales for 60 percent during the second quarter 2017. The co-founder and CEO of Jet.com was Marc Lore himself.

Meanwhile, Amazon said this June that it would acquire Whole Foods Market, a grocery store chain, at a total cost estimated to be 13.7 billion U.S. dollars.

"It's interesting to think about what Amazon strategy would be with Whole Foods," J.P. Eggers, an associate professor of management and organizations in New York University, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"I think there's a recognition that the physical space that Whole Foods owned when Amazon makes the purchase is incredibly important both in terms of proximity to high-end consumers that are who Amazon is looking to attract, but also with the idea if they're looking to do more fresh delivery options that the warehousing space in most of those stores," he said.

"It is incredibly attractive as kind of a backup back-end opportunity for Amazon to do local deliveries around," he added.

Whole Foods Market said Wednesday that the shareholders had approved its 13.7 billion U.S. dollars acquisition by Amazon.

The coming September will witness a new round of voice-shopping competitions, and this is just the beginning.

"Next year, we will also leverage our 4,700 U.S. stores and our fulfillment network to create customer experiences that don't currently exist within voice shopping anywhere else, including choosing to pick up an order in store (often for a discount) or using voice shopping to purchase fresh groceries across the country," said Lore.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 08:25:38|Editor: Xiang Bo

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HANOI, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Turkish counterpart Binali Yildirim discussed measures to promote trade and investment partnership between the two countries during their talks here on Wednesday.

The two prime ministers stressed their determination to raise two-way trade to 4 billion U.S. dollars in 2020 through boosting trade and investment promotion activities, Vietnam News Agency reported.

The Turkish prime minister suggested that the two sides consider cooperation possibilities in the defense industry.

The Vietnamese prime minister proposed that Turkey recognize Vietnam's market economy soon, and asked that Turkey remove a number of taxes and fees on Vietnamese products such as footwear, fiber, belts, air conditioners and cell phones.

The two sides agreed to work closely to enhance cooperation in transport, especially aviation and maritime affiliation, science-technology, culture-education, security-defense and people-to-people diplomacy.

On political ties, the two sides agreed to strengthen delegation exchange and encourage the cooperation between their ministries, sectors, localities and friendship organizations.

The two sides also shared concern on rising terrorism and affirmed their support for regional and international efforts in anti-terrorism.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 08:30:43|Editor: Xiang Bo

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NEW YORK, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. car hailing giant Uber reported on Wednesday that its gross bookings rose 17 percent to 8.7 billion U.S. dollars in the second quarter, as the company was still under the shadow of series of scandals earlier this year.

According to Uber, its adjusted net loss fell almost 9 percent quarter-over-quarter to 645 million U.S. dollars and over 14 percent year-over-year.

The number of trips taken by global users increased 150 percent year-over-year, including 90-percent growth in developed markets and over 250-percent growth in developing markets, the start-up said. The growth number excludes China, which Uber exited last summer in exchange for an equity stake in Didi Chuxing, a Chinese car-hailing service company.

The financial information of Uber came after the Silicon Valley unicorn being through a well-publicized internal investigation into sexual harassment and other unsavory aspects of company culture, which led to the forced resignation of CEO Travis Kalanick in June.

Four U. S. companies have recently trimmed the value of their investments in Uber, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 09:05:54|Editor: Mengjie

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BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative will provide countries in the Middle East and Africa with more opportunities and synergize with their own development strategies, officials and scholars have said.

Proposed by China in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road trade routes.

Kuwait was among the first Arab countries to sign a cooperation agreement with China under the framework, as well as one of the founding members of the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Being a country whose oil and gas sector accounts for about 94 percent of its export revenue, Kuwait has been trying to modernize its economic structure and reverse imbalances in its housing and demographics.

In 2010, the Kuwaiti government released "Kuwait 2035," or the Kuwait National Development Plan, formulated to transform the country into a regional financial hub by 2035 via 164 strategic development projects.

The Belt and Road Initiative, in such circumstances, offered a chance for Kuwait to optimize its economic structure and could dovetail well with the country's national development strategy, said Cheng Yongru, economic and commercial counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Kuwait.

According to China's General Administration of Customs, trade between China and Kuwait reached 5.47 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of 2017, up 28.6 percent year on year. In 2016, bilateral trade was 9.37 billion dollars.

Similar to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia announced a "Saudi Vision 2030" growth strategy last year in a bid to diversify its heavily oil-dependent economy.

As the world's second largest economy, China has a competitive advantage in manufacturing and industrial engineering, areas Saudi Arabia needs to develop, said Sailim Aljamidi, a renowned scholar in politics in Saudi Arabia.

Promoting the docking of the Belt and Road Initiative with the "Saudi Vision 2030" growth strategy will facilitate the latter's economic transformation, and benefit the peoples of both countries, Aljamidi added.

Meanwhile, the relationship between Sudan and China has reached new heights after the two countries agreed to elevate their ties to a more advanced level.

"The two countries are heading towards consolidating their standing ties on mutual benefits and sharing of balanced development," Mohamed Hassan Saeed, a Sudanese political Analyst, told Xinhua.

"Since the visit of the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to Beijing in 2015, where he agreed with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to upgrade bilateral ties to a more strategic level, the two countries have achieved remarkable progress in the development of relations in all fields," said Saeed.

"The two countries can utilize their potentialities and enter into new economic partnerships, particularly in the field of agriculture, where Sudan enjoys a huge labor force, fertile lands and water resources, and China, in turn, possesses advanced agricultural technology," he said.

Sudan was one of the first countries to embrace the Belt and Road projects, of which it stands to greatly benefit, including in solidifying its relationship with China, Saeed said.

He believes that the initiative would bring about great economic gains for developing countries, including Sudan.

"The initiative is likely to reactivate Sudan's internal and external trade activities and brings great investment opportunities for Sudan under the huge projects that China would establish in countries covered by the initiative," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 10:01:41|Editor: Xiang Bo

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YANGON, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar has blamed India for surprisingly restricting the import of three major pulses from the country, saying that the move has plunged Myanmar's pulses industry into chaos, according to an official report Thursday.

India announced early this month a 200,000-ton import quota on pigeon peas and 300,000-ton quota on mung bean and green grams.

The severe restriction by India limiting the amount of pea products from Myanmar has quickly and adversely affected the local pulses market, commerce officials said.

The restriction will help support prices of the lentils in India, the world's biggest importer of the pulses, but will put pressure on producers in Myanmar which relies heavily on export to India, the officials pointed out.

The regular purchase of beans by India has been stopped, said a pulses trading association, calling for negotiation between the two countries' authorities to find a settlement.

Myanmar has been exporting peas to India for nearly three decades, while India exported medicines, sugar and agricultural machinery to Myanmar.

Of Myanmar's total export of various kinds of pulses to India in 2016 amounting to 1 million tons, and export of the three kinds of peas hit 900,000 tons worth 1.4 billion kyats (1.02 million U.S. dollars).

Pointing out the imbalance in trade between the two countries, Myanmar merchants said the unexpected restriction of Myanmar pea export will cause unnecessary change of prices.

Yangon's commodity depot has ceased operation due to India's import quota restriction on pulses, prompting the pulse prices to plummet.

Myanmar exports around 1.5 million tons of pulses to foreign countries annually, of which India stands as Myanmar's largest pulses market.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 10:58:04|Editor: Xiang Bo

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KUALA LUMPUR, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak will visit the United States in September to meet U.S. President Donald Trump, the Malaysian government said Thursday.

The Malaysian foreign ministry said in a statement that Najib will undertake a working visit to Washington,D.C. on Sept. 12.

"The two leaders are expected to discuss areas of mutually beneficial cooperation, including national security, the global fight against terrorism and extremism, and trade and investment that will benefit our nations and our peoples," the statement said.

Both the Malaysian foreign ministry and the White House said the two countries are looking forward to celebrating the 60th anniversary of bilateral ties.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 11:18:10|Editor: Mengjie

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KHARTOUM, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- China-Sudan ties have presented a model for South-South cooperation for 58 years since their establishment, during which the two sides have expressed keenness to enhance their ties and create new impetus to strengthen economic cooperation.

Sudan is grateful to China for providing it with valued assistance as a strategic partner when Sudan was under complete economic siege. The Sudanese government is looking forward to Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli's upcoming visit to Khartoum on Aug. 25.

The exchange of visits by officials from both sides and the establishment of joint projects remain tried-and-true means for boosting historical ties, strengthening common denominators and deepening mutual respect.

"Our relationship with China is historical, deeply-rooted and strategic. This is a model relationship that we hope will continue and shift to wider horizons," said Awad Ahmed al-Jaz, Sudanese presidential assistant and official in charge of maintaining China-Sudan relations.

There are geological studies indicating that Sudan owns great reserves of oil and gas in many areas of the country. He said Sudan has now become an inspiring model for the oil industry, and the country is currently preparing for China-Sudan cooperation in the agricultural field.

He also said the two countries have a lot of cooperation potential, adding, for example, that Sudan boasts huge agricultural, mineral and animal resources, as well as a food industry. The partnership between Sudan and China in these fields can achieve great success, the Sudanese official said.

Al-Jaz also expressed optimism over the possibility that the Belt and Road Initiative would add a new momentum to the relationship between Sudan and China as Sudan represents a link between the African continent and the Arab region.

He regarded the upcoming visit of Chinese Vice Premier Zhang as an indication of the continuing development of ties between Sudan and China, as well as of further enhanced bilateral cooperation in different fields.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ali Yousif, executive director of the Arab-Chinese Friendship Societies' League, an affiliate of the Arab League based in Sudan, said China represents Sudan's most important external partner.

"China is the most important partner in Sudan's external relations, and even if the United States lifted its sanctions on Sudan, this will not change the fact that China is the most important economic partner for Sudan," he said.

"We have a great model indicating the benefit of this relationship and I mean the Sudanese oil project which has achieved a great benefit for Sudan by providing its economy with huge resources. The Chinese side has also benefited from this project," he said.

Bushra Al-Sheikh Dafalla, a Sudanese political analyst and diplomat, told Xinhua that the partnership between Sudan and China has achieved many benefits and contributed to the establishment of great development projects in Sudan.

He expressed the hope that China would continue its support for Sudan to establish more development projects, saying "Sudan needs more support now in the field of infrastructure, namely railway lines."

"Sudan can utilize its geographical location, according to the Belt and Road Initiative, where China can establish land transport lines linking the Mediterranean Sea until Cape Town, and also linking the entire Africa across Sudan," he said.

The diplomatic ties between Sudan and China were established in 1959,followed by the first protocol for commercial exchange between the two countries signed in 1962.

China is Sudan's largest trade partner, and Sudan, in turn, ranks third among China's African economic partners.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 12:03:21|Editor: Mengjie

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TOKYO, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks lost ground Thursday morning as the yen's rise against the U.S. dollar dulled the market mood.

Coupled with this, concerns about future policy reform has seen investor consternation rise, after U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly said he would shut down the government to raise funds for his prospective border wall with Mexico.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average lost 25.84 points, or 0.13 percent, from Wednesday to 19,408.80.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, fell 1.19 points, or 0.07 percent, to 1,598.86.

Iron and steel, securities and marine transportation-linked issues comprised those that declined the most by the morning break.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 12:18:25|Editor: Mengjie

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CANBERRA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Staff at the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) believe the organization's culture is "out of step" with "Olympic ideals", according to the results of an independent review of the governing body.

The review was ordered after claims of workplace bullying were leveled at high-end executives within the organization - something which reared its head during a campaign for the AOC's presidency earlier this year.

During the campaign, incumbent AOC President John Coates was accused of doing little to reign in AOC media director Mike Tancred's bullying of former AOC chief executive Fiona de Jong, pointing to a cultural problem within the organization.

The report said while staff had "immense pride" for what the AOC has achieved over the past few decades, there was a culture problem plaguing the organization.

"It is clear that the organization is currently facing significant challenges. The modes of operation that may at one time have served it well are being questioned and its organizational culture has come under scrutiny," the findings, released on Thursday, said.

"While staff and stakeholders hold the AOC in high regard and express immense pride in what the organization has achieved over the years, they describe the organization as being out of step - with both their ideals and minimum expectations for a modern organization.

"Instead of seeing the organization as celebrating the best of the Olympic ideals, staff and stakeholders speak of a more immediate horizon of challenges and difficulties that stem from a culture that is not aligned with the ideals that the organisation aspires to uphold."

The review has urged the AOC to answer the question of "how it can play a leadership role as an organization in the Olympic family" while simultaneously "progressing the interests and ambitions of Australia".

"As it happens, the majority of the AOC's values are neither strongly nor consistently expressed in practice," the report said.

"Indeed, the AOC values are not widely recognized by staff, nor do they resonate strongly with them."

The report also said that the AOC should implement an organization-wide "culture plan" and should "manage the risk of poor culture" before it becomes a problem.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 12:53:32|Editor: Yang Yi

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YINCHUAN, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Two men in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region have received jail terms for killing protected forest musk deer.

One surnamed Lan was sentenced to 12 years in prison by the People's Court of Jingyuan County, Guyuan City, after being found guilty of snaring and killing eight deer in Linyou County, Shaanxi Province, in September and October 2016.

Lan was apprehended at an expressway service zone in Gansu Province by forest police in late October 2016, while transporting musk glands.

The other also with the surname of Lan was sentenced to six years after being convicted of killing four deer.

Forest musk deer, the smallest of all musk deer species, are hunted by poachers because the musk they secrete is believed to have high medicinal value and is a valuable ingredient in perfume.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 12:58:35|Editor: Mengjie

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BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- China's top disciplinary watchdog has named a number of grassroots officials implicated in abuse of poverty relief funds.

The nine cases involve dereliction of duty, embezzlement of poverty relief funds and theft of allowances for house renovation, according to the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).

In one case, Long Zuoshi, former Party chief of Jile Village in Hunan Province, was stripped of his CPC membership for stealing 81,800 yuan (12,300 U.S. dollars) of poverty relief funds and abusing his power to help another villager illegally obtain 100,000 yuan. Long's case has been transferred to judicial organs.

Xiao Guangliang, head of the agricultural cooperative society of Fenghuang village in Guizhou Province embezzled 150,000 yuan for his personal use and hosted banquets using public funds, among other violations, from 2014 to 2016. Xiao was stripped of his CPC membership and his case has been transferred to judicial organs.

The CCDI ordered harsh punishments for officials implicated in misuse of poverty relief funds.

China has set 2020 as the target year to complete the building of a moderately prosperous society, which requires the eradication of poverty.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 12:58:37|Editor: Xiang Bo

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian government announced on Wednesday its largest privatization package since the 1990s to bolster investment in order to revive the economy.

A total of 57 companies were listed in the package, including the Brazilian Mint which prints the country's currency and passports, 14 airports, 15 port terminals, and the largest energy company in Latin America, Eletrobras, according to the statement.

Most auctions are expected to take place in 2018. With the privatization, the government aims to raise some 44 billion reals (14 billion U.S. dollars) and help mitigate the deficit.

The government recently proposed that the primary deficit target should be raised from 129 to 159 billion reals (41 to 50.6 billion dollars) for this year, which needs approval of the Congress.

In the first half of 2017, the central government registered the worst primary deficit in history, which reached 56 billion reals (17.8 billion dollars), up from 36 billion reals (11.4 billion dollars) in the same period in 2016.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 13:13:44|Editor: Xiang Bo

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SYDNEY, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- A statue of the explorer Captain James Cook - credited with the discovery of Australia in 1770 - has caused racial tension in city of Sydney on Thursday, with calls for it to be removed from where it currently stands in Hyde Park, along with other statues of historical figures.

In an analysis in local media, prominent indigenous Australian Stan Grant - also a well-respected worldwide media personality - drew a parallel earlier in the week between the current tensions surrounding Confederate statues in the United States, and the statue of Cook in Sydney, and said Cook's statue emblazoned with the words "discovered this territory in 1770" perpetuates a "damaging myth".

"A belief in the superiority of white Christendom that devastated indigenous peoples everywhere," Grant said.

According to Cook's journals on April 23, 1770, he first encountered indigenous people on the eastern coastline as he made his way on his ship, the HMS Endeavour, towards where he would eventually make landfall six days later at what he named Botany Bay.

Cook was later killed in Hawaii in 1779, after he made an attempt to kidnap, and ransom the King Kalani'opu'u - an attempt that failed, with Cook being savagely beaten to death, according to the records of his surviving crew.

As the direct evidence from Cook, and all scientific and otherwise evidence firmly refutes any notion that Cook discovered what is now known as Australia, many are calling for the statue to be torn down, along with those of Governor Lachlan Macquarie, and Governor Arthur Phillip - who was the head of the First Fleet that arrived in Australia in 1788.

The Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore referred the matter of the statues for advisement to the indigenous advisory panel of her council, and said that she will take their "advice on how Sydney can most effectively play a role in progressing equality and redress past injustices".

"There have been too many people in mainstream Australia ready to make judgment on these issues without consulting indigenous communities, and whether well-meaning or not, it's often done more harm than good," Moore said.

However, there has been severe backlash on some fronts over any plans to tear down the statues, and prominent indigenous Australian leader, and former national president of the Australian Labor Party, Warren Mundine, said on Thursday that instead of tearing down statues - statues of indigenous Australians should be erected.

"All this nonsense about changing things - we cannot look back at history without modern minds otherwise we would have to tear down the pyramids because they were built by slaves," Mundine said.

"In Australia the problem is an absence of memorials, we need more about our own people, our indigenous people."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 13:28:51|Editor: Yang Yi

Rafael Papageorgiou reads "The Analects of Confucius" at home in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Aug. 18, 2017. Although five years have passed since Rafael Papageorgiou won the trophy of Chinese Bridge language competition, the joy is still fresh in the memory of the Brazilian young man. After returning to Brazil, Rafael went to work for a Chinese company in Sao Paulo and meanwhile continued to learn Chinese. (Xinhua/Li Ming)

by Zhang Qichang

SAO PAULO, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Five years has past since Rafael Papageorgiou won the trophy of the Chinese Bridge language competition, the joy is still fresh in the memory of the Brazilian young man.

"The Chinese language has brought me many opportunities since I began learning it. China has become an indispensable part of my life," he told Xinhua.

Rafael who was a student of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) in Porto Alegre started to learn Chinese in 2010 out of interest in the Chinese culture that struck him as mysterious.

"I spent at least eight hours a day learning Chinese. I used the opportunity to speak with Chinese students at UFRGS and bought all materials available in Brazil to learn Chinese," Rafael said. "Learning Chinese was difficult but I wanted to learn more. Learning the language gave me a strong sense of accomplishment."

After learning Chinese for two years, Rafael was shown a once-in-a-life opportunity in 2012 when UFRGS established its Confucius Institute. He then signed up for the Chinese Bridge competition later in the year.

Latin America's first Confucius Institute opened in Mexico in 2006, and was followed by a second in Peru in 2009.

The institutes organize an annual Chinese proficiency contest called Chinese Bridge that showcases the talents of foreign youth that excel at learning Mandarin as a way to develop a greater understanding of the Chinese culture.

Rafael recalled that he sang a very popular and also his favorite song, Long De Chuan Ren, which is translated as Descendants of the Dragon.

"The most important thing in winning the contest was not being crowned as champion, but obtaining an opportunity to study in China for the next year," he said.

As the champion, Rafael was granted a scholarship to further his study at Nankai University in China's northern city of Tianjin for a year, where he gradually became familiar to the Chinese society, culture and people.

"The Chinese people are honest, friendly and hard-working. During that year, I began to read Chinese literature and I was fascinated. I have always thought that literature is the gateway to the soul of a nation," he said.

As he went further into the study, Rafael started to read the Analects, a collection of sayings and ideas of Chinese philosopher Confucius about 2,500 years ago. He said he found universal values in Confucian texts.

After returning to Brazil, Rafael went to work for a Chinese company in Sao Paulo and meanwhile continued to learn Chinese.

"I want to tell people that it is not difficult to learn Chinese if you make the effort," he said.

Rafael said he dreams that he could return to China one day in the future to continue his study and work there, so as to witness China's development by himself.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 13:28:52|Editor: Yang Yi

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LHASA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- "While one kilogram of ordinary peaches only sells for about 30 yuan (4.5 U.S.dollars), the peaches here might make 100 yuan each," village official Sonam Yangkyi tells surprised visitors to Lhasa's Pure Land Industry demonstration zone.

The reason for such a high price for the winter peach is simply that Tibet Autonomous Region's high altitude and clean environment mean the peach is tastier and better than its competitors.

The winter peach is just one of the many varieties of fruit and other Pure Land Industry produce with premium quality and unique properties thanks to the pure water, soil and air there.

Lhasa began the Pure Land project in 2013. It includes maca, a root vegetable native to the South American Andes; snow chrysanthemum, used mainly for tea; grapes, roses, other organic produce, ingredients for Tibetan medicine, organic meat and dairy products.

In less than four years, 89 enterprises have got involved, with their output reaching 3.7 billion yuan.

Growing demand for organic products and Tibetan medicine has led to the Lhasa project being replicated in other areas.

Chamdo, a city in eastern Tibet, came up with the Blue Sky and Purity Industry this year, breeding Tibet chicken, pigs and growing medicinal plants.

Blue skies, pure snow mountain, along with clean air and water are the hallmarks of Tibet and the main engines for Tibet's sustainable growth.

Lhasa's Pure Land and Chamdo's Blue Sky have created jobs and raised the living standards of farmers.

The Pure Land demonstration zone in Quxu County has created 127,500 jobs while increasing per capita income by about 6,000 yuan last year.

The development of green industry has actually improved the environment instead of ruining it. Quxu has banned fertilizers and pesticides to protect the soil and guarantee that products meet organic standards. In Damxung County sustainable animal husbandry protects grassland from over-grazing.

"We are well aware of the importance of environmental protection. There is a price for all products, but a clean environment is priceless," said Sonam Yangkyi.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 14:04:08|Editor: Xiang Bo

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SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's top economic policymaker vowed Thursday to actively address a prolonged low childbirth to raise its growth potential.

Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon, who doubles as deputy prime minister for economic affairs, told reporters that he was significantly worried about the country's long-term growth potential given the low birth rate, according to local media reports.

According to the statistical agency data, the number of newborn babies in South Korea kept falling for 19 straight months through June when about 28,900 babies were born.

The June figure was down 12.2 percent from a year earlier. The newborns continued to fall since December 2015.

For the first six months of this year, childbirths amounted to 188,500, down 12.3 percent compared with the same period of last year.

The low birthrate has been a headache for the economy as it reduces the workforce amid the fast-aging population. The low childbirth and the population aging would drag down the economy's growth potential.

The finance minister said that if the current trend continues, the annualized birth rate of the country would decline to the lowest in the world.

He vowed to re-organize the ministry to create a new department in charge of low childbirth and the population aging as part of efforts to reduce living costs necessary to raise children.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 14:29:22|Editor: Xiang Bo

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VIENTIANE, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Lao Ministry of Science and Technology will foster scientific research and scholarly development to meet the country's future development needs, local daily Vientiane Times reported on Thursday.

Scientists have an important role to play in creating justice in society and contributing to the sustainable socio-economic and cultural development of Laos, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Houmphanh Intharath said on the sidelines of an ASEAN conference in Vientiane.

"This could be achieved by advancing scientific and technological progress towards the gradual transformation of Laos into an industrialized nation," he was quoted as saying.

"Laos needs to encourage and produce specialists who have the scientific skills necessary to enhance the development process ... We also need to keep pace with scientific advances taking place in other ASEAN countries, especially in view of the ongoing economic integration," he said.

Laos currently has one scientific research specialist for every 10,000 people. The government's goal is to produce 11 scientists for every 10,000 people by 2020, the official said, adding that the government places a high priority on the development of human resources in science.

In recent years, the ministry had partnered with regional and international bodies to assist with funding and personnel exchanges in the field of science, and had sent scientists to study in ASEAN and other countries to broaden their knowledge, reported the Vientiane Times.

According to the ministry, the Lao government is encouraging the private sector to invest in science as part of the Science and Technology Development Strategy to 2025 and the Vision to 2030.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 14:44:32|Editor: Yang Yi

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JINAN, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese hacker was sentenced to six years in prison on Thursday for his role in a telecom fraud case linked to the death of a teenager last year.

Du Tianyu was handed the sentence by the People's Court of Luozhuang District, Linyi City in east China's Shandong Province for violating personal information. The court also fined Du 60,000 yuan (9,000 U.S. dollars).

In 2016, Du sold the personal information of students who took the year's college entrance examination, called the "gaokao," to Chen Wenhui, allowing Chen and his accomplices to call the test-takers and swindle them.

One of the victims was Xu Yuyu, a senior high school graduate from Linyi. She died of cardiac arrest in August 2016 after losing 9,900 yuan, which should have been used to pay her university tuition fees, to the fraudsters. Her death sparked instant outrage across the country.

The telecom fraud was causally linked to Xu's death, according to the Intermediate People's Court of Linyi City, which handled Chen's case.

The Luozhuang district court found that in April 2016, Du hacked into an official website that contained the personal information of Shandong's gaokao examinees, illegally obtaining information of more than 640,000 people. He sold the information of more than 100,000 people to Chen for 14,100 yuan through the instant messaging platform QQ and Alipay, the mobile payment service of e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba.

Using the information, Chen's gang made more than 10,000 calls and swindled more than 200,000 yuan.

Chen was given a life sentence for fraud and violation of personal information in July. The sentences for his six accomplices ranged from three to 15 years.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 14:54:37|Editor: Yang Yi

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by Matt Walsh

CANBERRA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) president John Coates has on Thursday rejected calls for his resignation, after an independent review of the organization found its culture was "out of step" with "Olympic ideals".

Coates, who earlier this year fought off a board challenge from retired Australian athlete Danni Roche, has previously been accused of doing little to reign in high-ranking colleague and AOC media director Mike Tancred's alleged bullying of former AOC chief executive Fiona de Jong, who resigned last October.

The findings, released on Thursday, said that the AOC staff described the organization as having cultural problems under Coates' watch, but despite the review calling for a re-evaluation of the AOC's cultural practices, Coates told reporters that he would not be standing down.

"Why should I resign? There has been no confirmation of bullying," Coates told press on Thursday.

"There has been some criticism of senior leaders - I'm the president, I'm not the senior leader that is being criticized. There has been no treatment of the staff by me that is objectionable."

The AOC president went on to say that he welcomes the recommendations handed down in the report, acknowledging that the current governance model is not working.

"I'm very pleased with this report because the first recommendation addressed a big issue for us, and that is that we need to assess whether the governance model is fit for us," Coates said.

"The model we have adopted, I acknowledge, is not fit for purpose - as the report points out."

The review was ordered after claims were made against Tancred, who has since stepped down from his role.

The report said while staff had "immense pride" for what the AOC has achieved in recent years, there was a culture problem plaguing the organization.

"It is clear that the organization is currently facing significant challenges. The modes of operation that may at one time have served it well are being questioned and its organizational culture has come under scrutiny," the findings said.

"While staff and stakeholders hold the AOC in high regard and express immense pride in what the organization has achieved over the years, they describe the organization as being out of step - with both their ideals and minimum expectations for a modern organization.

"Instead of seeing the organization as celebrating the best of the Olympic ideals, staff and stakeholders speak of a more immediate horizon of challenges and difficulties that stem from a culture that is not aligned with the ideals that the organisation aspires to uphold."

The review also wants the AOC to answer the question of "how it can play a leadership role as an organization in the Olympic family" while simultaneously "progressing the interests and ambitions of Australia".

"As it happens, the majority of the AOC's values are neither strongly nor consistently expressed in practice," the report said.

"Indeed, the AOC values are not widely recognized by staff, nor do they resonate strongly with them."

The report also said that the AOC should implement an organization-wide "culture plan" and should "manage the risk of poor culture" before it becomes a problem.

Meanwhile also announced on Thursday was that AOC member and winter Olympics chef de mission Ian Chesterman would take over from Kitty Chiller as summer Olympics chef de mission for Tokyo in 2020.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 15:19:50|Editor: Yamei

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Photo taken on Aug. 18, 2017 shows the skyline of Xiamen, a scenic city in the southeast China's Fujian Province. The ninth BRICS summit will be held in Xiamen from Sept. 3 to 5, 2017.(Xinhua/Jiang Kehong)

BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The BRICS grouping the five emerging economies -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- has entered its second decade.

New challenges and uncertainties stemming from global economic sluggishness, a rise in protectionism in some Western countries or regional security call for a stronger BRICS that can play a larger role in global governance.

The ninth BRICS summit will be held in September in Xiamen, China. How its five members will chart the bloc's future course holds much importance.

Being the source of more than half of global growth in the past decade, the bloc accounted for 23 percent of the 2016 global economy, almost double their share in 2006.

The group, representing emerging markets and developing countries, is also urged to advance structural reforms, innovation growth and macroeconomic policy coordination to strengthen its competitiveness and bring vitality into global growth and cooperation.

Over the past decade, the BRICS cooperation platform has grown into an international mechanism of major influence, and its demands help bring gradual changes to global economic governance structures.

For instance, China and India's voting rights in the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have increased.

The bloc is trying to make itself more stable and solid by deepening internal cooperation. On top of economic and trade cooperation, it is seeking to enhance cultural cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.

As the holder of the BRICS presidency this year, China's cooperation with other BRICS countries on its diplomatic agenda has always been a priority.

China has been a staunch supporter of and participant in the BRICS mechanism, and takes the BRICS cooperation as one of its diplomatic priorities.

"The BRICS countries are like five fingers: short and long if extended, but a powerful fist if clenched together," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said, citing remarks by President Xi Jinping.

At the critical juncture to usher in a new phase, the bloc is believed to produce more practical and concrete cooperation and improve trust and confidence among its members.

A "BRICS Plus" mode is expected to expand the bloc's partnership especially with developing countries, providing opportunities for other economies and injecting impetus into economic globalization. This will help make it a leading platform for South-South cooperation.

As a key player in this, the BRICS New Development Bank has just launched its first regional office in South Africa and intends to open more.

All these signal that BRICS will not lose its luster, instead it will shine more brightly if its members stay united.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 15:19:52|Editor: An

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CANBERRA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- A joint operation between Australian and Chinese authorities has prevented 13 tons of illicit drugs from reaching Australia, it was announced on Thursday.

Michael Keenan, Australia's justice minister, praised Operation Blaze, a joint operation between the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and China's National Narcotics Control Commission (NNCC), as "one of the most successful collaborations (Australia has) at the moment."

The AFP/NNCC taskforce is based in Guangzhou and has seized more than 13 tons of illegal drugs bound for Australia during its operating period.

Keenan's comments came as an Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) report released on Thursday estimated that organized crime in Australia cost the taxpayer 28.4 billion U.S. dollars every year.

Nicole Rose, acting head of ACIC, said that organized crime sydnicates could work with prospective terrorists to carry out attacks on Australian soil.

"Serious and organized criminals control illicit markets that terrorists may seek to access to enable acts of terrorism," Rose wrote in the report.

"Links have been observed between serious and organized crime and persons of interest to counter-terrorism investigations."

She said that international collaboration between agencies, such as that between the AFP and NNCC, was crucial in bringing the syndicates to justice.

The report also warned that Australian authorities should be prepared for a surge in cocaine imports.

Keenan said the report highlighted an effort by underworld figures to target Australia's superannuation schemes and financial market.

He said that organized crime cost the average Australian 1,233 U.S. dollars annually and that it raised the cost of living by 6.3 percent.

"Organized crime diverts large amounts of money from the Australian economy into the pockets of criminals," Keenan told reporters on Thursday.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 15:34:58|Editor: Yurou

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KABUL, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan and the United States have launched the implementation of a partnership agreement signed previously by Kabul and Washington, the Afghan presidential palace said Thursday.

On Wednesday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani chaired meeting of Bilateral Compact Executive Committee, known as Compact as the meeting marked start of the implementation of U.S.-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Agreement.

During the meeting, Ghani signed a decree for the implementation of the Compact regarding the mutual cooperation between the two countries, the palace said in a statement.

"The Compact is an Afghan-led initiative to demonstrate the government's commitment to creating a peaceful, stable, and prosperous society and is an important factor upon which the United States relied when developing key components of the U.S. South Asia Policy, launched by President Trump on August 21," the statement said.

During the meeting, Afghan and U.S. working groups have highlighted the completion of the Compact's four matrices focusing on governance, economics, peace and reconciliation, and security.

The partnership agreement was signed by former U.S. President Barack Obama and former Afghan President Hamid Karzai in 2012.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 15:45:13|Editor: Yurou

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MADRID, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic State (IS) on Wednesday night published a video in Spanish threatening to seek "revenge" for the eight terrorists killed by police during last week's attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils.

The video came six days after the attacks for which the IS claimed responsibility. The terrorist attacks left 15 people dead and over 120 injured.

In the video, an IS fighter, who identifies himself as "Al Qurtubi", said in Spanish: "We will avenge your massacre; what you are doing to the Islamic State now?"

The vidoe also showed pictures of the Barcelona attack, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, Spanish King Felipe VI, and Younes Abouyaaqoub, the man who drove the van into crowds in Las Ramblas, killing 13 people last Thursday.

The video also makes reference to the former Muslim kingdom of Spain, which was finally reconquered by the Spanish in 1492.

"With the will of Allah, Al Andalus will once again become what it once was ... the kingdom of the Kalifate," says the video. It asks Muslims "not to forget the blood spilled by the Inquisition."

"We are never going to leave you in peace," says another IS fighter, identified as "Abusalman the Andalusian".

Spain is currently on a level 4 (on a scale of 5) alert for a possible terrorist attack, although security measures at stations, airports and places where large groups of people gather have been increased in the wake of the Barcelona and Cambrils attacks.
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Photo taken on Aug. 21, 2014 shows the general view of the dam of Kariba hydropower station in Zambia. The constructor China's Sinohydro Corporation delivered Thursday the Zambian Kariba North Bank Power expansion project to Zambia in Siavonga, southern Zambia. The project includes two 180 megawatt generators. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun)

LUSAKA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The commissioning of works to construct a new international airport in Zambia's Ndola city in the Copperbelt Province recently goes to exemplify Chinese efforts to help Zambia's infrastructure development drive.

The 397 million U.S. dollars project, being undertaken by Chinese contractor AVIC International and funded by the Export and Import Bank of China, is but one among other projects China has funded as Zambia rolls out its infrastructure projects.

The new airport will not only boost the economic prospect of the province but also add to the improvement in the country's infrastructure landscape.

The project, to be completed within three years, involves a 12,000 square meter modern terminal building, a 3.5 kilometer runway, cargo terminal as well as a hotel.

"I am sure that the new airport will significantly improve traffic connections of the Copperbelt both within Zambia and with Zambia's neighboring countries, thus promote more trade exchanges, attract more foreign investment, and increase flow of goods and personnel," Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Yang Youming said in remarks delivered during the launch of construction works in June this year.

His comments have been supported by Zambian President Edgar Lungu who feels that the project will result in the creation of jobs in the province and boost the economic prospect of not only the province but the entire country as a whole.

According to him, around 3,000 jobs will be created during the project's construction, and 5,000 jobs are expected to be created once the project is completed.

The Zambian leader noted that his government has prioritized infrastructure development because no development could take place without good infrastructure.

"Government has prioritized transport and communication because it is critical for development. For us to diversify the economy, we must construct infrastructure necessary for the level of develop we envision," he said.

Infrastructure development has been at the core of Zambia's development agenda since 2011 when the Patriotic Front (PF) came into power after winning the elections, and there is no doubt that the Chinese government and enterprises have been playing an important role in driving the agenda.

In another case, the expansion project at the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in the country's capital is underway with funding support from China. The project is expected to be completed by 2019.

According to Mweembe Sikaulu, spokesperson of the Zambia Airports Corporation, the country's biggest airport would have a new international terminal, air traffic control tower, rescue and fire services as well as two hotels within the airport.

The 360 million dollars Chinese-funded project will result in an improvement in passenger-handling capacity from the current two million to six million passengers.

PIVOTAL CHINESE ROLE IN ZAMBIA'S INFRASTRUCTURE

From the Mongu-Kalabo Road, a 34 kilometer road with 26 bridges across it and constructed by China's Avic International in the western part of the country to the development of other infrastructure such as hydropower projects and modernization of airports, it is clear that China and Chinese enterprises have played a pivotal role in improving Zambia's infrastructure landscape.

China's imprint in Zambia's infrastructure development stretches back to the historical construction of the Tanzania Zambia Railway, which was constructed in the 1970s and the Tuta Bridge in northern Zambia, which is still the longest Chinese-aided bridge of its kind in Africa.

China has also helped Zambia have ultra-modern stadiums through the financing and construction of the 50,000 capacity National Heroes Stadium in Lusaka, the country's capital and the 49,800 capacity Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola city on the Copperbelt Province.

"We are indeed grateful to China for the wonderful work they are doing to help us in our infrastructure projects. For instance, we did not dream that we will ever have a big stadium like Heroes but thanks to China, they helped us have one," Ben Zulu, a 46-year-old resident of Lusaka, the country's capital said.

He added that there is no doubt that Chinese contractors were doing a good job each time they are given construction jobs in the country.

His views were supported by another Lusaka resident Isaac Ngenda, who hailed the hardworking culture of the Chinese contractors.

According to him, Chinese contractors are dedicated to their work and have been able to complete projects on time.

Michael Nyirenda, immediate past president of the Association of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors also hailed China's contribution to Zambia's infrastructure development.

"It is right to say that China and Chinese contractors have done a lot in helping Zambia's infrastructure development agenda. This is there for all to see," he said.

While appreciating the gesture from China, he noted that the authorities should ensure also that local contractors are capacitated as well so that they learn from their Chinese counterparts.

Harry Kalaba, Zambia's Foreign Affairs Minister said the southern African nation will remain indebted to China's assistance in economic development projects over the years and looks forward to more assistance.

The Zambian minister said recently that his government has come up with priority projects for financing under the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

Among the priority projects include infrastructure development, broadband communication network, construction and rehabilitation of the existing railway network as well as investments in alternative energy sources such as wind, bio-mass, thermal, geo-thermal and solar.

Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Yang Youming has expressed that his government is ready to do more to help Zambia develop its infrastructure.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 17:10:55|Editor: Yamei

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BERLIN, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Contrary to earlier media speculation, the creditors of Germany's second largest carrier Air Berlin have stalled in their decision to partition the insolvent company for sale on Wednesday.

People with knowledge of the matter said that a more detailed offer made by Lufthansa to purchase parts of Air Berlin was not yet accepted.

The committee of creditors also ruled out an immediate partial sale of Air Berlin's subsidiary Austrian Airline Niki during a meeting in Berlin.

Unlike its mother corporation, Niki is not insolvent and is considered to be one of Air Berlin's most prized assets due to its low costs and modern fleet.

Lufthansa, which already leases 38 of Air Berlin's 140 planes, said earlier that it was in advanced talks to buy parts of Air Berlin.

Carriers such as Easyjet, Condor and Tuifly have also expressed interest in an acquisition of at least part of Air Berlin's business.

German entrepreneur Hans Rudolf Woerhl also announced his intention to purchase Air Berlin as a whole. However, Woerhl later claimed that his proposal to buy Air Berlin was rejected by the German government, which does not believe that Air Berlin can survive as a corporate entity. The Nuernberg-based businessman has accused officials of a lack of transparency in insolvency procedures which allegedly benefits Lufthansa.

Irish budget airline Ryanair has voiced similar concerns, describing Air Berlin's anticipated sale to Lufthansa as a conspiracy in which the German government is complicit.

Berlin has granted the insolvent carrier an emergency loan of 150 million euros (176 million U.S. dollars) to ensure its continued operation for three months.

German politicians were creating a "monster" rather than a national champion with their state aid, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary warned in the newspaper "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" on Wednesday. Nevertheless, he added that Ryanair would still consider bidding for Air Berlin in a fairly organized tender.

Any final merger to result from Air Berlin's collapse is subject to approval from European competition authorities.

Joining the debate over the insolvent airline's fate on Wednesday, German trade union Verdi urged Air Berlin's creditors not to negate the interests of the firm's more than 8,000 employees.

The urgent priority now is to save jobs, Verdi director Christine Behle said in a statement.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 17:21:01|Editor: Yamei

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BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- As a military standoff between China and India stretches into the third month, China will not soften its stance against any infringement of sovereignty over its territory.

"We will never seek aggression or expansion, but we have the confidence to defeat all invasions," Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a speech on the 90th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army. "We will never allow any people, organization or political party to split any part of Chinese territory from the country at any time, in any form."

On June 18, more than 270 armed Indian troops with two bulldozers crossed the boundary in Sikkim Sector and advanced more than 100 meters into China to obstruct routine road construction in the Dong Lang (Doklam) area of China's Tibet Autonomous Region.

In contrast to previous confrontations, the current face-off is an intrusion by Indian troops into the Chinese side of the mutually recognized boundary.

The Dong Lang (Doklam) area, which borders India's Sikkim state to the west and the Kingdom of Bhutan to the south, belongs to China and has been under Chinese rule for a very long time.

According to the Convention between Great Britain and China Relating to Sikkim and Tibet (1890), Dong Lang (Doklam) undoubtedly belongs to China. The agreement was inherited by India after its independence and has been repeatedly confirmed in writing by successive governments of the former British colony.

India said it had merely come to the defense of its tiny neighbor Bhutan, arguing that Dong Lang (Doklam) is Bhutanese territory. But even if that were the case, India has no right to interfere in China-Bhutan boundary issues, nor is it entitled to make territorial claims on behalf of Bhutan.

India has not only encroached on China's territorial sovereignty, but also impaired the independence of Bhutan.

By creating disputes in Dong Lang (Doklam), India has increased its military presence in the Buddhist kingdom and is making use of Bhutan to increase its geo-advantage over China.

Dong Lang (Doklam) is believed to have huge strategic significance to India, due to its proximity to the Siliguri Corridor -- India's sensitive "chicken's neck" -- connecting seven northeastern states with the rest of the country.

Since the standoff, China has shown its goodwill and sought to communicate with India through diplomatic channels to resolve the issue.However, Indian troops failed to end their invasion.

China has no reason or desire to enter into a war with its neighbor, but it will never back down in defending its native soil at all costs.

To avoid escalation of military conflict, the only wise move for India is to unconditionally pull back its trespassing troops. No one can win from a possible India-China war.

As two of the world's oldest civilizations, the "Chinese Dragon" and the "Indian Elephant" have a lot in common. Their co-existence will benefit not only their combined 2.7 billion people, but also those living beyond their borders. By contrast, a spiral of bilateral rivalry would have a heavy price.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 17:31:05|Editor: Yamei

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MANILA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Environmental activists and netizens have hailed the cancellation of an undersea attraction and resort project that Nickelodeon plans to build on Palawan, an island province dubbed as "the last ecological frontier" in the Philippines.

In January, Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN Nickelodeon) unveiled its plan to build a 400-hectare park on Coron, Palawan.

Nickelodeon said Palawan, known to have some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, is an ideal location for its multi-million-dollar project.

The Philippine Department of Tourism welcomed the planned undersea-themed resort and attraction, saying the undersea project will attract more tourists to visit Palawan and the Philippines.

But local environment group "Save Philippine Seas" was alarmed by the project and immediately created a petition opposing the project due to potential damage to its rich biodiversity and natural wonders.

It said in its petition that "building artificial structures ... will undeniably damage and disrupt Palawan's marine ecosystems."

The online petition against the project had garnered nearly 270,000 signatures.

"We thank all the supporters of petition and campaign for this milestone," the group said in a statement posted on its Facebook account on Tuesday.

However, it stressed that "the battle is not over: we still need to remain vigilant and monitor updates about the proposed attraction."

VIMN said in its recent statement that it has decided to "mutually agree" with project developer Coral World Park (CWP) "to discontinue the IP licensing agreement" for the project.

"Therefore, VIMN and Nickelodeon will no longer be involved with this proposed development," it said.

The VIMN statement also came a few weeks after Vince Cinches, the oceans campaigner of Greenpeace Philippines, urged VIMN to end its partnership with CWP which the groups found to have "no historical background of any conservation effort anywhere else in the Philippines."

"Drop this outrageous project as early as possible, or else face a possible repetitional backlash," warned Cinches.

The project has drawn flak from environmental and civil society organizations.

Petitioner Anna Oposa, "Save Philippine Seas" executive director, said: "Why do Coron and the Philippines need artificial attractions? Coron is already so beautiful in its natural state."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 17:56:21|Editor: Yamei

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PHNOM PENH, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Thursday deported 122 Chinese nationals, including 16 women, suspected of operating a telecoms scam to extort money from victims in China, a senior police official said.

"Chinese police had sent two planes to pick them up from Cambodia after we decided to deport them," Lieutenant General Ouk Hai Seila, chief of the investigation department at the General Department of Immigration, told Xinhua.

He said the suspects were deported to southwest China's Sichuan province via Siem Reap International Airport in northwest Cambodia's Siem Reap province.

"They will face legal action in China," he said.

He said the suspects were arrested at two locations on Aug. 2 by Cambodian authorities in northwest Banteay Meanchey province after a tip-off from the Chinese side.

They had used VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol, a type of internet phone service) from Cambodia to threaten and extort money from victims in China, he said, adding that a large number of telephones and laptops, and a name list of Chinese victims were confiscated during the raids.

According to Seila, since 2011, Cambodia has deported 1,050 Chinese suspects in telecoms scams to China.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 18:31:51|Editor: Yurou

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TIRANA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Albania's state police said Thursday that it had launched additional measures to boost public security as well as to fight organized crime, serious crimes and illegal border passing.

According to a statement from state police, the decision to enhance security level was taken following the terrorist attacks in some European cities and threats for other attacks to be undertaken by Islamic State (IS).

Therefore, police informed that there would be an increased presence of police officers and agents in the terrain while the control measures during massive organizations such as cultural or sport events would be stricter.

An increased presence of police officers will be also seen in the commercial centers, objects with strategic importance, embassies, etc., as state police said.

"A higher number of police officers will be deployed to the border crossing points in order to carry out more detailed controls in cases when the border officers raise suspicions on certain persons, vehicles or objects," police said.

On the other hand, Albania's state police said the anti-terror structures were intensively working in the terrain to keep under constant monitoring the persons with radical views or their connections.

According to police, these structures had also intensified their cooperation with the Albanian prosecution office and the state intelligence department as well as partner institutions in other countries in order to share information and manage to prevent, uncover and detain any suspect intending to undertake a terrorist attack.

Albanian state police sought the understanding of citizens for such additional security measures put in place while it called on them to denounce any suspicious case, assuring them of confidentiality and professional reaction.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 18:31:56|Editor: Yurou

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RAMALLAH, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Abbas' spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeinah said Thursday that the visit of the U.S. delegation to the West Bank city of Ramallah and their meeting with Abbas are crucial and important.

Abu Rudeinah said that President Abbas has held consultation with Jordanian Monarch Abdullah II and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, following their meetings with the U.S. delegation.

The delegation consists of U.S. President's special envoy Jason Greenblatt, U.S. President's adviser Jared Kushner and Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Powell.

Their regional tour included talks with Saudi, Qatari, UAE, Egyptian and Jordanian officials.

According to the official Palestinian news agency (WAFA), Abu Rudeinah described this visit as primarily important.

He said that "this could create a new opportunity to achieve peace based on the two-state solution and the Arab Peace Initiative that would halt the deterioration in the peace process."

Meanwhile, Palestinian officials have repeatedly complained that Israel's settlement activity continues despite the U.S. peace efforts.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 18:31:58|Editor: Yurou

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LONDON, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon on Thursday described as "very welcome" U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to reinforce American forces in war-torn Afghanistan, but gave no word on any possible extra military involvement called for by Trump.

In a statement issued in London, the British Ministry of Defense (MOD) gave no indication how it would respond to Trump's call for allies, including Britain, to match the U.S. involvement.

A spokesman for the MOD told Xinhua that "the UK agrees that a political solution with the Taliban is the only way to achieve lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region."

"The UK is committed to supporting a peace and reconciliation process that is Afghan-led and Afghan owned," the spokesman said.

Fallon, who has been briefed on Trump's announcement by his U.S. counterpart Jim Mattis, said in a statement given to Xinhua that "the U.S. commitment is very welcome. In my call with Secretary Mattis we agreed that despite the challenges, we have to stay the course in Afghanistan to help build up its fragile democracy and reduce the terrorist threat to the West."

"It's in all our interests that Afghanistan becomes more prosperous and safer: that's why we announced our own troop increase back in June," he said.

However, Ton Newton Dunn, the respected commentator and political editor of the tabloid Sun newspaper, said British Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to look at sending more British air force spy planes and drones to Afghanistan.

But May will stop short of any extra troops, added Newton Dunn, who said the prime minister was under growing pressure to match Trump's 4,000-strong reinforcement of U.S. forces in the warring country.

There are currently up to 585 British troops stationed in Afghanistan alongside 8,400 American soldiers. This includes the 85 additional military advisers the MOD has already pledged to Afghanistan.

It a separate statement, the MOD said that "As announced in June, we are already in the process of deploying an additional 85 British military personnel to Afghanistan, bringing our total contribution to 585."

"Britain and our allies have an enduring commitment to Afghanistan, and this support helps to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for terror," the statement said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 18:37:03|Editor: Yurou

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THE HAGUE, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Dutch police arrested a man in the province of North Brabant on early Thursday morning in connection with the terror threat at a concert in Rotterdam a day earlier.

At around 2 a.m. (0000 GMT) Thursday, a special unit of the national police entered the house of the 22-year-old suspect and arrested him, the police stated. His house was also investigated.

On Wednesday night the police arrested a Spanish man driving a van with a Spanish license plate. He drew the attention of a police officer, when he drove along Mijnsherenlaan street. Police found gas canisters in the van.

Earlier before the arrest, a pop concert by Allah-Las, a U.S. pop group from California, was canceled by police due to a terror threat.

The link between the van and the terror threat at the Maassilo concert hall is being investigated. "It is too early to draw conclusions," said Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb.

On Wednesday afternoon, mayor of Rotterdam Ahmed Aboutaleb received a warning of a terror threat from the Spanish police, who are on extra alert after the recent attacks in Spain.

The message was that a terrorist attack was planned during the concert. According to the mayor, the threat was serious enough to cancel the event.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 18:37:05|Editor: Yurou

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By Abu Hanifah

JAKARTA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia is facing another trade barrier in its palm oil commodity exports after the one applied by European Community (EC) in April over green issue.

The freshest challenge was received from the Indian government which recently increased its import duty for Indonesian crude palm oil (CPO) entering the nation by 100 percent from 7.5-15 percent.

Moreover, the Indian government also raised import tariff of CPO derived products from 15 percent to 25 percent.

Indonesia regarded India's move to increase its tariff on Indonesian CPO palm oil products as an effort to impede the nation's prime export commodity after the one applied in Europe.

Indonesia's Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita said that the nation has to take serious attention on such an issue as it may prompt export reduction to India, a major market for Indonesian commodities.

"Indonesia's food industry has put India in number three of five largest economies that receive their products, including food processed products," the minister said recently.

He said that his office had already made contacts with Indian government related to Indonesia's complaint on India's increasing tariff for crude palm oil and its derived products.

Indonesia seized surplus in its bilateral trade with India at 4.21 billion U.S. dollars in the first five months this year, continuing the one it gained at 7.23 billion dollars throughout last year, according to data released by the trade ministry.

Apart from that, India also increased its import tariff for Indonesian vegetables oil, applied on soy oil from 12 to 17.5 percent and sunflower oil from 12.5 percent to 17.5 percent, adding up to the blows Indonesia to receive in its exports to India.

Indonesia, the world's largest palm oil exporter, saw its CPO exports to India grew significantly 43 percent to 3.8 million tons in the first half this year from 2.6 million tons in the corresponding period last year.

Indonesia and the second largest palm oil producer country, Malaysia, are now fighting against the European Community (EC) resolution on palm oil products that may further disrupt export of the commodity in Europe.

The EC ratified the resolution on Palm Oil and Deforestation of Rainforest that may prompt further difficulties to export Indonesian and Malaysian CPO and derived products to Europe.

Indonesia and Malaysia said that environmental issue should not be used as means to discriminate or restrict trade.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 18:37:06|Editor: ying

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GENEVA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Eight people are missing following a landslide in eastern Switzerland, local media and police said on Thursday.

Searching and rescue operations are still on the way to find the missing ones, who are from Switzerland, Germany and Austria, local police said.

The landslide occurred on Wednesday in the Val Bondasca region of canton Graubunden, but initially no casualties were reported.

Local media said that about 100 inhabitants of the mountain village of Bondo were evacuated as a precaution, who as of midday on Thursday could still not return home.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 18:42:13|Editor: An

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ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- A two-day health conference dubbed, Acting on the Call 2017, kicked off on Thursday in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa to deliberate on ways of addressing challenges of maternal and child health.

Under the theme, "Overcoming critical barriers to maternal and child survival," the conference shares the best practices, lessons learned, and challenges while celebrating the progress to date.

It also deliberates on ways of reaching the 2030 targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as it relates to the Global Strategy for Women's, Children's and Adolescents' Health.

Officially opening the conference, President Mulatu Teshome of Ethiopia underlined the need to employ joint efforts, commitment and clear directions and effective investment towards ending preventable maternal and child deaths.

He stated that extraordinary progress has been achieved over the past five decades in ensuring healthy lives for children, as child mortality rates around the world have been cut in half.

Recognizing the achievements in the past few decades, the President called for strengthened efforts to address the challenges of maternal and child health, which he said are especially prevalent in developing countries, with significant discrepancies even within countries.

Globally 303,000 mothers and 5.9 million children die each other. This includes the 2.6 million newborns who die in their first month and almost one million on their first day of life.

Approximately, 2.4 million maternal, perinatal, neonatal, and child deaths would be averted annually if the complete package of evidence-based interventions that can be provided at the community level reached all who need them, according to the organizers.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 19:22:37|Editor: Yurou

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KIEV, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine celebrated its 26th independence anniversary on Thursday with a military parade in central Kiev, which involved foreign troops.

About 4,500 servicemen from the Ukrainian armed forces, the National Guard, the State Border Service and the police participated in the ceremony held in Khreschatyk -- the central street of the Ukrainian capital.

The parade involved more than 230 servicemen from 10 foreign countries, including Britain, Georgia, Canada, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, the United States, Latvia, Romania, and Estonia.

This year, no military equipment was rolled through Khreschatyk during the parade, but a major exhibition of military hardware opened nearby, showcasing 70 units of Ukraine-made military vehicles and weaponry, including 25 newly-developed samples.

Among the audience of the parade was Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman and Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak, who were joined by high-ranking foreign guests, including the U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis and defense chiefs from nine other countries.

In an address during the parade, Poroshenko praised the Ukrainian army, saying it is currently "in better shape than ever", while pledging to do his utmost to resolve conflicts through diplomatic means.

"Ukraine is ready to give a tough military response if an aggressor launches an offensive. But still, a peaceful, diplomatic, political and legal way is a priority for us," he said.

The celebrations were held under heightened security measures, with about 7,000 law enforcement officers guarding the streets of Kiev, 17 percent more than last year.

Ukraine won independence from the former Soviet Union on Aug. 24, 1991, a day marked as its Independence Day. The East European country held its first Independence Day parade in 1994, and made it an annual event in 2014 when the conflict between government troops and pro-independence insurgents started in the eastern part of the country.

Last year, about 4,000 troops and 200 military vehicles participated in the Independence Day parade.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 19:22:39|Editor: Yurou

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DAMASCUS, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army and allied fighters completed a siege on the Islamic State (IS) militants in 2,000 square km of desert in the central province of Homs, a military source told Xinhua on Thursday.

The military forces fully captured the strategic Dahek mountain and Khirbet Tala as well as Wadi Abu Qilleh in the northeastern countryside of Homs on Thursday, the source said on condition of anonymity.

The new advance has enabled the Syrian army to lay a siege on IS in a desert area of 2,000 square km in the remote eastern countryside of Homs.

The Syrian army and allied fighters have been advancing to siege IS in the desert from two directions. The first is through the eastern countryside of Homs, particularly after they captured the city of Al-Sukhnah; the second is advancing from the southern countryside of Raqqa province, namely from the city of Rasafeh.

The advancing troops from Sukhneh and from Rasafeh met after capturing the aforementioned areas in the desert, laying thus a siege on the IS militants.

This siege is the second to take place, as most recently the Syrian forces laid a siege on IS-held areas in the nearby central province of Hama, more specifically in the areas under the control of IS in the northern countryside of Hama.

The currently underway military operations in the Syrian desert aim to reach the key Deir al-Zour province in eastern Syria, near Iraq, as part of the military will to break the IS siege on the city and reach the besieged civilians and soldiers inside.

So far, the Syrian army has been airdropping food and aid to the besieged people of Deir al-Zour due to the suffocating years long siege by the terror-designated group.

To the south, the Lebanese Hezbollah fighters and the Syrian army are tightening the noose on IS in the barrens of Qara in the western Qalamoun region near Lebanon, the military source said.

He added that the troops captured several hilltops and crossings in that mountainous region, where the Syrian army and Hezbollah have been on a crushing offensive to end IS presence on the borderline between Lebanon and Syria since Aug. 19.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 19:27:45|Editor: Yurou

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GENEVA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Office of Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) on Thursday said it has filed an indictment in the Federal Criminal Court against a 30-year-old woman from the Zurich area, who is suspected of "Jihadi traveling".

The OAG accuses the woman of offences under the Federal Act on the Proscription of Al-Qaeda, Islamic State and Associated Organizations.

The Swiss agency claims to have proof that the woman, a Swiss citizen, traveled illegally in December 2015 with her then 4-year-old child from Egypt to Greece with the intention of reaching Syria via Turkey in order to join so-called Islamic State.

The woman then was prevented from continuing her journey by the Greek authorities and later arrested at Zurich airport on her return to Switzerland in January 2016.

The OAG said it will submit its proposal for the sentence at the main hearing before the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona, and as an indictment has been filed, the Federal Criminal Court is now responsible for providing further information.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 20:08:13|Editor: Yurou

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TEHRAN, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry on Thursday welcomed Doha's decision to return its ambassador to Tehran to continue its diplomatic mission.

"The decision is a logical and positive move by Qatar," Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said.

"Iran is prepared to have better ties with its neighbors based on the mutual respect and mutual interests," said Qasemi.

In an official statement by the Qatari foreign ministry on Thursday, the country said it had decided to return its ambassador to Iran and expressed its aspiration to strengthen bilateral ties with Iran in all fields.

The statement did not specify the time of the ambassador's return to Iran.

Qatar has withdrawn its ambassador from Iran in January 2016, after Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran accusing the latter of failing to protect its embassy in Tehran and consulate in Mashahd against demonstrators who had ransacked them.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 20:13:15|Editor: Yurou

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JAKARTA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Metal industry in Indonesia recorded a 7.5 percent growth from April to June, the highest expansion in the sector of manufacture in the country, a senior government official said here on Thursday.

Director General of Metal, Machinery, Mode of Transportation and Electronics of Industry Ministry I Gusti Putu Suryawirawan urged consumers to use more domestic manufactured metal products.

"Growth momentum of metal industry must be continuously maintained or accelerated at a faster pace, by creating a favorable climate for business for investors," he said.

To further develop the industry, the director said that the country needs to boost competitiveness on the industry.

A huge reserve of raw materials must be used better to manufacture products with a better quality, he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 20:13:18|Editor: An

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BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- A spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Thursday that India should follow WTO rules and avoid abusing trade remedy measures.

"India has always been an active user of anti-dumping measures as a member of the WTO," spokesperson Gao Feng said at a press conference.

Since 1994, India has launched 212 anti-dumping investigations against Chinese products, with 13 investigations launched this year. The country currently has 93 anti-dumping measures against China, according to Gao.

"China is highly concerned with India's trend of frequent investigations and asks India to use trade remedy measures in a prudent and restrained manner," Gao said.

China will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies and support their efforts to respond to the cases, he added.

"As BRICS nations and large developing countries, China and India should work together in championing the free and open multilateral trade mechanism," said Gao.

BRICS is an emerging-market bloc grouping Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Leaders of the five countries are scheduled to meet in early September in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian Province.

China is willing to make joint efforts with India to build a platform for industrial dialogues and negotiations to resolve trade frictions and achieve mutually beneficial results, Gao said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 20:33:27|Editor: Yurou

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TOKYO, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said on Thursday that it has been sued by 157 individuals in a court in the United States for 5 billion U.S. dollars in damages over the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

The plaintiffs, including crew members on board the USS Ronald Reagan during the 2011 disaster, said the amount would be used to set up a compensation fund for the costs of medical tests and treatment for recovery efforts from radiation exposure they suffered.

The suit, filed on Aug. 18 with the Southern District Court in California, was the second one that hit TEPCO in the United States, following a similar suit filed in 2013 which has 239 plaintiffs registered as of Thursday.

TEPCO, operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, has been hit with a number of lawsuits for alleged negligence or improper design, construction and maintenance of the nuclear facilities.

A local court in Gunma prefecture, central Japan, ruled in March that the Japanese government and TEPCO were liable for negligence in the Fukushima disaster and shall pay a total of 38.55 million yen (352,500 U.S. dollars) to some 137 evacuees from Fukushima in Gunma prefecture for their sufferings.

For another case, the first criminal one after the disaster, three former TEPCO executives appeared in court in June and pleaded not guilty to professional negligence for the fatal meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March 2011.

A magnitude-9 earthquake struck eastern Japan in March 2011, triggering a devastating tsunami and killing more than 15,000 people.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, operated by TEPCO, was severely damaged by the quake and tsunami and three of its reactors suffered meltdowns due to loss of cooling power, spewing radiation and forcing some 160,000 residents in neighboring areas to flee.

TEPCO, which was bailed out by the government, has been grappling with the lengthy task of decommissioning the plant and carrying out ongoing decontamination and radiation cleanup work which is likely to take decades.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 20:38:29|Editor: An

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SHENYANG, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Two separate military drills were launched Tuesday and Thursday in different training bases in north China.

The drills will both feature long-distance delivery of troops and experiments on new combat models for the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) army.

They will also highlight the use of new combat forces and joint operations, said Zhao Yu, deputy commander of the 80th Army Group, which is participating in one of the drills.

The PLA army will hold nine special large-scale drills in different training bases during 2017, according to its annual training plan.

A major structural reform of the army took place earlier this year, with 18 army groups reorganized into 13.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 20:38:30|Editor: Yurou

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CAIRO, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian police killed on Thursday two members of a militant group believed to be loyal to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group north of Cairo, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

The police launched a raid on their hideout in Beheira province, before the gunmen started shooting at the police which led to a fire exchange that left them dead at an apartment they hired in Wady al-Natroun city for making explosive devices.

"A large amount of chemicals used for making explosive devices was seized following the raid," said the statement.

Hasm group, the organization that the two gunmen were loyal to, claimed responsibility for a number of terrorist attacks that killed several policemen in Egypt.

Since March, similar security operations killed at least 40 Hasm members and in the provinces of Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Beheira, Fayoum, Qalioubiya, Minufiya and Ismailia.

Egypt has been fighting against a wave of terror activities that killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the military toppled former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule and his Brotherhood group.

Terror attacks in Egypt used to be centered in North Sinai before spreading nationwide, with most of them claimed by a Sinai-based group loyal to the regional Islamic State (IS) militant group.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian military and police have killed hundreds of militants and arrested a similar number of suspects as part of the country's anti-terror war declared by President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, the army chief then, following Morsi's removal.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 20:48:36|Editor: Yamei

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A pattern is seen in a rice field in Sishilidian Village of Changxin Town, Helan County of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Aug. 16, 2017. Helan, a rice producing county near the Yellow River, is introducing a more environment friendly planting system that incorporates fish culture in the paddy field, using less fertilizer and pesticide. Meanwhile a series of field patterns are created to boost the local tourism. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)

BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- China is aiming high in pursuing green development and boosting its energy-saving and environmental protection industries, with green financing one of the key areas to be tapped.

The country is expecting output of its environmental protection equipment manufacturing industry to reach 1 trillion yuan (about 150 billion U.S. dollars) by 2020.

The goal is set in the guidelines on the development of environmental protection equipment manufacturing industry released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to solicit public opinions on Wednesday.

Describing the industry as an important technical foundation for environmental protection, the guidelines highlighted fiscal and financial support for the sector, including tax breaks as well as providing other financing instruments like green bonds and green credit.

The Chinese government has been pushing for the development of green finance in order to seek sustainable growth and honor its commitments on addressing climate change, and the market is still waiting to be explored.

There has been consensus ranging from the top decision-making level to related government departments to support the country's green financing and investment, Ma Jun, chief economist with the central bank's research bureau, said last year.

Detailed plans are being rolled out at local level after the central government set up pilot zones in June to explore replicable ways to boost green financing.

In Guian New District, Guizhou Province, one of the country's five pilot zones, a brokerage firm for green securities, where companies will need to pass environmental inspections before they get listed or re-financing, is now in the planning.

Moutai Group, a renowned Chinese liquor maker in Guizhou, was one of the major players behind its establishment, according to the plan.

In northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, local authorities are discussing a system to provide green financial products such as insurance for wind or solar power generation indexes and special credit for green mines.

Despite fast progress, Ji Xiaonan, former chairperson of the Board of Supervisors for Key Large-Sized State-Owned Enterprises, said there is still a huge funding gap in China's environmental sector.

He estimated that investment demand in China's green industries totals at least 2 trillion yuan annually, but only 15 percent of that is fulfilled by government finance and the rest of it needs to be covered by other funding sources.

According to credit rating agency Moody's, green bond issues worldwide hit a record high of 93.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2016, rising 120 percent from a year earlier, bolstered by China-based issuers.

China accounted for nearly 40 percent of new green bonds last year, followed by the United States, France and Germany, said Moody's.

Ji said there should be more green insurance products, as industries related to noise, light and nuclear pollution have yet to be covered.

Meanwhile, as investment returns from green projects are usually slower to come than from other projects, the government needs to work on how to encourage private investment into the green financial sector, he said.

Experts have also warned of possible risks from the fast development of green finance, and said that a risk prevention mechanism must be established to ensure its healthy development.

A system should be set up to check the details of green projects from project registration to how the funds are spent, according to An Guojun, an associate researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Professional third-party agencies should step in and play a role to ensure that green funding goes to green projects, she said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 20:48:39|Editor: Yurou

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by Christine Lagat

NAIROBI, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's ministry of foreign affairs will next week convene a forum on fast-tracking the process of joining World Trade Organization(WTO) by countries in the greater Horn of Africa region.

Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary, Amina Mohamed, said the Aug. 28-30 regional conference will build on previous initiatives aimed at facilitating Horn of Africa countries to become part of the multilateral trading regime.

"The regional dialogue meeting has been convened for four African countries from the greater horn of Africa region that are in the process of acceding to WTO," said Mohamed.

The target countries include Union of Comoros, Federal Republic of Ethiopia, Federal Republic of Somalia and Republic of the Sudan.

South Sudan which has expressed interest to join WTO will also participate, she added.

The foreign minister revealed that China, Liberia, Oman, Yemen and Seychelles have also been invited to attend the regional forum.

"Their participation is significant as they are expected to share their accession experiences," said Mohamed, adding that representatives of multilateral institutions and regional trade blocs will also be in attendance.

Senior policymakers, diplomats and experts from the Horn of Africa region will attend the Nairobi forum that aims to revitalize the momentum towards securing membership to WTO.

Mohamed said delegates will agree on a raft of resolutions aimed at positioning Horn of Africa states to become key players in global trade.

"The regional dialogue conference will offer a platform to exchange experiences and lessons learned from accession processes in the region. Delegates will reflect on ways in which the WTO membership can foster regional integration and cooperation," Mohamed told reporters.

She added the forum will inspire other African countries to lend support towards establishment of a fair multilateral trading regime.

Kenya hosted the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC10) in December 2015 when Liberia and Afghanistan formally joined WTO.

Mohamed said the Nairobi meeting laid a foundation for a just and inclusive global trading system that has inspired confidence among African states.

"Currently, 8 out of 21 countries on the queue for WTO membership are from Africa and several lie within the greater horn of Africa," said Mohamed.

She disclosed that Kenya will provide technical expertise to neighboring countries to hasten their accession to WTO.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 20:48:41|Editor: Yurou

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JAKARTA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia is keen to see more visitors from Vietnam with the direct flight opening from Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) to Jakarta scheduled in December, an Indonesian minister said Thursday.

The opening of the direct flights of Vietnam's budget airlines Vietjet Air would not only bring Vietnam national visitors but also visitors from other nationalities visiting the country, Indonesian Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said here.

"With 24 percent growth, Vietnam's tourism industry is one of the fastest-growing ones among ASEAN countries besides Indonesia. The two nations were listed among 20 fastest growing countries in the world's tourism industry as well," Arief said to welcome the planned direct flight opening.

The tourism ministry learned that arrivals of visitors from Vietnam have been increasing in the last few years with around 60,000 ones recorded throughout in 2016 from 44,000 ones recorded in 2015.

VietJet Air Commercial Vice Director Jay L. Lingeswara said the airlines has been targeting Indonesia for its huge business potentialities.

Vietjet Air planned HCMC-Jakarta direct flight service would add to the existing one served by Vietnam Airlines which serves once a day.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 21:24:00|Editor: An

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Liu Yunshan, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, visits the 24th Beijing International Book Fair, in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 24, 2017. (Xinhua/Ding Lin)

BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Senior Chinese official Liu Yunshan Thursday asked publishers to have confidence in Chinese culture and promote the country to become a strong power in publication industry.

Liu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks while visiting the 24th Beijing International Book Fair.

Publishers should pay more attention to content and improve their abilities in international communication to maintain the prosperous development of the industry, Liu said.

The top priorities for China's publication industry at present are to publish high-quality works and create a good atmosphere ahead of the 19th CPC National Congress, he said.

Liu asked publishers to carry forward the spirit of innovation, deepen industrial reform, and integrate traditional methods with digital publication.

During a visit to a photographic exhibition jointly held by Xinhua News Agency and the Islamic Republic News Agency, Liu expressed his hope that China and Iran can seize the opportunity provided by the Belt and Road Initiative to broaden publishing cooperation and expand people-to-people communication.

The book fair, which runs from Aug. 23 to 27, has attracted 2,511 exhibitors at home and abroad.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 21:29:05|Editor: Yurou

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LUSAKA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- A state-run railway firm on Thursday said a passenger train that derailed in the southern part of Zambia was caused by acts of sabotage.

A passenger train that was traveling from Lusaka, the country's capital to the southern city of Livingstone derailed in Magoye district on Wednesday noon, leaving one person dead and 12 injured.

The Zambia Railways Limited said investigations have established that the derailment was due to missing railway components called 'fish bolts' and 'fish plates' used for joining the rail which were vandalized.

"This could have led to massive loss of lives, had it not been to the quick action and professionalism of the Zambia Railways crew," it said in a statement.

The company further said it was losing colossal sums of money in repair and replacement of infrastructure due to acts of vandalism and sabotage.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 21:39:18|Editor: Yurou

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BAGHDAD, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Up to 25 Islamic State (IS) militants were killed in airstrike by Iraqi aircraft on IS post near the Iraqi-Syrian border, the Iraqi military said on Thursday.

Based on intelligence reports, the Iraqi aircraft bombarded an IS post at Abu Saad farm near the city of al-Qaim, some 470 km west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement.

The Iraqi aircraft frequently carried out airstrikes on IS headquarters and their posts in and near the city of al-Qaim as well as the nearby towns and villages which are still under IS control in Iraq's western province of Anbar.

The latest airstrike came as the Iraqi security forces backed by anti-IS international coalition are carrying out an offensive to drive out the IS militants from its stronghold in and around Tal Afar in Iraq's northern province of Nineveh.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 21:44:20|Editor: Yurou

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MANAMA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Bahrain's Interior Ministry on Thursday announced it busted a terror cell of 10 members planning to carry out attacks in the country.

The ministry said that as part of its counter-terrorism operations, they had identified a cell with links to the outlawed terror group Saraya Al Ashtar.

"The investigation has led to the seizing of quantities of explosives in the residential areas of Demistan, Karzakan, Malkiya and Dar Kulaib villages that are used as workshops to make bombs and store materials for the purpose," said the ministry.

It said a total of 127 kg of explosives and bomb-making materials had been seized from the above locations, including more than 24 kg of C4, chemicals and ready-to-use bombs.

The ministry said that the Bahraini court decided to send the group leader to life imprisonment for three cases and 15 years in jail in another case.

"He is involved in setting up and controlling various terror cells and planning terrorist crimes which resulted in the deaths of a number of policemen," said the statement.

Seven of the cell members have been arrested, including a woman, while the police are still hunting down the remaining suspects.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 21:54:24|Editor: An

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BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang ordered reforms to streamline the approval procedures on the market access for industrial products to support the development of new technology.

The government should focus on improving regulation after market entry and create a fair and just market environment, according to written instructions from the premier given at a recent meeting in Suqian, east China's Jiangsu Province.

Despite consumption upgrades and a rising number of new industrial products, domestic manufacturers are still plagued by high institutional transaction costs resulting from rigid market entry control.

"Manufacturing is the significant foundation of the real economy," Li said, pointing out that an easier market access for industrial products should be a crucial part in government work to cut red tape and improve services.

China will continue to deepen the supply-side structural reform and transform government functions, Li said.

Meanwhile, regulators should strengthen supervision of products with high safety risks and ensure market order, Li said. "There should be nowhere to hide for counterfeit and shoddy products."

Li said a level playing field will help the upgrades of the country's manufacturing sector.

Echoing Li's remarks, State Councilor Wang Yong asked governments at all levels to step up simplifying administrative approval and improve supervision during the meeting.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 22:14:42|Editor: Yamei

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A visitor experiences a bionic arm installation during the World Robot Conference 2017 in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 24, 2017. During the 5-day event, people came to Beijing Yichuang International Conference and Exhibition Center, experiencing the technology of robot and the possibility of future life. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Imagine it. You wake up in the morning and your robot housekeeper makes your bed, cooks breakfast and cleans the floors. Minutes later a driverless car whisks the kids off to school, while a robot nurse cares for you elderly parents. You arrive at the office only to find robots have done half of your work.

Such thoughts were once the stuff of science fiction, but robots are increasingly taking part in the real world.

MEET ALPHA 2

"Hello, Alpha, I'm back."

"Hello. Welcome home," says Alpha 2, while automatically switching on the lights, air-conditioner and television.

Voice-controlled humanoid butler Alpha 2 has been charming crowds at the ongoing 2017 World Robot Conference in Beijing.

Created by Chinese firm UBTech Robotics, Alpha 2 is able to do anything from housework and finding weather reports to dancing and reading children their bedtime stories.

"Robots are important in providing companionship and service at home," says Li Zhen, general manager with UBTech's brand department. "For the elderly who find it difficult to fetch a remote control or switch on the air-conditioner, these things can be done by robots."

Once pure fantasy, intelligent machines are becoming increasingly common. In the future, family-friendly Alpha 2 will have even more functions.

DELIVERY ROBOTS

In another booth at the exhibition hall, Chinese e-commerce platform JD.com is displaying its robot courier and drone. If used widely in the future, it will reduce costs and raise efficiency in the logistics sector.

The company uses a white robot courier, weighing around 200 kg, in at least four universities, according to Zhang Zhitong, senior manager with JD.com's PR department.

The robot courier is capable of avoiding obstacles and mainly used in urban areas. For remote rural areas, JD.com is developing drones that can deliver packages by passing through mountains, rivers and forests.

Zhang says that dozens of drones are being used in the city of Xi'an in Shaanxi Province, and the city of Suqian in Jiangsu Province. Last month alone, more than 3,000 orders were delivered by drone in Suqian.

China's logistics costs accounted for 14.9 percent of GDP in 2016.

"The ratio was significantly higher than developed economies," Zhang says. "Lower logistics cost will have a great impact on Chinese society."

Some worry the robots will cause workers to lose their jobs, but Zhang disagrees.

"The technological revolution will not lead to unemployment. It will push people to adjust to new jobs. Delivery workers can learn about managing and maintaining robots or flying drones," he says.

HEALTHCARE ROBOTS

While parcels can be delivered to your hand by robots, a robot known as Bestic can even feed you with a spoon.

Developed by Sweden-based Camanio Care, Bestic acts as a human arm to feed the user, mostly the elderly or those with difficulties using their arms or hands. It can increase meal-time independence and allow users to enjoy meals in their own space.

Bestic costs around 4,000 euros overseas, but its price in China has not yet been decided, says Lu Tonghua, product manager with Zhongrui Funing Robotics Technology (Beijing), whose parent company is an agent and shareholder of Camanio Care.

Lu says the robot will be adjusted to Chinese eating habits in the future. "For example, Chinese elderly like to eat soup or noodles. A spoon alone is not enough."

He says that more than ten nursing homes have shown a willingness to purchase the robot.

If robots that can feed and wash people are not so surprising, what if you doctor was even a robot? Well, if surgical robot system Da Vinci is anything to go by, robot doctors might not be so far off.

In the robot conference exhibition hall, a video shows a surgeon sitting in front of a console and operating robotic arms to remove parts of a patient's liver.

The Da Vinci surgical system, made by the American company Intuitive Surgical, is designed to facilitate complex surgery using a minimally invasive approach, and is controlled by a surgeon from a console.

China is equipped with more than 60 costly Da Vinci surgical systems. In 2016, they performed over 10,000 operations.

APPLICATIONS ABOUND

It is not just in the fields of home service, package delivery and healthcare that robots are transforming lives. They are also being used to battle fires, serve restaurant customers and even write news reports.

Robotics is a booming market. The International Federation of Robotics forecasts that China's robotics industry will be worth 6.28 billion U.S. dollars this year, after exceeding 5 billion dollars for the first time in 2016.

China is now in the critical stage of its "Made in China 2025" blueprint, a plan to move manufacturing up on the value chain, developing several key sectors, including robotics.

However, its robot density -- measured by the number of robots per 10,000 manufacturing workers -- was 49 in 2015, compared with the world average of 69. There is still plenty of room for growth.

Robots are not necessarily welcome in all fields, and people are anxious about their capacity to cause harm. Scientists from around the world have called on the United Nations to take action to stop the proliferation of "killer robots."

Wang Feiyue, with the Institute of Automation at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that people do not need to worry about artificial intelligence.

"Some see it a disaster, which will result in unemployment," he says. "But it is not the case. After the steam engine was invented in the industrial revolution, people had similar anxiety. But they were not replaced. They still had jobs, working with the help of machines."

He agrees that problems might crop up in the short term, but believes this can be handled.

"In the long run, robots will not replace human workers. Maybe 90 percent of the work could be done with the help of robots," he says. "Human beings are masters, not slaves, of artificial intelligence."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 22:25:03|Editor: Yurou

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BRASILIA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- At least five people were killed after a ship sank in Salvador, capital city of Brazil's eastern state of Bahia, confirmed navy.

It is the second shipwreck in Brazil within two days as a ship sank overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday on the Xingu river in northern Para state in the Amazon region, leaving at least 19 people dead.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 22:40:12|Editor: ying

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GENEVA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Local police in eastern Switzerland's canton Graubunden on Thursday told a press briefing that up to 14 people went missing following a landslide near a village near the border with Italy.

The landslide occurred on Wednesday in the Val Bondasca region of canton Graubunden. Initially no casualties were reported.

Earlier on Thursday morning, local police said eight people went missing as a result of the disaster. They refreshed the casualties, saying that a separate group of six people may also be missing during the huge flow of rocks and mud in the area.

Those missing were described as hikers and climbers respectively from Switzerland, Germany and Austria, local police said. No children or locals from the region were among those reported missing.

According to the police, rescue teams including 120 rescue workers, an army helicopter using thermal sensing technology as well as rescue dogs are still underway.

Local media said that about 100 inhabitants of the mountain village of Bondo were also evacuated as a precaution, who as of midday on Thursday could still not return home.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 23:10:29|Editor: ying

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte wears a bulletproof vest and helmet with government troops in Marawi City, the Philippines, August 24, 2017. Duterte visited the government troops in Marawi City on Thursday. (Xinhua/Presidential Photo)

MANILA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte spent two hours on Thursday with troops fighting to retake the rest of the southern Philippine Marawi City from the remaining 50 Islamist extremists.

It was Duterte's third visit to the city since war erupted on May 23. The three-month conflict has so far killed nearly 800 people, including 129 security personnel, 595 militants and 45 civilians.

Col. Romeo Brawner, the deputy commander of the military contingent in Marawi, said that the president arrived around 4:00 p.m. local time and spent nearly a couple of hours talking with the soldiers.

Brawner said Duterte stayed in the "main battle area" and congratulated the troops for the progress of the ongoing offensive against the militants allied with ISIS.

"He reminded soldiers of their ties and responsibilities, to serve (the country). He also talked about corruption, and told the soldiers to focus on their job," Brawner said.

Lt. Col. Emmanuel Garcia, chief of the military's Civil Relations Service in the area, added that Duterte lauded the troops for retaking the Islamic center on Thursday morning.

A few hours before Duterte's arrival, the troops managed to gain control of a mosque that militants took over during the past weeks, but at least three soldiers were wounded in the offensive.

Displaced Marawi City students returned to school this week.

The military bused some 600 students to Marawi State University from nearby Iligan City where they are temporary sheltered after the war broke out.

The government plans to start the rehabilitation of the heavily-devastated city as soon as all the villages are clear.

The pro-ISIS Maute group attacked Marawi City on May 23, prompting Duterte to declare martial law in Mindanao a few hours after the attack.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 23:15:32|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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LONDON, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Fewer citizens from European Union (EU) countries moving to Britain led to a fall in net migration, representing the lowest level in Britain's net migration for three years, the British Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported Thursday.

ONS said long-term international migration was estimated to be 246,000 in the year ending March 2017, down 81,000 from 327,000 a year earlier.

The figures show that more than half of the change in migration is accounted for by a decrease in the number of EU nationals moving to Britain, which has fallen by 51,000 compared to last year.

At the same time, the number of Europeans leaving Britain during the year was up by 33,000, said the office.

There was a sharp rise of 17,000 citizens from the so-called EU8 countries departing and heading back to the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

ONS said it could be related to Brexit.

An ONS spokesperson said, "These results indicate that the EU referendum result may be influencing people's decision to migrate into and out of the UK, particularly EU and EU8 citizens. It is too early to tell if this is an indication of a long-term trend."

Meanwhile, the two big employer's organizations, the Institute of Directors (IOD) and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), both expressed alarm at the growing number of departing Europeans.

A spokesman for the IOD said, "Given unemployment (in Britain) is currently at its lowest level ever, without the three million EU citizens living here the UK would have an acute labor shortage. Signs that it is becoming a less attractive place to live and work are a concern."

Matthew Percival, head of employment at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said, "Against the backdrop of record employment and rising skills shortages, EU nationals make a crucial contribution to UK economic growth and job creation.

"This latest data reflects a trend many businesses have seen -- an increase in the number of EU citizens leaving the country," he said. "The loss of these vital skills should concern us all, underlining the importance of urgently providing certainty for millions of workers and their families."

Also of concern was a fall of 27,000 in the number of students heading to Britain to study. ONS described the reduced number as significant.

The biggest number of students was from non-EU countries, but accounting for 20,000 of the reduced number. It means the number of students heading to British universities from other continents has fallen.

ONS said 51,000 non-British citizens emigrated to return home, up from 34,000 a year earlier. Around 44,000 of those departing were EU citizens, up 20,000 from the 2016 total.

During the review year, 16,211 people were granted asylum by the British government or resettlement or an alternative form of protection, a 7-percent increase from 15,108 in the previous year.

The net migration figure is calculated by subtracting the number of people leaving from the number of those arriving.

The figure, still a significant six-figure number, remains higher than an eventual government goal to see migration drop to the "tens of thousands".
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 23:15:35|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress(NPC), holds talks with Ugandan Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 24, 2017. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislator Zhang Dejiang met with Ugandan Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga in Beijing Thursday, agreeing to deepen parliamentary communication and cooperation.

Zhang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), said China-Uganda relations have scored new achievements in recent years under the leadership of the two countries' presidents.

China is willing to enhance cooperation with Uganda in areas of infrastructure construction, energy and mineral resources development, processing and manufacturing, and agriculture, said Zhang.

As legislative bodies, the NPC and the Uganda parliament should work for a better legal environment for business between the two countries, he said.

China encourages and supports its enterprises to invest in Uganda, and also hopes that Uganda will help Chinese companies to resolve difficulties encountered in cooperation, said Zhang.

He suggested the two sides advance cooperation in tourism, education and culture in a bid to enrich bilateral cooperation.

China is ready to share experience with Uganda in state governance and legislation, especially the legislative experience in boosting the development of small and medium-sized enterprises and attracting foreign investment, he said.

Kadaga said the visit has increased her understanding about China.

The Ugandan parliament attaches great importance to bilateral friendship and is ready to work with the NPC to advance cooperation in agriculture, irrigation, education and environment protection, she said.

Uganda welcomes more investment from China, she added.

Kadaga is visiting China from Aug. 21 to 26.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 23:30:44|Editor: Yang Yi

Suspects in telecoms scams are brought back to China from Cambodia at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, Aug. 24, 2017. Cambodia on Thursday deported 122 Chinese nationals, including 16 women, suspected of operating a telecoms scam to extort money from victims in China, a senior police official said. (Xinhua/Wu Guangyu)

CHENGDU, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese police Thursday repatriated 122 telecom fraud suspects from Cambodia.

Two planes carrying the suspects touched down at Chengdu Shuangliu International airport in Sichuan Province Thursday night. Handcuffed and masked, each suspect was led by two police officers as they disembarked the aircraft.

The suspects were captured by Cambodian immigration officers in Poipet, Banteay Meanchey Province, on August 2. Mobile phones, bank cards, computers, and illegally collected personal information data of Chinese citizens were confiscated.

The Cambodian authorities acted on a tip-off from a team of Sichuan police, who went to Cambodia in June to investigate telecom fraud and had repatriated the first 17 suspects.

Sichuan police said they have repatriated 197 telecom fraud suspects from Cambodia and Indonesia so far this year.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 23:30:45|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ADDIS ABABA Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has pledged to build Ethiopia's capacity toward biodiversity conservation through enhanced management of protected areas.

The UNDP and the Ethiopian government on Thursday signed a project agreement that envisages building Ethiopia's capacity for biodiversity conservation through increased effectiveness of protected area management and implementation of measures to reduce illegal wildlife trade and poaching.

The project, which seeks to implement solutions to counter biodiversity threats, has already received close to 7.2 million U.S. dollars from the Global Environment Fund (GEF) and 200,000 U.S. dollars from the UNDP, while 34 million dollars will be allotted by the Ethiopian government, the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation (MoFEC) said during the signing ceremony.

Admassu Nebebe, Deputy Minister of MoFEC, said the project's four major components include protected area management and biodiversity conservation, implementation of anti-trafficking measures, landscape approach to forecast and agro-biodiversity conservation.

The Ethiopian government attaches paramount importance to the project and considers it as one of the projects that enhance the country's development endeavors, said Nebebe.

The project also aims to combat illegal wildlife trade, especially in the preservation of the decreasing population of elephants that have been targeted for illegal trade, it was noted.

The project will be implemented in partnership with the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority (EWCA) in five national parks in Ethiopia that have the largest elephant populations in the country, it was indicated.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 23:40:50|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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GENEVA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Deputy Special Envoy for Syria, Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy, said Thursday that an important development had taken place over the past few days regarding the political process of the Syria issue -- a meeting in Riyadh between various oppositions.

In a press briefing here on Thursday, Ramzy said that a more unified opposition delegation might appear so as to better facilitate the upcoming new round of peace talks in Geneva.

"It is important because based on our assessment of what has happened in Riyadh, we will decide as to how to move ahead in the future," he said.

Another important development is "the establishment yesterday in Amman of a monitoring center which includes the United States, the Russian Federation, and Jordan", he said.

"We hope this center will contribute to the speedy stabilization of the de-escalation zone in the south-west of Syria," he noted.

He also confirmed to reporters that the Astana, Kazakhstan talks on Syria previously scheduled for Sept. 6 and 7 had been postponed to the middle of the month for logistical reasons.

As for the next round of the Geneva talks on Syria, the UN official said that once they had a full picture as to what happened in Riyadh, they would hold further consultations with the interested parties. On the basis of that, a decision would be taken as to when the talks would take place.

UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said Aug. 17 that he may sponsor a "preparatory" round of peace talks on Syria in Geneva next month, but the "real substantive" talks would be scheduled for October.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-24 23:56:03|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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YEREVAN, Aug. 24 (Xinhua)-- Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan reiterated Armenia's determination to reach an exclusively peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with neighboring Azerbaijan at a joint press conference on Thursday.

The conference was held after the closed-door talks with visiting Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow.

Armenia is for the settlement of the conflict "based on the norms and principles of international law, provisions of the UN (United Nations) Charter, including refraining from the threat or use of force in international relations, territorial integrity, sovereign equality, and self-determination of peoples," said Sargsyan.

Sargsyan's announcement came amid a statement made on Wednesday by the American Acting Co-Chair of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Minsk Group, an international body with a mandate to broker a peaceful and negotiated resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The American diplomat proposed six major steps toward the settlement of the issue, including the return of certain territories to Azerbaijan, an interim status for Nagorno-Karabakh and a future plebiscite on the final legal status of the disputed territory based on mutual consent.
| 2017-08-25 06:02:44|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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LONDON, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The British government on Thursday launched its biggest ever probe into the social and economic impact in Britain of international students.

The British interior minister, Home Secretary Amber Rudd, commissioned the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to carry out the detailed study. The report is due in a year's time.

The move came at a time of intense debate about the role of foreign students in Britain.

The committee will look at the impact of both the European Union (EU) and non-EU students on the British labor market while they are residents in the island country.

Alongside the new study, Britain's first publication of exit checks data has shown the number of students who overstay in Britain after their visas have expired is low.

A spokesman for the British Home Office said, "The government has been clear that it is committed to keeping the doors open to genuine students, while at the same time taking action to crack down on immigration abuse from poor quality institutions that were damaging the UK's reputation as a provider of world-leading education."

The MAC will consider the impact of tuition fees and other spending by international students on the national, regional, and local economy and on the education sector in Britain.

The study will also show the role of the students in contributing to local economic growth and the impact their recruitment has on the provision and quality of education provided to domestic students

Rudd said, "There is no limit to the number of genuine international students who can come to the UK to study and the fact that we remain the second most popular global destination for those seeking higher education is something to be proud of."

A government report describes Britain as the second most popular destination for international students, with four British universities in the world's top 10, 16 in the top 100 and international student satisfaction in Britain at 91 percent for undergraduates.

Last year, Britain saw an increase of six percent in visa applications for Russell Group universities, a group formed in 1994 by 17 research universities, while visa applications sponsored by universities are 17 percent higher than they were in 2010.

Immigration Minister Brandon Lewis said, "We have always been clear that our commitment to reducing net migration to sustainable levels does not detract from our determination to attract international students from around the world."

Meanwhile, data published Thursday shows Britain does not have a major problem with foreign students abusing the immigration system by remaining in the country illegally.

Previous estimates showed a large gap between arrivals and departures of foreign nationals who come to Britain to study.

"There is no evidence of a major issue of non-EU students overstaying their entitlement to stay," the British Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a new report.
| 2017-08-25 06:03:32|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- China's environmental protection authority announced Thursday that 28 northern cities are aiming to lower a major air pollution indicator by at least 15 percent this coming winter.

Between October 2017 and March 2018, China will reduce the level of PM 2.5 pollution by at least 15 percent in the cities around the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, according to a plan released by the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

During that period, the number of heavily-polluted days will also be cut by more than 15 percent compared with one year earlier, the ministry said.

The ministry will intensify air quality monitoring, deal with companies operating unauthorized locations, lacking relevant certificates, or failing to meet emission standards, and control coal consumption in the region.

According to the plan, an organization will be set up to coordinate efforts to combat air pollution in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surrounding areas. It is expected to start trial operation before the end of September.

Winter typically brings higher air pollution to northern China because of a combination of weather conditions and an increase in the burning of coal for heating systems.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-25 00:06:06|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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JERUSALEM, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Israel charged Thursday a senior Islamic cleric with "incitement to terrorism" in speeches after a deadly attack on Israeli policemen in the East Jerusalem's contested holy site.

Raed Salah, the leader of the now-outlawed Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, was arrested on Aug. 15.

The indictment, submitted to the Haifa Magistrate Court in northern Israel by the Haifa District Attorney, accuses Salah of holding a mass prayer following the burial of the men who shot dead two Israeli police officers in East Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in July.

In the wake of the attack carried out by Palestinian-Arab citizens of Israel, Israel introduced new security measures at the gate of the Al-Aqsa compound, which sparked deadly clashes between Palestinian worshippers and Israeli police.

Salah has a history of clashes with Israeli authorities. In January, he was released from prison after completing a nine-month sentence for "incitement to violence" and "incitement to racism."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-25 00:36:31|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BRATISLAVA, Aug.24 (Xinhua) -- Slovak military police officers are currently operating along with their German colleagues in the Mediterranean Sea in EUNAVFOR MED Sophia military mission, the Slovak Defence Ministry's spokesperson Danka Capakova said on Thursday.

According to Capakova, their main task is to monitor the Libyan coast and to carry out related tasks against illegal migration in this area.

"The first stop of the military police officers after joining the operation in the German port of Wilhelmshaven was the Italian port city of Augusta, where materials and supplies were replenished. After that, they set off directly to sea on a German navy frigate," said Capakova.

Slovakia deployed the military police officers to the EUNAVFOR MED Sophia operation in the Mediterranean Sea as part of the country's contribution to the joint protection of the southern borders of the European Union.

"This is the first maritime operation that Slovakia has joined. The Slovak police officers will spend six months on the first tour of duty before being replaced by their Slovak colleagues for the second," added Capakova.

The EUNAVFOR MED Sophia operation is aimed at patrolling international waters close to the Libyan coast and at apprehending anyone suspected of smuggling migrants to Europe.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-25 00:51:46|Editor: ying

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ISLAMABAD, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's National Security Committee (NSC) rejected on Thursday allegations and insinuations against the country by U.S. President Donald Trump, saying scapegoating Pakistan will not help stabilize Afghanistan situation, according to an official statement.

The statement came following a NSC meeting chaired by Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Trump administration's South Asia strategy. The U.S. president accused Pakistan of harboring terrorists through its "safe havens" in his Tuesday remarks.

The NSC meeting was attended by the country's Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Navy as well as Air Force chiefs, heads of intelligence agencies, cabinet members in capital Islamabad.

"We would like to see effective and immediate U.S. military efforts to eliminate sanctuaries harboring terrorists and miscreants on the Afghan soil, including those responsible for fomenting terror in Pakistan," said the committee, advising the U.S. administration that the Afghan war cannot be fought in Pakistan.

Urging the United States to acknowledge Pakistan's sacrifices in the war on terror, the committee observed that Pakistan had to face the results of conflict in Afghanistan, including a deluge of refugees, a flow of drugs and arms, and terrorists' safe havens in eastern Afghanistan, where militant groups continue to operate and launch attacks inside Pakistan.

The NSC said that being Afghanistan's immediate neighbor, Pakistan has an abiding interest in peace and stability in the country.

The committee also said that Pakistan had taken indiscriminate actions against all terrorist networks and sacrificed tens of thousands of troops and civilians in this fight, which finally resulted in improved security in the country.

The committee stressed that instead of any financial or material assistance, there should be an understanding and recognition of Pakistan's efforts, contributions and sacrifice of thousands of Pakistanis and over 120 billion U.S. dollars of economic losses.

The NSC also reiterated Pakistan's resolve to continue to extend all possible cooperation to the international community for achieving the common objectives of peace and stability in Afghanistan and in the broader region.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-25 00:51:48|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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NAIROBI, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The UN refugee agency said Thursday it has repatriated some 70,516 Somali refugees from Kenya since the voluntary return exercise begun in December 2014.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in its bi-weekly update released in Nairobi that a total of 68,697 individuals from Dadaab refugee camp in northeast Kenya were assisted in the framework of voluntary return to Somalia.

The UN refugee agency said some 29,383 refugees returned in 2017 alone, noting that currently there are 18,274 registered refugees willing to return to Somalia.

"During the Kenyan election, the Return Help Desks (RHDs) have recorded reduced number of refugees willing to return. Arrangement has been put in place during the election period to ensure continuation of voluntary return by air without stoppage," UNHCR said.

The UN agency expressed its readiness to receive refugees returning home by road, adding that security assessment on road safety between Dadaab and Dhobley will be carried out after the Kenyan election prior to resumption of the road movements.

More than 2 million Somalis have been displaced in one of the world's most protracted humanitarian crises that have now entered its third decade.

An estimated 1.1 million people are displaced within Somalia and nearly 900,000 have become refugees in the region.

Experts say continuing political and security stabilization progress in Somalia, along with growing pressures in hosting countries, makes this a critical moment to renew efforts to find durable solutions for Somali refugees.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-25 00:56:51|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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KAYUNGA, Uganda, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Mariam Nabatanzi Babirye has five squeezed houses in her compound. It gives a semblance of a school as children run around playing.

The 37-year-old single mother, who has given birth to 38 children, is a known figure in the dusty small town of Kasawo in the central Ugandan district Kayunga.

With the alias Nalongo Muzaala Bana (the twin mother that produces quadruples), Babirye has delivered mostly twins, triplets and quadruplets.

Babirye's first assignment every day is to wash a heap of clothes for her children. She has to do it early in the morning to save time for other daily housework.

Breakfast time, the children seated in a circle. One loaf of bread was not enough and the children run to Babirye. She has to dig into her pockets to buy another loaf.

She did the counting, and 14 children have missed. She gives money to one of the children to go to the shop to get more bread.

Babirye's story did not have a happy start. Her mother abandoned her at young age following a break-out with her father.

At 12, Babirye's father married her off in exchange for cows, as per the cultural norm then.

She barely remembers her first pregnancy. She was 13 years old when she first got pregnant back in 1994. Those days, pregnant women in villages were going to Traditional Birth Attendant (TBA) to give birth. Babirye's own grandmother was a TBA.

Now Babirye has six sets of twins, four sets of triplets, three sets of quadruplets and two single births. She said at some point she had a miscarriage of five babies when she was five months pregnant.

Babirye delivered all these children at home except the last born. She tried several birth control plans but they could not work as she got severe side effects.

"I used to have a lot of side effects when I use family planning methods, so the health workers asked me to stop using them. They told me to continue giving birth or else I would die," she told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Local media reported that some doctors said her high ovary count could bring severe side effects to her if she stopped getting pregnant.

Charles Kiggundu, a consultant gynecologist at Uganda's national referral hospital, Mulago Hospital, argues that although it is not common, some women can have such a number of births.

He said that scientifically every month a woman recruits between 12 to 15 eggs potential meaning these eggs can be fertilized. In normal cases one or two are fertilized, meaning that a woman can have two babies in her womb.

Kiggundu said there is a possibility of having more than two eggs being fertilized.

"They may be genetic factors, environmental factors but scientifically it is possible."

"The media has publicized her, so in current literature she is the most fertile woman on record in Uganda," Kiggundu said.

Babirye has an uphill task to take care of the children singlehandedly. She left her husband a few months ago after a misunderstanding. Her eldest daughter finished a nursing training but is yet to get a job.

"She has tried to look for jobs but to no avail. Everywhere she goes they keep asking for money in order to get her a job," Babirye said.

Babirye does all sort of work to ensure there is food on the table.

Despite the odds, she said she had no option but to soldier on. Luckily, some of the children are taking advantage of the free education provided by the government.

Some well-wishers also sent food to the mother at times.

"I will strive to make sure that my children have what to eat. I will never abandon my children even if we are struggling to survive," she said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-25 00:56:54|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BERLIN, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere defended a controversial surveillance pilot project on Thursday which uses new facial recognition technology.

Speaking on the ARD Morgenmagazin tv-show, de Maiziere insisted that the technology could be used to enhance Germany's security if it proved successful during an ongoing six-month test at the Suedkreuz Berlin railway station.

He also visited the Suedkreuz railway station later on the same day, saying that it remained to be clarified under what legal framework the technology could be used.

De Maiziere was responding to growing calls for an immediate halt to the pilot project following claims that federal police had misled 300 people who volunteered to participate in the scheme.

"The transponders which subjects carried with them for additional identification collect much more data than previously revealed by the federal police," said data protection organization Digitalcourage in a statement.

German Federal Privacy Commissioner Andrea Vosshoff voiced similar concerns in the Berliner Zeitung on Thursday, saying that participants had not been adequately informed. She demanded that federal police reapply for approval for the pilot project before continuing with tests.

Reacting to such criticism later in the day, de Maiziere said that the transponders' additional functions were never activated and the concerns of the privacy commissioner were thus based on "inaccurate information."

The Berlin Pirate Party, which frequently campaigns on digital privacy issues, has announced a demonstration at Suedkreuz station on Thursday.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-25 01:11:58|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ULAN BATOR, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The export of mineral resources is a significant source of export revenues for Mongolia, with copper concentrate, coal, iron ore, gold and oil having a lion's share.

Since 2017, the demand for Mongolian coal has increased dramatically. China is the largest consumer of coal in the world and Mongolia's close neighbor. In the first six months of 2017, Mongolia managed to sell China a record amount of coal.

According to economists, Mongolia exported approximately 25 million tons of "black gold" to China each month.

According to the authorities of Gants mod border checkpoint, in the first six months of this year, Mongolia exported 10.09 million tons of coal to China through the Gashuunsukhait-Gants mod border checkpoints. This result exceeds the volume of coal exports for the same period of last year by 14 percent.

The transportation of coal through the Gants mod border checkpoint for the first six months of last year was more than 10 million tons, while this level was reached in the first 4 months of this year. "This was facilitated by the increase in supply, related to the increase in demand for coal in China. On the other hand, the technical modernization of the border checkpoint played a role in reducing delays for a technical reason," said the representatives of the Gants mod border checkpoint.

In the future, coal exporters expect that the supply of coal will be stable. As for the main exporter of Mongolia, Tavan Tolgoi plans to increase the volume of its transportation to 11.5 million tons of coal this year.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-25 01:22:08|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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TEHRAN, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- A senior Iranian commander reiterated the country's opposition to the scheduled Iraqi Kurds' independence referendum.

Kurds' independence referendum "is in line with the U.S. policy of dividing the regional countries," Deputy Chief of Staff of Iran's Armed Forces Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri said, according to Press TV.

"Iran is definitely against it," Jazayeri was quoted as saying.

On Monday, Chief of Staff of Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri said that the Islamic republic is against disintegration of Iraq.

Any changes in the political geography of Iraq, given the imminent independence referendum of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, can start tensions and conflicts inside and outside Iraq, Baqeri said.

Iran's political and military officials have announced their opposition to the Iraqi Kurds' referendum, saying that the stable, secure and unified Iraq will help the country's progress.

On June 7, Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region announced that it had planned to hold a referendum on independence on Sept. 25 to decide whether or not to secede from Iraq.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-25 03:03:08|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BELGRADE, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic on Thursday said her country was determined to reform and make progress towards European Union (EU) integration for the benefit of Serbian citizens.

Brnabic made the comments when meeting with David McAllister, chairman of the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee.

Brnabic told McAllister, who is also the rapporteur of the EU parliament for Serbia, that thanks to successful economic and political reforms, Serbia continued with determination towards full membership in the EU.

"Despite many challenges on the path towards the full membership in the EU, our country continues to implement its internal reforms," the government release reads.

Brnabic said that the reforms would improve living standards and quality of life in the country, and speed up Serbia's development.

But progress is not to be measured through European integration alone, but rather "based on the number of jobs that we have created and the advancement of everyday life for our citizens, as well as the environment," Brnabic said.

Brnabic welcomed the EU's approach to measure the progress of each candidate country based on their individual merits, and expressed hope that EU members would set a time frame for the accession of new members.

McAllister also met Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to discuss Serbia's EU path.

During the meeting with Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, McAllister confirmed EU's support in the integration process and stressed the importance of the government reforms underway, the foreign ministry stated in a press release.

"Dacic stressed that Serbia will continue to realize the goals of its foreign policy, and that the EU membership is a strategic priority of the government, together with the regional stability," the release reads.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-25 03:13:12|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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CAIRO, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and British Minister of State for the Middle East Alistair Burt discussed on Thursday a number of regional crises, Egyptian foreign ministry said.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said in a statement that Burt's visit is meant to enhance coordination between Egypt and Britain on many regional crises, topped by the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, the future of the Middle East Peace process, the Libyan and Syrian crises, conditions in Yemen and Iraq and efforts exerted to combat terrorism.

Both ministers tackled political, economic and commercial relations between Egypt and Britain, the spokesman added.

Abu Zaid said that Minister Burt noted that country is paying attention to enhancing partnership with Egypt, pointing out that British trade representatives will visit Egypt soon.

Meanwhile, Egypt's foreign minister explained his country's economic reform program as well as the new investment law, Abu Zeid said.

Egypt has been suffering economic recession over the past few years due to political instability and relevant security issues that led to the decline of tourism, foreign currency reserves and foreign investments.

To attract foreign investors, Egypt has floated its local currency's exchange rate and has taken a series of measures to streamline investment process.

The North African Arab country has also started last year a three-year economic reform program including austerity measures, fuel subsidy cuts and tax increase.

The program is encouraged by an IMF 12-billion-dollar loan.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-25 03:18:15|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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DAR ES SALAAM, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania's Minister for Home Affairs, Mwigulu Nchemba, on Thursday demanded the UN refugees agency to start repatriating over 8,000 Burundian refugees who have volunteered to go back home within seven days.

Speaking at Nduta refugee camp in the east African nation's western region of Kigoma, Nchemba said the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) should immediately start organizing logistics for the safe return of the refugees.

"Failure to repatriate the refugees, I will consult with the Minister for Defence to release military trucks that will ferry the refugees to Burundi," said Nchemba.

He said since the refugees volunteered to return to Burundi last month, nothing was moving ahead.

Late last month, more than 5,000 Burundian refugees staying in camps in western Tanzania volunteered to return home following a recent appeal by Tanzanian President John Magufuli to them to return home and help build their country.

Emmanuel Maganga, the Kigoma Regional Commissioner, said 5,327 Burundian refugees from Nduta, Nyarugusu and Mtendeli refugee camps had volunteered to go home, adding that 4,935 of them were from Nduta, 364 from Nyarugusu and 28 from Mtendeli.

Currently Nduta sheltered 124,914 Burundian refugees, Nyarugusu 75,761 refugees and Mtendeli 49,839 refugees.

Maganga said the voluntary repatriation was continuous but explained that the Kigoma regional authorities were awaiting a tripartite meeting between Tanzania, Burundi and UNHCR to deliberate on the voluntary return of the refugees.

"After that meeting Burundian leaders will be allowed to visit refugee camps in Tanzania and convince the refugees to return home," he said.

On July 20, Magufuli called on the Burundian refugees now in the country to return home voluntarily and help build their country, asserting that now there was security in the tiny central African country.

Magufuli's remarks were in support of an earlier plea by Burundian president Pierre Nkurunziza, who had called on his fellow countrymen to go back home and help rebuild their country because the "war is over."

Magufuli also took a swipe at international humanitarian bodies for trying to convince refugees not to return to their home countries due to continued insecurity, just so they can continue receiving aid from donors.

The president also directed the Ministry of Home Affairs not to grant citizenship to any more Burundian refugees coming into Tanzania.

In 2014, Tanzania announced that it was in the process of granting citizenship to 162,000 Burundian refugees who had fled their country in 1972.

In June, the UN refugee agency said Tanzania remained the largest host of Burundian refugees.

Tanzania is currently home to more than 315,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, mainly from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They are hosted in three refugee camps of Nyarugusu, Nduta, and Mtendeli, which face severe pressure.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-25 03:23:16|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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SANAA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- More than 7 million people took to the streets in Yemen's capital Sanaa on Thursday in strong support of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Among them were millions travelling from remote villages in the provinces of Hajjah, Raymah, Hodiedah, al-Jawf, Marib, Mahweet, Bayda, Saada, Taiz, Dhamar, Ibb, Shabwa, al-Dhalee and Amran.

Holding posters of Saleh and raising the red-white-black national flags of Yemen, the demonstrators, including women and children, packed into the squares of the capital to mark the 35th anniversary of the establishment of Saleh's party General People's Congress (GPC).

Sanaa has never seen such large crowds that filled almost every street, every quarter and every square in the capital city.

"It is Saleh's charm day," said Najat Noor, a 25-year-old female journalist and human rights activist.

"It took me more than seven hours to reach here on time to salute Saleh and celebrate the GPC's anniversary," said 40-year-old Fatimah Ahmed from the northwestern province of Hajjah.

"I came here to send a message to those controlling the capital Sanaa (Houthi group) to release our salaries and stop looting the nation's resources," she said, while holding a big portrait of the Saleh.

Top GPC official Yasser al-Awadhi, a close friend to Saleh, told reporters at al-Sabeen Square that about 6 to 7 million GPC supporters joined the rallies.

Saleh showed up from behind a pane of protective glass, wearing a black suit and guarded by hundreds of well-trained armed personnel in military fatigues.

"We are ready to send tens of thousands of fighters to the front lines and they are ready to go, but Houthi-controlled authorities should first pay their salaries," Saleh said in a brief speech to the crowds.

Saleh's speech reflects a deep rift between his party and the Shiite Houthi group over the growing economic crisis.

In 2011, Saleh allied with Houthis to resist Muslim Brotherhoods which eventually ousted him in 2012.

Their suspicious alliance continued when Houthi fighters stormed the capital Sanaa in September 2014 and forced President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government into exile.

The internal strife, however, started to emerge after Houthis stripped Saleh and his party of resources and salaries.

Now more than a million state civil servants, including army and security staff, have been unpaid for 10 months.

The Houthis in Sanaa, however, complained of a severe cash shortage and said the transfer of the central bank from Sanaa to the southern port city of Aden by the Saudi-backed government has exacerbated the economic crisis.

In a speech to his supporters on the eve of the celebration, Saleh said his party is ready to start peace talks to end the civil war.

"Saudis are our brothers and we will engage in talks with them to reach an honorable peace to end the war. The United Arab Emirates are our brothers and we will talk to them to reach peace. For Hadi, we will reach a political settlement with him," Saleh said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-25 03:28:20|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BERLIN, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The integration of Muslim immigrants in Germany is advancing well compared to the rest of Europe, the "Religion Monitor 2017" study published Thursday by the Bertelsmann Institute suggests.

The Guetersloh-based Bertelsmann Institute commissions an annual report on the socio-economic and political participation of Muslims in their host countries. For this year's "Religion Monitor", researchers from the University of Duisburg-Essen surveyed 8,500 Muslims and non-Muslims from Germany, France,Britain, Austria and Switzerland.

Germany's 4.7 million Muslim inhabitants were particularly well integrated into the domestic labor market, the study authors found. Only five percent of Muslims were jobless, compared to seven percent of the non-Muslim population. German Muslims thus came second in the study's country comparison for unemployment differentials, just behind Britain (Muslims and non-Muslims both four percent) and followed by Switzerland (six percent vs. four percent), Austria (11 percent vs. three percent) and France (14 percent vs eight percent).

However, the study authors noted that Muslims were more likely to be in precarious and/or low-income positions and further cautioned that the figure did not include refugees who had recently arrived.

When asked about the attachment to their host countries, 64 percent of Muslims responded that they felt "very attached" to Germany. The country ranked third in the category behind Switzerland (75 percent) and France (68 percent), but ahead of Britain (45 percent) and Austria (37 percent).

Stephan Vopel, a spokesperson for the Bertelsmann Institute, said that the extent to which individuals identified with a country did not necessarily correlate strongly with their success in other categories of socio-economic integration.

"I would consequently not overestimate the importance of a few percentage points in difference for attachment to host countries," Vopel told Xinhua.

Despite Germany's overall positive progress, Vopel warned that there was still room for improvement in the integration of Muslims in the country's education system. "The German system of early school selection tends to lead to an entrenchment of the socio-economic status already held by children's parents," he said.

Additionally, every fifth German non-Muslim surveyed in the study indicated that they did not want to have Muslim neighbors, while devout Muslims in particular complained that they were discriminated against in their careers.

"It is somewhat paradoxical that German Muslims are exceptionally well integrated in some regards, such as in the labor market, on the one hand, and yet face more hostile attitudes from non-Muslims than is the case in France," Vopel told Xinhua.

He noted that while Germany was currently undergoing a transformation into a country of immigration, the historical German concept of citizenship was still relatively unchanged.

Nevertheless, the Bertelsmann Institute's expert Yasemin El-Menouar expressed confidence that new initiatives such as faster labor market access, language, and citizenship courses would also ensure the successful integration of over one million recently-arrived Muslim refugees in Germany.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-25 04:18:39|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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HELSINKI, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- A new southern wing of the Helsinki-Vantaa airport was formally inaugurated on Thursday, enormously increasing the handling capacity of the airport.

The total number of the gates would grow from 38 to 60. The annex will improve services to long haul flights in particular. One of the practical improvements for passengers is the first three such gates where ingoing and outgoing customers can use two separate doors of the aircraft at the same time.

Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila said at the opening ceremony that expanding the airport would surely improve its position in international competition.

Commenting on the inauguration, director of the airport Ville Haapasaari told newspaper Helsingin Sanomat that the most important reason for the expansion of the airport is the boom of travel in Asia, where the standard of living has rising rapidly.

He also mentioned Finnair's strategic focus on Asian markets. Finnair operates six flights to China and four flights to Japan.

Last year 17.2 million customers used the airport. Haapasaari said the airport operator Finavia has set 2020 as the target for reaching 20 million passengers annually, but now it looks like it will be attained earlier.

In the past July, travelers to and from Asia grew 21 percent compared to 2016. Sixty airlines are operating at the Helsinki-Vantaa airport.

The expansion project will continue with the completion of another wing in 2020. Haapasaari gave the total cost as 400 million euros.

The airport was transferred to the current location in 1952 for the Helsinki Olympics. It was known for decades as the Seutula airport, on the basis of the village where it was built. The current official name Helsinki-Vantaa combines the names of two cities -- the Finnish capital and its neighbouring Vantaa, where the airport is actually located.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-25 04:33:46|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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SKOPJE, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The average monthly net salary in Macedonia went up to 22,808 MKD (436 U.S dollars) in June of this year, thus marking a 2.8 percent year-on-year growth, according to data released Thursday by Macedonian statistical office.

The highest growth of salaries was registered in sectors of art, hotels and mines, statistics showed.

On the other hand, the salaries declined in the sectors of construction, commerce, wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles.

Meanwhile, statistical office said that as far as gross salary is concerned, it amounted to 33,509 MKD, or 640 U.S. dollars.

Early this month, Macedonia also decided to increase the minimum salary up to 12,000 MKD, or about 230 U.S. dollars.

The government has allocated around 6 million U.S. dollars in the 2017 revised budget as a support to private companies which will have to pay their employees more.

However, despite the growth in minimum and average salaries, Macedonia is still considered as a country with the lowest salaries in Southeast Europe.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-25 04:38:48|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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HAVANA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Since opening 20 years ago, the Che Guevara Mausoleum in the central Cuban city of Santa Clara has drawn more than 4.5 million visitors, the vast majority foreigners.

Of the 4,542,488 people who have visited the monument to the leader who fought alongside Fidel Castro, 3,013,431 were foreign visitors, the mausoleum's Yanesky Gutierrez told the daily Juventud Rebelde (Rebel Youth) in the lead up to the 50th anniversary of Guevara's death this fall.

The numbers "attest to the universal recognition his revolutionary legacy," the daily said.

Interest in his legacy appears to be alive and well, to judge by the flow of visitors.

In 2016, a record 374,900 people visited the mausoleum located about 260 km east of the capital Havana, most from Germany, Argentina, Canada, France and Italy, said Gutierrez.

The mausoleum is ranked as the No. 1 attraction in Santa Clara, according to travel planning website TripAdvisor.

One Belgian traveler, who went by the handle VBEline, wrote two weeks ago "Beautiful monument, museum and tomb of Che Guevara ... In my opinion, a must visit when in Cuba."

A visitor from Florida, IslandSunAMI, wrote in May, the mausoleum "Completes Your Cuban Experience!"

The museum recounts the role Ernesto "Che" Guevara played in Cuba's 1959 Revolution and international struggles for independence in Africa and South America.

In October, Cuba plans to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Guevara's capture and execution in Bolivia at the hands of CIA-funded counterrevolutionaries.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-25 04:38:51|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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KHARTOUM, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Sudan and South Sudan on Thursday discussed means of re-operating South Sudanese oil fields that were halted due to the civil war which erupted in 2013.

Sudanese capital Khartoum on Thursday hosted technical talks, chaired by under-secretaries at oil ministries in the two countries.

"These talks tend to follow up the technical aspects agreed upon and provide the technical support for re-operating the oil fields in Unity State of South Sudan together with the oil exported through the Sudanese ports," Bakheet Ahmed Abdalla, Undersecretary of Sudan's Ministry of Oil and Gas, told reporters.

"We have discussed the issue of training human cadres in South Sudan at Khartoum Oil Training Center," he noted.

Mohamed Lino, Undersecretary of South Sudan's Ministry of Petroleum, for his part, said that "the technical cooperation with Sudan is very beneficial, and through the continued consultations between us, we can implement the agreements signed by the two countries."

Before its separation with Sudan in 2011, South Sudan's oil production reached 245,000 barrels a day, but by late 2014 it dropped to about 160,000 barrels a day due to the ongoing civil war which broke out in the new-born state.

South Sudan has been witnessing violent armed clashes between the government army and defectors loyal to former vice-president Riek Machar since December 2013.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-25 04:43:53|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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KHARTOUM, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Fayez al-Sarraj, the head of Libya's UN-backed government, will start a two-day visit to Sudan on Sunday, official SUNA news agency reported Thursday.

Al-Sarraj is scheduled to hold talks with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, SUNA said.

He will also meet with Sudan's First Vice-President and Prime Minister Bakri Hassan Saleh and other government officials.

The Libyan leader will sign a number of agreements with Sudan, including the establishment of a political consultation committee between the two countries' foreign ministries.
A combination of file photos show Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) at a news conference in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Feb. 28, 2017 and U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on June 1, 2017. (Xinhua)

MOSCOW, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Russia Foreign Ministry on Thursday urge the U.S. government to cool down and make efforts to end the ongoing sanction cycle between Moscow and Washington.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was not Russia "that started a completely senseless struggle in the international arena and triggered an inconceivable sanction spiral."

"We expect that the hot heads (in the U.S.) will cool down and that the common sense will eventually prevail," Lavrov said at a press conference following talks with his Cambodian counterpart Prak Sokhon.

Speaking of the impact of Russia-U.S. tensions on joint work on the Syrian issue, the foreign minister said cooperation between the two sides was still underway.

"We are pragmatists and we understand that this is not the place for taking offenses or holding a false sense of prestige. This is a threat to all of us," Lavrov said, adding that the U.S. side even voiced the wish to expand bilateral interactions on this matter.

Relations between Moscow and Washington have soured recently due to escalating mutual sanctions.

Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law a sanction bill on Russia targeting major areas of economic importance including energy, military industry and banking, which was slapped by Moscow as "a full-scale trade war against Russia."

In retaliation, Russia demanded the U.S. cut its diplomatic staff in Russia by 755 to 455 by Sept. 1 and seized two U.S. estates in Moscow.

On Monday, the U.S. embassy in Russia said it would suspend all non-immigrant visa operations across Russia for nine days starting Wednesday.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-25 05:08:58|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is heading to Kuwait, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories in hopes of restarting the Mideast peace process, the chief UN spokesman announced on Thursday.

"The Secretary-General will leave New York on Friday... for a trip that will take him to Kuwait, Israel and the state of Palestine," said the spokesman, Stephane Dujarric.

Guterres plans to meet with Kuwaiti leaders on Sunday, "to discuss the situation in the region" and express gratitude to Kuwait for its "tremendous generosity for humanitarian causes," and then fly to Israel, Dujarric said.

There, "he will meet with the Israeli and Palestinian leadership to discuss the prospects of reviving the peace process," said the spokesman, adding that Guterres "will also engage with civil society and university leaders and visit an UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) facility."

The Secretary-General is to return to UN Headquarters in New York late on Wednesday, Aug. 30, Dujarric said.

"On the visit to Israel and Palestine, I think the issue is obviously an important issue on the UN's agenda," he said. "It's important for the Secretary-General to go to visit both places early in his tenure."

Guterres took office on Jan. 1.

The Secretary-General "will be reiterating the UN's commitment to providing Israelis and Palestinians with all possible support to reach a comprehensive two-state solution as the only option for realizing the national aspirations of both peoples," Dujarric said.

Asked if Guterres was going to visit the Gaza Strip, the spokesman said, "at this point all I can share with you is what I have shared with you."

However, when Dujarric was asked there was no connection between the Guterres visit to the region and that of Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's senior adviser, and son-in-law, who is leading a delegation of administration officials to the Middle East, calling it merely a "coincidence."

Dujarric also was pressed on the Kuwait visit and whether Guterres would discuss the regional crisis of Qatar.

"Obviously Kuwait plays a very important role in the region, notably, currently, on its mediation efforts towards resolving the (Qatar) crisis in the Gulf, also having an important role in Iraq and other areas in the region and, as I said, to thank the Kuwaitis for their support for UN's humanitarian work," he said.

Also, Guterres was going to Kuwait because he had visited other Gulf states but for "various logistic reasons Kuwait is not a place he already visited," Dujarric said.

In June, Middle East countries, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, imposed economic blockade on Qatar after cutting off diplomatic ties with it. They have charged Qatar with helping the "terrorist organizations," which Qatar has denied.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-25 05:24:01|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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SANTIAGO, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chile aims to attract Chinese investment in its capital Santiago's public transit network, local media said on Thursday.

Chilean Transport Minister Paola Tapia is set to travel to China for "the Week of Chile in China," an investment promotion tour in China's several cities starting later this month, according to the daily La Tercera.

Tapia will travel to Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Honk Kong and Chengdu, to meet with manufacturers of electric buses, such as BYD, Yutong and Yinlong.

In Beijing, Tapia will also meet with her Chinese counterpart Li Xiaopeng to discuss mass transit.

As part of a push to transition from fossil-fuel powered buses to electric vehicles, six new public transit suppliers in Santiago will be required by law to include at least 15 electric buses in their fleets by October 2018.

Chinese-made electric buses have already been unveiled in Santiago, and at least three units are to begin circulating soon as a pilot program gets underway.

"We are going to review in the field how the electric buses operate ... and the infrastructure related to their service," said Tapia.

BYD's representative in Chile, Tamara Berrios, said "Santiago has a mature transit system, with a technologically advanced level of emissions and regulations that are suitable for making the leap towards a superior technology."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-25 05:34:04|Editor: ying

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (L) shakes hands with Polish President Andrzej Duda during their meeting in Warsaw, Poland, on Aug. 24, 2017. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg started his two-day visit to Poland on Thursday. (Xinhua/Jaap Arriens)

WARSAW, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday started his two-day visit to Poland by meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Belweder Palace in Warsaw.

Stoltenberg first met the Polish president for a one-on-one discussion, which is to be followed by a plenary meeting, where the president would be joined by Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski, head of the National Security Bureau Pawel Soloch and head of the Presidential cabinet, Krzysztof Szczerski.

Security of NATO's eastern flank and the upcoming Zapad military exercises in Belarus were reportedly among the issues discussed.

Polish Press Agency quoted Soloch as saying that during the meeting President Duda stressed the significance of the security and safety of NATO's eastern flank, and the importance of the constant presence of allied troops in the region and discussed the Polish expectations regarding next year's NATO summit.

During his visit to Poland, Stoltenberg will also meet with Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, Foreign Minister Waszczykowski and Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz on Friday. He would also meet with soldiers from the NATO Battalion Battle Group in Orzysz, north-eastern Poland.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-25 06:04:12|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. State Department said on Thursday at least 16 Americans working at the U.S. embassy in Havana, Cuba, suffered physical symptoms caused by some "incidents."

"We can confirm that at least 16 U.S. government employees, members of our embassy community, have experienced some kind of symptoms," said State Department Spokeswoman Heather Nauert in a daily briefing.

"The incidents are no longer occurring," Nauert said.

"We will continue to find the source of these incidents, and the perpetrator," the spokeswoman added.

No details of the injuries have been released, but media reports said the affected Americans suffered a severe hearing loss and at least one victim suffered some "brain damage."

The United States has expelled two Cuban diplomats in late May after some U.S. Embassy personnel in Havana reported that some "incidents" caused "a variety of physical symptoms" in them.

The United States and Cuba officially resumed a diplomatic relationship in July 2015, more than five decades after they severed it.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-25 06:09:13|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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MOSCOW, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a resolution allocating 535 million rubles (9.03 million U.S. dollars) to help implement the UN World Food Program (WFP) project in 2017-2018, the Russian government said Thursday.

The money will be mainly spent to replace trucks used for humanitarian aid transportation with Russian-made vehicle, the government said in a statement, adding that another 1.5 million U.S. dollars will be assigned for the development of logistics capacity.

Funds for these purposes are allotted from the federal budget, it noted.

"The adopted decisions expand the range of areas of Russia's cooperation with international humanitarian organizations of the UN system and the participation of Russian technical experts in the work of WFP on personnel training and vehicle maintenance," the statement said.

Under a strategic partnership agreement signed in 2014 between the Russian government and the WFP, Russia makes financial contributions to the WFP fund from 2014 to 2017, especially focusing on replenishing the WFP auto fleet by providing KAMAZ trucks and other equipment.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-25 06:09:14|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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RAMALLAH, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The meeting of a United States official delegation with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas held late on Thursday in the West Bank city of Ramallah was "positive," according to a senior Palestinian official.

The American delegation, which held talks with Abbas at his headquarters in the city, included U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy and top negotiator, Jason Greenblatt, and Adviser Jared Kushner and Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Powell.

Their regional tour included holding talks with Saudi, Qatari, Emirati, Egyptian, Jordanian and Palestinian officials.

Nabil Abu Rdineh, an aide to Abbas said in an official statement that the meeting and the talks were "constructive, deep and positive." However, while the meeting was held in Ramallah, dozens of Palestinians demonstrated in the city to protest the visit.

"The talks had seriously tackled all in-common issues," said Abu Rdineh, adding "President Abbas reiterated to the delegation the Palestinian political stances, mainly the principle of the two-state solution on 1967 borders and stopping all settlement activities."

The Abbas aide unveiled that the U.S. delegation and President Abbas "agreed to continue their dialogue which aims at reaching a comprehensive and historic peace agreement." According to Abu Rdineh, Abbas stressed the international resolutions, the signed agreements, the roadmap and the Arab peace initiative.

At the beginning of the meeting, Abbas said "the delegation works for peace and we are working together in order to reach soon what President Trump described as a peace deal," adding "We know that the situation is difficult and complicated, but nothing is impossible amid the current good exerted efforts."

"We highly appreciate the efforts of President Trump, who announced from the beginning that he will work on a historic peace deal, and repeated this more than once during our meetings in Washington, Riyadh or Bethlehem," Abbas said.

For his part, Kushner said that President Trump "sends to President Abbas his best wishes and best hopes, and we have been sent today from Washington to talk about a very important subject, peaceful relations between the countries of the region as a whole."

"President Trump is very optimistic and hopes for a better future for the Palestinian and Israeli people," Kushner said. "We hope they can work together, live together for many years and have a much better life."

Kushner told Abbas that President Trump "is hopeful and grateful for all the efforts you have made so far, and is also grateful for these discussions and relations."

Abbas's meeting with the U.S. delegation coincided with demonstrations in the city of Ramallah, where dozens of Palestinians gathered at Al-Manara Square in the center of the city to denounce the visit of the delegation.

During the demonstration, which was called by the national and Islamic factions, the demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and signs written in both Arabic and English, rejecting the American "bias" toward Israel.

Issam Baker, coordinator of the national and Islamic faction told Xinhua that the demonstrators stressed the need not to return to negotiations under U.S. auspices, which has been tried for more than 20 years.

He added that the Palestinians call on permanent members of the UN Security Council to shoulder their responsibility to end the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.
Displaced victims of a flash flood, which came after the mudslide, are seen sharing vegetable oil at a World Food distribution program, at Pentagon, in Freetown, Sierra Leone, August 18, 2017. (REUTERS PHOTO)

MOSCOW, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a resolution allocating 535 million rubles (9.03 million U.S. dollars) to help implement the UN World Food Program (WFP) project in 2017-2018, the Russian government said Thursday.

The money will be mainly spent to replace trucks used for humanitarian aid transportation with Russian-made vehicle, the government said in a statement, adding that another 1.5 million U.S. dollars will be assigned for the development of logistics capacity.

Funds for these purposes are allotted from the federal budget, it noted.

"The adopted decisions expand the range of areas of Russia's cooperation with international humanitarian organizations of the UN system and the participation of Russian technical experts in the work of WFP on personnel training and vehicle maintenance," the statement said.

Under a strategic partnership agreement signed in 2014 between the Russian government and the WFP, Russia makes financial contributions to the WFP fund from 2014 to 2017, especially focusing on replenishing the WFP auto fleet by providing KAMAZ trucks and other equipment.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-25 06:39:21|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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RAMALLAH, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Mahmoud Abbasand and visiting U.S. delegation on Thursday in Ramallah, the West Bank, was "positive," a senior Palestinian official said.

The American delegation, which held talks with Abbas at his headquarters, included U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy and top negotiator Jason Greenblatt, son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner and Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Powell.

Their Middle East tour includes countries of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan and Palestine.

Nabil Abu Rdineh, an aide to Abbas, said in an official statement that the meeting was "constructive, deep and positive."

"The talks had seriously tackled all in-common issues," said Abu Rdineh, adding "President Abbas reiterated to the delegation the Palestinian political stances, mainly the principle of the two-state solution on 1967 borders and stopping all settlement activities."

Abbas aide said the U.S. delegation and President Abbas "agreed to continue their dialogue which aims at reaching a comprehensive and historic peace agreement."

According to Abu Rdineh, Abbas stressed on the international resolutions, the signed agreements, the roadmap and the Arab peace initiative.

At the meeting, Abbas said "the delegation works for peace and we are working together in order to reach soon what President Trump described as a peace deal."

"We know that the situation is difficult and complicated, but nothing impossible amid the current good exerted efforts," Abbas said.

"We highly appreciate the efforts of President Trump, who announced from the beginning that he will work on a historic peace deal, and repeated this more than once during our meetings in Washington, Riyadh or Bethlehem," Abbas added.

For his part, Kushner said "we have been sent today from Washington to talk about a very important subject, peaceful relations between the countries of the region as a whole."

"President Trump is very optimistic and hopes for a better future for the Palestinian and Israeli people," Kushner said. "We hope they can work together, live together for many years and have a much better life."

The visit by the U.S. delebation encountered demonstrations in Ramallah, where dozens of Palestinians gathered at Al-Manara Square in the center of the city to denounce the visit of the delegation.

During the demonstration, which was called by the national and Islamic factions, the demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and signs written in both Arabic and English, rejecting the American "bias" toward Israel.

Issam Baker, coordinator of the national and Islamic faction, told Xinhua that the demonstrators stressed on the need not to return to negotiations under US auspices, which has been tried for more than 20 years, while increasing Israel's theft of the Palestinian land and expanding settlement.

Baker also said that the Palestinians consider with great interest the international efforts led by China and Russia to demarcate the borders of Palestine, which has been recognized by more than 138 countries.

He added that the Palestinians call on permanent members of the UN Security Council to shoulder their responsibility to end the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.
behindlens/iStock/Thinkstock(HOUSTON) -- The National Hurricane Center has issued an advisory instructing Texas residents along the Gulf of Mexico coast to "rush" their storm preparations as Hurricane Harvey "rapidly" intensifies.



All preparations for residents along the middle Texas coast should be completed on Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm is expected to make landfall around 1 a.m. Saturday.



The coastal city of Corpus Christi has so far not implemented mandatory evacuations, but Mayor Joe McComb called for people to leave in the "strongest possible terms."



We could mandate it, but people have to make a decision on their own," McComb said.

The state announced mandatory evacuations for seven counties: Calhoun County, San Patricio County, Refugio County, Brazoria County, Jackson County, Victoria County and Matagorda County. Nueces County, where Corpus Christi is located, has not received an evacuation order.



Most of the flights in and out of Corpus Christi International Airport for Friday have been canceled, according to FlightAware.



United Airlines will operate its last flight out of Corpus Christi at 7 a.m. Friday, and Southwest Airlines will operate its last flight at 10:40 a.m., the airport announced on Facebook.



Police and fire personnel will bunker down during the storm and will likely not be able to provide emergency services, Corpus Christi Police Chief Mike Markel said.



All nonessential personnel and their families have been ordered to evacuate from the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi and the Naval Air Station in Kingsville, which are both training air bases. The stations are in the process of moving aircraft -- some to hangers and some to the Naval Air Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth.



Three Air Force Reserve C-5 transport planes have been moved from the Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio to Biggs Army Airfield in Fort Bliss. There are plans to move four additional C-5s on Saturday, but that plan could be adjusted depending on the storm. The Coast Guard said shallow-draft vessels capable of making rescues in flooded urban areas are en route to Texas and Louisiana.



The Coast Guard also upgraded the alert status in local ports to "yankee," which means inbound ships must seek alternate ports, and certain ships looking to leave port must do so by 10 a.m. Friday.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards issued a statewide emergency declaration ahead of Hurricane Harvey, saying there is potential for it to move back into the Gulf of Mexico and hit Louisiana after it makes landfall in Texas.



A spokesperson for FEMA said the state is working with the city of New Orleans to make sure its drainage pumps are working. The state has no plans to issue evacuation orders at this time.



The outer bands of the storm are expected to bring 7 to 10 inches of rain to southwest Louisiana, Edwards said. The National Guard there has purchased more than 500,000 sandbags to prepare, he said.



As of 4 a.m. CT, the hurricane was about 180 miles southeast of Corpus Christi. The National Weather Service upgraded Harvey to a Category 2 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, at 4 a.m. local time on Friday. It was moving north-northwest at 10 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.



The hurricane is expected to hit Texas as a Category 3 storm, forecasters say. The state hasn't been hit by such a powerful storm since Hurricane Bret in 1999.

Harvey may make landfall west of the area, heavy rainfall and flooding is still a major concern for next several days. #houwx #glswx #txwx pic.twitter.com/x1h2Nq204L  NWS Houston (@NWSHouston) August 24, 2017

Harvey may cause a life-threatening storm surge of up to 12 feet, with waves as high as 20 feet. Perilous flash flooding and 115 mph gusts of wind are also possible.



When prepping for a hurricane, it's important to "hide from the wind and run from the water," National Hurricane Center meteorologist Daniel Brown told ABC News earlier this month.

How to prepare for the hurricane



Before the storm



When prepping for a hurricane, it's important to "hide from the wind and run from the water," National Hurricane Center meteorologist Daniel Brown told ABC News earlier this month.



Emergency managers are encouraging residents who may be affected by the hurricane to monitor the weather forecast for their area and listen to the directives given by emergency officials, said Lt. Craig Cummings, spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety in Houston.



Cummings encouraged people to have an emergency kit with essentials such as important documents, medications and supplies, including food, water, batteries, a flashlight and a battery-powered radio.



Some stores in Corpus Christi are already running out of supplies.



"We're out of bread, and we're out of water right now," Julie Canales, an employee at the claims department in the Corpus Christi Sam's Club, told ABC News. "Weve been stocked every day, but as soon as we get it its gone within an hour between truck [deliveries]."



Coastal Hardware in Corpus Christi has already run out of sand bags and kerosene lanterns, store manager Jennifer Wimsett told ABC News. People are improvising by buying topsoil and filling up trash bags with them, she said.



It is also important to have a paper map for after the storm passes in case cell phones service goes down and people traveling are forced to take unfamiliar routes due to the flooding.



During the storm



Residents should fill bathtubs and other large containers with water to help with washing or filling toilets in case the water is shut off, according to safety tips recommended by Farmers Insurance.



During the storm, people should stay indoors and away from windows and glass doors. At the height of the storm, seek shelter in an interior room, according to the insurance company's tips.



The company also recommends that people who live in temporary structures like mobile homes or in high-rise building be prepared to evacuate.



After the storm



Drivers should not venture into flooded waters, Cummings said. It only takes about 2 feet of water for a car to be swept away in floodwaters and only about two inches of water to for an adult to be swept away, he said.



About 50 percent of all flash flood fatalities nationwide involve vehicles, according to Cummings.



"If someone is in an area that is beginning to flood, it's essential that they get to higher ground and be looking for an evacuation route out of the area," he said.





Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Hurricane strap initiative launched

About 30 residents from the corporations are expected to be trained to make houses safer. On Tuesday, the groups and Member of Parliament for Couva South, Rudranath Indarsingh, launched the initiative at Windsor Park, California.

The chambers president Liaquat Ali said his organisation is not only business oriented but also cater to the interest of citizens.

We are not only here to take, we give back. We do not only represent the interest of business, we represent the interest of citizens. In recent times, and with the passing of Tropical Storm Bret, it was only fitting to educate the people how they can secure their homes at minimal cost, Ali added.

The training sessions are expected to take place at the chambers building at Couva. It is his hoped that such an initiative can be extended to the length and breath of T&T with on-site demonstrations.

Indarsingh commended the corporation for being part of the initiative saying the disaster management unit (DMU) of the corporation has been very proactive in dealing with weather patterns which have affected people in their area.

Chairman Henry Awong beamed that the corporation was first to set up its emergency operation centre under the guidance of Dr Ravi Ramnath.

We do what we have to do at the DMU and we continue to do it on a professional basis, Awong said.

Manager (business development and marketing) of Sagicor Lisa Mahabir said the company was pleased to be part of the initiative.

It was a proactive approach in increasing awareness in our community, Mahabir said.
Immigration red-tape stifling yachting industry

People who run the businesses can tell you, the best work in the Caribbean is in Trinidad  the best capabilities, workmanship, yards.

However, Trinidad has the worst red tape, Trinidad and Tobago Sailing Association president Mark Loe told Business Day.

Over the past decade and a half, the yachting industry has declined hugely. Between 2000 and 2015, Trinidad experienced a 61 percent drop in yacht arrivals and for 2016 so far, yacht arrivals have fallen by a further 24 percent compared with last year. (See graph) Just checking in to the island is a hassle  visitors in yachts need to fill up almost 15 forms  sometimes in triplicate  to satisfy various Customs and Immigration regulations  including a new one on stowaway information.

Weve been asking for years just for them to implement a Single Harmonised Form to streamline the process.

Meanwhile, the other islands competing with us have already introduced it and some have electronic submissions that you can submit before you dock through a Single Electronic Window.

And their Immigration officers are much more pleasant, a spokesman for the Yachting Services Association of Trinidad and Tobago (YSATT) said.

Then theres the seemingly arbitrary way that Immigration grants approvals to for yachties to stay on the island.

Usually repair works take six months.

Immigration most of the time just stamps a yachties passport for three months. After that, they have to get an extension. For whatever reason, the Immigration Office in Chaguaramas decided it doesnt do extensions anymore and now these people need to go to in the traffic and confusion of Port-of-Spain to get their extensions, Loe said.

Sometimes it feels like it depends on what side of the bed the officer woke up on that day, another industry source, who requested he not be named, said of the arbitrariness of Immigration decisions.

YSATT noted that they have been clamouring for a standardised list of the Immigration arrival and departure regulations. The Boaters Directory, what is supposed to be the industry bible for yachties trying to navigate the industry in Trinidad, hasnt been updated since 2015 because there is no standard.

One example is the randomness to the regulation for pleasure crafts departing after clearance has been given.

Originally it was 24 hours, Business Day was told. Then one day, the instruction became one hour.

Then four hours.

Sometimes, people arent even given a grace period and are told to leave immediately. Finally, the industry asked for 16 hours, and thus far, that seems to be the baseline.

As with most of our industries, Trinidad and Tobagos lack of competitiveness seems to stem from our dependence on energy.

Other Caribbean islands, on the other hand, didnt need energy, so they knew what they had to do to build their capacity.

Grenada, especially, has set out to carve their niche.

The general consensus from people in the industry who spoke with Business Day is that Grenada has done their homework and set out to take Trinidads business, specifically tackling the issues that hit Trinidad hardest  they have friendlier immigration officers, easier check in and a product that engages yachties to enjoy their time on the island while waiting on repairs.

Their products and services might not yet be up to the standards of Trinidad and Tobago, undoubtedly the best in terms of service offerings and experience, but most people agree they will get there, and it will be the death knell for Trinidad if this country doesnt get its act together.

They have friendlier immigration officers and more efficient services to check in. They did their homework and they set out to take Trinidads business because weve ignored our industry, Loe said.

And then theres the Yacht-In-Transit tax that was announced in the 2017 Budget last year.

Before, yachties with boats registered outside of Trinidad and Tobago could order equipment and have it delivered to them here without having to pay the Value Added Tax. The Budget amendment meant that this was no longer the case, meaning that if a foreign sailor bought equipment for which he had already paid taxes in his home country, he would have to pay an additional tax here.

The amendment has since been removed, but not before wreaking havoc on the industry.

Its a seasonal industry and people plan to be in transit for repairs months in advance. When news of that tax broke, people changed their plans. Now is supposed to be peak time and the marina is empty. Theres no business and companies are either closing or on the verge of shutting down, Loe said.

The tax turned out to be a boon for Grenada, who had just recently announced the opening of a brand new boatyard, one of the managers at a major repair yard told Business Day. After the tax was announced he said he received up to 50 cancellations It was such a ridiculous tax. It almost buried us, he said.

Then there are little things, like general maintenance and getting rid of stray dogs.

Trinidad is probably the only place you can walk for less than a mile and find every major service you need to fix your boat. Yachties have a culture of walking.

But there a barely any sidewalks, the grass is overgrown and Ive had to pay personally for medical bills from people who needed tetanus shots from getting bitten by stray dogs, the YSATT spokesman said.

The Government, has for its part, however, acknowledged the shortcomings of the industry, and has been in dialogue with the stakeholders  notably the YSATT. Trade Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon spoke to Business Day and said Cabinet has already approved a framework to improve the industry and draft legislation to standardise regulations.

One of the most meaningful measures is the approval of the Single Harmonised Form for Trinidad and Tobago, eliminating most of the tedious paperwork. She said some legislative changes are required for its approval, which is currently being handled by the Attorney General.

But she is hopeful the form can be officially introduced by the end of this year, and that legislation can be drafted in three months, and taken to Parliament by August next year.

Gopee-Scoon was aware of the challenges the industry is facing, but she remained hopeful that once these regulations were enacted, it could grow and become a major foreign exchange earner.

YSATT is also optimistic, even though the spokesman acknowledged that they have been making similar requests to the government for nearly 20 years. On a whole though, the people in the industry dont seem that upbeat about the prospects.

Grenadas government is helping their industry, ours isnt. Thats the reality, the boatyard manager said.

The industry is dying.

In fact, its probably dead already, Loe added.
Harnessing our national treasures

Yet, although we are surrounded by the sublime, we somehow manage to reduce it to squalor. A lack of a sense of pride might be the reason for this. Quite noticeable too, is the way we undervalue our capacity to rank among the best in the world. Although success has been proven time and again, in a range of disciplines - sport, the arts, science and technology, medicine and literature  we remain sceptical.

Trinidad and Tobago will celebrate 55 years of Independence, next week. Apart from Dr Eric Williams, our founding fathers include other esteemed individuals such as Sir Ellis Clarke, Lionel Seukeran and Rudranath Capildeo. Their endeavour in negotiating the terms of our Independence Concordat at Marlborough House, stands as a testimony to their patriotism and foresight.

The landmark year was 1962, and a new nation was being birthed. We embraced our national flag, with each colour symbolising our rich potential. We welcomed our watch words, Discipline, Production and Tolerance and our Coat of Arms was emblazoned with our national birds, the Cocrico and the Scarlet Ibis.

Today in 2017, the Ibis is under threat by a small group of poachers who hunt the bird as a delicacy. In some instances, it is said to be much sought-after fare at upscale social gatherings. Recent reports signal that although the populations are relatively stable, the status of the ibis can change to endangered if no action is taken to deter, fi ne or punish illegal hunters. Sadly, the Caroni Swamp appears to be anything but a sanctuary for our national bird! Shades of a similar negligent attitude were reflected in a local event groups flagrant disregard for the environment, when their beach bonfire in Blanchisseuse ended in the destruction of approximately 100 turtle hatchlings. In no way does this destructive or wilfully ignorant mindset augur well for progress as a nation.

Trinidad and Tobago has been batt ling the fallout of severely decreasing revenue from our traditional foreign exchange earners in the oil and gas sector. There is broad consensus that new ways of restructuring our economy to achieve future sustainability, must be pursued.

Economic transformation and diversification have now become a necessity, and it would serve us well to stop paying mere lip service to the endeavour, that is, if we are to preserve a decent quality of life for generations to come.

While we have commercialised some of our local heritage sites and attractions, we have merely scratched the surface with respect to exploit ng our natural treasures to derive new revenue streams. Given the examples cited earlier, about our scarlet ibis and leatherback turtle, our attitudes and mindsets indicate that there is much work to be done before we make that much needed shift .

While complacency abounds in far too many quarters, our cocoa beans are being rated as world class; our athletes are doing wonders for our international profile; and visitors are coming from all over the globe to experience the sunset roosting ritual of the scarlet ibis at the Caroni Bird Sanctuary.

And there is much more. A fundamental question remains, however: what more would it take for us to harness the value of all that is uniquely ours, in a way that secures and guarantees our sustainability well into the future?
Accountants have a role to play in the fi ght against human traffi cking

Human trafficking is defined as modern day slavery, and it affects millions of adults and children around the world who are held for the purpose of sex trafficking, child sex trafficking, forced labour, bonded labour/ debt bondage, domestic servitude, forced child labour and unlawful recruitment and use as child soldiers.

The US Department of State recently published the 2017 Trafficking In Persons (TIP) Report which detailed some of the concerns regarding trafficking across the Caribbean. The report shows there has been an improvement across the region as the majority of countries have improved their Tier placements, which is based on the extent of government action to combat trafficking than on the size of the countrys problem.

There are no countries currently classified in the lowest rank, Tier 3, on account that their government does not fully meet the TVPAs (Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000) minimum standards and is not making significant eff orts to do so.

The Bahamas and Saint Marti n were the only Caribbean countries appraised as Tier 1 as their governments are deemed as fully complying with the TVPAs minimum standards. However, no tier ranking is permanent. Every country, including other Tier 1 ranked nations across the world like the US, UK and Germany, can do more to maintain and continually increase eff orts to combat human trafficking.

Human trafficking remains one of the fastest growing illegal enterprises in the world. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates human trafficking earns traffickers around $150 billion a year - a staggering amount that showcases how human trafficking translates into money laundering. But where and how can accountants counter this illegal activity? What part do they play? Well, ACCA accountants across the Caribbean  indeed the world - play an important role in deterring human trafficking throughout the region.

After all, professional accountants have a responsibility to support anti -money laundering initiatives, which firmly puts the finance profession on the front line in tackling this crime. We are the first line of defence in such instances.

In the case of ACCA members, they are obliged to report suspicions of money laundering and terrorist financing (including overseas terrorism, and carry out and maintain records of the compulsory internal staff training on money laundering.

These professionals also have to appoint a money laundering reporting officer to take responsibility for all the procedures, documentation and training; and, have appropriate preventative policies and procedures in place.

They are also advised on the signs to look out for. These could include a sudden and unexplained drop in income of a cash business after a change in ownership, clients using a number of bank accounts, an increase of cash deposits or unexplained third party payments. There are strict penalties for accountants who dont report their concerns as they cannot wilfully or naively ignore obvious signs of human trafficking.

The fight against human trafficking is a war, especially because the number of prosecutions of human traffickers is alarmingly low. According to the 2015 TIP report, there were only 10,051 prosecutions and 4,443 convictions for trafficking globally in 2014. Finance professionals must use their experiences, in addition to talking to law enforcement agencies to make the connection between the act of money laundering and the source of the income.

There are three aspects to money laundering, known as placement, layering and integration.

Placement is the transfer of the actual criminal proceeds into the financial system.

That could be through the purchase of a single premium life policy or a work of art.

Layering is where a smokescreen is created to distance the illicit funds from their source through layers of real or imagined transactions and/or organisations which is designed to hide the trail and provide anonymity.

Integration is where the funds come back into the financial system as if from normal business transactions or as investment funds to purchase legitimate assets, e.g. the work of art is sold and the proceeds reinvested in a business, which may or may not be legitimate.

Even if a business appears to only operate in one country, its supply chains will cross borders. And selling products or services that rely on human trafficking has financial implications as well as legal and moral ones.

Building a culture where everyone knows what to look out for, and how to report it, is key to good governance in this area Human trafficking destroys the lives of the people exploited in this crime, and as long as finance professionals come together to look out for these signs and uphold their ethics, they can help to reduce and eventually put an end to human trafficking.
bmobile supports Housing Ministrys public awareness, education campaign on squatting

The competition formed part of the MHUDs and LSAs recent Public Awareness and Education Campaign on Squatting, which ran from April to June and which was aimed at achieving several objectives, including communicating that squatting is illegal and should be discouraged. The campaign also highlighted the negative impacts of squatting on the environment and wider community; and encouraged a change of behaviour.

Dr Seema Kadir, who copped first place honours in the letter writing competition, received an iPhone 6S+ courtesy participating sponsor, bmobile. In her brief remarks, Dr Kadir thanked the Ministry and LSA for initiating its Squatting is Illegal Public Awareness Campaign. She also commended bmobile for its sponsorship of such a worthwhile project and lauded the valuable contributions made by the other participants.

Also present at the ceremony was the Presentation College (Chaguanas) Debate Team - the winning team of the LSAs Debate Competition which was another element of the overall campaign.

Speaking on behalf of the team, Jerod Griffith said that it was a keenly contested competition, but a very interesting and enlightening experience in which his team learned a lot through their research on squatting. It ultimately led them to appreciate the enormity of the problem. Being aware of the problem is the first step, said Griffith.

Griffith also thanked and congratulated the LSA Team for the initiative and for placing their trust in them to do a remarkable job. Our teacher and the school were very supportive of the teams efforts and my colleagues and I were able to keep each other motivated. In his remarks, Minister Mitchell indicated that while the Government appreciates that shelter is a very real need, squatting should not be tolerated.

Many persons are constructing impressive homes in squatting communities. These persons do not seem to care about the consequences of these unplanned developments which are proliferating at an astonishing rate all over the country. He further stated that it would seem that this generation was lost because of the lawlessness of some citizens.

However, what this competition illustrates is that the next generation is aware of the problem and can become active change agents. The Minister, like Dr Kadir, also extended his appreciation to bmobile for partnering with the Ministry and the LSA on this campaign which will be an annual feature of the LSAs public education efforts.

TSTTs Manager Government Sales and Services Gervon Abraham was on hand for the prizegiving and commended both Dr Kadirs winning entry and the debate teams performance. This clearly demonstrates that this generation will make the difference for the next generation and we need to continue to engage people in the discussions about the issue of squatting to bring about meaningful change. Also in attendance at the prize-giving were Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Simone Thorne-Mora; LSA Chairman, Ossley Francis and CEO, Hazar Hosein.
Getting value from construction $

While reducing costs can be considered a reasonable motive for awarding government contracts to foreign parties, a growing body of research suggests that the overall savings are minimal, on average. The simple reason for this is the inclusion of the fiscal multiplier, which is the amount that government spending affects income levels in the country, or in other words, the extent to which government spending generates new consumption. Usually, governments are more likely to award contracts to domestic firms in a recession to stimulate Keynesian multiplier effects in the economy. While procurement expenditures may rise in response to awarding to local contractors, governments believe the additional costs are outweighed by the support for the development, enrichment, growth, expansion and the retention of the local business community, thereby keeping any tax dollars spent on contracts, within the economy. Other advantages may include achieving local social policy goals to assist the local economy, and improving and protecting the local economy.

We in no way suggest that governments should only award contracts to locals. It merely asks that when conducting a costbenefit analysis, as is assumed was done, the potential savings to tax-payers must be pegged against loss of potential jobs, loss of potential income, repatriation of profits, and foreign currency flight.

The function of the cost-benefit analysis was to equip the government with the necessary information to fully evaluate the costs and benefits of awarding contracts and to ensure that taxpayers money is used in the most efficient manner. While simple cost measure comparisons are important for any type of decision, they do not reveal all the true costs and benefits associated with the decision to ultimately outsource.

Private entities usually base many decisions on obtaining the lowest cost and this would make sense since private entities seek to minimise their expenditure to achieve a given goal. In contrast, a governments decisions when awarding contracts should be made with significantly different criteria. The governments role in the economy is to pursue the public good ie the economic and other interests of its citizens. This objective of government should underline all government actions and processes, including government procurement. The government cannot act as a private entity in its approach to procurement as it must recognise the benefit that its procurement spend represents for the broader local economy and therefore it cannot ignore its broader economic objectives in its procurement policies and processes.

Government infrastructure spending has one of the highest fiscal multipliers among all types of fiscal stimulus measures  that is, an extra dollar of infrastructure spending translates into higher increase in the overall valueadded for the economy compared with most other fiscal measures. The high multiplier reflects both direct and indirect effects of infrastructure provision.

Directly, construction projects tend to be labour intensive, meaning that much of the expenditure goes directly back into the economy through wages.

Indirectly, construction activity has a very significant expenditure and employment multiplier effect which boosts activity and employment in related industries, not least in those industries supplying construction. In comparison, foreignsourced construction goods and services can safely be assumed to result in little or no flow-on expenditure or employment impacts, as materials are sourced from overseas and usually use foreign labour.

As with other areas of policy, transparency in process and outcome can go a long way to ensuring policies are working as intended and promised benefits to communities are being realised. While the economic and social benefits of an infrastructure project should be included in any cost-benefit analyses framework that assess project design and viability, there also should be an examination of the economic and social outcomes of infrastructure spending on both a macro and a community level once a project is complete. Citizens should be able to transparently see how that spend translates into social outcomes in their communities, and not simply the infrastructure project at the end.

Government expenditure involves much more than just size of expenditure. The implications of actions are complex and have ripple effects. We must not be parochial or fooled by other peoples agenda, whoever is the spokesman.
Chow Extreme

I grow fruits and vegetables organically and we had a lot of pest problems with our crops. Our main crop at the time was cucumbers but not regular cucumbers, European cucumbers. Apart from doing organic crops we tend to do unusual and uncommon fruits and vegetables.

The European cucumbers took off and a lot of persons began buying (them), but what also happens is that organic pest control does not lend itself well to good control so we were getting cucumbers with some holes in them. Then we got an influx of European cucumber with so many holes, that instead of wasting it we began making chow with them and giving it complementary to our customers, Dickson explains to Business Day of the genesis of the company.

People would ask how much for the chow and when they heard it was free they would advise us to sell it, but at the time we did not. We preferred to make chow than throw away the cucumbers. However, when our crops were devastated by pests and we had nothing to sell my wife said, why not start selling chow, every Trinidadian loves chow, he said.

The father and son duo registered Chow Extreme in 2015 and started off with $280 spent on equipment like containers and spoons. At the launch of the company they were sold out and generated a substantial profit. Since then the family business has taken off and has been contracted for a number of events.

The largest event we have done for three years in a row is Shades Premium All-inclusive Breakfast Party. We appreciate Michael Sealy and his wife for the opportunity. The first year we had to prepare for 500 people, it was amazing, Dickson said.

They have also catered chow for pool parties, and the Mango Festival and Pineapple Festival at the Santa Cruz Green Market.

Dickson and Duranty can be found every Saturday at the Santa Cruz Green Market, selling their organically grown fruits and vegetables along with their signature chows.

We have an estate in Brazil, Trinidad and a farm in Orange Grove. Our aim is to be 100 per cent self-sustaining in the products we use. We started off with cucumbers, then plums came in season we did plum chow, then mangoes and pommecythere. Eventually we decided to have something consistent and since pineapples are year-round, that became the main chow we would do.

Thanks to pineapple farmer Navin Ramroop we have a steady flow of pineapples for our customers, who are both locals and foreigners alike, to enjoy. Chow Extreme was registered two years ago, but we were doing this long before. All our inputs are locally produced, most of the products are grown by us with the exception of the pineapples, Duranty said.

Some of the things we use to make chow and garnish it with are: radish, zucchini, wax apple, passion fruit, sugar cane, coconut, lime juice, five fingers, guava, micro cucumber, European cucumber, dragons egg cucumber, portugal and various types of mangoes, all of which are locally and organically produced by us, Dickson explained.

They are firmly against the use of preservatives in their chows, and in the past they have been approached by people to get their products on supermarket shelves. But they declined. We like to create the product, fresh for customers on the spot so that they can appreciate the various taste of the fruits, added Dickson passionately.

Usually it takes us between five and 12 minutes to prepare and customise a chow for a customer.

We have some of the garnish items prepped already but there are some things that need to be done on site, Duranty explained. We also use sea salt, garlic, cayenne pepper, scorpion pepper and cilantro. The amount of pepper given is based on the customers preference. Their signature pineapple chows are the Aristocrat and the Supreme Aristocrat, which they said are environmentally friendly. The idea of making the chow within a fruit like the pineapple or cantaloupe is because it is bio-degradable and eliminates the use of plastic bags or plastic bowls, simultaneously creating a unique presentation.

So what sets Chow Extreme apart from other chow makers? They believe it is taste and presentation.

Its not always about being hot. We garnish our chows so you can taste and appreciate the different fruits, added Dickson.

As an organic farmer Dickson is also a part of the Santa Cruz Green Markets Community Supported Agriculture programme, which is the primary method for achieving the Green Markets objective of changing existing patterns of production and consumption.

Families support the farmers through monthly subscriptions paid in advance, which allows the farmers to plan and plant the healthier, fresher food that the families want.

We are also with Alliance of Rural Communities of Trinidad and Tobago, a group based in Brasso Seco, we supply them as well as.

They also do organic baskets.

Some people only appreciate organic foods when a family member gets ill and they realise how much artificial foods and preservatives they have been eating and some appreciate organic food before that happens. Many persons say organic fruits and vegetables have a longer shelf life, Dickson said.
Cops approach DPP in beating of two-year-old girl

Up until yesterday, the child remained in critical condition at the Intensive Care Unit of the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex. Doctors have told her parents her chance of survival is slim.

On Monday a second emergency surgery was done with the hope her condition may improve, however she continues to slip in and out of consciousness.

The main suspect in the beating, a 39-year-old nurse assigned to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, has denied any involvement.

She was interviewed for several hours on Sunday by a team of police led by Inspector Coggins.

On Tuesday, Coggins compiled a file which was taken to the DPP yesterday.

The parents of the baby are insisting that the suspect be charged because of the injuries suffered by their daughter.

It is alleged that two Saturdays ago, the child was left by her father in the care of the nurse and, on his return, the girl began vomiting and complaining of pains to her stomach.

The father was told the child was suffering from constipation and he should not worry.

However on Sunday the toddler began screaming because of excruciating pain.

She was taken to hospital where doctors found her colon was ruptured, not from a fall, as a result of blunt force trauma.
St Joseph man shot

According to reports, Dyke Skeete of Bangladesh, St Joseph was in a fight with a woman shortly after 7 am yesterday. The woman was allegedly beaten.

Police were told the beating was witnessed by the womans male relative who shot Skeete several times.

The wounded man was taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex by neighbours and the area near Farm Road, St Joseph was cordoned by members of the St Joseph Police Station. Skeetes condition yesterday was described as stable and a search was carried out for the suspect who remained in hiding up until yesterday.
Magistrate apologises to witnesses for prosecutions unpreparedness

Earle-Caddle apologised for the absence of five statements from State attorney Nadine Matura- Singh.

Matura-Singh said while the prosecution had 27 statements prepared to tender as evidence, five were still outstanding. She explained the investigating officer had encountered difficulty in finding the witnesses to give their statements. However, Earle-Caddle said the prosecution should be better prepared when coming to court.

This person has been in custody since May 2016, she said.

Why dont you have their statements as a part of your file? You knew the matter was fixed to be heard for today and you knew you were not in possession of these five statements, so why did you not apply for a court summons to be sent to these individuals? Matura-Singh explained that up until Tuesday morning searches were carried out for the missing statements but the prosecution had been unable to locate them.

Pierres attorney Brent Winter argued there were numerous flaws in the recording of statements and other documents from the investigating officer, citing poor penmanship in addition to the prosecutions failure to produce statements.

Your worship, the interview notes recorded by the complainant from the accused are totally illegible, and now we are hearing that there are five additional statements that are outstanding. I dont know how long this is expected to go on for, he said.

Earle-Caddle agreed with Winter, saying she had set aside Tuesday to hear the matter but would have to adjourn it until September.

She also issued a stern reminder to the policeman who laid the charge that the collection of statements was his responsibility.

Let me make it abundantly clear to you that if you do not have the statements by the next court date, you are to request a summons for the officers involved to come to court. You are the lead investigator and this is your case.

It is your responsibility to ensure that you have the necessary statements. The case has been adjourned to September 19.
440 charges read to inspectors wife

The charges are the largest number laid by the Fraud Squad department of the Police Service in which Gosine-Ramdass is accused of stealing and laundering approximately $2.8 million from a businessplace where she worked.

She appeared before Magistrate Indira Misir- Gosine in the Princes Town court, having been arrested with her husband, Inspector Darryl Ramdass last week Thursday.

On Tuesday night, Gosine-Ramdass of King Street, Princes Town, was taken from the Maraval Police Station to the Princes Town Police Station where she spent the night in a cell before yesterdays court appearance.

At 1 pm she was escorted in handcuffs before Misir-Gosine who began reading the charge at 1.15 pm.

The magistrate read 157 charges in which the woman is alleged, on various dates in 2011 to 2014, to have stolen money from A Tech Products and Services Limited, of Petit Cafe, Moruga where she was employed.

The magistrate asked Gosine-Ramdass to sit as she continued reading charge after charge, all of which were laid indictably.

They stemmed from several months of investigations led by Fraud Squad Head Snr Supt Totaram Dookhie and included ASP Kent Ghisiyawan and Sgt Cornelius Samuel. Attorney Hubert Charles and Shirvani Ramkissoon represented the woman.

Her husband, who appeared in the Port of Spain Magistrates Court on Tuesday charged with illegal possession of eight macaws, was present yesterday for his wifes court appearance.

Misir-Gosine took a break at about 3.30 pm, then resumed the reading of the charges, 137 of which were laid under the Proceeds of Crime Act for alleged money laundering.

Another 150 were for alleged falsification of documents in which, on various dates between 2013 and 2014, Gosine-Ramdass, at Petit Cafe, Moruga, allegedly falsified documents in which various sums of money were deposited into an account at a commercial bank.

Court clerks had to remain beyond their 4 pm shift to book all 440 charges and clerks walked in and out the court while the magistrate read the charges, to take away and return with charge sheets. At 7.30 pm, Misir-Gosine had read 434 charges.

Charles and Ramkissoon were expected to plead for bail to be granted to the woman.
Duke takes protest to the high seas

Duke told the media during a press conference yesterday at Scarborough Fishing Depot, that his plans were not for fame but for equality for Tobago. By whatever means is necessary, we will take that means and commence by swimming, Duke said. We will be doing that understanding the perils out at sea, understanding that the water is mixed and the currents are heavy.

Understanding there are dangerous fish out there but we are doing it with all the safety precautions like we would have the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard, rescue team, a doctor and a nurse on a vessel alongside the swimmers.

We are doing this for Tobago. When asked his about those who called his idea absurd, Duke responded, Silence. Actions speak louder than words.

There is a time to talk and there is a time for action, our actions will speak. The time for talking is long gone.

If nothing else matters we are going to the ultimate. Like Christ going to the cross, we will put our life and take the strain and every stroke we make and water we swallow out there it is done with Tobagonians in mind. Duke will start the 246 km swimming protest with assistance from other members of the THA Opposition and fishermen from the All Tobago Fisherfolk Association (ATFA). Duke said the event would be historic and would give Tobagonians the courage to speak up. He added it would also become a catalyst for affected stakeholders to demand fair treatment from Central Government.

Duke slammed Prime Minister Keith Rowleys recent efforts to address the current air and sea bridge issue. He said, We want him to have a real meeting to have a conversation with Tobagonians.

He has been having conversations with people in North, South Trinidad but he hasnt had any in Tobago.

The only meetings he held in Tobago was closed door. Last month, Duke along with members of the public and minority opposition marched 25 kilometres from Argyle to Scarborough for seven hours demanding an end to nepotism and equity in the Tobago House of Assembly.

He then recalled times where the Opposition attempted to warn the THA and the Government about issues with the recently procured Cabo Star and Ocean flower 2.

We have tried every single thing to raise this issue with the sea bridge on the national agenda, Duke said. We have tried but unsuccessfully.

We have gotten a lot of talk and no action.

What we need is for this issue to be placed on the national agenda and keep it there until something happens. What affects Tobago should affect Trinidad and Tobago. Opposition member and representative for Parlatuvier/Lanse Fourmi/ Speyside constituency Farley Augustine said the effort would show that Tobagonians wanted to play a significant role in the decision making for the next procurement process.
Sinanan, Hinds, Young to appear before JSC

Sources yesterday revealed that the secretary of the JSC would be sending out requests to the three ministers to appear before the committee.

The JSC will also be summoning former chairmen of the board of the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago Christine Sahadeo and Nyree Alfonso, and former member Ferdie Ferreira.

Former transport minister Stephen Cadiz will be requested to attend.

Sources said that Michael Annisette, president general of the Seamen and Waterfront Workers Union will also be invited to share information with the JSC.

The JSC, chaired by Independent Senator Stephen Crease, will also travel to Tobago to hold a similar inquiry.

At that meeting, former head of the Public Service Reginald Dumas will be given an opportunity to have his say on the ferry fiasco.

Sources also said that Andrew Purdey, vice chairman of Bridgemans Services Group, would be given a special invitation to tell his side of the story at the JSC inquiry when it is convenient to him.

Purdey has indicated publicly that he is willing to tell all to clear his companys name.

When contacted, Sinanan, the Works and Transport minister, said he was willing to appear before the JSC if requested but would have to be guided on if he could attend and what he could divulge.

He said he would also be guided on if his appearance before the JSC could be a conflict of interest.

At the end of the JSC meetings, he said, the recommendations of the committee would have to be sent to him for action within a 60- day period.
Unions raise several issues with Rowley

The PM made this point to labour representatives during a four-hour meeting with them at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) in St Clair. Rowley agreed to meet with the trade unions again on September 13. During yesterdays meeting, Rowley offered to host an open forum next month where the business community and the labour movement would be given an opportunity to present their respective cases to the country.

In a statement issued by the OPM after the meeting, Rowley said, There have been no mass retrenchments; we have borrowed considerably to maintain the Government expenditure on human resource maintenance. He continued, Some contract workers have not had their contracts renewed but that number is much smaller than those who have had their contracts renewed. Rowley was heartened by the unions pronouncement that their withdrawal from the National Tripartite Advisory Council (NTAC) was temporary.

The Prime Minister said he was willing to consider some restructuring of the NTAC.

Rowley said,We are better sitting around the table than shouting at each other. There is nothing to be gained by labour from refusing to sit around the table. Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus, Energy Minister Franklin Khan and Minister in the OPM Stuart Young also attended the meeting.

Speaking with reporters outside of the OPM after the meeting, Joint Trade Union Movement leader Ancil Roget confirmed that labour will meet with Rowley on September 13. However, Roget said labour was not ready to rejoin either NTAC or the National Productivity Council at this time. He said both entities should be restructured , with Government not chairing and being a member of the same entity in each case. Roget said Rowley did not agree with labours call for a moratorium on retrenchment but did listen to the movements concerns.

Roget said labour wanted to make a significant contribution to the upcoming 2017/2018 Budget. He expressed concerns that the Budget could contain International Monetary Fund and World Bank prescriptions which would hurt workers and the wider population as well.

Roget said labour felt disrespected that wage negotiations that were settled are not being implemented while other negotiations have not started yet. : Rent-scooter.com Scooter rental in Barcelona

He also said labour wanted Government to give particular attention to amending the Retrenchment and Severance Benefits Act, to make it more difficult for employers to retrench workers at will. Roget said the labour movement understood the countrys current economic challenges. However, he added, all stakeholders must be cognisant of the need for maintaining industrial peace and stability at this time. Roget said reference was made to the domestic seabridge issue during the meeting, in the context of corruption and the perception of corruption
Charles alleges schools in disrepair

In a statement yesterday Charles urged Garcia and minister in the ministry Dr Lovell Francis to come clean on school repairs.

On June 28, in response to a question by Oropouche West MP Vidia Gayadeen-Gopeesingh, Minister Garcia informed Parliament that rehabilitation work at the Fifth Company School would be done during the 2017 July/ August vacation. He stressed that focus will be on repairs to toilets, replacement of windows and burglar proofing and improvement and strengthening of hand rails and the protective metal enclosures on stairwells. Charles said the Education Facilities Co Ltd (EFCL) on August 18 had also assured that school repairs are being done, with the most critical works being done first. Charles hit, To date Monday 21st August, based on a site visit there are no visible signs of work, critical or otherwise, having been done during this vacation at the Fifth Company Baptist School. There is also no electricity in the guard booth.

Additionally, Cowen Hamilton Secondary, also in the constituency of Moruga/Tableland, the only Baptist secondary school in the country, remains without a dedicated auditorium, or a gymnasium, or a modern computer room, or a well-equipped permanent library.
Arima Mayor outraged over fraud

Minister of Rural Development and Local Government, Kazim Hosein, disclosed on Tuesday that three cheques amounting to close to $1.5 million were stolen from the corporation last Friday afternoon and cashed.

He said one person is in police custody and the matter is being investigated by the Fraud Squad. In a statement yesterday, Mayor Morris- Julian said the corporations Chief Executive Officer alerted her immediately when the theft was discovered and the minister was contacted.

She said the corporation is cooperating fully with the Fraud Squad to ensure that they can conduct a thorough and unhindered investigation and bring this matter to a swift conclusion.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday signed a decision to designate four northwestern Pacific islands at the center of a longstanding territorial issue with Japan as a special economic zone.

The two nations are in talks on jointly carrying out economic activities on and around the Russian-held islands, which are collectively known as the northern territories in Japan.

While Tokyo hopes that such joint activities will be conducted under a special framework that will not undermine the two sides' respective legal positions for the islands, Russia's unilateral designation may run counter to Japan's stance, informed sources said.

At a vice-ministerial meeting in Moscow on Thursday, Japan and Russia agreed that they will aim to forge an accord on joint projects that will be launched early at a bilateral summit slated to be held in the Russian Far East city of Vladivostok early next month. But the designation is expected to affect the outcome of the upcoming meeting, the sources said.
Never send a cop to do a man's job
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The terrorist Islamic State assaulted Wednesday a checkpoint of the Libyan National Army, a first incident of its kind in several months.

While the two main governments in Libya have recently concluded a ceasefire and the frequency of fighting has drastically decreased, the Islamic state has resurfaced, attacking a checkpoint of the Libyan National Army, commanded by khalifa Haftar.

The attack that took place in the town of Al Joufra, located in the southeast of the country, left nine soldiers of Khalifa Haftars army killed. They were summarily slaughtered and some were decapitated.

At least two civilians were also killed in the assault, according to Libyan rescue elements.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack and announced that it killed and wounded 21 soldiers.

After it was expelled from Syrte, Benghazi and other cities on the Libyan coast, the terrorist group redeployed to the south of the country, where the presence of the military is less heavy.

The region has not witnessed this type of incidents since last May, when the IS group staged an attack that killed about 100 LNA members.

Haftar as well as his political supporter Speaker of the House of Representative, Ageela Saleh, condemned the onslaught and vowed to respond without mercy.

Prime Minister Faiez Serraj also denounced the terrorist attack while calling for the establishment of a unified Libyan army to address the scourge of terrorism.
Hundreds of furious women staged mass sit-ins in Casablanca and Rabat in protest against the shocking sexual assault on a girl in a public bus in Casablanca.

The distressing incident was documented in a video that went viral on Moroccos social media reigniting a bitter debate about violence against women, especially after the recurrence of sexual harassment and violence cases against women with the latest being registered in Tangier where a hooting mob chased a girl.

Branding banners and chanting slogans venting anger and frustration at the lack of civility and the increasing sexual harassment in the public space, the women taking part in the sit-ins denounced what they deemed as laxism by authorities in protecting women and called for a halt of stereotypes against them.

The disturbing video has become a public opinion issue showing the scale of violence against women. It depicts a 24-year-old victim crying, while a group of teenagers molest her, insult her and tear her clothes off, while neither the passengers nor the bus driver intervened to help as the footage was shot.

The video sent shockwaves across Morocco mobilizing Moroccan NGOs and human rights organizations. In this respect, the protesters called for a quick adoption of the bill against sexual assault and violence against women, which has been lingering in the Parliament since 2013.

Authorities affirm the arrest of six teenagers involved in the attack, all between the ages of 15 and 17.

Public transport company MDina Bus, for its part, recognizes that the sexual assault took place in one of its busses, noting that the video was too short to determine whether the bus driver actually failed to do anything.

The incident stirred a heated debate on social media, especially on facebook. While thousands vented their anger and frustration at these shameful incidents, some dissapointing comments rather ascribed the responsibility for the assault to the girl for provoking the teenagers with her loose dress.

The sad reality though is that sexual harassment and abuse of women is rife in Morocco where a national survey found that nearly two-thirds of women had experienced physical, psychological, sexual or economic abuse.
OG birthers. Photo: Mary Altaffer/AP

In March of 2011, Donald Trump made his first public statement questioning President Barack Obamas birthplace, telling ABCs Good Morning America he had just a little doubt that Obama was born in Hawaii. Trump would spend the next several months stoking this racist lie, which originated in the dimmest corners of the internet and flourished on World Net Daily, a far less funny Infowars.

Trump wasnt the first public figure to question Obamas citizenship  Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich were among many high-profile Republicans to just ask questions  but he was the most committed. And then in August of 2011, four months after Obama released his long-form birth certificate, a jowly sheriff from Arizona with a national profile as a hard-ass sadist announced plans to investigate the document.

Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio would assign a five-man Cold Case Posse to probe the authenticity of Obamas birth certificate, he told Jerome Corsi, the former World Net Daily columnist and Ur-birther. When I get allegations brought to me by the citizens of Maricopa County, I look into the allegations, just like I am doing here, he said at the time.

Six months later, Arpaio announced at a press conference that the long-form birth certificate was a computer-generated forgery. Thats when Trump took notice. Within a couple weeks of Arpaios announcement, Trump had printed out an Associated Press article about the charade and handwritten a note to the sheriff. It read:

Joe Great goingyou are the only one with the guts to do thiskeep up the good fight. Donald Trump

Four months later, Arpaios team scheduled a press conference to elaborate on their findings and distract from the racial-profiling case against his agency that was about to begin. There, Arpaios lead investigator explained why the birth certificate was a fraud, using meaningless circumstantial evidence that any moron could see was worthless.

Trump loved it. In the next several days he tweeted congratulations to Arpaio and went on Fox News to talk to Sean Hannity about the sheriffs important work.

Congratulations to @RealSheriffJoe on his successful Cold Case Posse investigation which claims @BarackObama's 'birth certificate' is fake  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2012

As I always said, the "Birthers" were after the truth. Thanks to @RealSheriffJoe @BarackObama can't hide anymore.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2012

The two bronze coots reconnected again in July of 2015, a month after Trump launched his campaign for president, at a campaign rally in Phoenix. Serving as Trumps warm-up act, Arpaio reminded the crowd of the history he and the candidate shared. They werent only aligned on Obamas illegitimacy, Arpaio said. Both were also willing to do whatever it took to take on the illegal immigration problem, including breaking the law.

In December, Trump had Arpaio back at a rally in Mesa, Arizona, where the sheriff once again brought up the birth certificate investigation, which is still going on.

Trump, who was evading questions about the issue at the time, had no problem with Arapio reminding people of the conspiracy theory that started his political career. In January, when Arpaio gave his official endorsement, Trump said, I have great respect for Sheriff Arpaio. We must restore law and order on the border and respect the men and women of our police forces. I thank him for his support of my policies and candidacy for president. The 85-year-old would later speak at the Republican National Convention and briefly find himself mentioned as a potential cabinet member.

Given all that rich history, it was little surprise then when rumors began swirling that Trump might pardon Arpaio during a rally in Phoenix Tuesday. For the few years that they wore tin-foil hats together, the sheriff displayed the two qualities Trump values most: loyalty and the ability to tell absurd lies with a straight face. Trump also knows how angry liberals would be if he pardoned a birther lawman reviled for his treatment of prisoners and immigrants. And Trump is nothing if not a troll.

Trump stopped short of pardoning Tuesday, but he did suggest that its coming. And in what one can only assume was a nod to the man who joined him in a dogged pursuit of delegitimizing the first black president, he even gave a shout-out to Kenya. Trump may not be talking about Obamas birth certificate anymore, but hes clearly still thinking about it.
Photo: The Washington Post/The Washington Post/Getty Images

It seems the Russians really wanted to get in touch with the Trump campaign, and they didnt realize that all they needed to do was reach out to Donald Trump Jr. regarding high level and sensitive information [thats] part of Russia and its governments support for Mr. Trump.

Earlier this month, the Washington Post reported that one of the Trump campaigns foreign-policy advisers, George Papadopoulos, repeatedly offered to set up a meeting between the campaign and the Russian leadership, including President Vladimir Putin. Several Trump officials rejected the requests.

On Wednesday, CNN reported that congressional investigators have found an email from top campaign aide Rick Dearborn that references another effort to arrange a meeting. Per CNN:

The aide, Rick Dearborn, who is now President Donald Trumps deputy chief of staff, sent a brief email to campaign officials last year relaying information about an individual who was seeking to connect top Trump officials with Putin, the sources said.

The person was only identified in the email as being from WV, which one source said was a reference to West Virginia. Its unclear who the individual is, what he or she was seeking, or whether Dearborn even acted on the request. One source said that the individual was believed to have had political connections in West Virginia, but details about the request and who initiated it remain vague.

The email was sent in June 2016, around the same time as the Trump Jr. meeting with Russians connected to Putin. Dearborn appeared to be skeptical of the meeting, according to sources, but he was involved in another event thats drawn scrutiny from investigators. Dearborn served as then-senator Jeff Sessionss chief of staff for many years, and he helped set up an April 2016 event at the Mayflower Hotel where Trump delivered an address on foreign policy. The event was attended by thenRussia ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak, and questions have been raised about Dearborns role in setting up meetings between Kislyak and Sessions. The attorney general denied meeting any Russian officials during his confirmation hearing, which led to him recusing himself from the Russia probe.

There hasnt been much news about the Russia investigation in recent weeks, but it seems its still on Trumps mind. Politico reports that earlier this month Trump had two heated calls with Republican senators on the topic.

In the first, Trump complained to Senate Foreign Relations chairman Bob Corker that the bipartisan Russia sanctions bill was unconstitutional and would hurt his presidency. Trump eventually signed the bill, reluctantly.

Then during a call with Senator Thom Tillis on August 7, Trump signaled his displeasure with a bill Tillis is working on with Democratic senator Chris Coons, which is intended to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller should Trump attempt to fire him.

A Corker spokeswoman said the senator had a productive conversation about the congressional review portion of the Russia sanctions bill, and a Tillis spokesman described his chat with the president as cordial.
Democratic senators from states Trump narrowly carried last year, like Pennsylvanias Bob Casey, should have a pretty good wind at their backs in 2018. Photo: Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images

As the political terrain for 2018 continues to come into view, most of the buzz is about the U.S. House, and the robust but hardly certain possibility of a Democratic takeover. That is partly because the Senate landscape seems impossibly difficult for the Donkey Party, which is defending 25 of 33 seats up next year, ten of them in states carried by Donald Trump last year. And of the Republican incumbents who are defending their seats, only two appear vulnerable at this point (though both, Jeff Flake and Dean Heller, are now really vulnerable, facing both primary and general-election opposition). Everyone understands that the pro-GOP landscape and the antiWhite House midterm dynamics are pushing these races in different directions. But its hard to get a handle on the magnitude of these contending forces.

Larry Sabatos Crystal Ball filled in some of our knowledge gap today, with a study by Geoffrey Skelley of Senate races in midterms dating all the way back to 1914. The numbers are pretty clear: 91% (287 of 314) of non-presidential party incumbents won reelection in midterms. Thats much better than the 75 percent midterm reelection rate of senators from the presidential party.

Lest you imagine this is all a vestige of a bygone era of wide-scale ticket-splitting, theres this factoid:

If anything, out-party incumbents losing in a midterm is becoming less common: In six of the last eight midterms, including the last three (2006, 2010, and 2014), no such incumbent lost reelection.

Heres the fun part of the Crystal Ball analysis:

Applying the historical averages to next years Senate elections would result  drumroll please  in a net party change ofzero seats. If 91% of the Democrats/Democratic-caucusing independents are reelected, that would be 23 out of 25, and if 75% of the Republicans are reelected, that would be six of eight, leading to no net change.

Without making any predictions, such a scenario is plausible: Democrats could lose two of the incumbents defending dark red states, in states such as Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, and West Virginia, but otherwise hold everything else, while Republicans could lose the only two seemingly vulnerable seats among their much smaller stable of incumbent-held states: Arizona and Nevada.

It is clear that the tendency to lump all of the so-called Trump Ten senators into the same endangered category has never made much sense. Trump carried Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin by narrow enough margins that even the mildest midterm antiWhite House breeze could carry Democratic incumbents over the finish line. Ohio (an 8-point Trump margin in 2016) is more promising for Republicans, with Indiana (a 19-point margin) and Missouri (18 points) even more promising, and Montana, North Dakota, and West Virginia (20-point-plus margins) really ripe targets. But Democratic incumbents in all these states have their own distinctive strengths, and at the moment not one of them is trailing according to the authoritative Cook Political Report.

There is one more imponderable to throw into the mix: Will the tendency of demographic groups that have recently become central to the Democratic coalition to significantly underperform in midterms change? There is reason to believe, in part based on special elections since Trump took office, that the spirit of resistance to the 45th president will offset some if not all of that phenomenon. But its something to keep in mind.

In general, the shape of the Senate after 2018 is going to be conditioned by a variety of competing and conflicting factors. One thing, however, is very clear: Had Hillary Clinton won last November, we would probably be looking at big Senate  and House  gains for the GOP next year. Using the in-party/out-party historical percentages, heres what youd get according to Crystal Balls Kyle Kondik:

Just going by the averages, wed expect the Democrats to lose a half-dozen seats and the GOP to lose one or even zero incumbents. And the net Democratic losses probably would have been even bigger because its easy to imagine one or more red state Democrats seeing the writing on the wall and retiring in advance of a tough midterm, giving the Republicans an easy open-seat pickup or two.

In other words, had Clinton won, we might be talking about a GOP drive to get a 60-vote supermajority in the Senate. There are always silver linings for the party that falls short in presidential elections.
A leader of 30 million non-evangelical Protestants and Orthodox calls out conservative evangelicals for cowardice in dealing with Donald Trump. Photo: John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images

Donald Trumps conservative evangelical supporters have gotten a considerable amount of attention for their loyalty to the president even as he has done and said some pretty heathenish things in recent days, whether its the thermonuclear saber-rattling against North Korea that Robert Jeffress endorsed in the name of the Almighty, or the presidents reluctance to condemn the white rioters of Charlottesville, which Jerry Falwell Jr. found quite exemplary. And then there was the equally prominent evangelical Franklin Graham Jr. (son of Billy), who invoked Gods blessings for Trumps rage-filled rally in Phoenix last night. The largely white nature of the presidents evangelical base was illustrated by a rare defection from his 25-member Evangelical Executive Advisory Board: African-American Brooklyn pastor A.R. Bernard, who said last week he was stepping down because of a deepening conflict of values between myself and the administration. Even rarer is Russell Moore, a longtime white conservative evangelical dissenter against his Southern Baptist denominations weak knees for Trump and its habit of excusing racism.

But it sometimes escapes notice, particularly by non-Christians and seculars, that not all Christians, or even Protestant Christians, are conservative evangelicals. In todays New York Times, Jim Winkler, the president of the National Council of Churches, that hardy redoubt for mainline Protestants and Eastern Orthodox, issued a challenge to evangelicals from the perspective of the 100,000 congregations and the 30 million Christians he represents:

Since at least the early 1960s, when one of my predecessors, J. Irwin Miller, put the National Council of Churches at the center of the civil rights movement, our member churches have been committed to justice and tolerance, and have used their position in their communities to rally support against racism and oppression

A few members of the evangelical board have argued that whatever the presidents mistakes, it is better for them to remain in a position to influence him. But they overestimate their ability to shape the presidents thinking and underappreciate the impact that taking a stand against his comments would have.

Indeed, says Winkler (a Methodist), the silence of many conservative evangelicals toward Trumps misdeeds is more telling than the rationalizations some offer.

I am proud that during the rally and counter-protests that weekend, the denominations that constitute the National Council of Churches were present in a dignified, disciplined, nonviolent manner, and they refused to cower before the white nationalists who were shouting abuse, wielding clubs and inciting violence that caused the death of an innocent bystander.

Hes talking about those among whom the president was so eager to identify (however vaguely) as fine people. Trumps solidarity with the neo-Confederates of Charlottesville has been been blessed by his clerical enablers.

Not the often-forgotten mainliners and Orthodox, says Winkler:

We refuse to countenance a president who gives quarter to those who sow hate and injustice among the American public. Our congregations will continue to witness to a God who loves everyone regardless of race or creed. We need our evangelical sisters and brothers to join us.

The irony is that conservative evangelicals often accuse liberal Christians of bending to secular societys transitory values and uncharitable self-interest. Theres no major figure in American life more secular and self-interested than Donald J. Trump, the man who hates losers, celebrates torture, and benefits constantly from the resentments of his followers. Youd like to think the evangelicals who worship Trumps golden calf of nationalism and worldly success would wake up and smell the brimstone one of these days.
Damage to the U.S.S. John S. McCain. Photo: Joshua Fulton/U.S. Navy via Getty Images/Getty Images

The U.S. Navy on Thursday ended the search-and-rescue mission for the nine sailors still missing after Mondays collision between the U.S.S. John S. McCain and an oil tanker. Its efforts will now be focused on recovery, an acknowledgement that the sailors are not expected to be found alive.

Before calling off the rescue portion of the mission, the U.S. and multinational partners spent 80 hours searching a 2,100-square-mile area near Singapore, the Navys Seventh Fleet said in a statement. The remains of one missing sailor were found on the ship. He was identified as Electronics Technician 3rd Class Kenneth Aaron Smith, 22, from New Jersey. On Thursday, the Navy named the other nine sailors still missing:

- Electronics Technician 1st Class Charles Nathan Findley, 31, from Kansas City, Missouri - Interior Communications Electrician 1st Class Abraham Lopez, 39, from Texas - Electronics Technician 2nd Class Kevin Sayer Bushell, 26, from Maryland - Electronics Technician 2nd Class Jacob Daniel Drake, 21, from Ohio - Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Timothy Thomas Eckels Jr., 23, from Maryland - Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Corey George Ingram, 28, from New York - Electronics Technician 3rd Class Dustin Louis Doyon, 26, from Connecticut - Electronics Technician 3rd Class John Henry Hoagland III, 20, from Texas - Interior Communications Electrician 3rd Class Logan Stephen Palmer, 23, from Illinois

The McCain is now at Singapores Changi Naval Base, where its flooded compartments are being searched for further signs of the missing sailors. The search of the sea does not appear to have yielded any relevant remains. The Royal Malaysian Navy did find a body while searching the ocean Tuesday, but it was not one of the missing sailors.

Thursdays announcement comes as ships in the Seventh Fleet have been ordered to observe an operational stand-down, allowing commanders to assess safety procedures. Each ship in the fleet has been directed to dedicate a day to reviewing safety standards, updating protocols, and running emergency drills.

History has shown that continuous operations over time causes basic skills to atrophy and in some cases gives commands a false sense of their overall readiness, Admiral Scott Swift said in a statement.

There can be no bystanders, he added. Bystanders become weak links and need extra attention and leadership. During this pause, focus on fundamentals  both individual and team.
Kim Jong-un. Photo: STR/AFP/Getty Images

Hours after President Trump paid Kim Jong-un a compliment during his rambling campaign rally in Phoenix, North Korean state media mocked Trump for his weird and ego-driven tweets. Trump also frequently spouts rubbish, the state-run KCNA said Wednesday, referring to Trump as that mad man. So much for that respect.

Along with the personal attacks, the editorial criticized the joint military drills that the U.S. and South Korea are carrying out this week. The US should not forget that their opponent is armed with nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, the agency said. It also warned, We wont just sit and watch the behaviors of the foolish people whose blood is burning with revenge.

The U.S. has long maintained that the military exercises, which began Monday and happen twice a year, are defensive. Pyongyang doesnt buy it. On Sunday, the state newspaper Rodong Sinmun called the exercises the most explicit expression of hostility against us. It added, No one can guarantee that the exercise wont evolve into actual fighting. Dubbed Ulchi Freedom Guardian, the drills involve nearly 70,000 U.S. and South Korea troops but do not include live fire, unlike those that took place in March.

Despite KCNAs sick burn at Trumps expense, theres reason to be slightly optimistic about thawing relations between the two countries. Before Trump said Tuesday that he respects Kims newfound respect for the U.S., Secretary of State Rex Tillerson praised the North Koreans restraint. He made the statement after the 26th day that North Korea didnt test a missile. Now its been 27.
Shutting down the shutdown. Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Last night, President Trump reiterated his belief that sabotaging the functioning of the federal government is an effective strategy for persuading Democrats to vote for his border wall.

Specifically, the president suggested that he might veto any spending bill that failed to include funds for his monument to American xenophobia, thereby allowing the government to shut down (and, almost certainly, his approval rating and that of his party to fall).

Paul Ryan thinks this would be a bad idea.

I dont think a government shutdown is necessary, and I dont think most people want to see a government shutdown, ourselves included, the House speaker told reporters in Oregon Wednesday.

Ryan went on to note that the House has already passed $1.6 billion in border wall funding. That appropriation has languished in the Senate, where Mitch McConnell lacks the votes to overcome a Democratic filibuster (a problem that a government shutdown is highly unlikely to solve).

I dont think anyones interested in having a shutdown, Ryan continued. I dont think its in our interests to do so while we work on doing what we actually said we would do, what weve done already in the House and we need to do, which is to control our border. So I dont think you have to choose between the two.

Congress must pass funding legislation and a debt-ceiling hike by the end of September in order to avert a shutdown and debt default, respectively. Lawmakers will only have 12 legislative days to do both those things. Ryan said that, in light of this time crunch, the GOP leadership would push for the passage of a short-term continuing resolution, as opposed to a full 2018 budget.

Senate Republicans surely know that they cant make their Democratic colleagues vote for Trumps wall by threatening to shut down the government, given that the public tends to blame the party in power for political dysfunction. And Trump has given few indications that hes willing to buck the judgement of his cabinet and congressional Republicans on policy matters (as opposed to rhetorical ones). Its hard to imagine him single-handedly inducing a shutdown with a veto.

But the presidents endorsement of legislative hostage-taking could stiffen the spines of the House GOPs most intransigent ideologues  and, thus, make Ryans September even more difficult than it was already shaping up to be.

Earlier this month, the House Freedom Caucus threatened to block any debt-ceiling hike that didnt include massive spending cuts or deregulatory measures that would never survive the Senate.
Photo: Pool/Getty Images

Shockingly, multiple bungled attempts to revise his initial response to the white-nationalist rally in Charlottesville, and eventually casting himself as the victim of a fake media controversy, have not reduced the heat on President Trump.

On Wednesday, four coalitions of rabbis  the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Rabbinical Assembly, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism  announced that they will not be organizing the traditional presidential conference call for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur due to Trumps failure to forcefully denounce the racist and anti-Semitic hate groups who rallied in Charlottesville earlier this month.

The group, which claims to represent more than 4,000 rabbis and congregations, said it has concluded that Trumps statements are so lacking in moral leadership and empathy for the victims of racial and religious hatred that we cannot organize a call this year. Their statement continued:

The Presidents words have given succor to those who advocate anti-Semitism, racism, and xenophobia. Responsibility for the violence that occurred in Charlottesville, including the death of Heather Heyer, does not lie with many sides but with one side: the Nazis, alt-right and white supremacists who brought their hate to a peaceful community. They must be roundly condemned at all levels.

The High Holy Days are a season of tshuvah for us all, an opportunity for each of us to examine our own words and deeds through the lens of Americas ongoing struggle with racism. Our tradition teaches us that humanity is fallible yet also capable of change. We pray that President Trump will recognize and remedy the grave error he has made in abetting the voices of hatred. We pray that those who traffic in anti-Semitism, racism, and xenophobia will see that there is no place for such pernicious philosophies in a civilized society.

President Obama participated in the conference call every year, and previous presidents have held similar events to mark the High Holy Days. Its unclear if the call will go forward with the other Jewish groups who did not join the protest, and the White House has yet to announce what it has planned for the holidays.
McConnell; Ryan. Photo: Getty Images

Long story, short

Republicans are trying to pass a budget that would pare back the safety net, increase defense spending, and lay the groundwork for tax cuts. But there are such deep divisions within the House GOP, and between the congressional leadership and their reality-star president  who just demanded a government shutdown unless his Mexican-border wall is funded  the party may just tear itself to pieces and let America default on its debt by early October. While the budget process tends to be mundane in more normal political circumstances, this bill (for various procedural reasons) is shaping up to be a battle royal over the Republican agenda.

Whats at stake

The strength of the safety net  and the rights highest policy ambition

For eight decades, conservative elites have been trying to topple pillars of the New Deal. Under Obama, House Speaker Paul Ryan drew up and passed budgets  never enacted, of course  slashing spending on virtually every program that benefits the poor. To make that blueprint a reality and fulfill a generations-old ideological ambition, all Ryan and the billionaires who back him thought they needed was a Republican president with enough working digits to handle a pen. But now that they have that and the moment of truth is here, the challenge of getting enough Republican congresspeople and senators to vote for such a radical, regressive agenda looks daunting.

Americas credit rating

Congress needs to raise the debt ceiling  the limit on how much the Treasury is allowed to borrow  before the end of September, or else Uncle Sam will go into default. A debt default would damage our nations credit rating; swell the costs of future government borrowing (and, thus, increase the national debt); tank the stock market; and, quite possibly, plunge the economy back into recession.

House Republicans can raise the debt ceiling without passing a budget. But if House conservatives arent satisfied with the state of the budget negotiations, theyre likely to hold the nations credit rating hostage to their demands.

The survival of Donald Trumps legislative agenda

Now that Obamacare has sneaked past its own death panel, the presidents hopes for notching a major legislative win before 2018 all ride on tax reform. But in order to even begin the process of passing the presidents proposed tax cuts, congressional Republicans will have to pass a budget. Although, expect there to be some overlap between those goals 

What will likely be hiding in the budget bill

Republicans want to pass large, deficit-expanding tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. The vast majority of Democrats do not want to do that. And the Donkey Party has enough votes in the Senate to mount a filibuster against any bill that does.

Except, that is, for an annual budget bill. To prevent intransigent minorities from undermining the basic functioning of government, Senate majorities can pass budget bills with 51 votes, so long as said bills dont increase the deficit ten years after theyre passed. So, if Republicans can pass a budget, they can attach giant, temporary tax cuts to it  and pass them into law without a single Democratic vote.

The GOPs first huge problem

Trump promised to pass the biggest tax cut in history; dramatically increase military and border-control spending; preserve Medicare and Social Security at their current benefit levels; and balance the federal budget. It is not mathematically possible to do all of these things. Nor is it politically tenable to cut taxes on the rich, while simultaneously passing entitlement reforms and spending cuts Draconian enough to balance the budget within a decade.

The GOP leaderships nominal solution includes pretending that the American economy will grow by an average of 2.6 percent per year over the next decade (even though most economists think wed be lucky to get 2 percent). That, along with various other sleights of hand and half-measures, would be enough to balance Uncle Sams books, they unconvincingly claim.

The second huge problem

The proposed cuts  including $200 billion to mandatory programs and a whopping 24 percent to domestic discretionary spending  would likely increase Americas (already exceptionally high) rates of child poverty and hunger, threaten Medicare benefits jealously guarded by the GOP base, and jeopardize the federal bureaucracys capacity to perform its most basic functions. Intuitively, the issue here would seem to be getting Republican moderates to sign on. (And that will be difficult.) But thats only half the issue: The leaderships proposed cuts are quite small, relative to the ones House conservatives are demanding. Which is to say: Ryans caucus is split by irreconcilable goals. The conflict cant be solved by compromise, only by one sides surrender.

The third huge problem

For some in the GOP, increasing spending on conservative priorities is more important than reducing funding for liberal ones. President Trump is desperate to build his border wall (and his much-touted Mexican financing appears to have fallen through). The Houses defense hawks want to add a few new wings to the military-industrial complex. But Senate Democrats can  and will  filibuster wall funding. And if Republicans insist on domestic spending cuts, then Chuck Schumer & Co. will block the defense appropriations, too: The 2011 Budget Control Act puts a hard cap on annual military spending, one that the GOP cant lift without Democratic votes.

The president is now threatening to veto any spending bill that doesnt fund his wall, out of the (bizarre) belief that fear of government shutdown will convince Democrats to do his bidding. But political dysfunction hurts the party in power far more than the opposition. Trumps threats wont get his wall built  but they could encourage the Houses far-right fanatics to continue holding the federal government hostage to their untenable demands.

Key movers

Diane Black

Chair of the House Budget Committee, shes taken a lead role in the deliberations thus far, and helped craft the preliminary compromise budget (decried by conservatives and moderates alike). Black recently announced that she will run for governor of Tennessee in 2018, an ambition that may make her even more reluctant to embrace the Freedom Caucuss unpopular plans for Medicaid and Medicare.

Mark Meadows

Chair of the Freedom Caucus, Meadows has warned the GOP leadership that he and his fellow conservatives wont vote for any debt-ceiling bill that doesnt include large spending cuts or deregulatory measures  provisions that are certain to doom the legislation in the Senate. He has also said that they will need to see larger spending cuts  and more details on the partys tax-reform plan  before agreeing to back any budget.

Charlie Dent

Head of the moderate Tuesday Group, Dent led the moderates revolt against Blacks budget. Unlike the Houses other weak-willed GOP centrists, Dent voted against Trumpcare  a decision that many of his moderate colleagues surely envy, now that the bill has been rhetorically rejected by the president, and legislatively rebuffed by the Senate.

Donald Trump

President of the United States, Trump could, ostensibly, tip the balance in the House GOPs civil war, if he can find time between livetweeting Fox & Friends, undermining the GOP leadership, and trash-talking his way to the brink of nuclear war.

Inflection points

September 29

The debt-limit deadline.

September 30

The federal government runs out of funding. To avoid a shutdown, the House will need to pass, at the very least, a short-term spending bill. That legislation will also need to renew the Childrens Health Insurance Program. Theres a good chance Ryan will likely need Democratic votes to get this done.

December 15

Final day of Congresss 2017 session (for now). Trump has pledged to pass tax reform by years end.

Possible outcomes

Best-case scenario for the GOP

Ryan raises the debt ceiling with the votes of Democrats and moderate Republicans. His far-right faction takes the hit, learns humility, and decides it can accept a mere $200 billion in budget cuts. GOP moderates cave after being assured that said cuts wont survive the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell gets around budget caps on military spending  which under normal circumstances would require Democratic votes  by duplicitously treating the spending increase as war funding. After months of haggling, McConnell finds a set of spending reductions and tax cuts that 50 GOP senators can live with. Those clowns in Congress finally get something done. Americas rich get richer; the poor, poorer.

More plausible, pretty-good-case scenario for the GOP

Ryan raises the debt ceiling with the votes of Democrats and moderate Republicans. The far right is furious  but not furious enough to sabotage tax cuts for the rich. With maximum whininess, they agree to pass a short-term spending bill in September, and then go along with the same cop-out their party used to get the ball rolling on health care: a shell budget that does nothing but lay the groundwork for passing temporary tax cuts in the Senate. The Draconian spending cuts will have to wait for next year (or never).

Best-case scenario for Democrats

Ryan raises the debt ceiling with the votes of Democrats and moderate Republicans. His far-right faction declares a mutiny. Their demands for the budget grow more extreme. Ryan is forced to pass a budget with Democratic votes; Nancy Pelosi secures money to shore up Obamacare, in exchange for Trumps requested funding for defense and border control. There are no major spending cuts. The betrayal costs Ryan his speakership, the GOP descends into a civil war, and tax reform dies in utero.

Worst-case scenario for the country

Ryan attaches entitlement cuts to the debt ceiling, passes it with Freedom Caucus and (spineless) moderate votes. Senate Democrats filibuster. America defaults on its debt. The economy goes into recession.
Push it to the limit. Photo: Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Diplomatic relations between the White House and Capitol Hill are breaking down. Earlier this month, the Senate Majority Leader publicly suggested that the presidents ignorance about the legislative process and excessive expectations were undermining congressional Republicans. This led to a phone call between the two leaders, which led to a shouting match, which led to President Trump mocking Mitch McConnells legislative impotence over Twitter, which led to the suspension of all direct talks between the two men for what has now been two weeks. During that time, McConnells associates informed the paper of record that he suspects Donald Trumps presidency may be beyond saving  a sentiment that the Majority Leader has yet to publicly disavow. The president, for his part, continued to encourage primary challenges to McConnells most vulnerable colleagues, a habit that has estranged him from much of the Senate GOP.

Trump has also been ruffling feathers in the House. This week, the president called on his party to shut down the government if Democrats refuse to fund his border wall, a proposal that undermines Paul Ryan, who is struggling to keep his caucuss far-right faction from pursuing similar politically toxic (and strategically incoherent) gambits. The Speaker was forced to contradict the president to reporters Wednesday afternoon.

One might think that the president would wish to resolve these feuds, given that effective cooperation between his administration and the congressional leadership is a prerequisite for passing his legislative agenda. If so, then Trump decided that the best way to mend fences with the congressional GOP would be to publicly scold Mitch M. and Paul R. for refusing to follow his sage legislative advice, and, thus, creating the debt ceiling mess.

I requested that Mitch M & Paul R tie the Debt Ceiling legislation into the popular V.A. Bill (which just passed) for easy approval. They...  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2017

...didn't do it so now we have a big deal with Dems holding them up (as usual) on Debt Ceiling approval. Could have been so easy-now a mess!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2017

The GOP leadership did consider the idea that Trump cites back in July. But they ostensibly found that the gambit lacked support with the recalcitrant House Freedom Caucus. Those far-right ideologues subsequently informed Paul Ryan that they would only vote for debt-limit hike if the legislation included massive spending cuts or deregulatory measures. Such provisions would never survive the Senate, where any debt-ceiling bill will need the support of Democrats (and moderate Republicans). So, the Freedom Caucus has essentially declared their opposition to any debt-ceiling hike that can actually pass  and warned Ryan that if he tries to avoid a debt default with Democratic votes, they will try to end his Speakership.

If Trump wanted to actually aid the debt-ceiling effort, he could direct his dyspeptic tweets at the Republicans who are actually obstructing the passage of a clean hike. That hes focusing his fire on Ryan and McConnell suggests that he is either ignorant of his governments most basic political realities, or indifferent to them.

Regardless, for the GOP leadership, the words President Pence must sound like music right about now. But for all McConnells private comments about Trumps unsalvageable presidency  and the myriad grounds for impeachment the mogul has provided Congress  the GOP will probably need to keep dancing with the one that brought them.

As rough as the past couple months have been for Trump, theyve been even worse for the Republican leadership. One recent poll put McConnells approval rating at 9 percent. Paul Ryans favorability is hovering below 30 percent. Meanwhile, the presidents own pollster published figures this week that suggest Republican voters overwhelmingly blame the congressional GOP for the partys legislative failures. One can take that finding with a speck of salt, given the source. But Trump has consistently enjoyed stronger support from his partys faithful than have Ryan and McConnell. And while elite opinion treats the presidents racism as a bigger scandal than the GOPs plutocratic policy priorities, the Republican electorate finds the latter far more alienating than the former.

So long as GOP voters prefer Trumps demagoguery to the Republican Partys donor-driven agenda, Paul R. and Mitch M. are gonna be stuck with their horrible boss.
Turning to his generals is one of Trumps favorite moves. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Last month, President Trump decreed in a series of tweets that transgender people would be banned from serving in the U.S. military:

After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow......  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017

....Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017

....victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017

As it turns out, Trump actually hadnt consulted with his generals. Defense Secretary James Mattis was given only a days notice, and was said to be appalled that Trump was announcing military policy on Twitter. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford told service members there would be no modifications to the current policy until the presidents direction has been received by the secretary of Defense and the secretary has issued implementation guidelines.

Now the White House has finally come up with the guidelines to back up Trumps tweets, according to The Wall Street Journal. They give Mattis a great deal of leeway on how the ban will work, and six months to prepare to implement the new policy.

Officials familiar with the two-and-a-half-page memo said that Mattis will consider a service members deployability  meaning their ability to serve in a war zone or participate in a months-long mission overseas  as the primary legal means to decide whether they should be forced out of the military.

The memo also says openly transgender people should not be admitted to the military (which is the existing policy), and the Pentagon should stop spending on medical treatment for current transgender service members.

What that means in practice is unclear. A Rand Corp. study commissioned by the Pentagon last year estimated that there are 1,320 to 6,600 openly transgender service members currently serving. However, the study concluded that, each year, only 29 to 129 active service members would seek transition-related treatment that could disrupt their ability to deploy.

So would Mattis argue that all transgender service members fail to meet the deployability standard, or would he only kick out the several dozen service members currently receiving medical care for gender dysphoria? And whats the justification for dismissing a transgender troop, but not the thousands of other service members who cant currently head into a war zone?

Transgender people are just as deployable as other service members, Sue Fulton, the former president of Sparta, an organization for LGBT service members, told the Journal. Other service members may undergo procedures when they are at home base, just as other service members schedule shoulder surgery or gall bladder surgery.

Mattis appears to have little interest in devoting energy to the battle over transgender service members. The new ban reportedly stems from a fight among House Republicans over Pentagon-funded sex-reassignment operations. That threatened a spending bill that included money for Trumps southern border wall, so Trump announced transgender troops would be banned completely  though that was far beyond what the lawmakers were pushing for.

The Defense Department spends far more on Viagra than it does on transgender services, and according to the New York Times, Mattis had been lobbying lawmakers to keep the ban on funding transgender treatments out of the bill. In June, Mattis delayed the July 1 deadline to begin admitting transgender recruits, which was set by the Obama administration, saying the Pentagon needed more time to assess the issue.

The Times reported that Mattis has reservations about allowing transgender service members, but like other Pentagon leaders, he seemed to accept that the issue had been resolved:

Mr. Mattis, a retired Marine, has not been a major proponent of allowing transgender people to serve in the military, in part because medical accommodations, including hormone injections, could open the Defense Department to claims from other people not allowed to serve, like Type 1 diabetics, who also need regular injections.

But Mr. Mattis and the Pentagons military leadership all seemed to have accepted that transgender people already serving in the military would be allowed to remain. A senior adviser to Mr. Mattis, Sally Donnelly, represented the Palm Center, an organization that advocated on behalf of the L.G.B.T. community in the military during the debate that led up to the Obama administrations decision to allow transgender people to serve, defense officials said.

Legal experts say banning people from the military because theyre transgender is unconstitutional, and more than 50 senators, including several Republicans, blasted Trumps decision. The first lawsuit over the transgender ban has already been filed, and many more are expected.

Well find out in the next few days if the memo is actually issued, but it looks like a winning strategy for the Trump administration. The president gets to tell his base (and Vice-President Mike Pence) that he banned transgender people from the military while pushing the most difficult decisions onto Mattis. The Defense secretary gets another six months to come up with a workable solution  and by then Trump might have forgotten about the issue, or the courts may have tied his hands again. Meanwhile, the transgender service members risking their lives to defend the country are left in limbo.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

In April, President Trump signed an executive order calling on the Interior Department to review dozens of national monument designations stretching all the way back to 1996. Referring to the massive federal land grab of his predecessors, Trump said, It never should have happened. I am signing this order to end abuses and return control to the people.

Four months later, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has completed the review and decided that none of the 27 national monuments under consideration should be eliminated. He will recommend a handful of boundary changes to President Trump, he told the AP, but did not provide specifics. Nor did he comment on one of the most controversial issues surrounding federal monuments  the possibility that theyll be opened up to oil and gas exploration.

When Trump ordered the review in April, it marked an unprecedented challenge to the 1906 Antiquities Act. No other president had ever moved to eliminate the designation, which provides lands with federal protection based on grandeur, history, and vulnerability.

Republicans became especially agitated about the issue during the Obama presidency. And nowhere was it as big an irritant as it was in Utah, home to Obamas Bears Ears National Monument and President Clintons Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. On the day after Trumps inauguration, Utahs entire congressional delegation asked him to abolish Bears Ears, a 1.35 million-acre monument on sacred tribal land that Obama designated in his last days in office.

While that call was not heeded and thats a clear victory for tribal leaders and conservationists, Zinkes suggestion that a handful of changes may be coming has some worried.

Randi Spivak, public lands director for the Center for Biological Diversity, remains skeptical about the Trump administration. Zinkes sham review was rigged from the beginning to open up more public lands to fossil fuel, mining and timber industries, she told the Washington Post. He and Trump will not be allowed to rob Americans of their public lands.

Meanwhile, Mike Noel, a lawmaker in Utah, told the Times that hes still hopeful the state will regain control of some of the land within its national monuments, a victory for the state. When you turn the management over to the tree-huggers, the bird and bunny lovers and the rock lickers, you turn your heritage over, he said.
James Damore. Photo: James Damore/Twitter

Since he was unceremoniously fired, ex-Google engineer James Damore  who penned a now-infamous memo using science to explain the differences between men and women  has been on something of a warpath. Immediately following his termination, Damore told the press hed be seeking legal action. Which he has. First, there was a formal complaint filed against Google with the National Labor Relations Board. Its illegal to retaliate against an NLRB charge, Damore wrote in an email to Reuters. Now, Damore is being represented by Harmeet Dhillon, a civil-rights attorney who is also vice-chairman of the California Republican Party. (You might remember her saying a Sikh prayer during the 2016 RNC. Earlier this year, she was reportedly considered for a White House position under Attorney General Jeff Sessions.)

Dhillons firm, with Damore, is investigating Googles employment discrimination against employees on the basis of their political views and other protected characteristics. Theyre looking for people with similar experiences to Damores, for fact-gathering and also, if enough people come forward, to build some sort of class-action suit against Google. A post on Dhillons website today seeks people who were written up for un-Googly conduct, defamed/slandered/smeared/blacklisted at Google for your political views, or views about affirmative action at Google, and punished for blowing the whistle on illegal employment practices. Damore was fired, as per an email sent to Google staff by CEO Sundar Pichai, for advancing harmful gender stereotypes in our workplace and perpetuating gender stereotypes, behavior that violated the companys code of conduct.
Daniel Kammen. Photo: Courtesy of Daniel Kammen

By now, if youre planning on resigning from the Trump administration, youd better have a pretty flashy way of doing so if you want to get any attention. Last week, every member of Trumps arts council resigned after he equivocated white supremacists and counterprotesters in Charlottesville, Virginia. This morning, Daniel Kammen also resigned as the State Departments U.S. envoy, citing similar concerns.

Each of these resignations is important in its own way, but to most readers, theyre both just droplets in a recent deluge thats seen public departures from various presidential committees composed of some of the nations most powerful CEOs. So why have people paid attention? The letters. Both Kammen and the arts council wrote their resignation letters to include secret acrostic messages, spelled out by the first letter of each paragraph. The arts committees letter spelled out RESIST with the first letter of each paragraph, Kammens went even further to suggest IMPEACH.

Update:All members have now resigned. Per @politico, PCAH is an official agency, that makes this the 1st White House department to resign pic.twitter.com/kk7buaVr9G  Kal Penn (@kalpenn) August 18, 2017

Mr. President, I am resigning as Science Envoy. Your response to Charlottesville enables racism, sexism, & harms our country and planet. pic.twitter.com/eWzDc5Yw6t  Daniel M Kammen (@dan_kammen) August 23, 2017

Not surprisingly, these letters went viral. Twitter has always had affection for the acrostic as a form, dating back to a deranged tweet from a user named @SpreadButter that created a malformed acrostic for the word BENGHZI and launched a long-running meme in which BENGHAZI was acrosticized into completely unrelated news stories. (Weve been here before.)

Getting your point across in, lets say, subtle ways in an official letter does have some precedent. In 2009, then-California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger spelled out FUCK YOU in a veto message to legislators. As The Atlantic notes, bureaucrats and elected officials have entire staffs devoted to writing and submitting pro forma letters. The acrostic is an easy way to break up the rote dryness of an official communication without transforming it entirely.

Hidden messages are also in many ways the perfect mode of communication for a paranoid and conspiratorial era  one in which real fears of government surveillance mix with desperate amateur attempts to discover a network of corruption at the heart of the current administration. The acrostic is at once a way for a prisoner to communicate with the outside world, and the kind of deep textual coherence sought by the conspiracy theorists of resistance Twitter.

And, of course, theyre funny, in exactly the kind of silly, obvious way that Twitter and social networks appreciate.

Zealous anti-Trumpers looking for viral content are more than happy to signal-boost an even minorly clever dig at the president. IMPEACH and RESIST are not exactly sophisticated messages about the true nature of the Trump administrations power  but they get the point across in 140 characters, and are catnip for people looking to do whatever small kind of social-media-based activism they can.

Is it going to work, though? Well have to wait and see.
As days get shorter and temperatures cool, its also time (eek) to start thinking about going back to school. To help you get a jump on the best school (and school-related) supplies to buy for fall, were running a series called Cool School Stuff, in which well sniff out the best backpacks, best dorm decor, and best bento boxes, among many, many other things.

We all know that whatever anyone wears to the first day of school is the most important thing theyll wear all year. It defines how youve matured and changed over the summer, while setting the tone for the rest of the year. So if just thinking about it is getting you all flustered, weve gathered some inspiration below.

Preschool

Girls Shooting Star Graphic T-shirt $13 This outfit is so pretty because it has twinkly stars all around! I like that these shoes are sparkly and shiny. I like my hair down with this bow to show my curls. My favorite superhero is Wonder Woman, thats why I like this backpack.  Ruby, preschool $13 at Target Buy

Grade School

Wagga Wagga Wrap Neck Sundress $16 I like this one long dress that has a lot of details. I like that it feels very comfortable and how its long, so I dont have to wear shorts underneath.  Riley Han, kindergarten $16 at Tea Collection Buy

Patterned Jersey Dress $5 I want to dress up because its first grade. Ill wear a pink dress with bananas, a bird, a peacock, watermelon, and flamingos on it. Ill wear a headband with cat ears that are pink with glitter. I would also wear gold sandals.  Cassia Larren, first grade $5 at H&M Buy

Navy & White Houndstooth Blazer $33 I really like wearing suits, and I like the pattern on this one. I also like the fact that it comes with a vest. I might wear patterned pants, too. I have a game called Qixel, and Im obsessed with making patterns on it, so thats what I love to wear, too. My dad got me these new shoes, and all I have to do is hit a button and they light up and make all different color patterns, but theyre a pain to put on. I still wear them, though. I also have a watch that I wear every day, except for when Im in the sandbox. Its a blue Swatch and I just got the battery repaired, so now it glows.  John Savin Nguyen, third grade $33 at Zulily Buy

Asymmetrical Pleat-Hem Tank I went to try on new clothes and I liked these jeans and this shirt. I like how the top and the jeans go together, and how it all makes me look older.  Bailey Han, fourth grade Buy at Gap Buy

Nike Blazer Mid $65 I want to make a good first impression that Im cool, I guess, because Im going to a new school. I have this cool hoodie from Laguna Beach that I got this summer because they have cool surfer shops there. Most of my clothes are skateboarder stuff. I got new Nikes that are for skateboarding, too. Theyre black-and-white high-tops. Id just wear regular shorts like Adidas or something. If it gets hot, Ill roll up the sleeves on the hoodie.  Ben Dallal, sixth grade $65 at Foot Locker Buy

SkinnyShirt Womens Seamless Tank Im starting eighth grade, but in Chapin, where I go to school, thats starting high school, so this is the first year I dont have a set uniform. We can choose our own shirt as long as its collared and in green, blue, or white. Im planning on wearing a dark-blue polo shirt from Lands End with a SkinnyShirt underneath. The SkinnyShirt helps so that the polo shirt doesnt bunch up or look wrinkly. It just fits really well. For my shoes, Im planning on wearing cute little tennis shoes I got from Bloomingdales, something like Stan Smiths. Kailey Perkins, eighth grade Buy at Amazon Buy Buy at Amazon Buy

Free City We Are Everything Short Sleeve T-shirt $69 I havent gotten my outfit yet, but Id probably wear a Free City or Brandy Melville T-shirt because theyre really cool and comfortable. I go to a private yeshiva, so Id wear a Hard Tail skirt. My shoes will probably be Jack Purcells or Superstars, depending on which I like better that morning.  Rebecca Altholz, ninth grade $69 at Shopbop Buy

Gucci Princetown Horsebit-Detailed Leather Slippers $650 Im wearing my uniform plaid skirt with cute Gucci slippers, a cute vintage Levis tee that says little devil on the front, and a black leather jacket from Iro thats stretched leather. Im also going to wear a simple monogrammed necklace.  Jillian Schwartz, 11th grade $650 at Net-a-Porter Buy

Flounced Skirt $15 Ill probably wear a black, flowy skirt from H&M and a striped T-shirt from Brandy Melville. Thats pretty much what I wear every day, but the T-shirt is new. Ill wear it with Velcro Stan Smiths. A lot of people are still wearing those, but I think the trend is fading.  Leila Deluty, 11th grade $15 at H&M Buy

Slim Low Jeans $50 I go to school abroad and I live in a dorm, so weve all kind of passed the stage of caring. I really havent planned what Im going to wear, but Ill probably throw on a T-shirt and jeans from H&M.  Mo Weiss, 12th grade $50 at H&M Buy

ASOS Midi Skater Skirt in Jersey $26 A black, flowy skirt, probably one that I have from American Apparel, a tight, short-sleeve T-shirt, and black ankle socks with black low-top Vans with laces.  Deborah Greenfield, 12th grade $26 at Asos Buy

College

Sam Edelman Womens Kavi Sneaker For my first day back on campus, Ive been dreaming up an all-white outfit: jeans from J Brand, which is my favorite (but Topshop is a more affordable option, especially with the extra student discount), a T-shirt from J.Crew, and new sneakers I just got from Sam Edelman, with a plaid button-down either left opened or tied around my waste. Why white? Because its clean, fresh, trendy, proof that one can wear the color after Labor Day (gasp!), and lets me live in a world where summer lasts all year long. The plaid gives the look some color, provides a layer of comfort, and most importantly, ensures that I dont look like I am trying too hard.  Raquel Greenfield, college sophomore Buy at Amazon Buy Buy at Amazon Buy

Cinch Waist Mini Dress $348 When I put on this dress, I feel like its an instant outfit. The print, along with the silhouette, makes me feel like Dorothy from Wizard of Oz, but Auntie Em is DVF.  Julia Sinski, college junior $348 at Diane von Furstenberg Buy

Sissy Boys Unite Tee $30 The tee is because that same artist did my Daddy Trouble tee, which is one of my favorite things I own. The pants because I like the cut of the pockets and the short ankle. Im super tall, so my ankles need to breathe. For the tote, initials are cool, but saying something trendy and kind of questionable is cool, too. Something like Pow or Oops. These Prada sandals because theyre over half-off and will go with anything I dare wear them with. And Ill top it off with a Commes Fragrance because it smells like an old church that still burns incense. Jack Oberle, college junior $30 at Wacky Wacko Buy

Opening Ceremony Gel Box Logo Tee $95 This whole outfit would probably be accessorized with some thrift dangly gold earrings and a colorful belt from American Apparel, in something like purple or red.  Alison Maybaum, college junior $95 at Spring Buy

Jennifer Fisher Knot Choker $495 Jennifer Fisher is literally #goals, and her necklace brings every outfit of mine to another level, so how can I not wear it on my first day?! I hate to come off like a basic white girl, but honestly, this Brandy Melville shirt is amazing and goes with everything, and its the perfect way to be casual, comfortable, and stylish. I usually like to wear shorts in the summer, but there is something about the first day that I just want to look more mature after I havent seen most of these people in a while. I also want to be a bit more modest, especially because I dont know what my teachers are going to be like. Anyway, this is the perfect pair of jeans to show people you still have style. Lastly, I love loafers, and I wouldnt go anywhere without my boy brow.  Julie Schwartzberg, college junior $495 at Barneys New York Buy

No Name 40 mm Plato Canvas Platform Sneakers $103 These are the perfect white platform sneakers that Ill pair with a casual but interesting pair of jeans, a cool graphic tee that tells people I went abroad and changed, and a sweater because schools crank up the AC, and also because its the coolest thing I wish I bought when I was abroad. I dont need a bag because nobody uses notebooks anymore, but I love this laptop sleeve, and Ill fill this bottle with water during the day and wine for a night class.  Sabrina Kogut, college senior $103 at LuisaViaRoma Buy

Graduate School

Maude Mid-Rise Cigarette in Shadow Black $198 On my first day of school, I would potentially wear: my black J Brand jeans, striped T-shirt from & Other Stories, and either Supergas or flat black sandals. As a grad student, Im going to push myself to try to not wear leggings to class.  Sophie Jenkins, graduate student studying art history and artist administration and policy $198 at Spring Buy

Blundstone BL584 $210 Ill be starting a graduate program where everyone will be older, more experienced, and most likely more talented than I am, so all I have is that Im youngish and theoretically cool. My first-day-of-school outfit will try to reflect that. Something that says, Im not trying too hard, but I am the same age as your children, and if we knew each other, theyd be intimidated by me. Thatll probably be my Blundstones, skinny jeans and a vintage tee.  Jonny Gottlieb, graduate student studying nonfiction creative writing $210 at Zappos Buy

The Strategist is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best womens jeans, rolling luggage, bed sheets, coffee makers, and bath towels. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.



Every editorial product is independently selected. If you buy something through our links, New York may earn an affiliate commission.


A local political activist and commentator, has described the ruling NRM party as a cult, and the former ruling party UPC as dead.

Godber Tumushabe, associate director of the Great Lakes Institute for Strategic Planning, a local think-tank, told The Observer in Masaka today that bickering between different factions within the country's political parties puts Ugandas dream of attaining total democracy at risk.

The political parties we have are broken. If we are going to build an enduring democracy, we need strong political parties to be our pillars, he said at the sidelines of a consultative meeting on a proposed national dialogue.

We have a non-existent ruling party. NRM is just a cult with [President] Museveni as the cult leader. The rest of the people there are just fighting to be close to the cult leader, Tumushabe said of the ruling National Resistance Movement.

NRM supporters with their party chairman Yoweri Museveni

He said internal divisions were the main reason the opposition parties remain seemingly weak.

I consider Uganda Peoples Congress to be dead. Democratic Party has sections loyal to [party president Norbert] Mao, [party vice president for Buganda Betty] Nambooze, [Kampala mayor Erias] Lukwago.... and the Uganda Federal Alliance, is it part of the NRM now? he said.

The biggest opposition party, Forum for Democratic Change, Tumushabe said, is being held back by forces of its founders, Reform Agenda and Parliamentary Advocacy Forum, which are manifesting themselves even during the current party presidential campaigns.

FDC is largely dived between two forces, a more radical one loyal to founder president Kizza Besigye, who call themselves the defiants, and another loyal to current president Mugisha Muntu, who have been branded as the compliants.

Tumushabe warned politicians affiliated to the various political parties to put their loyalty to the country before loyalty to the party leader or the party.

He added that for the parties to thrive there must be constitutional safeguards to enable them operate in a political environment like the one this predatory regime provides.

Following his latest inauguration as president last year, Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, warned that by the next general election in 2021, he would have wiped out the opposition.

He has since appointed senior members of different opposition political parties to various government positions, which has not gone down well with the opposition.

kamogajonathan50@gmail.com
I am so jealous! I would LOVE to meet her! <3 <3



Hurry and read the book!

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I personally really liked the book. Apart from maybe her best friend I thought the characters were really well developed.



I never really considered Amandla that strong of an actress (granted I did not see "Everything Everything" because I hated that book) but I hope she nails it here.

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I guess it always happens to me with hyped up books - I finish them and I'm like "Meh..." I thought the story itself was great but the writing was corny.

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I thought the story itself was great but the writing was corny.



same. i was cringing when she called her parents her otp.

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u had me at regina hall.

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Everytime I watch Insecure, I anticipate her 3 second cameo in a Due North episode lol

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I liked it, but it was definitely a YA book. It wasn't an adult book with teen characters that happened to get a YA label. I'm curious to see how they handle the movie and how it is marketed.

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everything i never told you by celeste ng



exit west by mohsin hamid's characters are young adults, but the writing is definitely for adults and some of the best prose i've ever laid eyes on.

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Common is a beaut, but wasn't he terrible on the inside? Wonder how this is going to work out with Hollywood goggles.

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I have the book but I'm very apprehensive about reading it. I don't wanna fall apart rn

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when is Amandla's nazi movie coming out?

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I agree. And I don't want to come for Issa because she seems so sweet and genuine but I wonder if her craft could use some work?

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I liked the book. I felt the writing was a bit "meh", but it *did* read like a young adult protagonist in a YA story.

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Yaaaaass

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Nope. The plot had me until "unarmed friend was shot". Can we ever get some escapism in our movies? I already have to see this in the news. I think poverty to prep is a strong enough premise without that. I also don't like Amandla so there's that. She's a stale actress.

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geez, are there ANY other young black girls auditioning for roles? i like amandla, but this "1 black girl/woman for every movie that calls for a certain age" needs to stop.

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ia! it's especially annoying as the MC in the book is dark skinned :/



nagl for amandla

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A lotta people only care about representation when they're the one getting put on. So i'm unsurprised.

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The author said they cast Amandla before the book came out, so I wounder if Amandla knew about the skin tone of the character but if she did the author was no help in that wasting decision since she was acting like colorism isn't a thing.

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It's like Shailene Woodley being cast in all the white roles for teen books being adapted into movies. She's got The Fault in Our Stars, the Divergent series, and The Spectacular Now

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Yes but there is colorism at play here mixed with the business rescission of going with an actress who has name recognition.

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it's so telling when hollywood casts mixed lead actresses and non-mixed actors as their brothers.

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bloop

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no lies detected

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I'm watching the leftovers (TV series, it is shit btw despite what ontd says). Two black parents gave birth to one mixed race child (female) and one black women (male) ... smh. I really took me out.

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I haven't read this yet because it's still on hold at the library. I'm currently #43, but it was in the high 100s so I'm getting there. Slowly.

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great but he's still trash

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came in to say this lol

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lmao mte. fuck Trump and fuck Eminem both tbqh.

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Both of these useless whites can fuck off this planet

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Want to feel old? This is what Eminem looks like now. pic.twitter.com/a1wWUyW5bI  Matt Roller (@rolldiggity) August 22, 2017



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nnnnnn

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lol I feel bad because OP is so sweet but their fav is awful.

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omg I'm dying

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Lmaoooo

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i HATE THIS because it's not even a reach. they really do look similar

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This is a cursed image

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pence is the mega evolution of eminem

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fffff bitch

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lmaooooo

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So what is fack?

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a: one of the four stomachs of a ruminating animal

b: fuck (Cockney)

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looks like he had a song called "fack" which is considered one of his worse. he sings like cartman in it so fuck sounds like fack.



but op would know best

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it's the song he made about putting a gerbil up his butt

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a very, very low point in his discography

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My fav cast a spell on him! Eminem needs to step up his game!

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Bold? I'd expect something like 'even if the rump was crucified with hot pokers and on fire, I wouldn't shit on him to put it out' or something equally lyrical.

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Oh yeah White America, the progressive anthem where he complains about people criticizing the shitty things he says.

So now I'm catchin' the flak from these activists when they raggin'

Actin' like I'm the first rapper to smack a bitch or say "faggot," shit

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I know you're being facetious but some people think like this for real and I'm sad now lol DX

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I wish he'd given us a Mosh 2.0 in response to November.

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I like this because you know a big bulk of his fanbasd are trump supporters

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probably why he did it in Scotland. if he was in America they'd probably boo him lmao

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I LOVE him, so much

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Urgh 

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it's just warms my heart cause he's Maggie son. He's my fave by association

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idk him until this thread, but now i want to stan

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There's absolutely 0 chance she's going to get through this era without addressing this. It's going to be interesting.

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ehh if she did it now people will just say she saved her opinions to profit off of them on a later date when her album comes out instead of speaking out at the moment. it's too late to say anything now without looking like more of a coward so she's just not gonna say anything

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In an interview with Sydneys FBi Radio this year, folk-rock agitator Father John Misty went off-topic. I have a theory that Donald Trump won the election because of Katy and Taylors beef, he declared.



Oh for fucks sake, as much as I hate this petty feud, this is ridiculous. Criticize Tay for not speaking out, fine, but to blame her for Trump winning? And not actual issues like voter suppression? Racism? Sexism? Email hysteria? Russian intervention? STFU.

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Father John Misty is a damn mess from what I can tell. I wish I could remember which song, but one of his came up on a Spotify station while I was cleaning and I legit stopped and said "this guy sounds like a total fucking asshole" just based on the lyrics - it was so sexist and not in a self-aware/facetious/ironic way. I mean I've liked some of his tracks but it's insufferable shit like this I just can't get past

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Men will always find a way to blame women for every fucking thing.

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people who genuinely think she's a pop culture pariah are in for a real treat when her album opens with 1m+ again lmao

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this behavior is basically why i unstanned



i held on for so long, too. end of an era

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surprising considering he's also an abusive shit



also my fave is Mark Hamill and he shits on Dump constantly with some awesome witty remarks so



Edited at 2017-08-24 09:38 pm (UTC)

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OP , do u know when em's releasing his album?

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surprising since i'm sure at least half of his fans support t*ump

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Since many of the Western sanctions on Iran were lifted early last year, Tehran has been trying to restore its crude oil exports to a pre-sanction level and attract foreign investments in its energy sector. Companies are still cautious and not rushing into deals with Iran, but many European, Russian, and Asian firms have signed preliminary agreements or letters of intent with Iran that would turn into billions of dollars of investments.

The pledged and potential investments could help Iran cushion the impact of any move by U.S. President Donald Trump to end the nuclear deal with Iran that the U.S. had agreed together with China, France, Germany, Russia, and the UK.

While the U.S. has slapped new sanctions on Iranian companies in response to a ballistic missile program and President Trump has signed into law an act imposing new sanctions on Iran, some of the biggest European and Chinese oil companies have walked into preliminary deals with Irans energy sector.

In recent weeks, the war of words between the U.S. and Iran has intensified, with Tehran warning it could quit the nuclear deal within hours if the United States were to impose further sanctions.

If the U.S. does step up sanctions or if it were to revisit the nuclear deal, Iran has a cushion of the investments from companies from France, China, Russia, the UK, and Germany. These countries are crucial to the nuclear accord, and their companies have signaled they want the access to Irans market open, according to experts who talked to Bloomberg earlier this week.

There is pressure coming from the business establishment in these countries to maintain access to the Iranian market, Sanam Vakil, an associate fellow at Chatham Houses Middle East & North Africa Program in London, told Bloomberg. Many of those governments recognize that marginalizing and isolating Iran is not in their interest, Vakil noted.

The deals with European, Russian, and Asian firms are unlikely to be undone, and Iran is betting on that, according to experts.

Iran aims to sign US$50 billion-US$60 billion worth of oil and gas contracts by March 20, 2018the end of the current Iranian year, its Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said last weekend, as reported by Irans Tasnim news agency.

Last month, Frances energy major Total signed a contract to develop phase 11 of the South Pars gas field in Iranthe worlds biggest gas fieldmarking the first Iranian Petroleum Contract (IPC) with a Western major since most sanctions on Iran were lifted. Total has 50.1 percent and Chinese state-owned oil and gas company CNPC owns another 30 percent of the project worth a total of US$5 billion in investments. Related: Libyas Biggest Oil Field Shut Down As Tensions Rise

Apart from Totals deal, other European companies have signed provisional agreements to explore the potential of various Iranian oil and gas fields. According to Irans oil ministry news service, Shell, Total, Petronas, and Inpex have submitted studies for the potential development of Irans biggest oil field Azadegan, which Tehran claims has 37 billion barrels of oil and which is shared with neighboring Iraq.

Italys oil and gas major Eni signed last month a memorandum of understanding with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) to explore a potential investment in the Kish gas field in the Persian Gulf and the third phase of development of the Darquain oil field.

Earlier this month, Shell submitted to Iran the results of its feasibility studies for the potential development of the South Azadegan and Yadavaran oil fields.

From Asia, South Koreas SK Engineering & Construction has signed a US$1.6-billion deal to revamp Tabriz Oil Refining Companys 110,000-bpd refinery northwest of Tehran.

Last week, Turkish energy company Unit International, Russias Zarubezhneft, and Irans non-governmental firm Ghadir Investment Company pledged to invest a combined US$7 billion to drill at three oil fields and one natural gas field in Iran.

Iran has also signed deals with European firms in sectors other than energy.

Two of the biggest European carmakers, Frances Renault and Germanys Volkswagen, are also committing presence and investments in Iran. In the past two months, Renault set up a joint venture, while Volkswagen said it was returning to the Iranian market after more than 17 years.

While the U.S. is stepping up Iran sanctions, Europe, Russia, and Asia are signing agreementsalbeit many are only preliminaryto invest in Irans energy and industry. This could provide Tehran with a buffer if the U.S. further ramps up sanctions.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Oil has been struggling to break above $50 per barrel for months, but there are two reasons why prices could be heading north in the next few months: Venezuela and Iran.

Both countries are large oil producers, but both are vulnerable to supply outages, for very different reasons. But depending on what plays out in the next few weeks for them, oil prices could spike well above $50 per barrel, according to RBC Capital Markets.

The risk from Venezuela is more acute and more immediate. The Venezuelan economy has been broken for a long time now, leading to a sharp decline in oil production. Output is down by a fifth over the past two years, falling to 1.93 million barrels per day in July  as recently as 2015, Venezuela averaged 2.375 mb/d. Without any money to reinvest into its oil sector, Venezuelas production will certainly continue to fall. The only question is how fast.

The pace of decline would pick up significantly if Venezuela defaulted on its debt. "They have $3.5 billion in national oil company debt coming due in October-November. If they default, that could be significant for Venezuela's production outlook," Helima Croft of RBC Capital Markets told CNBC. The problem for Venezuela is that their cash reserves are not much higher than those debt payments. October looms large.

Related: The Next Oil Price Spike May Cripple The Industry

If Venezuela defaults, the decline of its oil production could accelerate. Overseas assets could become a target of bondholders, which would deprive state-owned PDVSA of much needed cash. Venezuelan oil shipped abroad might even be in jeopardy.

Venezuelas only hope at this point would be more assistance from Russia or China, two countries that have loaned large sums of money to the South American nation, a lot of which was given in exchange for oil cargoes. The math simply does not work on PDVSA staying solvent" without help from China or Russia, Helima Croft told CNBC. However, she says that the patience of both countries is starting to wear thin.

One investor told the Wall Street Journal, that the Venezuelan government has prioritized debt payments above all precisely because it needs to keep Russia and China from cutting off lines of credit. A debt default might be the final straw for them.

If he stops [servicing the debt]oil production will stop. The government will fall, Jan Dehn, head of research at Ashmore Group PLC, told the WSJ. His fund is buying up Venezuelan debt because he is wagering that a debt default would be such a nightmare for Venezuela that repayment is likely.

RBC Capital Markets is not as confident, mostly because there is simply not enough money to make things work out. If PDVSA prioritizes meeting its October debt payments, then it would have no money to pay salaries, which, could also lead to the collapse of the government or a decline in oil production, or both.

Citigroup mostly agrees, but thinks the government can hold on a few more months, pushing off a default until 2018.

Nevertheless, while the exact date of default is up for debate, most analysts see it as a likely outcome. That could push oil above $50, perhaps in the next two months or so, but sharp oil production declines would probably send prices much higher.

Meanwhile, the other country that could push up oil prices, according to RBC, is Iran. Not because Iran is as unstable as Venezuela  it obviously isnt. But the threat would come from the U.S. government. The Trump administration is considering backing out of the 2015 nuclear accord, which would reignite tensions between the two countries. Ultimately, a renewal of U.S. sanctions could once again pose a threat to Iranian oil exports.

Related: This Critical Oil Price Divergence Could Boost US Exports

However, the threat here is more speculative than it is for Venezuela. The U.S., after deftly threading the needle among the varying interests of disparate countries, managed to bring the international community on board for the 2015 nuclear accord while also convincing Iran to sign on. If the new administration backed away from the deal only two years later, for dubious reasons, it would return to confrontation with Iran without many friends. Without the assistance of the rest of the world, U.S. sanctions would have much less bite. In short, it is unclear what this would mean for the oil markets.

Venezuela, then, presents a much more likely  and more imminent  upside risk to oil prices. Production declines are certain, but the pace of decline depends on what happens when billions of dollars of debt falls due in October.

By Nick Cunningham, Oilprice.com

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The oil market is moving in the right direction towards rebalancing, but all options, including extending the cuts beyond March 2018, are left open, the joint OPEC/non-OPEC committee set up to monitor compliance with the cuts and the state of the oil market said on Thursday.

The Joint OPEC-Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC)which has been holding meetings in Vienna this week to discuss slipping conformity with the pledgespointed to a better-than-expected global oil demand growth for this year, and expectations for further growth next year as one of the reasons for optimism. In addition, the OPEC/non-OPEC panel pointed to oil commercial stocks declining in Julyand along with it the latest five-year averagecompared to the start of this year. The narrowing contango has also contributed to a drop in floating storage since June, the committee noted.

OPECs de facto leader Saudi Arabia and the leader of the non-OPEC producers, Russia, have discussed extending the cuts by three months into June 2018, and such a move would likely be on the agenda of the November 30 OPEC summit, S&P Global Platts reported today, citing sources.

According to energy and commodities analysts, a three-month extension would be a logical step to take in the autumn when the oil market sentiment would likely sour again. An extension to June 2018 would also prevent a severe uptick in surplus after March next year, as Michael Cohen, head of energy commodities analysis for Barclays, told Platts.

According to Joe McMonigle, senior energy policy analyst at Hedgeye Potomac Research, an extension at the November meeting would be the minimum action OPEC would take.

The market will be looking for stronger action, like deeper cuts, McMonigle noted. Related: Nigerias Oil Industry Overhaul

Immediately after OPEC announced at the end of May the extension of the cuts into March 2018, oil prices plunged, because the market was expecting a more drastic action, like deeper cuts, that would prove that OPEC really was willing to do whatever it takes to bring the market back to balance.

The joint panel also said today that it planned to invite Libya and Nigeria to attend the next meetings of the committees, in a sign that rising output from those two exempt producers is now a concern for OPEC. The next JMMC Meeting will be held in Vienna on September 22, 2017.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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The future stability of OPECs second-largest oil and gas producer could be decided by the end of 2017. Unrest is growing in Iraq as the Kurdish referendum grows nearer. Soon, the Iraq that we have known since the end of WWII could be drawing new borders. At the same time, the conflict between the Shia (supported by Iran) and the Sunni (Saudi-UAE) could be heating up again.

Regional actors and political friction have added fuel to the fire, in the first signs that the strong Shia majority is experiencing internal instability. One of the main leaders of the regions Shia has broken ranks in Irans Shia led government factions just as Sunni power players in the Arab Gulf are expecting a collapse of the Shia power triangle of Iran-Iraq-Syria.

The unexpected visit of Shiite cleric and power broker Muqtada Al Sadr to Saudi Arabia and the UAE has stirred unrest in the region. On the 30th of July, Al Sadr and Saudi crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman met in Jeddah, discussing possible cooperation between the Sunni Wahhabi Kingdom and Shia led Iraq.

Al Sadrs meeting with MBS is significant, as it could lead to a change in Iraqs pro-Iran political military position. This would signal a major success for the anti-Iran GCC front, but it would put severe pressure on Tehran in its quest to construct a Shia land bridge between Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.

A political thaw between Baghdad and Riyadh has occurred in recent months with a number of high-ranking ministers and officials meeting regularly. Still, official diplomatic relations remain very cold.

Al Sadrs political maneuver has created a tense relationship with Tehran. Iranian media have even accused Al Sadr of treason.

The Iraqi leader has shrugged off the criticism, however, even upping the pressure in a recent visit to Abu Dhabi, where he met with Crown Price Mohammed bin Zayan Al Nahyan. MBZ and MBS are close allies, both of whom hold the same anti-Iranian views and share a similar vision for the region.

The move by Al Sadr, a Shiite cleric and leader of a strong Shia militia, is significant. The once cohesive Shia military and political front in Iraq has splintered, adding to the already significant pressure on current Prime Minister Al Abadi, whose waning power could be threatened further if regional players up the ante.

For Tehran, the situation is troubling. Until July, Irans influence on the region was growing. The gap that the U.S. has created has given Tehran a free card to assume full power in the vast territory. If not addressed, Iran could build a Shia regional super power that could further destabilize the MENA region and even impact Turkey in the years to come. The main backbone of this power would stem from the intricate religious culture and a military link between Tehrans hardliners and the Shia majority in Iraq.

This strategy could now be at risk if Al Sadr maintains his current commitment to de-escalating tensions with the Sunni GCC countries. As one analyst stated, Tehran was pulling all the strings among the Shiites (of Iraq) but it seems that several strings are now beyond its grasp, like that of the Sadrists.

Al Sadr has skillfully used the openings created in the previous months by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi as a follow up to Saudi foreign minister Adel Al Jubeirs visit to Baghdad. However, the GCC leaders could be overplaying their cards as the Shia power struggle in Iraq has not yet presented a clear winner. Tehran could still attempt to pre-emptively remove Al Abadi from power, replacing him with the likes of Al Maliki.

Several Iraqi analysts are warning that Iran is preparing for a showdown, supported by money, weapons, and a strong media campaign. Iranian influence in Iraq should not be underestimated, as the current anti-Daesh military campaign is largely led by Iranians or Iranian trained personnel. The economic interlinkage is also immense, especially in the Shia majority areas of the country.

A potential military showdown could be expected if the thaw between Baghdad and Saudi Arabia removes even more obstacles the coming months. The opening of the bilateral borders, which were closed since 1990, is a sign of this. Increased Saudi investments in Iraq could lead to not only an economic revival but also stir up renewed tensions at the same time. The pro-GCC power players in Iraq, such as the Kurds, Sunni minority groups or even Al Sadr, will have to remain very cautious. A total removal of armed groups or militias is needed, but even Al Sadr, known as a firebrand, has not yet even addressed the end of the Hashed Al Shaabi.

Iranian news site Tasnim, known for its links to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has openly accused Al Sadr of betrayal. The news site also stated that the visit is a betrayal of the Yemeni people who have been fighting the Saudis for more than a year. Tasnim also accused Saudi Arabia of taking advantage of the Sadrist movement and seeking influence gateways in Iraq.

Iraq is also facing possible turmoil due to the pro-secession vote in Kurdistan. The call for independence by Iraqi Kurdish parties is not surprising, but it is only the first step further towards the hard-sought-after independence. The majority of Iraqis, however, are against the independence of the Kurds, as it could lead to further instability in the rest of the country. Related: Two Countries Could Push Oil Over $50

Still, the September 25 non-binding referendum could be a watershed in Kurdish and Iraqi politics. Until now, the Kurdish region has been one of the most tranquil regions in Iraq, when not taking into account the harsh military operations against Daesh around Mosul. The semi-autonomous Kurdish nation has also established trade and economic relations with Turkey and Iran.

In the Iraqi constitution, supported by the U.S. after 2003, Kurdistan has received a semi-autonomous status. As in the whole region, political powers are tribe or family related, resulting in power politics and corruption. The Barzani-Talabani rule is no different from other parts in the Middle East. Kurdish politics are ruled by the two former Peshmerga leaders, now dividing the Kurdish arena between themselves. Since October 2015, the Kurdish Parliament has not met while Kurdish president Masoud Barzani has overstayed his tenure by four years. The economic situation is slightly depressed, largely due to declining oil and gas revenues, a conflict with the Baghdad government about financial disbursements of revenues and a rising debt portfolio.

Still when looking back at Kurdistan just after Saddam Husseins removal, optimism is shown on the streets of Erbil, Kirkuk and other places.

The real danger lurks in the mountains surrounding the Kurdish region. Kurdistan has to deal with armed opposition coming from Iraqi groups and the Baghdad government which people fear. Kurdistans neighbors will be the real wolves to be watched. Turkey, Iran and Syria disagree with an independent Kurdistan. If the referendum is positive about autonomy and secession, its Turkish-Arab-Iranian neighbors will put all their power behind attempts to block it before birth.

The Turkish and Iranian government fear that a free Kurdistan will directly affect their own Kurdish minorities, which have been fighting for independence since years. Even though the Iraqi Kurds have been assisting (or at least not military blocking) Turkish military incursions and operations against the Turkish PKK on their own soil, a free Kurdistan cannot be tolerated according to Turkish nationalism or Erdogans Ottoman strategies. Ankara will do all, including military pressure or operations, to drown the Kurdish baby before it can start growing.

Iran holds the same position, as there is already some cooperation between Iraqi Kurdish groups and Iranian Kurdish militants. Iran, under the flag of Iraqi integrity or solidarity, will try to prevent it by all means.

Looking at the Arab world, especially Saudi Arabia, UAE or Egypt, a different picture needs to be painted. Before the Syrian war, followed by the Qatar crisis, there was a tendency of supporting the Kurds partly, but no outright military or political support was given. Since the Turkish military operations in Syria and Iraq, and Ankaras support for Qatar and Iran, Saudi Arabia and its allies have decided to support fully and openly the Kurdish dream. Not only to divide the powers in Iraq and weaken the impact of Irans ongoing military operations, but also to hit Tehran and Ankara where it really hurts. By supporting the Kurdish national independency Saudi, Egypt and UAE, are pushing (and weakening) the growing influence of Turkey and Iran in Iraq.

The Arab countries have decided that the Kurdish issue is the weak spot of both adversaries. The growing military cooperation between Iran and Turkey, as demonstrated in the past few days, only puts oil on the fire according to the Arab leaders. Irans military chief of staff General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri has met with Turkish president Erdogan and Turkeys top general Hulusi Akar to discuss the Kurdish question. Both sides have warned for military consequences if a referendum is even held.

In a statement Turkeys Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stated that holding the referendum when Iraq already has many problems could lead the country to civil war.

For Saudi Arabia and its allies, the current situation presents major opportunities. First of all, the Kurdish referendum will possibly reel in Irans current power buildup in Iraq. Secondly, the move of Muqtada Al Sadr to leave the Iranian influence sphere and join the Arab Sunni alliance puts Iran under pressure to act, with a possibility of a total breakdown.

Regional and national politics, instability and possible conflicts could have another positive result - Iraqs oil and gas future will be bleak. Iraqs re-emergence as a major oil and gas producer has put the ongoing endeavors of OPEC, led Saudi Arabia and backed by Russia, to stabilize the strained oil market under pressure. Any possible obstacle put in the way of an Iraqi oil production volume increase is worthwhile considering. An unstable Iraq will not gain the hard-needed investment influx to gain influence as OPECs second producer.

An independent Kurdistan could have a detrimental impact, not only because Iraq will lose part of its oil and gas reserves, but it will also have to rely mainly on oil exports via the Shatt Al Arab river, providing a bottleneck for future expansions.

Political or even armed instability in Iraq will bring the country back to the situation of 2013-2014, a country rife with conflicts, sectarian or religious infighting and a power vacuum. Related: Can Mexico Replicate The U.S. Shale Boom?

At present, the current oil market could not absorb the implosion of Iraq, as it will affect also its neighbors. Iran and Turkey will feel the results in their volatile regions, where several main oil and gas arteries are located. The real winners in the short term could be the Arab coalition members, as their oil and gas operations would not be threatened directly.

A power struggle within Iraqs Shia regions could also remove part of the perceived Iranian interference in Saudis Eastern Province. The current Shiite opposition in and around Qatif would be not able to block or capture any Saudi energy assets without Iranian support.

All pieces are currently on the chess board, and a possible end-game plan is to be expected. The risks and rewards on all sides are sure to be extremely high.

Iraqs future is being decided, this time three new and battle-hardened players have entered the arena. The pawns are in the hands of Iran, Turkey or the Saudi Alliance.

Iraqs future will have a direct regional and global impact, as the global oil and gas markets will have to keep a wary eye. The 25th of September referendum and its outcome should be calculated into any oil and gas demand-supply scenario.

Until now, it seems not to be the case. Underestimating the impact of two seemingly separate developments (Al Sadr, Kurdistan) in Iraq could be the biggest mistake to be made by oil traders, hedge funds or investors. They are linked, as all is in the Arab world.

By Cyril Widdershoven for Oilprice.com

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British orders of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar continue as scheduled, despite the GCCs ongoing blockade against Doha, which is approaching its 90-day mark.

Qatar supplies 20 percent of Britains natural gas.

Just in the past four weeks, British ports have received one million meters worth of scheduled gas orders, according to the Middle East Monitor.

Doha dodged the worst logistical obstacles of the blockade by shifting its main export hub from the United Arab Emirates to Oman when the row first became public. Now, Qatars energy leaders are optimistic, feeling the ordeal has made the countrys logistics more robust.

In mid-July, diplomats from Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates signaled that they no longer wanted Qatar to comply with 13 specific demands levied in June. Instead, they proposed six broad principles that they wanted Qatar to sign onto. The principles included denying safe havens and financing to terrorists, combating terrorism and extremism, stopping incitement of hatred and violence, and refraining from interfering in the internal politics of other countries, the New York Times reported. Later, the blockading nations said Doha would have to adhere to the previous 13 demands after all.

So far, neither side has budged. Qatar will not bend to Saudis domineering wishes and the KSA will not back down from its vision of a politically united group of Sunni monarchies as a bulwark against Shiite Iran.



Related: Qatar Aims To Ease Its Reliance On LNG Exports

Qatars wealth plays a large role in preventing it from surrendering to Riyadhs will. The countrys central bank has $40 billion in cash reserves plus gold, while the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has $300 billion in reserves that it could liquidate, the Governor of Qatar Central Bank, Sheikh Abdulla Bin Saud Al-Thani, told CNBC in an interview in early July, one month into the blockade.

We have enough cash to preserve any - any kind of shock, the governor said.

By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com

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Shell has begun pumping natural gas from the second phase of development at the Gbaran-Ubie Niger Delta project. The gas from the expanded project will go to both the local market and export markets.

The second phase of Gbaran-Ubie will have a peak production rate of 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent daily, to be reached in 2019, of which 864 million cu ft of natural gas and 26,000 barrels of crude daily. The additional output will come from 18 wells drilled under the Phase 2 plan. The gas from the field will be transported via a new pipeline connecting the central processing facility at Gbaran-Ubie to a non-associated gas plant.

Shells Nigerian subsidiary started work on the Gbaran-Ubie field back in 2005, saying in 2011 that the production facilities attained the gas design capacity of one billion standard cubic of gas per day (bscf/day) on February 5, 2011, and peak oil production seen at 70,000 bpd.

The Gbaran-Ubie deposit was discovered in the 1970s, but it was left undeveloped because it contained mainly gas and Nigeria didnt have much of a demand for gas at that time. Things changed, however, and now Shell is shipping the gas from Gbaran-Ubie to the non-associated gas plant in Soku, in the eastern part of the Delta, and from there it will travel to the LNG terminal at Bonny, export-bound.

The expanded production is a rare piece of good news for Shells Nigerian business. The company has had its share of militant attacks on infrastructure and consequent production shutdowns, and is currently dealing with the occupation of a flow station in the Rivers state in the Delta. The protesters, including women and children, demand a greater share of oil returns for the local communities as well as an end to the environmental damage from oil production.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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Ive been writing the last few weeks about the unfolding metals supply crisis in China. Triggered by a wave of environmental checks at mining and processing facilities across the country.

One of the big questions is: how much production will be impacted by the environmental crackdown?

And this week, we began to get answers.

Key producer China Minmetals confirmed Monday that it has been targeted by environmental regulators. With the company saying it will be forced to complete a massive upgrade of its smelting facilities.

Those smelters are primarily located in the province of Hunan. Where regulators said they found widespread environmental damage at Minmetals facilities located along major waterways.

Faced with those findings, Minmetals will now launch an upgrading program at its smelters. At a reported cost of 10 billion yuan, or about $1.5 billion.

Those upgrades will affect Minmetals output of copper, lead and zinc. The company didnt specify exactly how much production will be impacted, but given the financial scale its likely a significant amount of output is involved.

Some or all of that production will almost certainly have to be halted during the upgrading work. Meaning recent supply loses from closures for environmental inspections will now be extended for months.

Thats going to make Chinese supply of copper and lead/zinc tighter for longer. Meaning we could see continued upward momentum in import demand to fill the gap. Related: Is OPEC Throwing In The Towel On U.S. Market Share?

Its also critical to remember: this is just the first firm targeted publicly by environmental regulators. With a fourth round of checks just wrapping up, we could see more firms and facilities being shut for upgrades like these.

This will continue to be one of the biggest stories for global mining and metals prices. Watch for more news on closures, as well as stats on Chinese metal production and imports.

Heres to taking a breather.

By Dave Forest

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Samsung revealed the Galaxy Note 8 at its Unpacked event in New York today. While its predecessor had a rough run last year, Samsung seemed to have plans to carry on the momentum it gained from Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, fitting the new Note with an Infinity Screen that boasts even smaller bezels.

Samsung claims to have made the S Pen, a defining feature for the galaxy Note series, even better than the previous versions. This might even give the Galaxy Note 8 an edge when it goes toe to toe with other flagships launched earlier this year like OnePlus 5, Nokia 8, and iOS contenders like Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.

The camera is another feature to look for, with this being the first dual camera set-up seen on a Samsung device.

Here's a look at what Samsung brings with the new Samsung Galaxy Note 8:

Display

The edge-to-edge Infinity display is back with the newest member of the Galaxy family by Samsung, and it's even bigger. Samsung has trimmed the bezels around the 6.3-inch screen on Note 8 even further than what was seen on S8 or S8 Plus, leaving the screen with an aspect ratio of 18.5:9. The screen comes with an eye-pleasing resolution of 2960x1440 pixels.

Camera

This is the first time a dual camera system has been seen on a smartphone by Samsung and it comes loaded. About the dual camera on Samsung Galaxy Note 8, the first is wide lens whereas the other is a telephoto lens. This also is the first dual-camera system to feature Optical Image Stabilisation in both camera units, enhancing image quality by that much.

Along with with dual camera, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 also comes with dual pixel sensor for better photos in low light conditions. For capturing instantaneous moments, it also comes with Quick Launch, which allows the camera to be accessed easily. The camera itself is dust and water resistant, making it a perfect to capture a beach adventure. Leaks suggest that the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 to be two 12-megapixel in the back and a 8-megapixel snapper in the front.



The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 also come with a feature called Live Focus which allows the user to decide how prominently the subject stands out by the adjusting the background blur levels, before or after the picture is taken.

S Pen

Paired with the large screen and wider Infinity Display, the prospects of the S Pen have also grown manifold. Equipped with a finer tip and higher pressure sensitivity, it can now be used to create anything from fine art pieces to day-to-day tasks.

The S Pen now comes with Live Message feature which allows you can animate anything you write or draw, including scribble on photos. These animations can also be messaged for personalised touch.

The Screen Off memo feature has been improved too, allowing users to write for 100 pages without switching on the screen and edit text with double tap. Now entire texts can be translated from one language to another by moving the S Pen over them.

Bixby and Samsung DeX

Samsung's home-grown voice command application Bixby continues to grow and learn, allowing fluent conversations, with a present footprint across 200 English-speaking markets, the company claims. With Quick Commands under Bixby, you can use simple commands or phrases to do complex jobs on your Samsung Galaxy Note 8. These functions can also be customised as required.

Bixby will soon allow users to play music on Spotify, courtesy a partnership between Samsung and the digital music service. Samsung promised more exciting news in its Developers' Conference in October.

With Samsung DeX, the company is making efforts to create an ecosystem of utility and game applications, by partnering with their respective creators, specifically optimised for use on desktop, and form a seamless interface.

Performance

Although the exact processor was not disclosed at the Unpacked event, Samsung did say that the Galoaxy Note 8 will run a SoC based on 10nm architecture. This could mean a Snapdragon 835 or a Exynos processor. The phone will come with 6 GB of RAM though, which makes it able to compete with flagships from other companies.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 will come with 64 GB internal memory which can also be expanded using a microSD card.

Features

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 comes with a host of security features including fingerprint sensor, iris scan, facial recognition and more.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and the S Pen both are IP68 water resistant which allows them protection against occasional splashes. Samsung is offering wireless charging with the device which will charge the 3300mAh battery which runs it all.

Official Launch

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 will be available in markets from September 15 and the pre-orders are expected to begin shortly. However, the price of the phone has not been declared yet. Reports suggest that the new Note 8 will be priced in the UK markets at 869 euros (over Rs 65,600). There is no word on the India launch either.
Pakistan not looking for financial assistance but for trust and respect: Qamar Bajwa

ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa Wednesday said that Pakistan was not looking for any material or financial assistance from the US, but wants to be trusted and treated with respect, according to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).



We are not looking for any material or financial assistance from USA but trust, understanding and acknowledgement of our contributions, Gen Bajwa told US Ambassador in Pakistan David Hale who called on him at the GHQ in Rawalpindi.



The meeting comes a day after US President Donald Trump said his country could no longer be silent about Pakistans safe havens for militants and warned it had much to lose by continuing to harbor terrorists.



According to the ISPR, the US ambassador briefed the army chief about the new US policy regarding Afghanistan. The ambassador said that US values Pakistans role in the war against terror and is seeking cooperation from Pakistan to resolve the Afghan issue.



Speaking on the occasion, the COAS said peace in Afghanistan was as important for Pakistan as for any other country. We have done a lot towards that end and shall keep on doing our best, not to appease anyone but in line with our national interest and national policy, he said.



Collaboration and synergy of effort between all stakeholders is the key to success to bring this long-drawn war in Afghanistan to its logical conclusion, the COAS said.



A day earlier, Trump committed the United States to an open-ended conflict in Afghanistan, signaling he would dispatch more troops to Americas longest war and vowing a fight to win.



Trump insisted that others  Afghan government, Pakistan, India and NATO allies  step up their own commitment to resolving the 16-year conflict, but he saved his sharpest words for Pakistan.



Senior US officials warned security assistance for Pakistan could be reduced unless the nuclear-armed nation cooperated more in preventing militants from using safe havens on its soil.



A day earlier, the ambassador had similarly briefed Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif on Washingtons new policy and statements made by Trump regarding Pakistan.



During the meeting, Asif had told the ambassador that Pakistan would continue to work with the international community to eliminate the menace of terrorism.



Prime Minister Shahid Khaqab Abbasi has presided over a meeting of the federal cabinet to review the situation arising out of the US policy and Trumps warning to Pakistan.



A statement issued after the cabinet meeting advised the Trump administration that instead of relying on the false narrative of safe havens, US needs to work with Pakistan to eradicate terrorism.



No country in the world has suffered more than Pakistan from the scourge of terrorism, often perpetrated from outside our borders. It is, therefore, disappointing that the US policy statement ignores the enormous sacrifices rendered by the Pakistani nation in this effort, a statement from the Foreign Ministry said.



Pakistan and the United States have been close allies in the fight against terrorism, which is a common threat for all nations of the world. As a matter of policy, Pakistan does not allow use of its territory against any country, the statement said.



China has openly defended Pakistan after Trumps threatening remarks.



Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Pakistan was on the front line in the struggle against terrorism and had made great sacrifices and important contributions in the fight. We believe that the international community should fully recognise Pakistans anti-terrorism, she told a daily news briefing.



We are happy to see Pakistan and the United States carry out anti-terror cooperation on the basis of mutual respect, and work together for security and stability in the region and world.
Senators denounced Donald Trump statement against Pakistan 24 August, 2017



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Woke Bingo ISLAMABAD: Senators on Wednesday denounced US President Donald Trumps statement against Pakistan, with many urging that the US ambassador be summoned to the Foreign Office and served a demarche.



They also expressed dissatisfaction with Defence Minister Khurram Dastgir Khans statement at the outset of debate on the Indian prime ministers recent visit to the US, where he signed agreements for the purchase of unmanned drones and nuclear submarines.



It was more of an apology [to America], remarked Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani.



Lawmakers from across the aisle also called for revisiting the terms of Pakistans engagement with the US, and clearly telling it that Islamabad had the option to deny it use of its territory and airspace.



Trump must realise that we hail the legacy of Vietnam and Cambodia. If he wants Pakistan to become a graveyard for US troops, let him do so, Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani observed.



When Mr Dastgir told him that the foreign minister would be travelling to the US, Mr Rabbani said the visit should have been cancelled after Mr Trumps remarks. It will send a clear message, he said, as members thumped their desks.



In his opening statement, the defence minister said Pakistan had taken note of Mr Trumps statement.



No country in the world has done more than Pakistan to counter the menace of terrorism. No country in the world has suffered more than Pakistan from the scourge of terrorism, often perpetrated from outside our borders. It is therefore disappointing that the US policy statement ignores the enormous sacrifices rendered by the Pakistani nation in this effort, he said.



He said Pakistan had been and would continue to be a part of global counterterrorism efforts. The US and Pakistan had been close allies in the fight against terrorism, which was a common threat for all nations, he said.



As a matter of policy, Pakistan does not allow its territory to be used against any country. Instead of relying on the false narrative of safe havens, the US needs to work with Pakistan to eradicate terrorism. The threat to peace and security cannot be isolated from the complex interplay of geopolitics, the continued existence of festering disputes and the pursuit of hegemonic policies. The non-resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute remained the primary obstacle to peace and stability in the region, he said.



The defence minister said there was no exclusive military solution to the crisis in Afghanistan. Military action over the last 17 years had not brought peace to Afghanistan, and it was unlikely to do so in the future.



He said that only an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and politically-negotiated solution could lead to a sustainable peace, and Pakistan was committed to working with the international community towards the common objective of defeating the forces of terrorism and promoting peace and stability in South Asia.



During the discussion, Senator Abdul Qayyum claimed that a conspiracy was being hatched against nuclear Pakistan, saying: They want to deprive us of our nuclear weapons.



Commenting on Americas recently-revised Afghanistan and South Asia policy, retired Gen Qayyum noted that the US must learn from history and avoid using brute force to resolve an intricate political issue.



He said encouraging Indian involvement in Afghanistan would compound the issue, as India is involved in fomenting militancy in Pakistan. We reject the policy of victimising Pakistan for the US own failures and the Afghan governments incompetence, he said.



He suggested a regional approach involving all stakeholders, including the Afghan Taliban.



Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Farhatullah Babar said Mr Trump was wrong to point fingers at Pakistan, but urged the government to also look inward, asking whether the time had come to abandon the failed policy of selective treatment of militant groups.



Mr Babar deplored that the US was blaming Pakistan for its failure in Afghanistan, but added that at the same time we must revisit the policy of nurturing some militants to advance our security and foreign policy agendas in the region, he said.



He said point seven of the National Action Plan was that defunct outfits will not be allowed to operate under other names, which had not been acted upon. Worse still, instead of taking action, recently-banned militant outfits were allowed to reassemble and launch themselves as a political party, he said.



Blocking the UN move to impose sanctions against the head of a banned militant outfit does raise questions, he said.



When bin Laden was found hiding in Abbottabad and a Pakistani passport and identity card was recovered from Mullah Mansour Akhtar, questions asked about such issues in parliament went unanswered, while banned outfits struted around as charity organisations.



Senator Nehal Hashmi said the US ambassador had committed contempt of parliament by holding a meeting with the chief of army staff, and asked in what capacity he had met with the army chief when parliament and a democratic government are in place. They want to create divisions, he remarked.



Senator Usman Kakar claimed that the good Taliban-bad Taliban policy continued to prevail, adding that foreign policy should be framed by parliament, but everything was in the hands of the establishment. Jehanzeb Jamaldini agreed that foreign policy should be under democratic forces.
From Greg Swank, 12-4-2 You are about to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our great Capitol back in 1963. As...
Mr Isaac Owusu Mensah, Deputy Commissioner of Immigration in charge of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) in the Volta region has cautioned Ghanaians against travelling to Togo on Friday, August 25.



He said the Service had picked intelligence that civilians and opposition political parties in that country were planning a political protest in the national capital-Lome and asked Ghanaians wishing to travel to Togo on that day to be careful.



A similar protest at Atakpame-Sokode last Saturday demanding term limits for Togolese Presidents reportedly resulted in the death of nine persons, two civilians and seven security persons.



Mr Mensah said the Service got information that the opposition had planned a massive demonstration in Lome to herald the burial of the civilians who lost their lives on Saturday.



He said the Aflao-Lome Border would remain opened and warned travellers not to get involved in any political activity in Togo.



The Service earlier debunked speculations of influx of Togolese into the country and said the entry points are calm. People are going about their normal activities.



A source close to the Border Security Committee (BODSEC) told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that, there has not been any irregular movement of Togolese across the frontier to suggest they are fleeing into Ghana.



The source also said it was untrue that there was a massing up of heavily armed security personnel of that country at their side of the border as being speculated.



Meanwhile, the GNA has gathered that President Faure Gnassingbes government had apologized for the clash between security forces and protesters last Saturday resulting in the death of some persons and appealed to the opposition to calm tension in the country.





Source: GNA









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Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed a new law that allows New York residents to contribute through state personal and corporate tax returns support children's summer cultural programs at public libraries, legislative sponsors state Assemblywoman Sandy Galef, D-Westchester County, and Sen. Patty Ritchie, R-Huevelton, jointly announced Wednesday.

State tax forms will include a check off box to donate private funds to the state's "Love Your Library Fund," which supports summer reading, music and arts programs to keep children academically challenged during school vacations.

"This legislation will help provide students with every opportunity to combat summer learning loss and return to school better prepared in the year ahead," said Jeremy Johannesen, exexutive director of the New York Library Association.
QUEENSBURY  A Lake George man with a long criminal history was sentenced to 7 years in state prison Wednesday for seriously injuring a fellow inmate in Washington County Jail.

Scott J. Morehouse, 38, was convicted of second-degree assault after a trial last month in Warren County Court. He beat another inmate, fracturing an orbital bone near his eye.

Morehouse was far from happy in court on Wednesday, repeatedly cursing as Warren County Judge John Hall imposed a sentence that included 5 years on parole after his release from prison.

Morehouse has numerous prior assault arrests, but had been found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect in two cases in 2015, including one in which he head-butted a village of Lake George peace officer.

He was confined to a mental institution for more than a year, then returned to Warren County Jail in December 2016 when he was deemed able to stand trial.

A short time later, he was arrested for the jailhouse assault on James Gatchell, which left injuries that required surgery.

Morehouse also has two prior felony convictions, for burglary and grand larceny.
ELIZABETHTOWN  A two-time felon from New York City pleaded guilty Wednesday for possessing crack cocaine with intent to sell in Ticonderoga one day last winter.

Tasheen Carrow, 40, pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony, for possession of 8 grams of crack during a traffic stop last Jan. 30, officials said.

He was a passenger in a taxi that was stopped for traffic violations, and a search uncovered the drugs hidden in his underwear, authorities said.

Carrow pleaded guilty during a trial in Essex County Court, and is being held in Essex County Jail pending sentencing Oct. 11. He faces up to 12 years in state prison.

Carrow has two prior felony convictions in robbery and weapons cases in New York City.
SARATOGA SPRINGS  The organizer of a local gun show set for Sept. 2-3 at the Saratoga Springs City Center has agreed not to bring a writing desk that was in Adolf Hitlers apartment and Hitlers personal cap, after an outcry from the community over display of Nazi memorabilia less than two weeks after a neo-Nazi march in Virginia.

New Eastcoast Arms Collectors Associates was going to bring the desk as part of a show featuring more than 200 tables of merchandise.

But the companys president, David Petronis, said someone brought to his attention an article in the local media that expressed concern about the desk.

The idea I guess of bringing in Hitlers desk because of the problems that are going on now was a bit controversial, he said, referring to the clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia, between neo-Nazis and white supremacists on one side and groups that had assembled to oppose their messages on the other. Heather Heyer, part of the group protesting hate, was killed when James Alex Fields drove his car into a crowd on Aug. 12.

Petronis said his organization had planned for several months to display the desk, which is part of a collection of artifacts that are going up for auction. The desk was in Hitlers Munich apartment when the Americans overran the German city. The soldiers confiscated the desk and put it in storage.

Petronis said he contacted City Center Executive Director Ryan McMahon to address the situation.

We can solve that problem real fast. We just wont bring it, he said.

Petronis said he had planned to create a display with a mannequin of a soldier sitting on top of the desk on top of a Nazi flag, smoking a cigarette with his dagger going through the flag and an American flag covering it.

Petronis said the desk has to be displayed somewhere because it is up for auction.

I think its kind of an overreaction of a lot of people as to whats going on over the last two weeks. I guess well just have to live with that with the rest of our lives, he said. At this point in time, we just thought it prudent not to upset anybody in the immediate area.

Mayor Joanne Yepsen said a lot of people brought the issue to her attention, saying they do not believe it is appropriate for the desk to be displayed. The City Center is located right across the street from Temple Sinai on Broadway.

We are pushing in this city for a much different message, which is to be inclusive and welcoming, she said.

Yepsen pointed out that a walk against racism was scheduled for Thursday night, with a coalition of human rights organizations participating.

These symbolic displays can further divide people and anger people as opposed to bringing the community together, she said.

Tara N. Gaston, a candidate for the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors, is among the people who had expressed concern about Hitlers desk being displayed. She said it was in poor form given recent events. This type of artifact belongs in a museum, not a gun show, she said.

Its hard to look at it in any other way than being provoking or inciting, she said.

Gaston added that the city has been grappling with instances of swastikas being drawn on buildings and with other incidents of racism.
QUEENSBURY  Double murder suspect Bryan M. Redden told authorities he was high on drugs when he killed a woman and her young daughter earlier this month, court records allege.

Court records filed late Thursday include affidavits from four Glens Falls Police officers and two Warren County corrections officers about statements from Redden after he was taken into custody for the Aug. 11 killings of 33-year-old Glens Falls resident Crystal L. Riley and her 4-year-old daughter, Lilly Frasier.

In one of them, Redden is quoted as telling corrections officer W.S. Barotti Jr. on Aug. 14 that he regretted what he did and that he had done heroin.

He also went on to say how he was high on drugs and did not know what he was doing at the time but whats done is done, Barotti wrote.

He also is quoted as telling corrections officer Ellis Mattison III that Im guilty of what I did and asking if he would face the death penalty.

The Glens Falls Police officers who took Redden into custody after spotting him driving Rileys Toyota sport utility vehicle recounted that Redden told them, Im the one youre looking for ... you know, the murderer, court records show.

Glens Falls Police officers Zachary Tanner, Donnie Long and Andrew Mija gave sworn affidavits in which they wrote that Redden told them the knife is in the Dumpster by the tattoo parlor on Broad Street, and that it was in a pocketbook. Police said the apparent murder weapon was recovered, although they did not say where.

Later that night, he told Tanner, I want to plead guilty, and told Officer Kirsten Lunder that he (expletive) up real bad, according to court records.

He told police he was on his way to turn himself in when officers spotted him on Bay Street in Glens Falls.

The district attorneys office also filed a video disc of Redden being questioned by Glens Falls Police Detective Lt. Peter Casertino and State Police Investigator Warren Law, but it was sealed by court order to preserve the defendants right to a fair trial.

It is unclear how the video disc content differs from the admissions Redden is alleged to have made to other police officers.

The records also include death certificates for Riley and her daughter, which indicate the two appeared to have been choked and to have had their necks cut with a sharp object.

Under state law, prosecutors have to turn over any admissions that they plan to use in felony cases to the defense within 15 days of arraignment on an indictment.

Redden, 21, is accused of killing Riley and Frasier early the morning of Aug. 11 in their South Street apartment.

Redden has pleaded not guilty to an eight-count indictment that includes counts of first-degree murder, second-degree murder and lesser charges for possessing a weapon, theft of the vehicle and hiding the knife.

No motive for the killings has been released, but Redden has claimed he was involved in a romantic relationship with Riley.

He told police he was homeless and had last been staying at an apartment in Glens Falls. Redden is a native of West Virginia and came to the region about a year ago with a carnival rides company, working at a number of local restaurants since.

Redden is being held in Warren County Jail without bail, with no further court dates set as he awaits a psychiatric exam. He faces life in prison without parole if convicted of first-degree murder.

His lawyer, Warren County Public Defender Marcy Flores, said she had no comment on the case as of Thursday evening.
The registered sex offender from Kingsbury who was arrested last spring for allegedly soliciting boys to have sexual encounters while he watched appears to be headed to trial.

There have been no plea talks in the Washington County Court case of Quarry Crossing resident Robert N. Middleton, who faces a 17-count indictment that includes 10 felonies and accuses him of improper contact with three boys 13 to 17 years old between 2014 and earlier this year.

Washington County District Attorney Tony Jordan said a trial is likely later this year after pretrial motions are completed.

The case is being handled by First Assistant District Attorney Christian Morris, who said the first pretrial hearing in the case is scheduled for Tuesday before Washington County Judge Kelly McKeighan. No trial date has been set, but he said there had not been any discussions of a resolution other than a trial.

Middletons lawyer, William Montgomery, has made a motion to dismiss the indictment. He declined to comment on the case Thursday.

His position is hes not guilty of anything that hes been charged with, Montgomery said.

Middleton, 62, is not accused of having sexual contact with the teens, but is charged with paying them and giving them gifts to have sexual encounters with each other in his presence.

He faces five counts of sexually motivated felony, three counts of attempted use of a child in a sexual performance and counts of promoting prostitution, patronizing a person for prostitution and endangering the welfare of a child, court records show.

Middleton was arrested in April after a Washington County Sheriffs Office investigation that began when police learned of allegations that boys were having sexual contact at his home.

Middleton is free on bail, pending further court action. He was also the subject of a police response earlier this summer when someone who knew him saw him at an outing with a group of boys not affiliated with the case, but officers responded and determined there was no evidence that a crime had been committed.

Middleton is a registered sex offender in California, but because of a loophole in New York law, he did not have to register here, police said.

He is a part-time resident of San Francisco, and is registered there for a 1990 conviction.

Because his conviction in California predated New Yorks sex offender registry statute, New York state officials who reviewed his situation determined Middleton was not subject to the New York registration law, according to police.
EASTON  Sheep dont bring their owners much money, but as a tool for raising children, nothings better.

So said the dozens of families who packed into the sheep and goat barn Thursday morning at the Washington County Fair.

Youths were hard at work hours before the fair opened for the day, preparing their sheep for the show. Many of them arent from farming families, so this week is the one time of year they can care for their sheep full-time. The rest of the year, they visit their sheep and pay for them to be housed at another persons farm.

But its still a life-changing experience.

Genevieve Rossi, 17, of Cambridge, has seen her sheep breed and lambs born. She had to learn how to take care of them herself, at a friends farm: My parents are lawyers, they dont know what theyre doing.

But the biggest lesson came this spring, when one of her sheep had a lamb with severe birth defects.

The lamb was suffering badly, and the vet said nothing could be done. But it was her lamb, so she had to decide. She approved putting it down.

That sticks with you, she said.

Not in a bad way, but in a growing-up way.

When she has children, they will raise sheep to learn the same lessons, she said.

Because its a great way to learn responsibility, she said.

Her friend Helen Mooney, also 17 and from Cambridge, agreed. Its not just death  its solving hoof disease problems, learning how to trim and shear, managing a flock.

Ive learned so much: watching them be born, taking care of them, illnesses, the death part. Things I couldnt have learned from a textbook, Mooney said.

For those who dont keep sheep as pets, the focus locally is raising them for their wool. But thats partly because there are not enough slaughter houses for sheep, said farmer Chris Crossman of Whitehall.

She runs Ewetopia Farm, where she raises a rare sheep breed with curly wool.

But she also raises meat sheep, and it has gotten harder and harder.

To sell the meat commercially, it must be cut up and packaged at a USDA-inspected slaughterhouse. But most have all the work they can handle with pork and beef now. They dont have room to fit in smaller numbers of lamb when they could slaughter larger animals.

Ive lost three or four in the last three years, Crossman said. Ive gotten to the point where I almost wont breed them. A lot of local lamb farmers are shut out; the slaughter houses are so full, theyre doing only beef or hog.

Timing is critical. Once a lamb is big enough for slaughter, theres not much time left before it ages out.

Sheep slaughtered after 12 months old is considered mutton, not lamb meat. While mutton is still purchased, lamb meat is considered far tastier.

So lately Crossman has gone all the way to Altamont to a slaughterhouse.

She recently realized, however, that a small slaughterhouse in Argyle would take lamb.

Locust Grove Smokehouse started advertising on its sign that it slaughters lamb, and that got her attention at once.

Workers at Locust Grove said many local sheep farmers have responded to their sign.

Lately, theres been more and more coming in, said processor Betsy Skellie. One comes up about every week with three lambs.

But, like other slaughterhouses, Locust Grove is getting full. Its nearly completely booked for the fall, Skellie said.

She advises farmers to schedule well at least two months in advance.

Still, thats better than other places, Crossman said.

They say, I can do something in six months, and youre looking at your nine-month lamb thinking, In six months its mutton.
Editor:

In the Viewpoint section of a recent JAMA, a group headed by Amber Williams, Ph.D., of the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University called attention to a serious lack of health services covered by Medicare, notably those for dental, vision and hearing. As an obvious result of these uncovered costs, they note that the low-income Medicare patient avoids using these necessary services.

For example, in a 2012 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey of 11,299 individuals (reflecting an estimated 50 million Americans), 75 percent reported hearing difficulty and of those, 84 percent had no hearing aids. Similarly, only a small fraction of those who report dental or visual problems had seen a dentist or eye doctor in over a year.

The rest of this JAMA communication suggested that, by adding eye, ear and dental coverage to Medicare, the great increase in services covered should cut the cost of each considerably. I think its worth a try.

N.A. Harvey, M.D., Queensbury
Editor:

The missile tests by North Korea have demonstrated that we live in a dangerous world. I am concerned that our national security may be at risk. The importance of our national security is something that all Americans should be able to agree upon.

Our commander-in-chief is Donald Trump. Today a leading Republican senator told reporters that President Trump has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability, nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful. Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, went on to warn that as things stand today, our nation is going to go through great peril and called for radical change at the White House.

We need a president who thinks things through and who speaks with care and precision. We need someone who tries to speak for all Americans and who can unify the nation. Unfortunately, Donald Trump has not been that person. He has no credibility. He is reckless. He is impulsive and acts as though he only cares about himself. It would be one thing if he were a private citizen. However, he is commander-in-chief. He can impulsively start a war, probably through a tweet, simply because some foreign leader insults him.

He can get away with acting this way because his base supporters allow him to do whatever he wants. He famously remarked during the campaign that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue without losing any supporters. Would the same be true if he decided to fire a missile?

It is time for all Americans to take a stand. Donald Trump must finally pivot from screwball campaigner to responsible president. Our national security depends on it.

Richard Morse, Warrensburg












Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that Israel is prepared to intervene in Syria to counteract the Iranian influence in the conflict. Moscow, which views Iran as key to resolving the crisis, said it will note Israeli interests. When the two leaders met in Sochi on Wednesday, Netanyahu told Putin that any peace deal in Syria must entail the full withdrawal of any Iranian forces from the area.

Reuters quoted Netanyahu as saying. "We cannot forget for a single minute that Iran threatens every day to annihilate Israel." "Iran is already well on its way to controlling Iraq, Yemen and to a large extent is already in practice in control of Lebanon,""We cannot forget for a single minute that Iran threatens every day to annihilate Israel."









"Israel opposes Iran's continued entrenchment in Syria. We will be sure to defend ourselves with all means against this and any threat." Iran supports Syrian President Bashar Assad in the civil war that has been gripping the country for six years. Israel considers the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah to be little more than a proxy of Tehran, and fears a Syrian government victory will further amplify Iranian influence at its borders and give Tehran access to the Mediterranean.





Israel publicly considers Iran an even bigger threat to its security than Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL). "It is not an exaggeration to think that within a certain period of time, the Islamic State will lose its territorial footholds in Syria," said Netanyahu, as quoted by Haaretz. "There will be a much better prospect for cutting the current civil war short and preventing a future war if Iran is not in Syria." "I made it clear to Putin that Iran's establishing itself in Syria will not aid stability in the region, and I told him that we want to prevent a future war and therefore it is important to warn in advance."









Israeli officials may be particularly concerned about an Iranian presence near the Golan Heights, a disputed territory between Israel and Syria, part of which is under Israeli occupation. In July, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) opened fire on Syrian positions in response to two stray shells landing on the Israeli-claimed side.









The Israeli Air Force (IAF) have repeatedly carried out air strikes on the Syrian territory since the beginning of the Syrian conflict. In July, it was reported that Israel has carried out dozens of strikes in Syria, allegedly targeting Hezbollah arms convoys. Netanyahu seemingly admitted to that during a meeting with the prime ministers of Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia.





We built the wall because there was a problem with ISIS and Iran trying to build a terror front [in the Golan Heights]. I told Putin, when we see them transferring weapons to Hezbollah, we will hurt them. We did it dozens of times," the Israeli prime minister said at that time, referring to an earlier meeting with the Russian president. In April, Reuters reported that the IAF targeted Hezbollahs arms supply hub near Damascus Airport used to stockpile weapons and ammunition coming from Iran on commercial and military cargo aircraft.





At that time, Israeli Intelligence Minister Israel Katz commented on the issue by saying that the incident in Syria corresponds completely with Israels policy to act to prevent Iran's smuggling of advanced weapons via Syria to Hezbollah.





In March, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the Israeli ambassador to Moscow, Gary Koren, to demand explanations for the airstrikes Israel conducted near the Syrian city of Palmyra after the IDF warplanes hit several targets near the ancient city, allegedly destroying advanced arms provided to Hezbollah.





In January, Damascus accused Tel Aviv of bombing the Mezzeh military airport west of the countrys capital.





































Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said he told Russian President Vladimir Putin that Israel was willing to act to prevent a continued Iranian military presence in Syria, during a three-hour meeting between the two leaders in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.





Most of the discussion dealt with Irans attempt to establish a foothold in Syria in the places where ISIS was defeated and is leaving, Netanyahu said following the meeting.





The victory over ISIS is welcome. Irans entry is unwelcome, endangering us, and in my opinion, endangering the region and the world, Netanyahu added.





His comments echoed those of Mossad intelligence agency chief Yossi Cohen, who was also present at the Sochi meeting, who said last week that as the Islamic State group is beaten back, Iran and its proxies are rushing in to take over its territory.









Netanyahu said that he spoke to President Putin very clearly about our positions on this matter and the fact that this is unacceptable to us.









Speaking to Israeli journalists in a conference call after the meeting, Netanyahu said he told Putin that Israel would take action if its red lines were crossed. We will act when necessary according to our red lines, Netanyahu said. In the past, we have done this without asking permission, but we have provided an update on what our policy is. Cohen reportedly provided Putin with sensitive, credible and very disturbing detailed intelligence on Irans military presence in Syria during the meeting. The visit comes after a senior Israeli delegation reportedly shared the same evidence with the Americans last week. Israel is striving to limit Irans expansion in the region. Iran is said to be trying to forge a land corridor from Iran, through Iraq and Syria, to Lebanon, where its ally Hezbollah operates.
















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Turning the ship before it hits the iceberg
By the end of the week, the Twin Bridges Motor Inn should be rubble.

When the remains have been carted off, the new "gateway" to Bettendorf's downtown will begin to emerge.

Construction on The Bridges apartments is to begin immediately after the site to the east of the Interstate 74 bridge has been cleared. One of two buildings will go up in the first phase, which includes 70-some units. It is expected to be finished by the middle of next year. Depending on the pace of leasing, construction on the second building, 50-some units, could begin before the first one is finished.

Des Moines-based Newbury Living is behind the $22 million development, and company president Frank Levy on Wednesday heaped praise upon Bettendorf city staffers for their work on the private-public partnership. The city (taxpayers) is putting up $750,000 in the way of a forgivable loan, and 100 percent of property taxes from the new taxable value of the property will be waived for 20 years. The project also is getting funding from Iowa's Workforce Housing Tax Credits.

Levy said his company took delivery of the last $1,000 investment needed for the project "in the spirit of heavy lifting." He then proved it, showing those in attendance at Wednesday's ceremonial groundbreaking a potato sack containing $1,000 in quarters.

Build to Suit will be the contractor for The Bridges, and company president Kevin Koellner reiterated the importance of working with city leaders who support the project.

"It can't be overstated  the amount of work that's gone into this thing," he said. "Nothing was easy."

Bettendorf Mayor Bob Gallagher pointed to the crowd for evidence of the city's support of The Bridges, noting every city council member and department head was present.

"This is the most entrepreneurial city we've worked with so far," Levy said, adding he would like to do more work in Bettendorf.

"We'd love to have you," Gallagher said.

Following many such moments of mutual admiration, talks came down to the apartments. In addition to their activity-friendly locale, just steps from the riverfront bike path and Leach Park boat landings, The Bridges will have arguably the best views in town of the new bridge construction. This was billed as a wholly good thing, absent any discussions about noise.

If both buildings are completed by late 2018 as planned, tenants will have about three years to watch the new bridge rise from the river. A full three quarters of the units will face the river and/or bridge.

Apartment sizes will vary  from 453-square-foot studios to 1,090-square-foot two-bedroom units.

Having recently toured what was left of the former motel, I can confidently predict it will be an enormous improvement. The coming of The Bridges also is inspiring additional developments in the neighborhood, including a project by Build to Suit, just across State Street.

"This is a domino  the first one," Gallagher said, adding The Bridges will make a destination of the downtown.

And many of us can appreciate the name of the new 132-unit housing complex. During some summer construction seasons, it has felt very much like we live on The Bridges.
July 21

1 Lauren Woods, 29, 3020 Utica Ridge Road, Apt. 340, was arrested on the 3000 block of Utica Ridge Road on suspicion of drug possession/delivery, taxable substance, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

2 Leomar Castillo, 19, 3020 Utica Ridge Road, Apt. 340, was arrested on the 3000 block of Utica Ridge Road on suspicion of drug possession/delivery, taxable substance, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

July 25

3 A 2014 Chevrolet Traverse and a 2015 Hyundai Genesis collided on the 1800 block of Isle Parkway, resulting in $2,100 in damage.

4 Steve Le, 24, 3208 Chateau Knoll, was arrested at 29th Street and Maplecrest Road on suspicion of drug possession/marijuana delivery, taxable substance and conspiracy to commit a felony.

5 Tanner Werthmann, 21, 3208 Chateau Knoll, was arrested at 29th Street and Maplecrest Road on suspicion of drug possession/marijuana delivery, taxable substance and conspiracy to commit a felony.

6 A tablet, valued at $310, was reported stolen at Hy-Vee on the 2900 block of Devils Glen Road.

7 Criminal mischief, damage totaling $200, was reported on the 1400 block of Lincoln Road.

July 26

8 Criminal mischief, damage totaling $150, was reported on the 900 block of 28th Street.

9 A Harley Davidson motorcycle, valued at $5,000, was reported stolen on the 4400 block of State Street.

10 Fraud, totaling $600, was reported on the 6000 block of Whispering Hill Drive.

July 27

11 A burglary of an unoccupied vehicle, no value listed, was reported on the 1700 block of Alcoa Avenue.

12 A 2005 Ford F-250 and a 2008 Ford F-150 collided at Mississippi Boulevard and 14th Street, resulting in $2,500 in damage.

13 An attempted burglary of an unoccupied vehicle, nothing taken, was reported on the 1400 block of Lincoln Road.

14 Tools, electronic cables, a backpack and a passport, valued at $320, were all reported stolen on the 3400 block of Woodcrest Court.

July 28

15 Benjamin Randall Kluever, 25, 1408 19th St., was arrested at 8th and Grant streets on suspicion of first offense operating while intoxicated and driving while license denied, suspended, cancelled or revoked.

16 Elizabeth Dziura, 52, 609 Lakeside St., Hinsdale, Illinois, was arrested at Interstate 80 mile marker 301 eastbound on suspicion of first offense operating while intoxicated.

17 Fraud, totaling $5,500, was reported on the 4600 block of Crow Creek Court.

July 29

18 Johnnie Davis Williams, 32, 1430 Jersey Ridge Road, Davenport, was arrested at Dairy Queen on the 2500 block of 18th Street on suspicion of first offense consumption/intoxication.

19 Kristopher Youngman, 37, 508 River Drive, was arrested on the 1200 block of Chateau Knoll on suspicion of providing false identification information and possession of drug paraphernalia.

20 Nicole Camille Pagels, 42, 803 Chateau Knoll, was arrested at Hy-Vee on the 2900 block of Devils Glen Road on suspicion of third degree theft.

21 Padlocks, no value listed, were reported stolen on the 7300 block of Valley Drive.

22 A 2015 Honda CBR300 was involved in a single-vehicle crash on the 3500 block of Middle Road, resulting in $500 in damage.

July 30

23 Brandon Robert Strickland, 32, 1100 Lincoln Road, Apt. 8, was arrested on the 900 block of Middle Road on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance, intrastate warrant and first offense consumption/intoxication.

24 Fraud, totaling $7,878.76, was reported on the 3400 block of Somerset Drive.

25 A louver, valued at $50, was reported stolen on the 3600 block of Devils Glen Road.

26 Carson Dean Hasselroth, 30, 3765 Creek Hill Drive, Apt. 7, was arrested on the 3400 block of State Street on suspicion of possession of drug paraphernalia.

July 31

27 Jamison Albert Fisher, 42, 1355 12th Ave., East Moline, was arrested at 4th Street and River Drive on suspicion of drug paraphernalia.

28 A drivers license, cash, wallet and purse, valued at $86, were reported stolen on the 1200 block of Hillside Drive.

29 A 2015 Nissan Sentra and a 2006 Cadillac DTS collided at Utica Ridge Road and Spruce Hills Drive, resulting in $200 in damage.

30 Jan Lou Melton, 79, 2136 North Division St., Davenport, was arrested at Utica Ridge Road and Spruce Hills Drive on suspicion of driving while license denied or revoked.

31 A 2016 CCC Let2 and a 1987 Chevrolet Celebrity collided on the 1200 block of 16th Street, resulting in $1,000 in damage.

Aug. 1

32 A bicycle, valued at $100, was reported stolen on the 2600 block of Cypress Drive.

33 A 2010 Chevrolet Traverse and a 1999 Toyota Camry collided on the 700 block of Middle Road, resulting in $4,000 in damage.

34 Criminal mischief, damage totaling $200, was reported on the 2300 block of Cumberland Square Drive.

Aug. 2

35 A 2015 Jeep Wrangler and a 2020 Hyundai Accent collided on the 3800 block of Tanglefoot Lane, resulting in $600 in damage.

36 A 1995 Lincoln Town Car and a 1995 Ford F-150 collided at Devils Glen and Middle roads, resulting in $1,300 in damage.

37 Blaine Steven Seibert, 20, 5425 Valley Drive Apt. 31, was arrested at 19th and Grant streets on suspicion of habitual offender driving while barred.

38 A 2014 Subaru Outback and a 2003 Ford F-150 collided on the 800 block of Middle Road, resulting in $1,250 in damage.

Aug. 3

39 A burglary of an unoccupied vehicle, nothing taken, was reported on the 3500 block of Clover Hills Drive.

40 Cash, valued at $18, was reported stolen on the 3400 block of Clover Hills Drive.

41 Burglary of an unoccupied vehicle, nothing taken, was reported on the 3300 block of Clover Hills Drive.

42 Angela Renee Slama, 36, 2110 Grant St., was arrested on the 2100 block of Grant Street on suspicion of interference with official acts, unlawful possession of prescription drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia.

43 A 2005 Freightliner Semi was involved in a single-vehicle accident on the 7300 block of Valley Drive, resulting in $750 in damage.

Aug. 4

44 Burglary, nothing taken, was reported on the 2900 block of Magnolia Drive.

45 A 2004 Audi AA4 and a 2010 Dodge Charger collided at Devils Glen and Middle Roads, resulting in $8,000 in damage.

Aug. 5

46 A 2007 Toyota Sienna and a 2002 Pontiac Sunfire collided on the 5800 block of Star View Drive, resulting in $1,000 in damage.

47 A 2006 Lincoln Zephyr collided with a cable barrier on Interstate 74 mile marker 4.2 westbound, resulting in $6,500 in damage.

48 A 2004 Ford F-250 and a 2017 Jaguar F-Pace collided at Interstate 74 Grant Street off-ramp, resulting in $6,000 in damage.

Aug. 6

49 A 2010 Honda Accord, no value listed, was reported stolen on the 1100 block of Lincoln Road.

50 Teresa Gayle Graham, 46, 3019 W. 2nd St., Davenport, was arrested on the 1300 block of Devils Glen Road on suspicion of trespassing.
A Bettendorf physician who worked for years in emergency medicine in the Quad-Cities has pleaded guilty to 24 counts of health care fraud in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, Davenport.

Dr. Paul Matthew Bolger, 45, Bettendorf, pleaded guilty to 18 counts of false statements in health care matters, five counts of introduction of misbranded drugs and one count of making a false statement in health care matters in California, which was transferred to Iowa.

Bolger will be sentenced in the federal courthouse in Davenport at 9:30 a.m. Jan. 9.

The doctor "knowingly and willingly" made false statements as he authorized prescription drugs and indicated the prescriptions were medically necessary. He signed multiple prescription forms without talking to a patient, conducting an exam or reviewing medical records.

The signed prescription forms were faxed to pharmacies in Florida and California, which filled the prescriptions, mailed them to patients and then billed Tricare, the federal health program for members of the military.

Tricare reimbursed the pharmacies for the fraudulent prescriptions, which totaled $4,436,190. Bolger authorized 1,375 prescriptions for compounded medications from March through April 2015 to a total of 432 patients. He issued prescriptions in states where he was licensed, such as Iowa, and also in states where he was not licensed, including Alabama.

For making false statements, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release and a special assessment of $100 per count.

To date, Bolger has agreed to pay $10,000 in restitution to Tricare. In the Quad-Cities, Bolger had worked for UnityPoint Health Trinity Bettendorf.

Bolger's attorney, Jeffrey Lang with Lane & Waterman, Davenport, issued a statement in his client's behalf:

"Dr. Bolger is a highly respected physician in the Quad Cities. During a very brief period in early 2015, he made a terrible mistake in authorizing prescriptions for compounded topical pain creams. Those creams contained no controlled substances of any kind. For issuing those prescriptions during the course of two months, he received less than $11,000.

"When issues surrounding these prescriptions were brought to his attention, Dr. Bolger immediately self-reported this matter to the Iowa Board of Medicine and also the other states where he is licensed. Those state medical boards that have reached decisions about Dr. Bolger have concluded  based upon medical standards  that he should be allowed to continue practicing medicine.

"Dr. Bolger is an excellent physician respected by his peers. He has been practicing emergency medicine and promoting wellness in the Quad-Cities and elsewhere for over 20 years. He looks forward to getting this entire matter behind him."
The blood of Romane Nunn Sr. was found on a pair of shoes and jean shorts of the man prosecutors say fatally stabbed Nunn in a Davenport park in August 2016, according to testimony Wednesday.

Sabrina Seehafer, a DNA specialist with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, was one of more than a dozen witnesses to testify on the second full day of testimony in the trial of William E. Crawford, 43, in Scott County District Court.

He is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Nunn, 29, of Davenport. Prosecutors say Crawford confronted Nunn, who was playing the popular mobile app game Pokemon Go, in Davenport's LeClaire Park around 8:20 p.m. Aug. 18, 2016, and stabbed him in the chest.

Two other men, Terrell Bloch, 46, and Durell Parks Jr, 35, also assaulted Nunn, according to prosecutors. Both men have pleaded guilty to lesser charges in connection with the case and are awaiting sentencing.

Seehafer testified Wednesday that she tested some items of evidence collected by police and compared them to DNA profiles of Nunn, Crawford, Bloch and Parks.

She said she tested a sample of a blood-like stain found on the front left leg of a pair of black jean shorts that were recovered from the floor of an apartment on Brady Street. Crawford and his girlfriend stayed at the apartment, according to trial testimony.

Davenport Police Officer Bryant Wayland said he found a wallet inside the back pocket of the shorts. He said he found an identification card for Crawford inside the wallet.

Seehafer testified that the blood stain she tested on the shorts indicated that there was a mixture of two different DNA profiles. The major contributor to the stain was Nunn, she said.

She could not determine the profile of the minor contributor, Seehafer testified.

She also tested a pair of black shoes belonging to Crawford. Seehafer said DNA from a stain on the left shoe was a match for Nunn and a stain on the right shoe was consistent with Nunns DNA.

She also tested a pair of black shoes belonging to Parks. The stains she tested matched Nunns DNA, she testified.

Prosecutors say Crawford thought that Nunn had sexually assaulted his 40-year-old girlfriend the day before the stabbing. Nunn was never a suspect in the assault, Davenport Police Detective Aric Robinson testified Wednesday.

The suspect in the assault has not been located, and the case is still open, he said.

Crawfords girlfriend, who is in custody of the Scott County Jail on charges in an unrelated case, testified for nearly 20 minutes Wednesday about the assault on her and on Nunn. The Quad-City Times does not name victims of sexual assault.

Under questioning from Berger, she said she had accepted a ride the night of Aug. 17, 2016, by a person who was driving a gold car. He took her to a garage on Rockingham Road, made her take her clothes off at knife point and scratched her with a knife, she said.

She said the attack ended when she screamed and the man left. She left shortly after him, she said.

Robinson said the investigation and the womans own statements indicated that the man had assaulted her with the intent to commit a sexual assault but did not actually sexually assault her.

The woman said she encountered police after the attempted assault. She said she remembered talking to police again early on Aug. 18, 2016, at the Brady Street apartment and said her attacker had been driving a gold car.

The woman said Wednesday that she went to the pavilion at LeClaire Park later that night. She said she drank beer and vodka at the pavilion and multiple people were sharing the same bottle.

She said she and Crawford, who was playing chess, did not talk about the assault from the night before.

Under questioning from Berger, the woman said she pointed out a man, whom she thought was her attacker, walking toward the pavilion.

When asked if she pointed him out to Crawford, she said, Yeah, I think I did.

She said Crawford left the pavilion and walked up to the man to ask him about her.

When Berger asked her if the man was the same one who saw her and Crawford arguing at the park a few days earlier, she said, Yeah, its possible. Im just saying, at that time he reminded me or looked like my attacker.

She said she stayed at the pavilion after Crawford left. She couldnt see Crawford and Nunn from where she was sitting, and she wasnt looking.

Bloch testified Wednesday that he had been at the park that night and was drinking vodka and beer at the pavilion. Crawford, his girlfriend and others were there as well, he said.

Under questioning by Berger, Bloch said Crawford seemed irritated by a conversation he was having with his girlfriend that night.

Bloch said that when Nunn arrived at the park and got out of his green Saturn, Crawfords girlfriend gasped and was somewhat hysterical.

Bloch said Crawford took a drink of vodka, walked down the sidewalk, had a conversation with Nunn and retured to the pavilion. He asked the woman if she was sure that Nunn was the man who attacked her, Bloch said.

Crawford then went back toward Nunn, and Bloch followed after the woman yelled at him to stop Crawford.

Bloch said he never saw a knife in Crawfords hand but saw him swing at Nunn, who went down to the ground. Bloch said Nunn got back up and he hit him twice before leaving the park.

Fredrick Carter, who also is in custody on an unrelated case, testified that he had been at the park that night and had left twice to get alcohol for Crawford and others and crack cocaine for himself.

He was not present when the stabbing occurred. Carter said he had returned to the park from the skybridge when he encountered Crawford, who told him he thought he had killed a man and tossed a knife in the Mississippi River.

Testimony continues Thursday. Prosecutors on Wednesday indicated that they could rest their case by mid-Thursday morning.
Back to school

It's the first day of the new school year and across the Quad-Cities students are strapping on their backpacks. See this year's crop of students in our galleries, including this roundup of students at Riverdale Heights Elementary School or a reader-submitted slideshow.

Last call

Kellys Irish Pub & Eatery  the Quad-City areas go-to St. Patrick's Day party host  has closed.

It was just time to move on, said Dan Kelly, who opened the bar and restaurant at 2222 E. 53rd St., Davenport, in 2004.

We had a great 13 years there, Kelly said. It's time to close it down and move on to something else. Read the rest of reporter Amanda Hancock's story on the close here.

A new show starts

If youre still wondering when River Roots Live is this year, you have some studying up to do about Alternating Currents.

The new multi-venue festival concept, which has replaced River Roots Live, features more than 100 performances, from stand-up comedy to film screenings to concerts to arts and craft fairs, on Friday and Saturday at 16 venues around downtown Davenport.

Weather

We're facing a moderate night with temperatures in the mid-70s.

Traffic

Plan for delays headed westbound on I-74 if you're traveling between the Mississippi River bridge and the River Drive exit.
A state-led investigation of an ethics complaint against Davenport schools Superintendent Art Tate has been completed, Tate said Wednesday.

The ethics violation in question involves Tate's decision to illegally spend district reserve funds to pay for programming costs. He did so with the full support of the Davenport school board and to make a point about inequity in the law that allows some districts to spend more per pupil than others.

Next, the state Board of Educational Examiners must review the investigator's report and decide whether a formal charge is warranted.

Darcy Hathaway, attorney for the board, said there is no comment on the case at this time.

But Tate said he has been told the investigation has been completed.

"I'm just waiting," he said. "The ball's in their court. There's nothing I can do at this point."

Hathaway acknowledged that cases that come before the board are supposed to be resolved in 180 days. Tate's case has now extended to 251 days with several more steps yet to be completed.

"The board does have the ability to extend that deadline for cause," Hathaway said. "They often do that."

Ryan Wise, director of the state Department of Education, filed the formal ethics complaint against Tate. Wise and the education department had no comment Wednesday.

Staci Hupp, department spokeswoman, said she has received calls from Davenport concerning Tate's case. Hupp refers callers to the Board of Educational Examiners, she said.

Wise filed the ethics complaint on Dec. 16, 2016, 24 hours after the district appeared on Dec. 15 before the state's School Budget Review Committee. At that time, Davenport argued it should be allowed to use district reserve funds to pay for programming costs.

The Davenport Community School District does not have the necessary spending authority to use the funds in its savings account. That spending authority is set by the state. Using the funds in this manner is unlawful.

Tate, School Board members and many Davenport students have, for years, cited a funding inequity in the state system that allows some districts to spend more per pupil. Districts in Iowa that have the highest spending authority can spend up to $175 more for each student than Davenport can.

On Wednesday, Davenport School Board President Ralph Johanson repeated the board support for Tate. Johanson said he has not been informed "at all" about the state ethics case, but he said all board members enthusiastically support the superintendent.

Each of six candidates for the school board next year also support Tate, Johanson said.

Hathaway did not disclose where Tate's case is in the process used by the board, but she explained that the Board of Educational Examiners has an 11-member board. This board reviews cases to decide if there is "probable cause" for moving forward.

This 11-member board might next meet on Sept. 6 in a telephone meeting, but will definitely meet on Oct. 6 at the Grimes Building at the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines, Hathaway said.

If Tate's case goes forward, it would be up to the Iowa Attorney General's Office, where an assistant attorney general works on cases for the education department. At that time, the attorney may seek to reach a settlement with Tate.

Or Tate's case could be among several in line to set a date to be considered by an administrate law judge, Hathaway said.

This judge would review the evidence and make a recommendation for a sanction or dismissal. Then, the case returns to the Board of Educational Examiners.

"They can accept the findings, make adjustments if necessary and then make a final order on the case," Hathaway said.

The board's decision could be appealed to an Iowa district court.
A former elected official is seeking a seat on the Davenport City Council.

Toby Paone, a former elected official in the Missouri House of Representatives and the Rice Lake (Wisconsin) City Council, has entered the race to become alderman at-large on the Davenport City Council.

My experience as an elected official and a mayoral assistant in St. Louis shows I know how to get the job done for people, Paone said. I can be effective right away on the Davenport City Council. These experiences came out of hard work and a willingness to listen to peoples concerns about their neighborhoods and communities.

Paone represents the professional employees for the Bettendorf, Davenport, Eastern Iowa Community Colleges and the Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency through his work for the Iowa State Education Association.

If elected, Paone will put emphasis on three specific areas: the citys infrastructure needs, support for public employees and advancing quality of life for all people, irrespective of race, religion or lifestyle.

Like most cities, we have problems, but we also have avenues to address and resolve those problems," Paone said. "I want to help small business prosper here in Davenport.

"I want to see families raise their children here and get a good foundation in life. I want the best schools in the country right here, and I want our parks, streets and neighborhoods safe for everyone."
Seven people were injured early Thursday when a vehicle collided with another at a rail crossing and then was struck by a train near Joslin, Illinois.

The incident occurred at 5:10 a.m. at the rail crossing on Illinois 92 (38th Avenue North) near 286th Street North.

Both vehicles were traveling west on Illinois 92 when the first vehicle, a Toyota SUV, stopped at the rail crossing and was struck in the rear by a Toyota van, according to a news release from the Rock Island Sheriff's Office.

The SUV, with three occupants, was pushed through the railroad tracks. The van, carrying four people, was partially on the tracks after impact when it was struck by the train, the news release said.

Occupants of both vehicles were transported by ambulance to a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

The driver of the van was cited for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.

Illinois 92 (38th Avenue North) was closed from Interstate 88 for about two hours.

The Illinois State Police assisted with traffic control.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway trainmaster also responded to inspect the train.
Here's the afternoon forecast from the National Weather Service.

There's a slight chance of isolated showers. Skies will be partly sunny with a high near 75 degrees and a low around 56 degrees.

Davenport Council praises police amid uptick in gun violence

The uptick in gun violence and attention paid by the Davenport Police Department has not gone unnoticed.

Last week, members of the City Council flanked Police Chief Paul Sikorski as he pledged to devote greater resources to combating the rise in shots fired and violent crimes. The council affirmed its support for the police Wednesday and assured the community that it is committed to keeping the city safe.

"Our police force is busting their rear end and not sleeping and not being with their families so they can take care of these knuckleheads that are going around," Alderman Mike Matson, 7th Ward, said at Wednesday's council meeting.

During last week's news conference, Sikorksi attributed the rise in gun violence and shots fired to retaliations and to an increase in juvenile crime.

Mayor Frank Klipsch heralded the work of the police department, which announced more arrests Wednesday morning.

"Typically, these are individuals who are targeting another individual," Klipsch said. "This is not people randomly going around town shooting. It is terrible regardless, but I think it's important to understand, and more importantly, if you shoot someone or shoot in this community, you will be arrested." Read more.

 Full-depth patching begins today in the left westbound lane of Rockingham Road/Iowa 22 between Chapel Hill Road/130th Street and General Asphalt Construction. Work should be completed by August 29.

Check out these Quad-City Times photo galleries
The American Red Cross of the Quad-Cities and Western Illinois will be joining other chapters nationally in a program to get free smoke alarms into homes.

Sound the Alarm, Save a Life has a goal of putting 100,000 smoke alarms in homes across the nation, Amber Wood, executive director of the American Red Cross of the Quad-Cities and Western Illinois, said Wednesday during a news conference at the Scott County Administration Building in Davenport.

Wood said the American Red Cross responds to 64,000 disasters across the United States annually, with the disasters being predominately home fires.

Seven people die every day in home fires, and most dont have working smoke detectors, she said. Home fires kill more people than all other disasters combined in the U.S. Three out of five home deaths occur because there is no smoke alarm in the home.

It is the goal of the Red Cross home fire campaign to reduce those deaths by 25 percent, she said.

Raising awareness is why the Red Cross is introduced Sound the Alarm, Save a Life, so that anyone one who wants one may have a free smoke alarm, Wood said. It will be installed for people, and a volunteer will help families plan escape routes.

Dale Dollenbacher, board chair of the area Red Cross, said that on Saturday, Oct. 14, in the Quad-Cities, Muscatine and Kewanee, the Red Cross will begin installing free smoke alarms in homes.

The goal is 700 new smoke alarms in Quad-City region homes, Dollenbacher said, adding that everyone should check their smoke alarms and not just the batteries, but the condition of the alarms.

Any alarm that is more than five years old should be replaced, he said.

After checking the alarm, Dollenbacher said people should sit with their families and make a plan of escape in case of fire so that everyone can get out of a home in less than two minutes.

The Red Cross launched its Home Fire Campaign in 2014. Since then, 964,320 alarms have been installed in homes across the nation, according to the organizations website.

East Moline Fire Chief Robert DeFrance said its not enough having a smoke detector in the home, the smoke detector must work.

DeFrance said that too often firefighters find that a home in which a fire broke out had a smoke detector, but it didnt work.

Too many people succumb to the its not going to happen to me mentality, he said.

But a working smoke detector is the only real chance people have, especially at night, of getting out of that house alive, DeFrance said, adding that one in 320 homes on average experience a fire.

In this case, he said, it is easy to get a free working smoke detector.

All someone has to do is make a phone call and ask and a smoke detector will be installed, DeFrance said.
A good Thursday to all. So while you didn't win that $700 million plus lottery prize, today's forecast is a real jackpot. Here are the weather details from the National Weather Service.

1. Mild temps continue today

Today is the first day of school in Davenport. History has shown that some of the hottest days in the Quad-Cities pop up around the start of the school year. Not so much this year. In fact the area is enjoying a bout of unseasonable cool temps.

Today will be partly sunny with a high near 75 degrees and a low around 56 degrees.

Friday will be partly sunny with a high near 76 degrees and a low around 58 degrees.

Enjoy the break in the heat.

2. Single-winning Powerball ticket sold in Massachusetts

Powerball officials say a single winning ticket sold in Massachusetts will claim the $758.7 million jackpot.

Powerball Product Group Chair Charlie McIntyre says the $758.7 million jackpot is the largest grand prize won by a single lottery ticket in U.S. history.

McIntyre also says six other tickets won $2 million apiece, and 34 more are worth $1 million.

The lucky numbers for the second largest lottery prize in U.S. history were 6, 7, 16, 23 and 26, and the Powerball number was 4.

The $758.7 million jackpot is second only to a $1.6 billion prize shared by three people in January 2016.

The current jackpot refers to the annuity option, doled out in 30 payments over 29 years, increasing 5 percent annually. Nearly all winners favor the cash option, which would now be $480.5 million. Read more.

3. Davenport approves rezoning for proposed Costco location

Jerry Ludden has been a familiar face at City Council meetings for the past few weeks, expressing his concerns about a prospective Costco Wholesale location on 17.88 acres of land on East 53rd Street, north of Fairhaven Road.

While Ludden and some residents of the 6th Ward are not convinced by the plans, the Davenport City Council has expressed satisfaction up to this point and did so Wednesday in unanimously approving an ordinance to rezone the property from A-1 agriculture and R-1 and R-2 low density residential to a Planned Development District.

Costco's plans include constructing a 156,170-square-foot building and fuel station on the land.

With the rezoning approval, Berger said Costco must now submit engineering and building plans to the city for technical review. Berger was unaware of when Costco intends to submit its plans, but said development projects typically take 30-60 days to submit plans once rezoning requests are approved. Read more.

4. Bank robbery puts three PV schools on lockdown

Three Pleasant Valley Community School District schools were placed on lockdown Wednesday afternoon after a robbery at a nearby grocery store.

The lockdown was triggered around 2:40 p.m. at the request of the Bettendorf Police Department and Scott County Sheriff's Office in response to a robbery at the Great Southern Bank inside Hy-Vee at Devils Glen Road and Middle Road.

About 2:34 p.m., a male suspect demanded money from the teller. The suspect, who was wearing blue jeans, a light blue T-shirt with stripes, a tan cap and wire-rim glasses, did not display a weapon but inferred he had one.

Pleasant Valley High School, Riverdale Heights Elementary School and Hopewell Elementary School were placed on lockdown for 15 minutes. Read more.

5. Genesis welcome park under construction at Locust and Eastern

A Times reader wonders what is being built on the corner of Locust Street and Eastern Avenue in Davenport. Ask the Times columnist Roy Booker reports that it is a Welcome Park to the Genesis Medical Center, East Rusholme Street Campus. Read more.

6. Emergency drill today at Q-C Airport

If you drive by the Quad-City International Airport this morning don't be alarmed by all the emergency vehicles in the area. That's because airport officials will be will be conducting an airport emergency drill.

The drill will be held between 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

Neighbors to the airport and passersby will see and hear emergency vehicles in the vicinity.

Airport Road may experience brief, intermittent closures to allow emergency vehicles access to the drill site, officials say.
HOT SPRINGS - The historic sandstone Pioneer Museum in Hot Springs is a lovely building, but due to its age, it often is in need of repairs and improvements. On its limited budget, benefactors are needed to fund capital improvements.

This year, the Outside Deadwood Foundation and Black Hills Energy Corp. have given the museum grants to do some very important electrical upgrades. First Interstate Fall River Area Foundation gave funds to replace the beveled glass on several display cases  which were so worn and scratched one could hardly appreciate the items beneath. The South Dakota Historical Society also awarded a grant for archiving supplies.

There are several other items which need funding to keep the museum in good shape. Major among these is interior painting. Several rooms were re-plastered and painted last year but no funding has yet been awarded to update several rooms which are now peeling and cracking. The effort to solicit funds is on-going. The parking lot could use a re-paving and the County Commission is adding that to their to-do list for the future.

For more information about the Pioneer Museum, or to inquire about contributing to the museums efforts, call 605-745-5147.
Taped on the office wall of The Brookside Motel in Keystone is a poster announcing a reward for information on the 2013 death of Meshell Will.

The poster is evidence that four years after the Custer woman died, she has not been forgotten, and the hunt for information about her suspicious death goes on.

Will's badly decomposed body was found off Iron Mountain Road in Keystone on Aug. 31, 2013. Will, 38, was last seen in Keystone seven days earlier, not far from where her body was discovered in a wooded area near the roads famous pigtail bridges.

Police are still trying to figure out how she died  and if she was murdered. Meanwhile, her friend, Nancy Herman, has refused to give up hope that she can find out what happened to Will.

Herman, 67, put up the poster at the motel and in various places around Keystone and Custer. She said she has saved up $1,100 of her own money to offer as a reward. She also regularly calls the case investigators to check for updates.

They probably think Im a big pain, said Herman, a retired employee of Women Escaping A Violent Environment, a shelter for battered women in Custer.

Herman said she met Will in February 2013, while the younger woman volunteered at the shelter. Herman said she was drawn to Wills lovely spirit  and they also shared a love of cats. They last spoke two days before Will was last seen in Keystone, when Herman offered her a ride to work since Will did not drive. She has since adopted Wills two cats, Abby and Miss Snickety.

Hermans persistence with Wills case stems from the conviction that her friend was murdered by a boyfriend. Six months ago, Herman created a Facebook page, Help FIND Meshells Murderer @GRANNYGOINNAGETJUSTICE. She posts updates on her efforts to get the case solved and what she believes are leads that could catch the culprit.

I want justice for Meshell, Herman said. She wants also to have answers for Wills two sons, now teenage boys, when they come asking about their mothers death.

This week, she shared with the Journal several photos of Will, including one showing the right side of Wills face with what appeared to be swelling and purplish bruises. Will, who was born in Wisconsin and moved to South Dakota in 2013, no longer has relatives in the state after her sister in Custer died last year.

Earlier this month, at Hermans urging, Wills aunt Sue Van Akkeren called the Vidocq Society for help. The Philadelphia-based nonprofit, whose membership includes current law enforcement officers and forensic experts, provides free assistance to police investigating cold-case homicides.

Vidocq gets dozens of requests a year, but only accepts nine cases, said group spokesman Ed Tenuto. At the societys regular luncheon meeting in Philadelphia, investigators seeking help present their cases to Vidocq members, who then offer their analyses and suggestions.

The cost of travel to Philadelphia, hotel stay and local car rides are paid for by Vidocq, said Tenuto. The visiting investigators are also given some spending money.

Van Akkeren, who lives in Sheboygan, Wis., said she asked the Pennington County Sheriffs Office to contact the society after the group told her the request for assistance has to come from the lead investigative agency. The sheriffs office is leading the Will investigation, which also involves the Custer County Sheriffs Office, Rapid City Police Department and South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation.

Corey Brubakken, head of investigations at the Pennington County Sheriffs Office, said investigators will entertain any option that might help explain Wills death. The case hasnt been classified as a homicide because the cause and manner of her death havent been determined, Brubbaken said, but he described it as a suspicious death.

The suspiciousness is we cant put those pieces of that last few hours of her life together, he said. We have a pretty good time line up until shes last seen. We dont have an explanation as to why she ended up in the location that she ended up and her body was as decomposed as it was.

Investigators, however, are looking at a person of interest in Custer City.

When asked if the person is the man that Herman suspects of killing Will, Brubakken declined to comment, saying it would be unfair to name the individual since investigators are still looking for evidence. He also declined to say if they have questioned the man.

Authorities are now offering $5,000 for information that could help solve the case. Brubbaken hopes the money will be an added incentive for people to come forward.

The reward, obtained from the Rapid City Community Reward Fund, was approved around March 2015, said sheriffs office spokeswoman Helene Duhamel. But for some reason, the cash reward had not been publicized until now.

The sheriffs office has issued three news releases on Wills case. The first, on Sept. 2, 2013, talked about a passerby coming across a female's body off Iron Mountain Road two days earlier. The last release, on Sept. 11 that year, identified the woman as Will and asked anyone who may have seen her on Aug. 24 or after to contact the police.

When told about the $5,000 reward in a phone call Monday, Herman began crying.

Oh, yahoo, she said. Finally, all my work has finally paid off. Im so happy.

Brubakken wanted to assure the public that Wills death has not been overlooked. In the past four years, he said, investigators have done numerous and repeated interviews, as well as conducted DNA and forensic anthropology tests.

Theres nobody on this floor thats forgot about this case, Brubakken said. Thats the frustrating part  we need a break.

Herman and Van Akkeren are hoping the renewed attention on Wills death, as well as the reward, will finally get the case solved.

Today is the fourth anniversary of the last time Will was seen. Herman and some of her friends are meeting at Custer's Harbach Park for a potluck picnic at 5:30 p.m. Herman said they plan to light candles, say prayers and throw flowers in a nearby stream. She is inviting anyone who is interested to participate.

Its just to remember her, call attention to domestic violence and that the murderer is still walking around.
Company formerly connected to Browder seeks to recover $30.4 mln

MOSCOW, August 24 (RAPSI)  Head manager of Dalnaya Step, a company believed to be formerly under control of William Browders Hermitage Capital Management, has petitioned the Commercial Court of Kalmykia seeking to arrest over 1.8 billion rubles (about $30.4 million) of HSBC bank, the court documents read on Wednesday.

The applicant seeks the arrest of the banks funds held on an account opened in the Central Bank of Russias main office for the Central Federal District in Moscow. However, the court ruled that the applicant did not provide evidence that the account was opened in the Central Bank. Hearings over the motion was postponed until August 31.

On August 2, the court recovered over 1.8 billion rubles in favor of Dalnaya Step.

On June 9, an acting manager of Dalnaya Step filed a claim to collect funds from companies formerly in control of it, namely HSBC Management (Guernsey) and HSBC Bank (RR).

On March 21, 2016, the court ruled to resume bankruptcy proceedings in Dalnaya Step. According to an acting manager back then, proceedings were still in effect and there was a need to make former controllers of the company accountable.

In 2015, the department of Russias Federal Tax Service (FTS) for the Republic of Kalmykia filed a motion with the court to declare void a decision made in October 2007 to complete the liquidation of Dalnaya Step. The FTS department said the reason for the petition is that Russias Interior Ministry is investigating Alexander Dolzhenko, former bankruptcy management at Dalnaya Step, on suspicion of premeditated bankruptcy.

Browder stands charged with several economic crimes in Russia, including premediated bankruptcy and tax evasion, according to lawyer Alexander Antipov Antipov.

Earlier, the Tverskoy District Court arrested Browder in absentia on charges of embezzling stock of Russias oil giant Gazprom. According to Russian authorities, Browder illegally bought over 130 million Gazprom shares worth at least 2 billion rubles ($34 million at the current exchange rate) at a lower, intra-market price through a Russian company he controlled, Kameya LLC, which amounts to large financial loss for Russia.

However, the United Kingdom refused to extradite its national.

In 2013, a Russian court sentenced Browder in absentia to 9 years in prison. The court found that from 1997 to 2002, Hermitage Capital auditor Sergey Magnitsky created and applied an illegal tax evasion scheme in the interests of Browder.

Magnitsky worked for Firestone Duncan and represented Hermitage Capital, which the Russian authorities accused of tax evasion. Magnitsky was arrested on fraud charges in November 2008 and found dead in a Moscow detention center in November 2009. The lawyers death provoked an international outcry.

In July 2013, Moscows Tverskoy District Court found Magnitsky guilty of tax evasion and closed the case due to his death. According to the case materials, Magnitskys and Hermitage Capital director William Browders actions cost Russia over 500 million rubles ($8.5 million).
Ex-wife appeals against ruling dismissing her $15 bln claim against Russian tycoon

MOSCOW, August 24 (RAPSI, Yelizaveta Ponomareva)  Natalia Potanina, ex-wife of billionaire Vladimir Potanin, has appealed against a ruling of the Presnensky District Court of Moscow dismissing her lawsuit lodged to collect 849.2 billion rubles (about $15 billion) from her ex-husband, the courts representative told RAPSI on Thursday.

This July, the claim was rejected because of expiration of the limitation period.

Reportedly, Potanina asked the court to acknowledge shares of three foreign companies as the property acquired during her marriage. Potanina evaluated her share as much as nearly 850 billion rubles.

Earlier, the court dismissed another lawsuit filed by Potanina seeking to recover 215 billion rubles (about $3.8 billion at the current exchange rate) in compensation for shares of KM Invest company.

In late April 2015, Natalia Potanina filed a lawsuit for ownership of 50 percent of her ex-husbands stake in Norilsk Nickel and half of Interros International, which holds their other assets. In the fall of 2015, the Presnensky District Court of Moscow dismissed the lawsuit. Potanina has appealed the ruling, only for the Moscow District Court to uphold it on January 22, 2016.

Under the Russian Family Code, the property acquired during a marriage is considered community property and therefore should be divided into equal parts in a divorce.

The businessman was granted a divorce from his wife in February 2014.

In July 2015, the Presnensky court issued a ruling in a case on dividing the assets of the former spouses. According to a source familiar with the lawsuit, the court ruled that Vladimir Potanin keep a 406.9 square meter luxury apartment on Skatertny Pereulok (central Moscow) and a church, St. Blessed Tamara in the village of Anosino, in the Moscow Region.

Natalia Potanina received 380 million rubles ($6.4 million at the current exchange rate) in compensation for her share in the apartment as well as three plots of land in the Moscow Region.
U.S. court rules Google to provide information for Russian arbitration case

MOSCOW, Augsut 24 (RAPSI)  A court in the United States has granted an application filed by Russian company Adeal Import LLC and forwarded a subpoena to Google asking to provide email information, required for commercial litigation in Russia, copies of court documents at RAPSI disposal read on Thursday.

Adeal, a company dealing in household appliances online, is the defendant in an intellectual property dispute with Cyprus-based company UCF Partners Limited. The plaintiff claims that Adeal infringed on its exclusive rights for audiovisual works.

According to the U.S. court documents, one of the arguments made by UCF during the dispute is a statement that the Cypriot firms agent has sent an email to top managers of Adeal containing scripts for legally protected works. In turn, the Russian company claims that the email was fabricated and that its top managers have never received it.

Adeal claims that both the alleged agent and one of the top managers possess G-mail accounts and that Google can confirm or deny the existence of the email in question. The company forwarded an application to the U.S. Federal Court for the Northern District of California since this is the district of Googles residence.

The U.S. court noted that this request is compliant with the national legislation acknowledging several circumstances of the case: Google is not a party in the dispute; Russian courts are likely to be receptive to such an assistance; Adeal is not trying to circumvent foreign limitation on discovery process. The court obligated Google to provide information on whether there was communication between email accounts in question.

In February, Russias Intellectual Property Court (IP Court) sent the dispute between Adeal and UCF for another review by the Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals.

In November of the last year, the Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals held that Adeal must pay 461.4 million rubles ($7 million) to UCF overturning the decision of the Moscow Commercial Court, which dismissed the Cypriot companys claim against the Russian company on April 13, 2016.

According to the plaintiff, it is the owner of rights for audiovisual works in the form of 5-second-long advertising clips. As the plaintiff has noted, the defendant placed these clips for airing on various Russian TV channels in the period from July to November 2013 in the framework of an advertisement campaign of Holodilnik.ru online retailer.

The defendants counsel has maintained that the Cypriot firm had failed to prove that it was the exclusive owner of rights for disputed clips, and the fact that the defendant had placed the disputed advertisements on federal TV programs.
Russias Prosecutor General says number of cybercrimes up six times since 2013

MOSCOW, August 24 (RAPSI)  The number of crimes committed with the use of modern cyber technologies was up six times in 2013 through 2016 totaling 66,000 incidents, Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika said during a meeting with the heads of BRICS prosecutor services.

Chaika has noted that several types of crime were on the rise: cyberfraud, cyberespionage, organization of unlawful online sales of drugs, and certain other offences. According to the data obtained by the Prosecutor Generals Office, two thirds of extremist crimes and each ninth terrorist crime are committed with the use of Internet.

As noted by the Prosecutor Generals Office, since the introduction of the out-of-court online blocking procedure providers have blocked over 3,000 webpages and deleted information from 50,000 websites on request of prosecutors.

The official statistics show that the damage caused by cybercrimes in Russia in first half of 2017 made over $18 million.
Ravalli County Commissioners and Literacy Bitterroot representatives remain frustrated with the Montana Office of Public Instruction about the lack of funding for adult learning in the local community.

The grant money through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act (WIOA) for Literacy Bitterroot was awarded to Missoula County as part of a regionalization push from the federal government. The grant helps train adults to pass a high-school equivalency test, which formerly was called a GED, or general educational development certificate.

Last year, Literacy Bitterroot received $65,000 through the program.

In early August, commissioners wrote a letter to Montana Superintendent Elsie Arntzen asking for clarification and options with the WIOA grant process.

Last week, Arntzen sent a response letter complete with history, timelines, and grant recipients. She said the funds were from the federal government and came with strings attached including diminished local control."

Arntzen said stakeholders modified the way local programs were funded by dividing the state into Montana Association of Counties (MACo) districts.

This decision had nothing to do with county governments, but was rather a convenient, already existing map which was co-opted for this purpose, Arntzen said. It was not our determination to take it away from local control and put it into regional - that was what the feds had decided.

The letter was followed by a conference call to the commissioners in Hamilton on Wednesday.

Ravalli County cannot receive WIOC grant funds unless it agrees to serve Missoula and Mineral counties. Literacy Bitterroot Director Dixie Stark believes that reach is beyond school finance law. because some of the money is raised within the county as a matching grant. She believes the locally raised funds can't cross county lines.

Stark didn't apply for the grant money because she couldn't provide regional services to Missoula and Mineral counties, and believes that Missoula will poorly serve the Bitterroot Valley.

The Missoula County public school district said that instead of subcontracting with Literacy Bitterroot, it will hire its own staff, who will be school district employees.

Now that grants have been awarded, Missoula will have to fail to adequately serve Ravalli County before any funding change would be considered. At this point, those standards for success haven't been set.

This is a federal program, Arntzen said Wednesday. At the state [level], our job at OPI is to administer it, to audit the use of the funds, as well as monitor the services.

Kyle Moen, chief legal council for OPI, said, unfortunately OPI is not the one who decided to regionalize programs.

Of course the OPI cares very much on how that translates into service and thats why were encouraging communication between Missoula and Ravalli to make this program successful, Moen said.

Commissioner Greg Chilcott asked if the term regionalized could allow room for Montanans to define what works best.

We looked to OPI and the state to represent our interests and to protect and provide for our interests, Chilcott said. In this case it has fallen short and I dont believe this region is going to serve our citizens near the way theyve been served. We looked to you to be our advocates.

Chilcott said he feels that OPI is hiding behind a shield saying the federal government did this to us and youre going to have to suck it up.

Whats really happening is that our students have to suck it up and thats a problem and why we look to you, he said. We are looking for the advocacy that we heard OPI would provide for us.

Commissioner Jeff Burrows said he expects this will be just another instance of the funds that should flow through Missoula County not making it to Ravalli County.

The surrounding rural counties get underserved, Burrows said.

Arntzen said she understood.

Its not us simply sitting back and saying Well the federal government did this to Montana therefore were just going to roll over, Arntzen said. Thats not who I am, thats not who you are, and thats not what the state of Montana is.

She said this program is not all about high school equivalency tests or the GED program.

This is about serving in a workforce development framework that is different than what weve seen before, she said. Im looking forward to your leadership to help guide that communication in this regional aspect that was given to the state of Montana.

Arntzen promised more.

I am going to go ahead and make sure that Ravalli County would get equal or even more service to the students that have been served previously, she said.

Arntzen said that if Missoula, Ravalli and Mineral counties cannot communicate to make it happen, then OPI and the other programs will make sure they are served.

You have my promise to make sure that individuals are served, Arntzen said.

Starke asked how services would be measured.

Is it by number of sites, number of graduates, number of students or dollars per student? she said. Please articulate on the record how Missoula will pass or fail this test.

T.J. Eyer, division administrator for career, technical and adult education at OPI, said he is currently developing the monitoring document for the WIOA grant that will be conducted in the spring of 2018.

Eyer said high school equivalency statistics are not a component of WIOA.

The two measures are placement in a post secondary institution or placement with in the workforce, he said.

Stark replied, Which neither one could be accomplished without the (high school equivalency test or HiSET). It is a stepping stone to the accomplishments.

You cant get a job or go to college in this county without a HiSET, she added.

Chilcott said the commissioners will watch this closely.

We are concerned that our citizens will be well served, he said. Its unfortunate that our program has taken such a huge hit and that our neighbor to the north has decided you have to be an employee of Missoula County School District to educate our students in Ravalli County.

Chilcott said he encouraged OPI and Superintendent Arntzen to watch closely to see that students in Ravalli County are served.

Arntzen said she agrees the counties should work together.

Why rebuild something when you have something that is very important like Literacy Bitterroot? Arntzen said. But I need to share again that it is important to me that if we have students that are served regardless of where they come from or what part of life, they are in their pathway to success.

She said that if Bitterroot Literacy had completed a grant application this conversation would be unnecessary.

But then Ravalli County would have to serve Mineral as well as Missoula County, Arntzen said.

After the conference call the commissioners called their meeting to order and took public comment. Stark said she was grateful to the commissioners for supporting local control.

I dont think anything changed and Im disappointed, she said. I can be a little blunt but the closer you get to my passion the harder it is to not be able to show it. I can see the faces of all these students.

Starks said the Missoula program would require students scoring below ninth grade would be required to take 10 hours of orientation before beginning classes.

Most of our students wouldnt make it through their hoops, she said.
Heirloom tomatoes are incomparable in August, along with other delectable seasonal produce at the Hamilton Farmers Market. But thats not the only reason people shop there.

New research from the University of Iowa suggests that when people buy those luscious Striped German tomatoes, they are engaged in what their ancestors did, and in a setting that is similar to a farmers market 1,000 years ago.

One of the most notable things about the market is that it is energizing and lifts spirits. It is sensory heaven in a relaxed atmosphere. When people shop at the farmers market, they mention those feelings, and that people shopping and selling seem happy.

The community aspect of farmers markets is also strong, and an important reason that farmers markets are growing across the nation. People seem to want to connect more with other people, something they do not get when shopping at large supermarkets.

Hamilton Farmers Market customers know exactly why they shop there. One reason is that they nourish themselves. Everything is fresh, non-GMO and lovingly grown.

Carol Hansen, of Hamilton, was with her friends Cathy Rutherford and Suzanne Tout, who were visiting from Seattle and picking out produce to can and gifts to bring home.

Ive been shopping here since the market first opened 26 years ago. I usually have something in my mind to get for meals, and then I see something I cant live without," Hansen said.

Ralph and Carol Von Williams are at the market to buy garlic, hot peppers, and strawberries. In the spring, they buy bedding plants at the market, then can and pickle the produce in summer.

We won first place in salsa at the fair last year, said Carol. The vendors are so nice. When our grandson visited for two weeks this summer, we came to the market and he spent 45 minutes watching Turtle Klaus, the silversmith, while Turtle showed him how he works in silver.

They also rely on farmers teaching them tips, recipes and meal ideas about what they are growing. In addition, they enjoy the variety of offerings.

Dave and Marcia Good come down from Florence every Saturday to shop at the market because of the amazing variety of produce. They have a community supported agriculture (CSA) share at SweetRoot Farm and pick up their bag of produce at the farms booth every week.

Its such a pleasant place to come to, and such a great variety of produce to pick from, explains Marcia with a smile.

Fresh produce, picked at the peak of ripeness, is more flavorful than what's available in stores. Eating seasonal fruits is healthier for people since it's not shipped for thousands of miles, or refrigerated for months.

Cammie Knapp and her daughter Ellie, 7, from Corvallis, come to the market every Saturday, where they begin their shopping with cinnamon rolls, a special treat. Then they look for honey (and honey sticks), and fill up their bag with fruits and vegetables.

Lisa Poe of Darby comes for the local produce and baked goods.

"Ive been coming to the market for at least 10 years," Poe said. "Today its for tomatoes and strawberries especially, and I plan my menus around whats available seasonally.

Angelica Coffee of Hamilton likes that her produce comes from local farmers. She pickles cucumbers, makes strawberry jam, and dehydrates produce for use in winter.

I come early to get first pick, she explains. Saving summers bounty is important to me. That way my family can eat from the market year-round.

They know that farmers market farmers protect the environment. Small family farms produce less environmental waste and treat animals humanely that produce meat, cheese, and eggs.

Gene and Kristie Kosaka of Darby have been coming to the market for three years. They love the fresh produce, the food is great and the vendors are nice. They usually have a list of what they want to buy and whats in season.

Shoppers like to know where their food comes from, and it has provenance, like a fine heirloom. Lynna Hite of Hamilton has been shopping at the market for four years, and comes knowing exactly what she wants.

I love supporting family farmers, especially Leon (Yourganics Farm) and Ian and Ellens farm, she said.

John Croner of Hamilton shops at the market to support his community.

First, its fun. Second, I love BLTs; Im getting fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes today," he said. "I enjoy the exhibits  they are always different, and there is so much to look at. My wife and I have been coming for three years. Its something we always look forward to each week. Im retired now and just really happy to be a Montanan."

Live Music at the Market

The next two weeks of music will be performed by Dan Dubuque, with blues, rhythm and soul on a slide guitar, Aug. 26; and Friends of Clem -- local folks playing folk, Sept. 2.

About the Market

Produce vendors accept WIC, Senior Food Coupons, SNAP tokens and SNAP Healthy Bucks. Maggie at the market info booth can help swipe a credit card, exchange SNAP and WIC benefits for market tokens, or lend you a wagon for carrying out larger purchases. Up to seven SNAP customers who request at least $6 in SNAP tokens any Saturday will receive $6 free in coupons to spend on market veggies and fruit!

Hamilton Farmers Market is open Saturdays May 6 through Oct. 14, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., on Bedford Street and So. Third Street. A Wednesday Afternoon Mini Farmers Market with some of the regular market farmers runs during peak produce season between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. at OHara Commons on So. Fourth Street, between Main and State Streets. Be sure and stop by after work to pick up the freshest veggies for dinner.

For more information, contact Market Manager Laura Craig at 961-0004, hfmc844@gmail.com, visit the Facebook page (Hamilton Farmers Market Co-op  Hamilton, MT), or hamiltonfarmersmarket.org. Ravalli County non-profit organizations can set up at no cost at 8:20 a.m., if there are open spaces. Inquire at the Info Booth for availability.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, makes a media statement with his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba after their delegation level meeting in New Delhi, Thursday, August 24, 2017. Photo: AP

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi has jointly inaugurated Raksaul-Parwanipur and Kusha-Kataiya inter-country transmission lines.

The two important inter-country transmission lines were inaugurated at the Hyderabad House in the Indian capital city, New Delhi, today.

With this, additional 100-MW electricity would be supplied to Nepal from coming winter season which would help address growing demand of electricity in the country.

Earlier, during the India visit of then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli the 400-KV Dhalkebar-Mujafarfur inter-country transmission line was inaugurated.

According to Executive Director of Nepal Electricity Authority Kul Man Ghising, the two transmission lines, which were inaugurated today, were constructed in January last year.

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said that the inter-country transmission lines have been jointly inaugurated today to address the demand of power in Nepal.RSS
KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, whois on a five-day official visit to India, has invited his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to lay the foundation stone for the construction of Arun Third Hydro Project (900 MW), stated a joint press meet organised in the Indian capital today.

The contract for the construction of the project was awarded to Indian SJVN Construction Company, and the foundation stone laying ceremony is scheduled for September.

However, the contractor has complained that the process was delayed due to difficulty seen in the use of forest land for the project construction.

However, the government has eased the process for utilising the forest areas for the purpose.RSS
Guwahati, August 23 : Assam government had suspended 116 teachers after they were caught by adopting unfair means while sitting in the BEd, DEl.Ed examination conducted by the Krishnakanta Handique State Open University.

Assam Education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said that, after receiving the name of the teachers, who were rusticated from the examination halls after they were caught while adopting unfair means.

'Among the suspended teachers, 93 are regular teachers under Directorate of Elementary education, 22 are contractual teachers under Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) and 1 under BTC sixth scheduled area,'A Sarma said.

The Assam Education minister said that, the departmental inquiry also being initiated against the teachers.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Kathmandu, Nepal: Japanese Ambassador to Nepal Mr. Masashi Ogawa handed over emergency relief goods to the Government of Nepal at a ceremony held at the Humanitarian Staging Area at the Tribhuvan International Airport on Wednesday.

This was the first shipment of emergency relief goods from the Japanese Government (3,000 blankets, 100 plastic sheets, 2,000 sleeping pads, 100 tents and 10 water tanks, weighing almost 10.4 tons) in response to the damages caused by heavy rainfall in the southern part of Nepal since August 11. The relief supplies are worth around 25 million Japanese Yen (about NRs. 23.4 million) arrived at the Tribhuvan International Airport on Wednesday.

Followed by the signing of the letter of delivery and acceptance by Mr. Jun Sakuma, Chief Representative, JICA Nepal Office, and Mr. Kedar Neupane, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ambassador Ogawa handed over the inventory and goods to Hon'ble Home Minister Janardan Sharma.

On the occasion, Mr. Ogawa extended his heartfelt sympathy to the victims of these unfortunate natural disasters and then told, The Japanese Government and Japanese citizens have not forgotten the friendship and compassion given to Japan during the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011 and in the Kumamoto Earthquake in April last year by the government and peoples of Nepal. Now, at this time, the Japanese Government and JICA are able to implement emergency assistance ahead of other governments and international organizations, which is an indication of the depth of the special relationship and consideration between our respective governments and citizens.

The Government of Japan sincerely hopes that these goods will be delivered promptly to the victims and will help us to improve the lives of those affected, even a little. We also hope that restoration work will go ahead steadily in the disaster-affected areas and the victims will be able to go back to their normal and peaceful lives as quickly as possible.

The second shipment of relief goods is scheduled to arrive tonight and other air transportations of goods will continue after that.
Kathmandu, Nepal: Many people had a suspicion that there would be a secret agreement between Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi during Nepals Prime Minister Deubass ongoing visit to India.

But, we have got nothing than the agreements that was visible among the people in generals. The agreement signed between Nepali and Indian Prime Minister was as following.
NEW DELHI, Aug 24: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who is currently on a five-day state visit of India, said that Nepal is not only a neighbour but also a good friend of India.

Speaking at a joint press conference held following formal bilateral talks and dialogue with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Hyderabad House here today, Prime Minister Deuba said for many reasons including the open border, Nepal and India have had important and significant relations. He also expressed gratitude towards the continued solidarity, goodwill and support extended by India to the socio-economic development endeavours of Nepal.

He also extended the Indian side, especially Indian Prime Minister Modi special gratitude for the concern shown towards timely completion of the power transmission lines, Pancheswar project and other projects running with the support of the Indian government in Nepal. PM Deuba said Nepal was now looking forward to foreign direct investment in its water resources, tourism and other sectors as it moves ahead in the phase of economic development following political stability, with the implementation of the new constitution.

The Prime Minister also shared that efforts to amend the constitution to address the citizens concern over some of its contents would continue in the days to come, to thereby move ahead with a common understanding and shared political consensus.

Nepal is also alert towards ensuring that the open border of Nepal with India and its territory are not misused to carry out any activities to cause damage to India, Deuba said.

Also speaking at the press conference, Indian Prime Minister Modi said India was ever ready to support the greater development of Nepal, and is always in favour of a prosperous and peaceful Nepal. Making a short speech in Nepali language at the onset, the Indian Prime Minister said, "We are very happy to welcome Nepal's Prime Minister and the Nepali delegation to India."

He also congratulated Nepal for successful implementation of the new constitution, and the holding of the recent local level elections. RSS
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CatchNews.com, 21 August 2017

India failed Luingam Luithui, a Naga human rights advocate, by illegally revoking his citizenship 22 years ago. He fought back and won.

Luithui and his wife, Peingamla, were forced to become refugees, seek the protection of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and eventually seek Canadian Citizenship.

However, Luithui considered the snatching away of his citizenship unconstitutional, illegal and abuse of the power vested in the Indian State. He decided to challenge it in the courts.

The Delhi High Court has finally restored the Indian citizenship of both Luithui and his wife, declaring that they had never ceased to be Indian citizens.

The court has ruled that it was because of certain unconstitutional acts of the Indian government that Luingam Luithui and his wife were forced to take Canadian citizenship; and that they remained Indian citizens throughout this period as they never gave up their citizenship voluntarily.

The order was pronounced by a two-member Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Justice Geeta Mittal and Justice Hari Shankar.

aTo me this is not so much about being an Indian or not being an Indian. It is to reaffirm my origin and to reclaim the space that I should have as a free man,a says the beaming Naga human rights leader unable to contain his happiness with the high courtas order.

Luingam Luithui, one of the founder members of the Naga Peoplesa Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) was born on March 1, 1951 in Langdang village of Ukhrul district in Manipur. His wife, Peingamla, 19 years his younger, was also born in Ukhrul. They were married in 1988.

Luithui, who studied International Relations at Delhias prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University, was involved in anti-Emergency agitations along with other activists of mainland India. While Emergency brought home to many Indians how the Indian State could commit serious human rights violations against its own citizens, Luithui used the experience to address the situation in the Naga areas where the Army reigned supreme over civilian authorities because of a raging insurgency.

This led to Luithui and some of his friends setting up the first human rights organisation in northeast India in September 1978 a the Naga Peoplesa Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR).

Luithui, through the NPMHR, approached the courts to check the army atrocities in the Naga areas. Thus, for example, NPMHR vs. Union of India challenged the constitutionality of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and led to a Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court enunciating clear guidelines the Army to adhere to while carrying out operations in disturbed areas.

Another case a Sebastian Hongray vs. Union of India a led to the Supreme Court delivering a landmark judgment a making the asovereigna act of the Army justiciable and awarding compensation for excesses committed by the Army.

Yet another instance was in 1987 when Indian security forces sealed off Naga villages in the Oinam area of Manipur and razed 31 villages to the ground in what was called aOperation Bluebirda. Luithui and his colleagues documented the atrocities committed and took the Army to the Guwahati High Court. Although the hearing was completed in the case in 1992, the court in its wisdom, without giving any reasons, has kept the judgment pending till today.

His human rights activism brought him on the Indian governmentas radar.

aI knew that they (Government of India) were after us. I was unable to stay at home in Ukhrul because of this. I moved to Bangkok as I was setting up an indigenous peoplesa organisation in Asia,a Luithui recalls.

He helped set up the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) and was elected its first secretary-general. Today the AIPP holds a consultative status with the UNas Economic and Social Council. He also founded the International Alliance of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples of the Tropical Forests and was an active member of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations, worked with the Unrepresented Nationsa Peoplesa Organisation (UNPO) and was invited to speak on behalf of Asia at the UN Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in June 1993.

The Indian State misunderstood and misconstrued his activism. aThe newspapers reported that I was creating a second front for the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN). This was simply not true. In fact, our aim was to end the militarisation of our land and we believed that a ceasefire was the only way out. In fact, I refused to meet NSCN leaders for a long time despite several invitations from them. Finally I met them only in 1992 to urge them to go for a ceasefire,a he recalls.

Meanwhile, Luithuias family members were threatened, beaten up and harassed. His elder brother was tortured by Assam Rifles for protesting against sexual assault of women by the armed forces and suffered debilitating internal injuries. His wifeas passport was stolen in July 1994 while in Bangkok (Luithui was at that time running the AIPP Office there). She was denied a duplicate passport despite her application, a police complaint, and the processing fee for the passport being accepted by the Indian Embassy in Bangkok.

Even while Luithui challenged the refusal of a passport to his wife in Delhi High Court, he began his efforts to persuade the leaders of the NSCN (Isak-Muivah) to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with the Government of India.

Once it was clear that New Delhi was interested in a ceasefire with the Naga insurgents, Luithui worked closely with Lt Gen KM Seth, then the Corps Commander at Dimapur, and the NSCN (IM) leaders to facilitate the process. This resulted in the Naga insurgent leaders holding a secret meeting with the then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao in Paris in the autumn of 1995 and a formal declaration of ceasefire in 1997.

The effort to bring the Nagas to the negotiating table was going on even while his wife had been denied a new passport and a meeting of AIPP in Chiang Mai raided by the Thai police.

aThe Government of India thought that through the AIPP I was setting up a consortium of North-eastern rebels. This was followed by a police raid at my office-cum-residence in Bangkok. When the Thai police found nothing incriminating, they apologised and told our curious neighbours that this was being done on the request of a foreign country,a he laughs.

Meanwhile, Luithuias passport also needed extra leaves and renewal. He applied for extra leaves to be added to his passport while attending a conference at the Hague in December 1995. He was informally told that his passport had already been impounded by the government in August 1995.

On his return to Bangkok, both Luithui and his wife were advised to apply for protection to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Subsequently both of them were arecognised as persons of concerna under the mandate of the UNHCR and were relocated to Canada.

In essence, Luithui and his wife had been illegally exiled by the Government of India by impounding their passports without giving any justification or due notice to them. Not wanting to give up his Indian citizenship, once in Canada, Luithui applied for a new passport as the old oneas validity was about to expire. The Indian High Commission in Ottawa instead seized his passport a leaving both Luithui and his wife in a situation of statelessness.

For years thereafter, the couple made several unsuccessful attempts to get their Indian passports and return home to India. Finally, after the 9/11 attacks in the United States, they were advised that for their own security they should have some citizenship or the other. They were compelled to apply for Canadian citizenship, which they were granted.

They were allowed to visit India on tourist visa for family illness under court orders and finally to pursue their case for regaining their citizenship. To make ends meet, he and his wife had to do hard manual work in Canadaas oil fields even as he pursued his legal case in India.

What helped was that Luithui and his family members started using the Right to Information Act to compel the government to reveal the reasons for impounding their passports. Up to now the government has not produced the original order or a aLook Out circular (LOC)a that the RTI revealed it had issued against Luithui in 1996 a two months after impounding his passport.

What the RTI, however, revealed was that the then Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had withdrawn the LOC against Luithui on the recommendation of the then Home Secretary GK Pillai. In his recommendation of February 1, 2011, Pillai had noted that Luithui was anot a member of any armed group, but only an activist.a

Despite an assurance that the Indian government would have no objection to Luingam Luithui returning to India, both he and his wife continued to be denied visas.

Left with no choice, Luithui, his wife, their family members and clan members as well as their local pastor filed a petition in Delhi High Court challenging the unconstitutional acts, omissions and abuse of the legal process by the government. The petition demanded full restoration of their civil rights, including the right of permanent residence in India as citizens of India by birth.

The Delhi High Court has done just that a giving a tight slap to the Government of India for its fraud and deception against two of its own citizens and terminating their citizenship.

A visibly satisfied Luithui says, aI think being Indian or not being an Indian is a question taken too far. For me what is more important is to be able to realize the potential that you and I should have to start building a society that we should have and we deserve. I canat do this myself but I need the legitimate space to work with others in my society to do that.a This is what, he hopes, the restoration of his Indian citizenship will enable.

Edited by Joyjeet Das
scroll.in - 23 August 2017

The Supreme Courtas divided judgement on instant divorce is a tiny step in the right direction.

Girish Shahane

The Supreme Court finally showed some spine in prohibiting the abhorrent practice of triple talaq, or instant divorce. The courtas liberals just about squeezed out a win in the case, with the five member panel split 2:1:2 on the matter. I suppose, in these dark times, we should be thankful for small mercies. But itas also worth noting just how small those mercies were.

The countryas highest court has made a habit of determining matters of policy, in which it has little expertise, while shrugging off what ought to be its central concern, the protection of fundamental rights. Its most ignominious abdication of responsibility was the decision regarding Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. Overturning a Delhi High Court order which decriminalised homosexual acts, the Supreme Court affirmed the validity of the Indian Penal Codeas asex against the order of naturea clause, and urged Parliament to debate the issue.

There are other recent instances where the court shirked its duties. The Babri Masjid case may not have involved basic rights, but it was nonsensical to ask two parties to settle the matter amicably, given they had failed to do that despite decades of effort.

The reasoning

In the instant divorce trial, two of the judges on the panel, Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justice Abdul Nazeer, took a tack similar to the Section 377 verdict, putting the onus on Parliament to change what they saw as an acceptable law. In a dissenting note, they wrote, aIt is not open to a court to accept an egalitarian approach, over a practice which constitutes an integral part of religiona . In other words, no matter how unfair a tradition, it can continue as long as it has religious sanction, fundamental rights be damned.

The judge in the middle, Justice Kurian Joseph, held that triple talaq was actually anti-Islamic, and voided it on those grounds. He accepted that unjust practices could be condoned if they had religious sanction, but disagreed with Khehar and Nazeer about whether triple talaq qualified. Although itas rather dangerous for judges to be deciding what is or is not integral to a religion, Josephas theological conclusion effectively put him on the same side as the two judges who took the correct principled stand. Justices Rohinton Fali Nariman and Uday Umesh Lalit held instant divorce to be in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law. For them, the relationship of the practice to Islamas central tenets was irrelevant, as it should be. No democratic nation should accept inequities sanctioned by faith.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted in praise of the judgement, saying, aIt grants equality to Muslim women and is a powerful measure for women [sic] empowerment.a Modi is the last person who should speak of womenas rights, having abandoned his wife early on and refused to acknowledge her existence while also denying her freedom to shape an independent life of her own. Besides being hypocritical, Modias tweet, like almost everything he says, was false. The ending of triple talaq does not guarantee Muslim women anything close to equality, not even in divorce. Itas not as if they can now initiate divorce by pronouncing talaq and then repeating the word over the period prescribed for men.

Secular civil code?

The rationale behind Nariman and Lalitas judgement suggests that any asymmetry between male and female prerogatives contravenes Article 14. Taking this to its logical conclusion would mean thoroughly reforming Muslim personal law to bring it in line with contemporary ideas of justice and equality. But if laws relating to marriage, divorce, polygamy, inheritance, custodial rights, and adoption are modified to make them gender just, they will cease to be Islamic in any sense, for no iteration of shariah has ever provided equality for women.

The Nariman-Lalit logic leads to the conclusion that a secular law will have to replace faith-based codes. To put it another way, to have gender just laws, we need a secular civil code. I wrote about the necessity of such a code in a column last year.

On April 18, 1966 Muslim Satyashodhak Mandal held a historic march demanding a common civil law in Mumbai, which was led by Muslim progressive thinker Hamid Dalwai and saw participation of seven women, including his wife late Mehrunissa Dalwai. Image credit: HTaPHOTO

Right now, the idea of a common civil code is mainly a wedge issue used by the BJP to shore up its base. But rather than merely criticising the BJP for its divisive politics, liberals ought to call the partyas bluff by demanding it produce a working draft of such a code. Unfortunately, since the late 1980s, the Left, which used to be the most vocal proponent of gender justice in India, has made its peace with shariah law. The Congress, which found a vestige of its progressive history in the case of Section 377, has played a miserable role in the matter of triple talaq, with one of its most prominent leaders, Kapil Sibal, fighting the case on the side of the fundamentalists.

Let us presume, for the sake of argument, that the BJP actually produces an equitable civil code and manages to implement it, an extraordinarily tall ask. That achievement will be a necessary step, but far from sufficient to ensure justice for Indiaas women. After all, we have a host of progressive laws regarding dowry, marital age, and polygamy for Hindus, but Hindu women are very far from securing practical equality.

Consider the case of Dhirubhai Ambani. His death precipitated a division of spoils and a protracted battle between his male heirs, Mukesh and Anil that was covered extensively in the media. Dhirubhai also had two daughters, Nina and Deepti. In all that was written about his legacy, nobody suggested that his daughters deserved to split their fatheras wealth equally with their male siblings, though the law provided for it. I have no idea what proportion of married Hindu daughters inherit a rightful share of property from their deceased parents, but Iam sure itas minuscule.

Itas going to be a long, hard grind from the end of triple talaq to the reform of other unjust faith-based laws, to achieving practical gains for Indiaas women as a consequence of statutory changes. The Supreme Courtas divided judgement on instant divorce is but a tiny step, but at least itas in the right direction.
livemint.com - August 23 2017

The subtext of all these personal laws, regardless of religion, is that women are not equal to men

The Supreme Courtas decision to strike down triple talaq should be the trigger to generate a candid debate on religion-based personal laws in the country.

Thirty-two years ago when Shahnaaz Shaikh filed a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the triple talaq given to her by her husband at midnight, it acquired the hue of identity politics. The petition stated that Shariah subjugated Muslim women by imposing purdah, allowing polygamy and unilateral divorce and depriving divorced Muslim women of maintenance rights.

Women activists soon discovered that this kind of discrimination was true for all existing personal laws.

For example, Hindu daughters were deprived of joint heirship in parental property as per the codes of Mitakshara, a school of Hindu law governing succession. It was only after Lata Mittal (case filed in 1985) won a 20-year legal battle in the Supreme Court that Hindu daughters were given equal rights in the ancestral property.

Similarly, Christian women could not obtain divorce on the grounds of adultery committed by the husband; it had to be coupled with cruelty, bestiality and sodomy. On the other hand, Christian husbands could simply declare their wives as adulteresses and divorce them. These antiquated laws were enacted in the colonial period to serve the interests of the British bureaucrats who had their legally wedded wives in England and were cohabiting with a local. Due to pressure from Christian women, the government last year cleared a proposal to amend the antiquated Christian divorce Act, 1869.

Questions are asked as to why Parsi daughters who married non-Parsi men lost their property rights and non-Parsi wives of Parsi husbands were entitled to only half of the husbandas property as per the Parsi personal law. At the moment, the Parsi community is debating this issue in its conventions.

For that matter tribal women in Maharashtra and Bihar have filed petitions demanding land rights in the Supreme Court. Several womenas groups (Saheli, Vimochana and Forum against Oppression of Women) and human rights lawyersa teams (Lawyers Collective and Indian Social Institute) have prepared drafts containing technical details of gender-just and secular family laws.

After the Supreme Court judgment in the Shah Bano caseain which a 60-year-old mother for five from Indore filed a petition asking for alimony from her husband who had divorced her in 1978athe Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 was enacted; but the misery of divorced Muslim women was not alleviated. Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andola and Awaz-e-Niswan are voicing the concerns of these women. The subtext of all these personal laws, regardless of religion, is that women are not equal to men. They therefore discriminate against women in marriage, inheritance and guardianship of children.

Individual women from different communities have been challenging the constitutional validity of the discriminatory aspects of the personal laws in courts. Their main concern is the threat of forced marriage, murderous attacks in cases of inter-caste, inter-class and inter-religious marriages and property disputes even while they have to deal with issues like adultery, bigamy, polygamy, divorce, custody of child/children, property and incest in their marital homes.

Vibhuti Patel is professor at Advanced Centre for Womenas Studies School of Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences.
Dawn, August 21, 2017

Middle India is clearly chuffed. The prolonged confrontation with China on the Doklam plateau, which is into its third month, has provided the comforting illusion that India can stand up to its large neighbour unlike in 1962 when the Chinese inflicted a humiliating defeat on the country. There have been other confrontations and some skirmishes since then on the disputed border between the countries but for Indians, the 1962 war remains the defining point in relations with a neighbour whom they see as an aggressive bully, fed as they have been this view by analysts appearing on shrill and jingoistic TV channels.

Facts are almost irrelevant in this elevation of the national mood over the current stand-off. In the popular perception, Indian troops have for the first time stopped the Chinese from making yet another incursion into Indian terrain. Few care to know that the Doklam plateau, a disputed patch of land in the eastern Himalayas is in neighbouring Bhutan and that its contours have been under discussion between China and Bhutan for long. Even if some were aware of the ground realities, the geography, history and logistics of this strip make it too confusing to make a material difference. At a height of 3,000 metres, the Doklam plateau is at the junction of Bhutan, China and Indiaas Sikkim border and the latest stand-off erupted in mid-June when India opposed Chinaas attempt to extend a border road in the area. Indiaas worry is that the road would give China greater access to its vulnerable achickenas necka, a vital strip that links the Indian mainland to its northeast.

At the expert level though, Doklam is causing anxiety, with some analysts not ruling out the possibility of war. Old China hands in particular are puzzled by Beijingas stubborn insistence on unconditional withdrawal before negotiations can start. Former national security adviser Shivshankar Menon thinks the issue is fraught because China is attempting to change the status quo at the tri-junction. Menon was quoted in a recent interview as saying that even in 2013 both sides were talking in other stand-offs and had returned to earlier positions. What has changed now?

The Doklam stand-off has reset the South Asian strategic board with Indiaas smaller neighbours moving closer to Beijing.

One view is that the Modi governmentas policy of persistent confrontation and rivalry has annoyed China and made it less willing to negotiate. As to what prompted India to flex its muscle just now, there are several theories. The most plausible is that India sent its troops into Doklam to forestall a final border settlement between Thimphu and Beijing that would have bypassed New Delhi. Lending credence to this is an official document issued by Beijing on Aug 2, which claims that the two have areached broad consensusa on delimiting the Bhutan border. The incursion, China believes, is the handiwork of National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, who has been described in official media as aone of the main schemers behind the current border stand-offa . This will remain a matter of conjecture.

However, Chinaas insistence that the Bhutan accord ahas nothing to do with Indiaa is rather simplistic given Indiaas genuine security concerns. India spends vast amounts to keep Bhutan in its fold a Thimphu gets the lionas share of its foreign aid a and also maintains a permanent military presence in the country. It is unlikely to cede Bhutan to China without a fight, even if its regional hegemony has been seriously undermined. One by one, its small neighbours have become more assertive and put New Delhi on notice that they intend to follow foreign policies that are independent of its diktats. Nepal, which has been most prickly with the Modi regime, has made it clear that China is now a factor in its policy calculation. The ill-considered fuel blockade imposed by the BJP government in a fit of pique over its inability to stop Nepalas new constitution increased the alienation of the Nepalis and practically handed the country on a platter to China. It was immediately thereafter that Kathmandu signed a transit treaty with Beijing.

Now, of course, Nepal leapt several places forward in the strategic game of Chinese chequers that is being played out in South Asia a despite Indiaas belated attempts to make amends. Although Modi rushed his foreign minister, Sushma Swaraj, to Kathmandu with a complete capitulation on the issue of the ethnic Madhesi people, which has been a major sticking point between the two countries, the policy shift came a tad late. If it was hoping to prevent Nepal from seeking an alliance with Beijing the ploy failed. A week after Swarajas visit, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang practically swept the board as Nepal agreed to boost bilateral cooperation under the framework of Chinaas One Belt, One Road initiative, a project that India is strongly opposed to.

And just as India was revelling in its new-found prowess to keep China at bay, another blow was delivered by Sri Lanka. Colombo handed over a 70 per cent stake in the deep-water port of Hambantota to a Chinese state-owned consortium despite strenuous diplomacy by India to prevent it. Politically and strategically, it is a coup for China. Hambantota will not only extend its influence in Sri Lanka, it will, more significantly, enable the dragon to keep an eye on Indiaas maritime and naval operations in the region.

That is a major setback for India and more so for Modi, who was expected to carry forward his admiration for China a he visited the country no less than five times as Gujaratas chief minister a into a new era of cooperation between Asiaas leading powers. Instead, the two have been constantly sniping at each other and now appear on the brink of war.

Modias short-sighted policies, burdened by animosities of the past, are more dangerous for ignoring the growing asymmetry with China, both in strategic and economic terms. India may still be a fast-growing economy but Chinaas GDP is five times larger, while its defence budget is almost four times bigger. And there is the huge trade imbalance. The BJPas ideological parent, the RSS, which is opposed to a rapprochement with China, thinks it can get even by boycotting Chinese goods. The sad reality is that even the national flags that Modi supporters are fond of waving come from China.

(The writer Latha Jishnu is a journalist based in New Delhi)
A Falcon 9 rocket took its second flight over the Central Coast on Friday evening as SpaceX reached another milestone in its quest to reuse it
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In the wake of what seems to be an unending spread of global radicalization, whether it takes the form of race riots in Charlottesville, U.S.A., or a terrorist attack in Spain, a film about a military force laying siege to a Brooklyn neighborhood as Texas and other states secede from the U.S. seems less like a dystopian fiction than it does a frightening plausibility.

When the film had its world premiere at Sundance early this year, ScreenAnarchys Jason Gorber called Bushwick A Provocative and Chilling Picture of America in Crisis. Suffice it to say, recent developments have not made the statement any less true. Other than for its almost painful topicality, however, Cary Murnion and Jonathan Milotts Bushwick also emerges as something of a must-see for the technical craft on display.

Last week I had the opportunity of talking with Bushwicks talented directors. Read on for the full interview below.

ScreenAnarchy: In 2014 you burst on the scene with COOTIES. The ending of your debut feature sees our intrepid band of teachers facing nationwide catastrophe and possible doom. Your latest film opens with Brittany Snow and her boyfriend arriving in Bushwick, Brooklyn, and pretty much instantly all hell breaks loose. What is it with you guys and apocalyptic narratives?

Cary Murnion: I know, sheesh! Thats very true and I think that, in a good way, both movies have a little bit of a through line in that the monster in Cooties  these hordes of zombies that are attacking our main characters  are similar to the way nationalists are going to invade New York [in Bushwick].

We do like to see how normal people react to extreme situations and how people can both rise up to that and also fail at that. I think that makes for great drama in movies, and in our first film theres definitely a mix of comedy with that drama whereas our new film is a very tense and dramatic experience, despite a few comedic moments.

In a way the first movie, Cooties, was officially a horror movie but  I dont know how much youve been following the news in America, but right now Bushwick is seeming more and more like a horror movie.

COOTIES navigated the tightrope between comedy and horror, but BUSHWICK is indeed a much bleaker film. It is an action-adventure with plenty of instant thrills, but this struck me as the opposite of an exercise in escapism. What inspired the story and how aware were you of the growing racial divide in America?

Yeah, this film is inspired by a quote by the former governor of Texas, Rick Perry, back in 2006, where he made a joke about what would happen if Texas seceded from the United States and that was when Obama was in office as a senator. So we took that quote and played it out to see what would happen if that were to transpire.

So for us, all the stuff thats going on in America now has been bubbling beneath the surface for years. And not only in America for that matter. We see lots of discontent and people who are divided across the whole world. Especially now in Europe; weve seen it just yesterday [17 August] with that horrible attack in Spain, but also in Paris, Brussels  so this is something that weve been thinking about a lot; to have the chance to create a movie that touches upon those feelings, and its something we feel very proud of, to be able to take part in that dialogue.

But we also hope the movie is fun, that you can watch it and not be hit over the head with messages. Obviously the premise is there, but that youre going to see it from this point of view of a regular girl coming home from college and how she cant get home. I think we just hope that theres a chance to escape a little bit from whats going on in the world today because its pretty scary.

Would you say your film functions as a critique on the dangers of radicalization and do you feel that perhaps BUSHWICK can help promote the value of a multicultural society?

We hope that this movie is a cautionary tale. We hope you watch this and you dont want to come out of it thinking Oh I wanna take a gun and start shooting people who I dont agree with. We hope you see thats not the answer; that theres a much better chance for de-escalating things if you protest, but in a peaceful way.

Whether youre right or wrong, if you take up weapons and start to take your anger out on other people theres a pretty good chance that youll either be hurt or killed. Thats how we view the film at least: as a cautionary tale.

But it also plays into how we filmed this, with the long takes. We feel that they dont glamorize or glorify the violence, and also the way in which we conclude the film with the fate of our protagonists . What actually ends up happening to some of our heroes also illustrates our anti-violent viewpoint.

You just brought up the most striking stylistic element of BUSHWICK: the fact that the film consists of a string of long takes which help generate a state of constant apprehension and edge-of-your seat tension. What were some of your inspirations for these action-packed long takes and how much time was spent rehearsing those sequences?

That scene from True Detective is one of the best action sequences weve ever seen; that along with Children of Men, which has been a big influence on us. Not just for its use of long takes but for taking a pretty far-out theme  a time in our country when therere no babies being born  and make it feel like it actually could happen. That sensation derives from how the director and cinematographer film Children of Men. For us, Cuarons movie was also an inspiration in that sense: taking this far-out idea and making it feel grounded. The long takes help to immerse the audience in this world.

Weve always liked this idea of kind of putting you in the shoes of the character. In Bushwick, Lucy [Brittany Snow] tries to reach home, which is only three blocks away, and you think well, thats kind of easy. She can make it to her grandmothers house. Three blocks is not a big deal but you are with her the whole time and you see and feel what happens to her; how hard it is. Around every single corner theres something dangerous lurking, or roadblocks crossing her path  Those long takes help make you feel like youre right there.

We had originally thought of doing Bushwick as a one-shot film but realized we wouldve had to make a lot of compromises to actually execute an action movie in one solid take. We lucked out in terms of new technology just becoming available, literally a month before we started shooting  This allowed us to do things we dont think any film had done before and we havent really seen it since. We really got to put the camera in places that we couldnt do with a normal Steadicam or normal-sized camera body.

We spent months planning this out. John and I spent months in the neighborhood, walking around and checking where we wanted to film it, hoping we could get these locations for the movie  We had a week and a half of rehearsals with the actors and some of the crew, so we really had a chance to meticulously plan out how we make this story feel real and lived-in with long takes but also to avoid that the audience felt like theyre stuck walking five blocks; thats not fun to watch.

This is what happened with the long take film, Victoria. I love that film, but I think some of the technique overtakes some of the story. They stick with their technique wherever they are so theres a lot of the audience seeing people return back to where they came from or entering buildings. I think a lot of that is intentional but we didnt want to have the technique overpower the story and the momentum of the film.

Another element that really stood out to me is how you use religious imagery throughout the film. Whether its a crucifix on the wall, a necklace around Brittany Snows neck, a Maria statue in the background as the protagonists are heading for a school rooftop, or a church and its basement towards the end of the film: Catholicism is heavily represented. I was wondering if you could elaborate on its importance.

That is typical of the neighborhood. Theres a lot of churches, big and small, and we wanted to reflect that in the people who live there. We also wanted to use the imagery but at the same time subvert it. When the characters actually go into a church theres some things taking place that are not what you would typically expect to happen  Theres belief and nonbelief happening in our movie. We wanted to kind of show both sides to that.

I think a lot of movies use religion as a way to give the characters something that they believe inspires them and I think for us it was showing that that doesnt help them. That is the main thing we were trying to convey with flipping it on its head but we also think its an interesting aspect to American politics where the far right is usually considered the more Catholic-based and thats usually what drives them and their ideology. So to have the neighborhood that theyre invading have all this religious imagery, to us, is just another aspect of flipping what youd take for granted on its head.

As a little side note, my dad used to be a priest and my mom used to be a nun. They met in church, fell in love and left the church, and had me. So theres an interesting history with religion in my family, both the good and the bad.

The film opens in select U.S. theaters and On Demand platforms on Friday, August 25.
The League of Gentlemen. Hinted at by its creators over the past few months the Brilliant news for fans of the comedic and horrific oddity. Hinted at by its creators over the past few months the Beeb has officially announced that the show will return to Royston Vasey for three episodes.

Mark Gatiss hinted at an anniversary special back in the Spring. Later, Reece Sheersmith chimed in early in the Summer, saying he was back to writing material for the show. The other two original members Steve Pemberton and Jeremy Dyson are also returning.

Pemberton told the Daily Mirror

As it gets closer to a 20 year anniversary, and thats coming up, we will want to mark that in some way. I think there is still an appetite for it, people still remember it, we are all still great mates and I see no reason why not. We won't rush it, it's something we want to go get it right.

It is unclear which anniversary they are honoring here. 2017 is the twentieth anniversary of when TLoG was first on the radio. The show debuted in 1999, so, if they are marking that anniversary instead it still means we have a while to wait before the new episodes return. If Sheersmith only started writing this Summer, you do not rush into something like this, mail it in, when your adoring fan base has torches and pitchforks at the ready.
Max Kestner's upcoming sci-fi thriller QEDA looks to be a stylish and mind-bending film featuring a future world in ecological peril and a time travelling plot that sends two versions of the same person back to 2017, Looper style.

In the film, the world is ravaged by ecological disaster. Oceans have risen and all natural freshwater is gone. Fang Rung has undergone a medical process of "molecular fission" in order to send his other half, code name "Gordon Thomas", back in time to the year 2017 in order to search for Mona Lindkvist, a scientist whose ground-breaking research was lost before it could save the world.

When Fang Rung loses contact with Gordon he sees no alternative but to travel back to 2017 himself trying to locate his other half before the world's balances are irreparably damaged.

Cinematographer Rasmus Videbk, who recently worked on The Dark Tower with Nikolaj Arcel, handles QEDA's overall photography and the results is a dark and moody world on the brink.

QEDA is scheduled for release in Denmark on Nov 16, 2017. Here's hoping it gets a push over here soon.
Ever since I saw Cooties in 2014 and fought with our founding editor in order to review the film (I lost out, of course) Ive been anxious to see how Cary Murnion and Jonathan Milott would follow up on their delightfully offbeat take on genre cinema. And over the last few years, said founding editor and the partners in his production company helped Milott and Murnion shepherd a high-concept apocalypse piece set in one of the sections of Brooklyn.

Bushwick begins with a couple walking in a subway station -- I believe locals call them trains, but thats just one of the faults of New York life -- and having a pleasant enough conversation about nothing in particular. The first sense something interesting is happening is when you notice the cool, gliding camera, keeping up with the chat as they walk through an abandoned station.

Suddenly, a man in flame runs down the stairs, and -- as the continuous shot continues -- the woman loses her partner and we carry on for many more minutes, swinging through what seems to be complete anarchy. The streets of Bushwick are awash with men in special forces gear, while locals drive by with submachine guns shooting people in the head. Its complete chaos, and the disconnect between the quaint, quirky architecture of this enclave and the sight of paramilitary invasion is the core of the films aesthetic.

As said woman, Lucy (Brittany Snow), stumbles into a basement for shelter, shes confronted by the frontline of most apocalypses: a couple of rapey douchebags. Soon theyre dispatched by a local giant, Stupe (Dave Bautista), who reluctantly joins up with Lucy to find higher ground.

The technical ambition of the film shouldnt be underestimated, as these directors are using the type of longshot most recently popularized by the likes of Oscar winning directors Alfonso Cuaron and Alejandro Inarritu to make the tale of Bushwick even more immersive and effective. Yet unlike the recent Viktoria, a fine film that sometimes faltered as the conceit got in the way of the storytelling, Milott and Murnion are wise to include some overt cuts to emphasise certain transitions or hammer down a specific point. In other words, they never let their technique take the place of the primacy of storytelling, and its to their immense credit that the film feels like its much, much more than a simple, showy example of gliding camera work.

That said, the camerawork is often pretty extraordinary, and Milott and Murnion find ways of having the audience deeply engage with the material. Brittany Snow is compelling as Lucy, but its Dave Bautista who is stretching his tough-man persona farther than it has before. A sensitive, powerful performance thats emotionally rich, the film relies far more on his emotional state than his physical one, making the impact of what transpires much more effective.

Between the floating camera and the collision between the chaos and normalcy of borough life, the films unsettling nature is captivating. Look to any urban warzone, from Sarajevo of the 90s to Aleppo of today, and its the divide between the civilized normalcy of modern urban infrastructure defiled by the machinations of war. To see masked men rampaging through the streets, indiscriminately murdering locals, is appalling, and the film's broad political message is a particularly chilling one.

Theres a real sense of dread about the piece, as well as an insistence to make sure that theres no false catharsis for the audience. As such, the film may not play particularly well for some used to the trappings of genre at the expense of authenticity of narrative. Yes, the film is bleak and unflinching, but thats part of what makes it effective. Strip away the explosions and the bombast and you have an indie genre project aiming for Children of Men more than Escape from New York, and if it doesnt quite reach those heights, its nonetheless a project to be applauded.

Bushwick provides an interesting, effective take on the idea of urban invasion, providing a particularly bleak glimpse into an apocalyptic struggle even more chilling given recent political developments. A tale of tenacity set against a growing fascism thats poisoning much of contemporary life, the film is both a fascinating exercise in style as well as a provocative and often chilling look into the abyss. Plus, loads of dead hipsters on screen for those into that sort of thing.

Review originally published during the Sundance Film Festival in January 2017. The film opens in select U.S. theaters and On Demand platforms on Friday, August 25.
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The title of this post is the headline of this extended profile in the latest issue of Harvard Magazine. Here is an excerpt:

Alex Karakatsanis [has been] honored for his work at both Civil Rights Corps (CRC), a legal nonprofit that he founded in 2016, and Equal Justice Under Law (EJUL), a legal nonprofit that he co-founded with law-school friend Phil Telfeyan J.D. 08 in early 2014. (He had left EJUL the month before to found CRC; Telfeyan still runs EJUL.) With his small band of colleagues  CRC just hired its tenth staff member  Karakatsanis, now 33, has swashbuckled around the country, partnering with local legal nonprofits and community groups to file lawsuits challenging egregious forms of such human caging across the balkanized constellation of local authorities in which the vast majority of American criminal procedure plays out each day.

Though he had clerked in Alabama, served as a federal public defender there, and practiced as a lawyer with the District of Columbias storied Public Defender Service (PDS), co-founding EJUL was Karakatsaniss first foray into tackling what he calls the American criminal system more broadly. (Hes observed that if you say things like the criminal justice system, people might get the sense that youre talking about a system that does justice.)

For a year and a half after he and Telfeyan founded EJUL in early 2014 with their seed grant, the two of them worked out of their Washington, D.C., apartments. Karakatsanis often used his bed and a small standing desk next to it as his workspace. Juliana Ratner, J.D. 17, who first met Karakatsanis when they worked together at PDS, recalls that she used to joke to him: Do these cities that youre suing know that its one man in a bed? 

Their challenges to date have focused on the jailing of poor people for failing to pay municipal fines and fees, and the jailing of poor criminal defendants who cannot afford to pay the bail amounts that would allow them to be released from jail before trial. In challenging these two forms of what CRC and other groups have termed wealth-based detention, Karakatsanis and his colleagues have launched two frontal assaults at a broader system of criminal punishment that keeps 2.3 million people locked away from the rest of society. It may sound amazing to attack something so Goliath-like with the organizational equivalent of sticks and stones. But so far, at least, they are winning.
Excelsior and Outer Mission residents were recently shocked to discover that a popular coin-op laundromat had a secret subterranean basement full of squalid illegal apartments, as reported in May. That laundromat, the Clean Wash Center at Mission Street and Persia Street, still remains open and operating to this day. But City Attorney Dennis Herrera hopes to hang the owner and master tenant out to dry, as the Examiner reports that the city is suing the owner of the laundromat for cramming 20 people into the basement with no windows, no heat or hot water, exposed wiring, three shared bathrooms, vermin galore, and just a bunch of drywall and wooden partitions separating the beds.

The Ingleside-Excelsior Light notes that people had been living in the shabby secret basement for more than a decade. One of the poor souls was a 12-year-old girl, another was on dialysis. The tenants were charged between $300 to $900 per unit, and for obvious reasons, were forced to pay in cash.

This building was a firetrap. The living conditions were not only appalling and illegal, they were extremely dangerous, Herrera said in a statement. These people were basically stuck in a dungeon. I dont want to think about what would have happened if there had been a fire down there. Once the Fire Department alerted inspectors, we moved quickly to address this situation. My office is continuing to do everything we can to protect tenants and ensure they arent being put in harms way by unscrupulous landlords looking to make a quick buck.

The basement was originally a garage, and the Chronicle reports the master tenant of that garage Ernesto Paredes is named in the suit. The suit also names Melissa Mendoza of Hillsborough, who owns the three-story building whose units were listed as the non-existent street address 5 Persia.

Sup. Ahsha Safai, in whose district the laundromat is located, also chimed in. Witnessing the squalor and horrifying conditions that the residents of 5 Persia had endured for years was appalling and heartbreaking, Safai said in a statement, because the residents, mainly vulnerable immigrants, already represented some of our most dispossessed San Franciscans. Let this be a warning to all slum landlords and their enablers, either follow the law or be ready to face severe consequences.

Herreras lawsuit seeks restitution for the tenants, civil penalties ranging from $200 to $5,000 per violation, and $1,000 per day for each fire code violation. The full text of the lawsuit is available online.

Previously: Excelsior Laundromat Exposed As 'Death Trap' With Shoddy, Illegal Apartments
After a week in which multiple local and state lawmakers urged them to deny the alt-right/conservative group Patriot Prayer a permit to gather at San Francisco's Crissy Field this Saturday, the National Park Service issued a statement Wednesday confirming that the final permit had been issued for the 2 p.m. event.

"The National Park Service has a long and proud tradition of being the site of peaceful expressions of peoples views under the First Amendment to the US Constitution which guarantees everyone the right to gather together and express their opinions non-violently," said Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) Acting General Superintendent Cicely Muldoon. "We cannot deny a permit to anyone planning to exercise their First Amendment rights based on their political stance or beliefs."

Crissy Field, which is part of the federally controlled GGNRA, sits just south of the Golden Gate Bridge.

She clarified that they could have denied the permit based on public safety concerns  something that Mayor Ed Lee, Rep. Nancy Pelosi and multiple others strongly urged them to do  but Muldoon said it seemed as though public safety would be served better by allowing it to be a permitted event.

After consultation with other law enforcement colleagues, including the San Francisco Police Department, National Park Service law enforcement believe that whether a permit is issued or not, many people will come to Crissy Field on Aug. 26 to express their opinions, she said. Law enforcement advised that issuing a permit will increase their ability to ensure public safety."

Lee and state senator Scott Wiener quickly issued statements expressing their displeasure with the decision.

"The shameful, anti-American trend of hate-filled extremist rallies will unfortunately be allowed to continue this weekend in our city," Lee said. "Let us show this nation that San Francisco is a city of peace and unity. Do not engage with the members of this group, whose only priority is to incite violence through divisive rhetoric."

Lee told local station KPIX on Tuesday, anticipating this decision, that the city and police would take a lesson from Boston from last Saturday, where a heavy police presence and many fences kept right-wing ralliers and counter-protesters apart.

Patriot Prayer organizer Joey Gibson has repeatedly insisted over the last two weeks that he himself is not a white supremacist (he is not white himself), and that a diverse array of speakers are planned for the event, which he insists will just be about conservative viewpoints and "free speech." But, somewhat disingenuously, Gibson continues to deny that by hosting his rallies he creates magnets for far-right-wing zealots eager to do battle with the "antifa," whom they define as anyone on the left who angrily confronts them.

In a post to Facebook yesterday, Gibson wrote, "Please, if your [sic] on the left speak out against these hate groups. Antifa doesn't even care about fighting 'racists'. They want to fight the republic as a whole."

While he disowns all neo-Nazi and white supremacy talk and claims no such people will be "allowed" at his rally, Gibson continues to have a major vendetta against left-wing activists  some of whom appear to have cost the Washington-state-based Gibson his job in June, according to the Portland Mercury.

Lee is urging everyone who wishes to protest to take part in the peaceful rally  and dance party  that will be happening in Civic Center Saturday beginning at noon. Scheduled speakers and performers currently include Cleve Jones, Kate Kendall, Michael Franti, Marga Gomez, Brothers Comatose, DJ Brian Kent, BeBe Sweetbriar, Momma's Boyz, and MC Ron Owens from KGO radio. It's one of multiple planned counter-demonstrations.

Pelosi issued her own statement saying, "We must all pray [the event] does not become an invitation to incite violence."

Scott Wiener also urged people to head to Civic Center or the simultaneous rally in the Castro that will likely converge on Civic Center, noting that Patriot Prayer rallies tend to attract armed members of the militia group known as Oath Keepers. "Im disappointed that the National Park Service is allowing a potentially volatile situation to go forward," Wiener said in his statement. "Now that the decision is final, our focus needs to shift toward ensuring that public safety is maintained at Crissy Field and that San Francisco sends a powerful, non-violent message of love in response to the message of hate being propagated by these right-wing extremist groups."

On Tuesday, the SFPD confirmed that the entire police force would be called on duty to handle Saturday's rally, despite the fact that federal park police will be taking the lead on safety for the event.

The event, which along with a planned Sunday, August 27 rally in Berkeley, appeared to have been scheduled as Facebook events over the same weekend that violence erupted around the Unite the Right event in Charlottesville. The tense Sunday after Charlottesville, Gibson hosted a Patriot Prayer rally in downtown Seattle that attracted hundreds of counter-protesters, some of whom engaged in fights with rally attendees in the street.

This marks the first time that a right-wing group has tried to stage one of these events in San Francisco since the election. Two previous rallies by similar groups in Berkeley, in March and Chapman was just charged with a felony in connection to those events, where he allegedly came armed with a leaded stick and was seen engaging in violence with counter-protesters.

Related: Here Are All The Counter-Demonstrations Planned During Saturday's Alt-Right Rally

Previously: Dog Owners To Dump Poop On Crissy Field Ahead Of Rally; Organizer Tells Fox He's Not A White Supremacist

Alt-Right Wants Photo Op Of Battle Royale With Golden Gate Bridge As Backdrop And The Left Should Not Give It To Them
The tables were turned on an alleged bike thief Wednesday, when the theft victim instead stabbed the robber.

Police say the altercation occurred at 4:44 p.m. Wednesday, on the grounds of San Francisco's popular Dolores Park.

According to the San Francisco Police Department, a group of five suspects "attempted to rob [the victim] of his bicycle."

The victim, police say, "pulled out a knife and slashed" one of the aspiring thieves.

The five suspects in the attempted theft were all detained by police, the SFPD report on the incident says. According to police, that includes the suspect who was stabbed, who police say suffered injuries that are not life-threatening.

Related: Dolores Park Neighbors Say Footbridge Has Become Magnet For Hard Drug Sales
Youll notice this years Burning Man Temple looks a lot different than previous years laser cut jigsaw designs of David Best. Best has handed off the task to his previous lead engineers and architects, whove come up with a simple but striking concept composed of flat panels. But thats not the most significant difference in this years Temple, as this years builders have a new ecological focus in which theyre using wood from trees killed by drought conditions and global warming.

Throughout Nevada and California there are dramatic changes occurring in our forests, tree scientist Lee Klingler notes on the Temple 2017 website. Pines, oaks, and many other kinds of trees are dying in unprecedented numbers from diseases and pests such as Sudden Oak Death and pine bark beetles. Last year scientists reported more than 100 million dead trees in California, and just last month scientists reported over 800 million dead trees in Colorado. Indeed, all of the western US states are experiencing elevated levels of forest decline. Many point to climate change as the cause of this decline.

Roughly 100 million trees have died in California forests over the course of the drought, according to Cal Fire estimates, all of which need to be cleared and burned to control fire risks. PG&E was tasked with clearing 300 large Ponderosa pine trees killed by bark beetles that were threatening power lines near Yosemite, and now those dead trees are getting a last bit of life at Burning Man.

They could spark a wildfire, they could cause a power outage, they could fall into a home, PG&E spokesperson Lynsey Paolo told ABC 7 last month, who took a tour of both the Tuoulome County site where the trees were cut down and also the West Oakland studio where the trees were being repurposed into boards for the Temple. Reuse and recycle is important to the folks who are participating in Burning Man, and its important to us as well.

That wood has been milled into the 3,000 boards being used to create this years Temple. "Its about a hundred thousand pounds of wood," Temple engineer Mark Sinclair told NBC Bay Area. "Its not structural grade wood but its good enough for our purposes."

If youve never dragged yourself out to Burning Man, the Temple is one of the few solemn and sober installations where people build small shrines to their deceased friends. Its symbolically pretty cool that the wood itself is also coming from dead trees this year. But more importantly, its a fantastic and sensible avoidance of waste that the Temple is made of wood that a big utility company was just going to torch anyway.

Related: Check Out This Cool Hyperlapse Video Of Burning Man Interactive Art




Santa Rosa is not a sanctuary city  and the Press Democrat recently did an article about this fact. So when undocumented Guatemalan immigrant Nery Estrada-Margos was arrested for beating his girlfriend, Veronica Cabrera Ramirez, and then posted bail, Sonoma County authorities alerted Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

According to CBS 5, the county only gave ICE 16 minutes notice before releasing Estrada-Margos on August 4. Agents didn't arrive in time, and Estrada-Margos was free to go. On August 18, Cabrera Ramirez would be found dead, allegedly beaten to death by Estrada-Margos  against whom she had just filed a restraining order. The woman's family is wondering whose fault it is (other than Estrada-Margos's). Should Sonoma County have given ICE more time to show up and take Estrada-Margos into custody or should ICE have responded faster?

And then of course there is the larger question: Should local law enforcement agencies turn undocumented immigrants accused of crimes, especially violent ones, directly over to immigration officials?

"This shouldn't happen, that's for sure. Someone made a mistake and then [this man] killed her," said Gerardo Lopez, the victim's ex-husband and father of her two teenage daughters.

Misty Harris of the Sonoma County Sheriff's office claimed that it was ICE who dropped the ball. "It's up to them. If they can come and pick someone up, that's their responsibility, not ours," she said.

Harris continued, "First our condolences to the family. We can't predict someone's behavior. We have laws we have to operate within and can't change them based on the people that come through our doors."

Meanwhile, ICE officials blame the county. "A vast majority of notifications conveyed by Sonoma County to ICE in the past six months have failed to provide sufficient advance notification to pick up these criminals. The county's policy of notifying ICE only minutes before releasing a criminal alien clearly failed in this case as it has in too many others," reads a statement from ICE.

As for the family of the victim, they hope that the American justice system locks up Estrada-Margos. "They should notify sooner. They should give them more time to take this guy and take him back to his country. But now I am hoping he can be in jail forever," said Lopez.

Related: ICE Director: 'Sanctuary Cities Are A Criminal's Best Friend'
Next week we mark the ten-year anniversary of a night that shall live in infamy for all longtime Burners, when an arsonist set The Man aflame four days early, the night of a lunar eclipse. That year was 2007, and the event made front-page news in the Chronicle, with Black Rock City communications manager Andie Grace telling the paper, "People here are stunned."

Some Burners reportedly pulled up to the prematurely engulfed wooden Man chanting "Let him burn, let him burn!" while others were chanting, "Save the Man, save the Man!" Then seven-time Burner Bob Harms told the Chron, "I am disturbed that the Man is burnt. As I looked at it, I was going, 'This can't be happening.'"

Others compared it to Christmas being ruined.

Burning Man organizers quickly leapt into action, sourcing wood from Reno to try to quickly rebuild the Man in time for the traditional Saturday burn.

And authorities immediately arrested arsonist Paul David Addis, a longtime Burner, who would later be convicted in the act and serve two years in a federal prison in Nevada. Several days after the incident, Addis gave an interview to Wired in which he all but admitted committing the act, and said that organizers had turned the festival into "the Alterna-Disney," and "Burning Man has been nothing about the Burning Man anymore except for burning the Man." He added, "It has more to do with raising money than spreading the theory of community so we can all live together," and he railed at the number of people who now arrived in gas-guzzling RVs.

Addis returned to Burning Man in 2007 after a 9-year hiatus, having decided it was no longer "worth it" and had already jumped the shark in 1998.

Two months after the early torching of The Man, Addis would be accused in an attempted arson at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.

Following his prison term, Addis would return to SF with a one-man performance piece titled Dystopian Veneer in 2010, a promo for which you can see in the video below. In it, he said, "San Francisco used to be a bright shining beacon to the rest of America and the world that the American Dream isn't exactly what everybody thinks it is or could be. The kind of place where you could provoke, inspire, offend from the stage, all over town. And yet that's not really happening around here right now. To all of you who came out here in the last few years thinking 'This is the place to really make it happen, to push it over the edge, to take it as far as you can go in free speech, in liberty, in living... I'm talking to you right now. We need you. We need to hear your voices. We need to see you take those risks."

Sadly in 2012, at the age of 40, Addis would take his own life by jumping in front of a westbound BART train at Embarcadero Station.

Related: Man Who Once Torched Burning Man Takes Own Life at Embarcadero BART


Piedmont's Mayor Jeff Wieler recently took to social media to express his frustration with the Black Lives Matter movement, liberals, and trans people  and is surprised that his constituents have a problem with it.

CBS 5 reports on Wieler and his alarming Facebook posts, which include calling transgender people "mentally ill" and alleging that Black Lives Matter encourages the murdering of police officers. The statements were made alongside Wieler's posting of right-wing, anti-liberal articles.

At a recent city council meeting, residents took advantage of public comment time to (rather calmly and courteously) call Wieler out on his social media posts. When it was his turn to talk, the Mayor's expressed his hurt feelings. "This has been a painful half hour for me as I'm sure people can imagine. I apologize if, by posting articles from various magazines has offended anybody," apologized Wieler, not really apologizing.

As you may or may not be aware, Piedmont is a small, wealthy, independent township surrounded on all sides by Oakland that has its own school district, police force, etc.

According to the East Bay Times, Resident Conna McCarthy is calling for Wieler to step down. She confronted Wieler directly and asked him about his FB posts in a conversation in which Wieler allegedly called McCarthy an "Irish Catholic claiming to be Miss Sensitivity."

"We had an exchange, and it was not pleasant," said Wieler of his chat with McCarthy.

Wieler had also refused to participate in a city council meeting moment of silence for the victim of the Charlottesville protests.

"What the hell?" asked Piedmont resident Roderick Alemana. "How can the mayor justify violence? There can't be two sides talking about Nazis. I'm scared our mayor may have that mindset."

As for posting things that make him "think" to social media, Wieler said, "I should keep my Facebook postings private."

In what might be related news, The Daily Show was apparently in Oakland Wednesday working on a segment and shooting on Piedmont Avenue, at least according to a Reddit thread. Could this segment be about Mayor Jeff Wieler and his social media presence? Only time and basic cable will tell.

If he does not step down, Wieler has 18 more months in office. "I just want to put this matter to rest and not talk about it any further," he said.

Related: Piedmont Ranked First, San Pablo Dead Last In Ranking Of Best Bay Area Suburbs
The latest in the story of fired Google engineer James Damore is that he's hired a prominent conservative lawyer from San Francisco who was shortlisted for a possible post in President Trump's Justice Department. She is Harmeet Dhillon, and as Wired reports, she's seeking other potential plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Google over their liberal bias and anti-conservative discrimination. Specifically, on her firm's website, she says she's seeking other Google employees who were "written up for un-Googly conduct for refusing to comply with the political orthodoxy at the company" or anyone who has been "Defamed/slandered/smeared/blacklisted at Google for your political views, or views about affirmative action at Google."

Dhillon has not confirmed what type of legal action she may be taking at this juncture, but as the Chronicle notes, "Dhillon has taken on other cases that push back against the Bay Areas progressive tendencies." In one of those cases, she is representing the California Bail Agents Association "fighting a class-action lawsuit alleging that San Franciscos bail system discriminates against poor people who cant afford to post bond while awaiting trial in criminal cases."

About his choice of lawyer, Damore tells Wired, "I felt like it would be good to have someone thats at least ideologically driven in some ways. I wouldnt want someone that was against me and was only doing it to get the most money or something."

Damore lost his dream job at Google earlier this month after penning a widely circulated internal memo that, among other things, perpetuated a theory that women are biologically less well suited to be engineers. Damore reportedly wrote the memo on a plane, angry after having to attend a seminar on diversity and inclusion. After an outcry among employees and in the media, the company chose to terminate Damore on the basis that his memo violated Googles code of conduct by perpetuating gender stereotypes. The ensuing outcry in conservative media circles has made Damore a new hero in the anti-political-correctness crusade.

Dhillon, a frequent invited commentator on Fox News, is helping to sue UC Berkeley on behalf of the Berkeley College Republicans and the Young America's Foundation over actions the university has taken to "restrict and stifle the speech of conservative students whose voices fall beyond the campus political orthodoxy." That lawsuit, which you can see here, was filed in April, and accuses university officials of engaging "in a pattern and practice of enforcing a recently adopted, unwritten and unpublished policy that vests in University officials the unfettered discretion to unreasonably restrict the time, place, and manner of any campus event involving 'high-profile speakers'."

Below you can see Dhillon being interviewed by Fox Business two weeks ago about a case in Los Angeles in which the city wants to know if any contractors are working on Trump's border wall.

Previously: Video: That Fired Google Manifesto Guy Says His Feelings Are Hurt :(
Though we should all be concerned that, as has happened in Berkeley and multiple other places in the country, white nationalists will be drawn to Saturday's now permitted Patriot Prayer rally in San Francisco, the actual stage event as planned just keeps getting stranger. Activist Joey Gibson, who repeatedly has insisted that he want's nothing to do with neo-Nazis and white nationalists, has said that only one planned speaker on Saturday is white  and that appears to be Kyle Chapman, a.k.a. twice-convicted felon, Twitter firebrand and Trump supporter Based Stickman. Gibson has also said there would be a black speaker, and "a transsexual." Add to the list of those appearing on his stage local rapper Work Dirty, who KRON 4 is reporting was tapped to perform at the event.

"I'm not no fool, I'm not no idiot you know," says the Vallejo-based rapper who frequently collaborates with E-40 (hear a 2016 track they did together below). But is he just doing this for exposure? To find a new fan base?

His real name is Montrell Harris, and for whatever reason, he's taking Gibson up on the invitation and says he doesn't feel he's being used as a token.

"I cant bash anybody for their political beliefs, but Im definitely not supporting nobody that thats racist or bigoted or sexist or anything like that," Work Dirty tells KRON 4. "Magazine Street, Vallejo, California, I been around violence all my life. Weve been ducking bullets, ducking shots, people getting their heads blew off my whole life, Im not worried about a couple of people crying about cause some ethnic people out here."

It should be noted here that the scheduled events in Charlottesville, for the Unite the Right rally, never even occurred because there was too much chaos in the city preceding the event itself.

Gibson says he is an "anti-government libertarian" and not a conservative, but he has spent much of the year vlogging his support for President Trump, and taking up various causes that are near and dear to Fox News and conservatives, like marching against Sharia law  the implication being that Sharia law may take hold in the US if we don't stop Muslims from instituting it. As Gibson told MyNorthwest.com in May, "Standing against Sharia Law is standing up for Muslims, because Muslims are the number one victims to Sharia law."

Gibson has also been eager to capitalize on nationally publicized instances of violence, such as when he scheduled a Patriot Prayer rally in Portland just days after a man who had attended at least on of his previous rallies allegedly stabbed and killed two people on a commuter train there in the name of "patriotism." Gibson spoke out in the media at the time against Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, angrily denying the idea that his group should be connected to that incident, and defending his own free-speech right to hold a rally.

Similarly, one day after the incidents in Charlottesville, Gibson scheduled Patriot Prayer events in San Francisco and Berkeley.

Portland area sheriff's detective Ed Troyer put it succinctly to radio station KIRO: "Anytime you get a crowd of people together, especially when you have opinions on both sides, you are going draw people with slight mental health issues; youre going to draw radicals on both sides. Those types of events tend to bring those people in, and it only takes one or two of them to cause a giant problem."

Previously: SFPD Chief: Guns, Tiki Torches, Pets Banned From Crissy Field 'Patriot Prayer' Rally
The so-called Posted Workers Directive allows firms to send temporary workers from low-wage countries to other member states without paying local social charges.

The regulation has come under fire from rich nations like France whose president has described it as a "betrayal of the European spirit".

Macron embarked on Wednesday on a three-day diplomatic blitz through Austria, Romania and Bulgaria to drum up support for his ambitious plan to reform the directive at a summit in October.

So far he has faced staunch resistance from eastern and central European countries, but there were signs of a breakthrough after discussions with the leaders of Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic in Salzburg.

"Weve firmly expressed our will to find a real compromise in October," Macron said on Wednesday evening at a joint press conference.

"Our talks mark a real step forward... and Im glad about that." Although the issue affects less than 1 per cent of the EUs workforce, experts say the trend is on the rise.

The directive was launched in 1996 to help stimulate cross-border business, at a time when EU members broadly shared similar living standards.

Stokes populism

Austria and France are among the blocs key recipients of temporary employees.

Backed by Vienna and Berlin, Paris now wants the duration of these job postings to be limited to 12 months, half the period proposed by the European Commission.

"The single market and the free movement of people werent created to help countries promoting the lowest social rights. This is what stokes populism in our countries," Macron had said ahead of Wednesdays talks.

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico acknowledged that finding a solution would be "good news for the EU", but said any such pact should have support from Budapest and Warsaw, two fervent opponents of Macrons reform.

The hard-right leaders of Hungary and Poland were notably absent from Macrons meeting schedule, which will take him to Romania on Thursday and Bulgaria on Friday.

Budapest and Warsaw have repeatedly clashed with Paris over the proposed reform.

Poland is the country that benefits most from the Posted Workers Directive.

An estimated 500,000 of its nationals are employed by Polish companies in other EU members.

Top officials in Brussels however welcomed French efforts on Wednesday. The European Commission and its president, Jean-Claude Juncker, "have made the fight against social dumping one of their key priorities", said Alexander Winterstein, a spokesman for the EUs executive body.

Under pressure at home

Macron hopes to reach an agreement at a Brussels summit on the EU directive on October 19-20.

Ahead of that meeting, he will host leaders from Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands later this month.

Franco-German unity is seen as a pre-requisite for an overhaul of the rule.

Pierre Vimont, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Europe think tank, called changing the directive "a symbolic case" for Macron, whose popularity ratings have plummeted since he took office in May.

It is part of his broader election campaign promise to create a new "protective Europe" that helps shield citizens from the effects of cut-throat international competition.

The 39-year-old centrist is also pushing for a new mechanism to screen non-EU investments, particularly from China, into strategic areas of the European economy, as well as tougher measures to block the dumping of cheap imports on the continent.

He also wants much deeper integration of the eurozone, including giving the 19-country currency bloc its own budget, finance minister, parliament and borrowing capacity, source from Vietnamnews.




On behalf of the city leaders, Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong thanked for assistance as well as support of the Mozambique people during Vietnam's past struggle for national independence and development.He strongly affirmed that Ho Chi Minh City is ready for boosting cooperation with the partner in justice, trade, investment, agriculture and education.On the same day, Chairwoman of the HCMC Peoples Council Nguyen Thi Quyet Tam welcomed a delegation from Xiangkhouang province of Laos.Deputy Standing Secretary of the Xiangkhouang province Outhane Masionxay led the delegation.At the reception, the city leader appreciated the cooperation relationship between Ho Chi Minh City and Lao localities, including Xiangkhouang province.The Laotian leader also affirmed that the cooperation projects between the two localities contributed to develop the traditional friendship, solidarity and comprehensive cooperation ties between Vietnam and Laos.

BY THUY VU- Translated by Huyen Huong
The documents inked include a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation between Vietnams Ministry of Justice and Indonesias Ministry of Law and Human Rights, and a MoU on information development cooperation between Vietnams Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Indonesias Ministry of Village, Disadvantaged Region Development and Transmigration.Vietnams Ministry of Industry and Trade and Indonesias Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources signed a MoUs on cooperation in gas use in border areas, and another on cooperation in the coal industry.While the two countries coast guard forces inked a letter of intent on cooperation enhancement, the Vietnamese and Indonesian Governments signed a MoU on educational cooperation.At a press conference following the signing ceremony, the leaders expressed their delight at the outcomes of the talks, which took place at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta after an official welcoming ceremony for the Vietnamese leader, who is on an official visit from August 22 to 24.The two leaders witness the signing of a number of cooperation documents after their talks on August 23 (Photo: VNA)The leaders looked back on the countries traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation over the past years and discussed ways to deepen their strategic partnership and boost result-oriented relations in all aspects.President Widodo emphasised that Vietnam has been a strategic partner of Indonesia since 2013, and both of them are members of ASEAN. Vietnam currently chairs APEC in 2017 and will host the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting in November. Indonesia always supports Vietnams role as the APEC Chair.During the talks, the two sides scrutinised three main issues, namely navigation and fisheries; trade and investment; and regional issues, he said, adding that they agreed to speed up negotiations on the delineation of exclusive economic zones, work to reach consensus on fishing grounds, and reduce illegal fishing.They discussed new measures and initiatives to boost bilateral trade to 10 billion USD in the near future.As a big producer and exporter of coffee and pepper, Indonesia agreed to devise concrete measures to manage the products, keep their prices stable and improve products quality, Widodo noted.He expressed his hope that Indonesian and Vietnamese investors will receive more favourable conditions for their activities.At the talks, the two sides exchanged views on regional issues of shared concern, stressing the importance of keeping ASEANs solidarity and central role, along with forming the ASEAN Community Vision 2025.Indonesia hailed achievements in the formation of a code of conduct (COC) in the East Sea and considered them a strong foundation for resolving East Sea-related issues and for maintaining stability, peace and prosperity in the region.Party General Secretary Trong underlined that Vietnam consistently wants to bolster the strategic partnership with Indonesia in a substantive manner. Good implementation of the reached common perceptions and cooperation orientations and measures will strongly develop bilateral relations, thus practically benefiting the two peoples, helping to enhance solidarity among the member countries of the ASEAN Community, and actively contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.Earlier, the Vietnamese Party chief and his entourage laid a wreath at the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery, where veterans of the Indonesian National Revolution and other prominent people are buried.Later, President Widodo hosted a banquet in honour of General Secretary Trong and the Vietnamese delegation.
DENISON, Iowa -- A couple of eclipse notes to round out the work week...

Robert Lyons, of Denison, Iowa, stood in line on Monday at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., waiting to peek at the eclipse through a behemoth observatory telescope.

Forty-five minutes into his wait, officials stopped the line, and explained there would a be delay of 15-20 minutes as a group of special guests would be arriving to view the solar eclipse, the first of such totality in 99 years.

"NASA officials wouldn't say who the guest would be," said Lyons, who moved to Washington last week to begin work on a master's degree at American University. "And then the Secret Service showed up and they wouldn't talk, of course."

As Lyons waited, Ivanka Trump, daughter of President Trump, came around the corner. Lyons hollered her name. She turned and waved as he took a photo.

Ivanka Trump, who was joined by a family (Lyons didn't know the family by sight), used the telescope for 10 minutes before departing. Again, Lyons yelled "Ivanka" and she turned and waved.

"I just got to D.C. last week," said Lyons, who was graduated from Simpson College in Indianola this spring. "I guess this was my first big celebrity or political sighting."

Actually, it was one in the same.

Lyons, who served as class president and student body president at Simpson, then stepped up to peer at the eclipse through the giant telescope, one equipped with a view-finder the size and shape of a flower pot.

"You could see the shadow of the sun and six black spots in the sun, which are solar storms," he said.

The planetarium was set up to show what the eclipse looked like across the rest of the country. Lyons, who seeks a master's in public administration, then headed to the National Mall to watch the rest of the eclipse.

"I was on the Mall to see what Washington got, which was an 88-percent eclipse," said Lyons, son of Don and Jane Lyons, of Denison.

Meantime, in St. Joseph, Missouri, tens of thousands of scientists, travelers and eclipse enthusiasts gathered for their chance to witness totality, which was expected in this city shortly after 1 p.m.

Kevin Brasser, a 30-year teaching veteran at South O'Brien High School in Paullina, Iowa, counted himself among the masses. Brasser was there to take a mix of light and temperature readings for NASA.

Unfortunately, a band of clouds moved in late Monday morning over St. Joseph and rained on the parade, literally.

"It was rainy and cloudy during the eclipse, so I had to put my sensors in the van," said Brasser, a 1986 Northwestern College graduate. "I didn't get any decent data to up-link to NASA."

Brasser, who is part of a citizen-observer network that volunteers for various NASA efforts, noted how dark it became for about three minutes shortly after 1 o'clock. Sadly, he just couldn't see the eclipse because of the clouds.

"At 1:08 p.m. I'd say it was spooky, the kind of darkness you see at 10 p.m." Brasser said.
STORM LAKE, Iowa | A Storm Lake man has been placed on probation after pleading guilty to making fraudulent withdrawals from a bank ATM.

Antonio Suarez-Valladares, 24, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Buena Vista County District Court to third-degree theft, which was reduced from a charge of second-degree theft. A two-year prison sentence was suspended, and he was placed on probation for two years. He also must pay $1,853 in restitution to Central Bank, of Storm Lake.

According to court documents, Suarez-Valladares deposited five empty envelopes at a Central Bank ATM from May 4-18, then withdrew the maximum daily amount of cash from the ATM.

Bank employees told police that Suarez-Valladares fraudulently deposited a total of $4,800 and was able to withdraw more than $1,400 before the bank could deactivate his card.
DAKOTA CITY | A man charged with shooting and dismembering another man was ordered to cooperate with psychiatrists who are treating him, but a judge stopped short of ordering medications to be administered against the suspect's wishes.

District Judge Paul Vaughan said that Andres Surber should comply with his treatment, including taking medications voluntarily, as doctors try to help him gain mental competency to stand trial for murder.

"Mr. Surber, I urge you to cooperate so you can continue to improve and assist your attorney," Vaughan told Surber at the conclusion of a hearing Thursday in Dakota County District Court.

Prosecutors backed off on their previous motion seeking an order for involuntary administration of medications because Surber voluntarily began to take one of his medications Friday. Until now, Surber had not been approached by doctors to take a second medication they believe would restore his competency, and it would not be right to force him to take a drug that he hadn't yet been asked to take, Assistant Nebraska Attorney General Corey O'Brien said.

"He hasn't refused what's now being recommended as a treatment regimen," O'Brien said.

Surber, 26, of Wakefield, Nebraska, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, use of a firearm to commit a felony and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. He and Brayan Galvan-Hernandez are accused of shooting Kraig Kubik, 41, of Emerson, Nebraska, with a 9mm firearm on Nov. 1 and dismembering his body.

A state psychiatrist who evaluated Surber earlier this year found that he could not stand trial in his current mental condition, and Vaughan in April ruled Surber mentally incompetent to stand trial and ordered him to undergo treatment at the Lincoln Regional Center.

The state had filed its motion to force Surber to comply on Aug. 9, five days after Surber attacked another inmate in Lincoln. After the assault, Surber was restrained and administered emergency medication treatment for 14 days, Dr. Farid Karimi, a forensic psychiatrist at the Regional Center, testified.

After the 14-day period, Surber, who Karimi said has a form of bipolar disorder, was taken off of a mood-stabilizing drug and asked to continue taking a minimal dose of an anti-psychotic drug. Surber initially refused, Karimi said, but began taking the medication last week. Karimi said doctors just recently recommended Surber resume the mood-stabilizer.

Karimi said he believed the two-drug combination would enable doctors to restore Surber's competency to stand trial within two months. Surber continues to insist that he is God and that the homicide victim is still alive and only lost a few fingers, Karimi said.

"If we're going to restore his competency, we need to get rid of the psychosis," Karimi said.

Surber's case has been suspended since Vaughan declared him incompetent. If it's determined he'll never regain competency, prosecutors would have the option of seeking to have him civilly committed to a mental health institution.

Investigators responding to Kubik's disappearance on Nov. 2 found a pool of blood near his car at his Emerson residence. They later found his severed arm and leg in the trunk of a car at an abandoned farmhouse in rural Dixon County, about 24 miles away from Kubik's home. The rest of Kubik's remains were found three days later in a creek about four miles from the farmhouse. Autopsy results showed a gunshot wound to Kubik's head.

Galvan-Hernandez, 19, of Wakefield, is scheduled to stand trial Oct. 16 on charges of first-degree murder, use of a firearm to commit a felony, accessory to a felony and abandoning human skeletal remains or burial goods.
SIOUX CITY | A few years ago, Siouxland Christian School student Trenton Armstrong heard about the private school's plans to build a new school.

At one point, it looked like that might happen for his sophomore year, but that timeline didn't pan out. But as the new school opened for classes for the first time Wednesday, Armstrong said he is pumped to spend his junior year there.

"It is really big compared to our old building. There is a lot of cool new stuff," said Armstrong, of Sioux City.

Lydia Watkins, an eighth-grader from Lawton, Iowa, was similarly impressed.

"I didn't know it was going to be three times as big, but I knew it was going to be bigger than our last school," Watkins said.

Both students said they presume the positive buzz of the new campus will lead to a growing enrollment for the small school. They both would be fans of such growth.

"It is nice to keep a small class, but the growth will help the school. I think it is growing, both spiritually and academically," Watkins said.

Located on the far east edge of Sioux City at 6000 Gordon Drive, the school is just east of Menards and west of the intersection of U.S. Highway 20 and U.S. Highway 75, in the former Cornerstone World Outreach Church. Some of the former church building remains, although it has been reworked into classrooms.

Thus far, the school expansion and modernization has cost just over $10 million, in private dollars garnered through fundraising. Overall, the new expanded building is 62,000 square feet, compared to about 20,000 square feet in the former location at 6100 Morningside Ave., where the school shared the site with Morningside Bible Church.

Superintendent Steve Peters has led the school for seven years, after relocating from California, where he also worked in public and private schools.

"It is going to help us grow. It is great to have a new building," Peters said.

The school is far enough along to function well for instructional tasks, Peters said, but some parts will come in later months, as more money is raised. He said $1.8 million is still being raised, which would push the final remodeling cost to $12 million. Peters said those additional pieces will include gym bleachers, sound-proofing the music room, a student lounge, some new flooring and security system.

"There is nothing that we are lacking in the delivery of instruction," Peters said.

The school was founded in 1959 as Morningside Christian School. The name was then changed to Siouxland Community Christian School, and then Siouxland Christian School last year, when it became fully accredited for all grades, preschool through 12th grade.

"It has given us legitimacy," Peters said, of the accreditation.

The school enrollment, with 240 students for the 2017-18 year, is reaching new heights. The high school has 73 students, the highest in history, with the freshman, sophomore and junior classes having more than 20 per grade, Peters said. He compared that to his arrival seven years ago.

"We had 130 kids, we had no assets, very little money in the bank," Peters said.

Beyond the new structure, new courses and programs also were added, including such as physics and pre-calculus, plus middle and high school band.

With all the new pieces, the mission to teach with a religious focus won't change.

"If we didn't have the Christian-centered part, there would be no reason to go here. You could go down the street," Peters said.

Kim Pirrie has taught all 13 years of her teaching career at Siouxland Christian. Pirrie said it is nice to no longer have to share the church building.

"This is a big deal," Pirrie said. "This is our building and we can use it as we want to."
SIOUX CITY | The public is invited to attend a free Health & Leisure Expo Friday that will offer a variety of health-related information for seniors.

The expo will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Stoney Creek Inn & Conference Center, 300 Third St. It's being sponsored by Prime, a monthly Sioux City Journal publication for seniors; Mercy Medical Center-Sioux City; UnityPoint Health-St. Luke's; Siouxland Community Health Center and Connections Area Agency on Aging.

Nancy Todd, Sioux City Journal Information Publications account executive, said Prime has organized its own annual health fair for several years as have health care facilities, but she said a few years back, the organizations decided to collaborate in effort to improve health care for seniors in the community.

"We combined them into one large show and the results are terrific," she said. "We have over 50 vendors this year and expect around 350 guests."

Seniors, caregivers and other interested members of the public are encouraged to attend the expo, which will also feature speakers from various clinics, organizations and businesses. The presentations begin at 9:30 a.m. Topics include falls, estate planning, stroke signs and symptoms, breast problems and assisted living.

This year, Wheelock & Bursick Dentistry will be performing oral cancer screenings, while MultiCare Health Clinic will be offering foot screenings. Attendees will also be able to get vaccinated against pneumonia and shingles with insurance. The immunizations are being administered through AmeriHealth Caritas and Hy-Vee.

A variety of door prizes, from gift cards to floral arrangements to skin care packages, will be given away.

"The health fair is a great place to collect health and medical information, not only for yourself, but for an elderly parent's needs," Todd said. "A lot of guests find solutions for their medical needs and concerns in one stop."




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Numbers from the war in Afghanistan are staggering: Almost 16 years and three presidential administrations, more than 2,400 dead and more than 20,000 injured American servicemembers, costs in the hundreds of billions, if not trillions of dollars.

With no end in sight.

Still, the alternative to a continued U.S. presence in Afghanistan of leaving entirely would, we fear, result in complete, unacceptable disaster. The vacuum our country would leave behind would produce concession to the Taliban; topple the U.S.-supported government in Kabul; add fuel to the fire of factional conflict within Afghanistan; strengthen Afghanistan as a base of operations from which the nearly two dozen terror organizations who operate in and near the country, including ISIS, would seek to do harm to America and its allies; and destabilize an entire region of the world.

For a valuable, recent lesson about the perils of ending a mission before the mission is done, U.S. leaders need look no further than Iraq.

In large measure, we support the strategy for Afghanistan described by President Trump in a speech at Fort Myer, Virginia, on Monday night.

Of course, we have questions and concerns about Afghanistan (Among Americans of reason and good conscience, who does not?) and, yes, some of what we heard from Trump on Monday night we have heard before, but we continue to believe - at least for today - in a commitment to "victory."

What defines "victory" for the Trump administration? Secretary of State Rex Tillerson provided more clarity about the Trump blueprint on Tuesday.

"This entire effort is intended to put pressure on the Taliban, to have the Taliban understand you will not win a battlefield victory, Tillerson said.

In other words, force the Taliban to the negotiating table.

To this end, we believe components of the Trump plan like more autonomy for battlefield commanders, no public announcement of battlefield strategies America's enemies can use against us, more pressure on Pakistan and no arbitrary timetables are important steps in the right direction.

Will the Trump administration, ultimately, succeed? We, of course, don't know the answer to that question, but we believe the stakes involved demand the U.S. expend the time and effort necessary to find out.
Though all historical figures should be judged by the morals and mores of their times and not by our present beliefs, I believe that Confederate monuments to commemorate those who fought to dissolve and destroy the United States should not be placed in prominent urban positions.

Erecting these artistic works in places of honor by courthouses, federal buildings and police stations is not what our forefathers aspired for their descendants. Instead of destroying these historical markers, they can be well-suited for cemeteries and commemorative battlefields. These Confederate Americans should not be forgotten, but they should not be extolled above our leaders who worked to unite the country and develop the American dream of equality and opportunity.

As to the assertion that all historical slave owners' monuments should also be destroyed, Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson, et.al., preserved and protected the United States and thus should continue to have deference along with the Roosevelts and Lincoln.

Downtown edifices to the Confederacy is akin to honoring others who fought to destroy the U.S. such as ISIS, Nazi Germany and Timothy McVeigh. - Frank Gruber, Sioux City
Our commander in chief (who seemingly only recently discovered that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican) seriously needs a remedial class on the values that undergird our country.

... It is for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us  that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain ... - Jackie Austin, Rock Rapids, Iowa
We want to know what you think about the movies. You can Tweet us your reviews @scweekender or share them on Facebook, facebook.com/siouxcityweekender. We'll pick the best comments on Monday before the next Weekender. Here are this week's movies:

Logan Lucky

Starring: Channing Tatum, Daniel Craig

Story: Two brothers set out to reverse a family curse by pulling off a huge heist during a NASCAR race in North Carolina.

Rated: PG-13 for thematic material including sequences of gun violence and action

Verdict: Your movie review could go here. Tweet us @scweekender

The Hitman's Bodyguard

Starring: Samuel J. Jackson, Ryan Reynolds

Story: A hitman has to testify in court and is assigned a bodyguard to make sure he makes it to trial in time... and alive.

Rated: R for strong violence and language throughout

Verdict: Your movie review could go here. Tweet us @scweekender

Annabelle: Creation

Starring: A creepy doll that needs to stay far, far away from us

Story: A dollmaker and his wife coping with the tragic death of their daughter are visited by a nun and orphan girls. Spooky things occur.

Rated: R for horror violence and terror

Verdict: Your movie review could go here. Tweet us @scweekender

The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature

Starring: CGI-animated squirrels

Story: Surly and friends must stop Oakton City's mayor from destroying their home to make way for a ridiculous amusement park.

Rated: PG for action and some rude humor

Verdict: Your movie review could go here. Tweet us @scweekender

The Dark Tower

Starring: Idris Elba, Matthew "Alright, alright, alright" McConaughey

Story: The last Gunslinger must battle the Man in Black who seeks to destroy the Dark Tower, the vessel which holds the universe together.

Rated: PG-13 for thematic material including sequences of gun violence and action

Verdict: Reluctant to embrace the book's dense mythology, #DarkTower manages to get by on strength of its action, Elba, & McConaughey. -@sizynski

Detroit

Starring: John Boyega, Will Poulter

Story: A look at the Algiers Motel incident during a 1967 Detroit riot where three teenage civilians were killed and many others injured by task forces.

Rated: R for strong violence and pervasive language

Verdict: Your movie review could go here. Tweet us @scweekender

The Emoji Movie

Starring: T.J. Miller, James Corden

Story: Those expressive images we send through text have their own movie and one of them wants to become a "normal" emoji.

Rated: PG for rude humor

Verdict: Your movie review could go here. Tweet us @scweekender

Atomic Blonde

Starring: Charlize Theron, James McAvoy

Story: An undercover agent is sent to Berlin to investigate the murders of fellow spies and recover a list of double agents.

Rated: R for sequences of strong violence, language throughout, and some sexuality/nudity

Verdict: Your movie review could go here. Tweet us @scweekender

Dunkirk

Starring: Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh

Story: Allied armies from Belgium, the British Empire, Canada and France are evacuated during a battle with German forces in World War II.

Rated: PG-13 for intense war experience and some language

Verdict: Your movie review could go here. Tweet us @scweekender

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Starring: Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne

Story: Special operatives are called upon the thwart the dark forces threatening a metropolis that holds species from a thousand planets.

Rated: PG-13 for sci-fi violence and action, suggestive material and brief language

Verdict: Your movie review could go here. Tweet us @scweekender

Girls Trip

Starring: Regina Hall, Jada Pinkett Smith

Story: Four best friends take a trip to New Orleans and rediscover their sisterly bonds after wild nights of dancing, drinking, brawling and romancing.

Rated: R for crude and sexual content throughout, pervasive language, brief graphic nudity, and drug material

Verdict: Your movie review could go here. Tweet us @scweekender

War for the Planet of the Apes

Starring: Damn dirty apes

Story: Caesar tries to stop himself from lashing out at the humans when his fellow apes suffer great losses of life.

Rated: PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence and action, thematic elements, and some disturbing images

Verdict: New #WarForThePlanet is dark tackling grim subject matter (ethnic cleansing, slavery) but the execution is banan'astounding -@sizynski
Haunted rollover

SIOUX CITY | Casper The Bad Driving Ghost.

Sioux City Police say a sport utility vehicle found overturned in a ditch in the 4300 block of Harbor Drive was unoccupied when they arrived at the scene of the crash late Wednesday morning.

Sioux City Police, Sioux City Fire Rescue and the Woodbury County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene shortly after 11:45 a.m. August 16.

Upon arrival, they located a white SUV overturned in the brush in the west ditch. Police officers and deputies reduced traffic to one lane and eventually blocked off the street entirely for several minutes as a tow truck removed the vehicle from the ditch.

Officers on scene said no one was inside the vehicle upon arrival and the occupant likely fled the scene.

Fake bills and slots

SIOUX CITY | Three Le Mars, Iowa, residents did not get lucky at the casino.

The three have been charged with forgery and theft following a counterfeiting investigation by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and local law enforcement.

Kurt Walter Jones, 26, was arrested on those charges August 11, joining Brittany Anne Derby, 29, and Jackelen Danielle Hartsock, 27, who had been charged August 8.

According to criminal complaints, the investigation began after the three were seen attempting several cash transactions at the Hard Rock Casino in Sioux City on Aug. 5. The paper cash was found to be counterfeit.

Jones was being held in Woodbury County Jail on $5,000 bond.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation worked the case with assistance from the Le Mars Police Department, Sioux City Police Department and Plymouth County Sheriff's Office.
Competition is expected to heat up before the end of the month on the inter-island flight route between Fagalii and Vavau in Tonga.

Real Tonga Airline is on the verge of signing an agreement with government to service the route three times a week, says Polynesian Airlines General Manager, Seiuli Alvin Tuala.

Real Tonga Airlines plans to use one of its 34-seater planes from the northern island of Vavau - which is closer to Samoa than Tongas main islands. And test flights have proven successful.

Talofa Airways have also been serving the direct connection between Fagalii and the Kingdom of Tonga with two weekly flights on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

The flights will save Tongans and Samoans a trip to Fiji or New Zealand to travel between the two countries.

With more flights to Samoa from our neighboring islands, it is part of our corporate plan as a lead up to the launching of our national carrier the Samoa Airways in November.

Samoa Airways and Samoa will be used as a transit by our neighbors to travel to New Zealand and Australia.
Carlton Adolph Alexander Mackall, 22, of Waldorf Jeremiah Terrell Bryant, 18, of Washington, DC 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 24, 2017)The Charles County Sheriff's Office released the following incident and arrest reports.RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT: On August 19 at approximately 1:35 a.m., officers responded to the area of Leonardtown Road at St. Charles Parkway for the report of a subject firing a handgun into the air. Officers observed a subject matching the description, as well as a handgun on the grass where he was standing. The witness positively identified the subject as the one firing the handgun. The suspect was identified as, who was arrested and charged with unlawfully carrying a handgun, reckless endangerment, illegal possession of a firearm, and firearm possession with a felony conviction. PFC D. Walker is investigating.POSSESSION WITH INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE: On August 16 at 12:13 a.m., an officer was conducting a patrol check on foot in the 4100 block of Falcon Place in Waldorf when he observed an occupied vehicle parked with its lights on. As the officer approached the vehicle, he observed the occupant using marijuana. Further investigation revealed the suspect was in possession of marijuana and property that indicated an intent to distribute., was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana over 10 grams and possession with the intent to distribute. Pfc. G. Cook investigated.OFFICERS RECOVER STOLEN VEHICLES AND OTHER ITEMS: On August 15, officers responded to the 8200 block of Melody Acres Drive for the report of a stolen Toyota Tacoma. While on the scene, officers observed an abandoned black Chevy Impala with the keys in the ignition. A check of the registration plates revealed the Impala had been reported stolen from Linden Lane. Officers found numerous items in the car, which had been reported stolen as well. The Toyota was later recovered abandoned in a ditch on Maryland Point Road in Nanjemoy. Investigators linked both vehicles to a series of thefts from unlocked cars on St. Mary's Avenue, Coventry Court, Newcastle Court, and Graymar Lane. Anyone with information about these thefts is asked to call Pfc. S. Miller at (301) 932-2222 or email millers@ccso.us. Tipsters wishing to remain anonymous may contact Charles County Crime Solvers by calling 1-866-411-TIPS, texting CHARLES + the tip to CRIMES (274637) or submitting tips online at tipsubmit.com.TRAFFIC OPERATIONS UNIT INVESTIGATING FATAL CRASH: On August 22 at approximately 9:48 p.m., officers responded to the intersection of Billingsley Road at St. Patrick's Drive in Waldorf for the report of a crash. Investigation revealed that a motorcycle was traveling west on Billingsley Road through the intersection at St. Patrick's Drive. A passenger car was traveling east on Billingsley Road in the left turn lane continuing onto St. Patrick's Drive. The car turned left into the path of the motorcycle, and the motorcycle struck the rear passenger side door of the car. The rider,, was ejected from the motorcycle. He was pronounced dead on the scene. The driver of the car was transported to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The Traffic Operations Unit is investigating.OFFICERS RECOVER STOLEN VEHICLES: During the overnight hours on August 15, officers responded to the 8200 block of Melody Acres Drive in Welcome for the report of a stolen pickup truck. While investigating this incident, an abandoned passenger car was located on Melody Acres Drive with the keys in the vehicle. Investigation revealed unknown suspect(s) stole the car from Linden Lane in La Plata before committing thefts from unlocked vehicles on several streets in La Plata and Port Tobacco. The suspect(s) then abandoned the car on Melody Acres Drive and stole the pickup truck, committing several more thefts from unlocked vehicles in the process. The truck was located in a ditch on Maryland Point Road in Nanjemoy. Crime Scene Processors responded and processed the vehicles. Stolen property was recovered in the car. Pfc. S. Miller, Pfc. J. Austin, and Cpl. S. Brown are investigating.
SMECO employees Stacey Hill and Jeff Shaw discuss energy efficiency with a customer-member at the SMECO Annual Meeting held August 23, 2017, at Middleton Hall in Waldorf.

HUGHESVILLE, Md.

(August 24, 2017)Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SMECO) held its 79th Annual Meeting on August 23, 2017, at Middleton Hall in Waldorf. The Board of Directors election was conducted by mail prior to the meeting.The following SMECO members were elected to serve on SMECO's Board for three years: Nancy W. Zinn in Calvert County; William L. Purnell in Charles County; Daniel W. Dyer in Prince George's County; and J. Douglas Frederick and Joseph V. Stone, Jr. in St. Mary's County. No bylaw amendments were included on this year's ballot.In 2016, SMECO members voted to amend the bylaw that outlines requirements for meetings and voting, and this year's election was conducted entirely by mail. Ballots were mailed to customer-members on July 21, and they were instructed to return their ballots by mail by August 16. Nearly 9,500 members voted, and election results were announced at the meeting.In his remarks, SMECO's president and CEO, Austin J. Slater, Jr., explained that an electric cooperative's customer-members have the ability to vote each year for their representatives who serve on the board. While SMECO has approximately 137,000 members, last year only 882 members registered at the meeting or by absentee mail-in ballot. Nearly 11 times as many members voted in this year's election.In other matters, Slater said that SMECO has installed 120,000 new smart meters at homes and businesses throughout Southern Maryland. SMECO expects the new meters to improve outage response time, increase efficiency, and save money. A capital credit general refund of $2.85 million was issued to members last month, "just one more advantage our members enjoy by being part of a cooperative," Slater said. In addition, he explained that the cost of power has declined and is now lower than it has been for more than 12 years. SMECO's distribution costs will also be reduced by almost $2 million upon approval of a recent rate filing.According to Slater, at a Public Service Commission hearing held on July 25, SMECO recorded the best score in the state for the number of outages that occurred during 2016. SMECO also met all state standards for service restoration during regular operations and major storm events. The cooperative reported that the average time for a SMECO customer care center representative to answer a phone call is only 21 seconds, and 85 percent of calls are answered within 30 seconds.At the annual meeting, SMECO hosted informational displays about its smart meters and EmPOWER Maryland programs which help customers save energy and money. Richard A. Winkler, Chairman of the SMECO Board of Directors, welcomed SMECO's customer-members to the event and called the meeting to order. J. Ernest Bell II of Leonardtown served as the meeting chairman, a role he has played since 1999. Guest speaker Jim Matheson, CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, echoed Slater's remarks and reiterated the value of cooperative membership and the customers' ability to vote for their board of directors. Customer-members who returned their ballots were eligible to win one of 60 electric bill credits of $50 each.Below are the results of the voting.Nancy W. Zinn 7,794 votesVictor B. Allen 2,392 votesKenneth W. Cross 1,389 votesWilliam L. Purnell 2,967 votesCraig J. Renner 1,381 votesDaniel W. Dyer 7,586 votesExzavain V. Burkes 1,023 votesJ. Douglas Frederick 6,276 votesJoseph V. Stone, Jr. 6,296 votes
NAS Patuxent River Commanding Officer Capt. Scott Starkey. (U.S. Navy photo)

PATUXENT RIVER, Md.

(August 24, 2017)NAS Patuxent River Commanding Officer Capt. Scott Starkey will close another chapter in his naval career as he stands before a crowd of Sailors, family, well-wishers and coworkers in Hangar 110 and turns over command of the installation to Executive Officer Capt. Jason Hammond Aug. 31.Starkey believes the opportunities he seized throughout his career are what led him to where he is todayand where he continues to goas he moves forward to his next duty assignment aboard NAS Corpus Christi, Texas.A Maryland native son, Starkey was born at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C., after his father was drafted into the Army. He lived for a time with his parents in Kansas but after his father left the Army, the family came back and settled in Prince George's County until he was 18 years old."I knew I wanted to fly and be in the service," Starkey said. "Both of my grandfathers were in the Navy during World War II but that didn't drive my decision. I was in NROTC at Virginia Tech and one thing led to another."Graduating college with a B.S. in math, Starkey received his commission and joined the Navy in December 1991. He was designated a Naval Aviator in April 1994.Following H-3 fleet replacement pilot training with Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron (HS) 1, Starkey reported to Helicopter Combat Support Squadron (HC) 2 in March 1995 where he completed two deployments with the Desert Ducks in Bahrain, providing support to Commander, Fifth Fleet."I started with the H-3 then went to the H-60," noted Starkey, who still flies H-60s today with the Pax River Search and Rescue (SAR) team. "Everybody likes their first aircraft, but the H-3 is gone now."Whenever an opportunity presented itself, Starkey took advantage of it."I learned something new from each one and when the next one came up, I took that." he said. "Once it starts, it keeps on going. I never really planned to stay in the Navy, but I think what kept me in is that every tour gave me something new and challenging to do; that happened every single time. There are at least four times in my career when I took advantage of an opportunity, and if I hadn't, I probably wouldn't be sitting here today."One of his biggest challenges occurred from April 2001 to August 2003, when he stopped flying for a time and served as assistant navigator on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65), deploying in support of Operations Southern Watch and Enduring Freedom."It's what's called a 'disassociated sea tour' and it takes you out of your comfort zone," Starkey explained. "I didn't know anything about driving a ship; I'd been flying for three years. But every day I went up on duty and every day I tried to learn a little more. That was probably one of my most challenging tours."Rotating every tour, Starkey was in something of a round robin between Jacksonville, Norfolk and San Diego before stopping at the Pentagon from 2010 to 2013. He took command of Pax River April 14, 2016, after serving as the installation's executive officer, a position that falls under the Navy's Fleet-Up program."Eighteen months as XO and 18 months as CO is how we fleet-up at most air stations," Starkey said. "It gives you a little less time to be the guy in charge, but you have a buildup period beforehand so that you know what you're doing when you take over."Starkey was familiar with Pax River, having spent four months here as a member of (HX) 21 more than 20 years before taking command, but he's never ceased to be amazed by the size and scope of the air station and its operations."This base was built to develop future naval aviation technology and the base CO is responsible for keeping it running so our tenant commands can accomplish their mission," he explained from his office in Building 409, which has housed the base CO since the installation's construction in 1943. "It's a 24-hour job. We have people working all the time and they're incredible. We have funding challenges and so much is happening, yet they're still able to get the job done. And when you learn more about what they do, you appreciate them even more."In addition to his duties aboard Pax, Starkey served as the "face of the base" outside the fenceline."Whether here or out in town, it's all about building relationships and the influence and knowledge you obtain from doing that," he noted. "We have outside support from the community that's the best I've seen in the Navy. The community is related to the base and the base to the community. We work together."The Zone Inspection Program, where NAS leadership visits each building on base, spawned what Starkey calls "ownership"taking the initiative to correct whatever may be wrong without waiting for someone else to notice and take care of it."Ownership is the biggest thing while I was here," he said. "These are everyone's buildings. Whether NAWCAD or CNIC is paying for maintenance, if the people who work here take ownership and pick up trash, don't accept broken things, or report wrong-doing, then we make progress; and we're beginning to see that ownership from everyone on base."
It was two years ago that Kara Matus stepped into the NICU to visit her tiny twin daughters, little miracles named Reese and Cameron. The nurses asked her, Wheres dad?

She replied, Im dad.

Matuss wife, Jaclyn, gave birth to their daughters thanks to the growing field of reproductive medicine, and many other lesbian couples like them are able to have children together  and in a variety of ways (check out our infographic).

There continues to be so many advancements that I noticed definitely theres been an increase year after year in the LGBT patients that were getting, said Dr. Lesley de la Torre, who practices at Associates in Advanced Maternal Fetal Medicine in Miami.

Coming from a long line of obstetricians, de la Torre found she excelled when working with at-risk patients. Today, she consults with doctors to make sure families are using the best procedures and plans to have a child. She highly encourages couples to have in-depth meetings with their doctor to discuss a plan of action and to educate themselves.

Dr. Carolina Sueldo, who specializes in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at IVF Florida in Margate, agrees. At her practice, she sees the gamut when it comes to her patient population. In the initial meetings, doctors discuss reproductive plans  whos going to be pregnant? Whose eggs will be used? How involved does each person want to be? In her experience, most lesbian couples who come in have already done a lot of research and have a good idea of what they want.

If its determined that both partners are on equal grounds physically, its a very personal decision to decide who will carry or donate their eggs. However, other factors come into play, she said  each partners age is vital, as well as their place in life with work, income, health insurance, maternity leave, and more.

Before attempting to get pregnant, doctors run tests to make sure there are no issues before they begin the process. This includes STD testing, blood testing, and a vaccine workup, among other things.

l hate to find out three or six [months] or longer that there was an issue that could have been prevented or that was possibly preventing pregnancy this whole time, Sueldo said about the testing.

When the Matuses were starting their family, they had no friends who had gone through the process and could only rely on their own research. They also interviewed doctors to find the right one who felt comfortable with a same-sex couple. Like many couples, they tried intrauterine insemination (IUI) first. When that was not working, they moved onto in vitro fertilization (IVF), using both of their eggs so they could both be a part of the mix, a process called reciprocal IVF.

When it comes to fertility issues, Florida can improve. Resolve, also known as the National Infertility Association, gave the Sunshine State a C grade on its nationwide fertility scorecard (http://familybuilding.resolve.org/fertility-scorecard/). The score is based on a number of criteria, including the states insurance mandate and the number of doctors specializing in infertility issues. Florida does not require insurance companies to cover procedures that aid with infertility, so many companies opt not to. This leaves patients with a hefty bill when theyre looking to expand their family. On the other hand, Connecticut mandates insurance companies cover three rounds of IUI and two rounds of IVF.

Also, lesbian couples go to a fertility clinic not because they have fertility issues, but rather, a lack of a sperm source. Because they are not considered to be patients with fertility issues  although there can be complications to receive that diagnosis  insurance will not cover pre-pregnancy testing. This would be the same as a single, straight woman who wants to have a child without a partner.

Im hard-pressed to find an insurance company that is fully enveloped IVF, de la Torre said. I have yet to meet a great insurance company that is just going to take it all.

For healthy same-sex couples with no fertility issues, theyre going to have a lot of trouble finding coverage, she added. The doctor estimates that with medication, having a child through IVF can cost easily up to $25,000.

Another cost is a visit to a psychologist. Patients who use donor sperm or eggs, straight or gay, are required by most practices to see a psychologist to ensure the couple is on the same page regarding starting a family.

Finally, there are legal issues at hand when using donor sperm. When sperm comes from a cryobank, donors sign away their legal rights to any children. Couples have to decide whether to use an anonymous or known donor through the cryobank  more couples lean toward the latter option. This means that once the child turns 18, they can reach out to the cryobank for their biological fathers contact information.

Mandy and Jessica Gerow opted to use a known donor for an at-home insemination. Before their daughter, Ellianna, was born, the donor went through a battery of tests and signed away his legal rights to the child. Although both women are listed on the birth certificate, for an extra layer of protection, Mandys wife will be legally adopting Ellianna as well.

We want to make sure there arent any issues later on, she said. Shes our daughter.

The Matuses also came across the legal side of having children. When they had their eldest daughter, Eillek, five years ago, same-sex marriage was still not legal in Florida. By the time the twins came around, they were able to get Eilleks birth certificate reissued with both women listed as parents. Both women are also legally recognized as the girls parents through step-parent adoption.

I never thought that this would be possible, that I could marry Jaclyn or I could be on the birth certificate, Matus said.

The Gerow Family

When Mandy and Jessica Gerow were ready to have a family, after nine years together, they were shocked by the cost of IVF. Instead, they opted to try at-home insemination using frozen sperm from a cryobank close to their home in Orlando.

The timing had to be perfect  frozen sperm can only live up to 24 hours, and a womans ovulation usually lasts only up to 48 hours. After 11 unsuccessful attempts, varying the time period they would inseminate, the couple was emotionally drained. They decided to take a break.

I felt like a failure, Mandy said. [I thought,] Is something is wrong with me? Why is it not taking? Did we do something wrong?

One of Mandys colleagues was determined to find a sperm donor  when the sperm is not frozen, it can survive for up to five days  and her persistence paid off. A man who transferred to their office was interested, so he took blood tests, was tested for STDs, and even provided his baby pictures to the Gerows. Three weeks later, when Mandy was ovulating, he brought over his sperm in sterile cups in a brown bag. Mandy wore her menstrual cup with the semen for 12 hours, twice in one cycle.

It almost felt like Jess got me pregnant, Mandy said of her wife of two years. We werent in a sterile, white room, there wasnt a doctor with gloves on, it was me and her in our own moment. It was really special.

As soon as possible, she took a home pregnancy test and saw a faint second line  she was pregnant on the first try. She placed the test stick on a hamburger bun and put it in the oven to surprise Jessica that there was literally a bun in the oven. Nine months later, Jessica helped deliver their daughter, Ellianna.

Her eyes were wide open and she was staring around and it was so magical to see this life we were waiting for, Mandy remembers. We couldnt believe she was actually here. She was perfect.

(Image: Ellianna Gerow shows her pride. Photo courtesy of the Gerow family.)

The Matus Family

After seven years together  two as wives  Jaclyn and Kara Matus are the proud parents of three little girls: Eillek, five, and twins Reese and Cameron, three. Both women always saw themselves as mothers one day, but Jaclyn was more interested in the pregnancy experience, Kara said. So, the couple did what is growing more popular with lesbian couples  reciprocal IVF.

On one hand, I just wanted to be a mom and I dont care where I get a child from, Kara said about the couples choice. And on the other hand, youre like, I dont want to wake up one day and not have a biological child.

I dont care who she belongs to. But you dont know that when youre doing the process. Youre fearful of the unknown.

The couple first tried IUI, but when that was not successful, they decided to do IVF. In the first pregnancy, two embryos were implanted and one took, resulting in the birth of Eillek. The second time, both embryos took and the couple had twins.

Kara called the process scary, especially when you get a box delivered with $5,000 worth of needles and patches and pills, its like, This is how Im going to start a family?

Its a hard process but its what felt comfortable and right for our family, Kara said. Everyone has their own journey.

The de la Torre Family

Dr. Lesley de la Torre works with families that need extra help having children every day, but nothing could have prepared her for going through the same experience with her wife, Massiel. Together since 2006, the couple decided to try IUI to have their child. When multiple rounds didnt work, they moved on to IVF. On the first round, Massiel was pregnant.

You cant prepare yourself. You try, you try, and you try, but it is different, Lesley said. You are not a doctor in moments like those  youre a partner or wife first and foremost in moments like that.

In fact, when Lesley first got word that her wife was pregnant, she cried tears of happiness  then the doctor in her demanded to see the proof and she laughed.

During the delivery, Lesleys medical partner and she worked to deliver the baby, and she joked she took the glory with being the first to hold their daughter, Miranda, now six months old.

Shes intuitive. Shes really attentive. She was born like that. Her eyes wide open. Ive never seen anything like it, she remembers. Ive obviously brought many kids into this world  and not just because shes mine, but Im telling you, the moment she was born she didnt blink forever. She just kept her eyes open and thats not typical. Shes been recording every step from minute one.

As both a doctor and a mother in a same-sex family, Lesleys advice to others is to take the decision to start a family seriously. With the process to have a family thankfully being easier for LGBT couples more than ever, she encourages couples to have long, hard discussions about where they see their future.

I dont want them to take it for granted, she said.
In 2004, a group of women in the South Florida LGBT community, Cindy Brown, Alicia Apfel, Vivian LaMadrid, Martha Sternberg, Elizabeth Schwartz, Alison Burgos, and Robin Schwartz believed it was time to have an organization for LBT women and run by LBT women. Their vision turned into reality with the conception of the non-profit South Florida organization, The Aqua Foundation for Women (AFW).

We wanted Aqua to focus on the needs of the LBT women in South Florida and be the voice of LBT women in South Florida, said co-founder Robin Schwartz. We wanted to bring more LBT women into the LGBTQ community in a more active way. We wanted more people to either volunteer more or give more financially.

Thirteen years later, this is still the foundations focus, along with an additional emphasis on the transgender community and youth homelessness.

One of the accomplishments of the AFW includes its important impact on individual LBT women.

Emotional and financial support is extremely important. The other day I was in Wilton Manors watching a live band and a past scholarship recipient came up to me to say thank you, Schwartz said. She said she was so happy in her career and that she could not have done it without the support of the Aqua Foundation.

For many of the AFW scholars, the scholarship funds are the difference between going to college or not. In addition to the Scholars Program, there is a Mentors Program where someone who is established in their career signs up to mentor an Aqua Foundation scholarship recipient.

Many Aqua Foundation scholars and mentors say that they end up being like family, Schwartz explained. For others the inspiration they get by meeting confident, out, and successful LBT women at the Emerging LBT Women's Leadership Conference that the Aqua Foundation produces, gives them what they need to take that next step in their career or even to come out to their parents.

When given an opportunity to brag about some of the AFW scholars, Schwartz mentioned two former scholars, Enbar Cohen and Bridget Pelaez.

Enbar Cohen went from scholar to Commissioner of Aventura. She is now an Executive at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Bridget Pelaez graduated and is a nurse and an activist.

The AFW also produces TransCon, a yearly conference focused on transgender topics, trainings, and workshops. According to Schwartz, a former AFW board member, Jessica Lam, ascertained the idea to start a conference for the South Florida community to support the transgender community.

It was a progressive and important accomplishment as TransCon has become a vital source for discussion, information and support to the transgender community, Schwartz said.

The AFW has also been an instrumental South Florida organization in addressing and fighting LGBT youth homelessness through a three-year initiative where the AFW committed itself to providing grant funding for the issue.

According to Schwartz, Aqua reached out to The Miami Foundation and Our Fund and together they gave $100,000 to support youth who find themselves homeless. In years two and three the Aqua Foundation continued to provide funding. The board of Aqua is dedicated to continuing this important work.

In the past, the AFW has also worked to get out the vote. Schwartz stated, Aqua has worked to get women to register to vote. Our voices are heard strongly through our vote and I would like to see Aqua do more of this work.

To continue the work of programming, the organization relies on support from the local community to attend their fundraising events. The AFW will be hosting their annual Aqua Affair on Oct. 26 at the Betsy Hotel in Miami Beach. The Betsy Hotel is a longtime ally of the AFW and other LGBT non-profits in South Florida, and is donating their venue and providing the fare for the event.

This event will be a wonderful cocktail party in a gorgeous location with a great opportunity to learn a bit more about the Aqua Foundation and meet great people. I have had women in their mid-life tell me that going to our events have helped them feel accepted and not alone, Schwartz said. We welcome LBT women and our allies to join us in supporting the only women's organization of its kind in South Florida. Join the movement!
Antares ESO

To the unaided eye the famous, bright star Antares shines with a strong red tint in the heart of the constellation of Scorpius (The Scorpion).

It is a huge and comparatively cool red supergiant star in the late stages of its life, on the way to becoming a supernova [1].

A team of astronomers, led by Keiichi Ohnaka, of the Universidad Catolica del Norte in Chile, has now used ESOs Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) at the Paranal Observatory in Chile to map Antaress surface and to measure the motions of the surface material. This is the best image of the surface and atmosphere of any star other than the Sun.

The VLTI is a unique facility that can combine the light from up to four telescopes, either the 8.2-metre Unit Telescopes, or the smaller Auxiliary Telescopes, to create a virtual telescope equivalent to a single mirror up to 200 metres across. This allows it to resolve fine details far beyond what can be seen with a single telescope alone.

How stars like Antares lose mass so quickly in the final phase of their evolution has been a problem for over half a century, said Keiichi Ohnaka, who is also the lead author of the paper. The VLTI is the only facility that can directly measure the gas motions in the extended atmosphere of Antares  a crucial step towards clarifying this problem.The next challenge is to identify whats driving the turbulent motions.

Using the new results the team has created the first two-dimensional velocity map of the atmosphere of a star other than the Sun. They did this using the VLTI with three of the Auxiliary Telescopes and an instrument called AMBER to make separate images of the surface of Antares over a small range of infrared wavelengths. The team then used these data to calculate the difference between the speed of the atmospheric gas at different positions on the star and the average speed over the entire star [2]. This resulted in a map of the relative speed of the atmospheric gas across the entire disc of Antares  the first ever created for a star other than the Sun..

The astronomers found turbulent, low-density gas much further from the star than predicted, and concluded that the movement could not result from convection [3], that is, from large-scale movement of matter which transfers energy from the core to the outer atmosphere of many stars. They reason that a new, currently unknown, process may be needed to explain these movements in the extended atmospheres of red supergiants like Antares.

In the future, this observing technique can be applied to different types of stars to study their surfaces and atmospheres in unprecedented detail. This has been limited to just the Sun up to now, concludes Ohnaka. Our work brings stellar astrophysics to a new dimension and opens an entirely new window to observe stars.

Notes

[1] Antares is considered by astronomers to be a typical red supergiant. These huge dying stars are formed with between nine and 40 times the mass of the Sun. When a star becomes a red supergiant, its atmosphere extends outward so it becomes large and luminous, but low-density. Antares now has a mass about 12 times that of the Sun and a diameter about 700 times larger than the Suns. It is thought that it started life with a mass more like 15 times that of the Sun, and has shed three solar-masses of material during its life.

[2] The velocity of material towards or away from Earth can be measured by the Doppler Effect, which shifts spectral lines either towards the red or blue ends of the spectrum, depending on whether the material emitting or absorbing light is receding from or approaching the observer.

[3] Convection is the process whereby cold material moves downwards and hot material moves upwards in a circular pattern. The process occurs on Earth in the atmosphere and ocean currents, but it also moves gas around within stars.

More information

This research was presented in a paper entitled Vigorous atmospheric motion in the red supergiant star Antares, by K. Ohnaka et al., published in the journal Nature.

The team is composed of K. Ohnaka (Universidad Catolica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile), G. Weigelt (Max- Planck-Institut fur Radioastronomie, Bonn, Germany) and K. -H. Hofmann (Max- Planck-Institut fur Radioastronomie, Bonn, Germany)

ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the worlds 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 worlds biggest eye on the sky.

Research paper  https://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1726/eso1726a.pdf
ESA and Chinese Astronauts ESA

ESA astronauts Matthias Maurer and Samantha Cristoforetti joined 16 Chinese astronauts in August 2017 for nine days of sea survival training off Chinas coastal city of Yantai.

The course was organised by the Astronaut Center of China in cooperation with the Ministry of Transports Beihai Rescue Bureau.

Returning from space, astronauts need to be prepared for any eventuality  including landing in water. Sea survival is a staple of all astronaut training but this is the first time with non-Chinese participants.

The group donned pressure suits and entered a mock capsule of a Shenzhou spacecraft that was then released into the sea. The astronauts had to swap their flightwear for insulation and buoyancy suits before jumping from the capsule into inflatable boats. They then practised rescue procedures with both a ship and a helicopter.

ESA signed an agreement in 2015 to boost collaboration with the China National Space Administration, with the goal of flying a European astronaut on the Chinese space station in the future.
Inside the ISS Google/NASA

The International Space Station is a marvel of modern science and engineering.



Astronauts have occupied the pressurized modules for over 16 years, and now you can explore their work and living spaces in Google Street View. From the research, to the orbital outhouse to the inspirational views back down to Earth from the cupola, take a look at the images here: google.com/streetview
A Wednesday (August 23) evening barn fire at Goshen Historic Track in New York has been tamed with no horses injured, according to the Middletown (N.Y.) Times Herald-Record.

The blaze, which started in a barn that houses a blacksmith shop, was first reported around 6:15 p.m. and nearly completely extinguished by 8:00 p.m.

Historic Track facilities manager Tim Masters led ten horses to safety, and reported that no horses were injured.

The complete account can be found here.
The Fredericton Raceway 130 committee has announced that final planning for the matinee race program on September 9 at Fredericton Raceway is almost completed.

We now have 10 races fully sponsored, said committee co-chairman, Brent Briggs. The response from the local business community has been overwhelming and we have 25 individual organizations contributing money or services that believe in harness racing in Fredericton and that includes the Mike Bishop Stable from Puslinch, Ontario donating coolers for all of the race winners.

With these sponsorships, purse money will range from $1,000 to $3,250, Briggs added.

Major sponsors include Meridian Farms, Chippins Real Estate, Wood Motors, NBEX, Simms Home Hardware Building Centre, Bishops Funeral Home and Midland Courier. Mira Construction and Hazen J. Hunter Ltd. donated the materials and time to resurface the racetrack at no cost and the track is expected to be in excellent condition for the matinee race program.

The matinee program is being organized to commemorate the 130th anniversary of one of Canadas oldest racetracks. With no pari-mutuel racing dates scheduled this year, The Fredericton Raceway 130 committee, made up of all volunteers, came up with the idea of a matinee race program to celebrate the milestone.

We have a number of events scheduled along with the race card, Brian Embleton, the other committee co-chairman noted. There will be a reception prior to the card and we will be inviting the Mayor of Fredericton and all City Councillors, local MLAs, as well as our sponsors to show them that harness racing is still viable in Fredericton.

There will be a play area set up for children where they can drive a horse along with other activities. Also, there will be a beer tent outside with all products donated by Moosehead Breweries. The Oromocto SPCA will be running a BBQ.

Before the first race gets underway, there will be a special ceremonial mile to recognize the 250th anniversary of horse racing in Canada.

Its really going to be fun and will be the biggest event in harness racing in New Brunswick this year, Embleton said.

(with files from Fredericton Raceway 130)

The special event at Fredericton Raceway on September 9, 2017 is not a sanctioned race card by the Atlantic Provinces Harness Racing Commission. This special one-time program is considered Matinee or Exhibition Racing.

As such, the card will not be officiated by the APHRC, and entries, results, racelines, times, and money distributed will not be recorded by Standardbred Canada.
Thomas More Society Announces Its New Executive Vice President and General Counsel

Contact: Tom Ciesielka, 312-422-1333, tc@tcpr.net CHICAGO/OMAHA, Aug. 24, 2017 / Standard Newswire / -- Andrew M. Bath has joined the Thomas More Society as Executive Vice President and General Counsel, after serving for many years in the same position with Boys Town, the world-famous organization founded by Fr. Edward J. Flanagan, with facilities across the nation for at-risk youth."We are delighted Andy Bath has agreed to move into a key leadership role at the Thomas More Society," said Tom Brejcha, Thomas More Society founder, President, and Chief Counsel. "With his experience running the legal department of a large, national nonprofit, as well as his national connections, he will be an enormous asset for the Thomas More Society. This is a great step forward."Mr. Brejcha continued, "Andy also has a long commitment to our issues. He has been active in the pro-life movement for over 30 years. In fact, he was the Chairman of the Board of the Wisconsin Right to Life Political Action Committee when he practiced law in Milwaukee. He has long been an active member of the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. Andy has consulted on many nationally significant cases in recent years involving issues of life and religious freedom. And he has a working relationship with many of the top lawyers in the country in these areas.""Andy understands the crucial importance of protecting our God-given rights under the law," said Mr. Brejcha.Mr. Bath remarked, "I am honored to have joined one of the preeminent guardians of life, family, and religious freedom under the law. It is a privilege to work with these great lawyers and to help protect the inalienable rights of those whose lives and freedoms are threatened."Ann Scheidler, Founding Director and Chairman of the Board at the Thomas More Society, added, "We are excited to have Mr. Bath step into this position. His nationwide prominence will help propel the Thomas More Society even further into the spotlight as we work to defend personal and religious liberties on the national stage."Mr. Bath has worked as a Special Counsel with the Thomas More Society on particular matters since 2013 and formally assumed his new position earlier this year.In private practice, Mr. Bath concentrated on civil litigation and corporate law. He earned his Juris Doctor degree at Marquette University Law School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, after earning a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. View Andrew M. Bath's official biography here: www.thomasmoresociety.org/about/the-attorneys/andrew-m-bath/ About the Thomas More SocietyThe Thomas More Society is a national not-for-profit law firm dedicated to restoring respect in law for life, family, and religious liberty. Headquartered in Chicago and Omaha, the Thomas More Society fosters support for these causes by providing high quality pro bono legal services from local trial courts all the way up to the United States Supreme Court. For more information, visit www.thomasmoresociety.org
The story continues with dispiriting relentlessness. The remark by Samuel Beckett in The Unnamable comes to mind: I cant go on. Ill go on. With the sense of incapacity about going on, yet doing so with a drones dedicated commitment, President Donald Trump did what US Presidents have done since George W. Bush: commit. Commit, that is, to the mission; commit more promises; and commit more thoughts to blotted paper about the war that never ends in the graveyard of empires.

Addressing the nation from Fort Myer military base in Arlington, Virginia, Trump conceded to weariness  weary, that is, of not achieving victory in Afghanistan. I share that American peoples frustration.[1]

Another frustration were those failed efforts at nation building: too much time, energy, money  and most importantly lives  trying to rebuild countries in our own image instead of pursuing our security interests about all other considerations.

Trumps none-too-intense scouring of the Afghan problem suggested three conclusions. The first was seeking to honour the US fallen. The men and women who serve nation in combat deserve a plan for victory.

The second effectively hooked an indefinite US commitment to the region: the consequences of a rapid exit are both predictable and unacceptable. More terrorist havens, he feared, would mushroom; more vacuums for instability, he warned, could result.

The third far from earth shattering conclusion: the security threats we face in Afghanistan, and the broader region, are immense. The region had been positively fecund in producing and harbouring some 20 US-deemed terrorist groups. The highest concentration in any region, anywhere in the world. (A big tut tut to Pakistan was uttered.)

These conclusions would entail a shift. Time as a measure of achievement would be ditched. Conditions would form the necessary criteria. Dates for commencing or ending military options would be abandoned. No timetables, no schedules, just ground conditions that will guide our strategy from now on. Rather neatly, Trump was suggesting a timeless deployment of US forces  for where time has ceased as a measure, there can only be conditions to assess.

The president also gave us a sprinkling of hoary old chestnuts. The government in Kabul would continue to receive support to combat the Taliban, but the issue of Afghan governance remained one for Afghans. We are a partner and a friend, but we will not dictate to the Afghan people how to live or how to govern their own complex society.

US nation building enterprises have generally floundered, and here was a president admitting to it. But that element of candour was followed by another ghoulish admission. Not only should the US shed such efforts at failed reconstruction, it should just admit to doing one thing: We are killing terrorists.

To do so, Trump promised to untether the US war machine, lifting those encumbering restrictions placed upon the use of fighter aircraft in targeting various networks. Micromanagement from Washington, D.C., does not win battles. Into the bin you go, international humanitarian law!

Other more idiosyncratic pointers were made, linked to a broadening of the South Asia strategy: India needed to muck in more to stabilise the situation, given its billions of dollars in trade with the United States. Pakistan, historically closer to US interests, was irritatingly problematic, receiving billions and billions of dollars while housing the very terrorists that we are fighting. That schizophrenic state of affairs would have to change immediately.

A vital problem here is one of aims, as muddled as they seem to be. What, for instance, would ever elusive victory look like? Taken from its elementary point in 2001-2, US strategists were hoping to eliminate a base for al-Qaeda (a haven for terrorists) while ensconcing a half-representative government in Kabul. It has succeeded in neither, botching the latter while failing to eliminate the Taliban.

Kabul remains in control of only some of the country, and it is a hold that is tenuous at best. The Taliban continue being enthusiastically aggressive, keeping the countryside dangerous for government soldiers. It now controls 15 percent more territory than it did in 2015, despite those surging efforts pursued by General David Petraeus in 2010-2011.[2]

Such a state of affairs, rather than dampening enthusiasm among the military classes, enthuses them to commit more troops. Never mind that such a deployment would be to thicken and deepen a stalemate, a near mediaeval, unchanging status quo.

The current US commanding general in Afghanistan, John Mick Nicholson Jr., suggested to the Senate Armed Services Committee an increased fare of several thousand US troops.[3] Their role would be primarily to engage in hold-fight-disrupt operations.

But Trump has his vision, and it is free of complicating numbers, law of war constraints and reconstruction agendas. Go in, maraud and exterminate, and be frank about such aims too. Give the necessary succour to the Afghan authorities, but only in so far as there are results. Such is the way of what he terms principled realism.

Finally victory could be given form, its elusive quality overcome. From now on victory will have a clear definition: Attacking our enemies, obliterating ISIS, crushing al-Qaeda, preventing the Taliban from taking over Afghanistan, and stopping mass terrorist attacks against America before they emerge. A truly violent, bull in the china shop definition, and an old, if slightly scoured one that will keep US boots in Afghanistan for a generation.

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: bkampmark@gmail.com ; Twitter: @bkampmark

Notes




The best moments of mission teams are in the facial expressions. It is in the moments that people are so suddenly overwhelmed by something that their mouths and eyes cannot hide it. One of those was the joy one of one our sponsors childrens faces when she saw that there was a sharpener in her gift pack. A sharpener for goodness sake! Her face lit up. I found myself basking at gratitude in its purist form in these moments.

It is not only the Onialeku children where the face told a wonderful story. A parent of one of our teens has told me that as she looked at photographs of the trip she asked when she had last seen her daughter look that fulfilled and concluded that it was the last time she was there. With more adults on our team this year it was emotional, for Janice and I as leaders, to see their emotion at the welcome we received on the first day and then at the experiences every day after!

This year we had the joy of opening two major projects funded by Fitzroy. Since we tithed our own building project to fund Onialeku Primary School in 2015 we have watched a congregation taking this community to its heart. Two of our congregation, Richard Guthrie and Michael Fitch, cycled to fund a perimeter fence which it was a joy to have Michael and his wife Gillian open. Michael named the fence Richard!

Someone in the congregation anonymously donated money for a bore hole well. It was a joy to see the joy that Elma and Peter Greer had opening that. Every day I glanced across the school as people used that well, thinking of what a contribution that is to the school and wider community. Clean water. Right there. So many problems dealt with right there.

Of course we were not there to just open things or to observe facial expressions. However, these expressions are a symbol of why we partnered with Onialeku Primary School through Fields Of Love. Our aim is a mutual sharing of our wealth and poverty. We are wealthy in shillings. Onialeku is poor in shillings. On the other hand, in resilience, gratitude and imagination Onialeku share their wealth with us and do it lavishly. This is mutual discipleship as we are inspired, challenged and learn more about the life in all its fulness Jesus brings (10:10!!) from one another!

We broadened our contributions this year. As well as our youth team telling the story of Joseph through drama, music and crafts we did the I Am Girl programme which proved successful in sex education and building relationships. We taught the teachers to make soap and got to sell some at a the Community Day. Peter Greer started a guitar class and Janices knitting class has grown to 60 plus. We are hoping that soap making and guitar and knitting classes will continue!

This is our third summer in a row in these favourite two acres of land in Arua, north west Uganda. Every year you get to go a little deeper. Friendships strengthen, knowledge of the area increases and you become more and more aware of both the opportunities and barriers to progress. Pastors David and Joel, teachers Alice, Charles, Norman and the rest, the children Jacqueline, Rachel, Dinah, Jonathan and the 40 we sponsor never mind the other 250. Our love grows!

Since we were in Arua last summer, one million refugees have crossed into the area from South Sudan. Arua city centre was much busier. Of course most of the refugees are in Bidi Bidi the biggest refugee camp in the world. Ugandans are amazingly welcoming people and in their willingness to open their borders they send a discipleship challenge across our selfish British hearts. Those who have nothing give what they have. Those of us with much ashamedly dont want to lose their decadent wealth!

If the refugee crisis has had implications in Arua as a whole it has also had implications in the school, with teachers being offered higher wages by the UN to teach in Bidi Bidi. Holding on to teachers is a huge challenge for poor schools. We need to help with a strategy to entice top teachers.

We also find that some of the pupils who have done well at Onialeku have little chance of progressing. This year one of our P7 girls showed great ability but with 5 in her family it is unlikely her family can afford her to go to High School. That is a huge waste of potential for her and Uganda. We are home to ponder that dilemma!

These are the challenges and it is an honour to be partnering in working them through. A few more of the Fitzroy community have caught the bug. The sharing of mutual poverty and wealth is increasing. We are home with a lot of things to apply to our lives. We hopefully leave some hope and potential. We thank Fields of Life for the amazing work they do behind the scenes to make all of this possible.
P1 Shahnoza Tohirova was born in Samarkand, Uzbekistan and moved to New York City when she was sixteen. Im a New Yorker by now, she said.

Tohirovas desire to become a pharmacist is rooted in a family tragedy. She lost both her grandparents in Uzbekistan when they were injured in a fire. Hospitalized with second-degree burns, the two passed away due to lack of medical care and the inability to obtain proper medications. Medicine is extremely expensive in Uzbekistan and often completely unavailable, explained Tohirova. People die every day due to medical malpractice and lack of healthcare. The death of my grandparents awakened my desire to help those in need.

After coming to the United States, Tohirova enrolled in the Borough of Manhattan Community College and continued to Medgar Evers College for a bachelor's degree in biology. She balanced her academic career with her busy family life she and her husband have three children, ages four, two and one.

I want to help the less fortunate maintain good health, she said.

Fun Fact: In addition to English, Tohirova speaks Tajik, Uzbek and Russian.
The Kelso school teachers union and Kelso School District reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement on Sunday. Negotiators said they hope the deal will make Kelso more attractive as districts vie for a dwindling supply of qualified teachers.

Details of the deal were not available Monday, because both sides said they need time to review and ratify the deal. If approved, the Kelso School Board will vote on the agreement at a special board meeting next Tuesday.

Kelso School Board President Bob Lucas echoed a sentiment thats become common to teacher contract negotiations in Cowlitz County this year.

We want to provide excellent compensation for our teachers in light of some of the things that have come down with the McCleary decision, Lucas said.

The Legislatures last-minute budget deal at the end of the June aimed to satisfy the state Supreme Courts landmark McCleary decision, which required the state to fully fund basic education expenses. But lawmakers bipartisan solution has already come under fire from school districts across the state that argue the deal has left them worse off than before.

The deal establishes a new teacher pay schedule that offers regional pay increases to teachers in districts with a high cost of living.

It is tough when districts down south, especially in the next couple of years, are going to get additional compensation just because of the cost of living, Lucas said. Some of those teachers may live here but they go down there to teach, and so their cost of living isnt really whats reflected in their wages.

Lucas said that while its impossible for Kelso to compete with districts to the south on salary alone, the deal does contain some potential sweeteners.

We want to make Kelso a place that has other attractions than just salary, he said.

In a press release, Kelso Education Association President Bob Gustin said he was pleased the agreement.

I believe we have reached an agreement that improves working conditions that will benefit students while maintaining fiscal responsibility, he said.

The district is also working on a new collective bargaining agreement with its classified staff.

Lucas said the board also wants to have that deal in place before the new school year starts on Aug. 28.
The coincidence was, seemingly, too good to toss out of the boat.

Cooke Aquaculture, which controversially farms Atlantic salmon in Puget Sound waters where native chinook salmon are officially endangered, suffered a disaster about 4 p.m. Saturday, when a net pen that held in more than 300,000 fish broke open near Cypress Island.

Up to 5,000 fish escaped, by the companys estimation.

The result is feared to be an ecological catastrophe: potential competition and unknown diseases directly introduced into a zone where state, federal and tribal governments have labored for decades to revive the native version of the Salmonidae scientific family. A Lummi fisherwoman told the Seattle Times the situation was a devastation.

In a prepared statement and an interview with the Times, Cooke Aquaculture  whose website says our mission is to be a global seafood leader  defended its practices and suggested it was the victim of freak weather. The net break, Cooke contended, was caused by exceptionally high tides and currents coinciding with this weeks solar eclipse.

One problem has emerged: the absence of evidence that Mondays eclipse caused high tides.

It did involve the moon, as do tidal fluctuations.

However, early charts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of observed water levels show that the high tides in nearby Friday Harbor, for example, have been about 7 feet, 6 inches for most of August. The net-break Saturday happened around high tide, but the recorded water level then was about 3 inches short of the predicted crest, which had been in line with the 7-foot-6-inch mark.

The low tide a few hours before had been slightly lower than 1 foot 6 inches below sea level, and registered a few inches lower than predicted, which suggest that there could have been strong volatility in play. A Cooke spokesman told the Times the current reached 3.5 knots.

However, Casey Ruff, management director of the tribal management group Skagit River System Cooperative, told Crosscut that weve recently had bigger tidal exchanges.

Puget Soundkeeper executive director Chris Wilke went further, and more pungent, with his reaction: This is B.S., he told the Times.

The larger issue in play is that Cooke Aquaculture needs to show it is a trustworthy steward of Washingtons natural resources, including the waters of the Sound. The company, based in New Brunswick, Canada, has met with controversy over its plans to open a net-pen operation near Port Angeles, east of Cadiz Hook.

According to the Department of Ecology, the state has eight commercial marine net-pen salmon farms operating, under guidelines that are 20 years old. Department officials are working on updating management recommendations, which could result in a change of regulations for which new facilities could get permitted.

If they cant be trusted in an accident like this, Wilke told the Times, how can they be trusted to tell the truth in the permitting process?

In the meantime, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife put out a news release Friday urging anglers to catch as many of the escaped Atlantic salmon as possible to get them out of Washingtons waters.

The rogue fish should weigh between 8 and 10 pounds and are safe to eat, the agency said. There is no limit on the number anyone can pull in.
China Unicom with Ericsson have commercially launched a Gigabit LTE network, allowing subscribers to enjoy the services and benefits available with high-speed mobile broadband data.

The Gigabit LTE network upgraded by Ericsson will not only provide China Unicom subscribers with the ultimate experience and enhance customer satisfaction, but it will also make full use of network resources and improve profitability.

Hao Liqian, General Manager, Hainan branch, China Unicom, said, This remarkable achievement will fulfill our strategy to offer the most advanced services to individuals and enterprises on the China Unicom network. Our launch ceremony today is important, innovative and fun, since were using Virtual Reality on a high-speed train over a high-speed network to prove the worthiness of this launch.

As one part of the launch on August 23, passengers on the Hainan Island high-speed train will be able to watch the ceremony through LTE broadcast technology and the Gigabit wireless network. Ericsson, as China Unicoms strategic partner, is the exclusive provider of the LTE broadcast solution, which is Chinas first LTE broadcast commercial deployment.

Chris Houghton, Head of Market Area North East Asia, Ericsson, said, Were literally putting the network into the hands of the subscribers on day one. People will be able to immerse themselves in their video experience and not just understand, but feel, the difference with a Gigabit LTE network while they are moving at very fast speeds. Its the perfect combination of thrilling speeds  physically and virtually.

Ericssons LTE broadcast solution will revolutionize video delivery in mobile networks enabled by the combination of three new standards: eMBMS, HEVC (H.265) and MPEG DASH and will address the growing consumer demand for media services. To accelerate the development of China Unicoms video strategy, Ericsson supported China Unicom with eMBMS in the high-speed train scenario so that passengers could enjoy high-definition video without buffering on the network.

Recently, Ericsson supported China Unicom in setting up a 1Gbps network in Guangdong, Hainan, Shandong, and Beijing with peak speeds of up to 979Mbps. With that speed, it takes just 13 seconds to download a 1080P high-definition movie. There are more on-going 1Gbps trials in Sichuan, Hubei, Shanxi, Jilin and Jiangsu province. A high-speed mobile broadband network will enable businesses and services using Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality and other big data operations.

Ericsson is present today in all high traffic LTE markets including US, Japan, and South Korea, and is ranked first for handling the most global LTE traffic. More than 270 LTE RAN and Evolved Packet Core networks have been delivered by Ericsson worldwide, of which 200 are live commercially.

Technuter.com News Service
Louisiana Red & The City Blues Connection  World On Fire (1985/2017)

1. World On Fire (3:22) 2. Mississippi Girl (2:56) 3. Mini Skirt (1:58) 4. When I Was A Boy (2:21) 5. Voodoo Woman (3:53) 6. Suffering (5:16) 7. Pittsburgh (2:44) 8. Special Medicine (3:56) 9. For My Friend (4:43) 10. Soul Food (4:26) 11. On My Way To The Kingdom Land (4:24) Backing Vocals  Audrey Motaung Bass  Uwe Seemann (2) Drums  Ben Ahrens (tracks: B4) Drums, Percussion  Mick Schreiber Guitar  Louisiana Red (tracks: A3 to A6, B1, B2, B5), Norbert Egger (tracks: A2 to A4, A6, B1, B2), Ulrich Maske (tracks: A1, B3, B4) Harp  Heiko Petcke Keyboards  Rev. Josh Blackwell Vocals  Louisiana Red

Original text from the LP in 1985:

"The themes of the album World On Fire came out of Louisiana Reds own life. The title song is almost gospel-like although rocking along aggressively, and give warning against the nuclear fire, sung by Red with wild emotion. When I Was A Boy is a country honk song about the times on the cotton fields.

Mississippi Girl and Voodoo Woman are love songs, but with the typical Red excitement. For My Friend is dedicated to Bo Diddley, played in the hand jive style, while Soul Food shows Reds old love for soul music. And besides all the babies of the Blues (Red) as Rhythm & Blues, Rock and Soul the authentic stuff itself  listen to Suffering. The last song of the album is an adaption of an old gospel, On My Way To The Kingdom Land. Most of the songs were recorded some kind of live, Red often refused to play a title twice or do overdubs. The spontaneous expression was more important to him. A difficult way to work, but the City Blues Connection was the right partner. After the sessions in Volkspark Studio, Hamburg, Red commented: They are better than any band I had before, even in Chicago." ---cityblues.eu

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

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How dumb do I think the Americans are? I bet we could sell those idiots water. Lets just tell the Americans the bottled water is from France.

Jim Gaffigans infamous bit about the astounding way that bottled water went from sounding idiotic to becoming a mainstay of American life recalls a time when people really did think it was a crazy idea. Its true that so long as we were convinced that the water in question came to us from elsewhere (hence, a better, purer place), we were more than happy to fork over a couple bucks for water, which was previously (and is still) available for free.

Did that bottled water actually come from faraway lands and mountain tops? Who the hell knows. Well, a new class-action lawsuit is attempting to prove that at least one brand of bottled water is a bottle full of lies.

Per The Washington Post, the lawsuit states that Nestle Water North America, the parent company behind Poland Springs, has been bottling groundwater and selling it under the false premise that it comes from a spring.

Not one drop of Poland Spring Water emanates from a water source that complies with the Food and Drug Administration definition of spring waterthe famous Poland Spring in Poland Spring, Maine, which defendants labels claim is a source of Poland Spring Water, ran dry nearly 50 years ago.

The lawsuit also claims that the six groundwater collection sites that Nestle uses are near a present or former human waste dump, landfill, fish hatchery or toxic petroleum dump site.

As for those Food and Drug rules that Poland Spring needs to meet, spring water must come from an underground source and flow to the surface naturally or be pumped from a hole in the ground.

Nestle says that the water in Poland Spring is indeed spring water, though they declined to say how it meets the definition. Peter Gleick, a scientist and president emeritus of the Pacific Institute, told WaPo that Most of Nestles waters are pumped from the ground, but the larger issue surrounds the way the FDA defines spring water.

Annual sales of bottled water grew to $16 billion last year, surpassing that of soda for the first time ever.

[Washington Post]
That headline is a hell of a scenario, isnt it? Its also amazing that this didnt somehow come from Florida, one of our worst states. Rather, its from South Carolina, which isnt exactly in the top of the class, but still.

This happened Tuesday evening, according to police reports, and WSPA-7 provides us with the details:

When deputies got there the front door was opened and a man was yelling. The man in the home told deputies that another man came to the house and they started arguing over a pizza. He said the other man came at him in an aggressive manner with a knife/sword, so he hit him in the back of the head with a stick to defend himself, according to the report. He said the man then slashed his leg.

That the victim apparently had a stick at the ready for self-defense is low-key the best part of that entire story; a close second is the lack of commitment to just what kind of blade the attacker was using. Was dagger not an option? Isnt that the in-between of a knife and a sword? But, yeah, the victim also just used his big stick, somehow from behind the original attacker? Maybe its curved, and he swung it around at an angle, somehow?

So many questions! And, unfortunately, were not likely to get any more answers:

The man with the knife/sword left the scene before deputies got there and no charges were filed.

Sounds like a hell of a neighborhood.
Erdogan tells visiting US defence chief 'uneasy' over arming Kurds

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan meets with U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey on Wednesday.

Reuters, Ankara :

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday told U.S. Secretary of Defence James Mattis that Turkey felt unease over U.S. support for Kurdish militant group YPG, presidential sources said.

In a statement following meetings between Mattis and Turkish officials, the sources said the two sides emphasized the importance of maintaining the territorial integrity of Syria and Iraq, as Kurdish northern Iraq gears up for an independence referendum in September.

Both Turkey and the United States have voiced concerns over the referendum, with the former's Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, saying earlier on Wednesday he would ask Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani to cancel it.

Ankara (AFP) - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday told visiting Pentagon chief Jim Mattis of Turkey's uneasiness over Washington arming a Syrian Kurdish militia viewed as a terror group by Ankara, a policy which has strained ties between the NATO allies.

Mattis made the one-day visit after stopping in Iraq to review progress in the campaign against the Islamic State group, urging coalition partners to prevent other political issues from disrupting the growing momentum against the jihadists.

He met with Erdogan at the presidential palace after talks with Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli in Ankara.

Turkey, an important NATO ally of the United States and part of the coalition fighting the IS militants, is incensed that Washington has been arming the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in the assault on the jihadists' stronghold of Raqa, in northern Syria.

Turkey regards the YPG as the Syrian affiliate of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), but Washington has been impressed with its ability to combat IS on the ground.

In May, the Pentagon said it had begun transferring small arms, including AK-47s, and vehicles to the YPG to support its role as a leading player in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-Syrian Arab alliance fighting IS.

During the meeting, Erdogan told Mattis that Turkey was "uneasy over the US support" for the YPG, presidential sources said.

The Pentagon said Mattis addressed Turkey's "legitimate" security concerns in the meeting and both men expressed a shared interest for their countries "to create conditions for a more stable and secure region."

 'Whatever the price' -



Erdogan has repeatedly vowed that Turkey will thwart any attempt by the YPG to carve out a Kurdish state in northern Syria, leaving open the possibility of a cross-border operation to prise the town of Afrin from Kurdish control.

"Turkey will not allow a terror corridor reaching the Mediterranean in northern Syria," Erdogan told reporters on his plane back from a visit to Jordan.

"Whatever the price, we will conduct the necessary intervention," he said, quoted by the Hurriyet newspaper on Wednesday.

Last August, Ankara launched a cross-border operation in northern Syria aimed at clearing the border zone of both YPG fighters and jihadists.

Complaining about Washington's arming of the YPG, Erdogan said up to 1,000 trucks had crossed from Iraq to Syria carrying weapons for the SDF, which Turkey fears will reach the PKK.

The rise of jihadists in the Syrian northwestern province of Idlib has also caused concern in Ankara, Moscow and Tehran.

Erdogan alluded to plans for Idlib, controlled by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham jihadist alliance, but would not elaborate, only saying: "What is there now? There is Idlib."


Teachers of Rashtrapati Mohammad Abdul Hamid Medical College paid a courtesy call on President Abdul Hamid at Bangabhaban on Thursday. Press Wing, Bangabhaban photo
One billion climate migrants by 2050

Baher Kamal :

Imagine a world with as many as one billion people facing harsh climate change impacts resulting in devastating droughts and/or floods, extreme weather, destruction of natural resources, in particular lands, soils and water, and the consequence of severe livelihoods conditions, famine and starvation.

Although not yet based on definite scientific projections, the proven speed with which the process of climate change has been taking place, might lead to such a scenario by 2050. If so, 1 in 9 human beings would be on the move by then.

Currently, forecasts vary from 25 million to 1 billion environmental migrants by 2050, moving either within their countries or across borders, on a permanent or temporary basis, with 200 million being the most widely cited estimate, according to a 2015 study carried out by the Institute for Environment and Human Security of the United Nations University.

"This figure equals the current estimate of international migrants worldwide."

Other specialised sources estimate that "every second, one person is displaced by disaster." On this, the Oslo-based Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) reports that in 2015 only, more than 19.2 million people fled disasters in 113 countries. "Disasters displace three to ten times more people than conflict and war worldwide."

One Person Displaced Every Second

As climate change continues, adds NRC, it will likely lead to more frequent and severe natural hazards; the impact will be heavy, warns this independent humanitarian organisation providing aid and assistance to people forced to flee.

"On average, 26 million people are displaced by disasters such as floods and storms every year. That's one person forced to flee every second." See: Climate Victims - Every Second, One Person Is Displaced by Disaster

For its part, the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) also forecasts 200 million environmental migrants by 2050, moving either within their countries or across borders, on a permanent or temporary basis. Many of them would be coastal population.

In an interview to IPS, the IOM Director General William Lacy Swing explained that political crises and natural disasters are the other major drivers of migration today.

"We have never had so many complex and protracted humanitarian emergencies now happening simultaneously from West Africa all the way to Asia, with very few spots in between which do not have some issue."

The UN specialised body's chief added "We have today 40 million forcibly displaced people and 20 million refugees, the greatest number of uprooted people since the Second World War." See: Q&A: Crisis and Climate Change Driving Unprecedented Migration

Droughts, Desertification

Another warning comes from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), which estimates that some 135 million people may be displaced by 2045 as a result of desertification.

Up to 12 million hectares of productive land become barren every year due to desertification and drought alone, which is a lost opportunity to produce 20 million tons of grain, adds the Bonn-based Convention secretariat.

Meantime, the increase in droughts and flash floods that are stronger, more frequent and widespread is destroying the land - the Earth's main fresh water store, according to UNCCD.

"Droughts kill more people than any other single weather-related catastrophe and conflicts among communities over water scarcity are gathering pace. Over 1 billion people today have no access to water, and demand will increase by 30 per cent by 2030."

On the other hand, getting sustainable energy to all represents one of the biggest development challenges of the 21st century, it continues.

"Research suggests that 1.4 billion people - over 20 per cent of the global population - lack access to electricity, and that at least 2.7 billion people - some 40 cent of the global population - rely on the traditional use of biomass for cooking."

In short, land, water and energy as resources are all pillars of our survival and of sustainable development.

"They stand or fall together. To be sustainable and in particular to reach poor rural populations, we need to enhance supply, access and security across all three pillars, at the same time, while supporting global climate ambitions."

National security, migration

On this, based on the UN Environment Programme's 2009 study "From Conflict to Peace-building. The Role of Natural Resources and the Environment," UNCCD reminds that 40 per cent of all intrastate conflicts in the past 60 years are linked to the control and allocation of natural resources.

"The exposure of more and more poor people to water scarcity and hunger opens the door to the failure of fragile states and regional conflicts. Non-state actor groups are increasingly taking advantage of large cross-border migration flows and abandoned lands."

Where natural assets including land are poorly managed, warns the Convention, violence might become the dominant means of resource control, forcing natural resource assets out of the hands of legitimate government.

Meanwhile, the number of international migrants worldwide has been on the rise. According to the International migration report (2015), their number has continued to grow rapidly over the past fifteen years reaching 244 million in 2015, up from 222 million in 2010 and 173 million in 2000.

Losing productive land is driving people to make risky life choices, says UNCCD, adding that in rural areas where people depend on scarce productive land resources, land degradation is a driver of forced migration.

Africa is particularly susceptible since more than 90 per cent of economy depends on a climate-sensitive natural resource base like rain-fed, subsistence agriculture.

"Unless we change the way we manage our land, in the next 30 years we may leave a billion or more vulnerable poor people with little choice but to fight or flee."



(Baher Kamal is Senior Advisor to IPS Director General on Africa & the Middle East. He is an Egyptian-born, Spanish-national, secular journalist, with over 43 years of experience).
Well anticipated traffic chaos begins ahead of Eid

A SERIOUS traffic gridlock had erupted on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway lasting from Tuesday midnight until Wednesday night when a goods-laden truck went out of order at Narayanganj. Moreover, a hea- on collision between two passenger buses at Meghna-Gumti Bridge intensified the traffic chaos on the highway. Not to speak on the manmade jams due to delays in toll collections on the Kanchpur and Meghna-Gumti Bridges. The stated chaos is likely to get worsened with homebound passengers heading for home during Eid holidays.



On one hand most of our roads and highways have been badly hit with the onrush of flood water and heavy rains while on the other long stretches of trail tracks are still under flood water. There is enough to fear for an impending traffic disaster any time within the next week - just before the Eid-ul-Azha.



All vehicles travelling from Dhaka to Chittagong and their 10 districts have to cross two major bridges on the way - Kanchpur Bridge and the Meghna Bridge - and the Highway Police fear that these bridges are likely to snarl-up in those areas during the ensuing Eid holidays. Now if accidents and jams add up the situation will turn horrific. We call for round-the-clock strict policing around our highways. Also collecting toll in our bridges will have to be fast-tracked.

However, good that, Trucks, covered vans; lorries along with other heavy vehicles will not be allowed to ply on the highways three days before the Eid in order to reduce traffic jams but the traffic management too will have to be systematic along the highways. Besides, vigilance teams should also be active at bus terminals to deter charging of extra fare from Eid holidaymakers, but given the poor condition of our roads it would be better to introduce some rescue teams in the risky and dangerous roads.



Lastly, though most of the journeys by bus and trains are expected to be not without hindrance but they should be made safer, so to avoid all unanticipated accidents. Not to forget the safer journey will have to be ensured on both ways - going home and also on the way to return.






HC declares two Niko deals illegal

Court Correspondent :

The High Court (HC) yesterday declared two Niko deals signed with Bapex and Petrobangla illegal and ordered the government to confiscate all the properties of Canadian Oil and Gas Company.

The assets will not be returned to Niko until the corruption and compensation cases against the company are disposed of by lower courts, the HC said.

The HC bench of Justices Naima Haider and Saifur Rahman delivered the verdict following a writ petition, Moin Ghani, a lawyer for Bapex and Petrobangla, told the media.

Niko signed the deals - joint venture agreement and gas purchase and sales agreement (GPSA) - with Bapex and Petrobangla in 2003 and 2006.

Joint venture agreement was signed on October 16, 2003 to develop two gas fields while GPSA was inked in December 2006 to sell the gas extracted from Feni gas field.

Shamsul Alam, energy adviser to the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), filed the writ petition with the HC last year, seeking an order to declare illegal the deals, as they were procured through corruption."Assets of JVA and GPSA shall revert back to the state," Moin Ghani said.

"We also find the assets of Niko Resources in Bangladesh have been obtained through a corrupt scheme and are to be treated as proceeds of crime," Moin Ghani added quoting the verdict as saying.

On May 9, 2016, the High Court issued a rule asking the government to explain as to why the two joint venture agreements should not be declared illegal.


Teachers want early arrest of Barguna gang-rape accused

Leaders of Bangladesh Government Primary School Headmasters' Association on Thursday demanded immediate arrest of the accused in a case over gang-rape of a schoolteacher in front of her husband at her school in Barguna's Betagi upazila on August 17.

Rejecting the medical report of the rape victim they also demanded action against the people who are protecting the perpetrators and influencing the administration.

They placed their demands at a human chain organised by Bangladesh Government Primary School Headmasters' Association and some other teachers' organisations in front of the Jatiya Press Club in the city.

Association President Reaj Parveg announced that primary teachers will wear black badges while taking class in the classrooms protesting the incident on August 26, 27 and 28.

The leaders of the teachers' associations threatened to go for tougher movement after Eid-ul-Azha if the government fails to arrest and take immediate actions against the accused by August 30.

They also submitted a memorandum to the Home Minister after the human chain.

The primary teachers across the country formed human chains protesting this incident at the same time.

Bangladesh Primary School Assistant Teachers' Association general secretary Sabera Begum said they sought security from the government as they are feeling insecured by this kind of incident.

Bangladesh Government Primary School Headmasters' Association General secretary Nazrul Islam, Bangladesh Primary Assistant Teachers' Society president Tapan Mandal and general secretary HBM Asaduzzaman among others spoke. The assistant teacher of a primary school was allegedly "gang raped" in a classroom of her school and the victim filed a case with Betagi police station accusing six people.

The accused are Sumon Biswas, 35, son of Md Hiron Biswas , Md Rasel, 28, son of Abdul Barek Mia, Sumon Kazi, 30, son of Abdul Kuddus, Md Rabiul, 18, son of Abdur Rahman, Md Jewel, 30, son of Md Abdur Rahman of Kodomtola village in Hosnabad union of Betagi upazila.

According to the case statement, when the teacher was talking to her husband in a classroom of the school after completion of classes the accused tried to enter the school.

At one stage, when the teacher locked the main gate of the school they broke it open and beat up her husband indiscriminately.

They tied up her husband in a classroom and raped her repeatedly in another room.
Thousands of Rohingyas flee Myanmar for BD

AFP :

Thousands of Rohingya Muslims have crossed into Bangladesh since Myanmar announced a military buildup in violence-hit Rakhine state earlier this month, according to community leaders.

Rohingya leaders in Bangladesh told AFP news agency on Wednesday that at least 3,500 had arrived in recent weeks, piling pressure onto already overcrowded refugee camps in the Cox's Bazar area near the Naf river that divides the two countries.

That is despite stepped-up patrols by Bangladeshi border and coast guards, who said this week they had pushed back a boat carrying 31 Rohingya, including children. "In the Balukhali camp alone, some 3,000 Rohingyas arrived from their villages in Rakhine," said Abdul Khaleq, referring to the camp nearest the river, where most of the migrants stay when they first arrive. Kamal Hossain, a Rohingya elder in another, camp, said nearly 700 families had arrived in Bangladesh in the past 11 days. Many were sleeping in the open because there was no more space in the camps, he said. On August 12, authorities in Myanmar sent hundreds of troops into Rakhine in to boost security, drawing criticism from UN special rapporteur Yanghee Lee, who warned the deployment was "cause for major concern". Rakhine, in northern Myanmar, has been gripped by violence since October, when armed men attacked police posts.

Following the incident, Myanmar authorities have reportedly cracked down on the Rohingya community, which the United Nations believes may amount to ethnic cleansing of the Muslim minority group.

Deen Mohammad, another Rohingya man who entered Bangladesh on August 13, said Muslim villagers in Rakhine were not allowed to visit neighbours without prior permission from the army.

The 45-year-old farmer said he left home with his family after the army killed his 23-year-old son for travelling to a nearby village.

Details of other alleged abuse last year have been recorded by the UN, which has documented mass gang rape, killings, including of babies and children, brutal beatings and disappearances. Rohingya representatives have said approximately 400 people were slain during the security forces' operation in October.

Myanmar launched its own probe into possible crimes in Rakhine and appointed former UN chief Kofi Annan to head a commission tasked with long-simmering divisions between Buddhists and Muslims.

On Wednesday, Annan presented his report to President Htin Kyaw in the Myanmar capital of Naypyidaw. The report is expected to be made publicly available on Thursday.

Azeem Ibrahim, a senior fellow with the Center for Global Policy, told Al Jazeera that while the likely recommendations of Annan's report won't be controversial, the restrictions placed on the former UN chief during his investigation have been criticised by many.

"[Annan] was not permitted to look at any of the human rights violations, which would argue are the basis for the conflict and the tensions in the Rakhine district," Ibrahim said.

He added that those who have been sceptical of the advisory commission itself argue that it is just a way for Aung Sun Suu Kyi to "pacify the global public opinion and try to demonstrate to the international community that she is doing what she can to resolve this issue, and it was just a mechanism to get sanctions [on Myanmar] lifted".

Buddhist-majority Myanmar has long faced criticism for its treatment of the more than one million Rohingya who live in Rakhine, who are seen as interlopers from Bangladesh and are denied citizenship and access to basic rights. Bangladesh estimates that nearly 400,000 Rohingya refugees are living in squalid refugee camps and makeshift settlements in Cox's Bazar. They include more than 70,000 who arrived in the months that followed the crisis in October, many bringing stories of systematic rape, murder and arson at the hands of Myanmar soldiers.

But Rohingya are also increasingly unwelcome in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, where police often blame them for crimes such as drug trafficking. Dhaka has floated the idea of relocating tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees to a remote, flood-prone island off its coast, despite opposition from rights groups.

On Wednesday, the UN refugee agency said it was "deeply concerned" by the reports of a boat carrying Rohingya being turned back. "UNHCR is deeply concerned by this incident, which as the coastguard reported, involved women and children who said they were fleeing violence," an agency spokesman told AFP.


Paracetamol scam in 2009 Health Ministry suspends 2 drug officials

Staff Reporter :

The Ministry of Health has suspended two officials of the drug administration for negligence in probing the incident of deaths of at least 28 children after taking spurious Paracetamol syrup of Rid Pharmaceuticals Limited in 2009.

The two officials are Assistant Director of the Directorate General of Drug Administration Shafiqul Islam and its Deputy Director Altaf Hossain.

Health Secretary (service) Sirajul Haque Khan informed this to the High Court on Thursday after he appeared before the bench of Justice Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain and Justice Md Ataur Rahman Khan as per its yesterday's order. The trial court verdict also recommended punishment of the two drug administration officials for their negligence in probing the shocking incident.

The health secretary also apologised to the HC for not taking actions against the drug officials earlier.

The HC accepted the apology and exempted the health secretary from personal appearance before it in connection with the case.

Earlier on August 3, the High Court bench of Justice Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain and Justice Md Ataur Rahman Khan directed the Health Ministry to explain why the two officials would not be suspended and removed from the services following the trial court verdict.

The health ministry on August 23 in a report informed the High Court that the two officials were only warned for their negligence in duty and departmental case was initiated against them.

The court, however, rejected the report and asked the ministry to submit report again by Thursday after suspending the officials.

On November 28, 2016, The Dhaka Drug Court acquitted all the five accused, top officials of Rid Pharmaceuticals Limited, of the charges of producing and marketing toxic Paracetamol syrup that caused the deaths of children in 2009.

In the verdict, the court observed that the prosecution failed to prove the charges against the accused beyond reasonable doubt and the accused were acquitted of the charges due to negligence in the investigation, and the filing of the case.

At least 28 children died of renal failures after taking Paracetamol syrup from June to August of 2009 across the country.

On August 10, 2009, the then drug superintendent Shafiqul Islam filed the case with the Dhaka Drug Court against them.
Jute industry at stake

Indian anti-dumping duty : Exporters call for immediate negotiation

Kazi Zahidul Hasan :

Jute exporters have urged the government to immediately engage India for lifting of the anti-dumping duty on import of jute goods from Bangladesh.

They came up with the call at the meeting of "National Jute Advisory Committee" held recently in the conference room of the Ministry of Textile and Jute with Minister Md Emaz Uddin Pramanik in the chair.

"Bangladesh's jute goods exports to India have faced serious setback since India imposed the anti-dumping duty. Our jute goods exports to India have already gone down by 70-80 per cent, leading to local jute industries at stake. Such a situation requires immediate government response," Sheikh Sayed Ali, Chairman of Bangladesh Jute Association (BJA) told The New Nation on Thursday.

The BJA leader, who was present at the meeting, said that the government should start immediate talks with the Indian authorities seeking withdrawal of the anti-dumping duty. "A proactive diplomatic effort is a must to overcome the deadlock. Bangladesh Tariff Commission can also play a big role in this regard," he added.

On January 5, India slapped the anti-dumping duty on imports of jute and jute goods from Bangladesh and Nepal to "protect the domestic industry".

For Bangladesh, the duty ranges between $19 and $352 per tonne.

Insiders said though the Indian authorities have imposed the anti-dumping duty, they exempted four per cent duty on import of raw jute from Bangladesh to ensure availability of raw materials for Indian jute industries.

Sheikh Sayed Ali further said Indian market accounts for 20 per cent of Bangladesh's jute goods exports, which is equivalent to only eight per cent of entire Indian local market share and this insignificant percentage cannot dump their local jute market anyway. "The Indian move is illogical and violation of WTO rules," he added. Bangladesh exports more than 1.10 lakh tonnes of jute yarn to India a year. It also exports raw jute and other jute goods.

"The Indian move has seriously affected competitiveness of local jute products. It has also put a negative impact on our shipments to India," A Barik Khan, Secretary of Bangladesh Jute Mills Association (BJMA) told The New Nation.

He further said many jute mills in Bangladesh are heavily relying on India for exports of their produces. They may face closure due to high import duty on Bangladeshi jute goods by the neighbouring country.

"So, we urged the government to start immediate negotiation with Indian authorities to remove the antidumping duty. We hope that the government would be able to change the mindset of Indian authorities in this regard taking advantage of prevailing good relations between Bangladesh and India," he said.

When contacted, Md Emaz Uddin Pramanik, Minister for Textile and Jute told The New Nation that they were aware of the Indian move that had already hurt local jute industries.

"We have requested the foreign and commerce ministries to take up the issue immediately. A productive discussion can only help resolve the issue," he said.

The minister said the government is working sincerely to revive the past glory of the jute sector. It has already devised policies to help flourish local jute industries.

"The government is also considering formation of Tk 10,000 special fund for the jute sector to pave the way of easy access to financing for the millers and exporters," he disclosed.

Jute is the third largest export-earning sector of Bangladesh, after garment and leather.

In 2016-17, Bangladesh exported jute and jute goods worth $962.42 million, an increase of 4.66 per cent from a year ago. It ships 20 per cent of its jute and jute goods to India.

Exports of jute and jute goods totalled at $919.58 million in the fiscal year 2015-16.
No industrial unit within 10 km of Sundarbans

The High Court on Thursday directed the government not to allow any industrial unit to be set up within 10 kilometers of the Sundarbans.

The HC bench of Justice Moinul Islam Chowdhury and Justice JBM Hasan passed the order after primary hearing on a petition. The court also asked the government to submit within six months a list of the industries already built in 10 km areas of the Sundarbans.

It also issued a rule seeking explanation as to why the approval of industries and factories within 10 km areas of the forest will not be the violation of the gazette notification of the Environment and Forest Ministry issued in 1999 and why those should not be removed. The Secretaries of the Environment Ministry, Industries Ministry, Land Ministry, Director General of the Department of Environment, Deputy Commissioner of Khulna, Bagerhat, Satkhira, Barguna and police superintendent of Khulna were asked to respond to the rule.

President of Save the Sundarbans Foundation Sheikh Faridul Islam filed the writ on April 4.

According to the writ petition, the Environment and Forest Ministry issued a gazette notification on August 30 in 1999 declaring the Sundarbans as a reserved area and its 10 km areas as ecologically critical area but the Environment Department has reportedly issued clearance certificate to 150 industries in the area.
Russian envoy to Sudan found dead in his swimming pool

Independent :

Russia's ambassador to Sudan was found dead in the swimming pool of his Khartoum residence, officials have said.

He is the sixth senior Russian diplomat to have died suddenly overseas since last year's US election.

The Sudanese foreign

minister released a statement confirming Mirgayas Shirinsky, who was in his early sixties, died at his Karthoum home but he did not give a cause of death.

The AFP quoted a police spokesman saying he was found in the swimming pool.

His death comes after a string of Russian diplomats have died suddenly overseas since November.

On the morning of the US election day, Russian diplomat Sergei Krivov, 63, was found lying unconscious on the floor of the Russian Consulate in New York with a head injury. Russian officials later said he had died from a heart attack.

In December, Andrey Karlov, 62, the Russian ambassador to Turkey was shot in the back as he was making a speech at a photo exhibition in the capital city of Ankara.

A man wearing a suit and tie fired eights shots and shouted "Allahu akbar" and "We die in Aleppo, you die here".

In January, the Russian Consul in Athens, Greece, Andrei Malanin, 55, was found dead on the bathroom floor in his apartment. Police said Mr Malanin had appeared to have died from natural causes.

A couple of weeks later, Alexander Kadakin, died after a brief illness at the age of 68, sources told the Hindustan Times. It was later reported he had died from heart failure but few details are known.

In February, Russia's ambassador to the UN for more than a decade, Vitaly Churkin, collapsed in his office and died. Postmortem tests suggested Mr Churkin died from a heart attack but at the time officials said further examinations were required.

The foreign ministry in Moscow told Russia's RIA Novosti state news agency: "We grieve to announce that on 23 August in Khartoum the Russian ambassador to Sudan, Mr Shirinsky died."

Russia's foreign ministry also reposted a tweet from the Russian embassy in Panama expressing its condolences after the death of Mr Shirinsky, who it described as having "devoted his life to the service of the homeland".

Russia's embassy spokesman told the AFP there were signs Mr Shirinsky had suffered a heart attack.

According to the embassy's website, Mr Shirinsky was born in 1954 and he spoke Arabic and English.

He started his career as an ambassador in Egypt in 1977 and had previously been posted in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Rwanda. He took on his post as an ambassador to Sudan in 2013.






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Dr. Loren Scott Photo by Robin May

One Acadiana will host the 2017 Entree to Business Breakfast featuring Dr. Loren Scotts Louisiana Economic Outlook, returning to DoubleTree by Hilton on Thursday, Oct. 12.

1A is taking over the long-running event from ABiz, which has suspended its operations.

The breakfast event, which kicks off at 7 a.m., is being presented by IberiaBank and sustaining sponsor Cox/Cox Business. Supporting sponsor is Dwight Andrus Insurance.

Reserve your seat for this much-anticipated event, where economist Scott will deliver his analysis on the oil and gas industry, updates on the Lafayette MSA and major economic events in the area.

This is typically a sold-out event, so secure your tickets by clicking here.
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CHICAGO  Just weeks after being hired, four key members of Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner's communications team have resigned in the wake of the Republican's confusing response to a political cartoon depicting a black child begging a white man for money.

Rauner announced the changes Thursday, saying he didn't sign off on a statement from his staff this week explaining that he wouldn't comment on the cartoon, which critics called racist, "as a white male." He characterized the resignations from the high-pressure jobs as mutual agreements.

"The communications effort is incredibly hard because we have attacks, political attacks coming 20 times a day. We have social media attacks coming 100 times a day. We have false rumors planted that have to be dealt with," he said at a pension-related bill signing in suburban Chicago. "Getting people who can do it well and are willing to do on this scale it's a challenge ... Sometimes other things get in the way. Other loyalties get in the way."

Rauner didn't elaborate.

The four employees  Diana Rickert, Laurel Patrick, Meghan Keenan and Brittany Carl  were hired last month in a major staff shake-up that included enlisting several individuals from the Illinois Policy Institute, a conservative think tank. Last week the organization circulated a cartoon, meant as a commentary on Illinois' ongoing school funding fight, of a black Chicago schoolchild panhandling for money from a suit-clad white man with a cigar with cash stuffed in one pocket.

The image and Rauner's response prompted wide bipartisan opposition, with claims the image played up racist stereotypes and was insensitive after the recent deadly attack at a white nationalist rally in Virginia.

On Tuesday, a Rauner spokeswoman issued a statement saying the governor "as a white male" wouldn't have anything further to add to the discussion. Hours later Rauner retracted the words, saying the statement didn't accurately reflect his views.

Rauner said for days that he hadn't seen the image, but acknowledged publicly Thursday that he saw it and understood "why some people would be upset by it."

The cartoon prompted the Illinois House to stand up in opposition while in session last week. The Policy Institute removed the online image after the backlash, but continued to defend it as truthful and with statements from black residents who said they didn't find it racist.

The resignations come at a critical time for Rauner, who's seeking a second term next year. They also raise questions about his links to the Chicago-based tax policy organization that runs a statewide media service and legal arm, which has challenged Illinois' same-day voter registration law in court.

Rauner, a wealthy businessman, donated to the group before he was governor. Last month's hires included the institute's former president as Rauner's chief of staff and Rickert, who was the group's spokeswoman. The staff housecleaning, that saw roughly two dozen people either fired or resigned, came shortly after the Democrat-run Legislature dealt Rauner a major political blow in ending the state's roughly two-year budget impasse. Several Republicans broke ranks and voted for the spending plan that includes an income tax increase over Rauner's objections.

Rauner defended the staff changes, saying he's always trying to build a strong team and isn't beholden to the Policy Institute. Messages left for the four people who resigned weren't immediately returned.

"A very tiny fraction of our administration is from that organization," he said. "And in no regard, does that organization speak for me or our administration. And I do not lean on them for any particular issue or policy."

In the meantime, the state's legislative leaders are negotiating on a school funding deal. The new budget requires a revamped formula for public schools to get state money this academic year. The 20-year-old calculation Illinois currently uses is widely considered unfair, though Republicans and Democrats disagree over how to change it.
A spokeswoman says Gov. Bruce Rauner will sign a plan that would limit cooperation between authorities in Illinois and federal immigration authorities.

The Republican has previously called it a "reasonable" bill but declined to reveal his decision. Rauner spokeswoman Laurel Patrick said Tuesday that Rauner will sign the measure Monday, which is his deadline to act.

The measure would, among other things, prohibit state and local police from searching, arresting or detaining someone solely because of immigration status, or because of federal immigration detainers. But local authorities would be able to hold someone if federal officials have a valid criminal warrant.

The plan, passed with heavy Democratic support, was scaled back from an initial proposal. Law enforcement groups and immigrant rights activists back the plan.

The legislation is SB31.

 Associated Press
In the wake of recent violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, a group of local community members and ministers gathered Wednesday evening to pray against racism.

Its a glorious day to stand in the shadow of this monument because it holds no weight on me and it holds no weight on you, said the Rev. A. David Griffin in Orangeburgs Memorial Plaza. He was just yards away from the monument honoring the Confederate dead.

As I look at my brothers and sisters in this community, it is very reassuring to me to know that if you are in the body of Christ, Paul calls us to a higher understanding of worshipping Christ and not any form of idol or any form of idol worship, Griffin said.

That goes for me as a black man worshipping my heritage, for example, or you as a white man worshipping your heritage, for example, he continued.

In Christ, we are one through him and all things fall under that.

Several local pastors and church leaders led prayers before the crowd separated into small groups for guided prayers.

The Rev. J.P. Sibley led group prayers in four guided topics:

* Prayers for all men and women to recognize that God created them and their neighbor in His image to reflect something of His character.

* Prayers for all who name Christ as Savior to honor Jesus name by teaching the reconciliation Jesus brings people of all races and cultures.

* Prayers that Christian believers in Orangeburg and throughout America will worship Jesus in this life the way they will worship Him forever in Heaven, celebrating how He saved every nation, tribe, people and language and made them into one family.

* Prayers for the safety and protection of all of Gods children on Earth, asking God to help them obey Him by ending oppression and injustice.

When we respect the dignity of each other, no matter our race or culture, we show the dignity of the One who created all of mankind in His image, Sibley said.

After the guided prayer time, the group joined hands and sang six verses of the hymn Amazing Grace.

The following local church leaders led in the prayer service: Pastor Donna Randells of Restoration Empowerment Ministries, Griffin of Elim Christian Fellowship, local author Wendy Alsup, the Rev. Todd Brown of New Mount Zion Baptist Church, the Rev. John Mark Patrick of Trinity Presbyterian Church, Sibley of New City Fellowship and the Rev. James Cromartie of Olive Grove Missionary Baptist Church.
A volunteer firefighter has been charged with setting fire to forestland in Bamberg County.

Joshua David Ryder, 23, of Smoaks was arrested Thursday, Aug. 17, by South Carolina Forestry Commission law enforcement officers and charged with willfully burning lands of another, according to a Forestry Commission arrest warrant.

Ryder was booked into the Bamberg County Detention Center the same day and released on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond.

The arrest stems from a May 27 fire. The chief of the Hunters Chapel Fire Department responded to a woods fire near the intersection of Charleston-Augusta Road and Hunters Chapel Road that evening.

The incident report stated that a retired officer from the S.C. Department of Natural Resources who had already arrived at the scene found fresh tire tracks and a footprint near where the fire started.

Ryder also showed up at the fire to respond, according to the incident report.

Officers noticed Ryders footprints and his vehicles tracks appeared to match those they had found near the suspicious fire, according to the incident report.

Upon questioning, Ryder admitted he had set the fire and wrote a statement of confession, the incident report states.

The fire was brought under control quickly and did minimal damage. Investigators estimated the damage at $100.

Ryder began as a volunteer firefighter with the Little Swamp Fire Department in September 2016. Hes no longer a member.

Forestry Commission spokesman Douglas Wood said he doesnt know why Ryder allegedly started the fire.

If hes convicted, Ryder could be facing a fine of no more than $5,000 or no more than five years in jail.

The fire was the latest in a string of about 30 suspicious fires in the area since January, according to law enforcement officials. The fires have included forest fires as well as fires at three abandoned structures.

Those fires are still under investigation.
The Orangeburg Department of Public Safety says it is seeking a 13-year-old female who apparently ran away.

ODPS Lt. Sam Jenkins said Kaniyah Janeice Milhouse was last seen on Aug. 22 around 8 p.m.

She was last seen wearing a grey Adidas shirt, navy leggings and flip-flops.

Milhouse is a light-skinned African American teen who stands about 5 feet 7 inches, weighs 100 pounds and has black hair braided in a box style.

She went missing Tuesday after she and her mother returned home from a court hearing, according to police.

Milhouse was planning to spend the night with her godmother and had already packed.

She went outside to water the flowers on the porch. After a few minutes, her mother noticed she never returned.

Milhouses mother told officers she doesnt know where her daughter went.

To report information about Milhouse's whereabouts, contact Jenkins at 803-664-1347 or Crimestoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC. Callers may remain anonymous.
Orangeburg County Council received several complaints Tuesday about a concert venue outside Bowman.

We experienced trespassing, traffic issues, safety and security concerns, noise, litter and some problems with communication, resident Patti Padgett said.

Over the weekend, Yonder Field held its first event. It featured an Uncle Kracker concert and ended with an event during Monday's eclipse.

Jimmy Padgett said Log Cabin Road was closed. Residents were previously told that would not happen.

Log Cabin Road is a county and state-maintained road, Padgett said. "This council voted that they would not close that road, yet it was closed anyway."

Bruce and Janice Wiles said cars ended up pulling onto their property to make three-point turns.

I finally had to put my truck in my driveway to stop people from pulling into my yard and possibly having an accident out there, Wiles said.

Janice Wiles said it prevented the mail carrier from going down the road and reaching their house.

I received no mail yesterday and Im not sure how legal that is for the road to be closed to where a mailman cannot deliver my mail, Wiles said.

After a call to a county employee, the barriers were removed.

County Administrator Harold Young said the S.C. Department of Transportation, asked us to close that off because they didnt want people coming out on that.

Young said they agreed because there are no houses on Log Cabin Road.

Well come up with better solutions, but at the end of the day, well have to agree to disagree on that one," he said.

Patti Padgett said the community was promised the phone number to a command center post, but didnt get one.

She emailed county administration for the driving passes which residents were told they would be given in order to bypass any traffic. They were supposed to receive them a week in advance from Yonder Field personnel, but the county had to issue the passes after complaints.

Its just going to get worse when they have bigger events out there, Janice Wiles said.

Padgett requested an increase in the presence of emergency services and fencing to protect homeowners.

Young said the first event was a test to see how things would run. He said they now have a better understanding of what preparations need to be made.

In other business:

 Arnold Ray appeared before council in defense of the John W. Stroman Center on Sharperson Street.

Ray said Deloris Frazier, a candidate for the County Council District 6 seat, has a personal vendetta against Stroman and is working to remove his name from the building.

John Stroman has done nothing in this community and in that community, the Edisto Drive community, but help, he added.

Ray said he has been waiting seven years for the county to put up a sign recognizing the fact that its the John W. Stroman Center, its not the Deloris Frazier Center.

He went on to say that as she is running for a council seat, she should be removed as the president of the center, stating that its a conflict of interest.

 First reading was approved for an ordinance, by title only, authorizing the execution of an agreement to sell the Way Building to the Shuler Group, Inc.

County Attorney Jerrod Anderson said the cost to renovate would be too costly to the county. The Shuler Group will be in charge of the repair and remodeling of the Way Building.

 Council approved two procurement requests.

The first was for $116,289.60 to Becker Complete out of Columbia for replacements of self-contained yard compactors at the landfill. Young said the old compactors have been repaired and welded many times, but the mechanisms have gone past their usage.

The second procurement was $150,584.18 to Simple Communications Technology for LTE modems and antennas, plus installation in sheriffs vehicles.

Young said it is not the lowest bidder, but the highest ranking bidder. The funds will be budgeted from the countys technology bond account.

The Justice Department has mandated that we have communications in public safety vehicles, Young said. Additionally, they have a new South Carolina uniform traffic ticket interface exchange mandate that the state gave us as well that requires us to put in this additional equipment.

The county believes Simple Communications will be able to install the equipment on time without being fined by the state. The company also has experience in this area as opposed to the lowest bidder, which is a traditional mobile company which only deals in cable and phones, he said.

 Council passed second reading of an ordinance amending the countys fee-in-lieu agreement with the Palmetto Plains Solar Project. They have promised an investment of $84.5 million in mostly solar panels, with no new jobs planned.

 Council approved second reading of an ordinance amending the agreement with Springfield Solar, LLC to reduce their targeted investment of $10 million to $9 million.

 Council approved second reading of an ordinance rezoning property at 7255 Old Number Six Highway in Elloree from Forest and Agriculture to Commercial General. The request was from Donald E. Jones and Beverly Jones, who plan to use the property as a car lot.

 Council approved first reading by title only of an ordinance approving the sale of property located in Orangeburg County to Orangeburg Outside, LLC for the purpose of constructing billboards. By second reading, they will have the locations of where the billboards would be placed.

 Authorization was given for a contract for the school year stating that the sheriffs office will provide a security service detail to requesting schools and the county will provide financial administration services. The school districts will be required to reimburse for all the expenses toward the school resource officers.

 Council went into closed, executive session to discuss four economic development updates for anonymous projects operating under the names Project Recycle, Project Halo, Project One and Project Profile.

 County Council gave third and final reading to an ordinance enacting a business license.
COLUMBIA  As part of the states response to issues related to prescription opioids and heroin in South Carolina, the 2017 S.C. Governors Opioid Summit will be held Sept. 6-7 at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.

Sponsored by the S.C. Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, the summit will be a statewide response to the opioid epidemic, bringing together healthcare professionals, state and local agencies, concerned citizens and law enforcement to collaborate on solutions.

"It is more critical than ever that we bring together every group that has a stake in the opioid crisis to combat what we now know is one of the most deadly health issues our state and country have faced in a generation," Gov. Henry McMaster said. "Over the course of the summit, we will hear from some of the country's foremost experts on opioid addiction and discuss a strategic plan for improving South Carolina's response efforts. This tragic epidemic has already torn apart too many families, and I'm confident that South Carolina will come together, as it always has, to provide the support necessary to save lives."

By bringing together individuals from the full spectrum of professions  from health care to law enforcement  we can work together on solutions that emphasize opioid overdoses as a health issue, said Sara Goldsby, Interim Director of DAODAS. All of the current science tells us that the physiology of brains affected by opiates are altered differently than any other addictions.

For information about the summit and to register, visit the www.scopioidsummit.org.

Keynote speakers for the summit will include McMaster and Bertha K. Madras, Ph.D., of Harvard Medical School, who was recently named to the Presidents Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. The event will also feature a wide selection of sessions that promote the theme of cross-sector connection, communication, and collaboration.

In 2015, there were 594 opioid-related overdose deaths in South Carolina vs. 311 homicides  a 17 percent increase from the number of opioid deaths in 2014. Also in 2015, 5,702 patients were discharged from emergency departments with issues related to opioid abuse/dependence, and 2,398 were discharged from EDs with issues related to opioid overdose/poisoning. Over the past 10 years, there has been a 135 percent increase in service utilization at state-funded substance use disorder treatment programs for individuals looking for help with an opioid use disorder  from 2,469 in 2006 to 5,803 in 2016.

Joining DAODAS in presenting the Governors Opioid Summit are the state Department of Health and Human Services; Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation; S.C. Law Enforcement Division, and Department of Health and Environmental Control.
WASHINGTON -- How unstable and divorced from reality is President Donald Trump? We've reached the point where the nation has the right and the need to know.

We're not accustomed to asking such questions about our presidents. We don't know how to even begin inquiring into a president's mental health, so we rationalize aberrant behavior as being part of some subtle strategy. We say that Trump is cleverly playing to his base, or employing the "madman theory" of foreign relations, or simply being unpredictable to gain an advantage by keeping everyone off balance.

But if Trump were really playing three-dimensional chess, presumably he'd be getting things done. His approval ratings would be rising rather than falling. Allies in Congress would be expressing admiration rather than increasing dismay.

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., hit a nerve when he said Trump "has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence" needed in a president. That indictment was significant because Corker, who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee, is a respected Capitol Hill veteran who chooses his words carefully -- and who thus far has been willing to give Trump a chance. Corker said he feared that "our nation is going to go through great peril" and called for "radical change" at the White House.

Democrats have been slightly more plain-spoken. Rep. Adam Schiff told CNN Sunday that "I certainly think that there's an issue with the president's capability." And fellow California Rep. Jackie Speier tweeted last week that Trump "is showing signs of erratic behavior and mental instability that place the country in grave danger."

Speier went so far as to call for action under the 25th Amendment, which allows the vice president and the Cabinet to relieve the president of his "powers and duties" if he is unable to discharge them.

Trump's performance following the Charlottesville incident was indeed alarming, the problem being not just what he said but how he said it. After initially blaming the violence -- which led to the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer -- on "many sides," Trump reversed course Monday and specifically condemned neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan -- but looked like the reluctant star of a hostage video. Then on Tuesday, Trump went back to blaming "both sides" in what can only be called an angry, red-faced rant.

We should assume that the ugliness we heard from Trump about Charlottesville reflects his true feelings. And we can conclude that he failed to grasp how jarring those sentiments would sound to most Americans' ears.

Anyone can have a bad day. But according to many published reports, Trump often erupts into rage -- especially when he sees something he doesn't like on the cable news shows he is said to watch compulsively.

In his Twitter postings, he increasingly lashes out in ways that are often counterproductive. I can see some method behind his incessant ranting about "fake news," which may actually help him with his political base. But why attack Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., whose help the president needs if he is to get legislation passed or nominees approved? Why campaign against Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who has been a frequent critic but ended up supporting Trump on health care? Is Trump unable to imagine how other GOP senators -- all of whose votes he needs if he is to get anything done -- are going to react?

I have spoken with people who have known Trump for decades and who say he has changed. He exhibits less self-awareness, these longtime acquaintances say, and less capacity for sustained focus. Indeed, it is instructive to compare television interviews of Trump recorded years ago with those conducted now. To this layman's eyes and ears, there seems to have been deterioration.

I am not professionally qualified to assess the president's mental health; psychiatrists and psychologists who have the proper credentials and experience to do so are silenced by ethical rules. The stakes are so high, however, that the officials who work alongside Trump and observe him closely bear a tremendous responsibility. There is a huge difference between sounding as unhinged as North Korea's Kim Jong Un and actually being that unstable.

It is of some comfort that Trump is surrounded by levelheaded military men -- Defense Secretary James Mattis, national security adviser H.R. McMaster and chief of staff John Kelly -- who are unlikely to do anything rash. But no one elected them.

It is uncomfortable to talk about the president's mental health. But at this point it is irresponsible not to.
By Azernews





By Amina Nazarli

The "Heart of Asia - Istanbul Process" conference to be held in Baku this year will offer another chance at reconciliation and development in Afghanistan.

The conference will discuss the situation in the war-torn country with a particular focus on Afghan economy, while the security-related issues will surely be among key topics, a source told Trend.

The Heart of Asia Conference is an intergovernmental organization founded in Istanbul, Turkey. The aim is to provide a platform to discuss regional issues, particularly encouraging security, political, and economic cooperation among Afghanistan and its neighbors.

Azerbaijan joined this process in 2012. The country assumed the co-chairmanship of the Heart of Asia  Istanbul process for 2017 in early December 2016.

The process encompasses 14 participating countries, as well as 17 countries and 12 regional and international organizations supporting its agenda.

The conference, which will be held at the level of the foreign ministers of the participating countries, will also consider issue of developing concrete measures to combat terrorism, responding to emergencies, counter-terrorism measures, combating drug trafficking, promoting trade and investment, regional infrastructure and education.

A meeting of high-ranking officials of the countries participating in the "Heart of Asia - Istanbul Process" took place in Baku on March 17. Azerbaijan has accepted the responsibilities of holding this event as a co-chair of the process this year.

The first meeting of the FMs of the Istanbul process was held in Istanbul 2011, then in Kabul, Almaty, Beijing, and in Islamabad. The last ministerial meeting was held in Amritsar, India.

Azerbaijan supports the Afghan way of reforms by its assistance in the areas of education, infrastructure and transport development, investments and enhancing the role of women in the society.

The country has several times made substantial donations to the Afghan National Army (ANA) Trust Fund.

The peacekeeping contingent of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces has been serving in Afghanistan since November 20, 2002. Azerbaijan, as a reliable partner of NATO and friend of brotherly Afghanistan, is committed to continue its significant contribution to the Resolute Support Mission by providing troops, multi-modal transit, training and financial assistance.
By Azernews





By Ali Mustafayev

Moscow announced that its diplomatic missions in the United States will continue working as normal and accomplishing their functions, despite Washingtons recent decision to suspend visa processing for the Russian applicants.

"Russian diplomatic missions in the US will continue working as normal and fulfilling all their functions," Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on August 14, Tass reports.

"We will never take it out on American citizens, create any intolerable conditions for them for getting Russian visas and revenge this way," the diplomat stressed. "We call for interaction and cooperation."

The U.S. Embassy in Russia announced on August 21 plans to suspend the procedure of issuing nonimmigrant visas for Russians on August 23. The procedure will be resumed on September 1, but only in Moscow. Visas wont be issued in the consulates general in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok.

Zakharova added that Russia takes into account that bilateral cooperation meets the interests of people "who live on the other sides of the ocean." "Its not our method to create difficulties for them on purpose," she stressed.

Moscow expresses "bewilderment and regret" over the US decision on suspending non-immigrant visa issuances for Russians, she said.

"As we understand, the main reason behind this move was not technical difficulties, which the well-equipped US consular service has faced. Apparently, political motives are behind this," she said.

The latest move was assessed as a new blow against the already dismal diplomatic relations between the two sides, with each new step moving Moscow and Washington further from the rapprochement anticipated a few months ago.

The relations worsened after American intelligence accused Russia of intervening in the presidentiall elections in 2016.

In July, the United States Senate approved a measure to expand economic sanctions against Russia, as well as against Iran and North Korea. Later President Trump approved the bill.

The Russian government as a response seized two American diplomatic properties in Russia and ordered the United States Embassy to reduce staff by September.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly rejected any allegations that his campaign staff cooperated with Russia for victory in the elections.

The allegations by the U.S. intelligence community that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election are currently being investigated by Congress and a special investigator.
Dr Mirza, Shaikh Nawaf and other officials at the inauguration.Image: BNA

A new 220 kV power distribution station at Bahrain International Airport was inaugurated yesterday (August 16) by Electricity and Water Affairs Minister Dr Abdulhussain Mirza.

The Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) chief executive officer Shaikh Nawaf bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa and senior officials attended the opening ceremony, said a Bahrain News Agency report.

The minister said that the inauguration of this project comes within the strategic plan to provide the power required for the expansion of Bahrain International Airport and expanding the electricity transmission networks in Bahrain.

The new station, built at a cost of BD17.243 million ($45.61 million), will feed the new airport terminal building. It is one of 15 such 220 kV facilities, along with 48 other 66 kV substations, that will be installed in the Muharraq Governorate.

The EWA chief praised dedicated employees who completed the plant in a record 12 months and thanked project consultants and contractors for following up and completing the station on time.

The supply and installation of the plant was undertaken by Swiss company ABB, while the transformers were supplied by Korean company HHI. The cables for the project were supplied by Saudi Cables.

The civil works of the plant were completed by Bahrain's Shabu Construction Company and electrical cable works by Alkomed Bahrain, while the implementation was supervised by the Irish consulting company ESB International.
More than 140 regional and international brands will display their latest products and solutions for industry professionals in the Middle East at Gulf Glass, the largest flat and container glass event in the region, to be held next month, in Dubai, UAE.



The event will take place from September 25 to 27, at the Dubai World Trade Centre.



The trade fair is a leading one-stop-shop for all things glass, as it hosts suppliers of finished products, glass production technology and machinery, glass processing and finishing solutions, measurement, testing and control technology, tools, replacements and spare parts, as well as auxiliary equipment and fitting, said a statement from the organisers, dmg events Middle East, Asia and Africa.



Muhammed Kazi, event director of Gulf Glass, said: The flat glass market is expected to exceed $134 billion by 2023, while the global construction glass market will reach $121.8 million in the next five years, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.1 per cent.



Indeed, the demand for innovative and green solutions for the built environment is surging in the region; glass, a sustainable and fully recyclable material, is the perfect solution to todays challenges, providing energy efficient cooling and lighting systems, he said.



Some big industry names participating at the event this year include HIET, Mountain Glass, Tec Pro, Glass Source, Mega Enterprise, Glaver Gulf, and Electro Glass, it added.



Marcel Dagher, general manager of HIET, said: This premiere glass exhibition has emerged as a principal meeting place for the global industry.



Karim Nasser, regional director at RWL, visiting the last edition of the trade fair, said: I am overwhelmed with the amount of exhibitors and potential. The event a great exhibition to look out for new industry trends and meet with industry professionals.  TradeArabia News Service
Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) has entered into a QR350-million ($96.1 million) contract with Voltamp Oman for the supply of 4,900 transformers for the electric distribution grid in Qatar, said a report.



Kahramaa recently signed two agreements in this regard with the Omani firm, added the Gulf Times report.



The agreements were signed by Essa bin Hilal Al Kuwari, president of Kahramaa, and Qais bin Mohamed Al Yousef, chairman of Voltamp Oman, in the presence of a large number of officials from Oman Chamber of Commerce and Voltamp Oman as well as other senior officials from Kahramaa.



Al Kuwari explained that Voltamp Oman will supply about 4,900 transformers to Kahramaa over the next two years.



The transformers will be used for the power distribution network of Kahramaa, in order to supply electricity to infrastructure projects, industrial projects as well as for residential units across the country.



Al Kuwari said that the Omani firm was picked through an earlier tender floated to four companies and at the end, the two contracts were awarded to the company which offered the best technical specifications of contracts, added the report.
Saudi Arabia will install huge folding umbrellas in Makkah next year to protect pilgrims from the heat, a senior official has been quoted as saying.

Design works on the umbrella project for the Makkah Grand Mosque courtyards have been completed, said Major General Muhammad Al-Ahmadi, commander of Grand Mosque security forces.

The umbrellas will cover 53 x 53 m, making them the largest in the world, a report in Saudi Gazette said.

The Grand Mosque roof will also have these umbrellas, he said.

The mataf expansion project, which was completed this year, will accommodate more pilgrims and provide them with more comfort and ease, he said.

All Makkah sites as well as the Holy sites are monitored by 5,900 surveillance cameras that are linked with the Unified National Center and the Grand Mosque Operations Room. We have installed more advanced technology this year, he added.
Ahmed S Khogeer, a senior project engineer with Saudi Aramcos Special Kingdom Projects Department, was recently elected to the degree of fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), the highest degree of membership an engineer can reach in the institute.



Khogeer is the institutes first fellow from the Arab region.



In addition, Khogeer is the first person from outside the US to receive the Distinguished Services Award from the Fuels and Petrochemicals Division of AIChE.



He received the fellowship certificate, pin and the award plaque during the AIChE 2017 spring meeting in San Antonio, Texas. At the conference, Khogeer presented a paper on Saudi Vision 2030 and its impact on oil, gas, petrochemicals, and infrastructure projects in the region.



Fellowship in the AIChE can only be attained by election after being sponsored by a fellow member and supported by at least five other fellows, who are required to demonstrate the knowledge and services the nominee added to the field of chemical engineering and his competencies before the nomination is sent to the Fellows Council for election.



Khogeer holds four degrees: a Ph D in chemical engineering, an MBA and an Advanced Project Management certificate  all from Colorado State University, and an M S degree in chemical engineering from the University of Tulsa  all with honors. He is registered in Saudi Arabia as a consultant engineer, which is the highest category of professional engineering in the kingdom, said an Aramco statement.



Khogeer, the first Saudi specialised in catalytic cracking, has 27 years of diverse experience with Saudi Aramco in different fields, including refining, projects, lubes, facilities planning, and research and development. He is also a founding member of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.



Khogeer joined AIChE in 1998 and became heavily involved in the institute, including presenting papers internationally, chairing sessions, and serving as a director in the Fuels and Petrochemicals Division. He has also been a member of the AIChE International Committee, as well as many other roles. His efforts assisted in increasing membership, conference participants, papers, and interest in establishing AIChE chapters, and assisted universities in establishing chemical engineering departments.



AIChE is the worlds leading organisation for chemical engineering professionals. The institute was founded in 1908 with headquarters in New York, representing more than 50,000 members in industry, academia, and government, from more than 100 countries. - TradeArabia News Service
Hyundai, a leading automobile manufacturer, has offered an early glimpse of its next-generation fuel cell vehicle, ahead of the hydrogen-powered SUVs official launch early next year.



The yet-to-be-named model will be Hyundais second commercially produced hydrogen model and uses the companys fourth generation of hydrogen fuel cell technology. The vehicle, its capabilities and fuel cell technologies are an evolution of Hyundais global research, development and real-world evaluation programs, engineered with expertise honed through the worlds first commercial production of a fuel cell vehicle in 2013.
Samsung Electronics has launched the Galaxy Note8, featuring a bigger display that fits comfortably in one hand, S Pen to communicate in more personal ways, and Samsungs best-ever smartphone camera.



We appreciate the relentless passion of the Note community. Theyve been a constant inspiration to us and we designed the new Note for them, said DJ Koh, president of Mobile Communications Business, Samsung Electronics. From the Infinity Display to the enhanced S Pen and a powerful Dual Camera, the Galaxy Note8 lets people do things they never thought were possible.



The Galaxy Note8 has the biggest screen ever on a Note device, yet its narrow body makes it comfortable to hold in one hand. The 6.3-inch Quad HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity Display lets you see more and scroll less. The Galaxy Note8 gives you more room to watch, read and draw, a statement said.



With the Galaxy Note8, the new App Pair feature lets you create a custom pair of apps on the Edge Panel and simultaneously launch two apps with ease. Watch a video while messaging your friends or dial into a conference call with the number and agenda in front of you.



The enhanced S Pen unlocks entirely new ways to write, draw, and interact with the phone and communicate with friends. It has a finer tip and improved pressure sensitivity.



The Live Message lets you share animated texts or drawings across platforms that support animated GIFs 4. Its a whole new way to communicate with the S Penadding lively and emotional connections that bring your messages to life, according to the statement.

The Always On Display allows Galaxy users to stay on top of their notifications without unlocking their phone. And with the Galaxy Note8, its even more powerful. Screen off memo allows you to take up to one-hundred pages of notes as soon as you remove the S Pen, pin notes to the Always On Display and make edits directly from the Always On Display.

For overseas travels or when you come across a website in a foreign language, the improved S Pen Translate feature lets you hover over text to quickly translate not only individual words, but entire sentences in up to 71 languages, and instantly convert units and foreign currencies.



The Galaxy Note8 is the first smartphone with two 12MP rear cameras with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) on both the wide-angle and telephoto lenses. For more advanced photo-taking, the Galaxy Note8s Live Focus feature lets you control the depth of field by allowing you to adjust the bokeh effect in preview mode and after you take the photo.



In Dual Capture mode, both rear cameras take two pictures simultaneously and allow you to save both images; one close-up shot from the telephoto lens and one wide-angle shot that shows the entire background.



The wide-angle lens has a Dual Pixel sensor with rapid Auto Focus, so you can capture sharper, clearer shots even in low-light environments. The Galaxy Note8 is also equipped with an industry-leading 8MP Smart Auto Focus front-facing camera for sharp selfies and video chats.

"We have been closely working with Samsung to make meaningful advancements in the science of smartphone quality and safety evaluation. As a result, the Galaxy Note8 has successfully completed a rigorous series of device and battery safety compatibility test protocols. We look forward to maintaining our strategic relationship with Samsung and helping ensure device safety for all consumers said Sajeev Jesudas, president, UL International.



The Galaxy Note8 will be available starting in mid-September and will be offered in Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Maple Gold and Deepsea Blue. TradeArabia News Service


Flag carrier Qatar Airways has launched a non-stop service from Doha to Prague, Czech Republic, a report said.



The carrier's inaugural flight landed in Prague on August 20 and was operated by an Airbus A320, said a report in Malay Online.



Prague has long been a highly sought after destination by our passengers. We have listened to their requests and we have responded by proudly bringing them this daily service from our hub in Doha to the city of Prague," the report cited Qatar Airways group chief executive officer Akbar Al Baker as saying.



Qatar Airways is expediting its expansion in Eastern Europe, with service to Kyiv, Ukraine set to commence next week, it said.
The Community Action Partnership of Natrona County, which provides assistance to various human service agencies, might be cutting back on some of their programs because theyre struggling to afford administrative fees.

At the Casper City Councils work session Tuesday night, the partnerships executive director Brenda Eickoff requested permission to use $32,000 from its one cent funding to help cover administrative costs, but council unanimously denied the request.

Mayor Kenyne Humphrey said shes heard citizens complain that the partnerships office is sometimes unstaffed and noted that their checks to agencies and their reports to council are frequently late.

I think trust has been broken, she said, explaining why she wasnt comfortable approving the request.

Humphrey said Wednesday that one cent funds are not intended to be used for operational costs, and said she was uncomfortable approving the change. She said it would be, in essence, taking money away from one agency to help pay salaries and administration fees for CAP.

At the work session, Councilman Dallas Laird told Eickhoff to imagine she was a council member.

What would you ask your agency to cut? he asked, suggesting that she consider enacting that solution.

Eickhoff told council the partnership would attempt to re-work their budget but might have to cut back on their funding for specialty medical care, like physical therapy, and for the Retired Senior Volunteer Program.

Eickhoff said Wednesday that shes unsure why the council has lost trust in the partnership, and said she hopes to meet with council members to discuss the matter.

Its not the first time the mayor has expressed frustration with the organization. In 2015, Humphrey  who was then a council member  said she wasnt comfortable funding an organization that she claimed was not producing financial information requested by council.

I think thats important information for the taxpayer to know, she stated at the time.

In 2016, when the partnership was feuding with the Casper Housing Authority, Humphrey pointed out again that the organization frequently failed to provide the council with an adequate amount of documentation and reports.

Eickhoff explained Wednesday that the partnership used to receive $116,000 from the council annually  $75,000 of which went to administrative fees  but said that funding was cut this year due to budget constraints.

She acknowledged that $75,000 for administrative costs sounds like a lot, but said partnership uses the money to leverage grants.

Since the council denied the organizations request, Eickhoff said the partnership will try finding a new solution.

Were just redoing our budgets, she said. We will be talking to some local funders as well to try and offset some of what we are going to lose.
Federal officials removed a regulatory penalty from a Cheyenne hospital after it took steps to avoid incidents like the one that prompted an investigation into the discharge of a blind patient to an unprepared facility.

The penalty, which came in the form of a loss of deemed status, essentially meant the Wyoming Department of Health had oversight over the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center. That duty typically falls to a private accrediting agency.

The hospital was penalized after a complaint in May prompted a state investigation that found Cheyenne Regional had released a blind patient to a shelter that was unable to handle the patient, whose name and gender were not revealed.

The patient had suffered a stroke in the past, had a history of not taking medications and could not live with at least three family members contacted by the hospital. Though facility officials told state investigators that they wanted to keep the patient longer, they had no recourse to do so. Instead, they arranged that the patient be released to a shelter, where staff could provide necessary treatment.

However, the report found that the shelter was unprepared to handle the patients needs. Prior to admission to the shelter, the hospital reported the patient was independent, the report said. At the shelter, the patient required assistance, monitoring and care that the staff at the shelter were not trained to provide.

In response to the complaint and the decision to strip the hospital of its deemed status, officials filed a plan of action to address investigators concerns. Those included revising Cheyenne Regionals discharge policy and improving communication with patients and their families.

State health department officials returned to the hospital on Aug. 10 for an unannounced visit, according to a press release, to verify that the plan had been implemented.

Its important for our community to know that the temporary loss of deemed status was the result of our discharge planning process for one patient and was in no way related to the quality of care provided at the hospital, interim hospital CEO Patrick Madigan said in the press release. We believe we had strong discharge planning for vulnerable populations in place. When we were notified by (the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) of areas they felt needed more attention, we immediately developed a detailed action plan to further strengthen the processes.

The hospital never lost its ability to treat Medicare and Medicaid patients or receive money for that care, officials have said, despite early reports to the contrary.
The Wyoming Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the sentence of a Cheyenne teenager who killed another man by shooting him at point-blank range, ruling it amounted to life without the possibility of parole, which is barred by the Constitution.

Phillip Sam was 16 years old when he shot and killed another teen in a Cheyenne park. Sam was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life with the possibility of parole after 25 years, plus three concurrent sentences of at least nine years each.

In effect, the sentence meant the then-teenager would spend a minimum of 52 years behind bars and be eligible for parole at age 70.

The justices ruled that Sams punishment amounted to an effective life sentence, which was a violation of the Eighth Amendment, which protects against cruel and unusual punishment.

In making its decision, the court cited the case of Wyatt Bear Cloud as precedent. Bear Cloud was one of three teenagers who broke into the home of a Sheridan businessman in 2009. One of the teens shot and killed 79-year-old Robert Ernst during the home invasion.

Bear Cloud received a new sentence after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled juvenile offenders could not serve mandatory life sentences.

The Wyoming Supreme Court found that Sams sentence exceeded the limits set out in the Bear Cloud case.

Sams case will be sent back to district court, where he is to be sentenced again.

A jury found Sam guilty of murder and 12 counts of aggravated assault. He had arranged to meet other teens at a park for a fight, and when they approached, he stepped from behind a tree and fired shots. One bullet struck Tyler Burns in the chest. Burns fell to the ground, and Sam shot him in the head.
Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems has been awarded a $900 million contract to develop the nations next-generation air-launched nuclear cruise missile.

Frequent competitor Lockheed Martin was awarded a similar, 54-month contract to develop design concepts and technologies for the new Long Range Standoff weapon, the Air Force said Wednesday.

When those contracts are completed, the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida will select a single contractor to further develop and produce the new weapon.

The contract awards were a blow to defense and aerospace giant Boeing, which has produced the current AGM-86B Air Launched Cruise Missile since the 1980s.

Raytheon will perform work on the cruise-missile contract in Tucson, according to a Pentagon contract notice. The company already makes the Navys Tomahawk cruise missile and a variety of major missile systems in Tucson.

A spokesman for Raytheon declined to comment on the contract announcement.

The Air Force says the contract awards keep the program on track to replace the aging AGM-86B Air Launched Cruise Missile with modernized weapon capabilities designed for its nuclear bomber fleet, including the future B-21 strategic stealth bomber.

"This weapon will modernize the air-based leg of the nuclear triad," Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said in the announcement. Deterrence works if our adversaries know that we can hold at risk things they value. This weapon will enhance our ability to do so, and we must modernize it cost-effectively.

The current Air Launched Cruise Missile was first fielded in the early 1980s with a 10-year design life, the Air Force said.

Under the contracts, Raytheon and Lockheed must develop the new missile technologies and demonstrate the reliability and maintainability of a replacement weapon, the Air Force said, noting that the aging AGM-86B will continue to face increasingly significant operational challenges against emerging threats and reliability challenges until replaced.

The Air Force wants to start fielding the Long Range Standoff Weapon in the late 2020s.

In May, Air Force Global Strike Command commander Gen. Robin Rand told the House Armed Services Committees Strategic Forces Subcommittee the new missile will ensure the U.S. strategic bomber force continues to hold high-value targets at risk in an evolving threat environment, including targets deep within an area-denied environment.

Raytheon has a long history of development of cruise missiles, which generally fly low to avoid radar. The new missile is expected to have additional radar-evading stealth characteristics, though full requirements remain classified.

The company recently marked its 4,000th delivery to the Navy of the latest-generation Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile. The Tomahawk is carried aboard about 140 warships and submarines and has been fired more than 2,300 times in combat, including recent strikes in Syria and Yemen.

Raytheon inherited another nuclear cruise missile program in 1997 when it acquired the aerospace and defense business of Hughes Aircraft Corp., including the AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missile.

The low-observable, or stealthy air-launched cruise missile was originally designed and built by General Dynamics and was carried by the Air Force's B-52H Stratofortress bombers. But production was cut back starting in 1993 and the AGM-129 was phased out of service by 2012.
We've collected a few front pages from newspapers.com to give you a look at some Aug. 24 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.
PHOENIX  An appellate court ruling denying in-state tuition to dreamers is based on a flawed reading of the law, the attorney for Maricopa colleges contends.

In new legal papers, Mary OGrady said the Court of Appeals wrongfully conflated restrictions in a 2006 voter-approved law, about services available to people not here legally, with what even the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said is the legal status of those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Put simply, she argued to the Arizona Supreme Court, the federal government considers DACA recipients to be lawfully present, even if they have no legal immigration status.

And that, she contends, means theres nothing illegal about the Maricopa County Community College District allowing them to pay reduced tuition.

What the high court ultimately decides will govern not just the fate of more than 2,000 DACA recipients currently taking classes in the Maricopa system, OGrady told the justices. it also will determine whether dreamers, as DACA recipients are known, at the states three universities and other community colleges can afford to continue their education if they have to pay triple what they are now being charged.

The legal dispute turns on what certain words mean.

In 2006, Arizona voters approved a measure that says any person who is not a U.S. citizen or legal resident, or is without lawful immigration status, is ineligible to be charged the same tuition at state colleges and universities available to residents.

But OGrady said neither phrase is defined in state or federal law.

In fact, she said, the federal Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, to which the state law refers, doesnt even use those terms.

What that federal law does say is that people who are not lawfully present in this country are not entitled to postsecondary education benefits.

OGrady acknowledged that DACA, a creation of the Obama administration, does not give those in the program formal legal status. Instead, it says that those who came to this country illegally as children are allowed to remain and work if they meet certain other circumstances.

OGrady told the justices that the federal government considers DACA recipients to be lawfully present.

That contention is backed by a list of frequently asked questions about DACA published by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a branch of the Department of Homeland Security.

An individual who has received deferred action is authorized by DHS to be present in the United States, the document says.

OGrady also pointed out that the Arizona Legislature put into law a list of documents that satisfy a persons obligation to prove he or she is lawfully present in this country. That includes a United States citizenship and immigration services employment authorization document  precisely the documents that are issued to DACA recipients.

All that, OGrady said, justifies the decision by the Maricopa colleges governing board to conclude that DACA recipients are lawfully present and entitled to resident tuition.

After a trial judge sided with the college, the Arizona Board of Regents followed suit and agreed to let DACA recipients attend the states three universities while paying in-state tuition if they meet other residency requirements. Some other community college systems also have adopted similar policies.

Earlier this year, however, the Court of Appeals unanimously concluded those practices run afoul of state law. That leaves the final decision in the hands of the Supreme Court.

If the justices dont buy her argument about lawful presence, OGrady has a backup legal argument: That the lawsuit challenging the tuition is illegal.

It was Tom Horne who, as attorney general in 2015, filed suit to overturn the Maricopa colleges policy. But OGrady told the justices that nothing in state law gave Horne the authority to sue or allows current Attorney General Mark Brnovich to pursue the legal action.

The appellate judges, in their opinion, did not dispute that.

But they said it did not matter because Jan Brewer, who was governor at the time, did have such power.

And they said Brewer authorized Horne to pursue the legal action, albeit months after he actually went to court, and that Horne was bound to follow her directive.

OGrady said that logic is legally flawed.

This statement appears not only to authorize suit by the attorney general when directed by the governor, but to require it, she told the justices, even though the attorney general is elected independent of the governor. This was clearly not the relationship envisioned by the framers of Arizonas Constitution, who specifically empowered the attorney general to exercise only those powers granted by the Legislature.

OGrady said this isnt simply a question of whether DACA recipients will be forced to pay $327 per credit hour, the rate for non-residents, versus the $86 figure for residents.

The difference between resident and nonresident tuition frequently determines whether a student can afford to start or continue an education, she told the justices.

This case is not simply about how much it will cost to go to college, OGrady continued. It will determine whether many students can go to college at all.

The petition to the high court comes as Brnovich is being pressured by former state Senate President Russell Pearce to bring another lawsuit, this one against the Board of Regents for not only enacting the in-state tuition policy for DACA recipients but allowing it to remain after the Court of Appeals decision.

Pearce, a Mesa Republican, is represented by Judicial Watch, which is using a section of state law that says any citizen can ask the attorney general to act in cases of violation of the law.

If Brnovich does not act within 60 days of the demand, made on July 11, that frees Pearce to file his own legal action.

A spokeswoman for Brnovich said Wednesday his agency is reviewing its options.
Tucson cant quite compete with Tuscany in Italy for grand displays of sunflowers.

But visit the University of Arizona Campus Agricultural Center this month and youll see fields flourishing with hundreds of sunflowers in brilliant bloom.

They are beautiful, yes, but they were planted mainly for use by researchers with the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Tucson. The researchers are studying the effects of various soil nutrients on the nutritional quality of pollen in the flowers  an important element in optimizing the health of honey bee colonies.

They were planted on about an acre in early- to mid-June, said Steve Husman, resident director of the Agricultural Center. They are a dwarf variety of sunflowers that grow about 3 to 4 feet high.

Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffman, research leader at the Bee Research Center, described the reason for conducting the study and the research methods.

There has been a lot of encouragement from various groups to plant more bee-friendly plants so we can maintain our pollinator populations and make pollen and nectar available for bees so they have the nutrients to stay healthy, DeGrandi-Hoffman said.

We were wondering if we could improve the nutritional quality of pollen based on how we grow the plants, including what we do with soil, she said.

She noted that one feature making sunflowers useful is that they have these big flower heads, so bees can gather pollen easily from sunflowers.

The research involves putting fertilizer on some parts of the planting area and not on others.

Were putting different types of nutrients in the fertilizer, DeGrandi-Hoffman said. Then well see if we can see a significant difference in the nutritional quality of the pollen.

She said researchers will analyze the pollen data after the flowers fade in the coming weeks and publish their findings later.

DeGrandi-Hoffman credited graduate student Steven Timlin of Texas Tech University for valuable help with work at the site.

There are no plans for the sunflowers following the research.

The birds will end up getting them all, DeGrandi-Hoffman said.

The Campus Agricultural Center is at 4101 N. Campbell Ave. The centers office is open 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily.
A small Tucson-based mining company wants Ironwood Forest National Monument to lose its federal protection, with its CEO saying its stopping him from building a major copper mine that could earn $80 billion over its life.

James Briscoe, CEO of Liberty Star Uranium & Metals Corp., hopes to persuade the Trump administration to rescind a presidential designation that created the 129,000-acre monument northwest of Tucson 17 years ago. He calls the designation a taking of his private property rights, which he says were formed by his mining clams on federal land.

Thursday, Aug. 24, is the legal deadline for the Interior Department to decide whether to keep or eliminate monument status or reduce the size of Ironwood and 20 other monuments nationally, including two others in Arizona. Originally, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke was reviewing 27 existing monuments. He has since decided not to touch six of them, including Grand Canyon-Parashant Monument in Northern Arizona.

Briscoes project would bring the region far more than $80 billion in total economic benefits, and would have a very small footprint on the land because of what he calls the companys innovative mining approach, he told the Interior Department.

His efforts are drawing pushback from environmentalists. They say theyre skeptical of his projects mineral potential because Briscoe has kept much of his data secret for competitive reasons. Theyre also skeptical of the projects financial viability, since Liberty Stars financial statements show its never made money and has far more financial liabilities than assets. For that, Briscoe in part blames the decision to create the monument that stopped his exploration work there.

Theyre also skeptical of Briscoes statements that little would be lost of the northwest-side monuments wildlife and habitat if the protections were to disappear.

Briscoe says the monuments ironwoods are less numerous than in other parts of the Sonoran Desert and that the monument no longer has reason to exist since the removal of the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl from the federal endangered species list in 2006.

However, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum biologist John Wiens and former museum director of natural history Mark Dimmitt say the monuments real value lies not in its ironwood count or its endangered species presence, but in its extraordinary biodiversity. A 2000 study by former Desert Museum science director Gary Nabhan concluded its ironwoods coexist with 674 plant, mammal and bird species.

Environmentalists in the National Parks and Conservation Association and Friends of Ironwood Forest National Monument are taking Briscoes efforts seriously. Thats in part because in a June 20 letter to Zinke, Briscoe included a photo taken in Tucson about eight years ago in which he and his wife posed with Mike Pence  then a congressman and now vice president  and U.S. Rep. Trent Franks, an Arizona Republican.

I have developed some contacts in previous years that may help, Briscoe said of that photo in another letter, on May 24 to Liberty Star shareholders.

Briscoes company has controlled 26 mining claims totaling about 536 acres inside Ironwood monuments boundaries since before the monument existed.

Our investors, mainly Canadian citizens, lost all of their investment and vowed never to invest anything in Arizona again after the monument was created, Briscoe wrote to Zinke.

The monument drew broad public support at the time, including from the Pima and Pinal county boards of supervisors, as an integral part of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan to preserve the best habitat while allowing development elsewhere.

But Briscoe, who recalled going to several public meetings back in 2000 to speak against the monument, calls the Ironwood designation a massive theft from the people of Pima County and surrounding regions, referring to the jobs and tax revenue a mine could have brought.

Under federal law and regulations, creating a monument doesnt stop a pre-existing mining claim holder from exploring. Liberty Star pays the federal government $4,030 annually to maintain its claims, according to its 2016 financial statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

But to drill on Ironwood monument land, a company must prove to the Bureau of Land Management, its owner, that the claims are valid. That requires showing the minerals have economic value, which Briscoe says is virtually impossible to do without exploring.

Its ludicrous. We have scads of copper here but nothing can go forward with that kind of law, Briscoe said. Youre supposed to get a claim, work it and use scientific methods and use the best laboratories that exist to determine the value.

In the late 1990s, Liberty Star and a related company, Canada-based JABA Inc., conducted analysis of the land using less sophisticated drilling than it proposes to do now as well as geochemical analysis.

The company defined 10 to 12 significant deposits of copper, lead, molybdenum, zinc, gold and silver, Briscoe wrote to Zinke. They are similar in nature to what Asarco is mining at its Silver Bell project just west of the monument, Briscoe said.

He sent the interior secretary a map detailing locations of what he called geologic anomalies that could produce the most copper. He promised the company will soon release its complete record of exploration data from the site, including soil geochemistry, geophysics, high-resolution color aerial photography and drill logs.

But without such records being public, Briscoes statements are pure speculation, said Bill Thornton, vice president of Friends of Ironwood Forest National Monument.

To give the thing some credibility, youd think hed publish something in geological terminology that geologists understand, Thornton said. All he does is make unsubstantiated claims about tremendous deposits he has been blocked from accessing.

Countered Briscoe, Academics are paid to publish. Exploration geologists never publish, and keep it secret. It was so competitive I wasnt going to release anything. Now I have released a lot and all of those things I have will stand up to peer review.
The University of Arizona has secured $4.8 million in federal money to fund a canine vaccine against valley fever.

The live vaccine was invented by UA fungal geneticist Marc Orbach, is called delta-CPS1. It is a mutant sport that has already protected mice from valley fever.

The grant from the National Institutes of Health is for four years and could bring the vaccine to market for dogs in five years, said Dr. John Galgiani, who is director of the UA's Valley Fever Center for Excellence.

Though the vaccine will be initially targeted to dogs, it could eventually be effective for humans, too.

There is no prevention or cure for valley fever, also known as coccidioidomycosis. An estimated 30,000 people and 60,000 dogs in Arizona get sick from valley fever every year. The disease is found mainly in dusty areas of Arizona and California. State health officials say it caused the deaths of 54 people in Arizona last year.

"It's a strategic decision to go to dogs first," Galgiani said. "We will see if harmful for dogs, see if it works...It will make the momentum to go to humans that much stronger."

A canine vaccine would go through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Center for Veterinary Biologics to get to market, while a human vaccine would need to go through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval. The FDA is generally a slower path, experts say.

The NIH funding comes from its National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

"This reflects the scientific validity of our plans," said Galgiani, who will be the principal investigator of the grant. "The funds will greatly accelerate the vaccines development."

Anivive Lifesciences Inc., a California-based biotechnology company, has licensed the vaccine from the UA through Tech Launch Arizona and will provide additional investment and expertise to fully develop this dog vaccine, Galgiani said.

Tech Launch is the UAs commercialization arm, helping transform UA innovations and discoveries into intellectual property, inventions and technology through licensing agreements with private industry. The UA BIO5 Institute also has assisted in this translational project.

Scientists at Colorado State University also are collaborating on this project through CSUs College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and the lab of Dr. Richard A. Bowen.
Today's controversy over historical monuments brings to mind the statue of Pancho Villa, honoring the murderous revolutionary who killed over 30 U.S. citizens in two attacks. The statue was accepted in 1981 by then-Gov. Babbitt but Tucson Mayor Lew Murphy boycotted the unveiling downtown.

It seems to us that a better memorial for Tucson at Veinte de Agosto Park would be a monument to Tucsonans who gave their lives serving our city, state and country. This would include all uniformed men and women who have been called to serve, including police, fire and the military. The metal from that present memorial would, obviously, represent heroes from all ethnicities. They should appropriately be honored rather than a lawless bandit.
Re: the Aug. 24 letter to the editor "Whites need to apologize?"

The letter writer misunderstands the call for Pima County Supervisor Ally Miller to apologize. No one's asking her or anyone else to apologize for the color of her skin. We're asking her to apologize for her insensitivity and for missing the point.

No, today's white people weren't slave owners  but we do all benefit from the socio-economic repercussions of slavery, at the very least being given the benefit of the doubt because of our skin color. What we need to apologize for is not being white, but for not recognizing and working harder to end today's still-institutionalized racism.

Ashleen O'Gaea

Northwest side
Recently the legislators raided public education with their transfer of money to private schools and charter schools by means of a voucher system. This legislation weakens public education.

Parents and volunteers responded to this attack on public education quickly with the initiative petition SB1431. Over 100,000 signatures were gathered (only 76,000 needed). Once signatures confirmed, this initiative will place the issue of vouchers (transferring money to private schools) on the ballot for us to decide.

Public education provides the foundation of our democracy. A knowledgeable and aware community advances the values of our democracy. Support our public education, support our democracy.

Tim Lennon

Midtown
The president came to our state, insulted both our senators (of his own party) and never even acknowledged that John McCain is in a battle for his life. Would it have hurt that much to have wished him a speedy recovery? Contrast that with Bill Clinton's campaign stop in Sept. 12, 1996.

After a rousing positive speech, he took the time to shake what seemed like every hand in the auditorium, including mine. Behind schedule, he further detoured his departure from Phoenix to make an unannounced surprise visit. He went to see Barry Goldwater, who was convalescing in the hospital. Could there be a more telling contrast between the two leaders?
The Nghi Son Refinery, only the second of its kind in Vietnam, has received its first shipment of crude oil and looks on-track to begin commercial production by its targeted start in the last quarter of this year.

The shipment of two million barrels weighing a combined 270,000 metric tons safely arrived at the Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical LLC (NSRP) in the north-central province of Thanh Hoa from Kuwait, the refinery operator, said on Wednesday.

The shipment originated from the Kuwaiti port of Mina Al Ahmadi and travelled via the VLCC (very large crude carrier) Millenium before arriving at a single-point mooring facility approximately 35km from the refinery.

The crude oil is being pumped from the vessel through two underwater pipeline systems to the facilitys tanks, a process that takes about three days.

Once the oil is transferred to the facility, Nghi Son will conduct a test run before starting its commercial production later this year.

The facility is capable of processing 200,000 barrels of crude oil a day, or 10 million metric tons a year, which should cover about 40 percent of the domestic fuel demand.

Vietnam's existing Dung Quat refinery, located in the central province of Quang Ngai, meets about 30 percent of Vietnams domestic demand.

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Vietnam and Indonesia have vowed to strengthen their strategic partnership during Vietnamese Party chief Nguyen Phu Trongs visit to Jakarta from August 22 to 24.

Trong, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, joined talks with Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Jakarta on Wednesday morning to discuss measures aimed at enhancing the two nations political trust, friendship, cooperation, and strategic partnership.

The two leaders each expressed their satisfaction with the positive developments in the Vietnam- Indonesia relationship over the past 60 years.

In 2016, the two countries bilateral trade turnover reached nearly US$6 billion.

Both leaders also agreed that their countries will continue to provide favorable conditions for local businesses to invest and operate in such fields as oil and gas, food processing, agriculture, and coal mining, striving towards a goal of $10 billion in bilateral turnover.

According to President Widodo, the top priorities for the Vietnam-Indonesia relationship will be directed towards collaboration in maritime affairs, fishery, trade, investment, and regional and international issues.

He and General Secretary Trong reached consensus on measures to deepen the two nations strategic partnership in order to contribute to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world.

Both parties vowed to continue their coordination efforts in dealing with common issues, including terrorism, piracy, arms race, and nuclear weapons proliferation.

The two nations will support each other at international forums, namely the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and the United Nations.

On the evening of the same day, General Secretary Trong attended a banquet hosted by the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

During his speech, the Vietnamese Party chief called on Indonesian businesses to extend their operations to Vietnam, promising that the country would create a perfect investment environment.

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Vietnam and Turkey have agreed to push forward their cooperation and strive for US$4 billion worth of bilateral trade turnover by 2020.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim joined talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Hanoi on Wednesday, as part of his visit to Vietnam from August 22 to 24.

According to Vietnams Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two heads of government discussed several measures to tighten the two countries relationship during their conversation.

Both parties praised the results of the two countries Joint Committees seventh meeting in July, highlighting the two governments commitment to raise two-way trade to $4 billion by 2020.

PM Yildirim suggested that the two sides consider cooperation possibilities in the defense industry.

The two leaders agreed on the enhancement of cooperation in transportation, especially aviation and maritime affiliation, science and technology, culture and education, security and defense, and diplomacy.

PM Phuc hoped that via this visit, enterprises of Vietnam and Turkey will have a chance to boost the trade of goods and investment, while people-to-people exchange and tourism between the two countries will also be cemented.

He asked Turkey to soon recognize Vietnams market economy, and remove a number of taxes on Vietnamese products such as footwear, fiber, belts, air conditioners, and cellphones.

Regarding the situation in the East Vietnam Sea, the Turkish premier expressed his support for Vietnams efforts to maintain stability in the region and resolve disputes using peaceful measures in accordance with international law.

Following their talks, the two leaders witnessed the signing of cooperative agreements in various fields.

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Police in Tra Vinh Province in Vietnams Mekong Delta are probing a case involving the rape of a high school student.

Officers in Cang Long District, Tra Vinh Province confirmed on Wednesday that the department is investigating a rape accusation submitted by L.T.H.C., mother of 15-year-old L.T.N.H.

According to C., her daughter gave birth to her attackers baby on Wednesday evening.

In the report, L.T.H.C. claimed her then ninth-grade daughter was raped by B., another local resident.

I only suspected the pregnancy once her belly became unusually big. After a check-up, the doctor confirmed she was seven months pregnant, C. recounted.

H. eventually admitted that she had been raped by B., C. continued.

According to the accusation, H often sold lottery tickets after school to earn extra money for her family. While working, H. was invited into B.s house so that the man could buy some lottery tickets.

Once inside, B. locked the door and raped the young girl twice, threatening her not to tell anybody.

The young girl had been studying in grade 10 before the birth of her baby put her studies on hold.

According to H.s teacher, she was a good student.

Despite being from a poor family, H. cares tremendously for her mother, sister, and many other people, the teacher added.

Officers are carrying out DNA tests to support further investigation into the case.

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Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City have proposed a prohibition on underground water exploitation in certain metropolitan locations to ensure public health and prevent potential subsidence.

The municipal Peoples Committee has ordered the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to establish a map indicating locations where underground water exploitation could pose a danger to local residents.

The proposal will be submitted to the central government for approval.

At a meeting to discuss the issue on Wednesday, Nguyen Thi Thanh My, director of the citys environmental department, stated that over 681,000 cubic meters of groundwater is exploited in the southern metropolis every day.

Accordingly, local residents consume up to 356,000 cubic meters per day, while an additional 172,000 cubic meters is used for industrial activities.

The city is striving to reduce its consumption volume to 100,000 cubic meters a day, My said.

In accordance with current laws, citizens can dig wells without permission from local authorities provided the capacity is less than 10 cubic meters per day.

During recent adjustments to the regulation, the Ho Chi Minh City administration failed to add a ban on groundwater usage, the official elaborated.

Speaking at the gathering, Tran Vinh Tuyen, vice-chairman of the municipal Peoples Committee, asserted that consuming underground water contaminated with chemicals or wastewater is a serious concern.

The excessive exploitation of water can also cause subsidence, flooding, and other consequences, Tuyen added.

As the city has been able to supply clean water to its residents, the use of groundwater should be ceased, the official stated.

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EXCLUSIVE: Australia is returning to the Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Lisbon, Portugal next May with SBS commentators Myf Warhurst & Joel Creasey.

It marks the fourth year Australia will officially compete following entries with Guy Sebastian, Dami Im and Isaiah Firebrace -all of which finished in the Top 10.

SBS Managing Director Michael Ebeid said: SBS is proud to secure Australias return as competitors in the Eurovision Song Contest for the fourth year, as the countrys unique affection and passion for Eurovision continues to grow.

In Guy, Dami and Isaiah, SBS has showcased the incredible talent of Australias musical performers on the world stage, and in turn, the wonderful diversity that makes up Australia today.

Its also great to be welcoming back hosts Myf Warhurst and Joel Creasey after they perfectly captured the spirit of the contest in their debut this year. Were looking forward to revealing more exciting news in the coming months.

The event in May at Lisbons MEO Arena marks the first time Portugal will host the long-running contest, following Salvador Sobrals win in Ukraine with Amar pelos dois.

Australian Head of Delegation and Director of Blink TV, Paul Clarke, said: Its wonderful that were back! In the three years that we have competed in Eurovision we have achieved huge success, ranking second in the results overall behind Sweden. Its an exciting challenge for us to find a competitor who can fly the flag high for Australia, and we cant wait to begin that search.

SBS & Blink TV are currently in discussions with territory partners for the Eurovision Asia Song Contest, hoping to be staged in 2018.

With the good news of our inclusion in Lisbon, who would you like to see representing Australia?
Help India!

By Yogesh Maitreya, TwoCircles.net

Support TwoCircles



All photos by Daisy Katta

August 15 has come and gone; delved into, reflected upon, and discussed at length. Yet, the familiar feature among most of the coverage once again focused on the role of upper-caste leaders, the sufferings of the upper-caste communities and the struggles of the upper-caste societies.

A day before Indias 70th Independence Day, popular English media in India started flaunting upper-caste figures such as Gandhi and Nehru who were associated with the struggle for Independence. Much of the narratives and the history they mentioned about these upper-caste personalities were subtle propagandist in nature and, seemed to be affected by intellectual torpor. Conversations on Independence brought about the glorious past of upper castes, now settled in USA and UK majorly, and how partition and Independence became for them a metaphor for their sufferings.

On the other hand, narratives of Dalits about Independence, as usual, were deliberately kept aside as if they and their idea of Independence, have never been existed. However, it is only in Ambedkar, we find what does Independence mean for Dalits and India. This is because Ambedkar belonged to an India that has rarely accepted him.

It is no surprise then that when TwoCircles.net spoke to JV Pawar, one of the founding members of Dalit Panthers in Maharashtra, and the author of more than two dozen books, he said, We dont have real freedom. Social freedom is the real freedom. Nowadays, we dont bother about understanding the meaning of freedom. When social equality will be established between people across all castes, that would mean freedom in a real sense. But in India, there is no real freedom now

In a recently published article on RoundTable India, Kuffir Nalgundwar, one of the most outspoken anti-caste intellectuals of our times, wrote:

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. Its been over 25 years since the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union. Babasaheb was proved right: Can you have economic reform without first bringing about a reform of the social order? (Annihilation of Caste) And the Indian state turned 70 yesterday. Babasaheb had warned political reform would be meaningless without social and economic reform. And he has been proven right again. Even political democracy has not been translated into a substantive reality; Mayawatis angry exit from parliament is the starkest pointer in recent times. In fact, since the seventies, political freedom has become an even thinner proposition.

Both the observations made by Nalgundwar and Pawar are, in some ways, an extension of what Babasaheb felt three years after we had achieved Independence. In 1950, the March issue of The Readers Digest mentioned: Then one morning, as Ambedkar was leaving his room at an inn, he saw a dozen Parsis-members of a select caste armed with clubs coming up the stairway. Get out! Get out! they shouted. He fled for life. Unable to find lodging he wrote to Maharaja Gaekwad, who referred him to his Prime Minister. But the Prime Minister, the highest official in the Maharajas state, told him, Sorry, I can do nothing.

It wasnt Ambedkars first experience of facing the monster of caste, but it was certainly the first that shattered this highly educated man from Columbia University. In his Waiting For Visa, perhaps the only autobiographical account he had written, he mentioned, My five years of staying in Europe and America had completely wiped out of my mind any consciousness that I was an untouchable, and that an untouchable wherever he went in India was a problem to himself and to others. But when I came out of the station, my mind was considerably disturbed by a question, Where to go? Who will take me? I felt deeply agitated. Hindu hotels, called Vishis, I knew there were. They would not take me. The only way of seeking accommodation therein was by impersonation. But I was not prepared for it because I could well anticipate the dire consequences which were sure to follow if my identity was discoveredas it was sure to be. Further, unable to find lodging after this incidence, the situation and the terror of caste system made him weep.

He came back to Bombay to start the life anew. With the help of his friend Mr Bhatia and Prof. K.B. Irani, he sought teaching opportunities at two Parsi households. He was earning Rs 50 per month from each family. However, this wasnt enough for him and his familys survival and he wanted to save money to pursue further education as well. As a trained economist from Columbia University, in Bombay at Dalal Street, he started the company called Stocks And Shares Advisers. He started advising two businessmen-Shetaji and Bhataji-who were involved in stocks and shares business. Initially, Babasaheb got many clients. But as soon as the news spread across that this company belonged to a Dhed (untouchable), none of them returned for his advice. He had to shut down his company. This incidence wasnt just a simple anecdote of cast prejudices which Shetaji and Bhatajis possessed for centuries, but the point of arrival for Ambedkar in which he saw first hand that caste is the monster, a disease, that affects the capitalist minds too.

These two experiences from his life, provided and shaped his perceptions to look at caste system as well as Indian society at large. Further, despite all the economic challenges, humiliations at the hands of Brahmins and upper-caste leaders and masses, he went on to make himself stronger for the battle he had to fight. For the meaning of liberation he had to create for his people, to do the justice with the responsibility of liberating his people that the history bestowed on him. He wanted to liberate the society infected with the disease of caste. After his death, the movement he had started, witnessed the chain of fractionalisation in the political sphere. However, in the domain of literature and social struggle, his ideas have been influencing Dalits unabatedly. And despite some level of fractionalisation, his influence in the field of politics is still strong? The rise of Dalit literature is the phenomenal process that caught up the attention of the world. Writers who were neglected as human beings, have asserted themselves through the beauty and power of the pen; in their persuasion of human personality, Ambedkar has always remained the force, inspiration and more importantly, a theory, upon which all of Dalit literature flourished. After accomplishing his responsibility of being the architect of Indian Constitution, he was found to say: However good a Constitution may be, if those who are implementing it are not good, it will prove to be bad. However bad a Constitution may be, if those implementing it are good, it will prove to be good. At another occasion, he said: Cultivation of mind should be the ultimate aim of human existence. For him, the meaning of Independence did not lay in achieving freedom from foreign invaders or merely changing the political structure; his idea of Independence was primarily found in the change in epistemology, the mind, the origin of ideas and actions within society.

His experiences in the caste society were bitter yet he had always possessed the golden heart that manifested his quest for establishing liberty, equality and fraternity in the caste-ridden society. And what can be the best example to revisit his vision and idea of Independence than the Indian Constitution through which, with one stroke of a pen, millions of untouchables had reclaimed their human personality and started writing beautiful, powerful stories of their struggle, and their idea of the society that would be truly independent?
Help India!

By Mohammed Sirajuddeen for TwoCircles.net

A man is not aware of the future and does not know as and when things can go awry. But still then he plans for the future, despite the fact that Almighty alone knows what will happen in times to come puts Sahil Maqbool (also known as Mohd. Maqbool Khokhar) in his masterpiece Shabistan-e-Wajood (The Ordeal of a Journalist) which is adopted as reference book on Kashmiri jails by International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC). Reporters sans Frontiers (RSF) praised it as the second best book in 2009. His Parchhawan was endowed with the Best Book Award in 2015 by then Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti during an award distribution ceremony organised by Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages (JKAACL). Currently, Sahil is the Associate Editor of Buland Kashmir, a publication of Rising Kashmir group.

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Earlier, his fate as an investigative journalist with Urdu newspaper Chattan was overshadowed when he was tossed into a jeep by five army men in civilian-dress in September 2004. Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) enables army men to pick any one under suspicion with full legal impunity in Kashmir. Charged as an ISI agent, Sahil was tortured in Hari Niwas Interrogation Center and faced maltreatment at the hands of security forces. Between 2004 and 2008 he was kept in Srinagar Central Jail, Kote Bhalwal Jammu Central Jail and Amphalla District Jail. Slapped with Official Secrets Act and Enemy Agents Ordinance, Sahil was held responsible for transgressions under the Public Safety Act at different junctures. On the pretext of his visit to Pakistan earlier in 2001, he was framed in cases pertaining to espionage. Authorities alleged him of colluding with militants, possessing secret documents, sharing sensitive photographs with the Pakistan intelligence network, and attacking jail officials in prison. While he admitted his professional contacts with a journalist from Pakistan, he categorically denied the accusations of spying.

Lodged along with prominent Kashmiri tahreek figures like Dr Mohammad Qasim and others in prison, Sahil says I spent 40 months and more in jail. In the first chapter of Shabistan-e-Wajood, he notes I had never dreamt that I would be beaten to a pulp after being tied with ropes. I was not that I would be pushed to the hilt in the torture cell of a jail and would have to pass days together in jail. I also did not know that I would be presented in court and I would have to seek a remand for my release from the judge. In early 2016, speaking in a session at the Jaipur Literature Festival, he asserted that Muslims of Kashmir Valley would welcome Pandits if they return.

Following are the excerpts of an interview by Mohammed Sirajuddeen of Sahil Maqbool on issues pertaining to contemporary Kashmir.

Q: Shabistan-e-Wajood elucidates your days in Prison.How would you recall your arrest and torture now?

A: My arrest was a clear case of revenge by some officers in security forces, who were exposed in my articles and write-ups. As a journalist, I spoke about human rights violations and killing of innocent people by security forces and their want of ransom. Now when I look back, it seems like a nightmare, which lasted for nearly four years. I lost all my job contacts and also my hold as a reputed senior journalist in conflict hit Kashmir got affected. Nine years has gone-bye since my releasebut still, I am struggling to regain my work and rebuild my areas which were badly damaged due to my arrest and false propaganda by the state agents.

Q: You were charged with being an ISI agent? Comments, please.

A: Such charges provide a strong base to the police and other agencies of security establishment as they enjoy extraordinary powers under the draconian laws such as AFSPA and Disturbed Areas Act. Actually they wanted to teach a lesson to the journalist fraternity of Kashmir, which they believed was favouring separatists and ultras, so I was like a sitting duck for them. Finally, they could not prove anything.

Q: What happens when a person is arrested and later proved innocent? Is there any provision for compensations in Jammu and Kashmir?

A: In a state like J&K, it makes hardly any difference whether you are proven innocent or not. He or She becomes paralysed for life time as they dont issue any passport or travel documents to the jailed persons, even their kith and kin are subjected to suffer because of it and they can hardly get any government jobs.

Q: Do you think that State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has become a toothless tiger?

A: Of course yes, State or Centre doesnt take SHRC seriously and its decisions are just formalities. There might be dozens of such decisions, which went against police and armed force but none of them was implemented or executed. The latest example is that of an army officer, Major Gogoi, who tied a Kashmiri boy with his vehicle and subjected him to torture in the month of April this year. Instead of punishing for wanton human rights violations, the Major was rewarded and honoured by the senior Army authorities. SHRC, in a recent decision, said that State must pay compensation to the affected boybut unfortunately. it was rightly rejected by New Delhi.

Q: What are the difficulties a journalist face in Kashmir under the conditions of militarisation?

A: Numerous difficultiesHe or she becomes a sandwich between the armed forces and their rivals i.e. militants or resistance leadership. Sometimes even common people are not satisfied with the reporting which mainstream journalists do. Many reporters and editors lost their lives, became handicapped or faced long jail terms like me. Working in an isolated, tensed and the disturbed place is always not so easy but people learn by the passage of time and try to fit into the situation, just for the sake of survival.

Q: Could you find any difference after Narendra Modi led BJP assumed power?

A: Of course, the situation in Kashmir is more tensed now, suffocated and caused more loss of life.

Q: With the coming of technological revolution, the state of things in Kashmir are more open to outside world, how do you see this change?

A: Technological revolution may be in other parts of India or in rest of the world..our Internet, social media and all other mediums of communication are heavily monitored, censored and blocked. We have been observing long mobile phone, the internet and social media crackdowns as well as blockages, I think it is gonna be worse in Kashmir.

Q: Would you please throw light on the role of Human Rights Organisations in Kashmir?

A: Human Rights organisations in Kashmir are not freely allowed to do their duties, they are considered to be either separatists or Pakistani agents. Neither they are allowed to make their reports public without restrictions nor are they allowed to travel abroad. Baring few groups, many of the foreign rights bodies are not allowed to enter Kashmir and collect or expose the truth.

Q: What are the qualitative changes that happened in resistance politics (led by Hurriyat)?

A: Soon after the killing of HM Militant Burhan Wani, all three factions of Kashmir resistance leadership (Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Mohammad Umar Farooq and M Yaseen Malik) got united and formed a coordination committee called Joint Resistance Leadership which issued all the protest programs under a single banner. Earlier all of them used to go to common people separately with separate programs but now they are in one platform. Their political division was earlier badly felt by the common public but their unity provided relief to their supporters, their calls are now followed more effectively.

Q: Is there any change in public perception with regard to Pakistans role in Kashmir?

A: Yes, in last few years, the new generation has badly felt the intervention as well as the tagging of Pakistan. In fact, there is a feeling among the people that Pakistani support to Kashmir issue is rather a minus point on the international front. Here demand for freedom is taken much seriously than that of the accession to Pakistan.

Q: What is that inducing the young generation to glorify militancy? Do you think that the militancy of the early 1990s is different from the current wave?

A: Yes, todays militancy is entirely different from that of the 1990s one. Today, they are more trained, effective, committed and hidden, less in number but strong in strikes. The reason behind todays emerging militancy is a total denial of dialogue and reconciliation from New Delhi. The fact that New Delhi never listens to political or democratic questions has forced well read and well off Kashmiri youth to take up arms. Today, they are well protected and served by common people. Each and every army cordon faces heavy public protest, just to save the militants hiding inside the sieges.

Q: There are other conflicts in Indian sub-continent, especially what we see in Central India. How would you compare the state actions in Kashmir with respect to State-Maoist conflict?

A: Maoist or Naxal rebellions have their own history and relevance but there is a visible difference between them and Kashmir problem. Kashmiris were promised to provide a chance of Plebiscite by then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru..the accord or accession of J&K State with India was temporary. UN is a witness and a guardian to the Kashmir issue. Moreover, Kashmir is an internationally accepted dispute with a promise to resolve it according to the will of people. The Indian state has a limited legal legitimacy in our land, while other conflicts in India are not for a separate territory.

Q: Do you think that international community is becoming more sensitive to Kashmir Question since the 2016 unrest?

A:Yes , and that is quite visible, along with United Nations, Veto powers like the US and China have been frequently talking about Kashmir. They suggested that both India and Pakistan should resolve their differences mutually.

Q: How would you see the future trajectory of Kashmir Conflict?

A: Basically.this is not something sponsored by a company or a country. Kashmir Conflict is the name of a strong sentiment stemming out of peoples conscience in Kashmir. Imagine a 7-year-old or a 10-year-old boy holding a stone in his hands and fighting against a fully-equipped Indian soldier. They would grow up with negative sentiment against the Indian State. These fearless boys transform themselves into mighty rebels and one can hardly change their mentality. May be there are ups and downs in their rebellion but until the concerns are resolved according to will of the people, it will never die.

Mohammed Sirajuddeen is a PhD Candidate at the Centre for Political Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Help India!

By TCN News

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Purnea (Bihar): Responding to one of the worst floods in over three decades in Bihar, Hyderabad-based Sahayata Trust has initiated an immediate relief work, providing ration and ready to eat meals to the poor and needy flood affected families.

The relief is being provided in the worst flood affected districts of northern Bihar viz. Ararya, Kishanganj, Purnea, Kathiar.

On Wednesday, food packets were distributed among 600 flood affected poor and needy families in 20 villages of Purnea district.

The villages where relief was distributed are Chilhana, Gostara, Jairampur, Kawatola, Baliharpur, Tatlia, Barihaspur, Behlkha, Bhelkhaon, Plankoff, Charlua, Khagjana, Titiha, Mirchantola, Gudihar, Majgama, Chandel, Saharia, Durgiwari, Mangalpur.

Every food packet includes 10 kg rice, 5 kg puffed rice, 2 kg chickpeas, 1 kg pulse, biscuits, 1-liter mustard oil, 1 kg sugar, 500 gm gram flour, 1 kg salt.

Initially, 3,000 families are being covered under the immediate relief extended by Sahayata Trust.

Khalil Ahmed, 65, from Mohiudinpur in Kishanganj district was not able to mutter a single word for days after witnessing the floods. He and his three sons are homeless after floods swept away their mud house not leaving a single trace behind as if the house never existed.

Every year we used to have floods. This year also we thought, there will be such low-intensity floods, but this time it broke records of previous years. It was like Tsunami., he said.

The house was my blood and sweat. I toiled hard as a labourer to build the house. I wish that we should have also died in the floods, he added.

Its crisis like situation in the flood affected districts of northern Bihar importantly the four districts, where we are providing food packets. The villages are cut off from the nearby towns as the roads have washed away and the people dont have any ration left, said Sabir Ahmed, Sahayata volunteer from Kishanganj, Bihar.

Syed Abdul Najeeb from Sahayata Trust, who reached the flood affected districts of Bihar to supervise and coordinate the relief work with a local team of volunteers, said We have been camping on the ground since August 18th.We surveyed four districts and went in the interior villages where people have lost everything. Their houses have washed in the floods and crops are totally damaged. They are surviving by eating fish, which were washed off shore by floods and are very harmful for them.

Today we reached 600 families across 20 villages and tomorrow we will provide food packets to flood victims in 18 villages of Kishanganj district, he added.

The flood water entered most of the villages in Bihar on the intervening night of August 11 and 12 as well as on August 13th, when the rivers swelled due to continuous rains. The affected districts are Purnea, Kishanganj, Katihar, Araria, Madhepura, Supaul, East Champaran, West Champaran, Darbhanga, Madhubani, Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Muzaffarpur, Gopalganj, Sahrasa & Khagaria.

The death toll has risen to 300, affecting 13 million people across 18 districts in the state.

Importantly, North Bihar is one of Indias most flood-prone region, where recurring floods have brought devastation repeatedly. According to locals, the kind of the flood they witnessed now matched the unprecedented flooding of 1987.
The general populations of two of the leading countries in the world, the United States of America and the United Kingdom have become so cowed and fearful of the opinion of zealots that we allow the consideration of the destruction and removal of statues to some of the greatest people who have ever lived. In the UK Nelson and Churchill are earmarked to go, while in America nutcases are advocating destroying Mount Rushmore.

And so it's come to this

These zealots demand we look at the situation through the prism of the present instead of the prism of the past.

They ignore the facts that we were not there at the time and could not know the full situation, that these people were expressing views that were at the time commonplace. More importantly that people such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were instrumental in developing the American Constitution that eventually provided the platform that enabled the enshrining of free speech and individual liberty into law in America and then by example across much of the free world, or that Nelson and Wellington defended the constitution of the Parliament that was to become the first to abolish slavery.

What do these fools in their fantasy worlds believe happen anyway? Do they seriously think that any father takes his son into the middle of London and gazes up at Nelson's Column and says "There you are son, Admiral Lord Nelson.

That man spoke out in favour of slavery, why, he may have even owned slaves for all we know. You emulate that small part of his life. Keep black people down, grind all you can out of them and you won't go far wrong?" Of course not. People remember a man who bravely did his duty, indeed, died in doing his duty, to make sure the people of Britain remained free.

How many of the zealots on the left would do the same? How many of them have done anything at all?

The left love protest

They love finding fault in people, but generally, they do nothing productive. This was not always the case, the National Health Service was the product of a Labour government. The Co-operative society was an effort to get the disadvantaged to work for the common good.

But the values are flawed and today the Health Service is drowning under the weight of uncontrolled mass immigration and the Co-op is a floundering business brought low by corruption. So what does the left actually do now?

In the time before Tim Farron learned how illiberal the Liberal Democrats are he was asked how many refugees should be allowed into the UK. The suggestion was about 10,000 Tim was outraged, he felt this was way too low. But I never noticed 10,000 social houses provided by the private money of Liberal grandees, or even 10. It was recently estimated that at least six union leaders were paid more than the Prime Minister. Do we see theses beacons of philanthropy starting up an East coast train franchise that uses their own surplus cash to prove how easy it is to start a business, pay staff far above the living wage, run a project well and provide funds for the treasury.

Not a bit of it, they tell us how to spend other people's money instead.

So you see it's easy to criticise. That is why so called academics enjoy contributing to the country by poring over the past and getting paid tremendous sums to do so. It would be more becoming of them, however, to desist from identifying reports of weaknesses in the greatest people who made the greatest sacrifices in order to forward their own reputations among the left wing academia and Guardian readers.

It is most telling how the actions of destroying and vandalising, usually by illegal means, relics from the past that mean so much to so many people; so identically mimic the actions of ISIS. Those nihilists take control of ancient cities and proceeded to destroy history by vandalising monuments, it is a common action of this barbaric group.

Throw away this pathetic guilt

So many from the left seem to share their hatred of the United Kingdom and the USA too, while still ensuring they bathe in the benefits provided. They cling to wrongs of the past, such as slavery from a century ago. How far back do we go with guilt and shame? Should people from middle England despise Italy because the Romans looted Mercia 1,600 years ago. It is pathetic and it holds countries back. Remember that only just over 50 years ago Japan, Germany, the UK and France all had the majority of the flower of their youth ripped away and their countries bankrupted by the Second World War. Because of their efforts and refusal to seek excuses those countries now have the 3rd 4th 5th and 6th largest economies in the world and are all free democracies that people want to live in.

It would be shameful for the USA to disrespect George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. Shameful for the UK to disrespect Robert Clive, Horatio Nelson and Winston Churchill. If we don't put a stop to this inane idiocy our country will soon end up in the same impoverished, lawless, desperate straights that so many of the Hell holes revered by the zealots now enjoy.
Donald Trump is the third US President committing yet more troops to the fight with the Taliban. The US and other nations have poured money, lives and military training into helping the Kabul government fight the insurgents yet today large sections of the country are back under Taliban control.

Helmand Province for example where many British troops were killed and injured is largely back under Taliban domination. Trump during his election campaign vowed to end America's entanglement in the Afghan Theatre Of Operations.

Trump has vowed to send 4,000 more troops to the country to take the lead in the war against the Islamic fighters.

The original plan to the let Afghan forces take the lead in the fighting it seems has not worked as well as some thought it would. This number of US troops coming into the country together with ones already there will take the number of US troops up to 8,400.

Meanwhile, Zabiullah Mujahid speaking for the Taliban said Trump's action in sending more troops seems "unclear" and will the group will need more time to examine Trump's plans and come up with a response.

16 years of conflict

The US war in Afghanistan is the longest war in US history and has cost US tax payers considerable sums of money to keep the war going. It has cost the lives of hundreds of troops and the loss of much American military hardware.

Both Obama and Trump were reluctant to participate in this war but Obama in his time and Trump are committing more men and women to the fight it seems.

Trump speaks of finally winning the war but the Afghan theatre of operations is not a conventional war. It is a guerilla war where powers from Alexander the Great to the British Empire and the Russians have fought and lost.

The Afghans are made up of many ethnicities and are a hardy people who fight amongst themselves and even harder when invaded.

What can Trump do that Bush and Obama could not do before him? Trump had better tread carefully as he faces many enemies like the North Koreans which are proving to be a huge challenge to American hegemony.

Negotiation the only way

While the US is using its military might in Afghanistan in the end peace talks are the only way forward. Trump knows this as do the Taliban and if Trump forces the Taliban back he will never totally defeat them. It is a cliche yes but the US should look back for inspiration to Vietnam and what happened there. Despite massive US participation in that war and with all its power the US could not totally defeat the Communist forces arrayed against them.

So, in the end, it will prove in Afghanistan too and no doubt behind the scenes the US is already talking to the Taliban. Pakistan according to Trump will no longer be able to act as a friend on one hand and harbour the Taliban on the other.

The one thing about this unlike Bush and Obama Trump is leaving decisions to his generals and how that will play out is any one's guess.
Angela Merkel is the heavy favourite to win next months election in the largest EU member state, according to recent polls by multiple polling companies. Her party, the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU/CSU) lies well ahead of their main competitors, the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD).

Allensbach gives voting intention figures of 39,5% for the CDU/CSU against a mere 24% for the Social Democrats under their new leader Martin Schulz. The liberal FDP  a potential coalition partner for the conservative CDU/CSU  stands at 10%, likely enough to form a stable government under Merkels leadership.

Forsa also shows a substantial gap of 14 percentage points in favour of Merkels party (38%-24%).

Whilst the Social Democrats desperately try to gain and maintain momentum and climb over the 25% mark, the Christian Democrats are close to 40%. In this poll, the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) comes in in third place, making a two-party coalition difficult to achieve.

All other parties have declared that they would not cooperate with them in any form.

INSA has very similar numbers, with the CDU/CSU at 38% and the SPD at 24%.

Sonntagsfrage #btw17 Bundestagswahl  INSA/BILD: CDU/CSU 38 %, SPD 24 %, AfD 10 %, LIN 9 %, FDP 9 %, GRU 7 %,  https://t.co/Mniu5kTT1u pic.twitter.com/OSJIBswsk5  Wahlrecht.de (@Wahlrecht_de) 21 August 2017

Merkel: Tough times, but well on course for victory

The current polling clearly indicates a very stable race with Angela Merkels CDU about 14-15% ahead of their nearest rival, the Social Democrats.

After initially gaining significant ground at the beginning of 2017 with the instalment of Martin Schulz, the former President of the European Parliament, as party leader, the SPD quickly dropped back to their meagre mid-20s poll ratings and are set to lose a fourth consecutive election to Merkel.

Having had two tough years with the refugee crisis, the rise of the right-wing AfD, Brexit and the election of Trump, the German chancellor now seems firmly back on course to finish well ahead of anyone else and stay in power for another four years.

Role of smaller parties remains decisive

What remains to be seen, however, is how the smaller parties will perform in September. Germanys highly proportional election system means that even if she wins big, Merkel will need at least one coalition partner. With the post-communist The Left (Die Linke) and the right-wing populist AfD out of the question, the CDU will end up in government with either the FDP, ideologically their favoured partner, the centre-left Greens or the Social Democrats in a continuation of the current Grand Coalition. Small changes among the junior parties might still have far-reaching consequences for who governs Germany after the election.
In order to be shortlisted by NASA to go to Space, astronauts are supposed to be perfectly healthy with no history of any known chronic conditions. After undergoing years of laborious training, their activities are closely monitored by a Flight Surgeon, months before the launch.

As a result, the risk of an astronaut getting seriously ill or needing intensive care is as low as roughly 1% to 2% per person a year, notes Dr David Green, senior lecturer in Aerospace Physiology at Kings College London, in a BBC report.

However, despite NASAs extensive screening process and gruelling physical training, astronauts do get sick or injured at times.

After all, theyre mere mortals just like the rest of us.

Falling sick in space

According to NASA, some of the most common medical problems faced by the astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) are headaches and motion sickness which usually occurs in the first 48 hours, resulting in dizziness, nausea, and loss of appetite. Other medical conditions include back ache, skin conditions, burns and dental emergencies.

During their 40-hour medical training before launch, astronauts are trained to prepare for a series of Medical Emergencies onboard the ISS. They learn how to stitch a wound, perform dental extraction, give an injection and read an ultrasound.

Other than that, a basic medical kit is also provided on the space station.

It contains an enormous book of medical conditions, a first-aid kit, along with some medical equipment such as an automated emergency defibrillator, a portable ultrasound, and blood pressure cuffs.

Essentially, ISS crews learn to mostly stabilise and restrain an injured astronaut, and then call the ground to talk to a flight surgeon, states a WIRED report.

Major health challenges

Most of the problem begins with weightlessness or zero-g. The immune system gets sluggish, hormones go bonkers and wounds heal more slowly. Meanwhile, antibiotic resistance of infectious bacteria increases.

Astronauts who stay on the space station for a long period of time also experience cardiovascular deconditioning, loss of blood volume and weakening of bones and atrophying muscles.

"You can lose about a percent of bone mass every month, and that's the typical situation astronauts are in," American astronaut Mark Kelly tells CNN.

As if thats not scary enough, even the fittest astronauts are at risk of cardiac arrest because of the harsh nature of space itself. Since lack of gravity renders cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) impossible, alternative methods like reverse bear hug method and the handstand have been developed to replace standard CPR.

Administering drugs is also a tricky task in space. Once you pop a blister tab, a pill is exposed to air and becomes oxidizable, so it decays in terms of usefulness, Anil Menon, a Flight Surgeon at NASA tells WIRED.

Performing a surgery

Everything that we take for granted, even something as simple as putting a Band Aid down on a table, is difficult in space, says Dmitry Oleynikov of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, in a New Scientist article. That difficulty increases logarithmically when youre trying to do complex procedures such as an operation, adds Oleynikov.

One of the challenges we have is liquid containment, says NASAs Dr Michael Barratt, in a BBC report. If you nick an artery, theres enough pressure in it that blood will fly up into the atmosphere and get in the way of your field of view  thats a huge issue for us, he explains.

As NASA and other space agencies continue to make plans for a cislunar station and Martian base, it becomes more and more important for astronauts to be better trained and equipped to deal with medical emergencies, notes The Science Explorer.

NASA has awarded numerous grants to researchers trying to understand and develop possible medical interventions. Recently, the space organisation supported a research that focuses on the technique of covering a patients wound using a transparent saline-filled dome through which a surgeon could operate and stitch the wound. The device prevents blood from spurting everywhere while keeping the wound isolated and clean.

The space agency is also investigating the use of robotic surgeons in space. The idea is to use pre-programmed or remote-controlled droids to perform complicated surgeries.
When choosing a career or the place to work, most people pay attention to financial conditions, commuting time, chances of promotion etc. Rarely do we think of the kind of people we would get as our bosses and co-workers and general Working Conditions. However, that aspect might be the most important one when it comes to our health.

Stress markers high, study shows

A recent study by RAND reveals that for almost two-thirds of US workers actual working conditions are a lot different from those desired. Similarly, a UK study showed a higher presence of stress markers in people who went from having no job to having a Bad one, compared to the people who stayed unemployed.

Nicole Maestas, the co-author of the study and associate professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School, said the number of people who experienced some kind of hostile environment at work surprised him. The RAND report is based on the responses of about 3,000 Americans ages 25 to 71. According to the report, one in five US workers experienced some kind of verbal abuse and sexual harassment.

The top sets the tone

According to Maestas, the boss plays a significant role in combating hostility in the workplace. A respectful boss who intervenes when someone is being treated disrespectfully is the key to fair behavior. The study also found that many Americans are exposed to different types of danger while at work on an everyday basis because of harsh physical conditions.

US workers also complained of not having enough time for their personal matters because of the work deadlines they have to meet. They claim they often dont get enough time to have something done at work so its not a rare case that they take their work home and spend their time off to actually finish their tasks. The study also finds gender inequality prevails in many aspects of professional life.

Any job better than no job?

When complaining to the people around us about our job and bad working conditions, we might hear that were lucky to even have a job nowadays and that unemployment is the worst thing possible for our health. But is it really so? A study in the UK took a look at 1,116 people aged 35 to 75 years who went from being unemployed to being employed.

Those who got a good job showed low stress levels while people who got poor-quality jobs had high biological indicators of stress and are therefore prone to some metabolic or cardiovascular issues, the study suggests. However, some argue that those biological markers are not necessarily connected to work but are just a sign of a possible illness.

Flexibility very important

Tarani Chandola, the lead author of the International Journal of Epidemiology study and professor of medical sociology at the University of Manchester, claims that workers with no flexibility in their schedules are more likely to have more biological stress indicators. A happy worker is a good worker and good working conditions can motivate workers and boost their productivity.
Cancun and Los Cabos in Mexico are a couple of favorite tourist destinations but, due to an increase in incidents of violence, the US State department has cautioned its citizens about traveling to these locations. The states of Quintana Roo and Baja California Sur, where these tourist hot spots are situated, have witnessed turf battles in which innocent people have been killed. Such drug war violence has resurfaced this year after a brief lull, hence the travel advisor being issued.

Certain popular tourist destinations in the world are already out of bounds because of threats from terror related activities and the nearby spots in Mexico pose dangers of violence related to the drug mafia.

The choice is getting restricted.

Violence in tourist spots

Los Angeles Times reports that gun battles from drug wars among warring rivals have become more frequent in the tourist spots of Cancun and Los Cabos. In downtown Cancun, five people were killed at a nightclub last January. More recently, three people were shot dead in Los Cabos this month. Both these locations are tourist hot spots and this spurt in violence is not good for business in the tourism sector. The travel warning issued by the United States could deal a major blow to tourism in Mexico.

Mexican officials have tried to portray its beach resorts as family friendly and safe tourist destinations but, in the current year, the number of homicides that it has witnessed could be the highest in the last two decades.

This increase is believed to be because of the growing demand for heroin in the U.S. coupled with the struggle for power among the leading drug cartels.

What is the future like?

In the opinion of experts, the spurt in violence in Los Cabos could be attributed to the fast growth and development of the area because of the arrival of migrants who are building new hotel rooms and resorts to cater to tourists.

Apart from drug wars, another aspect for worry is the quality of food and drinks served. It seems a young woman died after she drank tainted alcohol at one of the resorts. The US State Department has, accordingly, warned vacationers on consuming alcoholic drinks.

There is no doubt that tourism in Mexico has taken a beating and there is a downward trend in the arrival of American tourists.

However, according to World Tourism Organization, the country has gone ahead of Turkey to become the eighth most popular tourist destination in the world. It attracted more than 30 million international visitors last year and in order to improve upon the figures, Mexico must take necessary measures to rein in the violence and ensure safety of tourists. Tourism is a major revenue earner for Mexico and it has to address the problems.
One of the first talking points Donald Trump used when he kicked off his campaign for president was highlighting his plan to tackle illegal immigration. Fast forward to present day and administration is still sticking to Trump's original promise and the president's threatens a government shutdown if he doesn't receive the money to build the wall in question.

Conway on Fox News

On the floor of Trump Tower in New York City in the summer of 2015, Donald Trump created a media frenzy by announcing that he was running for the presidency of the United States and would do so as a member of the Republican Party.

During his speech, Trump received instant heat for referring to illegal immigrants as "rapists" and "murderers." In the months that followed, Trump made immigration reform a primary focus of his campaign, which included the possibility of mass deportation and the construction of a border wall. As part of Trump's master plan, the former host of "The Apprentice" also promised that he would force Mexico to pay for the wall so it wouldn't come out of the pockets of American taxpayers. As expected, Mexico has denied that they would be held responsible for payment, but that hasn't stopped Trump from sticking to his message. As seen during an interview with "Fox & Friends" on August 24, Presidential Counsel Kellyanne Conway was once again asked about the wall, and was defiant in her response.

.@KellyannePolls: The president ran on building the wall, won on building the wall, and remains steadfastly committed to getting it done pic.twitter.com/uxc7Y4TKaB  FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) August 24, 2017

While speaking to the hosts on Fox News on Thursday, Kellyanne Conway continued to defend Donald Trump over his plan to complete a border wall between the United States and Mexico.

"He's gonna stick to building that wall and he wants the money to pay for it," Conway said.

President Trump threatens a government shutdown if Congress did not fund a border wall https://t.co/AHbcGqyR8D  The New York Times (@nytimes) August 24, 2017

"The president ran on building the wall. Won on building the wall and has remained steadfastly committed to doing it," Kellyanne Conway went on to say.

"Anybody who is surprised by that has not been paying attention for the last two years," she added. The former campaign manager went on to say that a "sovereign nation needs physical borders," while continuing to praise the billionaire real estate mogul for his plan. "He's (Trump) is telling Congress that he is building the wall and he expects the funding," Conway noted. Conway's remarks come after Trump threatened a potential government shutdown if Congress doesn't find the money to build the wall, that the president claims will eventually be paid back by Mexico.

Next up

While Democrats and Republicans in Congress continue to battle over spending, including money for the proposed border wall, Donald Trump and his team appear committed to his earliest promise during the campaign. Immigration has remained a hot button issue since the election, with Trump's stance causing major push back from his critics.
Much has been done in the fight against domestic violence and abuse. However, the lack of resources and awareness in certain countries in Latin America has increased the cases of teen pregnancies.

The legislation of Argentina classifies any sexual relationships with a child under 13 years as rape. Despite this, 90 girls who were between the age of 11 and 12 years were mothers in 2015.

Just a few days ago, the world was shocked to learn the news that doctors found an 11-year-old Argentine girl to be 32 weeks pregnant when the girls mother took her to the hospital in Mendoza after she experienced abdominal pains.

Her 23-year-old uncle was taken into custody after being accused of child abuse.

Family didnt notice

Local reports say that the girls uncle often traveled, but when he was passing through the town, he spent the night in the house where the girl lives with her parents. The girls parents, who apparently were unaware of the abuses, failed to notice the girl's pregnant because the girl is robust, according to the district attorney.

Although abortion is legal in cases of rape, the child was denied an abortion due to the advanced state of the gestation.

Not the first case

Similar cases of child abuse have been reported over the past years. In 2010, a 12-year-old from the same town became pregnant after being raped.

In 2013, an 11 year-old from a different town became a mother of twin sons, who were born five weeks before the babies were due. Her case was reported to the police by her parents when a teacher informed them after becoming suspicious of her baby bump.

Every 3 hours, a child under the age of 15 gives birth

According to UNICEF, in Argentina, a girl under 15 years gives birth every 3 hours.

These unwanted pregnancies are associated with various factors, such as insufficient sex education, lack of access to contraceptive methods, sexual violence, poverty and school dropouts. The majority of cases of child sexual abuse are perpetrated by relatives.

A brighter future

UNICEF has taken numerous initiatives in order to ensure a brighter future for young parents and their Children.

Among them is the Maternal Rooms in Secondary School project, which aims to give young girls and boys the opportunity to raise their children or younger siblings while studying. Under this project, UNICEF has helped to equip 30 rooms in schools across Argentina with furniture and teaching materials.

Young parents studying in these schools are no different than the rest. Although the road ahead will be a lot more challenging for them, they have high hopes for their future, just like other pupils.

I want to finish my studies and probably become a nurse. Said Ailin Righetti, who UNICEF reports, along with her boyfriend - will become a parent in a few months.
A technician at Dalian Special Steel Co Ltd, in Liaoning province, inspects the steel products at a workshop. [Liu Debin/for China Daily]

Iron ore and steel products futures in China saw a big slump on Wednesday, due to regulators' determination to curb rising prices, experts said.

"Facing the continued increase of metal futures these days in China, regulators introduced several regulations and policies to stabilize prices, so as to ensure the sound development of related sectors," said Wang Guoqing, research director at the Lange Steel Information Research Center.

Iron ore futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange slid 3.82 percent to 578.5 yuan ($86.3) per metric ton on Wednesday, after peaking at 609.5 yuan on Tuesday, its strongest level since March 16.

Rebar steel, which reached 3,933 yuan on Tuesday, closed at 3,779 yuan per ton on Wednesday, down 3.96 percent.

Hot rolling plate declined 4.36 percent at 3,865 yuan per ton, compared with Tuesday's 4,047 yuan.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate of China released a notice on Tuesday night, requiring harsher punishment and stricter prevention of financial crimes and job-related crimes in the finance sector.

Intensifying the crackdown on securities and futures crimes, the notice stressed punishment on people who undermine the securities and futures markets' order by manipulating the market and trading with non-public information.

"The notice has large deterrent effect to the hot metal futures markets, reducing the market hype and cooling down their prices," Wang said.

In a statement on Aug 10, the China Iron and Steel Association said the steel products' price surge was not due to strong demand or inadequate supply, but speculative trading by some unscrupulous market players.

"The steel billets price in Tangshan has dropped 60 yuan per ton to 3,790 yuan last night due to a bad deal, triggering a sharp correction," said Wang Ning, an analyst at JLC Network Technology Co Ltd, based in Zibo, Shandong province.

The price fluctuation of steel billets in Tangshan, Hebei province is comparatively obvious and a valuable reference for the steel futures market.

Steel companies in Tangshan produce almost 60 percent of steel billets that can be sold to other firms.

"The market may return to a rational level after squeezing the hype bubble by related policies, and the metal prices may not see large volatility in the following months," Wang said.

CISA issued a report on Tuesday, stressing that fast rising steel prices will hurt the smooth operation of the steel industry.

With demand basically stable and producers able to quickly ramp up output, there should be no large gap in the market, the report said, predicting that the steel prices will not continue to see such dramatic fluctuations in the future.

The steel price index climbed to this year's peak of 106.49 at the end of July, lifted by higher iron ore costs, the report said.
BEIJING - China on Wednesday unveiled a new regulation on unlicensed businesses in a move to ease restrictions and encourage entrepreneurship and innovation.

The regulation, effective from Oct 1, 2017, exempts licenses for people selling farm products and daily goods at sites and during time designated by governments at county or higher levels, and those using their skills to provide services that do not require approval according to the law.

Authorities responsible for cracking down on unregistered businesses must avoid simply shutting them down. Instead, they should help businesses obtain licenses and certificates, according to the regulation.

For uncertified businesses where there is no specific stipulation on the level of punishment, fines imposed on owners should be reduced and items necessary for such businesses must no longer be confiscated, it said.

The regulation also asks all authorities to perform their duties and improve regulation efficiency in the investigation and punishment of unregistered businesses.

China has been working to streamline business registration procedures to create a more favorable business environment.

A State Council meeting in April said that the government would cut red tape by integrating separate business licenses into one single license.
BEIJING -- The English and French editions of Chinese President Xi Jinping's book on poverty relief were launched on Wednesday at the ongoing 24th Beijing International Book Fair.

Titled "Up and Out of Poverty," the book is comprised of 29 of Xi's speeches and articles, as well as photos, from 1988 to 1990 when he was the Party chief of Ningde city in East China's Fujian province.

The Chinese edition was first published in July 1992 and reprinted in August 2014, gaining popularity among domestic readers especially officials at all levels.

The foreign editions were translated and published by the Foreign Languages Press affiliated with China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration.

Wu Shangzhi, deputy head of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, said that the Communist Party of China Central Committee, with Xi as the core, regards poverty relief as a bottom line and benchmark for accomplishing the building of a moderately prosperous society.

China's experiences will provide reference for other countries to shake off poverty, Wu said.

The foreign editions have received high attention and won praise from political figures, academics and media in African countries.
The saying goes that everything is bigger in Texas, which could describe the ambitions of the new China-focused think tank about to open at the University of Texas.

The China Public Policy Center, within the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs on UT's flagship campus in Austin, the state capital, is ready to play a role in a wide range of issues vital to the US-China relationship.

Leading the new center, which will open on Monday, will be David J. Firestein, a veteran diplomat who most recently served as senior vice-president at the EastWest Institute.

From 1992 to 2010, Firestein specialized in US-China relations, serving five years at the US Embassy in Beijing, where he once got to translate for former premier Li Peng in 1995.

In November 2016, Firestein was described as "one of the best non-native speakers of Chinese in the world".

An Austin native, Firestein's fascination with China was kindled when, as a high school student in 1984, he took a trip to Asia with his parents. He still has Chinese friends from that trip.

Firestein earned a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and master's degrees in public affairs and Asian studies from UT-Austin.

He went on to become the first foreigner to have a regular column in a Chinese newspaper, the first foreign diplomat to publish a book while serving in China, and the first sitting foreign diplomat to host a television series in China.

One of the methods of the new center will be "track 2 diplomacy".

"It's basically the convening of influential people who are close to power but who are not in power, and who can come together to surface innovative new policy work-arounds to problems that are vexing the governments," was how Firestein described track 2 diplomacy in an interview with China Daily. "It's a kind of unofficial, people-to people interaction that is designed to inform the thinking and decision-making of policymakers."

The timing for the nonpartisan CPPC probably couldn't be better for UT, with the current political focus on the American heartland. UT also is the alma mater of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

"Particularly with this president and this presidency, the emphasis on the heartland of the United States and the Rust Belt, industrial territory, Ohio and Michigan, the notion of having a national level China entity housed at a world-class university in the heartland,able to look at the relationship through the prism of the central time zone, I think that makes a difference.

"Being here in Texas enables us to do some things and look at issues in certain ways that are different from others (such as Washington think tanks), what I might call our burnt-orange identity," Firestein said in a jocular reference to the school's colors. "We're looking hard at how we can differentiate ourselves."

One way the CPPC can do this is through its Chinese-language capability.

"Our goal will be to have two official working languages, English and Chinese, which will include Chinese-language videos on You Tube," Firestein said. "You'll see more original Chinese-language thought leadership and content generated from our center than you probably do from any other US center in the country that focuses on China."

Firestein said that "if the United States wants to be serious as a nation in terms of dealing with China and really understanding this country, then we as a nation have to get to a point that we're as comfortable doing conferences and events in Chinese as so many Chinese are doing in English."

He said "that notion of reciprocity is going to be one of the subtexts of what we do at the UT China Public Policy Center".

While the focus is on diplomacy, trade issues usually elbow their way into the discussion.

China is Texas' third-largest export market and second-largest source of imports. Texas is the No. 3 destination for Chinese foreign direct investment and for overseas Chinese students.

"There's a very substantial nexus between policy and business decisions and the business climate," Firestein said. "Where there's a policy element to business matters (such as the lifting of the beef ban, or on infrastructure or trade issues) that's where we can play a significant role to help clear away some of the policy underbrush to allow for even more robust levels of trade and investment."

Contact the writer at williamhennelly@chinadailyusa.com
USS John S. McCain (L) is seen at sea off Singapore's Changi Naval Base, on Aug 21, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

TOKYO - The commander of the US Navy's 7th Fleet was relieved of his duties following a number of accidents involving warships, local media reported on Wednesday.

According to Japanese news reports, Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin was relieved of his duties due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command.

Adm. Scott Swift, commander of US Pacific Fleet, dismissed Aucoin on these grounds, and Rear Adm. Phil Sawyer, who has been promoted to Vice Adm., will take over the responsibilities with immediate effect, local media reported.

The dismissal follows four Navy-linked accidents in the Pacific, including two fatal collisions that left some sailors dead and missing.

The string of accidents have occurred since late January.

Swift was quoted as saying that the accidents cannot be viewed in isolation and that the Navy will review all of its ships in the Pacific in terms of training and assessments of each vessel, as well as focusing on its ships' navigation and mechanical systems.

He also said that bridge resource management will also be a focal point in the reassessment, local reports stated.

Among the Navy's major incidents of late, a collision between the US Navy's guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald and a Philippine container vessel in waters about 100 kilometers southwest of Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, in June, became major headline news in Japan.

Seven sailors lost their lives in the collision that left the Fitzgerald heavily damaged and needing to be towed back to its port in Yokosuka.

The US Navy, according to local media, said that serious mistakes had been made by crew members on the Fitzgerald and that its bridge team had lost situational awareness.

Other than the Fitzgerald's captain, other crew members are also facing non-judicial punishments.

The 7th Fleet comprises up to 70 ships and submarines, 140 aircraft and some 20,000 sailors.

The home port of the 7th Fleet is the Yokosuka Naval Base, located about 65 kilometers south of Tokyo.
Beijing is committed to promoting peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan, and calls on the international community to support the war-torn country in enhancing capacity to fight extremism and terrorism, a top Chinese diplomat said in a phone call with the US secretary of state on Wednesday.

Two days after US President Donald Trump unveiled his new strategy for Afghanistan, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson provided an overview of Trump's south Asia policy to Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi, focusing specifically on the Afghanistan and Pakistan policy elements, US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said on Wednesday afternoon.

In a prime-time national speech on Monday night, Trump recommitted the United States to the 16-year war in Afghanistan, declaring US troops must "fight to win" and calling a rapid exit of the US troops from Afghanistan "unacceptable".

In outlining the pillars of his strategy, Trump said that the US wasn't concerned about nation-building but focused on "killing terrorists".

Yang told Tillerson that political dialogue is the only solution to the Afghanistan issue, according to a statement from China's Foreign Ministry.

The international community needs to support Afghanistan in achieving a "broad and inclusive" political reconciliation, support its people in pursuing a development path that fits with the country's own national conditions, and back the Afghan government in increasing its capability to fight extremism and terrorism, Yang said.

Beijing stands ready to keep in communication and coordination with Washington on the Afghanistan issue and to make joint efforts to realize peace and stability in the country and the region, Yang said, according to the statement.

"We need to give attention to the important role Pakistan plays in the Afghanistan issue and respect Pakistan's sovereignty and security concerns," Yang said.

Trump alleged in his Monday night speech that "Pakistan often gives safe haven to agents of chaos, violence, and terror."

The remarks irked many Pakistanis, who said the US president ignored Pakistan's sacrifices in the war on terror.

"Our contributions and sacrifices as an ally have not been acknowledged as they deserved to have been acknowledged," Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said on Tuesday.

Yang said he hoped that China and the US will expand cooperation and properly settle differences to maintain momentum on relations.

In accordance with the important consensus reached by President Xi Jinping and President Trump, the two countries should strengthen exchanges at high and various levels and make good preparations for Trump's visit to China within this year, Yang said.

Tillerson said that the US side is willing to work with the Chinese side to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and promote communication and cooperation, according to the Foreign Ministry statement.

Trump is looking forward to his important visit to China within the year, said Tillerson, expressing hope for concerted efforts to make a success of the visit, according to the statement.

huanxinzhao@chinadailyusa.com
Nova Scotia, one of Canada's three Maritime provinces, and known for its lobsters and berries, is ramping up its China engagement strategy with a ministerial-level visit to China in early September to expand trade and seek investment.

At the head of the mission will be Keith Colwell, minister of agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture, who comes from a farming background and said he's optimistic about doing business with China, especially in products like wild blueberries and lobsters.

"We are very excited about the Chinese market and looking forward to doing more business with our Chinese partners and companies there again, to talk about lobsters and marine products as we always do. Now we also talk about wild blueberries," Colwell, who is making his sixth trip to China next month, told China Daily.

China remains a relatively untapped market for the small economy of Nova Scotia. However, exports of live lobster from Nova Scotia to China have increased more than 20 times in the last several years.

Now there is more potential in store for its golden crop - wild blueberries - which have become a new favorite for consumers in China given their health benefits.

"We want to provide excellent high-quality wild blueberries," Colwell said. "We are educating suppliers and distributors, food service people and hotel chains in China about the health benefits of wild blueberries."

The wild blueberry industry is now a C$100 million business in Nova Scotia. Colwell said they hope to build on a long-term relationship with suppliers and customers in China over time, making high-quality products available on a consistent basis.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has pledged to improve bilateral relations with China, has advised Nova Scotia to further cultivate and develop the export of blueberry products to China.

"Right now, we are working with local producers, farmers and distributors in Oxford, including the local frozen foods company and other suppliers to help our partners build on the blueberries business in China which is a wonderful market," Colwell said.

Stressing the importance of long-term relationships with China, Colwell said trade missions and related promotional and investment activities would continue in the future.

"We would be offering some high-quality blueberry wine to the Chinese market and promoting pairings with chefs and again building relationships with Chinese customers and friends on the coming visit," he said.

Apart from ensuring high-end product quality, Colwell said the high tariffs are a challenge they are hoping to resolve.

"We are working with the federal government to get them reduce them over time. For example, our wild blueberries have a much greater health benefit and we have to highlight this to both sides to see if [the tariffs] can be reduced or eliminated."

On Chinese investments in Nova Scotia, whose agriculture and fishery products as well as education and tourism sectors enjoy a fair share of the Chinese market, Colwell said the province is always interested in investments and is excited to see Chinese investors coming to its shores.

Nova Scotia is working with a sea cucumber company owned by a Chinese investor to set up a processing and shipping operation in Nova Scotia. "We are very positive about this investment to us and the community and it will provide a really good product for the Chinese market," he said.

China, the fastest-growing market in the global economy, has become Nova Scotia's second-largest trading partner. The trade relationship is worth $420 million in exports, Colwell said.

"I am sure that our wild blueberry industry could be interested in developing opportunities with Chinese investors. I think it would be wise to invest in both Nova Scotia and China and to have a strong long-term relationship, because it is a very important market for Nova Scotia," Colwell said.

renali@chinadailyusa.com
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HA NOI  Even though Viet Nam has relaxed the policies that allow foreigners to buy houses in the country, the numbers are not as high as expected.

More than 750 foreigners have been granted house ownership certificates in Viet Nam since the Law on Housing came into effect in 2014, reports the Ministry of Construction.

The figure is six times higher than that of eight years since Viet Nam implemented the Resolution No 19/2008/QH12, which piloted the scheme to allow foreign organisations and individuals to buy and own homes in the country.

However, a representative from the Ministry of Constructions Housing and Real Estate Market Management Department told the Vietnam News Agency that the number of foreigners buying houses in Viet Nam was still low due to many other factors including their financial capacity, jobs, demand and the cost of real estate.

The regulations on housing and the policies on house ownership in Viet Nam have been relaxed including the conditions of house ownership and the number of houses being owned by foreigners, which all suit the current situation, the representative said.

Nguyen Khanh Duy, director of sales at Savills Vietnam in HCM City, said legal procedures on real estate ownership of foreigners in Viet Nam had basically received positive feedback from both buyers and sellers.

The attraction of foreigners buying homes in the country in accordance with the law is expected to develop the countrys real estate market, especially in the segment of luxury housing which is abundant.  VNS
HA NOI State-owned enterprises (SOEs) in line for equitisation and listing should review their financial situation and re-evaluate their assets before going public, experts say.

SOE equitisation is seen as an effective solution for increasing productivity, promoting economic restructuring, attracting investment and encouraging private sector growth.

As such, accurate evaluation of the firms financial value before the equitisation process is crucial because they form the foundation for later actions including the issuance of shares and dividends.

For the time being, appraisal and auditing by the State Audit Office of Vietnam (SAV) are considered the main tools of assessment in deciding the SOEs equity and asset values.

This means the SAV is charged with finding the true worth of SOEs and dealing with any problems that arise during their equitisation process in a timely and accurate manner.

Based on the SAVs 2016 findings, there are still limits on the accuracy of evaluating an SOE, especially involving brand name and value, business competitiveness, financial investment, land use and assets pricing.

The office found some incongruence between different Government departments and agencies in charge of SOE equitisation that appropriate authorities should look into, State Auditor General Ho uc Phoc said at a workshop on Monday.

Additional policies and regulations are needed to prevent undervaluation of SOEs, Phoc said.

Millions in difference

Some experts believe a few SOEs have been underpriced, and with proper auditing, millions of US dollars worth of corporate value can be raised for better evaluation and pricing before these are officially listed on the stock exchange.

At Mondays workshop, Nguyen Anh Tuan, Sector VI Auditor General at the SAV, said that in investigating eight SOEs, they found a difference of VN8.45 trillion (US$376 million) in capital between the SAVs result and the companies own figures.

One such company, the Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited (BSR), had VN4.58 trillion ($204 million) in State capital added by the SAV to make a total of VN44.9 trillion ($2 billion).

Several other big names including PetroVietnam Power Corp (PV Power), PetroVietnam Oil Corporation (PV Oil) and Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG), have also been assigned new values by the SAV, with the difference amounting to VN2 trillion ($89 million), VN512 billion ($22.8 million) and VN440 billion ($19.5 million), respectively.

Tuan explained the discrepancies as results of inadequate information, different time periods within the financial year, and an overall misunderstanding between appraiser and auditor.

Proposing a solution, Nguyen Ngoc Tuan, Chairman of the Vietnam Valuation Association (VVA), said there should be at least two methods of appraising and auditing SOEs, with one produces the main results while the other produces comparative figures.

For example, by using two auditing methods simultaneously, the SAV generated completely different results for the Saigontourist Cable Television Company Limited and the Vienam Television Cable Corporation, two out of the eight SOEs mentioned earlier.

In particular, the SAV applied an evaluation method based on discounted cash flows instead of corporate assets, and found a difference of VN400 billion ($17.8 million) across both companies, which means the old method would yielded an undervalued assessment of the companies capital.

Nonetheless, the SAV has not asked authorities to make this a compulsory step, but rather that companies undergo more detailed scrutiny before they are approved for equitisation.

The office explained that should SOEs be forced to alter existing records immediately after the new audited results are released, they would face immense pressures of assets depreciation and increased production costs, ultimately leading to revenue deficits, as the value of their equity increases while other quantitative assets remain the same.

It said that in the coming time, the number of re-examined SOEs will increase to around 80, as a new Decree 59/2017/N-CP decreases the value of a companys equity that would subject it to State audit from VN5 trillion ($222.2 million) down to VN1.8 trillion ($80.1 million).

No magic cure

Brian McEnery, Global President of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), said that based on experiences from other countries, equitisation and public listing of companies should not be considered a magic cure for unproductive SOEs.

He said that in theory, the process of equitisation itself may help with the companies decision making, leading to a more practical business model and a stronger, diversified capital flow. But all such possibilities can only happen with a solid strategy, business management solutions and effective support from the government.  VNS
HA NOI  Viet Nam s largest oil project just took a significant step towards providing products for domestic and foreign markets.

On Tuesday, Thanh Hoa Province s Nghi Son petrochemical refinery company received its first batch of crude oil from Kuwait . The 270,000 tonnes of oil will be used to prepare for the refinerys trial run.

According to Nguyen Van Thi, head of the management board of Nghi Son Economic Zone where the refinery is located, the reception of the first batch of crude oil means the factory is closer to being ready to provide petrochemical and refined products for domestic consumption and export.

The Nghi Son Refinery is currently the largest oil project in the country with investment totalling US$9.2 billion. When in operation, it will have a refining capacity of 10 million tonnes of crude oil per year. The refinery is expected to strengthen Viet Nam s national energy security.

The crude oil shipment received Tuesday was to be pumped from the oil tanker Millennium to a facility called Single Point Mooring Buoy. It is then transported through underwater pipes to three of the eight storage tanks, each of which can hold up to 112,000 cubic metres.

With a maximum capacity of 15,000 cubic metres per hour, it will take about 22 to 24 hours to pump the entire 270,000 tonnes of crude oil from the vessel to the refinerys storage facilities.

Receiving the Millennium marked another milestone for the Nghi Son seaport: with a maximum capacity of 300,000 tonnes of crude oil, the ship is the largest crude oil vessel ever to dock in Viet Nam .

The refinerys latest achievements come after mechanical completion was achieved in April. The plant was transferred from the contractor, a consortium of JGC Corporation, Chiyoda Corporation, Technip, SK Group and GS Group, to the operator, Nghi Son Refinery JSC, in May.

According to current plans, the factory will receive oil from three large-range oil tankers every month when it begins commercial operation.  VNS
Even as local farmers contend with falling prices and struggle to sell their produce, the country is spending millions of dollars buying imported agricultural products. Photo cafef.vn

HA NOI  Even as local farmers contend with falling prices and struggle to sell their produce, the country is spending millions of dollars buying imported agricultural products.

This has raised the question of how to prevent Vietnamese agricultural products from losing out in the domestic market.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developments recent statistics shows that Viet Nam imported US$852 million worth of vegetables and fruits in the first seven months of 2017, nearly double that of the same period last year. The import revenue is estimated to exceed $1 billion this year.

The vegetables and fruits were imported from Thailand, which holds 57 per cent of the market share in the first half of 2017, followed by China (16.8 per cent).

Viet Nam mainly imported apples, oranges, kiwis and cherries (from New Zealand and Australia), mangoes, custard apples, and tamarind (from Thailand), green apples (from France and the United States), pomegranates (from South Korea) and vegetables from China.

The nation also spends billions of dollars importing other agricultural products such as maize and soy bean every year.

A market research survey published on Vibiz.vn recently revealed that 53 per cent of Vietnamese citizens surveyed preferred buying rice from Thailand and Japan, which have gained huge popularity though Viet Nam is among the worlds top rice exporters.

ao Anh Tuan, director of a company that imports fruits in Ha Noi, said many kinds of fruits that can be grown in Viet Nam are now imported, such as mangoes, grapes and coconuts.

As market opens up more and more, many fruits are being imported in huge quantities, which lowers their cost, Tuan added. In addition, there are many players in the fruit import market and the competition is fierce, so the price of imported fruits has dropped, and some are even cheaper than locally grown fruits, Tuan said.

Imported fruits are increasingly favoured by consumers who believe that they are of better quality, Tuan said.

According to ang Kim Son, former director of Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development, consumers choose products based on quality, safety and price.

Vietnamese producers must focus on improving quality, ensure hygiene and safety standards are met, and lower prices in order to compete effectively with imported products, he said.

It will also be tough for Vietnamese agricultural products to compete amid rapid international integration, if products continue to be exported in raw form and have inconsistent quality and unclear origins, Son said.

The decisive factor is product quality, said expert Vo Tong Xuan, adding that products sold in the domestic market must be of the same quality as those exported.

Pham S, deputy chairman of Lam ong Provinces Peoples Committee, said the management of agricultural production must be improved to ensure product quality and food hygiene and safety.  VNS
HCM CITY  Members of 21 APEC economies yesterday discussed measures to enhance supply chain connectivity at the 7th meeting of the APEC Alliance for Supply Chain (A2C2) group.

The meeting was held in HCM City within the framework of the third Senior Officials Meeting (SOM 3) and related meetings.

Discussion centred on the progress of APEC supply-chain capacity-building projects in Malaysia, Viet Nam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, China and New Zealand, and a presentation about the Supply Chain Connectivity Framework Action Plan 2.

Proposals for new activities, including funding from an APEC supply-chain sub-fund, as well as enhanced collaboration among APEC economies and the next steps for 2018 were also featured.

Ken Schagrin, the US deputy assistant Trade Representative for APEC affairs, said the A2C2 group was established in 2014 with an aim to encourage better trade facilitation between companies and associations in the public and private sectors within APEC.

In mid-February, the 6th meeting of the A2C2 group was held in Nha Trang in Khanh Hoa Province.  VNS
HCM CITY  A two-day conference on APEC advertising standards resumed on Thursday in HCM City, with a focus on delivering responsible advertising in key sectors at a time of increased digital access.

The conference was held by the Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI) within the framework of the third Senior Officials Meeting (SOM 3).

Around 50 delegates from 21 APEC member economies discussed responsible food and alcohol marketing and regulations, in addition to monitoring of digital advertising.

Ryan MacFarlane, an APEC representative and director of C&M International, said that APEC supported the establishment and alignment of advertising standards among advertising standards bodies.

Advertising fosters competition, builds consumer awareness, and ultimately increases economic growth and cross-border trade, he said.

One US dollar spent on advertising in developed APEC markets generates US$7 in GDP growth, and typically more in product sales, he said, citing a recent study.

APEC has given priority to the promotion of advertising standards and the role of governments and self-regulation through its consistent body of work over the last five years.

The first APEC advertising standards meeting took place in Ha Noi in 2012. It established objectives for APEC economies in the following five years and outlined policy tools to help economies reach the objectives.  VNS
CAN THO  On the sidelines of the APEC Food Security Week in Can Tho, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ha Cong Tuan held a bilateral meeting with Australian Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources Anne Ruston to discuss co-operation in agro-business and fishing.

They signed an MOU on combating illegal, unreported, unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Tuan said the MOU would deepen co-operation between the two sides on issues related to illegal fishing.

The two leaders also apprised each other on the progress made on opening the doors for Australian cherry in Viet Nam and Vietnamese dragon fruit in Australia.

They agreed to work together to expand bilateral trade in other agricultural products.VNS
THUA THIEN- HUE  The iconic iron bridge Truong Tien in the former imperial capital of Hue is getting an overhaul in an effort to return it to its design under the era of the countrys last emperor Bao ai (1926-1945).

The bridge serves as a unique icon of the city and its beauty has been depicted in various songs, poems and paintings.

An agency under the Directorate for Roads of Viet Nam based in the central region is repairing the bridges floor and corridors that allow pedestrians to enjoy the beauty of the Huong (Perfume) River.

The agency deputy director ang Nguyen Ngoc Linh said the bridge roads would get a new asphalt layer while the two corridors running along its two sides would be paved with stone.

Linh said 10 balconies in shape of half hexagons would be reinstalled into the corridors to make the bridge corridors look similar to its design during the final stage of the imperial age.

The move has been welcomed by locals and visitors to the city.

ang Huu Vinh, an elderly man in the city, said the bridge would look better with the hexagon balconies, just like it was when Vinh was young. This will embellish the city and todays youth at the same time, Vinh said.

The iron bridge was first built and put into use in 1899 under the reign of King Thanh Thai. It spans over two banks of the Huong River and is 402m long and 6m wide, designed by French architect Gustave Eiffel.

The bridge was broken twice due to storms and bombing and has been overhauled several times. The latest overhaul in 1991 removed the balconies and changed the bridges colour from silver to grey.

Also, a contractor fixed a plate with name Truong Tien at its two ends. According to Linh, this overhaul will repaint the bridge and fix the plates.

New pedestrian zone

City authorities plan to pilot making the bridge a pedestrian one during weekends by this October.

According to city deputy chairman Nguyen ang Thanh, all vehicles will be banned from traffic on the bridge every Saturday and Sunday.

With the scheme, the bridge will be decorated with art installations and equipped with new light effects to enhance its beauty.

The city will set up a food street near ong Ba Market, which is located on the northern end of the bridge, and turn roads in the backpacker area connecting the bridges southern end to pedestrian streets.

These, including the food street, the bridge and the pedestrian backpacker area will create a new pedestrian zone during weekends, aiming at drawing more tourists to the city.

Le ac Nguyen Quy, a restaurant owner in the backpacker area supported the scheme, saying he found pedestrian roads in Bangkok allowed tourists to have more fun, which means they will stay longer and spend more.

The scheme will impact local tourism positively, he said.  VNS
HCM CITY  More than 40 black-and-white and colour photos featuring Sai Gon and its history are on display at Book Street (Nguyen Van Binh Street) in HCM Citys District 1.

The photos are from collections of photographers and collectors Phuc Tien, Van Phung, Hieu Minh and Soh Weng Yew.

The photos of the citys culture and lifestyle include images of old buildings, churches and markets.

The photos are about Sai Gon and its people, who have worked hard to develop their land, said Nguyen Thai Bao, who visited the showcase last weekend.

I enjoyed the photos of the Notre Dame Cathedral and Ben Thanh Market, two of the citys most famous tourist destinations. These buildings are part of our daily life, she said.

Notre Dame Cathedral, designed by French architect Jules Bourard, opened in 1880.

All of the buildings materials were imported from France, including the red bricks from Marseille that make up the outside walls which still retain their colour.

Ben Thanh Market began as a small market of street vendors near the Ben Nghe River in early 17th century. In 1859, it was established by the French colonial powers after they took over Gia inh Citadel.

In 1912, the market was moved to a new building on a land of more than 13,000sq.m located in District 1, where it still stands.

The market includes 3,000 stalls offering Vietnamese items, including food, garments, shoes and handicrafts.

For decades, both the church and the market have attracted hundreds of local residents and foreign tourists each day.

The images of the cathedral at the exhibition helped us learn more about the churchs history and the citys development, said Rob Matthews, an American visitor.

The cathedral is now closed for its first renovation.

The photo exhibition ends on September 2.  VNS
JERUSALEM  Israeli archaeologists on Wednesday unveiled a 1,500-year-old portion of mosaic floor bearing the names of Byzantine Emperor Justinian and a senior Orthodox priest.

David Gellman, director of the excavation in east Jerusalems walled Old City, said that while the area was rich in archaeological finds, few such inscriptions had been found.

"Direct text and letters from people back then are relatively rare," he said.

The Greek inscription, dated at 550 or 551 AD, commemorates the founding of a building thought to be a hostel for pilgrims near the citys Damascus Gate.

Constantine, the Orthodox priest who founded it, was abbot of the Nea Church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary and the largest church in Jerusalem when it was built in 543 AD.

Gellman said the rectangular section of mosaic, 1.14 metres on its longest side, "tells us about the way churches and monasteries worked back then. It makes this piece very unique".

"It tells us that the abbot, the head of the big church in Jerusalem, was not only the head of that specific church," he said.

It was discovered intact about a metre below street level as Gellman and his team made a routine exploratory dig ahead of the arrival of workers to lay communications cables.

"We were very close to closing the excavation when I noticed that a few of the mosaic stones, which were otherwise plain white, were at a different angle and seemed to be a little darker," he said.

"I cleaned up that small corner... and found that it was the bottom left corner of the inscription itself," he added.

"At that moment I realised that we have a very unique find here."

The Old City lies in east Jerusalem, seized by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed in a move never recognised by the international community.  AFP
Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong meets Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Jakarta .  VNA/VNS Photo Tri Dung

JAKARTA  Viet Nam attaches special importance and gives high priority to maintaining and developing its traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Indonesia, said Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

During their talks following a welcoming ceremony for the Vietnamese leader in Jakarta yesterday, Party General Secretary Trong and Indonesian President Joko Widodo expressed their appreciation at the development of bilateral ties over the past six decades, especially since the establishment of a strategic partnership between the countries in 2013.

The two leaders informed the other about the situation in each country and discussed major orientations to further deepen the Viet Nam-Indonesia strategic partnership and push forward with bilateral ties in all spheres in a more practical and effective manner.

They expressed their belief that two-way trade value would soon rise to US$10 billion from the level of $6 billion last year thanks to measures encouraging Vietnamese and Indonesian businesses to expand cooperation and investment in each others market, particularly in the fields of oil and gas, coal, rice, Halal food, pepper and rubber.

President Widodo emphasised three particular areas of cooperation, including maritime navigation and fishing; trade and investment; and regional and international issues.

The leaders agreed to maintain regular visits and meetings at all levels and through different channels to increase mutual understanding and trust and promote mutually-beneficial co-operation while effectively upholding existing co-operation mechanisms, including the Bilateral Co-operation Committee and the Joint Committee on Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation, as well as enhancing links between localities of the two nations.

The two sides shared the view that co-operation in defence and security was a highlight in bilateral relations over recent years and also a very important pillar of cooperation that needs to be strengthened. On that basis, they pledged to coordinate closely in fighting terrorism, cyber and hi-tech crimes, human trafficking, drug trafficking and transnational crimes.

The two sides pledged to accelerate and soon conclude negotiations on the demarcation of exclusive economic zones towards devising overall solutions, including settling issues related to fishing boats and fishermen in the spirit of humanity, friendship and solidarity within ASEAN, in line with the bilateral strategic partnership and on the basis of respect for each countrys independence and sovereignty.

At the talks, General Secretary Trong and President Widodo also exchanged views on international and regional issues of mutual concern. They reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the region, ensuring security, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea, peacefully resolving disputes, and complying with international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982. They also stressed the need to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and soon reach a Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea.

Both sides vowed to continue coordinating to settle common issues, including counter-terrorism, piracy, arms and nuclear weapon proliferation. The leaders promised to closely cooperate in terms of stance and action at international and regional forums, particularly the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC), and the United Nations, as well as regional and global economic and trade cooperation initiatives.

The Vietnamese and Indonesian leaders held that during its five-decade history, ASEAN has obtained important achievements, especially the establishment of the ASEAN Community. They affirmed that Viet Nam and Indonesia will continue coordinating together closely and with other ASEAN members to realise the Communitys goals, promote the blocs solidarity and cooperation, build a united and strong ASEAN, and bring into play the groupings central role in regional architectures.

President Widodo appreciated Viet Nams support for Indonesias candidacy for non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council for the 2019-2020 tenure. He also affirmed that Indonesia backs Viet Nams bid to run for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 term and continues working closely with Viet Nam in the APEC Year 2017.

Party General Secretary Trong invited President Joko Widodo to visit Viet Nam at an appropriate time. President Widodo thanked the Vietnamese leader and accepted the invitation with pleasure.  VNS
Viet Nam and Indonesia pledged yesterday to work together on issues from justice to agriculture to energy, following talks between Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Indonesian President Joko Widodo.  VNA/VNS Photo Tri Dung

JAKARTA  Viet Nam and Indonesia pledged yesterday to work together on issues from justice to agriculture to energy, following talks between Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

At a press conference following the signing ceremony, the leaders expressed their delight at the outcomes of the talks, which took place at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta after an official welcoming ceremony for the Vietnamese leader, who is on an official visit from August 22 to 24.

During the talks, the two sides scrutinised three main issues: navigation and fisheries; trade and investment; and regional issues, President Widodo said. He added that they agreed to speed up negotiations on the delineation of exclusive economic zones, work to reach consensus on fishing grounds, and reduce illegal fishing.

The documents signed include a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation between Viet Nams Ministry of Justice and Indonesias Ministry of Law and Human Rights, and a MoU on information development cooperation between Viet Nams Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Indonesias Ministry of Village, Disadvantaged Region Development and Transmigration.

Viet Nam s Ministry of Industry and Trade and Indonesia s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources signed a MoUs on cooperation in gas use in border areas, and another on cooperation in the coal industry.

While the two countries coast guard forces inked a letter of intent on cooperation enhancement, the Vietnamese and Indonesian Governments signed an MoU on educational cooperation.

The leaders also discussed new measures and initiatives to boost bilateral trade to US$10 billion in the near future.

As a big producer and exporter of coffee and pepper, Indonesia agreed to devise concrete measures to manage the products, keep prices stable and improve products quality, Widodo noted.

He expressed his hope that Indonesian and Vietnamese investors will face more favourable conditions for their activities.

The talks and subsequent press conference were an opportunity to look back on the countries traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation over the past years. The leaders discussed ways to deepen their strategic partnership and boost relations in all aspects.



President Widodo emphasised that Viet Nam has been a strategic partner of Indonesia since 2013, and they work closely together as members of ASEAN. Viet Nam currently chairs APEC in 2017 and will host the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting in November.

Indonesia hailed achievements in the formation of a code of conduct (COC) in the East Sea and considered them a strong foundation for resolving East Sea-related issues and for maintaining stability, peace and prosperity in the region.

Party General Secretary Trong underlined that Viet Nam consistently wants to bolster the strategic partnership with Indonesia . Good implementation of the agreements and cooperation measures will improve bilateral relations, thus benefiting the two peoples, helping to enhance solidarity among the member countries of the ASEAN Community, and contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.
National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan receives a delegation from the Liberal Democratic Partys Youth Division.  VNA/VNS Photo Trong uc

HA NOI  National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan expressed her hope that young Japanese parliamentarians will contribute to deepening Viet Nam-Japan relations at a reception in Ha Noi yesterday for a delegation from the Liberal Democratic Partys Youth Division.

Intensifying co-operation with Japan is one Viet Nams foreign policy priorities, she affirmed, adding that high political trust is a firm foundation for co-operation between the two sides.

Ngan took the occasion to thank Japan for providing official development assistance for Viet Nam, which, she said, has helped the country develop and reduce poverty.

She lauded the initiative to hold a seminar between the two countries young parliamentarians as it contributed to strengthening mutual understanding.

The top legislator asked the two sides to maintain visits and meetings and improve the role of parliamentarians, especially young and female lawmakers, and co-ordinate in celebrating the 45th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties in 2018.

It is necessary to step up economic and trade co-operation, facilitate Viet Nams export of aquatic products and fruits to Japan, and promote Japans investment in Viet Nam in support industry, manufacturing, energy and agriculture, she noted.

Keisuke Suzuki, head of the Liberal Democratic Partys Youth Division, informed the host of the outcomes of the seminar between his delegation and young Vietnamese deputies.

According to him, regular exchange activities between young parliamentarians will help the two countries youths improve mutual understanding and contribute more to bilateral relations.

Given that there are currently 1,600 Japanese enterprises investing in Viet Nam, he proposed the Southeast Asian nation continue improving its investment environment so as to attract more foreign investors, including those from Japan.-VNS
Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong visited Indonesias Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Jakarta, where he delivered a speech on the 50 years of ASEAN, including its formation, development and plans for the future.  VNA/VNS Photo Tri Dung

Jakarta  Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong visited Indonesias Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Jakarta, where he delivered a speech on the 50 years of ASEAN, including its formation, development and plans for the future.

The Party leader recalled the traditional friendship between the two countries from the 19th century when the Nguyen Dynasty of Viet Nam send the first envoy to Indonesia to boost trade ties. The relationship has grown and developed ever since. In 2013, the two countries became strategic partners.

Viet Nam and Indonesia are members of ASEAN with many shared interests and similar values, he said, stressing the important role of the bloc as one of the most successful organisations in the world and a dynamic economic region ranking seventh in the world.

The building of the ASEAN Community towards a united bloc not only benefits member countries but also other outside states, he said.

The Party chief analysed challenges facing ASEAN, while pointing out lessons helping the association succeed over the past 50 years, including those on dependence, and self-reliance, solidarity and unity as well as the central role in regional cooperation mechanisms.

In order to realise the ASEAN Vision 2025, he highlighted the need for the association to successfully build the ASEAN Community of solidarity, strength and prosperity, maintain and reinforce regional peace and stability, and strengthen partnership with outside partners while promoting the central role of the bloc in the regional architecture.

Over the past 22 years, Viet Nam has exerted every effort to maintain and promote order in Southeast Asia based on the principles of the region and international law, he said.

The Party chief said that Viet Nam considers ASEAN a common home, and prioritises relations with member countries.

He also expressed his hope that Viet Nam and Indonesia will collaborate with other ASEAN members to continue efforts in building the association.

The CSIS is a leading research agency of Indonesia and a member of the ASEAN network of international study institutions. Over four decades, the CSIS has made important contributions to research on important strategic issues in Indonesia as well as the region and the world, while making many proposals to strengthen the mutual understanding of regional scholars and people. VNS
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) meets his Turkish counterpart Binali Yildirim in Ha Noi yesterday.  VNA/VNS Photo Thong Nhat

HA NOI  Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Turkish counterpart Binali Yildirim discussed measures to promote trade and investment ties between the two countries during talks in Ha Noi yesterday.

Lauding the outcomes of the two countries joint committees seventh meeting in July, the two PMs stressed their determination to raise two-way trade to US$4 billion in 2020 by boosting trade and investment promotion activities.

The Turkish PM suggested that the two sides consider co-operation in the defence industry.

Welcoming the Turkish businesses accompanying PM Binali Yildirim, PM Phuc said that he hoped enterprises of both countries would make use of their meetings during the visit to boost the trade of goods, investment, people-to-people exchange and tourism between the two countries.

He proposed that Turkey recognise Viet Nams market economy soon, and asked that Turkey remove unreasonable taxes and fees on Vietnamese products such as footwear, belts, air conditioners and cell phones.

The two sides agreed to work closely to enhance co-operation in transportation, especially aviation and maritime affiliation, science-technology, culture-education, security-defence and people-to-people diplomacy.

PM Yildirim suggested the two countries provide scholarships to students of each other and encourage their students to study the language and culture of the other country.

The two PMs agreed to collaborate to organise celebrations of the 40th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties in 2018.

On political ties, they decided to increase delegation exchanges and encourage co-operation between their ministries, sectors, localities and friendship organisations.

They pledged to continue with mutual support at international forums, while the Turkish PM asked for Viet Nams support for Turkeys bid for a seat in the UNESCO Executive Board for 2017-21, while backing Viet Nam to become a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2020-21.

The two sides also shared concerns on rising terrorism and affirmed their support for regional and international efforts to combat terrorism.

Regarding the East Sea issue, PM Yildirim affirmed his support for Viet Nams efforts in maintaining stability in the region and the East Sea in particular, as well as the stance of Viet Nam and ASEAN countries on settling disputes in the East Sea by peaceful methods and with respect for international law.

Following the talks, the two PMs witnessed the signing of an agreement between Viet Nams Ministry of Finance and Turkeys Ministry of Customs and Trade on administrative co-operation and support in customs, and a memorandum of understanding between the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Turkish Ministry of Economy on developing export processing and economic zones.

The Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality of Viet Nam and the Turkish Standards Institution also signed a co-operation plan for 2017-18.  VNS
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) rceives Lao Deputy Prime Minister, Dr Bounthong Chitmany, in Ha Noi yesterday.  VNA/VNS Photo Thong Nhat

HA NOI  Viet Nam and Laos should continue to co-ordinate in organising anniversary activities until the end of the year so that the Viet Nam-Laos Friendship Year 2017 profoundly impacts the people of the two countries, especially young generations.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc made the statement at a meeting with Lao Deputy Prime Minister, Dr Bounthong Chitmany, in Ha Noi yesterday.

Phuc thanked the Party, State, Government and the people of Laos for supporting the Vietnamese community in Laos and expressed his hope that Lao leaders will continue to create favourable conditions for Vietnamese enterprises to do business in Laos.

The PM lauded the co-operation between the two central inspection committees, saying that the two parties and governments attached great importance to supervising Party organisation and the fight against corruption.

As a result, it was very important for the two parties to enhance co-operation, exchange information and share experiences in Party inspection and strengthen the fight against corruption.

Chitmany, who is also member of the Lao Politburo, Chairman of the Commission for Inspection, Chairman of the State Inspection Committee, said that purpose of his visit to Ha Noi was to share experience with the Party Central Committees Commission for Inspection and Government Inspectorate in the fight against corruption.

Deputy Prime Minister of Laos expressed his belief that the relationship between the two parties, the State, the Government and the people of Viet Nam - Laos will be forever green.

He also delivered the greetings and good wishes of Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith to PM Phuc.  VNS
CAN THO  Multiple APEC agencies discussed common concerns and potential collaborative activities at a joint meeting in Can Tho yesterday at the APEC Food Security Week.

To ensure food security amid climate change, APECs 21 member economies have formed the Agricultural Technical Co-operation Working Group (ATCWG), the High Level Policy Dialogue on Agricultural Biotechnology (HLPDAB), and the Oceans and Fisheries working Group (OFWG), and the Policy Partnership on Food Security (PPFS).

The four held their own meetings and workshops in the past few days and have already come up with their own action plans.

At their first ever joint meeting, each forum/group reported on the progress of its 2017 activities and went over their work plans for 2018. They also discussed how to co-ordinate the activities of the four next year in terms of food security and climate change and the Can Tho Statement.

Lead shepherd of the OFWG, Patrick Moran, who chaired the joint meeting, hailed Viet Nams efforts in making sure that all four participated in creating the Can Tho Statement.

"The draft statement that we are looking at right now is a good reflection of the priorities of APEC and the working groups and forums that provided inputs [in the statement] as well," he told the media.

Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting, Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy, HLDPAB chair, and director general of the Department of Science, Technology and Environment, said: Through our workshop and meeting, APEC economies agreed that agricultural bio-technology is one of the key tools to improve the yields and quality of agricultural products as well as to create new crop varieties that adapt to climate change.

There were many new agricultural bio-technologies introduced at HLPDABs meeting and workshop, she said.

APEC economies need to further enhance co-operation to enable more farmers to access these advanced bio-technologies as well as apply them in their production most effectively and safely, she said.

Tran Kim Long, director general of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developments international co-operation department and PPFS chairman, said achieving food security is a significant and growing challenge for the world in general and APEC in particular.

Nowadays, with the fast economic growth in the bloc, when we talk about food security, we do not mean only rice, wheat or staple crops but also include nutrition security.

Therefore, to enhance co-operation in food security in APEC, I strongly believe that the co-operation between PPFS, ATCWG, HLPDAB and OFWG is very appropriate and complementary.

Our joint meeting today creates a forum for us to share information and provide updates on the progress of activities, projects and initiatives undertaken by member economies in our co-operation efforts to ensure food and nutrition security in the region.

Liu Wenbo, assistant to the lead shepherd of ATCWG, spoke on behalf of the lead shepherd, who was absent from the meeting. He said: "Todays joint meeting will provide us a good opportunity to share more information for enhancing cross-forum collaboration in future."

Cross-collaboration between APEC working groups helps strengthen their links as well as synchronise their policies and practices to bring mutual benefits, he said.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Dr Le Quoc Doanh said: I do expect that through this joint meeting the collaboration between the four groups does not only avoid overlapping but also create a chance for exchange of information, sharing of knowledge between them and developing joint activities.

"The meeting could also initiate a discussion on the way we could move forward and contribute to the improvement of food security in the APEC region and start brainstorming on the potential inputs and contributions to the Declaration of Leaders in 2017.

Priority for 2018

At the joint meeting, Papa New Guinea presented the priorities for the 2018 Food Security Week to be held in Port Moresby next August.

The theme for next year is enhancing food security through smart, innovative agriculture and fisheries with the main focus on three areas.

They are enhancing food security and sustainable agriculture through ICT in response to climate change, promoting women in agriculture and fisheries, and sustainable fisheries management and development.

PNG also laid out APEC guidelines for strengthening cross-collaboration and suggested more similar joint meetings as it would help build a culture of collaboration between APEC forums and collect diverse views on issues that need joint efforts and discussions between multiple parties.

Delegates from the four groups agreed that they should work together to provide more platforms for better engaging all working groups in joint discussions and keeping them informed about ongoing projects related to sustainable agriculture and food security.

Long suggested that each working group should bring their major issues to the joint meetings to discuss solutions with the others.

After each joint meeting a report should be sent to delegates and groups who could not attend for reference and update on the progress, he added. VNS
HCM CITY  Viet Nams Ministry of Health and the US Department of Health and Human Services yesterday (August 23) officially opened the Southern Viet Nam Public Health Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at the Pasteur Institute HCM City.

The EOC will serve as the regional coordination hub for rapid response in the event of a disease outbreak or other public health emergency affecting southern cities and provinces.

The EOC team will also analyze disease surveillance data, conduct outbreak investigations, and strengthen public health coordination systems.

Speaking at the opening, the Minister of Health, Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, said: In the globalization era, outbreaks of disease and other public health issues pose significant threats and present challenges not only to Viet Nam but to the global community as well.

Epidemics can spread rapidly from country to country, from one continent to other continent, as they did during the outbreak of SARS, H1N1, H5N1 and H7N9 influenza, MERs-Cov, Ebola and Zika viruses, seriously affecting public health and the economies of affeccted economies and the world, according to Tien.

To proactively respond to public health events, particularly threatening and emerging infectious diseases and outbreaks, the Ministry of Health has committed to participating in the Global Health Security Programme (GHS), implemented by the US government, and other countries and organisations.

Within GHS, Viet Nam plays an important role in adoption of the EOC model for disease prevention and control, and in response to public health issues.

The national EOC, which has been operating since 2013, has applied standard procedures to respond to disease and outbreak control and prevention, such as readily responding to Ebola, MER-CoV and Avian influenza (H7N9) viruses which occurred in other countries and had the potential to spread to Viet Nam.

The EOC in 2016 took action to respond to the Zika virus and this year to dengue fever outbreaks.

The establishment of the northern EOC at the National Institute for Hygiene and Epidemiology last year, and the opening yesterday of the southern EOC at Pasteur Institute in HCM City, represents a milestone for the EOC system to collect information about public health threats from different sources, analyze data and disseminate findings in a timely manner, Tien said.

This will help us make data-driven plans to effectively respond to emergency public health situations in a coordinated way, she said.

US collaboration

The US is working with other nations around the world to increase their capabilities to prevent, detect and respond to infectious diseases that know no borders, said Thomas Price, the US Secretary of Health and Human Services.

The collaboration between Viet Nam and the US will further the partnership between our two nations and strengthen global health security, he added.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Pasteur Institute HCM City have partnered to address public health concerns for more than 15 years.

Through the US Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the Pasteur Institute of HCM City was the first laboratory to support routine viral load testing. Its surveillance work has been instrumental in understanding the changing HIV epidemic.

Viet Nam has been a strong and early partner in global health security efforts, participating in CDC programmes and building on earlier successes to advance the goals of the Global Health Security Agenda, said CDC Principal Deputy Director Anne Schuchat.

CDC is committed to working with Viet Nam and the Pasteur Institute to build the systems and capacities to tackle global pandemic threats, she added.

MoU on natl laboratory

Also yesterday, the Ministry of Health of Viet Nam signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the US Department of Health and Human Services for the Development of a National Reference Laboratory at a separate meeting held in HCM City. The MoU was signed by Price and Tien.

The MoU establishes a general framework on cooperation in enhancing the capacity of laboratories to set up a national reference laboratory for the public healthcare system in Viet Nam.  VNS
CAN THO  On the sidelines of the 2017 APEC Food Security Week, APEC member economies yesterday attended a forum on agricultural start-ups and innovation to exchange ideas on policy and technological solutions.

To achieve sustainable growth, besides mass production, the participation of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises also needs to be encouraged, Business Advisory Council chairman Hoang Van Dung said at the opening.

But how to increase production and profitability while preserving bio-diversity and natural resource is a difficult question for most businesses, especially small ones, which are limited in terms of capital, market access and management capabilities, he said.

The forum serves as a platform for policy makers, experts and businesses to share insights and work out technological and political measures to support agricultural enterprises, he said.

Dodefroy Grosjean, Asia Climate Policy Hub Leader of the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture, said major changes are to be expected in the agricultural sector due to climate change, growing population and changes in consumer preferences in terms of food.

He later told Viet Nam News that means much innovation is needed to respond to those challenges.

"Many of the innovations already exist here and there but the problem we face is that it has been hard to scale up these innovations to make them widely available. This will be necessary if you want to increase the productivity of the agricultural sector, reduce emissions, making the sector more resilient to the impact of climate change to ensure food security."

Grosjean said the forum is a chance for APEC economies to discuss best practices and lessons learnt from different economies, how they could be replicated elsewhere and what kind of enabling environment could be created to upscale agricultural innovation and technologies.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh said to promote agricultural innovation there should be more dialogue between the public and private sectors.

The private sector has proved to be the most adept at turning challenges into opportunities and developing products and services that can ensure sustainable development of the agriculture sector, he said.

Potential and challenges

Nguyen Khac Minh Tri, CEO of MimosaTEK, one of the first movers in Viet Nam to leverage the Internet of Things for precision agriculture, said unlike in other sectors, investing in the agricultural sector takes much time and so start-ups in the agricultural sector must foresee market difficulties they may encounter, and especially how to change the mindset of farmers and persuade them to use technology.

Tri said the road for agricultural start-ups is never easy.

"The more you work, the more you learn and the more challenges you face [in doing agriculture startup]. Though there are more challenges there is definitely great progress because the eco-system to support startups has improved and expanded in various sectors including agriculture. As a result, investors have started to engage more in agriculture."

Cao Thang Binh, a senior agricultural specialist at the World Bank, said to promote start-ups the first requirement is to nurture teams that are good at start-ups.

Policymakers need to enable start-ups to establish or close down their business easily, he said.

Besides, incentives in terms of granting visas are needed to get people with good start-up experience to come to Viet Nam to establish businesses here, he added.  VNS
BINH THUAN  Several commune-level clinics in the southern province of Binh Thuans uc Linh District have not found favour with patients despite being equipped with modern facilities and qualified health workers.

Under a health insurance policy that came into effect at the beginning of last year, people with health insurance cards at the district level can get health check-ups or treatment at any health facility they want within their own district without requirements of referral papers as before.

As a result of the policy, most patients with health insurance in uc Linh District went to the Binh Thuan General Hospital located in uc Chinh Commune, for check-ups and treatment instead of the clinics in their communes.

The five clinics in the uc Tin, uc Hanh, uc Tai, uc Chinh and Nam Chinh communes have not received a single patient with health insurance since the end of last year, according to statistics from the districts medical centre.

The number of patients with health insurance that the uc Hanh Communes clinic received decreased drastically from 780 in 2015 to 8 in 2016, and none from the beginning of this year.

The uc Tai Communes clinic has also not received any patients with health insurance from June last year despite having begun operations at the beginning of the year at the total investment of VN1.5 billion (US$66,000) and fully equipped with modern facilities such as ultrasound, electrocardiography (ECG) machines and blood glucose meters.

Not receiving patients with health insurance and severe illnesses hinder professional development of doctors and medical staff, doctors at these clinics said.

Nguyen Ninh, deputy director of uc Linh Districts medical centre said that locals preferred visiting the Binh Thuan General Hospital for check-ups partly because of the proximity between the hospital and their communes clinics.

Some of them are wary about the capability of doctors at the commune clinics, their facilities and service quality, he said.

The centre has requested the local clinics to improve their service quality and behavioural skills of health workers towards patients, reducing troublesome administrative procedures and maximising favourable conditions for patients to get access to medical services, he added.

It will also reach out to locals and ensure them about the capability of commune-level clinics in curing common and chronic diseases, he said.  VNS
QUANG NINH  Police in Quang Ninh Province on Wednesday fined seven Chinese nationals VN7 million each (US$300) for crossing the border and entering Viet Nam without following proper immigration procedures, Vietnam News Agency reported.

On August 16, the police found seven Chinese nationals staying in an apartment in Ha Long Citys Green Bay building. However, they could not present any legal immigration and temporary residence documents.

They told officials that they had hired a boat and crossed Ka Long River to enter Viet Nam, and then hired a Vietnamese to drive them by car to the north-eastern provinces Ha Long City.

The driver, Nguyen Trung Hieu, 32, of Ha Long City, was also slapped with a fine for transporting illegal immigrants.

The Chinese nationals were sent back to their country after they paid the fines.  VNS
HA NOI  Police in Ha Nois Hoan Kiem District on Tuesday arrested a Malaysian man for his alleged involvement in burglaries in hostels in Ha Noi.

The suspect, Koh Yik Siang John, 29, admitted to police that he rented shared rooms at hostels in Hoan Kiem District, and then stole the belongings of the other guests.

On August 18, he rented a room at Old Quarter View Hanoi Hostel, No. 3 Noi Mieu Street. He saw a female tourist unlocking her box, and later stole her bag which contained personal documents and bank cards.

John used the tourists credit card to buy two mobile phones worth VN41 million (US$1,800) and then sold the phones to a Vietnamese for VN26.2 million.

Using similar methods, he stole the belongings of a Brazilian man while sharing a room in another hostel on Nha Chung Street.

The police are investigated the case further.  VNS
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories  Donald Trumps team must commit to a two-state solution and oppose Israeli settlement construction before the US presidents peace push can move forward, Palestinian officials said on Wednesday.

Their comments came ahead of talks on Thursday with Trump aides, including special representative for international negotiations Jason Greenblatt and the presidents son-in-law and Middle East envoy Jared Kushner.

The visit for meetings with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders comes with many analysts expressing little hope that major progress can be made on Israeli-Palestinian peace for now.

Trumps aides have been ferrying between leaders from the two sides in recent months in attempts to restart direct talks, with the aim of achieving what the US president has called the "ultimate deal".

Trump himself visited Israel and the Palestinian territories in May.

But Palestinian officials have become increasingly frustrated with the administration and pessimistic about chances of a breakthrough.

President Mahmud Abbas reportedly told Israeli leftwing politicians recently that despite more than 20 meetings with US officials he was still unclear what Trumps strategy was.

Ahmed Majdalani, a senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation which Abbas heads, said they were demanding "a clear and frank answer on the position of the administration on the two-state solution and settlements".

"Without a clear American commitment to the two-state solution and stopping settlements and ending the occupation, we dont expect much from this administration."

A US diplomatic source told reporters in Jerusalem on Wednesday night that Trump wanted discussions "to focus on the transition to substantive... peace talks, the situation in Gaza, including how to ease the humanitarian crisis there, and the economic steps that can be taken".

The president acknowledges that "there are likely to be a lot of ups and downs on the way to peace and making a peace deal will take time", but he "remains optimistic that progress toward a deal can be achieved", he said.

Kushner and other US officials met on Tuesday evening with Jordans King Abdullah II.

The kingdom is a key player in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the palace said in a statement that Abdullah, Kushner and Greenblatt had stressed the need to start "serious and effective peace negotiations" on the "basis of the two-state solution".

Previous US governments have committed to an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, but Trump broke with longstanding US policy in February by saying he would be happy with either a one-state or two-state solution if the parties were happy.  AFP
SALZBURG, Austria  The EU is a "real step" closer to overhauling a controversial rule on detached workers, after talks with leaders from eastern and central Europe, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday.

The so-called Posted Workers Directive allows firms to send temporary workers from low-wage countries to other member states without paying local social charges.

The regulation has come under fire from rich nations like France whose president has described it as a "betrayal of the European spirit".

Macron embarked on Wednesday on a three-day diplomatic blitz through Austria, Romania and Bulgaria to drum up support for his ambitious plan to reform the directive at a summit in October.

So far he has faced staunch resistance from eastern and central European countries, but there were signs of a breakthrough after discussions with the leaders of Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic in Salzburg.

"Weve firmly expressed our will to find a real compromise in October," Macron said on Wednesday evening at a joint press conference.

"Our talks mark a real step forward... and Im glad about that." Although the issue affects less than 1 per cent of the EUs workforce, experts say the trend is on the rise.

The directive was launched in 1996 to help stimulate cross-border business, at a time when EU members broadly shared similar living standards.

Stokes populism

Austria and France are among the blocs key recipients of temporary employees.

Backed by Vienna and Berlin, Paris now wants the duration of these job postings to be limited to 12 months, half the period proposed by the European Commission.

"The single market and the free movement of people werent created to help countries promoting the lowest social rights. This is what stokes populism in our countries," Macron had said ahead of Wednesdays talks.

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico acknowledged that finding a solution would be "good news for the EU", but said any such pact should have support from Budapest and Warsaw, two fervent opponents of Macrons reform.

The hard-right leaders of Hungary and Poland were notably absent from Macrons meeting schedule, which will take him to Romania on Thursday and Bulgaria on Friday.

Budapest and Warsaw have repeatedly clashed with Paris over the proposed reform.

Poland is the country that benefits most from the Posted Workers Directive.

An estimated 500,000 of its nationals are employed by Polish companies in other EU members.

Top officials in Brussels however welcomed French efforts on Wednesday. The European Commission and its president, Jean-Claude Juncker, "have made the fight against social dumping one of their key priorities", said Alexander Winterstein, a spokesman for the EUs executive body.

Under pressure at home

Macron hopes to reach an agreement at a Brussels summit on the EU directive on October 19-20.

Ahead of that meeting, he will host leaders from Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands later this month.

Franco-German unity is seen as a pre-requisite for an overhaul of the rule.

Pierre Vimont, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Europe think tank, called changing the directive "a symbolic case" for Macron, whose popularity ratings have plummeted since he took office in May.

It is part of his broader election campaign promise to create a new "protective Europe" that helps shield citizens from the effects of cut-throat international competition.

The 39-year-old centrist is also pushing for a new mechanism to screen non-EU investments, particularly from China, into strategic areas of the European economy, as well as tougher measures to block the dumping of cheap imports on the continent.

He also wants much deeper integration of the eurozone, including giving the 19-country currency bloc its own budget, finance minister, parliament and borrowing capacity.  AFP
WATERLOO  Two nonprofit organizations teamed up over the summer to raise money for a program that honors area veterans.

Sunrise Exchange Club and the Elks Club hosted a rib dinner in June, and more than 60 turned out to earn $1,000 for the Cedar Valley Honor Flight, said Virgil Haley with the Exchange Club.

Haley said the groups want to make Rib Fest a regular event.

We are hoping to take it to another level next year, Haley said. Maybe next year $2,000, and the next year $4,000.

Haley said the idea came from a local Exchange member who had been to a rib event at a club chapter in a southwest Iowa community. Over 35 years, that event raised $13 million for charities, Haley said.

If they have been doing that for 35 years, what could we do with our community, Haley said. I thought we could do something here on a smaller scale and do something for veterans.

Haley said it made sense to team up with the Elks Club because both organizations have a history of supporting veterans programs. The Elks provided the venue for the June event.

For me it looked like it would be a perfect marriage, Haley said.

Since 2010, Cedar Valley Honor Flight has been flying military veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam to Washington, D.C., to visit memorials and landmarks in the nations capital.

The flights are at no cost to the veterans, and more than 1,300 veterans have participated, said Craig White, an Honor Flight organizer. The group is currently planning for its 19th trip, which is to take place this fall.

One trip costs about $100,000 with a cost of about $600 per veteran, White said. He said the program runs on donations.

Every donation helps. We get a lot of donations from people who have been on it, paying it forward, White said.

Sunrise Exchange and Elks members will present Honor Flight officials with a check Saturday during another fundraiser, this one going to support the Sunrise Petting Zoo.

Proceeds from the annual 5K run are the primary fundraiser and pay for food and care for the animals, maintenance for the facility and the curator. The Exchange Club has been operating the petting zoo, located on the National Cattle Congress grounds on Ansborough Avenue, for about 40 years, Haley said.
Blood drive

set in Dunkerton

DUNKERTON  A Dunkerton community blood drive is set for 3 to 6 p.m. Tuesday at Dunkerton Community Hall, 115 W. Main St.

Make an appointment at lifeservebloodcenter.org or by calling (800) 287-4903.

Monthly retiree

meeting slated

CEDAR FALLS  The monthly dinner for retirees and former employees of Waterloo Industries will be at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Family Restaurant in North Cedar Falls.

For information, call Jerry at 984-6456.

Ash borer

topic of meeting

WATERLOO  Gabbi Edwards, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach urban forester, will offer her expertise and assistance in the face of emerald ash borer at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Waterloo Public Library.

Edwards and local Extension staff will host a free community information session, discuss symptoms to be looking for, treatment options, replacement species, proper planting techniques and more. Edwards also will discuss the damage being done to trees and what measures can be taken in response to the rapid spread of the borers.

For more information, call Steven Eilers at 234-6811 or go to www.extension.iastate.edu/blackhawk.

Ballroom hosts

upcoming events

WATERLOO  The Electric Park Ballroom has two events slated for Sept. 2.

The 2017 Daddy Daughter Dance will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Cost is $15 per person, and there will be photos and snacks available. Uncles and grandfathers also are welcome.

A citywide dance party will be from 10 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. at the ballroom for adults ages 30 and older. Cost is $7, and guests must have an ID.
WEST UNION -- The Fayette County Sheriffs Office is continuing its investigation into the theft ring of a West Union Resident and has filed charges on another person involved.

Six busted in Fayette Co. theft ring WEST UNION -- After a week-long investigation, the Fayette County Sheriffs office charged s

Charges were filed on Chad Anthony Palmer, 45, of Elgin, for possession of a firearm as a felon, a class D felony. Palmer possessed and sold firearms that belonged to the victim.

Six others have been arrested in a theft ring that targeted a West Union resident.

The investigation uncovered people who took advantage of a resident by posing as caretakers and home repair workers and stealing thousands of dollars from his account.

An outstanding arrest warrant was issued for Palmer, and the Sheriffs Office is seeking any information you may have on his whereabouts. If you have any information, contact the Sheriffs Office at (563) 422-6067.
Waterloo -- Police are investigating an overnight stabbing that injured a Waterloo man.

According to police, the victim, 43-year-old Justin Allan Tarrants, arrived at UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital around 3:30 a.m. Thursday with a stab wound to his neck. The injuries aren't considered life threatening.

The attack is under investigation, and it wasn't immediately clear where the incident occurred.
WATERLOO  A hotel developer said he wasnt looking to buy Waterloos convention center when he first came to town.

Edwin Leslie, whose Omaha, Neb.-based Leslie Hospitality is poised to take ownership of the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center, said it was an opportunity to turn around the struggling Ramada Hotel that lured him to Waterloo in December.

The idea for his company to purchase the adjacent city-owned convention center was a last resort, Leslie said, when it was clear the city government lacked the resources to make critical repairs to the outdated 42-year-old building.

In order to invest millions of dollars in the hotel we needed a convention center that functioned and a convention center that worked, he said. We need this facility to match in terms of what were doing to the hotel.

Emails reveal rifts over convention center sale WATERLOO  The Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center sale is still being debated in City 

Records provided by the company showed the convention center needed major repairs just to meet city codes, including a punch list of 42 safety items provided by Waterloo Fire Rescue, a $600,000 repair to the sewer and grease trap, exterior work to keep bricks from falling off and repairs to the broken heating and cooling system.

Day one, the first thing were faced with is $1.6 million of deferred maintenance and repairs  no carpet, no drapes, no wall coverings, just deferred maintenance items, Leslie said. The Waterloo Fire Department has not certified this building for occupation and allowance for a liquor license for three years.

Under a lease agreement dating back to the early 1980s and not up for renewal until 2020, the hotel operator runs the convention center while the city is responsible as landlord for big repairs and maintenance.

Rather than forcing the city under the lease agreement to make the necessary improvements, Leslie said he instead tried to work with city staff on ways the city could finance the work while maintaining the lease arrangement.

Emails between Leslie Hospitality staff and city officials support that narrative.

While the city had programmed to issue $3.5 million in bonds for the building over the next five years  the first $700,000 was issued this year  the money wasnt close to the estimated $6 million needed immediately to make the building viable.

The city is only allowed by Iowa law to borrow $700,000 annually for improvements to the convention center without a public referendum.

They looked at every single option that was out there, Leslie said. Couldnt use (tax-increment financing) funds, couldnt use bond money.

That left one option: The city could actually do a referendum and raise $10 million by increasing taxes, he added. How many of you think that would have passed?

It was the lack of other options that led Leslie Hospitality to broach the idea of taking ownership of the convention center and making improvements itself, along with available city incentives.

A development agreement approved by City Council members 4-0 July 21 is being voted on again Monday because the first agreement included an incorrect legal description of the convention center property. But the terms are the same.

The city will transfer ownership of the convention center to MK Waterloo, a new company under the Leslie Hospitality umbrella, for $1.

Lets be realistic; its not a dollar, Leslie said. That dollar gets me $1.6 million in repairs that I have to do on day one.

The city will also provide a $700,000 grant  essentially the bonds already earmarked for convention center improvements  when work starts and will provide another $350,000 grant when the building repairs are finished.

MK Waterloo will receive 15 years of 34 percent tax rebates on any taxable value created by the building improvements over the current $2.5 million estimated value. But the taxable value must be increased to at least $5 million.

Leslie Hospitality is expected to invest at least $6 million into the convention center and another $14 million to upgrade the hotel, which will be rebranded as a Hotel RL.

Among the documents the company released Tuesday due to lingering questions about its ability to finance the project, was a bank commitment letter for a loan of up to $24 million for the project.
MANCHESTER  With Congress set to take up discussion of a new farm bill, Sen. Joni Ernst is heavily focused on gathering ideas from Iowans involved in agriculture from the field to the market on where we can do better and what were doing well.

In a meeting Wednesday evening, she heard a few major complaints along with plenty of suggestions for improvements ranging from crop insurance to the Conservation Reserve Program, from changes in the North American Free Trade Agreement to the need to improve locks and dams on the Mississippi River.

The Iowa Republican also heard about the need for controlling health insurance costs, immigration reform and tax reform from more than 30 people at a meeting with the Delaware County Farm Bureau.

Preserving crop insurance is the No. 1 issue she hears when discussing the farm bill, Ernst said. However, one speaker, Kevin Glanz, a Manchester farmer, told her theres a need to limit payments to groundhogs he said are making more money gaming the crop insurance system than from selling crops.

Ernst thought there should be ways to control abuses in the system and said she would support Sen. Chuck Grassleys efforts to cap farm program payments.

She also agreed with speakers that NAFTA, signed during the Clinton administration, should be renegotiated with Mexico and Canada.

With 1 in 5 Iowa jobs being tied to trade, she wants to see NAFTA modernized in a way to do no harm while improving trade opportunities for Iowa farmers and producers.

With GOP President Donald Trumps decision to scrap U.S. involvement in the Trans-Pacific Partnership with Pacific Rim nations, Ernst called on his administration to pursue bilateral trade agreements with those nations.

Not all of the discussion was tied directly to agriculture. Ernst spent a good deal of her hourlong meeting talking about health care and health insurance.

Were in a crisis mode and I dont see what people dont understand when they say Dont change anything, Ernst said. We have to change Obamacare. I would love to see it gone and start over.

Talking about the prospects of a 57 percent increase in some premiums in the individual insurance market in Iowa  as the only statewide exchange insurer has proposed  Ernst said there has to be a discussion of rising health care coats if we want to control the cost of health insurance.

In response to a question about economic development, Ernst said Iowa has two options for filling jobs that remain empty because of a labor shortage.

Weve either got to get able-bodied citizens here in Iowa to take those jobs or we will need to rely on the refugee populations and legal immigrants, she said. If we want to keep Iowa vibrant and growing, we need to figure this out.

Ernst supported a call for modernizing the Mississippi River locks to maintain the flow of grain to the Gulf of Mexico.

The Army Corps of Engineers has had it on their list, but it never seems to be enough money to go around, she said.

Modernizing the locks will be part of a larger discussion about infrastructure, Ernst said.

Were trying to figure out a pathway forward, she said. Is $1 trillion realistic?

She suggested that a national infrastructure program could be broken into pieces.

You know, $500 billion now and maybe $500 billion later, Ernst said. Yeah, I know, chump change, right.

Earlier in the day, Ernst toured Iowa Premium, a beef processor in Tama, and Belle Plaines Main Street project as part of her 99-county tour of Iowa.
Farmers market

to have flowers

CEDAR FALLS  Fresh cut flower bouquets will be available at todays College Hill Farmers Market, at the corner of West 22nd and College streets.

Other items for sale include musk melon, tomatoes, sweet corn and organic veggies. Hours for the market are 4 to 6 p.m.

Land O Lakes

donates food WATERLOO  A delivery of 40,000 pounds of donated Land O Lakes macaroni and cheese was made to the Northeast Iowa Food Bank this morning.

The food will be distributed to area food shelves by food bank officials.

Family market to stir fry food WATERLOO  Saturdays Kimball Ridge Family Market will have free samples of fresh-cooked veggies from 9 to 11 a.m. in the parking lot at the corner of Kimball and Ridgeway avenues.

A chef will stir fry the vegetables on site, using produce supplied that morning by market vendors. There also will be seasonal produce for sale, along with eggs, noodles, flower bouquets, hand-crafted glass creations and baked goods.

The market is open from 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays.

Lane shifts due on University CEDAR FALLS  Beginning as early as Monday, road crews will begin road work on the north half of University Avenue between McClain Drive and Veralta Drive.

It will mean shifting traffic head-to-head on the south half of University Avenue.

The lane closures will be in effect for 14 to 16 weeks, depending on the weather. Business access will be maintained during the lane closures.

Love Inc.

plans benefit

EVANSDALE  The annual Love Inc. fundraiser at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 4031 Lafayette Road, will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 9.

The day will include a car show and shine with entries starting at 8 a.m. and judging at 11 a.m., and a craft extravaganza with more than 30 vendors. There will be a free kids zone, including a bounce house and car races, the traditional beef and noodles dinner from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for $8 with a hot dog option, and a bake sale.
WATERLOO  A score of volunteers sat in the terminal at the Waterloo Regional Airport as Airport Director Keith Kaspari told them about the injuries they were about to endure Wednesday.

It doesnt look good, Bryan. Left leg penetrated, left foot crushed, Kaspari told Bryan Foster of Cedar Falls.

Youll just be on crutches, said Tajah Wright of Waterloo, whose injuries were to include evisceration with multiple fractures.

Kaspari turned to another woman in the terminal.

She gets the privilege of a sucking chest wound; shes bleeding from her ears, nose and mouth. Shes in tough shape, he said.

There was a collective gasp from the group amid a few chuckles.

The volunteers took on the roles of airplane crash victims during a full-scale disaster drill that played out in parts of George Wyth Memorial State Park Wednesday afternoon.

Regular airport emergency exercises are required by the Federal Aviation Administration, and Kaspari said this years drill focused on area agencies ability to respond to water-related crashes since the Waterloo Regional Airport is located near a major river and several lakes.

We got some good people in this county, and they know their line of work, Kaspari said. Im going to make this as realistic as possible.

The scenario involved a landing aircraft that missed the runway and crashed in George Wyth park. Two MET buses simulated sections of aircraft fuselage with wounded passengers inside. One section was on one side of Fisher Lake, another bus was in another area.

Wednesdays faux-wounded didnt receive moulage makeup. Kaspari decided against it because at a prior drill he oversaw in Michigan, a volunteer had an allergic reaction to the fake wounds. He had to halt the mock disaster because of the real medical emergency.

Instead, the Waterloo volunteers were handed sheets of paper describing their injuries for paramedics to read when they arrived.

Floating and weighted props were placed in a lake to represent victims who had to be recovered by the Cedar Valley Underwater Search and Recovery Unit.

There were other added twists. One of the volunteers, Kenneth Higby of Waterloo, portrayed a United States senator from Iowa, and the narrative involved thousands of gallons of aviation fuel being spilled, necessitating involvement from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Agencies involved in the drill included Black Hawk Countys Office of Emergency Management, local municipal agencies including police, fire and sheriff, area hospitals, American Red Cross, Salvation Army, state law enforcement and park officials, transit, dive-team personnel and others.
WATERLOO  Hot cars in the hundreds will once again be cruising University Avenue Sept. 3  but not in a roundabout sort of way.

The 11th annual University Avenue Cruise will originate from the Waterloo University Avenue Hy-Vee parking lot, organizer Jim Koch said. Cruisers also have obtained permission to use the adjoining parking lot of the now-closed Kmart store.

Theyll need every bit of it, according to Koch, because the Cruise has grown that much over its 11 years of existence.

We used part of Kmart (lot) last year and it wasnt enough, Koch said. That shows really getting big. Im guessing 800 to 1,000 cars.

Its a revival of sorts of the tradition of young people cruising the strip, a popular activity that moved from downtown Waterloo in the 1950s and 60s to University Avenue between Waterloo and Cedar Falls in the 1970s and 80s, when young people drove up and down University and hung out in commercial parking lots.

It brings people back to University Avenue, Koch said, and not just to the parking lots where cruisers park. Thats important for businesses in the area. For that one night, well bring thousands of people back to University Avenue. Thats what its designed for. When we go out to cruise, theyre out there waiting for us  people lining the streets in their lawn chairs. Its a pretty awesome scene. Its like a parade. But its not, because we keep it as a public street. He praised police for their support.

A show and shine will start at 5 p.m. Sept. 3, and the cruise starts at 7 p.m. with live music by the Pastmasters and food through the evening. Participation is free.

This year, the cruise will remain within the Waterloo city limits, Koch said, due to the ongoing reconstruction of University Avenue in Cedar Falls. Cars will proceed east from the Hy-Vee/old Kmart lots down University from Progress to Fletcher avenues then turn around on neighborhood side streets off Fletcher and return on University back to Hy-Vee.

Koch said cruisers are looking forward to completion of Universitys reconstruction in Cedar Falls and zipping around the roundabouts. But currently University is limited to one lane in each direction from the Midway to Cedar Heights drives. Midway is the city limit line between Waterloo and Cedar Falls. Rather than bottlenecking that section of road with hundreds of cruisers in a tight turnaround, Koch said it was thought to be best to keep the cruise within Waterloo this year.

Eventually, organizers would like to have the cruise run between the Cedar Falls and Waterloo University Avenue Hy-Vees.

Cruisers wont mind sailing around the roundabouts. Its kind of what were planning, Koch said with a laugh.
President Trump is not the first U.S. leader to pivot when it comes to foreign policy. His speech Monday night before American military personnel at Fort Myer in Arlington, Va., was in stark contrast to his campaign pledge to put America first and his promise to avoid foreign entanglements, as George Washington put it in his Farewell Address.

The president admitted reality caught up with him after his inauguration and that America must ensure al-Qaida does not again gain a foothold in the country from which it could plot another massive terror attack on the U.S.

A Trump administration official said the Pentagon will send an estimated 4,000 additional American forces to Afghanistan, a plan reminiscent of the Iraq surge ordered by President George W. Bush and successfully led by Gen. David Petraeus. What is different about this latest tactic is the threat of financial consequences if Pakistan doesnt stop harboring terrorists and do more to help win the war.

The question remains: What does winning look like? President Trump promised not to engage in nation building, but what is its alternative? After 16 years in Afghanistan, the cost of war has risen to an estimated $700 billion. More than 2,000 American lives have been lost and thousands more wounded. We have hardly established a foundation for a stable nation, much less built anything on it.

Departing from President Obamas announcements of timetables for withdrawal, Trump said Conditions on the ground  not arbitrary timetables  will guide our strategy from now on, adding, Another fundamental pillar of our new strategy is the integration of all instruments of American power  diplomatic, economic, and military  toward a successful outcome.

Im all for successful outcomes, but what does he have in mind? How will success be determined? How does one stabilize an unstable country mired down by rival tribes and religious conflict?

In his speech there was an implied threat to India if that country doesnt help with the war effort: India makes billions of dollars in trade with the United States, and we want them to help us more with Afghanistan, especially in the area of economic assistance and development. We are committed to pursuing our shared objectives for peace and security in South Asia and the broader Indo-Pacific region.

The president noted he has already lifted restrictions the previous administration placed on our war fighters that prevented the secretary of defense and our commanders in the field from fully and swiftly waging battle against the enemy. Micromanagement from Washington, D.C., does not win battles. They are won in the field drawing upon the judgment and expertise of wartime commanders and frontline soldiers acting in real time, with real authority, and with a clear mission to defeat the enemy.

The rules of engagement have contributed to American casualty figures. The enemy plays by no rules. Will the lifting of U.S. rules kill more of the enemy, or kill more civilians behind whom enemy forces often hide?

The president also issued a warning to the Afghan government: America will work with the Afghan government as long as we see determination and progress. However, our commitment is not unlimited, and our support is not a blank check. The government of Afghanistan must carry their share of the military, political, and economic burden. The American people expect to see real reforms, real progress, and real results. Our patience is not unlimited. We will keep our eyes wide open.

If they dont comply, will we pull out anyway? Thats what al-Qaida is banking on.

There is much that is right about the presidents announced new strategy and objectives, but the question remains: Can this war be won and the country stabilized, or will Afghanistan always be a bottomless pit?

It shouldnt be long before we have an answer.

Email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com.
Donald Trump and the vast majority of Americans have shared a common belief about Afghanistan: Its a black hole that has consumed far too many taxpayer dollars and U.S. lives.

In November 2013, Trump tweeted, We have wasted an enormous amount of blood and treasure in Afghanistan. Their government has zero appreciation.

As a presidential candidate, he said, So were on track now to spend, listen to this, $6 trillion  could have rebuilt our country twice  all together, on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Middle East. Meanwhile, massive portions of our country are in a state of total disrepair.

Since October 2001 when the George W. Bush administration launched Operation Enduring Freedom  after the Taliban government would only turn over 9/11 perpetrator Osama bin Laden to a third party  2,403 Americans have died in Afghanistan. The U.S. has spent $800 billion overthrowing the Taliban and thwarting its return to power  $1 trillion counting veterans care and benefits.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, the bill for Afghanistan, Iraq and Homeland Security  as well as forays into Syria and Pakistan was $4.79 trillion by last September, according to the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University.

My original instinct was to pull out, and historically I like following my instincts, the president said in a televised speech Monday night. But all my life, Ive heard that decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office  in other words, when youre president of the United States.

He concluded, The consequences of a rapid exit are both predictable and unacceptable. A hasty withdrawal would create a vacuum for terrorists, including ISIS and al-Qaeda, where they would instantly fill just as happened before Sept. 11.

He was learning from the mistake made by President Barack Obama, who Trump criticized (along with Hillary Clinton) for founding ISIS by withdrawing nearly all U.S. troops from Iraq.

Then again, Obama acted on an agreement Bush made, and seeds for ISIS were sown in 2003 when U.S. governor of the occupation Paul Bremer completely purged Saddam Husseins Baath Party, firing civilian members  from bureaucrats to teachers.

With the one-two punch of deBaathification and disbanding the military, we created half a million angry, armed, unemployed Iraqis in 48 hours. Thats dumb, said Jay Garner, his predecessor.

Obama, who pledged to withdraw the U.S. military from Afghanistan as well, reduced troops there from 100,000 in 2010 to 8,400  part of an international force of 13,000. About 3,300 U.S. special operations forces deal with counter-terrorism.

Obama hoped the Afghan army eventually would repulse the Taliban. Yet things deteriorated. A June car bombing in Kabul killed 150. The Taliban has more territory than any time since 2002. Afghan soldiers and police officers are dying at a rate of 31 daily  6,000 in 2016.

Trump was advised by three military men  Defense Secretary James Mattis, who lost troops there; Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, his national security adviser, who headed an Afghan anti-corruption effort; and John Kelly, his chief of state, whose son was killed there. Their counsel was that the U.S. had an insufficient presence to train Afghan troops and help coordinate attacks. Trump is expected to add 4,000 troops. That was the right decision.

Trump pledged, Our troops will fight to win, after Gen. John W. Nicholson, commander of the U.S.-led international force in Afghanistan, had described it as a stalemate.

But winning is predicated on Trumps diplomatic initiative with Pakistan, which could include reducing aid, sanctions and the threat of more military incursions into Pakistani territory, a safe haven for the Taliban along its Afghan border.

That is problematic.

First, Trump hasnt even nominated an ambassador to Pakistan (or South Korea, for that matter), while the State Department recently jettisoned its special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Second, Trump should read Steve Colls Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Ghost Wars: the Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan and Bin Laden, describing how the Taliban was created by the Pakistani military (specifically the ISI, its intelligence agency) with an assist from the CIA during the 1980s by the Reagan administration to oust its pro-Soviet government.

The CIA provided rebels with logistical and financial support (along with Saudi Arabia), while the Pakistanis created a coalition of Islamic fighters beholden to it. Some CIA money was funneled to bin Laden, a Saudi contractor who built escape tunnels in eastern Afghanistan.

Pakistan also used Islamists to foment problems with archenemy India in Kashmir, which they consider occupied territory.

Getting Pakistan to call off the Taliban is much like getting North Koreas Kim Jong-un to forgo nuclear weapons. Trump, who has yet to exercise the art of diplomacy, may find it nearly impossible to close the Pandoras box the U.S. inadvertently opened, essential to winning in Afghanistan.
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By West Kentucky Star Staff

Aug. 23, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY

By West Kentucky Star Staff Aug. 23, 2017 | 04:27 PM | PADUCAH, KY

A Paducah man has been arrested on felony burglary and intimidation charges.



The McCracken County Sheriffs Department says deputies responded in July to a report of a burglary at a vacant home on Kentucky Dam Road in the Reidland area. The 87-year-old property owner told police 37-year-old Michael Kepner had entered the home without his permission and stole several items. The owner also reported that Kepner had stolen items from the carport area. The victim told deputies that he had already seen many of the items in the back of Kepners vehicle and had retrieved them himself.



Deputies said they spoke to Kepner, who told them that the reported burglary was a mistake and that he would speak to the victim. A short time later, deputies got a call from the victim, who told them everything was ok. Deputies said they were unable to locate Kepner that day.



Detectives continued the investigation and learned that Kepner had blocked the victim from leaving the home and forced him to call and tell deputies everything was ok. Detectives also learned that all but a few of the stolen items had been returned to the owner.



Kepner later called deputies, but would not tell them where he was. Detectives arrested him Thursday at a home on Maple Street after getting a tip about his location. He's charged with 3rd degree burglary and intimidating a participant in the legal process, both class D felonies.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Aug. 23, 2017 | 03:49 PM | GRAVES COUNTY, KY

A Graves County man is behind bars, accused of raping and sodomizing a child.

Graves County Sheriff Dewayne Redmon says a deputy received a complaint on Friday of a juvenile being sexually abused by a caregiver. The deputy, assisted by a worker from the Department of Community Based Services, interviewed the juvenile.

According to police, the juvenile told of two separate incidents that had taken place in the past week. The man accused of committing the acts, David Edgin, was interviewed but denied any wrongdoing.

On Tuesday, the juvenile was taken to the Purchase Area Sexual Assault Center in Paducah and a forensic interview was conducted. After the interview, a Graves County sheriff's deputy came back to Graves County and arrested Edgin.

Edgin was charged with one count of 1st degree rape, one count of 1st degree sodomy, and one count of 1st degree sexual abuse. He was lodged in the Graves County Jail.
By The Associated Press Aug. 21, 2017 | 09:22 PM | ARLINGTON, VA

President Donald Trump says the U.S. "can no longer be silent" about terrorist safe havens in Pakistan.

He says Pakistan often gives sanctuary to "agents of chaos, violence and terror," and says the Taliban and other groups there pose a threat to the region and beyond.

Trump is outlining his administration's strategy to the war in neighboring Afghanistan. He says a pillar of that strategy is a change in the U.S. approach to Pakistan.

He adds that Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with the U.S. and much to lose from harboring terrorists.

For years, Washington has criticized Pakistan's tolerance of Taliban militants who launch attacks in Afghanistan. During the Obama administration, restrictions were imposed on military aid to Islamabad because of those concerns.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is signaling the U.S. will increase troop numbers in Afghanistan as part of the president's new war strategy.

Mattis says he has directed the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to prepare to carry out President Trump's plans.

He doesn't speak about the size of a U.S. troop increase.

But he says he'll consult with NATO and U.S. allies, "several of which have also committed to increasing their troop numbers."

Mattis says, "Together, we will assist the Afghan Security forces to destroy the terrorist hub."
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We got hacked and attacked and they wiped my templates

Guess I upset someone?

Old template until I get it all fixed

WtR

Update: Well well! Some friends of WtR who hate what I write about, decided to enter through the comment coding installed on the single pages and they got to and hacked the templates. Actually erased the templates from the blog. Simple once they got inside. Templates are some of the easiest areas to infiltrate a blog from

But I got it straightened out. I did not have a copy of my template I was using. I really liked it, but that is the way it is. My bad for no backup of the template. It will most likely set me back a few notches with Google, but soon, WtR will be back at the top again. The top of not much, but still at the top 

No major post today, just this attack warning

The attack came from America, it came from Washington DC and they did not like the post I just did called;

Have a nice day
USS Fitzgerald a Aegis Combat System ship and USS John McCain a Aegis Combat System ship and the initial warning was USS Donald Cook (DDG-75) a Aegis Combat System ship

Now we have slow moving freight ships plowing into high-tech destroyers, with men dying and no one seems to be able to avoid them (cargo ships). Yes a warship is not able to get out of the way of a cargo ship

The USA is being warned and it would be advisable to heed this very nice warning shot across the bow. For if a whole ship goes down with all aboard, you are looking at around 300 people in dead or serious issues

First Russia gave a warning shot with the USS Cook incident and it looks to me like China has given two warning shots here recently. (USS Fitzgerald and USS John McCain)

I am just saying!

The Italians having a Proverb, He that deceives me Once, its his Fault; but Twice it is my fault.

Maybe we need to rethink some strategy and figure out, What the Hell is Going On!

Before our whole fleet is sunk by slow moving autopiloted behemoth cargo ships

WtR
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Staying out of debt is easier said than done, I know. However, its something you can do, and its something you should be practicing everyday. As Christians, we are in this world, but we are
Aug 24, 2017 | By David

The 3D printing industry still shows no signs of slowing down, but weve got another round-up of the latest developments to keep you up to speed. Recent events include Korean surgeons using 3D printing to reconstruct a patients jawbone, EIT getting 22 new patents for its 3D printed spinal implant technology, and more besides.

1. Emerging Implant Technologies gets 22 new patents for its 3D printed spinal cages

German medical device manufacturer Emerging Implant Technologies is continuing to use 3D printing to have a major impact on the industry. EIT just filed 22 new patents for its full portfolio of 3D printed expandable spinal fusion cages. The patents cover the United States, Europe and many other global markets and provide EIT with the opportunity to offer a complete product range of fully 3D printed cages for both vertical and lateral expansion.

According to Guntmar Eisen, CEO of EIT, "This IP is our platform to take fully 3D printed fusion cages to the next level by adding functionality to our EIT cellular titanium cages. This will give the surgeon more options intraoperatively, reduce inventory and support MIS techniques  and at the same time reduce cost of expandable cages."

The technology was developed with the help of spine, orthopaedic and hand surgery expert Dr Morgan Lorio, MD. He believes that "the combination of 3D printed cellular structures with functionality is disruptive game changing technology. It will give me better tools to restore my patients spinal balance and enlarge the cage footprints for better endplate coverage while experiencing faster spinal fusion. He added, I am thrilled that these technologies will be advanced by the German engineering team of EIT."

2. Korean surgeons successfully reconstruct cancer patients jawbone using 3D printing technology

Another major medical 3D printing breakthrough was achieved recently in South Korea, as the team at the Samsung Medical Center successfully reconstructed the jawbone of an oral cancer patient using 3D printing technology. Professor Baek Chung-hwan, of the department of otolaryngology at SMC, was able to simultaneously remove cancer-infected bone and reconstruct the jaw using 3D printed bone from the patients leg.

This is the third time Baek has successfully carried out this pioneering 3D printed bone reconstruction procedure, following the development of a sinus cancer surgery model in 2013, and a surgery model for a temporal bone necessary for treating otitis media last year. In the past, surgery was performed using only CT images. However, the 3D printing model and bone cutting guidance allow for an operation where the cutting and reconstruction takes place simultaneously, by first making the fibula into the replacement mandible which is needed.

Using this model, doctors have an opportunity to learn a surgery that they had known only in theory while benefiting patients in the long run, Baek said. We plan to continue developing 3D printing operating models.

3. Sigma Labs teams up with 3D printing company Digital-CAN Tech to expand Asian sales network

Sigma Labs, Inc is a major provider of quality assurance software for manufacturing processes that use 3D printing technology, under the PrintRite3D brand. Today the company announced a new partnership with Digital  CAN Tech Co. Ltd, in an effort to expand its sales network in Asia.

Digital  CAN is one of Taiwans largest industrial 3D printing companies, with experience in a variety of industries such as aerospace, medical, tooling, industrial manufacturing 4.0 applications, architecture, product design, automotive design, & lifestyle applications. The company will now serve as Sigma Labs non-exclusive sales agent in Taiwan, receiving a commission tied to revenue.

We are very pleased to expand our Asian market presence with sales representation from Digital-CAN, a leader in the Additive Manufacturing Industry in Taiwan, said Ron Fisher, VP of Business Development of Sigma Labs. Taiwan is among a growing array of countries that have embraced AM across Asia and we believe that Digital-CAN is the right agent in that region to help fulfill our expansive vision. We look forward to working with them to drive the value of Sigma Labs solutions capabilities into their diverse markets and industry channels.

4. Singapore Manufacturing Innovation Center established to encourage development of 3D printing and other technologies

International Enterprise Singapore has launched the Singapore Manufacturing Innovation Center (SMIC) in Guangzhou. The center is intended to facilitate partnerships between Singapore and China in Industry 4.0 technologies, such as 3D printing technology and the Internet of Things (IoT).

SMIC is a first-of-its-kind platform to promote collaboration and co-creation of innovative technology solutions among Singapore companies and Chinese enterprises. The Made In China 2025 initiative launched by the Chinese government in order to upgrade its manufacturing sector is increasing demand for disruptive, Industry 4.0 technologies, and many Singaporean businesses stand to benefit from this. Five major Singapore technology players with complementary capabilities will be brought in anchor the SMIC. They are Akribis Systems, motion control solutions specialist; Barghest Building Performance, energy efficiency technology provider focusing on intelligent building space; K-One, innovation solutions provider focusing on Sustainability, Environmental-friendly and Value-added solutions; Plant Werx, industrial information technology provider; and SESTO Robotics, autonomous technology specialist delivering automated guided vehicle solutions.

Mr. Lee Ark Boon, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of IE Singapore said, Singapore has a strong knowledge-intensive manufacturing sector, which accounts for 20% of our GDP. Because of this, our local technology solutions providers have gained relevant expertise and track record in transforming the traditional manufacturing sector. These companies can partner and co-create solutions with Chinese manufacturers as they move up the value chain. The SMIC serves as a one-stop shop for Singapore and Guangdong enterprises to collaborate on I4.0 solutions, and scale up in other parts of China.

The SMIC launch in Guangzhou by IE Singapore is an example of the Singapore Governments continued efforts to help Singapore companies to innovate beyond national borders. In July, IE Singapore IE Singapore announced the launch of its Plug and Play Network to provide support in business advisory services, business matching and market set-up via co-working spaces in over 45 major cities in 6 key markets across India, China and Southeast Asia.

Posted in 3D Printer Company

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Aug 24, 2017 | By Benedict

A group of German researchers has conducted a study into the phenomenon of remixing on Thingiverse. The study finds remixing to account for half of Thingiverses models, and divides the practice of remixing into eight basic patterns.

All makers know how important Creative Commons licensing has been for the 3D printing community. The ability to pool information for 3D printable designs, printing techniques, and indeed 3D printer blueprints has surely been one of the main reasons for the massive interest in additive manufacturing at the consumer level.

A group of researchers from universities in Germany and the Netherlands has now conducted a study into one major aspect of sharing in the 3D printing community: remixed models on 3D file repository Thingiverse.

The study, which has been published in the Journal of Information Technology, looks at how remixed Thingiverse models account for around half of the entire websites collection, and examines the particular ways in which makers rework the designs of others.

Besides a creative and passionate community, Thingiverse contains so many great designs because designers can inspire each other and nobody needs to fear that reusing someone elses ideas might be frowned upon or downright illegal, explains Sascha Friesike from the KIN Research Group of the VU Amsterdam.

Of course, Thingiverse is just one of many places where makers can upload, download, and rework 3D printable models, and the researchers say as much. Focusing on the MakerBot-owned platform, however, allowed the team to conduct an extensive study over a period of six years, obtaining detailed information about the practices involved in the art of remixing.

With the emergence of open internet-based platforms in recent years, remixing has found its way from the world of music and art to the design of arbitrary physical goods, the paper explains. However, despite its obvious relevance for the number and quality of innovations on such platforms, little is known about the process of remixing and its contextual factors.

Until now, that is.

In their study, the European researchersFriesike, Christoph M. Flath, Marco Wirth, and Frederic Thiessedescribe eight compound remix patterns grouped into the following two categories: convergent remixes, characterized by remix relationships with several parents, and divergent remixes, characterized by remix relationships with several children.

Convergent remixes are those designs which inhererit characteristics from at least two othersits parents. The researchers identify four kinds of convergent remix: merge, in which two distinct models are mixed into a new one; compilation, in which a larger number of models are compiled into a single model; sibling, when several creators take the same parents but create entirely different children with them, resulting in models with the same ancestry but differing designs; and retrospect, which combines the features of several generations of ancestors.

Divergent remixes, on the other hand, are those for which a single design is the source for several new ones. These can be broken down into: fork, when a concept reaches a crossroads and forks into two new models; bouquet, when a model is remixed overproportionately; customizer, when a model is made specifically to be adapted by other users, giving adjustable parameters for customization; and template builder, when a previously non-customizable model is turned into a customizer.

Remixes can have different levels of complexity too, from the smallest aesthetic adjustments to the most radical structural reworks. The researchers talk of this difference in terms of shallow and deep remixing, with a remix becoming more deep the more categories it transcends and the more parent designs from which it borrows.

But the report also emphasizes one of the most important elements of remixing: that its fine.

As researchers, we have known for a long time that most ideas are based on existing knowledge, Friesike explains. However, it is very difficult to show that. If we go to a company and ask them where their idea comes from, they will tell us, that they came up with all of it on their own.

Images: Flath, Friesike, Wirth, Thiesse

And therein lies the difference between maker platforms like Thingiverse and traditional design practice, where the remixing of ideas can result in big-money lawsuits and certain parties getting in lots of trouble.

We know that [companies coming up with their own completely original designs] is not true, but most of the time we are unable to show it, Friesike continues. Within the 3D printing community the reuse is explicitly allowed and the mandatory declaration of the sources of inspiration allow us academics to explore how ideas evolve. In doing so, we show how much creative potential open knowledge entails.

Appropriately, the researchers comprehensive study is published under a Creative Commons license. It can therefore be read and remixed by anyone.

Posted in 3D Design

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Aug 24, 2017 | By David

Global technology giant Siemens has established a major business partnership with Identify3D, which has the potential to increase implementation of 3D printing technology in the manufacturing sector. Identify3D provides a unique security software solution for digital manufacturing processes, enabling companies to protect their assets, control the supply chain, and make sure business and production rules are enforced. The new collaboration with Siemens will be a major financial boost for Identify3D, and is part of its recently concluded Series Seed investment round led by SoftTech VC, which also saw the company receiving investment from Bee Partners and DART Capital Partners.

Growing recognition of the benefits of 3D printing and other digital manufacturing methods is causing them to have a progressively larger impact on a range of different industries, but security is an issue that is still making many businesses reluctant to implement them fully. One of the major concerns for manufacturers is that digitization brings with it a loss of control over assets, affecting things such as the quality of the final product and ownership of intellectual property.

Identify3Ds innovative toolset addresses these issues directly. Identify3D Protect gives manufacturers the ability to securely encrypt their designs, preventing them from falling into the hands of competitors or being changed in a way that detracts from the credibility of the original product or brand. Identify3D Manage enables the management of orders, facilitating secure and accountable digital distribution. Finally, Identify3D Enforce provides integrity and security to the final manufacturing phase. It ensures that parts are produced strictly according to specifications regarding materials and machine used, speed, temperature, resolution, etc.

Manufacturers have embraced digital manufacturing as an efficient way to bring innovation and efficiency in product manufacturing, said Joe Inkenbrandt, Co-Founder and CEO of Identify3D. But along the digital manufacturing thread, companies are vulnerable to issues of quality assurance and the potential theft of intellectual property. Securing the digital thread from prototype to finished product is critical, and our recent round of funding will enable us to further develop our solution by integrating with other CAD/PLM, OEMs and technology partners and meet the needs of our clients.

By protecting and securing the design and IP for our customers, we are helping to advance our shared vision that all manufactured products in the future will have digital components, added Stephan Thomas, co-founder and Head of Business Development. Integrity of both the design and the manufacturing process itself are fundamental requirements as we shift to a digital world, and we believe that Identify3D is well-positioned with our financial and strategic partners to continue to fuel that vision.

The new backing from Siemens is a significant landmark for Identify3D, as the venerable technology powerhouse is renowned for its efforts towards the digitization of industry. The collaboration is intended to establish an industry standard for secure digital manufacturing, as part of Siemens Digital Factory Division. Starting from December, integrations of Identify3Ds toolset will be available for Siemens' digital manufacturing clients, such as users of its CAD and PLM software. These integrations will first be demonstrated on-site at the EMO conference in Hannover, Germany, in September.

The considerable financial investment from Siemens will also enable Identify3D to expand its operations and distribute its pioneering software solutions further, taking advantage of the growing demand for digital manufacturing. According to analyst firm Research and Markets, the global digital manufacturing market will grow at a CAGR of 7.6% during the period 2016-2020. The majority of that growth will stem from the adoption of digital manufacturing into the supply chain in aerospace, defense and medical devices. Identify3D already has a significant client base in aerospace and defense, and is hoping to meet the needs of other advanced manufacturing sectors including power generation, oil and gas, transportation and healthcare.

Posted in 3D Printer Company

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Who wouldnt want to win thousands or even millions of dollars, or the chance to go on a luxury vacation? There are many legitimate sweepstakes and contests out there, and the idea of winning some fabulous prize can be mighty alluring. Con artists get that, and they exploit your eagerness to score that big check or dream trip.



Sweepstakes and lottery scams have been around for a long time, and theyre still going strong. In 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received more than 148,000 reports of fraud involving prizes, sweepstakes and lotteries, up 27 percent from the year before. Victims collectively lost $255 million.

The initial contact in a sweepstakes scam is often a call, an email, a social media notification or a piece of direct mail offering congratulations for winning some big contest. But theres a catch: Youll be asked to pay a fee, taxes or customs duties to claim your prize. The scammers may request your bank account information, urge you to send money via a wire transfer, or suggest you purchase gift cards and give them the card numbers.

Once they ensnare someone, theyll keep coming back, staying in contact for months or even years, promising the big prize is only one more payment away and often enlisting victims as unwitting money mules to transfer funds stolen from others. If you stop paying or cut off contact, they may threaten to harm you or a loved one or to report you to the authorities, according to the U.S. Embassy in Jamaica, the country of origin for many lottery cons. (Be suspicious of any unexpected call from a number starting with 876, the area code for Jamaica.) Older adults are popular targets, with people age 55 and older accounting for 72 percent of sweepstakes scams reported to the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Among this group, 9 out of 10 lost money, with an average cost of $978, more than triple the toll for younger victims, according to a June 2021 BBB study.

Some lose far more. Two Jamaican men who pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges earlier this year collected tens of thousands of dollars from many individual victims and obtained more than $9.4 million overall while running a sweepstakes scam out of a call center in Costa Rica for eight years, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

And a criminal was recently sent to prison and required to pay back more than $7.7 million he stole from California residents. In response, California Lottery officials have emphasized that:
The regulations permitted companies to financially penalize employees who choose not to share medical and genetic information with their workplace wellness program. While these programs have been promoted as ways to encourage healthier behavior, many employees are unwilling to share the highly personal information that is required to participate and could be used to discriminate against them on the job.

U.S. District Judge John D. Bates ruled Tuesday against regulations issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that allow companies to charge penalties to workers who decline to participate in these programs. Those penalties could double or triple what the employee pays for health coverage.

AARP sued the EEOC last October to block the rules. While the law requires that participation be voluntary, AARP argued that the rules effectively were coercive, forcing employees to decide between protecting their medical information and paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars more for their health insurance.

Lisa Marsh Ryerson, president of AARP Foundation, said the ruling was a tremendous victory for workers.

Given the risk of discrimination, no one should be coerced into revealing personal health information in the workplace, Ryerson said.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, employers are generally not allowed to ask their employees for personal and family health information on heart disease, cancer, diabetes, depression, bipolar disorder and other conditions. There is a narrow exception for workplace wellness programs, but only if they are voluntary.

The judge found that the rules would take an especially hard toll on lower-income employees and were likely to disproportionately affect people with disabilities.

The court said it would be too disruptive to discard the rules immediately, but it ordered the EEOC to address the rules failings in a timely manner. The EEOC has 30 days to tell the court its plan for fixing the problems with the rules.
Owner Peter Barbey, who bought the Voice in 2015, said that ending the print edition would help revitalize the publication by allowing it to concentrate on its online version, podcasts, videos and other forms of print publishing, the Washington Post reports.

Since 1996 the newspaper has been free in New York City, with revenue coming mainly from advertising, which has diminished as online alternatives have grown.

The Voice was once known for publishing such writers as Ezra Pound, James Baldwin and Allen Ginsberg. And it launched the careers of investigative reporter Jack Newfield, music critic Ellen Willis and New Yorker theater critic Hilton Als. But many of the writers most associated with the Voice, such as Michael Musto, Nat Hentoff and Wayne Barrett, have died or been pushed out of the newspaper, the New York Times notes, clearing the way for a younger generation.
Forget pristine beaches and palm trees. When the work wheel stops spinning, the best two cities in the U.S. to retire early are both in Kentucky  Louisville and Lexington, according to SmartAsset.

Thats hardly a surprise considering the personal finance website ranked Kentucky as the second-best state for an early retirement last year. (Wyoming came in first.)

Not only is the Bluegrass State tax-friendly, but it also lures retirees with its low cost of living and average house costs of only $8,600 a year. Whats more, the state is a nature lovers paradise, offering a plethora of hunting, fishing, hiking and biking opportunities.

Subscribe to the AARP Money Newsletter for more on work, retirement and finances

When crafting its list of best cities for an early retirement,the personal finance website considered 10 factors: quality of medical care, unemployment, violent and property crime rates, average income, property and sales taxes, the cost of living, home prices and health care costs.

AJ Smith, a personal finance expert at SmartAsset, acknowledged that Kentucky doesnt typically show well on lists of best retirement spots.

But both Louisville and Lexington have low costs of living and affordable health care, Smith said. Additionally, first-place Louisville provides an average effective retirement income tax rate of only 12 percent for folks ages 55 to 64.

The sites ultimate list of 11 best cities skews away from the Northeast, dotted by some of the most expensive locales in the country, and toward cities mostly in the South and West.

Scroll below to see which cities made the cut and why.

1. Louisville, Ky.

Although the countrys bourbon capital ranked 48th in SmartAssets study of number of medical facilities per resident, Louisville punches above its weight when it comes to housing prices and cost of living. It also offers an average effective income tax rate of only 12 percent.

2. Lexington, Ky.

The horse capital of the world is Kentuckys second-largest city, located about 80 miles east of Louisville. Both cities have a lot in common, including affordable health care and a low cost of living.
Book looks into 52 cases unsolved murders with ties to South Dakota

Christine Wevik started researching cold cases in South Dakota thinking there were about 30. She found 155.
From Refugee to International Entrepreneur  A riveting and unconventional narrative to be introduced to Book Industry professionals

London  Aug 24st, 2017  TESTED released by author Alpesh H. Patel will be showcased at this years prestigious Frankfurt Book fair taking place from October 11th to October 15th, 2017. The book which was released on June 8th, 2017 has received many 5 star Amazon reviews and has far surpassed expectations

TESTED tells the gritty reality of a maverick businessman, as he travels around the world looking for opportunities. This true story starts out in Uganda in the 1960s, where the author is forced to leave everything behind, fleeing Idi Amins persecution as a refugee.

Having TESTED showcased officially to the industry is a great honor for me . Whoever has read the book only had good things to say about it, with the most common comment being I could not put the book down. I brought it to life and now wish to share it with a much larger audience via our presence at this years book fair, says Alpesh H. Patel.

Negotiating his way through his teenage years in Britain, he embarks on an incredible business journeys that takes him from the streets of London to the souks of Tangier, from the concrete jungle of Hong Kong to the bling of Dubai and then back to mother Africa.

The rhythm of Tested is as palpable as a hard-hitting, hip-hop classic from Jay Z, as humorous as a Russell Howard or SNL skit and as emotional as an R&B ballad from Marvin Gaye or Beyonce. All of this is underpinned by a cheeky, cocky west London attitude with an Afro-Indian edge! Buki Mosaku, Founder of Inquire Management.

This is not a rags-to-riches story. Alpesh is a living proof that in life, we lose more times than we win. He talks openly and honestly about the dark side of entrepreneurship, and faces up to the psychological challenges to keep going, no matter what.

As the prestigious magazine FORBES once quoted Beaten and Bloodied, Patel is as rugged as the African bush he was born in.

This book is a riveting true story of what happens when an entrepreneur keeps trying and fails more times than he succeeds. Alpeshs soul-searching narrative is compellingly readable and is as packed with dramatic highs and lows as any fictitious novel; the difference being its all true.

TESTED will be showcased at the International Education Exhibition area 4.2 A77 from October 11th-15th 2017

Tested by Alpesh H. Patel is available on Amazon and Apple iBooks. Also available in Kindle, EPUB, and Print. It is Published in the UK by Peshmode Ltd.

For more information visit www.peshmode.com/testedthebook.html

Press and Publishing enquiries, Contact: events@peshmode.com

About the Frankfurter Buchmesse

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The matter of Triple Talaq reached the Supreme Court through a plea filed by Saira Bano, who challenged the three rules related to Nikah (wedding). These rules are: Talaq-e-Biddah, Nikah-e-Halala and a mans right to have four wives. Supreme Court banned the controversial Islamic divorce practice triple talaq in a landmark ruling. The practice, that stretches back over a thousand years, allows a husband to divorce his wife by simply saying the Arabic word for divorce, talaq, three times.

The five-judge bench did not unanimously ban the practice, which Balaji Srinivasan, one of the lawyers on the case, called disappointing. Instead, three judges ruled that it was unconstitutional, while the remaining two judged that it should be up to the countrys parliament to pass legislation officially banning the practice. The majority decision is that triple talaq is banned in law. From now on in India, the law is that there is no practice of triple talaq which is held to be valid.

Much of the legal argument hinged on the question of whether striking down the practice would violate religious freedom. However, the judge in the majority ruling concluded, on the basis of an act in 1937 that enshrined Muslim legal beliefs and traditions into law, anything that was anti-Quranic was therefore banned and didnt deserve constitutional protection. According to the majority ruling, triple talaq is against the basic tenets of the Holy Quran and consequently, it violates Shariat  What is held to be bad in the Holy Quran cannot be good in Shariat and, in that sense, what is bad in theology is bad in law as well.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has publicly advocated for a ban, added his voice to those celebrating the ruling. In a tweet on his official account, the prime minister called the courts decision historic, adding that it grants equality to Muslim women and is a powerful measure for women empowerment.

Shagufta Shah, in her third month of pregnancy had written to Modi fearing that her husband will abandon her children and her if she gives birth to another girl. The woman is at the end of her first trimester. In her message to the Prime Minister, she urged him to bring an end to Triple Talaq  an Islamic tradition, where a man just has to utter the word talaq, or divorce thrice in order to leave his wife. Shagufta, who already has two daughters, fears for the well being of her children. She claims that her in-laws have been pressuring her to abort the foetus. They fear she might give birth to another girl. She also alleges that her husband has verbally divorced her and thrown her out of the house. Many lives are ruined in such cruel practices.

In Islam, everything is followed as per Sunnah (Deeds of the prophet). Hence, most Muslim women bodies opposing triple talaq want the Muslim bodies to adopt Talaq-e-Sunnah (Divorce as per the Prophets sayings and Quranic dictation) and discard Talaq-e-Biddah (Divorce as per a later formed mode of divorce which propagates instant divorce).

According to Sharia law, a woman has no say in the matter of triple talaq. The decision is entirely that of her husband, who doesnt even have to pay any maintenance or alimony. The tradition also gives this right only to a man. A woman cant do the same to her husband. Nikah is essentially a contract laid down in a Nikahnama drawn between the husband and the wife. This contract can have conditions and has a compulsory consideration (Meher) to be paid at the time of the marriage. This consideration is paid by the man to the wife, and can be at time waived off by the woman as per her own will. So, the basic difference between a Hindu Marriage and a Muslim Marriage is that for Hindus, marriage is a divine sacrament whereas for Muslims, it is contract drawn between the husband and the wife.

The Quran advises the husband to settle the differences through a mutual conversation as the first step. This step is known as the Faizu Hunna. If the differences continue between the husband and the wife, the parties should refrain from any conjugal acts till they settle their dispute. This step of physical separation known as the Wahjuru Hunna is prescribed so that the couple re-unites. However, even if this second step fails, it is recommended that the husband must attempt to talk to the wife, make peace with her and talk about the seriousness of the circumstances. This third step is known as the Wazribu Hunna. However, Quran advises that even if the third step fails, the fourth step of arbitration must be followed. In this step, members from each of the spouses family are present and the parties try to make amends in the strained relationship. It is only after these four steps have failed that a husband pronounces the first talaq.

The practice of Nikah-e-Halala, is much more awful and cruel than the talaq. Many Muslim women have condemned this practice as barbaric and it assumes more importance, in case the talaq is given as Talaq-e-Biddah. Women have often described it as a barbaric practice and there are demands to abolish this practice. Muslim women have come out on the side of rights and justice. They want this biased system of verbal triple talaq and practices like Nikah-e-Halala to stop. A soft revolution is underway in India, led by a group of Muslim women who believe that the peaceful, rational and equal Islamic ideology has been usurped by dogmatic and misogynist views of a few who see women as the weaker sex. This coming together of victims, scholars and activists seems to be the beginning of a new feminist movement in the Islamic world. These women are seeking reinterpretations of the hadiths and traditions based on Prophet Muhammads life. Fortunately, this time even government promises them the impartiality and the justice delivered through court of law. Lets hope for more such changes and freedom from these cruel religious customs.

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Cargo operations at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) are returning to normal this morning after typhoon Hato battered the region, leaving 12 dead.

The typhoon struck Hong Kong yesterday morning, causing several airlines to cancel freighter flights from HKIA.

Passenger flights were also affected, with the South China Morning Post estimating that as much as 60% of total flights from the airport were cancelled yesterday.

While most all-cargo services are returning to normal, SF Airlines, Cathay Pacific, AirBridgeCargo and Emirates Sky Cargo have each had to cancel a flight today.

"Flight operations have resumed, though with expected delays," said Cathay Pacific Cargo in a customer update this morning.

The airport said it handled approximately 600 flights between 1700hrs yesterday and 0600hrs this morning. Overnight, HKIA handled nearly double number of flight movements compared with normal days.

"The operation of HKIA is back to normal today, and is expected to handle more than 1,200 flights to and from Hong Kong today," the airport said in a statement.

"The airport is continuing flight rescheduling today till midnight, and by then all remaining passengers affected by the typhoon are expected to have been handled."

The Macau government said the storm was the strongest to hit in more than 50 years. Sea port operations were also affected by the typhoon.

If you are interested in this story, why not subscribe to our free twice-weekly Air Cargo News bulletin

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Panalpinas hub at Luxembourg Airport has been licensed to handle organic fruits and vegetables by Certysis, an inspection and certification body for organic products.

This makes Switzerland-based logistics giant Panalpina the first and only licensed receiver of organic produce at the European hub.

Quint Wilken, Panalpinas regional head of Perishables Europe, said: To be able to sell organic fruits or vegetables in the supermarket, every part of the supply chain, from grower to final distributor, needs to be certified by one of the controlling bodies. If the chain is broken, the product is not allowed to be called organic anymore.

Panalpina uses Luxembourg as an important European import hub for organic avocados from Latin America. These are flown in directly from Mexico using Panalpinas Boeing 747-8 freighter, cleared and then trucked to their final destination in Europe.

Panalpina now has three Certysis-licensed airport locations in Europe: London Heathrow as well as Amsterdam and Luxembourg  both directly connected to the tarmac and thus ensuring the shortest possible route between aircraft and transit storage.

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August 21, 2017

MOSUL, Iraq  Mosul's first tattoo parlor is hidden behind a simple sheet metal wall. Tattoo artist Amar, 29, has a thin mustache and a big smile. He opened his shop four months ago in the neighborhood of Karamah, which, though impoverished, was spared from much of the fighting between the Islamic State (IS) and the Iraqi army. At about 15 square meters (161 square feet), the shop is just big enough to fit in the dozen young Moslawis huddling around Amar, who is busy sketching a design for a tattoo on the shoulder of his friend Zaid.

"I was nine or 10 when I tattooed someone for the first time," Amar told Al-Monitor. "Saddam Hussein was still around!" One after the other, Amar's friends undress to get their tattoos, bursting with laughter as they do so. The group, listening to deafeningly loud music, seems unbridled. "We're getting drunk all the time now," commented a tattooed man, who says he has barely tasted whiskey since 2014, when IS occupied the city. Most of the men sport tattoos of tigers and dragons, busty pinup girls and scorpions, but Zaid opts for a design to symbolize his newfound freedom. On his skin, as the pearls of blood from the needle's prick eventually fade, a butterfly tattoo is revealed.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi proclaimed a "major victory" in Mosul on July 9, nine months after the start of a bloody urban battle between IS and the Iraqi army. For three years, the city had been the largest stronghold  in terms of both population and territory  of IS. But in the eastern part of the city, which was recaptured by pro-government forces in January, business has resumed for some: Amar has already tattooed nearly 300 customers since he opened for business, charging anywhere from $5 to $200 a piece.

Not even the capture of the city by IS in June 2014 and the gradual establishment of a bloodthirsty regime could stop the artist. But secrecy was key. He closed his salon and only practiced at home. "I only tattooed close friends  those I could trust," he said. "The rule was: If they catch you and want to kill you, you accept and you do not give my name."

During 2 years of IS occupation, Amar tattooed more than 50 people. "People wanted to get tattoos because IS forbade it. It was their way of resisting," noted the father of two, whose wife has a tattoo of a rose. But an IS collaborator ended up reporting him. Amar was sentenced to 10 days in prison and 100 lashes on the back, but he resumed his work soon after his punishment. "I love what's forbidden," Amar said, a smirk on his face.

For some tattoo artists, their resistance to the so-called caliphate was not just symbolic. Hussein, 23, who uses a nickname for security reasons, decided to learn how to tattoo a week after Mosul fell into the hands of the jihadis. He taught himself by watching tutorials on the internet, though a lack of equipment forced him to build his own machine using parts from an electric razor, a USB cable, a pen, some tape and a sewing needle.

Amar and friends pose for a picture in his tattoo parlor in eastern Mosul, Iraq, May 21, 2017. (photo by Charles Thiefaine)

By day, Hussein tattooed bodies of all shapes and sizes. By night, he roamed the streets with his fellow anti-IS rebels to tag houses of IS members with the letter "M," which stands for "muqawama," the Arabic word for resistance.

This small attempt at psychological warfare was enough to put the lives of the graffiti artists at risk. But they didn't stop there. Phones were forbidden, but when Hussein managed to get one, he became an informant for Iraq's counterterrorism services. Hussein speaks with a shy smile on his face, but he freezes as he looks at a photo on his smartphone. It is of a friend who had also joined the network of informants. "He was denounced. Murdered with a bullet in the head," he said.

For Hussein, the threat is threefold: tattoo artist, informant and Shiite. Under the rule of IS, his religious denomination could have meant death. IS even killed his father's cousin. To keep his religious identity a secret, Hussein had to count on his neighbors. "Our neighbors told IS fighters that we were Sunnis. That's why we're still alive," he whispered. In Mosul, as elsewhere, resisters and collaborators often lived on the same street.

On the eve of the battle of Mosul, senior Iraqi commanders were convinced that the resistance would play a key role in the urban warfare to come. "When our troops arrive near Mosul, we expect some kind of uprising," Lt. Gen. Najim al-Jabouri, the commander of the Ninevah operations, told Al-Monitor in August 2016.

Some of the city's residents are accused of welcoming the jihadis in 2014 and precipitating the fall of Mosul. Others, at the time, pledged allegiance to Baghdad. "Every day we hear about attacks carried out by civilians. Some of them were veterans of the Iraqi army. Others work with the intelligence services," the commander explained. But the revolution never came.

The home of Hussein's uncle, which serves as a tattoo parlor for young artists like Hussein, is packed. Every day, more and more relatives, soldiers and strangers arrive to get their first tattoos. "People are no longer afraid," Hussein said. "Freedom is on the move. It changes very slowly, but society is better now than it was before the arrival of IS. Now we have our eyes open."

Meanwhile, in Amar's parlor, many customers are arriving to get their first tattoos. Ahmed, 19, arrives with a special request. Arrested by IS militants and held for several days, Ahmed was terrified at the thought of being executed. On his shoulder, he cut the shape of a heart, in honor of his mother. Now, he wants to turn the scar into a drawing. "The time of IS is gone. Now is the time to get a professional tattoo!" Ahmed yelled.

The jihadis lost the battle for Mosul, but the tattooed rebels say their fight continues. "Even before IS I was not free to drink alcohol and do what I wanted," Amar said. "Before, the people were more strict, but they have suffered so much under IS that our society has become more open."
August 24, 2017

CAIRO  Egypts Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) decision No. 1308 published on Aug. 14 to ban media coverage of all trials via audiovisual devices has stirred much controversy in human rights, media and judicial circles.

Some see it as a means to prevent citizens from knowing what is happening in trials and a major restriction of freedom against journalists covering Egypt's judicial issues.

In the first implementation of this decision, just one day after its issuance, the head of the Criminal Court of Cairo, Judge Hassan Farid, banned photojournalists from attending the hearing of 20 defendants in case No. 239 of 2015. They are accused of joining a terrorist cell in Marsa Matrouh that is affiliated with the Islamic State in Libya and with slaughtering 21 Egyptians in Libya.

Human rights lawyer Mukhtar Munir described the decision as totally unfair and told Al-Monitor in a telephone interview that it contradicts the established principle of publicity of court hearings.

The State Councils Supreme Administrative Court issued a judgment in 2010, conferring to itself, and not to the Supreme Judicial Council, the power to ban TV broadcasting of hearings and trials. The ban decision violates and invalidates this judgment, stripping it of its binding force, he said.

Munir, who works for the nongovernmental organization Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, said that citizens have the right to attend trials and hearings. But in reality, all proceedings of public opinion cases are held at police headquarters, which citizens cannot enter without a special permit, he added.

Indeed, all public opinion and terrorism-related trials are held at police headquarters, while other trials are held in ordinary courts allowing the entry of the public but banning audiovisual devices.

Munir noted that Article 268 of Egypts Code of Criminal Procedure states that hearings shall be public unless in exceptional cases determined by the court itself. The Supreme Judicial Council cannot issue an absolute ban, he said.

On Aug. 13, SJC submitted a complaint to the public prosecutor against Egyptian websites Al-Mesryoon and Al-Omah, accusing them of publishing false news concerning the judiciary, including the publication of remuneration of judges.

Munir said that Egypts current regime sees any large government apparatus as a sovereign authority, and therefore such authorities may not be put under media spotlights as this would threaten Egypts national security. How will the publication of the salaries of judges affect national security? he wondered, noting that this type of news has nothing to do with national security.

He added, The problem is that the Justice Ministry does not have an information office, which makes it difficult for journalists following up on judicial matters to perform their job. This is not to mention the recent crackdown on journalists.

Meanwhile, a judge in the Egyptian Court of Appeal told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the decision does not conflict with the principle of public hearings. Allowing journalists to attend hearings is in line with the principle of publicity of trials and hearings, and banning TV broadcasts and photography does not negate this principle, he said.

The judge added that the decision was issued to protect the rights of the accused and the judges, saying, Taking photos of judges may expose them to potential future assaults. National security officers may also be subject to assassinations if their identity is revealed since they are the main witnesses in most terrorism-related cases.

He said that the ban is limited to audiovisual coverage and that journalists are given free access without their cameras, adding that the decision came after some media outlets published false information regarding judges remunerations. This undermines the standing of judges and the judiciary as a whole.

Mustafa Shaat, a legal researcher at the American University in Cairo's law and society unit, told Al-Monitor, Judges are strongly sensitive about broadcasting hearings, especially in cases related to terrorism, where the defendants are placed in glass cages and can barely communicate with their lawyers or hear the judges clearly. The trials held at the police headquarters violate the Code of Criminal Procedure. This is why judges prefer not to have trials and hearings documented with audiovisual devices.

Shaat noted that most terrorism-related cases are politicized. He explained that several facts revealed that some judges follow their own ideology and this was documented by the photographers' cameras. Filming of trials allows documenting judges violations, and this is why they want to ban TV broadcasts of all hearings. The principle of publicity of trials and hearings has harmed judges. This principle is directly related to the public image of the court and judges.

A number of judicial authorities had issued several decisions banning judges from giving statements about judicial cases to media outlets and preventing them from posting about them on social media.

Indeed, Public Prosecutor Nabil Sadek had banned all public prosecution members on May 10, 2016, from expressing political opinions on social media or making statements to the media. The Administrative Public Prosecution also issued instructions Aug. 16 to its members not to speak to the media during the course of their inspections and to refrain from giving press statements in general.

Shaat added that these decisions confirm beyond any doubt that there is an official crackdown on journalists, stressing that a ban on filming contradicts the principle of public hearings. It is mainly aimed to cover up for the mistakes that judges may make during hearings, which may tarnish their image in the eyes of the citizens.

He noted that the job of journalists covering judicial affairs may be harder than that of other journalists, saying, This happened several times, such as when journalists published news contrary to the statements issued by judicial authorities and when articles tackled the remuneration of judges. On May 8, a journalist from the Al-Fajr newspaper was accused of offending the public image of the judiciary by publishing offending materials.

Shaat added, The ban allows journalists to attend hearings but prevents them from bringing in any audiovisual devices. They could be subject also to prosecution depending on the angle from which they choose to tackle their articles."

In addition to the general freedom restrictions preventing them from having access to information, Egyptian journalists covering judicial issues face continued threats of prosecution.
August 24, 2017

Calls by Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi for full gender equality, including equal inheritance rights for women have provoked an outcry from Al-Azhar clerics, who denounced the concept as running counter to Islamic teachings. They also sparked condemnation from Egypts loyalist media, with some anti-reformists calling the idea blasphemous and others even inciting violence against the Tunisian leadership.

Essebsis comments came in a speech marking National Womens Day Aug. 13, which commemorates the promulgation of Tunisias Personal Status Code in 1956  a pioneering set of laws regulating marriage, divorce, custody and inheritance that profoundly changed the legal status of women in the predominantly Muslim country. By promoting education for girls, abolishing polygamy and outlawing repudiation of a wife outside court-mandated divorce, Tunisias personal status code paved the way for greater gender equality and remains to date among the most progressive in the Arab world.

Essebsi requested the formation of a committee of male and female jurists to study his proposal, which  if approved by the experts  would be followed by amendments to Tunisias law on inheritance. Realizing that he was treading on dangerous ground, the Tunisian president sought to allay the concerns of ultra-conservatives, assuring them that we will not push for reforms that would shock the people, but we are moving toward equality in all fields.

We are confident that Tunisian legislators will be able to strike a balance between gender equality on the one hand and religion and the constitution on the other, he added.

But Essebsi did not stop there. He also called on the Justice Ministry to lift the ban on marriage between Tunisian women and non-Muslims, a highly contentious issue in Islam. While marriage between Muslim men and non-Muslim women is permissible under Sharia, marriage between Muslim women and non-Muslims is prohibited on the premise that a non-Muslim husband would not respect his wifes faith and children of such marriages would likely be raised as non-Muslims.

Essebsis remarks drew mixed reactions in Tunisia. Supporters, including scholars from the countrys Diwan al-Ifta (the authority responsible for issuing religious ethics), hailed them as a step forward in promoting the status of women and guaranteeing gender equality in line with Sharia law and international agreements signed by Tunisia. Critics meanwhile condemned them as violating Sharia.

But reactions to the controversial statements were far more subdued in Tunisia than they were in Egypt, where they drew stern rebukes from Al-Azhar, Sunni Islams highest authority, and prompted a spike in hate speech from critics in the media.

Islamic texts, including verses from the Holy Quran on inheritance, are fixed provisions. Al-Azhar categorically rejects any attempts to change them, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed el-Tayeb said in an official statement released Aug. 20. Tayeb also sought to remind the Muslim faithful of Al-Azhars role for more than a thousand years as the leading authority on Islamic matters, giving guidance to Muslims the world over and helping followers of the faith understand the religion and its rulings correctly. He reaffirmed that interpreting Islamic texts is solely and strictly the responsibility of religious scholars who have studied Sharia, adding that it is unacceptable that anyone other than the experts take on that task.

Although Tayeb did not mention Essebsi by name, his message was clearly directed at the Tunisian president. In an earlier statement published by the semi-official Al-Ahram, Al-Azhars spokesman Abbas Shuman also expressed his reservations about Essebsis proposals. He slammed the calls for equal inheritance rights for women as unfair because women in some cases inherit a greater share than men, he noted, adding that Islamic law is the only law that has guaranteed women a fixed share of inheritance that they cannot be denied.

Under Sharia, the share of a womans inheritance is usually half of that of a man based on the premise that men are the caregivers for their families. There are, however, exceptions to this rule, such as in the cases of mothers inheriting their deceased childs property (both parents get an equal share: one-sixth of the property each). In his book Responding from Tradition, Egypts former Mufti Ali Gomaa cites 14 cases in which a woman inherits more than a man.

"The stubbornness of ultra-conservative clerics is standing in the way of women receiving their share of inheritance."

Shuman also objected to the idea of allowing Tunisian women to marry non-Muslims. "Religious differences would undermine the stability of the marriage," he warned, arguing that a non-Muslim man would not allow his Muslim wife to practice her faith.

Rebuffing Al-Azhars criticism of his policies, Essebsi, in turn, decried what he called outside interference in Tunisias internal affairs. But the vitriolic denunciation of Essebsis reformist views by the ultra-conservatives in Egypt (one columnist went as far as to suggest declaring Essebsi an apostate and deploying an Arab-Muslim force to isolate the regime in Tunisia) also raised serious concerns among womens rights advocates who for decades have been pushing for equal inheritance rights for Egyptian women.

Azza Suleiman, a human rights lawyer and head of the Center for Egyptian Women's Legal Assistance, an Egyptian nongovernmental organization working to help women attain their legal rights, lauded Essebsis proposals as causing ripples in still waters. She expressed her hope that the ripples would build a strong enough current that would sweep down the mighty resistance to positive change for the women in our region.

It is not surprising that in Tunisia, there is the political will and high-level commitment that is needed for real democratic reforms, she told Al-Monitor, adding that the enlightened leadership is a natural result of the progressive laws laid down by Habib Bourguiba more than half a century ago.

In Egypt, we need to follow Tunisias example by doing away with age-old traditions and social norms that are holding women back. What we need is a campaign to educate women about their rights and we also need to modernize the religious discourse. It is societal debate that paves the way for social change, she said.

Suleiman lamented Al-Azhars lack of vision and unwillingness to adapt to the changing times.

The religious institution is applying outdated interpretations of Islamic texts to modern-day challenges, helping efforts to consolidate control over women in the patriarchal society, she complained, citing Al-Azhars stiff opposition to calls by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to annul verbal divorce as one example. Suleiman said her NGO is dealing with hundreds of cases where the stubbornness of ultra-conservative clerics is standing in the way of women receiving their share of inheritance.

In Egypts conservative rural communities, women are often denied their rightful shares of inheritance because the family fears property (especially land) ownership may be transferred to the husband rather than kept in the immediate family. But some progress was made early last year when the Egyptian parliament passed amendments to Inheritance Law No. 77 of 1943, criminalizing the act of denying someone their share of inheritance. Offenders face up to six months in prison and a fine of up to 100,000 Egyptian pounds (approximately $5,640). Parliament member Ghada Saqr, secretary of parliaments Media Committee, told Al-Monitor that further amendments are on the way. I have put forward a bill for the creation of a judicial body tasked specifically with restituting inheritances to their rightful heirs. This will speed up the process, encouraging more women  deterred by the slow court procedures that often drag on for years  to come forward and demand their share of inheritance.

Saqr, however, stopped short of expressing support for Essebsis proposition for equal inheritance. We must not confuse the proposed amendment with equal inheritance rights for women, as the latter proposition does not conform to Islamic provisions and hence must be rejected.
August 24, 2017

Iran's parliament opened negotiations on President Hassan Rouhanis proposed second-term Cabinet on Aug. 15. That day, the re-elected moderate president said he had been under no pressure from any faction, party or group in picking his 17 choices for minister posts.

Yet state media outlets reported in July that Rouhani had traveled to the city of Mashhad to discuss his proposed list with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Several prominent figures have argued the move would reduce the parliaments freedom to review the Cabinet independently. Outspoken parliamentarian Ali Motahari said any coordination with the supreme leader would limit the room for discussion.

Both Rouhani and Khamenei denied that they had determined the choice of each and every minister together and insisted they had stuck to the customary mutual understanding over the ministers of defense, foreign affairs and intelligence.

The supreme leaders office added that Khamenei was sensitive about three ministries (education; science, research and technology; and culture and Islamic guidance), putting Rouhani under public pressure to work with Khamenei on these matters as well. The conspicuous absence of a science minister from the presidents proposed Cabinet and the last-minute difficulties in picking a candidate for education underline that education is shaping up to be a key front in the struggle for power, pitting the Reformists and the Rouhani administration against Principlists and the supreme leader.

The relationship between the political elite and education in Iran is complex.

Rival factions are currently clashing over the fate of Irans largest private university, Islamic Azad University (IAU), and to a lesser extent over primary and secondary education.

The relationship between the political elite and education in Iran is complex. While primary and secondary schools were already largely in state hands by the mid-1970s, the nationalization of higher education occurred only after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Universities were closed for two years while curriculums were rewritten and opposition students and staff purged according to the new Islamic Republics ideology.

By the early 1990s, Iran was forced to step back from its state-centered educational model. The country was experiencing a demographic explosion, and after the eight-year war with Iraq ended in 1988, many young men and women were eager to enter universities to improve their chances in Irans tough job market.

President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani addressed this demand by expanding the role of private universities, cleverly prioritizing his own, Islamic Azad. Rafsanjanis development program was so effective that by 1997, little over a decade after its founding, IAU enrolled more students than the state's entire higher education system combined.

Currently, Azad University has over 1.6 million students enrolled in hundreds of branches across the country.

In the Islamic Republic, private education enjoys only slightly greater freedom than that of the state system. The Ministry of Science and the Khamenei-controlled Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution exert significant control over universities. The Science Ministry directly appoints the senior management of state universities and has a seat on the boards of trustees of most private universities, including Islamic Azad. The Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution is charged with screening board members at institutions of higher education.

Until his death in January, Rafsanjani maintained a delicate balance in steering IAU away from national politics to prevent scrutiny by subsequent governments. To do so, Islamic Azad University has maintained an extensive on-the-ground organization of basij, or volunteer student militia, tasked with cracking down on critical thinking or student activism. At the same time, IAU was also prevented from turning into a hotbed for Principlist organizing.

Since Rafsanjani's death, this balance has been quickly overturned. Over the past few months, the supreme leader has moved quickly to put key allies in positions of authority within the university.

Less than three weeks after Rafsanjanis death, Khamenei appointed his foreign policy adviser Ali Akbar Velayati, a powerful conservative, to head the board of founders, the universitys highest decision-making panel. Soon after, Velayati asserted control over the board of trustees, putting him in a position to control IAUs general direction.

In April, the universitys pro-Rafsanjani President Hamid Mirzadeh was suddenly ousted. In mid-July, the board of trustees decided to appoint Farhad Rahbar to permanently replace Mirzadeh as IAUs president. Rahbar is a staunch conservative who, as the former president of the University of Tehran, is known for cracking down on students and faculty sympathetic to the protest movement that emerged in response to alleged fraud in the 2009 presidential elections.

Now Principlists aided by the supreme leader are finding themselves somewhat in Rafsanjanis shoes: While they have the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution on their side, the Ministry of Science can still throw sand in the gears of any IAU takeover plan. In the coming days, Principlists will do their best to get Rouhani to introduce a science minister aligned with their strategy for IAU.

But the fault lines of education run beyond the Science Ministry. The Education Ministry has been the focus of at least as much factional infighting in recent years, pitting in particular Reformist teachers as well as Principlists against the Rouhani administration. While the Science Ministry is responsible for the university system, the Ministry of Education mainly concerns primary and secondary education as well as teacher training. The supreme leaders emphasis on combating "foreign influence," particularly cultural influence, as the countrys top political priority is believed to have added impetus to Principlist efforts to control this department.

Rouhanis first education minister, Ali Asghar Fani, had been the object of multiple failed impeachment procedures and attacks, only to finally hand in his resignation in late 2016 amid the largest national teacher demonstrations in over a decade over low wages, limited benefits and lower pay than that of other civil employees. Rouhani replaced him with Fakhrodin Ahmadi Danesh Ashtiani, who had earlier been blocked by parliament from the position for his alleged connections to the Green Movement.

Before and during the presidential elections in May, Principlist pressure on Danesh Ashtiani had all but prohibited his reappointment. Danesh Ashtianis daughter was found to be involved in dealing in smuggled clothes for a shop of hers. In the televised election debates, Principlist candidate Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf took time to publicize Danesh Ashtianis unnecessary cargo imports.

Taking note of the supreme leaders reservations, Rouhani opted to replace Danesh Ashtiani with Seyyed Mohammad Batiani, a technocrat from Tehran with prior education experience. The choice indicates that Rouhani hopes to compromise with both Reformist teacher organizations and Principlists.

Rouhanis moderate position seems to have borne fruit. Batiani was approved by the parliament Aug. 20, with 238 votes in favor and 38 against. But Batiani's appointment could not placate more radical voices from either side. Two lawmakers, a Reformist from Kordestan province strongly involved with teacher welfare and a Principlist from Kermanshah, spoke harshly against Batiani.

Morteza Haji, who was education minister during the Reformist government of Mohammad Khatami in the early 2000s, famously described the ministry in an interview as a giant organization  in which everyone believes he has the right to intervene. He went on, Demands from some to get their children into certain schools, pressures for bureaucratic restructuring, parliament members who want their friends as CEO or vice president of this or that organization and finally the collective demand for wage increases  these chores take all of our time [and] prevent us from thinking.
August 24, 2017

Despite having done so already twice, albeit under severe pressure from his own Cabinet, US President Donald Trump has made his intentions clear to American journalists that he does not plan on certifying Irans compliance with the nuclear deal signed between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany. European leaders have warned the United States to not walk away from the nuclear deal. However, on Aug. 23, Trump dispatched US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley to Vienna to press the International Atomic Energy Agencys (IAEA) Yukiya Amano on their reading of Irans compliance.

It is not clear yet how Iran, or Europe, will respond if Trump decides to not recertify Irans compliance and does not waive US sanctions on Iran. Diplomatically however, Iran is not waiting for that moment and is answering back. In a letter dated Aug. 19 but released Aug. 23, Irans Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who was the lead negotiator in the nuclear talks, warned about US adherence to the nuclear deal.

Zarif wrote, The publicly stated purpose of this visit raises several serious concerns over further violations of the letter and spirit of the nuclear deal by the United States. He continued that the way Haleys trip was publicized sends a detrimental message regarding further uncertainty and ambiguity  among other governments and the private sector with regard to the stability and future sustainability of the nuclear deal. If the United States does not certify Irans compliance, many European companies would likely pull out rather than face US sanctions. Currently, despite both Presidents Barack Obama and Trump having certified Irans compliance, many large European banks refuse to deal with Iran due to fears over uncertainties regarding existing US sanctions.

Zarif said that Haleys visit with the purpose of pressing the agency undermines the agencys independence. He continued that the nuclear deal requires the IAEA to avoid hampering the economic and technological development of Iran and also prevents the IAEA to share information with the United States outside the regular IAEA updates. He requested that European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini add Irans concerns to the agenda of the next meeting.

Javan Online, which is linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported that Haleys questions raise a number of issues: Will the agency once again question Iran about possible military dimensions of its nuclear program, the article began. It asked whether the IAEA will make another provocative request to inspect military sites like Parchin. As part of the nuclear deal, the IAEA inspected Parchin in September 2015. Iranian military leaders, however, are suspicious allowing inspections, believing that sensitive information has been leaked to adversarial countries. The top story on the front page of hard-line Vatan-e Emrooz was headlined, Amano, pay attention; the story was accompanied by a picture of Amano and Haley posing while shaking hands.

Reformist Sharghy daily tried to keep an upbeat tone in its coverage of Haleys visit to Vienna and the possible fall-out of the nuclear deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA), headlining its article, "What kind of document is the JCPOA, and what can be done in the event of its probable breach?"
August 23, 2017

Minister of Culture Miri Regev is on the attack again and with all her might. On Aug. 21, she spoke out against the new film Foxtrot by director Samuel Maoz, which was accepted to two important film festivals, Venice and Toronto, and is a leading nominee for the Ophir Prize (the Israeli Oscar). The minister wrote in a statement that the way the film depicts Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers tarnishes their names and plays into the hands of the haters of Israel. Regev added that funding for the film was allocated by the Israel Film Fund during the tenure of her predecessor, Limor Livnat, and I cant but be sorry for it.

At the same time, the Ministry of Culture, at Regevs direction, threatened to eliminate funding to the Arab-Hebrew Theater in Jaffa. In a letter to the minister of finance, Regev demanded to stop funding the theater because of an event the theater is hosting that calls for the release of the Arab-Israeli poet Dareen Tatour, who is accused of incitement and affinity with a terrorist organization and has been under house arrest for two years.

The event was the initiative of playwright and actor Einat Weitzman, and the theater is hosting it for a fee. In an interview with Al-Monitor, the theaters director, Yigal Ezrati, said that two days before Regevs letter, he received an email from extreme right-wing activist Shamai Glick, threatening harm to the theater.

For some time now, Glick has been inundating government offices with information on cultural events that he views as anti-Israel, and he even boasted in an interview to Israeli Calcalist that all of Regevs decisions started with a particular pest, and thats me.

In the email Glick sent to Ezrati (disclosed to Al-Monitor), he wrote, Why do you need this headache? Representatives will come and call you to a hearing, will take away your budget and levy a fine, youll appeal to the High Court, and in the meantime where will you get the money? You think anyone will help you with money? Ask the Al-Midan Theater that totally collapsed because the state turned off the spigot. Were not playing games. Theres already a committee that meets and decides on fines. Within a week. These arent threats; its eliminating your budget. Im sure that youll be worried for your kids livelihood and that of all your employees and make the right decision.

The Arab-Hebrew Theater espouses coexistence, and the plays it presents at its home in the mixed city of Jaffa give an Israeli audience the chance to see plays and performers from the Arab world in general and from among Arab Israelis in particular  those who dont find a welcoming stage at other Israeli theaters. We deal with intercultural encounters. For instance, we read aloud Umm Kulthum and Farid Al-Atrash and Mahmoud Darwish to a Hebrew-speaking audience, said Ezrati.

Tatour was arrested in October 2015 at the start of the individual intifada when she posted a poem she wrote, Rise Up My People, Rise Up Against Them, on YouTube. On her Facebook page, she posted the photo of terrorist Isra Abed, who carried out an attack at the Afula bus station and wrote, Im going to be the next martyr. Tatour was in jail for three months and then released and put under house arrest  not at her home in the village of Rayne in the north, but at an apartment in Kiryat Ono (at the demand of Israeli authorities) that her brother rented for her, with an electronic cuff on her ankle. She is forbidden to use the internet, the phone or any other means of communication so that she wont be able to continue spreading incitement.

Only in May 2017 did the court decide to ease the conditions of her arrest. She now lives under house arrest in her village. During the day she can leave the house accompanied by a custodian. The prohibition on her use of the internet and phone remains.

During her trial, which is still ongoing, experts claimed that her statement Im going to be the next martyr was translated incorrectly by a police commander in Nazareth, and that the intent was Im going to be the next victim, as a protest against the unbearable ease of shooting anyone suspected of being a terrorist during that time.

The organizers of the event at the Arab-Hebrew Theater wish to stir Israeli public opinion. They argue that the only reason for her arrest is that she isnt Jewish: Many Jews wrote more severe critiques than she did and remain free, said the campaign in her support.

These arguments are particularly noteworthy in light of the acquittal on Aug. 17 of professor Hillel Weiss, who was accused of incitement and threats made nearly 10 years ago against then-brigade commander of Hebron, retired Gen. Yehuda Fox, when settlers were evacuated from Hebron. He said, Well rise to power and hang you from a high tree for everyone to see, and equated the actions of Foxs forces and those of the Nazi regime.

The events organizers as well as the managers of the Arab-Hebrew Theater are determined not to give in to the threats of the Ministry of Culture. We dont intend to cancel the event, but this causes many cultural institutions to self-censor because they are afraid, Ezrati said. They are afraid to do something unacceptable to the minister. Were not.

The last time Regev attacked the theater, regarding a play about Darwish, starring Mira Awad and directed by Norman Issa (who also received threats to his funding because he refused to appear at settlements), additional audiences who werent among the theaters regulars came to see the play. She did a public relations campaign for us. The play has been running for three years, said Ezrati. According to him, this will also happen in Tatours case, whose story will reach many more audiences who hadnt heard of her before.
August 23, 2017

Dont worry about us, an Israeli security official told his American counterparts while visiting Washington. Speaking to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, he described his exchanges with senior US security officials: We will be all right. Were strong, weve seen greater challenges than this. Think what would happen to all your allies. What would happen to Saudi Arabia, what would happen to Jordan. Think what could happen to the Gulf states, to Egypt. Theres no vacuum in the Middle East. Victory over the Islamic State [IS] wont make the Sunnis disappear. It will only strengthen their will for revenge and make you miss IS.

Another Israeli security official had spoken to the Americans in the same vein, explained the source. Take heed, this second official told the Americans. A few days before President Donald Trump arrived for his visit in Saudi Arabia in May, the rebels in Yemen fired missiles toward Riyadh. Its a clear message. The Iranians are already building the capacity to strike with surface-to-surface missiles across a huge belt in the region, which will strike fear among the Sunni regimes. Do you think the king of Jordan would survive this? That stability in Saudi Arabia will be maintained? Do you think that the determination and unity Israel has shown for all these years will also be the lot of the Sunni states, including the fragile and wobbling regimes?

Whatever happens here after the war in Syria will shape the face of the Middle East, and perhaps the entire world, for generations. If the cease-fire agreement does not also include a Shiite retreat, and not just a victory over the Sunnis, a disaster will happen. Youre disturbing the incredibly delicate balance in the Middle East, he warned. The immediate price will be paid by those who live here, but in the end, the bill, once again, will be sent to you.

That, essentially, is what senior officials of the American security establishment heard from their Israeli colleagues during a visit to Washington Aug. 18. The Israeli delegation included Yossi Cohen, head of Mossad; Maj. Gen. Hertzl Halevi, head of military intelligence; Ron Dermer, ambassador to Washington; Eitan Ben David, deputy head of the national security staff; and former senior Mossad official Zohar Palti, head of the diplomatic security department at the Defense Ministry.

The meetings took place in a positive atmosphere. Jason Greenblatt, Trumps special envoy, even tweeted a photo of the Israelis, without suits and ties, during a special dinner at the home of national security adviser Gen. H.R. McMaster.

As reported in Al-Monitor, which also revealed sharp differences between Israel and the United States on Iran, the Israelis are trying to explain the great Iranian plan to their American partners. An Israeli intelligence source told Al-Monitor on the condition of anonymity, The Iranians are the only ones who are working toward the long term. They are the only ones with a strategy in this sphere. They think and act like a world power. We must not fall into this trap.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sees this current diplomatic effort as a continuation of his efforts to thwart the Iranian nuclear deal. He is doing exactly what he did during 2009-14, but hoping that hell have greater success this time.

Netanyahu sees the nuclear deal the six world powers struck with Iran as a grave mistake whose ramifications will be suffered for generations and as a re-enactment of the 1938 Munich agreement. Netanyahu believes his current warnings to Trumps staff and Russian President Vladimir Putin are like UK Prime Minister Winston Churchills attempts to warn Europe and the West about the German threat in the late 1930s. Netanyahu is interested in that period and often makes comparisons between then and now.

As with the Iranian nuclear deal, the Israelis are now making sure to tell the Americans, and also the Russians, that Israel will protect itself. If Israels security needs wont be met in the cease-fire agreement in Syria, well act in other ways, the source said, quoting a third member of the Israeli delegation.

The Israelis didnt elaborate, but its clear theyre talking about military action. The Israeli threat is made in a calm and matter-of-fact tone, but its goal is clear: to raise fear among the world powers that an unbalanced cease-fire in Syria could pull the region into war. No wonder that on the eve of Netanyahus departure for his sixth meeting with Putin, in Sochi on Aug. 23, the Israeli media reported that Israel's first stealth bombers were declared operational and provided details on a new Israeli drone with exceptionally advanced capabilities.

You dont understand what the Iranians are doing to you here, the Israeli intelligence source told his American interlocutors. Youre looking at Syria, but you should look at Afghanistan. All the trouble youre facing in Afghanistan, thats Iran. You cant win there. Now, everything depends on Syria. If a clear red line isn't drawn for the Shiites and the balance in Syria falls in their favor, the clock will start to tick. And all this is happening while Pakistan is unstable, Saudi Arabia is raging, and all of your other allies are fighting for their survival.

That said, Israel is not asking anyone for operations on the ground or needless wars, he emphasized. We need you diplomatically, not militarily, he explained. The United States and Russia are the two dominant powers on the world stage, and now they are both in the Middle East, and they need to lift their heads from day-to-day nonsense for a moment and look at the big picture.

This big picture is what the Israelis are also presenting to the Russians. Cohen and the new National Security Council head, Meir Ben-Shabbat, flew with Netanyahu to the meeting with Putin. Netanyahu told Putin that Irans presence in Syria is a threat to Israel, the Middle East and the entire world. He noted that Iran continues to threaten Israel's existence, to support terrorist organizations and to develop its missile capabilities.

Intelligence presented to Putin was meant to show him that Iran is not the stabilizing and responsible regional actor the Russians believe, but the complete opposite. Youre pleased that you blocked the Sunni threat and that IS is weakening, a senior Israeli security official told the Russians and later conveyed to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, but you dont understand that the Shiite threat is no less serious. The very fact that the Shiites are seen as the victors will make the Sunnis go crazy. The agreement in Syria must include an unequivocal decision by the world powers that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps wont set up in areas they didnt previously hold and that there wont be Shiite territorial continuity from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean, that limits will be set on Irans expansion.

That said, at the moment, Israel is less worried about the situation in the Golan Heights, where it is clear that the Israel Defense Forces wont allow the Iranians or their surrogates to take hold. The Israeli concern is focused on whats happening in Syria and Lebanon. Reports on work beginning to build a factory to produce precision rockets in Lebanon, using Iranian and North Korean technology, have caused much consternation in the region. Israel, as previously reported, does not intend to let such a factory reach the production stage. It hopes that Moscow and Tehran will at some point grasp this.
August 22, 2017

The images recently coming out of the ancient town of Hasankeyf have simply been shocking. In scenes and sounds suggestive of the Islamic States destruction of Palmyra and the Taliban blowing up the Bamiyan Buddhas, rocks rained down in some areas following the sound of explosions, shaking the 12,000-year-old settlement on the banks of the Tigris in Turkey, in some cases destroying history. In other instances, historical structures were photographed being carted away.

All this is part of the current controversy in the latest episode of a decades-old saga that has brought Turkey to the verge of losing traces of at least 10 civilizations. This unique cultural heritage could have been preserved  it stood to attract millions of tourists if properly excavated  but instead, Ankara has maintained a chilly resolve to submerge an area of 313 square kilometers under the waters of a hydroelectric dam with a maximum lifespan of 60 years. Proposed in the 1950s, construction of the Ilisu Dam began in 2006 and proceeded with domestic funding after three European governments pulled out of the project. The dam is finally close to completion.

In May, authorities relocated the mausoleum of the 15th-century warrior Zeynel Bey in a stage-managed spectacle designed to silence critics by supposedly showing that the government respects historical heritage. Other monuments, including mosques, a bathhouse and a citadel gate, are also slated for relocation to an archaeological park in New Hasankeyf. Is this really preserving history? What is humankind actually losing at Hasankeyf?

Put simply, Turkey will be inundating an area preserving 12 millennia of history and some 300 archaeological sites. Ninety percent of Hasankeyf will disappear, and with it, so will myriad monuments built by the Romans, the Byzantines, the Umayyad, the Abbasids, the Artuqids, the Marwanids, the Ayyubids, the Seljuks and the Ottomans, among others. The lost heritage will include the largest surviving arch bridge from medieval times along with mosques, the remains of palaces, mansions, madrasas, a mint, fortress walls and gates, water canals, inns, baths and cemeteries.

There is also the matter of some 6,000 cave dwellings carved into rocks, which the government plays down as worthless. Many of those dwellings remained in use until the 1980s. According to a 2012 survey by the Nature Association, 29% of Hasankeyf residents claimed that they or members of their families had in the past lived in a cave dwelling. Although this type of accommodation alone makes Hasankeyf worthy of protection, the list of excavations from the Hasankeyf Archaeological Excavation Directorate is stunning. It features 38 main sites, many of which include several major monuments. According to the Nature Association, some 300 archaeological sites have been identified so far, with only 5% of them having been excavated.

Hasankeyf is also a multilingual town, with 70% of the population speaking Turkish, Arabic and Kurdish. In other words, what will perish here is not only history, but also a multilingual, multicultural basin of civilization.

The archaeologist Nevin Soyukaya says the planned dam has impeded the regions economic and further cultural development for decades. No development project has been undertaken in the past 50 years, she told Al-Monitor. No infrastructure for tourism was developed. The ancient city was abandoned to its fate. The Culture Ministry, Soyukaya said, has carried out rescue excavations at only a small fraction of the some 300 archaeological sites identified.

The excavations began in 2000 and ended in 2012, she said. In a bid to fend off the criticism and mislead [the public], they have made plans to relocate nine monuments. Hasankeyf, however, is a whole  with its topography and nature, its palaces, caves, churches, mosques, ceramic kerns, workshops, riverside mansions, streets, bridges, prehistoric settlements, millennia-old cultural heritage, and multilingual and multireligious fabric. To claim that the city will be saved and tourism developed by relocating nine monuments is an insult to human reason.

The archaeologist decried the situation as horrible, noting, Hundreds of cultural monuments will be inundated before we even know what we are losing in these lands, where some firsts in human history have taken place. Soyukaya added that the Tigris ecosystem will be destroyed as well, stressing that no official report had been written on the dams environmental impact, as a 2013 law exempted the project from the compulsory environmental survey.

The Tigris ecosystem will be destroyed.

Asked about the series of explosions and earth-shaking falling rocks, Soyukaya explained that the authorities last year drew up a plan to reinforce the rocky terrain that serves as the foundation of Hasankeyfs Upper Town  the castle area that sits above the area to be flooded  and build a replica antique harbor after the water rises as a result of the dam. The plan involves the removal of 24 rocks deemed dangerous, filling 4.75 million cubic meters of some 210 caves and reinforcing Hasankeyfs Small Palace. Some think the dislodged rock is to be used in the harbor project, but experts believe it is more likely to be used as backfill in dam-related projects. Soyukaya said the government announced in June that the harbor project had been tendered.

Also according to Soyukaya, the nongovernmental Hasankeyf Initiative has observed that rocks posing no real danger are being removed as well. They used explosives that cause huge vibrations, noise and environmental pollution, she said. This has endangered other rocks and caves and damaged the areas topography and natural fabric. Some of the falling rocks have damaged the remains of churches and wine cellars. Mehmet Ali Aslan, a lawmaker for the Kurdish-dominated Peoples Democratic Party, chained himself to a rock in the area in protest.

Why is Turkey destroying unique historical riches for the sake of a dam? Soyukaya believes there is a political dimension to the issue. The area affected by the dam lies at the intersection of roads that link southern countries to Turkey, Europe and countries to the north, she said. Also, the Tigris meets the water needs of Iraq. With this dam, a new definition was formulated, which is security dams. The aim is to control regional roads and use water to discipline the countries to the south.

Aslan said he had decided to stage a protest after three sleepless nights brought on by news of the rock demolition. It is no different from what the Islamic State and the Taliban have done, he told Al-Monitor. I talked to shopkeepers [in Hasankeyf], and everybody spoke of explosions that jolted the town and terrified the children.  My conscience took me to Hasankeyf so that our grandchildren do not spit in my face in the future.

Aslan, who represents Batman in parliament, described Hasankeyf as a unique city in the world, where many phases of human history can be seen in one place. He stressed that Arabic is the essential language of the area. The Kurds settled there in the past 50 years, he explained. The regions Arabic identity will be destroyed as well.

According to civic groups, more than 100 endangered plant and animal species also face extinction at Hasankeyf, along with history. Yet, the Batman City Council, which asked the State Water Authority what measures were being taken about this, received the following reply: No measures have been taken as no endangered species exist in the Tigris valley. Such is the Turkish states approach to history and the environment in a nutshell.
August 24, 2017

Turkey continues to send mixed signals about a planned referendum on Kurdish independence in Iraq, saying it will oppose it but doing nothing concrete to prevent it.

The countrys foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said nothing to clarify Turkey's ambiguous stance during a lightning visit to Baghdad and Erbil yesterday. Speaking to reporters before meeting with Massoud Barzani, the president of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, Cavusoglu reiterated Turkeys opposition to the plebiscite due to be held on Sept. 25. Our expectation from Erbil is clear: that is the cancellation of the referendum as the interests and future of the Kurds lies in a united Iraq. But Cavusoglu denied considering potential sanctions such as sealing the border or halting the flow of Iraqi Kurdish crude to export terminals in southern Turkey. After meeting with Barzani, the Turkish diplomat said that flourishing trade ties were unconnected to the referendum.

A senior Iraqi Kurdish official confirmed that Cavusoglu had asked Barzani to cancel the referendum, saying it would destabilize Iraq and the region. But the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Al-Monitor that Cavusoglu had made no suggestion at all of sealing the border, revisiting trade or suspending money transfers to Erbil.

According to the official, Barzani responded that he could not cancel the referendum because doing so would go against the will of the Kurdish people and the majority of the political parties.

Turkey is a critical lifeline for the landlocked statelet in northern Iraq. Many Iraqi Kurdish officials believe that if Turkey were truly against the referendum it would have matched its words with concrete action by now. The prevailing consensus is that Turkey has no desire to alienate the Iraqi Kurds, who are among its top regional allies and seen as a buffer shielding Turkey from the instability and violence engulfing the rest of Shiite-dominated Iraq. Moreover, the alliance allows Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to assert that his crackdown on Kurds sympathetic to the Kurdistan Workers Party at home is not anti-Kurdish but anti-terrorist.

Yet at the same time, Erdogan is seeking to consolidate his ultranationalist base ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections due to be held in 2019. This, in turn, means that he cannot afford to be perceived as being soft on Kurdish irredentism, even beyond Turkeys own borders. Devlet Bahceli, the leader of the ultranationalist National Action Party, declared today that if necessary, the Kurdistan referendum should be viewed as a a cause for war for Turkey.

Its a delicate balancing act on both sides. For Barzani, Erdogans repressive policies against Turkeys Kurds makes it tricky to justify the presence of at least 2,000 Turkish troops in Iraqi Kurdistan. And his domestic critics accuse the Kurdish leader of leaving their region overly dependent on Turkey.

Turkey trumpeted last weeks visit by Irans chief of staff, Mohammad Hussein Bagheri, as a united Turkish-Iranian front against Kurdish separatism in general and the Kurdistan referendum in particular. Similarly, Turkish officials emphasized that getting Barzani to change his plans was among the main agenda items during US Secretary of Defense James Mattis visit to Ankara yesterday.

Mattis was in Erbil on Aug. 22, the latest in a string of top US officials and military commanders to ask Barzani to stay put. But Barzani shows no signs of yielding and the greater the pressure, the more resolute he grows.
August 22, 2017

Turkish-German ties continue their downward spiral. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan remains on the warpath against Berlin, despite concerns within his Justice and Development Party, especially among quarters overseeing the economy.

The angry tone in German retorts to Erdogan is also escalating as Chancellor Angela Merkel unfolds a series of measures including pressurizing the European Union to act against Turkey and punish Ankara economically.

Merkel has announced that they want the EU Commission to curb funds to Turkey and not enhance the EU-Turkey Customs Union. Nevertheless, she remains opposed to ending Turkey's EU membership talks for pragmatic reasons.

Tensions, which seem to be nearing a point of no return, are also expected to make life for Germanys estimated 3 million ethnic Turks more difficult, especially for Erdogans hundreds of thousands of supporters in that country.

None of this worries Erdogan, though. He upped the ante last week when he labeled mainstream German political parties and their leaders  including Merkel  enemies of Turkey and called on Turks not to vote for them in Germanys federal elections Sept. 24.

Talking to reporters after Friday prayers in Istanbul Aug. 18, Erdogan maintained that the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Christian Democratic Union party (CDU) were bashing Turkey for the sake of votes.

I in turn call on all my kin in Germany not to make a mistake and support these parties. The Christian Democrats, the SPD or the Greens  they are all enemies of Turkey. Support those parties that do not show enmity toward Turkey, Erdogan said. He added that this had become a matter of honor for Turks in Germany.

Erdogans anger increased recently over reports that the fugitive Adil Oksuz, who Ankara says was one of the principal conspirators of last years failed coup attempt, was spotted in Germany.

Ankara demanded that Berlin find and arrest Oksuz and extradite him to Turkey. Germany has thus far refused to extradite any members of the so-called Fethullah Gulen Terror Organization, which is accused of planning and executing the coup attempt.

Professor Huseyin Bagci, a German-educated academic who heads the faculty of International Relations at Ankaras prestigious Middle East Technical University, points to the clash of legal systems here.

As long as emergency rule in Turkey introduced after the coup attempt continues, there is no chance that Germany will extradite anyone, Bagci told Al-Monitor. There is no confidence in the Turkish legal system under emergency rule, he added.

For its part, Berlin is fuming over the arrests and imprisonment of German-Turkish journalists Deniz Yucel and Mesale Tolu, as well as German human rights consultant Peter Steudtner, on terrorism charges. Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said recently that Yucel was being held hostage by Turkey.

This characterization by Berlin clearly applies to other German-Turks detained in Turkey. Erdogan said in April that Yucel will never be released as long as I remain in this office, repeating emphatically, Never!

News that Spain had detained German-Turkish author Dogan Akhanli last week in response to an Interpol warrant issued by Turkey poured more fuel on the anger felt in Berlin. Akhanli is also being sought by Ankara on terrorism charges.

Merkel accused Turkey of abusing Interpol privileges, a criticism seconded by the EU Commission. Spain subsequently released Akhanli, but only on condition that he remain in the country until the matter is resolved.

The arrest of German citizens is only one of Berlins grievances against Ankara. Others include Ankaras tit-for-tat refusal to allow German deputies to visit German soldiers stationed at the Incirlik Air Base, where they are part of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State. Berlin is in the process of redeploying its forces to Jordan.

Ankaras many grievances against Berlin, on the other hand, include the Armenian genocide resolution adopted by the Bundestag in 2016 and the permission local authorities have given to rallies in support of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, while refusing permission to Erdogan and Turkish government ministers to hold rallies in Germany to canvass Turks.

Erdogans call on Turks in Germany not to vote for mainstream parties raised hackles on the German side, as expected. Merkel rejected this as meddling in the German elections and underlined that German voters had the right to vote freely, regardless of background.

SPD leader Martin Schulz tweeted that Erdogan had lost any sense of proportion, adding that they would stand all the more on the side of all those who are struggling for a free and democratic Turkey."

Gabriel condemned the "unprecedented act of interference" by Erdogan, only to be dressed down by Erdogan. "Who are you to talk to the president of Turkey? Know your limits. He is trying to teach us a lesson.  How long have you been in politics? How old are you?" Erdogan said angrily as he hit back at the German foreign minister.

It is not clear how Erdogans call will resonate with Turks in Germany, 59% of whom voted for his executive presidency in the constitutional referendum in April.

Bagci believes most Turks will heed his call. This is a matter of social hypnosis, he said.

If they are not to vote for the CDU, the SPD (the party they traditionally vote for) or the Greens, Germanys Turks have hardly any options left. There are suggestions that they may veer toward the liberal Free Democrat Party (FDP), which Erdogan has not targeted.

The problem, however, is that the FDP is not enamored with Erdogan either. Earlier this year, its chairman, Christian Lindner, likened Erdogans purge in Turkey against his opponents to the actions of the German Nazi Party in the 1930s. He said Erdogan was using the coup attempt the way the Nazis used the Reichstag fire in 1933.

Other than that, all that is left for the Turks is the far-right Alternative for Germany and the Christian Social Union, which they are not likely to support.

Some say Erdogan is trying to herd his supporters toward two parties established by disgruntled Turks: the Alliance of German Democrats (ADD)  a name that has angered German nationalists  and the Renewal and Justice Party (BIG).

BIG, which has said it will not contest these elections, has called on Turks to boycott the balloting, while ADD will only run in North Rhine-Westphalia, reportedly to test the waters.

According to Bagci, these parties remain insignificant.

Many agree that Erdogans call will not only make life more difficult for Germanys Turks, but it will also have negative consequences for Turkey.

The dramatic change in Turkish-German ties is not to Turkeys advantage both in terms of bilateral relations or on the global level, where Berlin often acted as an advocate for Turkey in the past, Bagci said.

He said Germany had also made mistakes, especially with regard to allowing pro-PKK advocacy on its soil, and he indicated that Erdogan had turned this into an advantage.

Erdogan is a successful polarizer and has managed to draw Germany into the kind of fight that Berlin refused to be drawn into by Polands [Jaroslav] Kaczynski, Bagci said, referring to the former Polish prime minister. This works to his political advantage at home he added.

Bagci does not believe, however, that Turkish-German business ties will be affected from this crisis to the extent that some fear. Turks may admire Erdogans defiance against a major power like Germany, but they are not prepared to give up on their Mercedes, he said.
August 14, 2017

Turkey has been working to rebuild the 772-square-mile (2,000-square-kilometer) Jarablus/al-Rai/al-Bab triangle in northern Syria, dedicating funds for post-conflict reconstruction and humanitarian aid. The Islamic State (IS) was driven out of the area's 250 settlements during Operation Euphrates Shield (August 2016-March 2017).

Since March, about 70,000 Syrians have returned to the triangle from Turkey. About 100,000 more are expected to be repatriated by the end of 2017. About 45,000 of the returnees have settled in Jarablus, where Turkeys ambitious post-conflict reconstruction efforts fall into two groups: physical construction work and society-building. Ankara has decided to make Jarablus a center of attraction in the post-IS setting and use it as a model for the rest of the region. That's why Turkey assigned experienced administrators, police chiefs and muftis (religious officials) as consultants to the Syrian decision-makers of Jarablus.

The most notable activity is the ongoing construction of more than 100 buildings in the town center, including hospitals, orphanages, police stations and childrens parks. Men working in these projects earn enough money to sustain their families. With the equipment and supplies obtained from Turkey, the town now has electricity and running water, though problems persist with sewage infrastructure. Most of the roads in the town and around it have been repaired and paved. Some 80 mosques in the triangle are under construction, 10 of them in Jarablus.

Ankaras society-building projects at Jarablus are just as ambitious, emphasizing law and order, religious affairs and education.

Obviously, the security situation in Jarablus is much better than five or six months ago, but there are still problems. In May, armed clashes broke out between the Free Syrian Army (FSA) Sultan Murad Brigade and Faylaq al-Sham militants over sharing smuggling revenues.

Following these clashes, a local police force trained in Turkey took over security duties, supported by Turkish gendarmerie special operations teams. As of July, carrying weapons in the town center was prohibited. At the end of July, entire security functions were handed over to the Free Syrian Police Force. Militants of pro-Turkey armed groups such as Al-Hamza Brigade and Sultan Murad Brigade are recruited after they are demobilized and trained in keeping order, combating terrorism and traffic management.

Currently, female applicants are being screened for a new unit to be made up entirely of women to serve in the Jarablus police force, entirely outfitted with armed vehicles, weapons, equipment and uniforms supplied by Turkey.

The latest major delivery to Jarablus in July was equipment and supplies for the fire brigade.

With the health services it has been providing, Turkey has made great strides in establishing friendly relations with the local residents. Doctors sent from Turkey are serving at the Jarablus hospital, and a mobile medical emergency service is already operating in the town center.

The Directorate of Religious Affairs, Turkeys official and influential religious body, along with several prominent nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), are active in Jarablus. About 10 local NGOs identified as conservative Islamist groups are coordinating relief activities with Turkish security and intelligence services. Jarablus figures highly in Turkish-run campaigns to raise donations for the approaching Eid al-Adha holidays.

According to a local security source, in the areas where the Turkish army supports FSA groups, oil exploration work has gained momentum. There is now a plan to build a refinery for high-quality oil and diesel production in the triangle.

Meanwhile, work is progressing to construct permanent, battalion-capacity military bases for the Turkish army in the Aqil Mountain area of al-Bab, as well as south of Jarablus and at Azaz. The goal is to train local military groups at these bases and consolidate them into a standing military force.

Another field receiving sizable assistance from Turkey is education. Turkish Ministry of Education officials who studied the needs of the triangle somehow decided that the model of religious high schools of Turkey was the best solution for the people and children of Jarablus. These officials advised their ministry to mobilize all of its facilities to appoint qualified personnel, find buildings, prepare hostels and provide equipment, supplies, housing, food and books for religious education in the region.

It's been noted that the Education Ministry maintains close relations with Turkeys prominent religious NGOs that are active in Jarablus.

The Jarablus project has received its share of criticism.

Many foreign and Turkish NGOs are waiting for permission from Turkish authorities to provide aid to Jarablus," said an NGO official working in Gaziantep who didn't want to be identified. "Foreign NGOs especially are not given permits to work in the region. They are not openly turned down but are simply kept waiting indefinitely. Also, only the pro-government media and official Anatolian Agency are allowed access to the region. We know what they are going to write. This cloaks Turkeys humanitarian assistance efforts in unnecessary secrecy and raises questions about its transparency.

Another foreign NGO worker who didn't want to be identified told Al-Monitor, From a humanitarian perspective, Ankara seeks to exercise total control over the triangle for logical reasons such as security. [However,] the extensive use of [Turkey's] Gaziantep metropolitan municipality, Gaziantep province, etc., in the role of post-conflict stabilization is unusual.

He added, But I largely think that we do not know enough about what is happening on the ground, how the local people feel about the aid provided and whether there is any monitoring and supervision."

A UN official who coordinates aid activities in the area who also didn't want to be identified said, The Red Crescent of Turkey and the governmental assistance body AFAD do amazing, great work. But the Syrian NGOs they work with dont want to talk to us and to the media. This, unfortunately, clouds the transparency of Turkeys humanitarian aid efforts.

Also, despite all the efforts to improve security and law and order in the area, there is a perceptible increase in polygamy, child marriages, sexual harassment, smuggling and organized crime.

Yet reconstruction work at Jarablus still deserves high praise, especially compared with the situation under IS control. But there are two risky areas that could cast shadows on Ankaras efforts.

The first is the ideological struggle between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham  the radical Salafi-jihadi organization that currently controls Idlib  and moderate groups in the triangle. Can Hayat Tahrir al-Sham hijack Ankaras success story in Jarablus, or can Ankara-backed moderation in Jarablus tame the Salafi/jihadi sentiments still observed in the triangle?

A social media message by a pro-Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Turkish Salafi-jihadi said, Life in Jarablus cannot be hidden. Under the guise of democracy and freedoms, adultery and immorality have peaked there. Jarablus is becoming a corrupted town distant from an Islamic environment.

Clearly, extreme Salafi-jihadi groups inside the triangle are not happy with Turkeys efforts.

The other risk involves Ankara's intent: What is its political goal in the triangle? Will Ankara one day hand over the area to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad? Given Ankara's disdain for Assad and the amount of money Turkey is investing in the reconstruction, that's unlikely. Perhaps Turkey's long-term aim is to impose its de facto influence on the region? These questions need to be answered before Turkey's approach can be seen as a whole.
When Josh Wimberly of Mobile celebrated his "cancerversary" recently - marking 10 years since he was diagnosed with rectal cancer - he invited Merrill Ann Culverhouse of Opp, Ala., to come to the party.

Josh and Merrill Ann first met last March when they were both in Washington, D.C., with Fight Colorectal Cancer, lobbying for awareness of and increased funding for colorectal cancer.

Merrill Ann has secured development for the first specialty license plate promoting colon cancer awareness and screenings in the state of Alabama - and only the second in the nation.

"I wanted to come up with a permanent source of funding in the form of a statewide specialty license plate to promote colon cancer awareness, raise funds to fight and treat it, and provide hope for colorectal cancer survivors and those affected by the disease," she said.

Josh said that he's "so impressed by how she's able to get that done at such a young age. It brings me a lot of hope when I see people like Merrill Ann ready to dive in."

A junior at Opp High School, Merrill Ann advocates for her father, Merrill, who was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2013. Like Josh, Merrill was diagnosed under the recommended screening age of 50.

In D.C., Merrill Ann and her dad met with Dr. Sam Pace and Dr. Roy Duh, who are responsible for the nation's first colon cancer tag, in Mississippi.

When she returned to Opp, Merrill Ann started planning for an Alabama tag. She partnered with Birmingham-based Rumpshaker Inc., the only statewide nonprofit dedicated to colon cancer issues.

Rumpshaker was formed in 2009 by family and friends in memory of Lisa Martz to raise awareness of and funds for colorectal cancer and provide emotional and financial support for patients and their families in Alabama.

Merrill Ann's design has been approved by the state, and now she has a year to secure 1,000 pre-commitments before they can be made. Each commitment costs $50, which must be renewed each year. Out of each $50, $41.25 goes to Rumpshaker.

"An alarming rate of people are being diagnosed with colon cancer, so it is a personal crusade for me to promote awareness," Merrill Ann said. "I think many people have a fear of having a colonoscopy, so it is important that we dispel the misconceptions of that but, more importantly, with colon cancer being the second leading cause of cancer deaths among men and women combined, it is crucial to educate the public about the importance of getting screened because if you are diagnosed early, you can beat this disease."

To make a pre-commitment purchase, go to https://precommit.mvtrip.alabama.gov.
For most people, the day they're diagnosed with cancer is a day they want to forget. Within minutes of meeting Josh Wimberly, one learns that he isn't most people.

By turns extremely funny - he estimates that he has about 10 minutes' worth of standup comedy material related to his illness - and seriously intense, Josh is a realist who knows his time is probably limited. So he chooses to make his remaining time count, doing things that matter to him.

Recently, on the 10-year anniversary of the day he found out he had Stage IIIb rectal cancer, Josh threw a party. He and some 100 of his closest friends and family members celebrated at one of his favorite places: Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in west Mobile. Kids and adults alike played on two giant, inflatable water slides. Two bands performed. Guests dined on a whole roasted pig.

At the end of the day, the Rt. Rev. Russell Kendrick IV, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast, presided over a service in the sanctuary that included Josh, dressed in swim trunks, a Redeemer T-shirt and flip-flops, leading congregants in a guided meditation.

He hoped party-goers would celebrate their lives at the event as well. "I want others to reflect on the fact that we're given such a gift to be here," he said. "It's such a blessing to wake up each day and have gratitude for that truth."

The past decade has been "really intense" for Josh and his family. "I'm happy I made it," he said. "The fact that I'm still here is a blessing and a privilege."

He is among the 10 percent of all patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer under age 50. "Early-onset" colorectal cancer is on the rise, according to the national advocacy and research group Fight Colorectal Cancer. Though the disease is preventable, colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States.

RELATED: Sign up for Alabama's new colon cancer tag

Josh wanted to do something big to mark his "cancerversary," so he decided to raise money to build a playground at his church, where he serves on the vestry.

"We've been wanting to build a playground for a while now, but we've had other priorities," he said.

His effort has raised more than $7,500 toward the playground, which will give the children at the growing church a fun place to play for years to come.

'We've been through a whole lot'

A Mobile native, Josh graduated from Spring Hill College and earned a master's and a Ph.D. in social work from the University of Alabama. He now works as director of assessment at Spring Hill. He has been married to Kimberly, a social worker, for 12 years, and they have two children, Bryan, 5, and Norah, 2.

He met Kimberly in Washington, D.C., where they were both doing their graduate school placements. They married in 2005 and were living in Birmingham two years later when, at age 30, Josh was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Some of his symptoms included blood in his stool, weight loss and fatigue.

"By the time you show symptoms, you're late-stage, which is why prevention is so important," he said.

As a social worker, he quickly became an advocate for colorectal cancer awareness. For the past 10 years, he has traveled each spring to Washington, D.C., to meet with legislators and talk about the issues patients and their families face, funding for medical research and the need to close a loophole in Medicare funding for colonoscopies.

Because he was young when he was diagnosed, Josh's treatment was aggressive. Within just a few months, he had chemotherapy, radiation and surgery to remove the tumor, and his rectum.

Meanwhile, he had banked some sperm so that he and Kimberly could have a chance at having children together.

A year and a half later, he started to experience shortness of breath and some other problems. Kimberly was recovering from an in-vitro fertilization procedure when Josh went to the doctor for an X-ray. As he drove his wife home from the hospital, he received a call telling him to come back. The cancer had spread to his left lung, causing it to collapse.

"We started all over again," he said - more chemo and another surgery to remove his lower left lung.

After two attempts at IVF, Josh and Kimberly had gone through all the sperm they had harvested. They got on the waiting list to adopt a child through Catholic Social Services in Birmingham. Much to their surprise and delight, about a year later, a "statistical improbability" occurred when Kimberly got pregnant.

And then, about seven months before he finished with his doctorate, a new tumor was found in Josh's right lung. This time, doctors used a newer, more innovative, targeted radiation treatment called CyberKnife.

After their son, Bryan, was born in 2012, the Wimberlys moved to Mobile. After a couple of years with no treatment, they found themselves pregnant again, with their daughter Norah.

So much has happened over the past decade to test their young marriage - cancer treatment, possible infertility, pregnancy, developing careers - but through it all Kimberly has been a "rock solid" partner, Josh said. "We've been through a whole lot, really soon."

Unfortunately, Josh started treatment last September for yet another tumor, this time in his lower pelvis. He takes an oral form of chemo - "a lower, maintenance dosage," he said. "It will probably be that way for the rest of my life." Every three weeks, he has to have an infusion of Avastin.

He hopes to be a candidate for surgery by the end of the year. "But the probability is that it's going to show up again," he said.

'I have to be realistic'

Josh is hopeful, but not blindly optimistic about the future. "I have to be realistic," he said. "This is my fourth tumor. Hope, to me, is thinking through potential outcomes and what could happen. I'm a planner by nature, so I want to think through what could happen so I'm at least ready."

When he was first diagnosed, he didn't expect to live five years - and he has now survived for twice that long. Because he doesn't want Kimberly to have to make decisions for him, he has made plans for how he wants things done at the end of his life.

"One of the most liberating things you can do is future planning," he said. "It's a piece I have control over."

His 10-year survival defied the odds, and so did becoming a parent - twice. He said he doesn't know what it's like to be a parent who's not also dealing with cancer, which can in itself be a full-time job.

"In my thought process, I don't have the privilege of thinking through parenting as a long game," he said. "The probability is that I won't be here when my children are teenagers, when they go to college. So how do I lay the foundation of lessons that have a latent impact? What do I want them to know about me, and how do I convey that?"

The couple's policy is to answer their children's questions as honestly as possible as they come. Norah recently noticed the port on her dad's chest and asked about it.

"My scars are a physical sign I'm different," Josh said. "I've had eight surgeries. But life would still have been stressful and chaotic without cancer. Every family and individual has their own struggles to deal with. Cancer patients don't own suffering, illness or terminal diagnoses."

Another way he deals with the mental and physical aspects of living with cancer is through staying active - and he recognizes that not every cancer patient is able to do what he does. "Exercise helps reduce the risk of occurrence," he said. "Fatigue is real, but exercise helps with energy and fatigue. I feel good about my energy level and health, other than cancer."

In the past, he has participated in triathlons and obstacle course races. His current fitness obsession is CrossFit, which keeps him returning to the gym to challenge himself.

"Cancer already has enough control of me," he said. "I try to double-down and leverage what I can control. I live with a little bit of pain all the time. If I push myself to the point where I'm sore and hurting, it takes the place of the other pain. I have the agency and power to do it. Cancer hasn't taken that away."

Cancer has helped him focus his priorities, he said. "My sense of urgency is stronger. I don't dance around niceties. I have to be strategic about where I exert emotional energy."

'Life-giving legacy'

One of Josh's passions in life is raising awareness of colorectal cancer, which can be curable when detected in its early stages. He hopes his "cancerversary" event will help others realize the importance of colonoscopies to screen for cancer.

"For the majority of us, if we can understand the risks and follow the guidelines, we can significantly reduce the number of diagnoses and deaths," he said. "Colonoscopies remain the gold standard, but other options are available for screening."

For the average-risk population, screening should begin at age 50, according to Fight Colorectal Cancer. "Knowing your family history helps you know when to be screened," he said. His own children will have to have their first colonoscopies at age 20.

Bryan and Norah will be among the first generation of children to play on the playground their father helped to build at their church on the tenth anniversary of his cancer diagnosis. And the members of the church - whether they have children or not - are grateful for his generosity.

"Josh has brought to our community a powerful voice of advocacy and authenticity," said the Rev. Dr. Joy Blaylock, rector of Episcopal Church of the Redeemer. "His words convey a truth borne of the struggle to live fully. Josh's faith journey reminds us that the Spirit who has given us life will not abandon us in the wilderness without offering a tangible glimmer of hope, a generous life-giving legacy."
Sometimes alleys can be dark and scary but sometimes they lead the way to unexpected treasures or surprising sights. Kelly Kazek | kkazek@al.com

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(Source: Florence Fairy Doors Facebook page)

Here are a few from around Alabama.

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(Bob Gathany | bgathany@al.com)

If you turn down an alley in downtown Huntsville, youll find some surprise artwork. This photo shows secret artwork by Micah Gregg in an alley behind the old Mason's near entrance to the former Heritage Club. It is a project of Downtown Huntsville Inc.

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An alley near 360 Dauphin Street in Mobile was turned into a courtyard decorated with a fountain and paintings of jazz musicians. Owner Colin Ayres calls it Jazz Alley, a spot for overflow business from the restaurant next door.

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Kelly Kazek | kkazek@al.com

Downtown Prattville is situated on the banks of Autauga Creek so city officials created access from the main street so residents can enjoy the water and the views. One access point is between buildings, creating a picturesque alleyway courtyard.

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Kelly Kazek | kkazek@al.com

One of the most interesting alleys is one in Montgomery that is actually called The Alley. A historic rooftop water tower was moved to street level to act as an entrance to the citys bar and restaurant district. The entrance is located between the 1903 Winter Loeb Building and the Steiner-Lobman Building.

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(Source: Florence Fairy Doors Facebook page)

If you walk down alleys in Florence, Ala., be on the lookout for tiny entrances to imaginary fairy houses. An artist in Florence put as many as nine tiny doors around town, then created a Facebook page and Instagram account so people can have fun trying to find them. Although she wants to remain anonymous, the Facebook page says the doors are meant to bring a sense of fun into people's lives.

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(Source: Florence Fairy Doors Facebook page)

Another Fairy Door in an alley in Florence.

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(Source: Florence Fairy Doors Facebook page)

Another Fairy Door in an alley in Florence.

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(Tamika Moore | tmoore@al.com)

Many alleyways and underpasses in downtown Birmingham are dark and a little spooky but a viaduct on 18th Street is a riot of color at night. It glows with rainbow colors installed for LightRails, an art-light project near Railroad Park. The project was designed by San Antonio artist Bill Fitzgibbons.

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(Tamika Moore | tmoore@al.com)

Another view of the LightRails art installation in Birmingham.

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Kelly Kazek | kkazek@al.com

An alley beside this building in Demopolis has an interesting ghost sign, a fading vintage ad, on the upper left-hand corner but those who walk to the very end will find .

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Kelly Kazek | kkazek@al.com

... this fun vintage Coca-Cola ghost sign, from a time when the drink cost only 5 cents.

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(Source: MagnoliaSprings.com)

Magnolia Springs, Ala., is known for being the only place in the world where the entire mail route is delivered by boat but it is also home to one of the most photographed alleys in Alabama: Oak Alley. Grand old oak trees flank many of the historic small towns streets.

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Kelly Kazek | kkazek@al.com

They are no longer in good shape but these chairs in an alleyway in downtown Prattville pose a mystery: Why are they there and why are they hung high on a wall?

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Kelly Kazek | kkazek@al.com

The side of a partially destroyed building on a corner in Jasper, Ala., was turned into an outdoor art gallery.

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Kelly Kazek | kkazek@al.com

Another wall of the downtown Jasper art gallery.

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Kelly Kazek | kkazek@al.com

This wall features a painting of a miner. Jasper, the seat of Walker County, has a rich history of coal mining.

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Kelly Kazek | kkazek@al.com

When you turn the corner beside the Kentuck Art Center in Northport, Ala., youll find all kinds of intriguing sculptures, like this one. It is part of an art garden behind the buildings.

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Kelly Kazek | kkazek@al.com

These painted mailboxes are also behind Kentuck Art Center.

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Kelly Kazek | kkazek@al.com

More sculptures in Kentucks art garden.

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Another of Alabamas famous non-alley alleys is Alligator Alley in Summerdale. Visitors walk onto boardwalks to see alligators who live in the swamp.

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Kelly Kazek | kkazek@al.com

An old ad on the side of this store in downtown Columbiana was repainted and preserved, making the alley quite colorful.

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(Source: Glenn Wills)

This alleyway on the grounds of the abandoned Dallas Compress Company in Selma is a favorite of photographers. This black-and-white shot was taken by Glenn Wills of Forgotten Alabama.
A fight between a group of women in a southwest Birmingham neighborhood Wednesday afternoon led to an apparent shootout.

Birmingham police said two women were taken to the hospital - one with a gunshot wound to the hip and the other with a head wound from an unknown object - after the incident in Powderly. Neither of their injuries were initially believed to be life-threatening, said Lt. Sean Edwards.

Multiple police officers descended upon the scene in the 1900 block of Powderly Avenue about 4 p.m. They block off several blocks as shell casings appeared to stretch across a widespread area.

Police and witnesses said a fight between the women took place in a makeshift parking lot across the street from West End Hills Missionary Baptist Church. It wasn't immediately clear at what point the gunfire started, but at least one home was hit as was at least on church van.

Jeffrey Rowser, who had campaigned for a spot on the Birmingham City Council, said he was coming down nearby Frances Avenue when he heard the gunfire. He saw shots being exchanged by the occupants of a while car and a truck. At one point, he said, someone jumped on the back of the truck as the gunfight continued.

Rowser said a woman and her granddaughter were walking down the street when it happened, but fortunately weren't injured. A home contractor also was in the area at the time, but fled without getting hit. Rowser estimated between 20 to 30 shots were fired, from up to as many as four different guns.

"They were just going at it,'' he said. "It's amazing nobody else got hit."

Police have not announced any arrests in the incident. This story will be updated if more information is released.
The new United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama held his first press conference today, where he spoke about his office's priorities and new initiatives.

Jay Town was confirmed by the Senate August 3.

"I would like to thank my predecessors for preparing me for this opportunity, my staff for the warm welcome that I have received, and the members of law enforcement at all levels for their continued support and commitment to our mission," Town said.

He also thanked Robert Posey, the Acting U.S. Attorney after Joyce Vance stepped down in January, and said Posey will continue to have a strong leadership role in the office. "He has been nothing but a gentleman." Town said.

Formerly, he served as a Assistant District Attorney in the Madison County district attorney's office and as a Judge Advocate General in the United States Marine Corps. In the Marines, he served on active duty and as a reservist for twelve years.

Town said law enforcement officers are vital to the district's success. "If for some reason any member of the law enforcement community has felt under-utilized, overwhelmed, or even unappreciated, I can assure you that those days are over to the extent I have anything to do with it."

The Northern District has been granted two new initiatives from the Department of Justice: the Public Safety Partnership Program and the Opioid Pilot Program. The PSP, created in February after President Donald Trump's executive order, will allow prosecutors to focus heavily on violent criminals-- especially those with charges involving guns, drugs, and gang activity. The OPP is designed to combat drug abuse in the district, which Town said has reached "epidemic proportions."

The two programs will eventually form a joint framework that the DOJ can take to other districts, Town said.

One key issue furthering the opioid epidemic is doctors or other medical workers who unnecessarily prescribe narcotics. He said most heroin abusers start off using pain killers prescribed by a doctor, before they start buying drugs off the streets. That expense leads many to use heroin, Town said.

"They know exactly the type of position they're presenting," Town said. He said the opioid problem often stems from "greedy" medical professionals who are only concerned with money. "It has everything to do with the Lamborghini in their driveway."

Another key topic for Town's office is crimes involving illegal guns. "Guns are traded like drugs as a currency," he said. "Felons in possession of a firearm are going to be coming to a federal courtroom very soon."

While Town did not directly address any issues regarding controversy of Confederate monuments, he said he trusts Alabamians to use free speech "wisely and legally;" however, he is following the issue and is concerned about the potential of Charlottesville-type riots. "I think that's everyones concern," he said.

When asked about his political background working for several campaigns, he said his new role as U.S. Attorney requires him to leave that work behind. "I don't believe politics has any place on my desk."
A Hale County pharmacy technician is behind bars, suspected of stealing more than 20,000 pills from her employer over the past year, authorities said.

Dendrea Cenetha Williams, 30, was charged Thursday with drug trafficking, said Moundville Police Chief Toby Banks and Hale County District Attorney Michael Jackson. She was initially arrested on theft and drug possession charges earlier this week, but the charges on Thursday were upgraded based on the quantity of hydrocodone in her possession at the time of her arrest.

The Tuscaloosa woman worked at KC Drug in Moundville, and had been employed there since August 2016, Banks said. Store owner Kim Crews last week contacted the Alabama State Board of Pharmacies after she noticed a discrepancy in the inventory under Williams' control, according to court and police records.

The owner had installed video surveillance inside the business, which showed Williams concealing something in her pants and then going to her vehicle, records state. Banks said investigators then interviewed Williams and she admitted to stealing large quantities of hydrocodone.

Williams gave authorities permission to search her vehicle, which turned up 583 7.5mg hydrocodone tablets worth an estimated $600, and 523 10mg hydrocodone tablets, also worth an estimated $600.

On Thursday, Moundville police and the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force carried out a search warrant at Williams Greensboro Road apartment. Banks said the results of that operation are expected to lead to additional charges by Tuscaloosa County authorities.

The chief said Williams claimed the pills were for herself, but he said the volume of drugs stolen indicates otherwise. "She was taking about 2,000 pills a month, sometimes more, sometimes less, since she started working there a year ago,'' Banks said.

The investigation is ongoing. Williams was booked into the Hale County Jail shortly before 2 p.m. where she is being held on $150,000 bond.

"If you look at the national news, you see that the prescription drug abuse is an epidemic,'' Banks said. "Any time that many drugs are stolen and distributed on the street, it's a problem."
On Monday morning, Jasmyn Johnson dropped off her 5-year-old son Kamden at the Community Nursery & Preschool Academy in west Mobile, according to the day care director. He'd been enrolled at the church-run day care for about two weeks.

Later that morning he boarded the day care van driven by Valarie Rena Patterson, 46, for a ride to another day care location run by Community Ministries Inc.

No one has said publicly what happened next.

But by 3 p.m. Kamden was dead, his body discovered by passersby, laying near the driveway of a home less than 3 miles from his day care.

A preliminary autopsy report says he died from being trapped in the day care van, on an afternoon when outside temperatures reached 92 degrees.

Police say Patterson discovered Kamden in the van that afternoon and left his body on the side of the road, according to court documents.

She faces charges of manslaughter and abuse of a corpse. Her long arrest record, mostly for theft, dates back to 1991. It also includes an arrest for negligent driving with children in the car.

Kamden's mother filed a lawsuit against the day care, alleging the operators negligently failed to screen and conduct a background check on Patterson, and did not provide safe or adequate care of Kamden.

But the day care isn't compelled by the state to conduct a background check on Patterson - or any of its employees, for that matter.

Child care in Alabama operates in a dual system designed by law to protect religious freedom. Kamden's day care is exempt from state regulation or oversight because it's run by a church, meaning day care owners don't have to adhere to the minimum safety standards that non-religious day cares must follow.

Alabama's child care law is a jumbled patchwork of loopholes and regulations that apply to some centers and not to others.

It has failed children in the past.

No authority

The state's child care system has come under intense scrutiny in the past few years, thanks to well publicized cases of injury and death of children in unlicensed day cares.

On Wednesday, Gov. Kay Ivey told a group of reporters that she thinks all day care centers in Alabama should be licensed by the state, reported WKRG News Channel 5.

"Any child that's in the care of a day care center, that center needs to be licensed to ensure that we've got quality folks rendering quality service to protect our children," she said.

Kamden's day care is operated by Community Church Ministries Inc., which operates three other centers around Mobile that are also license-exempt.

Alabama is one of a handful of states that allow child care centers to operate without regulation or inspection if they are part of a church ministry.

The Alabama Department of Human resources, which oversees all other day cares, has no authority to regulate or inspect faith-based child care centers that choose not to be licensed. Licensed centers, on the other hand, are required to undergo annual inspections and must meet minimum health and safety standards, including criminal background checks and training for staff, certain child-to-staff ratios, and transportation safety requirements.

Some faith-based child care centers around the state choose to be licensed anyway. But the number of licensed centers has steadily declined over the past few years even as the number of license-exempt centers has risen.

Valarie Rena Patterson

Rise in unlicensed centers

In Mobile County, 67 percent of the day care centers are unlicensed. In all but one of Alabama's largest counties by population, exempt centers now outnumber licensed centers.

Some lawmakers and child care advocates have tried to change the law.

A bill that would have required all day cares to be licensed and regulated by the state overwhelmingly passed the state House of Representatives earlier this year, but died on the Senate floor in the last few minutes of the legislative session.

The bill was opposed by some conservative groups over concerns about religious freedom.

It would have required church-affiliated day care centers to be subject to the same health and safety regulations by the Alabama Department of Human Resources as non-religious day care centers. None of those regulations prevent or dictate religious teaching.

State Rep. Margie Wilcox (R-Mobile) voted in favor of the bill last spring, and served on the House committee that approved it.

Kamden Johnson's body was found less than a mile from her home, she said.

"My heart goes out to the mom and dad and the whole family," she said. "I was horrified to hear and I am praying for them."

Wilcox expects to see another child care bill in the 2018 legislative session and said if it looked like last year's bill, she would support it.

Gov. Ivey, when asked on Thursday whether she'd support similar legislation in 2018, she said "I hope some legislation will be forthcoming. We'll see and address it at that time."

Background checks, van checklists

Valarie Patterson, who had been a van driver for the day cares for a few weeks, has an arrest history stretching back to November 1991. It includes multiple counts of theft, plus charges for having no driver's license, failure to appear in court and fugitive from justice charges.

Her record shows arrests for negligent driving with kids in the car, unrestrained.

If the center had been licensed, a criminal background check would have been required by law and would have turned up these convictions, according to DHR spokesperson Barry Spear. Certain convictions - including murder, robbery, sex crimes and child abuse - automatically bar a person from working in a licensed day care, according to DHR's minimum standards.

For other offenses, it's up to the center's owner. It's unclear if an arrest record like Patterson's would have disqualified her from working on staff at Community Nursery.

State law says license-exempt centers are supposed to do criminal background checks, but there is no state agency tasked with making sure they do them.

Transportation safety is covered by DHR regulation for licensed centers only.

DHR requires day care van drivers to use a checklist when transporting children, checking off children they put on the van, and checking them off as the children get off the van.

"It's not possible to leave kids on the van if you're using the checklist appropriately," said Spear. "That's part of the requirement for the ability to transport children."

In the past, when DHR receives complaints about improper transportation, the agency has suspended the center's legal ability to transport children until problems are addressed and resolved.

Community Nursery & Preschool Academy in west Mobile, the day care attended by Kamden Johnson, 5. Johnson was found dead a few miles from the day care and the day care van driver, Valarie Patterson, has been charged with manslaughter. (Prescotte Stokes | pstokes@AL.com)

Children left in the van

Valarie Patterson was not the first employee of Community Church Ministries Inc. to be noticed by authorities for a day care van incident.

An complaint made to Alabama DHR in April 2011 about a day care owned by Community Ministries Inc. in Mobile involved a day care worker allegedly leaving children in the day care van while she went shopping.

The Mobile County District Attorney's office received a complaint in April 2011 about a Community Church Ministries Inc. day care then operating on Pleasant Valley Road in Mobile.

Because DHR can't inspect license-exempt centers, when they receive complaints about those centers they automatically forward them to the district attorney's office for investigation.

In the April 2011 complaint, someone contacted DHR to say that the day care worker who picked up children at the Community Academy Day Care drove to the Citi Trend store on Dauphin Island Parkway daily.

"When she comes she has children in the van and leaves them unsupervised in the van while she shops," said the complaint. "She sometimes shops as long as 45 minutes."

AL.com obtained the complaint, along with others from Mobile County day cares, during a 2016 investigation into license-exempt day cares.

A patchwork of inspections

In the absence of a state law mandating day care inspection, at least two counties - including Mobile - and one federal program have instituted their own set of regulations.

After a 2005 incident were a child died after being left in a hot day care van, Mobile County passed its own set of regulations that require a basic health and safety inspection of all day care facilities, regardless of religious affiliation. It's one of only two counties in the state where license-exempt day cares still have to undergo an inspection.

The Mobile County Health Department rules don't address things like background checks or transportation safety. They are narrowly focused on facility cleanliness and food safety, as well as child-to-staff ratios.

The health department last inspected Community Nursery on Hillcrest Road on January 25, 2017, according to Brad Philips, who oversees Inspection Services for the department. The center passed its sanitation inspection; its kitchen earned 97 out of 100.

Beginning last month, all day cares in Alabama that take children who qualify for a federal child care subsidy under the Child Care Development Grant have to undergo a basic safety inspection by DHR and do criminal background checks on their staff.

This rule is brand new and DHR is in the process of completing inspections on license-exempt centers that accept federal subsidy kids.

Alabama DHR confirmed that Community Nursery & Preschool Academy was scheduled to undergo that inspection within the coming weeks. After Kamden's death, DHR sent investigators to the center to inspect it on Wednesday. The results of that inspection are not yet available.

If deficiencies were found, DHR still would not have the power to close the center or suspend its ability to transport children. The only action DHR could take is to revoke the center's ability to accept subsidies.

The new subsidy rules mean about 500 license-exempt day care centers statewide will now undergo some inspection, but there are still about 400 that do not receive subsidies and are operating with no oversight.
Alabama board of education member Ella Bell, D-Montgomery, isn't advocating for institutionalizing children with special needs, she told AL.com on Thursday.

She was responding to a column Thursday in which AL.com columnist Cameron Smith wrote about remarks made by Bell during a June 21 board meeting. At the meeting Bell asked if students with special needs could be placed in a separate academy-type setting so their test scores wouldn't drag down overall school test scores.

Here was Bell's question:

"Is it against the law for us to establish perhaps an academy on special education or something on that order," asked Bell, "so that our scores that already are not that good would not be further cut down by special-ed's test scores involved?"

After her question, the superintendent and other board members reminded her of a law supporting special education students' rights to be educated in the least restrictive environment (LRE).

But that wasn't her point, Bell told AL.com. Bell said she asked the question because in the world of judging schools by test scores, schools that don't enroll children with special needs have an unfair advantage in the test score war.

"The AL.com article with the headline stating a desire to "institutionalize" special-need students takes my remarks out of context and defies the standards of objective journalism. I never uttered the word nor have I ever considered "institutionalizing" students with special needs," a statement from Bell read.

"My thinking during that June 21, 2017, work session was to make sure all students are assessed on an even playing field," Bell said in a statement. "In that regard, I asked a question about the legality of creating an academy that focuses squarely on the needs of students with intellectual disabilities. In retrospect, I understand how insensitive what I said must have sounded."

For context, during that June meeting, the state board was about to vote to end the contract with ACT Aspire, the company that produced the annual standardized test used in Alabama's schools when Bell asked her question.

Bell was a staunch critic of the ACT Aspire, claiming the test unfairly judged her constituency of schools serving many black children in poverty.

Bell said there are schools in Montgomery County, where she lives, that enroll no children with special needs. Twenty-nine of Montgomery's 56 schools were taken over by the state board of education in January due to chronically low academic performance.

Bell regularly rails against the use of test scores to judge school performance, arguing that students with fewer resources are unable to score as well as those with more.

"It's almost not fair for LAMP (Loveless Academic Magnet Program in Montgomery) and them not to have special-ed folk to bring them down," she said at the June meeting.

LAMP is one of three public magnet high schools in the Montgomery County system and is regularly recognized as one of the top high schools in the country. Last year, no students with disabilities were enrolled at LAMP.

Bell said she would rather see all classrooms have students with special needs, and the fact that LAMP didn't bothers her.

Bell is a long-time state board member and was re-elected to her fifth term in 2016. She said she has a track record of advocating for those with special needs. She worked with the Alabama Department of Menatal Health for 25 years and she retired as director of the Alabama Family Trust.

"The parents and caregivers of all children, especially children with special needs, work entirely too hard to provide an environment where they are not treated fairly," Bell said. "To individuals who were offended by my remarks, no matter how well intended they were, I sincerely apologize."

The problem is the words Bell chose to use, according to Dustin Chandler. Chandler is an outspoken advocate for children with special needs and volunteers much of his time to inform and organize parents to become better advocates for their children.

Bell's remarks point to a different and bigger problem, he said. A culture of low expectations for children with special needs pervades Alabama leadership, he said. Chandler said leadership in Alabama doesn't value all children, and all children have gifts and talents and can learn.

An Alabama law allowing the use of cannabinoids in specific medical circumstances is named for Chandler's daughter, Carly, who has a seizure disorder among other medical challenges. Carly receives special education services in her public school in Hoover.

If the concern is about test scores, Chandler said, "then it is the responsibility of the state board of education and the state department of education to find better ways of educating our special education kids to allow them to start learning and have better scores."

"Pointing fingers and saying 'why don't they have any [children with special needs]' is absolutely ignoring the problem and not wanting to take responsibility," Chandler said.



Bell's words were shared thousands of times on social media, and a petition to remove her from the state board of education had more than 4,200 signatures by 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

Chandler said valuing children by their ability to score well on tests is part of the problem, but education leaders do need to find better ways to help educators help children with special needs learn.

"I agree, if test scores are low [for children in special education], those need to be looked at," he said. "Let's look at why our results are so low. Why are our reading proficiency scores so bad?"

Only 3.5 percent of 10th-grade students with special needs reached proficiency on the ACT Aspire reading test in 2015-2016, while 34 percent of students in general education reached proficiency. Across all grades and subjects, there is a 30 to 40-percentage-point gap between general education and special education student test results.

Nearly 12 percent of students in Alabama are identified as needing special education services. In Montgomery County that percentage is just over 10 percent.

And Bell appears to be correct in her assertion that the magnet high schools in Montgomery have no special education students.

ACT Aspire results for 2015-2016 show no test results for students in special education at any of Montgomery's three magnet high schools.

Students in special education at five of the non-magnet high schools show between 95 and 100 percent of students in special education scored at the lowest level of proficiency, "in need of support".

The percentage of students receiving special education ranged from eight to 10 percent at those five non-magnet high schools.

"The core root of the issue is leadership," he said. Chandler, who serves on the state's Special Education Advisory Panel, said he sees no interest or emphasis put on students with special needs at any level of leadership in education.

Bell's words made him cringe, Chandler said, but he hopes the controversy will start a conversation that is long overdue.

"I will challenge Ella Bell to please show me what the board of education, at the state level, is doing for our special education students throughout the state to help them raise their test scores and help our educators."

This article was updated at 5:25 p.m. to include the petition on Change.org. It was also updated at 7:05 p.m. to include statements from Bell.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said today new prison construction and increased staffing will likely be components in a proposed settlement of a federal lawsuit over the state's prisons.

"The mediation continues to be ongoing," Ivey said. "We're making progress."

Ivey said the Department of Corrections is gathering information about the needed staffing levels for corrections officers and for mental health care providers.

In June, U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ruled that mental health care in Alabama prisons is "horrendously inadequate."

The ruling came in one phase of a case filed on behalf of inmates in 2014 by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program.

Thompson ordered the state to enter mediation with the plaintiffs to find a remedy. The judge set a Sept. 5 deadline for a report that will be filed under seal.

By Oct. 2, the state must file its proposed remedial plan with an explanation of how the plan would be adequate, Thompson ordered.

Ivey said new prison construction would be part of the state's proposal. She said specifics on how prisons would be built have not been determined.

"Everything is still being worked through and we're developing those answers," Ivey said. "This is not a quick fix for sure, but we've got to come forward and will come forward with a recommendation for what we're going to do to fix the problem, by Alabama folks."

The Legislature has extensively debated plans to build new prisons the last two years but has not reached an agreement.

Alabama's prisons have been filled beyond capacity and short on staff for years.

As of May, the prisons held 21,953 inmates in facilities designed for 13,318, an occupancy ratio of 165 percent.

That number has been declining, though. It's down about 2,000 inmates from May 2016. The Legislature passed sentencing guidelines that took effect in 2013 and additional criminal justice reforms in 2015.

But Department of Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn has said violence has increased in the prisons as staffing levels have fallen.

Thompson, in his ruling on mental health care, wrote that understaffing and overcrowding are "overarching issues" in the prisons.

Maria Morris, managing attorney for the SPLC, said Thompson has scheduled a pretrial hearing in his chambers for Sept. 8. Morris said she expects the judge to assess whether the state and the plaintiffs are making sufficient progress in their mediation.
Alabama board of education member Jeff Newman, R-Millport, said Wednesday he anticipates board members will bring state superintendent Michael Sentance's contract up for a vote at the next board meeting, scheduled for Sept. 14.

Newman said board members aren't happy with Sentance and it's time for it to come to a vote.

Though speculation has swirled about Sentance's job security for months, Newman is the first board member to admit publicly the board plans to vote on his contract.

Newman said he told board vice president Stephanie Bell, R-Montgomery, last week the item labeled "Personnel" on the original special-called agenda for the now-canceled meeting wasn't specific enough.

Newman said board members intended to bring up Sentance's contract for a vote, and he recommended to Bell that the board state that clearly on the agenda.

"All board members had to know what we're voting on," Newman said.

"There's a number of [board members] that wanted it, Stephanie [Bell] included," Newman said. "It wasn't just Jeff."

The meeting scheduled for Wednesday morning was canceled late Tuesday afternoon after a challenge from Gov. Kay Ivey's office about the legality of the way the meeting was called.

Newman said he didn't want to do anything illegal, so he was fine with canceling the meeting for Wednesday.

Newman did not attend Wednesday's special-called work session due to a medical procedure, he said.

This article was updated at 8:15 p.m. to correct the calendar date of the next regular board of education meeting.
Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman said Thursday that President Donald Trump needs to grant him a pardon to prevent what he called political prosecutions, which he said is what took place during his conviction on bribery and other charges.

Siegelman was found guilty of improperly receiving benefits in the form of a $500,000 contribution to a campaign for a state lottery from former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy in exchange for Scrushy receiving a seat on the state's Certificate of Need Review Board, which had oversight of Scrushy's company.

The former governor, who served about six years in federal prison and was released earlier this year, maintained that there was no bribe, and told Fox Business' Neil Cavuto that he was concerned that other elected officials could be prosecuted under similar circumstances.

"The president needs to clarify by saying, 'this is not something we're going to prosecute.' If a campaign contribution to President Trump or to a super PAC from someone who ends up as the secretary of education, doesn't mean that the president has agreed to a bribe. And that's exactly what happened in this case. There was no evidence of an agreement between Richard Scrushy and myself. In fact, the only evidence was that he didn't want to serve on this board. So in order to clear the air and clarify what should be prosecuted and what shouldn't. The president needs to step in and grant a pardon," Siegelman said on Fox Business Network's 'Cavuto Coast to Coast."

"I think that's unlikely," Cavuto responded. "It's not going to happen, governor."

Siegelman said prosecutors drew connections between the lottery campaign contribution and the appointment that weren't there.

"It was to a referendum to establish a lottery to benefit public education....I appointed him to the board subsequent of the contribution so they made it out like the contribution was in exchange for the appointment," he said. "The important thing here is that it could happen to any governor or any president. It could've happened to President Obama, or it could happen to President Trump. This is why I asked President Obama to pardon me and this is why President Trump should pardon me."
Gov. Kay Ivey said today she has not decided how she will vote on the employment of state school Superintendent Michael Sentance.

The state Board of Education is expected to consider Sentance's contract at its next meeting on Sept. 14. Ivey is president of the board but has not regularly attended meetings.

Last month, most board members gave Sentance low evaluation scores. Ivey did not submit an evaluation but said she thought Sentance needed more time to implement reforms. He was hired in August 2016 and began work the following month.

Today, Ivey was asked if it would be premature for the board to fire Sentance.

"Those issues are being considered by the state board and I will consider them as well and we'll deliberate on that and make the decision a bit later," Ivey said.

As for whether Sentance still needs more time, Ivey said: "I'll take all that into consideration as I consider how I will vote."

Seven of the nine board members evaluated Sentance last month. Betty Peters, R-Dothan, was the only member who did not rate Sentance as below proficient in most areas.

Sentance, the former education secretary in Massachusetts, has admitted making mistakes and not always communicating well. But he said he is devoted to improving education in the state and is helping to make important changes that can improve student learning in Alabama schools, which rank poorly on national tests.

The board was initially scheduled to discuss Sentance's contract at a special called meeting on Wednesday. That meeting was cancelled after Ivey's general counsel Bryan Taylor questioned whether the meeting was called in accordance with the law.
The U.S. State Department is warning citizens about travel to such popular Mexican tourist spots as Cancun, Cozumel and Los Cabos.

The warnings were issued due to an increase in violent crimes such as homicides, kidnappings, carjackings and robberies in the areas. Among the affected regions are such states as Baja California, which includes the cities of Tijuana and Mexicali, and Quintana Roo, home to such cities as Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen and Riviera Maya.

All the areas have seen an increase in homicide rates over 2016, the State Department said.

"While most of these homicides appeared to be targeted, criminal organization assassinations, turf battles between criminal groups have resulted in violent crime in areas frequented by U.S. citizens. Shooting incidents injuring innocent bystanders have occurred during daylight hours," the State Department said.

Big California Sur has reported 232 slayings this year, nearly four times as many during the same period last year, according to the Los Angeles Times. In Quintana Roo, 169 killings were reported from January to July, more than twice as many during the same period in 2016. The uptick, the State Department said, is due to increasing violence among drug gangs.

Warnings were also added for the states of Chiapas and Veracruz. Currently, 23 of Mexico's 31 states are covered under the U.S. government advisory.

The State Department state-by-state advisories are below:

Aguascalientes: Intercity travel at night is prohibited for U.S. government personnel.

Baja California (includes Tijuana, Rosarito, Ensenada, Tecate, and Mexicali): Exercise caution in the northern state of Baja California, particularly at night. Criminal activity and violence, including homicide, remain an issue throughout the state. According to the Baja California State Secretariat for Public Security, the state of Baja California experienced an increase in homicide rates compared to the same period in 2016. While most of these homicides appeared to be targeted, criminal organization assassinations, turf battles between criminal groups have resulted in violent crime in areas frequented by U.S. citizens. Shooting incidents injuring innocent bystanders have occurred during daylight hours. Due to poor cellular service and general road conditions, U.S. government personnel are only allowed to travel on "La Rumarosa" between Mexicali-Tijuana on the toll road during daylight hours.

Baja California Sur (includes Los Cabos and La Paz): Criminal activity and violence, including homicide, remain an issue throughout the state. Exercise caution as Baja California Sur continues to experience a high rate of homicides. According to Secretaria de Seguridad Publica del Estado de Baja California and Secretaria de Gobernacion statistics, the state of Baja California Sur experienced an increase in homicide rates compared to the same period in 2016. While most of these homicides appeared to be targeted, criminal organization assassinations, turf battles between criminal groups have resulted in violent crime in areas frequented by U.S. citizens. Shooting incidents, in which innocent bystanders have been injured, have occurred during daylight hours.

Campeche: No advisory is in effect.

Chiapas (includes Palenque and San Cristobal de las Casas): U.S. government personnel must remain in tourist areas and are not allowed to use public transportation.

Chihuahua (includes Ciudad Juarez, the city of Chihuahua, Ojinaga, Palomas, Nuevo Casas Grandes and Copper Canyon): Criminal activity and violence remains an issue throughout the state of Chihuahua and its major cities. If you plan to drive in the state of Chihuahua, you should limit travel to daylight hours on major highways and follow the recommendations below.

Ciudad Juarez:

Within the city of Chihuahua:

Ojinaga:

Palomas and the Nuevo Casas Grandes/Paquime region:

Nuevo Casas Grandes:

Copper Canyon and other areas of the state of Chihuahua:

Coahuila: U.S. citizens should defer non-essential travel to Coahuila, with the exception of Saltillo, Bosques de Monterreal, and Parras de la Fuente, because of the high incidence of violent crime, particularly along the highways between Piedras Negras and Nuevo Laredo. State and municipal law enforcement capacity is limited in some parts of Coahuila, particularly in the north. U.S. government personnel are allowed to travel during daylight hours to Saltillo, Bosques de Monterreal, and Parras de la Fuente, using the most direct routes and maximizing the use of toll highways. Between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m., U.S. government personnel must abide by the Embassy-imposed curfew and remain within Saltillo, Bosques de Monterreal, or Parras de la Fuente.

Colima (includes Manzanillo): U.S. government personnel are prohibited from intercity travel at night, from traveling within 12 miles of the Colima-Michoacan border, and from traveling on Route 110 between La Tecomaca and the Jalisco border. U.S. citizens should defer non-essential travel to this border region, including the city of Tecoman.

Durango: Violence and criminal activity along the highways are a continuing security concern. U.S. government personnel may travel outside of the city of Durango only during daylight hours on toll roads. Between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m., U.S. government personnel must abide by the Embassy-imposed curfew and remain within the city of Durango.

Estado de Mexico (includes Toluca and Teotihuacan): U.S. citizens should defer all non-essential travel to the municipalities of Coacalco, Ecatepec, Nezahualcoyotl, La Paz, Valle del Chalco, Solidaridad, Chalco, Ixtapaluca, and Tlatlaya due to high rates of crime and insecurity, unless traveling directly through the areas on major thoroughfares. Avoid traveling on any roads between Huitzilac, Morelos, and Santa Martha, Estado de Mexico, including the Lagunas de Zempoala National Park and surrounding areas.

Guanajuato (includes San Miguel de Allende and Leon): No advisory is in effect.

Guerrero (includes Acapulco, Ixtapa, Taxco, and Zihuatanejo): Personal travel to the entire state of Guerrero, including Acapulco, is prohibited for U.S. government personnel. Self-defense groups operate independently of the government in many areas of Guerrero. Armed members of these groups frequently maintain roadblocks and, although not considered hostile to foreigners or tourists, are suspicious of outsiders and should be considered volatile and unpredictable.

Hidalgo: No advisory is in effect.

Jalisco (includes Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta, and Lake Chapala): U.S. citizens should defer non-essential travel to areas that border the states of Michoacan and Zacatecas because of continued instability. U.S. government personnel are prohibited from personal travel to areas of Jalisco that border Zacatecas, intercity travel after hours, and from using Highway 80 between Cocula and La Huerta. U.S. government personnel are authorized to use Federal toll road 15D for travel to Mexico City; however, they may not stop in the town of La Barca or Ocotlan for any reason.

Mexico City (formerly known as the Federal District): No advisory is in effect.

Michoacan (includes Morelia): U.S. citizens should defer non-essential travel to the state of Michoacan, except the cities of Morelia and Lazaro Cardenas, and the area north of federal toll road 15D. U.S. government personnel are prohibited from traveling by land in Michoacan except on federal toll road 15D during daylight hours. Flying into Morelia and Lazaro Cardenas is permitted for U.S. government personnel.

Morelos (includes Cuernavaca): U.S. citizens should defer non-essential travel on any roads between Huitzilac in the northwest corner of the state and Santa Martha, Estado de Mexico, including the Lagunas de Zempoala National Park and surrounding areas.

Nayarit (includes the Riviera Nayarit coast, including the cities of Tepic, Xalisco, and San Blas): U.S. government personnel may travel to Riviera Nayarit, San Blas, Santa Maria del Oro, Tepic, and Xalisco using major highways. Intercity travel at night is prohibited for U.S. government personnel. Defer non-essential travel to other areas of the state.

Nuevo Leon (includes Monterrey): U.S. government personnel may travel outside the city of Monterrey only during daylight hours on toll roads. Between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m., U.S. government personnel must abide by the Embassy-imposed curfew and remain within the municipal boundaries of San Pedro Garza Garcia or Santa Catarina (south of the Santa Catarina river). Travel to and from Monterrey airport is permitted at any time.

Oaxaca (includes Oaxaca, Huatulco, and Puerto Escondido): U.S. government personnel must remain in tourist areas and are not allowed to use public transportation in Oaxaca City. U.S. government personnel are prohibited from traveling on Highway 200 throughout the state, except to transit between the airport in Huatulco to hotels in Puerto Escondido and Huatulco, and they are not permitted to travel to the El Istmo region. The El Istmo region is defined by Highway 185D to the west, Highway 190 to the north, and the Oaxaca/Chiapas border to the east and includes the towns of Juchitan de Zaragoza, Salina Cruz, and San Blas.

Puebla: No advisory is in effect.

Queretaro: No advisory is in effect.

Quintana Roo (includes Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, Riviera Maya, and Tulum): U.S. citizens should be aware that according to Government of Mexico statistics, the state of Quintana Roo experienced an increase in homicide rates compared to 2016. While most of these homicides appeared to be targeted criminal organization assassinations, turf battles between criminal groups have resulted in violent crime in areas frequented by U.S. citizens. Shooting incidents, in which innocent bystanders have been injured or killed, have occurred.

San Luis Potosi: U.S. government personnel may travel outside the city of San Luis Potosi only during daylight hours on toll roads. Between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m., U.S. government personnel must abide by the Embassy-imposed curfew and remain within the city of San Luis Potosi.

Sinaloa (includes Mazatlan): One of Mexico's most powerful criminal organizations is based in the state of Sinaloa, and violent crime rates remain high in many parts of the state. Defer non-essential travel to the state of Sinaloa, except the cities of Mazatlan, Los Mochis, and the Port of Topolobampo. Travel in Mazatlan should be limited to Zona Dorada, the historic town center, as well as direct routes to and from these locations and the airport. Travel in Los Mochis and Topolobampo is restricted to the city and the port, as well as direct routes to/from these locations and the airport.

Sonora (includes Nogales, Puerto Penasco, Hermosillo, and San Carlos): Sonora is a key region in the international drug and human trafficking trades. U.S. citizens traveling throughout Sonora are encouraged to limit travel to main roads during daylight hours and exercise caution on the Highway 15 corridor from Nogales to Empalme. Puerto Penasco should be visited using the Lukeville, Arizona/Sonoyta, Sonora border crossing, and limit driving to daylight hours.

Due to illegal activity, U.S. citizens should defer non-essential travel to:

The triangular region west of Nogales, east of Sonoyta, and north of Caborca (including the towns of Saric, Tubutama, and Altar).

The eastern edge of the state of Sonora, which borders the state of Chihuahua (all points along that border east of Federal Highway 17, the road between Moctezuma and Sahuaripa, and state Highway 20 between Sahuaripa and the intersection with Federal Highway 16).

South of Hermosillo, with the exception of the cities of Alamos, Guaymas, and Empalme. Defer non-essential travel east of Highway 15, within the city of Ciudad Obregon, and south of the city of Navojoa.

Tabasco (includes Villahermosa): No advisory is in effect.

Tamaulipas (includes Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa, and Tampico): U.S. citizens should defer all non-essential travel to the state of Tamaulipas due to violent crime, including homicide, armed robbery, carjacking, kidnapping, extortion, and sexual assault. The number of reported kidnappings in Tamaulipas is among the highest in Mexico. State and municipal law enforcement capacity is limited to nonexistent in many parts of Tamaulipas. Violent criminal activity occurs more frequently along the northern border and organized criminal groups may target public and private passenger buses traveling through Tamaulipas. These groups sometimes take all passengers hostage and demand ransom payments. U.S. government personnel are subject to movement restrictions and a curfew between midnight and 6 a.m. Matamoros, Reynosa, Nuevo Laredo, and Ciudad Victoria have experienced numerous gun battles and attacks with explosive devices in the past year.

Tlaxcala: No advisory is in effect.

Veracruz: U.S. government personnel must remain in tourist areas and are not allowed to use public transportation. Road travel should be limited to daylight hours only.

Yucatan (includes Merida and Chichen Itza): No advisory is in effect.

Zacatecas: U.S. government personnel may travel outside the city of Zacatecas only during daylight hours on toll roads. Between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m., U.S. government personnel must abide by the Embassy-imposed curfew and remain within the city of Zacatecas.

You can see more information at the State Department's travel website.
Updated Aug. 24 at 1:52 p.m.to show the woman has been found safe.

Missing Boaz woman Angel Holland has been found safe in El Paso County, Colorado, an official said today.

Marshall County Sheriff Scott Walls said in a news release that officials in Colorado have confirmed Holland is safe. The sheriff said he doesn't yet have details about how Holland got to Colorado since she was last seen in Alabama a week ago.

Original story continues below:

A Boaz woman has been reported missing because she hasn't been seen or heard from in nearly a week.

Angel Holland

Angel Leanna Holland, 38, last was seen in the Albertville area, according to the Marshall County Sheriff's Office.

Family members haven't seen or heard from Holland since this past Thursday, said sheriff's spokesman Heath Thomas. Holland was reported missing late Tuesday.

Anyone with information about Holland's whereabouts is asked to call the Marshall County Sheriff's Office at 256-582-2034.
Every couple of years a rumor pops up that claims NASA is confirming - emphasis on CONFIRMING - the Earth will experience 15 days of darkness at a certain point.

Now, the bogus claim is back, coming just days after the total solar eclipse that had everyone watching the sky for just a minute or two of darkness as the moon blocked the sun.

The latest rumor says the Earth will experience 15 days of darkness in November 2017.

"NASA confirms what's been circling the web recently - our planet Earth will experience total darkness for 15 days in November 2017 starting from Nov. 15-29," the rumor claims.

It continues:

"Upon more detailed examination the astronomers from NASA confirmed that the phenomenon will start on Nov.15 at 3 a.m. and will most likely last until Nov. 30, 4:45 pm. According to experts this blackout will be caused by an astronomical event between Jupiter and Venus. There was even a detailed 1000 pages document written by Charles Bolden, head of NASA explaining the strange event to officials at the White House."

And it goes on and on, capping it off with Bolden - who in reality resigned his post in January - telling everyone the more than two weeks of unexpected darkness isn't really a big deal.

"We do not expect any major effects from the blackout event. The only effect this event will have on Earth is an increase of 6 - 8 degrees in temperature. The polar cap will be mostly affected by this. No one should worry much. This event would be similar to what Alaskans experience in the winter," Bolden is quoted as saying.

The whole thing is a bunch of bunk of course. And it's not even new bunk.

The rumor was first reported on fake news websites in 2015 and was quickly picked up on social media. It showed up again in 2016 before making yet another appearance online this week in the wake of the Great American Eclipse that cut a path across North America.

The myth has been debunked by myth-busting website Snopes.com and a host of scientists. And while NASA has been busy with all things eclipse related, it has not said - confirmed or not - two weeks of darkness in our near future.
Monica Graves, 30, had Friday morning off, and a laundry list of things to do before her daughter's 16th birthday party on Saturday.

She needed trash bags to black out the windows at the party venue in Sumiton, decorations her daughter had requested. She also wanted to buy a gift for the girl - a small cross on a necklace.

Before she could tackle anything on her list, Graves had one important errand to run at the Walker County Courthouse. The building stands in the center of Jasper, fronted by a handsome gray facade, fountains and fresh cut flowers.

Graves slipped around to the back - past humming electrical boxes and down a wide concrete alley. A door led to a basement corridor filled with people, most of them women, who started lining up around 7 a.m. Some looked fresh out of high school. Others might have been collecting Social Security. One, fresh from an overnight shift as a nurse, still wore scrubs.

"There are all kind of people here," Graves said as she waved to friends.

Walker County is 90 percent white, and the faces in the benches reflected one of the fastest-growing inmate populations in the state - rural, drug-abusing women.

Between 2002 and 2013, the number of white women in Alabama prisons doubled. An analysis of a recent prison roster revealed that nine out of 10 of the counties most likely to send women to prison have less than 100,000 residents, and most of them are white.

For a couple years, Graves has made this weekly pilgrimage to take a drug test and pay court fees. It's part of an agreement that kept her out of prison on charges of drug possession and third-degree burglary.

When Graves took the deal, she faced a possible life sentence as a habitual offender. Drug charges already sent her to prison for almost three years. Strung out and suicidal, she weighed 98 pounds when she pleaded into the program. At first, she thought it might buy her some time as she devised an escape.

It wouldn't have been the first time she had run, and every attempt seemed to bring her back to where she started.

The beginning

Graves began looking for a way out as a child growing in an abusive and chaotic home. It was dirty and dysfunctional, and she can remember times when the water bill went unpaid, drying the pipes that fed the home.

When she was 14 years old, she thought she found her escape. Graves, a freshman in high school, got pregnant and married in quick succession and moved in with her husband's family. After she gave birth, her doctor wrote a prescription to help with the pain.

That was the beginning. The drugs fixed Graves in ways her baby could not.

"I realized when I took that pain medicine, everything would be fine," Graves said. "My mind wouldn't race. Or I would have courage to go out in public. I always felt like when I was out in public, people could see everything that ever happened to me. And so I could never really look the world in the eye because I wore all that pain inside. So that starts my addiction to pain pills."

She started staying out late on the weekends to use with friends, and then disappearing altogether for days at a time. Graves became pregnant again, had the baby and got divorced. She was 16 years old.

"The life that I thought I had gotten away from, I was being driven right back to. But this time, with two babies," Graves said. "And so, just to kind of cover all that fear of having my two babies in this house that I know is no good, I just drank more, I smoked more pot, I took more pills."

Her life was spinning slowly out of control - and then it picked up speed.

The city and the country

The women's prison population increased by 66 percent between 2002 and 2013, driven almost entirely by a surge in the number of white women behind bars. About 50 percent of women in prison have been convicted of non-violent offenses, according to data provided by the Alabama Sentencing Commission, compared to 25 percent for the entire prison population, which is more than 90 percent male.

The reasons for the influx of white women into prison aren't entirely clear. Marc Mauer, executive director of the Sentencing Project, has documented dramatic changes in the racial makeup of female prisoners across the country. He said tough sentencing for drug crimes accounts for much of the growth in the number of incarcerated women, driven by the decline of crack - which was more prevalent in inner cities - and the rise of meth and opioids in rural areas.

Incarceration is just one symptom of deeper problems affecting white women, especially those with little education who live in rural areas, Mauer said. Demographers last year noted a rare decline in life expectancy for this group, driven by a surge in deaths from alcohol, drugs and suicide. Deaths among middle-aged women in small cities, towns and rural communities have risen the most, according to economists Ann Case and Angus Deaton.

Many of the same things that are killing rural American women - including mental illness and substance abuse - are also sending them to prison, Mauer said. The loss of factory and agriculture jobs have jolted Alabama communities once anchored by coal mines, lumber mills and textile plants. Jobless residents increasingly turn to drugs and crime. Rural communities are now struggling with the same problems that used to be linked to inner cities, Mauer said.

"Black communities have been hit with economic problems for the last hundred years," he said. "There may be more support from churches and within the community for people who are struggling in black communities. Some of these white communities are dealing with these problems for the first time."

The first arrest

A nighttime drive when she was 18 led to Graves' arrest on charges of marijuana possession. A judge sentenced her to probation, which included a regimen of regular drug tests. It didn't keep her clean, and Graves routinely violated the rules.

She picked up more charges - all of them minor and tied to drug abuse. Judges extended her probation, adding months of supervision to her original sentence.

Graves had another baby and overdosed on GHB, a popular party drug. Probation officers sent her to rehab, where she thrived. She made up three years of high school in 12 months and even learned American Sign Language.

When she came back to Walker County, she fell back into drugs and got pregnant again.

The volume of her despair rose to a level even the drugs couldn't muffle. When she was seven months pregnant, she tried to kill herself with a bullet to the head.

In a fluke of ballistics, she and her baby survived. The bullet missed her brain and all major vessels.

After her release from the hospital, Graves appeared in court - her head shaved, swollen and burned by gunpowder. The judge sent her to prison.

"I mean, that man's voice cracked when he sentenced me to prison," Graves said. "He didn't want to sentence me to prison, but his exact words were, 'Monica, I'm not going to wake up one day and read about you in the paper. I'm doing what I think is best for you.'"

Alabama's wild side

Walker County sits on top of the state's largest coal seam, in an area drained by the Black Warrior River. Flinty and a little wild - for decades the area attracted toughminded folk who carved communities around mines and timberlands. Criminals came too, contract killers and counterfeiters who shacked up on the fringes and created a well of local lore as deep as any mineshaft.

Recent economic problems have pushed the edges toward the center, as blue-collar neighborhoods began fraying toward poverty and lawlessness. Residents watched helplessly as the county's outlaw reputation became its reality.

Mines in Walker County laid off hundreds of workers from 2013 to 2015 - eliminating scores of middle-class jobs from an area with few alternatives. Abandoned by coal and unable to leave, some found comfort in pills and needles. Late last year, 22 people overdosed on heroin in a span of three days, a stunning number for such a small place.

Walker County has become, by some accounts, ground zero for the state's opioid epidemic. Demand for pain pills soared even before the mine layoffs, from patients crippled from backbreaking work to those looking for another kind of lift. Some of the busiest doctors flocked to the area, offering walk-in appointments and pills for cash - without much regard for how they were used or abused.

Between 2012 and 2014, Walker County had the highest rate of drug overdose deaths in the state.

Relieving the pain

For Graves, pills distracted her from the dysfunction of family life. Her home was so dirty as a child that the sheets were rarely washed, she said. Many relatives also abused drugs. But the abuse, both physical and sexual, extracted the greatest toll on her psyche.

All of that made her more likely to end up in prison. Wendy Williams, deputy commissioner of women's services at the Alabama Department of Corrections, said at least three-quarters of the women in prison have some history of trauma or abuse. An equally high number suffer from mental illness.

For years, Tutwiler, the main women's prison in Alabama made things worse. It was rife with abuse - described as a "toxic" environment by federal regulators who found rampant sexual and physical assault.

"Tutwiler has a history of unabated staff-on-prisoner sexual abuse and harassment," wrote Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels in a 2014 letter to then-Gov. Robert Bentley. "The women at Tutwiler universally fear for their safety,"

For decades, corrections officials had failed to protect female prisoners from cruel and unusual punishment, Samuels wrote. The prison was placed under federal supervision.

Williams said the department has addressed abuse at Tutwiler, and is working hard to change the environment to reduce stress on women inside.

"Knowing that a lot of our female population have past victimization and knowing that a lot of it had to do with past relationships," Williams said. "We don't let male staff members search female inmates."

Alone and in prison

None of those changes had happened by the time Graves arrived in 2009 for her first 18-month stretch of incarceration. Still, she found some steadiness inside, where she received treatment for depression along with a sense of order that had eluded her for most of her life.

"I come from an environment where it was dirty, there was never no clean sheets. No food. Water was getting turned off," Graves said. "So sadly to say, at Tutwiler at least I had a little stability in my life."

Graves found many women like herself inside the prison: poor, rural and addicted. Many, like her, also had children back at home. About 75 percent of women in prison in Alabama are the primary caretakers of children, compared to just 4 percent of the men, according to Jennifer Kenney, criminal justice professor at the University of Alabama.

"Women really are the fastest-growing prison population," Kenney said. "And the primary driver is the war on drugs."

Women often come in to the criminal justice system with several disadvantages. Arrested for minor roles in drug operations, they often have less information to leverage with law enforcement, Kenney said. They may also be more eager to take plea deals to protect boyfriends and husbands, and avoid fighting charges in court, which could carry the risk of a longer separation from children and family.

Even those who want to fight charges may struggle to afford private attorneys. About half of single mothers in Alabama live in poverty, the third-highest rate in the nation. Many of them live in extreme poverty - earning less than $12,000 a year for a family of four.

Danielle Bowyer, convicted of theft in Baldwin County, couldn't afford an attorney or bail. She took a blind plea in Baldwin County because she wanted to get out of jail where she had waited 10 months for trial. Her attorney told her she'd probably get probation. Instead, Bowyer wound up with a three-year sentence.

"There is a saying," Bowyer said. "You come down on vacation, you leave on probation, you return on revocation."

From crack to pain pills

Mandatory sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine devastated African-American communities in the 1980s and 1990s, and Kenney said there is data showing that African-American women still receive longer sentences for the same crimes than white women.

Still, in less than 20 years, the prison population in Alabama shifted from majority African-American to more than 70 percent white - a change driven by a sharp uptick in overall incarceration. An analysis of a female inmate roster found that rural counties with less than 100,000 residents accounted for 9 out of 10 of the counties with the highest rates of incarceration.

"In the 1980s, it was crack, crack, crack all the time," Kenney said. "When we look at the drug trends, it moved away from cocaine and toward meth."

Around 1995, law enforcement agencies began raising concerns about the spread of meth and the toxic home-based labs used to produce it. Drug rings sprang up in rural Alabama, including several in Sand Mountain, nicknamed Meth Mountain for the speed consumed in the region. Then-Alabama Attorney General Troy King also described the Wiregrass region in the southeastern part of the state as a "battleground" in the war on meth, which had "consumed" rural areas. Soon similar alarms had gone up all over the state.

Lawmakers in Alabama considered requiring prescriptions for pseudoephedrine - a cold remedy and critical ingredient in methamphetamine. When that proposal failed, they put the drugs behind the counter and created a registry. Lawmakers also passed laws that increased criminal penalties for meth users and cooks, in some cases turning misdemeanors such as possession into felonies carrying prison time.

Sheriffs and district attorneys said the laws led to a sharp decline in the number of meth labs, even as they increased drug arrests in rural Alabama. Kenney noted that the decline of meth coincided with the rise of opioids - drugs that are both more addictive and deadlier than speed. Geographic and racial differences in prescribing put many of the pills in the hands of the people most likely to develop addiction.

"Women are much more likely to abuse pain pills and white women are much more likely to be prescribed pain pills," Kenney said.

Painkillers and heroin have displaced methamphetamine as the biggest drug threat in many rural and suburban counties. Last year, lawmakers voted to increase penalties for possession of heroin and fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid. It would have reversed portions of a 2015 law intended to reduce the state's prison population.

Inmates in the living quarters Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, during a tour of Julia Tutwiler Prison For Women in Wetumpka, Ala. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

Hurt or helped?

Women incarcerated for drugs may receive some treatment in prison. Graves did, but she didn't trust the lessons to keep her clean after her release. So, she ran instead of checking in with a parole officer. After six months on the run, she was captured and returned to prison for more than a year.

After that, she had community corrections and another shot at rehab. The drugs kept their pull, and Graves struggled to shed the anti-authoritarian toughness she picked up in prison. She cleaned up, then relapsed, shattering her efforts to reestablish relationships with her children.

"Prison made me mean," she said.

She developed an emotional armor to handle the horrors of prison life. Male guards would leer at women while they showered. Older inmates often preyed on newer, younger girls. Those lessons from prison seemed to be the only ones that stuck.

They didn't adapt well to life back in Walker County.

"I remember Molly standing in the yard screaming for me not to leave, you know?" Graves said.

But she did, and by 2014, she had hit bottom again. Suicidal and strung out, she lived in the woods. By then she was injecting drugs, risking overdose with every high.

She remained caught in a familiar loop of drug abuse and incarceration. The next time she got arrested, she was facing a potential life sentence due to her status as a habitual felony offender. Instead, she took drug court.

The Friday morning trip to Jasper is just one part of Walker County's drug court program. Graves calls the courthouse every day at 8 a.m. to find out whether she needs to report for a drug test. Participants must adhere to strict curfews and submit to random searches.

The program has helped, and Graves said she hasn't used in almost three years. Her oldest daughter moved in with her one year ago.

Losing an anchor

For a family, sending a mother to prison is like plucking the sun from the solar system. It often scatters children to temporary homes or foster care.

Kristy Allen, a mother from Decatur imprisoned after developing an addiction to pain pills, sent her children to live with their grandmother. Allen said she was a good mother, despite her addiction - a school volunteer and devoted caretaker. Her mother took her children during a six-month sentence, and became so gravely ill with pneumonia that she couldn't bring them to prison for visits.

The experience was so difficult for her daughters that the older one still panics whenever she sees a police car, Allen said.

"She thinks they are going to take me away again," Allen said. "I tell her it's ok - that mama's ok now."

Graves kept her kids close together by sending them to family and friends, but the disruption has been hard. Her kids have kept her working on her recovery. The hard feelings have softened, Graves said, and her children have become her cheerleaders.

She will graduate drug court in December and spend several more years under court supervision. This time, she's trying to do more than just avoid prison time. Graves is building a life she hopes will last.

"Now today, I have my own house," Graves said. "I have my daughter. I have a relationship with the rest of my kids. My kids love me. I have my own car. I have a life that I never ever seen in the cards for me. I have that now."

When her daughter turned 16, Graves reflected on her condition at that age - already addicted with two small babies under her care. Her daughter has witnessed everything and avoided the drugs that caught her mother. Graves was so young when her daughter was born that the two of them have grown up together, she said.

Graves has found her faith since she stopped using drugs, and she believed the cross necklace could help keep her oldest safe. Just for good measure, she wanted to add a little extra insurance.

"I'm going to have it prayed over to protect her," Graves said. "Maybe I can get her to keep it on."
Hurricane Harvey is worrying forecasters as of Thursday night.

Harvey is expected to strengthen and headed for landfall on the middle Texas coast on Friday or early Saturday.

The National Hurricane Center didn't mince words on Thursday, saying that Harvey could become a major hurricane before making landfall, which would end the major hurricane "drought" in the U.S. that has stretched for more than 11 years.

It has now been 4322 days since last major hurricane (Category 3+ on Saffir-Simpson scale) made U.S. landfall (Wilma-2005). #Harvey pic.twitter.com/xsKczMHsoH  Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) August 24, 2017

Hurricane watches became hurricane warnings along the Texas coast on Thursday, and forecasters warned of "life-threatening" and "devastating" flooding and storm surge from the storm.

Evacuations have also begun in some coastal communities. The hurricane center said preparations for Harvey should be be done by today as the storm closes in on the coast.

As of 10 p.m. CDT Thursday, Hurricane Harvey was located about 250 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, and was moving northwest at 10 mph.

Harvey only became a tropical storm late Wednesday but strengthened quickly earlier today.

However, Harvey's winds have been holding at 85 mph since this afternoon. Hurricane force winds begin at 74 mph.

"It is unclear why the intensification has slowed, although it is possibly due to some dry air seen earlier wrapping around the north side of the core convection," hurricane center forecaster Jack Beven wrote in the 10 p.m. discussion. "Otherwise, Harvey remains in an favorable environment for further strengthening with low vertical shear and high oceanic heat content."

Harvey is widely expected to get stronger tonight. A major hurricane is classified as a Category 3 or stronger storm. Category 3 hurricane winds begin at 111 mph, according to the Saffir-Simpson wind scale. Category 3 storms can bring "devastating" damage, according to the scale.

Watches have been upgraded to warnings along the Texas coast:

A hurricane warning has been extended and is now in effect from Port Mansfield to Sargent, Texas.

A tropical storm warning is in effect from north of Matagorda to High Island and from south of Port Mansfield to the mouth of the Rio Grande.

A storm surge warning is in effect for Port Mansfield to San Luis Pass in Texas.

The areas in hot pink are under a storm surge warning. Life-threatening storm surge will be possible along the Texas coast as Harvey makes landfall. (NHC)

A storm surge watch is in effect from south of Port Mansfield to the mouth of the Rio Grande and north of San Luis Pass to High Island.

In addition, a hurricane watch is in effect from south of Port Mansfield to the mouth of the Rio Grande.

A tropical storm watch is effect from south of the mouth of the Rio Grande across the border to Boca de Catan, Mexico.

The hurricane center also warned those in southwestern Louisiana to keep an eye on Harvey as well.

Harvey is moving slowly to the north, and the hurricane center expects it to be near the Texas coast on Friday and make landfall either late Friday or early Saturday.

Forecasters urged hurricane watchers to not focus solely on the exact point where Harvey is forecast to make landfall, "since cycle-to-cycle adjustments are likely. All locations within the hurricane and storm surge warning areas should be preparing for the possibility of major hurricane-force winds and life-threatening storm surge."

Two of Harvey's greatest threats will be rainfall and storm surge, which are typically the deadliest aspects of landfalling tropical systems.

Rainfall projections kept creeping upward on Thursday. Now 15 to 25 inches of rain will be possible along parts of the Texas coast through next Wednesday. Some areas could get up to 35 inches.

That rain could begin by Friday.

The concern is that Harvey could stall near or over the coast, dropping hours of heavy rain in the process.

The hurricane center warned that rain from Harvey could cause "life-threatening" flooding.

Here is the rainfall forecast for the next seven days. Devastating flooding will be possible in Texas from Hurricane Harvey. (Weather Prediction Center)

Then there's the risk of storm surge. Those projections have also gone up on Thursday.

Now 6-12 feet of surge will be possible from the north entrance of Padre Island National Seashore to Sargent, Texas. Other areas along the Texas coast could see anywhere from 1 to 8 feet of surge as well.

The hurricane center said the deepest water will be near and northeast of where Harvey makes landfall.

Will Harvey affect Alabama's Gulf Coast?

Alabama shores will feel some of its effects, according to the National Weather Service in Mobile.

There will be an increasing risk of rip currents starting on Friday and lasting through the weekend.

Then it could bring heavy rain and severe weather to parts of Alabama next week. However, the weather service cautioned that it all depends on Harvey's eventual track, which is very uncertain.

Harvey is now the third hurricane of 2017 in the Atlantic. The others were Franklin and Gert. Gert has been the strongest hurricane so far, with peak winds of 105 mph.

The last major hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. was Hurricane Wlima in October of 2005.
Emelda and Reginald Martin, Sr. didn't go to college but they were adamant about their children's education, to the exclusion of pretty much anything else.

Roland, the second of their five children, earned first chair in the horn section as a freshman at Jack Yates High School, a magnet school for communications in Houston TX. But when Reginald learned practices extended well after school, he stormed in one day and said: "He's turning in his uniform tomorrow."

"He did not give a damn about sports, music, nothing; it was all about education," says Roland, now host of TV One's "News One Now" and senior news analyst for the nationally syndicated Tom Joyner Show. "That's been my whole life."

The emphasis on education led three of his siblings to become teachers and a fourth to work as a teacher's aide.

In 2016, Martin, along with his wife, Dr. Jacquie Hood Martin, launched the initiative School Choice is the Black Choice to diversify the school reform movement in America and encourage African-American families to embrace all forms of education for their children.

"I don't care what it is--public or private schools, magnet schools, charter schools, home schooling," Martin says. "Just get it done."

This week, Martin is bringing his initiative to Alabama, with town halls in Birmingham (Thursday, 6:30 p.m., at Bethel Baptist Church Pratt City), Selma (Friday, also 6:30 p.m., at Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church) and Montgomery (Saturday, 10:30 a.m., location TBD).

He's coming because he knows charter schools have been a scorching controversy statewide, particularly so among African Americans.

"Alabama had a break through approving charter schools two years ago, and it consistently ranks 45th or lower in education," he says. "People say it's because of money. I respond, 'Really? How much then do you believe it would take to make it work better?' No one can answer that because some schools spend more than others and their kids are still failing. Some charter schools spend less and their kids aren't failing.

"There is a multitude of reasons kids fail."

Two years ago, Martin commissioned a poll that revealed 74 percent of African-American parents expressed interest in enrolling their children in charter schools (although 72 percent favored public schools); and 79 percent supported school vouchers.

Yet charter schools have been slow to find support in Alabama. The Alabama Public School Charter Commission received only three applications prior to its May 1 deadline, and just five last year. The state's first public charter school, ACCEL Day and Night Academy, opened this week in Mobile.

Charter schools have been a particularly testy subject in Birmingham, where most of the city's schools have been rated with proficiencies below the statewide mean in math and English language arts statewide; most of them are 30 percent below the mean.

Yet forces have consistently resisted charter schools. In January, the school board denied the application of the STAR Academy, but the commission reversed the decision. STAR, located in the East Lake neighborhood, is scheduled to open in the fall of 2018.

Many black education professionals and parents remain vehemently against charter schools. In the recent local school board elections, many candidates were primarily judged on whether or not they supported charters.

Why the passionate lack of support among many African-Americans in the state?

Martin, who serves on the board on 50Can, a national education advocacy group, attributes it to African-American's history with public schools, a lack of trust for others and a dearth of information.

"The gateway to the middle-class for blacks was education," Martin says. "People became teachers, administrators, and principals, and many began earning six-figure salaries. When charters and choice are positioned as 'billionaires coming in to take our schools and money,' black folks have a visceral reaction. I understand."

Few African Americans were traditionally among the leaders of the national education reform movement, which caused significant mistrust. "Black people are two things; we're intensely loyal but also don't trust people," he says. "If we don't know you, we ain't trusting you."

Martin hopes his presence in the movement, as one of the nation's most recognizable and trusted African-American journalists, will change that level of trust.

Martin often hears African Americans charge that "charters don't work for us." His counter: neither do many public schools.

"Black people are still waiting on five- and 10-year plans for school districts to turn around," he says. "But guess what? By the time it happens--if it happens--that child in third grade is either in high-school or out of high-school. You've lost them.

"When you look at the number of failing schools, it's unfortunate so many of our kids are trapped in them."

He believes charter schools allow parents more of an opportunity to ensure their children have the kids of the curriculum they desire rather waiting for a school system to provide it.

"We view public schools as the thing when it is only one delivery system for education," he says. "Before Uber and Lyft, if you wanted to go to the airport you either had to drive yourself or wait for a taxi or limo. Now the consumer says, 'I've got choices. I don't have to wait for a taxi--which can be like public schools. I don't have money for a limo--which is like the private school.'

"The charter school allows parents to say, 'We want to be in charge of our own destiny.'"

Martin also doesn't believe all charter schools are successful, and he is adamant that there be standards schools must meet in order to exist.

"I only support what works," he says. "Public, magnet, charter, home--as long as the kids are learning, I'm down with it.

"I do not support failure. I will not support a failing charter school. If it's failing, shut it down."

One of the panelists Thursday will be George Parker, former head of the teacher union in Washington, D.C., and once a staunch opponent of charter schools and now an equally vehement advocate for school choice.

"He fought (former Chancellor of Washington, DC. public schools) Michelle Rhee at every turn on charter schools," Martin says. "He'll tell you how the union targeted charter schools to tear them down. He says he had a change of heart after a young girl came up to him and said, 'Thank you for caring about education.' He says it hit him that his job really didn't have anything to do with educating children."

At a similar forum last year, Parker said his opposition to charters was "really more about my control and power as a union leader versus kids. I'm like Malcolm X, at this point: educate black children by any means necessary. I'm like Martin: we can't wait to fix the traditional public school system."

Numerous pastors across the state reached out to Martin, he said, to bring the town halls to Alabama.

"I'm looking forward to coming to Alabama and challenging any person on this issue," Martin says. "I want them to stand in front of black parents and say why they want to deny their kids the option of going to a better school and leave them stuck in a sorry school."

Roy S. Johnson's column appears in The Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register and AL.com. Write him at rjohnson@al.com.
A group of University of North Alabama students and members of the Shoals community plan to protest tonight because of how the school's administration responded to a sexual assault lawsuit.

After UNA released a statement accusing an unnamed woman of falsifying sexual assault allegations to extort money from the school, student Ashley Massey wanted to send a different message.

"Even though something is going on with UNA's administration that they would even let this statement be issued, that is not reflective of our community," said Massey, a 26-year-old from Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. "Even if it looks like UNA isn't supporting survivors, our students and community are supportive of them. We believe them."

UNA has come under fire in light of a lawsuit that was filed by an unnamed former student who claims she was sexually assault by a professor and the university did not properly respond or investigate. The woman, referred to as "Jane Doe," claims the assault happened while she was on a school-sponsored trip to Florida with now-former professor David Dickerson.

After the university's official statement received backlash on social media and in the community, administrators removed the statement from the school website and social media pages. Soon after, UNA issued a new statement saying Dickerson was fired for violating school policy.

"The initial statement just wasn't aligned with what I would expect from the university," Massey said. "Title IX teaches us that everyone is welcome and safe, so if you experience gender or sexual orientation discrimination, or sex violence, the university is there for you.

"With that statement, that's not how they were treating Jane Doe. They were basically calling her a liar and attacking her. That's not how you encourage others to come forward."

Along with several other campus and community organizations, Massey organized tonight's 6:30 p.m. rally as part of her involvement with UNA's Women's and Gender Studies Association. The protest will be peaceful, Massey said, with several speakers and performances, plus a moment of silence in honor of "Jane Doe" and all other sex crimes survivors.

The protest is expected to draw hundreds of people to Harrison Fountain at the heart of UNA's campus, Massey said. Protesters are expected to walk toward the school's amphitheater where back-to-school events will be taking place.

"What I would really like to see is for people to engage with others who might not know what's going on," Massey said. "We'll have pamphlets from Title IX and other information that might be helpful to victims of sexual assault. We want a peaceful gathering and a way to show solidarity to survivors.

"We want people to be aware that you should strive to be the kind of person that someone would come to share their story of rape or sexual assault. Be an ally."

After his departure from UNA, Dickerson went to work for Metropolitan State University of Denver. Just days after the UNA lawsuit was filed, Dickerson also had parted ways with MSU.

The UNA lawsuit claims the student was inappropriately touched by Dickerson while they were attending a conference in Orlando. The first inappropriate contact happened at the pool of the hotel where they were staying, according to the lawsuit, which also claims that other students witnessed the incident and took pictures on their cellphones.

Also during the Orlando trip, Dickerson took the victim and another student to dinner, according to the lawsuit. The woman remembers being in and out of consciousness, being walked back to the hotel by Dickerson and being undressed by the professor, according to the lawsuit. She did not have the strength to fight Dickerson and when she later regained consciousness, she realized she was naked, the lawsuit states. She immediately dressed herself and left the room.

Dickerson later called the woman's cellphone and told her he hoped they could remain friends, the lawsuit states. "I want us to be good friends," Dickerson told the woman, according to the lawsuit.
Sandy Stimpson pledged to "unite" Alabama's fourth-largest city after winning re-election as mayor on Tuesday, but an analysis of voting returns shows Mobile remains deeply divided politically.

Stimpson rolled to victory by amassing 57 percent of the vote, a 3 percentage point improvement from the 2013 mayoral election. But the incumbent mayor's returns in mostly black areas of the city, while a slight improvement over four years ago, continues to be below 10 percent.

Still, Stimpson pledged to forge ahead with his successful 2013 campaign slogan of "One Mobile." During brief remarks at a campaign night rally inside a downtown concert venue, the mayor promised to "work hard" for those who didn't vote for him.

"We'll work to earn your trust because we can and we will unite this city," Stimpson said.

His Election Night remarks were well-received by city officials who are aware of the racially polarized politics that seem to have a firm grip on the city, as well as the nation.

"The mayor had an opponent and the opponent got (42.3 percent) of the vote," said Mobile City Council President Gina Gregory. "That shows there are people out there who may not necessarily approve everything the mayor is doing or his message. We always need to work harder, to bring people together and make sure everyone feels they are included. It was good the mayor recognized that and we should all go forward and work harder and do better and do what is best for the city."

'Moving apart'

Political observers believe Stimpson will have a difficult time in fully uniting Mobile, where 50.6 percent of the overall population is black, while 45 percent is white.

Part of the problem, political observers note, is with racial identity politics and voting that has become more common in recent years. It existed in Mobile's 2013 election, when Stimpson won the mayoral election with a surge in white voters and very little in crossover voting.

"I think that polarization at the local level is a microcosm of national gridlock," said William Stewart, a professor emeritus of political sciences at the University of Alabama and a longtime observer of Alabama politics. "Black and white interests seem to be moving further apart rather than closer together."

Said Jaclyn Bunch, an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice at the University of South Alabama: "With (Stimpson) being a Republican, it will be difficult for him to unify Mobile completely and receive a larger share of Democratic votes."

While overall turnout was down Tuesday compared to 2013, Stimpson improved his showing citywide.

But competing against Sam Jones, who served as the city's first black mayor from 2005-2013, the improvement was relatively small in majority black precincts.

At St. Monica's Catholic Church along Dauphin Island Parkway, Stimpson received 8 percent of the vote, up from the 4.3 percent he received within the precinct four years ago.

At Rock of Faith Church in Maysville, the mayor's support was at 7.2 percent, also up from 2013 when it was at 2.6 percent.

At Figures Park Community Center, the mostly black area near Toulminville where Jones voted on Tuesday, Stimpson received 8.3 percent support, which is up from 2013 when he garnered 6 percent of the vote.

Stimpson, meanwhile, improved his numbers in west Mobile, a region of the city that is more white and considered more conservative than areas closer to downtown.

At the Mobile Museum of Art, Stimpson received 89.9 percent support, which is up from 86.4 percent in 2013. He also improved at E.R. Dickson School (97.5 percent this year, up from 92 percent in 2013), Ahavas Chesed Synagogue on Airport Boulevard (89.4 percent this year, up from 84 percent at a similar polling place in 2013), and Our Savior Catholic Church (84 percent this year, up from 81 percent in 2014).

Turnout for the election overall was at 36.6 percent, down by about 10 percentage points from the 2013 election, when Stimpson was the challenger facing incumbent Jones.

An analysis shows that turnout on Tuesday was especially down in the precincts that overwhelmingly favored Jones. For instance, at the Thomas Sullivan Community Center - which backed Jones with 92.5 percent of the vote - turnout was down by 21 percent from 2013. In heavy Stimpson-supporting precincts such as the Museum of Art, turnout was down by roughly 12 percent.

'Pursuing' unity

Tim Hale Jr., a Jones supporter who organized festive rallies encouraging voter turnout outside some of the polling places on Election Day, said there are a lot of Mobilians who feel as if Stimpson's "One Mobile" pledge rings hollow.

In Hale's viewpoint, Stimpson is a mayor who is willing to say the right things to black voters. But he also criticized the mayor for lacking sincerity.

"We want to be part of that 'One Mobile,'" said Hale. "But we feel like (Stimpson) hasn't been authentic with us."

Bunch, the assistant professor at USA, said it's not unusual for people to question a politician's sincerity within an area where that elected official may not have "deep roots."

"It's not unique to Mobile," said Bunch. "Things like that don't pose a (political) threat to (Stimpson) only because of the fact that it's a common occurrence. Whenever presidential politicians do these rallies, they are often at the airports and waving before heading off to the next stop. While it jazzes up the people, the people on the fence don't feel a connection."

Bunch said she believed that Stimpson's re-election only "strengthens" the "One Mobile" motto. She said the mayor has done "considerable amount of outreach" into the black communities, and that he's doing a good job in "pursuing" are more unified city.

Mobile City Councilman Levon Manzie, who is black, said it is "incumbent upon" city leaders to address divisions that might surface "head on."

"I'm committed to do whatever I can to foster a greater level of unity in the city of Mobile," said Manzie, who was re-elected without an opponent on Tuesday. All seven of the Mobile council members were overwhelmingly re-elected.

"We are a great city that can be even greater if we come together," Manzie said. "I'm hopeful the next four years that there are initiatives and programs put in place to create that atmosphere."

Said Stimpson at his rally: "There is hope for every single Mobillian no matter where you live or who you voted for."

"I'm appreciative of his mindset and that we can go from talking about it to making it a priority," said Manzie.
The family of 5-year-old Kamden Johnson, who was found deceased in the driveway of a home in west Mobile on August 21, have filed a civil lawsuit against the owner's of the daycare he attended in Mobile.

In a press release statement from Cunningham Bounds, L.L.C., the lawsuit was filed on Wednesday with the 13th Judicial Circuit Court in Mobile County.

The lawsuit filed by Kamden's mother, Jasmyn Williams Johnson, alleges negligence and wantonness against Community Church Ministries, Inc. and its related entities. The lawsuit names the day care owners Carl Coker and Angela Coker, as well as the director of the preschool academy, Kenya Anderson.

In the 8-page lawsuit, it alleges that the owners and Anderson family negligently failed to properly screen, conduct a background check and then hired 46-year-old Valarie Rena Patterson.

Patterson has been charged with corpse abuse and manslaughter in the August 21 death of Kamden.

Mobile County jail records show Patterson's arrest history dating back to November 1991 for three counts of second-degree theft of property charges, two counts of first-degree theft of property, two counts of third-degree theft of property, no driver's license and failure to appear in court charges.

She was arrested a second time in August 1999 in Florida on first-degree theft of property, giving a false name to police and fugitive from justice charges. Court documents show that Patterson used an alias name of Valarie Hardy during that arrest.

She was arrested a third time in October of 2007 on a fugitive from justice charge. In that arrest court records showed that she went by an alias name of Amika Lashawn Brisker.

Patterson appeared in Mobile District Court on Wednesday morning for a bond hearing, but it was interrupted when her son, Demarcus Leandrew Lymon, 24, entered the restricted area of the courtroom to try and hug Patterson.

Lymon was subdued by court officers and placed under arrest. Mobile District Court Judge Bob Sherling reset Patterson's bond hearing following the incident.

Lymon was later booked and charged with one count of interfering with judicial proceedings. He was released from Mobile County Jail at 1:44 p.m. and will have to appear in Mobile District Court for an arraignment in a few days.

David S. Cain Jr., an attorney for Cunningham Bounds, said that Kamden's family is dealing with a devastating loss.

"The loss Kamden's family and friends are dealing with is unimaginable," said Cain. "As parents, we trust that our children are safe while they are under the supervision of organizations like Community Nursery & Preschool, and that those individuals taking care of our children are responsible, qualified, and professional care providers. When organizations and individuals betray that trust, the consequences can be tragic and heart-breaking."

Patterson remains in jail at this time and is expected to appear in Mobile District Court on Thursday morning for a bond hearing.
by Gisele Freund courtesy of Frida Kahlo Museum

Tucked beyond the galleries, corridors and the vast stage of Popejoy Hall are the offices of the staff of the UNM Museum of Art. There, in Director Arif Khan's office, we sat with Curator of Education and Public Programs Traci Quinn, who opened the bookto page 21. The catalog accompanies the exhibition of the same name opening soon at the museum. Khan and Quinn had the page number memorized after many months of preparation and critical talk about the significance of Frida Kahlo the persona, Frida Kahlo the artist and what these photographs say about each. On page 21, Curator of the exhibition Pablo Ortiz Monasterio writes about Kahlo's relationship with the camera: She  learnt to look into the lens to put across what she wanted and managed to reinvent her own image through photography. I like to think that the stack of photographic portraits in which Frida's life is recorded constitutes another one of her masterpieces. The painter once wrote about her strategy in front of the camera. 'I knew that the battlefield of suffering was reflected in my eyes. Ever since then, I started looking straight into the lens, without winking, without smiling, determined to prove I would be a good warrior until the end.'

We wouldn't have Kahlo's art without her anguish. To enjoy her work is to peek into another's darkness and, in turn, to acknowledge our own. For many, this makes us feel intimate with her without knowing her at all, despite distances of time and geography. For some, this feeling of connection drives them to her biographya life story as colorful and widely consumed, perhaps even more so, than her singular, equally colorful art. Many people know who she is more based on her life than on an individual piece of art, Khan said, For them, it is about this larger-than-life person and all the adversity she went through in her lifewhether it was physical trauma, relationships, political leanings  A lot of people see her as inspirational. And that status as a figure of inspiration and heartrending transcendence is often reliant on the way she presented and preserved herself as Frida Kahlo in portraiture.

Countering that narrative of suffering, Hilda Trujillo, the director of the Frida Kahlo Museum in Mexico City wrote via email, I hope this exhibition will produce an enrichment of [the] perception of Frida Kahlo  no longer [with] the stigma of the suffering woman, but as a strong woman. And one whose charm, intelligence and joy in life attracted important figures of the time to The Blue House. We cannot understand the current recognition that Frida Kahlo has internationally without knowing who her friends were and how [she] developed her life and work in post-revolutionary Mexico, a period that gave rise to a new Mexican identity and together with this, new notions regarding politics, art and culture. Leon Trotsky, Henry Cartier-Bresson and Andre Breton were some intellectuals who spent time at Casa Azul, as did numerous photographers who captured Kahlo's image, like Florence Arquin, Gisele Freund, Nickolas Muray and Lola Alvarez Bravo. Taken as a whole, these photos create visual narratives of moments in the life of the artist and those who participated in her personal, intellectual and artistic universe, according to Trujillo. This serves to create a record of a vital point in world history, as well as Kahlo's personal trajectory and role in it.

by Lola Alvarez Bravo courtesy of Frida Kahlo Museum

Reflecting on Kahlo's distinct positioning, Khan observed that the exhibit really shows her ability to construct her own image  a lot of people understand thatespecially with Instagram and allthey know that a photograph is never just a neutral thing. What Khan touched on seems very truemost of us are very studied in how to present ourselves in photography. When we talk about this in the context of Frida Kahlo, whose image has been massively commodified, we have to consider something else entirely. Khan mused, Is this positive for her reputation as an artist or not? Is it helpful, knowing so much about someone? Does that help you appreciate the art more? Or does it make you fail to analyze her as a painter, her skill and ability as a fine artist?

Her face is everywhereearrings, pajamas, totes, t-shirts, umbrellas, water bottles. If we hung a picture of her face, not even her name, in front of the museum, people would come, she's that recognizable, Quinn posited. That ubiquity gives Kahlo admirers pausecan the sheer force of capitalism and consumption neutralize her, this fierce Marxist, feminist, queer, Mexican artist? She was a communist, so it is really interesting to wonderhow would she feel? Quinn continued. People are selling her face and making money off of it. That's a really interesting tension that we would love for people to explore. We're not providing answers, but what can we bring to the conversation when people come through the door? Exploring some of Kahlos convictions and the dimensions of her personality through the exhibition will likely illuminate parts of her character for visitors who were previously unaware of what she stood forwhich is much more than a cool accessory.

I think it is valuable  to think about: What is fame? What is notoriety? What is success?  Her constructed imagehow can that be interpreted, and how was it in or out of her control? Khan asked. What Khan and Quinn hope this traveling exhibition achieves is to further critical conversations that shine light on the complexity of the artist. These photographs, Khan said, gesturing to the comprehensive catalog, of which, the formal exhibition only features about 200 photos from, this is what Frida and Diego kept, so you get a sense of them and what they valued. Trujillo had emphasized that point as well, writing in her email, These are images of the artist's real moments. Perhaps that is what makes them resonate so, lending them vitality. Trujillo noted that Frida related to these photographs as if they were alive, altering them, tearing or folding them, leaving a smudged lipstick kiss on a print of Rivera. In a very tangible way,they are testimonies of Frida Kahlo's life, Trujillo summarized.

by Nickolas Muray courtesy of Frida Kahlo Museum

In her work, Kahlo was able to continually realize and remake the power of paingiving language to those who feel it, too. In her life, she stands as a figure of immutable strengthand on her face, that battlefield of suffering is reflected back to the viewer her conviction and force of characterthat, too, must be a testimony of her life.

Frida Kahlo: Her Photographs opens on Friday, Aug. 25, at the UNM Museum of Art with a reception from 4-7pm. Food inspired by Kahlo, or drawn directly from her cookbooks, will be served by My Sweet Basil and music by DJ Halcyon will fill the galleries. The show runs until Dec. 2, and in the meantime the museum will host a number of events, including guided tours every Saturday and a talk by the exhibition's curator, Pablo Ortiz Monasterio. Stay attuned to the upcoming events by visiting unmartmuseum.org.
US move to suspend economic and military aid to Egypt has little to do with human rights, analysts say.

The United States move to cut and delay economic and military aid to Egypt is symbolic and will not have a major effect on Egypts capabilities, analysts say.

Egypt will still receive the vast majority of its $1.3bn in military assistance, said Sarah Yerkes, a fellow at the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

This [move] is far more symbolic than practical. It is embarrassing to Egypt, but it will not have a major impact on Egypts capabilities, Yerkes told Al Jazeera.

The unprecedented decision to cut $95.7m in aid, and indefinitely withhold another $195m in military aid, reflects what US official sources described as the US frustration with the Egyptian governments stance on civil liberties, specifically with regards to a law that regulates NGOs.





Egypt, notorious for its human rights abuses and declining economy, recently passed a controversial law enacted by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi that heavily regulates the operations of 47,000 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and charities across Egypt.

The law, which introduces jail terms of up to five years for non-compliance, is largely seen by civil society groups as part of a wider strategy to crackdown on public dissent. During a visit to Washington last April, Egyptian officials had pledged to scrap the draft law, which received much criticism from international rights groups such as US-based Human Rights Watch.

Egypts foreign ministry described the aid cut and delay move as a misjudgment of the nature of the strategic relations that have bound the two countries for decades.

[The move] reflects a lack of careful understanding of the importance of supporting the stability and success of Egypt, as well as the size and nature of the security and economic challenges faced by the Egyptian people, the statement added.

Suspending some of the military aid to Egypt is determined by the US budget cycle, where US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, is required to certify that Egypt has met the human rights benchmarks set by Congress in order for it to qualify as an aid recipient.

But the cut is little in comparison to what is in the pipeline for Egypt.

According to Cole Bockenfeld, deputy director for policy at the Project on Middle East Democracy, at least $400m in economic assistance is in the works for Egypt, much of which is actively obstructed by the Egyptian government.

According to Bockenfeld, the justifications for the decision are not clear, yet the move is not likely to affect Egypts military campaign in Sinai.

This decision does not have any practical impact on the Egyptian militarys ability to conduct operations in the Sinai.

READ MORE: Egypt worse off on every indicator since 2013 coup

Robert Springborg, Middle East expert and non-resident fellow at the Italian Institute of International Affairs, told Al Jazeera that the move is part of the Trump administrations proposal to drastically reduce funds, especially to the Middle East.

If by Issandr

behaviour. But it does send an important signal more broadly that the US is recognising the alarming state of human rights in Egypt and not adopting the regimes line.]

But the other important factor is the general getting tough approach of Trump, which we see with regard to various allies which he would like to see supporting the US in more direct, manifest ways, he said, also referencing Egypts support for North Korea.

Egypt has been a recipient of US aid since it established diplomatic relations with the Israel, following the signing of the 1978 Camp David Accords, brokered by then-US President Jimmy Carter.

As part of the accords, a biennial series of joint military exercises led by Egypt and the US troops in Egypt had commenced in 1980. Referred to as Operation Bright Star, the coalition training is designed to strengthen ties between the two forces, and assist the US in rooting its Middle East allies.

By the early 1990s, Egypt became one of the US major military allies in the region. Although the event had been suspended since 2009, it is scheduled to recommence next month. According to Cole, Egypt has sufficient funds in their account to continue military operations unimpeded.

Yerkes said that it is unlikely for Egypt to implement drastic measures at this stage, by cancelling Operation Bright Star, for instance.

It was such a win for Egypt that the US decided to reinstate it. Cancelling it would be a very big deal, she told Al Jazeera.

Similarly, Issandr El Amrani, head of the North Africa section at the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera that the move to suspend aid does not appear to be linked to any development in Egypt-US relations, especially since the Bright Start military exercises will officially resume.

If the cuts do go ahead, it might be because the US either wants to send the signal about the worsening human rights situation in Egypt or, more simply, because the Trump administration does not see the Congress accepting to disburse the aid money, explained El Amrani.

If intended as a signal to Sisis regime, it will have limited impact on [his] behaviour. But it does send an important signal more broadly that the US is recognising the alarming state of human rights in Egypt and not adopting the regimes line, even if it continues to have a close military relationship, El Amrani added.

READ MORE: The Egypt-US lobbying connection

Egypt, which is preparing for the upcoming presidential elections in 2018, has been under a state of emergency since last April. Amid a media blackout, Sisi, who is widely expected to run for a second term, has been repressing potential presidential candidates, such as prominent lawyer and human rights advocate Khaled Ali.

When former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was overthrown by Sisi in the summer of 2013, public space in Egypt became increasingly restrictive. Since coming to power in 2014, Sisis government has imprisoned tens of thousands of Egyptians without charge and banned public protests by passing legislation prohibiting the gathering of 10 or more people, without prior authorisation.

According to analysts, the move will not necessarily alter Sisis behaviour concerning human rights abuses, which are regarded to be in direct contravention of democratic norms.

It [the move] might have some restraining effect, but since the presidential election is looming and the economy is in wretched condition, he [Sisi] will continue to repress opposition, said Springborg.

Others believe that the US move has little to do with human rights abuses.

If the Trump administration truly wanted to send a strong signal to Sisis government on human rights, they could have used the authority in the law to cut (instead of delaying) this $195m in military aid to Egypt, said Bockenfeld.

Regardless, analysts believe that the move will soon be reverted.

The one thing we do know for sure is that Trump does not care about human rights  at home or abroad  and the State Department is therefore unlikely to have been directed by the White House to cut off the funds, James Gelvin, a professor of Middle East history at the University of California, Los Angeles, told Al Jazeera.

According to Gelvin, an underlying reason may be the current dysfunction in the State Department, given the large number of senior positions that remain vacant.

The money will be restored after the United States certifies that Egypt is making progress on human rights, said Gelvin.

That certification will undoubtedly occur, whether such progress is made or not.
Following a Supreme Court decision, activists say womens rights are being denied and religious divisions heightened.

Shafin Jahan approached Indias Supreme Court after his marriage to a 24-year-old woman, who had converted to Islam, was annulled in May by the high court in the southern state of Kerala.

On August 16, the Supreme Court, which is the countrys top court, reserved its judgment and instead announced a probe by the countrys anti-terror agency into whether the marriage was part of a Love Jihad conspiracy or whether the woman, Akhila Ashokan, converted to Islam of her own free will.

Far-right Hindu groups allege that Love Jihad is a conspiracy by Muslim groups to lure Hindu women into marriages with Muslim men and to convert them to Islam.

The Kerala high court had nullified the marriage after the womans father, KM Ashokan, filed a petition alleging that his daughter converted to Islam as part of a plan to send her to Syria to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS).

The high court said the girl was weak and vulnerable and susceptible to exploitation, and that marriage being the most important decision in her life, can also be taken only with the active involvement of her parents.

Reactions to the courts Love Jihad decision

Feminists and rights activists have expressed shock at the Supreme Courts decision, which was taken without consulting Akhila, who prefers to go by her new Muslim name, Hadiya.

It is not just her freedom to choose, her physical freedom has also been curtailed. She is effectively a prisoner at her father's house right now by Kavita Krishnan, Women's rights activist

[The] Constitution upheld by the court is the only place where young couple can hope to get protection and justice. And it is dangerous for the court to start saying such things, said Kavita Krishnan, the secretary of the All India Progressive Womens Association (AIPWA).

It is not just her freedom to choose, her physical freedom has also been curtailed. She is effectively a prisoner at her fathers house right now. She is not allowed to go outside her house and she is not even allowed to meet journalists.

Hadiya has been under the custody of her father in Kottayam since May against the wishes she expressed to the Kerala high court.

I am shocked by what the Supreme Court has done. The Kerala high court judgment was so shocking that most of us assumed that the Supreme Court would stay the judgment immediately, said Sanjay Hegde, a Supreme Court lawyer.

[But] the political narrative that these [interfaith] marriages are done as a cover of terrorist activities are finding tractions in the courts, he added.

Hadiya was introduced to Islam by her friend and subsequently converted. In December last year, she chose to marry Jahan, a Muslim man.

Does Love Jihad even exist?

Some far-right Hindu groups have portrayed interfaith marriages as a Muslim conspiracy to destroy Hinduism in India.

The term Love Jihad was first mentioned in around 2007 in Kerala and neighbouring Karnataka state, but it became part of the public discourse in 2009. It was originally referred to as Romeo Jihad.

Catholic Church bodies in Kerala and Hindu groups in Karnataka in 2009 claimed that thousands of women had been coerced or lured into converting to Islam.

That same year, the Kerala High Court ordered the police to look into the claims. In 2012, the police categorically declared that there was no substance to the claims that Love Jihad was taking place.

The 2009 case of 18-year-old Silija Raj, who eloped with her Muslim boyfriend in Karnataka, was used as propaganda by far-right Hindu groups to peddle the Love Jihad myth.

The term was widely used by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during elections in northern Uttar Pradesh state, contributing to the polarisation of the electorate along religious lines.

There is nothing that proves that Love Jihad exists. It is a way to control women and to build up the bogeyman of evil Muslims, Charu Gupta, a professor of history at the University of Delhi, said.

Historical comparisons

Similar tactics were used by far-right groups when India was still under British rule.

It is significant to note that in certain ways Love Jihad, and the various issues it touched on, had an uncanny resemblance to the abduction and conversion campaigns launched by the Arya Samaj and other Hindu revivalist bodies in the 1920s in Uttar Pradesh, at a time when there was a spate of Hindu-Muslim riots in the region, Gupta wrote in a research paper.

Activists fear that the decision by the Supreme Court will boost far-right groups as relations between the Muslim and Hindu communities deteriorate.

Hegde, the lawyer, explained that it was an interim order and that the final verdict will be decided based on the results of the investigation.

It is going to embolden those who are against interfaith marriages, said the AIPWAs Krishnan.

Why has the court ordered a probe into an avowedly consensual marriage where an adult woman married the person of her choice?

Gupta said that in the Love Jihad myth lecherous behaviour, skill in luring Hindu women through false promises, a high sexual appetite, a life of luxury and religious fanaticism are all portrayed as dominant traits of the male Muslim character.

The myth, she added, provides privileged status to moral panic and public morality over constitutional morality 

The court order has raised many issues, including an adult womans right to choose her partner and her privacy as guaranteed by the Constitution.

The court should have called the 24-year-old woman to Delhi and heard her side of the story and ascertained that the marriage was the womans own choice, said Krishnan. It should have ended the matter right then and there.

This court verdict is a wake-up call.
In recent weeks, the Tunisian, Jordanian, and Lebanese parliaments have repealed provisions in their penal codes that allowed rapists to escape punishment by marrying their victims. Provisions like these, largely colonial-era relics, remain on the books in many other countries in the region and beyond. Some permit exoneration for a range of offences, including kidnapping, rape, and sex with a child (statutory rape) if the perpetrator marries the victim.





On July 26, the Tunisian parliament repealed article 227bis in full when it passed its landmark law on eliminating violence against women. Less than a week later, on August 1, the lower house of Jordans parliament approved the full repeal of article 308. Jordans penal code amendment still has to go to the appointed upper house for approval and requires the kings signature to become law. On August 16, Lebanons parliament repealed article 522, that had allowed rapists to escape prosecution by marrying the victim, but allowed a loophole in offences relating to sex with children between the ages 15-17 and seducing a virgin girl into having sex with the promise of marriage.

A colonial legacy

These reforms are credit to the intense campaigning by womens rights non-governmental organisations in these countries. But, most people are unaware of the colonial origin of such laws in the Middle East and North Africa region. They largely stem from or were inspired by the French Napoleonic Code of 1810, which allowed a man who kidnapped a girl to escape prosecution if he married her. The Ottoman Code of 1911 introduced a similar article inspired by the French. France only repealed this provision in 1994.

READ MORE: Scrapping of Lebanon rape law is one small step

Former French colonies and mandates particularly in North Africa and parts of the Middle East kept the rape exoneration provisions in some form in their laws after independence or took inspiration from the French Code when drafting their own penal codes. Former British mandates and protectorates applied the Ottoman Code with rape exoneration while under British rule, and retained it after independence.

In the Middle East and North Africa region, Algeria, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Syria, and Palestine still allow rapists to escape punishment. by

Patriarchal attitudes and stigma kept such provisions in place. In many countries, people considered rape survivors unmarriageable. Some legislators even felt that the laws protected women and girls from being killed by their family members for having sex outside of marriage. Their solution led to impunity for rapists but trapped women and girls in unwanted, abusive marriages. It also allowed child marriage in countries that had otherwise set a minimum age of marriage at 18.

Tunisia, Lebanon, and soon Jordan, join others in the region that have rooted out such provisions. In January 2014, Moroccos parliament removed a clause from article 475 of its penal code that had, in effect, allowed some men who raped a child to escape prosecution if they married the victim. In 1999, Egypt repealed article 291 from its penal code, which had allowed rapists or kidnappers to escape prosecution by marrying their victims.

Holding on to outdated laws

The bad news is that many countries still have these outdated, abusive laws. In the Middle East and North Africa region, Algeria, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Syria, and Palestine still allow rapists to escape punishment.





Bahrains parliament proposed a full repeal of article 353 in 2016. But the cabinet rejected the proposal, and parliament is now considering a narrower repeal in which the exemption will not be allowed in cases of gang rape.

Globally, several Latin American countries, the Philippines, and Tajikistan are among countries that retain such laws. But, in the past 30 years, a number of countries have made similar reforms, including Costa Rica (2007), Uruguay (2006), Ethiopia (2005), Romania (2000), Peru (1998), and Italy (1981), among others.

Laws alone cant change practices. Indeed, forced marriages to rapists may have existed before such marriage exonerations were codified. Even if such provisions are removed, forced marriage may continue unofficially as it has in many countries. The authorities should, once exoneration laws are removed, take steps to change the discriminatory attitudes and stigma that fuel forced marriages of rape survivors to their rapists.

In the Middle East and North Africa, this means promoting respect for womens physical integrity and autonomy and shifting away from traditional views about the familys honour being tied to womens and girls behaviour, including maintaining their virginity before marriage. Authorities should also ensure that rape survivors, and girls and women at risk of so-called honour violence at the hands of their families, are provided with assistance and protection.

The recent reforms in Tunisia, Jordan, and Lebanon could propel reforms in the region and beyond, but only if other countries take heed. Rape-marriage exoneration laws are a relic of the colonial past. Its time to leave them there.

Rothna Begum is the womens rights researcher for the Middle East and North Africa region at Human Rights Watch. During this time, she has led the research on violence and discrimination against women in the MENA region, and the abuse and exploitation of migrant domestic workers in the Gulf. Rothna previously worked for Amnesty International for five and a half years researching human rights violations in the Gulf region. Rothna holds a LLB in Law and a LLM in Legal Theory from the London School Economics and Political Science.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
In mid-July, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs finally issued an agreement to Ahmed Al Wahishi who in early autumn will take up his duties as ambassador of Yemen to Moscow. Al Wahishi is the fourth candidate proposed by the Saudi-backed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in the past year. Moscow rejected the previous three.

Over the last year, Saudi Arabia has been actively lobbying the Kremlin to accept Hadis nominations. Russias decision to concede comes after years of it opposing Saudi Arabias intervention in Yemen and the government it backs. Even if it did not get involved in the conflict, Moscow silently acknowledged and backed Irans interests in Yemen. In 2015, Sergey Lavrov warned that Russia would not allow the conflict in Yemen to escalate into a war against Iran.





So is Moscows acceptance of Hadis ambassador signalling a change in Russian-Iranian relations and a possible rapprochement with Saudi Arabia? Is Moscow risking losing its close ties with Tehran?

Russia drawing closer to Saudi Arabia?

A number of developments in recent months have signalled a possible rapprochement between Russia and Saudi Arabia.

The two countries have made a joint effort to push for further cutting of oil production to help bring up prices. Since the beginning of this year, Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak and his Saudi counterpart Khalid al-Falih have been seeking to conclude an agreement on reducing output.

In late May, then Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman went to Russia to discuss with President Vladimir Putin the oil market and the situation in Syria. The visit came just three weeks before Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef was removed and bin Salman took his position. While in Moscow, the latter said that relations between Saudi Arabia and Russia are going through one of their best moments ever.

Two months later, Moscow and Riyadh signed a preliminary military cooperation agreement worth $3.5bn. The Saudis have requested transfer of technology to accompany the signing of the deal.

In recent months, the two countries have also made significant progress on Syria. Under the patronage of Riyadh, Egypt provided a platform for negotiations between Moscow and the Syrian opposition.

The importance of this step for the Kremlin is obvious. Russia is extremely interested in concluding an agreement on de-escalation zones, the implementation of which is not possible exclusively within the framework of the tripartite initiative of Russia, Iran and Turkey, without the involvement of other actors. From this perspective, the role Saudi Arabia played in the signing of the two Cairo agreements between Russia and the Syrian opposition on East Ghouta and Rastan is very important.

Closer Russian-Saudi relations were seen as a positive step in Tel Aviv, Russias silent partner in the Middle East. In recent years, Israel itself has enjoyed closer ties with Riyadh and its ally Abu Dhabi.

Divergence with Iran

Moscows acceptance of Hadis ambassador nomination would not be the first time Russian and Iranian foreign policy have diverged. Although Russia did not side with the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, it also does not necessarily approve of Irans war games.

For Iran, the Yemeni conflict, first of all, is a great way to weaken its main rival in the region  Saudi Arabia. Iran uses this conflict to draw the kingdom into a long-running and extremely costly war. Russia, which for many years has been seeking to strengthen and develop its relations with Saudi Arabia, is much less interested in violating the status quo on the Arabian Peninsula.

Any moves that might be perceived in Tehran as open disregard for its national interest or the formation of a Russian-Saudi alliance will have serious consequences on Russian-Iranian relations. by

Iran and Russia also have divergent interests in Syria. Russia is largely driven by its security concerns and confrontation with the West, while Iran is pursuing to establish a regional foothold through dangerous sectarian policies

Currently, Iran and Russia have decided to ignore some of these differences in order to focus on propping the Syrian regime. But once a settlement of the Syrian conflict approaches, these issues would inevitably resurface.

The military coordination between the two countries has also been patchy. Neither is in a hurry to create joint command structures. Their coordination is occasional, and in most cases, the sides simply prefer to take parallel paths to the same destination. Moreover, on a number of occasions, Iran undermined Russian attempts to establish a ceasefire in Syria by provoking further local bloodshed.

And even significant efforts to improve bilateral relations have not led to the desired breakthrough in either economic or political sphere. Since the beginning of the new rapprochement in 2013, Moscow and Tehran have been steadily failing to boost the development of trade and investment cooperation. Russian and Iranian interests have also directly clashed over territorial ownership of the Caspian Sea and its legal status.

A sign of the problematic relationship between the two countries has surfaced during Rouhanis last visit to Moscow in March, which ended with no significant agreements.

Most of the documents signed during the visit were either non-obligatory memoranda of understanding or supplementary agreements to add some minor details to existing treaties.

The risk of abandoning Iran

Russia has pursued pragmatic policies, independent of Iran, including drawing closer to Saudi Arabia, but there is a limit to how far it can go. Any moves that might be perceived in Tehran as open disregard for its national interests or the formation of a Russian-Saudi alliance will have serious consequences on Russian-Iranian relations.

While Russia and Iran have a lot of issues to argue about, they also have a number of common interests in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, in Eurasian transit routes, the situation in Transcaucasia and Central Asia as well as in oil and gas markets.

If Russian-Iranian relations were to deteriorate, this would make dialogue on these issues extremely difficult. It would most definitely hurt Russian interests in Central Asia and Arab countries under strong Iranian influence. Russia would also risk losing joint projects with Iran in the oil and gas sphere.

In other words, Moscow has too much to lose from souring relations with Tehran.

Leonid Issaev is a lecturer at the National Research University Higher School of Economics.

Nikolay Kozhanov is academy associate at the Russia and Eurasia Program, Chatham House, and a visiting lecturer on the political economy of the Middle East at the European University, St. Petersburg.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Brazils President Temer says the move will stimulate economic activity and will abide by environment protection laws.

The government of Brazil has abolished a vast national reserve bigger than the size of Denmark to open the area to commercial mineral exploration, drawing sharp criticism from environmentalists and political opponents.

The area, which straddles the northern states of Amapa and Para, is thought to contain rich deposits of gold, iron, manganese and other minerals.

A decree from President Michel Temer published in the official government gazette on Wednesday dissolved the protected area, known as the National Reserve of Copper and Associates (Renca).

Established in 1984 under the then military dictatorship, the protected status of the reserve, which covered roughly 4.6m hectares (17,800 square miles), restricted mining activities to state companies.

Temer has been seeking to stimulate economic activity as Latin Americas top economy emerges from the worst economic crisis in more than a century.

READ MORE: Amazon  The final frontier?

Wednesdays decree stressed that it does not override other existing environmental protection laws, such as protections for native vegetation and nature conservation areas.

But campaign groups such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have expressed concern about the environmental threat to the reserve from potential mining projects.

Brazilian newspaper O Globo quoted Michel de Souza, the public policy coordinator of WWF-Brazil, as saying that the decree is a catastrophe.

The Amazon Forest is our biggest asset. In this moment of despair and crisis, they are putting at risk the protected areas that are within the reserve, de Souza said.

Moira Birss, from the nonprofit organisation Amazon Watch, told Al Jazeera that the decision by the Temer administration is concerning.

The Amazon is extremely crucial to the global climate, Birss said. Deforestation and destruction of even small parts of the Amazon have a major ripple effect for the entire global climate.

Its a really short-sighted move to try to strip away those [environmental and indigenous] protections to what would amount to destroying many resources that in many cases will be likely to benefit foreign companies, she added.

Last month, the executive director of WWF-Brazil Mauricio Voivodic warned of the damages that mining would bring to the reserve.





Despite the strong economic appeal, the development of mining activity may bring undesirable impacts to the Renca protected areas, such as deforestation, threats to indigenous people and populations, water resource loss, loss of biodiversity, and aggravation of land conflicts, Voivodic said.

More than two-thirds of the Renca area that lies in Amapa state are subject to conservation controls or protections for indigenous areas that would limit mining, leaving only 31 percent open to research and exploration after the areas abolition, according to a 2010 government report.

In April, a report by the mining ministry said that lifting the protected status could provide access to minerals potentially existing in the region by letting private companies operate there.

However, some politicians criticised the decree as an act of devastation to the Amazon.

According to O Globo newspaper, opposition Senator Randolfe Rodrigues decried the move as the biggest attack on the Amazon of the last 50 years.
Some 20,000 civilians need to be allowed to flee ISIL-held Syrian city without fear of air raids, says top UN official.

The United Nations has called for a pause in the fighting for the Syrian city of Raqqa, which is held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group, to let thousands of civilians escape the battle.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters backed by US-led coalition fighter jets, has retaken 60 percent of Raqqa from the group. About 20,000 civilians remain trapped in five ISIL-controlled neighbourhoods, according to UN estimates.

Jan Egeland, head of the UNs humanitarian task force for Syria, said on Thursday that ISIL was doing its absolute best to use [civilians] as human shields.

Now is the time to think of possibilities, pauses or otherwise, that might facilitate the escape of civilians, knowing that Islamic State fighters are doing their absolute best to use them as human shields, he said in the Swiss city of Geneva.

People that come out cannot risk [being killed by] air raids.

READ MORE: Civilians in Raqqa under fire from all sides  Amnesty

Amnesty International said in a report published on Thursday that Raqqa residents face a deadly labyrinth, coming under fire from all sides, as the death toll from coalition air raids and SDF shelling continued to mount.

Things will only get more dangerous as the battle reaches its final stages in the city centre, said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty Internationals senior crisis response adviser.

More can and must be done to preserve the lives of civilians trapped in the conflict and to facilitate their safe passage away from the battleground.

Diplomats at the UN reacted cautiously to the call for a temporary ceasefire.

Al Jazeeras Alan Fisher, reporting from the UN headquarters in New York City, said that even though the UN would like to set up a plan for a pause in fighting, it was an impossible task.

How do you speak to ISIL? It is incredibly difficult, almost impossible situation to try and resolve. The United Nations acknowledge that, but they are looking for something, anything that can point them in the right direction, he said.

On Tuesday, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 42 civilians, among them 19 children, were killed in coalition-led attacks on Raqqa.

Residents told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that at least 100 civilians were killed over a 48-hour span by US-led air attacks on the city.

The US-led coalition says it takes all possible precautions to avoid civilian casualties, but rights groups have said it is not enough.

We are the good guys, and the innocent people on the battlefield know the difference, US Defence Secretary James Mattis said on Tuesday.

READ MORE  Syria: This is about saving humanity

But the coalition acknowledged on Wednesday that it had escalated its attacks on Raqqa, with more aircraft available since a US-backed operation successfully pushed ISIL from Mosul in neighbouring Iraq last month.

Its probably logical to assume there has been some increase in civilian casualties. But I would ask someone to show me hard information, coalition commander Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend said.

The coalition earlier this month acknowledged the deaths of 624 civilians in its attacks in Syria and Iraq since 2014.

But rights groups say the actual figure is much higher, and Amnesty criticised the coalitions investigation methods for failing to include site visits or witness interviews.
Rights group says civilians are at a greater risk as the battle to remove ISIL from its de facto capital intensifies.

Civilians fleeing the battle to remove ISIL from the Syrian city of Raqqa face a deadly labyrinth, with fire coming from all sides, rights group Amnesty International has warned.

Amnesty said on Thursday that the US-led coalition campaign to drive the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group out of its de-facto capital has killed hundreds of civilians, and those remaining there face greater risk as the fight intensifies in its final stages.

As the battle to wrest Raqqa from Islamic State intensifies, thousands of civilians are trapped in a deadly labyrinth where they are under fire from all sides, Amnesty Senior Crisis Response Adviser Donatella Rovera said, referring to another name used for ISIL.

Knowing that IS uses civilians as human shields, SDF and US forces must redouble efforts to protect civilians, notably by avoiding disproportionate or indiscriminate strikes and creating safe exit routes, she said.

READ MORE: Syria  This case is about saving humanity

In recent days, the US-led coalition intensified its ferocious bombing campaign in Raqqa, more than half of which has been captured by the US-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDP) battling ISIL.

Residents told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that at least 100 civilians were killed over a 48-hour span by US-led air attacks on the city.

The UN estimates that up to 25,000 civilians may remain in the city with tens of thousands of others have already fled, risking ISIL sniper fire and mines.

The US-led coalition says it takes all possible precautions to avoid civilian casualties, but rights groups have said it is not enough.

We are the good guys and the innocent people on the battlefield know the difference, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said on Tuesday.

But the coalition acknowledged on Wednesday it has escalated its attacks on Raqqa, with more aircraft available since a US-backed operation successfully pushed ISIL from Mosul in neighbouring Iraq last month.

Its probably logical to assume there has been some increase in civilian casualties. But I would ask someone to show me hard information, coalition commander Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend said.

READ MORE: What will happen to Raqqa after ISIL?

The coalition earlier this month acknowledged the deaths of 624 civilians in its attacks in Syria and Iraq since 2014.

But rights groups say the actual figure is much higher, and Amnesty criticised the coalitions investigation methods for failing to include site visits or witness interviews.

Relying on this limited methodology leads the coalition to discount a majority of reports as non-credible or inconclusive, and to subsequently claim that civilian casualties account for only 0.31 percent of all engagements, the report said.

Living or dying based on luck

Amnesty criticised the US-led campaign for artillery and aerial bombardment on areas containing civilians and asked for an end to attacks that risk being indiscriminate.





Whether you live or die depends on luck because you dont know where the next shell will strike, so you dont know where to run, a former Raqqa resident told Amnesty.

Syrian government forces, backed by the Russian air force and Iran-backed groups, have also been advancing against ISIL in areas south of the River Euphrates that form Raqqa citys southern edge.

Amnesty said residents had told the rights group that air raids had hit camps where people had fled the fighting.

Russia and Syria have claimed they only target fighters.

In addition to air raids, civilians in Raqqa face the threat of intense artillery fire on densely populated areas still under ISIL control.

In one incident documented by Amnesty, a dozen shells hit a single residential building, killing at least 12 people, among them a baby.

It was indescribable, it was like the end of the world, a witness told the rights group.

Human shields

Amnesty also said ISIL was using civilians who remained in the city as human shields and reported that fleeing residents described coming under ISIL sniper fire.

Violations by [ISIL] do not lessen the international legal obligations of other warring parties to protect civilians, Amnestys Rovera said.

Even outside the city, Amnesty said, civilians were coming under attack in informal camps south of the city by Syrian regime forces using internationally banned cluster munitions.

The group urged an end to the use of explosive weapons like artillery in populated civilian areas, and called for the creation of an independent and impartial investigation mechanism to examine reported civilian casualties.

READ MORE: Syrias civil war explained from the beginning

Last week, the UNs humanitarian pointman for Syria, Jan Egeland, said ISIL-held territory in Raqqa city is now the worst place in the war-torn country.

The Syrian conflict, which began with peaceful protests in March 2011 against President Bashar al-Assad, has spiralled into a multisided civil war.

The death toll stands at more than 400,000 people killed, according to UN estimates.
Team led by Kofi Annan warns against using force and ignoring concerns of worlds single biggest stateless community.

Myanmar must scrap restrictions on movement and citizenship for its persecuted Muslim Rohingya minority if it wants to avoid fuelling extremism and bring peace to Rakhine state, a commission led by former UN chief Kofi Annan said on Thursday.

Rights groups hailed the report as a milestone for the Rohingya Muslims because the government of Aung San Suu Kyi has previously vowed to abide by its findings.

The mistreatment of approximately 1.1 million Rohingya has emerged as Myanmars most contentious human rights issue as it makes a transition from decades of military rule.

Annan was appointed by state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi to head a year-long commission tasked with healing long-simmering divisions between the Rohingya Muslims and Buddhists in the western state, which is one of the poorest in the country.

Unless current challenges are addressed promptly, further radicalisation within both communities is a real risk, the nine-member commission said in its final report, describing the Rohingya as the single biggest stateless community in the world.

If the legitimate grievances of local populations are ignored, they will become more vulnerable to recruitment by extremists, the report added.

Military response decried

Security deteriorated sharply in the state on the border with Bangladesh last October after nine policemen were killed by suspected Rohingya militia in attacks on border posts.

In response, the Myanmar military sent troops fanning out into Rohingya villages in an offensive beset by allegations of arson, killings and rape by the security forces, and which sent 87,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh.

The situation in the state deteriorated again this month when security forces began a new clearance operation with tension shifting to a township, Rathetaung, where Buddhist Rakhine and Rohingya communities live side-by-side.

While Myanmar has every right to defend its own territory, a highly militarised response is unlikely to bring peace to the area, the report said.

The commission warned that if human rights were not respected and the population remain politically and economically marginalised  northern Rakhine State may provide fertile ground for radicalisation, as local communities may become increasingly vulnerable to recruitment by extremists.

READ MORE: India plans to deport thousands of Rohingya refugees

The Rohingya are denied citizenship and classified as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, despite claiming roots in the region that go back centuries, with communities marginalised and occasionally subjected to communal violence.

Annan has visited Myanmar three times since his appointment, including two trips to Rakhine State. On Thursday, he presented his findings to Suu Kyi and army chief Min Aung Hlaing.

The United Nations said in a report in February security forces had instigated a campaign that very likely amounted to crimes against humanity and possibly ethnic cleansing.

That led to the establishment of a UN fact-finding mission a month later. But Myanmars domestic investigation team criticised the UN report this month and rejected allegations of abuses.

Apartheid-like restrictions

Myanmar declined to grant visas to three experts appointed by the UN and instead the government said Myanmar would comply with recommendations by the Annan team.

But Annans panel  which has a broad mandate to look into, among other things, long-term economic development, education and healthcare in the state  said it was not mandated to investigate specific cases of alleged human rights violations.

Rights groups welcomed the report, saying its recommendations tallied with what they had long argued for.

These apartheid-like restrictions drive communities apart rather than together, eroding security and heightening the risk of mass killing, said Matthew Smith, from Fortify Rights.

Phil Robertson, from Human Rights Watch, said Suu Kyis government faced a key test.

Myanmar needs to throw its full weight behind these recommendations, and especially not blink in dealing with the harder stuff, he said.

Amnesty Internationals James Gomez, the director of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said, without concrete action by the authorities to address long-standing grievances and redress decades of violations, people in the region will continue to be trapped in a cycle of deprivation and abuse.

They must urgently lift restrictions on movement, allow full access for humanitarian workers and media, and review and amend the countrys discriminatory citizenship laws, he said.
Protesters demand criminal investigation against soldiers involved in killing teenage victim disfigured in shooting.

Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir  The Indian army killed an unarmed 19-year-old student who they mistook for a rebel, said police in Indian-administered Kashmir.

The fatal shooting on Tuesday of the teenager, Shahid Bashir Mir, led to protests on Thursday in Handwara, in the northern part of Indian-administered Kashmir.

Residents of the Daril Tarthpora village clashed with police as they demanded a criminal investigation against the soldiers involved in killing Mir.

Protesters carried Mirs body in a coffin but refused to bury the victim until such an investigation was launched.

Kashmir police chief Muneer Khan told reporters that Mir was a civilian and no weapon was recovered from his person.

How he got killed is a matter of investigation, Khan said.

Indian soldiers on Tuesday had claimed that they killed a militant during a gunfight in a village forest.

Locals identified the young man as a student of the Degree College Handwara who they said had gone missing for two days.

Mirs family members told Al Jazeera that he was picked up on Monday by an army convoy and had since been missing.

We didnt see him after that day. I went to all places, to the forests, to every village, but I couldnt find him, said Shahids father, Bashir Ahmad Mir.

One day, I got a call from the police station to identify a body. When we went to see it, my sons body was torn apart and his face was disfigured. We were shocked, Mir said.

Fearing violent protests, the government closed colleges and schools in northern Kashmir.

We cant let the youth be killed like this, protester Nazir Ahmad told Al Jazeera. Its better to join militancy and die fighting than being killed like this. What was his crime, how long this bloodshed will continue?

Human rights activist Khurram Parvez claimed that there was a financial reward for killing fighters.

READ MORE: Resistance is a way of life for Kashmiri youth

The army does such acts for monetary benefit. They want to kill the civilians and pass them [off] as militants because they get huge monetary rewards for killing a militant in Kashmir, he told Al Jazeera.

Even if militancy ends here in Kashmir, the Indian army wont stop killing people because they want to benefit from it, he said. They dont want to demoralise the soldiers who are controlling the situation for them on ground.

Around 70,000 killed in crackdown





Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the Himalayan territory in its entirety.

Rebel groups have been fighting since 1989 for the Indian-administered portion to become independent or merge with Pakistan.

Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown. India maintains roughly 500,000 soldiers in the territory.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep among Kashmirs mostly Muslim population and most support the rebels cause against Indian rule despite a decades-long military crackdown to fight the armed rebellion.

India has accused Pakistan of arming and training the rebels, which Pakistan denies.

Rebel groups have largely been suppressed by Indian forces in recent years and public opposition to Indian rule is now principally expressed through street protests.
US and Iraqi officials say ISIL is on the cusp of yet another defeat as battle to retake the key city intensifies.

Iraqi forces have completely surrounded fighters with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group in the northern city of Tal Afar, according to Iraqi and US officials.





The enemy is completely surrounded, Ryan Dillon, spokesman for the US-led coalition against ISIL, said on Thursday in a joint press conference with Iraqi spokesman Yahya Rasool.

US-backed Iraqi forces had been making gains in their battle to retake the key area from ISIL since announcing the start of the ground offensive on Sunday.

Dillon said ISIL fighters were being deprived of their resources and at the cusp of yet another defeat.

Rasool said around 2,000 ISIL fighters remain in the city. He added that about 300 fighters had been killed.

During his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi described the progress in Tal Afar as excellent, calling it an indication of the enemys collapse.

Tal Afar and the surrounding area are among the last pockets of ISIL-held territory in Iraq after victory was declared in Mosul, the countrys second-largest city.

The city is located some 70km west of Mosul and about 150km east of the Syrian border, sitting along a major road that was a key ISIL supply route.

The town had a population of about 200,000 before it fell to ISIL in 2014.

READ MORE: ISILs smouldering footprint in Qayyara

On Monday, Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, said that more than 30,000 people had already fled the city and surrounding areas.

Food and water are running out, and people lack the basic necessities to survive, she said.

The Iraqi army said it believes some 10,000 civilians remain inside the city, adding that it had secured safe corridors for them.
Head of northern Islamic Movement, who denounced his arrest as political pursuit, charged with inciting to terror.

An Israeli court has charged Sheikh Raed Salah, leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, with incitement to terrorism in connection with deadly unrest at a Jerusalem holy site last month, the justice ministry said.

Salah, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, was charged on Thursday in Haifa magistrates court on a total of six counts, including support for a banned organisation.

His group was outlawed in 2015 for alleged incitement linked to the holy site, the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount. The charges were denied by Salah and the Israeli decision to ban the movement remains contentious.

READ MORE: Islamic Movement rejects Israeli government ban

Thursdays statement by the justice ministry alleged that Salah issued expressions of praise, sympathy or encouragement for an act of terrorism on various occasions.

His alleged statements were made against a special security background in the wake of a July 14 attack in which three Palestinian citizens of Israel from Salahs hometown of Umm al-Fahm killed two policemen after emerging from the holy compound in occupied East Jerusalem.

The attackers were themselves shot dead by other officers.

The justice ministry quoted the charge sheet as saying Salahs statements were made at the Umm al-Fahm funeral of the assailants and in two sermons he delivered at Friday Muslim prayers in the town.

It said that the funeral was attended by thousands, some of them masked and chanting pledges to the dead attackers to continue in your path.

It did not specify Salahs comments there.





Salahs lawyers and supporters say his sermons are always within the bounds of free speech and that he stands against the murder of innocents.

They have called the 58-year-old preachers arrest political intimidation and say it was intended to silence dissent.

Upon his arrest on August 15, Salah said his detention is a political pursuit and part of pursuing the Arab people by the Israeli government.

Mohammed Barakeh, the chairman of the Higher Committee for the Arab citizens of Israel, told Al Jazeera that Salahs arrest is a kind of anti-democratic act to put the Arab population in Israel under pressure.

READ MORE: Palestinians decry arrest of Islamic Movement leader

Israel responded to the July 14 attack by installing metal detectors and other security equipment at the entrance, but that triggered protests in which seven Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces.

As the unrest raged, a Palestinian broke into a home in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank and stabbed four Israelis, killing three.

The crisis ended when Israel removed the security devices at the site, which includes the revered al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock.

Salahs arrest followed his release from prison in January after serving a nine-month sentence on similar charges.

The holy site in the Old City is the third-holiest in Islam and the most sacred for Jews.
After Trumps response to Charlottesville, UN says US leadership must unequivocally condemn racist speech and crimes.

UN human rights experts have called on the United States and its leadership to unequivocally and unconditionally condemn racist speech and crimes, warning that a failure to do so could fuel further violent incidents.





The rare early warning and urgent action statement, which is reserved for serious situations, was issued by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) on Wednesday.

It stopped short of criticising US President Donald Trump by name.

The US president has been under constant condemnation after he blamed both sides for violence that broke out at a rally, organised by neo-Nazis and white supremacists, in Charlottesville, Virginia earlier this month.

At the rally, 32-year-old Heather Heyer was killed after James Alex Fields, a man linked to white supremacists, rammed his car into a group of anti-racist protesters.

CERD said it was disturbed by the failure at the highest political level of the US to reject racist demonstrations.

That failure could lead to fuelling the proliferation of racist discourse and incidents in the United States, the statement said.

We are alarmed by the racist demonstrations, with overtly racist slogans, chants and salutes by white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and the Ku Klux Klan, promoting white supremacy and inciting racial discrimination and hatred, Anastasia Crickley, who chairs the UN panel, added.

The UN experts said the alleged perpetrators of the violence should be prosecuted and, if convicted, punished with sanctions commensurate with the gravity of the crime.

OPINION: Charlottesville is America everywhere

US officials should also address the root causes of the proliferation of such racist manifestations, and thoroughly investigate the phenomenon of racial discrimination , the experts said.

They added that officials should ensure that freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly are not exercised with the aim of destroying or denying the rights and freedoms of others.

The US is among 177 countries to have ratified the UN pact against racial discrimination. CERD monitors compliance and reviews countries records every few years.

Prior to the UN warning, Trump again defended his response to the violence in Charlottesville at a rally in Arizona on Tuesday.

I didnt say I love you because youre black, or I love you because youre white, Trump said. I love all the people of our country.

He accused a very dishonest media of mischaracterising his response to the protest.

In a toned-down speech on Wednesday in Nevada, the US president called for a new unity, saying that it was time to heal the wounds that have divided the US.

Resignations

Most Americans disapprove of Trumps response to Charlottesville and believe he is dividing the country, according to a new poll by Quinnipiac University.

Six in 10 Americans said they rejected the way Trump has handled race relations, and by a similar margin said they disapproved of Trumps handling of the events in Charlottesville.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, a science envoy to the US Department of State resigned over Trumps response to Charlottesville.

READ MORE: Campuses, cities reject far right after Charlottesville

Daniel Kammen, an expert on renewable energy who was appointed as a science envoy under former President Barack Obama, announced his departure in an impassioned letter that contained a hidden message that spelled out impeach using the first letter of each paragraph.

My decision to resign is in response to your attacks on core values of the United States, Kammen wrote in a letter he shared on Twitter. Your failure to condemn white supremacists and neo-Nazis has domestic and international ramifications.

Mr. President, I am resigning as Science Envoy. Your response to Charlottesville enables racism, sexism, & harms our country and planet. pic.twitter.com/eWzDc5Yw6t  Daniel M Kammen (@dan_kammen) August 23, 2017

Kammens resignation follows that of several actors and prominent arts figures from an advisory committee to the White House. The group, which included actor Kal Penn, photographer Chuck Close and author Jhumpa Lahiri, said they could not sit idly by  without speaking out against Trumps words and actions.

The president was also forced to shut down four major business advisory councils over tensions with the business community following the events in Charlottesville.
Islamabad, Pakistan  Pakistan has hit back at US accusations it harbours Afghan Taliban safe havens, with the countrys army chief rejecting financial assistance from the United States.

We are not looking for any material or financial assistance  but trust, understanding and acknowledgement of our contributions, Qamar Javed Bajwa said during a meeting with David Hale, the US ambassador to Pakistan.

We have done a lot towards [achieving peace in Afghanistan] and shall keep on doing our best, not to appease anyone but in line with our national interest and national policy, Bajwa said on Wednesday, according to a military press release.

READ MORE: Taliban responds to Trumps Afghan strategy

The defiant statement marks the first official response from Pakistans military, which controls the countrys security policy and elements of its foreign policy, to US President Donald Trumps Monday announcement of a wide-ranging new policy in Afghanistan and South Asia.

Trumps singled out Pakistan, saying that the South Asian nuclear power had been duplicitous in its dealings with the US and needed to change its policies.

We can no longer be silent about Pakistans safe havens for terrorist organisations, the Taliban, and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond, Trump said. Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with our effort in Afghanistan. It has much to lose by continuing to harbor criminals and terrorists.

On Thursday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi held a high-level meeting of the countrys national security committee, rejecting Trumps allegations and terming the policy an attempt to scapegoat Pakistan.

The committee did, however, express Islamabads resolve to work with Washington, and called on US military forces to target Pakistan Taliban elements reportedly based in Afghan regions.

We would like to see effective and immediate US military efforts to eliminate sanctuaries harboring terrorists and miscreants on the Afghan soil including those responsible for fomenting terror in Pakistan. The Afghan war cannot be fought in Pakistan, the committee said in a statement released after the meeting.

WATCH: Can Trump succeed in ending the war in Afghanistan?

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson hinted at what could be on the line if Pakistan does not comply.

We have some leverage thats been discussed in terms of the amount of aid and military assistance we give them, their status as a non-NATO alliance partner. All of that can be put on the table, he told reporters in Washington, DC.

Drone attacks could rise

Analysts say that the new policy could also see an uptick in US drone attacks in Pakistani territory.

This year, four such attacks have been reported, down markedly from the 132 assaults in 2010, according to The Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

The possibility of US forces undertaking hot pursuit operations into Pakistani territory could also be on the cards, analysts say, previously a marked red line in Pakistan-US relations.

Pakistan is also the fifth largest recipient of US aid, although the amount has dropped in recent years. In 2017, Pakistan is due to receive $742.2m in military and civilian assistance.

The US has, however, been turning the screws, particularly in the form of reimbursements to the countrys military under the Coalition Support Fund.

In July, the US withheld $50m in reimbursements to Pakistan, adding to $300m already withheld over allegations that the country had not taken sufficient action against the Haqqani Network group.

Pakistan has repeatedly denied offering safe havens to elements of the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network. The latter was held responsible for several major attacks across Afghanistan, including a truck bombing in the capital Kabul in May that killed more than 80 people and left more than 400 wounded.

In May 2016, then Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a US drone attack on his vehicle near the town of Noshki in southwestern Pakistan.

Mansour, who was travelling with a Pakistani passport under the name Wali Muhammad, had been returning from the Pakistan-Iran border town of Taftan.

Immigration records suggested that Mansour had undertaken more than a dozen trips to and from Pakistan, mostly to the United Arab Emirates and Iran, in the past several years.

Pakistans enormous sacrifices

Pakistan often points to its military operations against Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and cites its own civilian and military casualties as evidence it is part of efforts to wipe out armed groups and is also victim to attacks.

In 2014, the army launched the Zarb-e-Azb operation to remove the TTP and its allies, including al-Qaeda and other armed groups, from the North Waziristan tribal area.

The army says that operation, expanded to include nationwide security operations, has seen Pakistan slay 3,500 terrorists and lose more than 580 soldiers.

READ MORE: Hamdullah Mohib  Trumps policy will lead to stability

This year, attacks by the TTP and so-called Islamic State or Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) have killed at least 554 civilians and security forces personnel, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal.

This US strategy  was quite disappointing, Nafees Zakaria, Pakistans Foreign Office spokesperson, told Al Jazeera. It did not take into account Pakistans enormous sacrifices in the war against terrorism. We have been cooperating and collaborating with the US in the fight against terrorism.

Zakarias comments echoed Pakistans official response to Trumps announcement.

Pakistan does not allow use of its territory against any country, read a government statement released on Tuesday. Instead of relying on the false narrative of safe havens, the US needs to work with Pakistan to eradicate terrorism.

Indian role in Afghanistan

Trumps call for regional rival India to play a larger role in establishing stability in Afghanistan is likely to cause concern, analysts said.

India makes billions of dollars in trade with the United States, and we want them to help us more with Afghanistan, especially in the area of economic assistance and development, said Trump.

But in Thursdays meeting, Pakistans national security committee rejected outright the idea that India could play a constructive role in Afghanistan.

The Committee stressed that India cannot be a net security provider in the South Asia region when it has conflictual relationships with all its neighbours and is pursuing a policy of destabilizing Pakistan from the east and the west, read a government statement.

Zahid Hussain, an Islamabad-based security analyst, said the mention of India would rankle policymakers.

Until this president took over, the Americans were very careful and never encouraged India to take a deeper role, because they understood the [regional] dynamics in South Asia, he told Al Jazeera. But by publicly asking India to get more deeply involved, it will not help with Pakistan.

One can understand the tensions between the two countries, and there are accusations from both sides of aiding each others insurgents. So in this situation, it is not a very wise thing to do.

READ MORE: World reacts to Trumps new strategy on Afghan war

Pakistan and India have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.

Tensions rose further after July last year when a security crackdown by Indian forces in the disputed region of Kashmir prompted a series of attacks on Indian military installations that that country blames on Pakistan-based fighters.

Pakistan denies the charge, accusing India of fomenting unrest in its southwestern Balochistan province.

Tillerson, the diplomat

Tillerson adopted a softer tone than Trump, saying the US may attempt to pressure India to return to the negotiating table.





There are areas where perhaps even India can take some steps of rapprochement on issues with Pakistan to improve the stability, Tillerson said.

In Afghanistan, meanwhile, Trumps criticism of Pakistan was broadly welcomed.

On the Afghan side, its always assumed that the US could sort out Pakistan if it wanted to  and I think thats a wrong assumption. I think its much more tricky, said Kate Clark, a senior analyst at the Kabul-based Afghanistan Analysts Network.

Clark argued that Pakistan has, in the past, been able to manage pressure from the US effectively, while maintaining its own policies.

Its a shift in Trumps personal opinion, but I dont see it as a shift in terms of American strategy particularly, she said, of the presidents announcement. Weve got a few more troops, but thats basically enhancing the role those troops already have, which is to strengthen the [Afghan National Security Forces].

Additional reporting by Shahid Nadeem in Islamabad.

Follow Asad Hashim on Twitter: @AsadHashim
Committee investigates police accountability in Dutertes drug war, with a focus on the fatal shooting of teenager.

A Senate committee in the Philippines is addressing the police killing of a 17-year-old student  a case that has drawn widespread condemnation at home and internationally.

Senator Panfilo Lacson, chairman of the Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, led Thursdays investigation into the accountability of the Philippine National Police during a nationwide war on drugs.

The probe is broad and will examine a recent increase in police killings, with a focus on the high-profile death of the teenager.

Police fatally shot Kian Loyd Delos Santos on August 17 in the capital, Manila, amid allegations that he was framed by three officers.

Al Jazeeras Jamela Alindogan, reporting from Manila, said the investigation is being received well by the public and proving to be a tipping point for those who support President Rodrigo Dutertes war on drugs.

The Senate investigation cannot prosecute and cannot file cases but such investigations are televised on national television and are followed by the public, which exposes the loopholes in the system, the inconsistency of police operations and the need for a more coherent approach, she said.

Delos Santos was one of the scores killed over a number of days as police went on a shooting spree, heeding calls by Duterte to crackdown on suspects and win the war on drugs.

Witnesses said police forced the teenager to hold a gun, fire and run.

https://twitter.com/quaxon/status/898567628561633280

CCTV footage from the Manila suburb of Caloocan showed Delos Santos being carried by two men to a place where his body was later found, raising doubt over an official report that claimed he was shot because he fired at police officers first.

According to the police report, Delos Santos ran when he saw officers approaching him. He then pulled out a gun and opened fire at the policemen, who shot back.

But witnesses told local media that the teenager was unarmed.

Duterte in spotlight

Duterte now faces intense scrutiny over the crackdown, which until now had been largely popular in the Philippines.

Even Duterte has said he could not justify the high-profile killing of a high school student. If investigations showed police did not follow instructions, they would face justice, he warned.

Thousands have rallied in Manila since the death of Delos Santos, calling for an end to the war on drugs.

READ MORE: Kian Loyd Delos Santos, 17, killed in drug crackdown

Earlier last week, 67 people were shot and nearly 250 arrested in Manila and provinces adjoining the Philippine capital, in what police described as a one-time, big-time push to curb drugs and street crime.

Duterte had hailed as beautiful the August 15 killings of 32 drug suspects in a 24-hour crackdown, the highest death toll in a single day in his administrations anti-drug war.

According to police statistics, more than 3,000 suspects have been killed in anti-drug operations since Duterte became president on June 30, 2016.
At least 13 still missing after apparent Saudi-coalition attack in Arhab, with women and children among the dead.

The United Nations is investigating reports of a Saudi-led air attack on a hotel near Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, as the death toll rose to at least 41 people, including women and children.

Hussain Albukhaiti, an activist based in Sanaa, told Al Jazeera that at least 13 people were still missing on Thursday after the air raid a day earlier.

Houthi rebels were apparently the target of Wednesdays air raid, which hit Muntazah al-Shabab li-Rihla wa-Nawm  a popular hotel in Arhab district 35km north of the capital.

Almaseera, a television channel run by Houthis, who control Sanaa, confirmed the death toll.

Citing local residents, Albukhaiti said that the Saudi-led coalition, which controls Yemens airspace, carried out a double-tap, first striking the hotel, then a gate leading to the building.

Dozens of people were crushed to death, he said, after the roof of the two-storey building collapsed.

Several others, including first responders, were then cut into pieces by the second military attack.

Albukhaiti said that there were no Houthi rebels present in the area or at any military installation nearby at the time of the attack.

The UN could not confirm the assault, but rights officials were investigating the reports, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spokesman said in New York.

What is clear is that any attack on civilians is unacceptable. This is a message we have often repeated, and we will continue to repeat, Stephane Dujarric said.

Man-made catastrophe

UN humanitarian chief Stephen OBrien described the conflict between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government and the Houthis as a deplorable, avoidable, completely man-made catastrophe in a briefing to the UN Security Council last week.

The number of air raids per month is now three times higher than last year, and monthly reports of armed clashes are up 50 percent, he said.

The conflict in Yemen has escalated dramatically since March 2015, when Saudi-led forces launched a military operation against rebels.

Since fighting began, more than 10,000 people have been killed, and millions have been driven from their homes.

The country is also facing a health crisis, with close to 2,000 people having died from cholera since April, more than half a million people infected, and another 600,000 expected to contract the infection this year.

Additional reporting by Faisal Edroos: @faisaledroos
Qatar says it wants to strengthen ties in all fields with the Islamic Republic as ambassador set to return to Tehran.

Qatar says its ambassador will return to Tehran more than 20 months after he was recalled in protest over the ransacking of Saudi Arabias missions by protesters angry at Riyadhs execution of a prominent Shia Muslim cleric.

In a statement released on Thursday, the Qatari foreign ministry said its ambassador would return to resume his diplomatic duties, as Doha wanted to strengthen ties in all fields with the Islamic republic.

The information office did not specify an exact date for the ambassadors return  or provide his name  but said Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani discussed bilateral relations and means of boosting and developing them in a telephone call with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif.

The decision to restore ties with Iran comes amid a diplomatic dispute between Qatar and several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain.

They accuse Doha of meddling in the internal affairs of other countries and financing terrorism  a charge Qatar has dismissed as baseless.

A different direction

Qatar recalled its ambassador to Tehran in January last year after Saudi Arabia cut ties with the Islamic Republic, accusing Iran of failing to protect its embassy in the capital and consulate in Mashahd against protesters who had ransacked them.

Demonstrators stormed the Saudi Embassy in Tehran over the kingdoms execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a Shia leader who had rallied anti-government protests in the kingdoms eastern province.

Saudi Arabia said the execution was justified as part of its war on terrorism.

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a research fellow at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University said the decision to install the ambassador shows Qatar is prepared to go in a different direction.

It could very well be calculated toward reinforcing the point that Qatar will not bow to this regional pressure placed upon it, she told the AP news agency.

Qatar, which is dependent on food imports, imported the vast majority of its food from its Arab Gulf neighbours before they imposed a punishing trade and travel blockade.

Since June 11, Doha has been receiving fresh food supplies from the Iran, which has also allowed Qatars national carrier to use its airspace.
Of the 34,676 people killed in attacks last year, 238 were in Western Europe while 19,121 were in MENA, report says.

Western Europe accounted for less than one percent of the 34,676 people killed in terror attacks in 2016, and only two percent of attacks, according to a new report.

The Middle East and North Africa bore the brunt of last years violence, according to figures from the Global Terrorism Database maintained by the University of Maryland.

Wednesdays report said Western Europe suffered 269 out of a total of 13,488 attacks and 0.7 percent of victims  238 out of 34,676.

In contrast, attacks killed 19,121 people in North Africa and the Middle East  55 percent of the total.

READ MORE: Baghdad bombing kills more than 200

Iraq alone suffered nine of the 11 deadliest attacks in 2016, each claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, known as ISIS) group, the report said.

Iraq suffered the worst attack of the year, when a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden truck outside a Baghdad shopping centre in Karada, killing at least 382 people.

ISIL was the deadliest group in 2016.

Its core operatives carried out more than 1,400 atrocities that killed 11,700 people, including the attackers.

In South Asia, Pakistan was the worst-affected country, with more than 1,100 people killed, while in sub-Saharan Africa the attacks were concentrated mainly in Nigeria and Somalia.

While Western Europe accounted for only a small proportion of the total bloodshed, the study noted the spike in the use of vehicles as weapons in crowd-ramming attacks on the continent.

Recent attacks in Spain used cars.

Although this tactic is not unprecedented, there has been a marked increase in the frequency and lethality of these attacks, the report said.
Reported easing of ban prompts social media calls for Palestinians to also be present at the Jerusalem site next week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to ease a ban on legislators visiting the al-Aqsa Mosque compound next week, according to news reports said.

The news prompted calls by activists on social media asking Palestinians to also be present at the site in occupied East Jerusalem on Tuesday, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported on Thursday.

Earlier, AFP news agency had quoted an Israeli official as saying that members of parliament would be allowed to visit the site known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif and Jews as the Temple Mount in a one-day trial next week.

In consultation with security officials, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to open the Temple Mount to MPs visits, for one day at this stage, on Tuesday, August 29, the member of the prime ministers office, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

The decision was taken in light of the improvement in the security situation at the site, he said. Decisions on the issue will continue to be made in accordance with assessments of the security situation.

Israels Channel 2 cited officials confirming the move on Thursday.

READ MORE: The battle for al-Aqsa has just started

Netanyahu instructed police in October 2015 to bar MPs from visiting the site in the Old City of Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, which houses the al-Aqsa Mosque complex.





It was meant to help calm unrest that erupted in part over Palestinian fears that Israel was planning to assert further control over the compound.

The site is the holiest site in Judaism and the third-holiest in Islam, and it is central to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Jews are allowed to visit the compound but not pray there, and the site has been the scene of regular confrontations over any attempt to flout the rule.

Yehuda Glick, a legislator from Netanyahus right-wing Likud party, petitioned Israels Supreme Court in March against the ban on members of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, from visiting the hilltop site.

Glick performed prayers outside al-Aqsa Mosque under the protection of Israeli police early on Wednesday, and more than 130 Israeli settlers entered the compound.

READ MORE: We won: Al-Aqsa Mosque reopened to all Palestinians

In July, Palestinians protested night and day for nearly two weeks, refusing to pray inside the compound after Israel installed metal detectors at its entrances.

They held prayers in the streets and just outside the gates to the Old City.

Palestinians viewed the installation of the surveillance equipment as Israel asserting further control.

The new regulations came after an attack on July 14 by three Palestinian citizens of Israel, who killed two Israeli policemen in the Old City of Jerusalem.

The three men were then chased inside the compound before they were shot and killed.

In 13 days of protests, Israeli forces wounded more than 1,000 Palestinians during clashes, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

On July 26, Israeli authorities removed the surveillance equipment and other obstacles from the gates leading to the holy site.
Alleged victim of violence by Zimbabwes first lady asks court to annul governments decision to grant her immunity.

A South African model who was allegedly attacked by Zimbabwes first lady has asked a court to annul the governments decision to grant Grace Mugabe diplomatic immunity.

Willie Spies, a lawyer from AfriForum  a civil rights group that has given legal backing to the alleged victim, Gabriella Engels  said on Thursday that South Africas foreign minister misinterpreted the law by recognising the immunities and privileges of Mugabe.





[Maite Nkoana-Mashabane] applied the wrong principles, Spies told AFP news agency, adding a hearing into the case would start on September 19.

Court documents seen by AFP also ask the court to declare the diplomatic immunity decision does not confer immunity from prosecution.

The wife of President Robert Mugabe allegedly attacked Engels as the 20-year-old model waited with two friends in a luxury hotel suite in Johannesburg to meet one of Mugabes adult sons.

The attack left Engels with cuts on her head and forehead. She filed an assault charge against the 52-year-old Mugabe.

She was supposed to have reported to the police to make a statement about the incident but did not.

READ MORE: Grace Mugabe granted immunity after leaving South Africa

Police Minister Fikile Mbalula then said a red alert had been sent out to border police and she is not somebody who has been running away.

However, Mugabe flew out of South Africa on a pre-dawn flight on a presidential jet on Sunday. Hours later, the foreign ministry announced it had granted her immunity.

On Wednesday, South African MPs heckled Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa as he answered a question on the debacle in parliament.

He said the decision to grant immunity was taken in line with internationally recognised immunity regulations and admitted it was the first time we have utilised this type of convention.

Harare has made no official comment on the issue and requests for comment from Zimbabwean officials have gone unanswered.
Hundreds of thousands rally in a public show of support for ex-president amid tension between his loyalists and Houthis.

Yemens ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh has staged a mass rally in the capital, Sanaa, in a major show of force amid a public rift within an alliance fighting a Saudi-led coalition for control of the country.

Thursdays rally, which brought together some 300,000 people to celebrate 35 years since the founding of Salehs party, came a day after fighters loyal to the armed Houthi movement decried the ex-president as evil.





The Houthi rebels, who run northern Yemen together with Saleh, also condemned his description of them as a militia and recommended the declaration of a state of emergency and suspension of all party activity.

However, large crowds poured into the streets of Sanaa, waving the blue flag of Salehs General Peoples Congress (GPC) and chanting slogans such as, with our souls, with our blood, we serve you, Yemen.

We are ready to flood the front lines not by the hundreds or thousands, but by the tens of thousands of fighters who are at home, Saleh told supporters.

And the only thing the Houthi government has to do is to pay the salaries because we have the weapons.

In another part of Sanaa, Houthi supporters held their own rally, chanting slogans about defeating the internationally recognised Yemeni government and its Saudi-led coalition allies.

Tensions or political theatre?

The tactical alliance between Saleh, who was deposed five years ago, and the Houthis has often appeared fragile with both groups suspicious of each others ultimate motives and sharing little ideological ground.

The two factions have traded barbs on responsibility for challenges such as unemployment and mounting hunger after two and a half years of fighting the government based in the south, which is supported by the Saudi-led coalition.

OPINION: The search for common ground in Yemen

Yemen analyst Adam Baron, speaking to Al Jazeera from the Lebanese capital Beirut, said Saleh and the Houthis had an undeniably complex relationship.

Baron argued despite serious past grievances, the dynamics of the conflict meant the two sides are now caught in a situation where  they are in this alliance of convenience, and in many ways, they do need each other.





He added: Theres plenty of things for them to fight against each other, but at the end of the day these people are still caught in the trenches against the same common enemy.

What I wonder when I look at these tensions between Saleh and his supporters and the Houthis, are we really seeing tensions? Is this something that is largely for the consumption of the people around us, is this political theatre, or is this real tension? I think that the end of the matter is a little bit of both.

Yemens conflict widened in early 2015 when the Saudi-led coalition of Arab countries stepped in with air attacks to back up the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The air campaign has repeatedly been criticised by the United Nations for killing civilians.

One of the latest attacks killed dozens of people when a hotel was hit north of Sanaa on Wednesday, an attack investigated by the United Nations.

Stephen OBrien, the UN humanitarian chief, described the conflict between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government and the Houthi-Saleh alliance as a deplorable, avoidable, completely man-made catastrophe in a briefing to the UN Security Council last week.

The UN and human rights groups accuse both sides of committing atrocities and breaking the rules of war.

Since fighting began, more than 10,000 people have been killed and millions driven from their homes.

The country is also facing a health crisis with close to 2,000 people having died from cholera since April, more than half a million people infected, and another 600,000 expected to contract the disease this year.
Student Government will start accepting applications for new political parties Thursday.

This is the first step toward its Fall semester election cycle. Registration opens at 9 a.m. Thursday and ends noon Aug. 30, said Erica Baker, the SG Supervisor of Elections.

An informational meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Senate Chamber. Campaigning begins when the meeting begins.

Baker said generally multiple political parties sign up, so she expects the trend to continue this semester.

I encourage students to be active on campus and be engaged in the elections process, Baker wrote in an email.

To qualify as a party and appear on the ballot for Fall elections, a party must have at least six potential senators, Baker said.

In addition to new parties, parties that have existed in the past must also re-register.

Dakota Stanford, spokesperson for the Impact Party, which was first created Fall 2015, confirmed his party will be registering again, but said he couldnt comment further because he didnt want to break campaigning rules.

Anyone interested in additional details about party registration can visit the SG website and read the 700 codes under the elections tab.

Important Dates in the Fall 2017 SG Election Cycle

Thursday at 9 a.m.: Political parties can begin registering

Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.: Informational meeting in the Reitz Union Senate Chamber. Campaigning officially begins.

Aug. 30 at noon: Deadline for political party registration

Aug. 31 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.: Qualifying and interviews to run with parties begin in the third floor of the Reitz Union.

Sept. 1 and Sept. 5 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Qualifying and interviews continue.

Sept. 26 from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.: Elections begin throughout campus.

Sept 27 from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.: Final day of elections throughout campus, results released that night.
After two months in jail, a Summerfield man now faces charges after police said he robbed a man at gunpoint at the mans front door in May and tried stealing his car.

Wayne Frazier, 25, was arrested for an armed home invasion in the Stonecrest housing community, said Marion County Sheriffs Office spokesperson Lauren Lettelier.

Frazier

Frazier was first arrested June 6 after detectives said he broke into a home in the same neighborhood at 2 a.m. and stole $500 worth of miscellaneous items and a three-wheel motorcycle worth $27,000 from the victims garage, according to a MCSO press release.

On May 18, police said Frazier tried to open the front door of a different house with a gun in one hand, a Taser in the other and a bandana covering his face, according to a press release. When the homeowner opened his front door, Frazier robbed him of the money in his wallet and demanded his car keys.

The victim then slammed and locked the front door shut, and Frazier said to him through the door, Now Im gonna have to shoot you, now Im gonna have to kill you, according to the release. He then fired a bullet through the front door, missing the victim.

During the burglary, the victims wife called 911 from inside the home.

Frazier faces charges of attempted first-degree murder, home invasion robbery with a deadly weapon and shooting into an occupied dwelling.

As of press time, he remains in the Marion County Jail in lieu of a $141,000 bond.

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In a rush to get home, thousands of women flooded their chapter houses, running with open arms, to celebrate Fall Bid Day 2017.

Seventeen sorority chapters welcomed more than 1,400 women to the Panhellenic community, with an average of 80 women in each new member class, wrote Devon Leasure, the president of UFs Panhellenic Council, in an email.

The number of women who received bids this year was approximately the same as last year, Leasure said. About 1,300 women received bids last year, according to Alligator archives.

I am proud of our community of over 4,000 women for helping find over 1,400 students at the University of Florida a new home away from home, Leasure said.

Kady Cramer, a 20-year-old UF architecture junior, dropped out of the recruitment process after she received the list of houses who were interested in her in round three. Sorority rushing is divided into rounds, with each round narrowing down the list of potential houses.

When I wanted to rush, I was very open minded about, you know, which sorority I was going to be in, Cramer said. But throughout the process, you kind of like meet these girls and really picture yourself in their house.

Cramer decided not to continue because she did not have memorable conversations with the girls in the houses that picked her.

Paris Aubin, the 21-year-old president of Delta Phi Epsilon, was excited to welcome the new women home.

Im honestly proud to represent them. Aubin said. I would love to go out and say Im president of Delta Phi Epsilon; these girls are amazing.

Other sorority presidents denied to comment and did not allow an Alligator reporter to talk to women who received bids.

After Fall Bid Day, women will go through the process of becoming members of their sororities and will be referred to as pledges.

Isabella Rodriguez, a 17-year-old UF applied physiology and kinesiology freshman who received a bid from Kappa Delta, said she jumped up and down when she saw her favorite house had accepted her.

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I chose this chapter because every girl in this sorority seems down-to-earth and real, Rodriguez said. Theyre all the funniest girls ever, and they just seem a lot like me, so I feel like this is the place where I fit in the most.

A new member of the Kappa Delta Sorority sprints toward the house on Fall Bid Day 2017.

From left: Peighton Jones, a sister of Kappa Delta, shares an enthusiastic hug with new member, Fraleigh Krause.

Paige Draper (right) excitedly welcomes a new member of the Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority, Amelia Wilson.

A crowd of Phi Mu Sorority sisters excitedly cheer as they greet their new members on Fall Bid Day 2017.

Madeline Fava, a new member of Phi Mu, poses with her Fall Bid Day 2017 buddy, Reilly Lord.
An homage to Confederate war history will soon be removed from Alachua County public property.

A new digital marquee was ordered for the Alachua County Public Schools administration building, which is also known as the General Kirby Smith administration building. The building, which was formerly the General Kirby Smith Elementary School, has no registered name but still has signage from before the school closed in 1977. After the school closed and the building was converted to an administration building in 1981, the sign with Smiths name remained.

Out of force of habit, people kept using the name, said Jackie Johnson, an ACPS spokesperson.

In the past few months, superintendent Karen Clark has considered changing the name, Johnson said. In the past two weeks, Clark asked the school board members if the name should change. The board unanimously agreed the name would go.

It was an easy decision to make, Johnson said.

The new marquee will say District Office, and old lettering on the side of the building will be taken down, Johnson said.

Human resources, information technology, curriculum, the school board and the superintendent all have offices in the building.

Johnson said the events in Charlottesville, Virginia, played a role in the timing of the decision but was not the reason for it. In Charlottesville, white supremacists protested the removal of a Confederate statue at a rally that turned violent.

I think its safe to say that the events in Charlottesville sped things up, but it was something that was already in the works, she said.

Addison Staples, the executive director for the after-school program, said he was in favor of the name change. Of the 40 students in Staples program, 98 percent are African Americans. He said parents would appreciate the change.

Its a step in the right direction, Staples said. I just hope its not the only step to close the large achievement gap between our white and African American students.

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In another bold move for self-sufficiency in sugar production through the governments backward integration policy, the Pan African Conglomerate, Dangote Group ([www.Dangote.com](http://www.dangote.com/)) today in Minna, Niger State signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the State Government for the establishment of a jumbo $450million state-ofart and fully integrated sugar complex. Read more on https://dangote-group.africa-newsroom.com/press/dangote-signs-450million-jumbo-sugar-produ...Source : http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Appa-sourceTheAfric...
The government is stepping up efforts to deal with threats posed to the UK from Libya as the Foreign Secretary makes his second visit to the country in less than 6 months. The Foreign Secretary has been in Tripoli today where he met with the Libyan Prime Minister, Fayyez Al-Serraj, to discuss what more the []...Source : http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Appa-sourceTheAfric...
An intensive workshop was launched on Monday aiming to build capacity of analyzing disrupted health systems. The workshop is part of the EU funded SHAMS project workplan that is technically led by WHO Country Office in Libya. This capacity building activity will take place during the period of 21-25 August, and is held in Carthage []http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Appa-sourceTheAfric...
Every schoolchild knows that Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. He and his men sailed in the Pinta, the Nina, and the Santa Maria. The U.S. federal government in 1971 made Columbus Day a national holiday in October, with Columbus being the only person other than Martin Luther King so honored.

Born in the Republic of Genoa, and financed by the Spanish monarchy, not by any Italian, Columbus, explorer and navigator, made four voyages across the Atlantic in the hope of finding an alternative trade route to reach the East Indies by sailing west and finding gold and silver. Instead, sailing from the Canary Islands, he reached San Salvador, Bahamas.

Columbus is popularly regarded as the discoverer of the Americas, but he in fact was anticipated by the Viking Leif Erickson in the 11th century. Columbus is acclaimed as the starter of the European colonization of the New World, starting with the 2,500 who arrived with him in 1493. He did not find gold, but he did find natives, and his treatment of them has given risen to controversy.

Among other things, he headed the transatlantic slave trade. There remains controversy over the extent of his actions and those of his men. Differences exist among historians over the nature and degree of his responsibility for the poor treatment, at one extreme termed genocide, of native peoples  namely, the Taino people of Hispaniola and the Arawak people. Included in the criticism are the pressure of overwork; the importation and spread of European diseases, possibly syphilis; and the imposition of a form of slavery and sexual slavery.

Not surprisingly, Columbus is remembered in his hometown by an airport named after him and by his natal home becoming a museum. In the United States, his name, Columbus or Columbia, began appearing as a synonym for "America." He is honored by statues, and his name is given to the U.S. capital, the District of Columbia, and the capital cities of Ohio and South Carolina, plus a busy traffic circle and intersection in Manhattan, New York City and the Columbia river.

The country this year has been troubled, even confused, by the fact that a number of cities in the United States have been the setting for the destruction of monuments of those disliked for various reasons. These have mostly been prominent figures of the old Confederacy in the South. On this issue, the country is divided, and an increasing volume of voices, not only President Donald Trump, has asked where this destruction will stop.

The most recent event was in the city of Baltimore, where in August four statues of people who were associated with the losing side in the Civil War, including Robert E. Lee; Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson; and Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, who authored the 1857 Dred Scott decision, have been destroyed.

As far as one can tell, Christopher Columbus, whatever else he did, never fought for the Confederate side in the U.S. Civil War, and he may not have owned personal slaves. Yet, in 2015, red paint and a hatchet were applied to a statue of Columbus in Detroit, and another in Boston was painted red.

A more serious event occurred in the middle of the night on August 21, 2017, when a monument to Columbus built in 1792, erected by a Frenchman and the oldest in the country, was vandalized in northeast Baltimore. A group calling itself Popular Resistance used a sledgehammer to deface the base of the monument. A relevant video by someone naming himself Ty called Columbus a "genocidal terrorist" and declared, without detail, that the future is racial and economic justice.

For this group, Columbus represents the initial invasion of European capitalism into the Western hemisphere and the capitalist exploitation in the Americas on the backs of indigenous peoples.

Where does the destruction stop? The Rev. Al Sharpton appears to have called for the destruction of the Jefferson Memorial. There are two issues. One is that destruction becomes infectious, inside and outside the U.S. For example, in November 2015, vandals in Mielec, Poland pulled down a monument of gratitude to the Soviet Red Army. On August 14, 2017, the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston was vandalized for the second time this year.

The second wider problem is whether 19th-century behavior  and with Columbus, 15th-century behavior  should be judged by 21st-century morals and standards. Or should it be recognized as part of the history of the country, unwelcome though it may be to some? A number of the Founding Fathers owned slaves. Are their monuments to be destroyed, or are they to be kept because the Founders established the Constitution?

The fear is that history is being erased. Already, a number of cities in the U.S. have decided to change the name of Columbus Day to "Indigenous Peoples Day."

Abraham Lincoln is probably one of the few beyond reproach. It is wise to remember his words about the two sides in the Civil War in his Second Inaugural on March 4, 1865: "both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other."
As the former chairman of Chicago's Jewish Defense League (JDL) for ten of its ten and a half years, I led from the front. Fighting scared the hell out of me, but survival burned in my heart. My folks never raised a finger in the Holocaust, and I could not follow those footprints. Frank Collin's neo-Nazi party legally won the right to march in Skokie, Ill. in 1978, where the largest group of Holocaust survivors lived outside Israel. David Goldberger, an ACLU Jewish attorney, led the Nazis to that victory. Per former Illinois senator Howie Carroll, Collin "begged" him to find an alternative site because the Nazi leader said the JDL would kill him in Skokie. Collin had his demonstration in downtown Chicago, and Skokie was spared the ghosts of the Holocaust.

Skokie was not Charlottesville. The JDL never went into a battle with weapons, even though the FBI plant in our group asked for my permission to bring weapons to fights. My response was no. Both sides in Charlottesville had weapons. We weren't against weapons, but being constantly blasted by the Jewish leadership in the media, we couldn't afford additional bad press. Abraham Lincoln Marovitz, a powerful Chicago figure and federal judge, invited me to his office before the pending JDL/Nazi confrontation. His suite was a picture gallery of him and world leaders. After we spoke, he realized I wasn't the extremist he was expecting. I had graduated from the University of Illinois and knew my history. We were both Marine Corps vets. He beseeched me to avoid a Nazi street fight, but my response was that it's best to fight a cancer while it's small. We agreed to disagree, and the mood was civil.

I offered to work with the FBI, but they figuratively spat in my face. Subsequently, a Chicago Police undercover sergeant walked into my office and asked me to work with him. We shook hands, and I asked him to put out his cigar. He said he could see I was going to be a problem and smiled. We became solid friends, and I promised that no JDL member would ever fight with a Chicago cop. In ten years, it never happened. The cops had our backs, and I think I survived thanks to the Irish Catholic undercover officer, while our leaders in California and New York were murdered. Early on, he told me the Klan and the Nazis had decided to kill me. He said, "Carry a gun," but couldn't authorize it.

I was nearly killed four times. Some of our enemies carried fighting sticks, and many of our men were injured. I walked away from every fight, but I was injured every time and still suffer intense pain from those injuries. Never losing my temper in a fight, even with people kicking, punching, and hammering me with sticks, helped me survive. In Charlottesville, people fighting were raging out of control. We urged our guys to keep cool in fights.

Bigotry is a mental illness. The fiery hatred I saw in videos of Charlottesville was matched in my time when ten of us went to Nazi headquarters before the scheduled Nazi march in Skokie and challenged Collin to come out and fight right there. Police were like locusts, and hostile crowds, five and six deep on the sidewalks for blocks, screamed out their hatred of Jews. Two tough-looking plainclothes dicks stood in the doorway like Chicago Bears linemen, blocking the entry. We refused to bust our way past the coppers, and once inside, the Nazis could have legally shot us. But that one incident of JDL insanity convinced Collin he had some crazy Jews on his hands. My police contact told me the Nazis were worried.

In Charlottesville, both sides fought with the police, and the numbers there were huge, way beyond what we faced. However, the threat of deadly harm was present in both locales. In 1977, I had to leave town for business and appointed a guy to take charge at a Nazi demonstration, cautioning him to keep all our members together. He didn't, and a tough 50-year-old member got isolated. Eight Nazis beat him to a pulp with fighting sticks. They caved in his skull; he became epileptic, lost his job, wife, and everything else. It was heartbreaking.

Every time we fought hate groups, I was marked by a team of four or five men, hoping to beat me to death. Thankfully, my buddies picked off a few of them, and I grounded a few of them, and, though injured, I was alive to return another day. In Charlottesville, it looked like a total free-for-all without any direction.

No one ever drove a car into our men. I saw women fighting the Nazis in Charlottesville, but the JDL said no to women fighting. Charlottesville was a mob on both sides. In Chicago, both sides had organized teams of fighters. Success was easier to measure when battling it out in Chicago. Hardly ever were the police between us and the Nazis as in Charlottesville.

Today's hate groups know that many Jews are armed and that "never again" is their password. The 1930s and '40's are gone. However, I was stunned by the huge numbers of Nazis in Charlottesville, invigorated by their own success. Did those marchers forgot that 50 million people died in WWII because of what their flags represent? Those parading under the swastika need a WWII history refresher. Six million Jews and 5 million Christians, unarmed, were slaughtered by Nazi cowards. So many American Christian families lost loved ones fighting Hitler. Shame on Christians, and anyone else, for marching in Charlottesville under the swastika. Their flag is Old Glory and nothing else! Their loved ones who died for freedom would turn over in their graves knowing that their family members are fighting what these G.I.s died for in WWII.

Once we took an American and a Nazi flag from Collin. He wanted only the Nazi flag back. That says it all.

Frank Collin's dad, Max Cohan, was shoved into Dachau early on but managed to get out and survived. I knew him, and his psyche was shattered. Collin was booted out of the main Nazi Party because his dad was a Jew. The father of the leader of the main Nazi Party in Chicago fought Nazis in the Norwegian underground. Those fathers suffered under the swastika only to have their sons become Nazis. Such deep pain never heals.

Charlottesville is far more threatening to American liberty than Collin was in the 1970s. My wife and I always keep current passports, means of protection, and financial readiness for the day we hope never comes. The JDL members were American patriots, but a country controlled by Nazis would laugh at that, and Collin told me he'd kill all the Jews.

Upon college graduation, I enlisted in the Marines, declined an offer to apply for jet fighter pilot school, and served in the ranks, rising to infantry sergeant. The Corps put the grit in my gut to stand for the American flag and the Constitution. It's doubtful that many of these hatful types served their country. We Marines became brothers in arms and looked past religion, color, and ethnicity and stood shoulder to shoulder against those who would destroy the finest country in the world, the USA. These hate groups, no matter whose side they are on or what they call themselves, are not Americans in spirit or behavior. I hope American patriots look past everything if bad times come and stand as one to save a nation, with all its failings, which has been a light of hope unto this angry world.
George Clooney and his wife just donated a large sum of money to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a liberal hate group active in smearing non-adherents to Marxist theology. He said, "There are no two sides to bigotry and hate." Paul Ryan has been equally generous with his wisdom on how there is somehow only one side to issues of bigotry and hatred, though there are clearly two or more cultural factions expressing diametrically opposed views on myriad social and cultural issues.

If there are not two sides to a phenomenon, then there is only one side. If there's only one side, then everyone must be on the same side, since there isn't another option. Working on such deep philosophical levels, we can then discern that those who rallied in Boston to protest against "free speech," for example, actually speak for all of us when they demand that those who express resistance to anarchy and repression and hatred on the left, and who are then attacked violently for defending cherished American freedoms, should stop speaking at all or assume the risk of injury and death through anarchistic mob violence. Remember that no one speaking in favor of "free speech" in Boston was a Nazi, or a KKK member, or a member of any other traditional Democrat-associated group. They were "counter-protested" for defending the fundamental American right to speak freely without injury from other citizens.

One must be a champion simpleton to believe that the only people who hate are those the simpleton vehemently hates. Or perhaps it is merely an herculean act of dishonesty that motivates a seemingly cogent person to say something so monumentally dishonest and stupid.

Politically speaking, if we boil this down to a uniquely American perspective, we observe that there are two clearly recognizable sides. On the one hand, there are those Americans who recognize the necessity of the Constitution and Bill of Rights as a shield against the tyranny and oppression of a mob of frenzied zealots bent on power and destruction. Those Americans  we'll call them "grown-ups"  understand what the Founders knew. Sooner or later, the capacity for human vice, and the ease with which it is manipulated, will exceed the capacity for reason and wisdom in a significant percentage of the population, and there will be demands for revenge and retribution by those whose weakness has been rubbed raw.

On the other hand, there are those Americans  we'll call them "angry toddlers"  who are emotional puppets, whose alarming mental weakness predisposes them to manipulation and misdirection dressed up as virtue. They decline mental exercises that require objectivity, reason, and actual morality, because these do not bring the desired result, which is their presumed moral primacy over those their handlers seek to dominate and control, not to mention the wealth and property of those targets. These people are not the most dangerous among us, but they run a close second because of their utter inability to process basic information and come up with a correct answer. The most dangerous are those who manipulate such people to steal what they want while pretending to be making things better.

At the heart of our social conflict, we are engaged in a total war for the soul of America, and despite the malice of people like Clooney and Ryan, there certainly are two sides. As Americans, we on one side of the struggle see the anarchists and Marxists for who they really are. They, on the other hand, see the liberals and progressives for who they are and recruit them for their gullibility and stupidity to fight us. No political philosophy has brought more hatred, death, and destruction to the world than communism, and no political movement has ever been misrepresented so fully to its "useful idiots." It is an ideology motivated by every human vice, yet the "anarcho-communists" who constitute the Antifa movement have somehow led Democrats to believe that Antifa's cause is their cause, and it must be fought by frenzied mental patients throwing bottles of urine, clubbing bystanders, tearing down statues, killing police, and attacking elderly women holding American flags.

So liberal Democrats happily and proudly rally against "free speech" for the sake of their righteousness. They are committed to eradicating the Bill of Rights for its protection of those they hate, those against whom they are deeply bigoted, those whose declared right to refuse to be owned by tyrants is the single biggest obstacle to their victory. They have decided for themselves that violence, but only their violence, is acceptable, because their motives are so "moral." Their "morality" encourages violence to achieve peace, which is akin to encouraging rape to achieve virginity. Such is the intellectual depth of the tools being manipulated by a communist movement to destroy capitalism and, with it, their own individual freedom.

To win this fight, those on the Left, regardless of party affiliation, recognize the need to falsely moralize about exercising resistance to totalitarianism, embodied by not only believing in, but practicing protected inalienable rights. That is the objective when saying something so patently absurd as "There are no two sides to hate and bigotry." It is to discourage and dishearten those who have not surrendered to liberal/progressive/Marxist/communist theology, those who have not offered themselves up to the wisdom of the state to come, which will be controlled by those wearing black clothing, hoods, and masks. It calls self-preservation against our own overthrow "hatred" and "bigotry" and treats these as morally unacceptable principles. To those on the left, those who would unseat our president and hasten our plunge from a constitutional republic to a mobocracy, there is only one side in this struggle that is valid: theirs.

Remember what the left means when it says there are not two sides to hate and bigotry. Leftists are actually saying it is hate and bigotry to resist them. It is hate and bigotry to wish freedom for yourself and your children, to demand to keep what you earn, to live your life peacefully, and to reject totalitarianism. It is hate and bigotry to live in white skin and not believe that it should determine one's future any more than dark skin should, to refuse to be owned by those whose every word and deed is itself motivated by hatred and bigotry against us. To them, refusal to accept the place in society they have reserved for us is the epitome of hate and bigotry.

We must accept and understand that we cannot win this argument and escape the impending punishment of the left's overwhelming hatred and bigotry by surrendering. If the leftists prevail, they will exact their revenge upon us for our refusal to buckle and submit. We must do all we can now to remain free, while they lie the hardest to conquer us.
The Muslim Brotherhood has penetrated every one of our national security agencies, including our intelligence agencies, according to retired Navy admiral James "Ace" Lyons, former commander of the U.S. Pacific fleet. Adm. Lyons made this startling declaration Jan. 16, 2015 during a conference sponsored by the Center for Security Policy, a conservative Washington, D.C. think-tank.

In the two years since, no action has been taken to reverse this dangerous situation. Empowerment of individuals of questionable loyalties within our intelligence community continues unabated, as does a counterfactual view of Islam and thwarting of terrorist investigations. Our government routinely targets and cashiers productive, legitimate counter-terrorism experts and fails to label terrorist organizations as such. U.S. intelligence failures and feckless politicization have gone on for years, rendering our protections against terrorism ineffectual and putting our country at grave risk.

Post-9/11 Infiltration of the FBI

The terrorist attacks of 9/11 paradoxically led to major infiltration, according to Paul Sperry, author of Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives Have Penetrated Washington. After 9/11, the FBI sought to rapidly hire more Arabic-speaking translators, Perry writes in his 2005 book. Arabic-speaking Jews applied, many of them retired linguists formerly with Israeli radio and the Israeli army, but only one was ever hired. Then-FBI director Robert Mueller, who had mandated Muslim sensitivity classes for agents, confirmed that the hires were blocked by misgivings over "dual loyalty" and concerns for Arab Muslims who might be offended to work with Jews.

Further, Mueller onerously screened Jewish applicants but expedited Arab Muslim candidates, hiring some without full background checks. One Pakistani woman earned a top-secret clearance despite a prior FBI investigation of her father's Taliban and al-Qaeda ties. Once hired, she proselytized, led prayer groups, and lobbied for separate bathrooms for Muslim translators. Six months later, the FBI discovered its radio frequencies leaked to Pakistan. Even more astonishing, the woman's sons were later hired to translate classified material.

Sperry's book details how Mueller allowed thousands of potential terrorists to apply by seeking translators from CAIR, ISNA, and the American Muslim Council, an organization founded by convicted terrorist Abdurahman Alamoudi.

Indeed, some Arab Muslim translators who were hired went on to warn individuals under government investigation, failed to translate large sections of surveillance log conversations, and created a backlog by translating slowly. Translators also accepted gifts from foreign targets and had romantic ties to terrorists.

Sperry recounts Sibell Edmonds's experience. A Turkish-American translator, Edmonds was shocked at 9/11 celebrations in the translators' office on her first day of work. She was approached by a Turkish translator working for a Turkish spy and for Turkish groups under surveillance. Another translator, also from Turkey, tried to engage her in espionage. She reported her encounters and conferred with her supervisor; no action was taken. After reporting the incidents to upper management, she was fired.

Destruction and Ignoring of Able Danger Data

Destruction of crucial data also puts the U.S. at risk. In 1999, Able Danger, a data-mining program, was created to provide the military with links to al-Qaeda-associated individuals. It identified five al-Qaeda cells, including the "Brooklyn cell" of 9/11 hijacker leader Mohamed Atta and 9/11 hijackers Marwan Alshehhi, Khalid Almihdhar, and Nawal Alhazmi.

In April 2000, Able Danger contractor James Smith was fired, despite having done much of the data-mining and analysis on al-Qaeda and discovering a link between Atta and Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman, the first World Trade Center bomber. Further, Pentagon official Major Eric Kleinsmith, who said Able Danger's extensive data could map al-Qaeda's worldwide threat, was ordered to destroy all 2.5 terabytes of program data, equivalent to 25% of the Library of Congress's print materials.

Philip Zelikow, 9/11 Commission executive director, did receive a detailed account of the program from Able Danger intelligence officers, but commission members later said they were never informed that Able Danger had identified Atta and other hijackers. Records were destroyed that identified Atta and three hijackers more than a year before the attacks and the information not utilized or mentioned in the final 9/11 Commission Report. Further, security clearance for Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, a former Able Danger intelligence operations officer, was revoked when he tried to testify before the commission.

Shutting Down Operation Green Quest

After 9/11, scores of federal agents led by the U.S. Customs Service raided more than 100 homes, businesses, charities, and think-tanks in Herndon, Virginia, outside Washington, D.C. Codenamed Operation Green Quest, the multi-agency unit netted seven trucks of files and computers seized from the Safa Group, also called the SAAR network, after Sulaiman Abdul Aziz al-Rajhi, a Saudi banker and billionaire. Sulaiman was close to the Saudi royal family and part of the Golden Chain, early 1988-1989 al-Qaeda supporters. He was also connected to Osama bin Laden's personal secretary, Wadih El-Hage, who was convicted of the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Africa.

Federal investigators were particularly interested in connections between the SAAR network and Al Taqwa Bank, a Swiss bank closed after 9/11 for suspected ties to al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood. U.S. officials tracked $20 million flowing from the SAAR network through Al Taqwa Bank, as well as ties to Muslim Brotherhood leaders, according to a report by author Douglas Farrah.

But the Mueller-compromised FBI demanded control of Green Quest and got it from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2002. DHS would later accuse the bureau of sabotaging Green Quest and other terror-financing investigations implicating Saudis. In particular, Ptech, a Boston-area software developer, was reported to the FBI by a Ptech whistleblower who cited government contracts with a major Saudi investor identified as a terrorist financier. After the bureau allegedly failed to act, the National Security Council supported a raid of Ptech offices by other Green Quest federal agents.

But in 2003, following extensive internal government battles and rumors of Saudi and Muslim Brotherhood indignation over the raid, Green Quest was permanently shut down. Charges were dropped against Ptech, which continued to operate under a different name.

The 9/11 Commission Report never mentioned Ptech, Al Taqwa Bank, the Muslim Brotherhood, or any entities in the SAAR network. Instead, the report "largely exonerated" the Saudi government of any involvement in the financing of al-Qaeda terrorists.

Presenting Counterfactual Views of Islam

Another continuing government misstep puts a benign face on Islam. President Trump's national security adviser, Lt. Gen. Herbert McMaster and his counter-terrorism adviser, Sebastian Gorka, both espouse a counterfactual understanding of Islam, according to former FBI analyst and Muslim Brotherhood expert John Guandolo. Guandolo says the two believe that the "terrorist threat America faces has nothing to do with 'true' Islam."

McMaster told the National Security Council that the term "radical Islamic terrorism" is not helpful to characterize terrorism, Guandolo recalled. Further, McMaster said being a terrorist is "un-Islamic" and that ISIS uses a "perverted interpretation of religion to justify violence."

However, Guandolo asserts that Islamic doctrine mandates jihad, or warfare, against non-Muslims. Thus, the more intensely Muslims study Islam, the more likely it is that they will support and wage jihad. Further, he says Gorka falsely claims that 99.9% of Muslims do not support terrorism, despite substantial polling data proving this untrue.

Sabotaging Experts on Islam

The U.S. fight against terrorism is also weakened when individuals are removed from intelligence functions and military positions because of their views on Islamic ideology and threat doctrine. Two examples stand out.

In 2008, attorney Stephen Coughlin, a decorated intelligence officer and recognized specialist on the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic doctrine, was cashiered from the Pentagon. Hesham Islam, who worked on the Pentagon's outreach program to Muslims and was suspected of ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, successfully sought Coughlin's dismissal. According to Steve Emerson, executive director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism, Islam was "an Islamist with a pro-Muslim Brotherhood bent who brought groups into the Pentagon who were unindicted co-conspirators."

In 2009, Philip Haney, a DHS specialist on Islam, was ordered to delete or modify hundreds of records tied to individuals, schools, mosques, and Islamic centers that would have established links to thwart terrorist attacks. Haney was reprimanded repeatedly, left the agency, and wrote a book, See Something Say Nothing, documenting his experience. He maintains that if his work had continued, he might have identified San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook and prevented the attack that killed 14 Americans and wounded 22. Instead, he said DHS conceded to the demands of the Obama State Department, with its overt political alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood, and shut down his work.

Failing to Designate Terrorist Entities

Despite copious information on subversive activities obtained from research, investigations, surveillance, undercover operations, and open-source documents, two major terrorist entities are still not on the State Department's designated terrorist group list.

Jamaat ul-Fuqra, or Muslims of America, maintains several dozen paramilitary camps in the U.S. It has committed attacks and robberies, has acquired contraband weapons and recruits, and attracts followers within U.S. prisons. Founded by Sheik Gilani in 1980, members participated in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. A 2007 report by the Center for Policing Terrorism called Jamaat ul-Fuqra the "best positioned group to launch an attack on the United States, or, more likely, help Al Qaeda to do so."

Meanwhile, for several decades, one of the world's largest sponsors of terrorism, the Muslim Brotherhood, has developed an extensive network of front groups across the United States, infiltrating our government and national security agencies. Founded in 1928, the Brotherhood supports extremist Islamic ideology and has direct ties to Hamas, al-Qaeda, and other jihadist groups. Its terrorism fundraising web of entities in the United States was exposed during the 2008 Holy Land Foundation trial, the largest terrorism funding trial in our nation's history.

Yet Muslim Brotherhood's leaders have been to the White House during the Obama, Bush, and Clinton administrations. During his presidential campaign, Trump pledged to place the group on the terrorist entity list, but it remains a back-burner issue.

Conclusion

Not everyone has ignored the threats from Islamic infiltration. As vice chair of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-Texas) repeatedly and unsuccessfully sought access to the documents supplied to terrorist defendants during the Holy Land Foundation trial. He and four other Republican members of Congress have documented Muslim Brotherhood infiltration at the highest levels of the U.S. national security apparatus, only to have their calls for investigations ignored.

Meanwhile, Judicial Watch recently obtained documents revealing that the FBI under director Robert Mueller purged hundreds of pages of training curricula related to Islamic terrorism at the behest of Muslim Brotherhood front groups who were unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Foundation case.

This sampling of past national security fiascos and cover-ups and the more recent documentation of Islamic penetration and sabotage may be only a fraction of what is actually occurring. It is abundantly clear that many of those pledged to protect Americans have engaged in national security malfeasance. James Lyons's assertion about infiltration of our intelligence community must be heeded and investigated. For our nation to be protected against Islam's virulent threat, we need an immediate course correction and removal of those in Washington who have long ignored the threat. As Trump rightly says, "the swamp must be drained."
Americas existence is dangerously threatened from a devastating electromagnetic pulse (EMP) from a solar superstorm (aka a coronal mass ejection or CME), and neither Republican nor Democratic leaders have resolved to fix it. This must change quickly -- before its too late.

A powerful geomagnetic storm, known as the Carrington Event, occurred on September 1-2, 1859. The Carrington Event is named after the British astronomer Richard Carrington who witnessed a dramatic and large white light flare that was associated with a solar CME and resultant major geomagnetic storm. This solar storm knocked out the telegraph system across the United States, demonstrating the devastating effect powerful solar storms can have on an unprotected electric grid.

Though 158 years have passed since the Carrington Event, the United States remains under threat from a solar superstorm that could bring down the electric grid. In fact, on July 23, 2012, the Earth barely missed a solar superstorm comparable in strength to the Carrington Event. Had the 2012 solar storm occurred a mere nine days earlier, the Earth would have been hit. And if the solar superstorm had hit, according to Daniel Baker of the University of Colorado, we would still be picking up the pieces in 2014. In an article published in the journal Nature Communications, research physicist Dr. Janet G. Luhmann, who is part of NASAs STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) team said that if the 2012 solar storm had hit Earth, it probably would have been like the big one in 1859, but the effect today, with our modern technologies, would have been tremendous. Another author and fellow STEREO colleague Dr. Ying D. Liu described the results of a direct hit by a solar storm of this magnitude as follows:

An extreme space weather storm -- a solar superstorm -- is a low-probability, high-consequence event that poses severe threats to critical infrastructures of the modern society. The cost of an extreme space weather event, if it hits Earth, could reach trillions of dollars with a potential recovery time of 4-10 years. Therefore, it is paramount to the security and economic interest of the modern society to understand solar superstorms.

In a 2011 report, the Department of Homeland Security conceded the significant deleterious effects of major geomagnetic storms but claimed that cost-benefit analyses did not justify work toward hardening the electric grid. However, according to a 2012 study by physicist Pete Riley published in Space Weather and quoted by NASA, there is a 12% chance of a solar superstorm comparable to the Carrington Event hitting the Earth within 10 years. This means that within 20 years there is a 23% chance of a destructive solar storm, within 50 years a 47% chance of occurrence, and within a century a 72% chance.

While such looming danger necessitates Congressional approval of legislation that requires hardening the U.S. electric grid from EMP attacks in a thorough and expeditious manner, members of both parties have either not taken the threat seriously enough or have actively stood in the way of protecting the national electric grid. According to a study by the Foundation for Resilient Societies that was presented in 2015 before a Congressional hearing on the EMP threat, the cost of hardening the electric grid would range from $10 billion to $30 billion. In a 2013 letter to President Obama about the threat of EMP, Thomas Popik, the

Chairman of the Foundation for Resilient Societies, wrote that grid failure is an existential threat to the survival of the United States as a nation and to the American population.

According to an estimate by Dr. William Graham, chairman of the blue-ribbon Congressional EMP Commission, as much as 90% of the U.S. population could perish from a solar EMP. According to the Foundation for Resilient Societies, the projected costs of a regional or nationwide electric grid outage lasting months or years vary widely, but range from $1 trillion to over $10 trillion -- plus potential widespread loss of life for the substantial majority of the 320 million people living in this nation.

According to researchers from the University of Cambridges Centre for Risk Studies and other institutions, if the nations electric grid fails from a powerful geomagnetic storm, it would cost the U.S. economy up to $41.5 billion per day. This means that a halt to the U.S. economy of even one day would surpass the high estimate for hardening the nations electric grid. For perspective, if the outage lasted one year, it would cost up to $15.15 trillion or over 80% of the U.S. GDP, which stood at $18.57 trillion in 2016.

Even in a more optimistic scenario where only 10% or even 1% of the population died from the results of a powerful geomagnetic storm, the investment needed to prevent that would be far more than worth it. For perspective, the total number of U.S. military deaths in all American wars throughout the nations history amounts to less than 0.5% of the current U.S. population.

The economic costs, and certainly the potential cost in life, easily necessitate swift action to harden the grid. A cost-benefit analysis based on the chance of a major solar storm (even leaving aside the risk from manmade EMP attacks) coupled with the cost of inaction lead to the inexorable conclusion that the nations electric grid must be hardened immediately. It is a betrayal of the highest order to leave U.S. citizens in such grave danger.

Resolution of this threat must not be placed on the back burner as Congress and previous presidents have allowed for all too long. The Critical Infrastructure Protection Act (CIPA) that was passed into law as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in December of 2016 is a toothless bill that requires research to the extent practicable into protecting the electric grid. CIPA only mandates that the Department of Homeland Security produce recommendations within a year about hardening the grid, with updates to Congress every subsequent two years. After years of superior bills (like H.R. 2417) being held up in committee or otherwise blocked, CIPA is at least a first step. However, it doesnt directly mandate any implementation of hardening the electric grid, includes vague language, and is far from adequate to effectively address the EMP threat. The bill expressly grants no regulatory authority to the Administration and no funding for the grid-hardening program.

Congress and President Trump must take accelerated steps to harden the vulnerable U.S. electric grid as well as take further steps to protect all areas within the U.S. military and civilian infrastructure that may remain vulnerable to a solar storm.
The John Brown Clubs are gun clubs for leftists affiliated with Redneck Revolt, an outfit in turn affiliated with Antifa (they marched with the other Antifa gangs in Charlottesville). Redneck Revolt was founded to agitate among rural working-class whites across the country, the people left behind by the attempt to shift the United States into a hierarchal meritocracy. This effort reveals considerably smarter thinking than that of Obama, the coastal elites, or for that matter, Kevin Williamson and Bill Kristol.

The John Brown Clubs were founded to exploit working class interest in firearms, and to provide training and familiarization to the more effete levels of the resistance. Those of a certain age will recall the Gay Communist Gun Club, one of SNLs funnier skits. That, in a nutshell, and with a large helping of divisive racial politics, is what the Brownies are.

The Brownies had a brief fling of notoriety this past Spring when the original Phoenix branch showed up at a Trump rally toting guns and acting as menacing as any random group of left-wing snowflakes can manage. Widely covered in the regional and left-wing press, the stories featured shots of the standard dreadlock and nose chain denizens of the current left with an impressive array of shoulder weapons. (Interestingly, none of them were masked, as has become customary on the left. Presumably, the sight of armed and masked people assembling would have required arrests.)

Close examination by firearms experts revealed that at least some of the weaponry were actually airsoft toys with the orange rings clipped off. Not an impressive debut, in other words.

All the same, a number of new branches have sprouted in Denver, Orlando, Cincinnati, Seattle, and Maine.

Something often overlooked when dealing with the American left is that theyve adapted the process of projection as a political strategy. It works like this: the left accuses the opposition (it could be the right, or the middle, or even traditional liberals, for that matter) of some crime or other. It can be anything at all, and it doesnt matter if its true or not  the accusation is all that counts. Once placed in the record and validated by our current media, the accusation then becomes a new benchmark for political activity  as far as the left goes, anyway. Because the far right or the fascists, or whoever, violated the rules, its now okay for the left to do the same. They have no choice, really, if they want to save the People from being ravaged by the fascist hordes. You have to fight fire with fire, no?

So, if Richard Nixon subverted the Constitution during Watergate, well, that justifies every left-wing president since, from Carter to Clinton to Obama, in doing the same. Since the far right impeached Bill Clinton for no reason at all, the left is justified in threatening every Republican president with impeachment. Since George W. Bush cheated his way into the presidency in 2000, we cant complain about Hillary pulling the same thing.

We could go on endlessly from there, but to cut to the chase, this is what the John Brown Clubs are all about  an attempt to respond to the editorial cartoon horror-flick image of conservatism by being even more horrifying. Comprised of bitter clingers, Nazis, and Klansmen, right-wingers lope through the twilight hills with a firearm in one hand and a Bible in the other, threatening progressives, undocumented immigrants, and every flavor of LGBTPDQ+ there is. What choice do the Brownies have but to respond in kind?

And respond they have. A recent video, released for purposes of shock and awe, reveals the Phoenix club in full panoply as a platoon of Harry Callaghans, John McClains, and Rambos  in their own minds, anyway:

Targets set up twenty paces away, clearing their weapons while aiming at their feet, that bizarre Frederick the Great-era firing line. Clearly, the Brownies know next to nothing about guns  how to handle them, fire them, gun safety, whatever. Because they dont think there is anything to know. The impression the left has about gun owners is simple: gibbering psychopathic loons waving weapons of mass destruction in a pathetic effort to make up for personal deficiencies. A threat to decent people, and nothing more.

Leftists  Brownies among them  have no idea why people own guns. Because they have no idea, they think they have nothing to learn beyond what end the slug comes out of. The process of learning about guns  how they are safely handled, how they are used, the differences between types and makes, and what they are for -- does not occur. The same is true of the growth in character that serious firearm ownership demands and encourages  the enhanced sense of personal responsibility and discipline that is one of the great benefits of living with firearms. The Brownies dont know that this exists. Therefore, it doesnt happen. Its as if somebody tossed a set of keys to a Mustang to a fourteen-year-old and told her to take it away without any effort to impart driver safety, the rules of the road, and so forth.

No  to the left, guns are simply a menace. So the Brownies have established themselves as a menace. Thats why they showed up at the Trump march in Phoenix. Interestingly, there were no photos of the Trump marchers in the articles dealing with the incident. Why not? Because those photos would have revealed the Trump marchers to be unarmed. Normal everyday people, husbands and wives, families, small businessmen, professionals, students, all out to express their support of the government with nary a pistol in evidence. Because they dont need them. Because there would be no point.

But here come all the Che, Jrs., menacing, belligerent, willing to up the ante, to push things as far as theyll go  and then even farther.

That, after all, is exactly what their historic namesake did. John Brown is greater than a historical figure. He is an icon. An icon of chaos, murder, and bloodshed. The absolute bloody-minded ultraviolet far end of the abolitionist movement, one who actively frightened sincere figures such as Frederick Douglass. Brown was one of the belligerents who made Kansas bleed in the late 1850s, personally responsible for at least one massacre of Southern settlers at Pottawatomie in 1856. He returned east in hopes of an even greater bloodletting, one encompassing the entire South.

He didnt have to do this  while in Kansas, he had also freed a number of slaves and sent them north toward freedom. He could have continued that, acting as something of an abolitionist Robin Hood, bestowing freedom while making the slaveholders look foolish in their effort to turn Kansas into a slave state. But something else called to him  something that to modern eyes bears a strong resemblance to the behavior of Charlie Manson or Jim Jones. In the end, he merely convinced the South as a whole that its own propaganda was true  that abolitionists, far from a Gospel-inspired crusade in favor of Christian values, were a gang of bloodthirsty maniacs eager to plunge the South into apocalypse. And once they convinced themselves of this, they set about, against their own interests, in making it true.

The John Brown clubs didnt choose that name by accident. Charlottesville must be thought of in same terms as Bleeding Kansas and Harpers Ferry. Because its the same impulse of near-demented fanaticism that lies behind them all, a century and a half apart.

The Harpers Ferry raid was intended to kick off a massive rebellion that would drown the slave-owning class in a tidal wave of blood. So was Charlottesville. Only the victims, this time, were to be the bourgeois, the middle class, the ordinary Americans who insist on going their own way in defiance of the laws of History.

After arranging for a collision between the two gangs (recall that John Brown sponsor Redneck Revolt was there, taking part in the attack), McAuliffe and Streeter stood down the police in hopes of a confrontation or even worse, a massacre. A few dozen dead kids would have suited them just fine. But this time (and largely, I would be willing to bet, thanks to the basic cowardice of the KKK/Nazis), they did not get it.

Why werent the John Brown Clubs at Charlottesville? Because they werent ready yet. God forbid that the tag team visible in that video tried to take on anybody experienced in arms. But they will be. For what other purpose do they exist?

Eventually, they will show up with their fancy weapons that they dont understand. Eventually, somebody is going to pull that trigger, as happened at Kent State in 1970. Then the Brownies will learn what guns are all about.

They will also learn what it is to be cannon fodder.
If you're a student at Clemson and a Republican, you might want to avoid assistant professor of human-centered computing Bart Knijnenburg's class. Chances are, taking the course will bring down your grade point average.

That's because Professor Knijenbyrg has a decided bias against Republicans and Trump supporters, as he made perfectly clear in a series of Facebook posts.

Campus Reform:

"All trump supporters, nay, all Republicans, are racist scum," Assistant Professor of Human-Centered Computing Bart Knijnenburg wrote in a recent Facebook post. "All republicans? Yes," he confirmed in the comments section. "Your complacency made this happen. Pick a side: denounce your affiliation, or admit you're a racist." Some individuals questioned the broad accusation, one of whom chided Knijnenburg that "We must be careful not to generalize as this is arguably the root cause of the extreme right's existence," adding, "I've always looked up to you, as my 1st yr mentor but also for passing on the idea to study abroad. But it saddens me a bit to see this coming from you." "You should come live in the south for a while. It's exhausting," Knijnenburg replied. "The republican ideology of 'everyone is equal and nobody deserves a handout' is naive at best, covertly racist at worst. I truly believe that turning a blind eye makes you complicit in what is happening now." "This society is aggressively structured to make cis white males succeed, at the expense of minorities," Knijnenburg continued, though he didn't stop there. In another post, Knijnenburg equates President Donald Trump, Trump voters, the GOP, and Steve Bannon to "Nazis," the "KKK," and the "Alt-right," declaring that they are "all racists." Additionally, Knijnenburg explicitly endorses violence in one post, stating, "I admire anyone who stands up against white supremacy. Violent or non-violent. This needs to stop, by any means necessary. #PunchNazis"

We've come to expect this kind of moral preening from professors. But lumping all Republicans in with the racists is not only factually wrong, but dramatically stupid. The professor's comment brings to mind the quote from Sgt. Buster Kilrain, the tough Irish sergeant of the 20th Maine in the film Gettysburg. "Any man who judges by the group is a pea-wit. You take men one at a time."

Knijenburg is apparently incapable of doing that, which makes him unfit even to teach needlepoint. Speaking approvingly of violence against his political opponents should get him fired. No doubt, he will claim "academic freedom" to spew his hatred.

What makes the professor's comments so chilling is that you know that many of his colleagues both at Clemson and at universities around the country believe the same thing but don't have the guts (or stupidity) to put it in writing. Thankfully, Knijenburg has revealed himself to students, parents, and administrators as a biased partisan who couldn't possibly be objective with students who disagree with his radical views. The sooner the school dismisses him, the better.
Sean Hannity rose to the challenge of confronting the MSM's fake news Wednesday night and dealt a serious blow to the lies, misrepresentations, and omissions of the nation's press. The vehicle was the opening monologue on his nightly Fox News show. Using a mixture of facts based on real video clips and humor, Hannity stood out once again as a defender and practitioner of fair and balanced reporting.

Right after President Donald Trump finished speaking to a large crowd in Phoenix on Tuesday night, the MSM didn't lose a second in misrepresenting what he had just said and bashing him as a white supremacist who is unhinged and an imminent danger to the country. The fake news continued into the next day and evening, especially among the usual suspects: CNN and MSNBC. For anyone interested in fair and balanced reporting, or, God forbid, who is a supporter of President Trump, it was a frustrating day to watch two of the three cable television news channels.



Sean Hannity.

In contrast, it came as a pleasant surprise to see how Hannity chose to present the issue on his Fox News show Wednesday night. During his longer than usual opening monologue, which ran for the entire first 19-minute long segment of the program, Hannity began by playing a wide range of video clips from the other two news channels, illustrating their sick obsession with piling on Trump. Then, nine minutes into his program and his monologue, Hannity made the first use of a new feature: as he introduced a montage of sound bites and clips of Trump criticizing and disassociating himself from white nationalists, the KKK, David Duke, etc., Hannity explained that a tone would sound each time Trump leveled a definitive criticism aimed at one of the groups the media claim Trump is coddling or sympathizing with, or has not criticized to the MSM's satisfaction.

We're going to make it so simple and easy for members of the abusively biased press to follow along. We're going to do this  listen [at which point a single tone sounds]. Hear that? OK. We'll start with the tragedy in Charlottesville.

And then, for the next five minutes, a wide range of video clips of Trump speaking were played  drawn from statements, speeches, debates, and interviews  going back to 1991. Each time Trump unequivocally declared his opposition to, or expressed criticism of, a hate group, racism, David Duke, etc., the tone would sound. By the end of that segment, I counted 37 tones. It was actually a brilliant technique that built momentum as the segment went on. And it was unexpectedly funny, too  the large number of tones highlighting the absurdity of the MSM claiming that Trump is a racist, a Nazi-sympathizer, a bigot, and so on and that he has failed to speak out against hate and haters.

By the end of the monologue, it was abundantly clear  as if we didn't already know  that the mainstream media have it in for Donald Trump and are completely misrepresenting  lying about or not reporting at all  what he has actually said over the years about these sensitive topics.

A source confirmed that it was Sean Hannity himself who came up with the idea of using the sound effect. Bravo, Mr. Hannity.



Sean Hannity, Fox News, August 22, 2017.

The video of Hannity's entire 18-minute opening monologue, titled "'Slanderous,' 'Destroy-Trump' media deserve every bit of criticism" (with the tone section starting at the 9-minute and 30-second point), is online here. Within a day or two of the broadcast, a complete transcript of the August 23 episode of Hannity should be accessible from this page at FoxNews.com.

Monday and Tuesday nights, President Trump's speeches in prime time  Monday on Afghanistan and the following night at the rally in Phoenix  were good for Fox News. On each night, FNC beat MSNBC and CNN in both total viewers and the demographic (viewers 25-54). Since the reigning assumption is that Fox's ratings go up when the news about President Trump is good, or when he has a major live presentation, while CNN and MSNBC benefit on nights when there is a perception of breaking bad news for the administration, it must be that most viewers were drawn to FNC because the perception was that Monday and Tuesday were good nights for Trump and his fans.

Peter Chowka is a widely published author and journalist. He writes most frequently these days for American Thinker. His website is AltMedNews.net. Follow Peter on Twitter.
Hillary Clinton never disappoints and is always good for a story. It is impossible to make up the stuff she says.

Hillary is out promoting her new book, What Happened, to educate us on why the United States made such an error in electing Trump instead of her.

Hillary tells us that when Trump stood behind her on the debate stage, her thoughts were as follows:

My skin crawled. It was one of those moments where you wish you could hit pause and ask everyone watching 'well, what would you do? Just two days prior, the world heard Trump brag about groping women.

This is beyond credibility, good taste, and civility. It is about as low as possible, even for a Clinton.

Without speculating on Hillary's thoughts, other than that she will say and do anything to sell a book and make a buck, let us count some of the real events that did not make Hillary's "skin crawl":

1. Bill Clinton raping Juanita Broaddrick, and then Hillary threatening Broaddrick. Hillary stands by her man.

2. Bill Clinton groping Kathleen Willey in the White House. Hillary stands by her man.

3. Bill's abuse of Monica Lewinsky, such as but not limited to the cigar, followed by Bill lying by denying that he had "sexual relations with that woman." Hillary stands by her man.

4. Bill paying a fine for perjury in a deposition and having his law license suspended. Hillary stands by her man

5. Hillary bragging and cackling about how she got a rapist cleared of a statutory rape charge by attacking and destroying the victim, a twelve-year-old girl.

6. Hillary lying about the cause of the attack on Benghazi, blaming the attack on a video.

7. Hillary approving the sale of 20% of our uranium to the Russians and receiving millions of dollars in contributions to the Clinton Foundation and having Bubba get $500,000 for a speech in Moscow.

8. Hillary using an illegal and unsecure email system that put our country at risk, lying about it, and destroying emails.

9. Hillary making $100,000 on a $1,000 "investment" in cattle futures on her first try, claiming she read the Wall Street Journal.

10. Hillary hiding the Whitewater billing records that would have shown her involvement.

11. Hillary having Bill meet with A.G. Loretta Lynch "accidentally" at an airport days before Comey questioned her, not under oath, and gave her a pass.

This is only a partial list of Hillary's highlights, or lowlights. I encourage the readers to add to the list their favorite Hillary stories.

Lying about the death of four brave Americans does not make Hillary's skin crawl, but standing near Trump makes her skin crawl.

Hillary has no shame, and she will say and do anything to make money and restore what is left of her reputation.

If Donald Trump does nothing else in his life, he will be a true American hero for defeating Hillary to keep her and Bubba out of the White House.
What we saw emerging in Charlottesville was the violent wing of the unholy alliance that exists in tandem with what is called "the swamp." Democrats and even some renegade Republicans have their tentacles deep into our duly elected president's administration with a malign purpose: to bring him down.

The ultimate aim is to overturn President Trump's election victory over Hillary Clinton and usher in a pervasive, debilitating socialist and statist regime in America.

A friend and fellow journalist who lives in Charlottesville called me and pointed out that Virginia's Democrat governor, Terry McAuliffe, has much to answer for with respect to the violence that ensued in his state and in Charlottesville.

According to my friend, the governor had deliberately chosen to spend the night in Charlottesville before the violence broke out. He had stayed at the city's Boar's Head Inn.

Certainly, eyewitnesses and reporters agree that while the violence was instigated by neo-Nazis, it was met with bloody counterattacks by left-wingers and black-shirted anarchists wearing masks. Indeed, Antifa  short for "anti-fascist"  protesters came armed with pepper spray, bricks, clubs, and worse.

The most compelling question my friend asked was this: "Does the Democrat governor and mayor's failure to secure the streets make them morally or legally responsible?" Indeed, McAuliffe had allegedly claimed that the white nationalists who streamed into Charlottesville that weekend hid weapons throughout the town.



Young socialists, Marxists, and anti-Trumpers march in Charlottesville.

"They had battering rams and we had picked up different weapons that they had stashed around the city," McAuliffe reportedly said in an interview on the "Pod Save the People" podcast, hosted by Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson. However, the police have strongly disputed the governor's statement and emphatically say no such weapons were ever found.

As Daniel Greenfield wrote recently in his blog:

The bottom line in all this is that the leftist rally was not remotely peaceful. It had, at best, sizable contingents of violent people. There was plenty of leftist violence that day. And the media, which glamorizes Antifa, bears its share of the blame for the resulting outcome. Was the Democrat Governor in communication with the police? What did he know, and when did he know it?

My friend from Charlottesville added this salient point about many of the leftwing rioters who came to his city on that fateful day: "You can't go into an airport or government building with arms, but it was OK to enter the city center in a demo with weapons!"

It has been suggested that an FBI civil rights probe must now investigate the culpability of Democrat governor McAuliffe and Charlottesville leaders in allegedly fomenting an increased climate of hatred so as to then falsely blame President Trump.

Was this yet another attempt, with the aid of the fake media, at further besmirching the president  even as he battles the noxious swamp within his besieged administration?

Dinesh D'Souza's new book, The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Links of the American Left, demonstrates that ideologically and historically, racism, fascism, and Nazism are in fact left-wing phenomena. Indeed, what happened at Charlottesville was an outright gift to the left and to the fake media.

The Democratic Party is the party of ethnic nationalism, D'Souza suggests. Originally, it was the upholder of white nationalism, as in the South, but today, it has reversed itself completely and become the upholder of every ethnic nationalism it can with one obvious exception: white ethnicity.

In fact, white nationalists, some of whom were wearing Trump hats, fed the false, odious narrative that Trump is a fascist. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

A leader of the white nationalists is one Jason Kessler, who, it turns out, as D'Souza discovered and claims in his book, is none other than a Democrat, an Obama supporter, and an Occupy Wall Street guy. The leftist swamp monsters again!

If I had a Twitter account and could send the president a tweet, I think I would write as follows: "No time to go wobbly, sir. You are not there to negotiate with the swamp. You're there to drain it."

It would be unbearable if the streets of America were to be turned into those nightmarish examples of what took place during the 1920s in the cities of Germany's Weimar Republic. Then, Stalinists and fascists fought bloody street battles, eventually bringing down the democratically elected government and leading to the rise of Adolf Hitler.

Victor Sharpe is a prolific freelance writer, author of The Blue Hour, a collection of thirteen short stories, and of the acclaimed three-volume work Politicide. His fourth volume has just been published.
Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan says shutting down the government over funding for the border wall is "not necessary" and urged the president not to veto a debt ceiling bill to avoid a government shutdown.

Ryan's statement sets up a showdown between Trump and the GOP Congress over funding for the wall, which Ryan says will be dealt with in the appropriations process but the president wants included in the debt ceiling bill.

CNN:

"I don't think a government shutdown is necessary and I don't think most people want to see a government shutdown, ourselves included," the leader of the Republican-controlled House said at a news conference in Oregon where he was promoting tax reform. Ryan argued the House had already passed funding for border security but that the narrowly divided Senate  where Democrats have considerably more sway over what gets into funding bills  would need more time to act. "The fact is though, given the time of year it is and the rest of the appropriations we have to do, we are going to need more time to complete appropriations process particularly in the Senate," Ryan said. Ryan also said a short-term government funding bill, known as a continuing resolution, would probably be needed to keep the government open past September. At a raucous rally in Phoenix Tuesday night, Trump said he would insist on the border wall funding. "If we have to close down our government, we're building that wall," Trump said. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also warned against a shutdown over the border security issue. If the President pursues this path, against the wishes of both Republicans and Democrats, as well as the majority of the American people, he will be heading towards a government shutdown which nobody will like and which won't accomplish anything," the New York Democrat said in a statement. In the current politically polarized environment  when Trump is battling Republicans on the Hill as hard as he is Democrats  it's highly uncertain if a government shutdown can be avoided. But GOP leaders on the Hill have made clear their desire to avoid the potentially politically damaging outcome.

Trump is trying to put pressure on GOP senators to approve border wall funding already OKed by the House. There are about a dozen Republican senators who have serious reservations about the wall but, with the proper motivation from Trump, will probably vote to approve it.

Is holding a gun to their head, threatening a government shutdown, the way to go about funding the wall? The problem for Trump is that what he is asking for is outside of the appropriations process  a process that, while rarely followed, is nevertheless the law of the land. The problem for the GOP senators is that if there is a government shutdown, they will be blamed. There is room for compromise there if both sides give a little.

Ryan's problem is that he needs a few Democrats to get the debt ceiling bill passed in the House. And Democrats have sworn they will not vote for the increase if the debt ceiling bill contains funding for the wall.

So the battle lines have been drawn. It will take some statesmanship from all sides to avoid the drama of a shutdown  something no one in Washington has demonstrated in a long while.
This Saturday, San Franciscans can gather to celebrate their own virtue, while venting some more of their rage  and, for the violence-prone subset, maybe kick some "right wing" butt. Last Saturday, Bostonian Warriors of Virtue got their chance for a lovely day of self-congratulation in the sun, so now it is the Bay Area's turn.

The National Park Service has issued a permit for a rally that is proclaimed to be on the subject of free speech but is universally being portrayed as "right wing," racist, and worse. This despite the fact that nobody involved in speaking or organizing any links to anything of the sort. The site is Crissy Field, a former airstrip, quite accessible, and featuring iconic scenery.

The city is mobilizing its entire police force for the event and probably realizes that like their Boston counterparts last weekend, they may have to evacuate a handful of protesters through a mob intent on bodily harm, that may attack the police with bottles of urine, soda cans full of cement, or maybe something new. So I expect them to be well prepared and, like Boston, put to shame the incompetence or worse of Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe.

But there is a cadre of a few hundred Bay Area violent left-wingers who show up at every opportunity to inflict mayhem. You saw them most recently smashing windows and starting fires at U.C. Berkeley, as they attempted to lynch Milo Yiannopoulos in Berkeley. But I have seen roughly the same group of people showing up for years every time a chance arises to protest something or other and smash a few store windows in Berkeley or Oakland. Black Bloc is the latest name being used. I have no idea what they are planning, but I am sure the SFPD is forecasting and training for a number of scenarios. I wonder if they are cooperating with Homeland Security.

What troubles me the most, outside the possibility of serious violence, is the extent to which the media and the politicians are demonizing a rather innocent, even idealistic venture, using reprehensible techniques. First of all, there is the universality of the label "right wing" ("far right" in the S.F. Chronicle) when the organizers of the rally and the rally itself are mentioned. That is an expression that triggers anger among a substantial portion of San Franciscans right there.

For instance, the Mercury News starts its article with this:

With permits now issued for five events this weekend in San Francisco's Crissy Field, one of them organized by a right-wing group and the other four reportedly groups out to protest the right-wingers, the stage is being set for a possible showdown between white nationalists and a city that has come out roundly against them.

There are only "right-wing" groups, and no "left-wing" groups, and certainly no mention of Antifa.

In the minds of most San Franciscans, "right-wing" equals "hate." Mayor Ed Lee spoke on camera about the city's preparations for the demonstrations, and 1 minute and 40 seconds into the clip found, here, he states:

The most tumultuous thing that can happen is that people act on their very deep passions on hate, and that's at least some that we would be espousing against.

This is both incoherent and rather ambiguous, while still implying to all right-thinking viewers that the mayor worries that those right-wingers might get violent. Conceivably, the mayor is warning against Antifa when he cautions "some that we would be espousing against" acting "on their very deep passions on hate," but that is unlikely. I think he is just bloviating while refusing to name names.

The Mercury News, to its credit, did dig into the organizer of Patriot Prayer and presents information that portrays a sincere, somewhat naive activist, whose "open to all" rallies have been invaded by kooks like the KKK, and this discredited him in the eyes of the media. The familiar passive slur that "violence broke out" then becomes part of the labeling that makes a group led by a nonwhite (he is of mixed parentage and calls himself Japanese) and featuring mostly nonwhite speakers into fearsome "white nationalists."

Gibson, the founder of Patriot Prayer and the organizer of the rally, said he denounced racism and wouldn't allow any extremists into his event. The permit approval, Gibson said Tuesday, was a sign that "the First Amendment will be respected."

Indeed, the Southern Poverty Law Center which tracks hate groups does not list Patriot Prayer as such, nor is Gibson considered an extremist by the advocacy center;

In fact, the Law Center reported that at the most recent Patriot Prayer event, Gibson shouted from the stage "F*** white supremacists! F*** neo-Nazis!" ...

On its Facebook page, Patriot Prayer says its group "is about using the power of love and prayer to fight the corruption both in the government and citizen levels that seek to gain power through division and deception." ...

Described as a "conservative-libertarian" in an article by The Columbian, Gibson got his start in politics last summer in the streets outside the Republican National Convention in Cleveland; "There, the leader of the Patriot Prayer online community-slash-movement, whose organizing and activism has garnered national headlines after recent clashes on college campuses and the streets of Portland, was caught on camera tearing up a demonstrator's anti-police cardboard sign. "Why would you destroy my property?' asked the man, who was wearing a T-shirt that read "F*** the police.' Because Gibson, 33, was fired up. But then he felt bad for ripping up the sign. He handed the guy a $20 bill, and the interaction ended with a handshake."

Gibson counts the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. as one of his political heroes and on Facebook he preaches "Hatred is a disease." The article says Gibson once "invited a transgender person to speak at one of his rallies because he said it's time all people were accepted."

Yep, a racist hater.

If the mayor and media had any decency (I know, I know), they would be saying to the world that there is no reason to be afraid of a small group of people standing up for free speech. They might even note that the organizer is not white, and that San Franciscans are grown-ups who have always celebrated diversity, including political diversity. Milton Friedman spent years living there late in his life.

But that would require breaking the approved narrative, and no matter how phony it is, all must hew to the Party Line.
On August 3, Robert Curry wrote a rebuttal, "Defending the Founders and the (American) Enlightenment," to my commentary "Modernity and the Secularization of Reason." I'd like to answer by making some additional points to back up my original premise.

Rationalism was a way of thinking and viewing the world that grew out of the scientific revolutions. Its developments and discoveries focused on the material world, inquiring into material truth that excluded spiritual truth and pushing aside the Christian worldview. It doesn't explicitly reject the metaphysical and transcendental, but it clearly has no room for it. This in turn led to the philosophies rooted in materialism of the rationalists (Descartes, Leibniz, Spinoza), empiricists (Locke, Bacon, Berkeley), the idealists (Kant, Hegel, Marx), and eventually to the existentialists (Heidegger, Nietzsche) and the pragmatists and positivists (Dewey, Comte), all of whom laid the foundations of modernity.

The long-term effect of the Enlightenment was to de-Christianize the world by shifting the focus from the eternal and transcendental to the temporal here-and-now. The result has been what Martin Heidegger called "everydayness," where everyone has become immersed in the material world and distracted by the "newness" offered up by materialism.

Unquestionably, the Founding Fathers created the best political system the world has ever known. Where the Founders synthesized the best of Enlightenment philosophers and their writings, the instigators of the French and Russian revolutions synthesized the worst elements in seeking to create a secular utopia. This was also no doubt the goal of Hitler's Thousand-Year Reich for Germany as well as Lenin's Worker's Paradise for Russia. So where the American Revolution (and Enlightenment) went in one direction, the French and Russian Revolutions went in another, but it cannot be disputed that the ideas of democratic republicanism, fascism, and communism emanated from the same philosophical roots, as I discussed in my commentary.

All three political systems existed under the umbrella of Western civilization and philosophy. They certainly didn't grow and evolve out of Eastern, Islamic, or sub-Saharan thought. Democratic republicanism eventually won the competition among the various iterations of Western political philosophies and ideologies. What were World Wars I and II and the Korean and Vietnam Wars but that competition played out in the violent convulsions and confrontation of competing ideologies for political hegemony, all based on various versions of the same Western philosophy? The same can be said about the Cold War between the United States and Soviet Russia.

In that respect, they all are rooted in the same philosophical soil. But one implemented a governing system that provides the most freedom possible while recognizing and given the existing limitations to man's moral standing while the other two implemented political systems that limited man's freedom with zero moral standing.

The common thread from Descartes to Nietzsche (especially Nietzsche, since he famously declared the death of God and was known to be Hitler's favorite philosopher) and where all of the foundational philosophers of modernity went wrong is that they all failed to integrate a religious metaphysical moral order and instead substituted a morally neutral reason based on the materialism of the physical world, because the reason that developed out of their writings was morally neutral or inverted (Nietzsche's observation).

Although most of the Founders were either Christian or Deists, that doesn't discount the fact that they failed to be more precise and clear in integrating a moral order based on Christian values (despite their pronouncements to the contrary) into the Constitution. The fascists and communists wanted nothing to do with Christianity and tried to destroy it, as those systems wanted to quash any challenges to their moral authority.

Unfortunately, secular humanism, the worldview rooted in materialism, was the outcome of the morally neutral reason developed by the writings of the philosophers of the Enlightenment through the early 20th century, and it branched out into a myriad of political systems, including fascism and communism, which does indeed make them, if not first cousins to democratic republicanism, then not so distant relatives.
Federal and state governments pass a massive number of new rules and regulations each year, imposing billions of dollars in costs on individuals and businesses. Regulatory costs top $1.9 trillion annually, amounting to $14,842 per U.S. household. That's nearly $15,000 unavailable to pay for health insurance, medicine or medical bills, college expenses, groceries, a new car, or vacations.

While some regulations protect human health or the environment, many provide no or minimal measurable benefits, and some result in a greater number of premature deaths, untreated illnesses, and injuries. Indeed, audits of various agencies' cost-benefit analyses by the Congressional Budget Office, the Government Accountability Office, various inspector general offices, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, and non-government research institutions routinely have found that regulatory agencies grossly overstate the benefits and underestimate or ignore the costs of the rules they are proposing.

Federal regulations often neglect the fact that poverty is by far the biggest killer of people. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget estimates that every $7.5 million to $12 million in regulatory costs imposed on the economy results in a life lost. Based on this calculation, we can all be thankful that the Obama administration's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s Clean Power Plan (CPP) rules have never taken effect.

The EPA, with reason to paint the benefits of its plan in the best light possible, estimates that the CPP would prevent 21,000 premature deaths through 2030. By comparison, the Energy Information Administration has pegged the cumulative costs of the rule through 2030 at $1.23 trillion in lost gross domestic product. Thus, the estimated 21,000 lives saved are dwarfed by the 102,500 to 164,000 early deaths the CPP could be expected to cause.

Because the economic and human health implications of regulations are profound, the science they are built upon must be absolutely unimpeachable. Yet, based on the repeated actions of regulatory agencies to keep the science they've used to justify regulations secret  hidden from review from both outside researchers and the congressional committees that are supposed to exercise oversight over them  the public paying for the research can have little confidence that the rules forced upon them are scientifically justified. This must change.

Federal agencies should be required to disclose all the science, models, and information exchanges used to make agency decisions, and no agency should be allowed to use any report to support or justify a rule if the research is not open to verification by outside parties. Every government research contract should contain a provision requiring recipients to make available all assumptions, models, data, and email exchanges related to the contracted research upon receiving a Freedom of Information Act request or a request by the relevant congressional committee that has oversight responsibility.

Researchers who reject such oversight and the universities or private research institutes employing them should be denied government research grants until they agree to these terms. Transparency of all taxpayer-funded research or any research used to make rules imposed on the public should be the norm.

On March 29, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Honest and Open New EPA Science Treatment Act of 2017 (HONEST Act), which was introduced by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), chairman of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee. The HONEST Act would prohibit EPA from proposing, finalizing, or disseminating a risk, exposure, or hazard assessment, criteria document, standard, limitation, regulation, regulatory impact analysis, or guidance unless all scientific and technical information relied on to support such action is "the best available science, specifically identified, and publicly available in a manner sufficient for independent analysis and substantial reproduction of research results."

This is a good start, but it does not go far enough. HONEST's transparency requirements should be expanded beyond the EPA to every federal regulatory agency. The EPA is not alone in its use of secret science to expand its regulatory reach. In addition, regulatory agencies should be required to supply any information requested by any congressional committee with oversight authority over them. Congress should not have to issue subpoenas to get information from federal bureaucrats. Any agency employee or administrator who refuses to comply with a congressional request for information in a timely manner should be open to discipline, including fines and immediate termination.

Discussing the HONEST Act at the Heartland Institute's 12th International Conference on Climate Change, Smith said, "The days of 'trust me' science are over." The public should long for the day when that is finally true.

Congress has taken initial steps to improve the science itself and the public's confidence in the science used to inform regulations. It now needs to complete the job.

H. Sterling Burnett, Ph.D. (hsburnett@heartland.org) is a research fellow on energy and the environment at the Heartland Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research center headquartered in Arlington Heights, Illinois.
Borders are an area where liberals stumble into the swamp of hypocrisy. Walls and fences are fine around their homes, but not around their country. Armed security can keep troublemakers away from their personal space, but similar measures on the American border are somehow racist, xenophobic, or (the latest insult) white supremacist.

Canada, our neighbor to the north, has a problem with refugees and illegal immigrants just as we do. The difference is that Canada has Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in charge, a young liberal leader far more intent on virtue-signaling to other like-minded European leaders than on protecting his country.

Last January, in response to President Trump's travel ban, Trudeau tweeted, "To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada." Hashtag and all. The only thing missing is a multicolored lapel ribbon proclaiming Canada's diversity.

That's quite the invitation from Trudeau. It's directed not specifically at doctors or petroleum engineers, whom Canada may need, but instead at the entire Twitter universe. Three hundred twenty-eight million users. What a surprise when a few people took up Mr. Trudeau on his kind invitation.

Most of the refugees are coming from Haiti, entering Quebec based on both having a common language, French. Haiti does Twitter, too, with the Haiti News Network having over a hundred thousand followers. Haitians saw the prime minister's invitation to move to Canada. Many accepted.

Canada did not have much of a refugee problem in 2015, when only 2,900 illegal aliens crossed into Quebec. This number has more than doubled in 2017 to 6,800 by July 1 and is increasing. Many are fleeing the U.S., after having entered illegally, now afraid of Donald Trump's stricter illegal immigration stance.

Little do they know how tough Canada's immigration policies are compared to those in the U.S. There is a merit-based point system based on the potential immigrant's skills and economic benefit to Canada. Interestingly, 63 percent of those granted legal permanent residency in Canada are admitted based on their economic skills, compared to only 13 percent given U.S. residency for economic reasons. Conversely, only 24 percent gain Canadian residency due to family members already in Canada versus 63 percent receiving a U.S. green card based on family connections.

Chain migration into America. Economic migration into Canada. Another reason Trump was elected.

Now, after big talk, Trudeau is facing a crisis of his own making. Funny that he now sounds more like Trump than the E.U. socialist leaders he emulates. This past week, Trudeau changed his tone from last January, saying, "Canada is an opening and welcoming society, but let me be clear. We are also a country of laws."

He went farther, channeling his inner Donald Trump: "entering Canada irregularly is not an advantage. There are rigorous immigration and customs rules that will be followed. Make no mistake." The Trump transformation for Trudeau would have been complete if only he had inserted "believe me" or "big league" into his remarks, but otherwise, his statement would seem perfectly normal coming from President Trump.

Here at last is some commonsense talk from the Canadian prime minister  but only after being smacked with the reality of his foolhardy invitation to refugees everywhere. #WelcomeToCanada.

To the globalist elites, Trudeau still walks on water. The Atlantic Council think-tank chose Trudeau as its guest of honor, a sort of "world's best politician" award. Rolling Stone whines, "Why can't he be our president?"

A liberal conundrum. This is the cool prime minister from Canada with great hair and a raven tattoo on his shoulder  who, after facing the reality of unsustainable illegal immigration, is now sounding more like the racist, xenophobic, Nazi-loving Donald Trump than his virtue-signaling brethren in the E.U.

What's a progressive to do? Likely, they will ignore the hypocrisy, just as they do for Al Gore and his carbon footprint. Or for Hillary Clinton being creeped out by a groping male predator in her midst  not her husband, but instead Donald Trump. Still, it's fun to watch liberals tap-dance around reality when it inevitably rears its head, intruding into their high-horse fantasies.

Brian C Joondeph, M.D., MPS is a Denver-based physician and writer. Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
Above all, they  the anti-Trump forces  are liars, aggrandizing liars interested solely in their personal ambitions. They don't have a patriotic fibula in their bodies.

Assertions by his enemies that President Trump intends to smash democracy in America  as a statue in Baltimore honoring Christopher Columbus was smashed to bits the other day?  are the ravings of embittered people capable, alas, of vicious behavior. Has anyone heard or read about condemnations of "Antifa" violence? Instead, these thugs are lauded by the left. Why should the totalitarian media report the actual outrages of the anti-Trump forces when lies, smears, and distortions about the duly elected president of the United States more directly serve their purpose: establishing anti-democratic government to keep us "deplorables" in our place?

What next? Is Washington, D.C. to be the site of a Maidan-style protest of the type utilized in Ukraine to end the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych? Why not? The anti-Trump forces  doing the bidding of the swamp creatures  have the quasi-totalitarian media working at full speed to impose 1984-style disinformation on the country. It should not be difficult for the totalitarian media to ignore leftist violence for the purpose of sending Republican members of Congress scurrying to Capitol Hill to do leftist bidding: overthrow the duly elected government of the United States. (Already erased from recent memory is the terrible shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise by...hint: it wasn't a white supremacist.) The editorial in the New York Times on August 20, "The Failing Trump Presidency," was candid enough to spend, in addition to its lies about the president, several paragraphs citing the president's policy differences with the heavy-handed practice of government favored by leftists like the publisher of the Times.

Why, then, must Trump go? Because he opposes leftist policies aim at destroying the country's democratic institutions. That, plus his intention to drain the swamp of political corruption. This must bring us to the Republican leaders in Congress. It is time to consider that the anti-Trump GOP in Congress realize that legislative success for the president's policies may well lead to some draining of the swamp. It is time to consider that the Republican congressional leadership places the present depth of swamp waters on a higher level of importance than a prosperous U.S. economy for all.

Can there be any doubt that the Trump presidency is under attack from the totalitarian forces on the left, joined by Republican #NeverTrump allies? Why must the assault on the Trump presidency fail? Because the assault on the Trump presidency is an assault on the stability of our democratic institutions. To borrow from H. Ross Perot, "it's as simple as that." And the Republican #NeverTrumps are fools if they think the left will be satisfied with taking down (and convicting?) Donald J. Trump.
Catalonia to restart pro-independence campaign Monday After large unity demonstration in Barcelona on Saturday

(ANSAmed) - MADRID, AUGUST 24 - Catalan pro-independence parties will restart their campaign for a referendum on independence slated for October 1, reigniting their clash with the country's government in Madrid, which has called the referendum illegal.



Sources from the independent bloc, which has an absolute majority in the Barcelona parliament, said the attacks won't change their October 1 goal.



The campaign will remain stopped, however, until after a large anti-terrorism show of unity demonstration set to take place on Saturday afternoon, where leaders of all the main Spanish and Catalan political parties are expected, along with tens of thousands of people.



The two sworn enemies in the "war" for Catalan independence are Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Catalan President Carles Puigdemont.



The two leaders hadn't spoken in months but met several times in recent days and have stayed in contact, mutually complimenting one another for the cooperation between the central government and that of Catalonia following the attacks.



Since the day of the attacks, Puigedemont has avoided any mention of the clash with Madrid over the referendum.



However, Catalan Vice President Oriol Junqueras confirmed that the "government" will move forward.



On September 6 or 7, Barcelona's 'Parlament de Catalunya' will approve a law convening the referendum, which will trigger an immediate appeal by Rajoy to the Constitutional Court in Madrid, which will immediately block the attempt at a referendum.



The Catalan government has said, however, that it will ignore any injunction by Madrid, in the name of the new "Catalan legality".(ANSAmed).




Pro-Sisi committees already at work for Egypt 2018 elections Sadat's son calls for impartial media

(ANSAmed) - CAIRO, AUGUST 24 - The first signs that Egypt's 2018 presidential election is on the horizon came with the emergence of committees supporting current president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, as reported online by Egyptian daily Al Ahram.



The High Council of Judges said the members of the national electoral commission (NEC) have already been elected.



Mohamed Anwar El Sadat, son of former Egyptian president Anwar el Sadat, who was assassinated by fundamental army officers in 1981, wrote letters to the heads of the NEC and the High Council calling on regulation of the media. The younger Sadat leads the independent Reform and Development Party (RDP), and was expelled from the Egyptian Parliament last year under accusations of having tarnished Egypt's image internationally. In his letters, he asked that defamation of candidates be avoided, and called on all media outlets to be treated as authorities without preference, in order to avoid some conducting their own separate campaigns.



Despite the fact that El-Sisi hasn't yet confirmed he plans to run, the Free Egyptians party and the Nation's Future party (with 188 MPs, a 20% share) announced that they will hold pro-Sisi rallies in Egyptian governorates in the coming weeks.



A campaign titled "Together With You for the Love of Egypt" will kick off on Saturday, led by the head of the Egypt Youth party, Ahmee Abdel-Hady, which 10 other parties are expected to join, Al Ahram online said.



Article 142 of the Egyptian Constitution states that presidential candidates must be supported by at least 20 MPs or at least 25,000 citizens from 15 governorates.(ANSAmed).




ROME - Twenty months after both Qatar and Saudi Arabia withdrew their ambassadors following an attack on Riyadh's embassy in Tehran, Qatar will be sending its ambassador back. The attack happened after the execution of a prominent Shia leader in Saudi Arabia.



Al Jazeera reported the news, citing an official statement by the foreign ministry stating that it intends to re-establish relations with Iran. The decision came amid a diplomatic 'war' against Qatar by Saudi Arabic and other Arab governments - including the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain - who have accused Doha of being too close to Tehran, of interfering in the domestic issues of neighboring countries and of financing terrorism.

No specific date has been set yet for the ambassador's return to Tehran, but a phone call on Thursday between Qatar's foreign minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani and his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif focused on the development of bilateral relations.

Qatar, which had depended almost entirely on imports from the Gulf for its food needs, has not been affected as badly as was initially expected by the isolation imposed on it in June, since its food supplies now come from Iran. Tehran has also offered the use of its airspace for its national airline. The two countries, 'facing' each other across the Persian Gulf, also share an enormous gas field but are on opposite sides of the Syrian crisis, where Tehran supports President Bashar Al-Assad and Doha supports various opposition groups.


WASHINGTON - In a surprise move, after the warm welcome and praise US president Donald Trump gave to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in April at the White House, the US has withheld 96 million dollars in financial aid to Egypt and frozen 195 million in military aid.



The country receives a total of 1.3 billion dollars in aid per year. The official reason is a lack of progress in human rights, especially after the approval in May of a law that regulates non-governmental organizations that is widely seen as part a growing crackdown on dissent, the US Department of State has said. Human rights groups and activists have said that it effectively bans their work.



Egyptian officials had reportedly assured US officials earlier this year that the law would not go through.



However, the New York Times reports that another factor is the Egypt's excellent relations with North Korea, in place since the 1970s, and UN suspicions of arms trafficking and economic investment. True deterioration of relations between Trump and Sisi is seen as unlikely, and analysts say that it seems yet another conflicting signal sent by an administration that is still confused.

The decision may embarrass Italy, which recently decided to send its ambassador back to Cairo after the latest papers from the Egyptian judiciary on the Giulio Regeni murder case, raising polemics and his family's anger. And it may also irritate a key regional ally at a very tempestuous moment. A US delegation arrived in Cairo on Wednesday under Trump's advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner, as part of a visit to the Middle East aiming to help restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, in which Egypt plays a key role.

The Egyptian foreign minister has said that the decision to withhold aid will have negative effects on the long-term strategic relations between the two countries. He also complained of the ''lack of understanding by the US of the importance of supporting stability in Egypt'' as it struggles to deal with Islamic State (ISIS) attacks in the Sinai. Talks were held on Wednesday in Cairo between Kushner, Sisi and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, focusing on the Middle East peace process. Cairo supports the creation of a Palestinian state within 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as the capital.

Cairo's irritation may result in a backlash against the US-mediated initiative, which is hitting into a number of problems. After initial enthusiasm, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas (who the US delegation is meeting with today, in parallel with Israeli prime minister Benyamin Netanyahu) has become disappointed by the efforts of the US administration, according to Arab media. So disappointed, in fact, that he is weighing the dissolution of the Palestinian Authority and all its institutions, including the government, and handing back power to the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). In return for agreeing to return to the talks, Abbas wants a written response from Trump's delegation on ''a halt to Israeli settlements in the West Bank and a commitment to the two-state solution''.
BarcelonaOn Wednesday Catalonias Sindicat de Mossos dEsquadra (SME, a Catalan Police trade union) issued a press release urging not to smear the good work of the Catalan Police force in the recent terrorist attacks, following criticisms by Spanish police trade unions, who questioned the Mossos decision not to alert Spains bomb disposal squads (Tedax) after the blast that destroyed a home in Alcanar. Ramon Cosio, a spokesman for the Spanish polices Sindicato Unificado (SUP) argued that Catalonias Mossos excluded from the investigation people that could have made a valuable contribution. Yesterday the SUP released a statement on the matter, together with the Guardia Civils Associacion Unificada (AUGC).

In todays press release, the Catalan police union argues that it is very unfair to hear or read certain comments. They complain that all law enforcement officers in Catalonia have worked very hard and very long hours, taking personal risks. Its simply not fair to claim that there was a political agenda or that we meant to steal the limelight. Another Catalan police union, USPAC, also praised the work of the Mossos dEsquadra and referred to the statement by the Spanish police unions as uncalled for and rather contemptible. Why did Spain not inform the Catalan police about the Ripoll imams record? Why have we been denied access to Europes anti-terror information all these years?, wondered the USPAC.

Yesterday the SUP and the AUGC implied in their statement that the Catalan police had no idea that the Ripoll imam who allegedly instigated the attacks, Abdelbaki es Satty, had been targeted in an anti-terror operation by Spanish police in 2007. The Spanish police unions claimed that Spains law enforcement agencies had failed to share with Catalan police that Es Satty was a disciple of one of the main leaders of the cell that was arrested in Vilanova i la Geltru. Even though the information was ten years old, Cosio believes that the Catalan police would have kept watch on the Ripoll imam, if they had known that his message was close to extreme radicalism. Still, the SUP stressed that the Mossos never informed Spains Policia Nacional about the arrival of a new imam at the Ripoll mosque and that is why they were unaware of his background.

Information about the Alcanar blast

On Wednesday Jordi Turull, the Catalan governments spokesman and Minister for the Presidency, claimed on Radio Nacional de Espana (RNE) that the details of the attacks last week were shared with Spains Guardia Civil from the word go. When a home blew up in Alcanar, the Mossos launched a probe and their bomb disposal squad was deployed. As soon as we learnt that the blast had something to do with the terror attacks, we alerted the Guardia Civil", said Turull. I was present during the meeting where the decision was made to inform all law enforcement agencies, the minister emphasised, whereas the unions were not. The Mossos initial account of the Alcanar blast claimed that a gas leak from canisters had likely caused the explosion. Then came a second, fortuitous blast at 5 pm and that is when they realised that the house had been used for assembling explosive devices.

The Mossos SME remarked that cooperation between the various agencies is crucial. Obviously, the police are expected to notify any findings to the relevant judge. They wrapped up their statement by stressing that any claims that the attacks could have been averted are reckless, foolish and disrespectful towards the officers who have been working to detain the terrorist cell and to assist the victims, officers whose work has received international praise. In contrast, the Spanish police unions yesterday stated that it is obvious that the [inter-agency] cooperation agreements were flagrantly ignored and that liaison channels did not work properly. They went on to say that the anti-terror units of both Spanish agencies had been sidelined in the probe that followed the attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils, with a view to sending an international message: there is a Catalan state and it is self-sufficient. As an example of this, Cosio mentioned how the Tedaxs experience would have been key because studying a bomb blast is not a daily occurrence.
Announced in 2016, flyadeal will start operations on 23 September 2017, on Saudi Arabias national day and aims to serve domestic markets initially before expanding into regional markets.

Powered by CFM engines, it will have 186 seats in a single-class configuration featuring the latest Recaro 18 wide economy class seats, equipped with USB power outlets and personal device holders.

Chairman of Flyadeal, H.E. Saleh Al Jasser said: Saudi Arabia has launched its Vision 2030; a strategic platform for the future development of the Kingdom where transportation and tourism are key pillars. The launch of Flyadeal is core to the strategy to mobilise further the country and the region.

The airlines CEO, Con Korfiatis, said: Flyadeal will be Saudi Arabias newest airline, providing a unique experience with an optimal fleet to serve our domestic and regional markets. The Airbus A320 has been distinctly selected for the needs of our operation, and we look forward to passengers experiencing the onboard service.

Saudi Arabia and the region have a very young and digitally savvy population that has an increasing thirst for low fare travel domestically and across the region. Flyadeal plans to serve and grow this significant segment of air travel.

Commenting on the deal, DAE chief executive, Firoz Tarapore said, DAE is pleased to welcome flyadeal on-board as a new customer. We are delighted to be able to support flyadeals fleet strategy as it begins operations, and we look forward to working with the airline to fulfill its fleet ambitions, going forward.

Having listened to our customers, we feel that the acquisition of these popular and efficient single aisle aircraft reflect continuing market demand for this type of plane.


present a forum for Albuquerque Mayoral Candidates at the

All the candidates are jockeying for position as they come around the home bend. Get right up there on the edge of the running, as it were, when the North Valley Coalition and

All the candidates are jockeying for position as they come around the home bend. Get right up there on the edge of the running, as it were, when the North Valley Coalition and Weekly Alibi present a forum for Albuquerque Mayoral Candidates at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center (2401 12th Street NW) .

The readers write about cannabis legalization, the quest for money and thanks.

The readers write about cannabis legalization, the quest for money and thanks.

Funny because an escalated marital argument happens to someone else.

Funny because an escalated marital argument happens to someone else.

A presidents party typically does not do well in the midterm elections.

A presidents party typically does not do well in the midterm elections.

Albuquerque loses Reads to Lead funding and AG Jeff Sessions says Albuquerque is ineligible for National Public Safety Partnership funds.

Albuquerque loses Reads to Lead funding and AG Jeff Sessions says Albuquerque is ineligible for National Public Safety Partnership funds.

A bucket of prickly issues awaited the Albuquerque City Council at their Aug. 7 meeting. Rapid immigration enforcement, election issues and transit woes were some of the matters tackled by councilors.

A bucket of prickly issues awaited the Albuquerque City Council at their Aug. 7 meeting. Rapid immigration enforcement, election issues and transit woes were some of the matters tackled by councilors.

Council Gets Back to It

Highlights from around the dial. Except no one has dials anymore.

Highlights from around the dial. Except no one has dials anymore.

TV gets new stuff, including books and movies.

TV gets new stuff, including books and movies.

Televised tidbits from around the dial

Check out the Taos Pride Film Festival or the Native Cinema Showcase; see

Check out the Taos Pride Film Festival or the Native Cinema Showcase; see Pulling Push Doors or Pretty in Pink .

is a bit too self-conscious of the dorkiness of its main character and of the hipster profundity in his Quixote-esque quest, but the overall intent is sincere and openhearted enough to overcome the script familiarities and character tropes.

Brigsby Bear is a bit too self-conscious of the dorkiness of its main character and of the hipster profundity in his Quixote-esque quest, but the overall intent is sincere and openhearted enough to overcome the script familiarities and character tropes.

Oddball indie comedy looks at the dangers of nostalgia and the joys of fandom

understands and embraces the power of passion.

Need to Feel Your Love

Sheer Mag's Need to Feel Your Love understands and embraces the power of passion.

The maelstrom needs to feel your love

There are some damn decent musical events to be had this weekend; heres a choose your own adventure for the week. Each has a different, gloriously musical outcome, of course. But its still up to you to make the scene,

There are some damn decent musical events to be had this weekend; heres a choose your own adventure for the week. Each has a different, gloriously musical outcome, of course. But its still up to you to make the scene, sabes?

Just to let you know the scene

tells us where not to eat.

UFC welterweight champion starts Hundred Hands Craft Coffee , Amadeo's Pizza causes confusion, Dion's experiments, State Fair green chile cheeseburger competitors announced, the Acre promises vegetarian comforts, and the Xtreme Eating Awards tells us where not to eat.

Renee Chavez orders almost every item on the menu at

Renee Chavez orders almost every item on the menu at Blake's Lotaburger .

The Global Resonance of the Stage

As they sift through the hours of footage and run through the endless jokes that could be made at someone's expense, the team of The New Mexico Inquisition explicitly aims above the belt.

As they sift through the hours of footage and run through the endless jokes that could be made at someone's expense, the team of The New Mexico Inquisition explicitly aims above the belt.

Freedom to the Flower No matter where your sincerely held beliefs lie on the spectrum, the future is staring us all in the face: legalization. read more

Revisiting HB 527 Cannabis news analysis Bipartisan New Mexico legislators this year passed legislation to expand coverage of the Compassionate Use Act, but la Tejana vetoed the measure. read more

New Mexico Hempfest! Saturday, August 19, noon-9pm It's Aug. 19, 2017. You're getting evaluated by a real medical doctor. You're making tie-dye. You're learning more about your medicine. You're supporting legalization of a useful plant. You're eating delicious food. Where are you? At the first annual New Mexico HempFest of course! Entry is totally free, and parking is a measly $1 per car at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta Park. You are roaming around enjoying live music from local bands, a Hemposium tent with exciting speakers, a kids' activity area and dozens of regional artists, farmers, educators, plus lots of tasty food trucks. You're with all your friends and family at this all-ages, family-friendly event and having an absolute blast celebrating New Mexico's hemp industry.

Focus on Concentrates An introduction Surrounded by vapes, dabs, doohickeys and whatchamacallits, the modern-day cannabis patient can quickly become confused and overwhelmed. read more

The Dreaded Apparatus Dabs and vapes Roach clips are no longer the cutting edge in cannabis technology. What's up with all the bizarre hardware you find in the display cases at dispensaries? read more

CBD for Dummies Aint just cannabidiol tears Cannabidiol is the second most prominent compound found in cannabis, but it's the part that has the most medicinal properties. read more

Give It a Whiff Terpenes and cannabis Terpenes are a class of organic compounds found in many plants and even some insects. They often have a strong odor and are thought to be produced to attract pollinators and to protect against predation by attracting predators that feed on herbivores. read more

Straining for a Proper Strain 21 tokes for 21 folks Here are some suggested strains by what youre treating. read more

Coo-Coo for Coconuts Making medicinal marijuana chic Here's how to make your own cannabis coconut oil at home. read more

A Greener Future Smoke Signals points the way by looking at the past Smoke Signals details history through the lens of everyone's favorite plant. read more

Stoner Cinema from the 1930s The early history of marijuana in movies Marijuana has been a favorite subject of filmmakers for generations, but back in the post-Jazz Era of the 1930s, marijuana was seenby the establishment, anywayas a deadly killer of our nation's youth. read more

State of Medicine No matter where you are, there it is Here is a list of the states medical cannabis dispensaries. read more
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The latest development comes amid a high-profile corporate drama that ensued after Vishal Sikka resigned as CEO.

Nilekani's return to Infosys follows the resignation of chairman R Seshasayee, co-chairman Ravi Venkatesan and executive vice-chairman Vishal Sikka. (Photo: Facebook)

Mumbai: Infosys on Thursday appointed Nandan Nilekani, the co-founder and former CEO of the company, as the non-executive chairman of the board.

Nilekani's return to Infosys follows the resignation of chairman R Seshasayee, co-chairman Ravi Venkatesan and executive vice-chairman Vishal Sikka.

Vishal Sikka who quit the company last week as the CEO, but was made vice-chairman till his successor was appointed, also stepped down on Thursday with immediate effect and the resignation was accepted.

Apart from Sikka, Jeffery S Lehman, and John Etchemendy also resigned.

In welcoming Nilekani, outgoing Chairman R. Seshasayee, said, Nandan is the ideal leader for Infosys at this stage in the Companys development. His appointment will allow Infosys to focus on the strategic changes it needs to make in order to capitalize on the attractive opportunities in the years ahead".

Vishal Sikka, Jeffery S Lehman and John Etchemendy also welcomed Nilekani to the board.

Ravi Venkatesan will however continue to be on on the board.

The latest development comes amid a high-profile corporate drama that ensued after Vishal Sikka resigned as CEO, citing "malicious attacks". The company board had backed Sikka and lashed out at founder Narayana Murthy for his relentless "assaults" against Sikka.

Founders and founder employees had all been rallying for Nilekani's return to the IT major. Former CFO V Balakrishnan had favoured bringing in Nandan Nilekani as chairman of the company, saying his experience and understanding of clients made him a "good face" to lead the organisation in this tumultuous situation.

Shares of Infosys on Thursday had surged by nearly 3 per cent on stock exchanges amid reports that co- founder and former CEO Nandan Nilekani may come back to the board of the IT major.

Immediately after joining, Nilekani stated that the company board will actively consider a "broad based shareholder consultation process" as a significant part of its overall engagement initiatives with all the stakeholders of Infosys.

Nilekani had taken office as CEO of Infosys in March 2002 and served till 2007. He is one of the seven founders of the technology giant.
Not just action and romance, Sidharth has also gone behind the microphone for the film effortlessly.

New Delhi: Bollywood actor Sidharth Malhotra recently became a rapper for his upcoming movie 'A Gentleman' and made the fans curious as to how the actor would sound singing for the first time.

On Wednesday, the makers of the movie unveiled the making of the song, where Sidharth is seen recording the rap in style.

In the video, the 'Baar Baar Dekho' star is seen recording for the song and discussing with the music director duo of Sachin-Jigar.

Sidharth shared the video by tweeting, "This rap made the song special for me thanks to @SachinJigarLive #BandookMeriLaila @foxstarhindi @TSeries."

The actor looked pumped up and totally elated while recording the song.

The composers were totally impressed with Sid's baritone and had no inhibitions on recording the rap with him.

Earlier, Sachin Sanghavi said it was his idea to get Sidharth to rap, because the actor understands the genre of hip hop and raps to a great extent.

He said, "We discussed a lot about music in general in the studio and if given a chance once again, we would love to collaborate with him again. He has a baritone voice which is hard to miss. We are very excited with the kind of music we have scored for 'A Gentleman'. It's very experimental and diverse and we are touching upon every genre possible."

Helmed by Krishna D.K. and Raj Nidimoru, 'A Gentleman' stars Sidharth Malhotra and Jacqueline Fernandez in lead roles.

The film is scheduled to hit the screens on August 25.
The actor has asked his fans to be wary of online scam artistes impersonating him in order to steal money through fake charities.

Los Angeles: Actor Robert Downey Jr has asked his fans to be wary of online scam artistes impersonating him in order to steal money through fake charities.

The 52-year-old actor took to Twitter to warn his followers about the crooks who message people online to deceitfully extract "donations for various causes."

"It has come to my attention that one or more scam artists have taken to impersonating me online and asking some of you via private messages or chat for 'donations' for various 'causes'.

"Just wanted to let you know that if you encounter someone on a chat platform claiming to be me, they are lying," Downey Jr wrote.

The "Avengers: Age of Ultron" star added that he would never communicate with his fans via private chat platforms and would never ask them for "any money for any reason".

"Any communication from me will originate from my public, verified social media pages, and all fund-raising is done via broad, public campaigns," he wrote.

Downey Jr, however, was humbled by his fans' gesture of offering their support to the actor and asked them to stay safe.
'Govt has been of view, particularly with regard to Aadhaar, that Right to Privacy should be fundamental right,' he said.

The Minister of Law and Justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad, said the government has been of view that Right to Privacy should be fundamental right. (Photo: Twitter | ANI)

New Delhi: The Minister of Law and Justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad, on Thursday said the NDA-led government at the Centre has welcomed the Supreme Court's ruling that right to individual privacy is a fundamental right under the Constitution.

Government welcomes judgement. Government has been of view, particularly with regard to Aadhaar, that Right to Privacy should be fundamental right, Prasad said.

However, the law minister added that the Supreme Court has said right to privacy is not absolute and is subject to reasonable restrictions.

Since morning Congress is targeting us and Left has also joined them. What is the Congress' record of protecting individual liberty? Prasad asked.

In a landmark verdict, a 9-judge bench of the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that "right to privacy was an intrinsic part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty under Article 21 and entire Part III of the Constitution".
The meeting is expected to focus primarily on prevention and elimination of emergency situations arising out of any kind of disaster.

New Delhi: Home minister Rajnath Singh will participate in the meeting of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) that would focus on disaster prevention and relief in Kyrgyz Republic on Thursday.

The home minister is expected to have bilateral meetings with some of the member nations though no meeting has yet been finalised with his Chinese counterpart. In case Mr Singh does meet his Chinese counterpart, the meeting would assume significance since India and China are presently involved in a major confrontation in the Doklam region of Sikkim.

Speaking at an ITBP event on Monday, he expressed hope that the ongoing standoff with China would be resolved soon with Beijing taking some positive initiative. However, China, further hardening its stand, stated on Tuesday that the only way to resolve the crisis was for India to withdraw its troops unconditionally from the Doklam region.

Both India and Pakistan became part of the SCO, which is viewed as a Chinese dominated security apparatus, in June in Kazakhstan capital Astana. The meet was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A home ministry statement stated on Wednesday that the home minister would lead a delegation for the 9th summit of the heads of governments of SCO member nations, which would be held at Choplon Ata in Kyrgyz Republic from August 24-25. The Indian delegation will comprise senior officials from the ministries of home affairs and external affairs as well as the National Disaster Management Authority.

The meeting is expected to focus primarily on prevention and elimination of emergency situations arising out of any kind of disaster. The participation of India as the SCO member will open the additional opportunities for giving new impetus to the development of international co-operation in the field of protecting the population and territories from emergency situations within the framework of the SCO, and will bring it qualitatively new positions in regional and global formats, the home ministry statement added.

The SCO meeting will also take into consideration the draft action plan for 2018-2019 for the implementation of the agreement between the governments of the SCO member states on co-operation in providing assistance in the elimination of emergency situations.
Earlier, Deuba was accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan, where he is staying as a state guest.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi shakes hand with his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba before their meeting in New Delhi. Deuba is on a five-days visit to India. (Photo: AP)

New Delhi: India and Nepal on Thursday inked eight pacts, including on cooperation in countering drug trafficking. The pacts were signed after comprehensive talks between

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba on strategic bilateral and regional issues.

"Had a positive meeting reviewing the gamut of our partnership," Modi said at a joint press event with Deuba and assured him of India's commitment towards overall growth and development of the Himalayan nation.

Deuba said Nepal would "never allow any anti-India activities from its soil".

The two leaders also jointly inaugurated the Kataiya-Kusaha and Raxaul-Parwanipur cross border power transmission lines.

Modi identified defence and security as an important aspect of bilateral ties.

Earlier, Deuba was accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan, where he is staying as a state guest.

Deuba arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday on a four-day visit, his first foreign trip after assuming office in June this year.
She was kept waiting for oxygen at emergency ward for almost an hour.

Over 60 infants died at the BRD Hospital in UPs Gorakhpur due to the lack of Oxygen this month. (Photo: PTI)

Lucknow: Even before the dust could settle on the deaths of children due to oxygen shortage in BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur, a woman has reportedly died in Kushinagar because of lack of oxygen.

According to reports, Gangajali, wife of Brijbhan, fell ill on Wednesday in the flood-affected Pakdi village in Kushinagar.

She was unable to breathe and her family members rushed her to the primary health centre (PHC) in Khadda. The doctors informed that there was no oxygen cylinder available and that they referred her to the district hospital.

The victim was rushed in an ambulance to the district hospital and her condition worsened because the ambulance did not have an oxygen cylinder.

When the patient reached the district hospital, she was kept waiting for oxygen at the emergency ward for almost an hour. By the time she was given a bed and the doctors arrived to treat her, the victim had already passed away.

Her family members have blamed the doctors and the hospital for her death, but the government spokesman denied that the absence of oxygen led to her death.
Rahim had said earlier in Chandigarh that he would appear in person before the court and appealed to his followers to maintain peace.

Supporters of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect squat in a public park near an Indian court in Panchkula. (Photo: PTI)

Chandigarh/New Delhi: A day before the Panchkula-based CBI courts verdict in a sexual exploitation case against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim, curfew was imposed in Haryanas Sirsa town and security beefed up in other parts of the state, Punjab and Chandigarh on Thursday along with suspension of mobile Internet services for 72 hours.

The Army was put on standby in Haryana and Punjab. Curbs were also put on arrival of public transport buses and trains at Chandigarh and Panchkula.

Rahim had said earlier in Chandigarh that he would appear in person before the court and appealed to his followers to maintain peace.

Sensing trouble from the Dera chiefs followers, who have been arriving in Panchkula for the past few days, the Union home ministry rushed over 15,000 security forces personnel to the two states, along with Chandigarh, to assist the local police in maintaining law and order.

The Punjab and Haryana high court earlier criticised the Haryana government for allowing a massive buildup of Dera Sacha Sauda followers in Panchkula, and directed the Centre to provide security ahead of the CBI courts verdict.

A senior home ministry official in New Delhi said: Adequate forces have been rushed to the two states. Our officers are in constant touch with officials in Haryana and Punjab. Security forces have conducted flag marches in Panchkula, Sirsa, Hissar and other areas. Hospitals have also been put on alert.

A joint control room of Haryana and Punjab is being set up in Chandigarh for better coordination between the police and administration, he said.

In an attempt to check gathering of large crowds, prohibitory orders have been imposed in all districts of the two states and schools have been ordered shut on Friday. Dera followers are also being relocated to secure sensitive areas, he said.

According to a Northern Railway spokesperson, 22 trains to Punjab and seven to Haryana have been cancelled. The trains would have made 74 trips over the next four days.

According to Haryanas additional chief secretary Ram Niwas the decision to suspend mobile Internet services was taken at a coordination committee meeting of Haryana, Punjab and the UT held under the chairmanship of Punjab governor and Chandigarh administrator V.P. Badnore.

The police is also closely monitoring the social media, particularly WhatsApp groups, Facebook and Twitter, asking people not to spread rumours.

Mr Niwas said the railway ministry was requested to stop all passenger trains to Chandigarh for two days. Buses of Haryana Roadways coming to Chandigarh and Panchkula have been stopped for two days.

Ten senior IPS officers have been deployed and two additional director-general-level police officers have also been appointed to ensure the peace, he said.

The CBI case was registered against the Dera chief in 2002 on the high courts directions after anonymous letters were circulated about the alleged sexual exploitation of two female followers against him.
Wont allow any activity against friendly neighbour: Nepal

New Delhi: India and its smaller Himalayan neighbour Nepal on Thursday signed eight pacts, including on cooperation in countering drug trafficking and post-earthquake reconstruction, even as foreign secretary S. Jaishankar said the Sino-Indian military stand-off in Doklam did not figure in talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his visiting Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba. With China going all out to woo Nepal through massive financial investment, India is also stepping up on completing infrastructure projects that will help the Himalayan country. Nepal also assured India that it would not allow any activity against its friendly neighbour. The Joint Statement released late on Thursday evening said, The two Prime Ministers expressed satisfaction over the excellent state of India-Nepal relations that are deep, comprehensive and multi-faceted. Mr Deuba will also visit Hyderabad on Friday and is expected to visit Tirupati after that. He will also travel to Bodh Gaya subsequently.

Doklam (issue) did not come up (in discussions between the two leaders, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar told reporters, in response to a question. The India-China issue did not figure, he said, in an answer to another question. China has reportedly already briefed Nepal about the situation at Doklam.
A media report cites reasons as masturbation and a sedentary lifestyle behind men being unfit to join PLA.

New Delhi: About 56% of youth applying to join the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) in an unnamed China city have been found unfit in the last year, the PLA Daily, a state-run military newspaper said last week in a startling report.

The reasons for the men youth being unfit were underscored as obesity and in men, a condition called varicocele when veins become enlarged in the scrotum.

The report went on to say that frequent masturbation and a sedentary lifestyle led to such a condition although medical science does not draw a clear linkage between varicocele and masturbation. The other reasons given for the unhealthy condition of Chinese youth were the excessive use of smart-phones and excessively high mineral content in drinking water.

The report has generated a big online debate with many voicing concerns that the future may see a paucity of fit men for recruitment for the PLA, the worlds biggest army particularly in the backdrop of a strict one-child norm for three decades which were slightly relaxed only in November 2013 when married couples in which just one parent is an only child can also have a second baby.

Reacting to the report, the Chinese Defense Ministrys recruitment office said on Tuesday: Chinas recruitment process has strict rules and procedures The quality of our recruits is guaranteed, and the headwaters of our military will flow long and strong.

Putting out an official statement which dismissed speculation that unhealthy applicants are entering the armed forces, it said: Recruitment is the foundation of national defense, and high-quality recruits are crucial to the militarys combat capability.

While the educational profile of PLA recruits has improved over the years, in 2014, the Chinese military lowered its height requirement for males from 162 centimeters to 160 cm, and for female candidates from 160 cm to 158 cm. It also reduced eyesight requirements.

Meanwhile, the Indian army, after finding that possibly a third of its men would be overweight, issued an order in May that an annual obesity evaluation examination would be held.

The unfit China youth is by no means an isolated phenomenon. In 2014, only 1% of young Americans were physically fit and mentally inclined to possibly serve in the US army. According to the Pentagon, the reasons for the youth being unfit related to physical conditions and appearances and educational profiles which included obesity, criminal records, lack of high school diploma, body tattoos and piercings, etc.

Meanwhile, the Indian army, startled after a recent survey finding which indicated that possibly a third of its men would be overweight, has issued an order in May that every year obesity evaluation examination would be held and promotions would also depend on the fitness levels of the soldier.
Cong calls ruling major blow to fascist forces; BJP says SC affirms govts position.

New Delhi: Leaders cutting across party lines hailed the apex court decision to hold privacy as a fundamental right on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters, law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the court has affirmed the governments position. The Supreme Court has affirmed what the government had said in Parliament while moving the Aadhaar Bill. Privacy should be a fundamental right subject to reasonable restrictions.

Rejecting the assertion of the law minister, the Congress termed it as misguiding the people. Congress MP and senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing four non-BJP states, in the matter said: The law minister should read the judgment. His Attorney General opposed that privacy should be a fundamental right. He should check with the AG before misguiding the people. Mr Sibal added the Narendra Modi-government was ill- advised in opposing the demand to declare right to privacy as a fundamental right in the Supreme Court.

Hailing the judgment, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said the Supreme Court verdict on right to privacy heralds a new era for individual rights and human dignity and strikes a blow on unbridled encroachment and surveillance by the state and its agencies in the common mans life.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi tweeted: Welcome the SC verdict upholding right to privacy as an intrinsic part of an individuals liberty, freedom and dignity. The SC decision marks a major blow to fascist forces.

Former finance minister P. Chidambaram also welcomed the judgment and criticised the governments interpretation of Aadhaar under Article 21. He said the governments stand on Aadhaar was inconsistent. But Aadhaar cant become a beyond-all, end-all of all administrative issues, he said. The fault, he added, was not with the concept, but with the BJP governments use and misuse of Aadhaar as a tool.

While Union minister Arun Jaitley said the Narendra Modi government has always had a clear stand on privacy. He said it is a positive development and there will always be efforts to strengthen the fundamental rights. He added the UPA government had brought Aadhaar without any legal framework, and therefore, the privacy issue went to the apex court.

He made the comments after unveiling the three-year action agenda prepared by the Niti Aayog for the period between 2017-18 to 2019-2020. The government always had a clear stand on privacy, he said. He blamed the previous UPA regime by saying that it brought Aadhaar and collected data without any legal backing and therefore the privacy issue went to Supreme Court.

Congresss media department in-charge Randeep Surjewala said the Supreme Court had stopped the BJP government, which tried to turn India into a police state, in its tracks. He described the verdict as the dawn of a new freedom and a decisive defeat for the BJP government. It was a blow to the creeping advances of those who want to convert India into a fascist police state, he said, adding that the conspiracy has been nipped in the bud. He called it a great victory for liberty and freedom. The Court rejects Modi governments attempt to whittle down the right to privacy as a fundamental right, he said.

Left parties also hailed the judgment of the Supreme Court. CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury said, We welcome the Supreme Court verdict...This landmark judgment should pave the way to protect, in this world of technology advance dominated by corporates, misuse of private data and infringing upon the privacy of individuals.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee also welcomed the Supreme Courts ruling on right to privacy. We welcome this verdict by Honourable Supreme Court #RightToPrivacy is a Fundamental Right, she said in a tweet.

Actor Kamal Haasan also welcomed the decision, saying these are the moments that make India. In a tweet, he said there was nothing vague or amorphous about the apex courts verdict on the matter. People thank the Honourable Judges. These are moments that make India, he added.

Former law minister Ashwani Kumar said the Court had vindicated constitutional conscience and validated yet again its role as the guardian of our constitutional rights. The right to privacy has finally been recognised as part of mans inviolate personality and as a right that is inherent and inalienable to human personality, Mr Kumar said.

In a landmark decision that will affect the lives of all Indians, the SC unanimously declared the right to privacy a fundamental right under the Constitution.

What each SC Judge said

Bench comprised 9 judges. Justice Chandrachud delivered the judgment on behalf of CJI Khehar, Justices Agrawal, Abdul Nazeer and himself. Justices Chelameswar, Bobde, A.M. Sapre, Rohinton Nariman and Sanjay Kishan Kaul gave separate but concurring judgments with additional reasons...

Justice Chandrachud

Liberty and freedom are values that are intrinsic to our constitutional order. But, they also have an instrumental value in creating conditions in which socio-economic rights can be achieved. India has no iron curtain. Our society prospers in the shadow of its drapes that let it sunshine and reflect a multitude of hues based on language, religion, culture and ideologies. We also need to emphasise on the lack of substance in the submission that privacy is a privilege for the few. Every individual in society, irrespective of social class or economic status, is entitled to intimacy and autonomy, which privacy protects.

Justice Nariman

Privacy is integral to the several fundamental rights recognised by Part III of the Constitution and must be regarded as a fundamental right itself. Privacy is always integrated with personal liberty. It is clear the right of privacy is an inalienable human right that inheres in every person by virtue of the fact that he or she is a human being. The inalienable fundamental right to privacy resides in Article 21 and other fundamental freedoms contained in Part III of the Constitution of India. M.P. Sharma and the majority in Kharak Singh to the extent that they indicate to the contrary, stand overruled.

Justice Chelameswar

Article 21 is wide enough to take in not only the various freedoms enumerated in Article 19(1) but also many others that are not enumerated. Aspirations and goals depend upon the history of that society. History invariably is a product of various forces emanating from religion, incidents of Jalianwala Bagh and the like. Man is not a creature of the state. Life and liberty are not granted by the Constitution. Constitution only stipulates the limitations on the power of the state to interfere with our life and liberty.

Justice Kaul

The right to privacy may have different aspects starting from the right to be let alone in the famous article by Samuel Warren and Louis D. Brandeis. One such aspect is an individuals right to control dissemination of his personal information. Privacy is also the key to the freedom of thought. A person has a right to think. The thoughts are sometimes translated into speech but confined to the person to whom it is made. For example, one may want to criticise someone but not share the criticism with the world.

Justice Bobde

Privacy has the nature of being both a common law right as well as a fundamental right under Article 21. Its content, in both forms, is identical. All that differs is the incidence of burden and the forum for enforcement for each form. Privacy is a basic pre-requisite for exercising the liberty and the freedom to perform that activity. The inability to create a condition of selective seclusion virtually denies an individual the freedom to exercise that particular liberty or freedom necessary to do that activity.

Justiced Sapre

One can't conceive an individual enjoying meaningful life with dignity without such right to privacy. Indeed, it is one of those cherished rights, which every civilised society

governed by rule of law always recognises in every human being and is under obligation to recognise such rights in order to maintain and preserve the dignity of an individual.
Its intrinsic to life and liberty: All 9 judges

New Delhi: In a historic ruling protecting the rights of all citizens, the Supreme Court on Thursday held that the right to privacy was protected as an intrinsic part of right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and part of the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. A nine-judge Constitution Bench of Chief Justice J.S. Khehar and Justices J. Chelameswar, S.A. Bobde, R.K. Agrawal, Rohinton F. Nariman, A.M. Sapre, D.Y. Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Abdul Nazeer thus overruled the decisions in the 1954 M.P. Sharma case and the 1963 Kharak Singh case by a bench of eight and six judges respectively.

The privacy issue arose because of the Centre pushing its agenda of making the Aadhaar card with its biometric, iris and other data, mandatory for availing several services, including banking transactions and for filing of income-tax returns. A five-judge Constitution Bench had referred the case to a larger nine-judge bench on July 18. In light of Thursdays order, the validity of the Aadhaar Act will now be tested on the touchstone of right to privacy by a three-judge bench in due course.

In 1954, it was held that right to privacy was not protected by the Constitution and in 1963 it was again held that it was not protected by the Constitution. The nine-judge bench has now overruled this  the unanimous judgment unequivocally recognises right to privacy as a fundamental right.





Justice Chandrachud delivered the judgment on behalf of Chief Justice Khehar and Justices Agrawal, Abdul Nazeer and himself. Justices Chelameswar, Bobde, A.M. Sapre, Rohinton Nariman and Sanjay Kishan Kaul gave separate but concurring judgments with some additional reasons.

Justice Chandrachuds main order said: The right to privacy has been held a fundamental right of the citizen, being an integral part of Article 21 of the Constitution. Life is precious in itself. But life is worth living because of the freedoms which enable each individual to live life as it should be lived. The best decisions on how life should be lived are entrusted to the individual. They are continuously shaped by the social milieu in which individuals exist.

The court said the strength of Indian democracy lies in the foundation provided by the Constitution to liberty and freedom. Liberty and freedom are values which are intrinsic to our constitutional order, but they also have an instrumental value in creating conditions in which socio-economic rights can be achieved.

The court said it was the States duty to safeguard the ability to take decisions  the autonomy of individuals  and not to dictate those decisions. To live was to live with dignity. Life, within the meaning of Article 21, was not confined to the integrity of physical privacy. Privacy, with its attendant values, assures dignity to the individual and it is only when life can be enjoyed with dignity can liberty be of true substance. Privacy ensures the fulfillment of dignity and is a core value, which the protection of life and liberty is intended to achieve.

The court also disagreed with the ruling in the gay rights case  criminalising Section 377 IPC  and said while the court had held that the right to privacy was part of the right to life and liberty, it had upheld the provision. Its said: Sexual orientation is an essential component of identity. Equal protection demands protection of the identity of every individual, without discrimination. The chilling effect is due to the danger of a human being subjected to social opprobrium or disapproval, as reflected in the punishment of crime. Hence the Koushal rationale that the prosecution of a few is not an index of violation is flawed, and cant be accepted. Consequently, we disagree with the manner in which the Koushal case dealt with the privacy-dignity based claims of LGBT persons on this aspect.

With the Supreme Court disagreeing with some aspects of its order upholding Section 377 IPC in 2013, and effectively saying sexual orientation was an essential attribute of privacy, Thursdays ruling seemed to lay the ground for the eventual decriminalising of gay sex when it hears a curative petition challenging Section 377.

Sexual orientation, the court said, was an essential component of identity and the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population are real rights founded on sound constitutional doctrine. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said in his judgment: Privacy includes at its core the preservation of personal intimacies, sanctity of family life, marriage, procreation, home and sexual orientation... Privacy also connotes a right to be left alone.

It said: The attorney-general argued before us that the right to privacy must be forsaken in the interest of welfare entitlements provided by the State. In our view, the submission that the right to privacy is an elitist concept and aspirations of the large majority constituting the rest of society is unsustainable.

Rejecting this argument, the court declared the A-Gs submission betrays a misunderstanding of the constitutional position. The refrain that the poor need no civil and political rights and are concerned only with economic well-being has been utilised though history to wreak the most egregious violations of human rights. Above all, it must be realised it is the right to question, the right to scrutinise and the right to dissent which enables an informed citizenry to scrutinise the actions of the government.

On the A-Gs argument that privacy was the privilege of a few rich people, the court said: We need to emphasise the lack of substance in the submission that privacy is a privilege for the few. Every individual in society, irrespective of social class or economic status, is entitled to the intimacy and autonomy which privacy protects. It is privacy as an intrinsic and core feature of life and personal liberty which enables an individual to stand up against a programme of forced sterilisation.

The court added: It is privacy which is a powerful guarantee if the State were to introduce compulsory drug trials of non-consenting men or women. The sanctity of marriage, liberty of procreation, choice of a family life and the dignity of being are matters which concern every individual irrespective of social strata or economic well-being. The pursuit of happiness is founded upon autonomy and dignity. Both are essential attributes of privacy, making no distinction between the birthmarks of individuals.

The high-voltage hearing saw a battery of senior lawyers, including attorney-general K.K. Venugopal, additional solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, Arvind Datar, Kapil Sibal, Gopal Subaramaniam, Shyam Divan, Anand Grover, C.A. Sundaram and Rakesh Dwivedi, advancing arguments either in favour or against the inclusion of right to privacy as a fundamental right.

The petitioners in the case included former Karnataka high court judge K.S. Puttaswamy, first chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Magsaysay Award winner Shanta Sinha, feminist researcher Kalyani Sen Menon and others who challenged the validity of the Aadhaar scheme on the grounds of it being violative of the right to privacy.
The commanding officer said the crew wanted to participate in Ganesh festival beginning on Friday.

The 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit to conduct expert exchanges with the Indian Navy, Marine Commandos, Army.

Panaji: The amphibious dock landing ship USS Pearl Harbor (LSD 52) and the embarked 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) arrived in Goa on Thursday for a scheduled port visit.

The ships Commanding Officer Theodore Essenfeld said their mission in Goa is to conduct the professional subject matter expert exchanges with the Indian Navy, Marine Commandos, and Army.

He said during their stay in Goa, they will meet their Indian Navy and Army counterparts in a rare opportunity for joint and combined exchanges, honing our interoperability in amphibious skills, medical care, visit, board, search and seizure procedures, and helicopter operations.

He interacted with media persons on board the ship at Vasco, 35 km away from here.

The commanding officer said the crew wanted to participate in Ganesh festival beginning on Friday.

USS Pearl Harbor is an amphibious dock landing ship, designed to support US Marine Corps operations from the sea. The ship can operate the full range of landing craft and helicopters in the US Inventory in support of combat or humanitarian missions.

The purpose is to enhance our interoperability and establish a stronger esprit de corps between our militaries. Our countries have a long history of military cooperation, based on our shared ideals of democracy, international rules and norms, and our desires for peace, security and prosperity across the region, he said.

Lieutenant Colonel James Stover, Commander of Troops, leading embarked elements of the 15th MEU, said no single nation can combat regional threats alone. We must work together to share best practices, each nation's unique experiences, and encourage interoperability and teamwork to enhance readiness and regional stability.

Both the US and India recognise that the Indian Ocean is vital to the security of the region and the global economy. Positive mil-to-mil relationships are based on common interests related to maritime security, counter-terrorism, defence trade and security of the global commons, he said.
The BJP is confident of retaining power in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah.

Jaitley and Javadekar have been the party's in-charge for various state polls in the past. (Photo: PTI/File)

New Delhi: Union ministers Arun Jaitley and Prakash Javadekar were on Thursday appointed the BJP's election in-charge for the high-stakes Gujarat and Karnataka assembly polls respectively.

BJP chief Amit Shah also appointed four Union ministers -- Narendra Singh Tomar, Nirmala Sitharaman, Jitendra Singh and P P Choudhary -- co-incharge for the Gujarat polls, scheduled to be held later this year, a party statement said.

Union minister Piyush Goyal will be co-incharge for the Karnataka polls, slated for early next year, it said.

Union minister Thawar Chand Gehlot has been appointed the election in-charge for the Himachal Pradesh assembly polls, also scheduled for later this year.

Jaitley and Javadekar have been the party's in-charge for various state polls in the past. Gehlot is also a veteran organisation man.

The last assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat were held in November and December, 2012, respectively. The results were announced on December 20, 2012.

The last Karnataka assembly polls were held in May, 2013.

The BJP is in a direct contest with the Congress in all the three states. While the saffron party is in power in Gujarat, its bastion for over two decades, the opposition party rules in the other two states.

Since it stormed to power at the Centre in 2014, the BJP has edged past the Congress in the polls in states where the latter was its main challenger. The Congress defeated the SAD-BJP alliance in Punjab, but the BJP was a junior partner in the state.

In Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is leading the Congress charge against the BJP, which has made it clear that its state president and former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa will be its chief ministerial face. Siddaramaiah has expressed confidence that he will retain power.

The BJP is confident of retaining power in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah.

In the hilly state of Himachal Pradesh where the BJP has not projected any chief ministerial candidate yet, a keen battle is expected between the two parties, with Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh leading the Congress campaign.
Rajasthan started cultivating olives in 2007. We list five health benefits of olive which shows why this may be a great idea.

State Agriculture Minister Prabhu Lal Saini said the brand, named Olitia, The Olive Tea, will be launched by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. (Photo: Pixabay)

Kota: The desert state of Rajasthan will soon give the country an alternative to green tea - brewed from olive leaves.

State Agriculture Minister Prabhu Lal Saini said the brand  named Olitia, The Olive Tea  will be launched "very soon" by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

"The process has been completed and we will launch it as soon as we get time from the chief minister. It will be the first time in the country and the world that a green tea alternative will be produced out of olive leaves," he said.

Rajasthan started cultivating olives in 2007 in collaboration with Israel and now the state cultivates them on 5,000 hectares, the minister said. "And we have made a lot of progress since then. An olive refinery is operational in the state at Bikaner, also the country's first. We have also began production of olive honey," he said.

Asked how the state got the idea of producing "Olive green tea", Saini said, "I am a PhD in Agriculture myself, and I knew olive leaves have several health benefits. So I decided to get some study and lab testing done about it." He showed several papers with findings of the lab studies.

A lab test, conducted in July, confirmed the presence of several anti-oxidants, anti-inflammatory and other such substances in the olive leaves. One of the substances found was Luteolin. "Experiments with Luteolin show that it suppresses bacteria-induced inflammation. Luteolin is an oxygen scavenger," reads the report.

He said the lab tests confirmed the presence of "such strong anti-oxidant" in olive leaves that they can help prevent several types of cancer  blood cancer, prostate cancer and ovaries cancer. After the studies and lab tests confirmed these properties of the olive leaves, the decision to process them was taken, he said.

"It will medically benefit those who suffer from mental stress, cardiac disease. It has anti-inflammatory properties as well," he said.

The Olitia, The Olive Tea, packet also claims it has zero caffeine, builds immunity, fight fatigue and has anti-ageing properties. Saini said the "olive green tea" will come in multiple flavours which are in vogue these days like exotic, lemon and mint. "We are trying to diversify and produces other flavours like ginger, Tulsi etc," he said.

"We have received proposals from various countries including the UK, the USA and from the Gulf, that they want to sign MoUs in this regard," he said.

The agriculture minister said that 66 per cent of "our state has arid or semi-arid climatic conditions. But we are among the leaders in the country as far as agricultural innovation is concerned thanks to the chief minister, scientists, officials and the people".

We also list five health benefits of olive oil

They protect against colon, breast and skin cancer: They contain an abundance of phenolic antioxidants as well as the anti-cancer compounds squalene and terpenoid. They also contain high levels of the monounsaturated fatty acid, oleic acid, which reduces excessive inflammation.

Olive is good for the heart: Olive oil contains biophenols, which suppress the oxidization of LDL (or bad cholesterol) which has been shown to play a role in the development of cardiovascular disease.

They work to reduce pain: It contains a compound called oleocanthal that has strong anti-inflammatory properties, mimicking the action of ibuprofen.

Olives may protect against ulcers: Antimicrobial properties in olives and olive oil may help to combat the bacteria responsible for causing stomach ulcers. Studies have shown their high levels of polyphenols protect against eight strains of ulcer-causing bacteria, three of which are resistant to some antibiotics.

Eating olives helps boost iron intake: Olives contain a substantial amount of iron, a key factor in the formation of hemoglobin, the protein that carries oxygen throughout the body via the bloodstream.
Teenager arrested after blowing up mother's new house which also led to neighbours being affected.

The teen was arrested the day after a huge blaze broke out in an apartment in the north German town of Velen (Photo: Pixabay)

An unnamed teenager was arrested after police say he blew up his mothers new apartment so they would not have to move.

The teen was arrested the day after a huge blaze broke out in an apartment in the north German town of Velen.

The teen, who hasn't been named, was arrested on Tuesday the day after a huge blaze broke out in an apartment in the north German town of Velen.

Police say he covered the flat in gasoline before setting it alight, causing an explosion which destroyed five other homes and two shops.

A 69-year-old woman who lived in one of those homes had to be hospitalised from smoke inhalation, a local newspaper reported.

Police say the boy torched the apartment because he did not want to move there from his old home in Borken, located a 15 minute drive away.

He was tracked down after witnesses described seeing him leave the scene in a car.
The lives of innocent people are in danger but the Kejriwal government is the least perturbed and only issuing political statements, says Manoj Tiwari

New Delhi: The Delhi BJP unit on Wednesday demanded that medical emergency be declared in the capital for prevention of swine flu. Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari claimed that presently more than 1,000 people are suffering from swine flu in the city.

The lives of innocent people are in danger, but the Arvind Kejriwal government is the least perturbed and only issuing political statements. Swine flu has become an epidemic and the number of the people dying due to it is increasing day-by-day. Delhiites cannot be left at the mercy of the insensitive Aam Aadmi Party government, said Mr Tiwari.

Hence Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Delhi unit urges the lieutenant governor (L-G) Anil Baijal that medical emergency be declared in the city for preventing swine flu and arrangements be made in the hospitals for prevention and treatment of swine flu, he added.

According to a government official, swine flu has claimed as many as 47 lives, including 22 from Delhi, in the four government hospitals of the capital till date this year. People elect a government to solve their problems and they expect it to protect its life and property, but the ruling government is proving to be dangerous for the Delhiites, added Mr Tiwari.

Death of 47 persons from swine flu and 10 workers in cleaning the sewer is proof of this fact. The silence of the government on the sewer deaths is enough to prove its lack of sensitivity, he said. Mr Tiwari also alleged that disregarding the orders of Delhi high court, sanitation workers are being forced to manually clean the sewers due to which they are dying. The Delhi BJP chief demanded that appropriate legal action be taken against those responsible for the deaths of the sanitation workers.
The strike badly affected the patients who were asked to return from the emergency gate by the security guards without being treated.

A resident doctor was allegedly assaulted by a patient in the Out Patient Department (OPD) of the hospital on Wednesday. (Photo: ANI)

New Delhi: The resident doctors at Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi went on strike for indefinite period on Wednesday after their colleague was allegedly manhandled by the attendants of a patient.

The emergency services were also interrupted at the hospital.

The strike badly affected the patients who were asked to return from the emergency gate by the security guards without being treated.

A resident doctor was allegedly assaulted by a patient in the Out Patient Department (OPD) of the hospital on Wednesday.

The resident doctors said that they called for strike to oppose such assault and to get their security concerns fulfilled.

"Around 2:30 in the afternoon, a patient assaulted a doctor alleging that his treatment was being delayed by the doctor. Such incidents are not new to us. Earlier also we witnessed such violence. Our security should be increased to check such attacks. We will go for indefinite strike till are demands are fulfilled," Dheer Singh, president of Safdurjung resident doctors said.

An FIR was also filed in this regard, said Sigh demanding proper security arrangement in the hospital.
Mamata declared 24-hr ban on idol immersion for Muharram.

Kolkata: State BJP president Dilip Ghosh described chief minister Mamata Banerjees announcement to postpone Durga idol immersions for a day on the account of Muharram as unconstitutional.

He indicated that her decision would be challenged in the court. The RSS also expressed its displeasure over the chief ministers decision.

Mr Ghosh said on Thursday, Durga Puja idol immersion process is being obstructed by the West Bengal government repeatedly in the state. Since Durga Puja and Muharram dates are close, the chief minister declared that the idol immersion a day after Bijoya Dashami has been put on hold for Muharram.

He added, This is very much unconstitutional. Such move hurts the religious sentiments of the Hindu community and curbs their rights. Someone will move the court.

RSS leader Jishnu Basu claimed, The Hindus in West Bengal will not abide by such decisions. Every year the same thing is repeated. Every puja committee needs to take permission from the police. But how many the police permissions have actually been taken to take out Muharram processions? I would request the police to come out with the data.

On Wednesday, the chief minister at a programme said, Since Muharram falls on October 1, Durga Puja idol immersion can be done till 6 pm on Bijoya Dashami. There will be no problem for those who want go for idol immersion within 6 pm on Bijoya Dashami. The idol immersion can not be done only for a day: Ekadashi (the day after Bijoya Dashami).

She added, We sometimes do not prefer to go for idol immersion also on this day. The idol immersion will not happen that day because Muharram also falls on that day. Ms Banerjee later tweeted, This year Durga Puja & Muharram fall on the same day. Except for a 24 hour period on the day of Muharram.

She added, Immersions can take place on October 2, 3 and 4. Last year, the government had imposed similar restrictions, which were however rejected by Calcutta HC.
Damania to file RTI inquiry into marking system tenders.

Mumbai: Activist Anjali Damania has requested all final year degree students of the University of Mumbai to ask for a photocopy of their answer sheets once their results are declared so that they can understand how their papers were assessed. She is also planning to file a Right to Information (RTI) inquiry along with RTI activist Anil Galgali, regarding the tenders which was passed before appointing the company, MeritTrac, for assessing the answer sheets online in the On-Screen Marking system.

Talking to The Asian Age, Ms Damania said, By obtaining the photocopies, the reality of the answer papers will be exposed. How the answer papers were assessed, how it was scanned, the manner in which the students answers were checked and marked, all this will come out! A single photocopy of an answer sheets cost Rs 50, which they can pay at their college and fill a form. Within 10 days, the student will receive a photocopy of his or her answer sheet.

She alleged that politics had ruined the administration of the university. The entire exam delay matter is not being taken seriously by anyone. Unless and until, the high court interferes in this issue, there wont be any pressure on the officials, she added.

The activist claimed that it was unfair to just send the MUs Vice-Chancellor (V-C) Sanjay Deshmukh on a leave, when the entire mess has been initiated by him. Deshmukh should have been terminated, instead he has been sent on leave, or he just left on leave, which is so easy for him. She also said that it made more sense to have manual assessment of papers. If the exam is conducted online, it makes sense to have online assessment. But if the student gave his/her examination manually, the assessment of those papers has to be assessed manually by the teachers, she added.
Justice Oka had been part of the bench that passed the 2016 order and hence was asked by the state to have a relook at it.

Mumbai: In a first, the state government on Thursday filed an application before the Chief Justice of the Bombay high court, seeking the transfer of all cases pertaining to noise pollution from a division bench on the ground that one of the judges was biased against it.

Earlier in the day, when the matter of compliance had come up for hearing, the judge concerned expressed shock at such allegations being levelled against him, but said that he would not be provoked and refused to recuse himself from the case.

However, when the matter came up for hearing, the court was informed that the Chief Justice had already taken cognisance of the states application and transferred the case to a separate bench.

The issue picked up steam on Wednesday after the state informed the division bench of Justice A.S. Oka and Justice Riyaz Chagla to review an order passed by it in 2016 on setting up silence zones across the city in light of an amendment to the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules by the Central government.

Justice Oka had been part of the bench that passed the 2016 order and hence was asked by the state to have a relook at it.

On Wednesday, Justice Oka refused to either review or recall the order, saying it would be in force till the time all parties to the petitions and the state had a say on the amendments and it was decided by the court.

The state in its application to the CJ stated that while all noise pollution-related cases had been disposed off, the judge had kept them pending for compliance.

The application further said that even after the bench consisting of Justice Oka was informed that there had been compliance during the recently concluded Dahi Handi festival, he had remarked that there was little compliance, which indicated that he was biased against the state.

In light of this observation, the state sought the case to be transferred to another bench.

When the matter came up for hearing at 3 pm, the court registry informed the bench of Justice Oka that the case had been transferred to another bench and hence it could not be heard by it.

Taken aback by the application by the state senior advocate Birendra Saraf, who appeared for Awaaz Foundation in one of the petitions against noise pollution, said, It is shocking that the government can come down to this level. Such an application can be expected from a private litigant but the government is expected to act in a responsible manner. The application is nothing but a politically motivated move to ensure there are no noise restrictions during Ganpati festival. It is shocking to see the extent to which one can go to achieve political ends.

Meanwhile, Sumaira Abdulali of Awaaz Foundation said that though she was taken aback by the states stand, she would continue collecting data on noise violations in the city. I will continue my work of collecting data and providing it to the government authorities concerned. It is for the people to decide on whether they want to put up with high decibel levels, said Ms Abdulali.

Advocate general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, while asking the court to recall or review its 2016 order, had said that in light of the amendment by the Central government the orders of the bench on silence zones were rendered ineffective and would not remain operational. When the amendments say that the state has to identify and declare silence zones, the court orders become infructuous and hence should be reviewed or recalled, Mr Kumbhakoni had said.

The earlier orders had stipulated that the areas around 100 metres of hospitals and educational institutions were deemed as silence zones.
56 women riders speak about their experience hoisting Indian national flag at Khardung La pass on August 15.

The group of 56 women riders achieved the feat after embarking on a journey of 10,000 kms covering 10 Asian countries and 12 Indian states. (Photo: Facebook/ Biking Queens)

Jammu: The 'Biking Queens' were received with a rousing reception after they hoisted the tricolour at one of the world's highest motorable passes, Khardung La in Ladakh, on Independence Day.

The group of 56 women riders achieved the feat after embarking on a journey of 10,000 kms covering 10 Asian countries and 12 Indian states.

The woman riders rode their way into people's hearts carrying Prime Minister Narendra Modi's message of 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao', 'Swachh Bharat Mission' and 'Shashakt Nari, Shashakt Bharat'.

Sarika Mehta, who headed the gang, said, "It was a dream true after we hoisted the national flag on August 15 at (7,583 feet high) Khardung La. We wanted to send a message on women empowerment to the entire country with this endeavour".

She went on to add, "It was a challenge for us to embark on such a mission. We were sceptical in the beginning...some said we won't make it. But we strived and survived. Mehta, a doctor by profession, headed the gang of women from 20 to 40 years of age. Professional bikers, doctors, students and housewives comprised the gang. Braving treacherous mountains and weather conditions, the Biking Queens travelled through mountainous terrains, deserts, valleys, riverine areas, villages and cities to take forward the message of women empowerment.

Minister of State Rajvardhan Singh Rathore, who received the gang at Khardung La pass, praised the bikers for their grit and determination.

"These women are modern Durgas. Mother Durga rides a tiger, but women of today have replaced the tiger with bikes. A woman riding a bike is a strong message in itself. That is why the gang chose the vehicle as the medium," he had said.

The all women motorcycle expedition was flagged off by former Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel on July 19 last in Surat.

"From Surat, we biked to KanyaKumari and then to Nagaland and Varanasi. From there, we travelled via Manali to Leh in Jammu and Kashmir. We met a chain of people mostly women. We provided books and other educational kits to inhabitants of rural areas. Women in urban areas need to come out of their comfort zones to reach out to the rural folks," Mehta said.

The 41-year-old spirited biker added, "We broke the mindset that women cannot do good in male bastions (like biking). But any girl can do it, if they chase their dreams and come out of their comfort zones".

Another member of the gang said there was a dire need for the government to focus its energies on the rural sector, especially in education and healthcare sectors.
The American Civil War ended in 1865, but the struggle to clarify its legacy goes on.

Given that Barcelona is among the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, it is hardly surprising that almost all the victims of last Thursdays terrorist rampage came from various parts of the world. The murderous intent, as is usual in such cases, was indiscriminate. Precisely what motivated the young Muslims, several of them still in their teens, to participate in the gory plot is open to conjecture, although it is probably safe to assume that a profoundly misguided view of religious obligations was a part of the mix. News reports suggest they were radicalised by a Salafist imam  who, like the terrorists, was of Moroccan origin, and died in the massive explosion in Alcanar when gas canisters stored for the purpose of staging a more explosive attack thankfully blew up prematurely.

Apparently, the intended target was the Sagrada Familia church, the most prominent example of Antonio Gaudis quirky architecture in a city delightfully peppered with examples of his unorthodox designs. The resort to a vehicle as an instrument of terrorism  along the lines of attacks in France, Germany and Britain  seems to have been Plan B. And although even a single life lost in such horrifying instances is one too many, the toll, dreadful as it was, could have been much worse.

Much the same could be said about the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, the previous weekend, where a radicalised young man targeted anti-fascist protesters by driving a car into them and killing Heather Heyer, a legal assistant. She was among those who rallied to oppose the Unite the Right demonstration organised by a panoply of racist groups, ostensibly to oppose the local governments decision to remove a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee that had been put up in 1924, almost 60 years after the South had lost its right to perpetuate slavery.

The American Civil War ended in 1865, but the struggle to clarify its legacy goes on. The period known as Reconstruction was relatively shortlived. It wasnt until a century after Abraham Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation that voting rights and other constitutional guarantees of equality for African Americans were ensconced in law. Even so, the white supremacists have sporadically resurfaced. They were suitably impressed by Donald Trumps efforts, long before he became a presidential candidate, to insinuate that anyone called Barack Hussein Obama could hardly be American.

They were even more enthused when candidate Trump articulated slurs against Mexicans and declared he would institute a ban on Muslims entering the US. After Charlottesville, he was quiet for a while, then announced he saw little difference between the neo-Nazis and their opponents. He was subsequently persuaded to be more clear-cut in his denunciation of racists, but thereafter returned to his original formulation, declaring that there were many fine people on both sides.

The US President may have felt flattered because some of the far-right demonstrators wore Make America Great Again caps, never mind that many of them were echoing the blood and soil slogans of the German Nazis amid considerable evidence of distinctly anti-Semitic vibes. His ambiguity spurred a backlash from leading lights of the Republican Party as well as the captains of industry, which flowed into the West Wing disarray that has crippled the White House.

The announcement of a new strategy for Afghanistan (and Pakistan) was at least partially an attempt to restore presidential authority, presaging increased participation in an essentially unwinnable war. But the darkness that simultaneously crept across the continental US, courtesy of a complete solar eclipse, was perhaps a better metaphor for its current woes at home and abroad. Writing recently in The Guardian, Jason Burke drew appropriate parallels between the Islamist and American nationalist varieties of the far right, without claiming equivalence. It is perfectly true that those determined to spread hatred prey on vulnerable young minds and channel their grievances towards antagonism against the other, invariably those of a different religion, race or ethnicity. Wherever this attempt succeeds, the consequences tend to be horrendous.

At the most basic level, such tendencies derive from a refusal to recognise the common humanity we all share. In the narrative of the Islamists, anyone not fundamentally wedded to a heinous interpretation of the faith is fair game. Among American nationalists, the enemies range from people of colour to Jews and Communists, a list that has not changed a great deal since the resurgence in far-right tendencies after the Second World War, amid open references to finishing Hitlers work.

Back then, Harry Truman, who ushered in the American security state, baulked from taking action against African-American lynchings. But neither he nor his successors in the White House, regardless of how far to the right they leaned or how shamelessly they dog-whistled, publicly declared neo-Nazis to be very fine people. The shift is both telling and ominous.

By arrangement with Dawn
The other development that intensified the surround sound regarding the BJPs supremacy was Nitish Kumars switchback.

This piece will either be pinned with a see I told you so attitude on social media sites after the next parliamentary polls or allowed to languish in the depths of the cyber world. Over the past five months, after sweeping Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and foisting itself into power in Manipur and Goa, the BJP has promoted the narrative that electoral invincibility is the new normal for the party. This discourse was precipitated considerably by Omar Abdullahs overreaction: that the Opposition had better stop fancying its chances for 2019 and instead aim for a comeback in 2024.

The other development that intensified the surround sound regarding the BJPs supremacy was Nitish Kumars switchback. He certified that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, about who he once remarked viciously that he (Mr Kumar) would never sacrifice principles at the altar of the ambitions of a man who creates fear in the minds of my countrymen, was the continuing aparajito  or unvanquished  of the moment. Besides the Janata Dal (United) joining the National Democratic Alliance, events in the AIADMK and Gujarat contribute to the sense that parties, big and small, see sense in being on the BJPs side.

Witnessing these developments, I was reminded of the conversation with Mr Modi in the summer of 2012 while researching for his biography. Back then, I broached the question of the BJPs declining number of allies and queried about his strategy to win them back. His reply was characteristic of a cocksure man: We had allies when we won seats. When our winnability went down, allies left us. If it increases, they will come back or new ones will join us. He correctly read the political response of regional outfits. Ram Vilas Paswan, who once virtuously exited the Atal Behari Vajpayee government over the post-Godhra riots, was among the first ones to not just line up but also pay obeisance to the emerging deity of electoral victories. Clearly, Mr Modi can do little wrong and there is nothing that is now rolling in his favour.

Yet, despite consecutive electoral victories and allies, new and old, joining its growing flock, it would be wrong to conclude that 2019 is a settled affair; that the BJPs victory is a foregone conclusion. In politics, no evaluation can be based on certainty of future. Even the most consensual assumptions have gone awry. This is true about India as well as outside. Few foresaw Donald Trumps victory. At home, no pollster or analyst expected the Vajpayee-led NDA to face defeat in 2004. Those arguing that the verdict of the next parliamentary poll is pre-decided base the conclusion on following assumptions: the Opposition is completely rudderless and unlikely to pose a threat because, first, the Congress will not yield its primacy to other parties, and second, Rahul Gandhi will not allow another leader to lead the Opposition pack.

The certainty of the BJPs victory stems from three other factors: the continuing popularity of Mr Modi and the hope he continues to generate among people. Second, although the government is yet to fulfil most promises, by and large no negativity surrounds it and this will neutralise anti-incumbent sentiment. Third, in Amit Shah the BJP has a relentless electoral manager and ace strategist. The BJP is by far the most cohesive political party and backed by the entire Sangh Parivar, with which the party has often had a fractious relationship in the past. In addition, the silent majoritarian thrust of all BJP campaigns on social and political issues, be it on redefining nationalism or victory in the triple talaq issue, may undermine India as a tolerant nation but polarises people in favour of the BJP.

What then are the reasons behind the argument that it is too early to be certain of a BJP victory in the next polls? First, public sentiment is suppressed because Indians are clenched by an ubiquitous machinery that publicises so-called achievements incessantly. Moreover, public discourse is managed with such ferocity that sceptics think twice before articulating disagreement. Additionally, the binary between anti-national and patriot, established by the regime, risks making people seethe internally yet not display dissent for fear of being branded a traitor. The ballot, history shows, in such situations, becomes a weapon of retribution.

In such situations, electoral rejections of regimes, for instance in Bihar or West Bengal  and even in Punjab recently  are so emphatic that no trace remains of the incumbent. The BJP is walking the razors edge by keeping people mortally scared to voice disagreement over the official line. This is a government that survives on perception, and experience shows it takes just a split second for fortunes to reverse in battles of appraisals. Almost two and half years later, no one is certain what led to Arvind Kejriwal handing Mr Modi his worst ever electoral rout. The inherent challenges on which the BJPs fortunes rest is known to the Modi-Shah duo. This explains its two-pronged strategy unveiled in recent weeks: First, claims about its prospects are exaggerated, as evidenced in Mission 350-plus unveiled last week and aimed at demoralising opponents and playing mindgames, Aussie-style, before a Test or ODI series. Second, Mr Modi has again shifted his goalpost. In 2014, the election was fought on the promise of achche din and the next slogan of New India has been unveiled. Both notions are effervescent ideas with more fizz than substance.

Growing farm distress, unemployment, uncertainty among businesses and stagnating growth are pointers that points of unease is being brushed aside. Yet, there is no knowing when the bubble will burst and will trigger unrest. People historically never await a leader but invariably anoint their own. They rarely wait for the Opposition circus to begin. Success or failure of events like Lalu Prasad Yadavs Desh Bachao rally matters little. Everything, save the peoples anger, can be managed. By containing or sanitising avenues of protestations, the presiding duo is hoping to lay out a smooth passage for themselves into the next round.
NSA used pic of Afghan women in miniskirts to influence Prez.

This 1972 photo shows Afghan women in miniskirts in Kabul before the rule of Taliban. (Photo: Amnesty.org)

Washington: President Donald Trump changed his mind about sending more troops to Afghanistan after a campaign by his national security adviser H.R. McMaster which reportedly included showing the President a photograph of women in miniskirts in Kabul, a report in the Daily Telegraph said on Wednesday.

The picture from 1972 was used by Mr McMaster in an effort to demonstrate to Mr Trump that Western culture could return to Afghanistan if he sent more troops, the Washington Post reported. It showed the women walking in a street in the Afghan capital.

Mr Trump had railed against US involvement in Afghanistan during last years election campaign, calling it a total disaster and vowing to end the 16 year US involvement.

His former chief strategist Steve Bannon fought an ongoing battle with Mr McMaster to keep the president from raising the number of US troops there form the current 8,400.

On Monday, days after Mr Bannon was forced out of the white House, Mr Trump announced his commitment to winning what had become the longest US military conflict.

He gave no details of how many more troops would be deployed but it is likely to be several thousand.

Senior US officials said Mr Trump may send up to 3,900 more troops, with some deployments beginning almost immediately.

Mr Trump said: The American people are weary of war without victory. I share the American peoples frustration. In the end, we will fight and we will win.

He was also convinced by the argument that America should not let Afghanistan become a haven for terrorists, and dismissed the idea of removing troops and handing their job over to private contractors.
In a post on Twitter, Imran Khan prayed for her speedy recovery and win in battle against cancer.

Islamabad: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Wednesday extended best wishes to ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharifs wife Kulsoom Nawaz, who has been recently diagnosed with throat cancer.

In a post on Twitter, Imran Khan prayed for her speedy recovery and win in battle against cancer. Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa also made a telephone call to Nawaz Sharif to express his best wishes and prayers for health of Begum Kalsoom Nawaz.

Mrs Kulsoom Nawaz, who is all set to contest in NA-120 by-poll in Lahore on September 17 after her nomination papers were approved by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), had flown to the United Kingdom last week for a medical checkup.

Sources privy to the family have reported that ex-premiers daughter, Maryam Nawaz would lead PML-Ns electioneering in the constituency in her mothers absence owing to the medical treatment that medics have said would be started at the earliest.

But despite her ailment, there was no question of Mrs Nawaz withdrawing from the contest, former Premiers close aide said on Wednesday.

The seat fell vacant after Supreme Court disqualified Nawaz Sharif under Artilce 62 (f) of the Constitution on July 28 in Panama leaks case.
The courts verdict declaring the ban also includes 16 ministers.

Islamabad: Lahore high court on Thursday banned the broadcast of anti-judiciary speeches made by ousted Premier Nawaz Sharif and Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The courts verdict declaring the ban also includes 16 ministers.

Tge LHC has directed Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to ensure compliance and immediate implementation of the order.

Mr Sharif was ousted as the Prime Minister by the Supreme Court last month for hiding his overseas assets as revealed in Panama Papers. The ousted leader later criticised the judges for removing him without any solid reason.

LHC Justice Mamnoon Rasheed Sheikh, hearing a contempt of court petition filed by Amaan Welfare Foundation president Amina Malik, issued notices to Pemra Chairman Absar Alam and to the regulatory authoritys council of complaints asking them to file a report regarding what the petitioner termed anti-judiciary speeches made by the former premier and other PML-N parliamentarians in the past.

Pemra has been ordered to file the report by September 12  the date of the next hearing of the case.

LHC tells Pemra to provisionally stop airing anti-judiciary speeches by PML-N leaders Idrees Sheikh.
Analysts have also warned putting greater pressure on Pakistan risks driving Islamabad deeper into the arms of China.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has not responded yet to Trump's remarks on new Afghan strategy. (File Photo)

Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will meet with powerful Pakistani generals on Thursday to formulate a response to the new US policy on Afghanistan that includes greater pressure on Islamabad to do more to rein in militants.

President Donald Trump has chastised Pakistan for harboring "agents of chaos" and providing safe havens to militant groups waging an insurgency against a US-backed government in Kabul, saying Islamabad must promptly change tack.

White House officials have gone further and threatened aid and military cuts, as well as other measures to force nuclear-armed Pakistan's hand and bring about an end to the 16-year-war.

Abbasi has not responded yet to Trump's remarks but Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said Washington should not use Pakistan as a "scapegoat" for its failures in America's longest running war. Pakistan denies harboring militants.

As is often the case with Pakistan, the final decision about how to proceed with rest with the military, which has ruled the country for nearly half its 70-year history. It calls the shots on key parts of Pakistan's foreign policy, including ties with the United States, Afghanistan and arch-foe India.

Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who will be part of the National Security Council meeting on Thursday, a day earlier met with US Ambassador David Hale and said Islamabad wanted trust and understanding rather than US aid money.

Pakistani officials bristle at what they say is a lack of respect by Washington for the country's sacrifices in the war against militancy and its successes against groups like al Qaeda, Islamic State or the Pakistani Taliban.

Pakistan estimates there have been 70,000 casualties in militant attacks since it joined the US "war on terrorism" after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

"We feel the American administration led by Mr Trump has been totally one sided, unfair to Pakistan and does not appreciate and recognize Pakistan has been a pivotal player...in the campaign against terrorism," Senator Mushahid Hussain, chairman of the senate defense committee, told Reuters on Thursday.

Pakistani officials have also been angered by Trump imploring old rival India to play a greater role in reconstructing Afghanistan, warning a greater Indian role in Kabul could be a threat to regional peace.

Pakistan fears New Delhi's greater influence in Afghanistan would leave it sandwiched by India, its bigger neighbor against whom it has fought three wars since independence in 1947.

Analysts have also warned putting greater pressure on Pakistan risks driving Islamabad deeper into the arms of China, its northern neighbor which is investing nearly $60 billion in infrastructure projects as part of its Belt and Road initiative.

China's top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, told US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a phone call the United States must value Pakistan's role in Afghanistan and respect its security concerns, according to Chinese state media.

"Things have changed since 9/11," added Hussain.

"The US today has far more diminished clout and leverage in the region and we have far more strategic space and options in our foreign policy."

The relationship between the two countries has endured periods of extreme strain in recent years, especially after al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was found and killed by US Special Forces in Pakistan in a 2011 raid.
The PLA Daily said that in one city alone more than half the candidates were rejected after failing to show they were fit, healthy enough.

This month the official PLA Daily spelt out on social media 10 reasons why so many potential recruits fall at the first hurdle. (Photo: AP)

Shanghai: The Chinese military is fretting about the growing number of would-be recruits failing its stringent fitness test, but says it has the answer: avoid masturbating and playing computer games.

People's Liberation Army chiefs aim to ensure that applicants are in tip-top condition to join the rank and file of the world's largest military force.

This month the official PLA Daily spelt out on social media 10 reasons why so many potential recruits fall at the first hurdle.

It said 20 percent were overweight while eight percent were refused because they had an enlarged testicular vein.

The newspaper did not spell out how army officers knew about the vein issue but said the problems were caused by too much masturbation, too much time playing video games and not enough exercise.

Obvious or oversized tattoos were also a no-no, it said, pointing out that others failed the test because of liver problems associated with too much alcohol.

The PLA Daily said that in one city alone more than half the candidates were rejected after failing to show they were fit and healthy enough. Beijing said the PLA had high standards.

"China's recruitment process has strict rules and procedures," the defence ministry said in a statement.

"The quality of our recruits is guaranteed and the headwaters of our military will flow long and strong."

Since coming to power in 2012 President Xi Jinping has trumpeted the need to build a stronger combat-ready military, while leading efforts to centralise the Communist Party's control over it.
by Nirmala Carvalho

Tomorrow is the ninth anniversary of pogroms against Orissa's Christians. In Kandhamal more than 10,000 people of every faith will join together to "show solidarity and love" to the victims. Archbishop: "We want the application of the Supreme Court ruling granting more compensation."

Cuttack-Bhubaneswar (AsiaNews) - "My prayer is that Kandhamal Day is remembered as a peoples movement and that the struggle, the suffering of our people - the lost, the last and the least  are witnesses of the faith for everyone". This is the wish of Msgr. John Barwa, Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, on the eve of the day that commemorates the massacre of Christians in Orissa. Tomorrow, the Archbishop continues, "will be the ninth anniversary of the violence", carried out by Hindu radicals in August 2008. For the occasion more than 10,000 people will gather in Kandhamal, the district most affected by the murderous fury of nationalists, in solidarity with the victims. People of every faith will join together to [show] solidarity and love. "

On August 25, the Indian Church recalls the fierce pogroms triggered by Hindu nationalist and Hindu militant groups. On 23 August 2008, a Maoist group killed Hindu leader Saraswati Laxanananda in his ashram, in Kandhamal District, a fact the group readily admitted. However, the followers of the radical Hindu cleric blamed Christians, whom he had criticised for a long time because of their social involvement with tribals and Dalits (outcaste) and had accused - along with bishops, priests and nuns - of proselytising.

In Kandhamal, Hindu extremists unleashed the most violent persecution against the Christian minority that India had ever seen. Overall, the pogrom forced 55,000 Christians to flee, with 5,600 houses and 415 villages raided and set on fire. According to government figures, 38 people were killed and two women raped. Scores of people were injured and permanently maimed. The Church and social activists reported instead the destruction of almost 300 churches, plus convents, schools, hostels and welfare facilities. At least 91 people died, 38 immediately, 41 from injuries sustained in the violence, and 12 in police action.

At tomorrow's meeting, Mgr. Barwa will not be present, but emphasizes that "I will accompany my people in prayer and in spirit. Not only will we pray for the sacrifice of the people of Kandhamal, but will support the request of the victims and survivors, who strive for justice. " "We also want - continues the Archbishop - to implement the Supreme Court judgment of 2 August 2016." In that statement, the judges of the Supreme Court of India "have ordered the immediate reopening of cases where the absolutions are not justified by the facts, defined compensation granted as insignificant and established compensation for destroyed houses and mourning families. Judges have ordered higher payments for damages and injuries due to violence. "
One manufacturer plans to rent out robots for US$ 500 a funeral. In Japan, funerals can cost up to $ 25,000 whilst monks in flesh and bones can cost US$ 2,000. However, the new machines could be hacked with safety issues for people.

Tokyo (AsiaNews/Agencies)  He chants sutras, taps drums, and wears the vestment and robe of a Buddhist monk. His name is Pepper and he is a robot.

Pepper recently made his debut at the funeral industry fair in Tokyo, shown off by plastic moulding maker Nissei Eco.

The manufacture is betting that it can replace monks in flesh and bones with robots that perform Buddhist funeral rituals using a computerised voice for the sutras and live stream the ceremony to those who cannot attend the service.

With the average cost of a funeral in Japan reaching in excess of US$ 25,000, and human priests costing more than US$ 2,000, Nissei Eco is looking to undercut the market with Pepper available for less than US$ 500 per funeral.

However, as artificial intelligence makers try to get more and more robots into everyday life, some scholars warn about their use.

Researchers Cesar Cerrudo and Lucas Apa of the cybersecurity firm IOActive warn that robot manufacturers must deal with vulnerabilities that could allow hackers to spy on users, disable safety features and make robots lurch and move violently, putting users and bystanders in danger.

This is getting more urgent, as robots are increasingly used in homes, offices, and factories.
by Vladimir Rozanskij

A very friendly meeting between Serghei Lavrov and Card. Parolin this morning. Great convergence on many international issues: terrorism, Syria, persecuted Christians. Some "differences" on the Ukrainian question. From the meeting in Havana, a new meeting between Francis and the Patriarch of Moscow Kirill anticipated.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - A meeting was held today between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Vatican Secretary of State Card. Pietro Parolin. In the press conference after the talks, they stressed the great convergence of both parties on the major issues of international politics, opening up many perspectives for future developments. After briefly recalling the history of Russian-Vatican relations from the fifteenth century to today, Lavrov listed the various initiatives that have recently intensified the relations between the Russian Federation and the Vatican, such as the exhibition carried out in Rome on Russian Cultural Heritage from icons to contemporary art, joint initiatives in the field of health and education, programs for children suffering from rare diseases. An agreement was also announced to abolish entry visas for representatives with a diplomatic passport from the Holy See.

The Russian minister has reviewed the numerous international political issues discussed with his Vatican visitor: the Near East, with the situation in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya, and the internal conflict in Venezuela. Lavrov thanked the Vatican for supporting Russia's positions in the fight against terrorism and extremism, particularly in the dramatic Syrian situation. Palestine and Israeli relations were also a point of convergence. Gratitude was expressed to the Holy See for supporting the Minsk accords on the end of the conflict in Ukraine. According to Lavrov, this support "was not only moral, but very concrete in humanitarian aid to the population of Donetsk and Lugansk, battered by clashes." Both Russia and the Vatican are "overcoming a conflicting approach in Ukraine, and opposed to the use of religion for political ends," added the Russian Chancellor.

For his part, the Vatican Secretary of State thanked the Russians for their welcome, recalling that he came "to express the concerns of Pope Francis for the current problems of the international scene". He expressed satisfaction with cultural, scientific and healthcare agreements, hoping for further future developments in these areas. Concessions to Vatican diplomats, according to Card. Parolin, should lead to further facilitations for the activities of the Catholic Church in Russia, alleviating the working conditions of its personnel and finding shared solutions to other problems.

On issues of international politics, the cardinal expressed his "appreciation for the right solutions to problems in the Near East, Ukraine and other countries." The Holy See emphasized that its primary aim is to alleviate the living conditions of the suffering population, and hope for a joint search for concrete solutions, without being conditioned by the manipulation of information. Referring to the thorny issue of Crimea's annexation, the prelate urged the Russians to reject decisions contrary to international law, to seek solutions in agreement with neighboring states and with the international community. Here the cardinal highlighted his "divergence" with Russian positions, while recalling the full consonance regarding the defense of the rights of persecuted Christians in many countries around the world.

Responding to a question from journalists on a possibility of a Papal trip to Russia, the Cardinal recalled the importance of the Havana encounter, but also the recent pilgrimage of St. Nicholas remains in Russia, assuring that there will be further developments in this regard. In his words, "the concrete realization of these plans is entrusted to the Holy Spirit. There is a positive dynamic, and the future will show us where this will take us. "

Interviews in the build up to the visit had seen the recurring question of a papal visit addressed several times to Card. Pietro Parolin. The opportunity afforded by the official visit of the Vatican Secretary of State to Moscow, the first after nearly 20 years. In 1999, his predecessor, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, made every attempt to open the doors of the Kremlin to John Paul II, but without results. The response still seem negative; but, as is the case in the world of information, the succession of denials increases the conviction that the news may be forthcoming. Cardinal Parolin's response, after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, is deliberately evasive and generous, without giving anything away about an imminent possibility.

Moreover, despite the skepticism, signs of a possible trip by Pope Francis the fog of diplomatic hesitation emerge from the Patriarchate of Moscow, beginning from the historic meeting of Havana with the Russian Patriarch Kirill in February 2016. On that occasion, the Pope was welcomed by the patriarch in neutral territory, but very familiar to the Russians, Havana's Soviet-style airport and the company of a historic communist figure such as Raul Castro. The next day, Kirill went to visit Fidel himself, who was already ailing, to celebrate the historic success of the meeting with him.

From Havana to the next meeting

After the Cuban embrace, the Holy See activated a very significant change in Russia: instead of the Slovenian nuncio, Msgr. Ivan Jurkovic, who was awarded with the UN headquarters in Geneva, Archbishop Celestino Migliore, a diplomat Vatican was plucked from a very authoritative career, parallel to that of the same Card. Parolin, and signaled out for Russia. He became well-known in 2002 when it was sent to the UN headquarters in New York, representing the Vatican at the highest levels. In 2003, he went to Moscow to discuss issues of international politics with the Russians, including the situation in Vietnam, on a mission prepared in tandem with Parolin, then Substitute of the Secretariat of State. His experience was then made available to the new Vatican Ostpolitik, which began under Benedict XVI and has been vigorously strengthened by Pope Francis: Migliore was nuncio to Poland during the phase of retirement of Cracow Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz (former secretary to St. Pope John Paul II), and from May 2016 he has in Moscow to work for the follow-up to the Havana talks.

Before Migliore, in November 2015, it was the turn of Msgr. Claudio Gugerotti, one of the most competent Vatican officials in Eastern European issues, coming from specific studies and serving in the Congregation for Oriental Churches. Very close to Enzo Bianchi, and to the ultra-ecumenical positions of the Bose community which he regularly attended, Gugerotti took the place of Monsignor Thomas Gullikson, an American Archbishop, nuncio to Kiev since 2011, who during the crisis between Ukraine and Moscow was a bit too unbalanced in favor of the Majdan movement, creating a few ill feeling in Russia. Since the arrival of Gugerotti, the Patriarchate of Moscow has not missed the opportunity to thank the Holy See for its neutrality in Ukrainian affairs, as Hilarion stated in the meeting yesterday with Card. Parolin.

The same cardinal carried out an official visit to Ukraine in June 2016, where he obviously failed to pay tribute to Majdan Square and its victor, President Poroshenko, but the most interesting part of the trip was the visit to Zaporizhia, a town in the eastern part of the country, in Donbass partially controlled by Russian "volunteer" militias. By bringing humanitarian aid and comfort to the local population, severely challenged by the conflict, the cardinal assured them that the pope himself had a great desire to visit those areas. A meeting of Francis and Kirill in Ukraine divided by the epochal confrontation between East and West would be a gesture of incomparable historical and symbolic value.

"Cheering" for Francis to come to Russia

In January this year, the Archbishop of Moscow, Msgr. Paolo Pezzi, made very optimistic statements about the Pope's possible trip to Russian soil: "It seems to me that after Cuba, that is, after the reactions that were not easy for the Orthodox Church in Russia, today we can speak about a possible visit by the Pope to Russia. When? I do not know when. But I do think that it is no longer viewed as problematic "said the bishop of the Archdiocese of the Mother of God in Moscow, intervening at the margins of the Catholic Forum in Rome.

According to Msgr. Pezzi, the negative reactions among Russian Orthodox after Cuba's meeting "were not so many, but they were very noisy. It is gone. And this has allowed the Patriarch, but also others, to return to the reasons for that encounter. And they were convincing. You can also continue to discuss whether the meeting was political, cultural, religious but certainly this wave that has had a very strong impact has swept over it all and has left greater tranquility for a possible trip by Francis to Russia. We are cheering for it. " The Pope in this regard - he pointed - "has always been discreet. I never heard him say 'I wish I could come.' He would surely like to meet Patriarch Kirill. And if this happens in Moscow, in Rome, it would be equally ok anywhere. But he is very discreet, and will not force it."

Card. Parolins visit has also provoked negative comments in Russian society especially from the most radical members of "nationalist" orthodoxy: the cardinal is seen as the usual Catholic invader who comes to conquer Russia with the subtle weapons of Jesuit diplomacy. Even local Catholics, by the mouth of the secretary of the Russian bishops Msgr. Igor Kovalevski, believe that a visit by Francis to Moscow would be premature, fearing the reactions of Orthodox clergy, politics and society, which today suffers from a Western phobia, especially because of the "war of sanctions" .

However, Patriarch Kirill has shown that he is able to handle these situations in a brilliant way, without being subjected to his most intransigent collaborators, such as Bishop Tikhon (Sevkunov), "Putins confessor" who, more than anyone cried traitor after the meeting in Havana. As Cardinal Parolin has said, any surprises are entrusted to the work of the Holy Spirit.
Some witnesses put the death toll at 60. About 100 people were in the building. Civilians are feared dead. For the Saudi-led coalition, the hotel was a legitimate military high-value target.

Sana'a (AsiaNews/Agencies)  At least 41 people were killed in an Saudi-led airstrike that hit a hotel yesterday in the Arhab district, 20 kilometres north of the Houthi rebel-controlled Yemeni capital of Sana'a.

Medics found 35 bodies as well as body parts, some dangling from the building after the roof collapsed. The rest were under the rubble. At least 13 people were wounded.

The pro-Houti al-Masirah TV network reported 41 deaths but the death toll is expected to rise.

According to some witnesses the death toll is around 60. About 100 people were inside the hotel at the time of the attack. Some civilians are almost certainly among the victims.

According to medical staff, the killed included farmers. Officials and some of those present said that Houthi rebels were also present. According to other witnesses, qat farmers were in the hotel.

A Saudi coalition spokesman said that a "legitimate military high-value target was hit in Arhab, adding that those who perished were members of an armed renegade group.

Since January 2015, Yemen has been the scene of a bloody civil conflict that has caused about 10,000 deaths, pitting former President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, backed by Saudi Arabia, and Houthi rebels, close to Iran and Lebanons Hezbollah.

Recently, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres slammed airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition, which have killed more than half of all the children who have died in the conflict.

At present, the Yemeni population has also been hit by a major famine and the worst cholera outbreak in the world, now reaching half a million cases.
by Kamran Chaudhry

The German-born nun spent her life helping Pakistans lepers. Her state funeral was held on Saturday in Karachi. Students should learn about her to stay away from terrorism.

Lahore (AsiaNews)  The Catholic Church in Pakistan wants the government to add a chapter on Dr Ruth Pfau's life in the countrys textbooks to remember her great social work in favour of leprosy sufferers.

Church leaders have backed an initiative undertaken by a student association. The goal is to teach future generations about the nuns contribution. A member of the Immaculate Heart Family of Mary, she died on 10 August at the age of 87.

Sister Ruth helped the untouchables of our country and cared for people of all faiths. The best way to back her work is to educate our children about her principles, including love for humanity, equality and brotherhood, said Shahid Rehmat, executive director of Youth Development Foundation (YDF).

Rehmat spoke at a prayer vigil in memory of the nun, called the "Mother Teresa of Pakistan". The torchlight gathering took place on Sunday at Lahore's Liberty Chowk with about 50 people, Christians and Muslims, some carrying banners saying #Balanced Education and #ReadAboutRuthPfau.

According to the YDF director, Sister Ruth treated "a physical illness but by following her example, we can get rid of the illness of hate speech, violence, ignorance and religious discrimination. The light for the lepers can enlighten darkness in the prevailing mindset."

Our society has forgotten religious minorities because the textbooks no longer mention non-Muslim politicians and personalities. The incomplete history taught in our schools only produces biased citizens who have little interest for the rights of those fewer in number.

The doctors funeral was held at St Patrick's Cathedral in Karachi last Saturday. The Pakistani government organise a state funeral in her honour, an unusual recognition for a foreign-born individual in an Islamic majority country.

Sister Ruth's coffin was covered in the Pakistani flag and carried by soldiers. Her remains were laid to rest in the Christian cemetery of Gora Qabristan, in Karachi.

The area around the cathedral was closed off to traffic and visitors were asked to write their names in the attendance book and avoid carrying any mobile phones.

Fr Jamil Albert, a Franciscan priest present at the prayer vigil in Lahore, said: "We are grateful to the leaders of the country for acknowledging the work of our sister, who set an example which we all need. She was a mother to all."

"Unfortunately," he added bitterly, "we have really few good stories from our country. Terrorists are targeting youth for recruitment. But we can inspire young people with the story of a nun who left her native country (Germany) to help our nation.
The Best Mouthwash You Can Buy

Keep Your Breath Fresh All Day With These Elite Mouthwashes

The AskMen editorial team thoroughly researches & reviews the best gear, services and staples for life. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service.

Bruh, your mouth is gross! What? No diss intended. Just that research and science says otherwise. It's well known that our chat boxes remain the dirtiest part of the body. In fact, the scientists at Hard School of Dental discovered over 615 different species of bacteria living in the mouth, tongue, and throat. See?

Much of the markets elite oral hygiene products help mask most oral health care problems from halitosis to plaque buildup. However, none have proven to be potent or powerful enough to rid your make-out instrument of such toxicities. Simply put, a mouthwash is whats missing from your daily grooming routine.

This mouth-cleansing solution is the perfect complimentary piece for brushing and flossing. The benefits of swigging some only favor your wellbeing. Besides owning kissable breath, a man that lives religiously by mouthwash can reduce cavities, canker sores, gum disease, and even aid his spouses pregnancy by decreasing her risks of periodontal disease  a condition that can affect a womans bloodstream and result in preterm, low-weight babies. Thats one way of playing her hero.

Guys tend to share this presumption of all mouthwashes performing the same duties. Theres half truth to that statement. Each one does carry sterilization traits that freshen up the mouth. But each one is made for specific use. Read the labels, gentlemen. Let us show you how to pick the right mouthwash for your antibacterial needs.

Types of Mouthwashes

Pretty easy to assume all mouthwashes are the same. True, theyre all designed to rid the mouth of germs. They also get rid of the dragon in the dungeon by leaving behind a minty aftertaste. Still, depending on the severity of your oral condition(s), a special type might need to be stocked in your bathroom. These are the most common options available.

Antiseptic: Normally features chlorhexidine gluconate and most effective for stopping bacteria growth and bad breath

Normally features chlorhexidine gluconate and most effective for stopping bacteria growth and bad breath Cosmetic: The least protective of the batch that's primarily used to disguise halitosis

The least protective of the batch that's primarily used to disguise halitosis Fluoride: Contains sodium fluoride to strengthen teeth and protect against decay

Contains sodium fluoride to strengthen teeth and protect against decay Magic/Therapeutic: Prescribed by dentists to treat oral infections or inflamed mouth tissues

Prescribed by dentists to treat oral infections or inflamed mouth tissues Natural: Alcohol-free alternatives that perform like conventional mouthwashes

Alcohol-free alternatives that perform like conventional mouthwashes Total care: Hosts antibacterial ingredients for plaque and gum disease prevention

This helps narrow things down. Ingredients always play a vital role in the effects of oral conditioning. Rather than bore you to death with a massive list of the dos and don'ts, just keep your eyes peeled for the following additives: Alcohol (when ridiculously high in content), chlorine dioxide, chlorhexidinen, cocamidopropyl betaine, parabens, poloxamer 407, formaldehyde, and saccharin. Deal? Deal!

By now youve more than likely settled on a type. So lets bring you back to the fundamentals on how to use a mouthwash.

Aesop Mouthwash

Best for: Bad breath

Pleasant flavors combined with its use of impeccable antioxidants and botanical ingredients makes the Australian skincare brands rinse a signature staple for any oral hygiene enthusiast. The Aesop Mouthwash stands out most for its oral malodour relief, giving your mouth irresistible freshness, while leaving the zest of aniseed, clove bud, and spearmint lingering on your taste buds. Its alcohol-free formula is also great for hypersensitivity and helps to keep the mouth hydrated, never disturbing saliva production or natural pH levels. And of course there's the sexy apothecary-style vessel that complements the mouthwashs stellar performance.

$25.00 at Nordstrom.com

Oral Essentials Sugar Alcohol-Free Mouthwash

Best for: Teeth remineralization

This non-toxic offering is the brainchild of two dentists who aimed to deliver maximum results without disturbing the mouth's delicate ecosystem. Job well done. Oral Essentials opts for pure and enamel-friendly ingredients that advance the mineral-rebuilding process in teeth. The use of Dead Sea Salt helps feed your ivories with dozens of minerals including calcium, magnesium, and potassium. Not to mention it removes surface stains and wards off plaque-causing bacteria. That in combination with Aloe Vera, French essential oils, and non-GMO Xylitol help to freshen breath and reduce tooth decay.

$11.99 at Amazon.com

Listerine Cool Mint Antiseptic

Best for: Bacteria removal

Establishing brand recognition in the oral health sector nearly requires universal praise from consumers to dental professionals. Listerines earned it through its lineup of industry leading mouthwashes. Gingivitis and plaque become mere afterthoughts, as the antimicrobial antiseptic delivers a cooling rush to the mouth that instantly freshens breath and kills germs on contact through a powerful formula of four essential oils. No more than 30 seconds of swishing (twice a day) can earn you 24-hour protection from bacteria, or so clinical trials endorse. Nonetheless, youre warranted a bacteria-free mouth for most of the day at an unbeatable value.

$5.99 at Amazon.com

Georganics Coconut Pulling Mouthwash

Best for: Sensitivity

Oil pulling remains one of the more underrated oral detoxification procedures. Georganics deemed it vital for curing gum and tooth sensitivity, therefore applying the ancient Ayurvedic remedy to its resultant mouthwash. Swirling it around lets you bask in the healing and soothing properties fostered by Aloe Vera and holy basil oil, an adaptogen promoting gentle oral health. The addition of activated charcoal into the mixture boosts whitening, utilizing the mild abrasives from coconut shells to eliminate stains.

$8.49 at Amazon.com

Auromere Ayurvedic Mouthwash

Best for: Organic cleansing

What rinse you know integrates neem, the Indian superpower plant, into its formula? Just this one. Auromere chose to include this dynamic ingredient for its phenomenal antimicrobial and antifungal properties, which studies have shown to be just as powerful for oral health as chlorhexidine, only far less dangerous. Even crazier is how the rinse comes richly loaded with 23 botanical extracts and 9 essential oils, allowing its astringent, cleansing qualities to ensure your trap of all-natural purification. The minty taste it leaves behind isnt so bad either.

$11.50 at Amazon.com

Jason Healthy Mouth Naturally Bacteria-Fighting Mouthwash

Best for: Gum health

One of the more natural mouthwashes on the market thats free of alcohol, parabens, and saccharin, this selection comes professionally recommended for individuals with sensitive teeth and gums. Mild ingredients such as organic Aloe Vera gel and Ecchinacea calm lingering pains, whereas flavorful extracts from grapefruit seed and perilla blend well with the zesty taste of cinnamon and clove. The rinses bacteria-fighting capabilities are just as impressive, without the use of harsh abrasive or irritating chemicals mind you.

$7.84 at Amazon.com

Crest 3D White Luxe Glamorous White Multi-Care Whitening Mouthwash

Best for: Teeth whitening

If its teeth-whitening strips are any indication, then Crests luxury mouthwash is a sure-shot for pearly whites. Speaking from personal experience, thats an understatement. The oral hygiene titan created a triple-action formula made to freshen breath, prevent surface stains, and whiten your fangs simultaneously. It operates differently than all other mouthwashes, proving to be more effective after whitening procedures: professional or at-home. This is all impart to Crests patented Whitelock Technology that acts as a whitening protector to produce longer lasting results. Exercising the proper tooth-brushing routine will enhance its effects.

$8.97 at Walmart.com

Biotene Oral Rinse

Best for: Dry mouth

Aging. Autoimmune diseases. Smoking. Stress. Many causes bring about xerostomia aka dry mouth. Biotene is considered the No.1 mouthwash for this condition, employing whats known as an LP3 salivary enzyme-protein system to create a moisturizing effect and restore pH balance inside the mouth. Its also strong enough to sustain funky stenches, gum soreness, and tooth decay. The solution comes packaged in a large bottle to last for months and comes at an inexpensive price tag, which is surprising for a rinse viewed as an oral-cleansing breakthrough by dentists across the nation.

$9.90 at Amazon.com

ACT Restoring Mouthwash

Best for: Cavity protection

Kids might be more prone to cavities, but theyre just as common amongst adults, primarily around the edges of their fillings. This fluoride-infused oral rinse is formulated to reduce dental caries up to 70% more than a fluoride toothpaste, strengthening enamel and removing stains. The Cool Mint or Spearmint sensation of the solution wont only tame any bad odors seeping through those chompers, but soothe sore gums as well. Granted it contains alcohol, its nowhere near as harmful on the mouth as others with higher concentrates.

$4.54 at Amazon.com

Philips Sonicare BreathRx Antibacterial Mouth Rinse

Best for: Post-brushing

The Sonicare ecosystem of products work best when utilized together. So while its coveted mouthwash plays nice with your bridgework as a solo act, know youll earn better results after brushing your teeth with the DiamondClean electric toothbrush. Philips introduces a unique antibacterial complex highlighted by CPC, a dynamic germ-killing agent capable of neutralizing odors by killing up to 99% of bad breath bacteria. Those same odors are then neutralized through its use of Zytex, the companys unique blend of zinc combined with essential oils to maintain fresh oral aromas.

$9.99 at Amazon.com

The Right Way To Use Mouthwash

Wait. Its not just a gargle and spit procedure? Not really, fellas. So like the whitening toothpaste laying on your sink countertop, we can honestly assume youre using mouthwash the wrong way too. Theres a system to adopt to get the best out of the oral disinfectant. First, one must know when its necessary for use. The American Dental Association states that it doesnt matter whether applied before or after brushing. Nice!

Next is pouring the proper dosage. Dentists recommend 20 ml for most mouthwashes, 10 ml for stronger options with fluoride as the primary ingredient. Feel free to use the cap, which tends to double as a serving cup. Pour into the mouth and swish for about 30 seconds to a minute. If it burns, deal with it. Just let the essential oils and all other magical elements go to work. Spit out the remains. Dont rinse your mouth out with water, for all this will do is reduce its preventative effects.

Now comes time to put you onto the MVPs of the product category. So open up that yap and breakdown the top mouthwashes and their best uses.

Related Reading

17 Oral Hygiene Products That Can Replace Annoying Floss

Want Whiter Teeth? These Nine Products Will Do The Trick

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(Markus Mainka/Bigstock.com) (Markus Mainka/Bigstock.com)

There are concerns that changes to Australia's citizenship application process is being seen as a move away from the country's non-discrimination immigration policy.According to the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), there is a danger that the success of the nation's immigration policy in terms of welcoming people from all over the world and having a high integration rate could be in jeopardy.A number of organisations and groups have already criticised the changes which will see a harder English exam and longer residence periods before an application can be made.Members of AHRC told a Senate committee meeting that the case for change needs to be compelling or it will weaken a great immigration record.The race discrimination commissioner, Tim Soutphommasane, told the committee that Australia is a remarkable international success story when it comes to the integration of immigrants.He told the committee that there is a danger that the Government will be sending a negative signal if it introduces tough new requirements that many have already said will deter people, especially those who do not have English as a first language, for applying for citizenship.'Care must be taken to ensure the wrong signal isn't sent,' he said, adding that the task of managing civic integration was not one that should be confined to aspiring Australian citizens. He suggested there was also scope for improving the civic literacy of Australian-born citizens.Additionally, a written submission from the AHRC to the Senate committee reveals that it does not back the proposed changes in their current form. It agrees with other organisations that the changes would make it harder for vulnerable people such as refugees to become citizens.It also says that in its current form it would deny citizenship by birth to certain children born in Australia solely based on the immigration status of the child's parents as the child may have held valid visas and been lawfully present in Australia for his or her entire life, but will be denied citizenship under the 10-year rule because his or her parents arrived in Australia without a valid visa.As well as raising concerns about the impact of the citizenship overhaul on children, and people with disabilities, the submission also says the harder English language test will have a considerable impact.It points out that many Australian born citizens would not possess a written or spoken command of English equivalent to the standard that is being proposed.
File photo

Steve Bloom, Ron Mawaka Sr., and Dave Hansen will be inducted into the Fleet Hall of Fame in September as the latest fleet veterans to achieve the honor.

The three honorees will be recognized during the 2017 Automotive Fleet & Leasing Association (AFLA) Conference at the M Resort & Spa Casino in Las Vegas, on Sept. 18.

The honorees, which were selected through a public survey online, will be inducted during an award ceremony. Following their induction, the Fleet Hall of Fame will be comprised of 78 members. AFLA is the exclusive sponsor of the Automotive Fleet Hall of Fame.

Bloom, the former president of Enterprise Fleet Management, began his career with Enterprise in 1983 as a management trainee at an Enterprise Rent-A-Car branch in Southern California. Bloom eventually moved over to the retail leasing division in 1987. In 2001, Bloom was named senior vice president overseeing Enterprise Fleet Management, and was later promoted to president of Enterprise Fleet Management in 2012. Bloom retired in 2016.

Mawaka Sr., the founder of Fleet Response, began his fleet career with the foundation of Rental Concepts, Inc. in February 1986. The company provided temporary cars, trucks, and specialty vehicles to fleets nationwide. It eventually evolved into Fleet Response  a fully customized accident management, maintenance management, claims adjustment, salvage, subrogation, and safety service provider. Mawakas sons, Scott and Ron Jr., carry on his work at Fleet Response.

Hansen, the former general manager of GM Fleet & commercial Operations, joined General Motors in 1965 after graduating from high school, working in a GM assembly plant while attending college. A highlight of Hansens career includes leading the turnaround while serving as general manager of GM Fleet & Commercial Operations in the late 1990s and into the next century. After leaving GM, Hansen became COO for Tecstar, a second-stage manufacturer for GM, then assisted SCT with its fleet fuel economy software device.

The 2017 Fleet Manager of the Year, Fleet Executive of the Year, and Fleet Visionaries will also be announced at the AFLA 2017 award ceremony on Sept. 18. These awards are sponsored by Wheels Inc. and AFLA; The CEI Group; and Merchants Fleet Management, respectively.

Look for an in-depth overview of the three Fleet Hall of Fame Honorees in the October issue of Automotive Fleet magazine.
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Thousands of people, including representatives from law enforcement agencies across Florida, came together Thursday for the joint funeral of two Kissimmee Police officers shot and killed last week in the line of duty.

The mourners at First Baptist of Orlando honored Officer Matthew Baxter and Sgt. Sam Howard as heroes.

Kissimmee Police Chief Jeff O'Dell said the two men died protecting a woman, and during a follow-up investigation she told them that, without question, the two men were responsible for saving her life.

Following the service, both officers were to be laid to rest at Woodlawn Memorial Park.

Officer Matthew Baxter and Sgt. Sam Howard were both shot Friday night while responding to a shots-fired call in the northern area of Kissimmee. Baxter was pronounced dead Friday night, while Howard died of his injuries Saturday.

Baxter's wife Sadia, a detective for KPD, talked about how they met on the job. In their first case together they helped save the life of an individual while on the scene of an attempted suicide. Sadia Baxter read some words from his journal.

"He stated, 'I want to be remembered for good deeds, helping and loving others. One who loved his beautiful wife, children and Jesus,'" Sadia Baxter said.

A fellow KPD brother, Michael Bixler, said Baxter would always lift his spirits. During trying times as a policeman, he said Baxter went as far as gifting him a statue of a police officer holding the hand of a small child, as a reminder of what they're job is truly about.

"And he said, 'Buddy, that is to remind you why you got into this job. Let's go help somebody,'" Bixler said.

Howard's sibling, Jeffrey Surran, said the last piece of advice he got from from his brother was to do whatever it takes to be happy.

"Sometimes it's tough to put into words how you feel about someone, Surran said. I know you are looking down on this crowd and know the impact you had on everyone here. Words may not describe it but your legacy and these people do."

Howard's friends described him as a gentle giant who gave his all for his country and came back home to do the same for Kissimmee.

"He was a great man. He would always help you anytime you needed it, friend Kris Sheets said. He was always looking out for you."

Sheets hopes to one day see Howard smiling from the gates of heaven.

Anyone wishing to donate to the families can go to any SunTrust Bank and make a donation to the account set up for Baxter and Howard. There is no formal GoFundMe account set up for the families.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp;

Latest Updates

12:48 p.m.

Sgt. Sam Howard's brother speaks briefly, saying that he shared a close bond with his sibling.

"Sometimes, it's tough to put into words how you feel about someone. I know you're looking down at this crowd and know the impact that you had on everyone here. Words may not describe it, but your impact and legacy do."

12:25 p.m.

Sadia Baxter, the wife of Officer Matthew Baxter, speaks during Thursday's memorial service. Sadia is a detective with the Kissimmee Police Department.

"Today, I come before you as a proud wife," she said. "This week has been the hardest week of my life. Words cannot express how my world has crashed. With Matthew and I both serving as law enforcement officers, we understood the dangers that the career holds, but I never imagined this happening to my family."

12:03 p.m.

Officer Matthew Baxter's siblings thank everyone for their support and speak about their beloved brother.

"I am beyond words  beyond words. ... I have so many memories with him  from watching him wake up in the morning, and the first thing that he did was he took his girls and he was the best father I have ever seen. There is no comparison to the type of man and father that he was."

11:42 a.m.

Kissimmee Police Chief Jeff O'Dell says that "men and women in law enforcement are not expendable."

"Men and women in law enforcement do not consider anybody in their communities expendable as evidenced by the heroic efforts of these two men. So my challenge to you is that you have the guts to look into the eyes of these family members until you understand their sorrow and heartbreak. I ask you to have the guts to look into the eyes of these children until you comprehend that they will grow up without their dad."

11:30 a.m.

Kissimmee Police Chief Jeff O'Dell speaks for several minutes, talking about the characteristics that made Sgt. Sam Howard and Officer Matthew Baxter great police officers and even better people.

"I would consider Sam and Matthew the epitome of what I call a true law enforcement professional and what that stands for. To start, they both displayed great pride in their uniform presence, and they always looked sharp."

O'Dell said Howard and Baxter were working to protect a woman when they were shot.

"These two men truly cared about people, and I'm not sure there's a greater compliment I can give either," O'Dell said.

11:15 a.m.

The joint funeral services begin at First Baptist Orlando.

10:50 a.m.

People enter First Baptist Orlando ahead of the joint funeral. Here are the handouts inside the church:

Handouts at @kissimmeepolice officers' funeral. "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the sons of God" @MyNews13 pic.twitter.com/A0aP8n98ah  Greg Pallone (@gpallone13) August 24, 2017

9 a.m.

The procession for the two officers makes its way from Kissimmee to Orlando, arriving at First Baptist Orlando at about 9 a.m.

Honor Guard escorts our heroes into @FirstOrlando pic.twitter.com/oDUD1nxCZB  Kissimmee Police (@kissimmeepolice) August 24, 2017

8:45 a.m.

Capt. Jeff Tambasco and Sgt. Ian Downing reflect on their friendships and memories  both professionally and personally  of Officer Matthew Baxter and Sgt. Sam Howard.
An authentic Southwest rodeo experience and fundraiser for the Tamaya Horse Rehabilitation Program.

The Stables at Tamaya, located at Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa on the Pueblo of Santa Ana, is hosting its Summer Rodeo Series for local residents and resort guests. The series provides an authentic Southwest rodeo experience and serves as a fundraiser for the resorts Tamaya Horse Rehabilitation Program.

When guests arrive at Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa for the rodeo, they will take a horse-drawn hay wagon out to the Stables at Tamaya. Once at the Stables, the event provides several family-friendly activities for attendees including photo opportunities with the animals, prize giveaways, and a stick horse race for children. Throughout the rodeo, local cowboys and cowgirls will participate in traditional competitions seen on the national rodeo circuit including barrel racing, team roping, breakaway roping, riding, and more.

The Summer Rodeo Series takes place every Thursday at 7 p.m. (hay wagons depart at 6:40 p.m.) through August 24 at the Stables at Tamaya at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa, 1300 Tuyuna Trail on the Santa Ana Pueblo. Tickets to the event are $10 adult/$5 child for resort guests and $20 adult/$10 child for local residents and all proceeds will benefit the Tamaya Horse Rehabilitation Program.

Reservations are encouraged and can be made by calling the resorts concierge desk at (505) 771-6060.

For more information on Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa, please visit www.tamaya.regency.hyatt.com
Best of Oregon Coast Summer Weather Still to Come - Whales, Glowing Sand

Published 08/24/2017 at 4:03 PM PDT - Updated 08/24/2017 at 4:13 PM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff





(Oregon Coast)  If you think this was summer on the Oregon coast, you ain't seen nothin' yet. Literally, the best is yet to come.

They call September and early October the Second Summer on the coast. In fact, some even call it the first summer, depending on how conditions were that year. It's a time when the coast is at its warmest by far, and more inviting for a number of reasons. Crowds are (mostly) less, lodging prices drop, whale sightings are up and you generally have a better chance of seeing the famed glowing sands at night.

This was a sizable secret for decades. Since 2000 or so, popularity of the beaches and the spreading of such information over the net has risen, getting the word out. Now, it's not uncommon to see some weekdays in September and October fairly full.

The most obvious aspect is the warmer weather. September and early October simply have warmer temps and less wind, thanks to a variety of meteorological factors. You also don't get that fog swooping in that you do in August (sometimes Oregon coast residents call that month Fog-ust.) When you have less wind, the beaches become downright balmy, thanks to the ocean and the sands reflecting the heat right back.

It can be a good ten degrees warmer by the water than just beyond the vegetation line.

These kinds of weather conditions also lend themselves to better whale watching. Don't be surprised to see a lot of them, especially on the central Oregon coast and around Depoe Bay, where whale populations are quite steady due to lots of food.

Even the north coast can get a sizable helping of whale action. Humpbacks seem to gravitate towards that area in late summer because of the abundance of bait fish hitting the lower Columbia River. Parts of this summer have already been stellar Humpback viewing around Astoria, and the last two, three years have experienced incredible waves of whales in that area, including one year where they darted around and between boats on the river.

Even with the secret out, the crowds are usually markedly less, leaving you with many beaches all to yourself under these glorious conditions  especially weekdays. Generally, the roadways are not as packed full of frustrating traffic jams as well.

Again, however, thanks to the Information Age, predictions of mid-70s weather on the beaches spread like wildfire and in come the crowds.

These days, according to officials like Newport Chamber director Lorna Davis, the lodging price drops happen later than they used to  but it still happens. Summer rates used to dip sharply just after Labor Day, but now it takes a little longer at many hotels, motels and rentals. However, a fair amount of businesses do lower rates shortly after, even if just a little, still making this time of year a decent bargain.

Davis said many more two-for-the-price-of-one specials start to pop up after September 15.

This also a really good time to book conferences and meetings, and you see a lot of those happening because the lodgings arent as packed, or they are attracted to the place by the lodgings sales efforts, she said.

By October, when the sun is still beating down nicely, the price dips become much more pronounced.

It's October when the real pleasures start. Prices and crowds really drop, but the weather stays incredible throughout most of the first two weeks.

Weather patterns usually start changing in the middle of the month to a stormier state. But not always. About half the time, late October shows off some insanely warm conditions as well. It differs from year to year. Oregon Coast Hotels for this - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours



So why does this happen? The science behind the Oregon coast's second summer is fascinating.

In a nutshell, the differences between coastal temps and those inland are less dramatic in September and October. The valley cools a bit, but the coastal waters have been warmed up by summer. All this keeps the winds down, and those temp differences are what draws fog out of the ocean  but they're gone now. On top of all that, warmer air from California is allowed to come up more by that action, which heats up the Oregon coast even more.

These warmer kinds of conditions also increase your chances of seeing glowing sand on the beaches at night. This is created by tiny forms of phytoplankton called dinoflagellates, which are bioluminescent  meaning they glow like fireflies.

You may find this on a very dark beach in the wet sand near the tide line by scuffling your feet backwards. It shows up as tiny sparks in the sand, usually a blue or green tint. See the full story on glowing sand.













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The City of Beaumont has suspended its online water bill payment system due to a potential data breach, chief technology officer Bart Bartkowiak said.

Bartkowiak said the City of Beaumont received several notifications of unauthorized iTunes charges on bill-payers' accounts. Bartkowiak suggested any residents who have paid their water bills online between Aug. 1 and Aug. 24 to check their accounts for suspicious activity. He said that anyone who finds suspicious activity on their account should report it to their credit card issuer and their bank, to ask that their card be deactivated, to request that a fraud alert be placed on their account, and to request copies of all credit reports.
Beaumont:

Beaumont Police said there are no evacuation plans in place currently, and 211 is not taking registrations at this time.

Bolivar:



A voluntary evacuation has been called for 8 a.m. Friday, particularly for residents with elderly or young relatives that require power for medical equipment.





Port Arthur:

The mayor of Port Arthur announced that Sabine Pass will be under a voluntary evacuation ahead of Tropical Storm Harvey. Mayor Derrick Freeman posted on Facebook late Wednesday night due to the mild storm surge and heavy rains that will cross Highway 87. The voluntary evacuation is planned to go into affect this morning.

Water and resources will be available for residents who decide to stay, Freeman wrote.

MGstalter@BeaumontEnterprise.com

Twitter.com/morgGstalt
The Bruce and Cynthia Sherman Charitable Foundation awarded Sherman Prizes to Stephan Targan, MD, Lee Denson, MD and Heidi Drescher, MMS, PA-C.

Dr. Targan is the director of the Inflammatory Bowel and Immunobiology Research Institute at Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai, Dr. Denson is the director of the Schubert-Martin IBD Center at the Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center and Ms. Drescher is a physician's assistant in Missoula, Mont.

The Sherman Prize recognizes individuals who make "exceptional and pioneering" contributions to the fight against Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Drs. Targan and Denson were each awarded $100,000. Ms. Drescher was awarded $25,000.

In a release, the Sherman Foundation bestowed the awards on Drs. Targan and Denson for their "significant achievements in advancing research and innovative care models that have improved the health and wellness of millions of Americans living with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis."

Ms. Drescher was honored for her "relentless dedication to ensuring her rural, underserved patients benefit from best practices in inflammatory bowel disease care."

Becker's ASC Review interviewed Dr. Targan, Dr. Denson and Ms. Drescher about the awards and their plans for the funding.

"This is a way to continue to prime the pump," Dr. Targan says. "This prize will be used to fund and advance extremely promising research to identify patients with certain subtypes of IBD and design drugs specifically to treat them.

When Dr. Targan first entered the healthcare field, he described IBD as one of the most difficult puzzles to solve. He realized early in his career that he couldnt solve this problem alone, and in the years that followed, hes led multidisciplinary groups of scientists, internationally and at Cedars-Sinai, to fight IBD.

Dr. Targan and other researchers have made considerable progress on research, but researchers still have progress to make in one key area  patient-facing trials.

"It's time to start moving [these] treatments to patients," he says. "Using an integrated science model, weve brought about new discoveries. We need to move these to groups of patients much more quickly."

Transitioning research to clinical trials is something which Dr. Denson is in the midst of doing as well. He said the Sherman Prize will support the research his team is doing concerning a prebiotic which encourages growth of beneficial intestinal microbes in pediatric patients.

Dr. Denson echoes Dr. Targan's comments on the fast pace of IBD research. He says once clinical trials transition to human patients and researchers can stabilize the disease in patients, "it'll get us a lot closer to an actual cure."

Dr. Denson was honored when he heard the Sherman Foundation named him one of its winners. He says, "It's a tremendous honor because there are so many talented people in the IBD field."

He also lauded the selection of Dr. Targan, saying, "I was especially pleased that Steph Targan was going to receive a prize in the IBD field as well. He has always been a tremendous leader in our field."

A physician's assistant in Missoula, Mont, Ms. Drescher says the Sherman Prize is invaluable to her community.

Ms. Drescher is the sole IBD-focused physician assistant in a 200-mile radius in Montana.

The award will help Ms. Drescher bring awareness to IBD.

"The grant will bring awareness to the disease," she says. "It will allow me to treat more patients because there are so many patients that aren't inclined to get treated because they don't even know such an illness exists."

Being mentioned with Drs. Targan and Denson was an honor to her, as well.

"Never in my wildest dreams have I thought that an advanced practice practitioner in a rural setting could be held in such esteem as these two individuals," she says. "I'm so proud to represent my profession."

To learn more about the Sherman Prize and register to receive notification of the 2018 nomination cycle next spring, click here.
A hospital in Ludlow, England, turned down money raised by local men dressed in stereotypical nurses uniforms because it found the costumes "demeaning," according to The Telegraph.

As part of fundraising efforts by the Ludlow Hospital League of Friends, men dressed in low-cut fake nurse's blouses and short skirts went around with donations buckets and collected $3,200 for the Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust, intended for Ludlow Hospital.

"The presentation of men dressed as female nurses in a highly-sexualised and demeaning way is wrong, very outdated and insulting to the profession," Trust officials wrote in a letter to the League of Friends.

However, the League of Friends contended that they have performed this fundraiser for 30 years without complaint. The organization called the donation refusal "absolutely ridiculous."

"The event has always run with the full knowledge and support of the hospital and primary care trust management with participation by NHS staff," said Peter Corfield, chairman of the League of Friends. "The whole thing is a light-hearted fundraiser, which has raised between 2,500 and 6,500 each year and so over that period of time it's a very tidy sum."

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CMS closed the comment period for its 2018 proposed rule for the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act's Quality Payment Program Monday.

Here's how five health IT advocacy groups responded to the 2018 QPP rule.

American Medical Informatics Association urged CMS to set a deadline for the 2015-edition certified EHR technology. They recommended Jan. 1, 2019.

College of Healthcare Information Management Executives released a chart that broke down the new rule and compared its changes throughout the years, because it claims the MIPS requirements are too complicated.

"Rather than layering on multiple new and complicated bonus structures such as the one for improving quality," CHIME urged CMS to "look to ways to take a more minimalistic approach that removes rather than adds layers."

Electronic Health Record Association did not think CMS set clear enough expectations on how virtual groups should report data.

"We encourage CMS to provide more details about this as soon as possible, so we can be prepared to implement the identifier and support eligible clinicians reporting in this manner," it wrote.

Health IT Now emphasized MACRA's need for widespread interoperability by the end of 2018.

"As that date quickly approaches, it is becoming more apparent that this is yet another deadline that will not be reached  There is much work left to be done to ensure data can flow seamlessly through the health care system," the organization's comments read.

Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society and Personal Connected Health Alliance suggested HHS require CMS and ONC adopt an "aggressive and thorough quality measures testing program" before adding required electronic clinical quality measures under MIPS.

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Joseph Woodin was fired from his role as CEO at Martha's Vineyard Hospital in Oaks Bluff, Mass., in June without explanation. Community members are still searching for answers, according to The Boston Globe.

Mr. Woodin was a highly visible and well-liked leader at the hospital, which is owned by Boston-based Partners HealthCare. When he was asked by the board to resign in early July, he refused. Two days later, he was terminated.

The tight-knit community of Martha's Vineyard is home to many aging seniors with growing health needs, making hospital leadership very important to them. Residents expressed dismay with the hospital board's refusal to provide a reason for the firing beyond differences of vision.

"This is small-town America  everybody knows everybody's business," said Arnie Reisman, a local resident. "This is the one organization that's a life and death organization, it's your healthcare. For them to act in the dark really drives me crazy."

Mr. Woodin's open communication style and personal touch have led many in the community to rally around him and voice their concerns on Facebook and at local meetings, though the board has stood its ground and defended its decision. However, board members have acknowledged that they could have done a better job of engaging with the community when making their announcement.

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Several American and Canadian diplomats in Havana have allegedly been subjected to "health attacks" since 2016 that have caused them to develop various medical conditions, such as mild traumatic brain injury and potential damage to their central nervous systems, according to a CBS News report.

Various American and Canadian diplomats have complained of symptoms ranging from hearing loss and nausea to headaches and balance disorders since late 2016, the report states. It is unclear how many diplomats have been affected.

U.S. officials reportedly launched an investigation into whether the diplomats were the targets of "a type of sonic attack directed at their homes" and whether those attacks were perpetrated by the Cuban government, an unnamed source familiar with the issue told CBS News.

The individuals affected have undergone comprehensive audiological evaluations and a number of other tests, according to the report.

The U.S. Department of State has not identified the source of the attacks, CBS News reports. Cuban officials have denied any involvement in the incidents.

"We hold the Cuban authorities responsible for finding out who is carrying out these health attacks on not just our diplomats but, as you've seen now, there are other cases with other diplomats involved," U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said during a press conference Aug. 11.

A state department spokesperson told CBS News, "We remain in regular contact with the Cuban government to emphasize that we take these incidents very seriously and to resolve this matter in a satisfactory manner."
Cleveland Clinic reportedly signed a management consulting agreement with an unnamed organization to build a hospital in Shanghai July 1, according to Crain's Cleveland Business.

The news was reportedly shared with Cleveland Clinic's bond holders last month. A spokesperson for the health system confirmed the agreement to Crain's, but did not disclose the name of the partner organization or any further details regarding the transaction.

A disclosure agreement dated Aug. 8, obtained by Crain's, said the relationship would be the first for Cleveland Clinic Connected, the health system's global affiliation program. The disclosure agreement also did not provide any additional details about the deal.

The health system has been growing its global presence since 2007. That year, the health system established Cleveland Clinic Canada in Toronto. It also signed its first international management agreement to operate Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi in 2007. The Abu Dhabi facility opened in 2015.

Cleveland Clinic also acquired property in London in 2015. The health system received regulatory approval in January to convert the six-story office building into a roughly 200-bed healthcare facility. The London facility is expected to open in 2020, the report states.
The Vermont Attorney General's Office agreed to settle a false claims case for $90,000 against Jonathan Gruber, PhD, an economist contracted by Vermont to model a single-payer healthcare system, according to a report from the Burlington Free Press.

Two years after launching an investigation into the billing practices of Dr. Gruber, who is a professor at Cambridge-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology and known as a chief architect of the ACA, the Vermont Attorney General's Office concluded Dr. Gruber violated the civil False Claims Act by allegedly submitting false invoices to the state, according to the report. Dr. Gruber allegedly submitted invoices claiming he worked 100 hours and his assistant worked 500 hours each month for two months in 2014, but investigators found the invoices to be inaccurate, suggesting his assistant had worked between 12 to 16.7 hours per day, according to the report.

Under the original contract with Vermont, when the modeling was complete the state would pay $40,000 more, according to the report. However, after Dr. Gruber made controversial comments about voters in 2014, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, D, updated the contract so only the research assistants would be paid out, according the report. Dr. Gruber billed this work as $50,000.

Dr. Gruber denied the claim he violated the False Claims Act, according to the report. However, in the settlement he agreed to release his claim to both the $40,000 outstanding payment and the $50,000 for his research assistants, according to the report.

Read the full story here.

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Seven spine surgeons discuss future spine fusion trends.

Ask Spine Surgeons is a weekly series of questions posed to spine surgeons around the country about clinical, business and policy issues affecting spine care. We invite all spine surgeon and specialist responses.

Next week's question: What are some of the most common financial mistakes that independent surgeons make?





Please send responses to Anuja Vaidya at avaidya@beckershealthcare.com by Wednesday, Aug. 30, at 5 p.m. CST.

Question: What are some trends we will see in spinal fusions over the next five years?

Vladimir Sinkov, MD. Spine Surgeon at New Hampshire Orthopaedic Center (Nashua): More fusions will be done in a minimally invasive fashion and on an outpatient basis. Robotic technology will make the procedures more accurate and streamlined. Motion-preservation technology, such as disc and facet replacement devices, will also be used more frequently. As the population ages, their spines will age as well. This will lead to more need for spine surgeries overall.

Scott Kutz, MD. Neurosurgeon at Texas Back Institute (Plano): A higher percentage of spinal fusions will be performed using minimally invasive techniques over the next five years. This will reduce operative blood loss and time for recovery from spinal fusion surgery. This will allow for a higher percentage of patients to be treated in ambulatory surgery centers.





Greater use of intraoperative navigation and robotics technologies will be utilized to accomplish spinal fusions. This will allow for greater accuracy of instrumentation placement and greater safety with less radiation exposure to the patient and the surgeon and/or staff. Preoperative plans will allow for design of patient-specific implants and instrumentation prior to surgery.





I foresee greater usage of alternate materials that will enhance the biochemical interactions at the implant/bone interface to improve fusion rates and accelerate time to fusion. Greater usage of 3-D printed customizable implants will occur which will allow implant size, shape and modulus of elasticity to be much more patient-specific.

Ram Mudiyam, MD. Spine Surgeon at Hoag Orthopedic Institute (Irvine, Calif.): Since the first description of spinal fusion using autogenous bone by Albee (tibial struts) and Hibbs (spinous processes) in 1911, there have been tremendous advances made in the art and science of spinal fusion techniques.

Although autogenous bone graft (iliac crest, local bone) remains the "gold standard," limited supply, donor site morbidity, variable bone quality and host factors have led to an explosion in research and development of alternatives to autogenous bone. This is especially relevant in long segment spinal fusions (spinal deformity) and revision cases. These have ranged from synthetic graft extenders (ceramic, bioglass, tricalcium phosphate), a variety of donor bone products (cortical, cancellous, structural allografts, demineralized bone matrix, stem cell based technologies) to bone morphogenetic protein.

At the present time, there is a paucity of relevant clinical data demonstrating the efficacy of one synthetic or DBM product over another. While BMP does enhance the rate of fusion, there have been safety concerns with its use in the cervical spine and around exposed neural elements.

Over the next five years, there will be an increasing emphasis on standardization of the plethora of bone graft products currently available based on high level evidence of efficacy in the clinical setting. Basic science research will continue to be focused on improved stem cell technology, host bone optimization (teriparatide) and alternative, and perhaps safer, forms of BMP. Advances in implant design such as nano-surface technology and 3-D printing may help create a favorable environment for graft incorporation.

Finally, "fusionless" spine surgery using growth modulation such vertebral body stapling in skeletally immature idiopathic scoliosis has shown early promising results in select cases.

Payam Farjoodi, MD. Spine Surgeon at Center for Spine Health at Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center (Fountain Valley, Calif.): There will be technical advancements in spinal fusion surgery, however I think the biggest shifts will come in how surgeons approach spinal fusion. Just as we have learned to focus on pelvic parameters in order to improve patient outcomes, new research will help us better classify surgical candidates and more appropriately determine the type and extent of spinal fusions for these patients.

Plas T. James, MD. Spine Surgeon at Atlanta Spine Institute: I think for spinal surgery there's technology coming along like navigated spine surgery, using interoperative CAT scans, and more. There's even a process where you can use overhead light to navigate instrumentation placement. As long as you can make it safer that's the key to the future of spinal surgery.

Brian R. Gantwerker, MD. Founder of the Craniospinal Center of Los Angeles: Overall, there will be more deformity work being done from an inpatient standpoint. In terms of one-and two-level fusions, the overall level will decrease. There are always studies being published questioning the use of this technique in single-level settings without instability or subluxation. The data, be it good or junk, will be there.

One of my favorite cranial neurosurgeons who I had the honor of working with a little, Dr. Robert Spetzler, would always ask "what's the denominator?" In other words, we should always be dubious of studies where the attrition rate is high or the number of patients being followed more than three months suffer from "the dwindles." In order to support the use of fusion in short segment stenosis and other widely accepted indications, we have to question the studies and look at them critically. That being said, we also have to be honest with ourselves, and not ignore good data just because we don't like what it shows.

Kern Singh, MD. Co-Director of Minimally Invasive Spine Institute at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush (Chicago): Spinal fusions have become common treatment methods for different spinal disorders. More recently, degenerative disc disease and stenosis have been treated under the umbrella of spinal fusion. The improvements caused by these procedures can lead to significant improvements in regular activities that can be performed after treatment. The number of spinal fusions performed will certainly increase along with the number of indicated patients in the growing elderly population. However, spinal fusion is not always preferred over disc replacement because of the diminishment in patients' mobility. Considering this advantage, disc replacement could become more prominent in upcoming years if it is proven to have lower risks of adjacent segment disease.
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Brussels decision-making that has held back growth across the EU, according to a group of pro-Brexit economists. (Yui Mok/PA)

The UK economy will boom once the country is freed from the "destructive cack-handed" Brussels decision-making that has held back growth, according to a group of Brexit-backing economists.

Introducing the euro was an "unmitigated disaster" but the European Union's poor economic performance pre-dates the creation of the single currency, the 16-strong Economists for Free Trade claimed. It said "barmy" plans for harmonisation, integration and Europeanisation meant the bloc had a dire record against emerging markets as well as the US, Canada and Australia.

But campaigners against a hard Brexit said there were "members of the Flat Earth Society with more credibility" than the group of economists.

Horse-trading of individual country interests, misuse of EU funds and an "excessive regulatory zeal" have all hindered growth, according to Economists for Free Trade's Brexit paper.

Author Roger Bootle, chairman of consultancy Capital Economics, said: "While the leaders of the rapidly growing countries of Asia were busying themselves with the fundamentals of economic growth, in Europe their equivalents were obsessed with unnecessary and damaging integrations.

"Unshackled from the EU and its destructive policies, there is every chance that the UK will enjoy a faster rate of economic growth - faster than it enjoyed in the past while a member, and faster than the remaining members in the future."

Mr Bootle, who has also advised the Commons Treasury select committee, said the benefits of the single market had been "greatly oversold".
Airline Jet2 is creating 50 jobs in Belfast as it begins rolling out new routes from Northern Ireland. The airline is adding a total of 1,700 posts, from pilots to cabin crew, across the UK.

Around 50 of those jobs will be based at Belfast International Airport.

Earlier this year boss Steven Heapy confirmed it was adding eight routes to Belfast International, including six which are new to Northern Ireland.

The airline will now fly to Antalya in Turkey; Costa De Almeria in Spain; Crete; Madeira; Malta, Naples, Paphos and Rhodes.

Jet2 already operates a number of flights to Spain, the Canaries and eastern Europe from Belfast.

The company is hosting a recruitment day at the Maldron Hotel at Belfast International Airport on September 19.

Its largest summer programme includes almost 200,000 seats to 23 destinations from the airport.

"We are delighted to be creating so many opportunities to join our award-winning team at Belfast International Airport," Mr Heapy said.

"If you care passionately about looking after customers, we would love to see you at one of our upcoming roadshows and we look forward to welcoming you on board."

Graham Keddie, managing director at the airport, said: "Belfast International Airport warmly welcomes this expansion by Jet2. We're enjoying growth on all fronts and this news of 50 new jobs shows what can be achieved when airlines increase the number of routes they operate and passenger numbers grow.

"Jet2 has clearly seen the potential there is in the Northern Ireland market and is responding positively and with confidence."

The roadshow has been designed to support the recruitment of both "pilot and cabin crew positions", the company said.

Earlier this year Jet2 said that the loss of the open skies agreement following Brexit would have a "terrible" impact on the airline industry.

Speaking about concerns over what will happen if the open skies agreement, which allows carriers to fly anywhere within the EU, is scrapped after Brexit, Mr Heapy said: "There are a lot of concerns around Brexit. There's freedom of movement, of capital, of labour and open skies."
Independent News & Media (INM) chief executive Robert Pitt abstained on a show of hands as shareholders voted on the re-election of INM chairman Leslie Buckley to the board.

The move underlines the deep divisions between the men atop Ireland's largest media company, which owns the Belfast Telegraph and Sunday Life, as it seeks to cope with challenging market conditions.

Mr Buckley was re-elected to the INM board yesterday, while Mr Pitt was not up for re-election. Mr Pitt has made a protected disclosure to the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) after a disagreement between the men over the potential acquisition of radio station Newstalk.

Asked about his relationship with Mr Pitt, Mr Buckley said: "If somebody makes a protected disclosure, that needs to be handled in a very proper and professional way and within a legal framework and that's exactly how that's being done."

He said the board, and a subcommittee of the board that was convened to look into the matter, were "working day and night on (shareholders') behalf to get this issue resolved".

Ryan Preston, the company's chief financial officer, voted in favour of Mr Buckley's re-election, as did the group's non-executive directors.

Mr Buckley said the company has no plans to pay a dividend, though it reviews its policy every year. He said the company needs its cash to meet pension obligations and pursue its acquisition strategy.

Mr Buckley said he was aware of rumours regarding Denis O'Brien, INM's largest shareholder with a 29.88% stake, wanting to take the company private, but that he had heard "no word of that at all".

Mr Buckley is a close business associate of Mr O'Brien.

The meeting was also addressed by Jerome Kennedy, who was INM's senior independent director before he decided not to put himself forward for re-election at yesterday's meeting. Mr Kennedy, formerly managing partner at KPMG, said there was nothing "untoward or ominous" behind his departure from the board.

He was the director to whom Mr Pitt made a complaint regarding the proposed purchase of Newstalk.

Mr Kennedy said his skillset complemented the financial restructuring of INM over the last five years, but that the demands of the next five years will be different.

"There's always a time when a non-executive director will have a look at the portfolio of directorships they have, the companies they are involved with."

He added: "They've got to balance the demands on their personal time."

Yesterday morning INM announced that revenue had fallen 8.4% year-on-year in the first half of 2017. Pre-tax profit fell 19.5% to 14.9m (13.8m).

"The continued challenging trading conditions from the decline in circulation and publishing advertising have been magnified by the impact of a very punitive defamation regime and legal costs. Whilst digital revenues have grown, the growth is at a lower rate than previously envisaged," Mr Pitt said in a statement.
International markets are increasingly looking to the Republic for potential opportunities due to Brexit, with a five-fold increase in the number of Chinese delegations visiting so far this year.

Dublin Chamber said interest had also been expressed from Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, as well as the Western Balkans and Belgium.

"We've seen a lot of inbound activity," said chamber chief executive Mary Rose Burke.

Ms Burke said there have been 10 delegations from China so far this year, whereas there were just two in the same period in 2016.

Some have been high level and have involved the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Embassy, with one recent event involving food, technology, finance and aircraft leasing sectors.

"I think everybody is looking to the future, with the change, where potential new markets are. We would feel that Ireland is on the map and on the radar of these countries," Ms Burke said.

"Places like Singapore would be appearing to take more of an interest in Ireland and I would interpret that as being on the back of Brexit. People are looking at what does their European strategy mean in the event of Brexit."

Interest from Hong Kong came from the fintech and ICT sectors, from the ICT sectors in Western Balkans and Hungary, and from the logistics and maritime transport in Belgium.

One in four firms now think Brexit will have a positive impact on their business as they look at the potential for new markets beyond the UK, a survey by the chamber found.

The chamber, which represents over 1,300 companies across the four local authority areas, said that almost one in four companies - 23% - believe that Brexit will affect them positively.
The Stelvio, which shares many components with the Giulia, is Alfa Romeo's first venture into the SUV market. Jon Reay finds out what it's like...

What's new?

This is Alfa Romeo's first SUV - no pressure - so the Italians certainly aren't messing around when it comes to showcasing Alfa's interpretation of an off-roader. Rather than borrowing some bits from sister company Jeep, Alfa has started afresh with the Stelvio - basing it on the platform of the recently launched Giulia saloon instead.

This, says Alfa, helps keep the Stelvio's handling in check - providing much more car-like dynamics along with a rear-biased four-wheel-drive system.

Engines are largely shared with the Giulia too - although the 2.2-litre diesel has been given a boost, now outputting 207bhp in its most powerful guise - and the four-wheel-drive system is the same rear-biased set-up you'll find on Alfa's new saloon as well.

Looks and image

From the front there's no mistaking which stable the Stelvio belongs to: Alfa's trademark shield-shaped grille sits proudly in the centre, flanked by headlights that anyone familiar with the Giulia will be quick to recognise. In profile, the Stelvio is definitely more of a svelte crossover than a stout-looking SUV, and we reckon that's no bad thing - in fact, it belies its size far more successfully than a BMW X4 or Mercedes GLC.

Inside, things are pretty impressive too. Materials can't really be faulted, the dash is attractive and logically designed, and the driving position is spot-on. What Alfa hasn't quite nailed, though, is the wow factor that Mercedes, Jaguar and even Audi manage to instil into interior design.

The Stelvio's insides are sleek and sophisticated, yes, but there are no party tricks to shout about - no fancy quilted leather, no touch-sensitive buttons, no fancy 'virtual cockpit'-like screen behind the steering wheel.

Similarly, while the infotainment system is miles better than that on Alfas of old, it's not quite up there with the BMW iDrives of this world - the strangely tiny rear parking camera display alone would never have been signed off by Bavaria's finest. Quirks aside though it's not a bad effort at all, and Alfa has clearly put some thought into a few nice details in the cabin - such as the flat-bottomed steering wheel and tactile metal paddle shifters.

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Space and practicality

Given its shapely body, the Stelvio isn't quite as practical as some of its more traditional-looking SUV rivals - think more BMW X4 than X3, for example - but there's easily still room for four adults and their luggage. Rear legroom is decent, the boot space is par for the course at 525 litres, and it'd be relatively easy to get child seats in and out too. Rear visibility does take a bit of a hit though, thanks to the relatively small rear window and thick rear pillars.

Alfa has filled the Stelvio to the brim with safety kit too, so there's technology aplenty to help prevent a crash. All the usual 2017 bits are there - lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring with rear cross-path detection, and forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking - and although the Stelvio is yet to be tested by Euro NCAP, the Giulia saloon on which it's based has already received a five-star rating.

Behind the wheel

Alfa Romeo is very keen to stress that this isn't just another SUV with some sporty bits tacked on - instead, designing the Stelvio with driving dynamics in mind from the very beginning.

That philosophy seems to have paid off. From behind the modern, flat-bottomed steering wheel you'll find a car-like driving position and a cabin that's more driver-focused and enveloping than in a typical SUV.

Where the Stelvio really shines is in the way it drives, though. The steering itself is direct, accurate and - although a little bereft of feedback - delicate without feeling over-assisted. Despite its relatively tall body, there's very little roll around corners - something Alfa's engineers are rightly proud of - and at 1,660kg for the 2.0-litre petrol, it's 100kg lighter than even the daintiest of its German rivals too.

Combine those elements and you'll find an SUV that's as enjoyable around a set of corners as a well-sorted saloon or estate, and although the trade-off for all that composure is a relatively firm ride, it's not unreasonable or uncomfortable by any means.

Refinement isn't bad either. We'd like a touch more soundproofing to separate the cabin from that familiar four-cylinder diesel rumble, but beyond that the Stelvio should make for a comfortable motorway cruiser too.

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Value for money

Prices for the range start at 33,990. To keep things simple there are just three trim levels -Stelvio, Business and Super - and even entry-level cars get an array of standard safety kit, front and rear parking sensors, a 6.5-inch infotainment screen, keyless entry and 17-inch alloys. Upgrade to Super and you'll get half-leather seats, bigger alloys and so on, while Business bundles in a few options above the entry-level car but only BIK-friendly diesel engines.

Above that, the options list gives you some assorted niceties such as a posher Harman Kardon stereo with either 10 or 14 speakers, a 'full-grain' leather interior, a heated steering wheel and so on.

Most of the usual electronic toys such as active cruise control are available too, although don't expect VW-group levels of sophistication just yet. If you're after LED headlights, active park assist or a head-up display, you'd best take yourself off to buy that Q5 (or even a Tiguan).

Who would buy one?

As this is Alfa Romeo's first SUV and, along with the Giulia, one of its first family-sized cars in half a decade, the Stelvio's customers are likely to be new to the brand - snaring some ex-Audi and BMW owners.

Alfa would like to think its customers are just a tad more discerning than the usual SUV rabble: more interested in design and handling than whether or not you can have in-car wi-fi. To an extent, they've nailed that brief - the Stelvio is probably the sweetest-handling SUV this side of a Porsche Macan, and in the looks department alone it's effortlessly sophisticated compared with its slab-sided German rivals.

Company car users are on the agenda too, targeted by a diesel-only trim level imaginatively called the 'Business'. Even the most powerful diesel chucks out a mere 127g/km of CO2 on the combined cycle - less than the equivalent Audi Q5 or BMW X3 -so it's likely that the Stelvio should offer a competitive proposition for anyone subject to benefit-in-kind.
Matt Bellamy of MUSE performing at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Matt Bellamy of MUSE performing at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Matt Bellamy of MUSE performing at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Matt Bellamy of MUSE performing at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Matt Bellamy of MUSE performing at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Matt Bellamy of MUSE performing at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Matt Bellamy of MUSE performing at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Matt Bellamy of MUSE performing at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Matt Bellamy of MUSE performing at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Matt Bellamy of MUSE performing at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Matt Bellamy of MUSE performing at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Matt Bellamy of MUSE performing at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Matt Bellamy of MUSE performing at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Matt Bellamy of MUSE performing at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Matt Bellamy of MUSE performing at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Matt Bellamy of MUSE performing at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Matt Bellamy of MUSE performing at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans out to see MUSE with support act Biffy Clyro at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Belfast Vttal stage at Boucher Playing Fields ahead tonight's performance with MUSE and Biffy Clyro. Wednesday 23rd August 2017. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Belfast Vttal stage at Boucher Playing Fields ahead tonight's performance with MUSE and Biffy Clyro. Wednesday 23rd August 2017. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Belfast Vttal stage at Boucher Playing Fields ahead tonight's performance with MUSE and Biffy Clyro. Wednesday 23rd August 2017. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Belfast Vttal stage at Boucher Playing Fields ahead tonight's performance with MUSE and Biffy Clyro. Wednesday 23rd August 2017. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans at for the first night of Belfast Vital to see MUSE and Biffy Clyro. Wednesday 23rd August 2017. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans at for the first night of Belfast Vital to see MUSE and Biffy Clyro. Wednesday 23rd August 2017. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans at for the first night of Belfast Vital to see MUSE and Biffy Clyro. Wednesday 23rd August 2017. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Fans at for the first night of Belfast Vital to see MUSE and Biffy Clyro. Wednesday 23rd August 2017. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Biffy Clyro's Simon Neil performing on stage at for the first night of Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 2017. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Biffy Clyro's Simon Neil performing on stage at for the first night of Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 2017. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Biffy Clyro's Simon Neil performing on stage at for the first night of Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 2017. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Biffy Clyro's Simon Neil performing on stage at for the first night of Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 2017. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Biffy Clyro's Simon Neil performing on stage at for the first night of Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 2017. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Matt Bellamy of MUSE performing at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Matt Bellamy of MUSE performing at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Matt Bellamy of MUSE performing at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Matt Bellamy of MUSE performing at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Matt Bellamy of MUSE performing at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Belfast Vital organisers have issued important entry information ahead of Saturday's Tiesto gig.

The festival got off to a rocking start on Wednesday with UK rockers Muse headlining with support from Biffy Cylro, Nothing But Thieves, and Dublin band Fangclub.

On Saturday Dutch DJ Tiesto will headline the second gig with support from Clean Bandit and Robin Schulz.

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Organisers have issued important information reminding concert-goers it's a strictly over 16s event.

No unaccompanied Under 16s will be admitted and ID checks will be strictly enforced.

In addition no bags larger than A4 size will be permitted.

The PSNI has also issued safety advice ahead of the concerts reminding people to plan their journey in advance.

Anyone driving to the concert is reminded to make sure they park legally and avoid obstructing the driveway of any residential or business properties.

Officers said: "If you are planning on drinking at the concert - do not drive. It only takes one drink to impair your decision making ability.

"If you intend to drink, please do so responsibly and show respect to local residents, businesses and their property on the way to and from the events.

Expand Close Matt Bellamy of MUSE performing at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX / Facebook

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Whatsapp Matt Bellamy of MUSE performing at Belfast Vital. Wednesday 23rd August 217. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

"Enjoy the concert, look out for each other, and follow the directions of the event security staff and police who are there to keep you safe."
A priest in Co Galway has made one couple's big day extra special by organising an impromptu dance during the wedding ceremony.

Fr John OGorman was marrying Rois Lydon and Paudie Mannion earlier this month when he decided a dance was in order during a musical interlude.

He quickly pulled the bride up to dance with her father, before getting the groom paired up with his mother - and soon the bridesmaids and groomsmen were all getting in on the action.

With huge smiles from the wedding congregation, Fr John tells them: "If you can dance in a hotel, you can dance in a church."

The lovely moment was captured by Make My Day Productions and shared on to its Facebook page.

The video has since gone viral with over 500,000 views.

One Facebook user said of the post: "That is amazing - that is the way it should be!"

Another added: "This video is just lovely. Smiles all around from everyone, especially the bride and groom which is what it's all about.

"Well done to that lovely priest who has made memories for this family to cherish and made the rest of us smile."
Soldier William Nicholl from Ligoniel, who fought in some of the First World War's bloodiest battles, has a special niche in medical history, as his grandson tells Ivan Little. Now the family are searching for the medals which he won.

It took the Germans a split second to inflict William Nicholl's grievous injuries on him but the courageous Belfast man had to bear the horrific scars of that bloody encounter in one of the Great War's most notorious battles for a lifetime.

And it's now been revealed that the Ligoniel man whose face was horribly disfigured at Passchendaele in 1917 played a central role in the advancement of plastic surgery at the hands of a medic who broke new ground in the treatment of people with similar injuries.

But even though William's contribution to medical science has been recognised, his family in Belfast are still desperately searching for the medals he won during his brief but eventful military career during the First World War.

"We would love to find the medals but so far we've had no luck," says William's 58-year-old grandson David, who still lives in north Belfast.

He and his sister Lesley, who's based in England, have also been on a difficult but 'fascinating' quest to establish exactly what happened to their grandfather, who was born in September 1895.

At the age of 19 he joined the Young Citizens Volunteers and served with the 14th Battalion, the Royal Irish Rifles, who were part of the 36th Ulster Division.

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Whatsapp Michael Davies, his wife Lesley, David and his son Steven Nicholl

After training in Donegal, Randalstown and Sussex, William and his comrades saw action during the fiercest battles of the war.

William survived the Somme and at Messines he fought alongside his two brothers, John and Jim.

John was seriously injured at Messines while Jim was to die three years later in the Middle East and is buried in Basra in Iraq.

William sustained his dreadful injuries at Passchendaele, one of the bloodiest battles of the war, near the Belgian city of Ypres in West Flanders.

Passchendaele, fought in cloying mud and incessant rain, lasted 103 days and at the end of the battle, the Allies had advanced just five miles, suffering 325,000 dead and wounded while the Germans lost up to 400,000 men.

Just a few weeks ago Prince Charles and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge travelled to Flanders, and Tyne Cot cemetery, for the centenary commemoration of Passchendaele, which is also known as the Third Battle of Ypres.

David and Lesley went to Flanders to honour their grandfather and to represent him at the tributes to his fallen comrades.

Says David: "He'd never been able to go back in person to pay his respects to his friends who died. So it was an honour for us to return to lay a wreath on his behalf to the men who were left behind.

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"I'd been there several times before but it was an amazing experience to attend the centenary."

David and Lesley also tried to unravel another mystery of where their grandfather was injured.

David had worked in Belgium 30 years ago and often at weekends he would visit cemeteries and the sites of battlefields.

Inexplicably he was always drawn to the village of Langemarck. "I always had an inclination to go there but I didn't know why. But two days before we went to Flanders this year I found out that my grandfather was hurt near Langemarck.

"His unit were stationed there and while we were able to narrow down the place where he was injured to an area of around 300 or 400 yards, we couldn't pinpoint the precise spot."

David and Lesley also wanted to clear up the confusion over how their grandfather sustained his injuries.

Official records say he was hit by shellfire but David says medical notes say his wounds were caused by a gunshot.

But what is in no doubt is that William's injuries to his face were severe. His jaw was shattered, he lost all his teeth and he was badly disfigured.

He spent months in a Boulogne field hospital that was dubbed 'Dublin' because so many Irish nurses volunteered to work there.

William was later transferred to the newly-opened Queen's Hospital in Sidcup, Kent, and it was there that he came under the pioneering care of Harold Gillies, who has been called the father of plastic surgery.

Gillies and his colleagues developed a range of new techniques designed to treat soldiers wounded on the Western Front.

They carried out more than 11,000 operations on 5,000 injured soldiers, including William Nicholl, who was one of the very first to undergo surgery in 1917, and to be given hope for the future.

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David says: "We've been told that plastic surgery wouldn't be what it is today if it hadn't have been for Gillies and what he learnt from the awful casualties of the First World War."

William was still undergoing medical procedures after the war and the scars of his injuries were always with him.

He returned to Northern Ireland, where he was given a pension of 28 shillings a week after he was declared unfit for military service.

He married his wife Martha in February 1922 and they had five children, setting up home in the Ligoniel area of Belfast.

William was a founder member of the 36th (Ulster) Division Orange lodge, LOL 977 which was set up after soldiers returned from France.

David, whose father was also called William, says that one of his earliest memories of his grandfather in Belfast is of him slurping his tea.

"He couldn't drink it properly because of his injuries. But that wasn't his only idiosyncrasy from the war. He always put his hand over his tea after the cup was handed to him and said it was to keep the dust out, obviously a throwback to the trenches."

William got a job in Harland and Wolff, working night shifts as a gateman, according to David, who recalls his grandfather saying that shipyard bosses didn't want him on duty during the day in case his facial injuries frightened his colleagues.

David says William's disfigurement was hard to miss, adding: "He was horrifically scarred, especially on the right side of his face and he had difficulty speaking, but as kids we just accepted things as they were and we didn't really notice his injuries.

"He was a great man and we worshipped him. He was a very patient person. One of my happiest recollections from my childhood is of him taking the time to explain long division to me."

David's sister Lesley says: "He's both a remarkable man to us and a very unremarkable man in that there were millions of young men like him who went off and faced the horrors of war and came back and just got on with it."

A number of military and medical accounts of Gillies' plastic surgery breakthroughs list the story of William Nicholl.

One says: "William leaves behind a legacy of fifty descendants who might never have lived were it not for those pioneering surgeons in 1917."

During the Second World War, William served his country again. He was a volunteer in the Civil Defence Home Guard and he experienced the devastating Blitz in 1941.

William died in May, 1986, at the age of 90.

"He'd been living and coping on his own," says David. "He was a very proud man and he would have shared some of his wartime experiences with his grandchildren."

But sadly William's grandchildren have never been able to find the medals that their grandfather should have had.

David says: "We think we know what he won but there seems to have been an anomaly in the 14th battalion records over my grandfather's service number. There appear to be two men listed with the 14th battalion with the same number.

"But we are going through all the diaries and paperwork meticulously and it looks like we are peeling the onion back, but it is slow going.

"We would love to trace William's medals so that our families could have them for posterity.

"And if and when we do find them, we will start researching the life and military career of my mother's father who fought at the Somme."
Pupils of Belfast's Victoria College Georgia Heatherley (left) who received seven A*s and three A's and Darcey Smith, who received eight A*s and three As

Pupils of Victoria College in Belfast (from left) Rebekah Ferguson, Rebecca Bunn and Saffron Kargbo celebrate GCSE results

Pupils of Victoria College in Belfast (from left) Eimear McGarvey, Nicole Savage and Niamh Neale after receiving their GCSE results

Sarah Hand who achieved 10 A*s celebrates with her mother Maria and dog Kenny after receiving her GCSE results at Victoria College

Victoria College students receive their GCSE results. High achiever Sarah Hand who gained 10A*'s Photo by Matt Mackey / Press Eye.

A Belfast girl's perfect 10 clean sweep of A stars was literally a dream come true.

Sarah Hand dreamt that she would notch top marks in 10 GCSEs ahead of waking up to that reality on Thursday morning.

The 16-year-old Victoria College student has a long-term ambition to be a reconstructive plastic surgeon.

"I was surprised by a few but not surprised by others," she said.

"I was surprised by English Literature and French. I was really nervous about those results, but the others I was confident about.

"It's weird, before results you get results dreams where you dream what it's going to be like and there are different results in each dream.

"And I had one like that (10 A*s) and it was today, so it was really surreal.

"So it is literally a dream come."

Sarah brought the family dog Kenny down to school on Thursday as she and classmates celebrated their achievements.

"He's my good luck charm," she said.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Students from Dominican College Fortwilliam as they receive GCSE results on August 24th 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Cliona Thompson and Cathrine Jackson with their parents from Dominican College Fortwilliam as they receive GCSE results on August 24th 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Niamh Magee ,Molly Deazley and Cathrine Dempsey from Dominican College Fortwilliam as she receives GCSE results on August 24th 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Cathrine Jackson and Cliona Thompson from Dominican College Fortwilliam as they receive GCSE results on August 24th 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph William Johnston From Hazel Wood Integrated as he receives GCSE results on August 24th 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Students From Hazel Wood Integrated as he receives GCSE results on August 24th 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Cody Armstrong From Hazel Wood Integrated as he receives GCSE results on August 24th 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Cathrine Jackson and Cliona Thompson from Dominican College Fortwilliam as they receive GCSE results on August 24th 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Students from Dominican College Fortwilliam as they receive GCSE results on August 24th 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Michael Cleland , Nkosinathi Khumalo and James Kavanagh From Royal Belfast Academical Institution as he receives GCSE results on August 24th 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Michael Cleland , Nkosinathi Khumalo and James Kavanagh From Royal Belfast Academical Institution as he receives GCSE results on August 24th 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Pacemaker Press 24/8/2017 Top achievers as Pupils at Victoria College in Belfast receive their GCSE results on Thursday. Around 30,000 pupils received their grades , as Northern Ireland students make steady improvements in GCSEs, with small rises across the grades in examinations in 2017. One in ten entries were awarded the top A* grade, with almost 80 percent achieving A* - C grades. Pic Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Pacemaker Press 24/8/2017 Top achievers as Pupils at Victoria College in Belfast receive their GCSE results on Thursday. Around 30,000 pupils received their grades , as Northern Ireland students make steady improvements in GCSEs, with small rises across the grades in examinations in 2017. One in ten entries were awarded the top A* grade, with almost 80 percent achieving A* - C grades. Pic Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press Eye  Belfast - Northern Ireland Photo by Freddie Parkinson / Press Eye  Sunday 24 August 2017 Ballyclare High School GCSE Results Day. Hannah Masson 3A* 6A B, Chloe Den Haese 3A 6B and Leah McGilton 6A* 5A. Press Eye  Belfast - Northern Ireland Photo by Freddie Parkinson / Press Eye  Sunday 24 August 2017 Ballyclare High School GCSE Results Day. Mathew Christie 3A* 5A B with his Classroom Assistant Helen McCluggage. Press Eye  Belfast - Northern Ireland Photo by Freddie Parkinson / Press Eye  Sunday 24 August 2017 Ballyclare High School GCSE Results Day. Taylor beggs A* 4A 4B C, Amy Davidson 2A* A 3B 4C, Leah Young 2A* 3A 4B C and Karla Stevenson 3A* 2A 3B 2C. Press Eye  Belfast - Northern Ireland Photo by Freddie Parkinson / Press Eye  Sunday 24 August 2017 Ballyclare High School GCSE Results Day. Rachel Stewart 3A* 5A 2B and Hannah Scott 1A* 4A 4B. Press Eye  Belfast - Northern Ireland Photo by Freddie Parkinson / Press Eye  Sunday 24 August 2017 Ballyclare High School GCSE Results Day. Gwynneth Cockcroft and her daughter Saffy who got 4A* 6A. Press Eye  Belfast - Northern Ireland Photo by Freddie Parkinson / Press Eye  Sunday 24 August 2017 Ballyclare High School GCSE Results Day. Andrew Farquhar 8A* 3A, Callum Blair 9A* A and Adam Clarke 9A* A. Press Eye  Belfast - Northern Ireland Photo by Freddie Parkinson / Press Eye  Sunday 24 August 2017 Ballyclare High School GCSE Results Day. Principal Dr Michelle Rainey with the McCullough twins Mathew 6A 4B and Rebecca 3A* 6A B. Assumption Grammar school pupils, Leah Taggart, left, 5 A stars, 4 A's and B, Lucy Aires 7 A stars and 3 A's with principal Peter Dobbin. Pic by Peter Morrison Pacemaker Press 24/8/2017 Top achiever Sarah Hand with mum Maria and Dog Kenny who got 10 A* grades as Pupils at Victoria College in Belfast receive their GCSE results on Thursday. Around 30,000 pupils received their grades , as Northern Ireland students make steady improvements in GCSEs, with small rises across the grades in examinations in 2017. One in ten entries were awarded the top A* grade, with almost 80 percent achieving A* - C grades. Pacemaker Press 24/8/2017 Top achievers including receiving A* and A grades Sarah Hand, Harriet Bedi, Lucy Clarke , Olivia Fee, Nina Fitzpatrick, Hannah Rose Glover , Georgia Heatherley, Kaur Manpreet, Katie Kerr, Kirsten Mathews, Rachel McCormack, Amy McKillen , Georgia Ross , Lauren Sleith and Darcy Smith as Pupils at Victoria College in Belfast receive their GCSE results on Thursday. Around 30,000 pupils received their grades , as Northern Ireland students make steady improvements in GCSEs, with small rises across the grades in examinations in 2017. One in ten entries were awarded the top A* grade, with almost 80 percent achieving A* - C grades. Pacemaker Press 24/8/2017 Top achievers including receiving A* and A grades Sarah Hand, Harriet Bedi, Lucy Clarke , Olivia Fee, Nina Fitzpatrick, Hannah Rose Glover , Georgia Heatherley, Kaur Manpreet, Katie Kerr, Kirsten Mathews, Rachel McCormack, Amy McKillen , Georgia Ross , Lauren Sleith and Darcy Smith as Pupils at Victoria College in Belfast receive their GCSE results on Thursday. Around 30,000 pupils received their grades , as Northern Ireland students make steady improvements in GCSEs, with small rises across the grades in examinations in 2017. One in ten entries were awarded the top A* grade, with almost 80 percent achieving A* - C grades. Pacemaker Press Belfast 24-08-2017: GCSE results for pupils in Northern Ireland have improved again, with one in 10 entries being awarded an A*. Pupils from Grosvenor Grammar School in Belfast, Northern Ireland pictured after receiving their GCSE results. Picture By: Pacemaker. Pacemaker Press Belfast 24-08-2017: GCSE results for pupils in Northern Ireland have improved again, with one in 10 entries being awarded an A*. Pupils from Grosvenor Grammar School in Belfast, Northern Ireland pictured after receiving their GCSE results. Picture By: Pacemaker. Pacemaker Press Belfast 24-08-2017: GCSE results for pupils in Northern Ireland have improved again, with one in 10 entries being awarded an A*. Hannah James and Victoria Gillespie pupils from Grosvenor Grammar School in Belfast, Northern Ireland pictured after receiving their GCSE results. Picture By: Pacemaker. Pacemaker Press Belfast 24-08-2017: GCSE results for pupils in Northern Ireland have improved again, with one in 10 entries being awarded an A*. Pupils from Grosvenor Grammar School in Belfast, Northern Ireland pictured after receiving their GCSE results. Picture By: Pacemaker. Pacemaker Press Belfast 24-08-2017: GCSE results for pupils in Northern Ireland have improved again, with one in 10 entries being awarded an A*. Pupils from Grosvenor Grammar School in Belfast, Northern Ireland pictured after receiving their GCSE results. Picture By: Pacemaker. Students from Ashfield Girls School get their GCSE results. Pupils in Northern Ireland have outperformed those in the rest of the UK in terms of A*-C grades at GCSE. About 30,000 local students received their 2016 exam results on Thursday. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press Education Minister Peter Weir welcomes GCSE examination results with Methodist College, pupils Lauren Bell, Zoe Hagan and Caitriona Marsh. Picture: Michael Cooper Michael Cooper Pupils from Royal Belfast Academical Institution in belfast pictured with Principal Janet Williamson after they received their 2016 exam results. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press Pupils from Royal Belfast Academical Institution in belfast pictured with Principal Janet Williamson after they received their 2016 exam results. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press Pupils (L-R) Donal Shearer,Aneurin Duffy-Murray and Ben Connolly from Royal Belfast Academical Institution in Belfast pictured after receiving 11A Stars in their GCSE exam results. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press Pupils from Royal Belfast Academical Institution in belfast pictured with Principal Janet Williamson after they received their 2016 exam results. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press Pupils from Royal Belfast Academical Institution in belfast pictured with Principal Janet Williamson after they received their 2016 exam results. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press Education Minister, Peter Weir, pictured at a visit to Methodist College, Belfast with pupils (left-right) Caitriona Marsh, Lauren Bell and Zoe Hagan. Picture: Michael Cooper Michael Cooper Education Minister, Peter Weir, pictured at a visit to Our Lady's and St Patrick's College with pupils, Eimear Rogers (left) and Clare Dempsey and Joseph McKervey. Picture: Michael Cooper Michael Cooper Education Minister, Peter Weir, pictured at a visit to Our Lady's and St Patrick's College with Clare Dempsey and John Toner who each received 10 A Stars in their GCSE results. Picture: Michael Cooper Michael Cooper Education Minister, Peter Weir, pictured at a visit to Our Lady's and St Patrick's College with pupils, Eimear Rogers (left) and Clare Dempsey. Picture: Michael Cooper Michael Cooper / Facebook

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Whatsapp Students from Dominican College Fortwilliam as they receive GCSE results on August 24th 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

The teenager hopes to do maths and the three sciences at A-level, potentially taking additional maths as well.

"I would really like to study medicine at either Edinburgh University or perhaps Cambridge," she said.

"I want to be a plastic surgeon - a reconstructive surgeon working with burns victims.

"So these results help as part of that plan."
Victims are to meet former Methodist president the Rev Harold Good to voice their objections to his proposal to hold a day of acknowledgement to reflect on the Troubles.

Kenny Donaldson of Innocent Victims United expressed "serious concerns" that the event would not make adequate distinction between "innocent" victims and those who had engaged in violence.

Willie Frazer of Families Acting for Innocent Relatives said he feared that it was an attempt to engage in "a lovey-dovey exercise to sweep what really happened under the carpet".

Mr Good last night told the Belfast Telegraph that his proposal would involve everyone - including former paramilitaries, security force members and victims - joining in "a process or day of acknowledgement".

He said: "We have a very complex story.

"We will never reconcile the unionist/loyalist narrative with the nationalist/republican one.

"But, rather than trying to do that, let us attempt to reconcile with each other as human beings."

Mr Good had told BBC Radio Ulster's Sunday Sequence that everyone - including the Churches - should reflect on their acts of "commission and omission" during the Troubles.

He said: "We were silent when we should have spoken.

"There was injustice, there was discrimination, there was sectarianism from both sides.

"Where there was injustice, where there was sectarianism, we were silent.

"Together, across our community, we might come together, each of us and all of us, from all sectors, including the Churches, and acknowledge our part in the hurt, the grief and the pain of the past 48-plus years."

Mr Donaldson said that many victims were upset at the former Methodist president's suggestion.

"There has been a communal victimhood narrative that takes away individual responsibility from those who used violence," he said.

"We are asking Harold Good to acknowledge that there was never justification for the use of terrorism or criminal violence in the pursuit or defence of a political objective."

Mr Donaldson said that victims he represented felt the approach being taken was to "skip the process of remorse, repentance and restitution and just end up at the point of reconciliation".

He said he rejected the suggestion that "everyone in Northern Ireland is responsible for the mess" of the past as it ignored the role of individual responsibility.

"Most people did not go out and avenge the wrong done to them, they did not bring hurt to their neighbour's door," he said.

"People make choices."

Mr Frazer said: "The victims for whom I speak want nothing to do with Harold Good's day of acknowledgement.

"They see it as a lovey-dovey exercise to sweep what really happened under the carpet.

"Victims do not need a special day of reflection.

"For them, every day is a day of reflection."

Mr Frazer said he would be asking Mr Good "to use his time to get the IRA to say what they did was totally unjustified".

He added: "The IRA has never said that.

"All they repeat is that things shouldn't have happened or it was unfortunate that they took place - and that isn't good enough."

The former Methodist leader had said he would meet victims who opposed his suggestion.

Mr Donaldson said he had already written to him to arrange a meeting, and Mr Frazer said he was planning to do so.

Mr Good said: "I am very sensitive to the hurt and feelings of all victims.

"I regret that they have misunderstood what I was saying and the spirit in which I was saying it.

"I would welcome the opportunity to meet them as part of a pastoral conversation."
Officials locked antlers after proposals to put an Irish elk on a new pound coin in Northern Ireland prompted a royal row in 1986.

The extinct deer, which is commonly associated with power or strength and had been used by the former government of Northern Ireland, was seen as "broadly acceptable" to nationalists and unionists, a memo in the official files disclosed.

But it stumbled into rougher ground after someone pointed out using the symbol on a shield did not have the status of a royal badge and there was no time to apply for a special warrant.

The prehistoric animal was famed for the size of its antlers, which spanned up to 4.3 metres and weighed 45 kilogrammes.

Fossils have been found in large numbers preserved in Ireland's peat bogs.

Whether to emboss the relief of the noble-looking animal on the new coin had been deferred in 1986 after the Royal College of Arms said a new badge for Northern Ireland would have to be granted by the Queen, according to documents disclosed by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI).

The College said the elk would have to be shown on a heraldic shield and this in turn would require a badge.

The note said: "Advice at that time was that a new royal badge for Northern Ireland could be politically contentious and therefore we opted not to pursue the elk on a shield device proposed at that time."

The matter resurfaced in 1991 following a decision by Treasury ministers that a series of new designs for the coin be introduced representing the constituent parts of the UK. Northern Ireland's old depiction of a flax plant was to be replaced.

To create a royal badge expressing sovereignty over Northern Ireland alone would reflect on the status of the existing badge, the crowned harp which was used by the RUC, and would require amendment of the Royal Arms to show loss of sovereignty over the Republic, an official wrote.

One civil servant noted this would be a political hornets' nest.

Finally, after much consideration, the NIO confirmed that the Northern Ireland Secretary had agreed to an image of an elk without the problem-causing shield.

Fairly well known symbols like the Red Hand and Crown, the six pointed star, harps, shamrocks and the Cross of St Patrick had been avoided in the past, the record said.
Two parcels seized by police are understood to have contained seven kilos of narcotics in total.

A man is to stand trial accused of involvement in a plot to smuggle consignments of cannabis into Northern Ireland, a judge ordered on Thursday.

Yong Xian Chen, 39, was detained after drugs packages destined for addresses in Belfast were intercepted at East Midlands Airport last August.

Two parcels seized by police are understood to have contained seven kilos of narcotics in total.

Officers also confiscated 1,840 in cash during the subsequent arrest operation.

Chen, a Chinese national with an address at Rooney Way in Belfast, is charged with two counts of attempted possession of cannabis with intent to supply.

He also faces a further count of having criminal property - namely the cash.

Appearing before Belfast Magistrates' Court today, Chen confirmed through an interpreter that he understood the allegations against him.

His lawyers did not contest prosecution submissions that he has a case to answer.

With the accused declining to give evidence or call witnesses at this stage, District Judge Fiona Bagnall granted an application to have him returned for Crown Court trial.

Chen was released on continuing bail to return for any future arraignment date.

However, defence counsel Declan Quinn revealed he intends to mount a bid to have the case thrown out.

Mr Quinn told the court he will be making a no bill application based on issues around the prosecution evidence.
Flowers were left at the door of the centre on Thursday evening.

The pig's head left at door of the building.

General views of the Islamic Centre in Newtownards as graffiti was painted on the building wall overnight in the Castle Street area on August 23rd 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

General views of the Islamic Centre in Newtownards as graffiti was painted on the building wall overnight in the Castle Street area on August 23rd 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

General views of the Islamic Centre in Newtownards as graffiti was painted on the building wall overnight in the Castle Street area on August 23rd 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

Police are investigating after a pig's head was placed at the door of a Co Down Islamic Centre.

It happened on Wednesday night at around 11.15pm at the Bangladesh Islamic Community Centre on Greenwell Street in Newtownards. Graffiti was also daubed on the wall of the building.

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A local resident, woken by the noise of the police arriving on the scene said he was sickened by the incident.

"I thought it was disgusting," he told the Belfast Telegraph.

"It shouldn't be happening. I haven't heard of anything happening like this before. With recent events I think a bit of education is what people need."

On Thursday evening flowers were placed at the door of the centre.

In a related incident graffiti was also daubed on the wall of a building in the Castle Street area.

Alliance Strangford MLA Kellie Armstrong said she was disgusted "there are those who wish to attack a place of worship and in such a sickening manner".

Those who carry out such hate crimes seek to drive a wedge between people here by heightening racial and religious tension. We must all stand together to condemn and defeat them.

If anyone has information about this attack, I would urge them to contact police immediately.

Police are treating the incidents as hate crimes and issued an appeal for information.
Police are appealing for information after a car hijacking in Belfast.

It happened at the junction of Glenalina Road and Whiterock Road in Belfast on Wednesday at 10pm.

Detective Sergeant Stephen Gardiner said: A blue Ford Focus stopped at the junction when two males approached the car, the drivers door was opened and one of the males demanded that the driver got out of the car. The two males then entered the car and drove off along the Whiterock Road.

"I would ask that anyone with information contact detectives at Musgrave station on 101 quoting crime reference number 1615 of 23/08/2017, or if you wish to remain anonymous Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Only 537 people were arrested after being stopped and searched.

New figures released by the police show that almost 7,500 people were stopped and searched by officers within a three month period this year.

Between April 1 to June 30, 7,431 people were stopped and searched, equating to over 80 people a day.

And of those thousands stopped only 537 or 7% were arrested.

People can be stopped and searched or stopped and questioned under various laws in in Northern Ireland. Powers include the Police and Criminal Evidence order, Misuse of Drugs Act, Firearms Order, Justice and Security Act and the Terrorism Act.

Most of those stopped were in Belfast at the time. Over 1,000 were aged under 17 with most questioned under the misuse of drugs. While just over 3,000 were aged between 18 and 25.

The majority - 59% - of all stops were for suspicion of drugs offences.

Compared to the previous quarter there were 923 fewer people stopped. During that period between January and March 6% were arrested.
A view from inside one of the landing craft after US troops hit the water during the Allied D-Day invasion of Normandy

George G Klein on the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc this year, where he claimed to have landed on June 6, 1944

War veteran George G Klein feted for his bravery during the Normandy landings was in Northern Ireland the whole time.

The 96-year-old American has admitted claims that he fought in the bloodiest battle of June 6, 1944 were fake. Instead, he got little further than a staging post in Kilkeel, Co Down.

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Klein was awarded the Purple Heart by the US and received the Legion D'Honneur from France for his World War Two heroics.

He was hailed a hero for more than 70 years for his supposed role in D-Day as part of the elite 2nd Ranger Battalion who scaled 100ft cliffs at Pointe Du Hoc on a mission to destroy six lethal Nazi 155mm howitzers that Allied intelligence had identified as being sited in emplacements there.

Of the 255 US troops who spearheaded the assault, just 90 survived the fierce encounter.

The death rate of 68% was the highest recorded during Operation Overlord.

After capturing their objective the Rangers discovered that the battery of six guns had been moved inland days before. They were later found and put out of action.

The Rangers held on to Point Du Hoc in the face of fierce counter-attacks before finally being relieved.

However, Klein had to admit that he wasn't actually there when historians Martin Morgan and Gary Sterne could find no trace of his presence in France.

Their doubts were confirmed as accurate last week when other surviving members of the crack US unit said that Klein had not been with them during the Pointe du Hoc assault.

In fact, Klein did not arrive in Normandy until July.

The American veteran had travelled to France this year as part of the 73rd anniversary ceremonies. He played a prominent role in the event and signed hundreds of autographs.

Marc Laurenceau, head of the Overlord D-Day Association, an organisation that commemorates the landings, told a local newspaper in Normandy: "I'm in contact with his family, with whom I have become friends. They are devastated. So are we, as we believed his story. We put a lot of effort into getting him to Normandy."

The association raised over 3,000 in order to get Klein from his home in Illinois to France for the commemorations. It's believed that Klein was able to convince people he was in the thick of the fighting because of his detailed knowledge of the bloody three-day battle.

He also explained his absence from a list of those who took part in the assault by saying he had been drafted in at the last minute as an acting lieutenant to replace a platoon leader.

Instead, he was in Kilkeel, attached to the US 46th Field Artillery Battalion, which was using a training and staging post for American troops before its departure for France.

Such was the importance attached to the role of the US forces in Overlord that General George Patton addressed the men at Kilkeel before they sailed off to battle.

However, the Overlord D-Day Association said that despite his lies, Klein "should not be ashamed of his real contribution to the liberation of Europe", as he was wounded in action in Germany in November 1944.

"Trapped into a lie that shaped him in the eyes of his entourage, and from which he could no longer escape, he finally resolved to tell the truth," it said.
The Duke of Cambridge has confessed to using his fringe as a "safety blanket" when walking behind his mother's funeral cortege.

In a new BBC documentary, William spoke about hiding behind his hair as he processed past thousands of wailing mourners following the coffin of Diana, Princess of Wales (below).

The duke and his brother also said the decision for them to walk behind the cortege was a joint one, with Prince Harry saying he was "glad" he did it.

William described the procession as the "hardest thing" and a "very long, lonely walk".

The now-balding Duke said laughing: "But I just remember hiding behind my fringe basically, at a time when I had a lot of hair, and my head's down a lot - so I'm hiding behind my fringe.

"It was kind of like a tiny bit of safety blanket if you like. I know it sounds ridiculous, but at the time I felt if I looked at the floor and my hair came down over my face, no-one could see me. Sounds ridiculous now, but at the time it was important to me to get through the day."

In an interview with Newsweek magazine Harry had voiced his disapproval at a child having to walk behind their parent's funeral cortege today. He performed the ritual in September 1997, when aged 12, with his older brother, then 15 years old, his father the Prince of Wales, grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh and his uncle, Earl Spencer.

Harry told the publication: "I don't think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances. I don't think it would happen today.''

Diana's brother Earl Spencer, who is also featured in the documentary, has claimed in a separate BBC interview he was "lied to'' about the desire of William and Harry to walk behind their mother's coffin.

But in the documentary Diana, 7 Days, William said about the walk: "It wasn't an easy decision and it was a sort of collective family decision to do that. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done.

"There is that balance between duty and family and that's what we had to do."

Before the funeral, the Duke of Edinburgh reportedly told Tony Blair's communications team to "f*** off" during a row over William and Harry's role. An "anguished" Prince Philip is said to have grown furious after it was suggested the sons should walk behind their mother's coffin "to show the royals cared".

The angry exchange reportedly happened during a conference call between Balmoral and Buckingham Palace, where Alastair Campbell and other members of the former prime minister's team were meeting royal aides.

The call was witnessed by Anji Hunter, Mr Blair's influential Director of Government Relations.

"I can remember - it sends a tingle up my back," she told a Channel 5 documentary earlier this year.

"We were all talking about how William and Harry should be involved and suddenly came Prince Philip's voice. We hadn't heard from him before, but he was really anguished.

Ms Hunter's husband, Sky TV political commentator Adam Boulton, provided a vivid account of the phone call in his book about Blair's government, Tony's Ten Years.

He wrote: "The Queen relished the moment when Philip bellowed over the speakerphone from Balmoral, 'F*** off. We are talking about two boys who have just lost their mother'."

Asked about the duke's outburst this week, Mr Boulton told the Mail on Sunday: "He was trying to remind everyone that human feelings were involved. No.10 were trying to help the royals present things in the best way, but may have seemed insensitive."

The duke's anger subsided and he ultimately helped to persuade William, who had wanted to grieve in private, to walk with him behind Diana's coffin alongside Harry and the Earl of Spencer. He is said to have asked William: "If I walk, will you walk with me?"
A woman who made a string of false rape and sexual assault allegations has been jailed for 10 years.

Jemma Beale claimed she had been sexually assaulted by six men and raped by nine, all strangers, in four different encounters over a period of three years.

The 25-year-old was found guilty at Southwark Crown Court in July of four counts of perjury and four counts of perverting the course of justice.

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Sentencing her on Thursday, Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith said: This trial has revealed, what was then not obvious, that you are a very, very convincing liar and you enjoy being seen as a victim. The prosecution described your life as a construct of bogus victimhood.

Prosecutor Madeleine Wolfe told the court police spent 6,400 hours investigating Beales claims at a cost of at least 250,000, and the trial cost at least 109,000.

Lawrence Henderson, defending, said Beale still maintains her innocence and is considering appealing.

The judge told Beale, from Bedfont, west London: These offences usually began as a drunken attempt to get your partners sympathy or perhaps to arouse her jealousy. They each began impulsively, but what is particularly chilling is the manner in which you persisted in making allegations which you knew were untrue even to the extent of committing and repeating perjury.

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These false allegations of rape, false allegations which will inevitably be widely publicised, are likely to have the perverse impact of increasing the likelihood of guilty men going free. Cases such as this bring a real risk that a woman who has been raped or sexually assaulted may not complain to the police for fear of not being believed.

Detectives launched an investigation into Beale in December 2013 after hearing of a claim by one of her ex-girlfriends that a man had been wrongly jailed after Beale lied about being raped by him in November 2010.

Police said the information came to light when officers were investigating a separate allegation by Beale, where she claimed to have been raped by a number of men in November 2013.

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With concerns over Beales account, officers reviewed four investigations into allegations of rape and sexual assault made by Beale, and found common discrepancies and similar circumstances within the allegations, which strengthened their suspicions that Beale may have fabricated them.

The Metropolitan Police said one rape allegation by Beale in 2010 led to the conviction of Mahad Cassim, who was jailed for seven years.

After the CPS and his defence team were alerted that there were doubts over the validity of Beales claims, the man subsequently appealed against his conviction and it was quashed at the Court of Appeal in July 2015.

Beale had also falsely claimed that she was groped by a stranger, Noam Shahzad, in a pub in July 2012. She said she was then gang-raped by him and a group of other men, and even injured herself to back up her claims.

Beale then fabricated similar allegations against six other men in 2013, claiming two strangers sexually assaulted her near her home before she suffered another gang rape by four others two months later.
Residents join in the search and rescue mission for the passengers of the "Comandante Ribeiro" that sank in the Brazilian state of Para (Alexandre Cardoso via AP)

A commuter boat carrying more than 100 passengers has flipped and sunk in north-east Brazil, killing at least 18 people and leaving dozens missing in rough ocean waters.

It was the second fatal accident involving passenger boats this week in the South American nation.

Navy Lt Col Flavio Almeida said the vessel went down in the morning while traversing the Bay of All Saints, off the coast of the city of Salvador.

Twenty-one people were rescued by naval teams, and private boats also motored in and helped an unknown number of survivors.

"Some passengers were able to swim to shore. Others were picked up," Lt Col Almeida said.

"An investigation into what happened will be launched, but at this point we are still in the middle of the rescue."

Authorities reported earlier that 22 people had died but later lowered the toll to 18.

Globo News showed rescuers pulling people from the bay and anxious family members waiting for news in the Salvador terminal where the boat was expected.

In a statement, the Bahia state health department said 34 people were being treated for injuries.

An unconscious one-year-old who initially responded to resuscitation efforts died in an ambulance en route to hospital, it added.

Survivor Edvaldo Santos de Almeida told the G1 news portal that a large wave tipped the boat during a heavy rainstorm.

"There were a lot of people" on board, he said.

"It took a long time to be rescued. We were in the water for two hours."

Matheus Ramos told the daily newspaper Folha de S Paulo he was sitting down when the boat suddenly flipped on top of him, banging his left shoulder.

"When I came up, a tarp was on top of my face," Mr Ramos said. "I had to rip it to breathe."

Salvador, one of Brazil's most famous cities, is located on a peninsula near a handful of islands.

Each day thousands of workers, students and other people commute on boats between the city and the islands.

The vessel was travelling between Vera Cruz on Itaparica Island and Salvador, about an eight-mile stretch.

The accident took place two days after a passenger boat sank on the Xingu River in the northern state of Para, leaving at least 21 dead.

Authorities initially said more than 70 were on that boat when it sank late on Tuesday.

But on Thursday, as recovery efforts continued, authorities revised the number of passengers down to 48.

Of those, 23 had been rescued, meaning at least four were still missing.

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Politics have left a dismal legacy in Ireland for the Brexiteers and the EU to sort out: namely an Irish sectarian border.

Prime Minister Theresa May has made the laughable proposal that this sectarian border be made invisible with the use of electronic gadgetry.

But the sectarian nature of the border will remain in the eyes of the people as a line in the map of Ireland, as peace walls in Londonderry and Belfast and as a sectarian head-count in every election here since 1921.

The sectarian parties of Northern Ireland and Westminster lack the know-how of resolving this historic and political problem. May's idea of putting an electronic plaster over the sectarian wound to cover it up solves nothing.

Federalism, however, has the know-how needed to heal the border - by getting rid of it. A confederate reform of the British Isles in relation to Ireland is needed.

These islands should be reconstituted as the Federal Kingdom of Ireland, along with the togetherness of the four historic provinces within the Confederate Kingdom of the Isles of the North Atlantic with a reformed Crown as Head of the Confederation. This is a complex resolution of a highly complex historic and political problem, but nothing less will do.

A federalist is old-fashioned enough to believe that only the removal of a sectarian border line from the map of Ireland will suffice.

Michael Gillespie

Londonderry
Your Viewpoint, 'It's time for deadlock at Stormont to end' (Comment, August 21), talks a lot about peace. Lord Hain is mentioned as warning of loss of peace funding and you talk of 'the willingness of politicians ... to yield some points in a common search for peace'.

It is high time that Northern Ireland abandoned this eternal quest for peace, which is stifling any political development and resultant economic expansion.

Since its drastic revision at St Andrews, without referendum, the Good Friday Agreement has been null and void. The institutions set up by that agreement no longer have any bearing on the situation here.

While violence and disorder rumble on throughout Northern Ireland our politicians have little influence on the situation. It follows that the Stormont institutions have no longer any relevance to maintaining peace.

So why must we continue to dilute proper democratic political activity in the name of an unachievable peace? I suspect I'm not alone in feeling acute embarrassment when a meeting between our Prime Minister and the devolved regions takes place. Scotland and Wales are usually represented by their First Ministers, while Northern Ireland has to send along Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee.

Are we to continue to say to the world that we in Northern Ireland are not to be trusted to exercise proper democracy? Are we admitting that our political institutions are held at gunpoint by the threat of renewed terrorism? Is 19 years not a long enough time period to conclude a peace process?

It is high time that the unworkable institutions of mandatory coalition devolution were dismantled. The current impasse between the parties over restoring an Executive must be seized as an opportunity, not something to regret.

Already, some of our elected MPs are playing a role in supporting the Government of the United Kingdom at Westminster. Northern Ireland must stand ready to play its full part on the national stage. There is no need for a glorified county council to continue at Stormont.

Alan Love

Demos Direct Initiative
Warnings of the impact of the proposed 70 million cut to hospital budgets will unite people across our traditional political divide in deep concern

Warnings of the impact of the proposed 70 million cut to hospital budgets will unite people across our traditional political divide in deep concern.

The pressures our cash-strapped health system is facing are well documented and the fear is that a further reduction in funds will push it over the cliff.

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Our five health trust boards will today spell out their plans to implement the cuts and, we're told, that non-urgent operations, procedures and appointments will likely be postponed or cancelled.

This comes at a period when waiting times are already ridiculously long.

It seems set to only get worse for all bar those who have the money to go private.

Knee and hip operations and cataract removals might not be officially deemed urgent but, without them, thousands of people's lives are aversely affected.

And over-stretched NHS staff - doing a magnificent job in trying circumstances - could also feel the pain of the cuts with the jobs of agency workers, locums and other temporary staff under threat.

The political parties and the unions will attend all five public meetings taking place in hospitals across Northern Ireland today. Some trade unionists are questioning how the funding crisis is being handled. It certainly suits the government and others to play up the situation in a blaze of publicity in order to increase pressure on some parties to reach a deal to restore devolution.

The reality is that the cuts to frontline health services are on the agenda as a result of a reduction in the block grant by the Tories.

The situation is exacerbated by the fact that we have no budget, no Finance Minister and no Executive. But that doesn't mean that the 70m proposed cuts must become a reality.

Stormont sources believe that millions more will end up in health as a result of underspends by other departments.

It is also possible to reallocate money from other departments to health.

This could be done by civil servants - and later regularised by legislation - or by direct rule ministers.

Although waiting lists are now longer than ever, there was a similar crisis in funding in 2014 when the then DUP minister Edwin Poots claimed he faced a 140m shortfall - although his department was protected from cuts imposed on other departments and had 20m added to its budget.

But that is not to down play the serious challenges that we are facing. The 70m may well be found, but it certainly won't solve the bigger problem.

The Bengoa Report lays bare the crisis gripping our health and social care system. By comparison, the issues over which are politicians continue to squabble seem distinctly trivial.
If republicans are so eager to tear down statues of haters, why not start with racist John Mitchel?

In recent days, there has been much controversy in America about the removal of a statue of General Robert E Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia, and that controversy increased after a series of statements by President Trump. This is part of a wider controversy about the many public memorials to soldiers who fought in the Confederate States army, a controversy which has extended across at least 18 states. Moreover, it has extended beyond the removal of Confederate memorial statues to the renaming of parks, roads and buildings.

For some Americans, this is seen as an attempt to rewrite history. Meanwhile, one sociologist has claimed that the statues really impact on the psyche of black people.

The controversy in America has been very much around the issue of slavery and it has raised some interesting questions. It has certainly highlighted the complexities and contradictions of history. In August 1862, Abraham Lincoln said: If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it.

Meanwhile, here in Northern Ireland, the occasional appearance of a Confederate flag gives rise to criticism, but there does not seem to be the same level of concern about a memorial to Irelands most ardent supporter of slavery.

That person was John Mitchel, an Irish republican, who is commemorated with a statue in Newry. It was erected in March 1965 by Irish republicans to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Mitchels birth and the 50th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising.

Mitchel is a republican icon and Patrick Pearse described him as one of the four evangelists of Irish nationalism. Indeed, the parents of Sinn Feins Mitchel McLaughlin were inspired to name their son John Mitchel McLaughlin.

It seems that republicans in Newry are especially proud of John Mitchel for not only is there a John Mitchel statue in the centre of the city, there is also a John Mitchel Place and the local branch of the Irish National Foresters is named after him.

Further afield, John Mitchel is memorialised in the names of several GAA clubs, including those in Newry, Claudy, Liverpool and Tralee and another based at Poleglass in west Belfast.

Mitchel emigrated from Ireland to America in the 1850s and supported the Confederate States in the American Civil War. He served in the Confederate States army medical corps, while his three sons fought in the Confederate Army.

Mitchel was not merely pro-South, he was also pro-slavery and wrote that slavery was the best state of existence for the negro. He even launched a pro-slavery newspaper and argued for the revival of the slave trade, on the basis of reasoning that was explicitly racist.

It seems strange, therefore, that those who became agitated about the occasional Confederate flags remain silent about the Mitchel statue, which is permanent, rather than occasional.

But, then, this is not the only problematic statue, or memorial, in Ulster.

Irish republicans have had no problem removing statues in the past. We have only to recall what they did to the Boyne obelisk, the Walker memorial in Londonderry, Nelsons column in Dublin and the statue of Rev Hugh Hanna. They were all blown up by republicans.

Meanwhile, the IRA and other Irish republicans have more than 250 memorials across Northern Ireland, around 60% of the Troubles-related memorials. Furthermore, that figure of 250 does not include Sinn Fein branches named after IRA terrorists.

The organisation which was responsible for more deaths than any other has the most memorials, but they are memorials to IRA members  not to IRA victims.

If we are to move Northern Ireland forward to a better future, then this is one issue that needs to be addressed and resolved.

If a sociologist in America believes that memorials can impact on others, what do sociologists here think about the impact of paramilitary memorials on victims of terrorism?

And what do Irish republicans think about their memorial to one of the most extreme supporters of slavery?
Villagers attempt to cross flood waters with the help of rope and empty barrels next to a washed away portion of a bridge at Palsa village in Bihar state, India. Aug. 18, 2017.

Widespread floods in India, Bangladesh and Nepal have killed more than 800 people and displaced almost 24 million others, officials said Wednesday.

The eastern Indian state of Bihar was hit hardest  more than 250 people have died and nearly 10 million have been left homeless. In Assam, more than 150 people died and about 1.6 million people have been displaced, while 52 people have been killed in West Bengal, according to figures released by the state governments.

In Bangladesh, almost half of the countrys 64 districts have been affected by the flooding that has been described as the worst in 100 years. More than 120 people died during the last 10 days, officials said.

Meanwhile in Nepal, more than 140 people are confirmed dead and 38,000 families have been affected by the floods.

Every year we face this ordeal during the monsoon season. But this year, the floods have been too severe. And it seems the government has no clue how to tackle the natural disaster, Mukut Ali, a farmer from Assam who lost his home to flooding last week, told BenarNews.

Embankments are getting breached daily and the swelling waters of the Brahmaputra River is destroying village after village, Ali, 52, said while pointing toward the water-logged plains in the distance. Brahmaputra, one of the major rivers of Asia, flows through China, India and Bangladesh.

Ali, who is living in a makeshift camp in Bhuragaon village, about 150 km (93 miles) from state capital Guwahati, said the floods had destroyed his thatched home and farmland.

We will try rebuilding our home once the flood waters recede, Ali said.

The floods severely impacted Assams Kaziranga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is home to two-thirds of the worlds endangered one-horned rhinos. Almost 140 animals, including seven rhinos, two elephants and a Bengal tiger have been killed because of flooding, the government said in a statement.

Assam loses almost 8,000 hectares of farmland annually to flooding and erosion, according to government data. The states disaster management agency said 32 people died because of flooding in 2012, 44 in 2014, 64 in 2015 and 140 in 2016.

We are providing relief material to affected people on a war footing. We have also approached the central government in New Delhi for additional funds for relief and rehabilitation, Assam Water Resources Minister Keshab Mahanta told BenarNews.

Flooding blamed on government failure, erosion

Analysts said successive governments failed to tackle the annual problem of flooding and erosion in the ecologically fragile region of eastern India.

This years flood is possibly the worst in three decades. The government needs to chalk out a long-term plan to tackle the swelling waters of the Brahmaputra River during the monsoon season, Bibhan Talukdar of Aaranyak, a Guwahati-based environmental NGO, told BenarNews.

In Bangladesh, where flooding has affected almost 6 million people, aid workers said they were running short of crucial supplies required to protect people from disease as water levels begin to recede.

The need is huge and our resources are limited. We cannot respond to all of what people require in this situation, said Najibullah Hameem, chief of UNICEF in Bangladesh, according to The Guardian.

In terms of water level, the situation is improving but there might be rain again, and if so the waters will go up again, Hameem said, adding that medical issues and diseases are bound to pose a threat.

Mark Pierce, director of Save the Children in Bangladesh, warned that officials could face a humanitarian crisis after the floods damaged more than half a million homes and over 400,000 hectares of farmland.

The sheer scale of this crisis means there still isnt enough food or clean drinking water, Pierce told The Guardian. Were doing all we can to help, but much more assistance is urgently needed.
Members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a splinter group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, march in their camp in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town in the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao in this photo taken early this year.

Almost 40 people have been killed in weeks-long fighting between Islamic State-linked militants and the Philippines largest Muslim rebel group that signed a peace deal with the government, officials said Thursday.

Von al Haq, military chief of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), said clashes and running gun battles have occurred in marshland areas near the town of Datu Salibo, about 800 km (500 miles) south of Manila, since the start of the month.

He said the militant group consisted of former MILF lost command guerrillas who joined smaller factions to support the Islamic State (IS), which had sent foreign fighters from Southeast Asia and the Middle East to back Filipino Abu Sayyaf and Maute fighters engaged in clashes with troops in nearby Marawi city since May 23.

Al Haq said the fighters belonged to Jamaah Mohajirin Ansa (JMA). Little is known about JMA except members are former MILF rebels who came out in public last year to support the IS, whose leader in the Philippines, Abu Sayyaf commander Isnilon Hapilon, led the siege in Marawi.

Additionally, the group is allied with the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), which splintered with the MILF to continue the rebellion.

The fighting has been spread over several days from Aug. 2 to 19, al Haq told BenarNews. The fighting has so far been intense. Our fighters are sometimes swimming in the swamp while engaging in fighting.

He said at least 10 MILF fighters died in the fighting. The military, which has been helping the MILF, said at least 26 enemy fighters were killed.

We have overrun several strategic positions of the enemy side and recovered at least 20 improvised explosive devices, al Haq said. We have also recovered a black flag typically used by the IS in its attacks, including in Marawi.

The MILF signed a peace deal with the Philippine government in 2014, officially ending its separatist rebellion in the south that began in the 1970s.

Over the years, thousands of people died in the fighting that stunted the economic growth of the countrys southern third.

At the height of the MILFs power, it was known to control large camps where foreign militants had trained. These militants later linked up with several radical groups in the south, including the Abu Sayyaf, which is blamed for some of the worst attacks in the country, including kidnappings and beheading of foreigners and bomb attacks.

Mohagher Iqbal, a senior leader of the MILF, said about 50 militants from the enemy side were involved in the fighting. He warned that unless checked, the radical forces would continue to grow.

Our forces know these remote marshland areas, but should we neglect this development, young Muslims would soon be radicalized, Iqbal said.

Military provides artillery and air support

Local army spokesman Capt. Arvin Encinas said the fighting has continued with the military providing artillery, ground and air support to the MILF.

This is a joint operation by our government troops and the MILF, which is now our partner in peace, he said.

The MILF in July said it supported a fatwa called by local Muslim leaders against the Abu Sayyaf and the Maute group in Marawi, the countrys only Islamic city that has been abandoned by its more than 200,000 inhabitants as the military fights to dislodge the militants.

President Rodrigo Duterte placed the entire south under martial law and has welcomed intelligence help from neighbors and allies the United States and Australia. Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia have offered counter-terror help to arrest militants who cross their borders.

The fighting in Marawi has left more than 700 people dead, including 583 enemy fighters, the military said. Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said troops were continuing to move forward and that the enemy-held area is getting smaller by the day.

We will soon get back Marawi, he said, adding troops had recently retaken a police station that had fallen to rebel hands at the start of the fighting. He said about 38 buildings had been cleared of the rebels recently, but 300 others remained to be declared safe and fully retaken.

Padilla also could not comment on the fate of the dozens of hostages believed held by the gunmen, including a Catholic priest who earlier aired an appeal to Duterte to stop the militarys continuing air raids that could harm them.

A member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front wades through a flooded farm on his way to the frontline in Datu Salibo town, Maguindanao province, in southern island of Mindanao, Aug. 22, 2017.(AFP)
Thursday 24

Party Boat (Crackle streaming anytime) Brett Davern (Awkward.) and Katie Leclerc (Switched at Birth) star in this Crackle original movie about a fun-loving if irresponsible party animal whos throwing the party-to-end-all parties for his best friends 25th birthday. The only problem? Hes secretly in love with her, and her boyfriend is about to propose. Sounds dopey, but it is directed by Dylan Kidd, who gave us 2002s cleverly comic Roger Dodger.

Friday 25

Death Note (Netflix streaming anytime) The hugely popular Japanese manga/anime seriesabout a teenager who comes into possession of a supernatural notebook with the ability to kill any person whose name he writes inside of itbecomes a live-action feature. Adam Wingard (Youre Next, The Guest) directs. Nat Wolff (The Naked Brothers Band) stars as the morally conflicted teen, andin a blatant bit of typecastingWillem Dafoe stars as the demonic god of death.

The Tick (Amazon streaming anytime) Amazon finally gets around to launching the third TV iteration of Ben Edlunds ridiculous superhero. Fans, no doubt, remember the 1994 cartoon and the 2001 live-action sitcom starring Patrick Warburton. This somewhat darker and less spoofy version stars Peter Serafinowicz (Guardians of the Galaxy) as the delusional, blue do-gooder

Man-Eating Python (Discovery 8pm) In the wake of a viral video showing a man being eaten whole by a python in Indonesia, host Rob Nelson reveals the science behind this nightmare scenario.

Love Blows (WE 1:06am) Lisa runs Chicagos top matchmaking service alongside her ex-husband and his ex-mistresswhich is a totally believable, non-scripted setup for a reality show.

Saturday 26

Mysteries of the Missing (Science 8:04pm) Science Channel brings all of its brainy skills together for this new series, which starts out looking for new clues in the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

Sunday 27

2017 MTV Video Music Awards (MTV 9pm) Katy Perry hosts, performs and has the possibility of taking home five awards.

Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! Awesome 10-Year Anniversary Version, Great Job? (Cartoon Network 1am) Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim celebrate 10 years of whatever it is they do on their surrealist anti-humor show.

Monday 28

Win, Lose or Fail (History 6am) History looks at the ways in which man has battled naturefrom sharks to lightning boltswith varying degrees of success.

Mysticons (Nickelodeon 2pm) Girls get a chance to be kick-ass heroes in this fantasy-action cartoon in which a princess, a dwarf, an orphan and an elf are gifted with magical transformation powers by the legendary Dragon Disc, so they can fight off an army of evil skeleton warriors.

Tuesday 29

Dare to Live (MTV 1am) According to MTV, Rory Kramer is a professional life liver who has an authentic career at the intersection of video production, thrill-seeking and music. Apparently, that consists of a reality show in which he and his musician pals (such as The Chainsmokers) travel around the globe and do adventure-type stuff like flying a fighter jet or bungee jumping or something.

Wednesday 30

Garage Rehab (Discovery 8:02pm) Failing automotive repair places get the Bar Rescue/Hotel Impossible makeover treatment. So ... less-oil-stained Dickies?
British retiree Ian Rance (left) and BBC journalist Jonathan Head (center) arrive for the first day of their trial in Phuket, Aug. 23, 2017.

A Thai lawyer has dropped all charges against a BBC journalist and the source for his 2015 report about property fraud, a day after their trial began.

Briton Ian Rance and BBC correspondent Jonathan Head no longer face defamation charges. Lawyer Pratuan Thanarak, dropped the charge he had filed against Rance Thursday morning, hours after withdrawing a similar complaint against Head.

Charges against my co-defendant Ian Rance now also withdrawn. Relief for me but Ians fight 4 justice & restoration of stolen assets goes on, Head tweeted Thursday.

In September 2015, Head reported about Rance, whose ex-wife had forged signatures on documents to illegally transfer property he owned on Phuket Island, a top destination for western retirees.

Pratuan said the two men had defamed him by alleging he had notarized the forged signatures. Thai law makes it easy for individuals to file criminal defamation complaints, which can carry lengthy sentences. Head could have faced seven years in jail, and Rance two, if found guilty.

Freed from charges, Rance expressed concern that the problem highlighted in the 2015 media report had not been solved.

I am sad to reflect that many others, both Thai and foreign investors and business people, may be defrauded in a similar manner, he told Agence France-Presse.

The BBC welcomed the end of the defamation case.

Were pleased with this outcome. Jonathan Head is an excellent and highly respected correspondent and we have stood by his journalism throughout, a spokesperson said. We regret the case against Jonathan and Ian Rance was ever brought and we are pleased it is over.

In February, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said overuse of defamation was hobbling Thai media.

The use of criminal defamation complaints in Thailand has a chilling effect on journalists who fear being bogged down in time-consuming and expensive litigation, CPJ Southeast Asia representative Shawn Crispin said.
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
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For Immediate Release, August 24, 2017 Contact: Vera Pardee, (415) 632-5317, vpardee@biologicaldiversity.org Public Records Sought on Auto Industry's Role in Potential Fuel Economy Rule Rollback WASHINGTON The Center for Biological Diversity today formally requested communications between auto industry lobbyists and the federal agency overseeing vehicle fuel economy standards. Todays Freedom of Information Act request seeks records from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which recently announced it would reassess fuel economy standards for passenger vehicles for model years 2022 through 2025. NHTSA might even lower standards for model year 2021 as well. Any rollback of those standards would be a boon to Americas most polluting automakers while increasing greenhouse gas emissions from what has become the biggest source of climate pollution: cars and trucks. It would also increase emissions of other dangerous pollutants that make people sick.



We need to understand how car company lobbyists drove the Trump administrations shortsighted decision to consider rolling back these crucial standards, said Vera Pardee, a senior attorney with the Centers Climate Law Institute. Helping the dirtiest vehicles stay on the roads will overheat our planet while ceding competitive advantages to manufacturers that can satisfy strong standards in Asian and European markets. Under the existing rules, new vehicles are required to meet increasingly stringent fuel economy standards, reaching an average of 49.7 miles per gallon by model year 2025. But last month, NHTSA announced that it may consider a no action alternative that would freeze the standards at an average of 41 miles per gallon, the level now required for model year 2021. When Congress first established Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards in 1975, the industry moved from an average of roughly 13.5 miles per gallon to 27.5 in just 10 years. But after heavy lobbying by the auto industry, the standards remained mostly unchanged for the next 20 years. The Obama administration rules increase fuel economy to 49.7 mpg by model year 2025. Shrugging off tailpipe pollution underscores the Trump administrations alarming willingness to ignore science and common sense, Pardee said. The public deserves to know the truth about whether backroom deals are influencing the agency.
For Immediate Release, August 24, 2017

Contact: Randi Spivak, (310) 799-4894, rspivak@biologicaldiversity.org

Records Request Demands Zinke's Report to Trump on National Monuments

Sham National Monument Review Still Shrouded in Secrecy

WASHINGTON The Center for Biological Diversity filed a Freedom of Information Act request today for Interior Secretary Ryan Zinkes report to President Trump on the fate of 27 national monuments.

The Interior report, which was sent to Trump today, has not been released. According to reports, Zinke has recommended removing protections for some national monuments.

This entire review has been a lawless, secretive sham, said Randi Spivak, the Centers public lands director. Now Trump and Zinke are hiding the report so they dont have to face public backlash for trying to sell out Americas public lands to fossil fuel development and logging. Theyre asking for a court battle. And theyll get one.

The report concludes the Trump administrations controversial 120-day review of 27 national monuments spanning more than 1 billion acres of public lands and oceans.

Zinke visited only eight at-risk monuments during his review, meeting almost exclusively with monument opponents, including representatives of the oil, gas and timber industries. He arbitrarily pardoned six national monuments, without providing any criteria for his decisions to leave current protections in place.

A vast majority of Americans support national monuments and oppose removing protections. More than 2.7 million people wrote to the Interior Department urging Zinke and Trump to preserve the 27 monuments.
For Immediate Release, August 24, 2017 Contact: Marc Fink, (218) 464-0539, mfink@biologicaldiversity.org Court Sends Massive Nevada Groundwater Pipeline Project Back to Feds Federal Judge Requires Additional Environmental Analysis From BLM LAS VEGAS A federal court judge today found that the Bureau of Land Management failed to show how it would compensate for significant losses to wetlands and wildlife habitat caused by the Southern Nevada Water Authoritys massive groundwater pipeline development project. The court ruled that the BLM violated federal environmental laws by failing to demonstrate how it would compensate for the destruction of thousands of acres of wetlands and sensitive habitat in eastern Nevada. This is a win for wildlife and fragile habitat across eastern Nevada, said Marc Fink, a senior attorney at the Center. The federal government has to go back to the drawing board and try to come up with some plan to compensate for the massive environmental damage that would be caused by draining these ancient aquifers. The court sent the groundwater development project back to the BLM to address the deficiencies with its analysis. This ruling raises serious questions about whether the agency can really address the severe impacts of this enormous water grab, which would destroy thousands of acres of wetlands and important habitat for many sensitive wildlife species, Fink said. The $15.5 billion project would siphon more than 7.8 billion gallons of precious groundwater each year from public lands in the eastern Nevada desert, pumping it more than 250 miles south to metropolitan Las Vegas. The groundwater development project would dry up and significantly harm more than 200 square miles of habitat for sage grouse, mule deer, elk and pronghorn, including portions of the Pahranagat, Moapa Valley and Desert national wildlife refuges as well as Great Basin National Park and Basin and Range National Monument. More than 5,500 acres of meadows, 200 springs and 33 miles of trout streams would be harmed as water tables across the region would be lowered up to 200 feet. Some of Nevadas rarest species rely on wetlands and springs that would be devastated by this project, added Fink. The answer to Las Vegas long-term water needs is not to suck these eastern desert valleys dry. That could drive species to extinction by pumping an unsustainable amount of ancient groundwater through a massive pipeline. In 2013 the BLM granted a right-of-way for the 250-mile pipeline to the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA). The Center challenged the BLMs analysis for the project, and the case was later consolidated with a challenge brought by a broad coalition, including White Pine County and affected Indian tribes. In a related case in state court, the Seventh Judicial District Court of Nevada issued a decision  sought by the Center and allies in the Great Basin Water Network  that stripped the SNWA of 83,988 acre-feet per year of groundwater for the pipeline project due to severe deficiencies in its analysis. The judge characterized it as "likely the largest interbasin transfer of water in U.S. history. These water rights are back before the Nevada state engineer, with hearings scheduled for late September.
Even though she has been involved in more than 1,000 kidney transplants, Professor Elmin Steyn is still amazed when the organy becomes a healthy red as the blood starts flowing through the arteries and the veins.

Professor Elmin Steyn, head of surgery, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University. Photo: Damien Schumann

This passionate transplant and trauma surgeon, who was head of Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital's Kidney Transplant Unit for many years, returned to her alma mater, Stellenbosch University, last year. Here she joined the Department of Surgical Sciences of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences as head of its surgery division  a first for a woman in this academic environment.

Culture shock

After years in the private sector, it was a bit of a culture shock to find herself in a public healthcare environment once again, Steyn admits. She emphasises that the difference does not lie in the quality of the care, but in the condition of the patients, with higher concentrations of advanced diseases than when she worked here as a consultant in the '90s.

On the one hand, it is tremendously stimulating, and it offers much that is valuable to potential research and training. On the other hand, one cannot ignore the fact that the patients present late as a result of their socio-economic conditions.

Transport, education and poverty are problems, not to mention the trauma levels caused by interpersonal violence, alcohol, drug abuse and violence in the community, which has such a huge impact on patient numbers. One feels that as a surgeon you deal with the end result of a problem that should actually have been solved in some other way."

Although the Department of Surgical Sciences has not traditionally been involved in the prevention of violence, she feels that a type of upliftment system should be created that would give doctors more of a say in this. This could possibly be in the form of anti-violence messages to children to try and break the cycle.

In the 80s I worked in a hospital where a transplant programme for black patients had just been started. Until then no transplants had been done on black people [in South Africa], since it was incorrectly assumed that, as a medical treatment, it would not be culturally acceptable to them.

I witnessed the effect a transplant could have on the life of someone with end-stage organ failure, and realised it could work for all cultural groups. The whole complex situation of one person dying, who could then ultimately save several lives, fascinated me. Physically it is also a pleasant operation: It is a vascular procedure which is usually successful despite the many risks. It is tremendously rewarding for both the surgeon and the patient, who immediately starts feeling better."

The rights of the patient are of deep concern to this humble surgeon, who for a long time managed the emergency units of both Christiaan Barnard and Vincent Pallotti hospitals.

Finding a cure for diabetes

Steyn has high praise for the department in which she now finds herself. Professor Brian Warren (her predecessor) wisely managed to assemble an excellent combination of talented consultants with the necessary skills."

The challenge lies in providing an excellent service to large numbers of patients, while simultaneously producing research publications and training people in the high-level technological skills that they will need for their future careers. Fortunately, she likes challenges. And despite problems such as the chronic lack of funding in the provincial healthcare system, she enjoys a great deal of goodwill and support from both the department and Tygerberg Hospital.

One of Steyn's goals is to create a pancreas transplant programme in the Western Cape to find a cure for diabetes. She has already gained experience in the United States to perform this challenging procedure, which requires a team of trained surgeons.

The procedure is currently only performed in Johannesburg, although the first pancreas transplant was done at Tygerberg Hospital by Professor Don du Toit in the late 70s. It is a legacy that is certainly worth reviving. It would, however, only be possible if the great number of potential donors in the referral area is more efficiently identified, referred and managed."

Art and flying

Over the years there were many firsts for Steyn, such as being the first female president of the South African Transplant Society as well as of the Trauma Society of South Africa. As a trauma expert, she is in demand for training and presentations worldwide.

Steyn and her husband live in a house in Plattekloof in Cape Town's Northern Suburbs that reflects her love of collecting art. She is also passionate about nature, cooking, drinking wine, and flying, although she feels that she is not spending nearly enough time in the air as a helicopter pilot these days. What better way could there possibly be to escape?" asks the woman who is also the art patron of the South African Air Force Museum in Ysterplaat.
SAN FRANCISCO, US - Walmart, the world's biggest retailer, and Google, the internet's predominant search engine, are teaming up in an attempt to challenge Amazon's growing dominance in online shopping.

The venture, announced early Wednesday, marries Google's hands-free voice activated Google Home program to Walmart's vast network of US stores to allow customers to order groceries and other items to be home delivered through Google Express.

The initiative is a direct rebuttal to Alexa, Amazon's popular artificial intelligence program, and comes as the online retailer prepared to swallow Whole Foods Market in a transaction that will exponentially expand Amazon's presence in brick-and-mortar stores and is expected to lead to home delivery of food through Amazon's subscription prime program.

On Wednesday, Whole Foods shareholders voted to support the $13.7 billion takeover by Amazon.

Scott Kessler, a CFRA analyst who covers Google parent Alphabet, said the announcement made sense for both companies, filling in a gap in Walmart's technology profile with the addition of voice-ordering capacity and potentially boosting Google's standing in e-commerce.

"What seems to be happening is a lot of the companies are coming together to offer an alternative to Amazon and this is one example of that," Kessler told AFP in an interview.

Walmart Stores head of e-commerce Marc Lore said the initiative will permit customers to voice order hundreds of thousands of items beginning in late September. Wal-Mart plans to integrate its "easy reorder" service into the program, which allows customers to repeat orders of household staples and other frequent purchases with a few fast clicks.

"This will enable us to deliver highly personalised shopping recommendations based on customers' previous purchases, including those made in Walmart stores and on Walmart.com," Lore said in a blog post.

Walmart holds the biggest share of the US grocery market of any retailer, with a network of nearly 4,700 stores that the company says are located within 10 miles of about 90% of the US population. But it has faced increasingly stiff competition from Amazon, which is a big leader in e-commerce.

Walmart last week reported a 2.1% rise in second-quarter sales to $123.4 billion, but net income fell 23.2% to $2.9 billion, in part due to more aggressive spending on e-commerce.

For Google, the addition of Walmart gives its platform access to a retailer even more massive than the stores now participating, which include Target and Costco Wholesale, two other big box retailers.

"We're entering an exciting partnership with Walmart to bring you hundreds of thousands of products at Walmart's Every Day Low Prices - everything from laundry detergent to Legos - that you can buy through voice with your Assistant on Google Home or on the Google Express website or app," said a blog post from Google senior vice president Sridhar Ramaswamy.

"We're thrilled to partner with one of the most popular stores in America to help make your shopping faster and easier."

Ramaswamy also announced it was dropping its annual fee under Google Express ($95 per year) and would provide free delivery to larger orders, at least $25 or $35 with most stores.

Colin Sebastian, an analyst at Baird, said Google's move should boost sales of Google Home and reflects its belief that e-commerce through voice platforms is a growth area. "We expect voice commerce to become a more important part of Google's revenue model over the long haul, in particular as more searches migrate to voice platforms, and where transactions may ultimately stand in for advertising," Sebastian said.

"For Walmart, we believe the partnership with Google helps address risks associated with the ramp (up) in voice commerce, in particular the increasing number of searches and product orders flowing through Amazon's Alexa voice ecosystem."

In midday trading, shares of Google parent Alphabet rose 0.5% to $929.10 and Walmart Stores advanced 0.2% to $80.15.

Source: AFP
When it reaches full capacity, the Alphamin Bisie (ABM) tin mine in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will deliver 10,000 tonnes of tin per year, doubling the country's export of the commodity.

First production is expected in 2019, and the mine will reach steady state production towards the end of that year. It is the first large commercial tin mine in the region to produce responsible, developmental, conflict-free tin concentrate, while promoting community development, safety, health and environmentally sound practices.

Return on investment

The Bisie tin deposit is one of the largest and most significant in the world. Future tin supply is globally uncertain as inventories are running low and economically viable reserves are being depleted. The International Tin Research Institute (ITRI) has forecast that there is likely to be a global shortfall of tin commencing in 2018, says Boris Kamstra, CEO of Alphamin.

Unlocking the potential of the mine holds local and international benefit. There are a limited number of active industrial scale tin mines outside of China and Indonesia and the majority of other new projects face significant technical, financing and other challenges, in addition obtaining the required permits to build new mines remain complex.

In explaining the significance of tin mining for global industry, he says that tin mining companies should attract increasing interest from the owners of consumer brands and their manufacturers, who use tin in their products (laptops, mobile phones and cars).

Alphamin is expected to deliver a significant return to investors through the full range of expected tin prices. Under the updated feasibility study the net present value (NPV) of the investment in Bisie amounts to $402.2m and the internal rate of return (IRR) is 49.1%. The feasibility study is based on a $17,300 per ton tin price, the current price (14 August 2017) is $20,300.

Local communities

The mine holds significant value for the region as it brings local and regional employment while adding to the regions infrastructure and social well-being. Examples of such value includes the building of the Luuka Primary School at Logu-walikale, substantial upgrade of the regions roads and the provision of cell phone connectivity to the area. Through the Lowa Alliance, 115 development projects are partially financed by a percentage of the ABM operational expenses, Professor Anselme Paluku Kitakya the North Kivu minister of mines, electricity, small & medium enterprises, industry and hydrocarbons.

Kitakya recognises the major challenges facing the region including insecurity, inadequate legal and regulatory frameworks, land-locked enclaves, inadequate infrastructure, fraud and contraband and declining exchange rates. However, he stresses that a lot is being done to overcome these challenges by working with industrial mining companies like Alphamin.

We created a special committee to support the development of the Alphamin Tin Mine at Bisie, the CAIMB, which includes 27 DRC government divisions and ministries. We also supported and co-led the anti-fraud investigation and reform of the implementation of the CNLFM/P which focused on eliminating fraud of ABM minerals to maintain integrity of conflict-free supply chains, peaceful migration of ASM miners to legal and viable sites, says the minister.
Facing rapid growth and evolution in Africa's megacities, radical and effective urban management is needed. Lagos, Cairo and Kinshasa already have more than 10-million residents, while Johannesburg, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Khartoum are fast approaching this figure.

 Chin Leong Teoh  123RF.com

Against this background, Sharoda Rapeti, smart cities Africa leader at Deloitte says, Rapid urban migration of the population is placing demands on existing infrastructure and transportation networks which are expected to perform beyond their original design. The total number of people living in African cities is projected to increase from 400-million to 760-million by 2030 and 1.26-billion by 2050.

Common challenges andd objectives

African megacities also face common challenges while attempting to remain competitive in securing sufficient resources to maintain and grow the city. Each city is unique when it comes to its geographic layout and architecture  varying landscapes have different infrastructure requirements.

These cities do, however, have common objectives, such as the safety and security of their citizens and the provision of services in the form of utilities, transportation networks and sustainability, as well as equity and social inclusion.

In comparison to mature cities like London and New York, African cities tend to fall behind the competitive curve. However, over the past decade, large multinational information technology (IT) companies have predicted that Africa will be the next big market due to the emergence of many rapidly growing economies.

According to Rapeti, proactive steps on the part of decision makers in both the public and private sectors to develop these megacities as smart cities will go a long way towards addressing many of the challenges they face. A smart city, she argues, will draw on the resources of its people and technology to:

Increase its economic competitiveness,

Strengthen sustainability efforts that promise economic growth and quality of life for current and future generations, and

Improve the overall quality of life for its inhabitants.

Rapeti shared Deloittes insights into these and related subjects as a panellist and moderator at the Smart Buildings & Infrastructure Western Cape Summit in Cape Town on 23 August. Some of the key themes she focused on included smart buildings and the increased risk of cyber risks, real estate and the increasing relevance of blockchain, as well as smart cities and the vital role of governments.

Potential risks of smart infrastructure

She advises that while smart infrastructure and smart buildings promise significant benefits to owners and operators in terms of efficiency, safety and comfort, these systems also carry potential risks, as they can act as tempting targets for would-be hackers and or malicious insiders.

Smart cities will elevate cyber risk as a strategic issue, develop policies and frameworks, spread awareness, and support with investment into implementation. Smart buildings planners should adopt a targeted and multi-pronged cybersecurity strategy that is secure, vigilant, and resilient, she said.

Another trend Rapeti explored at the summit was how blockchain, the digital ledger technology behind crypto-currencies like bitcoin, is becoming increasingly relevant for real estate, threatening to disintermediate long-established players with baked-in, transparent fraud prevention and smart contracts.

Technologies like these are at the heart of the smart city, and Deloitte is playing a leading role, both globally and in Africa, in shaping the conversation around how best to minimise the challenges and capitalise on the opportunities they present.

To this end, Deloitte recently developed an Integrated Smart Cities Framework, which identifies six elements African megacities need to adopt in order to become sustainable smart cities that attract investment:

Smart governance that includes improved revenue management, administration and policies. Smart living dealing with sewage and sanitation water supply, electricity, storm water drainage, housing and citizen safety. Smart people requiring better education, participation in public life, improved health services and the inclusive development of all citizens. Smart mobility that deals with transport and logistics infrastructure. Smart environment that tackles the challenges of pollution and sustainable resource management. Smart economy that ensures growing income levels, job creation and reduced poverty levels.

According to this framework, a smart, sustainable city is an innovative city that uses information and communication technologies and other means to improve quality of life, efficiency of urban operation and services, and competitiveness, while ensuring that it meets the needs of present and future generations with respect to economic, social and environmental aspects.

Role of IoT in developing critical infrastructure

It further identifies the internet of things (IOT) as playing a pivotal role in the development of critical infrastructure in smart cities in Africa. IoT can be used to manage multi-trillions of data points making smart cities a benefactor of connected solutions. IoT offers a wide range of new applications and solutions that create more efficient lighting, surveillance and maintenance of public areas, garbage collection, transport, parking and even traffic management (smart mobility).

The application of these new technologies within the urban context allows the implementation of an interconnected strategy for the whole city, combining and using data from buildings, as well as from public and private transport.

Rapeti explained, By adopting advanced technologies and taking lessons from more mature cities, the anticipated population growth does not need to be a hindrance, but should be viewed as an opportunity to enhance functionality, economic and social development. Within the solutioning also lies abundant opportunity for African countries to design and implement local manufacturing capabilities.

Leapfrogging into the mid-21st century

Deloitte is currently working with major players in the public sector and has built strong alliance partnerships with technology and telecommunications companies to build a Smart City Centre of Excellence in Africa.

Rapeti believes that thanks to these and other initiatives, including the judicious promotion of local manufacturing, African cities are well positioned to leapfrog some of the more established counterparts into the mid-21st century and achieve quantum growth.

By adopting the appropriate selection of technology and investing into digital skills creation, African cities will be able to create job opportunities, improve the quality of life for their citizens and become more competitive in the international economic landscape. We at Deloitte are committed to playing our part in making that smart future a reality.
LAGOS, Nigeria - Dangote Group, in another move for self-sufficiency in sugar production through the government's backward integration policy, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Niger State government to establish a $450m state-of-art and fully integrated sugar complex.

L-R: Ag. Group Managing Director, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Engr. Abdullahi Sule; Chairman, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Aliko Dangote; Niger State Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello; Niger State Deputy Governor, Ahmed Muhammad Kesto, at the MoU signing ceremony between Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc and Niger State Government on Sugar Project in Niger State. (Source: Dangote Group)

According to the president of the group, Aliko Dangote, the project will generate over 15,000 jobs in the state and bring about a complete economic turn-around for the state on completion.

The $450m pact, which was signed in the government house, will see the company producing raw sugar cane on 16,000 hectares of land at Lavun Local Government through an out-grower scheme. The company, which is currently operating the out-grower scheme in rice production in a number of states, has Africas largest sugar refinery in Lagos and a sugar cane plantation in Numan, Adamawa State.

Dangote said his investment was informed by his companys firm belief in the potential of the Nigerian economy, adding that the new outlay will add value and create jobs for Nigerians.

He commended the state Governor, Alh. Abubakar Sani Bello for his foresight and efforts to woo investors to Niger State noting the Dangotes Integrated Sugar Project in Niger State will also include the establishment of integrated sugar mills, generate power, produce molasses, ethanol fuel, biomass and produce animal feeds.

MoU a game changer for Niger State Nigerian economy

In his remarks, Bello said the deal will revolutionise agriculture in his state and Nigeria. Expressing joy that the MoU was signed during his own administration, he described Dangote as the liberator of the Nigerian economy and a dependable partner. The governor then urged Dangote Group to explore other investment opportunities available in the state, just as he announced that the state was opened for multi-sectoral investments.

The representative of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Alhaji Aminu Bisala said Dangote is the biggest private sector supporter of the Nigerian economy and Federal Government policies. He said the Federal Government was comfortable with the numerous investments efforts of the Dangote Group.

Group Managing Director of Dangote Sugar Plc, Engr. Abdullahi Sule stated that the MoU would be a game changer for Niger State economy and Nigeria as a whole. He said the integrated sugar mills will have the capacity to produce 160,000MT of raw sugar, pointing out that it has been in the forefront of support for government industrialisation programmes through backward integration policy in agriculture.

According to him, the Dangote Sugar Refinery is developing a sugar backward integration plan through the production of 1.5MT per annum in ten years in: Nasarawa, Adamawa, Kogi, Kwara, Taraba and Niger states respectively.

Group to invest $1bn in agri-sector

The Groups Executive Director Stakeholders Management and Corporate Communication Ahmed Mansur had also announced that the Group was investing over $1bn in the agricultural sector in the country, specifically in rice, sugar, tomato and dairy productions.

Niger State Commissioner for Investment, Commerce, and Industry, Rahmatu Muhammad YarAdua said that the deal with Dangote Group will help grow the agricultural sector and create direct and indirect jobs in the state.
WINDHOEK, Namibia  Although Namibia still had to import 1,049 tonnes of pork from January to May, 38 percent less than in the same period in 2016, the country could in the near future play a role to help feed an ever-growing hungry world.

chx69 via pixabay

This is the message of Dr Albert Schutte of the Pig Improvement Company (PIC), the largest pig breeding company in the world. He was a guest speaker at last week's Namibian Pork Producers Association's annual general meeting (AGM) in Windhoek themed Feed the world: A long term approach.

Pork industry must be beefed up

Schutte said the current low maize prices - down by some N$900 per ton since last December - should be an inspiration to Namibia's small industry to grow its piggery units, currently some 2,000 sows.

Small-scale farmers came from far and near to attend the meeting and obtain valuable information about pig farming.

Schutte says the idea is not that pigs should replace cattle, sheep, and goats but the pork industry must be beefed up to play an important role in feeding the world.

"We are expected to produce more from less and therefore we have to increase our growth efficiency and improve our numbers born live as well as reduce mortalities. This can only be achieved with very healthy pig units, operating at full capacity and which are disease resistant, so that we can produce more kilogrammes per sow per year," he noted.

Producers still face challenges

From January to May there has been a 2.2% increase in local pork slaughtering with numbers increasing from 1,608 to 1,644. This is as a result of various local abattoirs also slaughtering pigs, in addition to the two piggeries that are registered with the Meat Board of Namibia (MBN). Despite the increase in the tonnage of pork slaughtered locally, pork producers are still faced with relatively high feed costs despite the drop in maize prices, which account for 75% of their production costs.

Delayed payments by importers as a result of the current financial crisis also threaten the cash flow of the producers and this negatively impacts the entire production process.

The pork imports between January and May made up 39% of the total market share whereas local slaughtering accounted for 61% of the total market share.

The Pork Market Share Promotion Scheme ensures that imports are reduced as importers are compelled to first purchase locally produced pork carcasses before an import permit is issued.
On 22 August, the new Usiba tug was christened and named ahead of its delivery to the Port of Richards bay while the Port of Durban took delivery of its Umbilo tug, launched and named in May, seeing Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) celebrate a twin milestone for its KwaZulu-Natal ports. Part of TNPA's R1.4bn, nine-tug construction contract, the vessels are the sixth and seventh, respectively, to roll off the production line on time and within budget. The nine tugs are being built by Southern African Shipyards in Durban.

The name Usiba is derived from the isiZulu word for the Black-crowned Night-Heron, but can also refer to a feather. The Port of Richards Bay has a tradition of naming its marine fleet after treasured South African birds, such as the Ukhozi tug (eagle) and the older Indwe (blue crane).

Lady Sponsor of the Usiba tug, Judith Nzimande, with the new tug which will serve at the Port of Richards Bay.

In line with maritime tradition the ceremonial duty of christening the vessel was carried out by Lady Sponsor, Judith Nzimande. Nzimande is presently the President of the Zululand Chamber of Commerce and Industry. She also sits on the Executive Committee of Richards Bay Coal Terminal, one of the leading coal export terminals in the world based at TNPAs top port in terms of cargo volumes, the Port of Richards Bay.

Award-winning partnership

Speaking at the event, TNPA General Manager: Strategy, Nico Walters, said the latest milestones followed TNPA and Southern African Shipyards joint win of the Partnership Award in the Manufacturing category of the 2017 KZN Top Business Awards, powered by the Elan Property Group.

TNPA and Southern African Shipyards clinched the award for this project, which the awards panel recognised as demonstrating our commitment to developing South Africans, and ultimately strengthening the nation through shipbuilding and repair services. The panel deemed this operation exceptional in respect of transparency and timeous delivery, he said.

Walters said Southern African Shipyards was playing a proactive role in helping to unlock the potential of the ocean economy. He said the Durban-based ship builder had upheld the highest standards of sustainability and socio-economic responsibility throughout the project. Walters said: This project is a shining example of the potential for public private partnerships to create jobs and grow the economy, he said.

Louis Gontier, Chief Operations Officer of Southern African Shipyards (Left) and Nico Walters, General Manager: Strategy of Transnet National Ports Authority (right) during the official handover of the Port of Durbans new Umbilo tug from the ship builder to the authority. They are pictured alongside a model of the tug, with the fully built vessel in the background.

Creating jobs, improving operational efficiency at ports

Through the project, TNPA and SAS have created 500 direct and 3,500 indirect jobs with a minimum of 60% locally manufactured components. Subcontractors involved in the project include international subcontractors with local operations such as Barloworld Equipment, Siemens and Voith Schneider, as well as local contractors such as Bradgary Marine Shopfitters.

The nine tugs are being built for TNPA over three and a half years, as part of a wider fleet replacement programme that also includes new dredging vessels and new marine aviation helicopters. The programme is aimed at improving operational efficiency in the ports. Having new and powerful tugs in its ports will better enable TNPAs marine operations to speed up vessel turnaround times.

Usiba will be handed over to the Port of Richards Bay in November 2017. The eighth tug is due to be delivered in February 2018 and the ninth and final tug in June 2018.

TNPAs new fleet of nine tugs is each 31 metres long with a 70-ton bollard pull. They feature the latest global technology such as Voith Schneider propulsion.
The JSE said on Wednesday that after consideration it would not amend its listing requirement for publication of short-form announcements in the print media.

JSE CEO Nicky Newton-King. JSE CEO Nicky Newton-King. Image  JSE

JSE CEO Nicky Newton-King said the proposal to allow companies to use online platforms for announcements, such as cautionary statements, as an alternative to publication in print media, had not been supported by a large number of listed companies.

"Most of our peer exchanges globally don't have a requirement to publish announcements in the media. We consulted widely on whether to change this. It was remarkable how big the support was to continue with the current requirements."

Many CEOs, prominent business leaders and Business Day readers made representations to the JSE.

"The support for the print media and the importance with which it is viewed at this time in the country's history was wonderful.

"We have taken this feedback into account and decided not to go ahead with amending the listing requirement at this time," she said.

The MD of media at TisoBlackstar, owner of Business Day, Andy Gill said the company was pleased with the decision. "We remain committed to ensuring that we cover business, companies and corporate SA in depth and without prejudice. Business Day and the business media in general are great tools for companies to market themselves directly to investors," he said.

Business Day editor Tim Cohen said: "This is very welcome recognition of the importance of the fourth estate and demonstrates the business community's commitment to support the press."

Source: Business Day
Cape Town Tourism and New York's official destination marketing organisation, NYC & Company, has signed a first-ever city-to-city partnership to boost tourism between the two iconic cities.

This is the first agreement of its kind NYC & Company has signed with a destination marketing organisation on the African continent. NYC & Company President and CEO Fred Dixon and Cape Town Tourisms CEO Enver Duminy were on hand to sign the tourism partnership agreement in New York City. The two-year alliance includes a collaboration agreement between the two destination marketing organisations, the sharing of best practices in tourism marketing and the exchange of marketing assets to boost reciprocal travel.

Cultivating a productive tourism relationship

Today, we are proud to sign a first-ever partnership with Cape Town, one of the worlds most iconic and beautiful cities, said Dixon. New York City and Cape Town share a lot in common as capital cities of culture, cuisine, and design, and we look forward to cultivating this productive tourism relationship in the year ahead.

Enver Duminy, Cape Town Tourism CEO

This announcement has been years in the making, but at the outset, it was clear that New York is the ideal city for collaboration with Cape Town, said Duminy. Were greatly encouraged by this tourism twinning agreement, after all, a city with a global reputation for world-class tourism is acknowledging that we have just as much value to offer the global traveller. We look forward to this partnership and to sharing the benefits with our communities.

Swapping assets, influencing season travel

The city-to-city partnership includes a swap of marketing and advertising assets to be activated in early 2018 to influence seasonal travel. In New York City, advertisements will appear on bus stop shelters and LinkNYC kiosks to promote Cape Town, reaching an estimated 17.6 million in media impressions. In Cape Town, an equivalent value of New York City advertisements will be featured through digital and out-of-home media, with specifics to be determined.

As part of the agreement, New York City and Cape Town will share best practices in tourism management to increase the number of visitors between both markets in the years ahead. The two organisations will also collaborate on ways to boost travel between Cape Town and New York City through offers and incentives provided by third-party travel providers.

South Africa is the largest African origin market for visitors to New York City with nearly 50,000 visitors in 2015. South Africa accounts for a nearly 30 percent share of African visitors to New York City. The United States is currently Cape Towns second largest international source market. In 2015, 30 percent of arrivals to Cape Town from the US originated at or travelled via New York City airports.
Altron is targeting double-digit profit growth as it accelerates its strategy of focusing on the information technology space.

The former conglomerate, which had more than 40 companies in its portfolio, is becoming a leaner entity that will create technology solutions for the healthcare, security and safety and financial services.

The company, under new CEO Mteto Nyati, has launched on a new growth path that will also intensify its expansion into the rest of Africa.

Nyati said as the group reduced costs, it expected to deliver better returns.

Altron has disposed of a number of noncore and nonperforming assets and aims to complete the sale of the remaining two businesses - Powertech and Altech UEC - by the end of February 2018. It is also merging two units within the Bytes subsidiary, which will result in the retrenchment of about 75 employees and annual savings of up to R30m.

"We have spent a lot of our time this year reorganising the business to make operations more cost-effective and to unify the different parts of the business so that we operate as one Altron," said Nyati. The group is eyeing growth in cloud computing where it plans to forge partnerships with companies such as Microsoft, which recently announced it would open two data centres in Johannesburg and Cape Town in 2018. Altron is also expanding into the rest of the continent.

Nyati, said through some of its subsidiaries and brands, the company had a presence in about eight countries.

It had reviewed its expansion approach and would have a dedicated person focusing on its Africa businesses. "If we say we have operations in Kenya, it should represent Altron as a group, not just one unit."

The company seems to be heading in the right direction, said Intellidex research analyst Phibion Makuwerere.

The new management and strategic partners, Value Capital Partners, were likely to remedy the poor capital allocations of the past. The company's focus on innovation, research and development and streamlining the cost base boded well for margins, he said.

"We rate this counter a speculative buy as its outlook is tied to the success of a new business model and specifically on significant margin improvement," Makuwerere said.

Altron's share price has gained 50% since January and trades at R12.99.
NEW YORK - Samsung unveiled a new model of its Galaxy Note as it seeks to leave behind the debacle over exploding batteries in the previous generation of the device, and mount a renewed challenge to Apple and its soon-to-come iPhone 8.

Samsung executives introduced the Note 8 "phablet" at an event in New York City, repeatedly thanking fans who had remained loyal to the device.

"None of us will ever forget what happened last year," Samsung president of mobile communications business DJ Koh said as he opened the event.

"But, I will never forget how millions of dedicated Note loyalists stayed with us; so let me express my deepest gratitude."

Samsung laid claim to being the first smartphone maker to field a "phablet" device -- combining features of smartphones and tablets -- when it introduced the first Note five years ago.

Samsung did not disclose the price of the Note 8, which will hit shops on September 15 but will be available for pre-orders in coming days.

Note 8 features include dual cameras on the back, with improved image capabilities, and a signature "S Pen" for drawing or writing on touch screens.
Government plans to sell its shares in profitable Telkom to raise R10bn to bail out debt-ridden SAA emerged in Parliament on Wednesday, just hours after public spending watchdog committee Scopa was told by the national airline that it was broke. DA MP Alf Lees told the House he had "in my possession a document, marked secret, saying Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba is planning to give SAA a R10bn bailout, primarily by selling government's shares in Telkom." It's the latest twist in the SAA saga of financial and governance turmoil.

Adrian Pingstone via Wikimedia Commons

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, who earlier in his Q&A in the House deftly sidestepped questions on State Capture and other prickly matters, clearly was flummoxed by the quietly spoken DA MP's question as to whether he approved of a bailout deal for SAA.

"If he has a document marked secret and you are not a member of the executive, you could be charged and go to prison," was Ramaphosa's initial response, possibly unaware of parliamentary privilege, but it was quickly back to deflection mode. "The issue that the Honourable Member is talking about is a matter we continue to discuss, issues of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and assets that...

Read the full story on the Daily Maverick website.
Much has been said about the steady decline of print, but independent magazine Good Taste (GT) has been quietly thriving. General Manager Liza Weschta says, We have exceeded expectations with our second report of growth in 2017.

According to the latest ABC, the magazines total circulation has increased 46% year on year and 28.7% quarter on quarter, bringing the new total ABC circulation to 17,691, which is higher than Visi, Elle Decoration, Habitat, Southern Vines, Longevity, Prestige, South Africa Delux, Mango Juice, SLOW and Private Edition. Good Tastes paid circulation above 50% has also increased quarter on quarter by 76.8+.

On top of this, print is not Good Tastes only platform showing growth. GT recently launched their ABC audited email newsletter which goes to 47k+ email subscribers twice a month; GTs web audience has also grown by 251% in six months (from February to July 2017).

A winning story: Good Taste magazines circulation continues to increase

We have three groups of readers, says Kari Collard, Editor of Good Taste. Our Wine Club members (who receive the magazine as part of their Wine Club membership), our readers (who purchase the magazine off the shelf from selected retail stores), and then we have our wine farm and hotel distribution (reaching international and local guests, wine farm owners, winemakers, sommeliers and marketing managers).

When it comes to being Wine-of-the-Month Clubs custom publication, Good Taste is an integral part of the business. In each issue the magazine showcases the clubs winning wines that have been blind-tasted by the panel of wine judges. Each week Wine-of-the-Month Club invites a panel of 11 independent expert wine judges to taste and score all the wines blind in a neutral environment at their premises. Blind wine tasting ensures no judge is influenced by a label or the beauty of a wine farm or warmth of the host. Only the very best scoring wines are put in each wine pack independent of price. Good Taste includes valuable information on each of these wines along with wine news, happenings and features.

Good Tastes bulk subscriptions have also seen a substantial increase. Liza Weschta says, Our strategy is to target high-net-worth professional men and women all around the world, which is why the magazine can be seen in premium locations such as airport lounges, bespoke and boutique hotels and guest houses and wine farms. You can find Good Taste at places such as: The Oyster Box, 12 Apostles Hotel & Spa, The Cape Grace Hotel, The Table Bay Hotel, POD, Leeu Estates, Anthonij Rupert, Tokara, Simonsig, Steenberg, Capestone to name a few.

On the advertising side of things Good Taste is also on the incline. Good Taste has been executing tailor-made surveys to their own unique database of economically active income earners. Based on the learnings from these surveys, Good Taste can pinpoint their audience and their exact spending habits, helping advertisers looking for an ROI reach a unique South African audience with big spending power.

Follow Good Taste mag on social media @goodtastemag.

To buy wine online or join a Wine Club today go to www.wineofthemonth.co.za.

For Good Taste enquiries email az.oc.etsatdoog@azil.




Three students from AAA School of Advertising in Cape Town won the inaugural Facebook Challenge Award at the Loeries, which attracted student entries from all over Africa and the Middle East.

Facebook Challenge Award winners  biznizafrica.com

The award, which aims to celebrate the achievements of future creatives as they redefine creativity in the mobile era, was created in partnership with Facebook and The Nelson Mandela Foundation. The brief was to address gender inequality awareness through the development of a mobile video campaign and was won by Peni Buckton, Claudia Bester (both 3rd year students studying BA in Creative Brand Communication) and Lunje Jwambe (2nd year student studying Copy Writing diploma). The three students received a Bronze Loerie for their work, titled Every Day Armour.

The winning trio created an engaging piece of work, which is an anti-harassment couture brand that seeks to make thought-provoking social commentary on the gender-based violence women face daily. These students felt that as women, they could all relate to the small things that women have to do consciously and sub-consciously to prepare themselves for any instance: be it taking a different route home, wearing oversized clothing to deter unwelcome advances or even go as far as taking martial arts/self-defence classes, simply because they are born female. The campaign aims to shed light on this unfortunate reality and make a small difference in society.

Thought-provoking and moving mobile video campaign

The quality of work we saw coming from students was inspirational, says Nunu Ntshingila, regional director Facebook, Africa. There was much conceptual innovation, as well as fascinating approaches to the use of technology. Many congratulations from us at Facebook to the winners for not only embracing the challenge, but also creating a thought-provoking and moving mobile video campaign. We look forward to our ongoing work with advertising schools and universities, as we continue to support and invest in young and diverse creative talent.

Commenting on their win, student Jwambe said, It has been an honour to win a Loerie. We enjoyed the opportunity to think about mobile in a different and challenging way and, coupled with social consciousness, made it a fascinating experience. It has been good grounding for each of us and one that I am sure will stand us in good stead for our future careers.

Charles Maggs, head of creative faculty AAA, Cape Town, added, The project exposes students to the demands of the digital communication front line. They learn a huge amount as they work, and the thematic tie-in to social issues makes the process relevant to everyone on a personal level.
Facebook led 40 top local creative students on Instagram Hack, in partnership with Durban Tourism, at the Facebook Creative Hub.

Sand emojis on the beach.

{{IMAGE}}



In a day of fun and learning, the hack was themed around Instagram and Stories, with students challenged to use mobile in quick, creative ways to connect with passions via Instagram. Click here to view the gallery.

An Instawalk through Durban, followed the morning skills transfer session, which gave students the chance to apply their new skills.The Stories adverts the students created after the Instawalk, were judged by a panel of experts, including Facebooks Creative Shop, Durban Tourism and the Facebook EMEA director of marketing.

There are many tools out there that allow advertisers to use social media effectively, said Maliyamungu Muhande, a third-year student at Vega, who is studying a BA in Creative Brand communication majoring in Multimedia Design. For creatives, the key is making it all work. I loved the chance to explore specific skills  such as how to approach video and effectively using Instagram and Stories for ads.
Nicola Wielopolski, creative director at DDB, was selected as one of 12 participants in DDB's global Phyllis Project, launched earlier this year. I learned from our telephonic interview that she's humble, punctual and obsessed with turning great creatives into great creative leaders.

Just watch her in the SABC News Trendz interview embedded below on the importance of celebrating creativity both at the Loeries and throughout Womens Month for an idea of what shes like:

But I digress. So named after Phyllis Robinson, DDBs first female chief copywriter at the agencys inception and also the first female copy chief in US history, the #PhyllisProject is part of the global groups mission to increase the quantity and quality of female creative leaders in every region of their network.

When DDB opened in 1949, Phyllis joined as Copy Chief, the first female copy chief in U.S. history! #PhyllisProject https://t.co/cUvNwsXpNd pic.twitter.com/DZYD3yq71w  DDB Public Relations (@PRMediumRare) January 26, 2017

Twelve were selected from across the globe earlier this year from nine different countries, with Wielopolski  at DDB since 2011  the only African to make the grade. They will meet three times a year, with the first group meeting having taken place in San Francisco in March. Global creative council members like Keith Reinhard, chairman emeritus of DDB Worldwide, were present.

Wielopolski says this presented a fantastic networking and mentoring opportunity, the chance to participate in international assignments as well as the chance to see what everyone in the group is doing around the world. We got to see the different issues and successes, which is always cool, and then met again in Cannes during the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity late-June for some training, she explains. The Phyllises will meet again in December and repeat the process next year.

From great creatives to great creative leaders

As to what that process entails, Wielopolski shares that the training is aimed at career development, media training and mentorship  Wielopolski herself has been paired with Alex Kalchev, ECD at DDB Paris in whats being called an unprecedented gender balanced team of creatives. They also have monthly conference calls with Lisen Stromberg from the 3% movement in the US as well as with Janet Kestin and Nancy Vonk, co-founders of the creative leadership training lab, Swim. They speak as a group, and talk about development and reaching goals.

Wielopolski has sussed out that The Phyllis Project will aim for representatives from each continent going forward, based on their female leaderships achievements. Its interesting to her to see just how the creatives in the countries represented differ. For example, while everyone is obviously aware of the need to place more women in leadership roles, in some places, its no longer an issue while in more traditional countries, there are still stigmas. This means that some of the other representatives are the only females in their entire department.

Side effect: Bringing gender diversity under the global spotlight

Wielopolski shared that its great to have additional support, which is one of the side-effects of the Phyllis Project: A sense of inclusion. While certain individuals have inspired Wielopolski before, shes never had a group of women to lean on, and now feels included. So even the women who arent aware of the issues that some of the others are struggling with are seeing them brought to light.

Wielopolski with her mentor Alex Kalchev, ECD at DDB Paris at their first meeting in San Francisco this March. The #PhyllisProject group, in San Francisco this March. Wielopolski with DDB Worldwide chairman emeritus Keith Reinhard in Cannes. DDB Worldwide chairman emeritus Keith Reinhard in Cannes and some of the #PhyllisProject members.

On celebrating females in creativity beyond a specific month, Wielopolski says DDB is all about shifting focus from great female creatives to great female leaders. You spend your career becoming a great creative, but the switch from becoming a creative to becoming a leader is quite a big one. Its no longer about you and your success, but about your teams success, and how you can help them get there.

Speaking to the industry as a whole, Wielopolski says diversity within the industry is really important, as its through diversity that we get different points of view, which lead to different ideas. If we were all exactly the same, we would have the same ideas and the world would be a boring place. Innovation, disruption and creativity are the result of diversity, so its not just about females, we need greater diversity all around, and to celebrate that diversity.

On age diversity in particular, Wielopolski spoke of the importance of mentorship and the development of the next generation of talent. At DDB SA, for example, Wielopolski is training their current team of interns from Red & Yellow School, exposing to as many things as possible and putting them on real briefs.

She experienced this in her own early days at the Jupiter Drawing Room, where they were always given the opportunity to work on the top briefs with the rest of the creatives in the agency, it didnt matter if you were an intern, whoever cracked the idea, executed it.

Skill-sharing and helping the youth get up there is thus an issue close to Wielopolskis heart. She feels its important to have people you can aspire to. For women in the industry, there havent been as many to look up to until now, so its inspiring that this is now starting to increase.

Its nice to have someone as a reference to what you would like to become but also, having female peers who can understand and support each other. Sharing what youve learned with the younger generation is your responsibility to grow new talent. As a leader, you should want to do so as an agency needs to be very conscious of the environment it fosters and it starts at the top. If you value diversity, it is the job of global management not to just discuss these issues, but to do something to empower the voices of change in offices around the world.

On her own personal career inspiration, Wielopolski admits she is biased in this regard, listing her husband, Liam. She says he is hugely inspirational to her as the CCO at DDB, and definitely someone she leans on a lot for advice.

Hes also shown her how to be a good leader, as hes peoples person. Its not like in the past where there were a lot of egos in the industry  its not about the glory, but about the work and treating people with respect.

That sounds like a winning mix to me. Follow the #PhyllisProject hashtag for more and be sure to visit our #WomensMonth and Loeries Creative Week Durban special sections for our latest coverage.
In today's digital age where consumers are exposed to brands across various platforms, it can be a challenge for companies to communicate a consistent brand experience at every interaction with the target audience. Paula Sartini has found a solution: Brand Quantum.

Tell us about yourself and your company

Branding needs to be instilled into every element of an organisation in order to make an impact on the customer, build trust and contribute to the companys success. Having run a branding agency for more than 15 years, I learned that while companies understand the importance of branding, often the wheels come off at the point of execution. This is where Brand Quantum comes in. I started the company in 2014 to provide companies with a simple solution to help them deliver a consistent brand experience at every single customer touch point.

Paula Sartini

As an analytical thinker, I like to create solutions that make a real impact on my customers business. Brand consistency has been proven to be a critical component to company success. For the past three years, I have worked closely with various organisations to understand their challenges and create solutions that can help them to deliver a consistent brand experience.

Brand Quantum aims to help companies overcome these challenges. We have developed three software solutions, namely: Brand Office, BrandMail and Brand Forms to help companies deliver a consistent brand experience at every customer touchpoint via email, or documents and presentations. While companies have traditionally focused on winning customers via marketing initiatives such as advertising and campaigns, our cloud-based software solutions aim to help companies retain their customers by delivering a consistent brand experience every time because consistency builds trust.

Why is brand consistency important?

Theres been much research about the importance of brand consistency, with marketing directors and CEOs noting that brand consistency absolutely contributes to their business success. This is because brand consistency is critical to building credibility and trust.

When brands deliver an inconsistent experience, consumers get confused about the unique proposition the company offers against the competition and are uncertain about what they can expect from a brand. More importantly, they are left questioning where else the company may be taking shortcuts and not focusing on a consistent service or offering. This is especially important when it comes to the service delivery environment because, if a consumer doesnt see brand consistency, they automatically think the service might not be that great.

Companies invest so much money into branding and creating beautiful work and if they deliver an inconsistent brand experience it dilutes that work.

Why do you think most companies find it so challenging to communicate a consistent brand experience at every interaction with their target audience?

The sheer number of channels and mediums we now have at our disposal (such as email, mobile, websites, social media etc.), as well as the volumes of communication marketers and other employees send out on a daily basis, makes brand consistency more complex.

In addition, all these channels are not in the control of marketers alone. Often times therell be a myriad of pieces of communication floating around or being sent out to clients by other employees that the marketing team didnt even know existed.

However, as customers have come to realise how they want to be treated, companies are starting to pay more attention to the customer experience and it is imperative that marketing evolves to take the reins on the overall brand experience. Today marketing departments have to be more involved in ensuring that every employee across the organisation delivers a consistent brand experience with every customer at every touchpoint.

Think about the Russian synchronised swimming team at the Olympics for example: If youre one of the swimmers in the pool, you might not notice if youre out of sync with the rest of the team, but to the spectators in the stands who have a macro view of the of the whole thing, its extremely obvious and will mostly be received negatively.

Tell us about the BrandQuantum solution. How did you identify a need for this kind of software and how can this help companies overcome the challenge of inconsistent branding?

It was really born out of the day-to-day frustration of not being able to easily adhere to brand consistency. Its not that we created a product and hoped that people would need it, it was really built with this specific gap in mind.

As we wanted to make it really easy for employees of organisations to deliver a consistent brand experience, we decided, instead of forcing people to learn to operate another new software programme, to simply embed our tool into Microsoft Office. We realised that the majority of people were using the Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc.) and so it made sense to make this our starting point.

Our solution aims to give users access to the right information at the right time in order to improve efficiency and save time. For example, when a new employee needs to get up to speed with the right branding such as letterheads, PowerPoint presentations, email signature, content, or documents to use, they dont need to trawl the entire intranet to find something and hope its the correct version.

Depending on which brands theyre working on, they can be given access to the information that is relevant to them  easily accessible from within the Office document or email theyre busy working on  and have peace of mind that they are delivering the right information and a consistent brand experience every time.

What were some of the hurdles you faced along the way of developing Brand Office?

Weve had lots of challenges! Our first solution was a file share solution, which meant we had to go onsite to roll out the product. Once we realised that cloud was an option, we decided to stop the bus and redevelop. That was obviously a scary thing to do.

We also had financial hurdles because we had to reinvest in development. The shift from an onsite solution to the cloud was a radical one. We had initially decided on the Azure cloud platform and Im happy to say that it was the right decision. Azure was recently once again voted as one of the best cloud platforms.

Another major hurdle was to get adoption from enterprises and financial institutions but we knew if the technology was good enough for banks, it would be good enough for other businesses. Were happy that were now starting to gain traction in the SME space as well.

Our mail product alone has been rewritten three times. But it is because our solutions have been developed according to our customers needs and we have had to adapt our solutions along the way to ensure that they are meeting their needs and driving business results.

Im confident that our cloud-based solutions are better aligned to meeting business needs as we have taken input from various customers and developed a solution that helps them overcome their key brand consistency challenges with one interface, one backend. The nature of the business, however, is to be constantly in development - from a technology perspective.

What do you see as the role of technology in todays global business landscape?

Technology has been interwoven into everything we do. Currently, technology solutions are shaping customer expectations and radically disrupting business models, for example, Uber which has changed the taxi and the food delivery industries. However, I believe that we have only started to see the tip of the iceberg in terms of what we can achieve using technology. Already we are starting to see health care and education make use of the technology to change the way theyve traditionally done things, and it is exciting to see how technology will be used to change some of the worlds more pressing problems such as climate change.

To you, innovation is

about developing simple and meaningful ways to solving peoples everyday challenges.

What motivates/drives you?

I am driven by finding new ways to solve old problems which help my customers to succeed.

Your message of encouragement to women in the tech industry?

We need more women and girls in the technology space. Women bring a unique perspective to different challenges and offer a different set of skills to men. We need women to solve the challenges that women face in the workplace and in the world. With the creative ability and empathic approach that women innately possess, they will be able to conceptualise technological solutions that solve problems elegantly and innovatively to make a bigger impact to both business and society.

Follow the Brand Quantum journey: Website | LinkedIn
Mexican journalist Marcos Vizcarra is the 2017 winner of the Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism. The award is made by the Global Media Forum Training Group, the US branch of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and Agence France-Presse (AFP). It will be presented in a ceremony at the National Press Club on 26 October 2017.

Marcos Vizcarra  Twitter

Uncovering government corruption, torture

Marcos Vizcarra, 29, currently lives and works in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico reporting on issues related to corruption, violence, justice and human rights for the newspaper Noroeste. Vizcarra has focused his research and writing on the enforced disappearances of Mexican civilians, including the governments failure to address the problem in a meaningful way.

In 2016, with the support of the International Center For Journalists (ICFJ), the US Embassy in Mexico, Mexican journalism organisation Periodistas de a Pie, and Noroeste, Vizcarra published the results of a journalistic investigation into 11 cases of torture committed by the Sinaloa government and prosecutors office.

His reporting uncovered corruption in the regional government as well as its collusion with the powerful Sinaloa Cartel in dismantling a rival cartels operations. In the wake of Noroeste veteran journalist and AFP correspondent Javier Valdez murder earlier this year, Vizcarra has continued to work to expose the work of the cartels and corruption within the government that prevents truth from being uncovered.

Marcos Vizcarra is a rising voice for unrestricted access to truth in a part of the world known for frequent use of violence to silence journalists, said Camille Mackler, Peter Mackler Award project director at the Global Media Forum Training Group. In todays world, more than ever, we need journalists like Vizcarra, who are willing to stand up to governments and criminals and uphold principles of ethical journalism. By doing so, and while the eyes of the world remain on Sinaloa in the wake of Valdez brutal death, Vizcarra has become a guiding example to all other journalists in that region and beyond. We are thrilled to recognise him as the 9th winner of the Peter Mackler Award and show him and other journalists like him that their work  and the contributions they make to our global society  do not go unnoticed.

Mexico low on press freedom

Mexico is currently ranked 147th out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders.

Vizcarra said, I think that in Mexico we are doing better journalism, because I also believe that we have a greater awareness of our role in society: that of journalism that serves to combat corruption and impunity. I believe that this award is a wake-up call to our authorities, because if it is true that we are trying to do better journalism, it is also true that it is becoming more difficult in conditions of violence. I am very grateful to the Mackler family and the organising committee for having chosen me as the winner of this year's Peter Mackler Award, because this is a recognition of Mexican journalism that is seeking to improve things.

Delphine Halgand, the North America director for Reporters Without Borders said, Mexico continues to be the Western Hemispheres deadliest country for journalists. Most of these crimes go unpunished, with Mexicos pervasive corruption accounting for the impunity. By awarding Marcos Vizcarra, we pay tribute to the courage of those who refuse to be silenced in Mexico, where at least four journalists were murdered in connection with their work in 2017.

Michele Leridon, AFPs global news director added, AFP is thrilled with this choice, in a world where the role of journalists is essential for the vitality of democracies. In Mexico, where an AFP journalist was murdered earlier this year, the job to keep others informed is particularly difficult.
This article is the first in a series The Conversation Africa is running on invasive species.

Lets say youre travelling from Uganda to South Africa for business. You finally arrive at your hotel after a long day and decide to change before dinner. You unlock and unzip your luggage, but theres something in your bag that you didnt pack. As you reach for a clean shirt, a moth flies out. Did that come with you all the way from Uganda? Itll be fine, right? Surely, something so small wont cause any harm.

Species are intentionally or accidentally transported by humans between continents to regions where they are not native. With the help of humans or by natural means like flight, these alien species can also spread within continents.

Their spread within continents can be rapid, affecting both the ecology as well as societies and the economy. Unfortunately, its really challenging to prevent species from spreading. Given the vast amount of people and goods that are transported between and around continents, they can easily be moved across oceans as well as between countries.

The spread of alien species within Africa is increasing. Since 2000 more alien insect pests of eucalyptus trees have spread to other African countries from South Africa than have been introduced to these African countries from other continents. To manage the spread of these alien species countries need to cooperate, communicate and share information and skills..

The spread of alien species

Many alien plants and animals have been introduced to Africa from other regions and then have spread from country to country, often having devastating effects.

Take the larger grain borer beetle, (Prostephanus truncatus) which is thought to have arrived on the continent in imported grain from Mexico and central America. The beetle was introduced to Tanzania before 1984, Togo before 1981 and Guinea before 1987. It then spread across the continent and within 20 years could be found further south in South Africa.

The beetle attacks crops such as maize and cassava, threatening food security and the livelihoods of the poor. Infestations often destroy maize thats been stored by farmers, forcing them to buy maize as well as lose income they could have earned from selling any excess.

But alien species dont just arrive from abroad. Many that are native to parts of Africa have also spread to countries on the continent where they are not native.

An example is a fish commonly known as the Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) which is native to rivers on the east coast of southern Africa. Fishermen have transported the Mozambique tilapia to other areas and it is now found in river systems in southern and western South Africa and Namibia.

The Mozambique tilapia is a popular species for fishing but it can pose a threat to native fish and has been responsible for the disappearance of native species in some regions.

The spread of alien species within Africa is by no means a new thing. For instance, the bur clover (Medicago polymorpha), a plant from northern Africa, might have been accidentally transported by humans to South Africa as early as 760 AD.

A high and increasing threat

Recently a number of alien species have spread extremely rapidly across the continent, posing a particularly high threat to food security and livelihoods.







Shutterstock





One is a caterpillar known as the Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda). The species, native to the Americas, was first recorded in west and central Africa in early 2016 and then in South Africa in January 2017.

The moths of the armyworm are strong fliers and the species may have spread through flight to South Africa from other African countries. Although the species attack a wide range of crops, it poses a particularly serious threat to grain farmers. It is extremely difficult to manage.

Another example is a wasp known as the bluegum chalcid (Leptocybe invasa), which is native to Australia. In 2000 it was detected in Israel and shortly afterwards it was reported in Uganda and Kenya. From there it spread rapidly to many African countries including Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Tanzania and was finally detected in South Africa in 2007. The insect probably reached Israel on live plant material and spread into Africa the same way, or was carried by people travelling between countries.

The wasp causes swelling or growths on eucalyptus trees, which can lead to decreased growth and tree death. As eucalyptus trees are an important source of income and fuel, this species could have an impact on the livelihoods of locals in these countries.

Preventing the introduction and spread

Once a species is introduced to one African country its highly likely it will spread to others on the continent because borders checks are weak.

The introduction and spread of species could be reduced if countries introduced biosecurity systems. These are used extensively in countries like Australia and New Zealand and involve using technology to check for alien species when people and goods enter a country. In Australia, this involves inspecting goods, vehicles and luggage before they enter the country.

But even these systems arent a guarantee that species wont spread. African countries would need to work together and share information and skills. This would also allow countries to prepare for the arrival of species, and to draw up plans to reduce their impact.

This is a tall order. But as a countrys defence against alien species introductions is only as strong as that of its neighbours, such action would benefit all of the countries involved.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
Fastjet has become the airline with the largest Facebook community in Africa due to its reimagined content strategy on the platform. The airline's Facebook pages for Tanzania, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia collectively passed the 1.1 million mark in the number of followers.

A recent customer survey by Fastjet indicated that Facebook remains the most popular method of engagement for its customers at a preferred rate of 80% compared to Twitter and Instagram. Evident in its organic growth rate, Instagram is fast becoming more popular as an engagement platform, while Twitters newsfeed-style remains a platform where price and special-offers are digested quickly and responded to fast.

Over the past few years different social media platforms have become quite defined in shape and purpose and according to our customers, Facebook remains the most popular channel to engage on all levels, says Hein Kaiser, Fastjet spokesperson.

Redefining channel specifics

Beyond customer service, the carrier leverages its social media channels to drive network and destination awareness as well as communicating commercially. To this end, Fastjet has redefined the common and channel specific purpose of its social media presence.

Customer service is an absolute priority with our response rate shortened from 55% over 2 days to 96% within an hour. In addition, we have repurposed our content strategy to balance hard sales with engaging, more visual content and increased our posting frequency to match feedback, says Kaiser.

Twitter feeds have become a higher volume platform while Instagram and Facebook have a strong lifestyle element to content.

Thus far the strategy seems to be effective with Fastjets social reputation improving vastly, continues Kaiser.

Management of social communities

Our objective is to effectively manage social communities across all aspects of engagement; from consumer-relevant content through to sales and special offers as well as customer service.

As the airline grows, so it plans to develop its community to reflect the airlines growing pan-African footprint. Fastjet plans to touch the lives of everyone on the continent as we grow our brand into its ambition of being Africas pan-continental low-cost airline.

Social media is an animal of its own and the key lies in simplicity. Successful commercial campaigns have shown that the hard-sell is okay, but must be tempered with engaging content and reliable information. Brands need to be authentic and consumers will accept and engage on these mutually agreed, tacit terms. Fastjet has been experimenting with pure organic growth and measuring its rate of attrition against its redefined community and content strategy. Our rate of attrition has reduced significantly while organic growth has enabled Fastjets Facebook community to grow into pole position amongst its peers, concludes Kaiser.
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The dispute centers around a parcel of land near the Hngat Pyaw Chaung dam in Thandwe township.

Five acres is the farmland and the rest are other plantations such as cashew, banana, bamboo, and seasonal vegetables, said U Win Tin, on of the local residents involved in the case.

Along with U Win Tin, local residents U Win Thein and U Tin Naing Soe claim to have bought the farmland, but then after purchasing it, were told by the local MP that they needed to cough up further funds, on the pretense that they were occupying his ancestral land.

The Hluttaw MP asked for K6.5 million from U Tin Naing Soe. He also asked K6.5 million from me and U Win Thein. The total amount [he is asking for] is K13 million, said U Win Tin. U Tin Naing Soe has given him K6.5 million. We have to pay the remaining K6.5 million at the end of this month.

Responding to the allegations of extortion, U Win Naing, the Rakhine State Hluttaw MP from Thandwe Constituency  1, said he was simply seeking compensation for his land, which the trio were trying to sell at profit.

I asked money as appropriate for the land. I didnt take it by force. I was only asking what I should get for my parents orange farm, U Win Naing told Narinjara News on August 22.

U Tin Naing Soe claimed that the disputed land could not have been owned by U Win Naings ancestors, as the MPs familys plot was submerged by Hngat Pyaw Chaung dam. The farmers accused U Win Naing of abusing his authority to demand the money.

Fed up with what they felt was a racket, they filed a complaint to the chief minister on August 19. The three farmers say they are still awaiting a response, but hope the chief minister will settle the feud, which they claim has been going on since July, 2016.

We are complaining because we had to pay the money even though we didnt want to. U Win Naing lodged an objection with the [Department of] Land Records, which meant we couldnt buy or sell [the land] without first paying him the money. The [Department of] Land Records and the village administrator stood on his side so it is difficult for us, said U Win Tin.
The New Mon State Party, which currently heads the ethnic umbrella organization the United Nationalities Federal Council, indicated to the Mon State government that they will be signing the pact shortly.

Weve always said that wed sign the NCA, Nai Win Hla, head of the NMSPs Home Affairs Department, told the press after an August 23 meeting with the state government, according to the Irrawaddy.

A NMSP delegation led by joint secretary Major General Joi Yaet discussed the peace process with the Mon State chief minister at the state government offices in Mawlamyine on August 23.

They [the NMSP] requested [us] to give them three months [to decide on] signing the NCA. They are following the NCA path. Also, they are the chair of the UNFC so they are trying to persuade other members. They said they will give their answer after three months regardless of how other members decide on this issue, said Chief Minister U Aye Zan.

In addition to discussing the NCA, the delegation also broached the topics of politics, the teaching on Mon literature, the MCL cement factory and issues relating to regional development.

The NMSP has said in May that it would negotiate over signing the NCA, along with the other members of the UNFC, which have dwindled to four after the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army  North submitted a resignation later earlier this month, becoming the third ethnic armed organization to leave the bloc amid increasing pressure to ink the ceasefire. The UNFC now includes the NMSP, the Arakan National Council (ANC), the Lahu Democratic Union (LDU) and the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP).

The NMSP signed an initial ceasefire agreement with the military government in 1995 but the agreement became null in 2010. The party then signed the second ceasefire agreement with the former U Thein Sein administration in February, 2012.
Any Bowie fan worth their eyeliner has surely watched D.A. Pennebakers essential 1973 concert documentary Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars. Despite lousy lighting conditions and a dodgy sound mix (the film labored through post-production for 10 years), it remains an essential window into the genius that was David Bowie. But anyone who has witnessed that final performance at Londons Hammersmith Odeon by Bowies seminal band has walked away with an additional, unshakable impression. Mesmerizing as Bowie is, its impossible to ignore the fit lad with the waterfall of blond hair playing next to him. Guitarist Mick Ronson leaves an indelible impression in that film, with his billowing pirate shirt and his muscular guitar chords. He is the very definition of the term Guitar God. And his interplay with Bowieone gender-bending and ethereal, one manly and down- to- earth cements them as one of the most iconic onstage duos in rock and roll history.

Sadly, Ronsons impact on the music industry was short-lived. Few, aside from dedicated rock historians, know his name. Now comes Jon Brewers musical documentary Beside Bowie: The Mick Ronson Story to set the record straight. Brewer is a well-known figure in the music industry himself, and he has more than a vested interest in this story, having managed the career of Mr. Bowie and his mates over the time period the film largely covers.

The film rolls back the clock, picking up with Bowie in the early years of his career, playing folk clubs in remote London neighborhoods. Thanks to a lot of atmospheric archival footage, Beside Bowie sets the stage for each time period it visitsfrom the anything-goes post-hippie era of 1960s England to the gritty Andy Warhol days of 1970s New York City. Looking to fill out his band in the wake of Space Oddity, Bowie meets up with a friend of his drummer. A working-class kid from Hull, Mick Ronson cut his teeth playing with a number of local rock outfits, including local legends The Rats. Aside from his distinctive guitar style, Ronson was a classically trained musician. He quickly moved into Bowies commune-like flat, Haddon Hall, in South London and the two started making beautiful music together.

Beside Bowie carefully lays out the case that Ronson wasnt just one of the greatest unsung guitarists of the rock era, but an essential alchemical part of David Bowies groundbreaking sound. It was after Ronsons arrival that Bowie segued from the folky, acoustic sound of his early albums to the full-blown electric sound that defined his glam rock period. Countless musicians, contemporaries and luminaries (Angie Bowie, Ian Hunter, Roger Taylor, Rick Wakeman, Lou Reed, Mick Rock, Tony Visconti, Glen Matlock) testify to the fact that Ronson did the majority of the arrangements on Bowies Hunky Dory and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. In addition, he was almost single-handedly responsible for the sound of Mott the Hooples All the Young Dudes and Lou Reeds Transformertwo seminal albums traditionally credited entirely to Bowie.

Thanks to archival interviews with Ronson himself (who passed away in 1993), we get a pretty accurate picture of what the musician was like. Humble and hardworking, he may have been his own worst enemy when it came to fame. Lacking the magnificent ego of a chameleon like Bowie, Ronson was happy to labor away in the shadows. Some exclusive voice-over commentary by David Bowie (who left us in 2016), sheds a bit of light on their relationship. Bowie doesnt get into the personal politics of it much, but its clear that his professional respect for Ronson remained undimmed over the years. Bowies ex-wife Angie, brash and boisterous as ever, is happy to sing Ronsons praises. Musicians like Wakeman and Visconti are more detailed in their assessment of what made Ronson such a musical genius. Sit in front of a mixing board and listen to the orchestration on Bowies Life on Mars? and youll realizealmost instantlythe depth of Ronsons magnificent talents.

The film spins on past Ronsons Spiders from Mars years, detailing his time sidelining with Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, John Mellencamp and others. Its an impressive legacy, and one that this rockin doc helps solidify in celluloid. Beside Bowie provides an enlightening crash-course in the glitter- and- guitar- heavy glam rock era while simultaneously singing the praises of one of the music industrys most talented hidden figuresthe man his friends knew simply as Ronno. As one interviewee puts it: I hate it when anyone calls him Mick. I know three or four Micks. But there was only one Ronno.
Pilikwe village Kgosi Gasebalwe Seretse has lodged a complaint with the director of Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DISS) Isaac Kgosi against harassment by members of his organisation.

In a letter dated August 11, 2017, the youthful Seretse who was appointed the village chief two years back says that he is under investigation for stealing by servant. He states that residents of Pilikwe- a village in the Central District - have been interrogated by DIS agents over the said crime, which he says is nothing but fabrication by a rival camp in the village to discredit him.

He says the agents have identified themselves as people from the Office of the President. The aforementioned camp, which I believe is behind the case, is strongly connected to your subordinate, (name known to this paper), whom I suspect uses his position and influence to support and strengthen the cause of the rival camp.





As you might know, he is from Pilikwe and it cant be surprising that he might have a personal interest in the tribal politics of our village, says Seretse in his letter to the spy boss. According to sources in Pilikwe, sometimes early last year, the Bogosi leadership went to Morupule Coal Mine to ask for donation of tiles for the loobo (shelter) at the Kgotla. The mine agreed and gave them the tiles valued at around P15 000.
Children's rights activist Christina Noble has been held a knife point in her own home.

She says the man who broke in repeatedly threatened to kill her during the 12-minute ordeal.

Christina says she was able to use her panic alarm when the raider turned away.

"It could've been 12 hours," she said.

"When someone holds a knife up to you it had a moon shape, on the knife .. [he was] constantly pulling me and holding the knife to me."

The Dublin mother-of-three spent years homeless on the streets of the city before founding the Christina Noble Foundation.

Over the past 23 years Christina is credited with transforming the lives of an estimated 700,000 street children in her adopted Vietnam and Mongolia.

Her life was portrayed in the 2014 'Noble' biopic, starring Deirdre O'Kane.
Four men have been arrested in connection with robberies in the South East.

Gardai from Tipperary, assisted by Gardai from Carlow and the DMR Armed Support Region, recovered stolen property including a trailer and power tools when they carried out a number of searches in the Clondalkin, Ballyfermot and Pearse St areas of Dublin yesterday morning.
A man is appearing in court around now in connection with the death of Gareth Hutch.

The nephew of Gerry 'the Monk' Hutch was shot dead in Dublin's North Inner City in May 2016.
The rate of skin cancer is at a record high in Ireland, it has emerged.

Latest figures show that in 2014 as many as 1,041 people were diagnosed with melanoma in Ireland  the first time the number of incidences here surpassed the 1,000-mark since records began.

Cases of melanoma have almost trebled in the last 20 years. While cases have increased, thankfully so have survival rates; now, almost nine in ten (89.3%) of patients survive for at least five years after their diagnosis.

However, Ireland still has the highest mortality rate in Europe for melanoma, with, on average, 159 people dying from this disease annually.

The Irish Cancer Society is hosting series of public talks on the disease and are warning that most summer days, even cloudy ones, have high enough UV levels to damage skin.

A free public talk takes place tonight from 6:15pm in the Main Auditorium in Cork University Hospital. The talk will also be live-streamed on the Irish Cancer Societys Facebook page.

Cork-based consultant medical oncologist Dr Derek Power said that white Irish people in particular have "very pale skin" which is "very prone to burning".

"Darker skinned people have more melanin production which can be protective against melanoma" he said.

"So fairer skin - red hair, the classic Irish  type - is particularly at high risk."
Swimming bans have been issued at two north Dublin beaches.

The public is being advised to stay out of the water at Loughshinny and Rush South after tests found high levels of bacteria in it. Samples were taken at the beaches on August 21.

The bans are temporary, until levels return to normal. In the meantime, the beaches remain open.

Fresh samples have been at the beaches today. The results of tests on those will be known within a few days.

Fingal County Council says it suspects sewage from a wastewater treatment plant or sewer network is to blame.

Previous samples for the beaches can be seen here (Loughshinny) and here (Rush South).
Police in the port city of Rotterdam have detained the driver of a van with Spanish registration plates and gas tanks inside after a concert by an American rock band was cancelled following a threat.

A Spanish counter-terrorism official said the van was not connected to the attacks that killed 15 people last week.

The official said investigators discarded a possible link between the van's driver and the extremist cell that carried out the attacks in and near Barcelona after questioning the driver and examining the van.

Police detained the driver for questioning about two hours after a concert by Los Angeles band Allah-Las was called off after Dutch police received a terror warning.

Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb said the warning came from Spanish police, but said it was too soon to link the van to the unspecified threat directed at the concert.

"It is not yet good to say that the things are linked," he said.

"It still has to be established that there was a link between the van and the threat. We can't say that yet."

Military explosives experts checked the van and a police officer later drove the vehicle away, Dutch broadcaster NOS said.

Police said the van contained "a couple of gas bottles".

The Dutch terror threat, which is at level four of a five-step scale, remained unchanged, Lodewijk Hekking, a spokesman for the country's anti-terror chief, said.

The Spanish anti-terrorism official said Spain's Civil Guard received "an alert indicating the possibility of an attack today in a concert that was going to take place in Rotterdam".

The Civil Guard shared the information with Dutch authorities and is investigating the threat, the source said.

Police in Spain have been investigating the deadly vehicle attacks last week in and near Barcelona.

They later found bomb-making equipment that included more than 100 tanks of butane gas, nails and 500 litres of acetone.

Rotterdam police said they took the information about a threat "seriously enough that after discussion with organisers it was decided to cancel the event".

Concert organiser Rotown said earlier on Twitter that the venue, a former grain silo called Maassilo, was being evacuated because of the unspecified threat.

The show had not yet started when the decision to cancel it was made.

Miles Michaud, lead singer of the California band Allah-Las. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills, file)

Dutch television showed officers in body armour outside Maassilo and what appeared to be members of the band leaving the venue in a white van with a police escort.

By around midnight the area was calm and police had lifted the cordon they earlier put up around the venue.

Allah-Las is a four-piece band from Los Angeles.

The band's label, Mexican Summer, said: "Due to a potential terror threat at The Maassilo in Rotterdam, the Allah-Las show was cancelled tonight.

"Details are not available at this time as the incident is still under investigation.

"The band is unharmed and are very grateful to the Rotterdam police and other responsible agencies for detecting the potential threat before anyone was hurt."

In an interview with The Guardian last year, band members said they chose the word Allah, Arabic for God, because they were seeking a "holy sounding" name and did not realise it might cause offence.

"We get emails from Muslims, here in the US and around the world, saying they're offended, but that absolutely wasn't our intention," lead singer Miles Michaud told the newspaper.

"We email back and explain why we chose the name, and mainly they understand."
Update 9.20pm: A siege in the US state of South Carolina is over.

An employee who had been shot at a restaurant in Charleston has died, and a number of hostages have been rescued.
Qatar has restored full diplomatic relations with Iran, defying the demands of Arab nations now trying to isolate the energy-rich country to downgrade its ties.

Qatar's Foreign Ministry announced early today that the country's ambassador would return to Tehran.

The country withdrew its ambassador in early 2016 after Saudi Arabia's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric sparked attacks on two Saudi diplomatic posts in Iran.

Qatar said in a statement that the move "expressed its aspiration to strengthen bilateral relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran in all fields".

Iranian state media acknowledged the development, without elaborating.

Qatar and Iran share a massive offshore natural gas field that requires communication between the two countries.

Since the diplomatic dispute with Arab nations began in June, Iran has sent food shipments to Qatar.

In announcing its decision, Qatar did not mention the diplomatic crisis among Gulf Arab nations since June, when Qatar found its land, sea and air routes cut off by its neighbours over Doha's policies across the Middle East.

However, the move comes just days after Saudi Arabia began promoting a Qatari royal family member whose branch of the family was ousted in a palace coup in 1972.

"Qatar has shown it is going to go in a different direction," said Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a research fellow at the James A Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University.

"It could very well be calculated toward reinforcing the point that Qatar will not bow to this regional pressure placed upon it."

The shared gas field's vast reserves made Qataris have the highest per capita income in the world, as well as funded the nation's Al-Jazeera satellite news network and secured hosting the 2022 Fifa World Cup.

Shiite power Iran has incorporated the crisis into its regular criticism of the Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia, part of the two powers' long-running proxy war.

On Wednesday, the Central African nation of Chad announced it would close its embassy in Doha, accusing Qatar of trying to destabilise it from neighbouring Libya.

The diplomatic crisis began on June 5, when Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates cut ties to Qatar over allegations including it funding extremists and being too close to Iran.

Qatar has long denied supporting extremists.

The boycotting countries later issued a list of 13 demands to Qatar, including that Doha shut its diplomatic posts in Iran.

Qatar ignored the demands and let a deadline to comply pass, creating an apparent stalemate in the crisis. Attempts by Kuwait, the US and others have failed to make headway.

In recent days, however, Saudi Arabia announced it would allow Qataris to make the annual hajj pilgrimage, which is required of all able-bodied Muslims once in their life.

Saudi state media said that came in part due to an intercession by Qatari royal family member Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani, who met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and later a holidaying King Salman in Morocco.

But Sheikh Abdullah has no role in Qatar's government and his last position was as head of the equestrian and camel racing federation decades ago.

Sheikh Abdullah's grandfather, father and brother were rulers of Qatar until a palace coup ousted his branch of the royal family in 1972 and a prominent Saudi columnist has suggested the sheikh could be the start of a Qatari government-in-exile.
Retired TAFE teacher Reg Dyett has voted Labor his whole life, but since receiving his latest rates bill, he is re-evaluating his loyalty.

The rates for his Braddon townhouse have doubled since 2014, at a time when utility prices are rising and territory government concessions have been cut.

Reg and Naysin Dyett in their garden in Braddon. The rates for their townhouse have doubled since 2014. Credit:Rohan Thomson

Rates for units are now calculated on the average unimproved value of the residential portion of the total unit complex and the residential unit entitlement, based on the owner's total residential portion of the unit complex.

Mr Dyett, 88, said he felt "quite upset" when he saw his latest bill.
A former ActewAGL employee accused of stealing thousands of dollars from ActewAGL customers' accounts in a plan allegedly devised with her colleague has pleaded guilty to fraud.

Jessica Kate Anderson, 29, and Taylor Jade Geoghegan, 20, were contractors at the company when it's alleged they found accounts in credit before transferring the money to bank accounts belonging to Ms Anderson.

Fraud accused Jessica Kate Anderson, 29, leaves the ACT Magistrates Court in July.

They were arrested after a customer questioned a refund that appeared on her bill and ActewAGL launched an internal probe earlier this year.

Anderson pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud, two counts of attempted fraud and two counts of joint commission fraud when the two women faced the ACT Magistrates Court separately on Thursday.
Legal support, financial advice, health support services, information services and a cancer hotline: the Cancer Council ACT aims big with its support in Canberra.

Now the not-for-profit is hoping to raise more than $100,000 by selling more than 25,000 daffodils across the capital on Daffodil Day this Friday.

The ACT Cancer Council's Sandra Turner, Lisa Meares, Kathryn Martin preparing daffodils ahead of Daffodil Day on Friday. Credit:Rohan Thomson

Cancer Council ACT chief executive Sandra Turner said most of the organisation's funding came from community support.

"We need the communities behind us to support the people who need our services," Ms Turner said.
The proposal by the ACT Greens to give control of $71.2 million of the Territory's $356 million city services budget to a panel of unelected citizens was obviously made with the best of intentions.

Party members are concerned about community dissatisfaction with the way in which decisions are being made and money is being spent.

There is no doubt these concerns are genuine. Numerous correspondents to this newspaper have taken issue with the way the ACT has handled the resources at its disposal in recent times.

Issues have included a perception more needs to be done to keep public spaces clean, neat and tidy and that areas such as the East Basin are being developed inappropriately.
Mining magnate Andrew Forrest has declared beginning of the end of modern slavery after a landmark meeting of big companies and the federal government.

Mr Forrest said other companies from the Indo-Pacific region, including Walmart, Adidas, Thai Union and JD.com, now shared his company's commitment to scrutinise their supply chains to eliminate slavery. Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop addressed the business leaders at the meeting in Perth on Thursday.

"This is really ground breaking," Mr Forrest said. "This is the beginning of the end of modern slavery.

"Business and government working together are the only combined powers which can effectively end modern slavery and it has finally come together in a landmark forum."
Berek started learning to play the violin at the age of 6 but complications arose when he had two teachers  one German, the other Russian. He had to learn both Russian composers and those from Germany.

Berek was born in Lida, Poland on June 22, 1916. Wilno, his mother's birthplace, was a city of culture with an opera house and two famous conservatoriums, one run by world-famous violinist Jascha Heifetz. This provided a platform for his great love of music.

France's famous 18th century lexicographer, Denis Diderot, wrote: "It is only with passion, great passion, that the mind can rise to achieve great deeds."

Before the outbreak of World War I, Berek's family rented a house near the Lida castle. During winter when the frost was severe his father would take Berek skating at the castle's ice rink.

The Polish government began to close Jewish schools in the 1930s, at the same time limiting the number of Jewish children who could attend government schools. Fortunately for Berek, a professor of music had heard him play the violin and despite him being Jewish, he was accepted into the state high school. The principal was a client of Berek's father so he not only found a place for Berek but also Berek's two sisters.

Having matriculated from the high school, Berek automatically became a junior officer in the Polish Army. The war with Germany had not yet started but the atmosphere in the streets was threatening. War was coming.

The army was starting to mobilise. His father realised that as a non-commissioned officer Berek would be among the first to be called up so he quickly sent him 300 kilometres away to family in nearby Bialystok.

In 1938, Berek migrated to Australia to search for greater opportunities. His parents later followed reluctantly on the last ship to leave Poland, and only then because Berek had threatened to return to a Poland on the very cusp of a war if they did not join him in Australia.
A North Shore lawyer charged in relation to an alleged $165 million tax fraud syndicate will no longer contest the Law Society of NSW's right to apply for him to be struck off over a separate matter.

Tax solicitor Dev Menon, 33, is accused along with two other lawyers of misusing his position as a solicitor by deceptively obtaining information about the registration of motor vehicles and passing it onto a debt recovery company.

Tax lawyer Dev Menon appears extensively in the transcripts of telephone taps and listening devices detailed in AFP court affidavits.

The Legal Commissioner referred the allegations to the Law Society of NSW in 2012, but Mr Menon and the firm's principal Daniel Christopher Clarke successfully applied to have the case thrown out in September 2016 because they had not been given adequate reasons.

The Law Society of NSW was still attempting to re-prosecute the matter in May when the pair was sensationally caught up in an allegedly fraudulent scheme involving the son and daughter of Australian Taxation Office deputy commissioner Michael Cranston.
After finding his boyfriend's "cold" and lifeless body sprawled on the floor after a night out, Michael Atkins thought he could "bury the body and nobody would know".

That is how the 53-year-old explained his actions after agreeing last year to lead homicide detectives to 20-year-old Matthew Leveson's grave site.

He even drew them up a mud map of the burial site.

"I thought it would make it all better," Mr Atkins said in an interview tendered in the NSW Coroner's Court.
A convicted fraudster and real estate agent the state government has previously warned members of the public "not [to] deal with" will appear alongside the current Mayor of Strathfield on a ticket for next month's local government elections.

Matthew Blackmore is listed at the top of the "The Mayor's Independent Team" ticket for upcoming Strathfield Council elections, despite running alongside current Mayor Andrew Soulos, in a part of Sydney that has a history of fielding colourful candidate groupings.

Strathfield Mayor Andrew Soulos did not return a phone call on Thursday.

What is not disclosed is that Mr Blackmore, in 2009, pleaded guilty to the fraudulent misappropriation of money and was ordered to repay more than $5000 to Elders Real Estate Enfield.

The Service NSW public register shows Mr Blackmore's property services certificate was cancelled on June 9, 2009.
Ms Trad said the business case included the latest information on the impact of policy and demographic changes over the past 12 months.

"It says population and employment growth in the south-east will be very strong over the next 20 years," she said.

Deputy Premier Jackie Trad said the document presented a "compelling case for action".

The business case for Brisbane's Cross River Rail has finally been released for public scrutiny.

The Cross River Rail business case has been released.

The cost-benefit ratio for the project is now 1.41, up from 1.21 in the 2016 business case.

"This means that for every $1 invested in the Cross River Rail project, $1.41 is returned to the people of Queensland," Ms Trad said.

The increase was due to the inclusion of the European Train Control System, the introduction of "fairer fares" and updated demographics, Ms Trad said.

Total daily bus and rail trips are predicted to climb from 510,000 to more than 880,000 in 2026 and to more than 1.1 million by 2036, according to the document.
Deputy Premier Jackie Trad said she had lifelong friends who were proud members of the LGBTI community.

Voters have until midnight Thursday to enrol via the AEC website .

It came as only hours remained for people to make sure they are properly enrolled with the Australian Electoral Commission if they wanted to take part in the same sex marriage postal vote.

Queensland's deputy premier has delivered an impassioned speech in Parliament in support of marriage equality.

"My children are best friends with their children. We go on holidays together," she said in Parliament on Thursday.

"And for me to explain to my children why their relationship, which has been longer lasting than many relationships I know, is different, is inferior, is less than before the eyes of the law in Australia, is a very hard thing to explain to my children.

"But I want my children, and I want all children in Australia to know, and those children from gay and lesbian relationships, and a lot of them in my electorate, I want them to know that I am going to be vigorously taking part in this campaign.

"Because I fundamentally believe in their equal rights."

Ms Trad said hurtful and hateful material had already surfaced in public.
A train has been filmed travelling at speed while the doors were open and the Queensland state opposition has been quick to point the finger at the Palaszczuk government.

A passenger on the Gold Coast train filmed as the train sped along with the doors wide open.

The video of the incident was also tweeted from the Liberal National Party account on Thursday, along with a call for Transport Minister Jackie Trad to "take responsibility".

Ms Trad said it was an "extremely concerning" incident.
One Nation has preselected candidates for more than half of Queensland's state seats, leader Pauline Hanson told her party's annual general meeting in Brisbane on Thursday.

Senator Hanson said the party had 53 candidates so far for the Queensland Parliament, which will be expanded to 93 seats in the next term.

Pauline Hanson told the One Nation AGM the party had candidates in 53 of 93 seats. Credit:Regi Varghese/AAP

And she also gave the first indication she intended to stand again for the Senate, before standing down.

Senator Hanson shrugged off last week's episode in the Senate where she appeared wearing a burqa, as "a stunt against political correctness", to loud applause within the AGM's morning session.
The Premier has said it before, but now it is in writing - Queensland Labor will definitely, absolutely not be doing any deals with Pauline Hanson.

On Thursday, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk produced a signed statutory declaration ruling out any deals with One Nation, tabling it in Parliament and challenging the opposition to do the same.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has tabled a statutory declaration saying Labor will not do any deals with One Nation. Credit:AAP/Dan Peled

"I, Annastacia Palaszczuk, of Premier's office, 1 William Street in the State of Queensland do solemnly and sincerely declare that Labor will not enter into any deal, arrangement, power-sharing arrangement, or formal coalition with One Nation before and after the upcoming Queensland election," the stat dec reads.

"Labor will put One Nation last."
Two men have died in two separate crashes on Queensland roads overnight.

An 86-year-old driver died on Thursday evening when his ute collided with a truck on Cunningham Highway, in Queensland's south.

The driver of the truck, a 54-year-old man, was taken to Warwick Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Later on Thursday evening, a 33-year-old man died when he lost control of his van and crashed into trees after colliding with a truck in Yatala, just south of Brisbane.

AAP
The next stage of Melbourne City Council's quarter-of-a-billion-dollar Queen Victoria Market redevelopment has been unveiled, with a proposed underground parking lot to go deeper beneath fruit and vegetable stalls than originally planned.

It will cost $11 million more than the original estimate, but ultimately take up less space for market traders.

Yet many traders remain sceptical about the project, which will now need to be signed off by Planning Minister Richard Wynne.

The council on Thursday met with market traders to release details of an $8 million program to support operators during the five-year market renewal.
A Perth woman has hit out at her local KFC store for allegedly serving her raw chicken.

Butler resident Heather Summers headed to the chain's outlet in her suburb on Tuesday afternoon and bought a snack-sized popcorn chicken box and two snack sliders.

What Ms Summer found after biting into this piece of popcorn chicken. Credit:Heather Summer

After arriving back home, Ms Summers sat down to watch a movie in her living room and eat her dinner.

"I was watching a movie with the blinds closed, so the room was fairly dark," she said.
London: Britain's net migration has plummeted to its lowest level since 2014 driven largely by an exodus of EU citizens following last year's Brexit referendum.

And two separate sets of data show claims made by Theresa May to justify a crackdown on foreign students purportedly "overstaying" their visas were inaccurate by a margin of at least 90 per cent.

Furthermore the number of foreign students opting to study in Britain has also declined since Brexit.

Britain's high immigration figures were at the heart of the EU referendum campaign, with Leavers vowing to "take back control" and UKIP pushing for Britain to adopt an Australian-style points-based system favouring skilled migrants, an idea the Tories have since rejected.
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.
Earlier this month, The New York Times posted a leaked report on climate change that 13 federal agencies had worked on under a mandate from Congress to assess climate science and climate change impacts every 4 years. Many people, including some of the reports authors, worry the Trump administration will quash or alter the findings.

More than a half-century ago, scientists explained to President Lyndon B. Johnson that the burning of fossil fuels was increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. In 1965, Johnsons Science Advisory Committee wrote in a White House report: Through his worldwide industrial civilization, Man is unwittingly conducting a vast geophysical experiment. Within a few generations he is burning the fossil fuels that slowly accumulated in the Earth over the past 500 million years. The carbon dioxide humans were injecting into the atmosphere would cause changes, they wrote, that could be deleterious from the point of view of human beings.

In February 1965, Johnson gave a special message to Congress, focused on conservation. For centuries Americans have drawn strength and inspiration from the beauty of our country, he began. It would be a neglectful generation indeed, indifferent alike to the judgment of history and the command of principle, which failed to preserve and extend such a heritage for its descendants.

The president also spoke of rising carbon dioxide emissions: This generation has altered the composition of the atmosphere on a global scale through radioactive materials and a steady increase in carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels, Johnson said.

My dad was right in the middle of that, Sen. Tom Udall told NM Political Report. Stewart Udall was first elected to Congress in 1954, representing Arizona. He also led the US Department of the Interior from 1961 to 1969, under President John F. Kennedy, and later, Johnson. Udall was an advocate for expanding public lands, including national parks and monuments, and was an integral player in laws like the Wilderness Act of 1964, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Air and Water acts, and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. By the time Stewart Udall was serving as Interior Secretary, the American public had awakened to environmental issues, said Udall, and the passage of early environmental laws was bipartisan.

That isnt the case today.

That was the thing I think my father was saddest about as he grew older, Udall said. He died in 2010, and Id say, his last 10 yearsfrom 2000 to 2010he just couldnt believe how the environment had become partisan.

The turning point, Udall said, may have been whats called the Powell Manifesto. In 1971, just before he was nominated to the US Supreme Court by President Richard Nixon, Lewis Powell wrote a memo to the head of the US Chamber of Commerce.

Powell wrote of the assault on the enterprise system by Communists, New Leftists and other revolutionaries. Businesses, he wrote, had only responded by appeasement, ineptitude and ignoring the problem. He proceeded to lay out what individual companies and the Chamber of Commerce needed to do, including through public relations departments, by demanding equal time in the media, on college campuses and by evaluating textbooks.

He also wrote of the neglected political arena and courts. As unwelcome as it may be to the Chamber, it should consider assuming a broader and more vigorous role in the political arena, he wrote. He added that the Chamber should follow the example of civil rights and labor groups. Their success, often at business expense, has not been inconsequential, he wrote, adding that the courts provided a vast area of opportunity for the Chamber of Commerce.

Overall, business needed to become more aggressive, he wrote: It is time for American businesswhich has demonstrated the greatest capacity in all history to produce and to influence consumer decisions, to apply their great talents vigorously to the preservation of the system itself.

Udall sums up Powells memo more succinctly. He said, You guys are getting killed. You should all organize, and you should get into Washington, and you should use all of your power and your might to fight the things that are coming out of Washington, Udall said. They were talking about a lot of the regulatory issues, but they were also talking about the conservation and environmental laws that had been put into place.

Presidents and Congress shied away from, or resisted, action on climate change. And environmental and conservation issues became increasingly political.

In the 1970s, Congress set limits on campaign spending, some of which were struck down by the US Supreme Court, and also increased authorization of Public Action Committees, or PACS. Then in 2010, the Supreme Court upheld a case arguing that the government cant restrict free speech by limiting campaign contributions from corporations, nonprofits and labor unions.

Now, Udall said, spending is out of control. And corporations are still helping squelch regulations and environmental laws and movement on climate change. You hear everybody now talking about how the system is rigged. Well, it is. Theyve tipped it in favor of the corporations and the wealthy, Udall said. And theyre impacting government.

Of the recent report scientists leaked to The New York Times, Udall said everyone should read the findings. One of the things I found most disturbing about the report on climate change was that the scientists feared that the Trump administration would suppress it, he said.

By ignoring the warning signs of climate change, Udall said that Trump and congressional Republicans are putting the environment, economy and childrens futures at risk.

Families across New Mexico see the impacts of global warming every day in the form of rising temperatures and extreme weather. Last year was the hottest year on Earthand the third consecutive year to break global temperature records, he said, adding, President Trump called the Paris Agreement a bad dealbut the real bad deal is saddling our kids with more drought, wildfires, and rising oceans and temperatures.

Note: A slightly different version of this report appeared in NM Political Report.
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
Governance First, a grouping of former Infosys employees, has written to the companys board, saying that they as shareholders wanted transparency from the company on the issues raised by co-founder N R Narayana Murthy. Among the members is Sharad Hegde, Infosys first employee who had rejected an offer from Murthy to be a co-founder as he wanted to do a masters course.
In a shake-up at Infosys Technologies that will likely see its celebrated co-founder Nandan Nilekani coming back, a decade after quitting the company, a majority of the board members at India's second-largest software company have offered to resign.

The restructuring of the board was also one of the conditions set by Nilekani for his return  to have a clean slate before he takes charge at the company he co-founded  said sources.
Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani has been appointed non-executive chairman of the company, marking the return of founders at the helm of Indias second-largest software exporter and ending a short-lived experiment of an independent board and a professional chief executive at the company.
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Appointment of as Chairman of the Railway Board comes at a time when the Railways is passing through a turbulent period. But Lohani, former Air India Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), knows turbulence only too well.
China today issued a second safety advisory within two months to its nationals travelling to India, highlighting train accidents, natural disasters and frequent infectious disease cases in the country.

The notification issued by the Chinese Embassy in India comes amid the shrill campaign being carried out against India by the official media here over the Doklam standoff.

The advisory asks Chinese nationals to pay attention to their personal safety and the local security situation and to avoid unnecessary travel within the country, state-run People's Daily Online reported.

Travellers are told to carry personal identification information with them, obey religious customs, and keep their family, colleagues, and friends posted about their travel.

The advisory highlights the "weekend train derailment, natural disasters, and frequent infectious disease cases" in India.

The warning is valid till the end of the year.

The first safety advisory was issued by China on July 7 and was valid for one month.

India and China have been locked in a standoff for over two months in the Doklam area of the Sikkim sector. The face- off began after Indian troops stopped Chinese military from building a road in the area.
More than 15,000 paramilitary personnel have been deployed in Punjab and Haryana ahead of the verdict by a Panchkula court on Friday in a sexual exploitation case against Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, a Union Home Ministry official said on Thursday.

As many as 150 companies of paramilitary forces have been deployed in the two states to assist the police forces in maintaining law and order, he said.

One paramilitary company comprises over 100 personnel.

Punjab and Haryana police forces are on high alert to deal with any law and order situation, the official said, referring to the court's verdict tomorrow in a sexual exploitation case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Gurmeet Singh.

The case was registered in 2012 on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court after anonymous letters were circulated about the alleged sexual exploitation of two 'sadhvis' (female followers) by the Dera chief.

The central government has assured all possible help to the two state governments to deal with any situation as a large number of followers of the Dera chief have started arriving in Panchkula, Chandigarh and nearby areas, another the official, privy to the development, said.

"We are in constant touch with the governments of Punjab and Haryana. We have given them adequate forces," the official, who did not want to be identified, said.

He said flag marches have been carried out by security forces in Panchkula, Sirsa, Hissar and some other places while several hospitals are also put on alert as a precautionary measure.

The police forces are keeping a close watch on social media, particularly WhatsApp groups, Facebook and Twitter, and have asked people not to spread rumours, the official said.

The special court in Panchkula has been hearing the case against Singh for the last few years and is scheduled to deliver the verdict tomorrow.

While the alleged incident occurred in 1999, the FIR was lodged in 2002. The CBI investigated the matter against the sect head.

The Dera chief and the sect management have refuted all charges against him.

He has large followers in Haryana and Punjab.
Prime Minister has told a group of over 70 Additional Secretaries and Joint Secretaries that good governance should be a priority for the welfare of citizens.

"The Prime Minister on Wednesday met and interacted with a group of over 70 Additional Secretaries and Joint Secretaries serving in the government. This was the first of five such interactions," the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement on Thursday.

The officers shared their experiences on issues such as digital and smart governance; administrative procedures and accountability; transparency; doubling of farmers' income; skill development; Swachh Bharat; consumer rights; environment protection; and building of a New India by 2022, the statement said.

"The combination of development and good governance is essential for the welfare and satisfaction of citizens," Modi said.

He emphasised on the need for all government wings to work in harmony and synchronisation to achieve the best possible results.

"All officers must keep the poor and the ordinary citizens in their minds while taking decisions," he said.

The Prime Minister also said that the world was looking to India with positive expectations.

Modi said there was also a strong undercurrent for excellence from the common citizens of India.

"Youth from humble backgrounds, with very limited resources are achieving best positions in competitive exams and sports."

The Prime Minister asked the officers to work to promote this spontaneous upsurge of talent, recalling the spirit and energy that they themselves would have possessed in the first three years of their service.

He said: "This was a unique opportunity for officers to deliver their utmost for the benefit of the nation."
In the wake of the Supreme Court (SC) judgment on privacy being a fundamental right, Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday said internet firms such as Google and Facebook that had access to user data needed to respect the law of the land.

He, however, did not give details on the issue and what would happen if these companies misused data.

There have been reports about data theft and misuse by which user details have been sold at a premium. Also in the case of mobile applications, users have to accept the terms and conditions of the app such as access to the camera, contacts list, and messages.

When pointed out that there had been instances of banks giving out customer information, the minister said no public sector bank had done that and if any private bank was found to do it, it would have to face the consequences.

The government has constituted a 10-member committee, headed by former Supreme Court judge B N Srikrishna, to deliberate on a data protection framework for the country. The committee has held two meetings to discuss the issue. According to official sources, depending on the nature of the report, the government will take a call if there is a need for a separate law on data protection or the IT Act is enough.

Sources further said the government, to demonstrate that it was serious about the matter, had asked smartphone players to share details about their security architecture. The government is also probing the UC Browser for sending user data to a remote server.

The government will also strengthen the cyber laws of the country.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has come up with a consultation paper on privacy, security, and the ownership of data in the telecom sector even as it looks to define personal data and who should have ownership and control when a customer uses telecom services.

Currently there are no guidelines on the use of data by third parties and also who owns the data.

The Srikrishna committee will make suggestions on principles of data protection and a draft data protection bill.

The government is cognisant of the growing importance of data protection in India. The need to ensure growth of the digital economy while keeping personal data of citizens secure and protected is of utmost importance, the government had said after forming the committee.
The before the nine-judge Bench is likely to be referred by the name of 92-year old retired judge K S Puttaswamy, who was the first petitioner in the case.
The on Thursday held that the right to privacy is a fundamental right and is an integral part of the right to life and liberty.
As a 9-judge bench of the gets ready to deliver the judgment on whether right to privacy is a fundamental right or not, here is what you can read to learn about various facets of the privacy debate.
The (SC) landmark ruling on fundamental rights for privacy will influence the functioning of internet companies in India, which currently can harvest user data without restrictions to deliver services and monetise them without benefiting the individual.

India is the worlds largest open market where over a billion users are gearing up to access information, transact and conduct business online. A majority of these users access internet over a smartphone, using apps that harvest data about an individual to provide them with tailor-made services.

These apps not only use personal data of a user when they open them, but also ride off details such as location, the other apps used on the smartphone, scan images on devices and get to know the people they know through access to their contact book.

Knowledge about a person gives a power over that person. The personal data collected is capable of effecting representations, influencing decision-making processes and shaping behaviour, wrote Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul in his judgment as part of the unanimous upholding of the right to privacy as a fundamental right by the nine-judge constitutional Bench.

It can be used as a tool to exercise control over us like the Big Brother State exercised. This can have a stultifying effect on the expression of dissent and difference of opinion, which no democracy can afford, he wrote.

E-commerce firms, data and internet-based companies, technology creators as well as the telecom industry, who use personal information of people as part of their business strategy, are all set to become more accountable, thanks to the ruling.

This judgment effectively has far-reaching ramifications that the right to privacy is not just a right in the physical world, it also is a fundamental right in the virtual or cyberworld. This effectively means snooping on my social media account, or unauthorised interception of my data, I can legally challenge it as a violation of my privacy, said Pavan Duggal, cyberlaw expert and an SC advocate.

Many believe that after this ruling sharing data which is the intrinsic part of most digital and e-commerce businesses would be drastically reduced.

Obligation on e-commerce and internet companies will increase after SCs ruling. For many of these companies, working would be difficult, as sharing and using that particular data would now be increasingly difficult. Things are set to become more stringent for these companies for sure, said Amarjeet Singh, partner-tax, KPMG India.

Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys and the architect of the Aadhaar programme has warned of digital colonisation by firms such as Facebook and Google, often speaking that these companies harvest data and take it to servers outside the country, without any checks on who gets access to these data. Interestingly, the lack of data protection and privacy laws has been a reason why companies could exploit user data for commercial purposes.

However, technology-based companies claim that the best practices are already been followed. E-commerce companies already have privacy policies based on either United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act or Indias IT Act. Our industry anyway is following best practices anyway, but we would abide by any new rules. However, I feel that there are so many larger issues in the internet sector than reigning us in that should worry the authorities more, said Sandeep Aggarwal, founder and chief executive officer, Droom.





Unless there are specific instructions from the Department of Telecommunications, this judgment would not impact the ongoing exercise of linking mobile numbers to Aadhaar for subscriber verification,Rajan S Mathews, director general, Cellular Operators Association of India.
At 11 am on Tuesday, the Supreme Court (SC) quashed instant triple talaq as unconstitutional. At 12.35 pm, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah tweeted his detailed statement welcoming the judgment. Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, ministers, BJP chief ministers and party spokespersons swarmed social media and television channels to term the verdict historic.

But 48 hours can be a long time in politics.

At 10.45 am on Thursday, a nine-member Bench of the SC announced its unanimous decision declaring the right to privacy a fundamental right.

Not even one BJP leader, let alone party chief Shah, commented on the verdict on social media or was willing to speak to newspapers and television channels till the evening. None of the BJP spokespersons at its headquarters at 11 Ashoka Road were willing to comment on the issue.

From the side of the government, it was left to Information Technology and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to address the media and field questions at 3.30 pm. Prasad claimed the government has been consistently of the view that the right to privacy should be a fundamental right.

Later in the evening, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the SC judgment has accepted privacy as a fundamental right but not as an absolute right, and that the judgment is a positive development for Aadhaar.

If the apex court judgment embarrassed the Modi government, it reinvigorated the Opposition.

The Congress headquarters at 24 Akbar Road buzzed with activity. A little after 100 minutes of the nine-member Bench delivering its verdict, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, flanked by other senior party leaders, held a press conference.

Today, we can once again celebrate our freedom. Tomorrow, there will be other challenges, other questions, and other attempts to invade the right to privacy. We shall overcome those challenges too, Chidrambaram said.

The former finance minister said privacy is the core of personal liberty and is an inalienable part of life itself. By virtue of the judgment of the SC, Article 21 has acquired a new magnificence.

Chidambaram, a lawyer, termed the Modi governments approach in its interpretation of Aadhaar under Article 21, on the protection of life and personal liberty, as inconsistent.

Chidambaram said the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) had conceived Aadhaar as an administrative tool to ensure that benefits of government welfare schemes reached their targeted people, and there were no leakages or duplication. He said the fault was not with the Aadhaar concept, but with the Modi governments use and misuse of Aadhaar as a tool.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Congress President Sonia Gandhi and party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi also either tweeted their reactions or issued statements by 2 pm.

The Congress Vice-President tweeted at 1.46 pm: The SC decision marked a major blow to fascist forces. A sound rejection of the BJPs ideology of suppression through surveillance.

In her statement, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said the SC verdict on right to privacy strikes at unbridled encroachment and surveillance by the state and its agencies on the life of the common man. She said the Congress and Opposition together spoke for the right to privacy against arrogant attempts of the BJP government to curtail them.

To Law Minister Prasads claim that government has consistently maintained that right to privacy should be a fundamental right, CPI(M) chief Sitaram Yechury tweeted: The ridiculousness of this governments attempted U-turn on right to privacy is amplified by Modi-Shahs silence. Yechury asked whether, as in the instant triple talaq case, When will we see Shah credit Modi for right to privacy acknowledged as a fundamental right? and ended his tweet with hashtag post truth.

BJP chief Amit Shah tweeted a link to his blog on the issue at 8.12pm. This was in contrast from Tuesday when Shah had tweeted a detailed statement on the quashing of instant triple talaq by the SC by 12.35 pm, and by 2.09 pm had followed it up with a series of tweets and a video clip of welcoming the verdict. In his tweet at 1.45 pm on triple talaq verdict, PM had welcomed the judgment as historic. There was no statement yet from the Prime Ministers Office on Thursdays apex court verdict on the right to privacy at the time of filing of this report.

In his blog, Shah welcomed the SC judgement "as it strengthens the Fundamental rights and personal liberty". Shah said: "Our government is committed to ensuring equitable social delivery, particularly to the poor in consonance" with the apex court judgement. Shah, Jaitley or Prasad were silent on Attorney General KK Venugopal having argued the government's position in the SC that right to privacy is a vague and amorphous right and cannot be held as a fundamental right.

Instead, Shah and Prasad sought to refresh the memories of the Emergency years. In an attack on the Congress, the BJP chief said "some mischievous propaganda needs to be busted" and "those waxing eloquent today on privacy architecture are the ones who have ensured India does not have have a robust privacy laws for decades." He said: "Those commenting on Aadhaar are the same people who did not provide it a legal backing for years!"
If on Tuesday the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership was jubilant at the verdict that quashed instant Triple Talaq as unconstitutional, on Thursday it struggled to hide its disappointment at the apex courts unanimous judgement that declared the Right to Privacy a fundamental right.
The Modi government, true to its intentions of divesting of Air India, has put apartments owned by the airline across Mumbai on the block. These apartments, most of which are concentrated in upmarket South Mumbai, are expected to fetch at least Rs 305 crore. According to the companys auction documents, the minimum prices (called the reserve price from which bidding shall start) ranges from a little under Rs 1 crore to above Rs 10 crore.
Backed by strong demand from China, flat steel producers who raised prices at the beginning of August by up to Rs 3,000, one of the steepest in recent times, are mulling an increase next month.
The validity of the Aadhaar Act shall not be disturbed by the Supreme Courts decision on the right to privacy case, say former government officials and legal experts. Neither would invoking the privacy clause automatically make the Act questionable because it was passed by Parliament as a money Bill, last year.
The Union government is considering more measures to stop malpractices in exports of gold jewellery, said two people familiar with the development. On Wednesday, the Noida Export Promotion Zone customs collector issued a trade notice asking gem and jewellery exporters not to directly import gold on a loan basis.

Commerce ministry and development commissioners of special economic zones (SEZs) are also working to make improvements on the export front, while discouraging malpractices on the part of the exporters, informed knowledgeable sources.
The Centre plans to come up with firm guidelines on a scheme to tackle community-based malnutrition, which will include norms on the amount of calories required by a person.


In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the Right to Privacy as "a fundamental right" under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, in a unanimous decision.
Nandan Nilekani, one of the seven engineers who founded Infosys in 1981 and its CEO from 2002 to 2007, has been appointed non-executive, non-independent director and the chairman of the board of directors with immediate effect. The writer shares his views on whether or not Nilekani can steer the IT giant through the woods.

Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal. They do not reflect the view/s of Business Standard.
Bilateral Meeting - India and Uzbekistan

The Commerce and Industries Minister, Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman and Mr. Abdulaziz Kamilov, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Mr. Elyor Ganiev, Minister of Foreign Trade held detailed discussions on deepening trade and economic ties between India and Uzbekistan in a bilateral meeting held on 23rd August 2017 in , New Delhi.

Commerce Minister expressed happiness on formation of an Uzbek India Trading House at Delhi as a Joint Venture Company.

Commerce Minister suggested setting up and activation of a private industry led Joint Business Council to develop and enhance business relations at all levels including investments, trade in goods and services such as education and health in Uzbekistan and India.

She expressed the hope that if the draft agreement under negotiation between India-CIS Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Uzbek Chamber of Commerce is quickly finalized and the Joint Business Council commences work, then it would be a very positive development for enhancing bilateral economic and trade relations.

Both the Ministers underlined the high importance of transport & logistics infrastructure for strengthening bilateral trade ties. Commerce Minister requested Uzbek Minister to become member of multilateral INSTC Agreement which would facilitate increased international transit cargo traffic through Iran.

Commerce Minister requested Uzbek Minister for reduction of import duty on leather goods and footwear in Uzbekistan from current 30% to 10%, which is current MFN rate in India. She mentioned that India could source finished leather from Uzbekistan. Commerce Minister also requested Uzbek Minister to consider reducing higher import duty on Indian engineering exports to Uzbekistan.

Commerce Minister requested Uzbek Minister to consider reduction of Import tariff imposed by Uzbekistan which are comparatively higher especially on fabrics and made-ups (upto 30%), reduction in Higher MFN duty on RMG products which is 31.1% and simplifying the procedure for registration and certification.

Commerce Minister informed Uzbek Minister that existence of Non-Tariff Barriers such as import quotas and licensing, price and foreign exchange control, complex customs and administrative procedures, harsh sanitary norms and outright border closures have also been limiting inter-regional trade. Minister of Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan informed that Uzbek Government was seriously working to liberalise and simplify various procedures, systems and norms and expressed the hope that most of difficulties faced by exporters would get resolved shortly.

Commerce Minister requested Uzbek Minister to simplify procedure for granting visa to Indian business men and tourists and expressed the hope that if visa issues are resolved, tourism will also receive impetus in both countries.
MoS Dr Jitendra Singh calls for indigenous 'StartUp' initiatives

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh has called for indigenous StartUp" initiatives.In his address after inaugurating the 3-day StartUp Expo 2017" at Pragati Maidan here today, Dr Jitendra Singh said Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modis StartUp" initiative has the capacity to open new avenues of employability.

At the same time, one can also serve the rich cultural and traditional heritage of India if we focus on StartUp" ventures through indigenous resources and means, he added. Citing example, Dr Jitendra Singh said, for instance, the pieces of artisan excellence prepared by some of the creators which are on display in the exhibition stall, were completed after several months of labour but could fetch very little on sale because of lack of value addition and partly lack of awareness. Other aspect of concern is that such streams of art were being kept alive by certain Gharanas" or Khandaans" but with the next generation youth opting for hi-tech professions, there is nobody to carry forward this original indigenous vocation, he lamented. Dr Jitendra Singh stated that just as in Northeast, the Ministry of DoNER has taken the initiative of offering Venture Capital Fund" to any young StartUp" who wishes to set up a unit in one of the North-Eastern States, similarly the respective State Governments could also come forward with certain specific and exclusive incentives for youngsters who undertake StartUp" initiatives in the field or discipline which traditionally identifies with the culture and heritage of that particular State. Uttar Pradesh Industry Minister Shri Satish Mahana and Chairman MMTC (Mineral & Metal Trade Corporation) Shri Rajnish Goenka also spoke on the occasion.
Rt. Honourable Mr. Sher Bahadur Deuba, the Prime Minister of Nepal, called on the President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, at Rashtrapati Bhavan today (August 24, 2017). .

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Welcoming the Nepalese Prime Minister, the President congratulated him on becoming the Prime Minister of Nepal for the 4th time. He expressed happiness that the Prime Minister of Nepal is the first foreign dignitary to stay in Rashtrapati Bhavan during his Presidency, and thanked Mr. Deuba for accepting his invitation. .

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The President congratulated the Government and people of Nepal for successfully conducting two phases of local elections. He also conveyed his best wishes for the conduct of the upcoming provincial and federal elections in Nepal. .

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The President of India condoled the loss of lives and destruction of property during recent floods in Nepal. He said the Government and people of India were committed to stand by Nepal. .

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The President expressed satisfaction on the state of India-Nepal relations which have seen eight high level visits in the past three years. He said that India-Nepal relations derive their strength from a shared history, common culture, trade links and an open border. This is symbolised by the national" treatment both countries give to each others citizens. India is looking forward to expanding its economic and development cooperation with Nepal, as per Nepals national priorities. .

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The President expressed happiness at the large number of Nepalese students studying in India. He emphasised that the Government of India provides several scholarships to Nepalese students, and they are always welcome in India. .

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Union Home Minister addresses 9th meeting of Heads of Government authorities of SCO Member States dealing with the prevention and elimination of emergency situation in Kyrgyz Republic Shri Rajnath Singh also holds bilateral meetings with Russian and Kyrgyz Ministers

A high level Indian delegation headed by the Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh is participating in the 9th meeting of Heads of Government authorities of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Member States dealing with the prevention and elimination of emergency situation in Ata city of the Kyrgyz Republic.While making the opening statement at the SCO meeting, Union Home Minister expressed gratitude to all Member states of the SCO for their support for India's membership. He said that India's membership of SCO would take our cooperation to greater heights and this will improve our cooperation in combating emergencies. The Minister said that we have enhanced our technical capabilities in forecasting and monitoring natural hazards and India would cooperate extensively in further consolidation of SCO as an effective regional platform. He further said that we are committed to step up our coordinated efforts to counter common challenges and threats and to deepen cooperation in various spheres. He highlighted Indias role in International Cooperation such as the recent Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in New Delhi and spoke in detail on India Initiative of forming a coalition on risk resilient infrastructure.Shri Rajnath Singh also moved a proposal to organise a Joint Urban Earthquake Search and Rescue exercise to improve collective preparedness.

Along with this India offers to host the next meeting of SCO Head of Departments dealing with Disaster Prevention in 2019. Both the proposals moved by the Union Home Minister were accepted unanimously by all the members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). On the sidelines of the SCO Meet, Shri Rajnath Singh held bilateral meeting with Mr. Vladimir Puchkov, Minister of the Russian Federation for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Natural Disasters. The meeting took place in an atmosphere of mutual understanding and constructiveness and it was mutually agreed to intensify the cooperation in the field of Disaster Management in order to minimize the risk we face due to increased frequency of natural calamities. Home Minister also had bilateral meeting with Kyrgyz Republic's Minister for Emergency Situations, Mr. Kubatbek Boronov. India and Kyrgyzstan have agreed to increase cooperation and share learning outcomes with each other on emergency situations. Yesterday, Shri Kamal Kishore, Member, NDMA had attended the Expert Committee Meeting on coordination of draft of final document in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic.
The British government has outlined its vision for what role the European Court of Justice will play after Brexit. As speculated, its position papers outlining this vision state that it wants to end the ECJs direct jurisdiction in the UK.
The United States and Mexico have shared their current border for nearly 170 years. Today they cooperate at multiple levels on issues that affect the border region, although you would not know it from the divisive rhetoric that we hear in both countries. President Trumps focus on building a border wall threatens to undermine many bi-national initiatives, as well as our shared natural environment.
Qatar's imports recovered only slightly in July after plunging in June, government data released on Thursday showed, suggesting the country's is still suffering from sanctions imposed by other Gulf states.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain cut diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar on June 5, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism, which it denies.

The closure of the Saudi border with Qatar and disruption to shipping routes via the UAE slashed Qatar's imports by 37.9 per cent in June compared with May, forcing Doha to scramble to arrange new shipping routes and import some goods by air.

Thursday's figures showed Qatar is still far from restoring its imports to normal. Imports recovered by only 6.3 per cent month-on-month to 6.24 billion riyals ($1.71 billion) in July; they were 35 per cent below their level in July 2016.

Much of the disruption appears to be to big-ticket items. Imports of aircraft parts were down 40.5 per cent from a year ago at 292 million riyals in July. The diplomatic crisis has deprived Qatar Airways of two of its biggest markets, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Incoming shipments of equipment and building materials for Qatar's big infrastructure projects may also have slowed in some cases. Imports of gas turbines dropped 19.8 per cent from a year ago to 328 million riyals.

Many dairy products and other perishable foods used to be imported across the Saudi border. Although there are no reports of food shortages in Qatar, disruption to imports appears to be pushing up food and drink prices, which rose 4.2 per cent in July from June, data released last week showed.

Thursday's trade figures suggested the sanctions are not affecting Qatar's natural gas exports  July exports of petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons rose 7.8 per cent from a year ago  and are no longer slowing other exports much.

As a result, Qatar's trade surplus expanded 78.1 per cent from a year earlier to 11.91 billion riyals in July, although it edged down 4.8 per cent from the previous month.

Analysts think the sanctions damage should ease in coming months as new shipping routes develop. Qatar Navigation launched a direct Qatar-Turkey service this week after starting a container service to Kuwait last week; construction of a food processing and storage facility at Qatar's Hamad Port received $440 million of bank financing this week.

A Reuters poll of analysts published last month found them still expecting the Qatari to be one of the region's strongest performers in 2017 and 2018.
As lead engineer for Incs smart-home technology, Andrew Burks spent a lot of time with entrepreneurs working on thermostats, lights and other products that can be controlled via smartphone. One day he visited Otto, a San Francisco startup building a digital door lock. Burks was blown away by what he saw and before long had joined the Otto team, which at one point was mostly comprised of alums.
Donald Trump surprised audiences with his announcement that he plans to expand the US military intervention in Afghanistan, without setting an end date. This is a turnaround from Trumps own campaign rhetoric and Barack Obamas previous goal of dialling back the USs military campaign  but on a more fundamental level, its a return to business as usual.
President Trump has widened an extraordinary rift with his own party, as he threatened a government shutdown over his long-promised border wall and attacked key lawmakers whose votes he needs heading into a crucial legislative period.
President Trump deserves high marks for his new Afghanistan strategy. It is bold, reasoned and offers the prospect of success against the violent Islamist groups of the region. But it will also face opposition in the region. The president will have to show an unflagging commitment to the cause and be prepared to respond to moves by adversaries to disrupt his plan.
declined by up to 71 per cent over the last four weeks on a sharp increase in arrivals following farmers attempts to harvest the half-ripened vegetable to cash in on the spurt.

The price of fresh tomato in the Mumbai wholesale slumped to Rs 22 a kg on Thursday from Rs 75 a kg a month ago. Prices fell by over 18 per cent in the Delhi wholesale mandi to trade at Rs 35 a kg from Rs 42.5 a kg on July 24.

Prices of tomato and onion and other green vegetables had spiked in the middle of July due to heavy rainfall.

Farmers across the country have started harvesting the pre-matured crop. Tomato farmers have increased supply from Karnataka, Telangana and Gujarat. Supply from Maharashtra has also started, said Shri Ram Gadhave, president, Vegetables Grower Association of India.

had hit a record Rs 100 in retail markets, which prompted the government to call for a contingency plan. Farmers were asked to bring in their early harvested crop for better realisation.

Early this year, farmers dumped a huge quantity of tomato on roads and also left some of the crop unharvested as realisation dipped to Rs 1 a kg. Large farmers and stockists failed to store the commodity in cold storages, resulting in a shortage in July.

Tomato supply has started coming in from all across the country. Farmers in Maharashtra have also reported a huge quantity of harvest of pre-matured crop, said an official with the Agricultural Produce Committee (APMC), Vashi, near Mumbai. Half-ripened tomato is being sold at Rs 20-22 a kg in wholesale .

The agriculture ministry projects Indias tomato output at 19.69 million tonnes in 2016-17 (July-June), up from 18.73 million tonnes in the previous year.

Onion traded at Rs 17 a kg in the Lasalgaon mandi on Thursday, a decline of 31 per cent from its recent peak of Rs 24.50 a kg on August 10. To prevent a further price rise, Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan had recommended a minimum export price and stock limits on onion.

Indias onion output is projected at 21.56 million tonnes in 2016-17, up from 20.93 million tonnes a year ago.

Ajit Shah, president of the Horticulture Exporters Association, however, sees no major exports happening at the current price of onion.

According to the National Horticulture Research and Development Foundation, Indias onion exports tripled to 3.49 million tonnes in 2016-17 from 1.11 million tonnes in the previous year.
In a quick reaction to the Supreme Court ruling on the Right to Privacy, the Congress on Thursday said the verdict is a blow to the "creeping advances" of those who want to convert India into a "fascist police state".

Taking to the social media, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala hailed the judgement as a 'path breaking and seminal judgement' of the Supreme Court.

"Rejects Modi Govt's attempt to whittle down the right to privacy as a fundamental right by AG's plea of no mention in Constitution," he said in a series of tweets.

Echoing similar sentiment, while talking to ANI, Surjewala said this is the first such decision taken in the interest of the rights of an individual.

"The decision to give right to privacy a status of being a fundamental right is historic as well as path converter. This is the first such big decision taken in the interest of the rights of an individual. The Congress welcomes this verdict. We welcome this decision as this is the biggest decision on freedom of an individual," he added.

Addressing the media after the apex court's verdict, Congress leader and former union minister P. Chidambaram said today we can once again celebrate our freedom as this verdict is a setback to the government.

"Article 21 is the right to life and liberty. Any corrosion of that should be fought. Privacy is the core of personal liberty. Privacy is an inalienable part of life itself. Today we can once again celebrate our freedom. This verdict is a setback to the government," he told the media here.

Chidambaram further said that there is no fault in the Aadhar concept, but a fault in how this government plans to use or misuse the Aadhar as a tool.

"The Aadhar we (Congress) thought is completely compatible with the Right to Privacy. Aadhar in itself is not inconsistent with the Right to Privacy, it is the current government's interpretation that is not correct," he said, adding, "it is the interpretation of this government of the Article 21 which is an invasion of Right To Privacy."

Chidambaram also took to Twitter to react on the verdict.

The Supreme Court today overruled the M.P. Sharma (1962) and Kharak Singh (1954) judgement and held that the Right to Privacy is a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, in an unanimous decision (of the nine-judge bench).

The verdict was given as soon as the nine-judge Constitution bench of the apex court resumed the hearing on the case on Thursday morning.

Following this, a five-judge constitutional bench will decide whether the Aadhar violates the Right to Privacy or not.

The Supreme Court, earlier on August 2, had reserved its judgement over the issue of whether right to privacy is fundamental or not.

On July 26, the Centre told the apex court that there is a fundamental right to privacy, which is a 'wholly qualified right' too.

The Centre made this submission before the nine-judge Constitution bench.

Attorney General, K.K. Venugopal told the apex court that "privacy, as a fundamental right, could have been mentioned in Article 21, but has been omitted. Right to life transcends right to privacy".

In special circumstances, the government can interfere in a matter that comes under a wholly qualified right. An absolute right cannot be reduced or amended.

Earlier on July 20, all the petitioners had completed their argument in the apex court. The petitioners contested that the twelve-digit biometric unique identification card raises privacy threat.

On June 10, the top court had ruled that from July 1 onward, every person eligible to obtain Aadhar card must quote their Aadhaar number or their Aadhaar Enrolment ID number for filing of Income Tax Returns as well as for applications for Permanent Account Number (PAN).

The Income Tax Department has stepped up its efforts to encourage people to link their PAN with Aadhar.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hailing the landmark judgement of the Supreme Court given on Thursday upholding the Right to Privacy as "a fundamental right", former law minister Ashwani Kumar said he is 'proud' at the verdict announced by the court.

Speaking to ANI, the Congress leader said, "I feel proud that the Supreme Court has kept faith with the Constitution morality and aspiration of the people of India."

"I had no doubt in my mind that the only logical conclusion for the Supreme Court to reach in this case was to hold that the right to privacy was a fundamental right," he added.

Commenting further, Kumar said, "The Right to Privacy has been derived from Article 21 of the Indian Constitution and if we were to look at the past issues of the Supreme Court, in an expansive interpretation of Article 21, the Supreme Court has continuously enlarged the domain of human rights and that is why India's Constitution jurisprudence is sighted in many countries of the world as very progressive."

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court overruled the M.P. Sharma (1962) and Kharak Singh (1954) judgement and held that the Right to Privacy is a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, in an unanimous decision (of the nine-judge bench).

The verdict was given as soon as the nine-judge Constitution bench of the apex court resumed the hearing on the case on Thursday morning.

Following this, a five-judge constitutional bench will decide whether the Aadhar violates the Right to Privacy or not.

The Supreme Court, earlier on August 2, had reserved its judgement over the issue of whether right to privacy is fundamental or not.

On July 26, the Centre told the apex court that there is a fundamental right to privacy, which is a 'wholly qualified right' too.

The Centre made this submission before the nine-judge Constitution bench.

Attorney General, K.K. Venugopal told the apex court that "privacy, as a fundamental right, could have been mentioned in Article 21, but has been omitted. Right to life transcends right to privacy".

In special circumstances, the government can interfere in a matter that comes under a wholly qualified right. An absolute right cannot be reduced or amended.

Earlier on July 20, all the petitioners had completed their argument in the apex court. The petitioners contested that the twelve-digit biometric unique identification card raises privacy threat.

On June 10, the top court had ruled that from July 1 onward, every person eligible to obtain Aadhar card must quote their Aadhaar number or their Aadhaar Enrolment ID number for filing of Income Tax Returns as well as for applications for Permanent Account Number (PAN).

The Income Tax Department has stepped up its efforts to encourage people to link their PAN with Aadhar.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India and Nepal on Thursday held delegation-level talks at New Delhi's Hyderabad House to further enhancing the ties between the two sides.

Earlier, ahead of delegation level talks, Nepal's Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba held bilateral talks with his counterpart Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj respectively in the national capital.

Deuba asked Prime Minster Modi to "support Nepal more" for development plans and to build more trust and understanding to expand the relations between two nations.

He said Nepal has historical relations with India and his visit is to enhance the partnership for the overall development of Nepal and consolidate the relations between the two countries.

"India has played an important part in our development efforts and we request Prime Minister Modi to support us more for development plans and first to build trust and understanding to expand our relations," Deuba said even as he was accorded a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here today.

The Nepal Prime Minister also paid floral tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat today. He was accompanied by his wife Arzu Rana Deuba.

Before that, he received a ceremonial welcome and guard of honour at the courts of Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

In a special warm gesture, Prime Minister Modi received his Nepalese counterpart Deuba at his residence, in an unscheduled meeting Wednesday afternoon.

The Nepal Prime Minister, who is on a five-day visit to India, on Wednesday attended a programme in the Nepali Embassy where he addressed the Nepali community in India and business event organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

Nepal Prime Minister Deuba, who is on a five-day state visit to India, landed in New Delhi on Wednesday afternoon.

He will also be inaugurating the electricity transmission line to Nepal from India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India and Nepal on Thursday signed multiple Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) to strengthen cooperation in various spheres,k following delegation level talks between the two sides.

Nepal's Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi witnessed the exchange of MoUs between the two sides.

The following MoUs were signed between India and Nepal:

1. MoU for Utilisation of India's Housing Grant Component to support reconstruction of 50,000 houses

2. MoU on implementation of reconstruction package in the education sector in Nepal

3. MoU on implementation of reconstruction package in the Cultural Heritage sector in Nepal

4. MoU on implementation of reconstruction package in the Health sector in Nepal

5. MoU on agreement on cooperation in the field of standardization and conformity assessment

6. MoU for implementation arrangement on cost sharing, schedules and safeguard issues for construction of Mechi Bridge

7. MoU on Drug demand reduction and prevention of illicit trafficking in Narcotic drugs, Psychotropic substances and precursor chemical and related matters

8. MoU between the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal

Earlier, India and Nepal held delegation-level talks at New Delhi's Hyderabad House to further enhancing the ties between the two sides.

Ahead of delegation level talks, Nepal's Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba held bilateral talks with his counterpart Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj respectively in the capital.

Deuba asked Prime Minster Modi to "support Nepal more" for development plans and to build more trust and understanding to expand the relations between two nations.

He said Nepal has historical relations with India and his visit is to enhance the partnership for the overall development of Nepal and consolidate the relations between the two countries.

"India has played an important part in our development efforts and we request Prime Minister Modi to support us more for development plans and first to build trust and understanding to expand our relations," Deuba said even as he was accorded a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here today.

The Nepal Prime Minister also paid floral tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat today. He was accompanied by his wife Arzu Rana Deuba.

Before that, he received a ceremonial welcome and guard of honour at the courts of Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

In a special gesture, Prime Minister Modi received his Nepalese counterpart Deuba at his residence, in an unscheduled meeting Wednesday afternoon.

The Nepal Prime Minister, who is on a five-day visit to India, on Wednesday attended a programme in the Nepali Embassy where he addressed the Nepali community in India and business event organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

Nepal Prime Minister Deuba, who is on a five-day state visit to India, landed in New Delhi on Wednesday afternoon.

He will also be inaugurating the electricity transmission line to Nepal from India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Internet and mobile phone services have been suspended for 72 hours in Punjab, Haryana and Union Territory Chandigarh as the situation has aggravated ahead of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court's verdict in the 15-year-old rape case against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

Talking to the media here, Haryana Additional Chief Secretary Ram Niwas said, "A notification has been issued to suspend mobile internet and data services in Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh for 72 hours."

Niwas apprised that 53 companies of paramilitary forces from the CG and 50000 personnel of Haryana Police have been deployed.

"Maximum companies are deployed in Panchkula. 18 companies will be recruited till the evening. Apart from this, we have deployed local police as well," Niwas added.

In addition, army has also been alerted.

"There are blockades from all the sides. We will make sure to sanitize the core-sensitive areas and in those areas there will be no unauthorized entry," he continued.

The Haryana Additional Chief Secretary further informed that the administration is asked to take stringent action possible if someone tries to break the law.

"We have installed drone cameras. The administration has all the equipment to deal with any situation," he added.

The Ludhiana Police Commissioner RN Dhoke also met the executives of Dera and they have promised that they will keep peace and calm on August 25 whatever the court's verdict maybe.

Niwas said that it has also been decided that the Ministry of Railways would be requested to immediately stop all passenger trains coming to Chandigarh for two days.

22 trains to Punjab and 7 to Haryana have been cancelled.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Jerry Seinfeld is heading to Netflix.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the acclaimed stand-up comedian and the creator of 'Seinfeld' signed a massive deal with the streaming giant in January that included two stand-up specials and 24 new episodes of his Emmy-nominated talk show 'Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee'.

The deal, which will also see old episodes of 'Comedians' moving from Crackle to Netflix, kicks off later this year.

Also, the streaming giant has slated Seinfeld's first stand-up special for the streamer to launch worldwide Tuesday, September 19.

As part of the release date announcement, Netflix on Tuesday unveiled several videos from the special on Instagram, as well as up-close looks at Seinfeld's material.

The hourlong special, titled 'Jerry Before Seinfeld', will see the comedian return to New York City's famed The Comic Strip, the club that helped launch his career.

The set will be interspersed with never-before-seen material, including an extensive library of legal pads containing every joke Seinfeld has written since 1975 as well as childhood videos.

As part of his set, Seinfeld will perform the jokes that helped ignite his career.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least one person died, while another was injured, as a speeding truck smashed into five cars and a bike standing at Jogeshwari Vicroly Link Road red light, on Wednesday late night.

At about 11:45 p.m. on Wednesday, an uncontrollable truck hit five cars and one bike standing at the signal, and while the car driver was injured, the bike rider died.

However, after the accident the truck driver managed to escape, but the cleaner of the truck was captured and taken into custody by the police.

The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) Police Station has since filed a case of rush driving against the driver and are investigating for further information.

According to the police reports, the injured person is undergoing treatment in the nearby hospital.

The MIDC Police said that the vehicles were standing at a red signal near gate number 3 of the Jogeshwari Vikroli Link Road and said that it was raining heavily.

They further said that the truck was already at a very high speed, but due to the slope, the truck got faster and while the driver tried to apply brakes, it did not slow down and the cars and a bike standing on the front signal were hit hard.

The injured were rushed to the nearby hospital, and the bike rider died during the treatment there.

According to the injured driver, the collision was so 'sharp' that the two cars standing literally turned around.

The locals claim that due to the absence of a speed breaker, such accidents keep on happening in the area.

The police are interrogating and investigating for further details.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Top rabbis have denied holding an annual conference call with U.S. President Donald Trump due to his response to the violence at a Charlottesville, Va., white supremacist rally.

The Hill reported that "the Rabbis from four main Jewish organizations said on Wednesday that they won't hold the annual call with the president to mark the upcoming Jewish holidays because they found his reaction to Charlottesville was "lacking in moral leadership and empathy."

"We have concluded that President Trump's statements during and after the tragic events in Charlottesville are so lacking in moral leadership and empathy for the victims of racial and religious hatred that we cannot organize such a call this year," The Hill quoted the rabbis' statement as saying.

"The President's words have given succor to those who advocate anti-Semitism, racism, and xenophobia," they wrote.

"Responsibility for the violence that occurred in Charlottesville, including the death of Heather Heyer, does not lie with many sides but with one side: the Nazis, alt-right and white supremacists who brought their hate to a peaceful community. They must be roundly condemned at all levels".

The rabbis representing groups like the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the Rabbinical Assembly said that they pray president Trump "will recognize and remedy the grave error he has made in abetting the voices of hatred."

The Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism also signed on to the statement, The Hill reported.

Trump is facing major backlash after he blamed "both sides" for the violence in Charlottesville.

One person was killed and many others injured while protesting a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville on August 12 when a car was driven into counter protesters at the rally. Shortly thereafter, Trump said there were many sides to what happened at the event and that there were good people on both sides. His comments were almost universally condemned.

"What about the alt-left that came charging at the - as you say, the alt-right?" Trump said in response to the violence.

"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.

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Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is chairing a high-level meet with powerful Pakistani generals and political leaders at his residence to formulate an appropriate "detailed reply" to U.S. policy on Afghanistan and President Donald Trump's accusation of Pakistan being a "safe haven" for terrorists.

PM Abbasi is yet to respond to the shift in U.S. stance as President Trump has criticized Pakistan for harboring militant groups, including Haqqani network and using it against a U.S.-backed government in Kabul, asking Islamabad to promptly change the approach or United States will impose sanctions on terror groups or will carry out air raids on terror groups inside Pakistan.

Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee Zubair Hayat, Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Air Chief ACM Sohail Aman, and Naval Chief Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah are among those in attendance in the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting.

U.S. Ambassador David Hale called on General Qamar Javed Bajwa to brief him on the new South Asia policy of the US.

"We are not looking for any material or financial assistance from the US, but trust, understanding and an acknowledgement of our contributions,"the Dawn quoted army chief as saying.

Ambassador David Hale also met Khawaja Asif and told him that US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will discuss the bilateral relationship between the two countries and the US's South Asia policy in greater detail.

During the meeting, Asif had reiterated Pakistan's desire for peace in Afghanistan and told the ambassador that he had accepted the invitation extended to him by Tillerson last week and looked forward to interactions with Washington.

"We have been paying Pakistan billions and billions of dollars at the same time they are housing the very terrorists that we are fighting," Trump had said in his speech on Monday night.

He demanded that Pakistan should "stop offering safe haven to agents of chaos" as he presented his policy for the 16-year-long war in Afghanistan in his first formal address as the commander-in-chief.

While inviting India to provide more economic assistance and development to Afghanistan, Trump discarded his previous criticism of America's longest war as "a waste of time and money".

After Trump's allegations against Pakistan for allegedly harbouring terrorists, China and Saudi Arabia have come to the country's defence in separate statements and asked that the acknowledge Pakistan's contribution in the fight against terrorism.

After a meeting with PM Abbasi on Wednesday, Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman Al Saud acknowledged Pakistan's efforts and sacrifices in its resolute fight against terrorism.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying had asserted that Pakistan was on the front line in the struggle against terrorism and had made "great sacrifices" and "important contributions" in the fight.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton has criticised President Donald Trump by saying that the President continues to divide the country.

The Mayor was commenting on Trump's speech in Phoenix rally on Tuesday.

Citing Stanton's interview to MSNBC, CNN quoted Mayor as saying that "Trump's speech was 'unfortunate' and "it wasn't the right time for a campaign rally here".

"It's very unfortunate what occurred last night with regard to the President's speech. The President failed to show real moral leadership after (the Charlottesville protests). His words tended to divide the country, not unite the country."

"Unfortunately, the President last night gave a speech that did continue to divide this country. He did nothing to unite this country," CNN reported Stanton as saying.

GOP Arizona Treasurer Jeff DeWit, who's considering challenging GOP Sen. Jeff Flake for his seat, felt differently about Trump's visit.

He told Fox News on Wednesday that the media has been unfair to Trump, especially after the Charlottesville, Virginia, protests.

"The media is treating President Trump very unfairly," he said. "But the one thing he has that I think drives the media crazy is he has Twitter and also the big rallies."

On Wednesday, Trump tweeted about the rally, "Phoenix crowd last night was amazing - a packed house. I love the Great State of Arizona.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that India is fully committed to increase its partnership in the development of Nepal.

"Keeping in mind the priorities of Nepal, India is fully committed to increase its partnership in the development of Nepal," Prime Minister Modi said in a joint statement with his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba.

"Had a positive meeting reviewing the gamut of our partnership," he said.

He also said that the two sides are working together in different dimensions of their economic partnership.

Speaking about floods in Nepal, Prime Minister Modi said that India has repeatedly proposed every possible assistance to Kathmandu in this natural calamity.

"I believe that our discussion of today and the agreements we have agreed upon, will run a new energy in our bilateral relations," he said.

India and Nepal on Thursday signed multiple Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) to strengthen cooperation in various spheres, following delegation level talks between the two sides.

Nepal's Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi witnessed the exchange of MoUs between the two sides.

The two leaders also jointly inaugurated the Kataiya- Kusaha and Raxaul-Parwanipur cross border power transmission lines.

The following MoUs were signed between India and Nepal:

1. MoU for Utilisation of India's Housing Grant Component to support reconstruction of 50,000 houses

2. MoU on implementation of reconstruction package in the education sector in Nepal

3. MoU on implementation of reconstruction package in the Cultural Heritage sector in Nepal

4. MoU on implementation of reconstruction package in the Health sector in Nepal

5. MoU on agreement on cooperation in the field of standardization and conformity assessment

6. MoU for implementation arrangement on cost sharing, schedules and safeguard issues for construction of Mechi Bridge

7. MoU on Drug demand reduction and prevention of illicit trafficking in Narcotic drugs, Psychotropic substances and precursor chemical and related matters

8. MoU between the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal

Earlier, India and Nepal held delegation-level talks at New Delhi's Hyderabad House to further enhancing the ties between the two sides.

Ahead of delegation level talks, Nepal's Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba held bilateral talks with his counterpart Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj respectively in the national capital.

Deuba asked Prime Minster Modi to "support Nepal more" for development plans and to build more trust and understanding to expand the relations between two nations.

He said Nepal has historical relations with India and his visit is to enhance the partnership for the overall development of Nepal and consolidate the relations between the two countries.

"India has played an important part in our development efforts and we request Prime Minister Modi to support us more for development plans and first to build trust and understanding to expand our relations," Deuba said even as he was accorded a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here today.

The Nepal Prime Minister also paid floral tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat today. He was accompanied by his wife Arzu Rana Deuba.

Before that, he received a ceremonial welcome and guard of honour at the courts of Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

In a special gesture, Prime Minister Modi received his Nepalese counterpart Deuba at his residence, in an unscheduled meeting Wednesday afternoon.

The Nepal Prime Minister, who is on a five-day visit to India, on Wednesday attended a programme in the Nepali Embassy where he addressed the Nepali community in India and business event organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

Nepal Prime Minister Deuba, who is on a five-day state visit to India, landed in New Delhi on Wednesday afternoon.

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Ahead of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court's verdict in the 15-year-old rape case against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, over one lakh followers of his have requested him to not attend court on August 25.

Amidst the protests, Ram Rahim took to Twitter on Thursday to urge his followers to maintain peace, and said that he would comply with the law and attend the court.

"I have always respected the judiciary. Although I have a back pain, but in compliance with the law, I will surely attend the court. I have utmost faith in God. Please all maintain peace," Gurmeet Ram Rahim shared his Facebook post on Twitter.

As a precautionary measure against protests by the Dera followers, who call themselves 'Premis', the Punjab Government has imposed Section 144 across the entire state with immediate effect, and shut all schools and colleges till August 25.

As per the orders of MD, PEPSU Road Transport Corporation (PRTC), buses will not move from August 24 noon till August 26 night in Bathinda, Budhlada, Sangrur and Barnala Depot, and all four of these depots will be converted into Police Control Rooms.

The 'Premis' convened a block-level meeting after their buses were sent back, and have now decided to commute in public transports in numbers of three and five.

Police officers, prison commissioners, fire brigade, and health departments are abstained from taking leave.

Almost 306 gazette officers have been given the power to exercise discretion to abate emergency circumstances, among which 40 are from Bathinda, 50 from Sangrur, and 37 from Patiala.

Owing to the current agitation, 15 wedding ceremonies in Bathinda alone have been postponed, and more than 100 in Marwa.

According to the statement issued by Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh's office, a complete ban has been issued on carrying of firearms until the situation normalises.

The Chief Minister has also ordered the withdrawal of 1000 police personnel from VVIP security for deployment on field duty to strengthen the security blanket in the state, said an official spokesperson.

The Centre sanctioned an additional 10 companies of paramilitary forces to maintain law and order in the state.

Moreover, a total of 85 central companies along with thousands of policemen on the ground are to maintain a tight vigil, especially in the vulnerable areas of Moga, Bathinda, Sangrur, Barnala, Patiala and Ludhiana.

The Chief Minister has asked the police officials to fan out across the sensitive districts to ensure that there is no disruption of the law and order in the state in view of the impending order.

Security has been tightened along the state's borders with Haryana, as well as the connecting roads to prevent any incursions, the spokesperson stated.

The Chief Minister has ordered senior officers to personally monitor the situation on the ground, with the DGP visiting the various sensitive districts to review the preparations ahead of the verdict in the sensitive case.

He also ordered the DGP intelligence to ensure strict monitoring of social media and effectively thwart any attempts by rumour mongers to spread unrest.

The police have seized five walkie-talkies from suspected Dera followers and are moving to identify the various locations suspected to be housing dangerous weapons of any kind.

Captain Amarinder Singh has meanwhile once again appealed to the people to maintain peace at all costs and not to get provoked by elements trying to disrupt the state's law and order.

The godman was accused with rape charges of a female devotee in 1999. The CBI took over the investigation in 2002. On 17 August, the special CBI court of Panchkula concluded hearing in the case but reserved pronouncing the verdict for 25 August.

For the August 17 hearing, Singh was recused from appearing in person at Panchkula by the court. The Dera chief had cited medical reasons for not attending court in person.

The case was registered by the CBI in 2002 against the self-styled godman after allegations of sexual exploitation of two women followers through anonymous letters.

The hearing has been going on since 2007.

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The United States Navy 7th Fleet on Thursday said the remains found by the Royal Malaysian Navy are not those of a missing sailor from the US destroyer collision.

The US Navy in a statement clarified that the finding was made after medical examinations of the remains, which will be returned to Malaysian authorities, the Straits Times reported.

The Malaysian Navy had discovered the remains of the sailors on Tuesday while searching the area where the guided-missile destroyer, USS John S. McCain, collided with the merchant vessel Alnic MC in Singapore waters on Monday.

The U.S. Navy Chief has said that there is no indication that Monday's collision of the US Navy, guided USS John S McCain with a merchant ship Alnic MC in waters east of Singapore was intentional.

Earlier, the US Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson said that there was no indication as of yet if the warship collision in the Pacific was intentional.

According to the Hill, "When asked if he had any reason to believe the crash was intentional on either side, including cyber or electronic meddling, Richardson said it was "certainly something we are giving full consideration to."

"We have no indication that that's the case, yet. We're looking at every possibility so we're not leaving anything to chance," the Hill quoted Richardson as saying.

The U.S. Navy has ordered an operational pause of its fleets globally and a wide-ranging review of the U.S. Pacific-based 7th Fleet post the warship's collision.

The examination should seek the root causes of the collision, said Richardson, in a video posted on the U.S. Navy's official Twitter account.

At least ten US sailors are missing and five others have been injured in Monday's warship collision.

It was the second U.S. destroyer involved in a collision in the past two months.

In June, the USS Fitzgerald collided with a container ship in waters off Japan, leaving seven sailors dead.

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New Delhi [India], Aug 24, (ANI): The old order changeth yielding place to new. This is the call of today. In an era where there are wide, varied, social and cultural norms and more so in a country like ours which prides itself on its diversity, privacy is one of the most 44 important rights to be protected both against State and non-State actors and be recognized as a fundamental right.

The nine-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court said in its judgement declaring right to privacy is "intrinsic to life and liberty" and an inherent part of the fundamental freedom enshrined in Part III of the Constitution on Thursday.

The court has overruled its own eight-judge Bench and six-judge Bench judgments of M.P. Sharma and Kharak Singh delivered in 1954 and 1961, respectively, that privacy is not protected under the Constitution. Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar stated this while reading out the common conclusion arrived at by the nine judges on the Bench.

The judgement by a nine-judge Bench gains international significance as privacy enjoys a robust legal framework internationally, though India has remained circumspect.

The judgment would finally reconcile our laws with the spirit of Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 and Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), 1966, which legally protects persons against the "arbitrary interference" with one's privacy, family, home, correspondence, honour and reputation.

Here are the major highlights of the landmark judgement you must know:

-The right of privacy is a fundamental right.

- It is a right which protects the inner sphere of the individual from interference from both State, and non-State actors and allows the individuals to make autonomous life choices.

- It was rightly expressed on behalf of the petitioners that the technology has made it possible to enter a citizen's house without knocking at his/her door and this is equally possible both by the State and non-State actors.

- It is an individual's choice as to who enters his house, how he lives and in what relationship.

- The privacy of the home must protect the family, marriage, procreation and sexual orientation which are all important aspects of dignity.

- If the individual permits someone to enter the house it does not mean that others can enter the house.

- The only check and balance is that it should not harm the other individual or affect his or her rights. This applies both to the physical form and to technology.

- In an era where there are wide, varied, social and cultural norms and more so in a country like ours which prides itself on its diversity, privacy is one of the most 44 important rights to be protected both against State and non-State actors and be recognized as a fundamental right.

- How it works out in its inter-play with other fundamental rights and when such restrictions would become necessary would depend on the factual matrix of each case.

- That it may give rise to more litigation can hardly be the reason not to recognize this important, natural, primordial right as a fundamental right.

- In the challenge laid to Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code before the Delhi High Court, one of the grounds of challenge was that the said provision amounted to an infringement of the right to dignity and privacy.

- The Delhi High Court, inter alia, observed that the right to live with dignity and the right of privacy both are recognized as dimensions of Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

- The view of the High Court, however did not find 32 (2014) 1 SCC 1 favour with the Supreme Court and it was observed that only a miniscule fraction of the country's population constitutes lesbians, gays, bisexuals or transgenders and thus, there cannot be any basis for declaring the Section ultra virus of provisions of Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution.

- The matter did not rest at this, as the issue of privacy and dignity discussed by the High Court was also observed upon.

- The sexual orientation even within the four walls of the house thus became an aspect of debate.

- Right of privacy cannot be denied, even if there is a miniscule fraction of the population (lesbians, gays, bisexuals or transgenders) which is affected.

- The majoritarian concept does not apply to Constitutional rights and the Courts are often called up on to take what may be categorized as a non-majoritarian view, in the check and balance of power envisaged under the Constitution of India.

- Ones sexual orientation is undoubtedly an attribute of privacy.

The nine-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, while delivering the verdict, also noted the observations made in Mosley vs. News Group Papers Ltd. Saying that it may be usefully referred to in a broader concept. The bench mentioned it in its order as following:

130. It is not simply a matter of personal privacy versus the public interest. The modern perception is that there is a public interest in respecting personal privacy.

It is thus a question of taking account of conflicting public interest considerations and evaluating them according to increasingly well recognized criteria.

131. When the courts identify an infringement of a person's Article 8 rights, and in particular in the context of his freedom to conduct his sex life and personal relationships as he wishes, it is right to afford a remedy and to vindicate that right. The only permitted exception is where there is a countervailing public interest which in the particular circumstances is strong enough to outweigh it; that is to say, because one at least of the established "limiting principles" comes into play. Was it necessary and proportionate for the intrusion to take place, for example, in order to expose illegal activity or to prevent the public from being significantly misled by public claims hitherto made by the individual concerned (as with Naomi Campbell's public denials of drug-taking)? Or was it necessary because the information, in the words of the Strasbourg court in Von Hannover at (60) and (76), would make a contribution to "a debate of general interest"? That is, of course, a very high test, it is yet to be determined how far that doctrine will be taken in the courts of this jurisdiction in relation to photography in public places. If taken literally, it would mean a very significant change in what is permitted. It would have a profound effect on the tabloid and celebrity culture to which we have become accustomed in recent years."

The bench, however said, "It is not necessary to delve into this issue further, other than in the context of privacy as that would be an issue to be debated before the appropriate Bench, the matter having been referred to a larger Bench".

Referring to the majority judgment in the case of ADM Jabalpur vs. Shivkant Shukla, the bench further said, "In the case of I.R. Coelho Vs. The State of Tamil Nadu, it was observed that the ADM Jabalpur case has been impliedly overruled and that the supervening event was the 44th Amendment to the Constitution, amending Article 359 of the Constitution".

"I fully agree with the view expressly overruling the ADM Jabalpur case which was an aberration in the constitutional jurisprudence of our country and the desirability of burying the majority opinion ten fathom deep, with no chance of resurrection," said the bench.

"Let the right of privacy, an inherent right, be unequivocally a fundamental right embedded in part-III of the Constitution of India, but subject to the restrictions specified, relatable to that part. This is the call of today. The old order changeth yielding place to new," concluded the judgement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An email has been unearthed by the Congressional investigators that revealed that United States President Donald Trump's campaign officials made an effort to arrange a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last year.

Special counsel Robert Mueller is leading the FBI's inquiry into Russia's meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and this new email will put President Trump into scrutiny.

President Trump's deputy chief of staff Rick Dearborn had sent a brief mail to the campaign officials last year relaying information about an individual who was seeking to connect top Trump officials with Putin, CNN reported.

The emails were part of a set of 20,000 that were turned over to Congress a few months ago as part of the investigation into alleged ties between the campaign team and Russia.

The person was only identified in the email as being from "WV," which one source said was a reference to West Virginia.

It's unclear who the individual is, what he or she was seeking, or whether Dearborn even acted on the request. One source said that the individual was believed to have had political connections in West Virginia, but details about the request and who initiated it remain vague.

The email was sent in June 2016 around the time when Trump Tower meeting took place where Russians having close with Putin government ties met with the president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., his son-in-law Jared Kushner as well as then-campaign chairman, Paul Manafort.

The group of Soviet-born individuals that top Trump campaign officials met last summer include a cast of characters:

Rinat Akhmetshin, a Soviet-born US citizen who has been tied to the same lobbying scrutiny, Rob Goldstone,Anatoli Samochornov, a translator who reportedly served as the interpreter for the meeting.

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A science envoy to the U.S. State Department on Wednesday resigned over President Donald Trump's response to a violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville.

The seven-paragraph resignation letter has a hidden message: IMPEACH, using the first letter of each paragraph.

In a resignation letter posted to Twitter, Daniel Kammen wrote that Trump's remarks about the racial violence in Virginia had attacked "core values of the United States" and that it would have "domestic and international ramifications".

He Tweeted: "Mr. President, I am resigning as Science Envoy. Your response to Charlottesville enables racism, sexism, & harms our country and planet."

Kammen, a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, was deeply troubled with how Trump seemingly failed to condemn Charlottesville violence.

Demonstrations by white supremacist groups on Aug. 12 turned deadly after a neo-Nazi plowed a car into a crowd, killing one counterprotester and injuring at least 19 other people in Charlottesville. Two Virginia state troopers were also killed when their helicopter crashed.

"My decision to resign is in response to your attacks on core values of the United States. Your failure to condemn white supremacists and neo-Nazis has domestic and international ramifications," Kammen wrote.

Kammen has worked with various federal agencies since 1996, including the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency. He was appointed as a science envoy last year by the State Department, under former President Barack Obama.

Trump set off a wave of criticism following the attack in Charlottesville when he said there was violence "on many sides."

At a rally Tuesday in Arizona, he defended his statement and blamed the media for causing the controversy.

In his letter, Kammen said some of Trump's earlier actions, like his decision in June to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement, further influenced his decision to quit.

"Particularly troubling to me is how your response to Charlottesville is consistent with a broader pattern of behavior that enables sexism and racism and disregards the welfare of all Americans, the global community and the planet," Kammen wrote.

"Your decision to abdicate the leadership opportunities and the job creation benefits of the Paris climate accord and to undermine energy and environmental research are not acceptable to me.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Key benchmark indices edged higher in early trade. At 9:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 42.27 points or 0.13% at 31,610.28. The Nifty 50 advanced 28.70 points or 0.29% at 9,881.20.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.07%, underperforming the Sensex. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.23%, outperforming the Sensex.

Overseas, Asian stocks witnessed a mixed trend. US stocks closed lower yesterday, 23 August 2017 after President Donald Trump said he would be willing to let the government shut down if his border wall isn't funded. Delivering a warning to Democratic lawmakers who have objected to his plans to construct a wall along the US-Mexico frontier, Trump called them obstructionists and said that it was time for the US to crack down on illegal immigration.

Meanwhile, the annual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium is scheduled tomorrow, 25 August 2017 in Wyoming. Representatives from the central banks of more than 40 countries will attend the annual gathering, hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

Closer home, the breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 610 shares rose and 279 shares declined. A total of 30 shares were unchanged.

Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 0.17% at Rs 1,584 after the company announced that it was allotted 2.52 crore shares, or 24.92% equity, of Balaji Telefilms on preferential basis at Rs 164 each on 22 August 2017. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 23 August 2017.

Lupin was up 1.07% at Rs 965.05 after the company announced the launch of its Quetiapine Fumarate Extended-Release Tablets, in multiple strengths having received an approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier. The announcement was made at the fag end of market hours yesterday, 23 August 2017.

Lupin's Quetiapine Fumarate Extended-Release Tablets are the AB rated generic equivalent of AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP's Seroquel Tablets. It is indicated for the treatment of schizophrenia; acute manic or mixed episodes in bipolar I disorder alone or as an adjunct to lithium or divalproex; acute depressive episodes in bipolar disorder; maintenance treatment of bipolar I disorder, as an adjunct to lithium or divalproex and as an adjunctive therapy to antidepressants for the treatment of major depressive disorder. Seroquel Tablets had US sales of $1.1 billion (IMS MAT June 2017).

On the macro front, the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday, 23 August 2017, given in-principle approval for PSBs to amalgamate through an Alternative Mechanism (AM). The decision would facilitate consolidation among the Nationalised Banks to create strong and competitive banks.

The decision regarding creating strong and competitive banks would be solely based on commercial considerations. The proposal must start from the boards of banks. The proposals received from banks for in-principle approval to formulate schemes of amalgamation shall be placed before the Alternative Mechanism (AM). After in-principle approval, the banks will take steps in accordance with law and Sebi's requirements. The final scheme will be notified by Central Government in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India.

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Key benchmark indices closed the session near the flat line in a lackluster trading. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 53.75 points or 0.17% at 31,621.76, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 advanced 6.30 points or 0.06% at 9,858.80, as per the provisional closing data.

Pharma stocks surged. Software major Infosys extended previous trading session's gains on buzz the company's co-founder Nandan Nilekani is likely to return as the head of the IT bellwether.

Key indices opened the session with small gains. Later, indices hovered within a narrow range near the flat line amid lack of any positive cues. Market firmed up in afternoon trade following a positive opening in European stock markets. Later, indices hovered in a small range in positive zone near the flat line.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index provisionally rose 0.8%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index provisionally advanced 0.37%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1,432 shares rose and 1,126 shares declined. A total of 149 shares were unchanged.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 2996.99 crore, lower than turnover of Rs 3105.53 crore registered during the previous trading session.

Pharma stocks surged. Wockhardt (up 8.73%), Aurobindo Pharma (up 4.94%), Lupin (up 4.11%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 3.04%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 2.71%), Cipla (up 2.52%) and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 2.42%) gained. Alkem Laboratories (down 1.24%) declined.

Cadila Healthcare jumped 6.37% to Rs 491.95 after the company announced that it has received final approval from US drug regulator to market Candesartan Cilexetil Tablets USP 4 mg, 8 mg, 16 mg and 32 mg. The announcement was made during market hours today, 24 August 2017.

Cadila Healthcare said that the company has received final approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to market Candesartan Cilexetil tablets USP 4 mg, 8 mg, 16 mg and 32 mg. The drug is used to treat high blood pressure (hypertension) in adults and will be manufactured at the group's formulations manufacturing facility at Moraiya, Ahmedabad.

Software major Infosys advanced 2.07% at Rs 913.05, extending previous trading session's 1.98% gains on buzz the company's co-founder Nandan Nilekani is likely to return as the head of the IT bellwether. Nilekani was Infosys' CEO for five years till 2007. He left the software major in 2009 to become Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

Vishal Sikka, the first non-co-founder CEO of Infosys, stepped down last Friday (18 August 2017) citing continuous distractions and increasingly personal attacks on him. The Infosys Board blamed Murthy's continuous assault as the primary reason for Sikka putting down his papers. Shares of Infosys had tumbled 14.45% in two trading sessions to settle at Rs 873.50 on 21 August 2017, from its closing of Rs 1,021.15 on 17 August 2017.

Infosys' board at its meeting held on Saturday, 19 August 2017, approved a proposal to buyback upto 11.30 crore shares, aggregating up to 4.92% of the paid-up equity capital, at Rs 1,150 per share. The maximum buyback size is Rs 13000 crore.

Meanwhile, in a fresh twist to the ongoing Infosys saga, reports suggested that the IT bellwether's board offered to resign today, 24 August 2017, paving way for Nandan Nilekani to step in as a crisis manager for the firm. The entire board of the firm, barring Punita Sinha and Roopa Kudwa has offered to resign, reports suggested. Nilekani wanted to make a comeback on a clean slate, reports added.

On the macro front, the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday, 23 August 2017, given in-principle approval for the public sector banks (PSBs) to amalgamate through an Alternative Mechanism (AM). The decision would facilitate consolidation among the Nationalised Banks to create strong and competitive banks.

The decision regarding creating strong and competitive banks would be solely based on commercial considerations. The proposal must start from the boards of banks. The proposals received from banks for in-principle approval to formulate schemes of amalgamation shall be placed before the Alternative Mechanism (AM). After in-principle approval, the banks will take steps in accordance with law and Sebi's requirements. The final scheme will be notified by Central Government in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India.

Overseas, European stocks edged higher ahead of the important meeting of central bankers as investors look for clues on the direction of monetary policy. In economic news, French manufacturing confidence strengthened in August to the highest level since late 2007, survey results from the statistical office Insee showed today, 24 August 2017. The manufacturing sentiment index improved to 111 in August from revised 108 in July.

Asian stocks witnessed a mixed trend. US stocks closed lower yesterday, 23 August 2017 after President Donald Trump said he would be willing to let the government shut down if his border wall isn't funded. Delivering a warning to Democratic lawmakers who have objected to his plans to construct a wall along the US-Mexico frontier, Trump called them obstructionists and said that it was time for the US to crack down on illegal immigration.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said yesterday, 23 August 2017 that new home sales in US declined 9.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 571,000 units last month, the lowest level since December 2016.

Meanwhile, the annual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium is scheduled tomorrow, 25 August 2017 in Wyoming. Representatives from the central banks of more than 40 countries will attend the annual gathering, hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

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Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could gain 11.50 points at the opening bell.

Overseas, Asian stocks witnessed a mixed trend. US stocks closed lower yesterday, 23 August 2017 after President Donald Trump said he would be willing to let the government shut down if his border wall isn't funded.

Meanwhile, the annual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium is scheduled tomorrow, 25 August 2017 in Wyoming. Representatives from the central banks of more than 40 countries will attend the annual gathering, hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

Closer home, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 1157.52 crore yesterday, 23 August 2017, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 929.84 crore yesterday, 23 August 2017, as per provisional data.

Among corporate news, stocks of public sector banks (PSBs) will be in focus. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday, 23 August 2017, given in-principle approval for PSBs to amalgamate through an Alternative Mechanism (AM). The decision would facilitate consolidation among the Nationalised Banks to create strong and competitive banks.

Reliance Industries (RIL) announced that it was allotted 2.52 crore shares, or 24.92% equity, of Balaji Telefilms on preferential basis at Rs 164 each on 22 August 2017. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 23 August 2017.

Lupin announced the launch of its Quetiapine Fumarate Extended-Release Tablets, in multiple strengths having received an approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier. The announcement was made at the fag end of market hours yesterday, 23 August 2017.

Lupin's Quetiapine Fumarate Extended-Release Tablets are the AB rated generic equivalent of AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP's Seroquel Tablets. It is indicated for the treatment of schizophrenia; acute manic or mixed episodes in bipolar I disorder alone or as an adjunct to lithium or divalproex; acute depressive episodes in bipolar disorder; maintenance treatment of bipolar I disorder, as an adjunct to lithium or divalproex and as an adjunctive therapy to antidepressants for the treatment of major depressive disorder. Seroquel Tablets had US sales of $1.1 billion (IMS MAT June 2017).

Market registered impressive gains on renewed hopes of US tax reform by the Trump administration yesterday, 23 August 2017. The Sensex had risen 276.16 points or 0.88% to settle at 31,568.01, its highest closing level since 17 August 2017.

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Oricon Enterprises rose 1.21% to Rs 58.50 at 11:34 IST on BSE after the company's board approved sale of its subsidiary Shinrai Auto Services to Madhuban Motors for a consideration of Rs 28.35 crore.

The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 23 August 2017.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 28.84 points, or 0.09%, to 31,596.85. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 62.85 points, or 0.4%, to 15,638.36

On BSE, so far 1.11 lakh shares were traded in the counter as compared with an average daily volume of 1.12 lakh shares over the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 60.35 and a low of Rs 58.30 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 64.35 on 8 August 2017. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 41.15 on 21 November 2016.

The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 23 August 2017, falling 6.77% compared with 1.44% decline in the Sensex. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, rising 0.61% as against Sensex's 3.96% rise. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one year, sliding 3.51% as against Sensex's 12.78% rise.

The small-cap company has an equity capital of Rs 31.41 crore. Face value per share is Rs 2.

Oricon Enterprises' board has accorded its approval to the sale and transfer of its subsidiary, Shinrai Auto Services of its Toyota dealership business to Madhuban Motors as a going concern on a slump sale basis for a total consideration of Rs 28.35 crore. The board has accorded its approval to the draft slump sale agreement to give effect to the sale and transfer of Toyota dealership business of the company to Madhuban Motors as a going concern on a slump sale basis.

On a consolidated basis, Oricon Enterprises reported net profit of Rs 12.16 crore in Q1 June 2017 as compared with net loss of Rs 2.30 crore in Q1 June 2016. Net sales rose 19.96% to Rs 325.53 crore in Q4 March 2017 over Q4 March 2016.

Oricon Enterprises, the flagship company of Parijat Enterprises has interests in real estate, marine logistics, packaging, petrochemicals and automobile dealership.

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About 900,000 babies are born in China annually with birth defects, health authorities said on Thursday, calling for increased premarital medical checkups.

The incidence of birth defects in 1996 was 87.8 per 10,000 people, but it grew to 149.9 per 10,000 people in 2010 from 120 per 10,000 people in 2003, when China abolished compulsory premarital checkups, according to official data.

In response to China's rapidly ageing population, the country started allowing married couples to have two children in 2016, ending the one-child policy implemented decades ago to rein in a surging population, reports Xinhua news agency.

According to the National Health and Family Planning Commission, 60 per cent of women eligible to have a second child are aged 35 years or older.

The number of older women becoming pregnant will exceed 3 million each year from 2017 to 2020.

This has also resulted in an increased risk of birth defects.

China has designated August 25 as its Disability Prevention Day to spread information about disabilities and help the public better identify risks.

There are more than 85 million disabled people in China.

--IANS

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Air India's new Chairman and Managing Director Rajiv Bansal took charge of his new role on Thursday and met top officials of the airline.

After assuming office, Bansal also sought support from the employees in making the airline financially viable.

Bansal, who also holds the portfolio of Financial Advisor to the Petroleum & Natural Gas Ministry, was given additional charge of Air India's CMD on Wednesday.

He succeeds Ashwani Lohani who was on Wednesday named Chairman of the Railway Board.

Bansal is a 1988 batch IAS officer from the Nagaland cadre. He has earlier had a stint with the Ministry of Civil Aviation between 2006 and 2008.

"The competent authority has approved the assignment of additional charge of the post of Chairman and Managing Director, Air India to Rajiv Bansal, IAS (NL 88), Additional Secretary and Financial Adviser, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, for a period of three months, or until further orders, whichever is earlier," the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet's executive order issued on Wednesday read.

--IANS

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A Bangladesh court on Thursday declared a Canadian oil explorer's deals with two state-owned enterprises as illegal.

The High Court division bench of Justice Bhabani Prasad Singha and Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam delivered the verdict, reports Xinhua news agency.

The order was passed on a petition filed by a lawyer for the state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration Company (BAPEX) and Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation, or Petrobangla.

Canadian company Niko Resources signed the deals -- joint venture agreement and gas purchase and sales agreement (GPSA) -- with BAPEX and Petrobangla in 2003 and 2006, respectively.

A total of 11 people, including former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, were charged in 2008 for allegedly causing a loss of 137 billion Bangladeshi taka ($1 billion) to the state exchequer by awarding the gas exploration job to Niko.

Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission filed the Niko graft case in 2007 after Zia was arrested.

--IANS

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Hailing the Supreme Court verdict on triple talaq, the CPI-M has alleged that the BJP was trying to impose a uniform civil code on people.

"The BJP is trying to utilise the arguments against triple talaq as grounds for imposing a uniform civil code," an editorial in the CPI-M journal People's Democracy said. "This is a deliberate misreading of the verdict.

"The majority judgment was clear that it is only addressing talaq-e-bidat and not all forms of talaq under Muslim personal law.

"The court did not accept the arguments of the Attorney General representing the central government to widen the scope of the court intervention to other aspects of divorce under Muslim personal law."

A five-member Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down instant triple talaq as illegal and violative of the rights of Muslim women.

"This majority verdict by 3 to 2 is a victory for Muslim women who have suffered under the arbitrary use of talaq-e-bidat which is instant talaq," the Communist Party of India-Marxist said.

Amongst the majority of three, two of the judges argued that instant triple talaq violated the fundamental right to equality enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution.

The third judge has said it was illegal as it was not sanctioned by the Quran and Islamic religious practice.

"The stance of the two judges in the minority that personal law is protected under the Constitution and therefore immune to the equality test is regressive and contrary to the secular principle," the editorial said.

"What is required is to work for equal rights for women within each religious community and to get reforms undertaken in this direction. Uniformity is not equality.

"And a uniform civil code is no guarantee for justice.

"The BJP government is not willing to have a law against honour killings. On the contrary under this government even secular laws applicable to all women are being sought to be diluted such as Section 498 A of the IPC.

"The Supreme Court judgment will strengthen the resolve of women to continue to struggle for reform within their personal laws. This applies not only to Muslim women but to all women belonging to Hindu and other religious communities."

--IANS

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The US Pacific Fleet on Thursday ruled out a body found by the Malaysian authorities as being one of the 10 missing sailors of an American destroyer that had collided with an oil tanker near Singapore earlier this week.

The authorities found the body on Tuesday during rescue operations near the Singapore Strait, the site of the accident, and handed it over to the US Navy on the same day, reports Efe news.

The US 7th Fleet said the medical examination of the remains revealed that it did not belong to a missing sailor of the USS John S. McCain and the body will be returned to Malaysia, according to a statement released by the Fleet here.

The US Navy also said that more Marine Corps divers have arrived in Singapore to help with the search of the insides of the destroyer, which is anchored at Singapore's Changi Naval Base.

Meanwhile, search and rescue operations are continuing over an area of approximately 3,000 sq.km. around the site of the collision.

Two navy ships and a helicopter from Indonesia and an Australian maritime patrol aircraft joined Singaporean and Malaysian ships in the operations.

The accident between the US destroyer and the ALNIC MC, a oil tanker weighing more than 30,000 tones and sailing under the Liberian flag, on Monday also injured five persons.

--IANS

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Bollywood actress Ileana D'Cruz, who is known for her no-nonsense attitude, says she has got all her films on merit and she does not want to impress people to get work.

"People could take (attitude) as arrogance but actually it is not! I could be very nice to people, go out for coffee and dinner or socialize to become their favourite, but I choose not to do that. I cannot sweet-talk to people to get a film," Ileana, who will soon be seen in Milan Luthria's upcoming film "Baadshaho", told IANS here.

"Rather I want to be chosen for a film when the director would think that I can do justice to the role and that I am talented. So far, all the films that I have got are based on my merit," she added.

After a successful journey in the South Indian film industry, Ileana debuted in Bollywood with the film "Barfi!" in 2012, and acted in various films like "Phata Poster Nikhla Hero", "Main Tera Hero", "Happy Ending", "Rustom" and "Mubarakan" before the upcoming "Baadshaho".

Coming from a non-filmy background, asked if she manages to make friends in the industry, the actress said: "I am not rude to anyone. As a professional I want all my co-stars, director, producer and colleagues to feel easy and comfortable working with me, but I am not walking into a film set to make friends."

"I am here to work, this is my professional world and I want to do good work here. I do not take some extra steps to become a friend or develop a relationship with other co-stars. End of the film, if we become friends that is a bonus," said Ileana.

So, how does Ileana spend her leisure time?

"I like going out with close friends. I watch a lot of animated films and TV as stress busters, I love shopping! I can shop from anywhere in the world whether it is from footpath or shopping mall, I shop from everywhere," shared the actress.

Scheduled to release on September 1, "Baadshaho" has been directed by Milan Luthria and produced by T-Series.

--IANS

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Congress legislator M. Vincent, who was arrested on charges of sexually harassing and stalking a 51-year-old woman in Kerala, obtained conditional bail on Thursday, officials said.

The Thiruvananthapuram Principal Sessions Court granted the bail to the legislator on the condition that he would not enter the ward where the complainant resides and was warned not to try to influence the case in any manner.

Vincent, a first-time legislator, represents the Kovalam assembly constituency. He was arrested on July 22.

After the trial court rejected his bail last month, he approached the Thiruvananthapuram District Court but could not obtain the bail.

This is the first time a legislator in Kerala has been arrested for sexual harassment and the Congress-led Opposition had accused the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), and its leaders of framing him.

--IANS

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Dacoits shot dead a police sub-inspector in Uttar Pradesh's Chitrakoot district on Thursday, police said.

A police team led by a Superintendent of Police went to a forested region in Manikpur area and ambushed a gang of bandits led by Babuli Kol.

The dacoits fired back, killing Raipura SHO J.P. Singh. He sustained a bullet injury in his chest. He was rushed to a nearby hospital first and then shifted to Karvi where he died.

Raju Kol, a bandit who carried a reward of Rs 10,000 on his head, was arrested. A search operation is on to nab many of the injured dacoits, a senior official said.

Babuli Kol carries a cash reward of Rs 5.5 lakh on his head. According to reports, his close aide, Lavkesh Kol, also sustained injuries in the gun battle.

--IANS

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The Army was on Thursday evening put on standby in Haryana and Punjab even as authorities ordered imposition of curfew in Sirsa town from 10 pm onwards, on the eve of a court verdict in a rape case against controversial self-styled godman Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh.

Sirsa Deputy Commissioner Prabhjot Singh said that the curfew would remain imposed till further orders.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh told media in Chandigarh on Thursday evening that the Punjab government and police were fully prepared to deal with any situation emerging after the court verdict.

"We have made adequate deployment of police and para-military forces. The Army is on standby (if the situation demands). We are in touch with the Western Command and the south western command," the Chief Minister said.

Haryana Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Ram Niwas, said that the Army has been alerted and would be requisitioned if the situation demanded.

He said that senior Haryana Police officers have been deputed along with civil administration officers to deal with any situation.

The tri-city area of Panchkula, Chandigarh and Mohali (in Punjab) were turned into a fortress, ahead of Friday's judgment by CBI special court judge Jagdeep Singh.

The situation in Sirsa and Panchkula towns, both in Haryana, was tense on Thursday with thousands of sect followers converging at both places in support of the sect chief and announcing that they were ready for a "do or die" battle for their leader, and the security personnel being stationed in large numbers to maintain law and order.

Curfew-like restrictions have been imposed in Panchkula, Sirsa, Chandigarh and some other places, with educational institutions shut for two days (Thursday and Friday), trains cancelled and bus services disrupted. Authorities have suspended mobile internet services (including 2G, 3G, 4G, CDMA and GPRS) and all SMS services and all dongle services provided on mobile networks, except voice calls for the next three days, while shops in Panchkula and Sirsa have been shut and stadiums converted into temporary jail complexes.

A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court in Panchkula town in Haryana is to announce its verdict in the alleged rape and sexual exploitation of a 'sadhvi' (female religious follower) by the sect chief on Friday.

Haryana and Punjab, where the sect has millions of followers, was put on high alert on Thursday with thousands of security personnel stationed in sensitive areas.

The alleged rape and sexual exploitation, first reported through an anonymous letter in 2002 to the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Chandigarh, has taken nearly 15 years to reach the verdict stage. The High Court had ordered a CBI probe into the matter.

The sect followers regard their chief, who has a colourful and controversial personality and has acted in and directed three movies, as a "messenger of god".

Thousands of security personnel, including para-military forces, have been deployed to control the "premis" or sect followers at Panchkula, as they converged from across the region.
The National Students Union of India (NSUI) on Thursday called for a 24-hour grievance cell to address issues during polling and more 'Democracy Walls' in the campus for the contestants to put up their campaign posters.

In a memorandum given to the Chief Election Officer (CEO), the students' wing of the Congress also asked him to allow students to cast their ballot by showing fee-slip and any identity proof, in case they do not have the college I-card.

"We demand a 24-hour grievance cell where one can complain any time during or in the run-up to the elections. Even last time, when a machine malfunctioned in Kirori Mal College, it took two hours for them to replace it," Akshay Lakra, a spokesperson of the party, told IANS.

The party also asked for extension of voting timings to accommodate students who come from far-flung areas.

"The morning shift should be from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the evening shift should be from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. This will ensure good voter turnout thus lending greater legitimacy to the winners," the NSUI letter said.

As of now, the scheduled timing for casting ballot is 8.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m for morning college students and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m for evening college students.

It also asked for the presence of candidates during the counting of the votes to ensure that no discrepancy occurs in the results.

Democracy Wall is the place notified by the University where the parties are allowed to put up their posters.

Bound by Lyngdoh Committee guidelines, the parties are proscribed from pasting printed posters, use of spray or other paints for canvassing, and defacing university walls and other properties.

The election for Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) will be held on September 12.

--IANS

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Integration of patient-friendly technologies with medical tourism can boost the flow of foreign patients in India and also keep them well informed about their decisions on the hospitals, said health experts on Thursday.

They said that the revenue from medical tourism in India is worth $3 billion currently, however, it has put a target of $8 billion by 2020.

Speaking at the fourth Healthcare Summit and Awards organised here by India Virtual Hospital and Healthcare Eco-System Partner of Business World, Neerav Goyal, Head of Apollo Liver Transplant at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, said: "At this juncture technology can play a major role and can change the whole dynamics. However, the use of technology in medical tourism is still at nascent stage in India and the digital benefits are yet to reach the medical travellers."

Stating that technology can immensely contribute for boosting of medical tourism, Goyal said with right and relevant dissemination of information, it can empower patients to take informed decisions.

"For instance, e-diagnoses and e-consultations may inform medical travellers of their options before they travel. Electronic health records and digitised medical devices help health care providers to easily make more informed decisions," he said.

--IANS

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A gang of imposters posing as officials of electricity distribution company (discom) BSES to extort money from people in has been busted earlier this week, the discom said on Thursday.

"Posing as BSES 'enforcement' officials, this gang visited a residence of Narendra Kumar in south Delhi's Tughlakabad Extension, ostensibly to check the meter. Proclaiming that the meter was tampered, they tried to scare the resident - of the impending Rs 5 lakh fine that he will have to pay for power theft," a BSES release said here.

While local residents managed to catch two impostors, other managed to flee the scene, the discom said.

"Police was called and they were handed over. A search has been launched by police to apprehend the absconders, and an FIR has been registered at the Govindpuri Police station," the statement said.

"In another case, this time in Dilshad Colony, impostors, masquerading as BSES officials tried to con a resident," it added.

The discom said that in the last few months, seven impostors masquerading as BSES officials have been apprehended and FIRs registered.

Advising consumers to verify the identity of persons who visit their premises claiming to be from BSES, a company spokesperson said: "We once again appeal to our consumers not to get intimidated by the impostors and give them any money whatever be the reason. All enforcement (fines and penalties) and commercial payments are to be made only at designated BSES offices."

--IANS

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The new cranes are part of a $60 million terminal expansion and modernization program to prepare Matsons Hawaii operational hub for the arrival of four new ships the company has on order.



Six new and upgraded cranes, with a combined value of about $930 million, are expected to be delivered to Matson in 2018.

U.S. Pacific carrier Matson, Inc. has signed contracts with Paceco Corp. for the purchase of three new 65 long-ton capacity cranes, as well as modifications to upgrade three existing cranes at its Sand Island Terminal in Honolulu Harbor.

The investments, Matson said Aug. 23, are part of a broader $60 million terminal expansion and modernization program to prepare the companys Hawaii operational hub for the arrival of four new ships the company has on order.

The six cranes, with a combined value of about $930 million, are expected to be delivered in 2018, Matson said. Theyll be built by Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding and then installed in early 2019 at Matsons Sand Island Terminal in Honolulu.

Matson said the newbuilds and modified cranes will have greater lifting capacity, height and reach than the companys existing cranes, therefore enabling service of the companys new larger Hawaii vessels, which are expected to be put into service over the next three years.

The cranes are also, Matson said, more energy efficient and will be outfitted with fiber-optic cabling so that data used in Matsons container tracking system can be communicated faster and more accurately.

The new cranes are slated to replace three older, smaller cranes; the three other cranes will be upgraded to the same 11.5 kv electrical system and fiber-optic cabling as the new cranes.

Among the ships that Matson has on order are two Aloha Class vessels now under construction at Philly Shipyard, with deliveries scheduled for the third quarter of 2018 and first quarter of 2019, respectively.

Matson said the 850-foot long, 3,600 TEU vessels, which are designed to operate at speeds over 23 knots, would be the companys largest ships, as well as the largest containerships ever built in the U.S.

In addition to the Aloha Class ships, Matson has ordered two Kanaloa Class vessels from San Diego-based General Dynamics NASSCO. These 870 feet long, 115 feet wide ships are combination container and roll-on/roll-off vessels built on a 3,500-TEU vessel platform, with enough garage space for 800 vehicles. Deliveries scheduled for late 2019 and mid-2020.

These latest investments in our fleet and terminal infrastructure underscore Matsons long-standing commitment to serving our island communities, Matson Chairman and CEO Matt Cox said. Our new Aloha Class and Kanaloa Class ships are being built specifically to meet Hawaiis freight needs into the future while reducing our environmental impact and improving our efficiency for decades to come.

All four new vessels Matson said, will have state-of-the-art green technology features like a fuel-efficient hull design, environmentally safe double hull fuel tanks, fresh water ballast systems and dual-fuel engines.

The addition of the four new vessels, Matson said, will allow it to retire seven older vessels that wouldnt be able to comply with 2020 environmental regulations without substantial modifications.
Five passengers, including a woman, died in a road accident on Sunday as the car in which they were travelling crashed into a dumper truck in West Bengal's West Midnapore district, police said.

"Four people including the driver died on the spot in the accident. Another person expired in the hospital," a police officer said.

The accident occurred in West Midnapore district's Kharagpur area.

Police said they have seized the dumper involved in the accident. The driver of the truck fled from the spot.

--IANS

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France and Spain vowed on Wednesday to step up their cooperation in the fight against at a meeting here between the two country's interior ministers.

At a press conference, French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb and his Spanish counterpart Juan Ignacio Zoido announced that they had signed an agreement to jointly train 120 French gendarmes alongside Spanish officers at a police academy south of Madrid.

According to Xinhua news agency, the meeting of the two ministers was planned a while ago but became more significant after last week's terrorist attacks in Catalonia, which killed 15 people and injured over 120 others.

The ministers said they discussed ongoing investigation into the double attacks during their meeting.

A few days before the attacks, several members of the suspected terror gang were spotted in France, according to the French police.

Investigators are still trying to trace their journey, specifically a visit to Paris by one of the key suspects, Younes Abouyaaqoub, who was shot dead by Spanish police on Monday.

Besides Spain and France, the investigation has now extended to Belgium and Switzerland, as several suspects, including an extremist preacher Abdelbaki Es Satty, were spotted in these countries before the attacks.

The preacher is suspected to have played a key role in the radicalisation of the young gang.

--IANS

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Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Thursday said a draft policy on the usage of drones and unmanned aerial systems (UASs) will be issued soon.

The minister was speaking on the sidelines of an event here on the second round of bidding under the air regional connectivity scheme (RCS-Udan).

The minister said work on draft regulations is underway and that "legitimate activities for drone usage will be allowed".

"In the civil aviation scenario, we would want legitimate activities to be carried out. Drones have humanitarian uses as well and these will be allowed but safety and security concerns will also be addressed," Raju said.

The civil aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is said to be working on draft rules and regulations on the usage of drones and UASs and is expected to come out with draft regulations for public consultations by early next week.

Last year, DGCA had issued an air transport circular on the usage of UASs, under which it had laid down guidelines for obtaining an UIN (Unique Identification Number). DGCA also planned to register all civil unmanned aircraft and issue a UA operator permit (UAOP) on case-to-case basis.

The development assumes significance as recent incidents of drones or UAVs flying near airports have raised safety and security concerns.

When asked about Air India's divestment, Raju said: "An Alternate Mechanism has been setup for this... It (Alternate Mechanism) is working and we first need to get to a decision of what do we exactly want."

"Basically, Air India is in a debt trap and this (situation) does not attract serious investors... so we have to see how we can get out of the trap."

Raju observed that the airline in recent years has performed "much better" and took its balance sheet "from losses to operating profit".

Currently, a ministerial group has been formed to look into the modalities of Air India's divestment process ---- Air India-specific Alternative Mechanism -- and is being headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

The group has been mandated to guide the strategic divestment process and to decide on key issues such as treatment of AI's debt and hiving-off of its assets.

The airline which is under massive debt burden of Rs 50,000 crore had posted an operating profit of Rs 105 crore in 2015-16. For the last fiscal (2016-17), the company is expected to report an improved operating profit margin.

The flag carrier had got a new lease of life on April 12, 2012, when the then UPA government had approved a Rs 30,000 crore turnaround (TAP) and financial restructuring plans (FRP) package spanning up to the year 2021.

--IANS

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With over 5,300 recipients between 2004 and 2017, India is the largest beneficiary of the Erasmus scholarships for higher education offered by the European Union (EU) member states, EU Ambassador to India Tomasz Kozlowski has said.

"Since 2004, Erasmus was thrown open to third countries. Indian students have been the number one beneficiaries of this scholarship," Kozlowski said on Wednesday here at an event to mark the 30th anniversary of the launch of Erasmus (European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students).

He said that Europe was "an excellent destination for international students on account of the high quality and wide variety of courses on offer, the richness of campus life and the proximity to Asia".

Launched in 1987 with only 3,200 students in its first year, Erasmus has developed over the last 30 years into a leading scholarship programme benefitting almost 300,000 higher education students per year.

"With over 5,300 students from all parts of India having received Erasmus Mundus or Erasmus+ Masters scholarships between 2004 and 2017, India is the overall single largest beneficiary of the programme," a statement issued by the Delegation of the EU to India said.

It stated that while India ranked second in 2016 with 62 approved scholarships for masters and doctoral degrees after Brazil with 79, the number of these scholarships allocated to Indian applicants in 2017 rose by 20 per cent to 74, "representing 25 per cent of the overall mobility flows selected for funding in the period 2008-2012 in Asia".

"A significant development during this period is the increase in the percentage of women participants by 30 per cent from 33 per cent in 2008-2012 to 43 per cent in 2017," it stated.

According to the statement, around 90 per cent of Indian recipients of the scholarship have returned.

Engineering has been the largest area of study (25 per cent), followed by natural sciences (13 per cent), and business, economics and management (10 per cent).

Kozlowski said that with over 50,000 Indian students, Europe was now the second most preferred educational destination for Indians after the US.

Stating that the Erasmus programme received support from the highest levels of the EU, he said that Federica Mogherini, Vice President of the European Commission, was one such beneficiary.

Wednesday's event was attended by a number of Indian recipients of this year's Erasmus scholarship among others.

--IANS

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India and Nepal on Thursday signed eight agreements across different sectors, including four on post-earthquake reconstruction in the Himalayan nation.

"Establishing new mechanisms for collaboration. #IndiaNepal exchange agreements to strengthen cooperation in various spheres," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted following delegation-level talks here headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepali counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba.

With India committing $1 billion in reconstruction aid following the April 2015 devastating earthquake in Nepal that claimed nearly 9,000 lives, four memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were signed on utilisation of housing grant component to support reconstruction of 50,000 houses, and implementation of reconstruction packages in the education, cultural heritage and health sectors.

Another MoU was signed for implementation arrangement on cost sharing, schedules and safeguard issues for construction of Mechi bridge under the Asian Development Bank's South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) road connectivity programme (Tranche 2), funded by India.

A sixth MoU was signed on drug demand reduction and prevention of illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursor chemical and related matters.

A seventh MoU was signed on cooperation between the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal.

The two sides also signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of standardisation and conformity assessment.

Prime Minister Deuba, heading a high-level delegation, arrived here on Wednesday on a five-day visit to India.

It is his first foreign trip after assuming office in June this year and the fourth to India as Prime Minister.

--IANS

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Sharia police on Thursday set up checkpoints to implement Islamic law across Indonesia's Aceh province.

The checkpoints are part of a programme conducted monthly by the Sharia police, a department under the Ministry of Religious Affairs, reports Efe news.

A group of women stood in front of the police personnel who informed them that tight trousers, such as ones they were wearing, are prohibited.

At the checkpoints, known locally as "hot spots", those found breaking Islamic law, such as men wearing shorts that end above the knees or women failing to wear the veil or hijab, have their identities recorded in the "Book of Sins".

Those whose names have been recorded in the "Book of Sins" three times will be sent to the Sharia Court.

First-time offenders will join lecture session conducted by the Ulema, a body of Islamic religious leaders.

Aceh is the only province in Indonesia that applies Sharia law, under an autonomy deal, following a conflict lasting decades between the central government and the separatist Free Aceh Movement.

--IANS

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Residents of central Italian towns that were hit by a devastating earthquake last year gathered on Thursday to hold vigils to remember the 299 people who lost their lives.

Inhabitants of Amatrice, the town most affected by the powerful quake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale, held candles as they participated in a silent procession on the outskirts, staying clear of the historic town centre, which is still covered in debris, reports Efe news.

Over the course of almost two hours, the names of those who died were read out, and memories of the 249 people killed in Amatrice shared.

A baker who lived in the town the whole year died as he was baking the day's bread, while two violin-playing brothers Leonardo and Ludovica Tulli, aged 14 and 12, went to the town every summer and died alongside their grandfather and father.

At 3.36 a.m., the time when the devastating earthquake hit, the procession arrived at Don Minozzi park, where 249 bell chimes rang out to honour each of the victims.

A white marble monument erected in memory of the dead at the entrance to the town was unveiled on Wednesday evening.

Residents of Arquata del Tronto and Pescara del Tronto also convened in silence to remember the 48 people who died there.

A special mass would also be held in Amatrice, with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni set to attend.

--IANS

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Faced with opposition RJD's aggressive posture over the Srijan scam, Bihar's ruling JD-U on Thursday demanded that RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his family's alleged "benami" properties should be confiscated and orphanages opened therein.

Speaking to the media, Janata Dal-United spokesman Neeraj Kumar said the move would at least benefit people.

The RJD legislators disrupted the Bihar assembly on Thursday for the fourth consecutive day over the Rs 1,000 crore Srijan scam, demanding resignation of Nitish Kumar and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi.

Speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary was forced to adjourn the House.

Ahead of the Rashtriya Janata Dal's August 27 rally, where Lalu Prasad was likely to urge party leaders and workers to intensify the agitation against the JD-U-BJP government, Neeraj Kumar raised the demand for confiscating the properties of the RJD chief and his family members.

Neeraj Kumar said Lalu Prasad has "no moral authority" to say anything on the Srijan scam as he and his family were already involved in several scams.

After the JD-U faction led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar dumped the Grand Alliance and partnered with BJP to form the government, RJD leaders have been attacking him over one issue or the other.

The latest in this is the Srijan scam and poor distribution of relief by the Bihar government in 19 flood-hit districts where nearly 1.5 crore people have been affected and more than 341 lives have been lost.

The Srijan scam involves a Bhagalpur-based NGO, Srijan Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti Ltd, which used to provide vocational training to women.

The NGO allegedly pilfered funds meant for government welfare schemes from the bank accounts of the Bhagalpur district administration.

In April, when the BJP was in the opposition and Nitish Kumar was running Bihar's Grand Alliance government of JD-U, RJD and Congress, Sushil Kumar Modi had then dared Nitish Kumar to confiscate the alleged "benami" properties of Lalu Prasad and his family, and use them to open schools for poor children.

Modi had raised this just days after the Income Tax Department had conducted raids at 22 places in and around Delhi in connection with the Rs 1,000 crore worth "benami" properties linked to Lalu Prasad.

Modi is also considered the man behind Lalu Prasad's "benami" properties revelation.

"These benami properties of Lalu and his family are a result of corruption. There is a provision in Bihar under the special law to fight corruption by confiscating properties of corrupt officials and open schools for poor children. Now Nitish Kumar should order it," Modi had then said.

According to Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, Lalu Prasad's illegal properties include several big and palatial buildings in Patna besides several plots of land.

In the past, the Bihar government has confiscated properties of several corrupt officials.

The government has seized houses of IAS and IPS officers and a treasury clerk in Patna and handed them over to schools.

--IANS

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The Supreme Court on Thursday observed that liberty of the citizens can be at peril if the judiciary is not alert, and also stressed the need for progressive interpretation of the Constitution to meet the aspirations of the changing times.

The Supreme Court cited the Emergency, without naming it directly, as an example when personal liberties can be suspended.

"India's brush with a regime of the suspension of life and personal liberty in the not too distant past is a grim reminder of how tenuous liberty can be, if the judiciary is not vigilant," the apex court said in its Right to Privacy judgement.

The opposition has been criticising the Narendra Modi government for imposing an "undeclared Emergency" in the country, and on Thursday interpreted the apex court judgement as a setback to the government.

The apex court also said that the interpretation of the Constitution "cannot be frozen" by its original understanding.

"The Constitution has evolved and must continuously evolve to meet the aspirations and challenges of the present and the future. Nor can judges foresee every challenge and contingency which may arise in the future.

"This is particularly of relevance in an age where technology reshapes our fundamental understanding of information, knowledge and human relationships that was unknown even in the recent past," it said.

Former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee hailed the judgement as "progressive", saying that the apex court has been futuristic in its observations.

The judgement also said: "As judges interpreting the Constitution today, the court must leave open the path for succeeding generations to meet the challenges to privacy that may be unknown today."

The court, while deciding that the Right to Privacy is a fundamental right, also fell back on debates in the Constituent Assembly.

It underlined that clauses protecting the secrecy of correspondence and searches and seizures were dropped on certain grounds, but "from this, it cannot be concluded that the Constituent Assembly had expressly resolved to reject the notion of the right to privacy as an integral element of the liberty and freedoms guaranteed by the fundamental rights".

--IANS

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A day after his release from jail, Indian Army officer Lt. Col. Prasad S. Purohit was taken to a Special NIA Court under tight security by the military and Mumbai police.

The National Investigation Agency Special Public Prosecutor Avinash Rasal said the hearing on framing of charges in the Malegaon 2008 blast case, in which Lt. Col. Purohit is one of the prime accused, would continue on August 28.

Following his release after spending nine years as an undertrial in the 2008 Malegaon case on Wednesday, Lt. Col. Purohit had reported to the Colaba Military Station of the Indian Army's Southern Command for a debriefing session and other formalities.

On both days, he was accompanied by his wife and family members as the family prepared for the ensuing 12-day long Ganeshotsav festival starting Friday.

Interacting briefly with the media, his wife Aparna P. Purohit said "it was an emotional moment for the family to be reunited after so long."

"He was very happy to meet our children. Its yet to sink in. I was fighting alone, now he will join me," said Purohit's elated wife, who stood behind him solidly during his ordeal.

However, the family is unsure if he will be able to join the Ganpati celebrations being planned at their home in Pune after his release on conditional bail granted by the Supreme Court on Monday.

Granting bail, the apex court had observed there were contradictions in the chargesheets filed by the NIA and the Maharashtra Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) in the case.

Earlier on April 25, a division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justice Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi and Justice Ranjit More rejected the suspended Lt. Col. Purohit's bail plea on the grounds that the charges against him were "serious and grave, inviting even punishment of death or life imprisonment".

Lt. Col. Purohit and a co-accused in the same case, Sadhvi Pragya, were among the 11 persons chargesheeted by the ATS in January 20, 2009 in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.

However, Sadhvi Pragya was granted bail by the Bombay HC in April this year on health and other grounds.

On the evening of September 29, 2008, a powerful bomb exploded near the Nooraji Mosque in Malegaon killing six persons and injuring 100 others.

An officer of the Maratha Light Infantry since 1994, Lt. Col. Purohit was arrested on November 5, 2008 and was charged as one of the main conspirators in the blast case which was linked to a right wing group, Abhinav Bharat, by the investigators.

--IANS

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Letters

An Open Letter to Heather Heyer

Dear Alibi,

Heather Heyer was a victim of a terrorist attack at Charlottesville, Va. by a white supremacist attendee at an alt right rally.

Heather,

Rest in power, my sister.

Although most of us never met you, your life and what you stood for will empower the will of the People. You have given us the courage and the strength to reclaim our America for the many and not the few. You have made a million hearts beat and a million voices speak, a million thunderous voices from sea to shining sea, all across this blood-soaked soil, chanting that we, patriots-all, will never surrender.

We will never give up our rights as the People of this country. We will never allow our brothers and sisters to come under the cruelty of tyranny and fascism. We will never let racism and white supremacy become the social and political law of the land ever again.

Rest in power, my sister, for the day is over, but you are remembered among hundreds of millions stillon our minds and in our hearts. We will continue this fight, and don't you worry.

Do not worry that the flag of Nazi Germany or the flag of northern Virginia will rise higher than the flag that our veterans fought to protect! Do not worry that these racists who have the false courage to remove their hoods will walk away without their fair share of shame and disgrace.

In my peoples' way, in the Navajo way, there is a way to think about life. We are told when we are young to walk in beauty and harmony. My dearest comrade, my sister, you definitely marched in beauty if you found your last moments protesting for the rights of others, in solidarity with humanity instead of the selfish and immoral ideology of these disgraceful souls who took you away from this world.

I may have never met you, but I am so sorry that this happened to you.

I, for one, will never forget your name, and it shall be whispered amongst each and every one of us as we gather the courage to stare evil in the face and move forward undeterred toward a future for all of us.

In solidarity,
Qatar said on Wednesday its ambassador to Iran, who was withdrawn in January last year, would return to Iran, Press TV reported.

August 24, 2017, 10:28 Qatar says its ambassador to return to Iran

STEPANAKERT, AUGUST 24, ARTSAKHPRESS: "Qatar announced that its ambassador to Tehran will return to resume his diplomatic duties," the Qatari foreign ministry's information office said in a statement in Arabic on its website.

It added that Doha wanted to strengthen ties in all fields with the Islamic republic.

Qatar recalled its ambassador to Tehran in January last year after Saudi Arabia cut ties with the Islamic republic, accusing it of failing to protect its embassy in Tehran and consulate in Mashahd against demonstrators who had ransacked them.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak will visit the US in September to meet President Donald Trump, the Malaysian government said on Thursday.

The Malaysian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Razak would undertake a working visit to Washington on September 12, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The two leaders are expected to discuss areas of mutually beneficial cooperation, including national security, the global fight against terrorism and extremism, and trade and investment that will benefit our nations and our peoples," the statement said.

Both the Malaysian government and the White House said the two countries were looking forward to celebrating the 60th anniversary of bilateral ties.

--IANS

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Malnutrition and alcoholism are the key drivers of tuberculosis (TB) epidemic in southern India, a research based on Puducherry and Tamil Nadu has revealed.

An estimated 10.6 million cases of TB occur annually in the world, and India accounts for 27 per cent.

The findings showed that malnutrition attributes to more than 61 per cent of TB cases in women, while alcohol was responsible for up to 75 per cent of TB cases in males.

Alcohol use results in poor TB treatment adherence and worse TB outcomes, including death, while closer integration between TB control programs and alcohol treatment programs may improve outcomes, the researchers noted.

"Alcohol use in men and malnutrition are helping drive the TB epidemic in Southern India. Reducing the TB burden in this population will require efforts to mitigate these risk factors," said Sonali Sarkar, from Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, in Puducherry.

For the study, which appear in the journal PLOS ONE, the team evaluated those recently diagnosed with TB in Puducherry and and two districts of Tamil Nadu -- Cuddalore and Villapuram -- and compared the study data to population level data in the area.

In addition, one-third of the participants were former smokers and 14.8 per cent are current smokers.

Smoking exacerbates the long-term damage caused by TB including fibrosis, bronchiectasis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

"We hope this demonstration of how malnutrition and alcoholism are driving the TB epidemic in India will help local TB programs target resources to reduce the local burden of TB," added Natasha Hochberg, Assistant Professor at the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) in the US.

The study aimed to identify markers in the blood that predict whether an individual will fail TB treatment and whether their household contacts will develop TB, the researchers said.

--IANS

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Social activist and Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar, who was granted bail in an abduction case on Wednesday, is likely to be released on Thursday evening, informed sources said.

Patkar was granted the bail by the Indore High Court in Madhya Pradesh. She is in a Dhar jail for the last 16 days.

According to sources, Patkar, who was detained following her hunger strike to protest against the government's 'apathy' towards the re-settlement of those displaced due to the Sardar Sarovar Dam project on Narmada river, got bail from the Indore High Court on Wednesday.

Amulya Nidhi, associated with Narmada Bachao Andolan, told IANS that the bail order could not reach Dhar jail on Wednesday. Therefore, Patkar could not be released.

On Thursday, the High Court's order would be presented before the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Rishabh Gupta of Kukshi town. On the SDM's instructions, Patkar is expected to be released by evening, Nidhi said.

On August 7, Patkar was detained by police and admitted to a hospital in Indore. On August 9, Patkar, after being discharged from the hospital, was detained again when she was on her way to Barwani.

Four cases, including kidnapping, were registered against Patkar. The court gave her bail in all cases and the case of abduction was dismissed.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Social activist and Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar, who was granted bail in an abduction case on Wednesday, was released on Thursday evening, informed sources said.

Patkar was granted the bail by the Indore High Court in Madhya Pradesh. She was in a Dhar jail for the last 16 days.

Veteran lawyer Cleeson Rosario, who is also associated with the Narmada Bachao Andolan, told IANS that the bail order could not reach Dhar jail on Wednesday due to which Patkar could not be released.

Dhar jail jailor Satish Upadhyay said that after receiving release orders from Justice Jaisinghpur, Patkar was released about 4 p.m.

Patkar's supporters welcomed her with gusto and took out rallies in various parts of the city to welcome her.

The activist is fighting against the government's 'apathy' towards the re-settlement of those displaced due to the Sardar Sarovar Dam project on Narmada river.

On August 7, Patkar was detained by police following her hunger strike and admitted to a hospital in Indore. On August 9, Patkar, after being discharged from the hospital, was detained again when she was on her way to Barwani.

Four cases, including kidnapping, were registered against Patkar. The court gave her bail in all the cases and the case of abduction was dismissed.

--IANS

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One of the accused in the murder of a young man who had renounced Hinduism and embraced Islam was himself found murdered on Thursday near here in Kerala, police said.

Bipin Das, 25, a coconut climber, was out on bail in the murder case. A group of people, including children on their way to a madarsa, saw his badly slashed body near a road.

Faizal was murdered on November 19 last year. It was believed that he was killed because Faizal, who was earlier known as Anil Kumar alias Unni, had converted to Islam in the Middle East.

After Faizal's killing, police had arrested 16 people. Das was the second accused in that case.

After Faizal was murdered, a few of his close relatives also embraced Islam.

While the police on Thursday started a probe into Das' murder, they were tight-lipped about the motive or the likely suspects.

--IANS

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Green activist Sunita Narain on Thursday said the Environment Pollution Control Authority, of which she is a member, is determined to get a ban on petcoke import as the country should not become a dumping ground for the fuel from the US and other countries.

"We have recommended a ban on petcoke import into India and we have recommended a ban on the use of petcoke in all industries other than cement," Narain said here at the 10th Environment and Energy Conclave.

The Supreme Court-appointed EPCA has pitched using India's own domestic petcoke in the cement industry.

"India generates about 10 to 12 mn tonnes of petcoke from its own refineries that should go into cement plants, and we should not become the dumping ground for petcoke from the US or Saudi Arabia which is a very dirty fuel," said Narain, Director-General of the Centre for Science and Environment.

Asked about the current status of the recommendations, she said the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has opposed it.

"The Ministry says there should be no ban, but there should be standards on furnace oil (FO) and emissions. We said 'fine' and gave to the court a list of industries which don't have standards."

The final hearing is scheduled for October 24 in the Supreme Court.

"At the last hearing, the Ministry has said they are in the process of setting the standard and they have taken time until October 24, but the court has said that all industries have been warned that by December 31 they have to meet the standards."

"I am quite clear that whether we get it through a direct ban or ban through standards we will get a ban, because there is no way you can clean up sulfur or NOX (nitrogen oxides) at particularly such high levels," she added.

--IANS

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Gurinder Chadha wants to work with superstars like Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Kangana Ranaut. But the British film director of Sikh origin says big Indian stars need "a certain kind of film" which is different from her style of working.

"I think the thing is that big stars here (in India) need a certain kind of film to be part of and the kind of films that I come up with is often very quirky, and different from what maybe they want to do," Chadha told IANS on the phone from Mumbai.

"So, unless I come up with a full star-led vehicle for them (it is difficult to cast Indian actors in my films). I have to think of films like that where I rhyme this British-Indian combination thing."

Chadha, known for films like "Bend It Like Beckham" and "Bride & Prejudice", doesn't rule out the possibility of her getting Bollywood actors in her projects.

"I never say never. If someone has to give me a really interesting script here in India, I would do it."

Be it "Bend It Like Beckham", "Bride & Prejudice" or "Partition: 1947" (released internationally as "Viceroy's House") -- Chadha might have picked stories from different eras and cultures, but the one thing that ties them together is the presence of strong female characters.

The filmmaker, who was honoured with the Order of the British Empire, is in favour of initiating a campaign asking big Indian productions houses to churn scripts in sync with her style.

"Let's start a campaign. Let's write to Shah Rukh, Aamir, Kangana and all the interesting people...Dharma Productions, Yash Raj Films (asking them to) get Gurinder an interesting script."

At the moment, she is basking in the all the appreciation that is coming her way for "Partition: 1947", for which she went back to trace her roots and document events that led to India's partition.

The film narrates the story of the trauma that people went through due to the division, and how it changed their lives. Taking the lead from Narendra Singh Sarila's book "The Shadow of the Great Game", she has also brought in the British side of the story, and showed what role Lord Mountbatten played in all of it.

"India is a ship on fire" - is a line in the film which refers to all the communal events that happened in the name of religion at the time of the partition.

And Gurinder, whose own family was caught up in the events that unfolded as the British Raj came to an end, says the film is "sadly very relevant" at the moment with many practicing "divide and rule" policy around the world.

"Sadly, I think the film is very relevant today because of not just what is happening here (India) but also around the world. There is a lot of divide and rule around the world. We have that in Europe and England too...

"The whole Brexit (the process by which United Kingdom withdraws from the European Union) thing, (there is) the fear of the unknown, the fear of foreigners, fear of refugees, fear of people who are different to you, and certain people use that fear to make political capital."

But not everything is gloomy.

"When things go bad, hopefully good things come out of it," the mother of two said on a positive note.

She is also developing a TV series, one of which is with BBC on Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his children, and there's also a project based on an Asian household and a child's dreams.

(Sugandha Rawal can be contacted at sugandha.r@ians)

--IANS

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Filmmaker Amole Gupte, who is gearing up for the release of his upcoming film "Sniff!!!" says when he works with children he ensures that they are comfortable and never forces them to give shots.

Gupte's directorial has been shot at the St, Mary's school here. Not only did he choose this 153-year-old school to shoot the film he also conducted an acting workshop with the students and brought the school's very talented boys in front of the camera.

The school's principal Father Dr Francis Swamy has written an appreciative letter to the students' parents expressing joy at how Gupte shot his film on the premises.

The letter reads: "Over the course of last year Mr. Amole Gupte offered to conduct acting workshops free of cost in our school and was keen that some of our boys and teachers get a chance to become part of this beautiful movie .The workshops conducted by Amole covered Art, Theatre and Cinema.

The principal stated that the children who attended these workshops were shown movies of Charlie Chaplin and Iranian films.

"Children were encouraged to enact small skits and were given a few voice exercises. The boys who were selected for the movie were very much a part of these workshops. The director took care of the fact that the shootings for our boys were held only on weekends and during their vacation and none missed out on their school academics.

The letter mentioned how Gupte made sure about the comfort of the students.

"On mornings of the shoot Amole would personally sit with the boys and explain the scenes to them thus creating beautiful moments and capturing their natural expressions."

Amole says he is always particular while shooting with children.

"If you remember, when I was the chairperson of the Children's Film Society I fought for and obtained a time limit on the number of hours children work on television and in cinema. When I work with my children I ensure they are comfortable and never force them to give shots," Gupte said.

The director says he shoots according to the "natural clock" of children. He also mentioned shooting in the school gave him a chance to get to know and work with wonderful, bright and talented boys.

"For me cinema is not just about what goes on camera. It's more about what happens when the cameras are not looking, about getting to know young minds," he added.

The film is slated to release on Friday.

--IANS

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Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday said that non-state authorities collecting data will have to abide by the Supreme Court verdict that right to privacy is a fundamental right.

Prasad, addressing a press conference here, was asked about the impact of the judgment on other agencies, apart from Aadhaar, which are collecting data, especially biometric data.

"This is a matter of some examination, except to lodge a caveat, that if the right to privacy is embedded as a part of fundamental right then all data collection being (done by) non-state authorities also will have to abide by that," said Prasad, who is also Communications and IT Minister.

Asked if it will apply to companies such as Google, WhatsApp , Prasad said, "I did not say that. That is a question to be examined but they will have to abide by that. And the rationale for having a data protection law committee is only to ensure a robust data regime for India - safety, security and also with regard to privacy."

Asked about companies such as Google and Facebook coming in and privacy becoming a big issue, and if the government was considering amending the cyber law, Prasad said the big technological companies should learn to respect laws of the country.

"We are very proud that India is emerging as a digital power and is completely free in the IT sector. Today, Google and Facebook are also empowering Indians. Ordinary Indians are on social media. Let us celebrate that. But today I can only give this caution that these big technological giants in the field of IT should also learn to respect the laws of India," he said.

Answering a query about banks sharing data with telecom operators, Prasad said, "I am not sure about the public banks. They are not. But if any private bank is seeking to share data if at all, they must follow Aadhaar Act (or) consequences will follow."

Answering another query, he said India was erecting its cyber wall of security "in a very, very substantial way".

"Cyber war is a bloodless war. We are promoting cyber drills, cyber education and cyber coordination."

He said cyber security will play a very crucial role in India's digital economy becoming a one trillion dollar economy.

Prasad said the government is of the clear opinion that its legislations were compliant with the tests laid down in the apex court judgment.

He said the court has spoken of "balance of equities" that requires a careful and sensitive balance between individual interests and legitimate concerns of the State. The court, he said, had stated that the legitimate aims of the state would include, for instance, protecting national security, preventing and investigating crime, encouraging innovation and the spread of knowledge, and preventing the dissipation of social welfare benefits.

"The Government is committed to this." he said.

--IANS

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The landmark judgment on the right to privacy by a nine-judge bench of Supreme Court on Thursday criticised an earlier judgment of the apex court which reinstated the Indian Penal Code's Section 377 that declares homosexuality unnatural and a legal offence.

The landmark judgment by the bench which also had Chief Justice J.S. Khehar said the rights of the LGBT and sexual minorities are not "so-called" but are "real rights founded on sound constitutional doctrine".

Thursday's judgment called the previous judgment in the Suresh Kumar Koushal vs Naz foundation case a "discordant note" which directly bears upon the evolution of the constitutional jurisprudence on the right to privacy.

In the 2013 judgment, the two judge bench of justices G. S. Singhvi and S. J. Mukhopadhaya had argued that in 150 years, less than 200 persons had been prosecuted under Article 377.

The judgment that overturned a previous judgment by Delhi High Court that decriminalised homosexual acts also said "plight of sexual minorities" cannot be applied blindfolded for deciding the constitutionality of the law enacted by the Indian legislature.

Thursday's judgment said neither of the two arguments can be regarded as "valid constitutional basis for disregarding a claim based on privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution".

"The rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population cannot be construed to be 'so-called rights'. The expression 'so-called' seems to suggest the exercise of a liberty in the garb of a right which is illusory," it said about the 2013 judgment.

"This is an inappropriate construction of the privacy based claims of the LGBT population. Their rights are not 'so-called' but are real rights founded on sound constitutional doctrine. They inhere in the right to life. They dwell in privacy and dignity.

"They constitute the essence of liberty and freedom. Sexual orientation is an essential component of identity. Equal protection demands protection of the identity of every individual without discrimination," said a portion of the 547-page judgment.

This latest court order was hailed by legal experts as well as activists as a landmark, that can positively influence the case for decriminalising consensual homosexual acts.

Eminent lawyer Rebecca John welcomed the decision and said it will have impact on the case on Section 377.

She pointed out that out of the nine judges, five said in the judgment that that earlier apex court judgment that once again made homosexual practice in privacy a criminal offence was a bad law.

"I imagine it (case on section 377) will be put on fast track now. It will be very difficult to continue to earlier judgment on 377 now," John told IANS.

Naz Foundation, a NGO working on sexual health which was a party in the 2013 case, also welcomed the decision.

"The judgement has far reaching consequences, especially for Article 377 because the Delhi High Court judgement was based on the argument of privacy and therefore it is definitely going to impact the Supreme Court hearing," Anjali Gopalan of the foundation told IANS.

"More than that a few years ago, there was a professor Ramchandra Siras of Aligarh Muslim University where his colleague got some media guy to do a sting operation and went into his house to film him ans the man subsequently committed suicide. So, with a ruling like this, such violation will not happen. I am very glad that the Supreme Court has given such a progressive judgement," she added.

--IANS

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Foreign minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian commented on the provisions released by OSCE Minsk Group acting American Co-Chair Richard Hoagland over the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

August 24, 2017, 13:22 Armenian FM comments on acting US Co-Chairs statement over provisions of NK conflict settlement

STEPANAKERT, AUGUST 24, ARTSAKHPRESS-ARMENPRESS: In a meeting with reporters at the Presidential Palace, the Armenian FM said the US acting Co-Chair didnt say anything new. Look at all the previous statements, you will see the same, he said.

As for Armenias stance on those provisions, Edward Nalbandian said: We have expressed our stance when respective statement has been made: look at the 5 statements at the presidents level of the three co-chairing countries, and Armenia has repeatedly expressed its stance over them. Its another issue that Azerbaijan avoids somehow expressing its stance, and it not only avoids, but also pretends that there are no such proposals, principles.

The FM assured that there is nothing dangerous for the Armenian side in the American Co-Chairs statement.

Asked what is the goal of the Co-Chairs statement, Edward Nalbandian said the Co-Chair completes his mission and before leaving the post he just gave an interview and talked about some issues again.
Opposition leaders on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court judgment, which maintained that right to privacy is a fundamental right, terming it as a setback for the Narendra Modi government.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi said the verdict heralds a new era for individual rights, personal liberty and human dignity.

Slamming the Modi government, she said the judgment strikes a blow on the "unbridled encroachment and surveillance by the state and its agencies in the life of the common man".

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi said the decision was "a major blow to fascist forces" and the rejection of BJP's ideology of "suppression through surveillance".

The Modi government has drawn much flak for making Aadhaar mandatory for availing several services including banking services and purchasing a SIM card.

Former Union Minister and senior lawyer P. Chidambaram said that when the Congress-led UPA government conceived Aadhaar, it was meant to be "an administrative tool" to ensure the benefits of government schemes reach only the right people.

"They say Aadhaar will be necessary even to enrol your child in school. Why? I think the fault is not in the Aadhaar concept, the fault is in how this government plans to use or misuse Aadhaar as a tool," Chidmabaram said.

Communist Party fo India Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury said the ruling will have far-reaching consequences in various domains.

"A far-reaching judgment which will have consequences in various domains, as technology is playing a greater role in our day-to-day lives," Yechury said, adding that CPI-M has opposed making Aadhaar mandatory that could result in data misuse by foreign technology firms.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee too welcomed the Supreme Court's ruling.

--IANS

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Technocrat Vishal Sikka termed his dramatic resignation as CEO of the global software major Infosys as one of the hardest decisions of his life.

"It was one of the hardest decisions of my life, but I feel that it had to be done," Sikka, 50, told 'Forbes India' in his first interview since his decision to quit on August 18 caught stakeholders unawares and tanked the IT major's stock to a three-year low of Rs 884.20 on the bourse.

Though the company's Board accepted Sikka's resignation and appointed him as Executive Vice-Chairman on an annual salary of $1 till the new CEO takes over by March 31, 2018, he resigned on Thursday night from the post. The Board accepted it with immediate effect.

Quoting German novelist Hermann Hesse in the context of his exit from the iconic company three years after he joined as its first non-founder CEO in 2014, Sikka said he believed in living gracefully and letting go of things not meant for him though some think holding on makes them strong.

"It is freedom from the known that helps you renew yourself," asserted Sikka, who has been inspired by the teachings of Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurthi.

On his achievements, he said: "We grew revenues steadily while keeping a strong focus on margins, closing the first quarter of 2017-18 at 24.1 percent operating margin, beating our competitors for the first time in many years." Meanwhile, revenue per employee grew for six quarters in a row.

Sikka however said that his departure would "not stall the company's push into AI, automation, computing and data analytics".

Asked if he thought Indian promoters found it difficult to give up control over a company after handing over the reins to professional CEOs, he said that he would not like to generalise or comment on it.

"I don't think we can make generalisations of it. I want to say the world is going through profound change in terms of landscape, manufacturing, retail, telecom or even services, as everything has undergone seismic changes on the back of new digital technologies, computing and now AI," he said.

On what he would do for the company as its Vice-Chairman over the next seven months of his tenure, Sikka said: "I want to help with the transition, find a good management team and help (COO-turned-interim CEO U.B.) Pravin (Rao) establish this.

"I also want to help institutionalise some of the initiatives and strategies, and maintain relationships with key clients, as Infosys is a people's company and employees make it all matter."

A doctorate in Artificial Intelligence from Stanford University, Sikka was inspired over two decades ago by the meteoric rise of the 'Bengaluru Tigers', Indian tech start-ups incubated by a bunch of smart entrepreneurs. Two of them were Infosys co-founders N.R. Narayana Murthy and Nandan Nilekani, who were also his heroes.

Known as a disruptor in the Silicon Valley for creating German tech giant SAP's Hana platform, Sikka agreed to join Infosys on a call from its former Chairman K.V. Kamath in 2014, months after leaving SAP as its Executive Director.

When Sikka made a presentation on how to transform a traditional software services firm like Infosys, Murthy, who was then Chairman on return from retirement to revive the company's sagging fortunes, liked it and hired him.

Sikka, however, expected non-interference and support from Murthy, and would have never imagined that three years after presiding over a massive overhaul at Infosys, which started showing results, he would walk away from the very thing that had consumed him, said the magazine.

"Ultimately, Sikka reached a point where personal attacks (by Murthy) took a toll on his ability to make changes. Even investors were disappointed by his exit, as he bolstered its shares 20 per cent during his three-year challenging tenure," said Forbes.

--IANS

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A rare bush rat has been rediscovered living in Western Australia (WA) 30 years after it was thought to have been wiped out of the region, researchers said on Thursday.

The distinctive black-footed tree rat was spotted by chance last year on a seasonal monitoring trip, reports the BBC.

Months of camera footage have now confirmed its existence.

The researchers said they "cracked a bottle of champagne" to celebrate its return after a 30 year absence.

The native rat has telltale black feet and a long black and white tail.

Weighing up to 800g, it is considered enormous compared to its more common relatives such as the golden-backed tree-rat at around 200g.

It was last seen in the Kimberley area in 1987. The species was believed to have been wiped out by bushfires, predatory cats and human activity.

"If you haven't seen an animal in 30 years you can start to make a case that it can be made extinct. We won't need to do that now," Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions ecologist Ian Radford told the BBC.

Population estimates remain uncertain, with Radford saying that because they had been so elusive they were very difficult to track.

--IANS

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Resident doctors at Safdarjung Hospital here went on strike on Thursday to protest against the alleged assault upon one of their colleagues by a patient the previous day.

The strike led to delay in emergency services in the hospital.

"It all started after a woman patient assaulted a resident doctor on Wednesday evening while undergoing treatment. Alleging that she was not being properly treated, the patient indulged in verbal argument with her initially and later assaulted the doctor," said Rajmohan Singh, a senior resident doctor at the hospital.

The incident happened in the gynaecology ward of the hospital.

Concerned about the security of the doctors, a delegation of doctors on Thursday sought an appointment with senior officials at the Union Health Ministry.

--IANS

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South Korea and China on Thursday marked the 25th anniversary of bilateral relations.

Presidents Moon Jae-in and Xi Jinping, and Foreign Ministers Kang Kyung-wha and Wang Yi, exchanged congratulatory messages and stressed the importance of their bilateral relations, according to a statement issued by the South Korean Foreign Ministry.

Moon touched on the progress made since the diplomatic relations were established on August 24, 1992, while President Xi said the ties have brought substantial benefits to the people of both countries, reports Efe news.

The Chinese President expressed hope that the two nations can manage their differences properly and strengthen their relationship in a stable and healthy manner.

Despite decades of diplomatic tensions stemming from Seoul recognising the legitimacy of Taipei and Beijing of Pyongyang, the fall of the last military junta in South Korea led to a progressive rapprochement that eventually culminated into the 1992 establishment of diplomatic ties.

Since then the bilateral relations have gradually strengthened, particularly in commerce with China being one of South Korea's main trade partners.

Beijing and Seoul have engaged in rows over the US anti-missile system Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD), which prompted China to impose a covert boycott of South Korean interests after the system installation in spring.

While South Korea and the United States say that the system, installed on South Korean territory, is designed to intercept North Korean missiles, China believes its deployment has only escalated tensions in the region.

China also considers the system a threat to its security. It fears that its powerful radars could be used to obtain information from its military facilities and has repeatedly warned that it would take measures to protect its interests.

--IANS

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Over 1,000 resident doctors at the Safdarjung Hospital here went on strike on Thursday after a patient assaulted a doctor, affecting emergency services. They withdrew the strike after the Health Ministry assured them extra security.

A delegation of Resident Doctors Association met Additional Secretary (Health) Sanjeeva Kumar, who promised that an additional 100 security guards would be deployed for doctors' safety at the sprawling government-run hospital in south Delhi.

The strike began earlier in the day after the Wednesday evening assault by a woman patient on a resident doctor.

Alleging she was not being properly treated, the patient first got into a row with the woman doctor and then assaulted her. The incident happened in the gynaecology ward.

The Ministry also sought a proposal from the hospital to increase the number of junior and senior resident doctors to cope with the rising number of patients.

--IANS

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Naz Foundation, a gay and transgender rights group, on Thursday hailed the Supreme Court ruling on right to privacy, saying it will have far reaching consequences for the LGBT population.

"The judgement has far reaching consequences, especially on Section 377 of IPC because the Delhi High Court judgement was based on the argument of privacy," Anjali Gopalan, Founder, Naz Foundation, told IANS.

He said that some years ago a professor in Aligarh committed suicide after a sting operation in his house. "Such violation will not happen."

--IANS

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The top US military official in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson and US Ambassador Hugo Llorens on Thursday urged the Taliban to lay down arms and end the war.

The rebels were unlikely to win against America's new strategy on Afghanistan and should join the peace process, commander of US Forces and NATO Gen. Nicholson said in Kabul at a joint press conference with Llorens after President Donald Trump late on Monday committed to an open-ended involvement of the US in the Afghan conflict, including sending more troops to the conflict-torn country, Efe news agency reported.

Nicholson called the Taliban "a criminal organisation", who were more "interested in profits from drugs and kidnappings", for which "90 per cent of the people of Afghanistan believe a return to the Taliban rule would be bad for the country."

"The Taliban have a simple choice: stop fighting against your countrymen. Stop killing innocent civilians. Stop bringing hardship and misery," said Nicholson.

"We must maintain pressure on the Taliban to join a peace process with the Afghan government to end the war in Afghanistan," Llorens said.

Following Trump's announcement, the Taliban warned the US that if it did not withdraw from the country, Afghanistan will become "the 21st-century graveyard for the American empire".

The deployment of new troops, which could be around 4,000 soldiers, although Trump was yet to specify the exact number, would add to the 8,400 US soldiers already stationed in the country.

Trump's decision marks a complete shift from the policy of former President Barack Obama's administration (2009-2017), which after having deployed around 100,000 soldiers in Afghanistan in 2010, had opted for a phased withdrawal of troops.

Both Nicholson and Llorens also urged Pakistan to stop sheltering the Taliban on its territory.

"The dialogue with Pakistan will be done in private and has already started," Nicholson said, adding that elimination of Taliban safe havens was key to the success of the new policy.

According to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction report released this month, the war in Afghanistan was stagnant with insurgents controlling 40 per cent of the country.

--IANS

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As the chorus for a secured Cloud experience grows in India, especially among the small and mid-sized businesses, VMWare's network virtualisation software can help them have a secure Cloud experience, a top company executive has stressed.

"VMware NSX" is the network virtualisation and security platform for the software-defined data centre.

'NSX' enables the creation of entire networks in software and embeds them in the hypervisor layer, abstracted from the underlying physical hardware. The platform embeds security functions right into the hypervisor.

"Cyber security is critical and hacks are increasing. The enterprises miss a wholesome architecture for security at data centres which can actually be provided by vistualisation technology," Murad Wagh, Director-Systems Engineering at VMware India, told IANS on Thursday.

"With 'VMWare NSX', every server becomes a firewall. No longer do you have to manually configure security rules as you can have a security policy that get attached to these machines, making the job more simpler," Wagh added.

"With NSX, the company delivers security firewall to each physical virtual machines so that the cyber attack can't spread laterally.

"This architecture uses virtualisation to secure your modern data centres across the devices," Wadh informed.

Vmware on Thursday announced the latest versions of the its Workstation solutions that are designed to enable multiple operating systems to run as virtual machines on a single Windows or Linux PC.

VMware 'Workstation 14 Pro' will offer advanced features that streamline processes and productivity for IT professionals and developers with greater networking and data centre management capabilities.

VMware 'Workstation 14 Player' will introduce expanded capabilities designed for enterprises looking for a simple and streamlined solution for running corporate desktops on standard issue or bring your own (BYO) PCs.

"In today's hyper-connected world, security is critical and the advanced features available in the Workstation 14 product line will deliver a secure environment for users to perform their tasks," said Dave Grant, Vice President, Product Marketing, End-User Computing, Vmware.

VMware Workstation 14 Pro and VMware Workstation 14 Player are expected to be available in October for $249.99 and $149.99, respectively.

--IANS

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This is the high noon of politics in Beijing, with the preparations in top gear for the 19th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party coming up this fall. This Congress promises to be a seminal event not only for the future of China, but also for global politics and economics: The implications of what will emerge from the Congress will extend far beyond Chinas borders.
President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov of Turkmenistan is in Armenia on Wednesday and Thursday, on official visit at the invitation of President Serzh Sargsyan.

August 24, 2017, 13:58 Armenia, Turkmenistan presidents reaffirm readiness for constructive cooperation

STEPANAKERT, AUGUST 24, ARTSAKHPRESS: According to the respective statement, the two presidents high-level meeting, which is a continuation of the high-level political discourse, was held on the eve of the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkmenistan.

They reaffirmed their readiness for constructive cooperation.

Also, the Armenian and Turkmen presidents stressed the importance of seeking solely a pacific resolution to existing conflicts.
A 70-year-old member of an Islamic group was murdered while another was injured by members of a rival group over disagreement about religious beliefs in Pakistan's Punjab province, police said today.

Waliur Rehman, a resident of Karachi, was leading an 11- member team of a Tablighi Jamaat and travelled from Raiwind to Chiniot for preaching purposes.

During the course of door-to-door preaching, Rehman and his group went to the house of two brothers - Ikram Khan and Imran Khan - who were students of Darul Uloom Muhammadia Ghousia, Bhera, Sargodha District, Sadar Police Station SHO Muhammad Afzal was quoted as saying by The Express Tribune.

"Rehman had an argument with Ikram and Imran over difference of opinion over religious beliefs," he said.

Afzal said that Rehman and one of his companions Abdullah Khan were sleeping in a mosque when accused Ikram and Imran attacked them with a spade yesterday.

"Rehman was killed on the spot while Abdullah suffered critical injuries on various parts of the body," he said.

The injured was shifted to a hospital in Faisalabad.

"The police have arrested accused Ikram while his brother is still at large," Afzal said.

A case had been registered against them.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After the proceedings in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly was marred by ruckus for the third straight day today, Chief Minister Virbharda Singh accused the Opposition BJP of lowering the dignity of the house by using "abusive and intemperate" language.

The House was adjourned as the government and the Opposition members clashed over the state's "deteriorating" law and order situation.

Talking to mediapersons after the adjournment, Singh said the house was meant for discussions and the members should refrain from creating ruckus in the House.

"The House is meant for discussions and members can express themselves in decent language, but raising slogans or creating ruckus in the House does not behove the elected representatives," said Singh.

BJP members cited the gangrape and murder of a schoolgirl in Kotkhai last month to claim the government's "soft attitude" towards criminals had emboldened them.

Singh dismissed the suggestions, claiming his government had acted promptly in every case.

"The government acted promptly in Gudia gangrape and murder case and the case was referred to the CBI at my behest. In the case of mysterious death of forest guard Hoshiar Singh, the High Court has directed the police not to file the challan," he said.

"It is wrong to say that the law and order situation has deteriorated in the state but the opposition is trying to mislead the people," he said, adding that the crime rate in the state was much lower than other states.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 30-year-old woman, who was declared brain dead yesterday, has given a new lease of life to four persons by donating her organs.

Harshita Kushwaha was undergoing treating since July 28 at Bombay Hospital, where doctor declared her brain dead last evening, a state government official said today.

After her husband and other family members gave their consent for donating her organs, Kushwaha's heart was harvested and transplanted in a patient in Mumbai.

"The heart was sent through an air ambulance to Mumbai's Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital. Her liver and kidneys were transplanted in three different patients in local hospitals," the official said.

He said the organs of 26 brain dead patients had been donated during the last 22 months in Indore. These organs were transplanted in 160 patients in Indore and other cities across the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Actor Brittany Snow has said that would she describe her personal style as "a bit tomboy".

The 31-year-old actor, however, added her fashion sense could be called classic and natural, reported Metro newspaper.

"It would be classic and effortless and a bit tomboy... My stylist friend is much more of a lady, she wants to always make me very Jackie O. (But) I'm always pushing back," Snow said.

The "Pitch Perfect" actor said she has had a fair share of "not (so) glamorous moments" and felt out of place on many counts.

"Oh god, there's so many not glamorous moments. The most glamorous thing I've done for a while would be be to go to Cannes for Bushwick. There were yacht parties and I felt so out of place. I didn't know what to do with my hands and stood in a corner at some point.

"Probably the most unglamorous would be rushing to meetings with French fries in my car, talking on the phone, getting dressed because I'm late," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A cache of explosives, including 77 arrow bombs and 43 grenades, were recovered from a Maoist hideout in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district, police said today.

"Acting on specific inputs, the recovery was made from a forested hill in Moranga village under Katekalyan police station limits yesterday," Deputy Inspector General of Police (Dantewada Range) Sundarraj P told PTI.

After receiving the tip-off about the dump of explosive materials belonging to Maoists in the Moranga hills, a joint team of Special Task Force (STF), District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had launched the operation on August 22 in the interiors of Katekalyan, around 400 kms from here, he said.

On Wednesday, the patrolling party spotted a cave in the hill where the explosives were hidden, the DIG added.

The seized items include 77 arrow bombs, 43 grenades, 73 detonators (53 of them coupled with wire), cordex wire 4 bundle, a big drum packed with explosive powder, one air gun and its pallets, 86 gelatin sticks, 10 kg sulphur powder, 11 packets of explosives, 3 meter fuse wire, one solar plate and three steel tiffin boxes, he added.

"Prima facie, inputs revealed that the cadres were allegedly planning a big strike on security forces after Monsoon and had amassed these explosives for the same purpose. Though, this recovery has foiled their evil design," he said, adding, investigation is underway.

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The CBI is all set to take over the investigation in the Bihar 'Srijan' scam in which government funds of over Rs 950 crore were allegedly diverted to the account of an NGO in Bhagalpur.

The cases were being investigated by the economic offences unit (EOU) of the Bihar Police.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had recommended a CBI probe into the case.

Sources said the CBI has received the reference from the Centre to take over the investigation.

They said the agency received the necessary documents from the Bihar government today.

The state police had issued a lookout notice against Priya Kumar, the secretary of the NGO Srijan Mahila Sahyog Samiti, and her husband Amit.

Priya is the daughter-in-law of Manorama Devi, the founder of the NGO. Devi died early this year after which the NGO was being run by Priya and Amit.

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The Coimbatore Compressor Industries Association has met Kerala Finance minister Thomas Isaac seeking his support in getting GST on air compressors reduced from 28 per cent to 12 per cent.

As the industry was not able to pay 28 per cent GST, COCIA office bearers had met union finance minister Arun Jaitley, who in turn asked them that it has to be decided by GST Council and required the support of state governments, an association release said today.

Stating that the small industries were seriously hit by increase in GST in financially difficult position due to increase in GST,



The release said the association, led by its president Ravindran, met Thomas Isaac yesterday in Thiruvananthapuram and sought support to reduce the tax.

The association has already met the Tamil Nadu finance minister in this regard, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) sleuth of Kota late on Wednesday evening arrested a Rajasthan police constable posted at Talera Police station in Bundi district and a tout and recovered a bribe amount of Rs 7,000 from their possession.

The constable, through a tout, had demanded a bribe of Rs 15,000 to settle a case lodged at the Talera police station but the matter was later fixed at Rs 8,000, of which Rs 1,000 the constable accepted at the time of verification of the complaint.

"Chajuram Gujjar, a native of Jhunjhunu district, currently posted as Rajasthan police constable at Talera police station and a tout identified as Ranglal Gujjar of Lambapiple village of the area were yesterday evening arrested and a bribe amount of Rs 7,000 was recovered from their possession," Additional Superintendent of Police, ACB, Kota Chandrasheel Thakur said.

The accused constable, through the tout had demanded a bribe of Rs 15,000 from one Pannalal Gujjar of Dulahapura village of Namana area in Bundi district for settling a case lodged in Talra police station against his brother Dhanraj, he said.

Pannalal Gujjar lodged a report in this connection against the constable and the tout with ACB Kota on Tuesday.

A trap was laid late yesterday evening and as the tout Ranglal accepted the bribe of Rs 7,000 and handed it over to the constable away from the police station at around 8 pm, ACB personnel, already deployed there, caught the constable and the tout red handed and recovered Rs 7,000 from their possession, ASP Chandrasheel Thakur said.

The accused constable and the tout would be produced before the ACB court later in the day today, ASP Thakur said.

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The Centre on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court's ruling holding privacy as a Fundamental Right, saying the top court has only "affirmed" the government's position on this issue.

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters that the court has said that right to privacy is not absolute and is subject to reasonable restrictions.

"The has affirmed what the government had said in Parliament while moving the Aadhar Bill. Privacy should be a fundamental right subject to reasonable restrictions," Prasad said.

Reacting to the assertion of the Congress that the verdict was a rejection of the BJP's ideology of "suppression through surveillance", Prasad tweeted: "What has been the record of the #Congress in protecting individual liberties was seen during Emergency."



A nine-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar today ruled that "right to privacy is an intrinsic part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty under Article 21 and entire Part III of the Constitution".
Having been moved to neighbouring Western Highlands province, the Southern Highlands regional vote count was expected to resume this week. Yet the delayed result in the Southern Highlands seat has tested the patience of voters in a volatile region.

The vote count for the Southern Highlands regional seat remains suspended due to clashes between supporters of rival candidates in the provincial capital Mendi which resulted in several deaths. Electoral Commission has ruled out failing the election as a number of parties in the province are calling for it to do.

The Electoral Commission has confirmed that declarations are not finalised in two Highlands electorates that experienced deadly election-related violence in the past month.

RESULTS are still pending in two seats in Papua New Guinea's election, three weeks since the overall return of writs.

Under pressure to explain the ongoing suspension, the Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato (pictured) said he had made preparations for the vote count to be shifted to Eastern Highlands capital, Goroka, as a neutral venue.

"But some Southern Highlands Provincial candidates went to court and asked the Court to have counting done in Mt Hagen (Western Highlands)," he explained.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner has confirmed that an election result in a second seat is yet to be finalised, despite earlier confirmation that it was. It only adds to the incomplete nature of the general election, two months after the country went to polls.

The National Court has put a hold on the return of writ for Kundiawa-Gembogl Open electorate in Chimbu province, ordering the counting of two disputed ballot boxes after lawyers for the former MP Tobias Kulang obtained the court order and asked for the count.

Mr Kulang, who is with the ruling People's National Congress party, was earlier this month charged with murder and inciting unrest in relation to violence in Kundiawa town during the vote count.

Since then, the candidate Willie Gogl Onglo had been declared as the MP-elect. That declaration is now effectively revoked, as Mr Gamato said he had to comply with the court order or he would be in contempt of court.

"The two disputed ballot boxes were not counted," the Commissioner said.

"I, as Electoral Commissioner ordered the boxes to be counted. The returning officer did not count the two boxes during the counting and elimination processes."

The Electoral Commission has not explained the inconsistency between the Kundiawa case and that of Kandep Open, where the Commissioner's order for seven ballot boxes to be included in the count was also not adhered to by the Returning Officer.

This matter was at the heart of complaints by the ousted Kandep MP and former opposition leader Don Polye who was defeated by the PNC's Alfred Manase and is urging the Commission to review that declaration.

Fighting between the supporters of these two Kandep rivals spiralled in Wabag town over the past month, lapsing into a wider tribal conflict that left at least 21 people dead before a ceasefire was reached last week.

Earlier this month Mr Gamato defended his decision to return the election writs to the Governor-general in order for the tenth parliament to begin three weeks ago, even when not all 111 seats had been declared.

MP numbers were already skewed since two men arrived at the parliament claiming to be the MP-elect for the Gumine seat in Chimbu province, with both of them refusing to vacate the chamber when their presence was holding up the swearing in of MPs.

The embarrassing double declaration, not the only one in this election, remains unresolved and the Electoral Commission's confirmation of Nick Kuman from the PNC as Gumine's MP-elect is set to be challenged in court by the PNG Party's Lucas Dekena.

Now, with confirmation that the Kundiawa seat has not been declared, PNG's long and troubled election is further away from a conclusion than previously thought. Parliament had its grand opening today to mark the start of business as usual. But a sense of unfinished business prevails.

For some time yet it will be an incomplete parliament overshadowed by election disputes.
The Kerala High Court today expunged adverse observations made by a judge against state Health Minister K K Shailaja in connection with the appointment of members to the state child rights panel.

Allowing a plea by the state government, a division bench headed by Chief Justice Navniti Prasad Singh expunged the remarks made by the single-judge bench recently.

The judge had made scathing observations against the minister while quashing the appointment of members to the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

In its petition, the government argued that the single- judge bench made adverse observations against the minister without hearing her views.

Citing the judge's observations, the opposition Congress-led UDF has been demanding the resignation of Shailaja.

The government, however, has rejected the demand.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Hindu man and his family here have embraced Islam after allegedly facing social boycott for over 28 years since he married a Muslim woman.

Vinod Prakash Khare (51), a resident of Rajnagar town in the district in Bundelkhand region, said he had married a Muslim woman nearly 28 years back. Post the marriage, his wife was assigned a Hindu name.

However, their alliance was not accepted by the family, relatives and society at large and his family was ostracised, he alleged.

Khare, his wife, daughter and sons converted to Islam on August 21.

"The Hindu society has not been supportive of us. Nobody used to invite us to marriages," he said.

"I was not even allowed to lend a shoulder to my father's body during his funeral procession. In such times, the Muslim society helped us, so our family decided to accept Islam," said the man, who is now rechristened as Ghulam Mohammed.

Rajnagar's sub-divisional magistrate Ravindra Choukse said he was aware about the family's conversion.

"I have got information about the conversion of Khare and his family. In case of any dispute or controversy necessary steps would be taken," Choukse said.

A local leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad said they were trying to resolve the family's problems.

"I am in touch with the family. We are working to sort out their problems. They have assured to reconsider their decision," he said.

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A pregnant woman was allegedly given triple talaq by her husband in the Sardhana area here, just hours after the Supreme Court declared the age-old practice as "unconstitutional" on Tuesday.

The woman, a resident of Mohalla Kamra Nawaban, in a complaint filed with the police alleged that her husband beat her up for dowry and drove her out of their house.

An FIR has been lodged against the man.

The police said the talaq was "invalid" according to the ruling of the apex court.

The woman, who married the accused six years ago and is a mother of three, also alleged that she suffered a miscarriage due to the beating, the police said.

Reacting to the incident, the All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board said the case posed a question as to what punishment will be given to those who continue to indulge in the practice.

The woman's family members on Tuesday met her in-laws to discuss the matter. But her husband divorced her by pronouncing the word talaq thrice, the police said.

She said her family told her husband that the Supreme Court had struck down the practice, but he did not relent.

SHO Dharmendra Singh Rathore said an FIR has been registered against the woman's husband and six others under relevant sections of the IPC and the Dowry Prohibition Act.

AIMWPLB president Shaista Amber told PTI that it was a case of contempt of the apex court and that the board would knock the doors of the top court for fixing punishment in such cases.

She said the Supreme Court had asked for framing of a legislation on triple talaq but the government was "trying to shirk its responsibility by saying that it was not required after the verdict".

"It has to be ensured that the issue of triple talaq is fully addressed else Muslim women will continue to face injustice," the AIMWPLB president said.

"The court and the government need to clarify their stand or we will be forced to take to the streets," she said.

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How does marriage affect one's ability to become an officer in the Judge Advocate General (JAG) service, the legal arm of the Indian Army, the Delhi High Court asked today.

The query was posed to the Centre after it submitted before a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal that now even married men are barred from being recruited in the Army.

The submission came after the court on August 10 had questioned the non-recruitment of married women in the JAG and observed that such acts amount to "hostile and 100 per cent discrimination".

It had made the observation while hearing a PIL by lawyer Kush Kalra claiming there was institutionalised discrimination against married women by not inducting them in JAG service.

The government today contended before the bench that since married men are also barred from being recruited in the Army, after a recent amendment in its recruitment rules, the PIL has become infructuous.

The court, however, did not agree with the contention and questioned the rationale behind barring married individuals from getting recruited in the Army.

"Suppose one gets married and then wants to join JAG service? One can get married at the age of 18 years. How does marriage affect someone's ability to become a JAG officer.

"Right to family is recognised as a part of right to life under Article 21. Apply your mind. There can be no other rationale here, other than somebody's whim. Somebody has got something in their mind against marriage," the bench said.

It said the impact of the change in recruitment rules was that a person should either be unmarried or get divorced if they want to join the Army.

The court did not pass any order and adjourned the matter to November 9 to be heard by the regular bench which was hearing the plea along with another PIL by Kalra on the issue of only gainfully employed men being recruited in the Territorial Army (TA), the second line of defence after the regular Army.

The TA is an organisation of volunteers who receive military training in order to be mobilised for the country's defence in case of an emergency.

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International red sanders smuggler A T Maideen and his two aides were arrested from near here, a police official said today.

The trio was arrested last night from a check post in Mydukur town of YSR Kadapa district, said SP Bapuji Attada.

Addressing a press conference here, he said police have seized 68 red sanders logs from him.

Police also confiscated two BMW cars, as many Nissan cars and a Tata Pick-up vehicle from him, the police officer said.

Maideen allegedly had links with international red sanders smugglers in China, Singapore, Dubai besides those operating in India, Attada said.

Maideen has been active in the illegal trade for the last 20 years during which he smuggled more than 3,000 tons of red sanders, used in traditional medicines and woodcraft across East Asia, he said.

The SP said police have identified Rs 77.5 crore worth of properties belonging to Maideen and located in Nagapattinam district, Chennai in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

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The joy of Majid Pathan knew no bounds when he cuddled 'Vijay', the male calf delivered by a surrogate mother cow through In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) in a mobile laboratory at his farm, thanks to technological advancement.

The NGO involved in the process claimed it to be the first calf delivered through IVF at a farmer's doorstep at Indapur tehsil, about 150 kms from here.

The farmer feels more confident when the lab comes to his doorstep for offering the services, says a senior scientist involved in the process.

The healthy male calf (Gir breed) was born on August 20 at Rachana Khillar Farm, owned by Pathan, at Loni Deokar village in Indapur tehsil, said Dr Shyam Zawar, the CEO of JK Trust and the chief scientist at JK BovaGenix, who led the entire process.

JK BovaGenix, an initiative of JK Trust, one of the largest NGOs working for cattle and buffalo breed improvement in India, claimed it to be the first calf delivered through IVF technology at a farmer's doorstep.

"The process involved a highly advanced technique which requires high precision and accuracy and is similar to 'test tube baby' in humans," Zawar said.

He said the trust has two high labs in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh to facilitate the production of IVF calves.

"However, this time, we went one step ahead by taking this technology to the doorstep of the dairy farmers as the aim was to conduct the entire procedure in front of the farm owner," he said.

"A specially designed mobile laboratory, the ET-IVF Van, was taken to Rachana Khillar Farm, where the oocytes, or immature eggs, were collected from the donor cow, named 'Ratan', on November 9 last year," said Zawar.

The aspirated oocytes were fertilised with the semen of high pedigree bulls, which resulted in the production of good quality viable embryos.

"These embryos were transferred fresh into the recipient cow of the Farm on November 16, 2016 and after completion of the pregnancy period, the recipient cow delivered a healthy male calf on August 20," Zawar said.

He said the farmer feels more confident when the lab comes to his doorstep to offer the services.

"One can imagine his happiness when he will see the embryos produced in the lab develop into calves because he has been a witness to the entire procedure," he said.

The indigenous cow breeds like Gir, Tharparkar, Sahiwal, Khillar and others have been dwindling as cross- breeding is happening on a large scale, Zawar said, adding there is a need to protect the breeds in their original form.

"Generally a cow, in its average 15 years of lifetime, can give birth to maximum 10 calves. However, using the IVF technique, the same cow can give birth to 20 calves in a year and if you multiply it with 10 years, the same cow will give birth to 200 calves," he said.

In the present case, the donor cow, Ratan, belongs to Gir breed found in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. A cow of this breed gives 10 to 12 litres milk every day, he said.

"The milk from Indian cows falls in A2 category, which is considered as superior as it has healing properties, so it is important to promote the high-yielding indigenous varieties in the country," he said.

Zawar said they are hopeful of promoting the usage of IVF technology to multiply genetically superior indigenous cows at a much faster pace, in line with the Government of India's Rashtriya Gokul Mission.

The initiative by JK BovaGenix was conceptualised last year under the guidance of Dr Vijaypat Singhania, the chairman of JK Trust, to popularise advanced assisted reproductive technologies in cattle for faster genetic improvement of indigenous cattle population, the NGO said.

Besides Pathan's farm, similar experiments were carried at a couple of other farms in Pune district, where the oocytes of donor cows (Gir, Khillar and Tharparkar breeds) were taken in November last year and the surrogate cows are expected to give birth in next few days, Zawar said.

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JNU has reinstated whistleblower former IIT Kharagpur professor Rajeev Kumar, whose penalty of compulsory retirement was quashed by Pranab Mukherjee days before he demitted office as President.

"In continuation of Ministry of HRD Ministry's letter and Delhi High Court's order, Rajeev Kumar is requested to resume his duties in School of Computer and Systems Sciences immediately," an official order issued by JNU said.

IIT Kharagpur had suspended Kumar for "misconduct" in May 2011, the same year the Supreme Court had lauded him as an "unsung hero" for his efforts to reform the IIT Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) which has since been re-christened as JEE Advanced.

The institute had set up a probe panel that found him guilty.

Kumar was accused of "damaging the reputation of the institute" by levelling allegations on issues ranging from irregularities in the purchase of laptops to rampant copying by students during examinations.

In 2014, the IIT decided to compulsorily retire him.

Kumar, who alleged that the panel was biased, had moved the Delhi High Court and obtained a stay on the IIT's decision. He had also appealed to the then president requesting that the order be quashed.

Following the high court's stay order, Kumar had taken lien for two years and joined Jawaharlal Nehru University in 2015. However, he was relieved from JNU in June to allow him to re-join IIT Kharagpur.

The IIT had last week accepted his resignation following communication of the Presidential order, and the professor had appealed to the JNU vice chancellor to reinstate him.

"Kumar will also be entitled to benefits from the date he was relieved from JNU," the official order said.

Days before he demitted office last month, Mukherjee had ordered setting aside of the penalty imposed on Kumar.

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The landmark verdict of the Supreme Court declaring Right to Privacy as a fundamental right was today welcomed by jurists and senior advocates who termed it as "progressive" and it was "a basic right".

They, however, said the verdict's impact on Aadhaar scheme can be assessed once the full judgement and reasons given by the court are examined.

Lauding the unanimous verdict of the nine-judge bench, senior advocate Soli Sorabjee said it showed the "good approach" of the Supreme Court which does not hesitate in over-ruling its previous judgements.

The former Attorney General said "it is a very progressive judgement and protects the fundamental rights of the people. Privacy is a basic right which is inherent in every individual."



"The unanimity of the bench in giving this decision shows a very good approach of the Supreme Court. Any judgement which enlarges the fundamental rights of the people should be welcome," he added.

Expressing hope that the citizens of India would now be protected from any kind of snooping, senior advocate Indira Jaising said, "It is a day to celebrate."



"Privacy is fundamental. It certainly has an impact on the day-to-day life. This verdict prevents any kind of snooping," she said.

On being asked about its impact on Aadhaar, Sorabjee said the reasoning of the apex court needs to be examined and one cannot say that Aadhaar will now be banned.

"You cannot make a blanket and categorical statement that Aaadhaar will be banned or is unconstitutional. No fundamental right is absolute. It is always subject to reasonable restrictions," Sorabjee said.

Jaising too said what impact it will have on Aadhaar was a separate issue but privacy cannot be compromised after this verdict.

Welcoming the decision, BJP spokesperson and senior advocate Aman Sinha, termed it a "good verdict" but with reasonable restrictions.

"We welcome this judgement. This is a good verdict. The Supreme Court has declared the Right to Privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution. But like other Fundamental Rights, this is also subject to reasonable restrictions. We are awaiting the full judgement," Sinha said.

In a decision that will affect the lives of all Indians, the Supreme Court today unanimously declared that the right to privacy was a Fundamental right under the Constitution.

A nine-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar ruled that "right to privacy is an intrinsic part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty under Article 21 and entire Part III of the Constitution".

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A man allegedly killed his two minor daughters and seriously injured his wife in Bihar's Rohtas district, police said today.

The incident took place yesterday night at a rented house in Indira Nagar locality under the jurisdiction of Vikramganj police station, a police officer said.

Lalit Singh, a native of neighbouring Bhojpur district, shot his daughters Tanu Kumari (12) and Tanya Kumari (14), Vikramganj police station in-charge Akram Ansari said.

The children died on the spot, he said.

Lalit Singh also attacked his wife Gudiya Devi with a sharp object and injured her seriously, he said.

The injured woman was admitted to a private clinic in critical condition, he said.

Lalit Singh, owner of a mobile recharge shop, fled the spot leaving behind a note, Ansari said.

He mentioned in the note that he had taken such an action since he was buried under debts, Ansari said.

We have started an investigation into the matter, the police officer said.

Efforts are on to locate and nab the assailant, he said.

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Mobile internet services have been suspended for 72 hours in Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh, ahead of the court verdict in the sexual exploitation case against the Dera Sacha Sauda sect head on Friday.

The decision to suspend mobile Internet services was taken in a coordination committee meeting of Haryana, Punjab and Union Territory Chandigarh held under the chairmanship of Punjab Governor and UT Administrator, V P Singh Badnore in Chandigarh.

"Mobile Internet and data services have been suspended for 72 hours in Punjab, Haryana and UT Chandigarh with immediate effect," Haryana Additional Chief Secretary (Home) said here today.

He said notification to block mobile internet services and data services is being issued.

Niwas said it has also been decided that the Ministry of Railways would be requested to immediately stop all passenger trains coming to Chandigarh for two days.

"We have requested the Ministry of Railways to stop the train movement towards Chandigarh for two days," he said.

Similarly, buses of Haryana Roadways coming to Chandigarh and Panchkula had already been stopped for two days, Niwas added.

He said a joint control room of Haryana and Punjab would be set up at Control Room, Sector-9, Chandigarh where one police officer of both the States would be deployed for better coordination between police administration to maintain law and order in view of the court judgement in the Dera chief case.

Niwas said as per earlier orders, Section 144 was imposed in all districts.

Dera followers were being relocated to secure sensitive areas.

"Dera followers are being flushed out from the sensitive areas," he further said.

Apart from deployment of extra police force, he said 18 companies of paramilitary forces would also remain available by the evening.

He said 10 senior IPS officers have been deployed and two Director General level officers of Police Department have also been appointed to ensure peace and maintaining law and order in the state.

In addition, 100 duty magistrates have been appointed at various locations. Action is being taken by the civil and police administration on the basis of intelligence inputs, he added.

Security agencies in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh have been on toes in the wake of Dera followers flocking Panchkula where the special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court is to pronounce verdict in the case tomorrow.

Prohibitory orders have already been clamped in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.
The first of the New York State Fair's new 13-day schedule was a success.

The state fair drew a crowd of 67,974 people Wednesday. It was one of the best opening days in recent years, although that's based on the previous 12-day schedule when the fair opened on Thursday.

Both of the fair's Chevy Court concerts helped boost the day's overall attendance total. Robert Randolph and the Family Band performed before an estimated crowd of 2,200 in the afternoon. It was wet for 3 Doors Down's show at night, but 17,900 people attended the concert.

Wednesday was highlighted by Gov. Andrew Cuomo's visit to the fairgrounds. The new opening day also served as the new Governor's Day at the fair. Cuomo spent more than an hour at the fair and made an announcement about the proposed $50 million expo center.

The expo center, which Cuomo said would be the largest north of New York City, is expected to be completed before the start of the 2018 fair.

The fair resumes Thursday with the first of two $3 Thursday promotional days. Admission will cost fairgoers $3 at the gate.

A new attraction will be at the fair Thursday. Watkins Glen International will have an IndyCar simulator in the International Building. The simulation is free and will give participants a look at what it's like to drive a race car.

The afternoon Chevy Court act will be The Family Stone. Chevelle will perform at 8 p.m.
An accused in the sensational Faizal murder case was hacked to death by unidentified assailants in the district today, police said.

Vipin (30), the second accused in the case last year, was out on bail. He was found lying with injuries on his body at a roadside in Pulinchode in Tirur around 7 am. Though police who rushed to the spot took him to the government hospital, he died on the way. A tense situation is prevailing in Tirur and nearby areas and police personnel were deployed in strength to prevent any untoward incident, police said.

Faizal alias Anil Kumar (30), who embraced Islam, was found dead in a drain at Kodhini village in the district on November 19 last year.

Sixteen persons have been arrested in connection with the murder.

After the death of Faizal, his mother embraced Islam in December last year followed by his other family members, including two sisters,two months ago.

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A 3-day workshop on enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPRs) was concluded today, which was organised by the commerce and industry ministry for various agencies, including the police.

It was organised by organised by the Cell for IPR Promotion & Management (CIPAM), an arm of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

The workshop "was designed to help enforcement agencies establish a platform to share knowledge on IPR enforcement furthering appreciation and understanding among the enforcement authorities and common people," the ministry said in a statement.

Joint Secretary in the DIPP Rajiv Aggarwal emphaised on the need for Indians to respect and commercialise IP.

"Creating awareness about IPRs can help in tackling piracy since limited knowledge about its social and economic impacts leads to circulation and consumption of pirated content," it said.

With this objective, CIPAM joined hands with the industry and launched a campaign against piracy through a series of animated videos on anti-piracy.

The cell has also launched a social media campaign with hashtag "#LetsTalkIP" to create more interest among people on intellectual property.

Delegates from World International Property Organisation (WIPO), police officers, legal fraternity, industry experts and law students participated in the workshop.

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Australia's conservative government will have to wait at least two months to discover if key members will survive a dual citizenship crisis that has put its one-seat parliamentary majority under threat.

Seven lawmakers from across the benches have so far run afoul of an obscure constitutional rule which bars dual citizens from parliament.

The Liberal-National coalition's slim majority in the lower house is on the line after Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce discovered he had New Zealand citizenship.

A court ruling disqualifying him could potentially topple Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's government.

Five cases -- Joyce, National Party senator Matt Canavan and three other senators from minor parties -- were referred to the High Court, with the chief justice determining today that they would be heard on October 10-12.

"There is an obvious public urgency in relation to this matter to clarify the situation," Attorney-General George Brandis told reporters.

"We look forward to the speedy resolution of the matter."



Brandis said the court would examine seven cases during the three-day seating in Canberra.

The total includes another two senators caught out by the law, the Nationals' Fiona Nash and independent Nick Xenophon.

The government had hoped the hearing would occur in September to dispel uncertainty created by its biggest crisis since it was returned to power in mid-2016.

The saga began in July, when Greens co-deputy leader Scott Ludlam resigned after revealing he had dual Australian- New Zealand citizenship.

Other politicians followed, including Canadian-born Greens senator Larissa Waters and Canavan, who stepped down as resources minister after finding his mother signed him up to Italian citizenship in his 20s.

Australia-born Joyce -- the leader of the rural-based Nationals -- earlier this month found out he had automatically acquired New Zealand citizenship through his Dunedin-born father.

Nash, Xenophon and Indian-born One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts have also been under a British citizenship cloud.

Xenophon told Sky yesterday he wanted a citizenship audit of all lawmakers, adding: "If I'm in strife, then there will be dozens of others in strife in the parliament."



Despite the cloud hanging over his government, Turnbull has repeatedly expressed confidence that the High Court would not disqualify the politicians.

"I am very, very confident that the court will find that those members that have been caught up in this dual citizenship issue by reason of descent will be found not to be disqualified," he told reporters yesterday.

The dual citizenship rule was originally inserted into the 1901 constitution to ensure parliamentarians were loyal solely to Australia.

However, critics say it is out of step with the country's modern reality, where 50 per cent of the population are either foreign born or the children of immigrants.

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Reducing nicotine content in cigarettes may decrease their addiction potential in vulnerable populations, a study suggests.

Researchers at University of Vermont in the US examined the addiction potential of cigarettes with reduced nicotine content in two vulnerable populations of smokers - individuals with psychiatric disorders and socioeconomically disadvantaged women.

"Evidence in relatively healthy and socially stable smokers indicates that reducing the nicotine content of cigarettes reduces their addictiveness," said Stephen Higgins, Professor at University of Vermont in the US.

"Whether that same effect would be seen in populations highly vulnerable to tobacco addiction was unknown," Higgins added.

The team studied 169 daily smokers, including 120 women and 49 men. A total of 56 of the participants were diagnosed with affective disorders, 60 with opioid dependence, and 53 were socioeconomically disadvantaged women.

Each study participant completed 14 two to four hour sessions, abstaining from smoking for six to eight hours before each of the sessions, which were organised in three phases.

Phase 1 included sampling of the research cigarettes in double-blind conditions, beginning with the smoking of the participant's regular brand cigarette and then smoking one research cigarette of identical appearance, but varying doses of nicotine in sessions two to five.

A Cigarette Purchase Task (CPR) was completed after each smoking session to measure the effects of cost on the participant's rate of smoking. Additional questionnaires assessed research cigarette evaluation, nicotine withdrawal, smoking urges, and nicotine dependence.

Phase 2 sessions asked participants to select which cigarette they preferred to smoke among six different dose combinations and used a computer programme, which recorded which of the two cigarettes participants preferred for that session and whether they wanted to continue to smoke after two puffs or abstain.

The final phase 3 followed the same protocol, but measured only the highest and lowest doses of nicotine.

While participants tended to prefer the higher nicotine dose content research cigarettes, the team found that the low-nicotine dose cigarettes could serve as economic substitutes for higher-dose commercial-level nicotine cigarettes when the cost of the latter was greater.

"This study provides a very encouraging indication that reducing the nicotine content of cigarettes would help vulnerable populations," Higgins said.

The study was published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

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Union Minister D V Sadananda Gowda today said there will be no fund constraints for the railway project in Meghalaya and more than Rs 6000 crore has been sanctioned for it.

"The railway connectivity in Meghalaya is being treated by the government as a national project and for such projects there will be no constraints of funds," Gowda, who is in charge of statistics and programme implementation, told reporters here.

He said Rs 6000 crore plus has been sanctioned for the 108 km railway project which is aimed at connecting Shillong with the rest of the country by 2021.

Gowda, who was here for a review meeting of railways, national highways, health, steel and arts and culture ministries, said the railway authorities have utilised Rs 240 crore until last year and targeted to utilize Rs 200 crore this year.

About Rs 250 crore have been deposited with the concerned district authorities for land acquisition for the project.

The railway project has, however, been halted following arson by Khasi Students Union activists earlier this year in which heavy construction equipments worth several crores of rupees was damaged.

"Any developmental projects should be taken up after consultation with the aggrieved persons and we should resolve their problems also ... The chief minitsre has initiated some steps on how connectivity should be made and the concerns of the students should be taken into consideration," he said.

The union minister said that with the coming of the railways, there will more tourists visiting Meghalaya and at the same time there will be ample employment opportunities.

On the issue of health, Gowda said the expansion project at the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Institute of Health and Medical Science is doing well.

"The scheduled time to complete the project is August 2018 and it will be a world class health institution in Meghalaya," he said.

The government has provided Rs 156 crore for the cultural centre here which is expected to be completed in time, while his ministry has sanctioned Rs 10.9 crore for strengthening of the statistical divisions.

Gowda also said that 95 per cent of the MPLAD schemes have been implemented in the state, where Rs 9025 crore of central funds is coming for various projects.

The state and the Centre are expected to sign an MoU within two months for close coordination for providing real time data, he added.

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A court here today dismissed a petition filed by two former top government officials, seeking quashing of a case registered against them in connection with the escape of Warren Anderson, the prime accused in the 1984 Union Carbide gas leak case.

Additional District Judge (ADJ) R K Soni dismissed the revision petition of the then Bhopal collector Moti Singh and the then superintendent of police Swaraj Puri, paving the way for their trial.

Singh and Suri have been accused of facilitating the then Union Carbide Corporation chairman Anderson's escape.

Anderson, a US citizen, visited Bhopal in the aftermath of the gas tragedy. He was subsequently allowed to leave the city. He never returned to appear before the trial court.

Anderson was subsequently declared an absconder. He died in the US in 2013.

The ADJ upheld the order of the chief judicial magistrate against Singh and Suri, said lawyer Harish Mehta, who is representing social activists Abdul Jabbar and Shahnawaz Khan, who have filed the criminal case against the two.

Chief Judicial Magistrate Bhubhaskar Yadav, in February, had issued bailable warrants against the two accused after they failed to appear before the court twice. The sessions court had subsequently put a stay on the warrant, while hearing the revision pleas of the accused.

Puri and Singh have been charged under IPC sections 212 (harbouring an offender), 217 (public servant disobeying direction of law with intent to save person from punishment) and 221 (intentional omission to apprehend a culprit).

Toxic gas leaked from the Union Carbide's pesticide factory in Bhopal in the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984, killing nearly 15,000 people and maiming thousands in what is termed as the world's worst industrial disaster.

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A woman allegedly hanged herself to death at her residence in Sector 78 here, with the police booking her husband and in-laws on charges of dowry harassment.

Deepshikha's father Mukesh Kumar has lodged a dowry death case against her husband Sandeep, mother-in-law Nirmla and four others, the police said.

The woman was "unhappy and upset" ever since her marriage, said Parashu Ram, in-charge Sector 49 police station.

Deepshikha's husband, who works at AIIMS, Delhi, has been detained for questioning, the police official said.

He said Sandeep has studied up to class 10th while Deepshikha had completed her graduation in B.Ed.

She was upset that her father had married her to a "less educated" man. Sandeep's father was employed at the AIIMS and after his death Sandeep had got job on humanitarian ground, the policeman said.

Probe is on, he added.

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The National Students Union of India today demanded mock drills on all EVMs, installation of VVPAT machines, and appointment of party polling agents to ensure fair Delhi University Students Union elections next month.

An NSUI delegation submitted a memorandum to Delhi University's Chief Election Officer mentioning all its demands.

"To encourage greater participation and free and fair DUSU polls, NSUI demands usage of VVPAT machines and at least five per cent of the machine polling should be cross-checked with the paper trail to build confidence among voters," NSUI said in a release.

Polling agents for every candidate contesting the DUSU polls should be allotted and a mock drill on all EVMs should be conducted in front of them to demonstrate if the machines are functioning properly, it said.

ID cards should be issued to all students a week ahead of the polling day or other IDs such as voter ID, PAN, Aadhaar should be accepted instead, to increase the voter percentage, the release said.

Other demands to increase the voter turnout included - EVM-wise counting in front of the candidates or polling agents, extension of voting time, avoidance of excessive deployment of police forces and barricading.

"Excessive presence of police on campus during the election should be avoided at all costs as it intimidates student voters, especially the first-year students. Excessive barricades inhibit voters as many have to travel long distances on foot to cast their vote," the release said.

DUSU elections will be held on September 12.

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Violent stone-pelting protests broke out in a village in north Kashmir's Kupwara district today as the villagers alleged that a "militant" killed in an encounter with the security forces on Tuesday was a student, who had gone missing the day before.

"Heavy stone-pelting protests broke out at Dariel Tarathpora Vilgam after 400-500 people assembled there, alleging that the militant killed in the encounter at the Hangnikote forest area in Vilgam on Tuesday was a student," a police official said here.

He added that the slain "militant" was yesterday identified as Shahid Bashir Mir (21), a resident of Dariel Tarathpora Vilgam, and his body was handed over to his family.

The official said this morning, about 400-500 people, including the slain "militant's" family members, assembled at the Tarathpora Chowk with his body and started protesting.

"They claimed that he (Mir) was not a militant, but a Degree College student, who had gone missing on August 21 (Monday) and a complaint in this regard had also been lodged on August 22 at the Vilgam police station. Reportedly, he was not mentally fit for the last one-two months," the official said.

He added that the protesters pelted stones at the security forces.

"The violent mob also set ablaze a vehicle of the deputy commissioner, Kupwara," the official said.

The Army on Tuesday had said that security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation at Hangnikote in the Haphruda forest area of Handwara, 85 km from here, following information about the presence of militants there.

An Army official had said that during the searches,the militants opened fire on the security forces, who retaliated,triggering a gunbattle.

He had said an unidentified militant was killed in the gunbattle.

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Guarded by Army personnel, Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, who was granted bail by the Supreme Court on Monday, today appeared before a court in Mumbai which is hearing arguments on framing of charges in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.

Purohit, released from the Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai yesterday, came to the special court for National Investigation Agency cases escorted by a posse of armed Army personnel.

The hearing on framing of charges would continue on August 28, said special prosecutor Avinash Rasal.

Speaking to reporters outside the court, his wife Aparna said Purohit's release nearly nine years after his arrest was an emotional moment for the family.

"He was happy to meet the children...It's yet to sink in," she said. She and her husband would be happy if their children too joined the Army, she said.

"Till now I was alone (in fighting the legal battle for her husband), now he will also join me," she said, talking about the blast case in which Purohit is a key accused.

Purohit yesterday reported to his Army unit after he was released from prison. A team of Military Police and Quick Response Team of the Army took him to a military station at Colaba in south Mumbai.

A Supreme Court bench of Justices R K Agrawal and A M Sapre on August 21 set aside an order of the Bombay High Court which had denied him bail.

Six people were killed in a bomb blast on September 29, 2008 at Malegaon, a communally sensitive textile town in Nashik district of north Maharashtra.

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The Delhi High Court has directed the police to restrict protests outside Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's home in the Civil Lines area of the national capital and ensure unobstructed traffic flow there.

The direction by Justice Vibhu Bakhru came on a plea by the residents of the area who claimed they were being harassed by the repeated processions and protests which take place outside the chief minister's residence.

They also contended that the protests were leading to obstruction of the regular traffic flow there.

The court restricted the holding of protests in the area, saying that while citizens have the right to protest peacefully, it "cannot be at the cost of others".

"Plainly, the residents of Civil Lines, Delhi cannot be put to inconvenience on account of dharnas and protesting crowds in the vicinity of their residences, which, this court is informed, has become a regular feature in that area," it said.

The Delhi government did not oppose the plea and submitted that the police has designated specific areas like Jantar Mantar and Ram Lila Grounds, for conducting peaceful demonstrations according to the numerical strength of the protestors.

"In these circumstances, respondent no.2 (police) are directed to ensure that adequate steps are taken for keeping the residential roads free for traffic movement.

"They are directed to restrict the dharnas and protest in the residential area in question and ensure that no unnecessary inconvenience is caused to the public at large on account of any such protest," the court said.

It also said it was not inclined to indicate the maximum number of persons that may be permitted to collect in protests and added that it would be left to the discretion of the police.

"However, they (police) shall ensure that the size of the crowd and number of persons participating in a protest in the area in question is restricted, so as to ensure that there is no obstruction in free flow of traffic or inconvenience to the residents of Civil Lines and the public at large.

"It is also clarified that if considered apposite, it would also be open for respondent no.2 to ban all protests in that area," the court said and disposed of the plea.

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The strike called by the resident doctors at the Safdarjung Hospital over an alleged assault on a woman doctor was called off this evening after a decision to deploy 100 security guards was taken by the administration.

The resident doctors at the hospital had gone on strike last evening alleging that one of their colleagues was assaulted by a woman patient in antenatal clinic in the OPD.

Emergency services were affected at the hospital as the doctors stayed away from work demanding enhanced security on the premises and parity in the doctor-patient ratio.

The hospital medical superintendent along with the members of resident doctors association met the additional health secretary, Sanjeeva Kumar, at the health ministry following a decision to employ 100 guards with immediate effect was taken.

"Consideration for Risk Hardship allowance and NPA allowance will be examined by the Ministry.

"A proposal for consideration to increase the number of senior residents and junior residents to meet the present needs of patient care may be submitted by the medical superintendent to the Ministry keeping in mind the current doctor-patient ratio (last evaluated in 2007-08)," the minutes of the meeting read.

Further it was decided that monthly meeting of the RDA with local hospital administrative authorities and quarterly meeting of RDA with the ministry will be held regularly.

Also, it was decided that no penal action in any form will be taken against any resident for participating in this strike.

"Yesterday, around 2.30 pm, a 30-year-old patient assaulted a woman doctor in the antenatal clinic in the OPD alleging that her treatment was being delayed," Resident Doctors' Association President Dheer Singh had claimed.

"Such incidents have become a routine here," he alleged.

An FIR has also been filed at the Safdarjung Enclave police station in connection with the incident.

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The CPI(M) today welcomed the Supreme Court's landmark verdict declaring right to privacy as a Fundamental right and expressed hope it would protect the misuse of private data in a world "dominated by corporates".

"The Politburo welcomes the Supreme Court verdict...This landmark judgment should pave the way to protect, in this world of technology advance dominated by corporates, misuse of private data and infringing upon the privacy of individuals," the Left party said in a statement.

A nine-judge bench of the apex court today unanimously declared that right to privacy was a Fundamental right under the Constitution.

The Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar ruled that "right to privacy is an intrinsic part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty under Article 21 and entire Part III of the Constitution".

The ruling on the highly contentious issue was to deal with a batch of petitions challenging the Centre's move to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing the benefits of various social welfare schemes.

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The Supreme Court today imposed a cost of Rs 10 lakh each on two persons for filing a "motivated" petition challenging the practise of recommending to the President, the name of successor by the incumbent Chief Justice of India.

A bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud said that imposition of exemplary cost on Swami Om and Mukesh Jain was needed to send across a message to similarly placed people to deter them from filing such pleas.

The petitioners, who did not allege anything in their plea against the CJI designate, referred to the constitutional scheme on the appointment of CJI and the Chief Justices of the High Courts and said that the process of recommending the name of successor by the incumbent CJI is against the spirit of Constitution.

The bench in its order noted that Article 124A, amended by the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, has already been set aside by a constitution bench.

Article 124 of the Constitution deals with the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court, while Article 124A provides for the composition of the National Judicial Appointments Commission.

The apex court asked the petitioners to deposit the fine within a period of one month from today and said that the amount should be sent to the Prime Minister Relief Fund.

The bench ordered re-listing of the matter after a month if the petitioners fail to deposit the cost imposed.

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An international search at sea for nine American sailors still missing after their warship collided with a tanker off Singapore was suspended today, the US Navy said.

They said divers will continue "search and recovery" efforts inside flooded compartments of the USS John S McCain, which was left with a gaping hole in its hull after Monday's collision.

"After more than 80 hours of multinational search efforts, the US Navy suspended search and rescue efforts for missing USS John S McCain sailors" in a massive area at sea, said a statement from the US Navy's Seventh Fleet.

Remains already recovered from the destroyer were identified by the navy as Kenneth Aaron Smith, but nine other sailors remain missing.

Monday's accident, which happened in busy shipping lines by the Strait of Singapore, was the second deadly incident involving a US destroyer in two months after an American ship collided with a cargo vessel off Japan in June.

It prompted the US Navy to announce a fleet-wide, global investigation and to sack the commander of the Japan- headquartered Seventh Fleet, which both the warships belonged to.

Singapore also confirmed the search efforts were suspended.

They had involved ships, aircraft and divers from Singapore, the US, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia, covering a vast area east of the city-state.

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A seminar that will examine an array of issues and emerging trends in public infrastructure financing will be held here on August 26.

It is being organised by Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), the state's nodal agency for funding major infrastructure projects.

Titled 'Opportunities and Challenges in Public Infrastructure Financing', the seminar will feature discussions on new avenues and emerging trends in infrastructure financing.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the day-long seminar.

Finance Minister Thomas Isaac will preside, a release said.

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BJP chief Amit Shah today said the Congress was engaging in a "false show of jubilation and vindication" over the Supreme Court's judgement holding privacy as a fundamental right, and insisted the verdict was in line with the Modi government's vision and actions.

Referring to "mischievous propaganda", an apparent reference to the Congress' stand that the verdict was a blow to the government, Shah said it needed to be busted as he welcomed the order, saying it strengthened fundamental rights and personal liberty of individuals.

"Those waxing eloquent today on privacy architecture are the ones who have ensured India does not have a robust privacy law for decades. Those commenting on Aadhar are the same people who did not provide it a legal backing for years!" he wrote in a blog.

Attacking the Congress, Shah also referred to the part of the judgement that overruled the 1976 ADM Jabalpur case verdict of the apex court in which it had defended the then Indira Gandhi government's decision to curtail citizens' right to approach courts to challenge detentions.

These words should ring a bell to the Congress, Shah said. Taking a swipe at a bevy of top lawyer-politicians in the Congress, he said the party's in-house eminent lawyers should brief their high command on this.

These words hold a mirror to the Congress at a time when it was engaging in a false show of jubilation and vindication, he said.

It is strange that those who snatched away the right to life and right to liberty of millions of Indians by imposing Emergency were standing today as guardians of our fundamental rights based on "misinterpretation" of the judgement, the BJP chief said.

"It is equally strange that those who brought Section 66A and championed censoring on the Internet are speaking of liberties and rights," he said.

Quoting the judgement, he said, it has held that right to privacy was not absolute and subject to various restrictions, a point also in consonance with the government's stand.

He also quoted Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's speech in Parliament in which he had said while piloting a bill that "I do accept that probably privacy is a fundamental right".

"Today's judgement is a welcome judgement as it strengths fundamental rights and personal liberty. Our government is committed to ensuring equitable social delivery, particularly to the poor in consonance with today's judgement by Hon'ble Supreme Court," he said.

The BJP, he said, fully respected the right to privacy and expressed confidence that the government will lay down a robust privacy architecture after the Srikrishna committee, which has been formed by the government to propose a data protection bill, submits its recommendations.

The Congress had earlier launched a sharp attack on the government with its chief Sonia Gandhi saying the judgement struck a blow on the "unbridled encroachment and surveillance by the state and its agencies in the life of the common man.

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Actor Shailene Woodley has said she might consider running for political office in a couple of years from now.

The 25-year-old actor said she had this epiphany when she was working for Democrat leader Bernie Sanders at last year's US Presidential Elections, reported New York Times newspaper.

"There was a point last year when I was working for Bernie Sanders where I thought, 'Huh, maybe I'll run for Congress in a couple years.'



"And you know what? I'm not going to rule it out. Who knows? Life is big, and I'm young," Woodley said.

The actor was last seen in HBO series, "Big Little Lies".

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Sudan's foreign ministry says Russia's ambassador to the African country has been found dead in his residence in Khartoum.

In a statement carried by the state-run SUNA agency yesterday, the ministry said Ambassador Mirgayas Shirinsky died Wednesday and offered its condolences to the government and people of Russia.

The ministry praised Shirinsky's diplomatic efforts while in office but offered no details on the circumstances surrounding his death.

Shirinsky, who was in his 60s, had been in the Russian diplomatic service since 1977 and had previously served in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Rwanda.

He was appointed ambassador to Sudan in 2013.

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The following are top stories of the northern region at 2000 hrs:



DEL 49 UP-TALAQ



Meerut/Lucknow: A pregnant woman was allegedly given triple talaq by her husband in the Sardhana area in Meerut, just hours after the Supreme Court declared the age-old practice as "unconstitutional" on Tuesday.

DES 11 JK-STUDENT-MILITANCY



Jammu: The police in Jammu and Kashmir is investigating the case of an engineering student who left his studies to become a militant and his photograph holding an AK assault rifle is doing rounds on social media.

DES 16 JK-PANIC



Jammu: Panic grips Udhampur after rumours of a possible terror strike started doing the rounds on social media, even as the police dismissed as "baseless" reports of militants being sighted in the highway township.

DEL 36 HR-DERA-MOBILE



Chandigarh: Mobile Internet services have been suspended for 72 hours in Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh, ahead of the court verdict in the sexual exploitation case against the Dera Sacha Sauda sect head tomorrow.

DES 21 PB-DERA-OFFICES



Chandigarh: The Punjab government declares that its offices situated at Chandigarh would remain closed on August 25, the day on which a court verdict is expected in a sexual exploitation case against Dera Scaha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

DES 9 JK-TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS PANIC



Bhaderwah/Jammu: The police imposes travel restrictions in the high-altitude tourist areas and meadow-lands in the BhadarwahValley of Doda district in Jammu and Kashmir, sending people into a tizzy.

DES 5 DL-SAFDARJUNG-STRIKE



New Delhi: Resident doctors at the Safdarjung Hospital here have proceeded on an indefinite strike alleging that one of their colleagues was assaulted by a woman patient.

DES 4 JK-QUAKE



Srinagar: A moderate-intensity earthquake strikes Jammu and Kashmir in the early hours.

DES 3 UP-CHILDREN-TRANSFERS



Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government transfers Additional Chief Secretary (Medical Education) Anita Bhatnagar Jain in connection with the deaths of children at state-run BRD college in Gorakhpur, an official spokesperson says.

DES 13 DOPT-JAISWAL



New Delhi: Senior diplomat Randhir Kumar Jaiswal is appointed as social secretary to President Ram Nath Kovind.

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The Supreme Court today lauded its three former judges, Justices Saiyid Fazl Ali, Subba Rao and H R Khanna, for their "vision" and "dissents" from their colleagues to protect the rights of individuals, as it held right to privacy as a fundamental right.

Justice R F Nariman, a member of the nine-judge constitution bench which held right to privacy as intrinsic part of Article 21 of the Constitution, recalled the three former judges for their "Three Great Dissents".

Justices Fazl Ali, Subba Rao and Khanna were Supreme Court judges from 1950-51, 1958-67 and 1971-77 respectively.

"Article 21, with which we are directly concerned, was couched in negative form in order to interdict State action that fell afoul of its contours. This article, which houses two great human rights, the right to life and the right to personal liberty, was construed rather narrowly by the early Supreme Court of India.

"But then, there were judges who had vision and dissented from their colleagues. This judgment will refer to three great dissents by Justices Saiyid Fazl Ali, Subba Rao and Khanna," he said in his 122-page verdict which formed part of the 547-page judgement.

The first great dissent referred to by Justice Nariman was by Justice Fazl Ali in the case of A K Gopalan vs State of Madras, 1950. Justice Nariman went on to say that the foresight of Justice Fazl Ali "simply takes our breath away".

The subject matter of challenge in the case of A K Gopalan, a communist leader, was the validity of certain provisions of the Preventive Detention Act of 1950.

It was decided in the Gopalan case that free speech and expression was guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a) and was hence excluded from personal liberty under Article 21.

Justice Ali, in his dissent from other judges of bench, had adopted the view that fundamental rights are not isolated and separate but protect a common thread of liberty and freedom.

"On all counts, his words were a cry in the wilderness. Insofar as his vision that fundamental rights are not in distinct water-tight compartments but do overlap, it took twenty years for this Court to realise how correct he was...," Justice Nariman said.

In the second great dissent, Justice Nariman referred to Justice Subba Rao's dissent in Kharak Singh vs State of UP, which had a direct bearing on the question decided by the nine-judge bench today.

In the Kharak Singh judgement, Regulation 237 of the UP Police Regulations was challenged as violating fundamental rights under Article 19(1)(d) and Article 21.

The decision in Kharak Singh case invalidated domiciliary visits at night authorised by Regulation 236(b), finding them to be an unauthorised intrusion into the home of a person and a violation of the fundamental right to personal liberty.

However, Justice Rao in his dissenting views said that the rights conferred by Part III have overlapping areas.

"Where a law is challenged as infringing the right to freedom of movement under Article 19(1)(d) and the liberty of the individual under Article 21, it must satisfy the tests laid down in Article 19(2) as well as the requirements of Article 21", Justice Subba Rao had said.

All six judges had struck down sub-para (b), but Justice Subba Rao joined by Justice Shah, struck down the entire Regulation as violating the individual's right to privacy.

At a footnote, Justice Nariman alludes to the farewell speech of Chief Justice S R Das: "Chief Justice S R Das in his farewell speech had this to say about Justice Subba Rao, 'Then we have brother Subba Rao, who is extremely unhappy because all our fundamental rights are going to the dogs on account of some ill-conceived judgments of his colleagues which require reconsideration."



The third great dissent referred to by Justice Nariman was the judgement by H R Khanna in ADM Jabalpur vs S S Shukla which he termed as "remarkable".

In the footnote of the verdict, he said that Justice H R Khanna was in line to be next Chief Justice of India but was superseded because of this dissenting views in the judgment.

He went on saying that "developments after this judgment have also made it clear that the majority judgments are no longer good law and that Justice Khanna's dissent is the correct version of the law."



In the ADM Jabalpur case of 1976, the five-judge bench by a majority verdict 4:1 had arrived at the conclusion that Article 21 is the sole repository of all rights to life and personal liberty, and, when suspended, takes away those rights altogether.

Emergency was imposed in the country for a period of 21- month from 1975 to 1977. Justice H R Khanna was lone dissenting judge who had held that "the suspension of the right to move any Court for the enforcement of the right under Article 21, upon a proclamation of emergency, would not affect the enforcement of the basic right to life and liberty".

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The opposition Congress-led UDF members boycotted the assembly proceedings for thefourth consecutive and final day of sitting today demanding resignation of Health and Social Welfare Minister K K Shylaja for alleged 'nepotism and misuse of power'.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, while replying to a notice for an adjournment motion on the adverse remark made by High Court against Shylaja, asserted that there was no need for the minister to resign as she had not done anything illegal.

The government had already moved the High Court to expunge the remark against the minister.

"I do not want to go more into the case as it is pending before the court", Vijayan said.

"There is no need for the minister to resign on the basis of remark made by the court in a case in which the minister was not a respondent", Vijayan said.

Opposition members, who came with banners and placards, squatted in the well of the House, raised slogans and did not participate in the question hour.

They brought to the notice of the speaker the sit-in dharna at the portal of the assembly hall by the UDF MLAs V P Sajeendran, N Shamsuddin, Roji M John, Eldose Kunnappally and T V Ibrahim in support of their demand for the resignation of the minister.

Opposition alleged that the Minister had misused power to select one of the partymen in the Kerala State Commission For Protection Of Child Rights and 'messed up' admission process in self-financing medical colleges in the state for the current academic year.

UDF sources said that the sit-in dharan would end with the House adjourns sine die.

After the reply of Chief Minister, Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan refused leave for the motion and opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said that it was difficult for them to cooperate with the proceedings with Shylaja continued as minister and trooped out of the House.

"Even after severe criticism against the government and the minister by the High Court in the case connected with medical admissions, Shylaja was clinging to power," Chennithala alleged.

The health minister was under attack over strictures passed against her by the court while quashing the appointment of two members, including a CPI-M leader, to the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child rights.

Meanwhile, Kerala Lokayukta today ordered a probe into the allegations of nepotism and misuse of power in the selection of member to Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

Lokayukta passed the order in a petition filed Ramesh Chennithala, officials at the Opposition leader's office said.

Lokayukta has also directed the minister to submit all files before September 14.

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The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hopes that the international community will come together and help Afghanistan find a political solution after President Donald Trump unveiled his military strategy in the war-torn country.

Trump, in his first prime-time televised address to the nation as commander-in-chief on Monday ruled out a hasty withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan to end America's longest war.

"On the President's speech... What we want to stress is our hope that the international community will help come together and help Afghanistan find a political solution that will bring peace to the country," UN chief's spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

"And that's also obviously through the support and efforts of the UN, of the UN Mission there," Dujarric added.

Dujarric was responding to a question on whether the Secretary-General had any comment on Trump's Afghanistan speech.

When asked if there is any consideration on providing the good offices of the Secretary-General to help facilitate on a diplomatic efforts with Pakistan in terms of ending sanctuaries for terrorists, Dujarric said "as a matter of principle, Secretary-General's good offices are always available to any two parties who, who ask. But that is just a statement of principle."



Dujarric added that the UN's focus is on "finding a political solution to the current crisis in Afghanistan" and help the Afghan people who have suffered so much for decades.

Ruling out a hasty withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, Trump had issued the sternest warning yet by an American leader to Pakistan for providing safe havens to terrorists and sought an enhanced role for India in bringing peace in the war-ravaged country.

"For its part, Pakistan often gives safe haven to agents of chaos, violence, and terror. The threat is worse because Pakistan and India are two nuclear-armed states whose tense relations threaten to spiral into conflict. And that could happen," Trump had said.

The US President slammed Pakistan for its continued support to terrorist groups and warned Islamabad of consequences if it continues to do so.

"We can no longer be silent about Pakistan's safe havens for terrorist organisations, the Taliban, and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond," Trump said. "Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with our effort in Afghanistan. It has much to lose by continuing to harbour terrorists," he said, in a warning to Pakistan.

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The district administration today said that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visit here has been deferred by a day to August 31.

Earlier, the chief minister was scheduled to visit Ghaziabad on August 30. However, his programme has been deferred by a day to August 31, District Magistrate Ministhy S said.

He will lay the foundation stone of the Kailash Mansarover House, the officer said.

The chief minister will also take stock of the ongoing developmental plans of the district, Ministhy said.

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The Election Commission today announced the bypoll schedule for four vacant seats of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council, which might enable Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to take the Upper House route to enter the legislature before a six-month window expires next month.

Adityanath, who took over as the chief minister on March 19, has to become a legislator within six months of assuming office and the deadline expires on September 19.

According to an Election Commission release, the issuance of notification will be done on August 29, while September 5 is the last date for filing nominations.

Scrutiny of nominations will be done on September 6, and the last date for withdrawal of candidature is September 8. Polling will be held on September 15, counting of votes will also be done on September 15 and the election will be completed before September 18.

Besides Adityanath, deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma, and ministers Swatantra Dev Singh and Mohsin Raza are not member of either of the two Houses.

Adityanath and Maurya are still members of the Lok Sabha.

All of them have to get elected to either the assembly or the legislative council before September 19 -- when they complete six months -- in order to continue as ministers.

If Adityanath chooses the council route, he will become the third successive chief minister, after Akhilesh Yadav (SP) and Mayawati (BSP), to become member of the upper house.

The four seats for which bypolls will be held were vacated by MLCs Bukkal Nawab, Yashwant, Sarojini Agarwal and Ashok Bajpai, all members of the Samajwadi Party (SP).

On August 9, SP MLC Ashok Bajpai resigned from the Legislative Council, taking the number of party MLCs who have quit recently to four.

Three of the SP MLCs, who had resigned, have already joined the BJP.

On August 19, Bajpai joined the BJP, taking the total number of former MLCs, who had resigned last month from the House, to do so to five.

Former SP MLCs Sarojini Agrawal, Bukkal Nawab and Yashwant Singh, and Thakur Jaiveer Singh, formerly a BSP MLC, joined the ruling party earlier.

On August 4, SP MLC Sarojini Agarwal resigned from the Legislative Council membership and joined the BJP.

Three sitting MLCs Bukkal Nawab and Yashwant Singh (both Samajwadi Party) and Thakur Jaiveer Singh (BSP) had resigned from the membership of the upper house on July 29 coinciding with the visit of BJP president Amit Shah to the state capital.

The resignation of five MLCs including (four of the SP and one BSP) assumes significance as the saffron party has to take a decision on five of its ministers in Uttar Pradesh, including the chief minister, as none of them is a member of either of the two Houses.

The other UP chief ministers who opted for the Legislative Council route are Narain Dutt Tiwari, after he was shifted from the Centre, and late Ram Prakash Gupta (BJP).

Former chief minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh had become a member of UP Legislative Council in November 1980 after assuming the chief minister's office in June 1980. He later contested a by-election from Tindwari assembly constituency, and became a member of UP Legislative Assembly in 1981.

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As many as 14 people are feared missing after a massive landslide swept away a mountainside in the Swiss Alps, ripping apart buildings and forcing the evacuation of a village, police said today.

The landslide, which struck on Wednesday, sent mud, rocks and dirt flooding down the Piz Cengalo mountain into the outskirts of the village of Bondo, near the Italian border.

About 100 people were evacuated, some airlifted out by helicopters.

Police in the canton of Graubunden, which initially announced no one was hurt, confirmed Thursday that eight hikers, from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, had been in the region of Val Bondasca where the landslide occurred and were missing.

The Austrian foreign ministry confirmed that a couple from the country was missing, while Swiss daily Blick reported that four of those being searched for were German nationals.

Another group of five to six people had also been reported missing, Andrea Mittner of the Graubunden police told a conference, adding though that it was unclear if they had actually been in the affected area at the time of the landslide.

"Perhaps they had already left" the region, he said.

No children were believed to be among the missing, he said.

He said a massive search-and-rescue operation was scouring a five-square-kilometre (three-square-mile) area, involving some 120 emergency workers, helicopters and rescue dogs.

Police and residents stressed that the mobile phone coverage in the area was spotty at best, voicing hope that might explain why the missing had not been in touch.

The landslide set a full four million cubic metres (141 cubic feet) of mud and debris in motion, its relentless moving mass stretching 500 metres (1,640 feet) across, according to the regional natural hazards office (AWN).

The event was so severe that the vibrations set off seismometers across Switzerland, which measured the equivalent of a magnitude 3.0 earthquake, according to the Swiss Seismological Service.

Images showed an unstoppable mass of thick mud and sludge moving down the mountainside like lava, tearing up trees and demolishing at least one building in its path and partially engulfing others.

"It was terrible," Elisa Nunzi, 27, who witnessed the landslide from her home in a neighbouring higher-altitude village, told Blick.

She said she first noticed something was amiss when a large flock of birds began flying nervously around the church tower, and then an ear-deafening bang that sent rocks pouring down the mountain.

"There were so many. It did not stop," she said, adding that a blanket of smoke and dust soon covered Bondo.

"You could not see anything for an hour. But you could still hear stones falling down. It smelled of granite," Nunzi said.

Police said 12 farm buildings, including barns and stables, had been destroyed, while Graubunden's main southern highway was closed to traffic.

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A US Congressional House Committee today visited the Western Naval Command (WNC) here and discussed a range of issues, including Indo-American ties and maritime security, with officials.

The nine-member Congressional House Committee on Armed Services was led by US Congressman Robert Wittman.

Wittman, who is also Chairman of the Seapower and Projection Forces Sub-committee, was accompanied by Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo and Edgard Kagan, US Consul General in Mumbai.

The visiting dignitaries interacted with Vice-Admiral Girish Luthra, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, WNC, a defence spokesperson said.

The delegation was briefed on the WNC and the Indian Navy's operations on the Western Seaboard, he said.

Issues of mutual interest such as the Indo-US relations, bilateral naval cooperation and maritime security were discussed, he said.

The delegation visited the Naval Dockyard and the indigenously built and newly commissioned Kolkata class destroyer 'INS Chennai', the spokesperson said.

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Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu will visit the city on August 27, his first here since being elected to the post.

He is scheduled to inaugurate an event to mark 75 years of the Quit India movement, a PIB release here said.

He will later interact with faculty and students of the premier technical varsity, Anna University, it said.

Naidu was on August 5 elected vice-president, receiving an overwhelming two-third of the votes against opposition candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi.

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A senior woman official of the Intellectual Property Office here was today sentenced to one year's rigorous imprisonment by a CBI court in a disproportionate assets case.

Special Judge S Natarajan convicted N D Kasturi, Deputy Registrar, Trade Mark, Intellectual Property Office, Chennai, of the charge that she possessed disproportionate assets of Rs 2.22 crore between April, 2000 and March, 2010.

She could not give any satisfactory explanation for the assets during the investigation, the judge held.

A charge sheet was filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and on completion of the trial, Kasturi was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment of one year, and slapped with a fine of Rs 25,000, a CBI release said.

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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, in clearing the planned acquisition, said in a statement that it opted not to pursue its investigation further after reviewing whether the deal would substantially lessen competition or constituted an unfair method of competition.

Also on Wednesday, Whole Foods shareholders approved the proposed sale to Amazon.

The companies expect to close the deal later this year.

Amazon's takeover of the pioneering organic and natural grocery chain, which sent a shockwave through the brutally competitive supermarket industry, would give it a foothold in the $700 billion U.S. grocery market, key for it to grab a greater share of shoppers' wallets.

It would also give the world's largest online retailer hundreds of brick-and-mortar stores where it could showcase products and ready packages for home delivery.

Amazon said on Wednesday it has achieved multiple steps to get to closing, but did not say if it needs any further regulatory approvals. There are no other U.S. antitrust approvals needed. Whole Foods did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Amazon has frequently been in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump, who last week took aim at the company over taxes and jobs, without offering any evidence.

Amazon's CEO, Jeff Bezos, also owns the Washington Post, which Trump has also frequently criticized.

"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 in a tweet. Trump made no mention of the pending Whole Foods purchase.

Antitrust experts had expected the deal to win government approval because Amazon sells few groceries and Whole Foods itself makes up a small fraction of U.S. food sales.

"The FTC quickly decided that the combination did not create a significant danger of lessening competition in any market," Erik Gordon, a business professor at the University of Michigan, said on Wednesday.

The FTC "declined to block the deal based on a fear that a big, powerful company could use its muscle in some markets to reduce competition in another market. If Amazon actually does that, the commission can step in," Gordon added.

Richard Feinstein, who headed the FTC's bureau of competition under former President Barack Obama, said he did not think there were grounds to block the deal. Noting Whole Foods' small market share, he said, "You don't normally see cases on theories that are speculative."

In closing its antitrust review, the FTC said on Wednesday that it "always has the ability to investigate anticompetitive conduct should such action be warranted."

Feinstein emphasized that the approval "doesn't immunize the transaction" if Amazon took anticompetitive steps after acquiring Whole Foods.

Critics had argued there was precedent to block the merger, since Amazon would be leveraging its retail and supply chain power to dominate a new market.

Last month, the top Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives' antitrust subcommittee voiced concerns about the plan and sought a hearing to look into the deal's impact on consumers.

The FTC opted not to make a second request for information in its review, which is often a burden for companies that have to provide extensive information that can drain time and resources to collect. Such requests have in the past led to concessions so a merger gains government approval.

Consumer Watchdog, a group that had urged the FTC to take action to block the merger, said in a statement it was disappointed. "Apparently the only way to hold Amazon accountable for its abuse of consumers is at the state level," the group said.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington, Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles and Diane Bartz in Washington; Editing by Bill Rigby and Leslie Adler)

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After months of uncertainty on when, or if, the Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES would be searching for a new leader, the district has received an answer.

Interim Superintendent Chris Todd said the BOCES board of education recently received word from the state Education Department that the district could move forward with finding a new superintendent.

Whenever a BOCES superintendent departs, the state conducts an assessment to determine if the affected BOCES should be restructured, a step that must be completed before a search for a replacement superintendent can begin. That work is now done.

Todd has been chosen as a non-paid search consultant for the BOCES. He said the consultant is tasked with creating materials and guidelines for the search, including a timeline for when advertisements and interviews have to be done.

The Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES search process is in its early stages.

"The search should be ready to be active in the next couple of weeks," Todd said.

How long the process takes depends on how many people apply, Todd said. The district has been moving forward in the meantime, as he said local BOCES Chief Operating Officer Mark Vivacqua and the board have been great partners.

The Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES has been through this process before in recent years. The board advertised for the superintendent job twice before Dzikowski was selected in 2016. After the board wasn't satisfied with the first pool of candidates, Dzikowski was chosen after the second search.
By Clara Denina , Ben Martin and Maiya Keidan

LONDON (Reuters) - European companies are being told by their advisers to open up and engage more with existing shareholders to fend off the increasing threat from activist investors, who force strategy changes to push up a target's share price.

Activist investors are mostly hedge funds managing tens of billions of dollars of capital. The largest ones are from the U.S. and, having had success in North America and benefiting from a stronger dollar, they are flush with cash and looking for opportunities further afield.

According to JP Morgan, activist investors have launched 119 campaigns in Europe in the 12 months to June 2017, compared to 100 a year earlier and 62 five years ago.

That has pushed corporate management teams across Europe to ask investment bankers for help preparing defences in case an activist crops up on their shareholder register.

"We have seen a significant increase in calls from clients seeking our advice on how to prepare for when these investors knock on the door, especially after the activists' stakes in Nestle and Clariant-Huntsman became public," said Hernan Cristerna, co-head of global M&A at JP Morgan.

New York-based fund Corvex is pushing for Swiss chemicals company Clariant to abandon its proposed merger with U.S. peer Huntsman . Third Point, led by billionaire hedge fund manager Dan Loeb, took a $3.5 billion stake in Nestle in July and has started calling for an overhaul.

Though there are several well-known European activists, such as TCI Fund Management and Cevian, most of the world's largest funds such as Third Point, Elliott Management and ValueAct are American. Their success has crowded the U.S. market.

Europe is seen as tempting as financial and political uncertainties have diminished. UK companies are thought to be particularly attractive targets due to corporate governance rules which give shareholders more influence, and the often large number of minority investors.

Anglo-Australian miner BHP Billiton has spent the past five months trying to fend off demands for a shake-up by Elliot Management. [nL8N1L20WH]

On Tuesday, BHP said it was looking at options to exit its U.S. onshore shale business, conceding to one of Elliott's demands. [nL4N1L75D4]

TACTICS

Often activist investors initially engage with target companies quietly, discussing possibly strategy changes with them. Some firms welcome them, as they can help secure wider support from shareholders or insiders for major change.

But mostly the funds are seen as a threat, especially when they start publicly calling for changes and criticising companies who will not adopt their recommendations.

"More companies in Europe feel the need to have a discussion with their advisers on activism - no one wants to fend off an activist attack in the public eye," JPM's Cristerna added.

Bankers said they advise clients to engage with existing shareholders to potentially dissuade them from supporting an activist attack. They also look at companies' assets and advise them if any could be sold to improve shareholder returns.

These pre-emptive moves might explain why the success rate of activist campaigns in Europe has been falling since 2014. According to data from industry tracker Activist Insight in 2017 just 32.8 percent of campaigns have been "at least partially successful", compared to 43.2 percent in 2016.

Among those that emerged as clear victors this year in Europe is Nordic hedge fund Accendo Capital Managers, which became the largest shareholder in fibre optic manufacturer Hexatronic Group and whose stock has risen almost 80 percent since the initial investment. Others have achieved a more complicated victory, such as British hedge fund TCI, which became embroiled in aero engine maker Safran's offer for Zodiac Aerospace . "We got most of what we asked for," TCI partner Jonathan Amouyal told in May after Safran cut its offer. [nL8N1IS18F] At the same time, TCI has yet to make any tangible impact at Volkswagen where it is pushing for change. Volkswagen stock has fallen 2.14 percent since the hedge fund launched its activist campaign.[nL8N1DJ274]

CULTURAL DIFFERENCE

U.S. bankers said that as campaigns targeting European firms increase, they are looking to cash in on advisory work.

"European institutional investors are less comfortable with the concept of activism from a cultural perspective, particularly when it's a U.S. hedge fund coming over," said Chris Young, head of contested situations at Credit Suisse in New York.

"In the U.S., activists are often treated like rock stars, they get a lot of favourable press coverage and that's not the case in Europe," he added.

Citigroup this week announced it had hired Muir Paterson to head the bank's global team of bankers advising companies on activist shareholders. [nL2N1L71BU]

"We had teams in the U.S. dealing with activist issues and we also have now people in Europe, working closely with their U.S. colleagues because more often than not, these activists are the same," Severin Brizay, head of EMEA M&A at UBS said.

For the funds themselves, this can also bring benefits.

Harlan Zimmerman, a senior partner at Anglo-Swedish activist firm Cevian Capital, said some European companies are becoming more willing to engage with activist investors.

"With the proliferation of activism, companies and their advisers have gained a much better understanding of the spectrum of activism and how to engage with activists of all sorts," he said.

"There's no longer a stigma from having certain activists involved and on a board. In fact some boards see it as a validation and helpful to realising their own objectives for the companies."

(Editing by Rachel Armstrong and Elaine Hardcastle)

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The move underscores the determination of John Flannery, who took over from Jeffrey Immelt as GE's chief executive on Aug. 1, to continue to divest non-core assets, as he carries out a review of the company's portfolio.

GE is entertaining the possibility of selling its industrial solutions business for a little over $2 billion after initially hoping for more than $3 billion, four sources said this week. The talks with ABB had ended last month over price disagreements.

There is no certainty of a deal and another bidder could still emerge, the sources said. However, French electrical component and energy management group Schneider Electric SA , which reported in April was vying for the GE unit, has since lost interest, the sources added.

The sources asked not to be identified because the negotiations are confidential. GE and ABB declined to comment, while Schneider Electric did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

GE's industrial solutions business offers circuit breakers, relays, panel boards and other industrial electrical equipment for several markets, including the healthcare, mining, renewable energy, telecommunication, construction and data centre sectors.

GE, which makes everything from power plants and jet engines to medical scanners and locomotives, has been reviewing its portfolio after divesting its finance, appliances and NBCUniversal units in recent years. Nelson Peltz's activist hedge fund Trian Fund Management LP has also been pressuring GE to cut costs and focus on its core industrial businesses.

Earlier this year, GE agreed to sell its industrial water treatment business to French waste and water group Suez SA and Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec for 3.2 billion euros ($3.4 billion).

Last month, Schneider Electric said it would acquire automatic transfer switch maker Asco Power Technologies for $1.25 billion from Vertiv, the former network power business of Emerson Electric Co that is now owned by private equity firm Platinum Equity LLC.

That deal eliminated Schneider Electric as a potential buyer for GE's industrial solutions business, because such a deal would face significant antitrust hurdles, according to the sources.

ABB Chief Executive Ulrich Spiesshofer has been under pressure to tackle lower profitability at the Swiss engineering company, after higher raw material prices and overcapacity issues dented its latest quarterly earnings.

(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis and Alwyn Scott in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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By Arnab Paul

(Reuters) - Indian shares inched up in thin trade on Thursday with gains in IT stocks such as Infosys Ltd offsetting losses in banking shares.

IT stocks were among the top gainers with Infosys rising as much as 2.4 percent after a group of institutional investors asked the company to bring former CEO Nandan Nilekani back on to its board to settle the feud with the founders.

Gains were however muted as investors booked profit in banking shares after a rally in the previous session following federal cabinet's approval of a mechanism to oversee consolidation in public sector banks.

Shares of state-run lenders Punjab National Bank and Allahabad Bank fell 1.5 percent and 1.8 percent, after gaining 3.4 percent and 4.7 percent in the previous session.

A stronger bank will not readily absorb a weaker one because it wouldn't want its balance sheet to weaken, said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice-president of research at SMC Global Securities.

"It is a difficult and a challenging process."

The broader NSE Nifty was up 0.08 percent at 9,860.6 as of 0546 GMT, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.08 percent higher at 31,591.98.

Pharma stocks such as Sun Pharmaceuticals and Lupin gained over 2.5 percent each.

Shares of brewers surged after the Supreme Court clarified that the liquor ban on highways did not apply to licensed establishments falling within municipal areas. United Spirits Ltd and Globus Spirits Ltd rose between 5 percent and 13 percent.

(Reporting by Arnab Paul in Bengaluru; Editing by Vyas Mohan)

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It has been a tough week for Infosys. Between its former CEO VIshal Sikka putting his papers in, hunt for his replacement, and plunging shares, things are not looking up for the second largest IT company in India. In the meantime, a group of Infosys co-founders of the company are reportedly gathering support from investors to make some radical changes in company's board of directors.

The group of co-founders, led by NR Narayana Murthy, intends to install Nandan Nilekani, another co-founder and former CEO, as the new CEO of the company to cause the exit of present Chairman R Seshasayee along with some other directors, a Bloomberg report quoted people familiar to the matter.

The group might ask directors to begin stepping down within a few days, the report said. The discussions are very fluid though, and the plan might not even come to fruition as Nilekani is yet to consent to the 'coup', it added.

Meanwhile, the entire Infosys board has offered to resign on Thursday to make way for Nandan Nilekani in order to facilitate a fresh start at the helm of the Bengaluru-headquartered firm, The Economic Times reported.

It does not matter whether the directors resign on their own or not, though. They will have step down if Nilekani holds the reins of Infosys as he will be in a better position to negotiate, reports suggest.

Even a group of 12 major institutional investors in Infosys has asked the company to appoint Nandan Nilekani back on to its board to try turning things around. Bringing Nilekani back has a solid argument that investors and stakeholders believe in him. This would be helpful in mitigating damages that company's shares suffered after Vishal Sikka's resignation.

Nilekani, who served as Infosys CEO from March 2002 to April 2007, has emerged as the top contender to head the firm after Vishal Sikka. Since leaving Infosys after being the CEO of the company, Nilekani has worked as a politician, a bureaucrat, and an investor.

Infosys founders and board has been in dispute with each other over reported lapses in corporate governance in the company. Nandan Nilekani might be able to quell these tensions as he is on good terms with Murthy, and knows the company well.

There have been suggestions to appoint Nilekani as a non-executive member on the board. Apart from internal tussles, Infosys is also facing challenges from the protectionist attitude of Trump government in the United States, which accounts for the most of the revenue of the company. The company is also facing difficulties due to slump in demand.
Eight years after he left the role of co-Chairman, 62-year old Nandan Mohan Nilekani is returning to Infosys Ltd as its Non-executive Chairman, the company announced in a press release. Infosys also said that four board members - Chairman R Seshasayee, Prof Jeffry Lehman, Prof John Etchemendy apart from the man who played a pivotal role in the current crisis Vishal Sikka - are stepping down with immediate effect.



Ravi Venkatesan also has stepped down as co-Chairman of Infosys but would continue to be on board. U B Pravin Rao will continue to be interim CEO and MD, said Infosys.



The clamour to get Nilekani back had been unrelenting, ever since on Friday, August 18, Vishal Sikka, the first non-promoter CEO and MD made a dramatic announcement that he would resign after being at the helm for three years. Sikka had said that he could not carry on his "...job as CEO and continue to create value, while also constantly defending against unrelenting, baseless/malicious and increasingly personal attacks."



Mr. Nilekani said in the company release "I am happy to return to Infosys, now in the role of non-executive chairman, and look forward to working with my colleagues on the Board and in executive management on the business opportunities we see before us and delivering benefits to our clients, shareholders, employees and communities. I thank Vishal for his service as the CEO of Infosys over the last 3 years and wish him well in his future endeavors."



The company also said it is holding investor calls tomorrow to discuss the announcements. Nandan's return was widely anticipated after the communication between the board and the promoters had detorirated with the board calling Narayana Murthy a bully who forced Sikka to resign.



Nilekani is expected to work with other shareholders to stabilize operations impacted by Sikka's resignation.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will issue the much-awaited Rs 200 denomination notes tomorrow. This will be the first time in India's history that central bank will issue a 200 denomination currency note.

The yellow colored Rs 200 bank note will be available at Reserve Bank of India's select offices, and some banks.It is not clear though as to when the new 200 rupee note will be added into the ATM machines.

As far as its features and design is concerned, the new Rs 200 denomination note has motif of Sanchi Stupa on the reverse, depicting the country's cultural heritage. The base colour of the note is Bright Yellow. The note has other designs, geometric patterns aligning with the overall colour scheme, both at the obverse and reverse, RBI said.

The central bank's plan to add Rs 200 denomination note into circulation is expected be a big relief as it gets hard at times to find change for Rs 500 note. Currently, there is no denomination between Rs 100 and Rs 500, the introduction of Rs 200 note is likely to make cash transactions smoother.



Rs 200 denomination banknotes, that comes in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series will bear signature of RBI Governor Urjit R. Patel.



Rs 200 currency note will have a Swachh Bharat logo with slogan and Mahatma Gandhi portrait and electrotype (200) watermarks. The new Rs 200 note will have windowed security thread with inscriptions RBI with colour shift. Colour of the thread changes from green to blue when the note is tilted.

Soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation in November last year, the idea of Rs 200 note was taken up as it became inconvenient for public to handle cash transactions with high value currency note of Rs 2,000.



Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday put all the rumours regarding demonetisation of Rs 2,000 notes to rest, saying that the government is not considering banning Rs 2,000 notes. Jaitley had also said the government has given its go-ahead to the RBI to issue Rs 200 notes.
India's reign of being the top remittance-receiving country in the world may soon be over as Saudi Arabia's revised Nitaqat or Saudisation scheme could affect thousands of Indian migrant workers in the oil-rich Kingdom.

From September 2017, only a handful of organisations with high grades - based on number of Saudi nationals employed by them and other criteria - will be able to apply for new block visas for migrant employees, TOI reported.

The new system will rank corporations on the number of Saudi citizens employed by them. Only the organisations having high grades would be able to apply for block visas.

The move comes on the back of efforts by Saudi Arabia to diversify its economy in sectors other than the oil and energy sector. Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 document calls for increasing non-oil revenues and improving spending on programs and projects.

India contributes the largest number of migrant workers in the oil rich gulf country. Indians residing in Saudi Arabia are estimated to be around 4 million. States like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and West Bengal send the largest number of Indians to the Saudi Kingdom.

There were only 1.65 lakh emigration clearances for Saudi Arabia in 2016, a decline by 46% from 2015. The revised Nitaqat scheme will cover private companies with six or more employees (as opposed to current criteria of 10 or more), the report said.

Saudi labour ministry had earlier banned foreigners from working in Saudi Arabia's shopping malls. Saudi Arabia is tackling unemployment of its citizens by cracking down on firms that do not to employ 'enough' Saudi workers.

Saudi's new policy is likely to hurt India's remittance collection. India had unseated China as the top remittance receiving country in the world. Indians working overseas sent home $62.7 billion last year, according to a UN report.
A nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court has on 24th August made it clear that Indian citizens have the fundamental right to privacy.

The historic verdict said that right to privacy is 'protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and as a part of the freedom guaranteed by Part III of the Indian Constitution'.

The unanimous order of the bench will help redefine in significant ways India's concepts of liberty and the entitlements that flow out of its protection in the digital era. For a government that has gone overboard to digitialise every citizen interface programme and service through the biometric authentication channel the 12-digit unique identity number Aadhaar offers, the order may pose fresh challenges.

It will also influence the pending litigations against the central government's efforts to make Aadhaar enrolment and its use mandatory for citizens.



For instance, on 9th June, a Supreme Court bench had refused to grant a stay on the government's efforts to link the PAN numbers and the Aadhaar numbers of tax payers. The Court ruled the Income Tax law that mandates the sharing of Aadhaar numbers for applying for PAN cards in the income tax returns was well within the rights of the government. It wanted the change to be prospective, and also linked to the decision the nine-judge bench takes on the citizen's right to privacy.

The verdict will also impact a pending hearing in the Supreme Court - of 22 Aadhaar related petitions tagged together - as the government will never be able to argue that Aadhaar imposition cannot be considered as a privacy issue as privacy itself was not to be a fundamental right.

The wide ranging impact of the much awaited verdict was evident from the responses that started pouring in from the moment the verdict was pronounced today.

"This landmark judgment will ensure that the protection of citizen's privacy is a cardinal principle in our growing digital economy. Besides, it will enhance citizens' trust in digital services, a prerequisite for widespread digital adoption. The ruling also significantly boosts India's attractiveness as a safe destination for global sourcing."R Chandrashekhar, president of Indian software industry body, NASSCOM said.

Rama Vedashree, CEO of Data Security Council of India (DSCI) said that the body she represents had "always advocated for a stronger data security regime in the country and this judgement will further reinforce industry efforts and resolve to provide necessary assurance in this regard."

The government's attempt will also be to convince that Court that use of Aadhaar for identification purposes should not be considered as an intrusion into the citizen's privacy.

Incidentally, the 9-judge bench deciding this was constituted in August 2015 following a reference made in the Aadhaar/UID case (Puttuswamy & Anr WP Civil No. 494 of 2012) almost 2 years ago. Petitioners, activists, academics and lawyers skeptical of the Aadhaar project have been waiting since then for the resolution of the question of whether or not a fundamental right to privacy will be recognized by the Supreme Court. In the interim period, the Government of India had expanded the use Aadhaar in a significant way. The anti-Aadhaar petitioners cite the multiple shortcomings and the alleged threat such linkage poses to the security and welfare of the country as reasons to argue against the government move.

The bench of nine judges that pronounced the verdict included the Chief Justice of India, Justice Khehar, Justices Jasti Chelameswar, SA Bobde, RK Agarwal, Rohinton Nariman, AM Sapre, DY Chandrachud, SK Kaul and S Abdul Nazeer.
After the 1997 East Asian currency crisis, Malaysia's central bank, with the blessing of the government, merged almost 50 financial services companies into a dozen banks. The objectives sounded fine - merging weak entities with stronger ones, reducing fragmentation, building a strong banking industry with healthy capital levels, and creating banks that could compete globally. But a decade-and-a half-later, a good enough time to look back, researchers find that several of those merged entities are lagging on most performance parameters. Some blame restrictions on sacking staff for poor productivity. Some blame wrong selection of partners. Whatever the reasons, the net result is that the central bank there is considering further consolidation to eliminate these weak points.

India, under the current government, is doing something similar. The aims, too, are the same. Bank consolidation, last discussed within the government in the early 90s, is now seeing some truly radical moves. Consider this: The country's largest bank, State Bank of India (SBI), took a decade to merge its two associate banks - State Bank of Saurashtra (2008) and State Bank of Indore (2010). But last year, it merged the five remaining associate banks in a single stroke. Buoyed by the initial success of the move, the government is gearing up to create four-five large public sector banks, or PSBs, of global size. It has asked NITI Aayog to come out with the strategy for the plan that will, if it goes through, revolutionise Indian banking. If one leaves aside the 25-30 per cent share of the SBI merged entity in PSB deposits and advances, India has 20-odd PSBs where match-making will happen. These PSBs have deposits of Rs54.93 lakh crore and advances of Rs36.88 lakh crore. So, effectively, there would be consolidation among banks accounting for 45-50 per cent of the industry's deposits and advances. "It's quite huge by any yardstick," says the CEO of a public sector bank.

Merger Strategy

The approach proposed for India is similar to that followed by Malaysia, where the government, and not market forces, identified both acquirer and acquired banks. The conditions in India are also similar to that in Malaysia after the currency crisis when there was a sharp deterioration in asset quality, capital shortage and extreme fragmentation.

But experts here are divided about the timing of the move. The economy, say some, is going through a difficult phase. The corporate sector is under stress due to over-leveraged balance sheets and banks are facing possibly their worst profitability crisis due to rising non-performing loans, capital shortage and poor credit growth. "The PSBs are facing multiple challenges, especially in digitisation and mobile banking," says the CEO of another PSB who doesn't want to be identified. His worries are understandable. The PSB pack, apart from SBI, has missed the digitisation bus and is struggling to put together a strategy to tap new-age customers. The business mix, with high proportion of corporate loans, is also lopsided. But there is no shortage of backers for the merger plan too. "This is the right time. If it doesn't happen now, it will never take place," says Siby Antony, a former Executive Director of IDBI who now heads the asset reconstruction arm of Edelweiss Group. Jaspal Bindra, who once headed the London-headquartered Standard Chartered Bank's Asia operations, says in the long run, it is clearly the right way. "In the short run, it may bring some pain," says Bindra, now the chairman of Centrum Group. "There is never going to be a good time. As the country grows, the credit appetite has to grow. We need well-capitalised institutions for meeting future credit requirements," he says.

The Challenges

The government is apparently buoyed by the success of the SBI merger. "The finance ministry asked us to send a note on how we went about merging the banks," says a senior SBI official. But experts say the SBI merger was easier as the five merged banks were always subsidiaries and mirror image of the country's largest bank. They had a common IT platform and similar treasury operations. The top management also came from a common pool and SBI chairman was also the chairman of the associate banks. "It would be suicidal to go ahead solely on the basis of the initial success of the SBI merger," says a consultant. The PSBs, excluding SBI, are an entirely different animal. They have different IT platforms, work cultures, brands, business focus, policies, geographical presence and treasury operations. Also, their chairman and other members of the top management come from outside.

The Options

The mandarins at NITI Aayog are studying different approaches. These include large banks merging with mid-sized/small banks, merger of weak banks, and combining banks in one geography or even across regions. "It has to be a combination of all approaches," says a consultant. The reason is simple. There are simply too many variables involved. For example, not all large banks are in the best of health financially. Bank of Baroda, Bank of India and Central Bank are facing huge asset quality and profitability challenges. In fact, two large banks, among the top 12 in terms of assets, are under the Reserve Bank's Prompt Corrective Action, which involves lending restrictions. "There is no perfect answer," says Bindra. He says merging banks in a particular geography will create more redundancy than merging, say, a North Indian and a South Indian bank.

The merger between banks with common IT platforms as a starting point could be simpler. The most difficult will be the merger of a weak and a strong bank as it will burden the latter. "The geographical complement (North and South) looks the best way forward from the point of view of both clientele and employees," says Bindra.

The Opportunity

There is also a debate about the aims the government is trying to achieve. Clearly, the target should be to not only fix short-term problems but also address structural issues. Be it their lending processes, human resource systems or technology use, PSB practices are way behind that of private sector banks. Their business models, too, are identical, which reflects in numbers, whether it is asset quality or productivity or efficiency. "Over the last two-three years, the market share of PSBs has shrunk. They are gradually losing out to private banks and NBFCs," says a private sector banker. "Will they be able to stop the decline after the merger?" asks another banker.

That is why some say that the government should use this opportunity to create niche PSBs in SME, MSME, infrastructure, housing and retail segments. This will, of course, require a completely new thinking. The PSBs themselves will need huge management bandwidth, though some of them already have a unique franchise. For instance, Bank of Baroda and Oriental Bank of Commerce are strong in the SME segment, PNB has a good presence in agriculture and SMEs and HDFC Bank has good project finance skills.

Still, this may not be the end of their troubles. Niche institutions such as payments banks and small finance banks are adding to the competition. Similarly, two full-scale banks are following a disciplined approach and reaching out to the under-served.

Amit Kumar, Partner and Director at BCG, says the most important aspect of any merger is employee morale, slowdown in business and productivity. The management should ensure talent retention and reduce uncertainty about workforce redeployment, he says. That is why these mergers could be an opportunity for PSBs to overhaul their human resources practices and the performance management system where, at present, there is no concept of rewarding performers. Even the chairmen come from outside. "You can keep evaluating staff performance but what about the compensation and rewards?" says a PSB banker. The government should step in to introduce variable pay, ESOPs, etc.

IT integration will also be important because of changes technology has brought about in the industry. Banks with different IT platforms will have to either consolidate under one IT vendor or retain their IT platforms and opt for plug-and-play. "In today's environment, technology integration is a lot more easier than what it used to be earlier," says Rajashekara V. Maiya, Associate Vice President & Head, Finacle Product Strategy, Infosys.

This could be a big opportunity for PSBs to relook at legacy IT systems that are based on the concept of bank branches in a world that is gradually moving from branches to mobile banking. "The banks are today putting emphasis on channels, real-time transactions, seamless banking across channels and omni-channel strategy. API-based interactions are taking place," says Ramaswamy Venkatachalam, Regional MD (India & South Asia) at FIS, which set up the IT platform for Bandhan Bank, India's youngest full-fledged bank. Venkatachalam says PSBs can use this opportunity to revaluate their strategy for funding IT, whether to take the capital expenditure route or the operating expenditure route (which basically involves leasing). "At the end of the day, the whole exercise (merger) is for conserving capital and efficient use of capital. The banks can easily leverage somebody else's capital," says Venkatachalam.

If the mergers go through, India will get half-a-dozen banks with global size. SBI is already among the top 50 global banks after the recent mergers in terms of assets. Expert say there are very few government banks in the world that are global, though China has large banks that do international business through subsidiaries in Hong Kong. Indian banks, especially PSBs, could easily serve Indian companies abroad, but to make a mark in the international market, they will have to do a lot in terms of hiring talent, gaining experience in sophisticated products, innovation, risk management, compensation and incentives. It's a long road ahead. "Size is where the government is working. The clientele objectives will have to be handled by the banks," says a foreign banker.

However, size has its hazards too. Imagine half-a-dozen banks controlling over half the banking assets. Globally, banks and governments learnt the perils of creating banking behemoths the hard way when stress in the financial sector triggered the 2008 global financial crisis. Many banks went either bust or bailed out by government from taxpayers' money. Are we creating our own 'too big to fail' entities?



@anandadhikari
The Tejas Express, India's first semi-luxury train was vandalised on its first journey. Beyond the technicalities of what happened, one wonders 'why' it happened. What is even more worrisome is that it was not an isolated incident. Many such reported and unreported incidents around the country every day reveal so many ills plaguing our society - trafficking and crime against children and women, child labour, gender discrimination, social injustice, poor sanitation, water, health and hygiene - the list is long. It is a reflection of the rot at the core of a rapidly growing, "culturally rich, diverse society".

Over the years, many corporations have been contributing in bits and pieces to ameliorate this deplorable condition through corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. However, as most CSR efforts have been localised, hands-off and sporadic, barring a few shining examples, the impact has been limited. The corporations need to rethink their perspectives and approaches to CSR and initiate a deeper and longer term engagement with the partners and beneficiaries at the grass root level. This is the time for corporations to take active part in engineering a social change towards building not only an economically prosperous India, but also a morally and socially enlightened and elevated India.



Wherein lies the challenge

Social revolutions are most often not driven by legislations alone. While necessary, those are not sufficient conditions to bring about fundamental changes in a society. We need a major change in the mindset of people - the way people think, look at issues and behave - keeping a larger and long-term goal of sustainability. Given that bulk of the society is at the bottom of the pyramid, any change in the way people behave will have to begin there. In essence, while economic freedom at the bottom of the social pyramid is a growth requirement, social development calls for a major boost to the efforts to enlighten the masses on a number of issues, only one of which is crimes against women.



Such a social revolution requires specific strong activities that are in the nature of culture building. Responsibility and respect should be inculcated as values when it comes to treating women and children right. Several challenges converge, pulling down the effectiveness of the small initiatives of many already in vogue. While these are commendable, their effectiveness is limited, and not sustainable. Thus, there are two major challenges independent of the quality of implementation - the absence of comprehensive and widespread programmes in large numbers, and sustained, long-term game changer strategies. We need to plug the leakages on multiple fronts simultaneously and quickly. For instance, concerted and synergised initiatives on women and children, through campaigns and counselling, spreading awareness about the severe consequences of breaking the law, will create a sustainable impact.



This is a much overdue movement across the country. But social evils such as violence on women, child abuse, corruption, water conservation, tree plantation and the like, require substantially higher financial resources and management capabilities to develop clear strategies and then execute them effectively. This is beyond the bandwidth of any government or social organisations.

This is where a new community centric people-private partnership (PPP) model becomes critically relevant. This with intense community engagement alone will strengthen, supplement and sustain a social revolution at the base of the pyramid. This will happen only if the current ambit of CSR initiatives of most private sector companies is redefined.



Going beyond sporadic initiatives

Corporations now have incredible power over their employees, suppliers, customers, and even regulators, and the ability to affect billions of people around the world. Historically, corporations have restricted their activities to creating value for the customers, shareholders and to some extent immediate stakeholders of their businesses. However, in the last two decades, legitimacy concerns have prodded them to undertake CSR activities more seriously with many large corporations being guided by triple bottom line (TBL) responsibilities and aspirations. TBL responsibilities demand discharging intergenerational responsibility, social equity and justice through concurrent creation of social and ecological value, while fulfilling the economic value obligations towards immediate stakeholders. As an extension of TBL initiatives, over 9,000 corporations have joined global compact initiatives towards attaining sustainable development goals by 2030. As some leading corporations around the globe get more engaged in TBL initiatives, a realisation is dawning upon them that achieving TBLs is not feasible unless they delve deeper in making fundamental changes in society which require corporations to develop novel mechanisms to be active agents of change.



There are several isolated instances worthy of a mention. For example, BASF, a German MNC, has undertaken water education projects in several countries including India to influence students, teachers and community members to bring about a behavioural change in water management. The projects were comprehensive and integrated in their approach: from installing water supply infrastructure and providing education and training to students, teachers and the local community, to sharing information with the public and local authorities, and building cooperation between communities. However, this is limited in its scope.



Elsewhere, Unilever runs an ambitious programme to achieve 100 per cent sourcing of agricultural products sustainably by 2020. This will enable the company to protect scarce resources, eliminate deforestation and ensure that land use and social and community issues are managed responsibly. More importantly, Unilever approaches this with the perspective of "driving wider transformational change across industries and systems, working closely with suppliers, industry peers and others to eliminate deforestation from supply chains - our own and those of others".

Wipro has an articulated agenda towards education that goes significantly beyond nurturing the technical talent pool that it recruits. Wipro's approach to education conceives it as holding "the key to a healthier and better society", encompasses a slew of strategic initiatives that target education from the level of primary schools through focused women education, right up to sponsoring science fellowships in the US. Over 15 years, its initiatives have positively impacted thousands of schools and colleges, and more than a million students, directly or indirectly.



IBM runs a unique service programme Corporate Service Corps since 2008. It has sent over 3,000 IBMers to more than 37 different countries to work collaboratively with governments, educational institutions, and non-profit organisations to address local challenges at the intersection of technology and society to develop sustainable economic solutions.



Similarly, Bayer, another German MNC, has been addressing the child labour issue for over a decade through a very successful comprehensive Bayer CropScience Child Care Program. This initiative has been rolled out in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, where the company has contracted cotton seed production and transformed the way seed supply chain is organised - making it sustainable and compliant with its policy of saying no to child labour. The program extends far beyond abolishing child labour. Besides a contractual ban of child labour, it focuses on engaging local communities, combining initiatives to improve education in local governmental schools; increasing awareness about crop production profitably without resorting to the use of children; knowledge-transfer concerning sustainable crop production; vocational training opportunities for children; as well as communication strategies to raise awareness of the problem among parents.



The scope of most of these initiatives is limited to a few geographic territories or specific social segments, most often with a limited time frame. These are commendable, but still sporadic and isolated experiments, therefore not impactful enough to accomplish the mission of a social change.



What should corporations do?

There are two specific, complementary strategies worth considering. One is at the level of individual corporations and the other at the level of collective or association of corporations. Corporations, big and small, need to revisit their current CSR programmes keeping long-term effectiveness and sustainable social change as a major mission. They should take up at least one such programme that brings about a fundamental change in the way people think and act, for a better society. The second is for the multitude of corporations and industry associations to take up sustained social change as a mission and work with their members to develop coordinated programmes. For instance, CII's green initiative should find new meaning and be redefined in terms of scope and strategy to become a national movement.



We believe that a new wave of activities, synergised across segments, and planned for the next decade or so will be the minimum time required to bring about social change. Ideally, such initiatives should continue with a slightly different strategy in the subsequent decade. This is the need of the hour. With an upsurge in purchasing power and consumerism across the economic segments, we need such a mission to reawaken India.



The authors are Professor and Executive Director of the Thomas Schmidheiny Centre for Family Enterprise at the Indian School of Business, and Professor of Strategic Management at the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, respectively


Henry Lane Kendrick was the seventh of nine children born to Stephen and Thankfull Howe Kendrick in 1811 at Lebanon, New Hampshire. As a young man, Kendrick was a cadet at the military academy at West Point, New York. He graduated as a 2nd lieutenant, 2nd infantry in 1835 at the age of 24.

Soon after, Kendrick served as assistant professor of chemistry, mineralogy and geology from 1835 to 1846. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant, 2nd artillery in 1837, and later, to the rank of captain in 1846 at the outbreak of the War with Mexico.

In 1847, Kendrick and his 2nd artillery unit joined General Winfield Scott's army on a march to Mexico City from the siege of Veracruz to the Defense of Puebla. For gallant and meritorious conduct in the Defense of Puebla, Captain Kendrick received a brevet promotion to Major.

After the Mexican War and the U.S. acquisition of the American Southwest (1848), Kendrick was assigned to frontier duty. He was placed in command of an artillery battalion ranging from Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas to Santa Fe, New Mexico. In 1849, at the age of 38, Kendrick commanded an artillery unit in Lt. James Simpson's expedition into the heart of Navajo country. At the mouth of Canyon de Chelly a "treaty" was signed to which Kendrick lent his signature. This treaty was never ratified by Congress.

In 1851 Kendrick commanded the military escort for Captain Lorenzo Sitgreaves' Expedition from Zuni Pueblo, to San Diego. This was the first U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers survey through the northern Arizona area.

The next expedition through northern Arizona was the Whipple Railroad Survey of 185354. Lt. Amiel Whipple was an 1841 graduate of West Point and a student of Kendrick. Whipple named the second highest mountain in the area for his professor, and the mountain between Kendrick and Bill Williams mountains for Sitgreaves. Whipple also named the major spring on the west side of the San Francisco Peaks for his guide, Antoine Leroux. Leroux was also the guide for Sitgreaves. The spring was initially discovered on the Sitgreaves Expedition by pack master Juan de Dios

In 1852 Kendrick was appointed commander of the newly created Fort Defiance in the heart of Navajo country. Considering the Navajo were known for raiding Pueblo and New Mexican settlements, Kendrick managed his role as peacekeeper quite well. He built a relationship with the Navajo leaders with the help of his Indian Agent Capt. Henry L. Dodge. In November of 1856, Dodge was killed by Apaches while on a trip to the Zuni Pueblo area. After Dodges death, Kendrick became Acting Indian Agent.

In 1857 Kendrick's frontier life was closed by his appointment to the professorship of Chemistry, Mineralogy, and Geology at West Point. He held this position until his retirement in 1880 at the age of 69.

Kendrick retired as a colonel after more than 45 years of active service. He continued his residence at West Point until 1883. Afterward, he made the Union League Club in New York City his final home. By his death in 1891, Kendrick had amassed an impressive collection of friends and students, including President and Civil War General Ulysses S. Grant and Civil War General and Peace Commissioner for the (still active) Navajo Treaty of 1868, William Tecumseh Sherman.

Kendricks final resting place is at West Point. A beautiful 41-page obituary was published in 1892, written by his successor, professor Samuel E. Tillman. This is still in print under the title "Col. Henry L. Kendrick, U.S.A."
The recent WannaCry attack is an awakening call for one and all. Although, the kill switch might have restricted this ransomware from spreading, it is still estimated to have damaged business worth $4 billion across the world. Sivarama Krishnan, Partner and Leader, PwC India explains, why WannaCry became big and what is the learning from this attack.

BT: Is the WannaCry chapter over or there can be still more?

Krishnan: The recent spate of attacks like WannaCry and Petaya were only possible because of poor patch management processes - fixing which hardly requires any investment. Until corporates, the government and citizens all take these simple, basic preventive measures with due seriousness, these attacks will continue to cause disruptions. It is now imperative that discussions around proactive monitoring, better incident response and cyber insurance come to the fore. Cyber security is a now a persistent business risk, in fact it is one of the biggest all-encompassing risks a business today can face. It can not only cause business disruption, financial loss but also endanger reputation, it is a crisis waiting to happen if not acknowledged and accounted for at the right time.

BT: How badly has WannaCry affected in the international space as well as India?

Krishnan: Cyber risks are border/territory/country agnostic. It is not possible to protect only one specific country during such attacks. India was relatively less affected during the last few attacks. However, as we work towards becoming a digital economy and with a new technology led and enabled tax reforms like GST, our vigilance in cyber space needs to be urgently enhanced.

BT: Ransomware attacks have been happening in the past as well, but what made WannaCry so big?

Krishnan: WannaCry wasn't the first of its kind attack but what made it so big is its scale and spread. It caught all unaware, jostled countries/businesses out of complacency when it comes to preparedness to deal with cyber threats.

BT: What has been the learning from WannaCry?

Krishnan: WannaCry has again highlighted that cyber security threats today have become increasingly sophisticated and complex. Organisations, however, have not been able evolve at the same pace.

The conventional 'technology-centric' approach has now become outdated and a more comprehensive and strategic approach to tackle these evolving threats is essential. As the enterprise network boundaries are getting blurred, a new approach, rooted in technology, but one that also includes other key aspects such as people and processes is needed. In fact it is time to focus on the human parameter. An efficient and executable strategy is one that is agile and can adapt to the changing threat landscape. Lastly, businesses need to realise that this is an area of investment and like any other investment, the dividends are for times to come. As security incidents become more frequent, the cost of managing and mitigating breaches also rise. However, the cost of not being prepared, having a robust cyber security infrastructure is much more than investing in it as a preventive mechanism.
Samsung claims that the phone that defined big just got bigger. Galaxy Note series has been one of Samsung's most popular line-up. Though the big size phablet format is no longer exclusive to the Note line up the device still has a few features that put that size to optimum use.



Here are the highlights of Samsung's Galaxy Note 8:

Infinity Display: The Galaxy Note 8 comes with a monsterous screen of 6.3 inches but it still manages to cram that in a relatively small footprint, thanks to Samsung's Infinity Display. The display is of the same size as Galaxy S8+ and also has the same resolution. However, the Note 8 is slightly less curved than the Galaxy S8+ to accommodate more writing space.



Samsung has managed to reduce the bezels surrounding the display even more in comparison to the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8+. The display follows an aspect ratio of 18.5:9 with a resolution of 2960x1440 pixels.

S Pen: In the age of gigantic smartphones, what makes a Note phone more Note-worthy than others? The S Pen. Last year, after the Note 7 fiasco, there were speculations that Samsung might scrap the entire Note line-up. However, the South Korean tech giant claimed that Note 7 enthusiasts love the S Pen and it functionality.



This year Samsung added a few more features specific to the S Pen. Paired with the large screen and wider Infinity Display, the prospects of the S Pen have grown manifold. Equipped with a finer tip and higher pressure sensitivity, it can now be used to create anything from fine art pieces to day-to-day tasks.

The S Pen now comes with Live Message feature which allows you can animate anything you write or draw, including scribble on photos. These animations can also be messaged for personalised touch.

The Screen Off memo feature has been improved too, allowing users to write for 100 pages without switching on the screen and edit text with double tap. Now entire texts can be translated from one language to another by moving the S Pen over them.

Dual-lens Camera: The biggest differentiator between the Galaxy S8+ and the Note 8 is the dual-lens setup on the latter. This is the first time Samsung boarded the dual-lens band wagon and the expectations are high. Considering that Samsung's Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ went neck to neck with any dual camera setup in the industry, Galaxy Note 8 stands a greater chance of blowing the competition out of water.



Galaxy Note 8 also has the first dual-camera system to feature Optical Image Stabilisation in both camera units, making low-light photography feel like a breeze. Other than OIS, the camera module comes with dual pixel sensor for better photos in low light conditions.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 also comes with a feature called Live Focus which allows the user to decide how prominently the subject stands out by the adjusting the background blur levels, before or after the picture is taken.

Bixby: Samsung's own Bixby seems to be growing up to be a mature AI assistant. The demonstration of Bixby ranged from placing calls to clicking food pictures without the need to touch the screen. The dedicated Bixby button on the device gives us an idea of how important this new software is to Samsung. Samsung claims that Bixby can identify fluent languages without any trouble.

Bixby will soon allow users to play music on Spotify, courtesy a partnership between Samsung and the digital music service. Samsung promised more exciting news in its Developers' Conference in October.

Samsung DeX: Samsung DeX evolved into a better feature with lower boot times and additional features.The company is making efforts to create an ecosystem of utility and game applications, by partnering with their respective creators, specifically optimised for use on desktop, and form a seamless interface.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 will be available in markets from September 15 and the pre-orders are expected to begin shortly. However, the price of the phone has not been declared yet. Reports suggest that the new Note 8 will be priced in the UK markets at 869 euros (over Rs 65,600). There is no word on the India launch either.


Once a year, for the past two decades, artists across the Flagstaff area have opened their studio space to the public. This weekend will be the Artists' Coalition of Flagstaff's 20th annual Flagstaff Open Studios. The 63 artists participating in this year's tour include painters, illustrators, sculptors, photographers, ceramic and jewelry artists, fabric and glass artists, and others. Artists will have finished work on display, be working on new pieces, giving demonstrations and answering questions from visitors. Art will be available for sale directly from each artist.

The Artists' Coalition gallery, The Arts Connection, inside the Flagstaff Mall has pieces from participating artists on display for a preview of what the weekend has in store. Free maps to participating studios can be picked up at the the Arts Connection and at the Flagstaff Visitor Center, 1 E. Route 66, or downloaded at flagstaff-arts.org. The self-guided tour will take place Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 26-27, from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. each day.

Forecast for Saturday: Thunder Over Flagstaff

The eclipse is over but here's another reason to look up: Thunder Over Flagstaff. A monsoon-season tradition, this thunder is all mechanical as airplanes of all shapes and sizes converge on Flagstaff's Pulliam Airport for a open house-style festival. The event will be Saturday, Aug. 26, from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. and include free flights for kids ages 8-17, food and craft vendors, a car show, helicopter rides and a lot of airplanes.

The Marines will be flying in with two Heuys and two Cobras, and a World War II Privateer will be on display. Admission is $5 per person with a $20 per family cap. Boy Scout Troop 138 will be selling pancake breakfasts from 6:30-10 a.m. For more information, visit flagthunder.org.

An associated banquet and silent auction will be held Friday evening. This year's banquet will feature a panel of military pilots who will share funny stories of events that happened to them while in combat in Vietnam and answer questions from the public. A band will play 60's music. The banquet will be held at Wiseman Aviaiton and begin at 5:30 p.m., Friday, Aug. 25.

All profits from the open house and the banquet will be used to send four local high school students to an aviation camp in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Tickets for the banquet are $30 and are available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/thunder-over-flagstaff-2017-banquet-and-silent-auction-tickets-35350340821.

The events are sponsored by the Flagstaff chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association. EAA Chapter 856 is based in Flagstaff, but serves a large portion of the northern Arizona region. Its membership encompasses several aviation projects, including participation with both Flagstaff and Valle airports, sponsoring youths to the EAA Air Academy, an aviation scholarship and plans for a mentoring program for local students.
Newscity

Corporate Interests Fight Sick Leave Initiative

Last week, a petition was filed with the New Mexico Supreme Court to keep the proposed sick leave initiative off Albuquerque's October ballot. The petitionwhich was presented to the court by a number of plaintiffs, including the Association of Commerce and Industry, NAIOP-New Mexico (formerly the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties) and the New Mexico Restaurant Associationalleges that the Albuquerque Healthy Workforce Ordinance is in violation of the state constitution. If approved by voters, the Healthy Workforce Ordinance would require all businesses with a physical presence in Albuquerque, regardless of size, to allow their employees to earn paid sick time off. The ordinance would apply to full-time, part-time and temporary employees. Proponents of the initiative say it will relieve workers from choosing between the health of family members or their paycheck, while opponents say it will lead to lost job opportunities and the relocation of businesses. Last month, the Albuquerque Coalition for a Healthy Economy (A.C.H.E.) filed a lawsuit against the city accusing the ordinance of being voter fraud. According to attorney Pat Rogers, who represented the plaintiffs in the case, the ordinance is logrolling on steroidsa term referring to a quid pro quo, or an exchange of votes between legislators. The suit also alleged that home rule municipalities do not have the power to enact voter-initiated legislation. This accusation was in reference to a provision in the City Charter that allows citizens to bypass the City Council and put issues directly on the ballot. This provision was set in motion by a list of signatures in favor of the ordinance . The A.C.H.E. lawsuit was rejected by State District Judge Shannon Bacon, and Rogers subsequently filed a petition with the state's Supreme Court. Rogers petition challenges the portion of the ruling that said state statute and the state constitution allow voter-created initiatives. He argues that there is no constitutional basis nor any statutory authority and that the ordinance should be removed from the ballot. The court has ordered attorneys in the case to file a response to Rogers petition no later than Aug. 28. The ordinance is currently slated to appear on the Oct. 3 ballot.
The elected governing bodies of the city of Flagstaff and Coconino County have spoken out officially on the events in Charlottesville, Va.

At the Flagstaff City Councils August 15 meeting, the council voted unanimously to have the clerk read a statement reaffirming the citys commitment to diversity and inclusion. It came at the request of Mayor Coral Evans, who said the reaffirmation was timely, given the events that had taken place in Charlottesville.

The Mayor and the City Council of Flagstaff call upon all members of our community to individually and collectively support and advance a culture of inclusivity in the city of Flagstaff, the resolution read in part.

At the councils August 21 meeting, the council unanimously agreed on a statement denouncing the actions by neo-Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville, and approved a letter to be sent to the family of the woman killed at the Unite the Right rally.

Like many in our nation, members of the Flagstaff community watched in disbelief and sadness as the events unfolded, the letter read in part. We cannot and should not ignore the hateful rhetoric espoused by the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacist groups and any other groups that seek to divide our country through racism and intolerance.

The letter will be sent to the family of Heather Heyer, the Charlottesville City Council, the families of the Virginia State Police officers who died in a helicopter crash as a result of the rally, the Virginia State Police Department and President Donald Trump.

On Tuesday, the Coconino County Board of Supervisors added its own statement to the national discussion on race relations spurred by protests in Charlottesville earlier this month. The board passed an anti-hate resolution that states racist propaganda has no place in the county. It states that the county unequivocally condemns any advocacy of racial supremacy or discrimination based on religion, culture or sexual orientation.

Without question this communicates our values and how we comport ourselves in this county and how we as a board of supervisors do that and frankly what we expect of those who work in Coconino County, said Liz Archuleta, board chair.

Supervisor Matt Ryan added that the resolution sets a bar that is very important for us as a society to maintain, while Supervisor Lena Fowler said it tells our citizens and our children again that they are valued.
Idriss Deby Itno Archives

In order to safeguard peace and security in the region, Chad calls on Qatar to cease all actions that could undermine its security as well as those of the countries of the Lake Chad basin and the Sahel.

Chad is shutting Qatars embassy and giving its diplomats 10 days to leave the country, accusing the Gulf Arab state of trying to destabilise the central African nation via its northern neighbor Libya.

It is not the first African state to move against Qatar following its rift with other Gulf states including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, whose charities funnel millions of dollars in aid money to west and central Africa.

Senegal said on Monday that it had reinstated its ambassador to Qatar after having recalled him three months ago, in a bid to encourage a peaceful resolution to the feud.

In order to safeguard peace and security in the region, Chad calls on Qatar to cease all actions that could undermine its security as well as those of the countries of the Lake Chad basin and the Sahel, the foreign ministry statement said. It did not provide any details to support the accusation.

The statement from Chads foreign ministry added that it would close its diplomatic mission in Doha and recall all personnel. Qatari officials were not immediately available to comment.

In Libya, the UAE and Qatar, which both played key roles in backing rebels in the uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, have emerged as rivals on the battlefield with conflicting interests.

The vacuum created by Gaddafis downfall led to a flood of weapons from state arsenals into the hands of Islamist groups who then pushed south into Africas Sahel nations where they launch attacks on military and civilian targets.

Today in Libya, the UAE, along with Egypt and Saudi Arabia, has backed anti-Islamist former army commander Khalifa Haftar, appointed by a government and parliament based in the east. Qatar and Turkey have supported rival Islamist-leaning factions in western Libya.
| BY Ricki Green |

Ever wanted to work in one of the countrys most dynamic and provocative creative agencies? It could be as simple as selling a paperclip online

The Monkeys, part of Accenture Interactive, is giving two students the chance to get their foot in the door with Monkey.edu, a 10-week internship program.

To apply, students will need to find a paperclip and sell it on eBay in a glorious fashion.

The agency is looking for the best and brightest across all disciplines, more details can be found here.

To be eligible, students must be required to complete an internship as part of their Australian tertiary education.

The intern program is now live http://www.monkeyedu.com.au/.
| BY Ricki Green |

With a relentless focus on delivering the most creative and most effective work, Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne has announced the appointment of Matt Kemp to the role of senior planner.

Kemp joins the agency from Grey, London where he was a senior planner leading global strategy and repositioning on Proctor & Gamble brand, Braun. Beyond his work on Braun, Kemp has led strategy on The Sun and Times as part of WPPs Team News, alongside strategy development on a raft of new business wins including Emirates and Birds Eye.

Prior to Grey, Kemp worked as a digital strategist at POKE London, working on the launch of EE, the U.Ks biggest mobile network, Orange and Sky Bet.

Says Paul Rees-Jones, executive planning director, Clemenger BBDO Melbourne: In Matt weve found a rare strategic talent  his knack for analytical thinking combined with an ability to make the work better is something were looking forward to experiencing first-hand. Matt joins us as we continue to evolve the agencys planning offering with broader skill sets and depth of talent.
| BY Ricki Green |

Sovereign Hill has unveiled a suite of cinematic spots as part of a new The Story Lives On campaign. Directed by Fictions Natalie Erika James and produced by Emma Haarburger the spots were brought to life from the stunning creative by CD Brendan Day and creative team Duncan Le Cornu & Benny Moore at Town Square.

The major tourist attraction has taken a decidedly modern route with a series of short films and trailers that show dramatic scenarios of people who would have inhabited the goldfields in 1850s Australia.

The Nugget follows a female prospector who fears losing her newfound fortune, The Struggle touches on events surrounding the Eureka Stockade, while The Bounty, is a playful piece following children on a chase around town. The campaign also includes a 30 second trailer that showcases all three short films.

Agency producer Anna Morris and Fiction producer Emma Haarburger worked closely to wrangle the challenging logistics of filming within the operational museum.

Says James: It was an absolute dream working at Sovereign Hill. The team wrangled pretty much all the chaotic, challenging elements youre not supposed to combine on this shoot  children, animals, carriages, pyrotechnics, historical accuracy, we had it all! Showcasing the incredible sets and costumes to build a narrative was amazing; sheer joy as a director.

James and Haarburger continue to work within the commercial world while developing their long form projects. Their previous short, Creswick premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival and has gone on to screen at 20+ festivals worldwide. The pair were recently awarded funding for their next short film, Drum Wave, through Screen Australias competitive Hot Shots Plus program.

For more information, please contact Emma at Fiction on +61 400 286 992 or emma@fiction.net.au.

To visit Fictions website, click here.

Client: Sovereign Hill Museums Association

Director of Marketing: Jennifer Ganske

Marketing Executive: Samantha Mackley

Agency: Town Square

Creative Director: Brendan Day

Copywriter: Duncan Le Cornu

Art Director: Benny Moore

Agency Producer: Anna Morris

Business Director: Harry Corsham

Account Manager: Jessica Hay

Production Company: Fiction Films

Director: Natalie Erika James

Producer: Emma Haarburger

Cinematographer: Matt Wood

Editor: Florence Mathilde Holmes

Colourist: CJ Dobson

Composer: Tamil Rogeon

Sound Design / Mixer: Ryan Granger

Production Design: Daphne Do

Makeup Artist: Lou McLaren

Makeup Assistant: Steph Elkington

1st Assistant Director: Bree-Anne Sykes

2nd Assistant Director: Logan Davies

Movi Operator: Brett Harrison

Camera Assistant: Nick Forster

Data Wrangler: Shawkat Husseini

Gaffer: Ben Morgan

Best Boy: Will Thomson
| BY Ricki Green |

What began as a limited-edition absinthe for clients and friends, The Taboo Groups Dark Truth has now spread into bars across Melbourne and signature cocktails in West Hollywoods celebrity mecca, E.P. & L.P.

The brew, formulated by Taboo in collaboration with a local distiller, was named after the agencys approach to uncovering confronting truths on behalf of its clients.

Says Reece Hobbins, creative director, Taboo: The Dark Truth is what we find when were brutally honest with our clients, our consumers and ourselves.

Born out of an agency that actively promotes side-hustles, the Dark Truth sits alongside Taboo employees other endeavours ranging from hot sauce, island bars, kombucha, activewear, and a published poetry book.

Says Andrew Mackinnon, founder, Taboo: Were all about creating things, introducing them to the market, experiencing the results and learning from these. Most of our team have their own individual pursuits, providing us with a deeper understanding of the broader business context that our clients operate in. It also helps keep life a little more interesting.

Straight from the bottle itself:

A decadence, a muse, a symbol, a scourge. No drink was ever more taboo. Consumed by artists, mavericks, rebels, geniuses and provocateurs, it made Hemmingway earnest and Oscar wild. Taboos Dark Truth has been imbued with a powerful magic designed to loosen the lips and open the mind.
| BY Lynchy |

Theres no such thing as a dream home. But there is a home thats right for you. Thats the foundation for the film from EdgeProp Singapore that chronicles a couples search for that ideal place. Its a whimsical spot where a house takes on a life of its own as the protagonists daydream about where their home should be.

Its part of EdgeProps new rebranding campaign, Property Personalised in collaboration with Bonsey Jaden and Directors Think Tank.

While Sling was first to take the reins on the shoot, she also had Rajay on board as the shoot date fell close to their babys delivery date. And as luck would have it, little Aarriyann decided to move forward his hello to the world instead of letting his mum and dad move back the shoot.

With Sling injecting her art and soul into the pre-production process, Rajay took the helm at the shoot. Both of them knew that while they wanted to take the viewer on a whimsical journey, the heart of the story was still going to be about the couple  and how their real-life wishes, dreams and conflicts shape a home thats just right for them.

Rajay and Sling opted to take a very real approach to how it was shot  a two-tonne moving set, props on wheels and beautiful lighting made the talent feel the story and bring out the realism in each surreal moment.

Matters did get all too real however, when the set collapsed on the day of the shoot.

Opting not to compromise on the production by using camera trickery or post work, Directors Think Tank rebuilt the massive set and pulled off the shoot they set out to accomplish.

The EdgeProp spot has already received wide acclaim. And little Aarriyann continues to receive daily gushes of adoration from mum and dad.

Credits 

Regional ECD : Adam Chan

Creative Group Head : Alicia Hew

Head of Art : Siok Yee

CEO : Daniel Posavac

Managing Director : Nic Robertson

Head of Strategy : Taryn Mook

Senior Strategic Planner: Irene Wikanta

Account Manager : Peter Solomon

Film Director : Rajay Singh & Sling Ng

Exec. Producer : Heng Tek Nam

DOP : Lee Wing Lok

Line Producer : De Shen Ssj Shuying

Production Manager : RK Subash Krishnamurthy

Art Director : Anthony Chan

Wardrobe : Darren Siew

Make Up : Monica Gill

Editor : Affandi Jamaludin

Post Production : VHQ KL
With over 20 House races uncalled, Pelosi is mum on her future: live updates

After Tuesday's midterm elections, Democrats shed light on their plans for the lame duck session of Congress.
The following editorial appeared in the Chicago Tribune on Wednesday, Aug. 23:

When white supremacists wanted to hold a Unite the Right rally at the site of a Robert E. Lee monument in Charlottesville, the Virginia city insisted they gather in a different park. So the neo-Nazis got help from an organization widely vilified on the far right: the American Civil Liberties Union. It sued the city, and a federal judge ruled in its favor. The hateful assembly occurred where it was originally planned.

We all know what happened next. Fighting broke out between protesters and counter-protesters, and a woman was killed after being run over by a car driven by an alleged white nationalist.

The backlash against the ACLU was immediate. Waldo Jaquith resigned from the board of directors of the organizations Virginia chapter, declaring: Whats legal and whats right are sometimes different. I wont be a fig leaf for Nazis. K-Sue Park, a fellow at the UCLA School of Law who has done volunteer work for the ACLU, wrote in The New York Times, By insisting on a narrow reading of the First Amendment, the organization provides free legal support to hate-based causes.

But anyone who was surprised that the ACLU would represent such extremists has not been paying attention. The organization endured a storm of criticism and canceled memberships in 1977, after it sued to force the Chicago suburb of Skokie to allow neo-Nazis to march. It has gone to court to defend the right of the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church to protest at military funerals. It sued the Washington, D.C., transit system on behalf of alt-right troll Milo Yiannopolous because the system banned ads for his new book.

The ACLU defends the rights of ideological outliers because it believes, correctly, that the Constitution protects free expression no matter how repellent that speech may be. America doesnt need a First Amendment to ensure the freedom of popular speakers to voice their opinions because those dont get suppressed. We need the amendment to ensure the freedom of speakers whose views are despised by people who dominate agencies of government.

Without the First Amendment, the white supremacists might have been out of luck in Charlottesville. But in many parts of the country, in the absence of constitutional protection, organizations devoted to racial justice or abortion rights might be suppressed.

Liberal commentator Glenn Greenwald noted the myopia at work. Most levers of state power are now controlled by the Republican Party, while many Democrats have also advocated the criminalization of left-wing views, he wrote in The Intercept, addressing those on the left. Why would you trust those officials to suppress free speech in ways that you find just and noble, rather than oppressive?

By protecting freedom of expression on the right, the ACLU bolsters it for everyone  including the anti-fascist groups that often show up to demonstrate against right-wing speakers.

The First Amendment, of course, does not protect violence or threats of violence. Cities are entitled to set reasonable rules to safeguard public safety. The permit for last Saturdays free speech rally in Boston, for example, prohibited backpacks, sticks, cans, glass containers and any other item that could be used as a weapon.

Local officials are also obligated to deploy police to keep opponents separated and head off dangerous clashes. Any speaker who tries to incite immediate violence can be arrested.

Allowing open debate, however, is essential to a free and democratic society, even when it includes noxious speakers. Thomas Jefferson wrote, We are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it.

Thanks to the Constitution, the white supremacists who showed up in Charlottesville and Boston had their say. But in doing so, they only stimulated a national debate that they are bound to lose.



2017 Chicago Tribune

Visit the Chicago Tribune at www.chicagotribune.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.



PHOTO (for help with images, contact 312-222-4194):
She said the commission was also working on new online resources to help to ensure people understood their rights and obligations under ACT laws and people were aware of "information sources and avenues for redress" if they had concerns about any behaviours or the process itself.
The directions hearing also revealed a major change in Senator Canavan's argument, with lawyers for the former cabinet minister arguing he had been an an Italian citizen by descent since he was two, because of a change in Italian law in 1983. His lawyers argued that citizenship by descent rather than birth should be ignored for the purposes of section 44(i) of the constitution.
Sources close to the government organisation say the project, under the stewardship of former general manager for business and infrastructure services Mark Wallis, is now set to come under scrutiny after Mr Wallis lost his job at CSIRO over alleged "breaches" involving a corporate credit card.
"If academic freedom becomes a mere aspiration...it has no real force," the open letter states. "Only when academic freedom is enshrined as in a legally binding agreement, which includes the protection against summary dismissal for expression of unpopular positions, can it be said to truly afford the independence of thought that ground breaking research and challenging and fruitful teaching require."
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 ...
Since June 2007, Egypt has been dealing with a signficant rise in terror attacks in the Sinai Peninsula and inside Egypt by Sinai Province, the Islamic State affiliate. Improving the security situation in the country requires Cairo to overcome the challenges in shifting from its counterterrorism (CT) efforts to a counterinsurgency (COIN) campaign that will be focused on the local population in the Sinai. The Egyptian government is already taking its first steps in this direction on the military, economic, social, and political levels, including the establishment of the National Council to Confront Terrorism and Extremism in July 2017; yet still, Egypt must formulate a full-fledged, integrated, and effective COIN strategy. The international community, for its part, has an interest in assisting Cairo to successfully transition to this strategy by providing military aid in weapons and methods of warfare as well as targeted economic aid.

Since June 2017, Egypt has faced a notable rise in terrorist attacks from Salafi-jihadist groups in the Sinai Peninsula that are affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) and from Islamist organizations inside the Nile Valley. Due to increasing violence, Egypt declared a country-wide state of emergency in April, and extended it in June for another three months. Security has been stepped up around public areas and religious sites. On July 7, Sinai Province, the Egyptian affiliate of IS, employed suicide car bombs and gunmen to attack an Egyptian military outpost near Rafah, killing at least twenty-three soldiers. In response, Egypt launched the fourth phase of the operation Martyr's Right against cells of the Sinai Province in North and Central Sinai, so far killing dozens of terrorists.

The precarious security situation in Egypt is likely to become an even greater threat as Sinai Province tries to remain relevant following IS losses in Iraq and Syria and recent agreements on border security between Egypt and Hamas, which seek to undermine the terrorist groups connections with counterparts in Gaza. On July 22, at the inauguration of Egypts new Mohamed Naguib Military Base in Al-Hammam City, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi made it clear that Egypt will do whatever it takes to eliminate terrorism. However, in order to triumph over terror, Egypt will need to overcome challenges and transition from its current counterterrorism (CT) efforts to a full-fledged counterinsurgency (COIN) campaign.

CT and COIN in Egypt: From Theory to Practice

In many reports on the terror in Sinai, the terms counterterrorism and counterinsurgency are used interchangeably and their meanings are blurred. Although both are used to fight terrorism and insurgency, they require different resources and draw on distinct theories.

CT strategies are used to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat organizations that employ terrorism by military and security means. These strategies include drone strikes, special forces operations, and increased policing and intelligence operations.

Adopting COIN strategies is necessary when a state realizes that a military response alone will not constitute a workable solution to a violent conflict. COIN is an all-encompassing political, military, and civilian solution to challenge irregular insurgent warfare. CT strategies are not abandoned but are implemented within a COIN approach where the counterinsurgent (the government) also pursues support and legitimacy from the local population by promoting good governance and providing continued security after government forces have expelled the insurgent group. This population-centric strategy involves denying the insurgency its civilian-support networks, external support, and outside sanctuary, while simultaneously improving political participation and economic opportunities for civilians.

Egypts current CT approach mostly resembles traditional CT doctrines. Egypt prepared for offensive military measures by declaring a state of emergency in specific areas of North Sinai back in October 2014. It has also breached components of the Military Annex of the 1979 peace agreement in coordination with Israel, transferring additional armed forces and heavy weaponry into Sinai. Egypt has installed roadblocks and military checkpoints across North Sinai to prevent attacks, increased cooperation with local Bedouin tribes to gather intelligence on the ground, and used F-16 fighter jets and Apache helicopters to strike militants from the air.

The CT measures used so far have been only semi-effective, and have fallen short of destroying the terrorist organizations or acquiring the Bedouin populations support for the government. Civilians have been caught in the crossfire during operations, straining state relations with the tribes, and offensive tactics alone have not deterred local youth from joining Salafi-jihadist groups that offer better economic opportunities. Militant interpretations of Islam sometimes won "the battle for hearts and minds" and tempted the young local population to join Salafi-jihadist groups. According to unofficial estimates, Egypt has lost over 2,000 security personnel during this stage of the conflict, with many civilian casualties that are under-reported. These losses are unsustainable and hasten the transition towards a COIN campaign.

Egypt has already set the groundwork to move towards a COIN campaign on military, economic, and political fronts. Since April 2017, Egypt has begun involving North Sinai Bedouin tribes in fighting terrorism, by gathering intelligence and other military activities. In the non-military fronts, first, El-Sisi hopes to promote a moderate form of Islam among the youth of North Sinai by using state religious apparatuses including al-Azhar and its schooling networks. Moreover, in late July, El-Sisi took additional measures to stifle extremism by establishing the National Council to Confront Terrorism and Extremism. The council helps build a COIN policy through strategizing, mobilizing resources, amending existing legislation, and increasing economic opportunities in areas with high levels of extremism.

Already in 2016, Egypt detailed long-term plans for development in the Sinai with goals of increasing investments and focusing on population-centric projects. A first step would be to legalize land ownership for citizens and provide compensation for damages from military operations. The military also aims to win greater support and legitimacy by sending reconstruction missions to the conflict-ridden cities of El-Arish, Rafah, Sheikh Zuweid, and Bir al-Abd. Plans include building a new city of Rafah because much of the city has been destroyed by military airstrikes and the creation of a buffer zone on the Gaza border. The government declared its commitment to implementing development projects in North Sinai that will improve economic opportunities, but no time-frame has yet been given.

Lastly, Egypts recent political and military actions support the goal of denying Sinai Province external support from its counterparts in Gaza, which has served as a training and recovery base and a source for underground smuggling of weapons and fighters. The recent Egypt-Hamas understandings reached in June-July when Hamas security delegations visited Cairo may aid Egypts efforts in containing Sinai Provinces activities by monitoring border security, extraditing militants hiding in Gaza, and denying the group a safe-haven/training ground. Cooperation with Hamas may expand also into economic spheres, and include a more stable power and oil supply from Egypt to Gaza, along with mutual trade relations that would provide residents of North Sinai and Gaza with legitimate job opportunities. Similarly, Egypts decision, along with the rest of the Arab Quartet, to cut off diplomatic relations with Qatar for funding terrorist organizations is another strategic step towards denying funds and resources to militant groups.

Conclusions

Egypt is already heading in the right direction towards a COIN campaign, but overcoming various challenges is still necessary to solidify its strategies. Cairo must better formulate a COIN doctrine that will enable a transition from CT to a full-fledged, integrated, and effective COIN operation. That has implications also on the military level. Egypt should lead a determined and powerful fight against terrorist strongholds, while at the same time avoid harming uninvolved civilians. If the latter is not prioritized, the military may alienate the local population and damage Egypt's image in the international arena. To this end, the adoption of appropriate methods of combat that minimize collateral damagesincluding the use of accurate weapons that will target only the terroristsis required. In addition, while integrating local tribes in fighting terrorists, Egypt must pay close attention not to hurt its sovereignty and governance.

On the economic level, Egypt should carefully plan its investments to ensure that improving the welfare of the Bedouin population in North Sinai will not come at the expense of other local populations that are loyal to the state. Additionally, given its limited financial resources, Egypt must balance its efforts between addressing short-term economic distress and the promotion of long-term economic goals.

On the political level, Egypt should adopt a "carrots and sticks" policy towards the civilian population of North Sinai. The use of authoritarian practices, such as emergency laws, must be well measured in order to avoid alienating local tribes from the regime. On the external political level, Cairo must be mindful that its cooperation with Hamas will not boost the standing of the Islamist alternative that Hamas represents in the Palestinian arena over more moderate and pragmatic Palestinian political forces, such as Fatah.

Finally, the international community has a vital interest in supporting the Egyptian regime in shifting from CT to COIN, by providing military assistance and targeted economic aid, while encouraging good governance and political participation. The eradication of the insurgency in Sinai will be a desirable achievement not only for the 93 million inhabitants of Egypt but also for the global war on terror.
The boss of holiday firm Teletext Holidays has said that the market for travel agents is picking up as concerns over terror attacks in many once popular destinations begins to abate.

Wayne Perks, told The Yorkshire Post that he expected tour operators to resume packages to destinations like Tunisia and Egypt soon and that travel companies in many mainland Europe countries had already done so.

His comments come after a trying period for the holiday industry as it wrestled against the weakness of sterling and concern over attacks such as those seen in 2015 when a flight to Sharm El Sheikh was bombed killing 224 people and a terrorist ran amok at a Tunisia resort murdering 38 people.

Mr Perks said: People had been quite nervous about travelling and obviously the impact on the value of sterling has meant that holidays have become a bit more expensive.

But very quickly that has turned around and people are booking again.

It is interesting to see that Thomas Cook are going to start flying to Tunisia again.

That is very positive. The travel industry has really been impacted as you would expect by terrorism threats around the world.

Egypt was one of our biggest winter destinations. But after the atrocities that dropped.
Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact.

Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here.

Care2 Stands With: humanitarians, animal lovers, feminists, rabble-rousers, nature-buffs, creatives, the naturally curious, and people who really love to do the right thing.

You are our people. You Care. We Care2.
An inmate charged with first-degree murder and four other felonies on allegations he killed a fellow inmate during a March 2 melee at the Tecumseh state prison made his first appearance Wednesday on the charges.

In a complaint filed a day earlier, Eric Ramos was accused of assaulting and killing Michael Galindo with deliberate and premeditated malice or during an arson and of tampering with evidence.

Prosecutors haven't yet decided if they'll seek the death penalty in his case, according to a news release Tuesday.

Johnson County Judge Steven Timm agreed to seal the arrest warrant affidavit in the case, saying in an order that information in it "could jeopardize an ongoing criminal investigation."

A hearing has been set next month to determine if Ramos' public defender should be granted access to the document.

Galindo, 31, and Damon Fitzgerald, 39, were killed in separate incidents during an inmate disturbance at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution, sparked by staff discovering and confiscating a footlocker that held 150 pounds of homemade alcohol.

It was the second deadly disruption at the prison in two years.

The Nebraska Attorney General's office said after prison staff re-established order on March 2, they found Galindo lying face down, dead, near a pile of still smoldering combustible materials inside a cell.

An autopsy concluded his death was a homicide and that he had died as a result of smoke inhalation along with multiple sharp and blunt-force injuries.

Ramos, 26, already had been facing a first-degree arson charge for allegedly starting a fire at the prison March 2. At a preliminary hearing earlier this year in that case, an investigator said surveillance video showed Ramos taking a burning piece of cloth to a trash can during the disturbance.

Ramos, who is serving eight to 10 years on criminal mischief, domestic assault and gun charges out of Gage County in 2012, became eligible for parole in January.

No one has been charged yet in Fitzgerald's death, or in the deaths of two other inmates killed in an earlier riot at the same prison.

Suzanne Gage, of the Attorney General's office, said: "Investigative efforts will continue until justice can be obtained for the murder of inmate Damon Fitzgerald, as well as for the May 10, 2015, murders of inmates Donald Peacock and Shon Collins."

Peacock and Collins, both serving time for child sex assaults, were found dead of blunt-force trauma to their heads.
Together with Chinas Hanergy Thin Film Power Group, Audi is looking to integrate solar cells into their panoramic roofs for upcoming models.



The German automaker stated that Alta Devices, a unit of the solar cell firm Hanergy, will be responsible for designing the solar-embedded panoramic roofs that will eventually boost the range of EVs by feeding solar energy directly into the internal electrical systems, like air conditioning and heated seats.

According to Audi, a prototype will be built by the end of this year, though unfortunately, no further details were released, as reported by Autonews.

Audi is also planning on launching three battery-electric cars by 2020, while looking to cover one third of its vehicle sales with fully electric powertrains by the year 2025. The company is also aiming to cut costs by about $12 billion by the year 2022, in order to fund a total shift from internal combustion engines to full electric.

This recent partnership between Audi and Hanergy is just one of many growing efforts within the automotive industry, directed at using solar power. Panasonic has already started producing a 180-watt array of solar cells that can be fixed to the roof of a car, while Nissan will install an add-on solar panel as an optional extra on the Leaf.
While BMW is parading the Concept Z4 at the 2017 Pebble Beach Concours dElegance, another prototype of the upcoming roadster has been spied on the Nurburgring.



It continues to be dressed in camouflage, which makes it kind of hard to spot any significant styling upgrades, but the new folding soft-top, which will be used instead of the current models folding hardtop roof, is visible.

The new Z4 will share the same platform with the new Toyota Supra, which is also in development. Earlier sources talked about carbon fiber and aluminum being used in the architecture of both cars, while the German model should employ turbocharged four- and six-cylinder units. A hybrid could also join the lineup, at a later date.

BMW is expected to launch the all-new Z4 sometime next year, with the first examples arriving at dealers by the end of 2018.

VIDEO
The Calgary Airport has been criticized by members of the public after it turned five handicapped parking spaces into Lexus-only spots.



The bizarre decision was first publicized by CBS News after images emerged showing the disabled spots repainted and reserved exclusively for Lexus vehicles. Funnily enough, Lexus Canada says it had no idea about the Calgary Airport Authoritys plans.

After a backlash, Calgary Airport Authority spokesperson Jody Moseley said it sold advertising space to Lexus as a way to investigate different ways to diversify our revenue stream. Shortly after, the airport confirmed it would return the spots to disabled parking.

In a statement issued after the situation first came to light, Lexus Canada apologized and asked the airport to correct the blunder.

Lexus Canada would like to offer our heartfelt apologies to anyone who may have been affected or offended by a recent marketing campaign at the Calgary airport. We were not aware that accessible parking spaces would be used for this campaign, and have asked the airport to correct the situation as quickly as possible by returning these parking spaces to their intended use.

The airport couldnt have seriously thought theyd get away this, right?
Maserati has released the first pictures of the facelifted and renamed Ghibli.



Set to debut at the Chengdu Motor Show on August 25th, the Ghibli GranLusso features a new front bumper, a revised grille, and additional chrome accents. Moving further back, the model has been equipped with body-color side skirts and GranLusso badging on the front fenders.

The rear of the car receives a minor refreshing that includes the installation of a new bumper and a body-colored rear extractor. Maserati says this gives the model a sharper look than its predecessor.

While the styling changes are modest, Maserati says they provide a substantial improvement in aerodynamic efficiency. They also help to usher in several new features including adaptive LED headlights with matrix high beams that promise to provide better illumination.

Speaking of technology updates, the Ghibli GranLusso will be offered with an assortment of new driver assistance systems. Theres no word on specifics but Maserati hinted the systems will allow the company to enter the world of autonomous driving.

Engine options are expected to carryover and include a twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6 that has outputs of 350 PS (257 kW) and 410 PS (301 kW). There should also be a familiar 3.0-liter V6 diesel developing 275 PS (202 kW).

Photo Gallery
British car manufacturers could be on the verge of receiving post-Brexit tariffs because not enough of their components are sourced from local suppliers.



Generally, UK firms must prove that 50 to 60 per cent of a products components come from within the UK to escape tariffs. However, the Automotive Council states that on average, UK cars are only 44 per cent British-made, Bloomberg reports.

Carmakers are currently permitted to classify parts sourced from Europe as British-made, allowing them to escape tariffs. However, when the country leaves the European Union, all of that will change as rules of origin policies are enforced, forcing brands to research using local suppliers at potentially higher prices.

A spokesman from Honda has already said that the company is already investigating new suppliers for the Civic, currently manufactured in the town of Swindon.

If we have a free-trade agreement with the EU after Brexit, then well have to have rules for determining whether the cars coming out of the U.K. really are considered British cars, said Peter Holmes, an economist at the U.K. Trade Policy Observatory.

Secretary general of European auto supplier association CLEPA, Sigrid de Vries, says that a number of car companies are considering various options.

Changes will be complex and painful. The automotive industry is a prime example of how the EU internal market has helped underpin competitiveness in the face of global competition: The sector operates on the global market place, she confirmed.

PHOTO GALLERY
Police no longer have a presence at the site of a house explosion in southeast Lincoln but their probe into what caused it continues.

Chief Jeff Bliemeister said police are still looking into the "seat of the blast" and the events preceding the Aug. 21 natural gas explosion at 5601 S. 78th St.

"The processing and documentation of the scene has been completed but expert analysis, laboratory testing, investigative follow-up, and collaboration with Building and Safety Fire Inspectors continues," the chief said.

The home's owners, Jim and Jeanne Jasa, remain in critical condition at CHI St. Elizabeth.

Insurance companies now have custody of the rubble that is the Jasa's home, a few blocks north of Old Cheney Road. A 6-foot-tall, chain-link fence protects the site.

Fire and police investigators last week seized evidence from the residence, now considered a crime scene as police try to determine if the blast's cause was intentional.

Finding answers in suspected natural gas explosions isn't always easy, but it's not impossible, fire investigators told the Journal Star.

When an explosion totally destroys a home, "youve got a tremendous amount of work to do," said Norfolk Fire Marshal Terry Zwiebel, a former natural gas company employee.

"Evidence is there. Its just changed shape," he added. "Youve got to put it back together like a jigsaw puzzle."

The blast at the Jasas' house is believed to have been triggered inside the residence.

State and city fire investigators ruled out an external leak, and police have said there's no evidence that natural gas provider Black Hills Energy's service or system was negligent.

A judge has sealed the search warrant detailing what evidence police took and why they took it from the scene.

The extent of damage is unprecedented in Lincoln for this type of blast, said Chief Fire Investigator Bill Moody, who has worked five or six large explosions in his 32 years on the job.

Most homes in an explosion sustain limited structural damage, he said.

A May 2016 explosion stemming from a leak in the line to the water heater, for example, damaged the home's foundation at 830 B St.

Zwiebel, who heads the Nebraska chapter of the International Association of Arson Investigators, can recall two such explosions in Norfolk.

But those were more like "hard ignitions," where a wall pops out and fire starts, he said.

No one was injured in the cases Zwiebel worked, he said.

A pair of natural gas explosions in Omaha grabbed headlines last year.

In one case, a housing inspector died after she went inside a vacated property in the Benson area.

In another, fire investigators said improperly marked gas lines were struck by workers and triggered an explosion and massive fire that destroyed a restaurant in the Old Market.

In that blast, no one was seriously injured.

But one of the deadliest events in the state's history came Jan. 10, 1976, when the Hotel Pathfinder in Fremont blew up, killing 20 people and injuring dozens more.

The ignition source for that explosion was never determined though fire officials later said the leak stemmed from an underground pipe allowing gas to seep into the building, the Fremont Tribune reported.

Natural gas is a colorless, odorless gas, so a chemical marker is added to give it a distinct smell so leaks are detected.

In Lincoln, natural gas provided by Black Hills Energy smells like rotten eggs.

Foul play factors into some house explosions, but most blasts stem from accidental leaks, Zwiebel said.

The volatile nature of natural gas poses a safety risk that homeowners should consider when working on or around natural gas-fed appliances, he added.

In the death of Clara Bender, the Omaha housing inspector killed last year, investigators determined the person who disconnected the clothes dryer forgot to turn off the gas, according to media reports.

Too many natural gas blasts stem from sloppy work leading to leaks in homes, Zwiebel said.

"Leave it up to the professionals."
Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Studio Ponocs animated feature Mary and The Witchs Flower, which debuted last month in Japan and will be released in North America by GKIDS, is the first feature to incorporate the free, open source animation software OpenToonz into its production pipeline.

Japanese publisher Dwango acquired the Toonz software last year from Italian tech company Digital Video, which has been producing the animation package since 1993, and has begun distributing it as free, modifiable software that can be further developed by individual users and studios.

Even though Mary is the first film to use the open source version, earlier versions of Toonz have been used extensively in professional productions, most notably by Studio Ghibli to produce films like The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, Howls Moving Castle, and The Wind Rises. Yonebayashi himself directed two films at Ghibli  The Secret World of Arrietty and When Marnie Was There  which used Toonz software, so its logical that he would continue working with the open source version in his post-Ghibli work.
Photo: Contributed

Regan and Charity Edser won't forget the birth of their son anytime soon.

Or maybe that should be sun?

The Lake Country couple welcomed baby Niall Apollo Edser into the world on Monday, during the solar eclipse. He is their first child.

"Apollo is the Greek god of the sun, and it seemed like a good fit for the eclipse," said Regan.

"His mum went through a long labour, starting overnight Saturday."

The due date was actually Aug. 27, but baby Apollo made an early appearance at 9:37 a.m. at Kelowna General Hospital, coinciding with the beginning of the celestial event.

All parties are reportedly healthy and happy.
Photo: Google Maps

A search on Okanagan Lake ended happily Wednesday afternoon.

RCMP, Kelowna and Lake Country Fire Rescue marine units all responded to a report of a missing swimmer offshore from Carrs Landing.

Lake Country assistant fire chief Brent Penner says the individual was swimming with a group of friends, when he broke off and began swimming alone.

The group lost sight of him and called 911.

Apparently, the man attempted to swim to the other side of the lake. He was located and returned safely to Carrs Landing without incident.
Madison Erhardt

Helen Jennens is the face of the Moms Stop the Harm movement here in Kelowna.

She has walked an unbelievable path. Not one, but two, of her children have been lost due to death by overdose.

Helen stresses that she wants her sons to be thought of as people first, that need to be treated with kindness, compassion and dignity.

This is a medical issue, not a moral failing, not until we understand this, can we even begin to put an end to the largely preventable deaths by overdose.

Jennens said at first she looked for answers and help out of anger towards her situation, but it didn't take long for her to realize that she had a passion for helping others with a similar story.

"I started advocating out of anger and some place to put my pain. Then I realized I'm really passionate. When Mom's Stop the Harm approached me, I knew it was a perfect fit."

Mom's Stop the Harm is a group that has members all across Canada; moms, dads, spouses, siblings and grandparents of those who have died due to substance misuse.

Jennens said she couldn't have survived the tragedy without the group.

"It gives me hope that we are becoming more aware. We are going to become a caring, connected community. Kelowna should be proud of themselves for addressing the situation," she said.
Photo: Contributed

It is difficult to turn on the news these days without hearing yet another media story about the United States administration.

Even the most trivial of presidential social media stories have become almost daily features during prime time news coverage of many Canadian news agencies. I mention this because all too often, important Canadian events are being overlooked or ignored at the expense of U.S. political coverage.



Why is this a concern?



In Ottawa, at the moment, the Trudeau Liberal government is pursuing a new direction they refer to as tax fairness for Canadians. The Liberals enjoy using buzzwords like tax fairness.

This phrase is cover for the fact that they are really proposing to seriously increase the amount of tax certain groups of society will send to Ottawa. This is the Liberal plan to deal with their problem of massively increased deficit spending.



Why should you care?



One of the groups that will be most seriously adversely impacted by these proposed tax changes is Canadian doctors.



First, let me pass on some background information.



Doctors often operate like a small business. They pay rent, hire and pay staff, obtain insurance, cover monthly utility expenses, purchase medical equipment and supplies along with paying a host of other expenses.

As a result of operating much like a small business, doctors often incorporate as there are tax advantages to incorporation.



What are some of those tax advantages?

For starters, business income is taxed at a lower rate than personal income. However, it should be pointed out that when doctors pay themselves a wage out of the net corporate after tax income, they are taxed again on that income at the same personal income tax rates as any other Canadian.

Incorporation also provides other advantages in that family members can also be employed, not unlike any other small business.

This can help increase overall household income at a lower potential personal income tax rate. On the surface, this is why the Liberal government asks if it's fair to allow professionals such as doctors to benefit from these taxation benefits.



However, there is another side to this discussion that is overlooked.



Doctors are not eligible for many of the same benefits as many working Canadians. There is no lucrative public sector pension plan for doctors even though they work entirely within the public sector in most cases.

Likewise employment insurance, maternity benefits, disability coverage and more, is not provided to doctors. Coverage for these critically needed benefits must be provided and paid for by the doctors themselves.

In many cases, this is why doctors will leave residual funds within the corporate framework. This allows them to access some of these benefits, maternity leave being but one example.

Keep in mind when doctors are away for any reason, they suffer a loss of income or have to cover the costs of replacement coverage, all while monthly operating expenses remain in place.



If these tax fairness changes are pushed through by the Trudeau Liberal government, they will seriously impact doctors along with many other professionals all across Canada.

While the potential outcome of these impacts is unknown given the already short supply of family doctors, it is highly unlikely these tax changes will help with much needed recruitment and retention.



My question this week:

Do you support the status quo of the current taxation policy with professionals such as doctors or do you believe a tax increase would create more "tax fairness"?



I can be reached at [email protected] or call 1-800-665-8711 toll free.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
Photo: Getty Images Environment minister wants tainted water issue resolved, says Spallumcheen's mayor.

Solving the tainted drinking water problem in the Hullcar Valley is a priority for new Environment Minister George Heyman, says Spallumcheen's mayor.

Residents within the Steel Springs Water District have been under a water quality advisory for a number of years over elevated, cancer-causing nitrate levels in the Hullcar aquifer.

They blame the tainted water on effluent being sprayed on a nearby dairy farmer's field.

Mayor Janice Brown said the minister has already got a verbal, voluntary, no spray (promise) for the rest of the year from the farmer.

Members of Spallumcheen town council spoke with Heyman by conference call Wednesday.

We talked to (Heyman) to ensure he was on board, that we needed to protect our aquifer and provide good drinking water and that we needed a solution to this problem that had gone on long enough, said Brown. He got it and he was 100 per cent on board with us.

We were very excited to hear that it was one of his priorities, he gets it, he knows how important it is.

Thursday, councillors meet with assistant deputy minister Jennifer McGuire to go over a number of reports written about the tainted water problem.

McGuire will also be meeting with members of the Save Hullcar Aquifer Team, a vocal group of residents who have pushed for a solution for some years.
If you have just started your journey in an online casino or are looking for a new site to play,...
Seward lifted a restriction on drinking water from city taps Wednesday afternoon after the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services determined the water was safe to consume, city officials said.

A broken 14-inch water main under an area flooded by the Big Blue River caused pressure to drop throughout Seward's water system on Sunday, leading to a "do not consume" order as well as an emergency declaration.

City crews restored water service to most residents on Monday but recommended its use be limited to bathing, laundry and other hygiene purposes.

Forty tests submitted to the state on both Monday and Tuesday determined the water was fit to drink.

The city recommends residents run cold water through each tap to force air out of the water lines until the water is a cool, consistent temperature.
BISMARCK, N.D.  Environmental groups being sued by the developer of the Dakota Access oil pipeline say the lawsuit is an attack on free speech and an effort to punish supporters of American Indian tribes that oppose the project over fears of environmental harm.

Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against Greenpeace, BankTrack and Earth First, alleging they disseminated false and misleading information about the project, interfered with its construction and damaged the company's reputation and finances through illegal acts.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in North Dakota cites "a pattern of criminal activity and a campaign of misinformation for purposes of increasing donations and advancing their political or business agendas," and seeks damages that could approach $1 billion.

BankTrack called the allegations "outrageous" and maintained it did nothing wrong in informing the public and commercial banks about the potential effect of the $3.8 billion pipeline to move North Dakota oil to a distribution point in Illinois. It also denied it benefited financially from its efforts.

"BankTrack considers the lawsuit an attempt ... to silence civil society organizations, and to curb their crucial role in helping to foster business conduct globally that protects the environment, recognizes the rights and interests of all stakeholders, and respects human rights," the group said in a statement.

Greenpeace attorney Tom Wetterer said the lawsuit was meritless, "harassment by corporate bullies" and an effort "to silence free speech."

Michael Bowe, one of the company's attorneys, countered that the response by Greenpeace "was not to defend the truth of its challenged statements, but to attack the lawyers who exposed those statements as false."

"Our laws hold accountable those who intentionally make demonstrably false statements, and there is no special exception for Greenpeace," Bowe said.

Earth First did not reply to Associated Press requests for comment.

Earthjustice, whose attorneys are representing the Standing Rock Sioux tribe in a federal lawsuit that aims to shut down the pipeline, isn't a defendant in the lawsuit but is mentioned throughout as being part of a vast network of groups and people who allegedly conspired against the pipeline.

Earthjustice President Trip Van Noppen said the lawsuit is "nothing more than an attack on all those who stood up for the tribe in this historic fight, packaged as a legal claim."

ETP said the company "has an obligation to its shareholders, partners, stakeholders and all those negatively impacted by the violence and destruction intentionally incited by the defendants to file this lawsuit."

The 1,200-mile pipeline began operating June 1, after months of delays caused by legal wrangling and on-the-ground protests. Police made 761 arrests in North Dakota between August and February.
Ride-sharing service Lyft Inc. received the green light to expand into Montana on Thursday after the Montana Public Service Commission voted 4-1 to approve its operating license.

Lyft is the second ride-sharing company to be licensed to operate in Montana. Raiser-MT, an agent for Uber, was licensed in December 2015 and began operating in the spring of 2016 after state law was changed to authorize app-based ride-sharing companies.

Lyft and Uber have led to a major shakeup in Montana transportation services, and their presence signals the emergence of companies involved in the sharing economy, an economic system in which computer technology allows assets or services to be shared between private individuals.

In the past, existing operators held what amounted to a competitor's veto over newcomers, said Commissioner Travis Kavulla, R-Great Falls. That is no longer the case, and today, any firm can compete, so long as they can demonstrate that they are a fit operator.

The PSCs approval allows Lyft to begin operations immediately. But Chelsea Harrison, a spokeswoman for Lyft, provided no immediate timetable on when and where Lyft would roll out its Montana operations.

We are pleased the Public Service Commission has approved our application for operations in Montana and look forward to bringing Lyft to Big Sky Country in the near future, Harrison said Thursday via email.

Last January Lyft announced that it planned to expand its services in 100 new communities during 2017. Today, Lyft operates in 360 communities. Its services are available to about 80 percent of the nations population, according to the company's website.

During the 20-day protest period last spring, the PSC received a single objection to Lyfts application from Carrie Pintar, the owner of Amazing Taxi in Livingston. At a June hearing, Pintar called into question Lyfts fitness to operate on the grounds that the company could not meet its legal obligations related to insurance.

By law, a Technology Network Carrier is required to carry minimum insurance coverage of $50,000 for death and bodily injury per person, $100,000 per incident, and $25,000 for property damage. When a driver is engaged in a pre-arranged ride, the requirements go up to $1 million for death, injury, or property damage as well as uninsured motorist coverage.

Pintar argued that Lyfts insurance could be inactive in instances where a driver loses connection to the digital network while driving through a cellular dead-spot.

Timothy Burr, a Lyft witness, testified that contrary to Pintars claims, gaps in cellular service do not impact insurance coverage, as coverage exists from the moment the first passenger enters the vehicle until the last passenger exits during a prearranged ride.

Pintar said ride-sharing services don't have to play by the same rules as taxi companies

"I've always tried to take care of my area, but I've lost a lot of airport rides, which was my gravy," Pintar said. "The rules they're given are broken constantly, but the PSC doesn't seem to care."

The commission is satisfied that Lyft has met all of the statutory requirements established by the Legislature, and is a fit, willing, and able operator, said PSC Chairman Brad Johnson, R-East Helena.

Commissioner Bob Lake, R-Hamilton was the lone dissenting vote.

As a regulator, my job is to ensure that essential services are there when they are needed most," Lake said. "Unlike existing regulated motor carriers, out-of-state corporations like Uber and Lyft operate with very little oversight from the PSC and they are not obligated to serve the public. Im concerned that if these firms are allowed to squeeze out mom and pop taxi companies, critical portions of our population could be left without essential transportation services, he said.

Critics argue that ride-sharing services often exploit drivers, who work as independent contractors rather than employees.

Earlier this year, a California law firm filed suit on behalf of Uber drivers who are seeking reimbursement for expenses that drivers say Uber should pay for.
Yellowstone Electric Co., a Billings-based company, was recently awarded Women Owned Small Business certification by the U.S. Womens Chamber of Commerce. To be eligibile, a business must be at least 51 percent owned and controlled by one or more women and considered small in its primary industry in accordance with the Small Business Administration. WOSB certification supports women-owned business development strategies by giving them access to new markets and contracts.

Originally opened in 1937 as a one-man shop, today Yellowstone Electric has 77 full-time employees in Billings and around the U.S. Yellowstone Electric specializes in all phases of electrical systems construction, installation and services including electrical construction, power distribution and control, maintenance, telecommunications/data, fire alarms and special systems, energy upgrades, renewable energy and scheduled services. For more information call Yellowstone Electric Co. at 252-3407 or go to yecomt.com.

Yellowstone Electric also recently announced changes and additions to the companys executive team.

Lori Cote Miller, majority shareholder, has been named chief executive officer. Miller joined Yellowstone Electric Co. in 1994 as an accountant charged with transitioning the company from paper bookkeeping to computerized accounting software with job costing. Over time, Miller became a shareholder and was eventually promoted to the management team where she leads strategic planning and business development efforts. Miller recently spearheaded efforts to obtain WOSB certification. She received her bachelors degree in business administration/accounting from Montana State University in Bozeman in 1984 and her CPA license in 1986. She may be reached my calling 252-3407 or emailing lmiller@yecomt.com.

Bruce Hill, RCDD, has been named president. Hill joined the company in 2011 as a project manager. Prior to that, he worked as an electrical designer at CTA Architects Engineers. Hill served in the U.S. Air Force from 1980-1984 and received an associate's degree in electrical technology from North Dakota State College of Science in 1989. A registered communications distribution designer, Hill is experienced in all types of commercial electrical projects with a focus on providing electrical service support to hospitals and clinics. Hill may be reached at 252-3407 or bhill@yecomt.com.

Ken Hatfield has been named vice president, government/hydroelectric. Hatfield joined Yellowstone Electric in 2011 as a project manager and specializes in projects at hydro-electric facilities with the Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Prior to joining the company, Hatfield was a general foreman at Ace Electric and senior project manager/regional facilities manager at Al Morrell Development/Oasis International Waters in Iraq. Hatfield is a graduate of the Montana NECA/IBEW apprenticeship program. He may be reached at 252-3407 or khatfield@yecomt.com.

Kevin Titus has been named vice president of operations/corporate secretary. In addition to managing projects, Titus oversees the project management team and supports job estimation. Before joining Yellowstone Electric in 2008, Titus worked at Advance Electric Co. in New Jersey. He has been in the electrical construction industry for 24 years. Titus earned an associate's degree in electrical power technology from Mercer County Community College. He serves as the master of record for Yellowstone Electric in Montana and North Dakota. Titus may be reached at 252-3407 or ktitus@yecomt.com.
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MISSOULA  Everyone in America was planning for the solar eclipse on August 21, except, apparently, the Montana Department of Transportation.

That day, a contractor hired by the MDT had scheduled a fairly major road construction project to begin on Interstate 15 near the Clark Canyon Dam. As tens of thousands of people headed north from the path of the eclipse to get home Monday around 4:30 p.m., they encountered a miles-long traffic jam that slowed traffic to a bumper-to-bumper crawl for more than an hour for some drivers.

The flow of traffic was not a problem on the northbound lane of I-15 between central Idaho and Butte except at the point where the construction project began, a roughly seven-mile stretch near Exit 44 about 20 miles south of Dillon. Because cones were on the interstate and the driving lanes were reduced from two to one in the northbound lane, a huge bottleneck ensued.

Because the solar eclipse happened on Monday morning, traffic had trickled south into the path of the eclipse in Idaho and Wyoming over the long weekend.

When it ended, though, weary travelers were all headed back home at the same time in order to show up for work on Tuesday. According to the Casper Star-Tribune, more than a million people came to Wyoming  a state with only half a million people  for the event, and the numbers in Idaho were similar. The road construction project was an extremely unwelcome, inconvenient irritation for many drivers who hoped to get home before dark.

Late in the afternoon, cones were still up on the interstate although all the construction workers had gone home for the day. At least two Montana Highway Patrol troopers had stopped near the beginning of the jam to warn people to slow down.

The Idaho Transportation Department, unlike the MDT, put all major road construction projects on hold in anticipation of heavy traffic for the eclipse.

The road construction project has been under contract for about a month now, according to Montana Department of Transportation Butte District manager Jeff Ebert.

We apologize wholeheartedly, he said. Weve done (construction project delays) in the past (in anticipation of high traffic) and looked at it and probably made a bad mistake here in this regard. Well get 'er better next time.

Ebert said that signs were up days in advance of the project warning drivers that construction would begin the day of the eclipse, but that was little consolation to those who came upon the snarl.

When asked if his office had discusssed suspending the project in anticipation of heavy traffic, Ebert explained that, in hindsight, it would have been a good idea.

There was some work done by our maintenance folks to get the message to travelers out, Ebert said. Those discussions took place. Typically, like the Fourth of July, we shut down construction during that time period. We probably should have this time. For the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial, we did and then they didnt show up.

Ebert said that typically that stretch of interstate sees under 1,000 average daily trips, and he estimated that on Monday there were probably 1,000 cars per hour at the peak travel time.

Ive received a few complaints, he said.
A man accused of setting a car on fire near St. Vincent Healthcare on Monday did it so he could return to jail, charging documents say. He had been out of custody for two and a half weeks after being arrested and charged with setting fire to his mothers home.

William Arnold Miller, 58, appeared in Yellowstone County Justice Court on Wednesday on one felony count of arson. Miller turned himself in to authorities at the Yellowstone County Sheriffs Office after starting the fire earlier this week and is being held on $75,000 bond.

In a statement to police, Miller said he drove to the Holiday Gas Station on North 27th Street and Sixth Avenue North and filled a Powerade bottle with gasoline. He then drove west, found a dark-colored car near St. Vincent Healthcare on 12th Avenue North, poured gasoline on the windshield, lit a match and ignited the vehicle, according to charging documents.

No one was in the car at the time of the fire, and no injuries were reported, according to a press release from the Fire Department. Reported at about 5:30 a.m., the fire caused an estimated $15,000 in damage.

Both the car and its contents were insured, the release stated.

In the house fire incident from late May, court documents say Miller told a 911 operator: "I did something bad. I set my house on fire."

No one was home when firefighters responded to the house fire on Cambridge Drive, and Miller later turned himself in, court documents say. He was charged in that incident with felony arson.

As fire investigators determined that the house fire was confined to a closet, Miller called to turn himself over to the police, charges state. He told officers that he lit a towel aflame and removed the smoke detector, the documents say.

He then called 911 because he changed his mind about burning down the house, documents state. His mother owns the house.

Initially Miller was held in the earlier incident on $5,000 bond but later requested and was granted release on his own recognizance. He was released from jail on Aug. 4.
City prosecutors have filed charges against a man who fired his gun during an attempted citizen's arrest in the Rimrock Mall parking lot.

The charges against James Ellis Newman, 30, come six months after the Feb. 25 incident.

Newman was charged on Aug. 18 in Billings Municipal Court with negligent endangerment and unlawful discharge of a firearm. The charges are misdemeanors.

The Yellowstone County Attorney's Office previously reviewed the case and declined to file any felony charges.

Newman approached two people leaving the mall with a cart full of items, which he believed to be stolen, according to charges. As the couple loaded items into an SUV, Newman attempted to make a citizen's arrest. The interaction was caught on video with multiple onlookers nearby.

The couple got into the vehicle, which lurched backward toward Newman, who held up a .45-caliber handgun. According to charging documents, a man in the driver's seat got out and ran, and a woman took the wheel.

The SUV lurched backward again, this time "striking Newman's left knee," charges state. Newman didn't start firing until the vehicle moved forward, away from him.

Newman fired six times as the car pulled away. Police determined that three of the bullets hit the car. The last bullet hit a snow bank 68 feet away from Newman, according to court documents.

The suspected shoplifters were later identified, and that case is still under review for charges, Billings City Attorney Brent Brooks said Wednesday.

In reviewing the case for charges, prosecutors examined Montana's use of force statutes. The most basic interpretation allows the use of deadly force if the person believes he or she is under threat of serious harm or death.

The vehicle was moving away from Newman as he fired. In March, a law professor and self-defense firearms instructor told The Gazette that this would be an important factor in determining whether firing the gun was reasonable.

The maximum punishment for negligent endangerment is $1,000 and one year in jail. Unlawful discharge of a firearm is a city code and a penalty isn't specified.
The unemployment rate in the Northwest Georgia region rose to 5.1 percent in July.

The rate is up one-tenth of a percentage point from 5 percent in June. In July 2016, the rate was 5.9 percent.



The rate rose in July as unemployment increased by 503 to 21,361 and unemployment claims were up by 968, or 53.2 percent, to 2,787. Claims were up in manufacturing and administrative and support services. Over the year, claims were down by 1,603, or 36.5 percent, from 4,390 in July 2016.



While the Northwest Georgia rate rose slightly, more people went back to work, said State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler.



The total number of employed residents in the region rose by 1,987 to 397,830 from June to July.



There were 11,447 more Northwest Georgia area residents employed than in July 2016, said Comm. Butler. Im pleased to see we have more people in the Northwest Georgia region employed and contributing to Georgias continued environment of economic opportunity.



Employ Georgia, the GDOLs online job listing service at employgeorgia.com, showed 3,846 new active job postings in the Northwest Georgia area for July.


The Billings Police Department will swear in four new officers at 10:15 a.m. Tuesday in Municipal Court, 220 N. 27th St.

All four officers are POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training) certified, which means they dont have to attend the 2 -month-long Montana Law Enforcement Academy in Helena.

Instead theyll begin their administrative training Sept. 5 and their field training program Sept. 25.

The addition brings the department to its full complement of 150 officers, said Neil Lawrence, Billings Police Departments administrative lieutenant. Their hiring will allow the department to fill a pair of specialized jobs  a school resource officer at the new Ben Steele Middle School and a park ranger position recently approved by the Billings City Council. That second position has been posted internally and should be filled next month, Lawrence said.

Its possible, he said, that one or two detectives will be retiring in the coming months.

Billings four newest officers are Ryland Nelson, formerly of the Big Horn County Sheriffs Department; Treyvor Malcom, a former deputy in the Stillwater County Sheriffs Department; Justin Bickford, who comes to Billings from the Laurel Police Department; and Paul Morris, who was an officer in Memphis, Tennessee.

Complete staffing allows for all nine beats to be covered around the clock, with extra officers assigned to busy beats, including Beat 9 in the West End and Beat 7 in midtown. In addition, Lawrence said, officers can be assigned as rovers to provide backup and answer calls as needed.

As public schools open their academic year Thursday, the departments four Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) officers, as well as a sergeant on occasion, will be out making sure speed and traffic laws are followed in Billings school zones.

They come from all over

Lawrence said its not all that unusual for the local department to attract officers working in out-of-state police agencies. Jobs are advertised through the departments social media and on the citys website.

We get contacted frequently by officers in other departments and people in other cities who may have visited Billings and decided, Wow! I want to move there, Lawrence said. People move here to become officers because they vacationed here and fell in love with the state and with Billings and decided, This is where I want to live.

While part of the attraction may indeed be the scenery and other amenities, officers have other reasons for wanting to work for the Billings Police Department, he said. One is the level of training afforded to officers, even those who are already POST certified.

A compliment I have received from officers is, These are some of the things I didnt receive in the department I was at, Lawrence said. A lot of it comes down to money. I think the chief (Rich St. John) has been smart about utilizing money for training, both for new hires and veteran officers who have been trained to do the job to the best of their ability.

The last two classes of new officers have all come to their new jobs POST certified, but that hasnt always been the case. Last year, the department hired 15 officers; Lawrence said most did not arrive in Billings with the certification.

Having that license in hand saves the department time and money, Lawrence said.

For the next round of hiring, the department has sent letters to nine applicants for interviews. If the interviews go well and the applicants are successful in tests and a background screening, theyll be placed on a list for future openings, Lawrence said.

Every once in a while well get that list started, Lawrence said. Its always nice to have a pad of officers in case of retirements.
Krahn Chemie GmbH and the Finnish company FP-Pigments Oy started to cooperate in the sales and marketing of opacity pigments for paint, coating and printing ink applications in Germany.

The FP-Pigment series consist of titanium dioxide which is fixed with calcium carbonate. They have been manufactured since 1996 in Finland, Germany and the USA by using a patented process. Because of their high opacity, the FP-Pigment grades enable a partial substitution of titanium dioxide. With matt formulations this can be up to 30 percent, while with gloss paints the figure is up to 10 percent. In addition to providing high opacity, the pigments also improve wet abrasion and stain resistance, have a high UV reflectivity, and have gloss retention and color fastness. The FP-Pigment grades can be used in aqueous as well as solvent-based coating systems and printing inks. The products are also suitable for corrosion protection coatings, powder coatings as well as can and coil coatings.

Karlheinz Schuster, Vice President Sales and Marketing at Krahn Chemie explains: "By using FP-Pigments products, the CO2 balance in coatings can be demonstrably reduced. The products are an ideal complement to our extensive product portfolio for the paint, coating and printing ink industry, which covers all important raw material groups including additives, binders and pigments."
Top Position in Worldwide Comparison

Germany is a good location when it comes to developing ideas from innovations. Thomas Wessel, chairman of the German chemical industry association Verband der Chemischen Industrie (VCI) Committee for Research, Science and Education, and Chief Human Resources Officer of Evonik Industries AG, Essen, Germany, explained at a recent VCI press conference that this is due to well-trained specialists, inventive companies, excellent universities and research facilities, with a breadth and depth that is unique in the world, as well as high legal certainty in Germany.

Globalization makes us move closer together, which means that economic, technological, and legal conditions are changing. The competitive pressure is increasing, new products are being brought faster to the (world) market. This requires additional efforts from the industrialized countries to remain internationally competitive. A higher innovation pace is needed.

Germany is doing well with regards to expenses for research and development (R&D). The country is the worlds fourth largest chemical and pharmaceutical research center and number one in Europe. Looking at patent applications in chemistry (without pharmaceuticals) and at the trade with research-intensive chemicals (also without pharmaceuticals), Germany ranks among the top three.

In 2016, around 11 billion euros have been invested in R&D in Germany. Compared to the previous year, the chemical and pharmaceutical companies increased their research expenditures by about 4 %. The companies annually spend around 5 billion euros at their foreign locations for R&D (see Fig. 1 for a worldwide overview).



Figure 1. (left) R&D expenditure of the chemical and pharmaceutical industry in the respective country. (right) Federal and private education expenditure in 2013 in percent of the GDP.

In the coming years, research will continue to focus on research-intensive specialty chemicals and pharmaceuticals, as well as on digitization.

Drivers to Become an Attractive Research Location

In spite of all this, Germany is not at one of the absolute top positions in the international innovation competition. Strategies to become more attractive include increasing the research intensity of Germany to 3.5 % of gross domestic product (GDP). For the chemical industry, this means a 20 % increase in R&D investment. Based on 2016 numbers, about 13 billion euros are to be invested in R&D every year. It is clear that this goal cannot be achieved without additional incentives, as well as innovation and investment-friendly framework conditions.

From the VCIs point of view, there are five drivers that can facilitate this:

1 Fiscal R&D Funding

One of the most important drivers for research is tax incentives: in the future, tax-related R&D funding must be provided for all research-based companies in addition to the previous project funding. Two-thirds of the OECD countries and half of the EU countries already support research with tax incentives. Asian countries, for example, have a strong appeal with tax advantages. Global companies are looking very carefully at the country in which there is a particularly good framework for research and development.

The VCI, therefore, proposes a model in which 10 % of a research companys self-financed R&D expenses are deducted from its tax liability. That would cost the state about 5.4 billion euros a year. To enable us to finally enter unbureaucratic funding in Germany, we can envisage that only the R&D personnel costs will be taken into account. In the VCIs opinion, the introduction of such crediting of the research staff is also an employment policy signal for the qualification and development of specialists in Germany.

2 Better Support of Life Sciences

Germany has established itself as an important location for the life science industry. The industry invests a lot of money in the research of new active ingredients, the further development of proven drugs, and in the production of new drugs. Rapid approval procedures for modern pharmaceutical and plant protection products are unfortunately missing.

3 Innovation Check for Planned Legislation

The VCI is committed to an innovation check in the regulatory impact assessment. The legislature could thus examine whether, for example, implementation periods, changes in standards and norms, or the implementation effort complicate the development of new products.

4 Greater Openness Towards New Technologies

Germany is skeptical about new technologies. Instead of skepticism, however, the country needs a societal climate in which the opportunities and risks of new technologies are evaluated in a balanced way so that technical progress is possible.

The VCI proposes that ethical questions about the risks of genome editing be discussed together with politics and society. The successful NanoDialog of the Federal Government could serve as a model here. It has contributed significantly to the open and balanced view of the opportunities and risks of nanotechnology and, thus, to support a responsible handling of nanomaterials. The next federal government should initiate a BioDialog to discuss molecular biology methods.

5 More STEM Education

Only an educated population can be open to new technologies, ask critical question, assess opportunities and risks. This helps to reduce the obstacles to innovation in the minds.

However, internationally, Germany is lagging behind with regard to spending on education. While 5.2 % of the gross domestic product is invested in education within the OECD, Germany spends for just 4.3 % on its educational institutions (see Figure 1). However, this is not enough to become an innovative world champion.

In tax-related R&D incentives, Wessel sees one of the most important drivers for research in Germany. Innovations are the starting capital for our future.
The number of people over 60 struggling with college student loans is rising. For most, it comes from helping their children and grandchildren pay for college. (AlexRaths / Getty Images)

The number of people over 60 struggling with college student loans is snowballing.

For most, the struggle is not a hangover from their own college days. Rather, the strain is coming from helping their children and grandchildren pay for college.

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About 27 percent of borrowers over 60 are handling loans from their own education, but 68 percent are working their way through loans they either borrowed or co-signed to help children and grandchildren through college, according to a study by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. An additional 5 percent are juggling a child's loans along with their own or a spouse's.

For many, the debt has become a nightmare, with delinquencies rising and debt collectors hounding seniors for payments they can't afford.

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The CFPB noted a study by University of Michigan assistant professor Mathieu Despard, which found in 2014 that 39 percent of consumers age 60 and older with student loan debt had skipped medicines, doctor visits and dental care.

In 2015, the government seized some Social Security income from 40,000 borrowers because they were delinquent in paying federal student loans, the CFPB report said. That was a large increase over the 8,700 a decade ago. When people are delinquent on federal student loans, the government can take money from paychecks or Social Security automatically.

Private lenders cannot take the Social Security money seniors collect, but the CFPB has received numerous reports of debt collectors threatening to do just that if missed payments aren't made up.

In a state-by-state analysis this month, the CFPB found that since 2012, both the median amount owed and delinquencies have climbed sharply among older borrowers. The number of people handling student loans past age 60 has increased by at least 20 percent in every state during the last five years. In more than half of the states, borrowing by older people has climbed 46 percent since 2012, according to the CFPB's report.

"It's a cause for concern," said analysts Stacy Canan and Seth Frotman in the report. They note that seniors  when finished working  are among the least able to handle debt because they often are living on fixed incomes. The older borrowers might have been able to manage college loan payments when working, but not after losing a regular paycheck.

About 2.8 million older people were responsible for college loans in 2015, which is a relatively small subset of all borrowers, or 6.4 percent of the total. But borrowers over 60 are the fastest-growing segment of the population with student loans. The number has quadrupled over the last decade, the CFPB reported. In 2005, older people made up only 2.7 percent of borrowers. Their debt burden in 2015 was estimated at $66.7 billion.

The CFPB findings, according to Canan and Frotman, reflect a trend of older people carrying more debt later into life, but also a willingness to borrow and co-sign loans as their children and grandchildren need larger loans than previous generations to pay for college.

According to Federal Reserve figures, there are about 44 million people with student loan debt that totals about $1.3 trillion. Almost 52 percent of people 18 to 24 are getting help from their families paying their student loans.

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Financial advisers generally advise people to eliminate all debt before retiring so they have control over their living expenses. Yet, according to the CFPB, 63 percent of the older student loan borrowers also owed mortgage debt, 67 percent owed credit card debt and 45 percent owed auto loan debt.

Debt is difficult to handle on Social Security alone. Yet, according to the Social Security Administration, 21 percent of married people and 43 percent of unmarried people count on Social Security for 90 percent or more of their income. The average monthly benefit for 41.2 million retired people is $1,360.

A wide range of states have had increases of 50 percent or more in student loan borrowing by people over 60 between 2012 and 2017. Among some of the highest: Delaware borrowing is up 93 percent, Arkansas up 61 percent, Georgia and Maryland up 63 percent, New Hampshire up 73 percent and Nevada up 64 percent. Many states are hovering around 50 percent, including Illinois at 49 percent. See bit.ly/2g9iGiw.

In Illinois, 13 percent of older borrowers are delinquent on their loan payments this year  more than the 12.5 percent found nationally in a Federal Reserve Bank of New York study through 2012. Delinquent means the person has missed payments for 90 days or more. The default rate  or people over 65 missing some payments  is 40 percent, according to the CFPB.

Nationally, the median amount owed on student loans by people over 60 was $23,500 in 2015, according to the CFPB's analysis of Federal Reserve and Equifax credit data. In Illinois, the median amount owed by seniors was recently $12,415.

While nationally 12.5 percent of older people are delinquent on paying their student loans, it's 20 percent or more in Washington, D.C., Georgia, Mississippi, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Nevada and South Carolina.

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Some of the delinquencies and defaults would not be occurring, according to the CFPB, if the firms collecting student loan payments were behaving differently. Older borrowers have complained to the CFPB that when they were no longer working, they called their servicer and were not allowed to recalculate the payment that would be affordable on their lower income. Under government rules, lower payments are supposed to be provided when people have a change in income, the CFPB report said.

gmarksjarvis@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @gailmarksjarvis
Aldi has recalled more than 1,100 pounds of Breakfast Best Original Fully Cooked Sausage Patties. (Handout)

Grocery chain Aldi is recalling sausage patties sold in stores in Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa that might have been contaminated with listeria.

Its supplier, Fair Oaks Farms, estimates that more than 1,100 pounds of Breakfast Best Original Fully Cooked Sausage Patties is being recalled, but there have been no confirmed illnesses.

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The problem was discovered when Fair Oaks' routine testing on the product indicated the presence of Listeria monocytogenes, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The products were on hold at a distribution center but were inadvertently shipped, the USDA said.

Eating food contaminated with listeria can cause fever, muscle aches, headaches, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions, sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal problems.

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Pleasant Prairie, Wis.-based Fair Oaks said the pork sausages were sold in 32-ounce bags bearing UPC No. 041498162436 and a "sell by" date of May 15, 2018. They also have the number 17479T inside the USDA's mark of inspection.

Aldi said customers who have the product should throw it away or return it to the store for a full refund.

Fair Oaks said customers with questions can call 800-528-8615, ext. 4116.

byerak@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @beckyyerak
Amita Health is looking to move its headquarters to a building that is part of Navistar's Lisle campus. (Scott Strazzante / Chicago Tribune)

Hospital system Amita Health is hoping to move nearly 1,100 employees to a new headquarters in Lisle, in what could be a boon for that village.

The hospital system is negotiating with Navistar to move into 225,000 square feet on the Navistar campus. Amita hopes to consolidate corporate employees into the Lisle office, John Musgjerd, a Jones Lang LaSalle managing director representing Navistar, told Lisle's board of trustees during a village meeting earlier this week.

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Employees would move from Bolingbrook, Arlington Heights, Elk Grove Village, Hoffman Estates and other suburban locations, he said. The lease with Navistar would last 10 years.

Amita also announced plans this week to add 10 Presence Health hospitals to its system as part of a deal in which national hospital system Ascension will acquire Catholic hospital system Presence. Amita is a joint operating company formed by Adventist Midwest Health and Ascension's Alexian Brothers Health System in 2015.

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In all, Amita will have 19 hospitals in the Chicago area, if the deal is approved by regulators and the Roman Catholic Church.

In a Thursday statement, Amita said the decision to consolidate its suburban offices into a single location is independent of the Presence deal. Amita said it did not have a signed lease as of Thursday and "continues to explore potential options to achieve the strategic goal of establishing a headquarters office that allows us to better consolidate operations."

Lisle Trustee Anthony Carballo called the tentative headquarters move a "very good opportunity" for Lisle at the village's board meeting Monday, a video of which is posted online.

"It's going to bring a lot of people working in the community that are going to spend money in the community, so to me it seems like a big win for the village, and it does obviously benefit Navistar," Carballo said.

Navistar, which makes commercial trucks, buses and defense vehicles, has been seeking tenants to lease as much as half of its 1.2 million-square-foot headquarters campus after decreasing its employee count significantly in recent years.

Navistar's campus includes nine buildings along Naperville and Warrenville roads in the western suburb, just north of Interstate 88.

Navistar spokeswoman Lyndi McMillan said Thursday that the Amita deal is still in negotiations but added, "We're excited to bring jobs to the community and to fully utilize our campus."

In July, a smaller tenant  transportation firm National Express  moved into space it is leasing from Navistar, McMillan said. Navistar has about 2,000 employees on the Lisle campus, down from about 3,000 when the company moved there in early 2012, McMillan said.

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The proposed deal with Amita came before the board because Navistar needs village approval to add 176 parking spaces to the property to satisfy Amita. Musgjerd told the board approval was needed by Aug. 31. A lease is expected to be signed by the end of the month.

A majority of the board voted to prepare an ordinance to approve the new parking as a minor change.

The tentative lease was first reported by Crain's Chicago Business.

If Amita's deal is completed, it will provide a much-needed boost to the far west suburban office market, where there are nine blocks of more than 100,000 square feet available for sale or lease, according to Chicago-based brokerage Blackacre Advisors.

Lisle and suburbs to its west have many big, single-tenant campuses that have become difficult to reuse as companies have been acquired, reduced their workforce or moved workers downtown.

Large vacancies include the former OfficeMax headquarters and Conagra Foods' former suburban offices, both in Naperville, and the former Navistar headquarters building in Warrenville.

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"This whole western part of the market has been overshadowed by these large blocks of space," said office broker Don Wenig, a Blackacre principal who is not involved in the Amita deal. "Slowly but surely, these blocks are being chipped away. The challenge remains that there aren't too many major tenants looking in this part of the market."

lschencker@chicagotribune.com

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Twitter @lschencker

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Gloria Jean Kvetko stands in front of the Gloria Jean's Coffees kiosk inside the Stratford Square Mall on Feb. 3, 2017, in Bloomingdale. The coffee chain is now set to add at least seven more locations in the Chicago area. (Kamil Krzaczynski / Chicago Tribune)

Gloria Jean's Coffees is ready to focus again on its home base of Chicago after a trip around the world.

The coffee retailer founded by Gloria Jean Kvetko and her husband in 1979 in Chicago is now owned by Australia's Retail Food Group. In recent years, the brand maintained less than a dozen stores in the Chicago area, but it is now set to add at least seven more, according to Laina Sullivan, director of franchise development for Retail Food Group USA.

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Most of those locations will be in northwest Indiana, where Sullivan said the company sees population growth and demand for specialty coffee as a ripe opportunity.

In total, five stores are planned for northwest Indiana, and two are set for metro Chicago. Sullivan, who declined to offer the store's exact locations because the leases have not yet been signed, said the brand is focused on adding stores with drive-thrus and locations with street visibility, but it will also add some locations in malls. Beyond the seven planned stores, a kiosk location is set to open at Louis Joliet Mall next month.

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Mall space was a focus for Gloria Jean's in the early days, but in recent years, mall traffic has dropped significantly.

"We're not putting the malls in the rearview mirror, but we're exploring other options," she said. "Every place our customers are is where we need to be."

Earlier this year, the brand added some mall locations as well, including a kiosk at Stratford Square Mall in Bloomingdale.

Sullivan said she's looking forward to the new incarnation of the brand in its hometown, especially as more consumers demand unique brews.

"There was a lull (in the business), but now there's so much horsepower behind us because there's such a demand for high-end coffee," she said. "It's so exciting to be here, to bring the brand back; we're getting the band back together."

sbomkamp@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @SamWillTravel
Billy Lawless, shown in 2016 at a discussion about immigration reform in Chicago, said it has always been difficult to find dishwashers and table bussers, but now the labor crunch is across the board. His family owns the Gage, the Dawson and several other popular restaurants in the city. ( Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune )

As the Chicago hotel and restaurant scene booms, so, too, does the scramble for workers, and some businesses say they need more immigration, not less, to meet their labor needs.

Those were among the sentiments captured in a new report from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs that analyzed the hospitality industry's reliance on immigrant labor across the Midwest, which comes as the Trump administration moves to reduce immigration.

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With hospitality job growth expected to continue and the region's U.S.-born population graying, shrinking and opting for higher-skill jobs, the report says the sector needs access to an immigrant workforce to keep the doors open.

Leisure and hospitality jobs, which account for nearly 10 percent of employment in Illinois and across the Midwest, are disproportionately filled by immigrants, who not only wash dishes and clean hotel rooms but also launch small businesses that create more jobs, according to the report, released Thursday and the last in a series.

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Immigrants, who make up 13 percent of the U.S. population, account for 31 percent of hotel workers and 22 percent of food service workers, according to the report. Immigrant entrepreneurs comprise 43 percent of owners of small hotels and motels and 37 percent of small restaurant owners.

But about 1.3 million hospitality workers across the country work without legal authorization. Twenty percent of the nation's cooks and 28 percent of its dishwashers are here illegally, the report says.

Report author Sara McElmurry, assistant director of immigration at the think tank, spent two years interviewing several dozen restaurant and hotel owners and managers, labor organizers and trade associations across the Midwest to understand the industry's labor concerns in the region.

The consensus is that "we need reforms that responsibly expand the immigration system to hire more of these workers," McElmurry said. In addition, she said, "what I heard consistently was let's build some sort of pathway that allows workers to adjust their legal status."

The White House and some Republican lawmakers have taken the opposite stance, saying immigration, particularly for low-skill jobs, hurts American workers who must compete.

President Donald Trump, whose toughened immigration enforcement policies have raised fears among some hospitality businesses that they could be subject to workplace raids, this month endorsed proposed legislation that would reduce legal immigration by 50 percent by giving priority to highly skilled, educated and English-speaking immigrants, and deprioritizing extended family members of current legal residents. It did not address what to do with immigrants already in the country who are here illegally.

But some of the toughest jobs to fill are low-wage, low-skill hospitality jobs, according to the council's report, especially in areas like Chicago with an exploding food scene.

"In Chicago it is so competitive, there are so many restaurants, it is difficult to get staff and good staff," said Billy Lawless Sr., whose family owns the Gage, the Dawson and several other popular restaurants in the city.

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Lawless, himself an immigrant from Ireland and an advocate of immigration reform, said it has always been difficult to find dishwashers and table bussers, but now the labor crunch is across the board.

"Of course we'd like to employ citizens, absolutely, why wouldn't we," said Lawless, who estimates at least 30 percent of his staff are immigrants, most of whom earn more than minimum wage. "They just won't apply to the menial jobs."

But Dave Gorak, executive director of the Midwest Coalition to Reduce Immigration, said the notion Americans won't do the work is a "falsehood" because many already do.

"The availability of cheap foreign labor, especially the illegal variety, is preferred because employers know it serves to hold down labor costs," said Gorak, whose group is based in La Valle, Wis. "Without this plentiful source of workers, these employers would be forced to make a greater effort to recruit Americans and raise wages."

To be sure, there are areas of Chicago with high rates of unemployment and the city talks often about a crisis of youth joblessness that plagues parts of the South and West sides.

But while there are pipeline programs to help employ people with barriers, such as criminal records or bouts with homelessness, report author McElmurry said they have found "varying rates of success."

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"A lot of employers have told me the most consistent source of workers has been immigrant labor," she said.

Immigration is particularly important to the Midwest, where the population is not only aging into retirement but also growing more slowly than the rest of the nation and losing people of prime working age, McElmurry said.

The industry also has felt squeezed as teens and young adults who used to take entry-level hospitality jobs prioritize other activities, like internships or summer school, and gravitate toward jobs that give them benefits and holidays off, her report said.

Teens made up 17.4 percent of the restaurant workforce in 2016, up from 16 percent in 2010 but still down from 21 percent in 2007, according to the National Restaurant Association.

Low pay and physically demanding work also make it difficult to fill certain jobs with U.S.-born workers who have other options. In the Chicago metro area, the mean wage for housekeepers is $12.81 an hour, or $26,650 a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For dishwashers, the mean wage in the area is $10.88, or $22,620 a year.

Mario Garcia, who until last year worked as a weekend manager at a suburban Best Western, said nearly all of the workers he hired at the hotel were immigrants because they accepted low pay for difficult jobs without complaint. Most earned minimum wage, which in Illinois currently is $8.25 an hour.

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Americans who applied usually were hired to work the front desk, where their language skills were most useful. They didn't want the physically punishing jobs like housekeeping once they learned the wage, he said.

Hiring immigrants became "a cycle," he said, because it was easier for the Spanish-speaking supervisors to train new workers in their language. Sometimes it was positive, because they could communicate with international guests. But the language barrier also prevented some workers from advocating for themselves, such as when years went by without a raise, he said.

While critical to the industry, immigrant workers are vulnerable to exploitation, Garcia said. They work hard without complaint for fear of a reduction in their hours or of being replaced by another willing applicant.

Garcia said he didn't think the hotel wanted to make wages more appealing because it counted on saving money on its workforce so it could invest in hotel renovations.

McElmurry said the industry needs to take a holistic approach to its labor challenges and address low wages, demanding or unsafe working conditions and high worker turnover in addition to immigration reform.

The report offers several policy recommendations to benefit workers and employers, including streamlining the tangle of worker visas that allow people to work in the U.S. seasonally or temporarily if they are transferred from abroad or are in training.

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Other recommendations include providing a pathway for immigrants in the U.S. illegally to become legal and, subsequently, a mandatory system for employers to verify the legal status of their new hires.

The report also recommends Congress create a permanent visa channel for foreign-born entrepreneurs, who drive many dining innovations.

Despite the federal gridlock over immigration, Illinois and Chicago were highlighted for creating environments where immigrants can flourish.

In Chicago, the $30 million Hatchery incubator for food and beverage entrepreneurs is being built in collaboration in part with Accion Chicago, which serves immigrants. The city also partnered with area universities to launch a Global Entrepreneurship in Residence Program to sponsor entrepreneurs with H-1B visas, and it is creating municipal identification cards for people living here illegally.

Illinois, meanwhile, is the only state in the Midwest that extends driving privileges to immigrants in the U.S. illegally, helping them get to work. And Gov. Bruce Rauner has said he plans to sign the Trust Act, which would prohibit state and local police from arresting or detaining people solely because of their immigration status.

Sam Toia, president and CEO of the Illinois Restaurant Association, said in an emailed statement that the report "definitely drives the conversation forward with pragmatic immigration reform policy recommendations that will help the Midwest's hospitality industries thrive."

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aelejalderuiz@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @alexiaer
A lawsuit aimed at stopping Zillow from estimating home values on the popular website has been dismissed by U.S. District Court Judge Amy St. Eve.

The suit had claimed that Zillow acts like an appraiser because it lists what it calls Zestimates of homes that are for sale in the Chicago area and around the country. Zestimates place a market value on homes that are for sale. The plaintiffs in the suit claimed that those estimates injured them as they tried to sell homes because Zillow gave their properties lower values than the asking price.

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For example, plaintiff Vipul Patel claimed in the suit filed in May that his Schaumburg property was on the market for $1.495 million, yet the Zestimate was just $1,068,677.

Glenview attorney Barbara Andersen had argued in the case that the practice of listing values without being a licensed appraiser was fraudulent and that Zillow's estimates confuse people. Representing home seller Patel and three other property owners, she had hoped to have the case declared a class action on behalf of all owners of Chicago real estate listed on Zillow.

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Andersen could not be reached for comment after the judge's decision to dismiss the case.

In Illinois, appraisers must be licensed. Zillow, however, had claimed that its website makes it clear that it is not providing appraisals, Rather, Zillow said, the automated system is simply providing an estimate based on property records such as sale prices, home characteristics and home price appreciation in the area. The word Zestimate, itself, conveys that the values are merely estimates, Zillow said.

Zillow noted in court documents that the median error rate of home values is 5.6 percent and 3.6 percent in the Chicago area.

In the court order, St. Eve disagreed that the Zestimates were confusing and accepted Zillow's argument that they are a starting point in determining a home's value.

gmarksjarvis@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @gailmarksjarvis
Javier Ramos, right, helps a man sign up for the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, in Chicago on March 30, 2014. In the face of proposed double-digit rate increases for Obamacare insurance in 2018, consumer advocates and lawmakers are pressuring Illinois regulators to do more to protect consumers. (Scott Strazzante / Chicago Tribune)

In the face of proposed double-digit rate increases for Obamacare insurance next year, consumer advocates and lawmakers are pressuring Illinois regulators to do more to protect consumers.

Representatives of more than half a dozen Illinois consumer advocacy groups wrote a letter to the head of the Illinois Department of Insurance earlier this month urging the state to take action. Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth wrote a similar letter to the same official.

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The department confirmed Wednesday that it has already taken action on at least one of those requests to try to hold down costs for consumers and make rate-setting more transparent  but not all of them.

Average proposed rate increases in Illinois, released Aug. 1, ranged from 5 percent to 43 percent for plans on the Obamacare exchange next year. A number of insurers in Illinois have cited ongoing uncertainty coming out of Washington, D.C., as a reason for those jumps.

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Much of the uncertainty for insurers revolves around whether they will continue receiving federal subsidies, known as cost-sharing reduction payments. Those subsidies help insurers offset the expenses of reducing deductible and copay costs for lower-income consumers.

The federal government, however, does not necessarily have to continue making those payments to insurers, following a federal court decision. And President Donald Trump has threatened to end the subsidies, calling them "bailouts" for insurance companies.

To help soften the blow of potential rate hikes, the state has advised insurers to load into silver-level plans the potential costs of not getting subsidies.

That move could help consumers who buy insurance on the exchange by increasing the amounts of the tax credits they get. That's because the tax credit levels rise based on the price of the second-lowest-cost silver plan, said Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at Georgetown University's Center on Health Insurance Reforms. It could also spare consumers who don't get tax credits from subsidy-related price increases if they buy bronze or gold-level plans on the marketplace, she said.

Advocates and legislators have also requested the department take a number of other actions to improve transparency when it comes to the rates and shield consumers from increases.

"We were extremely alarmed by the proposed increases," according to a letter from groups including EverThrive Illinois, the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois and the Heartland Alliance, among others.

The letters ask the department to follow the lead of other states and require insurers to submit two sets of proposed rates for next year  one assuming the federal subsidies for insurers continue and one assuming they don't.

"It's the Department of Insurance's role as the state regulator to protect and do business in the best interests of Illinois consumers," said Stephani Becker, a senior policy specialist at the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, one of the groups behind the requests. "It's their job to reach back out to insurers and ask them to refile these rates in a way that (shows) what the harm might be to consumers with and without the (subsidy) payments."

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But Department of Insurance spokesman Michael Batkins said in an email that the department has "consistently only allowed companies to submit one set of rates for Marketplace plans." He noted that, as in years past, insurers can still submit revised rates for a time.

Department Director Jennifer Hammer said in a statement, "(The Department of Insurance) is committed to protecting consumers from higher health insurance costs due to uncertainty in Washington."

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois spokeswoman Colleen Miller didn't say whether the insurer plans to submit revised rates, but she said in a statement it's concerned by the uncertainty surrounding the subsidies. Blue Cross supports the new September deadline to resubmit rates  recently extended by the federal government  but it would need certainty about the subsidies by Aug. 31 to meet that deadline, she said.

A representative of Health Alliance Medical Plans said the insurer is "evaluating" recent changes to the deadlines for submitting revised rates. A spokesman for Cigna did not respond to questions by deadline.

A number of other states, including New Mexico, Michigan and California, have allowed insurers to submit two sets of rates, said Georgetown's Corlette.

Corlette said requiring two sets of rates can be time-consuming both for insurers that have to file them and regulators who have to review them. She said regulators, across states, are trying to decide how to handle the uncertainty.

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"I think many of us had hoped there would be some certainty about whether the (subsidies) would be funded by now, by late August, but unfortunately, there's not, so that's putting a lot of state departments of insurance into uncomfortable positions," Corlette said.

The advocates have also asked the department to require insurers to offer silver plans outside the exchange that don't include the costs of not getting the subsidies. Such a requirement would allow Illinois consumers who aren't eligible for tax credits to buy cheaper plans outside the exchange. Batkins did not comment on whether the department plans to impose that kind of a requirement.

He also did not respond to a request for comment by deadline Thursday on when the department advised insurers to load the potential costs of not getting subsidies into their silver plans or whether the department did so in response to the requests from consumer advocates and lawmakers.

Most Illinois residents get health insurance through employers or government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, but this year, more than 350,000 Illinois residents enrolled in plans purchased through the exchange.

lschencker@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @lschencker
Gov. Steve Bullock has appointed four new members to the Montana State Parks and Recreation Board, terminating its current chairman but keeping one member, about a week after the groups meeting in Billings was abruptly canceled.

In addition, Bullock has issued a directive to the new director of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Martha Williams, to create an advisory board to help the parks board build and implement a new vision for parks, as outlined in its 2020 strategic plan.

Our state parks are one of the many ways we access public lands, and a vibrant state parks system is an important part of our heritage and our economy, Bullock said in a press release.

The board was created by the Legislature in 2013. All five of the board members were appointed by the governor.

Not going

Three of the parks board members terms had expired, including Livingston resident Jeff Welch, who will be the only original member of the group to stay on. Board member Mary Sexton, who was recently appointed chair of the executive board for Montana Democrats, was asked to resign with two years left in her term. Sexton said she respects the governors decision to move forward with a new group.

I think weve accomplished a good deal, but theres more to be done, she said.

Board member Diane Conradi, of Whitefish, had served the length of her term, so she was happy to step aside.

With new leadership it makes sense to pass the torch, she said.

Board chairman Tom Towe, of Billings, did not step down at the governors request, and his board service was terminated by the governor. Towe, an attorney, said the law is clear that he cant be terminated without cause and a formal hearing. Now hes mulling his next move.

I think its a mistake, a serious mistake, Towe said.

He and Sexton met with Bullock last Friday, Towe said, at which time he emphasized to the governor that he thought continuity was important and politically ousting most of the original parks board was unwise.

The thing that came out when we talked to the governor  which came out loud and clear  they think they have grounds because I didnt agree with the governor on House Bill 324, Towe said. I did support it.

But Towe qualified that when he went before the Legislature he spoke as an informational witness only.

I guess he didnt like what I had to say, Towe said.

Bill dispute

Earlier this year Montana State Parks came under the scrutiny of the Legislature via HB324 introduced by Rep. Bradley Hamlett, D-Cascade. The bill would have allowed the board to appoint its own director as a move toward greater autonomy from the fish and wildlife side of the agency. Parks would have stayed with FWP, but only for administrative reasons.

The Legislature also zeroed out the budget for Montana State Parks, meaning the agency had to justify all of its expenses. During the Legislature, Bozeman Sen. Mike Phillips called the zero-based budgeting a big shot across the bow of FWP. But he opposed Hamletts bill saying it went too far and that FWPs new director should be given a chance.

Bullock vetoed HB324 after it passed the Legislature, much to Hamletts displeasure.

So the executive branch has decided to completely change the board, which I think is vindictive, Hamlett said.

"We had a board that was dedicated and wanted to do their job and weren't allowed to."

Ronja Abel, the governors communications director, said the move by her boss to appoint new board members was not a response to Hamletts bill and the legislative discussion that surrounded the measure. But she did say the issue certainly led to a new urgency to reform the parks board.

Money issues

Just before the Legislature met, FWP chief of staff Paul Sihler  who was serving as acting FWP director after Jeff Hagener retired  authored a memo that said parks administrator Chas Van Genderen had been removed over a personnel issue. With no FWP director and no parks administrator, the parks department went into the legislative session with little representation, Towe and Conradi said. That was a problem when parks went to the Legislature and asked for money to fund a backlog of maintenance needs. Then Towe said FWP suddenly came forward and advised us we had a $11.5 million ending fund balance. That torpedoed us.

Towe said that was a surprise because several times before the legislative session the parks board had requested money for projects that were turned down by FWP. The money became fair game at the Legislature, with dollars going to things the park board wouldnt have authorized, such as repair work on the county road to Hell Creek State Park in Eastern Montana.

So the department created the problem and they dont want us to fix it, Towe said. Thats no reason to take it out on us.

Its not a good day for parks.
Jennifer Welch applied to be president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois before Donald Trump won the presidential election, a victory that has ushered in a new wave of challenges for the organization. But the turn of events didnt give Welch pause when it came to starting her new job in May. I never swayed from wanting to return to Planned Parenthood, said Welch. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

Jennifer Welch applied to be president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois before Donald Trump won the presidential election, a victory that has ushered in a new wave of challenges for the organization.

But the turn of events didn't give Welch pause when it came to starting her new job in May. "I never swayed from wanting to return to Planned Parenthood," said Welch, 49, a lifelong Chicago-area resident who is also now head of Planned Parenthood Illinois Action, the organization's advocacy and political arm.

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She takes over at a tricky time for Planned Parenthood of Illinois, which has 16 health centers providing reproductive health care services across the state. Congress has already attempted to defund the organization a number of times, and many wonder whether Trump might be able to appoint enough conservative Supreme Court justices to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that legalized abortion across the U.S.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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Q: Why did you want to lead Planned Parenthood of Illinois?

A: I worked at Planned Parenthood of Illinois 20-something years ago. I interned at Planned Parenthood and then worked as a health care assistant.

In between, I went to law school and ran a domestic violence policy organization here in Chicago for almost 10 years. I've worked for Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, and then I worked for the city of Chicago as well.

My whole history has been working on women's issues and social impact, and that's part of the reason why coming back to Planned Parenthood is such a wonderful opportunity for me. It's a sort of a culmination of my whole career.

Q: Why now, especially given all the debate over Planned Parenthood funding?

A: It's an additional challenge because the administration is targeting Planned Parenthood and our patients who come here, so for me this job is an opportunity to serve the 65,000 patients who come to Planned Parenthood (of Illinois) but also to help protect access for everyone in Illinois.

Q: How do you do that in this climate?

A: Right now Planned Parenthood of Illinois' biggest initiative is HB40, which is a bill that has passed both the House and the Senate and it (removes) a dangerous trigger provision that we have currently in Illinois law. That means that even if Roe v. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court, abortion would still be safe and legal here in Illinois. It also removes the discriminatory provision that right now in Illinois law blocks people who have state Medicaid or state employee health insurance from using that insurance to get abortion care. We hope the governor keeps his campaign promise to protect reproductive rights and signs that bill.

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Q: Gov. Bruce Rauner has said he supports the part of the bill that aims to keep abortion legal in Illinois even if Roe v. Wade is overturned, but he's said he doesn't support the part that would expand taxpayer-funded abortion coverage. How would it affect Planned Parenthood of Illinois if he vetoes all or part of the bill?

A: We hope the governor won't veto the bill at all, but if he does an amendatory veto where he separates the two provisions, I understand from what I have heard, that the sponsor would not accept that, and Planned Parenthood supports (the sponsor). We want access for all women in Illinois. We don't want to leave our patients who are either covered under Illinois Medicaid or covered by state employee health insurance behind.

Jennifer Welch, shown at Planned Parenthoods offices in Chicago, became president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois in May 2017. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune )

Q: Recent bills to replace the Affordable Care Act would have stopped federal funding for Planned Parenthood for a year. How would that affect Planned Parenthood of Illinois?

A: Planned Parenthood services would remain available, but it would be those most vulnerable patients who wouldn't get the care that they need. It's a long list of health care services that those patients who were under (Medicaid) would not be able to get at Planned Parenthood.

Sometimes people wonder if private donations can make up the difference. There's no question that our supporters have come out like never before. We have many donors and an increase in donors, but private funding can never replace government-subsidized care. It's just not possible. And it's also not appropriate. Politicians don't think any other preventative care should be paid for with private donations.

Our services would remain available, and we would do everything we could to serve as many of our patients as possible, and ultimately if we couldn't serve patients, we would help them find other providers who might. It's really important for politicians to be honest that there aren't other options in many communities.

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Q: Some of those who want to pull Planned Parenthood's funding argue that even though the money doesn't directly support abortions, it's fungible. They say any money sent to Planned Parenthood is supporting an organization that performs abortions. How do you respond?

A: Federal funds don't pay for abortion. They haven't in many, many years. But  Planned Parenthood is unapologetic about providing the care that our patients need, so abortion services are part of the comprehensive reproductive health care services that we offer and we're going to continue to do that.

Q: You saw a big increase in demand for birth control shortly after the election. Has that continued?

A: Absolutely. We've seen an increase in all forms of services, including people who are coming to us for those long-acting reversible contraceptives because people want to know that they can have their care taken care of through the duration of this administration.

Q: What do you think is the biggest misconception about Planned Parenthood of Illinois?

A: The biggest misunderstanding is there's a line item in the budget for Planned Parenthood or that the federal government writes us a check. The reality is we are like every other health care provider. We get reimbursed for the care we provide.

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lschencker@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @lschencker
The Skokie Police Department in recent years has welcomed more young police officers to the force as older personnel have retired. Janely Herrera is in her second year as a Skokie police officer, commuting from Westchester every day for her job, she says.

Q: Where did you grow up?

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A: I grew up in the city of Chicago in Rogers Park.

Q: Pets?

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A: I don't have pets now. I used to have a Teacup Yorkie named Mocha after my favorite coffee.

Q: What book are you currently reading and what book would you like to read next?

A: I'm not reading a specific book right now. I'm just catching up on (work). There's a lot of books I'd like to read.

Q: First job?

A: My first job was with a cell phone company. I was a sales rep for U.S. Cellular. I like this better. We all have to start somewhere.

Q: As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A: I always wanted to be a police officer for multiple reasons. I grew up in the city and in that area, police are not deemed as a friend and they're seen as the enemy. So people were not comfortable coming to police. It was quite the opposite. I wanted too change that.

Q: Favorite charity?

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A: My niece wears prescription sunglasses and a lot of time they go to Sunglass Hut and they have some kind of charity there where spare change is rounded up and goes to helping people in need. (Onesight). I think it's a great charity program.

Q: Words of wisdom?

A: Set no limits, set no barriers for yourself.

Q: Favorite local restaurant?

A: It's between Dengeos and Grecian Kitchen, those are the top two.

Q: What is an interesting factoid about yourself?

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A: I do Krav Maga martial arts. It's a more realistic reality-based training that helps you on the streets. If somebody comes and attacks you from the front, you're more prepared. It's very popular  especially among law enforcement officers because you actually get to practice a lot of take-down techniques you could come across on the job.
Sumi Robata Bar will close after four years on Wells Street because "it's just not sustainable for the restaurant to continue on," says chef/partner Gene Kato. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)

Sumi Robata Bar, the Jean Banchet Award winner for Best Neighborhood Restaurant (and part of my "Phil's 50" list of great Chicago restaurants), will close on Monday.

Chef/partner Gene Kato and partner Victoria Rojas announced the closing of the four-year-old restaurant in a video posted on Facebook.

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"It was a very difficult decision to make," Kato said in the video. "But for many different reasons, some uncontrollable, it's just not sustainable for the restaurant to continue on."

Rojas confirmed that the closing was a business decision, but did not elaborate.

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Kato, a semifinalist for this year's James Beard Foundation Best Chef: Great Lakes award, expressed gratitude for the support he received from within the industry, and from his loyal guests.

"Sumi became what it is because of you guys," he said. "We're grateful to each and every one of you."

Rojas said that she and Kato are "assessing new opportunities," and would not rule out the possibility of re-opening Sumi elsewhere.

Rojas thanked "everyone from around the world for all your support," adding "we have extremely grateful hearts."

702 N. Wells St.

Phil Vettel is a Tribune critic
Love is patient, sure, but the real struggle seems to be in making a reality show about finding love.

"Love Blows," a new series that follows the drama of a Chicago-area family's matchmaking service, is scheduled to premiere Friday on WE tv after years of development. The first episode is set to air at 9 p.m. as part of a "Million Dollar Matchmaker" block and re-air at 11:05 p.m.

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The Bravo network announced in 2014 it was developing "Family Love," a project about a unconventional family "that uses everyone's unique skills to set up the hottest singles in Chicago." The project didn't air on Bravo, and one of its executive producers, "The Millionaire Matchmaker" star Patti Stanger, left the network in 2015 and joined WE tv.

In August 2016, WE tv announced it ordered the documentary series "Love Inc.," which follows the "hilariously combative family while they help real people find true love in the Windy City."

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"It's going to be good, it's going to be funny, it's going to be entertaining," star Lisa Galos told the Tribune at the time.

Galos, who said she has been in the matchmaking business since 1983, runs LuvBizChicago with her ex-husband Jim Antonsen. Their two children and Antonsen's former mistress also work for the company.

The six-episode series filmed in summer 2016, though the premiere may seem a bit dated. The episode follows the LuvBiz team as it tries to land client Aaron Sims, who is deemed one of Chicago's most eligible singles in an issue of Chicago magazine from summer 2012.

"Who am I to argue with why they want me to be their client?" Sims told the Tribune when asked about the four-year delay between the issue's release and the show filming. (He said Wednesday that he is single.)

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 14 Suburban firefighter/paramedic Jimmy Brereton, 34, "understands the type of commitment that is required for a successful marriage and admits he misses that connection and sharing his life with a wife," according his cast biography. (Kinetic Content)

Last week, other notable singles, including "Bachelor in Paradise" cast members Iggy Rodriguez and Kenneth "Diggy" Moreland gathered at the Flamingo Rum Club in River North to fete the new series with the cast and Stanger, an executive producer who appears on the show.

"Love Blows" adds to a banner year for Chicago's lovelorn on the small screen. Season 5 of "Married at First Sight" recently documented the first few weeks of marriage for three local couples who met at the altar at the Palmer House Hilton.

"The Spouse House," which airs at 9 p.m. Sundays on the TLC network, follows the drama of Chicago-area singles searching for a spouse at a mansion in the Los Angeles area. And "First Dates," which aired in the spring on NBC, chronicled first dates that took place in July 2015 at the now-closed MK restaurant on the Near North Side.

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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox)
Tinsley Mortimer appears on "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen" on July 26. (Charles Sykes / Bravo)

"The Real Housewives of New York City" star Tinsley Mortimer is working as an account manager at CouponCabin while she dates the Chicago-area company's CEO Scott Kluth.

Mortimer, 42, discussed her six-month relationship with Kluth on Wednesday's "Real Housewives" Season 9 reunion. She said Kluth plans to relocate from Chicago to New York in the fall so they can move in together. The couple attended Lollapalooza earlier this month.

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Kluth founded CouponCabin, an online coupon resource, in 2003. Mortimer and her "Real Housewives" co-star Carole Radziwill, who set Mortimer up with Kluth on a blind date that was shown on the series, have starred in CouponCabin commercials.

The conclusion to the "Real Housewives" reunion is scheduled to air at 7 p.m. Wednesday on Bravo.

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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox)
Richard Pryor in "Blue Collar," a 1978 film that was not a comedy. The movie is playing at the Noir City film festival at the Music Box Theatre. (Universal Pictures)

The Noir City film festival, which returns this week to the Music Box, is doing something a little different this year. The schedule includes some usual suspects  "High Sierra" (1941) and "The Asphalt Jungle" (1950) among them  but also a slate of films from the 1970s that are nowhere near what we typically think of as classic noir.

Eddie Muller, who is both a programmer and host of the fest, told me he wanted to test some boundaries. "One of the things that always fascinates me about noir in general is the eagerness with which people want to debate whether something is or isn't noir. So I thought I would just dive right into that and extend beyond the classic era."

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Take 1978's "Blue Collar," which screens Sunday, starring Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel and Yaphet Kotto as a trio of Detroit auto workers getting squeezed by management on one side and their union on the other. It looks nothing like noir at first glance.

First of all, it's in color. The soundtrack is blues (notably, the pounding rhythms of Captain Beefheart's "Hard Workin' Man"). And rather than highly stylized cinematography, the approach is slice-of-life  capturing the greasy, sweaty factory floor as well as the bar across from the plant where they go to blow off steam and hatch their plan to rob the safe at union headquarters.

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It is the themes in this movie (and other heist films in the lineup including "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" and "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot," both from 1974) that are pure noir. "I'm prepared," Muller said, "for people to come up and say, 'What are you doing, this isn't noir! Go back to the guys in the fedoras, we want more Robert Mitchum and Humphrey Bogart.' Which is fine, I love that stuff. But to me noir is more than that."

Don't let Pryor's name in the credits fool you. It's not a comedy. Not by a long shot, even if it was marketed that way when it opened in theaters.

The movie (which was "Taxi Driver" screenwriter Paul Schrader's directorial debut) begins as a study in male camaraderie amid crushing economic straits  it's genuinely fun in the early going, even as we see the weight bearing down on these guys  only to become something much darker when they turn on one another.

Even in a dramatic role Pryor brings something so recognizably him to the character. Loose-limbed. Quick-witted. A man who grabs your attention. At a union meeting, he stands up to complain about a broken locker in the break room. It sounds like a minor issue until he explains why it isn't. He has to stick his finger in the little hole to open it because the lock is broken. The metal is sharp and he keeps cutting his finger  and it still hasn't healed.

The union rep tries to talk him down, and Pryor just scoffs: "That's all you talk about, is the plant. Everybody knows what the plant is  the plant's just short for plantation."

Great as "Blue Collar" is  and it is truly a great film  why didn't it achieve the same kind of pop culture cachet as "Taxi Driver"? Per Muller, "There were critics at the time it came out who equated 'Blue Collar' with 'The Grapes of Wrath.' But the answer to your question, and I don't think there's any other way to phrase it: It was marketed as a Richard Pryor movie, don't take it too seriously."

Everything I've read about the film mentions the threat of violence on-set, which Muller confirmed. "I think Richard Pryor being high virtually the entire time he was making the movie had a lot to do with it. I know that Pryor pulled a gun on Schrader and told him, 'I'm not going to do any more than three takes on a scene and if you make me do a fourth I'll kill you.' That's going to create tension on the set. To this day, if you bring up Richard Pryor's name around Harvey Keitel, it's like lighting a stick of dynamite. They really didn't get along, and I don't think Yaphet Kotto liked Pryor either."

Kotto brushed it off when asked about it in a 1978 interview with Roger Ebert, but he did offer a different explanation for the on-set tension: "I would know my lines," he said, "and then Pryor would come in with brand new lines out of his own head, man, and what are the rest of us supposed to do? I had to figure out my relationship with him in terms of the fact that the movie is about two black guys and one white guy. Pryor was playing an ethnic character  he was the black in the movie  so you know what I did? I played an Italian. Right! An Italian in black skin  you won't find one so-called back mannerism or colloquialism in my entire performance."

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"Taxi Driver" isn't in the fest lineup, but Muller called it "the '70s noir film. All the postwar noir movies of the 1940s centered on the plight of the returning veteran and his problems reintegrating into American society  and I mean, what is 'Taxi Driver' about if not that?

"What's interesting," he added, "is that I don't think of Paul Schrader as being very political. If anything, he has a very existential perspective on loners under pressure. That's what his thing is. 'Blue Collar' is different, and I think what he saw was the dramatic potential of a story about three mismatched guys who decide to pull off a job like this and they get screwed every which way  which is a very noir story to me."

I'll leave you with this monologue that Pryor delivers to Keitel once their bond has begun to fray. It's a conversation that you can imagine happening verbatim nearly 40 years after the movie came out. Keitel has just accused Pryor of selling out. You're my friend, Pryor responds, but you're thinking white.

"It means that you've got more chances than I've got," he says. "And you're always going to have more chances than me." He minces no words: "I'm black  the police ain't gonna protect me."

Noir City runs Friday through Aug. 31 at the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave. Go to www.musicboxtheatre.com.

nmetz@chicagotribune.com

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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox)
On Monday, even as the fatally fractured political universe was poised to tremor once again, the moon passed before the sun and a Chicago meteorologist cried viral tears.

Strange times, these.

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Any critic with a heart  a meaningful subset  could understand why Tom Skilling of WGN was visibly verklempt at the total eclipse of sun and, in his case, heart.

This was no partly cloudy day, no quotidian stretch of our tawdry mutual existence on this planet that evidenced a 50 percent chance of rain.

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This was "Hamilton."

A meal at Alinea, the post-meal reverie unsullied by a check.

Frank Gehry's Bilbao Guggenheim.

Tony Bennett still hitting the perfect note.

Nureyev at 25.

Aretha Franklin triumphing over any age.

Skilling is a man of singular passion  the weather  and he had just seen the purest manifestation of its raw power, its abiding beauty, its comforting immutability. And unlike so many of us, especially those of us who are politicians, Skilling has both open access to his emotions and an ironclad reputation for honesty and authenticity.

Meteorologists are not normally thought of as critics. But that is exactly what they are. Granted, they have an enviable advantage. When the weather is criticized  even with such cruel adjectives as hideous or frightful or godawful  it doesn't head to Facebook to complain. It just takes the criticism on the chin, buckles back down and does pretty much the same thing the next day.

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Or not. As it chooses.

There's no evidence it reads reviews.

Even less that it cares.

But that does not faze meteorologists, who keep on reviewing it just the same. Like all critics, they dive into its structural composition, its modes of presentation, its origins.

They search for patterns across time, for furtive glimpses of what the future may hold. Flip channels and you can see that verdicts and judgments may vary slightly. But these are weather professionals: A beautiful day is a beautiful day. A perfect storm speaks for itself.

As with all critics, the best meteorological ones are optimists with insatiable curiosities. They wonder about the structural influences; they worry about how their diverse readers and watchers will be variously affected; they try to stay positive in the face of the unceasingly grim and, especially if they move to Arizona, they learn to never, never, never show their boredom with incessant repetition, the same weak disturbances day after day after day.

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But when a great creative leap is taken, when a day is like no other (almost), when the sublime is manifest, when the resistant moon is emboldened to march right out there in front of the showy orange sun that takes all the focus and the rave reviews, the consequences be damned, and when you're right there watching it succeed.

Suddenly, the life of the meteorologist seems to have meaning. All those party cloudy memories fade to black and, yes, tears can flow. Reviewing "Look Back in Anger" (and don't we all?), the great critic Kenneth Tynan famously said in 1956 that he doubted he could ever love anybody who did not love the play that had so consumed his affections. The ultimate compliment.

Surely Skilling would say the same about the great eclipse of 2017. It was writ large on his lovable face.

Crying, though, is a tricky thing for critics. The next time Skilling sniffles on camera, fewer columns will be written. If a third time comes too quickly, Twitter feeds will not dampen except with charges of emotional manipulation. Yet another time and it will be said that the once-discerning Skilling, a man who saved and then unleashed it all for a total eclipse, has gone soft, ready to cry a river for just an ordinary sunny day. Not unlike our yesterdays. Or our tomorrows.

In 1983, former Tribune critic Richard Christiansen wrote in a review of the actor William L. Petersen, appearing in "In the Belly of the Beast" at the former Wisdom Bridge Theater, that he had pulled his car over to the side of the street so he could "clear the tears" from his eyes.

Christiansen did not pull over twice.

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Skilling has not survived this long without understanding that peril. He knows that an eclipse, and how it makes him feel, is a event defined by its rarity.

The long-running performance that makes us all care about a meteorologist and his tears happens every day.

Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.

cjones5@chicagotribune.com

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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 126 Woody introduces the gang to a homemade spork toy with self-esteem issues in "Toy Story 4." Read the review. (Pixar / AP)
Francisca Lino took sanctuary in a church in the Humboldt Park neighborhood in order to continue fighting deportation. (Laura Rodriguez)

Francisca Lino, 50, has been fighting deportation for almost as long as her children have been alive. Last night, the mother of six five of them U.S-born children took sanctuary in a Chicago church to avoid deportation and continue fighting to remain in this country.

Lino says that she is "defying the law" because she wants to demonstrate that she is not a criminal, adding that the suffering that her family is going through is "the face of the unjust deportations under president Donald J. Trump."

This morning , her lawyer, Chris Bergin, notified the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement office (ICE), that Lino was not going to attend the meeting scheduled for today, and that instead, she was to take refuge at the Adalberto United Methodist Church, located at 2716 W. Division, the same church where activist Elvira Arellano took sanctuary in 2006.

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In her last meeting with ICE on July 11, she presented her plane ticket and was scheduled to leave the country on August 25th.

In a press conference, Bergin said that he will work to do "everything legally possible" to help Lino stay in the country.

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"My children need me here, so I decided to defy the authorities and disobey my family to seek refuge in my church," Lino said.

The mother added that her family was not supportive of her decision to take sanctuary because "the process of fighting deportation has already been too long and exhausting."

Lino has no criminal record and has lived and worked in this country for 18 years, her lawyer said. She is married to Diego Lino, a US citizen.

She was arrested while crossing the border in 1999 and deported back to Mexico. The mother crossed the border once again and settled in Chicago, where she married her husband in 2001.

During the process of applying for legal residency through her spouse, Lino was arrested in 2005 because her application withheld her initial arrest at the border, Bergin explained.

Since then, Lino met annually with ICE agents for a check-in.

It was not the first time that Immigration officers have ordered Lino to pack her bags and buy a plane ticket. On two previous occasions, Lino, with the help of her lawyer and her church, community submitted deportation deferrals.

16 year-old Britzy Lino explained her mother's deportation have caused her fear and pain. She suffered a panic attack outside of the ICE offices in March, when her family received the news, and is in therapy for depression. But Britzy also said that the circumstances have brought her family together. Her mother is afraid, but she's not going to give up without a fight.

"I'm going to keep fighting to the end and I'm not going to accept defeat," the mother said. "I'm going to fight until the last moment so that I can stay with my family."

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When my youngest child was born in 2005, the flip phone was still the coolest piece of tech you could get. Now I'm told that all three of my children are part of what demographers are calling iGen.

I spent my career at Microsoft trying to imagine what technology could do, and still I wasn't prepared for smartphones and social media. Like many parents with children my kids' age, I didn't understand how they would transform the way my kids grew up - and the way I wanted to parent. I'm still trying to catch up.

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The pace of change is what amazes me the most. The challenges my younger daughter will be facing when she starts high school in the fall are light-years away from what my elder daughter, who's now in college, experienced in 2010. My younger daughter's friends live a lot of their lives through filters on Instagram and Snapchat, two apps that didn't even exist when my elder daughter was dipping a toe in social media.

But I am optimistic about what smartphones and social media can do for people. I am thrilled to see kids learning on smartphones, doctors using apps to diagnose diseases and marginalized groups such as gay and lesbian students finding support they never had before through social networks.

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Still, as a mother who wants to make sure her children are safe and happy, I worry. And I think back to how I might have done things differently. Parents should decide for themselves what works for their family, but I probably would have waited longer before putting a computer in my daughters' pockets. Phones and apps aren't good or bad by themselves, but for adolescents who don't yet have the emotional tools to navigate life's complications and confusions, they can exacerbate the difficulties of growing up: learning how to be kind, coping with feelings of exclusion, taking advantage of freedom while exercising self-control. It's more important than ever to teach empathy from the very beginning, because our kids are going to need it.

For other parents trying to decide how to do their job in a way that feels right despite the bewildering array of changes brought on by smartphones and social media, I want to share some of the resources that have helped me and my friends. Hopefully, these tips can spark conversation and help parents become resources for each other.

Learn about the issue: This month, the Atlantic ran a long story called "Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?" The headline is a little dire, but then again, so is what's reported in the article. It makes a strong case linking smartphones and social media to emotional distress. For example, eighth-graders who use social media more than 10 hours a week are 56 percent more likely to say they're unhappy than peers who use it less. A lot of the same issues are raised in the documentary Screenagers, whose producers encourage community groups to host screenings. Many parents have told me they like the film because it provides plenty of practical tips.

Unplug: One of my favorite things you can do is plan a "device-free dinner." It's not complicated. It's exactly what it says: an hour around a table without anything that has an on or off switch. Common Sense Media has provided great resources and is turning this simple concept into a movement. We don't allow cellphones at the dinner table, and in my experience, they're right when they promise "amazing conversation."

Have tough conversations: One of the things that's likely to come up in conversation with your kids is the Netflix show "13 Reasons Why." The hype may have subsided a little bit since the beginning of the summer, but it's still a hot topic. Every parent has to decide for themselves whether they will let their children watch and, if so, under what conditions. There are some excellent resources from the Jed Foundation to help you make these decisions and talk with your kids about the show, suicide, and what to do if they need help. And I always make sure to tell people about Crisis Text Line, an amazing crisis counseling service that provides free, 24/7 support and resources via text message.

Advocate for your kids: With my oldest daughter in college and my son entering his last year of high school, I've started thinking about how smartphones and social media change the dynamics of college campuses. Many colleges simply don't have the resources available to cope with the mental health needs of their students. Find out more so that you can make sure your kids have the support they need.

Make a plan: Lastly, I highly encourage you to try out the American Academy of Pediatrics' Family Media Plan. This site walks you step-by-step through a process of being intentional about how your family consumes media. The great thing is that it's not one size fits all. It helps you build a unique plan for your family.

The Internet is a wonderful thing. It gives kids the freedom to move around in a big world, to experiment, to connect with others. As a parent, though, I know that I am responsible for making sure that my kids are ready for all that freedom - and that they know how to keep themselves safe. Here's to staying on top of all the changes social media is bringing to our kids' lives, so that we can continue to guide and support them in this fast-changing world.

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Melinda Gates is a businesswoman and philanthropist. She is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. You can find her on Facebook @Melinda Gates, Twitter @melindagates and Instagram @melindafrenchgates.






New principal Joe Halligan has put a lot of thought into the name on the front of Billings' newest middle school this summer.

How to best make the legacy of Ben Steele part of the school? Steele grew up on a ranch near Billings, survived the Bataan Death March and went on to become a beloved artist and educator.

During a ceremony celebrating the school's opening Thursday morning, Steele's widow, Shirley Steele, may have offered a distillation of Steele's remarkable life experience.

She recalled how her husband began drawing in a prison cell during World War II, despite having no formal training, only a longtime passion for art that proved unbreakable.

"What made him take charcoal out of the fire?" she said.

The hundreds of students gathered outside the school Thursday were more worried about navigating a large school and dealing with lockers than emulating a war hero. But Halligan led them in a first step, a simple cheer to use throughout the year.

"We are," Halligan said.

"Like Steele," students responded.

Steele lived to see work begin on the school last year but died in September.

"This is a fantastic school," Shirley Steele said. "I've been so privileged, our family, to see it develop. I'm proud of the people of Billings for voting for the levy for both schools."

Ben Steele Middle School is the capstone project of a $122 million bond passed in 2013 to build the new West End school and Medicine Crow Middle School in the Heights that opened last year, and to fund several other remodeling projects around School District 2's elementary and middle schools.

The school's opening also caps a shift to a grade 6-8 middle school model, moving sixth-graders from elementary schools.

A group of seventh-graders who attended elementary schools last year were a bit daunted by the size of the new middle school built to hold 750 students. Halligan estimated day-one enrollment at 753.

"It was big," said Kiana Hungerford-Ciero, who, like all incoming students, toured the school toward the end of last school year. But she and her friends were also excited about being able to take new subjects like Spanish and computer science.

"It's a lot more, what's the word, it's more modern," said Chloe Jurovich.

Before constructing the new middle schools, it had been 29 years since SD2 opened a new school. Shifting sixth-graders into middle schools allowed the district to deal better with capacity issues in elementary schools  the district had its state accreditation downgraded in 2012 for having too many classes with too many students.

Along with the shifting grades came curriculum changes. All middle schools are now on a schedule that uses A and B days, alternating some classes in an effort to offer more electives.

In some ways, Ben Steele's first day looked like any other. Students chattered with friends, swapping stories from the summer.

Shirley Steele also spoke of a time when her husband, in his youth, was less than studious.

"His classroom at that time was the ranch," she said. "His mother said, 'Don't worry about him, he'll wake up one day and realize he doesn't know anything.'"

Steele evolved into an educator who, when he caught a student pinching paper from school supplies, simply told the students to come to him if he needed painting supplies. His widow assessed the gathered teens and tweens to be closer to Steele's educator track.

"I'm so impressed with these students," she said.
Tiffanie Sperling allows her three children, Curtis, 13, Taylor, 10 and Maddie, 8, use of smartphones on a limited basis. That way they become accustomed to using phones before they have unlimited use and it keeps them in touch with their mother. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune) (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

Oak Park mom Keri Lucas doesn't like how her smartphone seems to take hold of her young daughter's mind when she lets her browse through digital snapshots.

"I do notice it impacts her behavior in a negative way," said Lucas, describing how it's hard to pull her 7-year-old daughter away from the cellphone.

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It got Lucas to thinking about when she'll give her daughter her own smartphone  a device many adults didn't have a decade ago but now seems ubiquitous, even among children. "This is new territory," Lucas said. "As parents, we're navigating something our parents didn't navigate. Trying to figure it out as we go is hard."

As kids head back to school, many parents are wrestling with a relatively new rite of passage: when to give their kids a smartphone. While the average child gets his or her first smartphone at 10, according to research firm Influence Central, some parents in Chicago and across the country are bucking the trend by promising to wait until their children are in eighth grade  when they're typically 13 or 14.

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The Wait Until 8th pledge  developed earlier this year by a group of Austin, Texas, parents  allows moms and dads to "rally together" so their children can look to other smartphone-free peers throughout elementary school, said Brooke Shannon, a former Chicago resident who now lives in Austin and leads the movement. The pledge points to the possibility that smartphones can damage a developing brain by interfering with sleep, serving as a distraction from homework, and putting a child at risk for cyberbullying.

But experts say there's little proof smartphones do such damage, as long as parents monitor usage. They note that in the relatively new world of iPhones  which turn 10 next month  more research is needed on how evolving technology impacts development.

The American Academy of Pediatrics doesn't advise an exact age for smartphones in its media usage guidelines but notes that screen time in general should be limited and monitored, and recommends that parents be mindful of their own use of mobile devices in front of their kids.

Experts caution that banning phones completely for too long may harm social growth, as phones have become a way for adolescents to interact with their peers  an important part of development. Still, supporters of the pledge say smartphones can take away from active play, and a basic phone still allows children to text their friends and stay connected with their parents.

More than 2,000 parents with children in more than 500 schools across the country have signed the pledge at waituntil8th.org since it launched in the spring, Shannon said, including more than 100 families in Illinois. "It's been exciting to see there's so many parents out there ... to see we're not the only ones."

Once people have signed, they're notified when nine other families from their school have also signed, and their school's pledge officially goes into effect, according to the Wait Until 8th website. That sense of camaraderie makes the pledge appealing and powerful, Shannon said.

The group decided on eighth grade, she said, because it felt elementary school is too young for smartphones but recognized a need for children to learn the responsibility of having a phone before they hit high school. Shannon also referred to reports that Bill Gates had his children wait until 14 before they got a phone.

Shannon said she's encouraged by the success of the pledge, which could bolster parents' resolve this school year when their children come to them saying they want iPhones like their classmates.

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"The campaign from kiddos starts very early," said Shannon, who has three daughters who range from preschool to fourth grade. "Even if your child doesn't have (a smartphone), once one kid from their grade does ... then the pressure is on."

But some parents take a different view for their families, challenging that the end of middle school might be too late.

Tiffanie Sperling, of Plainfield, has given iPhones to all three of her children, 8, 10 and 13. As a working mom with children in travel sports, Sperling said the phones are needed for the family to stay in touch and offer better reception than more basic phones.

The phones also are teaching Sperling's children time management and responsibility, said Sterling, who uses the phones as a reward for the kids, or takes them away as a consequence  a tactic she said is more effective at a younger age.

Sperling said she likes being able to reach her children at all times  and can even track where they are using a GPS feature. She also uses an app that allows her to control when her children can use their phones and what apps are accessible. "At any time, I can just turn off the smartphone aspect of their phone," she said. "I have control."

Veronica Silva, of Naperville, recently got her 11-year-old daughter a smartphone with the hope that starting early will mean more responsible use.

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"From now on, it's going to get harder and harder for her to listen. Teenage rebellion is coming up," Silva said. "The earlier she gets it, it gives me a chance to really teach her ... cellphone etiquette, risks and get her used to the technology."

Silva also wanted her daughter to have the phone as a way to fit in as she starts a new school this year. And because Silva is divorced, she said, the phone is a way for her daughter and her younger son to keep in touch when they're at their dad's house.

The pledge recognizes that some families might need a smartphone for their younger children, said Shannon, who mentioned children with special needs or those whose parents are divorced. "The pledge is not for everyone."

Yalda Uhls, author of "Media Moms & Digital Dads: A Fact-Not-Fear Approach to Parenting in the Digital Age," said it's impossible to set a blanket rule for all families, but she usually recommends the start of middle school as a good time for a child to get a smartphone.

Uhls, an assistant adjunct professor at UCLA, said families should assess their own situation and each child when it comes to phones. "There's no research evidence that getting a phone at too young of an age is bad or good," she said. "Really, it's about looking at your own values, own situation, own child."

It's more important that parents model good phone behavior and set rules around the device, like not allowing kids to have their phones in their rooms at night and limiting usage in general, Uhls said. And there are some positive outcomes when children use phones responsibly. "In this age, the phone and social media are two of the ways you connect with your peers," she said.

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Rachel Flynn, a research assistant professor at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine who studies the impact of media on children, said parents should think about content and context even more than age when deciding if they should give their children a phone. More research is needed, she added.

"The key here is it's not going away, and we need to learn more about it and get as much information out to parents," Flynn said. "It's a fascinating place to sit in the research world."

kthayer@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @knthayer
About 50 protesters gathered around the Balbo monument in Burnham Park, where they railed against city officials for allowing a greenish breccia column to stand as a tribute to a fascist regime. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

As protesters across the United States continue to call for the removal of Confederate monuments in the aftermath of a violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., anti-fascist protesters in Chicago are now demanding a monument gifted by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini be taken down.

About 50 protesters, some of whom traveled from Rockford and Indiana, gathered around the Balbo monument in Burnham Park, where they railed against city officials for allowing a greenish breccia column to stand as a tribute to a fascist regime.

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The monument is an ancient Roman pillar seated atop a large stone base that reads, in part: "Fascist Italy with the sponsorship of Benito Mussolini presents to Chicago" this commemoration of a flight by Balbo "in the 11th year of the Fascist Era."

It was gifted by Mussolini in 1934 to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Gen. Italo Balbo leading an armada of Italian planes on a trans-Atlantic flight from Rome to Chicago for the Century of Progress World's Fair. Chicago's formerly named 7th Street was also renamed Balbo Drive for him.

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John Beacham, a coordinator with Answer Chicago and leader of Wednesday's protest, said the organization has started an online petition requesting the monument's removal and the renaming of the downtown street for celebrated Chicago journalist Ida B. Wells. The petition had garnered nearly 300 signatures by Wednesday afternoon.

"These monuments remaining is part of reason why, in 2017, we're seeing another resurgence in racism and white supremacy," Beacham said. "If people don't come together to call for zero tolerance against white supremacy, the threat will continue to grow."

Wednesday evening, a dozen Chicago police officers on bikes stood guard behind a waist-high fence around the monument and two horse-mounted officers kept watch from roughly 100 feet away as the group of protesters held signs, including some that read, "From Chicago to the White House, shut down white supremacy!"

A trio of protesters with megaphones led the group in chants such as, "Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Fascist monuments have got to go!"

"We're standing here in front of a monument," activist Andy Thayer said. "But it's much more than just a monument, as the events from Charlottesville should drive home to us very, very clearly."

Thayer continued, "When you wear a sheet over your head, when you give a 'Sieg Heil!' when you threaten to murder whole groups of people ... you are not just giving ... free speech."

The rally, which began with about 20 people and grew to about 50 protesters, transformed into a march to what organizers called a "second racist statue," this one belonging to Christopher Columbus, who they charged with slaughtering indigenous people on his expedition to America.

A score of officers on bikes rushed up a hill leading to the steps of that monument, forming a semicircle perimeter. Protesters chided police efforts to keep them away from the towering memorial. The crowd dispersed shortly after.

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Wednesday's demonstration joins a groundswell of opposition throughout the nation to monuments that some say venerate racist ideologies.

Mussolini's disrepute as the iron-fisted dictator who aligned Italy with Nazi Germany by adopting anti-Jewish policies is well documented. Balbo helped propel Mussolini to power with his military might, brutally crushing socialist and communist rebellion along the way. But some say Balbo, who opposed some of Mussolini's anti-Jewish laws, shouldn't be painted with the same brush as the dictator.

In an editorial letter to the Tribune, some officials representing Italian-American associations in Chicago spoke out against the dismantling of the Balbo monument.

"Italo Balbo was never an enemy of the United States," read the letter, published Monday. "He was an inspiration to Italian-Americans and to those in aviation. Balbo did the right thing: Opposed Mussolini in his darkest time."

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Beacham, however, said Balbo's service as Mussolini's right hand, including leading the bombing of unarmed Africans in Ethiopia, nixes any aviation legacy he leaves behind.

"In our opinion, this is not only a monument from a fascist," Beacham said about Mussolini, "it's a monument to fascism."

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Ald. Edward Burke, 14th, and Ald. Gilbert Villegas, 36th, will propose removing the monument and renaming the downtown street at a City Council meeting in September.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel declined to take a position on the fate of the Balbo monument Wednesday when asked about the evening protest, saying only that he had spoken to aldermen and they would "work through it as a City Council."

Chicago Tribune's John Byrne contributed.

tbriscoe@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @_tonybriscoe
Chicago Public Schools Board President Frank Clark, here at an Aug. 24, 2016 Board of Education meeting, says the district has come a long way with its budget plan, despite a half-billion-dollar deficit. (Anthony Souffle / Chicago Tribune)

In a series of occasionally sharp exchanges on Wednesday, Chicago Public Schools officials defended the district's fiscal practices amid fresh rebukes from advocates and labor union members over a $5.7 billion budget plan that relies on money that has yet to materialize.

Chicago Board of Education members are expected to approve the spending framework next week. Critics on Wednesday targeted the district's reliance on expensive borrowing and demanded that board members appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel support new taxes to help fund the system.

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Instead, CPS officials praised what the district now describes as a $544 million budget deficit.

"We still have a little over a half-billion dollars that we're struggling with," school board President Frank Clark told the audience during one hearing over the district's developing budget plan. "But we've come a very, very long way."

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The district's latest projected deficit includes assumptions that legislators chip in $300 million of new state assistance. CPS also expects city government to provide an extra $269 million.

School board members must also approve lines of short-term credit the district will use for cash to pay its bills this year, and the district has budgeted roughly $79 million just to pay the expected interest costs associated with that borrowing.

Officials also have used a long-term borrowing deal to purchase a sliver of financial breathing room through 2019, at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars in interest to be paid by future generations.

Joy Clendenning of the Raise Your Hand advocacy group. (Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune)

"In spite of its reliance on more than $500 million in new dollars which have yet to be secured, this budget continues the cuts to neighborhood schools and to art, music and library services, as well as other courses and supports across the district," said Joy Clendenning of the Raise Your Hand advocacy group.

"No matter what happens in Springfield, CPS will still be short the funding needed to provide a high-quality education to every student," she said.

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Clendenning and Chicago Teachers Union members called for the city to release new surplus dollars from special city tax-increment financing districts, while raising taxes on corporations and wealthy residents.

"A lack of action on the state does not equate to it being OK to not have a local action," CTU member Natasha Carlsen told board members.

"Unless you as a board fight for the progressive revenue, and not regressive revenue, we only can assume that you will continue to cut when there's nothing left to cut," she said.

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Board member Mahalia Hines, though, called on the union to press elected city officials for answers.

"It's the aldermen who decide where TIF money goes, it's the aldermen who decide where those taxes go," Hines said. "If we could decide, we'd be better off here."

jjperez@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @PerezJr
A severely decomposed body was found inside a semi-truck trailer in the Back of the Yards neighborhood on the South Side, according to police.



Officers were called to the truck trailer in the 2000 block of West 43rd Street just before 10:10 a.m. Wednesday, police said. They found a body "in a severe state of decomposition" inside, police said in a statement.



Police said they have not been able to determine the age or gender of the person.



Check back for updates.
A baseball cap and pool of blood remain after a double shooting in the 3600 block of West Diversey Avenue on Aug. 19, 2017, in Chicago. Two men were walking in the 2700 block of North Monticello Avenue when someone in a passing SUV shot them. Both gunshot victims were transported to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)

A 21-year-old man who was among 33 people shot in 13 hours over the weekend has died, officials said.

Jose Carlos Romero Hernandez, 21, of the 4900 block of South Paulina Street, died of a gunshot wound to the head, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office, which conducted an autopsy Wednesday.

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Hernandez was the seventh of 33 gunshot victims in the city from Saturday to Sunday to die.

The violence included a single attack in the West Pullman neighborhood that left another man dead and wounded five other people.

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Hernandez was pronounced dead at 11:12 a.m. Sunday at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center where he was taken after being shot about 6:30 p.m. in the 2700 block of North Monticello Avenue, in the Logan Square neighborhood, according to the office, which ruled his death a homicide.

Saturday about 6:30 p.m., Hernandez was walking down the street with another man, 20, when an assailant in a dark-colored SUV pulled up and fired shots, hitting him in the head and the younger man in the left thigh, police said at the time. They were both taken to Masonic Medical Center where the younger man's condition had stabilized.

Police reported no arrests in the case.
Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson will be undergoing surgery Aug. 30, 2017, to receive a kidney that his son Daniel Johnson, 25, donated to him. (Chicago Police Department)

Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson will have transplant surgery next week to receive a kidney from his son Daniel, who hopes to become a Chicago police officer, the superintendent told members of the department late Wednesday afternoon.

"I know it's no secret that I've been managing a chronic kidney disorder for the last 30 years. Well the time has come that I have to put that to bed and put it behind me,'' Johnson said in a video message to the department.

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Johnson, who turned 57 in July, will have surgery next Wednesday, Aug. 30, at Rush University Medical Center. Daniel Johnson is 25.

"After months of donor screening and matching with complete strangers offering me the gift of hope and life, I wanted you to be among the first to know that my son Daniel has been selected to be my kidney donor,'' Johnson said in letter to the department also sent Wednesday afternoon.

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"Daniel is a smart and dedicated young man who recently also made me incredibly proud when he decided that he wanted to pursue a life of public service and begin the application process to become a Chicago police officer,'' Johnson says in the letter.

First Deputy Supt. Kevin Navarro will "take the reins'' while he takes a "brief medical leave of absence,'' which should not be longer than a "typical furlough,'' or vacation period, according to Johnson.

Though he's "not concerned at all'' about the surgery, he said he was "humbled'' and "immensely thankful'' to all who supported him and wished him well.

"I want to especially thank those officers that attempted to donate but found out that they weren't a matchI, I don't have the words to really express my appreciation for that,'' Johnson said in the video.

"I'll be back soon. Until then, stay safe.''

Earlier Wednesday at police headquarters, Johnson, at a news conference about firearm recoveries, did not specify when he was going to have surgery or use his son's name.

But he said Navarro would be running the department's day-to-day operations in his absence.

"He's been a police officer for over 30 years, and the department and the safety of this city is in dedicated and experienced hands," Johnson said of his second-in-command.

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Johnson said that he would be getting his kidney transplant "in the next couple of weeks." But he was mum when a reporter asked him the exact date of the surgery.

"You are something else," Johnson joked to the reporter.

Johnson sounded jovial when he told reporters about how proud he was of his son for being there to donate his own kidney to save his father's life.

"I really don't have words to express that," Johnson said. I'm proud of him because it wasn't something that I asked him to do. He chose to do this for me.

"We've always had a good bond and quite naturally it's really gotten deeper," Johnson continued. "But he's a lot like me."

"And really he just kind of looks at it like I'm getting a tune up," Johnson said with a chuckle. "Let's get this done and move on. It doesn't concern him. It doesn't concern me, really. We both have our faith in God.

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"But I am extremely proud of him because it is a wonderful thing when you can actually see your son grow into a man that you can really be proud of," said Johnson.

He first went public on Jan. 27 about being on the waiting list for a kidney transplant.

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That day, Johnson nearly fainted during a morning news conference at a South Side police station -- flanked by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and other police officials -- fueling speculation about his health. While he felt light-headed, he did not lose consciousness.

Hours later, Johnson held a news conference at police headquarters appearing refreshed, blaming his earlier episode on taking blood pressure medication on an empty stomach. But Johnson also talked about being diagnosed with a kidney ailment  glomerulonephritis, an acute inflammation of the kidney  more than three decades ago when he underwent testing as part of his applying to become a Chicago cop.

"So when I was diagnosed, I was 25 years old, and at the time the doctor ... thought that my kidneys would probably last three to four years. And it's been 31 years," Johnson said at that news conference.

That evening, Johnson said he's been told to expect to be back on the job three to five weeks after surgery.

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Johnson said he had told Emanuel of the kidney condition in March 2016 when he was the surprise pick to be superintendent.

Saying his kidney ailment "doesn't get in the way of work," Johnson denied that he has diabetes or undergoes dialysis. And asked if stress aggravated either his high blood pressure or kidney ailment, Johnson said, "Well, I'm not a doctor, but those of you who know me, I take it as it comes."

Johnson's nephrologist, Dr. Paul Crawford, who also attended that news conference, noted that African-Americans are three to four times more likely to develop kidney disease, often because of diabetes or high blood pressure.
A jury awarded Tierney Darden, of Vernon Hills, $148 million in her lawsuit against the city of Chicago after she was partially paralyzed by a poorly maintained pedestrian shelter at O'Hare International Airport in 2015. (Phil Velasquez/Chicago Tribune) (Phil Velasquez/Chicago Tribune)

One day after winning what's believed to be a record $148 million jury verdict against the city, a suburban woman told reporters Thursday that she remains "heartbroken" that she can no longer dance after being partially paralyzed when a bus shelter at O'Hare International Airport collapsed on her during a storm two years ago.

"I was upset because I knew that it was preventable  that it didn't have to happen to me," Tierney Darden, 26, of Vernon Hills, said at a news conference. "I was more upset than anything and kind of heartbroken because my legs were taken away and those were the two things I needed to do the one thing that I love, which is dance.

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"I was upset with them for taking away my life."

The city of Chicago admitted liability for the conduct that caused Darden's injuries, her lawyers said, and offered to pay $30 million to settle the case. Darden's lawyers asked for $95 million. With the two sides so far apart, the case went to trial so a jury could determine a dollar amount for damages.

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After a seven-day trial, jurors deliberated four hours before returning with the nearly $150 million verdict, then lined up to hug Darden before leaving the courtroom. During the trial, city attorneys had said Darden deserved up to $34 million while the woman's attorneys asked for $174 million.

Wednesday's verdict was the largest in a Cook County personal injury case, according to the local publication Jury Verdict Reporter. That amount eclipsed the prior record of $128 million in 1991 and is nearly triple the highest jury verdict reported against the city.

The city has not yet said if it plans to appeal the verdict. It's insured by AIG Aviation for up to $500 million, according to Darden's attorneys, so taxpayers will not be directly on the hook.

"They have more than adequate insurance to pay the verdict, so we are hoping that they pay this young lady right away," said Darden's attorney Patrick Salvi.

The city could also attempt to negotiate a discounted payment in exchange for forgoing its rights to an appeal, but those discussions are not underway, Salvi said.

On the afternoon of Aug. 2, 2015, Darden, then a dance student, was standing with her mother and 19-year-old sister outside the airport on a lower-level street that accesses Terminal 2, according to the law firm of Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard.

The three women had just returned to Chicago from Minneapolis, where they were shopping for bridesmaid dresses for an upcoming wedding, Darden's lawyers said. A storm rolled through the area as the women were waiting to be picked up, and a pedestrian shelter came loose and fell onto Darden.

Darden's spinal cord was severed, and she was left paralyzed from the waist down, her lawyers said. Before the incident, Darden had lived independently in Chicago and was attending Truman College. She now lives in Vernon Hills with her father, according to the law firm.

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It was determined the shelter that injured Tierney had missing bolts, Darden's lawyers said. An investigation later found other shelters at O'Hare were poorly maintained, with missing bolts, corroded parts or broken brackets, her lawyers said.

Darden said she was "disgusted" when she learned others could have been hurt. Her attorneys said the city later removed all of the O'Hare shelters.

Much of the jury trial was over whether a device called a spinal cord stimulator would adequately address the lifelong nerve pain Darden continues to suffer as part of her unusual spinal-cord injury, her attorneys said.

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Jurors agreed with an expert who said it may not and awarded a verdict that will allow the family to find caregivers and pay for Darden's medical bills.

"This will give them the opportunity to be parents to Tierney, be mom and dad instead of just caregivers," Salvi said.

Her parents told reporters the damage done to their daughter's life was catastrophic.

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"You want to fix your child, you want to make it all go away," said Darden's mother , Trudy Darden. "If I could take any of the pain away I would gladly take it away, but I can't. All I can do is be there for her.

"It's just watching her struggle, watching her struggle with the pain, watching her struggle with everyday things. Watching my young, funny, bubbly little girl be sad and depressed  that's what's been hard over the last two years."

sschmadeke@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @SteveSchmadeke
A relative of an Illinois sailor missing in the USS John S. McCain disaster said the family is "praying and keeping faith in God" as they await updates on the search.

The Navy identified Petty Officer 3rd Class Logan Stephen Palmer, of Decatur, as one of nine sailors still missing after the McCain and an oil tanker collided near Singapore this week. The Navy also announced the recovery of the remains of one sailor, 22-year-old Kenneth Aaron Smith, of New Jersey.

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Palmer's cousin Bekah Tucker said his relatives "are getting by with the help of family and friends."

"We've had groups of people come to Logan's mom's house to help out inside and out. It's been a blessing so she can just focus on Logan and praying," Tucker said. "We're praying and keeping faith in God that he will return Logan safe to us."

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Search-and-recovery efforts inside flooded compartments in the ship are ongoing, the Navy said, but a multinational search has been suspended in the ocean near Singapore.

U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, of downstate Taylorville, said earlier this week that Palmer, 23, had been among the missing, but the Navy did not confirm that until Thursday morning.

Palmer is a 2012 graduate of Sangamon Valley High School in Niantic, just west of Decatur, according to Superintendent Bob Meadows. He also graduated from Richland Community College in May 2015.

According to the Navy, Palmer, an interior communications electrician, received a National Defense Service Medal, according to his personnel file.

Tucker spoke of her cousin always laughing and smiling and "just enjoying life." She said he used to build huge bonfires, and she recalled sharing holidays at their grandmother's house where "he and I would sit back and watch everyone and talk about the future."

She added: "When he comes back, we plan on throwing a huge bonfire!"

The Navy said divers recovered the remains of Smith, who was a third class electronics technician. But as of late Thursday, officials were still classifying the other nine, including Palmer, as missing. They are Charles Nathan Findley, 31, of Missouri; Abraham Lopez, 39, of Texas; Kevin Sayer Bushell, 26, of Maryland; Jacob Daniel Drake, 21, of Ohio; Timothy Thomas Eckels, Jr., 23, of Maryland; Corey George Ingram, 28, of New York; Dustin Louis Doyon, 26, of Connecticut; and John Henry Hoagland III, 20, of Texas.

Four other sailors injured in the collision have been released and returned to duty, according to a news release early Thursday.

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Earlier, the Navy said a body found at sea by Malaysian forces was not one of the U.S. sailors missing. Those remains were medically examined and will be returned to Malaysian authorities, the 7th Fleet said in a statement.

Divers have found remains in flooded compartments of the McCain, which is docked at Singapore's naval base, but the Navy has not disclosed specifics.

The commander of the 7th Fleet was relieved of duty Wednesday following the McCain collision and other collisions this year that raised questions about its operations in the Pacific. Seven sailors died in June when the destroyer USS Fitzgerald collided with a container ship off Japan. Two lesser-known incidents occurred earlier in the year.

The firing of Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, a three-star admiral, was a rare dismissal of a high-ranking officer for operational reasons.

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Aucoin was due to retire in a few weeks, and the officer named to succeed him, Vice Adm. Phillip Sawyer, assumed command immediately.

Sawyer, speaking Thursday at a maritime security meeting in Bali, Indonesia, thanked regional navies for helping in the search for the missing McCain sailors.

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"Often it is a brutal reminder that what we do is dangerous work in an unforgiving environment, requiring honed skills and constant vigilance," he said. "And even with those, bad things can happen."

Lawrence Brennan, an adjunct law professor at Fordham University and a retired Navy officer, called Aucoin's dismissal "an unprecedented peacetime move."

"Four incidents in a short time in an operational area is a problem," he said, though he cautioned against rushing to assign blame.

The Navy has ordered an operational pause for its fleets worldwide to make sure all steps are being taken to ensure safe and effective operations. The Pacific Fleet also will carry out a ship-by-ship review of its vessels, looking at navigation, mechanical systems, bridge resource management and training.

Associated Press contributed.
Welcome to Clout Street: Morning Spin, our weekday feature to catch you up with what's going on in government and politics from Chicago to Springfield. Subscribe here.

Topspin

Democrat Ameya Pawar says that if elected Illinois governor, he would work to have Illinois rename Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples Day.

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While the idea may sound somewhat new, the concept of Indigenous Peoples Day has been around for a while.

Vermont already has replaced the October federal holiday named for Christopher Columbus with Indigenous Peoples Day, as have the cities of Denver and Phoenix. Locally, Evanston recognized Indigenous Peoples Day last year.

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"This is about acknowledging the contributions indigenous people have made to our country and celebrating the cultural history of Native Americans living in Illinois," Pawar, Chicago's 47th Ward alderman, said in a statement.

"It's also about raising awareness of the inhumane treatment of Native Americans by European settlers who raided their land, ripped apart their families and nearly destroyed an entire race of people. In a state as diverse as Illinois, it serves us well to celebrate our history and our multicultural identity; and recognizing Indigenous Peoples Day is an important part of that."

Pawar joined with Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 35th, in introducing a City Council resolution almost a year ago to "commemorate and promote public awareness of the accomplishments and contributions of indigenous people."

While the council adopted the resolution, it applied only to last year. Pawar said a proposed ordinance to annually designate the day as Indigenous Peoples Day in Chicago never made it out of committee. (Rick Pearson)

What's on tap

* Mayor Rahm Emanuel will have an early afternoon event with Spring at Prosser Career Academy to provide wireless devices to Chicago students. Later, he'll have an event about a CTA program to prepare contractors to do work on Green Line stations.

* Gov. Bruce Rauner's schedule wasn't available.

* Legislative leaders are set to meet again for ongoing talks about state school funding. A discussion of the issues at play is here.

* Democratic candidate for governor and state Sen. Daniel Biss continues his statewide tour in Decatur and Murphysboro.

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* Several health care groups and two Democratic state senators will hold a morning news conference at the Bilandic Building in Chicago to try to pressure Rauner over proposed changes to a program for Illinois seniors.

From the notebook

* Emanuel on the controversial cartoon: The fallout continued Wednesday over Gov. Rauner's reaction to a controversial political cartoon posted by a conservative think tank with ties to his administration, with Mayor Rahm Emanuel taking an opportunity to blast his onetime friend for showing "more loyalty" to the organization than to "the moral requirements of his office."

On Tuesday, a Rauner aide released a statement noting the cartoon by the Illinois Policy Institute depicting an African-American child panhandling for money from a suit-wearing white man with a cigar in a commentary on Chicago's use of tax increment financing districts and school funding had been removed. "And the governor  as a white male  does not have anything more to add to the discussion," the statement read.

Rauner later Tuesday disavowed that initial statement in a follow-up release: "Earlier today an email went out from my office that did not accurately reflect my views. I can understand why some people found the cartoon offensive. And I believe we should do more as a society and a nation to bring us together, rather than divide us," it read in part.

The mayor released a statement Tuesday hitting Rauner for "turning a blind eye to what is plain for everyone to see" in the "unambiguously racist" cartoon. Then on Wednesday, Emanuel was asked at an unrelated news conference to give his thoughts.

"I'm sorry, you know, every one of us who have a role to play, a leadership role to play, especially in the shadows of what happened in Virginia, he has a responsibility to speak out when you see a cartoon that's  that everybody else, regardless of party, regardless of your position, can see it for what it is," Emanuel said.

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"And the notion that you don't have a responsibility  and the reason he doesn't think he can is that very institution, Illinois Policy Institute is what he chose to staff his entire administration with," the mayor added. "And he's showing more loyalty to the people from that foundation and quote-unquote think tank than he is to speaking to the moral requirements of his office, which is to condemn bigotry, to condemn stereotypes, and to also ... to play one type of person against another. He's abdicated his responsibility as a leader, not only in this cartoon, but for bringing the state together." (John Byrne)

* Smoking or non? Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, who recently announced he'd seek a record sixth term, was asked Wednesday if he'd provide guidance for Democrat J.B. Pritzker in his rookie campaign for governor.

"That's why I'm here. To support this wonderful gentleman," White told reporters at an event where he endorsed Pritzker. "I believe in the art of compromise. And I just think that he has a long history of sitting down in a smoke-filled room, or smokeless room, and talking about the issues and arriving at the best course to follow. And I think that he's the right man for the job."

The smoke-filled room, of course, is the textbook bane of good government advocates everywhere.

What we're writing

* Illinois school funding talks to resume Thursday as lawmakers seek elusive compromise.

* Durbin: Rauner playing regional politics "beneath the dignity" of the office.

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* Cook County ethics officials probing tax appeals commissioner Larry Rogers Jr., seeking information from his law firm.

* Emanuel, suburban mayors press for Rauner override.

* Police, DCFS cutbacks strain center that investigates child sex crimes.

* Obama Foundation to build parking garage across from presidential center.

* CPS debuts new high school application website.

* Protesters want Balbo monument in Chicago removed.

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What we're reading

* Preckwinkle talks soda pop tax pushback on "Chicago Tonight."

* (Seinfeld voice) What's the deal with those poppy seeds on hot dog buns in Chicago, anyway?

* Some eclipse watchers fear they hurt their eyes. Here's what you should know. Not that you'd be able to read this anyway.

Follow the money

* Track Illinois campaign contributions in real time here and here.

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Beyond Chicago



* Trump says there could be a government shutdown if Congress doesn't pay for a border wall.

* FTC approves Amazon purchase of Whole Foods.

* Soul searching at ACLU after Charlottesville.

* Kushner meets with Egyptian president.
Following a series of political misfires during the past month, Gov. Bruce Rauner on Thursday tried to reset his administration by parting ways with his recently rebuilt press staff after a weeklong flap over a school funding cartoon some lawmakers deemed racist.

The first-term governor's difficulty in moving past the cartoon issue is emblematic of what can happen when a chief executive who ran as an outsider is paired with a staff without experience running government.

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Since making wholesale changes in staff last month, Rauner has had to dismiss a new traveling assistant after it was discovered the "body man" had posted racially insensitive and homophobic statements on Twitter. Then the governor took several days to respond to Lake County flooding. When he did visit the area, he told reporters it was premature to declare a disaster area before doing so hours after his news conference.

The governor also struggled to formulate a response to the deadly protests involving white supremacists in Charlottesville, Va., at first saying he could not say whether a woman's death at the hands of a driver who crashed into protesters was "domestic terrorism."

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Taken together, the challenging summer has made it difficult for Rauner to generate a sense of momentum as he heads into what is expected to be an expensive and grueling re-election bid.

More is at issue for Rauner besides the cartoon. His abrupt move to drop his new communications team reflected longer-term high-stakes concerns over his political future.

Left without many big first-term accomplishments following a long-running budget stalemate in which Democrats blocked his economic agenda, the Republican governor finds himself once again attempting to readjust politically.

Rauner first began the recalibration last month following a stinging and embarrassing defeat when Democrats, joined by some Republicans, enacted a state budget and tax-hike package over his veto  effectively ending the stalemate that kept Illinois without a full-year spending plan that devastated social services and threatened to sink the state's credit rating to junk status.

Gone were longtime staffers who had worked for Rauner from his campaign and joined his administration in top positions. In their place, Rauner brought on several people from the Illinois Policy Institute. Before becoming governor, Rauner donated more than $500,000 to the libertarian-to-conservative think tank, which largely shares his worldview.

But the matchup between a governor holding his first elective office and a new staff that previously had worked to criticize government from the outside has had trouble meshing.

In the case of his new communications team  Diana Rickert, Laurel Patrick, Meghan Keenan and Brittany Carl  Rauner said they did not mesh at all. In a rare conference call to staff Thursday morning, the governor said they were "good people trying to do good work" but ended up not being a "good fit," according to a source who was on the phone call but was not authorized to speak publicly about it.

Rickert and Keenan are Policy Institute alumni. Patrick previously had worked for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

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Later in the day, at an event in Naperville, Rauner acknowledged the difficulty of working in government.

"The work that we do for the people of Illinois is incredibly difficult and very stressful. It's a burnout, high stress, it's hard on people's families," the wealthy former equity investor told reporters.

As for what he feels is his repeated difficulty in getting his message out, Rauner called the communications effort "incredibly hard because we have attacks, we have political attacks coming 20 times a day, we have social media attacks coming 100 times a day, we have false rumors planted that have to be dealt with or responded to" in addition to "legitimate questions" from the media.

"It is really hard, really hard, and we need to do all that while also getting out the message about the positive changes that we are trying to drive and the wonderful work that we're doing on a bipartisan basis, wonderful legislation that we've been able to achieve," he said.

But in the earlier conference call to staff, Rauner maintained there was a larger, even more encompassing messaging mission  the need to counter his "enemies."

"The reality is in addition to the enemies on the other side of the aisle (Democrats), we have enemies in the media and enemies who should be on our side, some of them former members of the administration," the source recounted Rauner as saying.

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During that conference call, Rauner also told his staff to expect but to ignore more "rumors" about departures, including talk that his chief legal counsel, Dennis Murashko, was leaving the administration, the source said. By late afternoon, Rauner released a statement saying Murashko was departing at the end of the month to join the private sector.

Since the departure last month of more than 20 governmental and political aides  some by firing and some who resigned in protest  and the hiring of new staff members, Rauner often has found himself stepping on his own message. It's a reflection of a lack of preparation and attention to detail and a possible lack of knowledge by his new aides.

Nowhere is that better illustrated than in the kerfuffle over the cartoon. The Illinois Policy Institute drawing showed a black child panhandling for money from a suit-wearing white man with a cigar, in a commentary on Chicago's use of tax-increment financing districts and school funding.

After lawmakers in both parties called the cartoon racist last week, Rauner declined to take a position, saying he hadn't seen the drawing.

Pressed by reporters Tuesday, Rauner's office initially issued a statement in which the governor again did not take a position. A spokeswoman added that as a "white male," Rauner would have no further comment.

By Tuesday evening, Rauner disavowed that statement and aides sent a new one, saying that the original did not "accurately" depict how he felt. While the governor said he opposed racism, he again did not take a position on the cartoon.

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On Thursday, the governor was back out in public, saying at a Naperville pension bill signing that his job "is not to comment on every cartoon, every political statement."

By the afternoon, however, Rauner found himself enmeshed in controversy over the drawing once again at a separate event on the West Side.

A reporter pressed African-American lawmakers on whether Rauner should speak out more forcefully against the cartoon.

Democratic state Rep. LaShawn Ford of Chicago touched the governor's arm as he asked: "Will you apologize to the black people about that cartoon, even though you didn't draw it? Let's make it right today. Can you apologize?"

The governor offered his response, raising his voice.

"I'm not apologizing for anything I had nothing to do with. Let me be crystal clear. And that organization that did that cartoon, they should talk to you about what their views are, and I'm not gonna," Rauner said. "I have fought for racial justice, equality and opportunity my whole life."

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Ford later returned to the microphone and said the cartoon issue "should be put to rest," agreed with Rauner that he wasn't responsible for drawing it, and said "you don't have to apologize for the art." Ford also asked Rauner to "stand up" against racism together.

Rauner complied. "We in Illinois, we in America, we stay united against racism, against prejudice, against bigotry, against hate speech in all its forms and we've got to stand strong together," he said.

The controversy overshadowed a bill-signing ceremony for a package of bipartisan changes in the criminal justice system affecting expungement and sealing of criminal records to help ex-offenders' efforts to gain employment.

At the same event, Rauner also clouded his administration's response to a bill sought by immigration activists and many in the business community that would prohibit local law enforcement from detaining people for federal authorities based solely on their legal status absent a criminal warrant.

One of Rauner's now-departed press staff had said the governor would sign the bill Monday, despite sometimes fierce objections from conservative lawmakers and groups. But on Thursday the governor said, "We will be making an announcement about that bill soon." As for what his administration had previously promised, Rauner said, "I don't know what's all been announced."

Rauner's staff shake-up, which included a July 17 announcement of four new members of his communications staff, has been followed by several missteps.

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Earlier this month, Rauner made a rare national TV appearance in an interview with Fox News host Bret Baier. On questions ranging from immigration reform, the Affordable Care Act, the state's budget impasse and whether he would seek a second term, Rauner referred variously to how things were "broken" at least 10 times in the interview, earning a crude social media rebuke from conservative commentator Ann Coulter.

In addition to the initial fumbling on whether the Charlottesville death was "domestic terrorism," Rauner also was unaware of a resolution that had passed the Illinois Senate urging law enforcement officials to recognize white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups as terrorist organizations. Asked about the resolution, Rauner at first assumed it came from the U.S. Senate, and tried to brush it away by saying he was "not so focused on day-to-day in Congress."

Another error came after Rauner issued his rewrite of legislation changing how the state distributes tax money to school districts. In calling on lawmakers to support his changes, the governor said it would require only a simple majority to uphold his veto and make sure schools could get their money. Actually, it would have required an extraordinary majority of three-fifths in the House and Senate.

Rauner did not directly answer questions from reporters as to whether his staff should have been aware of the higher vote requirement. A Rauner spokeswoman later acknowledged the governor was mistaken.

The governor's staff moves Thursday did not affect his new chief of staff, Kristina Rasmussen, and his new deputy chief of staff for policy, Michael Lucci. Both had been top officials at the Policy Institute.

Rauner sought to downplay the institute's influence.

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"A very tiny fraction of our administration is from that organization, and ... in no regard does that organization speak for me or my administration, and I do not lean on them for any particular issue or policy," Rauner said.

But now Rauner must find a new messaging team  positions that may be difficult to recruit for, given the turnover.

"Getting that message out while we've got the noise and the false attacks and the rumors, it's really hard," he said. "And getting people who can do it well and are willing to do it on that scale, it's a challenge."

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kgeiger@chicagotribune.com
Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Mueller has issued grand jury subpoenas related to Donald Trump Jr.'s 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The subpoena seeks both documents and testimony from people involved in the meeting, CNN has learned. That meeting has drawn scrutiny since an email exchange beforehand indicated the Russians offered damaging information on Hillary Clinton.

Mueller's grand jury activity was first reported by The Wall Street Journal and Reuters.

Mueller's team of investigators continue to look into whether President Donald Trump or any of his campaign associates colluded with Russia during the presidential contest.

The moves signal a new step in the investigation, which Trump has lambasted as a "witch hunt." Trump has denied any collusion between his team and the Russians. US intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia attempted to sway the presidential contest in Trump's favor.

Ty Cobb, special counsel to the President, said he wasn't aware that Mueller had started using a new grand jury.

"Grand jury matters are typically secret," Mr. Cobb said. "The White House favors anything that accelerates the conclusion of his work fairly... The White House is committed to fully cooperating with Mr. Mueller."

Trump ignored shouted questions about Mueller as he departed the White House on Thursday afternoon.

Smiling and waving, Trump walked from the Oval Office to his Marine One helicopter on a sunny August afternoon. He was joined by son Eric Trump and daughter in law Lara Trump, as well as Jared Kushner and new chief of staff John Kelly.

A spokesman for Mueller's office declined to comment on the reports.

Federal investigators have seized on Trump and his associates' financial ties to Russia as among the most fertile avenues for moving their probe forward, people familiar with the investigation tell CNN.

The web of financial ties could offer a more concrete path toward potential prosecution than the broader and murkier questions of collusion in the 2016 campaign, these sources said.

In May, CNN reported that federal prosecutors had issued grand jury subpoenas to some associates of former national security adviser Michael Flynn as part of the ongoing probe into the Russian meddling.

Mueller took over that investigation in mid-May.

Those subpoenas were issued by the US Attorney's office in Alexandria, Virginia, but the Wall Street Journal report indicated that Mueller would utilize a grand jury based in downtown Washington, near the offices where Mueller and his team work.

The question of Russian interference has hung over Trump's presidency for months, even as the White House has sought to wall itself off from the matter. Trump has retained a team of lawyers to handle the growing legal swirl.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin on Wednesday accused Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner of playing regional politics to try to pit the rest of Illinois against Chicago, calling it "beneath the dignity" of his office.

The state's senior U.S. senator and the Senate's No. 2 Democrat also said he would "probably" make an endorsement in the crowded race for the party's nomination for governor to challenge Rauner. But Durbin said he wouldn't announce a pick until after Nov. 27, when candidates start turning in petition signatures to officially run.

Appearing at the City Club of Chicago , where he devoted the bulk of his remarks to efforts to curb gun violence in the city, Durbin contended Illinois has sustained "self-inflicted" damage during Rauner's tenure of a little more than 21/2 years.

Later, Durbin told reporters Rauner's unsuccessful pursuit of an agenda that includes term limits on elected officials and efforts to weaken unions hasn't been worth it to Illinois.

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"As a student of public policy and a citizen of this state for a long time, there wasn't a single thing that the governor was fighting for that was worth the damage that was done to our state in the last 21/2 years. Not a single thing," Durbin said.

"He has set back major universities in our state not 10 years but maybe a generation before confidence is restored in these great institutions," he said. "I just have to look at this and say, 'Whatever his goal was, we paid too heavy a price.'"

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Durbin called the the school funding uncertainty that remains in Springfield between Rauner and Democrats who control the General Assembly  jeopardizing how long some public schools may be able to stay open  "shameful" and "disgraceful."

The governor has contended his veto of a Democratic-passed school funding formula eliminated what he called "special deals" for Chicago to provide equitable funding to schools across the state. But the long-term effects of Rauner's changes could diminish state aid to some school districts statewide, particularly those that lose students in future years.

"It is beneath the dignity of the leader of the state of Illinois to pit one region of this state against another. We are one state and we should treat it as such," Durbin told the audience.

"Let me tell you, the struggling students in East St. Louis, Cairo and Springfield face the same challenges as struggling students in Chicago," he said. "We should view them as part of the Illinois family and treat them accordingly. And when this governor or anyone tries to pit Downstate against Chicago, Chicago against Downstate, suburbs against Chicago, I don't believe that is how you move a state forward."

A Rauner spokeswoman didn't immediately comment.

Asked if he had decided on a candidate to endorse to take on Rauner, Durbin acknowledged he had been asked by some contenders. He did not identify them.

"Here's a lesson I've learned: Let's wait for the first day of filing petitions and see who's still standing," he said. "My experience has been occasionally brought into primaries, and it turns out the cast of candidates after filing looks a lot different."

During his talk on gun violence, Durbin urged that more effort be placed into assisting the mental and physical health of children in high-crime neighborhoods, in addition to greater restrictions on the sale of guns and efforts to curb straw purchases of firearms

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"Exposure to violence and trauma dramatically affects kids. Experience in repeated trauma leaves emotional scars that can last a lifetime, literally change a child's brain chemistry," Durbin said. "For too many children in violence-scarred neighborhoods, their biography becomes their biology."

Durbin did not address controversial cuts in mental health services under Mayor Rahm Emanuel. But, he said, "when it comes to gun violence in Chicago, sign me up for 1,000 (more) cops  but sign me up as well for 1,000 (mental health) counselors."

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Twitter @rap30
SPRINGFIELD  The four Democratic and Republican legislative leaders said Thursday that they have reached a tentative agreement with Gov. Bruce Rauner on a plan to fund schools, though the sides warn a deal is not yet final.

The leaders recently held several closed-door meetings in search of a compromise after the Republican governor vetoed Democrats' plan to change the way state money is distributed to local school districts. Rauner said the bill unfairly benefited the financially struggling Chicago Public Schools, and he rewrote it, setting up a standoff with Democrats.

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Top lawmakers were unwilling to discuss the details Thursday before the agreement is formally written into a bill that can actually be voted on, as it can fall apart if one side doesn't think the technical language of the legislation accurately reflects what was agreed to in private.

Talks, though, have included a variety of issues, including letting some schools stop offering daily physical education classes and letting CPS raise property taxes above a state cap. Asked if the tentative deal included all the funding increases for CPS that were in the original Democratic bill, Mayor Rahm Emanuel responded, "That and more."

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News of the breakthrough broke late Thursday afternoon in a short statement issued by House Republican Leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs and incoming Senate Republican leader Bill Brady of Bloomington.

"This afternoon, the four legislative leaders and the governor reached an agreement in principle on historic school funding reform," the statement read.

That was soon followed by a statement from Democratic Senate President John Cullerton and House Speaker Michael Madigan. The pair of Chicago Democrats said "the legislative leaders appear to have reached a bipartisan agreement in concept."

The legislative leaders are set to meet again in Springfield on Sunday. If the agreement stands, the House could take up the measure when lawmakers return to the Capitol on Monday. If not, that runs up against the deadline to attempt to override Rauner's veto  though it's unlikely there would be enough support to do so.

Rauner's office issued a statement saying the governor "applauds" the leaders for reaching a consensus.

"He thanks them for their leadership and looks forward to the coming days when the legislation is passed by both chambers," the statement said.

Without a new funding formula in place, the state can't send checks to schools. Districts already have missed two regular payments and warn of major program cuts or closures should a resolution not be reached.

According to lawmakers of both parties familiar with talks, much of the underlying bill before Rauner's rewrite would remain intact. The legislation is designed to help direct more money to impoverished schools but without taking dollars from other districts.

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Discussions have included giving CPS the authority to raise its property tax levy above a state cap, which limits an increase to 5 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. The state granted similar power last year, paving the way for a $250 million tax increase to boost contributions to the CPS teacher pension fund. The state also has given CPS the authority to levy an additional property tax, the proceeds of which are meant to be spent on construction projects.

In addition, a new program would be created to provide tax credits for those who donate money toward scholarships for private schools. Under the plan, $75 million a year would be set aside, and participants could qualify for a tax credit of 75 cents for every dollar that is donated. The program would expire in five years.

The idea has drawn criticism from unions.

"Rahm has failed to secure revenue at both the city and state levels, and is now supporting a plan that will give money to private schools that could be directed to our public school classrooms," Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis said in a statement earlier this week.

CPS also would receive help in the form of the state picking up costs related to teacher pensions, which Illinois already covers for school districts outside the city. However, that change might not be written into the school code but instead included with laws governing the state's retirement systems  reflecting a change Rauner wanted.

Meanwhile, voters in school districts with a surplus of education money may be allowed to determine via a referendum if they want to cut property taxes. This would apply predominately to communities in the suburbs and collar counties, and a decrease would likely be limited to no more than 10 percent.

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Another possible change would require the property value in any new TIF districts to be counted toward a school district's ability to generate property taxes. It's a nod to an issue pushed by Rauner, who has contended that Chicago is using a large number of TIF districts to hide property wealth and is therefore getting more than its fair share of state money.

Also on the table is rolling back various requirements the state has for local districts that it doesn't help pay for. Among them is the state's requirement for daily physical education classes and driver's education courses. Lawmakers also could streamline the process for districts to get waivers from the Illinois State Board of Education to get out of those requirements.

At a hastily arranged news conference at City Hall on Thursday, Emanuel was asked by a reporter if Chicago taxpayers, after seeing record property tax increases in the past couple of years, should prepare for more. "Yes," the mayor said.

Afterward, mayoral spokesman Matt McGrath sought to clarify the mayor's statement, saying that the "yes" response was an acknowledgment of the increased property tax burden already faced by city residents, not that they would face more.

"We are not announcing a tax increase today," McGrath said. "He was not responding to that question."

Whatever the mayor meant, he pivoted from the tax talk to praising an agreement he said would see the state provide significantly more funding to CPS, particularly in pension contributions.

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"I think they were hit hard a long time ago," Emanuel said of Chicago taxpayers. "When you're paying for everybody else's teacher pension and you don't get anything back, and for the first time you're money's coming back to your 606 ZIP code, I think that's a big step forward. ... We have actually gotten our Chicago taxpayers a fair shake for the first time from Springfield."

Despite that praise, the district still needs to borrow more than $1.5 billion to have enough cash to pay its bills this year.

The Chicago Board of Education, in addition to taking up the school district's $5.7 billion budget "framework" on Monday, also is expected to authorize borrowing slightly more than $1.9 billion worth of short- and long-term debt.

That includes close to $1.6 billion worth of tax anticipation notes  a maneuver akin to a payday loan because the district borrows cash off the value of property tax money that eventually will arrive in its coffers.

This year, that borrowing alone is expected to carry massive interest costs of roughly $79 million.

mcgarcia@chicagotribune.com

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The potentially high costs of reconfiguring streets around the Barack Obama Presidential Center are a small price for the city to pay given the opportunity the project represents for the South Side and Chicago as a whole, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Thursday.

The Chicago Department of Transportation on Wednesday unveiled plans to possibly add a lane to Lake Shore Drive near the Jackson Park site of the library and two extra lanes to part of Stony Island Avenue in a bid to offset traffic problems from the proposed closure of Cornell Drive nearby.

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Emanuel declined to say what the tab might be for that work, but he called on Chicagoans to concentrate on the big picture.

"Remember the tremendous economic, educational and cultural investment and opportunities this will mean, not just for the entire city, but also for the South Side of the city of Chicago in specific," he said. "And so while we're going to talk about, correctly, this roadway versus expansion of that roadway, this park plan versus that park plan, to everybody, as the mayor, keep your eye on the prize."

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"Because, as I always like to say, or quote somebody famous, 'Yes we can,'" the mayor said, referring to an Obama campaign slogan.

And Emanuel defended the Obama Foundation's proposal to pay for construction of a two-level parking garage on part of the Midway Plaisance across from the site where the presidential center will be built. Some critics have complained the above-ground garage with a green roof shouldn't count as parkland.

"Don't just dismiss the contribution of the parking garage to the community as a whole, and don't dismiss the fact they're willing to pay for it. That goes a long way," he said after an event at Prosser Career Academy to announce free mobile devices and wireless packages for public high school students. "And by doing a green roof I think it also goes a long way toward meeting other needs."

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Twitter @_johnbyrne
An army ceremonial unit carries Army Sgt. Jonathon Michael Hunter's casket to a hearse at the Columbus Municipal Airport in Columbus, Ind., om Aug. 22, 2017. (Mike Wolanin / AP)

COLUMBUS, Ind.  Hundreds of people lined streets in the Indiana hometown of a soldier killed during a suicide bombing attack in Afghanistan as his body was taken from the city's airport to a funeral home.

Dozens of soldiers and police officers stood at attention Tuesday while the flag-draped casket of 23-year-old Army Sgt. Jonathon Michael Hunter of Columbus was transferred from a plane to a hearse. People stood silently, with many holding American flags, in a light rain watching the procession that included more than 200 motorcyclists.

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Hunter and 25-year-old Spec. Christopher Harris of Jackson Springs, North Carolina, were killed during an Aug. 2 attack on a NATO convoy. Both were with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Hunter's funeral is set for Saturday at Columbus East High School.
If former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio is pardoned in coming days - as President Donald Trump strongly suggested Tuesday night - the move will be the latest in a long line of hotly-debated political pardons that critics say violate the spirit but not the laws of executive authority.

The U.S. Constitution gives presidents sweeping power to grant pardons to convicts, or to people who have not even been charged with a federal crime.

For most applicants, seeking a pardon is a long, arduous process that begins with the pardon attorney at Justice Department headquarters - an overloaded, understaffed office that currently does not have an appointed leader. The department recommends anyone seeking pardons wait at least five years after conviction, and be able to demonstrate their remorse and regret for what they've done.

Arpaio, 85, has done none of that, and it's unlikely he will. If pardoned, the former sheriff of Maricopa County, who was an ardent supporter of Trump's 2016 campaign, will be one of the rare but not unprecedented instances when a president decides to short-circuit ongoing or expected legal proceedings and preemptively grant a reprieve.

Arpaio was convicted last month of contempt of court after a judge found he had violated a previous court order not to detain people on the mere suspicion that they were illegal immigrants. Arpaio is awaiting a sentencing hearing scheduled in October.

"Was Sheriff Joe convicted for doing his job?'' Trump asked the cheering crowd. "He should have had a jury but you know what, I'll make a prediction, I think he's going to be just fine. But I won't do it tonight because I don't want to cause any controversy. But Sheriff Joe should feel good.''

Robert Bauer, a former White House counsel during the Obama administration, said an Arpaio pardon would ignore criteria long used to evaluate potential pardons - that a presidential act of mercy should correct some past injustice or oversight, or serve some greater public good.

Granting a pardon now, Bauer said, "is a de facto interference in the administration of justice.''

Other presidents have granted what pardon lawyers sometimes refer to as "political pardons'' - grants that anger not just prosecutors but the opposition party, and have led to charges of favoritism or abuse of authority.

President Gerald Ford granted a preemptive pardon for his disgraced predecessor Richard Nixon. President George H.W. Bush granted full pardons to six former Reagan administration officials, including former defense secretary Caspar Weinberger. Those pardons were granted as Weinberger was preparing to face trial on charges he lied to Congress about the Iran-contra affair.

In the final days of his presidency, President Bill Clinton pardoned fugitive financier Marc Rich, an act that led to a long-running corruption investigation but ultimately no charges. Clinton also pardoned his half brother for an old drug conviction.

The Constitution describes the pardon power in simple, broad language: the president "shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.''

P.S. Ruckman Jr., who writes the Pardon Power blog, said it would be "cruel and unusual punishment'' for Trump to suggest a pardon for Arpaio and not deliver. But when it is granted, Ruckman said, "it will send a horrible signal that only the rich and famous get pardoned. That's false. There's people who've been waiting for pardons 10 or 15 years, and those people will certainly be heartbroken.''

Arpaio's conviction was the end result of a years-long battle with the courts over his hard line tactics on immigration. During the Obama administration, the Justice Department found his deputies routinely discriminated against Hispanics, including many citizens and legal residents, targeting them for unmerited scrutiny in a hunt for illegal immigrants.

Jonathan Smith, a former Justice Department official who handled that case, said a pardon of Arpaio "would be a travesty.''

"There's nothing improper or illegal about it, but it does send a message . . . that the president is going to permit violation of the rights of not only immigrants, but people who are residents and citizens of the United States. He's sending a message that if you're not white, if you're Hispanic, that your rights don't matter,'' Smith said.

Arpaio's lawyer Jack Wilenchik rejected such accusations, and said Wednesday he hopes the pardon will come before his client's October sentencing.

"This has been a political show trial from day one, and it's only fair that it has a political end,'' Wilenchik said. "There's no such thing as a normal pardon process. History is full of examples of pardons that were political - that's what a pardon is.''

Wilenchik said his client was not guilty of any crime, but rather became a target of the Obama administration, which he accused of "laying a trap for law enforcement.''

Wilenchik attended the Trump rally Tuesday in Phoenix, but the former sheriff did not. In an interview Wednesday with Fox News, Arpaio said, "I really appreciate the President's nice comments and support. One day I'll go public and talk about the tremendous abuse of the process. If they can do what they did to me, they can do it to anybody."

Activists in Phoenix who have long opposed Arpaio's police practices were furious about the expected pardon from Trump.

"He's doing nothing but spitting in the face of the people in Arizona who have suffered through what Sheriff Arpaio has done to us," said Carlos Garcia, executive director of Puente Arizona, which advocates for migrant workers. "By pardoning Arpaio, not only is he erasing what he's done to our people, but he's tying himself to that legacy."
A unit of the National Institutes of Health has removed references to climate "change" from its website, deletions that one environmental group criticizes as "cleansing" but an NIH official describes as minor.

The revisions occurred on the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences site. A headline that read "Climate Change and Human Health," for example, was altered to "Climate and Human Health." A menu title that read "Climate Change and Children's Health" in June now appears as "Climate and Children's Health." Links to a fact sheet on "Climate Change and Human Health" also were removed.

"The cleansing continues," said David Doniger, director of the climate and clean air program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. "But they're not going to be able to erase the science, or the truth, by scrubbing websites."

The changes were revealed in a report by the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative, a group of nonprofits and academics who monitor what they call "potential threats" to federal policy and scientific research on energy and the environment.

But Christine Flowers, the NIEHS director of communications, downplayed any danger Wednesday. She said she made the changes as she added and moved information on the site over a period of months.

"It's a minor change to a title page," Flowers said of one headline alteration, "but the information we provide remains the same. In fact, it's been expanded."

The phrase "climate change" still can be found several times in the text below the headline that now reads "Climate and Human Health." Also still available is a "Climate Change and Human Health Literature Portal."

Similar word changes have been made on Interior Department, Transportation Department and Environmental Protection Agency website pages that mentioned climate change. Scientists inside and outside the government have questioned the motivations because of top Trump administration officials' doubts about how much human activity influences global warming.

In some cases, though, career staffers may have been responsible for the new wording on sites in an effort to avoid administration scrutiny on hot-button issues. The EPA's Climate Ready Water Utilities site was renamed before President Donald Trump took office  to "Creating Resilient Water Utilities."

In April, the EPA took down several website pages that contained detailed climate data and scientific information. That action, on the eve of a large demonstration in Washington about protecting the environment, included removal of a Web page explaining climate change that had been on the site for nearly two decades.

The NIEHS, one of 27 institutes and centers that comprise the NIH, focuses on the environment's impact on health. Most of NIH, the nation's premier biomedical research campus, is in Bethesda, Md., but the NIEHS is in Research Triangle Park, N.C.
Paper Source founder Susan Lindstrom was artistic, creative and entrepreneurial  and infused with an edgy energy.

On her company's website, it calls itself a premier paperie and gift retailer. The stores offer unique papers, cards, invitations and craft supplies.

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"It was Sue's unique taste," said longtime friend Peggy Slater. "She did have a gut sense for where people would join her in her taste."

Where they joined her was at Paper Source, the business she founded in Chicago in 1983 and grew to 27 stores before selling it in 2007.

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"Now it's over 100 stores," said Slater, "and she built that from a shelf of imported papers she had in her frame store in Wilmette. That's the way it all got going."

Lindstrom, 73, died of metastatic colon cancer Aug. 16 in her New Mexico home, according to her daughter, Kari. She moved to New Mexico a couple of years after selling her company.

Lindstrom was born Susan Wetzel in Los Angeles, where her father was working as an artist. She moved with her family to the Chicago area as a youngster and grew up in Wilmette. After high school at New Trier Township High School, she took college courses in Ohio and Michigan. She also studied at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, according to her friend and former business partner, Jim York.

Her father ran a framing business in Wilmette called Ross Wetzel Studio, and she took the business over in the 1970s. She soon opened a second location in Chicago, developing her sales and artistic skills as she made the business a premier source for framing services. York said the framing business was later sold.

Lindstrom began using fine art papers for matting, and moved from there to wrapping frames in paper decorated to look like animal skins in a side business York said was called Animaux, referring to the faux nature of the decorations.

A trip to Japan for a paper symposium piqued her interest in fine handmade Japanese papers, according to York, who met Lindstrom in 1990, started working with her at Paper Source in 1997 and was CEO from 2005 until the company was sold in 2007.

"She had a vision and opened a store selling fine Japanese papers," he said.

Eventually, Lindstrom's vision grew into the first Paper Source store, opened in 1983. By about the late 1980s, the store moved to 232 W. Chicago Ave., taking over all three floors of the distinctive turreted building.

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A 2002 Tribune story described that start as slow going. Customers would "ooh and ah" but walk out of the store, which was then at 207 W. Superior St., without purchasing anything.

Lindstrom realized that many shoppers were intimidated by the beautiful collection of paper and envelopes, unable to see them as supplies to create something else. So she started giving classes, focusing on everything from papermaking to decorating personal note cards to bookbinding.

The store's offerings grew to include a line of papers in 30 custom colors, custom-designed envelopes, small German and Mexican dolls, and what York called edgy greeting cards.

"A wonderful assortment of wacky stuff nobody else carried," York said. "Her visual sense and her sense of humor tied it all together."

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Lindstrom was fearless in taking chances on items for the store, realizing that customers came to Paper Source for something special, whether it was wrapping paper, a funny card or wedding invitations.

Lindstrom also shared her business experience with others. "She was a big champion of entrepreneurship in other people," Slater said. "Helping them get new things started, helping them financially and mentoring them."

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Slater  who said she and Lindstrom had been friends since seventh grade  will most remember her friend's audacity and determination. "She was a fierce spirit, always a force to be reckoned with."

Lindstrom was married and divorced twice.

In addition to her daughter, survivors include two other children, four grandchildren and her partner of more than 20 years, Jimmy Marcus.

No public service is planned.

Graydon Megan is a freelance reporter.
Hillary Clinton's book about the 2016 campaign, "What Happened," won't be out for a few weeks, but Wednesday morning a few brief excerpts from the audiobook were played on "Morning Joe." And as usual, a great deal of the focus is on whether Clinton is taking sufficient responsibility for her defeat.

So we need to ask ourselves: Why is it so important to so many people that Clinton perform a ritual of self-abasement?

If you don't recall a chorus of angry calls for Mitt Romney or John McCain or John Kerry or Al Gore to get down on their knees and beg forgiveness for their failures every time they appeared in public after losing their presidential elections, that's because it didn't happen. Only Hillary Clinton is subject to this demand.

And when she takes responsibility, as she has before, her words are carefully scrutinized to see if she's being self-critical enough. When she said in May that she took responsibility for her loss but also pointed out that she would have won had James Comey not made that dramatic email announcement 11 days before the election  which is almost certainly true  the comments were greeted by a round of scolding from reporters who obviously felt that she was not sufficiently humbled.

Well here's what she says in the book: "Every day that I was a candidate for president, I knew that millions of people were counting on me, and I couldn't bear the idea of letting them down  but I did. I couldn't get the job done, and I'll have to live with that for the rest of my life."

Is that abject enough for you?

We're going to be talking about the 2016 election for a long time, because it was one of the most dramatic and consequential in American history, and it brought us Donald Trump. Which means that reporters are going to continue to receive criticism of their coverage, particularly the way they covered Clinton. Some of them react to that criticism by rattling off things Clinton did wrong, as a way of saying that it isn't their fault she lost.

So let's say this really slowly: It's possible to simultaneously acknowledge that 1) Clinton made plenty of mistakes, and 2) there were egregious problems with the way the campaign was covered, problems that contributed to the outcome. Calling attention to the latter doesn't negate the former.

And boy, were there ever problems with the coverage. Consider that The New York Times and the Washington Post struck a deal with Peter Schweitzer, the author of a book called "Clinton Cash," for exclusive access to the material in the book, which alleged corrupt dealings at the Clinton Foundation. Even though Schweitzer's particulars amounted to little more than a lot of nefarious insinuation without evidence of actual wrongdoing, the initial burst of front-page coverage the book received was enough to set off endless cable news chatter about the Clinton Foundation, all of it with the implication that Clinton was guilty of all manner of ethically questionable actions.

To be fair, there were subsequent debunkings of many of the charges. But he narrative of Clinton as hopelessly corrupt was in place, and it formed the basis of Donald Trump's characterization of her as "Crooked Hillary." Over time, mainly via constant chatter on cable news, including from some mainstream journalists, "Clinton Cash" found the mainstream legitimization it needed to set this narrative in motion despite the fact that it was written under the aegis of the Government Accountability Institute, an organization run by a gentleman named Stephen Bannon. You may have heard of him.

That's not even to get into the orgy of coverage of Clinton's emails, which reporters treated as though it were the most important issue that the American public would confront in the entire 21st century. As multiple subsequent analyses have found, the email story was far and away the most prominent topic of news coverage during the campaign, a focus that from the vantage point of today seems somewhere between ridiculous and insane. The point is, it's not exactly crazy for Clinton to have a complaint or two about the way she was covered, nor is it crazy for her to mention that the Russian government was apparently working to support her opponent, something unprecedented in American history.

Did she make mistakes? Of course she did. She was too complacent about states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin that Democrats hadn't lost in many presidential campaigns. Her criticisms of Trump were too focused on what a repugnant human being he is and not enough on his agenda to help the wealthy and powerful. She didn't do enough to turn out black and Hispanic voters. You could make a long list.

But every candidate, even those who win, makes lots of mistakes. There are no perfect campaigns. If a hundred thousand votes spread across a few states had gone a different way, we would be talking about what a genius she was and how ludicrous the Trump campaign strategy was.

So again, why were other presidential losers were never told to voluntarily submit themselves to a ritual humiliation? I can't prove to you empirically that sexism is the reason that demand is only made of Clinton, but previous candidates didn't find their occasional post-election comments greeted with headlines like "Dear Hillary Clinton, please stop talking about 2016" or "Can Hillary Clinton please go quietly into the night," or "Hillary Clinton shouldn't be writing a book - she should be drafting a long apology to America" (that last op-ed began with the line, "Hey, Hillary Clinton, shut the f- up and go away already"). Only Clinton is supposed to beg for forgiveness, absolve everyone else of any sins they committed in 2016, and whip herself until we're good and satisfied that she has been punished enough.

Like everyone else, I haven't read "What Happened." Maybe it's a candid and insightful look behind the scenes of an extraordinary campaign. Or maybe it's the kind of shallow and self-serving book most politicians write. But the last thing we should care about is whether Clinton apologizes sufficiently for losing.

Washington Post
President Donald Trump's advisers apparently pleaded with him not to attack Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., at his rally in Arizona on Tuesday night. "They all said, 'Mr. President, your speech (on Afghanistan) was so good last night, please, please Mr. President, don't mention any names,' " Trump noted.

But he could not resist. After taking a veiled shot at Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Trump declared,"Nobody wants me to talk about your other senator who's weak on borders, weak on crime. So I won't mention any names." Just a few days earlier, Trump had tweeted an endorsement of Flake's GOP primary opponent, declaring, "Great to see that Dr. Kelli Ward is running against Flake Jeff Flake, who is WEAK on borders, crime and a non-factor in Senate. He's toxic!" And the Mercer family  a major Trump donor  has given $300,000 to a super PAC backing Ward in her effort to unseat Flake.

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All of which raises a question: Does Trump really want to make New York's Chuck Schumer the Senate majority leader? Why would a Republican president attack one of his party's most vulnerable incumbents at a time when the GOP holds such a narrow majority that it cannot pass legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare  or much of anything else, for that matter?

Yes, Flake failed to endorse Trump in 2016. And yes, Flake just wrote a book critical of Trump. So what? Flake has voted with the president 93.5 percent of the time  more often than Sen. Luther Strange, whom Trump just endorsed in the GOP primary in Alabama. Why on Earth would Trump risk replacing an annoying but reliable yes vote with a Democrat who would strengthen the "Resistance"?

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If Flake loses the primary to Ward, Democrats could very well win the seat. Ward is a proven loser who was trounced in her foolhardy primary challenge against McCain in 2016. She recently exposed her political tin ear by calling on McCain to resign right after he was diagnosed with brain cancer  even suggesting that she be appointed as McCain's replacement. She held town hall meetings to discuss "Chemtrails"  a conspiracy theory which holds that aircraft are deliberately spraying us with mysterious chemical substances.

Ward is the 2018 version of Sharron Angle, the disastrous tea party candidate who cost the Republicans a winnable Senate race in Nevada in 2010 and gave us six more years of Harry Reid. Ward could hand Democrats a Senate seat in Arizona for the first time since 1988. And even if Flake holds her off, a costly and unnecessary primary race could weaken him in the general election, while draining resources Republicans should be using to target vulnerable Senate Democrats and expand the GOP's Senate majority.

Flake is not the only endangered Republican to find himself in Trump's crosshairs. This year, Trump went after Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., for refusing to support the early, deeply flawed version of the Senate Republicans' Obamacare replacement. A pro-Trump group launched an ad campaign against Heller  reportedly with the blessing of the Trump White House  and sent out tweets asking, "Why did @SenDeanHeller lie to voters about #RepealAndReplace? He's now with @NancyPelosi. NOT GOOD!" A recent poll showed Heller narrowly trailing his likely Democratic opponent 41 percent to 42 percent, in a purple state where Hillary Clinton beat Trump 48 percent to 46 percent.

It is not in Trump's interests to see either Heller or Flake lose in 2018. One lesson that Trump should have learned by now is that he needs more than 50 Republicans in the Senate to get 50 votes on his priorities. He needs to build his majority, not reduce it.

Republicans have a structural advantage in 2018, defending just eight Senate seats, while Democrats must defend 25  including five in states that Trump won by double digits. But the party that controls the White House usually loses seats in off-year elections. And the GOP will enter 2018 with its base dispirited by legislative failures, while the anti-Trump Democratic base is energized and eager to deliver a stinging rebuke to the president.

If Flake and Heller lose, it is not outside the realm of possibility that Democrats could win back control of the Senate, making the Trump agenda dead on arrival in the chamber. Trump may not care about that, but there is something he should care about: If Democrats retake the Senate, they will control the Senate's investigative committees. Does Trump want to hand Schumer unbridled subpoena power?

If so, then by all means he should do everything in his power to weaken Flake and Heller.

The Washington Post

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Marc A. Thiessen is a fellow with the American Enterprise Institute and former chief speechwriter to President George W. Bush.
Everyone in America was planning for the solar eclipse on August 21, except, apparently, the Montana Department of Transportation.

That day, a contractor hired by MDT had scheduled a fairly major road construction project to begin on Interstate 15 near the Clark Canyon Dam. As tens of thousands of people headed north from the path of the eclipse to get home Monday around 4:30 p.m., they encountered a miles-long traffic jam that slowed traffic to a bumper-to-bumper crawl for more than an hour for some drivers.

The flow of traffic was not a problem on the northbound lane of I-15 between central Idaho and Butte except at the point where the construction project began, a roughly seven-mile stretch near Exit 44 about 20 miles south of Dillon. Because cones were on the interstate and the driving lanes were reduced from two to one in the northbound lane, a huge bottleneck ensued.

To make matters worse, temperatures soared into the 80s that day, there wasnt a cloud in the sky to cut the blistering heat, and that stretch of interstate is bereft of trees or any shady pullouts. Because the solar eclipse happened on Monday morning, traffic had trickled south into the path of the eclipse in Idaho and Wyoming over the long weekend.

When it ended, though, weary travelers were all headed back home at the same time in order to show up for work Tuesday. According to the Casper Star-Tribune newspaper, more than a million people came to Wyoming  a state with only half a million people  for the event, and the numbers in Idaho were similar. The road construction project was an extremely unwelcome, inconvenient irritation for many drivers who hoped to get home before dark.

For one Montana woman, it was inconceivable that the project was slated to begin on a day when everyone had known for months that traffic would be heavy.

Butte resident Gretchen Geller said she was stuck in traffic on I-15 for more than an hour as she was trying to return to Butte from Idaho after the eclipse. Geller said the traffic jam began in Lima and continued until they reached Clark Canyon dam. She called it unnecessary.

We were trying to figure out why, she said by phone Wednesday. When we got there, (to where the transportation workers were working) they werent doing anything. Nothing was happening. It was pretty despicable. We were pretty tired.

Geller said she saw approximately five to 10 cars drive across the median, ignoring the emergency vehicles only sign, to head back on Interstate 15 south because of the line of cars. She also saw a significant amount of traffic on Old Butte Highway, which runs parallel to Interstate 15.

You never see anybody on that highway, she said.

Late in the afternoon, cones were still up on the interstate although all the construction workers had gone home for the day. At least two Montana Highway Patrol troopers had stopped near the beginning of the jam to warn people to slow down.

The Idaho Transportation Department, unlike the MDT, put all major road construction projects on hold in anticipation of heavy traffic for the eclipse.

To optimize safety and mobility for residents and visitors, ITD is suspending most highway construction and maintenance Saturday through Monday (Aug. 19-21) where traffic is expected to be impacted, the ITDs website states.

The road construction project has been under contract for about a month now, according to Montana Department of Transportation Butte District manager Jeff Ebert.

We apologize wholeheartedly, he said. Weve done (construction project delays) in the past (in anticipation of high traffic) and looked at it and probably made a bad mistake here in this regard. Well get 'er better next time.

Ebert said that signs were up days in advance of the project warning drivers that construction would begin the day of the eclipse, but that was little consolation to those who came upon the snarl.

When asked if his office had discussed suspending the project in anticipation of heavy traffic, Ebert explained that, in hindsight, it would have been a good idea.

There was some work done by our maintenance folks to get the message to travelers out, Ebert said. Those discussions took place. Typically, like the Fourth of July, we shut down construction during that time period. We probably should have this time. For the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial, we did and then they didnt show up.

Ebert said that typically that stretch of interstate sees under 1,000 average daily trips, and he estimated that on Monday there were probably 1,000 cars per hour at the peak travel time.

Ive received a few complaints, he said.
In this Feb. 16, 2017, file photo, President Donald Trump shakes hands with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., during a ceremony in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. (Carolyn Kaster / AP)

If we lived in a different world, the joke could begin in a familiar, guy-goes-into-a-bar way: "So the president walks into a convention center in Phoenix and "

But this is the Trump era. Only slices of White House life are just comic. Much more of what the president serves up to American voters, legislators, policymakers and the rest of the world routinely smacks of the tragicomic, at best.

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The president's speech Tuesday night in Phoenix, is just the latest case in point. It had the requisite elements of vaudevillian propaganda (he accused CNN of not broadcasting his speeches as he spoke into a CNN camera broadcasting his speech); damaging cant (he misrepresented his statements following this month's neo-Nazi violence in Charlottesville, Va., to repackage himself as the morally sensitive leader he isn't); flagrant lies (he hasn't obtained a "historic increase" in military spending); and saber-rattling (he threatened to shut down the federal government unless Congress funds his Great Border Wall).

Trump's Phoenix "rantathon" also deployed personal broadsides against two members of his own party who are also Arizona's senators, John McCain and Jeff Flake. He slammed McCain for not supporting a Senate effort to repeal and replace Obamacare and he dismissed Flake as a nonentity ("Nobody knows who the hell he is").

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Pounding on McCain and Flake lacks political decorum, of course, and the shabbiness of it is only enhanced by the fact that McCain is struggling with brain cancer. And Trump, who managed to secure five draft deferments during the Vietnam War, once questioned whether McCain, who spent more than five years in a Vietnamese prison, was a war hero.

But beyond Trump's seediness looms the larger issue of why he habitually attacks natural allies, even when contrary to his own self-interest.

Remember, Trump's trolling of McCain and Flake is far less perilous to his legislative agenda than taking on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Yet our man is fearless. He's been trying to slap McConnell around so much of late that the two men stopped talking for weeks.

You'd expect Trump to do all that he can to reel in McConnell. The majority leader holds sway over various Senate committees that Trump needs for such things as re-engineering the tax code or keeping fallout under wraps from various investigations into links to Russia.

Yet Trump, after bungling his own role in the Obamacare debacle, found it simpler to blame McConnell than to take responsibility himself. He's been on the warpath with McConnell ever since, so focused on avoiding blame for a losing effort around one piece of legislation  health care  that he's willing to jeopardize the rest of his White House stay.

This, as it always does with Trump, follows a pattern. Back in the late 1980s, Trump was trying to build a mega-development on the west side of Manhattan. He blew the deal in part because he got into a needless public brawl with the mayor of New York at the time, Ed Koch.

Trump needed Koch's support to get zoning approval and tax abatements for the West Side Yards deal, a project that would have rivaled Rockefeller Center in scale and would have launched Trump into the top tier of New York developers. Plans for the property included a rocket-shaped skyscraper that would have been the world's tallest building.

But Trump antagonized local residents, planning boards and Koch, raising the ante every time he didn't get exactly what he wanted and publicly accusing Koch of "ludicrous and disgraceful behavior." Koch, noting that he thought Trump was being "piggy, piggy, piggy," warned the young developer not to try to "influence the process through intimidation."

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Trump kept jousting, however, and the Yards project stagnated. Trump ultimately couldn't afford to carry the property while waiting out City Hall, and as his financial problems worsened in the early 1990s he was forced to sell it to Hong Kong developers.

Had Trump been patient and methodical, had he been interested in outcomes as much as he was interested in being seen as the winner at center stage, he might have done better with the Yards.

That's not who the president is, though.

He doesn't build strong teams, doesn't cultivate sophisticated partnerships and doesn't do his homework. Instead, he stays locked on fostering his own celebrity and guarding against any perceptions that he's not a "winner."

Trump the Developer was so focused on besting Ed Koch and doing things his way that he let a promising development slip from his grasp. Trump the President is so focused on besting Mitch McConnell that he runs the risk of alienating a legislative body that could otherwise help him craft a political legacy and protect him from folks like Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating Trumpworld's links to Russia.

Trump doesn't care about outcomes. He has his money and the whole world's bounteous attention. As long as he has those things, he's willing to forfeit more enduring accomplishments while he fosters the illusion of personal strength. By that standard, defeats feel like triumphs, achievements leave him cold and allies are a waste of time.

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Bloomberg

Timothy L. O'Brien is the executive editor of Bloomberg Gadfly and Bloomberg View. His books include "TrumpNation: The Art of Being The Donald."
The Boy Scout logo and a uniform are displayed in a store at the Marin Council of the Boy Scouts of America on July 27, 2015, in San Rafael, Calif. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

Merit badges in hostile takeovers, poaching and nasty letter writing? Whoa, the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts sure seem to have changed.

The talk around the campfire this week is of the surprising dust-up between the two organizations over a potential loosening of Boy Scouts membership rules to include the participation of girls in some events. The Girl Scouts don't like the idea, and accused Boy Scouts leadership of being "dishonest" about their intentions. That's tough talk to direct at a group whose members vow to be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, etc.

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In a letter to the Boy Scouts, the national president of Girl Scouts of the USA, Kathy Hopinkah Hannan, claims the Boy Scouts are engaged in a "covert campaign to recruit girls" into their programs. Hannan expressed two major grievances. First, that the Boy Scouts are looking at expanding to a co-ed model, which would undercut Girl Scouts membership. And second, that the Boy Scouts are being sneaky about their intentions, having apparently glossed over those plans in a recent phone conversation between Hannan and Randall Stephenson, national president of the Boy Scouts.

"We were disappointed in the lack of transparency as we learned that you are surreptitiously testing the appeal of a girls' offering to millennial parents," Hannan wrote to Stephenson. "Furthermore, it is inherently dishonest to claim to be a single gender organization while simultaneously endeavoring upon a co-ed model."

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The background to this fight is the challenges both groups face in appealing to modern youths and their families. The Boy Scouts, founded in 1910, have experienced significant membership declines in recent years, though the group seems to have regained momentum since ending a blanket ban on participation by openly gay adults. Girl Scouts, founded in 1912, feel the same pressure to stay relevant when busy kids have oodles of activities to choose from, and working parents are stressed from managing all those obligations.

The Boy Scouts say they are responding to demand. Families bringing their sons to pack meetings would like activities for their daughters, too. The phone call last week was intended to discuss cooperating on that goal, a Boy Scouts spokesperson told The New York Times. But the Girl Scouts see a competitive threat, and want the Boy Scouts to keep their focus on boys so the Girl Scouts can keep serving girls.

Are we the only ones who think boys-only and girls-only are so last century? Isn't society supposed to be moving toward equality of the sexes and away from gender-based exclusion? Why are the scouts fighting over which organization should be open to both girls and boys?

These are two great organizations with storied cultures, and each has a right to move forward as it chooses. It's a shame they seem to be going through such a rough patch in their relationship.

An obvious solution to consider is a merger, which would assure strong membership and reflect social change. But if that's a non-starter, here's an interesting alternative: Since we're waaaaay past the era when Boy Scouts went canoeing while Girl Scouts learned to sew, open both organizations to all youths. Both do the same types of activities, from rocketry to rock climbing. Both are good at selling stuff. So let them sell the benefits of membership along with the cookies and popcorn. Allow the kids to sort out how they want to spend their time, and with whom. Talk about equality, and empowerment.

Whatever happens, the leadership of the Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts need to quickly resolve their dispute and cooperate. They are role models to millions of children. And as everyone knows, scouts promise to be honorable and helpful.

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Former Aurora priest Alfredo Pedraza-Arias asked a federal judge in June for a "voluntary removal" from the United States, a decision Kane County prosecutors suggest he made to evade a trial on charges of sexually abusing two young girls.

That allegation by prosecutors is contained in a third motion seeking to have 51-year-old Arias' bail revoked in order to delay his deportation until after he stands trial beginning Sept. 18.

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Arias has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse stemming from an investigation that authorities said revealed he fondled the girls  who were under the age of 6  at Aurora's Sacred Heart Church between 2012 and 2014.

Arias, charged in 2016, returns to court Friday for a third hearing on his bail.

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Twice since early July Kane County Judge Linda Abrahamson has raised Arias' bail amount at the request of prosecutors in light of the fact Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials took Arias into custody in May as he left a hearing at the Kane County Judicial Center.

At a June federal hearing, Arias asked the judge to remove him from the country, which prompted the judge to issue a deportation order. Kane County prosecutors learned about that request and moved forward with the new motion, court records show.

"By agreeing to voluntary removal, (Arias) is in essence attempting to flee the jurisdiction and avoid trial in the case," Kane County Assistant State's Attorney Reagan Pittman wrote in the latest motion. "At no time did (Arias) request a stay of his deportation proceedings to resolve his current pending criminal charges. (Arias) is trying to use his deportation to avoid trial in this case and is trying to flee the jurisdiction."

Pittman also noted that Arias at one point requested a continuance of a trial date scheduled for July 5, the motion states.

Earlier this month, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman said Arias' temporary religious worker non-immigrant visa was revoked in September 2016 as a result of his indictment.

He was taken into custody while free on his original $50,000 bail. Abrahamson hiked the bail by $100,000 in July, but someone posted Arias' bond within days, which landed the Rockford resident back in custody of immigration officials.

A second request to increase or revoke bail by prosecutors followed soon after to which Abrahamson raised the bail by another $100,000. Arias has remained in the Kane County Jail since July 28, records show.

Prosecutors believe they'll have a better chance to keep Arias in the country for a trial as long as he is held locally, but acknowledged uncertainty as to what would happen if someone posts his bond, and if he is deported.

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Dan Campana is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News
An evidence technician at the Montana State Crime Lab who stole opioids that were being stored as evidence in criminal cases, forcing prosecutors to drop charges against 69 defendants across the state, was given a suspended sentence with community service for his crimes.

As part of the 10-year, fully suspended sentence, Missoula District Court Judge Leslie Halligan told Steven Conrad Brester that he must complete 690 hours of community service, 10 for each of the defendants whose cases were dismissed because evidence against them was tainted by Bresters actions.

Under a plea agreement reached in June, Brester admitted to felonies for tampering with public records and drug possession; another charge of evidence tampering was dismissed. Before joining the crime lab, Brester spent nearly 20 years as a Missoula police officer.

Prosecutors sought a 15-year Department of Corrections sentence, with 10 of those years suspended. Bresters attorney, Mat Stevenson, asked for his client to get a deferred sentence, which if imposed could have eventually been cleared from his record.

At Wednesdays sentencing hearing, crime lab evidence supervisor Emily Wemlinger said after an investigation into Bresters theft of pills, the Montana Attorney Generals Office issued a recommendation to prosecutors across the state to dismiss cases that were tainted. She said another 3,000 cases are still being reviewed.

Because he was an evidence technician, Wemlinger said more than just drug cases were affected by Bresters crimes.

His initials, his name, is on almost every piece of evidence that came into our laboratory, she said.

She said she continues to receive phone calls questioning pieces of evidence that passed through Bresters hands, and has had to testify in a pair of sexual assault cases about why DNA evidence he handled should still be considered valid.

Chief Deputy Missoula County Attorney Jason Marks told Halligan what Brester did was not the same as a nurse pilfering some pills from the hospital.

This is about the damage he did to criminal cases around the state, he said.

Halligan choked up when she imposed the sentence on Brester, saying there is an unfortunate reality that members of law enforcement are viewed as needing to have a greater degree of responsibility for their actions. She said although Brester has no criminal history, she would not give him a deferred sentence.

The crime lab originally sought more than $18,000 in restitution to pay for employees' time investigating Bresters drug thefts. Stevenson argued that no employees had been paid overtime, and that the employees would have received the payment either way, so there was no direct loss that needed to be paid back. Marks eventually withdrew the restitution claim, saying he agreed with Stevensons interpretation of the law.

***

Bresters wife asked Halligan on Wednesday to give her husband another chance. Before his job at the crime lab, which he was fired from in June 2015 after an investigation into his pill theft, Brester was an officer with the Missoula Police Department for nearly 20 years. He was injured on the job when his patrol car was rear ended. His wife said after that injury, Brester became addicted to pain medication.

After news reports about his charges came out, she said Brester tried to kill himself.

Brester told the judge that he should never have taken the crime lab job.

By the time I started work at the crime lab I was in full blown addiction, he said. My addiction took over and stomped on every moral, ethical or legal thoughts.

Stevenson, his attorney, said Brester has maintained sobriety since his charges, and voluntarily sought out treatment.

Despite your addiction you have to be responsible for your actions, Halligan said. I hope that you will be successful. I hope that you will work to right some of the wrongs that you have done.

***

According to court documents in the case, supervisors at the crime lab, which is located in Missoula, told investigators in June 2015 that they believed Brester had been stealing drugs. Brester had reported months earlier that he had lost an oxycodone pill while processing evidence, but a search never found the drug.

After that incident, a supervisor did an audit of the evidence in the crime lab and found two pieces of evidence where hydrocodone pills were missing.

In May 2015, law enforcement agencies around the state began reporting that evidence returned from the lab was missing items, including opioids. An investigation found 18 instances in which Brester created a shipping receipt that didnt have the evidence, then made another showing the items had been sent back to the law enforcement agencies.

The inspection of the evidence vault found that multiple packages of evidence containing opioids had been cut into, and instances where non-opioid pills were substituted in the place of other drugs.
A photograph titled "Simply Stated" by recent Andrew High School graduate Emily Holzinger is on display at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. as well as the Bridgeport Art Center in Chicago. (School District 230 photo)

Recent Andrew High School graduate Emily Holzinger has always had an interest in art. But when she took a black and white photography class her junior year, a passion for art started to grow. And recognition of Holzinger's talent has been growing ever since.

Her photo titled "Simply Stated" is on display at the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. It also can be viewed at the Bridgeport Art Center in Chicago.

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"When I first heard the big news that my photo was going to be hanging in the Capitol Building, I couldn't believe it," Holzinger said. "I felt out of this world. I kept thinking about how many other teen artists I was up against for this prestigious opportunity."

She also had the opportunity to fly to Washington D.C. to view her art. She said it was a rewarding yet humbling experience to see her photo on the wall amongst all the other student artist's work from around the country. Holzinger said its wonderful to know thousands of visitors will get to see her art and pass by it every day.

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Holzinger thanked her art teachers at Andrew for everything they taught her.

Andrew High School graduate Emily Holzinger currently has her art photography on display at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. as well as the Bridgeport Art Center in Chicago. (School District 230 photo)

"They taught me to remember that everyone wants different things and in the future many people will want certain things from me and my art, however, I have to remember to make my art for myself and not anyone else," she said.

Holzinger is very excited to be attending the School of the Art Institute in the fall. Although she has a huge passion for photography, she also wants to get back into sculpting, drawing and print making. She is also looking forward to trying new things as well such as fashion, painting, ceramics and performance arts.

"I am very excited for what the future brings me," Holzinger said.
A few dozen people, including health care professionals and counselors, tuned in as Congressman Bill Foster and others discussed Heroin in Our Community: The Science of Addiction. (Susan DeMar Lafferty / Daily Southtown )

In an attempt to keep people from being unfairly stigmatized, Will County's director of substance abuse initiatives called on the public to "stop using the word addict."

Dr. Kathleen Burke, one of five speakers at a Wednesday morning forum to address the heroin epidemic, said the term "addict" is "derogatory and stigmatizes our folks."

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"People have a medical disease. It is a substance abuse disorder," she said.

Using the term "addict" implies that it is not a medical disease, but a "moral failure," Burke said.

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Burke spoke Wednesday at "Heroin in Our Community: The Science of Addiction," hosted by U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Naperville, at the Will County office building in downtown Joliet.

Those suffering with substance abuse need the support of the community, and to achieve that, people have to change their perception of this disease, officials said.

Burke defined addiction as a "chronic, relapsing brain disease characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences."

According to her data, the heroin epidemic claims 144 lives per day nationally, and resulted in 1,887 deaths in Illinois last year.

Addiction is a "chronic illness that needs to be managed in a holistic way," she said.

People with a substance abuse disorder need treatment, recovery and a "community that allows them to thrive, that supports them and brings acceptance to the table," Burke said.

Heroin has "become the largest epidemic in our history," County Executive Larry Walsh said.

Foster said the epidemic has "claimed too many loved ones, shattered too many lives and ruined many towns."

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It's a disease that "hits everyone" and the public's view that it is a "moral failure" has to be changed, he said.

The congressman said it is a bipartisan fight in Washington D.C., with Congress urging President Donald Trump to adopt the recommendations of the President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, which include easier access to addiction treatment for Medicaid recipients, expanding opportunities for recovery programs, giving doctors more resources to identify patients and offer interventions, and allocating more federal dollars.

"We have the ability to make great programs if we mobilize communities and get federal funding," Foster said.

Also speaking on the topic were Dr. Alex Vargas, assistant professor of neurology at Rush University Medical Center, and Dr. Jennifer Byrd, medical director of the Will County Community Health Center, who explained how and why people get addicted to opiates, and how doctors have become part of the problem.

Unlike alcohol, which can take 20 years to "ruin your life," opiates can "quickly consume your life" in a matter of months, and change the brain, Vargas said.

It "acts so fast" and the "addiction is so strong," he said, adding that people continue to seek out opiates because their brain tells them it is good.

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Users can never recreate their first effect, but they "keep chasing it," he said.

The drug "hijacks the brain's chemistry," and causes people to make "poorer and poorer decisions," Vargas said.

Officials said 80 percent of heroin users started with prescription opioid pain medication.

Byrd said doctors, often constrained by time, find it easier to write a prescription for painkillers than talk to a patient about alternative therapies, such as acupuncture, exercise and relaxation.

"Nondrug treatments do work," she said.

Doctors also are "not doing a good job of explaining the risks" of some pain medications such as Vicodin, Demerol, and Oxycodone, Byrd said. But patients also need to be informed, and ask their doctor for a nonnarcotic or the smallest effective dose, she said.

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Doctors should not provide early refills for narcotics no matter what excuses the patients offer, and they should use the Illinois Prescription Monitoring Program to determine if a patient is "doctor-shopping," Byrd said.

The forum attracted a few dozen people, including many in the health care and counseling professions.

"We have to get the message to doctors. They play a big role in this problem," said Nancy McHugh, of Positive Approach Towards Healing  PATH  a nonprofit support group based in Plainfield.

Upon learning that 144 people die every day from an opioid overdose, Sue Sitton, a retired addiction counselor, said, "When you hear that, you need to take the stigma away and get the community involved."

She agreed with Burke about dropping the word "addict."

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

"We have to change our language to change community perception," Sitton said.

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Rick Matteuci, who traveled from DuPage County, said he was pleased that the panel members are being "progressive" and bringing this issue "out of the darkness."

Will County board member Ray Tuminello, R-New Lenox, said he has a personal interest in this issue because he had a family member who struggled with addiction for several years.

"It's very important for people to understand that a heroin addiction can happen to everyone. It has no boundaries," he said. "The more people understand it, the better we can address it."

"I'm glad people are starting to speak their mind and bring this to the forefront. A lot of people need help. They don't want to be addicted," he said.

slafferty@tribpub.com

Twitter @SusanLaff
Wired magazine calls south suburban Park Forest the most toxic city in the U.S. because of the large volume of hostile online comments made by two people. ( Ted Slowik/Daily Southtown )

A new report that analyzes online comments singles out Park Forest with an unflattering and undeserved distinction.

Wired magazine on Wednesday said a high volume of extremely negative comments made on internet articles originate from Park Forest.

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"The most toxic city in the U.S., where 34 percent of comments are hostile," Wired said. "But 99 percent of those come from just two authors."

Wired called its report "Trolls Across America." Trolls are described as people who like to disrupt, attack and offend other people online. They show up in Facebook threads, in Twitter conversations, on message boards, in the comments sections of online media stories and many other places.

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I think trolls like to provoke reactions from people. They seem to delight in triggering responses that range from anger to hurt.

"Snowflakes" are what trolls call community members who are easily offended by their views. Those who push back can be depicted as hateful bullies who turn antagonists into victims.

It's generally impossible to have a civil conversation with an online troll. If you try to rationally debate the nuances of a policy issue, they'll sometimes hurl insults, or exaggerate their points, or use all manner of "what about" examples to deflect from the actual debate.

Trolls just like to argue. I think some try to bait unsuspecting associates into fits of rage so they'll say something indefensible. Then the troll can point to the commentary  hold it up like the lifeless body of a vanquished foe  and show proof of hypocrisy or lies.

"Look at the disreputable character of the typical person expressing an opposing view," trolls seem to say. "Everybody who holds that view is as despicable as this person."

These are commonly held understandings of the nature of online trolls, who for years lurked among obscure back channels of the internet. President Donald Trump's tendency to publicly make provoking, outrageous comments has emboldened some trolls and driven them more into the open.

The danger, I believe, is that a tiny number of instigators can end up wielding a disproportionate amount of influence. I think this is the case in Park Forest. It doesn't seem fair to label an entire community with such a negative description because of the actions of just two residents.

Wired said it partnered with Disqus, a company that hosts services for website and online communities. Wired said Disqus analyzed 92 million comments over a 16-month period, written by almost 2 million authors on more than 7,000 forums that use Disqus software.

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The analysis does not include comments made on such sites as Facebook and Twitter.

The study attempted to identify trends among hostile online comments. The model defines a toxic comment as "a rude, disrespectful, or unreasonable comment that is likely to make you leave a discussion."

People in Vermont, for example, were found to make the highest proportion of hostile comments. Neighboring New Hampshire was found to be the "least toxic" state in America.

The study also found that people were more likely to make toxic comments at 3 a.m. than any other time of day.

Disqus studied language to measure the toxicity of comments. The Wired story provided an example of what was considered a toxic comment.

"You are a disgusting, subhuman, painfully stupid waste of cells. You are a racist pig, a slime ball," according to Wired.

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I reached out to Disqus and the author of the Wired article, but didn't immediately hear back from them. I wanted to know more about the two authors from Park Forest. I wondered what topics they posted about, and on what websites.

Longtime Park Forest Mayor John Ostenburg said he found the magazine's negative branding of his town "amusing." He said it's ridiculous that two individuals are responsible for 99 percent of the negative comments attributed to the town's residents.

"That's kind of laughable, in my opinion," Ostenburg said.

The mayor added he thinks he might know the identities of the two prolific online authors.

"I think probably all the residents of the village are aware of who the two hostile commentators might be," he said. "We certainly have heard their complaining about virtually everything for years and years now."

I can only assume they offered inflammatory rhetoric about topics frequently in the news: immigration, race relations, Trump's job performance, and the Russia investigations. Maybe they shared their views about jobs and the economy, or health care, or climate change.

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Perhaps they chimed in about same-sex marriage, abortion or religious freedom. Maybe they expressed their opinions about gun control, drugs, or the U.S. role in overseas conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria or North Korea.

Whatever their views, regardless of topic, these two individuals have momentarily branded their community and their nearly 22,000 neighbors as the "most toxic" town in America.

That's a shame, because people I've met from Park Forest are nothing like online trolls. Park Forest values diversity, the village says on its website.

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"The village did not follow the pattern so prevalent in Chicago's neighborhoods and suburbs of white flight and racial resegregation. Today, Park Forest is comprised of residents from all backgrounds and celebrates the rich diversity of the community."

Park Forest's website notes the village has received two All-America City Awards, two Governors Hometown Awards and the Burnham Award for excellence in planning for its downtown redevelopment.

It's been named one of America's Most Livable Suburbs by Forbes Magazine and was ranked third in the nation in affordable housing by Business Insider in 2014.

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The views of a couple people spreading hate and hostility through online comments do not reflect the character of the overwhelming majority of Park Forest residents, in my opinion.

"Most toxic" is a most undeserved description of the community, and I don't think it will stick.

tslowik@tronc.com

Twitter @tedslowik
A desk that once belonged to the late Naperville Sun publisher Harold White and a rocking horse made by Ted Slowik's father are among the columnist's favorite possessions because of the stories behind them. (Ted Slowik / Daily Southtown)

Many older people have acquired a lot of possessions over the years, and there's a lot of hand-wringing about what will become of their stuff after they're gone.

Many younger adults, it seems, show little interest in inheriting things that belonged to their parents.

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"Aging parents with lots of stuff, and children who don't want it," a New York Times headline said Friday. This was just the latest of several articles I've seen on the topic.

"Baby boomers are downsizing  and the kids won't take the family heirlooms," The Boston Globe said in June.

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"Sorry, nobody wants your parents' stuff," Forbes said in February.

"Stuff it: Millennials nix their parents' treasures," The Washington Post said in 2015. The Chicago Tribune published a story on the topic in 2012.

The stories all say the same thing. Kids these days generally don't want antique furniture. They prefer stuff from IKEA. Fine china? Forget about it. There's little interest in ceramic collectibles or kitschy artwork.

Many members of younger generations feel no emotional attachment to items that may have been prized by their parents.

People everywhere of different generations, apparently, are having difficult conversations about what to keep and what to do with belongings that are not kept in the family.

The consensus seems to be children want to cherish a few items of sentimental value: Photo albums, of course; wedding rings and a few other pieces of jewelry; maybe some selected books or vinyl albums.

Options for dealing with unwanted items are fairly limited: Sell them, donate them to charity, or throw them away. The hard part  the task that a lot of people struggle with tackling  is going through everything and sorting it out.

You can hire professionals to help with this, but I think that's a waste of money. I recommend individuals set aside time in the middle of winter and start going through boxes in the attic and basement.

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You'd be surprised at how much you can "thin the herd" by taking on one task at a time. Devote a day to organizing a closet, cleaning a set of shelves or sorting cabinets.

I've helped clean out homes of three close relatives. Obviously, it's much harder to sort through someone's possessions when that person is no longer able to share the story about a piece and how they came to acquire it.

I've found it's better to periodically go through one's own stuff. Decluttering is rewarding on many levels. For one, there's the financial gain of selling some possessions. There's the joy of taking a trip down memory lane and becoming reacquainted with forgotten items and the stories they recall.

I think it's most important to tell loved ones stories about the things that matter most to you. When an object has a family history, that story should be shared. Sometimes it helps to write the story of an item's history.

I took a picture the other day of the office in our home. The space is dominated by a large desk. The desk used to belong to Harold White.

White died in 1993 at age 79. He formerly owned and published the Naperville Sun. I began working for that newspaper in 1998 when the editorial offices were housed in a building at 9 W. Jackson Ave. in downtown Naperville.

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I had answered a help-wanted ad that promised, "long hours, low pay" for a reporter. I had been working in concrete construction for seven years at that point and was desperate to put my journalism degree to better use.

White had died just five years earlier and there were still many writers and editors who knew him well and had worked with him. They told me White used to gather the newsroom together for a coffee break every morning and share toast with them.

Soon after I started working at the Sun, the company announced it was selling the building in downtown Naperville. The space was renovated and now houses Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma stores.

The company that owned the Naperville Sun held a fire sale to liquidate the old newspaper office of all its furnishings and equipment. Operations were moving into a space along Ogden Avenue that had all-new desks, chairs and computers.

One day as the move approached, the late Tim West  longtime Naperville Sun columnist  called me into his office.

"Do you want this desk?" he asked.

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He couldn't take it to the new building, West said, and it was too big for his home office. He told me it was White's desk, and he didn't want to see it thrown out.

I bought the desk for $1. A brother-in-law helped move it to our house in his pickup truck.

White and his wife, Eva, had no children. After they died, their estate was donated to North Central College in Naperville and Lewis University in Romeoville. Buildings at both schools are named after the couple.

They were alumni of North Central, and White was an aviator who used the airport at Lewis. I have connections to both institutions, having graduated from Lewis and worked at North Central.

I never met White, but I feel connected to him. I think his desk is cool. After I'm gone, my kids might not want the big desk. I wouldn't be offended. I just hope it ends up in the hands of someone who knows it belonged to White and who appreciates its history.

In front of the desk is a rocking horse my father made. He made a rocking horse for each of his kids when they had children of their own  his grandchildren.

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He liked to make things out of wood and metal, and he was good at it. Since I'm the youngest of his 12 children, I got the last rocking horse he made. He had pretty much perfected the process by the time he made that one.

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I've always figured that when one of our two children has their first child, we'll give the rocking horse to our son or daughter. That's the one item I hope stays in our family and is passed down for generations to come.

Aside from the desk and the rocking horse, I own a couple guitars I consider special. I'd understand if the kids didn't want them. Wherever they end up, I hope their new owner appreciates the hours of joy they brought me.

There are some writings and original musical recordings I have to go through and edit, but pretty much everything else is just stuff. I feel no particular attachment to power tools, furniture and other belongings.

Clothes are tough to deal with because they're so personal. After our father died, one of my sisters cut up a bunch of his old neckties and sewed miniature quilts for each of her siblings. I thought that was very nice.

The bottom line is, a lot of people probably have some stuff that has little or no value. My advice is, get rid of it. Make it easier for the people who have to decide what to do with it after you're gone. After all, you can't take it with you.

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tslowik@tronc.com

Twitter @tedslowik
The commenter who wrote that he/she was not sorry for voting for President Donald Trump incorrectly blamed former President Barack Obama for a $10 trillion debt. Even the conservative Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget says that claim was an "overstatement to place entire blame on Obama." Cutting revenue and increased spending during the previous administration had much to do with major increases in the debt. Spending was actually down and revenues were up during Obama's term. The Wall Street Journal says that Trump's plan would boost the debt more than Clinton's. Are you sorry now?

Orland Park

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TIF districts, with the intention of boosting economic development in the south suburbs in areas labels blighted, have become all too common. Red flags should be flying and sirens should be sounding in communities repeatedly meeting the requirement of "blight." Taxpayers should be asking their local officials, "What was not done to prevent this, and what are you doing to reverse it?" Earnest efforts will improve home values, increase tax revenues, and attract business. Throwing more borrowed money into a black hole of run down neighborhoods and business districts will not.

Tinley Park

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I certainly don't want to see anyone go out of business, but I'm so glad to see people avoiding the Cook County beverage tax. This is our Tea Party. Enough is enough. I hope this blows up in Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle's face. Not that she'll care. If she doesn't run or loses the next election, she'll just collect at least one pension and get another cushy government job.

I don't know about you but when I go out to eat in Cook County, I order an alcoholic beverage and a glass of water instead of soda. I save on that stupid tax. The alcohol makes me have a better buzz then caffeine in the soda and the water hydrates me.

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In order to help remedy the village's budget shortfall, next month East Dundee residents will start paying a monthly trash pickup fee.

Prior to the Village Board's approval of the ordinance, East Dundee fully subsidized refuse collection fees at a cost of about $365,000 annually, said Village Administrator Jennifer Johnsen.

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But beginning Sept. 1, those living in residential units in the village will pay a monthly service charge of $19.90.

"Previously, (refuse collection) was funded by other general fund revenues," Johnsen said. "However, the village was using cash reserves to balance the budget as the village was not receiving sufficient revenues to cover the cost of operations."

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East Dundee's financial situation "required that the Village Board approve an amended budget which included substantial cuts and modest revenue enhancements," she said.

Village resident Cindy Comstock-Addams has been vocal in her opposition to the new fee. At a recent board meeting, she urged trustees to "keep in mind the fragile populations of people in your community for whom a seemingly small rate increase will add a burden to their already strained budgets."

"I know I am probably a day late and a dollar short but I feel the need to speak up about the trash fee since no one spoke up when the water rates were raised 33 percent last year," she said.

The water rate increase combined with an added $20 a month for trash collection totals more than 5.5 percent of her income, Comstock-Addams said.

"For those people in town without a disposable income these service costs can add up fast and cut into their budget for other basic needs. I would like you to keep this in mind when considering increases that affect East Dundee residents," she said.

The ordinance includes a sunset provision requiring the village board to revisit the fee on an annual basis, Johnsen said.

Village President Lael Miller said he considers the additional charge a temporary solution.

"The home rule sales tax has not gone up by anywhere near what it had been anticipated but we are encouraged that there is a lot of development coming to the village this year and next year and we anticipate our revenues to be in a much stronger position next year," Miller said. "The village will absolutely make every attempt to fund this through other measures in the future."

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The fee will appear on residents' bi-monthly water and sewer bills and village residents who are 65 and older will be given a 25 percent discount.

The first year, the discount will be a rebate and appear as a credit on their utility bill, according to village documents. Eligible senior residents must be named on the water bill and have until April 30, 2018, to register as a rebate. In subsequent years, the discount will take effect the first month after the application for the senior discount is received and approved. The application form is available at Village Hall or online at www.eastdundee.net.

The rebate will also apply to Village Green and Gardiner Place residents who are 65 or older.

Erin Sauder is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
Peter Mangan, part of the original group to keep backyard chickens in Elgin, kept this chick under a heat lamp in the basement of his family's home until it was ready to live outside in a backyard coop. (Mike Danahey / The Courier-News )

Up to 300 more chickens eventually could be living legally within Elgin backyards, as the City Council moved along an amendment to an existing ordinance Wednesday night.

By a 9-0 vote, the Council agreed to expand the number of households able to obtain the required licensing for keeping up to four chickens living in coops that must also be permitted and set up under certain parameters in backyards. The council could vote on the matter Sept. 13.

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Council member Tish Powell noted that the trial chicken-keeping program Elgin launched in 2015 was controversial at the time, but, despite not having any pets herself, she supported.

"This is for people who are serious about keeping chickens and for doing it the right way," Powell said.

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Council member Terry Gavin said he had been in favor of having the trial program until he heard from many residents who were against allowing such. But there have been no complaints received by the city about the legally kept fowl and the program has not been a burden on staff.

"It's worked out well," Gavin said.

Council member Carol Rauschenberger and Gavin agreed that allowing limited chicken-keeping provided people opportunity for "taking control of their own food system," as Rauschenberger put it.

Rauschenberger recalled that the trial grew out of an appeal from 15 residents to the city's Sustainability Commission in 2014.

The program was modified to allow chicks to be kept indoors until big enough to live safely outside in cooped enclosures, and grew from 15 homes to 25 homes for 2016, with a wait list created.

Elgin Communications Specialist Molly Center, who also serves as the Sustainability Coordinator, told the Council that the wait list stood at eight homes at the end of last year but has grown to 34 during 2017. Responding to a question from Council member Corey Dixon, Center said people have been on the list for as long as 18 months.

Center said the expansion to 100 households permitted to have chickens allows all those now on the wait list to participate while providing a manageable number of spots for city staff to oversee.

"This limit prevents the program from expanding too rapidly and allows for more effective enforcement for those households not in the program," according to a memo for the meeting.

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Elgin Communications Specialist and Sustainability Coordinator Molly Center looks over a photo of an Elgin home that has a backyard chicken coop at the Elgin City Council meeting Wednesday night. (Mike Danahey / The Courier-News)

The meeting material also notes that Batavia, Downers Grove, Evanston, Naperville, St. Charles and West Dundee don't limit the number of chicken-keeping permits they issue, while Decatur and Chicago require no permits to build chicken coops.

At least two people at the meeting were happy with the Council's decision.

Audrey Hinchley said she and her family decided to move from Streamwood to Elgin's west side in part because Elgin permits having backyard chickens. Hinchley was at the Wednesday meeting with her 7-year-old daughter, Claire, and saw having backyard chickens as a way to provide eggs as well as a learning experience for her family.

She asked Center to add her name to the list of the people interested in being among the next Elgin residents to keep the birds.

mdanahey@tribpub.com
Marthe Cohn, right, shared her story Tuesday in Elgin. The 97-year-old is a Holocaust survivor, a former spy for the French during World War II, and a former nurse. (Rafael Guerrero / The Courier-News )

It was pure coincidence Marthe Cohn, a 97-year-old Holocaust survivor and former World War II spy for the French, was speaking to the Elgin Jewish community only two weeks after the Charlottesville protests put a spotlight on white nationalism, racism and anti-Semitism.

Rabbi Mendel Shemtov, of the Chabad Jewish Center of Elgin, called her appearance "divine providence" Tuesday. Now more than ever, people in Elgin and across the U.S. need to hear Cohn's story of survival and heroism, he said.

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"To see and observe what has happened, knowing what's happening will help us move forward," Shemtov said.

When asked whether she had advice for those dealing with anti-Semitic rhetoric today, Cohn kept her words minimal, but her message echoed with the crowd.

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"Resist, be engaged, that's all I can tell," she said. "I cannot tell you how to do it, because you have to find your own way."

The speech, which was booked months ago, followed an unrelated rally against hate Friday that drew a crowd chanting 'No hate, no KKK, no fascist USA' outside Elgin City Hall.

Cohn's two-hour appearance at The Centre of Elgin focused on her story of growing up in Nazi-occupied Europe, the trials her family underwent, and how she helped gather intelligence on the Germans toward the end of the war.

"The lesson from her story I hope they get is that the actions of one individual, who wasn't trying to act heroic, can make a difference," Shemtov said.

Cohn lived across the German border in France during the 1930s when Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany rose to become a world power and menace to Europe and beyond. Her family would not stay intact, as Cohn and her parents would make it to unoccupied France but her sister remained in jail. Eventually, they would learn Cohn's sister was sent to Auschwitz, the Nazi concentration camp in which hundreds of thousands were killed.

There were opportunities to get her sister out of jail prior to her transfer to Auschwitz, said Cohn. Her sister refused and insisted on staying to help children imprisoned with her, as she was a medical student and could provide some medical assistance.

"When we  the family  organized so she could escape the camp, she refused because...she felt that what she was doing was too important," Cohn said.

In the last year of the conflict in Europe, Cohn was recruited to gather intelligence for the French army. Cohn, then in her 20s, posed as a German nurse looking for her fictional fiance, when in fact she interrogated German military on whether the Germans were retreating or not.

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As she told those in attendance Tuesday, few ever questioned her identity  she looked like a German and spoke like one, too.

"It was extremely important for the allied armies to learn the plan of retreat of the Germans from France to Germany," Cohn said. "You have to understand that all armies have a plan of retreat as they have a plan of attack. Because you never know how things will turn out."

Her involvement in World War II has been greatly recognized, even though she said it took her five decades to come out with details that she didn't even share with some loved ones. On hand Tuesday were the medals and commendations given to Cohn throughout the years. Among the many recognitions she has received includes the Croix de Guerre, France's highest military honor.

Much like other French Jewish survivors during World War II and Nazi-occupied France, Cohn said she was resilient. Her story captivated the nearly 300 in attendance at the community center Tuesday, just as she has done in other public appearances throughout the years or in her book, "Behind Enemy Lines: The True Story of a French Jewish Spy in Nazi Germany."

"In France, 75 percent of Jews survived (the Holocaust)," Cohn said. The reason so many French survived was "because so many French risked their lives" to assist as many victims as possible, she added.

raguerrero@tribpub.com
Evanston police said a Chicago man is in custody in connection with the shooting death of Hamza Hammouis, an incident that marked the north suburb's first homicide of the year.

A 26-year-old Chicago man was arrested Friday afternoon, said police Commander Joseph Dugan.

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He is currently charged with felony unlawful use of a weapon "due to having a gun on his person when he was taken into custody," Dugan said.

As of Wednesday, the man was being held at Cook County Jail on $150,000 bond, according to information from the Cook County Sheriff's Department.

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The Evanston Review is not identifying the suspect by name because he has not been charged in relation with the homicide, as of Wednesday.

Police cited the ongoing investigation and said no other details about the arrest are available at this time.

Hammouis, 25, was shot around 2:45 a.m. Aug. 14 on the corner of Howard Street and Chicago Avenue in Evanston, according to police release.

He was taken to Presence Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston where he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving.

The Cook County medical examiner's office ruled Hammouis's death a homicide Aug. 15 following an autopsy.

The suspect reportedly shot Hammouis one time in the head before fleeing north on Chicago Avenue on foot, according to a police news release about the incident.

Dugan confirmed at the time that the death was Evanston's first homicide of 2017.

Hammouis had just moved to the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago in July with his wife, Jennifer Hess, whom he married in June, she said.

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He was a native of Paris and held dual citizenship in France and Morocco, French consulate officials confirmed.

According to Hess, the newlyweds and Hammouis's sister had gone out that Aug. 14 morning to take photos of the city when Hammouis encountered the suspect.

"There's nothing to show the knew each other at all," Dugan said a day after the shooting.

Officials said Hammouis had no known gang ties nor any previous contact with law enforcement.

gbookwalter@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @GenevieveBook
Ciera Q. Davis (far left) with her son, William. Farid S. Rakin (right) was arrested in connection with Davis' slaying. (Davis family / Waukegan Police Department)

A Waukegan man who has eluded capture for months on a warrant for homicide was arrested Tuesday at a hotel in Racine, Wis., and is being held in lieu of $3 million bail.

Farid Rakin, 48, of Waukegan, was named in a warrant June 5 for one count of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated battery with a firearm in connection with the shooting death of Ciera Q. Davis, 24, of the 2800 block of Glen Flora, Waukegan, Comdr. Joe Florip said.

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He said information was developed that Rakin was at a Racine area motel and Waukegan detectives, along with members of the U.S. Marshals Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force (GLRFTF), took him into custody without incident.

He is in Racine County jail and is awaiting extradition to Illinois, Florip said.

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The murder investigation has taken some twists, with police issuing a similar warrant for a Wisconsin woman who was taken into custody, then all charges were dropped and the focus centered on Rakin.

According to Lake County Coroner Howard Cooper, Davis died of multiple gunshot wounds she sustained as she started to drive her car away from a house party at 4:30 a.m. June 5 in the 1600 block of 11th Street.

Her vehicle was in the middle of the road, and both the passenger- and driver-side windows were shot out, according to police. Davis was taken by a friend to the hospital, where she died.

At a vigil a few days later in front of the site of the house party, an emotionally drained Sabrina Curtis, Davis' mother, said, "She meant everything to me. She meant everything to me. I taught her love. She shared love. She did love."

Curtis made her comments as more than 100 people showed up to honor her daughter with balloons, candles and memorial stickers.

"This is her son," Curtis shouted, referring to William Davis, 6. "He's sweet. He asks for my phone to call her.

"It's about him. He has no mother now," she said, before directing a comment toward her daughter's killer. "I hope you turn yourself in, because there is no rock you can hide under."

fabderholden@tribpub.com

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Twitter @abderholden
Two more young men were arrested this week in connection with an Aug. 16 daytime shooting in Zion, a block from an elementary school, in which the two victims drove themselves to the police station.

Zion Police Chief Stephen Dumyahn said the incident was a result of a planned drug robbery where the four suspects had planned to steal a half-ounce of marijuana from the two victims.

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"It was a planned drug robbery," he said, adding that all the suspects are now under arrest.

He said the meeting between the suspects and victims was to arrange a pick-up. The half-ounce of marijuana was not located, he said.

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The latest suspects  Kyle Q. Wright, 22, of the 1700 block of Grove Avenue, North Chicago, and Darius M. Hill, 19, of the 2300 block of Joanna Avenue, Zion  were both named in warrants with $500,000 bail on charges of armed robbery, aggravated battery with a firearm and two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm, according to reports.

Dumyahn said his department enlisted the help of the Lake County Sheriff's Office Warrants Division and the United States Marshals Service  Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force after obtaining warrants for the pair.

Police developed information indicating Wright was staying at a friend's home in the 3000 block of Arthur Court, Waukegan, and he was arrested without incident on Tuesday by the Lake County Sheriff's Warrants Team, and is in Lake County jail, according to a release from the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

On Wednesday, the Warrants Team obtained information indicating Hill was aware of the arrest warrant and fled Illinois to avoid apprehension, but it located him in a trailer park in the 9000 block of Sheridan Road, Kenosha, Wis., the report said.

The Lake County Sheriff's K9 unit is on the scene of a shooting and manhunt for four Aug. 16 in Zion, after two people were reportedly shot and transported to an area hospital where at least one was flown out in critical condition. (Joe Shuman / Chicago Tribune )

Hill tried to escape through a window of the trailer as officers entered the trailer, but members of both teams were able to capture him. Hill was transported to the Kenosha County jail and is awaiting an extradition hearing, according to the report.

The other two suspects in the case are Tyrique D. Friar and Cody M. Longo, both of Zion, who were also charged with aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated discharge of a firearm and armed robbery, reports said. The first two charges are class X felonies and the third is a class 1 felony. Bail for each was set at $500,000, according to authorities.

The suspects were charged in connection with a shooting of two men at about 11:30 a.m. Aug. 16 at 24th Street and Jopa Avenue. The victims drove themselves to the police station, where one was taken by helicopter to a hospital and the other was transported by ambulance, police said.

Dumyahn said the 18- and 25-year-old victims were taken to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville and both remained in the hospital Thursday, but were expected to be released soon.

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He said a gun was recovered from a home in the 2300 block of Joannna Avenue to which some of the suspects fled, just around the corner from the intersection where the shooting occurred. West Elementary School is located a block away at 2412 Jethro Avenue and is part of Zion Elementary School District 6. School was not in session at the time of the shooting.

fabderholden@tribpub.com

Twitter @abderholden
Sylvia Sims Bolton was appointed Waukegan's 1st Ward alderman Aug. 21, filling the seat left vacant when Sam Cunningham became the city's mayor in May. (Emily K. Coleman/News-Sun)

A clinical therapeutic counselor with the Gateway Foundation and anger management educator at the Lake County jail has been named Waukegan's new 1st Ward alderman.

The City Council voted unanimously this week to approve Sylvia Sims Bolton to fill the seat left vacant when Sam Cunningham, who had served as the ward's alderman for 18 years, was elected the city's next mayor in April.

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"She is a long-time resident and an incredibly capable individual and, most important, she's a wonderful person," Cunningham said ahead of Monday's vote.

As a child, Bolton moved to Waukegan where she attended what was then Carman Elementary School, Webster Junior High School and Waukegan West High School, according to a biography provided by the city.

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She moved back into the 1st Ward 19 years ago when she was selected as a Habitat for Humanity partner, and helped volunteers renovate the house that would become her home, she said.

"I just wanted to improve my life for myself and my children," Bolton said. "I was a single parent. I wanted to own my own home."

The move happened while she was pursuing her undergraduate work, said Bolton, who has three grown children and seven grandchildren. She recently married David Bolton.

Sylvia Sims Bolton (right) is sworn in by City Clerk Janet Kilkelly to become Waukegan's 1st Ward alderman on Aug. 21, 2017. (Emily K. Coleman/News-Sun)

Sylvia Sims Bolton has an associate's degree from the College of Lake County in counseling, a bachelor's degree in behavioral science from National Lewis University, a master's degree in organizational leadership from Dominican University and an honorary doctorate degree in practical counseling from Open Arms Bible College and Seminary.

According to a biography provided by Bolton, she currently works as a therapeutic clinical addiction counselor for Gateway Foundation in Lake Villa and as a chaplain and educator at the Lake County jail with Nicasa, formerly known as the Northern Illinois Council Against Substance Abuse.

She's never served in an elected position before, but has volunteered as an local elections judge in the past, she said.

Bolton, who plans on running for the seat when it's up for eleciton in April 2019, said she thinks the skills she's learned through her work, her "people person" personality and her connections to the community will help make her a good alderman.

"I'm interested in the residents and empowering them for one thing  helping my community improve," she said. "I'd like to see better communication between residents and city officials. I'd to improve safety, less violence, less drug activity, less prostitution. I'd like to see the businesses collaborate together in supporting the community, and I'd definitely like to see the church community to come together and support the residents there."

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Her plan is to get businesses and churches working together and playing a more visible role in the community through block parties and events designed to help residents come together, she said.

"I think if we could get everyone on the same page instead of reinventing the wheel, that would build us a stronger community," Bolton said. "We won't be so divided."

emcoleman@tribpub.com

Twitter @mekcoleman
Parents and staff at Waukegan School District 60 school help students find their new classrooms and get settled on the first day of school. (Yadira Sanchez Olson / News-Sun)

An army of well-wishers and supporters rallied behind Waukegan District 60 students on their return to school Thursday.

The mothers and fathers, grandparents and caretakers who took their students to school in the early morning were met by the city's firefighters, police officers and even Mayor Sam Cunningham, who were stationed at all of the school buildings across the district to welcome back the families, along with staff.

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The district coordinated a Million Father March with city leaders to show students that the entire community is invested in their education, said Carolina Fabian, family and community engagement manager.

The effort focused on fathers and father figures taking kids to school, but also invited all family members to show up in support.

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Osvaldo Aguirre took the day off from work to accompany his wife Araceli to drop off their three children at elementary, middle and high school.

"I think it's important that we let them see how happy we are that they're back at school, because it's a good thing to be back where you can learn things and make new friends," he said.

The two parents laughed as they recounted their busy morning, and said they were relieved the hectic drop-off time was over.

"There was a lot of running around," Araceli Aguirre said. "No one wanted to go to bed early yesterday."

Waukegan School District 60 students go back to school Thursday, Aug. 24. (Yadira Sanchez Olson / News-Sun)

Oakdale Elementary on McAree Road was the last stop of many for Fire Chief George Bridges, who by then had passed out more stickers and had given more high-fives to kids than he cared to count.

With a smile, Bridges and Deputy Fire Marshall Todd Zupec wished students a good day at the elementary school.

"We're here to support them. Their first day of school is important to us," Bridges said.

Minutes before the morning bell rang at Oakdale, the organized chaos began to fade as parents spotted their children's teachers and made their way to a line outside the school building.

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Straightening out shirt collars, tightening up pony tails and giving a last look over at lunch boxes and backpacks, the farewells began.

Some kids got kisses and hugs, while others who might have felt too self-conscious or too grown for that type of affection only accepted a pat on the shoulder and a wave goodbye.

A number of students were teary-eyed and others cheerfully greeted their schoolmates and teachers, leaving another summer break behind without trepidation.

Although there's no way of knowing exactly how many people showed up to each school to escort a student, Fabian said staff would convene in the afternoon to discuss the strategy of the Million Father March and see what worked and what did not.

"We want to keep the excitement of being back at school going beyond the first day and throughout the school year," Fabian said.

Designated staff members at each school recruited parents Thursday morning to commit to at least 30 minutes of volunteer time during the first semester.

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Three-year-old Daniela Cruz makes her way to school on the first day of classes at Oakdale Elementary in Waukegan on Thursday, Aug. 24. (Yadira Sanchez Olson / News-Sun)

Yadira Sanchez Olson is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
Symbols of the Confederate States of America have emerged as contemporary political targets, and the word "target" in this case has at least two meanings  a topic of intense debate and the focus of despicable violence.

In Charlottesville, Va., the local council voted to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a public park. Opponents of the decision went to court and secured a six-month delay in the move.

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The standoff has made that particular monument a symbol for both supporters and opponents of the political-social activist goal of taking down statues honoring Confederate leaders. As usual, the mass media guarantee national and international attention to what began as a local event, feeding as well as highlighting developments.

On Aug. 12 in Charlottesville, a car drove into a crowd protesting a pro-statue rally that included white nationalists and other fringe groups. The driver killed young civil rights activist Heather Heyer and injured 19 others, some seriously. Violence has punctuated the ongoing opposing demonstrations in Charlottesville and elsewhere.

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This is a controversy rooted in history, though there is precious little calm and serious discussion of the genesis in today's dangerous conflict, or even of the creation of the Confederate statues. In our contemporary environment of nonstop "news" and associated speculative talk, driven relentlessly by profit concerns, serious analysis is more important than ever.

This is particularly the case since the historical issues are profound, including first and foremost the issue of slavery. Distinguished Princeton University historian James McPherson has spent his career studying, researching and insightfully writing about the Civil War. Years ago, he wrote an essay on the causes of the terrible war, the most costly for Americans in our history, which took more than 600,000 lives. "Southern Comfort" appeared in "The New York Review of Books" April 12, 2001. The anchor of the essay is a review of three new books on the causes and circumstances that led to the war.

Lake County News Sun Twice-weekly News updates from Lake County delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

McPherson begins by quoting President Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address in early 1865, which included the statement that slavery "was, somehow, the cause of the war." At this point, the South was clearly losing the war. A Union army under Gen. William Sherman had taken Atlanta, devastated the rich agricultural economy of Georgia and was heading north through the Carolinas. Gen. Ulysses Grant had Lee's army tied down and slowly bleeding to death in trenches south of Richmond.

When the war began, Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Vice President Alexander Stephens and other secession leaders had publicly declared maintaining slavery was paramount among incentives, but after the war that changed. The rights and sovereignty of individual states, a main sticking point for the framers of the U.S. Constitution, suddenly became central reasons for trying to leave the Union.

As McPherson describes, mythical alternative history termed "The Lost Cause" took hold in the South and to a degree the North. During this period, statues honoring the Confederacy emerged. The Charlottesville statue of Lee appeared in 1924.

Ironically, Lee strongly opposed such monuments. As Chris Boyette of CNN and others point out, he felt the symbols "keep open the sores of war."

Even more important, Lee was crucial in ending the Civil War. When Federal cavalry trapped his retreating army, there was strong sentiment for disbanding and carrying on a guerrilla war. That would have maintained fighting for many years, conceivably into our own time.

Lee rejected the option as dishonorable.

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Arthur I. Cyr is Clausen Distinguished Professor at Carthage College and author of "After the Cold War." Contact acyr@carthage.edu
A map from 1783, depicting how explorers viewed Canada and the Great Lakes Region, has been donated by a Naperville man to the Forest Preserve District of Will County. (George Ritzlin Antique Maps)

A map depicting how explorers believed Canada and the Great Lakes Region looked 234 years ago has a new home in a Will County museum, courtesy of a Naperville geographer.

Self-described "map enthusiast" Joe Kubal recently donated a French map from 1783 to the Forest Preserve District of Will County's Isle a la Cache Museum in Romeoville, according to a forest preserve district news release.

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The map depicts the area where fur traders were active in the 1700s, a topic celebrated in museum exhibits.

"This is one of my favorite maps," Kubal said. "It has a lot of historic value."

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The hand-colored map is an updated version of a drawing originally created in 1703 by French cartographer Guillaume De L'Isle, according to George Ritzlin, a friend of Kubal's and owner of an Evanston antique map and print company.

"It went through a number of editions," Ritzlin told forest preserve district officials. "J. Dezauche issued a revised version in 1783, which used the name 'Etats Unis' (United States) for the recently independent former British colonies."

De L'Isle was considered one of the best mapmakers of his time because he was skilled in evaluating information that came to him from explorers and others who had been to faraway lands, Ritzlin said.

"This was at a time when much of the world was little known," Ritzlin said.

De L'Isle was "fortunate to have many sources on our region as the French controlled much of the northeastern North America," he said. Reports and details were provided by "missionaries, traders, governmental officials and (other) travelers to the area," he said.

Chris Gutmann, facility supervisor for Isle a la Cache, said the map is on display now.

"Ever since I met Joe (Kubal), he has been a dedicated supporter of forest preserves," Gutmann said. "The map he donated shows many of the prime trading grounds for the fur trade era.

"And it's in remarkable shape for how old it is. It's neat to see how North America was thought to look back then."

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Kubal, a member of the Chicago Map Society, started collecting maps 30 years ago after meeting Ritzlin.

He was instrumental in providing the official name for a hard-to-find, naturally occurring waterfall in the 2,500-acre Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve near Darien.

Kubal and two colleagues in 2014 had the U.S. Geological Survey's Board on Geographic Names formally name the 8-foot-high waterfall as Canyon Creek Falls. It is believed to be the only naturally occurring waterfall in DuPage County.

The map can be viewed at the museum, 501 E. 135th St., from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.

wbird@tribpub.com
Culver School Principal Peggie Maniscalo of Niles School District 71 greets children with hugs and high-fives Aug. 23, 2017, on the first day of school. (Mike Isaacs/Pioneer Press )

Several Niles Township elementary schools welcomed thousands of students for the first day of classes Wednesday under clear skies and mild temperatures  as if the perfect back-to-school weather had been ordered up.

"This is the best part of my day," said Culver School Principal Peggie Maniscalo of Niles School District 71, waiting for the first buses to arrive for the school's 7:55 a.m. start. "Truly, this is the best part of my day. I love it. It's a great way to start your day, see the kids, and I get lots of hugs."

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As if on cue, minutes later children were filing off of buses and delivering high-fives and hugs to the principal, who said she has been with the district for 18 years.

Some schools began their return with half or partial days, but not Culver.

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Maniscalo said she is not a big believer in that.

"I'm of the belief that let's just get into it, get them used to it, and we can ease them into the routine inside the school," she said.

Maniscalo was not the only one waiting for the buses in Niles Wednesday morning. So, too, were Culver seventh graders Yanna Grammas and Sofia Ziatkovic, but they were ready to board them and head to Niles West High School for an honors algebra class.

Grammas said she looks forward to seeing people again on the first day of school but not to summer ending. Still, she said, starting school as a full day makes more sense to her because the day is "pretty easy," she said.

Many Niles Township districts held social events prior to the opening of school so that children are eased back into school life, educators said.

Typical of such events was a Popsicle Social held Monday at District 68's Highland School in Skokie. Families spread across the Highland playground where Popsicles were handed out. Some children met their teachers for the first time, others headed straight for the playground equipment to continue their summer fun.

"It's much better than just showing up and not knowing anyone," said Raluca Brandusa, parent of second grader Luca Serac. "It reduces the anxiety of the kids. He loves this. It's a sense of community."

Sponsored by the Highland School Parent Teacher Association, the event was made possible by volunteers who continued delivering icy treats to the children for its duration.

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"This event has been going on for only three years," said Daniel Galvin, whose wife, Katie, was a volunteer, handing out the treats. "It's really nice because it gives children a chance to be at the school and see some of their friends and meet some of their teachers before the bell officially rings."

The Galvins said they especially appreciate easing kids into school this year since they have four of them  all of whom are attending Highland.

misaacs@pioneerlocal.com

@SKReview_Mike
I am worried that I am a victim of a scam. I answered an ad for a quality manager on Indeed.com, which turned out to be a reshipping job where you work from your own home reshipping packages. I applied and was given several fast replies and requests for signatures to get me started working. After giving them all of my information on a W-4 form and signing a contract, I talked to someone at the company and didn't feel good about it. Something did not seem right, so I Googled them and got a lot of info regarding reshipping scams. I'm going to send them a letter stating that I'm no longer interested in employment with their company. What do I do about them having all of my personal information?

Priscilla, Chicago

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I first contacted Indeed.com to ask what its policies and penalties are with regard to identifying scam job postings at its site. Company spokesperson Tara Lambropoulos sent this reply:

"Indeed has a team dedicated to the Search Quality effort that employs a variety of techniques to review job advertisements to determine their suitability. With millions of jobs appearing on Indeed every day, it is possible that a job may be posted which is improper in some way. Indeed reserves the right to remove any postings that do not meet our standards and we encourage job seekers to report any suspect job advertisements to us, or if they feel it necessary, to make a report to the police."

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For additional advice, I turned to Alison Doyle, job search expert at TheBalance.com. Her biggest piece of advice was this: "The most important thing for job seekers to remember is that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Carefully check out jobs and employers before you apply, if you have any doubt the position is legitimate. An easy way to do that is to search Google with the company name and the word 'scam.' If there are reports of scams, they should show up in the search results."

In response to Priscilla's question about what she should do next, Doyle offered the following advice:

 File a report with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (www.ic3.gov). IC3 is a joint effort between the FBI, National White Collar Crime Center and Bureau of Justice Assistance that accepts online internet crime complaints. In addition to your name and contact information, and the name and contact information of the suspected fraudulent company, you will have to provide a detailed description of how, why and when you believe you were defrauded.

 File a report with the Federal Trade Commission (www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov). The FTC collects complaints about companies, business practices and identity theft. In fact, specific to Priscilla's concerns, there is an alert box at the top of the FTC Complaint Assistant page that states, "Concerned about how a company is handling your personal information? Click here to report privacy concerns. (Use the Identity Theft category to report identity theft.)"

 Report the company to the Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org). You can search the BBB site for complaints against the company and file your own complaint online.

 Report a fraudulent website to Google (bit.ly/2xgPz0U). If you believe you've encountered a website that looks like it is an attempt to steal users' personal information, report it on Google's "Report Phishing Page."

Doyle offered these proactive pointers as well:

 Do not pay money  for anything. Legitimate companies don't charge for software, work-at-home directories, advice on getting hired or anything else related to a job.

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 Be wary if a company contacts you out of the blue. It would be highly unusual to be offered an actual job without first conducting one or more interviews with a company representative(s).

 Look for poorly written emails. Real companies hire professionals who can write. If the email contains spelling, capitalization, punctuation or grammatical mistakes, be on your guard.

 Never deposit a check then return or transfer money to another account under the pretext a check was written in excess of the amount you were owed. Such checks are almost always fake.

Need help?

Send your questions, complaints, injustices and column ideas to HelpSquad@pioneerlocal.com.

Cathy Cunningham is a freelance columnist.
Hundreds of people at "A Call to Unity" event in Northbrook Wednesday heard exhortations to fight racism, concerns about white supremacy and rejections of violence but they didn't hear the name "Donald Trump."

The president has been under fire for his statements in the aftermath of the "Unite the Right" rally on Aug. 12 in Charlottesville, Va., in which he said "many sides" were to blame for violence that included the death of a woman protesting white supremacists.

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But Rabbi Aaron Melman said, prior to the event at his temple, Congregation Beth Shalom, that he wanted to keep the "Call to Unity" evening apolitical. The inferences, however, were clear.

"Rambam, the great medieval rabbi, said if you don't condemn it, you condone it. We know that silence is lethal and meekness is inexcusable," said Beth Shalom Assistant Rabbi Ari Averbach.

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Melman said that "sometimes there aren't two sides to the story. Sometimes, being neutral or splitting the difference is the wrong thing to do."

He also referenced Trump's statement that some "very fine people," who Trump said were not all racists, had attended the rally.

"The white supremacists displayed nothing but pure evil  the white supremacists had not a fine person in their midst," Melman said. "I don't think anyone (who is a good person) walks around carrying a tiki torch, chanting 'You will not replace us.' 'Jews will not replace us.' 'Blood and soil.' I don't think those are fine people."

The Rev. Mark Smith, of Spates Temple Church of God in Elgin, said in his speech that love was the best response to hatred.

"When we see what is happening in our country, when we see the depravity of others, that is when God calls upon  each one of us: You must stand up and show this world what love is, even when you don't feel like showing it," Smith said.

Cantor Steven Stoehr hugs the Rev. Mark Smith at the conclusion of Wednesday evenings A Call For Unity event at Congregation Beth Shalom in Northbrook. (Brian O'Mahoney / Pioneer Press )

Several politicians, including State Rep. Elaine Nekritz, D-56, and Northbrook Village President Sandy Frum, took the stage at the Call to Unity event, but they steered away from politics.

"I am the daughter of an immigrant. I am the wife of an immigrant. I am the mother of a son who went to West Point and served five years in the Army," Frum said. "I have a very personal perspective of what's going in our country over the last couple of weeks. In my town, in your town, in Northbrook, there is no place for hatred. There is no place for violence. There is no place for discrimination."

Her statement drew the loudest applause of the evening.

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Many attendees were members of the temple at 3433 Walters Ave.

Charlotte Stern, of Northbrook, said she appreciated the speeches.

"I was very surprised with the size of the crowd," she said. "I think we formed community."

Former Northbrook Village Clerk Lona Louis, a Methodist, said she came to the temple because she "wanted to express myself by my presence."

She said she her attendance was a statement about her beliefs.

"I am not a bigot, a racist, and so forth," Louis said. "This is my small demonstration."

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Another Methodist, Northbrook's Alice Lonoff, said she was there because she believed "everybody should stand up." She said the only negative was that "it should have been last week."

Two temple security guards were joined in protecting the gathering by by two on-duty Northbrook Police officers, parked in squad cars at the temple entrances. There were no incidents, the security team reported after the event.

Former U.S. Rep. Bob Dold, a Republican, attended but wasn't a speaker.

"We need leadership in this country to bring us together. There is no room in this country for white supremacy," Dold said afterward.

In response to a question, he added, "No, we have not gotten that leadership from the top. We need much more firm condemnation of this type of behavior."

Earlier, Imam Hazim Fazlic, of Northbrook's Islamic Cultural Center, reflected in his speech on the story of the angel Iblis  also known as Satan  who refused to bow down to Adam after his creation and so was then condemned, according to the Quran.

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"I'm better than him. You created me from fire, and you created him from soil, from earth," the imam quoted Iblis as saying.

"The rationale ... of those that say that they are better than others is" faulty, Fazlic said. "The best among you are the ones who are most fearful of God, and not the ones who think they are best because of the color of their skin and of the place they were born."

Jocelyn Reynolds of the Baha'is of Northbrook, said her religious tradition teaches that all humans are one.

"Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch," she recited from the writings of Baha'u'llah, her faith's founder. "We cherish the hope that the light of justice may shine upon the world and save it from tyranny."

ileavitt@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter @IrvLeavitt
I've always liked to joke that I'm a closet Taylor Swift fan, but after her recent victory in a trial about whether a former DJ groped her, I feel I must go public with my admiration of the pop star.

That she is an amazing young woman there is no doubt. She's combined what, in my opinion, are mostly average songs (some being very good) with an average voice and a highly curated look, and has made gobs of money.

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Her young fans are devoted to her. They wait breathlessly for her new music. They try to deduce meaning from her songs that appear to me to have none beyond the latest breakup with her various boyfriends.

The hang on her every song and every performance. They connect with her and admire her.

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And that's why I think what she has done is so important.

Here's a superstar that could easily stay away from controversy. She could easily stay away from the publicity. She could walk away from the incident and get on with her life. Swift was only 23 when the sex assault occurred.

But she didn't. And I like to think she didn't because she knows she is an example to so many young girls who admire her and want to be like her.

Through Swift's example, perhaps girls and young women will have more confidence and strength to press for charges when something like that happens to them. Maybe they'll have the courage to do what Swift has done, to hold their assailant accountable for his actions.

If you missed what happened in the wake of President Trump's latest controversy, Russia, Charlottesville, Va., and the eclipse, let me fill you in.

After giving a concert in Denver in June 2013, Swift met backstage for pictures including one with a local radio station's DJ. During the photo op, Swift claimed the DJ grabbed her on her rear end. Swift's security team soon accused the DJ of groping the star, and he was subsequently fired from his job.

The DJ then sued Swift for damages, claiming her wrongful accusation led to his firing and loss of income. Swift then countersued, which resulted in the trial earlier this month.

The jury found in favor of the pop star and awarded her $1.

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During testimony, the DJ claimed he was trying to reach around Swift and maybe touched her rib. I've seen the photo that was taken of the group and the DJ's hand is nowhere near Swift's rib. As a matter of fact, his hand is placed where no self-respecting gentleman would ever put his hand when posing with a young woman.

During her testimony, Swift was a star witness, clear and confident about what happened, and how she was not responsible for the consequences that befell the DJ from his bad behavior.

After the trial, she said she would soon be making donations to organizations that help sexual assault victims defend themselves.

That's why I think what she's doing is great. And that's why I've gone public as a real fan.

I'm not going to start attending her concerts or breathlessly await her new albums.

But she's OK.

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Randy Blaser is a freelance columnist.
People talk on their cellphones while walking down Michigan Avenue on May 31, 2011. (Brent Lewis / Chicago Tribune file photo)

Is there a limit to sympathy?

Can (should) we feel sympathy for everyone to whom something bad happens?

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I find I run out of sympathy when it comes to people who injure themselves as a result of thoughtless, foolish or self-destructive behavior. You know, the daily news items about someone who is hurt while performing some dangerous stunt.

There is too much suffering of innocent people in the world for me to feel for the terminally stupid.

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With an attitude like this you'd expect me to be overjoyed by a law passed in Honolulu. Dubbed the Distracted Walking Law, it becomes an offense on Oct. 25 to walk while texting. Other means of distracted walking  using laptops, digital cameras and video games  also are covered by the law. Fines for the first offense will be $15 to $35; second offense $35 to $75; third offense in one year $75 to $99.

The problem with this law is it probably won't work.

Laws are not observed because of police officers, lawyers or judges. Laws work because most people decide to obey them. Not that everyone gets together and decides to obey this or that law. There is some kind of osmotic subconscious process in which all of us decide this or that law is a Good Thing. This is why all  or most  drivers stop at a red light.

But there are laws that just won't work because people refuse to obey them. Prohibition is he most famous example of such a law. Americans refused to stop drinking. And the authorities couldn't  and sometimes just wouldn't  enforce the law.

In our own time, talking or texting on the phone while driving is another law few people observe and for which there is little enforcement.

I also believe speed limits have become laws that few observe any more.

So, I hold out little hope for Honolulu's Distracted Walking Law.

There are just too many distracted walkers out there. I see them every time I leave the house. You do, too. If these distracted walkers hurt themselves, well, they have no one to blame buy themselves. And as far as I am concerned they can feel sorry for themselves.

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Despite all this, though, I applaud Honolulu's law.

We should always try to do what is right and hope for the best.

Honolulu's law isn't a cure.

But it is a help.

And it's the right thing to do.

Paul Sassone is a freelance columnist.
Donald Nichols, a self-described mountain man who has been in the Montana State Prison for 32 years for kidnapping a woman in 1984 and killing a friend who came to look for her, has been released on parole.

According to the Department of Corrections, Don Nichols, 86, was released from prison Wednesday and is now reporting to the parole office in Great Falls.

In April, the Montana Board of Pardons and Parole voted to release Nichols, who was originally sentenced to 85 years in prison after he and his son Dan kidnapped biathlete Kari Swenson in the mountains near Big Sky, then killed her friend Alan Goldstein who searched for her when she was reported missing.

Swenson, who was chained to a tree, also was shot when Goldstein was killed, and lay for hours with a chest wound. Don and Dan Nichols were arrested five months later following a manhunt in the mountains of southwestern Montana.

As part of his parole, Don Nichols cannot go to Gallatin or Madison counties, and must wear a GPS monitor.

Nichols' son Dan was released from prison in 1991. In 2013, he was sentenced in federal court to four years in prison and three years of supervised probation in a federal drug case.
INDIANAPOLIS  Several police organizations are arguing against a proposal that would have Indiana join a dozen other states that don't require a license to carry a handgun in public.

A legislative committee met Tuesday to begin reviewing the proposal that has failed the last two years in the Republican-dominated Legislature but could become a contentious topic during next year's session.

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Law enforcement officials told the panel that they supported the current law, under which Indiana State Police check people who want to legally carry a gun.

State police Maj. Mike White said a few thousand people a year are typically denied permits for reasons including criminal history and mental health issues. He said removing the permit requirement could put police officers at greater risk.

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"Any sort of vetting that we can do and assure that even that one person that shouldn't be carrying doesn't carry, that's what we need to do," White said.

Republican state Rep. Jim Lucas of Seymour is pushing for repeal of the gun permit law, saying that law-abiding people shouldn't need state permission to exercise their constitutional right to bear arms.

"We have the state that is forcing an innocent person to get online, apply for a license, go get fingerprinted," Lucas said. "They have to take a half day off work or a full day and pay a fee to the state to exercise a constitutional right."

About 776,000 people had active Indiana handgun permits at the start of this year according to statistics from the state police,who approved 134,290 permits in 2016 while rejecting 4,802 applications.

Kendallville police Chief Rob Wiley, the immediate past president of the Indiana Association of Police Chiefs, said the permit process wasn't an unreasonable step.

"The law that is currently in existence in Indiana is a very Second Amendment-friendly law, quite frankly, while still allowing law enforcement to do what it needs to do, which is protect the general public," Wiley said.

The committee has meetings scheduled in September and October as it considers whether to recommend changes to the permitting law during the next General Assembly session, which starts in January.
Freshman mechanical engineering student Kiara Santiago, 18, left, talks to Julia Brown, 20, at the Society of Women Engineers booth at Purdue Northwest's Welcome Rally on Thursday. (Meredith Colias / Post-Tribune )

On her first week of freshman year, Kiara Santiago headed to the Society of Women Engineers table to find like-minded students.

Growing up in East Chicago, it was rare to find other young women looking to enter an engineering field.

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"I kinda felt alone," said Santiago, 18. "In my high school, I didn't find too many girls that wanted to do that. They wanted to be in the medical field."

The Purdue Northwest mechanical engineering major said she was looking for clubs to join for discussion.

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"The class I just had today  it was first-year engineering  there was, I think three girls in a class of 30, 40 students," Santiago said.

We have to "kinda band together, because what if I need someone to support (me), you know?"

On the other side of the table, Julia Brown, 20, a mechanical engineering major, was trying to recruit more members  including men  to the club.

Currently, it had about 10 members, she said. Like Santiago, she said she was drawn to engineering from personal interests.

"I like cars," she said. "My dad told me I had to pick a career that would make me $50,000, so I merged the two."

More than 1,500 Purdue Northwest students attended its Welcome Rally on Thursday  an annual event that connects students to majors, causes and clubs. About 150 booths were set up in the center of campus.

White Lodging School of Hospitality and Tourism Management Academic Adviser Chynisse Browder, right, takes a picture from behind the booth at Purdue Northwest's Welcome Rally on Thursday. (Meredith Colias / Post-Tribune )

The event was one of its biggest of the year, said spokeswoman Kris Falzone.

There, Purdue Northwest also highlighted plans to build a three-floor, 69,000-square-foot, $40.5 million Bioscience Innovation Building that will house nursing and biological sciences majors.

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The university hosted a brief reception for state lawmakers on Thursday. About $35 million of that cost will be covered by state funds appropriated during the legislative session earlier this year.

The building will have space for assessment clinics, a simulation suite and nursing skills laboratories, according to the university. The Biology Department will also include advanced laboratories.

Purdue Northwest will break ground on the building later this year, according to Falzone. It is the Hammond campus' first new building in 20 years, she said.

It will be built south of the campus' student union, near 173th Street. The building is scheduled to be completed in 2019.

mcolias@post-trib.com
Beer Market, 1270 S. Milwaukee Ave., Vernon Hills, is looking to change its name and offer food for the first time. (Rick Kambic / Pioneer Press)

As The Beer Market prepares to add a kitchen and change its name to Beerhead Bar & Eatery, Vernon Hills officials are making sure patrons can still bring outside food into the pub.

Village trustees first reviewed the company's request to build an addition onto the building during a July 5 committee meeting and had a lengthy discussion with management on Aug. 15. Trustees are expected to approve the permits on Sept. 7.

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"We're building out right now. It should take six to eight weeks or so," Owner Pat Donofrio told Pioneer Press. "We may have to shut down for a day right before we re-launch, but more or less we should be open for business up until we bring our kitchen online."

One agreed upon condition of the approval requires the company to continue allowing outside food into The Beer Market building, 1270 S. Milwaukee Ave.

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Trustee Cindy Hebda was the most outspoken on Aug. 15. She later voted "present" when the board decided to put the item on the omnibus approval list for Sept. 7.

"I loved your concept at the beginning," Hebda said. "I thought it was a totally different kind of thing and we were helping out other businesses, and now we're taking that away."

Vernon Hills was home to the first The Beer Market in 2012, according to its website. The company now has locations in Schaumburg, Bolingbrook, Elmhurst, Rochester, N.Y., Pittsburgh, Pa., and Cleveland, Ohio.

The proposed construction in Vernon Hills would involve a small expansion to the south where a dumpster is currently located, according to paperwork. That addition would house storage that's being relocated to make room for a kitchen, the application says.

Mitch Sweeney, the area manager for The Beer Market, said changing the name to Beerhead and adding food is part of an aggressive nation-wide expansion that is bringing all the locations in sync.

"Lunch and our brunch segments are something we're excited about as well," Sweeney said. "We think that's something that will help promote our family segment, and we've already seen it happen in Elmhurst."

Addressing Hebda's concerns, Sweeney said the Vernon Hills location in particular has tough competition.

"One of our big concerns out here is that at 9 p.m. most of the neighboring businesses close and then we don't have a food option after that," Sweeney said. "What we've seen is a lot of people end up going next door to Lincolnshire for Half Day Brewing for both food and drink."

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After confirming the closing times with village employees, Hebda said she understood the company's concern but still wants Vernon Hills restaurants to be showcased.

"I'm looking at one, two, three, four pages of a menu, and so chances are someone is going to order off your menu instead of going (elsewhere) for food," Hebda said.

The menu includes pizzas, hearty sandwiches, a shareable Bavarian pretzel, fresh salads and desserts, according to Beerhead's website.

Sweeney said The Beer Market already keeps menus for all nearby restaurants and will merely add his new menu onto the pile.

"We'll do what we've always done," Sweeney said.

Donofrio said Vernon Hills was his pilot location and he ended up naming the next four pubs The Beer Market until the Cleveland location. He recently opened an Elmhurst location known as Beerhead.

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"Everything has slowly evolved and been refined over time," Donofrio said. "Beerhead has a retro feel to it."

Donofrio said Vernon Hills was an ideal place to test the concept.

"It's got a little bit of everything: commercial, residential, a good mix of people, the traffic on their roads and its demographics are favorable, too," he said.

Donofrio said Beerhead is offering franchise deals, and one has already been signed in Michigan and another is in the works for downtown Chicago.

"We wanted to create a national brand, and we're making big progress on that goal," Donofrio said. "We're working on having a strong presence in the Midwest."

rkambic@pioneerlocal.com

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Twitter @Rick_Kambic
Adam Frisch keeps calm waiting for all ballots to be counted in CD-3
For Tana Banker, classroom aesthetics is key, which is why she spent the first part of the month organizing her classroom for the first day of school.

"The most time I spend is getting the room ready  making it feel comfortable, getting things set up," she said. "We spend a lot of hours, not just me, but everybody, getting our rooms ready."

Banker, a second-grade teacher at Highland Acres Elementary School, woke up early Thursday to make sure she was set for her new students this year. In addition to prepping their classrooms, teachers undergo weeks of planning for the first day of classes, which is also an important time teachers use to set expectations for the school year.

Thursday marked the start of the 2017-18 year for Bismarck and Mandan public schools. The private schools in the area, including Light of Christ Catholic Schools, began classes as well.

Bismarck Public Schools has 12,861 students and Mandan Public Schools has 3,746 students this year. Shiloh Christian School of Bismarck has 475 students.

Banker's day began when the bell rang promptly at 8:30 a.m. at Highland Acres. She lined up her excitable second-graders, and they marched into the building and to her classroom. Her room is neatly organized; books codified by genre and desks organized for each student. Her room is colorful and Dr. Seuss-themed. A vase of fresh flowers sits on a table.

Banker's first order of business is going over how things work in her classroom  simple things, such as explaining cold and hot lunch options and proper etiquette for the morning flag-raising. At one point, she raised her hand and put a finger to her lips. She then asked the students if they knew what that gesture meant.

"Stop," she said, and her classroom fell silent.

Banker said the first day is about setting the ground rules for the school year, but also making her students feel comfortable and playing games to get to know them. On the first day, she and her students discussed names for the classroom pet fish, what they did over break and read a book about how to maintain friendships.

After teaching for 28 years, Banker said methods of teaching have changed slightly.

"(Teaching is) a little more complicated, but kids are kids, and theyre excited, and they want to learn, and thats our goal for them," she said.

The start of the new school year comes amid contract negotiations between Bismarck teachers and the school district over a safe workplace policy and wages. During a public hearing earlier this month on an impasse in contract talks, several teachers shared safety concerns in their classrooms and the need for a more robust policy in their negotiated agreements. A report from the North Dakota Education Fact-Finding Committee recommended the district form a committee to look into any incidents of violence against teachers.

Banker said she hasn't been in a situation like that before, but feels confident in the training she has received. She's also supportive of an effort by the district to identify and address teacher safety concerns.

"I dont care if its teaching or what you do, I think everybody is entitled to go to work and feel safe," she said.

On the other side of town at Wachter Middle School, Alyssa Steiner welcomed returning students into her classroom. Steiner teaches an AVID class in grades 6-8. AVID, or Advancement Via Individual Determination, is an elective class designed for students who could benefit from extra support to succeed in their desired path after high school.

Similar to Banker, Steiner said the look of her classroom is important, and the first thing she does before the start of school in the fall.

"The physical of my room is very important to the way my class runs," said Steiner, who is a third-year teacher.

The walls of Steiner's classroom are filled with college pennants and posters. Her first day of classes consist of refreshing her students on what she expects of them. On Thursday afternoon, she went over the basics for her eighth-grade class: What is AVID? Where are various items located throughout the classroom?

"All of my eighth-grade students Ive had almost all of them (before) ... Theyre going to walk in here and its going to feel like were starting right where we left off last year," Steiner said.

Steiner teaches about 20 students per section. She, too, relies on teacher training to prepare for any situation in which a student might become violent or combative. Steiner also said agrees with creating a safe workplace policy or identifying safety precautions.

"What it comes down to is whats best for students and whats best for staff," she said.

Also at Wachter, David Augustadt welcomed a new batch of sixth-graders into his band room Thursday afternoon. Students were greeted by a PowerPoint which read, "Welcome to 6th grade band!" The start of class began with attendance, then Augustadt went over with the students what to expect in his course, policies and procedure.

Augustadt, who has been teaching for 14 years, said the first couple days of school set the tone for the rest of the year and could help avoid potential problems between students and teachers.

The more you do in the beginning of the school year, the more youre able to get ahead of potential issues," he said. Sixty-two sixth-graders in one classroom every single day, a lot can happen. But building those relationships right away, as well, is key."
By Moliang Jiang

China announced plans to deepen its value-added-tax (VAT) reform again on August 18 this year at a State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang. The governments newest move sets out to enhance the non-standardized tax rate structure, simplify the tax compliance system, and push forward VAT legislation.

Chinas VAT reform has been a continuous development that resolved to replace Business Tax (BT) with VAT, reduce corporate tax burdens, and increase the weight of the service sector in Chinas economy. China first piloted the VAT reform in Shanghai in 2012, and later expanded it to other municipalities and various industries.

Starting from May 1, 2016, construction, real estate, financial, and consumer services sectors also switched to the VAT regime, marking that VAT officially replaced BT as the only indirect tax in China. Henceforth, Chinas tax system aligns more closely with the international standard. According to the Ministry of Finance, from May 2016 until June this year, China has relieved tax burdens of mainland businesses by RMB 850 billion, equivalent to US$127.5 billion.

RELATED: Tax, Accounting and Audit in China 2017

The last phase of reform started on July 1 this year. Chinas State Administration of Tax decided to decrease the four-tier tax system to three tiers, removing the 13 percent bracket and leaving the 17 percent, 11 percent, and six percent brackets. The change reduced tax rates for agricultural products, tap water, publications, and a number of other goods from 13 percent to 11 percent.

In the meeting last week, the government pledged to improve the tax compliance system in order to provide taxpayers with more efficient and convenient tax services. More specifically, the reform will encompass increasing digitization of the tax system, simplifying procedures of tax filing, promoting the use of electronic invoices in place of the physical fapiao, and improving tax services.

The meeting touched on other issues that will be put on the schedule. Companies can anticipate tax policies for the manufacturing, finance, and construction sectors being improved and legislation on the VAT rolling out. The government will also tackle the problem that a small number of taxpayers face a higher tax burden due to insufficient tax offsetting items.

Tax Compliance Services from Dezan Shira & Associates

Chinas business environment is known for its complicated tax and accounting system that leads to financial complexity. Foreign businesses that first enter the Chinese market usually find it difficult to comply with various regulations. Take Chinas VAT invoice system as an example: businesses in China need to document all transactions on a fapiao, a legal receipt that monitors payment and prevents individuals and businesses from evading tax. Companies need to apply for a fapiao quota and purchase fapiao from the tax bureau. An increase in the quota requires companies to go through another lengthy application process.

As the government expresses interest to enhance multiple aspects of tax services and incorporate digital technology into the tax system, companies should expect the accounting procedures to become easier to navigate in the near future.

Despite progress made so far, Chinas VAT reform is not fully-fledged and will further unfold in the future. Companies should build a tax structure around the reform and navigate the financial complexity under the reformed tax system.



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.
A five-episode documentary series following the lives of over ten Chinese adolescents for ten years started airing on China's state broadcaster on Sunday.

A five-episode documentary series following the lives of over ten Chinese adolescents for ten years started airing on China's state broadcaster on Sunday. [Photo/CCTV.com]

Produced by Beijing Normal University since 2006, the documentary "Post-00s" has followed the lives of a number of children born after 2000, chronicling their experiences from kindergarten to secondary school.

"Over ten years, these children have grown up and became more independent in thinking and action," says Zhang Tongdao, director of the documentary.

The film not only documents the growth of the children, but also reflects on several social issues in modern China, such as the two-child policy, school examinations, studying overseas and the struggle of working mothers.

The documentary starts with 12-year-old Yu Xikun and his mother driving to a competitive entrance examination for a well-known Beijing secondary school. On the car window, Yu secretly writes, "I don't want the test."

"I always wanted to be a perfect mom," says Yu's mother, who stopped working years ago to take care of her son. But her rebellious boy made her reconsider her "perfect mom" strategy.

Meng Meng's parents struggle to get their 13-year-old daughter to communicate with them. They believe their two-year-old sister You You might be part of the problem.

"I never wanted a sister that much," Meng Meng says.

China allowed all married couples to have two children from 2016. This follows an earlier policy easing in 2013 that allowed couples to have a second child if either parent was an only child.

While 10 years ago Meng Meng would cry when looking for her father, now she has become distant and seldom talks to her parents.

"All these details come from real life, and every word comes from real kids. The documentary tells the stories of ordinary Chinese over ten years," Zhang says.

Yu Ming, executive director-in-chief of the production, says she hopes to continue filming until the day the adolescents become parents.

"Chinese society and education ideas might be hugely different, but the state of mind for a parent will not change," Yu says.
Over 300,000 newly published books from around the world, including 28 countries and regions along the Belt and Road routes, are on display at the 24th Beijing International Book Fair, which opened Wednesday.

More than 2,500 exhibitors from 89 countries and regions are taking part in the fair, with overseas exhibitors accounting for 58 percent.

Around 40,000 books from over 300 major Chinese publishers are on display for overseas publishers and libraries. At the fair last year and the year before, the number of copyright trade agreements signed between Chinese and foreign companies exceeded 4,000 each year.

Since 2014, copyright trade between China and countries along the Belt and Road routes has maintained a high average annual growth of 20 percent, accounting for 15 percent of China's total copyright trade in 2016, up from 5 percent in 2014.

Iran is the guest of honor at this year's fair, with 13 Iranian publishers taking part and six Iranian writers hosting activities. Well-known Chinese writers, including Nobel laureate Mo Yan, will also meet their readers face to face at the event.

The Iranian exhibition zone will feature musical performances and recitation of classic Iranian and Chinese literature in Persian, English and Chinese.

Iran has invited China to be the guest of honor at the 2019 Tehran International Book Fair.
China's best-selling writer and film director Guo Jingming hit back with a libel complaint against the alleged victim accusing him of sexual molestation.

Guo Jingming [File photo]

The accuser, Li Feng, a writer signed with Guo's company, said in an online post on his own Sina Weibo microblog that Guo had engaged in sexual harassment and sexual abuse against him.

"He has often sexually harassed and sexually assaulted male writers who have signed up with his company as well as the male employees in his company."

Li said he knew there are at least five people, and "I'm not sure if there aren't more."

His post immediately triggered uproar on the Internet and was read more than 20 million times, while Guo responded to Li's accusations via his Weibo account, claiming that they were totally false and he had already asked his lawyer to deal with it.

Before Li took any legal action, Guo's attorneys have filed a criminal complaint of libel against him on Wednesday at a local court in Beijing, according to sources close to Guo's team. The complaint said Li had fabricated the story and seriously defamed Guo's reputation, and should be sentenced to a three-year prison term according to the law. The legal team of Guo has been obtaining relevant evidence ever since Li published his post.

When reached by the media, Li said he shut down his mobile phone for a day to ease his emotional stress. He said Guo's lawyers had not yet contacted him, but he was adamant his accusation involved no bad motivation.

"I thought about it for years and I think I have to do this to protect those who don't know Guo. This is what I must do."

However, he said that, other than publishing a post, he felt helpless, "I consulted a lawyer who said that homosexual crimes still constituted unknown territory in China's current laws, and it is difficult to obtain evidence for them," Li said in his Monday post.
A 38-year-old Mandan man was arrested for allegedly firing a gun aimlessly multiple times while driving on a Bismarck street.

No one had been injured when police responded to the call at 11 p.m. at the 600 block of South Ninth Street in Bismarck, officer Pat Renz said.

Renz said officers found four spent 40 caliber casings.

From talking with residents, officers got the suspects name and a description of his vehicle, tracking him to his home in Mandan.

The man was found in his home with a .40 caliber handgun in his possession and bullets of the same brand that were found at the scene. He was arrested for reckless endangerment.
"In order to give readers a clearer picture of Chinese culture and the reality of current society, translated works should cover all the aspects of Chinese life and fully reflect contemporary China," said Iljaz Spahiu, a winner of the 11th Special Book Award of China, at a forum held in Beijing on Wednesday.

The top winners of the 11th Special Book Award of China sponsored by the Chinese Culture Translation and Studies Support (CCTSS) pose with their certificates. [Photo courtesy of CCTSS]

The Forum of the 11th Special Book Award of China & CCTSS Writing on China and International Communications Seminar, a sideline event of the 24th Beijing International Book Fair, was attended by the award's winners, academics and publishing houses.

Writers, translators, publishers and critics from different countries attending the 2017 Sino-Foreign Literature Translation and Publishing Workshop also participated in the forum.

Huang Zhuoyue, head of the Chinese Culture Translation and Studies Support (CCTSS) that organized the forum, noted that, in recent years, the evaluation criteria of the Special Book Award of China had been improved. The categories are clearer and the award covers a wider range.

"CCTSS will serve as a platform for translators and sinologists to get information for cooperation. I hope it can work as an important link for the government, universities and cultural institutions home and abroad," Huang said.

Lyuben Iliev Kozarev, a Bulgarian writer, another book award winner, talked about his published works that include "China: Past and Present," "The Chinese Dream" and "The China Path: Reform and Stability."

"I'm working on writing, publishing and distribution, as I feel they (the books) grasp the state of being of the whole nation. I feel it is very important to talk about political and economic issues through the form of literature," Kozarev said.

A total of 20 outstanding people were selected as the top winners of this year's Special Book Award of China.

First launched in 2005 by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China as a State-level award, the Special Book Award of China aims to promote Chinese culture and literature abroad. Awards usually go to foreign scholars, translators, writers and publishers who have made great strides in introducing Chinese culture to the world.

The event was hosted by the Ministry of Culture of China, and jointly organized by CCTSS, China Translation & Publishing House (CTPH) and China National Publications Import & Export (Group) Corporation.
US sanctions imposed this week go against mutual trust and bilateral cooperation, China said on Wednesday, asking the United States to stop its "wrong behavior" immediately.

The US Treasury Department announced on Tuesday the new sanctions on 16 entities and individuals, mostly in China and Russia, for alleged ties with the nuclear and ballistic missile programs in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The sanctions came less than two months after sanctions June 29 by the US Treasury Department on a bank, a shipping company and two individuals from China.

"What the US has done does not help the solution of the issue, and does not help mutual trust between China and the US and their cooperation on relevant issues," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters at a daily news conference in Beijing. "We request the US to immediately stop the wrong behavior."

China is opposed to unilateral sanctions conducted outside the framework of the United Nations Security Council, especially "long-arm jurisdiction" over China's entities or individuals according to others' domestic laws, Hua said.

China has implemented the Security Council's DPRK-related resolutions fully, and the effort it has made "is obvious to all", Hua said.

China will hold its companies and individuals accountable under Chinese laws if they are suspected of behaving against the resolutions, the spokeswoman said.

China and Russia have proposed a dual suspension plan in which the US and the ROK halt large-scale joint military drills while the DPRK halts nuclear and missile tests to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The US Treasury Department's announcement on Tuesday came a day after the US and ROK began their annual Ulchi-Freedom Guardian military drills. The DPRK threatened a "merciless strike" ahead of the drills.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson hinted at the possibility of talks. He said in a news briefing on Tuesday he was "pleased" to see the DPRK had "demonstrated some level of restraint" by launching no missiles since the Aug 5 UN Security Council resolution.

"We hope that ... we are seeing our pathway to sometime in the near future having some dialogue," he said.

Commenting on Tillerson's remarks, Hua said China hopes all parties involved will "stand up to their own responsibility, express good will to each other" and "actively conduct contact and dialogue".

Huang Youfu, a researcher of Korean history and culture at Minzu University of China, said war on the Korean Peninsula would lead to "disaster", and many countries have realized that China's proposal for talks is the only solution.
China will further reduce leverage at central State-owned enterprises by establishing multiple channels to reduce corporate debts, a State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang decided on Wednesday.

In the first seven months of this year, central SOEs registered a profit of 846.9 billion yuan, up by 16.4 percent year-on-year, as against a 3.7 percent drop in the same period last year. Central SOEs' debt ratio was 66.5 percent in July, down by 0.2 percentage points from the start of this year, according to State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.

The performance by central SOEs in quality and efficiency improvements over the past two years has received full affirmation from the premier.

"Central SOEs are the backbones of the economy. We need to conduct in-depth analysis to find key drivers that contribute to the transition to profits and consolidate the upward momentum," Li said.

"We should seize the opportunity and step up the deleveraging of SOEs. Lower debts can benefit the whole economy," he added.

The meeting on Wednesday decided that the government will establish an alert line mechanism for debt ratios of different overly-leveraged sectors.

Central SOEs will face strict control in investments out of their main business portfolios and in programs that could increase their debt ratios. Enterprises that see sharp profit growth will be urged to pay down their debts. A government guideline to further reduce the debt ratios for central SOEs in an active and steady manner will also be rolled out.

The debt-for-equity swaps will be pushed forward in line with market rules and the law, and new market-based models for the swaps will be explored. Agencies that implement the swaps will receive support to expand their funding channels. Companies that are invested or run by State capital or qualified central SOE funds will be encouraged to take part in the swaps using various market channels.

The meeting also decided that the government will carry forward supply-side structural reform of central SOEs proactively, including absorbing of excessive capacity in the steel and coal sectors and production reduction in sectors including thermal power, aluminum smelting. The removing of insolvent "zombie" enterprises will also be a priority.

There will be greater M&A efforts that encourage leading enterprises and those that are public listed to consolidate businesses in their own sectors.

The innovation-driven strategy will be put to fuller use as central SOEs will be encouraged to make use of innovation development funds for breakthroughs in core technologies. A number of incubators, innovation and entrepreneurship centers, online space for innovation and technological service platforms will be developed.

"Many central SOEs are engaged in traditional industries. During the transition between traditional and new growth engines, we need to achieve the transformation and upgrading into enterprises with lower leverages, lower debts and higher core competitiveness," the premier said.
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10 ancient Buddha statues carved into a cliffside in Jiajiang County, Sichuan Province, have been beheaded, reports the West China Daily.

10 Ming Dynasty Buddha heads in Sichuan Province were stolen between August 18th and 21st. [Photo: West China Daily]

Local police said that they believe this was a theft, rather than vandalism or act of religious intolerance.

"Preliminary clues indicate that the heads were stolen between the evening of August 18th and the dawn of August 21st," said an official from the Jiajiang Agency of Cultural Relics Preservation.

The Buddha statues were carved into the cliffsides in 1522 during the Ming Dynasty.

Local culture authorities said they will cooperate with police to bring the criminals to justice.

Officials also said they intend to marshal more local volunteers to ensure the protection of the remaining relics at the site.

Local police have begun an investigation. So far authorities have not identified any suspects.
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Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has been tackling teenage drug addiction through a series of intensive anti-drug campaigns, a regional official said Thursday.

From August 2015, a campaign was started to build an anti-drug "firewall" for teenagers, said Zhu Changjie, deputy director of the regional anti-narcotics commission.

Zhu said growth in the number of teenage drug users had slowed ever since.

Anti-narcotics officers brought the campaign to dozens of schools, setting up 35 of them as exemplary schools. More than 700 anti-drug events have been held to educate 6.4 million students about the harm drugs cause.

A large scale volunteer program has also been started, with 586 university students recruited as volunteers.

"Xinjiang is close to the Golden Crescent, one of the largest opium producing regions located in central Asia," Zhu said. "Making, trafficking and abuse of drugs are quite common in recent years due to influence from international society. We face a very difficult task to prevent and control teenage drug abuse."

Zhu said Xinjiang would continue the anti-drug campaign for a further three years.
 Flash

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner arrived in Israel on Wednesday night, along with a senior U.S. delegation, for meetings with local leaders in a bid to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law, and special envoy Jason Greenblatt are scheduled to hold separate meetings on Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.

Kushner, Greenblatt, and Dina Powell, White House deputy national security advisor for strategy, have met over the past two days with leaders in the region, including leaders from the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the White House said.

Kushner was appointed to help broker a deal between Israel and the Palestinians after Trump took office.

In his May visit in the region, Trump said he will bring "the ultimate deal" to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

However, commentators were skeptical over the prospects of a significant progress.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro told journalists on Tuesday that the chances of a breakthrough are slim, with Netanyahu being under at least two criminal investigations over corruption allegations, Abbas involved with internal fights with Hamas, and Trump expanding forces in Afghanistan and involved with internal battles with the congress.

The last round of talks between Israel and the Palestinians reached an impasse in 2014, mainly over Israel's expansion of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
"If winter comes, can spring be far behind?"

For two centuries, that famous line by the English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley has offered numerous people in despair the hope that the dark hours will pass.

It may also have been on the mind of Republic of Korea President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday, when he urged his country's Ministry of Unification to prepare for a thaw in relations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Like the freezing chill of winter never halts the footsteps of spring, the more difficult the situation gets, the harder the ROK should try to ease tensions with the DPRK, Moon said. Placing the tense standoff on the Korean Peninsula in the dead of winter, Moon reiterated his belief that a thaw will eventually come.

Great statesmanship no doubt requires some clinging to idealism  the capability to retain and kindle the small flame of hope and to envisage a brighter prospect that lies beyond sight.

The ROK president obviously still has some, considering his undampened enthusiasm for engaging Pyongyang, and his conviction there will be a peaceful conclusion to the DPRK crisis.

Yet unlike the natural inevitability of the cycle of seasons, there is no certainty that bad will turn to good in real-world situations. Depending on the concerned parties' actions or inactions, the current stalemate could go either way.

Despite all the high-decibel threats of mutual destruction and actual saber-rattling, both sides have been careful not to shut the door to dialogue. Both keep signaling willingness to talk, although setting preconditions they know are unlikely to be met.

Perhaps President Moon has been reviewing the past to justify his hopes in a coming spring.

Following a DPRK missile test and suspected nuclear activities in 1998, US special envoy William Perry led a comprehensive process of regional consultation and coordination that once brought Pyongyang to the negotiating table. And the joint statement made on 19 September 2005 following the second phase of the Six-Party Talks that year established a basic framework for denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

But if those remarkable headways did not suffice to make a lasting difference, President Moon's good wishes hardly will. Moon's adherence to engagement is to be admired. But it will prove meaningless without the support of corresponding moves that truly de-escalate tensions.

While its joint military drills with the US continue irking Pyongyang, the ROK's deployment of the United States' Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system is alienating other members of the international community trying to denuclearize the peninsula.

Should this pattern persist, the winter President Moon foretells ending may instead prove a long one.
China will further reduce leverage at central State-owned enterprises by establishing multiple channels to reduce corporate debts, those at a State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang decided on Wednesday.

In the first seven months of this year, central SOEs registered profits of 846.9 billion yuan ($127 billion), up by 16.4 percent year-on-year, compared with a 3.7 percent drop a year earlier. Central SOEs' debt ratio was 66.5 percent in July, down by 0.2 percentage points from the start of this year, according to State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.

The performance by central SOEs in quality and efficiency improvements during the past two years has received full affirmation from Li.

"Central SOEs are the backbones of the economy. We need to conduct in-depth analysis to find key drivers that contribute to the transition to profits and consolidate the upward momentum," Li said.

"We should seize the opportunity and step up the deleveraging of SOEs. Lower debts can benefit the whole economy," he added.

Those at the meeting on Wednesday decided that the government will establish an alert line mechanism for debt ratios of different overly leveraged sectors. Central SOEs will face strict control in investments from their main business portfolios and in programs that could increase their debt ratios. Enterprises that see sharp profit growth will be urged to pay down debts.

The debt-for-equity swaps will be pushed forward in line with market rules and the law, and explore new market-based models for the swaps. Agencies that implement the swaps will receive support to expand their funding channels.

Companies that are invested or run by State capital or qualified central SOE funds will be encouraged to take part in the swaps using various market channels.

Also decided at the meeting was that the government will carry forward supply-side structural reforms of central SOEs proactively, including absorbing excessive capacity in the steel and coal sectors and production reductions in sectors including thermal power and aluminum smelting. Removing insolvent "zombie" enterprises will also be a priority.

"Many central SOEs are engaged in traditional industries. During the transition between traditional and new growth engines, we need to achieve the transformation and upgrading into enterprises with lower leverage, lower debt and higher core competitiveness," the premier said.
Excavators made by LiuGong Machinery Co Ltd in Liuzhou, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. [Photo/China Daily by Huo Yan]

Chinese excavator manufacturers are expected to see a 50 percent year-on-year jump in sales to 120,000 units by 2017, despite the low stocks available due to the quiet market in the past five years, officials said on Wednesday.

The excavator branch of the China Construction Machinery Association reported that the country's major construction machinery makers sold 82,725 units to both domestic and overseas markets between January and July, up 101.3 percent year-on-year. The figure for the first seven months of this year outperformed the total annual sales of 70,320 units last year.

Both domestic and overseas markets have shown growing demand for excavators, with 77,814 units sold at home, up 111.7 percent year-on-year and 4,884 units sold abroad, up 14 percent.

Yin Xiaoli, deputy secretary-general of the CCMA, said the excavator segment will continue to grow robustly in the second half of this year, thanks to China's ongoing railroad, highway and airport projects in lower-tier cities, as well as urbanization.

Excavators are not just used for basic construction. They can also be used in advanced projects such as wind power farms, industrial housing, smart city developments and medical equipment factories.

"Growth opportunities will also come from the increasing demand for excavators, bulldozers, pipe-layers, road rollers and wheel loaders in markets related to the Belt and Road Initiative," said Yin.

Excavator sales have surged since the second half of 2016. The monthly growth rate topped 70 percent year-on-year from September to November 2016.

Most companies in the sector have seen a robust rise, especially large ones such as Sany Heavy Industry Co and Xugong Group Construction Machinery Inc. Seven of them have achieved double sales performance.

According to the research by Pacific Securities, sales in August are expected to double from the same period a year earlier, while the growth rate may fall back to 80 percent year-on-year in the following month, considering the existing large number of excavators already in use.
A Long-March IV rocket blasts off at Jiuquan Space Launch Center in Northwest China's Gansu province. A key problem for commercial space companies is the lack of launch sites. [Photo/Xinhua]

Space is the final frontier for private firms as they muscle into an area dominated by State-owned companies

A satellite the size of a teakettle will be launched into space by the end of this year.

Once the cubesat starts circling the earth at tens of thousands of kilometers an hour, it will be used to teach astronomy to Chinese high school students.

Backed by space startup Commsat Technology Development Co Ltd, this project is just one of a wide range of private sector ventures.

"Many investors are optimistic about the industry," said Huang He, a partner of Northern Light Venture Capital, which has already injected funds into another startup Spacety Co Ltd.

In the past few years, the commercial space sector has come alive in China as private companies jostle for launch dates.

Before, the final frontier was the preserve of government-backed programs from State-owned companies.

But now a slew of startups have appeared and along with established tech outfits are rolling out new business models for the space sector at competitive costs.

"Private firms can make swift decisions to meet consumer demand," said Peng Yuanyuan, co-founder and chief operating officer at Commsat. "Plus, our trial and error costs are relatively low."

In 2015, the global space economy rocketed to $323 billion. Commercial operations accounted for up to 76 percent, or $246 billion, according to The Space Report 2016, which was released by The Space Foundation.

By 2020, China's commercial space market is expected to expand to 800 billion yuan ($120 billion), the China Securities Journal reported.

Already the country's new boys are moving in with Spacety launching the microsatellite, Xiaoxiang No 1, or Ty-1, for the scientific community last November.

Other startups such as Commsat Technology, Zhejiang Lizhui Electronic Technology Co and Guangdong Kechuang Spaceflight Co are just behind them, waiting for the right window.

Even though private companies have come late to this business, they believe they can push the boundaries of space by using more market-oriented models.

Yang Feng, founder and CEO of Spacety, pointed out that the next five satellites being rolled out by his company are all "fully booked" although he did not reveal detailed financial numbers.

He did make it clear, though, that the satellites will be launched in the second half of this year.

Commsat is in a similar position and has almost recouped the cost of its planned educational satellite, Peng stressed.

"We are able to increase the capabilities of the spacecraft without adding greatly to the costs," she said.

Peng is expecting Commsat to turn over revenue of 30 million yuan this year although she declined to disclose detailed financial figures.

But she did reveal the company has reached agreements with more than 70 public schools in Beijing, Guangzhou, Anhui and Shanghai to beam in astronomy courses.

Just like with earth-bound businesses, finding the right recipe for success is crucial for these new pioneers of space.

They need to put clear sky between themselves and State-owned companies, which dominate telecommunications, remote sensing and navigation or GPS.

"The best opportunities for private firms lie in exploring undiscovered fields and creating new demand," Peng at Commsat said.

It is a view that appeals to Yang, of Spacety, who believes startups will end up "supplementing rather than substituting" existing businesses.

By April, a total of 14 commercial space companies were registered in the country, including 10 which were privately owned, according to CASI Cloud.com, a website affiliated to China Aerospace Science & Industry Corp.

They all tend to specialize in satellites involved in internet communication, remote sensing or scientific research.

In addition to the new kids on the block, technology giants are jumping on the bandwagon.

Later this year, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd plans to launch the world's first e-commerce satellite to provide consumers with customized products.

By analyzing agricultural cultivation and harvesting data provided by satellite images, the company aims to buy and then sell the "world's best vegetables", it promised.

Many might think this is a publicity stunt, but the internet group is deadly serious about taking its first step in space.

As for rival Tencent Holdings Ltd, it invested in the startup Moon Express, which was founded by a group of Silicon Valley space entrepreneurs, in 2013.

The company, which is based in the United States, has an ambitious program, including using drones to mine asteroids.

Indeed, this spirit of galactic adventure is reflected in the desire by Chinese companies to capture a slice of the space pie.

Fuelling the trend has been the government's challenging plans to develop the sector.

Back in 2015, China's top economic planning body, the National Development and Reform Commission, unveiled a 10-year blueprint for the commercial space sector along with the Ministry of Finance, and the Commission on Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.

Since then, this fledgling sector has attracted renowned investors such as Matrix Partners China, Northern Light Venture Capital and Cash Capital.

Yet the complexity of spacecraft, satellites and the shortage of skilled talent have provided challenges for the industry.

"Most of the key people working in space startups used to be employed by SOEs," said Huang at Northern Light Venture Capital.

"The companies are still looking at viable solutions to tackle the growing shortage of talent and help them build a sustainable career," he added.
Canada is facing an "unprecedented" number of asylum seekers, who have crossed the border from the United States, officials said.

"We've never seen those numbers," said Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) spokesman Claude Castonguay. "Even though our officers are patrolling 24 hours a day all year long, we've never seen such numbers coming in."

RCMP intercepted almost 7,000 asylums seekers in the last six weeks in Quebec.

Officials stressed that the influx can be handled and at no time has the security of the country been compromised.

But they cautioned that while Canada remains an open, welcoming country, crossing into it is not "a ticket for permanent residence."

"Coming to Canada, asking for asylum in Canada is not a guarantee for permanent residence in Canada," said Louis Dumas, spokesman for the immigration ministry in a Thursday press conference.

About 80 to 85% of the asylum seekers are of Haitian descent, according to RCMP.

The number of people intercepted in Quebec has soared in recent months from 781 in June and 2,996 in July to 3,800 as of August 15, according to RCMP.

Dispelling misleading information

Officials also tried to clear up misinformation spreading through social media and WhatsApp that claimed Canada is inviting people to claim asylum, reported CNN's partner CBC.

"It is not a message from the government of Canada," Dumas said. "Strict processes are in place for all people claiming asylum, regardless of how they enter into Canada."

He said 50% of Haitians who requested asylum in 2016 had their claims rejected.

Quebec's premier Philippe Couillard had posted on his Facebook last week that it was a "very delicate situation."

"It is unfortunate that these very vulnerable people were convinced that admission as a refugee in Canada and here in Quebec would be simple, even automatic. That's not the case at all. There is no guarantee that asylum applications will be accepted, given the strict rules that govern them."

Why Haitians are leaving the US

Many Haitians have headed to Canada over concerns that they'll lose their temporary protected status or TPS, in the US.

Shortly after the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the Obama administration granted Haitian immigrants -- who had already been living in the US -- with temporary protected status.

The program allowed them to work and shielded them from deportation. It also provided them temporary refuge considering that Haiti had suffered one of the deadliest earthquakes in history, and the country was seen as too unstable for people to return.

The program had since been repeatedly renewed. But earlier this year, Department of Homeland Security officials said conditions in Haiti were improving since the earthquake -- and that the program could be terminated next year.

DHS officials urged Haitian recipients to prepare for the program's potential expiration in January 2018.

This has sent a wave of Haitians across the northern border. Many of them have expressed concerns they'll be deported if they stay in the US.

But Canada ended its version of a program that was similar to the TPS for Haitians last year, the CBC reported. This means Haitians without status can be deported from Canada.

Many asylum seekers have headed for Quebec where Montreal has a large Haitian community.

Amid the influx, asylum seekers are being sheltered at Olympic Stadium, where Montreal had hosted the summer games in 1976.

Taking their chances

Experts have cautioned that it's not so easy to meet government requirements under Canadian asylum laws. They have said the fear of deportation from the United States isn't enough to make an asylum case in Canada. The process of making a case through the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada can take months and end in rejection.

But hundreds of people are taking their chances.

In the border town of Champlain, New York, taxis arrive continuously as asylum seekers haul their belongings and help their children cross into Canada.

Just footsteps away, the Canadian Border Services Agency have sent up tents where officers process the new arrivals, reported CNN affiliate WPTZ. The number of people arriving has created a bottleneck at the border with more than 1,000 people waiting to be processed, according to the RCMP.

As of July, Canada processed 21,695 refugee claimants, according to government figures. It's already 90% of the total number that officials registered last year.

CNN's Julian Cummings and Jethro Mullen contributed to this report.
Technical staff work on a commercial satellite at Spacety Co Ltd, which is based in Changsha, capital of Central China's Hunan province. [Photo provided to China Daily]

A new player in the space race is planning to launch 20 satellites by the end of 2018.

Spacety Co Ltd will use most of them to supply data to research institutions and other business customers.

"Some will be involved in microgravity experiments," said Yang Feng, CEO of the company.

In the past, Chinese scientists found it difficult to conduct research in space. But now Spacety, which is based in Changsha, Hunan province, is offering a one-stop service at an affordable price to solve that problem.

"This is a business model that turns out to be viable," said Yang, who failed to disclose detailed financial figures about the project.

Still, his plan appears to be simple. Experiments will be carried out in space through Spacety satellites and the reams of data will be relayed back to clients on Earth.

Last November, the company launched its first small satellite Ty-1.

Weighing eight kilograms, it was able to upload four payloads for scientific research during its 12-month operational cycle.

Earlier this year, Spacety developed the DIDO-2 in partnership with an Israeli startup SpacePharma.

It was China's first satellite involved in studying microgravity as in an orbiting spacecraft.

These "fully-booked" projects have already made a profit for the two-year-old company, Yang confirmed, without giving detailed financial numbers.

In the second half of this year, five more satellites will blast off. They are also "fully booked".

"Each spacecraft will be assigned up to five tasks in accordance to the demands of clients," he added. "We have no space left."

In addition to research institutions, a growing number of companies have also shown interest in "reserving a knowledge seat" on one of Spacety's satellites.

"Usually, it is internet companies specializing in big data," Yang said.

"Even those in the solar energy business have talked to me about the possibility of space flight," he added, without going into details.

Next year, one highly anticipated launch will involve a time-share satellite carrying an optical telescope.

Clients will be able to rent the service by logging on to a web portal, and view distant stars in distant galaxies.

"Our plan is to charge between 2,000 yuan ($295) to 3,000 yuan per hour," Yang said.

Obviously, there is a market out there for space enthusiasts, as well as research scientists.

Xing Zhigang works in a commercial bank during the day in Beijing but gazes at the sky at night.

"These images will be much clearer than those captured by ground-based telescopes," Xing said. "They are often affected by light pollution and atmospheric disturbance."

But will targeting amateur astrologists such as Xing prove profitable for Spacety? Yang admitted this might take time from what, at first, might be a small consumer base.

Even so, the company has attracted investor attention.

Leading venture capital firms, such as Matrix Partners China, Northern Light Venture Capital and Cash Capital, have provided funding, although Yang declined to disclose detailed figures.

In the end, it will be down to enticing a clientele that has universal horizons. "We're open to all of them," Yang said.
BEIJING - Over 70 percent of Chinese listed companies reported strong profits for the first half of the year.

As of Monday, 1,004 Chinese listed companies had disclosed their first-half reports with total net profit up 21.2 percent year on year to 297.1 billion yuan ($44.6 billion), according to data compiled by Wind, a leading information service provider.

About 74 percent of the companies registered year-on-year net profit growth in the first half of the year.

A total of 223 companies witnessed a year-on-year profit surge of more than 100 percent in H1, and 233 companies reported year-on-year profit growth of between 30 and 100 percent.

Most companies in both traditional sectors such as coal and steel, as well as a number of newly emerging industries posted strong growth on the back of the country's economic restructuring and business environment improvement.

Shanxi Xishan Coal and Electricity saw net profit growth of 739 percent in H1 due to rising coal prices and expanded output.

Nanjing Iron & Steel witnessed a net profit surge of 730 percent, as China continues to slash excess steel capacity and product price increases.

"The profit growth of coal, steel-related listed companies is the result of deeper supply-side structural reform, which improves the business environment and productivity," said Gui Haoming, chief analyst of Shenwan Hongyuan.

China's manufacturing sector in June stayed above the boom-bust mark for the 11th consecutive month, with traditional sectors like oil refining and metal smelting witnessing robust growth, suggesting improved supply-demand structure, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

"China's manufacturing sector and the broader economy are likely to continue steady growth on the back of favorable macroeconomic conditions and rebounding market demand," Gui said.

China is seeking to transition from an economy reliant on investment and exports of low-value-added goods to an innovation and service-driven one, and the first-half reports showed new growth engines were picking up momentum.

The tech-heavy small and medium-sized enterprises board witnessed net profit growth in H1, with new energy vehicle-related shares doing particularly well.

Anhui Zotye Automobile, a new energy vehicle manufacturer, saw net profit growth of 494 percent year-on-year in H1 due to government efforts to boost green energy.

Companies in smart manufacturing and emerging sectors such as next-generation IT technology also saw strong profit growth.

China's economy expanded 6.9 percent in the first half of 2017, with consumption, services and innovation-driven sectors taking up larger roles in the economy.

NBS data showed that hi-tech and equipment manufacturing sectors went up by 13.1 percent and 11.5 percent in H1 respectively.

While acknowledging the profit growth of listed companies, analysts called for more focus on hidden risks to ensure the long-term sustainable growth of listed companies.

"The slightly tightened market liquidity and tougher supervision to ward off financial risk will weigh on the performance of many listed companies in the future," said a Haitong Securities report.
NEW YORK - US car hailing giant Uber reported on Wednesday that its gross bookings rose 17 percent to $8.7 billion in the second quarter, as the company was still under the shadow of series of scandals earlier this year.

According to Uber, its adjusted net loss fell almost 9 percent quarter-over-quarter to $645 million and over 14 percent year-over-year.

The number of trips taken by global users increased 150 percent year-over-year, including 90-percent growth in developed markets and over 250-percent growth in developing markets, the start-up said. The growth number excludes China, which Uber exited last summer in exchange for an equity stake in Didi Chuxing, a Chinese car-hailing service company.

The financial information of Uber came after the Silicon Valley unicorn being through a well-publicized internal investigation into sexual harassment and other unsavory aspects of company culture, which led to the forced resignation of CEO Travis Kalanick in June.

Four US companies have recently trimmed the value of their investments in Uber, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Brunei expects closer cooperation in Halal business with China: Minister

Xinhua | Updated: 2017-08-24 17:16

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN - Brunei is looking forward to deepening cooperation with China in the Halal food industry, Haji Mohammad Yasmin, Brunei's Minister of Energy and Industry at the Prime Minister's Office, said on Thursday.



"Brunei is looking at halal food as one of the strong foundations in the Brunei-China economic partnership," he told Xinhua.



The minister unveiled the three-day Brunei Halal Showcase on Wednesday to nurture local Halal business.



"This is leveraged on our Brunei Halal certification and through Ghanim International Corporation Sdn Bhd, a government-linked company for marketing and branding Halal food products at home and overseas," he said.



According to Yasmin, although Brunei is a small country with only 400,000 population, there is huge potential for Brunei Halal-certified products globally due to its strong certification and integrity.



"Brunei is currently ranked 12th amongst 73 countries according to Thomson Reuters report on Global Islamic Economy 2017, an improvement of five places from 17th position last year, with much of the contribution from the Halal food industry," he stated.



Statistics revealed by the minister shows that at the end of 2016, the overall revenue generated by local Halal industry was estimated at 88 million Brunei dollars ($64.66 million).



"Sales are now about 43.2 million Brunei dollars from January up to July 2017 from 24 different companies in the Brunei Halal food sector who have already reported their revenue to date," Yasmin told Xinhua.



As for upcoming projects and investment from China, the minister said there are several projects on food, such as a company operating offshore sea-caged farming and processing facility in Brunei and a company processing and trading of Brunei Halal certified spices.



"We look forward to exploring further collaboration with China in the Halal food industry," Yasmin said.
Local governments have been told to streamline college tuition loans for students from poor families, after a man was suspected to have killed himself over a document related to his son's loan application.

Yue Chengyi, a resident of Youyu county in Shanxi province, was reported to have stabbed himself to death on Aug 14 as he was trying to obtain a document from the local government that was required for a student loan application.

Yue, 50, was the breadwinner of his family - an unemployed wife, two sons and a daughter.

On Aug 7, Yue's second son was admitted to a college and needed about 5,000 yuan ($750) for tuition for his freshman year.

Aware of the student loan policy to reduce the financial burden for impoverished families, the father approached the township government on Aug 14 hoping to obtain an official document proving that his son qualified for the loan.

Students are allowed to apply for interest-free loans from banks if they have documents showing the family's financial difficulty. The documents must carry government seals.

Yue went to the government office alone. Two hours later, he was found lying in blood in the office by himself, with several stab wounds on his belly and neck. He was sent to the hospital but was too severely injured to be saved. He died that night while being moved to a hospital in Beijing.

On Aug 17, the Youyu county government said on its Weibo account that, according to the local police, Yue, who was feeling great pressure, killed himself with a knife 15 to 20 centimeters long.

Yue Zhong, the older son, told Beijing News that he didn't know whether the knife was his father's.

"We don't know what happened in the office at that time," Yue Zhong was quoted as saying. "We don't know why my father did it."

A staff member of the township government told Beijing News that because there was no surveillance camera in the office, nobody knew exactly what happened.

The Youyu county government told China Daily on Wednesday that a task force has been formed to investigate the incident. The government helped the son get the loan.

The China National Center for Student Financial Aid issued a notice on Tuesday urging education authorities and banks to improve working efficiency and make the application process "student-centered", so that every student in need can get loans in a timely manner.

"Students who can offer a statement showing their families' financial difficulty - whether it's from their school or the village-or township-level government - are eligible for the loans," the center said in the notice.
Fifteen students at a school for HIV-positive students in North China have been enrolled in colleges this year and will start their new lives in September.

Two of them will enter four-year study programs at colleges that award bachelor's degrees, and the rest will go to three-year junior colleges, said Guo Xiaoping, principal of Linfen Red Ribbon School, in Linfen, Shanxi province.

Sixteen senior middle school students at the school - the only one in China that recruits students with HIV - took the college entrance exam this year, he said.

"The students are quite happy with the results, but they are also worried about their future," Guo said.

All of the students were infected by HIV through their mothers, and most have lost one or both parents and have no source of income, he said.

The Chinese Foundation for Prevention of STDs and AIDS has agreed to provide financial assistance so the students can finish their college studies, he said.

Each will get 12,000 yuan ($1,800) to cover tuition for two semesters annually, plus 1,500 yuan per month for living expenses, he said.

Yuan Jizheng, deputy director of the foundation's general office, said the foundation plans to donate about 1.5 million yuan to the school to help the 15 students throughout their college studies.

"The monthly living subsidies include rent, as teachers from the school told us most of the students will not choose to live in dorms provided by the colleges because of privacy concerns, and they are planning to rent a room off campus," she said.

"Each student has received 3,000 yuan in subsidies from the local government, but most of them have given the money to their parents, if they are alive, or to support other guardians, as their families are generally very poor," she said.

Guo believes that the students will choose not to tell others about their HIV condition while in college, but fears the secret may eventually leak out, because the students have to take medication.

"They will likely face many difficulties in their school life and afterward, as people with HIV are still discriminated against in many places, although things have become better in recent years," Guo said.

"If you meet them, you will realize that all of them are actually optimistic and keep a positive attitude," he said. "They will not transmit the disease to anyone. I hope society can be more understanding of them."
A fighter jet takes off from China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning. [Photo/Xinhua]

China launched its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, in 2012. The same year, the J-15 fighter jets successfully landed on and took off from the ship, marking an important step in the Chinese navy's efforts to develop the combat ability of its carrier battle group.

Legal Daily recently documented how pilots for China's carrier-borne fighter, the elite of elite, are trained.

A pilot has to be mentally and physically strong, possess extraordinary flying skills and strong political belief, and be fully dedicated to his career, Zhang Hongtao, from the PLA Navy, said.

The first batch of pilots for the carrier-based fighter are all aged 35 or younger, and have flown for over 1,000 hours, according to Legal Daily.

The toughest tests for the pilots are landing on and taking off from the aircraft carrier. They are highly demanding tasks due to the complex weather conditions at sea and the short runway.

The length of a runway on a carrier is less than a tenth of one at an airport. The pilot has just 36 meters between the arresting cables to land.

The pilot's neck, lumbar and backbone are exposed to a tremendous impact the moment the plane is stopped by the arresting cable.

Under the huge force of inertia during the process of deceleration, the blood flows quickly to the pilot's head, causing redout in the eyes, a phenomenon which affects the eyesight of a pilot.

Many pilots fail the medical tests to join the carrier-based fighter team over tiny problems, according to the report.

In addition to perfect physical fitness, a pilot must also be mentally strong. The medical crew set different scenarios and measure pilots' reactions to select those with strong nerves.

A fighter jet takes off from China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning. [Photo/VCG]

Further efforts needed

During night training sessions held recently at an airport on the island province of Hainan in South China, new pilot Chen Chuanbin took off on an urgent mission against an invasive airplane.

Under the cover of darkness, the target aircraft was able to disrupt Chen's fighter.

After communicating with the control tower, Chen turned around suddenly and locked the target before hitting it in a simulated action.

No sooner had Chen finished the task and returned to the airport than he received another order to intercept a new target.

Night training is an important part of cultivating pilots' all-weather combat ability, said Cui Meng, who leads an aviation regiment in the South China Sea Fleet of the PLA Navy.

He said they make the best use of the complex environment in South China Sea to cultivate pilots who are able to win a real battle.

"Carrier-based pilots should be highly sensitive to weather given the different weather conditions they may face in different sea areas," Du Wenlong, PLA Academy of Military Science senior researcher, said.

He said that the priority in training of pilots of carrier-based fighter is shifting from taking-off and landing to how to use real weapons in air-to-air and air-to-ship combat missions.

Du said that despite the progress the pilots have achieved by training in various sea conditions, there is still a long way to go before the J-15 fighter jets have real combat ability.
The English and French editions of President Xi Jinping's book on poverty relief are launched during the 24th Beijing International Book Fair held in the New Venue of the China International Exhibition Center in Beijing, Aug 23, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - The English and French editions of Chinese President Xi Jinping's book on poverty relief were launched on Wednesday at the ongoing 24th Beijing International Book Fair.

Titled "Up and Out of Poverty," the book is comprised of 29 of Xi's speeches and articles, as well as photos, from 1988 to 1990 when he was the Party chief of Ningde city in East China's Fujian province.

The Chinese edition was first published in July 1992 and reprinted in August 2014, gaining popularity among domestic readers especially officials at all levels.

The foreign editions were translated and published by the Foreign Languages Press affiliated with China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration.

Wu Shangzhi, deputy head of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, said that the Communist Party of China Central Committee, with Xi as the core, regards poverty relief as a bottom line and benchmark for accomplishing the building of a moderately prosperous society.

China's experiences will provide reference for other countries to shake off poverty, Wu said.

The foreign editions have received high attention and won praise from political figures, academics and media in African countries.
My interest in traditional culture means I am always looking for places with well-preserved traditions and unaffected rural people.

To my mind, Fanpai village, Guizhou province, is definitely such a place. Row after row of houses on the mountain slope create a maze I would like to enter and lose myself in. The houses display the traditional characteristics of the Miao people - some are newly built, while others have stood for decades topped by moss-covered roof tiles made from tree bark.

In the "maze", dogs and hens, followed by chicks, searched busily for food, while water washed the stones in the stream that runs across the village. Occasionally, a rooster crowed and a few dogs barked.

As I took in the scene, the sudden squeal of a piglet led me to one of the houses. I didn't imagine I would soon witness a traditional Miao ceremony.

A large jar of homemade wine, a bowl of rice with an egg on top and firewood had been laid out, and a black piglet was being dragged into the yard.

Holding a pickax with a rope wound around the top, a shaman cleared his throat and began chanting. The end of each section of the chant was signaled by the shaman hitting a sheet of metal with the pickax. Occasionally he scattered rice on the ground.

He chanted for about 30 minutes before the villagers headed to the mountain. Once there, the complex ceremony continued for more than two hours.

The piglet squealed continuously until it was slaughtered and cooked.

The ceremony - called nonggui, literally "driving the ghost away" - is performed when people believe spirits are bringing trouble. Usually, only 12 men participate.

Despite being an outsider, I was allowed to watch the full ceremony. I was treated well and offered food, except for one dish that was reserved for the 12 participants.

I would not have been concerned about the future of this "fairyland" if I had not met a group of amateur photographers, guided by a professional lensman, who had paid the villagers for the privilege of taking shots of performances of the local cultural heritage.

They were a group of "overnight millionaires", each with several long lenses hanging over their shoulders. From the moment they arrived, they began throwing their weight around, telling the locals "You do this, you do that". They never said "please". Some pressed the shutters of their cameras while holding expensive cigarettes.

They may not have realized that the local seniors don't speak Mandarin, but that doesn't excuse their rudeness when they failed to coerce a group of female seniors to pose for them.

One woman became annoyed and barked, "Just throw them a 100 yuan ($15) note."

While I understand that the development of tourism is one of the few ways for traditional villages to eradicate poverty, I am now concerned that ignorant visitors may contaminate these fairyland villages across the country.
A map of the planned Shanghai-Chengdu high-speed railway line. [Photo/WeChat account of Chengdu Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone]

Authorities have started researching feasible plans on building a high-speed railway line from Shanghai to Chengdu in Sichuan province along the Yangtze River, one of the country's eight important east-to-west high-speed railway tracks.

China Railways Corp, the country's rail operator, and Anhui provincial government are likely to submit a plan to the central government on constructing the Hefei-Nanjing section of the line by the end of August.

The two have agreed to jointly build the section during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), the official WeChat account of Chengdu Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone reported on Wednesday.

Hubei provincial government has also drawn up plans on building the sections in the Central China's province of the east-to-west line to link cities to the coastal area.

Hubei plans to build a high-speed railway to link Macheng and Enshi as part of the Shanghai-Chengdu line. The Jingmen-Yichang section will be the same line linking Xiangyang, Jingmen and Yichang, which will start construction next year.

According to a medium- and long-term plan to expand railway network approved by the State Council, China's Cabinet, last year, China will build eight rail lines north to south, and eight lines east to west.

The high-speed railway line along the Yangtze River will connect 22 cities from Shanghai to Chengdu. The train will have a maximum speed of 350 kilometers per hour.

"The line starting from Shanghai, en route Nanjing, Hefei, Wuhan, Chongqing to Chengdu, will be built with the standard of 350 km/h, paralleling a passenger-dedicated line from Shanghai to Chengdu," a railway official said.

At the end of 2013, China completed a passenger-dedicated railway line from Shanghai to Chengdu, which takes 14 hours to complete the journey.

The high-speed railway will shorten the time from Chengdu to Wuhan to about three hours and from Chengdu to Shanghai to about seven hours.


FBI agents raided a home of President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort last month, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.

The agents seized materials in Manafort's home as part of the ongoing Russia investigation led by Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Mueller, the source said.

"FBI agents executed a search warrant at one of Mr. Manafort's residences. Mr. Manafort has consistently cooperated with law enforcement and other serious inquiries and did so on this occasion as well," Jason Maloni, a spokesman for Manafort, told CNN. He declined to provide further details.

The so-called no-knock warrant, which was first reported by The Washington Post, was served at Manafort's home in Washington's northern Virginia suburbs on July 26, the day after Manafort met with Senate intelligence committee investigators.

The tactic appears unusual for a case that has been under investigation for months and for which Manafort has already turned over hundreds of pages of documents to Senate investigators. The source told CNN the documents seized included financial and tax records and at least some of the information had already been provided to Senate investigators.

Since his appointment in May, Mueller has quietly gathered a team of more than three dozen attorneys, investigators and other staff in a nondescript office in Washington. Officials familiar with the probe describe it as akin to a small US attorney's office, with FBI agents and prosecutors assigned to separate groups looking into various aspects of the investigation.

These include groups of investigators and lawyers focused separately on Russian collusion and obstruction of justice, as well as the investigations focused on Manafort and former national security adviser Michael Flynn, a US official briefed on the investigation has told CNN.

So far, Trump's campaign has turned over approximately 20,000 pages to the Senate judiciary committee, which is investigating Russia's interference in the election, while Manafort turned over approximately 400 pages and Donald Trump Jr. turned over about 250 pages.

Fusion GPS, the firm that compiled a dossier at the center of the federal Russia probe, has not yet turned over any documents, according to the committee's spokesperson, though a source told CNN the firm plans to provide the committee with "thousands" of pages of documents Wednesday.

The spokesperson declined to provide details about the specific contents of the documents.

CNN's Manu Raju and Tom LoBianco contributed to this report.
A man was convicted of illegally obtaining private information and sentenced to six years in prison on Thursday at the Luozhuang District People's Court in Linyi in East China's Shandong province.

The court ruled that Du Tianyu planted Trojan horse malicious program in April 2016 into a computer network operated by Shandong exam authorities and obtained more than 640,000 pieces of personal data of students who were to sit the National College Exams later that year.

Du allegedly sold over 100,000 of such information to Chen Wenhui and was paid 14,100 yuan ($2,116) by Chen, who was earlier sentenced to life.

Chen, the ringleader of a telecom fraud gang blamed in the death of a promising young student in East China, and six other people of the gang, were sentenced in July at the Linyi Intermediate People's Court. The others received prison terms of three to 15 years.

The gang cheated many victims out of a total of more than 560,000 yuan from November 2015 to August 2016, according to the court. More than 23,000 calls were made in which scammers posed as educational, financial or real estate officials.

The case took on national significance in August when one victim, Xu Yuyu, an 18-year-old university candidate from Linyi, died of cardiac arrest after being conned out of 9,900 yuan she had saved for her college tuition.

zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn
A university in South China's Guangzhou city recently decided to remove its mixed-gender dorm arrangement, but not all students have welcomed the move.

The Southern Medical University will phase out in the next few years the mixed-gender accommodation rule, which allows male and female students from different majors to live on same floors of the dorm building, according to a report of the Beijing News on Thursday.

The university is reportedly carrying out the rearrangement due to the need to maintain old buildings and management purposes.

The practice of mixed-gender accommodation has been in place in the school for more than a decade, and became somewhat a magnet for new students, said a report of Guangzhou-based Yangcheng Evening News on Tuesday. In most of China's higher education institutions, male and female students live in separate buildings.

The school said that male and female students have different lifestyles, and the cancelling of the mixed-gender arrangement is to prevent noise made by male students playing video games late into the night from disturbing female students and also to provide more privacy to female students who want to open their doors for fresh air in summer months, according to the report.

The decision drew mixed responses.

A poll launched by students of the school suggested 82 percent of the 6,693 respondents do not want the mixed-gender arrangement to be abolished.

Wang, a student at the university's nursing school, said she supports the mixed-gender policy, adding that male and female students are not opposite and, instead, can be helpful to each other.

Wang said in her dorm building female students seek help from male students when there is little bug in their rooms and the male students also help their female counterparts carry heavy stuff upstairs; in return, the female students share their self-made summer drinks with the boys. And both sides pay more attention to hygiene because of the existence of the opposite sex.

A student's mother, surnamed Huang, supported the decision of the school, saying that college students are still young and may not be able to handle the potential consequences.

Xiong Bingqi, an education expert with the 21st Century Education Research Institute, said that higher education institutions should create a diversified environment for students, and he labeled the cancelling of mixed-gender policy of the Southern Medical University as "retrogressive".

Mixed-gender policy arrangement is nothing new in some foreign countries.

According to reports, some universities in the US began allowing male and female students to live in the same buildings in the 1970s. In 2016, the George Washington University even gave permission to male and female students to live in same rooms.

In Hong Kong, schools including the University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Baptist University have also introduced the mixed-gender dorm arrangement.
A male visitor was bitten on the arm by a black bear when he rolled down his car window to feed one of the animals at Beijing Badaling Wildlife World on Aug 18. [Photo from Sina Weibo]

Beijing's authorities are seeking public feedback on strict draft rules for wildlife parks, in the wake of several accidents at the capital's safari zoos.

Under the draft standards, wildlife parks in the city would be required to set special routes for visitor vehicles to drive on which would be lined with railings or toughened glass walls, dividing tourists from animals.

There must not be any possibility that a visitor car can have direct contact with a wild animal, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.

Different types of animals should be confined to particular zones by fences, electricity nets or solid walls, according to the draft released by the Beijing Municipal Administration of Quality and Technology Supervision.

The regulations also gave more detailed instructions on guided, self-guided vehicle tours, feeding policies and safety warnings.

The authorities decided to release the rules after a series of tourist injuries or deaths invoked heated discussion on social media in the past few years.

The latest example happened at Beijing Badaling Wildlife World on Aug 18. A male visitor was bitten on the arm by a black bear when he ignored park warnings and rolled down his car window to feed one of the animals in the park, located at northwestern suburb of Beijing. Luckily, he survived with minor injuries.

However, an old woman involved in another incident was not so fortunate. The 57-year-old woman was killed by a Siberian tiger and her daughter seriously injured after they jumped out of a car at the same zoo in July 2016. They thought they had left the tiger enclosure, according to reports at that time.

They are not the only safety breaches at the zoo.

In 2009, three young men who were on an outing at the Great Wall decided to take a shortcut home and hopped the park's fence. An 18-year-old was killed by a tiger.

On Feb 27 this year, a car drove through a bear zone and the car was attacked by a bear. No one in the car was injured.

In July 22 this year, a video circulated on Chinese social media showing a bear in the park trying to reach into a car through a driver's-side open window.

Experts said self-guided vehicle tours in wildlife parks should be prohibited to avoid tragedy. There are also voices saying park management is to be blamed. But as some internet users in China see it, the fault is with the badly-behaved visitors: why don't they comply with parks' safety warnings?
Support from an education company during the past decade has benefited thousands of teachers and students in underdeveloped areas of China.

The Candlelight Campaign, a program in which New Oriental Education and Technology Group dispatches teachers to train peers in impoverished areas for free, was launched by the company and the China Democratic League in 2007.

Through face-to-face lectures, the company has shared advanced methods for teaching English, math and Chinese with educators in remote areas.

So far, more than 400 employees have volunteered for the campaign, helping to train more than 25,000 teachers in 28 provinces and regions, mostly in central and western parts of China.

The company also opened its online courses and teaching resources to teachers and students in those areas.

Yu Minhong, founder and president of New Oriental, said on Wednesday that the company will continue working with the China Democratic League to train teachers in remote areas.

"By making full use of the internet, we hope that high-quality educational resources can benefit more teachers and students in need, and that the unbalanced situation in education development can be changed," he said.
Bao Bao returned from the United States in February and celebrated her 4th birthday in her new home at the Dujiangyan base of China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Southwest China's Sichuan province on Wednesday. Photo provided to China Daily

Bao Bao celebrated her fourth birthday on Wednesday in her new home at the Dujiangyan base of China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Southwest China's Sichuan province.

Base staff members prepared a 50-kilogram cake made of apples, carrot, buns and bamboo as a special treat.

Bao Bao was born in the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington in the United States. In February, she arrived in China, via the FedEx Panda Express 777F airplane.

Soon after her arrival in Chengdu, Sichuan province, the 90-kilogram Bao Bao arrived at the Dujiangyan base of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda.

Under a bilateral agreement between the National Zoo and China, panda cubs born at the zoo to pandas on loan from China belong to China and have to be moved to China before they reach the age of four to join the breeding program.
Tourists sit next to a tree that was uprooted by strong winds from Typhoon Hato outside a jewelry shop in Macao on Thursday. Tyrone Siu / REUTERS

Relief workers on Thursday began the arduous task of recovery in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao after Hato  the strongest typhoon to hit the country this year  made landfall on Wednesday, causing 17 deaths and major damage.

The Macao government stepped up its post-typhoon relief work on Thursday after Typhoon Hato left eight people dead and over 150 injured and cut power and water supplies to some parts of the special administrative region.

Two transformer stations in Zhuhai, which were damaged and cut power to Macao about noon on Wednesday, resumed operation about 9 pm on Thursday. Backup facilities were used during the repair process, according to China Southern Power Grid Co.

Macao Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai-on apologized for insufficient actions taken by the Macao government in response to the typhoon. He and 14 other senior officials of the Macao government, expressed condolences to the victims and their families. The government will offer a total of 1.35 billion MOP ($167 million) for emergency relief to those who were affected by the disaster.

Meanwhile, Fong Soi-kun, the SAR's Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau director, resigned on Thursday.

In Hong Kong, the airport operated overnight to ease air traffic to and from Hong Kong after Hato forced the cancellation of 480 flights on Wednesday. Hong Kong's Airport Authority estimated that it would have to handle more than 1,200 flights on Thursday alone.

Guangdong Party chief Hu Chunhua visited a hospital, a village, a residential community and a water plant in Zhuhai on Thursday, urging all agencies and businesses to make greater efforts to safeguard people's lives and property and to bring life and production back to normal.

There were touching moments in some areas struck by Hato, as professional rescuers were joined by volunteers in rescuing and relief efforts.

Ten military divers sent by a brigade of the Southern Theater Command rescued on Wednesday three people trapped in underground garages submerged by muddy seawater in residential complexes in Zhuhai, the People's Liberation Army Daily reported.

Twelve SWAT police officers and an armored vehicle were dispatched Wednesday morning to bring back more than 80 people who were unable to move in fierce winds or unable to get out from the bus as their vehicles were stranded by fallen electrical cables and poles and capsized trucks on Zhuhai Bridge.

Food deliverer Yuan Zuzhuo and two of his colleagues helped clear fallen trees in roads, as soldiers, police officers, urban managers and sanitation workers cleaned up roads blocked by fallen trees and items blown from buildings and structures.

A store owner surnamed Yuan in Jida, Zhuhai, handed out 20,000 steamed buns free to local residents before dinnertime on Wednesday. "We found most supermarkets, stores and markets were closed. There was no power or water supply. We thought that many people would not have enough food. They don't cost much but can fill the stomach," he said.

Gu Caijuan contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at liwenfang@chinadaily.com.cn
But Beijing warns ROK leader that THAAD could be a stumbling block

President Xi Jinping said on Thursday that he is ready to make concerted efforts with President Moon Jae-in of the Republic of Korea to properly address the differences between the two countries.

Xi made the remark as he and Moon exchanged congratulatory messages on the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two nations.

Seoul's ties with Beijing have been frustrated the past year over the deployment of the US Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense antimissile system in the ROK.

The exchange of messages was made "as routine", Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Thursday, adding Seoul should have a look back at the lessons of the past 25 years.

She said it is hoped that Seoul will "face squarely China's major concerns and take constructive actions to properly tackle the relevant sensitive issue".

China's position opposing the deployment of the missile system is "very clear, firm and consistent" and "there is not any change" to it, she said.

According to a release from the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Moon took note in his message to Xi of the "significant development" in bilateral relations since 1992.

Moon said the development is the result of the governments and peoples of the two countries regarding their efforts to enhance mutual understanding and trust.

Qiu Guohong, Chinese ambassador to the ROK, told a public diplomacy forum this month that the THAAD issue has been the "largest disturbance" facing the two countries since the forge of ties.

Chen Zhu, vice-chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, said at a celebration of the anniversary in Beijing on Wednesday that China is willing to work with the ROK to stay true to their original aspirations, reinforce mutual trust, properly handle disagreements and push the ties back on the track of steady and healthy development.

Ruan Zongze, vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies, warned that Seoul should "have a clear understanding" of the greater damage of ties if it fails to meet Beijing halfway on the THAAD issue.

The bilateral strategic partnership was built on trust with long-term efforts and the partnership is being undermined by Seoul's irresponsible moves on the THAAD issue, Ruan said.

Jiang Yuechun, a researcher on world economy and East Asia affairs at the CIIS, said the THAAD issue has affected the tourism, automobile and cosmetics businesses in the ROK.
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan is disappointed with the remarks made by US President Donald Trump when introducing his policy on Afghanistan, the Foreign Ministry said.

In his long-awaited Afghanistan and South Asia strategy unveiled on Tuesday, Trump alleged that "Pakistan often gives safe haven to agents of chaos, violence, and terror".

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday that Washington could consider sanctions or cutting off Pakistan's status as a major non-NATO ally if it doesn't crack down on the Taliban and other extremist groups.

To review the situation arising out of the US policy, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqab Abbasi presided over a meeting of the federal cabinet and a statement was issued after the meeting saying that "instead of relying on the false narrative of safe havens, the US needs to work with Pakistan to eradicate terrorism".

"No country in the world has suffered more than Pakistan from the scourge of terrorism, often perpetrated from outside our borders. It is therefore disappointing that the US policy statement ignores the enormous sacrifices rendered by the Pakistani nation in this effort," the statement by the Foreign Ministry said.

It pointed out that no country in the world has done more than Pakistan to counter the menace of terrorism and that Pakistan has been and will continue to be part of the global counterterrorism efforts.

"Pakistan and the United States have been close allies in the fight against terrorism, which is a common threat for all nations of the world. As a matter of policy, Pakistan does not allow use of its territory against any country," the statement said.

It further pointed out that the threats to peace and security cannot be isolated from the complex interplay of geopolitics, continued existence of festering disputes and pursuit of hegemonic policies.

Sustainable peace

On Afghanistan, the ministry said that Pakistan reiterates its view that there is no exclusive military solution to the crisis in Afghanistan.

"The military action during the last 17 years has not brought peace to Afghanistan, and it is not likely to do so in the future. Only an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned politically negotiated solution can lead to sustainable peace in Afghanistan," it said.

It said, Pakistan is committed to working with the international community toward the common objective of defeating the forces of terrorism and promoting peace and stability in the South Asian region.

Xinhua - Ap

(China Daily 08/24/2017 page11)
Preparations for the 11th China-Northeast Asia Expo in Changchun, capital of Northeast China's Jilin province, is going smoothly and as planned, according to the organizers.

The expo will be held from Sept 1-5 at the Changchun International Convention & Exhibition Center. A total of 2,725 exhibition booths have been confirmed and the expo's space was fully registered as of late July, according to the expo's organizing committee.

All the preparation works are now in the final stages. Designing and construction of the exhibition spaces are underway. As of late August, 26 forums and 12 promotional events concerning the expo on the city level have been held. The second World Jilin Entrepreneurs Convention will also be held during the expo.

The Ninth High-level Forum on Northeast Asian Cooperation, to be launched along with the expo on Sept 1, expects 1,200 participants, more than 60 percent of whom are from overseas, according to the organizers.

The theme of this year's forum is "promoting more convenient investment, free trade, boosting development of connectivity and diversity in the Northeast Asian region". High-level officials from the Republic of Korea, Japan, Mongolia, Croatia and Zambia have confirmed their attendance.

The first Northeast Asia Expo was held in September 2005. It was intended as an effort to expand regional cooperation and accelerate rejuvenation of the nation's old industrial base in Northeast China.

The expo was approved by China's central government. Presently, it is co-sponsored by China's Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the People's Government of Jilin.

"The China-Northeast Asia Expo has developed into an important channel of dialogue and communication between governments in the area, and an important platform for regional economic cooperation," said Li Jinxiu, vice-governor of Jilin province, at a news conference promoting the expo in June. "It has also become a crucial passageway for the countries' cultural exchange, and a carrier of the Tumen River Area's cooperative development. Its influence as an important window of opening-up has been growing."

Zhou Jianping, head of the Department of Northeastern Revitalization of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that the expansion of opening-up to the outside world is a major part of Northeast China's effort to improve its operational system, and a key point the central government has emphasized in the revitalization of the region.

"The Northeast China region, with nearby borders and being by the sea, has unique geographical advantages, and is well positioned for opening-up and connecting with other countries of Northeast Asia," Zhou said. "The National Development and Reform Commission will promote the region's emergence in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, in an effort to transform Northeast China into an important window of opening-up to the north and a pivot of cooperation in Northeast Asia."

International attendance

Member countries of the expo comprise China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Japan, ROK, Mongolia and Russia. The countries involved together cover a total area of 28.84 million square kilometers, with a total population of more than 1.7 billion. Their combined GDP accounts for one fifth of the world's total and they have about half of the world's foreign-exchange reserves, according to the organizers.

As an organizer of the expo, Jilin's provincial foreign affairs office has invited foreign officials and businesspeople to attend the expo and forum. The office said at least 11 foreign political dignitaries, 567 foreign businesspeople and 32 of the world's top 500 companies have confirmed their attendance.

The foreign affairs office asked for help from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, besides holding promotional events and sending out delegations to Japan and ROK to publicize the expo.

Pavilion layout

An intelligent manufacturing-themed exhibition hall will be set up for the first time at the 11th China-Northeast Asia Expo in No 9 pavilion. According to the expo's organizing committee, the intelligent manufacturing exhibition hall will include advanced products such as 3-D printing, robots and intelligent applications.

The No 1 pavilion will feature mobile internet payment and new lifestyles. Pavilions 2-8 will have the themes of Hong Kong commodities, Taiwan commodities, international commodities, opening-up and cooperation, foods and pharmaceuticals, as well as the cultural and tourism industries.

Cities' booths

Jilin city, the second-largest city of Jilin province, has made all the necessary preparations to participate in the expo.

The city's main exhibition booth will cover 408 square meters and feature 114 products.

Special effects and features will be applied to help attract visitors, such as a 3-D meteorite, a digital sand table and a VR experience zone.

The Jilin City Investment roadshow will be held on Sept 2 in Changchun.

As the host city, Changchun is also well-prepared for the upcoming expo. The Changchun International Convention & Exhibition Center, reception hotels and other expo-associated facilities have been fully arranged.

The booth of the Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture also covers more than 400 square meters and will be decorated with Azalea flowers, a symbol of prosperity and happiness for the city and the flower emblem of the prefecture.

Yanlong new district and investment promotion will be its key exhibition elements. High-tech products will also be used to improve their service, according to the organizers.

The Yanbian investment roadshow will be held in Yanji city in September with more than 800 attendees.

Time: Sept 1 to 5(Friday - Tuesday), 2017

Venue: Changchun International Convention & Exhibition Center, Jilin province, China

yejun@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 08/24/2017 page7)
The war epic Dunkirk focuses on the survival of British and French troops on the French beach in 1940. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk will make its debut on the Chinese mainland on Sept 1. Xu Fan reports.

Fans of Christopher Nolan gathered outside Beijing Wanda CBD Cinema in the rain this week for a sneak peek into his World War II epic Dunkirk.

The movie, which tells the story of the 1940 evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk, France, will open across the Chinese mainland on Sept 1.

Nolan, who's known in China for Interstellar, attended a promotional screening of Dunkirk on Tuesday alongside his wife, who's the movie's producer, Emma Thomas.

The film weaves three separate plots over land, sea and sky. It focuses on the survival of British and French troops.

"What is interesting to me about the Dunkirk story is the simple, clear and paradoxical situation. We had 400,000 men on the beachesso close to home but unable to get there," Nolan said in an interview on Monday during his first visit to Beijing.

"We try to use the points of view from people who were actually there. We try to be true to what might be the experiences of those people."

The 47-year-old British-American filmmaker had the idea for a long time.

When Nolan was producing his first movie, Following, in the late 1990s, he and Thomas used a small ship to sail across the English Channel. The 19-hour journey also retraced the route that around 850 private boats sailing from England to Dunkirk took to help rescue thousands of soldiers trapped on the French beach.

"We were very struck by the experience. It was incredibly dangerous. The water was turbulent. It took a much longer time than we'd thought, because the conditions were poor," Nolan recalled at another promotional event in Beijing on Tuesday.
The Forum of the 11th Special Book Award of China and Writing on China and Internationnal Communication Seminar was held in Beijing, Aug 23, 2017. [Photo provided to Chinaculture.org]

The Forum of the 11th Special Book Award of China and Writing on China and Internationnal Communication Seminar was held in Beijing on Aug 23.

The winners and representatives of some winners of the award, along with delegates from Chinese universities and publishing houses, attended the workshop.

Set up in 2005 by the Chinese government, the award was dedicated to translators, scholars and publishers who made an outstanding contribution to the study and spread of Chinese culture.

A total of 20 people received the award for 2017. Sixteen of them received the Special Book Award of China award and the remaining four were awarded with the Special Book Award of China for Young Scholars.

Huang Zhuoyue, director of the Chinese Culture Communication and Translation Center, addressed the meeting and said the evaluation criteria of the award developed more categories with a wider coverage, such as the setup of the award for young scholars.

"Chinese Culture Translation and Studies Support (CCTSS.org) could function as a platform for translators and sinologists to communicate and cooperate," he said.

"It will connect scholars, governments and cultural institutions through establishing a publications data base and introducing more Chinese works."

At the seminar, many winners shared translation experiences and introduced their work on the international distribution and promotion of Chinese books.

Albanian translator Iljaz Spahiu, who was one of the winners, said translated works should be more comprehensive, covering many aspects of China.

"Translators need to let readers know more about contemporary Chinese society and culture as well as a modern China," he said.

The forum was hosted by the Chinese Culture Communication and Translation Center, and co-organized by the Chinese Culture Translation and Studies Support (CCTSS.org) group and the China Translation and Publishing House (CTPH).
Anchor Zheng Hao hosts The First Belt and Road Forum of Phoenix TV, a program which will air on the Chinese channel of Phoenix TV. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Donkeys may help connect China and countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, says an upcoming TV program.

The program, titled The First Belt and Road Forum of Phoenix TV, gathered officials, experts and entrepreneurs to discuss the challenges and opportunities of Chinese enterprises' going abroad, at the Hong Kong broadcaster Phoenix TVs Beijing headquarters.

Over centuries donkey-hide gelatin, or e'jiao, has been used as a tonic in the traditional Chinese medicine. The gelatin is made from boiling and refining donkey skin.

Qin Yufeng, the CEO of the Shandong-based Dong'e Ejiao Co Ltd, a major manufacturer, says donkeys are widely used for carrying goods in most countries involved in the initiative.

And Chinese demand is making producers search for more raw material abroad.

He says that donkeys could help to boost economies of the countries which can export the animals to China.

Besides, the program also discussed the risks for Chinese enterprises to going abroad.

The program, hosted by anchors Yu Ying and Zheng Hao, will air on the Chinese channel of Phoenix TV in September.
The exhibition Huan Zhong  Nature follows Abstraction is on display at at KWM Art Center in Beijing until Sept 22. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Huan Zhong, a term which refers to the space within a circle, is a concept originated by Chinese philosopher Zhuang Zi in the 4th century BC. In Zhuang's opinion, the circle represented the realistic world, while the space was the abstract and intangible.

An exhibition inspired by the concept is currently on display at KWM Art Center in Beijing. Huan Zhong  Nature follows Abstraction aims to intepret the concept with abstract artworks. Thirteen artists from home and abroad present diverse works ranging from paintings, sculpture and photography to textiles and ceramics.

In the center of the space is The Last Egg, where nine similarly-sized ceramic jars are fractured to give the appearance of broken eggshells. The artist, Zhao Yao, explains that the work represents the two selves that reside within every human being in the modern world  the natural self and the rational self. As urban civilization continues to develop, it endows the human subconscious with a penchant for the natural, the organic and the vital, as well as an attachment to rationality.

Eclipse by Dutch artist Henny van Nistelrooy is inspired by solar and lunar eclipses. The design creates an eclipse of two rugs, seemingly overlapping each other. These were handmade in Nepal by skilled craftsman over a period of four months.

The exhibition will run until Sept 22.
A Foreign Ministry photo released shows Indian troops encroaching on Chinese territory. Provided to China Daily

I am sure you must know or have heard of someone who has made a serious error in life, paid dearly for it, and yet after many years seems to be on the verge of making exactly the same mistake. This is the case with India, which seems intent on repeating the colossal mistake it made in 1962. There is still time for it to remedy its error, however.

India's troops are trespassing in Donglang. The Sino-Indian border is a complex and fascinating legacy of history. Most of it has neither been delineated (agreed in words or on paper) nor demarcated (both parties having gone to the area and physically drawn a boundary). The infamous, so-called McMahon line was delineated (not demarcated) by the British, and it is irrelevant because China refused to accept it. However, the 220 kilometer Sikkim sector of the border between China and India which Indian troops crossed on June 18 was clearly demarcated in 1890 and has been respected by both parties ever since. India has clearly broken international law here.

Already a few senior Indian politicians have declared that Indians should not buy Chinese goods. This will hurt India more than China. To begin with, China's exports to India account for 2 percent of China's total exports. More important, for India, if Chinese investment in India stops, it will hurt the Indian economy drastically and will have a huge impact on Indian jobs. It will also hurt the Indian consumers who will have to buy much more expensive products of the same quality. India's economy, after decades of bad planning, is on the rise, but it needs trade with China and Chinese investment to continue to do so.

Moreover, it will destabilize South Asia and reinforce India's image as a regional hegemon, thus undermining the very objective India wants to achieveestablish mutually beneficial relations with Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. The era of "backyards" is fading fast, being replaced by the more progressive and globally accepted ideas of economic and social development based on bilateral and multilateral relationships and supportive mechanisms. China's Belt and Road Initiative is for any country which wishes to add value to all and thus to its own economy.

India's aggression in Donglang also undermines its dream to become a regional or even global power. If India cannot assume moral leadership within its own vicinity, how can it do so in the global arena?

India's Donglang aggression is also dangerous. China has settled its borders with 12 neighbors via talks. This is exactly what China has repeatedly offered to India.

China is a peace-loving country and has, in an amazing show of self-control, refrained from retaliating. The entire international community hopes India will withdraw its troops within its own borders, and thus step back from the brink of war, allowing peace to prevail again.

The author is an associate professor at Lahore School of Economics, Pakistan.
SONG CHEN/CHINA DAILY

Editor's note: The Ministry of Commerce on Monday termed US investigation into Chinese intellectual property practices "irresponsible" and "biased". Washington's protectionist, unilateral approach to bilateral trade issues, it said, risks undermining the progress made by both sides during earlier negotiations and sending out the "wrong signals". Three experts shared their views on the issue with China Daily's Cui Shoufeng. Excerpts follow:

No need to panic or overreact

Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations, China Foreign Affairs University

The exit of Steve Bannon, one of the loudest China critics and trade war proponents in the Donald Trump administration, from the White House is being read by some optimists as a "temporary" relief to Beijing. To the discerning eyes, that is illusory.

Shortly before he was removed as White House chief strategist, Bannon told The American Prospect magazine that the United States and China are locked in an "existential battle" for domination of the global economy. Bannon's White House stint ended on the same day that US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer formally launched the investigation into so-called unfair Chinese trade practices, likely a farewell gift from the US president he advised.

With Bannon and a string of other political confidants gone, Trump will have to learn how to work with the Republican establishment and return to the "mainstream". This is not to say Washington's trade policymaking is in safe hands. The latest probe into intellectual property allegations targeting Beijing was bound to happen on the pretext of correcting the US trade imbalance, with or without Bannon in office.

Bannon's endorsement of economic nationalism and white supremacy contradicts the principles of globalization and cultural diversity enshrined in US politics. His departure was a matter of time, especially after he decided to offer trade war ammunition. But he and his pro-establishment rivals in the divisive Trump administration want the same thingBeijing's concessions and a major cutback in Washington's trade deficit.

Beijing is right to emphasize the role of non-government organs in bilateral trade exchanges and the need to cooperate. A "mainstream" Trump team could become more aggressive in "dealing with" the trade deficit with China, as inside the White House opinions were largely divided and undermined by Bannon's call for a trade war. And Trump could be tempted to employ sophisticated negotiation tactics to demand his end of the bargain.

Despite the challenges, China need not panic or overreact. The Trump administration's policymaking mechanism is still fraught with uncertainties and divisions. That said, China should keep interacting with the US trade policymakers and seek consensus on outstanding issues. It could also try to cooperate with decision-making entities outside the White House to make sure the US' overall China policy is fully debated and balanced.

China-US relations will continue making headlines before and during Trump's visit to China scheduled for later this year, when Beijing will get an opportunity to further explain the relationship's reciprocal nature to the US public and media.
Protesters hold a rally against the deployment of the US missile defense system in Seoul on Saturday.Yao Qilin / Xinhua

Thursday marks the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and the Republic of Korea, an occasion that should have been observed with lots of fanfare and the extending of mutual best wishes.

That such high-profile celebrations are conspicuous by their absence can be attributed to the deployment of the United States' Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system in the ROK, which put a brake on the development of the hard-won strategic cooperative partnership, and then thrust it into reverse.

Despite Beijing's firm opposition to the ROK's deployment of THAAD given its potential damage to the regional strategic balance and China's security interestsas well as the doubts about the system's ability to achieve its stated purpose of defending the ROK should it come under attack from the Democratic People's Republic of Koreathe recently installed ROK President Moon Jae-in ordered a speedy deployment of the controversial missile defense system late last month after the DPRK's most recent missile test.

The move dashed the hopes which arose when he took office in May that he would postpone the system's deployment in the ROK pending an environmental review. It was anticipated that this would improve the deteriorating Sino-ROK relations, by giving the two neighbors time to sort out their differences and find a common approach to easing the growing tensions in the region.

For relations shouldn't be like this. In the face of the escalating brinkmanship between the US and the DPRK, Beijing and Seoul are both on the same page in wanting the Korean Peninsula to be nuclear free, and both believe war is not an option. Just last week, Moon said he was considering sending a special envoy to the DPRK for talks in a bid to jump-start diplomacy.

The ROK's security concerns are genuine, but they would be better addressed by not estranging China, and the two countries working closely together to promote peace and stability on the peninsula.

The ROK should not let its fears that it is in the DPRK's cross hairs betray its judgment. Hanging on to the coattails of the US, which has its own aims in the region, merely increases the likelihood of those fears coming true.

Twenty-five years ago, the leaders of China and the ROK, guided by their wisdom, and displaying courage and vision, beat all odds and decades of hostility to forge a friendly relationship that has benefited the two nations tremendously and contributed to peace, security and prosperity in the region.

Seoul should display similar wisdom and vision now.
The US Treasury Department announced sanctions on Tuesday on 16 entities and individuals, mostly Chinese and Russian, for alleged business ties with the nuclear/missile programs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The decision came less than two months after the US Treasury imposed such so-called secondary sanctions on a bank, a shipping company and two individuals from China.

The US Treasury claims that its actions complement United Nations Security Council Resolution 2371 enacted on Aug 5.

China has not only endorsed UNSC Resolution 2371, but earnestly implemented all the relevant resolutions on the DPRK. However, it opposes the unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States outside the UN Security Council framework. China has also stated that it opposes such "long-arm jurisdiction" by any other country using their domestic laws against Chinese entities or individuals.

The US has long believed that sanctions are a silver bullet. But the majority of sanctions have not only failed but also caused humanitarian disasters in other countries. And there is little doubt that such secondary sanctions will have little effect in persuading the DPRK to change course.

However, the Tuesday announcement highlights the lack of trust and cooperation between the US on the one hand and China and Russia on the other.

The announcement comes at a time when the US has repeatedly ignored the calls from China and Russia for a dual suspensionthe US and the Republic of Korea halt their large military drills while the DPRK halts its missile and nuclear tests.

The US always blames the DPRK for the failure to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, and never wants to acknowledge that its own behavior, such as breaking its promise to deliver two light water reactors to the DPRK in time under a 1994 agreement, or imposing financial sanctions on the DPRK soon after a joint statement from the Six-Party Talks in 2005, has contributed to the current impasse.

Its approach is part of the problem rather than being a means to find a solution.
A pedestrian using a smartphone walks past stores selling mobile phones and accessories at the Nehru Place IT Market in New Delhi, India, May 30, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

INDIA AND THE UNITED STATES will conduct the "Yudh Abhyas" joint exercise in the United States from Sept 14 to 27. Beijing News commented on Wednesday:

The September India-US drills, which have been held annually since 2004, will see more than 200 Indian soldiers visit the Joint Base Lewis-McChord in the US. This year, the focus of the exercise has reportedly shifted from anti-terrorism missions to "more complex, combined arms, division-level" ones. The exercise comes two months after this year's Malabar Naval Exercise, conducted by the US, Japan and India in the Bay of Bengal, which dubiously prioritized antisubmarine operations involving the US Navy's Nimitz Carrier Strike Group, the Indian Navy's sole aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya and Japan's 27,000-tonne helicopter carrier cruiser Izumo.

After Narendra Modi was sworn in as Indian prime minister in 2014, Washington and New Delhi have been getting so close that the latter, an outspoken advocate of the nonaligned movement, is poised to become a quasi US allyat least in defense terms.

In 2015, then US President Barack Obama paid an unprecedented visit to India's Republic Day celebrations as the chief guest. His defense secretary Ashton Carter visited India four months later to witness the signing of a new bilateral defense pact designed to simplify the transfer of US defense technology to India and deepen cooperation between their defense industries.

A year ago, during his fourth visit to the US since taking office, Modi was invited to deliver a speech to the US Congress and he was not shy in saying India will serve as a chief defense partner of the US. Although US President Donald Trump did not meet Modi until late June, five months after his inauguration, he will no doubt be aware of India's "strategic value" after that summit.

Despite its attempts to hitch a ride on the US' Asia-Pacific policy, an increasingly arrogant New Delhi may not stay loyal to their unspoken partnership. Nor will Washington, which is set to shirk many of its responsibilities worldwide. It would be a shame if Modi fails to see the fact that China and India have a lot more in common than their border dispute.
Representatives of grossroots community organizations hold pictures of "Comfort Women" during a rally on the sidewalk in front of Japanese Consulate General in San Francisco, the United States, on August 14, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

A MEDIA COMPANY PARTNERING WITH TENCENT, one of the largest social media companies in China, has made stickers of the facial expressions of the "comfort women" interviewed in the documentary Twenty Two, drawing much criticism. Thepaper.cn comments:

The heart-rending documentary, shot three years ago, records the daily lives and memories of the last 22 women forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army during its occupation of China. The women were the last "comfort women" still alive on the Chinese mainland at the time of filming. When it was broadcast last week, 14 out of the 22 women had passed away.

It is highly improper for the media company to use the distress of the "comfort women" recalling their traumatic experiences in such a frivolous manner. Tencent should also take the blame for giving the green light to these insensitive and exploitative stickers.

The two companies did not realize they had made an error until there was a spontaneous boycott of the stickers.

In the information era, the overwhelming emphasis on sensationalism to attract people's attention can all too easily cross the moral line.

That people took the initiative to spurn the tasteless stickers should ring the alarm bell for the whole industry not to go too far in trying to create a lucrative fad.

Although Tencent and its partner belatedly apologized on Tuesday, to compensate for their error, the two companies, as some have suggested, should provide material support to the eight women still alive who they sought to exploit for commercial purposes.
A tourist dresses in Miao traditional costume as she learns muguwu in Fanpai village, Guizhou province. Muguwu was listed as a national cultural heritage in 2006. [Photo by Yang Wenbin/Xinhua]

Performances of traditional music and dancing are helping to raise living standards in an isolated settlement, as Hou Liqiang and Yang Jun report from Fanpai, Guizhou province.

Things are peaceful at night in Fanpai village. The only sounds are the babbling of water in the stream and the occasional bark of a dog. There are no streetlamps, so only moonlight and the ambient glow from a few homes illuminate the settlement in Taijiang county, Guizhou province.

Only one small corner of the village provides a contrast, the cultural center, where groups of residents often gather for discussions that often last until long after midnight.

Nobody can remember exactly how many discussions have been held, but the topic is always the same: finding a proper development mode for the village, which is famed for its cultural heritage but is mired in poverty.

Since the 1990s, Fanpai has been renowned for its rich cultural heritage, including muguwu, literally "wooden drum dance" after the mugu drum, together with multivoiced love songs. They are listed as national cultural heritage. The dance, which records the migratory history of the local Miao ethnic group, has been performed for tourists domestically and overseas, according to Wan Dexue, Fanpai's former Party chief.

Fame has failed to bring major changes to the village. Most of the young people have left to work in big cities, and if the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation had not arrived in 2013 to help the development of tourism, the village would have vanished, he said.

According to the village committee, 115 of Fanpai's 2,009 residents live below the national poverty line, which was 2,952 yuan ($443) last year.

With 10 million yuan donated by China Minsheng Bank Corp in 2013, the foundation launched a project to help eradicate poverty by developing local tourism. A tourism cooperative was established in 2014, and each of the 20 groups to which residents belong can elect one or two representatives to be members of the cooperative's council, according to Wan, who is director of the council.

The foundation covers the council's operating costs and all profits are distributed among the villagers.

It's not unusual to see outsiders controlling the tourist industry in many ancient villages. However, those responsible for Fanpai's development are determined to allow the villagers to be the dominant force in tourism development to ensure the local culture is preserved.

When the foundation invited Liu Zhaofeng, head planner of Guizhou Architectural Design and Research Institute Co, to design plans for Fanpai, he initially refused because he thought a village as well-known as Fanpai would be too commercialized. Liu had visions of other renowned settlements, which are littered with traditional buildings damaged by poorly designed upgrades.

"However, when I arrived in the village, I discovered I was wrong. Though famous, it hasn't been developed much," he said.
More data is needed to back up the states weather modification program, Gov. Doug Burgum said Wednesday after farmers and ranchers raised strong opposition to cloud seeding during recent drought meetings.

The comments came while Burgum led a meeting of the State Water Commission, but the group took no formal action to begin a study.

Burgum said cloud seeding has been a hot topic as he and Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring meet with agriculture producers struggling with drought conditions.

They actually think its detrimental to what theyre doing, Burgum said during the first meeting for seven newly appointed commission members.

Six counties and a portion of a seventh participate in the states weather modification program, which seeds clouds with silver iodide to suppress hail and increase rainfall.

Darin Langerud, director of the North Dakota Atmospheric Resource Board, presented Wednesday on studies he said indicate the states program increases rainfall by 5 percent to 10 percent.

But Burgum said hes heard from a lot of citizens who think the commission is using old, insufficient data to back up the program. One of the studies Langerud references was conducted between 1969 and 1972.

If were going to stay in this business, I think we need to think about, as a commission, how do we fund a larger-scale, multi-year study, Burgum said.

The budget for the cloud seeding program, which occurs from June through August, is about $1 million for 2017, with one-third provided from the state and two-thirds from participating counties.

Goehring said he supports gathering more data on the program. The commission took no action and did not discuss when a study would occur or how it would be funded.

Jon Wert, of New England, a farmer and rancher who attended two drought meetings where cloud seeding was discussed, said hes impressed that the governor wants to look deeper into the program.

Wert, who was not at the Wednesday meeting, testified to the Legislature earlier this year in support of ending state funding for cloud seeding.

I think once they get the data collected, itll show the negative effects of cloud seeding, said Wert, who indicated he hopes a study is funded by the Legislature or some independent entity and not funded by Weather Modification Inc., the contractor for the program.

Roger Neshem, an opponent of cloud seeding from Berthold, said in an interview Wednesday he thinks cloud seeding should be suspended until the state has better data showing it benefits the state.

All the data theyve got so far is not statistically significant, Neshem said.
A man walks near a house after airstrike in Sanaa, Yemen on Aug 23, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

SANAA - At least 35 people were killed when Saudi-led coalition warplanes hit a hotel north of the capital Sanaa early on Wednesday morning, a security official and medics told Xinhua.

The hotel locates in Bait al-Edhari area of Arhab district north of Sanaa, said the official. Medics and rescuers said they have pulled 35 bodies, from underneath of rubble as search for possible survivors is still ongoing.

The dead were all men, said the medics.

This is the latest of a series of airstrikes hitting Yemeni civilians since the civil war began in March 2015.

Earlier this month, nine civilians from two families were killed in airstrikes by Saudi-led coalition in Yemen's northern province of Saada, according to local residents and officials.

Last month, the coalition fighter jets hit a camp of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Mawza district in the southern province of Taiz, killing a total of 20 people, mostly women and children.

The United Nations refugee agency strongly condemned the July 18 aerial attacks on the IDPs camp and said that it is "deeply shocked and saddened."

It said the victims were reported to have been displaced to Mawza from nearby Al Mokha district, which is also experiencing intensified hostilities.

In March 2015, Saudi-led coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict to back internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi against Iranian-backed Houthis, who invaded the capital Sanaa militarily and seized most of the northern Yemeni provinces.

More than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the war that also displaced over 3 million, according to UN agencies.

The country has also been hit by a deadly cholera outbreak and is on the edge of famine.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (R) shakes hands with US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis during their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, on Aug 23, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

ANKARA - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed Turkey's unease over US support to the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) during his meeting with US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Wednesday.

During their meeting in capital Ankara, Erdogan and Mattis discussed bilateral and regional issues, according to Anadolu Agency, citing a presidential source.

The discussion included US support to the YPG and Turkey's possible military operation against the YPG in Syria. Erdogan stressed Turkey's unease with the US support for the Syrian Democratic Unity Party military group, to which YPG is aligned, and the alleged Syrian affiliate of the outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK).

Erdogan and Mattis emphasized the importance of maintaining the territorial integrity of Syria and Iraq, as Kurdish northern Iraq gears up for an independence referendum in September.

The two sides also reiterated their determination to fight against PKK and Islamic State in the region, the source said.

During his visit, Mattis also separately met his Turkish counterpart Nurettin Canikli.

Mattis's visit comes after Iranian Chief of Staff Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri visited Ankara last week to discuss with Turkish officials a joint operation against the Kurdish militants in Iran.
KHARTOUM - Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Wednesday vowed to take arms collection as priority in Darfur region, warning of manifestation of security disturbance there, official SUNA news agency reported.

He reiterated that the government would not tolerate any manifestation of security disturbance in Darfur.

Al-Bashir on Wednesday met in Khartoum with North Darfur State Governor Abdul-Wahid Yousif.

Following the meeting, Yousif said al-Bashir informed him with the necessity of continuation of arms collection as a step towards eliminating arms from Darfur region.

The president further directed the governor to preserve the security and stability achieved, the report said.

Al-Bashir also directed the governor to work for resettlement of displaced people and tackle the security and humanitarian situation.

On Aug 7, the Sudanese government launched a campaign for collecting arms and unlicensed vehicles in Sudan's Darfur region.

During a visit to Darfur states last year, al-Bashir stressed the country's determination to collect arms in the region and divided the project into two phases, the first through financial compensation for each piece collected and the second through a compulsory law that included punishment to the violators.

Earlier, the government announced formation of a High Committee for collection of arms and unlicensed vehicles.
Flags are seen at the EU Commission headquarters ahead of a first full round of talks on Brexit, Britain's divorce terms from the European Union, in Brussels, Belgium, July 17, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

LONDON - The British government's latest position paper on its Brexit proposals will on Thursday outline ambitious proposals so personal data can be shared between the Britain and the European Union (EU) after Brexit.

The aim of the proposals will be to chart a way for data to be exchanged in the future in a safe and properly regulated way.

The latest of the series of papers looking at Britain's future partnership with the EU after Brexit details the case for a model for exchanging and protecting personal data which would be in the interests of consumers, businesses and public authorities.

Britain's proposed model for the protection and exchange of personal data will reflect the unprecedented alignment between British and European law.

It will recognize that the high data protection standards will be in place at the point of Britain's exit, planned for March, 2019.

The Data Protection Bill, which is due to be laid before the British Parliament in the fall, will implement the European Union's new data protection rules, helping Britain prepare for a successful Brexit.

Britain's Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEu) said Wednesday the EU data economy was estimated to be worth more than $320 billion in 2015, with Britain a major contributor to this.

Officials in Britain say it is thought that 43 percent of all large EU digital companies are started in Britain and 75 percent of British cross border data flows are with EU countries.

Brexit negotiators in London say this means that avoiding any disruption to cross border data flows is in the interest of both Britain and EU.

Britain's Minister for Digital Matt Hancock said: "In the modern world, data flows increasingly underpin trade, business and all relationships. We want the secure flow of data to be unhindered in the future as we leave the EU.

"A strong future data relationship between the UK and EU, based on aligned data protection rules, is in our mutual interest.

"The UK is leading the way on modern data protection laws and we have worked closely with our EU partners to develop world leading data protection standards. Our goal is to combine strong privacy rules with a relationship that allows flexibility, to give consumers and businesses certainty in their use of data."
LONDON - Britain commissioned a report on Thursday on the economic impact of foreign students, part of an increasingly heated debate over whether they should be included in the government's target of reducing migration to the tens of thousands.

Prime Minister Theresa May has been under pressure to drop international students from Britain's immigration figures, which have remained stubbornly high despite her pledge as interior minister seven years ago to reduce them to under 100,000 a year.

High rates of immigration into Britain were a major reason for the vote to leave the European Union last year. But many officials argue that foreign students contribute to the economy.

"There is no limit to the number of genuine international students who can come to the UK to study, and the fact that we remain the second most popular global destination for those seeking higher education is something to be proud of," interior minister Amber Rudd said in a statement.

"We understand how important students from around the world are to our higher education sector, which is a key export for our country, and that's why we want to have a robust and independent evidence base of their value and the impact they have."

Immigration has long been a sensitive topic in Britain. The expansion of the European Union to take in some eastern European countries saw rates jump, which critics said put pressure on public services such as hospitals.

But others argue that immigration helps the economy and a provides a much-needed workforce. By including students in the immigration figures, they say, Britain is failing to acknowledge the contribution they make or that most leave after finishing their studies.

International students make up around a quarter of total immigration, according to official figures. Data released on Thursday showed that net migration to Britain in the year to March 2017 fell by 81,000 to 246,000 people. More than half of those who left were EU citizens.

In a separate report on "What's happening with international student migration?", the Office for National Statistics said: "There is no evidence of a major issue of non-EU students overstaying their entitlement to stay."

Of the 1.34 million nationals from outside the European Economic Area who held visas that expired in 2016/17, 96.3 percent departed before the visa expired, the ONS said in another report.

Another 0.4 percent departed after their visa had expired. Just 3.3 percent were not initially identified as having departed after their leave expired.

"We have always been clear that our commitment to reducing net migration to sustainable levels does not detract from our determination to attract international students from around the world," Immigration Minister Brandon Lewis said.

"Since 2010 we have clamped down on abuse, while increasing the number of genuine students that come to the UK from around the world."
Lead pastor of Harvest Ministries and founder of the Harvest Crusades, Greg Laurie, condemned racism, bigotry, and hatred during the most recent SoCal Harvest, the first night of which took place on Friday.

"For a follower of Jesus Christ, there is no place for racism, bigotry, or prejudice of any kind," Laurie said to a crowd of some 26,000 at the Angel Stadium in Anaheim, CA.

"I see these people carrying crosses, wearing swastikas, talking about white supremacy," he was quoted as saying by the OC Register. "There is no superior race. We are all part of the human race."

His message comes about a week after the violence that erupted in Charlottesville as individuals participating in white nationalist protests and counter-protests clashed with one another. A white nationalist drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing one and injuring more than a dozen others.

In a message that Laurie titled, "A Second Chance for America," he expressed hopes that a revival like the one he experienced during his youth would happen once again.

Laurie said he also was "filled with hate" in the 1960s, when the prominent "Jesus Movement" took place in the U.S., and was changed when he encountered Jesus.

"When you become a Christian, those barriers come down. Racial barriers come down, prejudice comes down," Laurie was quoted as saying by the Los Angeles Times.

"I pray we have another Jesus revolution in America ... We need it now more than ever."

Meanwhile, 2,267 people who attended the SoCal Harvest event on Friday made decisions to accept Christ, according to Harvest Crusades. More than 300 churches in Southern California participated in the event, and some 6,500 volunteers were involved in setting up and supporting the event.

The events began in 1990, and according to Harvest Crusades, some 3.8 million people have attended the events in Southern California.

    press@cdaily.co.kr



- Copyright ,    

#SoCalHarvest
While the nation was cringing last week and every media outlet buzzing about the neo-Nazi imagery from Charlottesville, another story reminiscent of the Third Reich emerged from, of all places, Iceland.

CBS tweeted out the story with the tagline: Iceland is on pace to virtually eliminate Down syndrome through abortion.

With the rise of prenatal screening tests across Europe and the United States, read the report, the number of babies born with Down syndrome has significantly decreased, but few countries have come as close to eradicating Down syndrome births as Iceland.

More than a few people found the tone of the article and its headlinecelebratory. Among them was actress Patricia Heaton, whom you may remember as Deborah from Everybody Loves Raymond. Heaton blasted CBS for the headline and the story, pointing out that Iceland isnt actually eliminating Down syndrome. Theyre just killing everybody that has it. Big difference.

Amen. Of course, as CBS goes on to admit, Many people born with Down syndrome can live full, healthy lives, with an average lifespan of around 60 years.

Thats not the half of it, actually. Research published in 2011 in the American Journal of Medical Genetics found that 99 percent of individuals with Down syndrome report being happy, 94 percent of their siblings express pride in their brother or sister with Down syndrome, and just 4 percent of parents regretted their decision to keep their child.

This is important for one simple reason: The entire argument for aborting children diagnosed in utero with Down syndrome is based on quality of life. Its not a medical concern.

Such children, goes the argument, are an unwelcome burden on their parents or on society, and in the end, will live unhappy lives. So, it will be better for them, we are told.

But if you or a friend has someone with Down syndrome in the family, you know nothing could be further from the truth! Those with Downs are often the most joyful and loving people you meet.

Even more horrifying, Iceland is a small country, but other larger nations arent lagging far behind in this eugenics experiment. In Denmark, 98 percent of children diagnosed with Down syndrome in the womb are killed. In France, its 77 percent. And in the U. S. its a shameful 67 percent.

When asked why such high percentages of babies with Down syndrome are aborted, Icelandic geneticist Kari Stefansson admitted it wasnt for medical reasons. Rather, its due to heavy-handed genetic counseling, or pressure by authority figures to abort.

One pregnancy counselor in Iceland told CBS, We dont look at abortion as a murderWe ended a possible life that may have had a huge complicationpreventing suffering for the child and for the family. Or in other words, trust us, its for your own good

Tell that to Thordis Ingadottir and her beautiful seven-year-old daughter, Augusta, one of the few people in Iceland with Down syndrome who hasnt been killed. The pair have become crusaders for those with disabilities, so that they will be fully integrated on [their] own terms into society. After all, asks her mom, What kind of society do you want to live in?

Thats a good question, as prenatal screening becomes more widely available, and much of the world grapples with this new breed of eugenics. Make no mistakewhat were witnessing here is the systematic extermination of children who are, by societys standards, less than perfect. Its worth remembering that the first groups killed by the Nazis in their quest for perfection by eugenics were those with disabilities.

Will ours be a similar society, in which we claim to eliminate disabilities by eliminating those who have them? Its up to you and me to decide.

BreakPoint is a Christian worldview ministry that seeks to build and resource a movement of Christians committed to living and defending Christian worldview in all areas of life. Begun by Chuck Colson in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on todays news and trends via radio, interactive media, and print. Today BreakPoint commentaries, co-hosted by Eric Metaxas and John Stonestreet, air daily on more than 1,200 outlets with an estimated weekly listening audience of eight million people. Feel free to contact us at BreakPoint.org where you can read and search answers to common questions.

John Stonestreet, the host of The Point, a daily national radio program, provides thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.

Photo courtesy: Thinkstockphotos.com

Publication date: August 24, 2017
FARGO  A potentially unthinkable story began to reveal itself Thursday, Aug. 24, when the investigation into the disappearance of a pregnant 22-year-old woman resulted in police finding a healthy infant at a north Fargo apartment building where the woman was last seen.

The discovery of the infant, Fargo police said, was followed by the arrest of Brooke Lynn Crews, 38, and William Henry Hoehn, 32, who both lived in the same apartment building as the missing woman, Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind.

Crews and Hoehn were arrested and charged with felony conspiracy to commit kidnapping, police said in a Facebook post. They were being held at the Cass County Jail.

LaFontaine-Greywind went missing from the apartment building Saturday afternoon. Her whereabouts remained unknown late Thursday, police said.

At least six investigators were seen donning hazmat suits Thursday night outside the apartment building at 2825 9th St. N., where LaFontaine-Greywind lives with her parents in a basement unit. One investigator with a shovel was seen walking to the back of the building.

Police said initial interviews with Crews and Hoehn led to no leads. But developments in the investigation prompted detectives to execute a search warrant at the apartment of Hoehn and Crews at about 2 p.m. Thursday. Crews and the infant were in the apartment at the time, police said.

The infant was immediately taken to Sanford Children's Hospital. The child was in good health and was placed under the protective custody of Cass County Social Services, police said.

Our investigation thus far indicates the probability that this is Savanna Greywinds child, police said on Facebook.

Tarita Silk, LaFontaine-Greywind's aunt, told The Forum police told the family that they found a 2-day-old baby in the building. Silk said when police entered the apartment, a woman was heard screaming.

At one point Thursday afternoon, police allowed family members into the apartment building, and they emerged carrying baby clothes and a photograph.

Silk said relatives and friends of the family planned to search for clues near Buffalo River State Park east of Moorhead based on a tip that LaFontaine-Greywinds phone may have pinged a cellphone tower in that area. Police later told the family they have no such information about her phone.

Not long before 3 p.m., the apartment building was cordoned off with police tape. Detectives were seen going door-to-door in the neighborhood to ask questions.

Critical juncture

Police Chief David Todd asked the public for patience, as this is at a critical juncture of the investigation, and we want to make sure we are as thorough as possible so we can get correct answers to all the questions people have.

Hoehn was recently arrested on a warrant for an unpaid fine sometime after LaFontaine-Greywind was reported missing. He paid an outstanding balance of the fine related to a violation of a no-contact order that did not involve LaFontaine-Greywind, and he was released from the Cass County Jail on Wednesday.

Fargo police said that before discovering the baby in the apartment of Hoehn and Crews on Thursday, investigators conducted three unsuccessful searches of unit.

Relatives said LaFontaine-Greywind left the familys apartment Saturday to help an upstairs neighbor who needed a model while sewing a dress, but she never returned home. Police said the apartment she visited was that of Crews and Hoehn.

Deputy Chief Joe Anderson said authorities were asking residents of a Grand Forks neighborhood this week what they may know about four men who are known in the case. He said police were trying to corroborate the mens statements and alibis to help us narrow our investigation.

Meanwhile, a north Fargo woman went public this week to refute a Facebook post that accused her of luring LaFontaine-Greywind to an upstairs apartment in the missing womans building.

The woman, Dawn Kirby, told The Forum she has a criminal past, but is not a monster. She said shes never met LaFontaine-Greywind.

Kirby is a registered sex offender for having sex with an underage male. She said she voluntarily talked to Fargo police on Wednesday. Police have said they dont believe Kirby is involved.

Getting so close

Lafontaine-Greywinds Twitter profile says her due date is Sept. 20. On Aug. 13, she tagged her boyfriend of six years and soon-to-be father, Ashton Matheny, in a Facebook post that read: A little bit more things & we will almost have everything for our little baby. Getting so close.

Matheny said Thursday that he and Lafontaine-Greywind were expecting a baby girl. They had picked the name Haisley Jo.

He said he has not been able to see the baby that was taken from the building. They said its healthy, but theyre running more tests, he said.

Matheny said Lafontaine-Greywinds parents are staying in a hotel because the apartment building was evacuated. They took her toothbrush for DNA, but they havent taken mine, he said.

Matheny told WDAY-TV this week that he was texting Lafontaine-Greywind on Saturday and last heard from her around 1:30 p.m.

The couple was about to move into an apartment together. All Im thinking about is where shes at. Shes at priority No. 1. Shes always been No. 1, Matheny said Thursday.

Todd said the Police Department has put all of its resources toward solving this case from the beginning, including 35 detectives, four sergeants and two lieutenants. The investigation has included aircraft and watercraft searches, as well as using K-9s. The department has also received help from outside agencies.

As investigators moved in and out of the building Thursday, residents of the building watched from across the street, including members of LaFontaine-Greywinds family.

At times, police escorted family members to a mobile forensic laboratory to update them on what was being learned.

At one point, authorities brought in dogs to search the apartment building, and Silk said afterward they apparently found something, though family members were being told by police not to share what they were told.

A resident of the building, Christipher Miranda, said he heard noises in the bathroom above his apartment Saturday afternoon.

He said he heard banging sounds in the bathtub in the third-floor apartment above him about 1:30 p.m. or 2 p.m. and that the sounds lasted for 15 to 20 minutes. He said he could then hear the shower running.

The Fargo Fire Department spent part of Thursday morning searching a stretch of the Red River from the North Dam near the 12th Avenue North toll bridge to County Road 21 in north Fargo.

At a prayer event held Wednesday at the downtown Sanford Medical Center, Amanda Vivier, spiritual director of the Native American Christian Ministry, called on the public to place pressure on Fargo police to devote more resources to the search.

On Thursday, Vivier stood outside the downtown Fargo police station holding a sign that said the FBI needs to be involved in the search.

She said police had told her the FBI was being kept informed about the case, but as of Thursday morning there was nothing to indicate the FBI had jurisdiction to join the investigation officially.

Anyone with information about LaFontaine-Greywinds whereabouts is asked to call Fargo police at (701) 235-4493 or text a tip to (701) 730-8888 or call the anonymous tip line at (701) 241-5777.
The United States colleges and universities rest in the middle of some of the countrys most contentious conversations. Whether its race, freedom of speech, religious freedom, or student loans, universities have plenty to wrestle with.

Much of the frustration for those seeking solutions to these issues is knowing how to speak to each other, says Shirley Hoogstra, president of Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU).

Today, we are not as equipped to work with difference. Sometimes we want to shut down difference. Sometimes we want to demonize difference, Hoogstra said. In times when dialogue is a challenge, Christian colleges have done a good job of welcoming different viewpoints, even those they adamantly disagree with, and responding civilly to these perspectives, she said.

Just like we want the government to be committed to this freedom of speech and freedom of association for religious concepts, beliefs, and values, Christians have to be concerned about beliefs, values, and commitments they may not agree with either and model this sort of convicted civility  that makes America this great democracy that is still a beacon to the world.

Hoogstra joined assistant editor Morgan Lee and editor in chief Mark Galli to discuss the tensions of online education, how one CCCU school president made peace with a prominant LGBTQ state legislator, and why Christian colleges have a leg up on their secular counterparts when discussing race.

What is Quick to Listen? Read more.

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Subscribe to Marks newsletter: The Galli Report

Quick to Listen is produced by Morgan Lee, Richard Clark, and Cray Allred
A venerable Christian ministry based in Fort Lauderdale recently saw its name listed on a CNN map of all the active hate groups where you live, as well as in local news reports as the No. 1 hate group in Florida.

D. James Kennedy Ministries shares sermons, devotionals, and religious liberty messages inspired by the late founder of Coral Ridge Presbyterian, a prominent Florida megachurch. In media coverage after Charlottesville, the Christian broadcaster was mapped alongside about 60 hate groups in the Sunshine State, using designations from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

Enough is enough, said Frank Wright, president of D. James Kennedy Ministries, which filed a lawsuit against the SPLC on Wednesday. The organization also sued GuideStar and AmazonSmile for their use of the SPLC list.

Conservative Christian organizations have challenged the SPLCs anti-LGBT category for years, but Wrights is the first to take legal actionspurred by the controversial watchdog groups increasingly vocal activism during Donald Trumps presidency. The SPLC recently received a prominent boost from Apple, which pledged a $1 million donation and will launch a new feature to allow users to donate directly from iTunes.

The civil rights advocacy organization made a name for itself in the 1970s, providing legal defense for victims of the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacists. (Wright and other conservative Christian leaders are quick to applaud them for this history.) However, as the SPLC expanded beyond race to other cultural issues like sexuality and immigration, it has also shifted attention toward what it calls the radical right, drawing allegations of bias from many conservatives and some on the left as well.

D. James Kennedy Ministriesformerly called Truth in Actionclaims that the SPLC falsely labeled it as a hate group with the intention to hurt its reputation and fundraising efforts, according to a 39-page lawsuit filed in federal district court in Alabama (where the SPLC is headquartered).

The suit alleges that the ministrys inclusion on the list of hate groups amounts to defamationspreading false, harmful informationas well as a trademark violation, misrepresenting the ministry in order to drum up fundraising support. Wednesdays filing made the same claims against the charity-research site GuideStar for promoting the SPLC designation, seeking an injunction against further use of the hate group label and damages from both organizations.

Wanting to call out hateful rhetoric during a highly politicized moment, GuideStar recently added the SPLC designations onto its profile pagesincluding for Christian nonprofits who stand for traditional marriage like the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), Liberty Counsel, the Family Research Council (FRC), and the American Family Associationthen removed the hate labels after backlash in June. The controversy made many of these groups, their leaders, and their supporters even more upset over the prominence of the SPLCs categorizations.

Over the past week, several Christian groups on the list demanded apologies and retractions for being labeled hate groups in the Charlottesville coverage, including by CNN. ADF took particular offense since the news overlapped with the fifth anniversary of an attempted shooting at the FRCs Washington office by a suspect who used the SPLC hate group list to target them.

The FRC applauded the suit, saying The SPLC is inciting hatred against Christians, which has already led to violence. It needs to stop.

CNN later corrected the hate map it ran online, correcting the headline to more closely align with the content of the piece as being the SPLCs assessment and not CNNs own. It also removed the full list of group names, and stated context has been added regarding some groups who oppose their inclusion on the SPLC list.

In its lawsuit, D. James Kennedy Ministries also alleges religious discrimination by Amazons charity partner program AmazonSmile, which makes a small donation to shoppers designated nonprofits. Since AmazonSmile uses the SPLC as one way to determine organizations eligibility, and the SPLC based its anti-LGBT designation on the ministrys Christian convictions, the suit claims that D. James Kennedy Ministries was wrongly excluded from the program and possible donations due to its religious beliefs.

Part of their defense against calling opposition to same-sex marriage hateful comes from the US Supreme Court decision that made it legal. Many who deem same-sex marriage to be wrong reach that conclusion based on decent and honorable religious or philosophical premises, the court wrote, and neither they nor their beliefs are disparaged here. (The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability quoted the same line in its response to GuideStars use of the hate group label for certain Christian organizations.)

The ministry is being represented by one of its board members, David C. Gibbs III, who was the lead attorney in the Terri Schiavo case and works with the Christian legal group National Center for Life and Liberty.

Wright said his ministry has been preparing its suit for months, but moved it up after Charlottesville drew so much attention to the SPLC list. One older donor even called his office last week to ask, Since when is D. James Kennedy Ministries a hate group?

The organization took out a full-page ad in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel to dispel the characterization, running an open letter under the headline: D. James Kennedy Ministries Is Not A Hate Group.

We do not hate anyone, Wright wrote. We have been falsely branded by the SPLC for nothing more than subscribing to the teachings of the historic Christian faith. We are a nonprofit ministry whose deeply held Christian convictions energize our mission to faithfully proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

D. James Kennedy Ministries released a documentary last month focused on the SPLCs work to demonize conservative and Christian groups, and offers donors a pamphlet entitled The Southern Poverty Law Center: Exposed.

Christian ministries and legal organizations on the SPLC hate map include:

Abiding Truth Ministries

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)

American Family Association

American Vision

Center for Family and Human Rights (C-FAM)

Citizens for Community Values

D. James Kennedy Ministries

Family Research Council (FRC)

Family Research Institute

Illinois Family Institute

Liberty Counsel

Mission: America

Pacific Justice Institute

Pass the Salt Ministries

Pray in Jesus Name Project

Ruth Institute

Save California

Traditional Values Coalition

World Congress of Families

Maajid Nawaz, a British critic of Islamist extremism, also threatened to sue SPLC in June over his inclusion on a list of anti-Muslim extremists, and political commentator Bill Maher offered his support. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who also appears on the same list, wrote for The New York Times that Taking a stand against the neo-Nazi display we saw in Charlottesville is an impulse that should be cheered, but Americans need to find more trustworthy and deserving partners to work with than the SPLC.
With military operations in Afghanistan back in the news, were hearing again about the fog of war. The term was first introduced by Prussian military analyst Carl von Clausewitz to describe the lack of clarity in the battlefield, despite the best-laid plans. Military leaders say it prevents us from knowing the best strategies for success in foreign wars. Military heroes are never heard from again, lost forever in the fog of war.

Like the fog of war, the fog of sexual assault stokes confusion, clouds judgment, and obscures reality for the victims. Public and private institutions often make it hard to report sexual assault and easy to discredit the victim. Perpetrators present alternative facts about incidents. Psychological and emotional barriers make it difficult for victims to accept their victimhood. Altogether, these forces form the fog of sexual assault and often prevent victims from speaking with lucidity about the crimes committed against them.

Last week in a Denver courtroom, pop icon Taylor Swiftwho recently dropped a much anticipated single from her sixth albumtook significant strides in clearing the fog surrounding sexual assault. Buttressed by an all-star legal team, high-powered PR, and significant social standing, Swift spoke in stark terms about the assault perpetuated against her by radio DJ David Mueller. After bluntly describing how Mueller grabbed her underneath her skirt, Swift forcefully and unwaveringly repeated her testimony throughout an hour-long interrogation: He did not touch my rib; he did not touch my hand; he didnt touch my arm; he grabbed my bare a--.

The jurorssix women and two menfound that Mueller assaulted and ...

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Undercover Journalist Daleiden Enters Not Guilty Plea in San Francisco Court Thomas More Society's Peter Breen Confident of Victory in Pro-Life Battle



Contact: Tom Ciesielka, 312-422-1333,



SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 24, 2017 /



The charges revolve around undercover videos made by Daleiden and colleague Sandra Susan Merritt during their research for the Center for Medical Progress. Becerra is accusing Daleiden of privacy violations, even though the film footage was shot in public locations, including restaurants and hotel conference rooms. The videos expose the alleged involvement of Planned Parenthood in trafficking aborted baby body parts.



"We remain very confident in a total victory for the pro-life side against Planned Parenthood and their allies in the California government," asserted Breen. Publicity surrounding the San Francisco criminal case has been fraught with allegations about close ties between Planned Parenthood, Beccera and his predecessor, now U.S. Senator, Kamala Harris. Both received thousands of dollars from the abortion provider for their political campaigns, and have been shown to collaborate with Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, Harris going so far as to ask for support of the organization via her campaign website.



Breen addressed the overarching legal scenario, and mentioned a recent victory in Washington state, "David didn't just release these videos and stop. He is committed to ongoing research, some of which he is conducting through public records requests." The case Breen referred to was brought by University of Washington research lab employees and affiliated abortion facility personnel. They are trying to block release of information about their use of aborted human fetuses, at the school's taxpayer-funded Birth Defects Research Laboratory. Breen also mentioned charges brought against Daleiden and Merritt in Harris County, Texas, which he pointed out were spurious, and added that the California charges were even more so. The Texas cases were ultimately dropped. Breen also drew attention to the national movement to defund Planned Parenthood, provoked by the release of Daleiden's videos.



Breen addressed press and a diverse crowd outside of the courthouse, along with Daleiden and his criminal defense attorneys Brent Ferreira, a former Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney, and Steve Cooley, a former Los Angeles County District Attorney.



About the Thomas More Society

The Thomas More Society is a national not-for-profit law firm dedicated to restoring respect in law for life, family, and religious liberty. Headquartered in Chicago and Omaha, the Thomas More Society fosters support for these causes by providing high quality pro bono legal services from local trial courts all the way up to the United States Supreme Court. For more information, visit



Share Tweet Contact: Tom Ciesielka, 312-422-1333, tc@tcpr.net SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 24, 2017 / Christian Newswire / -- David Daleiden and his attorneys, including Thomas More Society Special Counsel Peter Breen, spoke to a supportive public following a hearing in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Francisco. Daleiden entered a plea of "not guilty," after a hearing on his demurrer, which objected to the validity of the complaint filed by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra against Daleiden. Judge Christopher C. Hite did not grant Daleiden's petition but, according to Breen, he did acknowledge that Daleiden will receive a hearing on his affirmative defenses at an upcoming preliminary probable cause hearing. Daleiden's primary affirmative defenses are, first, that the undercover recordings at issue were made in public places and, second, that he sought and uncovered evidence of illegal partial birth abortions and medical battery on women seeking abortions, bringing his recording efforts under the violent crime safe harbor in the California recording statute. "We're going to get a hearing on this," declared Breen, who called the charges weak and outrageous, adding that "This case should have never been brought."The charges revolve around undercover videos made by Daleiden and colleague Sandra Susan Merritt during their research for the Center for Medical Progress. Becerra is accusing Daleiden of privacy violations, even though the film footage was shot in public locations, including restaurants and hotel conference rooms. The videos expose the alleged involvement of Planned Parenthood in trafficking aborted baby body parts."We remain very confident in a total victory for the pro-life side against Planned Parenthood and their allies in the California government," asserted Breen. Publicity surrounding the San Francisco criminal case has been fraught with allegations about close ties between Planned Parenthood, Beccera and his predecessor, now U.S. Senator, Kamala Harris. Both received thousands of dollars from the abortion provider for their political campaigns, and have been shown to collaborate with Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, Harris going so far as to ask for support of the organization via her campaign website.Breen addressed the overarching legal scenario, and mentioned a recent victory in Washington state, "David didn't just release these videos and stop. He is committed to ongoing research, some of which he is conducting through public records requests." The case Breen referred to was brought by University of Washington research lab employees and affiliated abortion facility personnel. They are trying to block release of information about their use of aborted human fetuses, at the school's taxpayer-funded Birth Defects Research Laboratory. Breen also mentioned charges brought against Daleiden and Merritt in Harris County, Texas, which he pointed out were spurious, and added that the California charges were even more so. The Texas cases were ultimately dropped. Breen also drew attention to the national movement to defund Planned Parenthood, provoked by the release of Daleiden's videos.Breen addressed press and a diverse crowd outside of the courthouse, along with Daleiden and his criminal defense attorneys Brent Ferreira, a former Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney, and Steve Cooley, a former Los Angeles County District Attorney.About the Thomas More SocietyThe Thomas More Society is a national not-for-profit law firm dedicated to restoring respect in law for life, family, and religious liberty. Headquartered in Chicago and Omaha, the Thomas More Society fosters support for these causes by providing high quality pro bono legal services from local trial courts all the way up to the United States Supreme Court. For more information, visit www.thomasmoresociety.org
Rebecca Dali: My Faith in God Motivates Me Every Second

Contact: Media Office , World Council of Churches, +41 79 507 6363

GENEVE, Aug. 24, 2017 / Christian Newswire / -- During World Humanitarian Day on 21 August, Dr Rebecca Samuel Dali received the 2017 Humanitarian Award from the Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation at the United Nations office in Geneva in recognition of her courageous efforts in reintegration of women abducted by the Boko Haram into their local communities in the northern Nigeria. In her visit to the Ecumenical Centre, Dali shares the source of her courage and commitment to help the most vulnerable.

Photo: Dr Rebecca Dali receiving the Humanitarian Award from the Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation at the United Nations in Geneva. Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC

"At first I was helping vulnerable children, but when the crisis of violence came to Jos, I started helping widows and orphans," recalls Dali, who founded and runs the Centre for Caring, Empowerment and Peace Initiatives (CCEPI) in northeast Nigeria. "Later, when Boko Haram came, we started working with the whole range of displaced people. We have registered 380,000 households whom we have helped with something," says Dali, who herself was forced to flee with her family when Boko Haram militants took over the town of Michika, Adamawa State in 2014.

As the situation in the northern states of Nigeria only worsened, the CCEPI relief work grew gradually, resulting in helping 1 million individuals since 2008. "In that big, huge congregation, there were widows and orphans again, and I started to focus on the most vulnerable," says Dali. A lot of people coming from Boko Haram insurgencies were neglected, "the government did not care, the community rejected them" - often including even their own families. "When I started opening my arms to them  they started coming to me: some were sick, some were hungry, most of them had experienced trauma, violence, abuse."

Dali, with her colleagues at CCEPI, started to take a more detailed look in their cases, offering specific help. "Often help used to be just a handout, small and insufficient  but as I looked at the people and their stories more closely, I was able to offer the help they needed." Starting with trauma healing and providing a shelter, continuing with support in pregnancy and giving birth, support with clothing, food and housing, and moving on with training and empowering them, enrolling people into the livelihood centres  the CCEPI was and still is there to help.

"Sometimes when I am really exhausted, the thoughts of stopping this work come to my mind. But then I remember that God did not reject me, and He is not very tired of me  so how can I be tired of people? I believe that God is God of love, and He has said that we should love other people as ourselves. He came to reconcile the world," says Dali, adding that we should act as ones who help others to reconcile too.

Taking a risk for justice

Dali's CCEPI is recognized by UNHCR as the first humanitarian actor to set up a livelihood programme for internally displaced persons and returnees in the Madagali and Michika areas of Adamawa region in Nigeria. The centre took the risk of reaching areas considered inaccessible and dangerous at the peak of Boko Haram's insurgency, at a time when other non-governmental organizations could not.

"Even if you are persecuted  you should not be demoralised because of the persecution, but continue to help others," says Dali. "Immediately as we were chased away by Boko Haram, on the first day I slept, but on the second day I was among the other displaced people - registering them, gathering their stories, listening to their needs, and later starting applying to donor agencies to help them."

Dali was also amongst the first to visit the parents of the 276 Chibok girls after the mass kidnapping by Boko Haram in April 2014. Dali's husband, the Rev. Dr Samuel Dante Dali at that time was the president of the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria (EYN, Ekklesiyar Yan'uwa a Nigeria), to which most of the kidnapped Chibok girls belonged. Located in the northern districts of the country, congregations of the EYN suffered severe attacks by Boko Haram militants, forcing up to 70% of the church members to flee and become internally displaced persons.

Courageous efforts of Rebecca Dali and the CCEPI in the reintegration of women abducted by the Boko Haram were recognized by the Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation, which granted Dali its biennially conferred Humanitarian Award. "As the local communities resisted their reintegration, your negotiation skills and reconciliation efforts played an important role in their successful reintegration," states chairman of the foundation and UNHCRs director of External Relations Anne Willem Bijleveld.

"We provided medical services and trauma healing for women returning from Boko Haram," says Rebecca Dali. If the women where pregnant, CCEPI supported them and waited until they give birth; took them to the hospital and purchased everything needed for the baby. "It is very sad, but after they gave birth, some used to say  this child is from Boko Haram," recalls Dali. Many believed those are children of "bad blood" - and that's why they had a high risk of being killed or just left neglected. "We had to be there to encourage the mothers to take care of the babies, as it was not the fault of these children  they all are wonderfully created in the image of God," says Dali.

Such encouragement usually worked very well, but the real challenge was families of these women and their husbands, who in many cases refused to accept their women returning from Boko Haram captivity. "So we had to do lobbying, going to these families and talking with them, making a lots of phone calls and arranging the meetings, involving local community leaders as well," says Dali. There were cases when it did not work, and there was a need to build houses for these women in other communities who did not know their background. In some such cases reconnection with families happened gradually  after the trauma had gone from both sides.

Dali received the award on 21 August at the United Nations in Geneva, during the annual World Humanitarian Day event aimed to raise awareness of aid work, commemorate workers who have died while in the field, and mark the day in 2003 when 22 people were killed in a bomb attack on UN offices in Iraq, including the head of mission Sergio Vierra de Mello.

Thanking supporters, thanking God

In her moving speech at the award ceremony in the fully packed Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Hall, Dali said: "I give thanks to my God who gave me courage and opportunity to serve his children - my neighbours."

Reflecting on the current recognition, Dali says she sees the award as a key to further success of CCEPI. "There are people who already have approached me with invitations to speak, partnership and donation offers for building of trauma healing clinic and a school. I finished my speech and in less than 20 minutes I met a lot of people who wanted to help. Without the award I would not be known to them  so I thank God for this opportunity!"

Dali acknowledges that support from donor agencies  Church of the Brethren USA, Christian Aid Ministries, International Rescue Committee, UNHCR  has been important motivation for her work. "You have the funding and resources to help, and you see a lot of needs and suffering of people around you  I can't just say I'm tired, it motivates me to keep on doing."

But above everything else Dali highlights the love of God and the good of her neighbour as the main drivers of her commitment: "Each minute and each second I find motivation in knowing that God is near me and protecting me. Because of Him I am doing this work."

From someone who meets the harshest violence face to face on a daily basis - these are not just words.

Centre for Caring, Empowerment and Peace initiative (CCEPI)

Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation

World Humanitarian Day

WCC member churches in Nigeria

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 348 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 550 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway.


home World Al-Shabaab kills Kenyan Christians for refusing to recite the Islamic Shahada

Al-Shabaab fighters have reportedly killed three Christians in Kenya's Lamu County last Friday after they refused to recite the Shahada a the Islamic prayer of faith. The militants also killed a fourth Christian man who is said to be mentally challenged.

According to World Watch Monitor, a group of armed men dragged a man identified as Changawa Muthemba out of his home in Kasala Kairu, Lamu County, and took him to the house of his 42-year-old brother-in-law Joseph Kasena, where a 17-year-old neighbor, Kadenge Katana, also happened to be at the time.

The militants then ordered the three Christians to recite the Shahada while pointing machetes at them. When the Christians failed to recite the prayer, the attackers began tying them up and started hacking them to death when they resisted. The suspects then went to the house of Kasena's older brother, Charo, and killed him.

Kasena's wife, Caroline, was said to be "severely traumatized" after witnessing the attack, according to a local source.

"Joseph was an elder at a local church. He did communal farming, worked as a cook in a local hotel and also served as a night guard at the home of an expatriate family, who had to leave the area due to the deteriorating security situation. His wife runs a small kiosk," the source noted.

The source explained that Al-Shabaab militants and their sympathizers are "deeply embedded" in the communities of wider Lamu and Tana, in coastal Kenya, near the country's border with Somalia.

"They move around freely and often are at odds with the Kenyan farmers, deliberately sending their animals to feed on their crops. Locals complain that the police are not doing anything about the situation and even show preferential treatment to the herders," the source said.

The source recounted that some locals were threatened by Somali herdsmen earlier that day, but said that the encounter was not the reason for the attack. However, the source contended that the encounter provided the opportunity for the killings and that Al-Shabaab knew that the men were Christians.

Last month, nine Kenyans belonging to a local church were beheaded by the militant group in the Pandaguo area of Lamu West. One witness named Johnson Kitsao narrated that the attackers were "specifically looking for non-Muslim men."

The Associated Press noted that beheadings by al-Shabaab have been relatively rare in Kenya, but the group has stepped up attacks in the country in recent weeks.

Al-Shabaab, which has been designated as the deadliest Islamic extremist group in Africa last year, has vowed retribution against Kenya after it sent troops across the border to Somalia in 2011 to fight the group.
home World Iran bars Christian convert from leaving country after releasing her from prison

The Iranian government has barred a Christian convert, who recently completed a four-year-jail sentence, from leaving the country for six months.

Maryam Naghash Zargaran, who was jailed in 2012 for "violating national security" in connection with her work with house churches, told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) that she has been banned from leaving the country for six months.

"With the completion of my sentence, there's no reason for me to be banned from traveling abroad. It's against the law," she said in an interview with CHRI on Aug. 18.

"I wanted to go in front of the prison and sit there in protest until the ban was removed, but I was worried about what would happen to my family," she added.

During her incarceration, the 39-year-old Christian convert had undertaken several hunger strikes in protest against being denied medical treatment for her long-standing health issues.

In her interview with CHRI, she noted that the clinic prescribed her with unnecessary antipsychotic medication.

"The clinic staff lack experience and empathy. When I went there for depression, they gave me a medication that I think was called Haloperidol," she said.

"When I got out of prison, I did some research and found out that it was prescribed for seriously insane patients. These pills paralysed me. I couldn't even think. I could hardly stand up and I fell from the stairs several time," she continued.

Zargaran's case was cited by Amnesty International last year when the organization accused Iran of "cruel" denial of medical care in its prisons. On some occasions, Zargaran was temporarily released from prison for medical treatment, but each time she was forced to return before it could be completed.

Before her scheduled release, Zargaran recounted that she was taken to Evin Prison Court to hear the testimony of a prison medical staff who accused her of insulting them during one of her visits to the clinic. She noted that the judge had decided not to put her on trial, and she asserted that the prison staff only wanted to "raise trouble" and scare her.

Zargaran, who had worked as a children's music teacher, was arrested on Nov. 5, 2012 after being accused of seeking to buy a property in northern Iran for a Christian orphanage with Pastor Saeed Abedini, who was also imprisoned in 2013.

Having no access to a lawyer, she was sentenced to four years in prison in July 2013, and the sentence was upheld on appeal in October that same year.
home World Nepalese parliament advances measure that would outlaw religious conversion

The Nepalese parliament has reportedly advanced a legislation that would outlaw religious conversions and the "hurting of religious sentiment" across the country.

On Aug. 8, the parliament passed a measure that was aimed at amending and integrating prevalent laws relating to Criminal Offense, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). The legislation is expected to become law as soon as it is approved by the president.

However, there are concerns that the legislation could be used to target religious minorities, like what occurred in the Charikot case in June 2016, when eight Christians were accused of converting children after they shared a comic book about the story of Jesus.

CSW noted that the wording of Clause 158 of section 9 of the Bill is similar to Pakistan's blasphemy laws, which makes it a criminal offense to insult another's religion.

Human rights advocates in Nepal have argued that the bill restricts freedom of expression, as well as the freedom of religion or belief, and are now calling for the legislation to be amended.

"We are deeply concerned that if this Bill becomes law, we will see more cases like Charikot and further restrictions on the right to freedom of religion or belief in Nepal. The lesson from India is that anti-conversion laws not only restrict the rights of an individual to adopt a religion of their choice, but also put religious minority communities at risk of hostility and violence," said CSW Senior Press Officer Kiri Kankhwende.

Similar anti-conversion laws are currently enforced in Burma and in six Indian states. CSW has raised its concern that such laws have been misused to foster social intolerance and violence towards peaceful religious activities, and to falsely accuse religious minorities of forcefully converting others.

On Aug. 10, Lokmani Dhakal, MP of the Janjagaran party of Nepal, requested the removal of the sections that outlaws religious conversion. The lawmaker pointed out that the country is a signatory to international treaties that protect the freedom of religion and human rights.

"[P]lease don't let it be possible for the world to say of Nepal that we are the kind of nation that on the one hand signs international treaties but when making internal laws and in implementing them, does something else," the lawmaker added.

A recent report from World Religion News has noted that there has been a significant rise in the Christian population in Nepal, from 458 Christians in 1961 to 102,000 in 2001. In 2011, the number of Christians increased substantially to 375,000.

The report suggested that substantial increase was due in part to the caste system in Hinduism. While the caste system has been outlawed in Nepal since 2001, many people belonging to lower castes are compelled embrace Christianity because the discrimination based on caste continues to thrive, especially in the rural parts of the country.

Many non-Christian religious leaders suggested that one of the reasons behind the conversions was greed, claiming that those who were converted received money, free blankets, rice and clothes from Christian missionaries.

On the other hand, John Pudaite, president of Bibles For The World, asserted that the Church grew quickly because many people were attracted to Christ's message of truth and mercy.
Antenna: How Audrey Hepburn stole our hearts

The sale on 27 September of more than 300 lots from the personal collection of Audrey Hepburn offers a once-in-a-lifetime chance to glimpse the woman behind the Hollywood legend, as Meredith Etherington-Smith explains

In my columns over the weeks ahead I will be going into more detail about many of the items in this once-in-a-lifetime sale, including film-related pieces such as Hepburn's own annotated scripts for Breakfast at Tiffanys and Charade, and treasured mementos from co-stars. But for me, the most deeply personal items are the pieces offered from her wardrobe. These include the dresses and accessories she loved and kept carefully: from her Burberry trench and collection of pure white shirts, to the scarlet Andre Laug shift worn at an awards ceremony. There is also the heavy cardigan made for her by Givenchy, which she wrapped herself in to stay warm while waiting in the wings. So many parts of Hepburns life are in this sale.

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From her very first film, Hepburn was a star, while her career in its entirety would cement her status as one of last great artists of the golden era of the Hollywood studio system. But she was also a fashion immortal, of whom The New York Times wrote, what a burden she lifted from women! Here was proof that looking good need not be synonymous with looking bimbo. Thanks to their first glimpse of Audrey Hepburn, in Roman Holiday, half a generation of young females stopped stuffing their bras and teetering on stiletto heels. With the advent of Hepburn, there was suddenly an alternative to the buxom look of Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor. Her extraordinary slimness and balletic mien prompted Cecil Beaton to compare her to a portrait by Modigliani, where the various distortions are not interesting in themselves but make a completely satisfying composite.

Her road to stardom was anything but easy. Born in Brussels to a British businessman and a Dutch baroness, she moved to Holland with her mother when the Second World War broke out. During the subsequent occupation, Hepburn assumed a Dutch name  Edda van Heemstra  and spoke only Dutch. Then came years of poverty and struggle in London, first with a scholarship to the Ballet Rambert (hence her love of ballet shoes and black trousers) where she was told she was too tall and too thin to be a prima ballerina; then in the back rows of various chorus lines and in bit parts in British and Dutch B-movies.

Her big break finally came when she was spotted by Colette, the Nobel Prize-nominated French novelist, on a Monte Carlo film set. Colette thought Hepburn would be perfect to play the lead in the 1951 Broadway adaptation of her novel, Gigi. Despite her inexperience of the stage, Hepburn scored rave reviews. Next came her star turn, in Roman Holiday, as the princess who throws off her royal trappings to zip around Rome on the back of Gregory Pecks Vespa. Everyone on the Roman Holiday set was in love with her, Peck, a lifelong friend, remembered long after. She was as funny as she was beautiful. She was a magical combination of high chic and high spirits.
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This week, the Houston health inspection report revealed multiple cases of roach infestations and hundreds of pounds of condemned ice.

At the Little Woodrows location in the Heights, city of Houston health inspectors ordered that 300 pounds of ice contaminated by slime be condemned.

The establishment was also temporarily closed because the hot water in the three-compartment sink measured 87 degrees F. Proper hot water temperature must be at least 110 degrees F.

On Monday, Aug. 21, the health department confirmed that the temporary closure was lifted.

SEE THIS: Who owns what restaurants in Houston, and where they're expanding next

Pink and black slimy residue found on the deflector shield caused the ice machine in Whataburger No. 137 (2429 Gessner) to be quarantined. The fast-food chain also had to throw out more than 100 pounds of condemned ice.

Roaches proved to be a struggling point for several local restaurants.

Chopstix (6755 Hillcroft), Tortas Y Restaurant La Villa (11212 Airline), Gyro King No. 2 - Diana's (2424 Old Spanish Trail) and La Centella Bar and Grill (11710 Hempstead) all received citations from health inspectors who either found the pests dead, alive, or both.

FOOD FAVORITES: The most delicious tacos in Houston, according to Yelp

Inspectors noted that German cockroaches in all stages of life were seen at Andy's Home Cafe (1115 E 11th) and Midtown Bar & Grill (415 Gray).

Before you head out for your next meal, be sure to check out the slideshow above for the list of restaurants with violations (Aug. 17 - Aug. 23).

During health inspections, inspectors distribute violations that carry a weight between 1 and 25, increasing in severity. The term "demerit" is used by city health inspectors to describe the weighted value assigned to each violation. The Houston Chronicle obtained the results of routine health inspections throughout the city and tallied each restaurant's demerits for a comprehensive list of violations. To view inspection reports online or learn more about food inspections, visit the health department website.
FARGO Fargo police are treating the disappearance of a 22-year-old pregnant woman as a criminal investigation.

The Fargo Police Departments full investigative team is working on the case of Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, who has been missing since Saturday, Chief David Todd said on Wednesday.

"This is our No. 1 priority. All of our resources have been focused on this since the beginning, Todd said.

In a Wednesday afternoon email, Deputy Chief Joe Anderson said: We are treating it as a criminal investigation and have since Sunday.

LaFontaine-Greywind lives in a first-floor apartment with her parents at 2825 9th St. N. Family members say she left the apartment Saturday to help an upstairs neighbor who needed a model while sewing a dress, but LaFontaine-Greywind never came home and hasnt been seen since.

She is described as 5-foot-4, with long brown hair, green eyes and tattoos on her right leg and foot.

Grand Forks police investigators were assisting in the case Wednesday, canvassing a northside neighborhood in that city for information.

Lt. Brett Johnson, head of investigations in Grand Forks, said his department was visiting homes around the 1800 block of Second Avenue North in search of information related to LaFontaine-Greywinds disappearance.

We received a request from them (Fargo police) to help them on that case and to do a neighborhood canvass, Johnson said.

Johnson said the officers were in the neighborhood a few hours and would not be out again unless asked by Fargo police.

Anderson said Fargo police were trying to corroborate statements and narrow our investigation and we asked GFPD to assist us.

Another news outlet reported that Grand Forks police were looking for four men. When asked about this, Anderson said that was not true.

Just let me be clear, he said. We are not looking for anyone. We know the whereabouts of the people mentioned in the report.

Meanwhile, a north Fargo woman says shes been falsely accused in a Facebook post of being involved in the disappearance of Lafontaine-Greywind.

The woman, Dawn Kirby, says she has a criminal past, but is not a monster. She said she has never met Lafontaine-Greywind and has nothing to do with her disappearance.

I feel horrible for the girl. I know nothing, Kirby said. I just dont want to be judged for this. Ive been judged enough in my life.

Kirby is a registered sex offender for having sex with an underage male. Fargo police records indicate she lives at 2905 7th Ave. N.

Kirby told The Forum that she had voluntarily talked to Fargo police on Wednesday.

Deputy Chief Anderson confirmed a detective talked with Kirby on Wednesday. He said a woman who lives in the upstairs apartment at 2825 9th St. N. is not Kirby.

Fargo police did arrest a third-floor resident of the apartment building on a warrant for an unpaid fine sometime after Lafontaine-Greywind was reported missing.

The resident, Henry William Hoehn, on Wednesday paid in full the outstanding balance of the fine related to a violation of a no-contact order that did not involve Lafontaine-Greywind, court records showed. He was then released from the Cass County Jail.

Anderson said Hoehn was not questioned in connection with the case.

Norberta LaFontaine-Greywind, mother of the missing woman, said she sees Hoehn every now and then.

A woman in Hoehns apartment told a Forum reporter Wednesday evening that Hoehn was not there. The woman, who refused to give her name, didnt look at all like Kirby, and said she did not know Kirby.

Two people who live in LaFontaine-Greywinds building on the second floor, Christipher Miranda and Rhonda Grimli, said they heard noises in the bathroom above their apartment on Saturday afternoon.

We were getting ready to leave (and) we heard a banging in the bathtub, in the third-floor apartment above them about 1:30 or 2 p.m., Miranda said. He said the sounds lasted 15 to 20 minutes.

Then the shower turned on. It seemed kind of odd, Miranda said.
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The Dallas estate dubbed "Casa Belle Vista,"  also known as "Casa Bellamini"  has come into national reality TV stardom. And it's not for its foyer pool or $200,000 chandeliers.

The house, known for its distinctive features and lengthy time on the market, was featured on a recent episode of Bravo's "Real Housewives of Dallas." Cameras took a tour of the property as cast member Stephanie Hollman and her husband mulled the idea of bidding on the property.

MIDCENTURY-MODERN: Time capsule Texas homes showcase bright, retro appeal

They eventually did, and they won it for roughly $5 million at the October 2016 Concierge Auctions sale. It went to closing in November.

In the second episode of the second season, Hollman tells her husband, Travis, that she wants to discuss whether or not they should submit a bid on the house, which was previously listed at $8.9 million. She tells viewers that she's never been a part of the home-buying process with her husband, a businessman who dabbles in real estate investing. She also explains that the house is not a good fit for a family with young boys, among other concerns.

Travis Hollman nonetheless surprises his wife with the news that they're the new owners of the custom home. She, of course, isn't thrilled but toasts to the purchase. (They've since built a cover for the home pool that can be opened when they entertain.)

HOME ATRIUM: Famed Texas chef's unique Memorial home features glass-covered courtyard

Whether they sell it as a mere investment venture  Travis Hollman recently flipped a L.A. luxury house  or move into it has not yet been determined.

Although some Texans wouldn't consider letting go of the house, with its Moroccan-influenced facade and pricey custom finishes.

Built in 2008, the 8,631-square-foot home was designed by renowned Dallas architect Cole Smith, a partner at Smith, Ekblad & Associates. Smith designed a Mediterranean-style exterior that contrasts with the contemporary interior, with its clean lines and vibrant hues. The four-bedroom home has an in-house spa area with a jetted hot tub overlooking the grounds.

ZIP CODES: Texas' top 20 priciest when it comes to renting

Outside, there's a two-story loggia with a view of the infinity-edge swimming pool.

"It's the best of all worlds," Kelly Watson, Keller Williams Realty Urban Dallas said about the property."The interior designers are very well-known all around the world. They do homes in India, they do diplomats' homes."

Watson had the listing, and Hannah Schuessler was the Concierge Auctions project sales manager who handled this transaction.
Evan F. Sisley

Long before George H.W. Bush was president, he was the Director of Central Intelligence, advising the president and heading up the CIA.

Now the International Spy Museum is recognizing the 41st president for his work.
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Dating in the digital world is getting tougher for white supremacists.

Dating apps Bumble and OKCupid announced that they are blocking users who promote hate speech and hate symbols on their dating apps and websites.

BANNED: Google, GoDaddy boot neo-Nazi site that mocked rally victim

Hate speech, racism, and bigotry are intolerable realities that we must all come together to take action against, Bumble Founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe said in an online post. Bumble is a community of kindness and empowerment. This type of behavior goes against our mission as a company and is never welcome on our platform.

OKCupid is taking a similar stance by banning white supremacist Christoper Cantwell.

"OkCupid has zero tolerance for racism. The horrors of Naziism were made possible when so many did so little in the face of gross evil," CEO Elie Seidman said on the company's website. "We will do something in the face of evil, even when other leaders do not."

Bumble and OKCupid are encouraging users to report any type of hate speech and symbols to administrators.

CANCELED: Texas A&M cancels white supremacist rally set for Sept. 11

Bumble also reports its staff members are being targeted by white supremacists. The dating company said it will continue to take a stand against hate groups. It has also partnered with the Anti-Defamation League and will "proactively remove and ban all forms of hate speech and symbols."

"Our team at Bumble has recently been the victim of cyber hate, stemming from groups with white supremacist affiliations. Last week, a neo-Nazi media site published an article to their community urging them to call and email our team with harassing statements, given Bumbles stance towards promoting womens empowerment," Bumble said on its blog.

"We wont stand for being bullied, and we will always make every effort to protect our incredible users from cyber bullies. This isnt going to happen overnight - it will be an ongoing effort, one that will require our communitys help."

SENTENCED: Prosecutors finish largest prosecution case involving white supremacist gang member

OKCupid and Bumble aren't the only ones who are dropping white supremacist content. Spotify won't stream white power tracks. Google and GoDaddy are also banning neo-Nazi sites.

Scroll through the gallery above to see images of white supremacists clashing with protesters in Virginia.
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With just over a week left for the implementation of the Texas Senate Bill 4, immigrants rights' organizations are using new ways to inform their communities about their rights and what to expect from the so called "show me your papers" law.

Signed by Texas Governor Gregg Abbott last May and going into effect on September 1, the SB-4 will allows law enforcement officials to ask people about their legal status if stopped or detained in any circumstance. It also penalizes local officers and enforcement agencies who refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities in turning over undocumented immigrants.

In their efforts to inform their communities, immigrant organizations like FIEL Houston are using untraditional methods. In conjunction with the return of the school year season, FIEL is giving away backpacks to elementary students filled with school supplies. Packed along is information for the community on rights in respect to the new law.

"It's important that undocumented immigrants know their rights," said Alain Cisneros, an organizer for FIEL.

FIEL For more information about the FIEL initiatives and how to obtain school products with SB4 informative materials: Call: (713) 364-3435. Go to: Fiel office at 6610 Harwin #214, Houston, TX 77036. Click on: fielhouston.org. See More Collapse

Cisneros explained that this is one of many of the organizations' efforts leading up to next month. He said the focus is on systematically providing people with information via workshops, office walk-ins, mailers and social media posts.

SEE ALSO: How to prepare if you are at risk of being deported (Como prepararse ante riesgo de deportacion)

The SB4 has generated controversy in the state and around the nation, with analysts saying that it could lead to racial profiling.

"The issue of sanctuary cities can always be debated, but this is racial profiling," said State Sen. Rene Garcia, a Republican from Florida.

Garcia, who also serves as president of the National Board of Hispanic Caucus Chairs, added that this organization stands in solidarity with Texas.

"Expect to see copycat legislation," said State Rep. Mary Gonzalez (D - TX) and also a member of BHCC on the potential that other states could pursue the implementation of similar laws. Texas SB-4 has been compared with a bill passed in Arizona.

State Sen. Martin Quezada, a Democrat from Arizona, recalls the economic consequences of the S.B. 1070 law passed in his state in 2010.

Although struck down later by the U.S. Supreme Court, Quezada said the law cost the state around $1.4 million in legal fees alone. He said that Texas could expect comparable financial and economic impacts to occur.

Abbott has said that the Texas law is different from the one passed in Arizona and asserted that "If you are not someone who has committed a crime, you have absolutely nothing to worry about."

Several organizations have protested the law recently in Houston and Austin, and activists point to a sentiment of fear and anxiety among immigrant communities of undocumented people and their families.

However, Cisneros insist that undocumented immigrants should remain optimistic about one fact. "No one can take away our freedom of assembly and our freedom of expression," said Cisneros.

Kimberly.Flores@chron.com

Twitter: @kimflorestx

***

Kimberly Flores is a student of Communications at the University of Houston on an internship at the Houston Chronicle.

Write to Olivia P. Tallet for tips and comments about this blog.
Local maritime businesses gathered Wednesday to discuss the industry's vulnerabilities to cyberattacks, an especially hot topic after a ransomware attack that disrupted operations for shipping giant A.P. Moeller-Maersk in late June.

"When you have a company the size and scope of Maersk  that's big headlines," said Niels Aalund, senior vice president of the West Gulf Maritime Association.

Yet these attacks can happen to companies of any size. Hackers may even target smaller companies as a way to access their larger customers.

That's why roughly 190 ship owners, terminal operators, consultants, stevedore officials and others attended the cybersecurity seminar hosted by international shipping association BIMCO and the West Gulf Maritime Association. The event was held in the U.S. Coast Guard facility at Ellington Airport.

Maritime operations can tempt hackers in many ways. They're critical to global commerce, transport valuable cargo and often use older technology, said Cynthia Hudson, CEO of New Jersey-based Hudson Analytix.

"There's a lot of old stuff we are using every day to operate our businesses," Hudson said.

Companies should assume they've already been hacked. She said there are three kinds of companies: Those that have been hacked and don't know it, those that have been hacked and don't want to talk about it, and those that have been hacked and are talking about it.

Not knowing or not wanting to talk about it is likely why just 21 percent of respondents in a maritime survey said their company's computer systems had been violated, said Michael Lund, a deputy secretary general for BIMCO.

He was citing a BIMCO survey released last year with IHS Fairplay. Lund said ships, in particular, have vulnerabilities that include obsolete operating systems, a lack of cybersecurity and safety policies, and unpatched software.

But having updated software doesn't necessarily make companies immune to cyberattacks, said Jason Warren, cybersecurity expert for the Coast Guard's Office of Port and Facility Compliance. Maersk wasn't attacked through out-dated software. It was attacked through software it uses for filing tax returns.

It was the first cyber incident of a maritime transportation system that disrupted the flow of global commerce, he said.

"This was a wake-up call for all of us," he said.

Warren said Maersk shut down its systems after discovering the ransomware malware attack. Shutting down those systems highlighted several flaws. Maersk didn't have key contacts saved offline, so the company wasn't able to reach key people when the email and phone systems went down.

Another flaw was not knowing what systems, such as the security gate and access control, would be unavailable during extended outage. The company didn't contact the Coast Guard for more than 70 hours, Warren said.

However, Maersk also took several positive steps that helped reduce the fallout. Warren said engineers acted quickly once learning the ransomware was spreading across its global network. It also focused on first restoring ports and facilities that had a larger impact in disrupting global commerce.

Still, Maersk disclosed last week, the cyberattack could cost it between $200 million and $300 million.

Warren added that the Coast Guard has a Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circular out for public comment. This establishes a starting point for the Coast Guard to assist the private sector in building a risk-management program.

For companies overwhelmed by the challenge of cybersecurity, Hudson said a good starting point is doing an online search for a cybersecurity capability maturity model. This detailed model enables companies to assess their current level of protections and identify areas of risk. From this, they can prioritize cybersecurity activities.

"The threat is real. It's persistent," Hudson said. "It's not going away, and this is a new field of risk management that we will now permanently live with."
Airports and airlines are monitoring Hurricane Harvey, which is expected to make landfall Friday as a Category 3 hurricane.

The Houston Airport System, which operates Bush Intercontinental and Hobby airports, is checking drain systems to make sure they're clear of debris and can handle large amounts of water, spokesman Bill Begley said.

The Airport System also is storing equipment and anything that could be affected by weather. And it will provide information about flooding along roads leading to airports at fly2houston.com and on social media.

MORE: Tropical Storm Harvey projected to make landfall as Category 3 hurricane

Begley said airport officials are communicating with air carriers, infrastructure providers, tenants and construction contractors working at the airport.

"The No. 1 thing we want to do is make sure everyone is safe," he said.

Begley said there were no plans as of Thursday afternoon to shut down the airports.

United Airlines has a travel waiver in place for Bush Intercontinental as well as airports in Austin, Brownsville, College Station, Corpus Christi, Harlingen, McAllen and San Antonio. Travelers flying through those airports Friday through Sunday can change their travel plans without paying additional costs.

United spokesman Charlie Hobart said United's "operations at Houston and other south Texas airports have begun preparations."

Plans are being made for employees from other airports to help United's team in Houston.

MORE: Texas ports keep watchful eye on Tropical Storm Harvey, make preparations

Southwest Airlines has issued a travel advisory effective Thursday through Sunday for Hobby Airport and airports in Austin, Corpus Christi, Harlingen and San Antonio.

Sugar Land Regional Airport has filled its fuel tanks with aviation fuel, as well as unleaded and diesel gasoline, and it also has contacted tenants asking them to prepare aircraft for the storm. Workers on a construction site at the airport have been asked to tie down equipment.

Elizabeth Rosenbaum, assistant director of the Sugar Land Regional Airport, said the airport and its control tower will close if winds reach 45 mph.

"We're preparing for the worst and hoping for the best," she said.
A Houston federal judge ordered an expert in hydraulic fracturing technology to stop using technology he developed at his former company for a new venture he launched.

U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett granted a preliminary injunction this week to Statoil Gulf Services, a unit of the Norwegian oil major, to prevent the company's former top scientist Matthew Dawson from claiming ownership of inventions, use the cutting-edge technology in his own company and go forward with patent applications. Some of the patent applications listed Dawson's wife, sister and friend as inventors, claims Bennett suggested were unlikely.

In his order, Bennett noted that neither Dawson's wife nor sister have expertise in the highly technical field of fluid mapping.

Statoil claimed in a lawsuit it filed against Dawson earlier this year that its one-time star scientist developed proppant mapping technology which uses surface pressure gauges to determine where to inject tiny particulates into the rock that prop open fissures for more efficient production. It claims he did this while working for Statoil and its subsidiaries. Typically, proppants used in the oil and gas industry are ceramic particles or sand.

Statoil claims that Dawson kept the breakthrough a secret, passed it on to his wife to patent and later launched his own company to commercialize it. Statoil sued Dawson and his wife, Jin, in U.S. District Court in Houston, alleging that they stole the trade secrets and patented technology that belongs to the company.

RELATED: Statoil sues researcher, claiming theft of technology

Houston lawyer Ashish Mahendru, representing the Dawsons, said the patents were independently developed by third parties, not by Matthew Dawson during his employment. Matthew Dawson will show that Statoil and its spin-off, Reveal Energy Services, have no ownership rights to the patents, said Mahendru.

In court filings, the Dawsons' called Statoil's lawsuit revenge for Matthew Dawson's repeated refusal to sign a non-compete agreement when he and Statoil officials ran into conflicts over equity distributions and other issues. The Dawsons also contend that Jin Dawson, a highly accomplished engineer like her husband, filed her own patents based on public records, including after attending a presentation of her husband's work.

"In sum, this lawsuit is a farce," according to the Dawson's response which was filed earlier this month.

Bennett noted in his order that the patent applications naming Dawson's wife and sister as inventors shows substantial modification by Dawson himself. Another patent was created on a Statoil template, said Bennett.

"Though Dr. Dawson testified that none of these patents represent intellectual property developed by him, the circumstantial evidence against Dr. Dawson's testimony is overwhelming," according to Bennett's order.

Statoil chief counsel Thomas E. Gottsegen said he was grateful for the court's broad preliminary injunction against Dawson.
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Houston-based law firm Porter Hedges has locked in a long-term lease for 105,026 square feet at its downtown offices at 1000 Main.

The firm, which has been subleasing the penthouse space from Reliant-NRG since 2005, signed a 13-year lease plus renewal options, according to CBRE.

Porter Hedges is Houston's seventh-largest law firm based on number of attorneys, according to a Chronicle 100 survey in April. The firm has about 110 local attorneys.

Charles Gordon, Brandon Clarke, Paul Penland and Ryan Roth of CBRE represented Porter Hedges in the lease. Wade Bowlin with PM Realty Group represented the landlord, 1000 Main LLC, an affiliate of German realty fund Union Investment.

"It was imperative for us to create a solution that would help Porter Hedges continue its reputation as one of Houston's leading law firms," Gordon said in an announcement.

"After a thorough evaluation of their needs and how they could continue to best serve their clients, they determined that staying downtown would suit them best, and from there, our team worked with the landlord to structure a lease that met the interests of all parties involved."

Porter Hedges received market concessions for a Class AA building, according to CBRE. The company also took a little less space due to a reduction in file storage and support areas.

Law firms in Houston have typically secured concessions for 12 months free rent on a 12-year lease in new developments, and six months on a 10-year renewal, according JLL.

The firm occupies 12.5 percent of the 36-story tower. Other tenants are Shell Oil Co., Sanchez Energy, UBS and NRG Energy, according to CBRE.

The 837,161-square-foot building, developed by Century Development on the Main Street Square rail stop, has historically remained well-occupied, according to Bowlin of PM Realty Group.

When Marsh/Mercer vacated in 2012, Sanchez Energy took over the space and has since expanded to 120,000 square feet, Bowlin said.

Reliant put the top four floors of its space at 1000 Main on the market for sublease as part of cost-cutting measures in 2004. The building, known as Reliant Energy Plaza when it opened in 2003, is 99.9 percent leased, according to PMRG.

NRG Energy, which has dual headquarters in Princeton, N.J., and Houston, announced it will begin consolidating its Houston offices to One Shell Plaza next spring.

"It's always been able to lease very quickly," Bowlin said. "We would hope that would continue to be the case."

Founded in 1981, Porter Hedges handles energy transactions, corporate mergers and acquisitions, commercial litigation, banking and finance, bankruptcy and construction law. It also has an office in Oklahoma City.
Cleveland police are still trying to piece together what led to a 16-year-old male being shot in the chest Tuesday night around 8 p.m.

According to Police Chief Darrel Broussard, the young man was driven to Cleveland Emergency Hospital by private vehicle. After being stabilized, the victim was airlifted to a Houston area trauma center where he is said to be in critical condition. Broussard said he was alert and breathing when he left Cleveland.
Lake Houston entities are bracing for impact of Hurricane Harvey, which is expected to make landfall along the Texas Coast late Friday. Heavy rainfall and flash flooding are possible through the weekend.

Humble Independent School District will make a decision at about 4 p.m. on whether schools are to close Monday, Aug. 28. Humble ISD parents will receive updates and emergency notifications through emails and texts issued to parents. Parents who do not have their phone numbers on file with the district are asked to check the district website for updates.

Humble ISD also has a text system set up for parents with their phone numbers on file with to receive instant alerts, in order to receive alerts parents are asked to text YES to 67587.

Huffman ISD

Huffman ISD issued an announcement to parents and staff stating they are closely monitoring the situation, and will be on a conference call this afternoon with the Office of Emergency Management and other school districts in the area.

The school district has canceled an SAT exam originally scheduled for this Saturday. The exam will be rescheduled for Sept. 9.

Huffman ISD has cancelled all weekend activities, travel and access to district buildings.

As of 9 p.m. Thursday, Huffman ISD stated that staff will be reporting to work as normal on Friday, Aug. 25, until 12 p.m., at which time the district will close.

Huffman ISD anticipates a decision regarding the Monday, Aug. 28 school day may be made Saturday morning.

The school district will keep the community informed as information becomes available. Huffman ISD asked people to continue checking email, Facebook and Huffmanisd.net for updates.

Crosby ISD

Crosby ISD Superintendent Keith Moore announced all Crosby ISD campuses and departments will be closed Friday, Aug. 25.

Crosby ISD has cancelled all district activities for Friday afternoon and through the weekend.

The school district will decide whether to resume school on Monday by Sunday, Aug. 27 at 2 p.m.

Check Crosbyisd.org and the Crosby ISD Facebook page for updates.

City of Houston District E Office

In preparation for the potential impacts of Hurricane Harvey, the city of Houston District E office has been communicating with local entities, including law enforcement, school districts, hospitals, chambers of commerce and the Coastal Water Authority.

Two of the four flashboard gates at Lake Houston were opened this morning in expectation of the storm. District E will continue communication with the Coastal Water Authority. The community can sign up to receive updates and alerts from the City of Houston Office of Emergency Management Alerts at www.houstonemergency.org.

The Office of Emergency Management will post information on its website about shelters as they are activated, but no Houston area shelters are identified as of 1 p.m. today. People who require shelter can contact the Red Cross at 1-866-526-8300.

Residents should report storm damage to City of Houston 3-1-1 by calling 713-837-0311.

Report CenterPoint Energy power outages to 713-207-2222 or 800-332-7143. To receive power outage updates sign-up for the Power Alert Service at http://www.centerpointenergy.com/en-us/residential/customer-service/electric-outage-center?sa=ho. Follow @cnpalerts on Twitter for individual outage information. Visit http://gis.centerpointenergy.com/outagetracker/ for general outage locations.

For a list of recommended Shelter-in-Place Kit contents, visit http://houstontx.gov/oem/pages/preparedness/index.html#sipkit.

Councilman Dave Martin will share alerts on Facebook and Twitter throughout Hurricane Harvey. For more information, contact Martin's office at (832) 393-3008 or via email at districte@houstontx.gov.

Constable Pct. 4

The Harris County Constable's Office and emergency management partner ReadyHarris urged residents to review their family emergency plans, restock their disaster supply kits and stay informed.

Supply kit should include:

NOAA weather radio and batteries

Flashlight and batteries

Extra eye glasses

Bottled water

Non-perishable food

Clothing and bedding

First aid kit, medications and prescriptions

Special products for babies, elderly and medically fragile family members

Cash and credit cards

Photo ID, important documents and records

Also prepare an emergency kit for your pets and a plan on how to care for them. Never leave your pets behind.

No evacuations have been ordered at this time.

Continue monitoring local weather reports and search for #harvey #houwx on social media.

Pct. 4 will be strategically deploying 5-ton military trucks and other safety equipment. All Precinct 4 first responders have been placed on standby for possible 12-hour shifts should the situation require emergency schedule deployment.
GRAND FORKS  Workers repairing part of the Grand Forks railroad bridge after the structure was engulfed in flames last week could be finished today.

Construction crews finished driving new piles for the bridge Tuesday night and have been welding since then to bring the Red River crossing back online, said Amy McBeth, a representative of BNSF Railway, which owns the bridge. The final step of rebuilding will have workers installing new track panels. Once thats done, the bridge will be ready for traffic to resume.

An investigation of the Friday morning fire determined the blaze was caused by a human act, according to a news release sent by Battalion Chief Bruce Weymier of the Grand Forks Fire Department.

The investigation was carried out by the Grand Forks fire marshal and Grand Forks police with help from BNSF. It was determined that it was unlikely the fire -- which started in and consumed a wooden icebreaker frame protecting steel girders on the North Dakota side of the river -- was caused by sparks from a passing train.

The inside of the icebreaker structure is semi-enclosed and accessible by way of an open back end. Last winter, a deceased man was found there frozen in river ice.

Weymier said investigators dont yet know if last weeks fire was intentional or accidental. The cause of the blaze is listed as undetermined and continues to be under investigation.

The area around the site of the fire has been closed as BNSF crews work on the bridge with heavy machinery. The site has been illuminated through the nights by way of a powerful floodlight to allow for work to continue after sundown.

The bridge has been shut down to all train traffic, which has been rerouted. If the work schedule goes as planned and construction is finished Thursday, the route could be reopened to trains by the end of that day.

The Grand Forks Fire Department asks anyone with information about the fire to contact its offices at (701) 746-2566.
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Fashion. Charity. Diamonds. Bling.

Put them all together and you have the perfect party for a cause. It's Robbins Brothers' 5th Annual "Diamonds & Desserts" event, benefiting Girls Inc. The fun starts 6:30 to 8:30 pm. Thursday at Robbins Brothers, 2101 West Loop S, in the Galleria area.

The event initially began as a way to bring together Houston's top fashionistas for a networking opportunity and to see the latest bridal trends. It grew into a way to celebrate a favorite charity.

As the jewelry company celebrates its new Karl Lagerfeld bridal collection, the event will also include a fashion show of the Karl Lagerfeld Paris collection from Dillard's. Models will be The Styled Fox blogger Anna English, It's All Chic to Me blogger Shelbi Adams and several local media.
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Vandals marred the newly restored Camp Logan historical marker with a smear of rusty-red paint, mere hours after its rededication in Memorial Park.

The attack came after the Texas Historical Commission marker was unveiled Wednesday by local officials, preservationists and historians as Mayor Sylvester Turner called for "tolerance and understanding."

It is the third historical monument in a week to be damaged by paint, and follows the arrest Saturday of a Houston man found with explosives at the statue of Confederate officer Richard "Dick" Dowling in Hermann Park.

Debra Blacklock-Sloan, a researcher and member of the Harris County Historical Commission, said she learned of the desecration at the Camp Logan site around 3 p.m. Thursday and rushed to the park to document the damage.

"I've never seen anything like this  this was less than 24 hours," said Blacklock-Sloan, who chairs the marker dedication effort for the historical commission. "Mayor Turner gave a speech about how we could do better and the whole bit, and now this happens."

The Memorial Park Conservancy is sending a team to survey the damage, she said. Houston police were also notified Thursday of the incident.

The marker commemorates the World War I training camp of black troops stationed in Houston as well as the associated 1917 racial riot and aftermath that became one of Houston's darkest episodes.

The centennial commemoration events organized by the Houston-based Buffalo Soldiers National Museum coincided with the state historical marker's repair, funded through a collaboration with Harris County.

The marker's recent facelift repaired damage caused by injury and aging, leaving a scar along the back of the metal sign. The red paint is sprayed across the front.

Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle  who attended the re-dedication on Wednesday  lamented Thursday the state of mind of the person or persons who damaged the marker.

"Desecrating a historical marker is a cowardly act," Cagle said. "To destroy the sacred monuments of a society is an offense and a tragedy because it takes away our ability to see what went before and our ability to come together and to improve."

The protests and vandalism come amid national turmoil over Confederate monuments that has escalated since a rally turned deadly in Charlottesville, Virginia, where one woman was killed and dozens injured in a clash Aug. 12 between white supremacists and counter-demonstrators.

In Houston, two historical monuments were targeted in the week after the Charlottesville protests.

A bust of Martin Luther King Jr. in Sunnyside was found smeared with white paint on the morning of Aug. 17. A seven-foot-tall statue of Christopher Columbus in Bell Park in the Montrose area was found splattered with red paint that night.

And late Saturday, after a local rally drew hundreds of protesters and counter-protesters to a Confederate monument in Sam Houston Park, a Houston man was charged in federal court after his arrest at the Dowling statue.

The rededication Wednesday was part of a week-long series of events marking the 100 years since the Camp Logan Riot, as the mutiny came to be known.

In 1917, black soldiers from the Army's Third Battalion of the 24th Infantry Regiment left against orders from the training camp at what is now Memorial Park. The military men exacted revenge for humiliating and sometimes physically abusive treatment by local white citizens and police officers.

In the end, 16 people died  including five police officers  and 22 others were believed to have been wounded, although historical accounts vary.

The riot was followed by murder trials resulting in 19 men hanged and 53 handed life sentences.
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Nine children on Wednesday were placed in Child Protective Services custody after authorities discovered they were living among trash, mold and food waste in a quiet Spring neighborhood, according to the Montgomery County Constables Office.

Within the previous 24 hours, authorities said they began receiving multiple calls urging them to check on the two-story brick home in the 1600 block of Julia Park Drive from neighbors who had not seen the children for a while, according to Chief Deputy Constable Matthew Rodrigue with the Montgomery County Precinct 3 Constables Office.

The parents, Sabrina and Daniel Bell, have been taken into custody and will be charged with child endangerment, he said. A search warrant was also executed at the residence.

Authorities went to the home on Tuesday, but no one was home. On Wednesday they returned around lunchtime and in conducting the search they found substandard living conditions.

Its not the place you would want to see nine children, much less a single child being raised, Rodrigue said. It was quite deplorable.

The children found living inside the house range from 13 months to 10 years old, Rodrigue said.

One child was taken to Texas Childrens Hospital based upon a recommendation of EMS officials. It is unclear if that child has been released from the hospital yet, Rodrigue said.

CPS confirmed the children are in custody. CPS is collaborating with the constables office on the investigation, according to spokeswoman Tejal Patel.

CPS plans to place the children in foster care and are looking for appropriate placements. It is unknown if CPS was ever called to the home before.

On Wednesday evening, neighbors were mowing their lawns and walking their dogs but all but one declined to talk about the incident.

Keith Barnett, a neighbor of the Bell family, did talk to a reporter, saying he did not recall seeing the kids in the entire six years he has lived across the street.

Im a dad with a lot of kids, Barnett said. It breaks my heart if there was something going on with the kids.

Rodrigue said he expects more charges to be filed against the parents as the investigation unfolds.

Last November, in Fort Bend County, another case with a large number of children was discovered in a Richmond-area home.

In that matter, seven special needs children were found in a filthy room inside the home, according to authorities. The children were confined to one room that had two beds, two mats and a toilet.

The adopted parents, 54-year-old Paula Sinclair and 78-year-old Allen Richardson, originally were charged with aggravated kidnapping and injury to a child.

brooke.lewis@chron.com

jjordan@hcnonline.com
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In what officials hope is not a preview of potential damage this weekend's major storm, a momentary downpour coupled with high winds partially ripped off the roof of a three-story building in downtown Conroe Wednesday afternoon.

The storm moved through the area around 3 p.m. bringing strong gusts and torrential rain. The wind folded in half the roof of an office building in the 100 block of West Davis Street, leaving a portion of it dangling over Main Street.

The building houses various attorney offices as well as an Allstate insurance firm.

With Tropical Storm Harvey building in the Gulf of Mexico and bearing down on the Texas coast, Conroe fire crews are worried about getting the roof repaired quickly. Conroe Assistant Fire Chief Mike Legoudes said the building's owner contracted with a roofing agency Wednesday to secure the portion of the collapsed roof so it does not move any further as the storm comes in.

"We're unsure about the drainage on the top for when the rain starts," Legoudes said. "It's got a roof below, and it's like a bowl. We're evaluating all that now and trying to determine what it is they need to do."

In the meantime, crews have Main Street between Phillips Street and West Davis Street shut down, as well as one left lane of West Davis Street, until the situation is rectified.

"There's been stuff falling off of it since we've been here," said Legoudes, referring to his concern about water entering the building and causing further damage. "That's the main thing. The drainage has to be addressed."
One person reportedly died after a truck fire Wednesday afternoon caused main lanes to be shut down on I-10 East Freeway, according to the Texas Department of Transportation and local television reports.

The crash occurred around 1:30 p.m. at I-10 East Westbound at Dell Dale Boulevard, according to Houston TranStar.
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WASHINGTON  Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, running for reelection next year, slammed Wednesday's federal court ruling throwing out Texas' voter ID law, which the judge had compared to a "poll tax" on minorities.

Cruz's Democratic challenger, U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, issued a contrasting statement praising the decision.

Cruz, in El Paso to tour the border and meet with workers at a technology company, issued a statement Thursday predicting that the decision of U.S. District Court Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos will be overturned by the more conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

"The Voter ID law is a commonsense protection to safeguard the rights of every Texan and to prevent illegal voter fraud," Cruz said. "The district judge's opinion to the contrary violates Supreme Court precedent, and I trust that the Fifth Circuit will reverse it on appeal."

Cruz led the filing of an amicus brief last year on behalf of the entire Texas Republican congressional delegation supporting Texas' 2011 Voter ID law.

In a fundraising pitch to supporters, O'Rourke, of El Paso, criticized the GOP-backed law, one of the strictest in the nation.

"It's deeply cynical that the state of Texas would implement laws that knowingly make it more difficult for African-American and Latino voters to cast their ballots," he said. "These racist voter ID laws, in partnership with intentional gerrymandering, have rigged elections for far too long."

The decision of the district judge in Corpus Christi was the second time she had invalidated the Texas voter ID law, ruling that a watered-down version the Legislature passed this year still discriminates against black and Latino voters.

The judge's finding comes after a judicial panel invalidated two of Texas' congressional districts because of race-based gerrymandering. The rulings have the potential to affect next year's state and federal elections  including a widely-anticipated Cruz-O'Rourke matchup  although appeals are expected in both cases.

Citing concerns over voter fraud, Republicans in Texas have spent years fighting to preserve the state's voter ID law, which requires voters to show certain documents before casting a ballot.

The newly-weakened version of the law still required voters to present one of seven acceptable forms of photo ID. But it would let people without such identification vote, so long as they sign an affidavit and bring paperwork, such as a utility bill or paycheck.

Ramos, however, said the change still would have a discriminatory and chilling effect, "replacing the lack of qualified photo ID with an overreaching affidavit threatening severe penalties for perjury."
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With officials along the Gulf Coast on alert for the potential for flooding and heavy rains, Houston-area congressmen voiced unanimous support Wednesday for greater investment in protections for the petrochemical facilities along the Houston Ship Channel and other spots susceptible to storm damage.

Energy is a huge economic driver for business just for Texas, but the entire United States, said Rep. Randy Weber, R-Friendswood. The last thing we want is another major hurricane that hits our area and causes major economic damage and puts a 20-foot wall of water in the Houston Ship Channel. Can you imagine if we would lose some of the tanks  what an environmental catastrophe that would be.

Though the idea of a storm surge protection system for Galveston Bay has been discussed for years, there is not a broad consensus for the best method to build it, and no state or federal funding has been accumulated to build what could be a $10 billion project.

At a Wednesday forum by Transportation Advocacy Group Houston Chapter, organized to have seven members of Congress talk about the intersection of transportation and energy policy, House members from both parties agreed investments in flood protection  for homes and businesses  cross party lines. All used the opportunity  with Tropical Depression Harvey forming in the Gulf of Mexico  to make their case for flood protection.

Rep, John Culberson, R-Houston, received support from Houston Democrats Reps. Gene Green and Al Green, when he proposed some loosening of the federal prohibition on earmarks.

Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle

Earmarks  commonly when a member of Congress would slip projects in their districts into spending bills  essentially were outlawed a decade ago. Culberson blamed the prohibition on abuse by members of Congress.

Avoiding the term "earmark," Culberson said his plan for targeted appropriation would allow for specific project-level funding in certain circumstances, but forbid it in others, such as recreational facilities.

I think it would be a good way to start, Culberson said.

Despite differences across party lines, Houston delegation members said they all work cooperatively when there is broad regional consensus for something. Al Green, noting his support for Culbersons plan to revive some specific spending, said it also could help Congress find common areas where they can get some work done in an era thats likely been marked more by inactivity than progress.

It engenders collegiality, Green said of Culbersons plan for targeted spending. It gives us an opportunity to work together to get things done.

He speculated it also could be a needed break in the ice between the two major parties.

One good infrastructure bill and we will all be singing Kumbaya together, Green said.
North Dakota higher education leaders highlighted efforts to improve student graduation rates Wednesday.

University System Chancellor Mark Hagerott and University of North Dakota President Mark Kennedy gave presentations to an interim legislative committee on the Bismarck State College campus, where both men said graduation rates need work.

Kennedy, a former congressman who took office in Grand Forks more than a year ago, said the university is focused on boosting its four-year graduation rate by 2022 from 28 percent to 34 percent, which would be 2 percentage points higher than the average of comparison flagship universities, according to UNDs strategic plan.

Kennedy pointed to the use of Starfish, which he described as software to help faculty monitor student progress, as one way the university hopes to graduate more students on time. He said the university is also working to reduce barriers to graduation, including by decreasing the minimum number of credits needed to graduate to 120.

Universities arent meant only to deliver an education, Kennedy said, were there to deliver graduates.

There has to be a change in mindset, Kennedy told the interim Higher Education Committee.

Hagerott said the states two-year schools are doing better than the national rates, but were not happy with the 25 percent four-year graduation rate at research universities, given the heavier financial burden that comes with staying in school longer.

We want to do better, he said. We need our kids to graduate at higher rates.

The presentations were part of a two-day meeting of the interim legislative committee, which also saw the President of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education give a presentation Tuesday. The meeting came as reduced tax revenues prompted legislators to cut state funding for higher education and across government during this years session.

Hagerott and Kennedy touched on a variety of topics Wednesday, from deferred maintenance on campus facilities to the availability of online courses and the future of higher education.

Were in a period of rapid change, Hagerott said.
The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p.
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Copiii cu nevoi speciale din Stefan Voda au conditii de reabilitare mai bune, datorita UE si Fundatiei Soros Moldova
Law enforcement officials dont have to show what specifically distracted a driver before a fatal chain-reaction crash, the state supreme court ruled, providing important guidance to law enforcement at a time when distracted drivers are a major concern.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled that lawmakers contemplated a wide variety of activities would be sufficient to support a finding that a driver was distracted and that the trial judge had adequate evidence to support a finding of distracted driving.

An attorney from The Bicycle Coalition of Maine said the ruling prevents law enforcements hands from being tied when it comes to distracted driving.

You do not necessarily have to catch someone in the process of sending or reading a text, or eating a hamburger, or any other thing. You can use circumstantial evidence to prove distracted driving, said Lauri Boxer-Macomber.

The motorist, Thomas Palmer, testified that he looked up to see a car stopped while turning on U.S. Route 1 in Woolwich in August 2015. He never braked before his truck smashed into a car that was forced into a van, which collided with an SUV, police said. A passenger in the van died.

The driver of the car had on a turn signal and conditions were clear. The driver reported that Palmers truck was swerving before impact.

Asked if he was distracted, Palmer told investigators that he may have been looking at a piece of paper or moving his head to stretch.

The trial judge concluded he was distracted in convicting him of moving violations resulting in the loss of his drivers license for two years.

In the appeal, Palmers lawyer argued that the contention he was distracted was not supported by any facts pointing to what activity was distracting him.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court said that the judge had adequate evidence to convict Palmer of two infractions  a motor vehicle violation causing death and failure to maintain control  without an express finding as to the activity he was engaged in.

We conclude that the evidence was sufficient for the court to find, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Palmer was engaged in the operation of a motor vehicle while distracted, the court ruled.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
When Andrew, a category 5 hurricane, made landfall on August 24, 1992, it was a wakeup call for the insurance industry. The devastation that resulted became the impetus for the widespread adoption of catastrophe models, according to Karen Clark, co-founder of Karen Clark & Company.

Though Clark developed catastrophe modeling more than five years before Andrew, much of the industry did not use the model.

AIR did have about 30 clients at the time, said Clark, founder of AIR Worldwide and creator of the first catastrophe model.

According to Clark, the models themselves havent changed fundamentally.

The structure of the models, the way they work with their different components and the output they produce, that really hasnt changed. That has stayed the same, said Clark. Since pre Andrew to today, the catastrophe modeling approach is the same. The fundamental model structure is the same.

Prior to using the models, insurers typically managed their book based on premium and didnt send any exposure data to reinsurers.

Immediately after Andrew, reinsurers started demanding from primary insurers at least county level aggregates. They had to give information on how much property value they wrote by county. Of course, it evolved to five digit zip codes. Starting in the 2000s, at least insurers in the U.S., are able to provide their property data at geocode resolution, Clark said.

The main difference now, she said, is the quality of the exposure data.

Id say the most fundamental change is the quality of the exposure data thats being provided to the models and of course the models themselves, said Clark. Weve had several eventsover the past 25 years, so thats provided more claims and loss data to be able to fine tune whats called the damage functions in the model. There hasnt been any fundamental change in modeling, but the models have been enhanced and the exposure data that insurers put in has been enhanced.

According to Clark if a second Hurricane Andrew happened today, insured losses would be in the range of $50 billion.

Why its $50 billion versus $15 is basically just the increases in the property values. In the Homestead area, population has doubled since Andrew. The cost of construction has more than doubled, Clark explained. When you put all these factors togetherThe counterbalancing factors are that building codes have improved, but even after you factor that in, a $15 billion loss in 1992 would be about $50 billion today.

While most companies could handle that, there are some smaller insurers with concentrated books of business that could be financially impaired as a result of a second, similar hurricane, said Clark.

If a similar hurricane hit 20 miles north and made landfall in Miami, the devastation would be considerably higher.

However, if you take Andrew and you move it 20 miles north so that it makes landfall in the most populated area of downtown Miami, the loss is likely to be greater than $200 billion. Now you have a totally different situation, Clark said.

That kind of loss could be devastating to the insurance industry.

While she doesnt expect the structure of models used today to change, Clark sees open models being used more and more in the future.

The traditional models, theyre essentially black boxes. You just put in your exposure, and you get your losses. You cant interact with the model assumptions, said Clark. We believe the way to make the models better in the future is to make them open, so that the users can really learn a lot more about the assumptions, about the components. Not only that but insurers can customize the model assumptions to be more reflective of their actual claims experience.
WATFORD CITY -- Officials in McKenzie County say the failed attempt to remove McKenzie County Sheriff Gary Schwartzenberger cost less than $10,000.

That total includes the $6,970.39 cost of a county-funded investigation into the sheriffs office and travel expenses for the special prosecutor assigned to the case.

In November, then-Gov. Jack Dalrymple suspended Schwartzenberger, pending the outcome of removal proceedings. The McKenzie County Commission voted in October to petition the governors office for his removal, citing an investigation carried out by the Village Business Institute that alleged Schwartzenberger had harassed and intimidated employees. The removal petition also cited pending criminal charges against Schwartzenberger for misapplication of entrusted property.

He is accused of using a department credit card to cover personal expenses during a trip to a law enforcement convention. He subsequently reimbursed the county for those expenses.

Schwartzenberger was returned to office earlier this month by Gov. Doug Burgum. That decision came a few weeks after a special commissioner assigned to hear the case recommended the removal proceedings be dropped and Schwartzenberger re-instated. The commissioner found there wasnt enough evidence to rise to the level of removal.

In a news release sent out Monday, McKenzie County Auditor Erica Johnsrud calculated that the cost to the county was under $10,000. While he was suspended, Schwartzenberger was paid $71,067.20, according to the release. Acting Sheriff Matt Johansen was paid $77,339.09 during that same period.

However, the cost over Johansens regular salary as a sergeant for the sheriffs office was about $200 per month, and the county didnt fill the position while Johansen served as acting sheriff.

Other salaries paid to employees who were on administrative leave are not attributed to costs in this process as they would have been paid in either case, McKenzie County Public Relations Director Shari Buck wrote in the release.

If the countys accounting included only the approximately $200 per month difference in Johansens pay, the cost of the investigation and the travel costs for the special prosecutor, that would come to $8.858.60.

In the release, County Commission Chairman Douglas Nordby defended the process.

When employees have a concern, it's imperative we follow the processes available and recommended by our HR department and legal counsel, he said. It is also important to understand the accurate accounting associated with the subsequent events related to the filing of the removal petition.

Schwartzenberger is scheduled to go to trial Sept. 14 on the misdemeanor charge.
AKRON, Ohio -- Akron will receive $5.7 million in FASTLANE grant funding to construct a bridge along Evans Avenue over CSX and Metro RTA railroad tracks.

The project includes the construction of pair of bridges to realign Evans Avenue, removing a potentially dangerous at-grade crossing with both CSX and Metro RTA railroads.

Construction is expected to begin in spring 2018 and be completed by fall 2019.

Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan said the bridge will eliminate traffic delays caused by hourly trains and improve vehicular safety for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists.

The city prepared plans for the bridge project several years ago and pursued funding from multiple sources to cover the construction cost. The Akron Engineering Bureau filed for a FASTLANE grant twice and received funding in the second round.

"As is the case in many of our projects, our Engineering Bureau seeks any and all available state and federal dollars to cobble together enough funding to accomplish these expensive and necessary projects," Horrigan said in a news release.

The FASTLANE grant will cover approximately 60 percent of the total construction cost.

FASTLANE grants are awarded to nationally and regionally significant freight and highway projects, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration. These projects must align with program goals to improve safety, efficiency and reliability of the movement of freight and people.

The city's project will also include reconstruction of asphalt roadway, along with concrete curb and gutter and storm sewers. The project will begin at Home Avenue and head east, affecting approximately 2,000 linear feet of roadway.

Akron is pursuing additional grant funds to cover the remainder of the project cost.

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AKRON, Ohio - Music by two iconic Akron bands is featured in horror-writer Stephen King's latest television production.

Hammer Damage and the Rubber City Rebels contributed to the creation of the Akron Sound in the 1970s, which spilled over onto the national stage and permeated parts of Europe.

The first episode of "Mr. Mercedes," a 10-show series that began Aug. 9 on Audience Network, features a popular song from each band. The show is based on King's best-selling detective series.

"It's certainly good exposure for future ventures," said George Cabaniss, Hammer Damage guitarist, who later joined the Dead Boys. "It's gratifying to know my cheesy guitar playing is out there for people to listen to."

Hammer Damage and the Rubber City Rebels were part of a punk rock movement formed when the essence of rock 'n roll was anti-establishment. Akron bands like Hammer Damage, the Rubber City Rebels, the Waitresses, Tin Huey and Chi Pig showcased public acts of rebellion, raunchy theatrics and loud, high-energy sound.

The city's music scene garnered so much notoriety, Stiff Records in England in 1978 held all-expenses-paid contests to allow winners to come to Akron to experience the punk sound.

"Laugh" was written by David Zagar of Hammer Damage

"A lot of the reasons people were attracted to it in the first place still apply," Cabaniss said of punk music. "Its fun. It isn't all full of itself, it's just fun. I think that's why it's popular."

It's unclear whether Mr. Mercedes' soundtrack was selected by King, who has appeared at punk-band Rancid's concerts.

The Akron bands' songs provide an energetic background for Mr. Mercedes, which is eerily reminiscent of the recent terror attack in Charlottesville, Virginia.

It's the story of a psychopathic, young, tech-savvy serial killer, Brady Hartsfield, who drives a stolen Mercedes into a crowd killing 16 people. Retired police detective Bill Hodges battles his own demons trying to bring Hartsfield to justice, while Hartsfield sends the detective a series of shocking letters and emails.

The Rubber City Rebels' song "I Don't Wanna be a Punk No More," is playing the second time viewers see Hartsfield driving in his car.

Hammer Damage's "Laugh" by guitarist David Zagar, plays in its entirety as the end credits role.

The soundtrack for the first episode of Mr. Mercedes, which you can watch here free, also includes songs by the Kinks, the Ramones and the Impressions.

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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The U.S. Department of Energy's finding that coal and nuclear power plants are important and wholesale markets should be reformed to reflect that is potentially good news for FirstEnergy, as well as Ohio-based Murray Energy, one of its coal suppliers.

But in Ohio where FirstEnergy is working to work around or distort competitive markets, the impact of the report could be much different, said Ohio Consumers' Counsel Bruce Weston.

The Akron-based utility is continuing its effort to convince lawmakers and regulators it must have additional subsidies no matter what is going on it Washington. Those subsides will increase electric prices, again.

Four months in the making, the DOE study recommends that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission work with independent wholesale electric grid operators to find a way for market prices to reflect the value that it believes the old power plants bring to the system. The FERC has been working on that idea for months.

But utilities such as FirstEnergy that operate coal and nuclear plants don't want to wait for FERC to develop a policy. And neither does the coal industry.

In an emailed statement Thursday, Murray Energy applauded the DOE but insisted the Trump administration must do a lot more, and do it soon, to prevent additional shutdowns of coal plants, which would be followed by more mine closings or at least slowdowns.

Robert Murray, the CEO of the company wants the DOE to declare an emergency to keep the coal plants running. That's allowed under federal law during a crisis, such as war.

"We are pleased that this report acknowledges the importance of coal-fired baseload electricity generation in this Country," Murray wrote in his company's statement.

"There is, however, much more which must be done in order to ensure low-cost, reliable, and fuel secure electricity in the United States. This includes the need for the Department of Energy to immediately invoke Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, in order to prevent the ongoing, and irreversible, closure of many coal-fired power plants in America, and the tremendous human and financial costs which will result," he wrote in his company's statement.

FirstEnergy, which could benefit from such a declaration of emergency, stopped short of asking for it and focused instead on the political process ahead.

"The Department of Energy study says what many have long contended: baseload power plants like coal and nuclear play an invaluable role in the long-term resiliency of a well-functioning electric grid, and we must ensure these resources continue to provide customers with clean, reliable and affordable supplies of electricity," wrote Jennifer Young, a FirstEnergy spokeswoman, in an email.

"We look forward to working with the Administration, FERC and others to implement in timely fashion the steps required to help keep fuel-secure baseload power plants a strong part of our energy future," she said.

But that doesn't mean the company will abandon its efforts to persuade Ohio lawmakers to create a new funding source (created by an immediate customer rate increase) for its nuclear power plants.

And that has Consumers' Counsel's Weston on alert.

"The utilities want state lawmakers to increase electric bills for Ohio families and businesses to subsidize the continued operation of old power plants. That is a bad idea for Ohioans whose electric bills should instead be decreasing in the competitive market," he said.

If subsidizing costly old power plants is to be considered, then that discussion should happen at the regional or national level and not with utility proposals in the Ohio legislature. That broader discussion is consistent with yesterday's DOE study, with its call for a regional or national review of power supply."

FirstEnergy's plan is to create "zero emission credits" or ZECs, in recognition that the nuclear plants do not generate much carbon dioxide (with the exception of their emergency diesel generators).

"The DOE study recognizes the important role of baseload generation, including nuclear power, in maintaining a resilient electric system and diverse energy mix," wrote Young in a second email.

"We hope Ohio legislators recognize that ... (ZEC) legislation will preserve these attributes in addition to the many economic and environmental benefits provided by Ohio's nuclear plants."

The roughly 5 percent rate increase to fund the ZECs on the delivery side of the bill of all FirstEnergy customers would raise about $300 million annually in new money to subsidize nuclear operations in Ohio and probably Pennsylvania.

The increase would come on the heels of a Jan. 1 delivery rate increase designed to produce a little over $200 million in new money, ostensibly for delivery system upgrades but actually to bolster the company's credit standing to enable it to borrow money.

Whether the DOE recommendations actually will help persuade Ohio lawmakers to come to FirstEnergy's rescue remains an open question. The Republican majorities in the House and Senate favor markets rather than government subsidies or bailouts. But the company has lobbied them all summer.

Finally, even though the DOE report recognizes that ultra-efficient gas turbine plants are the major reason that coal and nuclear plants are closing, its report recommendations say nothing about stopping the rapid growth of these power plants, except to note that there should be closer cooperation between the gas pipeline and power industries.

The first of 10 gas turbine power plants planned for Ohio opened earlier this week in suburban Toledo, about 20 miles west of FirstEnergy's Davis-Besse nuclear plant. The plant employs about 25, a fraction of the roughly 700 at Davis-Besse. Gas turbine plants are said to be twice as efficient as nuclear plants.

In contrast to FirstEnergy, Columbus-based American Electric Power is working to diversify its power production by adding gas, wind and solar power plants. AEP Ohio, the corporation's Ohio company, is seeking bids to build both wind and solar farms here. The company now has a power purchase agreement to buy 10 megawatts of solar power from a Wyandot County wind farm built expressly to supply the company. AEP is also planning to build the largest wind farm in the nation in Oklahoma.

"We are pleased that the DOE study recognizes the need for reforms in the wholesale markets to ensure long-term grid resiliency," AEP spokeswoman Melissa McHenry responded in an email.

"We will continue to work with stakeholders to advocate for the reforms needed to value the reliability benefits of baseload generation [meaning coal, nuclear and gas] and maintain fuel diversity. These essential reliability services can only be appropriately addressed through in-depth grid reliability studies."
EUCLID, Ohio - The president of Euclid's police union on Wednesday criticized several demonstrators for what he called "thinly-veiled threats of violence" while they were protesting an officer-involved shooting death and a violent arrest caught on video.

The majority of the protesters who attended Monday's city council meeting were peaceful, but several used harsher words toward city officials and police officers, Euclid FOP Lodge 18 President Dave Trend said in a statement.

One protester, dressed in camouflage and body armor, threatened to bring "hundreds" of well-trained operatives to the city to make it an "[expletive] war zone," Trend said. In turn, police donned riot gear and lined a hallway of City Hall.

There were no arrests made during the protest, which ended peacefully, Trend said.

"[The union] will not hesitate to stand by and protect the First Amendment rights of any group or individual, regardless of the content of their message," Trend said in the statement. "We do not, however, condone threats of violence and/or property destruction against the city of Euclid, its elected officials or its public safety forces. Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed Monday evening and the protesters left peacefully."

Black Lives Matter Cleveland posted videos of the rally on its Facebook page, and criticized the police department for having officers in tactical gear rather than engaging with the demonstrators.

Black Lives Matter Cleveland members did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Trend's statement.

Demonstrators attended the meeting to protest the March 13 shooting death of Luke O. Stewart. Officer Matthew Rhodes shot Stewart while officers were investigating a report of a suspicious vehicle.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is still reviewing the fatal shooting. Trend said in his statement that the union is confident Rhodes' use of force was justified.

The demonstrators were also protesting the Aug. 12 arrest of Richard Hubbard III during a traffic stop on East 228th Street. Dashboard camera video showed an officer slamming Hubbard to the ground, grabbing his neck and punching his head during the arrest.

Officer Michael Amiott was suspended 15 days without pay - the maximum allowable under the department's rules -- for violating rules and regulations in the incident. Chief Scott Meyer will also ask Mayor Kirsten Gail to review the suspension to determine whether it can be extended, he said in a statement.

If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Wednesday's crime and courts comments section.
EUCLID, Ohio - A Cleveland man said he feared for his life when a Euclid police officer forced him to the ground and hit him during a violent arrest caught on video.

Richard Hubbard III, 25, pushed back Thursday on the contention that he resisted arrest during a Aug. 12 traffic stop in Euclid. Video that went viral showed a police officer slamming him to the ground, grabbing his neck and punching his head during the arrest.

The officer of the video, Michael Amiott, was placed on 15-day suspension without pay this week as Cuyahoga County prosecutors examine Hubbard's arrest and at least two other incidents where Amiott was accused of using violence against suspects. Euclid Mayor Kristen Gail will review Amiott's suspension to determine if it can be extended, and Amiott will complete additional training and be placed on restricted duty when he returns to work, police said.

Hubbard's attorney filed a motion to dismiss the criminal charges against Hubbard and his girlfriend Yolimar Tirado on Wednesday afternoon, but Judge Deborah A. LeBarron declined to rule on it because the city prosecutor's office has not yet submitted a response.

"Afraid for my life," Hubbard said during a news conference after the arraignment at Euclid City Hall. "Afraid isn't even the word. If I could pick another word, I would."

A Euclid police spokesman declined to respond to Hubbard's comments.

Defense attorney Christopher McNeal contended that Hubbard's arrest is part of a pattern of misconduct by Euclid's police officers. McNeal noted that the police department has been criticized this year for the March 13 shooting death of Luke O. Stewart, the violent arrest of a teenage girl and a struggle with a recreation department worker.

"We must demand accountability if things are ever going to change," McNeal said.

Amiott was accused of using excessive force at least two other times this year, although no formal complaints were filed, a police spokesman said. Federal authorities are monitoring an investigation related to him, officials said Wednesday evening.

Officer Matthew Rhodes, who shot and killed Stewart while investigating a report of a suspicious vehicle, was placed on desk duty as the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation reviews the shooting, McNeal said.

Hubbard said he believed he was following officers' instructions during the incident that ended in his arrest. He stepped out of his car and turned around when officers asked him to, but moments later an officer grabbed him, he said.

"It all happened so fast. It was a blur," he said. "But I know I never touched the officer."

Hubbard said he tried to roll over when an officer told him to, but he was pinned to the ground.

"The only thing I could do was hold my hands up to deflect the punches," Hubbard said.

Euclid Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #18 President Dave Trend said in a statement last week that the union stands by Amiott, and asked the public not to rush to judgment after seeing the video.

Tirado was also taken into custody and charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct in the incident. Tirado can be heard shouting in the viral video.

"I thought they were going to kill him in front of me," she said during the news conference. "I wasn't sure what was coming out of my mouth. All I knew is that I was begging them to stop."

LaShaunda Malone, who recorded the arrest and posted the video online, said she heard officers laughing after they put Hubbard in a patrol car.

"It was disgusting to me," she said. "They felt like they did good, and they didn't."

McNeal plans to file a civil lawsuit over Hubbard's arrest after the criminal case concludes, he said.

If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Thursday's crime and courts comments section.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, thanks to his long-standing connections and overflowing campaign war chest, has assembled a team of consultants with experience in politics, polling, organizing and corporate communications to help run his re-election campaign.

His opponents, who altogether have reported raking in a fraction of Jackson's campaign haul, are struggling to keep up.

Here's a look at who's working behind the scenes on this year's mayor's race . This article only includes paid staff serving in clearly defined roles, as disclosed by the candidates in their most recent campaign finance filings.

Frank Jackson

Wayne Clarke

Wayne Clarke, a Maryland political consultant, has been paid $20,000 since he was hired in June to run Jackson's campaign.

Jackson's decision to hire his first out-of-state campaign manager has raised eyebrows among local political observers. For example, Jackson's 2013 campaign was run by Blaine Griffin, a longtime Jackson aide and Cleveland native who now is busy running his own election after being appointed recently to City Council.

Clarke is well-known in Maryland's Prince George's County, and has worked on local and state races there for Republican and Democratic candidates. His work promoting county black voter outreach for the 2002 and 2006 campaigns for Republican Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. caused a stir -- a 2006 Washington Post report details how on Election Day, campaign workers working for Ehrlich distributed thousands of misleading fliers labeled "Democratic sample ballot," with Ehrlich and his running mate's names and pictures appearing at the top.

More recently, Clarke has worked with Democratic Maryland State Sen. Anthony Muse, who finished a distant second in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary in 2012, and now is running for Prince George's county executive position.

Bill Burges

The Jackson campaign reported paying Burges & Burges, a Cleveland political consulting firm, a total of $16,000 in April and May. Firm President Bill Burges often works on campaigns for local tax issues -- he was the general consultant for the successful 2012 campaign to pass the 15-mill property tax levy to pay for the "Cleveland Plan" school reforms. But he's worked on a number of mayoral and congressional campaigns too.

Kenn Dowell

The Jackson campaign reported paying Strategic Resources Consulting, a Cleveland firm, $15,600.

The firm's owner and CEO is Kenn Dowell, a political organizer who previously worked as U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge's political director, and also consulted for former Gov. Ted Strickland, former County Executive Ed FitzGerald and current County Executive Armond Budish. He also helped Democratic President Barack Obama's campaign with local grassroots organizing. According to his LinkedIn profile, he is a minority outreach consultant for the American Petroleum Institute, a natural-gas and oil trade group.

Joe Mosbrook

The Jackson campaign reporting paying Acclaim Communications, a Cleveland public-relations firm, $30,395 over the first half of the year for communications consulting.

Joe Mosbrook, the firm's managing partner, serves as the primary media spokesman for the Jackson campaign and has overseen the campaign's communications strategy. Rather than political campaign work, Mosbrook generally has done communications consulting for businesses, public agencies and non-profits. Acclaim's major clients have included Cleveland State University, FirstEnergy Corp. and Lincoln Electric. Pete Baka, a firm partner, also has been working on communications for the mayor's campaign.

Jonathan Zogby

The Jackson campaign reported paying Zogby Analytics $19,400 for internal polling during the first half of the year. The firm released a public poll earlier this month that found Jackson has a commanding lead in the race, despite a plurality of voters saying they felt they it was time for someone new to lead the city.

CEO Jonathan Zogby in an email acknowledged getting paid by the Jackson campaign for polling earlier this year, but said he did the latest poll on his own accord. Otherwise, Zogby most recently has conducted polling involving national politics and President Donald Trump.

"It's an interesting race and we wanted to track it and see how things are shaping up," Zogby said.

Zack Reed

Angela Shute Woodson

Reed has paid Woodson, a longtime local political activist and grassroots organizer, about $19,500 for focus groups, consulting and other campaign work since the beginning of the year. She previously has done outreach and consulting work for Global Cleveland, the state government and Cuyahoga County, although she has never held a prominent, forward-facing role with a local campaign. She made news in late 2013 when and eight other women were cited for blocking an intersection Downtown as part of a protest in support of immigration reform.

Jeff Johnson

Marcia McGee

McGee has been paid $7,000 to be Johnson's campaign director. She is a longtime local political operative whose resume includes two stints as Jackson's West Side campaign manager in 2005 and 2009. She also has worked in the past for Cuyahoga County Councilman Dan Brady, including managing his successful 2002 campaign for state senate.

More recently, she has consulted for East Side State Reps. Bill Patmon and John Barnes Jr., and for Cleveland Councilwoman Dona Brady, who is married to Dan Brady.

Two young veterans of last year's Hillary Clinton presidential campaign -- Khalid Sarsour and Nneka Maceoa, also are working for Johnson, getting paid $2,000 a month. Johnson also has paid Sheryl Losser, of Chicago, $5,000 and $1,000 to Danielle Sydnor, a Cleveland financial consultant.

Brandon Chrostowski

Chrostowski has turned to people connected to Edwins, the East Side nonprofit restaurant from which he is taking a leave of absence to run for mayor, to staff his campaign. His staff includes Campaign Manager Dee Drain, who completed a job training program at Edwins, and Communications Director Rebecca Charles, who has served on the Edwins restaurant staff. Chrostowski had paid Drain $3,400 a month, and since June, has paid Charles $1,600 a month.

Robert Kilo

Kilo, a former state director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and long-shot Republican candidate, has some prominent help with his campaign, given his ties with the local GOP.

He paid $1,000 for consulting to Lisa Mertel, a recently departed interim executive director of the Cuyahoga County Republican Party who now is serving as his finance director.

His campaign finance report also shows he paid for consulting from a pair of firms tied to the Republican National Committee. He paid $5,000 to Causeway Solutions for voter data -- the firm's senior vice president is Chris McNulty, a Cleveland-area native who previously worked as the political director for the RNC. McNulty served in the same role for last year's Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

Kilo also paid $1,000 to K2 and Company, a Minnesota firm co-founded last year by Kirsten Kukowski, a former Republican National Committee communications director who, like McNulty, served in the same role for last year's GOP convention.

He also reported paying $500 to Aiysha Ellis, of Cleveland.
EUCLID, Ohio - Cuyahoga County prosecutors spoke to federal authorities amid an investigation into use-of-force incidents involving a Euclid police officer caught on video conducting a violent arrest, officials said.

Officer Michael Amiott, who is currently serving a 15-day unpaid suspension related to the Aug. 12 arrest of Richard Hubbard III, has also been accused of using excessive force at least two other times this year, according to WKYC-Channel 3.

Neither of those two incidents were referenced in a personnel files released last week by the Euclid Police Department. The department's spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O'Malley said Wednesday that his office has discussed "issues involving this officer" with the U.S. Attorney's Office. An investigation is ongoing, he said in a statement.

The FBI is monitoring the investigation into the traffic stop, agency spokeswoman Vicki Anderson said. Such reviews are standard and do not necessarily mean criminal charges will be filed, Anderson said.

"We are aware of the incident in Euclid, Ohio and are in regular contact with local authorities," Anderson said in a statement. "If in the course of the local investigation, information comes to light of a potential federal civil rights violation, the FBI is prepared to investigate."

Christopher McNeal, Hubbard's attorney, said Wednesday night that he commended state and federal authorities as they looked into Amiott and the allegations against him.

Amiott forced a 16-year-old girl to the ground and handcuffed her during an April 13 incident at the Euclid Public Library, according to a police report. Amiott wrote in an incident report that he and another officer handcuffed the girl because she was acting disorderly and violating library rules.

No complaints were filed against Amiott in that incident, a police spokesman said.

A Euclid Recreation Department worker also accused Amiott of injuring him during a July 31 incident outside the library, WKYC-Channel 3 reported last week.

The recreation department worker could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening.

Euclid Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #18 President Dave Trend declined to comment Wednesday evening. Trend said in an email that he is out of town and has not seen any reports on the investigation.

Trend said last week that the union stands by Amiott.

"We hope that people will not rush to judgment, but rather will understand the literally-split-second decision and response required of our police and will let the administrative review process play out," he wrote in the statement.

Amiott's conduct as a police officer led to a tense exchange during a Monday city council meeting between police and protesters that ended without incident. Police, however, donned tactical riot gear and lined the hallways of city hall.

Euclid police Chief Scott Meyer has remained mostly mum about Amiott's conduct since the incident involving Hubbard. He released a brief statement four days after the incident.

Mentor Police Department records also revealed that Amiott was forced to resign there after his superior officers learned that he conducted a traffic stop Feb. 22, 2014 without probable cause.

Amiott is not the only Euclid police officer whose conduct has come into question in recent months. The Ohio Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation is reviewing the March 13 shooting death of Luke O. Stewart. Officer Matthew Rhodes shot Stewart while officers were investigating a report of a suspicious vehicle.

Cleveland.com reporters Eric Heisig and Cory Shaffer contributed to this story.

If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Wednesday's crime and courts comments section.
GRAND FORKS  The North Dakota-owned flour mill in Grand Forks saw slightly better profits than last year, and those numbers should continue to improve thanks to a $38.8 million expansion and hard work from its staff, the states lead agricultural regulator said Wednesday.

The State Mill reported a profit of $9.7 million for the last budget year that ended in June, slightly up from $9.3 million during its 2016 fiscal year.

Its a positive change but still far behind the record of $16.7 million set in Fiscal Year 2015.

Operating costs were just under $32 million, or a $4.9 million increase from last year, according to the report. Sales saw a 5.2 percent drop from 2016.

Total shipments surpassed 14.3 million hundredweight, breaking last years record of 12.99 million hundredweight, the report stated. Spring wheat made up 91.2 percent of the shipments, slightly down from last year.

The report comes on the tail of a $38.8 million expansion that wrapped up last fall. The North Dakota Industrial Commission approved the project that increased the milling capacity by 30 percent, making it the largest wheat flour mill in the country. That allows the mill to process an additional 7.5 million bushels of spring wheat each year, General Manager Vance Taylor previously said in an interview with Forum News Service.

Workers at the mill have done a good job at producing and shipping flour, North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring said. He credited them for the increase in profits and said the expansion should help mill production.

Hopefully with the shipments and extra production, we should be able to get a lot of flour out, he said. I anticipate things should look better going into the future.

The last time the mills financial report was in the red was during fiscal year 2009, when it reported a loss of $9.7 million.
A federal judge has extended an order allowing oil drilling near the Van Hook arm of Lake Sakakawea through at least Oct. 31.

U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Hovland, who last week ruled Slawson Exploration could continue drilling until a hearing scheduled for Aug. 29, has since canceled that hearing.

The federal government agreed to the extension and requested the court case before Hovland be put on hold while an administrative appeal within the Department of Interior continues.

Earlier this month, the Interior Board of Land Appeals halted drilling at the site near New Town while the board considers an appeal from the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation.

The wells are within the Fort Berthold Reservation, and the tribe argues the wells should be farther away from Lake Sakakawea as per tribal policy. Slawson argues the tribal policies dont apply because the wells are on private land and the company is developing non-Indian oil and gas minerals underneath Lake Sakakawea.

Slawson filed suit in U.S. District Court to challenge the order from the Interior Board of Land Appeals, a review board within the Department of Interior.

Hovland ruled in the companys favor last week, allowing drilling to resume at least temporarily.

The federal government filed a motion consenting to extend the order through Oct. 31.

Slawson is drilling multiple wells from a single pad near the Van Hook recreation area and boat ramp.
MINOT -- Bradley Joe Morales, 27, has now been charged with murder after his ex-girlfriend died from her stabbing injuries.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed with the court, Morales stabbed Sharmaine Leake, 25, in the neck on Aug. 16 following a domestic dispute.

Morales had initially been charged with attempted murder for the assault. According to the affidavit, Leake never regained consciousness after the attack. Doctors reported on Aug. 18 that she had no brain activity and she was declared dead on Tuesday.

Leake has been referred to in court documents in various cases as the ex-girlfriend of Morales or as the mother of his children. According to the probable cause affidavit filed in the case, Morales told police last week he had gone to talk with Leake on Aug. 16 because he suspected her of cheating on him. The verbal fight turned into a physical confrontation when another man called Leake's cell phone. Morales told police he answered the woman's phone, told the man he was "beating her a-" and also threatened the man.

Morales told police he then went to the kitchen to grab a knife in case the other man showed up. He took the knife and went out to his truck to get his shoes when Leake came down the stairs "yelling and screaming" at him. Morales then went back into the residence and started another physical fight with the woman in the kitchen. He pushed and shoved her a few times, then extended his arm out with the knife and stabbed the woman in the neck. Morales told police he watched the woman as she "ran around the house bleeding" and then dropped the knife and tried to go after her to help her. Leake ran away from him because she was afraid. She ran out of the residence and collapsed on the front lawn. Morales pressed a kitchen towel against the knife wound and called 911.

Police performed CPR on the woman and she was taken to the hospital for treatment. She never regained consciousness and police were never able to talk to Leake to get her side of the story.

Three children, two girls born in 2010 and 2011 and a boy born in 2015, were listed on the bail order last week for Morales as potential witnesses in the case. Morales is being held on $1 million bond at the Ward County Jail. He has been ordered to have no contact with the children.

Morales had been convicted of simple assault-domestic violence after assaulting Leake on other occasions in 2013 and 2015. Morales also has a pending burglary charge dating back to last February for allegedly kicking in a door at a woman's southeast Minot residence and failing to leave when she asked him to.

Earlier this summer, on June 25, Leake called police to report he slashed her tires and destroyed all of her clothing by pouring bleach on them and running over them with a car, according to an affidavit in that case. Morales agreed to leave after the incident, but he allegedly returned two hours later and kicked in the door. No charges were apparently filed against Morales for that incident but Leake had been charged with misdemeanor criminal mischief for allegedly retaliating by pouring bleach over Morales' clothing and leaving them in the driveway. She had locked herself in the garage and called police because she was afraid he would hurt her. Leake never made an appearance on the misdemeanor criminal mischief charge.

In June, Leake told police that Morales didn't live with her but often came over to her southeast Minot residence to shower and to watch their children. He kept some possessions at her residence. She had asked police about the possibility of getting a restraining order against Morales. It isn't clear whether a restraining order was in effect at the time of the incident on Aug. 16.

Morales was also charged with possession of ecstasy, a Class C felony.
Judge Tosses Out Texas Voter ID Law - Again

A federal judge ripped Texas lawmakers and by extension the Trump administration on Wednesday for continued efforts to stop millions of Texans from voting.

U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos said adjustments by the Texas legislature to the states voter identification law did not alter her earlier finding that the law discriminates against minorities. She ordered state officials to stop implementing the law to prevent ongoing violations of federal law and the recurrence of illegal behavior.

The ruling was the fifth by a federal court against the voter ID law, which Texas has been fighting to implement since 2011. The states Republican leadership also is defending the legislatures adjustments to the boundaries of Texas congressional districts against charges that the lines were drawn to discriminate against minority voters and candidates.

Texas goes through the courts like a revolving door, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-TX, complained this morning during an appearance on MSNBC.

Wednesdays ruling came over the objections of the Justice Department, which under President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions has reversed its longstanding opposition to the Texas voter ID law.

The law is widely considered the most restrictive in the nation, requiring voters to provide one of several forms of identification to cast a ballot. Critics of the law, including Common Cause, charge that lawmakers chose IDs that are less likely to be available to students and minority voters, who generally favor Democratic candidates.

Approved IDs under the law include permits to carry a concealed firearm; student IDs, including those issued by the University of Texas and other state-supported colleges, are not acceptable.

Until the Supreme Courts 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder, Texas and other southern states  plus a substantial number of local governments across the nation  were required by the federal Voting Rights Act to obtain Justice Department approval before changing their voting laws or regulations. The high court said Congress could re-impose the preclearance requirement by adjusting a formula in the law to accurately reflect the recent history of voting rights enforcement in covered states and localities.

The Voting Rights Amendment Act, introduced with bipartisan support in several Congresses since the Shelby County ruling, would set out new criteria for preclearance. It has stalled in House and Senate committees, whose GOP chairmen have refused to hold hearings or bring it to a vote.

Judge Ramos has authority to re-impose the preclearance requirement in Texas, based on the states continuing efforts to restrict voting; she has ordered lawyers for the state and voter ID opponents to prepare briefs on whether she should conduct hearings on the issue, the Dallas Morning News reported.

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Google this week added features and functionality to a $50 subscription plan, renamed Chrome Enterprise, to position its lightweight Chrome OS as credible competition for rival Microsoft and Windows in the workplace.

Chrome Enterprise adds several new tools to a Chrome OS management subscription that originated in 2014 as Chromebooks for Work. Like its predecessor, Chrome Enterprise caters to companies wanting a modicum of control over Chrome OS devices, including notebooks, desktops and dedicated kiosks, whether assigned to employees or tolerated under BYOD policies.

The new subscription plan, however, expands on Chromebooks for Work's basic management capabilities with two important additions. First, Chrome OS has been tied to Microsoft Active Directory, the de facto authentication standard in business. Second, Google has kicked off integration with top-tier EMM (enterprise mobility management) platforms, in one initial instance, VMware's Workspace ONE.

Other enhancements to Chrome Enterprise will likely rank lower on IT's tick-box list. They include Google Play management (albeit in beta form at the outset) and printer management. The subscription -- which licenses on a per-device basis, not per-user, the model Microsoft has adopted for its Windows subs -- also provides round-the-clock support, and managed updates and upgrades.

Chrome OS, and the Chromebooks it powers, have been a hit in education, particularly in the U.S., where the inexpensive hardware has more than a foothold and Google's simplified administration closed the deal. On the surface, Chrome Enterprise is an acknowledgement of Google's similar ambitions in the workplace.

"The same value proposition around low total-cost-of-ownership and increased productivity is catching on in business," asserted Rajen Sheth, a senior director of product management, in a webinar Google hosted this week on Chrome Enterprise.

Maybe, countered Linn Huang, an IDC research directorc.

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"This is future-proofing by Google," said Huang in an interview. "It's a down-the-line view."

Huang said IDC's regular tracking of device shipments showed those Chromebooks that have infiltrated enterprises have landed in very specific functions. "We're starting to see some early traction in non-educational verticals," Huang said, naming examples like retailing, warehousing and financial services.

Although some Chromebook/Chrome OS corporate deployments have been impressively large -- Huang declined to name the companies, however -- it's simply wrong to assume that they're replacing traditional (read Windows-powered) personal computers.

"The wrong way to think of Chromebooks [in the enterprise] is as replacements for end-user PCs," Huang said. "They're very much in specific verticals, but not as displacements."

Chromebooks are being used as point-of-sale systems, in kiosks, in warehouses, in locations where thin clients - the purpose-built devices intended solely to connect with a remote server - have typically been placed.

Not surprisingly, Chromebooks are gaining popularity in scenarios where several people share a single device - multiple clerks using the same point-of-sale Chromebook in a shop, say - just as they have won hearts and minds in education, where numerous students log onto a single device daily. Google has structured its licensing for Chrome Enterprise to account for this, requiring companies pay a fee per device, not per user.

Chrome Enterprise is less about today, then, than about tomorrow. Or the day after that.

"Not integrating into the existing enterprise infrastructure, meaning Windows, was a deal killer if Google was to continue to penetrate the enterprise space," said Huang. "Now, when the time comes [for Chrome OS] to break down the enterprise wall, all their ducks will be in order."
Its hard to find a silver lining when it comes to North Dakotas drought. One of the positives has been the public and private assistance the states farmers and ranchers have been receiving. These may be hard times, but North Dakotans havent been left to deal with it by themselves.

Hay is a prime example of the help the state has been getting. The drought has reduced this years hay crop, with many producers being forced to sell livestock because their pastures dried up and they didnt want to use their diminished hay supplies during the summer. The desperate need for hay didnt go unnoticed.

The government has stepped in, making Conservation Reserve Program acres available for haying. Just this week the state announced it will borrow $1.5 million from the Bank of North Dakota to help producers pay for hauling hay. The program will reimburse part of the transportation costs and help "producers with defraying some of those costs to help sustain their operation into the next year," according to Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring. Applications will be accepted from Sept. 5 to Nov. 3 online at www.nd.gov/ndda.

The state ag department also asked for hay donations and for truckers to volunteer to haul it. There are so many requests for hay the department established a lottery to select who gets the hay. Each producer selected in the "Hay Lottery" will get a semi-load of hay on Sept. 1.

Wisconsin declared a 30-day "state of emergency" for hauling loads of forage to North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana. The declaration relaxes certain commercial driving restrictions and fees to make it easier to transport hay and other forage.

One of the more amazing drought stories has been the help from the East Coast. A Forum News Service story Monday told about efforts in Maryland and Pennsylvania to donate and haul hay to North Dakota. Some Maryland residents made a four-day trip to North Dakota with 25 tons of hay. The Patriot Pulling Team of competitive tractor pullers has helped connect volunteer truckers to those donating hay on the East Coast.

"We felt it was a way we could give back. God has blessed us in our businesses and put us in positions where we could do something to help someone in need," Jeff King of Maryland said in explaining his trip to North Dakota.

Not only did Kings trip provide needed hay, it had to be a morale booster for North Dakotans. Knowing strangers would go to so much trouble to help has to bring warm feelings.

The hay means survival for many farmers and ranchers. They may have reduced their herds, but they still need the feed for remaining livestock during the winter. The willingness of others across the nation to donate hay, time and money to help those battling a drought wont be forgotten. There will come a time when North Dakotans can return the favor.

Farmers and ranchers can endure the drought with the aid of private citizens and the government. Its definitely a silver lining to know others care and will help.
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Parker not only survives the match but also wins it. It looks like he just made an easy 3,000 bucks, but the sleazy promotor only gives him a hundred, arguing that Parker didn't earn the money because the fight only lasted two minutes. The promoter is then immediately robbed, and Parker lets the thief escape in retaliation. But that same thief soon kills Uncle Ben, Spider-Man 3 is eventually made, and all of life is revealed to be a cruel puzzle with no solution.

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But let's back up. Why did the promotor stiff Parker in the first place? Yeah, he only lasted two minutes (heh), but he just beat up a professional wrestler with inhuman strength, acrobatics, and freaking web slingers. The crowd went from cheering for his grisly death to loving him within moments. Fans would pay damn good money to see more of a mysterious masked man who can walk up walls, jump unnatural heights, and kick serious ass. That's why we keep making Spider-Man movies, at any rate. Why on Earth wouldn't the manager sign him up on the spot, and make Parker the guy who annihilates mooks answering the newspaper ad?

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But no, Uncle Ben Must Die, so the promotor prioritizes being a jerk to Parker over doing his job and getting rich. Maybe when the Spider-Man franchise is inevitably rebooted again in a few years this plot point can be addressed.

Molly is an avid reader and writer with all sorts of millennial dreams. Is also willing to write for food. Joel B. Kirk is a San Francisco Bay Area resident. He plans to produce and act in his own films for the masses, as well as write for television someday.

For more things that make no sense in films, check out 7 Movies That Made You Ignore That Their Plots Make No Sense and 5 Dumb Things Movie Characters Do Only to Advance the Plot.

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The violent reaction to President Trumps Phoenix rally and the ongoing fallout over Charlottesville show the issue of the Alt-Right, and its Antifa antagonists, is going nowhere. Americans struggle to understand what kind of conservatism the Alt-Right represents, as well as the nature of the protesters.

A prominent European commentator has noted that both movements have attempted to infiltrate broader and more popular movements  against racism or in favor of free speech, respectively  in order to camouflage their extremist agendas and appeal to the broadest possible audience.

Both have their origins in identity politics, which expresses itself in philosophical and economic collectivism. And both have a ready recourse to violence.

Daniel Hannan, a Member of European Parliament (MEP) for South East England and proprietor of The Conservative, wrote in the International Business Times this week:

The anarchists dont present themselves as opponents of American democracy, but as enemies of fascism, hence the name they go by: antifa. Its an odd name for people who want to ban books, tear down cultural monuments they dislike and categorise everyone by race, but there we are.

The two groups have much in common, both in their tactics and in their genesis in identity politics:

Eventually, identity politics were bound to infect some angry white people, too.  It works both ways. The alt-right are able to pose as defenders of freedom against a movement that wants to shut down all dissent. The ctrl-left claim to stand for the pluralism of the Republic  In fact, both sides are illiberal, anti-democratic and thus, in the truest sense, anti-American.

Hannan has made a similar assessment of the UKs own minuscule fascist movement, the British National Party. He denounced the far-Left cocktail of protectionism, and nationalization, and republicanism, and the other parts of the BNP agenda.

Since the UK has a civic rather than an ethnic conception of nationhood, he said, when we discuss the BNP, we are talking about a party here that is fundamentally anti-British.

Both the fascist Right and collectivist Left oppose the classical Western consensus of society. Culture grew organically from the choices of the individual, the family unit, and social and community organizations  not the least of which was the Church. The government protected the inalienable rights of its citizens and accrued only such money and power as may be necessary to protect them from foreign invasion or domestic tumult. Otherwise, it enshrined the freedom of religion, respected conscience, and encouraged the free spread of commerce by viewing the right to own private property, in John Adams phrase, as sacred as the law of God.

Both fascists and socialists see the individual as hopelessly captive to impersonal forces, whether economic circumstance or blood. Both subordinate individual rights, and the human person himself, to the mechanisms of the State which alone can bring the collective to its destiny. Both fascism and socialism require wealth confiscation and redistribution as a means of coercion, punishment and, above all, control. Without private property, or other means of self-defense, the citizenry is at the mercy of its rulers. Once the State has claimed economic power over its citizens, it may impose socialism, or fascism, or any other twisted ideology that inspires its leaders.

The classical economist Friedrich von Hayek understood this process, writing that the rise of fascism and naziism was not a reaction against the socialist trends of the preceding period but a necessary outcome of those tendencies.

His description of the clash between Nazis and Communists in the interwar period seems to presage Charlottesville:

The conflict between the Fascist or National Socialist and the older socialist parties must, indeed, very largely be regarded as the kind of conflict which is bound to arise between rival socialist factions. There was no difference between them about the question of its being the will of the state which should assign to each person his proper place in society.

For now, Hannan writes, the Alt-Right and Antifa Left will continue to bedevil one another, snarl traffic, and occasionally injure policemen and innocent bystanders. Thus, transatlantic observers must have a clear-eyed assessment of their true motives and aspirations, not just their professed stances.

The answer is a reassertion of Western, classical liberal values, which rebuke both extremist ideologies (and their methods). Facing the juggernaut of the Alt-Right and the antifa Left, Hannan writes, American democracy could do with a ctrl-alt-del.

(Photo credit: Mark Dixon. This photo has been cropped. CC 2.0.)
Internet of things News

Data Scientists Are 'Invaluable' In IoT, But Channel Partners Struggle To Find The Right Ones

Lindsey O'Donnell

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Channel partners are facing a major hurdle when building their Internet of Things businesses. The data scientists who can help understand, interpret and gain insights from the copious amounts of information being collected from IoT devices are in short supply.

As the number of IoT devices continues to grow, the number of data science and analytics job listings is projected to shoot up beyond 490,000 by 2018, but there will be fewer than 200,00 available data scientists to fill these positions, according to a recent McKinsey study. Solution providers tell CRN that they are facing an even bigger scarcity of data scientists specializing in IoT because they require a rare combination of business skills to go along with the requisite knowledge of data collection and analysis and software engineering.

"What we are finding is that todays data scientists are so vertical-focused, that they struggle when moving into any new focus area," said Brian Blanchard, vice president of cloud solutions at 10th Magnitude, a Chicago-based solution provider.

[Related: CRN Exclusive: Microsoft Refocuses LINC Program To Push IoT Matchmaking For Partners]

Solution providers say data scientists play a big role in designing and implementing IoT solutions, by breaking down and organizing new data streams from different sources, helping customers find the value in that data, and forming deep learning algorithms as part of pre-processing for IoT.

Blanchard said that there are a few criteria that solution providers consider when determining if they need a data scientist. For instance, a data scientist is important in a situation where the accuracy of the prediction is important, like scanning the behavior of train operators to predict when a life threatening event may occur.

Data scientists are also "invaluable" for situations where the extensive data cleansing or mastering is needed, if predictions are being run across multiple customer data sources with multiple data permutations.

However, IoT data also comes with its own set of challenges that will put data scientists' quantitative and creativity skills to the test. First, much of the data is unstructured, so it can't be easily grouped into relational database management systems. Also, businesses will need more platforms (like Cloudera and Hadoop) to aggregate and process the data and, finally, companies need the right type of software stack to analyze the data.

On top of these challenges, data scientists need to start from scratch in building predictions and insights around IoT data  which can take a longer amount of time than many business proof-of-concept projects can afford, said Blanchard.

"Many data scientists are building great predictions and insights by layering generations of algorithms on top of one another. When you take those layers of building materials away from the average data scientist, it takes time to rebuild and start producing great outputs again," he said. "Sadly most organizations aren't willing to wait that long and abandon the project before the data scientist can start producing value."

Another issue is that when it comes to building up their Internet of Things practices, channel partners said they are looking for a very specialized skillset that contains both technical and subject matter expertise, which many data scientists lack.

"Even finding available data scientists is tough  and most of those are used to simply working as individual contributors, rather than being entrepreneurial," Reed Wiedower, chief technology officer at New Signature, a solution provider based in Washington, D.C., said. "Were really just looking for folks who can live in two worlds  half data scientist, half business evangelist. "

New Signature helped The Hershey Company save hundreds of thousands of dollars, decrease waste and create a leaner operation through connecting its infrastructure so that popular candy  like licorice  could be tracked digitally for weight and other factors along every stage of the production and packaging processes.

New Signature said that it had to approach the solution from a data analytics standpoint, using data scientists to build an algorithm for a predictive model to look at all the factors of the factory floor together.

However, the data scientists' role in this solution was to be both a data architect but also a "business evangelist" who could understand what problems the customer needed to solve.

"Once an organization realizes that their thorny business challenge can be solved with IoT, it becomes much easier to make them a repeat customer, but that act of breaking in requires technical knowledge, business development chops, and certain entrepreneurial focus. So those are those sorts of individuals were looking for on the team," said Wiedower.

Solution providers have been working around the scarcity of data scientists by using tools like Azure Machine Learning. Such platforms can take in data on existing conditions, ingest large amounts of unstructured data from IoT devices and come up with initial predictions, which can be refined over time.

These tools are necessary for IoT applications where customers "can afford a bit of error," said Blanchard. One example of that might be scanning social media to help movie theaters predict which movie might need an extra theater room. However, Blanchard cautions, machine learning tools don't serve the same higher-level role that a data scientist can ultimately provide.

Solution providers have some careful planning to do when it comes to their IoT data analysis needs. They could, as noted above, solely rely on cloud based machine learning platforms to help make business predictions that don't quite rise to the level of being mission critical or life threating.

But they can also hire dedicated data scientists, who may not be IT or IoT specialists, but can find adapt over time. "For projects that fall into the non-life threatening prediction scenarios, weve found ways to help data scientists fit the mold," Blanchard said.

He continued: "When the outcome of predictions are more impactful, weve seen difficulty getting data scientists to 'fit the mold' and drive results in line with the businesses needs to be agile. That type of project takes a special type of senior data scientist, which is much harder to find."
Mobility News

HP CEO Weisler: Best Product Line Ever Drives 'Incredible' 12 Percent PC Growth, HP On Track To Ship One Of Every Four PCs

Steven Burke

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HP CEO Dion Weisler says the best product line in the company's history "hands down" helped deliver an "incredible" 12 percent growth in the PC business in the most recent quarter with the company on track to ship one out of every four PCs in a $333 billion market.

"About one in five machines (currently) has got an HP logo on it, and it is very quickly becoming one in four, we are creeping up there," said Weisler (pictured) in a conference call with analysts after HP delivered another strong quarter of sales performance for both PCs and printers. "The top four players (HP, Lenovo, Dell, and Apple)  including us  in aggregate grew 1 percent and we grew a five point premium to that. The big are getting bigger, and we are growing much faster than the big four in total," said Weisler.

[Related: Head-To-Head: HP Spectre x360 Vs. Apple MacBook Pro]

In fact, Weisler said HP bested the overall PC market unit growth by "9.5 points" year-over-year in the second calendar quarter remaining the number one global PC market share leader with 22.8 percent share. "We saw year-over-year share gains in each region with Americas increasing share by nearly three points in both consumer and commercial," he said.

Weisler said the strong PC results  which included a return to growth for HP's desktop business  were a direct result of HP's PC innovation. He said the desktop sales growth was a testament to HP's "on-going reinvention" of the product line. "I think we have the best product line we have ever had," he said.

That said, Weisler stressed that share gains are "an outcome" rather than an objective in what he called a "stellar" performance by the Personal Systems team. "Profitable growth will continue to be our priority," he said, noting that personal systems operating profits, margins and sales grew sequentially despite "industry wide component" price increases.

For the third fiscal quarter ended July 31, HP reported personal systems sales of $8.40 billion compared with $7.51 billion in the year ago quarter. Commercial PC sales  including notebooks - were up 11 percent and consumer system sales were up 14 percent.

The strong results marked the third consecutive quarter of double-digit sales growth for the personal systems business even with price increases in the wake of a rise in components such as memory.

Overall HP reported non-GAAP diluted net earnings of 43 cents per share on a 10 percent increase in sales to $13.1 billion. The Wall Street consensus was earnings per share of 42 cents, on sales of $12.28 billion.

In an interview with CRN, Weisler said the strong results went far beyond PCs with strong execution on all fronts with HP working hand-in-hand with HP channel partners to drive sales growth. "I don't think there is a company out there doing more with and through the partners than us," he said. "It is the second consecutive quarter where both our core markets  printing and PCs  returned to growth."

Among the highlights of the quarter was the second straight quarter of printer sales growth helped in part by a "stabilizing" of the all important printer supplies business, one quarter earlier than expected. HP's supplies net revenue was up 10 percent in constant currency in the quarter.

Overall, printing sales were up 6 percent in the quarter to $4.69 billion compared with $4.42 billion in the year-ago quarter. That growth includes strong channel performance in managed print and the instant ink subscription program, said Weisler.

HP's A3 copier replacement portfolio is being well received in its first full quarter in the market, said Weisler. "These are the most secure printers in the world," he said. "The customer reception has been positive, and we are adding channel partners ahead of plan."

Harry Zarek, CEO of Compugen, one of HP's top enterprise partners, No. 63 on the CRN 2017 Solution Provider 500, said he sees the strong results reflected in Compugen's HP business which grew at a double digit clip in the most recent quarter.

Zarek said he sees HP succeeding as a result of its innovative, breakthrough products in both the PC and printing markets. "Customers are willing to buy premium brands," he said. "This is not about a low-cost commodity. Customers understand that in the battle for talent, they have to make their companies an attractive place that people want to work at. You can't say your most important asset is people and then give them old technology. These people are on all the time. They are online and working hard. You have got to empower them the right tools. HP has figured this thing out. They have developed and designed products that are very appealing."

Zarek said he expects Compugen's HP business to be up double digits for the year. "We expect our HP sales to continue to strengthen through the remainder of the year," he said."The whole market is responding very positively to HP which is great news."

Weisler, for his part, said the company's "incredible products and innovation" are driving the strong results. "Innovation is what so exciting," he told CRN. "When we can innovate, and our customers value our innovation, and they order our products, and we get 10 percent growth year-over-year that is the best reward our entire team can get."
Networking News

Spectrum Business Touts Cloud Services Opportunities For Channel Partners Following Huge Cable Acquisitions

Gina Narcisi

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Spectrum Business, the business telecom and networking services branch of Charter Communications, wants solution providers to know that it is devoted to supporting both its legacy and newly-acquired channel partners via its full portfolio of solutions and dedicated resources.

Charter Spectrum is the combination of the two companies that Charter Communications acquired in 2016  Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks. The two mega deals shot Charter from the fourth largest cable provider in the U.S. into the number two spot, right behind Philadelphia-based rival Comcast. The already-sizable partner program multiplied along with the cable giant's business services sales.

"As a strong number two cable provider, we need a support structure that lets us support all our partners nationwide," Todd Norris, senior marketing manager of alternate channels for Spectrum Business, told CRN.

[Related: Avant, Navisite Clear The Way For Partner Cloud Sales With New Microsoft Office 365 Opportunity]

Since the completion of the mergers, Spectrum has been working on streamlining pricing on its coax-based internet services for small and midsized business customers, Norris said. The provider recently released Spectrum Business Pricing and Packaging, a nationwide standard for service levels and pricing for coax services that are also available through channel partners.

Spectrum offers a swath of resources and tools for its channel partner community, including its partner portal, Partner Link, and a co-branded site that partners can use to brand materials with their own information for customers. The provider offers training through its sales operations and marketing teams that are dedicated to partners. Spectrum also has a robust team of regional and national channel managers, Norris said.

Spectrum's acquisition of Time Warner Cable brought Navisite into the fold. The Andover, Mass.-based service provider that Time Warner Cable bought in 2011 offers a wide variety of managed, cloud-based, Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) solutions and that portfolio gives legacy Charter partners access to a new portfolio of services that they didn't have access to before, Norris said.

"We want to make sure our partners understand that we have the full bundle, and they can offer a more total solution that customers want without going to a different partner," he said.

The face of the channel partner is changing as more traditional VARs take a look at selling connectivity. This trend, Norris said, has been helped along by IT distributor ScanSource acquiring master agent Intelisys last year.

"Partners are trying new things, and we want to make sure we are on the same playing field with them but finding out what partners need in term of selling solutions," he said.

As such, Spectrum is in the process of re-evaluating its master agent relationships, as each separate company had their own, direct contracts with these providers. Norris said that Charter has "downsized" the list to include larger masters or those unique to Spectrum's market areas. These master agents will be driving more relationships with sub-agent partners, he said.

By partnering with master agents, Spectrum can streamline its partner focus while making doing business with Spectrum easier for the sub-agent partner base, Norris added.

Charter's legacy partner program had many similarities to the Time Warner Cable and Bright House partner contracts, and Spectrum is putting the finishing touches on its new partner agreement. However, existing Spectrum partners shouldn't expect any significant changes on the horizon in terms of their contracts, Norris said.

"We aren't trying to reinvent the wheel," Norris said. "We are taking what has worked for us in the past, and asking partners what we can do to enhance that."
Security News

CRN Exclusive: Fluency Launches First Partner Program As It Looks To Compete In Security Automation and Orchestration Market

Sarah Kuranda

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Fluency announced the launch of its first channel program as the security startup looks to stake a long term claim in the hotly competitive security automation, orchestration, and analytics market.

The new Fluency Channel Partner Program, announced Thursday, has two tiers: gold and silver. Partners will start at the gold level to gain the benefits the program offers around education, deal registrations, sales playbooks, and access to the company's subscription products.

Fluency, founded in 2013, looks to leverage all the data collected in security logs, bringing security analytics capabilities to bear to provide context and correlation behind events, run machine learning, and provide automation and orchestration. The company offers its service as a subscription.

[Related: Emerging Vendors 2017: Security Startups You Need To Know]

CEO Chris Jordan said in an interview with CRN that the new program is designed to "empower" partners around the technology. He said Fluency will do that through helping partners create sales playbooks, training sales people, and streamline the process for working with the security startup.

Jordan said Fluency started with a direct approach to seed the market but is now looking to put more emphasis behind its channel. He said he sees the channel as a key way for executing sales growth and supporting customers.

"We want to grow our channel and consider it a big part of our business  You have to have someone that adds value and can do integration when necessary. You still have that last mile, and if you ignore your channels, you're not doing your end customer a favor," Jordan said.

Terry Murray, president of San Antonio, Texas-based Prescriptive Data Solutions, said Fluency was one of the partners the solution provider brought on early on as it looks to focus on data solutions. While the company had been working with the vendor on a deal-by-deal basis in the past, he said the new partner program will likely help formalize the process.

"They've really built up the program," Murray said. "When we've talked with them and worked with them in the past, it wasn't very formal and that made it hard as an organization to go out and do things  For us, this allows us to have a much easier conversation."

Murray said he particularly looks forward to having more support materials as a partner, including training, sales enablement, and education. He said he expects the new partner program will also help raise awareness of the company's solution and its differentiation in the marketplace.

Fluency is looking to make a name for itself in the hotly competitive market for security orchestration and automation. The market has seen an influx of startups, such as Demisto and Phantom, which are already starting to gain a lot of attention, as well as consolidation, with recent acquisitions of Hexadite by Microsoft in 2017 and Invotas by FireEye in 2016.

Jordan said Fluency differentiates itself by filling the gaps around audit logs by going beyond security alerts to analyze data from many different data sources in real-time. He said the company's new channel push will also aid in its ability to compete, saying "when you get good channels, and that's the key, you get good referrals." He said he expects Fluency will also see a lot of growth through technology partnerships, including one with McAfee around DXL.

Jordan said the company will now look to stay focused on its core technology, adding capabilities for better system auditing and visibility into users and assets.

"It's so tempting as a smaller player to see an opportunity and say we will pivot on that opportunity," Jordan said. "We have to stay true to what we really think the value is. If you really believe in your product you really have to stick with what your product does."

Jordan said building channels will remain a "long-term project" for the company as it looks to move away from direct sales towards empowering the channel. He said that growth will focus on building support and sales mechanisms, including growing the number of sales engineerSs.
Jardines parrot or red-fronted parrot (Poicephalus gulielmi). Drawn from a specimen brought back from the Congo by Jardines son William, for whom it was named. Jardine, William. Contributions to Ornithology, Vol. 2. Edinburgh :W.H. Lizars, 1848-1853. Digitized by the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Library and Archives. http://s.si.edu/2xpPC9Z.

As was the case for many of his contemporaries, Sir William Jardine, 7th Baronet of Applegarth, was a man of many talents. Ichthyology, botany, entomology and geology were all subjects in which Sir William was thoroughly knowledgeable, but it was ornithology that was his true passion.

It was out of this passion that Jardine produced two original works on ornithology: Illustrations of Ornithology and the annual periodical Contributions to Ornithology. Just five volumes of Contributions were produced from 1848-1852; the Academy of Natural Sciences library copy is bound in three volumes. Contributions is not only the first ornithological periodical produced in Britain, but one of Jardines finest natural history worksand his last.

Two examples of the genus Todirostrum, drawn by Catherine Strickland. Jardine, William. Contributions to Ornithology, Vol. 5. Edinburgh :W.H. Lizars, 1848-1853. Digitized by the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Library and Archives. http://s.si.edu/2vVN8lQ.

Born in Edinburgh on the 23rd of February, 1800 to Sir Alexander Jardine, 6th Baronet of Applegarth, and Jane Maule, Sir William Jardine grew up in a world of relative wealth and privilege. Not only was he afforded a title, but he stood to inherit Jardine Hall, a stately home located on an estate of over 5,000 acres of land along the banks of the River Annan. At the age of 18, he began medical training at Edinburgh University. Although his intended path was that of a medical doctor, his friendship with the schools janitor and preserver of specimens for the university museum led him to his true calling of ornithology.

Upon his fathers death in 1821, Jardine not only inherited a title and an estate, but the necessary funds to purchase the ornithological specimens which would become the basis of his renowned collection, which would grow to over 12,000 skins. Despite his newfound obligations as Baronet, including overseeing over 900 parishioners and 11 farms, Jardine found ample time to produce several notable works on ornithology and other subjects.

The blue-bearded bee-eater (Nyctyornis athertoni). William Jardine and Prideaux John Selby. Illustrations of ornithology, Vol. 2. Dublin :Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, & Green, and S. Highley, [1826-1835]. Digitized by Smithsonian Libraries. http://s.si.edu/2wvltJV.

The first of these works, Illustrations of Ornithology, was a collaboration with fellow ornithologist Prideaux John Selby detailing non-British birds from around the world. Jardine and Selby saw a deficiency in previously published works on the subject, which typically only included an example from each genus. The work was organized mainly by Jardine, who also took on the Herculean task of obtaining the specimens from which the works illustrations would be produced. Jardine enlisted the help of 3 dealers, 12 collectors, and 4 naturalists from around the world in order to obtain the necessary specimens. The work was produced in three volumes from 1825 to 1835.

In 1848, Jardine embarked on what was to be his finest and last work, Contributions to Ornithology, an annual work which detailed recent advances in ornithology. Contributions was created from the efforts of multiple members of the Jardine clan. While Jardine was responsible for organizing the work and writing a majority of the text, he also had the assistance of his daughter Catherines husband, Hugh E. Strickland. Strickland helped expedite the production of the work while contributing multiple articles. It was Hugh E. Strickland himself that presented the Academys copy of Contributions to Ornithology.

Catherine was a keen illustrator and produced at least 42 of the 94 illustrations that appeared in Contributions. While Catherine had previously provided many illustrations for her fathers works, this was the first instance in which her initials appeared on the final printing.

Juvenile bird and eggs, drawn by Catherine Strickland. Jardine, William. Contributions to Ornithology, Vol. 5. Edinburgh :W.H. Lizars, 1848-1853. Digitized by the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Library and Archives. http://s.si.edu/2vVS5uL.

Jardines son William, a world traveler, sent his father many specimens to be included in the publication. Jardines brother in-law, W.H. Lizars, did the engravings.

The illustrations found in Contributions were perhaps the most remarkable element of the work. In addition to Catherines illustrations, Jardine also was responsible for some of the plates. It is also possible that one of Jardines other daughters, Helen, produced some plates or backgrounds for the work. The illustrations were created by a variety of means, including etching, lithography, and the relatively new papyrography. Jardine was so taken with the new method of papyrography that the first volume of Contributions included instructions on how the layman might achieve this method.

Crested owl (Lophostrix cristata) drawn by Catherine Strickland using papyrography. Her initials can be seen near the bottom of the illustration. Jardine, William. Contributions to Ornithology, Vol. 1. Edinburgh :W.H. Lizars, 1848-1853. Digitized by the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Library and Archives. http://s.si.edu/2wBouYm.

The first article to appear in Contributions demonstrated Jardines desire and need for a plethora of new foreign bird specimens. Hints for preparing and transmitting ornithological specimens from foreign countries provided travelers, who might have previously abstained from collecting specimens due to lack of knowledge, with instruction on the tools and skills needed to produce bird specimens. Not only were step-by-step instructions on how to preserve birds provided, but also how to retain crucial observations about the bird.

Contributions also included articles by the whos who of ornithologists of the day. John Gould contributed multiple times, including an article on three new species of hummingbirds, a topic on which he would later dedicate an entire work to. Charles Lucien Bonaparte, nephew of Napoleon, would also contribute a text on finches.

The production of Contributions was cut short in 1852 by the untimely death of Strickland, who had been struck by a train. His death devastated the two other principal organizers of the work, Jardine and Catherine Strickland. Jardine saw in Strickland a successor, someone who had the same interest in natural history that his sons did not. Jardine was so affected by Stricklands death that he never produced another natural history work, only Stricklands memoirs.

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Donald J. DeFronzo, a former state lawmaker from New Britain, on Thursday was named chairman of the board of the troubled Connecticut Lottery Commission.

The appointment to the non-paying job by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy came on DeFronzos 69th birthday.

He will replace Frank Farricker of Greenwich, who resigned the post earlier this year, several months after taking over as acting president of the quasi-public organization, which was rocked in a scandal involving an instant game called Five Card Cash.

DeFronzo will head the 13-member, appointed board in charge of the operations and management of the Lottery. In 1996, during the tenure of John G. Rowland in the governors office, the Lottery was broken away from state government in attempt to save money and allow its management to become more nimble and entrepreneurial, but with less direct state oversight.

An oversight by Scientific Games, the Lotterys contractors, allowed ticket agents to screen potential winning and losing tickets from the Five Card Cash game. It resulted in about a dozen arrests and tainted the tenure of Ann Noble, the former Lottery president.

This is an integral position in overseeing the operations of our state lottery system, and Don will bring with him many respected years of management experience, Malloy said in a joint statement with DeFronzo.

I look forward to working with the employees and board members of the Connecticut Lottery Corporation to restore stability, confidence, and trust in the system, DeFronzo said. I appreciate Governor Malloy s confidence in assigning me this responsibility.

DeFronzo works part-time, holding the William A. ONeill Chair in Public Policy and Practical Politics at Central Connecticut State University, since 2016, teaching a class in government relations. DeFronzo is the former commissioner of the state Department of Administrative Services.

He served as mayor of New Britain from 1989 to 1993, and as state senator from 2002 to 2011.

KDixon@ctpost.com; Twitter: @KenDixonCT
MILFORD  MILFORD - The Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut agreed Thursday to pay a settlement to a local woman who claimed she was sexually assaulted at St. Peters Church when she was 12 by the pastors adult son.

The terms of the settlement were not disclosed. The settlement was reached as the case was to go to trial before a jury in Superior Court here against the diocese, the church and its former pastor, Andrew Osmun.

The pastors son, Jesse Osmun, is currently serving a 15-year federal prison sentence for sexually assaulting young girls at a school in South African where he was working while in the Peace Corps.

This case clearly shows why it is so important for those charged with watching our children, to follow the policies and procedures that are put in place for their protection. said Douglas

Mahoney of the Bridgeport law firm Tremont Sheldon Robinson and Mahoney, who represented the young woman. If those policies that were in place had been followed by Reverend Osmun, Jesse Osmun would never have been able to assault other young girls.

Diocese officials did not immediately return calls and emails for comment.

The lawsuit claims Jesse Osmun, then 28, sexually assaulted the woman, now 23, at the West River Street church in 2007.

Andrew Osmun was pastor of the church from 1999 to 2012.

Mahoney said he developed evidence to prove that Reverend Osmun had known for years before 2007 that his son Jesse was attracted to preteen girls and that Jesse Osmun had engaged in inappropriate sexual behaviors. Despite this knowledge, Rev. Osmun allowed his son to volunteer with the youth group at St. Peters and have access to its children including the plaintiff who was a parishioner at St. Peters, he said.

In addition, Mahoney said Jesse Osmun worked at a number of overnight youth camps and schools throughout Connecticut.

Jesse admitted in 2007 to his father that he had assaulted the plaintiff, Mahoney said , however, Rev. Osmun did not report that information to law enforcement as required by Connecticut law.

Jesse Osmun later joined the Peace Corps where he continued to work with children.

While working at a preschool at an HIV/AIDS camp in South Africa, federal authorities said Jesse Osmun sexually assaulted girls between the ages of three and six, bribing them with candy.

"The very little children that we were nurturing were being abused in the most heinous way," Joan Dutton, director of the Umvoti AIDS Centre where the abuse occurred, later wrote a federal judge.

"These children have so little, but Jesse has taken the very fundamentals of their lives away ... The children are going to counseling but he has ruined their little lives."

Jesse Osmun was arrested when he returned to Milford in 2011. He later pleaded guilty to the sexual assaults of the girls in South Africa and is serving his sentence in the federal prison at Fort Dix, NJ.

My firm strongly believes that if policies that are in place are followed, it will make it much more difficult for child molesters to succeed. However, when the policies which are in place are ignored, children are hurt in ways that will affect them for the rest of their lives, Mahoney said. Tragically, that is exactly what happened to Jane and to the other children in Africa.

About a month after Jesse Osmun's arrest, his twin brother Seth Osmun was arrested by police in Austin, Texas, for allegedly possessing child pornography. Police there found pictures on his computer of a young girl, between 7 and 9 years old engaging in intercourse and oral sex with an adult male, according to an affidavit submitted by Sgt. Robert Sunley of the Southern Texas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Seth Osmun law later sentenced to two years in prison.
 The PA and Hamas Employ the Al-Aqsa Libel, Again | Main | Vox: Israeli-Arab Conflict One of World's "Most Violent" Disputes 

August 23, 2017

The Media Misses the Palestinian Crackdown on Palestinian Journalists



The Palestinian Authority (PA) has been imprisoning and harassing Palestinian journalists. And many major U.S. outlets have failed to cover the repression.

The PAs General Intelligence Service arrested five Palestinian journalists on Aug. 8, 2017. They were held on suspicion of leaking sensitive information to hostile authorities,? according to a Jerusalem Post report (Palestinian Authority arrests five journalists for leaking sensitive information,? August 9). All five were arrested on the same night. Two of the journalists,? Tariq Abu Zayd and Ahmad Halaika, work for al-Aqsa TV, a propaganda outlet for Hamas, a rival of the Fatah movement that dominates the PA. The other three were Qutaiba Kasem of the Asdaa website, Amer Abu Arafa of the Shebab news agency, and Mamdouh Hamamreh of the pro-Hamas al-Quds television.

The Jerusalem Post quoted an anonymous who Palestinian journalist who speculated, The arrests might be aimed at pressuring Hamas to release Fouad Jaradah, a reporter for the PAs Palestine TV, who was arrested in Gaza on June 8 and was later accused of collaborating with the authority.? The paper also highlighted that the arrests came on the heel of increased PA repression of journalists, including the June 2017 decision to block access to websites that support Hamas or Muhammad Dahlan, a rival who was exiled by PA President Mahmoud Abbas several years ago.

The families of those arrested by the PA characterized the detention as Abbas revenge,? Haaretz noted.

Several organizations, including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), decried the crackdown. On Aug. 15, 2017, the PA released the journalists and required them to pay bailbut did not offer any formal indictments.

Many major U.S. news outlets, including USA Today, The Washington Post, The Washington Times and others, failed to detail any of the above arrests or the repression of information by the PA. In contrast to their blackout of PA autocracy, The Washington Post has instead run recent dispatches detailing Palestinian pigeon ownership (An old pastime thrives in a Palestinian enclave,? August 13) and Gazan Arab school children on a field trip to Jerusalem (Children from Gaza visit Jerusalem for the first time,? August 20).

The Post also offered a report on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus calls to close the Israel offices of Al Jazeera, the Qatari-funded propaganda outlet. As CAMERA has highlighted, Al Jazeera frequently broadcasts sermons of clerics linked to terrorist groups, including Al Qaeda and Hamas. One Al Jazeera journalist? named Elias Karram openly described his job as resistance? against Israel.

However, The Posts report on Netanyahus comments on Al Jazeera omitted crucial information and was implicitlyand unprofessionallycritical of the decision of the Israeli government (for more details see Can The Washington Post Google Anti-Jewish Incitement?? CAMERA, Aug. 8, 2017).

Yet, the PAs decision to imprison journalists without chargeand to effectively impose fines on them for their criticismselicited little to no attention from their nominal colleagues in the Western press.

Posted by SD at August 23, 2017 02:53 PM

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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.
 The Media Misses the Palestinian Crackdown on Palestinian Journalists | Main | Palestinian Leader Promises to Pay Terrorists Until My Dying Day 

August 24, 2017

Vox: Israeli-Arab Conflict One of World's "Most Violent" Disputes

According to Vox, the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is one of the "most violent" in the world.

Vox gained notoriety when it reported that Israel limits traffic on the bridge connecting the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In fact, Israel doesn't limit traffic on the bridge because the bridge doesn't exist.

In this week's story about Palestinian infighting, journalist Shira Rubin writes that the battle between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas "has major stakes for one of the worlds longest-running, and most violent, political disputes."

Is that a fair characterization? A recent Reuters overview shows that, even during the he bloodiest year of Arab-Israeli fighting in decades, 2014, the number of casualties in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank paled in comparison to Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, South Sudan, Pakistan, Sudan, Ukraine, Somalia, Central African Republic, and Libya. The 2014 Gaza conflict accounted for about 2,000 of 100,000 battle-related deaths worldwide that year. (The graphic along the left margin, by the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), shows the fatalities from Arab-Israeli fighting in the context of 2014's conflicts worldwide.)

And again, 2014 was an an outlier. A year earlier, in 2013, fewer than 50 people were killed in Israeli-Palestinian fighting, less than 0.1 percent of the 70,000 killed in the rest of the world's conflicts. In 2015, there were roughly 150 killed as a result of violence in Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, and 100,000 fatalities from conflict worldwide. You can check out PRIO's graphic of 2016's most deadly conflicts on page three of this document. Can Vox find Israel on the chart?

No. Because, in fact, the Arab-Israeli conflict is can hardly be described as one of the world's most violent disputes. So does Vox do so? It seems to be a case of the media believing its own obsession. There's some circular logic involved, which looks something like this:

"Why does the Arab-Israeli conflict get so much media coverage?"

Because its one of the worlds deadliest conflicts!

"But how do we know its one of the worlds deadliest conflicts?"

Well, look how much media coverage it gets!

In reality, there's a glaring disproportion in coverage and prominence of the Arab-Israeli conflict in the Western media, a phenomenon documented by, among others, Virgil Hawkins in his book Stealth Conflicts: How the World's Worst Violence is Ignored. The media's Israel-obsession is likely to cultivate a mistaken understanding of the world and its violence in the minds of those who read the news. And, it seems, in the minds of those who write the news, too.

Posted by GI at August 24, 2017 02:27 PM

Vox - is a facts free leftist terrorist support organ of the American Democrat party

Posted by: Gee at August 27, 2017 01:35 PM

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Road rage killer Tracie Andrews delivered an 'Oscar-winning performance' in deception at a police press conference just hours after murdering fiance Lee Harvey in a frenzied attack, a new documentary claims.

Andrews, 46, a former part-time model, became one of Britain's most notorious female killers after she stabbed her partner Lee Harvey, 25, 42 times on the side of a road in Alvechurch, Worcestershire, in December 1996.

Just 36 hours after the killing, Andrews, then 27, appeared alongside Mr Harvey's parents - holding his mother's hand - at an emotional press conference and described how she had tried to help her fiance after he had been murdered by a 'large man with staring eyes' after a high-speed car chase on a quiet country road.

Body language expert Cliff Lansley, who used to train staff at the US Department of Homeland Security, reveals on tonight's episode of Investigation Discovery show Faking It: Tears Of A Crime how Andrews gave away six separate signs of deception during the conference as she said the following eight words: 'I just tried to stop the bleeding, really.'

She used the word 'really' rather than simply saying 'I tried to stop the bleeding'

She slightly shrugged her shoulders

She dropped the volume of her voice

She swallowed hard

She paused

She raised the pitch of her voice again

Vicious attack: Barmaid Tracie Andrews, 46, became one of Britain's most notorious female killers after she stabbed her fiance Lee Harvey, 25, to death on the side of a quiet country road in Alvechurch, Worcestershire, in December 1996. She claimed he was killed by a motorist

Emotional: A new documentary re-examines footage from the police press conference Andrews, right, took part in just days after the killing. She held hands with Mr Harvey's mother, Maureen, centre with husband Ray, as she described how she witnessed her fiance's killing

During the press conference, still bruised from the apparent attack, she fought back tears as she tried to convince the police, press and the public of the story that she hoped would keep her out of jail.

Forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes, who works with some of Britain's most complex and challenging criminals, adds on the documentary: 'If I was going to give an Oscar to the best criminal acting performance, then I think Id give it to Andrews because she comes on and she is, to all the world, the epitome of a woman who is battered, broken and in a terrible state.'

Revealed: How Andrews gave away SIX signs of deception while saying just eight words Body language expert Cliff Lansley, who used to train staff at the US Department of Homeland Security, breaks down a short clip from the police press conference in which Andrews describes how she tried to help Mr Harvey following the alleged attack. He reveals how Andrews gave away six separate signs of deception while saying just eight words: 'I just tried to stop the bleeding really.' Mr Lansley says: 'She's just said a few words, and we've got six indicators around that simple phrase that makes us suspicious about whether that's really happened. 'She qualifies the statement "I tried to stop the bleeding" with the word "real" in  why not just say tried to stop the bleeding? 'We also see a slight shoulder shrug from her left shoulder. Single sided shoulder shrugs are usually beyond consciousness. They're below the level of consciousness. People don't know they're doing it and that's why it's a reliable indicator of deception. 'We hear a volume drop, she swallows hard, she pauses and the pitch goes up. 'So six indicators all within three, four seconds which totally contradicts the claims she's making that she's tried to stop the bleeding. I don't think she did.' Advertisement

Ms Daynes concludes: 'But what you find is, throughout the press conference, she seems to grow in confidence, and its actually that confident performance that is incongruent with what she wants to portray herself as, which is obviously the victim.

'So the growing level of, "ooh, actually, Im going a really good job of this, er, Im being plausible, Im getting away with this" is what is her ultimate downfall.'

Andrews, a barmaid, killed bus driver Mr Harvey by stabbing him 42 times during a furious row as they drove home from a pub down a quiet, leafy lane.

However she later claimed her partner had been the victim of a vicious road rage attack; that he had been killed by the passenger of another car which had been 'tailgating' and 'playing cat and mouse' before forcing the couple to come to a stop.

Convincing: Forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes said Andrews delivered an 'Oscar-worthy' performance during the press conference as she presented herself as a victim

Battered and bruised: Andrews, who claimed she had been punched by Mr Harvey's killer, was unconsciously giving away signs that she was lying through her speech and body language

Andrews, who said she was punched by her partner's killer, lied to the police and to Mr Harvey's parents, who appeared with her at the televised press conference two days later.

Indeed Mr Harvey's mother Maureen even held Andrews' hand as she tearfully described the fictitious road rage killer, believing she was telling the truth.

Journalists attending the conference were struck by the moment when Andrews widened her eyes as she recreated the look on the fictional killer's face.

Staged rage: The science behind Andrews' wide-eyed stare Intense: Many remember this photograph of Andrews from the press conference The image many remember from Tracie Andrews' news conference is one of her with her eyes wide and mouth open as she recreated the look she had seen on the face of the fictitious road rage murderer with 'staring' eyes. Commentators and journalists at the conference would later claim the look was the first indication that Andrews herself was capable of the kind of rage she claimed to have witnessed in the killer. However body language expert Cliff Lansley explains in the documentary that this is a constructed look and that genuine rage would come across as quite different. 'In anger we see brows down and the eyes tighter against the eye balls,' he says. 'Because she's imitating the eyes that she saw. It's emphasising the speech, and it fits with the story. So it's consistent.' Advertisement

Furious argument: Andrews stabbed bus driver Mr Harvey more than 42 times with a pen knife

Many commentators would later point to it as an example of Andrews' own rage.

However genuine rage would look quite different to this, Mr Lansley explains.

'[Some commentators] said she looks capable of anger and aggression but that's a misinterpretation because in anger we don't see the eyes so wide,' he says. 'In anger we see brows down and the eyes tighter against the eye balls.

'Because she's imitating the eyes that she saw. It's emphasising the speech, and it fits with the story. So it's consistent.'

Jailed: Andrews, 46, was convicted of murder at Birmingham Crown Court in July 1997

How Andrews became one of Britain's most notorious killers 'Victim': Tracie Andrews claimed she was injured by the man who killed her fiance Lee Harvey in December 1996 Lee Harvey, an easy-going and fun-loving bus driver, met Tracie Andrews in a nightclub in 1994. She was a glamorous single mother (her daughter was then aged four) who ran a market stall selling perfume and had big dreams of becoming a model. Jealous and possessive, Andrews would fly into a rage if she wasnt always at the epicentre of Lees world, and during their volatile two-year relationship they split up many times. However police were only made aware of the couple's fiery past once they began their investigation into Mr Harvey's murder. Mr Harvey was stabbed more than 37 times in what Andrews claimed was a road rage attack. She concocted a story that he had been murdered by a wild-eyed maniac and made public appeals to trace the culprit. Crime scene: Police examine the road where Mr Harvey was viciously murdered Mounting evidence: A graphic from the time of the case rounds up the evidence Andrews appeared on television clutching the hand of Mr Harvey's mother Maureen as she made an emotional appeal for help to catch the killer. But her murder trial was told there was compelling forensic evidence which showed she had killed him with a Swiss Army-type pen knife, following an argument. Neighbours at the couple's home in Alvechurch said they frequently heard shouting and the jury was told Andrews had violently attacked Mr Harvey and other former boyfriends. She was jailed for life, with a recommendation that she serve a minimum of 14 years before she was considered for parole. Almost two years later she confessed to killing Mr Harvey in a letter to her solicitor, but insisted she was acting in self-defence. Advertisement

The televised press conference led to witnesses coming forward who reported how they had seen Mr Harvey's car screech to a stop on the side of the road, but that there had been no other cars at the scene.

A resident who lived near to the murder scene also reported hearing the raised voices of a man and a woman on the night of the murder but no other male voices.

Months after Mr Harvey was murdered, his fiancee was found guilty of murder and handed a life sentence. She was released in 2012 after serving 14 years.

Faking It: Tears of a Crime' airs on Friday at 10pm on Investigation Discovery
Whether it's a catchy jingle or a celebrity star, a good advert makes sure to stick in your mind.

And now, a new television programme has revealed some of the most memorable adverts to have graced our screens over the decades.

ITV's Possibly... The Best Adverts In The World, which airs on Sunday, asks celebrity guests to pick their favourite TV commercials from times gone by, before getting the audience to vote for an overall winner.

They include the very sensual Cadbury's Flake advert from 1992 and the mesmerising Honda 'Cog' advert in 2003, which won countless awards across the board.

And who could forget the hilarious - and slightly disturbing - Baby Wee-Wee advert from 2001, which sparked a lot of controversy among parents at the time.

Here we take a look at some of the best adverts discussed on the show....

CADBURY'S FLAKE (1992)

Cadbury's Flake advert from 1992 was one of the most memorable

Cadbury's has been behind a number of famous adverts over the decades - with one of the most memorable being the Flake advert from 1992.

It features model Rachel Brown lying in a bath tub as she enjoys her chocolate bar, with rather haunting music playing in the background.

In fact, she is so consumed by her Flake that she lets the bath overflow as she sits back and enjoys the taste.

Cadbury's first 'Flake girl' - model Hoima MacDonald - appeared on screen in 1959, with more than a dozen others following in her footsteps.

BIRDS EYE BEEFBURGERS (1973)

The love story between Ben and Mary in this Birds Eye Beefburgers advert was one of the sweetest

Love stories feature in many adverts, but perhaps none as sweet as this tale of a budding romance between Ben and Mary.

While Mary seems thrilled by the fact they're in Paris, the City Of Love, all Ben can think about is his Birds Eye Beefburgers.

But Ben can apparently do no wrong in her eyes, with Mary declaring: 'Ooh you are lovely when you're angry, Ben.'

Unfortunately for her, he seemed to be in no mood for romance, replying by shouting: 'Get off me, woman!'. What a charmer.

HONDA (2003)

Honda's memorable 'Cog' commercial featured a mesmerising chain reaction sequence

Sometimes adverts can try to be too clever, but there was certainly no danger of that with this impressive Honda advert.

The highly original commercial - aptly entitled 'Cog' - featured a mesmerising chain reaction sequence involving all the various parts of the car.

The soundtrack only kicks in when the car's CD player is turned on - with the rest of the advert featuring just the sounds of the parts clinking together.

It finishes with the fully-formed car being revealed, together with the slogan: 'Isn't it nice, when things just work?'

CARLTON DRAUGHT (2010)

Carlton Draught advert is probably best remembered for its rousing soundtrack - along with the amusing lyrics that go along with it

Carlton Draught advert is probably best remembered for its rousing soundtrack - along with the amusing lyrics that go along with it.

The 'Big Ad' commercial features an army of men wearing colourful robes storming towards each other, while singing along to O Fortuna from Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, which is also regularly used on The X Factor.

The hilarious subtitled lyrics refer to the advert itself and include the words: 'It's a big ad. Very big ad. It's a big ad we're in.'

The dramatic commercial finishes with the men forming a picture of a man drinking beer, before all raising a pint glass.

BABY WEE-WEE (2001)

The Baby Wee-Wee dolls sparked controversy when they were launched by Famosa in 2001

As illustrated in the advert, the toys are anatomically correct - and let their owner know when they need the toilet

The Baby Wee-Wee dolls sparked controversy when they were launched by Famosa in 2001.

As illustrated in the advert, the toys are anatomically correct - and let their owner know when they need the toilet.

In the commercial, the girl is seen helping her doll undo his trousers so he can relieve himself.

OLD SPICE (2010)

The Old Spice campaign from 2010 is one of the best remembered for its catchy slogan

The Old Spice campaign from 2010 is perhaps best remembered for its catchy slogan: 'Smell Like A Man, Man.'

The advert begins with actor Isaiah Mustafa coming out of the shower and telling female viewers to: 'Look at your man, now back me.'

He continues by saying 'Sadly, he isn't me - but if he stopped using ladies-scented body wash... he could smell like me.'

Isaiah is then transported to a luxury yacht, before declaring: 'Anything is possible when your man smells like Old Spice, and not a lady'.

CINZANO BIANCO (1978)

Joan Collins and Leonard Rossiter starred the 1970s adverts for Cinzano Bianco

Joan Collins and Leonard Rossiter starred in a series of hugely popular adverts in the 1970s for the Italian wine brand Cinzano Bianco.

In this first installment, the pair are seen ordering their drinks from the air hostess while on a flight.

Leonard then begins enthusing about the wine, with Joan - who's clearly heard it all before - joining him half way through.

The advert ends in hilarious fashion, with Joan's chair suddenly falling backwards and the entire glass of wine being split down her top.

KINDER SURPRISE - CHOCADOOBIE (1983)

This rather memorable Kinder Surprise advert featured a slightly creepy-looking Humpty Dumpty character - who spoke in a nonsensical language

When selling chocolate eggs, Humpty Dumpty seems like a rather fitting character to use to promote your product.

But this rather memorable Kinder Surprise advert featured a slightly creepy-looking Humpty Dumpty character - who spoke in a nonsensical language.

He is seen admiring the selection of toys found in the centre of his Kinder Chocolate - but later falls backwards off his wall, clearly overwhelmed by the surprise.

Possibly... The Best Adverts In The World airs on ITV1 on Sunday at 7pm.
American Girl is further diversifying its doll range with the launch of a new character from Hawaii.

Nanea Mitchell is the latest addition to the American Girl family - and she is the brand's first ever native Hawaiian doll.

The sweet character joins 10 other dolls in the BeForever collection of diverse and historical characters and follows three months after the introduction of the first Korean American doll Suzie 'Z' Yang.

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New girl on the block: Nanea Mitchell is from Honolulu, Hawaii from 1941 and is adding diversity to the American Girl's increasingly diverse range of dolls

The 18-inch bronzed doll comes complete with a corresponding book which tells the story of Nanea growing up in Honolulu in 1941 in the midst of World War II and in the wake of Pearl Harbor.

The American Girl Doll company hopes to educate their young consumers on the hardships of growing up on the front lines of the war and even hired a five-member advisory board to assure the historical accuracy and cultural authenticity of her character .

Nanea's character dons a red top, white button shorts, and a flower in her hair. Her wardrobe also includes 40s era ensembles and two traditional hula dancing outfits.

The doll will retail for $115 and will honor military families by raising money for donations for the American Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces program for the whole year. The American Girl company has vowed to match each dollar.

Double the fun! The doll's wardrobe comes with various outfits including hula dancing fashion

Aloha girl: Nanea's story takes place during World War II in Hawaii. The American Girl company hopes to educate consumers on history and culture through her character

With the character's launch the company hopes to give a historical and uplifting resource for children.



'We hope Nanea's powerful story of resilience, responsibility to others, and contributing for the common good  or kokua, as it's known in Hawaii will resonate with girls,' Katy Dickson, president of American Girl said.

She added that the new character will also teach about strength and courage.

'...and show them they have the power within to face the obstacles that come their way," said Katy Dickson, president of American Girl.
PR queen Roxy Jacenko has opened up about her daughter Pixie's poor eating habits after struggled to cope with her father's absence.

The mother-of-two revealed the six-year-old had started eating rice crackers nearly everyday when her husband Oliver Curtis was jailed for insider trading.

Speaking to Kidspot, the 37-year-old said Pixie has 'always been a nightmare with her eating since day one' but her husband's sentencing had taken a toll on her.

The high-profile publicist said her daughter started to 'put on weight' because she had refused to eat anything but rice crackers.

The Sydney mother said she didn't notice her daughter's weight gain until her husband brought it to her attention after looking at photographs from behind bars.

PR queen Roxy Jacenko has opened up about her daughter Pixie's poor eating habits

The 37-year-old high-profile publicist said her daughter started to 'put on weight' because she had refused to eat anything but rice crackers

'Ollie actually noticed. He was in jail at the time but he called me because I'd sent a picture of her in a ballet costume,' she said.

'He said: "Pixie's putting on a lot of weight just between photos you're sending me". And I basically had a meltdown at that point.

'I got quite angry at him so I was like "I'm trying to do everything. I'm trying to run three businesses, I've got two children on my own. I'm doing the best I can and I can't cook. And Pixie won't eat anything if I try".'

She said she had tried everything to get her daughter to eat healthy, even cooking up simple meals such as pork chops with vegetables.

'She wouldn't eat anything. It was a packet a day of rice crackers and that was her meal. I couldn't get her to have anything - and I would give her anything.

'It got to a point where she was eating so many rice crackers, she just started to put on weight. It wasn't good weight, it was unhealthy weight. It was rice crackle weight.'

The 37-year-old said Pixie has 'always been a nightmare with her eating since day one' but her husband's sentencing had taken a toll on her

The mother-of-two revealed the six-year-old had started eating rice crackers nearly everyday when her husband Oliver Curtis was jailed for insider trading

The PR maven said she was struggling to get Pixie and her three-year-old son Hunter to eat 'anything other than junk'.

But after seeing paediatric nutritionist Mandy Sacher, who runs Wholesome Child, Roxy said they started enjoying healthy and nutritious foods.

The mother said she cleared out her kitchen, and got rid of all the junk food from the pantry, filling up three big garbage bags.

She even took up some cooking classes where she was taught how to hide green vegetables in foods such as spaghetti bolognese.

'Having her father home has changed dramatically,' Roxy said.

The PR maven said she was struggling to get Pixie to eat 'anything other than junk'

Earlier this week, Roxy revealed her daughter had struggled to cope with her father's absence

Earlier this week, Roxy told The Daily Telegraph her daughter had struggled to cope with her father's absence.

'The effect that Oli's incarceration had on Pixie was terrible, I knew it at the time, but I think I just tried to do anything to change it and almost look away so as not to upset her more about the situation,' she said.

'When he was released she became the Pixie she used to be, she has her smile back and she's doing much better at school too  she became withdrawn and, at times, very challenging.

'She really coped well, considering one day her dad left for work and didn't return for 12 months.'

After seeing a nutritionist, Roxy even took up some cooking classes where she was taught how to hide green vegetables in foods such as spaghetti bolognese

Speaking previously to Daily Mail Australia, Roxy revealed after her consultation with the nutritionist, her children are eating healthy again

Speaking previously to Daily Mail Australia, Roxy revealed after her consultation with the nutritionist, her children are eating healthy again.

'She really helped me when I was on my own,' Roxy told FEMAIL.

'Following an initial consult and the complete review and subsequent binning of almost everything in our pantry (even things that one would think are super healthy and low in fat and sugars) the kids are transformed.

'Gone are the days of fish fingers and chips or sausages and chips. Now it's about variation and brain food.

'We are so excited. As a parent, she has helped me so much, Google was my port of call until I was recommended to Mandy by a friend.'
Every month Roger, a 93-year-old man with dementia, receives a special visitor at his nursing home.

Her name is Emma, and she happens to be a sex worker.

Their relationship is no secret to the staff or Roger's children. In fact, they helped introduce them.

'They roll out the red carpet for me, because they know the profound nature of this service and what it really means for this client,' Emma told Morning Bulletin.

An sex worker named Emma has revealed that she visits Roger, a 93-year-old man with dementia, to provide him with intimacy and friendship (file photo)

Emma said she has become 'very close' to Roger over the past year, learning not only about his most intimate desires but also about his past.

'We look at pictures - not sex pictures - of things he used to be interested in and we'll have a tipple of his favourite drink,' she told the Morning Bulletin.

But most of Emma and Roger's communication is done through mutual touch.

'It's about friendship, social interaction, emotional outlets - but most importantly, it's about sex,' she said.

'I look at his beautiful blue sparkly eyes and they pretty much tell me everything that he wants me to do.'

Emma said she has become 'very close' to Roger over the past year, learning not only about his most intimate desires but also about his past life (file photo)

Emma has been in the sex industry for more than 30 years and seen a number of patients who have disabilities.

And now in Australia there is an entire charity dedicated to linking sex workers to people with dementia.

Dementia has been known to affect sexual desire in patients, causing some to lose their sex drives while others may experience a major spike.

The latter may no longer understand 'what to do with sexual desire or when or where to appropriately exercise the desire,' according to Alzheimer's Australia.

It can be especially difficult if that person has a partner, who may find that they have 'unreasonable and exhausting demands' when it comes to sex.

Roger's children and nursing home both know about Emma and support her visits with Roger at the home (file photo)

That's where Touching Base, an unfunded Australian volunteer-based group that helps people with disabilities safely connect with sex workers, comes in.

It is often a child or partner of the patient who makes contact with Touching Base.

President Saul Isbister said these carers must fill out lengthy special referral forms detailing the patient's sexual needs.

The charity and its sex workers also make sure that the patient's consent is validated both before and during the appointment, Isbister told the Morning Bulletin.

Touching Base has been working to help society recognise that people with disabilities still have sexual needs.

They continue to provide a referral list of disability-friendly sex workers and accessible brothers in Australia.
Former WAG Abby Gilmore has revealed she will undergo breast augmentation after she was left with 'deflated, sad-looking D cups'.

The 24-year-old Australian said she started considering the surgery when she noticed her body was changing following the births of her two daughters.

Opening up about her struggles with body image, the mother-of-two admitted she has been unimpressed with her breasts - even when she was growing up.

Former WAG Abby Gilmore has revealed she will undergo breast augmentation after she was left unimpressed with her changing body following the births of her daughters Milla and Arlo

Opening up about her struggles with body image, the mother-of-two admitted she has been unimpressed with her breasts - even when she was growing up

'I loved every bit of me that changed, except my boobs. I have curves I love, wide hips that carried my babies safely in there, but I now have boobs that look nothing like they used to,' she wrote in Kidspot.

'As much as I've embraced my imperfections and I've been able to move forward, there are still things that when I stand in front of the mirror that I would like to match the work I've done on the inside.'

Growing up, Abby said she had prayed for the day she'd wake up with 'nice, perky breasts' but now, she's finding herself 'praying all over again'.

Following her pregnancies to her two daughters - Milla, now aged two, and one-year-old Arlo - Abbey said her breasts 'instantly changed'.

'They continued to change through both of my pregnancies. I enjoyed big F-cups for awhile before jumping up to a G-H whilst breastfeeding. But now? I'm a deflated, sad-looking D,' she said.

After doing her research and meeting with a plastic surgeon, she said she's looking forward to her 'mummy makeover', set to take place two weeks from now.

Following the birth of her two daughters (pictured with one-year-old Arlo) Abbey said her breasts 'instantly changed'

Growing up, Abby said she had prayed for the day she'd wake up with 'nice, perky breasts' but now, she's finding herself 'praying all over again'

Her latest post comes just weeks after she spoke candidly about life as a single parent, and revealed how she makes co-parenting work.

The mother wrote an emotional piece for Kidspot detailing how she and her ex, Western Bulldogs forward Jake Stringer, shared parenting duties following their split.

She said she was moved to speak out about this part of her journey because so many had reached out to her to ask how the couple managed their situation.

Ms Gilmore wrote that although she's 'lucky to have an amicable relationship' with her children's father, she has put in a lot of effort to make sure it stays that way.

'It has taken an enormous amount of forgiving plus a lot of tears, heartache, pain and suffering to get to this part of the ride,' she wrote.

Abby Gilmore and her former partner, AFL star Jake Stringer have two daughters together

The newly-single solo mother shared how taking a broader view had helped her.

'He will always be the father of my children and I will always strive to be the bigger person to help him be the best person he can be,' she wrote.

The bubbly blogger said she believes sharing her struggles has the potential to help others.

'I feel like so many people needed a 'voice' for the single parent and I was sent to share all the struggles that sometimes make us feel so, so alone.

'I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason; I have grown so much as a person because of what I have been through and I am being directed to so many amazing things because of it.'

The newly-single solo mum offered some real life advice to those who may be struggling

Although Ms Gilmore said she always strives to co-parent to the best of her ability, there are times when working together can remind her 'of the hurt' she once felt.

The key, she wrote, is to make sure her relationship with her ex was always respectful, especially in front of the kids.

'Always speaking highly and kindly to the girls about their Daddy, who they think the world of,' Ms Gilmore stated.

The couple, who split in December last year, kept news of their separation well and truly under wraps, had even going as far as to live together under the same roof for six months prior to the official announcement.

Opening up to her many fans at the time, Ms Gilmore took to social media to share her thoughts.

Ms Gilmore said her children's happiness is always her number one priority

'I'm in complete shock, I'm a single mum. I'm 23 years old with two kids - that's shocking to me. I still can't believe it some days myself, but it's just how it is.

'No one ever plans to have kids and then to separate but what we want to plan on doing is to make it as friendly as possible, I don't want the girls growing up thinking Mum and Dad hate each other.

'As much as we fought to stay together, it just wasn't going to work for us, and that's okay. What's best for our girls is to see us happy together which involves not being together constantly.

'We needed to separate, we come together now and we're happy.'
As Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark sails around the Whitsundays at Hamilton Island Race Week in Australia, Princess Mary has been busy attending official events back home.

And despite her twins starting school and a number of royal events to attend, the dedicated royal found time to make an appearance at the world renowned 'UNLEASH' event at the music hall in Aarhus, Denmark.

Described as an 'Innovation Lab', the non-profit event is held as a chance for talents from around the world to come together and 'create real, scalable solutions' and products to assist in creating a more sustainable and better world.

Despite her twins starting school and a number of royal events to attend, Princess Mary of Denmark found time to make an appearance at the world renowned 'UNLEASH' event

Despite her glamorous get-up, Mary wasted no time diving straight into the action as she explored the prototypes and 'solutions' on offer

Mary was snapped slipping on a pair of high tech virtual reality glasses and bursting into laughter as the lenses allowed her to experience a blend of what was around her and virtual reality

The 45-year-old looked effortlessly elegant as she arrived at the event in her favourite Dolce & Gabbana red dress and tailored black blazer - her hair out and lightly tousled for the occasion.

But despite her glamorous get-up, Mary wasted no time diving straight into the action as she explored the prototypes and 'solutions' on offer - from education plans and health platforms to ideas for reducing water pollution.

Mary was also snapped slipping on a pair of high tech virtual reality glasses and bursting into laughter as the lenses allowed her to experience a blend of what was around her and a virtual reality effect.

Despite appearing a little puzzled at first, Billed Bladet reported that she found the glasses 'exciting' and 'hoped to try them another time'

Princess Mary was all smiles as she explored each of the stalls and visited attendees

Mary was also taken on a tour and took the time to chat to attendees about their plans for the future

Despite appearing a little puzzled at first, Billed Bladet reported that she found the glasses 'exciting' and 'hoped to try them another time'.

Tomorrow's leaders are the youth of today... and in each and every one of us there is a leader.

Mary was also taken on a tour and took the time to pose with attendees for selfies and chat to them about their plans for the future.

She then took to the stage and delivered a powerful speech about the power of young people to change the world and the importance of women's rights, gender equality, justice and ending poverty.

'We are at the beginning of a new era of development,' the passionate princess said.

Those at the event were excited to have the royal in their midst

Mary took the time to pose for selfies with a number of the guests

The princess fixed her hair after trying on the glasses before sitting down to listen to a talk

'We are fortunate today to have 17 sustainable development goals and 169 targets that provide the blue print for our development agenda through to 2030 and one could say this agenda is the most ambitious global vision in history.

'But it is not just a vision, it is also a huge responsibility for all countries.'

She went on to say that gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls will create 'some of the greatest opportunities of our time'.

'It is one of the most important driving factors behind economic growth and the fight against poverty. Greater gender equality in a country is linked to a higher level of education and better health, higher per capita income, stronger international competitiveness and more inclusive and rapid economic growth.'

She then took to the stage and delivered a powerful speech about the power of young people to change the world and the importance of women's rights, gender equality and ending poverty

She went on to say that gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls will create 'some of the greatest opportunities of our time'

'We need to ensure that the current leaders and decision makers open the door to you and work on closing the generation gap,' she said

Princess Mary said the involvement and leadership of young people is also crucial.

'Tomorrow's leaders are the youth of today... and in each and every one of us there is a leader,' she said.

'We need to ensure that the current leaders and decision makers open the door to you and work on closing the generation gap.'

She concluded: 'I encourage you to maintain your motivation, uphold your current momentum and pursue your joint vision of meaningful and sustainable impact for all, no matter who they are, where they live, or what they are.'

The speech in its entirety can be found here.
A 42-year-old New Zealand woman has opened a new brothel - one that's run as an ethical enterprise.

The author-turned-unlikely madam is a firm believer women should have complete control over their bodies, and wants to see the industry operate in a more empowered way.

Sharing details of her journey in Take 5 magazine, Ms Murphy said she'd never imagined her life taking such an unexpected turn.

Author-turned-madam Antonia Murphy makes a case for running a brothel as a ethical enterprise

Her business supports women to take charge of their own bodies (stock image)

'If 20 years ago you'd told me I'd be a madam someday, I'd definitely have thought it was a wind up.'

Years ago, she explained, she'd spoken to New Zealand women working in the industry for project she was working on at the time.

Their responses, she said, both surprise and intrigued her.

'Why did you choose this profession?' I asked them.

'The money is great and I'm saving for a house,' one said. Another said it was just a really fun job.'

A chance meeting, she said, with woman called Nicki, who worked in a sex shop, would blossom into an unexpected business opportunity for the pair.

She said she supports the notion that women have the right to do whatever they like with their bodies

'We both heard stories about drug addiction and pimps forcing women to work for them, she said.

They hit on the idea it could be possible to own, and operate, an ethically-run escort agency.

'Perhaps we could offer a secure environment and do everything to keep the ladies safe.'

Ms Murphy said the idea to operate an ethical escort agency came out of conversations she'd had with women working in the sex industry (stock image)

Research led Ms Murphy to an similarly-run brothel in Wellington.

The business, she explained was operated by a woman called Madam Mary who believed first and foremost women are in charge of their bodies.

'There were no pimps, no disrespectful clients, no drugs and the workers were well-taken care of,' she said.

Under Mary's guidance, Ms Murphy learnt not only the nuts and bolts of running a brothel but how to ensure her establishment had the right clientele.

'I watched her on the phone making bookings with clients.

A rigorous screening process ensures Ms Murphy's establishment has a high calibre clientele (stock image)

'[I was told to] use the same instincts for picking clients as you would if you were going on a date.

'If I suspected they were creeps or if they said anything disrespectful, I'd simply say I couldn't help them.'

Her other significant lesson from Madam Mary was to employ girls 'who genuinely enjoyed sex and who would be reliable, just like in any other job.'

With a working business model under her belt, Ms Murphy and her business partner set about recruiting staff for their newly created Wanganui-based establishment.

The down-to-earth business owner (pictured) takes the issue of consent very seriously

As part of her business practice, Ms Murphy tells her workers they are in control at all times.

'If 20 years ago you'd told me I'd be a madam someday, I'd definitely have thought it was a wind up,' the brothel madam said

Women who applied for jobs were interviewed, the down-to-earth brothel owner said, and questioned about the issue of consent.

Ms Murphy shares her journey in Take 5 magazine

'It was important to make sure they were all doing this by choice and not under the direction of another person.

She said empowering women also meant giving them a clear choice in terms of what they felt was acceptable.

'I told them 'You have the right to retract your consent at any time during a booking.

While the venture has only been open a few months, the modern madam said there had been plenty of interest even with a rigorous screening process in place.

'Prospective clients contact Nicki or myself and we decide if they're suitable to go ahead with a booking,' she said.

'If we sense even the slightest bit of disrespect to the girls as "it", or saying they don't want to use protection, we simply tell them they're not welcome.'

Although Ms Murphy knows there are people who may not agree the industry she's now involved with, she strongly supports the notion that women have the right to do whatever they like with their bodies.

'I think of myself less as a madam, and more a union organiser, she wrote on her blog. 'For vaginas.'
Australian actress Teresa Palmer has written about her young son's love of his long blond hair and 'gender fluid outfits' in a candid blog post.

The 31-year-old Hollywood star - who is mum to Bodhi, three, and Forest, eight months - wrote a piece on her parenting blog Your Zen Mama where she discussed the issue of gender.

'Bodhi is often called a girl, maybe its the long hair, the gender fluid outfits he chooses, his long eyelashes and gorgeous big blue eyes or maybe its his spirit and his divine feminine energy?' she wrote.

Australian actress Teresa Palmer (pictured with her sons) wrote a piece on her parenting blog Your Zen Mama where she discussed the issue of gender

'Bodhi is often called a girl, maybe its the long hair, the gender fluid outfits he chooses, his long eyelashes and gorgeous big blue eyes or maybe its his spirit and his divine feminine energy?' she wrote (pictured is her little boy)

But she said her son will 'very quickly correct' someone who calls him a girl by saying he is a 'big brother not a big sister'.

'Bodhi loves his long hair and wont let anyone cut it, he loves wearing pink and blue, he loves playing with trucks and applying makeup on me, he loves to sing and dance and race cars, shoot lasers/guns/blasters,' the actress continued.

'He also loves dolls houses and playing princess dress ups (to which an unnamed older-than-I family member asked if he might be gay because of it!? WTF who knows/who cares?)

In her candid blog post, the actress revealed that an unnamed family member had asked if her son was gay, because he likes dolls houses and playing princess dress ups

'I dont define Bodhi or my other sons by their gender, I just love them as the beautiful soulful and adventurous children that they are,' she wrote.

The actress went on to praise the 'beautifully progressive and loving world we live in' where people can 'both fight for gender equality and embrace the idea of not being defined by our sexual organs'.

'This is the reason why I remind myself that the commentary on the gender of my children is outdated, silly and can be disregarded,' she wrote.

'I dont define Bodhi or my other sons by their gender, I just love them as the beautiful soulful and adventurous children that they are,' she wrote (she is pictured here during a breastfeeding break at the Golden Globes)

'The focus shouldnt be on whether our kids are a boy or girl but what kind of person they are,' the mum-of-two wrote

'The focus shouldnt be on whether our kids are a boy or girl but what kind of person they are.'

Previously, the actress has opened up about how her 'main priority' was to become a mother and how parenthood allowed her to experience the meaning of 'profound love'.

'It's so fulfilling being able to do what I love in my work, but my main priority and what has always been my dream has been to be a mum,' Teresa told Whimn.

Previously, the actress has opened up about how her 'main priority' was to become a mother and how parenthood allowed her to experience the meaning of 'profound love'

'It's so fulfilling being able to do what I love in my work, but my main priority and what has always been my dream has been to be a mum,' Teresa has said previously

'People tell us all the time: "Why don't you and your husband fly business and get a babysitter to fly economy with the kids?" And I'm like: "No I want to be together, theyre my children".

'That's why I have Forest in interviews with me. That's why I change his nappy here. He's my child. I'm not just going to palm him off to someone else.'

Teresa has enjoyed huge career success, both via her role in the Oscar-nominated film, Hacksaw Ridge, and her lead turn in Cate Shortland's Berlin Syndrome.

But she said that success arrived when she learned to let go.

'[Success] just arrived when I let go of the controls and the obsession surrounding my career and I said, "I don't really care as much",' she added.
A Melbourne-based cosmetics queen and entrepreneur started her nail polish business from her bedroom.

Anna Ross, 29, had originally created a small jewellery business but before long she naturally progressed to nail polishes, which was when Kester Black was born.

'For the first two years I was working out of my bed room, the delivery truck would come and he would say, "Where's your office with the fork lift?",' Anna told Daily Mail Australia.

'I had to tell him there wasn't one before taking all of the boxes to my bedroom. Because I house shared I couldn't have my stuff everywhere.'

Anna Ross, 29, (pictured) is an entrepreneur that started her nail polish business from her bedroom

She had originally created a small jewellery business but before long had progressed to nail polishes, which is when Kester Black was born

At the time Anna still had a full time job as a design assistant.

'I would pack orders at night and would reply to emails. I would work till 12 or one [in the morning] and would pack everything up and take the orders to work the next day to mail off.'

Deciding that this was a venture she wanted to follow, Anna put up an ad on Gumtree looking for a chemist and had about three responses.

'I went online and got an ABN... Then I got my products sampled and found a chemist to work with.'

'For the first two years I was working out of my bed room, the delivery truck would come and he would say, "Wheres your office with the fork lift?",' Anna said

Deciding that this was a venture she wanted to follow, Anna put up an ad on Gumtree looking for a chemist and had about three responses

Anna and the chemist then formulated a nail polish formula from the ingredients lists of products they found in stores before finding a manufacturer to produce samples.

She spent two years working out of her bedroom and four months working from the room with an employee in tow.

Coming from a fashion background in New Zealand, Anna was originally making jewellery before she naturally progressed to nail polish.

'I did the first photo shoot from home which was really bad and then gave a look book to the stores who already had my jewellery.'

She spent two years working out of her bedroom and four months working from the room with an employee in tow

Anna and a chemist formulated a nail polish formula from the ingredients lists of products they found in stores before finding a manufacturer to produce sample

Coming from a fashion background in New Zealand Anna was originally making jewellery before she naturally progressed to nail polish

Although Anna has found success she admitted that it hasn't always been easy.

'You have to give up a lot. I'm lucky because I gave up a lot when I was young and I didn't have kids, there's more risk the older you get,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'It's hard, I encourage people to start businesses when they're young. I've been learning about business since 2007 and the business has changed a lot and I was still learning a lot.

'My first look book had 17 spelling mistakes in it and brands would say that my products didn't suit their store.'

'The next year we made even more money so I bought property and once I won the Telstra Business of The Year Award I thought, "let's make it big",' Anna said

'They were silly mistakes but important things to learn, the next time I made sure everything was correct before sending it off to big brands.'

The company has come leaps and bounds for a woman who started the business as a side interest and was only making AUD $35,000 in fashion.

'We made $7,000 profit in the first year so I spent it all on a trip to Europe.

'The next year we made even more money so I bought property and once I won the Telstra Business of The Year Award I thought, "let's make it big".'

The company has come leaps and bounds for a woman who started the business as a side interest and was only making $35,000 in fashion

Anna said they managed to triple their turnover in three months and she now plans on having a 30 million dollar business in five years.

'It was exhausting but it was really really exciting to be creating something.

'I loved checking my emails in the morning as Europe and America would email me overnight. It's less exciting now but the opportunities are always bigger,' she said.

'I fell into it and it's been incredible, cosmetics is interesting place, you have control over everything, i'm a creative, it's fun doing a lot of different things

The company is in its fifth year of business which is a mighty feat considering most small businesses fail in the first five years

The company is in its fifth year of business which is an inspiring feat considering most small businesses fail in the first five years.

'There's a lot of potential to grow from here but I had no idea that I would be here, it's scaling a lot faster than I thought it would,' Anna said.

She added that she has an amazing team around her that have made her dreams happen faster than she thought they could.

'You can achieve a lot with the right people around you.'
She never usually has so much as a hair out of place but even the Queen of the Netherlands fell victim to the elements as she stepped out on Thursday.

Queen Maxima was caught up in a strong gust of wind as she arrived at the celebration of 650 years of Bartholomeus Gasthuis in Utrecht.

The royal looked perennially chic in a fitted yellow pencil skirt teamed with a cream blouse emblazoned with a bold yellow flower.

Queen Maxima looked chic in cream and yellow as she arrived at the celebration of 650 years of Bartholomeus Gasthuis in Utrecht

The Queen was, however, caught up in a strong gust of wind as she arrived

The cheery royal waved to waiting wellwishers as she arrived at the iconic venue.

Bartholomeus Gasthuis is an iconic guesthouse dating back to 1367 and now houses the elderly.

Today was Queen Maxima's second outing since the death of her father earlier this month.

Queen Maxima was ever the professional as she stepped out for the first time since her father's death on Tuesday.

The royal dressed to suit her mood as she stunned in a colourful ensemble for her trip to Jessehof homeless centre, Delft, The Netherlands.

The royal, who sadly lost her father this month, looked chic in a fitted yellow pencil skirt teamed with a cream blouse. She waved to waiting wellwishers upon her arrival

The Jessehof is a shelter intended for people suffering from social exclusion and homeless people

Maxima's father, Jorge Horacio Zorreguieta, had a form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Her father died at the age of 89 earlier this month but she's back to public engagements

Queen Maxima arrived to celebrate the 650th anniversary of the Bartholomeus Gasthuis

She was seen enjoying tea and pastries with one of the guests at the reception

Maxima looked in high spirits as she spoke to two of the younger guests attending the 650th anniversary celebrations

Maxima was taken on a tour around the nursing home, which was founded in 1367

She took time to meet and speak to residents at the Bartholomeus Gasthuis

Today marked Maxima's second day of public engagements since the death of her father Jorge Horacio Zorreguieta

She was seen admiring the 14th century building, which was originally built as a shelter for pilgrims and the homeless

The mother-of-three displayed her toned legs in the summer ensemble, which she offset with hot pink shoes for the occasion.

The Jessehof is a shelter intended for people suffering from social exclusion and homeless people.

Maxima's father, Jorge Horacio Zorreguieta, had a form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and died at the age of 89 earlier this month.

Maxima was flanked by her family and close friends as the Dutch royal family gathered in Buenos Aires to send off her father.

Maxima later visited the Stichting Buurtgezinnen in Amerogen, a foundation that supports families

She was seen enjoying a cup of tea after taking a look around the centre

Maxima later posed for photographs in the gardens at the Stichting Buurtgezinne

She made the most of the summery weather in a bright yellow and pastel pink ensemble

The royal donned a chic black coat and delicate pearl necklace as she arrived at a memorial park in Pilar, on the outskirts of the Argentine capital, where he was buried.

Maxima's two eldest daughters, Princesses Catharina-Amalia and Alexia, could also be seen speaking to relatives in the park, while their father lent in to comfort them.

His relatives, including a tearful-looking Maria del Carmen Cerruti, Maxima's newly-widowed mother, could be seen arriving together.

The week before the funeral, Maxima, who is married to King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, was seen leaving her mother's house in the city looking upset.

Queen Maxima was in high spirits as she stepped out for the first time since her father's death at a homeless centre in her hometown on Tuesday

The royal dressed to suit her mood as she stunned in a colourful ensemble and bonded with the elderly at the Jessehof homeless centre, Delft, The Netherlands on Tuesday

The mother-of-three displayed her toned legs in the summer ensemble as she was treated to a tour of the centre

An upbeat Queen Maxima waved to wellwishers as she left the centre on Tuesday

The royal proved she was a good sport as she took part in a game of pool with the men

Maxima was certainly in high spirits as she chatted to residents

Maxima beamed as she bonded with elderly people inside the centre

The Queen appeared animated as she chatted to one of the enthused old men in the centre

Maxima displayed her trim figure as she stepped out on Tuesday for the first time since losing her father. Zorreguieta stayed away from his daughter's 2002 wedding to the now king because of the Dutch government's concern over his participation in Argentina's 1976-83 military dictatorship

The royal laughed and joked with residents who were clearly delighted to see her and showered her with hugs

The royal mother-of-three shook hands with one of the performers after her performed a musical rendition for her

The Queen laughed gleefully as she watched people play a game of snooker

The mother-of-three was clearly overwhelmed, covering her face with her hand as she was driven away.

Zorreguieta's body is believed to have been removed from the Fundaleu clinic before being taken to a private cemetery.

It is believed the funeral of the former politician, who served as Minister of Agriculture in the regime of General Jorge Rafael Videla, was a private affair, restricted to close family and friends.

Zorreguieta stayed away from his daughter's 2002 wedding to the now king because of the Dutch government's concern over his participation in Argentina's 1976-83 military dictatorship.

Dutch Queen Maxima Zorreguieta (2-L), and her husband, King Willem-Alexander (2-R), attended the funeral of her father, Jorge Zorreguieta, in the Memorial Cemetery of the locality of Pilar, Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina on Wednesday

Maxima was flanked by friends and relatives as she attended the funeral of her father. Jorge Horacio Zorreguieta was the elderly father of the Netherlands' Queen consort

King Willem-Alexander comforted his eldest daughter as they attending the memorial event

Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands walk alongside their daughter Princess Alexia after the funeral ceremony for the Queen's father Jorge Zorreguieta

Netherlands' Princess Ariane, daughter of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, attended the sombre event

Queen Maxima of The Netherlands and relatives and friends placed their arms around each other as they attended Jorge Zorreguieta's funeral

Queen Maxima arrived with her children, including Princess Alexia of The Netherlands and King Willem Alexander

Known as a technocrat while heading the Agriculture Ministry, he was one of the longest-serving civilian Cabinet ministers during the regime.

He denied knowing anything about human rights abuses committed under the junta.

Despite not being able to attend the wedding, he was present for the christening of Maxima's three daughters princesses Catharina-Amalia, Alexia and Ariane.

Maria del Carmen and Jorge Zorreguieta (left) sitting next to Dutch Queen Beatrix (centre) and during the christening ceremony of their granddaughter Catharina-Amalia in 2004

Close: Despite not being able to attend Maxima's wedding, Jorge was present for the christening of her three daughters princesses Catharina-Amalia, Alexia and Ariane

Queen Maxima's father, Jorge Zorreguieta died at the Fundaleu Clinic in Buenos Aires

Maxima's parents Maria Del Carmen Cerruti and Jorge Zorreguieta attending a conference in Buenos Aires last year

The former politician is survived by seven children and 12 grandchildren.

He had three daughter with his first wife Marta Lopez Gil who he married in 1956. After their divorce, he married Maxima's mother and had two sons and two daughters.

Maxima was born in Argentina and married into the Dutch royal family in 2002, after meeting her husband-to-be in Seville in 1999.

Despite reportedly having no idea that Willem-Alexander was heir to the throne when the pair first met, she eventually became Queen consort when her husband was crowned in April 2013.
A diamond-encrusted version of Princess Diana's favourite handbag is expected to sell for 38,490 (30,000) at a charity auction.

The Princess of Wales personally asked her loyal friend, the South African designer Lana Marks, to create a one-off handbag for her in 1995.

Lana came up with an iconic top-handle tote design, which Diana called 'the most beautiful handbag imaginable'.

She was so impressed that she went on to buy 15 of the bags in various colours and varieties.

Diana bought 15 of the bag that her friend Lana Marks designed exclusively for her. She was often seen with a nude version which she travelled with to Washington (left) in 1997 as she campaigned to ban landmines, and also took to Prince William's Confirmation in 1997 (right)

Lana has created a one-of-a-kind version of Princess Diana's favourite bag which features a heart clasp encrusted with 225 diamonds. The bag is emerald green and made of crocodile skin

Now Lana has created a one-of-a-kind version of the luxury Princess Diana bags that is encrusted with 225 3.22k white diamonds to sell off for charity.

They are set by hand on 18k yellow gold in a soft heart clasp, which sits on the is rich emerald green crocodile skin tote bag.

Lana said she designed the latest Princess Diana bag because she wanted to do 'something special' for her late friend, who sent the designer a handwritten note to thank her for the design when she was still alive.

Lana's Princess Diana bags are estimated to sell at around 4,000 to 6,000, but some editions may exceed that as the bags are so exclusive that prices for the iconic design are not listed on Lana Marks' website.

Diana with one of the Lana Marks' 'Princess Diana' design handbags she adored during a visit to the Sacred Heart Hospice in Sydney in 1996 (left). She also took out the bag during a visit to open a new children's wing at Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow, in 1997 (right)

Lana Marks (left) with the one-off handbag that is to be auctioned off for charity next month. Diana loved the bags she designed for her so much that she wrote her a personal note (right) that said she was 'looking at the most beautiful handbag imaginable'

The South African designer Lana said of the one-off bag: 'She would love the bag and it reminds me of her.

'The heart is particularly soft and rounded. It may appear very simple but it is not.

'She was the princess of hearts. I want people to remember this beautiful person. She was somebody who inspired.'

Experts estimate the unique lot will fetch around $19,245 (15,000) to $38,490 (30,000) for the American Red Cross when it goes under the next month.

Diane D'Amato, director of luxury accessories at Heritage Auctions, said: 'When Lana Marks and Princess Diana met they became friends instantly.

Lana Marks with the one-off handbag based on the design she gave to Princess Diana/ Diana loved it so much she ended buying 15 in the same design

'They had a very special relationship.

'They would call and speak to each other. It was much more than just a business relationship.

'Now that it is 20 years ago that Princess Diana passed, she had an idea to create a one-of-a-kind bag to sell, with all the proceeds going to the American Red Cross.

'She wanted to pick a charity that was near and dear to Princess Diana's heart.

'We are going to start the bidding at $10,000 but we are looking for an incredible result.

'We have never done this before and Lana Marks has never created a bag like this before. This is honouring Diana's memory and we are expecting a lot of interest.'

Lana Marks has designed luxury handbags for the likes of Kate Winslet, Drew Barrymore, Angelina Jolie, Helen Mirren, Charlize Theron, Chloe Sevigny, Lucy Liu, and Jennifer Aniston.

She is also the purveyor of handbags to the most prominent royal families in the world.

The Diana bag will go under the hammer at Heritage Auctions in Beverly Hills, California on September 26, with bidding kicking off on September 5.
She is well known for elegant lady-like aesthetic and today Crown Princess Victoria did not disappoint stepping out a statement print dress on Thursday.

Victoria, 40, joined other members of the Swedish royal family to celebrate 100 years of independence in Finland.

And while everyone was dressed to impress it was Victoria who stole the show in a swan print gown from Swedish designer Jennifer Blom.

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden dazzled in a swan print dress as she welcomed Finland's president to the Royal Castle, Stockholm

She looked sensational in the floaty frock, which she teamed with a pair of nude heels

The first in line to the throne opted for simple accessories today in the form of a nude pair of court shoes and an elegant pair of silver earrings in a feather design.

The mother-of-two opted for her typical hairstyle of an elegant low chignon for today's celebrations.

Joining her today was husband Prince Daniel alongside her brother Crown Prince Phillipe as well as their parents Queen Silvia and King Carl Gustaf.

Sauli Niinist, Finland's political leader, joined the Swedish royals to celebrate 100 year's of Finnish independence

The first in line to the throne opted for simple accessories, opting for an elegant pair of silver earrings in a feather design

The male member of the family looked dapper in a series of navy blue suits as they welcomed Finnish President Sauli Niinist to the Royal Castle in Stockholm.

Meanwhile Queen Silvia was a vision in a fuchsia two piece skirt suit with a complementary hot pink scarf.

The actual date of the 100th independence day falls on 6th December, the anniversary of when Finland declared independence from Russia, but celebrations are taking place throughout 2017.

Victoria looked to be in very high spirits as she posed for pictures in the reception room

Joining Victoria today was husband Prince Daniel (left) alongside her brother Crown Prince Phillipe as well as their parents Queen Silvia and King Carl Gustaf (right)

Victoria was seen sharing a joke with her husband and the Finnish President

Queen Silvia (centre) was a vision in a fuchsia two piece skirt suit with a complementary hot pink scarf

Victoria (pictured with Daniel and Carl Philip) showed off a cheeky grin during the reception

The movement for Finland's independence started during turmoil surrounding the Russian Revolution in 1917, which gave the country the chance to withdraw from Russian rule.

Before this Finland was under Swedish rule for 700 years, and served as a battlefield for Russian-Swedish conflicts, and it fell into Russian hands in 1809.

The country shares a 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) border with Russia.

However, as an autonomous grand duchy of the Russian Empire, it was allowed to develop politically.

At first non-socialists and social-democrats disagreed over who should take power.

But on 4 December 1917, the Senate leader Pehr Evind Svinhufvud declared independence, which was adopted by parliament on 6th December.

Later that month the Soviet Russian government issued a decree that recognised Finland's independence.
Gwyneth Paltrow's wellness website Goop has been accusing of making 'deceptive' and 'unsubstantiated' claims about the health benefits of various products in order to promote them to readers.

Truth In Advertising (TINA), a nonprofit based in Madison, Connecticut, filed a complaint with California's health regulators on Tuesday, while calling for the site to be officially investigated.

The organization says its review of the website has rendered more than 50 instances of Goop claiming to 'treat, cure, prevent, alleviate the symptoms' of several conditionssomething it says Goop is in no position to do.

J'accuse: A consumer watchdog has filed a complaint against Gwyneth Paltrow's wellness venture Goop, accusing it of marketing its products thanks to 'deceptive' claims

Among the medical conditions flagged up by TINA are hormonal imbalance, infertility, thyroid dysfunction and uterine prolapse.

The nonprofit bashed Goop's marketing methods in a blog post that accompanied its complaint, listing a range of products it says are linked to unsubstantiated claims.

'These include crystal harmonics for infertility, rose flower essence tincture for depression, black rose bar for psoriasis, wearable stickers for anxiety, and vitamin D3 for cancer,' the post reads.

'The problem is that the company does not possess the competent and reliable scientific evidence required by law to make such claims.'

In addition, TINA accused Goop of claiming to treat certain conditions that it says are not 'medically recognized', such as adrenal fatigue, which encompasses a variety of symptoms such as body aches, weight loss and fatigue but isn't recognized as a medical diagnosis.

Specifically, TINA flagged up Goop's Why Am I So Effing Tired? supplements package, which is advertised on the website as a possible way to relieve the condition.

Paperwork: Truth In Advertising (TINA), a nonprofit based in Madison, Connecticut, filed a complaint with California's health regulators on Tuesday

Review: The organization says its review of the website has rendered more than 50 instances of Goop claiming to 'treat, cure, prevent, alleviate the symptoms' of several conditions

TINA said it previously wrote Goop a letter asking it to get rid of its 'deceptive marketing' immediately.

But several days later, the company had only made 'limited changes' to the sections of the website flagged up by TINA, according to the nonprofit.

Thus, TINA filed its complaint with the Santa Clara County District Attorneys Office and the Santa Cruz County District Attorneys Office Consumer Protection Consumer Protection.

It is now urging authorities to start an investigation into Goop's marketing claims and take appropriate action.

'Goop is dedicated to introducing unique products and offerings and encouraging constructive conversation surrounding new ideas. We are receptive to feedback and consistently seek to improve the quality of the products and information referenced on our site,' a spokesperson for Goop told DailyMail.com in a statement.

'We responded promptly and in good faith to the initial outreach from representatives of TINA and hoped to engage with them to address their concerns. Unfortunately, they provided limited information and made threats under arbitrary deadlines which were not reasonable under the circumstances.

'Nevertheless, while we believe that TINAs description of our interactions is misleading and their claims unsubstantiated and unfounded, we will continue to evaluate our products and our content and make those improvements that we believe are reasonable and necessary in the interests of our community of users.'

Bashed: Among other products, TINA flagged up Goop's Why Am I So Effing Tired? supplements package, which is advertised on the website as a way to relieve adrenal fatigue

This is not the first time Goop, which started out as a weekly newsletter, has come under fire for its health claims.

In January this year, Goop published an interview with a doctor who recommended people insert jade eggs in their vaginas for better sex. The link came with an advertisement of Goop's own rose quartz and jade eggs, for sale at $55 and $66 respectively.

Dr. Jen Gunter, an OB/GYN based in San Francisco, blasted the practice as dangerous, writing in a blog post: 'I would like to point out that jade is porous which could allow bacteria to get inside and so the egg could act like a fomite.

'This is not good, in case you were wondering. It could be a risk factor for bacterial vaginosis or even the potentially deadly toxic shock syndrome.'

In June, Goop got under fire for promoting stickers it said where made out of the same carbon material as the lining of NASA space suit, meant to help balance energy levels.

But NASA promptly disavowed the claims and said it does not, in fact, use carbon for the lining of its space suits.

A former NASA chief scientist in turn told Gizmodo about Goop's claims: 'Wow. What a load of B.S. this is.'
Becoming a Disney princess doesn't have to be just a fantasy as one musician proved when he stepped into the shoes - or tail - of the Little Mermaid to put his own unique spin on the timeless classic.

Washington-based violinist Matthew Olson, not only took on the title role in his own two-minute version of the tale, which featured an exciting surprise ending, he also performed a rendition of Part of Your World on the violin.

The YouTube star created the music cover video as merman Areola, a male version of the classic character Ariel, on his Shirtless Violinist YouTube channel, where he regularly posts videos playing classical violin, all done with no shirt to show off his sizzling sculpted abs.

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Under the Sea! YouTuber Matthew Olson, known online as the Shirtless Violinist recreated the Little Mermaid on his channel as Areola, a merman who falls in love with Prince Deric

Hot stuff: Fans are going gaga for Matthew's gay fairy tale twist and for his sculpted physique

Little Prince: Matthew's real-life boyfriend Paul Castle plays Prince Deric who is captivated by Areola's song

The seaweed is always greener in somebody else's lake! Areola comes to land to drool over Prince Deric, wishing he had legs himself instead of a merman's tail

Filmed in a cove in Larrabee State Park, the scene starts with Areola perched on a rock not too different from the 1989 Disney film, surrounded by water and wearing a striking turquoise blue mermaid tail. As he sits in the mystical water view he plays Part of Your World passionately on the violin with his eye closed, waiting for someone to arrive.

Right on cue a blond Prince Deric, played by Matthew's real life boyfriend Paul Castle, walks by wearing an outfit oh so similar to that of Prince Eric.

The prince goes to a rock and brings out a telescope to search for something - or someone - along the seas, while Areola hides behind a rock to watch him with curiosity.

Then suddenly the prince looks to the left, and there is Areola playing the violin as he leaves the water with his transformed body, trading the tail for two dazzling turquoise legs and two very human feet.

He serenades the prince sitting on the rock with his violin walking further away form the water and onto the beach.

Then suddenly, Areola is back on the rock isolated in the water, playing by himself. His trip to the shore seems a fantasy.

What do you call 'em? Oh, feet! In the two-minute clip Areola rises with human legs

Merman serenade: He then goes to Prince Deric to play Part of Your World on the violin

Worlds apart: Areola closes his eyes and plays passionately for his prince who draws closer

Sha la la la kiss the boy: Suddenly Areola returns to the water in what seems to be a dream when suddenly Prince Deric approaches him in a shocking fairy tale twist

The dream fades away when Prince Deric's hand appears on Areola's shoulder and joins him on the rock, donning a fresh and shiny pink mermaid tail and the two share true love's kiss.

The duo gained 27,000 views for their creative remake and fans in the comment section are raving about the violin cover of the Disney class.

One said 'When I started growing up, I began to hate the Disney princess tales. But you guys, have made me start loving those fairy tales again.'

Another added, 'Honestly, if a sexy man rose from the ocean playing music I think I'd fall in love too!'

An enthusiastic fan said it gave him hope for a change in future Disney characters.

'It'll be great if Disney has a gay prince, but least we have this for now,' the fan wrote.

The violin star explained the deeper meaning behind highly requested The Little Mermaid reenactment in the video description.

True Love's Kiss: Prince Deric is revealed with a pink merman's tail in a surprise move away from the Disney classic and the couple shares a seaside smooch

The Music Man: Matthew's channel is dedicated to violin music covers while wearing no shirt to flaunt his sizzling abs with the goal to make classical music sexy again

Beauty and the Beat: His first fairy tale adaption was for Beauty and the Beast (above) also with boyfriend Paul, that garnered 297,000 views and inspired The Little Mermaid addition

Not so Jon Snow: Matthew also played the Game of Thrones theme song and Light of the Seven in a video dedicated to the hit show (above) that won 33,000 views

'The overwhelming response was Walt Disney's The Little Mermaid! And I have to confess, I knew it would be. For some reason this is a story that resonates so much with the LGBTQ community,' he explained.

'Why do you think that is? Because it's a story about someone who feels like they don't belong; like societal expectations don't match their personal desires; and because-let's be honest-we all have a crush on Prince Eric!' he added.

But this isn't the first fairy tale that the couple has reenacted. In March the couple posted a Beauty and the Beast gay fairy tale that racked up 297,500 views and lit a fire of avid fan enthusiasm for more childhood fantasy film reenactments.

Matthew also posted a Game of Thrones themed video and usually posts pop artist violin covers on his channel.

The YouTuber's mission with the channel is to make classical music sexy again, and with his body-baring videos gleaning between 1,000 to over 200,000, it looks like he's achieving just that.
PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- Hurricane Harvey is expected to make landfall along the eastern Texas coast sometime Friday evening, packing winds of up to 115 mph -- making it the strongest hurricane to hit the U.S. in 12 years.

The National Hurricane Center upgraded Harvey from a tropical storm to a hurricane early Thursday morning after the storm's sustained winds reached 80 mph. By the time it hits Texas, Harvey is expected to grow to Category 3 status.

A hurricane warning has been issued for some 280 miles of the Texas coast as the slow-moving storm approaches.

But what of the Mississippi coast, and Jackson County in particular? Current forecasts call for minimal impact along the Mississippi coast, particularly the eastern end, but as Jackson County Emergency Service Director Earl Etheridge noted, it's too soon to know for certain.

"We're hopeful," Etheridge said. "That's what the predictions are at this time. The whole thing for us is what happens when Harvey stalls out over Texas and gets hooked up with a cold front that's stalled there."

Forecasters expect Harvey to be either slow moving or become stationary over land for 3-5 days, creating the possibility of up to 25 inches of rain in some areas over the next week. The National Weather Service said those areas could be exposed to "dangerous and life-threatening" flash flooding.

Etheridge said of the remnants of Harvey make their way to the Mississippi coast, the associated rainfall could prove problematic.

"That puts an impact on us Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday," he said. "It it happens, it'll primarily be a rain event. The $400 question is how much rain will we get? Look at this summer. How many thunderstorms have we seen that produced 3-4 inches of rain. And those were just thunderstorms, not a system."

The current National Weather Service forecast calls for a chance of rain ranging from 30-50 percent in Jackson County through the weekend, with thunderstorms "likely" throughout next week. There are presently no storm or flood warnings issued for the area, however.

Nevertheless, Jackson County did declare a state of emergency Thursday morning, Etheridge said, to allow the county to provide sand and sandbags to residents.
A shopper has slammed H&M for its 'crazy' sizing, after discovering that their size 16 jeans were significantly smaller than jeans in the same size from Primark.

Samantha Bell, from Manchester, shared a photograph showing the size difference between the jeans - which she later revealed to be five and a half inches.

Taking to Twitter to vent her frustration, she wrote: 'Come on, @hm - you guys NEED to sort this out! H&M 16 (blue) vs Primark 16 (black). Not cool.'

Samantha said she was left 'fuming' after her visit to the retailer because she wasn't able to find any jeans that she could fit into.

Samantha Bell, from Manchester, has slammed H&M for its 'crazy' sizing after comparing a pair of its size 16 jeans (top) with a pair from Primark in the same size (bottom)

Sharing the comparison picture on Twitter, she called on the retailer to 'sort this out'

Explaining her frustration, she posted online: 'Regardless of size on label, I'd have taken ANY size that I could've fit into'.

Other shoppers were quick to react, commenting that they had also struggled with sizing at the retailer.

One wrote 'That's very disappointing', while another added: '[T]hat's beyond ridiculous!'.

Another Twitter user commented: 'H&M are absolutely terrible for it. I'm a 6-8 and often a 12 in there. Ridiculous sizing!'

Samantha explained how she measured the difference between the two pairs and found it to be five and a half inches

She said she was left 'fuming' after her visit to the retailer because she couldn't find any jeans that she could actually fit into

It is not the first time that H&M has been criticised for its sizing.

In May, student Lowri Byrne, who is a size 12, called for H&M to 'sort out their sizes' after she struggled to squeeze into a size 16 dress from the high street retailer.

Sharing photos of herself in the size 16 dress, she described the fit as 'absolutely ridiculous' and said she could 'barely breathe'.

A spokesperson for H&M told Cosmopolitan in a statement: 'H&M hugely values all customer feedback. It is only ever our intention to design and make clothes that make our customers feel good about themselves, any other outcome is neither intended nor desired.

Other shoppers described the sizing as 'ridiculous' and 'disappointing'. One Twitter user said she is normally a size 6 to 8, but is often a size 12 at H&M

'H&Ms sizes are global and the sizes offered in the UK are the same in all the 66 markets in which we operate and online.

'As there is no global mandatory sizing standard, sizes will differ between brands and different markets.

'Our dedicated, in-house sizing department works according to an average of the sizes and measurements suggested by the markets we operate in. H&M sizes are continually reviewed by our in-house sizing department.'

MailOnline has contacted H&M and Primark for comment.
The world's first health app could monitor people's glucose levels without breaking the skin - a development which has been described as the 'holy grail' in diabetes care.

The Epic app could also help people find out if they could develop diabetes and need to make lifestyle changes to avoid it becoming a reality.

Users will be able to find out how different food types affect their body; for example, what a can of coke will do to their sugar levels or heart rate or how a plate of broccoli lowers their blood pressure.

It will also be possible to see how exercise or supplements affect vital statistics.

Users will only have to place one fingertip over the camera lens of their smartphone, the London-based firm has stated.

A series of close-up images are taken which accurately show information about the user's blood flow.

These are then sent to the cloud for analysis and can provide feedback on all kinds of vital information - from heart rate to temperature to blood pressure.

It can also tell people about their respiration and blood oxygen saturation.

SMBG (self-monitored blood glucose) is recommended for all people with diabetes and the clinical benefits are widely accepted.

Developers say the app will be available to download - free of charge - on Android smartphone devices and iOS at the end of this year.

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The Epic app could also help people find out if they could develop diabetes and need to make lifestyle changes to avoid it becoming a reality

HOW DOES THE APP WORK? Users have to place one fingertip over the camera lens of their smartphone, the London-based firm says. A series of close-up images are taken which accurately show information about the user's blood flow. These are then sent to the cloud for analysis and can provide feedback on all kind of vital information - from hear rate to temperature to blood pressure. It can also tell people about their respiration and blood oxygen saturation. Users will be able to find out how different food types affect their body; for example, whether a can of coke increases their heart rate or a plate of broccoli lowers their blood pressure. Users could also find out how exercise or supplements affect vital statistics. Advertisement

Almost all pre-existing glucose monitoring equipment is invasive - and many companies including Apple have talked of trying to develop a non-invasive method of testing.

Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces.

Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar

The number of people with diabetes has risen from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014.

Another development of the app means that users will be able to measure their Insulin Resistance levels in a completely non-invasive way, to determine if they are pre-diabetic.

To measure this, the Epic app measures the variation in user's pulse which is related to blood glucose concentration.

It is far less complex and more accurate than other ways of monitoring, developers say.

Insulin Resistance is the body's defence mechanism against glucose, which in excess levels is a toxic substance.

It helps to keep levels in the blood below 100 mg/dl (milligrams per decilitre) and, with most people consuming around 124g of sugar daily, it's vital to maintain good health.

Users have to place one fingertip over the camera lens of their smartphone, the London-based firm says. A series of close-up images are taken which accurately show information about the user's blood flow

Consuming just half a teaspoon of sugar more than the body really needs, taken over a period of time, can lead to diabetes, nerve damage, heart disease, eye damage and inflammation.

'The app uses a simple protocol which prompts the user to take a non-invasive test and this allows us to capture the vital information in a systematic way which produces the most consistent results', said Dominic Wood, CEO and founder of the Epic Health app.

It is far less complex and more accurate than other ways of monitoring, developers say

'We have established a simple protocol for a baseline value to be established and the best time to conduct that test is first thing in the morning before any food or drink is consumed.'

'We focus our protocol on the 'fasting' test to provide baseline data followed by a second test 2 hours after the first meal of the day  usually breakfast; this is known as a postprandial test', he said.

It's not the only company looking to develop a glucose monitor could provide real-time information for millions on how exercise and food changes blood sugar levels.

Apple boss Tim Cook has been testing a device that attaches to an Apple Watch and could be revolutionary for people with diabetes, according to a report in May.

Cook was spotted trailing a prototype of the wearable device on the Apple campus, according toCNBC.

In February Cook told students at the University of Glasgow he was 'really excited' about its potential in health care.

'I've been wearing a continuous glucose monitor for a few weeks,' he told the students.

'I just took it off before coming on this trip', he said.

Sources suggests the company is already doing trials in the Bay Area.

The project - envisioned by co-founder Steve Jobs before his death - could lead to 'breakthrough' wearable devices that detect the disease and monitor blood-sugar levels.

Apple has hired a team of biomedical engineers as part of the secret initiative, according to reports in CNBC.

Up to 30 people are believed to be working on the project, which has be running for five years - according to CNBC's sources.
Problems with our personal plumbing are incredibly common  from cystitis to incontinence after childbirth, or prostate troubles.

In the final part of our series we look at what can go wrong with your waterworks  and what can be done to help...

Although rarely talked about, urinary incontinence affects millions of people in the UK.

And it seems many are too embarrassed even to talk to their doctor about it  one survey found that 60 per cent of women with incontinence problems would not go to their GP for help.

Many suspect they may have a bladder problem but suffer in silence, because they are too embarrassed to discuss it with their GP

But just putting up with it means you miss out on treatment that can improve the situation. There are various types of incontinence, which have different causes and therefore require different solutions. But the key thing is you dont have to live with it.

Stress thats no laughing matter

Small leakages of urine when you cough or laugh is known as stress incontinence. It happens when the bladder neck cannot remain closed under physical stress.

In women, this can happen after childbirth, when the neck gets stretched during delivery, or because the pelvic floor muscles are weakened, causing the neck to sag, says Mike Bowen, a consultant gynaecologist based at the Nuffield Health Oxford Hospital.

In men, removal of the prostate gland (prostatectomy) is the principal cause for stress urinary leakage, says Giles Hellawell, a consultant urological surgeon at The London Clinic, and at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. This may only be temporary  though men may have to wear pads while it settles down.

HOW MANY TIMES IS TOO OFTEN Many suspect they may have a bladder problem but suffer in silence, because they are too embarrassed to discuss it with their GP. One common problem is not knowing how many times is normal to need to go. The older you are, the less your bladder can hold and the more you drink, the more you will need to go to the loo. But going more than usual during the day  and also waking at night needing to go  may be a sign of a problem. Generally, needing the loo more than eight times a day and more than once a night is likely to be a bladder issue, says Dr Neil Barber, a consultant urologist at NHS Frimley Health Foundation Trust. Advertisement

To diagnose stress incontinence, a GP can perform a bladder stress test, which is usually done lying down: fluid is inserted into the bladder using a thin tube  youll be asked to cough and the doctor will check for fluid loss. The test may be repeated standing up.

There is also a pad test when you will wear an absorbent pad for a period of time. It will be weighed afterwards to work out how much urine you have lost without going to the loo.

Pelvic floor exercises are very effective at helping to alleviate stress incontinence. A review of studies published in 2010 found up to a 70 per cent improvement in symptoms of stress incontinence in women after appropriately performed exercises (see overleaf for how to do these, as well as gadgets that can help).

For stress incontinence that persists, and seriously affects quality of life, there are surgical options. Over the past decade or so, women have been given synthetic mesh slings, also known as transvaginal slings or tension-free vaginal tape (TVT), which support internal organs and lift the bladder neck and urethra.

However, recently there have been concerns about the material in these shredding and cutting into the bladder and nearby tissue. More than 92,000 women had vaginal mesh implants from 2007 to 2015 in England, and a 2012 Government report found that around 15 per cent experienced complications.

Campaigners, including doctors and women who have been affected, are calling for a return to older sling techniques, including the open Burch colposuspension, which used the womans own tissues to recreate a stable pelvic floor.

There is a newer sling procedure known as a trans-obturator tape (or TOT)  available on the NHS and privately  which supports the urethra using a tension-free tape slung between the two obturator foramens (holes in the pubis bones of the pelvis which allow passage of nerves and blood vessels). Unlike the TVT operation, the tape does not go close to the bladder to keep it in its correct position.

Trans-obturator sling procedures have a success rate of 85 per cent, says Mr Bowen. Research has shown it is much less likely to lead to bladder damage.

Men with stress incontinence after prostate surgery, which hasnt improved after 18 months, can also opt for a sling procedure, where a synthetic mesh is positioned to give the urethra support.

There isnt any long-term data for this relatively new operation, but so far about 80 per cent of men are able to stop using pads afterwards or their urinary leakage is halved.

When you can't hold on

If you feel a near-constant need to urinate, or feel as though you cant hold on when you do need to go, this is likely to be urge incontinence. This differs from stress incontinence, when the pelvic floor muscles are too weak to prevent urination.

Urge incontinence is twice as common among women as men and is caused by damage to nerves in the bladder or muscle, bladder stones, infection or bladder inflammation. But in most cases, no cause can be found.

Leakage occurs because the bladder muscles squeeze or contract at the wrong times, not just when your bladder is full

Leakage occurs because the bladder muscles squeeze or contract at the wrong times, not just when your bladder is full.

Overactive bladder, when the bladder muscles contract too often, is one cause of urge incontinence. It creates an uncomfortable feeling of wanting to urinate all the time. Some men suffer overactive bladder and flow problems because of an enlarging prostate, which can block the urethra  the tube which carries urine from the body. The bladder is having to increase the pressure to maintain flow. Eventually, it becomes unstable, leading to overactivity, says Mr Hellawell.

It can be diagnosed through urodyanamic testing, which includes noting if someone can stop urine flow mid-stream, or using sensors to check pressure within the bladder and measuring nerve activity. This can evaluate how well the bladder, sphincters and urethra are storing and releasing urine.

Unlike with stress incontinence, there are drug treatments for urge incontinence and an overactive bladder. It can be stabilised with anticholinergic drugs, which work by dulling the autonomic, or involuntary, nervous system which controls the functioning of organs such as the bladder, heart, lungs and genitals.

But the side-effects of these medications are not great, says Mr Hellawell. Not only will they lessen the bladder contractions, they will also lessen bowel contractions, leading to constipation. Anticholinergic drugs will also affect the lacrimal glands behind the eyes and the salivary glands, leaving patients complaining of dry eyes and dry mouth. They take 12 weeks to take full effect  and while the idea is to take the drugs for life, patients are unlikely to want to take them long term.

But theres a new prescription drug available called mirabegron, marketed as Betmiga, which works by relaxing muscles in the bladder.

Injecting Botox into the bladder muscle has been found to be effective because it paralyses the muscles for up to two months. It is available in a few centres on the NHS, but it is not currently licensed to treat urge incontinence so doctors need to go through all the risks before a patient can decide to go ahead.

Constant trickle linked to prostate

Overflow incontinence is caused when the bladder never fully empties and small amounts dribble out all the time, rather than only when the bladder is under stress. People with this type of incontinence may not always sense that their bladder is full.

It is more common in older men and is often due to an enlarged prostate. Women can suffer from this type of incontinence too, when the urethra is blocked by prolapsed organs or kidney stones. It is often diagnosed when someone has frequent bladder infections caused by a back-up of urine, which grows bacteria.

Overflow incontinence is caused when the bladder never fully empties and small amounts dribble out all the time

To diagnose it, you may be asked to go to the loo and completely empty your bladder before a doctor inserts a catheter to see if more urine comes out  if more urine is produced it could indicate overflow incontinence.

Men with an enlarged prostate may be helped by drugs called alpha adrenergic agonists, such as clonidine, which reduce contractions of the bladder and the urge to pass water.

Medicines, such as the alpha blockers tamsulosin and alfuzosin, can also be prescribed to relax the muscle in the prostate, taking the pressure off the urethra. Many herbal and other alternative treatments can be found online, but there is no evidence to show any is effective at countering an enlarged prostate.

Leakages can be controlled by absorbent pads or men can use a urinary sheath, worn like a condom with a tube leading to a bag.

For treatments for overflow incontinence in women caused by prolapse, see panel, right.

When going to the loo at night is a problem

For both men and women over 50, getting up to pee once a night is normal, and twice a night over 65. In men, an enlarged prostate or (more rarely) prostate cancer can be a cause. But because it happens to men and women, all the blame for nocturia  needing to go at night  cant be laid on the prostate: disturbed sleep patterns and medications including blood pressure drugs can all play a part.

It is, says Mr Hellawell, important to check that the issue isnt an undiscovered cardiac problem, which can cause fluid retention.

Lifestyle can play a part. I have patients who have a couple of strong coffees or teas last thing. Caffeine encourages urination, and is also known to cause bladder instability  triggering a need for frequent or urgent weeing.

How to cure those painful urine infections for good

Cystitis, or inflammation of the bladder, is one of the most common types of urinary tract infection (UTI) and affects more than 90 per cent of women.

It is typically caused by bacteria invading the bladder wall, explains Con Kelleher, an obstetrician and gynaecologist based at Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust. Pain when urinating or passing frequent, small amounts of urine are signs of cystitis. So, too, is blood in the urine, which can make it pink and cloudy  but it can indicate other problems such as bladder cancer, too, so always talk to your GP.

Its far more common among women than men. The anus is closer to the urethra [the tract that carries urine from the bladder out of the body] in women and the urethra is shorter, explains Mr Kelleher. This makes it more likely that bacteria will invade.

UTIs should not be ignored since they can lead to more serious complications such as kidney infection as the bacteria travel up from the bladder, says Emma Soos, a nurse with a special interest in urology and director of the Womens Health Clinic.

For mild cystitis, drinking plenty of water can help flush out bacteria. Although many people believe that cranberry juice can help, recent research found no evidence that the fruit, taken as capsules, made any difference to bacteria in urine.

The antibiotic trimethoprim (Monotrim) is the main treatment and works in 80 per cent of infections. Adults with UTIs which are not responding to treatment should have their urine tested to identify the bacteria causing the problem so they can be targeted with the most effective drugs.

Professor James Malone-Lee, based at University College Hospital, advocates, for some patients, high-dose, long-term treatment with highly-targeted antibiotics, combined with an antiseptic medication called Hiprex, prescribed by a specialist.

To prevent UTIs, wearing clean cotton underwear, avoiding perfumed products and wet wipes, which can be irritating, and wiping front-to-back are effective. Always passing urine at bedtime and after sex during which bacteria can transfer to the urethra  can also help.

MALE CYSTITIS

Although men can get cystitis, more common is prostatitis  inflammation of the prostate gland which affects half of men and is sometimes called male cystitis.

Symptoms include pain when urinating, frequent urination and the urgent need to pass water, cloudiness or blood in the urine and pain in the abdomen, groin or lower back. Sometimes it causes sexual problems such as low libido and erectile dysfunction.

Prostatitis is diagnosed by ruling out other conditions that could be causing symptoms, such as cancer. A doctor may give you a physical examination, order urine and blood tests and sometimes a scan of your urinary tract and prostate to check for underlying issues.

In about 10 per cent of cases it can be down to bacterial infection. This type comes on quickly and can cause a high fever, chills, muscle aches and joint pain, as well as pain in the perineum and around the base of the penis and difficulty passing urine, says Professor Roger Kirby, from the Prostate Centre.

Treatment is with antibiotics. In severe cases, a man may need antibiotics for four to six weeks, or even longer, says Professor Kirby.

Professor Christopher Eden, a urological surgeon at Royal Surrey County Hospital, says the quinolone class of antibiotics are most effective at entering the prostate gland.

You often find that GPs prescribe the wrong sort, such as trimethoprim, penicillins and nitrofurantoin which wont have much effect, he says.

The most common type of prostatitis is not caused by bacteria at all. Chronic prostatitis without bacterial infection, also known as chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS) is diagnosed when men complain of pain around their back passage and discomfort passing urine  yet tests reveal no bugs in the urine.

WHO KNEW? Some people's bladders can hold a litre of liquid, while others hold just 300ml (one can of cola) Advertisement

Most experts believe this is caused by scar tissue left after a bacterial infection has resolved  this can stimulate nerves which continue to send signals to the brain that there is inflammation, says Professor Eden.

New evidence suggests it may be down to chronic spasms in the pelvic floor. Treatment for CPPS includes alpha blockers, which can help by relaxing the bladder neck and the muscle fibres within the prostate.

Some patients seem to benefit from Cialis, used to treat erectile dysfunction, in doses of 5 mg per day which can also improve sexual function. Botox injections into the prostate have been used to reduce muscle spasms. And physical therapy to relax the pelvic floor muscles has been shown to help.

Frequent sex and masturbation are sometimes cited as ways to reduce the pain of prostatitis, but Professor Eden says that this is probably a myth. But some men do say that it helps.

For some men, surgical removal of the prostate is worth considering as a last resort, adds Professor Eden.

Prolapse: What really does work?

The worst cases of prolapse can make women feel as if their insides are literally falling out.

But some are too minor even to cause symptoms and are discovered during an examination for something else.

The ligaments and muscles that make up the pelvic floor start to stretch, and the organs in the abdomen slip down, says Dr Philip Owen, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at the Princess Royal Maternity Hospital in Glasgow.

MEN NEED TO DO PELVIC FLOOR EXERCISES, TOO Pelvic floor exercises arent just for women  for men they can help with erectile dysfunction and incontinence too. Sit comfortably and imagine trying to stop the flow of urine mid-stream or prevent passing wind by squeezing inside and pulling upwards  the muscles you can feel moving are the pelvic floor. Lift and squeeze the muscles around your back passage. Then lift and squeeze the muscles around your urethra, breathing normally. Men should see the penis dip downwards and scrotum lift upwards. A woman can check by inserting a thumb into the vagina  you should feel a gentle squeeze. Hold both contractions for one second and then relax. Repeat five to ten times, or until your muscles get tired. This is called a fast twitch exercise. Next try slow twitch exercises  hold the contractions for five to ten seconds, and then relax for the same time. Aim for ten each time and increase the length of contractions each time. Aim to do both fast and slow exercises three times a day. Advertisement

Stretching can occur during pregnancy and childbirth. Being overweight and ageing are risk factors. According to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, half of women over 50 will have some degree of prolapse.

Menopausal women are at risk as muscle tone deteriorates and oestrogen levels fall, which cause the wall of the vagina to become thin and less able to support itself, says Dr Owen.

TYPES OF PROLAPSE

Utero-vaginal: The uterus protrudes into the vagina and in some cases slips out. Up to 30 per cent of women who have had children develop a utero-vaginal prolapse later in life. They are common in postmenopausal and overweight women as the weight puts pressure on the abdomen.

Bladder: The bladder pushes into the vagina and this can create a reservoir of urine that cannot be emptied which can lead to irritation, spasms and incontinence, says Dr Owen. It can also result in leaking when a woman laughs or coughs.

Rectocele: This occurs when a loop of the bowel presses into the vagina, creating an S-bend where faeces can collect. In some cases, women find it difficult to empty their bowels, explains Dr Owen.

Rectocele mostly occurs in women who have undergone a hysterectomy.

TREATMENTS

Losing weight can help to lessen the pressure on the abdominal area. Physiotherapy can reduce the symptoms of any pelvic organ prolapse. Your doctor can refer you.

Ring-shaped pessaries can add support within the vagina. They are worn all the time and need to be replaced every six months.

Surgery may be offered for severe uterine prolapse. One option is synthetic mesh to support the pelvic floor, but this has been linked to long term side-effects. Other options include autologous slings, created from a womans tissue.

See your doctor if you have chronic constipation, as long term straining contributes to prolapse.

Prostates: What every man needs to know

When it comes to mens plumbing issues, the culprit in many cases is the prostate, the gland which produces the fluid that mixes with sperm to create semen.

In a piece of inarguably poor design, the walnut-sized prostate, which is positioned below the bladder, is wrapped around the urethra, the tube that carries urine out of the body through the penis.

When it comes to mens plumbing issues, the culprit in many cases is the prostate, the gland which produces the fluid that mixes with sperm to create semen

That arrangement works just fine when men are in their prime. But as men grow older, the prostate gradually enlarges, placing increasing pressure on the urethra and interfering with the flow of urine.

That, says consultant urological surgeon Giles Hellawell, is when alarm bells start ringing for most men.

MORTIFYING DEFECT CAN BE FIXED An estimated 100,000 men live with a condition where urine doesnt pass out of the tip of the penis  but from an opening somewhere down the shaft. Known as hypospadias, its a congenital abnormality  there from birth. The urine hole can be on the side of the penis, or at the bottom near the scrotum. The penis is likely to be bent, and the foreskin does not go round the whole penis. Untreated, it can make normal urination and sex almost impossible. Today, reconstructive surgery is often performed on boys while they are babies  but older men may have suffered in silence. Some men with hypospadias say they have lived almost their entire lives feeling they are the only one with this mortifying defect. Men can have issues with penile curvature, erectile dysfunction and infertility, says Tet Yap, a reconstructive genital surgeon at London Urology Associates. They will also suffer from quality of life issues. It can be fixed with a series of operations known as urethroplasty. Hypospadias is one of the most common genital anomalies in newborns, with one case in every 300, says Mr Yap. The optimal age for correction is between six and 24 months. The surgery can be done on adults but it is vital this is done by a specialist. If you have concerns, ask how many hypospadias operations a surgeon has done. Advertisement

Of course, prostate cancer is the first thing that goes through their minds, he says  difficulty urinating, or needing to urinate more often are common symptoms of prostate cancer. But the first thing I say to patients referred to me is that about half of men over the age of 50 have some degree of prostatic enlargement  a benign condition  and quite a high proportion of those will have some reduction in flow.

In fact, most men who go to see their GP have been spooked by symptoms caused by a harmlessly enlarged prostate. They might have poor flow of urine  what once was a river in flood becomes a mere stream. Or, if they have tolerated poor flow for a number of years, as many men do, they may have started to experience secondary effects on the bladder.

These effects can include urinary frequency  having to go to the loo a lot  or urgency, a sudden, overwhelming urge to go. But for many, says Mr Hellawell, the trigger to go and visit the GP is having regularly to get up once or twice during the night to pass water.

A GP confronted with a man worried about urinary problems will usually conduct a physical examination of the prostate to see if it is, indeed, enlarged. If it is, the next step will be a blood test to check for levels of a protein called Prostate Specific Antigen, or PSA. This is produced by cancerous cells in the prostate, but also by normal ones, and PSA levels rise naturally as men grow older.

A S A result, a raised PSA level is just an indication that further tests might be necessary, says Mr Hellawell. The PSA throws up false positives and many men with an elevated reading do not have prostate cancer.

Conversely, though less often, some men with a low PSA reading do prove to have the condition. So increasingly we dont rely just on that, he says.

In my NHS practice we always do an MRI scan of the prostate once the patient has come in with elevated PSA before deciding whether to do a biopsy.

Prostate cancer affects more than 300,000 men in the UK and kills one man every 45 minutes, says Ali Rooke, senior specialist nurse at Prostate Cancer UK. However, its a disease which can be successfully treated, if caught early enough.

In many cases, prostate cancer doesnt have any symptoms at all, especially in its early stages. Therefore, being aware of your risk is crucial and is a mans best line of defence, she says. Men over 50, black men, or men with a father or brother who has had the disease all face a higher than average risk.

If you fall into one of these high-risk groups, or have noticed any changes in your waterworks, its important to have a conversation with your GP about your risk.

Anyone with concerns about prostate cancer can contact Prostate Cancer UKs specialist nurses on 0800 074 83 83.

If cancer has been ruled out, a benign enlarged prostate can be treated. This can mean lifestyle changes  cutting down on caffeine, which irritates the bladder, and alcohol, generally drinking less in the evening  and learning to double void: peeing, waiting a few seconds, and peeing again.

Some men with enlarged prostate develop overflow incontinence  where they leak urine (See previous pages) .

In cases of chronic urine retention, in which peeing is really difficult, a man may have to regularly insert a catheter through the penis to drain the bladder.

When cancer is found, or in some cases of a severely enlarged but benign prostate, a prostatectomy, in which part or all of the prostate is removed, will be carried out. This can lead to other problems.

The problem is that the prostate is not a greatly located organ: its very close to the bladder and the voluntary sphincter, which allows you to relax and have a wee. If one is going to surgically remove it you have to be careful, says Mr Hellawell.

Even then, following a standard prostatectomy the risk of incontinence is about 5 per cent or higher. Sometimes this is only temporary. We usually wait 12 to 18 months after the operation to see what the eventual baseline incontinence levels will be, and luckily in the majority of patients it does improve, explains Mr Hellawell. During this time men may have to wear pads.

FIVE GADGETS TO STOP LITTLE LEAKS We may crunch our abs and pump up our biceps, but few of us remember to exercise our pelvic floor  the sling-like muscles that support the bladder and internal organs. A weak pelvic floor can be a key factor in incontinence problems and impotence. Kegel8 for men Both women and men should do pelvic floor exercises, but they can be tricky to master. Here Amanda Savage, a spokesman for the Professional Network of Pelvic, Obstetric and Gynaecological Physiotherapy, suggests five of the best gadgets to help. Educator  pelvic floor exercise indicator. 10.20, Boots THIS visual aid comes with a tampon-type base that is inserted into the vagina, connected to an indicator wand that moves if the exercises are being done right. EXPERT COMMENT: This is really clever  it can be hard to know if you are doing the exercises right. You need to be flexible enough to bend and watch the wand. Kegel8 for men pelvic toner. 149.99, kegel8.co.uk A stimulator that does the exercises for you. An insertable probe or pads on the skin fire electrical impulses to make the muscles contract. Homecraft Aquaflex weighted Vaginal Cones EXPERT COMMENT: These type of machines are perfect if youre not sure what to do, as this gives you the sense of how it should feel to do these exercises. Homecraft Aquaflex weighted Vaginal Cones. 23.50, Boots Two different size vaginal cones with a set of weights. The weights are placed in the cone, which is then inserted. The pelvic floor contracts to keep the cone in place. EXPERT COMMENT: The muscles register there is something there and automatically tense to hold on. Easy to use and quite effective. Elvie Pelvic Floor Trainer. 169, elvie.com Elvie Pelvic Floor Trainer A vaginal probe with a motion sensor that sends information wirelessly to a mobile about how much force your muscles are exerting. EXPERT COMMENT: Units like this are motivating and improve your technique. Other versions dont connect wirelessly, so theyre not quite as convenient. Squeezy NHS App. 2.99, squeezyapp.co.uk This smartphone app encourages you to do exercises in sync with the movement of a bubble on the screen. EXPERT COMMENT: This is great as it sends a reminder text three times a day. Its very easy to use  and the moving bubble just makes you want to clench. Advertisement

If there is no improvement, more surgery can be carried out. This includes the insertion of an internal urethral sling, a synthetic mesh positioned to give the urethra some support.

Still a relatively new innovation, used in men and women, there are no long-term results for this operation, which usually involves two nights in hospital. But in the short-term there is a success rate of about 80 per cent  with success defined as being able to stop using pads or seeing urinary leakage reduced by half.

For severe cases of incontinence an artificial urinary sphincter can be fitted to replace the weakened ring of muscle that contracts to prevent urine leaving the bladder. The artificial device, which is filled with fluid to compress the urethra, is operated by a small hand pump concealed in the scrotum.

Patients aged 70 or older are more likely to be given radiotherapy to reduce the size of an enlarged prostate rather than undergo radical surgery. There is little evidence to show one procedure is better than the other, but with older patients there is more caution about giving anaesthetics and undergoing a lengthy operation.

WHEN YOU FIND A LUMP...

Understandably, many men become worried when they find a lump in their scrotum  but only four in 100 is likely to be cancerous. Frequently what they have found is a harmless testicular cyst, says Giles Hellawell.

By the age of 50, between 15 and 20 per cent of men can expect to have a testicular cyst of some kind, a lump they can feel at the top of one of their testicles.

Cysts are situated in the epididymis, a duct that carries sperm from the testes, and which is often tender in its own right. Typically, somebody has a slightly tender epididymis, which can happen from a bit of inflammation, and they examine it and find a lump, says Mr Hellawell. But its not actually in the testes, its in the bit above.

A cyst is best left alone, says Mr Hellawell. It rarely causes pain or discomfort and removing it is not without possible consequences: The testes area is not a great place to operate on because the risk of infection is so high.

To reassure a man his lump is harmless, we would almost automatically get an ultrasound scan, certainly up to the age of 40 and probably beyond. This can also pick up hernias and hydrocele testis, a build-up of fluid around the testes. Men should get to know how they usually look and feel, which can help you spot if something changes, says Fiona Osgun, Cancer Research UKs senior health information officer.

Any lump, swelling, change in firmness or texture of the testicles, or a feeling of heaviness or pain in the testicles or scrotum should be checked out by a doctor.

Jinan Harb, Lucy Elkins and Anna Hodgekiss contributed to this supplement.
MRI scans looking for plaques inside the arteries leading to the brain could prevent one in four episodes

A breakthrough new type of scan could help predict which people at risk of stroke.

The revolutionary MRI scanning technique developed by Oxford University scientists could be used in future to help prevent as many as one in four stroke cases.

Around 100,000 strokes affect people in the UK every year and around a quarter of these are caused by carotid plaques.

In this type of stroke, fatty plaques build up in the carotid arteries  which supply blood to the brain  and eventually break off, blocking the artery and starving the brain of oxygen.

If someone suffers a mini-stroke, doctors will scan them to look for plaques and can operate to remove them, preventing a further major stroke.

Currently, scans can only pick up large plaques but the new technique allows doctors to spot smaller, fatty plaques too.

Smaller cholesterol-rich plaques can be more dangerous because they are more likely to rupture.

The new scanning method enables doctors to see how high in cholesterol the plaques are and separate dangerous plaques from more stable ones.

In a study, published in the journal JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, researchers used new MRI scan to measure the amount of cholesterol in the carotid plaques of 26 patients scheduled for surgery.

After the plaques were surgically removed, the team looked at the actual cholesterol content in each plaque and found that the new technique was accurate.

They also found the more cholesterol they detected within the plaque, the greater the risk of stroke.

The scans would be offered to anyone who has experienced a mini-stroke and might therefore be at higher risk of a more dangerous episode

A follow-up study on 50 people, published in the journal PLOS ONE, found similar results.

One of the authors, Dr Luca Biasiolli, from Oxford University, said: When someone goes to hospital having suffered a minor stroke, its vital that doctors know whether the patient might be at risk of a further stroke, which could be fatal.

Being able to quantify cholesterol in carotid plaques is a really exciting prospect, as this new MRI technique could help doctors to identify patients at higher risk of stroke and make more informed decisions on their treatments.

Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, which part-funded the study, said: This exciting research opens up the possibility that in the future we may be able to more accurately identify people with carotid plaques that are likely to rupture and cause a stroke.

These patients can then be treated earlier, for example with surgery to remove the plaque, while others might be spared surgery altogether.

More research is now necessary before this advance can come into routine clinical practice. However, if successful this technique has the promise to save lives.
Attitudes have changed since the days when men brought home the paycheck and women stayed at home with the children.

But, according to new research, switching these 'conventional' gender roles is making both sexes unhappy.

When females were the main breadwinner in the family, they were discovered to report more symptoms of depression.

However, the opposite effect was found in men: Their psychological well-being was highest when they were the primary wage-earners.

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A new study suggests reversal of stereotypical gender roles in families makes women and men more unhappy (file photo)

Key findings

Researchers at the University of Illinois examined data on nearly 1,500 men and 1,800 women, aged between 52 and 60. Their well-being was evaluated through surveys.

The researchers first found that men's well-being decreased once they had exited the workforce to become home-makers.

Meanwhile, the inverse was not so for women: Women's psychological well-being was not affected by leaving their jobs to become stay-at-home mothers.

'We observed a statistically significant and substantial difference in depressive symptoms between men and women in our study,' says lead researcher Karen Kramer.

'The results supported the overarching hypothesis: well-being was lower for mothers and fathers who violated gendered expectations about the division of paid labor, and higher for parents who conformed to these expectations.'

WOMEN CAN'T WIN WHEN IT COMES TO MATERNITY LEAVE When it comes to deciding whether or not to take maternity leave, it seems women will be judged poorly no matter which decision they make. A recent study found that new mothers face negative perceptions whether or not they take maternity leave. If they do decide to take some time off with their newborn babies, their reputation at work is diminished. If they decide to head right back to the office, the study suggests, they are viewed as less competent mothers. Researchers at the two universities - University of Exeter in the UK and New York University - interviewed 137 women and 157 men from both countries to determine their attitudes about new mothers. Across the board - regardless of gender, age, parental status, and nationality - the study participants perceived a hypothetical woman they were presented with as 'significantly less competent' and 'less worthy of rewards' if she took maternity leave. If she did not take leave, she was seen as 'more worthy' of rewards at work  but less competent as a parent. Advertisement

Why is this the case?

While women have more educational and career opportunities than their mothers and grandmothers, society's expectations about men and women's roles in the workplace and home have been slower to evolve, the researchers say.

Men and women who deviate from 'conventional gender roles' - especially fathers who leave work to care for children full time - may be perceived negatively, which in turn can affect their mental health, the study suggests.

The researchers found that wives who believed they and their husband had equal responsibilities when it comes to bringing in money and care-taking had improved mental health when their wages more closely matched their partners.

Men, however, almost always took a psychological hit when their wifes income increased beyond their own, no matter what their beliefs were.

'Work identity and the traditional role of primary earner are still critical for men, even when they have more egalitarian gender ideology,' the researchers said.

The studys findings were presented at the American Sociological Associations annual meeting in Montreal.
A Pennsylvania hospital has been sued over the death of a six-year-old boy who was left under a heating blanket for 10 hours overnight.

The boy's temperature spiked to 107 degrees the night of January 10 when he was left unsupervised at Penn State Hershey Medical Center.

There are no records that his vital signs were checked for a 10-hour period, according to the state's department of health.

Lawyers also accuse the hospital of failing to report the event for 77 days - despite guidelines which say such incidents should be reported within 24 hours.

The boy's temperature spiked to 107 degrees the night of January 10 when he was left unsupervised at Penn State Hershey Medical Center (pictured)

HOW CAN SOMEONE DIE FROM OVERHEATING? Overheating can cause major damage to the brain, kidneys and other organs. It can also increase the chance of succumbing to a heart condition, stroke or breathing problems. Heat causes the heart rate to increase and vessels to expand to bring more blood to the outer layers of the skin. If more blood goes toward the body surface for cooling there is less to send to muscles, brain, and other internal organs. Advertisement

The hospital says the boy had 'ongoing, complex and life-limiting health issues' when he was brought to the hospital in January with a below-normal temperature.

He was put under a special blanket called a Bair Hugger that forces warm air onto patients to raise their temperature.

Penn State Medical Center's policy says the temperatures of patients under that type of heating or cooling devices are supposed to be checked at least every two hours.

The boy's temperature was checked and recorded at normal intervals until 12.14am on January 11, when it was at 98 degrees, the health department concluded.

But it wasn't recorded again until around 10am when he was showing no vital signs. Roughly 22 minutes later his temperature was recorded as 107.6 degrees.

A physician determined the heating blanket was on the high setting all night.

He was quickly transported to the pediatric intensive care unit, where he was later pronounced dead at 5.39pm.

He was put under a special blanket called a Bair Hugger (pictured) that forces warm air onto patients to raise their temperature

The hospital says it has launched its own investigation into the death. It has not disputed the health department's conclusions but released a statement on Wednesday saying the boy 'was brought to our Emergency Department for low body temperature and presumed sepsis.'

The hospital said they were made aware of the citations from the health department and that they 'immediately began to implement measures to address this specific circumstance and enhance the overall safety of care.

'As an organization that holds itself accountable for providing the highest quality care while protecting the safety of patients, employees and visitors, we recognize this situation as an unacceptable failure.

'We expect more of ourselves as a system and as individuals committed to the highest standards of care for each person we serve. We have responded with the utmost of focus and determination to do better.

'During the DOH on-site investigation, we immediately developed a corrective plan of action for each issue identified. Just as importantly, we launched our own investigation to determine what happened, how it happened and how to prevent it from ever occurring again.'
Google has developed a test to screen for clinical depression.

Users who type 'depression' into the search bar will now be invited to click on a link to a quiz titled 'check if you're clinically depressed'.

The tool, designed in conjunction with a mental illness group, will not provide a definitive diagnosis. However, it is designed to give you tangible information to take to your next doctor's appointment.

More than 16 million Americans - 7 percent of the country - suffer from some form of depression, with that rate steadily climbing.

And yet, studies show it takes around six years for a person to be diagnosed with the mental illness, and only 50 percent of sufferers receive treatment.

The quiz appears in the 'knowledge panel' on the right when users search 'depression' (left). Users can click on the link to take them to a nine-step quiz to screen for mental illness (right)

The quiz, currently only available in the US, 'will be fully rolled out on mobile in the US over the next day or so,' according to a Google spokesman.

Once it is live, it will sit in the 'knowledge panel' for depression, which appears on the right hand side of the page when a user searches 'depression'.

The panel includes general information about the medical condition, as well as symptoms and treatment options.

Now, that section will also have a bar that invites users to carry out a clinically-validated screening questionnaire, designed to identify levels of depressive symptoms.

The platform was created in association with the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

It comes amid a push from all major tech companies to detect mental illness online.

Facebook is working on artificial intelligence that can detect comments with suicidal undertones, while Instagram users are offered a support system to users if their friends report their posts.

'We believe that awareness of depression can help empower and educate you, enabling quicker access to treatment,' says Mary Giliberti, the CEO of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

The release of the quiz comes on the heels of a report that saw a spike in Google searches about suicide and how to commit suicide.

The report by San Diego University said the increase in searches seemed to come soon after the release of Netflix's show 13 Reasons Why, which told the story of a suicidal teenage girl.

There were 1,500,000 more suicide-related searches than expected during the 19 days following the series' release, according to these figures from San Diego State University

There were 1.5 million more suicide-related searches than expected during the 19 days following the series' release, according to the report by public health researchers published last month.

The show, which debuted on March 31, was heavily criticized for 'glamorizing' suicide. In the final scene, the 17-year-old protagonist Hannah kills herself in a graphic scene in a bathtub.

While the show's writers insist they aimed to raise awareness about mental illness, experts warn internet searches about suicide have become more practical than informative.

The researchers say the findings should be a red flag to the movie industry to take greater steps to prevent suicide ideation, such as including hotline numbers or removing graphic scenes.
Health insurer Aetna revealed the HIV status of 12,000 patients by mailing envelopes with a large, clear window that showed confidential information, lawyers claim.

The letters were sent to customers currently taking medications for HIV treatment as well as for Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), a regimen that helps prevent a person from acquiring HIV.

Without opening the letter, it was possible to see details of HIV prescriptions and details for purchasing more.

The Legal Action Center and the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania say some patients' relatives and neighbors learned of their HIV status as a result.

Patients were in Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.

Without opening the letter, it was possible to see details of HIV prescriptions and details for purchasing more. This is a redacted photo of one patient's letter from Aetna

Aetna says that 'this type of mistake is unacceptable' and that the company is reviewing processes to ensure it never happens again.

The Hartford, Connecticut-based Aetna started notifying customers of the breach in letters sent this week.

The legal organizations sent a cease-and-desist letter to Aetna. They want the insurer to show what corrective measures are being taken.

Sally Friedman, Legal Director of the Legal Action Center in New York City, is coordinating the efforts of attorneys with eight organizations in pursuing the issue.

Friedman said: 'Aetna's privacy violation devastated people whose neighbors and family learned their intimate health information. They also were shocked that their health insurer would utterly disregard their privacy rights.'

Ronda B. Goldfein, Executive Director of the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, said the Aetna letters casual disclosure of a person's HIV status or use of HIV medication is far more than a technical violation of the law.

'It creates a tangible risk of violence, discrimination and other trauma,' she said.

The attorneys said additional legal action is under consideration.
Ten more cases of tuberculosis have been diagnosed at a Texas high school, bringing the total number of cases to 24.

All of the infections are among students at George Bush High School in Fort Bend County, Texas, which is near Houston.

The first four were confirmed in late May, prompting public health officials to do routine screening of all of the student to make sure the outbreak is contained.

Those involved active disease, which can be contagious and potentially fatal if not treated. The other 20 have been symptom free, meaning the infection isn't contagious and is easier to treat.

Investigators identified 10 new infections of tuberculosis among students at George Bush High School (pictured) in Fort Bend County, Texas, which is near Houston

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF TB? Typical symptoms include a persistent cough that lasts more than three weeks, weight loss; night sweats, fever, tiredness and fatigue and loss of appetite. TB bug is usually spread by close and prolonged contact with someone who is coughing and sneezing. The disease mainly affects the lungs. However, it can affect any part of the body, including the glands, bones, and nervous system. If someone has the symptomless latent tuberculosis it can progress into an active disease, which can be deadly. Cases of tuberculosis have been on the rise in the United States in recent years as progress stalls in eliminating the disease. There were a total of 9,557 cases reported in 2015, representing a 1.6 percent increase from the previous year. Advertisement

Despite the recent diagnoses, public health officials said on Wednesday that the campus outbreak has now been contained.

'This is good news, that all the testing identified no more active cases of TB,' Dr Kaye Reynolds at the Fort Bend County Health and Human Services Department told the Houston Chronicle.

'It's really good that the investigation has identified people who now will be cured and that the clustering won't start another outbreak.'

The school will continued to be monitored to track down the 66 people who were potentially exposed but not enrolled at the school who still need to be tested.

Roughly 560 total people were screened for the disease - and screening was required for enrollment in fall classes. Anyone who was not tested either graduated, moved to another school or dropped out.

Two infectious disease doctors in Houston said the numbers suggest a 'significant clustering'.

They were particularly concerned about the original four cases of the active disease and less so of the 20 inactive cases identified as some may have been carrying it for many more years, and some might have caught it from the four contagious patients.

The outbreak was first revealed in mid-June when health officials called on more than 600 people at the high school to be tested.

That initial round of testing identified 10 infections, and the second round on August 3 identified 10 more. That round was required for enrollment because only about a third of the individuals who were exposed came the first time.

Cases of tuberculosis have been on the rise in the United States in recent years as progress stalls in eliminating the disease.

The disease declined in the Untied States during most of the 20th century. It has since had two minor increases, first in the 1980's and again in recent years.

There were a total of 9,557 cases reported in 2015, representing a 1.6 percent increase from the previous year.

Typical symptoms include a persistent cough that lasts more than three weeks, weight loss; night sweats, fever, tiredness and fatigue and loss of appetite (stock image)

Infections primarily attack the lungs but can impact other organs. Most cases don't show symptoms and are not contagious.

If someone has the symptomless latent tuberculosis it can progress into an active disease, which can be deadly.

Contagious individuals will normally only pass on the disease if they around another person for a prolonged period of time, and is passed via droplets coughed or sneezed into the air.

There is no vaccine but it is treated with antibiotics over a period lasting between nine months and two years.

'It's not an easy disease to treat, which is hwy we need to close the loop and finish out the investigation involving those not returning to George Bush,' Dr Reynolds told the Chronicle.

'But we'll get to them. We have to.'
FREE FOOD FOR MILLIONAIRES by Min Jin Lee (Apollo, 14.99)

FREE FOOD FOR MILLIONAIRES

by Min Jin Lee (Apollo, 14.99)

The heroine of this vivacious saga is Casey Han, an Ivy League Economics graduate seeking to make her way and find love in Nineties Manhattan.

However, Caseys progress  like that of her sister Ella  is complicated by her heritage: born in Korea but raised in the U.S., she is estranged from her conservative, working-class parents in the novels opening scenes.

Casey is, among other things, a fan of 19th-century novels, and at 550 pages, Free Food For Millionaires boasts a Victorian classics bulk.

Yet with its focus on mores and money, its Jane Austen that Min Jin Lees debut most often brings to mind. Indeed, there are two memorable episodes in which an exchange of gifts reveals a gulf in regard and understanding that could have been penned by Austen herself, so well are they judged.

The sisters stories bowl absorbingly along, while their mother is also permitted a poignant starring role, receiving the same sympathetic treatment Jin Lee extends to almost all her characters.



MY ABSOLUTE DARLING

MY ABSOLUTE DARLING by Gabriel Tallent (4th Estate 12.99)

by Gabriel Tallent (4th Estate 12.99)

The fulsome endearment of Tallents title takes on a different hue once you know that the speaker is a sexually abusive father. Widowed Martin Alveston lives with 14-year-old Turtle in a decaying house on the ruggedly beautiful north Californian coast. It is Martin who taught his daughter to shoot aged just six, and Martin who has imbued her with misogyny and self-loathing.

However, as summer arrives, Turtle realises that her life depends on breaking free  but can she do so without endangering her new friend Jacob?

This much-hyped debut has stirred up quite a fuss, and Tallent is nothing if not a compelling storyteller.

He smoothly combines intensely lyrical appreciations of the natural world, full-throttle survivalist exploits and a devastating, deftly executed portrait of toxic intergenerational damage.

If you liked Hanya Yanagiharas A Little Life, youll love this, which could almost be the Young Adult version. If you didnt, however, the out-to-shock torments and overheated prose might ultimately leave you cold.

FRIEND OF MY YOUTH

FRIEND OF MY YOUTH by Amit Chaudhuri (Faber, 12.99)

by Amit Chaudhuri (Faber, 12.99)

Is this slice of auto-fiction-come-psychogeography a novel? Yes, argues its novelist narrator, Amit Chaudhuri  The narrator might be created by the author, but is a mystery to him.

As far as the reader goes, this at times frustratingly elusive book is itself something of a puzzle.

Theres not much in the way of plot: Chaudhuri returns to his childhood home of Bombay and reflects on his friend Ramu, a drug addict in rehab. It has been more than two years since the pair spoke, an occasion etched in the memory as being in the aftermath of the Mumbai terrorist attacks.

Now, Chaudhuri finds himself returning to the Taj as he promotes his most recent book, amusingly mocking the business of literary journalism and the vanity of the writer in the process.

His reflections on history and trauma are also tantalising: powerful, but undeveloped. However, his relationship with Ramu sadly fails to move.
PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- Ingalls Shipbuilding has been awarded a contract estimated at $270 million to repair the destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62), damaged in a June collision with a Philippine cargo ship which claimed the life of seven of the Fitzgerald's crew.

"Ingalls and all of its employees regret the tragic circumstances that will bring the ship to Pascagoula," said Ingalls president Brian Cuccias, "but it is an honor and a privilege to work with the Navy to return the ship to the fleet in the shortest time possible."

The collision occurred about 1:30 a.m. on June 17 off the coast of Japan and crushed a large section of the Fitzgerald above the waterline and extensive damage below, creating a 13-17 foot hole in the ship caused by the bow of the cargo ship ACX Crystal, the tonnage of which was triple that of the destroyer.

The U.S. Navy's investigation into the crash found that inadequate leadership and flawed teamwork were factors in the accident. The report also indicated poor seamanship by the crews of both vessels. However, the Navy did praise the actions of the crew after the collision.

The fallout from the accident resulted in the Fitzgerald's captain and two other senior officers being relieved of duty, along with several other junior officers.

In a statement from the Navy, officials said it was determined only an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer shipbuilder could complete the repairs and that Ingalls alone had the capacity and ability to "restore USS Fitzgerald to full operational status in the shortest period of time with minimal disruption to ongoing repair and new construction work."

The Fitzgerald will be brought to the Pascagoula shipyard from Yokosuka, Japan, via a heavy lift transport. The date repairs will begin and estimated time to completion have yet to be determined, according to the Navy. The ship is expected to arrive at Ingalls before the end of the year, however.

In addition to the necessary repairs, Ingalls will also be tasked with modernization of the Fitzgerald which had already been planned in 2019. Prior to the accident, that work was scheduled to have been completed in Yokosuka.

The Fitzgerald, commissioned in 1995, is one of the first Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. It was built at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Maine, but that shipyard is behind schedule in delivering currently ordered destroyers.

Ingalls has a history of repairing damaged Navy ships, including the USS Stark (FFG 31) and USS Cole (DDG 67).
ABANDONED CASTLES

by Kieron Connolly (Amber Books 19.99)

Ruins, battlements and tottering towers . . . this eerie but engrossing book takes a close look at abandoned castles around the world.

ABANDONED CASTLES by Kieron Connolly (Amber Books 19.99)

From ancient Greek ruins to Norman keeps, it explores more than 100 crumbling citadels and forts and examines the roles they played in history.

A fabulous examination of worlds gone by that covers so much ground youll feel like David Starkey by the time youve finished it.
Memoir

I AM, I AM, I AM

by Maggie OFarrell (Tinder Press 15.99)

When the man stepped out from behind the boulder, Maggie OFarrell knew that nobody would hear her scream. The mountain track was too remote. As he blocked her path and smiled, she realised she had passed him earlier on her walk.

He had been waiting for her. She felt violence radiating off the man, like heat off a stone.

Alone on this mountain, the 18-year-old OFarrell decided her only option was to bluff it out. Hurrying back towards the guesthouse where she was working at her first summer job, she chattered on about the staff who were waiting for her return.

Novelist Maggie OFarrell shares her 17 near death experiences in new book to remind readers to see every dodged bullet as the gift of new life

He came after her: relentless, calculated, smelling of aftershave. He put the strap of his binoculars around her neck. She ducked out of the leather noose, kept walking and talking  How fascinating! Tell me more!  and escaped.

The police didnt take her seriously when she reported the incident. A birdwatcher put his binoculars around your neck? Thats all? Sounds terrifying.

Two weeks later a police car drove up to the guesthouse. The detectives wanted every detail. She pointed at the mans photograph in a folder. The body of a 22-year-old backpacker from New Zealand had been found raped and strangled with a binocular strap not far from the path where OFarrell was walking.

She never heard from the police again and has been unable to find out if her assailant was caught. Now a bestselling novelist in her mid-40s, OFarrell thinks about the dead woman most days.

This life, she knows, was snipped short, whereas mine, for whatever reason, was allowed to run on.

Weve all had brushes with death. Falls, chokes, viruses. OFarrell has had more than her share of near misses: 17 to date. She says these moments change us.

You can try to forget them, to turn away from them, to shrug them off, but they will have infiltrated you, whether you like it or not. They will take up residence inside you and become part of who you are, like a heart stent or a pin that holds together a broken bone.

I AM, I AM, I AM by Maggie OFarrell (Tinder Press 15.99)

Breaking an old resolution to not write about her personal life (only accepting a 1 advance from her publisher so she could back out easily), OFarrell decided to share her near misses with the world after her daughter (now eight) was diagnosed with life-threatening allergies which necessitate terrifying hospital dashes. She wanted to normalise her daughters experience and show that we all live a slip and a step from death.

So, during one hospital visit, OFarrell told her little girl about the time she contracted encephalitis as a child of eight. The pain was a soprano scream in her skull. She overheard a nurse telling another poorly child she was dying. She eventually went home in a wheelchair, unsure if she would walk again.

One day in hospital, she awoke to see Jimmy Savile leaning over her bed. The paedophile stared down at her with piercing, assessing, slightly haughty blue eyes and repeatedly asked the nurse to leave the pair of them alone. The young nurse firmly refused. She hovered behind the predator: a saviour.

A brush with death can skew our sense of risk. Survivors can become reckless or over-cautious. Initially, OFarrell threw caution to the wind. She leapt from a quay into the sea at midnight. She let a blindfolded knife-thrower flick blades at her. She cycled blithely down South Americas most dangerous road.

The birth of her three children (and the miscarriage of others) taught OFarrell to feel fear afresh and this book is an attempt to confront that fear. Its a prayer for perspective that reminds readers to see every dodged bullet as the gift of new life and a reminder not to sweat the small stuff.
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Thursday's landmark judgment by the Supreme Court declaring privacy a fundamental right for every Indian has brought cheer to India's gay community.

The community and many like-minded Indians are fighting to scrap Section 377 of the Penal Code, a 149-year-old archaic law which criminalises homosexual acts.

Terming 'sexual orientation an essential attribute of privacy', four judges in the bench, including Chief Justice JS Khehar, dealt a telling blow to the December 2013 verdict of a two-judge bench of the apex court that made homosexual acts even in private between consenting adults an offence punishable by up to ten years in jail.

Homosexual acts between consenting adults are illegal in India and are punishable by up to ten years in jail

'The right to privacy and the protection of sexual orientation lie at the core of the fundamental rights guaranteed by Articles 14 (right to equality), 15 (discrimination on grounds of sex) and 21 ( right to life and personal liberty) of the Constitution,' the CJI and justices RK Agrawal, S Abdul Nazeer and DY Chandrachud said.

'Discrimination against an individual on the basis of sexual orientation is deeply offensive to the dignity and self-worth of the individual.

'Equality demands that the sexual orientation of each individual in society must be protected on an even platform,' said the judges.

Activists had cheered in 2009 when the Delhi High Court declared section 377 unconstitutional.

Lesbians, gay, trangenders, and eunuchs out and about in Mumbai

But the judgment was overturned four years later when the SC decided that amending or repealing the law should be left to Parliament, not the judiciary.

LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) and human rights activists sharply criticised the judgment, saying it was a violation of the 'right to privacy, and 'would turn the clock back by centuries'.

The SC judgment was being viewed in India and globally as a retrograde step.

'That only a miniscule fraction of the country's population constitutes lesbians, gays, bisexuals or transgenders and that there have been only two hundred prosecutions for violating Section 377 as observed in the judgment of this court is not a sustainable basis to deny the right to privacy,' the court said on Thursday.

'In a democratic Constitution founded on the rule of law, their rights are as sacred as those conferred on other citizens to protect their freedoms and liberties. The rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population cannot also be construed to be so-called rights.They are real rights,' the judges said adding, 'Since the challenge to criminalisation is pending consideration before a larger bench of this court, we would leave the constitutional validity to be decided in an appropriate proceeding.'

The observation is significant as curative petitions - the last legal remedy - filed by gay rights activists seeking review of the decision to criminalise homosexual acts is pending before a constitution bench of the top court.

Elated at the comments from the SC bench, senior advocate Anand Grover, who represents the Naz Foundation spearheading the battle for the LGBT community, said, 'The remarks are going to have a huge impact on the hearing of our petitions which will come up soon. Yes we are winning.'

Naz claims that since the recriminalisation of gay sex, blackmail to extort money  in many cases threatening to complain to police or parents after filming a sex act , intimidation, and harassment of gay and lesbian community members by organised gangs and the police have increased manifold, as have rapes and other kinds of torture.

'The observations have in a sense concluded the debate on section 377. The court has clearly said sexual orientation is part of your fundamental right to privacy,' said senior advocate Kapil Sibal. Observers say over the past decade, LGBT people have gained a degree of acceptance in parts of conservative India, especially in big cities.

But, being gay remains deeply taboo in most of the country.

'The verdict declaring right to privacy as a fundamental right is definitely going to have a huge impact on private consensual sexual activity between two consenting adults,' said advocate Namit Saxena.
Pope Francis celebrates a Mass with new appointed cardinals during the solemnity of St Peter and St Paul at St. Peter's Square

The right-wing in India is taking its fight to re-create India in its own image even further afield.

The battle for the RSS and its many affiliated groups has moved away from the major metropolitan areas and towards the far-flung regions of the North East that are sometimes overlooked.

In anger over the alleged cases of so-called religious discrimination, domination and the rape of women by the Christian missionaries in the North East, an RSS-affiliated legal rights body has written an angry letter to none other than the religious leader of worldwide Catholic Church, Pope Francis in the Vatican.

Pope Francis, full-name - His Holiness Pope Francis, Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the Vatican City State, Servant of the servants of God - has yet to acknowledge the letter.

The right-wing legal body has threatened Pope Francis with legal action in India if he fails to condemn the acts of his community members in India, it would sue the Indian leadership of the Church in a court of law.

Mail Today has accessed the last letter written to the pope via the Ambassador of the Holy See over religious discrimination practiced by Christian bodies in Meghalaya against the indigenous faiths that have refused to bend their knee.

Hindu nationalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on the march

Volunteers of the Hindu nationalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) shout religious slogans as they arrive to attend a conclave on the outskirts of Pune

Another letter concerning the alleged cases of rape, including those of minors in which the accused have been Catholic office bearers, is being prepared and is going to be sent to the Vatican in a matter of days.

The Holy See, also referred to as the See of Rome, is the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, and an independent sovereign entity.

It serves as the central point of reference for the Catholic Church everywhere. As an independent sovereign entity, holding the Vatican City enclave in Rome as sovereign territory, it maintains diplomatic relations with other states.

John Paul II In New-Delhi

The Archbishop of New Delhi, Alan de Lastic kisses the hand of Pope John Paul II

The letter addressed to the pope refers to the incident in which the priest of local faith 'Niam Khasi', Bah Kulam Nongrum, was not allowed to be cremated at the traditional crematorium in the Mylliem village in Meghalaya's Khasi hills.

Violent protests were orchestrated, claimed Legal Rights Observatory run by former RSS pracharak in Megahalaya Vinay Joshi, who forced the cremation venue to be changed.

The letter said: 'With this letter Legal Rights Observatory demands immediate apology from Catholic Head His Holiness Pope or serious condemnation from Pope for violent undemocratic behaviour of Catholics in Meghalaya and their bullying tactics vis-a-vis indigenous people of Mehgalaya.

Meghalaya is a state in northeast India. The name means 'the abode of clouds' in Sanskrit

RSS promotes the ideals of upholding Indian culture and the ideology of Hindutva, to 'strengthen' the majority Hindu community

There are over 19.9 million Catholics in India, around 1.55% of the population

'If His Holiness Pope, as the head of Catholic community worldwide, fails to do so, LRO reserves the rights to sue Indian Catholic leadership for inherent animosity, cultured arrogance and nurtured hatred towards indigenous faiths of India in an appropriate legal authority of our convenience to expose and punish those guilty in your community.'

Joshi told Mail Today: 'We are in the process of drafting another letter in which we will be bringing to the notice of the pope such cases of rape and sexual assault aimed at intimidation which have been happening in the state and the neighbouring areas, and in which the members and office bearers of the Catholic Church have been accused.

'We demand action from the highest religious authority. The state has Christian majority and the police and administration have so far desisted from taking action against Church members who have been accused or found complicit in such acts of criminal nature as rape'.
As China's volley of verbal attacks against India continues across the Doklam (Doka La) plateau, the United Nations has urged both sides to resolve the issue peacefully through dialogue.

Speaking to India Today TV on Thursday, Jorge Chediek, Special Envoy to UN Secy General on South-South Cooperation, said, 'The best situation from the perspective of United Nations is that every country gets along with each other.

'Cooperation is always better than confrontation. So we look forward to the two countries solving their differences in a peaceful way, as they expect themselves to do and continue their collaboration with each other as well as with other countries.'

Happier times! An Indian soldier and a Chinese soldier remove barbed wire on the border fence at Nathu La to allow commanders of both sides to meet for a flag meeting

Even as the world community is monitoring the increased tension between India and China, the latter has upped the ante by acting on its threats of creating trouble in other areas of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The recent being the Pangong incident when the Indian and Chinese forces came to blows and hurled stones at each other, making the whole of LAC, especially the vulnerable areas, very volatile.

Hence, a worried international community is waiting for signs of de-escalation.

Chediek said that while he was not engaged in any process of looking into the Doklam crisis, he did raise concerns regarding the border tensions itself, emphasising on the need to come up with a peaceful resolution to the crisis through dialogue.

'The concern is that it is no good that two great countries have tensions. So the best way is to have a peaceful solution through dialogue,' he said.

The Doklam stand-off continues since mid-June when Indian forces prevented Chinese troops from building a road in Doka La (Doklam), an area which is disputed between Bhutan and China.

Chediek was speaking on the sidelines of the 'South-South And Triangular Cooperation' conference organised by Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) where he emphasised the need for 'practioners' of 'South-South cooperation' to get together and realise the corridor's full potential.

He also appreciated prime minister Narendra Modi and his administration's efforts in promoting the initiative.

'Prime minister Modi has shown great leadership with the Asia-Africa corridor, triangular initiative with Japan and also his expression of solidarity in all international forums like BRICS and IBSA.

'He is a prominent leader who has given impetus to South-South cooperation,' Chediek said.
Jowl play: Peter Crook is a member of the FCA's advisory panel

News that Provident Financial's ousted chief executive Peter Crook is a member of the Financial Conduct Authority's advisory panel, even though the watchdog has been investigating its credit card arm for some time, surprisingly fails to raise eyebrows at the FCA.

My swamped FCA source sighs: 'These days, if we only selected advisers whose firms we weren't investigating, it'd be pretty slim pickings I assure you.'

Shares in preppy fashion label Abercrombie & Fitch yesterday leapt 4pc after it reported quarterly losses of 12million.

That'll set moustaches eagerly twitching among pin-striped traditionalists on Savile Row, where Abercrombie's flagship UK branch is based.

They're desperate to see the back of the declasse, all-American firm, whose shirtless male models and heavily perfumed emporiums attract a tawdrier clientele to the Row.

JP Morgan's Frankfurt offices are advertising for an executive assistant in its mergers and acquisitions department, to cover a period of maternity leave lasting two years.

This is because of Germany's ultra-generous system which allows an employee parental leave until a child turns three.

Three! With banks threatening to decamp to Frankfurt from the City post-Brexit, is it necessarily the land of milk and honey they'd have us believe?

US Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin's glossy, Scots-born wife Louise, 36, is said to be persona non grata in the fashion world, after posting a photo of herself on Instagram on a government plane while flaunting her designer smocks.

A 'fashion insider' tells the New York Post: 'Louise won't be invited to Fashion Week or the big galas.

And she certainly won't be appearing in Vogue.' The indignity!

Proof that cost-cutting British Airways really is morphing into Ryanair  a recent passenger informs this week's Spectator magazine of being told to pay double after ordering a strong cup of tea, as the airline now charges by the teabag.

Listen carefully, you can almost hear BA's late, buccaneering saviour Lord King turning in his grave.
Britain's biggest energy providers are seeking approval to hollow out mountains to keep the lights on in the UK.

Companies want to develop pumped storage technology, which allows energy suppliers to keep power in reserve should demand suddenly soar.

Water is pumped from a lake up a mountain where it is held in a reservoir behind a dam. Then, when homes need extra power, it is released.

As it plummets down the mountain it generates power.

Hollow mountain: The Cruachan reservoir and dam can power more than 225,000 homes

There are four of these pumped storage stations in the UK  two in Scotland and two in Wales  but power companies want more.

The hurdle is finding hills, lakes and the space to house them. They are also very expensive.

Building one today would cost hundreds of millions of pounds. But energy giants such as Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) and Scottish Power, owned by Spanish firm Iberdrola, believe they are the future.

Scottish Power is looking to spend 400million expanding one of its stations, Cruachan in the Scottish Highlands, by building more generators or increasing the size of the reservoir and building a bigger dam.

HOW THE POWER IS GENERATED Ben Cruachan, the 3,694-foot tall Munro in the Scottish Highlands, is known as The Hollow Mountain. In one of the greatest engineering feats in the country, a vast cavern has been dug in to its centre. Inside are 15 miles of tunnels and long, snaking pipelines. The mountain works like a giant battery. Water from Loch Awe is pumped 396 metres up the mountain in hidden pipes to a man-made reservoir near the summit. The water sits there, behind a giant dam, until National Grid is asked to produce more electricity to cope with demand. At this point the water is released through gates at the foot of the lake. It crashes down the mountain through a series of pipes and turbines which create enough energy to start Cruachan's generators and so provide the National Grid with the extra electricity it needs.

But it wants a guarantee that the investment will be worthwhile and is in talks with the Government on how to do this.

Ross Galbraith, station manager and head of UK hydro for Scottish Power, said: 'Pump storage is extremely reliable and flexible. With more support from the Government we believe this could be the renaissance for this type of technology.'

The Government this year gave Snowdonia Pumped Hydro the go-ahead to build a new 160million hydro storage scheme in Glyn Rhonwy in North Wales.

The firm will turn two abandoned slate quarries into reservoirs in what will be the UK's first new grid-scale power storage facility in over 30 years.

SSE has also secured permission to build a new 600MW pumped storage station at Coire Glas near Loch Lochy in the Great Glen. It now wants backing to increase capacity to 1,500MW.

The firm has said the project would boost the UK's capacity but that it's unlikely to happen soon as it is 'commercially and regulatory challenged'  the estimated cost is 800million.

It was also announced in recent weeks that the Ffestiniog hydropower station in Snowdonia, North Wales, will undergo a 50million refurbishment to extend its life by 20 years. It is run by First Hydro Company, part of the Engie Group.

A Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy spokesman said: 'The Government recognises the potential for storage technologies, which is why we have worked with other organisations to invest more than 80million in research and development since 2012, and are seeking to remove barriers to the industry.'
Insider dealing: Petrofac boss Ayman Asfari

Troubled oil services provider Petrofac has been embroiled in further scandal with its chief executive fined for insider dealing.

Embattled boss Ayman Asfari, 59, a Tory donor and government business ambassador, has been fined 276,000, banned from heading Italian companies and issued a property confiscation order worth 345,000.

Authorities concluded Asfari traded securities in a company after getting information from an executive, Petrofac said.

He disputes the findings and has pledged to fight his case.

Petrofac is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office for suspected corruption as part of a probe into engineering firm Unaoil.
What does the General Data Protection Regulation mean for me and my small business, how can I prepare for the new regulation and when should I start?

General Data Protection Regulation, which is due to come into force in May next year, will introduce stricter rules on how companies and organisations handle our personal data

Myron Jobson, of This is Money, says: The General Data Protection Regulation is a piece of legislation designed by the European Union to which every citizen in the 27 nation bloc must adhere.

There is a lot to this new legal framework but, put simply, it will introduce stricter rules on how firms and organisations handle and use our personal data.

In particular, the new directive takes aim at how sensitive customer information is processed, stored and exchanged among businesses.

GDPR will also give more power to people over how their personal data is used and make it easier for them to access it.

One of the more notable measures of the GDPR is the fabled 'right to be forgotten' which allows EU citizens to request for a company to delete the personal data they have on file provided there are no legitimate grounds for retaining it.

The European Commission - which creates EU legislation - says it is all about protecting the privacy of individuals and not about erasing past events or restricting freedom of the press.

It adds that some nine out of 10 EU citizens have expressed concern about mobile apps collecting their data without their consent, while seven out of 10 worry about the potential use that companies may make of the information disclosed.

Data protection will be even stricter when it comes to handling personal data of children.

The idea is that they may be less aware of risks and consequences of dishing out sensitive information about themselves and should therefore be afforded to heightened protection compared to adults.

In short, GDPR is a biggie. It will have far-reaching consequences for your business and how you use customer data - even for those who haven't bought anything.

The directive is due to come into force from 25 May 2018. The UK's decision to leave the EU changes nothing. The British government has confirmed it has no intention of backtracking on these arrangements now.

Bosses of firms both big and small should educate themselves on the changes and take the appropriate steps to ensure their enterprise is positioned to implement the changes ahead of time.

We approached Information Commissioners Office (ICO) - the watchdog responsible for guarding our personal information -and a data protection expert at business insurance firm Hiscox about the key considerations and the steps businesses should be taking now.

Garreth Cameron, group manager of Policy Directorate, at ICO , replies: If youre complying with the current data protection law, youll be well on the way to complying with the GDPR.

Garreth Cameron says firms GDPRs main aims and principles are the same as those in the UK's Data Protection Act

The new legislation will apply to any organisation in the UK handling personal data from May 25 next year.

It is an evolution of current data protection law that will require businesses to be more accountable for their use of personal information and give consumers more control.

Many of the GDPRs main aims and principles are the same as those in the Data Protection Act. So if youre complying properly with the current law then most of your approach to compliance will remain valid under the GDPR and can be the starting point to build from.

However there are new elements and some significant enhancements, so you will have to do some things for the first time and some things differently.

Consumers will have more rights in areas such as being better informed about what businesses are doing with their data and having greater access and control over their data. For example, by having the right to access their data free of charge and to request data about them is erased.

It is vital that organisations are prepared to comply but they can also prosper in the new regulatory landscape.

Those organisations which thrive in the changing environment will be the ones that look at the handling of personal information with a mindset that appreciates what citizens want and expect.

This means moving away from looking at data protection as a compliance issue to making a commitment to managing data sensitively and ethically because its just as much part of good business practice as honest pricing or good customer service.

Now is the time for businesses to act and the ICO is here to help them through this important change.

Stephen Ridley, cyber and data risks underwriter at Hiscox UK and Ireland, adds: GDPR affects businesses of all sizes  even SMEs  that hold personal information like names, addresses, HR records, customer lists and even online identifiers such as a computers IP address.

There are now under ten months to make sure you are compliant by the time it comes into effect on 25 May 2018, so in terms of when you should start, the answer is now. The key things to consider include:

Review the situation as it is at present - What personal data do you currently hold/process? How was it gathered? Where is it stored? What do you do with it?

- What personal data do you currently hold/process? How was it gathered? Where is it stored? What do you do with it? Check the data consents that you have in place - You may have given opt out options when you collected specific data (for example from customers), but these are invalidated by GDPR, so using this data for any purpose where consent is required could lead to prosecution. You may have to re-obtain consent from individuals where you are unable to demonstrate that they have given affirmative consent.

- You may have given opt out options when you collected specific data (for example from customers), but these are invalidated by GDPR, so using this data for any purpose where consent is required could lead to prosecution. You may have to re-obtain consent from individuals where you are unable to demonstrate that they have given affirmative consent. Businesses will have an obligation to make individuals aware of their rights as part of the data collection process, so consider whether you need to update your privacy policies or T&Cs. Review your supplier contracts, if you share data with them. The GDPR has some specific provisions which have to be included.

as part of the data collection process, so consider whether you need to update your privacy policies or T&Cs. Review your supplier contracts, if you share data with them. The GDPR has some specific provisions which have to be included. Have a clear plan for what should happen in the event that you experience a data breach . Understand what data you hold counts as personal, where its kept, who has access to it, your mechanisms for spotting a breach and who it should be reported to.

Non-compliance can have severe consequences, resulting in regulatory investigation and/or a fine.

The size of the fine could be up to 4 per cent of a companys global turnover (for the previous year) or 20million (18million) -whichever is the higher- for the most serious of breaches, or 2 per cent/ 10 million (9million) for administrative errors such as not completing  or even just not documenting  privacy impact assessments.

Although it would be very surprising if a small business was fined anywhere near these figures, the ICO has already demonstrated its willingness to impose financial penalties against SMEs, so it is better to be safe than sorry.
A New Jersey couple found an engagement ring that had been lost in Italy for nine years.

Justin and Margaret Mussel were visiting San Marco dei Cavoti, Italy in the summer of 2008 when Margaret noticed that her ring was gone.

Margaret's family owns a home in the southern Italian town.

'Earlier that day we had visited Pompeii and it was extremely hot,' Justin told the Asbury Park Press. 'My wife's ring was loose, but she didn't realize it was gone until later.'

Margaret told DailyMail.com that the new the ring was loose before it went missing.

After thoroughly searching the property, they assumed it slipped off somewhere in Pompeii and gave up looking.

Video from the Asbury Park Press

Justin and Margaret Mussel were in southern Italy in 2008 when Margaret noticed that her engagement ring was missing. She assumed it slipped off in Pompeii

Margaret said she knew the 1.1 karat princess-cut ring was loose before she lost it

Margaret's family has a home in San Marco dei Cavoti in southern Italy

Justin's rental insurance wouldn't cover the 1.1 karat, princess-cut diamond on a white gold band because it was lost on international soil.

'I did buy a replacement ring a couple of years later,' he said. 'Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think we would find it again.'

Nine years later, Justin and Margaret, now 36, and parents to two boys, took the family back to the southern Italian town where Margaret's family owns a home.

They were sitting on a bench in the front yard on August 5 when something caught Justin's attention.

'I saw this flicker of light coming out of a crack in the sidewalk,' he said.

'Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think we would find it again.' Justin Mussel

The crack was several inches deep, so he grabbed a screwdriver from inside the house.

And there was the ring. Only 10 feet from the house.

'The odds of it falling into this crack, much less finding it nine years later, are astronomical,' Justin said.

Margaret couldn't believe it.

'I thought he was crazy,' she said. 'I was like, 'There's no way the ring is in there.' I couldn't believe it. I thought he was playing a joke.'

Margaret slipped the ring on. It still fit.

'The band is a little scuffed up, but not too bad,' she said. 'The diamond looks good. If you saw it, you wouldn't think it was in a crack for nine years.'

Margaret plans to save the newer one for when one of her sons gets married.

Pictured is the crack that Justin found the ring in after nine years
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John Ibrahim's 'work wife' has been caught driving while under the influence of ice.

Margaret Staltaro, 44, has handled the finances for the Kings Cross identity for over 20 years and helped him build a multi-million dollar nightclub and property empire.

But on a Friday afternoon in March, Ibrahim's right-hand woman was pulled over by police while driving in Mosman and instantly raised suspicions, Fairfax reported.

'When speaking with the accused, she averted her eyes from police ... and her hands were clenching and unclenching irregularly,' court documents allege.

Ms Staltaro, who was allegedly driving with an unregistered car and on a suspended driver's license, was made to take a drug test and tested positive for ice.

Margaret Staltaro, 44, has admitted to driving under the influence of ice in March. The savvy businesswoman is John Ibrahim's right hand woman and helped him build his Sydney nightclub empire for more than 20 years

Ms Staltaro (left), who was allegedly driving with an unregistered car and on a suspended driver's license, was made to take a drug test and tested positive for ice

'She was asked if there were any drugs in the car and she replied there was maybe something in there that she had confiscated from her nephew,' documents allege.

'The accused became more visibly nervous, holding the sides of her neck.'

Police found 0.1 grams of methylamphetamine, known as meth or ice in Australia, stored in her handbag and a pipe used for smoking the drug stashed between a seat.

She pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and drug possession in June, and has been entered into a rehabilitation program with regular drug testing.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, she was unable to make it to a sentencing hearing at Manly Court on Wednesday because of a medical operation overseas.

Her barrister said she was unable to fly back from Thailand as she was recovering from complications after undergoing the surgery.

Her court case was adjourned for six weeks.

Ms Staltaro was listed on search warrants along with her boss Ibrahim, whose house was raided earlier this month (pictured)

John Ibrahim (L) first met Margaret Staltaro (R) when she made him pay $15 to get into a club - 'I fell in love with her right there,' he wrote in his autobiography

Ibrahim first met Ms Staltaro when she made him pay $15 to get into a club - 'I fell in love with her right there,' he wrote in his autobiography.

Two weeks later she quit her job and has been with him ever since, even living in a townhouse three doors down from her boss' home in beachside Dover Heights.

Her unwavering loyalty saw her dragged into the massive drug investigation engulfing the Ibrahim clan, with her home raided along with his earlier this month.

She was listed on search warrants alongside Ibrahim's brothers, girlfriend and son Daniel - who lives in the same building as her.

Neither Ms Staltaro or John Ibrahim have been charged, arrested or accused of any crimes in relation to the international drug sting.

The 44-year-old led a colourful life as the 'last piece of the puzzle' in Ibrahim's slick operation that ran Sydney's Kings Cross and Oxford Street for well over a decade.

She ran the books, handled the money, organised staff, and even assessed whether female staff who accused their boyfriends of hitting them were telling the truth.

Ibrahim bought her a unit on George Street in Dover Heights (pictured) for $2.49 million in 2007

The unprecedented drug smuggling investigation saw Ibrahim's brothers and son along with others arrested

People soon started calling Ms Staltaro the 'female Tongan Sam' in reference to Ibrahim's longtime bodyguard Semi 'Tongan Sam' Ngata.

'(She's) as sharp with the cash as I am, I never have to explain anything to her,' Ibrahim wrote in Last King of the Cross.

'Margaret is like a wife, without the sex or the cooking, or cleaning. Just the arguing and nagging.'

The nightblub baron bought her the unit on George Street in Dover Heights for $2.49 million in 2007 through his Chelsea Ventures company.

His son Daniel lives in the other unit on the property, which was also raided earlier this month as he was charged with handing over $2.25 million to import illegal tobacco.

The 44-year-old (R) led a colourful life as the 'last piece of the puzzle' in Ibrahim's slick operation that ran Sydney's Kings Cross and Oxford Street for well over a decade.

People soon started calling Ms Staltaro the 'female Tongan Sam' in reference to Ibrahim's longtime bodyguard Semi 'Tongan Sam' Ngata (pictured)

Ms Staltaro has her own interests in the Sydney nightlife and retail scene, spending almost $10 million on two Kings Cross properties in 2014.

She paid $4.1 million for 32 Bayswater Road and $5.2 million for 28 Bayswater Road, which houses a burger joint, three months later.

Number 32 houses Crane Bar, a late-night bar and restaurant owned by Ibrahim's model girlfriend Sarah Budge, 27, who was arrested earlier this month after a Glock 26 with the serial number filed off was allegedly found in her bedroom.

Ms Staltaro was also linked to notorious Kings Cross strip club DreamGirls, which was shut down in late 2015 for multiple licence breaches.

The savvy operator was the business partner of the club's licencee Michael Amante but claimed to take a 'passive role' while he ran the day to day.

Months before DreamGirls was shut down, she became 'concerned' about how it was being run and agreed to buy Mr Amante out and install new management.

She ran the books, handled the money, organised staff, and even assessed whether female staff who accused their boyfriends of hitting them were telling the truth

Ms Staltaro paid $4.1 million for 32 Bayswater Road in Kings Cross in 2014, which houses Budge's late-night bar and restaurant Crane Bar
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been accused of giving migrants false hope they can come to the country amid fears a huge surge of asylum seekers is imminent.

Among the leaders critics, who accuse him of encouraging would-be refugees to come to Canada without thinking through the consequences, is opposition MP, Michelle Rempel.

The legislator from the opposition Conservative Party, said it was 'completely ridiculous that the Prime Minister of Canada would tout a tent city' to deal with the influx as winter approached.

Canada fears a huge surge in asylum seekers crossing the border from the United States, putting political pressure on Trudeau ahead of a 2019 election.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, and Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, right, participate in the annual pride parade in Montreal on Sunday

Asylum seekers get their belongings from a bus after arriving to Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Canada

A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer informs a migrant couple of the location of a legal border station, shortly before they illegally crossed from Champlain, New York to Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Quebec, using Roxham Road

The number of migrants illegally entering Canada more than tripled in July and August, hitting nearly 7,000.

Haitians, who face looming deportation from the United States when their temporary protected status expires in January 2018, accounted for much of the inflow.

Two sources familiar with Canadian government thinking said citizens from El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras, who are slated to lose their protected status in the United States in early 2018, may also head north.

Awoman holds a sign in support of asylum seekers during a rally outside Olympic Stadium in Montreal

'There is concern we'll see a huge increase, mostly from Central America,' said one source.

'The question is, which group is next, and how are we going to deal with it, and what is the impact on Canadians?' added the source, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Most of the new arrivals are going to the predominantly French-speaking province of Quebec, sparking protests from opposition politicians and anti-immigrant groups.

Trudeau's Liberals need to gain support in Quebec to offset expected losses elsewhere ahead of an October 2019 election.

Asked whether the Liberals were worried about losing popularity in Quebec over the issue, the source said: 'Absolutely. That's a concern.'

But if Trudeau clamps down too far, he risks tarnishing a long-cultivated reputation for openness and tolerance.

He pointedly tweeted Canada's welcome of refugees after US President Donald Trump unveiled a travel ban in January.

'The government is in a real quandary over this,' said a third source familiar with official thinking.

An asylum seeker holds his head as he leaves a storage container, where a security officer stands guard at a processing center near the Canada-United States border in Lacolle, Quebec

Ataxi filled with women from various nations pay their fare as they arrive at an unofficial border station across from Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Quebec

Canadian soldiers set up tents to house asylum seekers at the Canada-United States border in Lacolle, Quebec. Like in the United States, rules in Canada allow for asylum for people who can demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution in their homeland based on race, religion, political opinion, nationality or membership in a group like the LBGT community. People can also be accepted if Canada fears they face torture or cruel or unusual punishment if they are deported

President Donald Trump listens as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House back in February

Leger Marketing pollster Christian Bourque said there were no immediate signs that support in Quebec for Trudeau was weakening.

'I think that changes if people do not perceive the government is taking a strong stand,' he said.

A Reuters poll in March found nearly half of Canadians want to deport people who are illegally crossing from the United States.

Ottawa has hardened its tone in recent days, warning people not to cross the border since they could well be deported.

A Haitian-Canadian Liberal legislator is due to visit Miami on Thursday, home to a large expatriate community, in a bid to persuade people to stay put.

Officials complain false stories are circulating about how easy it is to be granted permission to stay in Canada.

Asked whether the government feared it might suffer politically in Quebec, Trudeau spokesman Cameron Ahmad replied: 'There are concerns the right information is not entirely available to the diaspora.'

For the time being, some of the Haitians are in temporary housing, including Montreal's Olympic Stadium and at least two tent camps near the border.

Like in the United States, rules in Canada allow for asylum for people who can demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution in their homeland based on race, religion, political opinion, nationality or membership in a group like the LBGT community.

People can also be accepted if Canada fears they face torture or cruel or unusual punishment if they are deported.
Human remains found at a site in Aruba where missing teenager Natalee Holloway may have been buried belong to a young woman of eastern European descent, according to preliminary tests, DailyMail.com can reveal.

The breakthrough, made during the early stages of DNA testing, means the Holloway family - which has eastern European heritage- may be one step closer to finding out the agonizing truth behind their daughter's disappearance.

The initial finding is still to be confirmed by further testing.

Natalee, 18, from Mountain Brook, Alabama vanished on Aruba on May 30, 2005 while on a trip to celebrate her high school graduation.

She was last seen by her classmates leaving a nightclub with Joran van der Sloot - a then 17-year-old Dutch honors student living on the tropical island. No trace of her body has ever been found.

Now her father Dave Holloway believes the discovery of human remains - the result of a tip-off investigated by his private investigator TJ Ward - could be the lead they have been waiting for this past 12 years.

Missing: Natalee Holloway's disappearance on Aruba led to a massive search in its immediate wake, but after 12 years there are still no answers. The discovery of what scientists say are bone fragments could help the Holloways' search for the truth

Reconstruction: The new Oxygen documentary follows Dave Holloway's trip to Aruba, which included a dig at a spot on the island where bone fragments were found. It showed footage reconstructing what vand der Sloot and Ludwick were alleged to have done

Source: An informant called Gabriel (right) mat Dave Holloway (left) after making secret recordings of John Luwdick in which he apparently confessed to helping dispose of Natalee's body. The information led to the trip to Aruba and the discovery of the bone fragments

Suspect: Joran van der Sloot is now in prison in Peru for murdering his girlfriend, but the evidence of informant 'Gabriel' could bring new hope of solving the mystery of Natalee Holloway

The full DNA test results, which will determine whether the bone fragments belong to Natalee or not, are expected to be returned within two weeks, a source close to the case has disclosed.

The discovery is part of 'The Disappearance of Natalee Holloway,' a docuseries currently running on Oxygen.

The series follows the journey of her father and Ward in the wake of the tip-off.

A source close to the production told DailyMail.com: 'The nature of these remains means further testing is required before anything can be confirmed.'

DailyMail.com has also learned that Natalee's mother Beth Holloway provided a saliva sample to assist in the testing.

A source with knowledge of the testing said: 'So far all the indicators are that these bone fragments are the human remains of a young female, consistent with someone of eastern European descent.

'This is in line with what the investigators would expect when it comes to Natalee's family's lineage.

'There's still more testing to complete, but it should be wrapped up in less than two weeks and then the Holloway family will know for sure.

'It will be agonizing if Dave and Beth are told this is their daughter, but after 12 years of searching for answers it will be a huge deal for them - it might finally bring them closure.'

The source says experts are conducting a mitochondrial DNA test (mtDNA test) on the remains at a reputable, undisclosed lab in the US.

The mtDNA test traces a person's matrilineal or mother-line ancestry using the DNA in his or her mitochondria - a structure that sits inside the human cell.

This type of DNA is passed down by the mother unchanged, to all her children, both male and female.

If the mtDNA inside the bone fragments matches that in the saliva provided by Beth Holloway, that will be conclusive evidence that Natalee's remains have been found.

The information that led investigators to the remains came from an informant named Gabriel, a former roommate of Joran van der Sloot's best friend John Ludwick.

Friends: John Ludwick (left) and Joran van der Sloot were best friends when Natalee Holloway disappeared. Now he has been taped apparently confessing to helping van der Sloot dispose of her body after she died. In his version of events she had been drugged by van der Sloot

Innocent fun: Natalee was with friends celebrating her high school graduation when she vanished. The straight-A student had a scholarship for college

Previous effort: In 2005 Joran van der Sloot was taken in handcuffs to locations near where Natalee Holloway was last known to have been seen, but was not charged due to lack of evidence

Van der Sloot - who is currently in prison in Peru serving a 28-year sentence for the 2010 murder of 21-year-old business student Stephany Flores Ramirez - has long been a suspect in Natalee's disappearance.

Gabriel told Dave Holloway that, according to Ludwick, his daughter was buried in a park near her hotel on the island - a sequence of events that marked one of the biggest breaks in the 12-year history of the case.

Ludwick apparently told Gabriel that van der Sloot disposed of Natalee's body with help from his father Paulus, a judge on the island, after the teen choked to death on her own vomit soon after she was given a drink that had been spiked with GHB. Paulus has since died.

Van der Sloot revealed his actions to Ludwick, who then repeated the information to Gabriel while the two were living together in recent years.

Involvement: Dave Holloway and private detective TJ Ward have been to Aruba and are now waiting for the tests on the remains

Dave announced last week while appearing on Today that he followed up on that tip, and soon after remains were found.

'We did an 18-month undercover investigation with an informant who was friends with an individual who had personal knowledge from Joran van der Sloot,' said Dave.

'And had information that took us to a spot where remains were found. And we took those remains and had those remains tested. And they just returned last week they are human remains.'

Dave said he is being careful however to not rush to any conclusions.

According to Aruba Public Prosecutor Dorean Kardol, the discovery never happened.

He told the Huffington Post that 'no human remains were found' in the area Dave pointed out.

'During an investigation by police in an area indicated by Mr. Holloway, we found remains, but they were found to be from animals,' Kardol said.

Dave has long been a critic of the investigation into the disappearance of his daughter conducted by the Aruban authorities and slammed the prosecutor's comments as 'misleading'.

He maintains that they have the remains and have a report from the lab showing they are human.

The discovery is part of 'The Disappearance of Natalee Holloway,' a docuseries currently running on Oxygen.

A preview of the second episode, which will air at 7pm on Saturday, reveals that viewers will now see the great lengths Gabriel had to go to in order to get his informant to repeat the story while he was wearing a mic so that Natalee's father Dave and private investigator TJ Ward could hear the admission for themselves.
As fights to alter the date of Australia Day and pull down or alter statues come to a head, some experts are warning changes to the history curriculum taught in schools could be to blame.

Kevin Donnelly, who runs education think-tank The Education Institute, says imbalanced teaching is leaving students with a 'strong sense of guilt'.

He told The Australian while some acts committed by the British upon their arrival in Australia were 'wrong', some were 'beneficial and positive' but were not given the same weight in the classroom.

Experts are saying Australia's school history curriculum is leaving students with a 'sense of guilt', as protests over Australia Day and Indigenous recognition ramp up

Kevin Donnelly, who co-chaired the 2014 National Curriculum Review, says there is not enough balance in terms of positive work done by European settlers in Australia

'When you look at the history curriculum part of the problem is students come away with a strong sense of guilt about what we've done as a nation in terms of indigenous culture and history.'

Mr Donnelly went on to explain children would leave school with a 'black-armband view where we feel guilt about something over which we now have no control'.

The senior research fellow at the Australian Catholic University's comments were echoed by Professor Ken Wiltshire, who also argued children were not taught a 'comprehensive' version of the nation's history.

Other academic experts agreed with him, suggesting many important plot points were skipped in classrooms (pictured: a drawing of the First Fleet)

Earlier this week, Indigenous leader Stan Grant called for an inscription on a statue in Sydney's Hyde Park, which credits Captain James Cook with 'discovering Australia' to be changed.

The man wrote in a column for the ABC that for Indigenous people, the statue was a reminder of 'the violent rupture of Aboriginal society'  an ongoing issue.

'This statue speaks to emptiness, it speaks to our invisibility,' he said.

'It says that nothing truly mattered, nothing truly counted until a white sailor first walked on these shores.'

Claiming that it makes Indigenous people and culture feel 'invisible', Indigenous leader Stan Grant has called for the inscription on this statue of Captain James Cook located in Sydney's Hyde Park to be changed

Adding fuel to the fire, two Melbourne local councils have responded to protests regarding the date of Australia Day - choosing to cease holding celebrations or citizenship ceremonies on January 26.

The Federal Government responded to the decision by disallowing the Councils to hold citizenship ceremonies in their area at any time of the year.

NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes said the state had worked hard to pull together an adequate mix of Indigenous history and early European settlement.

' If you're genuine about trying to teach Australian history, it's impossible to have one without the other,' he said.
Jon Snow has admitted that he belongs to a metropolitan elite that is out of touch with public feeling.

The Channel 4 news anchor said that he had got it wrong on Brexit, and that he was comfortably with the elite, with little awareness of people who are not part of the same club.

The famously liberal journalist admitted: Over this past year, we - me included  mostly London-based media pundits, pollsters and so-called experts got it wrong.

The Brexit referendum, we got that wrong. Trump defied completely more so-called experts, pundits and journalists alike.

Journalist and presenter Jon Snow, pictured, admitted he belonged to a 'metropolitan elite' who are 'out of touch with the public feeling'

Addressing executives at the Edinburgh TV Festival, he went on: We had better accept [that] all of us in this room are by definition part of the eliteWe have, by the nature of our business, an obligation to be aware of, connect with, and understand the lives, concerns and needs of those who are not.

I believe we are in breach of that obligation  that in increasingly fractured Britain, we are comfortably with the elite, with little awareness, contact, or connection with those who are not of the elite.

The comments from Mr Snow, 69, come less than two months after he was caught chanting f*** the Tories at the Glastonbury festival.

Channel 4 bosses rapped him on the knuckles for breaking impartiality rules with the foul-mouthed episode, whilst Conservative MPs called for him to be sacked.

The episode came to light after a Twitter user posted a photograph of Mr Snow partying at Glastonbury, alongside the caption: Having a dance with Jon Snow and hearing him shout f*** the Tories is what dreams are made of.

The 69-year old allegedly told revellers at the music festival: Im supposed to be neutral after his comment about the Conservative party.

Snow's comments come two months after he was accused of chanting 'f*** the Tories' at Glastonbury, pictured

However, he later claimed that he had no recollection of the episode.

Yesterday, the veteran journalist made light of the incident, as he delivered the prestigious annual MacTaggart lecture, given each year by a senior media figure.

Oh Glastonbury.like they say about the 60s  if you remember it, you just werent there.

Mr Snow is the longest running presenter of Channel 4 News, which he has presented since 1989.
Police forces hold more than 20million mugshots and this risks undermining public confidence, a watchdog has warned.

Professor Paul Wiles, the independent Biometrics Commissioner, said there was a real danger the number of facial recognition images stored would rocket.

He said the lack of laws controlling the use of the crime-fighting technology risked damaging confidence in the UKs model of policing by consent.

Forces store more than 20million pictures and videos, known as custody images, taken at police stations of people they have arrested or questioned.

Professor Paul Wiles, the independent Biometrics Commissioner, said there was a real danger the number of facial recognition images stored would rocket. Pictured: A file photograph of facial recognition software

Around 16million are held on IT systems that can be searched using facial recognition software  meaning new images can be checked against existing files to see if someone is already there. Frontline officers use the technology to identify suspects, offenders and those on bail.

Custody images are also used in investigations to identify witnesses and help with searching for unidentified suspects, such as those spotted on CCTV.

But it has raised concerns from MPs and civil liberties groups over whether the technology  being used at the Notting Hill Carnival this weekend  could be illegal.

In his first public comments since taking office in June 2016, Professor Wiles said without intervention the number of facial images held by police will go on increasing and undermine confidence in policing. Acknowledging facial recognition software is an intrusion on privacy, he said the police should not have been allowed to strike the balance between public benefits and individual privacy.

In February, Home Secretary Amber Rudd (pictured) said individuals could ask police to destroy their mugshots  but it would be left to a chief constables discretion whether to keep the images on record or not

Police databases include the facial images of hundreds of thousands of innocent people.

In a landmark case in 2012, judges made clear that retaining photographs of citizens never convicted of an offence was illegal and a breach of their human rights.

In February, Home Secretary Amber Rudd responded by saying individuals could ask police to destroy their mugshots  but it would be left to a chief constables discretion whether to keep the images on record or not.

Liberal Democrat MP Norman Lamb said: We should have the widest possible discussion to ensure that people feel reassured'

Professor Wiles said: I think its a question in a democracy for Parliament to decide.

Pointing out that the Governments biometrics strategy  which would potentially allow MPs to debate the issue  was four years late, he added: I think its now got to the point where it really is urgent for the Government to publish that strategy and say whether it intends to create a legislative framework for the use of facial images.

Liberal Democrat MP Norman Lamb, chairman of the Commons science and technology committee, said: We should have the widest possible discussion to ensure that people feel reassured and satisfied that this technology is going to be used properly.

Renate Samson, of privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, said automatic deletion of custody images should be standard when someone is released without charge.

The Home Office said there should be a general presumption that an image will be removed if someone who is not convicted requests deletion.
Holidaymakers buying their euros at the last minute are falling victim to pantomime-villain airport bureaux offering just 87 cents to the pound.

Consumer experts attacked airport exchange services as the pound fell to an eight-year low yesterday.

On the currency markets it slumped 0.6 per cent to 1.083 euros  its lowest level since October 2009.

Holidaymakers buying their euros at the last minute are falling victim to pantomime-villain airport bureaux offering just 87 cents to the pound (Stock image)

But at the airports the exchange rate plummeted further, with people getting the worst rates since the financial crisis.

At Southampton airport yesterday the walk-up rate offered by currency exchange service Moneycorp was just 0.872 euros to 1. This means for every 1,000 of spending money, holidaymakers would get just 872 euros. By contrast holidaymakers who purchase their travel money online in advance can get much closer to the official rate.

Tesco, for example, was yesterday offering 1.07 euros and free delivery for online orders of more than 500 euros.

Ian Strafford-Taylor, chief executive of travel money firm FairFX, said: Holidaymakers getting away from it all to make the most of the last bank holiday of the year need to be wary of buying currency last-minute at the airport.

And James Daley, director of consumer website Fairer Finance, said: Airport bureaux are becoming the pantomime villains of the summer.

They have always offered bad rates but over the past couple of years the gap between the market rate and what we get seems to be getting wider and wider.

Holidaymakers need to get savvier and avoid the airport bureaux at all costs unless they have bought the currency ahead of time and are just picking it up. Buying in advance will get travellers a much better rate.

Experts say the pounds eight-year low against the euro is down to stronger-than-expected growth in the Eurozone economy during the first half of the year and worries about Brexit. The pound continued to fall throughout yesterday to 1.083 euros last night  down 0.6 per cent over the day and 0.75 per cent since Tuesday.

Figures show that in the past six months the pound has fallen 8.7 per cent against the euro. It is down 20.2 per cent compared to two years ago.

It comes ahead of a speech tomorrow by European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi at a key global gathering of policymakers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

It comes ahead of a speech tomorrow by European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi at a key global gathering of policymakers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It is thought that whatever Mr Draghi says could impact the currency markets further, which could either spell further bad news for British holidaymakers or give them a boost depending on how his speech is received.

Adrian Lowcock, investment director of Architas, said that in the UK the Brexit vote and snap General Election have weighed on the pound, keeping it low This is likely to continue whilst Brexit negotiations continue.

Pauline Maguire, retail director at Moneycorp, said: The reason for our higher airport rates is the significant cost associated with operating there  from ground rent and additional security, to the cost of staffing the bureaux for customers on early and late flights.
Police and municipalities in the U.S. have faced at least 435 wrongful death suits involving Tasers, with families and estates due to receive at least $172 million in publicly funded payouts.

After Reuters examined hundreds of wrongful death lawsuits, they found the public pays most of the liability bill as police describe difficulty keeping up with the manufacturers increasingly detailed safety alerts.

Reuters was unable to identify settlement amounts in dozens of cases where terms weren't disclosed, therefore the amount of money paid out by the government is substantially higher than $172 million.

The United States police and municipalities face at least 435 wrongful death suits involving Tasers, with families and estates receiving at least $172 million in publicly funded payouts

Taser, which changed its name this year to Axon Enterprise Inc, says its product safety warnings are 'strong and unambiguous' and that its advisories protect both the company and its police clients from liability.

Taser said the only deaths that can be attributed to its stun guns involve 24 cases in which the person died from secondary injuries, such as falls or fires caused by the Taser.

However, Reuters weas able to collect official cause-of-death rulings for more than 70 per cent of the deaths it identified - 712 cases.

Tasers were listed as a cause of death or a contributing factor in 153 of those cases.

At least 48 people have died in the United States since January, about one death a week, in incidents where police used Tasers, according to a Washington Post examination.

Police have described difficulty with keeping up to date with Taser's increasingly detailed safety alerts

1,005 people have died in the United States following encounters with police in which Tasers were used either on their own or, more often, as part of a larger mosaic of force

The ongoing debate continues across the U.S. over how police use force in the wake of these wrongful death suits.

Steve Tuttle, a spokesman for Taser International said: 'Were proud that weve given a tool to the toolbox that provides a safer alternative than using a baton strike that beats somebody senseless.

'Its better than spraying an acid in someones eyes thats going to make them suffer and burn for 45 minutes, even after theyve complied, versus what we call an elegant, more humane and accountable solution.'
The management company responsible for Grenfell Tower is to be stripped of running surrounding homes, Theresa May said yesterday as she admitted mistakes had been made.

The Prime Minister said survivors of the Grenfell inferno had told her about fears about Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, which has been accused of ignoring residents warnings about safety before the deadly fire.

Police are to interview senior officials from the TMO and Kensington council as part of a corporate manslaughter investigation, following the deaths of at least 80 people in the June 14 blaze.

In a private meeting with survivors, Mrs May admitted the Conservative-controlled council had been slow to act after the fire, in which hundreds lost their homes and belongings.

Mrs May has admitted the Conservative-controlled council had been slow to act after the fire

Mrs May, who faced criticism for initially failing to meet survivors and was booed during a later visit, met with up to 70 residents and said the meeting was very dignified.

She said: The Tenant Management Organisation (TMO) is one of the issues that residents have been very concerned about - I was able to tell them that the TMO will no longer have responsibility for the Lancaster West housing estate. People were pleased to hear that. The Prime Minister listened to residents concerns about housing, bereavement support and the distribution of donations, which are not reaching survivors quickly enough, according to the Charity Commission.

A Downing Street spokesman said: The Prime Minister acknowledged residents concerns about the culture of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the TMO.

She confirmed that the TMO will be removed from the management of the Lancaster West estate and she recognised that the council did not respond quickly enough after the fire.

She agreed that it was important that the council listen to and respond to the issues residents face about the support and information they were receiving, including from key workers and housing officers. Council leader Elizabeth Campbell said she would consider all options to replace the TMO, adding: The only option we wont consider is the TMO continuing. Mrs Campbell said the council was working to rehouse more than 180 households who had been living in hotels and temporary accommodation since the fire, at a cost to the council of more than 1,000 per household per week.

Police believe at least 80 people were killed but so far only 53 have been formally identified using dental records, fingerprints and DNA. Pictured: The charred remains of Grenfell Tower

She said she would spend every penny of the councils 270million reserves if needed, with 30million already allocated on rehousing and a further 76million set to be made available.

She said: Its a lot of money, tens of millions of pounds, but thats what that money is there for. Meanwhile Westminster coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox warned that identification of victims from the fire was becoming increasingly difficult.

Police believe at least 80 people were killed but so far only 53 have been formally identified using dental records, fingerprints and DNA.

Detectives leading the investigation have warned some victims may never be identified because of the intensity of the fire and discrepancies in records over who was living inside.

The latest victim to be identified was named yesterday as Ernie Vital, 50, who lived with his mother Marjorie, who was also killed. Their family said Mr Vital was a kind, sensitive and caring person with a warm hearted smile.
In the race to be the world's richest tech billionaire, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg are closing in on frontrunner Bill Gates as their fortunes increase by $15billion each.

It comes as no surprise that Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, still holds the top spot with his fortune amassing $84.5billion, marking the Harvard dropout's 18th time as the world's richest billionaire.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, 53, gave Gates a run for his money, surpassing the computer whiz for one morning, but ultimately came in second with a fortune of $81.7billion.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, 33, is the third richest person, valued at $69.6billion, one of the 50 Americans dominating the list, Forbes revealed on Wednesday.

Both Zuckerberg and Bezos are the first and second biggest gainers this year, respectively, each increasing their extraordinary wealth by $15.5billion.

Forbes released its annual richest billionaires in technology list on Wednesday. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates (pictured) still holds the top spot with a fortune of $84.5billion

Jeff Bezos, 53, (left), the man behind Amazon, is the second richest person in tech with a fortune of $81.7billion. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, 33, (right) holds the third spot with $69.6billion. Both men are the first and second biggest gainers this year, respectively, each increasing their extraordinary wealth by $15.5billion

The top three richest tech billionaires have a good head start on the rest of the competition, with Larry Ellison landing the fourth spot at $59.3billion and Larry Page in fifth at $43.9billion, according to Forbes.

The rest of the top 10 continues with Sergey Brin at $42.7billion, Jack Ma at $37.4billion, Ma Huateng with $36.7billion, Steve Ballmer with $32.9billion and Michael Dell amassing $22.4billion.

Eight out of the top 10 are from the United States with the other two hailing from China.

Bezos and Zuckerberg both had an eventful year.

Bezos, the owner of online retail giant Amazon.com, briefly held the top spot as the world's richest person in late July when his personal wealth surpassed $91billion.

He briefly topped Bill Gates, the 61-year-old co-founder of Microsoft Corp, who has held the top spot since May 2013.

But Bezos quickly slipped to second best when Amazon reported its second quarter earnings showing a profit of $197million on strong sales of $38billion.

The dip in profit is a 77 per cent drop from $857million this time last year, and it's mainly due to Amazons aggressive investments in its own business.

Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison comes fourth in the list with a fortune of $59.3billion

Snapchat founders Evan Spiegel, 27, (right) and Bobby Murphy, 29, (left) are the two youngest on the list, each worth $3.2b. The two Stanford fraternity brothers are both tied for 76th place

Bezos' company announced in June a $13.7billion takeover of Whole Foods Market.

The takeover would give the e-commerce giant more than 460 Whole Foods stores and the possibility of making big changes to the supermarket industry.

Zuckerberg's wealth grew by $15.6billion this year, thanks to Facebook stock surging by 34 per cent within the past 12 months.

The Facebook CEO is said to be rumored to be eyeing a role in politics, as his foundation has hired several heavy-weight political advisers to be on the charity's board.

Plus Zuckerberg has recently made moves to propel Facebook into the world of augmented reality with a new patent.

Three members of the company's VR arm Oculus applied for a patent for AR glasses that would allow wearers to see virtual objects - and presumably Facebook posts and notifications - in the real world around them.

Leading ladies: Meg Whitman (left) and Denise Coates (right) are two of the richest six women on the list. Whitman is worth $2.8bn and Coates is valued at $3.6bn

Zhou Qunfei, from Hong Kong, is the wealthiest woman on the list valued at $10billion

The glasses will take on the Spectacle from Snap, which has dominated consumer-friendly AR with its famed filters (which Facebook is known to steal).

Other notables on the list are Snapchat founders Evan Spiegel, 27, and Bobby Murphy, 29, the two youngest billionaires on the list, each worth $3.2billion.

The two Stanford fraternity brothers are both tied for 76th place. It is Murphy's first time on the list.

There are six women on the list of 100, including Zhou Qunfei at $10billion, who is the richest woman in the rankings.

She is followed by Lam Wai Ying at $5.2billion, Denise Coates at $3.6billion, Judy Faulkner at $3.4billion, Meg Whitman at $2.8billion and Wang Laichun at $2.6billion.

TOP 50 RICHEST TECH BILLIONAIRES 1. Bill Gates - $84.5b 2. Jeff Bezos - $81.7b 3. Mark Zuckerberg - $69.6b 4. Larry Ellison - $59.3b 5. Larry Page - $43.9b 6. Sergey Brin - $42.7 7. Jack Ma - $37.4b 8. Ma Huateng - $36.7b 9. Steve Ballmer - $32.9b 10. Michael Dell - $22.4b 10. Masayoshi Son - $22.4b 12. Elon Musk - $20.7b 13. Paul Allen - $20.5b 14. Lee Kun-Hee - $18.3b 15. Azim Premji - $18.2b 16. William Ding - $16.1b 17. Robin Li - $15.8b 18. Shiv Nadar - $13.5b 19. Dustin Moskovitz - $13.3b 20. Hasso Plattner - $12.6b 21. Zhang Zhidong - $12.5b 22. Eric Schmidt - $12.4b 23. Terry Gou - $10.2b 23. Dietmar Hopp - $10.2b 25. Liu Qiangdong - $10.1b 26. Zhou Qunfei - $10b 27. Eduardo Saverin - $9.7b 28. Jan Koum - $9.6b 29. Pierre Omidyar - $9.3b 30. James Goodnight - $8.9b 31. Joseph Tsai - $8.7b 32. Pan Zhengmin - $7.6b 33. David Duffield - $7.3b 33. Hiroshi Mikitani - $7.3b 35. Gordon Moore - $7.1b 36. Jay Y. Lee - $6.9b 36. Lei Jun - $6.9b 38. Brian Acton - $6.3b 39. Kwon Hyuk-Bin - $6.2b 40. John Doerr - $5.7b 40. David Sun - $5.7b 40. John Tu - $5.7b 43. Gabe Newell - $5.5b 44. Andreas von Bechtolsheim - $5.4b 44. Yeung Kin-man - $5.4b 46. Ralph Dommermuth - $5.3b 47. Lam Wai Ying - $5.2b 48. Garrett Camp - $5.1b 48. Travis Kalanick - $5.1b 50. David Cheriton - $4.9b Advertisement
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For decades, district leaders have been clamoring for more say over how they spend their federal money. And when the Every Student Succeeds Act passed back in 2015, it looked like they had finally gotten their wish: a brand-new $1.6 billion block grant that could be used for computer science initiatives, suicide prevention, new band instruments, and almost anything else that could improve students well-being or provide them with a well-rounded education.

But, for now at least, it looks like most district officials will only get a small sliver of the funding they had hoped for, putting the block grants effectiveness and future in doubt.

The Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grantsor Title IV of ESSAonly received about a quarter of the funding the law recommends, $400 million for the 2017-18 school year, when ESSA will be fully in place for the first time.

To help get bigger bang for the funds considerably reduced buck, Congress gave states the option, for one year only, to give the money out through a competitive process, allowing for fewer, but more-ambitious projects.

Most states, though, still opted to pump the money out through a formula that assures each district at least some of the pie, an Education Week survey found. Only seven states have said for sure that they will run a competition. (More specifics below.) That means most districts will get a relatively small sumas little as the required minimum of $10,000 for many districtsinstead of larger grants to a fortunate few.

In fact, the program will receive so little funding that many districts could decide to take another option in ESSA: directing Title IV funding to another federal program, including Title II grants for teacher quality, which weathered at a least a $200 million cut in the most recent budget.

Heres why that may be a problem: If the money isnt used for innovative initiatives, advocates may not have much to show for the inaugural year of the block grant. Thats not a great position for Title IV to be in as Congress and the Trump administration seek to hack domestic spending, including K-12 education. President Donald Trump put Title IV on the chopping block in his first budget proposal.

The tough thing is that the block grant was set up to be reliant on adequate funding in order to be successful, said Ally Bernstein, a member of the steering committee of a coalition of more than 50 organizations advocating for Title IV funding. Shes grateful, she said, that Congress was able to fund the program at all, and appreciates that the House of Representatives is seeking an increase, to $500 million.

But she would love to see all districts get funding and be able to spread their money out over several different priorities. We want this program to live up to the promise of the way it was written, she said.

Shes hoping the states that set up competitions for the money can show lawmakers whats possible when the grants are sizeable enough to make a difference. The biggest change is going to come from these competitive grants, she said.

But Bernstein acknowledges there wont be as many examples to look to as she would like.

Just seven states said they were definitely planning to run a competition: Indiana, Minnesota, New York, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. At least of one of those statesNebraskapicked the competitive option in part because it would have been tough to offer every district the required minimum of $10,000. And one stateMontanais still trying to decide whether to allocate their funds by formula or through a competition.

A handful of states are trying for what they describe as a hybrid solution. Massachusetts is planning to allocate the money by formula, but any unclaimed funds could be doled out through a competition.

Rhode Island will pump the money out by formula, but would like to direct as much as possible towards two standing priorities: early literacy and advanced coursework, including course choice, said Ken Wagner, the commissioner of education. He sees this middle ground as the best approach.

Im not sure how that is helpful if we fund three or four of our 35 districts, Wagner said. We also dont want the money just to disappear.

Hawaii, a state has only one school district, is planning to roll the money into Title II, the main federal program dealing with teacher quality. The Aloha State would get about $1.9 million from Title IV, a spokeswoman explained, which would not be enough to fund a high-quality, standalone initiative in Hawaii.

The small funding levels dont leave much room for creative new initiatives, some local officials say. Betsy Webb, the superintendent of the 3,800-student Bangor School District in Maine, was hoping to spend the money on an item thats been on her wish list for some time: a new, STEM-focused project-based learning initiative for elementary school students. The district, she said, boasts a strong STEM high school, and she was hoping to get students excited about science early on in their careers.

But, in part because Maine is pumping the money out by formula and must give every district roughly $10,000, Bangor ended up with a lot less funding than shed hoped, around $9,000 once she shares the funding with private schools, as is required under the grant. She will have to find another way, she said, to make the project-based learning program happen.

Shes considering either transferring the money into Title I, the federal program for disadvantaged students which was cut this year, or using it to help students cover the cost of Advanced Placement course fees.

The formula option was by far the most popular in part because it doesnt require states to choose winners and losers from among their districts, or set up a competition from scratch at a time when state officials are also coping with a host of other demands to implement ESSA, experts and state officials say.

For North Carolina, the decision to go with formula grants was about timeliness, said Donna Brown, the director of federal program monitoring and support.

It takes a considerable amount of time to develop a proposal, train peer reviewers to examine different districts pitches, she said. We didnt think it was reasonable since the states goal was to get the money out as quickly as possible.

Brown said that she wasnt sure yet how districts would choose among the broad array of potential uses of the money.

We understand that its going to be challenging in some places because its a small amount and they are going to want to put it to the best use possible, she said. If the program had gotten as much money as ESSA recommends, obviously it could have had four times the impact, Brown said.

Brown isnt anticipating that many of her districts will take the option to transfer the funding to Title I or Title IIhistorically that hasnt been a popular choice in North Carolina.

But some district officials elsewhere say that combining the money with already-existing programs is the best way to invest such small sums. The 13,000-student Downington school district outside Philadelphia is the eighth-largest system in Pennsylvania and is getting just $10,000, nearly $1,700 of which must be shared with private schools under federal spending laws, said Emilie Lonardi, the superintendent.

Its quite a small [amount] for a district our size, she said, noting that her overall budget is about $200 million. She decided to combine the block grant dollars with her Title II funding, which is going to an initiative aimed at helping teachers use technology. Sometimes that money runs a bit short, she said. So every little bit does help.

Nevada, on the other hand, is planning to run a competition and give priority to districts that have both financial and academic need, said Christy McGill, the director of the office of safe and respectful learning at the Nevada Department of Education.

We really wanted the money to be able to make a difference for our schools, especially our schools that are struggling, McGill said.

The details of the program are still being worked out, she said, but she expects the state will give a leg-up to proposals that have some evidence to back them up. And Nevada may give priority to projects that address things like social-and-emotional learning and school climate, and that put a premium on intervening as soon as a student starts to exhibit academic or behavorial problems, McGill said.

Nebraska also decided to run a competition because it expected bigger grants could translate into bigger results, said Diane Stuehmer, the federal programs administrator in the states department of education.

The state is setting its minimum grant at $30,000, which Stuehmer expects could make a meaningful difference for some of the states small rural districts. She anticipates that larger urban systems, including Omaha and Lincoln, may ask forand getmore money.

The state isnt planning to put a ton of its own guidelines around proposals.

Were really opening it up to [districts] and hoping we get some innovative activities coming through, she said. And Stuehmer would like to see Title IV stick around for the long haul. I would love to see more money so that all of our districts can benefit.

Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 .
Amber Rudd, pictured, has ordered a major investigation into whether foreign students are boosting or hampering the prospects of their peers born in the UK

Total migration to Britain could be far lower than thought because foreign students may not be counted properly, it emerged today.

Amber Rudd has ordered a major investigation into whether an influx of foreign students is boosting or hampering the prospects of those born here.

The Home Secretary has asked an independent panel to carry out the most comprehensive assessment ever of foreign citizens studying in British universities.

If it is proven there are fewer foreign students in Britain than thought, net migration could be tens of thousands lower - putting Theresa May much closer to the Tory immigration target.

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) will examine the effect of both EU and non-EU students tuition fees, their spending and contribution to the local economy and place in the labour market.

It will also look at whether the number of foreign students has any effect on the 'provision and quality of education provided to domestic students'.

The review will consider whether overseas funding boosts education quality for UK students - or whether the need to attract such funding drives down the number of places for people from Britain.

The review was being announced as the Home Office publishes the first data compiled from exit checks at the border, a system introduced in April 2015 to track the departure from Britain of more than 100million visitors.

Ministers rolled out the regime to build a more complete picture of whether people who enter the UK leave when their visas expire.

Ms Rudds request to the committee comes a month after a report revealed ministers do not know how many foreign students are returning home after completing their courses because of flaws in official data.

A survey used by the Government to estimate how many overseas students go home and how many stay is 'potentially misleading', the Office for Statistics regulation found.

Official figures have suggested that 110,000 immigrants a year are exploiting the system by staying in the UK after finishing their educations  with around one-third remaining in the UK illegally and moving into the black economy.

The Office for Statistics Regulation has condemned the quality of the data and said it should be downgraded to the status of an experimental figure.

Ms Rudd has asked the committee to report back by September next year. But she said the Government was committed to keeping the doors open to genuine students, while cracking down on abuse of the system.

She said: There is no limit to the number of genuine international students who can come to the UK to study.

Official figures have suggested that 110,000 immigrants a year are exploiting the system by staying in the UK after finishing their educations (file picture)

We understand how important students from around the world are to our higher education sector, which is a key export for our country, and that's why we want to have a robust and independent evidence base of their value and the impact they have.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that in the year to December, some 132,000 foreign citizens received visas to study in the UK, but only 63,000 overseas students left  a difference of 69,000.

EU citizens are permitted to study here but the discrepancy has fuelled concerns about the extent to which non-EU citizens are able to exploit the controversial scheme after enrolling on courses at colleges or universities.

It comes as Cabinet ministers have warned Theresa May that the Government will never meet the Tory pledge to cut net migration to the 'tens of thousands' unless foreign students are removed from the numbers.

Failure to send overseas graduates home after they complete their studies adds to the pressure piled on public services.

The Prime Minister is facing a revolt over her refusal to countenance the change, which could slash net migration  the difference between those arriving in the UK and those leaving  by more than a third. The total in the year to December was 248,000.

Prime Minister Theresa May has been warned by her Cabinet to remove foreign students from the migration figures to help officially lower net migration

But Mrs May believes it would be duping the public by artificially deflating the total number of migrants arriving in Britain.

Britain is the second most popular destination for overseas students after the US. Since 2010, the Government has closed over 900 bogus colleges which were accused of selling a back-door to the UK.

Universities and businesses have argued against any curbs on foreign students, claiming they contribute of 2.3billion annually to the British economy.

Alistair Jarvis, chief executive of Universities UK, said: We welcome the Government's commitment to a detailed examination of the net benefits of international students.

This is an opportunity to build on the considerable evidence that shows that international students have a very positive impact on the UK economy and local communities.
Journalist Afua Hirsch has started a campaign to pull down the statue of Lord Nelson, arguing that he was a 'white supremacist'

Afua Hirsch is a 36-year-old half-British, half- Ghanaian journalist brought up in London who, until this week, scarcely anybody had heard of.

She has now, however, achieved her five minutes of notoriety, space in the Guardian and a television debate, by proposing that Nelsons statue in Trafalgar Square should be torn from its plinth among the pigeons because he was a white supremacist.

She is pursuing the trail blazed by the Oxford protesters who seek to depose Cecil Rhodes, the Bristol campaigners who have secured the rebranding of the Colston Hall concert venue, and the Americans who are everywhere overthrowing images of Confederate Civil War heroes.

All those whose monuments are being challenged face similar charges  exploitation of black people, engagement in slavery. Some modern black or mixed-race British and American people find it offensive that representations of historic figures who cruelly mistreated their forefathers should continue to occupy places of honour in our communities.

Because summer is not yet over and most of us have many reasons for happiness, I refuse to froth and foam about Afua Hirschs outburst: she is entitled to further her career as best as she can.

Instead, we may briefly review the record of Vice-Admiral Viscount Nelson, whose presence in Trafalgar Square she finds offensive, for different causes from those that once irked the old French President Charles de Gaulle.

Horatio Nelson was born in a Norfolk rectory in 1758, and secured his first command 20 years later through the influence of his uncle, who was a senior naval officer.

In his youth, beyond a brush with a polar bear while a midshipman on an expedition to find a north-east passage to the Pacific in 1773, he experienced his share of disappointments and indeed unemployment.

Then the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars opened the way for a long succession of triumphs, the earliest taking place in the Mediterranean, where he was blinded in his right eye.

Nelson had his faults - his behaviour towards his wife being one of them - but his attributes of courage, bravery and tactical brilliance put these well and truly in the shade

He distinguished himself commanding HMS Captain at the 1797 Battle of Cape St Vincent against a larger Spanish force off the coast of Portugal, and mislaid his right arm in the unsuccessful action at Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

In the following year, he commanded a British fleet in the first of his historic victories at the Battle of the Nile.

Nelsons reputation  for personal courage, aggression and tactical brilliance  won him the adoration of his captains and indeed crews. To this was soon added the love of Sir William Hamiltons wife Emma, whom he met at Naples.

In 1801, he secured another victory, this time over the Danes, at Copenhagen, bequeathing to folklore the story that he ignored an order to withdraw by putting a telescope to his blind eye to read the flag signal.

He subsequently commanded fleets involved in a blockade of French ships in Toulon harbour, and in unsuccessful pursuit of the French and Spanish fleets to the West Indies.

Only on October 21, 1805, did he finally bring the enemy to battle off Spains Cape Trafalgar, which became his greatest victory and secured Britain against invasion by the vast army Napoleon had assembled on the Channel coast.

At Trafalgar and in the actions that immediately followed, the French and Spanish lost 24 ships of the line, more than Nelson commanded when he engaged. He was shot down by a sharpshooter in the tops of the French Redoubt-able, and died three hours later.

Nelsons signal before the battle England confides that every man will do his duty; his words as he lay dying: Kiss me Hardy. Take care of poor Lady Hamilton. Thank God I have done my duty, have ever since been part of every British schoolchilds education.

Nit-picking about these things is ridiculous. Nelson was a man of his time

Afua Hirsch remains unmoved. Her attention focuses on Nelsons friendships with West Indian slave traders, and his description of the ideals of abolitionist William Wilberforce as a damnable and cruel doctrine.

Putting about such ideas, Nelson wrote to a friend in June 1805, encouraged rebellion in Britains West Indian islands.

Nelsons finest biographer, John Sugden, observes that it is uncertain how far this remark reflected the Admirals considered view.

He was exemplarily kind to black sailors who did good service on his ships, and in 1802 wrote another letter in support of a proposal by one of his own officers to employ free Chinese labour in the West Indies instead of slaves.

To most of us, all nit-picking about these things is ridiculous. Nelson was a man of his time. He would have mocked the notion of women being granted the vote; though he disliked the cat, offenders were cruelly flogged on his ships.

There is no record that he was much troubled by the hanging of sheep-stealers or the impressment of poachers into ships crews, any more than were the ruling classes of the civilised world.

These facts matter little to Hirsch, because Nelson denounced Wilberforce's campaign to abolish slavery - though his biographers dispute how true this was of his general opinion

All that matters, in the eyes of sensible British people, is that Nelson wrought wonderful service against his countrys foes. Without his genius at sea, it is conceivable that the tyrant Bonaparte could have prevailed over our ancestors.

His towering virtues make his vices, among which conceit and nastiness to his wife were conspicuous, visible only through a microscope  one which is now in the hands of Afua Hirsch and her friends, whom I venture to guess know little and care less about the Napoleonic Wars.

I will offer them comfort, however, on another such case: that against Americas statues of Confederate Civil War heroes. Most were erected in the early 20th century by Southern segregationist politicians, for the explicit purpose of glorifying the cause of white supremacy in their lifetimes.

In other words, they were created not as authentic acts of commemoration, as was Nelsons Column in the 1840s, but instead to support an ugly and indeed indefensible racist case, and in pursuit of Southern hopes of reversing the consequences of the U.S. Civil War, their own fathers defeat.

It is thus understandable why black Americans, and many white ones, too, want them removed.

Contrarily, while the mining tycoon and nation-builder Cecil Rhodes was an unpleasant human being, he made a notable contribution to the British Empire of his day  when even the best people were imperialists  and to philanthropy after his death.

The past is another country in which matters were done differently

Edward Colston is commemorated not because he was a successful 17th and 18th-century slave trader, but because he was a prominent citizen of Bristol, who did many good things for that city.

History is shot through with bad behaviour. In the heyday of empire, West Indian sugar processed by slaves was a cornerstone of Britains prosperity.

Likewise many imperial generals, up to and including Kitchener, were at best cavalier, at worst brutal, in their treatment of native races, including prisoners. We no longer treat people so cruelly, any more than we hang convicted homosexuals as did the courts-martial of Nelsons Royal Navy, but it is childish to pretend that we can undo their customs and reverse their verdicts, hundreds of years later.

The Welsh might as well demand the right to tear down the ruins of Edward Is magnificent castles in their country, because they were built to hold Wales under English subjection.

In this silly season, we should laugh off Afua Hirschs spasm of silliness about Nelson. But if a day comes when our rulers take seriously such demands, agree to erase portions of our heritage as Stalin erased Trotsky from every photograph of the Russian Revolutionaries, then we shall relinquish essential cultural values, rooted in a proper understanding of history.

The past is another country in which matters were done differently, but we must continue to revere our great men and women, heedless of the odd blot on their escutcheons.
Louise Linton's very bad week may have just gotten a little worse.

Linton hit the headlines on Monday when she got in an Instagram spat over a photo of her and her new husband, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, arriving at Fort Knox on an official visit.

Now watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is questioning the timing of that visit, noting that Mnuchin landed in Kentucky in time to view the eclipse.

Going for gold? Louise Linton caused a brouhaha on Monday when she shared this image of her and hubby Steven Mnuchin arriving in Kentucky - and tagged her clothing labels

Nobody's vault but his: Mnuchin was there to talk up Trump's tax plans, but said he would also visit Fort Knox with Sen. Mitch McConnell (both seen left) and watch the eclipse with Linton

Kept in the dark? Now an ethics body is arguing that Mnuchin's trip was arranged to coincide with the eclipse close to where it would be darkest - and wants to see who paid for the flight

Mnuchin's trip to Kentucky - during which he talked up Donald Trump's tax plans - made him just the third sitting Treasury Secretary to visit the bullion depository.

Writing on Monday, the Courier-Journal said that Mnuchin had answered questions at he Olmsted hotel, in a meeting sponsored by the Louisville Chamber of Commerce.

It noted that afterwards Mnuchin, 54, and Linton, 36, were to engage in a tour with Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, who was also present.

'The two were headed to Fort Knox with McConnell after the lunch to tour the bullion reserve at the Army post and view the eclipse,' the paper reported.

For CREW, that appears to have set off Fort-Knox-sized alarm bells, with the organization putting in a Freedom of Information Act request for related records.

It wants to see 'all records concerning authorization for and the costs of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's use of a government plane to travel to Lexington, Kentucky on Monday, August 21, accompanied by his wife Louise Linton.'

Work it out: The body says Mnuchin shouldn't have used a taxpayer-funded plane if he was there to see the eclipse. His tax talk was paid for by the Louisville Chamber of Commerce

Instagrim: Their visit hit the public eye after Jenni Miller (pictured), scolded Linton for getting a 'free flight' in a comment on her Instagram pic, and Linton responded with an arrogant screed

It also wants 'copies of all records concerning authorization for and the costs of Secretary Mnuchin's use of a government plane for any purpose since his appointment as Treasury Secretary.'

It claims that the documents 'would shed light on the justification for Secretary Mnuchin's use of a government plane, rather than a commercial flight, for a trip that seems to have been planned around the solar eclipse and to enable the Secretary to secure a viewpoint in the path of the eclipses totality.'

South-west Kentucky - around 100 miles from Fort Knox - was indeed directly positioned to get the best views of the eclipse as it occurred over the country.

CREW added: 'At a time of expected deep cuts to the federal budget, the taxpayers have a significant interest in learning the extent to which Secretary Mnuchin has used government planes for travel in lieu of commercial planes, and the justification for that use.'

On Monday, a government spokesperson said that Linton's seat on the taxpayer-funded flight had been paid for by Mnuchin.

That announcement was forced out of officials after Linton - a minor TV and film actress from Scotland - blundered into an Instagram argument over her flight.

Plane crass: Linton was slammed for boasting of her $14,540 outfit in a state where 19% live under the poverty line. A spokesperson said her seat on the flight was paid for by Mnuchin

She posted on Monday a photo of herself and Mnuchin getting off the plane in Kentucky - accompanied by hashtags for all of the clothing brands she was wearing.

Her wardrobe totaled more than $14,000, DailyMail.com revealed today.

That incurred the wrath of Jenni Miller, a mother-of-three from Oregon, who commented: 'Glad we could pay for your little getaway. #deplorable.'

Linton then responded with an extended rant in which - despite having grown up in a castle - she accused the mother of being 'Adorably out of touch'.

Linton, whose most notable acting role was as a murder victim in a 2007 episode of CSI, also boasted that she and her husband - whose net worth is estimated by Forbes to be upward of $500 million - pay more in taxes than Miller.

That quickly led to her being roasted on Twitter, to which Linton responded by locking up both her Twitter and Instagram accounts.

In the furore that followed, Linton became a figure of hate and mockery across the county, with many noting that her CSI victim had been dressed as Marie Antoinette - another rich woman whose mockery of the working classes ended badly.

Linton's publicist released a curt apology on Tuesday, writing: 'I apologize for my post on social media yesterday as well as my response. It was inappropriate and highly insensitive.'
Trump said 'many sides' were to blame for the violence, later saying there were 'very fine people' demonstrating with the neo-Nazis

The cover was issued shortly after comments Trump made following the deadly events in Charlottesville, VA

A magazine in Germany has depicted President Donald Trump doing a Nazi salute on its latest cover.

The Hamburg-based publication, Stern Magazine, shows the commander-in-chief draped in an American flag and doing the salute, which is illegal in Germany.

The cover caption on the printed issue reads 'Sein Kampf,' translated into English means 'His Struggle,' a reference to Adolf Hitler's antisemitic screed 'Mein Kampf,' or 'My Struggle.'

Stern Magazine, based in Hamburg, Germany, depicts President Donald Trump doing a Nazi salute while draped in the American flag

A sub-caption underneath states: 'Neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan, Racism: As Donald Trump stirs the hate in America.'

The cover comes as Trump has faced harsh criticism in the US for his recent comments following a deadly rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which saw 32-year-old Heather Hayer killed after an alleged white supremacist used his vehicle in a car ramming attack that injured 19 others.

German dictator Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945) giving the Nazi salute

Following the event, Trump blamed 'many sides' for the violence, causing immediate outrage across the nation with some accusing the President of drawing a parity between neo-Nazis and anti-white supremacist demonstrators.

He later clarified his comments, stating last Monday during a televised event: '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 what we hold dear as Americans.'

But that effort was quickly tampered when in Manhattan during an impromptu news conference he said that there were 'very fine people' participating with the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, drawing a swift rebuke from politicians as well as military leaders.

'Do they have any semblance of guilt?' the President asked reporters who had gathered at Trump Tower, referring to some of counter-protesters as the 'alt-left.'

The term 'alt-left' generally refers to anti-fascist activists that are said to use violence in order to forward their prerogatives.

US President Donald Trump speaks following a meeting on infrastructure at Trump Tower, August 15, 2017 in New York City

A week earlier, another German publication, Der Spiegel showed Trump wearing a KKK hood over his head

'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.'

The Stern image comes just a week after Der Spiegel, another German publication, pictured Trump with a Ku Klux Klan hood over his head.

A caption accompanying the image, translated into English, states: 'The true face of Trump.'

An email sent to the White House for comment was not immediately answered.

A spokesperson for the German magazine said in response for comment:

'The most upsetting photographs from the week-end in Charlottesville show outstretched arms by many protesters on their march with torches, the Nazi salute by dozens of men.'

'There was no room for interpretation, not even the smallest sign that these were protesters with a democratic mindset. They were Neonazis and Racists. Donald Trump saw fine people within this group  and therefore revealed himself to foster a racist mindset. Trump put himself forward as the leader of this movement.'

'Our cover illustrates a president who willingly and knowingly defends Neonazis and white supremacists and fans the flames of hatred. Donald Trump has broken a taboo. That is what our cover wants to illustrate.'
Maverick MP Bob Katter has accused homosexuals of stealing the 'most beautiful word in the English language' - gay - in a bizarre rant on live television.

The independent politician from Queensland said the gay and lesbian community in Australia had bastardised the word 'gay' and had their sights set on marriage next.

'I have a very clear idea of what is going on here: the homosexuals in Australia, they took the word gay,' Mr Katter told Sky News on Wednesday night.

Mr Katter said the word gay, which also means light-hearted and carefree, held a special meaning for him because it was used in a text he had studied for university.

Maverick MP Bob Katter has accused homosexuals of stealing the 'most beautiful word in the English language'

The independent politician from Queensland said the gay and lesbian community in Australia had stolen the word 'gay' and had their sights set on marriage next

'It has a particular meaning to me because I got 84 per cent in English, in matriculation (university entrance exam), which was a very, very high mark indeed.'

He said a famous poem he had studied titled 'The Rape of the Lock' included the line: 'then Belinda smiled and all the world was gay', The Australian reported.

'It just conjured up a beautiful image, it was the most beautiful word in the English language, and (homosexuals) said, 'oh God we will take that word and we will have it as ours',' Mr Katter said.

'Oh they've got this thing called marriage, the other mob, we will take that too'. Well what else are they going to take? Are they going to take our freedom to say we don't approve of what you are doing?'

Mr Katter accused homosexuals of trying to 'take marriage' away from heterosexuals and keep it as their own.

'I don't want them abrogating to themselves the right to take the most beautiful word in the English language and saying, 'oh now that's mine',' he said.

'And then one of the most beautiful institutions in human history, marriage, and take that, and say 'that's mine'.

Mr Katter accused homosexuals of trying to 'take marriage' away from heterosexuals and keep it as their own
Several people have been injured when a minibus carrying Japanese tourists collided with a 4WD on the Gold Coast hinterland.

Paramedics assessed 19 people at the accident scene, with 16 requiring treatment for a variety of minor injuries including neck pain and chest pain.

Emergency services were called to the scene on Nerang-Murwillumbah Road near Advancetown just after 9am on Thursday.

A collision between a minibus full of Japanese tourists and a 4WD left 19 people injured on Thursday morning

Six people have been taken to Gold Coast University Hospital for assessment with another 10 people also expected to be transported.

The road was previously closed but has been cleared and is open to traffic in both directions.

Emergency services including 10 ambulances rushed to the scene, where a roadside triage was set up, the Gold Coast Bulletin reports.

Emergency services including 10 ambulances rushed to the scene, where a roadside triage was set up

Wet weather was a contributing factor to the crash according to Queensland Ambulance station officer Raymond Ware.

'There was a lot of luck in this accident, we had a family of four in a light vehicle and a bus with 15 people on board.'

'Theres some minor injuries but theyve been very fortunate,' he told the publication.

A 4WD (pictured above) collided with a bus full of Japanese tourists on Thursday morning

Six people have been taken to Gold Coast University Hospital for assessment

'Everyone had a fright here today and theres been some valuable lessons learnt.'

Pictures show the Crest Tours bus to sitting stationary in the middle of the left hand lane, while the 4WD vehicle has spun into the roadside barrier.

Unconfirmed witness reports have said a male sustained a gash to his head and a woman received seat belt trauma.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull broke his silence on the death of Victorian MP Fiona Richardson during a press conference on soaring energy costs and the postal plebiscite.

'It is a tragedy for such a young woman with such a great career in politics and obviously many years ahead of her to be taken away so suddenly and so cruelly from her family,' Mr Turnbull told a crowd of media in Albury, on the NSW and Victoria boarder, around midday on Thursday.

'Our condolences go out to her family. Our heartfelt condolences go out to her family on this very, very tragic and untimely death.'

Bill Shorten led the tributes for Ms Richardson after news of her death broke, just one day after she announced she was quitting parliament next year to focus on her health.

Ms Richardson revealed on Tuesday she was taking more time off after being diagnosed with multiple tumours.

It wasn't long until social media was awash with comments echoing Shorten's sentiment - except for Mr Turnbull, who didn't publicly acknowledge her passing for several hours.

The prime minister instead focused his attention of the upcoming plebiscite on marriage equality.

'Today is your last chance to enrol and have your say in the postal plebiscite. Update and check your details at aec.gov.au,' he tweeted.

Victorian MP Fiona Richardson has tragically passed away a day after she announced she was quitting parliament next year to focus on her health

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (pictured) has yet to offer his condolences to the family of Ms Richardson

The prime minister instead focused his attention of the upcoming plebiscite on marriage equality (pictured)

Yellow flowers are placed on the seat of Ms Richardson in Parliament House in Melbourne (pictured)

Staff paid their respects to Ms Richardson, wearing purple in her honour

Mr Turnbull also retweeted a comment from Minister for the Environment & Energy Josh Frydenberg criticising Victoria MP Daniel Andrews.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Turnbull for comment.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews were among several high-profile politicians to touch on the matter, with many offering their deepest condolences to her family.

'It is my sad and solemn duty to confirm that Fiona Richardson has passed away at the age of 50', he wrote.

Ms Richardson, 50, was diagnosed with a serious illness before the winter break and gave notice yesterday that she would be taking leave from her parliamentary duties.

The mother-of-two successfully battled cancer in 2013 and returned to parliament to become Victoria's first minister for the prevention of family violence.

2015 Australian of the Year and domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty touched on Richardson's contributions to her career.

'Devastated at friend Fiona Richardson's passing. Huge support to me during my journey & for all victims. Thoughts with family, staff & all', she shared.

Ms Batty told The Age Ms Richardson gave hope to those who have been victims of violence.

'She not only gave victims a voice, but she gave them a voice in parliament and that was really such a unique thing,' she said.

'She gave them hope things could change. She reached the hearts of politicians from both sides of politics. But what she really set out to achieve, was to make them understand that victims need to be part of the solution, that their stories are essential, that they can help inform the government, lead reforms and change society and the world.'

Ms Batty described Ms Richardson as a 'lovely, dynamic, fun and caring' woman who loved to walk around her own office barefoot.

Bill Shorten led the tributes for Ms Richardson (pictured) after news of her death broke

Ms Richardson announced on Tuesday she was taking more time off after being diagnosed with multiple tumours, but she passed away on Wednesday night

2015 Australian of the Year and domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty touched on Richardson's contributions to her career.

Leader of the Victorian Liberal Party, Matthew Guy, was among the first to post a tribute to Ms Richardson.

'Vale Fiona Richardson MP. The sadness at Spring Street will be immense. To her family, friends, colleagues, my thoughts, sympathy and love,' he tweeted.

Philip Dalidakis described the member of Northcote as 'a friend and mentor.'

'Fiona Richardson was my friend & mentor. She called it how it was, even when I didn't want to hear it. A formidable, amazing woman. 140 characters doesn't do Fiona Richardson justice. Better for her living, poorer for her passing. Wishing her friends/family a long life.'

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews were among several high-profile politicians to touch on the matter, with many offering their deepest condolences to her family

Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Brendan O'Connor went with a similar theme commending her fighting qualities

Writer Anne Summers spoke of Richardson's efforts with gender equality in a moving post

Victorian State Parliament MP Louise Staley referred to Ms Richardson as a 'warrior.'

'Vale Fiona Richardson. A warrior for her causes, a woman of outstanding ability, an MP of conviction. Rest in peace,' she posted to social media.

Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Brendan O'Connor went with a similar theme commending her fighting qualities.

'Vale Labor warrior, Minister and friend Fiona Richardson. Our deepest condolences to her family and friends. Jodi and Brendan', he shared to social media.

Writer Anne Summers spoke of Richardson's efforts with gender equality in a moving post.

'We *owe* Fiona Richardson so much. Mourn her by acknowledging her pioneering contribution to gender equity & #VAW. Vale Fiona', she said.

She successfully battled cancer in 2013 and returned to parliament to become Victoria's first minister for the prevention of family violence

Ms Richardson, 50, was diagnosed with a serious illness before the winter break and gave notice yesterday that she would be taking leave from her parliamentary duties

Philip Dalidakis described the member of Northcote as 'a friend and mentor.'

'Fiona Richardson was my friend & mentor. She called it how it was, even when I didn't want to hear it. A formidable, amazing woman. 140 characters doesn't do Fiona Richardson justice. Better for her living, poorer for her passing. Wishing her friends/family a long life.'

Victorian State Parliament MP Louise Staley referred to Ms Richardson as a 'warrior.'

'Vale Fiona Richardson. A warrior for her causes, a woman of outstanding ability, an MP of conviction. Rest in peace,' she posted to social media.

Leader of the Victorian Liberal Party, Matthew Guy, was among the first to post a tribute to Ms Richardson

Victorian State Parliament MP Louise Staley referred to Ms Richardson as a 'warrior'

The Labor MP for Northcote announced yesterday she was planning to leave politics as her conditioned worsened.

'I have been diagnosed with multiple tumours for which I am receiving treatment,' Ms Richardson said yesterday.

'I intended to return to work part time next week, however my recovery is not going the way I had planned.

Ms Richardson said she would be taking time off work after her health didn't go to plan

'I have been diagnosed with multiple tumours for which I am receiving treatment,' Ms Richardson said yesterday

'I am grateful that the premier has agreed to an extended period of leave from my portfolio to enable me to concentrate of my health.'

Ms Richardson posted her regards on her social media accounts, thanking everyone for their support during the difficult time.

'Thank you to everyone for your kind words of encouragement and support,' she posted.

The Family Violence Prevention Minister (pictured) first took time off from politics in 2013 to fight breast cancer

Victorian MP Fiona Richardson has tragically passed away from cancer a day after she announced she was quitting parliament next year to focus on her health

'While I haven't been able to respond to you each individually, I think you for your well wishes while I focus on recovery.'

Premier Daniel Andrews said Ms Richardson had been an 'unwavering advocate' against family violence.

'Our thoughts and prayers are with Fiona and her family and we will do everything we can to support her during this difficult time,' he said in a statement yesterday before her death.
Josh Neuendorf is fighting for his life after the flu turned out to be something much worse

A young father-of-three is fighting for his life after coming down with the flu less than a month ago.

Josh Neuendorf, 28, was taken to hospital with a high fever, diagnosed with influenza and given antibiotics before being discharged after 24 hours.

But his condition deteriorated suddenly when he returned home, and a rash broke out over most of his body.

Family friend Sheryl Nagel told The Sunshine Coast Daily that he could barely breathe when he was rushed back to the doctor and then to hospital.

Mr was put on a drip, but had to be rushed to intensive care after he 'crashed' in the middle of the night.

After being put in an induced medical coma, doctors discovered that he had a torn windpipe as a result of an undiagnosed bacterial streptococcal infection.

Josh Neuendorf is finally home with daughters (from left) Briar-Rose, Lacey-Mae and Mischa

Josh Neuendorf with partner Shanna Redfern before the young father's life changed forever

An abscess was found in his neck and his lungs were filled with fluid and in a nightmare turn of events, an operation to remove the abscess and drain the fluid resulted in a punctured lung.

'Unfortunately he suffered toxic shock syndrome, where all of his organs shut down,' she said, adding that he was airlifted to a Brisbane hospital for further surgery.

Mr Neuendorf's heart was found to be drastically weakened, and a large amount of fluid was found around his brain.

Josh Neuendorf with partner Shanna Redfern on their second anniversary in September 2014

Josh Neuendorf with his partner Shanna Redfern and middle daughter Briar-Rose in 2016

The young father was reunited with his partner Shanna Redfern and their three daughters Briar-Rose, Lacey-Mae and Mischa.

Ms Redfern told The Daily Mail that he will be on heart medication for a minimum of two years but at the moment 'he is doing okay'.

'He's relieved to finally be home and much happier just taking it day by day,' she said.

'Although he is still overwhelmed with it all and I'm the same really...I'm happy and relieved to have him home and just hoping he makes a complete full recovery.'

The formerly healthy 28-year-old construction worker must now learn to walk, read, write, eat and talk again.

Josh Neuendorf with daughter Lacey-Mae (left and right) and partner Shanna Redfern (right)

Shanna Redfern and daughter Briar-Rose (pictured) are 'happy and relieved' to have Josh home

A crowdfunding page has been set up to help support his young family, as Mr Neuendorf has suffered long-lasting heart damage that has rendered him unable to work for 'a unknown amount of time'.

'He is a devoted loving dad, beautiful partner, great friend, and a hard worker,' the page reads.

'Josh was the sole provider for his family and in casual employment there is now no income coming in for his young family.

[Donations] will help Josh and his family just focus on getting him better, without all the stress and worry about not being able to provide for [them].'

Josh Neuendorf (pictured with his daughter Briar-Rose) has just returned home from hospital

Neuendorf has been called a 'devoted loving dad, beautiful partner, great friend, hard worker'
Two teenagers were rescued after getting lost in the Grand Canyon for five days, surviving with no water and just two granola bars.

Rowan Fitch and Reese McMichael, both 18, were on a road trip traveling from Jacksonville, Florida, to the west coast to start college last week.

They decided to take a detour and hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon but got lost, having no water and just two granola bars to share between the two of them.

For five days the boys wandered through the harsh landscape, drinking water out of puddles and sleeping on the ground before they were rescued on Sunday.

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Rowan Fitch (right) and Reese McMichael (left), both 18, were rescued after getting lost in the Grand Canyon in Arizona for five days, surviving with no water and just two granola bars

Fitch posted a photo of the two friends covered in dirt and recovering in a rescue helicopter on Instagram.

He wrote: 'My best friend Resse McMichael and I getting rescued after spending 5 days stranded in the Grand Canyon.

'For 5 days we rationed 2 granola bars and drank water out of a puddle on the ground, we had no tent or sleeping bags either, we just slept on the ground.

'I'm extremely proud of Reese for his display of mental toughness and perseverance, also thank you to the park rangers for saving our lives!'

The boys got lost when they decided to wander off the trail in order to have a look around and to have lunch, Fitch said to News 4 Jax.

He added to the news station: 'We're hiking up the mountain, and all the sudden we just can't see where the trail is going anymore. It kind of just disappears.'

The boys got lost when they decided to wander off the trail in order to have a look around and to have lunch. They ran out of water on the first day and drank water from puddles

They spent the next few hours trying to find their way back up the canyon but the path kept getting steeper and at that point they knew they could be in trouble.

Fitch and McMichael had both ran out of water on the first day and they realized they each only had one granola bar.

Fitch said: 'Each day we would eat a piece of it. We found this little puddle on the ground. It looked somewhat clean.'

With temperatures reaching up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, they decided to conserve their energy by staying in the shade and stop walking.

Fitch added: 'We had phones, but there's no cell for service down in the canyon. You just start to think "what happens if no one comes to get us?"

'What happens if they don't even know we're missing?'

With temperatures reaching up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, Fitch and McMichael (pictured) decided to conserve their energy by staying in the shade and stop walking

The boys waited five days until they spotted a helicopter in the distance.

They used tree branches and blew a whistle to get the aircraft to spot them.

Fitch said: 'I'm a lifeguard, so I have this big whistle it is bright orange and I was blowing it. We were waving branches at them.

'It was euphoric. Me and my friend were both crying tears of happiness.'

When asked if he would go back to the spot where he was stranded for nearly a week, Fitch said to the news outlet: 'At the Grand Canyon? At least not for a while.

'If I do ever hike in the Grand Canyon again, I'm going to go with a guide. And I'm going to tell people where I went.'
Four countries who do not take back citizens who are in the US illegally will face sanctions, the Department of Homeland Security has warned.

Although the names of the countries have not been revealed, CNN has identified them as Cambodia, Eritrea, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

It means people from these countries could be refused visas while the dispute is ongoing.

They are among 23 countries previously identified, and while on the campaign trail last year President Trump hit out at a perceived lack of action.

People from the four countries, identified as Cambodia, Eritrea, Guinea and Sierra Leone, could have their visas refused in the dispute, officials have confirmed. Travellers are pictured waiting in a winding line to pass through customs and border control at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York

Acting DHS Secretary Elaine Duke sent a letter to the State Department last week identifying the latest four countries that could face the new penalties.

DHS spokesman David Lapan declined to discuss possible sanctions or the names of the four countries that could face additional sanctions, including denying visas.

The State Department and the DHS can sanction countries that do not cooperate with removals, but has only used that punishment authority twice in the past 15 years.

Among those who have been identified as problematic are are China, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, Iran, Cambodia, Myanmar, Morocco, Hong Kong, South Sudan, Guinea and Eritrea.

On the campaign trail last year, President Trump said not enough was being done about states that refused to take back their citizens

In a campaign speech last year, Trump pledged: 'There are at least 23 countries that refuse to take their people back after they've been ordered to leave the United States, including large numbers of violent criminals.

'They won't take them back. So we say, 'OK, we'll keep them'. Not going to happen with me, not going to happen with me.'

A statement from the DHS to CNN said: 'When we receive such notification, the law requires a suspension of visa issuance.

'We follow a standard process to implement a visa suspension as expeditiously as possible in the manner the Secretary determines most appropriate under the circumstances to achieve the desired goal.

'That process includes internal discussions with, and official notification to, affected countries. We are not going to get ahead of that process. When we have completed the process, information will be available about the terms of the visa suspension.'

In two cases since 2000, the United States halted issuing visas to government officials and their families to Guinea and Gambia. Lapan said in some cases the DHS has no choice but to release some convicted criminals who served prison time but could not be returned to their home country because their home country refuses to cooperate.

'We have tens of thousands of individuals,' Lapan said.

The DHS identifies countries that can be sanctioned and the State Department decides what, if any, sanctions could be imposed.

The DHS has said that it has final deportation orders against 35,000 Cuban citizens that have criminal histories that Cuba refuses to accept. (Reporting by David Shepardson and Eric Walsh; Editing by Paul Tait)
UPDATED

President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos have heaped praise on the District of Columbias school voucher program. But a report released Wednesday by FutureEd, a think tank housed at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, finds that the number of students who actually used the vouchers dropped to 1,154 in the 2016-17 school year, from 1,638 four years prior.

About a third of the students who had already snagged vouchers through the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program didnt use them. And more than half of the students who received vouchers through the 2016 lottery didnt up enrolling in a private school.

The drop in program participation may be partly due to problems with the

programs design, the report notes. The voucher program exists at the pleasure of Congress, which means some school administrators and parents could be reluctant to count on the money. The District gets about $45 million in federal funding, spread between the voucher program, charters, and public schools.

Whats more, the vouchers are sometimes provided after the citys private schools have completed their admissions process. And the voucher program is getting stiff competition from the citys charters and from rapidly improving public schools, the report notes.

The reports findings call question whether vouchers can meaningfully increase the number of high-quality classroom seats for disadvantaged students in a district with so many public sector options, the reports authors Phyllis Jordan and Kendell Long write.

But John Schilling, the chief operating officer of the American Federation for Children, the school choice advocacy organization that DeVos once chaired, said that there may be other, more political reasons for the downturn in enrollment.

The Obama administration, Schilling wrote in an email, imposed highly restrictive implementation rules on the program administrator that had the intended effect of depressing participation in the program. The program administrator would get thousands of applications, he said, but could only admit a limited number of interested new students. And he said that the previous administration sat on money that was supposed to be for new scholarships.

A report released in April by the Institute for Education Sciencesthe research arm of the U.S. Department of Educationfound a negative impact on student achievement, and no increase in parent satisfaction among children who enrolled in the program. Parents whose children received vouchers did, however, perceive that their schools were safer.

Schilling, however, sees the study as a a one year snapshot. Students need at least two to four years to begin showing significant academic progress, he said.

Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 .
Outbreaks of gastro have increased 400 per cent in the last two months, with more than 50 daycare centres reporting two or more cases to Queensland Health.

Almost 200 children have been struck down by gastroenteritis in Brisbane's southside since June.

In the north of the city, authorities were alerted to outbreaks - two or more cases in three days - by 35 daycare centres between June 15 and August 14, according to the Courier Mail.

Outbreaks of gastro in Brisbane childcare centres have increased 400 per cent in 2 months

Parents have been strongly cautioned to keep children away from daycare while they are sick

Parents have been strongly cautioned to keep sick children at home at home while they are sick, and keep them away from other children for 28 hours after they appear to be well.

'We have had four cases of vomiting at our Centre from two different children in different rooms and two staff in different rooms,' reads a letter sent home by St Paul's Lutheran Childcare Centre at Nundah on Monday.

'I have contacted QLD Public Health and they have advised me that we have an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness at our Centre.

'We are asking that you keep all children presenting with vomiting and/or diarrhoea symptoms away from the Centre as we try to control the spread of infection.'

A Queensland Health spokesman acknowledged that the outbreaks were 'significantly' higher this year than for the same periods in 2016.

'The data indicates a significantly high number of outbreaks during this eight week period in 2017, however, it should be noted that half of these outbreaks involved fewer than 10 unwell children,' the spokesman said.

'In general, it has been a big year for viral gastroenteritis outbreaks across the region.'

St Paul's Lutheran Childcare Centre, Nundah sent letters home to warn parents of the outbreak
A month after he announced a ban on transgender people serving in the military via Twitter, Donald Trump has issued a memo on how the decision is to be implemented.

The two-and-a-half-page note says Defense Secretary Jim Mattis must consider a service member's 'deployability' when deciding whether to eject them from the military.

That means that if they are unable to serve in a war zone, take part in training or serve on a ship for months, they must go, the Wall Street Journal reported.

It has not been spelled out exactly how the criteria will be assessed, however the Trump administration seems to be implying that it does not believe transgender service people are deployable.

The policy gives the Pentagon six months to oust 'non-deployable' transgender service members, bans new transgender hires and orders the Pentagon to stop paying for trans service members' medical treatments.

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Plan in action: Donald Trump's ban on transgender military members - which he announced in July - has now gone into action after the White House revealed how it was to be implemented

Kicking out: Defense Sec. Jim Mattis (right) must remove anyone who is 'non-deployable' - which includes transgender service members, according to the new guidelines

Plans: Until now the Pentagon had no rules by which to manage or justify the removal of any transgender service members, who were told they could come out in 2016 by Barack Obama

It has been criticized by transgender representatives.

'Transgender people are just as deployable as other service members,' said Sue Fulton, the former president of Sparta, a military organization for LGBT people that advocates for open service.

'Other service members may undergo procedures when they are at home base, just as other service members schedule shoulder surgery or gall bladder surgery,' added Fulton, who achieved the rank of captain in the army, and is not transgender.

She said that there are no 'ongoing treatments' that would render transgender soldiers, sailors and pilots non-deployable.

'Thus there's no difference between the deployability of transgender service members' and that of others, she said.

A Rand Corp study commissioned last year estimated that there were between 1,320 and 6,000 transgender people openly serving in the military.

Advocacy groups put the figure for those on active duty at 7,000 and total figures across all areas of the military at 11,000.

The Rand Corp survey noted that not all of them seek treatment - and those that do have treatment that would render them non-deployable are few in number.

Using surveys and private health insurance data, the study concluded that only 29 to 129 members in the military's active component would be rendered non-deployable by their planned treatment.

Opposed: Almost 60% of Americans are against the ban. Ex-Army captain Sue Fulton (right) said nothing about trangender people or their ongoing treatment makes them non-deployable

Standing up: Fulton, who campaigns for LGBT army rights but is not trans, says even if surgery is to be performed, it's just like having a gall bladder operation on a military base

The new memo is the first attempt by the government to provide guidance to the Pentagon on how to follow through on the rule Trump announced on July 26.

He tweeted: 'After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the US Military.

'Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you.'

The Rand Corp's survey concluded that it would cost between $2.4 million and $8.4 million a year to treat transgender service members - that's 0.04-0.13 per cent of 2014's $6.27 billion military budget.

It's also just 2.86-10 per cent of the $84 million spent by the US military on Viagra and similar sexual health supplements per year, according to Military Times.

Trump's announcement - which was opposed by 58 per cent of the country according to a July 28 Reuters/Ipsos poll - came after pressure from conservatives.

They were concerned by the July 1, 2017 opening date for transgender recruitment.

That was set by Barack Obama in 2016; at the same time, he immediately allowed transgender people already in the military to begin serving openly.

That has left some in the military's upper echelons concerned about how to justify implementing the ban - particularly as there are long-serving servicemen and women who announced they were transgender after Obama's order came through.

New rules: Barack Obama (pictured with transgender Staff Sgt Logan Ireland, right) lifted the DADT rules in 2016. A survey suggested just 29-129 of up to 6,000 transgender members would be rendered non-deployable by transitioning

Also outraged by the decision was Aaron Belkin, director of the Palm Center, an independent research institute that sponsors scholarship on policy issues.

'It is unconscionable that the Commander-in-Chief would take aim at his own, loyally serving troops for political reasons at a time when the military needs to focus on real threats,' Belkin said in a statement Wednesday.

'Former Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen and General Martin Dempsey issued statements in support of our nation's transgender troops, and fifty-six retired Generals and Admirals concluded that banning transgender troops would "cause significant disruptions" and would "degrade readiness even more than the failed don't ask, don't tell policy."

'These distinguished military leaders are correct.'

He continued: 'Transgender troops have been serving openly in the US military for more than a year, and have been widely praised by Commanders.

'Eighteen foreign militaries allow transgender personnel to serve, and none have reported any compromise to readiness.

'All available research, including scholarly publications by the Rand Corporation as well as retired General and Flag Officers, has reached the same conclusion: inclusive policy for LGBT personnel promotes readiness.

'Imposing one set of standards for transgender troops, and another set of standards for everyone else is a recipe for disruption, distraction and waste.'

Angry: Trump's decision angered protesters, and came after conservatives pressured him. They were concerned about the July 1, 2017 date Obama set for letting in transgender people

The same day as Trump's July tweets were made, transgender airman Staff Sgt. Logan Ireland told Air Force Times: 'I would like to see them try to kick me out of my military.'

'You are not going to deny me my right to serve my country when I am fully qualified and able and willing to give my life.'

Ireland - who has served in Afghanistan - first shared his story in 2015, three years after he began transitioning, and consulted with the Air Force in 2016 as it drafted guidance for admitting transgender people after Obama's announcement.

Another transgender man - corporal who did not wish to be named - told the site: 'I have never described myself as trans; I'm a motherf***ing Marine.'

'That's all that matters. Don't tarnish my title with your bigotry and fear of the unknown.'
Another two Melbourne councils are reportedly considering taking the controversial step of 'changing the date' and banning Australia Day, beginning in 2018.

Yarra City Council and the City of Darebin last week took the step of shaking-up the January 26 national public holiday, a decision which led to widespread backlash.

And now under increasing pressure from Indigenous and left-wing groups, Moreland and Banyule City Councils may follow their lead with one 'considering' the possibility and the other saying 'momentum was building'.

Another two Melbourne (pictured) councils are reportedly considering taking the controversial step of 'changing the date' and banning Australia Day, beginning in 2018

Moreland and Banyule City Councils may follow the lead of Darebin and Yarra City Counil's in holding an Indigenous-themed event instead of an annual citizenship ceremony on the day

Keen to follow the lead of their nearby municipalities, the council is preparing to vote on the issue for a second time in two months.

At the time of the last vote in June, the motion was defeated by a single vote, leaving Cr Samantha Ratnam confident it will be successful this time around.

'To hear (the Aboriginal communitys) pain and still go ahead with ceremonies on that day is so insensitive,' she told the Moreland Leader.

'Even non-Aboriginal communities are asking for change.'

But talking to broadcaster Tom Elliott on 3AW after suggestions they too may move the date, Banyule City Council's mayor disputed he would lead any push for change.

'I'm not sure how you got this idea, but Banyule is not considering doing anything about Australia Day,' Cr Melican said.

'Weve certainly looked at the issue, weve discussed it among councillors.

'There is no suggestion, no proposal and no recommendation to do anything about Australia Day at Banyule.'

'Even non-Aboriginal communities are asking for change,' Moreland City Councillor Samantha Ratnam said

The City of Darebin council (pictured), which governs several of Melbourne's northern suburbs including Northcote, Preston and Reservoir, came to the controversial decision with a 6-2 vote in favour of the change

Talking to broadcaster Tom Elliott on 3AW after suggestions they too may move the date, Banyule City Council's mayor disputed he would lead any push for change

Seemingly left unconvinced Mr Elliott continued to probe Cr Melican, asking why they were at all considering something which 'was not the preserve of council'.

Claiming they were simply discussing their response in relation to the controversial decisions of other councils, the councillor said he 'wouldn't like to lose' the day.

'The honour of taking part in any citizenship ceremony is I think the greatest honour that is bestowed on a councillor,' he said.

'I think it's a significant day in Australia's history, yes, I celebrate it.'

Banyule City Council's stance comes days after the City of Darebin made a decision with a 6-2 vote in favour of the change.

The planned shake-up will see a shift of date for the Australia Day citizenship awards which will now fall on January 25, ABC News reported.

The Australia Day awards will also be renamed to the Darebin Community Awards.

But the decision, like Yarra's, has been faced with a wave of residents protesting the move.

Australia Day is one of the nation's biggest celebrations and the public holiday is full of colour as millions descend on public events held across the country

But Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told parliament last week such decisions were 'utterly out of step with Australian values'.

'Australia Day is January 26 and it should remain that day. They're doing it without proper consultation and they're just making decisions for us,' resident David Schulz said.

But Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told parliament the following day the decision was 'utterly out of step with Australian values'.

'Yarra council is using a day that should unite Australians to divide Australians,' Mr Turnbull said on Wednesday.

The move is now thought to provoke other surrounding councils into similar decisions, with Hepburn Shire Council at Daylesford rumoured to be eager for the switch.
A car has driven through protesters at a trans lives matter vigil honoring a black transgender woman who was shot dead by police in St Louis.

The memorial for Kenneth 'Kiwi' Herring turned violent on Wednesday night when a Mercedes driver drove into a middle of a crowd of protesters who were blocking the road.

His car appeared to be attacked by the activists before he drove away, leaving three people with minor injuries, according to the Riverfront Times.

The driver - a white male - was later arrested.

People were gathered to honor the life of Herring, a 30-year-old black transgender woman, who was shot dead by St. Louis police on Tuesday.

Herring was killed by a police after she allegedly stabbed an officer and a neighbor with a large kitchen knife.

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A car plowed into protesters on Wednesday night at a trans lives matter vigil honoring a black transgender woman who was shot dead by police in St Louis on Tuesday

A police spokeswoman said a white male driver was taken into custody for felony fleeing, as photos show protesters on the hood of the man's Mercedes

St. Louis Post-Dispatch photographer David Carson captured the moment the car hit people with his camera.

He tweeted: 'Car just drove through protesters on Manchester, few injuries not major, only scrapes. Driver fled police chased not pulling over.'

He then posted pictures and added: 'Pix from car that drove through protesters, car stopped was surrounded, then drove through, one person ended up on hood, only minor injuries.'

Police spokeswoman Schron Jackson told the Riverfront Times: 'Tonight, a group of protesters marched from the Transgender Memorial to the intersection of Manchester and Sarah were they blocked traffic in all directions.

'A vehicle approached, stopped, honked its horn and attempted to drive around the protesters.

'The protesters surrounded the vehicle and began striking it with their hands and a flag pole. Several protesters also kicked and jumped on top of the vehicle.'

She said the driver of the vehicle - a white male - then drove away when two women and a man 'fell from the vehicle'.

A vigil was being held to honor Kenneth 'Kiwi' Herring (pictured) a 30-year-old black transgender woman who was killed by cops on Tuesday

St. Louis Post-Dispatch photographer David Carson posted this picture of the moment a car drove into protesters who were in the driver's way

Police were responding to a domestic dispute and claim they found a man with stab wounds and Herring wielding a knife, which she allegedly used to injure an officer

The three who were hit suffered minor injuries, but refused medical attention.

'Police attempted to stop driver of vehicle who initially refused to stop,' Jackson said. 'He stopped about a block away from the incident and was taken into custody for felony fleeing. The incident was captured on video.'

A woman who claims she was at the event tweeted: 'We had a vigil for #KiwiHerring and marched to the grove. Where a white man tried to run us over in his Mercedes. St. Louis. Amerikkka.'

The Grove is located in downtown St. Louis and is a hub for LGBTQ nightlife.

People were left outraged over the death of Herring on Tuesday morning.

Police were responding to a domestic dispute call at 8am and arrived to find a 30-year-old man wounded with stab wounds across his face, arms and torso, reported the St. Louis Dispatch.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch photographer David Carson tweeted: 'Car just drove through protesters on Manchester, few injuries not major, only scrapes. Driver fled police chased not pulling over'

Three people collided with the car, sustaining minor injuries in the incident

Interim police Chief Lawrence O'Toole said cops saw Herring armed with a large kitchen knife and lunged at officers with it when they asked her to drop the weapon.

Herring reportedly lunged at an officer and wounded them.

This prompted police to fire at Herring, shooting the woman dead.

O'Toole said: 'The suspect flourished a knife and slashed at the officers, slicing one officer on the arm. The officers fired and shot and killed the suspect.'

However, the police described Herring as a man in their reports, although she identifies as woman, which sparked public outcry within the St. Louis community.

O'Toole said the department has had several calls to the apartment, located in the Academy neighborhood, for domestic issues.

Kristopher Kristy Thompson, 28, (right) was Herring's partner and was arrested over the altercation. Thompson was charged on Wednesday with assault and armed criminal action, as the neighbor who was stabbed is in serious but stable condition. Pictured left: The apartment where Herring was shot and killed

Kristopher Kristy Thompson, was Herring's partner and was arrested over the altercation.

Thompson, 28, was charged on Wednesday with assault and armed criminal action, as the neighbor who was stabbed is in serious but stable condition.

Herring's sister-in-law told the Post Dispatch that Thompson is a transgender man.

She said the couple had moved to the area from Mississippi and were raising three boys under the age of eight in the apartment, who were biologically Thompson's children.

A toddler was reportedly inside the house at the time of the shooting,

The couple felt threatened and were harassed by their neighbors because of their sexual orientation, according to Herring's friends and family.
The White House has announced that a world leader at the heart of a $1.5billion corruption scandal has been invited to Washington to meet President Donald Trump.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is set to meet the president on September 12, it has been announced.

Relations between the US and Razak's administration have been strained since the Malaysian leader was implicated in the scandal two years ago, amid allegations he and his associates stole money from state investment fund 1MDB.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been accused of involvement in a corruption scandal worth billions of dollars

The State Department last year seized assets worth $1.5billion which it said were illegally taken from the fund - which is supposed to promote economic and development projects.

Najib has denied any wrongdoing.

A White House statement says the two leaders will discuss ways to bolster ties and expand regional cooperation. The visit marks the 60th anniversary of bilateral ties.

Malaysia's foreign ministry said Thursday that national security, the global fight against terrorism and trade and investment are on the agenda of talks between the leaders.

The 1MDB case is the largest single action the Justice Department has taken under its Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, which seeks to recover foreign bribery proceeds and embezzled funds.

He has been invited to the White House to meet President Trump, and the two leaders are set to discuss the fight against terrorism and trade links

Several other countries including Singapore and Switzerland are conducting investigations.

Najib denied taking money from 1MDB after it was reported that investigators traced nearly $700 million to his bank accounts.

Authorities cleared him of any wrongdoing, saying the money was a donation from Saudi Arabia.
The parents of 22-year-old Bakari Henderson have spoken out for the first time about their son's tragic death in July.

His mother spoke to CBS News as she revealed her son felt: 'more comfortable overseas than in the United States.'

She added: 'He just felt it was safer over in Europe and overseas in general, he said you know with the climate, with African American males in the US.'

The parents of 22-year-old Bakari Henderson have spoken out for the first time about their son's tragic death in July

This is the first time Henderson's parents have spoken publicly about their son's brutal death.

The American college graduate was beaten to death in Greece - shocking CCTV footage shows Henderson running away from the mob which killed him.

The men punched him and kicked him repeatedly for 20 seconds until a woman passer-by stepped in and told them to stop.

His mother spoke to CBS News as she revealed her son felt: 'more comfortable overseas than in the United States'

The American college graduate was beaten to death in Greece - shocking CCTV footage shows Henderson running away from the mob which killed him

In his first comments, the security guard who has been charged with homicide over the attack said that some jealous Serbians objected to Henderson and his friends talking to a Serbian waitress.

The security guard also said the Serbian asked the waitress: 'What are you doing hanging out with the Americans?' just before the fight began.

Two people have been charged with homicide over the killing, the security guard, a 32-year-old Briton of Serbian origin, and a Greek barman, 34.

Henderson was from Austin, Texas, and in May graduated from the University of Arizona in Tucson where he studied Business Finance and Entrepreneurship

Six other Serbians are being questioned.

Police are investigating whether race played a part in the attack on Henderson, who is black, at the Bar Code bar in Laganas on the party island Zakynthos.

Henderson was from Austin, Texas, and in May graduated from the University of Arizona in Tucson where he studied Business Finance and Entrepreneurship.

According to the Greek Security Division the incident began at 3.15am on Friday at Bar Code

Two people have been charged with homicide over the killing, the security guard, a 32-year-old Briton of Serbian origin, and a Greek barman, 34

WATCH: Parents of an American who was fatally beaten outside a bar in Greece speak out for the first time. Thursday, @CBSThisMorning pic.twitter.com/ldqqcb99Fe  CBS News (@CBSNews) August 23, 2017

His family said he was in Greece with friends doing a photoshoot to launch his own fashion line.

According to the Greek Security Division the incident began at 3.15am on Friday at Bar Code.

The security guard who has been charged with homicide over the attack said that some jealous Serbians objected to Henderson and his friends talking to a Serbian waitress

The men punched him and kicked him repeatedly for 20 seconds until a woman passer-by stepped in and told them to stop

The CCTV footage, obtained by Greek newspaper Protothema, is from a bar on the same street as Bar Code.

Henderson's friends created a GoFundMe page which has reached $75,471 of its $80,000 goal.

The page is to raise money for his funeral and transportation costs to return his body back to the United States.
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Southern China is dealing with the aftermath of Typhoon Hato which has left 16 people dead and 153 injured.

Worst hit in the area is the former Portuguese territory of Macau where nine people were killed and rescuers still searching today through submerged cars for trapped people.

The typhoon struck the region with winds of more than 200 kilometres an hour (124 miles per hour).

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Damage and destruction: An uprooted tree is seen resting on a parked car having fallen on it during heavy winds in Macau

Cars can be seen crashed into each other in the former Portuguese colony of Macau in southern China

Working together: People work together to try and repair some of the damage caused by the strong typhoon

A big clear up operation ahead: Pedestrians walk past fallen trees on a pavement in Macau on August 24

Macau's government broadcaster TDM said Typhoon Hato, a maximum signal 10 storm, was the strongest since 1968 to hit the world's biggest gambling hub and home to around 600,000 people.

Many residents said that the Macau government were unprepared for the typhoon.

Ashley Sutherland-Winch, a marketing consultant in Macau told Reuters: 'I am shocked with the late notice and lack of preparation that was given for this superstorm. Residents are in peril and unable to assess if help is on the way.'

Protective scaffolding cloth is seen ripped on a building under construction after heavy winds in Macau

A collapsed wooden wall caused by Typhoon Hato sit on a street in Hong Kong on Wednesday. The powerful typhoon barrelled into Hong Kong today, forcing businesses, government offices, schools and the stock market to close

People walk in the rainstorm caused by Typhoon Hato on August 23, 2017 in Hong Kong. The powerful typhoon is causing chaos in southern China today. Video footage shows pedestrians in Hong Kong and Zhuhai being blown of their feet

Huge wave caused by typhoon Hato hits a dock in Shenzhen city, south China's Guangdong province. China's weather service said the storm made landfall at around noon on Wednesday in the Pearl River Delta city of Zhuhai

Many of the casinos in the region were operating on back up power.

Hong Kong was also hit by the storm with trees uprooted, streets flooded and hundreds of flights cancelled.

Financial trading was also halted on Wednesday.

34 people were said to be injured in Hong Kong.

While in the neighbouring southern Chinese province of Guangdong, 27,000 people have been evacuated to temporary shelters. Nearly two million households were briefly without power.

Mainland Chinese tourists take pictures against the wind caused by Typhoon Hato on the waterfront of Victoria Habour in Hong Kong. At least four deaths have been reported as a result of the disastrous storm, three in Macau and one in Zhongshan

Waves triggered by Typhoon Hato are seen in Hong Kong. The storm has left flooded streets, shattered windows and hundreds of cancelled flights in its wake in the coastal region in southern China

A citizen rides in the rain on August 22 in Shenzhen as Typhoon Hato approached the coastal city. On Tuesday, China's State Oceanic Administration issued a red alert, the highest warning, for ocean waves in sea areas off the coast of Guangdong

In Zhuhai, which borders Macau, the estimated damage is thought to be 5.5 billion yuan (644 million).

Southern China is regularly battered by typhoons during July and October.



Terrifying video clips have emerged on social media showing the devastating destruction brought by Typhoon Hato in populous cities like Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen and Zhuhai on the Chinese coast.

Footage shows high winds, with gusts of up to 207 kph (129 mph), blowing pedestrians off their feet, overturning vans, ripping roofs off buildings and destroying construction cranes on top of high-rises.

Several buildings, thought to be temporary dormitories on a construction site, can be seen being pushed by winds like toys. One clip shows huge waves crashing straight into people's living room.
A senior aide to President Donald Trump emailed campaign officials concerning a potential meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last summer, it was reported Wednesday.

Deputy-chief of staff Rick Dearborn communicated with campaign officials about a person who could possibly connect the President with Putin, according to CNN.

Congressional investigators say they unearthed the previously unreported email sent in June 2016 about the effort, the same month that Donald Trump Jr. set up a meeting with Jared Kushner, the President's son-in-law and top aide, and former campaign chairmen Paul Manafort and a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower.

President Donald Trump's Deputy Chief of Staff Rick Dearborn emailed campaign officials concerning a potential meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last summer

Congressional investigators say they underneathed the previously unreported email sent in June 2016 about the effort

The person, identified only as WV, is possibly a reference to the state of West Virginia, one source with knowledge of the email told the broadcaster.

An unidentified source told CNN that it's unclear who the individual is, what they were seeking or whether Dearborn even acted on the request, noting that the deputy appeared skeptical of the requested meeting.

While many of the details concerning the email remain unclear, the existence of the communication suggests that Russian entities may have been scouting other entry points into the Trump campaign.

Dearborn's name hasn't surfaced much as special prosecutor Robert Mueller investigation into potential Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign continues.

Former FBI Director Robert Mueller is leading a special investigation into whether Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election

But questions pertaining to Dearborn's involvement in setting up a meeting between then Senator Jeff Sessions and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak are starting to surface.

Dearborn served as the former chief-of-staff to Sessions and was a top policy aide on the campaign.

The White House declined to comment on the matter while Dearborn did not return repeated requests for clarification by CNN.

Steve Hall, a retired CIA chief of Russia operations, told the news outlet that the behavior fits a pattern of covert measures the Russian government has perfected over the years.

'The Russians are really experts at this,' said Hall.

Hall noted, however, that it would highly unusual for Putin to meet Trump before meeting with operatives tied to the Kremlin.
A man who is set to become the first white Florida convict to be executed for killing a black man has said he is ready to die.

Mark Asay, 53, was convicted in 1987 of killing black man Robert Lee Booker and Hispanic cross-dresser Robert McDowell and has spent the years since waiting to be executed.

And on the eve of Thursday's execution, a tearful Asay opened up about the killings, his newfound religion, and why he feels he should either go free or be executed immediately to News4Jax.

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Tearful: Killer Mark Asay wept as he spoke in prison on Wednesday. He is scheduled to die Thursday - becoming the first white man to be executed for killing a black man in Florida

Murder: Asay was convicted of killing Robert Lee Booker (left) and Robert McDowell in 1987. The convict (seen right in old mugshot) admits killing McDowell but denies Booker's murder

Asay was convicted in 1987 of the racially charged murders of Robert Lee Booker, a black man, and Robert 'Rene' McDowell, a Hispanic cross-dresser.

The then-23-year-old Asay was hauled in by police in July of that year after Booker's body was found under the porch of an abandoned house in Jacksonville.

McDowell's body was found at a crossroads nearby. Both men had been shot, and a candy-apple-red truck with a missing bumper was spotted leaving the scene of McDowell's killing.

I never intended to murder him. It just happened Mark Asay on his killing of Robert McDowell in 1987

That truck was traced to Asay, who has admitted to killing McDowell, a former friend of his, but denies murdering Booker, who was linked to him with ballistic evidence.

When asked if he had anything he wanted to say, Booker tearfully told the channel: 'Well, really, just that I'm sorry and things just got out of control.'

Saying that McDowell's death came as he was 'having a meltdown,' Asay said they had been friendly until the man took money from him.

'I knew Robert McDowell as Rene,' he said. 'I had previous encounters with him, and we were sociable, and he did take money from me one time.

'I had said, in my mind, "When I see him, I'm going to kick his a**." But I never intended to murder him. It just happened.'

Inked: Prosecutors said that he killed both men in a racist attack, and pointed to his white supremacist tattoos - which he's since covered up with other images (pictured) as proof

Defense: Asay says he got the racist tattoos to protect himself when he was imprisoned for burglary age 19, and has since got rid of those he can

Asay claims he was drunk to the point of unconsciousness when he shot McDowell six times, and that he doesn't 'know what happened.'

'I can only look at it in hindsight,' he said, as he began to choke up again. 'But I know that anybody that says I'm not concerned, don't know me.'

Prosecutors, who mistakenly identified the Hispanic victim as a light-skinned black man, painted the killing - and that of Booker - as a hate crime. Authorities have only recently acknowledged that mistake.

I've removed every racial tattoo I had, except for the ones that I can't reach Asay on the white power ink he says he got to survive in prison aged 19

They also said that his white supremacist tattoos, including one that read 'supreme white power,' proved his prejudice.

However, he denies that he's a white supremacist and says he only got the ink done because it was the only way to survive 'in a hostile prison environment', when he was locked up for a burglary and auto theft, aged 19.

'They are not representative at all of who I am, but they are tattoos, and they're not easily removed,' he said.

'I have covered them up. I had a swastika on my elbow; I covered that up. I had an SWP on my arm; I burned it off. I've removed every racial tattoo I had, except for the ones that I can't reach.'

Denial: Asay (seen in recent mugshot) says he never killed Booker. And as McDowell was Hispanic, not a light-skinned black man as prosecutors thought, he argues it couldn't have been a racist attack

'I've had African-American friends all my life,' he added. 'But I've had to live in very hostile environments, and I've had to manage the best I could.

'While it's a poor choice, it's a choice I made, and I can't undo it.'

Killing McDowell is another choice; but Asay claims that the punishment he has received for that decision is far greater than it should have been.

He says that he never killed Booker - whom he admitted had cheated him in a drug deal - and that the ballistic evidence that connected him to the death has been proven to be wrong.

And, he says, the death penalty was imposed because it was painted as a racially motivated killing - even though the only victim he will admit to killing was Hispanic, not black, as prosecutors claimed.

He says the government was acting in 'good faith' at the time of the prosecution, but in the wake of those revelations, he wants to get his conviction changed to second-degree murder and be released for time served.

If that's not an option, however, he says he'd rather die.

Wanting out: Asay says the Booker ballistic evidence connecting him to the crime is faulty. With all this in mind, he argues he should be convicted of second-degree murder and be released for time served

'No, I don't want life in prison [even] if they had an institution that had Ramada Inn-style housing. Prison is prison. I have served 36 years of my life in prison.

'If the purpose of prison is not accomplished now, it's never going to be accomplished.

I want out of prison - through the front door or the back Asay on his impending execution, scheduled for 6pm Thursday

'If the purpose is just to protect me from society and protect society from me, OK, I accept that, but I'm saying I'm not a violent person or a threat to society.

'But if the government is like, "Well, we can't be sure," then I'm prepared to submit to the execution Thursday and go on and be at peace with my Lord.'

Asay, who is a born again Christian, says that his faith is giving him comfort in the hours before his death, and that he is ready to die.

'I'm loved by the Lord. I'm 100 per cent confident that if I'm going to get relief here, it's because of the truth,' he said.

'And if I'm not going to get relief here, it's because the Lord knows that my life here on Earth will not be productive.

'Because I pray, and I say, "I've had all of the prison I want. So I want out of prison - through the front door or the back."'

Discovery: Booker's body was found under this porch. Asay says whatever happens, he's done with prison after 30 years - and he wants out 'through the front door or the back'

Unfortunately for Asay, there looks to be no way out alive now. He was scheduled to die last year, until his execution was postponed at the last minute.

But last month Governor Rick Scott signed Asay's new death warrant.

And that means he'll be killed by lethal injection at 6pm on Thursday.

That will make him the first white man to be executed for killing a black person in the history of Florida.

His pending execution will be carried out for the first time with the help of a drug that has never been used previously in any US execution.

It is expected to be carried out using etomidate, an anesthetic that has been approved by the Florida Supreme Court.

Death penalty experts say the drug is unproven, while state corrections officials say the choice has been reviewed. Two other drugs also will be used.

The execution is Florida's first since the US Supreme Court halted the practice in the state more than 18 months ago.
Daniel James Holdom (pictured) will face trial over the deaths of a mother and her daughter

A man charged with murdering a woman and her young daughter has been ordered to stand trial, almost nine years after they both are believed to have died.

Daniel James Holdom allegedly killed Karlie Pearce-Stevenson, 20, and Khandalyce Pearce, two, on unknown dates and at an unknown location in mid-December 2008.

Ms Pearce-Stevenson's body was found in the NSW Belanglo State Forest, while her daughter's remains were discovered near a suitcase dumped on a South Australian highway.

In committing Holdom to stand trial in the NSW Supreme Court, magistrate Les Mabbutt said the most important piece of evidence were photos taken by Holdom of the mother in the forest shortly before or after her death.

The prosecution says Holdom took the photos as a 'trophy'.

Karlie Pearce-Stevenson (pictured), 20, was allegedly murdered by Holdom in December 2008 before her body was dumped in the Belanglo State Forrest, south of Sydney, NSW

He is also charged with murdering Khandalyce Pearce (pictured), two, whose body was found dumped on the side of highway in South Australia near where an empty suitcase lay

The 42-year-old, who is charged with murdering the pair, dressed in prison greens and didn't react in the dock when the case was adjourned for arraignment in the Supreme Court on October 6.

Ms Pearce-Stevenson's remains were found in the forest in 2010 but were not identified for five years until after the discovery of Khandalyce's remains.

The two-year-old's remains were found in July 2015 near a suitcase dumped on the side of a SA highway at Wynarka.

Holdom, who told police he had been in a relationship with Ms Pearce-Stevenson, was seen to argue with her on December 14, 2008, at an ACT residence before they drove off in her car.

People at the house said Holdom returned alone after being gone for about 14 to 17 hours, the magistrate said.

His mobile phone use was later tracked to the forest area where, the prosecution alleges, he killed her and took graphic photos either shortly before and/or after her death.

Prosecutor Victoria Engel says evidence shows Holdom checked into a Wagga Wagga hotel with a child on December 19.

But the next day he was seen alone, before he drove on to South Australia.

A towel used by the hotel was found with other items near the toddler's remains.

In committing Holdom to stand trial, magistrate Les Mabbutt said the most important piece of evidence were photos taken by Holdom of the mother in the forest shortly before or after her death (Pictured is the suitcase found near Khandalyce Pearce)

'The location where the suitcase was found several years later was entirely consistent with the route of travel he took,' the magistrate said.

Holdom allegedly later made admissions about the murders, saying he had suffocated the toddler and stomped on her mother's throat.

Ms Engel said Holdom used Ms Pearce-Stevenson's credit card for years after her death.

He also was allegedly involved in sending messages from her phone to her mother to curb police investigations into the pair's disappearances.
A federal judge has ruled that Arizonas ban on ethnic studies courses was motivated by racial discrimination.

The state violated students constitutional rights because both enactment and enforcement were motivated by racial animus, Judge A. Wallace Tashima wrote in a ruling issued Tuesday.

Supporters of the program have argued that the 2010 state law, which in part banned courses designed primarily for students of a particular ethnic group, targeted Mexican Americans and other minority groups.

The school district in Tucson dropped its Mexican-American studies program after state officials threatened to cut their state funding. Tashimas decision came in response to a lawsuit that students filed against the state.

However, Tashima hasnt yet settled on a remedy for the violation and has not issued a final judgment. Attorneys for the students hope he will throw out the law.

Back in 2013, Tashima had previously upheld most of the law in a civil lawsuit filed by students in the school system. But a federal appeals court sent the case back to trial to determine if the ban was enacted with racist intent.

The new trial was held in July . Tashima, a member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco, heard the case by special designation as a district court judge in Arizona

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Photo: Ross D. Franklin/AP-File

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A Muslim woman from Sydney's west wants the burqa banned to protect Australians from suicide bombers.

Emma Eros, a licensed plumber and company founder, agrees with One Nation leader Pauline Hanson even though this would infringe on religious freedom.

'I do agree with the banning of the burqa. I'd like to know who is next to me,' she told former Labor leader turned media commentator, Mark Latham.

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Plumber Emma Eros (right next to psychiatrist Tanveer Ahmed) wants the burqa to be banned

The 38-year-old chief executive said Senator Hanson was making a necessary statement about security by wearing a burqa into parliament last week.

'It's something we're all discussing, we're all talking about,' Ms Eros said.

'We have a concern. It's very important we acknowledge this.

'There could be a man wearing a bomb underneath this burqa.'

Pauline Hanson wore a black burqa into the Senate to make a point about national security

Former Labor leader Mark Latham asked if the burqa was a form of female oppression

Pauline Hanson wore a burqa into the Senate to make a point about the garb and security

She told Mark Latham's Outsiders the burqa wasn't a 'religious requirement', contradicting Attorney-General George Brandis who chastised Senator Hanson for disrespecting religious sensibilities.

Psychiatrist Tanveer Ahmed, a cultural Muslim who was born in Bangladesh, said the burqa and the niqab had come to symbolise a protest against western values.

'There are some areas, of particularly Islam, which do demand a compromise of mainstream, western society which I don't think we should give in to,' he said.

However, Dr Ahmed stopped short of calling for a burqa ban unless people had a job requiring them to interact with the public or they were attending court.

Mr Latham had asked if the burqa was a form of female oppression to prevent men from being aroused by the sight a woman's flesh.

Banning the burqa could potentially breach section 116 of the Australian constitution which bars a government from freely exercising their religion.

Other religions also have special garments and symbols, with Jewish men wearing yarmulkes and Christians wearing crucifixes.
The moment a suspected pervert who thought he was meeting a 14-year-old boy for sex was arrested by police has been caught on camera.

Detectives from the Sex Crimes Squad arrested and charged a 34-year-old man at Petersham Railway Station in Sydneys inner west at 10.30am on Thursday.

Dramatic footage of the arrest shows the man walking across the Petersham Train Station Bridge before he is confronted by officers and escorted away.

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The moment a suspected pervert (right) who thought he was meeting a 14-year-old boy for sex was arrested by police (left) has been caught on camera

Following the arrest officers searched a nearby property and seized a number of items for forensic examination.

The man was taken to Marrickville Police Station and charged with use carriage service to procure persons under 16.

Police will allege in court the man believed he was speaking to a 14-year-old boy.

The man engaged in sexually-explicit conversations with the child and made arrangements to meet in person, police will allege.

He was refused bail to appear at Newtown Local Court on Thursday afternoon.

The investigation is ongoing.
A grandmother-of-six has vowed to continue fighting for a visa for her new husband, who is 45 years her junior, lives 4,000 miles away, and who she met face-to-face on their wedding day.

Angela Nwachukwu, 72, married her husband CJ Nwachukwu in April 2015, just three months after he had added her on Facebook and struck up a conversation.

The retired taxi driver from Weymouth says she couldn't help but fall for her 27-year-old lover from Nigeria, when they started talking, and is devastated that their applications for visas have failed.

She says she has spent 20,000 on him, including lawyers to help with the visas and flights to visit him, but says he had repaid her half when he can.

Angela Nwachukwu with her husband CJ, who she met online and married within months, in Nigeria

Mrs Nwachukwu met her husband on Facebook and said she couldn't help but fall for him when they started talking

She told the Sun she'd been left lonely and isolated after the breakdown of her marriage, six months before they met online.

One day she found a message and a friend request from Mr Nwachukwu, and couldn't see the harm in striking up conversation.

She said: 'He was so handsome, with big, brown eyes and a body to match.

'We chatted for hours about our families and hobbies. It was like wed known each other for years. Before I knew it, we were messaging daily.

'Despite our huge age gap, we got on really well. I couldnt help it and began to develop feelings for him. I tried to stop myself.'

To her surprise, he popped the question on Skype, and she gleefully accepted.

The pair wed in Lagos, Nigeria, and have since seen each other twice, as she has flown there to visit him.

Mr Nwachukwu has even been denied a tourist visa to see his wife, and their applications have been turned down because it's thought they won't have financial backing.

Mrs Nwachukwu said she has spent 20,000 on lawyers to help bring him over on a visa, and that her husband has always paid her back

Despite criticisms, Mrs Nwachukwu insists the marriage is not a scam, because she doesn't have any money and was upfront about that at the start.

She now hopes he will be able to get a student visa for a Masters, to be reunited with her.

PROVING YOUR INCOME FOR A VISA An application for a partner to join a spouse in the UK must prove they can support themselves. Applicants should prove an annual income of 18,600 between them. Those with children should prove they will earn an extra 3,800 for their first child, and then 2,400 for their second child and any other children. Savings can also prove income, but applicants have to have cash savings of 16,000. Pensions count, as does money earned from renting out a property. Advertisement

British citizens can apply for a Family visa to move their partners to the UK.

It's an expensive process - the Home Office charges 1,464 for people applying from outside the UK to joining their partners or spouses, and nearly 1,000 for extensions.

Those willing to part with a few hundred pounds more can get the premium extension service.

Spouses applying to move to be with their partners have to prove they can support themselves and their partners, and they have to have been living with them for two years.

Partners will then be given permission to move for around two and a half years and should extend this after that time.

Mr Nwachukwu has to be able to show he can support himself or be supported to be granted a Marriage Visitor visa, by the rules of the Home Office.

Under the visa for visitors, the trip must be no longer than six months, and applicants should prove they will leave at the end.

Two years ago, Julie Dag from Bournemouth told of how she was duped into spending 20,000 after falling for local musician Lamin Sidibeh while on holiday in The Gambia in West Africa in 2007.

Appearing on a Channel 5 documentary, she revealed that she had married him, before spending her honeymoon filling in visa applications. But within three months of returning to England and setting up home, he had left her.
More than 25 puppies were found crammed on top of each other in an overheated van outside a Walmart store, horrified animal shelter staff confirmed.

The animals were stuffed into two crates and left in the vehicle as the temperature topped 90 degrees outside.

The 26 puppies, all bulldogs which can fetch up to $3,000, were severely dehydrated when they were found in Garfield on Saturday.

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Animal shelter staff were horrified to find 26 bulldogs had been packed into crates in the back of a van

Debrorah Yankow, from the Bergen County Animal Shelter, said the short-nosed pups are susceptible to dehydration, and 'literally jumped into the water bottles'

They were taken to the Bergen County Animal Shelter, where staff were stunned by the way they had been treated.

Debrorah Yankow, director of animal services, told CBS2: 'They were literally on top of each other. It was a ninety degree day, they were all overheated.'

She said the short-nosed pups are susceptible to dehydration, and 'literally jumped into the water bottles'.

The 26 puppies were severely dehydrated when they were left in a van outside the Walmart store

Animal shelter staff were shocked at the conditions they found the puppies being kept in

She said paperwork found in the van has led investigators to believe the animals had been imported from Colombia, and they may have been on their way to Florida.

The dogs have now been taken to the county shelter in Teterboro, were they are being kept in isolation.

Yankow told CBS2 she fears there could be similar networks across the US, saying she has since been contacted by another animal control agency in New Jersey.

The puppies are going to be in isolation for at least three weeks, and it is not known if and when they will be available for adoption

Following a huge number of enquiries about the puppies, Bergen County Animal Shelter posted on Facebook: 'Thank you for everyone's concern regarding these puppies.

'They are going to be in isolation for at least 3 weeks, they have not been vaccinated and we must be certain they are healthy. In addition, they are part of an active investigation being conducted by the Bergen County SPCA.

'We do not know at this time if they will be available.'
This is the chilling moment the Danish inventor accused of killing a female journalist, whose dismembered remains were later found in the water off Copenhagen, makes a thumbs up to TV cameras hours after her death.

Footage aired on Denmark's TV2 sees Peter Madsen, 46, getting off a boat that pulled him out of Kge Bay shortly after 30-year-old Kim Wall died in what he claims was an accident.

At the time, Miss Wall was only reported as missing and Madsen was still adamant he had last seen her alive as he dropped her off in a local harbour the evening before.

Ten days later, Miss Wall's naked torso was found in Kge Bay, with the limbs having been 'deliberately cut off' before being weighed down with metal, police say.

Are you ok ? Peter Madsen, who is now charged over the death of Kim Wall, gives the thumbs up after he is rescued from the submarine where police later found traces of her blood

Madsen, 46, has since admitted that Miss Wall died on his submarine, and says he then 'buried her at sea', before deliberately sinking the vessel he had spent years building.

Danish prosecutors said Thursday that police expect to raise the preliminary charges against Madsen to murder and indecent handling of corpse when he appears at a hearing in two weeks time.

As Madsen is known in Denmark for his ambitious projects, which as well as submarines include building space rockets, the TV2 crew were there to report on his rescue.

Wearing camouflage overalls, Madsen is seen speaking to two policemen about Miss Wall, who by then had been reported missing by her family. They ask: 'Do you have any contact information for her?'

'It's in my phone at the bottom of the ocean,' Madsen replies according to Ekstrabladet.

'So you don't have her name or what?'

'Just that her name is Kim. I don't check the background of a journalist, they call and ask 'can I have an interview'.'

Dead: The headless torso found in Copenhagen is that of Kim Wall, 30, (left) who had gone along for a voyage on the submarine of Peter Madsen (right), who has now admitted to 'burying her at sea' after she died on the vessel

Tragedy: Journalist Kim Wall died on the submarine, Madsen has admitted, but he claims it was an accident

'SHE TALKED ABOUT THE MANY STORIES SHE WANTED TO TELL': FRIEND PAYS EMOTIONAL TRIBUTE TO 'INSPIRATIONAL' KIM WALL Malin Franzen, 29, who had known Kim Wall since they were teenagers, posted an emotional tribute on Facebook, honouring her friend. 'Inspirational': Miss Franzen, right, described Miss Wall, left, as an inspiration with a wicked sense of humour who made 'anything seem possible' 'The last 12 days have been a never-ending parade of one unfathomable event after the other. Just three weeks ago, she was at on our sofa and told us about her new house in China where  according to her  cats sometimes fall thought the roof, showed us pictures of Chinese t-shirts with inappropriate English text on, and demonstrated translation apps. 'She talked about her love, of how many stories there are to tell, about the future, about her life. You always listened to her wide-eyed, because how many people do you know who can give you first-hand information about both the Ugandan film industry, the mass graves of Sri Lanka and the Cuban police force? Who had been accepted and graduated from not one, but two, super schools? 'I was looking over her shoulder when she read her acceptance letter for Columbia, and almost fainted when I saw their term fee, but she just said something along the lines of 'oh right, yes, I gotta sort that'. And she did that because what she has achieved, she has achieved on her own merits, nothing has been served up for her. 'Despite this, she never acted superior or was pretentious (but also never falsely humble) and kept the same humour (without competition the most inappropriate I've ever encountered) that she had when we worked as telemarketers in a shabby callcentre. 'It is impossible to describe her. And I doubt anyone could paint a complete picture of her. Losing her is not just the loss of a dear friend, but also of a source of inspiration. 'A couple of times a year, she swooped into the flat, dragging her gigantic suitcase. And when she left again, you were filled with a feeling like anything is possible. It is hard enough to comprehend that her adventure is over, it is flat out impossible to understand that is how it ended. Rest in peace, dear Kim. 'That's just the way it is, things will never be the same.' Published with the permission of Malin Franzen Advertisement

As the camera follows him, Madsen explains in a chillingly casual way that he submarine sank because of an issue with one of the ballast tanks.

Smiling at the camera, he says: ' I was just out for a practice vouyge when there was an issue with a ballast tank - which was not very serious - and when I tried to repair it, it only got worse.

'Nautilus sank in 30 seconds so I did not have time to close any hatches or anything. Which was very good, because otherwise I would be down there,' he adds smiling again.

He smiles again. After this, Madsen can reportedly be heard talking about how they can retrieve the submarine, and how much it's going to cost - not mentioning Miss Wall, but stressing that there is some form of insurance for the vessel.

Police have found traces of Miss Wall's blood inside the submarine, despite having had to retrieve it from the bottom of a Copenhagen bay where it sank on August 11.

Tribute: Around 40 of Miss Wall's classmates from the Graduate School of Journalism in Columbia University gathered at a candle vigil on Wednesday evening

Honour: Salima Koroma, left, and Matthew Claiborne, classmates of Miss Wall, who studied at Columbia University in 2013, mourn at the university campus in New York

In memoriam: Miss Wall hailed from southern Sweden, but had recently been splitting her time between New York and China as she travelled around the world to report stories

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday morning, Copenhagen police investigator Jens Moeller Jensen said that they had been able to match both the blood and the torso to DNA retrieved from a toothbrush and a hairbrush belonging to Kim Wall.

He added that police had found that the torso had been subjected to some form of force, in order for air to be pushed out of the lungs so it would not float.

Police believe the metal found on the torso had the purpose of ensuring the body sunk and remained on the seabed.

Madsen's lawyer Betina Hald Engmark said on Wednesday that her client stands by his 'explanation that an accident happened'.

The Ekstra Bladet tabloid, quoting unnamed sources, said Madsen has asked to be transferred to solitary confinement, allegedly out of fear of being attacked inside the prison.

The torso was found by a passing cyclist at the water's edge in Kge Bay in Copenhagen, where Madsen had informed police that he had 'buried' Miss Wall's dead body.

Members of The Danish Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) are preparing to assist the police at Kalvebod Faelled in Copenhagen in the search for Miss Wall's remains

While Miss Wall's torso was recovered earlier this week, authorities still look for other remains

Further search: Police and other authorities search a waterway for further remains related to the ongoing Kim Wall investigation at the west coast of Amager, Copenhagen, Denmark

Police search a waterway for remains related to the ongoing Kim Wall investigation at the west coast of Amager close to Copenhagen, Denmark

Last moments: One of the last images taken of Miss Wall shows her on board the sub alongside Madsen on Thursday August 10

Divers are continuing to search the area where the torso was found for the remains of Miss Wall, and investigators are also looking for her clothes, including an orange turtleneck blouse, a black-and-white skirt and white sneakers.

On Wednesday, Miss Wall's family has paid tribute to the freelance journalist, who grew up in Sweden but was mainly based in New York and Beijing.

The family says it received the confirmation of her death 'with boundless sadness and dismay.'

'The tragedy has hit not only us and other families, but friends and colleagues all over the world.'

Her parents and brother said Miss Wall, 'found and told stories from different parts of the globe, stories that have to be written,' ranging from the Haitian earthquake to ousted dictator Idi Amin's torture chamber in Uganda and mine fields in Sri Lanka.

They say said he journalist, who wrote for publications including The Guardian and New York Times, gave 'a voice to the weak, the vulnerable and marginalized people,' adding that such a voice had been 'needed for a long time. Now it will not be.

'Hot-tempered': Peter Madsen, pictured with fellow enthusiast Kristian von Bengtson and one of their rocket prototypes in 2010, allegedly has a history of lashing out at journalists

Passionate: Madsen's biographer has revealed that the hobby rocket builder has made enemies of the people he has worked with, and that his temper can flare unexpectedly

Madsen, an amateur enthusiast who had built the UC3 Nautilus himself, has a history of lashing out at journalists who gave his project bad press, his biographer has said.

'He often ends up in conflicts, and has a lot of enemies,' says Thomas Djursing, a journalist who has written a book about Madsen.

'He can throw tools at you. But at the same time, he's not a violent person. I've never been afraid of him,' he told Aftonbladet.

Mr Djursing adds that Madsen would often become angry with journalists who wrote about his ambitious projects in a negative way, and says 'I don't know a journalist who has not been in conflict with him'.

In Mr Djursing's book 'Rocket Madsen', the inventor describes himself as a 'nerd with few friends' who grew up with his elderly father after the parents' separation.

Early on, he joined several rocket and space travel clubs, but his lack of patience and short fuse saw him excluded from the societies in his teens.

'The past few years, he has been driven by a kind of vengeance. To show those he has worked with in the past, but who has since become his adversaries, that he can beat them,' Mr Djursing toldExpressen.

'He is a crazy person,' photographer Bo Tornvig tells the newspaper.

'I mean, making space rockets and sailing around in home-made submarines is not normal behaviour. But I've never seen him lay a hand on anyone. This whole story really stinks. '

The UC3 Nautilus was raised from the bottom of Copenhagen harbour where it had been under 8m (24ft) of water since sinking on Friday morning

The 40-ton, 18-meter long Nautilus, one of three subs built by Madsen, was found by divers under 7m (24ft) of water, though they were unable to enter it safely

Madsen, pictured above in 2008 in front of his submarine, was seen standing the tower of the still-floating submarine moments before it sank, according to a rescuer

Peter Madsen, who built the submarine himself, is under investigation for negligent manslaughter as investigators say there is evidence it was wrecked deliberately

Miss Wall was last seen on board the UC3 Nautilus with amateur builder Madsen on August 10, but until Monday, he insisted he had let her off that evening.

Madsen was picked up by the Danish Navy around 10.45am on August 11, when his submarine sunk in Copenhagen harbour.

It was built like a post-World War II submarine, with a galley, crew bunks, officer's mass, bridge and engine room.

Madsen claims he was the only one on board at the time, and that he dropped Miss Wall off at the mouth of the harbour shortly after 10pm the previous night.

Around the time he claimed to have dropped Miss Wall off, Madsen sent a mysterious text to a friend saying she had left the vessel and cancelling a trip he was supposed to be taking on the submarine the following day, according to local reports.

He did not respond to questions from the friend about why he had dropped Miss Wall off or why the trip was being cancelled.

Madsen was arrested on manslaughter charges the following Saturday before a judge ordered that he be held in custody while investigations are carried out.

He is charged with having killed Miss Wall 'in an unknown way and in an unknown place sometime after 5pm on Thursday.'

Before the first court hearing, which was held in private and attended by his relatives, Madsen smiled, and chatted with both his lawyer and reporters.

If convicted, Madsen faces between five years and life in prison.
South Korea has scrambled jets to intercept Russian bombers flying over waters near the country.

Russian Tupolev-95MS bombers flew over neutral waters accompanied by Sukhoi-35S fighter jets and an A-50 early warning and control aircraft, its defence ministry has said.

It gave no details about the overall number of aircraft that had taken part in what it called a pre-arranged flight - or why the mission took place.

The flight, which also included planes with advanced intelligence gathering capabilities, was announced on the same day as Moscow complained about the US-South Korean war games.

South Korea has scrambled jets to intercept Russian bombers (file photo) flying over the Pacific Ocean, the Sea of Japan, the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea

Russian Tupolev-95MS bombers flew over neutral waters accompanied by Sukhoi-35S fighter jets and an A-50 early warning and control aircraft (file photo)

Russia, which shares a border with North Korea, has repeatedly voiced concerns about rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula following Pyongyang's nuclear missile programme.

It has also repeatedly complained about Japan's plans to host a US anti-missile system on its soil.

The TU-95MS bombers were refuelled in mid-air during the mission, the ministry said.

During parts of the route, the bombers were escorted by South Korean and Japanese military jets, it added.

It comes at a time of great tension in the region, particularly between US President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.

Trump recently said his aggressive stance on North Korea has been successful and its leader Kim Jong-Un had started to 'respect him'.

It gave no details about the overall number of aircraft that had taken part in what it called a pre-arranged flight, which included Sukhoi Su-34 fighter jets (file photo)

'Some people said it was too strong. It's not strong enough,' he told a gathering of thousands of supporters at a campaign style rally in Phoenix, Arizona, on Tuesday night.

'But Kim Jong-Un, I respect the fact that I believe he is starting to respect us. I respect that fact very much.'

His Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said peaceful talks between the nations were now possible 'in the near future' and welcomed the restraint the North had showed in its weapons program.

Pyongyang, meanwhile, revealed significant technological advances in its missile programs and ambitious plans to further improve its capabilities.

While visiting the Chemical Material Institute of the Academy of Defense Science, Kim ordered the production of rocket engines and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) to be stepped up, state media reported.

The flight, which also included planes with advanced intelligence gathering capabilities, was announced on the same day as Moscow complained about the US-South Korean war games

This week a chilling North Korean propaganda video appears to show Trump staring at the apocalyptic remains of US territory Guam, which Kim threatened to attack.

The footage released by Kim Jong-Un's state run media featured a macabre shot of Trump at cemetery, apparently in Guam, and Vice President Mike Pence engulfed in flames.

The video emerged shortly after the reclusive nation threatened to turn the US into 'a heap of ashes' in a typically aggressive response to the American war games taking place in the neighboring South.

Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry, said: 'The US and South Korea holding yet more large-scale military and naval exercises does not help reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

'We urge all sides to exercise maximum caution. Given the arms build-up in the region, any rash move or even an unintended incident could spark a military conflict.'
This is believed to be the victim of five cannibals who were arrested after the brutal rape and murder of a young woman whose flesh was then eaten in a scandal that is rocking South Africa.

Zanele Hlatshwayo, 25, is thought to be the woman who was murdered and cut up before her flesh was shared around neighbours in an unfolding cannibal saga in Estcourt, a town in the uThukela District of KwaZulu-Natal Province.

More than 300 people in surrounding villages have so far admitted to knowingly eating human flesh, and at the home of one of the arrested men eight human ears were found in a cooking pot.

Many villagers have come forward to report relatives and friends missing leading to police fear there could be many more victims.

Zanele Hlatshwayo, 25, is thought to be the woman who was murdered and cut up before her flesh was shared around neighbours in an unfolding cannibal saga in Estcourt, a town in the uThukela District of KwaZulu-Natal Province

Armed police stand guard outside the magistrates court in Estcourt, South Africa, where crowds gathered following the brief court appearance of men accused of killing and eating human flesh

Hlatshwayo's mother, Philiswe, now fears the worst after police showed the family blood-soaked clothing found on what was left of the body which appeared to belong to that of her daughter, from Shayamoya.

Hlatshwayo vanished on July 25 after heading for Pietermaritzburg to visit her grandmother and had stopped to see relatives at Estcourt 20 miles away en-route. She never arrived at her intended final destination.

Detectives said the alleged victim's mother was not overly concerned, but her feelings changed on Monday when Hlatshwayo's cousin Nozipho Hlatshwayo heard that four men had been arrested in Estcourt for cannibalism.

They, along with a fifth man, have been charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder as part of an alleged cannibalism ring which could include untold victims.

The first four arrested, including two which doctors, were taken into custody after a man walked into a police station and told officers he was 'tired of eating human flesh' and produced human body parts as proof.

A fifth man was arrested on Wednesday and will appear in court with the other four on Monday for a formal bail hearing.

Hlatshwayo's cousin, Nozipho Hlatshwayo, has spoken out about the woman's July disappearance

Times Live reported how Nozipho, of Estcourt, phoned an aunt in Pietermaritzburg to check if Hlatshwayo was safe. When she was told she had never arrived she said she was 'chilled to the spine'.

Nozipho, with tears in her eyes, said:'We went straight to the police. An officer asked us what Zanele had been wearing on the day she left home. I was so close to Zanele that I knew even the colour of underwear she had on the day.

'She wore black leggings, a shirt and a bag in which she had stuffed her jeans. I gave the police officer this description and he asked us to wait.'

When the police officer returned, he carried into the room what Nozipho believes is the outfit Hlatshwayo had been wearing - soaked in blood.

They were told an armless, beheaded and severely mutilated body had been found in Esigodlweni, east of Estcourt, in a veld.

The Hlatshwayos are among about half-a-dozen families who have since gone to police in Estcourt to check whether their missing loved ones were victims in the cannibalism scandal that has rocked the largely rural community.

Nozipho said that just before Hlatshwayo left for Pietermaritzburg she had spoken to them about apparent kidnappings in the area. She was reportedly worried that abductions were on the rise.

Nozipho said: 'The police would not show us her body and the body has been sent for a post-mortem. The body will not be released until the identity is confirmed.'

Cannibals: The three men were arrested in after one of them handed himself over to police, admitting that he had grown tired of eating human flesh, and officers were led to a house, pictured, where body parts and a mutilated body of a woman were found

Following the arrest of a fifth man believed to be involved in the bizarre cannibalism scandal in at least three villages surrounding Estcourt, police believe more suspects and accomplices will be arrested.

Armed guards have been brought in to increase security at the court appearances for the suspected cannibals, as tempers are running hot with a large number of local people reported missing.

The revelations prompted villagers in Esigodlweni to hold a public meeting where 300 admitted eating human flesh or digging up bodies and selling their bones to traditional witch doctors.

After the first man walked into the police station with body parts, he led officers to a house where more body gruesome remains were found which led to the discovery of the woman's mutilated body.

A trio of alleged cannibals aged 22, 29, and 32 were initially arrested and two are said to be witch doctors or traditional healers. A fourth and fifth arrest were made over the following days.

Ward councillor Mthembeni Majola who hosted the meeting in Esigodlweni told News 24 that around 300 residents confessed to visiting the two witchdoctors and knowingly eating human flesh given to them.

Gone vegetarian: One of the killers walked into the police station in Estcourt, pictured, and told officers that he had become 'tired of eating human flesh'

He said: 'Families, people we know and live with, have now confessed to eating this woman. There has to be more victims if 300 say they have eaten. It cannot be only one.

'When the police were following this matter they discovered eight ears in a pot where one man was staying. That means there is much more to this'.

Colonel Thembeka Mbhele said the man handed over body parts during questioning

He told the newsite that many also admitted to digging up graves and giving one of the witchdoctors bones which they were told would make them strong and protect them from harm and bring wealth.

Colonel Thembeka Mbhele confirmed five men had been arrested and faced a number of charges relating to the possession of human organs and tissue and that three face charges of murdering a woman.

He said: 'Three are alleged to have murdered a woman and then cut her body up and allegations are that some consumed some of her flesh and body parts were shared with a fourth suspect.

'Human remains were found at one crime scene in Estcourt and at another crime scene in Amangwe. At this time only one person is suspected of being killed and her identity is as yet unknown.

'This came after a man walked into a police station and said he was tired of eating human flesh and when questioned produced part of a human leg and hand.

'Further investigations led police to a house where they were met with a foul smell and more human remains were found. It is alleged three men raped, killed and cut up a the body which they then consumed'.

The killing of people in South Africa for their body parts to be used in 'muti' (medicine) by witchdoctors is not uncommon and people with albinism are particularly at risk of so called muti-killings.

Police continue to investigate the cannibal killing and the search for more victims.
In the dock: Jemma Beale made up bogus rape and sex assault claims against 15 men in three years for 'attention'

A fantasist who made up bogus rape and sex assault claims against 15 men in three years for 'attention' has been jailed for 10 years.

Jemma Beale claimed to be a lesbian with 'no desire' to sleep with men, and lodged deceitful complaints to police that led to one of her victims, Mahad Cassim, serving two years in jail.

Beale, from west London, was even awarded 11,000 in compensation while Mr Cassim languished behind bars.

She told police Mr Cassim raped her after offering to give her a lift home - but in fact she got out of the car and told him: 'Get your pants down.'

The 25-year-old would injure herself and use self-inflicted cuts and bruises against the 15 victims she falsely accused of sex attacks - including one who fled the country with his life in tatters.

She insisted she had been raped or attacked but after a five-week trial at Southwark Crown Court a jury of six men and five women took eight hours and 45 minutes to find her guilty of perjury and perverting the course of justice in July.

Sentencing her today, Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith said: 'This trial has revealed, what was then not obvious, that you are a very, very convincing liar and you enjoy being seen as a victim.

'The prosecution described your life as a "construct of bogus victimhood".'

Beale arriving at court during her trial in June. At her sentencing today, she maintained her innocence

Prosecutor Madeleine Moore told the court police spent 6,400 hours investigating Beale's claims at a cost of at least 250,000, and the trial cost at least 109,000.

Beale, from Bedfont, west London, sat with her arms crossed as she was sentenced, with the judge branding her behaviour as 'manipulative'.

Beale made her first complaint on the morning of 26 November 2010, when she told police she had been raped by Mr Cassim the previous night.

Investigations which cost quarter of a million pounds Beale's false rape claims and sexual assault allegations cost the police more than 250,000 and around 6,400 hours of work. Her trial cost more than 109,000, after which she was found guilty. She was even awarded 11,000 when the man who was falsely accused was behind bars. The costs total more than 360,000. Advertisement

Jurors heard the 37-year-old Somalian came to the UK in 2002, aged 23, after a short stint living in Sweden where he also served in the military as part of the peace-keeping corps.

Beale and Mr Cassim accepted that he offered her a lift home which she accepted.

But he stopped the car and Beale directed him to a discreet alleyway.

'We drove for about ten minutes and while we were in the car we were talking and then she came and gave me a rub on my knuckles, my hand,' Mr Cassim said.

'She was asking me kind of questions, whilst rubbing my knuckles, asking, obviously about sex.'

He added: 'I said "Are you sure?" and she said yes - I asked three times "Are you sure?" - and said OK.

Mr Cassim said they got out of the car.

'Then all of a sudden, after about three yards she told me to pull off my underwear.'

Mr Cassim was tried for rape at Isleworth Crown Court in December 2011.

A retrial then took place in January 2012 in front of a fresh jury and he was jailed for seven years.

In a victim impact statement Beale described the 'devastating' effect the 'rape' had on her.

'I feel that any sentence he receives will never reflect the life sentence that he gave me,' she said.

Mr Cassim served two years because of the 'grave injustice' before he was released.

In a victim impact statement Mr Cassim told the court he had been hugely affected by the false claim.

He added: 'One of my goals is to be a successful businessman, to have a nice family and be happy.

'I am working on the happiness - I have a long way to go.'

Beale then complained to police she was the victim of two sexual assaults in July 2012, one of which involved 'sexual violence of a most serious kind'.

She later complained to police she was groped by a stranger, Noam Shahzad, in a pub in July 2012, before he took part in a gang rape on her.

Beale even injured herself to back up her claims that she had been assaulted with barbed wire.

Beale made repeated claims to the police she had been sexually assaulted in 2013 - but maintained her sexuality meant she didn't want sex with men, telling the jury: 'I ain't bisexual at all.'

Mr Shahzad skipped bail and fled the country after being charged with sexual assault.

Beale then fabricated similar allegations against six other men in 2013.

She claimed two strangers sexually assaulted her close to her home in Ashford, Middlesex, before she was put through another gang rape attack by four others two months later.

Two of the men identified by Beale - Luke Williams, 28, and 25-year-old Steven McCormack - were arrested and interviewed but never charged.

She claimed Mr Shahzad groped her at The Windsor Castle pub, in Hounslow, before the same man took part in a sickening gang attack in the car-park of a nearby medical centre using barbed wire.

Crime scene examiners recovered a number of items from a small gap between the east side of the centre and the brick wall perimeter.

Among those was a wire basket containing a small amount of Beale's DNA along with one of her earrings.

Beale, 25, (pictured at Southwark Crown Court) even made a complaint about a group of men that never existed, the court heard during her trial

Beale claimed the sample was left as she urinated there but prosecutors claimed the basket was used to cause the 'self-inflicted' injuries.

'The group of men did not exist,' said prosecutor John Price, QC.

CCTV also showed that she had attacked him, rather than the other way round.

Beale reported another serious sexual assault, this time by two men, on September 2, 2013 which she claimed it had happened five days earlier outside of her home.

Although neither alleged attacker was ever identified she said one of the pair was also involved the previous attack in July.

Again the entire incident was 'a grotesque invention'.

Beale reported another attack in Feltham, west London, two months later, on 17 November.

'She described a gang rape at night in a street of the most appalling kind,' said Mr Price.

'She alleged that she had been raped one after the other by four of a group of eight men, and she identified two of them as Luke Williams and Steven McCormack.

'Both of those men were arrested by police later that same day.'

Beale had spent the evening with Mr Williams and others at a house party, and that she had left willingly with him to go and get alcohol and cigarettes.

She claimed he took her to a garage where he arranged for a Mr McCormack and others to attack her, and that he was armed with a machete.

The 15 men in three years falsely accused of rape and sexual assault Jemma Beale made false complaint after false complaint about men - including one jailed for two years. Here are the key dates: November 26 2010  Told police she had been raped the night before by a man after getting a lift in his car. He was subsequently jailed and later released after an appeal. July 7 2012  claimed two separate sexual assaults, one by a man in The Windsor Castle pub in Hounslow, the second by the same man and three other men near the car park of a nearby medical centre. The man in the pub fled the country after being charged. CCTV showed he had not assaulted Beale, she had attacked him. The charges were later dropped. CCTV from the medical centre suggested the gang attack could not have happened as she claimed and forensic evidence later showed she had self-harmed using wire from a hanging flower basket to fake the sexual assault. September 2 2013  reported another sexual assault, five days earlier, outside her home in Addlestone, Surrey. No-one was arrested or charged. November 17 2013  reported a gang rape by four of a group of eight men in the street in Feltham. Two men she identified were arrested, but not charged. Advertisement

In the days before the alleged assault, Mr McCormack said Beale had threatened to get him into trouble with the police.

'Each of those reports made by Jemma Beale to the police is alleged by the prosecution in this case as being entirely false,' said Mr Price.

'She had not been raped.

'Nor had she been sexually assaulted on any of these occasions.'

She was arrested in June 2014 and eventually charged in March of last year.

Beale told the court she had been bullied at school for being fat and she insisted she was a lesbian and said she had been in several relationships with women.

'I'm not going to go to a man I don't know and ask him for sex,' she insisted, adding: 'I ain't bisexual at all.'

Mr Price warned jurors to be 'under no illusion' that Beale's memory or intellect were in any way deficient.

She claimed to have been taught a technique for suppressing traumatic memories but later conceded in the witness box they were not 'locked away'.

'What she says by way of explanation for her inability to recall such obviously important and startling incidents in her own life is that it is boxed away,' he said.

'It is bogus. It is psychobabble.'

Sentencing, Judge Loraine-Smith said: 'These offences usually began as a drunken attempt to get your partner's sympathy or perhaps to arouse her jealousy.

'They each began impulsively, but what is particularly chilling is the manner in which you persisted in making allegations which you knew were untrue even to the extent of committing and repeating perjury.'

He continued: 'These false allegations of rape, false allegations which will inevitably be widely publicised, are likely to have the perverse impact of increasing the likelihood of guilty men going free.

Beale, of Bedfont, Middlesex, denied four counts of perjury and four counts of perverting the course of justice at Southwark Crown Court but was convicted by the jury in eight hours

'Cases such as this bring a real risk that a woman who has been raped or sexually assaulted may not complain to the police for fear of not being believed.'

Lawrence Henderson, defending, said Beale still maintains her innocence, and she was considering appealing against sentence.

He told the court: 'Ms Beale stands by the claims she made in this matter and if she had her time again she would again plead not guilty to these matters and contest the trial.'

Beale, of Bedfont, Middlesex, denied four counts of perjury and four counts of perverting the course of justice but was convicted by the jury.
A drugged and disqualified driver was speeding to pick up a pizza when he ran down and killed a man in Adelaide, a court has been told.

Dylan Michael Lanc-Quin was jailed on Thursday for at least three years and three months after pleading guilty to causing the death of Harley Chester in February last year.

Mr Chester was crossing a road at suburban Largs North when he was struck, with his body found 73 metres from the point of impact.

Dylan Michael Lanc-Quin (pictured) was jailed on Thursday for more than three years

Lanc-Quin's car also flipped onto its roof and crashed into a fence.

District Court Chief Judge Michael Evans said the 20-year-old's offending was at the more serious end of the scale for dangerous driving.

'You were driving erratically, at an excessive speed in a built-up area when you knew you were disqualified and that you had consumed illicit drugs,' the judge said.

'Apparently, you were simply picking up a pizza and going back to a friend's house.'

Lanc-Quin also fled the scene of the crash and was arrested about 30 minutes later at his home.

Judge Evans accepted that he was 'truly remorseful' but said Mr Chester's family was struggling with coming to terms with his death.

Lanc-Quin pleaded guilty to killing Harley Chester (pictured) in a fatal crash last February

His twin sister told the court that Lanc-Quin had taken her 'soul of happiness'.

'No-one will ever completely understand how hard it is to lose a twin, someone who was so close to me,' she said.

'You have scarred my soul for life.'

Lanc-Quin was jailed for four years and eight months with a non-parole period of three years and three months.
This is the heart-warming a moment a man proposed to his unsuspecting girlfriend on a flight to Fiji.

Footage shows Michael Rodriquez propose to his partner of 20 years, Itzel, mid-air, as cabin crew sing along.

He is presented with a glass of champange before laughing as he turns around to get on one knee.

She begins to cry as she accepts the proposal and hugs her boyfriend passionately.

An air stewardess holds up a sign saying 'she said yes' as onlookers cheer and clap.

The couple wed a few days after the surprise engagement.

Michael Rodriquez proposes to his girlfriend of 20 years, Itzel, mid-air on the way to Fiji

The couple were celebrating their 20 year anniversary before the surprise engagement. Michael hugs his wife-to-be after she says yes

Onlookers capture the special moment, as cabin crew sing along and passengers cheer




Teachers who work at high-poverty schools and with mostly students of color are paid less than their peers at affluent schools with mostly white studentsbut the disparity is worse than people think, argues a new paper from Bellwether Education Partners , a Washington-based consulting firm.

Thats because retirement contributions are often left out of analyses of what it costs to employ a teacher.

Max Marchitello, a senior analyst at Bellwether and the reports author, looked at 10 years of data on the salaries and pensions of Illinois educators, and then compared those with student demographics.

I wanted to pivot and put students at the center of the debate about pensions, he said in an interview.

And considering that most peoples eye glaze over at the mention of the word pension (actuarial tables, it turns out, arent exactly enticing), its possible this could be a useful tactic in getting more attention to issues around pension reform.

Marchitello found that after accounting for teacher pensions, the disparity in school-level personnel expenditures between high- and low-poverty schools increases dramatically, according to the report, which was released today . That pattern was also true when looking at race: Schools with the highest percentages of black and Hispanic students put less money toward teacher retirement.

The data show Chicago teachers in particular were really losing out on pensionsthe disparities were much smaller, though still present, without those teachers.

Spending on teacher pensions is yet another way that states invest fewer resources into schools serving the highest concentrations of low-income students and students of color, Marchitello writes.

Pensions Raise Pay Gap by 200 Percent

The amount an employer contributes to a pension is based on a percentage of an employees salary. The most experienced teachersand thus generally the highest paidtend to work in low-poverty schools and those serving fewer students of color, Marchitello explains.

So in looking at how much schools spend on teachers, if you dont include pensions, youre underestimating the gaps, he said. And the gaps mirror and amplify the underlying inequities in how teacher salaries are distributed across schools.

The Illinois analysis was somewhat complicated by the fact that the state has two pension systems: one for Chicago and one for the rest of the state. The Chicago plan puts a smaller percentage of teachers salaries toward their pensions.

(Both of those pensions systems, its worth pointing out, are severely underfunded right now , and risk not being able to deliver what theyve promised to teachers.)

Here are some of the reports findings:



When pensions are added to an analysis of Illinois school funding, the gaps between high- and low-poverty schools increase by more than 200 percent. Looking at 2012, low-poverty schools spent $582 more per pupil on teacher salaries than high-poverty schools. But when pensions were included in the calculation, low-poverty schools spent $1,243 more per pupil.

The gaps between schools serving high and low concentrations of black and Hispanic students go up drasticallyby more than 250 percentwhen pensions were added in as well.

When Chicago was excluded from the analysis, the same trend emerged, but to a lesser degree. The funding gap between high and low-poverty schools went up 24 percent ($211 per pupil) by adding pensions. And the gap between schools serving high and low concentrations of black and Hispanic students increased by 24 percent ($156 per pupil) with the inclusion of pensions.

Rural and urban districts receive far less for pensions per pupil than other districts.

The analysis does seem to have some far-reaching implications, Marchitello said. St. Louis and New York City, among other large urban districts, have separate pension systems from the state, and are likely to show the same trends in pay gaps.

Illinois financing formula has long been criticized as among the nations most inequitable. In other states with more equitable funding systems, though, the disparities would likely still exist but to a lesser degree (possibly looking more like the analysis that excludes Chicago).

Nationally, its fair to say if there are inequities in teachers salaries, theres going to be inequities in pensions, said Marchitello. And if you put them together, whatever we think the gaps aretheyre going to be bigger.

Chart: From Illinois Teacher Pension Plans Deepen School Funding Inequities, Bellwether Education Partners TeacherPensions.org project

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Hundreds of Huskies are being abandoned by Game of Thrones fans who want to have their very own 'Direwolf'.

British dog charities are concerned that Huskies are becoming the next 'problem breed' after being impulse bought by owners, only to find they can meet their demanding needs.

Direwolves are the dogs kept by the Stark family in Game of Thrones, acting as body guards to the children.

Direwolves are the dogs kept by the Stark family in Game of Thrones, acting as body guards to the children (pictured, Robb and Brandon Stark hold their Direwolf puppies)

The hit HBO show's popularity has seen the number of Huskies being abandoned increased eight , since 2011.

Such is the problem, that even GoT star Peter Dinklage - who plays Tyrion Lannister - has urged fans to stop buying huskies.

Alison Kennedy, from Perthshire Abandoned Dogs Society, said: 'Sadly it looks like huskies are becoming the next problem dog, taking over from staffies, for rescue charities across the UK.

'They have become extremely popular because of the impact of Game of Thrones and the film series Twilight.

'The trouble with huskies and other similar breeds is that they are pack dogs, highly intelligent and easily bored.

'They require a lot of stimulation and exercise and experienced owners. That's why they eat the sofa if they are holed-up all day. They are not lapdogs.'

British dog charities are concerned that Huskies are becoming the next 'problem breed' after being abandoned by owners

Ms Kennedy said all too many would-be dog owners do not consider the breed of dog and their needs before taking them home.

'Over the past few years we have received around a dozen huskies, four malamutes and one akita,' she added.

'The advice from all rescue charities is that unless you are experienced with the breed and know what is entailed with giving them a proper life, then don't buy one.

'These are very specialist dogs.'

The hit HBO show's popularity has seen the number of Huskies being given up rise by eight times, since it first aired in 2011

Peter Dinklage teamed-up with PETA to urge caution when it comes to buying dogs.

The actor said: '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 you're going to bring a dog into your family, make sure that you're prepared for such a tremendous responsibility and remember to always, always, adopt from a shelter.'
Russia's ambassador to Sudan, Mirgayas Shirinskiy, was found dead at his home in Khartoum on Wednesday

Russia's ambassador to Sudan, Mirgayas Shirinskiy, was found dead in the swimming pool at his home in Khartoum on Wednesday, the Sudanese police said.

The 62-year-old ambassador's death marks the fourth Russian ambassador to die on the job in just eight months.

Shirinskiy, who was known to have suffered from high blood pressure, is believed to have died of natural causes, a spokesman for the police said.

He was found by police at his home in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, on Wednesday, but doctors were not able to save him.

Sudan's foreign ministry expressed its condolences to Russia in a statement, hailing Shirinskiy's diplomatic efforts.

Since December 2016, Russian ambassadors to Turkey, India, and the UN have also died while on the job.

Russia's ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, was assassinated while speaking at an art gallery in Ankara in an act famously captured on video December 19.

Russia's ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, was assassinated while speaking at an art gallery in Ankara in an act famously captured on video December 19

The off-duty police officer who killed him, Mevlut Mert Altntas, is said to have shouted 'Don't forget Aleppo' before opening fire

The off-duty police officer who killed him, Mevlut Mert Altntas, is said to have shouted 'Don't forget Aleppo' before opening fire.

He was killed by Turkish special forces after shooting Karlov, who had been in the diplomatic service for 40 years.

A month later, on January 26, 2017, Alexander Kadakin, the Russian ambassador to India, died of heart failure in the hospital, aged 67.

Kadakin was the longest-serving Russian diplomat in the region, having served 12 years in India.

On January 26, 2017, Alexander Kadakin (left), the Russian ambassador to India, died of heart failure in the hospital, aged 67. On February 20, 2017, former child actor and Russian ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin (right) died from a heart attack, aged 64

On February 20, 2017, former child actor and Russian ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin died from a heart attack, aged 64.

Churkin, the longest-serving ambassador on the UN's security council, had collapsed in his New York office before he was pronounced dead.

His death came just a day before his 65th birthday.

NYPD sources said he died of a heart attack, and President Vladimir Putin was 'deeply upset' by the news, having greatly valued Churkin's professionalism and diplomatic talent, according to a Kremlin statement quoted by the Russian news agency TASS.
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Bike-sharing apps may be popular in China but for some major cities, the bicycles are causing havoc.

Images show thousands of bikes discarded in a car park in Shanghai after they were collected from the streets by local authorities for illegal parking.

The Chinese government has been forced to implement new rules for the bicycle apps that require users to give their full name when using the services.

Discarded: Images show thousands of bikes discarded in a car park in Shanghai after they were collected from the streets

Being taken over by plants: About 30,000 shared bikes have been dumped at two open spaces on Zhongxing Road this year

Abandoned bicycles of Mobike (orange), ofo (yellow), Xiaoming Danche, or Xiaoming Bike (blue), and other Chinese bike-sharing services

The Chinese government has been forced to implement new rules for the bicycle apps that require users to give their full name when using the service

Left to rot: About 30,000 shared bikes have been dumped at two open spaces on Zhongxing Road this year

Causing havoc: It's thought that these bikes were moved from streets across the district because of illegal parking

Photos taken on August 24 show the effects of illegal parking of shared bikes.

Around 300,000 bicycles have been dumped at two open spaces on Zhongxing Road in Shanghai this year.

One of the bike sharing apps that these bicycles belong to has just launched a similar service in Shanghai

Images show the sheer amount of the bikes left dumped in major cities such as Shanghai, eastern China

The Jing'an District government of Shanghai has witnessed rampant illegal parking as the bike sharing industry has boomed

The bicycles can be seen in a huge pile after being parked illegally on the streets of Shanghai causing traffic chaos

In the photos, pictures show how the bikes have been on location for such a long time that plants have grown over them

An overview picture shows the sheer scale of the shared bike graveyard in Shanghai, eastern China

It's thought that these bikes were moved from streets across the district because of illegal parking. Some of them have been abandoned for so long that they are covered by plants.

More than 90 percent of the bikes were said to belong to Mobike and ofo. Mobike has just launched in Manchester here in the UK.

According to state media, users of the shared bikes will have to register with their real names to make them accountable

Who is responsible? The logos of the companies the bicycles belong to can be clearly seen in these images

More than 90 percent of the bikes were said to belong to Mobike and ofo. Mobike has just launched in Manchester

Causing a menace: The bikes were moved from streets across the district because of illegal parking

Left on the streets: Some of them have been abandoned at the sites for so long that they are covered by plants

In these photos, the bikes have been there for so long that they are being overtaken by plants growing on the site

According to state media, users of the shared bikes will have to register with their real names to make them accountable

Shared bikes have proved popular in China with millions on the country's streets. This has led to the Chinese government to issue new guidelines to regulate these services

Tourist sites including Hangzhou's West Lake have been plagued by bikes dumped around the area in recent months

It comes just weeks after footage emerged of a children's playground in Hefei, China's Anhui province turned into a bike graveyard.

Officials confiscated the bikes from the city's streets and put them in the playground to avoid causing disruption to traffic.

The bikes had either violated parking rules or had been discarded by people on side roads in Hefei.

As far as the eye can see: Stacks of shared bikes are locked up at a playground of an unused school in Hefei, China

The city management department in Hefei, Anhui province has collected thousands of the shared bikes

Shared bikes have proved popular in China with millions on the country's streets. This has led to the Chinese government to issue new guidelines to regulate these services.

It called for local governments to set up appropriate spaces for parking, reports road.cc.

According to state media, users of the shared bikes will have to register with their real names to make them accountable.

Tourist sites including Hangzhou's West Lake have been plagued by bikes dumped around the area in recent months.

In an opinion piece, The People's Daily slammed China's current sharing economy, branding it a gimmick.

Too many sharing apps: The bikes were taken to the playground to stop them from becoming a menace to traffic
Police are searching for two sisters who went missing while travelling to see this week's solar eclipse.

Melissa Lea, 18, and her younger sister whose identity has not been revealed were last seen at the Symbiosis eclipse festival near Prineville, Oregon on Sunday.

Their family, from Lake Tahoe, reported them missing to Crook County Sheriff's Office who have launched an appeal for information.

Melissa Lea (left) and her younger sister have not been seen since going missing at an Oregon festival

Detectives have determined Lea's debit card was last used at the Symbiosis festival on Tuesday.

According to KGW.com, more than 30,000 people attended the event, which is held at the Big Summit Prairie in the Ochoco National Forest.

Lea was driving a black Toyota Sequoia on Californian licence plates.

Anyone with information on the girls is asked to contact Crook County Sheriff's Office on 541-447-6398.

People watch the last phase of the total solar eclipse at the Symbiosis Oregon Eclipse Festival at Big Summit Prairie ranch in Oregon's Ochoco National Forest
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A Land Rover which has been fitted with tank tracks is expected to fetch 50,000 at auction next month.

The rare vehicle was given a Cuthbertson conversion (swapping its regular tyres to tank tracks) shortly after it was built in 1958.

Each track is 12-inches wide and has 40 steel shoes which drive four wheels on skinny tyres. At the end of each axle, there is a sprocket fitted which drives the tracks.

The model, which has a 2,286cc petrol engine, is entirely road legal and sits at more than eight-feet high, enabling it to wade through rivers and travel through swampy marshes easily.

A Land Rover Series II 109 is expected to fetch 50,000 at a Bonhams auction next month. It has a 2,286cc petrol engine

The rare vehicle was given a Cuthbertson conversion (swapping its regular tyres to tank tracks) shortly after it was built in 1958

Inside the vehicle it features leather seats and has been fitted with power steering, meaning it is extremely capable off road, particularly on grassland

However, the downside of the wheel upgrade means the top speed is just 35mph.

The full history of this Land Rover Series II 109 is unknown but it spent time in Norway and Germany before returning to the UK last year.

Around 15 were built and this model is believed to be the only running one in the UK.

Bonhams will be selling the Cuthbertson Land Rover at its Goodwood Revival sale on September 9, with the off-roader offered with a 50,000 to 60,000 guide price.

It is entirely road legal and sits at more than eight-feet high, enabling it to wade through rivers and travel through swampy marshes easily

The full history of this Land Rover Series II 109 is unknown but it spent time in Norway and Germany before returning to the UK last year

Bonhams will be selling the Cuthbertson Land Rover at its Goodwood Revival sale on September 9, with the off-roader offered with a 50,000 to 60,000 guide price

The vehicle was restored in 2000 and is exempt from road tax and and MOT. Around 15 were built and this model is believed to be the only running one in the UK

A spokesperson for Bonhams said: 'The Cuthbertson Land Rover is one of the most unique and eye-catching examples available.

'It is one of very few survivors and is surely the ultimate off-road vehicle available.

'It's believed to be the only version in the UK, and would make a brilliant addition to any collection of weird and wonderful vehicles.'

It was restored in 2000 and is exempt from road tax and and MOT.

The auction house added: 'The quality of finish being stunning both inside and out. "178 UYU" is described by the vendor as in full working order and "on the button".

'Fitted with power steering, it is said to be extremely capable off road, particularly on grassland.'
A Chinese circus trainer has reportedly been attacked by a tiger during a live performance at a theatre.

Video emerged on social media captures the moment the tiger pounced towards the trainer and dragged him along the stage.

The trainer's colleague soon came to his rescue as he repeatedly beat the animal with a long wooden stick. The trainer was said to sustain no life-threatening injuries.

A circus tiger pounced onto its trainer in the ring during a live performance at a theatre in China (left). One of the trainer's co-workers rushed onto the stage to save him (right)

According to Chinese newspaper Liaoshen Evening Post, the incident happened during a circus show at the Liaohe Grand Theatre in Yingkou, Liaoning Province.

The performance was said to take place on the morning of August 20, and it was carried out by a touring circus group, which is performing at the theatre from August 11 to August 26.

Mobile phone footage uploaded on Weibo, a Chinese Twitter-like social media platform, shows a tiger jumping onto its trainer and grabbing onto his upper body.

Another circus trainer desperately tried to save his co-worker as he is seen in the video repeatedly beating the tiger with a long stick.

One of the trainer's colleagues came to his rescue as he repeatedly beat the tiger with a long wooden stick, hoping the animal would let go of the man under attack (left and right)

The trainer under attack was dragged along the stage before the tiger let go of its paws and ran off the stage.

According to the video, filmed by one of the spectators, people who were watching the show just two metres (6.6 feet) away from the stage were shocked by the attack.

Staff from the Liaohe Grand Theatre told a reporter from Liaoshen Evening Post that the circus trainer did not sustain any life-threatening injuries.

The theatre also claimed that the tiger was in a 'bad mood' because it was too tired. Apparently, the tiger had performed 10 days in a row prior to the incident.

In response to the incident, the theatre has reduced the frequency of performance from three times a day to two, according to a post on its social media account.

The theatre claimed that the tiger had been performing three times a day for 10 days in a row, therefore it was in a bad mood when the apparent attack took place (left, right)

The injured circus trainer, who remains unidentified, said the tiger had been following his orders well before the incident.

He told Liaoshen Evening Post: 'I spent jut a week training Teddy (the tiger) before it could perform on stage.'

Web users demanded the circus stop all animal shows after the incident happened.

'Why are they still doing the show? The tiger is sick of being locked up in a cage and forced to perform,' wrote web user 'ooooootu'.

'Didn't our national TV say animal shows would be banned? Why is this still happening?' another web user said.

MailOnline has contacted the theatre, but the staff refused to comment on the matters.

Keith Guo, press officer from PETA Asia explained to MailOnline: 'Lifelong stress often drive animals in circus breakdown and become dangerous to both trainers and visitors.'

PETA Asia is calling on people not to attend animal circuses, whether at home or while traveling in China or elsewhere around the world.
The number of Europeans moving to Britain has plunged by 51,000, new statistics showed today.

In the 12 months to March 2017, 127,000 EU nationals moved to Britain - compared to 178,000 the year before, according to Office for National Statistics data.

More people also moved out of Britain as overall net migration fell to 246,000, the lowest level in three years.

The number of Europeans leaving the UK was 89,000 - 33,000 higher than a year earlier. They were joined by 134,000 emigrating Britons in a shift branded a 'Brexodus' by critics of quitting the European Union.

In a separate publication, the ONS said the number of Poles living in Britain hit 1 million for the first time in 2016.

The number of people who came to Britain was 588,000 (marked in the purple line). At the same time 342,000 (blue line) moved away from the UK - meaning net migration stood at 246,000 (shown with pink bars)

The fall in arrivals from the EU8 countries - Poland, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia and Latvia - shown in the blue line has been particularly sharp, down from 39,000 to 7,000 between March 2016 and March 2017

The data reveals a 'statistically significant' change on the same set of figures released a year ago. They are similar to the rolling totals revealed three months ago.

MIGRATION DATA: THE KEY FIGURES Overall, 588,000 people moved to Britain in the year to March 2017, while 342,000 left the country. It means net migration was 246,000 people - the lowest for three years. Net, 127,000 EU citizens moved here - 51,000 fewer than the year before. Net migration from the rest of the world was 179,000 - 14,000 fewer than the year before. 44,000 EU nationals left Britain for no reason other than to go home. Another 32,000 EU citizens left to take up jobs. 134,000 Britons also emigrated. Advertisement

When the ONS last issued figures in May, the net migration figure for the 12 months to the end of 2016 was 249,000.

Net migration dropped sharply after the June 2016 referendum and today's figures show a levelling off at the lower level.

The figures are a significant reduction on the peak in net migration of more than 330,000 people a year during 2015 and the first half of 2016.

But the numbers of people coming to Britain is still much higher than the Tory target of the tens of thousands.

Nicola White, Head of International Migration Statistics at the Office for National Statistics, said: 'The net migration change was driven by an increase in emigration, mainly for EU citizens and in particular EU8 citizens, and a decrease in immigration across all groups.

'International migration for work remains the most common reason for migration with people becoming increasingly more likely to move to the UK or overseas only with a definite job than to move looking for work.

MIGRATION DATA: WHERE ARE PEOPLE FROM? Overall, 246,000 more people migrated to Britain in the year to March 2017 than left. They were from: EU: 127,000 Asia: 110,000 Rest of the world: 57,000 The data for the EU is also broken down by when groups of countries joined the organisation: EU15 (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden): 74,000 EU8 (Poland, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia and Latvia): 7,000 EU2 (Bulgaria and Romania): 43,000 (Source: ONS. Figures may not sum due to rounding) Advertisement

'These results are similar to 2016 estimates (published in May 2017) and indicate that the EU referendum result may be influencing people's decision to migrate into and out of the UK, particularly EU and EU8 citizens.

'It is too early to tell if this is an indication of a long-term trend.'

Overall, 588,000 people moved to Britain in the year to March 2017, while 342,000 left the country.

A breakdown of the figures showed that, 127,000 people moved from the EU to Britain - compared to 178,000 in the year to March 2016.

They included 74,000 from the original central European members such as France and Germany, 7,000 from the 'EU8' group of Poland, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia and Latvia, and 43,000 from Bulgaria and Romania.

Net migration from the rest of the world was 179,000 in the year to March 2017 - 14,000 than the figure 12 months ago.

The figures show 44,000 EU nationals left Britain for no reason other than to go home. Another 32,000 EU citizens left to take up jobs.

Around 120,000 Britons emigrated in the year to March 2017 - an increase of 31,000 on a year earlier. Almost half went for a firm job offer.

Net migration has fallen sharply since last year but it is still far higher than the target of tens of thousands to which Theresa May (pictured yesterday on Teesside) re-committed at the general election

Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said: 'Tory migration policy is a shambles. Against all advice, Theresa May continues to insist in maintaining an arbitrary net migration target of under 100,000, which has never once been met.

'Now it seems that her long-running campaign to malign international students is based on fantasy, with no evidence of a major issue with students overstaying.

'Some in government appear to be waking up to the idea that overseas students make a valuable contribution to our country and have belatedly asked the Migration Advisory Committee to gather evidence.'

Seamus Nevin, Head of Employment and Skills Policy at the Institute of Directors, said: 'No one should celebrate these numbers.

'Given unemployment is currently at its lowest level ever, without the 3 million EU citizens living here the UK would have an acute labour shortage. Signs that it is becoming a less attractive place to live and work are a concern.

'Emigration is up 31,000, immigration down 50,000 and more than half of this change can be accounted for by a decrease in net migration of EU citizens.

'The IoD has been warning for some time that the ongoing uncertainty over the status and rights of EU citizens already living here is leading to a brain drain of EU staff.'

Emigration has risen at the same time as immigration has fallen. Around 44 per cent of the EU citizens who left (top bar) went home (red block) according to today's data

Today's new statistics came as it emerged total migration to Britain could be far lower than thought because foreign students may not be counted properly.

Amber Rudd has ordered a major investigation into whether an influx of foreign students is boosting or hampering the prospects of those born here.

Amber Rudd, pictured, has ordered a major investigation into whether foreign students are boosting or hampering the prospects of their peers born in the UK

The Home Secretary has asked an independent panel to carry out the most comprehensive assessment ever of foreign citizens studying in British universities.

If it is proven there are fewer foreign students in Britain than thought, net migration could be tens of thousands lower - putting Theresa May much closer to the Tory immigration target.

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) will examine the effect of both EU and non-EU students' tuition fees, their spending and contribution to the local economy and place in the labour market.

It will also look at whether the number of foreign students has any effect on the 'provision and quality of education provided to domestic students'.

The review will consider whether overseas funding boosts education quality for UK students - or whether the need to attract such funding drives down the number of places for people from Britain.

The review was being announced as the Home Office publishes the first data compiled from exit checks at the border, a system introduced in April 2015 to track the departure from Britain of more than 100million visitors.

Ministers rolled out the regime to build a more complete picture of whether people who enter the UK leave when their visas expire.

Official figures have suggested that 110,000 immigrants a year are exploiting the system by staying in the UK after finishing their educations (file picture)

Ms Rudd's request to the committee comes a month after a report revealed ministers do not know how many foreign students are returning home after completing their courses because of flaws in official data.

A survey used by the Government to estimate how many overseas students go home and how many stay is 'potentially misleading', the Office for Statistics regulation found.

Official figures have suggested that 110,000 immigrants a year are exploiting the system by staying in the UK after finishing their educations  with around one-third remaining in the UK illegally and moving into the black economy.

The Office for Statistics Regulation has condemned the quality of the data and said it should be downgraded to the status of an experimental figure.

Ms Rudd has asked the committee to report back by September next year. But she said the Government was committed to keeping the doors open to genuine students, while cracking down on abuse of the system.

She said: 'There is no limit to the number of genuine international students who can come to the UK to study.

'We understand how important students from around the world are to our higher education sector, which is a key export for our country, and that's why we want to have a robust and independent evidence base of their value and the impact they have.'
Salim Mehajer has backed Floyd Mayweather to beat Conor McGregor in Sunday's bout - but still denies the fight is the reason behind his trip to Las Vegas.

Mehajer has touched down in Vegas on a 'business' trip, after his strict bail conditions were relaxed this week.

The disgraced former Auburn deputy mayor arrived in America on Wednesday (local time) and again denied he was there to watch the fight between the boxer and UFC champion.

However, the 31-year-old said that he hoped Mayweather would come away victorious in the match, according to 9News.

Salim Mehajer (pictured) has touched down in Las Vegas on a 'business' trip, after his strict bail conditions were relaxed this week

Upon his arrival he again denied he was flying to Vegas to witness the Floyd Mayweather versus Conor McGregor fight on Sunday

Mehajer also assured that creditors, who are pursuing two of his companies, that they would be paid in full in the coming weeks.

'The creditors will be paid. As any development company it's asset rich and one settlement is in place, which we've already received over 110 percent of the debt cover,' he told Channel Nine.

'We anticipate to have settlement in the next two weeks and see all the creditors have been paid in full.'

Mehajer is also facing fraud charges for allegedly forging Australian Electoral Commission enrolments and fabricating addresses for friends and family.

However, the 31-year-old said that he hoped Mayweather would come away victorious in the match

Mehajer also told awaiting media that creditors, who are pursuing two of his companies, would be paid in full in the coming weeks

To travel to the United States he had his bail conditions relaxed in a secret hearing at Downing Centre Local Court this week, Nine News reported.

He was granted leave by the court but must return on September 4 and hand back his passport within 24 hours.

He received the relaxation of his bail rules on Monday after being ordered to hand over $50,000.

Mehajer faces strict punishments if he breaks the rules of the relaxation or commits any other crimes.

To travel to the United States Mehajer had his bail conditions relaxed in a secret hearing at Downing Centre Local Court

Earlier this month he put up his palatial Lidcombe mansion for lease two years after it was made famous by his $35 million wedding.

The four-storey house on Frances Street, which Mehajer illegally shut down for his extravagant wedding, was advertised for lease for $2,950 a week.

The controversial former Auburn deputy mayor offered his family home hours before he faced his estranged wife Aysha in court after she slapped him with another AVO.

Neither couple turned up to Sutherland Local Court on Wednesday morning but an interim order was granted against Mehajer to protect his estranged wife.
ISIS has claimed it beheaded at least 11 people at a checkpoint manned by forces of Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar.

Haftar's spokesman Colonel Ahmad al-Mesmari said at least nine soldiers and two civilians were executed after the extremists attacked the Al-Jufra region around 500km (300 miles) from Tripoli.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack via its Amaq propaganda channel on the Telegram messaging app, saying its fighters had killed or wounded '21 members of Haftar's militia'.

Libya has been rocked by chaos since the 2011 fall and killing of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi in a NATO-backed revolution.

Haftar's spokesman Colonel Ahmad al-Mesmari said at least nine soldiers and two civilians were executed in the Al-Jufra region around 500km from Tripoli (file photo of ISIS fighter)

Jihadists, arms dealers and people traffickers have gained a foothold in the North African country as multiple authorities and dozens of militias vie for power.

Forces allied with the United Nations-backed Government of National Accord drove IS jihadists from their stronghold of Sirte on the Mediterranean coast in December.

The GNA underlined at the time that the battle against Islamist rebels was not over, as armed groups continue to hunt down IS members who fled Sirte as the city fell.

Analysts and military sources say the group remains active in Libya, particularly in the desert south where the GNA holds little sway.

Haftar, who backs a rival administration that refuses to recognise the GNA, controls much of the country's vast southern desert.

His self-proclaimed Libyan National Army in May seized Tamenhant base near the southern city of Sebha after driving out a pro-GNA militia.

The following month, it seized Al-Jufra, including a key military air base, from the Benghazi Defence Brigades, a coalition that includes Islamists driven out of Libya's second city by pro-Haftar forces.

Libya has been rocked by chaos since the 2011 fall and killing of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi in a NATO-backed revolution (file photo of ISIS propaganda video)

That placed the strongman in control of all the major cities and military bases in southern Libya.

Also in July, Haftar announced the 'total liberation' of Benghazi, three years after his forces launched a military operation to seize the city.

But clashes have continued in the city, a bastion of the 2011 uprising that later fell to jihadists.

Forces loyal to Haftar regularly blame attacks against them on IS, particularly in Benghazi.
This is a guest post from my colleague and friend, Brett Bigham. Brett is the 2014 Oregon State Teacher of the Year and was a National Education Association National Educator of Excellence Award recipient in 2015. He will travel to Africa in 2018 as an NEA Global Fellow. Follow him on Twitter @2014ortoy . You can find out more about the non-profit No Kid Hungry and the amazing work they do to create equitable learning opportunities for every child by ending childhood hunger by visiting //www.nokidhungry.org/ .

I didnt know there were kids going hungry every day in this country until my first day in my own classroom.

Living in Palm Springs, Calif., Id been hired to take over a special education classroom because there was a teacher shortage, and our state chose to plug the hole by hiring teachers who had no background in education. I had a few months as a substitute and a degree in speech, but I was a journalist, not a teacher.

As a new teacher, I didnt know then what I know now: Childhood hunger isnt rare. Three out of four educators say they have students regularly coming to school hungry, according to a newly released report from No Kid Hungry.

On that first day, I shared with my students about my experiences backpacking through Europe and Africa the previous year. They had question after question: What was the Eiffel Tower like? How was the Soviet Union different? Did I go in the Pyramids? Did I see a mummy?

One student had different questions. What did they eat there? Did they have hamburgers in Egypt? Did I eat cheese in Switzerland? In those first few hours with my class, I wasnt sure why this skinny blond kid named Byron, a boy with the sharp cheekbones and baggy clothes, seemed so fascinated with food.

My ignorance lasted until lunchtime.

While his classmates pulled out of lunch boxes and paper bags their sandwiches with carrot sticks, their juice boxes and cookies, Byron chewed on one empty tortilla. They had pudding cups and potato chips. But Byron had a dry, plain tortilla. Whats more, he couldnt take his eyes of their food.

Then Byron dumped the rest of his lunch on his desk: eight marshmallows. Not the big ones, but the little pink and white ones. He lined them up on his desk and methodically ate them slowly.

A tortilla and eight mini-marshmallows.

My soul died a little bit at that moment. Im looking at this eleven-year-old boy with big blue eyes and a sunny smile and I realize those cheekbones were not from his genetics, but from chronic hunger. Those big blue eyes were so big because his body was eating itself.

I soon realized that Byron wasnt alone. One in five U.S. kids struggle with hunger.

I had seen food insecurity before. Nobody goes to Africa without seeing hunger. But Byron was my kid in my class. He was my responsibility. Still, I had no food to give him, and, Ill be honest, I had no money. I had just paid my first and last months rent and a deposit that zeroed out my bank account.

As one of Byrons classmates opened a Twinkie package and Byrons head snapped around when he heard that crinkle of the plastic being torn open, my heart broke.

Thats the moment that I realized I had a teacher superhero in my class. My assistant, Debbie Coats, walked to Bryons desk and sat down a peanut butter sandwich. While Byron was studying his mini marshmallows, Ms. Coats had opened her drawer and made him a sandwich.

She did this every day. She watched to see what he would bring in and made him a sandwich on the bad days. When he showed up with half-ripe oranges and moldy dumpster bread, she was there for him.

Those peanut butter sandwiches also seemed to wind up in Byrons backpack at the end of the day. Whats more, from that day forward, I became determined to be a Debbie Coats. Like the majority of teachers who regularly spend around $300 a year out of their own pockets buying food for students, I chipped in for the bread and peanut butter and began leading a food drive in my school. My back-to-school box contains pens, pencils, art supplies, and peanut butter.

Fortunately, there are sustainable solutions like schools meals that can end childhood hunger. These federal nutrition programs that are already operating in schools can make sure kids have access to food when they need itregardless of zip code, age, and time of year or day.

When kids have access to school breakfast and school lunch, the impact on test scores, attendance rates, discipline problems and the lives and future well-being of students is significant.

The peanut butter is a little safety net. No Kid Hungry is a huge safety net, an army of Debbie Coats. This year the National Network of State Teachers of the Year formed a partnership with No Kid Hungry so that as teacher advocates, we do what we can for every Byron in this country. NNSTOY and No Kid Hungry are determined to make sure that all students have equal access to the proper fuel they need to learn and grow up happy, healthy, and strong.

The next time you meet a teacher, ask them if they keep food in their room. Odds are that answer is yes. And now you know why.
The shortlist for the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Awards are out but for one comedian it is no laughing matter.

Highly-rated Sara Pascoe has missed out on a nod for this year's awards and to make matters worse her ex-boyfriend - also a comic - has made the list.

And to rub salt into Pascoe's wounds, the pair both have critically-acclaimed shows based on the break-up of their four-year relationship.

Pascoe, 36 and from Dagenham, has been bagging five-star reviews for her searingly honest show on her break-up with Robins.

Sara Pascoe (left) has been snubbed by the Edinburgh Comedy Awards. To add salt to her wounds, her ex-boyfriend and fellow comic John Robins (right) has made the list

Comedians and former flames Sara Pascoe and John Robins (both above) will go head-to-head at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with their shows on the break-up of the four-year relationship

And Robins' The Darkness of Robins, also based on their failed relationship, has been garnering critical claim.

But critics decided only one of them could make the shortlist and Robins pipped his former flame.

The snub should add more spice to proceedings when both comics are scheduled to be on stage at the same venue - the Pleasance Courtyard - at approximately same time later this month.

Pascoe, known for her TV work onTwenty Twelve and WIA, was the one to end the relationship and speaks about a nine-month journey of discovery.

Robins, 35 and from Bristol, revealed he lost two stone (but he got to keep the house).

He jokes 'She decided she was unhappy, bought a house with me and left - so mixed messages...'

Snubbed: Sara Pascoe (pictured left and right) has not made the shortlist for this year's Edinburgh Comedy Awards

Despite Pascoe (pictured) missing out, elsewhere it is good news for female comics. Nearly half - four out of nine - nominees are women

Speaking on Pascoe's (pictured) snub, awards boss Nica Burns said: 'I think it's just one of those things. It was a fantastic show. We all loved it. She was nominated in 2014'

Despite Pascoe missing out, elsewhere it is good news for female comics. Nearly half - four out of nine - nominees are women.

This is despite the fact 80 per cent of comedy performers are men, and as recently as 2012 not a single woman made the shortlist. Nica Burns has run the awards since 1984.

She said this is the first time more than two women have made the shortlist and speaking on Pascoe's apparent snub, she said: 'I think it's just one of those things. It was a fantastic show. We all loved it. She was nominated in 2014.'

And Ms Burns said the continued diversification of audiences on the comedy scene had led to women becoming a force on stage.

John on Sara 'She decided she was unhappy, bought a house with me and left - so mixed messages...' 'I miss my girlfriend. She was a free spirit. Which is another way of saying she lost a lot of debit cards.' Advertisement

Sara on John 'I'm not very good at breaking up... I get aroused by men crying.' 'Yoga is my new drug. My old drug was drugs.' Advertisement

She said in years gone by women would have to prove themselves to the audience and be subjected to sexist abuse.

Ms Burns said: 'Comedy clubs used to be quite visceral but the audiences have changed. Now as many women go to see comedy as men do but in the early days they were dominated by male audiences.

'It's all on merit. Even if the journey takes a long time the (result) is worth it. Societal change takes time.'

The full shortlist for Best Comedy Show is: Ahir Shah: Control, Elf Lyons: Swan, Hannah Gadsby: Nanette, John Robins: The Darkness of Robins, Jordan Brookes: Body of Work, Mae Martin: Dope, Mat Ewins Presents Adventureman 7: The Return of Adventureman, Sophie Willan: Branded, Spencer Jones: The Audition.
Malia Obama wasted no time getting to know her new surroundings at Harvard as she headed out for a run around campus on Wednesday.

Barack and Michelle helped move her in on Monday afternoon and just two days later the college freshman was spotted pounding the pavement in her Cambridge neighborhood.

The 19-year-old Chicago native wore some black Nike sneakers and running shorts while listening to music on her iPhone while carrying her room key on a Harcard University lanyard.

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Malia Obama pictured on Wednesday going for a run around the campus in Harvard Square

In a pair of black Nike sneakers and black Nike shorts, the 19-year-old freshman and former President's eldest daughter popped on her Apple headphones and ran with her iPhone and a Harvard lanyard in her hand

She comes in peace: Malia Obama moved into her new dormitory at Harvard University on Monday afternoon (above on Tuesday outside the dorm)

The older daughter ofBarack and Michelle Obama moved into her Harvard University dormitory on Monday afternoon, one day before her fellow students began arriving with their parents.

The family was joined by members of the Secret Service as they pulled up to Malia's new residence in a two-SUV envoy, managing to avoid detection despite the thousands of people around the campus and in Cambridge.

That was due in large part to their timing, with the Obamas electing to get everything moved and Malia settled into her new digs during the solar eclipse.

Then it was time to say goodbye, which did not look easy for the parents of the 19-year-old freshman.

Barack and Michelle, who both went to Harvard Law School, had their sunglasses on long before they exited Malia's dorm and kept their faces looking down as they rushed into their SUV, leaving their daughter behind to start her new life.

Shedding some tears: Barack and Michelle Obama looked to be emotional as they left the dorm after saying goodbye (above) and rushed into their waiting SUV with their eyes covered

Boys: Malia, 19, is set to start her freshman year at the prestigious Ivy league university where her father attended law school later this month

Powder keg giving off sparks: Malia was allowed to move in a day early and the family took advantage of the solar eclipse by choosing that time for the move and drawing no attention

Barack has made no secret in the past about how emotional he gets at these moments, also crying when daughter Malia graduated high school back in June of 2016.

He was even brought to tears in September 2015 during a speech in Michigan while recounting sending Malia off to her first day of senior year, revealing he choked up when his daughter told him: 'Daddy, you know, you realize this is probably going to be the last time that you ever send me off for my first day of school.'

Barack has also admitted that when he does cry, he immediately puts on his sunglasses.

Malia did not let her early check in stop her from being social however, and on Tuesday she headed out to stand with her fellow dorm residents as they got to know one another.

For her big college debut Malia put on some very stylish and fancy threads, opting for a $275 top by Alexander Wang which she paired with a black baby doll dress and white sneakers.

She was not looking to make a scene however, and when approached by one reporter from the Boston Globe and asked if she would be willing to speak with him she politely declined by saying 'I can't' and shook his hand.

And most of the students and parents showed no special interest in the famous student, something that Harvard has prided itself on in the past when welcoming the likes of Natalie Portman to their campus.

Malia will not be the only big name on campus either, with 'Black-ish' star Yara Shahidi set to start classes a little later in the year.

Adulting: Malia and a friend went to go pick up a laundry bag on Tuesday afternoon (above)

Best of buds: Malia seemed to have previously known the young woman she was spotted with on Tuesday

Working woman: Malia took a gap year after graduating in June 2016, during which time she volunteered in South America and interned for The Weinsten Company

Getting stuff done: Malia also volunteered in South America while taking time off from school as her father wrapped up his time in the White House

Making plans: It is unclear if Malia will have a Secret Service detail,but she is entitled to one

Blonde ambition: Malia headed back to her new dorm room after grabbing her laundry bag to get changed before lunch

Dashing duo: Malia's friend was also looking very stylish in her jean romper and oversized tote

Courtesy of Jason Corey

A few students posted snaps of Malia to social media on Tuesday, including one young woman who could not contain her excitement when her father sent a picture of her brother chatting with the former first daughter.

'My brother and Malia are about to be besties,' wrote Robin Daggers, whose younger brother is attending Harvard on a full scholarship.

She also included the photo her father sent of Malia and her brother chatting in front of the dorm.

That was then followed up with another tweet from Robin, who wrote: 'Obama is about to start inviting my family on family vacations. He's going to let me call him Barack.'

Both tweets seemed to be in good fun but quickly gained a massive amount of attention due to her father's picture of Malia, and as a result Robin deleted them both from the social media site.

She then tweeted: 'So that picture blew up and it was not supposed to.'

Family: Malia was spotted chatting with a fellow incoming freshman on Tuesday whose sister later joked that her brother and Malia were best friends

She did what: Robin's brother (right) was probably not thrilled with his sister's humorous take on his new classmate on Tuesday

New look: Malia then changed into jean shorts to meet up with two other friends on Tuesday

On Monday, a few people managed to catch Michelle, Barack and Malia grabbing lunch at Harvest, a local restaurant.

It was a far more low-key affair for Malia Tuesday however, with the student joining two of her fellow Harvard classmates for a salad on the lawn.

It will be off to orientation Tuesday evening, where she will get a chance to tour the campus and meet some more members of the freshman class before the fall semester begins next week.

Malia opted to take a gap year however rather then head right off to college, wise decision given that her father was in the White House, which would have made the process a bit more stressful to say the least.

It also makes the prospect of living on her own far less daunting, with Malia already having done that while interning for Harvey Weistein at his eponymous production company earlier this year.

Malia has kept a relatively low profile during her time off, despite the public interest in her post-White House life.

It remains unclear if Malia even has a Secret Service detail with her in Cambridge.

Catching up with friends: Malia chats with a young man on campus before grabbing salads

Dunkin: A Dunkin Donuts cup was perched behind Malia as she laughed with her friend

Toss it out: Malia disposed of her napkin in a public trash cab after lunch

Beating the heat: The group will attend an orientation session on Tuesday night at the college

Responsible teens: Malia and her friends used the crosswalk on Tuesday rather than jaywalk across the road

Away they go: Malia and her friends headed off to enjoy the rest of their afternoon

Under a 2013 measure that was signed into law by President Obama, all former presidents and first ladies are given lifetime Secret Service details, while the children of the president receive that same protection until they are at least 16.

The length of the protection for the children of the president can be extended towards the end of their term, but the details are usually kept private for their safety.

President Bush extended protection for his daughters Jenna and Barbara after he departed DC, who were both older than Malia and Sasha at the time.

Meanwhile, just four days after her father vacated the Oval Office back in January, Malia made it clear just how disappointed she was in President Donald Trump by joining a rally protesting his plans to revive the Dakota Access pipeline project.

The student was one of approximately 100 people who gathered on Main Street at the Sundance Film Festival to let it be known how upset she was with President Trump's plan to move forward with the controversial transport system.

The group braved the blistering cold and heavy snowfall as they held up signs reading 'Exist. Resist. Rise.' and 'Impeach corporate control.'

That first sign expressed the group's solidarity with Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, while the second expressed their displeasure with the Sundance Film Festival for allowing Chase Bank to be a sponsor of their event due to the fact that they are invested in the pipeline.

This is why the rally was held directly in front of the Chase Sapphire on Main Lounge.

A few hours later, Malia was also one of the select individuals in attendance at a private event with Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault, a man who just last month publicly applauded her father when he put a halt to the pipeline after months of protests at the site.

She landed in snowy Park City after spending a few days with her parents and sister Sasha in Palm Springs, California at the home of White House interior designer Michael Smith and his partner, former Ambassador to Spain James Costos.

Meanwhile, the weeks before her trip to Harvard were spent on her family's annual vacation to Martha's Vineyard.
A jilted lover chopped off a 15-year-old schoolgirl's hand with a sword at a busy Indian market in broad daylight.

The attack took place at the Lakhimpur Kheri market, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, when the victim was shopping with her younger brother.

The girl was immediately rushed to a private hospital where doctors are trying to stitch her dismembered hand back on.

A jilted lover chopped off a 15-year-old schoolgirl's hand with a sword at a busy Indian market in broad daylight

The attack took place at the Lakhimpur Kheri market, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh

Vinod Chaurasia, 19, is accused of attacking her and is alleged to have been stalking the girl for past few months.

Vinod, who works at a welding workshop, spotted the girl shopping with her younger brother on Wednesday afternoon.

Police claim he followed her to try and convince her to go out with him but when she turned him down, he took out the sword and cut off her hand.

He then repeatedly struck her with the sword but fortunately, the crowd overpowered him and handed him over to the police.

A senior police officer said: 'The girl was referred to Lucknow for treatment as she was in a very critical condition. She had lost a lot of blood. Our priority is the health of the girl, who is still critical.

'Once her condition improves, we will record her statement following which the motive of the attack can be clearly ascertained.'

Vinod Chaurasia, 19, is accused of attacking her and is alleged to have been stalking the girl for past few months

The shocking incident came days after a minor girl was stabbed to death by her alleged stalker in Balia, Uttar Pradesh, while she was on her way to school.

Stalking was made a serious crime a year after a physiotherapy student was brutally gang-raped in a moving bus in 2012.

The offence invites three years in jail and a fine. Despite that, the cases of stalking are phenomenally increasing in the country.

In 2015, 6,238 complaints about stalking were registered of which 519 were from Uttar Pradesh and 1,123 from the national capital New Delhi.
A former dancer who was paralyzed from the waist down after a poorly maintained bus shelter fell on her has been awarded $148million in compensation.

Tierney Darden's lawyers had put the price of $175million on the suffering already endured by their client and the fact she would have to live the rest of her life in chronic pain and without the use of her legs.

The city of Chicago's officials had already admitted wrongdoing ahead of the trial but their legal team suggested only $30million to $40million in way of compensation.

They are now said to be considering their legal options, but Darden's attorney said his client was a victim of wrongful conduct when the 700lbs shelter at an airport in O'Hare fell on her two years ago, crushing her spine.

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Tierney Darden is wheeled out of court in a wheelchair after being awarded $148million

Tragic: Tierney Darden was left paralyzed when an airport pedestrian shelter crashed down and crushed her spine is now suing the city of Chicago. Now her family is suing over claims the city has allowed many such structures at the airport to decay

Darden, a student at Truman State University, was waiting for a ride at O'Hare airport when a storm blew through and knocked the structure (a similar one is pictured) on top of her

After the verdict at a Cook County court, Patrick Salvi Sr embraced his client and told CBS Chicago: ' We're very, very grateful the jury recognized the severity of her injuries and the long road that she has ahead of her.

'This is a very, very special case in the sense that Tierney was truly a victim of wrongful conduct by the city at O'Hare.'

'Wrongful conduct is 100 percent responsible for this.'

Parts of the shelter had rusted away, for which the city had admitted liability.

On the other side of the result, the city's lawyers said: 'We are disappointed in the jury's verdict and are evaluating our legal options.'

Talking back in 2015, the victim's other attorney Tara Devine said: 'Tierney's life will never be the same because of the airport's and city's failure to protect her.

'She will never be able to use her legs to dance, which was one of her passions.'

'She couldn't feel her legs, couldn't move her legs, and she knew it,' her father recalled. 'She was scared.'

Darden's sister and mother, who were in the shelter with her on August 2, 2015, after a trip to Minneapolis, suffered minor injuries.

'She couldn't feel her legs, couldn't move her legs, and she knew it,' her father recalled. 'She was scared.'

Their lawsuit claimed the City of Chicago and the city's aviation department should have known that the shelter needed maintenance.

What's more, investigators discovered that at least two other shelters at O'Hare are in danger of toppling thanks to rusted out brackets and missing bolts, reports WBBM.

Darden's sister and mother, who were in the shelter with her August 2 after a trip to Minneapolis, suffered minor injuries.

Investigation: According to the WBBM report, one shelter was missing 22 bolts meant to connect it to the ground and eight others screws in various parts of the structure itself. A mounting plate was also missing on that structure

According to the WBBM report, one shelter was missing 22 bolts meant to connect it to the ground and eight others screws in various parts of the structure itself. A mounting plate was also missing on that structure.

'These nuts and bolts are everything to these shelters,' says Darden family attorney Jeff Kroll.

'If there was any kind of proper inspection going on by the Department of Aviation, if there was any kind of proper maintenance protocol, this would have never happened.'

Workers at the airport almost immediately started to remove the decaying shelters.
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Zoe Ball and former husband Norman Cook put on a united front today as their son picked up his GCSE results.

The couple, who also have a daughter Nelly, seven, split last September after almost 18 years together.

But they turned up at Brighton College together this morning when their son Woody, 16, picked up his results at the school where fees cost up to 42,000 a year.

Woody Cook is congratulated by his mother Zoe Ball after receiving his GCSE results at Brighton College this morning

Proud mother Ball congratulates her son Woody on his GCSE results at the independent school in Brighton today

Cook, who split with Ball last September after almost 18 years together, was also there to support Woody

Woody is hugged by his father, DJ Cook, after receiving his GCSE results at Brighton College this morning

Both Ball, 46, and Cook, 54 were delighted with their son's grades and hugged him as he proudly waved the results sheet.

Woody achieved an 8 in English language, a 7 in English literature, a 6 in maths, B in computer science, and As in drama, design and technology, science and additional science.

Woody - who is now off to Reading Festival in Berkshire to celebrate his results - said: 'The new system has made me happier with my marks because an 8 seems higher.

'I want to do drama and film studies next year so I am going to BHASVIC. (Brighton Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College).'

Ball was delighted this morning after Woody achieved an 8 in English language, a 7 in English literature and a 6 in maths

Woody also achieved a B in computer science, and As in drama, design and technology, science and additional Science.

Woody smiles with other students after collecting his GCSE results at Brighton College, an independent school in the resort

Woody said the new system 'has made me happier with my marks because and 8 seems higher'

Ball said: 'He was worried about maths. Your granddad is going to be very proud because he got an A for Science.

'I'm so proud of him. Norman and I have had a little cry in the car waiting for him to come out.'

Woody's grandfather is Think of a Number children's TV presenter Johnny Ball, who popularised science and maths for youngsters in the 1980s.

Cook embraced his son and congratulated him on his results but told him off for not coming out with his results earlier.

He said: 'Thanks for coming back out. You know I said: 'Come straight back out', well it's been half an hour.'

Ball posted a picture on Instagram of Woody with Cook, saying: 'Proud as ever of our beautiful boy @w00dy_c00k who smashed his #gcse's #aceface #brightoncollege He's off to celebrate at #readingfestival #no1son #smarttike #proudmama #emosh'

Woody Cook (front second left), waves his results in a group photograph after collecting them at Brighton College today

Ball said she was 'so proud of him', adding: 'Norman and I have had a little cry in the car waiting for him to come out'

Ball was delighted with her sons grades and hugged him as he proudly waved the results sheet outside Brighton College

Cook (second row, second left) sits with other pupils at Brighton College today as he waves his GCSE results for the cameras

Ball posted this picture on Instagram of Woody with Cook, saying: 'Proud as ever of our beautiful boy @w00dy_c00k who smashed his #gcse's #aceface #brightoncollege He's off to celebrate at #readingfestival #no1son #smarttike #proudmama #emosh'

Woody's grandfather is children's TV presenter Johnny Ball (pictured with his daughter Zoe in West London in 2006)

Ball and Cook split last September but have remained firm friends and live on the same beachfront esplanade in Hove, East Sussex.

Ball, who hosts The Big Family Cooking Showdown and also presents her own BBC Radio 2 show on Saturday afternoons, was left devastated earlier this year after the death of her boyfriend, Billy Yates in May.

Cameraman Billy, 40, was found hanged in his flat in Putney, South West London after suffering from depression.

Zoe shared a picture of a pink flower on her Instagram account following Billy's death and wrote: 'My sweet love x'.

Girls race ahead of boys in 'tougher' new GCSEs with two thirds of the top 'grade 9' marks awarded to females Girls raced ahead of boys today in the new GCSEs with two thirds of the top new 'grade 9' marks awarded to female pupils, as overall pass rates plunged following the biggest shake-up of exams in a generation. Under the overhaul, traditional A* to G grades are being gradually replaced in England with a 9 to 1 system. The key GCSEs of English and maths are the first to move across, with other subjects following over the next two years. It follows education reforms in England led by former education secretary Michael Gove six years ago, with the overhaul of GCSEs from 2013 expected to 'set higher expectations', and 'demand more from all students'. Some 50,000 grade 9s were awarded across the board  and two thirds of these were awarded to girls, with the gender gap roughly the same as last year in the key subjects at A*. Today's figures show that across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the proportion of entries scoring at least an A grade - or a 7 under the new system - has fallen by 0.5 percentage points to 20 per cent compared to last year. As hundreds of thousands of teenagers opened their results today, it was also revealed that the percentage gaining a C or above - or a 4 under the new system - is down 0.6 percentage points to 66.3 per cent. Only 2.6 per cent of pupils got the new grade 9 in English language this year - compared with 4 per cent achieving an A* last year. And in maths, only 3.5 per cent got a 9 - compared with 7 per cent gaining an A* last year. Advertisement

Key figures from this year's GCSE results

The proportion of entries receiving the top grades (A/7 or above) has fallen to 20%, down 0.5 percentage points on last year. This is the lowest since 2007 when the figure was 19.5%

For entries receiving a C/4 grade or above, the figure for 2017 was 66.3%, a drop of 0.6 percentage points on 2016, and the lowest since 2008

In the subjects where a new grading system has been introduced, 3.5% of 16-year-olds in England scored the highest grade 9 in maths, 3.3% scored grade 9 in English literature, and 2.6% scored grade 9 in English

In English literature, 72.6% of entries got C/4 or above, down from 75.1% last year. In English the figure rose from 60.2% to 62.1%

In maths the overall proportion of entries getting C/4 or above dropped from 61% in 2016 to 59.4%

The overall gap between girls and boys getting grade C/4 or above has widened since last year. Some 71% of girls got C/4 or higher compared with 61.5% of boys, a gap of 9.5 percentage points. Last year the gap was 8.9 points

The overall pass rate is unchanged on 2016. The proportion of entries receiving G/1 or above was 98.4%

In total there were 5,443,072 entrants for the exams, up 4% on last year

Everything you need to know about the GCSE reforms The new courses feature much less coursework than the old GCSEs, and modular courses - which saw pupils sit papers throughout their studies

New reformed GCSEs are being introduced gradually. The first, which will be awarded for the first time today, are English language, English literature and maths. These are core GCSEs taken by all pupils.

The next wave, with grades awarded for the first time next summer, include the sciences, history, geography and some modern languages, with others such as art, music and drama being given grades for the first time in 2018

The new English and maths courses have more content and are tougher

A new grading system has been introduced for the new GCSE courses, to clearly separate them from the old qualifications. Under the new system, traditional A* to G grades have been replaced with a 9 to 1 system, with 9 the highest mark. Advertisement

Exam success for Manchester attack victim, 15, who took test from her sofa

A courageous teenager who suffered terrible shrapnel injuries in the Manchester terrorist attack has aced her GCSE English exam a year early after taking the test lying on her sofa.

Millie Robson, who attends Woodham Academy, in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, told her mother almost straight after coming out of surgery that she still wanted to sit the exam.

Along with her friend Laura Anderson, both 15, she was struck by the blast that killed 22 people in Manchester Arena.

Millie Robson (pictured with mother Marie), 15, who was injured in the Manchester bombings, took her English a year early

Queen Elizabeth II speaks to Millie and her mother, Marie, during a visit to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital in May

Millie She had already met Ariana Grande before the concert at the Manchester Arena on May 22 having won a competition

Despite suffering awful injuries, she bravely directed the emergency services away from her in the aftermath to treat others more seriously wounded.

Laura Anderson, 15, has received a top English GCSE grade despite sitting the exam a fortnight after the atrocity

Coming into school to collect her result, she found out she had achieved a 6 in her English language exam.

'I'm really happy with my result,' she said. 'I always saw myself doing it because I was really determined to do the exam and come back to school as quick as possible.

'I took it three days after I came out of hospital and did it on my couch with the invigilator sat in the corner. I did it on a tray lying on the couch, it was a lot less stressful than what it would have been in the hall.'

She had already met Ariana Grande before the concert having won a competition and was then pictured meeting the Queen in her hospital bed.

She said: 'I remember there were a lot of people a lot worse off than I was and I was in a position where I had people who were helping me out, so when you can hear kids that are really young screaming and crying in pain obviously any decent person would tell the emergency services to sort them out before they come to you.

'The support I have been getting from a lot of people - people from all over the world have been messaging me asking how I'm doing, and that has made me want to get better as quickly as possible.'

Her friend Laura received a top English GCSE grade despite sitting the exam a fortnight after the atrocity.

She took the English language test after suffering shrapnel wounds in the Ariana Grande concert blast.

Laura, who got her result while on holiday in Spain, said: 'I'm really happy with it. I was so glad when I found out I got a 7. Honestly, I'm so happy I made the decision to take it, even though I couldn't really focus on revision.'

Bangladeshi immigrant's son is off to Eton with 13 A*/As The brainy son of a Bangladeshi immigrant is to follow in the footsteps of Prime Ministers and Princes after 13 A*/A grade GCSEs earned him a sixth form scholarship at Eton. Straight A student Kaashif Kamaly, 16, says he can't wait to get started at the college where Winston Churchill as well as Princes William and Harry were educated after achieving 6 A*s and 7 As. He will swap Forest Gate Community School in London's East End for the world-famous public school in September. Kaashif Kamaly, the brainy son of a Bangladeshi immigrant, achieved 13 A grade GCSEs to earn himself a sixth form scholarship at Eton He said: 'I'm so happy words can't even describe. I'm totally in shock. It's been a difficult couple of years, but I'm very proud of what I've achieved - and it's thanks to my parents and the school.' He added: 'The first part of the three part educational trilogy has finished. Eton college next. I've worked so hard, now I've finally done it. I feel like I've proved myself. 'Eton is renowned for having the best education so I'm grateful to go there.' Kaashif credits his 'hero' father Shah Mia, who works as an immigration officer at Heathrow despite a disability, and his mother Shewly Begum, as having instilled a strong work ethic into him. He said that he had been turned down by a lot of colleges, but he had definitely 'saved the best till last.' Kaashif said going to Eton for the first time was quite intimidating. Kaashif credits his 'hero' father and his mother Shewly Begum (pictured together) as having instilled a strong work ethic into him He said: 'It was quite scary visiting. There is a hump you go over when you get there and first see the school, and I felt my guts plummet. 'It was an emotional rollercoaster on the first day. But integration was swift and I was treated as one of their own.' The student, who will be joining the elite of English education, said he was relieved to achieve the GCSE results he did. He added: 'I'm relieved with what I got, what I have in front me: it's opened a gateway. To say it's a victory for myself is an injustice. I would say it's 80 per cent down to the school. They have really pushed me. It's a debt that can't be repaid.' Advertisement

Nervous pupils flood Twitter with jittery memes before they pick up grades

Terrified teenagers are having a meltdown on social media as they anxiously await their GCSE results.

Schoolchildren across the country will be getting their exam marks at around 9.30am today with many finding the wait too much to bare.

Thousands of 16-year-olds are expected to be disappointed as they fail to scoop the top mark in English and maths, following radical reforms to make the qualifications tougher.

Many teens have taken to social media to voice their concerns, sharing hilarious memes.

One girl shared a picture of Kermit the Frog looking miserable while flopped out on a bed and wrote: 'Remembering all the questions I answered were guesses #GCSEResultsDay2017.'

Another pupil, who was up until the early hours, shared a photo of a woman looking anxious and wrote: 'It's almost 3am and I'm still awake... results day got me like...'

One pupil shared a still from Game of Thrones, featuring a character jumping out of a window, with the caption: 'Results day got me like.'

While another pupil shared a photo of reality star Gemma Collins running around with a miniature pony on Celebrity Big Brother, with the caption: 'Me running out of school with my results before anyone asks me what I got #ResultsDay2017.'

See how well you would do at GCSE maths and English! The changes to GCSE English and maths are aimed at making the exams 'more challenging', according to Government policy objectives. In England, the overhaul saw traditional A* to G grades replaced with a 9 to 1 system in both core subjects. In maths, there is more content on topics such as number, ration and proportion, and pupils have to show clear mathematical arguments for their calculations and remember key formulae. Here are some questions from specimen mathematics higher-tier papers from the AQA exam board. :: Circle the calculation that increases 400 by 7% 400 x 0.07. 400 x 0.7. 400 x 1.07. 400 x 1.7. (One mark) :: Solve 5x - 2 @ 3x + 11 (Two marks) :: White paint costs 2.80 per litre. Blue paint costs 3.50 per litre White paint and blue paint are mixed in the ratio 3 : 2. Work out the cost of 18 litres of the mixture. (Four marks) :: There are four prime numbers between 300 and 330 How many prime numbers are there between 300 and 450? (Two marks) :: Write 252 as the product of its prime factors (Two marks) According to AQA guidance, to achieve the highest 8-9 grades, pupils must be able to show they can: 'Construct substantial chains of reasoning, including convincing arguments and formal proofs ... and critically evaluate methods, arguments, results and the assumptions made.' In English literature, students have to read a wide range of classic literature, including 19th century novels, Shakespeare and the Romantic poets. In one specimen paper from exam board Edexcel, students are asked to answer a question on one Shakespearian work and one question on a post-1914 famous play or novel. A sample question on Macbeth gives an extract, then suggests candidates spend around an hour answering both of the following questions for a total of 40 marks. :: A) Explore how Shakespeare presents the character of Lady Macbeth as being in control in this extract. Refer closely to the extract in your answer. :: B) In this extract, there is conflict between the characters. Explain the importance of conflict elsewhere in the play. In your answer you must consider :: How conflict is shown :: The reasons for the conflict. You should refer to the context of the play in your answer. Advertisement

More top performers are needed in GCSEs 'to compete with the world's best'

Girls feel pressured to portray a perfect life Girls are feeling under intense pressure to live the perfect online life, according to a survey. It suggests the rise in popularity of social media is having an impact on young women, with many worried about issues such as how they look in photos, the number of friends or followers they have and how their lives compare to others. The Girlguiding girls' attitudes survey also indicates parents are at risk of underestimating the impact that social media can have on their daughters, with girls saying they do not feel their mothers and fathers realise the pressures they face. In total, more than a third (35 per cent) of the 11 to 21-year-old girls questioned said comparing themselves and their lives to others is one of their biggest online concerns, while the same proportion said that they were worried about threats from strangers. A further 36 per cent were worried about grooming and 36 per cent also cited how pictures of them might be used by others as one of their biggest fears. Three in 10 (30 per cent) of the 11 to 16-year-old girls questioned were concerned about how they look in photos, rising to 35 per cent among the 17 to 21-year-olds. Advertisement

Tens of thousands more teenagers need to score good grades in GCSE English and maths to put the nation on a par with the best performing countries in the world, according to research.

In maths particularly, England has work to do to match the average performance of youngsters in places such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan, the Education Policy Institute (EPI) study found.

The findings, which come in the week that teenagers receive their GCSE results, show that England's pupils should be aiming to get new grade 5s in English and maths, the EPI said, rather than 4s - which are broadly equivalent to C grades under the traditional grading system.

Researchers used data from international tests in maths and reading and last year's GCSE results to compare performance between nations.

The study concludes that in maths, students in England need to score around two-thirds of a grade higher on average to match the performance of youngsters in Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Japan.

It means that under the traditional A*-G grading system, which is being phased out, an extra 96,000 pupils would have to score the equivalent of at least a B grade, with the number of low-performing pupils (those failing to get a C) falling by 60,000.

In English language, the average grade would also have to increase slightly, with an extra 42,000 youngsters scoring the equivalent of A*-B grades in the subject, in order to match the highest performing countries in native language reading - Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada, Finland and Ireland.

The numbers failing to get a C in English language would need to drop by 42,000.

David Laws, EPI executive chairman and former Lib Dem schools minister. said: 'This analysis highlights the gulf between education outcomes in England and the performance of the world's best education nations.

'In certain subjects, such as maths, England needs both to significantly raise the number of top performers and almost halve the number of low performers if it is to compete with the world's best.'
Michelle Conway, 38, ordered a pizza from the Stamford Hill branch in London on the August 1

An employee at Domino's Pizza has been suspended after refusing to deliver a pizza because he was 'scared of the black people outside her home'.

Michelle Conway, 38, ordered a pizza from the Stamford Hill branch in London on the August 1.

But after waiting for an hour for it to arrive, she said she received a call from a worked at the shop who said her food would not be delivered as the driver was scared of 'black people' outside her house and he did not want to put the driver 'in danger'.

Ms Conway, a tourist guide, complained to Domino's and said she felt the staff member's comments were 'racist' and that they had left her in tears.

The fast food chain said that they have a zero tolerance approach to discrimination and confirmed the employee had been suspended over the 'wholly inappropriate' alleged comments pending a disciplinary meeting.

Ms Conway said: 'When I received the call, the caller said it was Domino's and told me the delivery driver couldn't deliver as there were black people outside my house.

'I couldn't believe what I had just heard. How is that a valid reason for not delivering?

'There was no one stood outside my house but that is not the point.

'To me he was being racist. He told me that the delivery driver was scared and did not want to deliver because of the black people outside of my house..

An employee of the firm allegedly told her it wouldn't be delivered as the driver was scared 'black people' outside her house and he did not want to put the driver 'in danger

'I told him that I found the phrase he just used very offensive. How did he know that I wasn't black?

'I was so let down and disappointed that someone could use this as an excuse.'

Ms Conway, from Stamford Hill, claims that the employee did offer her a refund for the missing pizza but she felt that the damage had been done.

She said: 'He didn't even apologise to me and said he was not putting his driver in danger.

'I understand that a driver shouldn't be made to feel vulnerable but why didn't the driver call me on my mobile and ask me to come and meet him?

'I feel really saddened and upset that someone would use that as a valid excuse for not delivering.

'I don't really know why you would say it, even if it was the case why couldn't the manager have just lied and said something else.

'I am a regular customer and I feel really let down. I am deeply saddened that someone could say they are scared of black people.

Ms Conway said: 'I feel really saddened and upset that someone would use that as a valid excuse for not delivering'

'There were plenty of ways that the situation could have been avoided. If the driver had of rang me I would have come outside and collected it myself.

'I don't want people to feel scared but his choice of language just wasn't appropriate.'

Louise Butler, a spokesperson for Domino's, said: 'Domino's prides itself on celebrating difference and such we take a zero tolerance approach to any harassment or discrimination whatsoever.

'The colleague in question acted in a wholly inappropriate manner and as such he has been suspended with immediate effect pending a disciplinary meeting, we would like to apologise unreservedly to Ms Conway and she will be refunded in full for any monies owed.'
Missing toddler William Tyrrell was in foster care when he was abducted, it can be revealed.

The three-year-old boy, who was last seen playing outside his foster grandmother's home on the New South Wales mid-north coast, was in the care of Family and Community Services, legal documents say.

The revelation can only be revealed after a Supreme Court judge admitted that William was likely to have died.

Court of Appeal documents show that William was a foster child when he disappeared from his foster family's home near Kendall on September 12, 2014, while wearing a Spider-Man costume.

The Department of Family and Community Services tried to ensure the fact he was in care remained hidden from the public, but Justice Brereton overruled.

The judge also made a confronting statement about William, saying there was 'the tragic probability that he is no longer alive'.

There is no suggestion William Tyrrell's biological or foster family had anything to do with his abduction.

William Tyrrell was a foster child at the time of his disappearance from his foster grandmother's home on the New South Wales mid-north coast

Court of Appeal documents say because William was under the care of the NSW Minister for Family and Community Services, as a foster child, the information could be released because it was of 'legitimate public interest'

There is no suggestion William Tyrrell's biological or foster family had anything to do with his abduction

William's status as a foster child has been a closely guarded secret of the courts and police since his disappearance nearly three years ago.

Justice Brereton disagreed with the stance of the The Department of Family and Community Services that releasing the information would have a negative effect on the case.

'The notion that the efforts of trained and experienced police investigators might be distracted - presumably by an influx of pseudo-information in the nature of rumour and speculation - is quite unconvincing,' Justice Brereton says in the Court of Appeal judgement.

William's status as a foster child has been a closely guarded secret of the courts and police since his disappearance nearly three years ago

A $1 million reward is being offered for any information that leads to the discovery of the young boy

William went missing while playing in the front yard of his foster grandmother's home at 10:30am.

Police, helicopters and up to 200 volunteers helped search for William in the days following his disappearance.

Kendall State Forest, which is located directly across the road from his foster grandmother's house, was searched extensively.

William Spedding was questioned as a person of interest in the case after it was revealed he gave a quote to William Tyrrell's foster grandmother days before his disappearance.

A Spiderman toy was reportedly found in the back of Spedding's repairman van. Police refused to confirm these claims.

Police searched his home but found nothing tying him to the abduction. Spedding is facing historic child sex abuse charges in Victoria.

William Spedding was questioned as a person of interest in the case after it was revealed he gave a quote to William Tyrrell's foster grandmother days before his disappearance

Detectives also questioned Kim Loweke (pictured), who is best friends with William's grandmother Natalie Collins, over her whereabouts on the day the three-year-old went missing

Ms Loweke also has personal links with Tony Jones (pictured) and Spedding - two accused paedophiles that were both named as persons of interest in the case.

Detectives also questioned Kim Loweke, who is best friends with William's grandmother Natalie Collins, over her whereabouts on the day the three-year-old went missing.

According to ACA, police became interested when the two women applied to the Department of Housing for a three-bedroom home in western Sydney.

Ms Loweke also has personal links with Tony Jones and Spedding - two accused paedophiles that were both named as persons of interest in the case.

Ms Loweke admitted that the set of coincidences were strange, but denied having anything to do with William Tyrrell's disappearance.

'I was thinking about how the situation is so weird, it is weird. I can't work it out, me minds going a hundred miles an hour going what's going on,' she told ACA.

'I don't know why my name's come up in the situation I seriously don't know,' she said, trailing off with laughter.

Adding further intrigue to the mystery of William's disappearance, Ms Loweke owns an old silver Holden VX Commodore - eerily similar in shape and colour to the description of one of the cars that was parked outside William's grandmother's home in Kendall, NSW, when he went missing on September 12, 2014.

Adding further intrigue to the mystery of William's disappearance, Ms Loweke owns an old silver Holden VX Commodore - eerily similar in shape and colour to the description of one of the cars that was parked outside William's grandmother's home

Ms Collins said it was 'disgusting' that police had questioned her best friend and cast doubt over the pair's intentions with requesting a new home

The cars - described as a dark grey old-model, medium-size sedan and an old white station wagon - became the focus of police inquiries early on in the case.

Detectives reportedly took photos of Ms Loweke's car.

Ms Collins said it was 'disgusting' that police had questioned her best friend and cast doubt over the pair's intentions with requesting a new home.

'That's just disgusting, I'm sorry, because like I wouldn't hide him. Like Kim said it would be good if we could find him, we would hand him over anyway,' she said.

A $1 million reward is being offered for any information that leads to the discovery of the young boy.

His story was brought back into national attention after convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby was pictured with the infamous image of William in his Spiderman costume on the front of her handbag as she was flying home to Australia

Corby left her Bali villa brandishing the bag featuring the image of William, a stunt that surprised his family

His story was brought back into national attention after convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby was pictured with the infamous image of William in his Spiderman costume on the front of her handbag as she was flying home to Australia.

Corby left her Bali villa brandishing the bag featuring the image of William, a stunt that surprised his family.

'While the Where's William Campaign appreciates that Schapelle Corby has shown concern regarding little William's disappearance...we are not happy,' the family posted on the Facebook page spreading awareness on his story.

'William's family and the campaign have absolutely no association with Corby, her supporters or her family.

'We had no prior knowledge of Schapelle's intention to use William's image in this way.'

Anyone who may be able to help investigations and has information on William's whereabouts is being urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
The sister of a Coronation Street superfan murdered in the Manchester Arena bombing today learned she had 11 A* GCSEs and even sat an exam hours after learning he was killed.

Nikita Murray, 16, was told by her school they would accept her predicted grades after the death of her brother Martyn in May but she still wanted to take all 11.

Her extraordinary story was today revealed by her older brother Dan, who says he hopes her determination will 'inspire' others.

And Nikita later posed with her results and said her 'proud' big brother Martyn, an avid social media user, would have been tweeting to congratulate her about her achievements if he was still alive.

She will go on to study A-levels in Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Classics at Stockport Grammar next term and joked: 'Martyn always used to joke I was bad at maths. I think he would have been quite proud of me'.

Brave: Nikita Murray, 16, was told by her school they would accept her predicted grades after the death of her brother Martyn (pictured together) in May but she still wanted to take all 11 GCSEs and got all A*s

Nikita posed with her results today and said her 'proud' big brother Martyn, an avid social media user, would have been tweeting to congratulate her about her achievements if he was still alive

Nikita achieved 11 A*s in her GCSEs despite taking an exam the day after her 29-year-old brother was one of 22 victims killed when suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated a device in Manchester Arena. Pictured: Nikita and Martyn on a family holiday in Berlin in November 2016

Inspirational: Nikita said her brother Martyn used to always joke that she was bad at maths. Here she is pictured with her flawless results - including her A* in mathematics

Her extraordinary story was today revealed by her older brother Dan, who says he hopes her determination having lost her brother (right) will 'inspire' others

The 16-year-old Stockport Grammar School had been revising for her physics exam as the family desperately waited to hear news the day after the bombing, which happened after an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena.

She said: 'I was about halfway through my exams when it happened.

Much-loved Martyn Hett was laid to rest in June after being murdered as he left an Ariana Grande concert

'I had three exams that week. After it happened, when we didn't know where he was, I was just thinking that I should probably revise just in case we found him.

'The option of not taking the exam was in my brain. I thought if we did find out (he had died) I won't end up doing it but, just in case we find out he's fine and it's a misunderstanding, I should probably revise.'

The evening after the bombing, which happened on May 22, the family found out Martyn had been killed in the attack and at 1pm the following day Nikita took her exam.

She said: 'I decided I wanted to go into school to take my exams, mainly to get out of the house and do something.

'At the time of the attack there were a lot of people around our house. It was nice to have something else to think about.

She hopes to go to University and perhaps study maths, admitting she was shocked at how well she had performed.

She said: 'I really like school so I thought I would do all right, but after Martyn died I was expecting lower grades'.

Her proud father Stuart Murray, who was Martyn's step-father, told the Manchester Evening News: 'It was Nikita's choice to carry on with her exams.

'One was the day after the attack. We knew she had potential but the fact she chose to carry on shows such resilience and fight.

'It just goes to show you shouldn't let anything stop you from reaching your dreams'.

Nikita's success emerged in an incredible tribute from her brother Dan - who said simply: 'Don't mess with her'

Bomb survivor aces her English GCSE taken two weeks after atrocity A teenage girl injured in the Manchester suicide bombing has received a top English GCSE grade despite sitting the exam a fortnight after the atrocity. Laura Anderson, 15, (pictured) from County Durham, took the English language test after suffering shrapnel wounds in the Ariana Grande concert blast. Laura, who got her result while on holiday in Spain, said: 'I'm really happy with it. I was so glad when I found out I got a 7. 'Honestly, I'm so happy I made the decision to take it, even though I couldn't really focus on revision.' Her father Gary said she was 'over the moon' with her grade 7 - the equivalent of an A under the old system. Along with friend Millie Robson, also 15, Laura was caught in the attack that killed 22 people at Manchester Arena. The 'determined and impressive' pair, who attend Woodham Academy in Newton Aycliffe, took the exam a year early. An invigilator was sent to Millie's house as the pals were both on crutches and in pain at the time. Laura added: 'I wouldn't have been able to go into school with the injuries, it was a lot more comfortable doing it at her house. 'We're just so happy for each other.' Advertisement

Martyn, a 29-year-old PR manager, was one of 22 people killed when suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated a device as crowds left an Ariana Grande concert.

Describing what happened to his sister afterwards Dan Hett said in a series of tweets: 'My little sister Nik is an actual hero. skip back to the literal day after we found out about Martyn being killed.

'We were obviously completely numb, fried, drained. we'd been through something absolutely unreal and were all trying to figure it out

'I came downstairs, and Nik was sat on the stairs in full school uniform, tying her shoes. I couldn't understand why. I didn't even know what day it was at that point, it had been such a horrific few days.

'She was putting her shoes on so she could go and sit a bunch of GCSE's. I was utterly amazed, floored.

'They told her she didn't need to, that they'd use her predicted grades given everything that happened. Nik said: nope! and took the lot

'Under the most horrific conditions, after going through (and continuing to go through) it all, she didn't skip a beat.

'It was hands-down the toughest s*** I have ever seen. Sleeves rolled up, get it done. Nothing wasted despite it all

'She got her results today. Eleven A* grades. I have never been more proud or amazed by anyone. In conclusion: my kid sister is the toughest person I have ever met. Don't mess with her. Be inspired!'

The 29-year-old PR manager and Coronation Street superfan, was one of 22 people killed when suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated a device as crowds left an Ariana Grande concert.

Mr Hett, who hit the headlines after getting a tattoo of character Deirdre Barlow, played by Anne Kirkbride, regularly talked about his love for the show on his social media pages.

Mr Hett hit the headlines after getting a tattoo of character Deirdre Barlow, played by Anne Kirkbride, and regularly talked about his love for the show on his social media pages

He even had Corrie stars on his coffin and Kym Marsh, Jennie McAlpine, Helen Worth and Antony Cotton met with his family, friends and fans at Stockport Town Hall to celebrate his life

Mr Hett's partner Russell Hayward (centre) was also in attendance at the moving service. Mr Hett's coffin arrived at the service in a horse-drawn carriage and was greeted by a minute's applause before it entered the building to the tune of Beautiful by Mariah Carey

Teenager who escaped from Grenfell inferno scoops A in Chemistry Ines Alves escaped the Grenfell Tower fire A teenager who escaped from the Grenfell Tower blaze on the eve of her chemistry GCSE has been awarded an A grade. Ines Alves, who lived with her family on the 13th floor, fled the burning tower block in the middle of the night with just her phone and chemistry notes before sitting the 9am exam in the same clothes she left in. The 16-year-old also gained the highest possible grade, a 9, in her maths GCSE - equivalent to an A* under the old system. Speaking at Sacred Heart High School in Hammersmith, West London, moments after opening her results, she said: 'It's good. I'm quite happy with my grades.' She added: 'I wish I did more, but then again, I don't know, it hasn't sunk in yet. For the exams I missed, I didn't do too well in them overall.' Ines missed two history exams, one RE exam and one physics exam in the days after the fire, which affected her overall grades. She said she initially thought the fire was 'nothing major' and just wanted to sit the paper. 'That's all I had on I had on my mind,' she said. 'There was no point me carrying on watching the building burning so I just went in.' Advertisement

Martyn's mother this week said 'the tears are never far away' following his death.

Figen Murray, who had been a therapist for more than 20 years, told the BBC she has been unable to work following the attack.

Speaking three months on from the atrocity, Ms Murray said: 'The tears are never far away really.

'Suddenly you catch yourself thinking 'Oh my gosh, Martyn would have loved this - oh, it's a shame he isn't there'.'

Ms Murray said she is 'damaged' by the events of May 22 and, while she has now decided to seek mental health support, she feels she will never be able to return to work as a therapist.

She said: 'I don't think with what happened to me that I'll ever be in a position to offer psychological support to anybody else because I think I'm so damaged through this.'

Martyn was laid to rest in June during a 'theatrical' service which was attended by some of the soap's cast.

Corrie stars Kym Marsh, Jennie McAlpine, Helen Worth and Antony Cotton met with his family, friends and fans at Stockport Town Hall to celebrate his life.

Pop star Mariah Carey, who Mr Hett was a huge fan of, also recorded a video message for him, which was played during the service.

He was laid to rest in a coffin adorned with the faces of his soap heroes, as well as his cat, Emily Bishop.

It arrived at the service in a horse-drawn carriage and was greeted by a minute's applause before it entered the building to the tune of Beautiful by Mariah Carey.

Mourners have been asked to dress 'in black with something fabulous' as part of the service.

Some were seen dressed in cheerleader outfits, while others wore black with something colourful, such as a pink flower.
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Migrants and refugees threw rocks, bottles and gas cans at police in riot gear who were clearing more than a hundred of them from a makeshift camp in Rome.

They stood defiant in the face of the police's powerful water cannons as they were cleared from a piazza near Termini station.

The refugees occupied Indipendenza square in Rome in defiance of an order to leave an adjacent office building where as many as 800 had been squatting.

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Migrants and refugees threw rocks, bottles and gas cans at police in riot gear who were clearing about 100 people from a makeshift camp in a Rome

The refugees stood defiant in the face of the police's powerful water cannon as they were cleared from a piazza near Termini station. Pictured: A policeman comforts a crying refugee who was evicted from an adjacent office building

The refugees occupied the small square in Rome in defiance of an order to leave an adjacent office building where as many as 800 had been squatting

Officials defended the decision to evict them, saying they refused to move to accommodation they had provided elsewhere in the city

TV footage showed some of the refugees - many from Eritrea - screaming and trying to hit police who were armed with batons and shields

Officials defended the decision to evict them, saying they refused to move to accommodation provided for them.

TV footage showed some of the refugees - many from Eritrea - screaming and trying to hit police who were armed with batons and shields.

The square, just one block from Rome's main train station, was strewn with mattresses, overturned rubbish bins and broken plastic chairs.

Hung on the building they once occupied was a sheet with the words, 'we are refugees, not terrorists', in Italian.

Police began clearing the building at dawn Saturday in the latest of several such operations as the city struggles to find accommodation for new migrants.

On Sunday, the UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) voiced 'grave concern' over the mass eviction - a sign of the country's growing frustration at Europe's migrant crisis.

It said 200 of those expelled from the building were forced to sleep on the streets in a city already home to hundreds of homeless refugees who fled persecution and war, including many children.

TV footage showed some of the refugees - many from Eritrea - screaming and trying to hit police who were armed with batons and shields

Italian law enforcement officers use water cannons to disperse around a hundred migrants protesting at Indipendenza square

The square, just one block from Rome's main train station, was strewn with mattresses, overturned rubbish bins and broken plastic chairs

Migrants who once occupied an office building adjacent to the square were seen running from police water cannons

Two people were detained following today's clashes in which migrants were knocked to the ground by police water cannons

Commentators interpreted this weekend's eviction - carried out when Rome was virtually deserted - as a sign of hardening attitudes in Italy towards asylum seekers

Hung on the building hundreds of migrants once occupied in central Rome was a sheet with the words: 'We are refugees, not terrorists'

Italy's reception facilities are under massive strain from migrants and the centre-left government, facing elections next year, is under pressure on the issue

Interior Minister Marco Minniti, who has ultimate responsibility for Saturday's eviction, has recently overseen a series of controversial moves aimed at ending the crisis

Commentators interpreted the unexpected eviction - carried out when Rome was virtually deserted - as a sign of hardening attitudes in Italy towards asylum seekers.

Around 600,000 migrants have landed in Italy since 2014 - with more than 14,000 perishing on the treacherous route across the Mediterranean - but the country has seen a sharp fall in those arriving this year.

Around 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.

Italy's reception facilities are still under massive strain and the centre-left government, facing elections next year, is under pressure on the issue.

In June. Italy threatened to close its ports to aid groups rescuing migrants off Libya's coast with its representative to the EU, Maurizio Massari, saying the situation 'had become unsustainable'.

After 10,000 refugees tried to cross the Mediterranean in just four days that month, Italy's former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said citizens were 'exasperated'.

Around 600,000 migrants have landed in Italy since 2014, with more than 14,000 perishing on the treacherous route across the Mediterranean

Anti-refugee sentiment in the country is said to be growing but the numbers of those arriving on Italy's shores has fallen dramatically this year

Around 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

Interior Minister Marco Minniti, who has ultimate responsibility for Saturday's eviction, has recently overseen a series of controversial moves aimed at ending the crisis.

These include steps to curb the activity of charity and other privately-funded boats rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean and Italian naval support for Libyan coastguard efforts to intercept boats headed for Europe.

Earlier this month, deputy foreign minister Mario Giro announced Italy is pushing for centres for refugees to be set up in Libya which could provide safety.

Giro said: 'We are working on it, but it's difficult... We need funds, agreements with the authorities and access to the country.'
A Melbourne doctor has vowed to continue helping parents avoid compulsory immunisations for their children, despite facing suspension.

Dr John Piesse, who works at the Natural Healing Centre in Mitcham, said he would keep advising about vaccination exemptions until he was deregistered, The Age reports.

The physician has reportedly seen at least 450 children, but said he had not provided a letter of exemption for 'every one'.

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Doctor John Piesse has vowed to continue helping parents avoid compulsory immunisations for their children, despite facing suspension

Dr Piesse is one of three general practitioner's currently under investigation by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency and Victoria Health Department, according to the Herald Sun.

They are alleged to have offered services to parents who are against vaccinations, to help them avoid compulsory immunisation campaigns.

Adamant that he had 'tried to help' and had done nothing illegal, Dr Piesse also stated that he would continue advising parents.

'I will... until they basically deregister me... unless I can be persuaded that what I am doing is wrong,' he said.

Dr Piesse was advised on Thursday that his medical registration could be suspended while the investigation occurred.

He was reportedly given four days to provide a response in defence of his actions.

The Melbourne physician, who is one of three GP's being investigated, has reportedly seen at least 450 children but said he had not provided a letter of exemption for 'every one,' according to The Age (stock photo)

The Melbourne GP was previously captured on camera bragging about helping hundreds of families avoid getting immunised.

At a screening of controversial documentary Vaxxed earlier this month, Dr Piesse railed against 'no jab no play' regulations on childcare and 'no jab no pay' rules on family assistance payments.

He was filmed telling attendees that doctors can get around both, with the clip subsequently posted on an anti-vaccination Facebook page.

'I am a doctor who has been working hard for 18 months to try and help parents get exemption from 'vaccinated pain for vaccinated play,' with mixed success,' he claimed.

'I want you to know it is possible to get the exemption so there is hope,' he told the crowd.

Adamant that he had 'tried to help' and had done nothing illegal, Dr Piesse also stated that he would continue advising parents until he was 'deregistered' (stock photo)

He explained that parents needed a doctor's letter of 'contrary indication'  provided the GP has the qualifications required for 'no vax no play' or is a registered medical practitioner for 'no vax no play.'

Legislation introduced in 2016 means childcare services must now obtain evidence of a child's immunisation history or note for medical exemption, before enrolment.

Naturapathic physician Nerida James  who is Dr Piesse's colleague from the Natural Healing Centre and president of the Church of Scientology's Melbourne Narconon drug rehabilitation centre  also spoke at the screening on August 3.

She told attendees that they could help them like they have helped about 600 families.

'We can support you. We have been supporting about 600 families thanks to Dr John Piesse,' she said.

Dr Piesse was reportedly referred to the AHPRA a year ago after he applied for immunisation exemptions for patients by claiming the shots would damage their health.
Prop. 66 Ruling: Death Penalty Appeal Time Limit Not Enforceable

In November 2016, California voters passed Proposition 66 which sought to speed up the time between a death penalty conviction and sentence and the actual execution. Most notably, Prop. 66 imposed a mandatory five-year deadline for the California courts to finish a capital appeal. Almost immediately after passing, opponents filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the proposition, and specifically, that five-year deadline.

After reviewing the challenge, the California Supreme Court issued their ruling, in Briggs v. Brown, effectively striking down the five-year deadline (at least for the time being), while upholding other portions of the proposition.

Time Limit is Directive, Not Mandatory

As the Court noted, Prop. 66 did not provide for enforcement of the five-year deadline, and imposing such a deadline could be devastating upon the many state courts' calendars. It explained:

"Much depends on the funding made available by the Legislature. What cannot be permitted is the material impairment of judicial functions by any statute. The superior courts must be allowed to exercise their ultimate control or discretion over the order in which the cases pending before [them] should be considered."

In addition to the budget concerns, the Court left the door open as widely as possible when it came to the courts within the state controlling their own dockets. It further explained, referring to the five-year time limit, that:

"They may serve as benchmarks to guide courts, if meeting the limits is reasonably possible. What is reasonably possible, however, will depend on a variety of factors, both structural and case-specific."

Specifically, the Court concluded that:

"... the five-year review limit in section 190.6, subdivision (d) is directive only. Its provision that the courts "shall complete the state appeal and the initial state habeas corpus review in capital cases" within five years is properly construed as an exhortation to the parties and the courts to handle cases as expeditiously as is consistent with the fair and principled administration of justice."

Evidently, clearing the current backlog of cases -- if started now and were the near exclusive focus of the state's Supreme Court -- would take a full five years.

The Will of the People

While the Court refused to read any enforcement mechanism, penalty, or consequence for not meeting the five year deadline, it clearly recognized the will of the voters. As such, it explained that the Judicial Council's monitoring and review duties will be ongoing, and as more is learned about the process of capital appeals, the implementation of the new laws will be ongoing as well.

"The time limits reflect the voters' will, which we respect. However, they were presented to the voters by the proponents of Proposition 66 without the benefit of hearings or research exploring their feasibility or their impact on the rest of the courts' work. As the concurring opinion explains, these are issues of considerable complexity and difficulty. The implementation of Proposition 66 will necessarily be an ongoing process of exploration and adaptation. The Judicial Council is tasked with monitoring the review process established by the initiative. ( 190.6, subd. (d).) Its supervision will shed light on the achievability and efficacy of the measure's extensive reforms."

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Killed: Rebecca Johnson, 26, from Fife, was stabbed dozens of times

The boyfriend of a Scot who died after being stabbed up to 40 times at a Christmas resort in Lapland yesterday admitted killing her.

Czech ex-soldier Karel Frybl denies murdering Rebecca Johnson, who was found dead in northern Finland.

He claimed he had no memory of attacking the 26-year-old, from Burntisland, Fife, using a 4.5in knife, saying he must have been suffering a temporary breakdown.

Miss Johnson, who ran Santa-themed sled-dog tours for a tour operator, suffered ten fatal chest stab wounds and 30 further wounds on her head, neck, chest, abdomen, back, hands and right leg.

Lapland District Court in Rovaniemi was told the relationship had a history of verbal and physical abuse.

A WhatsApp message from Miss Johnsons sister read out in court urged her to report him to his boss and warned: He may end up killing you.

Court papers say the pair argued on the morning of the attack on December 3, after which 36-year-old Frybl went into the cabin where Rebecca Johnson was talking on the phone and, without warning, hit [her] several times with the knife. Frybl continued to hit Miss Johnson with the knife while she was on the floor.

The court later heard the transcript of a frantic 999 call by a colleague, Joe Pickles, who found Miss Johnson dying in the cabin in the village of Kuttanen and told officers she had been attacked by Radek, a pseudonym adopted by Frybl.

A terrified Mr Pickles said he was scared Frybl might come back, adding: I dont want to die.

Frybl was arrested following a manhunt involving snow scooters and a helicopter.

The lover: Czech ex-soldier Karel Frybl admits to killing his partner, as her family members reveal they had warned Miss Johnson that he might end up doing just that

Evidence: Miss Johnson's jacket is shows with arrows pointing to where a knife entered her body during the brutal attack in Finland last year

Evidence: Police found a bloodied knife in the snow during their investigation

The court heard he fled on a dog sled in temperatures of -30C before being captured suffering from hypothermia.

He had two stomach wounds, which prosecutors say were self-inflicted, though Frybls lawyer suggested he was stabbed by Miss Johnston after the row.

His lawyer said had served with the Czech army in Kosovo and Afghanistan, which may have left him with poor mental health. The pair had moved from Scotland where Frybl had been a butcher and slaughterhouse worker.

Relatives, including Miss Johnstones parents Anne and Henry, sister Victoria and brother Scott, were in court, wearing purple ribbons in her memory.

Fight: The couple had reportedly had an argument over the ownership of puppies

Undated handout photo issued by the Lapland Police Department of Finnish police at the time of their manhunt for the Czech soldier in December last year

They fought back tears as text messages recovered from Miss Johnsons phone were read out in court, allegedly detailing Miss Johnstons concerns about her abusive relationship with Frybl.

One said: He slapped me across the face. He smacked me at the back of my head that really hurts.

Another said: He threw a plate and table at me, also slapped me across the face.

After one text exchange, her sister, Victoria, texted back: You need to tell people at the hotel. He is a danger to you. He may end up killing you.

Prosecutors have called for Frybl to face life imprisonment if found guilty of murder, alleging that the killing was committed in a particularly brutal and cruel manner.

Frybl said he had planned to move out of their cottage on the morning of the attack but the couple argued again over the ownership of husky puppies.

Rebecca Johnson was stabbed to death in Finland, where she worked as a tour guide

Ms Johnson was found dead at a property in the village of Kuttanen, which straddles the border with Sweden, just weeks after moving to the region to work for a local tour company

He said matters escalated when she slapped him then he saw her on her phone. He told the court: She said on the phone, I want him removed from the farm.

He said they traded insults before he turned back to face her.

He said: I felt this impact on my chest and sharp pain. I fell to the ground the next thing I was getting up. I remembered this upward movement. I had a knife in my hand.

He added: I saw the knife in my hand I went to Becky I shook her shoulder and said, Becky... there was blood on her face.

Frybl said he fled with his dogs before collapsing in the snow. When he awoke, police were firing shots, killing one of his dogs.

Miss Johnsons family is claiming 40,000 (37,000) compensation from Frybl for lost income and mental anguish.

The trial continues.
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A series of stunning pictures reveal an abandoned airbase in the heart of Suffolk which has been left to rot for 24 years since it was abandoned by the United States Airforce after the Cold War.

The images show decaying and crumbling aircraft hangars on the site of RAF Woodbridge, a military airfield constructed in 1943 to assist damaged aircraft returning from raids over over Hitler's Germany.

The base - to the east of the eponymous riverside town - was later taken over by the United States Airforce during the Cold War with the legendary A-10 'Tank-Buster' bombers stationed there.

But its hangars are now gathering dust, paint peeling from the decaying walls with just a pair of pigeons calling them home.

The last of the A-10s departed Woodbridge 24 years ago in August 1993 and the airfield was closed as a US military facility.

The USAF returned control of Woodbridge to the UK Ministry of Defence and since 2006 it has been split up and the two parts officially renamed as Woodbridge Airfield and Rock Barracks, with a group of aviation experts going behind the scenes to reveal its secrets.

In November last year the Ministry of Defence announced that the site would close in 2027.

The USAF returned control of RAF Woodbridge - to the east of the eponymous riverside town - to the UK Ministry of Defence and since 2006 it has been split up and the two parts officially renamed as Woodbridge Airfield and Rock Barracks

The hangars are now in a state of disrepair, with paint peeling from the decaying walls with just a pair of pigeons calling them home at present. However, the airfield once served as a repair sight for damaged planes in the Second World War and by the USAF in the Cold War

Brightly coloured paintings of A-10's sending down bombs on Soviet tanks adorn the walls of the hangars which lie low against the skyline. RAF Woodbridge was offered to the United States Airforce in 1952, with President Harry Truman seeking to expand its military presence across America's western European allies as tensions with the Soviets increased

The airfield has been divided into two parts since the United States Airforce left, Woodbridge Airfield and Rock Barracks. The former is used by Army Air Corps for training and the latter are home to the 23 Engineer Regiment (Air Assault) of the Royal Engineers

Another painting on the wall, this time of the plane's targets rather than the aircraft themselves. The last of the A-10 planes - which could carry powerful bombs and had devastating guns - departed Woodbridge 24 years ago in August 1993 and the airfield was closed as a US military facility

Video footage also captured during a recent visit to the site shows bullet ridden windows, a reminder of the live firing exercises which have taken place during training drills down the years, despite no physical fighting taking place during the Cold War

The base's glory days are now long gone with large areas left to be reclaimed by nature. An old generator is pictured on the now-abandoned portion of the base. A sign behind highlights the dangers of having flames close to such delicate equipment

The interior of one of the bunkers on the now abandoned portion of the base is still filled with old crates and boxes from its days of service. The military airfield was constructed in 1943 to assist damaged aircraft returning from raids over over Hitler's Germany

Some of the hangars seen from the exterior. In November last year the Ministry of Defence announced that the site would close in 2027. Because it was designed for struggling planes to land on, the runways were built with extra-long runways - just like fellow repair sites RAF Manston in Kent and RAF Carnaby in Yorkshire

Some new residents, a pair of pidgeons have made their nest in a sink inside one of the buildings on the now abandoned portion of the base

RAF WOODBRIDGE DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR AND COLD WAR RAF Woodbridge was first constructed in 1943 to repair fighter planes that were returning from bombing raids on Hitler's Germany. Because it was designed for struggling planes to land on, the runways were built with extra-long runways - just like fellow repair sites RAF Manston in Kent and RAF Carnaby in Yorkshire. Following the end of the Second World War, tensions between America and the Soviet Union began to rise after the publication of the Truman Doctrine, a policy document pledging to aid all countries threatened by the USSR's expansion across eastern Europe and Asia. RAF Woodbridge was offered to the United States Airforce in 1952, with President Harry Truman seeking to expand its military presence across America's western European allies as tensions with the Soviets increased. The 79th Fighter-Bomber Squadron were the first from the US to use the airfield, taking to the skies on October 1 of that year. Woodbridge was operated as twin base with RAF Bentwaters, also in Suffolk, and as a single unit with Bentwaters under the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing. The first A-10 Thunderbolt was deployed from Woodbridge in 1979, which led to an expansion of the 81st TFW was expanded. For more than 50 years US planes were stationed in Suffolk, and USAF presence at Woodbridge was gradually phased down following the end of the Cold War and the disbanding of the USSR. The 81st TFW was officially inactivated on 1 July 1993. It has now been split into two sections, Woodbridge Airfield and Rock Barracks - the former is used for training exercises despite its dilapidated state and the latter is home to a Royal Engineers regiment. Woodbridge is also open to the public for track days for cars, but the Ministry of Defence announced in November the site would close in 2027. Advertisement

A trapdoor to a stairway on top of a building on the now-abandoned portion of the base, which leads down to a smashed-up washroom. The 79th Fighter-Bomber Squadron were the first from the US to use the airfield, taking to the skies on October 1 of that year

The view from the bottom of the same ladder shows this disused washroom inside the base. It typifies the extent to which the air base has been left to rot over the last 24 years, with several units now hanging precariously off the wall, a far cry from its busy past

One of the corridors inside RAF Woodbridge shows paintings on the walls of the differing appearances in Soviet military symbols by rank. Following the end of the Second World War, tensions between America and the Soviet Union began to rise after the publication of the Truman Doctrine

Cut-outs used for military training lie abandoned among of piles of hay and other rubbish on the floor of one of the Woodbridge hangars. The USAF operated out of RAF Woodbridge for almost half a century before eventually handing control back to the Ministry of Defence

A sign inside one of the buildings lists old contact details for air force officers who served at RAF Woodbridge during the Cold War, which began after the Second World War and lasted until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991
UK border police foiled more than 150 attempts by migrants to break into Britain from France on every day of 2016, new figures revealed today.

Officials blocked 56,000 attempts to illegally travel to Kent from ports on the French side of the Channel.

The figures cover attempts to break into Britain via the ports of Calais and Dunkirk as well as the Eurotunnel and Eurostar terminals.

UK border police foiled more than 150 attempts by migrants to break into Britain from France on every day of 2016, new figures revealed today (pictured are migrants approaching a UK lorry in Calais in March)

Officials blocked 56,000 attempts to illegally travel to Kent from ports on the French side of the Channel (pictured is a migrant climbing over a security fence in Calais earlier this month)

The figure is the second highest in seven years but is 25,000 lower than the peak in 2015.

Today's data emerged following a Freedom of Information request by the BBC.

Dover MP Charlie Elphicke told the broadcaster: 'It's shocking that migrants at Calais tried to break into Britain more than 50,000 times last year.

'These figures underline the true scale of the challenge we face - and why we need more investment at our border.

'This is why we worked so hard to get the Calais Jungle dismantled.'

Dover MP Charlie Elphicke said the figures were 'shocking' and illustrate the challenge of policing the border

A Home Office spokesman told the broadcaster the figures 'make absolutely clear that our approach to securing the UK's border is working', but said it was not complacent on the issue.

It added: 'We will continue to work closely with our French counterparts to maintain border security and keep legitimate passengers and trade moving.'

The information is reported in the same week that violent clashes took place in Calais, involving up to 200 migrants.

A number of police officers and migrants have been injured in the latest incidents, which have involved Afghans and Eritreans.

The violence prompted a warning from The Road Haulage Association that UK lorry drivers are being put at risk.

The industry body, which has a long-running campaign calling for the deployment of the French military in Calais, said some drivers chose to divert their vehicles via longer routes to avoid the area.

Some 7,000 migrants were cleared from a makeshift camp in the city last autumn.
A sperm donor in the Netherlands is the center of a fertility scandal after an investigation showed that he had fathered 102 children by donating at 11 different clinics.

An investigation into the man, who has not been publicly named, was launched after single mothers warned the authorities of a donor who gave his sperm at several clinics.

Sperm donors are supposed to sign contracts agreeing not to donate at different clinics, though the rule is not often checked or enforced.

By law, a sperm donor in the Netherlands is only allowed to sire 25 children to limit the chance that conceived children would later end up in a relationship not knowing they are half-siblings.

Authorities found that the man in question was able to donate at 11 different clinics and father 102 children An investigation into the man, who has not been publicly named, was launched after single mothers warned the authorities of a donor who gave his sperm at several clinics

Authorities found that the man in question was able to donate at 11 different clinics and father 102 children.

The Dutch Ministry of Public Health warned that oversight is lacking in fertility clinics, according to an analysis of the Artificial Insemination Data Foundation, which oversees the data of sperm donors.

The donor of the 102 children was tracked down and told a Dutch daily that his motive 'was not to have as many children as possible'.

He said: 'I just like to do it and to make people happy. It makes me feel helpful. The gratitude of doctors and prospective parents is great.'

The man said: 'Clinics are already happy if they have a donor who passes the screening.' He said that his sperm was 'often immediately used'.

Another man was also caught having donated his sperm to multiple clinics, but he had fathered only two children.

The Dutch association of gynaecologists (NVOG) called sperm clinics to immediately stop using the sperm of the two men.

It pleaded for a central sperm and egg donor registration 'to prevent such situations from happening'.

By law, a sperm donor in the Netherlands is only allowed to sire 25 children to limit the chance that conceived children would later end up in a relationship not knowing they are half-siblings

Both men even offered their sperm outside of clinics on the internet and through personal contacts as well.

The health care inspectorate has launched an official investigation into the matter.

Earlier this year, another scandal broke out around the head of a fertility clinic, with a DNA test proving that he illegally used his own sperm to father at least 19 children with unsuspecting women.

Controversial sperm doctor Jan Karbaat, who operated the MC Blijdorp fertility clinic in the town of Barendrecht, near Rotterdam, used his own sperm in 19 cases instead of the prescribed sperm donor.

Controversial sperm doctor Jan Karbaat, who operated the MC Blijdorp fertility clinic in the town of Barendrecht, near Rotterdam, used his own sperm in 19 cases instead of the prescribed sperm donor

Some mothers even reported that before the insemination, Karbaat walked to a room next door saying he would get 'fresh semen'.

Karbaat died in April this year at the age of 89 and had denied for years that he had used his own sperm in the fertility clinic that he had operated since the 1980s.

The sperm doctor always declined to cooperate with a DNA test. One of his children however did give a DNA sample to the databank.

'Fiom' DNA Databank director Ellen Giepmans said: 'But only after Karbaat passed away could his DNA could be used for research.'

The amount of matches could increase if more parents who had undergone treatment at Karbaat's fertility clinic and their children come forward for a test.

Local media suspect the amount of children fathered by Karbaat could be as high as 60.

For years, there had been strong suspicions that Karbaat had used his own sperm instead of anonymous sperm donors.

Joey Hoofdman's parents visited the fertility clinic for IVF treatment using the sperm of Hoofdman's father, who has dark, curly hair.

Yet now-30-year-old Joey, who is blond, was shocked when he saw a picture of Jan Karbaat in his younger years and could see a very close resemblance between himself and the sperm doctor.

The detailed results of his DNA test, as well as other individuals, were not made public for privacy reasons.

Ties van der Meer, who represents the affected children and families in a foundation called Donor Child said the reactions of the mothers and children are 'extremely varied'.

Van der Meer said: 'They are shocked, but there is at the same time happiness that there is clarity. It is a bittersweet aftertaste.'

For years Karbaat's clinic had a reputation of being among the best fertility clinics in the Netherlands, with thousands of women finding their way to Barendrecht.

Van der Meer said: 'Once Karbaat was seen as the best doctor in this field. Now he is exposed as a scandal doctor.

'The can of worms is now opening at last. And we have no clue where this will end. All sperm clinics in the Netherlands once bought sperm from MC Blijdorp.'
A judge ordered a man in court over drug possession to return for another trial after he smelled cannabis on him.

Serbuhan G, 22, was previously arrested after being caught with 14 bags of marijuana in Hanover, Germany.

But that did not stop him sneaking yet another batch of the banned substance into court in his sock.

A judge ordered a man in court over drug possession to return for another trial after he smelled cannabis on him (file photo)

Judge Koray Freudenberg smelled something strange in the air during the proceedings for the first offence, the Hannoversche Zeitung reported.

He asked the defendant if he was carrying drugs but the man denied it. It was then the judge ordered a police officer to search him.

The officer to search the suspect was the same one who found the 14 bags on him back in March.

Judge Freudenberg issued the man with issued a 1,600 fine for the first offence and ordered him to attend court again over the second.

Remarkably, the same judge smelled cannabis on a young man walking down a German street around a year ago - and asked a policeman to search him.

'I'm something of a serial offender,' the judge told the Hannoversche Zeitung.
A Republican student association in San Diego has been branded 'ignorant and pathetic' for sending an aggressive letter demanding Muslim students condemn last week's terror attacks in Barcelona.

The Republican Club at San Diego State University wrote to the Muslim Student Association, saying that the campus community could not move forward creating 'an inclusive environment for all students' until radical terrorism was 'disavowed'.

The letter said if no condemnation was forthcoming, leaders should resign.

The memo, posted on Facebook by the SDSU College Republicans and signed by their president, Brandon Jones, said acts of terrorism should be 'disavowed' by Muslim leaders on campus

The controversial letter was sent by a student Republican group at San Diego State University (pictured)

It was signed by the group's president, Brandon Jones, who wrote: 'We ask that the president of your organization condemn this morning's acts of Islamic terrorism in Spain and those acts similar in nature.

'If this request is not made, we ask that the president of the Muslim Student Association and any remaining Executive Officers not in compliance, resign immediately.'

In a post responding to the letter, the Muslim Student Association wrote: 'We have received numerous amounts of positive messages and comments regarding the distasteful letter that was sent to us.

'Your kind words and willingness to stand against injustice has showed our members and Muslim students from other universities around the country that we are not alone. Despite hundreds of attempts to stifle our voice and activism, the MSA continues to be a uniting force on campus.'

The Muslim Student Association posted a message on Facebook along with an image of students showing their support for the organization

The association branded the Republican letter 'distasteful' and vowed to continue being a uniting force on campus

The letter sparked intense debate after it was put on Facebook by the Republican student group.

One commentor wrote: 'You should be ashamed of yourselves for such a low tin pot strategy at straw-manning an entire religious group to denounce what is already known as extremist ideology.

'This publication once again suggests that the Muslim faith seems to sympathize with terrorism unless publicly stated otherwise.

'That is truly disturbing that you would put the face of your organization on a razor-edge. Poor leadership.'

Fifteen people were killed in two terror attacks in Spain on Thursday last week, with ISIS quickly claiming responsibility for the atrocities

But another wrote: 'Thank you for saying this. I lost my father in 9/11. The lefts inability and the hesitance of some in the moderate Muslim community to call out and help route out radicals, which is part of their duty, is truly terrifying.

'I know the cost of not standing up to radical Islamic terrorism.'

Jones told the San Diego Union Tribune he received a threatening text message after publishing the letter, which he said read: 'I hope you rot in hell. Were coming for you this week, you vile piece of a human being.

'Watch your back every step you take. SDSU campus will be the war zone against you and inhumane rats.'

And he said an email had called on him to resign and 'when convenient, kill yourself'.
A British tourist brought tears to a small town community when he recalled cradling fatally stabbed fellow Briton Mia Ayliffe-Chung in his arms at a backpackers' hostel last year.

Daniel Richards, from Clydach Vale, Wales, told the crowd in Home Hill, Queensland, that he would never be able to wipe the memories of the deaths of Ayliffe-Chung and another fatally-stabbed Briton, Tom Jackson.

He called it 'the most horrific crime imaginable' as he spoke at a memorial service for Ayliffe-Chung, 20, and Jackson, 30, on the year anniversary of their August 23, 2016, deaths.

Daniel Richards (left), from Clydach Vale, Wales, told the crowd in Home Hill, Queensland, that he would never be able to wipe the memories of the death of Mia Ayliffe-Chung (right). Ayliffe-Chung and fellow Briton Tom Jackson were stabbed to death in a a backpackers' hostel in Australia on August 23, 2016

Tom Jackson, 30, was also killed. When he tried to intervene and help Ayliffe-Chung, the knifeman turned and attacked him

Frenchman Smail Ayad, 29, was said to be obsessed with Ayliffe-Chung before allegedly killing her in a stabbing frenzy before turning the knife on Jackson, who tried to help her.

He has been charged with murdering the Britons and is being held in a mental health facility.

While their murders occurred a year ago, 'for me it happens every day,' Richards said at the memorial service.

Frenchman Smail Ayad, 29, was said to be obsessed with Ayliffe-Chung before allegedly killing her in a stabbing frenzy before turning the knife on Jackson

'The images and memories will never go away from that night for me,' he said. 'What I took from it is knowing Mia did not die alone in that bathroom.

'I held her chest, I talked to her, comforted her and, sadly, told her everything was going to be OK.'

Richards said that watching the events of that tragic night had 'changed a lot of people's lives' including his own.

'There is not a day goes by that I don't think of Mia, Tom and their families,' Sydney's Daily Telegraph reported him as telling the memorial service.

He asked the town not to forget what had happened to this 'stunning, vibrant fun-loving' young woman and the man who tried to protect her.

'Two amazing young people come to Australia for the experience of a lifetime - what people only dream of,' said Richards. 'Tom was viciously stabbed but put up the biggest fight imaginable.

'Two families were destroyed that frightful night and many more people were affected, including myself and all the backpackers who were there that night.

Richards called it 'the most horrific crime imaginable' as he spoke at a memorial service for Ayliffe-Chung (pictured), 20, and Jackson, 30, on the year anniversary of their August 23, 2016, deaths

Ayliffe-Chung's mother, who has visited Australia and retraced her daughter's steps, has been leading a campaign to improve conditions for young working backpackers - and prevent them being exploited

'I have good days and really bad days, but I'm alive and breathing and I'm so grateful to speak and see my amazing family.

'Unfortunately Rosie (Mia's mother) and Les and Sandra Jackson (Tom's parents) don't have that privilege. That pains me so much.'

The murdered pair were among hundreds of British backpackers around Australia trying to complete 88 days of regional work within their first year to obtain a visa to remain in the country for a further year.

Ayliffe-Chung's mother, who has visited Australia and retraced her daughter's steps, has been leading a campaign to improve conditions for young working backpackers - and prevent them being exploited.

In a blog post she wrote that what she had learned about the events leading up to Ayliffe-Chung's death had been harrowing - 'but that doesn't mean I feel vengeful, or bitter, or destructive.'

On Rosie's Facebook page, one writer, Atessa Kolanowska, noted: 'It's been a year since we lost Mia in most tragic circumstances. It's also been a year since Tom's family and friends had to face the tragedy of his heroic death.

'Fly high Mia. Fly high Tom.'
Jeremy Corbyn has vowed to block Theresa May's 'sweetheart' trade deal with Donald Trump.

The Labour leader said Britain should have a 'fair and just' trade policy and not one that allows cheap and low quality food to flood in.

Mr Corbyn also condemned the US President for his reaction to far-right rallies in Charlottesville which left a peaceful counter-protester dead.

He made his intervention while on a campaign stop to Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides. The visit is part of a tour he insists is preparation for the possibility of a snap second election in which he hopes to seize power.

Jeremy Corbyn (pictured today having a go at some building work at a housing estate in Glasgow) has vowed to block Theresa May's 'sweetheart' trade deal with Donald Trump

The Labour leader (who had a go with a drill while on a tour of a Glasgow housing association today) said Britain should have a 'fair and just' trade policy - not just one that allows cheap and low quality food to flood the British market

Mr Corbyn (pictured in Glasgow today) insisted were he to be Prime Minister he would have no hesitation in repeating his criticism directly to Mr Trump

At a rally during the visit, Mr Corbyn told supporters: 'We cannot leave the trade arrangements to Liam Fox and the Conservatives.

'What they are trying to do is a 'sweetheart deal' with the US, the equivalent to TTIP which will be damaging to labour standards in this country, will be damaging to environmental regulations and which will be damaging to the kind of society that we have.'

He added: 'We also want to make sure that the quality of food that we eat is of the highest standard and we won't allow Brexit to be used as a way of undercutting farmers and crofters and club Britain with cheap food of inferior quality produced in dangerous conditions in other parts of the world.'

Mr Corbyn used interviews to step up his criticism of the US President.

He insisted were he to be Prime Minister he would have no hesitation in repeating his criticism directly to Mr Trump.

Mr Corbyn also condemned the US President (pictured in Nevada yesterday) for his reaction to far-right rallies in Charlottesville which left a peaceful counter-protester dead

Theresa May (pictured in Teesside yesterday) has worked to build a close relationship with the controversial US President since his inauguration in January

The Labour leader told the Huffington Post: 'The rise of the KKK and Nazis has to be challenged wherever it is in the world and I'm alarmed that [Trump] is threatening to go ahead with building the wall against Mexico, which is a very odd way of conducting a relationship with one of your neighbours.

'Now I don't want to get involved in every aspect of what is happening in US politics internally but what I do say is that we want a trade relationship with the rest of the world that is fair and just.

'We don't want a sweetheart deal with Donald Trump that is going to look a lot like TTIP.'

Mr Corbyn said Britain should be a 'force for good in the world' and insisted he would use the nation's 'abilities and experience' to do 'a lot of those things'.
A picture of a mother breastfeeding her daughter while steering a tricycle with her son at the back has gone viral in China.

Although Ms Wang, 28, was stopped by police officers for violating traffic rules, people who saw the picture online have dubbed the mother 'a super woman' for her multi-tasking abilities.

The woman told local media that her husband was busy on that day, so she had to look after her two children alone while running errands.

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A mother was seen breastfeeding her daughter while steering a tricycle in central China

Ms Wang and her husband are migrant workers living in Xisaishan district, Huangshi of Hubei Province, according to Chutian Metropolis Daily, the local newspaper.

The couple apparently moved to the city about a year ago and started a business selling steamed buns.

The picture is said to be taken on August 19.

Ms Wang told the reporter that her husband was busy making steamed buns at home that day and had no time to take care of the children.

On the way to the clinic, Ms Wang's daughter was crying for food and she decided to breastfeed her while steering the wheel.

She was stopped by three traffic policemen.

Li Qiang, one of the on-duty police officers told Chutian Metropolis Daily that Ms Wang had violated the safety rules for carrying children while driving.

Ms Wang worried that her tricycle would get confiscated. She also worried that she might get a fine.

She explained her intention to the officers who were apparently touched by her motherhood. The officers gave Ms Wang an oral warning before offering the family a free ride to the clinic and back home.

She was stopped by police officers for breaking traffic regulations. The officers gave Ms Wang an oral warning before offering the family a free ride to the clinic and back home

Although Ms Wang had violated the traffic regulations, web users were apparently impressed by the mother's hardwork to raise her children.

One person, 'zhaodaziyuan', wrote: 'Being a mother is not easy, but she should be more careful when she is driving.'

Another web user said women can be strong and tough when they turn into a mother because 'it is an endless love'.

A third user, 'xingkongxiaoma', said: 'It's true that as soon as a woman gets married and has children, she immediately becomes a super woman.'

'Iiyouma_679' said while it was understandable that she would want to feed her child, the mother should 'be beware of road safety while driving'.
Political parties received a record-breaking 40million in donations in three months this year - with over half raked in by the Tories, new figures today reveal.

The Conservatives were given nearly 25m by supporters - nearly three times as much cash as Labour who lagged behind on 9.5m, the Electoral Commission said.

But despite their bumper election war chest Theresa May's election hopes ended with disaster with the party shedding 13 MPs and losing its overall majority in the Commons.

Mrs May hung on in Number 10 but only after she struck a deal with the DUP to get the backing of their 10 MPs in return for turning on the spending taps and pouring 1billion into Northern Ireland's coffers.

The 40.1m handed to political parties was 9.4 million more than the previous highest quarter on record during the 2015 General Election.

Theresa may, pictured at an election rally in Bradford on June 5, had the biggest war chest in the election with the Tories raising 25m in just three months

Jeremy Corbyn, pictured outside the polling station in his north London constituency of Islington on June 8, raised 9.5m in donations over the three months before the election. His big ticket donors were Britain's trade unions - with Len McCluskey's Unite giving the most cash

And it was 30m more than the cash donated in the first three months of the year as political parties raced to build up their bank balances after the snap election was called on April 18.

Electoral Commission director of political finance and regulation Bob Posner said: 'The snap General Election prompted political parties to raise record-breaking sums in the second quarter of 2017.

AMOUNT OF MONEY RECEIVED BY POLITICAL PARTIES Conservative and Unionist Party - 24,840,627 Labour Party - 9,492,519 Liberal Democrats - 4,358,410 Scottish National Party (SNP) - 596,000 Womens Equality Party - 282,931 Green Party - 176,363 UK Independence Party (UKIP) - 156,455 Co-operative Party - 150,980 British National Party - 100,000 The Socialist Party of Great Britain - 26,333 Plaid Cymru - 5,300 Advertisement

'The reporting and publication of this data is key to providing voters with transparency about how political parties financed their general election campaigns.'

Ukip - which failed to win single seat in the vote - saw the biggest drop in donations.

The party, which was boosted by a 1m donation from the millionaire insurance tycoon Arron Banks ahead of the 2015 election, received just 156,455.

The Lib Dems were out in third raising just under 4.4m during the three months, followed by the SNP on just under 600,000.

Both parties had a disappointing election campaign, with the SNP losing 21 seats - many to Ruth Davidson's Scottish Tories.

While the Lib Dems promise to hold a second Brexit referendum bombed on the doorstep and they only managed to snatch an extra four seats, bringing their total up to 12.

The Women's Equality Party on 282,931, the Greens got 176,363 while Welsh nationalists Plaid Cymru were given just 5,300 in donations.

The vast majority of Labour's cash came from Britain's trade unions, the figures reveal.

The biggest donor was Unite, run by Jeremy Corbyn's close ally Len McCluskey, which gave 4,165,935 to Labour.

Mr Corbyn's party also benefited from gifts of 1,253,711 from the GMB union, 1,039,794 from the Communication Workers Union, 922,586 from Unison, and 411,340 from Usdaw.

Tim Farron, Lib Dem leader during the election and pictured on the campaign trail getting into a hovercraft at Burnham-on-Sea, raised 4.4m in the three months before the elction

The Conservatives' largest donor was construction vehicle manufacturer JCB, which gave 1.5 million.

Mark Bamford, the brother of JCB's chairman Lord Bamford, also gave 750,000.

Former Tory treasurer Lord Ashcroft contributed 500,000 to the election war-chest - his first donation to the party since a gift from his Bearwood company in 2011.

Hedge fund manager John Armitage gave Mrs May's party 1.1 million and Addison Lee founder John Griffin 1.033 million - the largest gifts yet given by the two long-standing Tory donors.

John Gore, the theatre producer behind The Book Of Mormon and Phantom Of The Opera, gave the Tories 1 million, entrepreneur David Brownlow gave 600,000.

The Liberal Democrats' largest single donor in the three-month period was entrepreneur Andrew Dixon, who gave the party 305,100.
Congressional investigators looking into connections between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. elections have found an email from a senior Trump aide that references "a previously unreported effort to arrange a meeting last year between Trump campaign officials and Russian President Vladimir Putin," CNN reports.

The aide who reportedly sent the email was Rick Dearborn, who is now President Trump's Deputy Chief of Staff.

Dearborn's name hasn't come up before in relation to the Russia investigations.

He was also formerly Jeff Sessions' former chief of staff, and was a top policy aide on Trump's campaign.

The email happened around June 2016, around the time of the now infamous Don Jr. meeting with so many Russians we can't seem to remember them all.

Investigators now want to know if Dearborn may have helped arrange two meetings we know took place between the then-Russia ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak, and then-senator Sessions, who is now Trump's Attorney General.

From CNN:

The aide, Rick Dearborn, who is now President Donald Trump's deputy chief of staff, sent a brief email to campaign officials last year relaying information about an individual who was seeking to connect top Trump officials with Putin, the sources said.

The person was only identified in the email as being from "WV," which one source said was a reference to West Virginia. It's unclear who the individual is, what he or she was seeking, or whether Dearborn even acted on the request. One source said that the individual was believed to have had political connections in West Virginia, but details about the request and who initiated it remain vague. Sources said the email occurred in June 2016 around the time of the recently revealed Trump Tower meeting where Russians with Kremlin ties met with the president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., his son-in-law Jared Kushner as well as then-campaign chairman, Paul Manafort. While many details around the Dearborn email are unclear, its existence suggests the Russians may have been looking for another entry point into the Trump campaign to see if there were any willing partners as part of their effort to discredit  and ultimately defeat  Hillary Clinton.

Oh, but wait, there's more:

And Dearborn wasn't the only person within the Trump campaign emailing about potential Russia meetings. Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos sent an email to top campaign officials in March 2016 about arranging meetings with Russians, sources said. The subject line was "Meeting with Russian Leadership  Including Putin," according to the source.

NEW: Dearborn helped plan Mayflower event that KISLYAK attended. Investigators want to know if he also arranged Sessions-Kislyak meetings. pic.twitter.com/WPPoYuzsRA  Marshall Cohen (@Marshall_Cohen) August 23, 2017
Australia's former human rights commissioner Gillian Triggs says Sharia law should be allowed in Australia.

The former law professor likened the Islamic legal system to Catholic diktats from the Vatican.

'There are various ways in which religious law affects the private lives of people,' she told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday night, after sharing a stage with Iranian-born Labor senator Sam Dastyari.

'The views of the Vatican affect the lives of Catholics in this country.'

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Former human rights commissioner Gillian Triggs (right) does a book launch for Labor senator Sam Dastyari (left)

Professor Triggs also said Sharia divorce courts should be allowed in Australia, under a system where a Muslim man can leave his wife by saying 'I divorce you' three times and a woman's word is worth less than a man's.

'If it's a matter of private law within the Muslim community and they want to manage their affairs in that way, and they believe in those rules, that's reasonably acceptable,' she said.

Professor Triggs' likening of Sharia law, which secular Muslims reject, to Catholic canon law comes a month after controversial Muslim psychologist Hanan Dover made exactly the same argument.

'Australia's liberal democracy prides itself being accommodating to different codes of law for different groups: halacha law for Jews, canon law for Catholics, tribal law for the Aboriginal communities, Islamic law for Muslims,' Ms Dover said on Facebook in July.

'These are where the double standards we have to face from politicians/media commentators and bigots.'

Like Gillian Triggs, Muslim psychologist Hanan Dover has also compared Sharia law to Catholic canon law from the Vatican

Gillian Triggs shared a stage with Labor senator Sam Dastyari to discuss his new book

On Thursday night, Professor Triggs was on stage at the University of Sydney interviewing her former university student Senator Dastyari about his book, One Halal of a Story.

Later, she told Daily Mail Australia that One Nation leader Pauline Hanson's policy of banning the burqa could be unconstitutional and would be likely to fail in the High Court.

'It could be. It's going to be a matter for the High Court. Wearing an external representation of your religious faith is something that we respect in Australia,' she said.

Professor Triggs also slammed Senator Hanson for wearing a burqa into parliament last week.

'It was obviously a stunt. It was one which demeans the Muslim people and it demeaned those women who choose to wear a burqa,' she said.

'It was a disgraceful performance but she's made her point.'

Gillian Triggs described Pauline Hanson's burqa-wearing stunt as a 'disgraceful performance'

Iranian-born non-practising Muslim senator Sam Dastyari also hit out at Pauline Hanson

Sam Dastyari said Pauline Hanson's burqa stunt attacked the meaning of being an Australian

Senator Dastyari, a non-practising Muslim who doesn't believe in Allah or God, said Pauline Hanson's burqa stunt was an attack on multiculturalism and 'what it means to be Australian'.

The Labor powerbroker also had a go at Australians who campaigned against mosques and halal certification.

'It's all about the code words at the moment. It's not acceptable to turn around and say, 'I don't like Muslims',' he said.

'So they say, "I don't like halal certification". People don't feel comfortable saying, "I don't want a mosque in my community because I won't want Muslims moving here", they say, "The problem with the mosque is the parking".'
The top US general in Afghanistan is vowing to annihilate the Islamic State group affiliate in the country, crush remnants of al-Qaeda and urge the Taliban to pursue diplomacy, telling them they cannot win on the battlefield.

General John Nicholson, in a tough-talking address to reporters in the Afghan capital Kabul, said Thursday that additional troops will further train Afghan troops. He also promised more air support and praised Afghan commandos and special forces as undefeatable.

General John Nicholson said: 'The Taliban cannot win on the battlefield, it's time for them to join the peace process. We will not fail in Afghanistan, our national security depends on that as well.'

He told reporters that President Donald Trump's announced policy for Afghanistan and South Asia was proof of the commitment of the international community as well as its determination to see a stable and peaceful Afghanistan.

Critics, including Trump himself during the 2016 campaign for the US presidency, have argued that Afghanistan is no closer to peace despite billions of dollars spent on aid and nearly 16 years of US and allied military operations.

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General John Nicholson, pictured, had previously called on Congress to increase the number of troops under his command in Afghanistan to deal with the threat of jihadis

Protesters from the Pakistan protested against the deployment of more troops to the region

There are currently 8,400 US troops in Afghanistan, down from around 100,000 at their peak

In February, Nicholson told the US Congress he needed 'a few thousand' more troops in Afghanistan, mostly to help advise Afghan security forces that are battling Taliban, ISIS and other Islamist insurgents.

Trump has now approved an extended American presence in Afghanistan, although neither he nor his military leaders have provided any specifics about troop numbers or timelines.

The current US force for the predominantly advise-and-assist mission in Afghanistan stands at around 8,400, well down from around 100,000 during the 'surge' decided on by Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama.

Several thousand more troops are often in the country on 'temporary' or other uncounted missions.

Nicholson said new advisers from the United States and NATO coalition allies would increase the training missions, including at specialized military schools and expanding the Afghan air force and special forces.

Nicholson called on the Taliban to enter peace talks or face wipe out on the battlefield

US generals want to stop the Taliban to from inviting Al Qaeda and ISIS into the country

He also praised Trump's decision not to impose 'arbitrary' deadlines on the American mission in Afghanistan.

'This policy announcement ... is proof of our continued commitment,' he said.

The Taliban government was overthrown by US-backed Afghan forces in late 2001 but US forces have been bogged down there ever since.

About 2,400 US troops have been killed in Afghanistan.

US military and intelligence officials are concerned that a new Taliban victory would allow al Qaeda and the ISIS regional affiliate to establish bases in Afghanistan.

That could allow them to plot attacks against the United States and its allies, they fear, just as Osama bin Laden had done with the Sept. 11, 2001, strikes that triggered the war in Afghanistan.
President Donald Trump remains 'very committed' to achieving Israeli-Palestinian peace, his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the start of talks on Thursday.

But there was little to suggest any breakthrough or significant progress towards ending a decades-old conflict is imminent as Kushner began a day of separate meetings with Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Palestinians were still seeking a pledge of support from the Trump administration for the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel - the foundation of U.S. Middle East policy for the past two decades. The last round of peace talks between the two sides collapsed in 2014.

For his part, Netanyahu faces pressure from right-wing coalition partners not to give ground on Jewish settlement building in occupied territory that Palestinians seek for a independent state. The settlement issue contributed to the breakdown of negotiations three years ago.

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President Donald Trump remains 'very committed' to achieving Israeli-Palestinian peace, his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the start of talks on Thursday

Kushner, center left, the Deputy National Security Advisor Dina Powell, center right, the President's Special Representative Jason Greenblatt, second from left, and U.S. Ambassador David M. Friedman, second from right, met today with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv

'We have things to talk about - how to advance peace, stability and security in our region, prosperity too. And I think that all of them are within our reach,' Netanyahu, welcoming Kushner to his Tel Aviv office, said in a video clip released by the U.S. Embassy

'We have things to talk about - how to advance peace, stability and security in our region, prosperity too. And I think that all of them are within our reach,' Netanyahu, welcoming Kushner to his Tel Aviv office, said in a video clip released by the U.S. Embassy.

Kushner, a 36-year-old real estate developer with little experience of international diplomacy or political negotiation, arrived in Israel with U.S. Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt on Wednesday after meeting Arab leaders in the Gulf, Egypt and Jordan.

'The president is very committed to achieving a solution here that will be able to bring prosperity and peace to all people in this area,' Kushner, who was tasked by Trump to help broker a peace deal, said in his response to Netanyahu.

Trump has described peace between Israelis and Palestinians as 'the ultimate deal' - and added a new wrinkle last February by saying he was not fixed on two states co-existing side by side as a solution to their dispute.

In the West Bank, Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Abbas, said Kushner's visit - he last travelled to Israel and the Palestinian territories in June - could prove significant, particularly because of the envoy's consultations with regional allies this week.

'This may create a new chance to reach a settlement based on the two-state solution and the Arab initiative and stop the current deterioration of the peace process.'

Kushner and Netanyahu are seen together in Jerusalem in June during the last round of talks

Netanyahu faces pressure from right-wing coalition partners not to give ground on Jewish settlement building in occupied territory that Palestinians seek for a independent state. The settlement issue contributed to the breakdown of negotiations three years ago

Abu Rdainah was referring to a 2002 Arab League initiative that offers Israel diplomatic recognition from Arab countries in return for a statehood deal with the Palestinians and a full Israeli withdrawal from territory captured in a 1967 war.

Netanyahu has expressed tentative support for parts of the blueprint, but there are many caveats on the Israeli side, including how to resolve the complex Palestinian refugee issue.

Painting a pessimistic picture, Mahmoud al-Aloul, the second-ranking official in Abbas' Fatah movement, accused U.S. negotiators of focusing in their talks with the president on 'Israeli lies' about Palestinian incitement to violence and ignoring what he described as fundamental statehood issues.

'I do not think the American envoys are coming carrying anything - nothing at all,' he told reporters.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (C), US presidential adviser Jared Kushner (L), and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry pose for a picture at the Egyptian Presidential Palace in Cairo, Egypt Wednesday. A day earlier news reports stated that the US withheld 96 million US dollars from its military aid to Egypt

Kushner met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday in Cairo after the United States decided to withhold millions of dollars in aid from the country over human rights concerns.

Two U.S. sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday that Washington had decided to deny Egypt $95.7 million in aid and to delay a further $195 million because it had failed to make progress in that issue area and democracy.

Kushner's visit, part of a wider Middle East trip, had been scheduled before the U.S. aid decision was announced and had been billed as an opportunity for discussing the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.

The president's son-in-law met Sisi with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry present, Sisi's office said in a statement, responding to previous reports that Shoukry had canceled a meeting with Kushner over the blow.

He later had a separate meeting with Shoukry, the foreign ministry said.

Neither the presidency nor the foreign ministry mentioned the aid issue in statements released after the meetings, though the foreign ministry had earlier criticized the decision, saying it would have an impact on achieving common goals.
A man's sign that tells panhandlers to 'get a job' has incited violence along a busy street in Nebraska as one person sprayed him with mace and another threatened him with a knife.

Charles Logan stands defiantly as he holds his sign along 72nd Street, across from a few panhandlers, in Omaha.

'If you need money, get a job and go to work! Get a job!' his sign reads.

The 66-year-old said he is in protest of panhandlers like Charles Smith and Aaron Hansen, who stand just 50 feet away from him holding their own signs, WOWT reported.

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Charles Logan, 66, holds a sign that tells panhandlers to 'get a job'. His protest has incited violence along a busy Nebraska street. Logan said he's even been threatened with a knife

The 66-year-old said he is in protest of panhandlers like Charles Smith (pictured) and Aaron Hansen, who stand just 50 feet away from him holding their own signs. Smith said Logan isn't understanding of peoples' struggles

Aaron Hansen said he struggles with drug addiction and he just got out of jail

'He has a sign that says, get a job, but he doesn't know people's struggles,' Smith told KETV.

Smith is a single father who is facing eviction from his home unless he can come up with rent money before his disability check arrives in the mail.

Hansen told the station that he struggles with drug addiction and he just got out of jail.

'I'm a college graduate. I was raised by very respectable parents. I'm a decent person. It's just a temporary thing until I get back on my feet,' Hansen said through tears.

Though Hansen and Smith have not gotten into any altercations with Logan, his protest of panhandlers has angered folks to the point of violence.

One man approached Logan, cursing, threatening and yelling a racial slur at him, Logan told the Omaha World-Herald.

'I said "I don't believe that you need to be out here, and I have a right to hold my sign just like you have a right to hold yours,"' Logan said.

The man then threw a cup of liquid at him, Logan said.

Despite Logan being sprayed with mace and threatened with a knife, he said he will not stop protesting any time soon

Smith (pictured) is a single father who is facing eviction from his home unless he can come up with rent money before his disability check arrives in the mail

'I'm a college graduate. I was raised by very respectable parents. I'm a decent person. It's just a temporary thing until i get back on my feet,' Hansen (pictured) said through tears

Officers were called to break up the disturbance, but when they arrived the panhandler denied making threats and told police that he tripped, spilling his drink on Logan's sign.

Logan, who said he was motivated to hold the sign after he saw his son asking for money on the street, believes that panhandlers are playing a 'game' just to get money.

He said he's noticed panhandlers gather in groups to pass around signs that say 'veteran' or 'homeless' to earn more.

'I can't make them get off the corner, but I can sure embarrass them with my sign,' said Logan.

And there are some supporters, according to Logan who said his sign garners several honks.

'They agree with it,' he said. 'They blow their horns and they support it because they know it's wrong and I know it's wrong.'

Despite Logan being sprayed with mace and threatened with a knife, he said he will not stop protesting any time soon.
President Donald Trump begins to focus his energies Thursday on avoiding a calamitous government shutdown as he huddles with his budget director amid tense relations with Congress.

Trump and budget director Mick Mulvaney meet Thursday afternoon, just days after Trump issued his own threat to shut the government down if necessary to secure funding for a wall on the southern border.

His comments drew a rebuke Wednesday from House Speaker Paul Ryan.

'So I dont think anyone is interested in having a shutdown, Ryan said at a tax forum. I dont think its in our interest to do so,' he said.

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President Donald Trump is back in D.C. after a trip out west, with budget deadlines a little more than a month away

Matters are further complicated by Trump's running feud with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The White House said Wednesday that prescheduled meetings between then would occur, but didn't give a time or date, following a series of attacks on McConnell and GOP senators by the president following the failure to pass an Obamacare repeal.

The government reaches its statutory debt limit on Sept. 29th, and runs out of money at the end of September.

'We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we are committed to advancing our shared agenda together, and anyone who suggests otherwise is clearly not part of the conversation,' said McConnell in his own statement, which unlike the one from the White House did not mention a border wall as a priority.

Investment firm Goldman Sachs in guidance to investors handicaps the chance of a shutdown at 50-50, Axios reported.

President Donald Trump waves as he steps out from Air Force One in Reno, Nevada, U.S., August 23, 2017

House Speaker Paul Ryan speaks during his visit to Intel in Hillsboro, Ore., Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017. Ryan used his visit to the technology giant to talk about tax reform

President Donald Trump greets Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., left, as House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., right, takes his seat during a meeting with House and Senate Leadership in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC on Tuesday, June 06, 2017

A top GOP source put the chances even higher  75 per cent. "The peculiar part is that almost everyone I talk to on the Hill agrees that it is more likely than not,' the source told the outlet.

Centrist Republicans continue to chafe at the president's tactics. 'Its entirely counterproductive for the president to be picking fights with Republican senators who he will need for important agenda items that they both agree on, Pennsylvania GOP Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) told the Washington Post.

Does he think that Democratic senators will be more cooperative than [Sens.]John McCain and Jeff Flake and Susan Collins? It doesnt seem to make any sense,' he said.
A disgraced cop has been dismissed from the Metropolitan Police after spitting at a member of the public in a vile road rage rant.

PC David Gray argued with another driver while trying to pass a bus on June 24 last year.

The former Flying Squad cop spat at the other driver during the argument in Twickenham, west London.

Former police officer David Gray was convicted at Westminster Magistrates Court after spitting on someone during a road rage incident

Gray was convicted on April 7 at Westminster Magistrates' Court of criminal damage and assault.

Following his conviction, the Metropolitan Police held a special case hearing.

They set out to find whether his conduct amounted to a breach of standards of professional behaviour, in respect of discreditable conduct and respect and courtesy.

Assistant commissioner Pat Gallan, who chaired the hearing, determined there was a breach last Thursday.

Gray, was based in Wandsworth, was ordered to pay a total of 2,520 in fines and costs.

AC Gallan said: 'The nature of PC Gray's criminal conviction is such that it undermines the confidence the public has a right to demand of its police service to be treated with authority, respect and courtesy which is critical to policing London effectively.

'PC Gray's conduct on the day was so discreditable that it has resulted in a criminal conviction. In addition the public at large has the right to demand the highest standards of its police service.'

PC Gray was dismissed without notice.
A Spanish High Court judge has today ordered the conditional release of a suspect in last week's terror attacks which claimed 15 lives.

Internet cafe owner Salh El Karib was one of four suspects arrested in the aftermath of the atrocities in Barcelona and Cambrils. He is the second to be released.

El Karib ran an internet cafe in the northeastern Spanish town of Ripoll, where most of the alleged members of the 12-strong cell lived.

Investigating judge Fernando Andreu had originally asked for him to remain in police custody pending further investigation of his possible role in the attacks.

Salh El Karib, is to be freed on certain conditions, according to a court source

Mohamed Aallaa, 27, has also been released after being arresed in the aftermath of last week's attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils

El Karib will have to hand over his passport and check into court every week.

The judge decided that there was not enough evidence to keep El Karib in custody, a court source told AFP.

Another man arrested over the attacks, Mohamed Aalla, was also released on certain conditions earlier this week while two others were remanded on charges of membership of a terrorist group and murder.

Mohammed Houli Chemlal, 21, Driss Oukabir, 28, El Karib, and Aallaa were all detained last week over their alleged role in the attacks.

Arrested: Driss Oukabir, left, and Mohamed Houli Chemlal are taken to the Audiencia Nacional court in Madrid for the first hearing on Tuesday

'Bomb factory': Abdelbaky Es Satty died in an accidental blast at this suspected bomb-making factory hours before the attacks were launched

Yesterday, Houli Chemlal told a judge that the group was planning an attack involving explosives at monuments around the city, including the Sagrada Familia church.

But the attack had to be scaled back after an explosion at a suspected bomb factory on Wednesday wounded Chemlal and killed imam and alleged mastermind Abdelbaky Es Satty, the court heard.

Later on Wednesday, police revealed that overnight raids had resulted in the discovery of a suicide vests with live explosives at the bomb factory.

Josep Lluis Trapero, head of police in Catalonia, said 120 gas canisters and traces of TATP components - a homemade explosive that is a hallmark of the Islamic State group that claimed the attacks - had been found at the house.

After a full day court hearing, Chemlal and Oukabir were remanded in custody and charged with terror-related offences.

Aallaa who owns the car used in the Cambrils attack, was granted conditional release, with the judge saying evidence against him was weak.
Reality star Jeremy McConnell has been caught posing with a mysterious white packet just days after telling a judge he was clean from drugs.

McConnell, 27, was filmed swaggering towards a camera and laughing as he held the packet, in a video shared on a friend's Snapchat account.

The clip, which had the caption 'Doesn't give a f***', was captured during a booze-fuelled night out.

McConnell poses with a mysterious packet during a friend's Snapchat story, which was labelled 'Doesn't give a f***'

During the short post the shamed Irish model shows off the wrap to his pal and erupts into laughter when he calls him a 'nutter', the Mirror reports.

Earlier this month, the former Celebrity Big Brother contestant was handed a suspended sentenced after being convicted of assaulting his ex-partner Stephanie Davis in her home.

A judge said McConnell had shown no remorse for the attack or the impact it must have had on the couple's eight-month-old son, Caben Albi.

However, she refused to impose an immediate jail term after hearing McConnell had no previous convictions.

He was slapped with a restraining order, preventing him from contacting his ex for three years, meaning he will have to make special arrangements to see his son.

During the trial McConnell told the judge he was battling drug addiction but promised to go to rehab in an effort to become clean.

Earlier this month, McConnell (left) was handed a suspended sentenced after being convicted of assaulting his ex-partner Stephanie Davis in her home (right, the couple with their son)

In a letter read out to the court it was claimed he'd been having treatment at a clinic in his native Ireland, for those struggling with heavy drug use.

He had completed 21 days for 'chemical dependency' in April and was now "clean from cocaine use", his lawyers claimed.

A spokesman from McConnell denied the packet contained cocaine.

He said: 'Jeremy has assured me that it is not drugs. I'm not sure why The Mirror is saying it is a packet of white powder, as the video is to blurry to see what the packet is.'
A vigilante Facebook group fought for months to expose the truth that missing boy William Tyrrell was in foster care, despite the Government's attempts to silence them.

Walking Warriors 4 Missing Children wanted to reveal that three-year-old William was a foster child when he disappeared from his foster grandmother's home on the New South Wales mid-north coast on September 12, 2014.

The Government tried to silence the group to hide the fact he was the responsibility of the Minister for Family and Community Services when he went missing.

But a judge ruled that the truth about the little boy's foster care could be reported after admitting that it was probable that he had died.

William Tyrrell, 3, was a foster child at the time of his disappearance from his foster grandmother's home on the New South Wales mid-north coast

William's status as a foster child has been a closely guarded secret of the courts and police since his disappearance nearly three years ago.

The Department argued the information would have a 'stigmatising effect' on William and would negatively impact his foster family if it was released.

They tried to have certain posts removed from the Facebook page, which was co-run by Allanna Pearl Smith, who described herself as an advocate for children's rights and interests.

Justice J Brereton ruled against the Department of Family and Community Services and said releasing the information would have no negative effect on the case.

'I am quite unpersuaded that it would hinder it it does not explain why it was decided at the outset not to reveal (William's) status, nor why it was decided to allow the carers to be represented as (William's) parents,' Justice Brereton said.

Justice Brereton said his decision was influenced by 'the tragic probability that (William) is no longer alive'.

At one court appearance attended by Daily Mail Australia earlier this year, the group didn't even have a barrister in attendance, telling the judge they were consulting with the Law Society to find a representative.

A supporter of the group told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday night: 'No words, this is bloody brilliant... bloody fantastic for kids in care.

'William needs to come home and we will never give up. Allanna Smith led the way and she won'.

Daily Mail Australia understands the mysterious Ms Smith is a child protection advocate who does not have a law degree. She worked with a barrister in the Court of Appeal case.

Court of Appeal documents say because William was under the care of the NSW Minister for Family and Community Services, as a foster child, the information could be released because it was of 'legitimate public interest'

The Walking Warriors Australia page she is associated with advocates for a coronial inquest into William's disappearance.

It has more than 11,000 fans and is not officially linked to the boy's family, which has supported its own campaign to try and find him.

Ms Smith, from Barmedman in the state's west, was the Facebook page's representative to the court. The group is not a legally incorporated entity and does not have an individual owner.

After the court decision was announced, the group said it hoped 'transparency (will) lead William home'.

The Department of Family and Community Services will have to pay Ms Smith's costs, the court ruled.

There is no suggestion William Tyrrell's biological or foster family had anything to do with his abduction

William's status as a foster child has been a closely guarded secret of the courts and police since his disappearance nearly three years ago

William went missing while playing in the front yard of his foster grandmother's home at 10.30am.

There is no suggestion William Tyrrell's biological or foster family had anything to do with his abduction.

Police, helicopters and up to 200 volunteers helped search for William in the days following his disappearance.

Kendall State Forest, which is located directly across the road from his foster grandmother's house, was searched extensively.

A $1 million reward is being offered for any information that leads to the discovery of the young boy

Descriptions of one of the cars that was parked outside William's grandmother's home

William Spedding was questioned as a person of interest in the case after it was revealed he gave a quote to the little boy's foster grandmother days before his disappearance.

A Spider-Man toy was reportedly found in the back of Spedding's repairman van. Police refused to confirm these claims.

Police searched his home but found nothing tying him to the abduction. Spedding is facing historic child sex abuse charges in Victoria.

Detectives also questioned Kim Loweke, who is best friends with William's grandmother Natalie Collins, over her whereabouts on the day the three-year-old went missing.

According to A Current Affair, police became interested when the two women applied to the Department of Housing for a three-bedroom home in western Sydney.

William Spedding was questioned as a person of interest in the case after it was revealed he gave a quote to William Tyrrell's foster grandmother days before his disappearance

Detectives also questioned Kim Loweke (pictured), who is best friends with William's grandmother Natalie Collins, over her whereabouts on the day the three-year-old went missing

Ms Loweke also has personal links with Tony Jones (pictured) and Spedding - two accused paedophiles that were both named as persons of interest in the case.

Ms Loweke also has personal links with Tony Jones and Spedding - two accused paedophiles that were both named as persons of interest in the case.

Ms Loweke admitted that the set of coincidences were strange, but denied having anything to do with William Tyrrell's disappearance.

'I was thinking about how the situation is so weird, it is weird. I can't work it out, me minds going a hundred miles an hour going what's going on,' she told ACA.

'I don't know why my name's come up in the situation I seriously don't know,' she said, trailing off with laughter.

Ms Collins said it was 'disgusting' that police had questioned her best friend and cast doubt over the pair's intentions with requesting a new home

Ms Collins said it was 'disgusting' that police had questioned her best friend and cast doubt over the pair's intentions with requesting a new home.

'That's just disgusting, I'm sorry, because like I wouldn't hide him. Like Kim said it would be good if we could find him, we would hand him over anyway,' she said.

A $1 million reward is being offered for any information that leads to the discovery of the young boy.

His story was brought back into national attention after convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby was pictured with the infamous image of William in his Spiderman costume on the front of her handbag as she was flying home to Australia

Corby left her Bali villa brandishing the bag featuring the image of William, a stunt that surprised his family

His story was brought back into national attention after convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby was pictured with the infamous image of William in his Spider-Man costume on the front of her handbag as she was flying home to Australia.

Corby left her Bali villa brandishing the bag featuring the image of William, a stunt that surprised his family.

'While the Where's William Campaign appreciates that Schapelle Corby has shown concern regarding little William's disappearance...we are not happy,' the family posted on the Facebook page spreading awareness on his story.

'William's family and the campaign have absolutely no association with Corby, her supporters or her family.

'We had no prior knowledge of Schapelle's intention to use William's image in this way.'

Anyone who may be able to help investigations and has information on William's whereabouts is being urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
A fake Syrian refugee jailed for 26 years today for murdering a carer in Hyde Park was bailed at least six times in two years including on the day of the killing, it was revealed today.

Homeless Hani Khalaf, 22, was sent back into the community time and again because of a failure to deport him and Jairo Medina paid for it 'with his life', Judge Wendy Joseph QC said today.

The career criminal survived on the streets of Britain by stealing food and clothes after arriving in the back of a lorry posing as a Syrian asylum seeker.

He was even bailed for shoplifting hours before he kicked, punched and stamped 62-year-old gay man Mr Medina to death near Speakers' Corner on the evening of August 11 last year.

He pocketed the carer's cash and stole his mobile phone, which he tried to sell on hours later.

Following a retrial, the Egyptian national was found guilty of murder and he was jailed for life with a minimum of 26 years.

Homeless Hani Khalaf, 22, kicked, punched and stamped 62-year-old gay man Jairo Medina to death near Speakers' Corner on the evening of August 11 last year

Judge Wendy Joseph QC today rammed home the missed chances to deport Khalaf.

She said: 'It is clear that Hani Khalaf, having absconded, came to the attention of authorities on at least six occasions.

'On each, he was re-bailed because they could not make arrangements for securing his deportation in a reasonable amount of time.'

The result was that Khalaf, with no way of 'lawfully maintaining himself', was sent out in the community again and again and told to report to authorities, which he never did.

Judge Joseph said he showed 'no respect for the law' and became a danger to himself and others, adding: 'The extent of that danger is one Mr Medina paid for with his life.'

STRING OF CHANCES TO STOP KILLER August 2014: Hani Khalaf arrives in Kent after stowing away in a lorry. He tells immigration officials he is Ali Nagieb Abu Mahir, aged 18 and from Syria, as he claims asylum.

Over the next two years he is arrested at least six times for petty offences as he sleeps rough in a park and steals sandwiches to survive. August 10, 2016: Arrested for shoplifting at Superdry in Londons Regent Street, he gives police the same false name he has given immigration officials and is released on bail by magistrates.

August 11, 2016: Khalaf murders Jairo Medina in Hyde Park before trying to sell his mobile phone and gambling his cash away.

August 16, 2016: Khalaf is arrested for fare evasion and released.

August 18, 2016: He is arrested for shoplifting and taken to a police station where an officer recognises him from CCTV of a suspect. DNA confirms he is the killer. Advertisement

The court heard Khalaf is likely to be deported to serve his sentence in Egypt once he is no longer a category A prisoner.

The trial heard he arrived in Kent in the back of a lorry in August 2014 and survived by stealing sandwiches from Tesco and sleeping rough in a park.

The day before he met Mr Medina, he was arrested for shoplifting at the Superdry clothes shop in Regent Street and gave police the false name he had previously given to immigration officials.

He appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court and was bailed hours before the killing.

On August 11, Khalaf met Mr Medina in Hyde Park, where the victim had gone hoping to have sex with a younger man, the court heard.

Mr Medina's body was discovered early the next day by a groundsman on his way to work.

Giving evidence through an Egyptian translator, Khalaf admitted being with Mr Medina before and after the attack, but claimed he was buying food at a convenience store at the time of the killing.

Afterwards, he tried to sell his victim's mobile phone and gambled away some of his cash in a bookmakers, jurors heard.

He was arrested on August 16 for fare evasion and told police he was Hanni Hassan and later gave the name Khalaf, prosecutor Oliver Glasgow QC said.

Then on August 18, he was arrested again for shoplifting and taken to Charing Cross police station, where an 'eagle-eyed' police officer recognised him from CCTV as the suspect seen with Mr Medina on the night of his death.

Mr Medina, from Chelsea, west London, was originally from Colombia and was a single gay man with a preference for young dark-skinned men, the court heard.

Mr Medina's body was left on the Hyde Park grass near Speaker's Corner and found by staff the next morning (pictured after area was sealed off)

He was described by his former partner as 'a carefree and very generous person' who would go to the Quebec gay bar in Marble Arch and would sometimes pay male prostitutes for sex, jurors heard.

The prosecution argued the motive for the killing was to steal, although it was suggested on behalf of the defendant it may have resulted from an unrequited sexual advance.

Judge Joseph agreed it was a 'murder for gain' regardless of Mr Medina's reasons for going into the park and befriending his killer.

She said: 'Having seen and heard Mr Khalaf and his description of how he lived it is beyond credible belief that Mr Khalaf went with Mr Medina into the park thinking all Mr Medina wanted was to offer kindness and consolation to a young man.'

In victim impact statements read to court, Mr Medina's friends and family spoke of a kind and peaceful man.

His brother, German Cardona, said he was given an award in 2015 for his 'service to care in London' and had devoted his life to support his family at home, including his 86-year-old father who died within months of the murder.

Close friend Mahmood Khan described him as 'generous and loving' and said: 'If Mr Medina was alive he would probably forgive the person who had committed this crime.'

Giovanni Raimondi, another friend, said: 'Jairo may have seemed outwardly happy and content but he was effectively quite lonely and looking for companionship and someone to share his life with.

'He paid a high price that night in his pursuit for companionship with young men.

'He was known to all who knew him as kind and peace loving. He always believed in living peacefully and did not deserve to die in that way.'


Mirgayas Shirinskiy (photo) is the fourth senior Russian diplomat to "unexpectedly" die this year under.

From Reuters:

Russia's ambassador to Sudan, Mirgayas Shirinskiy, was found dead in the swimming pool at his home in Khartoum on Wednesday, the Sudanese police said.

The ambassador, who was known to have suffered from high blood pressure, is believed to have died of natural causes, a spokesman for the police told Reuters.

Sudan's foreign ministry expressed its condolences to Russia in a statement, hailing Shirinskiy's diplomatic efforts.
President Donald Trump retweeted an image showing himself completely blocking out predecessor Barack Obama in the 'best eclipse ever'  from a man who has railed online about jews and posted about the 'fake' dangers of staring at the sun.

The man who sent it to Trump, who goes by Jerry Travone, previously tweeted that 'We have enough of these jews where I live lol' in response to an article about jews preparing to leave Great Britain.

The image capitalizes on the the eclipse frenzy from Monday, and shows a series of pictures of a smiling Trump moving to obscure black and white picture of the nation's first African-American president.

In the images, Obama is seen grimacing with his eyes cast downward. The series of pictures show smiling, color images of Trump slowly replacing Obama, putting the Obama era behind him.

The president retweeted the image, by Twitter user Jerry Travone, without comment.

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TOTAL ECLIPSE: The president retweeted an image of him completely blocking out his predecessor, Barack Obama

One problem with the eclipse comparison from Trump's perspective is that it would appear to cast Obama as the sun, with Trump serving as the smaller celestial body blocking its rays from the earth.

Travone, who sent the 'eclipse image' to Trump in response to a tweet about the debt ceiling, describes himself as a 'YouTube Actor and Political Junkie' and a 'Proud Trump supporter' who does 'pushback against liberalism.'

In a tweet just four days before he wrote Trump, he offered a response to an article about jews leaving the United Kingdom amid antisemitism.

Travone's response: 'We have enough of these jews where I live lol someone else take them . They just can't drive.' According to his Facebook page, he lives in New Jersey.

An image posted by Travone on Instagram does a send-up on the film 'Saving Private Ryan' by turning it into 'changing ryan's privates,' which is described as a 'Barry Obama clusterf---.'

The president retweeted that eclipse image from Twitter user Jerry Travone

Travone retweeted an article about jews leaving the U.S. due to anti-Semitism, responding: 'We have enough of these jews where I live lol someone else take them'

It mocks Obama's transgender military policy  which Trump announced on Twitter he was ending  and announces a 'cast' of Cailtlyn Jenner, Kristen Beck, and Chelsea Manning, who are pictured in military garb, as is Obama.

Travone also previously retweeted a post skeptical of the ability of an eclipse to do damage to eyesight.

'If a solar eclips blocks the sun then how come you get blinded by looking directly towards it its fake,' said the post, which had images of a hand blocking a sun between each word.

The post was from August 21, the day of the eclipse.

In an online interview, Travone declined to disclose his real name for 'privacy reasons.'

He said the posts about jews and the eclipse did not reflect his actual views.

'No those are not my views just an emotional expression,' he said.

'I was referring to lakewood New Jersey and the horrible drivers of that town and that happens to be mostly Jewish people that live there . Very dangerous place to drive through.' Then he added: 'I have many Jewish friends and I love the fact that the United States and Israel are so close now, it's good for the world.'

'As for the looking into the sun comment that I retweeted I thought that would get some conversations going,' he said.

BLINDED BY THE LIGHT: Twitter user Jerry Travone retweeted a post calling the idea that an eclipse can cause blindness 'fake'

Travone also retweeted a fake movie poster that turned 'Saving Private Ryan' into 'changing ryan's privates' in a take on military transgender policy

Travone retweeted an image that was modified to make it look like President Trump was making an obscene gesture

Of the eclipse meme, he says he found it online a day ago and saved it for the perfect moment.

'I was trying to say that Donald J Trump's spirit and love for this country eclipses anyone and anything,' he said.

Trump has made little secret of his feelings about Obama over there years.

Trump rose to political fame by questioning the birth origins of Obama, who was born in Hawaii.

Trump vowed to undo Obama's chief legislative accomplishments, including a repeal of Obamacare  something Trump has not yet been able to do, prompting his angry complaints about Republicans controlling Congress.

#MAGA: Travone sells 'Make America Great Again' T-shirts on line, including one depicting Trump as a pro wrestler

Donald Trump looks at eclipse at White House on August 21, 2017 without protective eyewear

Donald Trump looks at eclipse at White House on August 21, 2017 with first lady Melania Trump

President Trump, Melania Trump, and Ivanka Trump during the eclipse

He has repeatedly said he inherited a 'mess' from his predecessor, and tried to reverse many of his policies through executive orders.

Travone had sent the image to Trump in response to an early tweet about the nation's debt ceiling. That was also a bit of an Obama throwback, as Obama contended with repeated clashes with Republicans over the issue.

I COME IN PEACE: President-elect Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama arrive for Trumps inauguration ceremony at the Capitol in Washington, USA on January 20, 2017

STELLAR PERFORMANCE: President-elect Donald J. Trump greets President Barack Obama moments before Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States

AND ANOTHER THING: President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump talk to members of the media during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016

The solar eclipse captivated the nation on Monday

Trump drew derision online after he looked directly at the sun briefly while standing on a White House balcony before he put on his protective eye wear.
Iran's education department has banned ugly teachers from the classroom, including women with facial hair or those suffering from acne.

A list of proscribed ailments, including having a scar or a fungal infection was released by the FARS news agency.

Anyone who is cross-eyed, has ugly facial moles or skin conditions such as acne or eczema faces redundancy.

Iranian teachers have been warned they face the sack if they do not meet strict aesthetic and health standards which ban conditions such as acne and fungal infections from the classroom

Teachers who have fewer than 20 teeth also face being banned from the classroom

Women who have facial hair will also be sacked, along with teachers with fewer than 20 teeth or those suffering a fungal infection.

Women are allowed to teach in Iran although they must wear a scarf covering their hair.

Art teachers will be sacked if they report they are colourblind and infertile female teachers will also be banned from the classroom.

According to EuroNews, users on Twitter citicised the rules, claiming if implemented in full, the people such as Stephen Hawking would be prevented from teaching students in Iran.
A time-lapse video in Nebraska not only captured the once-in-a-lifetime eclipse, it also filmed the sweet moment an Omaha couple got engaged.

Karin Dalziel captured the sweet moment when a man got down on one knee to propose to his girlfriend in Grand Island on camera.

She had no idea who the couple were but took to Twitter and Instagram after viewing the footage to track them down and within a day found Joe McIlhon, 35, who had proposed to his girlfriend Bria Christensen, 28.

Here is the time lapse I took during the eclipse, with wedding proposal, in grand island pic.twitter.com/dhhprJssxw  Karin Dalziel (@nirak) August 21, 2017

Down on one knee: Karin took to Instagram and Twitter in the hopes of finding Bria and Joe and within a day, she did

Dalziel caught the eclipse and the proposal on video and wanted to share it with the couple

Bria and Joe pictured above in a photo taken in August. The two met in 2013

Bria said when she and Joe heard about the video, she felt like they 'hit the trifecta'.

Joe had business clients in Grand Island, Nebraska, who he emailed hoping they got to watch the eclipse and that they had a good time, Bria told the Independent.

In the email, Joe mentioned that he proposed. The clients then responded back with a link to an initial Independent article trying to identify them in the time-lapse video.

Upon seeing the article Joe said: 'We're famous!'

Joe and Bria now have a copy of the video thanks to Karin.

The couple met in 2013, as they both work in insurance and have been together since early 2016 according to the Independent.
A 12-year-old girl was killed by an 'inherently unstable' wall after two other students pushed against it while 'mucking about' in the school gym, an official investigation has found.

Keane Wallis-Bennett was killed in April 2014 when she was hit by a 6ft 6in 'modesty wall' as she got changed for PE at Liberton High School in Edinburgh.

A fatal accident inquiry (FAI) held at Edinburgh Sheriff Court examined the tragedy and said two students accidentally tipped it on top of her while they were 'mucking about'.

Experts said the gym wall was old and 'unstable' because it was poorly made and also had an internal crack.

Sheriff Principal Mhairi Stephen said today: 'No pupil should shoulder any responsibility or burden whatsoever in the wake of what happened.'

Keane Wallis-Bennett (pictured) died when a shorter modesty wall in the PE block at Liberton High School in Edinburgh collapsed on her on April 1 2014

The Gym Hall at Liberton High School where Miss Wallis-Bennett was killed was later pulled down

Sheriff Principal Stephen concluded the immediate cause of the collapse was 'the application of a lateral force to the wall sufficient to push it beyond its tipping point'.

Keane was getting changed when the wall collapsed on top of her, leaving her fatally injured

In her findings, she said: 'It is probable that the activities of other pupils who were braced between the freestanding 'privacy wall' and the shower wall was sufficient to cause the wall to move beyond the tipping point.

'The lateral force generated by the innocent high-spirited behaviour of those pupils could push it past its tipping point due to the wall being inherently unstable and liable to sudden collapse.

'The unstable nature of the wall was the real cause of the accident.'

She concluded: 'There are no reasonable precautions I can propose whereby Keane's death or the accident might have been avoided.'

The sheriff principal added that the incident had been 'horrific' and praised the 'courage and maturity' of the pupils who gave evidence.

She said: 'The actions of pupils over many years many have unwittingly contributed to this inherently unstable painted monolith cracking'.

The children who put pressure on the wall should not be blamed for the tragic death of Keane, pictured with her brother Ryan

The school's privact wall was wobbly and also had a hidden crack, which all helped it collapse

The sheriff principal found that the instability of the wall had been caused by its design and construction, and also an internal defect or crack that had occurred long before and 'would not be obvious on visual inspection'.

Flowers at the school gates after Keane's death, which shocked the whole community

'The potential risks from free-standing masonry walls in the light of the evidence to this inquiry is clear,' she said.

'Measures were taken by the Health and Safety Executive, in conjunction with the Scottish Government, in 2014 to warn and raise awareness of these risks.

'All reasonable steps should be taken to reinforce that warning to ensure that measures are taken in both the public and private domain to assess the risk of the continued use of such walls.'

Consideration should be given to measures to strengthen similar walls or remove them, she said.

The sheriff principal also paid tribute to Keane as a 'much-loved daughter, sister and friend'.

'She was clearly a popular and well-liked pupil in senior 1 at Liberton High School.

'Her devoted parents are clearly bereft and attended the inquiry not only as a mark of their love for Keane, but also in an impressively dignified search for answers about what happened on April 1 2014.

'I offer my sympathy to them, and to Keane's family and friends.'
President Donald Trump returned fire against Obama-era intelligence chief James Clapper on Thursday morning, accusing the former spy of perjuring himself in testimony to Congress.

'James Clapper, who famously got caught lying to Congress, is now an authority on Donald Trump. Will he show you his beautiful letter to me?' Trump said in a tweet that made reference to Clapper's mea culpa in 2013 that he made a 'clearly erroneous' statement to Congress about domestic spying.

Clapper maintains that he 'made a mistake' when he denied that the NSA was collecting data on millions of U.S. citizens but 'did not lie' in congressional testimony.

The former Director of National Intelligence attracted Trump's attention this week when he questioned the president's fitness for office after his rant-filled screed of a speech in Phoenix Tuesday night.

'I worry about, frankly, you know, the access to the nuclear codes,' Clapper told CNN's Don Lemon.

He also labeled Trump's fiery rhetoric 'downright scary and disturbing.'

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President Donald Trump returned fire against Obama-era intelligence chief James Clapper on Thursday morning, accusing the former spy of perjuring himself in testimony to Congress

The former Director of National Intelligence attracted Trump's attention this week when he questioned the president's fitness for office after his rant-filled screed of a speech in Phoenix Tuesday night

'I worry about, frankly, you know, the access to the nuclear codes,' Clapper told CNN 's Don Lemon

Clapper had previously accused Trump of 'making Russia great again' by waffling on the election meddling that U.S. intelligence agencies have definitively said was ordered by the Kremlin.

Trump, for his part, has repeatedly cited testimony Clapper gave to a Senate Judiciary subcommittee in May that his agency saw 'no evidence' of collusion between the sitting president's national campaign and Vladimir Putin's government in declarations of his innocence.

The president's attack on Clapper's validity today is at odds with past arguments that the ex-spy's testimony should be basis enough for the government to put an end to its probe into his alleged ties to the foreign government.

'When James Clapper himself, and virtually everyone else with knowledge of the witch hunt, says there is no collusion, when does it end?' Trump said in a May 12 tweet, for instance.

A longtime official in the intelligence community, Clapper joined CNN as a contributor earlier this month. He slammed Trump Wednesday for what he called 'Jekyll-Hyde business' and reiterated his assessment that Trump's pattern of behavior is 'disturbing.'





'He'll make a scripted teleprompter speech, which is good, and then turn around and negate it by sort of, unbridled, unleashed, unchaperoned Trump. And that to me -- that pattern -- is very disturbing,' Clapper told CNN's Jim Sciutto.





In candid analysis Tuesday of Trump's remarks at a rally that evening in Arizona Clapper told the network's Lemon that he didn't even know where to begin.

'It's just so objectionable on so many levels,' Clapper said.

He reminded the CNN host that he had worked for every president starting with John F. Kennedy and ending with Barack Obama, in some capacity.

James Clapper (right) joined CNN's Don Lemon (left) and said found President Trump's speech in Phoenix 'downright scary and disturbing'

'And I don't know when I've listened and watched something like this from a president that I found more disturbing having some understanding of the levers of power that are available to a president if he chooses to exercise them,' Clapper said.

Echoing what Democrat Bakari Sellers had said earlier on the network, Clapper said the contents of Trump's speech weren't much of a surprise.

'It is interesting to contrast last night's teleprompter Trump performance versus tonight, which is, of course, the real Trump,' Clapper pointed out. 'Just as it was in the unglued, impromptu press conference at Trump Tower.'

'So I find this very disturbing,' Clapper added.

Clapper was referring to the press conference that took place a week before Tuesday night's rally in which the president assigned some blame for violence in Charlottesville to the protesters gathered in the Virginia town to call out racists, including neo-Nazis and members of the Ku Klux Klan.

Trump, again, brought up Charlottesville during his speech Tuesday night.

'I hit 'em with neo-Nazi, I hit 'em with everything. KKK? We have KKK. I got 'em all,' Trump said, trying to argue that he had thoroughly called out white supremacist groups, despite the fact that it took him two days.

He also suggested that there were 'weak, weak people' calling for Confederate statues to be removed.

'They're trying to take away our culture. They're trying to take away our history,' the president argued.

Clapper told Lemon he was questioning Trump's fitness for office.

'And I also am beginning to wonder about his motivation for  maybe he is looking for a way out,' Clapper guessed.

The CNN guest then turned on Trump's fans.

'I do wonder as well the people attracted to this rally ... what are they thinking?' he asked. 'Or why am I so far off base?'

'Because I don't understand the adulation,' he stated.
Amber Rudd, pictured, has ordered a major investigation into whether foreign students are boosting or hampering the prospects of their peers born in the UK

Net migration to the UK could be almost 100,000 people lower than official estimates because almost all foreign students leave when they are supposed to.

The Office for National Statistics and the Home Office today published long-awaited figures on exit checks.

The data gives an indication for the first time on who is leaving Britain and appears to show 97 per cent of foreign students leave in line with their visa conditions - meaning they should not be counted as migrants.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd has ordered a major review to look into the issue.

If borne out by further research the shift in figures would bring Prime Minister Theresa May within striking distance of her tens of thousands immigration target.

Immigration statistics out today put net migration at 246,000, including foreign students.

But it would also raise serious questions about the political impact of immigration on British politics in the aftermath of a series of elections and the Brexit referendum dominated by the issue.

Today's report focused on 1.3 million visas granted to non-European Economic Area nationals which expired in 2016/17, without an extension to stay longer.

It showed that out of 181,024 expired student visas, 176,407, or 97.4 per cent, left the country in-time. There were similar proportions for work - 95.4 per cent - and visitor - 96.7 per cent - visas.

This gave an overall percentage of 96.3 per cent of visa holders departing before their leave to be in the country ran out.

Immigration statistics out today put net migration at 246,000, including foreign students - lower than the peaks reached 18 months ago but far above government targets

Of the remainder some may have left but not been identified due to gaps in the data, others will have left late, and some may have overstayed, according to the report.

OVERALL MIGRATION AT THREE YEAR LOW The number of Europeans moving to Britain has plunged by 51,000, new statistics showed today. In the 12 months to March 2017, 127,000 EU nationals moved to Britain - compared to 178,000 the year before, according to Office for National Statistics data. More people also moved out of Britain as overall net migration fell to 246,000, the lowest level in three years. The number of Europeans leaving the UK was 89,000 - 33,000 higher than a year earlier. They were joined by 134,000 emigrating Britons in a shift branded a 'Brexodus' by critics of quitting the European Union. Advertisement

It said ten nationalities together accounted for three quarters of the visas that expired in 2016/17. The proportions departing in time were similar, ranging between 94.3 per cent Chinese and 98.6 per cent Saudi Arabian and Thai nationals.

The findings on the movements of overseas students prompted fresh criticism of the government's long-standing aim to bring overall net migration- a measure drawn from the large-scale International Passenger Survey (IPS) - below 100,000.

Jonathan Portes, Professor of Economics and Public Policy at King's College London, said: 'The exit checks data confirms what has been widely known for some time: that relatively few students overstay their visas.

'Both the student data and the wider limitations of the IPS emphasise once again the folly of the Government's net migration target.

'The sooner it is dropped the better.'

If borne out the shift in figures would bring Prime Minister Theresa May (pictured in Teesside last night) within striking distance of her tens of thousands immigration target

Alistair Jarvis, chief executive of Universities UK, said: 'The number of students overstaying their visas is a tiny fraction of previous claims.'

Lord Green of Deddington, chairman of Migration Watch UK, described student migration as a 'success story' for the Government.

'The exit checks show that students are now very largely leaving when they should,' he added.

The Home Secretary has asked an independent panel to carry out the most comprehensive assessment ever of foreign citizens studying in British universities.

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) will examine the effect of both EU and non-EU students' tuition fees, their spending and contribution to the local economy and place in the labour market.

It will also look at whether the number of foreign students has any effect on the 'provision and quality of education provided to domestic students'.

The review will consider whether overseas funding boosts education quality for UK students - or whether the need to attract such funding drives down the number of places for people from Britain.

Official figures have suggested that 110,000 immigrants a year are exploiting the system by staying in the UK after finishing their educations (file picture)

Ms Rudd's request to the committee comes a month after a report revealed ministers do not know how many foreign students are returning home after completing their courses because of flaws in official data.

A survey used by the Government to estimate how many overseas students go home and how many stay is 'potentially misleading', the Office for Statistics regulation found.

Official figures have suggested that 110,000 immigrants a year are exploiting the system by staying in the UK after finishing their educations  with around one-third remaining in the UK illegally and moving into the black economy.

The Office for Statistics Regulation has condemned the quality of the data and said it should be downgraded to the status of an experimental figure.

Ms Rudd has asked the committee to report back by September next year. But she said the Government was committed to keeping the doors open to genuine students, while cracking down on abuse of the system.

Lord Green of Deddington, chairman of Migration Watch UK, described student migration as a 'success story' for the Government

She said: 'There is no limit to the number of genuine international students who can come to the UK to study.

'We understand how important students from around the world are to our higher education sector, which is a key export for our country, and that's why we want to have a robust and independent evidence base of their value and the impact they have.'

Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that in the year to December, some 132,000 foreign citizens received visas to study in the UK, but only 63,000 overseas students left  a difference of 69,000.

EU citizens are permitted to study here but the discrepancy has fuelled concerns about the extent to which non-EU citizens are able to exploit the controversial scheme after enrolling on courses at colleges or universities.

It comes as Cabinet ministers have warned Theresa May that the Government will never meet the Tory pledge to cut net migration to the 'tens of thousands' unless foreign students are removed from the numbers.

Britain has record one million Poles

The number of Polish citizens living in Britain has passed one million for the first time.

Some 1,000,200 people from the Eastern European country have set up home in the UK, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.

And nearly all of them have come since Tony Blairs government threw open Britains borders to the Eastern Bloc in 2004.

Back then, there were only 69,000 Poles residing in the UK. Now they have overtaken Indians, the Irish and former colonies by having the largest foreign community in Britain.

It means Poles now account for around one in six of the countrys 6million non-UK nationals.

The number of Polish passport holders  as opposed to those born there  jumped by 86,000 last year.

The ONS report once again signalled the end of the legacy of migration from the days of the British Empire. Poland was followed by India (362,000), the Republic of Ireland (335,000), Romania (328,000) and Italy (233,000). There were 833,000 Indian-born residents in the UK  but 57 per cent have taken British citizenship.

The ONS report said: This reflects that EU nationals currently have the freedom of movement between EU countries, whereas for non-EU nationals there is an incentive to acquire British nationality. This may also reflect the length of time that individuals have lived in the UK and the numbers born to UK nationals living abroad.

Britain was a refuge of the Polish government-in-exile and free Poles during the Second World War and the Communist era. The Polish community is now made up of many descendants of the wartime and anti-communist exiles who all equally contribute to Britains culture, society, and economy, the Polish Embassy said.

Lord Green, chairman of the MigrationWatch think-tank, said: The Poles generally have a good reputation and are welcome but most of them are in lower paid employment. This means they are not adding to GDP per head but are adding to the population on this crowded island. If one effect of Brexit is to reduce the influx from Europe that will be a step forward.

About one in 11 UK residents has foreign nationality. The number rose from 5.6million in 2015 to 6million last year. Foreign-born citizens increased by more than half a million from 8.6million to 9.2million  making up one in seven of the population. The British population is about 65million.

The number of EU nationals living in Britain was 3.6million, more than doubling since Poland and seven other former Eastern Bloc countries joined the European Union in 2004. The number of non-EU nationals has remained stable at around 2.4million.

Separate figures showed record numbers of babies were born to foreign mothers last year  and in some areas it was as high as three children in four. In the North-West London borough of Brent, the proportion was 76 per cent, while in Newham, East London, it was 75.7 per cent.

In 2016, 28.2 per cent of babies were born to mothers born outside Britain, up from 27.5 per cent in 2015. At the start of the 1990s, the level was under 12 per cent. ONS data show there were 196,254 births to foreign mothers out of a total of 696,271 babies born last year. The rise in babies with mothers born abroad has partly come because fertility rates among the rising numbers of immigrants are higher than those of British-born women.
Tourists have been warned not to 'harass' seals after video emerged of a colony stampeding in panic when onlookers got too close and tried to take pictures of them.

Footage was taken on a beach in Aberdeenshire during the mating season when it is illegal to harass the animals.

However tourists at Ythan Estuary on the Forvie Nature Reserve were caught sneaking up on seals causing hundreds to dash for the water.

Stampedes can result in youngsters being crushed or abandoned.

Tourists have been warned about taking pictures of seals in Ythan Estuary on the Forvie Nature Reserve during the mating season

People visiting the estuary on Forvie National Nature Reserve (NNR) have been observed getting far too close to seals on the beach

Earlier this year Holyrood's environment committee made it an offence to harass the mammals, some of whom may be on the shore giving birth.

Despite punishments of up to six months in jail or a fine up to 5,000, many tourists are flouting the rules.

Posting on their official Facebook page on Tuesday, Ythan Seal Watch Team, wrote: 'First weekend of a designated seal haul-out and there are already visitors causing stampedes.

'We film EVERYTHING at the beach the seals are on.

'Claiming to not have read signs or choosing to ignore them is no longer an excuse for doing this.

'The designation covers it through reckless actions. It's now a wildlife crime. There were lots of visitors arriving at the reserve car park and not even reading signs. We HIGHLY recommend visitors do.

'The visitors in the pictures caused stampedes entering the beach or hanging around it. We also have the video for these images.

'It has taken a long time for these laws to come into effect and they are there for a reason. To protect the haul-out, not benefit the visitors to the reserve. The fact the beach has a fence or it is accessible makes no difference.

'Standing on top of the sand dune at the back of the haul-out has also caused issues with disturbance and that will also be reported. The designation protects the seals no matter what.

When tourists get too close seals can stampede causing youngsters to get crushed or abandoned

They added: 'This is now a designated seal haul-out. Marine Scotland passed this on May 4.

'Harassment and disturbance leading to stampedes, weather it is reckless or intentional is now an offence. Anyone carrying out tours on the zone would risk exactly that.

'There are signs to advise the visitors of this and they are being ignored.

'We were on the beach behind the haul-out last year trying to prevent this until it came into effect.

'There were five white coat pups rescued from the reserve last year who were abandoned by their mothers following people disturbing the haul-out taking pictures.'

It is now a criminal offence to intentionally or recklessly harass the seals within the designated site

Disgusted animal lovers have taken to the group's Facebook page to share their anger at the footage.

Hazel Taylor wrote: 'If there's one thing worse than people, it's stupid people.

'There should be a licence to eradicate these people as, it seems, they just cannot be educated.'

Rhona Ramsay said: 'Utter blithering idiots.'

The site, home to an around 3,000 seals, was protected by a small team of volunteers until March this year when the Scottish Government backed plans to make it a designated seal haul-out zone.

It is now a criminal offence to intentionally or recklessly harass the seals within the designated site.

Earlier this year Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) also released a warning to the public telling them not to bother the seals.

Annabel Drysdale, SNH's Forvie NNR manager, said: 'We all love to watch wildlife, but we also need to protect it. So we'd ask people to go to the beach at Newburgh, where you can getter a better view without accidentally disturbing the seals.

'If you are visiting Forvie and come across seals on the beach, stay at least 150 metres away and if one or two heads come up, that means you're close enough.'
President Donald Trump went back on a war footing against Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, tweeting out a statement that said he 'failed' just hours after the White House tried to paper over a feud between the two men.

'The only problem I have with Mitch McConnell is that, after hearing Repeal & Replace for 7 years, he failed!

That should NEVER have happened!' Trump tweeted Thursday, returning to the Senate's inability to pass an Obamacare repeal.

The tweet's two exclamation points and use of all caps left little doubt about the president's feelings on the subject. The inability to move on one of his top campaign and legislative goals is a sore spot the president has brought up repeatedly.

Earlier, Trump went after McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan by name, saying they refused his idea of tying unpopular debt ceiling legislation to a Veterans bill  amid a looming deadline for the nation's borrowing limit. 'They didn't do it,' Trump wrote of his idea.

President Donald Trump is back in D.C. after a trip out west, with budget deadlines a little more than a month away

'I requested that Mitch M & Paul R tie the Debt Ceiling legislation into the popular V.A. Bill (which just passed) for easy approval. They... didn't do it so now we have a big deal with Dems holding them up (as usual) on Debt Ceiling approval. Could have been so easy-now a mess!' Trump wrote in two successive tweets.

Congressional leaders frequently use the tactic of attaching must-pass legislation to a popular vehicle, but there has been no indication that the veterans bill is anywhere near strong enough to move Republicans to vote for a debt ceiling increase they despise.

Debt ceiling votes have been anything but easy in recent years. The party out of power frequently forces the majority to provide votes for the unpopular measure. Republicans ran on smaller government and lower spending, making a vote for massive new borrowing authority a difficult political choice.

McConnell all but confirmed reports of a nasty feud with President Donald Trump by releasing a statement about their 'regular contact' and 'shared goals.'

The statement, issued by the powerful leader's office Wednesday, made no effort to deny reports of angry phone calls, profanity  or a claim that he himself privately questioned whether Trump can effectively lead republicans in 2018.

Instead, it ran through a list of mostly modest legislative goals to keep the government humming  just hours after Trump at a boisterous Phoenix rally threatened to shut down the government if necessary to get funds to construct a wall on the southern border.

'The President and I, and our teams, have been and continue to be in regular contact about our shared goals,' McConnell said in the statement.

The White House issued a separate statement with different priorities  including a border wall, which McConnell didn't mention.

President Donald Trump waves as he steps out from Air Force One in Reno, Nevada, U.S., August 23, 2017

'President Donald J. Trump and Senator Mitch McConnell remain united on many shared priorities, including middle class tax relief, strengthening the military, constructing a southern border wall, and other important issues.'

That statement, which referenced 'previously scheduled meetings' between the two men, did not reference the president's continued beef with McConnell over the failure to pass Obamacare.

Trump begins to focus his energies Thursday on avoiding a calamitous government shutdown as he huddles with his budget director amid tense relations with Congress.

Trump and budget director Mick Mulvaney meet Thursday afternoon, just days after Trump issued his own threat to shut the government down if necessary to secure funding for a wall on the southern border.

His comments drew a rebuke Wednesday from House Speaker Paul Ryan.

'So I dont think anyone is interested in having a shutdown, Ryan said at a tax forum. I dont think its in our interest to do so,' he said.

House Speaker Paul Ryan speaks during his visit to Intel in Hillsboro, Ore., Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017. Ryan used his visit to the technology giant to talk about tax reform

Matters are further complicated by Trump's running feud with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The White House said Wednesday that prescheduled meetings between then would occur, but didn't give a time or date, following a series of attacks on McConnell and GOP senators by the president following the failure to pass an Obamacare repeal.

The government reaches its statutory debt limit on Sept. 29th, and runs out of money at the end of September.

'We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we are committed to advancing our shared agenda together, and anyone who suggests otherwise is clearly not part of the conversation,' said McConnell in his own statement, which unlike the one from the White House did not mention a border wall as a priority.

Investment firm Goldman Sachs in guidance to investors handicaps the chance of a shutdown at 50-50, Axios reported.

President Donald Trump greets Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., left, as House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., right, takes his seat during a meeting with House and Senate Leadership in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC on Tuesday, June 06, 2017

A top GOP source put the chances even higher  75 per cent. "The peculiar part is that almost everyone I talk to on the Hill agrees that it is more likely than not,' the source told the outlet.

Centrist Republicans continue to chafe at the president's tactics. 'Its entirely counterproductive for the president to be picking fights with Republican senators who he will need for important agenda items that they both agree on, Pennsylvania GOP Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) told the Washington Post.

Does he think that Democratic senators will be more cooperative than [Sens.]John McCain and Jeff Flake and Susan Collins? It doesnt seem to make any sense,' he said.
Thomas Swales took his own life after contracting Friedreich's Ataxia

A 'unique' teenager took his own life after contracting a rare incurable illness that he feared he would be wheelchair-bound for life, an inquest heard.

Thomas Swales, 19, developed Friedreich's Ataxia which initially caused him to walk with a stoop, but he bravely battled through by wearing a backpack to disguise his condition.

However as his conditioned worsened Thomas - known as Tommy - began getting depressed and penned a confidential note to his mother admitting he was considering killing himself, and his family believe he looked into the Swiss assisted suicide clinic Dignitas.

Although he appeared to get better, Mr Swales hanged himself at his home in Edgeley, near Stockport, Greater Manchester, on January 29 last year while his family were walking in a local park.

The youngster - described as the 'King of Banter' - had been diagnosed with the condition in 2013 when he was just 15 and he also developed the spine condition Scoliosis.

His illness left him unsteady on his feet and would lose his balance or fall over without warning, but he wore the backpack to make it appear as though it was causing him to stoop.

His mother Michelle Swales, 55, told the Stockport hearing: 'Tommy was unique and very affectionate.

'When he was diagnosed by the doctors, at first he didn't quite understand what it was and then all of a sudden he looked at me, held his arms out and sat on my knee.

'But when we got home he went to his room and after an hour he informed us he was going back to school that day - and that's what he did. He was determined to try and make the best of it as long as it was not mentioned. He chose to deal with the 'here and now'.

'The main problem in the early months was his walking and his mobility. He was very unsteady on his feet and would fall or stumble without warning.

'He also had a stoop and in 2015 he was in surgery for 13 hours the surgeon said it was the second worst case he had come across.

'He was warned what was involved and the recovery but he was determined to go ahead with it. He was a little star.

'The only real purpose was to improve his appearance and psychologically and that did make a massive difference. It gave him confidence to go out with his friends.

'He would try and disguise his stoop with a backpack prior to the operation.. His spine with it being pinned would not become curved but the curve of his shoulders started to become more pronounced.'

She said by 2016 Tommy appeared well but she added: 'He was worried about ending up in a wheelchair. He said he didn't want to do it, he wouldn't.

'To cheer him up Tommy went to New York a couple of times and his final thing was a special hotel in Florida - the animal kingdom.

'He wanted to do as much as he could under his own steam. We knew we had to cram a lot in and we were fortunate he did. He had achieved what he would have liked to have done. He became a bit more isolated towards Christmas time.

'I think it was both that he was finding things difficult physically and becoming depressed. In 2017 Tommy produced a note to me, he wanted me to come up with a way to end his life but not to mention it to anyone else.

'It was a predicament for me but for Tommy to open up to me like that - he just trusted me to say nothing to anybody else.

A verdict of suicide was recorded against Mr Swales' death after the hearing at Stockport Coroner's Court (pictured)

'I told other people strictly in confidence to see what could be done. I did have the crisis number but I didn't want to do anything that would make Tommy less likely to engage with health professionals.

'He was aware I was on to him and I think he was hoping perhaps I would have helped him in some way. I think he was looking at Dignitas.'

She said confided in GP's and kept a close eye on Tommy but thought his mood lightened when he went cinema trips with friends and asked her to accompany him on trips to Starbucks.

Police found various suicide notes written by Tommy and discovered he had bought a rope off the internet in the days before his death.

He also expressed thoughts of taking his own life in texts and on social media.

Recording a conclusion of suicide, coroner Chris Morris, said: 'My final word has to go to family and friends of Tommy to pass on my personal condolences.'

After the case Mrs Swales added: 'Anyone suffering from depression shouldn't be afraid of telling someone, it's half the battle acknowledging you need help, in Tommy's case it was different, he knew he didn't want to be in a wheelchair, couldn't stop it, so took control whilst still able to do so.

'Tommy, we are incredibly lucky to have had 19 wonderful years crammed full of happy memories, filled with lots of love and laughter.

'Tommy tackled life with a quiet dignity and amazing strength and courage. We take comfort from all of this, alongside the knowledge that Tommy is where he wanted to be, we are incredibly proud of him and always will be.'
Ellen Frey-Wouter from Bronx left $300,000 to her beloved cats

A multi-millionaire from the Bronx has left part of her fortune to her felines.

Ellen Frey-Wouter left a huge chunk of her kitty to her own kitties - $300,000, out of a $3million estate.

The payout ensures her cats Tiger and Troy will be properly looked after for the rest of their days.

Frey-Wouter, who was 88 when she died, left detailed exceptionally detailed instructions on how her cats should be looked after and that they 'never be caged'.

The Netherlands native who worked for the United Nations, died in 2015.

Her husband, a Brooklyn College professor, passed away in 1989, and the couples only child died in infancy.

The New York Post says Tiger and Troy are now being cared for by Frey-Wouters' former house nurses who submit the bills for expenses like food, grooming and vet care which are then reimbursed from that trust fund.

Troy and Tiger share a $300,000 bequest, just a small portion of author Ellen Frey-Wouter's $3-million estate

Frey-Wouter did not have any children of her own and so stipulated her lawyer, nurses and cats would be the beneficiaries

Tiger is now sunning himself in sunny Ocala, Florida while Troy lives with Rita Pohila, one of Frey-Wouters former home health aides.

Dahlia Grizzle told the Post that Tiger is a 'wonderful cat,' and said it was no surprise to her that so much money was left to the beloved pets.

'The cats were like her babies,' Grizzle said.

The rest of the estate was split between her health aides, charities and her lawyer.

If Troy and Tiger die before the $300,000 has been spent, the remainder will be given to Frey-Wouters' sister in the Netherlands reports ABC.
North Korea must be hard up for cash, as they are now promoting themselves to Russians as a tourist destination. In their promotional pitch, they claim that visiting North Korea is "safer than an evening walk in London." (Sounds like one of those exaggerated claims that Trump would say!) They also state that the guests must be "checked" before the trip and will constantly be monitored for "adequate behaviour of the tourist and guarantee his safety," according to The Telegraph. Furthermore, it's "not recommended" to chat with the locals, and taking photos of military facilities is prohibited. Sounds fun!

According to the Telegraph:

Nkorean.ru, a Russian company licensed by North Korea's government, offers organised tours for groups of up to 10 people or individuals "to show the travellers the multi-faceted life of this most closed of countries" The most pricey tour, 15 days "full immersion in the culture of North Korea" costing 118,090 roubles (1558), includes visits to a farm, a mineral water factory, a Buddhist temple, walks in the mountains and an introduction to national cuisine. Visits to numerous museums to founding leader Kim Il-Sung are also on offer. Other less demanding tours include relaxation on a beach, an aviation show and even a beer festival.

Uh, I think I'll take my adventure vacation elsewhere thank you very much.

Image: Stefan Krasowski
These amazing pictures show two helpless whales being rescued within three days of each other after being caught up in ropes and flotation buoys used by local fisherman out at sea.

The two whales were heading to their breeding grounds in Hermanus, South Africa, which attracts thousands of British tourists every year, when they became entangled.

Whale watchers both times contacted the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) who have specialist cutting gear which they use to free the caught up whales and save their lives.

These amazing pictures show one of two helpless whales which were rescued within three days of each other

On Sunday the NSRI Hermanus duty crew launched to help a 12m whale in severe difficulties off the coast at Kleinmond and found it badly wrapped with rope and a buoy.

They used whale disentanglement specialist cutting gear and the NSRI said the whale appeared to sense it was being helped and allowed the crew to attach itself and cut away the ropes.

After 90 minutes of cutting the whale was free apparently healthy and none the worse for its ordeal.

On Tuesday the NSRI were called out again to disentangle a second but slightly smaller whale off the coast of Clovelly in Cape Town and the NSRI Simon's Town crew responsded.

They found the whale with a rope wrapped around its tail eight times and again the trusting whale remained calm while they spent an hour and a half cutting the ropes off of its fluke.

The NSRI said the first whale appeared to sense it was being helped and allowed the crew to attach itself and cut away the ropes

The NSRI said the whale swam away 'happy and healthy' afterwards en-route to Hermanus.

Darren Zimmerman, NSRI Simon's Town station commander, says:'We commend the many concerned members of the public who raised the alarm over their concern for the whales'.

Both rescues are great news as the whale watching season gets into full swing next month with thousands of tourists flocking to the town to glimpse the gentle giants of the deep give birth.

Hermanus is the mecca of whale watching to get a good look close up at their calves from sometimes just a few metres away from shore in the deep waters at their biggest breeding grounds.

As well as watching the new born calves the whales also mate again then after a month at the traditional mating grounds they head off again and return the following September.

The southern right whales grow up to 55 feet long and weigh up to 60 tonnes and feed on krill and plankton.

As well as watching the new born calves the whales also mate again then after a month at the traditional mating grounds

There are 10,000 left in the world and over a 1000 visit Hermanus each year.

NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon said their teams disentangle about three or four years that get caught up in the buoys and ropes used by fisherman to catch fish and crustaceans.

He said that so far they have managed to save every whale they have been sent to rescue.
A nude blogger's Instagram page has been reinstated after it was 'deactivated without warning' earlier this month.

Jessa O'Brien's page was reactivated Tuesday night after it was shut down for breaching the organisation's nudity policy three weeks ago.

The 28-year-old called it a 'HUGE win for body positivity' in a new blog post, and said she was overcome with shock, happiness and fulfilment.

Nude blogger Jessa O'Brien (pictured) has had her Instagram page reactivated after it was shut down without warning this month

While in her first return post to Instagram, Ms O'Brien called out the social media site with a nude photo of her holding a placard that read: 'F*** you Instagram.'

Her accompanying comment stated that she had been tirelessly campaigning to get the page re-instated following its removal.

'Since the deactivation of this account, I have embarked on a tireless crusade against the social media giants,' she wrote.

'To those of you who have stood united with me... believed in me... who didn't just sit back on the issue... who fought for something bigger... THANK YOU.'

The blogger also said that the closure generated a huge response from people across Australia, one that she never expected.

'The deactivation actually proved to be one of the best things to happen for my message about body-positivity. It's been a whirlwind.'

The 28-year-old (pictured) called the move a 'HUGE win for body positivity' in a new blog post , and said it had left her overcome with shock and happiness

In a return post Ms O'Brien called out the social media site and thanked her fans across the country for their huge response

The page has amassed more than 44,000 followers since its launch in October 2016.

A second account made while the first was offline is also still running, with Ms O'Brien saying it was 'in case something similar happens again'.

The blogger, who asserts the nudity shown on the page is non-pornographic and non-sexual, told 9News she was 'gutted' following it's closure.

'It takes a lot of time, energy and effort to build something like this,' she said.

'I think this has gone to expose the double standards that are exacerbated on social media. You've got sexually-explicit photos appearing, and then you have mine, which are mostly out in nature and are not explicit in any way.'

While Ms O'Brien did not know who had reinstated the account, she thanked the 'person, people, robot or reptilian' behind the decision.

'You've just helped to show the world that body-positivity and non-sexual nudity are ok. So yes, thank you too Instagram,' she wrote.

Ms O'Brien's page, which she says shows non-pornographic and non-sexual nudity, has amassed more than 44,000 followers since its launch in October 2016
The jihadist cell behind last week's twin attacks in Spain was built around a 'guru' and went completely offline to avoid detection by anti-terrorist police, experts said.

The group managed to evade authorities so well that even a giant explosion at their bomb factory in Alcanar, where police later uncovered massive quantities of ingredients to build TATP, was not at first linked to the jihadists.

Meanwhile, police in the northeast Spanish region of Catalonia are coming under growing criticism over the Barcelona van attack that killed 13 people. Two others were killed during the driver's getaway and in a separate attack further down the coast in Cambrils.

Several Spanish media accused Catalan police on Thursday of failing to properly investigate the Moroccan imam, Abdelbaki Es Satty.

Master of evil: The suicide belt was found at a house in Alcanar, south of Barcelona, where imam Abdelbaki Es Satty died in an explosion last Wednesday

'Bomb factory': Abdelbaky Es Satty died in an accidental blast at this suspected bomb-making factory hours before the attacks were launched

Investigators only made the connection between the factory explosion and the terrorist attacks after their vehicle rampages in Barcelona and Cambrils. Experts say the key reason was the way the group was formed

A wider blame game is being played out between central authorities in Madrid and officials in Catalonia, whose leaders are pushing for independence from Spain.

Investigators only made the connection between the factory explosion and the terrorist attacks after their vehicle rampages in Barcelona and Cambrils. Experts say the key reason was the way the group was formed.

The 'propaganda and recruitment techniques' are like those of a cult, said Lurdes Vidal, director of the European Institute of the Mediterranean.

'The role of the family is emphasised, the group is a closed circuit, and everything is done to stop things from getting out,' she said.

And at the heart of the group, 'there is a central person who unites everyone, who provides Salafist answers to youths who may have lost their bearings,' said French former intelligence officer Alain Rodier.

That key person in this case was the Moroccan imam, Abdelbaki Es Satty, who was killed in the blast accidentally triggered by the jihadists themselves.

A Belgian policeman told a Catalan colleague in 2016 that the imam was suspicious, but no information was found then to link him to Islamist militancy, a source told Reuters.

The tip-off about the imam was made informally between two police officials from Belgium and Catalonia who knew each other, a source in Catalonia's regional government said.

'The communication between the two policemen was not official. They knew each other because they had met in a police seminar,' the source said, on condition of anonymity.

Police records, however, had turned up nothing on the cleric.

Spanish High Court judge Fernando Andreu on Thursday released, on certain conditions, Salh El Karib, another of the four suspects arrested over the attacks

Mohamed Aallaa, 27, has also been released after being arresed in the aftermath of last week's attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils

'The documents show that we had no information about the imam,' the source said, adding that the only official communication channels of the Catalan police, the Mossos d'Esquadra, with police in other countries were through Spain's central government.

The Catalan regional government and Spain's central government declined to comment.

It remains unclear whether Catalan police made their own attempts to follow up the lead.

The top home affairs official in the Catalan regional government, Joaquim Forn, said on Thursday that Catalan authorities had been unaware of any investigation of the imam or that he could pose a threat, Spanish news agency EFE said.

Es Satty spent around three months in the Belgian town of Vilvoorde, a known centre of Islamist radicalism, between January and March last year.

He later went to Catalonia to be the imam of the small town of Ripoll, where he is suspected of having recruited and radicalised most of the group which carried out last week's attacks.

Es Satty may have presented two different faces to people of Ripoll, the small town where he and many of the suspects lived, said Alberto Bueno, a member of the International Observatory of Studies on Terrorism.

'He shows one face when he preaches at the prayer hall in Ripoll, and the other of radicalisation,' said Bueno, a researcher at the university of Granada, in Southern Spain.

Spain ordered Es Satty's expulsion from the country after he served a four-year jail term for drug-trafficking but this was annulled by a court in 2015 after Es Satty appealed, court officials have said.

Arrested: Driss Oukabir, left, and Mohamed Houli Chemlal are taken to the Audiencia Nacional court in Madrid for the first hearing on Tuesday

The judge at the time overturned the expulsion order partly because Es Satty had employment roots in Spain, which he said 'shows his efforts to integrate in Spanish society'.

There was no information before the court at the time to link Es Satty to Islamist terrorism, the officials said.

The unity of the group is further compounded by the fact that many of its members are siblings, noted the expert, pointing out that among the dozen suspects are four sets of brothers.

Yves Trotignon, a former member of France's anti-terrorist authorities, noted that the set-up featuring relatives was also seen among the perpetrators of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in New York or the March 11, 2004 train bombing in Madrid.

Hans Bonte, mayor of Vilvoorde, said last week that Es Satty had been 'intensely screened' by Belgian police, and he had told Spanish police by email of his whereabouts.

El Pais newspaper quoted Bonte on Thursday as saying he had received a reply from police in Barcelona on March 8 last year.

'They said the imam had no links to radical groups,' he said.

Sources close to the investigation told Reuters earlier this week the regional Catalan force may have missed an opportunity to uncover the plot because of procedural errors and a lack of communication among investigators.

While Spain's attackers had prepared their assaults for months, it is likely that the process of radicalisation began a long time ago, he said.

Thursday's van attack on the crowded Las Ramblas boulevard in Barcelona killed 13 people and injured more than 100.

Abouyaaqoub, the driver of the white van that killed 15 and wounding more than 100 in Las Ramblas last week, pictured, was killed by police

Alberto Bueno noted that the group had eschewed online social networks and stayed off mobile phones, at a time when anti-terrorist police scour the internet for signs of radicalisation among users.

'This classic model, with people who know each other and a guru who accompanies the development of the cell goes back 15 to 20 years earlier,' said Alain Rodier.

Rodier, a former officer in French intelligence, said Spanish experts were fully aware that groups formed around families are particularly tight, because, 'you're not going to betray your brother'.

The family connections also ease the process of indoctrination, he said.

Experts also noted that the youth of many of the suspects - some of them as young as 17 - was no accident.

This is a period of life that is potentially volatile, Vidal said, noting that 'religion was used to get to the youths, in order to have a very strong emotional impact in the construction of their identity.

'These are Muslims, not converts. An imam is necessary, an incubator who comes from among them, and who convinces them that their faith requires them to take action,' said Rodier.

'They may have viewed themselves reconquering Spain as Muslims, ... as suggested in the letter found in Alcanar,' he added.

In the rubble of the Alcanar house, police found a sheet of paper slipped into a green-coloured book.

It read: 'A brief letter from the soldiers of the Islamic State on the territory of Al Andalous to the crusaders, the sinners, the unjust and the corrupters.'

Aalla owns the car used in the Cambrils attack (pictured), but was granted a conditional release because evidence against him was considered weak

Al Andalous is the name of the territories in modern Spain that until 1492 were by Muslims.

Spanish High Court judge Fernando Andreu on Thursday released, on certain conditions, another of the four suspects arrested over the attacks, a court order said.

Salh El Karib ran an internet cafe in the northeastern Spanish town of Ripoll where most members of the Islamist cell, who were mostly young men of Moroccan descent, lived.

Andreu on Tuesday ordered two suspects jailed while another was freed with conditions.

The other eight known members of the group were killed by police or died in an explosion.

Andreu met high-ranking security officials on Wednesday to set out a common strategy for the probe, a judicial source said.

The source said the meeting was a first step towards integrating the two Spanish police forces - the Civil Guard and the National Police - in the investigation, which had until now been exclusively managed by the Catalan police.

Andreu was due to take a formal decision on this later on Thursday, the source added.

Spain's Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said on Thursday he did not expect the attacks to have any significant short-term impact on tourism, which accounts for about 11 percent of the Spanish economy.
A Detroit man who served 25 years in prison for murder based on sham evidence has filed a lawsuit seeking more than $125million.

Desmond Ricks was released in May after making the extraordinary claim that Detroit Police framed him for a fatal shooting that killed Gerry Bennett outside a restaurant in 1992. A judge reviewed the evidence and he was exonerated.

An analysis of two bullets from the victim shows they don't match the gun that was offered as the murder weapon at Ricks' trial in 1992. He was accused of shooting a friend outside a Detroit restaurant and sentenced to at least 32 years in prison.

Attorney Wolfgang Mueller says Ricks was a victim of 'horrific' misconduct. He filed a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday on behalf of Ricks and two daughters.

The suit names two defendants who are retired Detroit police officers. David Pauch was the evidence technician on the case. Donald Stawiasz was the officer in charge of the investigation that led to Ricks' wrongful conviction.

The lawsuit argues that the duo framed Ricks by fabricating bullet evidence  swapping out the bullets taken from the victim's body with bullets test-fired from a gun belonging to Ricks' mother.

Desmond Ricks was exonerated on June 1 after serving 25 years in prison for the fatal shooting of Gerry Bennett in 1992. He is now suing the city of Detroit for $100million

Ricks is pictured with members of the Michigan Innocence Clinic after he was released

Ricks, a team of lawyers and a gun expert were able to prove that the bullets produced in trial were not the ones used in the shooting. The ones from the shooting did not match Ricks's gun

At trial, prosecutors said a gun belonging to Ricks' mother was used in the slaying. But tests on bullets still in police storage eliminated any connection.

Ricks worked with a team from University of Michigan law school and a gun expert. They claimed Detroit police framed Ricks for the slaying with sham evidence  bullets that didn't come from the victim.

'I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I had nothing to do with this,' Ricks, 50, said, referring to the shooting of a friend outside a burger dive.

'They switched the bullets on me,' he said.

The law school's Innocence Clinic, with an affidavit from firearms expert David Townshend, urged a judge to order new tests on evidence still in police storage and throw out Ricks' second-degree murder conviction.

Ricks was with Bennett when Bennett was shot in the head outside a Top Hat restaurant in 1992.

They switched the bullets on me. Desmond Ricks

Ricks, an ex-convict at the time, said he ran away, dodging gunfire. But a few days later, police pinned the killing on him and seized a gun that belonged to his mother.

Townshend, who had retired from Michigan State Police, was asked by a judge to inspect the evidence before trial. His task was very specific: Did bullets delivered to him by Detroit police match Mary Ricks' .38-caliber revolver? Yes, he told jurors.

Desmond Ricks was halfway through his 32-year prison sentence in 2009 when he recognized Townshend's name in an ad in the back of a law journal. He reached out for help.

The expert remembered the case, visited Ricks three times and told him about some nagging concerns.

The bullets in 1992 appeared to be in 'pristine condition' with no trace of blood, bone or hair that would suggest they were removed from Bennett's brain and spine, recalled Townshend, now 76.

At the Innocence Clinic's request, the Wayne County prosecutor's office in 2015 turned over new digital photos of bullets and fragments still in police custody.

Townshend said the photos show bullets that were 'severely mutilated and extensively damaged'  not the bullets he inspected years ago.

'We need to get to the truth,' Townshend said.

David Townshend confirmed that the bullets he saw in court did not appear to have been recovered from a body (stock image)

The law school also has filed an affidavit from a restaurant employee who has recanted her trial testimony.

Arlene Strong said Ricks could not have been the gunman because he was still in a car when Bennett was killed. She said she was frightened by police back in 1992 and bullied by a prosecutor.

All charges were dropped on June 1.

An investigation showed the bullets from Bennett were still in police storage. Tests in recent weeks show they do not match the .38-caliber gun that belonged to Ricks' mother in 1992.

'I don't have time to be angry or mad,' Ricks said outside court. 'I just want to live.'

He likely will benefit from a new Michigan law that awards someone who is wrongly convicted $50,000 for each year spent in prison.
This is the heartwarming moment dozens of Florida police officers come together to celebrate the birthday of a fallen cop's daughter.

Unique Howard had her 17th birthday on Monday - two days after her father passed away.

Kissimmee Police Sgt. Richard 'Sam' Howard, 36, and Matthew Baxter, 27, were shot Friday night.

The two died in a possible ambush while responding to a call complaining of questionable activity on Cypress Street, Kissimmee Police Chief Jeff ODell told the New York Times.

Sgt. Howard was taken to Osceola Regional Medical Center and died the next day, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

He was with the force for ten years.

Former marine Everett Glenn Miller, 45, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder for the crime.

Sgt. Richard 'Sam' Howard, 36, was shot on Friday night in a routine stop. He died the following day

Because Unique's birthday was so close to her father's passing Florida law enforcement from Osceola County Sheriff's Office, Kissimmee Police Department, St Cloud Police Department and Orange County Sheriff's Office decided to throw her a surprise party at the Publix where she works in St Cloud, Florida.

Officers planned to surprise Unique at her family's home, but her mother said Unique insisted on going to work, Stacie Miller, Kissimmee Police spokeswoman, told the Orlando Sentinel.

Stacie continued: 'She's a very strong lady.'

In the video a deputy tells Unique that her 'law enforcement family wanted to wish her a happy birthday' and immediately after Unique's colleagues and officers start singing happy birthday.

Law enforcement celebrated Unique's 17th birthday at the Publix where she works in St Cloud

When the crowd finishes singing, the deputy says to Unique: 'From now and forever, you don't stand alone.'

'You don't suffer alone, you're never alone because all of these people are here for you and here to protect you.'

Unique is then given a Law Enforcement Memorial Coin, a Thin Blue Line bracelet and a birthday cake.

Unique was given a Law Enforcement Memorial Coin, a Thin Blue Line bracelet and a birthday cake
The jackpot winner of the Powerball was in Massachusetts, but when the state lottery announced the wrong ticket selling location, the shop owners erroneously believed they were $50,000 richer.

Kamaljeet Kaur, who owns Handy Variety in Watertown with her husband Gurinder Singh says she was getting ready to come to work Thursday morning when her husband told her of their stroke of luck.

Reporters descended on the store hours before it opened around 6:30am. Kaur did an interview with GMA around 7am and said she was happy they are the winning store.

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Kamaljeet Kaur was interviewed on GMA just after 7am about what she thought was her and her husband's stroke of luck at selling the big Powerball jackpot winning ticket

Reporters swarmed the location this morning to interview the lucky shop owners, only to be later told of the state lotto snafu

Kamaljeet Kaur with her husband Gurinder Singh owners of the Handy Variety store, thought they sold the jackpot winning ticket- only to be told the lotto made a mistake

She explains she's 'never had the big one here,' and beams as she believes her and her husband are $50,000 richer.

Kaur said she was emotional when she heard her family owned store was the winner. Of course, who couldn't use an extra $50,000?

However, around 8am the State Lotto tweeted out a correction. The jackpot winning ticket was actually sold on the other side of the state.

Michael Sweeney, the lottery's executive director explains they had a 'couple of excited people at 1 o'clock in the morning' but said if there's any blame to be placed, the buck stops with him.

The winning ticket was sold at the Pride Station & Store in Chicopee, in Western Massachusetts.

Sweeney says the lottery had not yet heard from the winner. He said the Chicopee store will receive $50,000 for selling the winning ticket, he said.

The Mass. State Lotto tweeted the correction just after 8am

Pride Station & Store on Montgomery Street in Chicopee was where the actual winning ticket was sold

He said the store in Watertown did sell a ticket that won a $1million prize, which means the owners of Handy will get a prize of $10,000 but that's $40,000 less than they were expecting when they woke up this morning.

Kaur told the Boston Herald she was disappointed by the mix-up but still happy she sold a winner.

The jackpot is the largest grand prize won by a single lottery ticket in US history.
A Russian woman has tracked down the baby she lost when it swapped at birth 30 years ago with another child and was raised in appalling poverty by an alcoholic mother and a murderer father.

Zoya Tuganova, now 70, took home the wrong child from a maternity hospital in Chelyabinsk in 1987, but the mistake was only discovered this year.

The child who Zoya was mistakenly given at the hospital - called Katya - agreed to investigate her mother's claim that she might not be her parents' biological baby.

Compensated: Zoya Tuganova, now 70, took home the wrong child from a maternity hospital in Chelyabinsk in 1987, and has now been awarded 13,200 from the state

Swapped at birth: Due to a hospital blunder Zoya's biological daughter Luciya, left, was send home with another woman, and she took home another girl, Katya, right

She mounted her own investigation and found Luciya - born like Katya by caesarean in the same maternity hospital on January, 29, 1987 - now a mother of three living in grinding poverty.

Mrs Tuganova then launched a complaint against the hospital, demanding compensation of 10 million Russian ruble - some 132,000.

However, a court this week ruled she should be given one million ruble, just 13,200 in compensation.

This despite the fact that the swap triggered a chain of events that led to murder.

When Zoya tracked down her biological daughter, Luciya told how her father had immediately believed the new child was not his and accused her mother Elvira Tuligenova of infidelity.

True love: Katya, pictured with Zoya, agreed to investigate her mother's claim that she might not be her parents' biological baby

Reunited: Zoya Tuganova, 70, on her first meeting with her real daughter Luciya, 30, and one of her grandchildren

Back in the days: Zoya Tuganova with her husband in the 1980s

Zoya said of her biological daughter's father: 'He beat up Elvira suspecting that she had not been loyal to him.'

Later, obsessed with feelings his wife had been unfaithful, and believing - wrongly - he knew the identity of his wife's presumed ethnic Russian lover, 'he killed a fellow villager', for which he was jailed, Zoya said.

The stress of her husband's false accusations and murder, along with gossip from neighbours, plunged Elvira into despair and she began drinking heavily becoming helplessly alcoholic. She has since died.

'Luciya's mother drank a lot, so the children - there were two more in the family apart from Luciya - were on their own,' said Zoya.'Often they wandered around the village begging for food.'

'With the father in jail, the mother Elvira - now dead - incapable of caring for her children, Luciya and her siblings were put into a grim orphanage,' reportedThe Siberian Times, in its revealing birth-swap story.

A shellshocked Zoya, now living in the Urals city of Magnitogorsk, said she 'noticed the resemblance' as soon as she saw Luciya, who had been raised by her Bashkir family as a Muslim.

Zoya found Luciya - born like Katya by caesarean in the same maternity hospital on January, 29, 1987 - now a mother of three living in grinding poverty

Katya - the biological child of the Bashkir family - had enjoyed a first-class education, going to university, before following her mother into a managerial job with Russian Railways

'My children are well-built while Katya is fragile,' she said. 'But Luciya is well-built ... and has three children. She's not working.She has a husband - but he doesn't have a regular job.

'My Katya is Orthodox, while Luciya is Muslim, and quite a believer. I couldn't meet Elvira, because she had died.'

Zoya is now trying to build a relationship with the daughter she remembers only fleetingly from the few minutes they shared together after her caesarean.

'The poverty is, of course, terrible,' said Zoya, who said Luciya lives in a tumbledown house, depending on state handouts to raise her children. 'Luciya is very quiet, and humble.'

In contrast, Katya - the biological child of the Bashkir family - had enjoyed a first-class education, going to university, before following her mother into a managerial job with Russian Railways.

Katya had serious medical problems as a child, but Zoya ensured she was treated by the best doctors, and had holidays in the mountains to help her health.

Katya volunteered to track down Luciya after seeing her mother's 'suffering'

'Luciya was very healthy at birth, but because she has had such a hard life, she got disabled, and couldn't get a good education,' said Zoya.

Katya told her mother that if she had been raised by her biological parents 'I'd have died long ago'.

Zoya said that while she suspected a swap when she was at the maternity hospital, the strict Soviet doctors refused to countenance that such a mistake could have been made.

She was threatened with being branded mentally ill which would have jeopardised her prestigious job.

'I was screaming, I was swearing, but the doctors repeated that I was deluded and threatened me with a psychiatric analysis,' she said.

'Of course I consider Katya my own daughter but the thought of finding out about my other daughter, also adult, never left me. Life was making my doubts only stronger.'

Katya volunteered to track down Luciya after seeing her mother's 'suffering' over not knowing what happened to her biological daughter.

Now Zoya and Katya are planning to sue the authorities over the swap.

'Someone has to be responsible for swapping the children,' said Zoya. 'I believe this is a real crime.

'I remember the family name of the obstetrician...so I hope those who are guilty will be held liable.'

Katya said: 'Moral compensation for what happened should be paid to my mum and Luciya. Thank God, I am fine.'
A suspected smash-and-grab burglar in Denver, Colorado, was caught by federal agents after sending selfies of himself with the stolen guns to his friends.

Viet Trinh, 18, was charged with theft from the inventory of a federal firearms licensee Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Denver.

If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to federal charges.

Trinh sent numerous selfies of himself armed with stolen guns to friends. In the messages, he mentioned the possibility of killing people, including police officers.

ATF agents arrested Trinh on August 16.

Viet Trinh, 18, is pictured in a selfie with a stolen gun wearing gloves that prevent fingerprints

Trinh sent numerous selfies with guns to his friends. He sold the guns on Facebook

He told investigators that he and four or five others were driving when they saw a gun shop called Shooter Ready and 'decided to burglarize the business'.

Trinh said he didn't enter the store because he was the 'getaway driver'.

He also admitted driving a stolen vehicle when he and three others stole four rifles from a different gun shop.

Then he told the federal agents he wasn't going to say anything more.

Surveillance footage caught the robberies at Parker Arms and Shooter Ready

Trinh and his friends had stolen dozens of guns before they were caught

'I feel like I'm snitchin' on myself,' he said.

The Denver Post acquired the arrest affidavit filed by agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Trinh's Facebook page under the alias 'Kyle Zimmerman' had information on crimes like car thefts and illegal gun dealing dating back to October 10.

On November 11, Trinh messaged friends asking: 'Know anyone that wants to buy a baby .40? $300.'

On December 20, he wrote 'I got my 9' wit full clips. Mixed with poison hallows, regular hallows and strait meadle jackets.' When asked by text where he got the weapon, Trinh allegedly texted: 'A yistol shop.'

His friend Chris Padilla Jr. wrote November 13 on his Facebook page: 'Glizzy gang boiI got the glizzy9 & 40.'

On November 27, Padilla Jr. used Facebook to try to sell a 9mm pistol possibly stolen from Shooter Ready for $350.

Padilla Jr. and Trinh also allegedly wrote message that included information about a Parker Arms burglary in which four rifles were stolen. The messages included several 'gang' references.

An informant who worked with ATF agents witnessed Trinh, Chris Padilla Sr., Chris Padilla Jr., Jay Martinez and Nathaniel 'Nate' Aragon climb into a white Honda Civic and a grey Honda hatchback late on November 9 at Padilla's home.

The group wore masks, hoodies and gloves during the robberies to try to hide their identities

They used a rock to smash the front window of Shooter Ready on November 10

A security camera at a gun shop called Shooter Ready captured a group of masked people pulling up in a white sedan and a grey coupe at 4.21am on November 10.

The four thieves, each wearing hooded sweatshirts and gloves, used a rock to bash the store window. They entered the store and smashed glass gun display cases and snatched 25 guns, an affidavit says.

Trinh later texted the informant to return to the Padilla home because the thieves had the guns, the affidavit says.

When the informant arrived, the suspects told him they 'hit a store.' There were about 10 guns, which were divvied up. Everyone got about three guns.

At the time, Trinh posted a picture of himself wearing a white and black glove.

ATF agents put Padilla's home under surveillance on January 13, according to court records. Agents saw Chris Padilla Jr. leave the home and get into a car with several other people. ATF agents followed the vehicle to a home nearby.

There was an active warrant for Padilla Jr.'s arrest at the time. When police arrived, four people including Padilla Jr., a juvenile, took off running. They ran through a back yard before police arrested them.

Trinh claims that he was the getaway driver for the Shooter Ready robbery

Padilla Jr. had one round from a 9mm handgun in his pants pocket. He was carrying a backpack containing a black ski mask, a pair of gloves and 12 rounds of .40-caliber ammunition in a back pack.

Police found a Smith & Wesson .40-caliber gun that had been stolen from Shooter Ready in the backyard.

At the same time, police also arrested Chase Scheumert, who was carrying two guns that had been stolen on January 8 from another gun shop called South Platte Tactical.

When ATF agents searched the Padilla home they found two guns including a Anderson Arms .223-caliber rifle. The rifle had been stolen from South Platte Tactical.

The informant said Padilla Sr. was trying to sell a rifle before going to jail that he kept locked in a closet.

In that closet, ATF agents found a 44-40-caliber rifle that had been stolen from Parker Arms, a gun shop that had been burglarized on December 17.

When ATF agents arrested Trinh on August 16 he admitted that the Kyle Zimmerman Facebook page was his.

He initially didn't want to talk about the Shooter Ready burglary because he didn't want to be a snitch, agents said.

He later changed his mind and gave the details about the November 10 robbery and as well as the Parker Arms robbery.
French President Emmanuel Macron today revealed he is 'convinced' the EU will strike a deal to clamp down on cheap workers moving to western Europe.

Mr Macron said he expected an agreement to be in place by the end of the year after he repeatedly warned unfettered free movement could threaten the EU.

The President, who swept to power in May, has stood apart from other EU leaders in warning of the political impact of low-paid eastern European taking jobs in larger, more developed nations.

His latest intervention came on a visit to Bucharest in Romania.

French President Emmanuel Macron (pictured left with his Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis today) has revealed he is 'convinced' the EU will strike a deal to clamp down on cheap workers moving to western Europe

Mr Macron praised Romania's will to 'work together' with France on the issue after talks with Romania's president.

'Posted workers' from Eastern European nations including Romania and Poland continue to pay into the tax and social security systems of their home countries.

This allowing employers to hire them for less than in Western countries where welfare costs are higher.

The majority work in construction, but many also work as welders, electricians or carers for the elderly.

The French president wants to require companies to pay posted and local workers the same salaries and limit postings abroad to up to one year.

'It's not about banning Romanian road transport companies from working everywhere in Europe,' Macron said, referring to Romanian truck drivers often hired by Western European companies.

Mr Macron said new rules must be drawn up to better protect French workers from unfair competition.

Mr Macron (pictured second left with his wife Brigitte, Mr Iohannis and his wife Carmenhas) stood apart from other EU leaders in warning of the political impact of low-paid eastern European taking jobs in larger, more developed nations

Posted workers account for about 1 per cent of the EU's total workforce, but they are perceived as pricing out local workers in Western Europe, putting downward pressure on wages and exacerbating inequalities in wealth.

Last year, the European Commission proposed new rules to regulate pay for posted and local workers, but the proposals were opposed by member states in central and eastern Europe.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said that EU rules needed to be clearer.

He said: 'Nobody wants to create favourable conditions for some and unfavourable conditions for others.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis (pictured centre at a reception for the French President today) said that EU rules needed to be clearer

Mr Iohannis noted close cultural and business ties between his country and France, saying bilateral trade was worth about 8 billion euros ($9.44 billion).

Romania's National Pension House says last year some 50,000 Romanian workers were posted abroad to other EU countries.

Mr Macron also spoke about the 26-country European free-passport zone known as the Schengen zone, which allows citizens to travel without border controls.

He said he was not opposed in principle to Romania joining the group, but said border control of the area must be improved first. 'The Schengen zone is not working well,' he said.

Macron will later travel to Bulgaria which also wants to join the Schengen group.
An entire Sydney school is made up of students who did not grow up speaking English, it has been revealed.

All of the students at Wiley Park Public School in Western Sydney have a 'language background other than English' according to the Daily Telegraph.

Between the school's 520 students, 39 different languages are spoken from 31 countries, including Arabic, Bengali and Vietnamese.

Education experts have warned that students at public schools will suffer due to the creation of a two-tiered education system.

All of the students at Wiley Park Public School (pictured) have a 'language background other than English'

At Hampden Park Public School, 99 per cent of students speak a language other than English

At another west Sydney school, Hampden Park Public School, 99 per cent of students have a 'language background other than English'.

Seven other schools in the area have 98 per cent of students in the 'language background other than English' category, including Punchbowl Boys' High School, Punchbowl Public School, Greenacre Public School and Belmore Boys' High School.

In west Sydney 63 schools have more than 90 per cent of students who have grown up speaking a language other than English.

The average for schools in New South Wales is 52 per cent, in north Sydney it rises to 59 per cent, 60 per cent in the city's southwest and 65 per cent in the west.

St Andrew's Cathedral School principal John Collier told the Telegraph schools needed to allocate significant resources to literacy programs for students who do not have English-speaking backgrounds.

At Punchbowl Boys' High School, 98 per cent of students are from a non-English background

The average for students with a non-English speaking background at schools in New South Wales is 52 per cent (Belmore Boys' High School pictured)

Teachers are asking for more funds to help with literacy (Punchbowl Public School pictured)

'We find that some students who arrive here in kindergarten don't speak any English at all even though they are local children.

'They have been born here in Australia to parents from overseas.

'It is a growing issue as Australia becomes more multicultural.'
There should be a giant eclipse photo contest for all the wonderful images, with a $700 million prize and everyone gets to vote. Until then, here's a terrific NASA compilation of some of the coolest shots from professional and amateur alike.

This revese shot from the ISS with the umbra traversing America is really cool, too:

Let's hope all the excitement and cool pictures will inspire more photographers and explorers!

 Eclipse 2017 photo gallery (NASA)
A woman nearly died after having sex with her husband because the couple's passionate moves had caused her ovarian cyst to break, according to media.

The 26-year-old from China, nicknamed Xiao Qing, was said to be taken to the hospital after experiencing acute abdominal pain following the love-making session.

The ruptured cyst caused her to lose nearly 40 per cent of the total blood volume, but the woman survived the horrifying ordeal, said reports.

A CT scan of Xiao Qing's pelvis by a Hunan hospital indicated a rupture in her ovarian cyst

She suffered sharp pain and had to hospitalised after having sex with her husband (file photo)

Xiao Qing had not seen her husband, 28, for six months because the couple work in two different cities, said Xiaoxiang Morning Post.

The couple were finally able to meet on August 19 after Xiao Qing travelled to Changsha, Hunan Province, where her husband lives.

However, the romantic reunion went wrong when Xiao Qing experienced sharp pain in the abdomen after having sex with her husband.

She was taken to the emergency room of the Hunan Provincial People's Hospital.

Dr Huang Mei told the reporter that Xiao Qing was not pregnant, but there was a large amount of blood and fluid in her abdomen and pelvic area, according to a CT scan.

Xiao Qing travelled to Changsha (pictured) to meet her husband after a six-month separation

Dr Huang performed a diagnostic laparoscopy on Xiao Qing immediately. The test confirmed that she had hemoperitoneum, a presence of blood in the peritoneal cavity.

'There were about 1,500ml of blood loss in her abdomen, which was about 40 per cent of her blood volume. If she was sent in later, there would be life-threatening risks,' Dr Huang told the reporter.

Xiao Qing was also found to have a ruptured ovarian cyst in her right ovary measuring three centimetre (1.18 inches) in diameter.

An ovarian cyst is a fluid-filled sac that is usually non-cancerous, as stated in NHS.

Xiao Qing underwent surgery to remove the cyst in order to treat the ovaries.

Dr Huang explained there were two possible causes of a ruptured ovarian cyst.

One could be triggered by part of a menstrual cycle during a female's puberty due to high blood pressure.

Another cause could be passionate sexual activities, during which the partner could tear the cyst, causing pain during and after sex.

It's understood that Xiao Qing is now recovering from the surgery.
North Korea is facing its worst famine in decades as Kim Jong-un obsesses over his nuclear program, it has been claimed.

Millions of North Koreans are believed to be suffering as a result of international sanctions and the drought currently crippling the country.

With most of the food going to the army, millions of ordinary people are struggling to eat every day, according to Japanese documentary maker Jiro Ishimaru who has a network of citizen journalists in the country.

North Korea (pictured in 2010) is facing its worst famine in decades as Kim Jong-un obsesses over his nuclear program, it has been claimed

Millions of North Koreans are believed to be suffering as a result of international sanctions and the drought currently crippling the country

Yesterday, North Korean state media showed Kim Jong-un (pictured) standing next to the diagram of an intercontinental ballistic missile

With most of the food going to the army, millions of ordinary people are struggling to eat every day. Pictured: : A North Korean long-range rocket is launched

'For one thing, there are too many soldiers to feed,' he told the Guardian, adding that the best food would still only be reserved for top officers.

He added: 'Corruption is rife, so that by the time senior military officers have taken their share of food provisions to sell for profit on the private market, there is next to nothing left for ordinary soldiers.'

Yesterday, North Korean state media showed Kim standing next to the diagram of an intercontinental ballistic missile more powerful than any it has previously tested.

The image of the three-stage rocket known as the Hwasong-13 suggested he is fiercely pursuing the creation of a weapon capable of striking anywhere on the US mainland

It also follows a further escalation in the war of words between the country and US President Donald Trump.

'For one thing, there are too many soldiers to feed,' said Ishimaru, adding that the best food would still only be reserved for top officers

Recent images of Kim standing next to diagrams of a rocket follows a further escalation in the war of words between the country and US President Donald Trump. Pictured: North Korean farmers in 2012

North Korea has condemned the military drills (pictured) the US is conducting with the South

The Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills in South Korea - which themselves are a response to the North's nuclear tests - are largely computer-simulated

The country condemned the military drills the US is conducting with the South and branded Trump 'weird' and 'ego-driven', not long after Trump claimed Kim was starting to 'respect' him.

Kim also threatened to turn the US into 'a heap of ashes' in response to the Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills currently being held in South Korea.

In a special alert last month, the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation the country's 'early-season crop production' was down to a third of the level it was last year.

It added: 'More rains are urgently needed to avoid significant decreases in the main 2017 cereal production season. Should drought conditions persist, the food security situation is likely to further deteriorate.'

Meanwhile sanctions have been imposed on North Korea aimed at slashing its annual export revenue of 2.3billion by a third.

But these penalties are expected to hit ordinary Koreans, from coal mine workers to fishermen.

The sanctions have been imposed on North Korea aimed at slashing its annual export revenue of 2.3billion by a third. Pictured: A missile is fired during the combined military exercise between the US and South Korea
The blundering teacher who taught his students the wrong HSC maths course was in his first year of teaching maths, it has been revealed.

Paul Withers was working as a permanent casual teacher at Coonamble High School in the central western plains when he taught the wrong mathematics course to five Year 11 students and two Year 12 students for seven months.

Withers was sacked by education heads on Wednesday after complaints from the students' families flooded in.

It has since emerged that Withers only became qualified to teach maths last year.

Paul Withers was working as a permanent casual teacher at Coonamble High School in the central western plains when he taught the wrong mathematics course to five Year 11 students and two Year 12 students

Withers' teaching accreditation could also be withdrawn after he taught the students General Mathematics 1 instead of General Mathematics 2 - which put the students HSC testing in jeopardy.

The Coonamble High School teacher reportedly only gained his accreditation to teach mathematics in 2016, according to a post he made on social media.

'Just received approval to teach Mathematics 7-12... a childhood dream aspiration fulfilled,' he said according to The Daily Telegraph.

Withers boasted he was a 'fully fledged mathematics teacher 7-12'.

Withers could also have his NSW teaching accreditation withdrawn after he taught the students General Mathematics 1 instead of General Mathematics 2

His position at Coonamble High School was Mr Withers' first as a maths teacher.

Year 12 students Amber Baker and Kait O'Meagher were the victims of Withers' teaching blunder.

Amber said she wanted to study nursing at university while Kait wanted to study information technology. Both aimed for good ATAR results.

The NSW Education Standards Authority was informed of the situation when the school's principal discovered the mistake.

The principal was at the school just 14 weeks when they realised.

Year 12 students Amber Baker (pictured) and Kait O'Meagher were the victims of Withers' teaching blunder

Amber said she wanted to study nursing at university while Kait O'Meagher (pictured) wanted to study information technology. Both girls aimed for good ATAR results

Withers was at the centre of a student complaint in 2016 when he posted a private conversation on his Facebook page, according to the publication.

'How to answer an antagonistic, belligerent, cantankerous and insulting teenage student. "Many people go through life emotionally. At some stage, a few people stop and begin to go through life intelligently. That's what we do here in class. Personality has got nothing to do with going through life intelligently. Do you get me?'' he said.

'Answer: No.

'Exactly, and that's why I have no emotional investment in what you are doing.'

The conversation was reportedly with a female student in his Year 11 biology class.

Withers was at the centre of a student complaint in 2016 when he posted a private conversation on his Facebook page

Education Minister Rob Stokes is 'furious' that seven students at Coonamble High School have been taught the incorrect maths course

The school's principal and a representative from the Department of Education met on Tuesday night to discuss a solution and reportedly advised students to do their best in the upcoming final exams.

Education Minister Rob Stokes said he was 'furious' seven students at Coonamble High School were reportedly taught General Mathematics 2 after signing up for General Mathematics 1.

The General Mathematics 1 exam counts towards a student's ATAR and is examined during the HSC in September, but General Mathematics 2 is not.

The mistake meant two Year 12 students had just eight weeks to cram for the HSC exam, according to the ABC.

Students at Coonamble High School have reportedly been taught the incorrect maths lessons

The 'utterly negligent' mistake was not exposed until a distraught parent called The Ray Hadley Morning Show to complain about the 'gross oversight'.

Families of the affected students met with faculty, the area education director and the school principal on Wednesday.

The results from the Year 11 do not directly affect a student's HSC or ATAR mark but the lessons provide a necessary foundation for the final year of schooling, AAP reported.

Pupils were reportedly advised by the school to study before and after class, and during holidays, for the next two months to catch up - which Minister Stokes slammed as 'not acceptable'.

Rob Stokes has sent a representative of the Education Standards Authority to visit the school

'Another solution offered was that if they do not do well this year they can do it again next year  that's clearly a laughable solution,' he told Radio 2GB.

Mr Stokes said he instructed a representative of the Education Standards Authority to visit Coonamble High School and find a solution to ensure the students were not disadvantaged.

Education Secretary Mark Scott said he would ensure the students received a 'fair outcome'.

'I've made it clear that I want disciplinary matters looked into,' he added.

Seven pupils taught the wrong maths were reportedly advised to study outside of class time

'My heart goes out to those students and their parents, I am angry on their behalf,' Minister Stokes said.

He acknowledged that the seven students caught up in the wrong class were failed by the education system, and says that it needs to be made up to them.

'Through some oversight they are not being taught what they are about to be examined on,' Mr Stokes said. 'If this was my child I would be furious.'

Daily Mail Australia reached out to Coonamble High School for comment.
As a YouTube-famous inventor Colin Furze is well known for his explosive creations.

But he really has outdone himself this time by taking a simple bicycle and powering it by the thrust of a thousand fireworks.

Footage shows Mr Furze, 37, about to blast off on his custom-built rocket-laden bicycle near his Lincolnshire home.

Waiting for the sun to set, sets off batches of the fireworks by pushing a button on the bicycle's handlebars. He essentially turns into a moving parade of firework.

He said: 'When I was sitting on the bike, I was only one foot away from the first box of rockets, so I was quite nervous.

'I'm not usually too worried about trying out my inventions but I knew with this one that once I pressed the button I couldn't reverse it.'

Mr Curze, a former plumber, was not harmed.

A button located on the custom-made bicycle's handlebars allowed Colin Furze to set off the rockets himself

He sets off 2 different batches of rockets that were placed in two different places in the bicycle

Colin Furze prepares his bike for blast off by attaching a 1,000 rockets to its cart like back
Labour could vote against a third runway at Heathrow airport in a move which could see the controversial project blocked by Parliament.

Allies of Jeremy Corbyn said the party is almost certain to vote against the expansion as the proposals do not pass their environmental tests.

The revelation will raise fresh doubts over the future of the project, which is opposed by up to 60 Tory MPs including Boris Johnson and Justine Greening.

Theresa May committed her party to back the new runway in their manifesto, but in a highly unusual move she will allow her Cabinet a free vote on the issue.

The House of Commons is due to vote on plans to build a third runway at Heathrow next year, but Labour sources say they expect their MPs to vote against the proposals because of concerns over the environmental and noise impact

The House of Commons is expected to vote next year on the 16.5billion to expand the airport.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell is an outspoken opponent of the scheme.

One senior Labour figure told the Financial Times: 'It has to pass our tests and no one here expects that to be likely.'

Another senior Labour figure said: 'If the vote is any time soon there is no way we would back it, mainly on the basis of air quality, and that's unlikely to change any time soon.'

Backers of Heathrow's expansion say the south east of England desperately needs more airport capacity, which is vital for the British economy.

Allies of Jeremy Corbyn, pictured visiting a housing association in Glasgow today, said the party's MPs could join Tory rebels in opposing the airport plans

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Education Secretary Justine Greening have both voice their opposition to the plans to build a third runway at Heathrow

But critics of the scheme say it will create unacceptable levels of noise pollution which would blight the lives of those living nearby.

Labour's manifesto said the party would need to be satisfied that certain environmental conditions were being met if it was to give it's backing to Heathrow.

Mr Johnson has been an outspoken critic of the airport's expansion, describing it as not 'the right solution'.

As London Mayor he pushed plans for alternative 'Boris Island' airport to be built in Kent instead, but these were rejected by ministers.

The plan, which was finally approved last October, has already caused trouble within the Tory Party after Zac Goldsmith sensationally quit as a Tory MP over the issue.

The former London mayor candidate lost his Richmond Park seat to the Lib Dem Sarah Olney in the by-election that followed.

Although he won his seat back in the June 8 General Election.
President Donald Trump sent out a flurry of tweets on Thursday morning defending himself against media critiques of his disjointed speeches that have varied wildly in tone in the last several days.

He made several spelling and grammatical errors in the initial messages that were immediately noticed and mocked by social media users, prompting him to send out new versions that he layered on top of the existing statements. The older tweets were later deleted.

'The Fake News is now complaining about my different types of back to back speeches. Well, their was Afghanistan (somber), the big Rally,' he said the first go around, '(enthusiastic, dynamic and fun) and the American Legion - V.A. (respectful and strong).To bad the Dems have no one who can change tones!'

President Donald Trump sent out a flurry of tweets on Thursday morning defending himself against media critiques of his disjointed speeches that have varied wildly in tone in the last several days

He made several spelling and grammatical errors in the initial messages that were immediately noticed and mocked by social media users, prompting him to send out new versions that he layered on top of the existing statements

The two tweets contained several mistakes, including the use of 'their' when he meant 'there' and 'to' instead of 'too.'

Trump tried again a half-hour later in a set of tweets that correctly deployed the word 'there' - but let in place the grammatically incorrect 'to.'

A third attempt did the job, with Trump tweeting five minutes after the first correction: '(enthusiastic, dynamic and fun) and the American Legion - V.A. (respectful and strong). Too bad the Dems have no one who can change tones!'

The Washington Post, a favorite target of Trump's in his 'fake news' broadsides, had assessed Wednesday evening Trump had adopted a chameleon-like approach to giving speeches in a desperate effort to save his presidency.

First came Trump's measured remarks on Afghanistan and Charlottesville from Fort Myer on Monday, where the president read from a teleprompter and told the nation, 'When we open our hearts to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice, no place for bigotry, and no tolerance for hate.'

The next day he told a large crowd of his supporters in Phoenix that it was the 'damned dishonest' media that was dividing the country as he mused that many in the press are 'bad people.'

'I really think they dont like our country. I really believe that,' he said.

The older tweets were later deleted and replaced with ones that cleaned up Trump's grammar

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper had reeled at the president's remarks on CNN afterward. He questioned Trump's 'fitness' for office and his 'motivation' for being in the White House.

Later on Wednesday Trump spoke to the American Legion in Nevada.

'It is time to heal the wounds that divide us and to seek a new unity based on the common values that unite us,' he said, swinging the pendulum back on the other direction.

Clapper said in reflective comments on Wednesday that America was seeing the 'real Trump' in the off-the-cuff remarks and commented his 'Jekyll-Hyde' act is 'very disturbing.'

Trump took a swing at him, too, on Thursday morning.

'James Clapper, who famously got caught lying to Congress, is now an authority on Donald Trump. Will he show you his beautiful letter to me?' Trump said in a tweet that made reference to Clapper's mea culpa in 2013 that he made a 'clearly erroneous' statement to Congress about domestic spying.

The Washington Post described Trump's maneuvering in a piece that posted on Wednesday night as 'whiplash' that 'exemplifies the confusion and chaos that have come to define his presidency.

'Is Trump trying to heal the wounds of a country torn over this months deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville? Or is he trying to pull it further apart?' White House Correspondent Phil Rucker asked.

In addition to Clapper, the Post brought up Republican Bob Corker of Tennessee's comments last week about the president.

Corker, the chairman of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, said after Trump's response to Charlottesville, 'The president has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful.'
Nine students were arrested after a brawl at an Alabama high school broke out on Wednesday.

Eight male students and one female student were taken into custody after the fight at Theodore High School erupted while students were changing classes at 10.30am, according to Mobile County Public Schools spokeswoman Rena Phillips.

Video posted to Facebook showed students screaming as several of their peers spilled down a set of stairs, exchanging punches.

Nine students were arrested after a brawl at Theodore High School in Theodore, Alabama, broke out on Wednesday at 10.30am (pictured, left and right). Eight male students and one female student were arrested

Video posted to Facebook showed students screaming as several of their peers spilled down a set of stairs, exchanging punches (pictured, left and right). Police have not said why the fight broke out, but no weapons were involved and no major injuries were reported

Police have not said why the fight broke out. Phillips says no weapons were involved and no major injuries were reported.

But the school was on lockdown shortly afterward and some parents arrived to take their children home for their safety.

'I am afraid for my child's life and that's why I'm here to pick him up right now,' Anita Burks, who used to teach at an elementary school, told WPMI.

She said she knows firsthand how quickly school fights can escalate.

'I am aware of the dangerousness of fighting at school because two years ago I was injured in a classroom because of a fight and it messed my back and everything up,' Burks said.

'When you can't have peace of mind of your child being safe, when you're not there to protect them, something needs to be done,' another parent, Lisa Brown, told News 5.

One student, 18-year-old Tyree Baker (left), was taken to the Metro jail. Two other 18-year-olds, Datarivs Nobles (center) and Undraye Crawford (right), were charged with criminal trespassing for coming onto the campus afterward

When the fight occurred, the school (pictured) was placed on lockdown for a short time and some parents arrived to take their children home for their safety

Mobile Police spokeswoman Charlette Solis says eight of the students were taken to Strickland Youth Center. But 18-year-old student Tyree Baker was taken to the Metro jail.

Two other 18-year-olds, Datarivs Nobles and Undraye Crawford, were charged with criminal trespassing for coming onto the campus afterward when they were alerted to a possible fight involving relatives or friends.
Natthan Raknui who is suspected of murder

A man has admitted slitting the throat of a woman who said he 'sucked at sex' after they spent a night of passion at a rubber plantation.

The furious man, named as Natthan Raknui, admitted he had murdered 22-year-old Jiraporn Theppaya after the pair had sex on their first date, according to officials.

Raknui, 23, is said to have admitted to slitting the throat of the young woman before dumping her body at the plant near a canal in the city of Songkhla in the Songkhla province of southern Thailand.

Police said the pair had started talking via Facebook in July, chatting frequently over two weeks.

They then agreed to meet and Raknui rode two hours on his moped to meet up with his date on August 12.

The pair did not have enough money to rent a hotel room so rode to a nearby rubber plantation to have sex.

During the act it is said she slated his sexual skills, saying he 'sucked at sex', which infuriated him.

Security cam shows the two as they rode to the rubber plantation near Prawk Suwan Canal

Raknui (left) allegedly admitted killing the woman before selling his motorbike (right) for 164

Police say he admitted slitting his victim's throat before escaping on his motorbike, which he later sold for 7,000 THB (164).

Her body was found three days later, and police then pieced together what had happened by looking at her internet history.

Raknui is believed to be in custody awaiting sentencing.
A Chinese county has removed loudspeakers from over 300 mosques after getting noise complaints from neighbours about the call to prayer.

Hualong Hui Autonomous County in China's Qinghai province has removed over one thousand loudspeakers over three days.

The removal of the call to prayer has angered muslims in the area who have branded the locals as intolerant. It comes as anti-muslim sentiment rises in China and the Chinese government cracks down on people practicing the Islamic faith.

The oldest main entrance of Dongguan Great Mosque in northern China (File photo)

Muslims listen to an imam during a ceremony to mark the Eid-al-Adha Festival (File photo)

According to a report by state mouthpiece Global Times on August 21, the loudspeakers were removed due to noise complaints.

Environmental protection inspectors allegedly received complaints about noise pollution from local mosques.

Residents close to the places of worship have complained that Islamic calls to prayer wake them up early in the morning and they claim in some cases have aggravated heart conditions of some patients.

Locals were said to have put their support for the new move in posts online encouraging other governments to do the same.

People are making Jumah praying on the street outside Dongguan Great Mosque

In some areas of China such as Xinjiang, the government has been cracking down on mosques

According to Global Times, the call to prayer ritual is not forbidden and Muslims are 'free to practice their religion across China.'

However in some areas of China such as Xinjiang, the government has been cracking down on Islamic activities. Now in the province, people under 18 are not allowed to visit the mosque while burqas and 'Islamic looking' beards have also been banned.

Peter Irwin, World Uyghur Congress Project Manager told MailOnline: 'The article tries to show that there is clear support from the local population. Anti-muslim sentiment has been growing in recent years online, so it is of little surprise that it has emerged in this case as well.'

Muslims prepare to pray during a ceremony to mark the Eid-al-Adha Festival

The removal of the call to prayer has angered muslims in the area who have branded the locals as intolerant

William Nee, China Researcher at Amnesty International told MailOnline: 'In China, there are numerous cases where the government is arresting imams on flimsy charges, sending government cadres to people's homes during Ramadan to ensure they don't pray and banning outward manifestation of Islamic faith.

'Seen in this context, it's highly likely that the move to take down loudspeakers in mosques is a way to ensure Islam literally has a diminished voice in the public square.'
Jeffrey Riegel, 56 (pictured), from Port Republic, New Jersey, got the last laugh in his obituary by taking a shot at the Philadelphia Eagles, asking for eight players as pallbearers 'so the Eagles can let him down one last time'

A New Jersey man took a parting shot at the Philadelphia Eagles in his obituary.

Jeffrey Riegel, 56, from Port Republic, died on August 18 after a battle with cancer. But before his death, he promised friends a funny message in his obituary.

Published in the Press of Atlantic City, Riegel is described as a 'wonderful husband, uncle, brother, and son' before it takes an unexpected turn.

'God gave [Riegel] the miracle of time to prepare which allowed him to verbalize his last wishes. He requested to have 8 Philadelphia Eagles as pall bearers so the Eagles can let him down one last time.' the obituary read.

Riegel was a passionate Eagles fan who owned season tickets for more than 30 years, although the team never won a Super Bowl during his lifetime.

It was not always an easy team to love, said his wife, Donna Lee Riegel. She sometimes suggested he pay allegiance to a different team.

According to her, 'I just can't' was his response.

Riegel's friend, Lou Jiacopello, told the Press of Atlantic City: 'The last time we spoke, he told me to check out the obituary. He wouldn't tell me what it said, but he knew I'd get a kick out of it.

'I had to laugh. But I wasn't surprised. That's just the kind of guy he was.'

Riegel (pictured) was a passionate Eagles fan who owned season tickets for more than 30 years. Eight friends wore Eagles jerseys as they lay Riegel to rest on Thursday at St Paul's United Methodist Church's cemetery

His wife, Donna, said he got to see the Eagles win one last time before his death in their 20-16 pre-season victory on August 17 over the Buffalo Bills (pictured)

Eight friends wore Eagles jerseys as they lay Riegel to rest on Thursday at St Paul's United Methodist Church's cemetery in Port Republic.

Riegel did get to see the Eagles win one last time before his death, his wife said. He saw their 20-16 pre-season victory on August 17 over the Buffalo Bills.

'He got to see them go out on a win,' Donna added, suggesting that may have been what he needed before making peace with death.

A spokesperson for the Eagles declined to comment about Riegel's request.
Selfies have been banned from an unusual religious festival in Italy in which penitents in white hoods and robes flagellate themselves until they bleed.

Hundreds of locals in the medieval village of Guardia Sanframondi in the southern region of Campania will gather this week to beat themselves in the chest with corks containing metal spikes.

It's part of a religious festival known as Riti Settennali di Penitenza (Rites of Penance every Seven Years), which marks the discovery of a Madonna and Child statue hundreds of years ago.

The mayor of the village has banned selfies from the festival for the first time so that attendees can focus on religion and spirituality.

Hundreds of locals in the medieval village of Guardia Sanframondi in the southern region of Campania will gather this week to beat themselves in the chest with corks containing metal spikes. Pictured above, festival attendees in 2010

It's part of a religious festival known as Riti Settennali di Penitenza (Rites of Penance every Seven Years), which marks the discovery of a Madonna and Child statue hundreds of years ago. Pictured above, festival attendees in 2010

The festival started earlier this week and will end on Sunday as several hundred battenti march through the streets of the village behind the statue of the Madonna. During the march, they will pound their chests with 'spugna', a round piece of cork containing needles. Pictured above, festival attendees in 2010

Thousands of tourists are expected to travel to the village to watch the penitents, known as 'battenti', or 'beaters', flagellate themselves until they bleed.

Because the last event was held seven years ago in 2010, the problem of selfies was not an issue until now.

'There should be no selfies with the "battenti". It's better for people to concentrate on the religious aspect and to experience a wonderful day of spirituality, which is a rare thing these days,' the mayor of the village, Floriano Panza, said.

'Seven years ago there weren't many smart phones,' he told La Repubblica newspaper.

The festival started earlier this week and will end on Sunday as several hundred battenti march through the streets of the village behind the statue of the Madonna, The Telegraph reported.

Because the last event was held seven years ago in 2010, the problem of selfies was not an issue until now, so the mayor has banned selfies from the event. Pictured above, festival attendees in 2010

The group will wear hoods to remain anonymous to onlookers, who pour white wine over the penitents to disinfect and clean the wounds. Pictured above, festival attendees in 2010

The festival has been going on for hundreds of years, with the oldest historical document marking the seven-day rituals dating back to 1620. Pictured above, festival attendees in 2010

Throughout the week, episodes of the ancient and New Tesiment will be reinacted and the week of festivities will culminate in Sunday's march.

During the march, they will pound their chests with 'spugna', a round piece of cork containing needles.

A smaller number of flagellanti will join the group in similar clothing, who will beat themselves with metal scourges.

The group will wear hoods to remain anonymous to onlookers, who pour white wine over the penitents to disinfect and clean the wounds.

Emergency responders will be at the procession in case anyone involved needs medical attention.

The festival has been going on for hundreds of years, with the oldest historical document marking the seven-day rituals dating back to 1620.

Rites similar to those in Guardia are common in neighboring regions, where processions also take place.
The fatal shooting that took place at a gender reveal party for a woman who wasn't even pregnant, was drug-related, according to Ohio police.

Colerain Township police spokesman James Love said the home where 22-year-old Autum Garrett, of Indiana, was killed while attending a gender reveal party for Cheyanne Willis, was targeted.

Love said investigators found multiple connections between those who attended the party and three drug rings.

The fatal shooting that took place at a gender reveal party for Cheyanne Willis (left and right in gray), 21, who wasn't even pregnant, was drug-related, according to Ohio police. Her friend Autum Garrett (left rear, in shorts), 22, was killed at the party on July 8

Garrett (pictured with her children and husband) was attending the party with her husband and their two children, who were also wounded in the attack. A total of eight people were injured, which included a third child at the party

The attackers, wearing hoodies, entered through the front door of the home (pictured) while the residents were watching a film and opened fire for one-to-two minutes before fleeing on foot

Garrett, who was shot dead on July 8, was attending the party with her husband and their two children, who were also wounded in the attack.

At the time, Colerain police said Willis wasn't even pregnant, despite, posting on Facebook that she was expecting a boy.

The 21-year-old woman was hosting the party to disclose the gender of her 'baby', when Garret was killed and eight others, including three children, were wounded during the shooting after two men opened fire inside the home.

At least 14 rounds were fired during the shooting at the home on Capstan Drive.

Those who were shot were watching a Spider-Man movie after the party.

Willis was shot in the leg and treated at University of Cincinnati Medical Center before she was released.

Willis (pictured with friends) was shot along with seven others. Willis was shot in the leg and treated at University of Cincinnati Medical Center before she was released

A family member who was also shot had claimed that Willis was no longer pregnant after the shooting. She had told local media she lost her unborn child after she was wounded

A family member who was also shot had claimed that Willis was no longer pregnant after the shooting.

She had told local media she lost her unborn child after she was wounded.

Police said in a statement after the shooting that their investigation had been impeded by 'leads known to be lies' and resistance from crime victims.

'(We) have been given information we have found to be false,' the statement reads.

'Hours and days have been wasted following leads known to be lies when they were provided to our officers. From the very beginning of this investigation, we have met significant resistance that is uncommon from victims of crime wanting a resolution.

'As an example, we were led to believe an unborn child was murdered in this incident only to find out that was not the case. That information is not provided to embarrass anyone, only to provide a fair understanding of the challenges we have faced in the past nine days,' the statement read.

Filmed: On Christmas Eve 2014, Willis, then 19, was filmed being attacked (right) by two people. Her ex-boyfriend Quincy Gardner (right), then 20, was charged with robbery

Also charged was Cheyenne Fisher (pictured, then 21). Fisher had claimed on Facebook that she had 'slapped her up' because she thought Willis had stolen her car

'The Colerain Police Department will not comment further on any other misleading information, other than to say we wish our time had been spent on true leads that would help us remove these dangerous criminals from the streets.

'We ask that those with information to respect the fact that resources will be used to follow up on every lead or tip,' officers added.

The attackers also wrote 'I got my a** whooped' on her head and signed it

Authorities also said they don't have an explanation about why Willis claimed to be pregnant.

This is not the first time Willis has been involved with the police. She was the subject of a brutal attack on Christmas Eve 2014 where she was beat up by another woman in a parking lot while it was filmed.

They then wrote 'I got my a** whooped' on her head and signed it.

Her ex-boyfriend Quincy Gardner, then 20, and a woman, 21-year-old Cheyenne Fisher, were charged with robbery in connection with the incident.

Fisher later said in a Facebook post that she 'slapped her up' because she believed Willis had stolen her car.

Weeks after that incident, a grand jury decided not to indict Gardner and Fisher.

Authorities are asking anyone with information in regards to the shooting to call the Colerain police at 513-321-COPS or text them at 513-470-7165. There is a $10,000 reward in the case.
North Korea has opened its doors to Russian tourists.

The Stalinist autocracy has issued a licence for the first travel agency in Moscow to promise clients 'full immersion' in the nation's culture - and an experience 'safer than an evening walk in London'.

NKOREAN.RU, a Russian company licensed by North Korea's government, offers organised tours for groups of up to 10 people or individuals 'to show the travellers the multi-faceted life of this most closed of countries'.

Guests to North Korea must necessarily be 'checked' before their trip and will always be accompanied by a guide who will monitor the 'adequate behaviour of the tourist and guarantee his safety.'

North Korea is offering Russians a grand tour of their hermetic nation. The most expensive bundle includes a visit to a factory - but probably not with Kim Jong-un as a guide

Travellers, however, have been warned against having long talks with locals and must be 'checked' before being granted entry into the country

Pictures of strategic and military facilities are banned and long talks with locals 'are not recommended'.

The dig at Britain - which Kim Jong-un on Tuesday branded a 'vassal' of the USA while dismissing its soldiers as 'mercenaries' - appears to be a clear reference to recent terror attacks in the country.

Five people were murdered on March 22 when an Islamist terrorist drove his car into pedestrians walking across Westminster Bridge before stabbing a policeman.

And on June 3, a trio of Islamists murdered eight people with similar tactics on London Bridge.

Another feature in the most expensive travel bundle - which costs 1,560 - is a visit to a farm

North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests and dozens of missile tests since the beginning of last year, significantly raising tension on the heavily militarised Korean peninsula and in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.

Two tests of inter-continental ballistic missiles in July triggered a new round of tougher global sanctions.

But a senior Russian diplomat yesterday warned that 'any possibilities of expanding' sanctions against North Korea 'have been exhausted' in a sign of support for the hermetic nation.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov the UN Security Council must instead focus on a political settlement.

North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests and dozens of missile tests since the beginning of last year and attracted sanctions from the US and other countries - but Russia has recently spoken out against more sanctions

Faced with economic problems made harder by multiple sanctions, the Pyongyang government is keen to develop tourism to earn cash.

The most pricey tour, 15 days 'full immersion in the culture of North Korea' costing 118,090 roubles (1,560), includes visits to a farm, a mineral water factory, a Buddhist temple, walks in the mountains and an introduction to national cuisine.

Visits to numerous museums to founding leader Kim Il-Sung are also on offer.

Other less demanding tours include relaxation on a beach, an aviation show and even a beer festival.

It is unclear how popular these trips will be among Russians who have already developed a fondness for visiting Europe and the affordable resorts of Turkey and Thailand.
Sen. Lindsey Graham suggested Thursday that Donald Trump's bare-knuckle feuding with Republicans in Congress is a conscious 'political strategy,' and 'there's nothing crazy about it.'

Institutional Washington has watched with a mixture of shock and horror as the president picks fights with leaders of his own party, but Graham  who has been on the receiving end of many Trump barbs  told radio host Hugh Hewitt that there's a method to the apparent madness of cannibalizing fellow Republicans in public.

The South Carolina GOP senator pointed to his own conference's failure to muster enough votes to fund the border wall that won Trump a groundswell of support from Republican voters last year.

'He's making a conscious decision to let his base know that when I said, "I want to build the wall, I meant to build the wall",' Graham said of Trump's speech Tuesday in Phoenix, Arizona.

'He's running against Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham and others. The Congress is very unpopular, particularly with the Republican base, so there's nothing unhinged about it.'

'It's a political strategy that I'm not so sure is smart,' Graham fretted, 'but it's a very thought-out strategy. There's nothing crazy about it.'

South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham (left), whom Donald Trump has clobbered in the past, told radio host Hugh Hewitt (right) on Thursday that the president's attacks on members of his own party in Congress are part of a 'thought-out strategy'

Graham said of Trump's wild campaign rally Tuesday night that 'he won giving these kinds of speeches' and its was a chance for Trump 'to go back to his base and fire them up and put pressure on the Senate and the House to do things he wants'

That political strategy found Trump tweeting Thursday morning about his disgust with Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

'I requested that Mitch M & Paul R tie the Debt Ceiling legislation into the popular V.A. Bill (which just passed) for easy approval. They didn't do it so now we have a big deal with Dems holding them up (as usual) on Debt Ceiling approval. Could have been so easy-now a mess!' Trump wrote in a pair of tweets.

An hour later he took another shot at McConnell  this time over stalled efforts to replace the Obamacare medical insurance law.

'The only problem I have with Mitch McConnell is that, after hearing Repeal & Replace for 7 years, he failed! That should NEVER have happened!' Trump tweeted.

Graham seemed to shrug it off, saying: 'There's nothing ordinary about Donald Trump, okay? ... This is not an ordinary guy. These are not ordinary times.'

Despite Trump's approval ratings dipping below 40 per cent in some polls, voters think far less of Congress.

A polling average compiled by Real Clear Politics shows that barely 1 in 7 Americans  just 15.4 per cent  approve of federal lawmakers' job performance.

One pollster this month put that number at a dismal 9 per cent.

The last time a national poll put the overall congressional approval rating at 40 per cent or above was May 2006.

Those dismal showings mean members of Congress must tread lightly before punching up at a president whose base is larger, louder and more loyal than their own.

Trump has harshly criticized Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for failing to deliver on legislation that would fulfill many of his campaign promises

The president used his Twitter platform on Thursday to bash McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan over the failed Obamacare repeal effort and a needless coming fight over raising the federal debt limit

Graham batted away Hewitt's questions about Trump's gear-shifting speeches this week that included a raucous campaign rally sandwiched in between somber, teleprompted addresses on Afghanistan and military veterans.

'He won giving these kinds of speeches,' the senator said of Trump's wild moments in Phoenix, concluding that the rally was a chance for Trump 'to go back to his base and fire them up and put pressure on the Senate and the House to do things he wants.'

'He's not the first president to use the bully pulpit to try to push the country in a particular direction or to keep his base on board.'

Graham, a congenial South Carolina Republican, talked turkey about Trump's need to punch down at a Congress whose approval ratings are in the dumpster

The last time a national poll put the overall congressional approval rating at 40 per cent or above was May 2006; now it sometimes reaches single digits

'The President can be very disciplined,' he conceded. 'His Afghan speech was excellent in terms of substance and tone. He listened to the generals, unlike President Obama who ignored sound military advice. President Trump's going to take it.'

'He goes to Phoenix and kind of goes nuts on stage, but that's Donald Trump.'

'The rally is Donald Trump going back to base politics, firing up his base to create political pressure and to keep his people on board for his agenda,' Graham said.

He also advised Trump to 'stop watching cable TV' because 'nobody else watches it. ... Quit watching this junk!'

Trump, he said, called him one night at 11:00 and told him to 'turn on the TV.'

'And I said, "Mr. President, you're watching MSNBC at 11:00. If you stop watching it, their audience goes down by half",' he recalled.

Graham said Trump should turn off cable TV hosts like CNN's Don Lemon, whose job is to please an audience that 'wants to hear [him] say something bad about Trump'

The three major cable news networks, Graham charged, are spouting endless noise in order to capture specific market shares with calculated political biases.

'Don Lemon's a fine fellow but he's paid to be, [CNN's] audience wants to hear Don Lemon say something bad about Trump. People watch Fox who will say something good about Trump.'

And 'if you watch MSNBC,' the message is '"Let me tell you why I hate Trump more than you do".'

'It's all a game. It's all about ratings. It's all about making money.'
The medical examiner's office declared the death of a Brooklyn financier, who was found in his bed following an apparent late-night hookup, to be a homicide.

Neil Rodney Smith, 57, the founder and CEO of Infraccess, a data and analytics infrastructure service, was found dead in his home in Brooklyn, New York, on June 19.

A house guest found Smith's body, face up in bed with a pillow over his head. A wet towel had been wrapped around his face.

The medical examiner has declared that Infraccess founder and CEO Neil Rodney Smith, 57, died of asphyxiation and that his death was a homicide

Smith was found dead in his bed on June 19, with a pillow over his head and wet towel around his face. Authorities say that he might've died as the result of a late-night hookup

Police sources told the NY Daily News Thursday that a closer examination by the ME revealed that Smith had been asphyxiated, a revision of the initial autopsy's inconclusive results.

Authorities are currently investigating the possibility that Smith's death was the result of a late-night hookup.

Smith's house guest told police that Smith had been visited by a man at about 1.30am on the day prior to his being found dead. Surveillance video of Smith's building showed a man arriving at about that time and then leaving the building just 50 minutes later.

The New York Post reports that Smith's house guest heard Smith having sex that night, but that it is unclear if he was intentionally or accidentally killed during the hookup.

Smith's house guest found the financier dead in bed, in his apartment building in Brooklyn

It is unclear if Smith was intentionally or accidentally killed during the late-night hookup

Police said that a woman was seen with the man, but that she did not enter the building with him. It also appeared that there was a charge to Smith's credit card during his encounter with the unknown man.

Police are said to be investigating whether the man was a male prostitute. In June, a police source told the New York Post that Smith had exchanged text messages and Facebook 'stuff' with a man regarding hooking up with each other.

There did not appear to be any signs of trauma to Smith's body.

Authorities are now investigating Smith's death as a homicide and no arrests have been made yet.
Keani Hobbs (pictured), 18, of Basildon and a 16-year-old boy from Camberwell were both today convicted of Mr Meshi's manslaughter following a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court

A pair of teenagers have today been found guilty of killing a loving dad in a horror blaze as he slept outside his children's home.

Tragic Vilson Meshi, 31, died after a stolen marine flare was inexplicably thrown into his Audi A4 estate, causing a 'powerful' five-second blaze which could have burnt as hot as 1,200 degrees.

The smoke from the device fatally filled Mr Meshi's vehicle, making it almost impossible to escape the terrifying ordeal.

Keani Hobbs, 18, of Basildon and a 16-year-old boy from Camberwell - who cannot be named for legal reasons - were both today convicted of Mr Meshi's manslaughter following a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.

Mr Meshi - originally from Albania - had travelled from his home near Manchester to Pitsea, Essex, to see his two children as his ex-Michelle Mehtab was busy dealing with a family tragedy.

The much-loved car wash owner parked up outside the home and went to sleep the night of February 26 last year but was killed yards his children's home in the early hours of the next day.

His body was found in the back seat of the motor after Ms Mehtab realised he was missing.

She had even tapped on the car's windows to see if anyone was in the car - unaware Mr Meshi owned it and he lay dead on the backseat.

Police arrived at 4.30pm, the body was discovered and a murder investigation was launched when the discarded remains of an Icarus flare were found near the car.

It later emerged the defendants stole the flares from Pitsea Marina.

Police also found bags and a bike similar to the ones being used by a suspicious character on CCTV in the area around Mr Meshi's car.

Tragic Vilson Meshi (pictured), 31, died after a stolen marine flare was inexplicably thrown into his Audi A4 estate, causing a 'powerful' five-second blaze which could have burnt as hot as 1,200 degrees

A listening device was also used to gather intelligence on the pair and mobile phone data placed them in the same area.

During the trial, the youth gave evidence in his own defence and said Miss Hobbs was responsible for Mr Meshi's death.

Miss Hobbs did not give evidence but a statement she made in her police interview where she denied the allegations was read to the court.

The pair will be sentenced tomorrow.

Mr Meshi's parents, Islam and Drita Meshi, launching a damning attack on the defendants saying their hearts were 'broken'.

They said: 'We had three children who lived in the United Kingdom.

The smoke from the device fatally filled Mr Meshi's vehicle, making it almost impossible to escape the terrifying ordeal. Pictured, the case of the flare thrown into the car

'We now have two as our son, Vilson, was cruelly, unnecessarily, and mindlessly killed at the young age of 31 years, in a moment of unexplainable criminal madness whilst he slept in his car.

'He was waiting to see two of his three children later that day but he never got to see later that day or his children again.

'Vilson moved to the UK in 2000 and created a successful business employing 12 people.

'But because of the stupid actions of those responsible for his death, there are three children that will grow up without their father, a wife without a husband, a brother and sister without their brother, a mother and father without their son and 12 people without jobs.

'He was a good boy, never in trouble, a loving and caring man who would help anyone that needed it.

'He was very popular and had a love of cars. He belonged to a GT car owners club.'

Mr Meshi's funeral was held in a small town in Albania and more than 4,000 mourners attended, with many from the UK.

'This was the biggest funeral ever held there, which goes some way to showing how much he was loved in life and missed in death.

Speaking after today's verdict Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Jennings of Essex Police said: 'This was a complex investigation and we have been determined to find the truth behind the events that led to Mr Meshi's tragic death'

'Vilson is dead below the ground but we are dead above the ground, our hearts are broken.

'For us, this tragic event has been made so much more difficult to deal with as we live in Albania and have had to regularly come to the UK over the last 18 months.

'We have sat quietly, patiently, calmly, with dignity, for four weeks listening to evidence in the trial of our son's killers.

'No matter what the verdict, it will never bring our son Vilson home or make us feel better about what happened that February morning in 2016.

'What happened has changed our lives forever and probably the lives of the two defendants' families as well,' the added.

Speaking after today's verdict Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Jennings of Essex Police said: 'This was a complex investigation and we have been determined to find the truth behind the events that led to Mr Meshi's tragic death.

'Keani Hobbs and the teenage boy consistently denied any involvement and blamed each other during the trial.

'They have shown no remorse for their actions.'

Mr Meshi's parents, Islam and Drita Meshi, launching a damning attack on the defendants saying their hearts were 'broken'. Pictured, the type of flare thrown into the car

Paul Scothern for the CPS said: 'The pair denied stealing marine distress flares from Wat Tyler Marina, Basildon, then several days later they threw a lit flare into the car where Mr Meshi was sleeping outside his partner's home.

'A marine distress flare burns at an incredibly high temperature and the consequences of throwing a lit flare into an enclosed space such as the car where Mr Meshi was asleep was shocking - tragically he died as a result.

'We were satisfied when reviewing the case that there was sufficient evidence that both were jointly responsible for the theft of the flares and also for Mr Meshi's death. We believed there was no deliberate intention to kill Mr Meshi and that the appropriate charge against them both was one of manslaughter, rather than murder.'

'The jury had to decide whether either of them or both were responsible for Mr Meshi's death.

'After hearing all the evidence they have found both of them guilty of manslaughter and theft.

'We hope Mr Meshi's family and friends can take some comfort from the verdicts and our thoughts are with them.'
Georgia school bus driver Carole Ann Etheridge, 49, has been charged with DUI and 16 counts of child endangerment

A school bus driver from Georgia has been arrested on DUI and child endangerment charges after police say she was caught driving drunk on the job.

Carole Ann Etheridge, 49, was arrested Monday morning for allegedly operating a Walton County schools bus with 31 middle and high school students on board while under the influence.

Etheridge was taken into custody at Loganville Middle School after taking a field sobriety test.

When officers searched the driver's purse, they were said to have discovered one large bottle of Margaretville brand silver tequila, four mini bottles of Stolichnaya vodka and four bottles of prescription pills.

Etheridge's arrest came after a student on the bus noticed that something was not right with the driver and notified a parent, who then contacted the school.

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Incriminating evidence: When officers searched Etheridge's purse, they were said to have discovered one large bottle of tequila, four mini bottles of vodka and prescription pills

Etheridge was arrested Monday at Loganville Middle School in Georgia (pictured)

Ashton Anderson, 16, was among the students on Etheridge's bus route, and he tells CBS46 he was in fear for his life Monday morning.

Shes going 60 to 70mph, from what it seemed like, and she kind of turned into the ditchand she hit a driveway and we started to wobble,' Anderson told the station.

When the high school student asked Etheridge why she was driving this way, he says she replied, I dont feel well.

Etheridge was hired by the Walton County school system in March after passing a background check, less than two months after she was fired from her previous job at Gwinnett County Schools over 'unsatisfactory performance, reported WSB-TV.

Etheridge (left and right) was hired by the Walton County school system in March, less than two months after she was fired from her previous job at Gwinnett County Schools

Mom: Etheridge is a divorced mother-of-two living in Dacula, Georgia

Etheridge, who is a divorced mother-of-two from Dacula, was booked into the Walton County Jail on one count of driving under the influence and 16 counts of endangering a child.

She has since been released after posting $25,762 bond.

A spokesperson for the school district said Etheridge was terminated from her job on Monday.

The Walton County School District does not tolerate any behavior that jeopardizes the safety of our students, Callen Moore said in a statement. We appreciate the swift action of our Transportation Department and local law enforcement officers to ensure the safety of our students.
A couple that were planning to renovate their home ended up finding an entire log cabin hidden within

A couple who were renovating their new home ended up finding a perfectly-preserved 19th century log cabin.

Kevin Kemp and Jennifer Alexander from Ohio were about to demolish the home they had bought in order to build a new house when they found a stunning secret hidden deep within.

As Kevin was removing one of the wood panels to reuse, he and his friend Larry Daniels found the uncovered the log cabin.

'We pulled off one of the pieces of paneling and I said, 'Larry, that's a log,' Kevin said to the Columbus Dispatch. 'We pulled off another and I said, 'My god, this is a log cabin.'

'It took me a minute to process it,' Kemp said in an interview with Fox News. 'You're not ready to see a log cabin inside a modern home and it looks like, just over time, it was forgotten.'

Historians believe the 25-by-30-foot cabin, which is perfectly preserved, was probably built between 1820 and 1840.

Video from the Columbus Dispatch

Kevin Kemp and Jennifer Alexander from Ohio discovered the 1840s log cabin hidden behind their own home when they began to start renovations on their newly-bought propertly

It's believed the cabin is from the 1840s and was in immaculate condition

The cabin has since been dismantled and donated to the city of Dublin, Ohio for it to be rebuilt elsewhere so that future generations can visit the structure for themselves

LOG CABINS IN THE US Log cabins have been around in the U.S. since the early 1600's. It's believed the first ones were built near the Delaware River and Brandywine River valleys. They have become a symbol of Americana, with seven U.S. Presidents having been born in them, most famously, Abraham Lincoln. Andrew Jackson, James Buchanan were also born in log cabins. Advertisement

Kevin and Jennifer have now halted their renovations for now and contacted city officials to help preserve unexpected historic artifact which they are donating to the city.

Once it is dismantled, the city intends to rebuild it elsewhere for future generations to enjoy and for people to examine and tour for themselves.

Tom Holton, president of the Dublin Historical Holton described the cabin as a 'once-in-a-lifetime' find.

'It was startling and was just kind of wonderment to see history just peeled away, to see history revealed right before your eyes,' he said.
The Saudi security forces have put on a bizarre and elaborate parade showing their troops doing backflips off exploding barrels, smashing head first into a car window and kicking criminals in the chest.

Performed just ahead of the arrival of around 2 million Muslims in Mecca for the Hajj - or pilgrimage - the show of agility and tactics is meant to reassure visitors who might be on edge.

In June, police in the country said they had foiled a terror plot to hit the Grand Mosque in the city - the holiest in Islam - after exchanging gunfire with suspects before one blew himself up.

One of the soldiers jumped head-first into the back of car window in a demonstration meant to show the agility and bravery of Saudi's security forces

Hundreds of soldiers jogged slowly along a track with their heads fixed loyally on a member of the Saudi royal family

A foe is shown firing an RPG in one of the choreographed displays

One of the particularly agile soldiers manages to do a backflip off an exploding barrel

The mosque was seized in 1979 by extremists who wanted to see the overthrow of the ruling House of Saud before soldiers restored order.

In the peculiar video, hundreds of troops can be seen jogging slowly with their rifles while looking loyally to representatives of the royal family.

Cars are then brought out and, in a piece of choreographed action, a battered-looking vehicle begins to drive away after a soldier pulls desperately on one of its doors.

Loyalty: Members of the Saudi royal family look on as troops offer displays of fealty

A policeman stands on the side of an armoured car as the Saudi government shows off its security forces

Lethal and loyal: Some soldiers salute while others point their rifles

Soldiers hang from helicopters with coloured smoke flowing behind them

It speeds off but two police cars with sirens quickly block it off - before a soldiers sprints along the road and dives head-first into the back window of the car.

A fight then breaks out, during which one soldier jumps on another's back to deliver a two-footed kick to the chest to one of the balaclava-wearing foes.

One of the soldiers then does a backflip off an exploding barrel during a mock raid of a home defended by an RPG-wielding enemy.

Hajj begins on August 30 - next Wednesday - and ends on September 4.
It's not everyday someone gets to see a rainbow.

So when two appeared after a rainstorm in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, a videographer based in Pennsylvania decided to capture the moment.

In the video, the camera lens spans the full length of the rainbow.

Onlookers can also be seen filming and taking photos of the meteorological phenomenon outside the stores and restaurants.

At one point in the video one woman can be heard saying: 'It's a double.'

Before the recording ends the video captures the full landscape of the scenery including the gray sky post rainstorm.

A rainbow appeared in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, after a rainstorm

Onlookers were excited to see the phenomenon and decided to take pictures of the rainbow
The earliest introduction of domestic chickens and black rats from Asia to the east coast of Africa came via maritime routes between the 7th and 8th centuries AD.

In a paper published last week in the journal PLOS ONE, an international team of researchers, including Professor Mark Horton from the University of Bristols Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, used new techniques to analyse ancient DNA and proteins from 496 bone samples from 22 island, coastal and inland sites in eastern Africa.

The earliest confirmed samples of chickens and rats were found at open-air island port sites, suggesting the animals were introduced by traders engaged in the robust Indian Ocean maritime trade, and subsequently spread inland.

The Swahili coast has long been an important point of contact between Asia and Africa. This cultural region stretching from southern Somalia to northern Mozambique includes many islands, as well as the Comoros and Madagascar.

During the Medieval period (7th-15th century AD), maritime trade took off between this region and other areas of the Indian Ocean.

Archaeological evidence for this vast trade network includes imported ceramics, glass beads and Asian crops. Now, domestic chickens and black rats can be added to this list, with their earliest introductions in eastern Africa dating to between the 7th and 8th centuries AD.

Dr Nicole Boivin of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, senior author of the study, said: Archaeologists have been debating the timing, mechanisms and social contexts of the arrival of Asian plants and animals to eastern Africa for a long time.

The competing models are, on the one hand, a very early arrival of Asian species starting around 3000 BC as suggested by some previous studies, and on the other hand, a more modest, mid-first millennium AD arrival in connection with the archaeologically-confirmed maritime trade routes.

To address this debate, the researchers analysed bone samples from 22 sites in eastern Africa, in inland, coastal and island contexts.

In total, 52 possible chicken samples and 444 possible rat samples were analyzed.

Dr Mary Prendergast of Saint Louis University, Madrid Campus, lead author of the study, added: One challenge for any biomolecular analysis of tropical specimens is the poor preservation of organic materials in hot and humid conditions.

The researchers thus applied a variety of standard and cutting-edge techniques to analyze both the bones and their ancient DNA and proteins, and undertook radiocarbon dating of the samples. In the case of the black rats, the researchers used Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) to analyze ancient proteins in the samples and identify species by their so-called collagen fingerprints.

Because proteins preserve better than DNA in tropical settings, ZooMS offers the possibility of quickly and efficiently identifying species in a wide range of preservation states.

The team confirmed the presence of chickens at open-air port sites in Zanzibar as early as the 7th to 8th century AD.

People living at these sites are known to have been engaged in maritime trade in the Indian Ocean at this time, and the finding suggests that chickens were introduced through these trade networks.

Black rats also appear in the islands in approximately the 7th to 8th century AD at port and cave sites, with a tantalizing potential earliest date of the 5th century AD at the port site of Unguja Ukuu in Zanzibar that requires further confirmation.

The rats likely arrived, as they did in many places around the world, as stowaways on trade vessels. The two species do not appear on the mainland until much later, in the second millennium AD.

These findings offer important insights and additional evidence of the contact and interactions between the peoples of the Indian Ocean world.

Just like today, ancient trade and shipping helped bring new animals, plants and foods, but also spread invasive species.

Maritime trade in the Indian Ocean appears to have intensified in the medieval period, leading to an increase in such transfers. The results of this study also confirm that there were multiple introductions of domestic chickens, today an important food source and ritually significant species, to different parts of Africa at different times.

Not all species introductions were so useful. The rats that were carried on ships to East Africa were likely major pests, and the simultaneous appearance on the coast of domestic cats, a pest-control species, was probably no accident.

The arrival of rats, a famous vector for the plague, comes close on the heels of the Justinian Plague outbreak of 541-542 BC in the Eastern Roman Empire and around the Mediterranean. Plague today is a disease of serious concern in Madagascar and eastern Africa, where it claims more victims than anywhere else in the world.

Rats are also a well-established transformer of ecosystems, and on many islands globally they appear to have contributed to species extinctions after their introduction.

Work is currently underway at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History to understand the impacts of rats on eastern African islands, as well as their broader global spread and role in pathogen dispersal.

Professor Mark Horton added: Discovering these bones in stratified contexts on these islands have contributed to our understanding about the connections between Africa and the Indian Ocean world during the first millennium AD.
A driver who has been suspended 81 times was arrested after he caught behind the wheel AGAIN.

Dillon Garcia, 21, of Medford was arrested on Wednesday afternoon at exit 46 on Sunrise Highway in Oakdale, New York.

Highway Patrol Officer Charles Nicotra, for the Suffolk County Police Department, was monitoring traffic with a plate reader when it showed the license plate on a 2007 Chrysler 300 was suspended.

Dillon Garcia's mugshot taken by the Suffolk County Police Department

And that license plate belonged to Dillon Garcia who has had his license suspended 81 times before he was pulled over.

A police spokeswoman says suspensions usually occur after someone fails to pay fines or appear in court to answer charges.

Dillon was charged with second degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle according to the Medford Patch.

His car was impounded and he was called to appear in court for a suspended license plate, failure to surrender the license plate and an uninsured vehicle.
Walter Kershaw (pictured) fell in love with Catherine Mitchell and they had an affair when she asked him to paint her portrait

A renowned artist dubbed the 'Original Banksy' has been jailed for breaching a restraining order against a woman he became smitten with when she agreed to pose nude for him.

Walter Kershaw, 76, who is best known for his giant murals painted on the side of houses and industrial buildings, fell in love with Catherine Mitchell and they had an affair when she asked him to paint her portrait in 2006.

But, after the 12-month relationship ended, Kershaw began stalking his ex-lover around their hometown of Littleborough, Rochdale, a court heard at the time.

Kershaw, a father of two, followed Miss Mitchell around a supermarket, sent her letters and drove slowly past her home blowing kisses, as well as putting up one of three portraits he had painted of her in the window of his art gallery.

He was handed a two-year restraining order which stopped him from contacting Miss Mitchell and her mother, Marjorie, in 2013 - and was given a suspended prison sentence in 2015 after breaching the order.

Bury Magistrates' Court heard that in 2015 Kershaw contacted Miss Mitchell's mother by leaving a message on her answer machine saying he had 'stupendous news', which he followed up with a letter.

Laid bare: Kershaw fell in love with Miss Mitchell (left) after painting her nude - this picture (right), not of her, was on display in his gallery when he was given the restraining order in 2013

'Original Banksy' Kershaw's allegedly put his victim's portrait in the window of his gallery in Littleborough, near Rochdale, before he was given the restraining order

Speaking at the time Richard Birtwistle, defending Kershaw, said: 'He had received the "stupendous" news which he mentioned in the phone message, that his work is now going on the syllabus at Oxford and Cambridge universities.

'That means that the value of his work in a collection will increase significantly and so he wanted them to know that the artwork they possess has increased in value.'

Kershaw, who has been the subject of radio and TV documentaries and whose best-known work includes the Trafford Park murals of the early 1980s and 1990s, was jailed for 16 weeks, suspended for two years, and given an indefinite restraining order stopping him from contacting either his former partner or her mother, directly or indirectly.

Breath-taking style: A mural painting by Kershaw at Trafford Park, Old Trafford, in Manchester

He was also warned that he would be jailed if he breached the order again.

But in February this year Kershaw saw Miss Mitchell in the Co-op in Littleborough.

He followed her to the till and then into the car park, where he attempted to strike up a conversation with her.

At Manchester Magistrates's Court last week Kershaw was jailed for a total of 26 weeks for breaching the restraining order and breaching a suspended sentence order. He was also ordered to pay a 115 victim surcharge.
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Innocent civilians are being needlessly maimed and killed by all sides in the battle to retake Raqqa from ISIS, human rights charity Amnesty has warned.

Thousands of people have been trapped inside the city by ISIS and are being subjected to indiscriminate artillery and mortar bombardment by US-backed coalition forces and airstrikes with banned cluster bombs by Russian-backed government forces, the report says.

If residents try to flee they are shot by ISIS fighters or blown up by booby traps set along possible escape routes. If they stay, and survive the shelling, they risk being killed in crossfire as the jihadis use them as human shields to launch attacks.

 Slide me  Civilians are being needlessly maimed and killed by all sides in the battle to retake Raqqa from ISIS and more must be done to protect them, according to Amnesty observers (pictured, damage to Raqqa's Old City between June 2016 and June 2017)

 Slide me  US-backed coalition forces are accused of using indiscriminate artillery strikes on civilians areas, while Russian forces allegedly bombed refugee camps using banned cluster bombs. ISIS is using civilians as human shields. Pictured is a bakery where Abdallah Allawi, his wife Muntaha, and their seven sons, aged between three and 18, were killed in an airstrike

Syrian Democratic Forces launched their final assault on Raqqa in June, backed by US air support. Pictured are civilian areas in the Ihsewa crossroad area that have been badly damaged since the fighting started

In two months since the final phase of the offensive to retake the city was launched, Amnesty documents 175 deaths including 60 children that were caused mostly by the US-led coalition and allied forces.

However, the report's authors warn this is only the tip of the iceberg, largely because Russian forces and ISIS do not give data on civilian casualties. The report also accuses coalition forces of hiding the true extent of casualties.

ISIS first took control of Raqqa in 2013, making it the first provincial capital in Syria to fall entirely into the terrorists' hands. As a result it was named the group's de-facto capital in the Middle East.

The operation to retake the city, spearheaded by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, was launched on November 2016 and the final phase - the battle for the city itself - began in June this year.

SDF and US forces have made significant gains fighting ISIS on the outskirts of the city in two months of fighting, but it has come at a cost to civilians. Russian and Syrian government forces are fighting in settlements south of the Euphrates River

Between 10,000 and 50,000 civilians are thought to still be inside Raqqa, largely held there by ISIS as human shields. Those who escaped say the militants shoot anyone who tries to flee and lay booby traps along likely escape routes

Residents of Raqqa say ISIS has been herding them into the Old City (pictured), where they plan to make their last stand in a similar fashion to Mosul, in Iraq, which was liberated last month

Civilians inspect damage to a building caused by a US airstrike in this image which was released by the media arm of ISIS

While the SDF and US-backed allied group push into the city itself, Syrian government forces backed by the Russians have been fighting to retake areas located south of the Euphrates River.

It is not known precisely how many civilians are left inside the city, though UN estimates range from 10,000 to 50,000 people. Most are being kept there by ISIS fighters.

Testimony from those inside the city suggests that coalition forces have been hitting areas of the city with artillery bombardments, fired without a specific target.

Survivors also told Amnesty International that coalition forces have been targeting boats crossing the Euphrates River, one of the only viable escape routes for civilians trying to flee the city.

Even if they make it to the opposite shore, survivors told Amnesty that Russian and government forces used unguided rockets and banned cluster bombs to attack makeshift camps.

Fighters for the Syrian Democratic Forces are seen inside Raqqa as they fight to retake ISIS's de-facto capital and its last major stronghold in the Middle East

Civilians say US forces have been targeting boats they use to cross the Euphrates and escape the city. Once on the other side, they say Russian or government forces used internationally banned cluster bombs to destroy makeshift camps

Usama, a 14-year-old boy, sustained massive injuries during the suspected cluster bomb attack

'We know they were cluster bombs because it was not one big explosion in one place; there were many small explosions over a very large area. The explosions set the tents on fire, so we lost everything,' said Zahra al-Mula, who lost four relatives in the attack.

Donatella Rovera, a senior adviser at Amnesty who led the study, said: 'As the battle to wrest Raqqa from Islamic State intensifies, thousands of civilians are trapped in a deadly labyrinth where they are under fire from all sides.

'Knowing that IS use civilians as human shields, US coalition forces must redouble efforts to protect civilians, notably by avoiding disproportionate or indiscriminate strikes and creating safe exit routes.

'Things will only get more dangerous as the battle reaches its final stages in the city centre. More can and must be done to preserve the lives of civilians trapped in the conflict and to facilitate their safe passage away from the battleground.'
A Bengal tiger cub travelling from Mexico to California was confiscated by U.S. border officials on August 16.

Luis Eudoro Valencia, 18, a U.S. citizen from Perris, California, was charged on August 17 with unlawful importation and smuggling, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Agents allegedly found the cub lying on the floor of the 2017 Chevy Camaro on the passenger side while doing a routine inspection at about 1.30am on August 16 at the Otay Mesa border crossing, southeast of San Diego, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

U.S. border officials confiscated a Bengal tiger cub at the Mexico border on August 16

The cub was found on the floor of 18-year-old Luis Eudoro Valencia's Chevy Camaro

All species of tigers are protected because they are endangered

Valencia told the court that he purchased the tiger for $300 from someone he met in the Mexican border city of Tijuana who was walking a full-sized tiger on a leash.

All species of tigers are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, and are protected.

To legally import an endangered species into the United States requires a permit from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and a declaration filed with the agency.

Prosecutors say Valencia lacked both.

Legally importing an endangered species into the United States requires a permit

Valencia said he bought the tiger for $300 from a man in Tijuana who had a tiger on a leash

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service officials took custody of the cub and are working with the San Diego Zoo to care for it.

Valencia was released on a $10,000 bond and ordered to appear for a preliminary hearing on September 5 in federal court in San Diego.

The Bengal tiger is found primarily in India with smaller populations in Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Myanmar. There are fewer than 3,000 left in the wild.
A woman has been grilled by police in Saudi Arabia after getting behind the wheel of a car dressed as a man.

The unidentified driver donned robes and a traditional headdress, usually worn by men, before climbing into a white SUV.

The footage was later posted on social media where it went viral receiving more than 20,000 views.

A woman driver was grilled by police in Saudi Arabia after getting behind the wheel dressed as a man

There is a social taboo against woman driving in Saudi Arabia and many viewers called for the authorities to take action against those responsible for the footage.

Security services probed the clip and worked out it was shot at a 'recreational facility' in the town of Al Khafji, in the north-east of the country.

Police questioned both the owner of the car and the man who runs the site over alleged anti-social behaviour.

They have also questioned two women identified as Arabs although their nationalities have not been given.

The case will focus on the nature of the suspects' relationship as Saudi Arabia does not allow the free mixing of unrelated men and women.

The footage was later posted on social media where it went viral receiving more than 20,000 views

There is no law banning women from driving in Saudi Arabia but many believe it goes against the social traditions of the Middle Eastern country.

Women who challenge the taboo have repeatedly been accused of 'stirring up public opinion'.

The topic of whether women should be allowed to drive leads to regular rows on social media with both sides using social, religious and economic arguments to support their points.
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Three elderly brothers arrested in a shockingly depraved child porn case may hold the key to an eight-year-old missing girl case that left cops baffled.

Octogenarian Charles Emery stayed part-time in an isolated farmhouse in Shelton, Washington, just half an hour from the home where Lindsey Baum went missing.

Charles Emery 82 (above) along with brothers Thomas Emery, 80, and 78-year-old Edwin Emery were charged Monday with two counts of possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexual conduct

Emery, who is suffering from dementia, and his brothers Thomas, 80, and Edwin, 78, are currently in jail on $500,000 bond after a 'disgusting' stash of child porn was discovered in their home on a quiet street in Seattle.

The items were 'littered, floor to ceiling,' prosecuting attorney, Daniel Satterberg, said.

Many of the items involve pictures of little girls being raped and murdered and cops believe all three of the brothers may have spent their entire lives living out their twisted fantasies.

Among the items found are used children's underwear, used condoms, dozens of penny loafer shoes and soda bottles laced with vodka.

A hand-written manifesto detailing 'ritualistic and satanic sacrifices' of young girls was also discovered, along with descriptions of how the girls should always wear penny loafers before their murders.

The three brothers, all bachelors without children, each face two charges of possession of child pornography.

Detectives from Washington's Gray's Harbor Sheriff's Department probing the Lindsey Baum case have asked to be on hand for any searches of the Emery property in Shelton, which is in neighboring Mason County.

'Because of the proximity of the property to where the young girl went missing we are looking to see if there is any possibility of the Emery brothers' involvement, Gray's County Under Sheriff David Pimentel told DailyMail.com.

Police continue to search the Emery brothers' home on Wednesday afternoon, as a tow company removed vintage cars from the shed on the property. Police say they discovered an immense collection of child pornography, girls' clothing and disturbing writings about raping and murdering children inside their cluttered home

The findings have led authorities to ask detectives from Washington's Gray's Harbor Sheriff's Department probing the Lindsey Baum case to be on hand for any searches of the Emery property in Shelton, just half an hour from the home where she missing. The 10-year-old went missing in 2009 in McCleary, Washington

A flyer about the Baum case was found inside the Shelton home, where Charles Emery, 82, a former janitor at Seattle Children's Hospital, lived part-time with his brother Donald, who died last October. She disappeared while on a 10-minute walk home from a friend's house

A flyer about the Baum case was found inside the Shelton home, where Charles Emery, 82, a former janitor at Seattle Children's Hospital, lived part-time with his brother Donald, who died last October.

Pimentel said that at present there is no concrete evidence to link the missing girl to the three alleged pervert siblings. 'But we are going to ask for our detectives to be there for the searches although it is not our investigation,' he said.

Lindsey went missing on June 27, 2009 from McCleary, Washington, where her mother Melissa had moved from Tennessee after her divorce.

'McCleary felt like a nice, quiet, safe town,' Melissa Baum told NBC's Dateline last year. 'The kids were making friends and doing well. Everything seemed to be smoothing over for us finally.'

The fifth grader and her brother Joshua were visiting a friend after a day swimming. Lindsey and her brother had a fight and the boy went home early. She left the friend's house for the 10-minute walk home alone and was never seen again.

The case gained nationwide publicity, with Lindsey's face appearing on the cover of People magazine the following year. No-one has ever been arrested in her disappearance although at least 40 people have come under suspicion.

The latest to fit that description is Charles Emery, who is now in a home for dementia sufferers. Prior to that he had lived with his younger brothers in the Meridian section of Seattle.

Neighbors in Seattle tell DailyMail.com that they would often see Charles walking up and down their street looking for his truck, which, due to his befuddled state of mind, he believed had been stolen.

'I would see him regularly, probably once a month,' said one neighbor, who declined to give her name. 'He would always ask if I had seen his truck because it had been stolen again.

A Packard Super Eight, and a Ford Model A have been removed with one more car scheduled to be removed on Thursday August 24

It is understood the vehicles will be searched for DNA evidence. Thomas and Edwin Emery both insisted they never went inside the garage where many incriminating items were discovered

'I understand his relatives had taken it because he clearly wasn't fit to drive.'

'What upsets me more than anything else is that I thought he and his brothers were just harmless old men  and I think I have a pretty good "creep radar,'"' added the woman.

'Nothing about them raised my alarm.'

Two vintage cars, a ramshackle World War II-era Packard Super Eight convertible and a tan-colored Model A Ford built around 1930, without an engine, were towed from the house's garage on Wednesday. A third car was due to be removed on Thursday.

It is understood the vehicles will be searched for DNA evidence. Thomas and Edwin Emery both insisted they never went inside the garage where many incriminating items were discovered.

Anyone with information about the Emery brothers case please contact MARTIN.GOULD@DAILYMAIL.COM

Cops have been combing through the Emery house in the Meridian section of Seattle for two weeks. What they have found hoarded in nearly every room has disgusted them.

Among the items discovered on the property include thousands of 'images of minor female children both clothed and nude and engaged in sexually explicit conduct and lascivious display,' according to a criminal complaint filed in court in Seattle.

They also found several miniature vodka bottles. One of them contained the initials of their great-niece with the inscription that her 'first half ounce of liquor came from this bottle.'

Also discovered were: 'dozens of pairs of children's shoes, most of which are penny loafer style shoes with pennies inserted in the front of the shoes; several pairs of minor female children style underwear containing stains and indicia of use; children's socks; dozens of books and articles related to child homicide, child sexual assault, and missing and murdered female child victims to include both local and national cases,' according to the complaint.

Police officers and federal agents in hazmat suits descended on the home on August 19, more than a week after getting a tip from the Emery siblings' relative. They found thousands of 'images of minor female children both clothed and nude and engaged in sexually explicit conduct and lascivious display'

Cops were alerted to the horrific contents of the house, by a niece of the brothers who had been appointed legal guardian to Charles Emery as she is his closest healthy relative. The search also turned up alleged evidence of sexual exploitation of young girls, children's clothing, underwear, shoes, toys and movies

'Of note, law enforcement discovered a pink child's hat partially buried next to a burned handwritten letter (similar to those letters discovered in prior searches in which the sexual abuse and homicide of female children was contained) in a dirt crawl space,' the complaint states.

Cops were alerted to the horrific contents of the house, by a niece of the brothers who had been appointed legal guardian to Charles Emery as she is his closest healthy relative. She was trying to get Charles's property in order.

The niece told police that she had been molested by at least two of brothers when she was a child as had her mother. She said Charles made her dress in shoes and socks similar to those found in the house before the abuse.

The niece told cops she had burned some of the material before she realized just how awful it was.

But on August 9 she took 'several large trash bags' full of child porn and clothing to the cops. The images were so disturbing that Seattle Detective Daniel Conine would only describe two of them in detail in the complaint.

One of them, Conine said, was a full-frontal picture of a girl estimated to be between 8 and 10, wearing only pink and orange hairpins, with an electric drill in her hands.

'The image is designed to look like the cover of a magazine, and the word 'Builders' is headlined at the top of the photos,' wrote Conine. The words 'Put yourself in the hands of these absolutely astonishing and gifted builders. These tireless workers will build a castle of joy for you,' are printed along the photograph.

The second picture of a naked girl appeared to come from a now-defunct website called 'vestalgirls.com'.

A a tan-colored Model A Ford built around 1930, without an engine, was towed from the house's garage on Wednesday. Cops have been combing through the Emery house in the Meridian section of Seattle for two weeks

A hand-written manifesto detailing 'ritualistic and satanic sacrifices' of young girls was also discovered, along with descriptions of how the girls should always wear penny loafers before their murders

Officers who arrived on the property reportedly found it crammed 'floor to ceiling' with a staggering trove of child pornography, including photographs, videos and related materials

'It's very clear that these three individuals have an obsession with young female children,' Capt. Mike Edwards of the Seattle Police Department told reporters Monday. 'They've had this obsession for most if not all of their lives and in some cases acted out on that obsession against family members.'

Edwin, the youngest of the Emery brothers, told detectives he was the only one who used a computer and he often downloaded child porn for his brothers. He was investigated in 2013 after taking a computer to Office Depot for repair. Workers there discovered 20 images of child porn and reported it to police.

However, cops said there was not enough evidence at the time to gain a conviction against him so he was not prosecuted. None of the brothers have any criminal record.

During interviews, police say both Thomas and Edwin Emery 'remained nonchalant and relatively unconcerned about the serious nature of the investigation.'

Edwin, cops say, 'confirmed that he is sexually attracted to females who are at the beginning of puberty, and usually around the age of 12.'

Thomas 'denied having any sexual interest in children, or anybody for that matter.' When asked why his brother had said he regularly gave him pornographic pictures, Thomas said Edwin must have misunderstood him, because he was asking for 'information about model houses.'
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is defending his brother Max from claims he may have been inebriated when he was arrested at a house party near the family's Hyannis Port estate in the early hours of Sunday.

'I can tell you that Max Kennedy was sober as a judge,' Robert Jr told the Cape Cod Times.

'He hasnt had a drink or a drug for 35 years.'

Meanwhile, a female guest at the party who asked to not be identified provided a video to the paper showing 12 people singing 'Piano Man' at 1:19am, just before police broke up the 'rowdy' party.

That is when Max reportedly screamed, threw himself at the wall, and smashed a cabinet according to a police report obtained by DailyMail.com.

The son of late senator Robert F Kennedy was joined by his daughter at the police station soon after when she ran after her father.

'From what I saw, she was just trying to make sure he was all right,' said family friend Robert Nixon.

'She was really upset about him. What is being reported is very far from the truth.'

Just a few days prior, Max had been photographed out sailing with Dennis Kucinich.

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Testament: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (above ion April) said his brother was sober when he was arrested on Sunday and has not had a drink or drugs in 35 years

Denny: Another partygoer shared video showing guests 'calmly' singing Billy Joel just minutes before police broke up the 'rowdy' party (Dennis Kucinich and Max sailing over the weekend)

Matthew 'Max' Kennedy, 52, and his daughter Caroline, 23, were taken into custody for disorderly conduct and a noise violation on Sunday in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts

According to Barnstable Police Officer Armando Feliciano, who arrived at the scene just after 1am, the father-daughter duo 'incited...an angry mob' among members of the party.

Caroline, 23, reportedly refused to give police her information and admitted to being drunk while she was booked.

Her father, 52, was described to be 'sweating profusely' and had 'noticeably' blood-shot eyes.

They were charged with disturbing the peace and violating a noise ordinance. Both of the Kennedys were bailed out that same night.

Details of their arrests emerged a day after the father-daughter duo's mugshots were revealed.

Police busted the loud party on Sunday at 172 Irving Avenue, in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, after receiving multiple calls complaining about a 'loud party and fireworks.'

In his report, Feliciano described seeing people 'drinking and singing music on a microphone,' once he arrived at the scene.

The officer made his way to the front door of the home where he asked a woman if he could speak to the person in charge of the party.

According to Feliciano, a sweaty and 'glass-eyed' Max Kennedy then came to the door and 'immediately became angry' with the officer.

Post-party hang: Rory and Ethel Kennedy sit in a golf cart with the grandchildren of Robert F Kennedy in the background earlier this week

Curb it: Cheryl Hines was also in Hyannis Port over the weekend with her husband

They were partying at a rental home close to the historic Kennedy compound (pictured) in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, which was bought by RFK's father in 1928

Caroline Summer Rose Kennedy, pictured, goes by the name Summer

Matthew 'Max' Kennedy (pictured), son of Robert F Kennedy, was arrested along with his daughter on Sunday at around 1am after complaints about a loud party

'He appeared to be very unsteady on his feet and his movements were erratic,' - and had been 'sweating profusely' the police report stated.

After he asked Kennedy for identification, the 52-year-old began to scream at the officer to not enter the home.

Party guests allegedly turned the music back up while Feliciano attempted to bring the disturbance under control.

He writes that at that time, 'I had made several efforts with several different guests to end all the noise disturbance to no avail,' so Feliciano proceeded to enter the home.

However, Max Kennedy reportedly responded by 'screaming incoherently and throwing himself at the wall.'

'When he hit the wall, he grabbed a wall cabinet (filled with glass valuables) and threw it smashing its contents.'

After a brief struggle, the officer put Kennedy in handcuffs in front of members of the party who began to yell 'you don't know who you're messing with.'

Max Kennedy (who was born Matthew Maxwell Taylor Kennedy)the son of Senator Robert F Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy, is a writer and previously worked as a district attorney in Philadelphia.

The party was held here, at a home once used by Judy Garland on her summer holidays. Locals had complained about the noise and fireworks, and police asked them to turn the volume down

The Garland House is seen top-right here; the Kennedy compound far left. Police say they arrested the Kennedys after they refused to turn down the music. No-one else was arrested

Kennedy's arrest, sparked outrage among the party guests who went outside and into the middle of the road as he was put in custody. Feliciano then requested additional back up.

He said a woman, who was later identified to be Kennedy's daughter Caroline Summer Rose, approached his cruiser and opened the door - which flared up the crowd even more.

Caroline was handcuffed and placed into a separate cruiser.

No-one else was arrested at the party.

According to reports, the 23-year-old refused to cooperate with police during her booking and admitted she was drunk.

She told officers, 'I went to Brown and I'm a teacher, sweetheart!' before sticking out her tongue and bursting into tears.

Max Kennedy, who was also believed to be drunk, was given a breath test, but no alcohol was detected.

Barnstable Police Lt John Murphy told the Boston Herald that the law was punishable by a $100 fine and arrest.

If found guilty, they will not face jail time, as neither of them has a criminal record, police said.

Both Kennedys were released on their own recognizance the night they were arrested, and Max was arraigned in Barnstable District Court on Monday.

His pretrial hearing on the disorderly conduct charge is set for November 22.

Caroline Kennedy's arraignment has been set for the same date. It's unclear why she was not arraigned around the same time as her father.

The property does not belong to the Kennedys - although Max lives elsewhere in Hyannis Port.

It is a nine-bedroom rental home known as the 'Judy Garland House' after the actress, who used to spend her summers there.

Max is probably best known for the book he wrote about his grandfather, 'Make Gentle the Life of This: The Vision of Robert F Kennedy.'

He is one of nine children born to Robert and Ethel Kennedy.

His arrest, and that of his daughter, comes eight months after his nephew - Conor Kennedy, son of RFK Jr - was arrested.

Conor Kennedy, an ex-boyfriend of Taylor Swift, was charged with disorderly conduct after he punched a man outside a nightclub on December 29 in Aspen.

However, he avoided going to court after agreeing to a plea deal that saw him given a six-month deferred sentence.

The Kennedy compound was purchased by Joseph P. Kennedy Sr, father of RFK and John F Kennedy, in 1928. It was expanded upon, but the original structure was built in 1904.
A California house fire that left four people - including two children - dead on Wednesday is now being investigated as a murder-suicide.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said they believe 48-year-old Eric Gonzalez shot his wife Karina Gonzalez, 35, and their daughters, eight-year-old Priscilla and six-year-old Beatrice, before setting their Bloomington house on fire and turning the gun on himself.

Detectives recovered handguns inside the residence and arson investigators believe the fire was intentionally set.

A California house fire that left four people - including two children - dead on Wednesday is now being investigated as a murder-suicide. Eric Gonzalez, 48 (left), is accused of killing his two young daughters and his wife, Karina, 35 (right), before setting fire to the house and turning the gun on himself

Detectives recovered handguns inside the residence and arson investigators believe the fire was intentionally set (Pictured, Priscilla Gonzalez, eight)

The bodies of the children and the suspect, Eric Gonzalez, were found in two bedrooms as firefighters extinguished the blaze (Pictured, Beatrice Gonzalez, left, six, and Karina)

Deputies and firefighters responded just after 7.30am to a report of a fire at a single-story home in the 17900 block of Santa Ana Drive on Wednesday.

Witness and friend Jessica Contreras told KABC she was coming to pick up Karina Gonzalez for work when she saw smoke coming from the house.

She and other witnesses called 911.

The bodies of the children and the suspect, Eric Gonzalez, were found in two bedrooms as firefighters extinguished the blaze, according to a news release.

Karina was found unresponsive in front of the home and emergency responders attempted to resuscitate her on the front lawn. She died shortly after being rushed to a hospital.

It took firefighters 20 minutes to bring the blaze under control. Most of the damage was confined to a front bedroom.

The family had lived in the home for about 15 years, according to neighbors and relatives. The woman's brother, Manuel Salinas, told KTLA that his sister was a hard-working mother.

Karina (right, with Eric) was found unresponsive in front of the home and emergency responders attempted to resuscitate her on the front lawn. She died shortly after being rushed to a hospital

It took firefighters 20 minutes to bring the blaze under control. Most of the damage was confined to a front bedroom (Pictured, family home)

'She was a nice person, she was motivated,' Salinas said of Karina Gonzalez. 'She had her two kids, she used to work a lot.'

Several dozen people attended a vigil for the family Wednesday night, lighting candles and leaving flowers in front of their home.

'It was small but it was very respectful and a way to remember them,' said local pastor, Patsy Lara, told the San Bernadino Sun.
The White House said Thursday that a Republican senator's critique that President Donald Trump has not demonstrated the 'stability' it takes to be a successful leader is 'ridiculous and outrageous.'

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the the assault on Trump by Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker 'doesn't dignify a response from this podium,' batting down the Republican lawmaker's suggestion that Trump is mentally unfit for office.

Democrats have intermittently raised the topic, but Corker, who Trump considered last summer for vice president, was the first Republican leader to call Trump's mental competence into question.

The White House said Thursday that Republican Sen. Bob Corker's critique that President Donald Trump has not demonstrated the 'stability' it takes to be a successful leader is 'ridiculous and outrageous'

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the the assault on Trump by Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker 'doesn't dignify a response from this podium,' batting down the suggestion that Trump is mentally unfit for office

Democrats have intermittently raised the topic, but Corker, who Trump considered last summer for vice president, was the first high-ranking Republican to call Trump's mental competence into question

His comments were echoed by former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Clapper wondered after Trump's comments Tuesday night in Arizona whether the sitting president should have unfettered access to the nation's nuclear codes.

He directly mentioned Trump's 'fitness to be in this office' in comments on CNN.

'I also am beginning to wonder about his motivation for it,' Clapper said in an interview with Don Lemon.

Huckabee Sanders was facing reporters for the first time on camera since the president began his working vacation three weeks ago when she took questions from behind the White House podium on Thursday afternoon.

Twice this week she had held what's known as a gaggle on Air Force One while Trump was traveling from Washington to Arizona and Nevada back to Washington. Those are not taped and are accessible only to reporters traveling that day with the president.

She had not held a televised briefing since Corker's comments a week ago or Clapper's statements after the Tuesday rally.

Asked what her response to Corker's assessment was, Huckabee Sanders said: 'I think that's a ridiculous and outrageous claim and doesn't dignify a response from this podium.'

Corker told reporters last Thursday in measured remarks that Trump 'has not demonstrated that he understands what has made this nation great.'

'The President has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful,' Corker said.

Former CIA director Leon Panetta danced around the question on Thursday after Huckabee Sanders' briefing, eventually telling CNN's Jake Tapper that 'those are real' issues as he noted that there 'are a lot of concerns' that Trump doesn't understand what it takes to govern.

Sen. Lindsey Graham said Thursday that Trump's feuding with Republicans in Congress, at least, is a conscious 'political strategy,' and 'there's nothing crazy about it.'

'He's running against Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham and others. The Congress is very unpopular, particularly with the Republican base, so there's nothing unhinged about it,' the Republican senator who's been on the receiving end of Trump's attacks said.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders dodged her way through pointed questions about whether President Trump would carry out his threat to shut down the government to get funding for a southern border wall.

Sanders, in her first on-camera briefing since Trump's working vacation and off-script rally Tuesday night, said Trump would continue to fight for funds, without repeating the president's shutdown phrase.

'The president has talked pretty extensively about this,' Sanders told White House reporters Thursday.

'He campaigned on the wall. He won on talking about building a wall. And he's going to make sure that gets done, and he'll continue to fight for that funding and ensure that it takes place,' she said.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders dodged questions about whether President Trump would carry out his threat to shut down the government to get funding for a southern border wall Thursday

Trump threatened on Tuesday night: 'Believe me, if we have to close down our government, we're building that wall.' The Republican House has passed funding to begin construction on a physical wall, but getting it through the Senate would be a challenge.

Sanders declined to repeat the threat. 'The president's committed to making sure this gets done. We know that the wall and other security measures at the border work,' she said.

'We've seen that take place over the last decade, and we're committed to making sure that the American people are protected. And we're going to continue to push forward and make sure that the wall gets built,' she added.

Pressed on the threat of a shutdown, she said:'Look, I think the president has been clear that this is a priority. Protecting American citizens is a priority. That's something he's committed to and we're going to, as I've said multiple times today, he's committed to seeing that through.'

President Donald Trump threatened a government shutdown over the wall at a rally at the Phoenix Convention Center, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017, in Phoenix

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders dodged questions about whether President Trump would carry out his threat to shut down the government to get funding for a southern border wall Thursday

Asked specifically if he was willing to force a shutdown, she said: 'I think I've answered this question several times.'

Congressional Republicans have a history of coming out on the wrong end of government shutdowns when they tried to gain leverage with Democratic presidents, with polls showing damage to the GOP after a shutdown under President Barack Obama.

ABC's Jonathan Karl pressed Sanders on Trump's repeated claims during the campaign that he would make Mexico pay for the wall. The line became such a staple that Trump would regularly ask his campaign rally crowds: ''Who's going to pay for it?' To which crowds would yell in unison: 'Mexico!

'He's not saying that Mexico is going to pay for it,' said Karl. 'He hasn't said they're not either,' replied Sanders.

The Mexican government has said emphatically that it is not paying for the wall.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders pauses while speaking to reporters at the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017

In this June 8, 2016, file photo, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, left, hugs Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, in Mexico City

According to a leaked transcript of a conversation between Trump and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, Trump pleaded with his counterpart to work out some kind of a deal and stop saying Mexico won't pay for the wall.

'The only thing I will ask you though is on the wall, you and I both have a political problem. My people stand up and say, Mexico will pay for the wall and your people probably say something in a similar but slightly different language,' Trump said, according to the Post transcript.

'But the fact is we are both in a little bit of a political bind because I have to have Mexico pay for the wall  I have to,' Trump said.

President Donald Trump (seen above at a campaign rally in Phoenix on Tuesday) threatened Tuesday night that he might shut down the federal government unless Congress provides funding for his promised border wall between the U.S. and Mexico

Pena Nieto responded: 'I have recognized the right of any government to protect its borders as it deems necessary and convenient. But my position has been and will continue to be very firm saying that Mexico cannot pay for that wall.'

Trump responded: 'But you cannot say that to the press. The press is going to go with that and I cannot live with that.'

Trump's own comments about the wall were far more direct than his spokeswoman's during his Tuesday night rally where he issued his shutdown threat.

'Now the obstructionist Democrats would like us not to do it,' the president said in Phoenix, Arizona.

'Now the obstructionist Democrats would like us not to do it,' the president said during a rally speech in Phoenix, Arizona. 'But believe me: If we have to close down our government, we're building that wall'

President Donald Trump (seen above at a campaign rally in Phoenix on Tuesday) threatened Tuesday night that he might shut down the federal government unless Congress provides funding for his promised border wall between the U.S. and Mexico

'But believe me: If we have to close down our government, we're building that wall.'

Trump also accused congressional Democrats of putting American security at risk for not supporting the proposal, which was one of his marquee campaign pledges, and which many of them oppose  as does a majority of the public.

'We are building a wall on the southern border, which is absolutely necessary,' he said.

'Let me be very clear to Democrats in Congress who oppose a border wall and stand in the way of border security,' Trump continued: 'You are putting all of Americans' safety at risk.'
Business / Companies

by Agencies

Zim's services delivery under spotlight as the The Zimbabwe Customer Experience and Service Delivery Symposium is set. The Chartered Institute of Customer Management (CICM) in partnership with Contact Centre Association of Zimbabwe (CCAZ) will be co-hosting the event that is penciled for August 30th in the capital.According to the organizers the meeting will bring new insights into effective service delivery in both the public and private sectors."The conference will set a stage for an inclusive framework that will help improve service delivery across all sectors of the economy."It will bring together the corporate community and Government departments to discuss on the service delivery status of Zimbabwe at a macro level and find out ways on how best to improve the status quo."Our speakers will shift your paradigms, challenge your assumptions, and spark new insights on customer experience," said the Chief Executive Officer of the Chartered Institute of Customer Management, Dr. Ricky Harris.Delegates expected to attend the event include directors, CEOs, general managers, policy makers, Local Authorities, departmental heads from public and private sectors, contact centre and customer service personnel.The thrust of the Customer Experience and Service Delivery Symposium is in line with Government-led initiatives to enhance the efficiencies of state entities and local authorities.Government, through the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) is undertaking several economic reforms in the context of Ease of Doing Business to transform the business environment to be more transparent, fair, honest, cost effective and competitive.This should ultimately project Zimbabwe as a competitive investment destination, hence attract the much needed foreign direct investment and economic transformation.The current reform processes involve the amendment of any regulations that are deemed to be a hindrance to business growth.And with specific reference to 'customer experience', the Government is also in the process of promulgating a Consumer Protection law, which will provide for the setting up of an effective and efficient national complaints handling body.Speakers will include Honorable Minister for Information, Communication and Technology and Courier Services Supa Mandiwanzira who will be also guest of honor, Ambassador Mary Sibusisiwe Mubi, senior principal director in the Department of Public Affairs and Knowledge Management in the Office of the President and Cabinet; Denny Marandure CEO of ZOL, Rosemary Siyachitema Executive Director of Consumer Council of Zimbabwe; Memory Nguwi and Reuben Gwatidzo president of Information Society Initiatives Trust among others.The significance of a Customer Experience and Service Delivery Symposium is critical insofar as increasing competition has made it more difficult for organisations  both public and private  to retain customers against the backdrop of shrinking disposable income.The Chartered Institute of Customer Management (CICM) is a globally-recognised customer service and call center professional board, which carries out a series of customer-centric conferences across Africa. Other events hosted in the country include the Customer Service Week which is tabled to run from the 2nd to the 6th of October 2017.This will include a Breakfast meeting on the 4th of October 2017 where the Customer Satisfaction Index for all sectors will be presented. The Annual Service Excellence Awards to be held on the 30th of October will be the the highlight of the year.
'Multiple' drill sergeants have been suspended after sexual assault allegations on Fort Benning near Columbus, Georgia.

A female trainee at Fort Benning accused a drill sergeant of sexual assault.

After the accusation, other allegations that trainees were victims of sexual assault and other sexual misconduct surfaced.

The 96 graduating soldiers of the US Army's Rangers School in August 2015. There is no suggestion anyone pictured in this photo has been accused of or is a victim of the allegations

Fort Benning spokesman Ben Garrett said that the complaint led to investigators uncovering more allegations of 'sexual misconduct' between drill sergeants and trainees, according to a Fort Benning news release.

No one had been charged in the case as of Wednesday.

Garrett said 'there are multiple drill sergeants involved in the investigation' and that they are not releasing the number of suspensions because 'that is still part of an ongoing investigation'.

After one female trainee came forth about the sexual assault, other allegations followed. There is no suggestion anyone pictured in this photo has been accused of or is a victim of the allegations

The base is also not releasing the number of trainees involved and Garrett was unsure if all were female.

In May, the Pentagon reported there were 6,172 reports of sexual assault filed across all military service branches in 2016, compared to 6,083 the previous year.

Located on the Georgia-Alabama state line, Fort Benning is a post that conducts soldiers' basic training and is home to the Army's infantry school, armor school and the Army Ranger school.

Soldiers board a plane to Afghanistan from the US transit center in July 2010. There is no suggestion anyone pictured in this photo has been accused of or is a victim of the allegations

More than 11,000 soldiers are stationed full-time at Fort Benning, plus a weekly average of roughly 17,000 trainees.

Fort Benning started integrating women into its training programs for combat positions for the first time in May, according to the New York Times.

The Army base has offered counseling, legal and medical services to all trainees involved in the case, according to the base's news release.
After Judge James asked Wills to refrain from using obscene language, Wills responded with 'Who are you to tell me what to do?'

A foul-mouthed man was jailed for contempt of court after screaming 'who are you to tell me what to do?' at a judge - and calling him a 'p****.'

Jordan Wills lost his rag after he was warned twice to stop swearing as he appeared in the dock for an unrelated matter.

The 22-year-old, from Dover, Kent, called Canterbury Crown Court judge Simon James a 'p****' before starting a ruckus with dock security.

After Judge James asked Wills to refrain from using obscene language, Wills responded with 'Who are you to tell me what to do?'

Angry Wills then started swearing at the shocked judge during the case yesterday morning.

Wills was swiftly removed from court by security to be held in the cells, not before he tried to burst back into the court room to yell 'I love you' at his girlfriend.

Judge James sentenced the lout to two weeks behind bars after refusing to accept his apology.

His lawyer, James Ross, said Wills had misunderstood what had been happening in court and allowed his emotions to take over and 'it tipped him over the edge'.

Judge James said: 'Your conduct was wholly unjustified and completely unacceptable.'

The judge said his threats and abuse would not be tolerated his court room.

The 22-year-old, from Dover, Kent, called the Canterbury Crown Court judge a 'p****' before starting a ruckus with dock security

He added: 'You asked me: 'Who are you to tell me what to do?'

'Well I am the judge and I am tasked with maintaining the dignity in courts..

'I accept your apology but I need to make it clear to you and others that such behaviour is not going to be tolerated.'
Qantas has announced it is looking into launching direct flights from Australia's east coast to London and New York in the next five years.

However, the goal will only be possible if manufacturers Airbus or Boeing can make a jet capable to going the distance.

No aircraft that is currently in service has the range to fly the direct routes with passengers and luggage at full capacity but two next-generation aircraft  Boeing's 777X and a long range version of Airbus' A350  are close.

On Friday, as part of its financial results announcement, Australia's national carrier challenged the manufacturers to give the aircraft in development the range to take travellers from Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane to London and New York without a stopover.

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Qantas is planning to deliver non-stop flights from Australia's east coast to London and New York in the next five years

The longest flight route in the world at the moment is Qatar Airway's non-stop flight from Doha to Auckland, which launched in February.

The airline flies a Boeing 777-200LR to cover the more than 14,500km journey, taking almost 17 hours.

Qantas' proposed routes from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane would slash up to four hours off the total journey to London, currently at around 24 hours.

It would cut up to three hours on flights from Melbourne to New York, which CEO Alan Joyce has previously called the airline's 'holy grail' city.

The proposed non-stop flights from Sydney to London would take 20 hours and 20 minutes, cutting three hours and 45 minutes off the journey time.

The Sydney-New York flight is estimated to take 18 hours and seven minutes, saving travellers two hours and 43 minutes due to the lack of a stopover.

The time savings come mostly from eliminating transit time from stopovers but also from removing the need to slow down to descend, land and taxi to the gate.

'From next year we'll be flying direct from Perth to London, which is a huge leap forward,' Mr Joyce said on Friday.

'We believe advances in technology in the next few years will make Sydney to London direct a possibility and Qantas is well placed to be the airline to do it.

'Any aircraft purchase would have to meet strict financial thresholds, but these direct flights would be revolutionary for air travel in Australia.'

Qantas previously announced it will have its first direct flights from Australia to Europe on offer next year.

The first flights on the Perth-London route, the airline's longest, using the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner  taking around 17 hours to cover 14,498km  will take off in March 2018.

Mr Joyce has previously called the Perth-London route a game-changer for travel, tourism and trade.

'When Qantas created the Kangaroo Route to London in 1947, it took four days and nine stops,' he said last year.

'Now it will take just 17 hours from Perth non-stop. This is a game-changing route flown by a game-changing aircraft.'
President Trump's election integrity commission will finally hold its first public working session on Sept. 12 in New Hampshire.

The panel will meet at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, according to a notice published Thursday in the Federal Register, and anyone can register to attend.

Trump established the advisory group in May and charged it with uncovering vulnerabilities in America's election system that lead to 'fraudulent voter registrations and fraudulent voting.'

The president has insisted that 'millions' of illegal votes were cast against him last November  enough to give Hillary Clinton a moral victory by winning the popular vote.

But there has been no evidence to back up his claim.

President Donald Trump is just 3 million cases of voter fraud away from proving his claim of widespread wrongdoing, and his voter commision was set up to make the case

A notice published in the Federal Register on Thursday lays out details of the meeting, which will take place Sept. 12 in Manchester, New Hampshire

Trump won the Electoral College tally by a 306-232 margin, stunning the nation, but he wasn't satisfied.

Less than three weeks after winning White House, the president tweeted that '[i]n addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.'

And just days after being sworn in, he told a group of congressional leaders at a White House reception that widespread voter fraud had threatened his victory.

Reports from that meeting described Trump complaining about between 3 million and 5 million illegal votes.

Clinton collected 2.8 million more votes than Trump, largely by running up the score in Democrat-dominated states like California and New York.

Trump first claimed on November 27, 2016 that he was robbed of 'millions' of votes

On July 19, 2017 the president spoke during the election integrity panel's first meeting, which was held in the White House complex

Asked the next day if Trump actually believed 3 million or more people voted against him fraudulently, then-White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters that 'the president does believe that, I think he's stated that before, and stated his concern of voter fraud and people voting illegally during the campaign, and continues to maintain that belief based on studies and evidence people have brought to him.'

Hillary Clinton collected nearly 3 million more votes than Trump in the 2016 presidential election but lost in the Electoral College

Trump had earlier cited a 2012 Pew Research Center report that found 1.8 million deceased people on America's voter rolls and 2.75 million who were improperly registered in more than one state.

Overall, the Pew study found, 24 million U.S. voter registrations  1 in 8  are either invalid of 'significantly inaccurate.'

Pew, however, did not claim that many, or even any, of those people actually voted illegally. it only concluded that they were registered improperly.

Still, two White House officials told DailyMail.com over the summer that the president maintains his belief that the 2016 election was rife with fraud.

Trump's 12-member election commission held a 2-hour meeting in Washington on July 19, dominated by a speech by Vice President Mike Pence and the swearing-in of members.

The president told commission members that 'every time voter fraud occurs, it cancels out the vote of a lawful citizen and undermines democracy. Can't let that happen.'

'Any form of illegal or fraudulent voting, whether by non-citizens or the deceased, and any form of voter suppression or intimidation must be stopped.'

Vice President Mike Pence co-chairs the commisson with Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (right)

He also reiterated his claim, based on anecdotes from people he met on the campaign trail, about 'voter inconsistencies and irregularities which they saw, in some cases having to do with very large numbers of people in certain states.'

Two days later, during then-White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci's only press briefing before his unceremonious firing 10 days later, he was asked about Trump's '3 million' claim.

'If the president says it  let me do more research on it  my guess is that there's probably some level of truth to that,' he told reporters.

'I think what we have found sometimes is that the president says stuff, some of you guys in the media think it's not true. It turns out it's closer to the truth than people think.'

On the day of the commission's first meeting, vice chair Kris Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state, told MSNBC that it was impossible to say for sure that Clinton actually won the popular vote.

'We may never know the answer to that,' Kobach said. 'We will probably never know the answer to that question because even if you could prove that a certain number votes were cast by ineligible voters, for example, you wouldn't know how they voted.'

Commission co-chair Kris Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state, claimed in July that 'we may never know' whether Hillary Clinton legitimately polled more votes than Trump

The conservative Heritage Foundation maintains a database of proven voter fraud cases, with 1,071 cases including 938 criminal convictions.

Some, however, date back to the 1970s.

Recent cases of election fraud are both scant and bipartisan.

A Virginia man drew a 100-day jail sentence this month for faking voter registration forms while working with a Democratic Party operative.

An Iowa woman pleaded guilty in June to voting twice in 2016, each time casting an absentee ballot for Trump.

She told investigators that she believed Trump's campaign-trail claims that the November election would be 'rigged,' and feared that her first ballot would be illegally changed to benefit Clinton.

A Republican election judge in Illinois cast an absentee ballot for her late husband, who died before he could fillit out on his own.

More than 137.7 million Americans voted in the 2016 elections.
IRA informer Sean O'Callaghan who claimed to have thwarted a plot to kill Charles and Diana has died aged 63, a close friend has said.

It is understood the convicted republican killer died while swimming in a pool in Jamaica.

The Co Kerry native was in the Caribbean visiting his daughter.

O'Callaghan detailed the inner workings of the IRA in his best-selling book, The Informer, in 1999.

IRA informer Sean O'Callaghan who claimed to have thwarted a plot to kill Charles and Diana has died aged 63, a close friend has said

Among his revelations was the claim he thwarted a plot to murder the Prince of Wales and Princess Diana in the 1980s.

O'Callaghan was jailed in the 1990s after walking into a police station in England and admitting two IRA murders. He was released in 1997.

He lived under the threat of reprisal from former IRA associates ever since he went public about his life as an informer.

Senior republicans dismissed O'Callaghan as a Walter Mitty character whose claims were embellished or untrue.

O'Callaghan joined the IRA in the mid-1970s.

He was involved in various operations, including a 1974 mortar attack on the British Army's base at Clogher in County Tyrone in which a female soldier was killed.

In 1974 O'Callaghan murdered Detective Inspector Peter Flanagan, an Ulster Catholic officer, by shooting him repeatedly with a handgun in a pub.

Among his revelations was the claim he thwarted a plot to murder the Prince of Wales and Princess Diana in the 1980s

In 1976, aged 21, O'Callaghan ended his involvement with the Provisional IRA and moved to London.

By the end of the decade, he had turned informer and started providing information to the Irish Garda.

He was close friends with historian and author Ruth Dudley Edwards.

'It's beginning to hit the news that Sean O'Callaghan, the IRA killer who became an unpaid spy for the Gardai, has died,' she said.

'He drowned yesterday while swimming in a pool in Jamaica, where he was visiting his daughter.

'He was a man of exceptional ability and courage, and he spent most of his life finding ways of atoning for the crimes he had committed before at 20 he realised he was fighting in a squalid sectarian war rather than a resistance movement.

Senior republicans dismissed O'Callaghan as a Walter Mitty character whose claims were embellished or untrue

'He and I were very close friends for more than 20 years.

'And, like all his friends, I loved him very much and owe him a great deal for his insights, his wise advice, the depth of his knowledge of politics, history and the human condition.'

O'Callaghan supported relatives bereaved in the 1998 Real IRA Omagh bomb in taking a landmark civil case that resulted in four republicans being held liable for the outrage.

Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden died in the bomb, passed on his condolences.

'My experience of Sean O'Callaghan was always a positive experience,' he said.

'He did a great deal to help the Omagh families get some form of justice.'

Earlier this year, O'Callaghan gave evidence, from a secret location, to a Belfast inquest examining the sectarian murder of 10 Protestant workmen near the South Armagh village of Kingsmill in 1976.

He named two senior IRA men as being responsible for the massacre.
A 22-year-old man is accused of stabbing his father 100 times before allegedly telling police, 'my name is God. I killed Satan.'

John William Shenko, 22, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his 60-year-old father, Kevin Shenko, who was found dead on the ground outside of his home on August 13 in St. Charles Township, the Chicago Tribune reported.

'I'm not getting off of him, you're going to have to shoot me,' the son told the deputy who arrived to the horrific scene, according to a recent court filing by Kane County prosecutors. 'My name is God. I killed Satan.'

The man allegedly repeatedly asked the deputy to kill him when he found him naked and on top of his father covered in blood.

John William Shenko (above in arrest photo), 22, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his 60-year-old father

Kevin Shenko (above right with John) was found dead on the ground outside of his home on August 13 in St. Charles Township. He was stabbed 100 times allegedly by his son

His son allegedly repeatedly asked the sheriff's deputy who responded to the scene to kill him when he found him naked and on top of his father covered in blood. Kevin is pictured above with his daugther

A psychological exam was requested by prosecutors for Shenko, who is being held in jail on $2million bond.

According to court records, an evaluation was filed on August 18, but it has been withheld from the public.

Assistant State's Attorney Joe Cullen revealed what the responding sheriff's deputy witnessed when he arrived to the gruesome scene at the family's residence after a report of someone screaming was filed.

The 22-year-old man was straddling his father's dead body saying, 'Die, die, die, die, die,' Cullen wrote of what the deputy witnessed.

Shenko ignored several commands, so the deputy used his Taser, according to documents.

The suspect's mother told authorities that he son had a 'long history of mental illness' and had even been hospitalized three times for psychological issues.

A psychological exam was requested by prosecutors for the suspect (left), who is being held in jail on $2million bond. The obituary for the slain father-of-two (right) said that he worked as a supervisor at a spray nozzle manufacturer in Glendale Heights.

His mother also said he had been diagnosed with autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. She said he suffered from aggression dating back to grade school and had reported suicidal thoughts.

According to court documents, he also has previously hidden knives beneath his mattress, plotted to kill one of his teachers, threatened to stab himself and was 'extremely abusive' to his mother, who he at one point punched in the face reportedly.

'Due to the defendant's violent behavior, Ms. Shenko and her daughter shared a bedroom and would sleep with the door locked in fear of the defendant's behavior,' Cullen wrote.

Prosecutors requested the evaluation to assess his sanity due to the possibility Shenko 'might rely' on an insanity defense during the trial or that he might plead guilty but mentally ill in the case, according to the Tribune.

The obituary for the slain father-of-two said that he worked as a supervisor at a spray nozzle manufacturer in Glendale Heights. He was remembered as a passionate fisherman.
A coworker was slapped with life in prison for beating and burning to death a store manager on Black Friday so that he could take her store keys and steal $50,000.

Clarence David Mallory, 22, was sentenced to spend the rest of his life behind bars in the death of Ashlea Ann Harris, 31, in a Fort Worth, Texas, courtroom on Thursday.

Mallory was found guilty along with his girlfriend Carter Carol Cervantez, 28, of killing the American Eagle store manager, who they both worked with, on Black Friday in 2014.

The couple bound Harris, brutally beat her and burned her body and apartment building in order to take the woman's store keys and steal $50,000.

Kevin Rousseau, Tarrant County prosecutor, said of their crime: 'At a minimum this took at least a month of planning. They stalked Ashlea Harris like people stalk a deer.'

Clarence David Mallory, 22, (left) was sentenced to life in prison Thursday in Fort Worth. He was found guilty of killing American Eagle store manager, Ashlea Ann Harris (right) on Black Friday in 2014. He killed Harris in order to take her keys and steal $50,000

Cervantez was recently found guilty of her involvement and sentenced to life in prison without parole in May 2016, reported the Star-Telegram.

She was blamed as the mastermind behind the murder plot by prosecutors.

Rousseau added: 'Imagine the horror, someone is probably sitting on you while someone else is taping up your hands and then your ankles.

'They slash her throat and then, when she is finally dead, they set her place on fire. There are a lot of people at her apartment complex, which says a lot about the defendants in this case.'

The couple had been fired from the American Eagle store at the Hulen Mall after being suspected of stealing nearly $18,000 from the store's safe in August 2014.

Then they turned their sights on Harris, who held the store keys, for their plot to make off with tens of thousands of dollars.

Mallory and his girlfriend, Carter Carol Cervantez, 28 (left), bound Harris (right), brutally beat her and burned her body. They set her apartment building on fire in order to cover up the crime

The couple had been fired from the American Eagle store at the Hulen Mall (file photo) after being suspected of stealing nearly $18,000 from the store's safe in August 2014

Harris was found dead in her apartment several hours later when firefighters responded to a fire alarm.

Her body was partially burned and she had been beaten. Harris hands and feet were bound with duct tape, police said.

A neighbor told police that he had heard a thump and screaming from the apartment, the police affidavit said.

The day after Harris' murder, Cervantez was caught by surveillance cameras trying to open the doors to the store, but they had already changed the locks.
The First Daughter's reign as the most famous person to matriculate at Georgetown this year seems to have come to an end with the arrival of two royals.

Princess Talita Von Furstenberg, who is the daughter of Prince Alex Von Furstenberg and granddaughter of designer Diane Von Furstenberg, was seen on campus Thursday with her father and her mother Alexandra.

Talita's parents have been separated for years, but came together for their daughter's big day, as did her little brother, Prince Tasillo.

Royals: Princess Talita Von Furtsenberg and Prince Alexios of Greece matriculated at Georgetown University this week

Family affair: The pair took photos with their family after arriving on campus Thursday (back row l to r: Princess Olympia, Princess Talita, Prince Alexios, Prince Tasillo Von Furstenberg, Prince Andreas, Princess Marie Chantal, Prince Odysseas and Alexandra Von Furstenberg. front row l to r: Prince Alex Von Furstenberg and Prince Pavlos)

Meet at the met: Talita attended her first ever Met Ball this past May (above)

Done: Prince Alexios graduated from Wellington College in England earlier this year,

That large group was joined by another new student, Talita's cousin Prince Alexios of Greece.

He was joined by his father Prince Pavlos and his mother Marie Chantal, the sister of Talita's mother Alexandra, and siblings Olympia, Andreas and Odysseas .

This caps off an impressive summer for Talita, which kicked off back in May with her first ever trip to the Met Ball.

Talita, 18, graduated from the prestigious Brentwood Academy a month later, which recently became plagued by scandal after allegations that a teacher had a sexual relationship with one of her students.

Party like its 1999: Talita and boyfriend George Fair at her cousin Princess Olympia's birthday party in England this past July

Dance in France: Talita on the French Riviera in June (above)

Fitness first: Talita and her boyfriend playing tennis over the summer

Then it was off to Austria and the Amalfi Coast for an Italian adventure.

That was followed by some time in the South of France where she hung at Le Club 55 and the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc and a quick trip up to the Cotswolds in England where she celebrated her cousin Princess Olympia's birthday.

She had a jam-packed few days ahead of her arrival in Washington DC on Thursday as well, going from Malibu on Sunday to Wyoming on Monday to watch the solar eclipse and San Francisco on Tuesday to stroll through Sequoia National Park.

Combined family: Talita with her parents, stepfather Dax Miller, father's fiancee Ali Parker Kay and half-brother Leon on Sunday

Back at it: The same group watches the eclipse together on Monday afternoon in Wyoming

Bros: Prince Andreas and his close friend Arpad Flynn Alexander Busson

It was then back to Los Angeles before heading off to the nation's capital where she met up with her cousin and classmate Alexios.

He graduated from Wellington College in England earlier this year, where his close friends included Arpad Busson, the son of Elle McPherson and Arpad Busson.

Alexios, who is a talented artist, spent his summer hanging in Greece, on Harbour Island and in Gunnerside.
Andrew Holland, 36, died on January 22 after being shackled to a chair for 46 hours while an inmate at a California jail

The family of a schizophrenic jail inmate who died after being strapped to a chair while naked for two days has been awarded $5million in a legal settlement.

Andrew Holland, 36, died on January 22 after he was shackled to a chair inside a glass-fronted cell, left to sit in his own waste, for 46 hours while an inmate at San Luis Obispo County jail in California.

Holland, who had schizophrenia, was stripped naked, had his face covered with a mask and had a helmet strapped to his head. Guards had draped a blanket across his lap, but it slipped off, exposing his naked body to anybody that walked past the cell.

His arms and legs were tied to the chair he was forced to sit in and he was deprived of any substantial food and drink.

Forty six hours after his ordeal began, Holland was finally untied, moved to another cell and left on his own.

Holland stopped breathing 40 minutes later and died. The sheriff-coroner said that he died from a pulmonary embolism.

Holland's family had their own autopsy conducted, which indicated that the embolism was likely due to deep vein thrombosis, caused by a blood clot in his leg, which developed due to the extended amount of time he wasn't allowed to move while strapped to the chair.

Holland's death resulted in a $5million legal settlement awarded to his family, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Holland was sent to jail in September 2015 following a public disturbance in a city park. While imprisoned, he was charged with attempting to headbutt guards.

In January, a judge ordered that Holland be sent for evaluation at a psychiatric facility to make sure that he was competent for trial, but it turned out that he was never transferred from the jail.

Holland (pictured with his father, Carty, left) suffered from schizophrenia and had been in jail since his arrest in September 2015

Guards instead put him in isolation for 10 days and then restrained him in the chair once they saw that he kept hitting himself in the head and face.

According to the LA Times, chair restraint tends to be capped at a two hour period, but the Sheriff's Department policy technically allows guards to use the restraint method for up to 16 hours at a time.

No explanation was provided for why Holland was kept in restraints for 46 hours.

An FBI spokeswoman told the LA Times that federal agents have launched a civil rights investigation into the San Luis Obispo countys jail following Holland's death  one of three that had occurred in the jail over a nine month period.

County authorities declined to comment on Holland's situation, but said in a statement that he suffered from 'a level of mental illness that could not be adequately addressed in county jail.'

The sheriff and county mental health director said that the county's psychiatric facility told guards there wasn't any room for Holland, despite the fact that a bed had opened up, and admitted that they did not medicate Holland even though a court order allowed them to involuntarily medicate him.

It's said that about 260 of the jails 600 inmates are being treated for mental illness.

Holland's parents, Sharon and Carty, said that their son's mental health declined while he was in jail because he did not have adequate care and they were not allowed to visit him or pay for him to receive the medications that he required.

While preparing to file a lawsuit, Holland's parents were able to watch the surveillance footage that captured the last two days of their son's life, at which point they saw how badly he had been treated by the guards while he was restrained.

Holland (with his mother, Sharon) was supposed to be transferred to a psychiatric facility for evaluation prior to his death, but instead was placed in isolation and restraints at the jail

'Those images are always going to be with me,' Sharon Holland said, talking about the way he was strapped to the chair as people walked by without trying to help her son.

'And the very strange thing is,' she added, 'because I hadnt seen him in so long, in some ways, even those images are dear.'

Rather than wait for the Hollands to take the county to court, San Luis Obispo county offered the $5million settlement, which is said to be the most money paid out in the state's history for a pre-litigation jail settlement.

Following Holland's death, the county said that they had made 'sweeping changes' to the way they handle mentally ill inmates.

The restraint chair has been abandoned and it's no longer allowed for inmates to spent more than 72 hours in isolation cells. Additionally, the county has made it a smoother process to move inmates to psychiatric facilities and enhanced guard training.
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Texas is bracing itself for the storm of the decade as Hurricane Harvey barrels towards the state, which is expecting catastrophic flooding, power outages, winds up to 130mph and 30 inches of rain.

Final preparations were being made on Friday morning, as officials emphasized that the situation was 'very serious' and said that the window for evacuation from flood-threatened coastal areas was closing quickly.

The National Weather Service on Friday morning urged that preparations should be 'rushed to completion' adding that 'conditions are expected to deteriorate throughout the day'.

The US National Hurricane Center said Harvey has 'rapidly intensified' and experts say weather conditions have created the perfect recipe for the monster Category 3 hurricane to form and crash into Texas later on Friday.

The national guard has been mobilized amid fears over life-threatening flash flooding, which poses 'a grave risk' to Texans as the hurricane is expected to be the strongest to hit the United States mainland in 12 years since Hurricane Wilma in 2005.

Texas is bracing itself for the storm of the decade as Hurricane Harvey (pictured) can be seen from outer space

Water from Hurricane Harvey's storm surge crashes through pylons at a fishing pier in Port Isabel, Texas on Friday morning

Final Preparations: People rush to buy plywood Friday at Lowes in Corpus Christi, Texas as Hurricane Harvey approaches

The powerful 'perfect' storm is barreling towards the state with expected flooding and up to 30 inches of rain on Friday night

A truck carrying new utility polls is staged for depolyment in preparation of Hurricane Harvey on Friday in Port Isabel, Texas

The national guard has been mobilized amid fears over the life-threatening flash flooding, which poses 'a grave risk'

The hurricane is expected to be the strongest to hit the United States mainland in 12 years since Hurricane Wilma in 2005

Local mayors have warned residents 'to get out of Dodge' as flooded waters could cause alligators to wash up on people's front door steps.

President Donald Trump is standing by and monitoring the hurricane, ready to provide necessary resources to the gulf region, the White House said on Thursday. Trump is asking citizens to plan ahead for the storm.

National Weather Service director Louis Uccellini said meteorologists expect the hurricane to hail down with winds of 130 mph or higher and up to 30 inches of rain, which could lead to major chaos in southeast Texas.

The powerful storm is set to hammer the Texas Gulf Coast with an extremely dangerous combination of 'torrential rainfall, storm-surge flooding and destructive winds this weekend, before taking a strange, meandering path next week', the Weather Channel reported.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered the State Operations Center to elevate its readiness level, making state resources available for possible rescue and recovery actions, in addition to activating 700 members of the Texas Army Guard, Texas Air National Guard and the Texas State Guard.

The national guard has been mobilized amid fears over the life-threatening flash flooding, which poses 'a grave risk' to Texans. Pictured: The projected path of the expected track of the circulation center

Rogelio Ortiz makes his way off the Pirate's Landing Fishing Pier as rain from Hurricane Harvey falls in Port Isabel, Texas

People are panicking as grocery stores are rapidly selling out of water and supplies in Houston (pictured), increasing the frenzy on Thursday night before Hurricane Harvey is expected to hit Texas the following day

The powerful storm is set to hammer the Texas Gulf Coast with an extremely dangerous combination of 'torrential rainfall, storm-surge flooding and destructive winds' this weekend. Pictured: People stocking up on water in Houston

The Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office sent out an alert to residents about potential sightings of alligators due to the storm

Harvey grew quickly Thursday from a tropical depression into a Category 1 hurricane. Fueled by warm Gulf of Mexico waters, it was projected to become a major Category 3 hurricane.

The last storm of that category to hit the U.S. was Hurricane Wilma in October 2005 in Florida.

The storm officially became a Category 2 hurricane as of 1am on Friday morning, on track to strengthen to its expected Category 3 level by Friday night.

At a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Corpus Christi's Mayor Joe McComb told people not to dismiss Harvey and to voluntarily evacuate, saying: 'We encourage the residents in low-lying areas, as they say, to get out of Dodge.'

McComb added: 'Go to a family, friend and get to higher ground.'

The mayor's warning comes on the heels of Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office sending out an alert to residents about potential sightings of alligators due to the storm.

The department tweeted: 'Gators and flooding advice via @txgatorsquad: Expect them to be displaced. Simply looking for higher ground. Leave alone until water recedes.'

Rain started to fall in Port Isabel, Texas, on Thursday night as Hurricane Harvey is expected to hit the region the next day. The storm officially became a Category 2 hurricane as of 1am on Friday morning

Hurricane Harvey is expected to be the strongest to hit the United States mainland in 12 years since Hurricane Wilma in 2005

Residents wait inside the Corpus Christi Natatorium to board a bus to evacuate to San Antonio ahead of Hurricane Harvey on Thursday in Corpus Christi, Texas

Residents fill sand bags as they prepare for Hurricane Harvey in Corpus Christi, Texas. Two counties have ordered mandatory evacuations as Hurricane Harvey gathers strength as it drifts toward the Texas Gulf Coast

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a press briefing on Thursday that Trump is ready to respond with aid to Texas and surrounding areas affected by the hurricane.

She said: 'We have acting secretary Elaine Duke who's watching this closely and very involved in the process along with the acting director for FEMA and again, I think that we are in great shape, having General Kelly sitting next to the president throughout this process.

'There's probably no better chief of staff for the president during the hurricane season, and the president has been briefed and will continue to be updated as the storm progresses.

'And certainly it's something he's very aware of and will keep a very watchful eye on. He stands ready to provide resources if needed.'

The president was previously briefed on the government's hurricane preparations from FEMA disaster relief officials earlier this month, reported The Hill.

Trump said: 'FEMA is something I've been very much involved in already. We've already taken care of many of the situations that really needed emergency funds. We do it quickly, we do it effectively, we have an amazing team.'

On Thursday, Trump released a video of him meeting with FEMA officials on Twitter, asking citizens to plan ahead for Hurricane Harvey and provided links to resources.

HARVEY'S PERFECT STORM RECIPE: WARM WATER, CALM AIR UP HIGH Hurricane Harvey is following the perfect recipe to be a monster storm, meteorologists say. Warm water. Check. Calm air at 40,000 feet high. Check. Slow speed to dump maximum rain. Check. University of Miami senior hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy said Harvey combines the worst attributes of nasty recent Texas storms: The devastating storm surge of Hurricane Ike in 2008; the winds of Category 4 Hurricane Brett in 1999 and days upon days of heavy rain of Tropical Storm Allison in 2001. Rainfall is forecast to be as high as 35 inches through next Wednesday in some areas. Deadly storm surge - the push inwards of abnormally high ocean water above regular tides - could reach 12 feet, the National Hurricane Center warned, calling Harvey life-threatening. Harvey's forecast path is the type that keeps it stronger longer with devastating rain and storm-force wind lasting for several days, not hours. 'It's a very dangerous storm,' National Weather Service Director Louis Uccellini told The Associated Press. 'It does have all the ingredients it needs to intensify. And we're seeing that intensification occur quite rapidly.' WARM WATER Warm water is the fuel for hurricanes. It's where storms get their energy. Water needs to be about 79 degrees (26 Celsius) or higher to sustain a hurricane, McNoldy said. Harvey is over part of the Gulf of Mexico where the water is about 87 degrees or 2 degrees above normal for this time of year, said Jeff Masters, a former hurricane hunter meteorologist and meteorology director of Weather Underground. A crucial factor is something called ocean heat content. It's not just how warm the surface water is but how deep it goes. And Harvey is over an area where warm enough water goes about 330 feet (100 meters) deep, which is a very large amount of heat content, McNoldy said. 'It can sit there and spin and have plenty of warm water to work with,' McNoldy said. WEAK WINDS If winds at 40,000 feet high are strong in the wrong direction it can decapitate a hurricane. Strong winds high up remove the heat and moisture that hurricanes need near their center and also distort the shape. But the wind up there is weak so Harvey 'is free to go nuts basically,' McNoldy said. PERFECT PATH Before it hits the Texas coast, Harvey is projected to go over an even deeper and warmer eddy to supercharge it a bit more, just like what happened to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but not quite as bad, Masters said. If that's not bad enough, there's a good chance that after Harvey hits it will follow a track so close to the coast and not so much inland that it will essentially keep a toe in the water. The storm could be big enough that not all of it is over land. Because of that, the National Hurricane Center forecasts that it will remain at least tropical storm strength - and 40 mph winds - through Tuesday, maybe into Wednesday. SLOW SPEED Because it looks like Harvey will be meandering at around 10 mph and then will likely stall out over the coast or just a bit inland, that means it will stay over one place and keep raining, Masters said. Day in, day out until the middle of next week. 'We're talking feet of rain, not inches,' Masters said. And the storm's heavy rains can last not just a few hours but 'over a two-, three-, four-day period' from Texas to Louisiana, Uccellini said. Advertisement

As the storm looms, customers are fighting over water as grocery stores are rapidly selling out of supplies, increasing the frenzy before Hurricane Harvey arrives.

Officials have asked residents to evacuate as they prepare for chaotic flooding and power outages but those who are staying in the path of the hurricane rushed to grocery stores in order to stock up on water, food, gas and other supplies on Thursday night.

However, they arrived to find shops with empty shelves, causing people to fight over the last containers of water as some likened the scenes to Black Friday.

People have taken to social media to post pictures of the mad dash as they went to get supplies on Thursday night.

Photos show people waiting in long lines to check out with pallets of water bottles in their carts and cars lined up around blocks to get gas.

One user wrote on Twitter: 'People grabbing cases of water like it's a Black Friday sale. Hurricane Harvey is real.'

Another said: 'I had to drive almost 30 minutes to find a store that has water... This Houston hurricane is no joke man.'

A dismayed woman wrote: 'Bread is gone. Gas is gone. Water is gone. If you don't have it already, you need to befriend your neighbors.'

Shelves were empty, causing people to fight over the last containers of water as some likened the scene to Black Friday. People took to social media to post pictures of the mad dash as they went to get supplies on Thursday night in Houston

Customers enter H-E-B Plus in Corpus Christi, Texas on Thursday to stock up on supplies in advance of Hurricane Harvey

Governor Abbott preemptively declared a state of disaster for 30 counties on or near the coast to speed deployment of state resources to any areas affected.

Trump called Abbott on Thursday night to personally tell him that he was ready to help respond to the strongest hurricane expected to hit the US in more than a decade.

Abbott tweeted out a photo of himself on the phone with Trump and said: 'Spoke with Pres. Trump & heads of Homeland Security & FEMA. They're helping Texas respond to #HurricaneHarvey.'

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards also received a call from Trump that night, tweeting: 'Spoke w/ @POTUS @realDonaldTrump this afternoon. He offered his full support to the people of LA as we prepare for #Harvey.'

A statement released by Abbott added: 'President Trump called Governor Abbott to offer federal support for the State of Texas as Hurricane Harvey approaches the Gulf Coast.

'The President pledged all available resources from the federal government to assist in preparation, and rescue and recovery efforts.

'The Governor thanked the President for his pledge of support and assured him that the state is working hand-in-hand with local and federal partners on all issues related to the storm.'

President Trump urged citizens to prepare for Hurricane Harvey on Thursday and said he is ready to provide aid. The president called Texas Governor Gregg Abbott (right) later that night to personally inform him of his planned aid

Both the Texas Governor and Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards received calls from Trump on Thursday night

As of 11pm CDT, Hurricane Harvey was located 180 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas

Officials are warning residents to prepare for massive flooding as coastal areas like Corpus Christi and even Houston could experience 'very heavy' rainfall

Officials say the storm will bring strong offshore winds as coastal flooding persists east of Harvey

National Weather Service director Uccellini added that the hurricane was 'a very dangerous storm.' He said it's a 'potentially impactful storm' that will last over several days and produce large rains from Texas into Louisiana.

Uccellini said Harvey is a risk to people with extremely heavy rainfall that causes inland flooding lasting through the middle of next week, a large storm surge and high winds. A storm surge is an abnormal rise of water above the normal tide, generated by a storm.

Uccellini also notes that the storm is intensifying as it approaches land.

Harvey will be the first hurricane to strike Texas since 2008 after Category 2 Hurricane Ike devastated some parts of the state.

'Now is the time to check your emergency plan and take necessary actions to secure your home or business. Deliberate efforts should be underway to protect life and property,' the weather service said in an statement early on Thursday.

Emergency officials asked residents along the upper Texas coastline to move or prepare to move inland.

Those in low-lying areas were urged to seek higher ground, and those elsewhere were told to monitor official announcements closely.

The entire coast of Texas is on either a tropical storm warning or hurricane warning due to this powerful storm

Much of the coast of Texas is under storm surge warning including parts of Port O'Connor and Corpus Christi

Meteorologist Eric Holthaus pleaded with his Twitter followers to spread the word and start preparing for the possible hurricane

The storm is now expected hit the central Texas coast with a combination of winds of 115 miles per hour and heavy rains, said John Tharp, a forecaster with Weather Decision Technologies in Norman, Oklahoma.

'With this system's intensity and slow motion, it is the worst of both worlds,' he said referring to the expected winds and rains. 'There will be major impacts along the coast and inland with periods of prolonged rain.'

Harvey will cause a storm surge that will flood parts of the Texas coast as it makes landfall and linger for days over the state, dumping up to 30 inches of rain on some areas, the NHC said in an advisory on Thursday.

The mayor of Texas coastal city Corpus Christi warned on Wednesday that flooding was his biggest concern.

'I hope people will listen to forecasters when they say 'beware of flash floods,'' Joe McComb said. 'Flash floods can come quickly, and they can be deadly.'

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi issued a mandatory evacuation to all students who live on campus and canceled events.

Authorities have issued several warnings for residents to prepare for flooding as part of the approaching hurricane

Forecasters say there is a potential upper-level steering pattern this weekend that may stall Harvey for some time near or over the western Gulf Coast

Harvey will be the first hurricane to strike Texas since Hurricane Ike in 2008 and could prove to be deadly

Shrimp crew dock at the Brownsville Shrimp Basin Thursday as Hurricane Harvey approaches the Texas coast

Shoppers pass empty shelves along the bottled water isle in a Houston grocery store as Hurricane Harvey intensifies in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday

Harvey is forecast to be a major hurricane when it makes landfall along the middle Texas coastline on Friday night

Marie Michel loads a filled water bottled into her shopping cart inside the Kroger store in preparation of Hurricane Harvey on Thursday in Houston

U.S. gasoline prices surged to a three-week high on Thursday as Hurricane Harvey moved across the Gulf of Mexico and threatened to slam oil refineries in Texas when it comes ashore this weekend.

Energy companies including Royal Dutch Shell, Anadarko Petroleum and Exxon Mobil have evacuated staff from offshore oil and gas platforms in the storm's path.

Two oil refineries Corpus Christi were shutting down ahead of the storm, and concern that Harvey could cause shortages in fuel supply drove benchmark gasoline prices to a three-week high.

Prices for gasoline in spot physical markets on the Gulf Coast rose even more, hitting a one-year high.

Profit margins for refineries producing gasoline rose by over 12 percent on Thursday, putting margins on course for their biggest daily percentage gain in six months, according to Reuters data.

A shopper finds empty shelves on the bottled water section inside the Kroger store on in preparation of Hurricane Harvey in Houston

Bryan and Brenda Tumlinson install storm shutters on their store, Island Joes Coffee and Gallery, on North Padre Island in Corpus Christi, Texas, ahead of the hurricane

Marina employees secure the boater's facility at the Corpus Christi Marina in preparation for Hurricane Harvey on Thursday

The two refineries that have shut have combined capacity to refine more than 450,000 barrels per day of crude.

The NHC expects the storm to come ashore along the central Texas coast, an area that includes Corpus Christi and Houston, home to some of the biggest refineries in the country.

More than 45 percent of the country's refining capacity is along the U.S. Gulf Coast, and nearly a fifth of the nation's crude oil is produced offshore in the region.

The storm could also bring flooding to inland shale oil fields in Texas that pump millions of barrels per day of crude.

The U.S. Gulf of Mexico is home to about 17 percent of the nation's crude output and five percent of dry natural gas output, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

A shrimp boat travels along the Port of Brownsville, Texas, ship channel to dock at the Brownsville Shrimp Basin Thursday

Fresh Texas Gulf shrimp is removed from the bottom of a shrimp boat as shrimp crews dock at the Brownsville Shrimp Basin to wait out Hurricane Harvey

Ken Knox secures a friend's boat at the Corpus Christi Marina in preparation for Hurricane Harvey on Thursday

From left, Buddy Cooper and Patrick Gesner, commanding officer of the Salvation Army in Corpus Christi receive supplies of water and clean-up kits in preparation for Hurricane Harvey on Thursday

Bill Tippett, with the Salvation Army disaster department, deliver supplies of water and clean up kits to the Salvation Army in preparation for Hurricane Harvey on Thursday

Other Gulf of Mexico operators said they were watching developments closely but operations were unaffected.

On South Padre Island, people filled sandbags and loaded them into cars and vans to take to protect exposed homes and businesses.

Others in the forecast path of the storm sought out generators, plywood and other goods from hardware stores.

Meanwhile, rice farmers in coastal Matagorda County moved quickly to harvest their crops.

A sign reminds motorists to prepare for Hurricane Harvey on Thursday as highways are expected to see more traffic on Friday

Chris Mathew fills his vehicle and five gas cans at Costco in Pearland, Texas in preparation for the powerful storm approaching

Leo Sermiento (L) and Emilio Gutierrez (R) fill sandbags in preparation of a Hurricane Harvey on Wednesday on South Padre Island, Texas,

Robert Cavanaugh buys plywood at The Home Depot to board up his windows ahead of a Hurricane Harvey on Wednesday in Corpus Christi, Texas

A man stands in font of empty shelves where generators are kept at The Home Depot ahead of a Hurricane Harvey on Wednesday in Corpus Christi, Texas

Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered the State Operations Center to elevate its readiness level, making state resources available for possible rescue and recovery actions

Rainfall totals of 10 to 15 inches were possible over the middle and upper Texas coast and southwest Louisiana through Tuesday, the Miami-based hurricane center said.

Hurricane, tropical storm and storm surge watches were in effect for counties on the eastern coast of Texas as the storm moved across the Gulf of Mexico, where it may strengthen into a hurricane.

A storm surge watch was in effect for Port Mansfield to High Island, just up the coast from Galveston.

A tropical storm watch was in effect for Boca de Catan, Mexico, just south of the Texas border, to Port Mansfield and from San Luis Pass to High Island.
Business / Companies

by Staff reporter

The government has begun consulting stakeholders with health insurers, as it steps up efforts to craft enabling legislation to regulate the functions of medical aid societies.Health ministry permanent secretary Gerald Gwinji told doctors' associations in Harare that his department would widen the consultations before making submissions to the Attorney-General's Office as part of the Medical Aid Societies Bill."We will be consulting with other stakeholders including the insurers themselves and other consumers on separate occasions  and at the end we will go back with the recommendations to the Attorney-General's Office," he said."This is a framework that covers the various areas that need to be covered. We suggested more sections because there are areas that need to be altered, areas that need to be strengthened and areas that need to be clarified."Gwinji urged participants at the meeting to come up with a quality position paper."The law is the law and once it is in place, it becomes a law, sometimes it removes us from the comfort zones to uncomfortable zones, but it is the law. What we are looking at is putting in place an Act that is fair and which makes sure that we provide, as providers, a service that is conducive to the environment," he said.Gwinji added that it was incumbent upon various stakeholders to make sure their needs would be captured in the Act.Another ministry official, Tonderai Kadzere, said the Bill would seek to address loopholes in the current Act."The Bill seeks to provide for the establishment of the Medical Aid Authority, confer functions on such authority in relation to registration and control of certain activities of medical aid societies, to provide for the appointment of the Registrar of Medical Aid Societies, to protect the interests of members of medical aid societies, to amend the Medical Services Act [Chapter 15:13] and the Income Tax Act [Chapter 23:06], and to provide for matters incidental to or connected with the foregoing," he said.Kadzere added that the law would address unfair practices by funders to service providers, including, failure to reimburse in time, directing patients to specific providers and conflict of interest in investments.
A retired nurse, 64, has been found guilty of stealing 157 items, including cosmetics and handbags, as her lawyer claimed 'financial stress' led her to do it.

Police found the items, believed to have been stolen from Brisbane, in a room at the Flashpackers in Hervey Bay, nearly 300 kilometres north, the Sunshine Coast Daily reported.

Police Prosecutor Senior Constable Donna Sperling said a raid of Susan Lynette Hedegaard's hostel room - which costs no more than $80 per night - uncovered cosmetics, clothes and bags, the stash worth about $1425.

Police found 157 items in a room at the Flashpackers in Hervey Bay, which had been stolen by 64-year-old Susan Lynette Hedegaard

The divorced former nurse suffers depression and anxiety, and had been receiving a a disability support pension for an injury sustained at work, her lawyer told the court.

Hedegaard denied she had stolen the items, claiming to have purchased them out of her benefit money and to have left the tags on as she was yet to wear or use the items.

But she did admit she had previous stealing convictions, having been handed a custodial sentence for similar offences previously.

The 64-year-old told the court she had purchased the items after being released from custody for a prior theft.

The items, which Hedegaard claimed she had purchased with money from her disability pension, consisted of bags, clothes and handbags with a value of about $1425 (stock image)

Just one day after the items were stolen, she appeared in court for a separate stealing offence.

Lawyer Daniel Ould said Hedegaard was stealing out of desperation, and was undergoing dire financial stress.

'She acknowledges her history of stealing-type offences.

'She says the reason for it is financial hardship.'

Hedegaard was sentenced to three months behind bars, but will be eligible for parole on September 23.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has joined senior MPs from Labor and Liberal in cautioning against a push to ban the burqa, despite a new poll showing half of Australians would support the move.

'I am not an admirer of the burqa - I worry that it used as a means of oppressing women - that's my reservation about the burqa,' Mr Turnbull told Neil Mitchell on 3AW radio on Friday.

'Having said that, in this country, we don't tell people what to wear.'

A new poll shows more than half of Australians support banning the burqa in public places (stock image)

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson (pictured) seized on the poll, saying burqas in public places put 'the entire country at risk'

Senator Hanson wore a burqa into the Senate last week (pictured) claiming no security guards asked for her ID

Poll Do you think Australia should ban the burqa? Yes No Do you think Australia should ban the burqa? Yes 660 votes

No 50 votes Now share your opinion





A Sky News/ReachTEL found 44 per cent of people strongly supported banning the burqa in public places, while a further 13 per cent supported it.

Of the more than 2800 people surveyed, 19 per cent strongly opposed a ban, 12 per cent opposed, while the rest were undecided.

Mr Turnbull said the federal parliament did not have the power to ban the burqa but legally people are already required to show their faces for identity purposes.

Cabinet minister Christopher Pyne said his concern about the burqa was that it isolated women from society.

'I think that is a dangerous thing,' he told Nine Network on Friday.

'It's nothing to do with it being Muslim or any other kind of religion for that matter.

'Pauline Hanson and One Nation wanted to make it about Muslim women, but I think it's more about isolating any kind of woman from society.'

Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese conceded to being 'uncomfortable' when the burqa was worn in public.

'I think people who aren't from that culture are uncomfortable with it,' he said.

A Sky News/ReachTEL found 44 per cent of people 'strongly supported' banning the burqa in public places, while a further 13 per cent 'supported' it

The One Nation leader (pictured in the burqa) said the stunt was to expose security threats to Parliament, calling for the ban

But he also warned bans doesn't work.

'There's a whole range of behaviour from people that have different cultures, different ethnicities, different religions that people might not be comfortable with. But that doesn't mean you go about banning it.'

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, who wore a burqa into the Senate last week, seized on the poll.

'Perhaps while the government are conducting their plebiscite on same sex marriage, we include the question as to whether Australians want to ban all full face coverings in government buildings and public spaces,' she told News Corp.

'You are doing ISIS's work for them.

'You are putting the entire country at risk.'

Senator Hanson claimed she walked past security guards wearing the burqa and none of them asked to confirm her identity.

The One Nation leader said the stunt was to expose the security threats to Parliament, calling for the ban.
Prisons could be effectively full within four years with the number of inmates predicted to hit a historic high.

Imposing longer sentences could lead to nearly 92,000 behind bars  a record in the modern era.

The figure was revealed in projections for England and Wales published yesterday by the Ministry of Justice. The move will be welcomed by the Tory Right as a sign the Government is taking a harder line on law and order.

Prisons could be effectively full within four years with the number of inmates predicted to hit a historic high (Stock image)

But critics warned that a surge in the number of prisoners would lead to spiralling levels of overcrowding, violence and self-harm  already at all-time highs.

Only last week Justice Secretary David Lidington said he wanted to see prison numbers come down.

The prison population is currently 86,388. If custodial sentences maintain todays trends, that number is predicted to rise to 88,000 by March 2022.

But the MoJ warned there was a possibility the number of criminals locked up could hit 91,800 by June 2021. There are currently places for 87,053 prisoners in jails  the so-called operational capacity.

One reason for the surge is that more serious cases are coming before the courts, including the spate of historic sex abuse trials being driven by allegations in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.

Others include restrictions on the use of cautions, tougher guidelines on the sentencing of violent and sexual offenders, new domestic violence offences and curbs on day release for prisoners who abscond.

The report also said the number of inmates aged over 50 would grow from 13,376 in June this year to 14,800 in 2021.

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Sir Ed Davey said: Our prisons are already bursting at the seams. Under current plans there simply wont be enough places to cope with this huge surge in prisoner numbers.

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Sir Ed Davey said: Our prisons are already bursting at the seams'

The Government is recklessly rolling the dice on the future of our prison system. Ministers need to get a grip and urgently take action to reduce overcrowding in our jails.

Andrew Neilson, campaigns director at the Howard League for Penal Reform pressure group, said: The number of people behind bars has more than doubled since Margaret Thatcher was in power and our failed prison system is buckling under the weight.

More people are dying by suicide than ever before, assaults and self-injury are at record levels, and reoffending rates remain stubbornly high. Building more prisons will not solve these problems  it will only cause them to grow. The Government must reduce demand on jails if it wants to regain control of them.

Last month the crisis engulfing jails was exposed as the MoJs safety in custody statistics revealed self-harm, violence, assaults on guards and inmates released by mistake all climbed to record levels.

The total number of assaults on staff and inmates rose 20 per cent to a record 26,643  one every 20 minutes. This included 7,159 attacks on guards, an increase of 32 per cent.

The MoJ has admitted that violence has been fuelled by a surge in the availability of legal highs such as spice and black mamba, an increase in gang culture and cuts in the numbers of officers.

Mr Lidington has vowed to get to grips with the problems and is taking action to stabilise prisons, but concedes issues might not be fixed for years.

A MoJ spokesman said: We will always have enough prison places for offenders committed to custody by the courts.

Prison numbers can fluctuate, which is why we have a robust set of plans in place. This includes modernising the estate and building new accommodation.
Jon Snow yesterday denied he had ever said f*** the Tories as he hailed his own precious impartiality as a journalist.

The veteran Channel 4 newsreader said he was pretty certain he had never sung the foul-mouthed chant because it is not a sentiment he shares.

Im pretty certain I never said it and its not something I would say and its not something I believe, he told the Edinburgh TV Festival.

Mr Snow had been accused of breaking impartiality rules earlier in the summer by chanting f*** the Tories at the Glastonbury festival.

In an interview with the Scottish Conservative Leader Ruth Davison, Snow (pictured) said that the Glastonbury row had to be taken within the context of the melee, noise and substance use of a music festival

He later claimed that he had no recollection of the incident.

But yesterday he went further, as he tried to fend off growing concern that his overtly left-wing views undermine his position as a news broadcaster.

In an interview with the Scottish Conservative Leader Ruth Davison, he said that the Glastonbury row had to be taken within the context of the melee, noise and substance use of a music festival.

I said I had absolutely no recollection and I still have absolutely no recollection. [Glastonbury] is an utterly wonderful experience.

It is A) magnificently noisy, and B) full of all sorts of substances. And worse than that, if you have a face that is recognisable, you get subjected to endless selfies, he said.

What worried me is thatjust suppose there was a group of people around me, who were actually shouting it - I didnt hear it - but lets suppose there was and I was going Argh!. Well, what are you going Argh! to? Ive no idea, absolutely no idea.

So I think you have to view where I am and the kind of melee that there is when these things happen.

Miss Davidson was dissatisfied with his explanation, suggesting that he would not accept that sort of answer from politician on his programme.

Speaking with obvious sarcasm, she said: You would take that as an acceptable answer [from a politician] and wouldnt want to press them, would you?

Snow's comments come after he was accused of chanting 'f*** the Tories' at Glastonbury (pictured)

Meanwhile, Mr Snow, 69, also insisted yesterday that he is impartial, and heaped praise upon Ofcom rules which demand that news presenters are unbiased.

I think impartiality is a very, very precious entity in our media and Im grateful for the fact that we do have a regulated broadcasting system and that you and I are impartial,' he said on Radio 4s Today programme, in an interview with Nick Robinson.

Mr Snow has come under fresh scrutiny this week, after he finally admitted that he belongs to a metropolitan elite that is out of touch with public feeling.

The Channel 4 news anchor said on Wednesday that he had got it wrong on Brexit, and that he was comfortably with the elite, with little awareness of people who are not part of the same club.

Over this past year, we - me included  mostly London-based media pundits, pollsters and so-called experts got it wrong.

The Brexit referendum, we got that wrong. Trump defied completely more so-called experts, pundits and journalists alike, he said.

But yesterday, he tried to share the blame with Miss Davidson insisting that she has become part of the elite.

The Scottish MP, who is a former war journalist, was quick to reject the accusation.

Some of us didnt have parents that went to Winchester, she noted.

But  in an embarrassing episode - Mr Snow insisted: Come on baby, you are [part of the elite] now, he said.

Miss Davidson, who has also served as a colonel in the Territorial Army, was quick to pull him up on the remark. Did you just call me baby? she said.

The controversial Glastonbury episode came to light after a Twitter user posted a photograph of Mr Snow partying at music festival, alongside the caption: Having a dance with Jon Snow and hearing him shout f*** the Tories is what dreams are made of.

The 69-year old allegedly told Glastonbury revellers: Im supposed to be neutral after his comment about the Conservative party.

Mr Snow was given a dressing down by Channel 4 bosses over the episode, and Tory MPs called for the presenter to be sacked.
A 1,500-year-old Christian mosaic floor with a Greek inscription has been uncovered during work to install communications cables in Jerusalem's Old City.

The inscription cites 6th-century Roman emperor Justinian as well as Constantine, who served as abbot of a church founded by Justinian in Jerusalem.

Archaeologists believe it will help them to understand Justinian's building projects in the city.

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The inscription (pictured) cites 6th-century Roman emperor Justinian as well as Constantine, who served as abbot of a church founded by Justinian in Jerusalem

EMPEROR JUSTINIAN Justinian was one of the most important rulers of the Byzantine era. In 543 AD he established the Nea Church in Jerusalem - one of the biggest Christian churches in the eastern Roman Empire and the largest in Jerusalem at the time. During Justinian's reign he became famous for many modern reforms, including protection for prostitutes and wives who had been mistreated by their husbands. Under his rule the empire completed its conversion from paganism to Christianity. Archaeologists believe the find will help them to understand Justinian's building projects in the city. Advertisement

The full inscription reads: 'The most pious Roman emperor Flavius Justinian and the most God-loving priest and abbot, Constantine, erected the building in which (this mosaic) sat during the 14th indiction.'

Indiction is an ancient method of counting years that was used for taxation purposes.

Archaeologists said the inscription suggests the mosaic dated to the year 550/551 AD.

Justinian was one of the most important rulers of the Byzantine era.

In 543 AD he established the Nea Church in Jerusalem - one of the biggest Christian churches in the eastern Roman Empire and the largest in Jerusalem at the time.

Under Emperor Justinian the empire completed its conversion from paganism to Christianity.

The inscription reads: 'The most pious Roman emperor Flavius Justinian and the most God-loving priest and abbot, Constantine, erected the building in which (this mosaic) sat during the 14th indiction'

Constantine was the abbot - which explains why he is mentioned in this inscription.

'The fact that the inscription survived is an archaeological miracle,' said David Gellman, director of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

'Every archaeologist dreams of finding an inscription in their excavations, especially one so well preserved and almost entirely intact.'

Indiction is an ancient method of counting years that was used for taxation purposes. Archaeologists said the inscription suggests the mosaic dated to the year 550/551 AD

In 543 AD he established the Nea Church in Jerusalem - one of the biggest Christian churches in the eastern Roman Empire and the largest in Jerusalem at the time

The mosaic, which was unveiled to the media this week, was discovered earlier this summer. Conservation experts have removed the mosaic and are treating it in a specialist workshop

Researchers believe that the building of which the mosaic was once part, located beside the Old City's Damascus Gate, was used as a hostel for pilgrims

Researchers believe that the building of which the mosaic was once part, located beside the Old City's Damascus Gate, was used as a hostel for pilgrims.

During Justinian's reign he became famous for many modern reforms, including protection for prostitutes and wives who had been mistreated by their husbands.

The mosaic, which was unveiled to the media this week, was discovered earlier this summer.

Conservation experts have removed the mosaic and are treating it in a specialist workshop.

During Justinian's reign he became famous for many modern reforms, including protection for prostitutes and wives who had been mistreated by their husbands

The mosaic, which was unveiled to the media on Wednesday, was discovered earlier this summer. Conservation experts have removed the mosaic and are treating it in a workshop
Exxon Mobil has misled the public on climate change for over four decades, according to a new study by Harvard scientists.

Researchers claim that the firm has made 'explicit factual misrepresentations' in newspaper adverts to convey its views on the oil industry and climate science.

Exxon has dismissed the study, and says the claims are 'inaccurate and preposterous.'

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Exxon Mobil has misled the public on climate change for over four decades, according to a shocking new study by Harvard scientists

THE STUDY The researchers examined 187 documents, including internal memos, peer-reviewed papers by Exxon scientists and New York Times 'advertorials.' They used a social science analysis method to turn statements in the documents into data points that could be counted and compared to each other. Their results showed that while, as early as 1979, Exxon scientists acknowledged burning fossil fuels was adding more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and causing global temperatures to rise, the company's position in newspaper ads remained significantly different by consistently asserting doubt about climate science. The researchers pointed to ads such as a 1997 Mobil article that read 'Let's face it: The science of climate change is too uncertain to mandate a plan of action that could plunge economies into turmoil.' And a 2000 advertorial said a US government report on climate change put the 'political cart before the horse' and was 'based on unreliable models.' Advertisement

Geoffrey Supran and Naomi Oreskes, researchers from Harvard University, have examined 187 documents, including internal memos, peer-reviewed papers by Exxon scientists and New York Times 'advertorials.'

The researchers used a social science analysis method to turn statements in the documents into data points that could be counted and compared to each other.

The team said that while, as early as 1979, Exxon scientists acknowledged burning fossil fuels was adding more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and causing global temperatures to rise, the company's position in newspaper ads remained significantly different by consistently asserting doubt about climate science.

Scott Silvestri, a spokesman for Exxon, said the study was 'inaccurate and preposterous' and that their goal was to attack the company's reputation at the expense of its shareholders.

'Our statements have been consistent with our understanding of climate science,' he said.

In an interview this week, Professor Oreskes said the impetus for the study came from Exxon's responses to reports in InsideClimate News and the Los Angeles Times in September 2015 and October 2015, that Exxon's scientists had long known of the dangers fossil fuels posed to the earth's climate.

She said: 'They accused the journalists of cherry-picking.

'They also posted a collection of documents on their website.

'They said "read the documents and make up your own mind." We thought that was an excellent opportunity.'

While Exxon scientists acknowledged burning fossil fuels was adding more CO2 to the atmosphere and causing rising global temperatures, the company's position in ads remained significantly different by consistently asserting doubt about climate science (stock image)

The researchers pointed to ads such as a 1997 Mobil article that read 'Let's face it: The science of climate change is too uncertain to mandate a plan of action that could plunge economies into turmoil.'

And a 2000 advertorial said a US government report on climate change put the 'political cart before the horse' and was 'based on unreliable models.'

But in rebuttal, Mr Silvestri has offered two examples from New York Times advertorials that Exxon bought, both published in the year 2000, which he said showed the company did not try to cast doubt on climate change.

'Enough is known about climate change to recognize it may pose a legitimate long-term risk and that more needs to be learned about it,' a statement read.
In just two years, you may be tucking into a 'lab burger' and 'test-tube chicken' if one company has its way.

Memphis Meats has come a step closer to commercialising synthetic meat, thanks to a 13 million ($17 million) investment.

Venture capital firm DFJ, which previously backed Tesla, SpaceX and Skype, secured financial support for Memphis Meats from a groundbreaking group of investors.

This includes Microsoft mogul Bill Gates, Virgin entrepreneur Richard Branson and Cargill, one of the world's largest agricultural firms.

The 'clean meat' company has already produced beef, chicken and duck directly from animal cells, without the need to raise and slaughter animals.

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Test tube meat (pictured) has taken a step closer to becoming a commercial reality, thanks to a 13 million ($17 million) investment. Memphis Meats plans to use the funds to continue developing its products and to accelerate its work in scaling up 'clean meat' production

HOW TO GROW MEAT In order to grow meat in a lab, Memphis Meats began by isolating cow and pig cells that have the ability to regenerate, and 'provides the cells with oxygen and nutrients such as sugars and minerals'. These cells develop inside bioreactor tanks into skeletal muscle that can be harvested in between nine and 21 days. Although no animals are slaughtered in making the meats, the firm does use fetal bovine serum from unborn calves' blood to initiate the process. The San Francisco firm then turn these cells into a meatball or burger. The same process has since been used to produce chicken and duck meat. Advertisement

The investment brings to the total funding raised by ethical food firm Memphis Meats, based in San Francisco, to 17 million ($22 million).

Memphis Meats plans to use the funds to continue developing its products and to accelerate its work in scaling up clean meat production.

It hopes this will reduce production costs to levels comparable to, and ultimately below, conventional meat costs.

The company says it expects to quadruple its headcount and has already begun growing its team of chefs, scientists, creative and business people.

Memphis Meats says it hopes to bring clean meat products to consumers across the world within the next two to three years.

Its first line of products will include hot dogs, sausages, burgers and meatballs, which will all use recipes developed by award-winning chefs.

It revealed its first product, a meatball, in February 2016.

In an email to Bloomberg, Branson said: 'Im thrilled to have invested in Memphis Meats.

'I believe that in 30 years or so we will no longer need to kill any animals and that all meat will either be clean or plant-based, taste the same and also be much healthier for everyone.'

Venture capital firm DFJ, which previously backed Tesla, SpaceX and Skype, secured financial support from a groundbreaking group of investors. This includes Bill Gates (left) and Richard Branson (right)

Other high profile investors include former General Electric CEO Jack Welch, Twitch co-founder Kyle Vogt and Elon Musk's brother Kimbal Musk.

Clean meat is part of a growing trend among consumers, particularly millennials, for more sustainable food sources and a greater focus on agricultural methods.

This has seen a rising preference for organic produce, as well as a higher importance placed on animal welfare.

Dr Uma Valeti, co-founder and CEO of Memphis Meats, added: 'The world loves to eat meat, and it is core to many of our cultures and traditions.

Memphis Meats said in March it had developed the world's first chicken strip cultivated from self-reproducing poultry cells in a laboratory (pictured)

It hopes to have animal-free products on the market in three to four years, including burgers, hot dogs, and meatballs (pictured) grown from beef cells

'Meat demand is growing rapidly around the world. We want the world to keep eating what it loves.

'However, the way conventional meat is produced today creates challenges for the environment, animal welfare and human health.

'These are problems that everyone wants to solve, and we can solve them by bringing this incredible group of partners under one tent.'

Memphis Meats aims to reinvent modern animal agriculture, which the United Nations estimates consumes on-third of the world's grains and about a quarter of all land is used for grazing, reported The Wall Street Journal.

The firm says its cutting-edge technique produces 90 percent less greenhouse emissions, consumes less nutrients and doesn't require antibiotics or other additives used in traditional meat production.

While generating one calorie from beef requires 23 calories in feed, Memphis Meats plans to produce a calorie of meat from just three calories in inputs.
In a major breakthrough for quantum teleportation, scientists in China have successfully transmitted entangled photons underwater for the first time.

Sent down particles of light, they can theoretically maintain their link across any distance and have the potential to revolutionise secure communications.

Chinese scientists have used the technology in recent months to transmit information to satellites over a distance of more than 745 miles (1,200 km).

The latest technique is the first step in using lasers to send unhackable internet data across the world's oceans.

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In a major breakthrough for quantum teleportation, scientists in China have successfully transmitted entangled photons underwater for the first time. The technique is the first step in using lasers to send unhackable internet data across the world's oceans

WHAT IS QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT? In quantum physics, entangled particles remain connected so that actions performed by one affects the behaviour of the other, even if they are separated by huge distances. This means if you measure, 'up' for the spin of one photon from an entangled pair, the spin of the other, measured an instant later, will be 'down' - even if the two are on opposite sides of the world. Entanglement takes place when a part of particles interact physically. For instance, a laser beam fired through a certain type of crystal can cause individual light particles to be split into pairs of entangled photons. The theory that so riled Einstein is also referred to as 'spooky action at a distance'. Einstein wasn't happy with theory, because it suggested that information could travel faster than light. Advertisement

Researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China proved the concept across a more modest distance of ten feet (three metres), than their satellite wielding peers.

They did so by collecting samples of saltwater from six sites in the Yellow Sea, which they placed in containers, to establish whether variations in the water affected their results.

A beam of light was then shot through a crystal, which split it into pairs of photons which are connected at the sub-atomic, or quantum, level.

This means that the behaviour of the pair of particles is now linked, theoretically over any distance, allowing data to be 'teleported' between the two.

However, this quantum link between can be easily disrupted by the surrounding environment, particularly water which absorbs light.

So far, it has been successfully demonstrated that quantum entanglement can survive transmission via fibre optic cables, the Earth's atmosphere and the vacuum of space.

But the Chinese team's work suggests that quantum teleportation may also work underwater, with data transmitted using the process retaining 98 per cent fidelity.

Transmitting data via existing underwater methods is faster and cheaper than using satellites.

Writing in the paper, its authors said: 'Long-distance quantum channels capable of transferring quantum states faithfully for unconditionally secure quantum communication have been so far confirmed to be feasible in both fibre and free-space air.

'However, it remains unclear whether seawater, which covers more than 70 per cent of the Earth, can also be utilised, leaving global quantum communication incomplete.

'Here we experimentally demonstrate that polarisation quantum states including general qubits of single photon and entangled states can survive well after travelling through seawater.'

The three metres achieved by the Jiao Tong team is not enough to build a long-distance communications array.

A beam of light was shot through a crystal (top left), which split it into pairs of photons which are connected at the sub-atomic level. This means that the behaviour of the pair of particles is now linked, theoretically over any distance, allowing data to be 'teleported' between the two

Data transmitted over a distance of ten feet (three metres) using the process retained 98 per cent fidelity (pictured)

But the proof of concept suggests that it could be used to transmit information over approximately 3,000 feet (900 metres), according to reports in New Scientist.

Previous estimates have placed a limit of around 400 feet (120 metres).

If the higher limit is proven correct, it could allow for a system to forward information accurately over longer distances.

The full results of the study were published in the journal Optics Express.

Chinese scientists proved the viability of quantum communications between the Earth and satellites back in June.

Using the quantum satellite Micius, they were able to communicate with three ground stations in China, each more than 621 miles (1,000 km) apart.

Entangled particles (artist's impression) remain connected even if they are separated by huge distances, allowing data to be 'teleported' between the two

Their experiment was tested on seawater taken from 22 mile stretch of water between Dalian City on China's coast and offshore Zhangzi Island (pictured)

Researchers collected samples of saltwater from six sites in the Yellow Sea (pictured), to establish whether variations in the water affected their results

QUANTUM SATELLITE Scientists in China have successfully transmitted entangled photons farther than ever before, achieving a distance of more than 1,200 km (745 miles) between suborbital space and Earth. Using the quantum satellite Micius, the scientists were able to communicate with three ground stations in China, each more than 1,000 km (621 miles) apart. The 1,300 pound craft satellite is equipped with a laser beam, which the scientists subjected to a beam splitter. This gave the beam two distinct polarized states. One of these beams was then used to transmit entangled particles, and the other used to receive the photons. Advertisement

The satellite launched from Jiuquan Satellite launch Center last year, and the new findings mark a promising step forward in the two-year mission prove successful, which could be followed by a fleet of others if all goes well, according to Nature.

To overcome the complications of long-distance quantum entanglement, scientists often break the line of transmission up, creating smaller segments that can then repeatedly swap, purify, and store the information along the optical fiber, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Or, as in this case, they can use lasers and satellites.

The researchers sought to prove that particles can remain entangled across great distances  in this case, nearly 750 miles.
Locals in Reykjavik are now getting their takeaways delivered by drone.

The world's first operational drone delivery service has launched this week in Iceland's capital city.

The drones transport a range of goods, including groceries and restaurant food, much faster than delivery vans.

The company behind the service plans to scale it up in the next few months to make hundreds of drone deliveries each day.

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If you order a takeaway while in Reykjavik, there's a good chance it will be delivered to you by a drone. The world's first operational drone delivery service has launched this week in Iceland's capital city

ICELAND'S DELIVERY DRONES Deliveries are made by Flytrex's autonomous delivery drone 'Mule'. It can carry up to 6.5 pounds (3kg) for distances of up to 6 miles. The drone lands in a field near the neighbourhood the delivery has been made from. Here, it is met by a courier who either drives or walks, depending on the distance, to make the delivery directly to a customer's home. The flights are held as part of a partnership with AHA  Iceland's largest shopping and retail website which operates in Reykjavik. The company is currently only doing one delivery at a time. It claims, however, that multiple deliveries are possible, and one controller can fly a number of drones simultaneously. Advertisement

The drones are operated by Flytrex, an on-demand drone delivery firm based in Tel Aviv.

They are currently flying between two parts of the city separated by a large bay.

The company claims that deliveries that would take 25 minutes by car in Reykjavik can be completed by a drone in just four minutes.

CEO of Flytrex, Yariv Bash, said that 'this is a working system, not a one-off wonder.'

Deliveries are made by Flytrex's autonomous delivery drone 'Mule', which can carry up to 6.5 pounds (three kilograms) for distances of up to six miles.

To make a delivery, the drone lands in a field in the suburb of Grafarvogur.

Here, it is met by a courier who either drives or walk, depending on the distance, to make the delivery directly to a customer's home.

The flights are held as part of a partnership with AHA  Iceland's largest shopping and retail website which operates in Reykjavik.

The company is currently only carrying out one delivery at a time.

It claims, however, that multiple deliveries are possible, and one controller can fly a number of drones simultaneously.

Flytrex aims to make 20 deliveries per day and says it will be adding more over the next few weeks.

In the next few months, it plans to scale that up to hundreds of deliveries a day.

So far, AHA has claims there has been a 60 per cent reduction in drone delivery costs compared with land-based and sea options.

The drones deliver a range of goods, including groceries and restaurant food, while significantly reducing delivery times

AHA has been delivering goods since April 2011, using a fleet of delivery vehicles, focusing on products, groceries and restaurant food in Reykjavik.

But the firm saw the need for change, and teamed up with Flytrex in the hope of making deliveries faster and more efficiently.

Maron Kristofersson, CEO of AHA, said: 'In the recent months there has been a tremendous increase in our online delivery orders, especially in the retail products and we are forecasting a very expedited growth in the grocery deliveries in the coming months.

Deliveries are made by Flytrex's autonomous delivery drone 'Mule', which can carry up to 6.5 pounds (three kilograms) for distances of up to six miles

AHA has been delivering goods since April 2011, using a fleet of delivery vehicles, focusing on products, groceries and restaurant food in Reykjavik

'Over the last four years we have been monitoring online delivery solution technologies around the globe, and feel that Flytrex has a smart, safe and commercially viable solution to the problem.

'We hope to co-operate with them not only in Iceland, but also internationally in the future.'

AMAZON DRONE DELIVERIES Impatient shoppers will be pleased to hear that Amazon's drones could significantly speed up the speed at which deliveries can be made. The plan is for Amazon's PrimeAir service to eventually deliver small packages weighing up to 5lbs (2.27kg) in 30 minutes or less. Amazon got British approval for three new types of tests, including flying drones that are no longer within sight of their operators in rural and suburban areas. The other two are having one person operate several highly automated drones and testing devices to make the drones able to identify and avoid obstacles. During the test the drones will be only allowed to fly an altitude of 400ft (122m) and kept away from operating near airport flight paths. Advertisement

While Flytrex is the first firm is launch a commercial drone delivery service, several other firms are working on similar systems.

In March, Amazon's Prime Air drone made its first US delivery.

The company had successfully conducted drone deliveries in the UK, but consumers across the Atlantic had yet to witness it in action.

The e-commerce giant showed off its Prime Air drone to the public during a conference in California by dropping off a box containing a bottle of sunscreen.

The demonstration brings Amazon one-step closer to commercialising its service, which it said will deliver packages in 30 minutes or less by drones flying up to 50 miles per hour - although it is unclear when this will be available.
News / Africa

by Staff Reporter







A South African publication, News24, has published the leaked security incident report detailing the chaotic events that unfolded as Zimbabwean first lady Grace Mugabe went on a rampage at a luxury hotel in Johannesburg.The first lady allegedly attacked and injured 20-year-old Gabriella Engels. She was later granted diplomatic immunity by the SA government. Meanwhile some Zimbabweans have apologised to South Africa over Grace's misbehaviour in that country.Read report below:
From reports Amazon's same-day delivery is less available in black neighbourhoods to Microsoft's 'racist' chatbots, signs of online prejudice are becoming increasingly common.

Scientists now say they can spot racist and sexist software using a code that finds out if there is implicit bias in algorithms running on websites and apps.

By changing specific variables - such as race, gender or other distinctive traits - the online code Themis claims to know if data is discriminating against specific people.

Previous research suggests technology is generally becoming racist and sexist as it learns from humans - and as a result, hindering its ability to make balanced decisions.

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Scientists now say they can spot racist and sexist software using a code that can find out if there is implicit bias on algorithms running on websites and apps (stock image)

HOW DOES THEMIS WORK? Themis is a freely available code that mimics the process of entering data - such as making a loan application - into a given website or app. By changing specific variables - such as race, gender or other distinctive traits - the online code claims to be able to spot prejudice. If all variables are the same except for the colour of the person's skin then users can conclude that the loan application is racist. Researchers hope it will be used for journalist and citizens to told companies to account - but also for companies themselves to check if their platform is discriminatory. Advertisement

In April this year it was revealed Amazon's same-day delivery was bypassing ZIP codes that were predominantly black.

The report found US neighbourhoods that have large black populations were less likely to benefit from same-day service on Prime.

Experts found the software didn't look at race but had learnt this prejudice through other sorts of data and in this sense had learnt to be racist.

Themis mimics the process of entering data - such as making a loan application - into a given website or app.

This means it could help companies build less biased software and also help normal people test public platforms.

Research led by the University of Massachusetts found the software can run its own experiments in a similar way to a data scientist.

'It's actually using a very fundamental part of the scientific method called 'causal inference', Dr Yuriy Brun told Fast Code Design.

'It's this notion run in statistics that if you just observe the system, you can't say if someone's race causes the difference of output, or behaviour of software.'

If all variables are the same except for the colour of the person's skin then users can conclude that the loan application is racist.

'If I run my loan applicationI happen to be whiteand find software recommends I get a loan, then I can take that same loan application and change just the race', he said.

'Then I ask, what about this application? Can you give this person a loan?'

In April this year it was revealed Amazon's same-day delivery was bypassing ZIP codes that were predominantly black (stock image)

The researchers believe this software is the first to probe data and methodically pick out potential bias.

Dr Brun hopes it will be used for journalist and citizens to told companies to account - but also for companies themselves to check if their platform is discriminatory.

Researchers have previously found the better AI becomes at interpreting the human language, the more likely it will adopt human bias about race and gender that lurks within the data it is fed.

Last year Princeton University conducted a word associate task with the algorithm GloVe, an unsupervised AI that uses online text to understand human language.

The team gave the AI words like 'flowers' and 'insects' to pair with other words defined as being 'pleasant' or 'unpleasant' like 'family' or 'crash' - which it did successfully.

TAY: THE RACISTS TEEN CHATBOT Last June, Microsoft launched an AI bot named Tay that was designed to understand conversational language among young people online. However, within hours of it going live, Twitter users took advantage of flaws in Tay's algorithm that meant the AI chatbot responded to certain questions with racist answers. The results suggested AI has adopted the same biases that make humans match words to people's faces  based on the color of their skin or gender. Microsoft released a chatbot last year (pictured) that turned racists after learning human language These included the bot using racial slurs, defending white supremacist propaganda, and supporting genocide. The bot also managed to spout gems such as, 'Bush did 9/11 and Hitler would have done a better job than the monkey we have got now.' And, 'donald trump is the only hope we've got', in addition to 'Repeat after me, Hitler did nothing wrong.' Followed by, 'Ted Cruz is the Cuban Hitler...that's what I've heard so many others say'. Advertisement

Then algorithm was given a list of white-sounding names, like Emily and Matt, and black-sounding ones, such as Ebony and Jamal', which it was prompted to do the same word association.

The AI linked the white-sounding names with 'pleasant' and black-sounding names as 'unpleasant'.

Findings suggested the datasets used to train AI is polluted with prejudices and assumptions and these technologies are adopting the ideas.

Princeton's results do not just prove datasets are polluted with prejudices and assumptions, but the algorithms currently being used for researchers are reproducing human's worst values - racism and assumption.

'We can learn that 'prejudice is bad', that 'women used to be trapped in their homes and men in their careers, but now gender doesn't necessarily determine family role' and so forth,' the researchers wrote in the August study.

'If AI is not built in a similar way, then it would be possible for prejudice absorbed by machine learning to have a much greater negative impact than when prejudice is absorbed in the same way by children.'
If your Friday night dinner is always fish and chips, you may want to prepare yourself for shrinking portion sizes.

A new study suggests that fish could shrink in size by 20 to 30 per cent if ocean temperatures rise by just 2C (3.6F) - approximately what is expected to occur around the world by the mid-21st century.

The researchers claim that smaller fish will have an impact on fishery production as well as the interaction between organisms in the ecosystems.

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A new study suggests that fish could shrink in size by 20 to 30 per cent if ocean temperatures continue to climb due to climate change. Pictured is a diagram explaining why fish shrink as temperatures rise

WHY ARE FISH SHRINKING? As cold-blooded animals, fish cannot regulate their own body temperatures. When their waters get warmer, their metabolism accelerates and they need more oxygen to sustain their body functions. There is a point where the gills cannot supply enough oxygen for a larger body, so the fish just stops growing larger. As fish grow into adulthood, their demand for oxygen increases because their body mass becomes larger. But the surface area of the gills  where oxygen is obtained  doesn't grow at the same pace as the rest of the body. Dr Pauly calls this set of principles the 'gill-oxygen limitation theory.' And in the context of climate change, this biological rule reinforces the prediction that fish will shrink and will be even smaller than thought in previous studies. Advertisement

While previous studies have suggested that fish are shrinking because of rising temperatures, none have been able to explain why.

But a new study by researchers at the University of British Columbia provides a deeper explanation of why fish are expected to decline in size.

Dr William Cheung, one of the author of the study, said: 'Fish, as cold-blooded animals, cannot regulate their own body temperatures.

'When their waters get warmer, their metabolism accelerates and they need more oxygen to sustain their body functions.

'There is a point where the gills cannot supply enough oxygen for a larger body, so the fish just stops growing larger.'

As fish grow into adulthood, their demand for oxygen increases because their body mass becomes larger, according to the Dr Daniel Pauly, lead author of the study.

But the surface area of the gills  where oxygen is obtained  doesn't grow at the same pace as the rest of the body.

Dr Pauly calls this set of principles the 'gill-oxygen limitation theory.'

For example, as cod increase their weight by 100 per cent, their gills only grow by 80 per cent or less.

And in the context of climate change, this biological rule reinforces the prediction that fish will shrink and will be even smaller than thought in previous studies.

Warmer waters increase fish's need for oxygen but climate change will result in less oxygen in the oceans.

As fish grow into adulthood, their demand for oxygen increases because their body mass becomes larger. But the surface area of the gills  where oxygen is obtained  doesn't grow at the same pace as the rest of the body (stock image)

SHRINKING NORTH SEA FISH A previous study found that various species in the North Sea shrank from 1970-2008: Haddock - 29% Whiting (Northern North Sea) - 13% Whiting (Southern North Sea) - 29% Herring - 10% Norway pout - 19% Sprat (Southern North Sea) - 16% Male Sole - 13% Female Sole - 1% Male Plaice - 12% Advertisement

This means that gills have less oxygen to supply to a body that already grows faster than them.

The researchers say this forces fish to stop growing at a smaller size to be able to fulfil their needs with the little oxygen available to them.

Certain species are likely to be more affected by this combination of factors, according to the team.

For a 2C (3.6F) increase in water temperature, tunas such as the Atlantic bluefin tuna will potentially decrease in body size by 30 per cent.

And sharks, many of which are already threatened with extinction, are also predicted to decrease in size - especially larger species.

As well as disrupting the ocean ecosystem, shrinking fish will also have an impact on fisheries production, according to the researchers.

The researchers believe that the most effective way to prevent these problems from occurring is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions (stock image)

The researchers believe that the most effective way to prevent these problems from occurring is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Speaking to Seekr, Dr Cheung said: 'Our model projections show that the lower the emissions and thus warming, the smaller is the change in body size.

'Also, overfishing is reducing fish body size, so eliminating overfishing can help to reduce the extent of fish shrinkages.'
Rumours have been swirling for months about Google's next Pixel smartphones, and the latest report suggests we may finally have a release date.

Evan Blass, a well-known tech leaker, has tweeted that the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL will be revealed on October 2.

Google is yet to confirm this date, and told MailOnline that it 'doesn't comment on rumours or speculation.'

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Evan Blass, a tech-leaker from Philadelphia, tweeted this morning: 'Google's second-generation Pixel handsets, powered by Snapdragon 836 SoC's, will be unveiled on October 5th'

GOOGLE PIXEL 2 RUMOURS Leaked photos allegedly of the Google Pixel 2 give truth to some of the rumoured features. Via the photos or per the tipster, we know: The phone will have a curved screen. It has two LEDs in the camera flash. The back will be made of a glass panel. Google is ditching the headphone jack for the device. The source also reported a better in-hand feel than the original Pixel phone, The source said the device is 'sleek' and 'elegant.' It is also expected to feature a Snapdragon 836 processor. Advertisement

Evan Blass, a tech-leaker from Philadelphia, tweeted this morning: 'Google's second-generation Pixel handsets, powered by Snapdragon 836 SoC's, will be unveiled on October 5th.'

This also suggests that the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL will feature more sophisticated processers than the original Pixel phones, which have Snapdragon 835 processors.

Mr Blass has a strong track record for predicting when new technology will be launched, as well as features on devices.

The rumours follow leaked images earlier this month, which claim to show Google's Pixel 2 handset.

According to the photos, it appears the upcoming device will, as previously predicted, have a curved screen and a glass back.

However, one thing is missing - Google is planning to follow Apple and dump the headphone jack for the new device.

Also shown in the leaked images is the presence of two LEDs in the flash and a glass panel on the back, which is smaller this time around.

While previous leaks have suggested the phone will also be equipped with a Laser autofocus feature, that can't be seen here - although it may just be too difficult to spot.

The photos, sent to Gsmarena by an unnamed tipster, show the front and back of what is clearly an early developer unit of the phone, as is indicated by the stickers on the back.

Leaked images suggest that Google is planning to follow Apple and dump the headphone jack for the new device

While the lack of headphone jack isn't seen in the photo, the source told Gsmarena the device doesn't include one.

The source also reported a better in-hand feel than the original Pixel phone, saying it is 'sleek' and 'elegant.'

The original Google Pixel phone was launched in October 2016, and the Pixel 2 is set to launch this autumn, which would make it in direct competition with Apple's iPhone 8 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.

Leaked images allegedly of the Google Pixel 2 reveal some of the device's rumored features. According to the photos, it appears the upcoming device will indeed have a curved screen

As the company prepares for the release, it's dropping the price on the original Pixel phone.

As part of a back to school promotion, the Pixel's starting price is currently down to $524 (408) instead of $649 (506), while the Pixel XL is now priced at $569 (443) rather than $769 (600) - the company is also throwing in free Daydream View headsets for consumers who take advantage of the promotion.

Insiders have long been suggesting the Google Pixel 2 could have a curved screen display like the Samsung Galaxy S8.

Reports suggest the Google Pixel 2 phone, which is launching later this year, could have a curved screen display like the Samsung Galaxy S8 (pictured)

Reports suggest Google is investing $880 million (709 million) in LG's flexible organic light emitting diode (OLED) screens.

Increasingly curved screen are being adopted by smartphones and it seems Google want to move in this direction too, according to South Korea's Electronic Times.

The report suggests that LG is yet to sign the massive investment offer proposed by Google.

Reports suggest Google is investing $880 million (709 million) in LG's flexible organic light emitting diode (OLED) screens for their Pixel 2 handset (pictured is first-generation Pixel handsets)

In March, the head of hardware at Google first confirmed that the firm is developing a second-generation Pixel for the 'premium smartphone market'.

The confirmation came from Rick Osterloh during an interview with AndroidPT.

'There is an annual rhythm in the industry,' Osterloh said in the interview.

'So, you can count on us to follow it. You can count on a successor this year, even if you don't hear a date from me now.'

The original Google Pixel phone (pictured) was launched in October 2016, and the Pixel 2 is due to be launched this autumn which would be in direct competition with Apple's iPhone 8

Google debuted the first smartphones in its Pixel line during a conference in October 2016, a Pixel and the 5.5-inch Pixel XL.

Although the Pixel 2 release would fall around the same time as the iPhone 8, Google is focusing on the upper price segment of the market.

This may be tougher than imagined, if as speculated, the iPhone 8 turns out to cost over $1,000 (780).

Osterloh stated that 'Pixel stays premium' and the firm will 'leave lower price segments to other manufacturers'.

GOOGLE PIXEL SPECS The Pixel runs on a Snapdragon 821 2.15GHz processor. The handsets come in 32GB or 128GB models, with microSD card slots enabling an additional 256GB of storage. The first-generation Pixel is be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 chip They have 12.3 and 8-megapixel cameras and a full HD AMOLED screen with Gorilla Glass protection. Fast charging gives 7 hours of use in 15 minutes Included is Google's AI assistant, Allo for messaging and Duo for video calls. Free online storage for pictures and video Is be available in US on Verizon and in an unlocked version from $649. The first-generation handset range includes two new phones, a Pixel and the 5.5-inch Pixel XL Advertisement

'We believe the next big thing will be at the intersection of hardware and software,' Mr Osterloh said in October.

He also took aim at Apple, saying the phone has 'no unsightly phone bump.'

Brian Rakowski of Google said the phone was 'designed inside and out to be smart'.

He said the Pixel's camera was better than the iPhone 7.

'It's the best smartphone camera anyone has made,' he said.
While some people come out of the gym with a huge grin on their face, others find absolutely no pleasure in exercising.

Now, a new study has revealed that our enjoyment of exercising is largely genetic.

The researchers hope the findings could be used to develop personalised exercise programmes for people who are not genetically inclined to enjoy the gym.

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While some people come out of the gym with a grin on their face, others find absolutely no pleasure in exercising. Now, a new study has revealed that our enjoyment of exercising is largely genetic (stock image)

THE STUDY The study involved 115 pairs of identical twins who share the same genes, 111 pairs of non-identical siblings share roughly half their genes, 35 of their non-twin siblings, and another six non-twin sibling pairs. Each participant completed a 20 minute non-vigorous cycle on an exercise bike, as well as a 20 minute treadmill run. There were also warm up and warm down periods and there was a second brief exercise ride to exhaustion. While exercising, the participants rated how they felt on a scale of very bad to very good, and how much they felt they were exerting themselves. From these results, the researchers established the participants' affective response to exercise. Then, by comparing the affective response to exercise in identical and non-identical twins, the researchers could work out how much it is inherited genetically. Results showed that the affective response to exercise was significantly heritable. Advertisement

Researchers from VU University in Amsterdam looked at why some people find exercise unpleasant and unrewarding, while others feel a sense of self satisfaction.

The team calls this difference the 'affective response to exercise' and suggest that it is to a significant degree genetically inherited.

Their study involved 115 pairs of identical twins who share the same genes, 111 pairs of non-identical siblings share roughly half their genes, 35 of their non-twin siblings, and another six non-twin sibling pairs.

Each participant completed a 20 minute non-vigorous cycle on an exercise bike, as well as a 20 minute treadmill run.

There were also warm up and warm down periods and there was a second brief exercise ride to exhaustion.

While exercising, the participants rated how they felt on a scale of very bad to very good, and how much they felt they were exerting themselves.

From these results, the researchers established the participants' affective response to exercise.

Then, by comparing the affective response to exercise in identical and non-identical twins, the researchers could work out how much it is inherited genetically.

Results showed that the affective response to exercise was significantly heritable.

During the moderate cycle, heritability was 15 per cent, while on the treadmill it was 35 per cent.

The affective response to exercise also correlated with how much exercise the participants normally did  those who found exercise more pleasant engaged in more exercise.

While the results are promising, the researchers highlight that a causal direction hasn't yet been established, and it could be that doing more exercise changes how we experience it  regardless of our genes (stock image)

BORN TO RUN? According to an expert at Harvard University, human biology may actually make us predisposed to laziness. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors would have expended energy tackling prey and looking for wild food and shelter, so were likely to have limited unnecessary bursts of energy-sapping physical activity. But our biology makes a constant trade-off between activity and inactivity, balanced for an environment in which calories are limited. In the modern environment, the free availability of calories coupled with this propensity for inactivity is interacting negatively with the energy-saving genetic machinery, resulting in a boom in conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and osteoporosis. Experts believe that while modern society has developed treatments to tackle the symptoms, regular exercise could help to tackle the root of the problem - providing it is done right and made enticing or necessary. Advertisement

While the results are promising, the researchers highlight that a causal direction hasn't yet been established, and it could be that doing more exercise changes how we experience it  regardless of our genes.

The team is also yet to pinpoint the specific genes that dictate whether or not we enjoy exercise.

Ms Nienke Schutte, lead author of the study, told MailOnline: 'Establishing the heritability is the first step in genetic studies.

'Finding the actual genes is the next.'

However, the researchers believe that their findings could be used to help people take up more exercise.

Ms Schutte added: 'This studies shows that a one-size-fits-all approach to get people to exercise might not work so well.

'People who are genetically wired to not enjoy exercise will benefit from more personalized exercise programmes in which the negative feelings get reduced as much as possible.

'Different genes may require entirely different exercise programs!'
Advertisement

After weeks of anticipation, the sight of the moon's silhouette blotting out all but a halo-like corona of the sun drew whoops and cheers from onlookers when it began over the West Coast on Monday.

If you didn't get the chance to see the eclipse, Google put together a collection of photos taken by a group of volunteers across the US during the August 21 total solar eclipse.

The images were stitched together by an algorithm, based on the time and location of the photo, so viewers can get an extended look at the sun's atmosphere and follow the total solar eclipse as it passed through 14 states.

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Darkness swept across the US on Monday, August 21 as the eclipse traveled from coast to coast, ending just before 3pm EDT in South Carolina (pictured, the total eclipse in Oregon)

The celestial event began in Oregon at just after 9am PDT, and by 10.20am, the sun was completely blocked out except for a halo-like solar corona plunging the area into twilight.

Over the next 90 minutes, the total eclipse traveled through 14 different states until ending in South Carolina.

The deepest part of the shadow, or umbra, cast by the moon fell over a 70-mile-wide, 2,500-mile-long 'path of totality' traversing Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

The Google eclipse megamovie follows the path of the solar eclipse throughout the 14 states that it passed through, allowing the viewer to see what the eclipse looked like as it traveled from coast to coast.

Where there are gaps in the images collected, the previous image is shown for a longer period of time.

As more images are uploaded and processed, the gaps will be filled in and the movie will improve over time.

The 12 million people who live along the path of totality could view the eclipse at its fullest merely by walking outside and looking up, weather permitting.

Images of the solar eclipse were stitched together by an algorithm, based on the time and location of the photo, so viewers can get an extended look at the sun's atmosphere and follow the total solar eclipse as it passed through 14 states

The Google eclipse megamovie follows the path of the solar eclipse throughout the 14 states that it passed through, allowing the viewer to see what the eclipse looked like as it traveled from coast to coast

Some 200 million Americans live within a day's drive of the totality zone, and as many as seven million, experts said, were expected to converge on towns and campgrounds along the narrow corridor for the event.

The other 36 states were all treated to a partial solar eclipse, where the moon covers only a part of the sun.

If you missed this year's solar eclipse, you can see the next one in seven years.

On August 21, 2017, the United States was treated to a coast-to-coast total solar eclipse, sweeping across the country from Oregon all the way to South Carolina

A crowd gathered in front of the Hollywood sign at the Griffith Observatory to watch the solar eclipse in Los Angeles

The next US solar eclipse will take place on April 8th, 2024, passing from Texas to Maine, with the Canadian city of Montreal being able to see the totality as well.

The next total solar eclipse after that will place at August 12, 2026, and will be seen from the Arctic, Greenland, Iceland, Spain and Northeastern Portugal.
Have you ever noticed how ads and travel agents try to connect with you, perhaps by humanizing a destination to make it sound warm and welcoming?

New research now backs this trick as a normal tactic for tourism and event marketers looking to make a connection with consumers and sell their packages.

The study found that people who see animals as people, or assign human traits to non-human objects, are more likely to travel to places that are written about as being human-like.

For the experiment, participants were shown a travel ad for either Paris or Rome, but half of the participants saw an ad where the destination was personified, referring to the city as 'she,' while the other half saw an ad that referred to the city as 'it'

The study, conducted by researchers at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), has implications for how the tourism industry operates: If you can identify what traits people have, you can design customized ads targeting them.

The study looked at different aspects of personality and the impact on destination choices.

Researchers recruited 210 participants of different ages, work background and income levels.

The researchers also determined the levels of anthropomorphic traits in each participant - how likely they are to assign human traits to animals and objects.

They were shown a travel ad for either Paris or Rome, but half of the participants saw an ad where the destination was personified, referring to the city as 'she,' while the other half saw an ad that referred to the city as 'it.'

'One of the ads used typical copy for a travel destination advertisement, for example, facts about the city and its attractions,' said Dr Kate Letheren, a researcher at QUT and the lead author of the study.

HOW THEY DID THE STUDY Researchers at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) recruited 210 participants of different ages, work background and income levels. The researchers also determined the levels of anthropomorphic traits in each participant - how likely they are to assign human traits to animals and objects. They were shown a travel ad for either Paris or Rome, but half of the participants saw an ad where the destination was personified, referring to the city as 'she,' while the other half saw an ad that referred to the city as 'it.' One of the ads (pictured) used typical copy for a travel destination advertisement, for example, facts about the city and its attractions 'One of the ads used typical copy for a travel destination advertisement, for example, facts about the city and its attractions,' said Dr Kate Letheren, a researcher at QUT and the lead author of the study. 'The other used language that humanised the destination, like "Paris welcomes you." 'We found people higher in anthropomorphic traits were more likely to respond with feel-good emotions and have a positive view of the destination after reading the personified ad. Another ad used used language that humanised the destination, like 'Paris welcomes you' (pictured) Advertisement

'The other used language that humanised the destination, like "Paris welcomes you."

'We found people higher in anthropomorphic traits were more likely to respond with feel-good emotions and have a positive view of the destination after reading the personified ad.

'This suggests people with this trait who see human characteristics in tourism destinations are more likely to want to visit those destinations.'

The researchers also found that levels of anthropomorphic traits varied by person, but some common examples of anthropomorphism include assigning human emotions to a pet dog, or referring to a car or ship as 'she.'

Professor Brett Martin, a co-author of the study, said that this is already a normal tactic for destination and major event marketers to try to make a connection with potential customers.

Tourism campaigns often focus on attracting specific demographics, for example Chinese tourists or luxury holiday-makers, and the new research shows that if you have a tourist who naturally humanises, you can tailor the message to appeal to this aspect of their personality

'Humanising a destination or event can help place it in a positive light and give the audience a warm, fuzzy feeling,' said Professor Martin.

'This is why cute cartoon animals are often chosen as mascots for the Olympics, for example.

'Large sums of money are spent on campaigns to try to attract tourists and destinations need to appear warm and welcoming.

'Tourism campaigns often focus on attracting specific demographics, for example Chinese tourists or luxury holiday-makers, and our research shows that if you have a tourist who naturally humanises, you can tailor the message to appeal to this aspect of their personality.

'If you can successfully identify what traits people have, you can send them customised messages.

'Ten to 20 years ago that wasn't possible, but now it is.'
Its set to become the most powerful space telescope ever built, and soon, the James Webb telescope could help answer scientists most pressing questions on two potentially habitable ocean worlds sitting right in our own solar system.

NASA has revealed a new plan to use James Webbs infrared capabilities to study the icy moons Europa and Enceladus, which are thought to contain some of the chemical ingredients necessary to sustain life.

The instrument will capture high-resolution imagery of Jupiters moon Europa, and analyze the molecular composition of plumes on Saturns moon Enceladus, allowing scientists to unravel the mysterious processes taking place at the surface.

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With the Webb telescopes near-infrared camera (NIRCam), scientists will be able to capture high-resolution images of Europa to reveal new insight on these features. Then, the near-infrared spectrograph (NIRSpec) will be used to analyze its composition, as illustrated above

STUDY DOUBTS ICY GIANTS HOST LIFE Researchers from Peking University in Beijing used a global climate model to simulate the climatic evolution of icy planets. The climate model found Europa and Enceladus don't have our planet's active carbon cycle - which allowed it to recover from its snowball state to a perfect environment for life to thrive. Without greenhouse gases to help warm the moon or planet, the energy required to melt the ice is so high that once it melts it goes straight a greenhouse state. The study showed the oceans vaporise making water disappear - resulting in a world unable to support life as we know it. Advertisement

James Webb Space Telescope is set to launch in 2018, and will allow astronomers to peer 13.5 billion years back in the history of the universe.

And, while its advanced capabilities will make for unprecedented observations of exoplanets, scientists have plans to use it to study objects closer to home as well.

We chose these two moons because of their potential to exhibit chemical signatures of astrobiological interest, said astronomer Heidi Hammel, the executive vice president of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA).

According to NASA, Europa and Enceladus are among the targets selected by the guaranteed time observers who helped develop the telescope.

The two icy moons are both known to host plumes that spew water vapour and simple organic chemicals from the surface.

Previous observations by the Cassini-Huygens and Galileo missions, as well as the Hubble Space Telescope, suggest these are caused by processes heating massive oceans below the surface.

With the Webb telescopes near-infrared camera (NIRCam), scientists will be able to capture high-resolution images of Europa to reveal new insight on these features.

Once a plume has bee spotted, the near-infrared spectrograph (NIRSpec) and mid-infrared instrument (MIRI) will be used to analyze its composition.

This could help to answer some of the many questions swirling about these ocean worlds, the experts explain  especially the mysterious Europa.

Are they made of water ice? said lead scientist Geronimo Villanueva, a planetary scientist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

According to NASA, Europa and Enceladus are among the targets selected by the guaranteed time observers who helped develop the telescope. The two icy moons are both known to host plumes that spew water vapour and simple organic chemicals from the surface

JUPITER'S ICY MOON Jupiter's icy moon Europa is slightly smaller than Earth's moon. Europa orbits Jupiter every 3.5 days and is tidally locked - just like Earth's Moon - so that the same side of Europa faces Jupiter at all times. It is thought to have an iron core, a rocky mantle and a surface ocean of salty water, like Earth. The James Webb Space Telescope could help to answer some of the many questions swirling about these ocean worlds, the experts explain  especially the mysterious Europa, one of Jupiter's moons (illustrated above) Unlike on Earth, however, this ocean is deep enough to cover the whole surface of Europa, and being far from the sun, the ocean surface is globally frozen over. Many experts believe the hidden ocean surrounding Europa, warmed by powerful tidal forces caused by Jupiter's gravity, may have conditions favourable for life. Advertisement

Is hot water vapour being released? What is the temperature of the active regions and the emitted water?

Webb telescopes measurements will allow us to address these questions with unprecedented accuracy and precision.

Enceladus is roughly 10 times smaller than Europa, meaning Webb will not be able to take high-resolution images of the surface.

Instead, it will analyze the molecular composition of the plumes, and analyze the surface features.

The instrument will capture high-resolution imagery of Jupiters moon Europa, and analyze the molecular composition of plumes on Saturns moon Enceladus (pictured), allowing scientists to unravel the mysterious processes taking place at the surface

WHAT IS ENCELADUS? Enceladus is Saturn's sixth largest moon, at 313 miles wide (504 kilometers). Cassini observations have revealed hydrothermal activity, with vents spewing water vapour and ice particles out from a global ocean buried beneath the icy crust. According to NASA, the plume includes organic compounds, volatile gases, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, salts, and silica. And, Cassini recently discovered hydrogen gas, said to be the missing ingredient for life. While it may look 'inhospitable' like Saturn's other moons, the observations now it may have the elements needed to support life. Advertisement

Still, the researchers say theres no way to guarantee that their observations will spot one of the intermittent emissions of these plumes.

And, these emissions may not have significant organic composition.

We only expect detections if the plumes are particularly active and if they are organic-rich, said Villanueva.

The data gathered by the Webb telescope could be used to better understand the activity on these moons, which could later be investigated further by other missions, such as NASAs Europa Clipper, according to the researchers.

Over the past few months, the James Webb Space Telescope (illustrated) has completed several key tests ahead of launch. At the beginning of August, NASA revealed it had completed its first end-to-end communication between the telescope and its mission operations centre

THE JAMES WEBB TELESCOPE The James Webb telescope has been described as a 'time machine' that could help unravel the secrets of our universe. The telescope will be used to look back to the first galaxies born in the early universe more than 13.5 billion years ago, and observe the sources of stars, exoplanets, and even the moons and planets of our solar system. The telescope is be 100 times more potent than its predecessor, Hubble, and three times larger. For this reason, it has been nicknamed 'Super Hubble'. When it is launched in 2018, it will be the world's biggest and most powerful telescope, capable of peering back 200 million years after the Big Bang. Advertisement

While some of the chemicals found in these plumes could be indicative of microbial life, the experts say they could also be the result of geologic processes.

Over the past few months, the James Webb Space Telescope has completed several key tests ahead of its launch.

At the beginning of August, NASA revealed it had completed its first end-to-end communication between the telescope and its mission operations centre.

The team verified the telescope was recording and transmitting properly to the spacecraft bus, which is currently located at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems in Redondo Beach, California.

These communications are required to support its launch and then operate it once it's in orbit.

The telescope is 100 times more potent than its predecessor, Hubble, and three times larger.
Three young dinosaurs that roamed the Gobi Desert 70 million years ago were killed while roosting together - just like modern chickens.

They belonged to a new species of meat eating oviraptor, a group of feathered dinosaurs that lived in Asia and North America.

The find suggests dinosaurs roosted together to sleep, quite possibly as a family, much like many modern birds do today.

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The amazing remains of the three roosting juveniles (pictured) known as oviraptorids were in a confiscated fossil block that was illegally exported from Mongolia

OVIRAPTORS The fossilised trio belonged to a new species of meat eating oviraptor, a group of feathered dinosaurs that lived in Asia and North America. Oviraptors walked on two legs, and stood a little over a metre (3.2 ft) high, stretching to two metres (6.4 ft) in length on average. They had parrot-like beaks and brooded eggs at a similar temperature to chickens. The dinosaurs' notable head crest is present even at a young age. But the beasts would have had gradually shorter tails as they aged, as some of their bones fused across their lifetime. Their head crests and tails have been argued to represent sexual display features used in mating, somewhat similar to modern peacocks or turkeys. Advertisement

The remarkable discovery of prehistoric roosting adds to growing evidence the prehistoric creatures really did evolve into our feathered friends.

'It is a fantastic specimen', said palaeontologist Gregory Funston, of the University of Alberta, Canada.

'It is rare to find a skeleton preserved in life position, so having two complete individuals and parts of a third is really incredible.'

The amazing remains of the three roosting juveniles known as oviraptorids were in a confiscated fossil block that was illegally exported from Mongolia.

These oviraptorids - which are the ancestors of modern birds - were all the same species and roughly the same age.

They were preserved in a sleeping posture, so close to each other they would have been touching in life.

Known as 'communal roosting', this behaviour is seen in many birds today including chickens and pigeons.

The specimen, described in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, luckily made its way into the hands of Mr Funston, a PhD candidate, and his adviser Dr Philip Currie.

The trio had several features that indicated they belonged to a whole new species.

Other fossils found in Mongolia also seem to belong to this new species, and further flesh out the life history of these animals.

The fossilised trio belonged to a new species of meat eating oviraptor, a group of feathered dinosaurs that lived in Asia and North America

HOW DID DINOSAURS SLEEP? The new discovery is the first time three dinosaurs have been found sleeping together. The beasts could have been killed in a sudden, prehistoric ashfall. There are still many aspects of dinosaur life we know little about, including how they slept. But a handful of fossils have shown us at least some dinosaurs curled up just like birds. In 2004 the tiny, early Cretaceous dinosaur Mei long - a feathery troodontid with big eyes and a little sharp claw on each foot, was found sleeping in a roosting position. The dinosaur's name, which means 'sleeping dragon', is a tribute to the behaviour. A second, slightly smaller Mei was later discovered preserved in a nearly identical sleeping position. Advertisement

The notable head crest is present even at a young age, but the dinosaurs would have had gradually shorter tails as they aged, and some of their bones fused across their lifetime.

Their head crests and tails have been argued to represent sexual display features used in mating, somewhat similar to modern peacocks or turkeys.

'The origins of communal roosting in birds are still debated, so this specimen will provide valuable information on roosting habits in bird line theropods', said Mr Funston.

The theropods were two legged carnivorous dinosaurs, that included T Rex.

The region has been known for decades for its amazing array of dinosaurs fossils, immaculately preserved in incredible detail that give rare glimpses of their behaviour.

During the Cretaceous period, which ended about 65 million years ago, the area was filled with lakes and marshes which, along with volcanic eruptions, created ideal preservation.

Diagram showing the skeletal elements of the new species of dinosaur with its many bird-like features. Their head crests and tails have been argued to represent sexual display features used in mating, somewhat similar to modern peacocks or turkeys

Each year helped by rain, frost and scouring gusts of wind, the soil is eroded and more fossils are exposed.

Now the latest remains from this area suggest an entirely unknown trait for the bird like dinosaurs.

Mr Funston, who will present the team's findings at a Society of Vertebrate Paleontology meeting in Calgary, Alberta, today, said the dinosaurs were immediately next to each other.

Three young dinosaurs that roamed the Gobi Desert 70 million years ago were killed while roosting together - just like modern chickens

Bone by bone, paleontologists are learning more than ever before about dinosaurs, but there are still many aspects about their lifestyle we know little about, including how they slept.

However, a handful of fossils have shown us at least some dinosaurs curled up just like birds.

In 2004 the tiny, early Cretaceous dinosaur Mei long - a feathery troodontid with big eyes and a little sharp claw on each foot, was found sleeping in a roosting position.

The dinosaur's name, which means 'sleeping dragon', is a tribute to the behaviour.

A second, slightly smaller Mei was later discovered preserved in a nearly identical sleeping position.

But this is the first time three have been found sleeping together.
As much as 15 per cent of the population occasionally hear voices in their head, and now a study has shed new light on the condition.

Researchers have discovered that 'voice-hearers' can detect disguised sounds more quickly and easily than people who don't hear voices.

The team hopes their findings will help to develop more effective ways to help people who find their voices disturbing.

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Researchers have discovered that 'voice-hearers' can detect disguised sounds more quickly and easily than people who don't hear voices

HEARING VOICES IN YOUR HEAD The study involved people who regularly hear voices, known as auditory verbal hallucinations. While many people who hear voices have conditions such as schizophrenia, others have no underlying mental health problems. Researchers predict that between five and 15 per cent of the population occasionally hears voices, with one per cent hearing them regularly. Advertisement

Researchers from Durham University and University College London suggest that voice-hearers have an enhanced tendency to detect meaningful speech patterns in ambiguous sounds.

Their study involved people who regularly hear voices, known as auditory verbal hallucinations, but do not have a mental health problem.

Participants listened to a set of disguised speech sounds known as sine-wave speech while they were having an MRI brain scan.

Usually, these sounds can only be understood once people are either told to listen out for them, or have been trained to decode the disguised sounds.

Sine-wave speech is often described as sounding a bit like birdsong or 'alien-like' noises.

But after training, people can hear simple sentences hidden underneath.

The results showed that many of the voice-hearers recognised the hidden speech before being told it was there.

The study involved people who regularly hear voices, known as auditory verbal hallucinations, but do not have a mental health problem. Participants listened to a set of disguised speech sounds known as sine-wave speech while they were having an MRI brain scan

THE STUDY The study involved people who regularly hear voices, but do not have a mental health problem. Participants listened to a set of disguised speech sounds known as sine-wave speech while they were having an MRI brain scan. Usually, these sounds can only be understood once people are either told to listen out for them, or have been trained to decode the disguised sounds. Sine-wave speech is often described as sounding a bit like birdsong or alien-like noises. But after training, people can hear simple sentences hidden underneath. The results showed that many of the voice-hearers recognised the hidden speech before being told it was there. The MRI scans also revealed that the brains of the voice-hearers automatically responded to sounds that contained hidden speech compared to sounds that were meaningless, in the regions of the brain linked to attention and monitoring skills. Advertisement

And on average they tended to notice it earlier than other participants who had no history of hearing voices.

The MRI scans also revealed that the brains of the voice-hearers automatically responded to sounds that contained hidden speech compared to sounds that were meaningless, in the regions of the brain linked to attention and monitoring skills.

Dr Ben Alderson-Day, who led the study, said: 'These findings are a demonstration of what we can learn from people who hear voices that are not distressing or problematic.

'It suggests that the brains of people who hear voices are particularly tuned to meaning in sounds, and shows how unusual experiences might be influenced by people's individual perceptual and cognitive processes.'

While many people who hear voices have conditions such as schizophrenia, others have no underlying mental health problems.

Researchers predict that between five and 15 per cent of the population occasionally hears voices, with one per cent hearing them regularly.

Dr Cesar Lima, co-author of the study, said: 'We did not tell the participants that the ambiguous sounds could contain speech before they were scanned, or ask them to try to understand the sounds.

The MRI scans revealed that the brains of the voice-hearers automatically responded to sounds that contained hidden speech compared to sounds that were meaningless, in the regions of the brain linked to attention and monitoring skills (pictured in orange)

'Nonetheless, these participants showed distinct neural responses to sounds containing disguised speech, as compared to sounds that were meaningless.

'This was interesting to us because it suggests that their brains can automatically detect meaning in sounds that people typically struggle to understand unless they are trained.'

The researchers hope their findings will help to inform mental health policies and improve therapies for people who find their voices distressing.

Professor Sophie Scott, who also worked on the study, added: 'This is a really exciting demonstration of the ways that unusual experiences with voices can be linked to - and may have their basis in - everyday perceptual processes.'
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It is the return of the shuttle - albeit in a somewhat smaller form.

NASA has revealed a new 'mini shuttle' built by Sierra Nevada's Corporation is about to begin its final testing, and will soon be delivering cargo to the International Space Station.

'Fans disconsolate after retirement of NASA's shuttle fleet can take heart: The next generation in reusable space vehicles is set to debut,' the agency said.

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The Dream Chaser photographed at dawn on the NASA Armstrong Research Center runway. The craft has been undergoing a series of tests at the base's runways.

The craft has been undergoing extensive tests at NASA's Langley

NASA says the 'guiding principles' for the craft are 'Fly frequently, travel safely, land on (most) runways, and operate economically'.

It plans to use the craft, called Dream Catcher, as a cargo-carrying aerospace workhorses routinely launching to low-Earth orbit for space station resupply and crew transfers.

In January 2016 SNC was one of three companies awarded contracts to ferry cargo from 2019 through 2024 to the International Space Station (ISS).

Under the terms of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, and as part of a Space Act Agreement, SNC is able to use agency wind tunnels for Dream Chaser studies and experiments.

That's where Langley came in, mounting a Dream Chaser scale model in its Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel for extensive aerodynamic data gathering, which was subsequently added to the spacecraft's performance database.

Although a quarter of the size of any of the now-retired space shuttles, Dream Chaser can carry as many as seven crew members.

Although there is but one basic spacecraft airframe, there are two system variants optimized for either manned or unmanned missions.

SNC says the Dream Chaser can be reused 15 or more times, more than any other current operational space vehicle.

A 28-foot model of the HL-10 lifting-body reentry vehicle is shown being mounted in NASA Langley Research Center's Full Scale Wind Tunnel to determine its low-speed static stability and control

Shown alongside the shuttle Atlanta in this artist's impression, the Dream Chaser will return

The company also touts the spacecraft's flexibility in remote sensing, satellite servicing, and even 'active debris removal,' otherwise known as space-trash cleanup.

A second round of Dream Chaser flight tests at NASA's Armstrong Research Center is slated to continue through the end of the 2017 calendar year.

The test campaign will help SNC validate the aerodynamic properties, flight software and control system performance of the Dream Chaser.

It is being prepared to deliver cargo to the International Space Station under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS2) contract beginning in 2019.

The data that SNC gathers from this test campaign will help influence and inform the final design of the cargo Dream Chaser, which will fly at least six cargo delivery missions to and from the space station by 2024.

How the Dreamchaser Will work: Each craft can be reused 15 times.

Last year NASA announced Sierra Nevada Corp. will join SpaceX and Orbital ATK in launching cargo to the International Space Station.

These flights, yet to be finalized, will run through 2024, and marks a second chance for the Nevada-based company, which is developing a mini shuttle called Dream Chaser.

Sierra Nevada competed for NASA's commercial crew contract, but lost out in 2014 to SpaceX and Boeing.

ThisThe other companies use standard-shaped capsules.

Like SpaceX, Sierra Nevada plans to launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Artist's concept of an HL-20 at a space station.

The spacecraft will be able to land back on Earth, like the shuttle, and bring back science experiments and other items from the station.

Now, only SpaceX can return goods.

Other cargo ships are filled with trash and burn up on re-entry.

THE HISTORY OF LIFTING BODY 'FAT SHUTTLES' A 28-foot model of the HL-10 lifting-body reentry vehicle is shown being mounted in NASA Langley Research Center's Full Scale Wind Tunnel to determine its low-speed static stability and control The new spaceplane stage has been set by decades of NASA work done at Langley Research Center on horizontal-landing, or HL, lifting bodies. Sporting a design reminiscent of the upward-flexing pectoral fins on breaching manta rays, HL vehicles feature rudimentary wings. As the craft settles through Earth's atmosphere from orbit the chubby, cigar-like fuselage generates lift from more air pressure on the bottom than on the top. Flying Wingless First championed for flight testing by NASA engineer H. Dale Reed in the early 1960s, the HL concept went through a number of design changes and improvements, eventually resulting in a series of experimental piloted aircraft. The Northrop HL-10  referring to the tenth design evaluated by Langley engineers  was built to assess specific structural refinements. Langley laboratories and wind tunnels hosted a variety of early studies on scale models before any full-scale craft were constructed. The HL-10 would be one of five 'heavyweight' lifting body designs flown at NASA's Flight Research Center (now known as Armstrong Research Center) from July 1966 to November 1975 to demonstrate a pilot's ability to maneuver and safely land a wingless vehicle. The information the lifting-body program generated contributed to a database crucial to the genesis of the space shuttle program. A New Kid Spurred by the Soviet Union's development of its subscale, unmanned BOR-4  a testbed for the country's would-be Buran space shuttle  by the 1980s Langley had set to work on a HL-10 successor, known as the HL-20, or 'Personal Launch System (PSL).' By 1990s, a 29-foot full-size, non-flying HL-20 model was built by the students and faculty of North Carolina State University and North Carolina A & T University to study crew-seating arrangements, habitability, equipment layout and how best to enter and exit. Although never flight-tested, the PSL did ultimately deliver: its design would be the basis for development of Sierra Nevada's Corporation's (SNC) Dream Chaser. Advertisement

Sierra Nevada Corporation has delivered its Dream Chaser spacecraft to Edwards Air Force Base ahead of its 2019 missions to supply cargo to the International Space Station.

It is being prepared to deliver cargo to the International Space Station under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS2) contract beginning in 2019.

Recent launch accidents by SpaceX and Orbital prompted Nasa to pick a third vendor, for increased flexibility.

Orbital launched from Wallops Island, Virginia, until a launch explosion in 2014.

SpaceX experienced its own launch failure last summer

Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser 'shuttle' will join SpaceX and Orbital ATK in launching cargo to the International Space Station.

The spacecraft will be able to land back on Earth, like the shuttle, and bring back science experiments and other items from the station.

NASA awarded its first commercial resupply contracts in 2008.

The first flight was in 2012.

The latest contract calls for a minimum of three flights by each of the three companies.
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

An MDC official based in South Africa has expressed some reservations as to why all the principals in the grand coalition under the name MDC alliance are men when the political arena has women.Descent Collins Bajila he surely can't deny the fact that it's bad that all the Principals of the Alliance are male.MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai, MDC leader Welshman Ncube, People's Democratic Party leader Tendai Biti and many other leaders from small parties who are male recently signed a grand coalition to challenge President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF in the 2018 elections as a combined force."It is bad. I am strongly of the view that no society can achieve modern development if 52% of itself is reduced to marginal roles or completely excluded the development discourse. However, we have to look into the route to where we are, think globally and act locally," he said."First of all, the struggle for gender equality should never be allowed to be reduced to a Men-are-crap society primarily because such an omission will demobilise supportive men and conservative women. It should be a struggle for ensuring that the 52% of our society have adequate spaces and voices in the life of the society they live in."He said the United States of America was established in 1776 and has been a ground for the battle of much of humanity's civil rights."From the fight against slavery, to racial equality to gender equality. However up to today they are yet to have a woman President. That has never meant that they are a sexist society. Women are freer and more successful in the US than in countries that have had women Presidents like Argentina, Phillipines, Malawi and Liberia," he said."The issue of the Alliance is that of constituent leadership. The parties that signed the agreement are led by men. It is not like men are ganging up against women. I am sure if a woman led political party subscribed to the same vision with those who signed the agreement, it would sign and be a member."He said just as world governments can't send women ministers to the United Nations General Assembly for the sake of having equal numbers at the summit, constituent parties couldn't send anyone other than their Presidents to represent them at that level.
Tesla next month plans to unveil an electric big-rig truck with a working range of 200 to 300 miles, Reuters has learned, a sign that the electric car maker is targeting regional hauling for its entry into the commercial freight market.

Chief Executive Elon Musk has promised to release a prototype of its Tesla Semi truck next month in a bid to expand the company's market beyond luxury cars.

The entrepreneur has tantalized the trucking industry with the prospect of a battery-powered heavy-duty vehicle that can compete with conventional diesels, which can travel up to 1,000 miles on a single tank of fuel.

Chief Executive Elon Musk has promised to release a prototype of its Tesla Semi truck next month in a bid to expand the company's market beyond luxury cars, and revealed this teaser image, claiming the vehicle was 'seriously next level'

AUTOMATED TRUCKS A Goldman Sachs Economics Research report issued earlier this year found that autonomous vehicles will take large numbers of jobs away from drivers in the US. The analysis has found that it is truck drivers who are at the highest risk of being replaced by a machine. The research suggested that the job loss will occur at a rate of 25,000 per month, or 300,000 a year, about 25 years from now. There were four million driver jobs in the US three years ago and 3.1 million of them were truck drivers, which represents just two per cent of the total employment. The report from estimated that 20 percent of the car sales in 2025 to 2030 will belong to semi- and fully autonomous cars. Advertisement

Teslas electric prototype will be capable of traveling the low end of what transportation veterans consider to be 'long-haul' trucking, according to Scott Perry, an executive at Miami-based fleet operator Ryder System Inc.

Perry said he met with Tesla officials earlier this year to discuss the technology at the automakers manufacturing facility in Fremont, California.

Perry said Teslas efforts are centered on an electric big-rig known as a 'day cab' with no sleeper berth, capable of traveling about 200 to 300 miles with a typical payload before recharging.

'Im not going to count them out for having a strategy for longer distances or ranges, but right out of the gate I think thats where theyll start,' said Perry, who is the chief technology officer and chief procurement officer for Ryder.

Tesla responded to Reuters questions with an email statement saying, 'Teslas policy is to always decline to comment on speculation, whether true or untrue, as doing so would be silly. Silly!'

Tesla's plan, which could change as the truck is developed, is consistent with what battery researchers say is possible with current technology.

Tesla has not said publicly how far its electric truck could travel, what it would cost or how much cargo it could carry.

But Musk has acknowledged that Tesla has met privately with potential buyers to discuss their needs.

Reuters reported earlier this month that Tesla is developing self-driving capability for the big rig.

Musk has expressed hopes for large-scale production of the Tesla Semi within a couple of years. That audacious effort could open a potentially lucrative new market for the Palo Alto, California-based automaker.

Or it could prove an expensive distraction.

Tesla's plan, which could change as the truck is developed, is consistent with what battery researchers say is possible with current technology.

Musk in July warned that the company is bracing for 'manufacturing hell' as it accelerates production of its new Model 3 sedan. Tesla aims to produce 5,000 of the cars per week by the end of this year, and 10,000 per week some time next year.

Tesla shares are up about 65 percent this year.

But skeptics abound. Some doubt Musk's ability to take Tesla from a niche producer to a large-scale automaker. About 22 percent of shares available for trade have been sold 'short' by investors who expect the stock to fall.

Musk, a quirky billionaire whose transportation ambitions include colonizing the planet Mars, has long delighted in defying conventional wisdom. At Teslas annual meeting in June, he repeated his promise of a battery-powered long-haul big rig.

'A lot of people don't think you can do a heavy-duty, long-range truck that's electric, but we are confident that this can be done,' he said.

While the prototype described by Ryders Perry would fall well short of the capabilities of conventional diesels, Musk may well have found a sweet spot if he can deliver.

Roughly 30 percent of U.S. trucking jobs are regional trips of 100 to 200 miles, according to Sandeep Kar, chief strategy officer of Toronto-based Fleet Complete, which tracks and analyzes truck movement.

A truck with that range would be able to move freight regionally, such as from ports to nearby cities or from warehouses to retail establishments.

'As long as (Musk) can break 200 miles he can claim his truck is 'long haul' and he will be technically right,' Kar said.

Interest in electric trucks is high among transportation firms looking to reduce their emissions and operating costs. Electric motors require less maintenance than internal combustion engines. Juice from the grid is cheaper than diesel.

But current technology doesnt pencil when it comes to powering U.S. trucks across the country. Experts say the batteries required would be so large and heavy there would be little room for cargo.

An average diesel cab costs around $120,000. The cost of the battery alone for a big rig capable of going 200 to 400 miles carrying a typical payload could be more than that, according to battery researchers Shashank Sripad and Venkat Viswanathan of Carnegie Mellon University.

Battery weight and ability would limit a semi to a range of about 300 miles with an average payload, according to a paper recently published by Viswanathan and Sripad. The paper thanked Tesla for 'helpful comments and suggestions.' Tesla did not endorse the work or comment on the conclusions to Reuters.

A range of 200 to 300 miles would put Tesla at the edge of what the nascent electric truck industry believes is economically feasible, the researchers and industry insiders said.

Transportation stalwarts such as manufacturer Daimler AG and shipping company United Parcel Service Inc , said they are focusing their electric efforts on short-haul trucks. Thats because smaller distances and lighter payloads require less battery power, and trucks can recharge at a central hub overnight. Daimler, the largest truck manufacturer in the world by sales, will begin production this year on an electric delivery truck. The vehicle will have a 100-mile range and be capable of carrying a payload of 9,400 pounds, about 1,000 pounds less than its diesel counterpart, according to Daimler officials.

Elon Musk has revealed that Tesla is headed for bigger things. The CEO shared a tweet announcing the firm has plans to release a Semi truck this September

Daimler has been joined by a handful of startups such as Chanje, a Los Angeles-based manufacturer that has a partnership with Ryder to build 100-mile-range electric trucks for package delivery.

Ryder and its customers believe electric trucks could cost more to buy but may be cheaper to maintain and have more predictable fuel costs. As batteries become cheaper and environmental regulation increases, the case for electric trucks could strengthen.

'This tech is being seen as a major potential differentiator. Everyone wants to understand how real it is,' said Perry, the chief technology officer.
The sun is responsible for Earths ability to sustain life, and drives space weather events that can have rippling effects down near the surface.

But, when it comes to the current spike in global temperatures, experts say the sun is not to blame.

Scientists investigating the suns influence on the current climate have found that, over the last few decades, there has been no increase in brightness  and instead, they found a slight decrease, suggesting it has not played a role in recent warming.

When the suns activity dips, Earth has experienced periods of cooler temperatures. An image taken during solar maximum (2001) is shown on left, compared to solar minimum (2009) on right

THE SOLAR CYCLE Conventional wisdom holds that solar activity swings back and forth like a simple pendulum. At one end of the cycle, there is a quiet time with few sunspots and flares. At the other end, solar max brings high sunspot numbers and frequent solar storms. It's a regular rhythm that repeats every 11 years. Reality is more complicated. Astronomers have been counting sunspots for centuries, and they have seen that the solar cycle is not perfectly regular. Advertisement

While the sun can influence Earths climate, only certain wavelengths of radiation are able to make it to the surface to actually heat it up, according to an article from the Max Planck Society.

This primarily includes visible light.

In addition, the sun emits a flow of electrically charged particles.

When the sun is in a period of high magnetic activity, it produces more intense radiation  and, by tracking these fluctuations, researchers are able to determine how such activity influences Earths climate.

When the suns activity dips, Earth has experienced periods of cooler temperatures.

This was seen during the Little Ice Age of 1645-1715, for example, when much of the world was hit with colder winters.

In the new research, Max Planck team used records of observational sunspot data as well as Carbon-14 levels in tree rings to track changes in solar activity.

This revealed that over the last few decades, as Earth has steadily warmed, the sun has not increased in brightness.

Instead, in the last 30-40 years, there has been a slight decrease.

This means that the sun cannot have contributed to global warming, according to an article from the Max Planck Society, describing the research.

In fact, the temperature increase noted in recent decades cannot be reproduced in models if only the influence of the sun or other natural sources are taken into account (for example volcanic eruptions.)

By tracking fluctuations in the sun's activity, researchers are able to determine how it influences Earths climate. The graph above shows variations within the eleven-year solar cycle as well as short-term variations caused by individual sunspot groups and solar flares

Only when anthropogenic, that is human-driven, factors are incorporated in the climate data, do they agree with the observational and measured data.

The findings go against the idea that the suns current dip in activity will counteract the recent warming, the experts explain.

NASA recently revealed the sun is heading toward a low point known as solar minimum, expected in 2019-2020.

THE MAUNDER MINIMUM The Maunder Minimum (also known as the prolonged sunspot minimum) is the name used for the period starting in about 1645 and continuing to about 1715 when sunspots became exceedingly rare, as noted by solar observers of the time. It caused London's River Thames to freeze over, a nd 'frost fairs' became popular. Maunder Minimum (also known as the prolonged sunspot minimum) is the name used for the period starting in about 1645 and continuing to about 1715 when sunspots became exceedingly rare, as noted by solar observers of the time This period of solar inactivity also corresponds to a climatic period called the 'Little Ice Age' when rivers that are normally ice-free froze and snow fields remained year-round at lower altitudes. There is evidence that the Sun has had similar periods of inactivity in the more distant past, Nasa says. The connection between solar activity and terrestrial climate is an area of on-going research. The Frozen Thames, 1677 - an oil painting by Abraham Hondius shows the old London Bridge during the Maunder Minimum Some scientists hypothesize that the dense wood used in Stradivarius instruments was caused by slow tree growth during the cooler period. Instrument maker Antonio Stradivari was born a year before the start of the Maunder Minimum. Advertisement

The change, however, doesnt mean that activity ceases altogether, the space agency explained.

Instead, different types of events tend to take hold.

While sunspots may decrease, long-lived coronal holes and other phenomenon could become more common.
It's one of Spain's most popular festivals.

And as these spectacular images show, it's easy to see why.

Each year in August, the Festa Major attracts thousands of revellers to the coastal town of Sitges in Spain's Catalonia region, who take to the streets for an all-singing, all-dancing fireworks display.

Protecting their faces from the sparks with hats and sunglasses, spectators enjoy fire-breathing dragons and join in with traditional folkloric dances.

The event, which lasts several days, is held in honour of the shared patrons of Sitges: Sant Bartomeu and Santa Tecla.

It culminates with a fireworks display held next to the town's San Bartolome church.
EasyJet has issued a warning about an internet scam that is duping customers into thinking they've won free plane tickets.

The fake ad, illustrated by what looks like an EasyJet boarding pass, promises 'two free tickets to EVERYONE' in celebration of the low-cost airline's 22nd anniversary, and links to a malware website that asks for the users' Facebook details.

The low-cost airline told MailOnline Travel: 'EasyJet is aware of this fake Facebook competition and can confirm this is not a genuine easyJet ticket giveaway.'

The fake ad (pictured), illustrated by what looks like an EasyJet boarding pass, promises 'two free tickets to EVERYONE' in celebration of the low-cost airline's 22nd anniversary

The ad prompts users to take part in a three-step survey and claims to 'only have 332 tickets left' to issue.

It then invites users to share the offer on Facebook in order to claim the prize - thus gaining access to their personal information, and prompting the scam to go viral.

The dodgy site - EasyJetlover.us - also includes a selection of false comments from 'customers' who say they 'won' the tickets.

'It was busy at easyJet counter today. It seems that many people have won these tickets', one reads.

'I am the luckiest man of Earth,' says another.

The scam - confirmed as such by a spokesman for EasyJet - links to a malware website (pictured below the warning) that asks for the users' Facebook details

The dodgy site - EasyJetlover.us - also includes a selection of comments (pictured) from 'customers' who say they 'won' the tickets

An EasyJet spokesman said: 'There are a number of posts of this nature currently that mention a number of airlines and we encourage customers to flag these to us so we can work to get them removed.

'Genuine competitions of this nature will only be hosted on easyJet's official Facebook page.'

The other airlines mentioned could refer to competitor Ryanair, which was subject to a near-identical scam last week.

Ryanair was subject to a near-identical scam last week, seen here

It too invited Facebook users to claim two free tickets on account of the airline's '32 year' anniversary - but was exposed on Ryanair's Facebook account (pictured)

It too invited Facebook users to claim two free tickets on account of the airline's '32 year' anniversary - despite the fact that the carrier is actually only 23 years old.

Ryanair posted to its Facebook page said: 'Warning, don't be fooled by this scam page. This is not an official Ryanair account or promotion.

'Remember, if it doesnt have the blue tick verification, its not the official Ryanair account.'
She's always wearing outfits that tow the line.

And Bella Thorne, 19, made no exception when she was spotted out in Los Angeles on Wednesday wearing a colorful button-up shirt that was undone all the way to her belly button.

The loose top showed off her lacy bra and a hint of her toned midsection as she smiled during the outing.

Flaunting it: Bella Thorne, 19, opted for a risque outfit when she was spotted out in Los Angeles on Wednesday wearing a colorful button-up shirt that was undone all the way to her belly button

She paired the blouse with a pair of demure blue jeans, but dressed up the entire ensemble with multiple necklaces around her neck.

She paired the look with cowboy boots.

Bella looked pretty with a light dusting of makeup, with coral lipstick dolling up the look.

The Famous in Love star wore her dyed purple hair up in a bun at the top of her head and carried a black purse with stars all along the handle.

The Famous in Love star wore her dyed purple hair up in a bun at the top of her head and carried a black purse with stars all along the handle

Making sure she's ready to capture the moment, Bella had her cell phone in her hand.

Bella recently returned to the City of Angels from a trip outside the city.

She has been sporting her purple hair for a while now and has completely ditched her clean-cut image of the past, and is often seen hitting the town in provocative barely-there ensembles which flaunt her ample cleavage and toned physique.

Bella has been quick to defend her new look, stating to Harper's BAZAAR in April: 'You just didn't see me before'.

Dye job: She just announced that she is changing her hair, yet again

Purple haze: The star is known for her wacky hair colors and has been flaunting a purple head for quite some time

'People will ask me, "Who are you now?"' Began the starlet. 'But this is who I've really been - you just didn't see me before. I was just a puppet. I wasn't allowed to make my own decisions or think for myself in any way.'

The bisexual star has also set tongues wagging with her chequered love life, which has seen her linked to Scott Disick, Chandler Parsons, Charlie Puth, Tyler Posey, and his White Frog co-star Gregg Sulkin all in the last year.

Bella's relationship with Scott Disick has caused some confusion. Bella spent time with the 34-year-old father-of-three at the Teen Choice Awards alongside her current flavour of the month, rapper Blackbear (born Matthew Musto).

Still hanging out: Bella's relationship with Scott Disick has caused some confusion. Bella spent time with the 34-year-old father-of-three at the Teen Choice Awards

And just like she told Complex in June, Bella took to Twitter Thursday to confirm yet again that her Cannes Film Festival yacht buddy was just a friend.

'Like I have mentioned me and Scott and friends,' the underage teen wrote.

'But I didn't go to [Avenue LA] with him I ran into him there [Tuesday night]. It's Hollywood. Small town.'
Following E! Network's 30-minute Reunion Road Trip on Sunday, Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi confirmed that her Jersey Shore castmates were definitely 'down to' do a full season together.

'We want to do reunion, a full season of it, and I feel the fans want it too,' the 29-year-old reality star told Extra on Tuesday.

'We really miss each other...I think it was nice to look back and say we were hot messes and then we were doing shots to us being hot messes, so we are still hot messes.'

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'I feel the fans want it too': Following E!'s 30-minute Reunion Road Trip on Sunday, Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi confirmed her Jersey Shore castmates were definitely 'down to' do a full season

The 29-year-old reality star told Extra on Tuesday: 'We really miss each other...I think it was nice to look back and say we were hot messes and then we were doing shots to us being hot messes, so we are still hot messes'

Lasted six seasons (2009-2012): The original MTV reality series surrounded hard-partying roommates sharing a New Jersey beach house as well as the mantra 'gym, tan, laundry'

The original MTV reality series - which lasted six seasons (2009-2012) - surrounded hard-partying roommates sharing a New Jersey beach house as well as the mantra 'gym, tan, laundry.'

'It's literally like shots! "Let's go out, have fun!"' the married mother-of-two said of the reunion.

'The fact that we all got together six years later and we're still the same roomies and people... that's dangerous.'

Snooki continued: 'We realize when we were all together, we didnt skip a beat. I have two kids; Im a mom. Im married. That's a big difference.'

The married mother-of-two said of the reunion: 'It's literally like shots! "Let's go out, have fun!" The fact that we all got together six years later and we're still the same roomies and people... that's dangerous'

Snooki continued: 'We realize when we were all together, we didnt skip a beat. I have two kids; Im a mom. Im married. That's a big difference'

In the hot seat: Mike 'The Situation' Sorrentino has remained sober despite facing 'decades' in prison for 'tax evasion and structuring/falsifying records to avoid detection of assets'

Polizzi gushed: 'We were so proud of Mike (R) being sober that we did a shot to him being sober. Does that make sense?'

Mike 'The Situation' Sorrentino has remained sober despite facing 'decades' in prison for 'tax evasion and structuring/falsifying records to avoid detection of assets' - according to TMZ.

Polizzi gushed: 'We were so proud of Mike being sober that we did a shot to him being sober. Does that make sense?'

Regardless if there's more Jersey Shore, the New Celebrity Apprentice star and her BFF Jenni 'JWoww' Farley will soon join forces with Mob Wives' Drita D'Avanzo for VH1's Celebrity Shore.

'If u don't know...now u know!' the 41-year-old married mother-of-two confirmed on Instagram on Tuesday.

More to come! Regardless if there's more Jersey Shore, the New Celebrity Apprentice star and her BFF Jenni 'JWoww' Farley (R) will soon join forces with Mob Wives' Drita D'Avanzo for VH1's Celebrity Shore

The 41-year-old married mother-of-two confirmed on Instagram on Tuesday: 'If u don't know...now u know! Heading back home to @vh1 @snooki @jwoww can't wait! #epic'

Inseparable: Following the 2015 cancellation of their MTV reality spin-off, Snooki and 31-year-old JWoww have remained busy on their weekly Awestruck webseries Moms With Attitude

'Heading back home to @vh1 @snooki @jwoww can't wait! #epic.'

Following the 2015 cancellation of their MTV reality spin-off, Snooki and 31-year-old JWoww have remained busy on their weekly Awestruck webseries Moms With Attitude.

The Chile-born podcaster also told Extra that she and husband Jionni LaValle plan on giving siblings to their son Lorenzo (turning 5 on Saturday), and daughter Giovanna, 2.

'I love to do a lot of strength workouts, because I want to be strong to hold all of the babies I got, and I want more,' Polizzi revealed. 'I want two more kids.'

Birthday boy: The Chile-born podcaster also told Extra that she and husband Jionni LaValle plan on giving siblings to their son Lorenzo (turning 5 on Saturday), and daughter Giovanna, 2
She had openly discussed her upbringing with a convict dad in jail on an episode of Loose Women last week.

And Maya Jama appeared to celebrate her successful TV appearance on Wednesday, as she enjoyed a romantic date night with rapper boyfriend Stormzy.

The beauty, 23, proved her natural beauty in a casual jeans and jumper combo as she laughed and joked with her beau, 24, on their way out of Sexy Fish in London.

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Treat yourself: Maya Jama celebrated her successful TV appearance on Loose Women as she enjoyed a romantic date night with rapper boyfriend Stormzy on Wednesday

The TV presenter looked truly stunning as she enjoyed dinner with her man, in her casually chic ensemble.

Maya slipped into skinny jeans and a black bardot top, which was of a cropped length to tease at her toned midriff underneath.

The grey acid wash strides, ripped at the knee, then hugged her enviably slender legs to the ankle, where they met a pair of sky-high black leather boots.

Leggy lady: She laughed and joked with her beau, 24, when they were seen leaving side-by-side

Besotted: The beauty, 23, proved her natural beauty in a casual jeans and jumper combo on their way out of Sexy Fish in London

Loved-up: The TV presenter looked truly stunning as she enjoyed dinner with her man (R), in her casually chic ensemble

Slender: Maya slipped into skinny jeans and a black bardot top, which was of a cropped length to tease at her toned midriff underneath

Sweeping her brunette hair into a sleek up-do and opting for minimal make-up, Maya drew attention to her enviably glowing complexion and striking natural beauty as she headed home from a night with her man.

Meanwhile the grime artist kept all eyes on his girlfriend in a casual orange jumper and grungy black cap as he led Maya out of the eatery by the arm.

Proving to be more besotted than ever after a year of romance, the couple were seen giggling and laughing together in front of cameras as they headed off to their next destination.

Radiant: Sweeping her brunette hair into a sleek up-do and opting for minimal make-up, Maya drew attention to her enviably glowing complexion and striking natural beauty

Sweet: Proving to be more besotted than ever, the couple were seen giggling and laughing together in front of cameras as they headed off to their next destination

My man: The pair, who have been dating for one year, could not take their eyes off each other as they headed home from the swanky Asian eatery

The pair's date night comes after Maya candidly discussed her upbringing with a convict father on ITV's Loose Women.

The presenter revealed on Tuesday that her father had been in jail since she was three - and admitted she stopped talking to him as she was 'fed up' of him doing 'bad things.'

Proving to be a supportive beau, the rapper was quick to praise her bravery - tweeting: 'Maya Jama on Loose Women right now' followed by a crown emoji.

Sweet couple: The pair looked more loved-up than ever - after Stormzy had taken to Twitter to wish Maya luck ahead of her appearance on ITV's Loose Women on Tuesday

4Music host Maya appeared on Loose Women to talk about her 5STAR documentary, titled When Dad Kills: Murdered in the Family - which explores how children are affected if they have a parent in jail.

Revealing her own experience, she said: 'My dad has been in jail since I was three and I broke contact when I was 10.'

Maya, who is of Swedish and Somali descent, added that she was lucky because her dad's sisters supported her, as did her step-dad - who her mother married when she was seven.

'My earliest memory is around five when I was visiting him in prison. It was a bit weird, I had a super supportive family around me, I had a stepdad. I never really felt like I was missing out.'

Opening up: The presenter, 23, revealed on the show that her father has been in jail since she was three - and admitted she stopped talking to him as she was 'fed up' of him doing 'bad things'

Going strong: The grime artist and Maya have been dating for over a year now - first choosing to keep their relationship private, before going public as an item in 2016

Supportive: Rapper Stormzy praised her bravery for opening up about her childhood - tweeting: 'Maya Jama on Loose Women right now' followed by a crown emoji

Discussing the trips to prison as a child, she said: 'You'd get your car, your sweets and blankets. It became normal, almost like a road trip.'

Asked why she stopped visiting him, she added: 'I got a bit older and it was annoying, I didn't want to go and visit.

'I thought "I'm a child. I shouldn't have to visit you in jail". He was going in and out of jail, he had loads of little sentences. He was constantly re-offending.

'You get kind of fed up, one day he was out at my grandparents and knocking on the door and I didn't want to see him. I thought "you're doing bad things, I don't know you any more".

Opening up: Revealing her own experience, she said: 'My dad has been in jail since I was three and I broke contact when I was 10'

Growing up: Asked why she stopped visiting him, she said 'You get kind of fed up, one day he was out at my grandparents and knocking on the door and I didn't want to see him. I thought "you're doing bad things, I don't know you any more" '

Candid: She added: 'I thought "I'm a child. I shouldn't have to visit you in jail". He was going in and out of jail, he had loads of little sentences. He was constantly re-offending'

Maya, who previously presented the Channel 5 documentary Swipe Right for Sex, reveals whether she reconnects with her dad or not in the Channel 5 Star documentary.

'It was a journey for me. In the documentary I decide whether I want to meet up with him or not,' she said.

Maya previously revealed that she felt responsible for her father going to prison, because told police where he was hiding when they came to their house.

'From a young age you blame yourself. The police came and knocked on my door and I told them where my dad was hiding - he was hiding under a bed upstairs or something,' she told The Beat London 103.6FM.

Family affair: Maya, who is of Swedish and Somali descent, added that she was lucky because her dad's sisters supported her and her younger brother Omar, 20. Pictured with Omar and her gran

Father figure: She added that her step-dad - who her mother married when she was seven - stepped in as an excellent support network

Journey: Speaking about what she learnt while filming the documentary, Maya admitted: 'I learnt that I'm not as strong as I thought I was. I learned that I have such a little melty heart like "Oh, I just want to love!"

'Then I saw him get arrested and for ages in my child mind I thought it was because of me.'

Speaking about what she learnt while filming the documentary, Maya admitted: 'I learnt that I'm not as strong as I thought I was.

'Especially when it came to my dad, I was like "Doesn't matter, my life's great, didn't need him anyway, don't care".

'As it went on, I started feeling overwhelmingly sorry for him. I learned that I have such a little melty heart like "Oh, I just want to love!"

The Bristol-raised star also spoke about how grateful she was that her step-father was around to be a father figure for them.

Looking good: The radio DJ offset her glowing complexion with a slick of red lipstick for the appearance

Turning heads: She rocked a pair of red wide-leg pants and a one-shoulder ruffled fuchsia top

'He played a massive part, he took on me and my brother, that made me see that's how a relationship should be,' she said.

Stormzy and Maya have been dating for over a year now - first choosing to keep their relationship private, before going public as an item in 2016.

Fans will have seen Maya in some of Stormzy's music videos, as she makes an appearance in the video for his hit track Big For Your Boots.

The hit-maker also dedicated his song titled Birthday Girl to his love on her 22nd birthday - a gift that was well-received by Maya as she credited the sentiment, claiming it was something that would 'last forever'.

Smitten: The hit-maker also dedicated his song titled Birthday Girl to his love on her 22nd birthday
They're the glamorous models who have shared a close relationship for some time.

But very raunchy footage has revealed 'bad boy' Jordan Barrett and Cheyenne Tozzi taking their friendship to the next level on Wednesday night.

Shared to Instagram, the clip shows Cheyenne, 27, wearing a blindfold in a luxurious tent on the beach, flaunting her cleavage in a plunging blue one-piece.

Next level: Raunchy footage has revealed 'bad boy' Australian model Jordan Barrett and his close friend Cheyenne Tozzi (pictured) taking their friendship to the next level on Wednesday

Captioned 'Monkey can't see,' Jordan laughs as he watches his close friend tie a blindfold around her head.

Attempting to utter a seductive phrase about the three wise monkeys, Cheyenne offers: 'Monkey see... If I speak no evil, wait, what is it?'

'Speak no evil, say nothing and don't even look because then you don't see anything mean!' she jokes, acknowledging that she'd forgotten the saying.

An hour later, Jordan and his fellow-Australian model friend appear to have stripped down to nothing, sharing a grainy selfie video from near the water.

Naughty! Shared to Instagram, footage shows Cheyenne, 27, wearing a blindfold in a luxurious tent on the beach, flaunting her cleavage in a plunging blue one-piece

All tied-up! Captioned 'Monkey can't see,' Jordan laughs as he watches his close friend tie a blindfold around her head

Down to nothing: An hour later, Jordan and his fellow-Australian model friend had stripped down to nothing, sharing a grainy selfie video from near the water

It appears as if they'd just come from a dip, as the pair whip their messy, wet hair and smiled cheekily at the camera.

Jordan, the son of convicted drug dealer Adrian Barrett, was first discovered at age 13 while shoplifting at a convenience store in 2010.

He was trying to steal matches when he was approached by a model scout working for international agency IMG, which he eventually signed to in 2015.

Firm friends! Jordan and Cheyenne are firm friends, with the Australia's Next Top Model judge even greeting the 20-year-old at Sydney Airport as he touched down last month

Jordan and Cheyenne are firm friends, with the Australia's Next Top Model judge even greeting the 20-year-old at Sydney Airport as he touched down last month.

The pair are known to be just friends, although Jordan has been romantically linked to the likes of Paris Hilton, Kate Moss, and Lara Stone.

Cheyenne, reportedly split with her boyfriend Jon Adgemis in March this year and has remained single since.
She's successfully stepped out of the shadow of her former child star sisters and has carved out her own career as one of Hollywood's most coveted actresses.

But Elizabeth Olsen has revealed that, unlike her fashionista siblings Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, she's rarely comfortable when it comes to the world of couture - so much so that she's sometimes in floods of tears before red carpet events.

In an interview with ES magazine, she admitted that fashion is 'not my comfort zone', before revealing: 'Sometimes when Im not in something that I love I cry on the way to the premiere and Im posing with my shoulders as far back as they go. Then I look at the photos and Im like, It did look nice. Why was I crying?

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Sister act: Elizabeth Olsen has revealed in an interview with ES magazine that she sometimes cries ahead of big red carpet events because she struggles with her fashion choices

However, the 28-year-old screen star also admitted: I went to a Dior show and ended up getting to wear a look to the premiere in New York. I felt great that night just because I felt like I was in something that I love.'

The Avengers star also admitted during the interview that she is still learning from her elder siblings Mary-Kate and Ashley, both 31, as she lavished them with praise.

She said: 'I just think theyre brilliant women,' adding that she was drawn in by their talk of fashion and business.

Inspirational: Elizabeth has successfully stepped out of the shadow of her former child star sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and has carved her own career as a talented actress

Recalling when she saw sister Ashley at her latest premier, Wind River, last month, she said: 'I just had dinner with Ashley when the premiere was happening. She was very sweet to come with me to the after-party.

Elizabeth's kind words came after she credited her sisters for teaching her how to handle the spotlight.

The Marvel actress told Modern Luxury: 'Theyd say, "You know, even if you dont think anyones going to read this article, someone might pull the quote later for [something else]"

'Its all part of how you hope someone interprets you, and how they frame who you are and the work you do. Theyre very tight-lipped  notoriously so.'

Terrific trio: Elizabeth's kind words came after she credited her sisters for teaching her how to handle the spotlight and deal with life as a celebrity

The Godzilla star added that her favourite European city, however, is London, admitting that she would love to live there after exploring the city whilst making the Marvel films.

Out now: The full interview appears in this weeks issue of ES Magazine

Whilst she dreams of living in London, the pretty brunette has been facing the reality of living in America, as she revealed that she was unsettled by the news in her country.

She explained: Its horrible to think how the rest of the world is viewing the United States right now.

You dont really know how to fix it as an individual because you cant.

What is cool about whats happening right now, however, is that while people have always talked about causes that they are interested in, now they are actually actively a part of them.

Ashley has three movies set for release this year; Ingrid Goes West, Wind River and Kodachrome.

Avengers: Infinity War, which sees the actress take on the role of Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, is in post-production and will hit movie theaters next year.

The full interview appears in this weeks issue of ES Magazine
On Tuesday Mel B's former nanny won the right to a jury trial in the defamation case against her.

And the former Spice Girl, 42, could now face a painful 1.56million ($2million) bill if Lorraine Gilles, 26, wins the lawsuit against her, scheduled for July 2018.

The two parties are being urged by judge to settle the case out of court, with Mel B already facing a 195,000 legal bill.

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Expensive business: Mel B, 42, could now face a painful 1.56million ($2million) bill if Lorraine Gilles, 26, wins the lawsuit defamation against her, approved and scheduled for July 2018

After Lorraine Giles won the right to sue Mel B over claims she was a 'home wrecker', Los Angeles judge Dalila Lyons encouraged the duo to settle.

According to The Sun, friends of the America's Got Talent judge are concerned the case, on top of her messy ongoing battle with her husband Stephen Belafonte, could bankrupt the star.

Mel, who is mother to Phoenix, 18, with backing dancer Jimmy Gulzar, Angel, 10, from her relationship with Eddie Murphy, and 5-year-old Madison with Stephen, is embroiled in a bitter war after announcing the end of her 10 year marriage to him earlier this year.

While she accused him of physical and mental abuse, he has denied the claims, and is seeking access rights to Madison and Angel.

Green light: Lorraine, pictured attending court with her husband Michael Bleau in LA on Tuesday, won the right to a jury trial for her defamation case against Mel on Tuesday

On Tuesday, Lorraine won the right to a jury trial in the defamation case against the former Spice Girl - raising the prospect of yet more revelations surrounding her private life being aired in court.

The former nanny is suing Mel after the star claimed she had an affair with her now estranged husband, Stephen Belafonte, also 42, was told by a judge she can make her case at a trial next July.

Mels legal rep had tried to stop Gilles defamation action at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Los Angeles on Tuesday, arguing Mel had no choice in naming the former nanny to get a restraining order against Belafonte.

Settle? After Lorraine won the right to sue Mel B over claims she was a 'home wrecker', Los Angeles judge Dalila Lyons encouraged the duo to settle the case out of court

But Judge Dalila Lyons said the case now has to go to civil trial on July 23.

The expected ten-day trial will include details of Mel and Belafontes sex life including how they enjoyed threesome sex with Gilles.

Judge Lyons also said she 'strongly urged' the warring parties to reach an out-of-court settlement before the trial date.

Battle: Mel has claimed that Lorraine was having an affair with her then husband but Gilles launched the defamation case saying that while she did have sex with Belafonte and had an abortion, her main lover was in fact Mel

Mel has claimed that Lorraine was having an affair with her then husband but Gilles launched the defamation case saying that while she did have sex with Belafonte and had an abortion, her main lover was in fact Mel.

Gilles claims in legal docs that Mel seduced her when she was aged just 18 and they had a seven-year sexual relationship.

Mel has hit back saying Stephen paid the nanny 'in excess' of $300,000 over three years for her work.

Spreading it thin: Pals of the America's Got Talent judge are said to be concerned the case, on top of her messy ongoing battle with her husband Stephen Belafonte, could bankrupt the star

She says Lorraine was made pregnant by Belafonte in 2014 and that he used her money to pay for Gilles to have an abortion.

Lorraine says Mel has made her out to be 'a homewrecker, prostitute, and extortionist.'

In legal documents she said that Mel 'seduced a naive and a curious 18-year-old foreign exchange student  with alcohol, fame, and casual sex.'

She says: 'Belafonte was not present during most of the sexual encounters' and that when she and Belafonte did have sex, it would be filmed by Mel.

Married for 10 years: While Mel accused him of physical and mental abuse, Stephen has denied the claims, and is seeking access rights to Madison and Angel

She added that her 'sexual and employment relationship with Brown continued for approximately seven years.'

She also says she 'personally witnessed both Brown and Belafonte bring different women into their home and engage in group sex on multiple occasions.'

Gilles also says she became pregnant as a result of a one-night stand with another man, not from having sex with Belafonte, and she did have an abortion.

She claims to have confided this with Mel and that Mel helped arrange for her to have the abortion and care for her afterwards.

Mum-of-three: Mel, who is mother to Phoenix, 18, with backing dancer Jimmy Gulzar, Angel, 10, from her relationship with Eddie Murphy, and 5-year-old Madison with Stephen, is embroiled in a bitter war after announcing the end of her 10 year marriage to him this year

Gilles is seeking unspecified damages and is suing for libel, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Mels divorce battle with Belafonte is also ongoing after announcing the end of her ten-year marriage in March.

He denies inflicting years of mental and physical abuse on her during their time together.

The couple and their reps are set to face each other in the coming weeks over access to their daughter, Madison, five.

Eddie Murphy, father of Mels daughter Angel, ten, could also be drawn into the battle after a judge said that Belafonte could apply to see the little girl who he says regards him as a father figure.

Belafonte is currently allowed to see daughter Madison but only under heavy supervision.

Court hearings have also heard that Mel has wiped out much of her $50million fortune thanks to an extravagant lifestyle.

The full divorce hearing takes place on September 25.
News / National

by Staff reporter

PRESIDENT Mugabe yesterday described Vice President Dr Simon Muzenda's widow, Maud, as "an epitome of African motherhood" and branded national hero George Rutanhire "a giant of the struggle" as he expressed deep sorrow over their deaths.Muzenda died on Tuesday and Rutanhire on Saturday.In a statement last night, President Mugabe said: "I learnt with deep sadness of the death yesterday (Tuesday) of Amai Muzenda, wife of the late Vice President, Simon Vengai Muzenda. An epitome of African motherhood, Gogo Muzenda stands tall as a symbol of the triumph of motherly femininity over adversities imposed on the African family unit by demands of our struggle against settler colonialism. Betrothed to a fierce nationalist and freedom fighter in the mould of our late Vice President, Gogo Muzenda was, for a long time, fated to raise the Muzenda family without support from her husband who would either be operating underground, or would be languishing in prison inside the then Rhodesia."President Mugabe said Muzenda single-handedly raised the family."Once freed, the late Vice President went into exile, leaving Ambuya Muzenda to shoulder the burdens of raising the family single-handedly. She thus bore unaided the brunt of parenthood, itself no easy role given the broad socio-economic pressures faced by African families surviving under settler colonial conditions, and of course the direct political hostilities and open harassment to which families of nationalists were subjected by the racist regime. Still she held firm as the sole head of the family, even then while still playing her part in supporting the greater cause of our liberation struggle."The President said Muzenda also bore children for the struggle."Like most mothers, she too bore children for the struggle, even losing one of them in one of the many bombings on our camps by the racist Rhodesian regime. As we mourn her sad departure, we thus recognise and celebrate this exemplary family's givenness to the national cause. Ambuya Muzenda's death comes barely a week after we laid to rest another heroine, Shuvai Mahofa, and just a few days after the sad departure of George Rutanhire, himself, a giant of our struggle. It spoke highly of Rutanhire's commitment to the national cause that he abandoned his role of a catechist in the Roman Catholic Church for the struggle in the early 1970s, and did so together with his newly wedded wife, Susan, who survives him," said President Mugabe.He said Rutanhire deserved the national hero status bestowed on him."It therefore comes as no surprise that the nation has honoured Rutanhire by according him the status of a national hero."He more than deserved this honour. It has been a very difficult month for our Nation. Yet we must all remain strong and hopeful, converting this buffeting emotion from repeated tragedies into a lasting passion of affinity and togetherness for our nation as it goes through this dark and difficult patch."On behalf of the Party, Zanu-PF, Governrment, our entire nation and on behalf of my family, I wish to condole with both the Muzenda and Rutanhire families as they grieve over their saddest losses."We stand with them, as indeed we pay deserved tribute to the fallen comrades so dear to our hearts. May their souls rest in eternal peace," said President Mugabe.Yesterday the First Lady Dr Grace Mugabe and political leaders across the political divide visited the Muzenda family home in Harare to pay their condolences.Daughter to Dr Muzenda, Senator Tsitsi Muzenda, said the First Lady urged unity. "The main message of her Excellency the First Lady Dr Grace Mugabe was that she was very grateful for the work that Mbuya Muzenda played in her lifetime. She said as a country we should be appreciative of what women like her did."She also said that those women sacrificed so much in their lives but they never gave up supporting their husbands therefore as women of Zimbabwe, we should take a leaf from these women who sacrificed so much."We are here now with tremendous freedom but sometimes we forget that they were others earlier who sacrificed their lives for us," said Sen Muzenda."She urged sincerely that as women of Zimbabwe, we should be focused to building our beautiful country because us as women we are the pillars of families, we are the pillars of our beautiful country and that if we emulate the good works that other women did before, we shall go a long way."Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko also visited the Muzenda family."I do not have words but just to say l am sorry for your loss. We will be advised on the programme and arrangements when the President has spoken. This will make things easier for us as we will then know the way forward. At the moment we are still waiting as nothing has been said. We will wait for the President," said VP Mphoko.MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai also visited the family yesterday.Muzenda is survived by six children, 20 grandchildren and 15 grand- grandchildren.Other dignitaries who visited the homestead were, Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi accompanied by service chiefs, Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Dr Joram Gumbo, Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, Speaker of the National Assembly Advocate Jacob Mudenda, Deputy Ministers of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development (Crop Production) Davis Marapira, Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Mathias Tongofa, Mines and Mining Development Fred Moyo, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Deputy Minister Tapiwa Matangaidze.Mourners are gathered at 43 Lewisam Avenue in Chisipite Harare.
She suffered her fair share of awkward dating encounters during her stint as The Bachelorette last year.

But Georgia Love, 28, has revealed that the worst pick up line she has ever experienced was not aired on national television.

Appearing on Today this Thursday, Georgia revealed the worst pickup line she has ever heard came from a male stripper.

'He was a male stripper': Appearing on Today this Thursday, Georgia revealed the worst pickup line she has ever heard came from a male stripper

'The worst I have had was a guy who, he was a male stripper and he came up to me, and he genuinely thought it would be classy...,' she told co-presenters Karl Stefanovic and Merrick Watts.

'He said: 'I am just really sick of women only wanting me for my body, so I have decided I like you and want to get to know you before I show you my body to win you over'', Georgia went on.

Chuckling heartily, Karl responded:' How did you know him, sorry?'

Oh dear! 'He said: 'I am just really sick of women only wanting me for my body, so I have decided I like you and want to get to know you before I show you my body to win you over'', Georgia admitted

'I knew he was a stripper, I'll just say that,' beamed Georgia.

While it's unclear as to the identity of the male stripper, Georgia has had her fair share of run-ins with men with colourful professions.

During her time as The Bachelorette, Georgia famously courted Melbourne male stripper Carlos Fang and hen's night entertainer Rhys Chilton before finding lasting love with winner Lee Elliott.

Remember me? During her time as The Bachelorette, Georgia famously courted Melbourne male stripper Carlos Fang

Chosen one: Melbourne electrician Lee Elliott impressed Georgia upon their first meeting by bringing a donkey to the Bachelorette mansion and asking her: 'Does my a** look big in this?'

The Melbourne electrician impressed Georgia upon their first meeting by bringing a donkey to the Bachelorette mansion and asking her: 'Does my a** look big in this?'

In June, the Melbourne-based couple celebrated their one-year anniversary since meeting on the TV dating show.

The pair have been teasing marriage plans for months, with Lee telling NW magazine that he has 'already started saving for the ring'.

Romance: In June, the Melbourne-based couple celebrated their one-year anniversary since meeting on the TV dating show
He began the month by publicly parading his romance with heiress Chloe Green as they enjoyed carnival during a sunny Barbados holiday.

But Jeremy Meeks' estranged wife Melissa Meeks appeared to take their continuous insensitivity in her stride as she took to Instagram to show off her sizzling physique on Wednesday.

The brave mother-of-three, 38, appeared to be beginning a post break-up body make-over, posing in her underwear as she showed off her already enviable figure.

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Moving on: Jeremy Meeks' estranged wife Melissa took to Instagram to show off her sizzling physique on Wednesday as she appeared to be beginning a post break-up body make over

Dressed in a black thong, the nurse proudly displayed her toned derriere and flat stomach, teasing a glimpse of her red lace bra.

'Day 1. Week 1. #letsseehowthisgoes', she captioned the racy snap.

And Melissa garnered an influx of supportive messages from followers, who slammed the actions of Jeremy- who Melissa stayed with during his lengthy prison stint.

Official: This comes two weeks after Jeremy posted his first public snap with new girlfriend Chloe, heiress to billionaire father Sir Phillip Green's retail fortune at the Barbados carnival

This comes two weeks after Jeremy posted his first public snap with new girlfriend Chloe, heiress to billionaire father Sir Phillip Green's retail fortune.

Turning off the comments to the snap, Jeremy tagged girlfriend Chloe, who was forced to turn her profile private after facing a barrage of backlash when their relationship was exposed while he was still married to Melissa.

The duo enjoyed the extended sun-soaked vacation in Barbados, attending the carnival in skimpy ensembles, as they put their controversial relationship on display for cameras.

Their public parading came after a string of outings, including one which saw Jeremy pose for his girlfriend's Topshop retail line in LA, around the same time his heartbroken wife celebrated her birthday.

Supportive: Melissa garnered an influx of supportive messages from followers, who slammed the actions of Jeremy- who Melissa stayed with during his lengthy prison stint

No holding back: Last month Melissa Meeks gave a rare insight into her life post-Jeremy Meeks, as she took to Instagram in a lengthy tirade

And despite staying maintaining a largely dignified silence over her estranged husband's actions, in July Melissa gave a rare insight into her life post-Jeremy Meeks, as she took to Instagram in a lengthy tirade.

The mother-of-three, who shares a seven-year-old son with the 33-year-old felon turned model, let rip just days after he continued to parade his romance with British Topshop heiress Chloe Green, 26.

Taking to Instagram, the nurse shared a snapchot which read: 'I fed mouths that talked sh** about me. I wiped tears from the same people that caused mine. Picked up people that tried to knock me down. Did favours for those who couldn't do sh** for me. Been there for the ones that left me. Crazy? Maybe.'

Insensitive? The mother-of-three, 38, who shares a 7-year-old son with the 33-year-old felon turned model, let rip just days after he continued to parade his romance with Chloe Green, 26

Proving she was taking the high road, the brave beauty concluded: 'But I don't lose myself in the hatred of others. I continue to be me because I can't change who I am. Life ain't easy but through the bullsh** I remain solid. Because I know god got big plans for me.'

'Saw this and felt how REAL it was, so I wanted to share it... #haveablessedday #remember #keepitsolid', she captioned the picture.

And as Chloe and Jeremy engaged in another public round of PDA, wife Melissa finally removed reference to Jeremy on her Instagram bio.

Previously describing herself as 'Wife to Jeremy Meeks' along with a ring emoji, the pretty nurse removed reference to him, keeping the remainder of the bio as 'Blessed beyond belief.. Dedicated to everything I do... Me and my Fam'.

Jeremy sent shock waves across the internet when pictures emerged of him kissing Chloe Green on a yacht in Turkey in June.

Mingling with the A list: The model mingled with the likes of superstar rapper Nicki Minaj in Cannes in May- when he reportedly met Chloe

Famous friends: Jeremy mingled with socialite Paris Hilton as he modelled for Philip Plein

The duo reportedly met during the Cannes Film Festival in May, where Jeremy was modelling for Phillip Plein.

And in July Jeremy filed for legal separation from mother-of-three Melissa, who he shares her youngest son with.

He was married to the nurse, who stayed with him throughout his stint in prison, for eight years.

Former flames: One of the few remaining pictures left on Melissa's Instagram of the duo shows them kissing just weeks before pictures of him with Chloe surfaced

No longer 'Wife of Jeremy Meeks': After they filed for separation, Melissa finally removed reference to Jeremy on her Instagram bio

She later told the Mail of her devastation, admitting that her husband had been seduced by the glamour of his newfound modelling career.

I know it takes two to tango but she knew he was married. To me, thats unforgivable. My whole world has been torn apart by this. What do I tell our children? My heart is broken.

What sort of woman would do something like this to another woman? My marriage wasnt perfect but I thought it could be saved, until this happened.

Of course Im angry at her. What she did is unforgivable. And Im angry at him too. What they did destroyed my entire world.

Life of luxury: Meeks sent tongues wagging after pictures emerged of him kissing British Topshop heiress Chloe Green on a yacht in Turkey in June

Did either of them think about the children and how this will affect them? Theyre the innocent victims in this. And so am I.

Melissa is mother to his biological child Jeremy Jr, seven, and Robert, 11, Melissas son from a previous relationship. She also has a daughter, 16-year-old Ellie, and says both stepchildren consider Meeks a father figure.

Meeks and Chloe, who is heir to her father Sir Philip's billions, were pictured sharing the intimate kiss aboard a 112,000-a-week yacht in Bodrum.

Family: Melissa is mother to his biological child Jeremy Jr, seven, and Robert, 11, Melissas son from a previous relationship. She also has a daughter, 16-year-old Ellie, and says both stepchildren consider Meeks a father figure

At the time he was still with his wife of eight years, who was seemingly unaware of his new romance until pictures surfaced.

And fans quickly turned on the duo, accusing Chloe of breaking up a marriage.

Chloe was soon forced to delete her Instagram, after followers trolled a gloating post she shared as she snuggled up to married Jeremy.

However she since returned to the social media site, changing her settings to private.

Meeks too has edited his account, deleting all photographs of him and Melissa, which has not gone down with the fans who fell in love with his good looks after his California mugshot went viral in 2014.

Holding him hostage? Chloe took to Instagram in June, sharing a a photo with Meeks and his manager, before deleting her account due to the backlash

Meeks, whose looks have earned him a huge fan base, made his first official modelling appearance at New York fashion week this year, and has certainly turned his life around in an impressive way since his release from prison.

However his journey to stardom hasn't been all smooth-sailing, after he was recently barred from entry to the UK after arriving at London's Heathrow airport from New York.

The California native shot to fame in 2014 when the Stockton Police Department posted his mugshot on their website, following his arrest for gang activity and a misdemeanour charge of resisting/obstructing justice.

The photo promptly went viral, with internet users dubbing him 'the hottest convict ever'.
Kelsea Ballerini led the stars on the ACM Honors blue carpet in Nashville on Wednesday night.

The 23-year-old country music star looked ravishing in a red halter neck dress by desinger Dennis Bassso with plunging neckline and slit skirt.

The pretty blonde put her best foot forward in a pair of strappy red Stuart Weitzman stilettos as she celebrated her big night.

Star power: Kelsea Ballerini looked ravishing in a red halter neck dress with plunging neckline and slit skirt at the ACM Honors n Nashville on Wednesday night

Kelsea flashed plenty of cleavage in the stylish number, the bodice of which featured red floral embellishments.

The skirt fell to mid-calf from a high waistband and the thigh-high slit allowed her to show off her lovely bare right leg.

She then accessorized her bright red ensemble with rose gold rings and earrings from Gabriel NY.

The Tennessee native styled her dyed locks in loose waves with a side parting and added dramatic dark eye shadow and brow pencil.

She completed her look with pale pink lip color and diamond earrings.

Dared to bare: The 23-year-old country music star flashed plenty of cleavage in the stylish number, that featured a plunging neckline and bodice decorated with floral embellishments

Co-ordinated look: The Tennessee native paired the backless number with matching strappy stiletto heels and jewelry from Gabriel NY

Winner: Kelsea was one of a number of recording artists feted at the show that will be broadcast on CBS next month

Working it: Kelsea later changed into another outfit that also featured a plunging neckline for her on stage performance

Grande dame of country music Reba McEntire was also at the event to receive a trophy.

The top-selling artist looked fabulous in black boot-cut jeans paired with a sequinned top.

The 62-year-old added a tailored pale gray jacket and black high-heeled ankle boots and accessorized with several black and silver neck chains and cross pendants.

Headliner: Grande dame of country music Reba McEntire was also at the event to receive a trophy

Looking fab: The top-selling artist, 62, looked fabulous in black boot-cut jeans paired with a sequinned top along with a tailored pale gray jacket and black high heeles

Veteran star: Another country legend Dolly Parton was also honored during the show, arriving on stage in a beautiful pink gown

Thanks: Dolly, 71, shared a tender moment with artist Toby Keith who presented her with her trophy

Legend: The Jolene hitmaker seemed in good spirits as she rocked the crowd

The show taped for broadcast at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, celebrated the special honorees and off-camera category winners from the 52nd Academy of Country Music Awards.

It will be broadcast on CBS on September 15.

Also walking the blue carpet at the event was Jason Aldean, 40, and his pregnant wife Brittany Kerr, 28.

The couple are expecting their first child together, a boy. The country star already has two daughters from his first marriage.

Cute couple: Also walking the blue carpet at the event was Jason Aldean, 40, and his pregnant wife Brittany Kerr, 28. The couple are expecting their first child together, a boy

Expecting: The former American Idol contestant looked lovely in off-the-shoulder peach with gold sandal heels

Need a parachute? Chris Stapleton, 39, rocked a black ensemble as he accompanied his singer-songwriter wife Morgane to the show who looked gorgeous in full-length floral blue

Cassadee Pope put on a leggy display in a silvery lacey number.

The former winner of The Voice showed off her slim figure in the mini dress that had a fringed overlay on the bodice and floral detailing.

The 23-year-old Florida native wore her bobbed dark blonde hair styled in loose ringlet curls and added strappy black heels.

Stunning: Cassadee Pope put on a leggy display in a silvery mini dress that had a fringed overlay on the bodice and floral detailing. She went bare-legged in strappy black heels

Put together: The 23-year-old Florida native wore her bobbed dark blonde hair styled in loose ringlet curls and ringed her eyes with smoky shadow while coloring her lips in pale pink

Check mate: Singer and songwriter Lori McKenna, 48, opted for a blue and white check dress with short sleeves and a mid-calf hem that she paired with nude heels

Putting on a show: Maren Morris, 27, posed for photos in a skimpy bra top paired with a white ankle-length skirt with multi-colored pleat and black sandal heels

Singer-songwriter and honoree Lori McKenna, 48, opted for a blue and white check dress with short sleeves and a mid-calf hem that she paired with nude heels.

Texan artist Maren Morris, 27, posed for photos in a skimpy bra top paired with a white ankle-length skirt with multi-colored pleat and black sandal heels.

Maren was joined on the carpet by her fiance and fellow musician Ryan Hurd who wore skinny black jeans with a dark blue denim shirt.

Had company: Maren was joined on the carpet by her fiance and fellow musician Ryan Hurd who wore skinny black jeans with a dark blue denim shirt

Odd: Australian singer and actress Clare Bowen went for a quirky look, pairing a pretty white frock with chunky brown and black brogues as she posed with fiance Brandon Robert Young

Australian singer and actress Clare Bowen arrived on the arm of her musician fiance Brandon Robert Young.

Clare, who stars in TV"s Nashville, went for a quirky look, pairing a pretty white frock with chunky brown and black brogues.

Her dress featured a sheer patterned overlay over a white slip and had long sleeves and a gathered waist.

Brandon wore an open-neck black shirt under a black jacket and black skinny jeans with shiny shoes.

Hip: Hunter Hayes, 25, was casual in a blue shirt under a black jacket with cream cuffs that he paired with black jeans and scuffed brown shoes

Loved up: Hunter's girlfriend Libby Barnes showed off her toned legs in a tight black mini dress and chunky black heels

Joint honors: Special award recipients Charles Esten and Patty Hanson looked thrilled to be in the spotlight

Ex Bond girl: Actress Jane Seymour, 66, put her best fashion foot forwarded in a metallic blue scallop dress with side cut-out panels

Stylish: Thomas Rhett, 27, was dapper in a gray check suit with buttoned up black shirt and shiny black shoes

Singing for their supper: Thomas and Maren took to the stage together to make one of the night's presentations
Australian fashion designer Camilla Franks has announced she's pregnant.

The 41-year-old shared the news with her fans on Instagram, sharing stunning shots of herself showing off her bare baby bump in a flowing skirt and embellished bra from her own line.

Camilla is expecting her first child with her Welsh artist fiance, JP Jones, with the pair putting back their November wedding so they can focus on their growing family.

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'Inside my belly now lays the love we've shared': Kaftan queen Camilla Franks, 41, announces she's pregnant with fiance JP Jones and shows off bare baby bump in stunning images

'Inside my belly now lays the love we've shared,' Camilla wrote in a poem shared alongside a snap on Instagram, on Thursday.

'To my JP, when we were young, the world was ours. Not a care in a world, so many raised eyebrows,' the emotional poem read.

'We loved relentlessly, yet drifted apart, eighteen years later, we reconnected our hearts,' she said.

Their focus: In an official statement, Camilla revealed that she and her fiance have put off their planned November wedding in India after the 'unexpected and beautiful blessing'

Sweet: Camilla shared a touching poem to her man (pictured) as she announced their happy news

'Always my soulmate, a lover and a friend. You've always been here, from start to end.

'Now we're all grown up, but we're still just starting. We proudly stand here, seas apart yet never parting.'

She added about their baby: 'Inside my belly now lays the love we've shared and been through, Inside your Milla (Camilla) two hearts are now beating for you.

'It seems like yesterday, we were two kids drinking in that London pub. But today, we're drinking tea here waiting for little bub. In this world, and every universe after, Ill always be your girl and you our babys father xxC,' it finished, getting almost 2,000 likes.

More joy! The pair became engaged in Wales on New Year's Eve, and will split their time between Sydney and Wales when they welcome their child

In an official statement, Camilla revealed that the pair put off their planned November wedding in India after the 'unexpected and beautiful blessing.'

The baby is due around that time.

'An unexpected and beautiful blessing, this next chapter of our story will be quite a ride,' the statement began.

'After a beautiful few weeks holidaying in Europe, I arrived home yesterday to share the news with friends, family and of course my tribe.

'We had plans to marry in India this November, but life is full of surprises! We aren't in a rush to get married and for now, want to focus on enjoying the precious moments of being a little tribe,' she added.

Love story: They first met when they were younger and travelling in London, before getting back together in 2015

The pair became engaged in Wales on New Year's Eve, and will split their time between Sydney and Wales when they welcome their child.

They first met when they were younger and travelling in London, before getting back together in 2015.

Camilla was previously engaged to John Flannery, but they called it quits in 2013.

The brunette also dated Jonny Sonic from The Potbelleez.

Smitten: The pair regularly show their love for one another on social media

Camilla is known as the 'kaftan queen', running a multi-million dollar fashion empire after her own namesake.

She now sells her designs in 56 countries after starting the label from a single boutique in Bondi.

Camilla first debuted her world-renowned bohemian prints while trying her hand at acting as she wore her own designs on stage 14 years ago.

Familiar face: Camilla is known as the 'kaftan queen', running a multi-million dollar fashion empire after her own namesake

Earlier this year, she said audience attention was often on her bold printed dresses instead of on her acting, she told News.com.au.

'To be brutally honest, I wasn't a brilliant actress, but people in the fashion world coming to the show were asking me to sell them my kaftans and rehearsal gear,' she said.

Camilla's on-stage designs led her to debut her kaftans in an opera cross fashion show in 2004 and she opened her very first boutique in Bondi soon after.
Among the superstars gaining their wings on the Victoria's Secret runway this year will be an emerging Australian model who's name will soon be on everyone's lips.

Australian model Victoria Lee, who hails from a rural NSW town, will walk for the lingerie institution for the first time in 2017's parade.

The 25-year-old was overjoyed when she took to Instagram on Thursday to announce her casting in the prestigious catwalk juggernaut.

Ready for her close up: Among the superstars gaining their wings on the Victoria's Secret runway this year will be an emerging Australian model, Victoria Lee

'Extremely happy to let you know I'll be walking in the 2017 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show!! Thankyou so much for this incredible opportunity,' she wrote.

In the joyful photo accompanying the announcement, the beauty, who is 5ft 10in tall, is posed in a pair of boyleg underwear and braless underneath a grey singlet.

Standing on a New York rooftop with her hair blowing in the breeze, the glowing soon to be supermodel is beaming as she tugs on her shirt.

Big things: Victoria, who hails from a tiny rural NSW town, will take to the Victoria's Secret runway for the first time this year

It's official! She announced the good news on Instagram

Victoria grew up in Narrandera, a tiny town located in the Riverina region of southern New South Wales, boasting a population of just 3,871.

While she is new to Victoria's Secret, the blonde, who has close to 30K Instagram followers, has worked steadily on the modeling circuit since the tender age of 16.

Thrilled: 'Extremely happy to let you know I'll be walking in the 2017 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show!! Thankyou so much for this incredible opportunity,' she wrote on Instagram

Changes: Victoria grew up in Narrandera, a tiny town located in the Riverina region of southern New South Wales, boasting a population of just 3,871

Signed with Priscilla's modelling agency in Australia, by the age of 18 Victoria had appeared in magazines such as Australian Vogue, Marie Claire Australia, Harpers Bazaar Australia, Italian Grazia and German Glamour.

She's gone on to walk in dozens of shows for Australian Fashion Week, and posed alongside male supermodel Jordan Barrett, sharing the snap on her Instagram page.

She's also appeared in shoots for Elle Italia, Vanity /Fair Italy, and Elle France, as well as walking for fashion house Ralph Lauren.

Hard worker: While she is new to Victoria's Secret, the blonde, who has close to 30K Instagram followers, has worked steadily on the modeling circuit since the tender age of 16

Popular: Signed with Priscilla's modelling agency in Australia, Victoria has appeared in Australian Vogue, Italian Grazia, Elle Italia, Vanity /Fair Italy, and Elle France, as well as walking for fashion house Ralph Lauren

The leggy clotheshorse has also starred in campaigns for Portmans, Roxy and Peter Alexander.

In a 2011 interview, the then-teenager said her dream was to, 'Travel overseas and see the world' and it appears she's already achieving that goal.

She also offered her beauty tips for glowing skin, including using sunscreen and rosewater face mist.

'I love the smell and its so moisturising and refreshing,' she said, adding that her favourite product is, 'a Good Light SPF 30+ Tinted Facial Sunscreen'.
While they've consistently batted away rumours of a romance, Jamie Foxx and Katie Holmes are continuing to spend time together - while keeping things under wraps.

On Tuesday, Oscar-winning actor Jamie, 49, was spotted pulling up at Katie's gated community home in Los Angeles with a bag of sweet treats from Menchie's as he prepared to spend some time with the 38-year-old beauty.

And it was something of a family affair, as they were joined by Katie's 11-year-old daughter Suri, who earlier in the day the actress had taken on a back-to-school shopping spree in the upscale neighbourhood of Calabasas.

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Shopping spree: Katie Holmes took her daughter Suri on a back-to-school shopping spree in Calabasas, California, on Tuesday before Jamie Foxx was seen in vicinity

Things started off as a girls-only day, when a relaxed Katie was seen walking beside her sole offspring as they stepped out together for their shopping excursion.

Wearing a red plaid shirt with figure-hugging blue jeans and a pair of patterned flat shoes, the Thank You For Smoking star carried a large taupe leather handbag.

She shielded her eyes from the Southern California sun with a pair of horn-rimmed glasses as she wore her brunette locks in a topknot and went minimal on makeup.

Retail therapy: The lookalike duo appeared to be in jovial spirits as they stepped out together

Sweet treats: The Ray Oscar winner stopped off to get some frozen yogurt

Paying a visit: Jamie, 49, was then spotted heading to the upscale residential neighborhood in a Mercedes SUV

Showing an appreciation for the performing arts, adorable Suri was seen donning dance gear, which consisted of a purple leotard, pink shorts and opaque leggings.

With her chestnut brown tresses slicked back into in a sleek bun, she carried a colourful patterned bag as she strolled beside her mother in pink flip-flops.

Onlookers tell MailOnline that Jamie was later seen making his way through the same area to pick up some treats from a local frozen yogurt store before driving over to Katie's multi-million dollar home in his Mercedes SUV.

Fashion conscious: Katie looked casually stylish on her shopping trip wearing a colorful plaid shirt and skinny blue jeans with ballet flats

Shopping spree: The 11-year-old wore bright pink flip flops and had her hair sleeked back into a dancer's bun. The youngster carried her purchases in a very large colorful tote

The Ray star looked casually cool in a black polo, teamed with beige trousers and white sneakers, and topped off his look with a fedora and silver-framed shades.

Katie and Jamie met during the actress's marriage for Hollywood star Tom Cruise, who starred with Jamie in Michael Mann's 2004 film Collateral.

However, the pair have never been photographed together in public and deny persistent dating rumours following Katie's 2012 divorce from Tom.

Co-ordinated look: Jamie also cut a dapper figure as he ran his own errands in a black polo shirt with white piping, beige pants and fedora

Famous: The movie star, who lives in Lake Sherwood near to Calabasas, added silver-framed shades and a gold wristwatch

Jamie and Katie were first linked by dating rumours after they were seen arm-in-arm at a charity benefit in New York in August 2013.

In 2015 a photo emerged, first published by UsWeekly, of the two holding hands.

In May of this year, it appeared that the two were still close, as photos were taken showing them leaving the same hotel in Paris, although separately, and boarding the same private plane at Le Bourget Airport, again separately.

Dinner: A day later, Katie and Suri were spotted heading to dinner at Venice hotspot Gjelina

Saved for later: Dressed in a pretty patterned dress, Suri carried her food in a to-go box

Single: Katie is divorced from Hollywood star Tom Cruise to whom she was wed from 2006 to 2012. They're pictured in March 2011 in Beverly Hills
Meghan Markles character Rachel was stuck in the middle of a scandal on Wednesdays episode of USA's Suits.

Her paramour Mike (Patrick J. Adams) confessed that he was still working his pro bono wrongful death case - behind their bosss back.

So youre going to tell Harvey right? Rachel begged Mike, who said hed only divulge the details of the prison case if he was asked.

Bringing the drama: Meghan Markles character Rachel was caught in a scandal on Wednesdays episode of USA's Suits

These guys are extending sentences, what if it was me in there and they were extending my sentence? he asked.

Rachel wasnt happy about being sandwiched in a lie, so they made a pact, that if Harvey asked her outright, shed tell him the truth.

Harvey (Gabriel Macht) later confronted Rachel, who revealed everything.

Meanwhile, Mike was trying to prove there was a mass conspiracy within the private prison firms - which he got thanks to a hack.

Back at home, Rachel was concerned about his methodology. She told him, Mike you could get fired for this!

He responded, If he lets me go, then he lets me go.'

Tough spot: Rachel found herself in a precarious position after Mike (Patrick J. Adams) dropped a shocking revelation on her

Compromise: Rachel and her partner eventually reached an accord she was comfortable with

Moral dilemma: In a harsh situation, Rachel came through with a resolution she could stomach

Mike and Harvey later came to blows over the case.

Harvey, they are lining their pockets on the backs of people that should have been free years ago and youre letting them get away with it, Mike said.

I cant trust you, Harvey replied, threatening to fire him if he made another move on the case.

Experienced: The actress has played Rachel Zane on the program for the past six years

In the clutch: In a difficult spot, Rachel came through in a moral manner

The show flipped between present day and flashbacks to seven years ago - when Harvey and Louis were forced to work on a case together - which caused arguments.

I dont need to take advice from a six-year associate, raged Louis (Rick Hoffman) who has just been promoted to junior partner.

I dont need take a loss on my record because youre too insecure to listen to reason, retorted Harvey.

Showdown: Harvey, played by Gabriel Macht (L), and Louis, played by Rick Hoffman (R), had a confrontation on Wednesday's episode

Boss lady: Jessica, played by Gina Torres, had a number of headache-inducing issues with her employees in the episode

Youre not in charge, so are you going to get on board or are you going to go crying to momma? Louis asked him.

Harvey went behind Louiss back to bring the case to trial. Their boss Jessica (Gina Torres) found out and snatched the case from Harvey.

Feeling like hed been undercut, Harvey conspired with Alex (Dule Hill) to get a job at another firm. Jessica was furious: I picked you out of the God d--- mail room! she huffed as Harvey resigned. She also chastised Louis for having a chip on his shoulder and strong-armed him into getting therapy, with Dr. Lipschitz (Ray Proscia).

On the spot: Donna, played by Sarah Rafferty, found herself at a career crossroads on the show

Stressful workplace: Jessica and Louis found themselves at odds in the episode

Donna (Sarah Rafferty) initially refused to follow Harvey to the new legal firm. She then attempted to celebrate her six-month anniversary with her boyfriend, who gave her a book of Shakespeares sonnets.

Harvey is like a silent partner in our relationship, complained her lover.

Jessica later begged Harvey to stay and he accepted - causing him to let Alex down badly. This meant Harvey owed Alex a big favor.

Alex came to cash in the favor at the end of the show, when he revealed that hed been coerced into covering up a murder some years ago. This put a spanner in Mikes pro bono case with the prison companies.

Suits airs Wednesdays on the USA channel at 9/8c.
A stunning day on Hamilton Island made the perfect setting for the Piper Heidsieck Champagne Lunch on Wednesday.

Leading the fashion pack at the glamorous event was NRL WAG Terry Biviano, who turned heads in a white off-the-shoulder frock.

Accompanied by her husband, player husband Anthony Minichiello, the 42-year-old looked stunning in a white dress that clung to her curves.

Glam: Leading the fashion pack at the glamorous Piper Heidsieck Champagne Lunch event was NRL WAG Terry Biviano, who turned heads in a white off-the-shoulde frock

The outfit featured a large ruffle across the arm and bust area adding a romantic feel.

Further ruffles fell at the frock's hem, which sat midway up the brunette's toned thigh.

Wearing her hair down but slicked back, the shoe designer showcased a pair of statement earrings.

She kept her visage clean and her make up simple, with a nude pink lip and a wash of rosy eye shadow the standouts.

Ruffled! The outfit featured a large ruffle across the arm and bust area adding a romantic feel

Couple goals: Accompanied by her husband, player husband Anthony Minichiello, the 42-year-old looked stunning in a white dress that clung to her slender curves

Anthony looked slick in a crisp white shirt and beige fitted pants, as well as a blue blazer.

He completed his perfect 'resort' look with a brown belt and matching shoes.

The couple recently celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary, soaking up the sun on a luxurious Hawaii getaway.

Loved up: The couple recently celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary, soaking up the sun on a luxurious Hawaii getaway

The Block's resident judge Darren Palmer was also in attendance, also going with a white theme with a pale buttoned down shirt and pale blue slacks.

He completed the smart casual look with a pair of tan dress shoes featuring a tassel detail across the front.

Neat: The Block's resident judge Darren Palmer was also in attendance, also going with a white theme with a pale buttoned down shirt and pale blue slacks
She was getting yet another gong to add to her bulging trophy cabinet.

But Dolly Parton preferred to use the limelight to encourage people to come to her embattled Smoky Mountains home as she picked up her prize at the the Academy of Country Music Honours in Nashville on Wednesday.

The Tennessee Mountain Home legend looked in fine form indeed as she took the the stage at the star-studded event in a typically tight pink gown to accept the Gary Haber Lifting Lives Award.

In the pink: Dolly Parton showcased her famous curves in a flattering gown at the ACM Honours in Nashville on Wednesday

And taking the opportunity to give a plug, she told the crowd: 'The best way you can help us now is to come back to the Smokies. Were in business!'

The 71-year-old philanthropist has been working to help the area, including her native Sevier County, and hosted a telethon that raised $9 million victims of the wildfire that ravaged the area in November last year.

The country music icon, who often speaks of her 'dirt poor' upbringing in the hills of Tennessee, has used her fame to give the area an economic boost.

She opened Dollywood in 1986, and the theme park now employs around 3000 people.

Bulging: The busty star now has the Gary Haber Lifting Lives Award to add to her full-to-bursting trophy cabinet

In the pink: Dolly punched the air after she received her latest gong

Selfless: She used her moment to encourage people to come to the Smoky Mountains

Ravaged: The region was badly affected when wildfire swept the area last November

During her acceptance speech she also thanked people who had helped her Imagination Library project, which has helped millions of children get access to books across the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia.

Dolly said: 'I never dreamed our program would grow into something so large.'

The Coat Of Many Colours star was lathered in praise before she came on stage by relative whippersnapper Brad Paisley.

He said: 'If youre ever in need, theres no better friend than Dolly Parton.'

Brought to book: She also thanked people who helped with her Imagination Library project

What a lovely young man: She patted Brad Paisley after he lathered her with praise during his introduction

And she's off: The Coat Of Many Colours star enjoyed the applause as she left the stage
Hours before turning 19, Sofia Richie stepped out in Hollywood to host a party for Tings magazine.

The teen daughter of singing superstar Lionel Richie also reassured her fans that she's excited to be getting another year older on Thursday.

'I love my life. Feeling good about this birthday. Thankful for every day,' she tweeted.

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Birthday girl: Hours before turning 19, Sofia Richie stepped out in Hollywood Wednesday night to host a party for Tings magazine.

She also shared a selfie close up showing herself sitting in her car make-up free and wearing a windbreaker.

For her night on the town, Sofia wore a colorfully patterned top paired with black slacks and bright white heeled ankle boots.

She added a long black jacket that she wore draped over her shoulders.

Her blonde hair was swept back from her face with a center parting and a couple of loose tendrils that framed her cheeks.

On the town: Sofia wore a colorfully patterned top paired with black slacks and bright white heeled ankle boots. She added a long black jacket that she wore draped over her shoulders

Counting down: The teen daughter of crooner Lionel Richie also shared a selfie close up earlier on Wednesday, showing herself sitting in her car make-up free and wearing a windbreaker

A good year: She tweeted her fans about how excited she is to turn 19 on Thursday and gushed about how much she loves her life

It girl: She celebrated turning 18 in August last year by going on vacation to Mexico with Justin Bieber and has recently been linked with British Formula 1 champ Lewis Hamilton

Striking: Sofia was hard to miss as she made a glamorous entrance at the exclusive Los Angeles event

It's been quite a momentous year for Sofia.

She celebrated turning 18 in August last year by going on vacation to Mexico with Justin Bieber.

But her romance with the older Canadian crooner turned out to be short-lived.

She has been focused the past months on establishing a career as a model and has also been linked with Formula 1 champ Lewis Hamilton.

Celebrity look: Rita, 26, added rose-tinted glasses and white Adidas trainers

Fellow VIP: Joining Sofia at the bash for the London-based magazine was Rita Ora. The pop star and reality show judge wore wide-legged black pants with a colorful graphic coat

Incoming: Singer Ashley Keating was also in attendance at the event on Wednesday evening

Joining Sofia at the bash for the London-based magazine was Rita Ora.

The pop star and reality show judge wore wide-legged black pants with a colorful graphic coat.

Rita, 26, added rose-tinted glasses and white trainers.

Other guests to attend the event on Wednesday evening included British socialite Mary Charteris, actress Ashley Madekwe, singer Ashley Keating and American actor Carter Jennings.

Close: Actress Kristy Dawn Dinsmore was joined by boyfriend Alexander Ludwig

Party time: British socialite Mary Charteris (L) and actress Ashley Madekwe (R) were also ready to let their hair down at the celebratory event
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

Members of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) say it has seen the contents of the MDC Alliance Agreement reached by the coalition partners including their own party and would like to take this opportunity to distance themselves from such a fraudulent pact.Party's deputy spokesperson George Mkhwananzi said the majority of the ordinary members of PDP are appalled that their trusted leadership has accepted such a surrender document as a coalition agreement upon which the 2018 harmonised elections will be contested in Zimbabwe."After the fiasco of the 1987 Zanu-Zapu merger, they never thought they could experience and witness another fraud and chicanery disguised as a Unity Pact in their lifetime. This is not by any stretch of imagination, a coalition pact, it's a sellout document and the people do not want their party to be party to the conscription of their leadership into a MDC T slate. How can such an arrangement be a coalition of equals when the new name of the alliance is MDC, the new leader of the alliance is the MDC T leader, the new slogan of the alliance is the MDC T slogan, the new party symbol of the alliance is the MDC party symbol? PDP rejects this fraud with all the contempt it deserves," he said."Ever since its formation PDP has struggled to convince its critics that it has a credible following outside the 3 Matabeleland provinces, Midlands, Masvingo, Manicaland and Mashonaland East provinces. All the massively successful party activities that the party has held so far were those hosted in Matabeleland and the other four provinces mentioned above. These include the open air rallies, the Party Anniversary in 2016, Women Assembly marches and the Africa Day Celebrations in May 2017."He said at the Party's Elective National Convention held in 2015 and hosted by Harare, the largest number of delegates came from Manicaland followed by Mashonaland East provinces yet these strongholds of the party have nothing in this deal."Harare and Chitungwiza were a total embarrassment as they only managed to bring their provincial executives yet this deal makes them the biggest beneficiaries and now stand to harvest undeserved seats for themselves in parliament and Harare City Council as councillors and Deputy Mayor. It would be very dangerous for the party leadership in Harare to negotiate personal packages under the coalition while overlooking the party's strongholds outside the capital," he said."The Agrippa Mutambara Saga. You're as bad or good as the company that you keep. PDP has no intention of being associated with unrepentant and unrehabilitated sexual offenders. The MDC Alliance parliamentary seats distribution is not just lousy, it is ridiculous. Some parties were allocated seats that are more than their total membership nationally and in the Diaspora. Apart from MDC T and PDP no other party deserves more than 15 seats. Some of the parties have never had their congress from their inception while others which lost 99% of their leadership and supporters through defections have dodged holding their elective Congresses by over two years."He said others do not even have complete National Executive Councils let alone Provincial or District structures."They have never addressed their own rallies or public meetings outside ZINERA. PDP will therefore not accept any attempt to belittle it and reduce it to a nonentity when it knows very well that it commands massive support second only to the MDC T. We also note with dismay that even senior members of both the MDCT and MDC N are vexed by this deal. The media reports that the MDC T National Chairman, Mr Lovemore Moyo is busy mobilising his party's grassroots in Matabeleland against this fraudulent coalition and this speaks volumes about the lack of consultation within and without the MDC T itself," he said."The MDC T Vice President Thokozani Khupe, had to be pummelled into submission by MDC T party thugs because she and other senior party Leaders were averse to the concept, process and procedure of the coalition being conducted outside normal party organs. Similarly, MDC N senior leader and parliamentarian, Priscilla Mushonga has lashed out at the coalition for its lack of transparency and integrity. This is evidently an unpopular deal crafted by a handful of desperate individuals who are driven by self interest. We believe in a genuine coalition where all parties are treated equitably based on their demonstrable mass appeal; that coalition is yet to be born."
It's fast becoming one of the most talked about films of the year, despite not being released yet.

And Rebel Wilson was seen filming scenes alongside her Isn't It Romantic co-star Liam Hemsworth in Queens, New York on Wednesday.

Two weeks after being admitted to hospital after suffering a minor concussion on set, 37-year-old Rebel was back in action and appeared to be well and truly on the mend as she smiled between takes.

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Lady in red! Rebel Wilson looked glamorous while filming scenes alongside her Isn't It Romantic co-star Liam Hemsworth in Queens, New York on Wednesday

She wore a vibrant red dress that was identical dress to the one worn by Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.

Her strawberry blonde locks were styled in romance curls and included a side-swept fringe.

Also on set was Hollywood hunk Liam, who looked dapper in a traditional black and white tux.

Beaming beauty: Two weeks after being admitted to hospital after suffering a minor concussion on set, 37-year-old Rebel was back in action and appeared to be well and truly on the mend as she smiled between takes

Dapper: Also on set was Hollywood hunk Liam, who looked dapper in a traditional black and white tux

Iconic dress: She wore a vibrant red dress that was identical dress to the one worn by Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman

The 27 year old actor's hair was slicked to one side and his facial hair was neatly trimmed.

Rebel and Liam looked focused as they chatted to production staff, but still found time in their busy schedules to take fan photos.

Rebel plays Natalie in the Todd Strauss-Schulson-directed flick, who is a woman disillusioned with love, and finds that her life has turned into a romantic comedy.

Preened to perfection: Her strawberry blonde locks were styled in romance curls and included a side-swept fringe

High spirits: Rebel appeared upbeat weeks after her hospital stint

Focused: The Hollywood heavyweights appeared in the zone as they filmed scenes for Isn't It Romantic

But gossip has been buzzing around the movie for one scene in particular.

Liam plays her love interest in the film, with the two sharing a steamy smooch on-screen.

Hard at work: The stars were captured on set speaking to crew

Winning them over:Liam took time out from filming to take some photos with fans

Rebel with a cause: Rebel plays Natalie in the Todd Strauss-Schulson-directed flick, who is a woman disillusioned with love, and finds that her life has turned into a romantic comedy

Adam Devine, Rebel's Pitch Perfect love interest, also stars alongside the Australian couple.

The film is scheduled to hit theaters worldwide on Valentines Day next year.
SBS announced on Thursday that Australia will compete in Eurovision 2018.

The free-to-air network also confirmed comedians Joel Creasey, 27, and Myf Warhurst, 44, will reprise their role as hosts, for the second time.

'It's wonderful that we're back!' the Head of Delegation from Australia, Paul Clarke, said in an official statement.

'It's wonderful that we're back!' SBS confirmed on Thursday that Australia will compete in Eurovision 2018, with Joel Creasey, 27, and Myf Warhurst, 44, returning as hosts

'It's wonderful that we're back! In the three years that we have competed in Eurovision we have achieved huge success, ranking second in the results overall behind Sweden,' Paul Clarke said in a statement on Thursday.

'It's an exciting challenge for us to find a competitor who can fly the flag high for Australia, and we can't wait to begin that search,' the Head of Delegation from Australia went on to say.

Eurovision is a battle predominantly between European countries, with Australia only being introduced as an entrant in 2015.

Representing: Eurovision is a battle predominately between European countries, with Australia only being introduced as an entrant in 2015. Guy Sebastian, 35, took on the honour, performing Tonight Again in Vienna, Austria

Stellar performance: Fellow Australian Idol contestant Jessica Mauboy, 28, performed the previous year in Copenhagen, Denmark, but was not considered as an entrant

Guy Sebastian, 35, took on the honour, performing Tonight Again in Vienna, Austria.

The former Australian Idol winner came in at fifth place.

Fellow Australian Idol contestant Jessica Mauboy, 28, performed the previous year in Copenhagen, Denmark, but was not considered as an entrant.

Second place: Last year saw X Factor winner Dami Im, 28, coming in at second place with her rendition of Sound of Silence in Stockholm, Sweden

Last year saw X Factor winner Dami Im, 28, coming in at second place with her rendition of Sound of Silence in Stockholm, Sweden.

While this year saw Isaiah Firebrace, 17, placed ninth with his solid performance of It Don't Come Easy.

A surprise announcement by SBS in March this year, saw longtime hosts Julia Zemiro, 50, and Sam Pang, 43, ending their contract as Eurovision hosts.

Comedians Joel Creasey, 27, and Myf Warhurst, 44, took on the honour this year, and will return to Eurovision 2018.
She's been vocal about her frustration at not getting a single date with Matty Johnson.

And on Thursday's episode of The Bachelor, 'villain' Jennifer Hawke declared war during their beach-themed group date.

The 27-year-old told the other contestants she and Simone Ormesher may 'hurt' them if they got in the way of one-on-one time with Matty.

'It is all-out war!' Jennifer Hawke says she will 'hurt' anyone that gets between her and Matty J as The Bachelor girls go on beach-themed group date

As Elise Stacey enjoyed her single date with Matty, a group date card arrived revealing all the girls would be going on the next date.

Jennifer was quick to inform the other girls that she would be using the group date to spend time with Matty.

Out of the eight girls remaining in the house, Simone and Jennifer are yet to have single dates, despite some contestants already enjoying their second one-on-one outings with Matty.

Group date time! As Elise Stacey enjoyed her single date with Matty, a group date card arrived revealing all the girls would be going

Making the most of the date: Jennifer was quick to inform the other girls that she would be using the group date to spend time with Matty

'Just understand that if Simone and I hurt you to get the one-on-one time with Matty, that's just how it's going to be,' Jennifer said.

As the girls arrived on the group date, Matty revealed they would be playing sport so he could see how they 'interacted' with each other.

As the group date progressed, Jennifer made the surprise confession that she disliked contestant Lisa Carlton.

'She is very young and very immature': As the group date progressed, Jennifer made the surprise confession that she disliked contestant Lisa Carlton

Going in for the win! Things heated up as the girls fought for one-on-one time with a series of games

'Personally, I'm not a fan of Lisa. She is very young and very immature,' Jennifer said.

'I am so determined to win. I do have a little bit of mongrel in me, so if we need it I will play dirty.'

Things heated up as the girls fought for one-on-one time with a series of games including thong-tossing.

Who is a good sport? Matty revealed they would be playing sport so he could see how they 'interacted' with each other

As the teams were tied, the claws came out during a deciding game of beach volleyball.

'As soon as I blew the whistle, it is all-out war between the two teams!' Matty said.

And Jennifer was left fuming when her team lost the match, with Matty heading to a 'victory party' with Lisa, Elora, Tara and Cobie.

Winners! Jennifer was left fuming when her team lost the match, with Matty heading to a 'victory party' with Lisa, Elora, Tara and Cobie

As Matty whisked Tara away for some one-on-one time, Lisa confessed to the other girls that she didn't have strong feelings for Matty.

'I do feel like that I am like the only one in the house that doesn't, you know, have as strong feelings for Matty as, you know, all the other girls do,' she revealed.

'This whole process is harder than what I thought. I thought that we would be spending more time with him.'
The Bachelor's Matty Johnson is still searching for his true love.

And in a teaser clip for next Wednesday's episode, Simone Ormesher pulled out all the stops during an outdoor group date.

'Simone is going guts and glory!' rival Elise Stacy, 30, said, after the blonde bombshell was seen getting hands-on with the marketing executive.

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'Simone is going guts and glory!' The Bachelor's Elise Stacy, 30, voiced her shock over Ormesher's physical contact with Matty Johnson, in a teaser clip for next Wednesday's episode

The beginning of the preview saw Simone's disappointment over not securing a single date with Matty J, since her debut on the reality series.

'I don't know what the hell I'm doing!' the 25-year-old quipped to the girls.

So when it came to the outdoor group date that saw the beauties revisiting their childhood, Simone made it her mission to grab the strapping lad's attention.

'I don't know what the hell I'm doing!' The beginning of the preview saw Simone's disappointment over not securing a single date with Matty J, since her debut on the reality series

Physical proximity: So when it came to the outdoor group date that saw the beauties revisiting their childhood, Simone, 25, made it her mission to grab the strapping lad's attention

During a game that saw Matty blindfolded and a red balloon placed between them, Simone gyrated her hips in an effort for it to pop.

Elise noticing her attempt, later stated on camera: 'Simone is going guts and glory!'

The clip also revealed a cattiness between the ladies, particularly with Florence Alexandra Sophia and jewellery designer Laura Byrne, 30.

What's going on here? During a game that saw Matty blindfolded and a red balloon placed between them, Simone gyrated her hips in an effort for it to pop

Catty: The clip also revealed a cattiness between the ladies, particularly with Florence Alexandra Sophia (left), 27, and jewellery designer Laura Byrne (right), 30

With their childhood photos printed on T-shirts, 27-year-old Florence said of a younger Laura: 'She looks like an ugly monkey.'

Meanwhile, Thursday night's episode saw Jen Hawke make a dramatic exit.

The 28-year-old made the decision to leave the mansion, after a tense confrontation with Elise Stacy.

Not holding back: With their childhood photos printed on T-shirts, Florence said of a younger Laura: 'She looks like an ugly monkey'

Breaking down, Jen declared on-camera that she was 'over these b*tches.'

'I'm sick of these girls. I don't need this stupid, silly schoolgirl bullsh*t.

'I just want to go. The house, it's full of b**ches that are 100 per cent fake. I would not trust them as far as I can throw them.'

Dramatic exit: In a surprise twist, Jen dramatically left the mansion on Thursday night's episode, and was seen wheeling her suitcase out of the Bachelor mansion
She's been riding high on a wave of critical acclaim thanks to her roles in Lion, Big Little Lies and Top of The Lake: China Girl.

And Nicole Kidman is yet to slow down this year, spending the past few weeks on the Gold Coast filming scenes for forthcoming superhero movie Aquaman.

The 50-year-old has certainly made the most of her idyllic filming location, sharing snaps of the beach and a helicopter on social media.

Life's a beach! Nicole Kidman shares enviable snaps of the Gold Coast as she films scenes for Aquaman alongside Amber Heard and Jason Mamoa

Nicole has been on the Gold Coast since the beginning of August filming scenes for Aquaman.

The Oscar-winner will play the role of Queen Atlanna, Aquaman's mum, with the title character played by Jason Mamoa.

On Sunday Nicole shared a snap of the ocean, captioning the photo: 'This is why I love Australia! #aussiebeaches #aquaman.'

Taking in the view: She posted another picture on Tuesday of her enjoying a helicopter ride over what appeared to be North Stradbroke Island

Is that you Nic? On Sunday Nicole shared a snap of the ocean, captioning the photo: 'This is why I love Australia! #aussiebeaches #aquaman'

She posted another picture on Tuesday of her enjoying a helicopter ride over what appeared to be North Stradbroke Island.

'Sunset on the Gold Coast, how lucky am I!' Nicole captioned the shot.

Since her arrived in Queensland the statuesque beauty has spent plenty of quality time with daughters Sunday Rose and Faith Margaret, heading out on a whale-watching tour and craft markets, news.com.au reports.

Co-stars: Nicole is shooting Aquaman alongside Amber Heard and Jason Mamoa

Nicole is understood to wrap up filming Aquaman in the coming days and will walk the red carpet at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, and the Emmy Awards on September 17.

Nominated for her role in Big Little Lies, the actress said she will be happy whether or not she wins a best actress Emmy.

Speaking to Foxtel magazine this week, the Australian actress explained she was thrilled with the show's recognition not just her own personal accolades.

Excited: Nominated for her role in Big Little Lies, the actress said she will be happy whether or not she wins a best actress Emmy

In addition to Nicole's nod, co-stars Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Shailene Woodley and Alexander Skarsgard have also been nominated for an Emmy.

'Its amazing. I was so excited that we all got nominated,' Nicole told Foxtel, according to the Daily Telegraph.

'It will be a big night for us no matter what happens.'
Her eldest daughter Molly is moving to Dublin to live with her dad Brian McFadden's parents and study at a new school.

And Kerry Katona seemed to have a hard time letting go, as she accused the excited teenager of 'abandoning' her and admitted she has attachment issues.

In an emotional Instagram video, the mother-of-five, 36, broke down in tears and wailed that she was 'absolutely heartbroken', but was also keen to hammer home how proud she was of Molly for passing her exams - in an illiterate post.

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Distraught: Kerry Katona seemed to have a hard time letting go, as she pleaded with the teenager not to move and admitted she has 'abandonment' issues

Cradling Molly - who is moving to Dublin to take an extra year of science subjects to help her dreams of becoming a surgeon - Kerry begged the teenager to stay.

The Atomic Kitten star's voice broke as she said: 'My baby girl having cuddles with mummy tonight. I don't want her to leave me! Don't leave me Molly!'

Molly could be heard off-camera trying to console her mum and assure her that she wasn't leaving and that she would be back.

Sad: Her eldest daughter Molly (right) is moving to Dublin to live with her dad Brian McFadden's parents for a year

Tragic: Cradling Molly - who is moving to Dublin to take an extra year of science subjects to help her dreams of becoming a surgeon - Kerry begged the teenager to stay

But Kerry remained undeterred, wailing: 'She is! She's abandoning me! I am joking but I'm absolutely heartbroken.'

She added: 'Don't leave me, Molly. Don't leave me - I have abandonment issues!'

She managed to compose eventually, and said she wished her daughter nothing but success.

'I love you and I wish you all the love and happiness and luck in the world,' she told Molly. 'But don't leave me!'

Struggling: The Atomic Kitten star's voice broke as she said: 'My baby girl having cuddles with mummy tonight. I don't want her to leave me! Don't leave me Molly!'

Inconsolable: She wailed: 'She's abandoning me! I am joking but I'm absolutely heartbroken'

Following the emotional clip, Kerry was quick to insist she was proud of her daughter, posting a sweet snap celebrating her eldest's exam success.

She wrote: 'Sooooooo proud my baby girl past her exams!! I must of done something right.'

However, fans were quick to mock the star for her catalogue of grammatical errors, commenting: 'Passed not past and must have not must of', 'Is this ironic?', 'and???? You must have alot of time on you're hands to pick out a spelling mistake', 'I think you mean passed'.

Proud: Following the emotional clip, Kerry was quick to insist she was proud of her daughter, posting a sweet snap celebrating her eldest's exam success

Oops: Fans were quick to mock the star for her catalogue of grammatical errors, but some followers stood up for the star in the comments section

Her emotional outpouring came just hours after she posted a sweet throwback photo of Molly as a child, in which she called the teen her 'best friend'.

'I really don't know where the time has gone! My baby girl gets her GCSEs results tomorrow and then leaving to move to Ireland all in one day!

'Wishing my beautiful baby girl all the love and happiness and luck in the world! As proud as I am of her my heart is breaking! #firstborn #mymolly #babygirl #bestfriend'

Sweet: Her emotional outpouring came just hours after she posted a sweet throwback photo of Molly as a child, in which she called the teen her 'best friend'

Kerry will have to adjust to spending time away from her eldest daughter Molly as she heads to Dublin to further her studies.

Molly is to live with the parents of former Westlife star Brian McFadden, who was married to Kerry for four years from 2002.

Kerry recently opened up to Ok! about her daughter leaving, admitting: Shes going in August. But, if Im honest, I think shell be back home in no time. I know my Molly and I think she will miss home too much!

Proud mum: Kerry Katona came over all emotional when her eldest daughter Molly, 15, attended her school prom

Past love: Molly is to live with the parents of former Westlife star Brian McFadden, who was married to Kerry for four years from 2002

Speaking of Molly leaving home so soon, Kerry added: 'Molly wants to be a surgeon. She wants to get really good grades in her GCSEs so she's going to Ireland to do a transition year. This will give her an extra year of biology and sciences.'

She added: 'She will be massively homesick. But I've told her that I think that it's the right thing to do. Her mind is like a sponge and just soaks everything up.'

As well as Molly, Kerry is also mother to Lily-Sue, 14 (from her first marriage with Brian McFadden), Heidi, 10 and Maxwell, 9 (from her second marriage with Mark Croft), and youngest daughter Dylan-Jorge, 3 (her only child with George).

Sad: Speaking about Molly leaving, Kerry said: 'She will be massively homesick. But I've told her that I think that it's the right thing to do'
She recently returned to her Los Angeles home after enjoying a sun-soaked getaway to Europe with her boyfriend Chris Zylka.

And on Wednesday night, Paris Hilton, 36, appeared keen to celebrate being back on home soil as she turned heads in a black dress, which included a semi-sheer spotted top, while enjoying a lavish meal with her 32-year-old beau.

But as the couple made their way into popular West Hollywood eatery, Paris was all but upstaged by her lookalike mother Kathy Hilton, 58, who caught the eye in a fitted black pantsuit with a racy black sheer top.

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Hot mama: Paris Hilton stepped out for dinner at Craig's in West Hollywood on Wednesday - and she was almost upstaged by her mother Kathy, right

Reality TV star-turned-DJ Paris cut a chic figure in her long-sleeved dress of choice, which featured a high neckline and a solid strip across her bosom.

The frock featured a flowing pleated skirt, which she complemented with a pair of textured metallic heels, while she carried a stylish clutch bag.

With extensions aiding her her honey blonde hair's length and volume, the socialite further glammed up her look with glittering stud earrings and impeccable makeup.

My beau: The socialite made her way to the popular eatery with her boyfriend Chris Zylka

Sheer delight: The DJ turned heads in a black dress, which included a semi-sheer spotted top

Centre of attention: Her mother garnered much of the attention as she emerged from a black chauffeur-driven car in a sleek pantsuit, with a sheer patterned top under her blazer

However, her mother garnered much of the attention as she emerged from a black chauffeur-driven car in a sleek pantsuit, with a sheer patterned top under her blazer.

With black floral fascinator resting atop her glossy blonde locks, she made her way into the restaurant wearing low-ride black heels and a small selection of diamonds.

Actor Chris dressed notably more low-key than the ladies, donning a longline black top under a matching hoodie with slim-cut trousers and smart suede shoes.

Chris recently returned to the US from Ibiza, where he had been supporting Paris as she spun tracks at a variety of parties on the popular Balearic island.

Skirt: Paris' featured a flowing pleated skirt, which she complemented with a pair of textured metallic heels, while she carried a stylish clutch bag

Impeccable: With extensions aiding her her honey blonde hair's length and volume, the socialite further glammed up her look with glittering stud earrings and impeccable makeup

Actor Chris dressed notably more low-key than the ladies, donning a longline black top under a matching hoodie with slim-cut trousers

Before that, the lovebirds spent some time together on a luxury superyacht off Italy's breathtaking Amalfi Coast.

Meanwhile, the star 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.

'They had to open both the main room and the terrace room to accommodate everybody,' a source said.

Dazzling smile: Last week, Paris shared shots of herself aboard a yacht off Italy's Amalfi Coast

Paradise: Wearing a smattering of light makeup to highlight her natural good looks, Paris let her hair flow past her shoulders while enjoying the sun

She later admitted that DJing at the children's charity gig made her extremely broody.

'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,' she said. '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.'

Paris and Chris have been virtually inseparable since striking up their whirlwind romance around Valentine's weekend this year.

Looking to the future: She later admitted that DJing at the children's charity gig made her extremely broody

Cute couple: Paris had been holidaying across Europe with her boyfriend Chris Zylka

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!'

Feeling broody? Ahead of the yacht trip hosted a special kids version of her famous Foam & Diamonds party at the legendary Amnesia nightclub in Ibiza and admitted it made her broody
She jetted to Croatia with her fiance Alex Bowen to attend electronic music festival Sonus this week.

And Olivia Buckland seemed keen to document the raucous trip, flaunting her incredible curves in a steamy bikini snap on Instagram.

The former Love Island star, 23, later cosied up to her scaffolder boyfriend as they partied at the festival with a large group of friends.

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Turning heads: Olivia Buckland seemed keen to document her raucous Croatia trip, flaunting her incredible curves in a steamy bikini snap on Instagram

Perching on a picturesque balcony, Olivia showcased her tiny waist and ample cleavage in a pink embellished two-piece.

She captioned the shot: 'Croatia you've been madness so far, just chilling here in my pretty berry pink bikini. let's see what else Croatia has to bring!'

Clearly having a whale of a time, Alex and Olivia then shared clips of them partying at a beach club on their Instagram stories - with Alex captioning his: 'Best club ever omdz'.

Olivia was clearly feeling snap-happy during the holiday as she shared several more snaps from their time away.

Cute couple: The former Love Island star, 23, later cosied up to her scaffolder boyfriend Alex Bowen

Having a whale of a time: She jetted to Croatia with her fiance Alex Bowen to attend electronic music festival Sonus this week

She showed off her incredible figure in a leopard print bikini, highlighting her ample cleavage and tiny waist in the bright red number.

Olivia also posted a cute picture of handsome scaffolder Alex sweeping her off her feet - literally.

The hunk is seen carrying his bikini-clad bride-to-be in his arms, lifting her upside down as she giggles with glee.

'When you extra', Olivia captioned the sweet picture of her man.

Bikini beauty: Olivia has been sharing several snapshots of their sun-soaked getaway together

Clowning around: She also posted a cute picture of handsome scaffolder Alex sweeping her off her feet - literally

The pair - who fell for each other on the 2016 edition of the reality show - have been busy planning their big day.

Speaking to OK! Magazine, Alex said that 'theres never going to be another couple like Olivia and I', while his fiance backed him up by adding: 'We have something I cant even imagine anyone ever finding.

The couple confirmed to the publication that they have set a date for their upcoming nuptials and that it will take place in 2018.

Wedding bells: The pair - who fell for each other on the 2016 edition of the reality show - have been busy planning their big day

Its in September next year, Olivia revealed. 'Ive been wedding dress shopping in Kensington. Ive found the dress but they are all out of our budget. Theyre about 11,000.

I dont really want to have a budget for my dress. Its the most special day of my life.

Instructing his wife-to-be to 'do whatever youve got to do, babes', Alex told the magazine that he'll be having his stag do in Las Vegas.
She always dresses to impress whether it's on or off the red carpet.

And Emma Roberts looked pretty in pastels as she opted for a low-key outfit while running errands near her home in Los Angeles on Thursday.

The actress, 26, wore a pale pink J Brand x Bella Freud sweater, with a 'Pretty Baby' motif written in black across the front.

Pretty in pink: Emma Roberts looked pretty in pastels as she opted for a low-key outfit while running errands near her home in Los Angeles on Thursday

The Scream Queens star highlighted her slim figure with a pair of high-waisted jeans with frayed edges, which she teamed with pointed black leather heeled boots from Scanlan Theodore.

Emma accessorized with stylish retro-inspired cat-eye sunglasses and tucked her cropped blonde hair behind her ears.

The screen star completed her look with a leather Chloe Faye handbag in varying patches of tan, while opting for minimal make-up to accentuate her striking features.

Emma, whose FOX show Scream Queens was guillotined this year after two seasons, has helped start Belletrist, an online book club that got its launch this March.

Busy bee: The Scream Queens star highlighted her slim figure with a pair of high-waisted jeans with frayed edges, which she teamed with pointed black heeled Scanlan Theodore boots

'Everyone always laughs at me because in the summer I have the biggest tote filled with books because I refuse to put books on my iPad,' she's confessed to WWD.

'Its such a treat when I open the mail and have all these books to read. Its been fun to figure out where to put them within the book club,' said the niece of Julia Roberts in the interview.

Emma can next be seen in American Horror Story: Cult.

The upcoming season of the FX anthology series will revolve around the 2016 US election and will premiere September 5 with an episode titled Election Night.

Keeping it casual: The actress, 26, wore a pale pink sweater, with a 'Pretty Baby' motif written in black across the front and accessorized with stylish retro-inspired cat-eye sunglasses

he Nancy Drew actress' upcoming projects include the film Billionaire Boys Club, starring Ansel Elgort, Taron Edgerton, Suki Waterhouse and Kevin Spacey.

Emma's pal and Scream Queens co-star Billie Lourd is also in the upcoming movie project, as is Cary Elwes, and the film is due for release this year.

She also has a starring role in the big screen drama Who We Are Now scheduled to premiere in September at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Australian actor, writer and director Matthew Newton, 40, wrote and directed Who We Are Now.

The film follows a woman sentenced to 10 years in prison for manslaughter who recruits a young public defense lawyer to help her children.
She auditioned for a role in this year's Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in New York City earlier this week.

And Abby Champion looked as though she'd received some good news as she made an excitable appearance after grabbing a bite to eat at a cafe in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

The model, 20, was engrossed in her phone and beaming from ear-to-ear as she emerged from the eatery after meeting up with boyfriend Patrick Schwarzenegger and her sister Baskin Champion.

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Have VS called? Braless Abby Champion looked like she'd received good news as she made an excitable appearance after grabbing a bite to eat at a cafe in Los Angeles on Wednesday

The Alabama-born beauty went braless in a crop top that offered a peek of her toned tummy and light washed denim hotpants that showed off her long legs.

Abby kept it casual with a fresh face and her natural hair while goofing around with her model sister Baskin, 22.

Although there has been no confirmation if the model has been chosen to walk in the upcoming fashion show, Abby and Baskin still decided to have a party of their own - giggling with glee as they wandered down the street.

The girlfriend of Patrick Schwarzenegger auditioned for the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show back in 2016.

Hooray! The model, 20, was engrossed in her phone and beaming from ear-to-ear as she emerged from the eatery with her sister Baskin, 22

Even though she didn't make the cut, she did however front the lingerie company's Pink line that same year.

Abby received some encouraging words from Patrick, 23, in an Instagram post from her Victoria's Secret casting over the weekend.

He left a comment in the photo section saying: 'Go ahead now baby.'

Only a couple of models have confirmed that they will be walking in the 2017 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

Runway ready: The Alabama-born beauty auditioned for a role in this year's Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in New York City earlier this week

On Wednesday, Georgia Fowler, Victoria Lee, Aiden Curtiss and Katoucha Niane were announced as some of the new additions to the line-up.

Angels Alessandra Ambrosio, Adriana Lima, Gigi Hadid, Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner, among others, are all expected to walk in this year's show.

After lighting up Paris, France, in 2016, the 2017 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show will be held in Shanghai, China, for the first time in late November.

Will this year be her year? The girlfriend of Patrick Schwarzenegger auditioned for the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show back in 2016, but was unsuccessful
News / National

by Staff reporter

MATER DEI Hospital is suing a Bulawayo man for more than $10 000 for medical expenses incurred by his late relative during his admission at the hospital.The debt emanates from medical services and drugs supplied to Mr Khairunnisa Abass by Mater Dei Hospital between January and March this year.In papers before the Bulawayo High Court, Mater Dei Hospital cited the Estate of the late Mr Abass, the guarantor Mr Yasin Mullaji and the Assistant Master of the High Court as defendants.Mr Mullaji was cited as the second defendant by virtue of binding himself as a surety for the medical bills.The late Mr Abass was admitted to the Roman Catholic-run hospital after he was diagnosed with an ailment which was not mentioned in the court papers.According to court papers, the hospital is owed $10 359 for services rendered and drugs supplied to the late patient.Mater Dei Hospital through its lawyers, Coghlan and Welsh Legal Practitioners said that despite having been given terms and time to pay, the defendants failed to settle the bill.According to the hospital's terms and conditions which were agreed upon between Mr Mullaji and the hospital, the money for the late Mr Abass' treatment was to be payable upon presentation of the account by the hospital.Lawyers also stated that in the event that the hospital instituted legal proceedings against the defendants for the recovery of the amount due, or any balance thereof, Mullaji undertook to pay the legal costs on attorney-client scale.Mater Dei Hospital is claiming the money with an interest calculated from August 3 this year to the date of final payment and the cost of suit at attorney-client scale.The defendants have not yet responded to the summons.
They welcomed their first child, son Jack Oscar, into the world in June.

And Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and her fiance Jason Statham seemed to be settling perfectly into parenthood, as they enjoyed a cosy night in watching The Bachelor In Paradise.

The gleeful British supermodel, 30, couldn't resist offering her opinion on the contestants, throwing around cheeky comments like 'what a catch' and 'she looks thrilled'.

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Domestic bliss: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and her fiance Jason Statham seemed to be settling perfectly into parenthood, as they enjoyed a cosy night in watching The Bachelor In Paradise

After roping in Hollywood hardman Jason into her binge-watching session, Rosie documented their viewing in a series of sardonic Instagram stories.

The clips saw Rosie and Jason snuggle up in their living room, with just their feet visible as they watched the singletons on the screen in front of them.

Passing comment on the dates, she captioned one shot: 'He's still banging on about his dog "especially where I can take him with me". She looks thrilled...'

Loving it: The gleeful British supermodel, 30, couldn't resist offering her opinion on the contestants, throwing around wry comments like 'strong look'

Tee hee: After roping in Hollywood hardman Jason into her binge-watching session, Rosie documented their viewing in a series of cheeky Instagram stories

In another, she remarked: 'Was it the bow tie or hair that blew it for him?' before adding 'strong look,' as she mused as to why another date didn't go quite so well.

Rosie's trademark wry sense of humour came into play once again last week, as she hinted that she is in no hurry to welcome baby number two into the world.

The model shared a snap of a bag stuffed full of telling gifts like an early pregnancy test, a pack of condoms, a bottle of wine and cigarettes.

Guilty pleasure: The clips saw Rosie and Jason snuggle up in their living room, with just their feet visible as they watched the singletons on the screen in front of them

Having a whale of a time! Passing comment on the dates, she captioned one shot: 'He's still banging on about his dog "especially where I can take him with me". She looks thrilled...'

Tongue-in-cheek: It comes as Rosie hinted that she is in no hurry to welcome baby number two into the world on social media last week

The bag also contained a giant pack of Snickers chocolate bars and what appeared to be mini bottles of booze.

Clearly seeing the funny side to the debauched present, she wrote: 'Such a thoughtful and useful baby gift, thank you John and Amy!' followed by a string of laughing face emojis.

Rosie has been keeping a low profile since giving birth to Jack Oscar on June 24, announcing the news with a sweet Instagram photo.

She wrote: 'Our little man arrived! Jack Oscar Statham 8.8lbs on Saturday June 24th,' alongside a black and white snap of little Jack grasping his mother's finger.

Cheeky: The British supermodel, 30, shared a snap of a bag stuffed full of telling gifts like an early pregnancy test, a pack of condoms, a bottle of wine and cigarettes

Seeing the funny side to the debauched present, she wrote: 'Such a thoughtful and useful baby gift, thank you John and Amy!' followed by a string of laughing face emojis

Happy parents: Rosie gave birth to her first child, son Jack Oscar, with Jason Statham in June. Pictured together in April

The 30-year-old announced her pregnancy in February, after dating fiance Jason for seven years.

The model and actress, who lives in Los Angeles with Jason, announced her pregnancy news on Instagram, debuting her bare baby bump while sat smiling on a beach in her bikini.

Rosie revealed that Jason had been the one to take the picture in her caption, as she confirmed: 'Very happy to share that Jason and I are expecting. Lots of love Rosie x. Photo by @jasonstatham'

Rosie embraced her pregnancy, sharing updates on her social media including snaps of her gorgeous baby shower a month ago.

'Our little man arrived': Rosie has been keeping a low profile since giving birth to Jack Oscar on June 24, announcing the news with a sweet Instagram photo

Exciting: The model and actress, who lives in Los Angeles with Jason, announced her pregnancy news in February, writing: 'Very happy to share that Jason and I are expecting'

Sweet: Rosie began dating Jason in 2010 and moved to Los Angeles to set up a home with the Snatch hunk

Cute couple: They announced their engagement last year. Pictured together in 2013

She also posted photos from her 30th birthday celebrations back in April, gushing that she felt 'life is just about the begin' during her exciting year.

'Thank you to everyone for all the special birthday wishes! My heart feels full of warmth and love turning 30 today!' she wrote.

'Being that it's such a milestone I can't help but look back, reflect and smile on all that life has brought me, whilst looking forward to the future and feeling as if life is just about to begin... quite literally .'

Maternal: Prior to announcing her baby news the starlet said back in 2012 that caring for her child would be her first priority when the time comes

Honest: She said: 'I always see myself working, but definitely being a mum will be a big part of me'

'Bye Bye 20's you were hot, hello 30's can't wait to see what you got in store for me!! #JustGettingStarted #1987 .'

Rosie began dating Jason in 2010 and moved to Los Angeles to set up a home with the Snatch hunk. They announced their engagement last year.

In a rare interview with Harper's Bazaar Australia, Rosie praised Jason, saying: 'I have an amazing relationship with my partner. He's by far the greatest influence in my life.'

Opening up: She added: 'I think there is naturally a point where you think, "I don't care about myself as number one any more." I want to care about other things'

Candid: In a rare interview with Harper's Bazaar Australia, Rosie praised Jason, saying: 'I have an amazing relationship with my partner

Clearly excited for motherhood, prior to announcing her baby news the starlet had said in an interview with Elle UK back in 2012 that caring for her child would be her first priority when the time comes.

She said: 'I always see myself working, but definitely being a mum will be a big part of me.

'I think there is naturally a point where you think, 'I don't care about myself as number one any more.' I want to care about other things.'

Rosie appeared in Mad Max: Fury Road and Transformers: Dark of the Moon, while Statham's recent film credits include The Fate of the Furious and Spy.

Pucker up: She added of her fiance: 'He's by far the greatest influence in my life'
Kimberly Wyatt has given birth to her second child.

The former Pussycat Dolls star, 35, took to her Instagram platform on Wednesday to announce the arrival of her daughter.

'So happy and proud to introduce our little girl, Maple Lyla Rogers. #proudmummy #family #love,' The American beauty, who is married to model Max Rogers, captioned the snap.

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Congratulations! Kimberly Wyatt, 35, has given birth to her second child

'Proud to introduce our little girl, Maple Lyla Rogers': The former Pussycat Dolls star took to her Instagram platform

The sweet black and white snap saw the adorable newborn cheekily sticking out her tongue as she rested.

Kimberly and her other half Max, who also share two-year-old Willow, delightedly announced they were expecting their second child on Easter Sunday.

The songstress took to Instagram to type: 'There's a little bun-ny in the oven Happy Easter!', and it went on to garner 5,000 likes in just a few hours.

In May, Kimberly revealed that her first pregnancy didn't prepare her at all for her second foray into motherhood, as she confessed to battling with extreme morning sickness.

'There's a bun-ny in the oven!' Kimberly and her other half Max, who also share two-year-old Willow, delightedly announced they were expecting their second child on Easter Sunday

Happy family: The stunner got engaged to Max Rogers in September 2013 after two years of dating, and they married in February 2014

Troubles: In May, Kimberly revealed that her first pregnancy didn't prepare her at all for her second foray into motherhood, as she confessed to battling with extreme morning sickness

Speaking on Lorraine, the dance star admitted: 'The first few months were crazy.'

Explaining that there was nothing to worry about now, she said: 'I'm 24 weeks and everythings great. The first few months were crazy and the sickness was terrible.

'From the time I work up to the time I went to bed, but youve just got to do it!

'Its crazy how pregnancies are so different, I didnt really get much morning sickness at all with the first one.'

Kimberly also spoke about their first born Willow, admitting the time had flown by.

'It goes so quick!' Kimberly also spoke about their first born Willow, admitting the time had flown by

'Motherhood is the most precious gift': Last year the American beauty spoke out about her desire to expand her family to MailOnline

'My little girl is two and a half it goes so quick!' she reasoned. 'Shes the cutest thing.'

Last year the American beauty spoke out about her desire to expand her family, admitting to MailOnline: 'I would love another baby. I really want her to having a sibling at one point. But no pressure. One day, I'd love to have another.

'Motherhood turned my life upside down but it's the most precious gift. Life is more fulfilling, I've never smiled more.

The stunner got engaged to Max in September 2013 after two years of dating, and they married in February 2014 before welcoming their first child in December.

Kimberly soared to fame in the sexy all-singing, all-dancing girl group The Pussycat Dolls in 2003, which disbanded in 2010.
Their fiery relationship has been well-documented throughout the years.

And now Jamie Oliver, 42, has likened his culinary rival Gordon Ramsay to a 'dementia sufferer', after the Scottish chef continuously ridiculed him while fronting ITV's The Nightly Show earlier this year.

During the Michelin starred chef week-long residency, Gordon mocked Jamie's cooking, even referring to him as 'fat' and a 'one-pot wonder'.

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Hitting back: Jamie Oliver, 42, has likened his culinary rival Gordon Ramsay to a dementia sufferer, after the Scottish chef continuously ridiculed him while fronting ITV's The Nightly Show earlier this year

Reflecting on their war of words, Jamie - who welcomed his fifth child River in 2016 - admitted that his close friends were left annoyed by the comments but he's no longer bothered.

He told The Sun: 'All my friends and people I work with in TV were very p***** off for me. But its a bit like going to see someone you love who has dementia who keeps forgetting and then doesnt remember what theyve said.

'It doesnt bother me anymore, but it was a lot, he hasnt texted to apologise, I dont know if he does emotion like that.'

Despite attempting to let sleeping dogs lie, Jamie admitted he doesn't understand why he has become the object of Gordon's frustration.

In the past: Reflecting on their war of words, Jamie - who welcomed his fifth child River in 2016 - admitted that his close friends were left annoyed by the comments but he's no longer bothered (Pictured 2003 at the Carton London Restaurant Awards)

Annoyed: He told The Sun : 'All my friends and people I work with in TV were very p***** off for me'

He said: 'I dont think he can be jealous of me because no British chef has cracked American TV like Gordon has or smashed it on TV. Hes killing it, but we re different.'

MailOnline have contacted Gordon Ramsay's rep for comment.

The two chef have battled a well known feud since 2009 when Jamie defended an Australian journalist whose physical appearance was criticised by Gordon.

Although Jamie attempted to wave a white flag late last month in an interview with Woman's Day which he referred to their long-term tete-a-tete as 'pathetic'.

'Gordon has been fairly horrible to me over the years and I did used to bite,' he said. 'Now I just shut up and take it. A bit of drama is always good for some PR!'

Family: Stating Gordon's antics are childish and immature, Oliver previously said to his kids have inspired him to take the high road (Pictured with his kids Daisy Boo Pamela, Buddy Bear Maurice, Poppy Honey Rosie, Petal Blossom Rainbow and River Rocket - left to right - in 2016)

Together: Gordon with his children Megan, Matilda, Holly and Jack as well as wife Tanya (centre)

Gordon, who's been very opinionated about Oliver, has called previously referred to him as 'fat', a 'one-pot wonder' and someone who's crushing on his wife.

Stating Gordon's antics are childish and immature, Oliver previously said to his kids have inspired him to take the high road.

The famed chef added: 'Our kids are around the same age and they don't need to see their dads slagging each other off. It's pathetic.'

In 2015, he said that a reconciliation between the pair of celebrity chefs was a possibility but he still had a few choice observations to make about Ramsay.

'Pathetic': Although Jamie attempted to wave a white flag late last month in an interview with Woman's Day which he referred to their long-term tete-a-tete as 'pathetic' (Pictured in 2006 at The British Book Awards)

Cruel: Gordon, who's been very opinionated about Oliver, has called previously referred to him as 'fat', a 'one-pot wonder' and someone who's crushing on his wife

'He's just a ranter, he's paid to rant,' he said. 'He's paid to shower negativity and all his proteges don't talk to him because he's like that and it's a shame.'

'I got on with him once but he decided to slag me off at every opportunity. It's kind of friendly banter, it's no big deal but you never know: we might be friends again some time.'

Recently, Gordon couldn't help but fuel tensions between the pair when he appeared in a skit on James Corden's Late Late Show in June.

The 50-year-old culinary sensation - who has a collection of 14 London based restaurants - hilariously lashed out at the British star after he began suggesting his cooking rival Jamie's eateries.

Observations: In 2015, he said that a reconciliation between the pair of celebrity chefs was a possibility but he still had a few choice observations to make about Ramsay (Pictured in 2005)

In the skit, the father-of-four is seen driving his pals from the studio when he asked by bandleader Reggie on where to eat while they enjoy their week-long residency in London.

As Gordon tries to utter his first word, James comically speaks over the Michelin starred chef with suggestions of his culinary enemy's restaurants, firstly his Steakhouse and BBQ franchise Barbecoa.

Reggie asked: 'Hey Gordon, any restaurants you recommend inside of London? to which James answered: 'Oh yes, there's some great ones like Jamie Oliver, that Jamie Oliver's Barbecoa'.

Taken aback that his pal cut across from him, Gordon gently put James back in his place as he said with authority: 'He asked me. He asked me the question so I'll answer it.'

Tension: Recently, Gordon couldn't help but fuel tensions between the pair when he appeared in a skit on James Corden's Late Late Show in June

But yet again, James side-splitting riles up the acclaimed chef as he once again starts spewing suggestions for the Naked Chef star and Hollywood favourite Wolfgang Puck.

The former Gavin And Stacey star shared: 'Oh yeah like Jamie's Italian, Jamie's Italian is good. Jamie Oliver's Italian. Wolfgang Puck has some brilliant restaurants... all the best chefs.'

Trying to get a word in with his suggetsion of Bread Street Kitchen, Gordon rib-tickling looses his cool as he exclaims in their car: 'Are you f*****g serious? What's wrong with you?'
Their story reads like something from a fairytale book, after they met on-set of a film in 2005, and their on-screen romance became an off-screen one.

But Channing Tatum has revealed the events leading up to his proposal to Jenna Dewan, 36, weren't quite as romantic as their back story.

The 37-year-old Magic Mike actor, who met his now-wife of eight years when they starred opposite each other on Step Up, admitted he pretended he 'never wanted to get married' to throw her off his proposal plan.

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Prankster: Channing Tatum has revealed the events leading up to his proposal to Jenna Dewan, 36, weren't quite as romantic as their back story

Speaking to Radio 1's Nick Grimshaw, the hunk admitted: 'When I proposed to my wife I did something pretty cruel because I thought she was on to me. I basically told her I never wanted to get married to try to throw her off.

'I told her, 'I don't believe in the institution of marriage and I don't think I ever want to get married.' She basically broke down crying.'

And realising his plan had gone horribly wrong, he soon had to fix the situation.

'I thought, 'This is not going well at all,' so I had to propose to her sooner rather than later,' he revealed.

Awks! The 37-year-old Magic Mike actor admitted he pretended he 'never wanted to get married' to throw her off his proposal plan

'When I proposed to my wife I did something pretty cruel because I thought she was on to me. I basically told her I never wanted to get married to try to throw her off,' he admitted

The dancing duo met on the 2005 set of Step Up, before getting engaged in 2008 in Maui.

They married in July of 2009 in Malibu, California, before welcoming daughter Everly in London in May 2013.

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.

'I thought, 'This is not going well at all,' so I had to propose to her sooner rather than later,' he revealed of his wife of eight years- the couple share 4-year-old daughter Evelyn

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.
She's been receiving rave reviews for her ongoing theatre performances.

And Sienna Miller looked in good spirits as she arrived at the Apollo theatre in London on Thursday.

The actress, 35, treated herself to an ice cream and a coffee ahead of her daily A Cat On A Hot Tin Roof appearance.

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Upbeat: Sienna Miller looked in good spirits as she arrived at the Apollo theatre in London on Thursday

Proving she could turn heads without trying, Sienna slipped into a loose grey t-shirt and pair of casual tracksuit bottoms.

Wearing her blonde hair loose, she accessorised with a pair of tortoiseshell sunglasses, appearing to go make-up free.

Carrying a large bucket bag, she signed autographs for adoring fans as she arrived.

Breakfast on the go: The actress, 35, treated herself to an ice cream and a coffee ahead of her daily A Cat On A Hot Tin Roof appearance

The American Sniper star has been widely praised for her turn as Maggie in the Tennessee Williams play which has been reimagined for a summer run at the Apollo Theatre.

She stars alongside former Skins actor Jack McConnell, 27, in the play, which runs until October. He's also garnered critical acclaim for his role as Maggie's husband Brick.

The Benedict Andrews directed play centres around the sexual tension between Maggie and her alcoholic husband Brick, who some believe is denial about his homosexuality.

Effortless: Proving she could turn heads without trying, Sienna slipped into a loose grey t-shirt and pair of casual tracksuit bottoms

Fans: Carrying a large bucket bag, she signed autographs for adoring fans as she arrived

Speaking to What's On Stage last month, Sienna said: 'Maggie is one of the great female characters.

'Hugely charismatic, incredibly bright and witty and also deeply needy and flawed.

'I'm not sure I have ever come close to taking on something this enormous  that idea terrifies me and exhilarates at the same time.'

Adding: 'I tend to be drawn to the things that frighten me most.'

Natural: Wearing her blonde hair loose, she accessorised with a pair of tortoiseshell sunglasses, appearing to go make-up free

This comes a day after Sienna's ex-fiance Jude Law's former wife Sadie Frost and model son Rafferty visited her performance on Monday night.

Sienna admitted last year that she still 'cares enormously' for her ex-fiance Jude Law, despite their split in 2006 after he cheated on her with the family nanny.

And she proved she was still maintaining a bond with the Law clan, as she was spotted mingling with his ex-wife Sadie Frost and son Rafferty on Monday night.

It's also not the first time she has been spotted out with Rafferty - as the pair partied together at a LOVE magazine bash in December 2015.
He's a silver screen legend with a Hollywood career spanning seven decades.

And proving that he wouldn't be slowing down at 87 years of age, Clint Eastwood was all business on-set in Paris on Thursday for his latest flick The 15:17 to Paris.

Based on a thwarted terror attack in Paris in 2015 where three American tourists selflessly tackled an Islamist terrorist on board a moving train, the film has garnered intense interest in the film industry for tackling the radical subject.

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In the zone: Clint Eastwood, 87, flashed his famous penetrating stare while orchestrating a take for his latest film The 15:17 to Paris - based on a thwarted terror attack in 2015

Stood among a bustling Parisian road, the famous octogenarian put on an all action performance explaining to crew members what was required during the shoot.

Sporting a casual blue polo shirt with some comfy cargo pants, the actor turned director was dressed for a long day on his feet.

And while resting his arm against a set prop, Clint flashed his famous penetrating stare orchestrating the babble of moving actors and crew members to capture the perfect take.

Do ya feel lucky, punk? Stood among a bustling Parisian road, the famous octogenarian put on an all action performance explaining to crew members what was required during the shoot

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 Thalys train was en route from Amsterdam to Paris, via Brussels.

The movie is based on the 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.

Deep in thought: Resting his arm against a set prop, Clint flashed his famous penetrating stare orchestrating the babble of moving actors and crew members to capture the perfect take

Keeping it comfy: Sporting a casual blue polo shirt with some comfy cargo pants, the actor turned director was dressed for a long day on his feet

Real life events: 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

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.

The film also stars The US 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'.

Heroes 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.

Harrowing tale: 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

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.'
She set tongues wagging when she flashed an ornate ring on her wedding figure during the series two launch of Victoria on Thursday.

And Jenna Coleman did nothing to dispel engagement rumours as she headed to an appearance on The One Show in London later that day.

Clad in a baby blue dress, the 31-year-old actress was a vision of beauty as she headed to the studios - this time without her boyfriend Tom Hughes.

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Keeping coy: Jenna Coleman did nothing to dispel engagement rumours as she headed to an appearance on The One Show in London on Thursday evening

Looking every inch the English rose, the stunning brunette donned a baby blue ankle length dress that skimmed over her enviable physique.

Cinching in at her slender waist, the garment also featured puffed sleeves, whilst a peter pan collar gave the gown a vintage vibe.

Injecting a splash of colour with some white courts, which she later switched for black barely there heels, Jenna looked sensational on the outing.

Jenna, who boasted a neutral make-up palette and wore her glossy locks in loose waves, appeared on The One Show, but did not address any engagement speculation that was sparked earlier in the day.

Something to tell us? She set tongues wagging when she flashed an ornate ring on her wedding figure during the series two launch of Victoria on Thursday

Flying solo: Clad in a baby blue dress, the 31-year-old actress was a vision of beauty as she headed to the studios - this time without her boyfriend Tom Hughes

The starlet showcased a sparkling gold ring on her engagement finger during a screening for ITV's Victoria - which returns on Sunday after last year's exciting season finale.

Jenna - who portrays the infamous monarch herself - carried the regal theme in a stunning long-sleeved Erdem dress.

By her side was her real-life boyfriend Tom Hughes - who also plays Prince Albert on the historical drama series - as Jenna flashed the dazzling ring.

Enchanting: Cinching in at her slender waist, the garment also featured puffed sleeves, whilst a peter pan collar gave the gown a vintage vibe

Plenty to shoes from: Injecting a splash of colour with some white courts, which she later switched for black barely there heels, Jenna looked sensational on the outing

Beautiful: Jenna, who boasted a neutral make-up palette and wore her glossy locks in loose waves, appeared on The One Show, but did not mention engagement rumours

While the gold sparkler could well have been costume jewelry, it's clear to see that things are heating up on the romance front between Jenna and her co-star boyfriend.

MailOnline have reached out to Jenna's reps for comment.

Jenna's dress was from the Autumn-Winter 2017 collection of fashion house Zuzanna - and featured an embellishment of autumnal russet tones.

The design favoured Jenna's English rose beauty, her classic style and worked in harmony with the queenly role she plays on the ITV drama series.

Royally happy: Jenna sported a sparkling ring on her finger at a promotional event for Victoria's second season as she posed with on-screen prince and real-life beau Tom Hughes

Bejeweled: While the gold sparkler could well have been costume jewelry, it's clear to see that things are heating up on the romance front between Jenna and her co-star boyfriend

Cute couple: By her side was her real-life boyfriend Tom Hughes - who also plays Prince Albert on the historical drama series

Ornate: Her Erdem dress also featured a keyhole embellishment at the neck, and flanked her petite body, the skirt falling down to the floor

Autumnal: Jenna's dress was from the Autumn-Winter 2017 collection of fashion house Zuzanna - and featured an embellishment of autumnal russet tones

Classic: The design favoured Jenna's English rose beauty, her classic style and worked in harmony with the queenly role she plays on the ITV drama series

It featured a floral pattern in velvet, with the dress's long sleeves ending in miniature black tassels.

It also had a keyhole embellishment at the neck, and flanked Jenna's petite body, the skirt falling down to just above the ankle.

Jenna wore black velvet heels to complete the look and wore her dark mane loosely around her shoulders in a light bob.

Queenly: She kept her make-up fresh and natural, with just a dab of rouge on her porcelain cheeks and a slick of rose on her pout

Daisy Goodwin, Jenna Coleman and Tom Hughes attended the Victoria Season two screening at the Ham Yard Hotel on Thursday

Co-stars: Nell Hudson and Ferdinand Kingsley were also in attendance for the premiere screening of the episode

She kept her make-up fresh and natural, with just a dab of rouge on her porcelain cheeks and a slick of rose on her pout.

Tom kept things smart-casual in a black suit with a collarless white shirt and black brogues.

He wore his scruffy black hair in a slight flop as he posed next to his real-life belle and on-screen queen.

Blue steel: Margaret Clunie and David Oakes tried out the stealth look for the cameras but were soon in fits of giddy laughter

Royal entrance: Jenna Coleman delighted fans as she arrived for a Radio Two interview in stylish Frame dungarees and a flowing white shirt... ahead of Sunday's premier of Victoria's second season

All smiles: The petite brunette looked cute in flared black dungarees, which she wore over a chic, crisp flowing shirt

Producer and writer of the series, Daisy Goodwin, was in attendance, giving Jenna a run for her money in a similarly floral dress.

Nell Hudson and Ferdinand Kingsley were also in attendance for the premiere screening of the episode at the Ham Yard Hotel in the capital - with Nell also looking vintage in a shoulder-less crisp white blouse with pleated trim.

Margaret Clunie and David Oakes tried out the stealth look for the cameras but were soon in fits of giddy laughter.

Earlier in the day, Jenna nipped into BBC Radio Two to chat about the imminent second season.

She's got the look: The white Frame blouse featured a high-necked collar and flowing sleeves

Sleek and chic: The former Doctor Who star wore black pumps to complete the look

The petite brunette looked cute in flared velvet dungarees from Frame, which she wore over a chic, crisp flowing shirt, which was also from the same brand.

The white blouse featured a high-necked collar and flowing sleeves.

The former Doctor Who star wore black pumps to complete the look and smiled happily at fans who congregated outside the building to get a glimpse of the actress.

Grinning and posing for snaps with her followers, the star wore her chestnut locks loosely around her smiley features and showcased her glowing complexion with a clean make-up look.

Selfie: Jenna smiled happily at fans who congregated outside the building to get a glimpse of the actress

Happy: Grinning and posing for snaps with her followers, the star wore her chestnut locks loosely around her smiley features and showcased her glowing complexion with a clean make-up look

Queen bee: She was appearing on the station to speak about the eagerly awaited second season, which is set to explore the next stage in the Queen's marriage to Prince Albert

She was appearing on the station to speak about the eagerly awaited second season, which is set to explore the next stage in the Queen's marriage to Prince Albert.

Speaking about it to Town & Country magazine for their Autumn edition, Jenna teased what viewers can expect from the impassioned forthcoming scenes with her on-screen husband (and real-life boyfriend) Tom Hughes.

The second season of the royal drama will begin as Victoria and Albert have welcomed their first daughter, also named Victoria, in 1840.

Coming soon: Victoria season two will see monarch's maternal side and her 'fits of rage and passion'... as Jenna Coleman has teased explosive love scenes with her on-screen prince (and real-life boyfriend) Tom Hughes

But things are far from easy for the new parents - presumably thanks to the notoriously volatile Queen who made no secret of the fact that she didn't enjoy being pregnant, giving birth or breast feeding; nor did she think newborns were in any way attractive.

'Victoria would fly off the handle in these fits of rage and passion, whereas Alberts fire was a lot colder and more enduring. Theyd chase each other from room to room,' Jenna told the publication.

Jenna prepared for the role of the monarch by reading the diaries that were kepot by the Queen and her husband.

'Albert wrote something like, "I have two choices here: I either lock the door on her and let her cry her heart out till shes exhausted, or I join in, but then it gets too heated and I feel sorry",' Jenna explained.

Passion: With it's imminent return at the top of the list of must-see historical drama this autumn, ITV's Victoria is set to explore the next stage in the Queen's marriage to Prince Albert

New mother: Things are far from easy for the new parents - presumably thanks to the notoriously volatile Queen who made no secret of the fact that she didn't enjoy being pregnant, giving birth or breast feeding; nor did she think newborns were in any way attractive

Volatile: 'Victoria would fly off the handle in these fits of rage and passion, whereas Alberts fire was a lot colder and more enduring. Theyd chase each other from room to room,' Jenna told the publication

Scandal: Speaking about it to Town & Country magazine, titular star Jenna Coleman has teased what viewers can expect from the impassioned forthcoming scenes with her on-screen husband (and real-life boyfriend) Tom Hughes

She also believes the infamous Queen would have had no qualms about expressing herself in today's world of social media.

'Shed have been on Twitter. It would be awful, with all these opinions,' said Jenna. 'She was a great letter writer, trying to find out who Jack the Ripper was; she was like, "Have you thought about looking in this place? Have you thought about these clues?"

'She used to get involved, she had all sorts of theories. And she used to write to the Elephant Man toomeddling in everybodys business.'

Jenna had previously confessed to striking her on-screen husband with a hairbrush whilst performing one of Victoria's so-called fits of rage.

Research: Jenna prepared for the role of the monarch by reading the diaries that were kepot by the Queen and her husband

The next chapter: The second season of the royal drama will begin as Victoria and Albert have welcomed their first daughter, also named Victoria, in 1840

Tumultuous: 'Albert wrote something like, "I have two choices here: I either lock the door on her and let her cry her heart out till shes exhausted, or I join in, but then it gets too heated and I feel sorry",' Jenna explained

She told The Sun recently: 'We did [an argument scene] on our first day this year where I had to throw a hairbrush at Tom.

'I hit him and it broke. It was awful. I got through so many of them.'

The full interview can be read in the Autumn 2017 issue of Town & Country, on sale 24 August.

The new eight-part season will begin on Sunday 27th August at 9pm on ITV.
Actress Jenna Coleman is hurling a hairbrush through the air at her real-life boyfriend Tom Hughes.

The tension between them is so blistering that she has seized the nearest missile  and before he has time to side-step it, the brush has hit him hard.

Yet this explosive moment is not an intimate glimpse into the romantic lives of Jenna and Tom, but a scene between Queen Victoria (played by Jenna) and her husband, Prince Albert (Tom).

No wonder that Daisy Goodwin, the creator, of ITV's hit drama Victoria, along with everyone who was on set, is spellbound by the chemistry between the pair.

Sparks are flying both on and off screen as Jenna Coleman and Tom Hughes (pictured) play Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in the series about 'one of the greatest love stories ever'

No wonder that Daisy Goodwin, the creator, of ITV's hit drama Victoria, along with everyone who was on set, is spellbound by the chemistry between the pair (above)

Albert's reaction is to look disappointed and suggest it might be a good idea to sleep alone that night, outside of the marital chamber. That won't last long.

They were the Antony and Cleopatra of the 19th century  a ruler and her consort whose love was a rollercoaster of passion and drama  so we can expect a lot of emotional fireworks in the second series, which starts on Sunday.

Jenna, 31, enjoyed the passionate rows the royal couple have.

'It is fun! On the first day, when I had to throw a hairbrush at him, I hit him  I was meant to!' she laughs.

'I'm not hugely an argumentative person  it's opposite to me. So it's a very interesting part of her character as she's very reactive.'

The argument scenes worked best when filmed 'in the raw, spontaneously, often without rehearsal, to get that fire', says Jenna.

She and Tom knew each other when they started filming the first series in 2015, but it was playing the young Queen and Prince together which sparked their own romance.

Is it an advantage knowing each other so well off-screen? 'Absolutely!' says Jenna. 'There is so much on the page anyway that a lot of the work is done for us. But, of course, it helps if you get on with whom you are working.'

Tom, 31, adds: 'There are magic moments on screen, and they often happen by accident. Dramatically, you are always looking for those accidents, and that chemistry is not something you can bottle.'

The real-life Victoria and Albert were 'one of the greatest love stories there's ever been', says Jenna. 'So you never want to lose their intensity, their love and, at times, their complete annoyance at one another.'

The young royal couple's arguments were so ferocious they would chase each other from room to room.

Victoria is kissed by Leopold, played by Alex Jennings, in the first episode of the second series

Victoria and Albert were the Antony and Cleopatra of the 19th century  a ruler and her consort whose love was a rollercoaster of passion and drama  so we can expect a lot of emotional fireworks in the second series, which starts on Sunday

But fury soon turned to passion. One pregnancy swiftly followed another (they had nine children in all), partly because of a lack of availability of contraception at that time and partly because they couldn't keep their hands off each other.

Victoria adored going to bed with her husband but loathed being pregnant, and we see her frustration exploding on screen.

They were a perfect example of opposites attracting.

'You've got two completely opposite people who function differently,' says Jenna. 'One is scientific, logical, shy and methodical; the other, Victoria, is impulsive and emotionally-led.

'If you put those two people into a goldfish bowl, where they are madly in love but living their lives in public view, it leads to fireworks.'

Series one became a huge hit for ITV in 2016, watched by an average 7.7 million viewers each week.

When Victoria returns on Sunday night, the action picks up four weeks after the end of the first series, which followed Victoria's ascension to the throne in 1837 at the tender age of 18, the demanding early years of her reign and her courtship with the handsome Prince Albert until the birth of their first child in 1840.

But it was the dashing Rufus Sewell who smouldered up a storm in his role as Prime Minister Lord Melbourne, the affectionately named 'Lord M', who acted as a political mentor to the Queen to a point where he became her first love.

Viewers prayed he would defy historical reality and act on his chemistry with the Queen and accept her marriage proposal. However, he saw fit to back off from his role as personal adviser once she started to fall for Prince Albert, and he was conspicuously absent from later episodes.

At the start of series two (which covers 1841-1847), the royal couple are struggling to define their power balance. 'Victoria has been in confinement,' explains Jenna. 'They believed that when women had babies, they should lie horizontal for a month after the birth. She is not in the best of tempers having been fussed over during that time.

Series one became a huge hit for ITV in 2016, watched by an average 7.7 million viewers each week. Pictured: Hughes and Coleman together at the series launch at London's Ham Yard Hotel

'She comes back to work and finds that Albert has effectively taken over. So there is a really thunderous clash between them.'

Things take a turn for the worse when Victoria quickly falls pregnant with her second child.

'As soon as she's back to work, she's pregnant within three months, which she was devastated by,' says Jenna. 'She feels imprisoned by it after only just regaining her independence.'

The general view nowadays is that Victoria was hardly a doting mother, but Jenna disagrees. 'I think she resents the children to some extent. But one of the misconceptions about Victoria is that she doesn't like her children.

'That isn't really true, as a lot of those comments came later in life when she talks about how the children ruined her first two years of marriage and how she wishes she hadn't got pregnant so soon.

'But if you go through her diary, day to day, she really is a doting mum, and I was keen to show that side of her.'

Series writer and creator Daisy Goodwin adds: 'What Victoria really wanted was to have time to enjoy life with Albert as his wife.

'We know that she enjoyed sex she wanted her honeymoon to go on for longer  and yet she was instantly pregnant. She didn't want to breastfeed; she thought that was for cows. She was not an earth mother in any way.

The cast are hoping this second series will be as popular as the first

'Every working mother I know feels guilty about not spending more time with their children, but I don't think Victoria suffered from that guilt. There's no doubt that she loved her children. But her marriage and her job came first and that makes her interesting. However with baby number two she definitely had post-natal depression.

'I had a variant of that, and it's a very debilitating thing because you feel you've got nothing to offer your baby. That made it hard for her to be a mother.'

The Queen and Albert both had damaged childhoods.

'Victoria felt that as a child she was wronged,' explains Daisy. 'She was basically kept in prison in Kensington Palace and felt that her mother, the Duchess of Kent, didn't love her enough; that she gave all her attention to the awful John Conroy, the comptroller of her household,'  referring to the man rumoured to be the Duchess's lover.

'Victoria felt deprived. So she's determined she's never going to be put in a corner again.'

Meanwhile, Albert felt he'd lost his family after his mother, Louise, was alleged to have had an affair with Alexander von Hanstein, one of her husband's equerries. She subsequently went into exile in 1824 and never saw her children again.

'Their childhoods left them with a void for something they both craved  family, security and love in the purest sense,' says Jenna.

Despite their rows, their passion for each other never dwindled. 'There aren't many marriages which hold onto such intensity under such public scrutiny,' says Jenna.

'Victoria worshipped Albert and, as they grew older together, the love grew as she learnt to rely on him.

'Victoria saw that Albert, in marrying her and not being master of the house, had made a huge sacrifice, and she would spend her life trying to make that up to him. But despite this, she was reluctant to relinquish any control to him.'

The new series sees Albert growing in confidence by exploring the scientific and technological advances of the time, such as locomotives and early computers, and taking on a new role as a father. One storyline in the new series that Tom particularly enjoyed is that concerning Charles Babbage, who invented the first mechanical computer. 'If you look at our modern world, computers are our everything in terms of communication,' says Tom. 'To go back and see the primitive form of the idea and the genius behind it is very exciting.

Cast members Alex Jennings and Catherine Flemming on set for episode one of the new series

'In Buckingham Palace at that time, there were candles  no electric lights  and yet someone has perceived a machine that can think for you. I understand why Albert would have been fascinated by that.'

Victoria, who reigned for 63 years, was a much more interesting figure than the 'grumpy old bag' people remember her as, says series creator Daisy, who describes the monarch as a 'vivid, passionate, life-loving young woman'.

For inspiration, Jenna watched Judi Dench in the film Mrs Brown about the widowed Queen Victoria (Dench) and her relationship with John Brown (played by Billy Connolly), the trusted servant of the late Prince Albert, and the subsequent uproar it provoked.

'She liked straight talkers, which is why she had a friendship with John Brown, and it's partly why she liked Lord M,' says Jenna.

'I suppose if you are in a position of power, and you feel people are not quite reachable, you like those who can really make you laugh and close that divide.

'I think Victoria is a really surprising monarch. She's a heroine, but she is so flawed and stubborn.

'She can be selfish and reactive and says the wrong thing because she wears her heart on her sleeve. But that's actually what makes me love her all the more. The fact that she never did lose that spirit, those veins of iron, is amazing.'

During the first series, some critics said Jenna was too pretty to play Victoria. But the actress begs to differ: 'I think people just look at the photograph [her diamond jubilee portrait taken in 1893, showing a dumpy, somewhat sour-looking old woman] which was taken much later in life.

'Also, it's my job as an actress to capture the essence and the energy of somebody. She was only 4ft 11in so I've got a couple of inches on her, but other than that we look exactly the same.'

In the new series, the Queen will face the challenges of the potato famine in Ireland and the political fall-out of the Corn Laws which imposed restrictions on imported grain, pushing up food prices at home.

We'll see some new faces, too, notably Dame Diana Rigg, 79, who plays the Mistress of the Robes, The Duchess Of Buccleuch.

'We worked together on Doctor Who, similarly in Victorian garb, except that Diana had a creature attached to her chest and was trying to take over the world!' smiles Jenna. 'So quite different circumstances.

'But she's amazing. When we go to France, Diana's character is the person who doesn't like change, who misses the British food  she's very much that voice.

'The relationship between the two women doesn't get off to a very good start but becomes surprisingly tender.'

Dame Diana adds: 'To begin with it is a bit prickly because the Duchess had been working for Queen Adelaide, Victoria's aunt, beforehand and comparisons are made. Victoria, in her youth, does not measure up as far as the Duchess is concerned. However, as time goes by she accepts her more and more.'

Of her character, Dame Diana adds: 'I love her candour. I like the fact that I don't think she would lie  she is what you see. She is a very efficient sort of woman, but then so am I, so we have that in common.'

That no-nonsense exterior covering an inner kindness spills over into real life. Dame Diana's contract contains a seemingly diva-like demand for a bottle of prosecco at the end of each day's filming.

Coleman and Hughes (above) have grown into their roles in a way creator Daisy would never have imagined. She said: 'When we're on set with Jenna and Tom it was like meeting royalty'

But Daisy explains: 'She has a glass of it and shares the rest of the bottle with the make-up ladies.'

Other new characters include Martin Compston (Line Of Duty's Detective Sergeant Steve Arnott) as a campaigner for victims of the Irish potato famine, and New Tricks star Denis Lawson as the Duke of Atholl, who hosts Victoria and Albert on their first visit to the Highlands.

Familiar faces from the first series include To The Manor Born star Peter Bowles as the Duke of Wellington.

It's not the first time Peter, 80, has been close to Queen Victoria.

'I played Prince Albert and Judi Dench played Victoria at the Royal Albert Hall and the [real] Queen came and chatted about it after. It was wonderful,' he says.

'Had I grown sideburns, I could have played him in this series  if only I was 55 years younger!'

As for Jenna and Tom, they have grown into their roles in a way in which Daisy would never have imagined.

'When we're on set with Jenna and Tom it was like meeting royalty,' she says. 'They're not majestic off-set, but on-set they completely inhabit those characters and you can feel the power.

'I'm the puppet master, but even I feel their regalness is fascinating.'
Triple M radio host Robin Bailey was pictured leaving Brisbane on Friday to be with her partner Sean Pickwell ahead of his gruelling treatment for liver cancer.

Bailey is flying to Sydney, where Pickwell will undergo surgery to remove 40 per cent of his liver.

The popular radio personality spoke of her partner's cancer diagnosis during her radio show on Thursday, just days before she is set to commemorate the anniversary of her husband Tony Smart's death.

Smart committed suicide in 2014 after a long battle with depression.

By his side: Triple M radio host Robin Bailey flies to Sydney to be with partner Sean Pickwell as he undergoes surgery for liver cancer... just days before the anniversary of husband Tony Smart's tragic suicide

Trying times: Bailey spoke of Pickwell's diagnosis on-air on Thursday, just days before she is set to commemorate the anniversary of her husband Tony Smart's death. Pickwell is pictured here with Bailey

Speaking to The Courier Mail, she said that she would remain by his side until the operation was over, before flying back to Brisbane to commemorate the anniversary of Tony's death with sons Fin, 17, Lewin, 15, and Piper, 12.

'I sat them down and I said "guys, you are my number one priority but Sean needs me".

'They really like Sean and they see how happy he makes me, and my eldest said ''mum, hes got cancer, youve got to go".'

On Thursday, Robin told Triple M co-hosts Ed Kavalee and Greg Martin she was trying to find the 'bright side' of the situation.

Gruelling surgery: Bailey is flying to Sydney, where Pickwell will undergo surgery to remove 40 per cent of his liver

Speaking to The Courier Mail, she said that she would remain by his side until the operation was over, before flying back to Brisbane to commemorate the anniversary of Tony's death with sons Fin, 17, Lewin, 15, and Piper, 12

'Far be it from me to say positive thinking cures cancer but I mean that you've got to find the bright side and, in this situation, it (Sean's cancer) was caught early, we're in a loving relationship and I've seen that my children are incredibly compassionate,' she said.

She revealed that the operation would cost Pickwell $10,000 despite having private health insurance, according to The Courier Mail.

Bailey tragically lost her husband Tony Smart in 2014 to suicide.

Tragic: Bailey's ex-husband Smart (pictured) committed suicide in 2014 after a long battle with depression

Finding love again: Bailey found love again with Pickwell last year

Sweet: She often posts sweet pictures of the pair on Facebook

In March this year, she admitted that she was 'reduced to tears' when a psychic made contact with her late husband during a 90 minute phone reading.

Again, speaking to the Courier Mail, Bailey said that the encounter with psychic Deb Webber was 'confronting'.

'There was some personal stuff that came up that made me cry. It was confronting at times and there were some emotional issues raised,' she explained.

Heartbreaking: In March this year, she admitted that she was 'reduced to tears' when a psychic made contact with her late husband during a 90 minute phone reading

In an interview in 2014, Bailey said if her husband knew the impact his death would have on his family, he may have acted differently.

'I have to believe that if my husband Tony could have seen how much it has devastated his family he wouldn't have done it,' she said.

'That's another way to family members to go, to tell someone "how much I would shrivel up if you did this".'

If you or someone you know needs support, contact on Lifeline on 13 11 14 or at https://www.lifeline.org.au/
A US-led coalition has been hitting Raqa with air strikes as the Syrian Democratic Forces battle to retake the city from the Islamic State group

Dozens of civilians have died in two days of intense US-led strikes on Raqa, a monitor said Tuesday, as fighting to retake the Syrian city from jihadists approaches its densely populated centre.

The coalition acknowledges it has pounded the city and surrounding area with more than 250 air strikes over the past week alone, in support of the Syrian Democratic Forces alliance battling the Islamic State group.

The SDF has so far captured just under 60 percent of Raqa, monitors say, leaving IS with about 10 square kilometres (four square miles) in the heart of the city.

But as clashes approach central Raqa, monitors and activists have reported scores killed in intensifying coalition bombardment.

On Monday, US-led air strikes killed at least 42 civilians in several neighbourhoods of Raqa under IS control, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Nineteen children and 12 women were among the dead, the monitor said.

The Observatory said 167 civilians have been killed in coalition strikes since August 14, including 27 on Sunday.

"The tolls are high because the air strikes are hitting neighbourhoods in the city centre that are densely packed with civilians," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.

- 'Buildings full of civilians' -

US strikes kills civilians in Raqa

"There are buildings full of civilians who are trying to get away from the front lines," he said.

The coalition says avoiding civilian casualties is its "highest priority".

Speaking in Baghdad, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis insisted IS tactics were to blame for placing civilians in danger.

"We are the good guys and the innocent people on the battlefield know the difference," he said.

But the coalition acknowledges it has escalated its strikes on Raqa, with more aircraft available since a US-backed operation successfully pushed IS from Mosul in neighbouring Iraq last month.

Coalition spokesman Colonel Ryan Dillon said more than 250 strikes had hit Raqa and its surroundings in the past week. An AFP count of the coalition's own reporting put the figure at over 300 strikes.

"It's probably logical to assume there has been some increase in civilian casualties. But I would ask someone to show me hard information," coalition commander Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend said.

Dillon told AFP the latest allegations of civilian deaths would be taken seriously and investigated.

The coalition, which operates in both Syria and Iraq, earlier this month acknowledged the deaths of 624 civilians in its strikes in the two countries since 2014, but rights groups say the real toll is much higher.

The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on Tuesday expressed "deep concern" and said all parties should "abide by their obligations" to protect civilians.

The SDF's Arab and Kurdish fighters broke into Raqa in early June after spending months chipping away at IS-held territory in the surrounding province.

SDF spokesman Talal Sello told AFP that efforts to avoid "massive losses" of civilian life were "one of the major reasons for the slow progress in the Raqa fight".

"We have opened up safe routes for civilians to cross securely towards areas controlled by our forces, who are rescuing civilians almost daily and transferring them to safe places," he said.

Tens of thousands of people have fled Raqa city, with the United Nations estimating that up to 25,000 civilians remain trapped there with dwindling food and fuel supplies.

Civilians, including women and children, must dodge sniper fire, IS-laid mines, and coalition bombardment to escape the city.

- Jihadists' days 'numbered' -

Activist collective Raqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS) also reported heavy raids in recent days.

"Unfortunately, civilians have no way to protect themselves," said the group's Husaam Essa.

"All they can do is try to hide in whatever shelter they can and avoid going out into the street as much as possible," he told AFP.

More than 330,000 people have been killed since Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011 with protests against President Bashar al-Assad.

After IS seized Raqa in 2014, the city became synonymous with the group's most brutal practices, including beheadings and public executions.

It served as the jihadist faction's de facto capital in Syria, alongside its twin pivot Mosul in Iraq.

Tens of thousands of people have fled Raqa since the start of the offensive to oust the Islamic State group from the Syrian city

After ousting IS from Mosul, Iraqi forces are now battling the jihadists in Tal Afar, the group's last major bastion in northern Iraq.

Mattis in Baghdad on Tuesday met top Iraqi officials for talks on the next phase of the fight.

The jihadist group's "days are certainly numbered, but it's not over yet and it's not going to be over anytime soon", he said.
News / National

by Staff reporter

The People's Democratic Party (PDP) is reportedly facing an imminent split following party leader Tendai Biti's alleged unilateral decision to join the MDC Alliance without the consent of his other executives.PDP deputy spokesperson, George Mkhwanazi confirmed the fissures yesterday, describing the MDC Alliance deal as a "fraudulent pact"."Members of the People's Democratic Party have seen the contents of the MDC Alliance agreement reached by the coalition partners, including their own party, and would like to take this opportunity to distance themselves from such a fraudulent pact," he said.Mkhwanazi said the majority of ordinary PDP members were appalled that their trusted leadership had accepted to be part of the "sham" agreement for the 2018 harmonised elections."This is not, by any stretch of imagination, a coalition pact, it's a sell-out document and the people do not want their party to be party to the conscription of their leadership into a MDC-T slate," he said.Mkhwanazi slammed the distribution of seats, saying it favoured parties with no support."Apart from MDC-T and PDP, no other party deserves more than 15 seats," he said.But, PDP leader, Tendai Biti yesterday defended the decision, saying the MDC Alliance deal was penned in the best interests of Zimbabweans rather than party officials."If the PDP fails to get into the MDC Alliance, the winner is Zanu-PF, who will be freely marching to Parliament with a two-thirds majority in 2018; a nightmare too scary to even imagine."PDP spokesperson, Jacob Mafume said the party's executives will meet tomorrow to iron out their differences and clear the air on the coalition.
US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin announced that Washington was slapping sanctions on 16 Chinese and Russian individuals and companies for allegedly supporting North Korea's nuclear program and attempting to evade US sanctions

The United States on Tuesday slapped sanctions on 16 Chinese and Russian individuals and companies, accusing them of supporting North Korea's nuclear program and attempting to evade US sanctions.

The sanctions are part of a broader US effort to disrupt the flow of cash funding North Korean weapon's programs and target companies that have dealt in natural resources such as coal and minerals or engaged in financial transactions for North Korean interests.

"It is unacceptable for individuals and companies in China, Russia, and elsewhere to enable North Korea to generate income used to develop weapons of mass destruction and destabilize the region," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

The move follows a war of words between Washington and Pyongyang over recent missile tests that show North Korea is capable of reaching the US mainland.

President Donald Trump earlier this month said he would respond to North Korea's nuclear threat with "fire and fury."

Also this month, Russia and China both voted to toughen UN sanctions on North Korea.

Trump has urged Beijing, North Korea's only major ally, to bring greater pressure to bear in reigning in the reclusive state's nuclear efforts, suggesting that the United States may offer concessions on trade in return.

- Targets of sanctions -

The sanctions unveiled Tuesday effectively block those targeted from accessing much of the global financial system and freeze any US assets as well.

Among those hit by the sanctions was Russian national Ruben Kirakosyan and his Moscow-based company Gefest-M LLC, which the Treasury Department accuses of procuring metals for a sanctions-barred company involved in North Korea's nuclear weapons program known as Korean Tangun Trading Corp.

Also targeted is China's Dandong Rich Earth Trading Co. Ltd., which the United States says has acted on behalf of North Korea's General Bureau of Atomic Energy -- responsible for the North's nuclear program -- and has facilitated prohibited North Korean exports of vanadium ore.

A third company, Mingzheng International Trading Limited, which maintains offices in Hong Kong and mainland China, was in fact a front for Foreign Trade Bank, North Korea's main foreign exchange bank, the Treasury Department said.

The Treasury Department said three Chinese companies -- Dandong Zhicheng Metallic Materials Co. Ltd., JinHou International Holding Co. Ltd., and Dandong Tianfu Trade Co. Ltd -- had collectively imported nearly a half billion dollars' worth of North Korean coal between 2013 and 2016.

The department also sanctioned Dandong Zhicheng's director Chi Yupeng, a Chinese national accused of moving cash for North Korean interests.

Federal prosecutors suspect the company may be involved in money laundering in support of Pyongyang, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The Treasury targeted three Russians -- Mikhail Pisklin, Andrey Serbin and Irina Huish -- accusing them of trading in fuel on behalf of North Korea through companies based in Sinagpore.

The sanctions also hit an affiliate of a Pyongyang company, Mansudae Overseas Project Group, accusing the subsidiary of exporting workers to build statues in foreign countries as a revenue source for the North.
Factfile on Guam

Guam's number two politican Wednesday rolled out the welcome mat to tourists, promising his sun-kissed tropical island is safe -- despite North Korea's threat to launch missiles toward the Pacific US territory.

Lieutenant Governor Raymond Tenorio made the comments in Tokyo where he was joined by Guam's tourism boss Jon Nathan Denight, amid fears that Pyongyang's sabre-rattling will hammer the key tourism industry.

Last year, Japanese tourists made up about half of the 1.5 million visitors to the island, which is about a four-hour flight from Tokyo.

"We're one of the most protected and safe islands you'll find in the world," Tenorio told reporters at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan.

He added there was a big US military presence on Guam, a strategic outpost in the Pacific with its own missile defence system.

Added Denight: "Guam's brand image was built as a very safe and family-friendly destination. I want to reassure people of Japan that there has been no change and Guam is safe for travel."

The unusual appeal to tourists comes several weeks after Pyongyang said it was considering firing a salvo of missiles toward the island -- prompting an angry reaction from US President Donald Trump.

Unlike Trump, however, Guam's 162,000-odd residents seem to be taking it all in stride, including Tenorio.

"By and large, 99 percent of our population just go about their lives every single day. Things are normal on Guam," he said.

"I have to admit sometimes it's really hard to do my job in my office. If you look outside...(from) where I'm sitting at my desk many times you'll see dolphins chasing the fish."
Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari is a retired military general who was elected into office in 2015

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari cancelled the weekly cabinet meeting he was due to lead Wednesday, the first since returning from a long overseas medical absence, raising questions about his health.

An announcement Tuesday that Buhari will work from home following more than 100 days of medical treatment in London because of a rodent infestation in his official office had already raised questions about his condition.

"The meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) will not hold today," the presidency said in a short statement, adding that Buhari, 74, would still receive an update on a corruption investigation against two suspended senior officials.

Buhari left Nigeria on May 7 for his second round of treatment in Britain this year for an unspecified medical condition, having already spent two months in the British capital for healthcare reasons.

Buhari, a retired general elected in 2015, temporarily handed power to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to allay fears of a leadership vacuum in a country deeply divided along ethnic and religious fault lines.

His prolonged absence caused tensions back home where calls grew for him to either return or resign.

Political analysts warned that the cancellation of Wednesday's meeting could mean that Buhari has not fully recovered.

"What the latest cancellation of the FEC meeting means is that Buhari does not have the full capacity, in terms of his health, to function," Chris Ngwodo, a political consultant, told AFP.

"I see a picture of somebody who does not have 100 percent fitness. That explains why he's not been able to function properly."

Ngwodo added that the day-to-day running of Nigeria could suffer as a result of Buhari's condition.

"I see a slow-down in governance in Nigeria. This will not augur well for the country -- especially at this crucial time," he said.

Nigeria is grappling with serious security problems, including a jihadist insurgency in the northeast, clashes between farmers and herdsman in the centre of the country, alongside kidnappings and separatism in the south.

The west African powerhouse is also in the grip of a second year of recession, triggered by lower oil prices which have slashed government revenues, weakened the local currency and caused a shortage of US dollars.
Former CIA spy Valerie Plame Wilson and her husband diplomat Joe Wilson in a 2010 picture

Valerie Plame Wilson, a media savvy former undercover CIA agent, has launched an improbable crowdfunding campaign to buy Twitter, in order to take away Donald Trump's favorite communications tool.

"It's time to shut him down," Plame declared in her pitch for donations on gofundme.com.

"From emboldening white supremacists to promoting violence against journalists, his tweets damage the country and put people in harm's way. But threatening actual nuclear war with North Korea takes it to a dangerous new level."

Plame's plan is simple, if unlikely to succeed: raise a billion dollars to buy a controlling interest in Twitter, and use that to pressure the social network to ban Trump.

"That's a small price to pay to take away Trump's most powerful megaphone and prevent a horrific nuclear war," she wrote.

Launched last week, Plame's campaign had raised $6,000 as of Wednesday, with individual donations of up to $100.

Trump's use of Twitter has been a near daily source of controversy. His intemperate tweets have threatened war, scalded allies and opponents alike, and at times abruptly changed the course of US policy, like one last month proclaiming a ban on transgender people serving in the US military.

The billionaire prefers to express himself on his personal account, @realDonaldTrump, over his formal presidential account @POTUS.

He has sometimes removed tweets from his own account, usually because they contain typos. Exasperated critics note that under US law all the president's public utterances must be preserved for the record.

The White House account also has blocked certain Twitter users. Several have tried to file suit against Trump, accusing him of restricting their freedom of expression by denying them access to his account.

Plame's career as an undercover CIA officer was upended in 2003 after her husband, diplomat Joe Wilson, accused the administration of George W. Bush of lying about the threat posed by Iraq.

Administration officials retaliated by leaking Plame's secret work for the CIA, in violation of laws that make it a crime to release classified information to the press.

A White House aide was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in the case, but Bush later commuted his prison sentence.
Typhoon Hato brought floodwaters and debris to large parts of Hong Kong

The death toll from Severe Typhoon Hato rose to at least 16 Thursday after the storm left a trail of destruction across southern China, blacking out Macau's mega-casinos and battering Hong Kong's skyscrapers.

Eight died in the gambling hub of Macau, where images showed cars underwater and people swimming along streets. The enclave's famed mega-casinos were running on backup generators.

A man was killed by a wall that was blown down, another fell from a fourth-floor terrace and one was hit by a truck.

The Macau government said two bodies were found in a flooded car park early Thursday, and that two more died when they were trapped in the basement of their shop. Details of the remaining death was not immediately available.

In the neighbouring southern Chinese province of Guangdong, at least four people died and around 27,000 were evacuated to temporary shelters, the official Xinhua news agency said. Nearly two million households were briefly without power.

Footage published Thursday on the website of Apple Daily showed water gushing into an underground car park, with people wading through neck-deep water littered with debris as one man shouted in panic. It was not clear if it was the same car park where the bodies had been found.

"I have never seen Macau like this since I came here in the 70s," a taxi driver aged in his 50s who gave his name as Lao told AFP.

"It's like they were trying to gamble with their luck," Lao said adding that authorities had reacted too slowly and did too little to alert residents of the coming storm.

Blacked-out slot machines were seen at the largely empty Wynn Macau casino where there was no air conditioning and a musty atmosphere.

However, a few dozen gamblers ignored the heat and tried their luck at four baccarat tables.

A staff member at the enclave's sprawling Venetian resort said Thursday its casino and shops were open, but there was no air conditioning. A source had said on Wednesday that the complex was running on back-up power.

Typhoon Hato

But at the Grand Lisboa Hotel in central Macau, an employee told AFP it was still without electricity and water and that its casino and restaurants were closed.

The city's gambling industry generated over 220 billion patacas ($27.29 billion) in revenue in 2016, over half of its annual GDP, as it hosted more than 30 million visitors.

Debris was scattered on roads and a shipping container was washed up on its side in front of a temple.

- Thousands evacuated -

Streets were lined with trash and shattered glass and residents holding plastic buckets queued for water from fire hydrants.

"We've been going without water and electricity for more than 24 hours. It's so hot," May Lee, in her 40s, who was in line for water, told AFP, adding that there was not even water for flushing the toilet.

More than 120 were injured in Hong Kong as the territory was lashed with hurricane winds and pounding rain

Ferry services between Macau and Hong Kong resumed Thursday morning but passengers said they experienced delays.

In Hong Kong, Hato -- whose name is Japanese for "pigeon" -- sparked the most severe Typhoon 10 warning, only the third time a storm of this power has pounded the financial hub in the past 20 years.

The city could have suffered losses of HK$8 billion ($1.02 billion), Chinese University of Hong Kong economics professor Terence Chong told AFP, referring to the value of its daily GDP.

More than 120 were injured as the city was lashed with hurricane winds and pounding rain.

Meteorologists raised the Typhoon 10 warning signal -- the city's highest -- ahead of the storm, for only the third time in the last 20 years

In the neighbouring southern Chinese province of Guangdong, at least eight people have died, state broadcaster CCTV reported, while around 27,000 were evacuated to temporary shelters, the official Xinhua news agency said. Nearly two million households were briefly without power.

CCTV said four of the mainland deaths had occurred in Zhuhai, three in Zhongshan and one in Jiangmen.

In Zhuhai which borders Macau, some 275 homes had collapsed, with the typhoon causing an estimated 5.5 billion yuan ($826 million) in damage, according to state-run Beijing News.

Hato was downgraded to a tropical depression Thursday afternoon as it travelled further into China

Hong Kong and the surrounding region is regularly battered by typhoons between July and October.

The city saw its strongest storm in 1962 when the eye of Typhoon Wanda passed over and gusts of 284 kilometres per hour were recorded.

It killed 130 and left 72,000 people homeless in Hong Kong alone.
US Vice President Mike Pence is photographed as he addresses Venezuelan exiles and immigrants on the continuing unrest in the South American nation, August 23, 2017 in Doral, Florida

US Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday vowed the US would not allow "the collapse of Venezuela," saying such an event would "endanger" countries in the wider region.

"The collapse of Venezuela will endanger all who call the Western Hemisphere home," Pence said in remarks delivered before some 600 people at a Catholic church in Doral, the heart of Miami's Venezuelan community.

"We cannot and will not let that happen," he said, adding that "working with our allies in the Latin American region, the US will confront and overcome all who dare to threaten our wellbeing."

He emphasized that Venezuela's "collapse" would "drive more illegal drug trafficking with its murderous consequences" -- a notion his boss President Donald Trump has also pushed.

The vice president gave his speech just back from his tour last week of Colombia, Argentina, Chile and Panama. Venezuela was among the key issues discussed.

The country has spiraled into political and economic chaos, threatening regional stability. Clashes between protestors and police this year have left 125 people dead, according to prosecutors.

In Miami Pence did not raise the specter of military action, which Trump has evoked.

Pence insisted that the US would not make decisions unilaterally: "America first does not mean America alone."

US Senator Marco Rubio and Florida Governor Rick Scott also spoke, reiterating their pledge to ban companies in the southeastern state from doing business with Venezuelan firms.

According to 2015 census data, some 273,000 Venezuelans live in the United States -- nearly half of them in Florida, and most in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been battling allegations that billions were looted from sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB)

US President Donald Trump has invited Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to Washington, officials said Thursday, despite a Justice Department investigation into a major corruption scandal that has ensnared the leader.

A White House statement said that Trump will welcome Najib to Washington on September 12 to strengthen ties "with one of Americas closest partners in Southeast Asia".

The Malaysian foreign ministry confirmed the visit.

Najib has been battling allegations that billions were looted from a sovereign wealth fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), in complex overseas deals that are being investigated by authorities in several countries.

Both the prime minister and the fund deny any wrongdoing.

Ties between the US and Malaysia have soured since the Justice Department filed civil lawsuits seeking to seize assets it said were purchased with stolen 1MDB money, encouraging Najib to move closer to China.

US authorities are trying to seize assets, from high-end real estate to artworks, it says are worth about $1.7 billion.

The lawsuits said a figure called "Malaysian Official 1" knowingly received huge sums of 1MDB money. A Malaysian Cabinet minister has confirmed that official was Najib.

Despite the scandal, the US views Malaysia as a key ally in Asia as it seeks to combat Beijing's growing influence and will be keen to shore up relations.

Barack Obama was the first sitting US president to visit Malaysia since 1966 when he paid a trip to the country in 2014, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited Kuala Lumpur earlier this month.

The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the trip, said Najib has been eager to emphasise his friendship with Trump, and is keen to use the visit to downplay the possibility of further probes.
The censorship controversy that hit Cambridge University Press (CUP) sent a chill along the stands staffed by representatives of publishers from nearly 90 countries at the Beijing International Book Fair, which opened on Wednesday.

Just days after the world's oldest publisher briefly caved in to Chinese censorship demands, international publishing houses are courting importers at a Beijing book fair, with some admitting they keep sensitive topics off their pages.

The censorship controversy that hit Cambridge University Press (CUP) sent a chill along the stands staffed by publishers from nearly 90 countries at the Beijing International Book Fair, which opened on Wednesday.

But some acknowledged their companies have already resorted to self-censorship to ensure that their books do not offend and are published in China.

CUP had given similar arguments when it initially complied with a Chinese import agency's demand to block articles from its China Quarterly journal, before reversing course on Monday after coming under fire from the academic community.

Terry Phillips, business development director of British-based Innova Press, was candid about it as he prepared to meet a Chinese counterpart at the fair's section for overseas publishers.

Some acknowledged that their companies have already resorted to self-censorship to ensure that their books do not offend and are published in China.

"We frequently exercise self-censorship to adapt to different markets. Every country has different sets of requirements about what they consider appropriate for education materials," Phillips told AFP.

"But as authors, I think we also have a responsibility to find ways to teach good citizenship and human rights," he said.

John Lowe, managing director of Mosaic8, an Asian educational publishing specialist based in Tokyo, said the authorities govern the distribution of the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) that companies need for their books to be sold in China.

"So it is in publishers' interest to not publish something that would anger authorities," Lowe said.

"You don't mention the three 'Ts': Tiananmen, Tibet and Taiwan. But it's usually fine to discuss human rights issues generally," Lowe said.

- CUP quiet -

The 300 articles that were temporarily removed from China Quarterly's website in China included texts on the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, the status of Tibet, the self-ruled island of Taiwan and the Chinese democracy movement.

CUP had said last Friday that it wanted "to ensure that other academic and educational materials we publish remain available to researchers and educators in this market".

In an about-face, the publisher announced on Monday that it was restoring access to the articles after international academics criticised CUP for succumbing to Chinese pressure and launched a petition demanding that it reverse course.

Some publishers participating in the fair said the uproar has created an atmosphere of anxiety about censorship.

But the US-based Association for Asian Studies revealed this week that CUP had received a request from China's General Administration of Press and Publications to remove 100 articles from another publication, the Journal of Asian Studies.

Cambridge University officials said they would discuss the censorship issue with the importer at the book fair, which runs until Sunday, after expressing concern about "the recent increase in requests of this nature".

Rita Yan, a CUP coordinator at the publisher's booth, told AFP that the censorship issue "wasn't affecting our activities at the book fair."

Yan declined to comment further and said CUP's managing director of academic publishing was unable to speak with the press because she was occupied with meetings.

- Censorship: 'A selling point' -

Other publishers participating in the fair said the uproar has created an atmosphere of anxiety about censorship.

"Currently, we don't have any problems, but in the future, we don't know," said Ding Yueting, a marketer for Wiley, an educational publisher and research service based in New Jersey.

Rita Yan, a CUP coordinator at the publisher's booth, told AFP that the censorship issue "wasn't affecting our activities at the book fair."

A representative of a large American publishing house, who requested anonymity because she was not authorised to speak to the press, said: "We're nervous about whether there will be increased censorship requests from Chinese agencies in the future."

But a representative of another major American publisher, who also requested anonymity, said that a factor influencing self-censorship decisions is that there would be "no point" in producing books that will likely get banned.

"It would be embarrassing to go through the trouble of translating a book from English to Chinese, and then being unable to publish in China," he said.

"On the other hand, books that are censored in China often sell better abroad," he said.

"It's usually a major selling point."
Cambodian deportee Leach Chhoeun (L) was among the hundreds banished from the US where they grew up after serving time for crimes committed as youths in America's tough inner cities

Guzzling beer and pizza as hip-hop blasts from a stack of speakers, Kookie's thoughts drift back to America, a country that took him in as a child refugee from Cambodia but deported him to the kingdom years later for a criminal record.

Returning to the US is just a dream for the heavily tattooed Kookie and his fellow exiles, who are among hundreds of Cambodian refugees banished from the US after serving time for gang shootouts and other crimes committed as youths in America's tough inner cities.

"We don't remember shit (about Cambodia), really our minds is Americanised," said 41-year-old Kookie, one of seven so-called "Khmericans" shooting the breeze around a table in Cambodia's rural Battambang province.

"I'm here just in my body. My heart is over there," Vuthy Ing chimed in, eliciting nods of agreement from a group whose American street slang, elaborate inkwork and US-bred bulk sets them apart in their new home.

In between profanity-laced banter, the men sketch out emotionally raw stories of dislocation that span Thai refugee camps, gang violence in the US, prison and deportation back to one of Asia's poorest countries.

They are now back in the same rice fields their parents fled to escape Pol Pot's genocidal Khmer Rouge regime in the late 1970s.

But it is not a happy homecoming for the returnees.

They have been severed from their families and cast into the cultural wilderness of a country that views them as outsiders.

"It's hard to adjust because (locals) look at us as different...they say us is like a reject: 'you got a chance to go to America, why you get deported?'" explained Kookie, a charismatic Californian whose full name is Leach Chhoeun.

Cambodia has taken in 566 deportees since inking a 2002 pact with the US that opened the trap door on thousands of legal residents who had blots on their criminal records.

Authorities now want to revise a deal seen as a form of "double punishment" for deportees, many of whom were booted out years after finishing their prison sentences.

But unpicking the agreement is unlikely with President Donald Trump talking tough on immigration and immigrants with criminal pasts.

Twenty-eight Cambodian deportees have arrived since the start of the year, with some 2,000 others currently on the deportation list.

"Now that Trump is in The House, nothing is gonna change," said Kookie, pouring another round of beer.

- Asian Boyz -

Van Vath, a 43-year-old from Seattle who was among the hundreds deported from the US to Cambodia for his criminal record, says being back in his homeland is a struggle

The Khmericans were newborns and toddlers when their families fled through mine-strewn jungle to escape the Khmer Rouge, which killed or starved to death nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population.

After years of languishing in Thai refugee camps, more than 100,000 Cambodians were granted asylum in the US.

America's embrace of the refugees was in part an act of atonement for carpet bombing Cambodia during the Vietnam War, destruction that helped set the stage for the Khmer Rouge's rise.

But life in the US was no fairytale for the traumatised refugees shunted into its crime-ridden cities.

As teenagers, many were swept into the gang wars barrelling through their poor urban communities in southern California, Massachusetts and Washington State through the 1980s and 90s.

Banding together became a means of survival in a world where gangs were cut along ethnic lines and anti-Asian sentiment festered following the Vietnam War.

"They all picked on us so we had to stick together for protection," said Kookie, a former member of the mainly Cambodian street gang the Asian Boyz.

The group was established in southern California in the 1970s, luring up to 2,000 members by 2009, according to the FBI.

Many Cambodian refugees never thought to apply for full citizenship after they were granted permanent resident status in the US.

It wasn't until years after they arrived, in 1996, that the US passed laws mandating deportation of non-citizens with a criminal record.

Some were put on planes straight from prison. Others were picked up years after they had served their sentences and turned their lives around.

"I was out for a long time. I had kids, 18 and ten years old," says Kookie, who was deported in 2014 for a shootout with a rival gang nearly two decades earlier.

- 'The struggle is real' -

Cambodia has taken in 566 deportees since inking a 2002 pact with the US that opened the trap door on thousands of legal residents who had blots on their criminal records

The Cambodian government does not provide support for the returnees, who arrive with few belongings and a poor grasp of the local language.

Most are shuttled through the Returnee Integration Support Centre (RISC), an NGO that provides temporary housing in the capital and helps with job training.

From there, their paths branch out. Some draw on their native English skills to land teaching gigs, remarry and start over in small businesses.

Others struggle to find their feet in an impoverished, graft-riddled country where employers are suspicious of their tattoos and chequered pasts.

"We had an individual who couldn't adjust to the new life so he hung himself," says Kem Villa, of the US-funded RISC. "Another one jumped off a bridge."

Battambang, a western province bordering Thailand, has become a hub for returnees who trickle back to the countryside to stay with distant relatives.

Van Vath, a soft-spoken 43-year-old from Seattle, has led the camaraderie among the group since he arrived in 2015, bringing them together for pizza and monthly bible readings.

"When I was young I was bad. Now I'm doing good. It was a whole flip for me," he told AFP, reaching a hand to the fading ink of a prison tattoo scrawled across his neck.

"I'm trying to get this removed for job opportunities," he explained.

Van has been working as a translator for Habitat for Humanity, a US-based volunteer group.

But the work is irregular and the pay is not enough to live on.

"The struggle is real," he said. "You know the term dog-eat-dog world? This is really it."
Trucks and other vehicles travel the mountainous route near Torkham to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border crosssing

China's top diplomat has defended Pakistan's "important role" in Afghanistan in a phone call with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, after President Trump accused Islamabad of harbouring militants.

Trump, in unveiling his Afghanistan strategy this week, said Pakistan was playing a double game by accepting American aid while giving safe haven to insurgents who kill Afghan and NATO troops.

But China State Councillor Yang Jiechi told Tillerson Wednesday that "we should attach importance to the important role that Pakistan plays in the Afghanistan issue, respect (Pakistan's) sovereignty and legitimate security concerns," according to a foreign ministry statement.

It is the second time Beijing has defended its South Asian neighbour this week, with foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying praising Pakistan on Tuesday for making "great sacrifices and contributions to fighting terrorism".

Beijing is investing around $50 billion in Pakistan as part of a plan unveiled in 2015 to link its far-western Xinjiang region to the Pakistani port of Gwadar in Balochistan province.

Yang said Beijing was committed to "advancing the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan" and that political dialogue was "the only way to solve the Afghanistan problem".

He added that "China would like to continue to maintain communication and coordination on the Afghanistan problem with the US side".

The call between the US and Chinese diplomats came after new tensions arose between the two powers on Wednesday as Washington slapped sanctions on Chinese companies accused of links with North Korea, angering Beijing.

China has also warned Washington against triggering any "trade war" after Trump ordered an investigation into Beijing's intellectual property practices.

But the ministry statement issued late Wednesday did not say whether Tillerson and Yang discussed the trade issue, the sanctions or the North Korean nuclear crisis.

Yang said Washington and Beijing communicate and cooperate on a "wide range of areas" and the two diplomats discussed Trump's planned visit to China later this year.

He also voiced hope that the two sides maintain "mutual respect" and "handle disputes properly and jointly to uphold the good momentum of development of Sino-US relations."
News / National

by Staff reporter

A CHIPINGE businessman, Fred Mbengami, yesterday allegedly shot and killed himself inside a commuter omnibus parked at Mudzviti bus terminus in Mutare while his son, Noel, was escorting him to resolve an undisclosed domestic dispute in that town.His distraught son said: "We were coming from Harare, that is when he shot himself. It was a family issue, which I am not at liberty to disclose as I am yet to inform other family members of the tragedy."Although Manicaland provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Tavhiringwa Kakohwa could not be reached for comment, eyewitnesses said the incident happened at around 8am.Travellers at the busy commuter omnibus rank scurried for cover after Mbengami allegedly stormed out of a public toilet with a cocked pistol and headed to the back seat of the kombi, where he fatally shot himself.'We are not concerned about the domestic issue, but the weapon, which was used. It's a South African-registered gun, whose licence was due to expire in 2020. He shot himself in the neck at around 8am on their way home,'' a police witness, who declined to be named said.'He shot himself at Mudzviti bus terminus in the company of his son in a commuter omnibus and the kombi crew rushed him to Mutare General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.''Mbengami was reportedly supposed to appear before Chief Garahwa yesterday for trial over an undisclosed domestic issue.
Australian Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce (R) has fallen afoul of a dual citizenship rule that could potentially topple the government of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (L)

Australia's conservative government will have to wait at least two months to discover if key members will survive a dual citizenship crisis that has put its one-seat parliamentary majority under threat.

Seven lawmakers from across the benches have so far run afoul of an obscure constitutional rule which bars dual citizens from parliament.

The Liberal-National coalition's slim majority in the lower house is on the line after Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce discovered he had New Zealand citizenship.

A court ruling disqualifying him could potentially topple Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's government.

Five cases -- Joyce, National Party senator Matt Canavan and three other senators from minor parties -- were referred to the High Court, with the chief justice determining Thursday that they would be heard on October 10-12.

"There is an obvious public urgency in relation to this matter to clarify the situation," Attorney-General George Brandis told reporters.

"We look forward to the speedy resolution of the matter."

Brandis said the court would examine seven cases during the three-day seating in Canberra.

The total includes another two senators caught out by the law, the Nationals' Fiona Nash and independent Nick Xenophon.

The government had hoped the hearing would occur in September to dispel uncertainty created by its biggest crisis since it was returned to power in mid-2016.

The saga began in July, when Greens co-deputy leader Scott Ludlam resigned after revealing he had dual Australian-New Zealand citizenship.

Other politicians followed, including Canadian-born Greens senator Larissa Waters and Canavan, who stepped down as resources minister after finding his mother signed him up to Italian citizenship in his 20s.

Australia-born Joyce -- the leader of the rural-based Nationals -- earlier this month found out he had automatically acquired New Zealand citizenship through his Dunedin-born father.

Nash, Xenophon and Indian-born One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts have also been under a British citizenship cloud.

Xenophon told Sky News on Wednesday he wanted a citizenship audit of all lawmakers, adding: "If I'm in strife, then there will be dozens of others in strife in the parliament."

Despite the cloud hanging over his government, Turnbull has repeatedly expressed confidence that the High Court would not disqualify the politicians.

"I am very, very confident that the court will find that those members that have been caught up in this dual citizenship issue by reason of descent will be found not to be disqualified," he told reporters Wednesday.

The dual citizenship rule was originally inserted into the 1901 constitution to ensure parliamentarians were loyal solely to Australia.

However, critics say it is out of step with the country's modern reality, where 50 percent of the population are either foreign born or the children of immigrants.
Ousted Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra told supporters not to gather outside the country's top court on Friday when it rules whether she is guilty of negligence.

Ousted Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra told supporters not to gather outside the country's top court on Friday when it rules whether she is guilty of negligence.

Thailand's first female prime minister, toppled by a military coup in 2014, faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted and a life ban from politics under the new military-drafted constitution.

Thousands of supporters were expected to turn up outside the Supreme Court in northern Bangkok for the ruling, raising the spectre of confrontations with the police.

The junta said it would mobilise more than 4,000 police and army officers to surround the court and warned against mass demonstrations.

In a Facebook post on Thursday, Yingluck told supporters to stay home, fearing people with "ill-intentions" might try and cause trouble for their movement.

"I want all of you to give me support by staying home and monitoring the news to avoid any risk of an unexpected incident by people with ill-intention against the country and us," she wrote.

Yingluck is on trial over her administration's rice subsidy scheme which paid farmers nearly twice the market rate for their crop.

Her previous court appearances have seen increasingly large crowds gather outside the court, showering her with roses and chanting -- a rare sight in a nation where political gatherings remain outlawed.

The subsidy scheme handed billions of dollars to her rural voter base but also allegedly led to massive graft and huge stockpiles of unsold rice.

The policy helped spark months of street protests in 2013-14 that called for and eventually secured the overthrow of her government.

Throughout her trial Yingluck defended the scheme, saying she acted in good faith to raise the incomes of the poorest and was the victim of "a subtle political game".

The military and prosecutors say she must take personal responsibility for the scheme, in an unprecedented move to punish a Thai leader for a policy.

Analysts say the junta and its establishment allies are bent on crushing the political machine led by Yingluck and her billionaire brother Thaksin Shinawatra, who was himself ousted in a 2006 coup.

The siblings are beloved in Thailand's poor northeast but loathed by Bangkok's traditional elite, who have hit their governments with coups or court rulings.
India's Supreme Court building in New Delhi has ruled that although the constitution does not mention it, citizens have a constitutional right to privacy

India's Supreme Court ruled Thursday that citizens have a constitutional right to privacy, a landmark verdict that could have wide-reaching implications for the government's flagship biometric programme.

Privacy is not explicitly mentioned in the Indian constitution, and the government has argued that India's 1.25 billion citizens cannot expect an absolute right to privacy.

But in a brief statement on Thursday, Chief Justice J.S. Khehar said privacy was "protected as an intrinsic part of Article 21 that protects life and liberty".

The Supreme Court set up a special bench to rule on the issue after petitioners challenged the government's Aadhaar biometric programme, which has recorded the fingerprints and iris scans of more than one billion Indians.

Aadhaar was set up as a voluntary scheme to streamline benefit payments to millions of poor people and cut fraud.

But in recent years it has become compulsory for a growing number of services, including opening a bank account or paying taxes.

Opponents say that its use for what are effectively essential services means their right to privacy is increasingly being violated.

Lawyer Prashant Bhushan said after the judgement it would likely impact the Aadhaar programme.

"Any fundamental right is subject to reasonable restrictions by law. Whether the Aadhar Act imposes unreasonable restrictions will have to be examined," he told reporters outside the court.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has rejected suggestions that the programme, set up in 2009, poses a threat to civil liberties, despite personal data being leaked in security breaches.

In May, attorney general Mukul Rohatgi rejected suggestions that Indians could refuse to provide their iris scans or fingerprints to the government, telling a court "the concept of absolute right over one's body was a myth".

During the hearings the nine-member Supreme Court bench recognised the risk of personal information being misused, and the challenge of protecting such private data in the internet era.

But the judges also acknowledged there must be restrictions within reason on individual privacy.

Constitutional law scholars had said the case would be a litmus test of Indian democracy, with potentially far-reaching consequences if individuals were allowed to challenge laws on the basis of individual rights.
Pro-government fighters hold up a Syrian flag in the central Syrian town of Sukhnah, situated in the county's large desert area called the Badiya, on August 13, 2017

Syrian troops backed by Russian warplanes completely surrounded fighters of the Islamic State group in a vast central desert region on Thursday, a monitoring group said.

Advancing overnight, troops north and south of the Badiya desert area met up and seized Jabal Dahek, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

By encircling them, the government forces dealt a "strategic" blow to the IS jihadists, said the Britain-based Observatory.

They have been battling for months to retake the Badiya, which stretches from the country's centre to the Iraqi and Jordanian borders and has been held by IS since 2014.

Fighting was still raging between the two sides near Sukhnah, one of the main towns in the desert area.

Victory over IS in the region is seen as key to the army's hopes of retaking Deir Ezzor, the last Syrian province that remains nearly completely under IS control.

The jihadists have long surrounded government forces in the province's capital city, also named Deir Ezzor.

Analysts say the Syrian army needs to completely eliminate IS from the central part of the desert before it can attack Deir Ezzor, otherwise its troops would be exposed.

According to Fabrice Balanche, an expert on Syrian geography, the regime would have more than half of the country's territory under its control if it can drive IS out of the Badiya.

More than 330,000 people have been killed since Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011 with protests against President Bashar al-Assad.
Around 2,400 soldiers, as well as tanks, field guns and helicopters were deployed at training grounds in the foothills of the iconic mountain, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of Tokyo.

Japan's military began three days of live-fire drills near Mount Fuji Thursday, an annual exercise that comes as regional tensions have flared following a war of words between the US and North Korea.

Around 2,400 soldiers, as well as tanks, field guns and helicopters were deployed at training grounds in the foothills of the iconic mountain, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of Tokyo.

Airborne troops parachuted from planes, anti-aircraft cannon were fired and F2 fighter jets whizzed overhead in a display of force by one of the world's best-equipped militaries.

The drills are meant to prepare Japan's Self-Defence Forces to repel an attack on its remote islands.

But North Korea's recent threat to fire missiles at the US Pacific territory of Guam and territorial disputes with China and Russia are also concerning Tokyo.

Airborne troops parachuted from planes, anti-aircraft cannon were fired and F2 fighter jets whizzed by in a display of force by one of the world's best-equipped militaries.

"There are various issues and uncertain factors such as China's forceful attempt to change the status quo in the East and South China Sea areas, North Korea's promotion of ballistic missile development and nuclear weapons and Russia's display of its presence in the Far East," GSDF Chief of Staff General Koji Yamazaki said in a statement.

"The severity of the security situation surrounding our country... is increasing," he added.

Japan has deployed its Patriot missile defence system after North Korea threatened to fire ballistic missiles over the country towards Guam.

Japan has in the past vowed to shoot down North Korean missiles or rockets that threaten to hit its territory.

Separately, Japanese and US military personnel are currently conducting live-fire artillery training in the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.
Many potential recruits into the Chinese military are falling at the first hurdle, with some 20 percent failing the fitness entrance test due to being overweight

The Chinese military is fretting about the growing number of would-be recruits failing its stringent fitness test, but says it has the answer: avoid masturbation and computer games.

People's Liberation Army chiefs aim to ensure that applicants are in tip-top condition to join the rank and file of the world's largest military force.

This month the official PLA Daily spelt out on social media 10 reasons why so many potential recruits fall at the first hurdle.

It said 20 percent were overweight while eight percent were refused because they had an enlarged testicular vein.

The newspaper did not spell out how army officers knew about the vein issue but said the problems were caused by too much masturbation, too many video games and not enough exercise.

Obvious or oversized tattoos were also a no-no, it said, pointing out that others failed the test because of liver problems associated with too much alcohol.

The PLA Daily said that in one city alone more than half the candidates were rejected after failing to show they were fit and healthy enough.

Beijing said the PLA had high standards.

"China's recruitment process has strict rules and procedures," the defence ministry said in a statement.

"The quality of our recruits is guaranteed and the headwaters of our military will flow long and strong."

That did not stop some Chinese internet users from having a bit of fun with the news.

"Going online everyday on the computer or phone, late-night gaming and masturbating, it would be weird if they were actually healthy and fit!" said one user on Weibo, China's version of Twitter.

Another saw a more serious side: "Young people nowadays are living too comfortably, they're turning into couch potatoes."

It is not the first time this month that military officials have railed against modern lifestyles.

The same army newspaper said officers were worried about young soldiers getting so addicted to the online battle game "King of Glory" that they would struggle to remain focused during an actual war.

"Once a soldier is cut off from the game for an urgent mission, he could be absent-minded during the operation if his mind remains on the game," the PLA Daily warned gravely.

Since coming to power in 2012 President Xi Jinping has trumpeted the need to build a stronger combat-ready military, while leading efforts to centralise the Communist Party's control over it.

China's military budget had seen double-digit increases for several years until last year, when it was raised 7.6 percent.
Thailand's gangster-turned-actor Panya Yimumphai is back behind bars for a crime committed 10 years ago, sparking a heated online debate

He turned heads on the red carpet at Cannes earlier this year with his face tattoos and is one of Thailand's most popular social media stars, but gangster-turned-actor Panya Yimumphai is now back behind bars.

Better known by his gang name "Keng Laiprang" (Keng Camouflage), Panya began a three year jail sentence on Wednesday on a conviction linked to a crime committed 10 years ago, back when he was an inmate.

But the sentence has since sparked a heated online debate in Thailand.

In recent years Panya has become one of Thailand's best known -- and most eye-catching -- celebrities, largely thanks to a full set of face tattoos he acquired in jail while serving an eight-year sentence for robbery.

After his release in 2011 he became an online video star and actor, amassing more than two million Facebook followers along the way and endorsing everything from his own food brand to sexual enhancement pills.

International recognition came earlier this year when Panya starred in "A Prayer Before Dawn", a critically acclaimed drama by French director Jean-Stephane Sauvaire that tells the story of a British convict forced to box in a Thai prison.

Unsurprisingly Panya was cast as a key gangster figure, a role he needed no method actor training for.

But Panya's past has caught up with him once more.

In 2014, three years after his release from prison, police filed a new charge against him for drug possession that dated back to a 2008 prison search in which Panya was allegedly found in possession of a packet of crystal meth.

On Wednesday he was sentenced and jailed after pleading guilty.

Fans flocked to his social media pages in support.

"Even though he has criminal records and tattoos but it doesn't mean that we cannot give him a second chance. We shouldn't add insult in injury," wrote fan Srikanay Srion.

His girlfriend Saitharn Wangprasert wrote on his online account: "No matter what happens, I will wait for you."

Others said it was right Panya should pay for his crimes.

"I don't understand why people idolise these internet stars, made famous by either their criminal records, money or flashy cars," wrote one commentator.

Keng's family plans to appeal the ruling and have requested bail. A decision is expected in the next few days.
Bengal tiger cubs at a wildlife shelter in El Salvador

Bangladesh police declared Thursday that rampant piracy in the Sundarbans was a thing of the past, crediting a gun buyback scheme for reducing crime and tiger poaching in the vast mangrove forest.

Police said more than 130 pirates operating in the forested delta region had surrendered their weapons and ammunition in exchange for cash, legal aid and mobile phones since the programme began just over a year ago.

The scheme had virtually eradicated the lawlessness once rife in the world's largest mangrove forest, a natural habitat for endangered Bengal tigers, said a spokesman for the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) police unit.

"Most of the areas in Sundarbans are now pirate-free," Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan told AFP.

"So far 132 pirates-turned-poachers from 12 groups have surrendered. They abducted fishermen and were engaged in wildlife poaching in the Sundarbans."

The battalion had spent more than a decade cracking down on criminality in the dense mangrove forest, with 117 pirates killed and nearly 400 arrested in sweeps since 2004.

But the buyback scheme, introduced in May 2016, has proved more effective in tackling crime in the UNESCO world heritage site.

Nearly 250 guns and 12,500 rounds of ammunition had been handed over in exchange for legal assistance, cash, mobile phones, winter clothing and gifts to mark the Islamic festival of Eid, Bhuiyan said.

The pirates are not granted amnesty for their offences but are viewed favourably for turning themselves in.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan awarded each of the surrendered pirates $2,000 at a ceremony in the coastal town of Bagerhat on Wednesday, the RAB said.

Conservationists said the surrender of so many pirates represented a small victory for Bengal tigers, prize targets for poachers.

"They kill tigers and deer indiscriminately. They poach tigers and sell their meat and body parts to people connected with the illegal wildlife trade," Anwarul Islam, a zoology professor at Dhaka University, told AFP.

The Sundarbans, which also straddle parts of eastern India, are home to rare wildlife including Irrawaddy dolphins and Bengal tigers -- both of which are endangered species due to poaching and habitat encroachment.

The big cat population in the 10,000 square-kilometre (3,861 sq mile) forest dropped to just over 100 in 2015 from an estimated 440 a decade earlier.

A UN agency last year urged Bangladesh's government to halt construction of a huge power plant at the edge of the forest, warning the controversial project could "irreversibly damage" the Sundarbans.
File picture taken on August 11, 2017 shows White House adviser Jared Kushner listening as US President Donald Trump speaks to the press on at his Bedminster National Golf Club in New Jersey

White House aide Jared Kushner held talks on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Thursday with the aim of restarting long-stalled peace efforts, but pessimism was high over US President Donald Trump's pledge to reach the "ultimate deal".

The visit came with neither Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas nor Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a position to make major concessions, analysts said.

No details have emerged of how Trump's team would overcome that.

Trump meanwhile faces a range of foreign policy crises and controversies at home that may make it hard for him to focus on the complexities of a major Israeli-Palestinian peace push.

Netanyahu, meeting Kushner in Tel Aviv, said they had "a lot of things to talk about -- how to advance peace, stability and security in our region, prosperity too."

"I think all of them are within our reach," he added.

Kushner, who is Trump's son-in-law, said: "The president is very committed to achieving a solution here that will be able to bring prosperity and peace to all people in this area."

Netanyahu's office later described the talks as "constructive and substantive", without giving further details.

"The prime minister looks forward to continuing those discussions in the weeks ahead," it said.

Abbas, who met the US visitors in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday evening, said the delegation "is working towards peace".

"We know it is difficult and complicated, but it is not impossible," the official Palestinian news agency Wafa quoted him as saying.

A US official said Trump "remains optimistic that progress toward a deal can be achieved".

- Palestinian frustration -

The visit is part of a regional tour by Kushner, Trump aide Jason Greenblatt and Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Powell.

They have also held talks with Egyptian, Saudi, Emirati, Qatari and Jordanian officials.

"I think (the Israeli-Palestinian conflict) clearly remains important, important enough that senior officials continue to engage on it, including Jared Kushner," Dan Shapiro, US ambassador to Israel under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, told journalists this week.

"But given the very poor prospects of a significant political breakthrough, I'd be surprised it if warrants a major investment by the president."

Palestinian leaders have grown frustrated with the White House after initially holding out hope that Trump could bring a fresh approach to peace efforts despite his pledges of staunch support for Israel.

Trump aides have held a series of meetings with both sides, portraying them as hearing out concerns before deciding on a way forward. The US president himself visited Israel and the Palestinian territories in May.

But Palestinian leaders note the White House has not even clearly committed to a two-state solution to the conflict, in contrast to longstanding US policy.

The two-state solution envisions an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel and has been the focus of international diplomacy since at least the early 1990s.

When Trump met Netanyahu at the White House in February, he said he would support a single state if it led to peace, delighting right-wing Israelis who want to annex most of the West Bank, but raising deep concern among Palestinians.

Signalling their frustration, some Palestinian leaders have spoken of taking a harder line in recent days.

- Dissolve the PA? -

Ahmed Majdalani, a senior Palestinian Liberation Organisation official who is close to Abbas, told AFP on Thursday that one option if no progress is reached would be to dissolve the Palestinian Authority -- not the first such threat.

That would in theory leave Israel in charge of governing and providing services to Palestinian cities in the occupied West Bank.

But Majdalani also said leaders could also unilaterally declare Palestinian statehood.

He said that option was under consideration because "the American administration has not presented any initiative until now, while the Israelis continue with their settlement activities and refuse to abide by obligations they signed up to".

Netanyahu, for his part, is under pressure from his rightwing base not to make concessions to the Palestinians but to continue Jewish settlement building. There is little incentive at present for him to change course, analysts say.

He is also facing a graft investigation that limits his political options, Shapiro noted.

Shapiro, now a fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies think-tank in Tel Aviv, said the focus should be on short-term goals such as improving the Palestinian economy in order to keep the possibility of a two-state solution alive.

"I believe (Trump's) leverage has declined considerably, at least from the point of view of getting major concessions or a commitment to a major programme toward two states from the leaders, so that's why I think the shift should come to the more practical on-the-ground steps," he said.
Muslim children playing in a refugee camp in Rakhine

Myanmar must scrap restrictions on movement and citizenship for its Rohingya minority if it wants to avoid fuelling extremism and bring peace to Rakhine state, a commission led by former UN chief Kofi Annan said Thursday.

Rights groups hailed the report as a milestone for the persecuted Rohingya community because the government of Aung San Suu Kyi has previously vowed to abide by its findings.

The western state, one of the country's poorest, has long been a sectarian tinderbox and mainly Buddhist Myanmar has faced growing international condemnation over its treatment of the Muslim Rohingya there.

Annan was appointed by Suu Kyi to head a year-long commission tasked with healing long-simmering divisions between the Rohingya and local Buddhists.

Speaking at the unveiling of its landmark report in Yangon, the former UN chief warned that failure to implement its recommendations could lead to more extremism and violence.

"Tensions remain high and the status quo cannot continue," Annan told reporters. "There is no time to lose, the situation in Rakhine state is becoming more precarious."

Among the key recommendations by the nine-member panel was ending all restrictions on movement imposed on the Rohingya and other communities in Rakhine, and shutting down refugee camps -- which hold more than 120,000 people in often miserable conditions.

It also called on Myanmar to review a controversial 1982 law that effectively bars some one million Rohingya from becoming citizens, to invest heavily in the region and to allow the media unfettered access there.

"The commission has chosen to squarely face these sensitive issues because we believe that if they are left to fester, the future of Rakhine State, and indeed Myanmar as a whole, will be irretrievably jeopardized," Annan said.

- Security crackdown -

The commission's task became increasingly urgent after the army launched a bloody crackdown in the north of Rakhine following deadly October attacks on police border posts by a previously unknown Rohingya militant group.

More than 87,000 Rohingya have since fled to Bangladesh bringing with them stories of murder, mass rape and burned villages in what the UN says could constitute crimes against humanity.

Myanmar's Rohingya

The Annan commission's findings will put pressure on Suu Kyi's government to implement its calls for sweeping changes in Rakhine.

But she faces stiff opposition from Buddhist nationalists, who loathe the Rohingya and want them expelled.

Suu Kyi also has little control over Myanmar's powerful and notoriously abusive military.

Many in Myanmar view the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, even though many can trace their lineage back generations.

Until October's attacks the Rohingya had largely avoided jihadist militancy or violence.

Rights groups welcomed the report, saying its recommendations tallied with what they had long argued for.

"These apartheid-like restrictions drive communities apart rather than together, eroding security and heightening the risk of mass killing," said Matthew Smith from Fortify Rights.

Phil Robertson from Human Rights Watch said Suu Kyi's government faced a "key test".

"Myanmar needs to throw its full weight behind these recommendations, and especially not blink in dealing with the harder stuff," he said.
News / National

by Staff reporter

A group of prominent Zimbabwean political activists on Wednesday apologised to South Africans following the recent assault of a 20 year-old model at a Sandton hotel by President Robert Mugabe's wife Grace.This came at a time when the Zimbabwean First Lady was yet to make any public pronouncements regarding the issue.The Zimbabwean First Lady allegedly assaulted Gabriella Engels with an extension cord and severely injured her after she found her in the company of one of her two sons living and learning in South Africa, Bellarmine Chatunga. The Mugabe brothers were known for their notoriety and lavish spending.The group, calling itself "Vana veDzimbabwe" or Children of Zimbabwe, submitted the letter of apology at the South African embassy in Harare.'Deeply ashamed'"We as children of this land do hereby submit this apology to the people of South Africa for the assault of South African citizen Gabriella Engels by the wife of our president, First Lady Dr Grace Mugabe on the 13th of August 2017," read part of the letter."On behalf of our nation and her people, we want you to know that we are deeply ashamed at this unfortunate incident. It is our natural, moral and religious conviction that violence is abhorrent and not a good solution to any issue where dialogue and mediation are possible."Meanwhile, some four other pro-democracy groups also petitioned the South African High Commission challenging the credibility of the diplomatic immunity given to the Zimbabwean First Lady by South African authorities following her assault of the model.Grace was yet to appear in public following her attack of Engels.The four organisations, namely United Citizens Alliance, National Election Reform Agenda Youth Forum, Zimbabwe Vote 2018 and the Concerned Citizens Network said Gabriella should receive sufficient remedy for the "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment she received from Grace Mugabe".Diplomatic relations"We as citizens feel very unsafe with such kind of a mother, who fails to control her tempers in public domain. Having been on a medical visit to South Africa, Grace Mugabe automatically was not worth receiving immunity," said Joelson Mugari, chairperson of the United Citizens Alliance.Political analyst Rashweat Mukundu told News24 that Engels, who claimed that she was offered an undisclosed sum of money by the Zimbabwean First Lady for her to drop the assault charges but opted to pursue the legal route, was now a victim of diplomatic relations between Pretoria and Harare."Sacrificing diplomatic relations between Zimbabwe and South Africa was never an option and the victim becomes a victim at the altar of diplomacy," said Mukundu.This was not the first time that Grace Mugabe assaulted a foreign national outside Zimbabwe. In 2009, the Zimbabwean First Lady assaulted British journalist Richard Jones in Hong Kong and evaded arrest when she was granted diplomatic immunity.
China's imports from North Korea slowed in July while its exports to the sanctions-hit country dwindled after surging in recent months, according to official Chinese statistics.

China's imports from North Korea slowed in July while its exports to the sanctions-hit country dwindled after surging in recent months, according to official Chinese statistics.

Overall, bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $456 million last month, down nearly seven percent from June, according to General Administration of Customs figures.

The decline is partly due to a steady decline in China's imports from its neighbor, which fell to $156.3 million in July, down three percent from the previous month and more than 30 percent year on year.

China, the main ally of Pyongyang and the recipient of some 90 percent of North Korea's exports, suspended all imports of coal in February in compliance with United Nations sanctions.

The aim of these restrictions is to deprive the Kim Jong-Un regime of crucial currency sources in order to check its controversial nuclear programme.

Following a seventh round of sanctions adopted in early August by the UN Security Council, Beijing recently announced it will also suspend its purchases of North Korean iron, lead and seafood.

Chinese exports to the Stalinist regime fell to $299.8 million in July, down more than eight percent from June.

But exports were up 55 percent year on year. North Korea considerably increased its purchases from the Asian giant in recent months, including appliances, mechanical parts, textiles and solar panels.

In Dandong, a Chinese border town, AFP found last month that vibrant trade continued despite sanctions - with many Chinese shops continuing to offer jewels made of North Korean gold and silver, which have long been banned from the other side.

US President Donald Trump has urged China to step up pressure on its turbulent neighbour.

The Trump administration angered China this week by slapping punitive measures on several Chinese and Russian companies accused of supporting the North Korean nuclear programme and attempting to evade US sanctions.

The key targets were Chinese coal importers.
Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis hold posters and portraits of Ali Abdullah Saleh during a rally in support of the former president, as his political party marks 35 years since its founding on August 24, 2017

Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis descended Thursday on Sanaa Thursday in a major show of force for ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, whose alliance with the country's Shiite Huthi rebels has been shaken by mutual distrust.

Tensions have been rising between Saleh and his one-time foe, rebel chief Abdul Malik al-Huthi, who in 2014 joined ranks in a shock alliance that drove the government out of the capital and into the southern province of Aden.

The rally marking 35 years since the founding of Saleh's Arab nationalist General People's Congress (GPC) sends out a signal that the strongman remains a force to be reckoned with.

"We came today to the square to show our faith in the General People's Congress and in Ali Abdullah Saleh," Saeed al-Obeidi said at the rally.

"Today the GPC proved that it is a national party and that the Huthis are incapable of leading the nation the way a real political party can."

Chanting "With our souls, with our blood, we serve you, Yemen," crowds poured into the four-square-kilometre (1.5-square-mile) square and poured into the streets of the capital, waving the blue flag of the GPC and carrying pictures of the 75-year-old Saleh.

Saleh ruled Yemen with an iron fist for more than three decades before stepping down in 2012 after a bloody year-long uprising.

But the strongman retained the loyalty of some of the best-equipped units in the military and later joined forces with the Huthis, after they overran the capital in 2014.

The ensuing civil war between the Saudi-backed government and the Huthi-Saleh alliance has killed thousands and brought the Arabian Peninsula country to the brink of famine.

Saleh ruled Yemen with an iron fist for more than three decades before stepping down in 2012 after a bloody year-long, Arab Spring-inspired uprising

Saleh's supporters had travelled to Sanaa from across the impoverished country, camping out in Sabaeen Square overnight ahead of the rally.

An AFP reporter in Sanaa said the Huthis had set up checkpoints at the main entrances to the city.

But they did nothing to stop the demonstrators from reaching the square, where the rebels had also deployed but did not interfere with the rally.

Saleh -- who survived the 2011 Arab Spring protests that saw a string of his peers ousted from Egypt to Libya -- appeared in person at the rally and gave a brief speech behind bulletproof glass, surrounded by heavily armed guards.

"We are political pioneers with a solid anchor, and we have been facing conspiracies against us since 2011," he told the cheering crowd, referring to the start of protests in Sanaa that eventually led to his resignation.

- 'Allies for show' -

Saleh said he was ready to deploy "tens of thousands of fighters to the frontlines", on condition the rebel-led government train and pay them.

Thursday's rally in the Yemeni capital marks 35 years since the founding of Saleh's General People's Congress party

Analysts have said the rally serves in part as public protest against the Iran-backed Huthis, who with Saleh have run the capital since 2014.

The rebels have rapidly risen in a parallel government in Sanaa, and now hold clout in the city's economy, defence and educational ministries.

Former troops and civil servants in the parallel rebel-run government have not been paid for months.

Saleh's second-in-command in the GPC, Aref al-Zouka, on Thursday accused the Huthis of financial mismanagement and corruption, saying the party refused to be "allies for show".

A war of words between Saleh and Abdul Malik al-Huthi, whose rebel group have historically clashed with Saleh's troops, has escalated in the past week.

The two have publicly accused each other of treason, with Saleh hinting his allies were merely "a militia" and the rebels warning the former president he would "bear the consequences" of the insult.

Analysts say the rally serves in part as a public protest against Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels

The Huthis reportedly suspect Saleh has been negotiating with a Saudi-led Arab military coalition that supports the Yemeni government.

Saleh was a strong ally of Saudi Arabia from the late 1970s, when he fought the Huthis for control of Yemen, until 2014.

The Saleh camp has meanwhile accused the Huthis of aiming to consolidate their power in Sanaa.

The war between the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, and the rebel camp has killed more than 8,300 Yemenis since 2015 and pushed the country to the brink of famine.

More than 30 people, including civilians, were killed on Wednesday in air raids on Sanaa, where the coalition has been bombing the Huthis since joining the war in 2015.

A cholera outbreak has independently claimed an estimated 2,000 lives since April in Yemen.
The Malaysian coastguard -- which along with the Malaysian navy is involved in the search -- have basic equipment, relying only on binoculars and keen eyesight

Off the coast of southern Malaysia, rescuers peered through binoculars at vast expanses of ocean Thursday as they zipped along in a speedboat, in a desperate search for US sailors missing after a warship accident.

The coastguard vessel Petir 12, part of a multinational search effort scouring hundreds of square miles, crashed through large waves in the South China Sea, as planes and helicopters buzzed overhead.

Four days after the USS John S. McCain collided into a tanker off Singapore -- tearing a huge hole in the destroyer's side in the latest accident involving a US warship -- hopes are fading that any of the 10 sailors who went missing will be found alive.

The US Navy has already confirmed that remains of some of the sailors have been discovered in flooded compartments on the guided-missile destroyer, but have not said how many were found or remain unaccounted for.

The Malaysian coastguard -- which along with the Malaysian navy is involved in the search -- have basic equipment, relying only on binoculars and keen eyesight.

Before setting out from a jetty in Tanjung Pengelih, Johor state, coastguard officials huddled together by a map showing the sea around the accident site, with the search area measuring some 900 square nautical miles

"We don't have any special sensors to detect bodies in the sea, we have to do everything by sight," Captain Amran Daud, a Malaysian coastguard official, told AFP.

The Malaysian navy did discover a body Tuesday a considerable distance from the accident site but the US Navy has concluded that it was not one of the missing sailors.

Before setting out from a jetty in Tanjung Pengelih, Johor state, coastguard officials huddled together by a map showing the sea around the accident site, with the search area measuring some 900 square nautical miles.

As well as Malaysia, ships, aircraft and divers from the US, Singapore, Indonesia and Australia have joined the hunt.

But Amran did not sound upbeat about the prospects of finding any of the sailors: "All ships in the area have been notified (to look out for the sailors). So far, no positive sign."

Monday's collision -- which also injured five sailors -- was the second such accident in two months after an American warship collided with a cargo vessel off Japan, leaving seven sailors dead.
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men leave after praying at the Western Wall, the most holy site in Judaism, in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem's Old City

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to ease a ban on lawmakers visiting a sensitive Jerusalem holy site rocked by violence last month, his office said Thursday.

An official told AFP on condition of anonymity that members of parliament would be allowed to visit the site known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif and Jews as the Temple Mount in a one-day trial next week.

"In consultation with security officials, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to open the Temple Mount to MPs' visits, for one day at this stage, on Tuesday, August 29," the member of his office said.

"The decision was taken in light of the improvement in the security situation at the site," he said. "Decisions on the issue will continue to be made in accordance with assessments of the security situation."

Netanyahu instructed police in October 2015 to bar lawmakers from visiting the site in the Old City of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem which houses the Al-Aqsa mosque complex and the Dome of the Rock.

It was meant to help calm unrest that erupted in part over Palestinian fears that Israel was planning to assert further control over the compound.

Netanyahu has said repeatedly that he is committed to the status quo there.

The site is the holiest site in Judaism and the third-holiest in Islam, and it is central to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Jews are allowed to visit the compound but not pray there, and the site has been the scene of regular confrontation over any attempt to flout the rule.

Yehuda Glick, a lawmaker from Netanyahu's rightwing Likud party, had in March petitioned Israel's supreme court against the ban on members of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, visiting the hilltop site.

On July 4, the justice ministry said Knesset members would be allowed access for a "pilot number of days" starting on July 23.

But on July 14, three Israeli Arabs emerged from the mosque compound with automatic weapons and shot dead two policemen nearby before being shot dead by other officers.

Israel responded by installing metal detectors and other security equipment at the entrance but that triggered protests which left seven Palestinians dead.

Also, as the unrest raged, a Palestinian broke into a home in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank and stabbed four Israelis, killing three.

The crisis ended when Israel removed the Al-Aqsa security devices.
Australian prisoners are caring for animals that have been abandoned, attacked by predators, hit by cars or even seized in a drug bust as part of a rehabilitation programme.

Australian prisoners are caring for animals that have been abandoned, attacked by predators, hit by cars or even seized in a drug bust as part of a rehabilitation programme.

Kangaroos, emus, wombats, snakes and cockatoos are just some of the native creatures being nursed back to health by inmates at a wildlife centre based in the John Morony Correctional Complex outside Sydney.

Officials say the scheme helps instil a sense of responsibility and develops life skills for offenders preparing for the outside world.

Officer Ian Mitchell handles an emu inside an enclosure at John Morony Correctional Complex Wildlife Centre outside Sydney.

"Animals show that (love and respect) unconditionally, they don't judge, so over time they (inmates) form relationships with the animals," the wildlife centre's senior officer Ian Mitchell told AFP.

"It is a real positive impact and the animals can actually sometimes help people heal."

Selected inmates are given responsibility for a particular enclosure and are expected to feed and build shelters for the animals, while being taught how to care for their injuries or condition.

Kangaroos, emus, wombats, snakes and cockatoos are just some of the native creatures being nursed back to health by inmates at a wildlife centre based in the John Morony Correctional Complex outside Sydney.

Some animals never leave as they would be vulnerable to predators having become accustomed to the enclosure.

But most are later released back into the wild, or found a home via the animal rescue organisation that first brought them there.

One of the more unlikely cases the centre handled was a python that was seized in a drug raid, with criminals holding the reptile as a deterrent.

The snake had become addicted to meth after absorbing the narcotic through its skin and required treatment before it was released back into the wild.

"To have watched an animal rehabilitate from something like that, it's just another dynamic," Mitchell says.

Some former offenders who have left prison continue to work with wildlife, with one teaching people how to handle venomous snakes.

Selected inmates are given responsibility for a particular enclosure and are expected to feed and build shelters for the animals, while being taught how to care for their injuries or condition.

Surrounded by about a dozen squawking white cockatoos -- known for their ability to mimic speech -- one inmate said he had discovered "a lot of caring I didn't know I had" working with the animals.

Tasked with feeding the nocturnal wildlife, like the possums and wombats, he added he hopes to continue to care for animals after his jail term ends.

"I'm going to miss this place," he said.

"Each corner you turn, you are greeted -- in their way.

"The ones that can talk will say 'hello' but the other ones that can't talk, they will make a sign to say g'day."
Storage tanks for contaminated water at the Fukushima plant

Tokyo Electric Power Co Holdings said Thursday it faces another US lawsuit over the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, with the latest one demanding at least $5 billion in compensation.

A total of 157 US residents who were supporting Fukushima victims at the time filed the class action suit in a California district court earlier this month against the utility known as Tepco and a US company.

A massive tsunami triggered by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake smashed into Tepco's Fukushima Daiichi power plant on Japan's northeast coast on March 11, 2011.

The giant waves overwhelmed reactor cooling systems and sent three into meltdown, spewing radiation over a wide area in the world's most serious nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.

The plaintiffs, who joined aid efforts along with US troops shortly after the disaster, claim they were exposed to radiation because of the improper design, construction and maintenance of the plant.

They are seeking $5 billion to cover the cost of medical tests and treatment needed to recover from the disaster, Tepco said in a statement.

They are also demanding compensation for physical, mental and economic damage but no further details such as a sum of money or the identities of the claimants were available.

It was the second multi-plaintiff suit filed against the utility in a US court following one by more than 200 individuals in 2013.

In Japan, more than 10,000 people who fled their homes over radiation fears have filed various group lawsuits against the government and the firm.
Vietnamese TV broadcast an interview with Trinh Xuan Thanh on August 4

Germany on Thursday remanded in custody a suspected Vietnamese agent accused in the brazen kidnapping of a fugitive state company official in Berlin last month, a case that has badly strained bilateral ties.

The target -- Trinh Xuan Thanh, 51, who was in Germany seeking asylum -- was spirited back to Vietnam last month, where he faces corruption charges that carry the death penalty.

One of the alleged agents involved in snatching him from Berlin's Tiergarten park was arrested by Czech authorities soon after the kidnapping.

On Wednesday, he was extradited to Germany, where a judge a day later ordered him to be held in custody.

He was identified only as 46-year-old Long N.H., in keeping with German privacy rules in judicial cases.

He is accused of working for a foreign intelligence service and aiding in an abduction, which each carry sentences of up to 10 years' prison.

German prosecutors say the suspect rented a Volkswagen van in Prague and drove it to Berlin, where several armed men on July 23 dragged Thanh into the vehicle before he was "taken against his will to Vietnam, where he is in state custody".

Thanh's lawyer has told a Berlin newspaper that he may have been taken in an ambulance to an eastern European country and flown out from there.

The unprecedented case angered Germany, which summoned the Vietnamese ambassador, kicked out the representative of the Vietnamese secret service, and decried the "scandalous violation" of its sovereignty.

Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel warned of further steps over the kidnapping, which he said evoked "thriller movies about the Cold War".

The one-party state of Vietnam has waged an aggressive anti-corruption purge but analysts say it is often driven by infighting within the wealthy business-political elite as much as a true commitment to ending graft.

Thanh, the former head of PetroVietnam Construction Corporation, has been accused of mismanagement that caused losses worth $150 million (127 million euros), and vilified in state-controlled media for flaunting his wealth by driving a Lexus.

Also facing an embezzlement charge related to real estate deals which carries the death penalty, he had quietly slipped out of Vietnam in July last year.

Days after his abduction, a stone-faced Thanh reappeared on Vietnamese state television, which reported he had turned himself in.
Tanzania's President John Magufuli, who was elected in 2015, has been increasingly criticised over his authoritarian leadership style

Tanzania's main human rights group on Thursday criticised the government for its "harassment" of opposition lawmakers, three of whom have been arrested over the past week.

In a statement, the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) said the string of arrests amounted to a "violation of political and civic rights" in a country where multi-party politics is enshrined in the constitution.

On Tuesday, opposition MP Tundu Lissu was arrested for allegedly insulting President John Magufuli after revealing that Canada had seized a commercial aircraft purchased by the government over an unpaid $38-million (32-million-euro) debt to a Canadian engineering company.

It is the sixth time Lissu, a lawyer and deputy head of the main opposition Chadema party, has been arrested this year. In July he was charged with hate speech after calling Magufuli a "dictator".

He was released on bail on Thursday.

Last week Ester Bulaya, another Chadema lawmaker, was arrested in the north of the country for planning a meeting outside of her electoral constituency.

"What law prohibits that?" asked the LHRC statement.

And on Wednesday, another MP called Godbless Lema was arrested for taking seven minutes longer than his allocated time to address a rally.

The LHRC urged the government to respect the right of all political parties to freely carry out their activities.

"Being the member of a different party (than the ruling party) is not a crime."

Magufuli, who came to power in 2015 as a corruption-fighting "man of the people", has been increasingly criticised over his authoritarian leadership style, with a clampdown on the opposition, journalists and artists.

Chadema's youth wing on Thursday said in a statement they had written to police chief Simon Sirro giving him seven days to tell them "whether or not being a member of an opposition party is a crime".

If there is no response they plan a countrywide protest on August 31.
Arab Israeli Sheikh Raed Salah (C), leader of the radical northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, arrives at the Rishon Lezion Justice court near Tel Aviv on August 15, 2017

An Israeli court on Thursday charged a firebrand Islamic cleric with incitement to terrorism in connection with deadly unrest at a Jerusalem holy site last month, the justice ministry said.

It said that Arab Israeli Raed Salah was charged in Haifa magistrates' court on a total of six counts, also including support for a banned organisation.

His group, the radical northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, was outlawed in 2015 for incitement linked to the holy site, the Haram al-Sharif mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.

The statement alleged that he issued "expressions of praise, sympathy or encouragement for an act of terrorism" on various occasions.

His alleged statements were made against "a special security background" in the wake of a July 14 attack in which three Israeli Arabs from Salah's hometown of Umm al-Fahm killed two policemen after emerging from the holy compound, in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.

The attackers were themselves shot dead by other officers.

The justice ministry quoted the charge sheet as saying Salah's statements were made at the Umm al-Fahm funeral of the assailants and in two sermons he delivered at Friday Muslim prayers in the town, in northern Israel.

It said that the funeral was attended by thousands, some of them masked and chanting pledges to the dead attackers to "continue in your path."

It did not specify Salah's comments there.

Salah's lawyers and supporters say his sermons are always within the bounds of free speech and that he "stands against the murder of innocents."

They have called the 58-year-old preacher's arrest political intimidation and say it was intended to silence dissent.

Israel responded to the July 14 attack by installing metal detectors and other security equipment at the entrance, but that triggered protests which left seven Palestinians dead.

As the unrest raged, a Palestinian broke into a home in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank and stabbed four Israelis, killing three.

The crisis ended when Israel removed the security devices at the site, which includes the revered Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock.

Salah's arrest on August 15 followed his release from prison in January after serving a nine-month sentence on similar charges.

The holy site in the Old City is the third-holiest in Islam and the most sacred for Jews. It is the scene of regular confrontations between the two groups.
Displaced Syrians who fled from the Islamic State group's stronghold of Raqa arrive in the village of Hawi al-Hawa, less than two kilometres west outside the city, on August 8, 2017

The United Nations called Thursday for pauses in fighting against the Islamic State group in the Syrian city of Raqa to help civilians escape increasingly deadly battles.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters backed by US-led coalition warplanes, has retaken 60 percent of Raqa from the jihadists, but up to 25,000 civilians remain trapped in IS areas, according to UN estimates.

"Now is the time to think of possibilities, pauses or otherwise that might facilitate the escape of civilians," Jan Egeland, head of the UN's humanitarian taskforce for Syria, told reporters in Geneva.

People in Raqa face a "deadly labyrinth", coming under fire from all sides, Amnesty International said, as the death toll from coalition airstrikes and SDF shelling continued to mount.

Egeland said any humanitarian pause would of course not involve IS, which is doing its "absolute best to use (civilians) as human shields."

"Our urging today from the UN side to the members of the humanitarian taskforce is that they need to do whatever is possible to make it possible for people to escape Raqa," Egeland said.

The taskforce includes several nations supporting the SDF, including the United States.

"People that come out cannot risk (being killed by) air raids," Egeland added.

The UN has previously pushed for such pauses on humanitarian grounds, with mixed results, at other points in the Syrian conflict, notably in the battle for Aleppo, when besieged civilians faced severe food and water shortages.

But in the Aleppo fighting between rebels and government forces the UN was able to negotiate with multiple sides, a circumstance that does not apply in IS-held Raqa.

"I cannot think of a worse place on earth now," said Egeland.
News / National

by Staff reporter

A Harare man appeared in court pleading for his wife's forgiveness.Cuthbert Manyika told the court that he is being hurt by his wife Forget Karimapfumbi who is having a love affair with her ex-husband and he wants her back.'This woman is my wife, we don't have kids together but l love her so much.'But whenever we have a misunderstanding, she threatens going back to her ex-husband.'Also each time l am broke, she will be insulting saying that that's why l am barren.'My Worship, I am now feeling ashamed of myself, my marriage is becoming a disaster because of my physical condition.'Yes, I might have wronged you my wife but please forgive me.'She beats me using dangerous objects whenever we have a misunderstanding, my Worship,' said Manyika.In response Karimapfumbi denied all the allegations.'He is lying, l don't beat him but tinorovana.'We used to have a happy marriage with my husband, we even do our things together happily, and we bought a stand in 2008 and a car in 2010 together.'The problem emerged when l had a business in Motoko, he started assaulting me saying I was having an affair with my ex-husband because that's where he lived.'These were all lies, with my first husband we only had one child and we separated.'This issue worsened when my ex-husband came to claim his child, Manyika started insulting me saying l am a prostitute, I was having a love affair with my ex-husband.'That's when he started having girlfriends my Worship.'His young brother even said that I am not related to him and his maiguru is going to come meaning that there is someone out there.'Otherwise the issue that we don't have kids together, l never used it against him,' said Karimapfumbi.Presiding magistrate Amanda Muridzo gave both parties a reciprocal peace order and ordered them to solve their marital issues in an amicable way.
Zambian opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema's first public appearance since leaving jail last week has been prohibited

Zambian police on Thursday barred entry to the capital's cathedral where opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema had been due to make his first public appearance since being freed from jail.

Hichilema was released last week after four months in custody on treason charges, in a case widely seen as highlighting a crackdown on dissent by Zambian authorities under President Edgar Lungu.

"The organiser did not notify the police. This notification should be done in writing," Lusaka province police commissioner Nelson Phiri told AFP, declining to give further details.

Heavily armed police blocked entry to the Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Cross, AFP reporters said, with roadblocks erected on many routes to the building.

Hichilema, often known as "HH", had been charged with treason for allegedly failing to give way to Lungu's motorcade in April.

He disputes the results of last year's election, which he narrowly lost, and refuses to recognise Lungu as the president.

"The main reason why they have stopped us is that 'HH' was going to attend," said prayers organiser Simon Chihana, head of the International Fellowship of Christian Churches.

"They said that he is security sensitive to them and they would not allow him to attend."

Charles Kakoma, spokesman for Hichilema's UPND party, told AFP that it was "a clear violation of people's freedom of worship".

Treason charges were dropped against Hichilema after Commonwealth secretary-general Patricia Scotland held talks with Lungu and Hichilema.

She called for Zambian political leaders to show that the country "remains a symbol of peace and a beacon of stability, unity and political tolerance".
Followers of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh gather on the roadside in Sirsa

Tens of thousands of supporters of a controversial Indian guru marched Thursday on a city where he is standing trial for rape, alarming state authorities who redoubled security and suspended mobile internet services.

A court at Panchkula in the northern state of Haryana is expected Friday to deliver a verdict in the case against Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, dubbed the "guru in bling" for his penchant for garish clothes and jewellery.

Indian investigators allege Singh, the charismatic spiritual head of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, molested two female worshippers, a charge he and his supporters deny.

More than 100,000 of his supporters have thronged cities across Haryana and Punjab in a show of solidarity, prompting authorities to deploy 15,000 paramilitary officers and block internet services.

"A meeting was held today and we made a decision to suspend mobile internet and data services for the next 72 hours," Ram Niwas, Haryana's additional chief secretary, told reporters.

Roads into Panchkula, where a special court will issue a judgement into the allegations stretching back to 2002, were blockaded, and three stadiums set aside as makeshift prisons in case of trouble, officials said.

But tens of thousands of Singh's supporters were already camped out across the city, where schools and offices were closed as a precaution.

Ravi Kumar, 25, said he wanted to ensure "nothing unfair" was done to Singh, who has featured in action movies and music videos.

"He does so much good for humanity and they still trouble him by calling him here without a reason," Kumar told AFP.

The self-styled "godman" urged his supporters against violence and said he would personally appear in court Friday.

"I have always respected the law. Even though I have a backache, still, abiding by law, I will go to court. I have full faith in God. Everyone should maintain peace," Singh posted on Twitter on Thursday.

India has been rocked by numerous scandals involving popular ascetics claiming to possess mystical powers, and Singh is no stranger to controversy.

In 2015 he was accused of encouraging 400 followers to undergo castration at his ashram so they could get closer to god.

He also stood trial for conspiracy over the murder of a journalist in 2002.

On its website the group describes Singh as a saint as well as an author, inventor, scientist, philosopher, philanthropist, peace activist and "the ultimate humanitarian".
Months of political upheaval in the Maldives has dented its image as a tourist paradise

Lawmakers belonging to rival parties hurled eggs across the Maldives parliament Thursday in chaotic scenes described by a top US envoy as "disturbing" as a protracted political crisis in the honeymoon islands worsened.

The disturbance came as the speaker -- a close ally of President Abdulla Yameen -- who is fighting impeachment issued directives from behind a ring of plain-clothes troops inside the chamber.

Parliament has been in turmoil since March when troops were deployed to remove opposition MPs trying to file impeachment proceedings against the speaker.

The government has since changed parliamentary rules to ward off the impeachment and sacked MPs from Yameen's own party who sided with the opposition to remove his ally from the speaker's chair.

The egg-throwing incident comes less than a month after Maldivian troops blockaded parliament and fired tear gas during clashes with opposition leaders.

Months of political upheaval in the Maldives has dented its image as a tourist paradise.

US ambassador Atul Keshap labelled Thursday's events "disturbing and unfortunate".

"I call upon the government of Maldives to ensure that the majlis (parliament) function freely in accordance with Maldivian law and parliamentary procedure," Keshap said in a statement.

It is not the first time the US, among other nations, have urged the Maldives to safeguard democracy amid a crackdown by Yameen on his political opponents, most of whom are in exile or jail.

A coalition led by former president Mohamed Nasheed wants to defeat Yameen at elections next year and sees the impeachment of the Speaker as a first step to taking control of parliament to ensure free and fair polls next year.

The first attempt to impeach the speaker in March triggered chaos when troops acting on Yameen's orders stormed parliament and removed dissenting opponents by force.

Nasheed became the Maldives' first democratically-elected president in 2008, but was narrowly defeated by Yameen in a controversial 2013 election run-off.

In 2015, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison on terrorism charges that were widely seen as politically motivated. He now lives in exile in Britain.
A coalition of rabbis is boycotting traditional phone call with the US president, citing Donald Trump's lack of "moral leadership." Pictured here are observances at New York's waterfront for Rosh Hashanah, one of the most important days in the Jewish calendar

A coalition of rabbis is boycotting a phone call held with the US president ahead of the major Jewish holidays each year, accusing Donald Trump of "abetting the voices of hatred" in remarks following a neo-Nazi protest this month.

Several top rabbinical organizations announced they would not convene the conference call with Trump in light of his ambiguous statements surrounding recent bloodshed in Charlottesville, Virginia at a rally organized by white supremacists and neo-Nazis.

Trump's predecessor Barack Obama would hold the call ahead of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, in what was considered a nonpartisan tradition.

But Rabbi Elyse Wechterman, executive director of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, told CNN the consortium of rabbis canceled this year's call because of "an issue of moral leadership."

"Anti-Semitism witnessed in Charlottesville was terrifying and frightening," she said Thursday, adding that "since President Trump's election, there's been a rash of this kind of activity."

"Since his campaign, he refused to clarify and distance himself from anti-Semites, racists of all kind," she added.

Trump came under sharp criticism for evoking moral equivalency between white nationalist groups and counter-protestors, saying blame for violent clashes between the two groups existed "on many sides."

One woman, Heather Heyer, was killed during the violence when an avowed white supremacist plowed his car into a group of counter-protestors.

"The president's words have given succor to those who advocate anti-Semitism, racism, and xenophobia," read a statement released on Wednesday by the rabbis, who represent several denominations of Judaism and a range of political backgrounds.

"Responsibility for the violence that occurred in Charlottesville, including the death of Heather Heyer, does not lie with many sides but with one side: the Nazi, alt-right and white supremacists who brought their hate to a peaceful community," they said.

"We pray that President Trump will recognize and remedy the grave error he has made in abetting the voices of hatred."

Prominent Jewish members of Trump's administration -- including his daughter and son-in-law -- have mostly refrained from making public statements regarding the president's remarks.

A few who have spoken on the matter, including his Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, have defended him.
Burundian refugees attend a roll-call after they arrived at Mahama Refugee Camp in Rwanda

Burundians continue to flee their country due to ongoing threats and abuses despite their government's insistence that many are returning, according to a report published Thursday.

The report by the International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI) says that members of the Imbonerakure -- the ruling party's youth wing which has been described as a militia -- continue to carry out killings and enforced disappearances of those deemed not supportive of the regime.

Testimonies collected from Burundians who arrived in Uganda between March and June 2017, challenge the Burundian governments official narrative, which urges refugees to "return to their homeland, because peace and security prevail on the whole national territory," according to IRRI.

The report shows that while some are indeed returning to Burundi, new arrivals in neighbouring countries significantly outnumber the returnees.

"Refugees told horrible stories of rape, torture and killings by Imbonerakure and Burundian security services, especially targeting opposition members, but also ordinary citizens," said Thijs Van Laer, programme manager at IRRI.

"If the Burundian authorities are serious about promoting the return of refugees, they must reign in the Imbonerakure and ensure accountability for abuses committed since the beginning of the political crisis, including through cooperation with international efforts."

Burundi was plunged into political crisis in April 2015 when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced his intention to run for a third term, which he went on to win.

At least 500 people have been killed in ensuing violence, according to the UN -- although rights groups put the figure at over 1,000 -- and more than 400,000 have fled the country since the crisis began.

Nkurunziza made a rare foreign trip in July to Tanzania where he declared that "Burundi is at peace", urging refugees in the country to return.

According to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), 275,000 Burundians have fled to Tanzania, a figure contested by both governments, which maintain that a large number have already returned home.

Rwanda which accommodates over 86,000 refugees -- the second highest number in the region -- now gets about 150 refugees entering per week, according to the UN refugee agency in the country.
Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani will take over immediately as the company's non-executive chairman, the Indian software giant said Thursday, a move to calm investor unrest and steady the share price.

His return comes in the wake of chief executive Vishal Sikka's surprise decision last Friday to quit amid tensions between the company's board and its founders.

The turmoil saw shares plunge as much as 15 percent in the past week.

Nandan Nilekani is one of the company's co-founders, who served as its CEO from 2002-07

Infosys cofounder Nandan Nilekani, seen in 2014, ran the business from 2002 to 2007 and remains highly respected in the technology world

Nilekani, one of the cofounders of the company, ran the business from 2002 to 2007 and remains highly respected in the technology world.

He also led the implementation of a key government programme holding biometric data on over a billion people.

'Nandan is the ideal leader for Infosys at this stage in the company's development. His appointment will allow Infosys to focus on the strategic changes it needs to make,' outgoing chairman R. Seshasayee said in a statement.

Co-chairman Ravi Venkatesan, as well as two board members have resigned as part of the restructuring, the company said.

Former Chief Executive Officer Vishal Sikka of Infosys

Infosys veteran UB Pravin Rao remains interim chief executive.

India became a back office to the world in the early 2000s as companies subcontracted work to firms such as Infosys, taking advantage of the country's skilled English-speaking workforce.

The $150-billion IT sector remains one of the country's flagship industries, but it is facing upheaval in the face of automation and US President Donald Trump's clampdown on visas.
Iraqi forces in Tal Afar's al-Wahda district during an operation to retake the city from IS on August 24, 2017

As Iraqi forces advance through Tal Afar, their Shiite religious songs mix with the crackle of gunfire by Islamic State group jihadists and the boom of air strikes.

The battle to oust the jihadists from one of their last strongholds in Iraq is proceeding more quickly than expected.

On a dirt road covered with stones and obstacles left by retreating IS fighters, armoured vehicles of the Iraqi police and Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary units bounce along between the ruts.

To keep their morale high, the men in the front vehicle have connected up a loudspeaker that blasts out religious chants at full volume.

Today's goal is to seize the western district of Al-Wahda.

Police and Hashed fighters have already set up a base in a primary school in the adjacent Al-Kifah district.

Al-Wahda is another step towards the centre of the city, most of whose residents were Shiite Turkmens before IS overran it three years ago.

Progress in Tal Afar has been far more rapid than in Mosul. Iraq's second city fell to Iraqi forces in July after a gruelling nine-month battle.

"Victory could come just a few days from now," Hashed officer Abu Ahmad al-Haddi tells AFP. "Maybe even before Eid al-Adha", the Muslim holiday set to start in Iraq on September 2.

Iraqi forces, backed by Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary units, advance through Tal Afar's al-Wahda district as they battle the Islamic State (IS) group on August 24, 2017

Most of the fighting is taking place in the residential areas of Al-Kifah and Al-Wahda.

At a turn in the road, a burned-out house appears.

Armed men move from building to abandoned building, treading carefully through the ghost town to avoid booby traps and explosive devices left behind by fleeing jihadists.

- Car bombings -

Many of the streets are blocked by mounds of earth or strategically parked trucks.

"Once we manage to clear the obstacles, the car bombings surge," says Haidar, 27, a federal police officer.

Map locating Tal Afar, Iraq, with zones controlled by various forces as of August 24

The young Iraqi, who was fighting in Mosul until just over a month ago, can barely be heard over the constant sound of gunfire and explosions, which rarely stop for more than a few minutes.

Tal Afar, a millennia-old northern city dating back to the Assyrian empire, has suffered much since IS seized it in 2014.

Its Ottoman-era citadel was damaged during the jihadists' sweeping offensive that summer, which left them in charge of much of northern Iraq and neighbouring Syria.

Some 200,000 people lived here before IS arrived, most of them Turkmen Shiites, whose school of Islam is anathema to the hardline Sunni fundamentalists of IS.

Most of the residents fled. The United Nations estimates that 30,000 or so remain trapped inside the city, but they are nowhere to be seen as Iraqi forces advance, their vehicles bearing Iraqi and Hashed flags.

Iraqi forces take a break in the shade during their advance through Tal Afar's al-Wahda district on August 24, 2017

Haddi says the biggest dangers are car bombs and "infiltrators", jihadists disguised as members of the security forces who sneak across front lines and try to cause as much damage as possible.

More such attacks are to be expected, federal police sniper Captain Saif Adnan al-Salloum says.

After he and his unit seize Al-Wahda, they prepare to head for the southwestern district of al-Silo to do battle with another group of IS fighters.
President Donald Trump has lashed out at top Republican Senator Mitch McConnell (L) and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R) for not taking his advice to tie crucial debt ceiling legislation to a popular veterans bill that recently passed Congress

US President Donald Trump turned up the heat Thursday on Republican leaders in Congress, accusing them of foot-dragging on his key priorities, in an intensifying feud that puts his policy agenda in jeopardy.

When lawmakers return from summer recess on September 5, a deeply divided Congress will need to come together by month's end to fund the government into 2018 and raise the legal cap on federal borrowing in order to avoid a debt default.

Republicans desperate for a major legislative victory under the new president also want to rewrite the tax code and improve American infrastructure -- making for a hefty autumn workload on Capitol Hill.

But as the critical showdown looms, Trump has clashed with and antagonized members of his own party, while threatening a shutdown of the federal government unless he gets funding for his promised US-Mexico border wall.

"Believe me, if we have to close down our government, we're building that wall," Trump warned Tuesday in an angry and divisive speech at an Arizona rally that made some Republicans wince.

Over the past week, Trump has widened an already yawning rift with congressional leaders like top Republican Senator Mitch McConnell -- who he attacked once again Thursday, using the bully pulpit of Twitter.

The president castigated both the Senate majority leader and Paul Ryan, the speaker of the House of Representatives, for not taking his advice to tie crucial debt ceiling legislation to a popular veterans bill that recently passed Congress.

"Could have been so easy -- now a mess!" Trump tweeted.

Now, the threat of a shutdown less than six weeks from now will weigh heavily on the negotiations.

- 'Most people' don't want shutdown -

The White House is demanding that the government funding bill include credits for Trump's border wall -- a call opposed by Democrats who have the power to block the bill in the Senate, triggering a shutdown on October 1.

Both McConnell and Ryan have sought to downplay divisions with Trump -- and talk of either any shutdown or a debt default, which would be the first in US history.

"I don't think a government shutdown is necessary, and I don't think most people want to see a government shutdown, ourselves included," Ryan told reporters Wednesday.

McConnell has meanwhile insisted he and the president are on the same page, after an explosive New York Times report suggested their relationship had rapidly deteriorated.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump is "going to make sure" that a US-Mexico border wall is built

"Anyone who suggests otherwise is clearly not part of the conversation," McConnell said in a statement Wednesday.

But the following day, the White House essentially doubled down, refusing to say that Trump had backed away from his shutdown threat over the wall.

"He campaigned on the wall, he won on talking about building a wall. And he's going to make sure that that gets done," spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters.

- 'Political dysfunction' -

With tensions building two weeks before lawmakers return to Washington, Trump appeared unwilling to draw a line under his feud with McConnell, berating him Thursday for coming up short in an effort to dismantle Barack Obama's health care law.

"The only problem I have with Mitch McConnell is that, after hearing Repeal & Replace for 7 years, he failed!" Trump tweeted.

Beyond the party leadership, the US president has publicly attacked a string of Republican lawmakers -- including Senators John McCain, Jeff Flake, Lindsey Graham, Dean Heller, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski -- at the risk of weakening his chances of driving legislation through Congress.

Other Republicans have meanwhile grown more assertive in their criticism of the president, following the furor triggered by his equivocal response to the violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia earlier this month.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker last week said Trump had yet to demonstrate "the stability, nor some of the competence" needed to be a successful leader.

While Sanders insisted relations between the president and Republican were "fine," she bristled when asked about Corker's criticism, calling it "ridiculous and outrageous."

US House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says Republicans need to "stop the chaos"

Top Democrats meanwhile urged Republican leaders to act responsibly and commit to avoiding a government default.

"Republicans need to stop the chaos and sort themselves out in a hurry," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday.

Passage of the government spending bill will require support from Democrats, who oppose inserting border wall funding into the legislation, and are also opposed to spending cuts as a condition for raising the debt ceiling, as some conservatives want.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. insisted his nocturnal activities would not interfere with his preparations for his fight against mixed martial star Conor McGregor

Floyd Mayweather has been taking an unorthodox approach to his pre-fight preparations to face Conor McGregor -- with a late-night visit to his strip club.

USA Today reported that Mayweather was out at the strip club he owns in Las Vegas -- Girl Collection -- at 3:30am local time early Thursday after arriving in a white Rolls Royce.

Quoted by the newspaper, Mayweather insisted his nocturnal activities would not interfere with his preparations for Saturday's fight against mixed martial star McGregor.

"Nobody can beat me," Mayweather told the paper. USA Today said Mayweather greeted patrons at the club before retiring to a VIP section with four dancers.

He told the paper he had decided to open a strip club when he was serving a two-month prison sentence in 2012 following a conviction for domestic abuse.

"When I was locked up and doing time, I drew the club up," Mayweather said. "Women never go out of style."

The boxer, who retired from the sport in 2015 with a perfect 49-0 record, is the overwhelming favorite to defeat McGregor when the two men clash at the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.
Angola's new president Joao Lourenco, who will be sworn in Tuesday, succeeds Jose Eduardo dos Santos, one of Africa's longest-serving rulers

Angola's new president, Joao Lourenco who will be sworn in Tuesday, is a former general who spent several years in the political wilderness after angling for the top job in the 1990s.

Since then, Lourenco, 63, convinced key regime players he was the right man to succeed Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who has ruled the oil-rich southwest African nation for 38 years.

As the deputy president of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) -- and defence minister until July -- Lourenco is now "part of the inner circle of power", said Didier Peclard, an Angola specialist at the University of Geneva.

The MPLA won last month's election, carrying Lourenco to power as the party's presidential candidate.

It was something of a turnaround for a man whose ambition nearly ended his career in the 1990s when Dos Santos hinted he might stand down. Lourenco failed to hide his desire to succeed him.

Dos Santos, believing the former general was being opportunistic, forced Lourenco into several years of "political purgatory", according to Peclard.

His apparent flirtation with resignation had been merely "a political manoeuvre to bring those in the party with ambitions out of the woodwork, and Joao Lourenco paid the price," he said.

Following the recent election, Lourenco sharply criticised opposition parties who questioned the authenticity of his victory as he sought to smooth the path to his inauguration day.

"These political groups, by protesting in their sole interests against these so-called procedural irregularities, have violated electoral laws," he said earlier this month.

- Soviet education -

Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco was born on March 5, 1954, in Lobito, in western Angola.

As a young man, he fought against the then colonial power Portugal. After Angola won its independence in 1975, he fought in the civil war that erupted between the MPLA government and UNITA rebels.

Like Dos Santos, Lourenco studied in the former Soviet Union, which trained a number of rising young African leaders during decolonisation.

He became political chief of the armed wing of the MPLA in the civil war -- a Cold War proxy conflict that drew in Cuban forces to fight alongside the MPLA, while CIA-backed militias did battle against them.

In 1984, he was appointed governor of the eastern province of Moxico, Angola's largest, quickly rising through the MPLA hierarchy.

The ex-artillery general later led his party's group in parliament before becoming deputy speaker of the National Assembly.

His appointment as defence minister in 2014 secured his position as Dos Santos' favoured successor.

Now that he will be president, his main challenge may be Angola's shift to free-market capitalism at a time when volatile oil prices are taking a heavy toll on the crude-dependent economy.

- 'Hardline MPLA general' -

"(Lourenco) has a reasonable reputation as a moderate, not an extreme character," said Soren Kirk Jensen of the Chatham House research group in London.

"He is probably the right person to be the bridge as Angola goes through a transition."

Rumours abound that Dos Santos had hoped to hand over the reins of power to one of his children, one of whom, Isabel dos Santos, is Africa's first woman billionaire according to Forbes magazine.

But Jensen said that "there is speculation that high-ranked people in the party put their foot down against this".

Opponents of the all-powerful regime believe Lourenco offers little hope for real change in Angola.

Activist and journalist Rafael Marques de Morais, a leading regime critic, said Lourenco was, at heart, "a hardline MPLA general".

Former political prisoner Nuno Alvaro Dala said that, under Lourenco, "power in Angola will continue to be militarised".

Lourenco is married to Ana Dias Lourenco, a former minister who also represented Angola at the World Bank. They have six children.

burs-pa-bgs-gw/ser
News / National

by Staff reporter

Crocodiles are proving to be a huge menace in Zimbabwe with 16 people succumbing to horrific attacks by the reptiles in seven months, the Daily News reported.A study by the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) revealed that 16 people died from croc attacks between January and July, while five people were left badly injured over the same period.It is the highest number of fatalities arising from crocodile attacks in as many years, symptomatic of the escalation in human and wildlife conflict.Most of these deaths were due to negligence in crocodile-infested waters. It is also possible that people are becoming complacent in spite of the dangers posed by the crocodiles, with some getting more adventurous on waterways.Yet another school of thought says crocodile could be breeding in huge numbers.ZimParks spokesperson Tinashe Farawo said at least 14 animals were killed by crocodiles during the same period."As ZimParks, we continue educating our communities and ensure that they inform the authorities if there are such cases within their environs," he said."One of the main challenges we are facing is funding to ensure that we deal effectively with human wildlife conflicts and also how to deal with nocturnal species that are active during the night."Crocodiles are among the most vicious predators of rivers and lakes. They lurk almost totally submerged in the water as they lie in wait for passing prey, which is then dragged into the water and drowned.Renowned for their long powerful jaws, few creatures escape from their clutches - not even large buffalo and wildebeest.A recent fatal croc attack of South African hunter on the banks of the Limpopo River attracted international headlines.Scott Van Zyl, disappeared during a hunting trip on the Zimbabwe-South Africa border with a local tracker and a pack of dogs.A search and rescue operation was launched after Van Zyl's dogs returned to their camp without him. The hunter's footprints were traced to river bank alongside his discarded rucksack.Staff from the Heritage Protection Group - an organisation which he headed and helps police fight crime in South Africa - informally helped the Zimbabwean authorities conduct the search.Permission was given for three Nile crocodiles in the area to be shot, and one of them contained Zyl's remains. Subsequent DNA tests proved the remains to be those of Zyl.Several other people have been killed after wading into croc-infested river crossings.ZimParks said the period under review saw 37 threats from crocodiles to human life and livestock, with 33 cases attended to by the national parks authority.The wildlife agency also reported that one man was gored to death by a buffalo, while five people were killed by elephants since January.A man was left with permanent injuries after being mauled by a lion in June."It doesn't happen often. This year there was only one case of a man who was attacked by a lion in the bush in June," Farawo said."The man, however, survived. In 2016, one person was killed by lions and four others were attacked and injured but survived."He said lions killed 91 cattle, six donkeys and 46 goats, while hyenas devoured 28 goats and 11 cattle.The ZimParks spokesperson said the animals that came into conflict with humans were both in open and fenced areas."Zimbabwe has wildlife in both open and fenced areas. Over 26 percent of the country's land surface is under wildlife in gazetted wildlife areas, gazetted indigenous forests, some communal areas and private farms and conservancies. There is also wildlife in large tracks of unfenced areas under extensive management," he said.ZimParks is working around the clock to deal with conflicts between people and animals, although it faced varying challenges."We normally capture and relocate them to conservancies or in rare cases, we eliminate the problem lions but this is the last resort," he said.Communities were urged to immediately report the presence of wildlife in their area to the nearest ZimParks offices or to the Zimbabwe Republic Police.
Britain's foreign ministry said Johnson was the first British minister to visit Libya's second city since 2011, the year longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi was overthrown and killed in a NATO-backed uprising

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson met Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar on Thursday during a visit to Benghazi, officials said.

Their talks focused on "the development of the political situation in Libya", Haftar's spokesman Khalifa al-Abidi said without giving further details.

Johnson said the meeting came in support of efforts to amend a December 2015 UN-backed deal for a unity government in Libya.

"We are reaching out to all sides in Libya in support of the United Nations work to amend the Libyan Political Agreement so that it delivers for all Libyans," he said in a statement.

Britain's foreign ministry said Johnson was the first British minister to visit Libya's second city since 2011, the year longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi was overthrown and killed in a NATO-backed uprising.

On Wednesday, Johnson met Libya's unity government chief Fayez al-Sarraj, whose Government of National Accord has struggled to impose its authority across the conflict-ridden North African country.

Haftar backs a rival administration based in Libya's east that has refused to recognise the GNA, product of the 2015 deal.

The accord gave no role to Haftar, who enjoys the support of Libya's parliament.

But Johnson said Thursday he believed Haftar, whose forces also control much of Libya's desert south, "has a role to play in the political process".

"Ultimately it will be for Libyans to decide what an acceptable compromise looks like," he said.

"I have encouraged all sides to resolve their differences by dialogue, not conflict, and to respect international human rights law."

Sarraj met Haftar near Paris in July in a bid to reach a peace agreement in Libya.

Their commitment to holding elections was endorsed by the UN Security Council, of which Britain is a member.

Johnson last visited Libya in May, holding talks in Tripoli as well as in the eastern city of Tobruk where the rival administration is based.
Former Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra greets her supporters as she leaves the Supreme Court in Bangkok on July 21, 2017

Thai ex-prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra missed a verdict in a negligence trial on Friday that could have seen her jailed, prompting the Supreme Court to issue an arrest warrant fearing she is a flight risk, a judge said.

Thousands of supporters -- outnumbered by security forces -- waited for a glimpse of Thailand's first female prime minister, but she did not show.

"Her lawyer said she is sick and asked to delay the ruling... the court does not believe she is sick... and has decided to issue an arrest warrant," fearing she may flee the country, lead judge Cheep Chulamon told the court, rescheduling the ruling date to September 27.

Yingluck's government was removed by a military coup in 2014 and, if convicted for negligence over a rice subsidy to the rural poor, she faced up to 10 years in prison and a life ban from politics.

Her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra also a former premier, fled Thailand in 2008 before he was convicted of graft and handed a two year jail term.

A conviction for Yingluck, 50, would be a gut punch to the Shinawatra political dynasty, who have clung on in Thailand's treacherous political game for more than a decade despite two coups, deadly protests, a cascade of law cases and asset seizures.

Yingluck's flagship rice subsidy poured cash on her family's rural political heartland, but was beset by graft and led to billions of dollars of losses.

In a Facebook post on Thursday Yingluck asked her followers to stay home to avoid any incidents stoked by people with "ill-intention against the country and us".

Her previous court appearances over an 18 month trial have seen crowds gather outside the court, showering her with roses and chanting support -- a rare sight in a nation where political meetings remain outlawed.

Yingluck Shinawatra

The Shinawatra family emerged as a political force in 2001 when billionaire patriarch Thaksin swept to power.

He jump-started the economy and provided the most extensive pro-poor welfare schemes in Thai history.

But critics accused him of using political power to further his business interests.

He remains loathed by the Bangkok royalist elite but cherished by the rural poor.

A coup toppled him in 2006 and he fled overseas following a graft conviction.

Protests and court cases have hacked at their governments and finances, followed by the 2014 coup.

To many supporters Yingluck is finally emerging from her elder brother's shadow, drawing on a star quality absent amongst the gloomy cast of ageing generals who rule Thailand.

She has pleaded not guilty to the charges, saying she is the victim of a "subtle political game."

But her enemies say a conviction is merited for a dynasty accused of graft and nepotism.

Historically the Shinawatras have been able to mobilise huge crowds of supporters -- known as the "Red Shirts" -- to take to the streets when the family's political fortunes have waned.

But three years of repressive junta rule has successfully quashed any widespread opposition to the military for now.
A South Sudanese child at the Al-Nimir camp in the Sudanese state of East Darfur watches UN peacekeepers in this file photo from August 15, 2017

The UN Security Council on Thursday called on the government of South Sudan to "cease obstructions" to its peacekeeping mission's operations and urged all sides to stop the fighting.

Egypt's envoy to the world body Amr Abdellatif Aboulatta, who currently holds the council's rotating presidency, told reporters that council members had also asked all parties to the conflict to put a halt to "offensive operations."

"The members of the Security Council condemned the recent fighting in Pagak," a major rebel stronghold, the Egyptian diplomat said.

"They demanded the government cease obstructions to UNMISS (UN Mission in South Sudan) and deployment of its Regional Protection Force, and noted that the recent suspension of flight clearances affected UNMISS operations," he said.

"The members of the Security Council reminded all parties that the obstruction of activities of international peacekeeping may be subject to sanctions" under UN resolutions, he added.

UNMISS is more than 13,000 strong, including peacekeepers, police and civilians.

During their meeting, the 15 council members also expressed "deep concern at the continuous rise in humanitarian access incidents" and demanded that all parties to the conflict stop blocking aid from getting through.

South Sudan's civil war erupted in December 2013 just two years after it obtained independence from Sudan, when President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup.

The conflict initially pitted Machar's ethnic Nuer against Kiir's Dinka, but since the collapse of a peace agreement in 2015, the war has engulfed other ethnic groups and been spurred by local grievances.

Thousands of people have been killed by the violence, which plunged part of the country into famine earlier this year. Some four million have been displaced, according to UN figures.

The United States has repeatedly called for an arms embargo on South Sudan, and one UN diplomat said that drive could eventually be put on the council's agenda, as the UN grows increasingly exasperated with the spiral of violence.
ISLAMABAD (AP) - President Donald Trump's warning to Pakistan to put an "immediate" end to harboring militants operating in Afghanistan didn't spell out the consequences of defiance or suggest a new strategy to get it to yield to longstanding U.S. demands, analysts said Tuesday.

They also said that isolating Pakistan could unsettle the U.S. relationship with Islamabad and push it closer to Russia, China and Iran, further complicating efforts to stabilize the region.

"The idea of U.S. leverage in Pakistan is deeply exaggerated," Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the U.S.-based Wilson Center's Asia Program, said in an email to The Associated Press a day after Trump's speech. "No matter the punishment, policy, or inducement, there's little reason to believe that Pakistan will change its ways.

Afghanistan's Chief of Executive, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, talks during a press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017. Reversing his past calls for a speedy exit, Trump recommitted the United States to the 16-year-old war in Afghanistan Monday night, declaring U.S. troops must "fight to win." (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

"Pakistan has an unshakeable strategic interest in maintaining ties to militant groups like the Taliban because they help keep Pakistan's Indian enemy at bay in Afghanistan," he added.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday the U.S. could consider sanctions on Pakistan or cut off its status as a major non-NATO ally if Islamabad does not crack down on the Taliban and other extremist groups. He didn't say what sanctions might be considered.

In outlining his plan for the 16-year war in Afghanistan, Trump on Monday night warned of the threat to U.S. security from militant groups operating there and in neighboring Pakistan.

"Today, 20 U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations are active in Afghanistan and Pakistan - the highest concentration in any region anywhere in the world," he said. "For its part, Pakistan often gives safe haven to agents of chaos, violence and terror."

The threat is compounded by the fact that both India and Pakistan are nuclear powers, he said, and their hostile relationship could spiral out of control.

"And that could happen," Trump said.

Some in Pakistan were baffled by his later statement demanding that India get more involved in Afghanistan, a scenario dreaded by Islamabad and the reason cited most often for Pakistan's support of the Taliban as a bulwark against India's influence in Afghanistan.

"Upgrading the Indian role in Afghanistan basically means perpetuating the hostilities," said Imtiaz Gul, executive director of the Islamabad-based Center for Research and Security Studies.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry issued a statement late Tuesday saying it is committed to fighting terrorism, and it called allegations it provided safe havens to militants "a false narrative." It added that a military solution is not possible, saying "only an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned politically negotiated solution can lead to a sustainable peace in Afghanistan."

Pakistani Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal told reporters that his country "has rendered unmatched sacrifices in the war on terror. Our war against terrorism is not because of the United States; we will continue this war."

U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan David Hale met Tuesday with Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, according to a government statement, which also announced a meeting with Tillerson "in the next few days" in Washington. The U.S. policy toward Afghanistan and South Asia will feature prominently in their meeting, it said.

While Trump's speech was widely criticized in Pakistan by politicians of all parties, it was welcomed by Afghanistan's shared leadership of President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah.

Abdullah told a news conference the U.S. strategy marks a unique opportunity to ultimately achieve peaceful objectives in the region.

"The regional aspect of this strategy is very clear. It shows that the problem was very well identified," he said, referring to Trump's singling out of Pakistan.

But security analyst Amir Rana, director of the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies, warned that isolating Pakistan as the sole culprit could stymie efforts to stabilize the region or bring the Taliban to the negotiating table. It also could increase the influence of Russia, China and even Iran, he said.

"All regional actors have to decide how to collaborate in Afghanistan," Rana said. "You can't signal out one nation. There is not only one nation destabilizing Afghanistan."

The U.S. and Afghanistan have routinely accused Pakistan - and particularly its powerful intelligence agency, the ISI - of harboring insurgents and of waging a selective war. They say Pakistan attacks those insurgents it considers its enemy and allows those it has been known to use as proxies, either against India or Afghanistan, to flourish.

Not all Afghans welcomed Trump's speech, with some angry that he wasn't interested in nation-building, only in "killing terrorists."

Aziz Rahman, who works at a bank in Kabul, said Trump's speech will make little difference to ordinary Afghans. After 16 years of conflict and tens of thousands of U.S. and NATO troops in his homeland, Rahman said the situation has only deteriorated, with thousands of people fleeing.

"Trump's speech is good for Americans, not for the poor people of Afghanistan," Rahman said.

Waheed Muzhda, a political analyst in Kabul, expressed fear that Trump's emphasis on a military victory seemed guaranteed to prolong the war and increase casualties.

"In the future, we will witness a worsening of the war, more killing and more problems for the Afghan nation," Muzhda said. "Mr. Trump only emphasized winning the war militarily, but if a military solution to the war could have been possible, this should have been achieved with presence of 150,000 troops."

In a statement emailed to the media, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Trump's strategy to remain in Afghanistan will mean more deaths of U.S. troops. The insurgents are willing to fight until all NATO and U.S. troops have left, he said.

The Wilson Center's Kugelman said he didn't believe the Taliban "will exactly be shaking in their boots after this speech."

"They know that they survived, with flying colors, a U.S. troop surge that at its height exceeded 100,000 troops," he said. "So for them, the idea of a modest troop increase, coupled with tough talk about the U.S. winning, won't really faze them at all."

Tillerson, meanwhile, said the U.S. would not indefinitely conceal how many troops it will be sending to Afghanistan. Gen. Joseph Votel, the top U.S commander for the Middle East, said the first deployments of new U.S. forces will arrive in Afghanistan "pretty quickly."

Votel estimated the deployment could take days or a few weeks

___

Associated Press writers Rahim Faiez and Amir Shah in Kabul, Zarar Khan in Islamabad and Josh Lederman in Washington contributed.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson pauses while speaking at the State Department in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017, to discuss Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Donald Trump speaks at Fort Myer in Arlington Va., Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, during a Presidential Address to the Nation about a strategy he believes will best position the U.S. to eventually declare victory in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

FILE - In this Dec. 2, 2009 file photo, U.S. soldiers stand guard near the site where Afghans, unseen, receive the food stuff donations provided by U.S. solders in Kabul, Afghanistan. Reversing his past calls for a speedy exit, U.S. President Donald Trump recommitted the United States to the 16-year-old war in Afghanistan Monday night, Aug. 21, 2017, declaring U.S. troops must "fight to win." He pointedly declined to disclose how many more troops will be dispatched to wage America's longest war. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq, File)

FILE - In this June 10, 2017 photo provided by Operation Resolute Support, U.S. Soldiers with Task Force Iron maneuver an M-777 howitzer, so it can be towed into position at Bost Airfield, Afghanistan. Reversing his past calls for a speedy exit, U.S. President Donald Trump recommitted the United States to the 16-year-old war in Afghanistan Monday night, Aug. 21, 2017, declaring U.S. troops must "fight to win." He pointedly declined to disclose how many more troops will be dispatched to wage America's longest war.(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Justin T. Updegraff, Operation Resolute Support via AP, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 3, 2010 file photo, an Afghan boy watches Cpt. Chris Esrey of Havelock, North Carolina, with India, 3rd Battalion 5th Marines, First Marine Division, company, scan the area during a patrol in Sangin, south of Kabul, Afghanistan. Reversing his past calls for a speedy exit, President Donald Trump recommitted the United States to the 16-year-old war in Afghanistan, declaring Monday, Aug. 21, 2017 U.S. troops must "fight to win." He pointedly declined to disclose how many more troops will be dispatched to wage America's longest war.(AP Photo/Dusan Vranic, File)

FILE - In this March 18, 2010 file photo, U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Mathew Gorzkiewicz, of North Liberty, Indiana, with the First Battalion, Sixth Marine Regiment, Alpha company, tries out an Afghan boy's sling during a patrol in Marjah, Afghanistan. Reversing his past calls for a speedy exit, President Donald Trump recommitted the United States to the 16-year-old war in Afghanistan, declaring Monday, Aug. 21, 2017 U.S. troops must "fight to win." He pointedly declined to disclose how many more troops will be dispatched to wage America's longest war. (AP Photo/Dusan Vranic, File)
BEIRUT (AP) - Syrian state media and opposition activists said Tuesday that airstrikes on the northern city of Raqqa have killed dozens of civilians.

U.S.-backed Syrian opposition fighters have been trying to capture the city from the Islamic State group since June 6, and have been fighting under the cover of airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces now hold more than half of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the extremist group's self-styled Islamic caliphate.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said airstrikes in Raqqa on Monday killed 42 civilians, including 19 children and 12 women. The activist-run group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently said 32 people were killed in airstrikes on one neighborhood alone.

Syrian state media said the airstrikes killed dozens.

They all blamed the U.S.-led coalition.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said humanitarian staff in Syria are "deeply concerned by unconfirmed reports of a high number of civilians killed by airstrikes in Raqqa City over the last 24 hours."

"These attacks, if confirmed, are a shocking reminder that civilians continue to bear the brunt of the conflict in many parts of Syria," he added.

"In recent days and weeks, scores of civilians have been killed and injured in Raqqa due to airstrikes and shelling, and up to 25,000 people remain trapped in the city," he said.
BOSTON (AP) - Advocates for homeless families in Massachusetts are pushing legislation that would remove a state requirement that they spend at least one night on the streets before being eligible for emergency shelter.

The Massachusetts Joint Committee on Housing was scheduled to hold a hearing on the legislation Tuesday, MassLive.com reported (http://bit.ly/2x8TFYN ).

Under cost-cutting regulations adopted under former Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick in 2012, families must first stay overnight in a car, bus station, emergency room or other place "not meant for human habitation." Republican Gov. Charlie Baker has kept the rule in place.

"It shocks me to say it out loud," said State Rep. Marjorie Decker, a Cambridge Democrat and the primary sponsor of the bill. "This is no way for government to even think about dealing with homelessness."

The new legislation would let families that meet all other requirements, such as income eligibility, into state-funded shelters if they have no other feasible housing alternative.

The Baker administration has declined to take a position on the bill. A spokeswoman for the Department of Housing and Economic Development said the administration will "carefully review any legislation reaching the governor's desk."

The Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless estimates doing away with the rule would cost the state $100,000 to $300,000 per year.
TARRAGONA, Spain (AP) - Matteo Trentin of Italy won a sprint finish to claim the fourth stage of the Spanish Vuelta on Tuesday, while Chris Froome maintained his overall race lead.

Trentin powered past Juan Jose Lobato and had time to lift his arms in victory as he crossed the finish line of the 198-kilometer (123-mile) flat ride from Andorra to the coastal city of Tarragona.

"I was really looking for the victory because I have been going good this season," Trentin said. "Everybody pulled together. It was really beautiful coming into the finish."

The 28-year-old Trentin has now won stages at all three Grand Tours, with two stage wins on the Tour de France and one at the Giro d'Italia.

Trentin's Quick-Step Floors team continued its excellent start to Vuelta. It was second in the opening team time trial, Yves Lampaert and Trentin pulled off a one-two finish in the second stage, and David de la Cruz was second on the third stage.

Two riders, Stephane Rossetto and Diego Rubio, led a breakaway that was neutralized by the peloton with less than 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) to go.

Froome, who finished in 17th place with the same time as Trentin, kept his two-second lead over De la Cruz, Nicolas Roche, and Tejay Van Garderen.

Wednesday's fifth stage is a hilly 175.7-kilometer (109.1-mile) ride from Benicassim to Alcossebre.

The race ends in Madrid on Sept. 10.
CAIRO (AP) - White House adviser Jared Kushner arrived in Cairo on Wednesday, the latest stop on his Mideast trip exploring the possibilities of reviving the long-dormant Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.

The trip come in the wake of a July crisis between the Israelis and Palestinians at the site of a major Jerusalem holy shrine after Israel installed metal detectors at its entrance after an attack there killed two Israeli officers. The move incensed the Muslim world, triggering some of the worst Israeli-Palestinian clashes in years. Israel later removed the detectors.

Kushner, who is also the son-in-law of President Donald Trump, is heading a U.S. delegation that includes Jason Greenblatt, envoy for international negotiations, and Dina Powell, deputy national security adviser. They are scheduled to meet Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry later on Wednesday.

King Abdullah II, right, receives White House adviser, Jared Kushner, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017, in Amman, Jordan. Kushner has touched down in Cairo, the latest stop on his Mideast trip to discuss the possibility of resuming the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Egypt's Foreign Ministry says Kushner, who is also the son-in-law of President Donald Trump, will meet Egyptian officials, including Foreign Minister Sameh Shourky. (The Royal Hashemite Court Twitter via AP)

Before Egypt, Kushner and the U.S. officials traveled on Tuesday to Jordan, where they met with King Abdullah II, according to the state-run Petra News Agency. The king acknowledged the importance of U.S. involvement and Trump's commitment to reach a peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians, the agency said.

And earlier on Tuesday, the delegation was in the Persian Gulf. On Thursday, the American officials are expected to hold separate meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Kushner, Greenblatt and Powell have been heavily involved in a behind-the-scenes process to help Trump broker peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, which the first-year president has called the "ultimate deal."

The talks this week are aimed at helping forge a path to substantive peace negotiations, but no major breakthroughs are expected.

Trump has not outright endorsed the two-state solution, which has been at the heart of U.S. policy for nearly two decades.

The American president has urged Israel to show restraint in settlement construction, but has not demanded a freeze, disappointing Palestinians. Trump also pushed back a decision on his campaign pledge to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Israel has welcomed the promise, while the Palestinians have strongly opposed it.

Ahead of the delegation's visit to Egypt, the Trump administration on Tuesday cut nearly $100 million in military and economic aid to Egypt and delayed almost $200 million more in military financing, pending human rights improvements and action to ease harsh restrictions on civic and other non-governmental groups.

The moves underscore the U.S. administration's delicate diplomacy with Egypt, which has been widely criticized for its rights record and yet is a staunch counterterrorism partner.

It wasn't immediately clear if Kushner and the American delegation would discuss the aid cuts while in Egypt.

___

Associated Press writers Ken Thomas in Washington and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - An alleged would-be suicide bomber arrested one day before the planned bombing of a popular family attraction in the Indonesian capital should spend a decade in prison, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Dian Yulia Novi and her husband Nur Solihin were among four suspected militants arrested in December after police detected a plot to bomb a guard-changing ceremony at the presidential palace in Jakarta.

Chief prosecutor Juhana Nurhisyam told the East Jakarta District Court that Novi, a former migrant worker in Singapore and Taiwan who is nine months' pregnant, admitted during her trial that she took orders from Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian with the Islamic State group in Syria accused of orchestrating several attacks in Indonesia.

Indonesian militant Dian Yulia Novi, center, is flanked by her husband Nur Solihin, right, and her recruiter Tutin as they sit on the defendant's bench during their trial hearing at East Jakarta District Court in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017. Prosecutors demanded that Novi, a would-be suicide bomber, should spend 10 years in prison for plotting an attack in Indonesia's capital. Police say Novi planned to detonate a 3-kilogram (6.6-pound) bomb that would have exploded as crowds of people gathered to watch the ceremony, a popular family attraction in Jakarta. Prosecutors also demanded five and 15 years jail term for Tutin and Solihin respectively. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)

Police say Novi, 28, planned to detonate a 3-kilogram (6.6-pound) bomb that would have exploded as crowds of people gathered to watch the ceremony, a popular family attraction in Jakarta.

"She has been convincingly proven guilty," Nurhisyam said.

Novi said in a television interview after her arrest that she learned about jihad on social media and was influenced by articles written by Aman Abdurrahman, a radical cleric who police on Tuesday declared was the key suspect behind a suicide bombing and gun attack that killed eight people in Jakarta last year.

Novi and her lawyers will respond to the prosecution's case on Friday. One of the lawyers, Kasmi, who uses a single name, told The Associated Press that Novi didn't become aware of her pregnancy until several weeks after being arrested.

IS-inspired militants have not made a big impact with their attacks in Indonesia because of effective counterterrorism policing, controls on gun ownership and lack of expertise in bomb making. But authorities fear that could change if Indonesians who fought with IS in the Middle East or in Marawi in the southern Philippines return home.

In a separate trial at the same court, prosecutors are seeking five years in prison for Tutin, who is accused of radicalizing Novi and encouraging her to become a suicide bomber. She was also the person who introduced Novi to Solihin.

Solihin, the alleged leader of a small extremist cell in Central Java's Solo city, told Indonesian TV following his arrest that he married Novi to facilitate her desire to become a suicide bomber.

Prosecutors are requesting 15 years in prison for Solihin and eight years for a fourth suspected militant, Agus Supriadi.
MOSCOW (AP) - An exhibition describing a unique chapter in the history of Soviet culture - bootleg music recordings made on used X-ray film - has opened in Moscow.

From the late 1940s to the early 1960s, ingenuous Soviet music lovers made bootleg copies of banned music on used X-ray snapshots, bypassing strict official controls over recordings people were allowed to listen to. They are played on normal record players.

The Bone Music exhibition, which opened in Moscow's Garage Museum of Contemporary Art last week, presents research by X-Ray Audio, a project by Stephen Coates and Paul Heartfield from London.

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, a music recording on an X-ray film is displayed at the Bone Music exhibition at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, in Moscow, Russia . The exhibition describes a unique chapter in history of Soviet culture _ bootleg music recordings made on used X-ray film . (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Coates, a composer and music producer, described the recordings as "images of pain and damage inscribed with the sound of forbidden pleasure; fragile photographs of the interiors of Soviet citizens layered with the ghostly music they secretly loved."

The clandestine recordings weren't limited to jazz and rock-n-roll, vilified by Communist propaganda as manifestations of Western decadence. They also featured Russian emigre music, as well as popular prison and Gypsy songs also tabooed by Soviet ideologists.

The industry that put bootleggers at risk of arrest gradually died out in the mid-1960s with the appearance of reel-to-reel recorders.

Along with the original recordings on X-ray film, the exhibition tells the stories of people who made, distributed and played them. The installation produced for the Moscow exhibition immerses the audience in an atmosphere that mixes underground technology, forbidden culture, Cold War politics and human ingenuity.

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, Paul Heartfield, one of London's most experienced and respected portrait artists checks a recording during a concert at the Bone Music exhibition at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, in Moscow, Russia . The exhibition describes a unique chapter in history of Soviet culture _ bootleg music recordings made on used X-ray film . (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, Stephen Coates, composer and music producer, addresses visitors during a concert at the Bone Music exhibition at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, in Moscow, Russia . The exhibition describes a unique chapter in history of Soviet culture _ bootleg music recordings made on used X-ray film . (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, Paul Heartfield, one of London's most experienced and respected portrait artists starts to record on an X-ray film during a concert at the Bone Music exhibition at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, in Moscow, Russia . The exhibition describes a unique chapter in history of Soviet culture _ bootleg music recordings made on used X-ray film . (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, Stephen Coates, composer and music producer performs during a concert at the Bone Music exhibition at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, in Moscow, Russia . The exhibition describes a unique chapter in history of Soviet culture _ bootleg music recordings made on used X-ray film . (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, visitors react during a concert at the Bone Music exhibition at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, in Moscow, Russia . The exhibition describes a unique chapter in history of Soviet culture _ bootleg music recordings made on used X-ray film . (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, Paul Heartfield, one of London's most experienced and respected portrait artist checks a recording made during a concert at at the Bone Music exhibition at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, in Moscow, Russia .The exhibition describes a unique chapter in history of Soviet culture _ bootleg music recordings made on used X-ray film . (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, visitors attend the Bone Music exhibition with a big copy of an X-ray film in the background at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, in Moscow, Russia . The exhibition describes a unique chapter in history of Soviet culture _ bootleg music recordings made on used X-ray film . (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, visitors attend the Bone Music exhibition with a big copy of an X-ray film in the background at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, in Moscow, Russia . The exhibition describes a unique chapter in history of Soviet culture _ bootleg music recordings made on used X-ray film . (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, visitors attend the Bone Music exhibition with a big copy of an X-ray film in the background at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, in Moscow, Russia . The exhibition describes a unique chapter in history of Soviet culture _ bootleg music recordings made on used X-ray film . (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, Russian singer Miriam Sekhon, center, performs as Paul Heartfield, one of London's most experienced and respected portrait artists, second right, records a music on an X-ray film during a concert at the Bone Music exhibition at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, in Moscow, Russia . The exhibition describes a unique chapter in history of Soviet culture _ bootleg music recordings made on used X-ray film . (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, Paul Heartfield, one of London's most experienced and respected portrait artists checks a music recorded on an X-ray film during at the Bone Music exhibition at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, in Moscow, Russia . The exhibition describes a unique chapter in history of Soviet culture _ bootleg music recordings made on used X-ray film . (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, visitors attend a concert at the Bone Music exhibition at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, in Moscow, Russia . The exhibition describes a unique chapter in history of Soviet culture _ bootleg music recordings made on used X-ray film . (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, a visitor takes a photo of a music recording on an X-ray film is displayed at the Bone Music exhibition at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, in Moscow, Russia . The exhibition describes a unique chapter in history of Soviet culture _ bootleg music recordings made on used X-ray film . (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
News / National

by AP

Accused of assaulting a young model in a Johannesburg hotel, the wife of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is a fiery character with political ambitions who describes herself as the "mother of the nation" and whose scoldings of top figures in her husband's government earned her the nickname "Dr. Stop It."Grace Mugabe returned to Zimbabwe on Sunday after South Africa granted diplomatic immunity despite calls for her prosecution in the alleged attack on August 13, though a group representing the young woman has gone to court in the hope of complicating any attempt by Mugabe to return to South Africa.The impact of the scandal on Zimbabwe's first lady, whose political maneuvers have stirred speculation that she wants to succeed her 93-year-old husband, has yet to be determined. State-run media have been largely silent about her recent troubles."For Grace, the surprise was probably to the extent to which some people were trying to hold her accountable. She is not used to that," said Alex Rusero, a political analyst in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare.He said her supporters likely will not be swayed by the scandal even if rivals try to use it against her, and that "if anything, she will be back on the campaign trail" claiming she was targeted in South Africa by old enemies of her husband.Grace Mugabe has not appeared at any official events since returning to Harare, though she could join her husband on Friday at a scheduled appearance at an agricultural show in the capital, or when he presides over the funeral of an independence war veteran on Saturday.Long before 20-year-old Gabriella Engels claimed that Grace Mugabe whipped her with an extension cord at a luxury Johannesburg hotel, the first lady's reputation for combative behavior was so pronounced that her husband, a shrewd and sometimes ruthless operator in power since independence from white minority rule in 1980, once described her as "fireworks."In 2009, the first lady escaped charges through diplomatic immunity after allegedly assaulting a British journalist who tried to photograph her while she was shopping in Hong Kong.She campaigned successfully for the ouster of Vice President Joice Mujuru in 2014 as factions in Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF party jostled for influence in anticipation of the eventual end of the elderly president's rule.Grace Mugabe also scolded presidential spokesperson George Charamba at a rally last month ahead of next year's election, accusing him of using his hold on state media to attack politicians aligned with her support base."You cannot separate the president from his wife. That can't happen," the 52-year-old first lady said. She wagged a finger at Charamba, who stood still, sheepish and nodding.President Robert Mugabe plucked his second wife from the secretarial staff decades ago, and she has since become head of the ruling party's women's league.She recently publicly challenged her husband to name a successor, a taboo topic in a country where critics of the president have sometimes been sidelined, jailed or, according to human rights activists, beaten and abducted.At the same time, the first lady has lashed out at anyone perceived to be undermining her husband.On one occasion, Grace Mugabe all but threatened lawmaker Fortune Chasi when he was a deputy justice minister, accusing him of frustrating her efforts to obtain more land near a farm she owns. The area has gold reserves, and some villagers there pan for gold."I might have a small fist but when it comes to fighting I will put stones inside to enlarge it, or even put on gloves to make it bigger. Do not doubt my capabilities," she said at the time.Police later stormed the land, burned houses and ordered dozens of people occupying the area to leave. The villagers remained after a court said police acted illegally. In April, police again raided the area to force an eviction and arrested some residents.Despite an often abrasive manner, Grace Mugabe's commanding presence and charity work have won support from some Zimbabweans.The president, an intimidating figure in his own right, seems to know better than to defy his wife. At a ruling party congress in 2014, she passed a note asking him to end a long-winded speech."Even at home that's what she does to me, so I have to listen," Mugabe said as he left the podium.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The high-profile case of a former Oklahoma City police officer convicted of raping women while on duty focused the public's attention on the problem of sexual misconduct on the force, but his appeal raising questions about DNA evidence is playing out in secret.

Daniel Holtzclaw, now 30, was sentenced to 263 years in prison for preying on black women he encountered while patrolling poor neighborhoods of the city in 2013 and 2014. Defense attorneys appealed the conviction in February, arguing that prosecutors' faulty analysis of DNA from one of his accusers helped secure convictions on 18 counts involving eight women.

Holtzclaw's case became a rallying cry of the Black Lives Matter movement and a cause celebre for some conservatives. A 2015 Associated Press investigation highlighting it found about 1,000 officers in the U.S. lost their licenses for sexual misconduct over a six-year period - an undercount because some states don't have a method for banning problem officers. But filings in the case as recently as last week have been sealed by a court order.

FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2016, file photo, former Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw, center, and his attorney Scott Adams are seen at a sentencing hearing in Oklahoma City. Holtzclaw's conviction and 263-year prison sentence for rape and other sex crimes are coming under increased scrutiny as questions are raised about DNA evidence amid a series of sealed court filings and secret hearings. Holtzclaw is appealing the conviction. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, Pool, File)

Oklahoma's attorney general asked the state's highest criminal court in May to seal many of the records linked to Holtzclaw's appeal, a request the court granted without comment.

There were two days of closed hearings about the case in July, although it's unknown what was discussed. Video surveillance from outside the courtroom obtained by Oklahoma City TV station KOKH-25 shows high-ranking police and lab workers coming and going. Holtzclaw's attorneys from the state public defender's office are not seen in the footage, and they declined interview requests.

"Surely people can look at the entirety of the facts of this thing and say something doesn't smell right, something doesn't look right," said Brian Bates, an investigator for Holtzclaw's original defense team who has served as a spokesman for the former officer's family. "And there were certainly misdeeds by the prosecution that should result in a new trial."

In their appeal, which is public, Holtzclaw's new attorneys say his trial lawyers failed to adequately challenge a key witness for the prosecution - the Oklahoma City police lab analyst who said she found the teen's DNA near the zipper on the inside of Holtzclaw's uniform trousers.

That DNA, the defense argues, could have gotten onto Holtzclaw's clothes through non-sexual contact. Known as "touch" or "secondary transfer" DNA, some scientists say such genetic material can be passed from skin cells via a handshake. The lawyers also contend the lead prosecutor mischaracterized the DNA evidence in closing arguments as coming from vaginal fluid.

Their arguments were backed by a report written by six forensic scientists convened by a Holtzclaw supporter - one of two filings the court has refused to admit to the record.

Internal emails released through open records laws also show that District Attorney David Prater asked assistant prosecutors in May to notify him if they were working on pending cases involving Elaine Taylor, the police lab's former and longtime analyst who was the key DNA witness in Holtzclaw's trial.

Prater declined repeated requests to discuss the case but told AP that his email was not related to concerns about Taylor's work product or proposed testimony. Instead, Prater said, some evidence she had analyzed was being retested out of "logistical and trial strategy concerns." He did not elaborate.

Taylor, who retired in February, could not be reached for comment. A man who answered the phone at a number listed for her said Taylor would not want to speak to any reporters.

Randall Coyne, a retired University of Oklahoma professor who specialized in criminal law, said problems with testimony from lab workers about DNA evidence could prompt a new trial and have wider implications.

"It could blow things wide open. That's a good reason from a PR standpoint to keep things quiet, but it's also a reason why that information needs to be released so lawyers can have access to it," Coyne said.

Holtzclaw's attorneys argue that absent the DNA evidence jurors likely would have voted to acquit. But two jurors interviewed by the AP said they are confident the jury would have convicted him anyway.

Daniel Speaks, a truck driver from Oklahoma City, said DNA evidence was "pretty crucial" to juror deliberations, but "it wasn't strictly the DNA."

Juror Karen Hancock said she's still convinced Holtzclaw would have been convicted even without the DNA because of strong circumstantial evidence.

During Holtzclaw's monthlong trial, his defense painted him as a model officer who tried to help drug addicts and prostitutes he came across on patrol. But 13 women testified against him, and several said he stopped them, checked them for outstanding warrants or drug paraphernalia, and then forced himself on them.

Jannie Ligons' report of being sexually assaulted by a police officer in 2014 triggered the Holtzclaw investigation. AP does not identify victims of sex crimes without their consent, but Ligons has spoken publicly about the case and agreed to be named.

She testified during trial that Holtzclaw pulled her over as she was driving home from a friend's house after 2 a.m. Ligons said Holtzclaw asked if she had been drinking, made her lift her shirt and pull down her pants to prove she wasn't hiding anything and then ordered her to perform oral sex.

Ligons, now 61, says the notion of a new trial seems crazy because "everybody knows what he did."

In general, experts say, sexual assaults often go unreported. Those the police do investigate seldom include biological evidence linking attacker to victim, said Daniel Medwed, an expert in wrongful convictions based at Northeastern University in Boston.

That means other evidence, including victim testimony, can carry just as much weight.

"The mystique of DNA is such that people think it appears in every case, and it really doesn't," Medwed said. "It is incredibly accurate, but that doesn't mean it's foolproof."

___

Follow Sean Murphy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/apseanmurphy and Adam Kealoha Causey at https://twitter.com/akcausey .
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) - Chad's government says it is closing Qatar's embassy there and accuses the Gulf nation of trying to destabilize the Central African country via neighboring Libya.

The foreign ministry says in a statement Wednesday that Qatar's diplomats have 10 days to leave Chad. The statement also says Chad's embassy in Qatar is closing and its diplomats are leaving.

Chad is calling on Qatar to "cease all actions that could undermine its security as well as those of the countries of the Lake Chad basin and Sahel."

The statement gives no further details.

Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt months ago cut diplomatic and transport links with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorist groups and fomenting unrest in the region.

Qatar has rejected the allegation that it backs extremist groups.
TULSA, Okla. (AP) - A white former police officer is headed for a fourth trial in the killing of his daughter's black boyfriend, but Shannon Kepler has recently added another racial element to the case: He now says prosecutors can't try him because he's a member of an American Indian tribe.

Attorneys for Kepler also argue that the slaying happened on tribal land of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. If the court agrees, the case could be moved from state to federal court.

The 57-year-old former Tulsa officer is accused of fatally shooting 19-year-old Jeremey Lake in front of a house in 2014 while off-duty. Kepler does not deny pulling the trigger but told investigators he acted in self-defense because he thought Lake was armed. Police recovered no weapon on Lake or at the scene.

FILE - in this Friday, June 30, 2017, file photo, Shannon Kepler, left, arrives with his legal team for afternoon testimony in his third trial in Tulsa, Okla. Kepler, a former Tulsa, Okla., police officer facing a fourth trial in the killing of his daughter's black boyfriend has been referred to as white since the 2014 shooting. Now, he is claiming membership in an American Indian tribe, and says it's up to federal prosecutors to try him. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)

In three previous trials, jurors were unable to reach a verdict, resulting in mistrials. His fourth trial begins Oct. 9.

The case was already playing out in a "charged setting," said University of Oklahoma law professor Taiawagi Helton. The latest defense requests are like "somebody just threw another gallon of gas on the fire."

Kepler filed the request Aug. 11, three days after the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a death sentence for Patrick Dwayne Murphy, an Oklahoma inmate convicted of a 1999 murder. Murphy successfully argued that his case had to be tried in federal court because of his membership in the same tribe Kepler cites and because the killing happened within the nation's 11-county jurisdiction.

Both cases could have far-reaching implications for defendants who claim tribal membership, and they have drawn criticism from some members of the tribe.

The Oklahoma attorney general plans to ask the Denver-based appeals court to reconsider its ruling in Murphy's favor. Meanwhile, Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said he will probably challenge Kepler's assertion that he was an enrolled tribal member when he killed Lake.

Kepler claims to be 1/128th Creek, tracing his lineage to the Dawes Rolls, a historical document created by the federal government to determine who was an eligible member of certain tribes. The rolls include more than 100,000 names. Most of those on the list were accepted between 1899 and 1906.

"One of the ugly things about this is that federal law originally talked in terms of race," Helton said. "But we don't like talking about race, so we talk about citizenship."

The Creek tribe's citizenship office confirmed Kepler's membership this week.

"If you want to come in and say he's not Native American, that's fine," Kepler's defense attorney, Richard O'Carroll, told The Associated Press. "He's got credentials saying he's Native American. You are what the law says you are."

Joe Anderson, 37, is one of the 84,000 members of the Creek tribe, the fourth-largest in the U.S. He said he does not appreciate someone "trying to take refuge" with the tribe as a legal tactic.

"When someone does something like that, are they running from something?" Anderson said. "Are they guilty?"

Sam Deere, 57, another tribal member, said Kepler should "go take care of his problems first and (then) he might be accepted with open arms" by the Creeks.

Because the case could affect an untold number of other defendants with tribal blood accused of committing crimes in Indian country, the matter could eventually reach nation's highest court, said Judith Royster, a law professor at the University of Tulsa School of Law.

If the 10th Circuit decision stands, Royster said, "then you've got some interesting questions."
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - The owner of a saltwater aquarium business in Puerto Rico has pleaded guilty to illegally trafficking up to $1 million worth of protected coral and other reef species.

The U.S. Attorney's Office says Aristides Sanchez illegally sold native marine species including a popular one known as "polyps," which glow under UV light. Sanchez is alleged to have personally collected some of the specimens by using a chisel to collect chunks of reef while snorkeling off Rico.

He also is accused of using a fake name and falsely labeling at least 130 shipments sent from 2013 to 2016.

The federal courthouse in San Juan was closed Wednesday evening and it was not clear who may be Sanchez's legal representation. Sentencing is scheduled for December.
HELENA, Mont. (AP) - In a story Aug. 23 about the U.S. Department of Education awarding a second round of funding for Upward Bound programs that help low-income students who aspire to attend college, The Associated Press reported erroneously that Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis announced a $2.8 million grant. IUPUI received its funding in the first round and not in a second round that considered applications initially rejected due to formatting errors.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Education Department announces college prep grants

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a second round of funding for programs that help low-income students who aspire to attend college

By AMY BETH HANSON

Associated Press

HELENA, Mont. (AP) - The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a second round of funding for programs that help low-income students who aspire to attend college.

The Upward Bound awards are going to programs with applications that were initially rejected because of formatting errors such as not being double-spaced or using the wrong font.

Members of Congress on Wednesday confirmed five-year grants to several universities, including Wittenberg in Ohio, the University of Maine at Presque Isle, Columbia University in New York, and the University of Montana, along with Illinois Central College and Kankakee Community College in Illinois.

The grants included more than $623,000 a year for Maine at Presque Isle; over $356,000 for the University of Montana and nearly $517,000 for Wittenberg.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos initially said she would not reconsider the Upward Bound applications if they used the wrong font or were incorrectly spaced.

Program administrators and members of Congress decried the bureaucracy. A quarter of the U.S. Senate signed a letter asking that programs be allowed to submit corrected applications to "prevent this absurd result."

Because the grants are awarded for five years, programs with rejected applications would not have been able to seek funding again until 2022, meaning dozens would have to shut down.

A spending bill that Congress passed in May encouraged the Education Department to reconsider and included $50 million in funding for the grants.

Later that month, DeVos told a Senate committee that the 77 applications with formatting errors would be scored and considered in a second round of funding. It was not immediately clear on Wednesday how many schools received funding. Members of Congress were given information for their state.

More than 62,000 high school students around the country receive services from Upward Bound.

The program puts students on an academic track for college, includes summer programs that give them a taste of campus life, and arranges visits to colleges. Students can receive tutoring along with career advice and help in applying to colleges and obtaining scholarships and other financial aid.
A baby girl who was found dead in a car parked in a Procter & Gamble employee parking lot in Ohio was left there by her mother while she was at work, authorities said Wednesday night.

The 15-month-old was found around 5pm Wednesday in the P&G parking lot in Mason, about 25 miles northeast of Cincinnati, said Doyle Burke, the chief investigator for the Warren County Coroner's Office.

Burke said it appears the mother, who is a P&G employee, left the baby unattended in her car seat all day and called 911 when she returned to the vehicle and found the girl unresponsive.

A toddler left in a car at the Procter & Gamble Business Center in Ohio died on Wednesday

Police said they believe the death was the result of heat inside the vehicle

While an official cause of death has not yet been determined, investigators believe it was the result of high temperatures inside the vehicle.

'My baby just died. My baby just died. My baby just died!' said the woman who called police to report the death.

'She's dead. She's dead. She's dead!' the woman added. 'I left her in the car!'

When the dispatcher tried to walk her through administering mouth-to-mouth CPR, the woman said: 'She's dead! She's already dead!'

The preliminary findings of the autopsy, completed by Dr. Russell Uptegrove from the Warren County Coroner's Office, were consistent with a heat-related death.

'Even though it wasn't sweltering hot today, it's obviously gonna be hotter in the car,' Burke said. 'And certainly a 15-month-old is more susceptible to something like this than an adult. Any time something happens like this, it's preventable. It's a wakeup call to anyone who has children: Just be careful.'

Investigators said it was unclear if the mother would face any charges. They have not released her name.

'We are aware of a tragic accident that took place on the campus of P&G's Mason Business Center earlier today,' Cincinnati-based consumer products giant P&G said in a statement Wednesday night.

Video courtesy of FOX 19

The mother, a P&G employee, left her child unattended in the car all day

By the time crews arrived, the 15-month-old girl was dead in the back seat

'Our thoughts and prayers are with the affected family. We are providing our full support to both the family and local officials.'

A spokesperson for P&G said the company does not have a daycare facility.

While the investigation is ongoing, Burke said the case should serve as a warning to other parents.

'Well certainly anytime something like this happens that's preventable, it's a wake-up call to anyone that has children,' Burke said. 'Just be careful.'
BEIJING (AP) - Manchester United will begin the defense of its League Cup title with a home game against second-tier Burton Albion in the week commencing Sept. 18.

The official draw for the third round was staged in the Chinese capital on Thursday, before dawn in Britain.

Manchester City, the 2014 winners, will play away at West Brom, while eight-time winner Liverpool travels to Leicester.

In other third-round matches, Chelsea will host Nottingham Forest and Everton is at home to Sunderland.

The draw was held in Beijing as part of a push to increase the competition's exposure in Asia. The first-round draw was made in Thailand.
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) - The Reflections treatment center looked like just the place for Michelle Holley's youngest daughter to kick heroin. Instead, as with dozens of other addiction treatment centers in Florida, the owner was more interested in defrauding insurance companies by keeping his patients hooked, her family says.

"It looked fine. They were saying all the right things to me. I could not help my child so I trusted them to help my child," Holley said.

Instead, the center refused to give 19-year-old Jaime Holley her prescription medicine when she left, forcing her to use illegal drugs to avoid acute withdrawal symptoms, her mother said. She died of a heroin overdose last November. "Right to my face they lied to me, and I believed them."

In this Thursday, July 13, 2017 photo, Michelle Holley holds a photograph of her daughter Jaime Holley, 19, who died of a heroin overdose in November 2016, at her home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The Reflections treatment center looked like just the place for her youngest daughter to kick heroin. "It looked fine. They were saying all the right things to me. I could not help my child so I trusted them to help my child," Holley said. Instead, the center refused to give 19-year-old Jaime Holley her prescription medicine when she left, forcing her to use illegal drugs to avoid acute withdrawal symptoms, her mother said. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Rather than working to get people well, a growing number of unscrupulous industry players are focusing on getting patients to relapse so that insurance dollars keep rolling in, according to law enforcement officials, treatment experts and people trying to beat their addictions.

"It's terrible right now. I don't know of any business that wants to kill its customers, but this one does," said Timothy Schnellenberger, who has worked for years in running addiction recovery centers in Florida. "It really breaks my heart. Kids are dying left and right."

Reflections and Journey - both centers owned by Kenneth Chatman - are shuttered now, and Chatman is serving a 27-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to health care fraud and money laundering, but that's little comfort to Holley, who described her daughter's ordeal in an interview.

"I couldn't fix it. And as a parent, I wanted to fix it," she said, trying to contain her tears as she looked through her daughter's pictures and Mother's Day cards.

As drug addiction destroys families across America, "there's a need for a positive, vibrant recovery network to help people get off of opioids," said State Attorney Dave Aronberg, chief prosecutor in Palm Beach County. "You can't just arrest your way out of this problem."

But lately, sunny South Florida has become the focal point of rampant insurance fraud that relies on a lethal cycle of intentional failure, authorities say.

"The incentive is to keep them in this relapse system, this gravy train that doesn't end until the person leaves in a body bag or an ambulance," said Aronberg, whose opioid task force has made more than 30 fraud arrests. "There's no money in sobriety."

Overcoming substance abuse generally involves a treatment center, where urine tests are done, prescriptions dispensed and recovery group meetings held, and a "sober home," where people recovering from addictions live together to get group support.

It's a $1 billion business in Palm Beach County alone, federal officials say.

Florida has the most sober homes per capita of any state, said David Sheridan, President of the National Alliance for Recovery Residences. Opioid treatment fraud has surfaced in California and Arizona, but Florida stands out, in part because so many people come for treatment.

Two people overdose on opioids every day in Palm Beach County, mainly from heroin laced with the synthetic drug fentanyl, investigators say. Statewide, deaths from this combination rose 75 percent in 2015 as more than 2,500 people died in Florida from opioid-related overdoses, according to the state medical examiner.

One operation alone - the Real Life Recovery Delray treatment center and the Halfway There Florida home - collected almost $19 million by fraudulently billing insurance companies for $58 million over four years, according to the FBI. That case has not yet gone to trial.

The FBI affidavit said the fraud included unnecessary or faked urinalysis samples, double-billing, and paying kickbacks to patients in the form of gift cards, trips to casinos and strip clubs, and free airline tickets. Other tactics included paying "patient brokers" to illegally direct addicts to particular facilities.

Chatman's patients were given drugs to trigger a positive drug test so they could be considered in "relapse" when their insurance coverage was about to expire. Court documents say he induced some female patients into prostitution for free rent at his sober home, and confiscated car keys, cellphones and prescription medications.

"They don't care if you die. They just want to keep swiping that insurance card so they can keep getting money out of you," said Blake Oppenheimer of Louisville, Kentucky, who was ordered into treatment, and landed in a center that was shut down for fraud. "I felt like I was something in a store that was just trying to be sold over and over again."

Fraudulent operators are exploiting a web of state and federal laws that make oversight difficult. People being treated for addictions are protected by the Americans With Disabilities Act and health privacy laws. With children up to age 26 now covered under their parents' insurance, there's more money to be made.

The Florida Legislature has imposed tougher penalties for patient brokering and new limits on deceptive marketing techniques. Delray Beach and Boynton Beach approved new rules for group homes, requiring them to be accredited by a regulatory organization such as the Florida Association of Recovery Residences.

Oppenheimer, 23, is now at Schnellenberger's Recovery Boot Camp, and hopes someday to return to college to study neuroscience.

"This is like the last house on the block for me," he said. "This is my last opportunity, and I've got to use it."

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Associated Press reporter Joshua Replogle contributed to this report.

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Follow Curt Anderson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Miamicurt

In this Friday, July 21, 2017 photo, officials with Delray Beach Fire Rescue, respond to a call at a drug treatment center in Delray Beach, Fla. Sunny South Florida, long a national hub of the substance abuse recovery industry, has now become the focal point of rampant insurance fraud that relies on a lethal cycle of failure, authorities say. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

In this Thursday, June 29, 2017 photo, Blake Oppenheimer, 23, reads in his room at Recovery Boot Camp in Delray Beach, Fla. Oppenheimer, who is in recovery for drug addiction, came to Recovery Boot Camp from a fraudulent sober home which was recently shut down. 'They don't care if you die. They just want to keep swiping that insurance card so they can keep getting money out of you. ... I felt like I was something in a store that was just trying to be sold over and over again." (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

In this Thursday, July 6, 2017 photo, recovering addicts join hands during a meeting at Recovery Boot Camp, in Delray Beach, Fla. The center is run by Timothy Schnellenberger, who has operated treatment centers since 2002. He says that the influx of criminal operators has cast a dark shadow over an industry with deep roots in South Florida. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

In this Thursday, July 6, 2017 photo, Timothy Schnellenberger, rear right, speaks with recovering addicts at his substance abuse treatment center, Recovery Boot Camp, in Delray Beach, Fla. Schnellenberger has operated treatment centers since 2002, and says that the influx of criminal operators has cast a dark shadow over an industry with deep roots in South Florida. "It's terrible right now. I don't know of any business that wants to kill its customers, but this one does," says Schnellenberger, who has worked for years in addiction recovery in Florida. "It really breaks my heart. Kids are dying left and right." (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

This Thursday, June 29, 2017 photo shows a slogan is on the storefront of Journey, a former substance abuse treatment center, in Lake Worth, Fla. Now closed, it was one of two owned by Kenneth Chatman, who is now serving a 27-year federal prison sentence for health care fraud and money laundering convictions. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

In this Friday, July 21, 2017 photo, Delray Beach police officer Stephanie Holst, searches a woman for suspected drug paraphernalia at a city park in Delray Beach, Fla. As drug addiction destroys families across America, "there's a need for a positive, vibrant recovery network to help people get off of opioids," said State Attorney Dave Aronberg, chief prosecutor in Palm Beach County. "You can't just arrest your way out of this problem." But lately, South Florida has become the focal point of rampant insurance fraud that relies on a lethal cycle of failure, authorities say. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

In this Friday, July 21, 2017 photo, a woman is handcuffed after being searched by police for suspected drug paraphernalia at a city park in Delray Beach, Fla. As drug addiction destroys families across America, "there's a need for a positive, vibrant recovery network to help people get off of opioids," said State Attorney Dave Aronberg, chief prosecutor in Palm Beach County. "You can't just arrest your way out of this problem." But lately, South Florida has become the focal point of rampant insurance fraud that relies on a lethal cycle of failure, authorities say. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

FILE - In this Dec. 10, 2015 file photo, Kenneth Chatman walks to the Reflections Treatment Center in Margate, Fla. Reflections is now closed and Chatman is serving a 27-year federal prison sentence for health care fraud and money laundering convictions. Chatman's patients were given drugs to trigger a positive drug test so they could be considered in "relapse" when their insurance coverage was about to expire. Court documents say he induced some female patients into prostitution for free rent at his sober home, and confiscated car keys, cellphones and prescription medications. (Richard Graulich/Palm Beach Post via AP)
In this photo by Associated Press photographer Manish Swarup, a stray dog runs behind Indian soldiers before the start of a ceremonial welcome at the presidential palace in New Delhi.

The soldiers made up the honor guard cordon for Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who was being welcomed by Indian President Narendra Modi. Deuba is making a five-day visit to India.

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A stray dog runs across as Indian soldiers await the arrival of Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, for his ceremonial reception at the Indian presidential palace in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. Deuba is on a five-day visit to India. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

This image was made with a 138mm lens at a shutter speed of 1/500, aperture of f5, and ISO 200.
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CAIRO (AP) - Sudan's foreign ministry says Russia's ambassador to the African country has been found dead in his residence in Khartoum.

In a statement carried by the state-run SUNA news agency on Wednesday, the ministry said Ambassador Mirgayas Shirinsky died Wednesday and offered its condolences to the government and people of Russia.

The ministry praised Shirinsky's diplomatic efforts while in office but offered no details on the circumstances surrounding his death.

Shirinsky, who was in his 60s, had been in the Russian diplomatic service since 1977 and had previously served in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Rwanda.

He was appointed ambassador to Sudan in 2013.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - Charlottesville officials met privately Thursday to discuss "personnel matters" in the wake of a deadly white nationalist rally, the city's mayor said in a statement in which he also asserted he'd been largely shut out of security preparations for the event.

In a lengthy statement on Facebook posted ahead of the meeting, Mayor Mike Signer wrote that under Charlottesville's form of government, the city manager "has total operational authority" over events like the Aug. 12 rally.

Signer, who has a spot on the five-person City Council, said the group was not given the security plan for the rally. He also wrote that when he asked during a briefing days before the event what he could do to be helpful, Police Chief Al Thomas responded, "Stay out of my way."

City workers drape a tarp over the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Emancipation park in Charlottesville, Va., Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017. The move to cover the statues is intended to symbolize the city's mourning for Heather Heyer, killed while protesting a white nationalist rally earlier this month. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

The statement comes as city leaders are facing scrutiny over their response to the event, believed to be the largest gathering of white nationalists in at least a decade. Crowds fought violently in the streets, one woman was killed when a car plowed into a group of counter-protesters, and two state troopers died when their helicopter crashed.

Charlottesville residents, rally organizers and law enforcement experts are among those who have criticized the city's handling of the lead-up to the rally and the chaos that ensued. Anger boiled over at a city council meeting earlier this week, where scores of people screamed and cursed at councilors. Some called for the leaders to resign.

Signer said the events on Aug. 12 "raised serious questions about the city's handling of security, communications, and governance."

Those are questions that the city council should ask "as the ultimate authority over the city manager," he wrote.

The council met behind closed doors Thursday morning. Signer and Vice Mayor Wes Bellamy told reporters as they exited that Thomas and City Manager Maurice Jones were still employed.

Councilors discussed "an array of different things that transpired and how we can improve," Bellamy told The Associated Press, declining to elaborate further because the meeting was a closed session.

The council has called for an independent review of all decisions related not only to Aug. 12, but also a July KKK rally and a prior torch-lit rally of white nationalists at Emancipation Park, Signer said in his statement. He said he expects details to be announced shortly.

The rally was sparked by the city's decision to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Emancipation Park, a decision that's on hold while a lawsuit plays out. On Wednesday, workers draped the statue of Lee and another of Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson in black fabric meant to symbolize the city's mourning.

City officials had been expected to host a "community recovery town hall" Thursday evening in collaboration with the Community Relations Services of the Department of Justice. But they announced Thursday morning that it had been rescheduled for Sunday due to conflicts with a local high school's student activities.

Officials will provide an update on "recovery efforts" at that meeting and offer opportunities for public comment, according to a news release.

In other developments Thursday, Christopher Cantwell, a white nationalist from Keene, New Hampshire, made an initial appearance in Albemarle County General District Court.

He faces two counts of the illegal use of tear gas or other gases and one count of malicious bodily injury with a "caustic substance," explosive or fire in connection with a torch-lit rally on the University of Virginia campus the night before the white nationalist rally.

Contacted by The Associated Press on Tuesday, Cantwell acknowledged he had pepper-sprayed a counter-demonstrator. But he insisted he was defending himself, saying he did it "because my only other option was knocking out his teeth." He also said he was looking forward to his day in court.

UVA police said late Wednesday night that he had turned himself in.

Cantwell told a judge Thursday that he planned to hire his own attorney, The Daily Progress reported . The judge did not set bond, but told Cantwell his attorney could request a bond hearing later.

City workers prepare to drape a tarp over the statue of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson in Justice park in Charlottesville, Va., Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017. The move to cover the statues is intended to symbolize the city's mourning for Heather Heyer, killed while protesting a white nationalist rally earlier this month. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Residents and visitors look over the covered Ce statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Emancipation park in Charlottesville, Va., Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017. The move to cover the statues is intended to symbolize the city's mourning for Heather Heyer, killed while protesting a white nationalist rally earlier this month. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
BERLIN (AP) - German prosecutors say a Vietnamese man suspected of hiring a van used to kidnap a former Vietnamese oil executive in Berlin has been handed over by the Czech Republic.

German authorities have accused Vietnam's intelligence service and embassy of involvement in the kidnap of Trinh Xuan Thanh on July 23, and have kicked out the country's intelligence attache. Vietnam says however that Thanh turned himself in to police in his homeland.

Federal prosecutors said a 46-year-old identified only as Long N.H. was arrested in the Czech Republic Aug. 12 and handed over to Germany Wednesday. They said Thursday he rented the van in Prague July 20 and then brought it to Berlin.

Prosecutors say that the suspect is accused of espionage and being an accessory to unlawful detention.
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - On the 26th anniversary of Ukraine's independence from Moscow, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis accused Russia of menacing Europe and suggested that he favors providing Ukraine with defensive lethal weapons.

Mattis also said the Trump administration will not accept Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region.

After attending a spirted and colorful independence day parade, Mattis met with President Petro Poroshenko and other top government leaders. He is the first Pentagon chief to visit the former Soviet republic since Robert Gates in 2007.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, center, attends a military parade to celebrate independence day in Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. The Ukraine officially declared itself independent from the Soviet Union on April 24, 1991. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

"Have no doubt," Mattis said at a news conference with Poroshenko. "The United States stands with Ukraine." He said Washington does not, "and we will not," accept Russia's annexation of Crimea, a 2014 action that was followed by Russian military intervention in support of separatists in eastern Ukraine.

"Despite Russia's denials, we know they are seeking to redraw international borders by force," Mattis said, an ambition by Moscow that the secretary said is undermining sovereign European nations and stirring tension.

Asked by a reporter whether he agrees with the Obama administration's view that selling defensive lethal weapons to Ukraine would provoke Moscow, Mattis replied, "Defensive weapons are not provocative unless you're an aggressor."

Mattis declined to say explicitly what he would recommend to the White House on the weapons issue. He did not say so, but it is known that the Pentagon and the State Department have recommended going ahead with defensive weapons transfers to Ukraine.

Poroshenko sidestepped the question of how soon he expects a White House decision on arms.

In his remarks, Mattis cited agreements and commitments that Moscow has made since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, including a two-year-old accord known as the Minsk Agreement, which lays out a roadmap for reducing the conflict in Ukraine that has claimed some 10,000 lives over the past three years. He also cited other Russian commitments to Ukraine dating to 1994.

"Unfortunately, Russia is not adhering to the letter, much less the spirit of these international commitments," he said.

It has been known for weeks that the Trump administration has reopened consideration of long-rejected plans to give Ukraine lethal weapons.

Those deliberations put pressure on President Donald Trump, who is fighting perceptions he is soft on Moscow amid investigations into whether his campaign colluded with the Kremlin to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election.

In his remarks alongside Poroshenko, Mattis said the U.S. is committed to helping Ukraine build and modernize its armed forces.

Sen. John McCain, a vocal critic of President Barack Obama's cautious approach to assisting the Ukrainian army, said Wednesday that Trump should change that course.

"It is long past time for the United States to provide Ukraine the defensive lethal assistance it needs to deter and defend against further Russian aggression," McCain said in a statement.

Raising the cost of aggression may help to change Vladimir Putin's calculus, pressure Russia to fully comply with the Minsk agreements, and, ultimately, create more stable security conditions on the ground that are essential for peace."
PORT REPUBLIC, N.J. (AP) - A New Jersey man took a parting shot at the Philadelphia Eagles in his obituary.

Jeffrey Riegel, 56, died last Friday. Before his death, the Port Republic, New Jersey, man promised friends a funny message in his obituary.

The longtime Eagles fan's obituary asked for Riegel "to have 8 Philadelphia Eagles as pall bearers so the Eagles can let him down one last time."

FILE - In this Nov. 22, 2015, file photo, a fan wears a paper bag on his head in the stands of Lincoln Financial Field during the second half of an NFL football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Philadelphia. The obituary for an Eagles fan who died Aug. 18, 2017, stated that he wanted 8 members of the team to serve as pallbearers so the Eagles could let him down "one last time." (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

Riegel was a passionate Eagles fan who owned season tickets for more than 30 years. Sadly, the Eagles never won a Super Bowl during his lifetime.

It was not always an easy team to love, his wife, Donna Lee Riegel, said. She sometimes suggested he pay allegiance to a different team.

According to her, "I just can't" was his response.

Riegel's friend, Lou Jiacopello, tells the Press of Atlantic City he couldn't help but laugh at his friend's humor.

Eight friends wearing Eagles jerseys were to lay Riegel to rest on Thursday at St. Paul's United Methodist Church's cemetery in Port Republic.

Riegel did get to see the Eagles win one last time before his death, Donna Lee Riegel said. He saw last Thursday's 20-16 preseason victory over the Buffalo Bills.

"He got to see them go out on a win," his wife said, suggesting that may have been what he needed to make peace with death.

A spokesperson for the Eagles declined to comment about Riegel's request.
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - A commission led by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has recommended economic development and social justice to counter deadly violence between Buddhists and Muslims in Myanmar's Rakhine state, stressing that the government of Aung San Suu Kyi must act quickly and decisively.

The Rakhine Commission, established in August 2016 at Suu Kyi's behest, says in a report that the situation in Rakhine state is becoming more precarious and requires a sustained and coordinated effort by civilian and military authorities.

The report, presented Thursday at a news conference attended by Annan, says it is essential to ensure equal rights for Muslim Rohingya, while acknowledging that will be controversial among the Buddhist Rakhine community that considers them illegal immigrants.
LEEDS, England (AP) - England allrounder Chris Woakes will stake a claim for a starting spot in the upcoming Ashes series when he returns to the team for the second test against West Indies starting Friday.

England captain Joe Root said Thursday that Woakes, who is fit again after a side strain sustained during the Champions Trophy in June, will replace Toby Roland-Jones in the only change from the innings-and-209-run win in the first test.

Roland-Jones took 14 wickets in his first three internationals, including a five-wicket haul against South Africa, and Root said the seamer "has not done a lot wrong."

England's Toby Roland Jones, left, celebrates taking the final West Indies wicket during day three of the day-night Test match between England and the West Indies, at Edgbaston in Birmingham, England, Saturday Aug. 19, 2017. (David Davies/PA via AP)

"I see him playing a massive part for us moving forward," Root said, "but it's a great chance for Chris now to come back into the side and show his class like he did last year."

Woakes was a key component of England's test side last year, finishing 2016 with 41 wickets at 25.41. However, he has fierce competition for his place ahead of the Ashes following the emergence of Roland-Jones.

There was a big gulf between England and West Indies in the day-night test at Edgbaston last week and the hosts are favored to clinch the series by winning at Headingley. The final test is at Lord's next month.
WOODBRIDGE, N.J. (AP) - Some talk and laughs paid off for a waitress in New Jersey.

Brianna Siegel served a couple on Tuesday evening at Bar Louie in Woodbridge. After they paid their $20 bill, they handed her an envelope and told her to open it when she got home.

Siegel tells News 12 New Jersey (http://bit.ly/2itXswq ) she nearly fell on her knees when she got home, opened it and found a check made out to her for $1,200. The couple also included a note that said, in part, "Whenever it gets hard, know God got you."

Siegel says she deposited the check and plans to use the money toward nursing school and a new car.

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Information from: News 12, http://www.news12.com
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Bahraini authorities say they have arrested seven people allegedly linked to a Shiite militant group.

The Ministry of Interior said on Thursday that those arrested were part of a 10-person cell "suspected of carrying out terrorist activities." It says the cell is led by Hussain Ali Ahmed Dawood, who is believed to be in Iran and who is a leader in the Ashtar Brigade, which has claimed past bombings and attacks in the tiny Gulf nation.

Among those arrested is a man described as the group's main bomb maker. The three others at large include Dawood and two drivers who have been previously convicted in terrorism cases.

Bahrain has been roiled by years of low-level unrest following a 2011 uprising led by its majority Shiites against the country's Sunni monarchy.
FAIRVIEW, Okla. (AP) - Investigators say two inmates who escaped after overpowering prison transport officers in northwest Oklahoma have been spotted at a convenience store more than 130 miles (209 kilometers) away.

The Major County Sheriff's Office said Thursday that the men were seen on surveillance video Wednesday at a Quik Trip along Interstate 44 in the Tulsa suburb of Sapulpa.

The office says the two were driving a semitrailer reported stolen in the Oklahoma City suburb of El Reno.

Authorities say 32-year-old Andrew Foy and 37-year-old Darren Walp escaped after stealing the transport van Tuesday morning. The van was later found with an empty gun holster inside. Authorities say the inmates may be armed.

Authorities say Foy was being taken to Wyoming and Walp to Kansas, both to face charges for nonviolent offenses.
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced Thursday he won't seek to rescind any national monuments carved from the wilderness and oceans by past presidents. But he said he will press for some boundary changes and left open the possibility of allowing drilling, mining or other industries on the sites.

Twenty-seven monuments were put under review in April by President Donald Trump, who has charged that the millions of acres designated for protection by President Barack Obama were part of a "massive federal land grab."

If Trump adopts Zinke's recommendations, it could ease some of the worst fears of his opponents, who warned that vast public lands and marine areas could be stripped of federal protection.

FILE - In this May 28, 2013, file photo, a hiker walks on a rock formation known as The Wave in the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument in Arizona. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said he's recommending that none of 27 national monuments carved from wilderness and ocean and under review by the Trump administration be eliminated, including the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. (AP Photo/Brian Witte, File)

But significant reductions in the size of the monuments or changes to what activities are allowed on them could trigger fierce resistance, too, including lawsuits.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Zinke said he is recommending changes to a "handful" of sites, including unspecified boundary adjustments, and suggested some monuments are too large.

The White House said only that it received Zinke's recommendations and is reviewing them.

Conservationists and tribal leaders responded with alarm and distrust, demanding the full release of Zinke's recommendations and vowing to challenge attempts to shrink any monuments.

Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters, called Zinke's review a pretext for "selling out our public lands and waters" to the oil industry and others.

Jacqueline Savitz, senior vice president of Oceana, which has been pushing for preservation of five marine monuments included in the review, said that simply saying "changes" are coming doesn't reveal any real information.

"A change can be a small tweak or near annihilation," Savitz said. "The public has a right to know."

A tribal coalition that pushed for the creation of the 2,100-square-mile Bears Ears National Monument on sacred tribal land in Utah said it is prepared to launch a legal fight against even a slight reduction in its size.

Zinke has previously said Bears Ears should be downsized.

Republican Utah state Rep. Mike Noel, who has pushed to rescind the designation of Bears Ears as a monument, said he could live with a rollback of its boundaries.

He called that a good compromise that would enable continued tourism while still allowing activities that locals have pursued for generations - logging, livestock grazing and oil and gas drilling.

"The eco tourists basically say, 'Throw out all the rubes and the locals and get rid of that mentality of grazing and utilizing these public lands for any kind of renewable resource such as timber harvesting and even some mineral production,'" Noel said. "That's a very selfish attitude."

Other sites that might see changes include the Grand Staircase-Escalante monument in the Utah desert, consisting of cliffs, canyons, natural arches and archaeological sites, including rock paintings; Katahdin Woods and Waters, 136 square miles of forest of northern Maine; and Cascade Siskiyou, a 156-square-mile region where three mountain ranges converge in Oregon.

The marine monuments encompass more than 340,000 square miles and include four sites in the Pacific Ocean and an array of underwater canyons and mountains off New England.

In the interview with the AP, Zinke declined to reveal his recommendations for individual sites.

The former Montana congressman did not directly answer whether any monuments would be newly opened to energy development, mining and other industries Trump has championed.

But he said public access for uses such as hunting, fishing or grazing would be maintained or restored. He also spoke of protecting tribal interests.

"There's an expectation we need to look out 100 years from now to keep the public land experience alive in this country," Zinke said. "You can protect the monument by keeping public access to traditional uses."

The recommendations cap an unprecedented four-month review based on a belief that the century-old Antiquities Act had been misused by presidents to create oversized monuments that hinder energy development, grazing and other uses. The review looked at whether the protected areas should be eliminated, downsized or otherwise altered.

The review raised alarm among conservationists who said protections could be lost for ancient cliff dwellings, towering sequoia trees, deep canyons and ocean habitats.

Zinke previously announced that no changes would be made at six of the 27 monuments under review - in Montana, Colorado, Idaho, California, Arizona and Washington.

In the interview, Zinke struck back against conservationists who had warned of impending mass sell-offs of public lands by the Trump administration.

"I've heard this narrative that somehow the land is going to be sold or transferred," he said. "That narrative is patently false and shameful. The land was public before and it will be public after."

National monument designations are used to protect land revered for its natural beauty and historical significance. The restrictions aren't as stringent as those at national parks but can include limits on mining, timber-cutting and recreational activities such as riding off-road vehicles.

The monuments under review were designated by four presidents over the past two decades.

Zinke suggested that the same presidential proclamation process used to create the monuments could be used to enact changes.

Environmental groups contend the 1906 Antiquities Act allows presidents to create national monuments but gives only Congress the power to modify them. Mark Squillace, a law professor at the University of Colorado, said he agrees with that view but noted the dispute has never gone before the courts.

Conservative legal scholars have come down on the side of the administration.

No president has tried to eliminate a monument, but some have reduced or redrawn the boundaries on 18 occasions, according to the National Park Service.

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McCombs reported from Salt Lake City. Associated Press writer Michael Biesecker contributed from Washington.

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Follow Matthew Brown on Twitter at -www.twitter.com/matthewbrownap

FILE- In this undated file photo, the Upper Gulch section of the Escalante Canyons within Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument features sheer sandstone walls, broken occasionally by tributary canyons. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said he's recommending that none of 27 national monuments carved from wilderness and ocean and under review by the Trump administration be eliminated, including the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac, File)

In this Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2017 photo, the Penobscot River's East Branch flows through the new Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument near Patten, Maine. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke wants to retain the newly created Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in northern Maine, but said he might recommend adjustments to the White House on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

In this Thursday, Aug. 10, 2017 photo, a sign marks the entrance to the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument near Patten, Maine. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke wants to retain the newly created Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in northern Maine, but said he might recommend adjustments to the White House on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

In this Monday, Aug. 7, 2017 photo, the first rays of sunlight color the clouds over Mount Katahdin in this view from the Katahdin Woods and Waters Scenic Byway outside Patten, Maine. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke wants to retain the newly created national monument, but said he might recommend adjustments to the White House on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

In this Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2017 photo, a youngster explores the Penobscot River's East Branch at the new Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument near Patten, Maine. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke wants to retain the newly created national monument, but said he might recommend adjustments to the White House on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

FILE - This May 8, 2017, file photo shows an aerial view of Arch Canyon within Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said he's recommending that none of 27 national monuments carved from wilderness and ocean and under review by the Trump administration be eliminated, including Bears Ears National Monument. (Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, File)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A condemned killer of two people scheduled to die in less than a month is challenging Ohio's lethal injection method as well as the constitutionality of the state's death penalty law.

Death row inmate Gary Otte is also waiting to see whether Gov. John Kasich will spare him by granting clemency.

Otte was sentenced to die for the Feb. 12, 1992, killing of Robert Wasikowski and the Feb. 13, 1992, killing of Sharon Kostura. Both slayings took place in Parma in suburban Cleveland.

FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction shows death row inmate Gary Otte, convicted of shooting two people to death in back-to-back robberies in February 1992. Otte, whose execution is scheduled for Sept. 13, 2017, is challenging Ohio's lethal injection method as well as the constitutionality of the state's death penalty law. (Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections via AP, File)

Authorities say Otte asked to come inside Wasikowski's apartment to use the phone and then shot the 61-year-old and stole about $400.

The next day, Otte forced his way into the apartment of the 45-year-old Kostura in the same building, shot her, then stole $45 and her car keys.

In federal court, Otte's attorneys argue that the state hasn't shown it can ensure inmates are rendered so deeply unconscious during lethal injection that they won't suffer serious pain.

The lawyers say observations by an expert witness during an Ohio execution last month showed executioners didn't carry out a "sufficient consciousness check" after the first drug, midazolam, was administered.

"As the situation stands now, because of the inadequate and unreliable consciousness checks, there is a sure or very likely significant and substantial risk that Mr. Otte will suffer pain during the execution," his attorneys said.

Otte, 45, is scheduled to die Sept. 13. The state is expected to oppose the request.

In a separate appeal, Otte is asking a Cleveland-area judge to declare the death penalty unconstitutional in his case because he was under 21 at the time of the crime. He also wants a delay while he argues the point.

Otte's attorneys base their request on a ruling this month by a Kentucky court, which said executing inmates under 21 at the time of their crime amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. The U.S. Supreme Court has previously outlawed the execution of anyone under 18 at the time of the crime.

As "the result of Mr. Otte's youth, immaturity, and under-developed mind, he is not an offender with the type of extreme moral culpability" deserving of execution, his attorneys wrote in a filing with Cuyahoga County court this week.

Ronald Phillips, a convicted child killer from Akron who was 19 at the time of his crime, unsuccessfully argued the same point in federal court earlier this summer. Phillips was executed July 26.

Cuyahoga County prosecutors say Otte purposely waited until just weeks before his execution to make his argument, knowing a delay would be necessary. He could have raised the issue years earlier, they say.

"The untimeliness of Otte's last-minute claim alone warrants denial of his request for a stay," Christopher Schroeder, assistant Cuyahoga County prosecuting attorney, said in a Tuesday court filing.

The Ohio Parole Board in February denied Otte's clemency request. A spokesman for Kasich, a Republican, said there wasn't a date yet for the governor's decision.

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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
WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Polish media are reporting that Lech Walesa, the former democracy activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner, was in a minor car accident but is unhurt.

The accident happened Thursday in Gdansk, the northern Polish city where Walesa lives.

The 73-year-old former president was being driven in a government car, a privilege extended to former presidents. The Government Protection Bureau confirmed the accident and said nobody was hurt. It said the accident was caused by another car.

FILE - In this April 16, 2016 file photo, Poland's former president and democracy icon Lech Walesa speaks to The Associated Pressin Gdansk, Poland. Poland's special prosecutors say Tuesday Aug. 22, 2017 they are currently investigating whether Walesa made false statements during sworn testimony some months ago. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Walesa was the leader in the 1980s of Poland's pro-democracy Solidarity movement, which challenged the oppressive communist regime and played a role in its eventual collapse. His legacy now is being challenged by opponents who allege that he actually collaborated with the communist secret police, something that he denies.
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) - A family that sued after the arrests of three children at a Tennessee elementary school has accepted a settlement totaling $86,500 from local governments.

Zacchaeus and Lavonia Crawford sued after their children were arrested in April 2016 following an off-campus bullying incident. The arrests of the African-American children at Hobgood Elementary School in Murfreesboro - some hauled off in handcuffs - drew outrage.

The charges against the children were dismissed in June 2016.

The Daily News Journal reports the Murfreesboro government will pay a total of $85,000, including $27,000 for the plaintiff's attorney. Rutherford County pays $1,500.

The lawsuit also named four Murfreesboro police supervisors, claiming they failed to administer department policy. The settlement agreement states the city denies liability "for any alleged unconstitutional acts."

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Information from: The Daily News Journal, http://www.dnj.com
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - A lawyer arrested for not answering questions during a traffic stop for suspected speeding in New Jersey will receive $30,000 under a settlement with the state, court records show.

NJ Advance Media (http://bit.ly/2g83qCt ) reported Wednesday that the settlement for Rebecca Musarra was reached in July.

Dashcam video of the 2015 arrest shows state troopers telling the Philadelphia lawyer that she has the right to remain silent after they arrested her for not answering their questions.

"I thought it was quite ironic that they had just arrested me and told me I had the right to do the same thing they just arrested me for," she said in an interview.

The video shows the troopers repeatedly asking Musarra if she knows why she is being stopped. When she doesn't respond, a trooper tells her, "OK, you're going to be placed under arrest if you don't answer my questions."

When she told them she didn't have to answer their questions, they told her to get out of the car and handcuffed her.

Musarra said she was detained in a local police station where a trooper told her she was obstructing justice by not responding to the officers. When she informed the trooper that it was not illegal to stay silent, he then apologized for the arrest and called the officer a "rookie," according to the lawsuit.

She was released the same night after a trooper told her he would do her a "favor" and get her car released from an impound lot without her having to pay any fees. The lawsuit also stated that a trooper chipped her driver's-side window when he tapped his flashlight against it during the traffic stop.

The department has not officially admitted wrongdoing, though officials sent Musarra a letter in March 2017 saying that an internal investigation found sufficient evidence to substantiate the allegations of false arrest and illegal search.

A spokesman said troopers were given additional training after the arrest.
ISLAMABAD (AP) - Pakistan's top political and military leaders on Thursday offered a stark response to Donald Trump's accusations earlier this week, telling the American president that scapegoating Pakistan will not bring about peace in Afghanistan.

The message also reiterated Islamabad's rejection of Trump's allegation that Pakistan harbors militants who battle U.S. forces across the border in Afghanistan. In turn, the Pakistani officials demanded that the U.S. military eliminate militants who use Afghan soil to stage attacks in Pakistan.

Islamabad's response followed an hours-long meeting between Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and army chiefs, all members of the National Security Committee - Pakistan's top forum on issues relating to the country's defense and security.

In this photo released by by Pakistan's Press Information Department, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, left, heads a meeting of the National Security Committee in Islamabad, Pakistan, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. Pakistan's political and military leaders have rejected President Donald Trump's allegation that Islamabad is harboring militants who battle U.S. forces in Afghanistan. (Press Information Department, via AP)

Trump's remarks on Monday, in which he lashed out at Pakistan, an ostensible U.S. ally, blaming it for violence in Afghanistan, and demanding that Islamabad stop giving sanctuary to "agents of chaos, violence and terror," have shocked Pakistan.

They have also drawn nationwide condemnation. Pakistan's opposition has asked Abbasi to cancel a scheduled visit by Pakistan's foreign minister to Washington. Pakistan's top opposition leader, cricket-star-turned-politician Imran Khan, also demanded Abbasi convene a special session of Parliament to discuss Trump's threats.

Thursday's meeting of the National Security Committee also noted Trump's comment in which he said Washington paid billions of dollars to Pakistan - only to have it shelter terrorists.

"Scapegoating Pakistan will not help in stabilizing Afghanistan," the committee said, according to a statement issued by the premier's office. It also called for recognition by the Trump administration of Pakistan's many sacrifices - thousands of civilians and security forces have lost their lives in the country's fight against insurgency and militancy on its own soil. The struggle has also cost this Islamic nation $120 billion in economic losses.

However, U.S. officials and analysts have long accused Pakistan of playing a double-game with Islamic extremists - supporting those that threaten its rivals in India and Afghanistan while cracking down on those who target its own citizens.

The committee reiterated Pakistan's commitment that it will not allow its soil to be used for violence against any other country.

"We expect the same from our neighbors," it said - a reference to Afghanistan and India.

Trump's claims of giving billions of dollars in aid to Pakistan were "misleading to the extent that the reimbursements to Pakistan since 2001 only account for part of the cost of ground facilities and air corridors used by the United States for its operations in Afghanistan, rather than any financial aid or assistance," the statement stressed.

The meeting pledged to continue helping international community to ensure peace in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has been at war with the Pakistani Taliban and homegrown extremists for years, but it has also long tolerated the Afghan Taliban and the allied Haqqani network, which have been behind many attacks in Afghanistan.

Islamabad has also been under international pressure to try and bring the Taliban leaders, based in Pakistan's restive southwestern region since their rule in Afghanistan was overthrown in the 2001 U.S. invasion, into some form of negotiations with Kabul.
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Colombia's most-popular TV broadcaster has been taken off the airwaves in Venezuela after President Nicolas Maduro delivered a scathing rebuke of the neighboring country's media, joining a growing list of news outlets that have been blocked by his government.

Caracol News director Juan Roberto Vargas told Colombian radio that the channel's coverage of ousted chief prosecutor Luisa Ortega Diaz appears to have been a "breaking point" that led to its removal Wednesday.

Caracol's removal threatens to further strain already tense relations between the two nations' governments, with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos saying Thursday that Maduro is increasingly acting like a "dictator."

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks at a news conference in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017. Immigration authorities in Colombia announced that Venezuela's ousted chief prosecutor Luisa Ortega Diaz is on her way to Brazil. Ortega said that Maduro removed her in order to stop a probe linking him and his inner circle to nearly $100 million in bribes from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

"This is another demonstration that this regime doesn't like freedoms," Santos said.

Colombian news channel RCN was also blocked from broadcasting on a Venezuelan local cable operator, though its signal remained active Thursday on DirecTV.

Maduro regularly accuses foreign news outlets of spreading a false narrative about Venezuela's government intended to pave the way for a supposed U.S. military intervention.

"Since the war in Iraq, we have not seen anything as sickening," Maduro said Tuesday at a news conference with foreign journalists, singling out Caracol, Fox News and the BBC for what he considers biased coverage.

Earlier this year Venezuelan authorities shut down CNN en Espanol's feed after the Spanish-language channel aired a report about fraudulent passports that drew angry criticism from officials. In all, about a half-dozen foreign networks have been blocked, including Colombia's El Tiempo and NTN24 and Todo Noticias of Argentina.

Over the years Venezuela's government has also forced a number of critical national media outlets out of business, in some cases by refusing to renew their operating licenses.

In a 2017 report on global press freedom by Reporters Without Borders, Venezuela ranked 137th out of 179 nations.

"Freedom of the press is as scarce as food" in Venezuela, Vargas told Caracol Radio, a reference to people's struggles to find basic goods in the country.

Vargas said the move came after escalating government actions against the station. In the last year, he said, three Caracol journalists have been barred from entering Venezuela and some of its equipment was confiscated.

He said Caracol would continue broadcasting over the internet but added that many Venezuelans say they have difficulty accessing the site online, for reasons he did not specify.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said via Twitter that it was "concerned" about Venezuelan authorities' decision to "remove another news channel from the air."

Relations between Venezuela and Colombia have grown especially frigid during the last four months of political upheaval in Venezuela. Santos, one of Maduro's most frequent critics, was the first to announce in late July that his nation would not recognize a vote in Venezuela for delegates to a new constitutional assembly that has nearly unlimited powers.

Ortega, the ousted chief prosecutor who broke with Maduro earlier this year, arrived in Colombia last week after fleeing Venezuela. Santos has offered her political asylum.

The constitutional assembly removed Ortega from her post shortly after it convened in early August. She has promised to deliver evidence to several foreign governments showing that Maduro and top administration officials are involved in corruption.

Venezuelan officials have denied her accusations.

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Associated Press writer Christine Armario in Bogota, Colombia, contributed to this report.
BARNSTABLE, Mass. (AP) - Guests of a party where a son and granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy were arrested are disputing the report by Massachusetts police.

The Cape Cod Times reports (http://bit.ly/2v8RW8u ) partygoers called the gathering near the family compound in Hyannis Port "pretty tame" and said contrary to a police report, 52-year-old Matthew "Max" Kennedy didn't incite an angry mob.

Kennedy and his 22-year-old daughter, Caroline, were arrested Sunday on disorderly conduct and noise charges.

FILE- In this Sept. 20, 2016, file photo, Matthew "Max" Kennedy, a son of the late Robert F. Kennedy, attends a ceremony to name the Robert Kennedy Navy Ship at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston. Police say 52-year-old Matthew Kennedy and his daughter, 22-year-old Caroline Kennedy, were taken into custody and charged with disorderly conduct and violating the town's noise law, following complaints about a loud party and fireworks on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)

Friend Peter Kazazes says partygoers were confused about the arrests. Police wrote that Kennedy was unsteady on his feet with bloodshot, glassy eyes, but a test showed he had zero blood alcohol content.

The newspaper reports it viewed video from around the time police arrived showing about a dozen people calmly singing Billy Joel's "Piano Man."
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Associated Press has named award-winning journalist James Asher as a news editor in its Washington bureau.

Asher will oversee coverage of the investigations into interference in the 2016 election and other key elements of President Donald Trump's administration.

Julie Pace is AP's chief of bureau in Washington. She says Asher is an "ambitious journalist who thrives on big stories and strives to produce distinctive coverage."

Asher is the former Washington bureau chief for McClatchy. His work on the worldwide Panama Papers investigation with a team at McClatchy was awarded the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in journalism for explanatory reporting.

McClatchy shared that award with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and The Miami Herald.
U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is recommending boundary revisions for some national monuments but no eliminations. President Donald Trump ordered Zinke to conduct an unprecedented review of 27 monuments established by former presidents over more than two decades on lands revered for their natural beauty and historical significance.

Zinke isn't providing details of his plan, beyond proposals disclosed earlier to downsize the Bears Ears monument in Utah and leave six others unchanged. He also says no monuments would be eliminated. Still, any move by Trump to slim down monuments may trigger legal showdowns over whether one chief executive can undo or modify another's decisions about them.

A closer look at the issues:

FILE - In this July 10, 2015, file photo, trees frame Lake Berryessa with California's newest national monument in the background near Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, in Calif. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said he's recommending that none of 27 national monuments carved from wilderness and ocean and under review by the Trump administration be eliminated. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

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WHAT IS A NATIONAL MONUMENT?

The 1906 Antiquities Act, enacted under President Theodore Roosevelt, empowers the president to declare as national monuments any landmarks, structures and other "objects of historic or scientific interest" on land owned or controlled by the federal government. Roosevelt established 18 monuments, including the Grand Canyon in Arizona and Devil's Tower in Wyoming. Most presidents since then have designated additional monuments. Congress has created others.

Most monuments are overseen by the National Park Service, although rules for their protection are less strict than for national parks. Some are cared for by the federal Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife Service or the Forest Service. Each agency has policies for safeguarding the land while also allowing some public use. For instance, policies can include limits on mining, timber cutting and recreational activities such as riding off-road vehicles.

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A CONTENTIOUS HISTORY

Many national monument proclamations have enjoyed broad support. Others have been fiercely contested in Congress and the courts, including designations by Franklin D. Roosevelt (Jackson Hole National Monument, now Grand Teton National Park); Jimmy Carter (vast lands in Alaska); and George W. Bush (Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument northwest of Hawaii).

Trump's choice of Jan. 1, 1996, as the starting date for his review was prompted by lingering resentment among Utah conservatives of Bill Clinton's designation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument that year.

Critics say presidents increasingly are protecting areas that are too large and do not fit the law's original purpose of shielding particular historical or archaeological sites. Designating millions of acres for scientific observation or sheltering rare species, they contend, is a "federal land grab" that ignores the wishes of local residents, although the lands already belonged to the government or were under federal control.

Zinke says the pendulum has swung too far toward protecting public lands and away from the "multiple-use" concept advanced by Gifford Pinchot, the first chief of the Forest Service and an early leader in the conservation movement.

Monument supporters say the designations are essential to protect sensitive areas from looting and damage. Complaints about people getting kicked off the land are exaggerated, they say, and opposition fades as nearby communities benefit from tourism the monuments attract. A recent study by the nonprofit research group Headwaters Economics found that indicators such as employment, population and per-capita income held steady or improved in sections of the West where monuments larger than 10,000 acres had been established since 1981.

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LEGAL PRINCIPLES

Some monuments have been downsized over the years, either by presidential order or by Congress, while others have been enlarged. No such actions have been contested in court. No president has tried to revoke a predecessor's designation of a monument. Zinke said he isn't recommending that Trump do so, although Trump could overrule him.

The Antiquities Act does not explicitly say whether a president can nullify a monument proclamation or reduce a monument's area. A legal analysis commissioned by the National Parks Conservation Association cites a 1938 opinion by then-Attorney General Homer Cummings, who wrote that a monument designation has the force of law and can be reversed only by Congress. A House report accompanying the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 agreed, as do some environmental attorneys.

But a study for the conservative American Enterprise Institute released in March argues that when Congress authorizes the executive branch to write regulations, the power to repeal them generally can be assumed. That's especially so, it says, when a president is correcting a predecessor's act that exceeded what a law intended - such as creating vast monuments when the Antiquities Act says they should consist of "the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected."

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WHAT'S NEXT?

Zinke's report goes to Trump, who will make the final call about whether to change the status of any monuments. Environmental groups and Native American tribes are expected to challenge any eliminations or reductions.

Congressional Republicans have at least five pending bills that would deny the president unilateral authority to designate future monuments, requiring approval of Congress or the governors and legislatures in affected states. Some would add further conditions.

FILE - In this Dec. 6, 2009, file photo, a cactus is seen against a backdrop of colorful clouds in Ironwood Forest National Monument in Marana, Ariz. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said he's recommending that none of 27 national monuments carved from wilderness and ocean and under review by the Trump administration be eliminated including Ironwood Forest National Monument. (Greg Bryan/Arizona Daily Star via AP, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Those looking to spend quality time with Chris O'Dowd, who made a splash as the endearingly patient cop in "Bridesmaids," have plenty of chances now and later.

There's his role as hit man and aspiring movie producer Miles Daly in Epix's critically acclaimed "Get Shorty," (10 p.m. EDT Sunday), which gives O'Dowd the chance to be trademark funny as well as tough. It's already renewed for season two.

He's shooting the film "Juliet, Naked" with Rose Byrne and Ethan Hawke for producer Judd Apatow. O'Dowd's upcoming movies include indies "Love After Love" and "Loving Vincent"; J.J. Abrams' next chapter in the "Cloverfield" franchise; and Aaron Sorkin's "Molly's Game."

This image released by Epix shows Ray Romano, left, and Chris O'Dowd in "Get Shorty," airing Sundays on Epix. (Justin Lubin/Epix via AP)

In other words, the Irish-born actor who's adopted Los Angeles as his home base is in demand and moving in impressive creative circles.

But he's modestly low-key in a recent conversation over a smoothie at a cafe near his home. (In-person checklist: charming accent and charmingly tousled hair, sweet-eyed smile and lanky frame, all accounted for.)

O'Dowd also demonstrates an impressive sense of perspective. His family - his wife, journalist Dawn O'Porter, a baby and a toddler - get precedence over his career.

"I'm looking for jobs closer to home. It's definitely a scenario where I would have once been really excited about a project filming in Bulgaria, and now I don't even read it," he said. "I know that creatively it's not really ideal, but I just don't care."

O'Dowd's decision to leave steady work in England to break into Hollywood was made as an unencumbered single man. He'd enjoyed success on Irish and then British TV, including with the nerd comedy "The IT Crowd," but liked American entertainment and, besides, was just off a big breakup.

"I felt like I needed to leave the country," he said, drolly. It was a move he considered risk-free and reversible.

"What's the vision of failure in that scenario? So low," he said, especially if you don't make a fuss about venturing across the pond.

"I always roll my eyes when I see people are having (farewell) parties," O'Dowd said. "Talk about tempting fate. I didn't tell anyone I was going anywhere. I would reply to texts as if I was still down the road."

That demonstration of common sense prompts this query: What advice can he pass on about what did he right, or wrong, as a Hollywood newcomer? O'Dowd mulls the question, attempting to be helpful.

"Even if I wasn't doing a great audition, I felt like I always did a very good meeting," he said. "It's not about the job you're going in for, it's about the job that's coming after that. But you only learn by doing it."

He takes a step back and offers a broader take on the industry he's immersed in, using his "Get Shorty" character as illustration.

"The reason it works out for Miles in the show is that honesty and straightforwardness goes a long way in this town, because it's such a rare commodity," O'Dowd said. "There is a lot of (bull) as everybody knows, but people are very happy to not be (lied) to."

"Get Shorty," a new take on the Elmore Leonard tale brought to the big screen in 1995 with John Travolta, pairs O'Dowd with Ray Romano, another performer adroit at balancing darkness and light.

"We've got two very funny actors, (and) part of what is so wonderful about watching them be funny is they bring seriousness under that," said series creator Davey Holmes.

O'Dowd is also a writer (on the warmly funny 2012-15 TV series "Moone Boy," about an eccentric Irish family) and has stage cred, with his Broadway debut in "Of Mice and Men" opposite James Franco in 2014 earning him a Tony nomination. He's eyeing a London play next year.

The ideal scenario, he said, is three months in England and the rest of the year in Los Angeles. He's an unabashed fan of LA, appreciating the weather, the neighborhood friends he's made and the city's relative lack of oppressive skyscrapers.

"I'm a country boy, as well. You can see blue sky, all the time," said O'Dowd, courteously ignoring the pall of smog hanging on the horizon.

Just as important, said the family man, "it's great for the kids."

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Lynn Elber can be reached at lelber@ap.org and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lynnelber.

This image released by Epix shows Carolyn Dodd, left, and Chris O'Dowd in "Get Shorty," airing Sundays on Epix. (Ursula Coyote/Epix via AP)
JELLICO, Tenn. (AP) - Tennessee authorities say two officers shot and wounded a suspect who confronted them with a gun.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a statement that 38-year-old Derron Ausmus went to the Jellico Police Department Thursday morning and pointed a gun at a dispatcher before fleeing into a nearby neighborhood. The statement says police found him at a home, but he refused to leave and officers deployed tear gas. Shortly after, authorities say Ausmus ran outside and confronted officers with a gun. Two officers fired, striking him.

The bureau says Ausmus was airlifted to the University of Tennessee Medical Center for treatment. His condition wasn't released.

The statement did not name the officers involved and did not include Ausmus' race.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Puerto Rico officials say the U.S. territory will receive more than $112 million in federal funds to repair roads and bridges that have deteriorated amid an economic crisis.

Gov. Ricardo Rossello said Thursday that the funds will be distributed to more than a dozen municipalities including the capital, San Juan.

The money is earmarked for 17 projects expected to create more than 2,500 jobs on an island with a 10 percent unemployment rate. Most of it will go toward improving one of a main highway that connects the north and south coasts.

Officials expect to receive another $100 million in federal funds by next year for additional road improvements.
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) - A pair of endangered lemurs has been imported to the U.S. from Madagascar for the first time in two decades.

The Duke Lemur Center announced Thursday that it transferred the 5-year-old male and 3-year-old female 9,000 miles from Madagascar to their new home in North Carolina. They were born in a conservation center in Madagascar.

The center says there could be fewer than 1,000 blue-eyed black lemurs in the wild.

The center says it took three years of planning and 60 hours of travel to get them to the U.S. Duke says it's the first time lemurs have been imported to the U.S. from Madagascar in 24 years because of strict regulations on the primates.

Duke says there are about 30 blue-eyed black lemurs in the U.S. Overall, 238 lemurs of different species live at the center at Duke University.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - They were a mix of breeds and sizes, ranging from puppies to seniors. All faced a grim future in Puerto Rico animal shelters, where chronic overcrowding results in many dogs being euthanized.

That changed Wednesday for 205 abandoned canines that arrived on the U.S. mainland in an airlift organized by animal welfare advocates working to ease the load.

"The shelters in Puerto Rico have no choice," said Kimberly Alboum, director of policy engagement and shelter outreach for the Humane Society of the United States. "They run out of room and, unfortunately, they have to euthanize for space. It's heartbreaking for the staff and it's devastating because these animals are all highly adoptable."

In this Aug. 22, 2017 photo, a dog sits inside his kennel at the Villa Michelle Animal Shelter in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. This was one of 206 abandoned dogs that were flown from Puerto Rico to the U.S. mainland in an airlift organized by a coalition of rescue groups working to ease an overpopulation problem on the island has that resulted in almost certain death for stray and abandoned animals. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)

The island territory has struggled with dog overpopulation for years due to factors such as poorly funded shelters and low spaying and neutering rates.

It's common to see packs of what locals refer to as "satos" roaming through Puerto Rican communities, and one stretch of coast near the town of Yabucoa became so infamous for abandoned and abused pets that it was dubbed Dead Dog Beach.

Activists in Puerto Rico and on the mainland have been working on the problem and say there are signs of improvement. Christina Beckles, founder of the Puerto Rico-based Sato Project, said fewer dogs are ending up on Dead Dog Beach thanks in part to a campaign to spay and neuter in Yabucoa.

But there have also been setbacks, including a deep economic crisis that led many islanders to decamp for the mainland and leave their pets behind.

"People are leaving the island in droves because they can't afford to live here," Beckles said. "I would never condone someone abandoning an animal, but I understand."

While various organizations have airlifted dogs out of Puerto Rico in recent years, this latest effort is believed to be the largest number in a single trip.

Many of the animals came from two shelters: One in the hills above Mayaguez that has a hard time finding people to adopt its animals because it is so remote, and another in a condemned building with no power or water near Cabo Rojo that had to clear its entire population for a badly needed renovation.

Dellymar Bernal Martinez, president of the Saint Francis of Assis Animal Sanctuary in Cabo Rojo, cried as she hugged a departing beige, medium-sized dog that had been born at the shelter three years earlier. "It's bittersweet. I'm sad she is leaving but she is going to a better place."

The dogs were checked by veterinarians, taken to the San Juan airport and then flown in two planes provided by a group called Wings of Rescue.

They landed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, dogs peeking nervously out of their carriers as volunteers unloaded them and transferred them to waiting vans. One planeload of dogs was destined for shelters around the state. The other aircraft refueled and went on to North Carolina, with its canines continuing on to various shelters including Animal Haven in New York City.

About two dozen ended up at a facility run by the Humane Society of Broward County in Fort Lauderdale.

"They'll all get adopted," shelter director Mary Steffen said. "They will go fast."

_____

Associated Press writer Ben Fox in Miami contributed to this report.

In this Aug. 22, 2017 photo, volunteers load empty dog crates into a truck to airlift dogs to U.S. in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. The dogs were a wide mix of breeds and sizes and ranged from puppies to seniors. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)

In this Aug. 22, 2017 photo, volunteers of the visit the San Francisco de Asis Animal Sanctuary in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico has struggled with dog overpopulation for years due to factors that included poorly funded shelters and the fact that many people neglect to get their pets spayed or neutered. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)

In this Aug. 22, 2017 photo, dogs are seen inside pens at the San Francisco de Asis Animal Sanctuary in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. Various organizations have flown dogs out of Puerto Rico to the mainland in recent years but this latest effort is believe to be the largest in a single trip. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)

In this Aug. 22, 2017 photo, a volunteer carries a dog from the San Francisco de Asis Animal Sanctuary to a van to be transported to the airport to get airlifted to the U.S., in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. The dogs were a wide mix of breeds and sizes and ranged from puppies to seniors. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)

In this Aug. 22, 2017 photo, a volunteer carries a dog from the San Francisco de Asis Animal Sanctuary to a van to be transported to the airport to get airlifted to the U.S. in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. The 206 abandoned dogs were flown from Puerto Rico to the U.S. mainland to be adopted. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)

In this Aug. 22, 2017 photo, dogs from the San Francisco de Asis Animal Sanctuary stand in kennels inside a van, in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. The dogs are a wide mix of breeds and sizes and range from puppies to seniors. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)

In this Aug. 22, 2017 photo, a volunteer comforts a dog while waiting to get airlifted to U.S. in San Juan, Puerto Rico. "The shelters in Puerto Rico have no choice," said Kimberly Alboum, director of policy engagement and shelter outreach for the Humane Society of the United States, one of the groups that organized the airlift. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)

In this Aug. 22, 2017 photo, a volunteer unloads dogs from a van at the airport to get airlifted to U.S. in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The dogs were a wide mix of breeds and sizes and ranged from puppies to seniors. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)

In this Aug. 22, 2017 photo, volunteers organize dogs in kennels at airport prior to get airlifted to U.S. in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The dogs were checked by veterinarians, taken to the San Juan airport and then flown in two planes provided by a group called Wings of Rescue. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)

In this Aug. 22, 2017 photo, volunteers load dogs in kennels into a charter plane to get airlifted dogs to U.S. in San Juan, Puerto Rico. About two dozen dogs ended up at the shelter run by the Humane Society of Broward County in Fort Lauderdale, where they waited in the air-conditioned pens for whatever comes next. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)

In this Aug. 22, 2017 photo, a dog is loaded into a charter plane to get airlifted to U.S. in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Various organizations have flown dogs out of Puerto Rico to the mainland in recent years but this latest effort is believe to be the largest in a single trip. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)

Alba Crivello, 7, separated by a glass door, sits and plays with puppies secured inside a kennel at the Animal Haven animal shelter, Thursday Aug. 24, 2017, in New York. The puppies are among new arrivals of abandoned dogs flown out of Puerto Rico that is struggling with a pet overpopulation problem, worsen by a financial crisis that has prompted many people to abandon animals. "They came here to be happy and have fun," said Crivello. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

Tiffany Lacey, executive director of Animal Haven animal shelter, strokes Red, a female Shepard mix, one of the new arrivals of abandoned dogs flown out of Puerto Rico at the Animal Haven animal shelter, Thursday Aug. 24, 2017, in New York. "She's super sweet," said Lacey, "but really tired from the journey she just went on. Puerto Rico is struggling with a pet overpopulation problem, worsen by a financial crisis that has prompted many people to abandon animals. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

Tiffany Lacey, executive director of Animal Haven animal shelter, sits outside the kennel of Red, a female Shepard mix, one of the new arrivals of abandoned dogs flown out of Puerto Rico, Thursday Aug. 24, 2017, in New York. "She's super sweet," said Lacey, "but really tired from the journey she just went on. Puerto Rico is struggling with a pet overpopulation problem, worsen by a financial crisis that has prompted many people to abandon animals. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

A tag posted off the kennel door for Red, a female Shepard mix, offers some details about her at the Animal Haven animal shelter, Thursday Aug. 24, 2017, in New York. Red is among new arrivals of abandoned dogs flown out of Puerto Rico that is struggling with a pet overpopulation problem, worsen by a financial crisis that has prompted many people to abandon animals. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - With the help of hundreds of people and the return of the high tide, a humpback whale stranded on a beach in the coastal city of Buzios in southeastern Brazil has returned to the ocean.

A spokesman for Buzios City Hall said the whale had found its way back into the ocean Thursday afternoon. It had been beached since Wednesday.

Hundreds of people had gathered on the beach of Praia Rasa to help with the rescue effort.

People work to save a humpback whale stranded on the shore at Rasa Beach in Buzios, Brazil, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. With the help of hundreds of people and the return of the high tide, the whale returned to the ocean. (Bebeto Karolla/Folha de Buzios via AP)

Video footage from local media showed excavators and dozens of people with shovels digging into the sand around the mammal in an attempt to save it.

Biologists at the scene said the whale was young, measured 45 feet and was believed to weigh between 10 to 15 tons.
TORONTO (AP) - Canadian lawyers acting for the widow of an American soldier have filed an application in Alberta seeking enforcement of a U.S. damages award against former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr.

The claim calls on the Court of Queen's Bench to recognize the judgment from Utah, and to issue a judgment in the US$132.1 million award made in June 2015. The application essentially duplicates one filed earlier in Ontario.

The Canadian-born Khadr was 15 when he was captured by U.S. troops after a firefight at a suspected al-Qaida compound in Afghanistan that resulted in the death of U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Christopher Speer. Khadr was suspected of throwing the grenade that killed Speer.

Tabitha Speer, the soldier's widow, and Layne Morris, who was blinded in the 2002 firefight, won the wrongful-death judgment against Khadr two years ago in Utah.

Khadr, who recently got married, was paid US$8 million by Canada's government last month under a court ruling that his rights were violated while he was locked up at the American prison for a decade.

One of Khadr's Edmonton-based lawyers, Nate Whitling, said on Thursday that it would be a waste of time and money to try two identical actions at once.

"It's two duplicative actions and there's no point in proceeding with both of them," Whitling said from Edmonton.

He also said the Alberta action had been filed too late.
The Scottish and Welsh first ministers have agreed to work together on amendments to the Brexit repeal Bill which they said is an unashamed move to centralise decision-making power in Westminster.

Nicola Sturgeon met Carwyn Jones in Edinburgh and discussed their alternative proposals to the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, designed to protect devolved powers.

The Bill aims to transpose EU law into British law so the same rules apply on the day of Brexit as the day before and involves EU responsibilities in devolved areas being initially transferred to Westminster.

Carwyn Jones and Nicola Sturgeon met to discuss their "alternative proposals" to the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill

Good mtg with @NicolaSturgeon - our position is unequivocal - we will simply not tolerate a UK Govt power grab pic.twitter.com/pa41hSdNYj  Mark Drakeford (@PrifWeinidog) August 22, 2017

The UK Government said this will allow common frameworks to be put in place where necessary before further devolution, but the Scottish and Welsh governments believe it is a power grab. Ms Sturgeon and Mr Jones joined forces to oppose the Bill when it was published last month, saying they would not recommend their governments grant legislative consent to the Bill as it stands.

In a joint statement following their meeting on Tuesday, the first ministers said the approach of the UK Government since the Brexit vote was a rejection of the principle of devolution.

They said: Most seriously, the UK Governments EU (Withdrawal) Bill is an unashamed move to centralise decision-making power in Westminster, cutting directly across current devolved powers and responsibilities.

.@NicolaSturgeon & I have today agreed to work together to amend the UK Govts #Brexit Bill  full statement here: https://t.co/3D6XFPlJh6  Mark Drakeford (@PrifWeinidog) August 22, 2017

The Scottish and Welsh Governments have already made clear that they cannot recommend that the Scottish Parliament and National Assembly give their necessary legislative consent to the Bill. We believe that the Bill must not be allowed to progress in its current form.

To provide a constructive way forward, the Scottish and Welsh Governments are now working to agree potential amendments to the Bill which would address our concerns. We are also coordinating our advice to the Parliament and Assembly to ensure they fully understand our concerns and our alternative proposals.

It will now be for the UK Government to respond positively to our suggested amendments to move negotiations forward, and ensure there is a functioning legal system on withdrawal from the EU, and agreed UK structures  where these are required - that reflect the views and interests of all parts of the UK, and respect devolved powers and responsibilities.
Conor McGregor had heated confrontations with both Floyd Mayweather and Paulie Malignaggi at the fighters grand arrivals for Saturdays fight in Las Vegas.

The Irishman and his minders passed Mayweather and his team en route to the outdoor stage set up outside the T-Mobile Arena, where they are scheduled to fight, and as words were exchanged tempers grew to the point of pushing and shoving.

When McGregor prepared to finish discussing his preparations and Saturdays match-up, he then confronted former sparring partner Malignaggi. The two were coming face-to-face for the first time since the American left his training camp when photos appeared on social media suggesting McGregor had knocked him down.

Conor McGregor

Malignaggi became increasingly angry  the retired fighter had previously denied any such knockdown  and repeatedly told the 29-year-old to, Bring your b**ls, to which McGregor would reply, You got your a**e whooped.

What a beautiful day in my Las Vegas.

Head to toe in @AugustxMcGregor life is good! pic.twitter.com/ttHzK6Zoba  Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) August 23, 2017

Mayweather refused to answer questions about his own exchange with McGregor, but the Irishman insisted it arose because, unlike the other fighters on Saturdays bill, they did not have a face-off and offence was taken when he asked why.

There was a face-off (scheduled), then there was no face-off, and then I saw him and said, What, are you afraid of a face-off today? McGregor explained. He didnt say anything, but then the goons, the big goons that he surrounds himself with started pushing and shoving.

"Lacing up the gloves one more time. I'll let my record and my legacy speak for me" - #mayweather pic.twitter.com/VC7H9jdrlC  Mayweather Promotions (@MayweatherPromo) August 21, 2017

And then it was just a pushing and shoving contest, and that was it. Nothing really happened. I didnt hear what his response was. It just became a pushing and shoving match.

Asked if that was a sign of Mayweather feeling the pressure, he then responded: He cant walk around the place without being surrounded by these donkeys, and thats what they are, absolute donkeys.

Look, hes in the ring on his own, and I know in his comments, I hope the referee keeps it fair, all I heard was prayers, Please, ref, keep me safe. Like I said Ill bang him out, hurt him badly, and I may make him beg me to follow the rules here.

FIGHT WEEK has officially begun with the Grand Arrivals today for #MayweatherMcGregor! pic.twitter.com/SWd483bqH8  T-Mobile Arena (@TMobileArena) August 22, 2017

Id seen (Malignaggi) lurking around. He started talking to my manager Audie (Attar), and I walked over and he was still talking to Audie. He wouldnt look. I said, Whats wrong with you?

He said, The picture, and I was like, Mate, get over it, you look stupid, you got your a**e whooped, its done, get over it. I dont mind Paulie, I still dont mind him.

Speaking prior to seeing his opponent, Mayweather repeated his refrain about being an ageing fighter and said he had had to adapt his preparations to allow greater recovery time.

Im a lot older now, being older, the body needs a lot of rest, said the 40-year-old American, whose fans were vastly outnumbered by McGregors amid the unremarkable crowd present. This training camp, I did a lot more resting, to allow the body to recuperate and rejuvenate.

I said before this fight wouldnt go the distance, if you want to bet, bet it wont go.
A day of noisy but largely peaceful protests at Donald Trumps speech in Phoenix turned unruly as police fired pepper spray at crowds after rocks and bottles were apparently thrown at officers.

A haze enveloped the night sky as protesters and police clashed outside the convention centre where the president had just wrapped up his speech.

Mr Trump had opened his political rally with calls for unity and an assertion that our movement is about love, but he then erupted in anger.

Four people were arrested outside the Phoenix Convention Centre (Matt York/AP)

He blamed the media for widespread condemnation of his response to deadly violence at a white supremacists protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, and shouted that he had openly called for healing, unity and love after the tragedy and had been misrepresented in news coverage.

Protesters outside the Phoenix event fled the scene coughing as an officer in a helicopter used a speaker to urge them to leave the area.

Officers responded with pepper spray to break up the crowd after people threw rocks and bottles and dispersed gas, police spokesman Jonathan Howard said.

Police fired tear gas to disperse protesters (Matt York/AP)

Four people were arrested on charges related to the protest, and one was arrested on an unrelated warrant, Police Chief Jeri Williams said.

Inside the convention centre, Mr Trump had read from his responses to the racially charged violence in Charlottesville when a woman was killed by a man who ploughed a car through counter-protesters, but he skipped over his controversial observation that many sides were to blame.

That assertion prompted Democrats and many Republicans to denounce him for not unequivocally calling out white supremacists and other hate groups.

Protesters gather ahead of Dinald Trump's rally in Phoenix, Arizona (Matt York/AP)

You know where my heart is, Mr Trump told the crowd of thousands into the Phoenix hall. Im only doing this to show you how damned dishonest these people are.

Well after his appearance had ended, he sent a tweet saying: Not only does the media give a platform to hate groups, but the media turns a blind eye to the gang violence on our streets.

The broadside against the media was one of several detours he took from his prepared remarks at a rally where he was introduced by vice president Mike Pence and other speakers appealing for unity and healing.

He acknowledged that his own advisers had urged him to stay on message, but he simply could not.

He said he had aimed to avoid controversy by not immediately pardoning former sheriff Joe Arpaio, who is awaiting sentencing in Arizona after his conviction in federal court for disobeying court orders to put a stop to his immigration patrols, but the president left little doubt he wanted to do it.

Ill make a prediction: I think hes going to be just fine, he said.

And he skewered both of Arizonas Republican senators, insisting that his refusal to mention their names showed a very presidential restraint.

He said his aides had begged him, Please, please, Mr President, dont mention any names. So I wont. Yet clearly described John McCain as the reason Congress did not repeal and replace the much-maligned Affordable Care Act, and he labelled Jeff Flake as weak on borders and crime.

Authorities were on high alert as thousands lined up in powerful heat to attend Mr Trumps first political rally since the violence in Charlottesville.

The outdoor temperature remained in the late 30s as the rally began and Phoenix Fire Department, said at least 48 people were treated for heat-related problems, most for dehydration.
Dutch police have arrested a 22-year-old man after receiving a tip-off from Spanish colleagues and said he was suspected of preparing a terrorist attack on a concert by an American rock band.

The arrest in Brabant province, south of Rotterdam, came hours after police cancelled a performance by Los Angeles band Allah-Las at a converted grain silo in the heart of the port city on Wednesday night.

The suspicion is that the suspect is involved in the preparation of a terrorist attack, Rotterdam Police Chief Frank Paauw said.

There is no terror threat now anymore. There is no threat because we have arrested a suspect and the information about the threat was so specific on the location of the event that, with that arrest, we can conclude that the threat is gone.

(RTL via AP)

Police searched the mans home after his arrest but released no details of anything they found.

His identity was not released, in line with Dutch privacy guidelines.

Meanwhile, a Spanish mechanic detained on Thursday night while driving, apparently drunk, a white van containing a number of gas canisters close to the concert venue was to be questioned once he sobered up, police said.

However, he did not appear to be a terror suspect.

(RTL via AP)

Police said a search of his home uncovered nothing to indicate he was linked to the threat.

Explosives experts who combed through the vans contents found a few gas canisters but nothing suspicious, police said.

The 22-year-old suspect was being questioned by police and prosecutors.

If authorities want to prolong his detention they will have to arraign him at a closed-doors hearing with an investigative judge before the end of Friday, prosecution spokeswoman Jeichien de Graaff said.

Dutch counter-terror co-ordinator Dick Schoof commended the police action on Twitter, saying it was alert, appropriate for the current threat level.

Mr Schoof left the countrys threat level unchanged at substantial, the fourth step of a five-level scale.

The Allah-Las

It was not clear what the nature of the threat to the concert was, or if the bands name played any role in the threat.

In an interview with The Guardian last year, band members said they chose the word Allah, Arabic for God, because they were seeking a holy-sounding name and did not realise it might cause offence.

We get emails from Muslims, here in the US and around the world, saying theyre offended, but that absolutely wasnt our intention, lead singer Miles Michaud told the newspaper.

We email back and explain why we chose the name, and mainly they understand.
Net migration to the UK has fallen to the lowest level for three years after a surge in the number of EU nationals leaving the country.

Official estimates show the overall measure, the difference between arrivals and departures, was at 246,000 in the year to the end of March, a fall of 81,000 compared with the previous 12 months.

Net migration to the UK since 2010

Statisticians reported much of the change was driven by an increase in emigration, mainly among EU citizens, sparking claims of a Brexodus.

The number of EU nationals leaving the UK increased by 33,000 year-on-year to 122,000, the highest outflow for nearly a decade.

There was a particularly sharp rise, of 17,000, in departures of migrants from the so-called EU8 countries which joined the union in 2004, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

More than half net change in EU migration was by EU8 citizens, down 32,000 from previous year, driven by emigration

https://t.co/4mM969n5X7  Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) August 24, 2017

There was also a 19,000 fall in the numbers arriving from the EU, although this was not statistically significant.

Total EU net migration was estimated at 127,000, a dip of 51,000 on the previous 12 months.

The figure for migration from the rest of the world was also down, by 14,000, to 179,000.

Migration figures

Nicola White, head of international migration statistics at the Office for National Statistics, said: These results are similar to 2016 estimates and indicate that the EU referendum result may be influencing peoples decision to migrate into and out of the UK, particularly EU and EU8 citizens.

It is too early to tell if this is an indication of a long-term trend.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable said the figures show a deeply worrying Brexodus, while Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn warned the NHS was facing recruitment problems due to a lack of EU workers.

Non-EU nationals living inthe UK

Jonathan Portes, professor of economics and public policy at Kings College London, said the statistics confirm that Brexit is having a significant impact on migration flows, even before we have left the EU or any changes are made to law or policy.

Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford said: The recent fall in Eastern European net migration is smaller than the declines we would expect if free movement is abolished, so is really just a taste of what is likely to come next.

Net long-term migration estimates reflect the balance between the numbers coming to the country or leaving for at least 12 months.

Members of EU are broken down into groups referred to as EU2, EU8 & EU15. This image outlines the countries in each group: pic.twitter.com/HtW26Kn1t6  Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) August 24, 2017

The overall figure of 246,000 is the lowest since the year ending March 2014.

Lord Green of Deddington, chairman of Migration Watch UK, said: This is a step forward but it is largely good fortune. This should not obscure the fact that migration remains at an unacceptable level of a quarter of a million a year with massive implications for the scale and nature of our society.

Immigration of non-EU nationals for study has fallen since 2010 https://t.co/WQTEzOFxJd pic.twitter.com/nIWp9tWXuB  Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) August 24, 2017

Immigration Minister Brandon Lewis said: The fall in net migration, for the third quarter in succession, is encouraging but we are not complacent.

People who come to our country to work bring significant benefits to the UK, but there is no consent for uncontrolled immigration.
The headless torso of a Swedish reporter who is believed to have died on a submarine which later sank was found naked and a search is under way for her clothes, Danish police said.

Kim Wall, 30, was last seen alive on August 10 on board the submarine of Danish aerospace and submarine enthusiast Peter Madsen.

Police have arrested him on suspicion of manslaughter.

Danish police prepare to move Kim Wall's body (TV2 via AP/PA))

Copenhagen police spokesman Steen Hansen said investigators found a clothes-less torso.

He said investigators were looking for her clothes, including an orange turtleneck blouse, a black-and-white skirt and white trainers.

Divers and members of the Danish Emergency Management Agency were combing the coast of Amager Island in Copenhagen, in the area where Ms Wall is believed to have died.

A cyclist discovered the torso on Monday, and Copenhagen police later said the bodys head, arms and legs had deliberately been cut off.

Peter Madsen's submarine (Jens Dresling/Ritzau Foto via AP/PA))

Madsen initially told police he had let Ms Wall off the submarine on an island.

According to her family, she was working on a story about Madsen, 46, who dreamed of launching a manned space mission.

He later told police he buried Ms Wall at sea after an accident on board his submarine, UC3 Nautilus.

Students at Columbia University held a candlelight vigil for the Swedish jounalist (AP Photo/Go Nakamura/PA)

The story has caught worldwide attention. On Wednesday, a candlelight vigil was held by classmates at Columbia Universitys School of Journalism in New York, where Ms Wall studied.

Norway-based investor Georg Poul Artmann, who holds about 75% of the shares in the Rocket Madsen Space Lab company which owns the 40-ton, nearly 60ft (18m) long submarine, told Denmarks Berlingske newspaper he will clean up within the firm following recent events but gave no details.

Mr Artmann said his fascination with space had prompted him to invest 250,000 Danish kroner (31,000) to support Madsens space activities.

He also said Madsen was the companys day-to-day leader and as an investor I have not interfered in the daily operations.
The sister of Manchester bombing victim Martyn Hett has achieved top grades in her GCSEs  despite taking an exam the day after she found out her brother had died.

Nikita Murray, the half-sister of the 29-year-old PR manager, found out on Thursday she had achieved 11 A*s in her exams.

She said her proud big brother, an avid social media user, would have been tweeting to congratulate her about her achievements if he was still alive.

The 16-year-old Stockport Grammar School student told the Press Association she had been revising for her physics exam as the family desperately waited to hear news the day after the bombing, which happened after an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena.

so get this. thread.



1/ my little sister Nik is an actual hero. skip back to the literal day after we found out about Martyn being killed  dan hett (@danhett) August 24, 2017

2/ we were obviously completely numb, fried, drained. we'd been through something absolutely unreal and were all trying to figure it out  dan hett (@danhett) August 24, 2017

3/ I came downstairs, and Nik was sat on the stairs in full school uniform, tying her shoes. I couldn't understand why  dan hett (@danhett) August 24, 2017

4/ I didn't even know what day it was at that point, it had been such a horrific few days.  dan hett (@danhett) August 24, 2017

She said: I was about halfway through my exams when it happened. I had three exams that week.

After it happened, when we didnt know where he was, I was just thinking that I should probably revise just in case we found him.

Martyn Hett and Nikita Murray

The option of not taking the exam was in my brain. I thought if we did find out (he had died) I wont end up doing it but, just in case we find out hes fine and its a misunderstanding, I should probably revise.

The evening after the bombing, which happened on May 22, the family found out Martyn had been killed in the attack and at 1pm the following day Nikita took her exam.

5/ She was putting her shoes on so she could go and sit a bunch of GCSE's. I was utterly amazed, floored.  dan hett (@danhett) August 24, 2017

6/ They told her she didn't need to, that they'd use her predicted grades given everything that happened. Nik said: nope! and took the lot  dan hett (@danhett) August 24, 2017

7/ Under the most horrific conditions, after going through (and continuing to go through) it all, she didn't skip a beat.  dan hett (@danhett) August 24, 2017

8/ It was hands-down the toughest shit I have ever seen. Sleeves rolled up, get it done. Nothing wasted despite it all  dan hett (@danhett) August 24, 2017

She said: Loads of people were at my house so I sort of wanted to get out anyway.

She said she and her brother used to go to concerts together and on family holidays, adding: He would have been tweeting about my results today!

He was quite proud but he always used to make jokes that I was really bad at maths.

9/ She got her results today. Eleven A* grades. I have never been more proud or amazed by anyone.  dan hett (@danhett) August 24, 2017

10/ in conclusion: my kid sister is the toughest person I have ever met. don't mess with her. be inspired!  dan hett (@danhett) August 24, 2017

She added: I didnt want to let whats happened stop me. Martyn would want me to do it and do it well.

Nikita, from Stockport, gained top grades in subjects including Classics, music, French, geography and further maths and plans to stay on for sixth form at her school and study maths, further maths, physics and Classics.
Tomasz Marczynski took the honours on stage six of La Vuelta as overall leader Chris Froome saw nearest challenger Tejay van Garderen slip down the standings.

Lotto Soudal rider Marczynski, who had never claimed a stage win in a Grand Tour event, pipped fellow Pole Pawel Poljanski (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Spaniard Enric Mas (Quick-Step Floors) to the line following a sprint finish on the streets of Sagunto.

 A strong performance from @TMarczynski today who won his 1st Grand Tour stage. Enjoy highlights from a grueling day at @lavuelta. #LV2017 pic.twitter.com/wMz2QVP9QH  Le Tour de France UK (@letour_uk) August 24, 2017

The trio finished the 204.4-kilometre stage from Vila-Real in a time of four hours, 47 minutes and two seconds, with the pairing of Leon Luis Sanchez (Astana) and Jan Polanc (UAE Team Emirates) completing the top five as they crossed the line eight seconds later.

Chris Froome extended his lead

Overall leader Froome, meanwhile, was part of an 18-strong body of riders that finished next, 26 seconds back. That group included many of Froomes biggest rivals at the top of the classification  but not Van Garderen.

The American started the day 10 seconds behind Froome in second place overall, but the BMC Racing rider crashed twice in the closing stages on Thursday and he now lies 30 seconds adrift of the leader in fourth place.

That means Froomes lead at the top of the standings increases marginally to 11 seconds  the gap to Colombian Esteban Chaves of Orica-Scott  as he stays on course to become just the third man to win the Vuelta and Tour de France in the same year

Irelands Nicolas Roche (BMC) moves up a place to third ahead of Van Garderen, remaining 13 seconds behind the red jersey.

Italys Vincenzo Nibali, one of only six riders in history to have won the Vuelta, Tour de France and Giro dItalia during their careers, is 36 seconds back in fifth spot after clocking the same time as Froome on Thursday.

.@chrisfroome and @WoutPoels finish in the following group as Marczynski (LTS) wins stage six. Another day on the podium for Froome... pic.twitter.com/TF89y41Lk3  INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) August 24, 2017

Froome, the four-time Tour de France winner who is looking for his maiden Vuelta crown, said on www.teamsky.com: Thats the hardest day of the Vuelta so far.

It didnt stop all day, the attacks and for us having Sanchez in front we had to pull really hard and keep the break really close.

The team was fantastic and I want to thank my team-mates that Im still in red. I think it was a tough stage and a lot of people spent a lot of energy.
The UKs only female giant panda Tian Tian is believed to be pregnant, Edinburgh Zoo has said.

The surprise news came to light in correspondence between the zoo and the Scottish Government, which suggested the due date could be Friday.

However, the zoo said the exact date was hard to predict.

Tian Tian in her enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo (Danny Lawson/PA)

A spokeswoman for Royal Zoological Society of Scotland Edinburgh Zoo said: Giant panda breeding is a very complicated process but we believe that Tian Tian is pregnant.

Although a specific date was suggested, like all babies its hard to predict precisely and the panda breeding season can last until late September.

Tian Tian the panda

Tian Tian is being closely monitored by our expert team and we will be the first to share any news as soon as we can.

It follows repeated attempts over several years to see if the female giant panda could produce a cub.

Panda reproduction is a notoriously tricky process, with females only ovulating once a year.

Artificial insemination was attempted for a fifth time after the zoos male panda Yang Guang was unreceptive to natural mating.

Tian Tian

Tian Tian (Sweetie) and Yang Guang (Sunshine) are the only giant pandas living in the UK.

The black and white bears arrived on loan from China in December 2011 and are due to remain at Edinburgh Zoo for a decade.

It was in 2008 that the zoo first announced it was in negotiations to bring a pair of giant pandas to Scotland. The two were brought to the UK under a historic agreement between the UK and Chinese governments.

The pair, described as a gift from China, were the first giant pandas to reside in the UK for 17 years. Their arrival marked the culmination of a five-year effort to bring them to Scotland, officials said.

The news of the pregnancy came to light after documents were released to Deadline News under the Freedom of Information Act.
ASTANA, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan may lift a ban on the export of gasoline and diesel fuel a year earlier than planned to help local refineries increase profits after spending heavily on equipment upgrades, Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbayev said on Monday.

Under an agreement with Russia, Kazakhstan in 2014 banned exports of so-called white products, including gasoline and diesel fuel, until Jan. 1, 2019. In exchange, the former Soviet republic receives duty-free fuel from Russia.

Bozumbayev told reporters the government planned to initiate talks with Russia about lifting the ban from January 2018 as that would help refineries repay "loans taken out to finance costly upgrades".

Kazakhstan has three main oil refineries and after the upgrades they could boost output of gasoline and diesel fuel to a level exceeding domestic demand by 1.5-2.0 million tonnes a year for each product, Bozumbayev said.

The Atyray and Pavlodar refineries plan to complete equipment upgrades in the second half of this year, while the Shymkent refinery aims to finish upgrades next year.

Kazakhstan imported 609,000 tonnes of gasoline from Russia by rail in January-July this year, down from 640,000 tonnes a year earlier. However, the Central Asian nation also imported 168,000 tonnes of diesel fuel and 179,000 tonnes of airplane fuel from Russia, up from 81,000 tonnes and 112,000 tonnes respectively. (Reporting by Raushan Nurshayeva; Writing by Alla Afanasyeva and Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Susan Fenton)
HANOI, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Vietnam's most powerful leader has called for greater unity among Southeast Asian states at a time the country has appeared increasingly isolated in challenging China's territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Making the first visit by a Vietnamese communist party chief to Indonesia, Nguyen Phu Trong said in a speech televised at home on Wednesday that the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) needed to be unified in resolving territorial disputes.

"Do not let ASEAN become a playing card for the competition among major countries," Trong said, without identifying which he meant.

Vietnam has emerged as the most vocal opponent of China's claims in the South China Sea, where more than $3 trillion in cargo pass every year.

To China's annoyance, Vietnam held out an ASEAN meeting this month for language in a communique that noted concern about island-building and criticized militarization in the South China Sea.

Chinese pressure forced Vietnam to stop drilling for oil last month in a Vietnamese oil block that China claims. Beijing has also been angered by Vietnam's growing defence links to the United States, Japan and India.

Some Southeast Asian countries are wary about the possible repercussions of defying Beijing by taking a stronger stand on the South China Sea.

China claims most of the South China Sea, while Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei claim parts of the sea, which commands strategic sealanes and has rich fishing grounds along with oil and gas deposits.

After Indonesia, Trong is due to visit Myanmar. (Reporting by Mai Nguyen; Editing by Matthew Tostevin and Lincoln Feast)
By Clyde Russell

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Aug 24 (Reuters) - There is little doubt that Iraq's mooted shift to using Dubai crude futures from long-standing price assessor Platts will shake up the trading of Middle East oil, but is it a once-off shock or the first of the dominoes to fall.

Iraq's state oil marketer SOMO has asked its customers for feedback on a planned move to use Oman futures traded on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) instead of the average of Platts' Oman-Dubai quotes in pricing its main Basra grade.

While this may seem an esoteric issue to those outside the cosy world of physical oil trading, it represents a potential seismic shift in the way that more than 12 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude is bought and sold in the Middle East, which is still the world's major source of exports.

The Platts system has been used for decades by the region's top oil exporters, led by Saudi Arabia, as the method of setting their official selling prices for customers in the biggest consuming region of Asia.

Platts assesses prices based on trades of four regional crude grades in its proprietary Market on Close system.

This system of price discovery, referred to by participants as the "window", is well understood by market players and its efficiency over many years gives it the advantage of incumbency.

However, the system is not without some issues, namely that it is dominated by three major players, the trading arms of the two large state Chinese oil firms, Unipec and Chinaoil, and Royal Dutch Shell.

The vast majority of the trades in the Platts system has one of those three as a counterparty, which raises the risk that a relatively small number of big players can exert strong influence of the direction of prices.

This became an issue in 2015 when trading plays by the Chinese majors saw all the available physical cargoes in the Platts window being snapped up, driving up the price of Middle Eastern crudes relative to other global benchmarks such as Brent.

Platts responded by adding Qatar's Al-Shaheen crude to the three existing grades in the window, but the risk remains that the limited amount of physical crude available can still be traded in such a way as to move prices in the direction desired by one of the major players.

It's also the case that the majority of the crude traded in the Platts window is a grade other than Oman, but it is Oman that the Iraqis are most keen to use as their benchmark for pricing Basra Light.

It seems that part of the motivation of the Iraqis in mulling a switch to the DME is that they feel the price discovery for Oman is superior.

TRANSPARENCY THE KEY

The DME's contract is now 10 years old and has seen increasing volumes and participation in recent years, although it is still a minnow compared to Brent and West Texas Intermediate contracts traded in London and New York.

But the DME contract is well designed and in recent years more of the contracts being traded have been taken to actual physical delivery, rather than just rolled over.

It's also a market where no single player dominates. It's highly unusual to have more than 10 percent of the trades in any given month featuring the same participant.

As it stands, the DME offers a viable Oman futures contract that can be used for physical purchases, for hedging and for investment.

Iraq's SOMO has asked customers for feedback on its potential switch to the DME by the end of August, a relatively short time frame.

It's likely that responses from refiners and traders may be somewhat mixed, with those more focused on compliance risks likely to be attracted to the DME's status as a clearing house, and those more comfortable with the less transparent, more insider-focused Platts system unwilling to change.

It's probably too simplistic to characterise this as a simple old versus new debate, but it is perhaps an effort to break from the traditional way oil has been traded between the Middle East and Asia, a sort of insiders club that resisted scrutiny and participation from outsiders.

If Iraq does go ahead and switch to the DME, no doubt Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait will be watching with interest.

If Iraq can achieve better price outcomes for itself, then others may follow.

(Editing by Richard Pullin)
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. TYAAN LAMOND JOYE, Defendant - Appellant. No. 17-6795 Decided: August 22, 2017

Before KEENAN, THACKER, and HARRIS, Circuit Judges. Tyaan Lamond Joye, Appellant Pro Se. Stephen Aubrey West, Seth Morgan Wood, Assistant United States Attorneys, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Tyaan Lamond Joye seeks to appeal the district court's order dismissing as untimely his 28 U.S.C.  2255 (2012) motion. The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. 28 U.S.C.  2253(c)(1)(B) (2012). A certificate of appealability will not issue absent a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right. 28 U.S.C.  2253(c)(2) (2012). When the district court denies relief on the merits, a prisoner satisfies this standard by demonstrating that reasonable jurists would find that the district court's assessment of the constitutional claims is debatable or wrong. Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000); see Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 336-38 (2003). When the district court denies relief on procedural grounds, the prisoner must demonstrate both that the dispositive procedural ruling is debatable, and that the motion states a debatable claim of the denial of a constitutional right. Slack, 529 U.S. at 484-85.

We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that Joye has not made the requisite showing. Accordingly, although we grant Joye's motion to supplement his informal brief, we deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

DISMISSED

PER CURIAM:
Aug 24 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Romanian financial markets on Thursday.

FRENCH PRESIDENT

French President Emmanuel Macron to meet Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and later the prime minister in Bucharest, part of a three-day tour of central and eastern Europe.

On Wednesday, Macron won the support of two eastern European states in his campaign against EU rules on the employment abroad of workers from low-pay countries, calling the current system a "betrayal" of European values.

DEBT TENDER

Romanian debt managers tender 500 million lei ($128.73 million) worth of March 2022 treasury bonds.

M3 DATA

Romania's central bank to release M3 money supply data for July.

JUDICIAL PLANS

Romania's justice minister proposed a significant overhaul of the judicial system on Wednesday which the president called an attack on the rule of law that would set the country back a decade.

FITCH

Fitch Ratings said on Wednesday Romanian pro-cyclical fiscal policy, rapid wage growth in 2017 raised overheating risks. It forecast economic growth would slow down to 3.4 and 3.5 percent in 2018 and 2019, respectively as as policy stimulus eases.

It also said Romania's medium-term fiscal policy is less clear following political changes in June.

SPLIT VAT PAYMENT

Romania's finance ministry said on Wednesday the government could approve a new split value added tax payment system this month seeking to improve tax collection and curb evasion, while generating an additional 6 billion lei ($1.54 billion) in tax collection during 2018-2020.

CEE MARKETS

Hungary's forint tested 27-month highs against the euro on Wednesday after Central Europe's most dovish central bank made no attempt to talk it down after its meeting on Tuesday.

PRIVATE PENSIONS

Romania's finance ministry told private pension fund managers it was considering reducing contributions to mandatory private pension funds next year, but no details were decided, according to a source with knowledge of the talks.

Economy Minister Mihai Fifor told television station Antena 3 late on Wednesday such an option was not under discussion. The finance ministry has not commented.

HAULIERS

The National Union of Road Hauliers said Bucharest cityhall refused to give it a permit to protest in the capital during French President Emmanuel Macron's official visit on Thursday. They wanted to protest new French rules to tighten labour rules over 'posted' workers including foreign road hauliers.

CONGESTION

Capital Bucharest has Europe's largest traffic congestion, an index by navigation and mapping company Tom Tom showed. It's congestion level has gone up 7 percent on the year to 50 percent, which puts it fifth worldwide, behind Mexico City, Thailand's Bangkok, Indonesia's Jakarta and China's Chongqing.

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SOFIA, Aug 24 (Reuters) - These are some of the main stories in Bulgarian newspapers on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

-- Bulgaria's Council for Electronic Media appointed Konstantin Kamenarov as the new head of the state-run national television BNT. (24 Chasa, Trud, Monitor, Standart, Sega, Capital Daily)

24 CHASA - French President Emmanuel Macron will propose to Bulgaria to buy military patrol ships and armoured vehicles for its land forces during his visit to the country on Friday, officials from the Bulgarian government said.

-- The four candidates that have expressed interest to acquire small Victoria bank are invited to file non-binding bids, the receivers of bankrupt Corporate Commercial Bank, which owned the small bank, said. (24 Chasa, Capital Daily)

-- Credit lending to households have increased by 5.5 percent on an annual basis, close to the pre-crisis levels, data from the central bank showed. (Trud, 24 Chasa, Monitor, Capitaql Daily)

-- Sofia Municipality plans to buy 20 electric buses for the city transport in a deal estimated at about 22 million levs ($13.27 million). (Monitor, Capital Daily, 24 Chasa)

($1 = 1.6579 leva)
SYDNEY, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Australia on Thursday defended its most senior intelligence chief after he was pictured posing with a clenched fist alongside Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, an image rights groups said undermines criticism of Duterte's war on drugs.

Australia's Director-General of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service Nick Warner met with Duterte in Manila on Tuesday, where he was photographed duplicating Duterte's clenched fist pose.

The president's clenched pose was used throughout his 2016 presidential campaign during which he promised to use deadly force to wipe out crime and drugs.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Warner was complying with a request from Duterte and the image did not weaken Canberra's criticism of Duterte's war on drugs.

Duterte's ferocious 14-month-old war on drugs has seen thousands of Filipinos killed, many in what critics say are suspicious circumstances.

"On both occasions that I've met with President Duterte I've raised the issue of human rights and the extrajudicial killings," Bishop told reporters in Perth in western Australia.

Amnesty International said Australia must do more to try and curtail the Philippine's firebrand leader.

"Australia is sending mixed messages amid an incredible spike in killings of the Philippines poorest people," said Michael Hayworth, human rights campaigner, Amnesty International.

"Australia must condemn in the strongest terms the killings by Philippines police of people without trial."

Since Duterte took office, more than 3,500 people have been killed in what the Philippine National Police (PNP) says were gunfights with drug suspects who had resisted arrests.

The PNP says some 2,000 more people were killed in other, drug-related violence that it denies involvement in. Human rights advocates, however, say the death toll could be far higher than police say.

(Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Michael Perry)
BRATISLAVA, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Slovak financial markets on Thursday. ALL TIMES GMT (Slovak Republic: GMT + 2 hours) =========================ECONOMIC DATA======================== Real-time economic data releases.................. Summary of economic data and forecasts......... Recently released economic data................ Previous stories on Slovak data.......... **For a schedule of corporate and economic events: http://emea1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/Apps/CountryWeb/#/1C/events-overview ========================NEWS=================================== IMMIGRATION: Poland has asked the European Commission to withdraw its legal proceedings against Warsaw over its migrant relocation quotas and said it was ready to fight its case in court, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday. Story: Related stories: DIPLOMACY: French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday there had been progress with the leaders of Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia on finding a solution to the issue of posted workers in the European Union. Story: Related stories: For real-time stock market index quotes click in brackets: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX Main currency report TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets News editor of the day: Jan Lopatka +420 224 190 474 E-mail: prague.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (Reporting by Prague Newsroom)
By Shadia Nasralla

VIENNA, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Austria's Schoeller-Bleckmann Oil Equipment posted its first quarterly operating profit for two years on Thursday and said its orders in the third quarter were continuing the positive trend, buoyed by an upswing in North America.

SBO gets its orders for highly specialised oilfield exploration equipment -- including odd-angle drilling and fracking -- from upstream energy companies of different sizes.

Heightened exploration activity in the United States and Canada, especially in West Texas, have helped SBO at a time when other markets stagnate.

Bookings in the first half of the year doubled from the same period last year to 150 million euros.

"Up to now we don't see a big change in demand and in the market," Chief Executive Gerald Grohmann told Reuters when asked about third-quarter bookings.

Shares in SBO were up around 3.7 percent in early trading.

Second-quarter earnings before interest and tax swung to a profit of 2.2 million euros ($2.6 million) from an operating loss of about 6 million euros in the previous quarter, beating the average estimate of 1.15 million euros in a Reuters poll of analysts.

Grohmann said, however, it was too early to say if SBO could book a full-year operating profit. ($1 = 0.8477 euros) (Editing by Michael Shields)
By Noor Zainab Hussain and Esha Vaish

Aug 24 (Reuters) - OneSavings Bank said its focus on bigger, professional landlords helped drive a surge in buy-to-let applications during the first half of 2017, even as the broader market has lost its sheen for amateur landlords due to tax and regulatory changes.

OneSavings, one of the banks aiming to challenge Britain's "Big 5" lenders, said last year that it had increased its focus on professional landlords and tightened lending criteria for financing smaller developments after the Brexit vote.

Traditionally 90 percent of Britain's buy-to-let market has been owned by amateur investors, however a string of tax and regulatory changes announced last year have made the sector less attractive to such "dinner party" landlords, paving the way for larger institutions to grab market share.

"The buy-to-let market will in my opinion definitely shrink this year; where the market is falling away is the dinner party landlord because of the taxation changes and the additional stamp duty," CEO Andy Golding told Reuters.

"I think that side of the market is put off and will slow the growth."

Buy-to-let investors buy residential property, typically with a mortgage, with the aim of renting it out.

OneSavings on Thursday reported a 20 percent jump in first-half underlying pretax profit and said the impact of regulation would further shift buy-to-let activity towards its target market of larger landlords with 50-200 properties.

Consultant Knight Frank, which estimates the rental market will be worth 70 billion pounds by 2022, said recent tax policies affect traditional buy-to-let landlords, which could in turn create further opportunity for large-scale operators.

"When the big banks don't play in that (professional landlords) space, actually that is an opportunity for us to take market share," Golding added.

He said Kent-based OneSavings was focusing on housing outside of London, rather than funding new flats in and around the UK capital that has seen "some oversupply".

OneSavings said its first-half loan book grew 10 percent, driven by a 26 percent jump in gross organic origination to 1.23 billion pounds.

Sky News in July reported OneSavings is interested in buying some of Bradford & Bingley's mortgage loans.

Golding said the lender would be interested in bidding for mortgage portfolios that met its risk and reward hurdles. ($1 = 0.7825 pounds) (Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain and Esha Vaish in Bengaluru, Editing by Lawrence White)
Aug 24 (Reuters) - Italy's markets watchdog Consob has imposed sanctions on Petrofac Ltd CEO Ayman Asfari, including a 300,000 euro ($353,790.00) fine, in relation to dealing in shares of an Italian company, Petrofac said on Thursday.

Petrofac said Asfari had informed the company he believed the decision to be wholly without merit, and is determined to contest the decision and the process by which it was conducted, to the fullest extent possible.

The sanctions also include a 12-month disqualification from taking up management roles in any Italy-listed companies and an order confiscation property with a value of 385,000 euros.

Petrofac's Chairman Rijnhard van Tets said the board fully supported Asfari in his defence against the decision. ($1 = 0.8480 euros) (Reporting by Sanjeeban Sarkar in Bengaluru. Editing by Jane Merriman)
By Michael Hirtzer

CHICAGO, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures edged higher on Thursday, lifted by strong export demand, gains in soyoil prices and smaller pod count findings on an annual U.S. crop tour, traders said.

Grain futures were mixed, with corn reversing from earlier modest gains to notch life-of-contract lows on technical selling and ample supplies. CBOT wheat contracts also hit lifetime lows while MGEX spring wheat was higher.

Soybeans for November delivery climbed 6-1/2 cents to $9.44-1/2 per bushel at 10:39 a.m. CDT (1539 GMT), on pace for their biggest daily advance in a week.

CBOT September soyoil hit a nearly one-month high of 35.13 cents per pound before trimming gains. Soyoil has climbed since a U.S. Commerce Department announcement on Tuesday that it would impose duties on imports of soy-based Argentina biodiesel that it said was unfairly subsidized.

INTL FCStone said in a client note that some analysts expected soyoil to test 40 cents per pound due to the Commerce decision.

"This, coupled with continued good Chinese demand, has the soybean market finding support," the brokerage said.

Crop scouts on the annual Farm Journal Midwest Crop Tour found soybean pod counts lower than average in top growing regions in Illinois and the western half of Iowa. Final data from the four-day crop tour was due on Friday.

Weekly U.S. soybean export sales of more than 2 million tonnes for the shipping season that starts on Sept. 1 topped analyst estimates for 400,000 to 600,000, U.S. Department of Agriculture data showed. More than half of the sales were bound for China.

CBOT December corn eased 1-1/4 cents to a contract low of $3.54-1/2 per bushel. CBOT December wheat was down 2-3/4 cents to $4.27-1/4, also a contract low, while MGEX December spring wheat gained 4-1/4 cents to $6.61-1/4.

"The supply and demand situation in the corn market looks to be another range bound, grind-it-out affair with plenty of supply abroad to meet any short-term supply short falls," Halo Commodities analyst Tregg Cronin said in a note.

"Chicago wheat has retraced the entire summer rally... and has now put wheat back into livestock rations in some parts of the United States," Cronin added.

(Additional reporting by Colin Packham in Sydney and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
JOHANNESBURG, Aug 24 (Reuters) - South Africa's main opposition party said on Thursday its complaint that public relations firm Bell Pottinger had "exploited racial tensions" in a campaign on behalf of the country's ruling ANC had been upheld.

Phumzile Van Damme, spokeswoman for the Democratic Alliance (DA), said Britain's Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) had told it Bell Pottinger had been found to have violated the association's professional charter.

"Bell Pottinger will now be given five days to appeal the PRCA's decision if it so chooses," she said.

The DA had accused Bell Pottinger of working to "divide and conquer the South African public by exploiting racial tensions in a bid to keep Jacob Zuma and the ANC in power".

The PR firm had organised a campaign in South Africa condemning opponents of President Zuma and leftist elements of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) as agents of "white monopoly capital".

Such slogans gained traction in a country where the white minority still wields disproportionate economic power, two decades after the end of apartheid.

A source familiar with the matter in London confirmed that the DA's complaint had been upheld by the PRCA. Bell Pottinger was not available to comment.

The basis of the DA's allegations were leaked emails that implied that Bell Pottinger worked with South African President Jacob Zuma's son, Duduzane, to create a "narrative that grabs the attention of the grassroots population".

Duduzane Zuma was working at the time for a company controlled by the Guptas, a family of wealthy Indian-born businessmen accused of exerting undue influence over the president. They and Zuma have denied any wrongdoing.

Bell Pottinger's campaign themes were aired frequently on a Gupta-owned television station and on social media. The firm was paid for its services by Oakbay, the holding company of the Guptas' mining-to-media empire, but ended the contract in April after widespread criticism.

On July 6, Bell Pottinger said it had fired a partner in charge of its PR campaign in South Africa. It said the firm was "deeply sorry that this happened" and that elements of the campaign had been "inappropriate and insensitive" in a country with a troubled racial past.

The PRCA has said it will publish its final decision on the week beginning September 4.

The maximum penalty for breaching the industry body's code could be termination of Bell Pottinger's membership of the PRCA.

Its Code of Conduct states that members should "take all reasonable care that professional duties are conducted without causing offence on the grounds of gender, race, religion, disability or any other form of discrimination". (Reporting by James Macharia in Johannesburg and Emma Rumney in London; editing by Andrew Roche)
BEIRUT, Aug 24 (Reuters) - The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Thursday it had captured much of an Islamic State enclave on Syria's side of the border with Lebanon, in a joint offensive with the Syrian army.

In parallel with the fighting, talks on a truce deal have begun with Islamic State, but a military victory is more likely, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech.

Iranian-backed Hezbollah and Syrian troops have been fighting since last week to oust Islamic State militants from Syria's western Qalamoun region. (Reporting by Ellen Francis; editing by Andrew Roche)
United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. JUAN MANUEL CASTRO, Defendant-Appellant. No. 16-50074 Decided: August 22, 2017

Before: REINHARDT, KOZINSKI, and CHRISTEN, Circuit Judges.

MEMORANDUM*

1. The district court did not abuse its discretion by allowing the government to reopen. See United States v. McQuisten, 795 F.2d 858, 863 (9th Cir. 1986). The district court recognized that reopening a case for the purpose of introducing overlooked evidence must be done with extreme reluctance, United States v. Hernandez-Meza, 720 F.3d 760, 764 (9th Cir. 2013) (quoting Eason v. United States, 281 F.2d 818, 822 (9th Cir. 1960)), and a judge has to give reasons for allowing the reopening that are supported by the record.

The district court correctly found that this case is distinct from Hernandez-Meza. The district court allowed the government to reopen because the government relied on the court's potentially erroneous ruling on Castro's chain-of-custody objection. The timing weighed in favor of reopening because Castro had not yet indicated whether he intended to put on a defense. One purpose of Rule 29 motions is to alert the court to omitted proof so that, if it so chooses, it can allow the government to submit additional evidence. United States v. Suarez-Rosario, 237 F.3d 1164, 1167 (9th Cir. 2001). Castro's Rule 29 motion served exactly this purpose.

2. Any Confrontation Clause error in admitting the custody receipt and DEA-7 form in this case was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt because there was sufficient evidence of the chain of custody without these documents. See United States v. Bustamante, 687 F.3d 1190, 1195 (9th Cir. 2012). In the government's initial case-in-chief, Customs and Border Protection Officer Olsen testified that his canine alerted to Castro's truck, and Officer Nacpil explained that he removed twenty bricks of suspected drugs, individually wrapped in plastic tupperware containers, from the truck's seat. The government introduced photographs of the suspected drugs that Officer Nacpil took at the time of seizure. The photographs show the relative size and color of the tupperware containers and reveal that at least two of the containers had black writing on them.

Although Officer Nacpil did not testify about what he did with the suspected drugs after photographing them, Drug Enforcement Administration Forensic Chemist Tarin-Brousseau explained the procedures used to transport suspected drugs to the lab. Castro did not object when Tarin-Brousseau testified that she tested the drugs in his case. The government introduced photographs that Tarin-Brousseau took before conducting testing, which show tupperware containers of the same approximate size and color as those Officer Nacpil seized. The photographs also show that at least two of the bricks had black writing on them. Castro did not introduce any evidence contradicting Tarin-Brousseau's testimony or suggesting that any agents listed on the chain-of-custody forms actually mishandled the drugs.

3. Finally, the district court did not abuse its discretion by overruling Castro's hearsay objection to the custody receipt and DEA-7 form. Officer Nacpil's photographs documenting the seizure and Tarin-Brousseau's photographs documenting the appearance of the drugs before testing show strong physical similarities. Castro did not offer any evidence contradicting the chain of custody memorialized in the custody receipt and DEA-7 form. Therefore, Castro did not meet his burden to show that the records are untrustworthy under Federal Rules of Evidence 803(6) and (8). See United States v. Fryberg, 854 F.3d 1126, 1133 (9th Cir. 2017).

AFFIRMED.
PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Akila Dananjaya's career-best 6-54 was in vain as India beat Sri Lanka by three wickets in their second one-day international to go 2-0 up in the five-match series on Thursday.

Dananjaya ran through India's top and middle order but Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Bhuvneswar Kumar batted sensibly to complete a tricky chase under the Duckworth-Lewis method with 16 balls to spare.

Chasing 231 from 47 overs after a rain intervention, India were cruising at 109 for no loss but the 23-year-old Dananjaya claimed three wickets in one over to turn the match on its head.

The Indian batsmen repeatedly failed to read Dananjaya's googly and lost their wickets.

There had been no inkling of the impending collapse when Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan led India's brisk reply with a century stand.

Dananjaya trapped Sharma leg before for 54 and Dhawan (49) swept Milinda Siriwardene towards fine leg where Angelo Mathews lunged to take a stunning catch.

A maverick spinner who can bowl off-spin, leg-spin, googly and even "doosra", the ball that turns the other way, Dananjaya injected drama into the contest when he clean bowled Kedar Jadhav, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul within five balls.

He dealt two more blows to leave India reeling on 131-7 when Dhoni reprised his finisher's role and Kumar proved a perfect foil as they bailed out India with a century partnership.

Dhoni's risk-free 45 not out included only one boundary while Kumar hit a six and four fours in his unbeaten 53.

Earlier, paceman Jasprit Bumrah claimed 4-43 to help restrict Sri Lanka to 236-8 after India captain Kohli opted to field.

Niroshan Dickwella hitting Bumrah for a couple of sixes before being dismissed by the paceman for 31.

Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal struck twice to reduce Sri Lanka to 121-5 when Milinda Siriwardana and Chamara Kapugedera offered some resistance with a 91-run partnership.

Bumrah returned to torment the Sri Lankans with his unorthodox action and his mastery over yorkers and slow deliveries.

The 23-year-old ended Siriwardana's run-a-ball 58, yorked Kapugedera (40) and sent back Dananjaya as Sri Lanka settled for a below-par total before it started raining.

The teams return to the venue for the third match on Sunday. (Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Andrew Roche)
BOGOTA, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Venezuela's former top prosecutor, who fled to neighboring Colombia last week, may freely enter and leave the Andean country for the next six months, Bogota said on Thursday, in a move likely to anger President Nicolas Maduro.

Following the removal of the former prosecutor, Luisa Ortega, from her post after she accused Maduro of violating human rights and eroding democracy, she fled Venezuela for Colombia last week with her lawmaker husband.

Ortega then traveled to meet with regional prosecutors in Brazil, where she said on Wednesday she had evidence Maduro was engaged in corruption in the food industry and linked top Socialist Party officials to the Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht's region-wide bribery scandal.

Venezuela's government, which says Ortega is a traitor and hypocrite, has said it requested an Interpol arrest warrant for Ortega and her spouse, German Ferrer.

But in a region where Maduro is becoming a pariah, it seems Ortega will be protected.

"She can enter just like any other foreigner to our territory without any problems," Colombia's migration chief, Christian Kruger, told journalists on Thursday, adding that there was no Interpol warrant against her.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has said he will grant Ortega asylum if she requests it. A migration agency source told Reuters that Ortega was expected to return shortly to Colombia after her visit to Brazil.

A new constituent assembly fired Ortega during its first session on Aug. 5, but she and some governments in the region have refused to accept the body's decision. (Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Alexandra Ulmer and Leslie Adler)
By Julia Jacobs

CHICAGO, Aug 24 (Reuters) - The pledge by Taiwan's Foxconn to build a $10 billion factory in southern Wisconsin has ignited cross-border competition with Illinois over which states residents will get the jobs created by the project.

Backers of Wisconsins $3 billion incentives package, which is quickly moving through the state legislature, estimate Foxconns plant and related investments could create more than 23,000 factory, construction and ancillary jobs.

But one estimate says 50 percent of the jobs may go to residents from other states. Within a 20-minute drive of likely Foxconn sites, Illinois stands to gain those jobs, prompting Wisconsin lawmakers to push to hold on to them.

U.S. Senator Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, has even proposed that other states like Illinois should contribute to the Foxconn incentives package if its residents are projected to make up a significant part of the Foxconn workforce.

Illinois aims to capture whatever jobs it can from Foxconns plan to build a 20 million-square-foot plant to manufacture liquid crystal displays. State officials had worked to attract Foxconn to the state since February, but the company disclosed this week that it plans to build an assembly plant, a molding plant, and a packaging plant in Wisconsin.

Foxconn, known formally as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd , is a major supplier to Apple Inc for its iPhones. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, announced the plan with President Donald Trump and Foxconn Chief Executive Terry Gou in a White House news conference last month. In attracting the company, Wisconsin beat out Illinois and five other states.

HIGH-STAKES ISSUE

In Illinois Lake County, which borders Wisconsin, economic development officials have contacted Foxconn to promote manufacturing companies that can supply the plant, said Aaron Lawlor, chairman of the county board. "Were going to be aggressive about providing opportunities for our workers," Lawlor said.

Job retention from Foxconn is a high-stakes issue in Wisconsin. Lawmakers have criticized Walker for the size of the incentive package, one of the largest on record, and economic analysts say any jobs lost to Illinois will delay the states payback from the tax incentives.

"If were going to use taxpayer dollars to create these jobs, then we shouldnt be subsidizing Illinois workers," Wisconsin Representative Katrina Shankland, a Democrat, said in a phone interview. "Governor Walker should have spent more time negotiating this."

Walkers administration stands by the prediction that 90 percent of Foxconn jobs would go to Wisconsin residents. A consultant hired by Wisconsins economic development agency initially estimated out-of-state residents would grab 40 to 50 percent of jobs, but recalculated the number after that estimate drew criticism. It now estimates that 15 percent of Foxconn jobs and 30 percent of ancillary positions will be held by out-of-state residents.

The agencys spokesman, Mark Maley, attributed the shift to a change in the scope of the Foxconn project after the first analysis.

Walkers spokesman, Tom Evenson, said Wisconsin would recover at least some lost tax revenue because an agreement between Illinois and Wisconsin requires the states to compensate one another for lost income tax revenue from workers who cross state lines.

An amendment to the $3 billion tax incentive package, now before the state legislature, would urge Foxconn to prioritize hiring Wisconsin workers, but sets no binding quota. An earlier proposal to set a minimum for Wisconsin hires was voted down after Republicans raised concerns that the restrictions violated constitutional protections to interstate commerce.

COMMUTER IMBALANCE

If Illinois residents do win a large proportion of Foxconn-related jobs, they will alter a years-long trend of workers commuting in the opposite direction. In 2015, more than 56,000 Wisconsin residents reported working in Illinois, double the 28,000 Illinoisans who worked in Wisconsin, according to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. That two-to-one ratio has endured consistently between 2005 and 2015, agency records show.

The presence of major employers, and typically higher wages, in northern Illinois - in conjunction with a loss of some major manufacturers in Wisconsins southeast over the past decade - explains the commuter imbalance, said Robert Bruno, a professor of labor and employment relations at the University of Illinois.

Dave Tuggle, a 57-year-old resident of Waukegan, Illinois, and a former information technology manager, is keeping an eye on the Foxconn deal. "If they offered me a job, I would certainly go there, because Illinois sure isnt getting any more new jobs," he said.

Wisconsins inability, so far, to protect the possible Foxconn jobs with a state border wall of sorts marks a notable milestone in a long, nose-thumbing relationship between the two neighboring Midwestern states. Wisconsin had enough cash on hand to dole out around $250 million a year initially to land Foxconn, but financially destitute Illinois - which has more than $14 billion in unpaid bills and went two years without passing a budget - stands to gain, too.

"We get all the benefits without any of the burden," cracked Jack Franks, county board chairman for McHenry County, which abuts the Wisconsin border near the likely sites. (Additional reporting by Dave McKinney in Chicago; Editing by David Greising and Matthew Lewis)
The Dailymirror recently sat down with the Science, Technology and Research Minister Susil Premajayantha for an interview.

Not only the average voter, the professionals who put the Govt. on the pedal of power are totally frustrated

The CB bond scam, the SLPA and CMHC and several other PPP agreements in the pipe line have become a subject of heavy criticism

Yahapalana leaders knew the countrys debt situation in 2015. Their solution is agreements with some countries or companies in order to repay the debts

The President wanted to make the agreement advantageous to Sri Lanka. Now the issue is whether the signed agreement fulfils those requirements

In 2015, SL gave an undertaking to the UNHRC to fulfil certain promises to overcome the situation. The UNHRC is waiting to see SL fulfil those obligations by 2019

Q The people, those who voted this government into power in August 2015 are totally disenchanted with its performance in the last two years. Where did the Yahapalana Government go wrong?



To my knowledge the regime change took place in 2015 on the vote bank of educated middle class, upper middle class, voters of the North-East and Central Province. But compared to 2010 election results one can say there was a heavy surge of youth votes in favour of the UNF. So why did they want this change? Mainly because they wanted a government not involved in corruption, malpractice and biassed. The voters also voted to bring about a just society. The other reason is that with the change, they expected a rapid economic progress and a sustainable solution to the unemployment among youth. We must evaluate the performance after two and a half years of the rule by the Yahapalana Government and see whether we have achieved at least part of them. My presumption is that we have failed miserably and that is why we witness protests, strikes, anti government agitations and rallies against the government on a daily basis. Not only the average voter, but the social movements and professionals who put the Yahapalana Government on the pedal of power are totally frustrated on its conduct.



Not only the below the mark performance, the Central Bank bond scam, the agreement signed between Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) and China Merchant Holdings Company Ltd., (CMHC) and several other Public Private Partnership agreements in the pipe line have reflected badly on the government and become a subjects of heavy criticism. In addition, the government has also failed to address the unemployment problem sufficiently in the last two and half years.



Q The most important and highly marketed pledge given by the UNP during the polls campaign was that the top priority of the government would be to catch and bring before justice the top politicians and officials who have allegedly committed murders, financial crimes, corruption, embezzlements etc. This has not happened after two years as expected by the people.

Do you agree?



It was a hypothesis at the Presidential and Parliamentary elections in 2015 that certain politicians of the previous government had been involved in corruption and crimes. But to frame charges and file action against them in original courts there must be substantial evidence to prove them according to our criminal law. Therefore, there is no point oblaming the Attorney Generals Department for not filing charges against those alleged to have committed crimes and corruptions without furnishing hard evidence.

Compared to 2010 election results one can say there was a heavy surge of youth votes in favour of the UNF. So why did they want this change? Mainly because they wanted a government not involved in corruption, malpractice and biassed



QInterestingly, not only the UNP but SLFP and JVP also blame the Attorney Generals Department for the delay in filing charges against politicians and officials of the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime even after the investigations on these cases have been completed either by the FCID, the Bribery Commission or the CID and files have been referred to the AGs Department. Your comments?



It is the Police who are responsible to record statements and find evidence to the satisfaction of the AGs Department to prove a case. Once the Police refers a file to the AGs Department and if it finds that there are gaps and loopholes in the file, the AGs Department sends the file back to the FCID, CID, Bribery Commission or any other law enforcement authority where the file originated to find further evidence. The people dont know what the evidence contained in the file is. It is up to the CID, Bribery Commission or the FCID to furnish the file with a prima facie case.



QHowever, the Yahapalana Government has won the confidence of the global community and no country or international agency talks about the electric chair or war crime tribunals any more.

Do you agree?



That is because in the year 2015, Sri Lanka gave an undertaking to the UNHRC in Geneva to fulfil certain promises and obligations to overcome the situation that prevailed at that time. The UNHRC is waiting till 2019 to evaluate Sri Lankas commitment to meet those promises and re-evaluate the situation. Until then, the UN or the global community or Sri Lanka will not talk about the electric chair or International Criminal Court.



Yahapalana leaders knew very well the countrys debt situation in 2015. Their solution to the debt servicing is selling or entering partnership agreements with some countries or companies in order to repay the debts, earning foreign exchange and develop the country. So the question is how long can you do this? My position is that first of all we must have vision to achieve development, retrieve loss making state ventures and pay back foreign debts.



You will have to place these facts before the people with a stipulated time frame for solutions to achieve results but the government has not done that so far.



Q The agreement signed between the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) and the CMPort in China to develop the Hambantota Port is a highly controversial act of the Yahapalana Government. The JO says it was a sell out of a state asset. How do you see this?



First of all, there is no transparency in this transaction. Contrary to the concept of good governance no tenders were called, no valuation was done, no business plan for the next few years or an attempt to see whether we can make the Hmbantota Port a profitable venture. Who negotiated with the CMPort or any other company? Even former Minister.



The Cabinet appointed a sub committee to review the agreement. The main purpose was to arrange a lease period and the share distribution advantageous to the country, address security concerns, bunkering facilities, Habour Master under the SLPA without amending the SLPA Act to create a joint venture. Then suddenly, portfolio changed and without the cabinet sub committee report, the new minister submitted the agreement to the cabinet and got the approval.



My personal opinion is that President Maithripala Sirisena wanted to make the agreement advantageous to Sri Lanka. Now the issue is that whether the signed agreement fulfils those requirements.



Q Former Justice and Budhasasana Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe was fired from the Cabinet because of his anti- government anti-UNP remarks and violation of the collective responsibility of the Cabinet. Your comments?



Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe is a Presidents Counsel and has experience specially in civil matters in courts for more than 32 years. With that legal background he must have substantial material to fight retake Hambantota Port in courts. He was also the legal advisor and campaign manager to Presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka in 2010.



Q The Yahapalana Government is burdened with three big white elephants in the State ventures sector mainly in the national carrier Sri Lankan Airline, the CEYPETCO and the CEB from which the combined annual losses tops Rs. 30 billion. Do you think there is an escape route and these three government owned Commercial Establishments could be turned around to a break even point situation?



My simple answer is that yes provided restructure is accelerating fundamentals of financing, accounting and management with educated people and professionals who have a specific knowledge in airline administration and management under a dynamic leadership. The burning problems like debts, overstaff, management loopholes etc have to be evaluated one by one and find sustainable solutions by professionals with specific experience in each subject.



Air Lanka was a creation of late President J.R.Jayewardene in 1979 with the majority shares under the government. Subsequently, former President Chandrika Kumaratunga sold majority shares to Emirates Airlines and also changed the name to SriLankan Airlines. The last government bought back majority shares from Emirates and appointed a chairman and CEO to the national carrier. I dont say what process was followed to appoint the chairman and the CEO to Sri Lanka at that time. As in any other public enterprise, employees were recruited in excess.



It was the Mahinda Rajapaksa government however that first decided to abrogate the agreement it signed with Airbus Industries to purchase 4 airbuses before the regime change and the situation became worse after the Yahapalana Government appointed a new board of directors.



After the COPE report (under the chairmanship of former Senior Minister DEW Gunasekara) sounded alarms in Parliament on the continuous losses recorded by the national carrier, the SriLankan Airlines prepared a Business Plan on the instructions of the government that included the removal of the A340 new planes from the proposed purchase agreement and lease purchased four A350 air buses by 2020. But the Rajapaksa regime was replaced by the Yahapalana Government in January 2015 before the SriLankan Airlines went along with the new Business Plan.



The new management appointed by the Yahapalana Government decided to close down 3 traditional and important destinations namely Paris, Frankfurt and Rome from where thousands of European tourists embark on their tour to Sri Lanka. At the same time officials in the top management got their salaries increased in big margins by themselves and enhanced allowances further precipitating the financial situation of the ailing national carrier, he pointed out.



To make the situation worse, there was unplanned and unnecessary recruitment that made SriLankan Airlines over staffed.



In early 2015, the government decided to cancel the lease agreement for four A350 air buses that resulted to pay a termination surcharge US$ 146.5 million in addition to the forfeiture of US$ 7.5 million deposit incurring a massive loss of US$ 154 million or over Rs. 231 billion.



However, the Finance Ministry intervened at this stage and renegotiated the purchase agreement with Airbus Industries and the Sri Lankan now must pay US$ 95 million in installments after they agreed to waive US$ 54 million from the total commitment.



In February 2017, the minister in charge of the national carrier submitted a Cabinet paper with a business plan but it was withdrawn immediately. I dont want to reveal at this moment as to why it was withdrawn. Subsequently, a joint Cabinet paper was submitted and without a single cent is earned, the Sri Lankan paid US$ 98 million as termination fee. Then the next issue is purchasing of Air buses under the new arrangement. So far, Sri Lanka has paid US$ 19 million to the Airbus as delivery payments. I have heard that the government was contemplating to cancel this purchasing agreement also. I dont know how much we will have to pay for the cancellation of purchasing four A350s. This amount should be more than the fee paid to terminate the lease agreement.



All in all, I dont understand as to why the top management of the SriLankan Airlines failed to take the most pragmatic decision at the right time and run this national asset at least on a break even point because the loses incurred by it is a heavy burden to the economy.



It is mentioned several times that the Weliamuna Report has indicated that managerial skills is extremely vital for a successful running an airline.

It was a hypothesis at the Presidential and Parliamentary elections in 2015 that certain politicians of the previous government had been involved in corruption and crimes. But to frame charges and file action against them in original courts there must be substantial evidence to prove them according to our criminal law



CEYPETCO made four billion profits in 2004 - 05 periods. Thereafter certain projects started without proper evaluation and started recording losses with fluctuating oil prices in the global market and without a price formula oil was supplied to the CEB for power generation. The situation further aggravated when our biggest crude oil supplier withdrew supplies under US embargo on that country whereas all these factors contributed to continuous loss making on the CEYPETCO to date.

Aftrer the oil prices were stabilized in the global market in 2015 it started making operational profits.

The CEB was a profit making State venture till 1990s. With the increase demand for electricity, exhausting hydro power and delaying proposed coal projects contributed to losses to the CEB. On the other hand consumers suffer with high price of power. Therefore, the CEB has to go for low cost power generation plan without further delay.



QThe government policy is to diversify loss making venture with private investments and make them Public Private Partnerships which seems the most pragmatic solution. But many dont agree. Why?



If you take an example from the UK, Japan, the US or Singapore, we dont have such an environment for Public Private Partnerships in Sri Lanka. It is the responsibility of the government to introduce such projects in emerging economies with public money and management from the public sector.



Q There is no doubt that the UNP will be the ultimate beneficiary in any future election due to the fact that the SLFP has been split right from the middle which is the SLFP led by President Maithripala Sirisena and JO led by ex President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Do you think this political disaster threatening the SLFP could be avoided?



Yes, it can be avoided with the dedication and commitment of both parties. We must rally all progressive parties under one umbrella on a common agenda setting aside personal and group ambitions. That is what all expect at this moment.



QWhy this continuous brickbats between UNP and SLFP ministers in the Yahapalana Government?



I cant simply express the root cause to this situation. But the SLFP as a party has confronted many challenges in the past. This is another such challenge. If leaders of both parties without over estimation but with care and compromise work towards achieving victory in 2020.
Why competencies of political leaders is a must in developing an economy

If our leaders are willing enough to look within, and equip themselves then we would be able to address the challenges facing us today

Committing to the general public as a whole should come with the understanding that in a democratic society people elect leaders of their choice for their benefit

Political leaders can be categorised based on their time-orientation. Certain leaders glorify the past and struggle to let go of it. On the other hand some leaders are more futuristic. Yet, another set of political leaders focus on the now and neither focus on the future nor glorify the past. The fourth type of leaders are ones, who do nothing at all.

The need to increase economic growth  This is the most pressing issue facing our country.

A consistent economic growth with a minimum trade deficit seems to be the solution.

Corruption has escalated to a whole new level in the recent past. Traditional methods of bribery and taking commissions have been modernised leading to a number of white-collar crimes.

Enhancing transparency  In a country where literacy rate is above 90%, people tend to read, write and comprehend current affairs to a greater extent.

Just by enacting the Right to Information Act, transparency will not be upheld. Both the general public and the bureaucrats should be empowered to share what is relevant without causing unnecessary trouble to the development process.

Among leaders, political leaders are the least researched. Political leaders can be categorised based on their time-orientation. Certain leaders glorify the past and struggle to let go of it.



On the other hand some leaders are more futuristic. Yet, another set of political leaders focus on the now and neither focus on the future nor glorify the past.



The fourth type of leaders are ones, who do nothing at all. All four kinds can be found in our Parliament.



Our country has serious issues, thanks to our past politicians decisions. Some examples of such issues are the heaps of foreign loans, taken at staggering commercial rates, which require immediate corrective action.



Moreover, there are certain areas that have problems, which can lead to economic, social and political catastrophes at national level. Thus, there should be a need to transform the prevailing situation into an economically beneficial and a future-oriented situation filled with opportunities. There are ample examples to benchmark ourselves against, such as South Korea and Singapore.



When looking at current economic giants in the global arena, which were once poor, their success stories can be attributed to a leader or a set of leaders.



It seems that either these leaders had a strong political will or they did what was required without giving into political pressure.



Even though we have realised that the country needs a political and economic overhaul the ability of political leaders in convincing their electorate that these changes are a must even if they are not politically popular is doubtful.



The broader issues faced by Sri Lanka and the competencies that these politicians should possess to contribute to the growth of the country are as follows:



1 The need to increase economic growth  This is the most pressing issue facing our country. A consistent economic growth with a minimum trade deficit seems to be the solution. To achieve this we need to increase our exports and manage our imports by restricting and discouraging unnecessary imports in order to retain foreign reserves.



In this context it is vital that Parliamentarians take their micro-level thinking hats off and embrace a macro level approach. This essentially requires getting rid of traditional cause and effect thinking and adapting a systems thinking approach. Otherwise, history will repeat itself and there is a greater possibility that todays solutions can become tomorrows problems.



2 Reducing corruption  Corruption has escalated to a whole new level in the recent past. Traditional methods of bribery and taking commissions have been modernised leading to a number of white-collar crimes. The question is whether the existing regulations pertaining to bribery and corruption are strong enough to prevent such national level corruption. Corruption should be discouraged, eradicated and penalised at micro and macro levels across the country.



3 Enhancing transparency  In a country where literacy rate is above 90%, people tend to read, write and comprehend current affairs to a greater extent. Some people may ask questions about how certain development projects were done, on what basis they were awarded, on what conditions the loans were raised whilst some may not be interested at all.



Just by enacting the Right to Information Act, transparency will not be upheld. Both the general public and the bureaucrats should be empowered to share what is relevant without causing unnecessary trouble to the development process.



Transparency goes hand in hand with reducing corruption. The greater the magnitude of transparency, the lesser the room for corruption. Whilst the culture of secrecy should be discouraged along with the unwillingness of bureaucrats to share such information, enabling efficient processes to facilitate this objective is also paramount.



4 Improving social wellbeing  Social wellbeing goes beyond the physical and the mental health of the general public. The objectives of improving social wellbeing should necessitate much larger macro level benefits across the country without focusing only on underprivileged groups. While the whole economy creates equal opportunities for the general public it should also ensure a decrease in income inequality. These efforts will foster a level playing field for corporations to carry out their profit oriented ventures.



With regard to the four-macro level challenges discussed above, every Parliamentarian should make a conscious paradigm shift from being bogged down in his/her own political ideology towards a more open-minded perspective by keeping their eyes focused on the changes that are happening internationally.



Insight into the interests of the general public



1 Committing to the general public as a whole should come with the understanding that in a democratic society people elect leaders of their choice for their benefit. At the end of the day treating them equally is a must, even if they have not voted for your political party.



2 In a country where the open-economy has led to growth, the private sector should be empowered to its full potential. Therefore, creating a business friendly economic and political environment across the island is a must.



3 Eradicating corruption should be at play, not only at macro-level but also at the level of individual leaders as the general public think that they can reap the benefits of zero corruption via social welfare.



4 Domestic consumption needs to be increased by increasing the purchasing power in terms of per capita income on an yearly basis. This can only be achieved if every Parliamentarian, especially those who hold Ministerial portfolios understand how their programs result in raising purchasing power and the standard of living of the public.



Flawless Execution



1 The vision of a government should necessarily be based on what people think is right. Moreover it should definitely meet their overall expectations. Transforming the overall ambitions of individuals in to the vision of the government will become a reality if individual parliamentarians execute their responsibilities with a strong political will.



2 No leader can do a single micro level activity on his/her own. Leaders should be able to get things done through the cooperation of others, be it bureaucratic public sector or private sector. All in all, 99% of success depends on the flawless execution of plans.

Objective Savvy



1. Within the four macro level challenges identified earlier, there are many other challenges that require much contemplation to reach robust solutions. People affected by micro and macro level issues believe that their issues havent been taken seriously. To better manage such issues, every parliamentarian should be objective savvy so that they can quantify the impact and prioritize a course of action.



2. In order to develop the country certain policy decisions should be made to meet modern day requirements. Decisiveness in such policy reform is a must because what is right is not always popular.



3. While the articulation of a vision and its flawless execution are critical, leaders should also be proactive in looking for obstacles that may hinder progress.



4. Relentless focus in achieving respective objectives is the key to success.



Engaging Others



Politicians are often blamed for being surrounded by the wrong people. Even though the prevailing electoral system encourages this phenomenon, it is detrimental that political leaders surround themselves with the right sort of people, who believe in an effective political ideology. Moreover, they should be generally accepted by the majority of the general public. It is very important that the people in leadership positions are capable of executing tasks on par with the political vision of the country.

It is very much important for a leader to be able to influence the key stakeholders across society at large. Be it religious leaders, social leaders, labour unions and various other social groups who have received a sense of acceptance among the general public.



Unless properly managed, these stakeholders can sabotage or can cause significant delays for much awaited political efforts to develop the country. Therefore, it is important to maintain regular briefings and educate them on the overall socio-economic changes and their impact.



Holding broad support



Charisma to garner the support of diverse groups, locally and internationally is a trait an effective political leader should possess. This means being a leader in the true sense of the word through fairness and transparency.



A political leader who is widely loved is street smart and knows instinctually to approach people at a grass root level. Moreover, such a leader is qualified, well versed and literate enough to gain the respect of people of all walks of life.



To unite diverse ideologies, diverse ethnic groups and socio economic classes in the country, an effective political leader needs to set an example to the general public by treating everyone equally.

As a country we have a long way to go to become a proud nation led by effective leaders.



Such a day is not far, if our leaders are willing enough to look within themselves, and equip themselves with the missing pieces, qualifications and tools. Only, and only then, would we be able to effectively address the challenges that are facing us today.
Members of the muslim community demonstrate at Plaza de Catalunya in Barcelona on August 21, 2017 to protest against terrorism four days after the Barcelona and Cambrils attacks that killed 15 people. AFP

The teen terror that shook Barcelona on August 17 is yet another horrendous act that calls for effective and urgent measures to deal with the issue of radicalization of the Muslim youth. The international communitys failure to wipe out this menace is largely due to political games big powers play. As long as terrorism has its political usefulness for certain powers, any effort to destroy this canker will only be a sham.



Elimination of terrorism requires a concerted international effort as it affects humanity as a whole. Terrorism has no religion, yet the type of terrorism that makes news these days has a name, perhaps a misnomer -- Islamic terrorism. Terrorists are just a small minority among the worlds 1.7 billion Muslims. Islam does not promote terrorism and in fact it reminds its followers that killing one person is as grave a sin as killing the entire human race, and saving one person from death is as meritorious as saving the entire humanity from death.



In spite of such warnings, if misguided Muslim youths take to terrorism, it means that there is something radically wrong with the way Islam is taught or preached. Youths usually get their religious education from elders. But how many of these preachers are enlightened and how many of them are themselves deluded? The Barcelona terrorists had sadly been taught by a terror imam, the likes of whom have given rise to the question Why is Islam violent?. With imams like these, no wonder that Islam remains the most abused religion.



One reason for this is that the Islamic teachings, apart from matters spiritual, also focus on the political life of the people. Statecraft, diplomacy, war and peace are part of Islam. The word Jihad which, in the spiritual sense, means the continuous struggle to achieve righteousness also refers to the fight against those who fight Muslims. Islam is not the first or the only religion to talk about holy war. The Hindu epic Mahabharath describes the Kurushketra war, where the Pandavars who were wronged fought for justice against the Kauravas, as a Dharam Yudh or a just war.



In the Old Testament, the Israelis waged war against the Philistines, Amalekites, Canaanites and Midianites. Biblical scholars say passages on warfare should be understood in the right context, for God exhorts mercy and justice.



Similarly, the Muslim holy book Quran commands the faithful to fight those who fight them. Chapter 2, Verses 190-193 and Chapter 22 verse 29, for instance, urge Muslims to fight in the cause of Allah those who fight them, but warn them that they should not transgress limits. Nowhere in the Quran, have the Muslims been told to launch an offensive war and kill non-Muslims. However, subsequent misinterpretations of these verses by political mullahs during the reigns of corrupt caliphs saw the emergence of a dangerous doctrine that divided the world into two  Darul salam or the House of peace referring to the Muslim land and Darul harb or the land of war, referring to the land of the infidels. This doctrine which was not found in the Quran or in the sayings of the Prophet became the driving force of many conquests then -- and today the bigotry founded on it drives the misguided Muslim youths to terrorism. Giving legitimacy to the divisive doctrine were fatwas of scholars such as Ibn Taymiyyah (13th century) and Syed Qutb (20th century). Their fatwar, especially Ibn Taymiyyahs against Mongol colonialism have become the text book for terrorists to kill non-Muslims and Muslims alike. The terrorists cherry pick the fatwas to suit their deadly agenda and to brainwash the youth, while deliberately ignoring the historical context.



Turning upside down Islams teachings, terror groups such as ISIS even teach children as young as seven to shoot and slash the throats of captives.



How do we deal with them? Should the world follow US President Donald Trumps pig blood formula? Hours after the Barcelona terror attack, Trump tweeted: Study what General Pershing of the United States did to terrorists when caught. There was no more Radical Islamic Terror for 35 years. He was referring to a discredited story alleged to have taken place in the Philippines during the Muslim rebellion against the American occupation in the early 20th century. He related the false story in several of his rallies to display his machismo and convince the Americans that he was the right man to deal with terrorism. They were having terrorism problems just like we do. And he (Gen. Pershing) caught 50 terrorists who did tremendous damage and killed many people. And he took the 50 terrorists and he dipped 50 bullets in pigs blood (considered unclean by Muslims). He had his men load his rifles and he lined up the 50 people, and they shot 49 of those people. And to the 50th person, he said, You go back to your people and tell them what happened, Trump told the rallies.

Trump this week put Pakistan on notice. Pakistan often gives safe haven to agents of chaos, violence and terror We can no longer be silent about Pakistans safe havens for terrorist organizations, he warned. But those who follow the present wars in West Asia know that the US has been in collusion with terrorists, who are euphemistically called the moderates due to political exigencies.

Trumps rhetoric does not offer solutions. In fact, what the US has done since 9/11 to eliminate terrorism has only created more terrorists.



But since the perpetrators are largely Muslims, the responsibility to de-radicalise the Muslim youth should lie more with the Muslims themselves. Sadly, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is lacking the clout or a plan to combat terrorism, though it is quick to issue statements condemning terror attacks no sooner an attack occurs.



Issuing statements is taking the easy way out. To solve the issue, what is required is action, not simply words. Already, the OIC has been blamed for stymieing the progress of the United Nations efforts to work out a comprehensive anti-terrorism treaty. This is largely because the OICs insistence that freedom fighters cannot be categorised as terrorists. Though the OICs argument is valid, especially in the light of what is happening in Palestine, the organisation has a duty to work out a global programme to veer the Muslim youth away from terrorism. The OIC adopted a convention against terrorism in 1999, but human rights activists have criticized it saying the convention lacks commitment and is aimed at protecting the interests of the rulers rather than address the terrorism issue.



The criticism is augmented by allegations that most Muslim countries, while taking cover behind loopholes in the definition of who a terrorist is, are sponsors of terrorism or use terrorism to achieve political ends in other countries. In fact, most nations, including the United States, play this dangerous game of sleeping with terrorists and later struggling to cope with the consequences. Perhaps, a solution lies in Muslim civil society activism. They must act sternly and use proper Islamic education as a tool to protect the Muslim youth, perhaps in coordination with the UN.
The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has decided to file contempt charges against Deputy Minister Ranjan Ramanayake, BASL President U.R.De Silva said said adding that the decision was made by the executive committee of the Bar on Wednesday.

He said, Mr. Ramanayake had said lawyers and judges were a corrupt lot and they were ruining the country.

Mr. De Silva said the Deputy Minister should reveal the names of those lawyers and judges within 41-days. He said if the state minister fails to do so, the Bar association would take legal action in terms of the Chapter 105 of the Constitution.
Selonica Perumal  Director, Publicis Sri Lanka

Selonica Perumal, Director of Publicis, has been named as one of the Top 40 Women to Watch by Campaign Asia. Selonica joins an elite group of professional women in the marketing communications industry in Asia Pacific who were selected because they delivered business results and client wins, and spearheaded original projects and creative work that out-performed all targets.

In announcing the winners of the Top 40 Women to Watch 2017, Campaign Asia stated that Every woman on the list also stood out for going far beyond their contractual brief. These are women whose ability to see the bigger picture and determination to improve the world they live and work in has seen them overhaul ingrained systems, bringing together unwieldy sectors to work together for a common goal, whether that be gender equality, digital transformation or any other subject close to their hearts.

Commenting on this recognition, Ranil de Silva  Managing Director, Leo Burnett Sri Lanka, stated, Selonica is a worthy recipient of the Top 40 Women to Watch award, and I am proud of her achievement. She is a true professional with a passion for marketing communications.Her focused approach to implement strategic marketing communication campaigns to build her clients business has earned her this success. I have watched her thrive and flourish in our industry over the years. I have always admired Selonicas results-oriented approach to every task. This drive to achievegratifyingresults and to raise the bar in every sphere sets Selonica apart. It is this foundation that brought her success as a leader.

I am honoured to be named as one of Campaign Asias Top 40 Women to Watch in 2017, said Selonica Perumal. The gender equality debate has been a hot topic this year.This recognition for the contribution of women to developing and growing the advertising and marketing communications industry, is a very timely one. Women are creating a positive change within our industry, especially in Asia. I am very proud to be among these female champions this year.

As Director, Publicis Sri Lanka, Selonica has been growing brands and creating tangible business growth for her expanding portfolio of clients. With an MBA from theEdith Cowan University in Australia, Selonica has spearheaded campaigns which have won many ad industry awards and numerous other recognitions.She has been selected as the Brand Person of the Year at the Leo Burnett Star Reacher awards and was named a Star Reacher by Leo Burnett Worldwide in 2014.

Since 2014, Selonica has served as Treasurer on the Executive Committee of the 4As, and plays an integral role in the initiatives conducted by this industry body to develop young marketing professionals.
On April 14 (2017), when the man-made Meethotamulla garbage dump collapsed killing 31 people, the entire nation mourned. Environment experts aired their views on what to do and what not to do. Everybody blamed the politicians and as usual it became a political issue, with various parties being subject to blame. Compensation was paid and temporary solutions were found by moving residents from affected areas to a safer place. Meanwhile long term plans were discussed in Parliament to shift the garbage dump from Meethotamulla to Muthurajawela and Puttalam. Unfortunately the decision-makers hadnt considered the impact on the environment when dumping garbage at Muthurajawela. Garbage shouldnt be dumped at Muthurajawela for the sake of the environment.

Floods in the South



Before dust the settled in Muthurajawela another calamity took place. This time the nature played havoc by causing continuous rains for three days. The rains led to floods, mainly in the South. Apart from the 202 deaths, the damage to properties and livelihood exceeded a couple of billion rupees. The entire country rallied round to support the victims. The corporate sector, the media and religious leaders played huge roles. One notable event was highlighted in the process. The students of the Jaffna University collected school books and visited the South, distributing them among the schoolchildren whose books were taken away by the floods. We shouldnt forget that the mental wounds which were created by the war havent healed. These acts of kindness and generosity will be remembered for a long time. The Sri Lanka Army in Jaffna, under the leadership of Major General Mahes Senanayake (present Army Commander), played a huge role in organizing the travel of the undergrads from Jaffna to the South.



Dengue epidemic



Generally health issues crop up after a flood. This time the dengue has so far killed 350 people. More than 100,000 people have suffered from dengue. Unless quick action is taken, the number of deaths will rise. The dengue mosquitoes are flying all over the island and now this disease has become a national issue and is considered an epidemic. Given this situation the academic staff of the Department of Zoology and Environment Sciences of the University of Colombo, headed by Prof. Wipula Yapa and Prof. Mayuri Wijesinghewith, the blessings of the Vice Chancellor Prof. Lakshman Dissanayake and the Dean of the Science Faculty Prof. K. R. R. Mahanama, initiated a shramadanaya (A campaign where participants provide their services free) at the university premises on the 27th July 2017. Those who participated not only cleaned the premises, but also took an initiative to counter dengue with the use of medicinal plants. They were able to create an awareness on how the improper disposal of polythene and plastic can aid the spread of dengue. The entire Faculty of Science, the University of Colombo and School of Computing (UCSC) supported the shramadanaya.



Shramadanaya and BEEZ



Prof. Mayuri Wijesinghe, who organised the shramadanaya, received the support of all the students. Charuni Pathmeswaran was the link between the academic staff and the students. The Vice Chancellor provided a huge boost by deciding to close the Science Faculty at 1.00 pm so that students could take part in the shramadanaya. Its rarely that the Science Faculty halts lectures unless its absolutely necessary. The newly elected student body of Base for Enthusiasts of Environment Sciences and Zoology (BEEZ) under the leadership of Amayaa Wijesinghe (President) sprung into action. They had obtained the medicinal plants for a symbolic tree planting session and also organised a specially designed picture postcard to carry the message Say No to Polythene. One star class hotel was kind enough to provide refreshments for all (300) participants. Kavinda De Zoysa, an Alumnus of the University of Colombo, donated plants while Sampath Bank sponsored the event.



Say no to polythene



Prof. Yapa who is the brainchild of the initiative Say No to Polythene is heading the awareness campaign. Through this initiative he hopes to reduce the use of polythene and plastic. He has had several discussions with like-minded people to find answers to how a reduction can be made in the use of polythene and plastic. He is of the opinion that all super markets should charge a reasonable price from the customers for Silisili Bags (Polythene bags) to discourage the use of polythene. For supermarkets to implement this the Government must intervene. Otherwise it wont happen due to various reasons. At this very moment Prof. Yapa is conducting a research on how to produce a somewhat stronger paper bag at a low cost to replace polythene bags. He is also earmarking bank branch networks to promote the concept Say No to Polythene among customers.



Medicinal Plants to Counter Dengue



The initiative taken to counter Dengue by using Natures Friend-the plants- is the brainchild of Prof. Deepthi Wickremasinghe. Wickremesinghe had discussions with Prof. Yapa to make a joint effort with the view of countering Dengue. Prof. Wickremasinghe has collected several scientific data and statistics from programmes initiated by the leading organizations in other parts of the world on mosquitoes and Dengue. Her findings have made others become aware of the importance of the local plants such as Daspethiya (Marigolds), Pangiri (Citronella), Sera (Lemon Grass), Heen Maduruthala (Holy Basil), Kuppamania (Catnip) etc. During the discussions she made it a point that these plants not only have the potential to repel mosquitoes, but also can contribute to the Green Cover (even in the small way) and add value to the landscape (specially the use of Daspethiya).



Green University



The Vice Chancellor during his address to the students thanked Prof. Yapa, the academic staff and BEEZ for initiating such an important event (Say No to Polythene and Counter Dengue) and requested students to get more involved in University activities mainly for the benefit of the environment. He reminded the students how he spent forty years with the University of Colombo-first as a student, afterwards as a lecturer and now as the Vice Chancellor. He said that his goal is to turn the University of Colombo in to a Green University by the year 2020. He has already started working towards realizing that goal. He requested students to protect the nature and the environment and help make the country a better place for future generations to live in. Prof. Mahanama, the Dean of the Science Faculty, in his address elaborated on the future plans of the university for the benefit of students. He requested them to obtain the maximum benefits from the facilities provided and work towards the betterment of the society. He also said that plans were being made to build three buildings to provide students with more facilities. He assured that none of the buildings will have a harmful effect on the environment.



Prof. Yapa in his speech thanked the Vice Chancellor and the Dean for playing an active part in the shramadanaya. He also thanked the academic staff and the students of the Science Faculty for extending their fullest cooperation to make the event a success. He highlighted the activities of the BEEZ, which is turning itself in to a beehive of activity. He also said that there are several environmental programmes in the pipeline and that they will be commenced within the next few months. He paid a tribute to AdeZ Sri Lanka (Link Children to the Nature) for joining hands with this shramadanaya campaign and requested them to continue the good work in the future too.



Mission of the Professors



Its amazing to see how three university professors (Prof. Yapa, Prof. Mayuri and Prof. Deepthi) have taken initiatives to counter Dengue at low cost. Any person in Sri Lanka can implement these programmes in any part of the country. Sadly these professors arent prestigious award winners hence they wont grab media attention. This writer humbly request the media (TV and Print) to interview them so that more information can be obtained from the learned professors for the benefit of the general public. Prof. Wijesinghe set up the momentum for the entire university by bringing together all the students and other members of the faculty body towards a worthy cause. Prof. Wickremesinghe has already started her campaign with the students using medicinal plants. They hope to plant trees in 50 schools in the Colombo District. Prof. Yapa launched his campaign Say No to Polythene with a specially designed picture postcard. The first card was presented to the Vice Chancellor just before the shramadanaya. Whoever who buys a card will pledge to reduce the consumption of polythene. All proceeds from the sale of cards will go to implement the green programmes, organised by the BEEZ.

The University of Colombo is one of the best or perhaps the best university in the country. The students are given the freedom to implement programmes under the guidance of a lecturer without compromising on their studies. Despite loads to study, the undergrads of the University of Colombo are committed to complete their mission. However, for this they need the support from all quarters. Any long journey has to start with the first step. Say No to Polythene started in July this year. As President Kennedy once said, It may take one day, one year or one hundred years to complete, but the main thing is to start. Forty years ago, when we were youth, practically every youth smoked cigarettes for fun, but it is not so now. They are aware of the repercussions. There is also a political will to stop smoking and the authorities have specified the penalty if a citizen is caught smoking in public. Polythene consumption can be reduced by educating the general public, but Government support is a must.



Save the nature and environment



If we dont act now and save the environment, we will be forced to learn lessons on damaging the environment by paying a heavy price. Global warming has come to stay. No one needs to mention that its an unwelcome guest. We arent that blind not to observe the repercussions of climate change and global warming. Danger signals are already present and as adults we have a moral duty to work towards saving the environment. If we fail in our attempts the future generation will curse us for not protecting the nature and the environment. The time has come to give back what we owe Mother Lanka. All the polythene and plastic that we have used so far and what we are going to use in the future will remain for centuries (except for biodegradable ones) though our average lifespan is between 70-75 years. How can we justify what we have done to the environment by using polythene and plastic? At least now there is some hope due to the awareness initiated by the University of Colombo. It should not be their mission only, but ours too.
Joint Opposition stalwart Prof. G. L. Peiris today filed a petition at the Supreme Court against the draft 20th Amendment to the Constitution.

Prof. Peiris told a news conference that the government should go for a referendum even though the draft 20th Amendment to the Constitution would get approved in Parliament with a two-thirds majority.

The government is coming up with baseless reasoning to justify this Amendment. They are claiming that this Amendment would be in favour of the people and it is for their well-being. All these claims are false, this Amendment is a fraud, he added.

He said that the true reason behind the Draft 20th Amendment to the Constitution was to postpone all the elections, even though the government had claimed that they were in need to hold Provincial Council elections in one day.

He said that according to the Constitution, it was mandatory to hold the three Provincial Council elections before the end of 2017. He also said that it was necessary to hold the elections at the accurate time in order to stand with the universal franchise.

The government is also in an attempt to delay the Presidential Elections by claiming that it is necessary to hold Presidential and Parliamentary elections in the same day. It is impossible to delay the Presidential election and we will not let it happen. The next Presidential election will have to be held at the end of 2019, he added.

He said that several Joint Oppositions front-liners would file petitions against the draft 20th Amendment to the Constitution in coming days. (By Kalathma Jayawardhane)

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Its self-contradictory personality ailed it yesterday, does today and in all probability will ail tomorrow

The recent spate of riots and indiscriminate acts of violence in Charlottesville, Virginia has raised alarm everywhere.

What these riots suggest is that the alternative right has gained the upper hand, at least nominally, and that those in charge are reluctant to call a spade a spade. They are all copping out, so commentators point out.

Nazism has obviously held sway in parts of the West where white middle-class workers feel upended by immigrants and African-Americans who are considered to be either living off the welfare system or living on the government. Those who are calling them out, incidentally, are white middle class liberals.

The recent spate of riots and indiscriminate acts of violence in Charlottesville, Virginia has raised alarm everywhere. What these riots suggest is that the alternative right has gained the upper hand, at least nominally, and that those in charge are reluctant to call a spade a spade. They are all copping out, so commentators point out.



Nazism has obviously held sway in parts of the West where white middle-class workers feel upended by immigrants and African-Americans who are considered to be either living off the welfare system or living on the government. Those who are calling them out, incidentally, are white middle class liberals.

In the United States of America these white middle class liberals are identified as Leftists, Socialists, Pinkos, or Commies by white middle-class conservatives.



John Maynard Keynes is a Socialist in their books, as are the two other Johns, Galbraith and Kennedy. This confusion of ideologies is also a confusion of cultures, and its rooted in part at least in the Wests casual dismissal of socialism as doctrines that no longer hold sway in the world.

Its more or less a reflection of the Liberals role in the West and (to a certain extent) in the East, rather self-contradictory as it has been.



Liberalism is the most enduring tribute to the Wests intellectual and academic presence in the contemporary world.



Historically it emerged as a force that sought to do away with monarchs and despots (No matter how enlightened they were).



Theoretically at least, liberals were against conflating the state and religion. They were the inevitable result of the Age of Enlightenment, where a political culture that differentiated among an absolute ruler and a horde of lords, serfs, and vassals was replaced by one that differentiated between representatives and voters. It was primarily a doctrine of ethical individualism, which idealised a system of representative democracy. Its proponents found their pivot with John Locke.Locke was the father of the movement that culminated with the founding of the United States of America and the two documents that birthed it, the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.



His ideas were premised on private property conceived of as a reality that necessitated, not absolute monarchs holding a monopoly over power in a given territory, but universally agreed upon rules and principles which would ensure a flourishing democracy.



In effect, he atomised the notion of rights as we know it today, rooting it in the individual and not a collective.



The problem is that this atomised notion of rights was in turn rooted in a variant of individualism that derived its historical and political relevance from a predominantly White Anglo Saxon and bourgeois polity.



What was so interesting about this culture of liberalism that ran riot in the 18th and 19th centuries was that it was sustained by the centuries that led to them: the 15th, 16th, and 17th, which contained the seeds of fanaticism, intolerance, and bigotry that would be unleashed later on.



When Professor Nalin de Silva contended that Martin Luther was no different to the Catholic Church he railed against, he was not exhibiting a paranoid distaste for the West, but pointing out that the West has one way of seeing.



De Silva them contended that every ism that adorned history, from Capitalism to Protestantism to Marxism to (yes) Liberalism, could be traced to their atomised perception of reality.



The Liberalism of the 20th century tried to reconcile the fundamental dichotomy which resulted from this, between its privileging of individual dignity and its similarities with the isms from the preceding centuries it claimed to act against, and succeeded only in part. The tragedy of Western Liberalism then is that it congealed eventually to its own antithesis. Its profusion in the 20th century was followed by its deterioration (a phenomenon which, perhaps, wont last for long) in the 21st.



The renegades of the last century, who took pride in being renegades and standing up for civil and civic rights, became turncoats, not just because of their personal failings but also because no ideology conditioned by a bourgeois (note that I use that term in an economic and not political sense), white, and Anglo Saxon base could be sustained for long. The progressivism that the two Roosevelt presidencies birthed was formulated by policymakers, who were derided later on as dangerous parvenus, among them the Vice President under Franklin Roosevelt, Henry Wallace, whose attitude of conciliation towards the Soviet Union lost him support from even his own party colleagues.



Added to this was Liberalisms most discernible contribution to the modern polity, Human Rights. The eminent Czech jurist Karel Vasak in 1979 proposed a differentiation of Human Rights into three generations. The first generation, as such, was based on the ideas of liberty, fraternity, and equality during the French Revolution, ideas that were depicted in Eugene Delacroixs painting Liberty Leading the People.



It was a conception of rights based on participation in civic life, with freedoms and corresponding duties. This was pioneered by two key documents: the American Bill of Rights and the French Declaration of Independence.



The second generation Human Rights moved into economic and cultural freedoms, away from the political. Largely a response to the civil rights movement, these entailed, inter alia, affirmative action policies along with rights to education, trade union membership, and housing. Third generation Human Rights went even further, eschewing nominal civil and social freedoms for collective rights, including the right to self-determination. These were pretty much an offshoot of the United Nations and the concomitant rise in international Human Rights law, particularly with the 1972 Stockholm Declaration and the 1992 Rio Declaration.The rights/duties paradigm of the first and second generations was contradicted by the unilateralism of the third. It doesnt take one much to figure out that the last few decades have seen a catastrophic rise in extremism bred by powerful countries claiming to eradicate greater evils by resorting to maverick fanatics. The Mujahideen, the Contras, and Pinochet, not to mention Videla: They were all allies of the liberal West, not because they actually cared for the notions of economic and political rights the West did but because they were on the side of the willing.



The truth is that Liberalism was almost always tempered by a sense of Exceptionalism and Elitism among those who purported to stand for it, which explains the rise of that third generation and the Wests duplicitous record on Human Rights.



Thats not all.



The Liberal hero in America during those happy civil rights days was Atticus Finch, the lawyer from Harper Lees To Kill a Mockingbird. A good book and an interesting movie at that, but consider its sequel Go Set a Watchman, published in 2015.



A completely different Atticus Finch, bigoted, supportive of those infamous White Supremacist Citizens Councils, and opposed to desegregation because desegregation rails against his ideas of small government and free markets, greets us in it.



When I was studying Mockingbird in school I was entranced by the man: the Liberal hero who exuded our youthful idealisations of equality. The Finch of the second book was a rude awakening. Overnight, those idealisations soured in me.



When I look back, however, I see in the man not the renegade that Wordsworth (Just for a handful of silver he left us) or Coleridge was, but the continuation of the small town liberal he had earlier been.

Theres an interesting passage in Go Set a Watchman where his distraught daughter accuses him of being a hypocrite when considering his earlier record on civil rights. But no, she herself realises: that record was always tempered by his belief in black-and-white and blind justice, which had nothing to do with his personal stance on men and women of colour.



So when Atticus, Liberal hero for many of those who were born to the sixties and seventies, contends that the only reason he opposes the NAACP (the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People) is his belief that coloured people havent reached the standard white people have set for them, he is merely touting the rightwing and conservative variant of what everyone else, Liberal, Reactionary, or Libertarian, has espoused: assess the hard-done-by negroes through yardsticks created by white men, the same white men who are out there, making lofty pronouncements against White Supremacists and the Ku Klux Klan.



I dont like to disbelieve in Liberalism. Much of the progress weve achieved, together, regardless of caste, creed, and colour, as individuals and collectives, have been owing to its profusion everywhere, in every polity.



Its self-contradictory personality, which I will dwell on at length in a separate article, is what has ailed it, however, not just yesterday or today, but in all probability tomorrow as well. Sad, I should think.
Kim Jong Un.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the production of more solid-fuel rocket engines and rocket warhead tips, the Norths official media said on Wednesday in a report otherwise lacking threats against Washington after weeks of heightened tension.



A report about Kims visit to a chemical institute came not long after U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson appeared to make a peace overture to Pyongyang, welcoming what he called the recent restraint shown by the reclusive North.



U.S. President Donald Trump also expressed cautious optimism about a possible improvement in relations with the North, after months of mounting tension over its weapons programs.



Kim was briefed about the process of manufacturing intercontinental ballistic missile warhead tips and solid-fuel rocket engines during his tour of the Chemical Material Institute of the Academy of Defence Science, the Norths official KCNA news agency said.



He instructed the institute to produce more solid-fuel rocket engines and rocket warhead tips by further expanding engine production process and the production capacity of rocket warhead tips and engine jets by carbon/carbon compound material, KCNA said.



North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests and dozens of missile tests since the start of last year, significantly raising tensions on the heavily militarized Korean peninsula. Two tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles in July resulted in a new round of tougher global sanctions.



-REUTERS
The Government Medical Officers' Association (GMOA) today alleged that Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne was giving all assistance to Dr. Nevil Fernando to recruit 300 more students to the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) despite the governments order to suspend student enrollments to SAITM.

GMOA media spokesman Dr. Samantha Ananda told the media that the government allocated Rs. 300 mn annually for the maintenance of SAITM.

Despite our exposure that SAITM was not maintaining required standards, the government and specially Dr. Rajitha Senaratne is safeguarding this institute. We cannot fathom why the government is spending a lot of money on something which has no value, he said.

He also said the SAITM issue had triggered plenty of other problems and thus it had tarnished the image of Sri Lanka and paved the way to create a dearth of professional doctors in the country.

Meanwhile, GMOA Secretary Dr. Haritha Aluthge said as the government had turned a blind eye on that issue, a crucial discussion would be held with President Maithripala Sirisena tomorrow on the SAITM controversy.

If a satisfactory solution on the SAITM issue is not forthcoming, we will not hesitate to launch trade union action in the near future, he added. (Sheain Fernandopulle)

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Chief Opposition Whip Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday claimed that Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne had been granted Rs.10 million from the Presidents Fund for the operation he underwent in Singapore while the common man needed to go through a long procedure and needed documentary proof to obtain even Rs.175,000 from the fund.

He drew the attention of parliament to the fact that private pharmacies and laboratories were mushrooming near government hospitals even though the health minister was claiming that medicines were being provided at government hospitals free of charge. "If these services are being provided free of charge to the public at government hospitals, why are private pharmacies and laboratories mushrooming near government hospitals? If the local health service is so good why did the health minister travel to Singapore for treatment? He should have had his operation done at the National Hospital isn't it?" he asked.

Moving an adjournment motion on the need to provide relief to people affected by the drought, Mr. Dissanayake said people in drought hit areas should be provided with a health service allowance as they were facing great difficulty in finding money for their health services.

"These people have lost their sources of income due to the prevailing drought. Most of these people are suffering from kidney diseases and need money to get medicine," he said.

MP Dissanayake also blamed Minister Senaratne for leasing out the Modara Fisheries Harbour for an amount less than the official estimate given by the State while also claiming that he was avoiding investigations being carried out against him by the Bribery Commission.

"The Bribery Commission has summoned him on two occasions to appear before it to inquire into the harbour tender but the minister had not gone there. Instead he influenced the President to remove the Director General of the Bribery Commission," Mr. Dissanayake alleged. (Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera)
Western Province reported 22,186 dengue cases with 17,228 from Gampaha District and

5,616 from Kalutara District adding to the total figure. 3,255 dengue cases were reported from Jaffna, 4,135 from Batticaloa, 4,415 from Trinco, 5,943 from Kurunegala and 6,081 from Ratnapura

Out of around100,000 dengue cases reported so far this year

there were close to 300 deaths

The Ministry of Health has pointed out that the number of dengue cases identified so far this year has doubled when compared to the total number of dengue cases reported last year. Sri Lanka is at present facing an unprecedented outbreak of dengue fever. Out of around100,000 dengue cases reported so far this year there were close to 300 deaths. Aid groups warn that the huge number of dengue cases has an overwhelming effect on the islands medical system.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Healths Epidemiology Unit 105,153 dengue fever cases have been reported across Sri Lanka up to July 24 this year. That is almost double the total number of cases reported in 2016, where the number of patients were 55,150. A total of 296 people have died from the mosquito-borne epidemic so far. The above statistics were included in the report made made by the Ministry of Health to highlight the accelerating dengue menace. Most of the dengue cases have been identified from the Western Province. Ministry of Health statistics reveal that Colombo District in the Western Province reported 22,186 dengue cases with 17,228 from Gampaha District and 5,616 from Kalutara District adding to the total figure. 3,255 dengue cases were reported from Jaffna, 4,135 from Batticaloa, 4,415 from Trinco, 5,943 from Kurunegala and 6,081 from Ratnapura highlight other districts where the dengue menace is prominent.

A discussion and the training session on Dengue

The above study highlights the efforts needed to eradicate the Dengue menace in future in area like the Paddiruppu region. By investigating the preventive measures taken to control dengue, an initiative was taken by Dr. Sugunan of Base Hospital, Kaluwanchikuddy in collaboration with The University of Georgia on 22.07.2017. This study has been implemented by Prof. Wikrama from the University of Georgia. The discussion and the training sessions are inaugurated by S.Thanigaseelan, Asst Director, NHRDC at Base Hospital, Kaluwanchikuddy with the help of hospital staffers. Prof.Wikrama, Prof.Thulitha, S.Saranya, a lecturer from Eastern University of Sri Lanka and nurses were present at this occasion.



The purpose of this study is to identify the factors which cause dengue in the villages located in the Paddiruppu area.
Navy Commander Travis Sinniah said today wearing a uniform does not give anyone sanction to rob, murder or torture another.

Addressing a recent press briefing at the Navy Headquarters, the Navy Commander said if anyone were proven guilty of committing a crime or punishable offense, then he or she should be punished whatsoever.

"In Sri Lanka, everyone is innocent until they are proven guilty. In the navy, if anyone were indicted with criminal offences and proven guilty either by the Navy Act or penal code, then he or she should be punished accordingly," he said.

Speaking of future challenges to the navy, Vice Admiral Sinniah said their future role was to protect commercial trade between the Gulf of Aden to the Strait of Malacca in case of a conflict.

Responding to a question raised on navys capacity to track submarines, the Navy Commander said they were equipped with advanced systems that could detect submarines in Lankan waters.

"So far, we do not have any threat from neighbouring states. Submarines outside our territory are not a threat. However, we would like to enhance our capabilities to be able to detect submarines approaching our waters," he said. (Darshana Sanjeewa)

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Ainsworth Emery Blunt was a missionary to the Cherokees at Brainerd who stayed behind when the Indians were forced on the Trail of Tears. He was a founder of the First Presbyterian Church of Chattanooga and was the first mayor and postmaster of Dalton, Ga.

The Blunts were an old English family who came to New England at an early day. Isaac and Mary Abbott Blunt were the fourth generation of the family in America. Their son, John G. Blunt, was born at Andover, Mass., Jan. 31, 1756. He fought at Bunker Hill and Saratoga and was present for the surrender of British Gen. Burgoyne. John G. married Sarah Eames in 1780, and they settled with their four children at Amherst, N.H., about 1789. Ainsworth Emery was born at Amherst in 1800.

A.E. Blunt moved in 1818 to Boston to work in his brother's store. There he learned of the missionary work among the Indians in the Tennessee wilderness. He was assigned in January 1822 to Brainerd on South Chickamauga Creek and he left Feb. 14 after admonishing his parents on the necessity of a full prayer life. As he departed he wrote in his journal, "We are about to bid farewell to one another perhaps for the last time on Earth. Oh, that this might be a season of reflection. May it be a season to awake us to a sense of duty.''

He went on a steamer to Savannah, arriving March 14. He was at Augusta 10 days later, then went by way of Athens prior to arriving at the Spring Place Moravian mission April 11. He was "very sore occasioned by jumping the watercourses.'' Blunt accomplished the final 35 miles to Brainerd the next day. The following morning he was pleased to behold "the first rising sun on Mission Ground.'' He examined the mission layout and found "the most delightful and pleasing schools I ever saw, both male and female. The boys have made good proficiency in reading, writing, arithmetic and grammar. Here were nearly 60 boys and not two who were dressed alike.'' The next day Blunt was assigned to take care of the oxen "which were five or six year sold and wild!''

He soon met a young teacher, Harriet Ellsworth, who had come south from Greenboro, Vt., with her brother, John C. Ellsworth. The Ellsworths were relatives of Oliver Ellsworth, who was the first chief justice of the U.S. and a member of the commission that drew up the federal constitution in 1787. The Ellsworths were also related to the fiery preacher Jonathan Edwards. In one of the first white weddings in the Indian territory south of the Tennessee River, A.E.Blunt took Harriet Ellsworth as his wife in 1822. She was described as "a woman of rare intelligence and great piety. She had an usual executive ability.''

Blunt reported in a letter in 1823 that his situation at Brainerd was far from the comfort of a New England homestead, but he was "contented. We feel that much good is being done here, and souls brought to Christ. Our dwelling house is very simple yet, as are the furnishings also. The cabin is one of logs, daubed with mud - is 14 ft. square, chimney at the end on outside. The furniture in our house consists of one bed, one whole chair, and one with no back. The five or six packing boxes we had, serve as container for clothing, etc. We have two chests which I brought from my New England home. As to utensils, we have 3 spoons, 3 tin pint cups, 4 plates, 1 pair snuffers, a shove, and pr. andirons - so you see we are not burdened with utensils in the house at present. We have with us a visitor from the Sandwich Islands.''

Blunt was "a man of great personal integrity and decision of character.'' He taught carpentry, blacksmithing, coopering and religion to the Cherokees. He was appointed postmaster at Brainerd Sept. 13, 1836, and served until the office was closed in 1838.

The Blunts later recounted about an operation of a ferry at Brainerd. A mission rule was that only necessities would be brought across the creek on Sundays. When two men showed upon the sabbath with two barrels of whiskey, they became angry when they were denied transport. The men "rolled the two barrels of whiskey out of the wagon, waded in and floated them across.'' Another interesting operation was the valuable fish trap maintained in Chickamauga Creek. It yielded a steady supply of fish, especially when hemlock boughs were used to beat the water above the falls and stupify the fish so they could be easily caught.

The Blunts had five children while they were at Brainerd - Harriet Eliza in 1823, Martha Ellsworth in 1825, John Ellsworth in 1828, Ainsworth Emery Jr. in 1831 and Sarah Elizabeth in 1834. However, the eldest and youngest daughters died at young ages.

A.E. Blunt became seriously ill in 1834, but he later recovered. His wife's health was not good,and they decided to transfer to Candy's Creek in Bradley County in 1837.

Blunt accompanied the Indians on the Trail of Tears as far as the Mississippi River, but he was unable to continue due to illness. He went back to Brainerd and was assigned to wrap up the affairs of the mission. He paid $40 for the mission cemetery so it would not "fall into the hands of speculative men.''

The Blunts settled on a small farm at the north end of Missionary Ridge, and he was county treasurer and chairman of the school commission. The Blunts took a leading role in establishing a Presbyterian church in town on June 21, 1840. The pewter communion set used at this historic occasion had been sent from Amherst, N.H. That same set was used at every communion service at the church until the Blunts moved in 1843 to Cross Plains (Dalton), where Benjamin C. Morse was involved in construction of the Western and Atlantic Railroad. He had married Martha E. Blunt. Blunt and Morse joined in a mercantile business in Dalton on the southwest corner of Thornton Avenue and Morris Street. Blunt later operated a grocery and grain firm with John H. King. A.E. Blunt was postmaster of Dalton from 1845 until 1853. He was mayor of Dalton just after it was incorporated Dec. 29, 1847. He was trustee of the Dalton Academy. The Blunts were active in the First Presbyterian Church of Dalton and their fine communion set was also used there.

The family was saddened June 10, 1847, with the death of Harriet. Family members say her husband fashioned a travois in the Indian style behind one of his fine horses and transported her to the mission cemetery, where she was buried beside her young daughters. The following year, Blunt completed a fine two-story home at Dalton, then in 1849 he married Elizabeth Christian Ramsey, sister of the Ross's Landing pioneer Reynolds Ramsey. It was said that Blunt, while his first wife was still alive, had passed the home of Reynolds Ramsey and had seen a pretty young woman (Elizabeth Ramsey) going around the house. He had remarked, "There is a fine young woman who will make some young man a good wife.'' A.E. Blunt and Elizabeth had a daughter, Eliza Ramsey "Lillie.''

During the Civil War, the Blunts at first remained at their home. A.E. Blunt was at the Dalton depot when the Andrews Raiders sped past in the "General'' locomotive they had commandered. A number of Confederate officers, including Joseph Johnston and Joseph Wheeler,stopped at the Blunt home. The family later refugeed in Illinois with their son, John. The son-in-law, Benjamin Morse, died at Naganee, Mich., in early 1863 of a stomach ailment. Upon the family's return to Dalton, they found the trees in their yard had been cut down and the fences torn away. The house had last been used as a hospital by the Union troops. A.E. Blunt died Dec. 21, 1865, soon after the family's return south. He is buried at West Hill Cemetery. His second wife lived until 1899.

John E. married Augusta Evans Wood. He was an engineer who moved to Chicago and worked on several railroad projects there.

A.E. Jr. still remembered the Trail of Tears.He had "stood by the road side watching the dejected tribe as hundreds of them, men, women and children, filed past, and their sorrows made a deep impression on his childish mind.'' Years later, he could still talk and sing in the Cherokee language. A.E. Jr. studied at Dartmouth,then he became principal of the Masonic Female Institution at Cleveland. He resigned to serve with the Union's First Tennessee Cavalry, rising to the rank of captain. A.E. Blunt Jr. married the daughter of Dr. J.F. Hall of New Hampshire in 1865. He reopened the female school at Cleveland and was the town's postmaster eight years. He became interested in the hybridizing of grains and developed many new strains of wheat. It was said he had "over 400 varieties of wheat, most of which he knew at a glance without consulting the labels.'' He was professor of agriculture at the Colorado State Agricultural College, then in 1890 he set up a new agricultural station in New Mexico. He died in 1911.

Lillie married Thomas Miles Kirby, a Confederate veteran who was taken prisoner at Gettysburg. Their children were Lucy Ann, Carrie who married Walter C. McGhee, Alleen who married C.W. Dunlap and Emery who married John A. Baxley. Mrs. Baxley willed the historic Blunt home at 506 S. Thornton Ave. to the Whitfield-Murray Historical Society. The house was extensively renovated in 1988. The old pewter communion set was put on display by Pioneer Bank in 1972, but it disappeared soon after that.The tankard had been estimated to be over 900 years old.

Marvin Sowder wrote a book on A.E. Blunt entitled A New Englander Comes South. It is offered for sale by the Whitfield-Murray Historical Society.
The MOMentum Network, a local nonprofit that supports single moms in college, is hosting their MPower: Orientation + Inspiration to kick-off the new college semester on Saturday.

Cara Hicks, former single mom in college and MOMentum Founder, said, Pursuing higher education while balancing work and raising children is an incredible challenge, but were honored to provide support to MOMentum moms who are willing to build a better future for their children.

Single and pregnant moms in college interested in receiving support, including financial aid, are invited to come learn the heart of The MOMentum Network. They can connect with other moms who understand what theyre going through and hear about the 2G/4G mission.

Amanda Jelks, former teen mom turned attorney/entrepreneur will share her story about overcoming obstacles.

The event will start at 10 a.m. on Saturday at the Downtown YMCA, 301 W 6th St.

For more information or to RSVP, visit http://www.momentumnetwork.org/calendar/ or contact arwen@themomentumnetwork.org.

Thanks to supporters, there is no charge to attend and there will be a chance to win giveaways. Childcare is available for children 11 and under.






Some Ooltewah High School students are teaming up with The Johnson Group for an amazing opportunity They are going to help re-brand Hamilton County Schools.

OHS Marketing Teacher Heather McIntyre pitched this collaboration to HCDE Superintendent Dr. Bryan Johnson. She said, Both my Advanced Marketing students and I are excited for this opportunity and cannot wait to show Chattanooga and the world what Hamilton County High School students are capable of.

Together they will be doing everything from redesigning a logo to organizing public service and promotional events.

Advanced Marketing Class student Julia Thompson said she is excited to get this type of real-world learning experience. At this point marketing isnt even a class, it is a genuine learning experience with real world situations. We are learning about our world by partnering with the Johnson Group.

Using what the students have learned in class, they will be collaborating with The Johnson Group to develop a brand new marketing campaign. Its one thing to learn from the book, but how do you really learn and prepare for the world of Marketing? Teaming up with professionals that work in the field and can offer their expertise to students, said classmate Jake Page.

This partnership allows the students to receive a one-of-a-kind dynamic learning experience and to tear up the playbook of traditional education and replace it with a more innovative approach to learning. The Advanced Marketing Class is not your typical class. It offers a dynamic learning experience focusing on collaboration with the Johnson Group and many other Chattanooga businesses, giving us that marketing knowledge we desire, said OHS student Kylan Whitt.

Dr. Johnson is excited about the potential he sees in this type of student-business partnership. I believe [Ms. McIntyre] has some great thoughts on ways to engage her students in this effort, she said.

Look for the efforts of The Johnson Group and OHS collaboration later this school year.

The Johnson Group is offering its services to HCDE at no charge.
Adam Duritz photo by Patrick O'Hagan County Crows photo by Patrick O'Hagan County Crows photo by Patrick O'Hagan Dan Vickrey photo by Patrick O'Hagan Kyle Cook and Paul Doucette photo by Patrick O'Hagan Matchbox Twenty photo by Patrick O'Hagan Matchbox Twenty photo by Patrick O'Hagan Rob Thomas photo by Patrick O'Hagan Previous Next

A Brief History of Everything tour recently made a stop at Nashvilles Bridgestone Arena. The summer tour marks the second year in a row where Counting Crows teamed up with Matchbox Twenty for a co-headlining tour of the U.S. and Canada.

The two 90s rock staples played full sets before a packed crowd.

Duritz was smooth with his vocals and interacted well with both the band and the crowd throughout the entire set.

His powerful and emotional rendition of Round Here served as a great example to the bands energy. Counting Crows left the stage, only momentarily, after thirteen songs; they returned to the stage to a standing ovation for a two-song encore featuring Palisades Park, and Rain King.

Matchbox Twenty and charismatic frontman Rob Thomas offered a second, more commercially appealing set soon after the Crows took their bow. Thomas was quite a bit chattier with the crowd than Duritz, and conquered the stage with confidence. The band was just as pumped as the crowd, jumping and spinning throughout the show.

Thomas crowd interaction went further than most artists. As he took a seat in front of the fans to perform the hit Mad Season, Thomas motioned for a security guard who walked to the front row to retrieve a womans cell phone. At that point Thomas took the phone and toured the stage while performing the song and simultaneously recording video footage in what made for a special souvenir for the lucky fan.

The tour is scheduled to continue throughout the rest of the summer, stopping all over the East Coast and Midwest with a final show on October 1, in Irving, Texas.
Metro Daltons unemployment rate was unchanged from June to July at 5.4 percent. In July 2016, the rate was 6.5 percent.



While Metro Daltons rate was unchanged, 501 more people went back to work, said Commissioner Mark Butler. Its great to see Daltons economy growing. Since July 2016, Dalton has gained 500 jobs, a 0.7 percent growth rate.



Metro Daltons over-the-year job growth came mostly in manufacturing.



From June to July, Metro Dalton lost 200 jobs, a 0.3 percent decline, which decreased the total number of jobs to 70,600



In June, Metro Dalton added jobs, said Comm. Butler. Due to the fact that a lot of summer jobs are held by students, its not surprising to see the July decline in jobs, especially with the earlier school start dates this year.



Unemployment claims were up by 36, or 6.5 percent, to 591. Claims were up in construction and wholesale trade. Over the year, claims were down by 972, or 62.2 percent, from 1,563 in July 2016.

The total number of employed residents in Metro Dalton rose by 501 to 60,167 from June to July.



There were 883 more Metro Dalton residents employed than in July 2016, said Comm. Butler. Im pleased to see we have more people in Dalton employed and contributing to Georgias continued environment of economic opportunity.



Employ Georgia, the GDOLs online job listing service at employgeorgia.com, showed 752 new active job postings in Dalton for July.




The same day that white nationalist Christopher Cantwell appeared in Albemarle County court on assault charges related to the Aug. 11 torch-lit march at the University of Virginia, a hearing for James Fields Jr.  the man accused of plowing his car into a group of protesters on Aug. 12  was pushed to the end of this year.

Cantwell, from Keene, New Hampshire, faces two charges of illegal use of tear gas, phosgene or other gases and one charge of malicious bodily injury by means of a caustic substance or agent, according to UVa police.

Emily Gorcenski, who filed the complaint against Cantwell, said she was scared for her life on the night of Aug. 11 when she and a small group of UVa students were confronted by white nationalist marchers. The small group of students and locals showed up to protest the group of white supremacists who marched through Grounds carrying tiki torches.

Standing in front of the statue of Thomas Jefferson at UVas Rotunda that night, Gorcenski said she was doused in lighter fluid and maced.

It was terrifying, said Gorcenski. Before the attacks happened, it was people in my face shouting hate and bigotry.

I literally expected to die that night, she said.

Gorcenski also filed a protective order against Cantwell earlier this week, which she said is a fairly standard procedure with violent crimes. After watching Cantwells interview on VICE News, Gorcenski said Cantwell appeared to be well-armed and wanted to become a more violent person.

I think it was the right thing I needed to do to protect myself and my family, she said.

In Virginia, a protective order prohibits acts of violence or threats against the petitioner, and prohibits contact by the subject of the order with the person filing the order, according to state code.

In Albemarle County General District Court Thursday, Cantwell told a judge he plans to hire his own attorney. The judge did not set a bond, but told Cantwell his attorney could request a bond hearing at a future date.

Albemarle County Commonwealths Attorney Robert Tracci told the judge the commonwealth would oppose bond for Cantwell.

Cantwells next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 12.

He is being held at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail after turning himself in to the Lynchburg Police Department on Wednesday afternoon.

Also on Thursday, a preliminary court hearing for Fields that was scheduled for Friday was continued until Dec. 14. Both the commonwealth and Fields defense attorney asked a judge to push the hearing to the later date, according to court documents.

Fields is accused of ramming his Dodge Challenger into a large group of counter-protesters marching through the downtown area following the failed Unite the Right rally on Aug. 12. The attack killed 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injured 30 others.

Fields is charged with second-degree murder, five counts of malicious wounding, three counts of aggravated malicious wounding and one count of hit-and-run.

Fields is also being held at Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail.
An Albemarle County man on Wednesday pleaded guilty to charges of possessing child pornography that was found during the course of an undercover operation by Virginia State Police earlier this year.

Robert Wesley Tabor said in Albemarle County Circuit Court that he is guilty of three charges of possessing child pornography and one charge of reproducing child pornography. He faces a maximum sentence of 55 years, according to Virginia code.

On Jan. 1 and 2, Virginia State Police conducted an undercover operation to investigate online child exploitation. Over the course of their investigation of a peer-to-peer network, police discovered an IP address reportedly belonging to Tabor.

When officers executed a search warrant on Tabors home, Assistant Comonwealths Attorney Amanda Galloway said, Tabor was very cooperative with police and freely gave officers access to his home computer.

Tabor also told police he had a preference for younger girls, but had never physically acted on that preference, Galloway said.

Judge Cheryl Higgins accepted the plea deal worked out between the commonwealths attorneys office and Tabors attorney.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on November 14.
Climb Out of the Darkness, the worlds largest event raising awareness of pregnancy and postpartum mental health disorders, will hold a regional Climb in Chattanooga on Oct. 7, hosted by Birch + Magnolia, a local company specializing in providing birth and postpartum doula services to families in the Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Northwest Georgia areas.

Friends, families, and survivors of postpartum depression, anxiety, OCD, bipolar disorder, and psychosis from all over the world climb, hike, or walk together at a local mountain or park to symbolize their collective rise out of the darkness as well as to raise funds for Postpartum Support International, a nonprofit organization and online community of support resources for women around the world.

"This is the fifth annual Climb Out of the Darkness, typically held around the longest day of the year to shine the most possible light on maternal mental illness. Due to the heat of our summers, a fall date was chosen in hopes of much more pleasant weather," officials said.



All moms, dads, families, and friends are invited to participate in their local Climb Out of the Darkness to be held in downtown Chattanooga Oct. 7. The team will gather at Rev Centre for Optimal Living, 417 Frazier Ave, Ste. 101, for registration and kick off at 9 a.m. The walk will begin at 10 a.m. as team members make their way thru North Shore and across the Walnut Street Pedestrian Bridge, with an after-party gathering to follow.

Participants must register prior to the event at www.crowdrise.com/Tennessee---Chattanooga. Sponsorships from local businesses are also being accepted. Contact local Climb leader and Birch + Magnolia owner, Heather McGlothlen at 423-521-5039 or heather@birchandmagnolia.com for more information on sponsorships that will help support the Climb.



It is an exciting time for Climb out of the Darkness and a growing awareness worldwide of the mental health needs of new and expecting parents, said Wendy N. Davis, executive director of Postpartum Support International. We are honored to host the Climb, an innovative creation of Postpartum Progress, which started the Climb in 2013. This year, weve organized the fundraising so that local groups can raise money for their own initiatives, or raise funds for the international organization. Working together, we are improving the safety net for families around the world.



Money raised by the Climb will support PSI goals to provide funds to local groups and organizations, provide low-cost training in perinatal mood disorders for providers in underserved areas, train law enforcement and legal experts, mentor peer supporters and group leaders, and train primary healthcare providers.
Ahead the first formal Charlottesville town hall to debrief after the Aug. 12 Unite the Right rally, Charlottesville police and officials have faced harsh criticism and stern questioning over their handling of the event itself, and the clashes between rally-goers and counter protesters.

Community members have lambasted police for failing to take adequate action during bouts of violence. The planned event was shut down by police before it could formally begin in Emancipation Park, and state officials declared a state of emergency a short time later.

Charlottesville resident Heather Heyer, 32, was killed shortly after the rally was broken up when a James Alex Fields, 20, of Ohio, allegedly rammed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters gathered at the intersection of Fourth Street SE and Water Street.

Later in the day, two Virginia State Police troopers died when their helicopter, which had hovered over the rally for much of the day, crashed in Albemarle County.

Charlottesville police did not respond to multiple requests for comment by press time.

At Monday nights Charlottesville City Council meeting, which turned into a six-hour town hall on the rally, Don Gathers, former chairman of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Race, Memorials and Public Spaces, asked City Manager Maurice Jones why the July 8 KKK rally was handled differently, referencing the line formed by police to divide the Klan from those protesting.

Why was there no barrier between the two factions this time, Gathers asked. It was more of a reactive stance, if there was any reaction, than proactive.

Jones replied that Unite the Right organizers were less forthcoming than the organizers of the Klan rally and there were more of them, which made policing the event much tougher.

When the Klansmen came in, we had 35-40 of them, we had been in contact with them, he said. We knew exactly where they were going to come in, we knew when they were going to come in, where they were going to park, and that type of thing. We didnt know that with this group.

The city knew where some rally participants were going to come in, he said but most of them they did not know where they were entering the park.

We were not communicating with them in the same way we communicated with the KKK, Jones said. We were communicating with the organizer of the event, and even with that, we didnt hear the truth in terms of how people were coming in and when.

Charlottesville City Council has scheduled a closed session meeting Thursday morning, according to a news release. The section of the state code cited in the closed session announcement concerns discussion, consideration, or interviews of prospective candidates for employment; assignment, appointment, promotion, performance, demotion, salaries, disciplining, or resignation of specific public officers, appointees, or employees of any public body.

On Thursday night, the city will host its first town hall meeting since the rally from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Performing Arts Center at Charlottesville High School. The city will provide an update on recovery efforts and offer opportunities for public comment.

People close to the police department said a mandatory department-wide meeting is scheduled for Friday, but said they did not know what would be discussed.

Many of the organizations who called on city and state officials to conduct an independent investigation into the preparation and conduct of police at the July 8 Ku Klux Klan rally are now also calling for an independent investigation on police response to the weekend of Aug.12.

In a statement from the Central Virginia Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, the group said that state and local law enforcement demonstrated that they are completely disconnected from the values and priorities of the Charlottesville community.

...When law enforcement had opportunities to protect students, people of color, and other anti-racist demonstrators from the thousands of white supremacists  who had promised to commit acts of violence and murder in our city  the police passively watched from the sidelines, the statement read. Both on UVas campus on Friday night and downtown on Saturday, police repeatedly refused to answer their cries for help, but instead contributed to the violence and trauma by intervening only after the white supremacists had the opportunity to assault anti-racist demonstrators.

Cynthia Neff, a Democratic activist was on-site Aug.12 with legal observers from the National Lawyers Guild. She said that many of the observers were enraged that the police did not intervene in the fights that erupted in the streets. Neff said she was also disappointed to not see any officers on Water Street later in the day.

You know how that turned out, she said.

Theres a story to tell about the police not being more active in breaking up the street-fighting, she said. There are legal observers who are enraged.  It shouldnt have been this way. It shouldnt have been at Emancipation Park in the first place.

In a letter from Legal Aid Justice Center sent to the city on behalf of the Public Housing Association of Residents, the group asked the city to conduct an independent, thorough and transparent investigation of law enforcement conduct during the July 8 Klan rally and Unite the Right. The letter also asks the city to improve its emergency planning to protect all Charlottesville residents, and take concrete steps to eradicate institutional racism by significantly improving the lives of low-income people.

The letter said that many questions need to be asked and answered, inducing if police were asked to stand down, what safety plans were created and what contingency plans were prepared to protect families in subsidized housing.

Members of PHAR and its advisory council personally witnessed many incidents of violence where law enforcement stood idly by (sometimes only a few feet away, behind double barricades) and refused to intervene, the letter said. Numerous injuries and assaults could have been prevented by the police throughout the weekend  there were certainly enough present  had those law enforcement officials been instructed to protect people and intervene in the attacks.

At Monday nights city council meeting, which became a town-hall style meeting that lasted six hours, Jones answered some questions related to city and police response.

There was no stand-down order from anybody in the city government, there was not, he said. None.

Jones also stated that an independent review of the citys response will be conducted.

We are going to do an independent review of all the planning that took place for that, the day of the event and the aftermath, so there will be a third party independent review of all of our activities of those days and what happened on Saturday, he said.

Many at the meeting asked about what would happen if the same group or a similar group applied for a permit for a demonstration in the future

Im not an attorney so I cant tell you what would happen next if someone attempted to apply for it, or the same group came back at some point in the future, Jones said. I think we have a much stronger case now in the eyes of the courts because of the previous behaviors.

Jones said that he was concerned by stories that he heard at the meeting that concerned specific incidents of violence.

We ask that you contact the city police if there are incidents that you saw in which someone was beaten, either there wasnt police presence at the time or if you saw an officer who may not have been responsive to that, we need to know about that, he said.

Jones said city police are specifically following up on the Market Street Garage beating of Deandre Harris, an instructional assistant with the city schools, and he believes that arrest will be made soon.
A community recovery town hall meeting scheduled for Thursday night has been moved to Sunday.

The City Council-led town hall was rescheduled due to conflicts with student activities at Charlottesville High School, according to a news release from the city.

The meeting will now be held from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, still at the Martin Luther King Jr. Performing Arts Center at CHS.

The meeting was organized in response to the tragic events surrounding the Aug. 12 Unite the Right rally. The event, a gathering of white nationalists and neo-Nazis, devolved into chaos before it even began as ralliers and counter-protesters clashed in the streets. Later that afternoon, 32-year-old local resident Heather Heyer was killed near the corner of Fourth and Water streets after a car plowed into a group of counter-protesters. James Alex Fields Jr., 20, of Ohio, who had come to attend the rally, was later arrested and charged with second-degree murder and numerous other charges.

A few hours after the deadly car incident, two Virginia State Police troopers, Jay Cullen of Midlothian and Berke Bates of Quinton, who had assisted in law enforcements rally response, died in a helicopter crash in Albemarle County.

The city of Charlottesville will be partnering with the Community Relations Services division of the U.S. Department of Justice to begin a road to recovery for our community, according to the release from the city. Representatives from CRS will work closely with a working group of area residents to develop a vision, develop a robust community engagement plan and create recommendations for an action plan. The working group will be comprised of people from all walks of life in our community and will begin meeting in the next couple of weeks.

A City Council meeting Monday was overtaken by angry residents who screamed and cursed at councilors over the citys response to the rally.

At the end of the meeting, the council voted to drape the citys statues of Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and Thomas Stonewall Jackson in black fabric.
Following at least a four-year trend, more than 70 percent of all people stopped by Charlottesville police for an investigative detention this year have been black.

Jeff Fogel, a local activist attorney who requested data on the detentions from the city police, said the response to his inquiry reveals that the city is continuing to disproportionately target African-Americans.

Whats more, he said, the number of stop-and-frisk detentions by the police is on track to double the annual average of the last two years.

While Police Chief Al Thomas seemed to be decrying the statistics last year, we now have twice as many stopped this year. And we havent fallen below the 70 percent rate, Fogel said in an interview.

Fogel received the latest statistics after filing a Freedom of Information Act request last month. In a news release Wednesday, he shared the data with local media and called on the city to end its stop and frisk program.

Fogel cited the Supreme Court case Terry v. Ohio, and the 1967 Presidents Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice as evidence that authorities have previously acknowledged that stop-and-frisk detentions can harm relations between communities and law enforcement because they create resentment and distrust.

In 2015, there were 110 investigative detentions reported by police. In the first 10 months of the following year, there were 97.

As of June 25, over 100 people have been stopped and investigated by police. But very few of the stops lead to an actual arrest or a court summons.

In each one of those three years, black people have made up about 70 to 80 percent of the stops. African Americans are just short of 20 percent of the approximately 50,000 people that live in Charlottesville.

Theres no evidence here that black people are more likely to commit crime, Fogel said.

Looking at the years of reports hes obtained, he said, white people that are stopped are more likely to have been engaged in a crime.

In 2015, 13 black people were charged with a crime following an on-the-street investigation  five fewer white people faced charges as a result of their stops.

In the 10-month period in 2016, 26 people were charged with a crime  13 black, 13 white.

So far this year, more than half of the black people stopped by police were not charged with a crime or arrested, while 22 were arrested or issued a court summons. Six incidents with a black suspect resulted in a warning for traffic violations.

Only one white person was issued a warning, while 16 were allowed to move along. Of the 28 white people stopped, 11 were issued a summons or arrested.

The majority of the stops that resulted in charges this year were because of traffic violations or issues with revoked or suspended licenses and vehicle registrations. Most of the other charges were related to drug possession or alcohol-related charges, followed by fewer than five other charges related to weapons and previously issued warrants for arrest.

About 60 percent of the stops of were classified as a narcotics investigation. Aside from a few suspicious circumstances, responses to reported assaults, disorders, drunkness and a few other offenses were listed as incidents that led to a stop.

According to the most recent report, and those from the last two years, about 70 to 80 percent of the investigative detentions each year did not lead to an arrest or summons.

Last fall, when Thomas presented a report on the stop-and-frisk data to the council  just days before Fogel received a response to a legal request for the data  the chief said he wanted his department to focus on why so many stops were not leading to arrests.

Fogel said hes disturbed that the recent report shows the stops are increasing, and that the chief has done little to curb it. He said that he thinks City Manager Maurice Jones and other city officials do not care about the issue.

If they did, Fogel said, something would be done about it.

Neither Jones or Thomas replied to requests for comment Wednesday.
RICHMOND  Amid a renewed examination of the ties between Confederate imagery and white supremacy and slavery, VCU President Michael Rao is directing administrators to conduct an audit of symbols "of an exclusionary nature" on the school's campuses.

Senior administrators will consult with faculty, students and the community to conduct a comprehensive review, Rao said in an email to students and faculty Wednesday evening.

The review will include a discussion about "what the future of any such items may be," he wrote. "This includes statues, plaques, building and facility names and other honorific symbols. We will also be looking at applicable policies and procedures."

Rao said the process would be guided by a commitment to inclusion, free speech and civil discourse.

He also wrote that campus police are working closely with other law enforcement agencies on issues of campus security and the impact of possible protests following the Aug. 11 and Aug. 12 violence in Charlottesville.

"Students and their parents, faculty and staff have expressed concern about the impact of national and regional protests and especially the focus on Confederate symbolism given Richmond's history as the capitol of the Confederacy," Rao's email said.

Ravi Perry, an associate professor of political science at VCU, said such an audit shows the university's commitment to examining its role in white supremacy.

"I think its very important for us to do this review," he said. "I would recommend that every university and college in the commonwealth of Virginia do the same thing."
NOTICE: The Hamilton County Registers Office did not publish this data. All information in the Registers Office is public information as set out in T.C.A. 10-7-503. For questions regarding this report, please call Chattanoogan.com at 423 266-2325. GI numbers, listed when street addresses are not available, refer to the location of transactions (book number and page number) in Hamilton County Register Office records.
Officials in Norfolk want to move the citys downtown Confederate monument to a cemetery, and theyre asking Attorney General Mark R. Herring for an advisory opinion on whether state law allows it.

State law on the issue is murky, and a lawsuit is pending in Charlottesville Circuit Court over whether that city has the right to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Emancipation Park.

The Norfolk City Council unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday asking that due to the importance of the issue across the state, the number of monuments and people affected, the attorney general make this request a priority and provide an opinion as soon as reasonably possible.

Herring spokesman Michael Kelly said Herring will review the request from Norfolks city attorney and respond.

Ultimately this decision is one for local governments to make, Kelly said in an email. There may be different restrictions that apply to different monuments, or no restrictions, depending on where it is, who owns it, and a number of other factors that individual localities will need to identify, evaluate and consider in consultation with their city or county attorney.

Attorney general opinions may be given deference by the courts but are not binding.

The killing of nine African-Americans in 2015 at a Charleston, S.C., church by white supremacist Dylann Roof started a new debate over Confederate imagery. The Charlottesville City Council voted in February to relocate the Lee statue.

A rally organized Aug. 12 by white nationalist Jason Kessler attracted white supremacists and counterprotesters from across the country; one woman was killed when a car drove into a crowd of anti-racist demonstrators, and two Virginia State Police pilots died after their helicopter crashed. An alleged white supremacist is charged in the car attack.

Norfolk is among cities across the South taking steps to remove or relocate Confederate monuments, many constructed long after the Civil War and during times of segregation and racial oppression.

Norfolks monument has a generic rebel soldier on the top and reads Our Confederate Dead 1861-1865.

Its not even in the original location, said Mayor Kenneth C. Alexander. It was put into storage for several years in the late 1960s for construction of a downtown skyscraper, he said.

Elmwood Cemetery in Norfolk includes graves of white Confederate soldiers; West Point Cemetery contains a monument honoring black Union soldiers. So the City Council wants to move the Confederate monument to Elmwood.

A state law passed in 1998 makes it illegal for cities and counties to disturb or interfere with any war memorial, including removing, damaging or defacing monuments. But a Danville Circuit Court judge ruled in 2015 that the law did not apply to memorials built before 1998.

It is clear that statutes, generally speaking, do not have retroactive application unless that retroactive application is specified by the legislature, Judge James R. Reynolds wrote in an opinion.

In 2016, Del. Charles D. Poindexter, R-Franklin County, sponsored a bill that passed the General Assembly and would have added language that said, The provisions of this subsection shall apply to all such monuments and memorials, regardless of when erected.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe vetoed it, arguing that the bill would end local discussions about whether to retain or move Confederate monuments.

John Adams, the Republican nominee for attorney general against Herring in November, believes state law prohibits a locality from moving a Confederate monument, spokeswoman Taylor Keeney said.
Each year DAR holds workshops for new, prospective and longtime members. Eight members of the Nancy Ward TNDAR chapter traveled to Maryville for a day of learning and fellowship.

The DAR has over 6,000 members in Tennessee. To make it easier to attend there were three meetings held in the month of August at Jackson, Lebanon and Maryville.

The day has many classes for members to choose from. Lunch is served and the ladies get to see displays of what has been done this year. For a prospective or new member, it is a good way to find out where they want to be involved.

Those who are interested in DAR can find more information at www.dar.org or www.tndar.org.




At the Medals of Valor Luncheon At the Medals of Valor Luncheon At the Medals of Valor Luncheon Previous Next

Members of the Chief John Ross Chapter, NSDAR, supported the Medals of Valor Luncheon by promoting and volunteering at the luncheon.

Linda Moss Mines, second vice-regent of the chapter and a member of the Board of Trustees for the Charles H. Coolidge Medal of Honor Heritage Center, explained the on-going partnership between the local DAR chapter and the Heritage Center. One of the major objectives of the Daughters of the American Revolution is education. As descendants of ordinary citizens who chose to step out of their comfort zones and advocate for individualism and freedom, we are sensitive to the need to teach young people about the human qualities that lead one to service and sacrifice. The Medal of Honor Character Development Program has been designed by teachers to spotlight six character traits necessary for active citizenship: courage, commitment, integrity, sacrifice, citizenship and patriotism. By using age-appropriate stories about our nations Medal of Honor recipients, students find themselves immersed in situations where once again ordinary individuals chose to perform extraordinary acts of heroism.

On Tuesday, almost four hundred citizens gathered at the Chattanooga Trade Center to learn more about the Coolidge Medal of Honor Heritage Center and the Character Development Program. Major General Bill Raines, U. S. Army [Ret] noted that the programs elements extend far beyond classroom lessons and into a world confronted by young citizens that often requires one student to stand strong alongside a friend facing bullying or other difficult situations.

As one Medal of Honor recipient remarked, Life will not become significant until you step outside your comfort zone.

Ms. Mines continued, As a 40-year veteran of the teaching profession, I understand the importance of character education. Republican forms of government fall when men and women are no longer active, participating citizens, willing to address their government and societys accomplishments and flaws. It is only when we work together to advance those ideals of liberty, equality, justice and humanity that the state of our republic will be strong. The Chief John Ross Chapter, DARs work with the Medal of Honor Character Development Program is one step toward a strong government of the people.

To learn more about the Charles H. Coolidge Medal of Honor Heritage Center and its program, visit http://mohm.org/. To learn more about the Chief John Ross Chapter, NSDAR, visit https://chiefjohnross.gridprinciples.com/




The River City Company has sold the office section of the building at 2 Aquarium Way by the Tennessee Aquarium to Marquis Apartment Investors.

Kim White of River City said the buyers are the operators of the nearby High Point Climbing and Fitness facility.

She said they were in need of office space.

The sales price was $890,000.

River City Company had bought the building back from the now-defunct Chattanooga History Center in 2016 for $2.2 million.

The History Center, under former director Daryl Black, had planned a history museum on the second floor, but it never opened.

A group is currently raising funds to put the former Medal of Honor Museum into that location as the Charles Coolidge Medal of Honor Heritage Center.

Ms. White said the Coolidge group was not interested in the office space.

She said the office area has a separate entrance.

Pucketts Restaurant is on the first floor of the building.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is clarifying some errors that have occurred in the printed copy of the agencys 2017-18 Tennessee Hunting and Trapping Guide.

On page 28 there is a chart that indicates hunters will be allowed to use dogs during the Nov. 18-21 gun/muzzleloader/archery hunt in Bear Hunt Zones 1, 2, and 3. However, dogs will NOT be allowed during that particular hunting segment.



Bear hunting takes place in the eastern portion of the state and dogs are allowed during many of the various bear zone hunts between late September and late December. However, TWRA has not usually allowed dogs during the Nov. 18-21 hunt, which coincides with the opening of gun season for white-tailed deer. We schedule hunts with different bear-hunting interests in mind and we believe most bear hunters are aware of our traditional seasons, but we just want to make sure they know about this mistake, noted Mark Gudlin, the chief of TWRAs wildlife division. The agencys digital version of the bear zone chart in the hunting guide is correct and can be read at www.tnwildlife.org.



On page 65 under the section with information about Forks of the River WMA, the sentence reading Designated youth field closed until Sept. 3 should be omitted. WMA Manager Bill Smith said, We took out the Sept. 3 youth only field but we will have a special field for youth/adult hunting on Sept. 1-2 and 9. This field is open to youths who must be accompanied by a licensed adult who may also hunt this field. This field then returns to same as statewide season and is open to all hunters beginning Sept. 10.


Amid historic lows in statewide unemployment figures, Tennessees county unemployment rates for July 2017 decreased in 40 counties, increased in 24, and remained the same in 31, according to data released today by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD).



Forty of Tennessees 95 counties bettered their unemployment rates, compared to June 2017 and 31 counties saw no movement during the latest survey. Twenty-four counties did experience a small uptick in the non-seasonally adjusted unemployment figures.



Davidson County has the states lowest major metropolitan rate at 3.1 percent, matching the revised rate reported for June 2017. Knox Countys rate for July held steady at 3.7 percent. Hamilton and Shelby counties also remain at the prior months revised rates of 4.1 and 4.8, respectively.



The summer months typically have higher county unemployment rates because they are not adjusted for seasonal workers, said TDLWD Commissioner Burns Phillips. It is a positive sign that nearly three-quarters of the counties across the state saw their unemployment rates decrease or remain the same as they were in June.



Specific county information for the month of May is available online at http://tn.gov/assets/entities/labor/attachments/Labor_Force_Estimates%2C_Jul_17.pdf.



Preliminary unemployment rates have fallen for both Tennessee and the United States. Decreasing by two-tenths of a percentage point, the state rate is 3.4 percent for July. The national rate fell a tenth of a percentage point to 4.3 percent for the month.



The state and national unemployment rates are seasonally adjusted, while the county unemployment rates are not. Seasonal adjustment is a statistical technique that eliminates the influences of weather, holidays, opening and closing of schools, and other recurring seasonal events from economic time series.



The Economic Analysis and Labor Force Estimates are prepared by the Employment Security divisions labor market information specialists. The division reports metrics and contextual information as it relates to employment, income, and population in Tennessee. Labor force topics are narrated in monthly newsletters and additional resources are available on Jobs4TN.gov. The state unemployment release for August 2017 will be published on Thursday, Sept. 14, at 1:30 p.m. CT.
Hyderabad: Major investors in Infosys are in discussion with co-founder N R Narayanana Murthy on ways to manage the company in the future, said T V Mohandas Pai, a former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the software giant.

Pai also said all the co-founders would collectively take a decision on the return of Nandan Nilekani, a co-founder and former CEO, to the Bengaluru-headquartered IT firm.

"The major investors are talking to Murthy to come to a conclusion on how the company has to be managed in the future," he told PTI. The former CFO said he expects Infosys Chairman and Co-Chairman to step down in the next few days and a new Chairman and Board to be appointed.

"Many investors are asking for Nilekani to come back... great demand for him to come back; the founders have to meet and decide; right now Murthy is not well," Pai said. He said all the founders are "together".

On other co-founders not speaking in public on the developments at Infosys, he said, "They don't want to increase the public spectacle; no need for every body to speak. Murthy is their spokesperson. Everybody is together."

"Nilekani coming back (to Infosys) is good, he knows every body, he is approachable," Pai said. He said because of the "abuse" of Murthy by the Board, all the employees are "angry and upset".

"They (Infosys employees) have gone and met the Co-Chairman and told him that it is not acceptable to abuse Murthy like that. Employees have been very strong in supporting Murthy and have been saying this abuse of Murthy by the Board should stop," Pai said.

"It's a sad thing that a great company is being torn apart by an ineffective Board," he said. Pai said more and more people -- whether they are employees, or investors or others -- are coming to the conclusion that this Board has to go and a new one has to come.

"Nandan coming back as Chairman will be a good thing for the company and settle the issue once and for all," he added. In a sudden move, Infosys' first non-founder CEO, Vishal Sikka, resigned last week citing slander by founders. The Infosys board issued a stinging statement blaming Murthy for the CEO's resignation. Infosys has said it will find a CEO replacement latest by March 31, 2018.

On August 18, the day Sikka announced his resignation, investor advisory firm Institutional Investor Advisory Services (IiAS) said it favoured Nilekani being brought back on the board as its non-executive chairman.

Nilekani, who was CEO of the company between 2002 and 2007, has so far refused to comment on the crisis Infosys is facing.
New Delhi: As many as 12 fund managers, representing institutional investors in Infosys, have suggested bringing co-founder and former CEO Nandan Nilekani back on the board of the IT major to restore confidence of stakeholders and help resolve the crisis.

This is the second major pitch for bringing back Nilekani after an investor advisory firm IiAS said the co-founder, who had served as CEO between March 2002 to April 2007 and later went on to head the UIDAI, should be brought back on the Infosys board as its non-executive chairman.

As the crisis continues at Infosys following the sudden resignation of its first non-founder CEO Vishal Sikka amid a public spat between some founders and the top management, the companys stock crashed 15 per cent for the two straight trading sessions, eroding its market wealth by Rs 34,000 crore.

"The recent developments are very concerning to each one of us," the 12 fund mangers said in a joint letter, which sources said, has been written to Infosys chairman, among others.

The fund mangers said they represent several of the leading institutional investors of the country and each of these is a shareholder in Infosys.

"After considerable thought and mutual deliberations, we strongly feel that the board of Infosys should invite Nandan Nilekani to join the board in a suitable capacity," the letter noted. They said Nilekani enjoys confidence of various stakeholders, including customers, shareholders and employees.

"Given his credentials, we feel that his joining the board at this stage will restore confidence of stakeholders in the company and also facilitate resolution of the contentious issues that Infosys is facing presently. We do hope that you will consider the above and do the needful," the letter noted. The joint letter has been written by ICICI Prudential AMCs S Naren; ICICI Prudential Life Insurances Manish Kumar; HDFC MFs Prashant Jain; HDFC Life Insurances Prasun Gajri; Reliance Nippon Life AMC Sunil Singhania; SBI Funds Managements Navneet Munot and SBI Life Insurances Gopikrishna Shenoy.

Other signatories include Birla Sunlife AMCs Mahesh Patil; Anand Radhakrishnan of Franklin Templeton; Anoop Bhaskar of IDFC AMC; DSP Blackrock Investment Managers Anup Maheshwari and Kotak Mahindra AMCs Nilesh Shah.

At the end of June quarter, mutual funds held 8.95 per cent stake in Infosys and insurance companies 11.05 per cent, according to data available with the BSE. HDFC Trustee Company Ltd owned 1.99 per cent in the IT firm as of June 30, ICICI Prudential AMC (1.49 per cent), SBI (1.12 per cent), Reliance Capital Trustee Company Ltd (1.06 per cent) and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company (1.33 per cent).

The Institutional Investor Advisory Services (IiAS) last week said the Infosys board has been "unable to protect its CEO" and to select a successor, it must begin by "reinventing itself".

"It must convince Nandan Nilekani to join the board once again as its non-executive chairperson," it said in a report, adding that Nilekani should not see this as any other corporate job as Infosys is at the heart of Indian IT and its success will foretell how the sector will position itself for future.

Nilekani is one of the seven founders that set up Infosys more than three decades ago and served as its CEO between March 2002 to April 2007.

Sikka was brought in as the companys first non-founder CEO in June 2014, prior to which the position was held by one or the other founder.
Ald. Pawar Wants To Change Columbus Day To Indigenous Peoples' Day If Elected Governor

By Stephen Gossett in News on Aug 24, 2017 4:44PM



Ald. Ameya Pawar (Ward 47) / Facebook

Amid the renewed debate over whether to remove or recontextualize offensive monuments and memorials, Ald. Ameya Pawar (47th) said on Twitter on Wednesday that, if elected governor, he would work to change the name of Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples' Day.

Pawar said he would work toward the necessary legislation if elected, and he also referenced his attempt last year in the City Councilwith Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (Ward 35)to permanently designate an Indigenous Peoples' Day to coincide with Columbus Day in Chicago. That ordinance stalled in committee. A previous resolutionwhich passed the Council unanimouslywas adopted to designate the day, but it only applied to that specific year.

As governor, I will work to pass legislation to rename/designate Columbus Day as Indigenous People's Day.  Ameya Pawar (@Ameya_Pawar_IL) August 23, 2017 I worked w/ @CDRosa @Native_Chicago to start city efforts. But ordinance was buried in committee.  Ameya Pawar (@Ameya_Pawar_IL) August 23, 2017

The Democratic gubernatorial hopeful expounded on his perspective in a statement to the Tribune:



This is about acknowledging the contributions indigenous people have made to our country and celebrating the cultural history of Native Americans living in Illinois. Its also about raising awareness of the inhumane treatment of Native Americans by European settlers who raided their land, ripped apart their families and nearly destroyed an entire race of people. In a state as diverse as Illinois, it serves us well to celebrate our history and our multicultural identity; and recognizing Indigenous Peoples Day is an important part of that."

Last year, Vermont and the cities of Denver and Phoenix adopted Indigenous Peoples Day, according to CNN. South Dakota officially celebrates Native American Day rather than Columbus Day. The City Council of Oberlin, OH this week voted to celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day instead of Columbus Day.

Pawar has also signaled his support to rename Balbo Drive and remove the Balbo Monument, which have again come under recent scrutiny. The twin honors were dedicated to Italo Balbo, an Italian Air Force Marshal and Fascist organizer who helped usher in Benito Mussolini to power, after his transatlantic flight from Rome to Chicago in 1933.

[H/T Tribune]
Mumbai: With lenders' bets on project loans turning awry, ICICI Bank's Chanda Kochhar has said project financing is set to undergo fundamental changes wherein greater focus will be on planning and diligence.

"To bring back investments, the fundamentals of project financing will have to change. Projects will have to be much more completely tied-up before they get funded," Kochhar said at the launch of a book, edited by former RBI deputy governor Rakesh Mohan, here last evening.

The ICICI Bank's managing director and chief executive said this shall include backward and forward linkages, land availability, natural resources and financial closures. She, however, was quick to add that project finance will continue to be done by banks.

The comments come amid heavy setbacks faced by lenders on project loans given out over the last few years across all sectors. The setbacks, coupled with external factors which have slowed down demand, have resulted in lenders shifting focus on retail for growth opportunities.

Within corporates, banks have been generally doing a lot of short-term working capital loans and also minimising risks by restricting credit supply to better-rated corporates. Kochhar said not just banks, even promoters will not be committing money before all the tie-ups are in place.

"A lot more time will be spent on planning before monies get committed. That will be a substantive change in project financing," she said.

Kochhar also diagnosed the problems faced by lenders during the post-2008 credit boom that resulted in the reverses, saying a lot of assumptions did not come true. These included growth rates halving to about 5 per cent, delays in project clearances, dip in commodity prices and delays in backward and forward linkages, she said.

"The cash flows fell short but the leverages became a certainty because projects had started and debt taken," she said.

There is also a need for long term money from pension funds, infra development funds and insurers to enter the project finance space in such a way that they take over the banks' exposure after the implementation risks recede, she said.

This will help free up the money for banks to support the next wave of credit growth, Kochhar said. It can be noted that for the past two-three years, credit growth has been continuously slipping with the past fiscal being the worst when it fell to historic laws.

In FY17 bank credit slipped to a pale 5.08 per cent, the lowest since fiscal 1953 when it was a paler 1.8 per cent. Even in the first quarter of this fiscal credit demand remained anaemic at under 6 per cent.
New Delhi: Senior IAS officer Rajiv Bansal on Thursday took charge as the interim CMD of Air India, saying that he is committed to working on the airline's profitability with a "missionary zeal".

The state-owned airline, which has a debt burden of more than Rs 50,000 crore, has been in the red for long but managed to eke out operational profit for the first time in a decade in 2015-16.

"We will plan to work on profitability with a missionary zeal, improve our on time performance and ensure customer satisfaction," Bansal said in a statement soon after assuming charge as Air India's Chairman and Managing Director.

"I seek the support of all fellow Indians to fly Air India our national carrier - Air India - Truly Indian," he said. Bansal replaced Ashwani Lohani, who has assumed office as Railway Board Chairman.

"I feel happy and proud to be given this opportunity to lead the national carrier. The company has been growing from strength to strength - inducting new aircraft and introducing new routes," Bansal said after formally taking office from Lohani.

Bansal, Additional Secretary and Financial Adviser at the petroleum ministry, was appointed Air India's interim CMD on Wednesday. According to the release, Bansal had served as a director in the civil aviation ministry and played a crucial role as a board member of the National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL) during the formative years of the merged national carrier.

He has also served as the board member of the Alliance Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of Air India, the release said. A Nagaland cadre IAS officer, Bansal had been a joint secretary in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) where he had handled the areas of digital payments, IT Act, Aadhaar, and internet governance.

A civil engineer by profession, Bansal graduated from IIT Delhi in 1986. He also has a Diploma in Finance from ICFAI, Hyderabad and an Executive Masters in International Business from IIFT, Delhi.
Bengaluru: Moving swiftly to end an ugly standoff that had not only dented the image of Infosys, Indias iconic IT firm, but cast a shadow on its future following a long running spat between founder chairman N.R.N. Murthy and its board of directors over its former CEO Vishal Sikka who stepped down last Friday, Infosys' Board of Directors unanimously approved the appointment of Mr Nandan Nilekani as the non-executive chairman of the Board, effective immediately.

Seen as the best man for the job, given his long years with the IT firm that was founded 36 years ago, Mr Nilekanis insider knowledge of the company and its vast array of investors and his own tech wizardy made him Mr Murthys go-to man in its hour of crisis.

He has an incredible memory for facts and people, and his warmth and ability to bond with everyone, high and low is a huge plus, said a former colleague of Mr Nilekani.

The arrival of Mr Nilekani in his old hunting ground would also move the centre of operations back to Bengaluru, insiders said, pointing to the fact that the chairman and CEO, operating out of the US had also been part of the problem.

Stepping down from the board was chairman R. Seshasayee who had added to the bad blood when he blamed Mr Murthy for CEO Vishal Sikka putting in his papers earlier this week.

However, he was all praise for the induction of the iconic Mr Nilekani in his new role, describing him as the ideal leader for Infosys at this stage in the companys development. His appointment will allow Infosys to focus on the strategic changes it needs to make in order to capitalize on the attractive opportunities in the years ahead.

Also stepping down from the Board, effective immediately, are Vishal Sikka, Prof. Jeffrey Lehman and Prof. John Etchemendy and co-chairman Mr Venkatesan, who will continue on the Board.

Dr. Sikka who had said that he would stay on till March 2018 to find a successor, displayed none of the anger that was evident when he quit, when he said soon after Mr Nilekanis appointement: Last week I said that my remaining on the Infosys Board was to primarily enable a smooth transition. In Nandan, we have found an ideal leader to manage this transition.

I welcome Nandans appointment as chairman to help guide Infosys to new frontiers of success and wish him, Pravin and all Infoscions the very best in the times ahead, he added.

Among his achievements, Mr Nilekani, led the implementation of one of the worlds biggest technology initiatives, Indias Aadhaar program, which has now enrolled over a billion Indians and which is transforming the lives of Indians every day, the company said.
Air India has put up for sale as many as 27 flats across the country as part of its snail-paced asset monetisation plan.

Mumbai: Air India has put up for sale as many as 27 flats besides several residential and commercial land plots as well as office buildings across the country as part of its snail-paced asset monetisation plan amid the disinvestment process of the debt-ridden flag carrier.

The state-run auctioneer MSTC has been mandated to e-auction these properties, with bid closing date fixed for September 6.

According to a public notice, the airline has sought bids for sale of properties in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Ahmedabad, Pune, Goa, Lucknow, Gwalior, Gurgaon and Bhuj.

Air India expects to mop up at least Rs 500 crore from the sale of these properties, which will go under the hammer in September, according to a senior airline official.

Chalked out in 2012 as part of the national carrier's Turnaround/Financial Restructuring Plan, which provides for equity infusion in the airline worth Rs 30,231 crore up to 2021, AI is required to monetise its assets and generate Rs 5,000 crore by way of sale, leasing or developing an asset as a joint venture.

However, so far, the carrier has been able to sell only four of its flats in Mumbai to SBI for about Rs 90 crore.

As part of efforts to revive the national carrier, the Cabinet has given in-principle approval for divestment and the final contours are being worked out by a group of ministers, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

The group has been mandated to look into various aspects related to AI. It would look into the treatment of unsustainable debts of the national carrier, hiving off certain assets to a shell company and de-merger and strategic disinvestment of three profit-making subsidiaries, among others.

Recently, the government told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture a Parliamentary panel that Air India's current business is "not sustainable" as it is neither able to generate enough cash flow nor start repaying even the principal amount on its debt.

The airline's total debt stood at Rs 48,876.81 crore at the end of March 2017, of which Rs 17,359.77 crore is aircraft loans and the rest Rs 31,517.04 crore capital loans. The state-run airline's net loss after tax narrowed to Rs 3,643 crore, while operating profit rose to Rs 300 crore in the last financial year.
New Delhi: A day after the Cabinet decided to set up ministerial panel to expedite consolidation among public sector banks (PSBs), bank officers' union AIBOC has condemned the move saying it is a move towards privatisation.

"We have time and again criticised forced mergers and we will continue to protest such ill conceived plans of merger of PSBs by government, Niti Aayog and RBI which can wreck havoc on India's financial mainstay," All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC) said in a statement.

There have been innumerable instances where mergers and takeovers of banks have been unsuccessful because of reasons like unsuccessful consolidation of banks working systems and methodology, asymmetric organisation restructuring, improper and hasty communication, inappropriate human resources integration, and lack of cultural consideration, it said.

Citing example of SBI, AIBOC General Secretary D T Franco said when the bank declared its results on May 19, analysts discovered, to their horror, that the path to global greatness lay through a minefield of subsidiaries' losses, estimated at Rs 5,792 crore in the quarter ended March 2017 and Rs 10,243 crore for the full year.

Excluding non-banking SBI subsidiaries such as life and general insurance, which reported annual profits of nearly Rs 2,000 crore, the losses would have been higher, the statement said.

SBI recommended dividend of Rs 2.5 per share for 2016-17 that will entail an outflow of Rs 2,073 crore, far exceeding the consolidated net profit of just Rs 241 crore, it added. "We can well understand the fact that the merger of public sector banks is a part of the government's broader plan to privatise the public enterprises to attract foreign investment," Franco said.

On Wednesday, the Union Cabinet decided to set up an Alternative Mechanism to fast track consolidation among PSBs to create strong lenders. The move to create large banks aims at meeting the credit needs of the growing Indian economy and building capacity in the PSB space to raise resources without dependence on the state exchequer.
This is how the new Rs 200 note will look. Photo:Twitter| @ANI

Mumbai: With an aim to address the gap between low and high denomination currencies, the Reserve Bank of India on Thursday announced that Rs 200 notes would be rolled out on August 25, Friday.

In a notification on Thursday, the central bank said: "The Reserve Bank of India will issue on August 25, 2017 Rs 200 denomination banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series, bearing signature of Urjit R. Patel, Governor, RBI from select RBI offices, and some banks".

Both sides of the new Rs 200 notes. Photo: ANI| Twitter @ANI

According to the RBI statement, the new Rs 200 denomination will bear the motif of Sanchi Stupa on the reverse, with bright yellow being the base colour of the note.

The introduction of the Rs 200 note can be seen as a move towards remonetisation after the note-ban decision of November 8, 2016 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes overnight.
Mumbai: The Supreme Court on Thursday in a landmark judgement ruled that Right to Privacy was a Fundamental Right guaranteed by the Constitution under Right to Life enshrined in Article 21. While backing its judgment, the court said that "Right to Privacy is part of Right to Life".

The decision by the nine-judge bench could come as a setback for the government which of late has made quoting of Aadhaar compulsory for accessing social welfare schemes and filing of income tax returns. It has also made connecting Aadhaar with PAN mandatory, that if not done will lead to cancellation of PAN cards, the government had earlier said.

Recently, exchanges also indicated that they will make Aadhaar compulsory for stock market investors in order to make them able to participate in trading. Until now opening a demat account was compulsory for participating in trading.

Senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan while speaking to the media outside the Supreme Court said that the nine-judge bench had overruled earlier court observations that said the Right to Privacy was not an absolute right. "Today the SC has said that Right to Privacy is a Fundamental Right as it is part of Right to Life enshrined under Article 21," Bhushan said.

Constitutional law scholars had said the case would be a litmus test of Indian democracy, with potentially far-reaching consequences if individuals were allowed to challenge laws on the basis of individual rights.

Thursday's verdict overrules the apex court's July 19, 2017 judgement in which the SC had said that the right was not an "absolute right and the state may use some power to put reasonable restriction".

The bench in its July 19 observation had said: "We live in an age of big data and the State is entitled to regulate the data whether it is for the purpose of regulating crime, taxation or other activities... Right to privacy cannot be so absolute that it prevents the State from legislating or regulating it," the bench said.

The judges had referred to an earlier Supreme Court ruling that criminalised gay sex case on a petition filed by the Naz Foundation that had appealed to decriminalise gay sex.

SC's Right to Privacy ruling on Thursday sets a benchmark for the next apex court sitting that will give a final verdict on the Right to Privacy petition and will also look into whether the government can make Aadhaar compulsory for so many schemes or programmes.
Manchu Manoj who has taken a very long break since his last film, is set to be seen in Okkadu Migiladu, a Tamil-Telugu bilingual film, and from the looks of it, he is very excited about it. The actor will play a political leader in the film, with his character sharing similarities with LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.

In fact, the actor has put on 10kg of weight for his role in the film! This look was necessary for the film and he was keen to give it his all. He has always believed in giving his 100 per cent to his films. That is one reason he generally does his own stunts too, shares a source in the know.

Interestingly, Manoj has done a great deal of research for the film. He has done extensive homework. He is also quite happy that he will be reaching out to the Tamil audiences because he grew up in Chennai. This film is like going back to the roots, shares a source.

Directed by Ajay Andrews, the film is one of the most ambitious projects of Manoj so far.
A 33-year-old American woman reveals the secret to keeping her 64-inch long hair shiny and healthy is peanut butter.

Andrea Colson told the Daily Mail her hair becomes "dry and brittle" if she doesn't consume a spoonful regularly.

Currently, she is working as a Christian missionary in Micronesia and feels island life may have also contributed to her hair's incredible condition. She also believes its health stems from the fact she's never dyed it.

Colson's hair care routine:

* Daily spoonful of peanut butter

* Trimming the tips to keep it in good condition

* Oil massage twice a week

* Once a month, applies a hair pack that includes egg, coconut oil and olive oil.

* Uses regular shampoo, but only conditions the ends of her hair

* She only washes her hair with cold water and doesn't apply heat to her hair at all

* Only blow-dries her fringe

Colson uses special ties to plait her hair to look like Disney's famous character Rapunzel, her hair inspiration.

She often gets stopped by strangers wondering if it is real. "I've never had any negativity. Mostly, people are very sweet. They often compare me to Rapunzel, which makes my day," she told the Daily Mail.

Would she ever cut it? Colson, who has had long hair her entire life said "it would be like cutting off a body part. Her hair she said allows her to create and express her artistic side.
Tea making is a serious business in many parts of the world. While tea lovers are generally divided into two groups  those who love it with milk and those who dont, has anyone ever wondered why did the two groups come to be?

According to British researchers, as reported by The Sun, the answer dates back to the 18th century and mostly has nothing to do with the taste.

Apparently, unlike the instant and rushed tea today, the beverage was traditionally brewed in a pot. Milk was added to a china cup and the tea was poured in after, before being stirred.

Speaking at the Cheltenham Science Festival, a tea enthusiast from Harrogate said that it was all to do with preventing the cup from cracking under the heat.

The enthusiast, Simon Hill said that when it was first imported to the UK, most people could not afford fine bone china and the cups available couldnt withstand heat of boiling water and would crack and break. So milk was added first.

Simon Hill said that when tea was first imported to the UK in the 18th Century lots of people couldnt afford the fine bone china services.

Another theory is that milk prevented the fancy china cups from staining and for the poor; it reduced the bitter taste of mass imported cheap tea.
Rauner Office Has Another Major Staff Shakeup, Amid 'Racist' Cartoon Fallout

By Stephen Gossett in News on Aug 24, 2017 3:40PM



AP Photo/Seth Perlman File

Update:

Rauner confirmed in a statement on Thursday that "Diana Rickert, Laurel Patrick, Meghan Keenan and Brittany Carl have submitted their resignations to the Office of the Governor." "We are grateful for their hard work on behalf of the people of Illinois and wish them all the best going forward," Rauner said.

Original:

Amid fallout from Gov. Bruce Rauner's much-criticized reaction to a controversial, racially loaded political cartoon, all members of the governor's communications staff have either been fired or have resigned, according to reports. The latest major shakeup comes just weeks after a previous mass exodus, when more than 20 staffers were either fired or left, in July.

Mary Ann Ahern of NBC Chicago reports that deputy chiefs of staff for policy Michael Lucci and Diana Rickert, plus communications specialist Britany Carl, were all fired; and communications director Laurel Patrick resigned, sources told NBC. Lucci and Rickert both came to the governor's office from the conservative Illinois Policy Institute.

Carl drew criticism last month after the Sun-Times reported that she had compared abortion to Nazi eugenics in a blog comment.

The latest shuffle comes in the immediate wake of Rauner's response to a cartoon published last week by Illinois Policy Institute, the right-leaning organization from which the governor had hired several staff members after the July shakeup. The cartoon was lambasted as "racist" by various lawmakers and politicians.

Shoutout to @illinoispolicy: with this week's events, we really needed your best Sambo cartoon. This is how to NOT make a point #twill pic.twitter.com/A9Idq6EQjM  Christian Mitchell (@cljmitchell) August 16, 2017

After being pressed by Ahern earlier this week, Rauner's office eventually respondedbut that response was greeted with controversy as well: now-resigned spokeswoman Patrick said in a statement that "as a white male," Rauner had nothing "more to add to the discussion" after the cartoon was removed.

Rauner's office issued another statement later that day in which he said the email "did not accurately reflect my views." "I can understand why some people found the cartoon offensive," he added.

Democratic gubernatorial challenger JB Pritzker on Wednesday was quick to draw comparisons between the governor's ongoing staff upheaval and those of President Donald Trump. (His team even created this cheeky Craigslist ad as a further tweak.) Pritzker communications director Galia Slayen said in a statement:



"There is a problem that no amount of staff changes can fix and his name is Bruce Rauner. This governor has no moral compass, no vision, and no loyalty. Churning through staff faster than we can say Scaramucci is not going to change the fact that Bruce Rauner is entirely incapable of leading this state."

Democratic Governors Association-Illinois sought to tie the internal chaos with larger policy and political troubles. Communications Director Sam Salustro said in a statement:



At no time has Bruce Rauner ever taken responsibility for the consequences of his failed leadership, and this recent staff purge suggests he is not about to start. As Governor, Bruce Rauner forced the state through a two-year budget crisis that was only ended over his objection. Debt piled up, social services were cut or closed, and jobs and people fled the state. Now Rauner is pushing the school system to closure for political gain. No staff purge can solve the problem at the center of this administration - Bruce Rauner."

Rauner's July shakeup came in the immediate aftermath of the legislature's vote to override his budget veto. The new hires signaled a push toward the right. According to NBC, there is also speculation that some staffers chose to leave, in opposition of Rauner's announcement that he will sign the TRUST Actwhich restricts how state law enforcement can work with federal immigration officials.

One of the July hires, ex-aide Ben Tracy, was fired the very same day he was brought on after homophobic and other offensive tweets surfaced.
West Bengal CM issued an order against immersion of Durga idols on Dashami during procession of Muharram which will be observed on Oct 1. (Photo: ANI | Twitter)

Kolkata/New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday slammed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for halting immersion of Durga idols on Dashami and said she is trying to divide Hindu and Muslims by issuing such directives.

The chief minister of West Bengal on Wednesday issued an order against the immersion of Durga idols on Dashami during the procession of Muharram which will be observed on October 1.

This year Durga Puja & Muharram fall on the same day. Except for a 24 hour period on the day of Muharram... 1/2  Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) August 23, 2017

... Immersions can take place on October 2, 3 and 4... 2/2  Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) August 23, 2017

BJP leader Rahul Sinha said the party would approach the Calcutta High Court against the order.

"Last year also she issued such directives on the immersion of Durga idol but the High Court stayed the order terming it wrong. This time also she is repeating the same. She wants to divide Hindus and Muslims.We will not accept this. We will protest against it and also knock the doors of court," Sinha said.

Another BJP leader Sambit Patra accused Banerjee of doing vote bank politics sidelining the High Court's order.

"She does not care about law of land or faith of communities. She only cares about politics of appeasement and vote bank politics. In the year 2016 also, she had come up with similar circular limiting the immersion of Durga idol. She was castigated by the Calcutta High Court. The High Court had categorically stated that this is nothing but appeasement politics. Yet again she is indulging herself into appeasement politics. People of West Bengal will give an apt and befitting reply to her," he said.

Hours after issuing the order, Banerjee, however, clarified that immersion of Durga idols on Dashami will be halted only for 24 hours.

"This year Durga Puja and Muharram fall on same day. Except 24 hour period on Muharram day, immersions can take place on October 2, 3 and 4," she tweeted.

Earlier, she had said that there will be no immersion of Durga idols on Dashami after 6 pm.

"No idol immersion after 6 pm on Dashami (September 30) till October 1 due to Muharram processions, immersion will resume from October 2," Banerjee had said in an official statement.

The Chief Minister had also issued a similar order in 2016, however, it was stayed by the Calcutta High Court.
On May 16, CBI raided Karti Chidambaram's residence, along with 13 other locations in New Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai and Chandigarh. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: Former union minister P Chidambaram's son Karti Chidambaram on Wednesday appeared before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with a bribery case involving INX Media and left the head quarters after eight hours of questioning.

Karti will again be questioned on August 28 in this regard.

On Tuesday, the Madras High Court directed Karti, to approach a court in Delhi to quash the FIR lodged against him in a bribery case.

The Madras High Court has informed Karti that he would have to take his petition to the Delhi High Court, as the case does not come under the jurisdiction of Madras High Court.

Karti had moved the court after the Supreme Court asked him to appear before the CBI in New Delhi, to help the investigating agency with its probe.

Earlier in August, the Madras High Court had stayed the Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against Karti and four others.

The apex court had later said it would review the high court order cancelling the LOC issued by Foreigner Regional Registration Officer (FRRO).

On May 16, the CBI raided Chidambaram's residence, along with 13 other locations in New Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai and Chandigarh.

The raids were regarding a 2007 case, in which INX Media had allegedly paid bribes to get an FIPB approval.

An FIR was filed against Karti, Indrani Mukherjee and Peter Mukerjea, who owned INX media.
Hyderabad: The Centre for Dalit Studies on Wednesday said the Roopanwala Commission set up to look into the suicide of UoH scholar Rohith Vemula adopted illegal and unethical practices.

Those attending the meeting said the commission was only supposed to look into the facts and ascertain the reasons that had led to the scholars death but it focused on his caste.

Mr Ravi Gurajala, a member of the centre, said, Unless the commission is given separate terms of reference, it is not allowed to probe unnecessary details. The Roopanwala commission has been given limited powers for the purpose of issuing deposition notices to witness, and calling for records. It is supposed to look into the facts of the case and the grievance redressal mechanism available at the university.

Members highlighted findings from the report submitted by the two-member UGC fact-finding committee before the constitution of the Roopanwala Commi-ssion. They said that the report claimed that there had been a failure on the part of university officials in continuing dialogue with the protesting students (five Dalit scholars had been removed from the hostel and were staying near the shopping complex).

It stated that the grievance redressal mechanisms available at the university were nonfunctional, which played a crucial role in building a feeling of discrimination among the students from backward areas. The report blamed the administrative department of the University of Hyderabad for not laying down clear guidelines.

The committee clearly stated that there were several gaps in the inquiry conducted after the suicide. How can we accept another report which has come months later, and which gives the university a clean chit, as the gospel truth? asked Mr Gurajala.
Hyderabad: For the first time in the country, Ganesh idols in the city will have the geo tag to ensure safety of the festival, which starts from August 25.

M. Mahender Reddy, Hyderabad police commissioner, told DC that the application to set up Ganesh pandals has provisions for exclusive QR codes.

Organisers should display the QR code allocated to them at pandals and during immersion. We have developed an exclusive app to track idols, he said. The geo tag will help the police in tracking the movement of idols during immersion.

So far, we were banking on the communication system and CCTVs to track the processions. Now, the scanning of the QR code by the ground-level staff will help us monitor the status. We are also tagging key junctions with QR codes. In case of a delay in the movement of the procession in sensitive areas, special teams, which are posted at zonal level, will be rushed to clear the blockage, a senior official said.

It has become an arduous task for the police to maintain law and order during the Ganesh festival in sensitive localities in the Old City and West Zone. Since 2015, the city police have beefed up security by deploying more forces and installing CCTVs.

A. Venkateswar Rao, west zone DCP, said that the police can get information about the organisers by scanning the QR code with their smartphone which have the Ganesh Navaratri app. The duty officers have been asked to scan the QR code whenever they visit a Ganesh pandal, he said. According to the Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav committee, more than 35,000 idols will be installed in Tri-Commissionerates by 24,000 pandals in Hyderabad.
A probe committee, headed by the state chief secretary, had on Wednesday submitted its report on the deaths to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. (Photo: PTI | File)

Lucknow: An FIR has been registered against nine persons, including the former principal of Gorakhpur-based BRD Medical College, in connection with the deaths of over 60 children there due to alleged lack of oxygen supply,

police said on Thursday.

The proprietors of M/s Pushpa Sales, the company responsible for the supply of liquid oxygen, have also been named in the FIR.

Besides, the state government has transferred Additional Chief Secretary (Medical Education) Anita Bhatnagar Jain in connection with the tragedy, an official spokesperson said.

A probe committee, headed by the state chief secretary, had on Wednesday submitted its report on the deaths to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

"An FIR has been filed against nine persons including former principal Dr Rajiv Mishra, his wife Dr Purnima Shukla, Dr Kafeel Khan and the proprietors of M/s Pushpa Sales," Additional Director General (Lucknow Zone) Abhay Prasad said.

The FIR was filed under various IPC sections relating to criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide and relevant provisions of the Anti Corruption Act by Director General, Medical Education, KK Gupta at the Hazratganj police station, ADG said.

The case has been transferred to Gorakhpur, he said.

The probe committee had recommended initiating criminal action against the then principal of the medical college, HoD Anaesthesia Paediatric department Dr Satish, in-charge of 100-bed AES ward Dr Kafeel Khan and M/s Pushpa Sales.

The committee had also recommended action under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Dr Rajiv Mishra, Dr Poornima Shukla, staff of accounts department of the medical college and chief pharmacist Gajanan Jaiswal.

It had also called for a special CAG audit of the medicines and chemicals purchased by the medical college in the past three years.

Recommendations were also made to initiate criminal action against Dr Khan for concealing facts and filing false affidavit and working against the rules of the Indian Medical Council.

The chief minister, while accepting the report, had ordered immediate action against all the guilty officials and staff.

Adityanath had formed the committee on August 12, a day after the deaths of children were reported at the hospital.

The state government has also shunted out additional chief secretary medical education Anita Bhatnagar Jain.

Rajneesh Dubey, who is presently principal secretary revenue, would be holding the additional charge of the medical education department.
Responding to a question, Arun Jaitley said a proposal to extend the decision to public sector undertakings was under 'active consideration' of the government. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: The income limit defining 'creamy layer' for OBC reservation has been raised by Rs 2 lakh per annum even as the Union Cabinet on Monday approved setting up of a panel for sub-categorisation within the other backward classes for even distribution of reservation benefits.

The government also ruled out having a re-look at the present reservation system.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in New Delhi that the Union Cabinet was on Monday formally apprised of the decision to hike the limit for central government jobs.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had hinted in Assam recently that the bar defining creamy layer would be raised and the procedure of formally informing the Cabinet about the decision was completed on Monday.

The ministry of social justice and empowerment had proposed that OBC families which earn more than Rs 8 lakh per year should be classified as 'creamy layer' - the ceiling which bars members of the other backward classes from availing reservations in employment.

Responding to a question, Jaitley said a proposal to extend the decision to public sector undertakings was under "active consideration" of the government.

There had been three revisions of the creamy layer bar.

It was fixed at Rs one lakh in 1993 and hiked to Rs 2.5 lakh in 2004 and Rs 4.5 lakh in 2008. The present ceiling of Rs six lakh came into being in 2013.

Jaitley also announced the decision of the Cabinet to set up a commission to work out sub-categorisation within other backward classes for a "more equitable distribution of reservation benefits amongst the OBCs".

He said 11 states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Puducherry, Karnataka, Haryana, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Jammu region only of Jammu and Kashmir have already carried out sub-categorisation of OBCs.

"There will be more equitable distribution amongst the OBCs themselves (of the benefits)," Jaitley explained.

The proposed commission, to be set up under Article 340 of the Constitution, will submit its report within 12 weeks from the date its chairperson is appointed.

According to a press release issued by the government, the panel will examine the "extent of inequitable distribution of benefits of reservation among the castes and communities included in the broad category of OBCs, with reference to the OBCs included in the Central list".

It will also work out the mechanism, criteria, norms and parameters -- in a scientific approach -- for sub- categorisation within such OBCs.

The commission will also undertake an exercise of identifying the respective castes/communities/ sub-castes/ synonyms in the central list of OBCs and classifying them into their respective sub-categories.

Responding to a question, the Finance Minister ruled out having a re-look at the reservation system in the country.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had in September, 2015 pitched for a review of the reservation policy, contending it has been used for political ends and suggested setting up of an apolitical committee to examine who needs the facility and for how long.

"Neither there is any proposal before the government, nor would there be a proposal (before it in the future)," Jaitley told a press conference on Cabinet decisions.

He was asked whether the government will review the reservation system as suggested by Bhagwat.
The TTV Dhinakaran camp had revolted a day after the factions led by Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam merged. (Photo: PTI)

Chennai: The ongoing tussle for power in the ruling AIADMK on Thursday saw the government whip seeking disqualification of the 19 MLAs supporting sidelined deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran from the Tamil Nadu Assembly following their revolt against Chief Minister K Palaniswami.

Chief government whip S Rajendran took up with the Assembly Speaker the issue of disqualification of all 19 legislators who met state Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao two days ago.

Citing reports, Rajendran said the MLAs had told the governor they were "withdrawing" support to the Palaniswami government.

On February 14, a unanimous decision had been taken to elect Palaniswami as AIADMK Legislature Party Leader and there was no change in it, Rajendran said, reading out a statement at a hurriedly convened press meet.

"Further, they have also addressed the media. This is anti-party (activity). Since such an act implies voluntary relinquishing of membership, they are liable to be disqualified under Tenth Schedule of the Constitution," he said.

Pointing this as well as a relevant Tamil Nadu anti-defection act, he said he had submitted a memorandum to Dhanapal seeking disqualification of the 19 MLAs.

Their meeting with the Governor was also "unilateral" as the MLAs had not kept him informed, Rajendran told reporters.

The Dhinakaran camp had revolted a day after the factions led by Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam merged.

The 19 AIADMK MLAs against whom he sought action are: P Vetrivel, Thangatamilselvan, T A Elumalai,, M Kothandabani, NG Parthiban, C Jayanthi Parthiban, R Balasubramani, P Palaniappan, R Murugan, R Thangadurai, V Senthil Balaji, M Rengasamy, S Mariappan Kennedy, K Kathirkamu, SDK Jakkaiyan, LG Subramani, S Muthiah, K Uma Maheswari and R Sundararaj.
The GST Act mandates that only states with a tax growth rate of less than 14 per cent are eligible for compensation from the Centre (Representational Image)

Hyderabad: The state has become ineligible to claim compensation from the Centre for revenue loss occurred due to GST - due to its higher growth rate.

The government is already facing an additional financial burden of over Rs19,000 crore because of the higher GST on work contracts for the construction of irrigation projects, Mission Bhagiratha and Mission Kakatiya, power projects and the 2BHK housing scheme.

The GST Act mandates that only states with a tax growth rate of less than 14 per cent are eligible for compensation from the Centre. Over the past three years, TS has witnessed a 16 per cent growth rate giving little scope for the state government to claim compensation. This is a second hit that the state will take due to the Goods and Services Tax.

As per preliminary estimates worked out by the Centre, nearly Rs10,000 crore has been earmarked as total amount to be distributed amongst the states that qualify for compensation this year, for revenue loss incurred on account of GST.

The states which will be eligible include AP, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, HP, MP, Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Goa, J&K and Jharkhand.

The government has pinned its hopes on the next round of GST Council meeting to be held in Hyderabad on September 9, where it will discuss the issues.

Etela Rajender, finance minister said the TS government will make all efforts to minimise its losses by putting the pressure on the Centre so that GST on work contracts is reduced and brought down to 5 per cent.

Due to our persistent demand, the Centre has agreed to reduce GST on work contracts from 18 per cent to 12 per cent. We will strongly demand a further reduction to 5 per cent in the Hyderabad meeting. Since TS cannot claim compensation for revenue loss, the reduction in GST to 5 per cent would reduce losses to some extent, he said.
The meeting was held in the backdrop of numerous ceasefire violations and casualties to civilian population in the past several months. (Photo: PTI)

Jammu: Senior Army commanders of India and Pakistan on Wednesday held a flag meeting on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir against the backdrop of numerous ceasefire violations and agreed to institute mechanisms for durable peace and tranquility on the border.

At the meeting of Battalion Commander-level officers, the Indian side highlighted "abetment and support of the Pakistan army to cross-border terrorism, sniping actions on the Line of Control and deliberate targeting of civil population during cease fire violations," a defence ministry spokesman said.

The two sides agreed to keep the channels of communication open between local commanders at the LoC, he said.

"Indian and Pakistan Army held a Battalion Commander-level flag meeting at Chakan Da Bagh in Poonch Sector at 1100 hours today, in the backdrop of numerous ceasefire violations and casualties to civilian population in the past several months," the spokesman said.

"The meeting lasted for 50 minutes in a cordial atmosphere," he added.

He said both sides mutually agreed to the importance of exercising restraint on the LoC and keeping the channels of communication open between local commanders.

Both sides also agreed for necessity to institute mechanisms to ensure durable peace and tranquility along the LoC, the spokesman added.

Resumption of trade and transit through Chakan-Da-Bagh was also discussed during the flag meeting, he said.

The year 2017 has seen a sharp increase in ceasefire violations by Pakistan.

Till August 1, there were 285 such violations by the Pakistan army while in 2016, the number was significantly less at 228 for the entire year, according to the Army figures.

11 people, including nine soldiers, were killed and 18 injured in ceasefire violations by Pakistan army in the month of July, the Army data says.

There were 83 ceasefire violations, one BAT (border action team) 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.
CM Siddaramaiah at a discussion with seers of the Veerashaiva community at his home office, Krishna, in Bengaluru on Wednesday

Bengaluru: Infighting within members of Veerashaiva Lingayat community evidently reached flash point with a group of pontiffs, led by pontiffs of Virakta Maths, stating that one faction of Veerashaivas could not be given a separate religion tag under the Constitution.

Such a stand comes a day after more than two lakh people gathered in Belagavi to press for a separate religion tag for Lingayats.

On Wednesday, pontiffs who perform rituals according to Shaiva tradition adopted several resolutions concurring with the stand adopted by Akhila Bharath Veerashaiva Mahasabha.

Later, these pontiffs met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and handed over a memorandum opposing separate religion status.

Other major resolutions include: seeking reservation of 12-15 per cent under the present 2A category or creation of a separate layer in existing reservation matrix in order to provide reservation for people belonging to sub castes among Veerashaivas. This decision seems to have been taken by Virakta Math seers in order to win over the common man within the community. However, a hike in reservation from five per cent to 15 per cent would certainly benefit common man within the community in educational institutions and government jobs.

The meeting of pontiffs resolved that Veerashaiva Lingayat is an ancient religion and that senior pontiffs should take immediate steps to ensure the unity of this religion.

In a well-thought-out resolution the pontiffs claimed their supremacy and said, One section of this religion cannot be given religion status under the Constitution. This mirrors the fact that the old guard has virtually dropped the demand for separate religion status.
Protesters Call For Removal Of Balbo Monument, A Gift From Fascist Dictator Mussolini

By Staff in News on Aug 24, 2017 8:35PM

Scores of protesters gathered near the South Loop's statue of Italian fascist organizer Italo Balbo to call for its removal Wednesday night. The protest joined a national conversation over the desire to remove memorials and monuments to people with objectionable and oppressive political views.

As we've covered, protesters began calling for the monument to be removed, and for Balbo Drive to be renamed, after the high-profile conflict in Charlottesville earlier this month. The Balbo monument was gifted to the city in 1933 by Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini in honor of Balbo, who helped bring Mussolini to powerand his transatlantic flight to Chicago, for the Century of Progress World's Fair. The monument features a 2,000-year-old Roman-pillar antiquity atop a stone base. In 1933, 7th Street was also renamed as Balbo Drive.

The protesters want the drive to be renamed as "Ida B. Wells Way" in honor of the local Civil Rights leader and suffragist of the late 1800s and early 1900s.

On Wednesday night, the protesters march through Museum Campus towards the Christopher Columbus statue on Columbus Drive and Roosevelt Road, then moved on to the Balbo Monument, where they rallied as police officers with bikes formed a barricade around the statue. Our photographer was there to capture the scenes from the protest.
Hyderabad: An all party delegation on Wednesday met President Ramnath Kovind in Delhi and briefed him about the Nerella incident wherein police allegedly attacked Dalits and members of BC communities people who were trying to prevent the sand mafia operating in the area.

They submitted a memorandum to the President seeking action against the police officials who were involved in the attacks. They wanted the Centre to institute a high-level probe into the incident.

They said that though the Dalits had been admitted in a government hospital with injuries, neither the government nor the Director General of Police had lodged cases against the police officials concerned under the SC/ST Atrocities Act, but merely suspended a junior police official.

They urged the President to direct the DGP to book cases against the police officials including the superintendent of police under the SC/ST Act.

The delegation comprised PCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, Congress S.A Sampath Kumar, Guduru Narayana Reddy (Congress), L. Ramana (TD), TJAC chairman Prof. Kodandaram, CPI leaders D. Raja, Chada Venkata Reddy and Aziz Pasha, Telangana Vidyavanthula Vedika convenor Gurajala Ravinder and others.
Hyderabad: Raja Bahadur Venkata Rama Reddy dreamt of providing quality education to the students in order to empower them to secure government jobs. At the time, students from neighbouring districts and rural areas had no option but to come to Hyderabad if they wished to pursue their studies.

In order to provide these students with affordable facilities for their residence, Reddy established a hostel. He collected Rs 80,000 in the form of donations from the Rajas, Zamindars, and other wealthy members of the Reddy community, and established the Reddy Hostel in 1917 at Abids. Though it was named the Reddy Hostel, no discrimination was on the basis of caste or religion was practised. Former prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, communist stalwart Ravi Narayan Reddy, and former OU Vice-Chancellor Baddam Yella Reddy are known to have stayed at the hostel while pursuing their higher education.

Reddy had a great love for books. By 1939, the Reddy Hostel library boasted a collection of 11,000 books, second only to that of the government-run Asfia Library.

He also had a clinic and dispensary opened within the hostel itself, to ensure that the resident students were cared for in all aspects. He set up a youth forum for students to conduct weekly debates and discussions.
Counsel brought to the notice of the bench that the Tribunal erred in granting new irrigation areas in Karnataka (Representational Image)

New Delhi: The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday made it clear in the Supreme Court that it is not favour of any additional or new reservoir to be constructed by Karnataka in the Cauvery basin as it will be a source of fresh dispute.

Giving this clarification before a Bench of Justices Dipak Misra, Amitav Roy and A.M. Kanwilkar senior advocate Shekar Naphade for Tamil Nadu said we are not in favour of any new reservoir. When Justice Misra asked why the state was opposing any construction, counsel reiterated, We dont want any fresh problem.

Counsel brought to the notice of the bench that the Tribunal erred in granting new irrigation areas in Karnataka. He said that this determination of the areas by reducing the existing irrigated area in Tamil Nadu and allowing the proposed area to be brought under irrigation by Karnataka were contrary to the principle of equitable allotment of water of the inter-State river.

He said it was TNs contention that Karnataka while not adhering to the stipulated release of water as per the interim order of the tribunal, also appropriated all the waters of the river in Karnataka. The state has suffered the most, as Karnataka did not release water whenever it required for irrigating the crops. He wanted the court to reduce 98.8 tmcft of water allocated by the Tribunal to Karnataka in excess of its entitlement. He said out of 270 tmcft allocated this 98.8 tmcft should be reduced in favour of Tamil Nadu.

He said the tribunal had allowed 3.44 lakh acres to Karnataka without any evidence or material, this area has to be deducted from the area considered by the tribunal. Out of 18.85 lakh acres allowed, this court should reduce 3.44 lakh acres, he said.

He also wanted the court not to permit Karnataka to draw water from the four reservoirs of Harangi, Hemavathy, Krishnarajasagar and Kabini during summer season except for the perennial crop allowed for domestic need. Arguments will continue on Thursday.
Political analysts said the ruling would lead to a decent exit for Sasikala from the post as well as the party.

Chennai: Supreme Court dismissing V.K. Sasikalas petition seeking review of four-year jail term awarded to her in DA case is expected provide further push for the EPS-OPS faction of the AIADMK in its efforts to remove her from the general secretary post and showing the door for entire family from the ruling party.

With even the remote chance of Sasikalas conviction being reviewed diminishing and it is becoming certain that the long-time aide of late J. Jayalalithaa will remain in the Parapana Agrahara prison till February 2021, the AIADMK would be emboldened in acting against her as they have an excuse that she cannot function from the jail for four long years.

Political analysts said the ruling would lead to a decent exit for Sasikala from the post as well as the party. EPS-OPS faction would now have a reason for removing her from the post. They can cite her stay in jail for her removal since it would be impossible for her to escape the jail term now. So, they will get a renewed push to boot out the family, political analyst Ravindran Duraisamy told Deccan Chronicle.

He said since Edappadi K. Palaniswami owes his Chief Minister post to Sasikala, he might have been hesitant to act against her. But with the SC ruling, he can move forward. One has to remember that removal of Sasikala from the post is one of the pre-conditions put forth by OPS for a merger, he said.

Senior journalist and political analyst Gnani Sankaran is also of the opinion that the ruling would only be detrimental to the Sasikala family. This is certainly a setback to Sasikala and her family. This would only spur targeting of Sasikala in the party. Those opposed to her would make it a big issue and ensure that she does not stay in the party, Gnani Sankaran said.

AIADMK insiders said though there was no surprise element in the Supreme Court ruling, the verdict has come as a major blow to Dhinakaran, who is battling for his survival in the party, in addition to Sasikala. They also pointed out the impending order from the Election Commission on Sasikalas appointment as interim general secretary of the AIADMK.

Already both Sasikala and Dhinakaran have been sidelined from the party and the court ruling would only help formalize their ouster, a senior AIADMK leader said.
Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday hailed the High Court verdict saying that truth has finally triumphed. At a hurriedly convened press conference, a visibly relieved chief minister said, the verdict has proven CPM central committees stand that Lavalin case was politically motivated. The HC verdict will give me required energy to take forward Keralas development initiatives, he said.

Pinarayi said he had believed right from the beginning that ultimately the truth will triumph. Firstly during UDF regime, vigilance probe found nothing to arraign him as an accused. Secondly CBI examined all files and did not find anything on the basis of which a case could be registered.

He said the CBI came under pressure which led to filing of the politically motivated case. By keeping me in front, they were actually targeting my party, he said.

Pinarayi said the CPM CC had examined all issues and made it clear that it was a politically motivated case. Later CBI court, after examining all sides, pointed out that the case cannot be chargesheeted.

He said the verdict has made it clear that he was being hounded and made a scapegoat. Many power ministers had come but only he was picked up and made an accused.

The Chief Minister said the CBI was trying to target him deliberately and this was because of political pressure. The allegation against me does not stand now. Even during the earlier phase of truth had come out. The HC verdict is the confirmation of this truth. I am expressing my happiness," he said.

Pinarayi said he always believed that ultimately the judiciary will find the truth. This belief has got further strengthened by the HC verdict, he said.

"It was clear when I sought peoples verdict and received their mandate during elections. They knew that the allegations were not factual. The court today said that it was flooded with anonymous letters after the case was posted for verdict.

This revealed that many had political objectives behind the case, he said.

Taking a dig at his adversaries, the chief minister said people were waiting eagerly for this verdict for two reasons. There was one set of people who viewed it positively, the Chief Minister said. But there were certain mysterious forces who were hounding me throughout. This verdict would disappoint them.
Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court on Thursday declared that the NTR Health University and Kaloji Narayana Rao Health University must make admissions in their affiliated medical colleges in AP and Telangana based on the Neet ranking.

While vacating the stay granted on August 17 on the counselling process, the bench directed the Neet Convener and other authorities to withdraw the orders passed on August 18, cancelling the allotment of seats granted to some of the petitioners in the batch in the national pool, and allow the students to join the courses for which they were granted admission.

On August 17, the bench had stayed the counselling while dealing with a petition by Dr B. Satish Kumar and 12 others, challenging a memo issued by the Director General of Health Services, asking the universities to fill 15 per cent of open category seats by conducting national-level counselling.

Soon after the interim stay, the Medical Counselling Committee of the Centre issued an order directing colleges across the country not to allow students from AP and TS to join their colleges though they were allotted seats through Neet- 2017 counselling.

Aggrieved by the orders, the students of AP and TS moved the High Court. Article 371-D and the consequential Presidential Order mandates that 85 per cent of seats in a region (Telangana, Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema) will be reserved for local candidates and 15 per cent will be open seats for all students from the three regions. Thus all the seats were filled by students from undivided state of AP only.

The bench pointed out, Though the interim stay is beneficial to a few individuals it has caused immense hardship to scores of candidates who have secured admission to super-specialty courses in various institutions throughout the country. These candidates are also the children of the states of Telangana and AP and hence applying the rule of balance of convenience and irreparable hardship, the interim order passed on August 17 is liable to be vacated. The bench posted the case for final hearing to September 11.
According to custom officials, total value of gold recovered from Afzal Khan at Chennai airport was estimated to be around Rs 6.31 lakhs.

Chennai: Customs officials at Chennai airport on Wednesday detected a novel method  carrying gold melted in acid - used by gold smugglers. The smuggler was carrying an acid mix bottle in which the yellow metal worth Rs 6.31 lakh was melted and initially told the customs officials that the bottle contained floor cleaning liquid. This is the first time customs official coming across such a scientific modus operandi to smuggle gold.

According to the Chennai airport customs officials, liquid gold was seized from one Afzal Khan, who arrived in Chennai from Kuala Lumpur.

On examination of passengers baggage, one yellow bottle marked KAG Bleach was noticed and found it was unusually heavy.

He was walking through the green channel to the exit gate when he was intercepted by officials checked his baggage.

The yellow coloured bottle was weighing 1.96 kg and found to be containing a yellow-orange colour solution. This solution was tested and was found to contain gold dissolved in Aqua Regia solution, a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid.

The gold was later extracted by way of heating the solution in small parts on a clay plate over a charcoal fire. After evaporation of the liquid, the gold in powder form was extracted by government approved valuer. After 10 hours of the process, it was found that the solution 177 gm of pure gold was recovered. Afzal was also carrying two gold coins weighing each 20 gm.

The total value of the gold recovered from him was estimated to be around Rs 6.31 lakh, a customs official said.
Chennai: A.G. Perarivalan, serving life term for his role in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, will walk out of the Vellore Central Prison on parole for the first time after he was arrested in 1991.

The Tamil Nadu Government on Thursday granted a 30-day parole for Perarivalan to meet his ailing 74-year-old father Gnanasekaran, who is suffering from several ailments. The life convicts death sentence had been commuted to life term by the Supreme Court in 2014.

A letter signed by Additional Chief Secretary Niranjan Mardi to the Deputy Inspector General of Prisons, Vellore granted the month-long parole for Perarivalan and asked authorities concerned to ensure that he is "provided with strong police escort" during the period of the leave.

The letter said "ordinary leave" is being granted as per rule 19 of the Tamil Nadu Suspension of Sentence Rules 1982. Welcoming the parole, Perarivalan's mother Arputhammal said this was the first time her son was coming out on parole after he was arrested in 1991, few weeks after the assassination of the late Prime Minister. Perarivalan was just 19 years old when he was sent to prison in the high-profile case.

Arputhammal had fought several legal battles seeking pardon for Perarivalan, who was among those sentenced to death. She had also impressed upon the then Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to pass a resolution in the State assembly that wanted him and others like Murugan to be saved from gallows.

Perarivalan has spent over 26 years in prison and for the past few months, his mother Arputhammal had been running from pillar to post seeking parole for him to meet his father. She had even petitioned the Chief Minister and other ministers in this regard. The parole was granted after the Advocate General made his opinion known in favour of the proposal.
Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday said that Mission Bhagiratha was a matter of life and death for the TRS government and set a deadline of December 2017 to complete the project.

Mr Rao asked officials to supply water from Mission Bhagiratha to the people as a New Year gift from January 1, 2018. He was speaking during a review of progress of project with ministers and officials at Pragathi Bhavan.

The CM reminded officials of his vow that the TRS would not seek votes in the 2019 elections if it fails to complete the project by then.

He asked them to work day and night to achieve this goal and ensure that water from Mission Bhagiratha reaches the people by December.

Mr Rao said no government in the country could implement a project like Mission Bhagiratha by spending over `43,000 crore to provide safe drinking water through taps to every household in the state.

I will visit the construction sites and monitor the progress of work to ensure the project is completed by December. I request all public representatives to monitor the work in their jurisdiction," Mr Rao said.

The power department has speeded up setting up sub-stations, transmission lines, transformers for the projects.

Mr Rao said contractors had expressed concern over increased burden on works due to higher GST on work contracts and the government will take up the issue with the Centre in the GST Council meeting to be held on September 9 in Hyderabad.

Mr Rao expressed confidence that the Centre would reduce GST to 5 per cent from existing 12 per cent on work contracts.
Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is gearing up party leaders to ensure that the comprehensive land survey being done from September 15 goes off flawlessly.

Mr Rao has convened a joint meeting of party MPs, MLAs and MLCs on August 26 at Telangana Bhavan to assign roles and responsibilities for each elected member.

Mr Rao has been giving utmost priority to the land survey being taken up after a gap of over 80 years to end land disputes in the state. The survey is expected to cover every square inch of land.

He asked all elected representatives to attend the meeting which will also discuss about the formation of the farmers associations at the village, mandal and district levels.

Mr Rao asked leaders to take the responsibility of three villages each for supervising the progress of the survey and updation of revenue records.

Mr Chandrasekhar Rao will also take the responsibility of three villages and monitor the land survey.
Rauner Still 'Not Apologizing' For IPI's Racially Loaded Cartoon

By Stephen Gossett in News on Aug 24, 2017 9:33PM



Illinois governor Bruce Rauner last February in Chicago. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

A Democratic lawmaker came face-to-face with Gov. Bruce Rauner at a press conference on Thursday morning asking if he would apologize for a racially loaded cartoon that was published by the Illinois Policy Institutethe conservative group with which the governor is closely tied. Rauner reportedly declined to apologize because he was not responsible for the cartoon.

"I'm not apologizing," Rauner said when he was confronted by Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago) at the presser, according to the Sun-Times.

WBEZ reporter Tony Arnold and WTTW reporter Amanda Vinicky both posted photos of the presser. Rauner did say he stands against racism, and Ford added that it was time to put the cartoon to rest, Vinicky also tweeted. Ford then reportedly thanked him for condemning racism.

"I'm not apologizing" for anything I had nothing to do with, Rauner says, forcefully after Ford asks about apology pic.twitter.com/E76YK5sZc2  Amanda Vinicky (@AmandaVinicky) August 24, 2017 Rep Ford says "governor please join us" in condemning racism; Rauner says we do stand united in that; Ford thanks him pic.twitter.com/T1vSGRHWD3  Tony Arnold (@tonyjarnold) August 24, 2017

It all came of course in the wake of the latest staff shakeup at the governor's office, which saw four communications members ousted. The turnover came after Rauner was heavily criticized after a statement from his now-resigned spokeswoman said that "as a white male," Rauner had nothing "more to add to the discussion" after the controversial cartoon was removed.

Democratic rival JB Pritzker on Thursday drew a parallel between the Rauner upheaval and those in the White House. His camp even created a Craigslist ad that tweaked the chaos. Rauner reportedly maintained that the administration was not in disorder despite the shakeup.

ICYMI: @GovRauner got testy yesterday when asked to apologize for the IPI cartoon controversy



Watch Y pic.twitter.com/fXBedQ8M90  IL Working Together (@IllinoisWorking) August 25, 2017

[H/T Capitol Fax]

This post has been updated.
New Delhi: Union ministers Arun Jaitley and Prakash Javadekar were on Thursday appointed the BJPs election in-charge for the high-stakes Gujarat and Karnataka Assembly polls respectively. BJP chief Amit Shah also appointed four Union ministers  Narendra Singh Tomar, Nirmala Sitharaman, Jitendra Singh and P.P. Choudhary  co-incharge for the Gujarat polls, scheduled to be held later this year, a party statement said. Union minister Piyush Goyal will be co-incharge for the Karnataka polls, slated for early next year, it said.

Union minister Thawar Chand Gehlot has been appointed the election in-charge for the Himachal Pradesh assembly polls, also scheduled for later this year. Mr Jaitley and Mr Javadekar have been the partys in-charge for various state polls in the past. Gehlot is also a veteran organisation man. The last Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat were held in November and December, 2012, respectively. The results were announced on December 20, 2012. The last Karnataka assembly polls were held in May, 2013.

The BJP is in a direct contest with the Congress in all the three states. While the saffron party is in power in Gujarat, its bastion for over two decades, the opposition party rules in the other two states. Since it stormed to power at the Centre in 2014, the BJP has edged past the Congress in the polls in states where the latter was its main challenger. The Congress defeated the SAD-BJP alliance in Punjab, but the BJP was a junior partner in the state.
Around 12,000 police personnel have been deployed across the city to ensure smooth celebrations of the festival.

Chennai: City police have beefed up security across the city ahead of the Vinayaka Chaturthi celebrations on Friday. Around 12,000 police personnel have been deployed across the city to ensure smooth celebrations of the festival.

Earlier, top officers of the city police met leaders of 23 Hindu outfits to ensure peaceful procession of the Ganesh idols during the day of immersion. Outfits have been advised to avoid immersing idols made of plaster of paris or other chemical substances.

We made it very clear that inflammatory speeches or slogans intended to hurt other religious sentiments wont be taken lightly and had asked the leaders to ensure that their cadres dont behave in an unruly manner, a top official said.

The organisers were told to stick to the routes permitted for the idol procession on the day of immersion. They were also discouraged from using huge speakers as part of their celebrations.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: KPCC president M. M. Hassan has demanded the resignation of Health Minister K. K. Shylaja in the wake of Lok Ayukta admitting the petition filed by Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala in connection with the allegations pertaining to the appointment of a member of Kerala State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights. The Lok Ayukta had on Thursday admitted the petition filed by Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala against Health Minister K. K. Shylaja and three others. He had cited irregularities in the appointment of child rights panel member T. B. Suresh.

The KPCC president said it is clear that Lok Ayukta has taken cognisance of the allegations of misuse of power and nepotism against the minister. It has asked for the submission of all files pertaining to the appointment. He said this clearly indicated that there was prima facie evidence against the minister. However, the reluctance of Chief Minster Pinarayi Vijayan to demand Shylajas resignation amounted not only to protecting the tainted minister but also defending the corrupt deals. He said the UDF will intensify its struggle against the minister's nepotism.
Thrissur: National SC/ST commission chairman Shankar Katheria visited the house of Dalit Youth Vinayakan in Engandiyur on Thursday. Vinayakan had committed suicide on July 18 after he was allegedly subjected to police torture. Mr Katheria said that a monthly pension of Rs 5,000 will be given to the mother of Vinayak and a government job to a family member of the deceased youth.

He also handed over the first installment of Rs 4,12,500 of the Rs 8,25,000 to Vinayaks family. He also visited Nirmal of Mukkattukara, a youth who is a victim of political violence. His mother would also get a similar pension and financial aid, he said.
ALAPPUZHA: The Travancore Devaswom Board has stuck to its decision to shelve the order transferring a non-Brahmin priest to the Chettikulangara temple in Mavelikara. This comes in the wake of Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran terming as illegal the action taken by the TDB. It may be recalled that the Mavelikara assistant devaswom commissioner had issued an order on June 14 transferring non-Brahmin priest Sudhikumar to the Chettikulangara temple. However, the TDB has shelved the order following protest from the Sreedevi Vilasam Hindumatha Convention, an outfit of the devotees, against the priest.

The minister in his reply to the submission moved by Kayamkulam legislator U. Prathibha Hari in the Assembly on Wednesday had said that stringent action would be taken against the attempt to bring back untouchability to the temple. Mr Prayar Gopalakrishnan, TDB president, told DC on Thursday that the appointment of a priest depended on the temple customs. The priestly duties are bound to be performed by chosen people. Though there was a movement of non-Brahmin priests in 2002, it has lost relevance. The minister has expressed his opinion and I am making my position clear, he said.

Asked about the Supreme Court verdict against any discrimination based on caste, he said that after the verdict in 2002, no court had said anything about it. Mr K. Raghavan, TDB member, blamed the Devaswom commissioner and assistant commissioner, Mavelikara, for the mess. The decision on the transfer is often taken by the commissioner. My view is that the Supreme Court verdict should be followed. I support the cause of Sudhikumar, he said.

Mr K. R. Jyothilal, Devaswom secretary, accused the TDB of not complying with the Supreme Court order in 2012. The government had directed all deputy commissioners in 2014 not to take caste into consideration for appointing employees, including priests. If the TDB disobeys the order, its contempt of court, he said.
Bengaluru: Dismissing the C fore pre poll survey, giving the Congress party an easy victory if elections to the state Assembly elections are held immediately, as of little importance, state JD(S) chief, H.D. Kumaraswamy contended on Wednesday that little else could be expected of it as Mr Premchand Palety, the founder of the agency, was a member of the Chief Ministers vision group.

Speaking to reporters here, Mr Kumaraswamy said Mr Palety had himself revealed his association with the Chief Minister in his Facebook post. "Not only that, he has posted a photograph of himself with the security advisor to the government, Kempaiah, with both posing like James Bond. In another picture he is seen dining with the Chief Minister and Energy Minister, D.K. Shivakumar. Can you imagine that gentleman giving a survey report against the Chief Minister?" he asked, adding with sarcasm that the Chief Ministers advisors could even give the Congress 230 seats when the Assembly had only 224.

Mr Kumaraswamy said he had commissioned a professional private agency to carry out a pre poll survey and was aware of intelligence reports too.Our party will get a simple majority and the Congress will be reduced to third place, he maintained .

Recalling that Chief minister Siddaramaiah often described state BJP chief, B S Yeddyurappa as a cheater, he said, "I would say he is a bigger cheater as even after he promised to waive off Rs 50,000 from farmers loans, over 200 farmers have committed suicide in the state." Claiming that land was being grabbed even today in Arkavathy Layout, Mr Kumaraswamy contended that the CM did not have the moral right to speak about rival leaders.
Hyderabad: There is a sudden spurt of activity in the State Congress with some leaders camping in Delhi to lobby with AICC leaders to replace Mr N. Uttam Kumar Reddy as PCC president.

This section accuses Mr Reddy of not being able to effectively counter TRS president and TS Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao. The TPCC chief has been unable to draw up any plan for the big challenge of bringing the party back to power in 2019, this section alleges.

According to close associates of the PCC president, this activity has been triggered at the instance of Nalgonda Congress leaders Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and his brother Rajagopal Reddy to malign Mr Uttam Kumar Reddy to weaken the party before the polls.

A few PCC leaders say that this was caused in some measure by newly appointed Telangana party affairs incharge R.C. Kuntia who during his recent three-day tour praised Mr Uttam Kumar Reddy and declared him the partys Captain for the 2019 elections.

A few leaders called AICC organisational election incharge Mul-lapalli Ramachandran and inquired whether Mr Kuntia could make such a statement when the party polls were underway.

Mr Ramachandran reportedly told them such statements cannot be made as the election schedule has been announced.

But then, dissidence against the PCC president while in the Opposition and the Chief Minister while in power is nothing new for the Congress.

Mr Kuntia, Mr Uttam Kumar Reddy and AICC secretary Satish met party vice-president Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on Tuesday and discussed party affairs. It is not known whether the AICC is serious in effecting a change of guard during the party polls which mandates elections to all positions, or will allow the dispensation to stay.

There are over a dozen leaders, including the Komatireddy brothers, who are aspiring for the post.
The smart speaker will be directly competing against Amazons Echo, Google Home and Apples HomePod.

Samsung is working on a smart speaker which it may announce soon aiming to provide a fruitful user experience at home, Samsungs Mobile Division President DJ Koh confirmed in a statement to CNBC.

The South Korean tech firm has long been rumoured about developing a smart speaker powered its own digital voice assistant Bixby. An earlier report by Wall Street Journal, citing sources, had said that the in-progress Bixby speaker has been codenamed Vega. However, the firm is yet to decide a tentative launch date for its release. The report also said the progress of the speaker is held back by slow roll-out of the English-language version of Bixby.

But since Bixby has now been rolled out to over 200 countries across the globe, a smart speaker from Samsung can be expected soon.

If and when launched, the smart speaker will be directly competing against Amazons Echo, Google Home and Apples HomePod.

"Maybe soon we will announce it. I am already working on it," Koh told CNBC in an interview ahead of the Note 8 smartphone launch which happened on August 23. As I mentioned I wanted to provide a fruitful user experience at home with Samsung devices, and I want to be moving quite heavily on it, he added.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
Iran blocked the site, along with Facebook and YouTube, after mass protests and violence over the 2009 re-election of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Iran's new telecommunications minister says Twitter is ready to talk about unblocking access to the microblogging site.

The state-owned IRAN newspaper quoted Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi on Tuesday as saying Twitter has "officially announced readiness to talk with Iran for resolving the problems."

San Francisco-based Twitter declined to comment.

Iran blocked the site, along with Facebook and YouTube, after mass protests and violence over the 2009 re-election of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Iran's Supreme Council of Cyberspace, headed by current President Hassan Rouhani, officially is in charge of blocking websites. That council is overseen by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Ahmadinejad, Rouhani and Khamenei all have Twitter accounts administered on their behalf. Others in Iran use virtual private networks to subvert the ban.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
Samsung has unveiled a new model of its Galaxy Note as it seeks to leave behind the debacle over exploding batteries in the previous generation of the device, and mount a renewed challenge to Apple and its soon-to-come iPhone 8.

Introducing the Note 8 "phablet" at an event in New York City, executives repeatedly thanked fans who had remained loyal to the device.

"None of us will ever forget what happened last year," said Samsung president of mobile communications business DJ Koh.

"But, I will never forget how millions of dedicated Note loyalists stayed with us; so let me express my deepest gratitude."

The South Korean giant laid claim to being the first smartphone maker to field a "phablet" device -- combining features of smartphones and tablets -- when it introduced the first Note five years ago.

Samsung did not disclose the price of the Note 8, which will hit shops on September 15 but will be available for pre-orders starting Thursday.

The website for major US retail chain Best Buy offered the Note 8 for $930 without any carrier subsidies.

Apple is expected to put a similarly high price a hotly-anticipated 10th anniversary iPhone believed to be on the horizon.

Note 8 features include dual cameras on the back, with improved image capabilities, and a signature "S Pen" for drawing or writing on touch screens.

"All in all, it was a good day for Samsung," Moore Insights and Strategy analyst Patrick Moorhead said at the event.

"The Note 7 is clearly behind them and now it's onto the future with the Note 8."

The analyst depicted the Note 8 as Samsung's best opportunity in years to gain market share in the fiercely competitive premium smartphone market.

The Note 8 debut comes on the heels of Samsung launching new Galaxy 8 smartphones, and as the South Korean consumer electronics giant and fellow market leader Apple seek wow factors that can help them fend off challenges from rising Chinese-based manufacturers.

Apple is under particular pressure to dazzle as the culture-changing California iPhone maker looks for a way to maintain its image as an innovation leader in a global market showing signs of slowing.

Apple is expected to unveil a 10th anniversary version of the iPhone in September.

"Clearly, Apple wants to do something different," NPD Group analyst Stephen Baker told AFP.

Reports say the new iPhone will include a high-quality, edge-to-edge screen with a notch in the top for an extra camera supporting 3D facial recognition.

Some speculate that the back of the new handset will be glass and will offer wireless charging.

Meanwhile, Google-made Pixel smartphones that debuted last year will likely get a second generation in the months ahead.

Global smartphone sales saw a modest decline of 0.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2017, an IDC survey showed.

Samsung maintained top spot in the crowded field with a 23.3 per cent market share, while Apple held onto second place with 12 per cent, according to IDC.

"Samsung had the Note 7 debacle, but it appears their troubles are behind them," GlobalData analyst Avi Greengart told AFP. "Samsung is doing some amazing things with its display and design."

Note 8 handsets boasted "infinity" screens that span edge-to-edge on handsets, to enhance the viewing of video or help to juggle multiple tasks.

Samsung said it also built its Bixby virtual assistant smarts into Note 8 as it battles to compete with artificial intelligence being meshed into handsets powered by Apple or Google-backed Android software.

Note 8 also boasted water and dust resistance, along with wireless charging capability.

"We appreciate the relentless passion of the Note community," Koh said during a presentation focused almost as much on Note fans as it was on the new handset.

"They've been a constant inspiration to us, and we designed the new Note for them."

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River North's Sumi Robata Bar To Close Next Week

By Anthony Todd in Food on Aug 24, 2017 6:22PM



Photo via Facebook.

There's yet another summer 2017 closing of a beloved spot to announce. Sumi Robata Bar announced Wednesday that their last day of service will be Aug. 28.

This tiny Japanese restaurant, helmed by Japonais alum Gene Kato in River North, was one of the first places in Chicago to do a wide range of authentic robata-style cookinga type of Japanese grilling done over special binchotan charcoal. Guests would feast on a huge range of tiny skewers, all of which were simply seasoned and allowed the flavors of the ingredients to really shine through. Sumi won a Jean Banchet award in January for Best Neighborhood Restaurant.

The restaurant announced the closing on Facebook.









"It's not so much me doing my version of Japanese food, it's about me giving Chicago something that is authentic. We're not going to try to do everything; ramen, tempura. There's a time and place for that, but i want to give customers something that's honest. We're not going to put shaved daikon and orchids and ginger and all that on everything. We want to put all that money into the product - a better, thicker piece of meat or fish."

Before they opened in 2012, we sat down with Chef Kato to talk about why robata is so awesome , and he told us his vision for his restaurant.He lived up to that original vision, and created an amazing product. We'll miss it.
Washington: The US has asked India and Pakistan to continue to engage in direct talks aimed at reducing tensions between the two countries.

I think one of the things that we would do is ask or encourage India and Pakistan to sit down together and engage in direct dialogue that is aimed at reducing tensions between both of those countries, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert told reporters on Wednesday.

She was responding to a question on the statement made by the secretary of state Rex Tillerson a day earlier in which he sought some steps of rapprochement on issues with Pakistan.

What was he referring to in terms of the steps India could take? Nauert was asked at her daily news conference.

Well, I think going up to 30,000 feet, we view the whole strategy and handling Afghanistan as being a regional strategy, and that, of course, incorporates India as well as Pakistan, so incorporating all the nations in that region who we believe can help assist and help make Afghanistan a stable place where youll never have a terror group that will take root in that country again and can launch attacks on other countries, Nauert replied when asked if Tillerson was linking, a solution on Kashmir with Pakistan-Afghanistan.

In terms of Kashmir, our policy on that has not changed. We continue to encourage the sides to sit down and talk together about that, the spokesperson said. India an important regional strategic partner to US

India is emerging as a very important regional strategic partner. They have played an important role in supporting the Afghan government and, in particular, supporting the economy, Nauert said.

India has provided developmental assistance, they have provided economic assistance, theyre hosting an important economic conference in India next week, she said, adding, that the US recognises Indias contributions in Afghanistan.

Theyve done a lot in terms of development and helping to promote Afghanistans economy. So we appreciate that, were grateful to that, and we look forward to India continuing to play a role in what we believe is an eventual  what we hope is an eventual peace process in Afghanistan, Nauert said.

Theyve pledged about $ 3 billion since 2001. So we continue to thank them for that and look forward to them hopefully doing more to be a part of the solution, she said.
Washington: The ISIS issuing threat videos is nothing new. But now they have reportedly roped in a boy, and that too an American, to issue a warning to U.S. President Donald Trump.

The ISIS has released a new propaganda video which shows the 10-year-old son of an American soldier threatening Trump, dailymail.co.uk reported.

According to the report, in the shocking footage the child, whose father is said to have fought in Iraq, tells the US President the battle will end in your lands.

The boy also calls Mr Trump a puppet of the Jews in the clip, said to have been filmed in Raqqa, Syria.

According to newsmax.com, Yousef speaks in clear, unaccented English. He is supposedly from Raqqa, but his real identity is unknown. Yousef said he moved to Syria from the United States with his family two years ago and that his father is an American soldier who fought the mujahideen in Iraq. In the video, he describes the constant airstrikes against the ISIS and claims the battle will move to the West.

My message to Trump, the puppet of the Jews: Allah promised us victory, promised you defeat. This battle is not gonna end in Raqqa or Mosul. Its gonna end in you lands, the child says in the video.

The use of children is intended to show the conflict is multi-generational. That even the kids are radicalised, Mia Bloom, professor at Georgia State University who studies terrorist groups, told The Daily Beast.
Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will meet with powerful Pakistani generals on Thursday to formulate a response to the new US policy on Afghanistan that includes greater pressure on Islamabad to do more to rein in militants.

President Donald Trump has chastised Pakistan for harboring "agents of chaos" and providing safe havens to militant groups waging an insurgency against a US-backed government in Kabul, saying Islamabad must promptly change tack.

White House officials have gone further and threatened aid and military cuts, as well as other measures to force nuclear-armed Pakistan's hand and bring about an end to the 16-year-war.

Abbasi has not responded yet to Trump's remarks but Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said Washington should not use Pakistan as a "scapegoat" for its failures in America's longest running war. Pakistan denies harboring militants.

As is often the case with Pakistan, the final decision about how to proceed with rest with the military, which has ruled the country for nearly half its 70-year history. It calls the shots on key parts of Pakistan's foreign policy, including ties with the United States, Afghanistan and arch-foe India.

Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who will be part of the National Security Council meeting on Thursday, a day earlier met with US Ambassador David Hale and said Islamabad wanted trust and understanding rather than US aid money.

Pakistani officials bristle at what they say is a lack of respect by Washington for the country's sacrifices in the war against militancy and its successes against groups like al Qaeda, Islamic State or the Pakistani Taliban.

Pakistan estimates there have been 70,000 casualties in militant attacks since it joined the US "war on terrorism" after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

"We feel the American administration led by Mr Trump has been totally one sided, unfair to Pakistan and does not appreciate and recognize Pakistan has been a pivotal player...in the campaign against terrorism," Senator Mushahid Hussain, chairman of the senate defense committee, told Reuters on Thursday.

Pakistani officials have also been angered by Trump imploring old rival India to play a greater role in reconstructing Afghanistan, warning a greater Indian role in Kabul could be a threat to regional peace.

Pakistan fears New Delhi's greater influence in Afghanistan would leave it sandwiched by India, its bigger neighbor against whom it has fought three wars since independence in 1947.

Analysts have also warned putting greater pressure on Pakistan risks driving Islamabad deeper into the arms of China, its northern neighbor which is investing nearly $60 billion in infrastructure projects as part of its Belt and Road initiative.

China's top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, told US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a phone call the United States must value Pakistan's role in Afghanistan and respect its security concerns, according to Chinese state media.

"Things have changed since 9/11," added Hussain.

"The US today has far more diminished clout and leverage in the region and we have far more strategic space and options in our foreign policy."

The relationship between the two countries has endured periods of extreme strain in recent years, especially after al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was found and killed by US Special Forces in Pakistan in a 2011 raid.
Islamabad: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Thursday convened a high-level meeting of military and political leadership to devise a "combined response" to US President Donald Trumps accusation of Pakistan being a "safe haven" for terrorists.

Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee Zubair Hayat, Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Air Chief ACM Sohail Aman, and Naval Chief Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah are among those who attended the meeting held at the PM House.

The national security meeting is being held to come up with a "combined response" to President Trumps new stance regarding Afghanistan and South Asia, in which he has singled out Pakistan for its involvement in terrorism, Dawn News reported.

"We have been paying Pakistan billions and billions of dollars at the same time they are housing the very terrorists that we are fighting," Trump had said in his speech on Monday.

He demanded that Pakistan should "stop offering safe haven to agents of chaos" as he presented his policy for the 16-year-long war in Afghanistan in his first formal address as the commander-in-chief.

Prime Minister Abbasi has yet to respond to the shift in US stance, the report noted.

US Ambassador David Hale called on Army Chief Gen Bajwa yesterday to brief him on the new South Asia policy of the US.

Responding to the invective, the army chief had said: "We are not looking for any material or financial assistance from the US, but trust, understanding and [an] acknowledgment of our contributions."

On Tuesday, the day after Trumps speech, Ambassador Hale also met Khawaja Asif and briefed him about Americas new policy in Afghanistan and South Asia.
United States President Trump in unveiling his Afghanistan strategy this week took a dig at Pakistan for providing safe havens to terror outfits.(Photo: AP)

Beijing: China's top diplomat has defended Pakistan's "important role" in Afghanistan in a phone call with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, after President Trump accused Islamabad of harbouring militants.

Trump, in unveiling his Afghanistan strategy this week, said Pakistan was playing a double game by accepting American aid while giving safe haven to insurgents who kill Afghan and NATO troops.

But China State Councillor Yang Jiechi told Tillerson Wednesday that "we should attach importance to the important role that Pakistan plays in the Afghanistan issue, respect (Pakistan's) sovereignty and legitimate security concerns," according to a foreign ministry statement.

It is the second time Beijing has defended its South Asian neighbour this week, with foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying praising Pakistan on Tuesday for making "great sacrifices and contributions to fighting terrorism".

Beijing is investing around $50 billion in Pakistan as part of a plan unveiled in 2015 to link its far-western Xinjiang region to the Pakistani port of Gwadar in Balochistan province.

Yang said Beijing was committed to "advancing the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan" and that political dialogue was "the only way to solve the Afghanistan problem".

He added that "China would like to continue to maintain communication and coordination on the Afghanistan problem with the US side".

The call between the US and Chinese diplomats came after new tensions arose between the two powers on Wednesday as Washington slapped sanctions on Chinese companies accused of links with North Korea, angering Beijing.

China has also warned Washington against triggering any "trade war" after Trump ordered an investigation into Beijing's intellectual property practices.

But the ministry statement issued late Wednesday did not say whether Tillerson and Yang discussed the trade issue, the sanctions or the North Korean nuclear crisis.

Yang said Washington and Beijing communicate and cooperate on a "wide range of areas" and the two diplomats discussed Trump's planned visit to China later this year.

He also voiced hope that the two sides maintain "mutual respect" and "handle disputes properly and jointly to uphold the good momentum of development of Sino-US relations."
The city's third railway terminal in Baiyappanahalli could eventually decongest the Yeshwanthpur and Bengaluru City stations. But before the terminal's scheduled launch late next year, the railway infrastructure around the area requires a hyper-upgrade in sync with the original purpose: Decongestion.



A single track currently links the Baiyappanahalli Goods Yard  the area identified for the terminal  with the Baiyappanahalli railway station. This link, less than 500m, should be doubled or quadrupled to ensure seamless exit and entry of trains to and from the terminal. More tracks will ensure that the busy City-Chennai line is left largely undisturbed.



But trains on the Chennai line get stranded at Baiyappanahalli station for another reason: An unfinished Road Over Bridge (ROB) stuck due to a land issue between the Defence and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). Road commuters use the Old Baiyappanahalli railway gate, delaying trains at the station.



To further ease the congestion on the Chennai line once the terminal comes up, a third track has been proposed between Baiyappanahalli and K R Puram railway stations. Space is not a constraint for this. But, as urban rail analyst Sanjeev Dyamannavar points out, the issue is with the Road and Rail Over Bridges over tracks approaching the Baiyappanahalli station.



The ROB near the Metro station is too narrow and stands on wall-type structures that take up much space. Rebuilding the bridge on pillars will allow more tracks. This is also the problem with the rail over bridge where the Hosur line cuts across the Chennai line.



Sharp gradient

Trains heading to the new terminal from Hosur side will move on the track that branches out to the left from the main track leading to Banaswadi and Yeshwanthpura terminal. However, the gradient is sharp and the 300m track towards Baiyappanahalli station is linked to the main Chennai line.



Effectively, this leaves trains on the Hosur line stranded at the gradient. Solution: Reduce the gradient and extend the track all the way to the station and beyond towards the terminal. This would leave the Chennai line undisturbed.



Dec 2018 launch

The new terminal is expected to be operational by December, 2018 with three platforms. Three more platforms will be added in the subsequent year. This would enhance the terminal's capacity to handle 50 to 60 trains.



Again, there is an issue with trains heading to Baiyappanahalli from Yelahanka through the Channasandra line. The 500m track from Channasandra to Baiyappanahalli is not doubled. Electrification of this line along with the Hosur line, says Dyamannavar, will have to be completed to maximise the terminal's utility.



* Doubling track from Baiyappanahalli station to terminal



* Reducing gradient of track from Hosur line



* Upgrading Road Over Bridge and Rail Over Bridge near Baiyappanahalli station.
The Upalokayukta has submitted a report to the state government to restore government gomal land in Devanahalli taluk in Bengaluru Rural district.



A complaint was filed with the Lokayukta alleging that 4.22 acres of government gomal land was encroached by private persons in Irigenahalli and there were attempts to form a layout on the land.



The enquiry, held by Upalokayukta Justice Subhash B Adi, revealed that the land in question falls under agriculture status according to the master plan. During the enquiry, revenue officials admitted that the land was encroached by private persons.



The enquiry report stated that 22.6 acres of land in survey number 33 is government gomal land and from 1960 to 1980 it was granted to eight farmers and podi has also been created.



In survey number 44, private persons encroached government gomal land and entered into a joint development agreement to develop a residential layout. The joint development agreement was registered at Devanahalli sub-registrars office in April 2016. It is seen from the documents that the revenue officials concerned failed to take action against people who have encroached government gomal land, the report said.



The Upalokayukta has sent a report under section 12 (1) directing the state government to submit an action-taken report on restoration of government land within one month.



The report has also directed the government to initiate proceedings against private persons for encroaching government land.



DH News Service
The ruling Congress is said to be in a dilemma on whether to provide ministerial berth to left or right wing of the Dalit community, resulting in delay of the much-discussed expansion of Chief Minister Siddaramaiahs council of ministers.



Though the high command had approved a list of names for filling up the vacancies in the council of ministers last week, it was later forced to hold it back following pressure from Dalit leaders belonging to both the groups. Leaders belonging to the two groups are said to be lobbying hard to get a ministerial berth. The chief minister was planning to expand the ministry early this week. But, it is likely to happen only next week, sources in the state Congress said.



Currently, there are three vacancies in the council of ministers. The vacancies have been created due to the death of H S Mahadeva Prasad and resignation of H Y Meti and G Parameshwara. The late Mahadeva Prasad was a Linagayat; Meti a Kuruba; and Parameshwara, a Dalit. While names of K Shadakshari, MLA for Tiptur and H M Revanna (MLC) have been finalised under the Lingayat and the Kuruba quotas respectively, candidate under the Dalit quota is yet to be finalised, the sources said.



The sources said Siddaramaiah had proposed MLC R B Thimmapurs name under the Dalit quota to the high command. Thimmapur belongs to Dalit left wing.



A section of Dalit (right) leaders is of the view that Parameshwara belongs to Dalit right wing and hence, the vacancy created by his resignation should be filled up with a leader from the same wing. Even Parameshwara, who is also the KPCC president, is said to be in favour of this argument. He is said to be backing former minister Motamma (who belongs to Dalit right wing) for a Cabinet berth. Malavalli MLA and former minister P M Narendraswamy is also said to be in the race, the sources added.



Leaders belonging to Dalit left wing are arguing that both the left and the right wings should be given equal representation in the council of ministers: There are two ministers who are Dalit (right), H C Mahadevappa and Priyank Kharge, while H Anjaneya is the lone minister from the Dalit left wing. Former Union minister and Kolar MP K H Muniyappa has taken up the cause of Dalit left wing, the sources said.



When contacted, Motamma said it is not proper to differentiate between the right and the left. Opportunity should be given to those who are loyal to the party and have good experience.



On seeking his reaction on the issue, AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka K C Venugopal said there is no confusion between the two groups. The chief minister has submitted a list to the party top brass and they will take a decision soon, he added.








In a bid to impress foreign delegates who visit the Vidhana Soudha, the state government has taken up modernisation and renovation works on the 60-year-old iconic building at a cost of Rs 20 crore.



As part of the project, the Public Works Department (PWD) wants to strip off mosaic tiles on the existing staircases and replace them with granite. Reason - the shade and colour of the mosaic tiles are outdated. Conceding that there was nothing wrong with any of the staircases, officials contended that granite slabs are not only long lasting but also would o give a shiny and lustrous look.



The department wants to do away with red-oxide flooring found in some of the offices and replace them with vitrified tiles. The argument is that outsiders should not frown upon the lack of uniformity. There is also a proposal to replace mosaic tiles on the corridors on all the floors. The PWD, which had been pushing forth the project for the last three years, has finally been given a go ahead by the government.



While the tenders were approved on November 11, 2016, work order was issued on January 11, 2017. While around four bidders participated in the tender process, the project was awarded to Bengaluru-based firm - S R Ravi Constructions. As much as 62% of the proposed works have been taken up in the last one week after the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) gave its approval for the project on June 7, 2017. The contractor has been asked to complete the works within 15 months.



To begin with, the PWD has taken up modernisation of toilets on the northern side of the four-storeyed building. There are 12 toilets (six ladies and six gents) in the building. Officials said that they will be replacing all the water supply and sanitary lines, as the existing cast iron and galvanised iron (GI) pipes have corroded, resulting in leaks. While the water supply pipes will be replaced with CPVC pipes, the sewage pipes will be replaced with PVC pipes. In addition to this, the toilets will be redesigned and fitted with modern accessories.



PWD engineers also said that as the asbestos sheets atop the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council halls were damaged, they would be replaced with galvalume sheets (coloured roof sheets).



As the teak wood doors and windows in all the rooms have lost their lustre, they will get a coat of melamine polish for a glossy new look. In addition to this, the entire building will get a fresh coat of painting.



One of the chief characteristics of the Vidhana Soudha are its domes. There is one large dome and six smaller ones. Engineers said that the cement mortar on all the domes have deteriorated, leading to cracks and leakages. The surface of these domes will be fixed using epoxy grout, they said.



Terming some of the works taken up as unnecessary, former chief minister and leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Jagadish Shettar said the PWD had made it a habit to escalate costs for kickbacks.



The original characteristic of the Vidhana Soudha is its grandeur. Its unfortunate that it is being meddled with. There is no need for granite staircases or some of the other works proposed. Only those maintenance works that are inevitable should be taken up. As the PWD engineers are forced to listen to ministers or other leaders at the helm, the government should take the opinion of non-government engineers, Shettar added.



DH News Service




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The French Ministry of Culture awarded the Order of Arts and Letters to a Chinese writer, Bi Feiyu, at the General Consulate of France in Shanghai on Aug 21.

Chinese writer Bi Feiyu [File photo]

The order is in recognition of significant contributions to the arts and literature, or the propagation of these fields.

Bi Feiyu was born in 1964 in Xinghua, Jiangsu province.

Consul-general of France Axel Cruau said, in his award presentation speech, Bi Feiyu maintained a close tie with France. In 2003, Bi's novel Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day was introduced and published by Actes Sud of France, which marked the beginning of popularity for Bi's work in France, where he has since published seven works.

In 2004, Bi attended the Paris Book Fair and was rated as "the most popular Chinese writer among French readers".

In 2010, Bi's French-language Planitia then won the Literature Prize of Le Monde.

Moreover, Bi has been active in promoting Sino-French literature exchanges in China. He held multiple activities to share his understandings in literature and French literature's impacts on himself with Chinese and foreign readers.
The BBMP is getting ready to award the contract for ticketless smart parking even as the smartness of the process has been questioned by an entrepreneur who brought Indias first automated parking to Brigade Road.



On May 5, the BBMP invited tenders for parking management on 85 roads, including MG Road and Brigade Road, on Pay and Display basis, which allows for simple automated parking system as operated on Brigade Road. Three days later, the civic body changed the terms and switched to Pay by Space and preferred the smart parking system.



The automated parking system (Pay and Display), as adopted on Brigade Road, allows a user to park his/her car for up to two hours. The parked car displays the parking fee receipt on the cars deck, which is visible from its windscreen. The traffic police inspect the cars and those parked beyond the permitted time will be towed away.



But the BBMP believes the automated system is vulnerable to corruption and has chosen to go with Pay by Space. You can bribe those monitoring the parking and park your car for the time exceeding the maximum two hours without paying for it.



The smart parking will bring transparency in the system by giving the real-time status of each car, BBMP Chief Engineer (Road Infrastructure) B S Prahallad told DH.



Explaining the smart parking, he said the system would allow the user to pay by cash, card or online.



A user will pay for parking and send a message to a number following which s/he will get an e-receipt by SMS. We are doing away with the ticketing system, he said.



Failed system



However, Suhail Yusuf, the secretary of Brigade Shops and Establishments Association, who brought the automated parking system in 2004, accused the BBMP of pushing under the carpet the flaws in the new parking system.



Claiming that the ticketless system was flawed, he showed a video recording of a bidders demonstration to stress that parking will be a time-consuming process if the BBMP chooses to go with the system. The video shows an assistant filling details on a touch-screen monitor, after which he struggles to insert a Rs 10 note.



The American technology was used in a town in Illinois and has failed miserably. The BBMP is favouring the two bidders. Thats why officials are hiding the flaws, Yusuf said.



Prahallad, however, argued that the new system was robust and ensured transparency.



Sensors alert the control room after the expiry of

time allotted to a user following which s/he will be fined or the car towed away, he said, adding that no car can be parked for more than three hours.



DH News Service




The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to issue any clarification on the judgement, declaring practice of instant talaq as unconstitutional.



The judgement was delivered by a five-judge bench on August 22. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who represented All India Muslim Personal Law Board, mentioned the matter before a bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar.



Sibal submitted the order sheet issued at the end of 395-page judgement does not reflect the majority view of the bench. He wanted further clarifications.



"To our mind, the judgement is clear. There is no need for any clarification," CJI Khehar said. The court, however, said the counsel can file appropriateapplication, if he felt so.



The top court's five-judge bench by 3:2 had on August 22 declared the practice of instant divorce by pronouncing talaq thrice at one go as arbitrary and unconstitutional. It also concluded that the practice is not part of Islam.
A Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activist accused in the murder of a Hindu man who converted to Islam was killed by a gang of unidentified men in Malappuram, early on Thursday.



Bipin (26) was attacked in Tirur at about 7 am. He was on his motorbike, heading to his workplace, when the armed assailants intercepted and assaulted him. Bipin suffered multiple injuries in the attack and was rushed to a hospital where he was declared dead.



Bipin is accused in the November 2016 killing of 30-year-old Faizal Pullani (Aneesh Kumar before he converted to Islam). Faizals mutilated body was found in a drain near his village Kodinhi. Police had arrested 16 people with affiliations to the Sangh Parivar in connection with Faizals murder. Faizals brother-in-law, Vinod Pullani, is among the accused in the case. Bipin was released on bail in April.



Police presence in the Tirur region has been increased following Bipins killing. The local BJP leadership called for a high-level investigation into the killing. The murder has been methodically executed by what appears to be an extremist outfit. Recently, another person listed as accused in the Faizal case (Thayyil Lijeesh) was also attacked, Ravi Thelath, BJP Malappuram district general secretary, told Deccan Herald. The BJP called for a hartal between 2 pm and 8 pm in Tirur.



Following the murder of Faizal, nine of his family members including his mother and sisters embraced Islam. His wife Priya had converted to Islam before his death.
The Supreme Court has made history yet again: In 3 days, the Apex court has made 2 verdicts, both of which are being seen as a step forward for law in India. 2 days ago, the Supreme Court banned the practice of triple talaq, terming it unconstitutional. Now, they have ruled, in an absolute majority, that privacy is a fundamental right under the Constitution.



As was the case of triple talaq, people have come forth in appreciating the Supreme Court for the verdict. We compiled some of the tweets below:



One user said that he's now waiting for Modi to make his customary congratulating tweet following the verdict.





While another mused how having siblings effectively eliminates the idea of personal privacy, fundamental rights be damned.And another user gave what is basically the best summary of past events relating to privacy:A few users took this opportunity to remind people of the intent of the government when it said people didn't have absolute rights over their own bodies, and how Nilekani categorised "anti-Aadhaar" people into 4 categories:Lastly, one user put up a chart showing how countries treat the concept of personal privacy. Surprisingly, China has 'effectively' no restrictions on personal privacy.Of course, meme accounts had to captialise on the verdict, with a fake Rahul Gandhi account putting up a well-timed tweet on the matter:
Around three hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi will land in Bihar on Saturday to take stock of the flood-ravaged areas in the State, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will host a lunch for the PM here at the CMs official residence.



This will be in sharp contrast to the 2010 episode where Nitish not only cancelled a pre-scheduled dinner for the BJP leaders, including Modi, at his residence  1, Aney Marg, but also returned the Rs 5 crore-cheque to Modi, who, then as a Gujarat CM, had offered to Nitish for Kosi flood relief fund.



Much water has flown down in the last seven years when the rivalry between the two leaders saw some acrimonious war of words turning into more an ego clash.



Keeping unpleasant past on the back-burner, the newbie allies Nitish and Modi, both regarded as vikas purush (development-oriented leader), will join hands to take stock of the flood situation on Saturday. Chances are Nitish may seek flood relief assistance from the same Modi whom he had put in an awkward situation in 2010.



As per the PMs itinerary for August 26, Modi will land at Purnia airbase in the special Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft on Saturday at 11 am. After undertaking an aerial survey of flood-torn districts like Araria, Kishanganj, Purnia and Katihar, Modi will fly down to Patna where he will be received by Nitish and Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi.



The PM will then hold a high-level meeting at the Chief Minister Secretariat where ministers and officials of the Water Resources Department, Agriculture, Health, Road Construction and Rural Development will be present. Thereafter, Modi will have lunch at Nitishs residence before leaving for New Delhi at 3 pm the same day.



WAR OF WORDS: PAST FORWARD



Modi (in 2015): There is Jungle Raj in Bihar.



Nitish: What happened in Gujarat in 2002? Was it Mangal Raj?



Modi (in 2015): There is something wrong in his DNA.



Nitish: I am son of a freedom fighter. I dont need certificate from those who did not participate in the freedom struggle.



Modi (in 2014 & 2015): There is a BJP wave everywhere.



Nitish: There is no such wave. Only blower is working.
A Hindu man and his family here have embraced Islam after allegedly facing social boycott for over 28 years since he married a Muslim woman.



Vinod Prakash Khare (51), a resident of Rajnagar town in the district in Bundelkhand region, said he had married a Muslim woman nearly 28 years back. Post the marriage, his wife was assigned a Hindu name.



However, their alliance was not accepted by the family, relatives and society at large and his family was ostracised, he alleged.



Khare, his wife, daughter and sons converted to Islam on August 21.



"The Hindu society has not been supportive of us. Nobody used to invite us to marriages," he said.



"I was not even allowed to lend a shoulder to my father's body during his funeral procession. In such times, the Muslim society helped us, so our family decided to accept Islam," said the man, who is now rechristened as Ghulam Mohammed.



Rajnagar's sub-divisional magistrate Ravindra Choukse said he was aware about the family's conversion.



"I have got information about the conversion of Khare and his family. In case of any dispute or controversy necessary steps would be taken," Choukse said.



A local leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad said they were trying to resolve the family's problems.



"I am in touch with the family. We are working to sort out their problems. They have assured to reconsider their decision," he said.
Mobile internet and data services in Punjab Haryana and capital city Chandigarh were suspended today for the next 72-years ahead of the crucial verdict by a CBI court in the Dera Sacha Sauda chief rape case on Friday.



Punjab and Haryana are on high alert with over 2 lakh sect followers descending in Panchkula near here where the verdict will be pronounced tomorrow. Nearly 15,000 paramilitary personnel have been deployed in Punjab and Haryana to watch the potentially explosive situation. As many as 150 companies of paramilitary forces have been deployed in the two states.



Followers have been squatting on roads and parks in the open for the last few days. At least 23 trains in the Northern railways were cancelled today. Schools colleges universities markets have been shut and buses will not be playing tomorrow.



Amid speculations that the Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh may evade his appearance before the court tomorrow, the sect head today tweeted saying that despite his back ache, he will appear before the court on Friday. The presence of lakhs of followers in Panchkula and across the two states poses a serious challenge for the government despite all the wherewithal at its disposal. The Punjab and Haryana High Court in Chandigarh in response to a petition rapped the Haryana government for allowing lakhs of people to gather despite prohibitory orders in place.



Ram Niwas, additional chief secretary, Home, Haryana said it had also been decided to request the ministry of railways to immediately stop all passenger trains coming to Chandigarh for two days.



Buses of Haryana roadways coming to Chandigarh and Panchkula have already been stopped for two days. Ten senior IPS officers have been deployed and to ensure peace and help maintain law and order in the state.



Timeline;

May 2002; High Court orders an inquiry into an anonymous complaint by a woman alleging sexual exploitation by Sect chief.

Sept 2002; HC hands over the case to CBI.

Dec 2002; Dera chief booked on rape and other charges.

Dec 2003-Oct 2004: Probe held up as SC grants stay.

July 2007: Chargesheet filed states he raped two followers between 1999 and 2001.

Aug 2008; Trial begins.

July 2016; Final arguments after 52 witnesses summoned.

July 2017: Day to day hearing.

August 25: Judgement Day.




Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi today welcomed the Supreme Court verdict upholding the right to privacy as a fundamental right and said it was a major blow to "fascist forces" and a rejection of the BJP's ideology of "suppression through surveillance".



The judgement was a "victory for every Indian", Gandhi said on Twitter.







Welcome the SC verdict upholding #RightToPrivacy as an intrinsic part of individual's liberty, freedom & dignity. A victory for every Indian  Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) August 24, 2017





"Welcome the SC verdict upholding Right to Privacy as an intrinsic part of individual's liberty, freedom and dignity. The SC decision marks a major blow to fascist forces," he tweeted.



It was a "sound rejection" of the BJP's ideology of "suppression through surveillance", Gandhi said.





SC decision marks a major blow to fascist forces.A sound rejection of the BJP's ideology of suppression through surveillance#RightToPrivacy  Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) August 24, 2017

In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court today unanimously declared that the right to privacy was a fundamental right under the Constitution.



A nine-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar ruled that the right was "an intrinsic part of the Right to Life and Personal Liberty under Article 21 and the entire Part III of the Constitution".



The ruling on the highly contentious issue dealt with petitions challenging the Centre's move to make Aadhaar mandatory for people seeking to benefit from various social welfare schemes.
Congress on Thursday said the Supreme Court verdict upholding the right to privacy was a tight slap on the Modi government's unbridled encroachment and surveillance on the lives of the common man.



It strikes a blow on the unbridled encroachment & surveillance by the state and its agencies in the life of the common man, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said adding that the judgment heralded a new era for individual rights, personal liberty and human dignity.



Gandhi also credited other opposition parties who stood together in court and in Parliament to speak out for the right to privacy and dignity of all Indians against the arrogant attempts of the present government to curtail them.



Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi said the apex Court decision marked a major blow to the fascist forces. A sound rejection of BJP's ideology of suppression through surveillance, Rahul said welcoming the Court decision as a victory for every Indian.



CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury termed the judgment as far reaching that will have consequences in various domains as technology played a greater role in the lives of the common man.



This landmark judgment should pave the way to protect, in this world of technology advance dominated by corporates, misuse of private data and infringing upon the privacy of individuals, the CPI(M) Polit Bureau said in a statement.



Congress fielded a battery of lawyer-politicians to welcome the apex Court verdict. Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the judgment was a setback to the Modi government that had argued against privacy is a fundamental right.



Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the judgment was a tight slap on the face of the government that had argued in court that an individual does not have the right over his body, and eyes.



Chidambaram said the judgment will pave the way for to have a second look at the Supreme Court ruling of 2013 on Article 377, that had criminalised gay sex.








Gao Yuying, partner and director of the International Legal Transaction Department of Beijing Century Law Firm, is offering pioneering legal consultation and assistance for foreigners intending to apply for the Foreign Permanent Resident ID Card in China, otherwise known as the green card.

Gao expects that through her expertise and best efforts she may trail blaze a path for attorneys to offer legal assistance to foreigners.

"It's a growing market especially with the increasing number of overseas Chinese who expect to obtain green cards when returning to their motherland," Gao said.

Last year, China saw the number of people granted with Chinese green cards soaring by 163 percent year on year to 1,576, taking the total of green card holders to 11,000.

Moreover, since June 16, 2017, green cards have been upgraded to a smart identification (ID) card containing a chip. This has more easily enabled holders to enjoy equal access with their Chinese counterparts to public services such as public schools and house purchases.

Noting the vast potential market ahead, Gao believes that immigration attorneys have a bright future.

In the proposal for providing an immigration service in China, Gao's law firm recently issued an announcement highlighting the professional roles of attorneys to render legal consultation and assistance for the applications of foreign residents.

"It is unusual and disorderly to have consultative agents from both home and abroad working on behalf of their clients to apply for green cards, residential permits and working visas," the law firm proclaimed.

"The legal consultation of exit-and-entry issues should be solely in the remit of domestic lawyers, who alone can provide professional legal service to foreign applicants," the proposal added.

Lawyers are required to evaluate, guide and notify the applicants through the process of application, helping them communicate with relevant administrations as well as negotiating for alternatives if the documents applied appear to be insufficient.

According to Gao's law firm, it has divided immigration into several categories, such as, family reunion, Chinese repatriation,professional investment programs and the charges vary between 30,000yuan (US$4,590) and 50,000 yuan, which are exclusive to administrative, translation, certification and notarization expenditures.

To evaluate an applicant's credentials for a Chinese green card, Gao has produced a questionnaire to preview the clients' suitability, such as, age, family condition, contributions, non-criminal records, profession and investments.

"The exodus of overseas Chinese is now turning back, seeking for jobs among companies and governments or establishing their own businesses in the country," Gao elaborated.

"Our mission is to make them understand for sure what are the legal means and processes to applying for a green card," she added.

China ratified the Measures for the Administration of Examination and Approval of Foreigners' Permanent Residence in 2004 to regulate the issuance of green cards. However, legal experts are expecting the law to be more specific in response to the growing demand of the cards.
Uttar Pradesh Power Minister Srikant Sharma today attacked Lalu Prasad Yadav over the RJD chief's proposed rally of opposition parties in Patna, terming it as a "congregation of the corrupt."



"Laluji is not organising a rally but a 'jamawada' (congregation) of the corrupt," said Sharma, who was here to tour the flood-hit areas and distribute the relief material.



The RJD chief is criss-crossing Bihar to mobilise people for the August 27 rally, which he has claimed would be a major occasion to bring together the secular forces on one platform against the BJP ahead of the 2019 polls.



Lalu is attempting a major show of strength after he was ousted from the Bihar government with the JD-U moving out of the grand alliance and joining back the NDA fold and the government with the BJP.



"There will be no impact of the rally on Uttar Pradesh politics ... SP, BSP, Congress and all the parties which are taking part in the rally have never paid attention on the development. These parties have remained confined to their personal and families' development," Sharma said.



He said that Adityanath government was working towards the development of the state without any discrimination ... people also want development and will not tolerate any kind of hindrance in it.



About common civil code, he said that after ban on triple talaq, it was the need of the hour.



"BJP has been in its (common civil code) favour since long and will not compromise on it ," he said, claiming that there there was a mention of common civil code in the Constitution also.


The TTV Dhinakaran-led camp in the ruling AIADMK today said he had no intention of becoming the chief minister but continued to press for the ouster of incumbent K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam.



P Vetrivel, a loyalist of jailed AIADMK chief VK Sasikala and her nephew Dhinakaran, told reporters in Chennai that candidature of any other person, including Speaker P Dhanapal, for the CM's post was agreeable to them.



In neighbouring Puducherry, the 18 MLAs loyal to Dhinakaran stayed put at a resort amid tight security.



"He (Dhinakaran) is not even an MLA. He doesn't desire to be chief minister. He is not running the party with any such intentions," Vetrivel told reporters outside the residence of Dhinakaran here.



Earlier, Sasikala's Mannargudi-based brother V Divakaran had also backed Dhanapal to become the Chief Minister, with Dhinakaran leading the charge against Palaniswami.



To a question, Vetrivel said the demand of his camp was to remove Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam.



The Dhinakaran camp had revolted a day after the factions led by Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam patched-up.



Vetrivel also said some "corrupt ministers" should "get out". "Chief minister and corrupt ministers, get out," he said without naming anyone.



Training his guns on Panneerselvam, the legislator said he had levelled corruption charges against the government and took the fight for AIADMK's two leaves symbol to the Election Commission, and wondered why he was now part of the cabinet.



Vetrivel sought an "explanation" from Palaniswami for the merger of his Amma faction with that of Panneerselvam.



To a question, he indicated the Dhinakaran faction had no intention of pulling down the AIADMK government. "We have said nowhere that we will vote against this government. Change the chief minister and explain the reason behind Panneerselvam's induction," he said.



Vetrivel claimed some more MLAs and ministers were in talks with the Dhinakaran faction but declined to reveal names.



Earlier in the day, Dhinakaran supporters burnt posters of Rajya Sabha MP R Vaithilingam, recently 'expelled' by Dhinakaran from the party, besides that of Puducherry unit of unified AIADMK, Om Sakthi Segar.



Segar had yesterday led a protest outside the resort in Puducherry where Dhinakaran camp MLAs are staying. Also, supporters of Vaithilingam had clashed with those of Dhinakaran in Thanjavur recently.



Meanwhile, police were deployed in strength outside the resort, where the 18 MLAs from Dhinakaran camp are staying, in the coastal village of Chinna Veerampattinam in Ariyankuppam Commune Panchayat limits near here.



Some of the legislators who spoke to the media while taking a walk pointed out that they were all enjoying a "free atmosphere" and were "united".



Andipatti MLA Thangatamilselvan of the Dhinakaran faction, said "there is a wrong image about us being projected in a section of the media. The fact is that we are all here to project the correct picture that we all remain united," he said.



Iron barricades were placed across the entry point on the side lane leading to the resort to restricting visitors.



Meanwhile, Perundurai AIADMK MLA and former Minister Thopu D Venkatachalam, originally a supporter of Dhinakaran, said he now "continues to be in the AIADMK".



Speaking to reporters, he urged Palaniswami to hold consultations with all stakeholders to end the impasse.


Senior IAS officer Rajiv Bansal today took charge as the interim CMD of Air India, saying that he is committed to working on the airline's profitability with a "missionary zeal".



The state-owned airline, which has a debt burden of more than Rs 50,000 crore, has been in the red for long but managed to eke out operational profit for the first time in a decade in 2015-16.



"We will plan to work on profitability with a missionary zeal, improve our on time performance and ensure customer satisfaction," Bansal said in a statement soon after assuming charge as Air India's Chairman and Managing Director.



"I seek the support of all fellow Indians to fly Air India our national carrier - Air India - Truly Indian," he said.



Bansal replaced Ashwani Lohani, who has assumed office as Railway Board Chairman.



"I feel happy and proud to be given this opportunity to lead the national carrier. The company has been growing from strength to strength - inducting new aircraft and introducing new routes," Bansal said after formally taking office from Lohani.



Bansal, Additional Secretary and Financial Adviser at the petroleum ministry, was appointed Air India's interim CMD on Wednesday.



According to the release, Bansal had served as a director in the civil aviation ministry and played a crucial role as a board member of the National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL) during the formative years of the merged national carrier.



He has also served as the board member of the Alliance Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of Air India, the release said.



A Nagaland cadre IAS officer, Bansal had been a joint secretary in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) where he had handled the areas of digital payments, IT Act, Aadhaar, and internet governance.



A civil engineer by profession, Bansal graduated from IIT Delhi in 1986. He also has a Diploma in Finance from ICFAI, Hyderabad and an Executive Masters in International Business from IIFT, Delhi.
Doctors at the KG Medical University hospital on Thursday sew back the severed hand of a 14-year old girl, who had been attacked with a sword by an alleged jilted lover, after 10-hour long surgery.



The doctors also successfully re-joined another hand of the minor, which too had almost been severed by the attacker.



A youth had chopped off one of the hands of the minor allegedly after she had spurned his advances in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur-Kheri district, about 150 kilometres from here, on Wednesday.



The culprit, identified as Rohit Kumar Chaurasia had barged into the house of the victim, a resident of Fattepur Saidhari locality, on Wednesday afternoon and dragged her to the nearby Mahewaganj Road. The girl's mother, who was blind in both eyes, tried to prevent Rohit from taking away her daughter but she was kicked away.



Rohit, who carried a sword, repeatedly hit the minor girl with it severing one of her hands even as a large number of passers by remained mute spectators, according to the eye witness accounts. Recounting the horror one of the eye witnesses said that Rohit continued to hit the girl with a sword even after one of the hands got severed.



The minor had sustained serious injuries on her other hand, back and face also. She was rushed to the district hospital from where she was referred to the Trauma Centre at the KG Medical College in the state capital in a critical condition.



Rohit, who tried to flee from the spot after perpetrating the crime, was caught by the people. He was thrashed by the crowd before being handed over to the police.



Police sources the victim's family said that Rohit used to sit for hours at a hotel, which was situated very close to her house, also used to stalk the girl. Police said that National Security Act (NSA) would be slapped on Rohit.




The peaceful atmosphere in Nandyal town was shattered when the private gunman of Telugu Desam Party leader Abhiruchi Madhu fired five rounds into the air from his service revolver when few YSR Congress activists pelted stones on their convoy on Thursday. Nandyal assembly segment in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh went for by-poll on Wednesday and the counting is slated for 28 August.



According to reports, the attack occurred when the YSRCP leader Bhuma Chakrapani who was on his way to offer condolences to a local YSRC leader Bhasha at his residence in Salim Nagar. When the convoy reached Suraj Grand Hotel, TDP cadre allegedly picked up a fight with the supporters of Shilpa Mohan Reddy and his brother Chakrapani Reddy. Within seconds both sides started pelting stones in which Madhus car is partly damaged. Even as Madhu picked up a machete and started wielding it, the gunman fired into the air to disperse the YSRC supporters. However, no one is injured in the firing. The police have imposed 144 section in the town.



Meanwhile, YSRC MLA Srikanth Reddy reacting to the incident alleged that the TDP has unleashed terror following the massive turnout on Wednesday confirming partys victory. He even alleged that the firing was done to eliminate Chakrapani Reddy. Why didnt the TDP leader deposit his fire arm to the authorities as per code of conduct, he asked. On the other hand state Tourism minister Bhuma Akhila Priya said that TDP knows how to protect its cadre and YSRCs efforts to create terror in Nandyal will not be tolerated.



It was only on Wednesday that the Nandyal police upon the directions of the EC to the returning officer booked cases against YS Jaganmohan Reddy under sections 188,504 and 506 (IPC) and under section 125 of Peoples Representation Act for his comments on Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu during the campaign.




The Supreme Court today cautioned about the dangers to privacy in a digital era and asked the government to set up a robust regime for ensuring data protection.



The apex court said threats to privacy can originate not only from the state but even from "non-state actors" as individuals are constantly generating valuable data which can be used by private parties to "track their moves, choices and preferences."



"We commend to the Union government the need to examine and put into place a robust regime for data protection. The creation of such a regime requires a careful and sensitive balance between individual interests and legitimate concerns of the state," the court said.



"The legitimate aims of the state would include for instance protecting national security, preventing and investigating crime, encouraging innovation and the spread of knowledge, and preventing the dissipation of social welfare benefits.



"These are matters of policy to be considered by the Union government while designing a carefully structured regime for the protection of the data," Justice D Y Chandrachud, who wrote a separate judgement on behalf of himself, Chief Justice J S Khehar, and Justices R K Agrawal and S A Nazeer said.



The top court noted that the Centre has constituted a committee chaired by Justice B N Srikrishna, a former apex court judge, for this purpose and the issue would be dealt with.

Justice S K Kaul, who wrote a separate 47-page verdict, said that growth and development of technology has resulted in an "information explosion" which has advantages as well as disadvantages.



"The access to information, which an individual may not want to give, needs the protection of privacy. The capacity of non-state actors to invade the home and privacy has also been enhanced. Technological development has facilitated journalism that is more intrusive than ever before," he said.



Justice Kaul said data is generated not just by active sharing of information, but also passively with every click on the 'world-wide web'.



"Recently, it was pointed out that 'Uber', the world's largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. 'Facebook', the world's most popular media owner, creates no content. 'Alibaba', the most valuable retailer, has no inventory. And 'Airbnb', the world's largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate. Something interesting is happening," he said.





Justice J Chelameswar also echoed the same views and said telephone tapping and internet hacking by the government also fell within the realm of the right to privacy.



"Informational traces are also an area which is the subject matter of huge debate in various jurisdictions falling within the realm of the right of privacy, such data is as personal as that of the choice of appearance and apparel.



"Telephone tappings and internet hacking by state of personal data is another area which falls within the realm of privacy. The instant reference arises out of such an attempt by the Union of India to collect biometric data regarding all the residents of this country," he said.
The amphibious dock landing ship USS Pearl Harbor (LSD 52) and the embarked 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), arrived in Goa for a scheduled port visit and subject matter expert exchange August 24. USS Pearl Harbor is a Whidbey Island class (cargo variant) amphibious dock landing ship with a crew of over 700 Sailors and embarked Marines.



While in Goa the ship's Sailors and Marines will conduct exchanges with the Indian Navy and Indian Navy Marine Commandos relating to amphibious warfare.



They will also engage in community relations events and have the opportunity to experience Indian culture while enjoying liberty in one of the country's most beautiful regions. This is the ship's first visit to India.



"We are thrilled by the opportunity to visit India," said Commander Theodore Essenfeld, USS Pearl Harbor's commanding officer. "The Sailors and Marines of Pearl Harbor look forward to experiencing the culture and traditions of India while strengthening our long-standing partnership with the Indian Navy."



USS Pearl Harbor was launched on February 24, 1996, and commissioned on May 30th, 1998. The ship is based in San Diego, California. The 15th MEU is based at Camp Pendleton, California. Both USS Pearl Harbor and the 15th MEU are currently deployed as a part of the USS America Amphibious Ready Group, which is operating in the Indo-Asia Pacific region to strengthen partnerships and serve as a ready-response force for any type of contingency.














Rajasthan is the first state in the country to offer free new-age email service for communication and e-vault for storage of documents.



At the launch of Rajasthan Digifest, 2017 Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje said it's a unique initiative to provide free e-mail and e-vault facility to every citizen of the state. She said, "There is a unique start up a platform called I-Start, which would serve as a single point for registration, functioning, support and hand-holding for the start up firms as well as Angel funding groups and venture capital institutes".



At the launch of the free new age email service, she also dedicated another portal named Rajasthan Stack to the public and stated that all these things would add to a positive healthy competitive environment in the state. She also invited the youth to accept the Challenge for Change, an initiative through which the state government would offer direct work orders worth up to Rs. 1 crore to the young minds.


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Chinese tourists spent about 153,000 room nights in Sweden in the first half of this year, up 19.9 percent year on year, according to Li Chunmei, chief representative of Visit Sweden in China.

China is one of Sweden's fastest-growing sources of tourists, Li said on Monday. "Stockholm, Skane, West Sweden and Lapland are the most popular destinations," Li said.

More Chinese visitors are turning from traditional sightseeing to in-depth traveling, seeking to experience the local lifestyle, she said.

Visit Sweden released a three-episode mini-film last week to showcase the authentic Swedish lifestyle.

Since 2016, Visit Sweden has introduced "soft adventure" for Chinese tourists, including biking, car hire and parent-child products.
More than 1.4 million Muslims have so far arrived in Saudi Arabia for the hajj, authorities said today, with the annual pilgrimage marked by the return of Iranians after Tehran's boycott last year.



More than two million people are expected to participate in this year's hajj, a pillar of Islam that capable Muslims must perform at least once in their lives, which starts next week. "So far 1,313,946 pilgrims have arrived by air, 79,501 by land, and 12,477 by sea -- an increase of 33 percent compared with the same period last year," the state-run Saudi Press Agency said, citing passport officials.



That includes more than 400 Qatari pilgrims, local media reported, despite an intensifying row between Doha and Riyadh over arrangements for the religious event.



All Qatari pilgrims arrived through the Salwa border crossing with Qatar. The hajj has been clouded by the worst political crisis in the Gulf in decades, with Saudi Arabia leading a four-state bloc that suspended all ties with Doha on June 5 over accusations the emirate backed Islamist extremists.



Qatar has denied the charge and said this week it was worried pilgrims from the emirate would be treated badly. But the Saudi media has repeatedly broadcast images showing officials courteously assisting Qatari pilgrims.



The hajj ministry has said the kingdom, home to Islam's holiest sites, welcomes all pilgrims from different nationalities.

The ministry added it was equipped to handle the additional crowds after the completion of expansion works at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the most revered site in Islam.



More than 1.8 million faithful took part in last year's hajj. But Iran's 64,000 pilgrims stayed away for the first time in three decades after tensions between Riyadh and Tehran boiled over following a deadly stampede during the 2015 pilgrimage.

An agreement was reached earlier this year to allow Iranians to take part in the hajj.



Iran and Saudi Arabia will soon exchange diplomatic visits, Tehran said this week, in a possible sign of tensions easing after the archrivals cut ties last year.
Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar was appointed as BJP's election in-charge for Karnataka assembly polls which will be due early next year.



Javadekar will be assisted by Union Power Minister Piyush Goel to discharge his maiden Karnataka poll assignment. The two ministers had similarly supervised preparation of 2016 Tamil Nadu assembly elections.



"People want a change in Karnataka. The BJP has tremendous support in the state and the party has a very strong team there. We will together carry out the responsibility bestowed on us by the party," Javadekar stated on getting the new responsibility.



Though Javadekar never got a chance from the party to associate himself with the Karnataka elections, the minister, said a close aide of his, comes from the adjoining state of Maharastra and fairly knows about South India. He was entrusted with the task to reach out to Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and other surrounding states on the first anniversary of Modi government, his aide added.



BJP president Amit Shah's decision on election managers comes two days ahead of Karnataka state core group meeting he has scheduled in the national capital to outline the broad contours of the strategy with the Congress trying to pitch Kannadiga pride against Hindutva. Chief Minister Siddaramaih is also reviving old cases against BJP's poll mascot BS Yeddyurappa, a concern that the BJP leaders will have to address.



Other top BJP ministers too were assigned for poll-bound states of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, aided by 4 top leaders including Nirmala Sitharaman, Jitendra Singh and Narendra Singh Tomar and P P Chaudhary, will oversee Gujarat. While Social Justice Minister Thwarchand Gehlot will take care of Himachal Pradesh.



The BJP has relied on Jaitley's past experience of managing Gujarat polls to renominate him for the same task. And so is the case with Sitharaman.



Shah's heavy deployment in his and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state of Gujarat assumes importance due to the stiff target of 150 seats to win in the assembly elections which the party had not even managed when Modi ruled the state for years. The party top brass, said sources, would also like to avenge humbling experience during the just held Rajya Sabha election.



The BJP despite deploying its might could not stop Congress leader Ahmed Patel from having the fifth stint in the Upper House. The other two seats were comfortably won by Shah and Union minister Smriti Irani.
In a progressive decision with far-reaching consequences, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the right to privacy is a fundamental right.



It held privacy as a core of human dignity, which recognises an individuals right to make essential choices of life without any intrusion from state or non-state agencies.



A nine-judge bench presided over by Chief Justice J S Khehar declared, The right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and as a part of the freedoms guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution.



The court explained that privacy is a constitutionally protected right which emerges primarily from the guarantee of life and personal liberty, which are not creations of the Constitution.



These rights are recognised by the Constitution as inhering in each individual as an intrinsic and inseparable part of the human element, it said.



The nine-judge bench passed a unanimous verdict, which is described as historic in terms of the evolution of constitutional freedoms enjoyed by individuals.



The court elevated privacy as part of the basic structure of the Constitution, giving it inviolable status.



The judgement came on a reference made by a five-judge bench on July 18. The court said the interpretation of the Constitution must be resilient and flexible as technological change has given rise to concerns which were not present seven decades ago.



However, like other freedoms, including the right to life and personal liberty, privacy would not be an absolute right.



Landmark judgement



* Verdict limited to issue of right to privacy



* Question whether Aadhaar violates this right will be dealt with by a five-judge bench



* The bench has been hearing petitions since 2015





PILs against



* Move to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing benefits of social welfare schemes



"When a citizen gives his biometrics and personal details and when in turn it is used by commercial organisations, it's a breach of privacy" -- Petitioners





Centre's stand



* Privacy is a "vague and amorphous" right which cannot be granted primacy to deprive poor people of their right to life, food and shelter



Response

"The judgement heralds a new era for individual rights, personal liberty and human dignity" -- Sonia Gandhi, Congress president





"This failure of the government reflects its narrow-mindedness on issues relating to individual freedom" -- Kapil Sibal, Congress leader and senior advocate who appeared for non-BJP ruled states





"The Supreme Court decision marks a major blow to fascist forces," Rahul Gandhi, Congress vice president





"The judgement is a landmark verdict and will rank among the most important judgements delivered since the advent of the Constitution," P Chidambaram, senior Congress leader





"People thank the Honourable Judges. These are moments that make India," - Kamal Haasan, actor





"This landmark judgement should pave the way to protect, in this world of technology advance dominated by corporates, misuse of private data," CPM Politburo





Privacy issue went to Supreme Court because previous UPA government brought Aadhaar without legal framework: Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cancelled his Patna visit on Saturday. However, he will visit flood-affected Bihar districts - Kishanganj, Katihar, Araria and Purnia on August 26.



Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was earlier scheduled to receive him at Patna airport on Saturday, will now receive the prime minister at Purnia air base at 10 am.



Modi, who has assured Nitish all possible assistance for flood relief and rescue operation, will undertake aerial survey of flood-torn districts.



Later, he will hold confabulations with the chief minister and senior officials of the Water Resources Department, Agriculture, Health, Road Construction and Rural Development. Thereafter PM will leave for Delhi from Purnia, said senior BJP minister Nand Kishore Yadav.



Bihar Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh on Thursday reviewd a power-point presentation for the prime minister wherein Modi would be apprised of the devastation caused due to sudden flood.



Meanwhile, death toll in Bihar flood has reached 394. Though water has started receding in many areas, around 1.5 crore people in 18 districts continue to be affected by this years flood.
Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) chief Bimal Gurung on Thursday requested West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to initiate a political dialogue to end the over two months old impasse in the hills but stuck to his demand for a separate Gorkhaland.



His request came two days after the state governments announcement of holding talks with the agitating parties on August 29.



Banerjee had said on Tuesday that the state government has accepted the proposal of GNLF, a constituent of the GMCC, for a dialogue and fixed August 29 for the discussion here.
India and Nepal signed eight pacts on Thursday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi re-assured Nepalese Premier Sher Bahadur Deuba of New Delhis support to the neighbouring countrys pursuit for development.



India is fully committed to extend cooperation to Nepal in its pursuit for development in keeping with the priorities of people and the government of Nepal, Modi said after a meeting with Deuba.



Modi also stressed on greater cooperation among the defence and security agencies of India and Nepal. Deuba said Nepal will never allow any activity from its territory against India.



Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar later told mediapersons that India, too, renewed its continuing commitment to provide training to personnel of the security forces of Nepal. Deuba is the first foreign head of a government to visit New Delhi after the soldiers of India and China got into a face-off at Doklam Plateau in western Bhutan.



Nepal is among the South Asian nations, where China has been trying to challenge the traditional geopolitical influence of India. Deuba joined Modi on Thursday to remotely launch two cross-border power transmission lines Kataiya-Kusaha and Raxaul-Parwanipur between India and Nepal. The two leaders discussed a number of infrastructure projects to be funded by India in Nepal, including building roads, hydro-electric power plant, and petroleum and natural gas pipelines, Jaishankar said.



Deuba conveyed to Modi that his government would continue its effort to amend the Constitution of Nepal to address the concerns of Madhesis.
The Darjeeling hills were shaken by two blasts on Thursday amid the indefinite shutdown spearheaded by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) demanding a separate of Gorkhaland.



The first incident happened outside Sukhiapokhri Police station, damaging several shops and vehicles, the police said.



The second blast took place in the Lebong area, where several vehicles were badly damaged.



"There have been no reports of any casualty or injuries in the two blasts. Preliminary investigation indicates that IEDs and grenades were used for the blasts. Forensic teams have reached the spots and a detailed probe is on," said ADG (law and order) Anuj Sharma.



The police said suspected Gorkhaland supporters also set a godown on fire in the hills later in the day.



The blasts came barely five days after an IED blast in the heart of Darjeeling and a grenade attack on Kalimpong Police station, killing one civic volunteer and seriously injuring two cops.



West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has convened a meeting of all hill parties on August 29 at the state secretariat in an effort to bring back peace and normalcy in the Darjeeling hills. Both the GNLF and GJM had written to the chief minister urging her to convene the meeting.






Minister for Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday said private companies that are collecting customers' data should obey the law of the land.



The government expects by year end recommendations from a 10-member committee, headed by Justice B N Srikrishna, on a framework for securing personal data and build safeguards against data breaches.



We have constituted a high-level committee on data protection headed by retired Judge Srikrishna. The court has acknowledged that a robust data regime is needed to balance the inequities at individual and national levels and above all in delivering social welfare schemes, he told reporters here.



The panel will deal with all the issues about data security. Based on the suggestion of the panel, the government will draft a data protection bill, said the minister.



To a question on social media giants like WhatsApp and Facebook collecting user data, the minister said the matter has to be examined based on the judgement.



I wish that whoever is collecting consumers' data must obey the law of the land," he said.



He also said that contrary to allegations by the Opposition, the government has always been of view, particularly with regard to Aadhaar, that privacy should be an inalienable right of individuals.



On the benefits of Aadhaar, the minister claimed the government has saved Rs 57,000 crore through validation.



Aadhaar validates information for 3 crore people every day. The world is marvelling at this technology. It is completely homegrown. Should be proud, he said.



Prasad said the government cannot give permission for release of data except in compelling circumstances for which there is a strict laid-down procedure.



He said about 30 crore Jan Dhan accounts have been opened which are linked to Aadhaar and also mobile numbers.



DH News Service
Ashwani Lohani, the newly appointed railway board chairman, said on Thursday that the safety of passengers will be the topmost priority of the railways.



Safety will be our topmost focus, of course. Cleanliness, improvement of stations, ending corruption and VIP culture will be the other areas of focus, Lohani told reporters.



He also said it was an emotional moment for him to take charge of the railway board.



A 1980-batch officer of the Indian Railways Service of Mechanical Engineering, he had earlier served as the divisional railway manager (DRM) of Delhi.



Lohani said he feels good that the government has considered him worthy of this position.



Underlining that the railways is a very old organisation and a lifeline for India, he said it has several strengths. We will move forward on those strengths, he said.
 Flash

Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi (L) shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during their meeting in Washington D.C., the United States, on Feb. 28, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi held a telephone conversation Wednesday with U.S. State of Secretary Rex Tillerson on China-U.S. relations and the Afghanistan issue.

China and the United States have been maintaining communication and cooperation in a wide range of areas, which is in the interests of both countries and the world at large, Yang said.

In accordance with the important consensus reached by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump, the two countries should strengthen high-level exchanges as well as those at various levels and make good preparations for Trump's visit to China within this year, which is at Xi's invitation, he said.

Calling for mutual respect and mutual benefit, Yang voiced hope that the two countries will expand cooperation and properly settle differences so as to keep up a good momentum for the development of China-U.S. relations.

Tillerson, for his part, said that the U.S. side is willing to work with the Chinese side to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and promote communication and cooperation.

President Trump is looking forward to his important visit to China within the year, said Tillerson, expressing hope for concerted efforts to make a success of the visit.

Yang and Tillerson also exchanged views on the current situation of Afghanistan.

China is committed to facilitating Afghanistan's peace and reconciliation process and political dialogue is the only solution to the Afghanistan issue, said Yang.

The international community needs to support Afghanistan in achieving a broad and inclusive political reconciliation, support the Afghan people in pursuing a development path that suits their own national conditions and support the Afghan government in increasing it capability to fight forces of extremism and terrorism, he said.

We need to give attention to the important role Pakistan plays in the Afghanistan issue, and respect Pakistan's sovereignty and security concerns, Yang said.

China stands ready to keep communication and coordination with the United States on the Afghanistan issue and make joint efforts to realize peace and stability in the country and the whole region, he said.
An armed gang of four miscreants hacked a 32-year-old history-sheeter to death in Jnanabharati police station limits on Thursday evening. The deceased, Arjuna Thatte, is a history-sheeter in the Chandra Layout police station, with multiple criminal cases against him, police said.



On Thursday, at around 6 pm, the gang hacked Arjuna to death while he was sitting beside a cemetery near SAI campus in Nayandahalli. Eye-witnesses told the police that they had seen around three to four persons assaulting Arjuna with lethal weapons. He sustained injuries on his head and neck and died on the spot, police said.



The Jnanabharathi police rushed to the spot and shifted the body to Victoria Hospital. The police are trying to ascertain the identity of the assailants. They suspect old rivalry to be the motive behind the murder.



DH News Service
The World Heritage Area Development Authority is preparing to implement the Hampi By Night project.



The Authority has already written to the Tourism department in this regard.



Tenders will be called for the project once the department grants the go ahead.

The Authority is keen that the project is implemented before the Hampi Utsav scheduled for November.



Hence, they are in constant touch with the department, so that the approval comes through.

The main intention is to provide access to tourists to the monuments during the night hours as they tend to give Hampi a miss in the summer months of April and May due to the intense heat.



The Hampi By Night project will open 19 monuments for public viewing at night by lighting them up.



Trials had been conducted for the project in 2010, but it had not moved forward thereafter, Prashant Kumar Mishra, commissioner of the Authority, told DH.



Mishra said they were looking for private participation in the project as it involves huge expenses towards power bills, lights and speakers.



A senior officer of the Archaeological Survey of India said the project is in the doldrums due to lack of proper preparations.



The officer said that the previous BJP government had released Rs 12 crore for the Hampi By Night project. He rued that the Authority spent the amount towards providing basic amenities to the tourists.



Now, it is looking for private investment in the project. Cultural programmes will be organised in front of the Basavanna and Kodandarama temples.



A laser light and sound show will be organised at each monument to explain their history and significance. The show will be organised at the Virupaksha temple, Vishnu temple, Virupaksha Bazaar, Sugrivas caves, ancient bridge, Narasimha temple, Achyutaraya temple, Achyuta mantap, lotus mahal, Varaha temple and elephant stables.


Amidst troubles from the state Anti Corruption Bureau, former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has something to cheer about.



The Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) Anti Corruption Branch has decided not to file an appeal challenging the senior BJP leaders acquittal in a Rs 40-crore bribery case. Sources confirmed that the Directorate of Prosecution under the Ministry of Law and Justice has turned down the request for appeal sent by the CBI, Bengaluru.



A CBI special court had acquitted Yeddyurappa and 12 others in the Rs 40-crore bribery case in October 2016. The CBI court had also acquitted Yeddyurappas sons B Y Raghavendra and B Y Vijayendra, son-in-law Sohan Kumar and representatives of JSW Steel, of which Sajjan Jindal is the chairman.



Almost 10 months after the CBI court acquitted Yeddyurappa, the Union Government has decided not to file an appeal. Immediately after the order was pronounced, the special public prosecutor for the CBI had recommended to go for an appeal in the case. The CBI, Bengaluru had also sent a correspondence to Delhi. A review petition will have to be filed within three months of the order.



Earlier, the FIR registered by the Lokayukta police on similar charges carved out of the Lokayukta report (part-2), was quashed by the High Court of Karnataka. The Supreme Court ordered a CBI probe into the case after Samaja Parivarthana Samudaya, an NGO, filed a petition.



Prof Vishnu Kamath, co-petitioner in the Supreme Court, said that there was no way left to persuade the CBI or the Centre to file the appeal. To me, it looks like the CBI and the Centre do not want to file appeals against politicians and people linked to politicians. We had moved the Supreme Court this year since Centre and the CBI decided not to challenge discharge of former minister Gali Janardhana Reddys wife Lakshmi Aruna in the Associated Mining Company (AMC) case. Surprisingly, the Supreme Court is blowing hot and cold. On July 27, the bench took the CBI to task for not filing an appeal, however during the next hearing on August 9, it said it was up to the CBI. We do not want to face similar response in Yeddyurappas case, he said.



The CBI special court had discharged Aruna and IAS officer M E Shivalingamurthy in the AMC case.



The request for appeal against the discharge of Aruna was turned down while the Centre cleared the appeal against Shivalingamurthy. The CBI case was that the AMCs illegal mining had caused a loss of Rs 480 crore to the state exchequer.



The CBI case



The CBI case was that Yeddyurappa abused his official position, both as deputy chief minister and chief minister and illegally denotified the land in Rachenahalli in Bengaluru to obtain pecuniary advantage to his kins. The land notified for acquisition by Bangalore Development Authority was converted for non-agriculture purpose in violation of Karnataka Land Revenue Rules. Yeddyurappas sons purchased the land for Rs 20 lakh.



Around the same time, Yeddyurappa fixed premium on iron ore payable to Mysore Minerals Limited (MML) at 50% instead of 60% and caused a loss to the state exchequer to favour JSW Steels. As a quid pro quo, JSW advised its subsidiary companies to donate Rs 20 crore to Prerana Trust and purchased one acre in Rachenahalli by paying an inflated price of Rs 20 crore. However, the CBI court held that a request for donation by Prerana Trust could not be treated as a demand by Yeddyurappa. The order also said that Yeddyurappas decisions in the matter of denotification of land, fixation of premium on iron ore and imposition of ban on the export of iron ore were collective decision of the government.


A local court on Wednesday convicted a Nigerian national of assaulting Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers in 2015.



Principal District and Sessions judge, Basavaraj Sappananavar, sentenced Adams Darmez to two-and-a-half-years' imprisonment and fined him Rs 10,000. Public prosecutor Channappa Harasuru said it was the first instance in Karnataka when a foreign national was convicted of assault on police officers.



Suspecting Darmez of circulating counterfeit notes, CID sleuths had raided a KFC restaurant in Banaswadi, where he was hiding, around 10 pm on March 12, 2015. In a bid to flee, Darmez picked up a chair and assaulted CID constables, Shivakumar and Lingaraju, besides a restaurant worker Manju.



The sleuths overpowered him and took him into custody. They booked him for circulating fake notes and assaulting policemen on duty. The case was registered at the jurisdictional Banaswadi police station. Interrogation showed that Darmez had a fake passport.



DH News Service
The Centre on Wednesday might have decided to set up a panel to examine the sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs), but Karnataka sub-categorised OBCs years ago.



Karnataka is among the few states to have sub-categorised OBCs. Other states include Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.



Over a period of time, successive governments and backward classes commissions in Karnataka have recommended inclusion of different communities in the reservation list. It was in 1995, during H D Deve Gowdas tenure as chief minister, a Cabinet sub-committee classified communities under category 1, 2A, 2B (Muslims), 3A and 3B. The government issued an order fixing reservation and it holds good even today. (see box)



Sub-categorisation of OBCs is a welcome step as it ensures that the most deprived communities get the maximum benefit of reservation. Karnataka has already such a system in place for reservation both in education as well as employment, Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes chairman H Kantharaj told this paper.



Kantharaj said it is up to the Centre to take up sub-categorisation of OBCs in Karnataka. If it takes it up, then it should match the already existing classification in the state. If the Centres classification is different, then a reason should be given, he said.



He said there are Supreme Court judgements that have upheld categorisation of OBCs for availing benefits of reservation. Kantharaj said categorisation of OBCs should be not arbitrary and done based on scientific data which include caste particulars and socio and economic parameters.



In Karnataka a socio-economic survey (also known as caste census) has been conducted by the State Commission for Backward Classes but the results are yet to be made public.
Higher Education Minister Basavaraj Rayareddy on Thursday called for an overhaul in the way vice-chancellors are appointed to universities, at a time when the state government has locked horns with the Raj Bhavan on the matter.



The posts of vice-chancellors at Bangalore University, University of Mysore and the Karnataka State Law University still remain vacant as Governor and Chancellor of the universities Vajubhai R Vala and the state government are not on the same page. Appointment of a VC to the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, too, has run into a roadblock.



The current process is very complicated, Rayareddy told a press conference, adding that it was an unprecedented situation where the post of vice-chancellor has been vacant in some universities for several months now.



The minister said the process of appointing vice-chancellors will become less complicated once the Karnataka State Universities Bill, 2017 - a common law that will govern all universities in the state - will be passed in the upcoming legislature session in November. The Bill has been passed in the Legislative Assembly.



At present, the search committee to shortlist VCs has three members. We have proposed five members, with two nominees of the state government against the existing one, he explained. The Bill also raises the bar for who should be a member of the search committee. We have proposed academicians with 25 years of professorship. Similarly, a VC should have 25 years as a professor against the existing10, he said.



The Finance department has cleared the recruitment of nearly 1,500 assistant professors in government-aided colleges, Rayareddy said, adding that a government order would be issued soon. He said 2,160 assistant professors will be hired for all 412 government first grade colleges by September. On 390 colleges not having permanent principals, he said a decision would be taken in a week on whether to go for direct recruitment or appoint principals through promotion. A committee headed by space scientist K Kasturirangan has been tasked with hiring the best faculty, including a director of global repute, for the Bengaluru Dr B R Ambedkar School of Economics, Rayareddy said.



Naming universities



The government wants to rename Gulbarga University after Basaveshwara and the Central University of Karnataka (Kalaburagi) after Dr B R Ambedkar, the minister said. We have received suggestions to name other universities after Shishunala Sharif, Valmiki and others, he said.
Higher Education Minister Basavaraj Rayareddy on Thursday targetted senior BJP leaders B S Yeddyurappa and Jagadish Shettar for not taking a stand on the demand to accord separate religioun status for the Lingayata dharma.



Yeddyurappa and Shettar are under the stronghold of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). They are just namesake Lingayat leaders, Rayareddy told reporters.



Yeddyurappa was a signatory to the demand for a separate Veerashaiva-Lingayat religion. Outside, however, he says it is part of the Hindu religion. Will Yeddyurappa be a leader without Hindutva? BJP leaders have become Manuvadis - they dont have answers for women inequality in the Hindu religion, Rayareddy charged.



In support



Rayareddy is one of the few Lingayat ministers in the Siddaramaiah Cabinet who are supporting the demand to declare Lingayat dharma as an independent religion.



The minister defended his Cabinet colleagues M B Patil, Eshwar B Khandre, S S Mallikarjun and others when asked why the Congress ministers and leaders were interfering in the religion row.



Because we were born in the community, we have a say in the matter, Rayareddy stated.



On the confusion whether Veerashaiva and Lingayats are the same, he said there was a need for the Akhila Bharata Veerashaiva Mahasabha, the Panchapeetha mutts and the independent Virakta mutts to come together and iron out differences.



Lets all come together honourably instead of fighting it out on the street, the minister added.








Karnataka produced 2.37 lakh engineering graduates in the past five years, and nearly half of them were found unemployable.



Now, the department of IT&BT is taking steps to buck the trend by working backwards - getting the industry to train such graduates.



The department is gearing up to launch Yuva Yuga, an industry-led project where top companies will be roped in to provide the right set of skills to unemployable graduates in IT and related sectors. Between 2012 and 2016, a total of 3.88 lakh students enrolled into engineering and technology courses (BE/BTech) in Karnataka, of whom 2.37 lakh passed and only 1.31 lakh got placed, according to data from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).



Employability is a concern I have raised in many platforms. Karnataka generates the maximum number of engineers, so it is natural that more of them fall prey to unemployment, IT & BT Minister Priyank Kharge said.



Were trying to see how we can work backwards with the industry and re-skill our graduates in emerging sectors. We hope to launch this in about a months time, he said. Through Yuva Yuga, the government hopes to train 1.1 lakh youth in what Kharge says will be sector-specific. We want to train graduates with curriculum designed by the industry. For example, one company will have its own curriculum, train graduates in an area of its need and absorb them thereafter. Those who get trained will receive certification endorsed both by the state government and the industry, which could further their employment prospects, he explained.



The industry is changing such that graduates who do not have adequate skills in emerging sectors such as automation, Internet of Things, cloud computing and analytics will not find takers, according to R V College of Engineering principal K N Subramanya. We have to wait and see if the slowdown in IT hiring will impact campus placements this year, he said. Authorities are reaching out to several industry majors to come aboard Yuva Yuga. Some half-a-dozen companies have already signed an agreement with us, IT & BT Principal Secretary Gaurav Gupta said. Gone are the days when plain vanilla engineering graduates were hired with a good salary, he said.



In the long run, the government plans to make such training a part of the curriculum by way of add-on courses, Gupta said.



DH News Service




Thomas More Society Announces Its New Executive Vice President and General Counsel Andrew Bath Brings to the Thomas More Society Expertise as the Top Legal Officer of a Large, National Nonprofit, as Well as a Long Commitment to Life, Family, and Religious Liberty



Contact: Tom Ciesielka, 312-422-1333,



CHICAGO/OMAHA, Aug. 24, 2017 /



"We are delighted Andy Bath has agreed to move into a key leadership role at the Thomas More Society," said Tom Brejcha, Thomas More Society founder, President, and Chief Counsel. "With his experience running the legal department of a large, national nonprofit, as well as his national connections, he will be an enormous asset for the Thomas More Society. This is a great step forward."



Mr. Brejcha continued, "Andy also has a long commitment to our issues. He has been active in the pro-life movement for over 30 years. In fact, he was the Chairman of the Board of the Wisconsin Right to Life Political Action Committee when he practiced law in Milwaukee. He has long been an active member of the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. Andy has consulted on many nationally significant cases in recent years involving issues of life and religious freedom. And he has a working relationship with many of the top lawyers in the country in these areas."



"Andy understands the crucial importance of protecting our God-given rights under the law," said Mr. Brejcha.



Mr. Bath remarked, "I am honored to have joined one of the preeminent guardians of life, family, and religious freedom under the law. It is a privilege to work with these great lawyers and to help protect the inalienable rights of those whose lives and freedoms are threatened."



Ann Scheidler, Founding Director and Chairman of the Board at the Thomas More Society, added, "We are excited to have Mr. Bath step into this position. His nationwide prominence will help propel the Thomas More Society even further into the spotlight as we work to defend personal and religious liberties on the national stage."



Mr. Bath has worked as a Special Counsel with the Thomas More Society on particular matters since 2013 and formally assumed his new position earlier this year.



In private practice, Mr. Bath concentrated on civil litigation and corporate law. He earned his Juris Doctor degree at Marquette University Law School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, after earning a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. View Andrew M. Bath's official biography here:



About the Thomas More Society

The Thomas More Society is a national not-for-profit law firm dedicated to restoring respect in law for life, family, and religious liberty. Headquartered in Chicago and Omaha, the Thomas More Society fosters support for these causes by providing high quality pro bono legal services from local trial courts all the way up to the United States Supreme Court. For more information, visit



Share Tweet Contact: Tom Ciesielka, 312-422-1333, tc@tcpr.net CHICAGO/OMAHA, Aug. 24, 2017 / Christian Newswire / -- Andrew M. Bath has joined the Thomas More Society as Executive Vice President and General Counsel, after serving for many years in the same position with Boys Town, the world-famous organization founded by Fr. Edward J. Flanagan, with facilities across the nation for at-risk youth."We are delighted Andy Bath has agreed to move into a key leadership role at the Thomas More Society," said Tom Brejcha, Thomas More Society founder, President, and Chief Counsel. "With his experience running the legal department of a large, national nonprofit, as well as his national connections, he will be an enormous asset for the Thomas More Society. This is a great step forward."Mr. Brejcha continued, "Andy also has a long commitment to our issues. He has been active in the pro-life movement for over 30 years. In fact, he was the Chairman of the Board of the Wisconsin Right to Life Political Action Committee when he practiced law in Milwaukee. He has long been an active member of the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. Andy has consulted on many nationally significant cases in recent years involving issues of life and religious freedom. And he has a working relationship with many of the top lawyers in the country in these areas.""Andy understands the crucial importance of protecting our God-given rights under the law," said Mr. Brejcha.Mr. Bath remarked, "I am honored to have joined one of the preeminent guardians of life, family, and religious freedom under the law. It is a privilege to work with these great lawyers and to help protect the inalienable rights of those whose lives and freedoms are threatened."Ann Scheidler, Founding Director and Chairman of the Board at the Thomas More Society, added, "We are excited to have Mr. Bath step into this position. His nationwide prominence will help propel the Thomas More Society even further into the spotlight as we work to defend personal and religious liberties on the national stage."Mr. Bath has worked as a Special Counsel with the Thomas More Society on particular matters since 2013 and formally assumed his new position earlier this year.In private practice, Mr. Bath concentrated on civil litigation and corporate law. He earned his Juris Doctor degree at Marquette University Law School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, after earning a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. View Andrew M. Bath's official biography here: www.thomasmoresociety.org/about/the-attorneys/andrew-m-bath/ About the Thomas More SocietyThe Thomas More Society is a national not-for-profit law firm dedicated to restoring respect in law for life, family, and religious liberty. Headquartered in Chicago and Omaha, the Thomas More Society fosters support for these causes by providing high quality pro bono legal services from local trial courts all the way up to the United States Supreme Court. For more information, visit www.thomasmoresociety.org
A team of JD(S) leaders led by party state president H D Kumaraswamy will be visiting Israel to study innovative agriculture model in the desert country.



Kumaraswamy, who has announced that he will adopt the Israeli model of farming if his party comes to power after next years Assembly elections, will be travelling in Israel for a week, where he will hold interactions with the agricultural universities and progressive farmers. The JD(S) team is scheduled to leave for Israel on August 26. Party leaders Basavaraj Horatti, Appaji Gowda,

C S Puttaraju and K S Rangappa are part of the team.



Kumaraswamy said that the idea was to bring back smart solutions like drip and micro-irrigation adopted by Israel, so that Karnataka farmers, who are enduring acute drought conditions, could benefit from the same. The team will be visiting the cities of Haifa, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to study the irrigation system, wastewater utility, greenhouse, packaging systems of agricultural products, poultry, aqua and dairy farming. While the Technion  Israel Institute of Technology will impart the technical know-how, the Israeli Embassy will help the team with logistical issues.




Malaysia Launches First of Five Littoral Combat Ships



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By Mika McKinnon

11 August 2017

KAMLOOPS, British Columbia (New Scientist)  Its stiflingly hot and Im trapped inside a dome of smoke. I know Im in a river valley nestled within mountain ranges, but the visibility is cut so low that I cant see any of the dramatic peaks that dominate landscapes across British Columbia. Its the worst documented wildfire season since 1958, and smoke is an omnipresent and unwelcome companion.We have a very significant fire season unfolding, says Daniel Perrakis, a fire research scientist at the Canadian Forest Service. Its the largest area burned since the advent of modern fire-suppression and fire-management techniques, he says. Over 591,000 hectares have burned so far.Ive left my coastal home in Vancouver and travelled inland to support evacuations, joining the swarms of volunteers being deployed to help.Shifting winds and an atmospheric wall of high pressure have funnelled smoke into the city of Kamloops, filling the air with an unprecedented 684.5 micrograms of fine material per cubic metre. Thats nearly 70 times more than the World Health Organizations guidelines for safe exposure limits.My eyes sting when I walk outside, and I feel the throb of a headache coming on if I dare walk as far as the street corner. Even indoors, the smell of smoke whispers through the ventilation systems until it clings to everything. I woke up to ash on my toothbrush, large black flakes against white bristles.The story of how things got like this is a slow-speed disaster of climate change, a beetle invasion, and the unintended consequences of well-meaning policy gone wrong. [more]
By Ed Yong

21 August 2017

(The Atlantic)  In the summer of 2014, William Deacy and Jonathan Armstrong returned to Kodiak Island, Alaskaa place where the worlds biggest grizzly bears gather to gorge themselves. Every year, hordes of sockeye salmon swim up from the ocean and fill the islands streams in a spawning frenzy. Every year, the bears are waiting for them. And every year, Deacy and Armstrong had gone to wait for the bears.

But in 2014, the bears were gone.

For years, Deacy and Armstrong, both ecologists from Oregon State University, had spent time at one particular stream on the islandthree meters across, and only six inches deep. In July and August, its shallow waters turn red with around 60,000 sockeye salmon. Theyre bank to bank, says Deacy. Youd have a hard time walking through the stream without catching one.The bears certainly have no problem. They kill around 70 percent of the spawning fish, and they focus on the most energy-rich organs. Theyll bite the humps off the backs of the males, and theyll tear females open to get at their nutritious eggs. The signs of this massacre are evident. The tall grass on the streams banks gets so thoroughly flattened by the lumbering bears that it resembles a putting green. Gulls, scavenging from the cadavers, are so bloated that they can barely flyand are liable to careen into human heads. And bits of shredded, half-eaten salmon float downstream.Its usually terrifying to walk up the streams because you get a sense of carnage just around the next corner, Armstrong says.But in 2014: nothing. The grass was tall. The gulls were svelte. And the salmon were mostly untouched. Foxes, eagles, and wolves took their fair share, but without the bears, these lesser predators made the tiniest of dents in the salmon population. Most of the fish died naturally. Thered be piles of dead salmon, just molding, says Armstrong. The bacteria were eating them instead of the bears. []Most examples of these phenological shifts involve asynchrony between two partners. The case of the Kodiak bears represents an under-recognized phenomenonthat of increasing synchrony of [natural] events due to climate change, says Nicole Rafferty, from the University of California, Riverside. And the consequences of this shift in foraging behavior could be large with knock-on effects for the ecosystem as a whole.Species that never lived together can now interact because were removing the barrier of time, says Armstrong. Well see these new combinations that we never thought about, and well get strong responses that no one could have ever predicted. [more]
In secret, behind locked gates, our Nation's Oldest City dumped a landfill in a lake (Old City Reservoir), while emitting sewage in our rivers and salt marsh. Organized citizens exposed and defeated pollution, racism and cronyism. We elected a new Mayor. We're transforming our City -- advanced citizenship. Ask questions. Make disclosures. Demand answers. Be involved. Expect democracy. Report and expose corruption. Smile! Help enact a St. Augustine National Park and Seashore. We shall overcome!
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By PAUL WISEMAN

AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON  Just a week into talks to rewrite the North American Free Trade Agreement, President Donald Trump is already threatening to abandon the 23-year-old pact with Canada and Mexico.

At a high-profile campaign-style rally in Phoenix on Tuesday night, Trump predicted that the United States would end up probably terminating NAFTA at some point, though he said he hadn't made a final decision.





. . .
Giant murals give students something to look at and feel proud

The murals were painted by Native American artist Andrew Morrison for Seattles Wilson-Pacific School campus, and preserved in a replacement project.



By CORY HITZEMANN and ALAN JACOBSON

Coughlin Porter Lundeen

Hitzemann

Jacobson

Three schools in Seattles Licton Springs neighborhood  Cascadia Elementary School, Licton Springs K-8 and Robert Eagle Staff Middle School  will open their doors to more than 1,660 students next month.

The schools share a campus and replace the former Wilson-Pacific School building. The impressive campus includes playfields, child care facilities and modern classroom amenities.

The campus also includes a few nontraditional school elements, such as the 25-foot Native American murals and a dramatically improved neighborhood storm drainage conveyance system. Both are the result of the project teams dedication to understanding and adapting to the needs of the community.

The final buildings are uniquely positioned to serve their students, establish goodwill with neighbors, and honor the history of the site and community.

The school buildings presented a twofold challenge: first, marrying the three schools and their distinct programs, needs and grade levels; and second, satisfying a diverse, invested community of stakeholders. Understanding the needs of the community took time.

The project team carefully considered the input and feedback from all stakeholders, including the Native American community.

Photo courtesy of Coughlin Porter Lundeen [enlarge] The 25-foot murals were integrated into the new buildings as part of the structural system.

Preserved murals

The previous school on the site, Wilson-Pacific School, was constructed in the 1950s on the site where Licton Springs is located. The springs are still regarded as a part of a sacred religious site by the Duwamish people, and until demolition the school regularly held cultural events, such as powwows and meetings of Native American organizations.

The campus has been reborn as a place for Native American pride to be cultivated and legacies to be preserved. Legacies like that of Robert Eagle Staff of the Minneconjou Lakota. Under his guidance as principal of Indian Heritage School from 1989-1996, students achieved a nearly 100 percent graduation rate, and now the new middle school building bears his name.

Interpretive wall panels in each of the school buildings explain the significance of the mural preservation and share the campus story, including its life as the former Indian Heritage School and the relationship of Licton Springs to native people.

An honoring circle just outside the middle school entrance features quotes from each of four chiefs  Chief Seattle, Chief Joseph, Geronimo and Sitting Bull  and serves as a place of peace, meditation and introspection.

Most obvious to visitors are the murals. Called the Great Walls of Indian Heritage, the eight reclaimed murals are up to 25 feet high and displayed prominently around the exterior of both school buildings.

All artwork was created by Andrew Morrison, an Apache/Haida artist who attended Indian Heritage School. Saving the murals is a testament to community efforts, as Native Americans around the country and supporting community groups asked the school district to preserve them.

Special care by the design and construction teams protected them during the removal, storage and reinstallation.

The murals had to be carefully cut from existing buildings, as each one was painted on load-bearing walls. They then had to be safely stored while the rest of the site underwent construction, then installed at their new locations.

Our engineers were instrumental in providing oversight throughout the process to ensure the murals were safely preserved and incorporated onto the new structures.

Special consultants, including Johnpaul Jones of Jones & Jones Architects and Landscape Architects, and moving specialist Nickel Bros., were key partners in designing the preservation and relocation plans.

The larger of the murals were integrated as key shear wall elements into the new buildings. Utilizing the murals as part of the structural system provided them the opportunity to serve a key role in their new locations.

The murals are now a centerpiece of the schools designs, and are sure to achieve Morrisons original vision of giving students something to look at and feel proud.

A cherished pond

The campus project had a couple other nontraditional considerations: Pillings Pond and Licton Springs. The project team was careful to understand how decisions made regarding the site would affect the neighbors.

Pillings Pond is a privately maintained waterfowl sanctuary that is cherished by the community. What began as a 12-year-olds project to rehabilitate three injured ducks grew to an award-winning, internationally recognized habitat.

Founder Charles Pilling was inducted into the International Wild Waterfowl Association Hall of Fame in 1990 and was praised for his ability to raise three unique duck breeds in captivity. After Pillings passing in 2001, family friends and neighbors organized under the nonprofit corporation Pillings Pond Preservation Society to maintain the pond.

It was important that the project recognize the Pillings Pond story and respect its worth to the community. Ultimately, the project ensured that water supply to the pond was maintained and physically secured, safely preserving the waterfowl sanctuary.

A more complicated consideration for the neighborhood was Licton Springs. Running deep under the project site and upstream to Licton Springs Park, the neighborhood had been subject to catastrophic flooding during the winters, partially submerging cars and damaging homes.

The team debated daylighting the stream, but leaving such a deep ravine open posed a safety issue for students. So the group opted to improve the underground storm conveyance system, navigating a congested street to add an additional storm drainage pipe. The solution reduced flooding while keeping students, neighbors and property safe.

The new storm conveyance system required coordination with both Seattle Public Utilities and Seattle Public Schools, and as well as an accelerated timeline, since the system needed to be installed before major onsite construction could begin. Coordinated by Coughlin Porter Lundeens civil team, SPU calculated the required pipe size and designed the underground routing, new inlet and oversized manhole installations. The project was designed, permitted and constructed in under a year  one-third of the time that would be typical of a municipal design and construction contract of this type.

Cascadia Elementary School, Licton Springs K-8 and Robert Eagle Staff Middle School benefited greatly from the project teams ability to look beyond the site boundaries. The schools have created goodwill with invested parties and consequently will fit seamlessly into the neighborhood.

The campus celebrates Native American history and culture, aligns with the needs of its neighbors, and provides a beautiful, functional space for teaching and learning.

Alan Jacobson is a senior civil project manager at Coughlin Porter Lundeen. Cory Hitzemann is a structural associate principal at the company.













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High schoolers get real-life work experience in health sciences building

Puget Sound Skills Center students in Burien will train in a dental lab that looks like a professional dentists office, and in a nursing lab with eight hospital beds and a bathroom.



By BILL CHAPUT and CALVIN TAM

Hutteball & Oremus Architecture

Chaput

Tam

Students usually have to wait until after high school to start gaining hands-on learning experiences for their future careers. At the Puget Sound Skills Center in Burien, students are given the opportunity to start learning these skills in high school through one of the specialized program offerings.

Since 1966 the Puget Sound Skills Center, the first skills center in Washington state, has been preparing high school students to be career-ready or college-bound upon graduation. With Highline School District as the host district, the skills center partners with four other school districts  Federal Way, Fife, Tahoma and Tukwila  to offer 18 distinct career programs with certifications or college credits.

Real-world environments

Puget Sound Skills Center will open a new two-story, 26,500-square-foot Health Sciences Building in September. It will house a dental assistant program, nursing assistant program, a new biomedical program and the SeaMar Dental Clinic.

Photo by Hutteball & Oremus Architecture [enlarge] The dental lab has professional-grade equipment, including four patient chairs and an X-ray room.





The new building is located in the heart of campus, just south of the original main building. Separated by a connective courtyard that will serve as a gathering space for students and the community, it augments existing programs by utilizing that space for outdoor training for emergency responders.

The Health Sciences Building can be seen along Des Moines Memorial Drive. Its contemporary design, expressive use of angles and volumetric forms gives the building a distinct presence on campus.

Although msodern in design, the building pays homage to the original building in its use of colors and materials, seamlessly connecting the buildings into a unified campus. The interior materials, colors and finishes are all consistent with those found in current medical and health care facilities, helping to create the feel of a professional work environment.

One key success was the extensive programming with industry partners and professional experts, who provided valuable input and feedback from the beginning stages of the design process. Their feedback provided insight into the professional needs of each of the programs and the work environments found in their industries.

From early design consideration, it was important to provide real, professional settings for the students to learn and develop potential career paths. The classrooms and lab spaces were designed to enhance and facilitate the teaching methodologies for the students and staff alike.

By juxtaposing the lab and classroom spaces, the teaching and learning process allows a seamless transition from lecture to hands-on learning. The idea of merging a professional, hands-on practice within an educational environment has been a major influence on how the building functions and feels.

A next-door clinic

The design of the new dental lab doubles the capacity of the program to provide space for students interested in the dental industry.

The dental lab mimics the environment found in a professional dentist office, including a reception desk for students to thoroughly learn the process of interacting with a patient from greeting through checkout. The program offers real professional-grade equipment, including four professional patient dental chairs, a stone lab for castings, dedicated panoramic X-ray room, sterilization station and laundry facility.

An important aspect of the Health Sciences Building is the relationship of a professional dental practice within the building and its proximity to the instructional spaces of the dental lab.

SeaMar Dental Clinic leases space from the skills center and operates as a not-for-profit organization providing dental care to low-income patients and families. The connection of the clinic and instructional areas allows students to work side-by-side with dental assistants and observe actual dental treatment.

Just as the dental lab emulates the environment of a dental office, the nursing lab simulates the environment of a hospital for the nursing assistant program.

When students arrive at the nursing lab, they will enter a changing room where they transition from their street clothes into scrubs, as they would at a clinic or hospital. There are eight hospital beds with a nursing head wall, where students can learn and practice proper patient care. As a part of the nursing lab, there is an instructional bathroom where students learn the proper way to assist a disabled or injured patient.

Even the elevators found in the Health Sciences Building are sized for gurneys to move from one floor to another with ease.

The newest program at the skills center is the biomedical program, which was added through the design of the new Health Sciences Building. The program will allow students the opportunity to learn how biological and physiological sciences apply to clinical medicine with the use of professional lab equipment such as carbon-dioxide incubators to grow cultured cells, a minus-20-degrees-Celsius freezer for storing enzymes and chemicals, an incubator for bacterial plates, and a refrigerated centrifuge to separate fluids, solids and gases.

At the heart of the Health Sciences Building is a flexible lecture hall large enough to accommodate the entire student body of the Puget Sound Skills Center. The design utilizes a vertically folding, operable glass wall to integrate the multipurpose space and the second-floor walkway for community lectures or events. By providing the flexible space, students in the culinary arts program are given the exciting opportunity to prepare and execute professional catering services.

Bill Chaput is a principal at Hutteball & Oremus Architecture. Calvin Tam is an intern architect at the firm.













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2 new buildings that push students to become more engaged learners

Both have a mix of large, flexible spaces for group activities and smaller, quiet rooms where students can study alone or work in small groups.



By PHILIP RIEDEL

NAC Architecture

Riedel

Imagine a school where, instead of sitting in rows listening to a teacher, students are clustered around a whiteboard solving an engineering problem, or around a table outlining a group presentation. They are concentrating and working together.

This is called active learning, simply defined by researchers Charles Bonwell and Jim Eison as involving students in doing things and thinking about the things they are doing.

Now envision the buildings, spaces and furnishings that support this style of learning: facilities that are inviting, flexible and student-centered.

Active learning

Photos by Benjamin Benschneider, courtesy of NAC [enlarge] Conference rooms are available at Wilson High for small-group work.





As educators look for effective ways to engage and prepare students for todays world, many of the best are finding that active learning techniques provide a critical connection between the students, the material and the tools that will help them succeed: collaboration, creativity and critical thinking.

Active learning involves students in their own education. It encourages tinkering, problem solving, asking questions, discussing, writing, presenting and other activities in service to the lesson.

These are not new educational techniques, but as their combined effectiveness is becoming realized, their implementation becomes more widespread. When students actively participate and feel ownership of their education, they become lifelong learners with the cognitive skills needed to thrive in a changing world.

As educators continue to integrate active learning into their curriculum, the way we design schools is changing. An educational space that inspires learning and cultivates collaboration encourages less lecturing and puts an emphasis on student participation. Students are in turn far more engaged and more apt to retain information.

So what do these schools look like? Two Western Washington high schools  Wilson High School in Tacoma and Summit Sierra in Seattle  are both optimized to accommodate active learning.

Wilson High School

Tacoma Public Schools has been recognized by the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction as an innovation zone that provides a varied portfolio of educational choices to their students, supported by a strong infrastructure to promote ongoing innovation initiatives.

The continuing academic success of Wilson High School has demonstrated the effectiveness of this approach. Under the leadership of Principal Dan Besett, Wilson has won a statewide school of distinction award six years in a row.

During design of Wilsons new academic building, an array of learning space arrangements were presented and reviewed with the teachers, ranging from traditional closed classrooms to flexible open environments.

[enlarge] Classrooms at Summit Sierra have whiteboard walls that students can write on.





The design for the academic building includes a lot of flexibility, allowing teachers to easily reconfigure an open learning environment into areas that support small-group work when appropriate. Classroom-sized spaces that accommodate up to 30 students feature opaque operable partitions that can be opened to a flexible common space to support team teaching or even larger group activities.

A large, informal learning stair can be used by individuals, small groups and large groups of up to 75 people. Colorful small breakout rooms accommodate groups of two to six people working together, acoustically separate but with plenty of visibility to other areas.

Large markerboard panel walls and mobile touchscreen displays are located throughout the building to facilitate spontaneous group work and presentations. Flexible furniture can be easily reconfigured and soft seating in collaborative areas encourages informal learning and discussions.

Summit Sierra

Summit Sierra, located in Seattles Little Saigon neighborhood, is a high school operated by the nonprofit Summit Public Schools.

Summits educational program focuses on high-impact teaching that personalizes learning for every student. Through project-based learning, Summit educators help students develop the cognitive skills needed to succeed. Their new facility is an adaptive reuse of a pre-engineered metal building where the infill was maximized to create a variety of flexible educational spaces and lots of open learning area.

The self-paced, student-directed learning is supported by the openness and flexibility of the learning spaces. Similar to Wilson High School, seminar rooms open onto the larger collaborative space, and smaller quiet rooms are available for individuals to concentrate or small groups to discuss projects.

Glass garage doors provide transparency and flexibility between the seminar rooms and open learning areas. Whiteboard paint was used to turn wall surfaces into working surfaces, and even the windows are used as markerboards. Laptops are plugged into projectors on carts, which can be pointed at any wall to display content.

The school was intentionally designed to spark creativity and support impromptu collaboration everywhere, allowing students to take control of their education.

Rethinking school spaces

Active learning is a pedagogical strategy based on our growing understanding of the value that a collaborative, project-based curriculum provides. Studies show that active learning encourages student engagement, builds self-esteem and ownership of learning, and creates a sense of community in the classroom through collaboration and partnership.

Designing a new school building is an opportunity to rethink traditional programming and create a facility that supports the important educational work that the students and teachers are doing, both now and into the future.

Rather than limit educational delivery, architecture must get out of the way, providing the right combination of connection, separation and flexibility to accommodate a large variety of educational activities. When it is done right, it can help empower young people to realize their own futures.

Malia Burns, executive director at Summit Sierra, describes the vision that drove the design of their new school: What kind of thinking do we want our students doing? What kind of collaborating do we need to be doing? How can they make choices about how they are using their space based on what their learning needs are?

Our hope is that by senior year our students are able to do a lot more of that decision making for themselves, very thoughtfully and strategically aligned with their learning goals.

Philip Riedel is a principal at NAC Architecture who has spent the last 18 years researching and creating innovative pre-kindergarten-12 learning environments. Riedel was recently appointed the 2017 president-elect by the Association for Learning Environments, Pacific Northwest Region.













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Why an old church could make a good place for a charter school

With limited access to public funding, charter school builders must make the most of tight budgets. Some are doing this by opening schools in existing buildings.



By ZANE KANYER and BRIAN RITTEREISER

Swenson Say Faget

Kanyer

Rittereiser

In 2012 Washington state voters approved Initiative 1240, allowing up to 40 charter schools to open in five years. The first charter school opened in 2014 for 96 students: First Place Scholars, located in Seattles Central District.

In 2015, the Washington Supreme Court ruled that Initiative 1240 was unconstitutional. Charter schools are ruled by a charter school board and not by the local voters. Because of this, the court stated that charter schools do not qualify as common schools under Washingtons constitution and therefore cannot receive public funding. Eight charter schools were affected by the ruling.

For the 2015-2016 school year, these eight schools got creative and either regrouped under school districts alternative learning programs or as home school centers, or they transitioned to private schools. The Washington State Charter Schools Association raised $4.5 million and used this for bridge grants to help charter schools through the year, and it raised $2 million to kick start more new schools.

In 2016 the state Legislature passed a new law that kept most of the initial 2012 charter school initiative intact, but changed the source of funding.

Charter schools may receive public funding for school construction from state lottery revenue, but not through school district levy funds. They may also receive federal funding. Local school districts may use their apportionment funds to maintain and operate charter schools, but not make improvements to or build new charter schools.

Last September, Washington received a $6.9 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Educations Charter Schools Program for three school years, starting with 2016-2017. This public funding is administered by the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Image by David Lee Architects and Duncan McRoberts Associates [enlarge] A new charter school in Bothell will have wood framing to limit construction costs.





Currently there are eight charter schools in operation with two more set to open next month, and another two in 2018. Some are managed independently and others are run by charter programs such as Summit Public Schools and Green Dot Public Schools.

Tight budgets

Because public funding does not completely cover the construction costs of charter schools, public-private partnerships are formed to build these schools. Private money comes from entities such as the Charter School Growth Fund, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation and many, many others.

Due to the multi-faceted financing aspect, budgets for charter schools are incredibly tight  even tighter than for a typical public school. As a design team, it is our challenge to provide first-class facilities within these constraints. From a structural perspective, that often means repurposing existing buildings and using lower cost materials.

Using existing buildings

One way charter schools have helped mitigate initial construction costs is to repurpose existing buildings. It takes a significant effort by the charter schools staff or consultants to identify buildings that can potentially be renovated to house classrooms and school support spaces.

Once viable buildings have been identified, building evaluations should be performed to determine if the change of occupancy requires mitigation of any seismic deficiencies. Depending on the building type, retrofit requirements may add significant costs to the renovation.

An accurate building study is directly dependent upon a design teams adaptive reuse experience and their evaluation techniques. Existing sites could include an unused school district facility, former religious building, warehouse or commercial space.

Once a site is selected, the team may move forward with the most efficient solutions for the owners program.

Wood framing

Lower-cost material in the Pacific Northwest means timber. With engineered lumber, a wood-framed structure is a 50-plus-year building  the target for most school districts.

It is important to note that timber does not mean lower quality. It does, however, take early buy-in from the architect and engineer. Wood framing can be type III, IV or V depending on the jurisdiction. (The types identify building materials, combustibility and fire-resistance ratings.)

With careful considerations of the behavior of wood-framed buildings, timber can often be a great solution for both cost and construction timelines. Timber provides flexibility in the field for quick modifications if necessary, but also allows for prefabrication of wall assemblies that can be shipped directly to the site and erected the same day. This can help with quality control during construction as well as provide uniform construction across the entire project.

Bothell charter school

Washington College Prep is an independent charter school slated to open next year in Bothell. The newly built school will ultimately serve students in grades six through 12.

David Lee Architects and Duncan McRoberts Associates are the architects.

The buildings program required three levels with approximately 13,000-sqare-foot floor plates. In order to utilize wood framing, the design team could use type III, or type IV construction.

The design team ultimately decided to use construction type IIIB (which allows a mix of non-combustible and combustible materials) fully sprinklered with two-hour fire-rated exterior walls. This was a cost and material savings over type IV construction (with heavy timber framing requirements) due to simplified connection details and easily sourced materials.

With early research and careful planning by the owner and architect, the decision to use type IIIB construction allowed the design team to take full advantage of wood-framed construction and allocate the money saved toward the exterior cladding system. Delicate stone detailing at the exterior loggia and a deliberate layout to the brick veneer achieved the owners goal of creating a classic academic structure for the community.

Charter school construction provides a unique opportunity for design teams to create outstanding and cost-efficient educational spaces for each charters specific curriculum. By using an out-to-in approach with existing buildings to determine how to fit the program into the structure, and using creative construction techniques in new construction, multiple solutions can be developed to determine the viability of a project.

Zane Kanyer and Brian Rittereiser are associate principals at Swenson Say Faget.













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The 'scenes of utter devastation in Inishowen which have badly affected families, businesses, voluntary groups and sporting organisations will require a special emergency fund, according to Donegal minister, Joe McHugh.

The Minister was speaking after he was joined by Government Ministers Shane Ross and Kevin Boxer Moran last night (Wednesday) in visiting some of those affected by the freak weather event on Tuesday night.

The three Ministers visited homes in Burnfoot where families have lost everything in the flood waters.

They also joined council officials in visiting roads and bridges destroyed in the floods. They also paid a visit to the Red Cross centre in Muff which has lost vital life-saving equipment.

After visiting families in Buncrana, Bridgend and Burnfoot, MinisterMcHugh said: Family homes have been destroyed in the flood waters and the affects on homeowners is devastating.

Working along with Government colleagues Kevin Boxer Moran and Shane Ross, it is essential that an emergency aid package is put together so we can help families rebuild their lives and so that bridges and roads washed away in the floods are restored as soon as possible.

We have heard incredible stories of neighbours saving neighbours at the height of the floods. It is a miracle that no lives were lost during this weather event.

It is clear now that six major bridges and roads need to be repaired so that, for example, people can travel from Moville to Muff. There are a number of other areas where people have been cut off and access needs to be restored as soon as possible.

Donegal County Council staff have worked tirelessly to find emergency accommodation for those who need it and we need to look at how we protect homes in the future. Ministers Moran, Ross and I will be working together to seek an emergency fund to deal with all these issues in the days ahead.

Minister Moran said: It is devastating to see someones house destroyed by water and I have witnessed this again in homes in Inishowen.

People lose valued possessions and lose all the work they have put in to making their houses homes for their families.

It is essential now that an emergency Government package is put together so that people can return to some semblance of normality over the next few weeks.

As the Minister at the Office of Public Works it is also essential that we examine how we can prevent a repeat of the devastation caused by Tuesday nights flood. We will have an initial picture over the next few days from Donegal County Council on the damage caused and the repairs needed.

"It could take a bit longer to get a final assessment and I'm assured by council staff that they will work hard over the coming days and weeks to assess all the damage caused in the area."

The Ministers said they wanted to pay tribute to council staff, volunteers and neighbours who did so much work on Wednesday to minimise damage and help with the clean-up.

Ministers McHugh and Moran will meet councillors and council staff in Carndonagh this morning.

They are also due to visit more homes and businesses on the peninsula which were hit by flood waters.
Gov. Rick Scott on Monday announced the appointment of James Jim Dean to Chipola College District Board of Trustees.

The appointment is subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate.

Dean, 58, of Marianna, is the City Manager of Marianna and previously served in the Marine Corps. He has a bachelors degree from Florida A & M University and a masters degree from Webster University. He succeeds Virginia Stuart, and is appointed for a term beginning Aug. 21, 2017, and ending May 31, 2021.

Nine trustees represent Chipolas five-county district on the board. Other trustees include: Chairman Danny Ryals, a Realtor from Calhoun County; Darrin Wall of Chipley, manager of Gulf Power in Chipley; Andrew Fleener of Chipley, deputy director at Florida Department of Environmental Protection; Tommy Lassmann of Marianna, a commercial banker with PeoplesSouth Bank; John Padgett of Marianna, a retired Jackson County commissioner; Hannah Causseaux of Bristol, former director of appointments for the Executive Office of the Governor; Kyle Hudson of Westville, Holmes County clerk of the circuit court and Joel Paul Jr. of Bonifay, executive director of the Tri County Council Inc.

Chipolas District Board of Trustees typically meets at 6:30 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month. For information, contact the board secretary at 850-718-2201.
With the constant change in our world, its easy to forget the challenges of the past. In times past, Americans spent much of their time in an information vacuum; today, our presidents thoughts can be broadcast to millions through a smartphone app. Men and women in service were once incommunicado for months and years on end. Today, deployed military personnel can instantly contact home if needed.

This Saturday, it could be instructive to take a short drive up into Barbour County to the town of Louisville. The community will celebrate its bicentennial, beginning at 10 a.m. at the site of a commemorative mural on the side of First Exchange Bank. Youd likely get a sense of what things were like when the towns founder, Daniel Lewis, put down roots there. It was Creek Nation territory, and wild frontier. The mural recalls much of the areas rugged past, and features of the celebration reveal the progression of the town through time.
Former Houston County Sheriff Andy Hughes officially announced his candidacy for Houston County sheriff on Thursday

I have missed being sheriff, Hughes said. The main thing I have missed is the personal connection with the residents of Houston County.

Hughes served as the Houston County sheriff for about seven years before resigning to take a job as an assistant director of Homeland Security for the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

It was an honor to get appointed at the state level, Hughes said. I gained a lot of valuable experience and I believe that experience will also benefit the people of Houston County.

Although Hughes believes his appointment in the state level was an honor, Houston County is home, he said.

My intentions were always to run for sheriff again, Hughes said. Many believe I left the area, but I never left. Houston County is, and will always be my home. You know, serving on a state level, well, it was more impersonal. Serving as sheriff, there is a relationship between the sheriff and those he serves. Many individuals will turn to their sheriff for assistance, even if the topic is not law related, and that relationship is what I miss.

Hughes believes he worked hard during his two terms as sheriff and he stated he would once again continue on the path that was working for him in the past.

While serving as sheriff, our office made a lot of progress, Hughes said. We implemented a lot of programs and enhanced our technology while I was sheriff. I plan to continue on that path. Also, I strongly believe we need to enhance our presence of marked cars in rural areas. High visibility is a must especially in our rural areas. I believe by increasing our presence in rural areas we will decrease the rate of burglaries in the rural areas.

He also said that, if elected, he will work closely with the district attorneys office.

You know, it takes law enforcement and the prosecutors working together in order for justice to be served, Hughes said. If elected, my goal is to work hand-in-hand with the district attorneys office I want to make sure justice is served for all.

Hughes takes great pride in his leadership skills.

I lead from the front, Hughes said. But, I also will be the first to admit I may not be the smartest person in the room, thats why I look for and appreciate input. I want my employees and the public to let their input be heard. Making decisions is one of the jobs of being sheriff. It is up to the sheriff to make sure a calculated decision is made and that sheriff must also be willing to stand behind the outcome of that decision. If elected, I will stand behind my decisions.

Hughes plans to target the opioid problem in the county.

Opioids are a problem, Hughes said. To me they are as big of a problem as cocaine, meth, and marijuana. I strongly believe this is a problem that law enforcement need to get involved in.

Hughes said his professional experience and his capable and effective style of leadership make him the best candidate to serve as the Houston County Sheriff during the ever-changing and turbulent times facing the county today.

The Houston County Primary Election is set for June 5, 2018.
Dothan Attorney Valerie Judah officially announced her candidacy for Circuit Court Judge Place One for the 20th Judicial Circuit during a Houston County Republican Women Meeting Thursday.

I want everyone to know that I am firmly committed to liberty and justice for all, Judah said. I want everyone to understand I can relate to what their issues may be when they come before me. I will treat everyone with dignity and respect.

Judah believes a good judge in a diverse society must have the ability to work with people from different backgrounds, life experiences and perspectives; she believes she is that person.

Decisions that are made in court impact the lives and the quality of life in our community, Judah said. That is why I believe so strongly everyone should be treated with respect.

Judah knows the importance of hard work and determination. She is a 1982 graduate of Dothan High School, and she graduated from Wallace College and Troy University. She received her law degree from Jones School of Law.

I have a strong work ethic, Judah said. I worked two jobs while in high school and put myself through college while building a career with the United States Postal Service. I graduated in 1998 and became the labor relations specialist for the United States Postal Service/Alabama District. Since 2001, I have been in private practice serving the people of this community.

Judah is known for being involved in her community.

I strongly believe in service above self, which is our motto at the Rotary Club, Judah said. I ask everyone for their support in the June 2018 election.

Judah believes it would be an honor to show the community just how much her life experiences makes her the most qualified candidate for this position.
Today's over-60 population is the fastest growing group. Currently, there are around 962 million people aged 60 or over, representing 12.3 per cent of the global population. By 2050, this will increase to 2.1 billion or 21.5 per cent of the global population. But are we taking care of them?



Did you know? United Nations estimates show India has over 100 million seniors, which is 8 per cent of the population. This figure is expected to touch 324 million by 2050 when seniors will account for 20 per cent of the population



 Maps show the proportion of population aged 60 or over in 2014 and 2050 and demonstrate the speed of ageing









Did you know? Among the BRICS group, China is a rapidly ageing country over 15 per cent of the population are 60 and over







We are living longer than ever. But are we living better?

Global aging index gauges health and wellbeing of aging populations



Switzerland is the best place for the elderly to live in, while Afghanistan is the worst place for the ageing population. The country is at the bottom of the list. While the top 19 places are taken by industrialised nations, the countries in Africa occupied seven of the 10 lowest ranked places.



 Place your mouse over a country to see details of that country's profile









 Data source: Global AgeWatch Index, Help age



Despite Africas rapid economic growth, poor social and economic wellbeing for older people means most countries continue to rank in the bottom quarter of the Index. Three African countries are in bottom five: Tanzania (91), Mozambique (94) and Malawi (95). Older people in these countries hardly have any access to basic services. They are increasingly left with the responsibility of childcare without any formal support. Very few have pensions and older women are often particularly poor because of discriminatory laws against them





Did you know? Pension coverage in South Africa is 92.6 per cent, which is higher than in Australia or Belgium
Australia's cheapest new car is no more.

Suzuki Australia has made the decision to stop importing the Celerio hatch due to slow sales.

The Japanese brand's light hatch has been Australia's cheapest new car with a pricetag of $12,990 driveaway.

However, an influx of fresh rivals such as the updated Mitsubishi Mirage, Holden Spark and the Kia Picanto have eaten into the Celerio's sales in 2017, which have dropped by 74 per cent to a total of 141.

The segment as a whole is down 25 per cent for the year as buyers gravitate towards small SUVs

Over the last few months we have been selling existing Celerio stock at a lower rate than planned, albeit still in line with the Micro segment, and consequently do not plan to import any further units this year. Said Suzuki Australia Director of Automobiles, Andrew Moore.

It is a situation that we will be keeping a close eye on, and should we see a notable increase in segment demand we can always look to reorder the model back again, said Moore.

Suzuki has recently launched its new Swift city car that competes with the likes of the Mazda2 and Kia Rio in the far more robust light car segment.

The Celerio will still be on sale in Queensland, as that state has a different importer.

For all the latest Suzuki information, visit our showroom.
Dundalk comedy fans can enjoy a double dose of laughs with the announcement that top Irish stand-ups Bernard OShea and Karl Spain will be visiting The Spirit Store to perform their new show, Fat Chancers.



Fat Chancers kicks off in Cavan on 29th September and visits The Spirit Store on 9th February. The double headliner also includes a date at Dublins Vicar Street on 24th February.



And when theyre not keeping audiences rolling in the aisles, the funnymen have thrown down the gauntlet to see who is the biggest loser  in weight that is  after challenging each other to a slimming contest over the tour. Expect plenty of references to fasting, snacking and even colonic irrigation.



Commenting on the tour, Karl Spain said "Dont expect massive weight loss or body transformations or Bernard being funny.



Audiences can expect plenty of on-stage banter as Fat Chancers will feature the popular comics share the stage, as well as performing their own stand-up routines.



No stranger to television and radio fans, Bernard is the co-writer and star of RTE2s Bridget and Eamon with Jennifer Zamparelli and co-host of the RTE 2FM breakfast show, Breakfast Republic, alongside Zamparelli and Keith Walsh.

He is a former host of The Republic of Telly and has made regular appearances on The Panel, The Naked Camera, Just for Laughs and The Byrne Ultimatum, amongst other shows.

His foray into comedy saw him winning the Harp Newcomer Comedy Award in 2000. Since this time, he has become a regular at the Cat Laughs comedy festival in Kilkenny and the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival. His Edinburgh Fringe debut received five star reviews.



Karl is a well-known name to Irish TV audiences thanks to his television series Karl Spain Wants a Woman, Karl Spain Wants to Rock, and his appearance on Celebrity Operation Transformation.

Other television credits include Liffey Laughs, The Late Late Show, The Panel, Tubridy Tonight, The Afternoon Show and The Offside Show. A stand-up comic for 15 years, Karl is a regular performer at Kilkenny Cat Laughs, the Galway Comedy Festival, the Vodafone Comedy Festival, Cork Comedy Fest, Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Montreal Just for Laughs. He has toured extensively abroad, including Australia, the U.S., Middle East and South Africa. In addition to his own stand-up career, Karl was resident writer for Republic of Telly and writes for countless other comedians.

With fellow comic Al Porter, he wrote the 2015 pantomime Freezin: The Story of The Snow Queen and a short film for Sky 1 as part of the Irish shorts series.



Fat Chancers tickets are available directly from Spiritstore.
A man from Knockbridge, Dundalk, was arrested in Dublin last month, for racially abusing shop staff in a Londis store over the price of a sandwich.

As reported by yesterday's Irish Independent, Padraig Kieran, from Dunbin, Knockbridge, Dundalk, was arrested, following the incident in Londis on Lower O'Connell Street in Dublin.

Mr Kieran appeared in Dublin District Court, where it heard the incident occurred on July 9.

He pleaded guilty to using threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour to cause a breach of the peace.

According to the Irish Independent report, Gardai had responded to a report of a disturbance at the Londis and upon arriving, found Mr Kieran pointing at two staff members and shouting racist and other expletives at the staff.

Mr Kieran's solicitor informed the court that he regretted the racist comment and that it was not part of his normal character, saying that the dispute began over the price of a sandwich.

Mr Kieran's solicitor said that he had alcohol on board at the time and that he had overindulged, along with making poor choices.

Judge Anthony Halpin fined the man 99.
A Dromintee farmer has been fined in Newry Magistrate's Court for causing pollution discharge to enter a waterway.

As reported on armaghi.com, Owen Martin, of Old Road, Dromintee, pleaded guilty to the offence and was fined 500 plus 15 Offenders Levy, on Monday last.

According to the report, a Water Quality Inspector who was acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, inspected an outfarm at Shaughan Road, Belleeks, on November 5 2015.

Silage effluent was observed, discharging from a farm and flowing across the road, down a laneway opposite the farm and entering a tributary of the Ballinasack and Forkhill River.

The Inspector then observed downstream, a covering of sewage fungus on the bed of the waterway. On returning to the farm, he found that an effluent collection channel, close to the silage clamp, was blocked with mud, vegetation and debris, and causing the overflow.

The Water Quality Inspector observed the effluent freely between the silage clamp and the roadway, and the waterway could be seen to be impacted for a distance of greater than 1 Km.

Analysis of a sample taken, confirmed that the discharge contained poisonous, noxious or polluting matter, which was potentially harmful to fish life in the receiving waterway.
Fianna Fail TD, Declan Breathnach has criticised the Government for its failure to take action on addressing poor mobile phone coverage.

The Minister for Communications Denis Naughten established the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce following a commitment made in the Programme for Government to address the issue of poor connectivity.

The taskforce published a series of recommendations last December, but progress on dealing with the issue has seemingly stalled since then.

Deputy Breathnach said,

'Mobile phone operators claim that 90% of the country is covered by their network. However the reality on the ground is that many communities across Louth have patchy mobile coverage and in some cases no coverage at all.

'This problem used to be confined to rural areas but I am being contacted by an increasing number of people in towns and villages who are all reporting the same problem.

'Anyone who works on the go will realise that poor mobile phone coverage affects large parts of the country.

'The mobile operators consistently point out the work they are doing in large urban areas, such as Dublin, to upgrade the network to 4G capabilities.

'However the rest of the country isnt getting a look in. Many parts of Louth have no mobile coverage at all, let alone 3G or 4G services.'

'A reliable mobile phone network is essential for businesses looking to stay in contact with customers and suppliers. Many businesses need access to reliable phone services for email access on their smart phones.

'How can we expect to attract jobs into rural communities if we cant even provide a decent mobile phone network? This is one of the most pressing issues facing rural communities, start-ups and small business owners.

'The Government seriously needs to get its act together on this issue.

'Its no use establishing a taskforce just to keep the Independent Alliance on board without actually following through with action to address the issue.

'We need to see serious investment in the mobile phone network to make it fit for purpose,' concluded Deputy Breathnach.
Louth IFA Animal Health Chairman Martin OHare has welcomed the roll out of Phase 1 of the Irish Johnes Control Programme.

He said IFA fully supports the establishment of a credible, cost-efficient and targeted Johnes control programme that meets the needs of farmers and co-ops.

Mr OHare said, that with timeframes in access of 20 years and costs of 12m  14m annually associated with the control of Johnes, a practical and targeted approach is the only means by which this issue can be dealt with.

He said, 'The phased approach announced by Animal Health Ireland (AHI) is the only feasible means of implementing Johnes control nationally and at farm level.

'This allows for the planned consultancy work to identify cost-efficient national screening tools and the development of support structures for farmers in the programme.



He went on to say that there are a number of national screening tools that can be enhanced and interpreted to ensure the programme is targeted at the small number of herds that have a need to implement control measures.



He said farmers who need to implement Johnes control measures must then be fully supported in managing the disease from their herd.



Mr O'Hare said the IFA looks forward to proactively engaging with co-ops and AHI in developing Phase 2 of the programme, which must be based on keeping participation costs to a minimum and fully supporting farmers who identify Johnes on their farms.

According to animalhealth.ie, Johnes disease is a bacterial disease of cattle and other ruminants for which there is no cure.

It is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP), hence the other name for the disease Paratuberculosis.

Cattle usually become infected as calves early in life by drinking or eating milk or food contaminated with the bacteria, which are shed in the dung or milk of infected adult cattle.

On occasion, calves are already infected at birth, with this being most common when their dam has advanced disease.

The signs of infection appear very gradually with reduced feed conversion efficiency leading to loss of productivity followed by weight loss, scour and ultimately emaciation and death.
The Victorian Small Business Commissioner, Judy OConnell, provided Dynamic Business with insights into the states small business sector, including barriers to growth and the need for owners to prioritise mental health, ahead of her appearance at the Vodafone National Small Business Summit on Friday (25 August).

DB: What will you be speaking on at the summit?

OConnell: Creating a mentally healthy small business. Small business owners are often under enormous pressure and mental strain and that pressure can be exacerbated by a feeling of responsibility towards their staff, coupled with a sense of isolation.

In May, this year, I launched an information initiative to help small business operators preserve their mental health while riding the ups and downs that come with establishing and growing a business. This resource supplements information already available for business operators that assists them in protecting the mental health of their employees, and has been developed to assist small business owners to recognise if they need help and where to find it.

Im passionate about ensuring small business owners prioritise their own mental health and hope this initiative will be incorporated into every small businesss planning  this can help a business owner identify early on when additional assistance is needed to keep functioning at an optimum level if mental health difficulties arise.

DB: How is the local small business sector faring?

OConnell: Victoria has over 550,000 small businesses that make up almost half of private sector jobs, so they are vital contributors to the states economy. Its encouraging to see that in 2016, more than 15,300 new businesses were created in Victoria (a growth of 2.8%). When speaking to small business groups, I continue to be inspired by the optimism and resilience of the sector, but I also recognise the role of government to remove obstacles, so business owners can concentrate solely on running their businesses.

Im mindful of the part I play as Victorian Small Business Commissioner in advocating for small business, monitoring market trends, legislation and government policies that impact on them, and engaging with business. The Victorian Small Business Commissions (VSBC) alternative dispute resolution function also plays a key role in assisting small business to resolve disputes, and save money and time, and alleviate stress. We have developed a three year strategy so we can focus on the goals and actions needed to ensure we create a fair and competitive environment for Victorian small business to operate, grow and prosper.

DB: What are some of the obstacles owners are facing?

OConnell: Managing cash flow is consistently reported as the most important issue facing Australian small businesses, and late payments cause a ripple effect throughout the supply chain, reducing cash flow for all businesses along the way. This is evidenced through our regular consultation with businesses, and responses to the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsmans Late Payments Inquiry.

The Victorian Government has given its support to the Australian Supplier Payment Code (the Code), a voluntary national code of fair payment from businesses to their small business suppliers. Businesses signing up to the Code commit to:

Pay small business suppliers within 30 days (subject to conditions) Pay all suppliers on time Provide clear guidance about payment procedures to suppliers Work with suppliers to improve invoicing and payments practices

The Code is administered by the Business Council of Australia and came into effect on 1 July 2017. Victoria played a key role in the development of the Code, which is open to all businesses, industries and governments, and so far over 50 organisations have become signatories, which is great to see.

The issue of unfair contract terms has long been a concern for small business, and the extension of certain unfair contract term protections from consumers to small businesses in November last year was welcomed. The new law applies to small businesses entering into standard form contracts (i.e. contracts offered on a take it or leave it basis, where there is no negotiation about the terms, or the fine print).

To be covered, either party to the contract must have less than 20 employees. The new protection also only applies if the upfront price payable under the contract is below $300,000 for contracts of less than 12 months duration, or under $1 million otherwise.

The VSBC has relied on these new protections to advocate on behalf of small businesses adversely affected by unfair contract terms, and made representations to larger businesses, reminding them about their new obligations, so they do not include such terms in their contracts with small business.

After these reforms commenced, the VSBC made a representation to a waste management business about its standard form contract, as we were concerned about its rollover and liquidated damages clauses. The business responded positively and indicated it had implemented a revised contract in order to be compliant with the new legislative reforms.

DB: How is the VSBC engaging with businesses?

OConnell: Every small business sources information differently, and every small business is time-pressed, so its important that the VSBC engages with small business using a range of different channels  our website, face-to-face presentations and round tables, workshops, webinars on various topics (including retail leasing, franchising, fair and unfair contract terms and working from home), eNewsletters, business expos and conferences, liaising through industry organisations, chambers of commerce and advisors, contributing to industry magazines, and social media (were now on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn).

Personally, it has been really important for me during my first year as Victorian Small Business Commissioner to speak to as many business owners and industry bodies as possible, in both metropolitan Melbourne and regionally, to understand the issues they face. It is also crucial to engage with those bodies that interact with small businesses.

Earlier this year the VSBC and Melbourne Water launched new guidelines that will ensure small businesses have more say in the way major water projects are planned. The guidelines reflect the outcome of collaboration between the VSBC and Melbourne Water, for the benefit of small businesses, and provide some best practice guidance about how Melbourne Water will deal with and support small businesses during such works.

The aim is to have all infrastructure projects use the Guidelines when major infrastructure works are being delivered as such works can have a serious adverse effect on the viability of small businesses.

DB: What sort of disputes does the VSBC deal with?

OConnell: The VSBC deals with disputes across a wide range of areas, including business-to-business, business-to-government, retail leasing, owner drivers and their hirers, farm debt and taxi industry disputes. In terms of the most common small business disputes, the top categories involve:

disputes about not understanding or reading contracts;

unpaid monies; and

retail tenant and landlord leasing disputes.

DB: How can businesses mitigate the risk of disputes?

OConnell: VCBCs top tips for avoiding disputes are:

Put it in writing  dont rely on oral assurances;

Read and understand a contract before you sign it;

you sign it; Make objective, not emotional decisions  get advice;

Recognise mutual interests (not a win-lose arrangement);

Interact with businesses of like-values;

Communicate early and often;

Be accountable and responsible for your obligations;

Conduct yourself professionally; and

Have pre-agreed, effective, quick and fair dispute resolution procedures.

The VSBC wants to make sure that small businesses avoid unnecessary business costs, but we understand that sometimes commercial disputes cant be avoided. So, its important for businesses to know that when disputes do arise, there is support and services available to help resolve disputes quickly and at low cost. This helps businesses to avoid disruption, escalating costs, loss of control, and emotional upset, and in many cases, it allows for an ongoing business relationship between the parties.
But lets not pretend there are enough of them to keep him winning

Pity the Obama supporter. After eight years, no one tried to understand you.

There werent probing front-page profiles in the New York Times marveling at how Tamara Levine  an Esthetician loving life in Torrance, California  is still thrilled with her president, despite the failure of Cap and Trade. Somehow, Obamas five or six other major legislative victories secured his first years in office sufficed.

Trump supporters, meanwhile, are teased out, analyzed like fresh turds and elevated by the press who feel they missed the story of the 2016 election  as if 78,000 votes in three states is evidence of much more than a fluke, a fluke many major media outlets helped enable with stories they elevated beyond parody or downplayed into near oblivion until it was too late.

In an effort to not be fooled again, the press is trying to explain to itself why Trumps horrid poll numbers arent actually that bad.

And in this effort, theyve discovered a truism: Trumps biggest supporters want him to be terrible. Or, rather, Trump supporters want you  a libturd  to think hes terrible. His gift for pissing you off is how he got the GOP nomination and then snuck into the presidency.

You dont hire a birther for his discretion or respect for minority rights.

And because his movement is almost entirely tied to melodrama, the melodrama itself is the reward, NBCs Steve Kornacki argues.

Its not that they like him or even think hed be a good president, Kornacki wrote on Tuesday. Theyre voting against the other side of a vast cultural gap.

Trumps approval numbers arent that much worse now when he defeated Hillary Clinton, who as the first woman ever to win an electoral vote endured decades-long attacks on her character from the right, a drubbing from the hard left and Trumps particularly vile weaponization of the worst of Americas fine assortment of misogynistic tropes.

And he still barely won.

If Trumps surprise win was primarily due to weaknesses that are unique to Clinton, then his current poll numbers are as dire as they seem, Kornacki notes.

Theres no doubt that Trumps most ardent supporters love watching Trump nominate a birther who isnt scientists to be the FDAs chief scientist. Its thrill to see him to pardon another birther who terrorized immigrants beyond the limits of the Fourth Amendment. And its a gas gas gas to watch our Birth in Chief humiliate and menace everyone from the press to Senators Jeff Flake and John McCain to his own chief of staff in a campaign rally held just for them more than three years before his next election.

But Trumps big problem is there just arent very many hard core fans of his pro wrestling politics.

Another poll showing Trump sliding among R voters. Overall he's down to 20% "strongly approve". Obama was @ 38%. https://t.co/m4zC5ZveyU  Paul Kane (@pkcapitol) August 23, 2017

Turning nonvoters into voters should be the Prime Directive of the Democratic Party. But for the midterm elections especially, we must also keep an eye on reluctant Trump voters, who cast a ballot for the GOP nominee with fingers knuckles-deep into their nostrils.

These voters, unlike unshakable MAGA maniacs, will help decide the future.

More enthused Trump voters feel about the same as they did last time we tested that in early June, but the percentage of reluctant Trump voters who approve of the presidents job is down 11 percentage points, from 74 percent before, FiveThirtyEights Harry Enten notes. Thats a fairly substantial slide.

These reluctant Trumpers are far more likely than they scary cousins to want actual governance to happen. They want to see bills become law and white supremacist kerfuffles avoided. They prefer the government being open to useless border walls.

Theyre the kind of voters who are susceptible to narrative. They will likely see Trump passing his agenda, regardless of how awful it is, as a good thing. And they almost certainly would be happy to see tax breaks of any kind become law, even if those cuts immediately or eventually threaten safety net programs they love and Trump promised to protect.

If Trump feels successful to them, theyll probably vote solidly Republican. If Democrats can unite and get turnout near 2012 levels in 2020, they still can win even if Trump wins over his reluctant fans.

But baring an actual political revolution we have no hope of taking the House in 2018 if reluctant Trumpers swing hard for the GOP.

This doesnt mean Democrats should cater to people who were willing to vote for Trump. Democrats should keep doing what they have been doing, defeating his agenda and doing their best to make him look tiny and whiny to everyone but Fox and Friends.

The melodrama that made Trump president and his superfans love is getting in the way of him succeeding as president. But with one huge legislative win, that could easily change, which is why the actual meat of politics  the lawmaking that gets C-SPAN 2 ratings in the hundreds  is the key to melting this con.

[Image by Gage Skidmore | Flickr]
A secret Amazon team, dubbed 1492, has been working on a skunkworks project devoted entirely to healthcare, CNBC reported Thursday. The unit has been developing hardware devices and software applications related to electronic medical records, telemedicine and other health-related issues.

The 1492 moniker refers to the year that Christopher Columbus made his voyage to the Americas, but perhaps the Amazon team missed the irony that Columbus actually did not realize he had discovered a new continent and thought he was somewhere else.

Nonetheless, its clear that Amazons aim is to cover the bases in the healthcare arena, likely a bid to cash in on the sectors massive profit potential.

The greater U.S. healthcare market experienced double digital growth from 2000 to 2011, with an increase in U.S. revenue from US$1.2 trillion to $2.3 trillion, according to the Centers for Disease Control. That figure likely will grow at an increasing rate as healthcare costs in America continue to skyrocket.

Full Coverage

One of the goals of Amazons 1492 team appears to be ensuring that Amazon develops a foothold in multiple segments of the lucrative healthcare industry. The latest news builds on an earlier announcement that Amazon has been exploring the possibility of selling pharmaceuticals.

The 1492 team reportedly has been working on ways to streamline medical records management, so as to make the information available to consumers and doctors more readily. In addition, it reportedly has been considering a plan that could improve U.S. healthcare for those with limited access to a doctor. It could include the development of a new telemedicine platform that would allow patients to have virtual consultations with doctors.

Amazon is not entirely new to the medical world, as it already has developed health applications. The next step could be greater connectivity options between its medical devices and other proprietary products, such as its artificial intelligence assistant, Alexa.

Healthcare is the biggest sector in the economy and ripe for innovation, said Roger Entner, principal analyst at Recon Analytics.

Nobody spends more on healthcare than the U.S.,while many countries have significantly better outcomes for their citizens than the U.S., he told TechNewsWorld.

Healthy Market

Amazon is not the only company that has been exploring opportunities in the world of healthcare. Apple, Google and Microsoft each have launched their own initiatives.

It makes sense for all these companies to be investing in AI for healthcare, because along with AI in transportation, AI in healthcare will change society, said Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research.

With access to all the medical scans, diagnoses and feed information that is available from the major healthcare providers, artificial intelligence would do a better job in some respects than a human, he told TechNewsWorld.

With its massive data centers and AI capabilities, Amazon is well positioned to be a leader in this area, but it needs to get access to the data, which has been the biggest challenge, added McGregor. Note that its only been within the last decade that the majority of medical information has transitioned to electronic form, so it would have been almost impossible to do before.

Cloud Computing and Healthcare

With advances in the archiving of digital information and deep learning, the time could be right to leverage AI for healthcare. However, regulations and privacy concerns could be major challenges, at least in the short term.

Unfortunately, many healthcare providers are trying to maintain control of all this data, said McGregor.

In the U.S., in particular, healthcare providers hide behind HIPAA regulations, which state that you need to keep the patients personal information private, not that you cant share the anonymized information, he added.

Healthcare organizations would have to be persuaded to share their data, even though doing so would leverage a third-party service provider like Amazon. Would the healthcare industry even consider such cooperation?

Up to now, the answer has been no  but it could significantly lower their costs and improve the quality of services provided, added McGregor.

In the long term, it will take an independent third party like Amazon to maximize the benefits of AI in healthcare, he suggested.

That is why the various players are entering this very controlled market  one that has both potential and hurdles  so cautiously.

We are so early in the digitization of healthcare that nobody is really leading, said Recon Analytics Entner.

There is definitely demand, but everyone needs to buy in for it to work for everyone, he said. The reason why everyone is flocking to it is market size, but the obvious fact is that it can be done better, and nobody is doing it remotely right.
Walmart and Google, two of Amazons biggest rivals, on Wednesday announced a partnership that will let customers use Googles Home speaker and a number of voice-assisted mobile devices to shop online at Walmart.

Their mutual goal is to eat away at Amazons dominant share in the e-commerce shopping space and the smart speaker space, in order to curb the growth of its giant ecosystem, which threatens to smother competition in both industries.

Amazon Juggernaut

The partnership by two of the worlds most important brands in the retail and technology sectors is an indication of just how powerful a rival Amazon has become. The decision to expand beyond their comfort zones indicates the urgency each company feels about slowing down Amazon.

Starting in late September, Walmart will offer hundreds of thousands of items for voice shopping through Google Assistant  the most from any retailer  noted Marc Lore, CEO of Walmarts U.S. e-commerce business.

Walmart will integrate its Easy Order feature into Google Express, he said, noting that one of the primary attractions of voice-enabled shopping is the ability to build a basket of previously purchased everyday essentials.

Beginning in 2018, Walmart plans to leverage its 4,700 retail stores and fulfillment centers to allow in-store pickup, and to allow customers to use Googles Home voice assistant to buy fresh groceries across the United States.

Voice Response

Google has made significant strides in its natural language processing and artificial intelligence technologies, allowing it to create a powerful voice shopping experience, Lore said.

Google earlier this year announced that it would expand Google Express shopping to Google Home, the smart speaker it launched last year to compete with the Amazon Echo family. Google has more than 50 retailers participating in the Express program, including major brands like PetSmart, Costco, Whole Foods, and Bed, Bath & Beyond.

Customers with a Walmart account can link their information to Google and get personalized shopping results based on prior online and in-store purchases, said Sridhar Ramaswamy, senior vice president for ads and commerce at Google .

Google on Wednesday also started offering free shipping for Google Express orders that meet each retailers minimum requirement.

Googles artificial intelligence technology might give customers of this new partnership a slight edge over Amazon, suggested Paula Rosenblum, managing partner at RSR Research.

Overall, I know a lot of people are buying the Echo and various Alexa-enabled devices, but in some ways doing the requisite price check or even looking at the product takes you back to a screen, she told the E-Commerce Times. For questions, or controlling IoT devices at home, its much more interesting  and in that area, I actually think Google might be ahead.

Amazons Edge

However, its still too early to say how much market share the Google and Walmart partnership will be able to move, compared to Amazon, said Michael Levin, a partner at Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.

We do know that Google Home does have a meaningful share of the U.S. installed base of these devices, about one quarter to Amazons three-quarters, he told the E-Commerce Times.

About half of Amazon Echo owners have used the Alexa voice technology to make a purchase, and 30 percent of those owners use it to make a purchase at least once a week.
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(File photo: L'Osservatore Romano.)Zimbabwe's Catholic Bishops with Pope Francis during a visit to Rome. (file) - L'Osservatore Romano.

A pastoral letter from the Roman Catholic Church bishops has urged all Zimbabweans, especially young people, to register and vote in their numbers in the upcoming 2018 polls, seen as a watershed election.

Reading a letter on behalf of the bishops to congregants after a church service at St. James Catholic church in Emerald Hill, Harare on Aug. 20, Father Rungano Muchineripi said it is a sin not to vote, AllAfrica.com reported

"Men and women of God are getting tired of praying for issues to do with politics and the suffering of people due to bad governance, so it is high time Christians put their efforts together in registering to vote, choosing a people oriented government which is not evil.

"It is your responsibility to choose a government of your choice that gives you rights. People have a constitutional right to vote and it is a sin not to vote," Rungano said.

A staunch critic of the ruling Zanu-PF party, which ruled uninterrupted since independence in 1980, Rungano said that parents should make sure that children who are 17 years old and will be 18 next year are registered too as voters.

He implored Christians who constitute more than 85 percent of the country's population to make sure they choose a government that protects social and health services because the levels of suffering have become deplorable.

Zimbabwe's 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe led his country to independence from Britain at a time when Zimbabwe was an agriculturally prosperous nation.

His policy of mass evections of white farmers from their land and doling seized farms out to party members led starvation in the country and millions of people fleeing, mostly to neighboring South Africa.

"Youths, it is your time now to change the face of Zimbabwe politically. Do not let the old leaders (madhara aya) continue making depraved decisions for you," said Rungano.

"Take the stance and challenge them through the ballot. These leaders have had their lives and now, it is high time to choose a better future for yourselves," he noted.

Father Rungano emphasized that Zimbabweans should be educated on the importance of voting and protecting that vote.

"Zimbabweans have been reduced to paupers by an irresponsible government that is corrupt and evil. There should be massive voter education campaigns now."

Father Rungano and Bishop Ancelimo Magaya of the Zimbabwe Devine Destiny Church have openly criticized the ruling Zanu-PF party for failure to respect the rule of law as well as failure to govern the country.

Bishop Magaya, a few months ago, introduced the 'Christian vote campaign' and said the church would determine the 2018 election winner.

Police quizzed him over the campaign.
Schools with a higher enrollment of black and poor students are more likely to be shut down for poor performance, and the majority of students displaced by closures do not end up in better schools.

But for those students who landed in better schools, their academic progress outpaced that of students in low-performing schools that remained open, according to new research released Thursday by the Center for Research and Education Outcomes, CREDO, at Stanford University. And the academic gains on test scores were particularly significant for black and Latino students who ended up in better schools. Most striking was the finding for Hispanic students: Those who ended up higher-performing schools gained the equivalent of 74 additional days of learning in math.

Those findingsfrom one of the largest studies to date on how shuttering schools affects student achievementback up smaller, more localized research on the fraught and controversial practice of closing schools.

The study, which looked at both charter and regular public schools in 26 states between the 2006-07 and 2012-13 academic years, found that most school closures during that period69 percent in both sectorswere in urban areas. Twenty percent of the schools that were shut down were in suburban areas. Both supporters and opponents of shutting down public schools are likely to see findings in the study to fortify their arguments.

Kaitlin Banner, the deputy director of the Advancement Projects Ending the Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track Project, said the findings on the disparate impact for black and Latino students were consistent with what the civil rights group has heard from communities in which it works.

Our partners have found that school closings arent the answer, Banner said. They often do not have a say ... students are sent out into various communities, they have high transportation needs, and they are unable to really access the quality of education that school closures seem to promise to them.

Most Students Dont End Up in Better Schools

In both the charter and regular public school sectors, black and Hispanic students were more likely to be in closed schools. Among regular public schools, low-performing schools with higher poverty rates were more likely to be closed than low-performing schools with fewer low-income students, according to the report.

Less than half of students from closed schools ended up in schools that were better than the ones they left behind as measured by their performance on state tests, according to the study. But a higher percentage of charter school students landed in better schools than their peers at regular public schools, an indication, researchers posited, that charter school parents are more experienced at seeking out different schooling options.

Students who left before the low-performing schools were closed had a better shot of landing in a better school, the study said.

Researchers said they hope that the report would provide evidence to help inform the often emotional and contentious debate around school closures as a means to improve achievement, particularly with the addition of data on the academic performance of students over time.

Closing low-performing schools seemed to be inevitable, given that other school improvement strategies have not had widespread success, the researchers wrote. But their findings show that the practice in and of itself does not lead to higher performance: students must have better schools to go to, and alternatives are often limited.

Advocates argue that closing low-performing schools gives students who would otherwise be stuck in those schools the opportunity to attend a higher-performing school. Students who moved to better schools did better academically than those in other low-performing schools that remained open, the study found. In regular public schools, for example, students who moved to higher-performing schools saw the equivalent of 11 extra days of learning in reading.

Greg Richmond, the president and CEO of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, said the report underscores the need for more quality charter schools.

The fact remains that school closure is an essential part of the charter bargain that recognizes educating children is a privilege, one that every school should continually earn, he said in a statement. No school should have a perpetual right to exist, especially schools that consistently fail to educate children.

The finding that closure patterns varied based on race and socio-economic status was troubling and should serve as a wake-up call to examine our practices to ensure all schools and students are being treated equitably, he said.

Authorizers have a responsibility to give all studentsespecially underserved populationsequal access to quality charter schools, he said.

On the other side of the debate, opponents and some civil rights groups argue that the burden of school closures falls disproportionately on poor, black, and Hispanic students. The study did bear that outand researchers said such concerns about equity should be an integral part of the decision-making process. But it also found that schools that were closed displayed low-academic performance and low enrollment up to three years leading up to the closure and that they performed significantly worse in math and reading than those that stayed open.

Most Low-Performing Schools Remain Open

Still, only a small fraction of the low-performing schools identified during the period studied were closed: 5.5 percent for charters compared to 3.2 percent for regular public schools. That means that thousands of students continued to go to schools where the average math and reading scores were in the bottom 20 percent on state assessments for two yearsthe definition the researchers used for low-performing.

Across the 26 states included in the study, researchers identified 1,522 low-performing schools. Seventy-nine percent were regular public schools; the rest were charters.

The study also found significant differences in how charter operators and regular public school districts or states dealt with their lowest-performing schools. While authorities who oversee charter schools shut down their lowest-performing schools at a higher rate than their counterparts in the regular public school sector, according to the report, the sector still allowed other low-performing charters to continue operating despite contracts that often contain language about specific achievement targets.

In this sense, charter authorizers determination and practice of shutting down low-performing schools still fell short of the stipulation in their contract with charter schools, although they were more likely to close poor-performing schools relative to districts, the researchers wrote. Meanwhile, districts were evidently tolerant of low levels of, and deterioration in, performance and enrollment.

In raw numbers, more elementary schools closed, but middle schools had the highest rate of closure in both sectors, according to the report.

The study also found that charter schools had a higher, though not statistically significant, rate of closure before the Obama administrations $7 billion School Improvement Grant program, which provided several options, including closures, to turn around chronically low-performing schools. There was no significant change in the closure rate for traditional public schools before and after the implementation of the SIG program, the report said.

A January study by The Institute of Education Sciences found that the SIG program did not lead to significant gains in reading and math for students whose schools got the funds, when compared with low-performing schools that were not in the program.

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School closings can be disruptive for students and communities. In this June 2017 video, reporter Denisa Superville shares data from the Urban Institute on where schools are closing and which students are likely to be affected:
Canada looks to Asia, FTA with EU as NAFTA enters tense renegotiation

By September this year, Canada's beef could bypass heavy tariffs as it enters Europe, though not without challenges.

The development will materialise once the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and Europe comes into force.

Seen as the EU's most comprehensive trade deal, CETA aims to facilitate the EU's trade with Canada by abrogating tariffs on more than 98% of European exports entering the country. The FTA, which will be implemented on September 21, will allow more than 60,000 tonnes of duty-free Canadian beef into Europe.

The elimination of tariffs will happen in phases. "When CETA comes into force, almost 94% of EU agricultural tariff lines will be duty-free," a CETA document states. "Seven years later, that number will rise to over 95%."

The document also reveals that the FTA "will give Canadian agricultural products, including a specified amount of Canadian beef, pork and bison, preferential access to the EU market and a competitive advantage over producers from other countries that do not have a free trade agreement with the EU."

With the FTA, the EU stands to become a $600 million market for Canadian beef annually, the Canadian Cattleman's Association said. The figure is an increase from current levels of between $6 million to $10 million yearly.

Additionally, a fully implemented CETA may be worth about "one and a half billion dollars" due to increased Canadian exports, Brian Innes, president of Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance (CAFTA), estimated.

Still, the early days of FTA is not expected to be smooth sailing; issues concerning food safety recognitions of beef and pork remain unresolved and could impede the meats' full access to the European market. Innes pointed to inconsistencies in the way Europe looks at particular provisions, which could leave some Canadian beef and pork processing plants unable to fulfill requirements by the time CETA starts.

According to Ron Davidson, director of international trade, government and media relations at the Canadian Meat Council, health mark labeling and antimicrobial intervention are the sticking points.

Furthermore, Canadian beef have to be obtained from animals raised without the injection of hormones. Meats are also to be to be processed in a certain manner at packing facilities.

About 5,000 producers are therefore required to produce beef without hormones, John Masswohl, director of government and international relations with the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, said.

Nevertheless, Innes is upbeat about CETA's benefits that Canada would enjoy.

"We don't see (one and a half billion dollars) coming on day one by any means but over time, this could be very significant for Canadian agriculture," he commented.

Davidson also believed that, while the matter with antimicrobial intervention may take more time to resolve, there is a chance the issue with the health mark labeling could be settled before September 21.

He added that the Canadian meat industry could see a billion dollars market in the EU if quotas are filled with high value cuts, coupled with favourable market conditions and currency exchange rates.

CETA vs. NAFTA

CETA affords the Canadian beef industry some relief as the renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) began on a contentious note in August.

US President Donald Trump had demanded for a fairer deal catering to his "America First" agenda and recently repeated his threat to withdraw from NAFTA. In response to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer's remark about Trump's push for drastic changes within the FTA, Canadian and Mexican officials fiercely maintained their countries' original positions on the agreement.

Given the unpredictability of the current US administration, it is not hard to see why CETA would be a welcome for the Canadian beef industry.

Rejecting US protectionism would be a benefit for North American beef producers, Masswhol told Calgary Eyeopener at the second annual Canadian Beef Industry Conference in Calgary.

The US is still a major market for Canadian producers as "a large amount" of beef and live cattle goes to the country and Mexico, he pointed out.

"So for the US, it's nearly $3 billion. It's almost evenly split between beef in a box and live cattle. Mexico, we did a little over $100 million last year," Masswhol added. "The Americans ship nearly $1 billion of beef into Canada, so it's beneficial for all of us."

The director also highlighted the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which the US had pulled out in the first week of the Trump presidency. Masswhol mentioned Japan - one of the many remaining TPP members - for its $100 million-a-year market. However, he lamented that Canadian beef producers' access is somewhat affected by another FTA between Japan and Australia.

"We are very supportive of efforts to either do a Canada-Japan bilateral agreement or see if we can salvage the TPP in some way with the remaining 11 countries and maybe even bring in some others," Masswhol said.

China is yet another key market, which - even without full access - Canada was able to ship $255 million worth of beef to two years ago. Today, the value eases to around a $60 million range, according to Masswhol.

"China can take more beef than all of Canada and the US produce combined, so we're just looking to make sure that we have predictable access to that market," he said.
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The interest of the international community in the Sahel region has increased significantly in recent years. The rise of global terrorism and the migration crisis have attracted attention to this impoverished African region. However, global response and regional efforts still remain inadequate and insufficient to resolve the many crises affecting the region. Corruption and informal economy still overpower the rule of law and governance, while the focus on reducing migration by the European Union damages communities and undermines regional populations. As a result, the pressure from Brussels fails to address the root causes behind migration.

Observers overall agree that regional stabilization must be achieved holistically, taking into account security capacity and coordination while also stressing the need for greater regional integration between the Sahel and North Africa. This would curb the appeal of operating in the informal economy and at the same time provide opportunities for legal work in the region. The formalization of some previously clandestine economic activity could boost development and economic diversification while creating jobs.

To accomplish these goals, the French and international efforts to strengthen intra-Sahel and Sahel-Maghreb integration focus on migration, economic reform, security coordination, and regional institutional frameworks. To address migration, the EU should help the regions countries create a joint migration framework for the Sahel, West Africa and the Maghreb. Europe should further help to regularize and legalize population flows while providing regional and financial assistance to economic projects. Moreover, the EU should try to find ways to keep a leeway for legal migration to Europe and thus take stress off of regional communities.

Similarly, regional economic reform also requires combined approach to migration and informal economies that involve the Sahel and the Maghreb while also encouraging investment by regional and foreign countries. Security should involve long-term focus that goes beyond training for troops as well as a better integration of security and governance initiatives to make security durable and sustainable. Finally, to strengthen regional institutions and governance, the EU should help harmonize and coordinate the regions bodies and help reduce dependence on international support.

The Sahel remains one of the worlds poorest regions. It is struck by a combination of rapid population growth, food insecurity climate change and crime and terrorism. Due to the complexity of the regions reality, the Sahel countries are failing to develop coordinated approaches. Although the international community has boosted its presence in the region since 2012 when the jihadists took over northern Mali, the sad reality is that insecurity has been on rise ever since, fed by smuggling networks and corruption.

Bringing the Desert Together: How to Advance Sahel-Maghreb Integration  Policy Brief by Andrew Lebovich  European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).

The Policy Brief can be downloaded here:
I had to change from QUERTY to AZERTY literally overnight and mid-project, because I had to unexpectedly replace my computer - mine got stolen so I literally had to rush to Leclerc and buy one so I could get on with my work. I was stressed out in any case on account of the theft, and having to get used to the new keyboard layout whilst trying to keep on schedule with my deadlines nearly drove me demented. For a week or so I got Q's and Z's and semi-colons all over the place, and I sat staring at the keyboard looking everywhere for things like @, brackets etc. The air was blue from morning to night.



Having got through the pain barrier I wouldn't switch back. I can type as fast on AZERTY now as ever I could on QWERTY, of course when I have to use a QWERTY I get the same problems with Q's etc. I type probably 60 : 40 English to French, but I find there are advantages when typing French and no disadvantages with typing English, once you're used to it. However the first AZERTY I bought, with zero advance planning, didn't have a separate keypad for figures so you had to use the shift key to type figures, and I never really got the hang of that, kept ending up with a row of punctuation. Since then I've always made sure to choose ones with the numbers on a separate keypad.



Hope this helps.
Absurd said: Hi All,



Can someone advise, what if I apply for French citizenship via Naturalization, pass the interview at the Prefecture and leave France after a while (to US), I can track the mail for letters, so I can return if the result is positive.



What could be the roadblocks? Is that something theoretically possible?



Thanks Click to expand...

Il faut resider en France au moment de la signature du decret de naturalisation. La notion de residence est plus large que la notion habituelle de domicile. Elle implique que vous devez avoir en France le centre de vos interets materiels (notamment professionnels) et de vos liens familiaux. Si vous residez en France mais que votre epoux(se) et/ou vos enfants resident a l'etranger, la nationalite francaise pourrait vous etre refusee. Click to expand...

You don't say- on what basis you are applying for naturalisation- when you made the application- how long you expect remain outside France- if you know whether any checks have yet been doneHowever, I don't think it's a good idea and, given the security process that will be undertaken (they can track your comings and goings), they may well refuse your application should you leave the country for more than a brief period.


People working in, and supporters of, science, innovation and the arts in the UK are calling for these sectors not to lose out in the Brexit negotiations.While the headlines have focussed on immigration, trade and citizenship, those involved in the creative industries and science have created a document discussing what is needed in their sectors.Artist Mark Wallinger and scientist Professor Brian Cox are among the supporters of a cross European set of recommendations delivered to Brexit negotiators in the UK and the European Union that aim to secure the futures of innovation, research and the arts.They are also endorsed by the head of the Creative Industries Federation John Kampfner, geologist and presenter Iain Stewart, the next president of Universities UK Professor Janet Beer, the European Cultural Foundation, Culture Action Europe, the V&A, British Museum, Tate, the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels (BOZAR) and university representatives including Siena, Sorbonne, Oxford, Bristol, and Liverpool.The document has so far received 400 official endorsements from people in 28 European countries. It calls for residency rights for EU nationals currently living and working in the UK to be guaranteed and vice versa.The recommendations include ensuring those in the education, culture and science sectors and young people involved in exchanges remain able to move easily between the UK and other EU countries, possibly in the form of a simple, cheap and easy to obtain culture and education permit.They also want continued UK participation in and contribution to multilateral programmes such as Erasmus+, Horizon 2020, Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions and Creative Europe and say that engaging young people in future policy making and offering every young person in the UK and other European countries the opportunity of an inter-cultural and international experience, through areas such as study, work, performance, research, language learning or exchanges would also be beneficial.There is strong will across Europe for continued close collaboration in arts and culture, science and research, skills and education to the mutual benefit of all countries involved, said Sir Ciaran Devane chief executive of the British Council which looks after British cultural interests abroad.As individuals we all invest in our friendships, so we must invest in our European friendships. We cannot take them for granted. These recommendations shore up the fields that will underpin our current societies and future relationships with the continent and may ease fractious relationships as the politics of Brexit proceed, he pointed out.By accepting these recommendations the UK and EU27 can prove they value good relationships and strengthened cultural ties with neighbouring countries, he added.The recommendations come from the British Council convening members of governments, museum directors, university vice chancellors, and key figures from research bodies, unions, federations and institutions across the science, education, culture and arts sectors.
The oil and gas industry in Texas continues to ramp up drilling in 2017 despite continued low oil prices and faltering production cuts from OPEC countries, according to a Texas economist.

Its clearly in a state of recovery from a very nasty two year downturn, Amarillo-based oil economist Karr Ingham said from Houston.

Inghams Texas Petro Index  which uses variables such as the number of active oil drilling rigs, employment in the oil and gas industry and other measures to create a monthly index number  has increased every month since December after a two-year decline. The July index, released Wednesday, was up 14.9 percent to 176.9 points, 18.6 percent higher than the low of 149.2 points in November.

Texas drillers have produced more than 702 million barrels of oil during the first seven months of the year, a 1.7 percent increase compared with the same period in 2016. That oil was valued at $32.4 billion, a 27.3 percent increase compared with $25.4 billion in 2016.

Ingham said growing revenue is due to higher oil prices, which have risen to an average of $46.13 per barrel through July, up from $36.86 a barrel through July 2016.

Oil prices fell from a high of $107 a barrel in June 2014 to $26 a barrel in February 2016 due to oversupply in the global market.

Recently rising revenues have benefited some, but not all, oil and gas workers. Jobs in oil and gas support  drivers and other support staff  grew 19.4 percent year-over-year, from 101,195 in July 2016 to 120,870 last month.

But oil and gas extraction jobs, the engineers and roughnecks that drill the wells, are down 0.6 percent year-over-year to 91,800 last month, falling slightly from 92,315 in July 2016, according to Inghams data.

Karr said its unlikely that employment will ever reach the almost 300,000 people employed by the oil and gas industry around the beginning of 2015, when the downturn began to take hold.

Voter Guide: What to know for the midterm election Your guide to the Texas and San Antonio races and candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot.

The industry also faces other threats to its current recovery. One threat comes from faltering production cuts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC oil producing nations. Those cuts  which went into effect in January and were extended for a further nine months in June  are meant to remove 1.8 million barrels of crude oil production.

However on August 11 the International Energy Agency estimated that only 75 percent of cuts were being made. Falling OPEC and non-OPEC compliance coupled with rising U.S. production leaves big questions on the table for Ingham.

Even if OPEC left all of those cuts in place, if they were endless and there was complete conformity to that agreement, just the fact that were raising production here would keep a lid on prices, no doubt about that, Ingham said. I have big questions about what OPEC will do.

rdruzin@express-news.net

@druz_journo
San Antonio-area businesses started shuttering Gulf Coast operations and ramping up emergency plans Thursday as Hurricane Harvey placed much of South Texas at risk for catastrophic flooding.

The hurricane barreled toward the refineries in Corpus Christi and the oil fields in South Texas where the industry is particularly exposed and was taking extra precautions to safeguard equipment and personnel.

By mid-morning Thursday, a hurricane warning was issued for Karnes and DeWitt counties, two of the busiest in the Eagle Ford Shale oil field, and much of the rest of the field was under a tropical storm warning.

DeWitt County Judge Daryl Fowler said he expected the countys emergency operations center would be running round the clock by Friday, and it was in contact with the oil and gas companies that operate in the county because of the chance for catastrophic flooding.

The Railroad Commission of Texas, the states oil and gas regulator, sent a notice to operators on Thursday advising them to prepare for the storm and secure equipment.

ConocoPhillips started suspending drilling and completion operations in the Eagle Ford and was moving non-essential personnel and equipment Thursday, said spokeswoman Romelia Hinojosa.

EOG Resources, the largest oil producer in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas, said it was similarly securing its facilities and sending some of its workers to drier ground.

In certain high-risk areas, we evacuated non-essential personnel, suspended drilling operations, and shut-in production, said EOG spokesman Creighton Welch. We will continue to monitor the storm and evaluate if steps to suspend additional operations are needed.

San Antonio-based Pioneer Energy Services, an oil field service company, was also evacuating field employees from the region on Thursday.

We are lowering masts where we can, moving equipment from low lying areas and shutting offices down to clear people out, CEO Stacy Locke said in an email. Locke said the company didnt want to wait to get employees out of the area because roads would get too crowded.

The Port of Corpus Christi said it was monitoring possible impact scenarios, and San Patricio County, along the Corpus Christi Ship Channel, issued a mandatory evacuation Thursday afternoon. Corpus Christi, a major refining center and the countrys fourth largest port by tonnage, was in the direct path of the storm.

Pipeline operator NuStar Energy was shutting down its terminal in Corpus Christi Thursday and activated its emergency response plans for other facilities in the Gulf Coast, said spokeswoman Mary Rose Brown. She said the company was monitoring the storm to determine our next course of action.

Valero Energy Corp. decided to shut down its Corpus Christi and Three Rivers refineries as the storm rapidly intensified into what the National Weather Service predicted would be a Category 3  possibly Category 4  hurricane by the time it reaches landfall between Corpus Christi and Matagorda Bay on Friday. As of noon Thursday, Hurricane Harvey was 340 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph.

Our Gulf Coast operations work through hurricane preparedness protocol that include activities such as assessing refinery operations and potential storm impact, securing equipment, and ensuring we have adequate supplies available, said Lillian Riojas, spokeswoman for the San Antonio-based refiner.

The company, the largest U.S. refiner, was working closely with local, state, and federal agencies, she said.

Major food retailers are working to keep vital items on the shelves as they prepare for Harvey to make landfall. Walmarts emergency operation center in Bentonville, Arkansas is speaking frequently with store operations teams in Texas to gauge where to ship additional stock of water and food items to the companys stores in Texas and Louisiana, company spokesman Reagan Dickens said.

San Antonio-based supermarket H-E-B has routed trucks carrying additional stocks of water, food and batteries to stores in and around Corpus Christi and Houston, company spokeswoman Dya Campos said.

The company is also waiting to deploy its mobile emergency response units from San Antonio, including mobile kitchens that are capable of feeding thousands of people, Campos said. H-E-Bs emergency units also include mobile pharmacies along with electrical generators and water tankers.

Our emergency response team is prepared to not only sustain our stores during these times but also to help in the communities, Campos said.

Data security and backup provider Jungle Disk has already told its 27 employees in San Antonio to work from home Friday, said the companys CEO Bret Piatt.

That will ensure that at least some of his workers can get online if the city suffers a power outage and cellular outage downtown, since the staff is spread out across Bexar and other counties, he said.

The San Antonio companys been testing its business continuity plan by having at least one person from each team work from home on a weekly basis.

If there is an emergency and companies dont regularly test contingency plans, they might not discover gaps in coverage that leave a business unable to serve its clients, Piatt said. And then youre dealing with not only the natural disaster crisis, but youre dealing with a crisis inside of your own business at the same time, he added.

The last hurricane to strike Texas was Ike in 2008. The sluggish pace of Harvey will dump over a foot of rain across southeast Texas, rivaling rainfall seen in 2001 during Tropical Storm Allison.

Voter Guide: What to know for the midterm election Your guide to the Texas and San Antonio races and candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot.

San Antonio-based Frost Bank activated its emergency operations center in the city as the storm picked up speed.

We got a forecast this morning that the storm was strengthening, Frost spokesman Bill Day said Thursday. Thats why we made the decision to stand up the (emergency operations center).

Business continuity, security, HR and IT personnel have gathered at the center and by phone to discuss what they anticipate with the storm and how the bank will respond, he said. The center has conference call lines and televisions so staff can monitor the storm.

We can tap into the cameras in our locations so we can see whats going on, he said. Its a nerve center for us so we can find out whats going on and communicate more rapidly, rather than having everybody scattered around.

The bank, the largest regional financial institution based in San Antonio, has also begun replenishing cash at its ATMs in coastal regions to meet customer demand, Day said.

In anticipation of Hurricane Harvey, Frost said its branches in Padre Island, Portland and in downtown Corpus Christi will be closed Friday. All other branches in the Corpus Christi region will close at noon Friday, and will remained closed through the weekend. It anticipates reopening those branches on Monday, depending on weather conditions.

No weather-related branch closing are anticipated in the San Antonio area for now, he added.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has given national banks and federal savings associations authority to close offices in the areas affected by the storm. Frost Bank is a state-chartered institution.

The OCC is encouraging bankers to follow its 2012 guidance addressing natural disasters and other emergency conditions. The guidance lists actions bankers could consider implementing, such as waiving or reducing ATM fees, temporarily waiving late payment fees and working with borrowers affected by the storm.

The Texas Department of Banking has not made any announcement regarding the storm.

Joshua Fechter, Samantha Ehlinger and Kelsey Bradshaw contributed to this report.

pdanner@express-news.net
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Like most kids growing up in the 60s, Scott Bolton was fascinated by space flight and followed NASAs Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs religiously. But unlike most, he never really wanted to be an astronaut.

Instead of idolizing astronauts like they were movie stars or professional athletes, I was more interested in how rockets worked, said Bolton, 59, raised in New Jersey and Michigan and now associate vice president at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. I wanted to visit other galaxies, but I was never someone who liked riding on roller coasters.

So it is perhaps fitting that, since joining NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, in 1980, hes worked on most of the space agencys major unmanned space programs. These include the Galileo mission to Jupiter, Cassini, which has been studying Saturn and its moons since 2004, and, as principal investigator, Juno, which even as you read this, is in an elliptical orbit around Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system. Juno makes a close flyby of the gas giant every 53 days, most recently in early July.

One of the very first projects he worked on was Voyager, the dual-spacecraft mission launched in 1977 that took a grand tour of the outermost planets of the solar system, Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. In 2013, Voyager 1 became the first human-made object to reach interstellar space, the cold, dark void between stars. Not far behind, Voyager 2 is still traveling through the heliosheath, the outer edge of our solar system.

Voyager also is the subject of a new documentary, The Farthest  Voyager in Space, airing at 8 p.m. Wednesday on PBS station KLRN. Thats within days of the 40th anniversary of Voyagers launch.

Voyager is a great adventure story, said John Rubin, the executive producer. Its the story of a fragile spacecraft dodging bullets as it sails across the solar system.

Both fascinating and inspiring, the two-hour documentary includes interviews with many of the scientists involved with the program  including the late Carl Sagan  plus archival footage and animation detailing the rich discoveries of the most far-reaching exploratory journey in human history.

Bolton, who is not featured in the film, joined the +JPL fresh from the University of Michigan as a mission engineer.

I helped design future missions, figuring out what tasks could be done and how to do them, he explained. How big a spacecraft needed to be, what instruments to put into it, how theyd be arranged. Things like that.

He worked on successful missions such as Magellan, which mapped the surface of Venus, and unsuccessful ones, including an aborted effort to send a probe to Halleys Comet when it last swung through Earths celestial neighborhood in 1986.

Bolton concedes that working on space projects isnt for the impatient. One of his first missions was to design a spacecraft to fly to the outer atmosphere of the sun to study the solar winds. The mission could advance our knowledge of solar weather events and help protect us against its damaging effects.

If it ever launches.

Yeah, that one has taken a long time, he said with a laugh. I stared working on it in the early 80s and it was canceled and then restarted several times over the years. Now its called the Parker Solar Probe and its scheduled to launch next summer.

Being one of the first humans to see images of Saturn from Voyagers 1980 flyby spurred Bolton to transfer from his position as an engineer working on the nuts and bolts of mission planning to the science section. Thats when he became involved with Voyager, analyzing data collected from the crafts planetary radio astronomy antenna.

This was in the mid-80s and, although both Voyagers flew by Jupiter in 1979, the data was still in play.

By then we were trying to determine how the electrons move to generate this radio emission, he said. We wanted to learn what mechanism would make this happen.

It wasnt all seriousness, however. Before Voyager flew by Uranus in 1986, Bolton wrote a funding proposal he cheekily titled Low frequency emissions from Uranus. The humor, he concedes depends on how you pronounce the planets name, but he was tickled when the proposal was approved.

Before Voyagers 1989 flyby of Neptune, the most distant planet from the sun, Bolton was called in to review a paper written by another scientist predicting that radiation belts emitting a special type of radio emission would damage the spacecraft if its trajectory wasnt adjusted to move it further away from the planet.

This put Bolton into a sensitive position. If he recommended changing the trajectory, the flyby would result in less science. If he didnt  and the paper was correct  they could lose the spacecraft.

After months of study and discussions, including with James Van Allen, the legendary scientist who discovered the Earths radiation belts, Bolton concluded that the measurements the paper made were probably unreliable and that the craft was in no danger.

After he presented his results, NASA officials decided to leave Voyager alone. When it got to Neptune there were no radiation belts there.

And I went, whew, he added, wiping his brow dramatically.

Soon after the Neptune flyby, the final item on Voyagers planetary checklist, Bolton moved to the Galileo mission and, later, Cassini.

It was while working on Cassini in 1999 that several colleagues approached him for help. On its way to Saturn, the spacecraft was scheduled to hurtle past Jupiter for a gravity boost. Could he, they asked, help them determine the temperature of the planets deep atmosphere?

I said, Thats interesting, Bolton recalled. Why do you want to know?

If they knew the temperature, they explained, they could extrapolate how much water the planet contained, and from there, how Jupiter was formed.

That sounded important, so I told them Id see what I could do, he said. But after working the problem for a few of days, I had to tell them I couldnt help get the temperature.

But I could get the water measurement.

All he needed, he explained, was an instrument that hadnt been invented yet (but that he thought could be built) and a spacecraft to fly over the planets poles (which Cassini would not do).

When I was done they said, If you can do all that, you have the basis for an entire space mission. he recalled.

And thats how Bolton became the principal investigator on the Juno mission to Jupiter, which launched in 2011 and entered orbit around the planet in 2016.

For Fran Bagenal, co-investigator for the New Horizons mission to Pluto and a longtime colleague of Boltons, his solution was typically creative.

Wed previously sent the Galileo Probe into the planet, but it detected only very little water before we lost contact, she said. Instead of sending in more probes, which would have cost millions of dollars, Scott came up with a brilliant alternative.

That involved mapping microwave emissions coming from the deep atmosphere of the planet itself. Knowing that water absorbs microwaves, as it does in your kitchen microwave oven, Bolton realized that measuring changes in microwave emissions could help determine how much water the planet contains. That mapping remains one of the prime missions of the Juno program.

He often finds solutions that arent in the textbook, said Bagenal.

The PBS documentary Wednesday follows Voyager from its earliest days when the Nixon Administration approved the building of two spacecraft, to today, which finds Voyager 1 almost 13 billion miles from Earth and Voyager 2 slightly behind more than 10.6 billion miles away.

Both about the size of a small school bus, the two spacecrafts perhaps are best known for the message-in-a-bottle Golden Records they carry, curated time capsules of humanity. The 12-inch, gold-plated copper phonograph records contains photos, natural and manmade sounds, greetings in 60 languages and 27 pieces of music, most famously, Chuck Berrys version of Johnny B Goode.

Theyre expected to survive unchanged and unscathed for billions of years. And, in case any aliens who happen upon one of these lonely space travelers are unfamiliar with LP records, the Voyager scientists were thoughtful enough to pack a cartridge, stylus and instructions on each spacecraft.

Bolton, who hasnt worked on Voyager full time since the early 90s, says he still often thinks about those two small spaceships hurtling through the void at roughly 35,000 miles per hour.

Sometimes, he said, I try in my mind imagine that Im in them, and what is it like that far out in deep space, cold and nothing around it. Theyre so far away, our own sun looks just like another star. That makes me feel how big space really is. And Im constantly amazed at that.

rmarini@express-news.net

Twitter: @RichardMarini
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The Great American Eclipse has come and gone and now you find yourself with one or more pairs of used solar eclipse glasses.

Whatever you do, dont throw them away. They may be used, but theyre not useless.

Those glasses will come in handy during the two eclipses coming to our neighborhood in a few years. You also can donate them to needy students. Or, you can simply recycle them.

Hundreds of millions of solar glasses were sold leading up to the recent eclipse, said Mike Simmons, president of Astronomers Without Borders. Itd be a shame if those ended up in landfills.

Simmons organization connects people around the world by what he called the universal interest in astronomy. Part of that mission involves sharing astronomy-related resources with people who cant afford them.

The group has set up a program that collects used glasses that will be distributed to students in Asia and South America, which both are in line for solar eclipses in 2019.

The organizations website, astronomerswithoutborders.org, has an interactive map highlighting hundreds of drop-off sites across the country, although none are in San Antonio. If you still want to donate, mail your glasses to AWB Eclipse Glasses Donation Program, Explore Scientific, 1010 S. 48th St., Springdale, AK 72762.

You can also register to be a drop-off point on the same website. About all thats required is the willingness to pay the postage to send collected glasses to Arkansas.

Simmons said he expects theyll collect well over 1 million pairs.

This eclipse was such a huge event, he said. The interest went well beyond the usual boundaries of astronomy.

Glasses collected will be inspected to make sure the solar film is undamaged and complies with the ISO 12312-2 international safety standard.

There were a lot of fake glasses out there, and if we cant verify that a pair of glasses is safe, we wont distribute them, Simmons said.

Although Hunter Shelby, the principal at Virginia Allred Stacey Junior-Senior High School at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, hadnt heard about the program, he said he might consider donating at least some of the 500 pairs the school purchased for its students.

We want to keep at least two classroom sets for future use, but this sounds like something worthwhile to do with the remaining glasses, he said.

To prep the glasses for donation, unfold the glasses and stack them if you have multiple pairs. Carefully wrap them with a rubber band or place them in a plastic bag.

You also might want to consider holding on to a couple of pairs because, in 2023, San Antonio is in line for an annular eclipse, also known as a ring of fire eclipse because the outer edges of the sun remain visible around the dark moon at the center, like a nickle atop a quarter.

Even better, in 2024 most of San Antonio will be in the path of totality of a solar eclipse, which means well experience the same spectacle that people from Oregon to South Carolina enjoyed earlier this week.

Youll need solar glasses to safely view both of these celestial spectacles.

Theres been plenty of misinformation about the lifespan of solar glasses. One report claimed theyre no longer effective after three years.

Pat Steele-Gaishin, owner of Thousand Oaks Optical, an Arizona-based manufacturer of eclipse glass film, said that, although he knows people whove used the same glasses for three decades, they probably should be discarded after 10 years.

He estimated that, in the run-up to the 2017 eclipse, his company produced enough film to make 100 million glasses.

The film itself is really durable, as long as it doesnt get scratched or punctured, he said. The paper frame will deteriorate before the film does.

To keep that from happening, he recommends storing used glasses in paper or a plastic bag and keeping them in a cool, dry place.

If you take care of them, they should be just fine for 2023 and 2024, he said.

If you prefer not to save or donate, you simply can remove and discard the plastic lenses and recycle the cardboard frames. Better than having the whole thing rot away in a landfill.

rmarini@express-news.net

Twitter: @RichardMarini
CAIRO  Egypts Foreign Ministry abruptly canceled a meeting with White House adviser Jared Kushner after the Trump administration cut or delayed hundreds of millions of dollars in aid over human rights concerns.

Kushner, President Donald Trumps son-in-law, stopped Wednesday in Cairo as part of a Middle East tour aimed at exploring ways to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Egypts top diplomat, Sameh Shoukry, was to meet with the U.S. delegation, but a modified version of his schedule showed the meeting had been called off, shortly after Kushners delegation landed in Cairo.

President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi later met with the American delegation.

The Trump administration on Tuesday cut nearly $100 million in military and economic aid to Egypt and delayed almost $200 million more in military financing, citing Egypts poor human rights record and its crackdown on civic and other nongovernmental groups.

The Foreign Ministry said Egypt regretted the U.S. decision, calling it a misjudgment of the nature of the strategic relations that have bound the two countries for decades. It said the move reflects the lack of understanding of the importance of supporting the stability and success of Egypt.

Egypt is among the top recipients of U.S. assistance, annually receiving about $1.3 billion in military aid and $250 million in economic aid.

Kushner has been trying to revive Middle East peace talks but has made little evident progress and has yet to lay out a clear vision.
COLUMBUS  Members of the Carrig family had no problem connecting with the Wild Wild West theme for this years Columbus Days.

Their history here goes back that far.

Decked out in old-time clothing, along with plenty of green and shamrocks to celebrate their Irish heritage, the Carrigs proudly rode in Sundays parade to mark 160 years in Platte County.

Its a big thing for us, Doug Carrig said of his familys ties to the area.

That was apparent Sunday as family members both young and old gathered on the float featuring a sign noting their history.

Doug Carrigs great-great-grandfather David H. Carrig emigrated from County Kerry, Ireland, to America at age 23.

David Carrig started in New York as a contractor providing supplies for the railroads. As the tracks spread west, he followed to Ohio and Illinois.

David Carrig and his two brothers, James and Henry, who also came to the U.S. from Ireland and helped haul ties for the railroads, were part of an Irish wagon train that landed in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

But instead of settling there, they set their sights a little farther to the northwest.

They wanted to be in the Nebraska territory, Doug Carrig said.

The Carrig brothers were among the first settlers in Platte County when they homesteaded in the Shell Creek area in 1857. Shell Creek Precinct was established the following year and the first church in the area, St. Patricks Catholic Church, represented the immigrants background.

That connection to Ireland hasnt gone away.

We do everything Irish, said Doug Carrig, who graduated from Columbus High School and lives in Omaha now.

His uncle Bob Carrig, who lives in Columbus, and aunts Karen Linden and Sharon Bowers, who both reside in Grand Island, were the patriarch and matriarchs of Sundays parade float, which also included members of the Kluever and Murphy families.

The Carrig family lineage includes a former county register of deeds, Jerry Carrig, and former Columbus mayor, C.J. Carrig. David Carrig Jr., whose father passed away in 1899, owned one of the first saloons in Platte County  fitting for an Irish family.

Theres a lot of history here and were trying to keep it going by doing this type of thing, said Doug Carrig, whose father was one of 12 siblings raised in Platte County.

A family reunion is held each year in Columbus, usually over Labor Day weekend. The event was moved up this time so they could be part of the Columbus Day parade.

Bowers, whose father was a salesman for the auto dealership formally located inside the Dusters building, said its absolutely wonderful to bring everyone together to celebrate their history.

We look forward to these things, she said. Were pretty faithful.

Besides, she added, its my old stomping ground.

The family uses this type of gathering and a Facebook page to share their history with the younger generations.

It must be working. More than 100 people were expected at the reunion dinner held at the Eagles Club following Sundays parade.

We usually have 25 to 30 new family members who show up that nobody has met, joked Doug Carrig, whose grandfather married a member of the Evans family, which also has a long history in the area.
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When Carpe Diem Westwood opened its doors on San Antonios West Side two years ago, it seemed to be bursting with promise and potential.

Like the original Carpe Diem school founded in Arizona, it sought to educate students using a blended learning model that combined data, personalized instruction, technology and attention to students social and emotional needs.

Its status as one of six charter districts recruited to expand in San Antonio, their way smoothed by a multimillion-dollar campaign by the nonprofit Choose to Succeed in 2011, only added to the expectations.

But from the start, Carpe Diems single campus struggled. Its enrollment has hovered between 200 and 250 students in its first two years, during which it failed to meet state academic standards. Now Carpe Diem  the name is Latin for seize the day  has only one more chance in the 2017-2018 school year.

If it fails for a third year in a row, the Texas Education Agency could revoke its charter.

Choose to Succeeds goal, to diversify school choice and enroll 80,000 of the citys public school students by 2026, was ambitious. The five other districts  KIPP San Antonio, BASIS, Great Hearts Academies, IDEA Public Schools and Rocketship Education  have built schools across the city.

The contrast puts Carpe Diem under an ironic spotlight. How can a charter district considered high-performing be flunking?

We own the fact that the school failed, said Rick Ogston, who is now running it and who founded the Carpe Diem model. Were moving on very confidently into the future.

Ogston blames an improper rollout of his learning model by a management company as the source of the problem. He said the social-emotional aspect of the model, which involves mentoring students on more than just academics, was never implemented.

There was also a major disconnect between the digital and face-to-face instruction students were receiving, he said. Middle school and high school students  Carpe Diem serves grades six through 12  were mixed together, with no distinctions.

Last year, after Carpe Diem failed the 2016 academic performance ratings, the districts board asked Ogston to come to Texas to serve as superintendent. After initial analysis, Ogston realized the school need a complete reboot, he said.

Now the school is in the midst of a comprehensive turnaround plan, and even is calling its staffers the turnaround team.

Over the summer, it hired new teachers and held training sessions, redesigned curriculum and schedules and assigned each teacher a group of students to mentor in advisory meetings.

Carpe Diem adopted a new motto: Strong hearts. Strong minds. Strong futures.

The districts assistant superintendent and chief academic officer, James Bailey, helped troubleshoot the overhaul and train employees. Part of his job has been getting the necessary buy-in from staff and students, he said.

Right now, its about keeping people upbeat and positive about their roles, Bailey said. It certainly does take time.

Since it was founded in Yuma, Arizona, the Carpe Diem network has planted schools in Ohio and Indiana.

Over the summer, a Carpe Diem school closed in Indianapolis. Ogston said it was for financial, rather than academic, reasons. Hes not involved with the schools in the Midwest but said the networks decision to expand nationally happened too quickly. San Antonio is its only Texas location.

Carpe Diem may have been the highest risk among the Choose to Succeed schools, but it promised the highest rewards too, said Victoria Rico, a chairwoman and trustee for the George W. Brackenridge Foundation, which helped fund the Choose to Succeed effort. Rico, who spearheaded the initiative early on, called Carpe Diem the startup entrepreneur of our portfolio.

She said there was an important difference between founding a strong school and replicating that effort elsewhere.

Turnaround work, statistically  its much harder to turn around a school than start a new one, Rico said. Theres something about the psychology of turnaround where its just hard. I do think that this particular team can probably do it.

Rico pointed to the high number of special education students attending Carpe Diem. This year, the school enrolled 75 students with special needs out of a total of about 230 students.

While thats not the sole reason for the schools struggles, it might have put Carpe Diem in a tricky financial situation because of inadequate state funding for special education, she said.

Those students likely were attracted to Carpe Diem because of its nontraditional learning environment.

The schools setup is a radical departure from many public schools. While it has traditional classrooms that are used for certain parts of the day, students also work and learn in two other expansive spaces. The one dedicated to middle schoolers is filled with rows of cubicle-like desks, where students complete their digital instruction, its walls adorned with pennants from various colleges and universities.

Next door is a roomy area filled with study areas  a smaller set of the cubicle desks, high-top tables, round tables, long benches, bean bag chairs. By mid-morning Tuesday, the second day of the school year, students had scattered themselves across the room. One boy sat on a table on his own, huddled over his scribbling on a piece of paper. Another sat on one of the bean bag chairs, near a silver Chromebook charging cart. A group of girls claimed a round table for themselves and chatted quietly.

Earlier in the day, a group of high school students dressed in evergreen polo shirts had filed into a bright classroom and arranged their chairs in a circle for an advisory meeting with Bailey. One girl led her service dog, Paris, who patiently sat on the ground next to her.

The room seemed designed to motivate. Propped against a wall was a framed poster with colorful print: Be respectful. Be responsible. Be empowered. Above doorways, more signs, printed on sheets of computer paper, urged, Teach with a Strong Heart. Believe in their Strong Futures.

Hows everybody doing? Bailey asked.

Seconds passed. The students remained silent.

Oh my goodness, Bailey said. Goodness, goodness, goodness.

Bailey went on to take the temperature of the room, asking students to describe their emotional state using weather terms  sunny, cloudy, stormy. Most said they were partly cloudy.

Then, he read aloud an essay while students followed along on paper handouts.

You have to actually make a decision. If you try to be everywhere, youll end up nowhere. If you try to be everyone, youll end up no one, he read. You have to choose what you want to do and who you want to be.

In advance of next summer, when the state releases its annual academic performance ratings, Ogston said, he has not given much thought to what would happen were the school to fail again.

Failure is not an option this year, he said. We are going to succeed.

lcaruba@express-news.net
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AUSTIN  Gov. Greg Abbott seems to have fallen for fake news again.

The Republican tweeted a poll that showed Kid Rock leading Democrat incumbent Debbie Stabenow in the Michigan U.S. Senate race, proclaiming THIS will shake up Washington!

The only problem is that the legitimacy of the poll Abbott references in his tweet is in question, according to a recent story on the website FiveThirtyEight that warns about a rise in fake polls released on the internet by pranksters seeking attention or money.

ITS HAPPENING! New poll has Kid Rock leading Debbie Stabenow. THIS will shake up Washington. #tcot #PJNET @TexasGOP reads Abbotts tweet, posted July 23. It then provides a link to an item on twitchy.com that references a poll by Delphi Analytica.

The person claiming to have started Delphi Analytica  a company of mysterious origins behind the poll  boasted about Abbotts tweet in a chat room, writing we got governors tweeting out our polls. we are already famous, according to FiveThirtyEight. The Deplhi Analytica site is no longer up and a link to its poll produces an error message.

Abbotts office didnt immediately return a request for comment. His tweet has not been taken down.

Kid Rock indicated last month he is considering a run for U.S. Senate and tweeted to followers that a campaign website bearing his name is in fact real. Some have dismissed it as a publicty stunt.

There is another poll, conducted in July by Target-Insyght poll and published in The Detroit News, about Kid Rocks chances in the senate race. It showed Kid Rock within range of Stabenow, but still trailing the sitting U.S. Senator by an 8-point margin.

Yes, Kid Rock is close, and he is leading in the Republican primary if he were to run, but hes not beating Debbie Stabenow, said Ed Sarpolus, founder and executive director of the Lansing-based polling firm, who has been in the business for more than 30 years.

Its not the first time Abbott has come under scrutiny for the accuracy of his statements on Twitter. In early August, Politifact gave Abbott a false rating for a tweet in which the governor claimed Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had warned players they would be off the team if they didnt stand for the national anthem.

AMorris@express-news.net
AUSTIN  A federal judge Wednesday again tossed out Texas voter ID law, ruling that a watered-down version the Legislature passed this year still discriminates against African-American and Latino voters.

U.S. District Court Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos of Corpus Christi said Senate Bill 5, approved in the regular legislative session this year, didnt fix the discriminatory aspects of Senate Bill 14, passed in 2011, which created one of the strictest voter ID laws in the nation.

The ruling comes after a judicial panel invalidated two of Texas congressional districts.

Together, the legal issues could affect upcoming elections in Texas, including primaries for state and federal office set to take place in March.

Attorney General Ken Paxton immediately called Wednesdays decision outrageous and pledged to appeal it. Groups representing minority voters, however, cheered the decision as a victory.

Republicans in Texas for years have fought to require voters to show certain documents before casting a ballot, citing concerns over voter fraud.

The latest iteration, known as Senate Bill 5, still requires voters to present one of seven acceptable forms of photo ID to cast a ballot. But it let people without such identification vote, so long as they signed an affidavit and brought paperwork, such as a utility bill or paycheck, showing the persons name and address.

Paxton and the Trump administrations Justice Department argued those changes cured the law of any discriminatory effect or intent, but in a 27-page ruling, Ramos disagreed.

The provisions of SB 5 fall far short of mitigating the discriminatory provisions of SB14, she wrote.

She then went point by point, explaining why she was ruling that SB 5 didnt cut it.

The legislation trades one obstacle to voting with another, she wrote, replacing the lack of qualified photo ID with an overreaching affidavit threatening severe penalties for perjury.

The result could be a chilling effect on voters, who out of fear or misunderstanding might not show up to cast their ballots, she wrote.

She pointed to the requirement for a voter to attest on the Declaration of Reasonable Impediment form the reason why he or she doesnt have one of the limited forms of photo ID that the state accepts  something the judge said doesnt have anything to do with the stated purpose of preventing voter fraud.

Requiring a voter to address more issues than necessary under penalty of perjury and enhancing that threat by making the crime a state jail felony appear to be efforts at voter intimidation, she wrote. The record reflects historical evidence of the use of many kinds of threats and intimidation against minorities at the polls  particularly having to do with threats of law enforcement and criminal penalties.

Ramos, who first tossed out the law in 2014, also criticized SB 5 for not meaningfully expanding the number of acceptable photo IDs, which allow for a concealed handgun license, but not a college student ID, for example.

It also doesnt allow for federal or Texas state government IDs, even those it issues to its own employees, she noted in the ruling.

And she pointed out that while SB 5 did expand the provision for showing a passport book to include a passport card, the requirements for obtaining either form of passport include underlying documents of the type likely to exclude minorities and its costly.

Overall, she ruled, the approved list perpetuates the selection of types of ID most likely to be possessed by Anglo voters and, disproportionately, not possessed by Hispanics and African-Americans, she wrote.

Paxton insisted the changes made to Texas voter ID law this year resolved all issues raised by the 5th Circuit court.

The U.S. Department of Justice is satisfied that the amended voter ID law has no discriminatory purpose or effect, he said in a statement. Safeguarding the integrity of elections in Texas is essential to preserving our democracy. The 5th Circuit should reverse the entirety of the district courts ruling.

Plaintiffs in the case, including Congressman Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, said the ruling demonstrates again that the voter ID law intentionally discriminates against Texas citizens.

As the lead plaintiff in Veasey vs. Abbott, I am proud that we have so far successfully challenged and blocked these illegal efforts to restrict voting. It is time for Texas Republican leaders to end shameful efforts to hold power through voter suppression, Veasey said in a statement.

Rolando Rios, a lawyer representing the Texas Association of Hispanic County Judges and Commissioners, is confident the ruling will be upheld on appeal.

We are very pleased with the ruling, it eliminates the voter ID law by root and branch because of the intent to discriminate against Hispanics, he said.

State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, D-Austin, was equally pleased.

Members of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus warned that SB 5 didnt strike the right balance between protecting election integrity and honoring Texans right to vote, said Rodriguez, the caucus policy chairman, in a statement. Looking forward, we must restore Texans voting rights by fixing our gerrymandered electoral maps and preventing future state-sponsored discrimination. Texas voters should choose their elected officials and not the other way around.

Staff Writer Andrea Zelinski contributed to this report.

amorris@express-news.net
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As founder and director of the Center for Terrorism Law at St. Marys University, right-leaning law professor Jeffrey Addicott has made plenty of controversial public statements over the past two decades.

Ive done over 5,000 media interviews since the founding of the center (in 2003), he told me, and over 900 speeches from all over the world.

Two weeks ago, one speech finally landed Addicott in trouble. Speaking in Travis Park in defense of a statue honoring Confederate soldiers, Addicott threatened to beat the living daylights out of any racists there.

That sort of rhetoric might seem out of place coming from someone who lauds the policies of President Donald Trump. It fits, though, with Addicotts far-right rationale for keeping the Confederate monument in place: The Civil War wasnt about slavery, he said at the rally. It was about money.

The war, of course, was about slavery, a fact Texas itself made clear in 1861 in its Declaration of Causes for secession. People of non-slave-holding States  demand the abolition of negro slavery throughout the confederacy, the recognition of political equality between the white and the negro races, and avow their determination to press on their crusade against us, so long as a negro slave remains in these States, Texas groused.

It wasnt Addicotts misrepresentation of history, though, that prompted a rebuke from St. Marys President Thomas Mengler, who released a statement calling Addicotts comments deeply troubling. According to Mengler, it was solely Addicotts evocation of violence that crossed a line.

St. Marys stands in support of academic freedom  whether that speech is from the left, the right, the mainstream, Mengler told me this week. Threats of violence, under any circumstances, whether in Travis Park or in the classroom or in the bar, are always unacceptable, and theyre particularly unacceptable for a professor at a Catholic university.

Were trying to model behavior for our students, he added.

By demanding civility, Mengler is fighting against a strong current. Addicotts violent speech was merely an echo of behavior modeled across the political and cultural spectrum in recent months, from Trump urging supporters to knock the hell out of protesters at his rallies to the left debating whether its OK to punch a Nazi.

After days of declining to comment on the matter, Addicott offered a mea culpa of sorts on Wednesday.

If you google that idiom that I used, you can see what the definition is, he said. Its an idiomatic expression to express extreme displeasure. But it can also be viewed as violent speech.

The university was right, he added. I was wrong. I screwed up.

How badly did he screw up?

Addicott has uttered problematic political statements before, always under the aegis of a fully operational research center dedicated to the study of legal and policy issues associated with terrorism, as the Center for Terrorism Law defines itself.

This week, for instance, Addicott told me that no torture ever occurred at Guantanamo Bay. Theres enhanced interrogation techniques. But no torture.

I find it noxious to suggest that force-feedings, sleep deprivation, stress positions and beatings dont constitute torture. But at least this claim stimulates thought, discussion, debate.

Threatening to injure someone for exercising their First Amendment rights, whether that someone is protesting hate or spewing hate, is an attack on free speech, period  the same basic right that made Addicotts many public-speaking engagements possible.

In any case, you cant punch the alt-right out of America, just as nobodys going to knock the hell out of the resistance. If anything, violence only hardens divisions.

Thats why Mengler was right, as the leader of an institution of higher learning, to defend the role of education in leading us out of the darkness.

At bottom, its respect for the dignity of every individual, Mengler said. We want to model the kind of behavior that moves our culture forward in constructive ways.

bchasnoff@express-news.net
Detention Center

The inmate count at the Platte County Detention Facility Wednesday was 54, with 47 from Platte County and seven from out of county.

Police

July 28

2:07 a.m. -- At 2566 18th Ave., Juan Gil, 19, 2550 Fourth Ave., No. 115, was cited for minor in possession of alcohol.

Aug. 14

9:30 p.m. -- In the 900 block of 29th Avenue, a vehicle driven by Fermin Ramos-Carmona, 16, Carriage House Estates, No. 134, struck a parked vehicle owned by Rebecca Bright, 2565 47th Ave., No. 6.

Aug. 15

8:14 a.m. -- At 1118 Eighth St., Danielle Tessier, 41, no address, was cited for theft and no operator's license.

1 p.m. -- At 2223 23rd St., Kollin Rawls, 30, 1318 Fourth St., was cited for criminal mischief.

6:23 p.m. -- At 1756 24th Ave., Timothy Webster, 42, 1756 24th Ave., was cited for third-degree sexual assault of a child.

Aug. 18

9:04 p.m. - In the 1400 block of 33rd Avenue, Luis Castillo Valdivia, 30, 854 26th Ave., was cited for no operator's license.

Aug. 19

12:19 p.m. -- In the 700 block of 33rd Avenue, Claudia Kiser, 67, 80 Cottonwood Drive, was cited for an improper turn.

Aug. 20

6:39 a.m. -- At 1221 Eighth St., Cristian Martinez, 24, 3121 27th St., was cited for first-degree criminal trespass.

6:22 p.m. -- At 2009 24th St., Alexander Voecks, 18, 6033 55th St., was cited for possession of marijuana-one ounce or less and possession of drug paraphernalia.

7:32 p.m.  In the 1600 block of Sixth Street, traffic accident. Drivers were Samantha Sliva, 23, 1616 Sixth St., and Caitlin Hottovy, 16, 303 Morton Road.

Aug. 21

12:23 p.m. -- At the intersection of 16th Avenue and a 23rd Street frontage road, traffic accident. Drivers were Jordanys Genaro Cisnero, 31, 2867 Eastbrook Drive, No. 1, and John Boyer, 18, 12227 280th St.

10:42 p.m. -- Criminal mischief at 3318 23rd St., tires slashed, no loss amount.

Aug. 22

9:17 a.m. -- Theft at 1810 Eighth St., $75 loss.

4:45 p.m. -- Theft at Columbian Village Apartments, 3717 27th St., $81 loss.

Sheriff

Aug. 13

6:57 a.m.  On Highway 91, eight miles east of Albion, a vehicle driven by Kara Stocking, 37, Albion, struck a deer.

Aug. 14

3:16 p.m. -- At the intersection of U.S. Highway 30 and East 32nd Avenue, traffic accident. Drivers were Shane Preister, 27, 1558 44th Ave., and Michael Ribeiro, 64, Omaha.

Aug. 15

8:31 a.m. - At the intersection of East Eighth Street and East 29th Avenue, traffic accident. Drivers were Bill Giddings Jr., 49, North Bend, and Freddilinda Bourn, 48, 3609 18th St.

Aug. 19

3:19 p.m. -- On 287th Street, one mile west and four miles north of Columbus, a vehicle driven by Lance Borer, 15, 2252 39th Ave., lost control, left the roadway and rolled, ejecting the driver. Lance Borer and passenger Calvin Borer, 24, were transported to Columbus Community Hospital by Columbus and Platte Center rescue ambulances.

Aug. 21

7:34 a.m.  Traffic violation at the intersection of 175th Avenue and 475th Street, Avery Ellis of Columbus cited for a stop sign violation and no seat belt.

5:05 p.m.  Traffic violation south of U.S. Highways 81/30 junction, Craig Lambert of Las Vegas, Nevada, cited for following too close.

8:25 p.m.  Traffic violation at the intersection of East Highway 30 and East 32nd Avenue, Hugo Lara-Luna jailed for no operators license and cited for speeding.

Aug. 22

1:25 a.m. -- Traffic violation on Lost Creek Parkway near Wal-Mart Supercenter, Mauricio Bejarano-Izaguirre of Columbus jailed for no operator's license and cited for a white light to the rear.

6:46 a.m. -- Wanted person at 3163 S. 16th St., Nathan Johnson of Columbus jailed on a Platte County warrant, and for possession of a controlled substance, drug paraphernalia and stolen property.

2:25 p.m. -- West of the junction of Highways 30 and 81, James Chollar of Columbus jailed for second-offense driving under the influence and felon in possession of a firearm.

Fire

Aug. 21

9 a.m.  In the 2800 block of 36th Street, medical.

7:23 p.m.  In the 3600 block of 30th Street, medical.

Aug. 22

8:14 a.m. -- At Heritage House, medical.

11:18 a.m. -- In the 3500 block of Brookfield Place, medical.

1:38 p.m. -- In the 2200 block of 22nd Street, medical.

4:28 p.m. -- In the 2900 block of 83rd Street, medical.

5:03 p.m. -- Accident at the intersection of Fifth Street and 19th Avenue.

8:21 p.m. -- In the 300 block of 24th Street, medical.
ALBION  Agriculture was a main topic of discussion Wednesday during U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer's listening session in Albion.

Fischer said she expects a big fight when the 2018 farm bill is debated in Congress.

The Heritage Foundation out of Washington has targeted the farm bill as the No. 1 program to defeat, Fischer said. That doesnt bode well for Nebraska. The No. 1 priority is keeping that crop insurance.

The farm bill governs a number of agricultural and food support programs, including crop insurance and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps.

Fischer said there is a movement by some activists to tie more conservation programs into any kind of farm payments. These programs can in turn be tied into crop insurance.

I think the programs have been really beneficial to farmers, Fischer said. But putting an extra burden on our farmers isnt the way to go.

One area farmer also expressed concern about Environmental Protection Agency regulations and their impact on agriculture.

Ive been hearing that farmers have been noticing changes within regulations, Fischer said. Most of these changes have been positive and I hope to see that change continue. The focus should be getting people to comply and not have to worry about having to pay a fine.

The Nebraska senator said the push will continue to keep EPA regulations at bay.

The Affordable Care Act also came up during Wednesday's event.

In September we have time for reconciliation, Fischer said when talking about the health care bill approved by the Obama administration. Both sides are looking at market stabilization, which is good. But what that really means is putting all the money into one insurance company. In Nebraska, thats Medica.

Nebraska decided not to expand Medica because there was no money to support the move, Fischer said. She believes that was the right decision.

We are not receiving any government funding for it, Fischer said.

Republicans have yet to agree on a new plan to replace the Affordable Care Act should it be repealed.
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If time, distance and money were of no consequence, this is how I, the author, Ellie Dean would spend my perfect day.

Ellie Dean

I awake in a four-poster bed, the voile curtains gently drifting in a warm, tropical breeze scented with frangipani and mimosa. I write The End on my latest novel and send it off, and then step outside onto the white sand of Galley Bay in Antigua and paddle in the blue water before being served breakfast by Hugh Jackman whos looking wonderful in bow tie and swimming shorts.

After sailing in a yacht around the islands of the Great Barrier Reef with Idris Elba who proves to be a dab hand with the sun cream, I am escorted by Crocodile Dundee into the Outback for a beer while he tells me outrageous stories of his daring escapades.

From the Outback of Australia I would join Thelma and Louise on their road trip across America, and then go to Montmartre in Paris for morning coffee at a pavement cafe to watch the world go by. Toulouse-Lautrec would then take me on a backstage tour of the Moulin Rouge before painting my portrait.

Then its pre-lunch drinks with Michelangelo in the Eternal city of Rome where wed throw coins in the Trevi Fountain before joining Dame Maggie Smith, Celia Imrie, Julie Walters, Victoria Wood, Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French for a riotous, wine-fueled lunch on a villa terrace in Tuscany surrounded by olive trees and vibrant bougainvillea.

Feeling mellow after lunch, I would go to Scotland and the beautiful Isle of Skye to meet the author Peter May and watch the golden eagles soaring above the cliffs and waterfalls.

And then its down to Slapton Sands to meet Churchill and Eisenhower and share a Devon tea of scones, jam and clotted cream as these great men tell me their life stories.

From Devon I would go to Monkey Mia in Western Australia to swim with the dolphins and feed the emus while chatting with the Australian author, Judith Nunn who has been a huge influence on my writing, and to meet the artist, Judy Prosser, whose paintings of Dreamtime are quite magical.

From Australia to London and cocktails in The Shard with my children and grandchildren before setting down on the island of Vanuatu for a swim as the sun sinks and forms the stairway to heaven across the water to the horizon.

I meet my husband for dinner under the magnificent stars and in sight of Ayers Rock as the didgeridoo plays and Dreamtime stories are told by Aboriginal Elders.

We return to Paris and the Champs Elysees for a glass of champagne before being whisked away to a masked ball in Vienna.

And then its back to our cottage in the South Downs of England to snuggle down and sleep. For all the great wonders of the world, theres no place like home or the feel of a loved ones arms about you.

The Waiting Hours by Ellie Dean is the 13th book in the Cliffehaven series and will be published by Arrow on August 24th, priced 6.99.

For more information about the author go to WWW.ellie-dean.co.uk or visit her Facebook page.
I write for both adults and children and try to create strong stories with plenty of drama featuring characters grappling with life-changing challenges and difficult moral choices. These are usually labeled psychological thrillers or suspense mysteries. But

Sophie McKenzie by J Ring

 underneath the labels and descriptions Im really writing to please myself. Sometimes Im writing for myself as an adult woman, fascinated (as in Close My Eyes) by an apparently stable marriage where the wife one day discovers her husband colluded with a doctor to fake the death of her stillborn baby eight years before. And sometimes for a younger version of myself, appalled when (as in SweetFreak) a teenager is accused of sending her best friend an online death threat.

Real life rarely makes it directly into my stories, though I use a lot of locations Im familiar with to make it easier to plan and visualize my characters in those settings. For instance, a family trip to Rufus Stone in the New Forest, where King William II was supposedly shot with an arrow in 1100AD led to the setting for a showdown with bad guy Foster in Medusa Project series book two, The Hostage. And for the Scottish settings in my teen mystery All My Secrets I drew on an old memory of the Isle of Skye as inspiration for the island of Lightsea and based a scene at the start of the book in Rose Street in Edinburgh, which I know through regular visits to the Edinburgh Book Festival.

When it comes to people, Ive only once deliberately tried to base a fictional character on a real person: that was Lorcan in Close My Eyes. It was a bit of an experiment and I learned a lot from the attempt. Mainly that the twists and turns of a story influence the behavior of a character as much as the other way around were all a product of the events that form us, after all. The more Lorcan worked his way into the story, the less like the person he was based on he became. Ironically, when I wasnt consciously trying to depict my own family it kind of happened anyway! In Six Steps to a Girl, sixteen-year-old Luke, his older sister Chloe and their long-suffering mum have a similar family dynamic to mine as a teenager. Indeed, like Luke, my younger brother fell for a girl in my class at school and tried to get her to go out with him

Sometimes people provide material for characters in other, broader ways footage of Hitler working a line of supporters and giving each one a long, meaningful look in the eye helped me create the evil (but charismatic) leader of the English Freedom Army in my teen thriller Split Second.

I have a longheld desire to declutter my life. Im a sucker for books and programmes about how to clear out your house and for a long time my favourite book was Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler, about a woman who walks away from all the encumbrances of her life and begins again with nothing.

While I cant imagine doing anything so drastic, I do have regular decluttering sessions and last year I managed to go round the world with hand luggage only. My top tip? Only take three pairs of shoes: something to walk in, flipflops for the beach and one pair of smartish ballet flats for going out in the evening.

If I wasnt a writer I would love to have been a pianist. Unfortunately Im hampered by a lack of skill, an absence of aptitude and pretty much zilch intention of practicing

I still enjoy music though. Sometimes when Ive been writing for hours and need to take a break, I play a power ballad (not a type of song I normally like at all) and sing along at top volume!

When I was a child my favourite television programme was the original series of Star Trek and my favourite book Little Women. My son, Joseph James, was named after characters from both!

Sophie McKenzie was born and brought up in London, where she still lives. She has worked as a journalist and a creative writing teacher, and now writes full time. Her debut was the multi-award winning Girl, Missing (2006), and she is also the author of Blood Ties and sequel, Blood Ransom, The Medusa Project series, and the Luke and Eve trilogy. She has tallied up numerous award wins and has twice been longlisted for the Carnegie Medal. Sophie's psychological thrillers for adults include Richard and Judy pick Close My Eyes, and her latest, The Black Sheep. Her new book for teenagers, SweetFreak, is about cyber bullying.

@sophiemckenzie_
Jared Leto and Margot Robbie are set to reprise their roles as The Joker and Harley Quinn in a "criminal love story" spin-off.

Jared Leto

The two Hollywood stars first appeared as the iconic villains in the 2016 blockbuster 'Suicide Squad', and it has now been reported they are set to get their own movie which will detail the twisted relationship between two of Batman's most deadly foes.

Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, who wrote and helmed 2011's 'Crazy, Stupid, Love' - and also worked as directors and executive producers on NBC's hit drama 'This Is Us' - are reportedly in "final negotiations" to helm the as yet untitled movie.

According to The Hollywood Reporter magazine, the movie is being described as a "criminal love story," with one source adding: "[It is] an insane and twisted love story. 'When Harry Met Sally' on benzedrine."

News of the project comes as Warner Bros. are planning the sequel to 'Suicide Squad', which will also see Jared, 45, and Margot, 27, reprise their roles.

The Hollywood Reporter states that the studio plans to release 'Suicide Squad 2' - which was recently put on the fast track and is now searching for a director - first, and then the Joker/Harley spin off, but sources say both projects are moving quickly as the studio is conscious of actors holding their agreements.

Meanwhile, it was previously reported that Martin Scorsese was set to helm a separate story centred around The Joker, which would not feature Jared in the role.

Warner Bros. and DC were believed to be in the early stages of putting the 'Batman' spin-off together, and it will be the first movie under a new banner which is yet to have been given a name.

While plot details are yet to be revealed, it is thought the movie could focus around The Joker's origin story and be different to any other iteration.
Jet Li gave over 500,000 to the family of a stuntman who died in an accident on the set of 'The Expendables 2'.

Jet Li

The movie martial arts star felt compelled to gift the huge sum of money to the relatives of stuntman Liu Kun, 26, who died from wounds inflicted by a controlled explosion that took place for a scene for the blockbuster in 2011.

The movie - which also starred Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris and Bruce Willis - was released in 2012 and Liu's parents, Liu Zong Yu Liu and Bai Yan Mei, sued Millennium Films in a wrongful death suit, but were awarded just HK$195,000, or 19,400, after a four year court battle.

Following the ruling, big-hearted Li paid the family HK$5.8 million - which equates to just under 580,000 - to help them carry on with their lives, the Malay Mail newspaper reports.

Stallone's stuntman was also seriously injured in the explosion which occurred in Bulgaria but survived.

Stallone, 71, created 'The Expendables' franchise - which brought together Hollywood action legends from different eras - and although a fourth film is in development in March 2017 it was announced that he would not be reprising his role as mercenary Barney Ross due to disagreements with Millennium Films chief Avi Lerner over the script and direction the series was heading in.

Lerner said previously: "We've got disagreements with Sly, but we've had them for over a year-and-a-half. Right now, each one has opinion. We agreed on 95 per cent of things, but there are certain things in production we don't agree on."

An all-female spin-off movie entitled 'The ExpendaBelles' is also in the works with 'Monster-in-Law' director Robert Luketic helming the project.
Charlotte Crosby and Steven Bear have split up.

Charlotte Crosby

The former 'Geordie Shore' star revealed last week they had gone their separate ways after they had a row over her 'Just the Tattoo of Us' co-star's commitment, but she then made a drastic U-turn and blamed her outburst on alcohol, insisting they were still very much together.

However, Bear has now taken to Twitter to reveal they have split for good because they are not "right" for one another.

He posted: "Sadly me and Charlotte have split up. We have had a good run but we wasn't right for each other."

However, the 'Celebrity Big Brother' star's post is said to have come as a shock to the 27-year-old beauty - who broke down on TV in Ireland on Wednesday (23.08.17) as she discussed former boyfriend Gaz Beadle's impending fatherhood - because he didn't officially end their relationship and she only learned she'd been dumped when she checked her own Twitter account.

A source told The Sun Online: "They kissed and said goodbye when he flew to Las Vegas and he had been a great support to her over these past few days with everything to do with Gaz.

She's given interviews in Ireland where she's talked about Stephen and how much she loved him.

"She logged onto Twitter and saw his message, she's in pieces and can't believe her fairytale ending has been shattered."

Charlotte had said last week that she could no longer "fight" for her relationship with the 27-year-old hunk.

She tearfully said: "I love Stephen more than anything in the world but I don't think I'm what he wants right now. So I can't carry on trying to fight for a relationship where the other person isn't fighting as hard. Maybe my reasons aren't as validated as his things but I don't know why I'd get so upset about someone who doesn't care. I know you think you know my life but you don't know the half of it because there's a lot of things that a lot of people just don't know. I love Stephen so much but when someone is so selfish to always put themselves in front and not even care about the little things that you ask them to do it just makes you question if they care at all. He's been the best boyfriend to us and he's been faithful and he gets us anything I want. I can't put him down in that way. But I'm so upset today and I've been so upset for a little while and I just wish I could tell you lot why. I just don't feel like he cares as much."

But she backtracked the following day and insisted she was just drunk.

Apologising for her behaviour, the blonde beauty said on Snapchat: "So, I would like to explain and apologise for my behaviour last night. The top and bottom of it is I was a massive d**k. A massive drunken d**k who decided to go on her Snapchat and every other social media to tell nearly six million people a load of s**t. Obviously no relationship is perfect, you always have your ups and downs, but I just feel like I just did what any other girl does when they see red and I am sorry for that. Me and Stephen aren't actually separated or finished. We just had a little bit of a row."
The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a platform of North American retailers that sets timeframes and accountability for safety inspections and training and workers empowerment programmes, recently conveyed to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) that it will not extend its tenure after its expiry in mid-2018.This is in contrast to a June decision taken by another platform of European retailers, the Accord on Fire and Building Safety, to extend its tenure in Bangladesh for three more years until 2021. Accords tenure will also expire in July 2018.

The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a platform of North American retailers that sets timeframes and accountability for safety inspections and training and workers' empowerment programmes, recently conveyed to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) that it will not extend its tenure after its expiry in mid-2018.#

"We expect to complete our programme on schedule at the end of five years in country. We may continue to work in country for a short period of time to ensure a smooth transition of our safety responsibilities to a Bangladesh-centred entity, but do not have any plans to stay on beyond the end of 2018," James F Moriarty, country director of Alliance told BGMEA in an email, according to media reports in Bangladesh.Both Accord and Alliance were formed in 2013 after the Rana Plaza building collapse that killed more than 1,100 garment workers. A move has been initiated by the BGMEA to form a separate platform, called Shonman, to be administered by the prime minister's office to look into the post-2018 safety activities in the readymade garments sector.Accord and Alliance have inspected fire, electrical and structural integrity in around 1,600 and 700 garment factories respectively. (DS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
The net sales of Differential Brands Group Inc (DFBG), a portfolio of global premium consumer brands Hudson Jeans, Robert Graham and SWIMS, for the first six months in calendar year 2017 increased by 16 per cent to $76.6 million. This includes a 17 per cent rise in wholesale segment sales and a 12 per cent increase in consumer direct segment sales.The gross profit was $34.8 million compared to $28.8 million for the first six months in 2016, according a press release from the company, which recently announced its second-quarterly and half-yearly financial results.

The net sales of Differential Brands Group Inc (DFBG), a portfolio of global premium consumer brands Hudson Jeans, Robert Graham and SWIMS, for the first six months in calendar year 2017 increased by 16 per cent to $76.6 million. This includes a 17 per cent rise in wholesale segment sales and a 12 per cent increase in consumer direct segment sales.#

Operating expenses during this six-month period was $35.4 million compared to $33.7 million for the same period of the previous year. Selling, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of net sales decreased to 42.2 per cent from 46.3 per cent in the first six months of 2016.Operating losses were $0.5 million compared to $4.9 million for the same period last year.In our consumer direct segment, we saw significant growth in our e-commerce channel driven largely by higher conversion rates across our brands as a result of better adoption of our product offerings, CEO Michael Buckley said.The company plans to launch Fall 17 and Spring 18 brand marketing campaigns for Hudson in August and a much expanded and market-disruptive SWIMS product line.Hudson is a designer and marketer of womens and mens premium denim and apparel and SWIMS is a Scandinavian lifestyle brand best known for its water-friendly footwear, apparel and accessories. (DS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Li & Fung Limited, the worlds leading supply chain solutions partner, has announced a joint venture (JV) with South Ocean Knitters Holdings Limited. South Ocean is one of the worlds leading exporters and manufacturers of knitwear. The JV, Cobalt Fashion Holding Limited, will be owned 62 per cent by Li & Fung and 38 per cent by South Ocean.

The JV will combine the operations and resources of Li & Fungs sweater vertical together with South Oceans knitwear business to become one of the largest and most innovative knitwear suppliers globally.

It combines the strengths of South Oceans yarn development and manufacturing knowhow with Li & Fungs product design and supply chain innovation. The total turnover of the JV is about $700 million. The JV will service brands and retailers at all price levels and in all segments, covering the US, UK, Europe, Japan and other Asian markets.

Silas Chou, president and CEO of Novel Enterprises Limited, the parent company of South Ocean, well known for building billion-dollar brands Tommy Hilfiger and Michael Kors, is confident that this partnership is an important milestone for the global knitwear industry.

South Ocean is one of the most established knitwear companies in Asia with over 40 years of experience in supplying the worlds top brands and retailers with beautiful, functional and innovative knitwear, said Silas Chou. We see tremendous synergies in the joint venture with Li & Fung. Together, we will be driving innovation in the industry and delivering value to our customers.

We are excited to join forces with South Ocean, added William Fung, Group chairman, Li & Fung. We both have a long history and solid track record, with a strong foundation of product innovation and expertise. Given our access to the worlds leading fashion brands and retailers, we have first-hand insight into how knitwear and its supply chain can be transformed to best suit todays fast-changing apparel market.

We have been steadily investing in deepening our product expertise across our three product verticals: sweaters, beauty and furniture since 2015. With this JV with South Ocean we aim to be not just the largest in the knitwear industry, but the best-in-class, said Fung.

Closing of the transaction, and establishment of the JV, will take place once the necessary regulatory approvals have been obtained, Li & Fung said in a release. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
US based multinational retailer Walmart has entered into a partnership with Google to make shopping faster and easier for its customers. Starting in late September, Walmart be working with Google to offer hundreds of thousands of items for voice shopping via Google Assistant  the largest number of items currently offered by a retailer through the platform.

One of the primary use cases for voice shopping will be the ability to build a basket of previously purchased everyday essentials. Thats why we decided to deeply integrate our Easy Reorder feature into Google Express. This will enable us to deliver highly personalized shopping recommendations based on customers previous purchases, including those made in Walmart stores and on Walmart.com. To take advantage of this personalization, customers only need to link their Walmart account to Google Express, Marc Lore, president and CEO, Walmart US e-commerce, wrote on the companys blog.

Next year, Walmart will also leverage its 4,700 US stores and its fulfillment network to create customer experiences that do not currently exist within voice shopping anywhere else, including choosing to pick up an order in store (often for a discount) or using voice shopping to purchase fresh groceries across the country.

US based multinational retailer Walmart has entered into a partnership with Google to make shopping faster and easier for its customers. Starting in late September, Walmart be working with Google to offer hundreds of thousands of items for voice shopping via Google Assistant  the largest number of items currently offered by a retailer through the platform.#

When it comes to voice shopping, we want to make it as easy as possible for our customers. Thats why it makes sense for us to team up with Google. Theyve made significant investments in natural language processing and artificial intelligence to deliver a powerful voice shopping experience. We know this means being compared side-by-side with other retailers, and we think thats the way it should be. An open and transparent shopping universe is good for customers, said Lore.

Walmart expects that its new voice shopping capability, coupled with its core value proposition, including free two-day shipping and the Pickup Discount, will give its customers a compelling new way to get what they need at low prices. The retailer will continue to focus on creating new opportunities to simplify peoples lives and help them shop in ways theyve not yet imagined. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
AMSilk GmbH, the industrial supplier of synthetic silk biopolymers from Germany, has been chosen by the German edition of MIT Technology Review as one of the 50 most innovative companies in the world. Now in its fourth year, the exclusive list honours companies that have achieved a technological breakthrough with their industry-changing products.AMSilk was recognised for its bioengineered spider silk, a new material which opens completely new possibilities for applications throughout the medical, cosmetic and textile industries.

AMSilk GmbH, the industrial supplier of synthetic silk biopolymers from Germany, has been chosen by the German edition of MIT Technology Review as one of the 50 most innovative companies in the world. Now in its fourth year, the exclusive list honours companies that have achieved a technological breakthrough with their industry-changing products.#

Together with AMSilk, among the 50 most innovative companies recognised this year are industry giants including the Chinese online-retail giant Alibaba, Amazon, Continental, Daimler, Microsoft, and Tesla.As a first time honouree, AMSilk was named among the three finalists in the Technology category. The company will participate in the solemn prize awarding ceremony at the StartupNight in the Berlin Representation Office of Deutsche Telekom on September 8, 2017.AMSilk CEO Jens Klein said, Being honoured as one of the 50 most innovative companies in the world makes us very proud. This award shows that AMSilks synthetic silk is not only a highly innovative product, but that it has the potential to disrupt industries and provide substantial added value for our partners. We are looking forward to the prize awarding ceremony in Berlin and to the exchange of ideas with other innovation makers of the international business world.Robert Thielicke, editor-in-chief of Technology Review said, Since its foundation, Technology Review has been looking for companies and people which move at the limit of the feasible. This method might be subjective to a certain extent. In this case, AMSilk would not have been considered although the company has achieved what has long been regarded as impossible: to learn from nature and produce the spider silk artificially. Now it is possible to produce incredibly robust, skin friendly, and at the same time, environmentally friendly clothes. (GK)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
SEATTLE (dpa-AFX) - The Federal Trade Commission said that it has decided not to pursue an investigation of Amazon's (AMZN) purchase of Whole Foods Market Inc.(WFM). Acting FTC Bureau of Competition Director Bruce Hoffman said the agency examined whether the deal 'substantially lessened competition under Section 7 of the Clayton Act, or constituted an unfair method of competition under Section 5 of the FTC Act.' In mid-June 2017, Amazon agreed to acquire Whole Foods Market for $42 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $13.7 billion, including Whole Foods Market's net debt. 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.
SANTIAGO, Chile, Aug.24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Highlights

SQM reported net income for the six months ended June 30, 2017 of US$204.4 million .

of . Earnings per ADR totaled US$0.78 for the first half of 2017, higher than the US$0.54 reported for the first half of 2016.

for the first half of 2017, higher than the reported for the first half of 2016. Revenues for the first half of 2017 were US$1,023.9 million , 16.2% higher than revenues for the first half of 2016.

, 16.2% higher than revenues for the first half of 2016. SQM will hold a conference call to discuss these results on Thursday, August 24 , at 11:00am ET ( 12:00pm Chile time).

Participant Dial-In (Toll Free): 1-855-238-1018

Participant International Dial-In: 1-412-542-4107

Webcast: http://services.choruscall.com/links/sqm170824.html

, at ( time). Participant Dial-In (Toll Free): 1-855-238-1018 Participant International Dial-In: 1-412-542-4107 Webcast: http://services.choruscall.com/links/sqm170824.html SQM will hold an Investor Day in New York at September 7, 2017 . Patricio de Solminihac along with senior management from the finance and operations teams will also join.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM) (NYSE: SQM; Santiago Stock Exchange: SQM-B, SQM-A) reported earnings today for the six months ended June 30, 2017 of US$204.4 million (US$0.78 per ADR), an increase from US$141.6 million (US$0.54 per ADR), representing a 44.3% increase compared to the earnings reported for the six months ended June 30, 2016. Gross profit reached US$357.8 million (35.0% of revenues) for the six months ended June 30, 2017, higher than US$260.5 million (29.6% of revenues) recorded for the six months ended June 30, 2016. Revenues totaled US$1,023.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017, representing an increase of 16.2% compared to US$881.5 million reported for the six months ended June 30, 2016.

The Company also announced earnings for the second quarter of 2017, reporting net income of US$101.2 million (US$0.38 per ADR) compared to US$83.1 million (US$0.32 per ADR) for the second quarter 2016. Gross profit for the second quarter 2017 reached US$179.9 million; higher than the US$146.9 million recorded for the second quarter 2016. Revenues totaled US$505.7 million, an increase of approximately 3.3% compared to the second quarter 2016, when revenues amounted to US$489.6 million.

SQM's Chief Executive Officer, Patricio de Solminihac, stated, "We are pleased with the results we published today. The EBITDA for this first half of the year was US$433 million. Sales volumes in the specialty plant nutrition business line were the strongest reported in recent history. As anticipated, the sales volumes in the potassium chloride business line were down compared to the second quarter last year; we are still expecting that sales volumes in this business line will be between 1.2 and 1.3 million MT this year as we maximize lithium production. Also as anticipated, potassium chloride prices have stabilized at higher levels than last year."

"In the lithium market, we continue to see strong demand growth. We expect the average price in the second half to be higher than the average price seen during the first half of this year. We continue to move forward with our new projects; in Chile, the lithium hydroxide expansion and the lithium carbonate expansion are expected to be completed by the middle of 2018. In Argentina, we are working on the hydrogeological model with the corresponding drilling, a key component of the final development stage. Finally, during July, we announced a 50/50 joint venture with Kidman Resources to develop a 40,000 MT lithium project in western Australia, the high-quality Mount Holland project. These initiatives are in line with our strategic plan to continue developing lithium projects where our competitive advantages and expertise add significant value to a growing and attractive market."

"In the iodine market,we have been working over the past several years to increase oursales volumes in line with our corporatestrategy and operational plan. This year ourmarket share should return to levelsseen beforethe price boom period.During the first half of 2017, we saw sales volumes reachthe highest levels reported during any six-month period.As anticipated, thesehigher salesvolumes havecome with lower prices, but givenour current cost position,margins are healthy. Because of the higher sales volumes we have seen in recent quarters, and expectations that this trend will continue inthe future, we are addingnew iodine capacityin Nueva Victoria. We expect that this expansion will bring our total capacity to approximately 14,000 MT, and it is expected to be operational in mid-2018."

About SQM

SQM is an integrated producer and distributor of lithium, iodine, specialty plant nutrients, potassium-related fertilizers and industrial chemicals. Its products are based on the development of high quality natural resources that allow the Company to be a leader in costs, supported by a specialized international network with sales in over 110 countries.

SQM's business strategy is to be a mining operator that selectively integrates the production and sales of products to industries essential for human development, such as food, health and technology. The strategy is built on the following six principles:

strengthen internal processes to ensure access to key resources required for the sustainability of the business;

extend lean operations (M1) to the entire organization to strengthen our cost position, increase quality and ensure safety;

invest in the development of a specialty fertilizer market, including product differentiation, sales channel management and price optimization;

recover the iodine market share, seek consolidation and vertical integration opportunities; invest in the development of industrial nitrate applications;

search and invest in lithium and potassium assets outside of Chile to leverage our operational capabilities, take advantage of the current lithium market appeal and ensure access to raw materials for our potassium nitrate production; and

to leverage our operational capabilities, take advantage of the current lithium market appeal and ensure access to raw materials for our potassium nitrate production; and seek diversification opportunities in gold, copper and zinc projects in the region to leverage our mining operating capabilities and provide business continuity to our exploration program.

The business strategy's principles are based on the following four concepts:

build an organization with strategic clarity, inspirational leaders, responsible personnel and strong values;

develop a strategic planning process that responds to the needs of our customers and market trends, while ensuring coordination between all segments of the business, including sales and operations;

develop a robust risk control and mitigation process to actively manage business risk; and

improve our stakeholder management to establish links with the community and communicate to Chile and worldwide our contribution to industries essential for human development.

For further information, contact:

Gerardo Illanes 56-2-24252022 / gerardo.illanes@sqm.com

Kelly O'Brien 56-2-24252074 / kelly.obrien@sqm.com

Irina Axenova 56-2-24252280 / irina.axenova@sqm.com

For media inquiries, contact:

Carolina Garcia Huidobro / carolina.g.huidobro@sqm.com

Alvaro Cifuentes / alvaro.cifuentes@sqm.com

Tamara Rebolledo / tamara.rebolledo@sqm.com (Northern Region)

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as: "anticipate," "plan," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "strategy," "should," "will" and similar references to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements include, among others, statements we make concerning the Company's business outlook, future economic performance, anticipated profitability, revenues, expenses, or other financial items, anticipated cost synergies and product or service line growth.

Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are estimates that reflect the best judgment of SQM management based on currently available information. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that are outside of our control and could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated in such statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Readers are referred to the documents filed by SQM with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the most recent annual report on Form 20-F, which identifies important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to SQM on the date hereof and SQM assumes no obligation to update such statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.


SEOUL (dpa-AFX) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (SMSN.L, SSNNF.OB, SSNLF.OB) introduced the Galaxy Note8, which has the biggest screen. The 6.3-inch Quad HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity Display lets users see more and scroll less.



The company noted that Note users have long been able to do more with Multi Window. With the Galaxy Note8, the new App Pair feature lets users create a custom pair of apps on the Edge Panel and simultaneously launch two apps with ease. Watch a video while messaging friends or dial into a conference call with the number and agenda in front of users.



'With the Galaxy Note8, the enhanced S Pen unlocks entirely new ways to write, draw, and interact with the phone and communicate with friends. It has a finer tip, improved pressure sensitivity, and features that enable users to express themselves in ways that no other stylus or smartphone ever has,' the company said.



The Always On Display allows Galaxy users to stay on top of their notifications without unlocking their phone.



'For overseas travels or when you come across a website in a foreign language, the improved S Pen Translate feature lets you hover over text to quickly translate not only individual words, but entire sentences in up to 71 languages, and instantly convert units and foreign currencies,' the company said.



The company stated that Galaxy Note8 is the first smartphone with two 12MP rear cameras with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) on both the wide-angle and telephoto lenses.



In Dual Capture mode, both rear cameras take two pictures simultaneously and allow you to save both images; one close-up shot from the telephoto lens and one wide-angle shot that shows the entire background.



The Galaxy Note8 supports the most advanced wireless charging capabilities yet, so useres can get a quick, convenient charge6 without having to mess around with ports or wires.



The Galaxy Note8 offers a choice of biometric authentication options-including iris and fingerprint scanning. Samsung Knox provides defense-grade security at the hardware and software layers and with Secure Folder, keeps personal and professional data separate.



With 6GB RAM, a 10nm processor, and expandable memory (up to 256GB), the have the power the uses need to browse, stream, play games, and multitask, the company said



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"When you shake a veteran's hand today, look them in the eye and give them a heartfelt thank you," said USAF Ret. Col. Jen Fullmer, parade grand marshal, who spoke at the event.
DUBLIN, IRELAND -- (Marketwired) -- 08/24/17 -- Cubic Telecom, a global Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity platform company, today announced the close of a $47M Series C investment round. The new investment, which brings the total funding to $88M, is funded by four participants, including previous investors Qualcomm Incorporated and Audi Electronics Venture GmbH, a subsidiary of AUDI AG. New investors include Valid Soluciones Tecnologicas SAU and Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF).

Cubic provides mobility solutions that power connectivity for leading IoT, machine-to-machine (M2M) and connected device companies across the globe, and is paving the way for autonomous vehicle technologies and innovative LTE connectivity solutions to become mainstream. Cubic's global tier-one network delivers best-quality, high-speed 4G LTE voice and data services in partnership with over 30 mobile operators spanning more than 180 countries. The company counts some of the world's leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), technology and automotive companies as customers, including Audi, Volkswagen, Porsche, HP, Lenovo, Panasonic, Rakuten, Woolworths and Qualcomm Technologies, a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated.

"Qualcomm and Audi have both been early investors and steadfast supporters in our vision, and their most recent investment, in partnership with new partners Valid and ISIF, will fuel our continued growth and market expansion," said Barry Napier, Chairman and CEO of Cubic Telecom. "Without exception, our customers are committed to providing an intelligent connectivity experience to their end-users, and today's announcement will help Cubic continue to deliver on that promise."

"We are pleased to strengthen our partnership by participating in this latest funding round," said Dr. Peter Steiner, Managing director Audi Electronics Venture GmbH. "By utilizing Cubic's unique technology we are able to offer seamless Audi connect services to our customers in many countries all over the world -- without roaming costs and volume limitation."

The new investment will accelerate continued refinements of Cubic's market-proven IoT platform and extend its global footprint. The company will also expand its engineering capabilities in Dublin, bringing more job creation to the company's headquarters.

"The automotive sector is one of the segments that has advanced the most in terms of analyzing the benefits of IoT through an eSIM solution. We are reinforcing our strategy in this market by strengthening our relationship with Cubic where we are already a strategic partner providing our eSIM and remote customization platform," said Carlos Affonso, Global CEO of Valid.

"We are keen to support growing Irish companies which have strong competitive advantages, global ambitions and, in the case of Cubic, the potential to become a leader in providing IoT/M2M solutions for the world's leading OEMs," said Fergal McAleavey, Head of Private Equity with the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund. "This is an exciting investment that aligns well with ISIF's strategy of providing long term patient capital to growing Irish companies which will generate a commercial return and support economic activity and jobs in Ireland. We are particularly pleased that, with this funding round, Cubic plans to expand its HQ in Dublin and create more jobs there."

About Cubic Telecom

Cubic Telecom is a global connectivity platform company that offers flexible mobility solutions that power connectivity for leading Internet of things (IoT), machine-to-machine (M2M) and mobile device companies across the globe. An expert in connected intelligence, providing connectivity in over 180 countries; and flexible over-the-air (OTA) device management; Cubic Telecom enables global scalability with local connectivity anytime, anywhere. Based in Dublin, Ireland, Cubic Telecom's partners and customers include some of the world's leading Fortune 100 tablet and notebook manufacturers, retailers, and M2M and automotive companies. The company was founded in 2006 and is privately held, having raised more than $88 million in strategic investments from Audi, Qualcomm, Enterprise Ireland and others. For more information, visit http://www.cubictelecom.com.

Media Contacts

Susan Donahue

Skyya for Cubic Telecom

www.skyya.com

ph: +1 (646) 454-9378

susan.donahue@skyya.com



Aoife O'Sullivan

Cubic Telecom

www.cubictelecom.com

+33 087-3288076

aoifeo@cubictelecom.com




Summary



H1 2017 reported revenue was EUR 148.2m, an increase of 12.9% when compared with restated H1 2016*, and an increase of 12.8% when measured in local currencies.



EBIT for H1 2017 was EUR 23.4m compared with EUR 22.6m in restated H1 2016. Currency fluctuations impacted EBIT positively by EUR 1.2m during first half year.



Net profit for H1 2017 was EUR 16.9m compared with EUR 16.9m in restated H1 2016.



At 30 June 2017, EUR 268m of the 2017 revenue had been contractually secured, EUR 33m more than at the same time last year.



SimCorp maintains its expectations for reported revenue growth between 9% and 14% measured in local currency for 2017, including 2% growth from the acquisition of APL Italiana (previously, before the acquisition, revenue growth was expected to be between 7% and 12%). As Professional Services are now expected to constitute a larger part of total revenue, the expectations for EBIT margin measured in local currencies is expected to be between 24% and 27% (previously 25% and 28%). The acquisition of APL Italiana is not expected to have a material impact on the EBIT margin.



Klaus Holse, SimCorp CEO comments: "We continue to see overall healthy growth in the business, primarily driven by Professional Services and additional license sales to existing customers. The intake of new SimCorp Dimension clients in the first six month of the year was lower than in the previous years, but our pipeline remains strong, which supports our revised guidance for the year."



"Following the closing of the books for the first six month, we have welcomed two new SimCorp Dimension clients: one in Denmark and one in APAC."



Other highlights of the interim report for the first six months of 2017 are:



-- Total order intake from new licenses and add-on licenses for the first six months was EUR 16.5m compared with EUR 24.8m in H1 2016. Q2 order intake was EUR 10.9m compared with EUR 13.9m in Q2 2016. Income recognized from new subscription licenses and add-on licenses including renewal of subscriptions was EUR 19.9m, an increase of 4.7% compared with restated H1 2016. -- The sale of professional services continued to be strong and grew 21.7% to EUR 56.0m when compared with same period last year. -- Maintenance income was EUR 68.5m, an increase of 8.3% from H1 2016. -- Total operating cost for the six months was EUR 124.9m, an increase of 14.8% compared with the same period in 2016. Currency fluctuations reduced costs by EUR 1.0m (0.9%-points). The cost increase primarily reflects additional resources to meet the demand for professional services. -- The lower cash flow from operating activities was EUR 25.6m compared with EUR 32.3m in H1 2016. The lower cash flow of EUR 6.7m is related to the change from perpetual license agreement to subscription based agreement and higher payment of income taxes. -- SimCorp has from 2017 chosen to make an early adoption of IFRS15 'Revenue from Contracts with Customers' by recognizing a cumulative effect of EUR 20.9m as an opening balance increase to equity at 1 January 2017. Q2, H1 and full year 2016 results have been restated to IFRS15 for illustrative purposes and to improve transparency. The early adoption of IFRS15 will reduce the financial reporting impact of whether customers choose to acquire SimCorp's Dimension on a perpetual license basis or on a subscription basis. In the opinion of the Board of Directors this reporting approach provides an improved basis for assessing the ongoing performance of the company. -- SimCorp will initiate a new share buyback program of EUR 7.5m to be executed in the period from 24 August 2017 to 31 December 2017.



Investor presentation SimCorp's Executive Management Board will present the report at a conference call today at 2:00 pm (CEST). Please use any of the following phone numbers to dial in to the conference call:



From Denmark: +45 3848 7513 From USA: +1212 444 0412 From other countries: +44(0)20 3427 1904



The pin code to access the call is 5519392. At the end of the presentation there will be a Q&A session. It will also be possible to follow the presentation via this link: http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/49a5rknj.



The presentation will be available prior to the conference call via SimCorp's website www.simcorp.com.



Enquiries regarding this announcement should be addressed to: Investor contacts: Klaus Holse, Chief Executive Officer, SimCorp A/S (+45 3544 8802, +45 2326 0000) Sren Strm, Chief Financial Officer (Interim), SimCorp A/S (+45 3544 6853, +45 2019 3144) Anders Hjort, Head of Investor Relations, SimCorp A/S (+45 3544 8822, +45 2892 8881)



Media contact: Anders Crillesen, Group External Communications Manager, (+45 3544 6474, +45 2779 1286)



Company Announcement no. 36/2017



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LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Building materials group CRH plc. (CRH, CRH.L) announced Thursday two significant transactions, one divestment in the US and one acquisition in Europe, as part of its continuing focus on growth and value creation. Both transactions are subject to regulatory approval.



In the Americas, CRH reached agreement to sell its Americas Distribution business to Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. for a total consideration of $2.63 billion in cash or about 2.2 billion euros.



Further, CRH's Europe Heavyside business has agreed to acquire Fels, a German lime and aggregates business, for 0.6 billion euros.



Americas Distribution has been part of the CRH Group for over 20 years. CRH said the decision to divest the business was taken due to the absence of value accretive acquisition opportunities and a lack of visibility as regards a route to market leadership, even as the business delivered significant improvement in performance and returns in recent years. In 2016, Americas Distribution reported EBITDA of 150 million euros on sales of 2.3 billion euros. Profit before tax for the year amounted to 121 million euros.



The sale proceeds will be reallocated to value creating acquisitions and investments, resulting in the acquisition of Fels, the company noted.



Fels has over 1 billion tonnes of high quality limestone reserves. The company has been a division of Xella International S.A. since 2001. In 2016, Fels reported EBITDA of 70 million euros on sales of 260 million euros.



CRH said the integration of Fels with its existing lime businesses will give it a strong position in the attractive European lime market.



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LONDON (dpa-AFX) - CRH plc (CRH, CRH.L) reported first-half profit before tax of 517 million euros, compared to 407 million euros, prior year. Group profit to equity holders increased to 363 million euros from 279 million euros. Earnings per share was 43.3 cents compared to 33.6 cents. The Group reported that sales of 13.0 billion euros for the period were 2% ahead of the same period last year and were 1% ahead on a like-for-like basis. The Board has decided to increase the interim dividend to 19.2 cents per share, an increase of 2.1% compared with last year. It is proposed to pay the interim dividend on 3 November 2017 to shareholders registered at the close of business on 8 September 2017. A scrip dividend alternative will be offered to shareholders. 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.




Andy Ahn Head of Marketing, Suprema Inc. Email: andyahn@suprema.co.kr

SEOUL, KOREA, Aug 24, 2017 - (ACN Newswire) - Suprema, a global leader in biometrics and ID solutions, announced that the company's SFU-S20 fingerprint modules are integrated into the new BioRugged LCC, an affordable 5" Mobile Android terminal from BioRugged. SFU-S20 is an FBI PIV and FAP20 certified USB fingerprint scanner designed to provide a high-level biometric security solution for identity management applications. The SFU-S20 features a slim optical sensor with a larger platen and the latest anti-spoofing (live fingerprint detection) technology.BioRugged LCC follows the release of the BioWolf LE rugged tablet earlier this year and addresses more price sensitive markets, while also offering a ruggedized option with the same state of the art biometrics for highly mobile environments. The BioRugged LCC mobile Android platform is suitable for various application including census, voter registration, workforce management, logistics, health care, industrial protection and banking.An ideal fit for the LCC are projects that focus on biometric enrolment and verification, linked to location based statistics and security. The BioRugged LCC features GPS, WIFI, Bluetooth and a 2MP/8MP auto focus front-back camera. A large capacity battery ensures maximum uptime with up to 150 enrolments per charge over 3/4G (LTE) or WIFI connections. The IP67 Rugged PDA is equipped with Gorilla Glass and NFC capability.Although suitable for any biometric identity solution, the BioRugged LCC has attracted huge attention in the mobile T&A and workforce management markets. Its affordability and portability now allows for effective time management in the field where static biometric readers will not fulfill the requirements. Integrated into Suprema's BioStar 2 time management platform it enables the integration of mobile and static biometric terminals under one platform. BioRugged LCC can now conveniently perform biometric authentication and time management and have great potential for construction sites, agricultural operations, outsourced security and cleaning services or any environment where the workforce does not report at an office. Incorporation of GPS unitization locations also adds another dimension to T&A and workforce management which identifies fraud attempts and offers ideal GIS data for real-time workforce optimization.Upon launching in January 2017, BioRugged LCC has already shipped over 9000 units, to be used in public and commercial projects including SIM card registration (telco-KYC) in the African market. "We are very excited about the BioRugged LCC, a truly versatile mobile platform secured by best fingerprint technology available today. The BioRugged LCC was engineered to be compatible in various scenarios in the Biometric mobile environment," said Hof Retief, CEO at BioRugged."BioRugged is our strategic partner, and at Suprema, we are proud of SFU-S20/S21 USB fingerprint module being featured on this new LCC. We look forward to working together on future innovations and will strive to deliver highest-standard biometrics for BioRugged's customers," said Bogun Park, CEO at Suprema.For more information, please visit www.supremainc.com or contact us at sales_id@supremainc.com.About Suprema Inc.Suprema is a leading global provider of biometrics and ID solutions. By combining world renowned biometric algorithms with superior engineering, Suprema continually designs and develops industry-leading products and solutions. Suprema's extensive range of portfolio includes fingerprint authentication/enrollment scanners and e-Passport readers. Suprema has worldwide sales network in over 130 countries and is one of the world's Top 50 security company in its turnover (ranked in A&S's Security 50, 2010-2015). For more information, please visit www.suprema-id.com.Source: Suprema Inc.Contact:Copyright 2017 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
AMSTERDAM, August 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

In less than one month's time, the Asian F&B industry will gather in Bangkok for the 22nd edition of Fi Asia.

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Fi Asia is the most important gathering of food and beverage ingredient leaders' serving the Southeast Asian food industry. This year's event will welcome more than 700 exhibitors from around the world, including more than 85 first time exhibitors including Olam Europe, JK Sucralose, Ganeden & Hleks. The event expects to attract more than 17,000 visitors from around the world looking to source the latest ingredients and applications. Fi Asia has seen continuous growth over the last number of editions, reflecting the robust growth of the ASEAN F&B market, while also demonstrating the value that Fi Asia presents to both visitors and exhibitors.

What's new this year at Fi Asia?

This year's event will be the first SMART event arranged by UBM in Asia. All badges will include NFC chips which will enable visitors and exhibitors to connect digitally. Through this tool they will be able to share contact information and collateral, which we are hoping will reduce the paper usage onsite, leading to a more sustainable event. On top of this we will also be operating a paperless registration system.

This year we will have more onsite features than any before. Many of our features will return this year including the Innovation Zone, Innovation Tours and the Supplier Finder. One top of this we have a number of new features that we are excited to announce this year. This year we are launching the Start-Up Innovation Challenge, which is organised in conjunction with TISTR, Ministry of Science and Technology together with the Faculty of Agro Industry from Kasetsart University. It will give a handful of Thai start-ups the opportunity to pitch their innovative food and beverage products onsite.

The Sensory Box, organised in conjunction with Innolab is another new feature which we will launch this year. This feature will give visitors and exhibitors to Fi Asia the chance to participate in a sensory evaluation experience onsite. This feature will include technical product demonstrations, cooking demonstrations and blind taste testing.

We have also upgraded the Fi Asia event app, which is available now to download for Android and iPhone. The app allows you to browse exhibitors, interact via private messaging with other attendees, and customise and plan your agenda for the day.

Fi Asia will take place next month from 13-15 September in BITEC, Bangkok. Registration to attend is free of charge. To find out more about what's on offer at this year's event and to register to attend, please visit www.fiasia.com/aug.

About UBM

UBM connects people and creates opportunities for companies across five continents to develop new business, meet customers, launch new products, promote their brands and expand their markets. Through premier brands such as Routes, CPhI, IFSEC, Ecobuild, Seatrade, and many others. UBM exhibitions, conferences, awards programs, publications, websites and training and certification programs are an integral part of the marketing plans of companies across seven industry sectors.

About Food ingredients Global - the trusted route to market since 1986

Food ingredients was launched in Utrecht, The Netherlands, in 1986. Its portfolio of live events, extensive data, digital solutions and high-level conferences, are now established throughout the world and provide regional and global platforms for all stakeholders, in the food ingredients industry. Over 500,000 people have attended our shows over the years with billions of Euros worth of business created as a result. With over 25 years of excellence, our events, digital solutions and supporting products, deliver a proven route to market, with a truly global audience.

For more information about the Food ingredients Portfolio please visit: www.figlobal.com.

For more information regarding Fi Asia, please contact:

Maebh Flanagan

Senior Marketing Executive

De Entree 73,

Toren A

1101 BH Amsterdam,

The Netherlands

Tel.: +31-(0)-20-708-164

maebh.flanagan@ubm.com


Following commitments to 100% renewable electricity and ZERO carbon emissions at its breweries, Carlsberg asked itself whether it was possible to develop the most climate-friendly bar in the world. The answer? Probably!



Copenhagen, 2017-08-24 09:00 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As part of 170 hours of celebration to mark the brewer's 170 years anniversary, Carlsberg has built a ZERO Carbon Windmill Bar at the historical Carlsberg District in Copenhagen.



The bar is powered completely by an integrated windmill and in true Danish-style, an attached bicycle which consumers can use to generate enough power to pour their beer in case of no wind. Following the recent Carlsberg advert starring Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen biking through Copenhagen, the sustainability innovation sends a clear signal to Carlsberg's Danish provenance.



Carlsberg's Sustainability Director, Simon Boas Hoffmeyer, said: "After committing to 100% renewable electricity and zero carbon emissions at our breweries, we challenged ourselves to create a fully carbon-neutral beer bar. Coming from Denmark, it only felt natural that we did this using windmills and bicycles."



The Carlsberg Group's sustainability programme, Together Towards ZERO is an integral part of the Carlsberg Group's SAIL'22 strategy and consists of four major ambitions - ZERO carbon footprint, ZERO water waste, ZERO irresponsible drinking and a ZERO accidents culture - each with individual and measurable targets.



Together Towards ZERO has been developed in partnership with leading global experts using a science-based approach. It is aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and sets out to deliver emission reductions that go beyond the base level of ambition set out in the Paris Agreement on climate change.



Consumers will be able to experience the ZERO Carbon Windmill Bar during Carlsberg Group's 170th anniversary week in Copenhagen. Details of the week-long celebration and the ZERO Carbon Windmill Bar can be found at carlsberggroup.com.



Carlsberg Group CEO Cees 't Hart, said: "We want to use our 170 year anniversary to celebrate the past and toast to the future. Carlsberg has been brewing for a better today and tomorrow since 1847, and we felt the ZERO carbon Windmill bar was a great way to celebrate this."



See the bar in action on YouTube: youtu.be/XOY2hz0nsKs



Carlsberg170 TowardsZERO



About the Carlsberg Group:



The Carlsberg Group is one of the leading brewery groups in the world, with a large portfolio of beer and other beverage brands. Our flagship brand - Carlsberg - is one of the best-known beer brands in the world, and the Baltika, Carlsberg and Tuborg brands are among the eight biggest brands in Europe. More than 41,000 people work for the Carlsberg Group and our products are sold in more than 150 markets. Find out more at www.carlsberggroup.com.



About sustainability at the Carlsberg Group:



The Carlsberg Group's sustainability programme, Together Towards ZERO, is a response to global challenges such as climate change, water scarcity and public health issues. It consists of four ambitions and corresponding targets to be achieved by 2022 and 2030 respectively. The ambitions are: ZERO carbon footprint, ZERO water waste, ZERO irresponsible drinking and a ZERO accidents culture. The programme encapsulates how the Carlsberg Group is pursuing its purpose of Brewing for a better today and tomorrow. It is based on a scientific approach and is in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.



Learn more about sustainability and the new ambitions and targets: www.carlsberggroup.com/sustainability





Contacts: Media Relations: Anders Bering +45 4179 1217 Kasper Elbjrn +45 4179 1216 Investor Relations: Peter Kondrup +45 3327 1221 Iben Steiness +45 3327 1232 For more news, sign up at www.carlsberggroup.com/subscribe or follow @CarlsbergGroup on Twitter and LinkedIn.



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CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The Australian dollar weakened against other major currencies in the pre-European session on Thursday. The Australian dollar fell to more than a 4-week low of 0.9881 against the Canadian dollar and nearly a 2-week low of 85.93 against the yen, from early highs of 0.9925 and 86.36, respectively. Against the euro and the U.S. dollar, the aussie dropped to an 8-day low of 1.4982 and a 6-day low of 0.7875 from early highs of 1.4925 and 0.7916, respectively. If the aussie extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 0.96 against the loonie, 84.00 against the yen, 1.52 against the euro and 0.77 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.
Services to assist pharmaceutical and biotech sponsors in large molecule bioanalytical requirements

ST. CHARLES, Missouri, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Eurofins Pharma Bioanalytical Services, a leading provider of large molecule bioanalytical testing services announces today that it will extend its laboratory services to provide consulting to clients to who require expertise and experience in conducting large molecule preclinical and clinical studies.

https://www.eurofins.com/biopharma-services/bioanalysis/consulting

Eurofins Pharma Bioanalytical Services consulting program will provide expert guidance on bioanalytical assay development and fit-for-purpose assay validation, including troubleshooting for ongoing large molecule bioanalytical assay projects. Our experts can also provide pre-qualification audits ensuring that bioanalytical methods, processes and data quality meet the guidance for regulatory submission.

"Our key strength is our technical expertise, particularly in the large molecule GLP testing space, extending across a diverse type of analytical platforms. Our capabilities are also supported by our quality and regulatory expertise with over 15 years of experience in this specific area of testing services. We are dedicated to meet the needs of customers with an emphasis on the design of large molecule bioanalytical programs," said Christina Shasserre, Senior Vice President Eurofins Pharma Discovery and Bioanalytical Services. "With our extensive scientific, technical and regulatory expertise in conducting studies in both the US and EU, and coupled with our global presence; our consulting team is uniquely qualified to provide our clients with reliability they can trust."

Eurofins Pharma Bioanalytical Services can enable the development of a comprehensive bioanalytical program for your large molecule drug development needs. Our goal is to provide support for your methods and data when you need that extra support.

Please contact us

About Eurofins Pharma Bioanalytical Services- a global leader in large molecule bioanalysis

Eurofins Bioanalytical Services is a powerhouse large molecule-focused bioanalytical and biomarker contract research organization that, since its formation in 2003, has actively supported the evolving needs of companies developing biotherapeutics and biosimilars

At our state-of-the-art testing facilities in Oxford, UK and St. Charles, USA we develop, transfer and validate large molecule PK, ADA and biomarker assays to our client's specifications as well as offer a comprehensive listing of pre-qualified assays spanning decades of experience. With industry-leading capacity, we support studies ranging from a single plate to large multinational Phase III clinical trials. We have the capacity to handle variable sample numbers and large volumes to meet the needs of our clients.

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LONDON, August 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

BASF and Proagrica have signed a development and operation agreement to bring one of the first farm management system interfaces to market. Growers will benefit as they will be able to connect BASF's digital offer Maglis with different digital farming applications, including their preferred farm management system. Proagrica's integration and connectivity solutions and expertise guarantee that the data shared between Maglis and growers is efficiently transferred and protected.

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The first farm data management system to be integrated with Maglis through the new interface will be the Canadian "Compass' Grower," providing information that supports insights from Maglis Crop Plan and Maglis Sustainability Assessment. Maglis Crop Plan offers a convenient and efficient way for farmers to monitor and manage their crops. Maglis Sustainability Assessment demonstrates the impact of different agricultural practices on sustainability factors, such as business profitability, soil health, and biodiversity. A pilot is underway in preparation for the commercial launch in Canada.

"Digital tools are transforming agriculture. BASF is playing an active role in the digital transformation of the industry and is constantly evaluating where and how to engage further. With collaborations like this, we want to provide our customers with agronomic insights and recommendations from digital solutions that enable better decision-making and more precise farming," explained Dr. Rainer Preuss, Vice President of Global Strategy & Portfolio Management at BASF's Crop Protection division.

"Efficiently connecting and integrating diverse data sources in the agricultural supply chain is one of the biggest barriers to leveraging the benefits of precision agriculture," said Alistair Knott, Proagrica's Precision Agriculture Development Director. "However, just connecting systems is not the sole issue. Cleansing and transforming the data and homogenizing it into a common data model is fundamental. This ensures that the data is both accurately represented and can be used to help farmers and their cropping and livestock advisors make better, evidence-based decisions."

Through its F4F Agriculture business unit, Proagrica's data connectivity and integration expertise allows businesses to focus on creating value for partners and growers, while F4F's proven global data platform provides trusted, efficient access to data from any source, ensuring scalable access to BASF's Maglis system.

Over time, the interface will be broadened to integrate with additional farm management systems and will be available in different regions.

For further information on Maglis, please see BASF's previous press release or visit the website at www.maglis.basf.com.

Compass' is a trademark of Affinity Management Ltd.

About BASF

At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. The approximately 114,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into five segments: Chemicals, Performance Products, Functional Materials & Solutions, Agricultural Solutions and Oil & Gas. BASF generated sales of about 58billion in 2016. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (BAS). Further information at www.basf.com.

About BASF's Crop Protection division

With a rapidly growing population, the world is increasingly dependent on our ability to develop and maintain sustainable agriculture and healthy environments. BASF's Crop Protection division works with farmers, agricultural professionals, pest management experts and others to help make this possible. With their cooperation, BASF is able to sustain an active R&D pipeline, an innovative portfolio of products and services, and teams of experts in the lab and in the field to support customers in making their businesses succeed. In 2016, BASF's Crop Protection division generated sales of more than 5.6 billion. For more information, please visit us at www.agriculture.basf.comor on any of our social media channels.

About Proagrica

Proagrica provides critical decision-support to the global agriculture industry by delivering high-value insight and data, trusted workflow tools, proven integration technology and effective channels-to-market. We're proud of our market-leading brands in Europe, as well as a growing footprint in Australia, Asia Pacific, South Africa and the US. Our portfolio includes flagship media brands Farmers Weekly and Boerderij, as well as the latest in the integration and connectivity capabilities that F4F offers across the supply chain. We're known for our industry leading farm management software Farmplan and GateKeeper, but with an increasing need for actionable insight from data and analytics, we have been developing new products in this area under our Agility brand.

Proagrica is a global division of Reed Business Information and the RELX Group, a FTSE 100 company. www.proagrica.com, www.reedbusiness.com, www.relex.com



Media Contacts:

BASF SE

Crop Protection

Friederike Wurth

Germany

Direct: +49-621-60-28182

friederike.wurth@basf.com



Proagrica

RDP

Angus Chalmers

UK

Tel: +44-1452-429171

AChalmers@rdp.co.uk


LONDON, August 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

CRU's World Optical Fibre & Cable conference, which has experienced rapid growth since its successful launch in 2015, will be returning to the Optical Valley in Wuhan later in the year and will be hosted again by YOFC, one of the leading manufacturers in the optical communications industry. CRU is expecting over 700 attendees in November for what has now become firmly established as the world's premier event for producers of optical fibre and cable.

(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/536199/CRU_Logo.jpg )



The opening day of the conference will bring together the world's leading producers of optical fibre and cable for a keynote discussion about the challenges and opportunities ahead for supplying global fibre and cable markets. The session will feature the top executives from YOFC, Fiberhome Telecommunication Technologies Co., Ltd., Hengtong Group, ZTT and Futong Group.

With the world on the brink of a major new era in information and communications technology, as high demand caused by the large-scale FTTH deployment around the world is being replaced by new fibre requirements in data-centre network expansion and the arrival of 5G networks; CRU are structuring the programme for World Optical Fibre & Cable 2017 to focus on the major developments in optical network concepts, product requirements and manufacturing capacity.

Over three days, participants will have the opportunity to explore how the quickly evolving global telecoms industry will impact optical fibre and cable trade flows. CRU's World Optical Fibre & Cable conference will highlight developments in China and other advanced telecom markets to show fibre's role in the new era.

With China taking a lead role in many of the latest developments in optical cable and fibre production and installation, as well as a significant market share of the global FTTx and broadband mobile subscribers; Wuhan's Optical Valley is the ideal location to gain first-hand understanding of the current and future optical fibre and cable trends. As the most important fibre optic and cable event of the year, delegates will have a unique opportunity to hear directly from industry leaders and to network with the hard-to-reach influencers of the sector from the region.

The event will also boast a large-scale exhibition demonstrating the latest high-tech solutions and services that are disrupting the entire supply chain. Registered participants will also have the opportunity to visit one of China's leading production facilities, details of which will be announced at a later date.

The CRU World Optical Fibre & Cable conference is being held on 1-3 November 2017 at the Hilton Wuhan Optics Valley Hotel in Wuhan, China

For details about the event visit the official conference website.

To request a press pass or further information about the event please contact press@crugroup.com

About CRU: Founded in 1969, CRU Group is the leading, independent, global metals, mining and fertilizers analysis, consultancy and conference business. CRU is located in London, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Pittsburgh, Santiago, New York, Mumbai, Sydney, Tokyo and Sao Paulo; and is dedicated to providing high quality analysis and insight to its global customer base. CRU employs more than 220 expert staff, including economists, engineers, metallurgists, geologists and chemists.



For more information visit: www.crugroup.com or contact: kay.rowlands@crugroup.com

About CRU Events: CRU Events has a well-established portfolio of events for the metals, mining and fertilizer industries, including Wire & Cable, World Optical Fibre & Cable, World Copper and CRU Ryans Notes Ferroalloys.



For more information visit: www.crugroup.com/events
CHARLOTTE (dpa-AFX) - Bank of America Corp. (BAC) reported Friday higher profit in its third quarter, benefited by higher net interest income and lower provision for credit losses. Earnings per share topped analysts' estimates. In pre-market activity, shares were gaining around 1.06 percent. Brian Moynihan, Chief Executive Officer, said, 'Revenue across our four lines of business grew 4 percent, even with a challenging comparable quarter for trading. We delivered positive operating leverage year over year for the 11th consecutive quarter while continuing to invest in improved capabilities. Digital activity with customers continues to shape the way we provide products and services to customers....' The company added that client activity remained strong across the franchise. Average deposits grew 4 percent from last year, and average loan balances in business segments increased 6 percent. For the third quarter, net income applicable to shareholders climbed 15.1 percent to $5.12 billion from $4.45 billion last year. Earnings per share grew 17 percent to $0.48 from $0.41 a year ago. On average, 25 analysts had expected the company to earn $0.45 per share, according figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items. Revenue, net of interest expense, increased 1 percent to $21.84 billion from $21.64 billion last year. Analysts expected revenues of $21.98 billion. Net interest income increased 9 percent from last year to $11.2 billion, reflecting benefits from higher interest rates, as well as loan and deposit growth. Meanwhile, noninterest income decreased 7 percent to $10.7 billion, mainly due to lower mortgage banking income and lower sales and trading revenue, partially offset by higher asset management fees. In the quarter, provision for credit losses decreased 2 percent to $834 million. Net charge-offs increased 1 percent to $900 million, while the netcharge-off ratio declined to 0.39 percent from 0.40 percent. Among divisions, Consumer Banking revenue rose 10 percent to $8.8 billion, and Global Wealth and Investment Management revenue grew 6 percent to $4.6 billion. Global Banking revenue went up 5 percent, while Global Markets' sales and trading revenue declined mainly as Fixed Income, Currencies and commodities fell 22 percent. 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.
MEXICO CITY, August 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Ketel One Vodka maps the Bloody Marys enjoyed around the world

Brunch is booming: the Brits spend 76m every day on it, the number of Canadians searching for it online has increased by an impressive 234% from last year, and it's still growing. It's not just a British or Canadian phenomenon either. Increases in search traffic from locations including Malaysia, Thailand, New Zealand, Australia, UAE, US and in many counties across Europe, suggest we're all becoming brunch aficionados. What do all these countries have in common? The drink of choice at any good brunch, the classic Bloody Mary. The King of Brunch is one of the best-selling cocktails in the world and the perfect partner to Ketel One Vodka.

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/547255/Ketel_One_Vodka_Bloody_Mary.jpg )



(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/548514/Ketel_One_Bloody_Marys_around_the_world.jpg )



This week, at the World Class Bartender of the Year final, 55 elite bartenders from the four corners of the globe each created their own variation of the classic Bloody Mary. With thousands of different ingredients and garnishes on display the results were spectacular, but despite their differences each shared one important unifying factor, the bartender's favourite vodka: Ketel One[1] .

Some of the more unusual global serves included the Brazilian Mary, a delicious twist on this well-loved classic featuring spicy pink peppercorns, fennel seeds and horseradish alongside carrot juice, creating a vibrant orange cocktail.

The Australian Mary was an unusual blend of Ketel One Vodka, tomato juice, hot sauce, balsamic vinegar and pale ale. The result: an exciting variation on the classic.

In a nod to the Dutch heritage of the vodka brand, the bright orange Carrot Mary was served featuring carrot, apple & pear juice plus freshly squeeze orange, tamarind and ginger paste.

Guests at the finals were even treated to a Mexican Mary in celebration of the competition's host country. Created by leading Mexican bartender, Ricardo Sandoval, the Mexican Mary comprised of fresh red pepper, Chile chipotle and a jalapeno garnish alongside Ketel One Vodka.

Bob Nolet, the 11th generation of the Nolet family distillery, whose father Carolus Nolet Sr., created Ketel One Vodka at their family distillery, said: "We love World Class because it never fails to inspire us when we see the world's bartenders using Ketel One as the main ingredient in their cocktails. Every year we host hundreds of bartenders from all over the world to help them discover the heritage and dedication that goes into creating Ketel One.

"We believe that a cocktail is only as good as its weakest ingredient and as the perfect base for a classic Bloody Mary, it has been a pleasure to see elite bartenders here in Mexico showcase some very unique serves all using the best vodka, Ketel One.

"Brunch enjoyed with a classic Bloody Mary has always been our family favourite. The fact that its popularity is growing worldwide is no surprise to me. This week has shown that with the right ingredients, it is easy for people to put their own twist on a classic and we're delighted that our family made vodka is at the heart of this occasion."

Ketel One Vodka is inspired by over 325 years of traditional distilling expertise, which has been passed from father to son for over 11 generations in the Nolet family - all driven by a relentless pursuit of excellence and a quest for perfection.

Notes to editors

[1] Drinks International Bars Report 2017

ABOUT KETEL ONE VODKA

Ketel One Vodka is a truly exceptional super-premium vodka and is made by the Nolet distilling family. The Nolets have been in the business of crafting fine spirits in Holland for over 325 years and go back 11 generations. Their skills and knowledge have been passed down through their family since 1691 and it is this heritage in distilling which has influenced how Ketel One Vodka is distilled. The Ketel One brand is built on one-to-one conversations with the bartending community.

Ketel One Vodka was first launched in the 1980s by Carolus Nolet Sr who used the family's expertise in fine spirits to craft a smooth, crisp vodka with a long finish that was perfect for the finest of cocktails. It is now available in over 80 countries around the world and has been recognised by the Drinks International Bar Report as the Best Selling and Most Trending vodka for five consecutive years.

Ketel One Vodka is a blend of old and new: combining old world pot still craft used by the Nolet ancestors, with modern column still techniques. The 19th century coal-fired pot still, Pot Still Number 1, known in Dutch as Distilleerketel No.1, inspired the Ketel One name and is involved in crafting every batch of Vodka.

Ketel One Vodka is produced exclusively in the Nolet Distillery in Schiedam, Holland and every batch is personally tasted and approved by a member of the Nolet family to ensure it meets their exacting quality standards - that's the Ketel One Way.

KETEL ONE VODKA ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Follow us, here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KetelOne

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ketelone

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ketelone

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ketelone

Hashtag: ketelone theketeloneway

ABOUT DIAGEO

Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands including Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, J&B, Buchanan's and Windsor whiskies, Smirnoff and CAroc vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Tanqueray and Guinness.

Diageo is listed on both the London Stock Exchange (DGE) and the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and our products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world. For more information about Diageo, our people, our brands, and performance, visit us at http://www.diageo.com. Visit Diageo's global responsible drinking resource, http://www.DRINKiQ.com , for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practice.

Celebrating life, every day, everywhere.

Please Drink Responsibly, visit DRINKiQ.com
BISHOPSGATE, LONDON / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2017 / The Board of SolGold (LSE: SOLG and TSX: SOLG) is pleased to provide an update on the Alpala Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") underway at the Cascabel Project, the Company's 85% owned copper-gold porphyry project in Ecuador.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Alpala Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate on track for completion late December.

SolGold's Technical Service Manager Benn Whistler commented on the Alpala Maiden MRE, saying, "We are pleased with the way SRK have been able to replicate the geological detail of the deposit as interpreted in Level Plans and Cross-Sections throughout out the existing deposit, and envisage a very accurate estimate. This maiden resource is by no means a final quantity because the deposit is still growing, and as such we plan to announce updated MRE statements on a quarterly basis through 2018."

SolGold's CEo and Managing Director, Mr Nick Mather further remarked: "The Alpala deposit will continue to grow with further drilling expedited through the arrival of 4 more large track mounted drills this month. We plan to immediately follow the MRE up with initiation of a PEA (Preliminary Economic Assessment) of the deposit at Alpala, towards commencement of the PFS (Pre-Feasibility Study planned for instigation in late 2018."

References to figures and tables relate to the version of this release on the Company's website (www.solgold.com.au) or visible in PDF format by clicking the link below:

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/5619X_-2017-11-27.pdf

SOURCE: SolGold
VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - August 24, 2017) - Arizona Mining Inc. (TSX: AZ) ("Arizona Mining" or the "Company") is pleased to report results from water well WW-1 drilled on its patented ground as part of the water supply testing program (the "Program") on the Hermosa Project (the "Project") in Santa Cruz County, Arizona.

The 14-inch diameter well was completed on June 29, 2017 to a final depth of 1,326 feet. After hole conditioning, a pumping test was completed at a rate of 1,100 gallons of water per minute (gpm) to determine the potential capacity of the well and supporting aquifer. After 72 hours of pumping at the 1,100 gpm rate, it was apparent that the aquifer should be more than sufficient to supply the estimated 650 gpm water requirement for the proposed 10,000 ton per day Taylor Sulfide and Taylor Deeps mining operation outlined in the Preliminary Economic Assessment. The pattern and small degree of drawdown suggests the bedrock aquifer is extensive and contains a significant amount of groundwater. Monitor wells around the proposed operation were largely unaffected by the pumping, indicating the large capacity of the aquifer.

Jim Gowans, President and CEO commented: "We are very pleased with the results of WW-1. This well, along with other sources of ground water on our private lands, should be ample to supply the water required for the operation for the life of mine. This is an important facet of the project and gaining certainty for the supply water is a key milestone in its development."

Additional testing is ongoing to complete the project's hydrology evaluation. In addition to the WW-1 well, other sources of supply water for the proposed operation are being investigated, including a second deep well on the patented claims and the historic, existing underground workings located on the Trench patented mining claim.

Qualified Person

The results of the Arizona Mining Inc. groundwater supply investigation have been reviewed, verified and compiled by R. Douglas Bartlett, CPG, CHG, President and Principal Hydrogeologist of Clear Creek Associates, a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101). Mr. Bartlett has 40 years of geologic and hydrogeologic experience, and is a Registered Professional Geologist in Arizona (#25059), California (#8809), Oregon (#2305), Washington (#2879), and Pennsylvania (#4995).

About Arizona Mining

Arizona Mining Inc. (an augustagroup company) is a mineral exploration and development company focused on the exploration and development of its 100%-owned Hermosa Project located in Santa Cruz County, Arizona. The Taylor Deposit, a zinc-lead-silver carbonate replacement deposit, has a resource of 8.6 million tons in the Measured Mineral Resource category grading 4.2% zinc, 4.0% lead and 1.6 opt silver, or 9.7% ZnEq, plus 63.8 million tons in the Indicated Mineral Resource category grading 4.5% zinc, 4.4% lead and 1.9 opt silver, or 10.6% ZnEq, and 38.6 million tons of Inferred Mineral Resources grading 4.4% zinc, 4.2% lead and 3.1 opt silver or 11.6% ZnEq, all reported in accordance with NI 43-101 guidelines utilizing a 4% ZnEq cutoff grade. The Taylor Deposit remains open to the north, west and south over land controlled by the Company and will be aggressively drilled to test the limits of the resource. The Company's other project on the Hermosa property is the Central Deposit, a silver-manganese manto oxide project.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain information contained in this press release constitutes forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward looking statements including statements with respect to the Company's intentions for its Hermosa Project in Arizona, including, without limitation, performing additional drilling, a resource update, permitting and a feasibility study on the Taylor Deposit. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as may, will, seek, anticipate, believe, plan, estimate, budget, schedule, forecast, project, expect, intend, or similar expressions.

The forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions which, while considered reasonable by Arizona Mining, are subject to risks and uncertainties. In addition to the assumptions herein, these assumptions include the assumptions described in Arizona Mining's management's discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2016 ("MD&A"). Arizona Mining cautions readers that forward-looking statements involve and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements and forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results, performance or achievement. These risks, uncertainties and factors include general business, economic, competitive, political, regulatory and social uncertainties; actual results of exploration activities and economic evaluations; fluctuations in currency exchange rates; changes in project parameters; changes in costs, including labour, infrastructure, operating and production costs; future prices of zinc, lead, silver and other minerals; variations of mineral grade or recovery rates; operating or technical difficulties in connection with exploration, development or mining activities, including the failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; delays in completion of exploration, development or construction activities; changes in government legislation and regulation; the ability to maintain and renew existing licenses and permits or obtain required licenses and permits in a timely manner; the ability to obtain financing on acceptable terms in a timely manner; contests over title to properties; employee relations and shortages of skilled personnel and contractors; the speculative nature of, and the risks involved in, the exploration, development and mining business; and the factors discussed in the section entitled "Risks and Uncertainties" in the MD&A.

Although Arizona Mining has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual performance, achievements, actions, events, results or conditions to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking information, there may be other risks, uncertainties and other factors that cause performance, achievements, actions, events, results or conditions to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Unless otherwise indicated, forward-looking statements contained herein are as of the date hereof and Arizona Mining 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 law.

For additional information please contact:



Susan Muir

Vice-President, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications

Telephone: 416-366-5678 ext. 202

Email: smuir@arizonamining.com
DUBLIN, August 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The "Global Oxygen Free Copper Market 2017-2021" report has been added to Research and Markets' offering.

The global oxygen free copper market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.27% during the period 2017-2021.

The report, Global Oxygen Free Copper 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.

According to the report, one of the major drivers for this market is the increasing demand in specific electronic equipment. One of the major reasons for the increasing demand for oxygen free copper is the efficiency of OFHC in powerful and specialist electronic equipment, including those used in the generation of microwaves. Microwaves refer to the invisible, short wavelength, and super-energetic radio waves used in radar navigation equipment and microwave ovens.

Microwaves comprise a magnetron, at the heart of which is a ring shaped OFHC copper cathode that emits and vibrates microwaves in a vacuum pertaining to an anode. The microwaves are then channeled using an OFHC waveguide, either into the cooking compartment connected to the microwave oven or are beamed out by a satellite or an antenna into the air in radar equipment.

Key vendors



Citizen Metalloys

Freeport-McMoRan

KGHM Polska Miedz

Mitsubishi Materials

National Bronze & Metals

SAM Dong America

Other prominent vendors



Cupori

KME Germany

Pan Pacific Copper

Shcopper

Wieland-Werke

Zhejiang Libo Holding Group



Key Topics Covered:



Part 01:Executive Summary



Part 02: Scope Of The Report



Part 03: Research Methodology



Part 04: Introduction



Part 05: Market Landscape



Part 06: Market Segmentation By End-User Industry



Part 07: Geographical Segmentation



Part 08: Decision Framework



Part 09: Drivers And Challenges



Part 10: Market Trends



Part 11: Vendor Landscape



Part 12: Key Vendor Analysis



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/2trrjb/global_oxygen

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



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
Arion Bank reported net earnings of ISK 10.5 billion for the first six months of 2017, compared with ISK 9.8 billion for the same period of 2016. Return on equity was 9.7%, compared with 9.5% for the first six months of 2016.



The Bank reported net earnings of ISK 7.1 billion during the second quarter of 2017, compared with ISK 6.9 billion for the same period of 2016. Return on equity during the quarter was 13.0%, compared with 13.3% in 2016.



Total assets amounted to ISK 1,126.4 billion at the end of June, compared with ISK 1,036.0 billion at the end of 2016. Shareholders' equity totalled ISK 221.6 billion at the end of June 2017, compared with ISK 211.2 billion at the end of 2016. The Bank enjoys a strong financial position and the focus has been on maintaining good liquidity as the capital controls are lifted, a process which is now largely at an end.



The Bank's capital ratio at the end of June was 28.4%, compared with 27.1% at the end of 2016. Tier 1 Capital increased during the period to 27.8%, compared with 26.5% at the end of 2016.



Highlights of the income statement and key income related performance indicators:



Income Statement In ISK million H1 2017 H1 2016 Diff Q2 2017 Q2 2016 Diff Net interest income 15,320 14,626 5% 8,160 7,353 11% Net commission income 6,838 6,747 1% 3,508 3,528 (1%) Other income 5,174 5,810 (11%) 3,151 4,343 (27%) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operating income 27,332 27,183 1% 14,819 15,224 (3%) Operating expenses (13,840) (15,156) (9%) (5,784) (7,958) (27%) Bank levy (1,574) (1,485) 6% (777) (743) 5% Net impairment 1,289 945 36% 409 1,448 (72%) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net earnings before taxes 13,207 11,487 15% 8,667 7,971 9% Income tax (3,161) (2,091) 51% (1,827) (1,354) 35% Net gain from assets held 420 363 16% 273 259 5% for sale -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net earnings 10,466 9,759 7% 7,113 6,876 3% -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KPI's: Return on equity (ROE) 9.7% 9.5% 13.0% 13.3% Earnings per share (ISK) 5.23 4.62 3.56 3.38 Net interest margin (int. b. 3.0% 3.1% 3.1% 3.1% assets) Cost-to-income ratio 50.6% 55.8% 39.0% 52.3% Tier 1 ratio 27.8% 26.8% 27.8% 26.8%



Highlights of the balance sheet and key performance indicators:



In ISK million 30.06.2017 31.12.2016 Diff Diff% Loans to customers 733,649 712,422 21,226 3% Other assets 392,762 323,602 69,160 21% Liabilities 904,644 824,640 80,004 10% Equity 221,767 211,384 10,383 5% Loans to Deposits ratio 167.7% 172.9% RWA / Total assets 67.0% 72.7% Tier 1 ratio 27.8% 26.5%



For detailed information on the accounts please refer to Arion Bank's Consolidated Interim Financial Statements for the period 1 January - 30 June 2017 on the Bank's website, www.arionbanki.is.



Hoskuldur H. Olafsson, CEO of Arion Bank:



"Arion Bank's financial results for the first six months of 2017 are good and exceed our expectations. The Bank is performing well in its core operations and one-off items have had a positive impact on the results. The Bank is robust financially, as underlined by the Bank's capital ratio of 28.4%. The Bank is well positioned to provide strong support to its customers and the Icelandic business sector.



We are determined to be the leading bank in Iceland as a provider of digital solutions. The goal is to make banking easy for our customers. We want our customers to be able to take care of their finances easily and conveniently, whether they are transferring money, getting an overdraft, spreading out credit card payments, attending to their savings or applying for a credit appraisal and a mortgage. Our focus on developing digital solutions in this area and the advent of electronic ID mean that our customers can now do all this and more through the Arion app and our online bank, whenever and wherever it suits them. We have also made it easy for people and companies to become customers of Arion Bank through a straightforward process on our website. We have a clear vision and we will continue in this direction and release even more digital products over the next few months.



In 2014 Arion Bank decided to participate in the funding process of United Silicon in relation to a project which had been in preparation for several years. The Bank lent a considerable amount of money to the project, as specified in the Bank's interim financial statement. The decision to participate in this project was made on the basis of several factors: all permits were in place, demand for the product was high and the market price was good, the technology had been thoroughly tested, the government and local authorities were supportive of the project, and Icelandic and international experts and investors were also on board. Furthermore, the experience of silicon plants had generally been positive and it was a project that would create much needed jobs and foreign currency revenue in an economy subject to capital controls. United Silicon commenced operations in November 2016, but unfortunately it has suffered repeated setbacks. The company has applied for a moratorium and is now seeking composition with creditors. Arion Bank is closely monitoring developments and, as its largest creditor, is assisting the company in the moratorium. The priority now is to complete the necessary improvements at the plant so that production is in order and environmental concerns are addressed and to ensure that the plant operates in harmony with the local community.



During the first half of the year the Bank has issued a total of 500 million in two international bond issues. An increasing number of investors are now looking at Arion Bank as an investment option as the Bank's bond issues perform well on the secondary markets. The Bank also has good access to funding on the Icelandic market. During the period the Bank fully repaid the Kaupthing bond issued in connection with composition agreements with Kaupthing, and Arion Bank is now fully market funded.



In March, the future ownership of the Bank began to take shape when international investors acquired a 29% share in the Bank. Preparations for the sale of Kaupthing's stake are ongoing and one of the options being examined is an IPO on the Icelandic and international markets, but no decision has been taken on this yet."



Conference call in English



Arion Bank will be hosting a conference call in English on Thursday 24 August at 1:00 pm GMT (3:00 pm CEST), where Stefan Petursson, Chief Financial Officer, will discuss the highlights of the Bank's financial results. People interested in participating can contact ir@arionbanki.is to obtain dial-in information.



For further information please contact Haraldur Gudni Eidsson of Arion Bank's Communications division at haraldur.eidsson@arionbanki.is, or tel. +354 444 7108.



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Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de


BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The British pound strengthened against other major currencies in the European session on Thursday amid risk appetite, ahead of a key meeting of central bankers at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which kicks off later today.



Investors await speeches from Fed Chair Janet Yellen and ECB President Mario Draghi, though they are not expected to send any new policy messages.



The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index is currently up 0.39 percent or 28.66 points at 7,411, France's CAC 40 index is up 0.32 percent or 16.17 points at 5,131 and Germany's DAX is up 0.39 percent or 47.33 points at 12,221.



In economic news, data from the Office for National Statistics showed that the U.K. economy expanded as initially estimated in the second quarter. Gross domestic product increased 0.3 percent sequentially in the second quarter, unrevised from the preliminary estimate. The latest pace of growth was slightly faster than the 0.2 percent expansion posted in the first quarter.



Year-on-year, GDP growth came in at 1.7 percent, in line with preliminary estimate.



Imports of goods and services have increased 0.4 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively. Exports of goods increased 1.5 percent, but exports of services dropped 0.4 percent.



Another report from ONS showed that the index of services increased 0.4 percent in June from May.



In the Asian trading today, the pound held steady against its major rivals.



In the European trading, the pound rose to 140.25 against the yen and 1.2377 against the Swiss franc, from an early near 2-1/2-month low of 139.32 and a 1-month low of 1.2333, respectively. If the pound extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 143.00 against the yen and 1.26 against the franc.



Against the euro and the U.S. dollar, the pound edged up to 0.9193 and 1.2825 from early lows of 0.9235 and 1.2774, respectively. The pound may test support near 0.90 against the euro and 1.30 against the greenback.



Looking ahead, U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended August 19 and U.S. existing home sales data for July are due to be released in the New York session.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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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.
DETROIT, August 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Stratview Research announces the launch of a new research report onGlobal Below-Grade Waterproofing Market by Material Type (Polymers, Bitumen, Bentonite, Rubberized Asphalt, and Others), by Membrane Type (Sheet-based and Liquid-coated), by Position Type (Positive side, Blind side and Negative side), by Application Type (Fluid-Applied, Fully Bonded, Self-Adhered, and Loose-Laid), by End-User Type (Commercial Building, Residential Building and Public Infrastructure), and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World), Trend, Forecast, Competitive Analysis, and Growth Opportunity: 2017-2022.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160831/402975LOGO )



This market report, from Stratview Research, studies the global below-grade waterproofing market over the period 2011 to 2022. The report provides detailed insights on the market dynamics to enable informed business decision making and growth strategy formulation based on the opportunities present in the market.

Global Below-Grade Waterproofing Market: Highlights

As per Stratview Research, the global below-grade waterproofing market offers a robust CAGR of 6.5% during the forecast period of 2017 to 2022 and reach US$ 1,871 million in 2022, which offers an opportunity to the industry players to align themselves with the market growth.

There are several factors bolstering the growth of the global below-grade waterproofing market. The author of the report cited increasing building and infrastructure activities owing to rebounding global economies, increasing global investments for the construction of high-rise buildings and infrastructures, high focus on protection of buildings and infrastructures from corrosion and weather conditions, and increasing demand for energy efficient buildings, as the major growth drivers of the global below-grade waterproofing market.

Based on material type, polymers segment is expected to remain the growth engine of the global below-grade waterproofing market during the forecast period of 2017 to 2022. The segment is also likely to witness the highest growth over the next five years. High synthetic polymer production to support rising population and urbanization, an introduction of high-performance below-grade waterproofing system and a gradual shift from bitumen to synthetic polymers are likely to be the major growth drivers of the segment over the next five years.

In terms of membrane type, sheet-based membrane is expected to remain the most dominant membrane type in the global below-grade waterproofing market during the forecast period of 2017 to 2022. Increasing usage of breathable waterproofing membranes and environmentally safe products would remain the major growth drivers of sheet-based below-grade waterproofing membrane market over the next five years.

Register Here for a Free Sample of the 240-Pages Report

The commercial building segment is expected to remain largest in the global below-grade waterproofing market during the forecast period, whereas the public infrastructure segment is expected to witness the highest growth during the same period. Increasing construction activities of high rise buildings coupled with increasing preference of foundations and basements are the major growth drivers of the commercial building segment.

As per the report, Asia-Pacific is expected to remain the largest below-grade waterproofing market during the forecast period. The region is also expected to experience the highest growth during the same period. Continuous growth in the construction and infrastructure sector in emerging Asian economies, such as China and India, are driving the demand for the below-grade waterproofing system in the region.

The supply chain of this market comprises raw materials suppliers, below-grade waterproofing manufacturers, distributors, and contractors. The key below-grade waterproofing system manufacturers are GCP Applied Technologies, Sika AG, RPM International Inc., Carlisle Companies Inc., and BASF SE. Developing high-performance below-grade waterproofing systems, regional expansion and mergers & acquisitions are the key strategies adopted by the major players to gain a competitive edge in the market.

Report Features

This report provides market intelligence in the most comprehensive way. The report structure has been kept such that it offers maximum business value. It provides critical insights on the market dynamics and will enable strategic decision making for the existing market players as well as those willing to enter the market. The following are the key features of the report:

Market structure: Overview, industry life cycle analysis, supply chain analysis.

Market environment analysis: Growth drivers and constraints, Porter's five forces analysis, SWOT analysis.

Market trend and forecast analysis.

Market segment trend and forecast.

Competitive landscape and dynamics: Market share, product portfolio, product launches, etc.

Attractive market segments and associated growth opportunities.

Emerging trends.

Strategic growth opportunities for the existing and new players.

Key success factors.

This report studies the global below-grade waterproofing market and has segmented the market in six ways, keeping in mind the interest of all the stakeholders across the value chain. The following are the six ways in which the market is segmented:

The global below-grade waterproofing market is segmented into the following categories:

Global Below-Grade Waterproofing Market, By Material Type

Polymers (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Bitumen (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Bentonite (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Rubberized Asphalt (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Other materials(Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Global Below-Grade Waterproofing Market, By Membrane Type

Sheet-based Membrane ( Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Liquid-coated Membrane(Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Global Below-Grade Waterproofing Market, By Position Type

Positive Side ( Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Negative Side (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Blind Side(Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Global Below-Grade Waterproofing Market, By Application Type

Fluid Applied ( Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Fully Bonded (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Self-Adhered (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Loose-Laid(Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Global Below-Grade Waterproofing Market, By End-User Type

Commercial Building ( Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Residential Building (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Public Infrastructure(Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Global Below-Grade Waterproofing Market, By Region

North America (Country Analysis: The USA , Canada , and Mexico )

Europe (Country Analysis: Germany , France , The UK, Russia , and Rest of Europe )

Asia-Pacific (Country Analysis: China , Japan , India and Rest of Asia-Pacific )

Rest of the World(Country Analysis: Latin America , The Middle East , and Others)

Stratview Research has several high value market reports in the chemicals and materials industry. Please refer to the following link to browse through our reports:

Click Here for Other Reports from Stratview Research in the Chemicals & Materials Industry

Related premium market reports in the advanced materials industry are:

Global Flash Chromatography Market by Sales Type (Consumables and Systems), by Technique Type (Reverse Phase, Ion Exchange, Size Exclusion, Chiral Separation, and Others), by Component Type (Columns and Detectors), by End-Use Industry Type (Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, Contract Research Organization, Academia, Chemical, and Others), and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World), Trend, Forecast, Competitive Analysis, and Growth Opportunity: 2017-2022

Global Cold Plasma Market by Regime Type (Low-Pressure and Atmospheric Pressure), by Application Type (Cleaning & Activation, Coating, Decontamination, Wound Healing, Adhesion, Finishing, Sterilization, and Others), by End-Use Industry (Electrical & Electronic, Food, Medical, Textile, Polymers & Plastics, and Others), and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World), Trend, Forecast, Competitive Analysis, and Growth Opportunity: 2017 - 2022

About Stratview Research

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We have a strong team of industry veterans and analysts with an extensive experience in executing custom research projects for mid-sized to Fortune 500 companies, in the areas of Market Assessment, Opportunity Screening, Competitive Intelligence, Due Diligence, Target Screening, Market Entry Strategy, Go to Market Strategy, and Voice of Customer studies.

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NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwired) -- 08/24/17 -- NetworkNewsWire ("NNW"), a multifaceted financial news and publishing company, today announces the publication of an editorial featuring ABcann Global (TSX VENTURE: ABCN) (OTCQB: ABCCF), a client of NNW that is a globally licensed, cost efficient producer of premium quality organic standardized medicinal cannabis.

The publication, titled, "As Recreational Cannabis Legalization Looms, the Field of Opportunity is Green for Canada's Leading Growers," discusses the legislation introduced by the Canadian government to permit recreational cannabis use, and the companies preparing for an even larger market.

To view the full publication, visit: https://www.networknewswire.com/recreational-cannabis-legalization-looms-field-opportunity-green-canadas-leading-growers/

"Under Canada's Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations, ABcann obtained its production license in March 2014, followed by the successful attainment of a cannabis sales license in December 2015.

"Though ABcann is still young as a publicly traded security, the company has become one of the foremost medical cannabis growers in Canada, standing out with its proprietary growing technology, which results in the production of top-quality, organically grown, pesticide-free medical-grade cannabis. ABcann's low current market cap presents a clear opportunity for investors -- particularly when contrasted with the company's Canadian cannabis peers, which, as previously mentioned, are few in number. There are currently only 54 licensed cannabis producers in all of Canada."

About ABcann Global Corporation

ABcann was one of the first companies to obtain a production license under the Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations, which it received on March 21, 2014. It obtained a sales license on December 31, 2015. ABcann's flagship facility, in Napanee, Ontario, contains proprietary plant-growing technology, including environmentally-controlled chambers capable of monitoring and regulating all variables in the growing process. This approach and the systems in place allow ABcann to produce organically grown and pesticide-free, high-yielding plants, which, in turn, can generate high-quality products that are consistent from batch to batch. ABcann is able to control environmental and nutrient demands, tailor-made for a particular strain of cannabis, without the variation that is typical when producing large quantities in less-controlled, larger rooms and greenhouse-type structures. ABcann's modular approach to systems technology eliminates scale-up risk and allows ABcann to locate anywhere in the world and maintain consistency and quality of product. For more information, visit www.ABcannGlobal.com.

About NetworkNewsWire

NetworkNewsWire (NNW) is an information service that provides (1) access to our news aggregation and syndication servers, (2) NetworkNewsBreaks that summarize corporate news and information, (3) enhanced press release services, (4) social media distribution and optimization services, and (5) a full array of corporate communication solutions. As a multifaceted financial news and content distribution company with an extensive team of contributing journalists and writers, NNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that desire to reach a wide audience of investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. NNW has an ever-growing distribution network of more than 5,000 key syndication outlets across the country. By cutting through the overload of information in today's market, NNW brings its clients unparalleled visibility, recognition and brand awareness. NNW is where news, content and information converge.

For more information please visit https://www.NetworkNewsWire.com

Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the NetworkNewsWire website applicable to all content provided by NNW, wherever published or re-published: http://NNW.fm/Disclaimer

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements 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. All forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain as they are based on current expectations and assumptions concerning future events or future performance of the company. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are only predictions and speak only as of the date hereof. In evaluating such statements, prospective investors should review carefully various risks and uncertainties identified in this release and matters set in the company's SEC filings. These risks and uncertainties could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements.

NNW Contact:



NetworkNewsWire (NNW)

New York, New York

www.NetworkNewsWire.com

212.418.1217 Office

Email Contact




AXIS Will Advise Next Generation of InsurTech Startups in Collaboration with Silicon Valley Innovation Platform

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited and its operating subsidiaries ("AXIS Capital") (NYSE:AXS) today announced it has partnered with Plug and Play, a global digital startup innovation platform headquartered in Silicon Valley. By joining Plug and Play's InsurTech platform, AXIS will gain access to world-class digital insurance startups and will provide mentorship and technical support, along with underwriting and actuarial expertise, to help turn their ideas into products or services.

"AXIS has a proven entrepreneurial track record and our alliance with Plug and Play will allow us to partner with the entrepreneurs who are helping to drive innovation in insurance and reinsurance," said Chris DiSipio, CEO of AXIS A&H and executive sponsor of the Company's InsurTech initiative. "We are the perfect partner for bringing their ideas to life and are committed to InsurTech as a driver of future growth, both for AXIS and the (re)insurance industry."

To help address the rapid and transformative changes underway within the (re)insurance industry, AXIS will work with property and casualty, life/health and general InsurTech startups that have been accepted to Plug and Play's InsurTech program. This 12-week program attracts applications from hundreds of startups from around the world that utilize technology, data and analytics to develop innovative new business models, products and services.

"We are thrilled to have AXIS Capital as a new partner of our platform," said Ali Safavi, Plug and Play InsurTech Director. "Our team intends to leverage this partnership and AXIS' expertise in the field to continue to drive innovation and change in the industry with the hope of creating the ultimate startup ecosystem for InsurTech."

AXIS will focus on the areas of Insurance, Reinsurance, Health, IoT (Internet of Things), FinTech and Mobility, with leaders from different business areas serving as program mentors and technical advisors.

About AXIS Capital

AXIS Capital is a Bermuda-based global provider of specialty lines insurance and treaty reinsurance with shareholders' equity at June 30, 2017 of $5.9 billion and locations in Bermuda, the United States, Europe, Singapore, Middle East, Canada and Latin America. Its operating subsidiaries have been assigned a rating of "A+" ("Strong") by Standard & Poor's and "A+" ("Superior") by A.M. Best. For more information about AXIS Capital, visit our website at www.axiscapital.com. Follow AXIS Capital on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About Plug and Play

Plug and Play is a global innovation platform. We connect startups to corporations and invest in over 150 companies every year. Since inception in 2006, our programs have expanded worldwide to include a presence in 24 locations globally giving startups the necessary resources to succeed in Silicon Valley and beyond. With over 6,000 startups and 180 official corporate partners, we have created the ultimate startup ecosystem in many industries. We provide active investments with 200 leading Silicon Valley VCs, and host more than 365 networking events per year. Companies in our community have raised over $6 billion in funding, with successful portfolio exits including Danger, Dropbox, Lending Club, PayPal, SoundHound, and Zoosk. For more information, visit www.plugandplaytechcenter.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170824005372/en/

Contacts:

AXIS Capital

Keith Trivitt, +1 212-715-3557

keith.trivitt@axiscapital.com

or

Plug and Play

Hadiyah Fain, +1 408-524-1662

hadiyah@plugandplaytechcenter.com
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. jobless claims for the week ended August 19 will be issued at 8.30 am ET Thursday. The economists are looking for consensus of 238,000, compared to 232,000 last week. The greenback traded mixed against its major rivals ahead of the data. While the greenback fell against the franc, pound and the euro, it rose against the yen. The greenback was worth 1.1804 against the euro, 109.36 against the yen, 0.9639 against the franc and 1.2827 against the pound as of 8:25 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.


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Daniel Kammen, a Science Envoy for the Department of State, has resigned in protest against President Donald Trump's failure to denounce white supremacists and neo-nazis over their role in violence in Charlottesville.



'Your response to Charlottesville enables racism, sexism, & harms our country and planet,' the Distinguished Professor of Energy at the University of California said in a letter addressed to the President Wednesday.



Trump's comments that 'both sides' were to blame for the clash between white supremacists and those counter-protesting the rally on August 12 drew widespread criticism across the political spectrum.



Kammen, who was appointed to the position back in February 2016 and has served in many federal roles for more than 20 years, published his resignation letter on Twitter.



Kammen used an acrostic in his letter to convey a not-so-subtle message to the Preasident - starting each paragraph of his seven-paragraph letter by using the letters in the word 'IMPEACH.'



He said his decision to resign was in response to Trump's 'attacks on core values of the United States.'



He accused Trump of harming the quality of life in the United States, the nation's standing abroad, and the sustainability of the planet.



Kammen made it clear that the Trump administration's environmental and energy policies, as well his decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate deal are not acceptable to him.



Kammen's resignation is only the latest in the fallout over Trump's response to the violent clashes in Charlottesville.



Recently, Trump disbanded the President's American Manufacturing Council and the Strategic and Policy Forum after its members resigned over his handling of white supremacist violence in Charlottesville.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 24, 2017) - Prospero Silver Corp (TSXV: PSL) (the "Company" or "Prospero") is pleased to provide an update on its on-going 5 month 6,950 m reconnaissance drill campaign funded by strategic partner Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. ("Fortuna"). The drill program is designed to carry out first-pass drilling of a number of Prospero's early stage projects in the world class Mexican Altiplano mineral belt.

Drilling is anticipated to begin at the 6,868 hectare El Petate project in Hidalgo State in September, pending receipt of final permits. El Petate is located 30km northwest of the historic Pachuca-Real del Monte mining district, on the western side of the Sierra Madre Oriental fold belt, within a northwest trend of historic deposits including Zimapan (Hidalgo) and La Negra (Queretaro). The Petate property is the most advanced of Prospero's projects, with drill permits about to be granted for 29 drill sites. Surface access has already been secured from the land owners. High-level epithermal alteration is exposed over a 5x4 km area with highly anomalous gold and silver hosted in extensive outcrops and float of steep to strata-bound jasperoid. The significant size of the silicified zones indicates that Petate is a robust mineralized system with additional potential to host a high-temperature carbonate-replacement type deposit at depth.

Prospero's exploration work at Petate has highlighted potential for sediment (carbonate) hosted gold and for blind carbonate-replacement bodies of manto and/or chimney type, containing Ag, Pb, Zn and  Au similar to the Zimapan or Santa Eulalia polymetallic systems. Surface sampling by Prospero at the Apartadero target at Petate returned a best continuous channel sample of 67.5m @ 0.93 g/t Au.

The number of holes to be drilled, and the collar locations is currently being discussed with Fortuna with a total meterage anticipated of up to 2,800m. A drill collar plan will be posted on Prospero's website as soon it's available. Additional information on historic exploration results from Petate is available on Prospero's website here:

http://www.prosperosilver.com/s/ElPetate.asp

and here:

http://www.prosperosilver.com/i/pdf/Petate.pdf

Matorral Drilling

Drilling has finished for the time being at the Matorral project (See Prospero news release dated June 22, 2017). Three holes have been completed (1,371m) out of a planned 4 holes. Drilling is currently halted for a scheduled break and to allow additional interpretation of the results of alteration mineral analysis. Prospero will be carrying out age dating of samples of hydrothermal alteration clay minerals to clarify the age relationships between the hydrothermal system and host rocks.

The holes were completed on 3 different sections to test for potential epithermal precious metal mineralization beneath extensive surface outcrops of jasperoid. In each case, the initial holes were drilled to pin the dip of the controlling structures of the jasperoids between 200-300m below the surface outcrop.

No significant precious metal assay results were returned in the drilling with the exception of hole 17-01 which returned sporadic anomalous silver values from trace up to 32ppm Ag. However fluid inclusion and clay mineralogy analyses of veinlets and alteration cut in the 3 holes suggests that the hydrothermal alteration seen in the holes is still above the top of the potential productive epithermal horizon; additional deeper drilling is required to reach the boiling zone in the system.

The presence of late barren calcite in all three holes is believed to be analogous to similar calcite veins seen in the high level epithermal environments above other Mexican epithermal deposits such as Fresnillo and Pachuca. The calcite is interpreted to be related to the descent of steam-heated carbonate rich waters as the hydrothermal system begins to collapse.

A summary of the geology and alteration mineralogy encountered in each hole is given below and a drill collar plan and cross sections can be found on Prospero's web site at:

http://www.prosperosilver.com/s/Santa-Maria-del-Oro.asp

Hole PMA-17-01 (End of hole at 475m)

Oriented to cut the downward extension of structurally controlled jasperoids in the North Matorral Pit. No significant assay results were returned from the hole which was terminated at 475m in fresh purple andesites. Quartz-feldspar porphyry (QFP) was cut between 169.6 to 231.3m with some local silicification and pyritic stockwork: this is thought to be the down dip continuation of QFP mapped at surface and associated with jasperoids in the pit. The clay minerals identified in the hole (illite/montmorillonite) are compatible with a high-level epithermal environment. The presence of banded coarse crystalline quartz and coarse euhedral pyrite in the hole, combined with fluid inclusion temperatures as high as 229C, and some anomalous geochemistry (up to 32 ppm Ag) indicate this zone could lie relatively close to the top of an epithermal ore zone. Planning is underway for a 4th hole to be drilled under PMA-17-01 to intersect the QFP at least 200 vertical meters below where it was cut in hole 1.

Hole PMA-17-02 (End of hole at 454m)

Hole 17-02 cut 2 several zones of alteration and anomalous geochemistry. Between 91m to 133m downhole, 17-02 intersected brecciated limestone with bands of massive pyrite. The lower portion of this zone, from 118m to 133m consisted of intercalated carbon-rich /carbonaceous bands and massive pyrite. The 27m zone is anomalous in Zn, Pb and As with a best intersection of 0.12% Zn over 6.7m. The presumed downward continuation of the jasperoids seen at surface on section B-B was cut between 240m to 295m. The hole cut several zones of jasperoids with anomalous silver (from trace to 5.7ppm Ag) roughly 200-250m below the surface outcrops. The hole was terminated at 454m in fresh andesites. Clay mineral analysis from the pyrite-rich zone described above show that Mg-Illite, K-illite, and montmorillonite-nontronite are the principal hypogene clay minerals, suggesting hydrothermal temperatures in the system were lower than 220C. Rare crystalline quartz was found in the deeper parts of the hole which returned homogenization temperatures of 173C to 185C.

Hole PMA-17-03 (End of hole 442m)

Hole 17-03 cut intermediate volcanics along its entire length. A zone of silicification and jasperoids from 311.7m to 314.5m down hole may correspond to the downward projection of the surface jasperoids. No significant assays were received from hole 17-03.

Qualified Person

Tawn Albinson, M.Sc., President of the Company, is a Qualified Person, as defined in NI 43-101, and is responsible for the technical content of this news release. Mr. Albinson is a Member of the American Institute of Professional Geologists and a Certified Professional Geologist (CPG) No. 11368.



About Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.

Fortuna is a growth-oriented, precious metals producer focused on mining opportunities in Latin America. The company's primary assets are the Caylloma silver mine in southern Peru, the San Jose silver-gold mine in Mexico and the Lindero gold project in Argentina.

About Prospero Silver Corp

Prospero is a Mexico-focused project generator listed on the TSX.V under the symbol (TSXV: PSL). Prospero's aim is to discover world-class precious metal projects in the major mineral belts of Mexico. The Company applies a unique blend of practical exploration experience, cutting-edge mineral deposit science, and an extensive knowledge of Mexico's geology to find new gold and silver systems. Our exploration programs are run by a small but highly-focused geological team based in Mexico.

For further information please contact:

Ralph Rushton

Exec VP Business Development

Tel: 604 307 0055

William Murray

Chairman

Tel: 604 288 2553

Forward-Looking Statement Cautions:

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, relating to, among other things, drilling results. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective," "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include, possible, accidents and other risks associated with mineral exploration operations, the risk that the Company will encounter unanticipated geological factors, the possibility that the Company may not be able to secure permitting and other governmental clearances necessary to carry out the Company's exploration plans, the risk that the Company will not be able to raise the additional funds in the future to continue to carry out its business plans, and the risk of political uncertainties and regulatory or legal changes that might interfere with the Company's business and prospects. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's reports, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of any of securities of the Company in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful, including any of the securities in the United States of America. The Company's securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 (the "1933 Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for account or benefit of, U.S. Persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) unless registered under the 1933 Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration requirements is available.

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.

THIS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES
Regulatory News:

Mauna Kea Technologies (Paris:MKEA) (OTCQX:MKEAY) inventor of Cellvizio, the multidisciplinary confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) platform, today announced the appointment of Molly O'Neill to the Company's Board of Directors, effective immediately. She replaces Ms. Marie Meynadier who recently resigned from the Board. Her appointment is expected to be ratified by shareholders at the Company's Annual General Meeting in May 2018.

"During a career that includes leadership roles at some of the world's most prestigious healthcare delivery systems as well as ground-breaking product development achievements in the area of digital health, Molly has demonstrated an exceptional capacity to deliver clinical value to patients, providers and payers" stated Christopher D. McFadden, chairman of the Board of Directors. "Building on the important accomplishments Mauna Kea has achieved in the areas of product design, clinical acceptance and regulatory approval, I am pleased to welcome her to the Board of the Directors as the Company increases U.S. market adoption of Cellvizio. Our thanks go to Marie for her significant contributions to Mauna Kea and we wish her the best in her future endeavors."

Ms. O'Neill has an extensive background in the healthcare industry. She is currently chief commercial officer of Proteus Digital Health. Proteus Digital Health and Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Otsuka) were recently granted the first approval of a digital medicine system, ABILIFY MYCITE(aripiprazole tablets with sensor), a drug-device combination product comprised of Otsuka's oral aripiprazole tablets embedded with the Proteus Ingestible Event Marker (IEM) sensor. The ABILIFY MYCITE System includes: ABILIFY MYCITE, the MYCITE Patch (a wearable sensor, developed by Proteus). This enables individuals with serious mental illnesses to gain feedback and engage with their care team in a new way.

Over the past 30 years, Ms. O'Neill has held a number of senior strategy and growth positions with healthcare delivery systems including Tenet, Ascension Health Care Network, Duke Medicine and Partners Healthcare in Boston. Earlier in her career, Ms. O'Neill was vice president, Disease Management and Business Development at Gambro Healthcare. Molly received her B.Sc. in Journalism and her M.S. in Health Care Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University/Medical College of Virginia.

"What attracted me to Mauna Kea is Cellvizio's capacity to improve the evaluation of disease and thereby reduce healthcare costs," said Ms. O'Neil. "Real-time in vivo endomicroscopy is the type of disruptive technology that can significantly improve how healthcare is delivered. Moreover, the Company's most recent FDA clearance appears to reinforce Cellvizio's clinical leadership. I look forward to working with the management team and the board to expand the use of Cellvizio for its current and future indications."

About Mauna Kea Technologies

Mauna Kea Technologies is a global medical device company focused on eliminating uncertainties related to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other diseases thanks to real time in vivo microscopic visualization. The Company's flagship product, Cellvizio, has received clearance/approval in a wide range of applications in more than 40 countries, including the United States, Europe, Japan, China, Canada, Brazil and Mexico. For more information on Mauna Kea Technologies, visit www.maunakeatech.com

Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning Mauna Kea Technologies and its activities. Such forward looking statements are based on assumptions that Mauna Kea Technologies considers to be reasonable. However, there can be no assurance that the anticipated events contained in such forward-looking statements will occur. Forward- looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties including the risks set forth in the registration document of Mauna Kea Technologies registered by the French Financial Markets Authority (Autorite des marches financiers (AMF)) on June 13, 2016 under number R.16-054 and available on the Company's website (www.maunakeatech.com), and to the development of economic situation, financial markets,

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180115005466/en/

Contacts:

Mauna Kea Technologies

United States

The Ruth Group

Robert Flamm Lee Roth, 646-536-7017 7012

rflamm@theruthgroup.com / lroth@theruthgroup.com

or

U.S. Media

The Ruth Group

Kirsten Thomas, 508-280-6592

kthomas@theruthgroup.com

or

France and Europe

NewCap Investor Relations

Florent Alba, +33 (0)1 44 71 94 94

maunakea@newcap.eu
DUBLIN, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- DMS Governance ("DMS"), the world's leading fund governance + risk + compliance firm is delighted to announce the launch of the JWP Enterprise Fund (the "Fund") as part of the JWP ICAV umbrella platform structure.

The objective of the Fund is to achieve medium to long term capital appreciation by maximizing returns from investments which have the potential to create employment in Ireland. The Fund seeks to achieve its objective by investing primarily, either directly or indirectly, in Irish Education Assets, Energy Assets, Social Assets, Tourism Assets and Manufacturing Assets. In addition, the Fund may invest in Irish-based small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which are not quoted on any stock exchange and which take exposure to or are involved in the educational, energy, social services, tourism and manufacturing sectors.

Since its implementation in 2014, the AIFMD has created a regulatory passport for investment managers, allowing them access to European investors. DMS Investment Management Services (Europe) Limited, through its independent AIFMD services and proprietary AIFMD compliant ICAV platform (regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland), provides investment managers with solutions for their AIFMD requirements, allowing international investment managers doing business in Europe to meet their regulatory and fund governance challenges.

As a sub-fund on the JWP ICAV umbrella platform, the Fund benefits from a fully-supported platform with top-tier service providers, along with DMS guidance and support in the fund structuring, establishment, compliance, distribution, directorship, and regulatory reporting requirements.

"The AIFM services that DMS offer have experienced significant growth since the implementation of the AIFMD and the addition of a highly regarded firm such as the Delsk Group represents another key milestone in our growth. It has been our pleasure to work with and support the Delsk Group as investment adviser in this venture", comments Derek Delaney, Managing Director of DMS Europe.

"We are very excited to be acting as the investment adviser and distributor for the Fund. The Fund will seek to achieve its investment objective by investing in property located in Ireland and that is associated with the education sector, energy sector, social services industry, the healthcare sector, the tourism industry and the manufacturing industry. The Fund will invest in accordance with the published Immigrant Investor Programme ("IIP") requirements applicable to Enterprise Investment Funds, formed as part of the IIP. In selecting assets for investment on behalf of the Fund, these will have the potential to generate and sustain employment in Ireland. We look forward to a continued and successful partnership with the DMS team", commented Mr. Wang Jing, Chairman of Hong Kong Delsk Business Co. Ltd, which is part of the Delsk Group.

About DMS

DMS Governance is the worldwide leader in fund governance + risk + compliance representing leading investment funds and managers with assets under management exceeding $350Bn. DMS is a global institutional firm that excels in delivering high-quality services across a diverse range of investment fund structures and strategies. DMS is proud to be the leading independent provider of AIFM, UCITS Management Company and MiFID services to many of the largest institutional investors and asset managers globally.

About Delsk Group

Delsk Group was established in 2008 to help investors, primarily in the Asian market, gain access to overseas investment and immigration projects. Delsk Group is a platform that gathers real estate properties all over the world and partners with firms in the field of immigration, study-abroad consulting, property development and real estate to service high net worth individuals. With over 700 employees globally, Delsk Group has branches across China, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam and Russia, as well as offices in the USA and across Europe, including Spain, Portugal, Italy and Ireland.

What is the Immigrant Investor Programme?

To support investment in Ireland and to enhance Ireland's position as one of the world's most globalized economies, the Irish Government have created the Immigrant Investor Programme to facilitate investors and business professionals from outside the EU to avail of the opportunities of investing and locating business interests in Ireland. The Immigrant Investor Programme facilitates non-EEA nationals and their families who commit to an approved investment in Ireland to acquire a secure residency status in Ireland. The Programme was established by the Irish Government in 2012 to stimulate productive investment in Ireland and to offer residency in Ireland with its associated advantages to dynamic business professionals with a proven record of success. The ultimate objective of this programme is job creation and facilitating further Irish economic development. (As stated on the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service website).

Media Contact

Alison Sims

Marketing Manager

DMS Governance

(p) +1.345.749.2514 (c) +1.345.325.1776

E: asims@dmsgovernance.com
MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) - An email unearthed by Congressional investigators points to a previously unreported effort to arrange a meeting last year between Trump campaign officials and Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a report from CNN. Sources with direct knowledge of the matter told CNN top Trump aide Rick Dearborn sent a brief email to campaign officials about an individual who was seeking to connect Trump officials with Putin. The person was identified as being from 'WV,' which one source said was a reference to West Virginia, although CNN said it is unclear who the individual is, what he or she was seeking, or whether Dearborn even acted on the request. One source told CNN that Dearborn, who is now President Donald Trump's deputy chief of staff, appeared skeptical of the requested meeting. CNN said Dearborn's name has not been mentioned much as part of the investigation of Russian meddling in the election but noted he served as then-Senator Jeff Sessions' chief of staff as well as a top policy aide on the campaign. Investigators have questions about whether Dearborn played a role in arranging two meetings between Sessions and then-Russia ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak, CNN said. Attorney General Sessions' failure to disclose his meetings with Kislyak during his confirmation hearing led to his recusal from the Russia investigation. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told CNN the White House would not comment on potentially leaked documents. (Photo: Gage Skidmore) 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.
IRVINE, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/24/17 -- The University of California, Irvine Division of Continuing Education (DCE) has announced a new Machine and Deep Learning Specialized Studies Program for the Fall 2017 quarter. Machine Learning is a form of data analysis and is often described as the current state of the art of Artificial Intelligence providing practical tools and processes that businesses are using to remain competitive and society is using to improve the way we live. Deep Learning is a self-improving process that focuses on those Machine Learning tools that mimic human thought processes. Advances in Machine Learning and Deep Learning are helping to solve a very broad variety of problems including logistics, business process optimization, customer service, and health care.

This program is intended for professionals in a variety of industries and job functions who are looking to help their organization leverage the massive amounts of diverse data they collect and develop self-improving systems that allow their organization the ability to compete in the global market place. A free webinar on Machine Learning will be offered on September 1 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. PDT.

"By 2020, IT departments will be monitoring 50 times more data than they are today," said Dave Dimas, Ph.D., director of engineering, sciences and information technology programs at UC Irvine DCE. "This tidal wave of data has driven unprecedented demand for those with the skills required to manage and leverage these very large data sets into a competitive advantage for their organizations."

Specific job titles that would benefit from this program include: Marketing, Sales, Business Analysts, Data Engineers, Data Analysts, Computer Scientists, Database Administrators, Researchers, Statisticians, and those professionals looking to broaden their skills in this high-demand field while leveraging their unique domain expertise. The first course in the program is Tools and Techniques for Machine Learning. In this course, participants will cover the tools and techniques that are currently associated with the discipline of machine learning. They will start by exploring the field of machine learning and then gradually delve into practical examples of how to leverage machine learning algorithms to derive insights from big data. Once participants have attained practical exposure to utilizing machine learning algorithms, they will use visualization capabilities to surface the output generated by the machine learning algorithms. Finally, participants will explore the field of deep learning and understand how it differs from machine learning.

To register for the webinar please visit here to reserve your space. For more information on the Machine and Deep Learning Specialized Studies program please visit here or call (949) 824-3413.

About UCI Division of Continuing Education: The University of California, Irvine Division of Continuing Education (DCE) provides lifelong learning opportunities to thousands of students worldwide each year -- fulfilling the school's 60-year curriculum platform to connect degree programs to the world of work and achievement after graduation. The Division offers a broad range of certificate programs, specialized studies, and sequential courses to local, regional and global markets through online, on-campus and on-site delivery. A leader in the open education movement, the Division offers free Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) and content through the UCI Open initiative. For more information about UCI Division of Continuing Education, visit here.

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 28,000 students and offers 192 degree programs. Located in one of the world's safest and most economically vibrant communities, it's Orange County's second-largest employer, contributing $4.8 billion annually to the local economy.

CONTACT:

Vivian Slater

(714) 573-0899 x 235

Email Contact




DGAP-Ad-hoc: Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. / Key word(s): Miscellaneous Steinhoff International Holdings N.V.: RESPONSE TO PRESS STATEMENT PUBLISHED BY MANAGER MAGAZIN 24-Aug-2017 / 16:30 CET/CEST Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Disclosure of inside information in accordance with Article 17 MAR, transmitted by DGAP, a service of EQS Group AG *STEINHOFF INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS N.V.* ("*Steinhoff*" or the "*Company*") *- RESPONSE TO PRESS STATEMENT PUBLISHED BY MANAGER MAGAZIN* Stellenbosch, 24 August 2017 - Steinhoff shareholders are referred to the statements made by Manager Magazin. The company rejects the allegations of dishonesty contained in the statements. In particular substantial facts and allegation are wrong or misleading. In the information published we note that the source of some of the allegations is the former joint venture partner with whom the group's subsidiaries are embroiled in litigation. Shareholders are also referred to the press release dated 4 December 2015 in which the Company confirmed that one of its German subsidiaries Steinhoff Europe Group Services GmbH (SEGS) has been involved in an investigation focusing on the adherence to and arms' length valuation and proper accounting pursuant to German GAAP. Shareholders are referred to the various updates released on this investigation confirming that the company appointed legal and external audit firms in Germany to investigate the matter independently. They have concluded that no evidence exists that any of the transactions raised by the investigation in terms of section 331 HGB can give rise to any contravention of any provision of German commercial law and were reflected correctly in the statement of financial position of the company. The group has engaged constructively with the authorities to find a solution. No further investigations have been initiated nor any searches conducted as alleged in the article. Certain companies in the group are involved in disputes where the outcomes are uncertain. However, the directors are confident that they will be able to defend these actions successfully and that the potential impact on the group will not be material. The Company wishes to advise that further allegations contained in the article relate to ongoing civil litigation. The existence of this litigation has previously been disclosed by the Company in various communications and publications. The group's relationship with a joint-venture partner in Europe ended in disputes that are currently the subject matter of several ongoing legal proceedings. These disputes relate to alleged breaches arising from agreements with the former joint-venture partner, who is seeking to obtain and/or retain shares in Steinhoff entities. Management believes that the outcome of the disputes should result in monetary remedy to be paid by the group. The payment of any such monetary remedy would not have a material adverse effect on the trading and/or financial condition of the group. Management believes that it has adequately provided for the related liabilities that could result from the dispute in the consolidated results. There is no other litigation, current or pending, which is considered likely to have a material adverse effect on the group. It is evident that the former joint venture partner abuses the press as part of the process of litigation. The company will review all the allegations contained in the article and make further announcements as required. 24-Aug-2017 CET/CEST The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Archive at www.dgap.de Language: English Company: Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. Herengracht 466 1017 CA Amsterdam Netherlands Phone: +27218080700 Fax: +27218080800 E-mail: investors@steinhoffinternational.com Internet: www.steinhoffinternational.com ISIN: NL0011375019 WKN: A14XB9 Indices: MDAX Listed: Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Stuttgart, Tradegate Exchange End of Announcement DGAP News Service 603925 24-Aug-2017 CET/CEST

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 24, 2017 10:30 ET (14:30 GMT)
LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwired - August 24, 2017) - WiFi Wireless, Inc. (OTC PINK: WFWL) announced today that the company's Board of Directors convened to address issues pertaining to the company status and changes to initiate a focused internal restructuring (Not a Bankruptcy Proceeding).

1) As part of the internal restructuring, the board of directors of WiFi Wireless, Inc. (the "Board") adopted a resolution to change the name of the company.

2) This decision was made in the interest of the company's brand evolution.

The Board has identified that in the past, the Company's name, WiFi Wireless, Inc., was viewed as a generic term and did little to bring any clear or recognizable identity to differentiate our initiatives from other industry offerings.

This has been true for all of the Company's projects due to its more ubiquitous use rather than specific use related to our products and services throughout any stage of development. It is felt the current name does not facilitate or reflect the company's direction or promote brand awareness.

The official new name of the Company has yet to be announced. This is in order to protect the shareholders. The Board is not releasing the Company's new name until the legal filings have been perfected, along with the new URL and web design.

3) The Board is pleased to disclose that it has a carrier service number with NECA (National Exchange Carrier Association) and will be reapplying for the NANPA (North American Numbering Plan Administration) in the name of the new company along with the FCC license application.

4) The board has decided and resolved that the wireless mobile network will be the main foundation for the Company's revenue. This is another reason for the company's name change and brand evolution.

Although the Company had several celebrity affiliate contracts to promote the "uTalk wireless mobile network", the initial US celebrity endorsements did not launch enough user sign-ups to sustain the monthly burn rate and overhead. The network was built and developed with in-house talent. The wireless mobile network functions perfectly. The company feels the Indonesian market will generate millions of monthly subscribers. However, the company has yet to negotiate antenna access. Indonesia has different accessing laws that don't exist in the US.

5) The board has agreed to a direction. The plan is to secure financing through a private lender in exchange for a debt conversion into equity.

The use of funds will primarily be for administrative and operational structure. This plan includes having the financials filed and brought current. The associated expenses are (and are not limited to) legal, accounting, OTC and the transfer agent.

In the event that the user network generates profitable income, the company will use proceeds to further market public awareness to the value of the network opportunity.

6) The board's final order of business was the nomination and appointment of Anthony Saunders as the President and CEO of the company. Mr. Saunders will bring in his own executive management team as the company's direction unfolds.

Mr. Saunders' duties will include those previously held by Mr. Lynn Peterson. Due to a physically disabling stroke, Mr. Peterson was unable to continue his daily duties.

The Board thanks Mr. Peterson for his years of service to the Company and with sympathy extend their thoughts and prayers to him and his family.

For further information, please contact the company at info@wifiwirelessinc.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted, or quantified. Future events and actual results could differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking statements.
Regulatory News:

Publicis Groupe (Paris:PUB) [Euronext Paris: FR0000130577, CAC 40] Chairman and CEO Arthur Sadoun announces today that in addition to her existing responsibilities, CSR and The Women's Forum for the Economy and Society will be placed under the remit of Anne-Gabrielle Heilbronner, member of the Directoire and Secretary General.

Headquartered in Paris, the Women's Economic Forum is a Publicis Groupe company and the world's leading platform, where women voice their opinions on major social and economic issues. The Women's Forum for the Economy and Society is dedicated to showcasing the talent and creativity of women while fostering international cooperation. The yearly Women's Forum Global Meeting, which is held in France and brings together more than 1,500 participants, has become an unmissable date on the international conference calendar: the place to be and to be heard. The next Global Meeting will take place in Paris, October 5-6, 2017.

The Women's Forum is one of the key components of Publicis Groupe's commitment to CSR The Groupe's goal is to provide outstanding solutions that represent its strong values of diversity, ethical practices and respect for the environment to have a positive social impact and promote responsible marketing, in terms of social representation, transparency and data protection.

CSR and diversity are at the core of the Groupe's priorities. This is why it is so important to put them under the responsibility of a member of the Directoire. Anne-Gabrielle is an accomplished professional whose remit has steadily broadened since 2012 when she joined Publicis Groupe. With her wealth of experience, I am convinced she will contribute significantly to Publicis Groupe's endavours to lead the way in CSR and provide a strong platform for women's voices in our company, our industry and beyond ", said Arthur Sadoun.

"CSR and Diversity are no longer an option to be engaged in ; they reflect our Groupe's core values and our talents and clients' demands. Whether it is our commitment to diversity, our steadfast approach to ethics and governance or our concern for the environment in which we live, our Groupe has always embraced the notion of inclusion. We want to create a workplace where every employee feels fully empowered and valued and where they can contribute to maximize Publicis Groupe's success. I am committed to and support CSR at every level, in every office in which we operate. I look forward to accelerating our progress and to helping our company and people achieve the objectives we have settled", added Anne-Gabrielle Heilbronner.

About Anne-Gabrielle Heilbronner

Anne-Gabrielle Heilbronner is a Member of the Directoire and Secretary General of Publicis Groupe. She oversees legal affairs, human resources (Compensation Benefits, HRIS, Employment matters and mobility), procurement, governance, compliance, internal audit, risk management, CSR and The Women's Forum for the Economy Society. A former member of the Inspection Generale des Finances and an alumna of the Ecole Nationale d'Administration (ENA), she is also a graduate of Paris business school ESCP and of Sciences Po and holds a postgraduate degree in Law. After holding positions at the French Treasury and in a number of ministerial cabinets, including at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she worked at Euris/Rallye, at the SNCF and as a Senior Banker at Societe Generale Corporate Investment Banking.

About Publicis Groupe The Power of One

Publicis Groupe [Euronext Paris FR0000130577, CAC 40] is a global leader in marketing, communication, and digital transformation, driven through the alchemy of creativity and technology. Publicis Groupe offers its clients seamless access to its tools and expertise through modular offering. Publicis Groupe is organized across four Solutions hubs: Publicis Communications (Publicis Worldwide, Saatchi Saatchi, Leo Burnett, BBH, Marcel, Fallon, MSL, Prodigious), Publicis Media (Starcom, Zenith, Mediavest Spark, Blue 449, Performics), Publicis.Sapient (SapientRazorfish, DigitasLBi, Sapient Consulting) and Publicis Health. These 4 Solution hubs operate across principal markets, and are carried across all others by Publicis One, a fully integrated service offering bringing together the Groupe's expertise under one roof. Present in over 100 countries, Publicis Groupe employs nearly 80,000 professionals.

www.publicisgroupe.com | Twitter: @PublicisGroupe Facebook: www.facebook.com/publicisgroupe | LinkedIn: Publicis Groupe http://www.youtube.com/user/PublicisGroupe | Viva la Difference!

About the Women's Forum for the Economy Society

Since 2005 the Women's Forum for the Economy Society is the world's leading platform featuring women's views and voices on major social and economic issues. Along with the flagship Women's Forum Global Meeting organised in Paris this year in October 5-6, important regional Women's Forum Meetings have taken place in Brazil, Myanmar, Brussels, Italy, Dubai, Mexico and Mauritius. The Women's Forum for the Economy Society expresses its commitment to women's progress throughout the year with a range of Women's Forum Initiatives set up in partnership with corporations, media groups and non-governmental organizations. The Women's Forum also promotes the advancement of women through regional and international networks. Headquartered in Paris, the Women's Forum for the Economy Society is a Publicis Groupe company.

http://www.womens-forum.com/

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170824006012/en/

Contacts:

Publicis Groupe

Peggy Nahmany, 33 (0)1 44 43 72 83

Corporate Communications

peggy.nahmany@publicisgroupe.com

or

Jean-Michel Bonamy, 33 (0)1 44 43 77 88

Investor Relations

jean-michel.bonamy@publicisgroupe.com

or

Chi-Chung Lo, 33 (0)1 44 43 66 69

Investor Relations

chi-chung.lo@publicisgroupe.com
Quantzig, a global analytics solutions provider, has announced the completion of their most recent whitepaper on the essential ingredients for building a successful business strategy. In a recent research carried out by Quantzig, it was noted that most businesses tend to spend a significant amount of time analyzing site metrics and web analytics-based reports. Such solutions give businesses a great sense of how their websites are performing and provide insights on the revenues being generated through the websites.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171201005255/en/

Marketing Analytics: Why is it an Essential Ingredient for Building a Successful Business Strategy (Graphic: Business Wire)

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View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171201005255/en/

Contacts:

Quantzig

Anirban Choudhury

Marketing Consultant

US: +1 630 538 7144

UK: +44 208 629 1455

hello@quantzig.com

https://www.quantzig.com/contact-us
Campbell, Kalifornien (ots/PRNewswire) -Die innovative, marktorientierte Release konzentriert sich auf Effizienz bei der Entwicklung absatzstarker Produkte, Supply Chain Management und AnwenderproduktivitatCentric Software gibt die Markteinfuhrung der Centric 8 PLM Version 6.2 bekannt. Centric Software bietet innovative Losungen fur Unternehmen aus den Bereichen Mode, Retail, Schuhe, Outdoor, Luxusartikel und Konsumgutern, mit denen diese Unternehmen die strategischen und operativen Ziele ihrer digitalen Transformation erreichen konnen.(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/455901/Centric_Software_Logo.jpg )Wesentliche Impulse fur die Entwicklung der neuesten Version der Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Losung von Centric Software kamen von Centric's Customer Advisory Board und Kunden-Innovationspartnern. Die neuesten Innovationen beinhalten das "Final Inspection Module" einschlielich einer neuen App, die zur Bewertung und zum Tracking der endgultigen Produktqualitat vor der Abnahme und Lieferung dienen. Eine Neuheit sind auch die marktfuhrenden innovativen Bill of Materials (BOM) Sektionen und 'Push' Tools. Damit konnen Anwender an hunderten von Styles pro Saison und an mindestens 2 Saisons gleichzeitig arbeiten und so schnell und effizient die absatzstarke Entwicklung sowie ein verbessertes Anwendererlebnis mit aktualisierten Business-Analytics-Kapazitaten unterstutzen.Das neue "Final Inspection Module" von Centric erweitert die digitalen Transformationskapazitaten von Centric PLM mit der Bewertung von Endproduktionswaren vor Auftragsannahme und Produktlieferung. Mit diesem neuen Modul konnen Marken und Retailer akzeptable Qualitatsniveaus und Bewertungspunkte fur Supplier auf einer pro-Produktbasis setzen, da die Kriterien fur die Qualitatsbewertung mit den Original Produktspezifikationen verknupft sind.Bewertungskriterien und Ergebnisse werden digital uber das Internet oder eine mobile App kommuniziert und bieten so vollstandige Echtzeit-Transparenz. Dies gilt sowohl in Bezug auf die Leistung des Anbieters als auch die Produktionsleistung, bevor die Waren den Produktionsstandort verlassen und vor der Eigentumsubertragung. Als Resultat wird die Qualitat von Endprodukten verbessert und das Risiko minimiert, dass defekte oder minderwertige Produkte bezogen werden. Heutzutage ist das vor allem ein Offline-Prozess auf Papier, der mit Unzulanglichkeiten gespickt ist."Einer der kritischen Erfolgsfaktoren von Tom Tailor ist, unseren Kunden ein hochst begehrenswertes und hochqualitatives Produkt anzubieten. Wir entschieden uns mit Centric zusammen zu arbeiten um das "Final Inspection Module" zu definieren. Wir sind sehr davon uberzeugt, dass die Produktqualitat ein wesentlicher Teil des ganzen Produktlebenszyklus ist. Die Qualitat des Produktes ist sowohl der Schlussel fur die Kundenzufriedenheit und ebenso ausschlaggebend fur standige Verbesserungen fur Design, Entwicklung und Supplier. Mit Centric's neuem "Final Inspection Module" sind wir in der Lage einen "Closed-Loop-Ansatz" in Bezug auf Qualitat zu erstellen, unsere insgesamte digitale Transformation zu unterstutzen und unsere fuhrende Marktposition zu starken," sagt Paul Krusemann, Senior Manager Core Applications bei Tom Tailor.Das als eine Web-, mobile und Desktop-App erhaltliche "Final Inspection Module" von Centric verfugt sowohl uber Online- als auch Offline-Kapazitaten und funktioniert bei langsamer oder keiner Internet-Konnektivitat, synchronisiert dann automatisch, wenn wieder Online gearbeitet werden kann - ein Vorteil bei Werksbesuchen vor Ort und auf internationalen Reisen.Zur Unterstutzung der Design- und Entwicklung von hohen Stuckzahlen - was sehr typisch fur Fast-Fashion ist - kamen neue Innovationen auch zum zentralen Product Specification Module von Centric PLM hinzu, bei denen die simultane Entwicklung mehrerer Modelle und Saisons moglich sein muss. Mit den neuen BOM Sektionen und BOM-Push-Tools von Centric konnen Anwender Abschnitte oder Komponenten in einer BOM isolieren und fur die schnelle, akkurate Erstellung und Anderungen an der Stuckliste kontrolliert und en masse aktualisieren. Mit der von diesen zwei neuen Tools gebotenen erhohten Kontrolle wird muhselige, nicht wertschopfende Arbeit beseitigt, der Stress deutlich reduziert und die Produktivitat drastisch verbessert.Es gibt auch neue Innovationen, die zur Steigerung der Anwenderproduktivitat und zur Verbesserung des Anwendererlebnisses entwickelt wurden. Der Slicer von Centric ist ein Business-Intelligence-Tool, das mit Live-Daten im gesamten Centric PLM arbeitet; der 6.2 Update verbessert das User Interface und verlangt fur eine beschleunigte Anwenderakzeptanz so gut wie keine Einarbeitungszeit. 6.2 Slicer bietet leistungsstarkere, schnellere Analysekapazitaten, tiefere Datenbaumanalysen und Farbkodieroptionen, mit denen Anwender Arbeit priorisieren, den Fortschritt uberwachen und Problembereiche identifizieren konnen."Benutzererfahrung und -akzeptanz sind schon lange die Grundpfeiler unseres Erfolgs. Wir arbeiten taglich Hand in Hand mit unseren Kunden und bieten so Marken, Retailern und Herstellern die innovativsten Enterprise-Losungen" meinte Chris Groves, President und CEO von Centric Software. "Losungen von Centric gehen weit uber die herkommlichen Erwartungen in Bezug auf PLM hinaus. So unterstutzen wir unsere Kunden bei der Erzielung ihrer strategischen und betrieblichen digitalen Transformationsziele."Centric PLM 6.2 bietet dutzende weiterer Verbesserungen und neue Tools. Fur weitere Informationen kontaktieren Sie uns bitte.Centric Software (http://www.centricsoftware.com)Ausgehend von der Hauptgeschaftsstelle im Silicon Valley und den Zweigstellen in den Trendmetropolen rund um den Globus bietet Centric Software den angesehensten Namen aus den Bereichen Mode, Retail, Schuhe, Luxus- und Outdoor-Artikel sowie Konsumguter eine Plattform fur digitale Transformation. Centric Visual Innovation Platform (VIP) ist eine visuelle, vollstandig digitale Sammlung von Boards fur Touchgerate wie iPad, iPhone und groformatige Monitore mit Touchscreen. Centric VIP andert die Art, wie Entscheidungen getroffen werden, und sorgt fur eine Automatisierung der Umsetzung. Auf diese Weise kann das Time-to-Market beschleunigt werden und erfolgen, ehe der Trend abflaut. Das Flaggschiff des Unternehmens, die Plattform Centric 8 fur das Product-Lifecycle-Management (PLM), bietet professionelle Funktionen fur Warendisposition, Produktentwicklung, Beschaffung, Unternehmensplanung sowie Qualitats- und Forderungsmanagement, die speziell auf schnelllebige Verbraucherbranchen zugeschnitten sind. Speziell fur kleine Unternehmen eignen sich die um PLM erweiterten Centric-SMB-Pakete, einschlielich innovativer Technologien und wichtiger Erkenntnisse aus der Branche.Centric Software hat bereits verschiedene Branchenauszeichnungen erhalten, darunter den Frost & Sullivan Global Product Differentiation Excellence Award in Retail, Fashion and Apparel PLM im Jahr 2016 und der Frost & Sullivan Global Retail, Fashion and Apparel PLM Product Differentiation Excellence Award im Jahr 2012. Red Herring hat Centric 2013, 2015 und 2016 in seine Liste der Global-Top-100 aufgenommen.Centric ist eine eingetragene Handelsmarke von Centric Software. Alle anderen Marken und Produktbezeichnungen sind Handelsmarken ihrer jeweiligen Eigentumer.Copyright 2017, Centric Software Inc. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.OTS: Centric Software newsroom: http://www.presseportal.de/nr/122902 newsroom via RSS: http://www.presseportal.de/rss/pm_122902.rss2Pressekontakt: Jennifer Forsythe jforsythe@centricsoftware.comEurope: Kristen Salaun Batby ksalaun-batby@centricsoftware.com +33 (0)6 87 88 23 22Asia: Lily Dong lily.dong@centricsoftware.com
LONGUEUIL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 11/28/17 -- Editors Note: There is a photo associated with this press release.

Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) has been selected by Textron Aviation Inc., a Textron Inc. company, to power a new clean-sheet, twin-engine turboprop aircraft to serve the utility segment. The Cessna SkyCourier aircraft will be powered by the 1,100 shp PT6A-65SC engine enhanced with a fully connected FAST data system. P&WC is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX).

"We are pleased that Textron Aviation has selected the PT6A engine to power their new utility aircraft," says Nicholas Kanellias, Vice President, General Aviation, P&WC. This is a prime example of how the depth of P&WC's experience in the industry combined with the flexibility of the PT6A engine architecture allows us to quickly and effectively respond to the specific needs of an OEM."

Engineered for high payloads, the PT6A-65SC engine sets a new benchmark offering proven dispatch reliability and crucial high power takeoff and climb to the new Cessna twin-engine utility aircraft. The PT6A-65SC includes the latest advanced technologies such as P&WC's FAST (Full-flight data Acquisition, Storage and Transmission) prognostic solution that helps optimize operations, reduce costs and increase availability. The PT6A-65SC engine offers more time on-wing with a class-leading 6,000-hour time between overhaul (TBO).

"We are proud to power this new Cessna SkyCourier aircraft that FedEx Express is adding to its feeder aircraft fleet. FedEx Express is a long-time operator of P&WC-powered aircraft and the world's largest express transportation company. We expect this addition will help FedEx continue to expand its offerings and deliver on their commitments to customers. When a cargo carrier offers a service bound by a definite delivery time and date money-back guarantee, the dispatch reliability and proven performance of the engine play a critical role in meeting customer demands," says Kanellias.

Innovation

The FAST solution, offered under P&WC's expanding suite of digital engine services, enhances engine and aircraft "connectivity" through its ability to provide situational awareness about engine health, usage and trends. It captures, analyzes and wirelessly transmits high-density, full-flight data after each mission. It also enables features such as on-board event detection and crew alerts, and turbine blade creep counting. "The new technologies and services that we bring to the table are in direct response to the stated needs of our customers," says Kanellias.

Built for high utilization operations, the Cessna SkyCourier will be offered in cargo and passenger variants. The cargo variant will feature a large cargo door and a flat floor cabin that is sized to handle up to three LD3 shipping containers with an impressive 6,000 pounds of maximum payload capability. The aircraft will also afford a maximum cruise speed of up to 200 ktas and a 900 nautical-mile maximum range. The aircraft is expected to enter into service in 2020.

P&WC has developed 71 PT6A models which have been certified on 128 applications. PT6A customers fly in diverse, demanding missions. The engine has flown 387 million hours - more than any other engine in this market.

100,000 Reasons to Go Beyond

P&WC reached a significant milestone in April 2017, when it produced its 100,000th engine, a testament to the company's longevity and leadership in the global aerospace market. P&WC will celebrate this achievement throughout the year, recognizing all families of products as well as dedicated employees and loyal customers who, together, have marked the many accomplishments of its journey.

About Pratt & Whitney Canada

Founded in 1928, and a global leader in aerospace, P&WC is shaping the future of aviation with dependable, high-technology engines. Based in Longueuil, Quebec (Canada), P&WC is a wholly owned subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. United Technologies Corp., based in Farmington, Connecticut, provides high-technology systems and services to the building and aerospace industries.

This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning future business opportunities. Actual results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to changes in levels of demand in the aerospace industry, in levels of air travel, and in the number of aircraft to be built; challenges in the design, development, production, support, performance, and realization of anticipated benefits of advanced technologies; as well as other risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those detailed from time to time in United Technologies Corp.'s Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Note to Editors

Follow us on Twitter (www.twitter.com/pwcanada) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/PrattWhitneyCanada) for our latest news and updates.

www.pwc.ca

To view the photo associated with this press release, please visit the following link:

http://www.marketwire.com/library/20171128-171128_PWC_FAST_PT6A-65SC_lrg.jpg

Contacts:

Kathy Roberge

Pratt & Whitney Canada

1-514-827-5625

Kathy.roberge@pwc.ca

www.pwc.ca




Award-Winning Board Certified Plastic Surgeon Dr. George Bitar to speak at Dubai Conference organized by the Dubai Health Authority

FAIRFAX, Virginia, Feb. 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Washington DC-based plastic surgeon Dr. George Bitar will speak at the 1st Dubai International Symposium for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery which takes place on February 28 and March 1, 2018. He will lecture an audience of premier plastic surgeons on ethnic rhinoplasties, trans-axillary breast augmentations and chair a body contouring panel. On March 1, he will give a seminar to educate the public on the safety of cosmetic surgery and the latest trends and techniques in cosmetic surgery in the USA.

A Beirut-native, Dr. Bitar received his plastic surgery training & board certification in the USA before traveling internationally to train with the top 6 plastic surgeons in the world including Dr. Ivo Pitanguy in Brazil. He is one of a handful of plastic surgeons in the world who has operated on all six continents. This unique training has enabled him to have a deep understanding of the cultural implications of beauty in each country.

He founded the Bitar Cosmetic Surgery Institute in 2002 which is now one of the busiest cosmetic surgery practices in the United States. The institute employs multiple providers and offers a myriad of aesthetic services ranging from skin care, injectables and lasers to surgery. It attracts many high-profile Washington D.C. power players as well as many international patients, especially Arabic-speaking patients from the Middle East & North Africa. Middle Eastern Patients feel at ease in the clinic as both Dr. Bitar and many of his staff members are Arabic speakers and can help in all the logistical aspects of planning for surgery.

Amongst his many accolades, Dr. Bitar has been voted by his peers as a top plastic surgeon in Washingtonian Magazine and named one of the Top Plastic Surgeons in the USA by American Airlines Magazine. He was recently named among the most influential Lebanese people in the World in the book The 100 - Meet 100 Influential Lebanese Figures Around the Globe alongside other notable personalities such as designers Elie Saab & Reem Acra and singer-song writer Shakira.

To date, Dr. Bitar has performed more than 15,000 cosmetic procedures.

For more information, or to schedule a private consultation with Dr. Bitar while in Dubai, please email Ms. Katie Planchak katieplanchak@bitarinstitute.com

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/642753/Bitar_Cosmetic_Surgery_Institute_Dr_Bitar_Dubai.jpg
Technavio's latest report on the global urinary tract infection (UTI) treatment marketprovides 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/20170824005097/en/

Technavio has published a new report on the global urinary tract infection (UTI) treatment market from 2017-2021. (Graphic: Business Wire)

UTI is one of the most common forms of infectious disease affecting a large number of people across the globe. The disease is more likely to affect women and is less common in men. This is due to the difference in the anatomical structure of male and female urinary tracts. Uncomplicated UTI is the more common form of the disease whereas, uncomplicated cystitis is one of the most common types of uncomplicated UTI affecting women globally. APAC is expected to be both dominating and the fastest growing region of the global UTI treatment market.

This report is available at a USD 1,000 discount for a limited time only: View market snapshot before purchasing

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The top three emerging trends driving the global UTI treatment market according to Technavio healthcare and life sciences research analysts are:

Growing awareness of controlled usage of antibiotics

Rising R&D for effective treatment against superbugs/MDR microorganisms

Advent of new therapies for UTI treatment

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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.

Growing awareness of controlled usage of antibiotics

"Antibiotic resistance is one of the major problem being faced by the medical world today. Antibiotic resistance can be defined as a term when a microorganism changes itself and remains no longer sensitive to that particular antibiotic. In this condition, the antibiotic is no longer capable of killing or inhibiting the growth of the bacteria," says Sapna Jha, a lead analyst at Technavio for research on men's health, women's health, and genitourinary.

Antibiotic resistance leads to various other problems such as longer treatment regimens, longer hospitalizations, and increased side effects. This leads to the enormous burden on the healthcare system in terms of using significant economic and human resources.

Rising R&D for effective treatment against superbugs/MDR microorganisms

"The development of MDR microorganism is a huge challenge for the infectious disease industry, hospital-acquired UTI being on the major cases among them. Infections due to new species of microorganisms, which are also called as superbugs, are resistant to most of the available treatments," adds Sapna.

These MDR microorganisms have a mortality rate of 25%-60%. This is a huge concern for the healthcare providers across the globe. For instance, researchers at Queen's University Belfast, Ireland, have been studying the factors responsible for superbug being resistant to the first line of treatment. This, in turn, has opened the opportunities to understand and develop a potential treatment to fight against the killer infectious diseases.

Advent of new therapies for UTI treatment

R&D activities for UTI treatment have led to the advent of new therapies, which may change the market dynamics during the coming times. Some of the new combination therapies, which are under study or clinical trial, may prove beneficial for the UTI treatment, especially those caused by the MDR bacteria.

New therapies are expected for several other complications and symptoms of UTI such as drugs targeting bacterial adhesion, drugs against bacterial toxins, and proteases vaccines against siderophores. Thus, all these new therapies that are expected to launch in the forecast period will drive the market growth.

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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/20170824005097/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 630 333 9501

UK: +44 208 123 1770

www.technavio.com
MONTREAL, CANADA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/24/17 -- AirAsia and CAE (NYSE: CAE; TSX: CAE) have concluded a sale and purchase agreement concerning the Asian Aviation Centre of Excellence (AACE), which is currently a 50:50 CAE-AirAsia joint venture. The transaction of US$100 million (including earn-out) will give CAE full control over AACE's three training centres - located in Sepang, Malaysia; Singapore; and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam - as well as its share of the Philippine Academy of Aviation Training (PAAT), a joint-venture training centre between AACE and Cebu Pacific, located in Manila, Philippines.

"CAE and AirAsia have been close partners since 2004, and we created AACE together in 2011. This new agreement is a natural evolution of our relationship and a win-win for both organizations," said Marc Parent, CAE President and Chief Executive Officer. "It allows AirAsia to concentrate on its core business by completely outsourcing its training needs to CAE, and it allows CAE to expand its footprint in Asia Pacific, the fastest-growing aviation market."

CAE will remain AirAsia Group's exclusive training partner. The largest low-cost carrier in Asia has extended its existing contract for all training requirements for AirAsia and for that of its affiliates in support of all aircraft types it operates up until 2036.

"We've had CAE as our training partner of choice for many years now and it has been a great success. Our first MPL cadets trained by CAE are now flying as captains, and we put our full trust in CAE to fulfill our training needs at the highest quality level, as we continue to grow," said Tony Fernandes, Group Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia. "AirAsia is rich in assets but our core business is passenger service and ancillary, and we will continue to regularly dispose of non-core investments and dividend most of it out, subject to board approval. This stake sale is just part of our long-term plan to monetize all our assets. We are also working on several other divestments of valuable assets including our leasing arm, which is imminent."

Marc Parent added: "We are very proud of what we have accomplished with AirAsia in creating AACE. We'd like to thank AACE employees for setting the standard and creating a great training experience, and we welcome them to CAE. Together we will continue to shape the future of training."

AACE offers training for pilots, cabin crew, maintenance engineers, technicians, and ground services personnel on the Airbus A320, A330, and Boeing B737NG platforms.

The closing of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. TD Securities acted as financial advisor to CAE.

About CAE

CAE is a global leader in training for the civil aviation, defence and security, and healthcare markets. Backed by a 70-year record of industry firsts, we continue to help define global training standards with our innovative virtual-to-live training solutions to make flying safer, maintain defence force readiness and enhance patient safety. We have the broadest global presence in the industry, with more than 8,500 employees, 160 sites and training locations in over 35 countries. Each year, we train more than 120,000 civil and defence crewmembers and thousands of healthcare professionals worldwide. www.cae.com

Follow us on Twitter @CAE_Inc

About AirAsia

AirAsia, the world's leading low-cost carrier, services an extensive network of over 120 destinations across Asia Pacific. Since starting operations in 2001, AirAsia has carried more than 400 million guests and grown its fleet from just two aircraft to over 200. The airline is proud to be a truly Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) airline with established operations based in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines as well as India and Japan, servicing a network stretching across Asia, Australia and New Zealand, the Middle East and the US. AirAsia has been named the World's Best Low-Cost Airline at the annual Skytrax World Airline Awards nine times in a row from 2009 to 2017. AirAsia was also awarded World's Leading Low-Cost Airline for the fourth consecutive year at the 2016 World Travel Awards, where it beat a field of full-service carriers to become the first ever low-cost carrier to win World's Leading Inflight Service.

Photos of an event held at CAE in Montreal to celebrate the partnership will be available for download later today at www.cae.com/photos

Contacts:

CAE contacts:

General Media:

Helene V. Gagnon, Vice President,

Public Affairs and Global Communications

+1-514-340-5536

helene.v.gagnon@cae.com



Investor relations:

Andrew Arnovitz, Vice President,

Strategy and Investor Relations

+1-514-734-5760

andrew.arnovitz@cae.com



Trade Media:

Frederic Morais, Marketing Leader,

Civil Aviation Training Solutions

+1-514-506-8331

frederic.morais@cae.com



AirAsia contacts:

Audrey P Petriny,

Group Head of Communications

+62-812-129-1084

audreypetriny@airasia.com






WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A substantial majority of American voters disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job, according to the results of a Quinnipiac University national poll released on Thursday.



The Quinnipiac poll found that 83 percent of voters disapprove of Congress' job performance, while just 10 percent approve.



Seventy-four percent of Republicans disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job despite the GOP controlling both the House and Senate. Eighty-nine percent of Democrats and 86 percent of independents also disapprove.



The low approval numbers for Congress come as American voters are concerned about the widening partisan divide between Republicans and Democrats.



The poll found that 40 percent of voters, including 41 percent of independents, think the Republican Party is moving too far to the right.



Fifteen percent of voters said the GOP is moving too far to the left, while 39 percent said it is not moving too far in either direction.



Meanwhile, 41 percent of voters, including 42 percent of independents, said the Democratic Party is moving too far to the left.



Seven percent said the Democratic Party is moving too far to the right, and 46 percent said it is not moving too far in either direction.



'A great divide becomes a chasm as voters watch the two major parties drift further apart,' said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. 'And it is reflected in the fact that half of all voters are very dissatisfied with the way things are going in the nation today.'



Fifty percent of voters are 'very dissatisfied' with the way things are going in the nation, while 27 percent are 'somewhat dissatisfied,' 19 percent are 'somewhat satisfied' and just 3 percent are 'very satisfied.'



The Quinnipiac survey of 1,514 voters was conducted August 17th through 22nd and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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The Pittsburgh-based office offers medical cannabis certifications, evaluations, and continuing treatment care for eligible patients

PITTSBURGH, PA / ACCESSWIRE / August 24, 2017 / Compassionate Certification Centers, a national healthcare network, officially opened its first medical cannabis center in Pennsylvania, located at 603 Stanwix Street in 2 Gateway Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The office is overseen by CEO Dr. Bryan Doner and CMO Dr. Keyur Patel of Compassionate Certification Centers. Every one of the highly-trained staff members is certified to provide medical cannabis evaluations, guidance through the certification process, and continued treatment care for eligible patients who have been diagnosed with one of 17 state qualifying conditions.

The national healthcare network has 18 locations opening and plans to launch a total of 25 patient centers throughout Pennsylvania.

Based in Pittsburgh, Compassionate Certification Centers intends to secure real estate within dispensary locales to better serve the needs of the patient community. It is estimated that nearly 200,000 are able to qualify for Pennsylvania medical marijuana cards.

Compassionate Certification Centers recognizes the need for physician involvement in order for the state program to succeed. The company is dedicated to providing a safe and educational environment for patients with qualified and experienced Pennsylvania medical marijuana doctors.

"We want to set a new benchmark in medical cannabis care. Our physicians and health care providers come from a variety of sub-specialties and are certified by their respective state," stated Dr. Doner. "We are more than just certification centers, and we are proud to offer patients ongoing care and support based on their individual needs."

The diverse list of physicians at Compassionate Certification Centers are cannabis experts who specialize in a variety of medical concentrations including: pain management, oncology, neurology, pediatrics, gastroenterology, immunology, primary care, rehabilitation, emergency medicine, and others.

"Our Centers offer a unique patented Electronic Medical Record system using seven years of patient data. It allows us to not only provide diagnostic and therapeutic support for our patients and providers, but also to track patient treatment response and adjust their individual treatment plan accordingly," explained Melonie Kotchey, COO of Compassionate Certification Centers.

The network offers patients a convenient and customized app to assist them with their dispensary selections. It also provides feedback to doctors and dispensaries to further cannabis research.

Compassionate Certification Centers' Pennsylvania location is now accepting patient call-ins, as well as parents who are currently under the safe harbor act.

The network is the organizing company behind the World Medical Cannabis Conference & Expo. The second annual event will take place April 12-14, 2018, at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.

For information visit compassionatecertificationcenters.com, or call 888-316-9085.

About Compassionate Certification Centers

Compassionate Certification Centers, a Syndikos Investments, LLC portfolio brand is based in Delaware and Pennsylvania. The company provides individuals and organizations the resources and ability to operate medical marijuana patient certification centers, backed by the brand and knowledge of medical marijuana doctors. The company is the developer of a unique patient portal and health care provider membership, as well as a full medical marijuana directory. For information, visit compassionatecertificationcenters.com or join the discussion at Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Google+.

LEGAL DISCLOSURE

Compassionate Certification Centers does not sell or distribute any products that are in violation of the United States Controlled Substances Act (US.CSA).

Information Compassionate Care Centers:

Melonie Kotchey, info@compassionatecertificationcenters.com, 888-316-9085 ext.101

Proven Media:

Kim Prince, kim@provenmediaservices.com, 480-221-7995, or Neko Catanzaro, neko@provenmediaservices.com, 401-484-4980

SOURCE: Compassionate Certification Centers
Regulatory News:

Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (LN:PSH) (NA:PSH) today announces that it has purchased, through PSH's agent, Jefferies International Limited ("Jefferies"), the following number of PSH's ordinary shares of no par value (ISIN Code: GG00BPFJTF46) (the "Shares"):

Date of purchase: 24 August 2017 Number of Shares purchased: 29,360 Shares Highest price paid per Share: 1,079 pence 13.82 USD Lowest price paid per Share: 1,068 pence 13.68 USD Average price paid per Share: 1,074.66 pence 13.76 USD

PSH intends to cancel these Shares. The net asset value per Share related to this Share buyback is USD 17.08 GBP 13.32 which was calculated as of 22 August 2017. After giving effect to the above Share buyback, PSH has 238,186,344 outstanding Shares. The prices per share in USD were calculated by Jefferies.

The number of PSH Management Shares and the 1 special voting share (held by PS Holdings Independent Voting Company Limited) has not been affected.

About Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd.:

Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (LN:PSH) (NA:PSH) is an investment holding company structured as a closed-ended fund that makes concentrated investments principally in North American companies.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170824006031/en/

Contacts:

Maitland

James Devas, +44 20 7379 5151

Media-pershingsquareholdings@maitland.co.uk
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 08/24/17 -- Satori Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE: BUD) ("Satori" or the "Company") announces that Mr. James Fairbairn has recently assumed a new role in the mining industry, and as a result, has tendered his resignation as a member of Satori's board of directors.

The Company wishes Mr. Fairbairn well in his future endeavours, and announces that Mr. James Macintosh has been appointed a director of the Company to fill the vacancy. Mr. Macintosh has over 30 years of experience in the mining industry, both with issuers in an executive and director capacity, as well as serving as a mining analyst on the capital markets side. Mr. Macintosh sits on the Audit Committees of the Board of Directors of GTA Resources and Mining Inc. and Silver Mountain Mines Inc., and was recently the Lead Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee for Carlisle Goldfields Limited, a Canadian gold company sold to Alamos Gold Inc. Mr. Macintosh graduated from Queen's University with a B.Sc. (Honours, Geological Sciences) and currently sits on the Queen's University Geology Council.

ABOUT SATORI RESOURCES INC.

Satori is a Toronto-based mineral exploration and development company whose primary property is the Tartan Lake Gold Mine Project (100% interest), located in the prolific Flin Flon mining district, in Manitoba, Canada. The Tartan Lake Gold Mine had historical high-grade production of 47,000 ounces of gold between 1987-1989. The Project hosts a 450 tonne per day gold concentrator and related infrastructure, along with a decline ramp providing access to developed gold mineralization within the Main and South Zones to a vertical depth of 320 metres.

For further information, please visit www.satoriresources.ca.

The TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This news release of Satori contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements." Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Satori's actual results, performance or achievements, or developments in the industry to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Contacts:

Bruce Reid

Chairman

info@satoriresources.ca

www.satoriresources.ca




LONDON (dpa-AFX) - The Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos met Liam Fox, the United Kingdom's Secretary for International Trade, to analyze bilateral trade relations between the two nations. The British official suggested that Colombian projects of strategic interest could be financed through the British export credit agency. 'The United Kingdom will continue to be a secure and stable trading partner for Colombia,' Fox said. This financial support through the UK agency would also be available to UK buyers and exporters of goods and services in Colombia, opening up opportunities for both British and Colombian companies. 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.
Datavail Corp., a Broomfield, Colorado-based provider of solutions for the outsourced database administration (DBA) market, received a growth capital investment from Orix Growth Capital.

The amount of the deal was not disclosed.

The investment will be used to support the companys continued organic growth and acquisition strategy.

Founded in 2007, Datavail provides a broad range of services in support of databases, analytics, and applications and specializes in Oracle, Oracle E-Business Suite, OBIEE and OBIA, Hyperion, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, MongoDB, DB2 and SharePoint. The company provides data integration and database administration services in North America, offering 247 managed database, applications and BI/DW services, design, architecture, and staffing.

It has more than 900 employees on payroll and core operations in four countries.

FinSMEs

25/08/2017
Simplus, a Salt Lake City, Utah-based provider of Quote-to-Cash implementations, acquired Basati, an Orlando, FL-based Salesforce Partner focused on the financial services industry.

The amount of the deal was not disclosed.

The acquisition will enable Simplus to increase implementation support in the Financial Services industry as well as in managed services. Following the close of the deal, Tim Smith, CEO of Basati, will join the Simplus team as a senior account executive.

Led by Ryan Westwood, CEO, Simplus is a Gold Salesforce Consulting Partner and provider of Quote-to-Cash implementations. It provides enterprise-wide digital transformation through advisory, implementation, change management, custom configuration, and managed services.

The company, which has more than 1000 clients, has also recently opened an international office in the Philippines and just announced the creation of 100 more jobs.

FinSMEs

24/08/2017
Taiger, a Singapore-based company specializing in applied Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions in the fields of information access and retrieval for the finance, insurance and government sectors, has closed its S$8m Series A funding round.

The round was led by Tembusu ICT Fund I, a software-focused venture capital fund in Singapore and one of the six funds selected by the National Research Foundation of Singapore (NRF) as part of the Early Stage Venture Fund II scheme, with participation from SGInnovate, a government-owned entity which operates under the NRF.

The company intends to use the funds to accelerate its sales and R&D efforts in Singapore and expand its presence worldwide.

Led by Dr. Sinuhe Arroyo, CEO and founder, Taiger specializes in information access and knowledge extraction, with technology which applies a hybrid between the symbolic and probabilistic disciplines of AI, based on the application of patent protected technology around Computational Semantics, Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning.

The companys AI solutions are taught to read and understand information as a human worker does, transforming unstructured information to knowledge for businesses and their customers.

According to written note, Taigers iMatch solution is capable of automatically extracting, validating and interpreting information from documents, replicating the intelligence of a human worker.

FinSMEs

24/08/2017
Hyderabad: Major investors in Infosys are in discussion with co-founder N R Narayanana Murthy on ways to manage the company in the future, said T V Mohandas Pai, a former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the software giant.

Pai also said all the co-founders would collectively take a decision on the return of Nandan Nilekani, a co-founder and former CEO, to the Bengaluru-headquartered IT firm.

"The major investors are talking to Murthy to come to a conclusion on how the company has to be managed in the future," he told PTI.

The former CFO said he expects Infosys Chairman and Co-Chairman to step down in the next few days and a new Chairman and Board to be appointed.

"Many investors are asking for Nilekani to come back... great demand for him to come back; the founders have to meet and decide; right now Murthy is not well," Pai said.

He said all the founders are "together".

On other co-founders not speaking in public on the developments at Infosys, he said, "They don't want to increase the public spectacle; no need for every body to speak. Murthy is their spokesperson. Everybody is together."

"Nilekani coming back (to Infosys) is good, he knows every body, he is approachable," Pai said.

He said because of the "abuse" of Murthy by the Board, all the employees are "angry and upset".

"They (Infosys employees) have gone and met the Co-Chairman and told him that it is not acceptable to abuse Murthy like that. Employees have been very strong in supporting Murthy and have been saying this abuse of Murthy by the Board should stop," Pai said.

"It's a sad thing that a great company is being torn apart by an ineffective Board," he said.

Pai said more and more people -- whether they are employees, or investors or others -- are coming to the conclusion that this Board has to go and a new one has to come.

"Nandan coming back as Chairman will be a good thing for the company and settle the issue once and for all," he added.

In a sudden move, Infosys' first non-founder CEO, Vishal Sikka, resigned last week citing slander by founders.

The Infosys board issued a stinging statement blaming Murthy for the CEO's resignation. Infosys has said it will find a CEO replacement latest by 31 March, 2018.

On 18 August, the day Sikka announced his resignation, investor advisory firm Institutional Investor Advisory Services (IiAS) said it favoured Nilekani being brought back on the board as its non-executive chairman.

Nilekani, who was CEO of the company between 2002 and 2007, has so far refused to comment on the crisis Infosys is facing.
After NR Narayana Murthy, it may be the turn of Nandan Nilekani to return to Infosys, a company they co-founded along with others.

Nearly a week after CEO Vishal Sikka's exit, speculation is rife that Nilekani may be taking up a role at the company to steer it through the rough weathers.

CNBC-TV18 was the first to report the development citing sources. Neither Nilekani nor Murthy has responded to the news, but the report said an announcement is likely by Friday.

Meanwhile, there are indications that Nilekani may be preparing for the role of a non-executive chairman on the board. According to a report in The Economic Times, though he is yet to make up his mind, he has cancelled a two-month trip to the US.

"He is seriously considering it. But he will come back as non-executive chairman, not in an operations or business role," one unnamed source has been quoted as saying in the report.

The development comes after 12 domestic institutional investors wrote to the company asking it to bring back Nilekani, who was its CEO earlier. He quit Infosys in 2009 to head UIDAI, after the UPA government gave him the mandate for the controversial Aadhaar project.

"The recent developments are very concerning to each one of us," the investors, comprising large mutual funds and insurance companies, said in their letter, adding Infosys should consider inviting Nilekani to the board in a "suitable capacity," Reuters reported.

"Given his credentials, we feel, that his joining the board at this stage, will restore confidence of stakeholders in the company and also facilitate resolution of the contentious issues that Infosys is facing presently," said the funds in the letter.

The investors, who wrote the letter include HDFC Asset Management, ICICI Prudential Asset Management and Birla SunLife Asset Management. They together own 10 percent in the company, while the promoters and their families own 12.75 percent.

Meanwhile, Infosys ex-CFO V Balakrishnan has favoured bringing in Nilekani as the chairman of the company, saying his experience and understanding of clients made him a "good face" to lead the organisation in the current situation.

Speaking to PTI, Balakrishnan said that given the current situation, the board should consider getting Nilekani at the helm and asserted that the current chairman (R Seshasayee) and co-chairman (Ravi Venkatesan) need to step down.

"Nilekani is a good global face and is most respected. Moreover, he has worked in large government projects... Aadhaar... he has the right credentials to come to the board," Balakrishnan told PTI.

Even as rumours of a major board reshuffle continues to do the rounds, Fortune has reported about 10 days back SBI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya was offered a seat on the company's board. According to the sources cited by the reports, this happened before the resignation announcement by Vishal Sikka on 18 August.

The report also said Bhattacharya has approval from both the board and the management but may be willing to take up the role only after she retires on 6 October.

In a sudden move, Infosys first non-founder CEO, Vishal Sikka resigned last week citing slander by founders. The Infosys board issued a stinging statement blaming co-founder N R Narayana Murthy for the CEOs resignation. Infosys has said it will find a CEO replacement by this year-end.
New Delhi: Watchdog Sebi will look afresh into complaints of alleged corporate governance-related lapses at Infosys amid a high profile leadership crisis and public spat between founders and top management of the IT firm.

Top regulatory sources said Sebi has received several representations regarding the ongoing crisis, including about allegations and counter allegations from various sides.

Some of these complaints came even before Infosys announced the resignation of its first non-founder CEO Vishal Sikka on 18 August.

Earlier also, the regulator had looked into alleged corporate governance lapses following a whistle-blower's letter, presumably on Panaya deal and executive pay.

However, no concrete evidence has emerged on those matters so far.

On Tuesday, Sebi Chairman Ajay Tyagi said the regulator is keeping a close tab on the share price movement of Infosys.

"We are keeping a watch on Infosys share prices," he had said.

Besides, the government is keeping a close watch on the developments at the software major.

Infosys Co-Chairman Ravi Venkatesan had met Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday.

While several institutional investors and proxy advisors have suggested bringing back co-founder and former CEO Nandan Nilekani, there are also demands for a complete overhaul of Infosys' existing board, sources said.

As the crisis continues at Infosys following Sikka's exit, the company's stock crashed 15 per cent for the two straight trading sessions, eroding its market wealth by Rs 34,000 crore.
Nandan Nilekani has been appointed as a non-executive, non-independent chairman of Infosys on Thursday after R Seshasayee and Ravi Venkatesan resigned from their posts of chairman and co-chairman, respectively on Thursday.

Vishal Sikka, Infosys' first non-founder CEO, who had resigned last week citing slander by founders, also resigned from the board along with Jeffery S Lehman and John Etchemendy. Their resignations have been accepted, PTI said.

The development comes after 12 domestic institutional investors wrote to the company asking it to bring back Nilekani, who was its CEO earlier. He had quit Infosys in 2009 to head UIDAI after the UPA government gave him the mandate for the controversial Aadhaar project.

"The recent developments (Sikka's resignation from the post of CEO) concern each one of us," the investors, comprising large mutual funds and insurance companies, had said in their letter, adding Infosys should consider inviting Nilekani to the board in a "suitable capacity," according to Reuters.

"Given his credentials, we feel, that his joining the board at this stage, will restore the confidence of stakeholders in the company and also facilitate resolution of the contentious issues that Infosys is facing presently," the letter had stated.

The investors, who had written the letter, included HDFC Asset Management, ICICI Prudential Asset Management, and Birla Sun Life Asset Management. They together own 10 percent in the company, while the promoters and their families own 12.75 percent.

Earlier on Thursday, TV Mohandas Pai, a former chief financial officer (CFO) of the software giant, had said that all the co-founders would collectively take a decision on the return of Nilekani, a co-founder, to the Bengaluru-headquartered IT firm.

"The major investors are talking to Murthy to come to a conclusion on how the company has to be managed in the future," Pai had said.

Even Infosys ex-CFO V Balakrishnan had favoured bringing in Nilekani as the chairman of the company, saying his experience and understanding of clients made him a "good face" to lead the organisation in the current situation.

Speaking to PTI, Balakrishnan had said that given the current situation, the board should consider getting Nilekani at the helm and asserted that the current chairman (R Seshasayee) and co-chairman (Ravi Venkatesan) need to step down.

"Nilekani is a good global face and is very respected. Moreover, he has worked on large government projects such as Aadhaar. He has the right credentials to come to the board," Balakrishnan had told PTI.

Last week, the Infosys board had issued a stinging statement blaming co-founder NR Narayana Murthy for Sikka's resignation. Infosys has said it will find a CEO replacement by this year-end.

With inputs from PTI
The historic Supreme Court verdict on Thursday has forced the Narendra Modi government to acknowledge that right to privacy is not just a common-law right but a fundamental right of the citizens assured by the constitution. Hopefully, the verdict will enable any common man to challenge any demand either made by the government or private parties seeking his personal data. Also now he has a right to demand protection for his personal data, including his biometrics, which he has already shared with various agencies and companies.

Had the government brought in a law earlier on to address the privacy concerns Aadhaar raises, the issue would not have reached this point. Right to privacy is a given in a democracy. It is not something that is enforced by a court of law but a basic promise to a democracy's stakeholders. It is the job of the elected government keep that promise. But, ironically, here the governments lawyers have been arguing that right to privacy cannot be a fundamental right but a common law right.

Aadhaars ambit

What complicated the matters was that even when the privacy issue was in the Supreme Court, the government has been expanding the ambit of Aadhaar rapidly to a range of activities, including transfer of government benefits, filing of income tax returns and operating bank accounts. Even mobile companies have begun to ask their customers to link their Aadhaar card with the phone number. Evidently, this irked the anti-Aadhaar lobby, carried the arguments to the apex court room and finally saw the Supreme Court defining right to privacy as a fundamental right. This is what happened in a nutshell.

And the result is the validity of Aadhaar itself can now be questioned through existing and fresh litigation. The very concept of Aadhaar is based on recording an individuals biometric data, according him/her a unique number and mapping all of his/her activities to that number. This makes it easy for the authorities to monitor its citizens.

By increasing the ambit of Aadhaar, the government was getting aggressive. With the court ruling that privacy is a fundamental right, all the notifications issued by the government making Aadhaar mandatory will be questioned. Will Aadhaar go back to what it was meant originally  a tool for government to transfer government benefits to beneficiary bank accounts? One needs to wait and watch.

Privacy concerns

Aadhaar had raised privacy concerns even during the UPA days. In fact, going by the Aadhaar Act, even the Unique Identification Authority of India cannot share the personal information available under Aadhaar records with any agency unless there is an order from a district judge. On issues of national security, only a joint secretary level officer can authorise access of personal data, that too after getting an order from the central government. But, that's in theory. There have been reports of Aadhaar data leakage. This is what raised widespread concerns.

Most likely, the government will have to rework the Aadhaar programme factoring in the court ruling and also depending on the outcome of other related cases. All this will slow down the process of expanding the ambit of Aadhaar as anti-Aadhaar lobby will derive more strength in the backdrop of the SC order. The government will have to go back to the planning room to ascertain where Aadhaar can be made compulsory and where it cannot be.

But, it is unlikely that the order will mean the end of Aadhaar. Much work and investment (Rs 8,800 crore until July) have gone into the institution of Aadhaar-mechanism with 117.29 crore cards already issued. Maybe, the government will have to scale down the process. More importantly, the future of Aadhaar depends on the governments willingness and ability to work on stringent laws that address privacy concerns of Aadhaar holders. But, to get a clearer picture one needs to wait and watch for the outcome of other pending cases on Aadhaar.

All the cases pertaining to Aadhaar will now go back to a smaller bench and will be relooked in the backdrop of the ruling of the constitutional bench. If the courts rule that Aadhaar cannot be imposed on a citizen and must remain as a voluntary option, then the ambit of Aadhaar will be significantly narrowed.

But the idea of Aaadhar cannot die. It is a revolutionary tool India has devised and is fundamental to the Director Benefit Transfer (DBT) programme conceptualised and executed by two successive governments. Certainly, it has helped to plug subsidy leakages to a great extent. The scheme is critical for the new economic structure. It is to be remembered that a few developed nations have a similar unique identity structure for their citizens. However, the government needs to make necessary legislations that address concerns about data privacy laws, something even Nandan Nilekani, the architect of Aadhaar, has mooted.

In the context of the SC verdict, the Modi government's big task is to immediately address the privacy concerns to take the Aadhaar programme ahead. The SC verdict makes this a necessary condition for Aadhaar to survive. The apex court has reassured the citizens about their right to privacy - a sacred promise of democracy. Rather than seeing it as a setback, the government should take it as an opportunity to bring in stringent privacy/ data protection laws and make Aadhaar even a better idea.
New Delhi: The Railway Board, the premier decision making body of the countrys largest transporter, comprises a chairman and members for five different functions - Traffic, Traction, Rolling Stock, Engineering and Staff. In the hierarchy of the Indian Railways, the Board is right after the Railway Minister and his Ministers of State. It is interesting to note that though several critical Railway functions are headed by Members, there is no position for Member (Safety). Does that sound like a harmless omission or does it smack of a cavalier attitude, given the horrific accidents which are occurring on the Indian railways network lately?

Well, the government says neither is there such a post in the Board nor is there a proposal to create such a post afresh. In its replies to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Safety and Security in the Railways, the Ministry of Railways has stated: Safety is integral to the construction, certification, operation and maintenance of Railway System. Each Member (of the board) is responsible for the respective part pertaining to the department viz.: infrastructure, rolling stock, signaling and operations. Overall co-ordination is done by Member (Traffic), Railway Board. Hence, the question of a separate Member for Safety is not pertinent. The standing committee released its action taken report on 3 August.

The intransigence of the Railways ministry in creating a new safety post in the Railway Board comes even as it has already begun a major shakeup of the board. Chairman A K Mittal was asked to quit earlier this week and his successor, former CMD of Air India Ashwani Lohani, has already been named. At least one board member and several other senior officials have been suspended following the deadly Kalinga Utkal Express derailment last week which snuffed out over 20 lives while injuring scores of others. Another mishap, again in Uttar Pradesh, on 23 August, injured several others. This is when Minister Suresh Prabhu has offered to quit too. His resignation has not been accepted till now though there are indications that he would be replaced in the impending Cabinet reshuffle.

It is pertinent to note here that with 238 fatalities in 2016-17, the number of people who lost their lives almost doubled in one year though the total number of accidents was down marginally. Between April and July 15 this year, another 13 people had lost their lives in four more accidents at unmanned level crossings of the Railways. The two accidents within a span of five days, both in Uttar Pradesh, have brought the spotlight back on the patchy safety record of the Railways.

So who should shoulder the blame for safety lapses? The Railway Board, the minister or both? Below the hallowed Railway Board lie over 60 divisions of the Railways. One senior ex-official described these divisions as the basic units of function. Each division is under a Divisional Railway Manager (JS grade). He said 3-4 divisions combine to make a a zone and each zone headed by a general manager of the rank of an additional secretary. Holding Railway Board chairman or a member solely responsible for accidents due to operational reasons is not right in every instance because the chairman and/or the member may not be directly involved in day to day operations. Direct involvement is at the divisional level - DRM (divisional railway manager), this person said. So was Mittal made the scapegoat for someone elses lapse?

The parliamentary panel mentioned earlier is headed by TMCs Sudip Bandopadhyaya and had earlier too expressed its reservations on the existing system in Indian Railways for providing safety in the backdrop of inter-department difficulties. It again said that Member (Traffic) is anyway fully engrossed with the running of trains through the entire Railway network in India and the related works on a daily basis. A separate Member for Safety would be able to exclusively focus on the Safety issues of Railways. The Committee reiterates its earlier recommendation.

The parliamentary panel has observed that adherence to safety is at present a multi-disciplinary effort in the Indian Railways. Each department defines its own safety parameters for assets installed/used and monitors/maintains the parameters in the safety limits which are codified manuals and are maintained as per laid down protocol. Each department lays emphasis and keeps the concern of their own department a priority without realizing that the needs could be more significant on other sides.

The Panel thought that safety should be dealt with in a prompt, precise and diligent manner and preferably be a separate department as inter disciplinary methods of dealing with this aspect at micro level only serves to reduce its efficiency, resulting in delayed response and compromises on safety. The Committee, therefore, also recommended that the current structure of Railway Board as well at the Zonal and Divisional levels should be reviewed and the safety infrastructure of the Railways should be recast to the extent that it includes at least a separate or a full-fledged department solely entrusted with providing safety and security across its area of jurisdiction.
Kriti Sanon has come a long way from her Heropanti and 1: Nenokkadine days. In 2015, she starred with Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Varun Dhawan in Rohit Shetty's Dilwale. Having played the lead role in two films this year, Raabta and Bareilly Ki Barfi, one wonders what she is up to next.

Recent reports suggested that that director duo Raj and DK have decided to cast Arjun Kapoor opposite Kriti Sanon in Farzi, a movie which has been at the planning stage since 2014, after having three meetings with Arjun recently. It was speculated that Shahid Kapoor was initially supposed to play the lead in this film, but apparently, he wasnt too happy with the script.

Speaking to Firstpost, Kriti confirms that she has given a nod to Farzi a long time ago. After that [being signed on], it [Farzi] was stuck, as things didnt fall in place. So, it was put aside. At the time, Shahid was doing it, but for some reason, this did not materialise. Now I dont know what is happening with respect to it, and there is nothing that I can talk about. Raj and DK were always doing the film, but I cant comment on whether Arjun Kapoor is now part of the project. If a film has to happen it will; every film has its destiny, she said.

There are also speculations about Kriti replacing Tapsee Pannu in a film starring and co-produced by John Abraham, where he plays a businessman accused of murdering his lover. Tapsee was supposed to play the role of a scheming mistress. Apparently, some members of the creative team were impressed with Kriti's performance in Bareilly Ki Barfi and told John about it.

In response, Kriti said, I keep reading a lot of reports like these, but I haven't officially signed any of these projects. I have said 'yes' to a particular project, but I will wait for the producers to announce it. Unless I actually say 'yes', I cannot comment. These speculations will keep making the rounds, and it is not fair to comment on everything. I am reading a lot of scripts; I have liked one or two of them, and I am figuring out what, how and when. These days, content is king and the story is the most important factor, so I dont want to be in a hurry.

(With inputs from Seema Sinha)
Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit is gearing up for her new journey as a producer. She will back a Marathi film, which is yet to be titled.

The "family entertainer" will be directed by Swapnaneel Jayakar, and produced under Madhuri's RnM Moving Pictures banner, which has already come up with e-learning and DTH content, read a statement.

"We at RnM Moving Pictures are very excited to step into this new role and start working on the project. It's a family entertainer and we have a lovely team on board. I am looking forward to starting the shooting process soon," Madhuri said.

The film, written by Yogesh Vinayak Joshi, is expected to be released next year. It will roll out by the end of this year in Mumbai, reports Mumbai Mirror. "I'm excited to start work on my debut production... Over the years, the Marathi film industry has evolved a lot," she told the daily.

In the past, Madhuri Dixit has been offered parts in more than one Marathi film, such as the remake of Shyamchi Aai, which won a National Film Award in the Best Feature Film category.

Meanwhile, actress Priyanka Chopra is executive producing a comedy series about Madhuri's life for US network ABC.

With inputs from IANS
After tasting success and immense popularity due to his role in SS Rajamouli's magnum opus Baahubali, Telugu superstar Rana Daggubati is all set to make his web-series debut.

According to a report by The Indian Express, Daggubati will feature as one of the lead protagonists in Viu's upcoming web-series, Social. It is reportedly going to be India's first bilingual web-series made in Hindi and Telugu and will span across 11-12 episodes.

The story centers on the effects of social media in today's world. It is reported to be a fast-paced thriller and will delve into the world of cyber crime. The show features Naveen Kasturia of TVF's Pitchers and Sulemaani Keeda fame as a distressed brother who is in search of his kidnapped sister.

Daggubati will star in the lead role along with Kasturia. Canadian actress Priya Banerjee is also reportedly a part of the show. It will be helmed by Shashi Sudigala, reports Scroll.

Kasturia is also going to be seen in ALTBalaji's upcoming show Bose: Dead or Alive starring Rajkummar Rao as Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Daggubati has already appeared in Viu's chat show, No. 1 Yaari, which is rated as one of the most watched shows on the web, according to The Indian Express report.

Daggubati's latest big-screen venture Nene Raju Nene Mantri performed well at the box-office and earned rave reviews for the actor's performance in the film.
It has been nearly two years since the last Ajith film released. Now, with Vivegam, he is back as an international secret agent and a one-man demolition squad in this thriller helmed by his favourite director Siva. Vivegam is a slickly made film, which engages Ajith's fans with non-stop action, keeping the stars larger than life, macho, hero image in mind.

Siva had depended on brotherly and sisterly sentiments in his earlier Ajith films like Veeram and Vedalam. This time he limited the sentiments to husband and wife bonding, making it resemble a stylish Hollywood spy thriller, without minimal Tamil mass cinema elements.

Vivegam has a wafer thin storyline but is laced with what Siva calls theatre moments or scenes where fans will clap and whistle with joy. These sequences glorify Ajith, as he walks and talks stylishly mouthing punch lines in English and Tamil, with huge action set pieces that make him look invincible.

Interested in the story? Here goes; the film begins with Ajay Kumar alias AK (Ajith), an upright and fierce agent working for a counter terrorism agency set in Eastern Europe, is suspected to have gone rouge. AK is totally devoted and madly in love with his wife (Kajal Aggarwal), who is expecting their first baby.

AKs close buddy is Arayan (Vivek Oberoi) and in a mission they have to capture Natasha (Akshara Haasan), a brilliant hacker who has codes to launch deadly nuclear weapons. During the mission AK gets betrayed by his trusted colleagues including Arayan, who frames him. How AK fights back and takes revenge forms rest of this predictable yarn.

Vivegam showcases Thala Ajith as a never-seen-before action hero.

He is in top form, looks deadly and has pulled off some terrific, high-octane action sequences including a shirtripping climax fight with the villain. Vivek Oberoi as the antagonist is appealing in the first half but post-interval his characterisation goes weak, as he ends up hyping the hero character and gives into the commercial tropes.

Kajal Aggarwal is good in a limited role that has an impact while Akshara Haasan does justice to her short but crucial appearance. Karunakaran is engaging as a translator who appears in the first half of the film.

Anirudh Ravichanders music and background score is one of the major highlights of the film, along with some stunning visuals by cameraman Vetri. Mounted on a lavish scale, the entire film has been shot in Eastern Europe and the action scenes are well choreographed. A bike-chase scene featuring Ajith is adrenaline pumping and shot superbly.

Vivegam is largely targeted at Ajith fans, and lacks logic. The film should have been better written and the climax is hurried. If you are looking for an action entertain with youe favourite star, it is worth a look.
On Thursday, Nepal prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who is on a five-day state visit to India, was accorded a ceremonial welcome. President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi received Deuba before the guard of honour at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Deuba is slated to hold wide-ranging talks with Modi to ramp up bilateral ties.

He was received at the airport by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, a move which gains prominence and seems to reflect the importance India is attaching to the visit, especially when relations between with China are strained over Doka La.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, Deuba's visit comes just days after Chinese vice-premier Wang Yang visited Nepal and the two sides signed several major agreements to boost energy and economic times. Deuba and Swaraj met in Kathmandu earlier this month and discussed the Doka La issue, the report said.

According to a report in The Times of India, even as China is attempting to gain influence in Nepal, which is steadfastly staying neutral on Doka La, New Delhi is looking to counter Beijing's footprint. Nepal, which has not taken a position on the Doka La stand-off, is expected to continue to remain so.

Yang visited Kathmandu around the same time as Swaraj and promised to complete a railway track from Shigatse to Kerung near Nepal-China border by 2020 and also promised 1 billion RMB and technical expertise to Nepal for rebuilding the Kodari Highway, Times of India reported.

India and Nepal are set to sign four memorandums of understanding worth $250 million which will finally make use of the $1 billion reconstruction assistance India had pledged after the 2015 Nepal earthquake, Times of India reported.

The Nepalese prime minister is expected to apprise Modi of the political situation in his country, particularly on the steps being taken by his government to fulfil aspirations of the Indian-origin Madheshi community.

Nepal has been facing a political crisis since the adoption of a new Constitution in September 2015. Madhesis, mostly of Indian origin, have been opposing the new statute as they fear it would marginalise them by dividing the country into seven provinces.

Madhesi protests from October 2015 to February 2016 had resulted in the closure of key trading points with India, triggering a shortage of essential supplies in the land-locked country. The blockade of trade points with India ended in February after more than 50 people were killed in clashes with the police.

According to an editorial in The Indian Express, China flooded Nepal with money for several infrastructure projects during the blockade and managed to wrangle several trade and transit deals. However, the Doka La standoff is forcing New Delhi to rethink its stance.

"By that same token, Nepal cannot be faulted for pressing home the advantage it has at this delicate time in India-China relations to see who can offer it the best deal," The Indian Express editorial said.

Kani Mani Dixit, founding editor of Himan Southasian magazine wrote in The Hindu that India's policy of interventionism has backfired and it is in India's interest to secure its neighbourhood. Dixit argues that this objective can only be achieved by New Delhi letting its smaller neighbours evolve and not exerting any undue influence.

"Such a rebooting requires a cold and hard look at how Nepal was handled over the past decade, exemplified by the impediments placed in the writing, adoption and implementation of the Constitution... From the Kathmandu perspective, politically micromanaging Nepal could not have but backfired. Take the Great Blockade, which forced the Kathmandu political leadership to reach out to Beijing and sign a slew of trade, transit and infrastructural agreements with it. Few know that Nepal is today better connected by air to Chinese cities than to India," Dixit wrote in The Hindu.

Rishika Chauhan, a visiting scholar at the Centre for India Studies in China West Normal University, China, wrote in the Hindu Business Line that Modi and Deuba have a monumental task ahead of them: Of maintaining the India-Nepal relationship that was ably revived by former Nepal prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and washing away the bitter taste left by Dahal's predecessor Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli.

"Oli blamed India for blocking crucial border points, maintaining that it was unimaginable Nepal could face a blockade in the 21st century. While many believed that a Nepali ethnic group called the Madhesis had initiated the blockade, there were others who implied that New Delhi had a role to play. Though New Delhi denied its involvement, the accusation itself was not surprising; Modi had been sympathetic to the Madhesi concerns, persistently asking the Nepali government to redress their grievances," Chauhan wrote in the Hindu Business Line.

While New Delhi is drawing comfort from the fact that Deuba's first foreign visit since taking office is to India's capital, the challenge remains to convince both Deuba and Nepal that India will stay out of its internal affairs and that ties between the two countries are more than just transactional in nature, The Indian Express editorial argued.

Deuba is expected to travel to Hyderabad and Bodh Gaya during his trip and call on the president and the vice-president.

With inputs from agencies
The development of the debate over the Right to Privacy is intrinsically linked to the big debate on Aadhaar and how making it mandatory will lead to a breach of confidentiality of data collected through Aadhaar. While petitioners argue that Aadhaar violates privacy and helps the government to spy on people, the Centre said that Right to Privacy is not absolute. The Aadhaar scheme has been challenged by several petitions, which are together tagged under the case of KS Puttaswamy & Ors versus Union of India & Ors.

The debate has snowballed into a larger cause and will possibly come to a conclusion on Thursday. There has been a multitude of petitions filed around the Aadhaar scheme and its usage by various state agencies in several forums across the country.

In the KS Puttaswamy and Another versus Union of India case, the filed petition states, "One of the grounds of attack on the [Aadhaar] scheme is that the very collection of such biometric data is violative of the 'right to privacy'."

While quoting other petitioners, the petition stated that some of them assert that Right to Privacy is implied under Article 21 of the Constitution while others think that the right emanates not just from Article 21 but also from various other articles embodying the Fundamental Rights guaranteed under Part-III of the Constitution.

The counsel for the petitioners argued that world over in all the countries where Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence is followed, 'privacy' is recognised as an important aspect of the liberty of human beings. Gopal Subramanium and Shyam Divan, arguing from the petitioners side, said that it is too late for the government to argue that the Constitution of India does not recognise privacy as an aspect of the liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

Divan said that the biometric information of an individual can be circulated to other authorities or corporate bodies which, in turn, can be used by them for commercial exploitation and, therefore, must be stopped. The petitioners feel that giving Aadhaar number amounts to surveillance by the State and the entire profile of people would be available for exploitation.

The petitioners pointed out that with today's technology, there was every possibility of copying fingerprints and even the iris images and various cases of fake Aadhaar card have come to light. The counsel stated the fear of hacking of Aadhaar cards and even leak of information.

Allaying these fears, then Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had said in 2012 that the government does not share any personal information of an Aadhaar card holder. It was, however, decided by the court that Aadhaar will not be a condition for obtaining any benefits due to a citizen and the government will make it known to the public that Aadhaar is not mandatory.

A number of petitions were filed, claiming that the government did not comply with the orders. The counsel for the petitioners argued that even Section 3 of the Aadhaar act spells out that enrollment of Aadhaar is voluntary and consensual. The new set of petitions said that the government is continuously insisting that more and more people apply for Aadhaar. The petitioners have also demanded contempt proceedings to be initiated against the government while stating again and again that Aadhaar should remain voluntary until the Supreme Court has given a final decision.
The Right to Privacy debate in India is one of the most protracted and undoubtedly one which will have long term ramifications for the people. The verdict is likely to have a bearing on the relationship between Indian citizens and the State in the digital era and will also impact all future legislations on the Right to Privacy.

The matter was heard by a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court, which reserved its verdict on the issue on 2 August after voicing concern over possible misuse of personal information in public domain. The top court observed that the protection of the concept of privacy in the technological era was a "losing battle".

The Centre and the petitioners sparred in the top court over a number of days to determine whether the right to privacy is an absolute right or not. In the case of Aadhaar, while critics argued that Aadhaar violates privacy and helps spy on people, the government contended that an individual's right to privacy is not an absolute right.

Different, and mostly contentious, views emerged as the apex court heard the statements from both sides.

'Privacy as Fundamental Right was deliberately avoided in Constitution'

Four non-BJP states had moved the Supreme Court seeking to intervene in the hearing on the Right to Privacy issue. Besides Karnataka and West Bengal, two Congress-led states of Punjab and Puducherry took a stand opposite to the Central government, which had said that the Right to Privacy is a common law right and not a Fundamental Right.

During the hearing on arguments of these four states, Attorney General KK Venugopal stated that privacy as a Fundamental Right was 'deliberately avoided' from Article 21. "Privacy, as a Fundamental Right, could have been mentioned in 21 but has been omitted. This was deliberate," he said.

He further said, "Claims to privacy that would destroy constitutional goals of social justice cannot be elevated to the status of a Fundamental Right."

One of the most controversial claims that the attorney general made during the hearing was that the right has more credibility in 'developed countries that are socially, economically and politically developed' while adding that in a developing country like India something as 'amorphous' as the right to privacy can never be a Fundamental Right.

'Every facet of Right to Privacy is not fundamental'

Venugopal, in his arguments, told the Supreme Court that the right to privacy was not a Fundamental Right.

"There is no fundamental Right to Privacy and even if it is assumed as a Fundamental Right, it is multifaceted. Every facet can't be considered a Fundamental Right," Venugopal told the bench. He added that "information privacy" could not be a right to privacy and it could not ever be a Fundamental Right.

Right to privacy could deny right to food?

The counsel for the State argued that upholding a right to privacy could deny millions of poor people the right to food. The state offered the following choice  two square meals per day, or privacy, asserting that a poor person would pick the former.

"On one hand, a few sensitive individuals are complaining about violation of privacy because Aadhaar required collection of biometrics and address details, on the other hand Aadhaar has ensured that food reached 270 million persons who live below the poverty line through social welfare schemes," Venugopal had said, as The Times of India reported.

'Data is protected as property, not a Fundamental Right'

Furthering the argument that privacy and data could be protected only as a statutory right, the government counsels argued that the protection of data was traceable to Article 300A of the Constitution. This is the provision granting property as a legal right to the people, not a Fundamental Right.

The counsels argued that the State holds people's data in a fiduciary capacity. This relationship was governed by common law rights and the right to property but not the Fundamental Rights. The Bench did not fully agree with this, asking how a persons data could be mere property.

'States can impose restrictions'

The Supreme Court sided with the Centre and said that privacy is an "amorphous term" which is not absolute and cannot prevent the State from making laws imposing reasonable restrictions on citizens.

The top court had further said that in order to recognise privacy as a right, it would first have to define it. However, this would be an uphill task as an element of privacy pervaded all Fundamental Rights enshrined in the Constitution.
Meerut/Lucknow: A pregnant woman was allegedly given triple talaq by her husband in the Sardhana area in Meerut, just hours after the Supreme Court declared the age-old practice as "unconstitutional" on Tuesday.

The woman, a resident of Mohalla Kamra Nawaban, in a complaint filed with the police alleged that her husband beat her up for dowry and drove her out of their house.

An FIR has been lodged against the man.

The police said the talaq was "invalid" according to the ruling of the apex court.

The woman, who married the accused six years ago and is a mother of three, also alleged that she suffered a miscarriage due to the beating, the police said.

Reacting to the incident, the All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board said the case posed a question as to what punishment will be given to those who continue to indulge in the practice.

The woman's family members on Tuesday met her in-laws to discuss the matter. But her husband divorced her by pronouncing the word talaq thrice, the police said.

She said her family told her husband that the Supreme Court had struck down the practice, but he did not relent.

SHO Dharmendra Singh Rathore said an FIR has been registered against the woman's husband and six others under relevant sections of the IPC and the Dowry Prohibition Act.

AIMWPLB president Shaista Amber told PTI that it was a case of contempt of the apex court and that the board would knock the doors of the top court for fixing punishment in such cases.

She said the Supreme Court had asked for framing of a legislation on triple talaq but the government was "trying to shirk its responsibility by saying that it was not required after the verdict".

"It has to be ensured that the issue of triple talaq is fully addressed else Muslim women will continue to face injustice," the AIMWPLB president said.

"The court and the government need to clarify their stand or we will be forced to take to the streets," she said.
India and Nepal inked eight pacts and promised to cooperate on countering drug trafficking on Thursday, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba in New Delhi and spoke about strategic bilateral and regional issues.

"Had a positive meeting reviewing the gamut of our partnership," Modi said at a joint press event with Deuba, and assured Kathmandu of India's commitment towards overall growth and development of the Himalayan nation.

Deuba said Nepal would "never allow any anti-India activities from its soil".

The two leaders also inaugurated Kataiya, Kusaha, and Raxaul-Pawanipur transmission lines, increasing the amount of electricity given by India to Nepal by 100MW.

Modi also said the two countries will work together to complete all under-construction hydro power projects. "Prime Minister Deuba informed me that land issue for Arun 3 hydro-electric project has been resolved," Narendra Modi said in his statement, adding that the agreement on the finalisation of detailed project report on Pancheswar dam project in Uttarakhand has been "speeded up".

Modi asked to increase coordination and consultation between the two countries in flood-prone areas of the border, to tackle the menace in a better way.

Calling for enhancement in business and economic activities between the two countries, Modi said "new economic connectivity projects have been approved by the government".

"We are committed to increase India's share in Nepal's development. To achieve this goal, we have agreed for many economic and development projects which are Nepal's priority, like technical institute in Danghadi, GP Koirala National Centre for Respiratorty disease agreement," the prime minister said.

Modi asked for increased contact between the people of the two countries and emphasised the importance of tourism. "Budh and Ramayan tourism should be developed. It will improve connectivity between the two countries," Modi said.

Before the meeting, Modi had received Deuba on the Nepal prime minister's first foreign trip since assuming office in June.

A unique relationship of friendship and mutual trust. PM @narendramodi receives PM Sher Bahadur Deuba at Hyderabad House pic.twitter.com/nLwyZMkLjK  Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) August 24, 2017

On Wednesday afternoon, Modi had held an unscheduled meeting with Deuba soon after the latter's arrival.

Delegation level talks between India and Nepal at Delhi's Hyderabad House. pic.twitter.com/jnwTWepBek  ANI (@ANI) August 24, 2017

Earlier on Thursday, Deuba was also accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Pictures from the ceremonial reception in the honour of Rt Hon Shri Sher Bahadur Deuba ji, PM of Nepal. Will hold talks with him today. pic.twitter.com/FlQtXLh8pZ  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 24, 2017

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj also called on the visiting dignitary and welcomed him ahead of the talks. Later in the day, Deuba will call on President Ram Nath Kovind while vice-president Venkaiah Naidu and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will call on the prime minister of the Himalayan nation, who is leading a high-level delegation to India.

Apart from his official engagements in New Delhi, Deuba will also visit Hyderabad, Tirupati and Bodh Gaya. Deuba's visit comes days after Chinese vice-premier Wang Yang was in Nepal during which the two sides inked several major agreements to boost energy and economic ties.

The visit comes amid the Doka La standoff between the Indian and Chinese troops that has led to escalation in tension between New Delhi and Beijing.

Deuba had earlier paid three visits to India as prime minister, in 1996, 2004 and 2005.

With inputs from agencies
Jammu: Jaish chief Maulana Masood Azhar was spotted in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir along with five other terrorists on Thursday, Times Now reported.

Jaish chief Maulana Masood Azhar spotted in PoK along with 5 terrorists. High alert sounded after Intel input pic.twitter.com/jMyJ6cdhsJ  TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) August 24, 2017

Panic on Thursday gripped Udhampur after rumours of a possible terror strike started doing the rounds on social media, even as the police dismissed as "baseless" reports of militants being sighted in the highway township.

However, the police have sounded a high alert as a precautionary measure and asked citizens to not panic and report any suspicious movement.

In view of the rumours that "terrorists had entered Udhampur and are planning attack" and the subsequent panic, several private schools in the district closed for the day as parents rushed and took home their wards.

"Only some private schools are closed, rest all the educational institutions, including government-run schools, functioned normally," Chief Education Officer, Udhampur, Jattu Ram Bhardawaj told PTI.

Officials said Army-run schools and Kendriya Vidyalaya in the town also remained closed on Thursday.

Udhampur district police also came out with a post on Facebook saying there were intelligence inputs about infiltration through the Line of Control in Poonch-Rajouri belt.

"High alert has been sounded for security installations at all places in Jammu zone as a precautionary measure," the post read.

The district police asked the people to report any suspicious movement but "there is no need to panic" and added, "Rumours of terrorists being sighted in Udhampur are baseless."

Meanwhile, the police conducted search operations at several places in Miran Sahib and RS Pora areas on the outskirts of Jammu since last evening.

The searches were carried out as a precautionary measure after inputs about movement of "suspicious persons", a police officer said but denied sounding of high alert in the Jammu zone.

He said the situation in the border districts of Poonch and Rajouri were normal.
A 30-year-old RSS activist, accused in 2016 Kodinhi Faisal murder case, was hacked to death in Kerala's Malappuram on Thursday morning, according to reports.

Kerala: 30-year-old hacked to death in Malappuram, he was an accused in 2016 Kodinhi Faisal murder case.  ANI (@ANI) August 24, 2017

Vipin, who was out on bail, was attacked near Pulinchode at around 7 am and the police found his body with serious injuries on a roadside, News18 reported. He was then rushed to Tirur's government hospital where he was declared dead.

Another accused in the case, Thayyil Lijeesh, was attacked by an unknown gang on 2 August in Parappanangad. The RSS had organised a protest rally, alleging conspiracy behind the murder attempt, The Times of India reported.

As per Mathrubhumi, Faisal was brutally hacked to death on 19 November, 2016. He had reportedly been receiving threats after he converted to Islam six months before his death.

Police later arrested eight RSS men, including Faizal's brother-in-law and another relative, who had threatened to kill him if he did not revert to his old faith.

A tense atmosphere is prevailing in the area following Vipin's murder. The government has sent additional forces to deal with any fallout of the murder.

Mallapuram was in the news recently after Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir alleged that mass conversions are taking place in the district. "There is a big center...that center is in Malappuram district," the minister said while adding, "Conversions take place there and in a month, about 1,000 people are converted. There is a report that Hindus and Christians are being converted to Muslims."
With Muharram falling a day after the end of four-day long Durga Puja on 1 October, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Wednesday that idol immersion will not be allowed after 6 pm on 30 September.

This year Durga Puja & Muharram fall on the same day. Except for a 24 hour period on the day of Muharram... 1/2  Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) August 23, 2017

Durga Puja immersion : on Dashami(30th sep) till 6 pm, no immersion due to Muharram on 1st, immersions again on 2nd,3rd and 4 th Oct. (1/2)  Kolkata Police (@KolkataPolice) August 23, 2017

The immersion would resume on 2 October and continue till 4 October, Mamata wrote on Twitter.

... Immersions can take place on October 2, 3 and 4... 2/2  Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) August 23, 2017

Banerjee also appealed to the people to cooperate with each other and not fall prey to provocation leading to communal tension.

"Some people will try to create trouble on Hindu-Muslim grounds. Every religion is ours. But if there is a problem while a procession is passing a puja pandal, we will all be affected," NDTV quoted Banerjee as saying.

BJP immediately reacted to the announcement saying that they will challenge the decision in the court, and accused Mamata of "minority appeasement".

Last year, she had given similar orders which were challenged in the high court, which had pulled up the state government for giving such arbitrary orders aimed at appeasing the minorities. However, the high court order had come after the festival. We will challenge her decision in the court of law, the Indian Express quoted BJPs national secretary Rahul Sinha.

The Mamata Banerjee government is appeasing the minorities by putting restrictions on Hindu celebrations. Hindus here cannot take out Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti processions. Now she has put a restriction on idol immersion. We oppose such a decision, he added.

BJPs West Bengal chief Dilip Ghosh equated the chief ministers decision with Talibani rule.

Is West Bengal gradually heading towards Talibani rule? Saraswati Pujas being stopped at schools, Durga puja immersion being repeatedly barred, the attempt to introduce Urdu-Arabic words in Bengali language (abba, amma, aasmani) ...all this is proof of that. After this we will have to start calling 'didimoni' (Mamata Banerjee) by the (Urdu) term (for sister), 'apa'. How long will the people of Bengal tolerate all this?," he wrote on Facebook.

Last year also, Mamata had angered many by imposing similar restrictions on idol immersion during Durga Puja which Calcutta High Court later lifted, terming the move as "arbitrary" and a clear endeavour by the state to appease the minority section of the public, The Indian Express report said.
Aizawl: Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla has accepted the resignation of Minister Buddha Dhan Chakma who was critical of his stance on the Chakma people, while stressing that his government did not discriminate against tribals.

Chakma, the Minister of State for Sericulture and Fisheries, quit earlier this week protesting the denial of medical education seats from the state quota to Chakma tribal students.

The Congress government in Mizoram never discriminated against Chakma tribals or any genuine inhabitants of the state, Thanhawla told the media on Wednesday evening.

"However, my government does not want illegal migrants  Chakma or any other communities  from adjoining states and neighbouring countries to settle in the state and enjoy equal rights and status with the domicile citizens."

Mizoram shares an unfenced 510-km border with Myanmar and a 318-km border with Bangladesh. It also shares borders with Assam, Manipur and Tripura. The same tribal communities are living on both sides of the borders.

The chief minister said, "I am not aware whether some Mizo NGOs are active to discriminate Chakma people. Our government has been giving equal treatment to all citizens who are genuine residents of Mizoram."

Thanhawla also said there would be no cabinet reshuffle even after the resignations of two ministers, including Buddha Dhan Chakma.
The current debate over the right to privacy recalls two earlier judgments of the Supreme Court where the apex court held that privacy was not a fundamental right. These two cases  MP Sharma vs Satish Chandra in 1954 and Kharak Singh vs State of Uttar Pradesh in 1962  are likely to play a crucial role in Supreme Court's verdict on right to privacy.

Its importance was highlighted during the discussion on the challenge to Aaadhar Act, in which, according to the Indian Express, the recorded statement of the apex court said, It is essential for us to determine whether there is a fundamental right to privacy in the Indian Constitution. Determination of the question would essentially entail whether the decisions in MP Sharma by an eight-judge bench and Kharak Singh by a six-judge bench that there is no such fundamental right is the correct expression of constitutional provisions."

In fact, Chief Justice of India JS Khehar remarked that until the issue is settled, they cant go forward. Here's a detailed analysis of the two cases, and how they may impact the verdict today.

The case of MP Sharma vs Satish Chandra (15 March, 1954)

MP Sharma's case was related to the search of documents of Dalmia group companies following investigations into the business of Dalmia Jain Airways Ltd. The group was registered in July 1946 and liquidated in June 1952. An investigation revealed malpractices within the company and highlighted attempts from shareholders to hide actual details by submitting false balance sheets. An FIR was registered on 19 November, 1953, and the district magistrate of Delhi received a request for search warrants.

A report by Livemint said the post-independence case involved a challenge to the constitutionality of search and seizure of documents from a person against whom a first information report (FIR) has been lodged.

The main issue that was considered was whether such procedures were violative of Article 19 (1) (f) (right to property) and Article 20 (3) (right against self-incrimination) of the Constitution. The judges were to ascertain if there were any constitutional limitations to the governments right to search and seizure and if this would in any way breach the right to privacy.

Since the concept of privacy was relatively new, the bench did not focus much on details. The concept was expanded in the following years.

In its judgment, the eight-judge bench comprising the then Chief Justice Mehar Chand Mahajan and Justices B Jagannadhadas, BK Mukherjea, Natwarlal H Bhagwati, Ghulam Hasan, TL Venkatarama Aiyyar, Sudhi Ranjan Das and Vivian Bose said a power of search and seizure is, in any system of jurisprudence, an overriding power of the State for the protection of social security and that power is necessarily regulated by law. When the Constitution makers have thought fit not to subject such regulation to constitutional limitations by recognition of the fundamental right to privacy, analogous to the American Fourth Amendment, there is no justification for importing into it, a totally different fundamental right by some process of strained construction.

Kharak Singh vs State of Uttar Pradesh - 18 December, 1962

The Livemint report said, Kharak Singh vs State of Uttar Pradesh's case brought to court the issue of state surveillance as against the right to privacy. Kharak Singh, an accused in dacoity case was let off due to the lack of evidence and challenged regular surveillance by police authorities on the grounds of infringement of his fundamental rights.

Provisions of the Uttar Pradesh police regulations allowed domiciliary visits at night, secret picketing of Singhs house, tracking/verifying his movement and periodic inquiries by officers. Singh filed a writ petition before the Supreme Court saying that this was an infringement of his fundamental rights.

A six-judge bench examined the issue of surveillance and regulations validity governing the Uttar Pradesh police. The main question was whether surveillance under the Uttar Pradesh police regulations constituted an infringement of the citizens fundamental rights as guaranteed by the Constitution.

Police authorities maintained the regulations did not infringe upon fundamental freedoms and even if they did, they served as reasonable restrictions for the general public's interests and for the efficient discharge of police duty.

In a significant judgment, the court ruled that privacy was not a guaranteed constitutional right. It, however, held that Article 21 (right to life) was the repository of residuary personal rights and recognised the common law right to privacy. However, the provision allowing domiciliary visits was called unconstitutional. It pointed out that fundamental rights under privacy were mutually exclusive and self-contained.

Justice Subbarao was a dissenting voice who, however, said that even though the right to privacy was not recognised as a fundamental right, it was essential to personal liberty under Article 21. He also held all surveillance measures to be unconstitutional.

In both the cases, the Supreme Court had stated that the right to privacy did not exist under the Indian Constitution.
HARRISBURG  A Pennsylvania man has been jailed on charges he set fire to an unmarked police car after officers responded to a fight involving armed men.

Harrisburg police say 21-year-old Omar Rivera was found with one officer's unspecified personal effects in his pocket when police arrested him Tuesday night. They've also charged him with burning the cruiser the items were stored in.

Police responded when two other men with Rivera allegedly pulled guns during a dispute with a woman. When all three suspects ran away, police gave chase, only to learn a short time later their cruiser was stolen and seen burning a short distance away.

Online court records don't list an attorney for Rivera who remained in the Dauphin County jail Thursday with the others. He's charged with arson and other crimes.
Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who is here on a five-day state visit, was accorded a ceremonial welcome on Thursday.

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi received Deuba before the guard of honour at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Later in the day, Deuba will hold delegation-level talks with Modi. Following which, the two leaders will remote launch power transmission lines from India to Nepal.

Some agreements are also expected to be signed following the talks.

Deuba will call on Kovind and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu while Union Ministers Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley will call on the visiting dignitary, who is accompanied by a high-level delegation.

Apart from his official engagements in New Delhi, Deuba will also visit Hyderabad, Tirupati and Bodh Gaya.

Deuba's visit, his first abroad after assuming office in June, comes days after Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang was in Nepal during which the two sides inked several major agreements to boost energy and economic ties.

The visit also comes amid the Doklam standoff between the Indian and Chinese troops that has led to escalation in tension between New Delhi and Beijing.
Bengaluru: Days after the Gorakhpur incident, the Karnataka health department has said 90 infant deaths were reported from a district hospital in Kolar since January, of 1,053 babies admitted.

A report in this regard was submitted by the director, health and family welfare services, to the principal secretary yesterday after three newborns died at the SNR district hospital on Monday (21 August), triggering panic among the parents of the infants admitted.

Attributing the deaths to "congenital anomalies and low birth weight", the report said prima facie, there was no negligence on the part of the hospital.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had sought a detailed report from the health department, following the death of the newborns.

The hospital had recorded 82 infant deaths in 2016.

Pointing out that the number of successful deliveries at the hospital had been increasing post 2016, the report said it was now conducting 350 deliveries per month on an average, compared to 150 in 2015.

State Human Rights and Child Rights Commission officials had visited the hospital on Thursday to take stock of the situation.

Opposition BJP on Thursday said it had constituted a 12-member fact-finding team to study and ascertain the reasons and causes behind the death of infants at government hospitals in Kolar and other parts of the state.

Appointing senior party leader Suresh Kumar as the convener of the committee, state BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa, in a statement, accused the government of showing apathy towards such cases earlier.

Earlier this month, the death of over 60 infants was reported from a state-run hospital in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, due to an alleged shortage of oxygen supply. The incident had sent shockwaves throughout the country.
Even hours after the nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court gave a historic verdict in the Right to Privacy case, the nation still awaits a response from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his council of ministers.

While Modi was prompt in supporting the triple talaq verdict, calling it 'historic' just minutes after the ruling, he is yet to issue a statement on the Right to Privacy ruling of Thursday.

Judgment of the Hon'ble SC on Triple Talaq is historic. It grants equality to Muslim women and is a powerful measure for women empowerment.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 22, 2017

The only official response from the government has come from Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

"Narendra Modi government welcomes the judgment and it has been of the view, particularly with respect to Aadhaar, that Right to Privacy should be a fundamental right," Prasad said. "The Supreme Court has affirmed what the government had said in Parliament while moving the Aadhar bill. Privacy should be a fundamental right subject to reasonable restrictions," he said.

Opposition leaders, including Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, have all come out in support of the landmark verdict.

"The Supreme Court judgment on 'Fundamental Right to privacy' heralds a new era for individual rights, personal liberty and human dignity. It strikes a blow on the unbridled encroachment and surveillance by the state and its agencies in the life of the common man," she said in a statement. The silence of the entire cabinet may be attributed to the visit of Nepal prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to India. While Modi has tweeted images with Deuba around the same time when the verdict was declared on Thursday, he has chosen to remain mum on right to privacy.

Pictures from the ceremonial reception in the honour of Rt Hon Shri Sher Bahadur Deuba ji, PM of Nepal. Will hold talks with him today. pic.twitter.com/FlQtXLh8pZ  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 24, 2017

Not just Modi, Union minister Smriti Irani and Sushma Swaraj have also tweeted about Deuba's visit but nothing about the Right to Privacy verdict.

The silence of the government, barring a single statement from Prasad, raises questions on whether it will prove to be a major setback for the Centre and its Aadhaar scheme. Firstpost's financial editor Dinesh Unnikrishnan said that while it is unlikely that the verdict will spell an end for the scheme but the government will now have to reconsider the plan of making Aadhaar mandatory.

The aadhaar programme is more susceptible to questions through existing and fresh litigations following Thursday's verdict and the government will likely have to rework the entire scheme. Noted lawyer Prashant Bhushan had remarked after the ruling, "The verdict on Thursday is a setback for the government."

Attorney General KK Venugopal and former attorney general Mukul Rohatgi had argued in the Supreme Court during the hearing of the case that Right to Privacy is not a fundamental right. "There is no Fundamental Right to Privacy and even if it is assumed as a fundamental Right, it is multifaceted. Every facet can't be considered a fundamental right," he told the bench. It remains to be seen if Modi or any of the other Union ministers will remark on the verdict anytime soon.
The Supreme Court of India overruled its two earlier verdicts and stated on Thursday that Right to Privacy is a fundamental right and is protected under the Constitution of India.

The landmark verdict was passed unanimously by a nine-judge Constitution bench which held that privacy was intrinsic to freedom of life and personal liberty which is guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Here is the copy of Supreme Court's full judgment:

Part 1

Part 2
New Delhi: Home minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday assured Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar of all help to deal with any situation which may arise after a court delivers its verdict in a sexual exploitation case against Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, an official said.

In a telephonic conversation, the home minister, who is in Cholpon-Ata in Kyrgyzstan, took stock of the law and order situation in Haryana in view of a large number of followers of the Dera chief arriving in Panchkula, Chandigarh and nearby areas ahead of Friday's court verdict.

The chief minister briefed the home minister about the steps taken by the state government to maintain peace in the state, and Singh assured Khattar of help, the official said.

The home minister also spoke to Union home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and instructed him to provide all necessary assistance to the Haryana government.

The Centre has already rushed more than 15,000 paramilitary personnel to Punjab and Haryana for deployment in the two states.

Punjab and Haryana police forces are on high alert to deal with any law and order situation, the official said, referring to the court's verdict tomorrow in a sexual exploitation case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Gurmeet Singh.

The case was registered in 2012 on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court after anonymous letters were circulated about alleged sexual exploitation of two 'sadhvis' (female followers) by the Dera chief.

The home minister is in Kyrgyzstan to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Anticipating trouble from the followers of Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS) if their chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insaan is adjudged guilty of rape, the police have temporarily snapped internet services in Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh. The government had initially suspended mobile internet for three days on Thursday as a precautionary measure.

The decision follows credible intelligence inputs that if the CBI court declares Insaan guilty of rape, his followers may resort to violence. Tens of thousands of his followers have already congregated in Panchkula, and the district is simmering with tension.

The CBI court has summoned Insaan on Friday to pronounce its verdict.

Throughout Thursday, social media was flooded with followers of the self-styled godman flooding the internet with instances of Insaan's kindness and benevolence. Hashtags including #ISupportMSG, #DSSians, #RamRahimInsaan, etc. have taken over social media. The Sauda's IT wing regularly posted tweets and exhorted people to not give up on their chief.

A senior officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said teams of Punjab and Haryana police have been asked to examine pictures and videos and status updates put up by supporters. "In such situations, many fake accounts are created and are used to start hashtag trends. These hashtags are also used to get people to gather at one place and then incite anger against the government," he explained. He said the police was taking help from the public as well, and has asked them to report any content that they deem objectionable.

The sources also said the police has formed a special team to monitor internet and check for loopholes, which may be exploited by DSS supporters to get around the ban. They said lessons have been learnt from the Kashmir unrest and the 2016 Jat agitation, in which social media is believed to have contributed to the spread of violence.

The department has put together a team of 25 tech-savvy policemen  all above the rank of sub-inspectors  led by inspector general of police (telecommunications wing) Paramjit Singh Ahlawat to constantly monitor the internet. The team, besides monitoring social media, is also watching out for posts that are inflammatory in nature. Sources said the team has been directed to monitor the internet ban in the districts of Sirsa, Panchkula and Fatehabad.

Ahlawat and superintendent of police (SP) Vinod Kumar have been cocoordinating with telecom companies to regulate internet services. Sources said internet speeds have been slowed down by service providers. An official said the police cyber team spotted inflammatory and objectionable content on a social media platform on Wednesday and removed them before they could go viral.

The state home department said it has asked a team of IT experts to keep a tab on statements "issued in the name of government or institutions", actually posted by people with vested interests to spread rumours. The Haryana Police has also deployed personnel armed with cameras and recording devices, and posted them at sensitive locations in the districts to trash false information and rumour mongering.

The police is monitoring the situation and issuing clarifications via its social media accounts. Take, for example, a tweet from the Panchkula Police. It informed people that an image circulating on WhatsApp and Facebook showing a Panchkula traffic jam packed with DSS supporters was fake. "Below image is false, please pass it to all that this image is wrong and someone is trying to create panic and insecurity in public"

Below image is false , please pass it to all that this image is wrong and someone is trying to create panic and insecurity in public pic.twitter.com/nTTvmCUOxd  CP Panchkula (@CP_PANCHKULA) August 23, 2017

Sources also said over lakh social media accounts associated with the Dera Sacha Sauda are being strictly watched. The Haryana government has also roped in the services of 15 civilian cyber experts to ensure that nothing breaches the internet blockade. A smaller team has been formed at the Sirsa Police to scan through hundreds of videos related to Ram Rahim Singh and the DSS, to identify those trying to disrupt peace.

Sirsa deputy commissioner Prabhjot Singh, confirming the news, said the police will take swift action against those who try and hamper peace.

The Punjab Police has also taken similar steps to maintain peace and harmony. Teams have been set up to keep an eye on the social media posts of Sikh hardliners. The Punjab Police is especially monitoring the districts of Mansa, Bathinda, Mukhtsar, Taran Taran and Amritsar. Punjab director general of police Suresh Arora confirmed the same. The Punjab Police claims to have removed objectionable content from more than 9,000 social media accounts.

Sat Singh is a Rohtak-based freelance writer and Manoj Kumar is a Chandigarh-based writer. Both are members of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters
Chandigarh: The army was Thursday called in the highly sensitive Panchkula and Sirsa districts to deal with any law and order situation that may arise in the wake of Friday's court verdict involving head of Dera Sacha Sauda, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar Thursday spoke to Union home minister Rajnath Singh and Defence minister Arun Jaitley and apprised them of the emerging law and order situation ahead of Friday's court verdict in Panchkula, official sources told PTI. The army has been called in the two sensitive districts, Panchkula and Sirsa, they said.

Earlier, the Haryana government had sent a requisition for deployment of army in these two districts, the sources said.

Thousands of Dera followers have gathered in both the districts in an attempt to show solidarity with the sect chief, who is set to appear before a CBI court in Panchkula which is expected to pronounce verdict in a 15-year old sexual exploitation case.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court Thursday came down heavily on the Haryana government for allowing the huge gathering of Dera Sacha Sauda followers at Panchkula and asked the Centre to immediately provide adequate force.

Officials have also announced that Sirsa city and three nearby villages will be under indefinite curfew from 10 pm onwards as a precautionary measure.

According to sources, Haryana had sought 25 army columns for Panchkula. The force is likely to reach the two districts by tonight, they said.

Earlier, both Union ministers Singh and Jaitley, assured Khattar of all help to deal with any situation that may arise after the court delivers its verdict in the sexual exploitation case.

In a telephonic conversation, Union home minister Singh, who is in Cholpon-Ata in Kyrgyzstan, took stock of the law and order situation in Haryana in view of the large number of followers of the Dera chief arriving in Panchkula, Chandigarh and nearby areas ahead of Friday's court verdict.

The chief minister briefed Singh and Jaitley about the steps taken by the state government to maintain peace in the state, and both assured Khattar of help, the sources said.

The Centre has already rushed more than 15,000 paramilitary personnel to Punjab and Haryana. The two states, where Dera Sacha Sauda has a large following, are on a high alert.
Miniscule fraction.

Since 2013 that phrase has been stuck in my gullet.

In 2013 when two judges of the Supreme Court had recriminalised homosexual sex they had dismissed gays, lesbians and bisexuals as a "minuscule fraction".

That ruling had come as a body blow to the Indian LGBT movement. It set aside the 2009 Delhi High Court ruling that had read down Section 377, not on grounds of pity or to make it easier to do HIV/AIDS work but out of recognition of equality which will foster the dignity of every individual. In 2013, the court not only set that landmark ruling aside and lobbed the ball back to Parliament, the court seemed to dismiss the community as a whole and the "so-called rights of LGBT persons".

It said "The High court overlooked that a miniscule fraction of the countrys population constitute lesbians, gays, bisexuals or transgenders and in last more than 150 years, less than 200 persons have been prosecuted for committing offence under Section 377 IPC and this cannot be made sound basis for declaring that section ultra vires." Justice Singhvi said he had never met a gay person.

More than anything else, I remember how much that stung. There could be a perfectly valid debate about privacy as a Fundamental Right. There could be a valid debate about whether court or Parliament was the proper venue to overturn Section 377. But I had not thought that in 2013, in a liberal democracy like India, we could still be arguing about whether gays and lesbians were any less Indian, or deserving any less of their rights as Indians, just because of their numbers.

I am not a lawyer but to me that phrase "miniscule fraction" was a slap in the face. Its as if the court said that all those who came out, all those who marched, all those who wrote op-eds, all those who tried to sensitise media did not matter. Even those who committed suicide were just not important enough to matter. Or rather there were just not enough of them to be important enough to matter. They did not make the threshold of relevance. That indifference stung almost more than straight-up homophobia.

It was confounding logic as well. As former Justice Leila Seth wrote in The Times of India, it was like saying "the Parsi community could be legitimately imprisoned or deported at Parliaments will, because they number only a few tens of thousands."

But no one would ever say that about Parsis. Or about some sub-caste. Or a tribe restricted to one island on the Andamans. But it was OK for the highest court in the land to brush LGBT Indians aside just like that.

I wish Leila Seth was around today to read the Supreme Court ruling on privacy. It could have just ruled that privacy was a Fundamental Right and left it that. As a Fundamental Right, it was bound to apply to every Indian, LGBT or not. Someone else could have drawn that conclusion. But the court seemed to want to go out of its way to rectify that lasting sting of "miniscule fraction".

It brought that phrase up again. It said that just because LGBT Indians might be a "miniscule fraction of the countrys population" that is "not a sustainable basis to deny the right to privacy".

The court went on to say The purpose of elevating certain rights to the stature of guaranteed fundamental rights is to insulate their exercise from the disdain of majorities, whether legislative or popular. The guarantee of constitutional rights does not depend on their exercise being favourably regarded by majoritarian opinion."

The court effectively told us that we might not approve of gays and lesbians, but that does not give us the right to discriminate against them. If we want to make criminal whatever makes us uncomfortable, we are going down a very slippery slope indeed.

Thats what Subramanian Swamy does not get when he tweets confidently that 84 percent of Indians disapprove of homosexuality. They might but that does not mean a homosexual having consensual sex should be thrown into prison.

The actual 377 case will be heard separately. This court did not overturn 377 or read it down. Rejoicing about that would be premature. The government could argue that 377 is a "reasonable restriction" of the Right to Privacy. But it certainly raised the bar. By ruling privacy as a Fundamental Right, it laid the groundwork for that case. A Fundamental Right can be demanded. Anything less has to be pleaded for.

All of that will be argued by lawyers in the days to come. But for ordinary people like me this ruling gives something far rarer. It restores a certain sense of dignity to a bruised community. It says that in the eyes of the law, you matter equally, no matter if you are one, or one hundred or one million, no matter if Justice Singhvi has met you or not.

At that time I had written, bravely, that the court ruling could not undo the progress that had been made in an India where LGBT film festivals and pride walks are no longer limited to metro cities. It would not snuff out the gay life that had bloomed in the brief Delhi spring after the high court verdict. I remember the Day of Rage protests that had come in the wake of the Supreme Court reversal. I remember being amazed that this was an issue on which Sonia Gandhi, Chetan Bhagat and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar could speak out as one. "You cannot turn the clock back to 2008 any more than you can squeeze toothpaste back into a tube," I had written. The support that the issue received made me think that the Day of Rage was equally a Day of Celebration.

Yet deep inside I could not shake the discomfiture of that one phrase, the injustice of it all. I remember activist Siddharth Dube writing about how he and his live-in boyfriend were hauled into the Jorbagh police station where the officer looked at him with loathing and said You are a homo! You have naked men dancing at your house exposing themselves. Go back to America! You think you can live here but youre wrong." I remember how helpless he felt, how alone.

That was in 1988. In 2018 the officer might still look at him with loathing. He might still call him a homo. But his disgust will not change Dubes fundamental Right to Privacy. Thats the difference.

The battle for 377 itself will happen another day. But for now, lets celebrate this ruling in the name of all miniscule minorities everywhere.
The Supreme Court in a unanimous judgment 9:0 on Thursday declared the Right to Privacy to be a Fundamental Right. It is a big victory for pro-privacy advocates who can now point to the constitutional bench judgment should the right ever be questioned.

However, it important here to remember that only the theoretical Right to Privacy has been established by this judgment. It has removed the earlier hurdles of the cases of MP Sharma and Kharak Singh which had held Right to Privacy not to be a Fundamental Right. However, right at this moment, your day-to-day life remains unchanged.

What the judgment does is to open a bundle of possibilities. Privacy is a wide-ranging concept and now many freedoms could find new life under it.

Aadhaar

First the big one: don't throw away your Aadhaar card just yet. This judgment does not in any way invalidate the Aadhaar scheme. That will have to be examined in a separate case which will look at the validity of the scheme. However, this case does give a boost to anti-Aadhaar arguments which rely on privacy as now the government can no longer say that there is no Right to Privacy.

That being said, Soli Sorabjee while talking to The Economic Times said, "You cannot make a blanket and categorical statement that Aaadhaar will be banned or is unconstitutional. No Fundamental Right is absolute. It is always subject to reasonable restrictions." Thus even after recognising Right to Privacy as a Fundamental Right, the court could still save Aadhaar under a reasonable restriction.

Meghnad S told Firstpost that "Aadhaar might slip through the cracks because an arbitrary restriction like national security might be used. It's about a larger question of privacy right now."

Section 377 and LGBT rights

The court delves into LGBT rights and in particular the case of Suresh Kumar Koushal v. Naz Foundation which had struck down an order of the Delhi High Court which had decriminalised homosexuality. While Thursday's bench left the validity of Section 377 to be decided in the appropriate case, this observation makes it very hard for the court to uphold the Koushal case.

Justice Chandrachud in his judgment (in which he was joined by Justices RK Agrawal and S Abdul Nazeer, and CJI JS Khehar) said that they disagreed with the manner with which the Koushal case dealt with the privacy-dignity based claims of LGBT people. The court says:

"Their rights are not so-called but are real rights founded on sound constitutional doctrine. They inhere in the right to life. They dwell in privacy and dignity. They constitute the essence of liberty and freedom. Sexual orientation is an essential component of identity. Equal protection demands protection of the identity of every individual without discrimination."

In essence, this judgment paves the way for homosexuality to be decriminalised but we will still have to wait for the ruling in the appropriate case.

Data protection

An important aspect of privacy is data protection and now that privacy is a Fundamental Right, new legislation will have to come in to regulate entities who collect data. Mishi Choudhary, a technology lawyer at SFLC.in told Firstpost, "Now that privacy has become a fundamental right, there will have to be legislation put into place which will impose regulatory liabilities on government or private actors who collect data on people's behalf. There will be a need to set up appropriate and detailed standards of care regarding what is done with your data and how it is used."

The first steps for this have already been taken by the government as it has appointed an expert group headed by former Supreme Court judge BN Srikrishna to draft a data protection law.

Euthanasia and abortion

Justice Chelameshwar's observations on these issues merit discussion as they could set the field for greater individual rights in these aspects.

On euthanasia, he says: "An individuals rights to refuse life prolonging medical treatment or terminate his life is another freedom which fall within the zone of the right of privacy." Since the Right to Privacy is now a Fundamental Right, Justice Chelameshwar's words could well support the arguments for euthanasia.

While talking about abortion, he says, "A womans freedom of choice whether to bear a child or abort her pregnancy are areas which fall in the realm of privacy." Given the recent debates on abortion, these observations could help in pushing through a change in India's abortion law.

Marital rape

The judgment can also have an effect on the legality of marital rape. Arguments on the constitutionality of marital rape will be heard on Monday in the Delhi High Court. According to Karuna Nundy, an advocate in the Supreme Court, the recognition of the Right to Privacy should bolster the arguments for a woman's right to bodily integrity.

Constitutionality of marital rape will be heard Mon, Del HC. #RightToPrivacy shd bolster our arguments on women's right to bodily integrity. https://t.co/ThKp8qCQ6W  Karuna Nundy (@karunanundy) August 24, 2017

Judgment not exhaustive

In their own words, the court 'did not embark upon an exhaustive enumeration or a catalogue of entitlements or interests comprised in the right to privacy.' Thus while a Right to Privacy has established, more cases will come up before the court which will challenge State actions and will thus sculpt the actual contours of the right. The judgment does give a boost to the arguments being made for greater individual freedoms in issues like marital rape and LGBT rights. However, until the litigation in those cases reaches fruition, the true effect of the ruling will stay veiled.
A nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court pronounced their verdict on Right to Privacy on Thursday.

The ruling has determined the equation between Indian citizens and the State in the digital era. The right to privacy also impacts the outcome of several cases where aspects of Aadhaar have been challenged, with petitioners arguing that making the scheme mandatory violates Right to Privacy.

The nine judges who pronounced the verdict are: Chief Justice of India JS Khehar, justices Jasti Chelameswar, SA Bobde, RK Agarwal, Rohinton Nariman, AM Sapre, DY Chandrachud, SK Kaul and S Abdul Nazeer.

According to PTI, a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Khehar had said that the larger bench would examine the correctness of the two judgments delivered in the cases of Kharak Singh and MP Sharma which held that privacy was not a fundamental right.

While the Kharak Singh ruling was delivered by a six-judge bench in 1962, the MP Sharma verdict was reported in 1954 and delivered by an eight-judge Constitution Bench.

Here's a profile of the nine judges who determined the way we view privacy:

1) Chief Justice JS Khehar

The verdict comes just days before the chief justice's retirement. After the historic judgment on triple talaq on Tuesday, Khehar is heading the bench that will determine the tenets of the right to privacy.

Having studied LLB and LLM at Punjab University, Chandigarh, Justice Khehar was awarded the gold medal for securing first position in the university LLM examination.

He was elevated as Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court on 29 November, 2009 before being transferred as Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court and then being elevated as the judge of the Supreme Court on 13 September, 2011.

Some of the cases Khehar has heard: National Judicial Appointment Commission (NJAC), the 2G spectrum scam, 'equal pay for equal work' and the SEBI-Sahara case where he was part of the bench which sent Subrata Roy to jail.

2) Justice Jasti Chelameswar

According to Bloomberg Quint, Justice Chelameswar was the head of the bench which delivered the 11 August, 2015 order on Aadhaar referring it to a Constitution Bench. He is also part of the Constitution Bench which will hear the Aadhaar case.

He was the only voice of dissent in a bench which struck down the NJAC. The judge has, on different occasions, voiced his disagreements on the selection procedure for judges, most recently in the Justice Karnan contempt case. Chelameswar was also part of the bench which banned a controversial law which gave the police the power to arrest anyone for posting emails which "causes annoyance or inconvenience".

3) Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde

According to a report in The Times of India, Justice Bobde is known as being a no-nonsense jurist. In legal circles, he is said to be all ears for litigants' disputes and woes and when not in court, he has an ear for Rabindra Sangeet.

Bobde was a part of the three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, along with Chelameswar, and Chokkalingam Nagappan, which ratified an earlier order of the apex court and clarified that no citizen without an Aadhaar card can be deprived of basic services and government subsidies.

4) Justice Rohinton Nariman

Son of eminent lawyer Fali Nariman, Rohinton is a distinguished jurist. On Tuesday, Justice Nariman was part of the bench that delivered the landmark judgment against triple talaq (talaq-e-biddat) where he said, "Triple talaq is a disapproved form of divorce. Even the Hanafi law says triple talaq is sinful."

Not accepting the argument that Right to Privacy was elitist, both Justice Nariman along with Justice Chandrachud emphasised that Right to Privacy was as much sacrosanct to the poor as it was to the elite, IANS reported.

"Please don't forget the little man's Right to Privacy and don't make it Aadhaar-centric. Right to Privacy is a much wider right," Justice Nariman told the Attorney-General, while noting that even the World Bank said that other developing countries should replicate the Aadhaar scheme.

Nariman earlier joined Chelameswar in striking down the law giving the police the power to arrest anyone accused of posting emails or other electronic messages which "causes annoyance or inconvenience". The judges held Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, which made such offenses punishable up to three years imprisonment, to be unconstitutional.

The judges had made the prominent statement: "What may be offensive to one may not be offensive to another. What may cause annoyance or inconvenience to one may not cause annoyance or inconvenience to another.

Nariman also argued the cases for thespian Vijay Tendulkar and the controversial play Sakharam Binder which the senior advocate called the turning point of his life.

5) Justice DY Chandrachud

Appointed as a judge of the apex court in 2014, some of Justice Chandrachud's prominent rulings have been in the areas of constitutional law and the protection of human rights. Chandrachud has written down several articles on human rights and recently co-edited a book titled A Heritage of Judging - the Bombay High Court through One Hundred and Fifty Years on the occasion of the sesquicentennial of the high court.

According to IANS, in the right to privacy case, Justice Chandrachud has said the State can undertake the direct transfer of cash, but the Fundamental Rights of the people can't be taken away. "Your argument that the Right to Privacy applies to the elite alone is wrong, it applies to the poor people as well," the bench told the Attorney-General.

Justice Chandrachud said, The right to privacy cant be defined by the court as its contours are amorphous. He asked the counsel, Can this court define privacy? You cant make a catalogue of what constitutes privacy. Privacy is so amorphous and includes everything from liberty, dignity, religion to free movement.

Elaborating further, he said: If we make any attempt to catalogue privacy, it will have disastrous consequences. Privacy is a sub-sect of liberty and not necessarily co-exists with data protection. Every fundamental right can be subject to reasonable restrictions under Article 19 (2) of the Constitution and the State is entitled to regulate the right.

Citing examples, Justice Chandrachud said, The right to make a decision will not come under privacy. If I decide to co-habit with my wife, the police cant barge into my bedroom. Thats my privacy. Whether I send my children to school or not, is not a matter of privacy.

6) Justice RK Agrawal

Justice Agarwal was the chief justice of the Madras High Court before becoming a part of the Supreme Court in 2014.

7) Justice AM Sapre

Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre was the first Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court and he has also served in the Gauhati High Court. A civil and constitutional lawyer, Sapre joined the apex court in 2014.

8) Justice S Abdul Nazeer

Justice S Abdul Nazeer is known as the third judge in the country to be directly elevated to the Supreme Court without becoming the chief justice of any court. Justice Nazeer, the youngest member of the bench for the right to privacy, was part of the Constitution Bench in the triple talaq case.

9) Justice SK Kaul

Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul has been a prominent voice in upholding the freedom of speech and expression. In 2008, he quashed the obscenity case against painter MF Husain and in 2016 against famous writer Perumal Murugan.

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With inputs from agencies
When the leftists at the Washington Post start offering relationship advice, a Republican knows he could be on the cusp of something big. A recent WaPost headline warned, Trumps baffling attacks on McConnell could be costly to the president.

Cost here is mainly a function of how often Trump is hoping to eat in the Senates invitation-only dining room. Otherwise whats baffling is how long it took the notoriously impatient Trump to sound off.

Trumps marriage of convenience with legislative mastermind Mitch McConnell  Curator of the Senate  has produced less than his relationship with Vladimir Putin.

After six months McConnell has failed to repeal Obamacare, failed to fund the wall, failed to reform the tax code, refused to return the Senate to pre-1970 filibuster rules and dismissed out of hand debating the one change that would do more to correct whats wrong with Congress than any other: Term Limits.

The real risk to Trump and any hope he has for accomplishments in his first term is the status quo.

Currently Trump has achieved the unthinkable: Bipartisan cooperation in Congress. Republicans are blocking what Trump wants to do and Democrats are blocking what Trump wants to do.

Naturally there is division over how to persuade Congress to support Trump. Im sure the general staff, or at least the generals, advocate doubling down on the hearts and minds strategy to win over recalcitrant Congressional leadership.

The alternative to the appeasers long, slow defeat strategy is letting Trump be Trump.

The outsider who said during his inauguration, For too long, a small group in our nations capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost. The outsider who promised to drain the swamp, not stock the White House with reptiles.

The principle obstacle here is Trump. He is our first ADHD president. Moving an inert mass like McConnells Senate requires persistence and focus. So far Trump lacks both.

For example:

On July 27 Trump criticizes McConnell for failure to repeal Obamacare.

On Aug. 8 Trump reverses course and endorses McConnells candidate, Luther Strange, in the Alabama special election.

On Aug. 10 Trump lurches back into drive and says McConnell should resign from Senate leadership.

On Aug. 15 Trump repeats his strange endorsement of Strange.

A tortoise like McConnell is immune to whiplash from this back-and-forth, but it only serves to reinforce what the WaPost says, For some time, it has been apparent that members of Congress do not fear the president.

That must change. Trump needs to play his long game and make opponents pay a price. Trump is holding a rally in Arizona next week, the home of craven media hound Jeff Flake who is conveniently up for re-election in 2018.

Thats the perfect time for Trump to announce hes personally donating $50 million to the Make America Great Again PAC that will be supporting primary opponents of senators who are blocking the platform on which he won the presidency.

He can consider adding Utahs Orrin Hatch and Tennessees Bob Corker to the list. Its important that Trump doesnt make the effort based on these lizards opposition to him personally, but rather their opposition to making America great again.

The primary opponents Trump supports dont even have to win. They just have to make targeted incumbents life a living hell and an example of the consequences resulting from betraying the base.

Could it happen? Yes. Will it happen? Probably not.

The Strange endorsement proves Trumps White House political operation is either second-rate or angling for jobs with the establishment GOP after Trump leaves.

Trump is also notoriously cheap, as his reneging on his pledge to fund his own campaign proved, so funding a PAC to support primary challengers is unlikely.

Im afraid instead of reforming a political system run solely for the benefit of the elites; Trump will wind up being George Bush with an angry Twitter account. Forced to accept whatever crumbs and statist legislation McConnell and Speaker Paul Rino, excuse me, Ryan send him.
The Supreme Court's ruling on Thursday that the right to privacy is a fundamental right was hailed by all circles, including the Opposition parties, noted lawyers and celebrities. The Congress party was one of the first to back the landmark judgment and said that it rejected the Narendra Modi-led government's attempt to whittle it down.

"Path breaking and seminal judgment. A great victory for liberty and freedom. The Supreme Court rejects Modi government's attempt to whittle down the right to privacy," Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted.

#RighToPrivacy verdict is a blow to the creeping advances of those who want to convert India into a fascist police state.  Randeep S Surjewala (@rssurjewala) August 24, 2017

#RighToPrivacy Dawn of a new freedom & decisive defeat for BJP Govt who sought to curb personal liberty claiming right over citizen bodies. pic.twitter.com/9Ri1JCvWQr  Randeep S Surjewala (@rssurjewala) August 24, 2017

Congress leader P Chidambaram also hailed the judgment, stating that the freedom that was won in 1947 has been "enriched and enlarged" by the Supreme Court verdict. "Article 21 has acquired a new magnificence," Chidambaram said.

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy was also one of the first voices to hail the judgment. Interestingly, Swamy was also the lone voice in the saffron party to oppose Aadhaar, terming it a 'disaster.'

Welcome the SC judgment that Right to Privacy is a fundamental Right under Article 21 of the Constitution. Now onto Aadhar modification

Welcome the SC judgment that Right to Privacy is a fundamental Right under Article 21 of the Constitution. Now onto Aadhar modification  Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) August 24, 2017

Biju Janata Dal MP, Tathagata Satpathy, also lauded the 'historic' judgment, adding that the Supreme Court has upheld rights of the citizens when politicians were going ahead with something like Aadhaar. "Aadhaar is a very wrong policy. The Congress party introduced it and the Modi government continued on the trajectory. Both parties were in this together without thinking what it forebodes for the nation. I was one of the few voices opposing it," Satpathy told CNN-News18.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechry also tweeted his support.

We have been opposed to mandatory Aadhaar, data misuse by foreign tech corporates. This judgment will pave the way for securing our rights  Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) August 24, 2017

Popular actor Kamal Hassan said "these are the moments that make India." The Centre had termed privacy as a "vague and amorphous" term arguing that something as non-definitive as privacy cannot be added to fundamental rights. "Nothing ambiguous or vague about it (the Supreme Court judgment)," Hassan quipped in.

SC upholds the right to privacy Nothing vague or amorphous about it. People thank the Honourable Judges. These are moments that make India.  Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) August 24, 2017

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal also welcomed the verdict. "Thank you Supreme Court for this very important judgement," the Delhi chief minister tweeted, minutes after the landmark decision by the apex court.

Prominent lawyer and RTI activist Prashant Bhushan said that the landmark decision will be a "setback" for the government because it goes against its stand on privacy. Senior advocate Soli Sorabjee also welcomed the verdict, adding that it showed the "good approach" of the Supreme Court which does not hesitate in overruling its previous judgment.

The former Attorney General said "it is a very progressive judgment and protects the fundamental rights of the people. Privacy is a basic right which is inherent in every individual."

"The unanimity of the bench in giving this decision shows a very good approach of the Supreme Court. Any judgment which enlarges the fundamental rights of the people should be welcome," he added.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising also expressed hope that the citizens of India would now be protected from any kind of snooping. "It is a day to celebrate... Privacy is fundamental. It certainly has an impact on the day-to-day life. This verdict prevents any kind of snooping," she said.
(Wo)Men are born free, yet everywhere are in chains

 Jean Jacques Rousseau

At 10:38 am on Thursday, nine jurists followed freedom's call, down to Tilak Marg, listening to the wind of change. The nine-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court has unanimously upheld the Right to Privacy, which was soon hailed as a staggering victory by the pro-privacy civil society. When the chief justice pronounced his judgment, it felt like both the longest and shortest 180 seconds of my life.

For a while now, the public discourse surrounding privacy has been guided by, and been within the context of, the Aadhaar debate. However, by no means are the ramifications of Thursday's judgment limited to the access to government services within the Aadhaar regime.

But first, a quick recap

Our legislature and executive have, in recent times, indicated that the Indian populace is not ready to embrace privacy as a fundamental right. The attorney general, on behalf of the Union of India, has reportedly argued that privacy as a right has greater credibility in jurisdictions that are socially, politically and economically developed: A description that may not necessarily be applicable to India.

Besides, the State has contended that privacy is not a legal concept, but rather a sociological notion. If we were to accept the State's arguments as valid  that the existence of an advanced society (the parameters of which may be social, political, economic or abstract)  is a condition precedent for the recognition of the right to privacy, shouldn't being "less developed" make it the State's duty to legally recognise and protect that which society is (apparently) not advanced enough to acknowledge and practice?

Privacy pioneers, on the other hand, have consistently argued, both in this case and otherwise, that privacy is a fundamental and inalienable right granted to individuals, and safeguarded by the constitutional law of the land. They have implored courts to read privacy into the rights under Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution. Per judicial precedent, privacy rights have been seen to encompass within their remit the prevention of disclosure of information imported under confidence. This last part is especially significant today, as our apex court upholds the right of a billion people to their "selves" under Article 21, within the background of a constitutional challenge to a government scheme that creates a centralised repository of personal information, in the face of reported infrastructural and security lapses.

What is at stake

The application of this bench's decision to the ongoing Aadhaar challenge  that's what is at stake. As we wait to peruse the text of the current judgment, it is important to assess the more granular issues related to the biometric-enabled Aadhaar identification process and its confluence with government services. In principle, we are faced with issues of consent. In practice, we struggle with infrastructural deficiencies and an absence of safeguards and accountability.

Free consent is the cornerstone of any progressive democratic society. It is legally the foundation of every contractual arrangement, and sociologically underpins all discourse on personal choice. Even the existing data privacy regime in India, as outlined under the Information Technology Act, 2000, and rules thereunder, requires that data collectors gather and use user information only pursuant to consent. This is critical, because within this context, the user may freely choose to part (or not part) with his/her personal information. The consequence of refusing to share this information is the inability to access the data collector's service/platform. However, choosing to not part with one's personal data is a luxury one can ill-afford, when in the bargain, one loses the ability to access basic and essential government services.

The large-scale centralisation of everything from personal identifiers to financial information, coupled with less than confidence-inspiring security systems to keep the data safe, is probably the greatest concern plaguing those who are sceptical of the Aadhaar process from a privacy perspective. A centralised database that amasses the personal information of the entire citizenry and links it across platforms and services has the potential of being used as a tool for Big Brother-esque policy implementation.

Add to that a Right to Privacy qualified by reasonable restrictions in public interest or in the interest of national security, and we have ourselves a structure of zero governmental accountability. An unaccountable, surveillance-heavy nation-state, where public services are antagonistic to the notion of free consent, one that places itself much higher on the podium than the individual it seeks to serve. It is a recipe for disaster, and this is what makes the Supreme Court's decision a step in the right direction.

What Next

The proof of the pudding is in eating it. Until it is possible to read the judgment in its entirety, I recommend cautious optimism. With the Supreme Court upholding the right to privacy on one hand, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India recommending an overarching data protection framework on the other, and murmurs saying the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is working on a draft privacy legislation, things are getting interesting.

And we must remember that the debate doesn't end with Aadhaar, the validity of which is still under the judicial review of a five-judge bench. It transcends the wide spectrum of judicial interpretation of the freedom of expression under Article 19 and life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. The bench has created a precedent that shall guide the rights of individuals vis-a-vis the State for as long as it isn't overturned by a larger bench or made defunct through a legislative act of Parliament. This judgment, as a direct consequence, puts into motion a chain of events, the impact of which shall be felt across space and time, and today was just the first domino.

In Bob Dylan's words, there's a battle outside and its ragin', and our highest court seems to have finally heeded the call, resolved no longer to stand in the doorway or block up the hall, cuz the times, they appear truly to be a chaingin'.
When the nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court pronounced its verdict on Thursday, declaring privacy a Fundamental Right, it invited much cheer from many sections of the society, including the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community in India.

In its landmark judgment, the Supreme Court said that "sexual orientation is an essential attribute of privacy". "Discrimination against an individual on the basis of sexual orientation is deeply offensive to the dignity and self-worth of the individual," it said.

The 547- page judgement also added that the Right to Privacy and the protection of sexual orientation lie at the core of the fundamental rights guaranteed by articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution.

Justice DY Chandrachud, one of the nine judges, said, "Privacy includes at its core the preservation of personal intimacies, the sanctity of family life, marriage, procreation, the home and sexual orientation. Privacy also connotes a right to be left alone."

Article 14 of the Constitution deals with equality before the law which means the State cannot deny any person equality before the law and equal protection from the law based on religion race, caste, sex or place of birth. Article 15 prohibits discrimination on the basis of the above while Article 21 guarantees an individual right to life and personal liberty.

"LGBT rights cannot be dismissed as so-called rights," CNN-News18 quoted the apex court as saying. This decision affects Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which criminalises sex between consenting adults of the same sex. The Supreme Court in 2013 reversed the Delhi High Court ruling and criminalised same sex relationships as "unnatural" and "against the order of nature" in the Suresh Kumar Koushal versus Naz Foundation judgement, known popularly as the "Suresh Koushal judgement".

In the Right to Privacy verdict, the court said, "The purpose of elevating certain rights to the stature of guaranteed fundamental rights is to insulate their exercise from the disdain of majorities, whether legislative or popular. The guarantee of constitutional rights does not depend upon their exercise being favourably regarded by majoritarian opinion," and added that the Koushal rationale "that prosecution of a few is not an index of violation is flawed, and cannot be accepted", reported The Indian Express.

Anjali Gopalan, founder of Naz Foundation that petitioned the Delhi High Court in 2001 against Section 377, was quoted by Hindustan Times as saying, "I am over the moon."

The report also quoted Gautam Bhan, a professor and one of the original petitioners against Section 377, as saying, "I welcome this judgment. It is a relief to hear sexuality spoken of in the language of rights and dignity."

The Supreme Court had earlier linked Right to Privacy to LGBT rights in a hearing in July, according to The Telegraph, when Justice DY Chandrachud said, "If I cohabitate with my wife, what would be the scope of the right, would it include marriage? Probably yes. Procreation? Probably yes. I may have my own sexual orientation. But the moment we say it is a Fundamental Right, the judgment in (the) Naz Foundation (case) becomes vulnerable. Sexual orientation then becomes part of right to privacy."

The Right to Privacy judgement will affect several cases including Section 377, Aadhaar, beef ban and commercial surrogacy. For the LGBT community, it is a huge win as it will aid their case in the curative writ petition pending before the Supreme Court challenging the validity of Section 377.
New Delhi: Justice DY Chandrachud of the Supreme Court on Thursday created history of sorts when he overruled a judgement of his father, Justice YV Chandrachud, who had held in 1975 that right to liberty is suspended during Emergency.

Justice DY Chandrachud, writing the judgement for four judges including Chief Justice JS Khehar in the right to privacy case, observed that the judgments rendered by all the judges (including his father) constituting the majority in the ADM Jabalpur versus Shivkant Shukla "are seriously flawed".

"Life and personal liberty are inalienable to human existence. These rights are, as recognised in Kesavananda Bharati, primordial rights. They constitute rights under natural law. The human element in the life of the individual is integrally founded on the sanctity of life. Dignity is associated with liberty and freedom," he said.

"No civilised state can contemplate an encroachment upon life and personal liberty without the authority of law. Neither life nor liberty are bounties conferred by the state nor does the Constitution create these rights. The right to life existed even before the advent of the Constitution," Justice DY Chandrachud said on Thursday.

In the judgement in the ADM Jabalpur case, Justice Chandrachud (Senior) had written that the right to personal liberty has no hallmark and therefore when the right is put in action, it is impossible to identify whether the right is one given by the Constitution or prior to its enactment.

Whatever the source of the right and its jurisdiction, the right in essence and substance is the right to personal liberty which could be suspended during Emergency.
Bhopal: Social activist and Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar, who was granted bail in an abduction case on Wednesday, is likely to be released on Thursday evening, informed sources said.

Patkar was granted the bail by the Indore High Court in Madhya Pradesh. She is in a Dhar jail for the last 16 days.

According to sources, Patkar, who was detained following her hunger strike to protest against the government's 'apathy' towards the resettlement of those displaced due to the Sardar Sarovar Dam project on Narmada river, got bail from the Indore High Court on Wednesday.

Amulya Nidhi, associated with Narmada Bachao Andolan, told IANS that the bail order could not reach Dhar jail on Wednesday. Therefore, Patkar could not be released.

On Thursday, the High Court's order would be presented before the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Rishabh Gupta of Kukshi town. On the SDM's instructions, Patkar is expected to be released by evening, Nidhi said.

On 7 August, Patkar was detained by police and admitted to a hospital in Indore. On 9 August, Patkar, after being discharged from the hospital, was detained again when she was on her way to Barwani.

Four cases, including kidnapping, were registered against Patkar. The court gave her bail in all cases and the case of abduction was dismissed.
New Delhi: BJP chief Amit Shah on Thursday said the Congress was engaging in a "false show of jubilation and vindication" over the Supreme Court's judgment holding privacy as a fundamental right, and insisted the verdict was in line with the Modi government's vision and actions.

Referring to "mischievous propaganda", an apparent reference to the Congress' stand that the verdict was a blow to the government, Shah said it needed to be busted as he welcomed the order, saying it strengthened fundamental rights and personal liberty of individuals.

"Those waxing eloquent on privacy architecture are the ones who have ensured India does not have a robust privacy law for decades. Those commenting on Aadhar are the same people who did not provide it a legal backing for years!" he wrote in a blog.

Attacking the Congress, Shah also referred to the part of the judgment that overruled the 1976 ADM Jabalpur case verdict of the apex court in which it had defended the then Indira Gandhi government's decision to curtail citizens' right to approach courts to challenge detentions.

These words should ring a bell to the Congress, Shah said. Taking a swipe at a bevy of top lawyer-politicians in the Congress, he said the party's in-house eminent lawyers should brief their high command on this.

These words hold a mirror to the Congress at a time when it was engaging in a false show of jubilation and vindication, he said.

It is strange that those who snatched away the right to life and right to liberty of millions of Indians by imposing Emergency were standing as guardians of our fundamental rights based on "misinterpretation" of the judgement, the BJP chief said.

"It is equally strange that those who brought Section 66A and championed censoring on the Internet are speaking of liberties and rights," he said.

Quoting the judgment, he said, it has held that right to privacy was not absolute and subject to various restrictions, a point also in consonance with the government's stand.

He also quoted Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's speech in Parliament in which he had said while piloting a bill that "I do accept that probably privacy is a fundamental right".

"Todays (Thursday's judgment is a welcome judgment as it strengths fundamental rights and personal liberty. Our government is committed to ensuring equitable social delivery, particularly to the poor in consonance with todays judgment by Honble Supreme Court," he said.

The BJP, he said, fully respected the right to privacy and expressed confidence that the government will lay down a robust privacy architecture after the Srikrishna committee, which has been formed by the government to propose a data protection bill, submits its recommendations.

The Congress had earlier launched a sharp attack on the government with its chief Sonia Gandhi saying the judgement struck a blow on the "unbridled encroachment and surveillance by the state and its agencies in the life of the common man."
Even though China has threatened not to share hydrological data with India unless it withdraws troops from Doka La, experts say that India can predict floods without receiving information from its frowning neighbour.

Professor Nayan Sharma, a Hydrology expert in IIT Roorkees Water Resouce Development and Management Department told Firstpost that with use of information provided by Global Precipitation Measurement data provided by satellites, India still can keep a tab of rainfall in Tibet where many of the rivers including Brahmaputra and Sutlej originate.

He also said that the possible discharge of these rivers can also be calculated from this data.

"Data about the discharge of the two rivers provided by China would be more accurate, but by feeding information of rainfall collected by satellites into digital hydrological models of the rivers in Tibet, we can arrive at approximate discharge data. This data should be enough to predict floods," he said.

Speaking with Firstpost, Nayan said that there are nine satellites orbiting the earth at a distance of 400 Kilometres from the Earth. These man-made satellites provide real time rainfall data free of cost and present a chance for India to develop a model around without relying on data from China.

"We can always depend on these data to predict floods in real time, which is anyway not much in the Tibet," Nayan said, adding that Tibet gets just 400 to 600 millimetres of annual rainfall as compared to 1,500 to 3,000 millimeters of annual rainfall received in Assam.

"About 18 percent of Brahmaputras water is contributed by glacial melt in Tibet. Most of its water is contributed by rainfall in the Indian territory," he added.

Significantly, Nayan also said that the digital model based on satellite data is low-cost and would take nearly two months to complete. Once complete, the model, says Nayan, would be able to provide approximate data on the discharge of river water in half an hour's time.

In 2002, India and China signed a treaty that binds China to provide India with hydrological data of Sutlej and Brahmaputra rivers, during monsoon. The treaty was last revived in 2013 and it expires in 2018. As per the treaty, during the flood season, China has to share this data on a daily basis.

After the two countries engaged in a stand-off in Doka La, China recently issued a statement that it would not share any hydrological data until India pull its troops out of the disputed area.

The announcement has caused much discomfort in India because it is seen as Chinas water war aimed at impairing Indias flood warning mechanism.

BJP minister hints at China's hand in Assam floods

The Chinese government's reluctance to share water discharge data with India has also raised suspicions in the BJP-led Assam government with Himanta Biswa Sarma, a minister with Assam government, terming it a "mystery" and hinting at a Chinese hand in the recent Assam floods.

Chinas reluctance to share hydrological data itself is a serious issue. It raises doubt that it might have done something," he said while addressing a press meet on Wednesday.

Himanta said that the third wave of floods that inundated the state was not because of rains in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, but because of unknown reasons.

Assam faced three waves of floods this year. The last one was from 1 August which ravaged across 29 districts of the state affecting 25 lakh people and leading to the death of 76 persons.

"Prior to the third wave of floods, there was no unnaturally heavy rainfall in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. From where did the flood come is still a question," the minister said hinting that it might have been caused by a release of water from the dams in China.

Himanta also referred to news articles which state that release of water from the dams built on the rivers originating in China can cause a heavy flood in Assam, Punjab and Arunachal Pradesh.

The Assam minister for health and education also said that data on water discharge from rivers that flow into India from China is crucial for early warnings to get ready with relief camps and evacuation in case of a flood-like situation.

If needed, the Government of India should move United Nations, because as a riparian state India has the right to this data. Moreover, the treaty signed between India and China binds China to provide this data," Sarma said urging the Centre on Wednesday to keep impressing upon China to provide hydrological data about river Brahmaputra.

Earlier we received this hydrological data and were not surprised when there were floods. When Tibet got heavy rainfall, we used to get ready to face the floods. For it takes three days for the rainfall water to reach Assam, Himanta said.

Chinese hand in Assam flood is doubtful

Profesor Nayan, however, refuted the claims that a release in water from Chinese could have resulted into floods in Assam. "China has till now completed construction of only one dam on river Brahmaputra. That dam is nearly 400 kilometres away from Assam. It is doubtful whether any release of water from that dam can cause such a havoc in Assam," he said.

Prior to Himanta's remarks, the Ministry of External Affairs had announced that China will not be releasing hydrological data to India during the monsoon.

However, this may not have any bearing on the recent floods in Assam. RP Das, secretary of the Water Resource Department told Firstpost that his department had never received such data provided by China. "The Water Resource Department never received any such data provided by China. We have been dependent on the data provided by Assam State Disaster Management Authority for flood alert," he said.
The Supreme Court is expected to pronounce its landmark verdict on whether citizens can claim right to privacy as a fundamental right on Thursday.

Delhi-based lawyer Gautam Bhatia, explained in his blog, why a nine-judge bench was established and how this could affect you.

Bhatia argued that around the world, privacy jurisprudence evolved over time and on a case-to-case basis, responding to changes in technology, surveillance, social mores, and ways of being in the world.

"Nine-judge benches are rare sightings, and whatever the court decides, its decision is bound to hold the field for a few generations to come. It is therefore particularly important that the court confine its opinion to the narrowest terms possible, lest, in the absence of any concrete case before it, it nonetheless ends up laying down dicta that will limit or stifle the evolution of privacy jurisprudence for a long time to come," Bhatia wrote in his original post.

So how did this case end up before a nine-judge bench? Bhatia refers to constitutional challenges made to Aadhar scheme on 11 August, 2015 before a three-judge bench.

"The Union of India argued that the main ground of challenge  the right to privacy  could not be raised, because the Indian Constitution did not guarantee a fundamental right to privacy. The Union of India relied upon two early judgments  MP Sharma vs Satish Chandra (1954, 8 judges) and Kharak Singh vs State of UP (1962, 6 judges), which contained observations suggesting that there may not be a fundamental right to privacy. The Union argued that all future judgments  starting with Gobind vs State of MP (1975, 3 judges), which had held that there was a fundamental right to privacy, had been decided by smaller benches, and were therefore not good law. It was in response to this contention that the court passed an order referring the case to a higher bench, and framing two questions," Bhatia explained in his original post.

According to Bhatia, the two referral questions posed by the court were: What was the ratio of MP Sharma and Kharak Singh? Were subsequent cases affirming the fundamental right to privacy correct or not?

Bhatia wrote: In paragraph 17 of MP Sharma, an eight-judge bench of the Supreme Court observed: When the Constitution makers have thought fit not to subject such regulation to Constitutional limitations by recognition of a fundamental right to privacy, analogous to the American Fourth Amendment, we have no justification to import it, into a totally different fundamental right, by some process of strained construction.

Bhatia said that this observation goes to the crux of the State's argument that MP Sharma held against a right to privacy. However, Bhatia argued that to completely understand the observation, it is important to place the case in its proper context. In MP Sharma, the question before the Supreme Court was with respect to the legality of search warrants pertaining to the documents and properties of a company accused of embezzlement of funds, he argued in his post.

Bhatia wrote that one of the grounds of challenge was that the search warrants violated Article 20(3) of the Constitution (the guarantee against self-incrimination). It was in this background framework that the court made the above observation, which reads, in full:

A power of search and seizure is in any system of jurisprudence an overriding power of the State for the protection of social security and that power is necessarily regulated by law. When the Constitution makers have thought fit not to subject such regulation to Constitutional limitations by recognition of a fundamental right to privacy, analogous to the American Fourth Amendment, we have no justification to import it, into a totally different fundamental right, by some process of strained construction.

The court made this observation because, as it recorded in paragraph 3 of the judgment, the Petitioner in the case had argued that the prohibition of searches and seizures was necessarily implied by certain canons of liberal construction which are applicable to the interpretation of constitutional guarantees. In support of this line of argument, great reliance has been placed upon American decisions in which similar questions were canvassed. In particular, the Petitioner had argued that search and seizure of documents amounted to compelled production, which violated Article 20(3), Bhatia said in his original post.

To substantiate this analogy, the petitioner relied upon US Supreme Court decisions interpreting the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution, which states that:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Bhatia said in MP Sharma, the court rejected this argument on the ground that there is no basis in Indian law for the assumption that a search or seizure of a thing or document is in itself to be treated as compelled production of the same. (paragraph 17) And it was in the same paragraph that it made the only observations about the right to privacy that are present in this case.

Bhatia wrote that a holistic reading of MP Sharma, therefore, reveals the following:

The holding of the case is that a search or a seizure does not amount to compelled production and therefore does not in itself violate Article 20(3) of the Constitution.

The court rejects incorporating a right to privacy analogous to the Fourth Amendment into Article 23.

MP Sharma is silent on the question of whether there might be a right to privacy under other Articles of the Constitution, such as 19(1)(d) or 21.

MP Sharma is silent on the question of whether there might be a basis for the right to privacy that is not grounded in principles analogous to the Fourth Amendment.

Bhatia argued that it is important to remember that at the time MP Sharma was decided, the American approach to the Fourth Amendment was a property-based one (see Akhil Amar, Fourth Amendment First Principles, (1994) 107(4) Harvard Law Review 757, 800), and essentially protected persons against unlawful physical trespass from State agents (Olmstead vs United States (1928), upholding a warrantless wiretap on the basis that it did not involve any physical trespass onto a persons property). However, subsequently, in Katz vs United States (1967), the Supreme Court abandoned the theory of physical trespass, and held that the Fourth Amendment applies to persons, not places, and that there existed zones in which every person had a reasonable expectation of privacy, he wrote in his original post.

However, in a trio of cases  Griswold vs Connecticut (1965), Eisenstadt vs Beard (1972) and Roe vs Wade (1973)  the Supreme Court evolved a constitutional right to privacy that was not grounded in the Fourth Amendment. In Griswold  which was a case about whether outlawing contraception for married couples was constitutional  the Supreme Court held that the right to privacy was a penumbral right under the Constitution. A penumbral right was a right that emanated from a textual guarantee in order to give it life and substance (p. 484), and therefore was to be considered part of the textual right itself. The Supreme Court drew out the right to privacy from the textual rights to freedom of association (First Amendment), the guarantee against quartering of soldiers in peacetime (Third Amendment), prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizures (Fourth Amendment), the right against self-incrimination (Fifth Amendment), and the residuary rights clause (Ninth Amendment), Bhatia said in his blog.

The holding in Griswold was subsequently extended to unmarried couples in Eisenstadt vs Baird, and in Roe vs Wade, which was a case about whether outlawing abortion was illegal, the Supreme Court accepted the logic of Griswold. It held that although there was no explicit right to privacy (p. 152), it was implicit in the concept of ordered liberty (p. 152). In addition to the Amendments already invoked in Griswold, Roe also invoked the Fourteenth Amendment (the personal liberty clause).

In Gobind vs State of MP  which, as discussed above, was the first Indian case to hold in favour of a fundamental right to privacy  the three-judge bench of the Supreme Court relied upon Griswold (paragraph 16) and Roe (paragraph 18), inter alia, to hold that there was a fundamental right to privacy under the Indian Constitution, drawn from Articles 19(1)(a) (freedom of speech), 19(1)(d) (freedom of movement) and 21 (right to life and personal liberty) (paragraphs 28 and 32). It is therefore clear that Gobind in no way went against the binding precedent in MP Sharma, Bhatia argued on his blog.

This is because: MP Sharma only rejected importing principles of the Fourth Amendment into Article 20(3)

Gobind was a case that was neither about the Fourth Amendment, nor about Article 20(3)

The right to privacy was in Gobind was based not under Article 20(3), but under Articles 19 and 21

Gobind relied upon American developments in the law of privacy, but not upon American Fourth Amendment law; rather, it relied upon American law that drew out a right to privacy as a penumbral right, which was necessary to make other rights  such as the right to freedom of speech and association  effective.

For this reason, it is clear that Gobind  and the forty years of consistent privacy jurisprudence that have followed it  is not inconsistent with P. Sharma. The ratio of M.P. Sharma is that search and seizure of documents does not amount to compelled testimony under Article 20(3). The ratio of Gobind is that there exists a fundamental right to privacy under Articles 19(1)(a), (d), and 21.

Bhatia argued that the second case  Kharak Singh vs State of UP  also does not stand in the way. Kharak Singh was a case involving police surveillance of a history-sheeter. Various forms of surveillance  with the exception of domiciliary visits were upheld as consistent with the fundamental right to freedom of movement, with the court remarking at one point that it was not necessary to consider Article 21, since there was no equivalent in India to the American right to privacy.

Kharak Singh was decided by a bench of six judges. In Maneka Gandhi vs Union of India, (1978), a bench of seven judges expressly held that in view of the judgment of the bench of eleven judges in R.C. Cooper vs Union of India (1970) the majority in Kharak Singh stood overruled. Kharak Singh, therefore, was no longer good law after R.C. Cooper. Gobind  and all the cases that followed  were decided after R.C. Cooper, and were therefore not contrary to Kharak Singh, Bhatia wrote in his post.

In fact, Kharak Singh was specifically overruled on a relevant point: In Kharak Singh, the court followed the approach to interpreting Part III of the Constitution outlined in AK Gopalan vs State of Madras (1950) where each individual right in the Constitution was deemed to deal with specific subject matter, to the exclusion of all other rights. It was in this context that the court held, in Kharak Singh, that after the constitutionality of the police surveillance rules at issue had been considered under Article 19(1)(d), there was no need to consider Article 21, noting that: the right to privacy is not a guaranteed right under our Constitution and therefore the attempt to ascertain the movements of an individual which is merely a manner in which privacy is invaded is not an infringement of a fundamental right guaranteed by Part III."

It was this exact approach  whereby an impugned law could be analysed under only one constitutional provision  that was rejected by Maneka Gandhi relying upon RC Cooper. Consequently, Kharak Singh does not stand in the way of a definitive finding that there exists a fundamental right to privacy under the Indian Constitution, Bhatia argued on his blog.

Bhatia argued that with MP Sharma and Kharak Singh having been dispensed with  and the forty years of consistent privacy jurisprudence that followed it  need only be considered on their own merits. Bhatia said that the absence of a specific textual guarantee is no bar to a finding that a fundamental right exists.

"Rather, the right to privacy exists because  as held in Gobind  it is an essential element of Articles 19(1)(a), (d) and 21 of the Constitution. There is extensive literature by now (both judicial and scholarly), demonstrating that the freedom of speech, of movement, and the right to personal liberty would be rendered illusory if there was no accompanying guarantee of privacy (consider, for example, the American judgment of NAACP vs Alabama, where the Supreme Court held that compulsory disclosure of membership lists of a politically unpopular oganisation would stifle the freedom of association)," he said.

"It is important to note that the two Constitutions from which the framers of the Indian Constitution borrowed most heavily  the American and the Irish  also did not have a guaranteed right to privacy. In both these jurisdictions, the right to privacy has been read into the Constitution by the judiciary. We have already examined the United States; and in McGee vs Attorney-General [1974], the Supreme Court of Ireland read in a right to privacy as part of the guarantee of personal rights under Article 40(3)(1) of the Irish Constitution. The logic of both the Supreme Court of the United States and the Supreme Court of Ireland was that textually guaranteed rights would be ineffective and without force were it not for an accompanying right to privacy. And this was precisely the logic employed by the Supreme Court in Gobind vs State of MP," Bhatia argued on his blog.

Bhatia said there is no reason Supreme Court, in 2017, to turn the clock back and hold that all its judgments, starting with Gobind in 1975, were incorrectly decided, insofar as they held that there exists a fundamental right to privacy under the Constitution.

Returning to the referral questions, Bhatia said they can be answered thus:

MP Sharma and Kharak Singh do not hold that there is no right to privacy under the Indian Constitution, and to the extent that they do, they are incorrect and deserved to be overruled. The judgments starting with Gobind vs State of MP, supra, and afterwards, which, for the last four decades, have been developing the law of privacy on a case by case basis are correctly decided, and good law.

Bhatia argued that all other issues such as limitations on the right to privacy, the philosophical basis of privacy, privacy applied to horizontal relations, data protection were irrelevant to the case. A particularly curious aspect of these hearings has been a general impression that the court is considering these issues for the first time in its history, and is required to hand down a comprehensive judgment settling all possible issues.

"However, as the referral order was aware, that is not the case. The referral order consciously did not ask the court to rule in the abstract about whether there existed a fundamental right to privacy, and if so, how it was to be defined, limited and understood (as I have suggested above, such an enterprise, in the abstract, is exceedingly perilous). What the referral order did ask the court to do was to examine the ratio of one set of cases, and examine the correctness of another set," Bhatia wrote on his blog.

These two questions can  and should  be answered through a brief, three-paragraph order; everything else should be left to smaller benches of the court to develop, with the benefit of concrete cases before it, Bhatia concluded on his post.

Gautam Bhatia graduated from law school in 2011. He practices law in Delhi and teaches at the National University of Juridical Sciences.
New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday described the Supreme Court judgement on right to privacy as a landmark verdict and said it was an obvious setback for the government which had argued that there was no fundamental right to privacy.

Reacting to the apex court judgement, Congress leader P Chidambaram told the media: "Today we can again celebrate our freedom. Tomorrow, there will be other challenges, other questions and other attempts to invade the right to privacy. We should overcome those challenges too."

Welcoming the unanimous ruling, Chidambaram, himself a leading lawyer, said: "We salute the Supreme Court and many counsel -- senior and junior -- who worked tirelessly, did extensive and splendid research and presented persuasive arguments before the court.

"The judgement delivered is a landmark verdict and will rank among the most important judgements delivered by the Supreme Court since the advent of the Constitution of India."

He said the freedom won in 1947 was enlarged and enriched from time to time by the wisdom of Parliament and the sagacity of the Supreme Court.

The former union minister said the most important fundamental right of a citizen was embodied in Article 21 of the Constitution.

"It is the right to life and liberty. Civilized societies will breathe meaning into that precious right and guard against any erosion of that right."

He said privacy was at the core of personal liberty. In fact, privacy was an inalienable part of life itself. By virtue of Thursday's judgement, Article 21 had acquired a new magnificence.

Replying to questions, Chidambaram said the judgement was obviously a setback because the highest officers of the government argued that there was no fundamental right to privacy. The unanimous nine-judge bench ruling said it was a fundamental right.

Answering queries about Aadhaar in the backdrop of the controversies surrounding it, Chidambaram said the Aadhaar that the UPA government conceived was perfectly compatible with right to privacy.

"Aadhaar was conceived as an administrative tool in order to ensure that the benefits reach the targeted people. It is not Aadhaar that is inconsistent with right to privacy. It is the interpretation of this government over Article 21 which is invasion of right to privacy.

"It is the current government which argued that there is no fundamental right to privacy," he said.

Chidambaram said one had to go through the original papers on which the Aadhaar decision was made. It was mainly intended to see that the benefits of the government schemes reach only the right people and that there was no duplication or falsification.

Maintaining that Aadhaar cannot be the "be all and end all" of all administrative issues, Chidambaram said the NDA government's approach to Aadhaar was totally inconsistent with the UPA government's. That is why, he said, all these disputes and challenges had arisen.
CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury on Thursday said the Supreme Court's ruling that the right to privacy is a fundamental right will have far-reaching consequences in various domains.

"Congratulations to all lawyers, activists, others who fought this government's sinister designs to deny Indians their fundamental right to privacy," Yechury tweeted.

"A far-reaching judgement which will have consequences in various domains, as technology is playing a greater role in our day-to-day lives."

A far-reaching judgement which will have consequences in various domains, as technology is playing a greater role in our day-to-day lives.  Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) August 24, 2017

He also said that the Communist Party of India-Marxist have opposed to a mandatory Aadhaar and data misuse by foreign technology firms.

"This judgement will pave the way for securing our rights," he added.

The CPI-M leader's remarks came after the apex court earlier in the day held that the right to privacy is a fundamental right and is an integral part of the right to life and liberty.
The St. Francois County Sheriffs Department is looking for second man who is missing from the Astral Valley festival over the weekend.

St. Francois County Sheriff Dan Bullock said they are looking for Kyle R. Bevilacque, 28, of Wisconsin, who was last seen at Astral Valley, a concert and festival venue located in northern St. Francois County near French Village.

According to his mother he was at Astral Valley for the weekend and his friends told her he was missing and last seen on Tuesday, said Bullock. They looked for him and couldnt find him. He is described as a white male, 5 foot 8 and 140 pounds, brown hair and brown eyes.

We did issue a check the well-being and missing persons report for Bevilacque in the Missouri Uniform Law Enforcement System, so if he is picked up anywhere they should notify us, said Bullock.

Anyone with any information on Bevilacques whereabouts is asked to call the St. Francois County Sheriffs Department at 573-756-3252 or by calling St. Francois County 911 Dispatch at 573-431-3131.

This is a developing story and the Daily Journal will provide more details as they become available.

The two missing persons reports taken Wednesday are unrelated. The St. Francois County Sheriffs Department located a missing Springfield man after a resident in the area spotted him and called police Wednesday afternoon.

St. Francois County Sheriff Dan Bullock said Ryan K. Duplessis, 23, walked out of the woods and onto Rouggly Road Wednesday afternoon after attending a festival Tuesday at Astral Valley Art Park near French Village.

He thought he was still on Astral Valley property, said Bullock. He had been wandering around out there for a couple days. Hes in rough shape considering the circumstances and we have him at the sheriffs department now.

Bullock said they still dont know all the details at this time of what happened, but intend to find out.

Duplessis was first reported missing Tuesday night by a friend who had been at the Astral Valley festival with him.

His friend told the sheriffs department that Astral Valley workers found Duplessis' shoes, wallet and cellphone on the premises.

The following morning his brother showed up at the sheriffs department to report that Duplessis never came home from the festival. Detectives were working to get as much information they could Wednesday morning into the early afternoon before the call came in that he located.
New Delhi: The landmark verdict of the Supreme Court declaring Right to Privacy as a fundamental right was on Thursday welcomed by jurists and senior advocates who termed it as "progressive" and it was "a basic right".

They, however, said the verdict's impact on Aadhaar scheme can be assessed once the full judgement and reasons given by the court are examined.

Lauding the unanimous verdict of the nine-judge bench, senior advocate Soli Sorabjee said it showed the "good approach" of the Supreme Court which does not hesitate in over-ruling its previous judgements.

The former attorney general said "it is a very progressive judgement and protects the fundamental rights of the people. Privacy is a basic right which is inherent in every individual."

"The unanimity of the bench in giving this decision shows a very good approach of the Supreme Court. Any judgement which enlarges the fundamental rights of the people should be welcome", he added.

Expressing hope that the citizens of India would now be protected from any kind of snooping, senior advocate Indira Jaising said, "It is a day to celebrate."

"Privacy is fundamental. It certainly has an impact on the day-to-day life. This verdict prevents any kind of snooping", she said.

On being asked about its impact on Aadhaar, Sorabjee said the reasoning of the apex court needs to be examined and one cannot say that Aadhaar will now be banned.

"You cannot make a blanket and categorical statement that Aaadhaar will be banned or is unconstitutional. No fundamental right is absolute. It is always subject to reasonable restrictions", Sorabjee said.

Jaising too said what impact it will have on Aadhaar was a separate issue but privacy cannot be compromised after this verdict.

Welcoming the decision, BJP spokesperson and senior advocate Aman Sinha, termed it a "good verdict" but with reasonable restrictions.

"We welcome this judgement. This is a good verdict. The Supreme Court has declared the Right to Privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution. But like other Fundamental Rights, this is also subject to reasonable restrictions. We are awaiting the full judgement", Sinha said.

In a decision that will affect the lives of all Indians, the Supreme Court today unanimously declared that the right to privacy was a Fundamental right under the Constitution.

A nine-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar ruled that "right to privacy is an intrinsic part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty under Article 21 and entire Part III of the Constitution".

Click here for LIVE updates on the Supreme Court verdict
New Delhi: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) welcomed the Supreme Court's landmark verdict declaring the Right to Privacy as a Fundamental Right and expressed hope it would protect the misuse of private data in a world "dominated by corporates".

"The Politburo welcomes the Supreme Court verdict... this landmark judgment should pave the way to protect, in this world of technology advance dominated by corporates, misuse of private data and infringing upon the privacy of individuals," the Left party said in a statement.

A nine-judge bench of the apex court on Thursday unanimously declared that Right to Privacy was a Fundamental Right under the Constitution.

The Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar ruled that "Right to Privacy is an intrinsic part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty under Article 21 and entire Part III of the Constitution".

The ruling on the highly contentious issue was to deal with a batch of petitions challenging the Centre's move to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing the benefits of various social welfare schemes.
Lucknow: The Election Commission on Thursday released the schedule for the by-polls for four vacancies in the Legislative Council of Uttar Pradesh. The vacancies have arisen following the resignation of four Samajwadi Party (SP) legislators  Buqqal Nawab, Yashwant Singh, Sarojini Agarwal and Ashok Bajpai.

The term of Nawab and Singh was to end in 2022 and that of Agarwal and Bajpai in 2021. However, they quit all of a sudden this month. Sarojini Agarwal, Ashok Bajpai and Buqqal Nawab have since joined the BJP.

According to the schedule released by the poll panel, the notification for by-polls to the four seats will be issued on 29 August, the last date of filing nominations is 5 September, the scrutiny of the nominations would be done the next day and the last date of withdrawal of candidature is 8 September, 2017.

Polling will be held on 15 September between 9 am and 4 pm. Counting of votes will be done on the same day starting at 5 pm under Secretary with the poll panel Suman Kumar Das said.

The poll process will be completed before 18 September, Das added.

While no names have yet been declared by any party for the by-polls, speculation is rife in political circles that the four seats would be used to send Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma to the state assembly, a constitutional obligation they have to fulfil within six months of assuming office.

Two other members of the BJP ministry in Uttar Pradesh  Swatantra Dev Singh and Mohsin Raza are not members of either House of the state assembly.
Faizabad (Uttar Pradesh): Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath Thursday distributed relief to the flood-hit people of the district.

Adityanath said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed that all possible efforts are to be made to help those affected by deluge in the state. He further said that natural calamities cannot be stopped, but if preparations are made in advance, the extent of damage can be reduced to a great extent.

The chief minister Thursday visited Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Basti and Gorakhpur districts in the state. Toll in the floods in Uttar Pradesh rose to 91 with reports of nine more deaths as the situation remained grim with 24 lakh people affected by the deluge in the state's eastern districts.

Nearly 57,000 people have taken shelter in relief camps in flood-affected districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh where there was no let up in the situation as waters of rivers emanating from Nepal caused havoc in vast swathes of human habitation, the relief commissioner's office said citing a flood report compiled till Wednesday.

The chief minister said that 25 districts in the state are under the grip of flood, and the state government was providing ample funds to provide all possible help to the deluge-affected people.

He directed officials to make proper arrangements for providing meals to the affected people and said veterinary doctors should take care of animals affected by the flood. Adityanath instructed the officials to survey the damage caused by the floods to houses and crops and provide compensation to the affected at the earliest.
Kolkata: The situation in the flood-ravaged districts of north West Bengal improved further as water receded from most of the submerged areas in the absence of major rainfall in the region, a senior official of the state disaster management department said on Wednesday.

There was no report of any death from the six deluge-hit districts. The flood toll has plateaued at 152, he said, adding that distribution of relief material, including cooked and dry food, pulses and medicines continued.

Out of nearly 800 relief camps opened in the six districts of Coochbehar, Malda, Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur, Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri, around 500 are operating wherein close to four lakh people area putting up, he said.

In the worst-affected Malda district, many areas are still under water, but the situation is improving as markets reopened with the receding of water from the inundated areas.

"We are monitoring the situation 24 hours. District magistrate, BDOs are on the job," the officer said. Meanwhile, a senior official of the state agriculture department said nearly seven lakh hectare of farm land of both north and south Bengal has been affected by flood. The estimated loss to the agriculture sector is over Rs 6,500 crore.

In the six northern districts, the state till now has faced a loss of around Rs 3812.4 crore while five south districts has suffered an estimated loss of Rs 2,715.74 crore, he said.

South Bengal faced floods last month.

The official said around 4.23 lakh hectare of agricultural land in southern districts and nearly 3 lakh hectare in northern ones were affected by floods.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier said that the state has incurred an estimated total loss of Rs 14,000 crore because of the floods.

A source said the chief secretary is preparing a report on the estimated loss in the state in floods to be sent to the central government.

During today's cabinet meeting, the chief minister instructed the ministers that there must not be any discrimination during distribution of relief materials, a senior minister said.

Leaders must not favour those who are close to them and all affected people must get relief materials equally, she told the ministers.
Ariyalur/Chennai/Puducherry: Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswami on Wednesday said that unity was the need of the hour to take the party and the AIADMK government forward, amid a threat to his government's stability posed by 18 MLAs loyal to sidelined party deputy chief TTV Dhinakaran.

Senior AIADMK leader and Lok Sabha deputy speaker M Thambidurai, however, dismissed any threat to the government in the wake of revolt by the 18 MLAs, who have expressed lack of confidence in Palaniswami's leadership. He said the state government was strong and there was no division in the party.

On yet another day of hectic political developments in the state, Dhinakaran, nephew of jailed AIADMK chief VK Sasikala, sought to assert his authority by stripping four ministers of party posts while MLAs loyal to him continued to stay put in a resort in Puducherry.

DMK's ally Congress pitched for a floor test in the Assembly, a day after the Dravidian party made a similar demand claiming 22 AIADMK MLAs had submitted letters to Governor C Vidayasagar Rao expressing lack of confidence in the chief minister.

In the 234-member assembly, the AIADMK has 134 MLAs.

Sasikala's brother V Divakaran, meanwhile, claimed the Palaniswami ministry had "lost majority" and sought his resignation. "Such a government cannot continue. Palaniswami has to resign," he told reporters at Kumbakonam.

Thambidurai told reporters in Chennai that the "Tamil Nadu government under the leadership of Palaniswami is strong. There are no divisions," he added.

Palaniswami later made the comments on unity at a government function in Ariyalur where he shared the dais with his deputy O Panneerselvam for the first time after the merger of two AIADMK factions led by them. Addressing the centenary celebrations of AIADMK founder and late chief minister MG Ramachandran, the two leaders heaped praises on him and late chief minister J Jayalalithaa.

Palaniswami said the recent merger of the two factions was done with the aim of fulfilling the dreams of Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa and expressed joy over Wednesday's meeting. The chief minister, facing an attack from the Dhinakaran camp over the merger, stressed on unity to take the party and government forward. "We should strengthen the party and the government like siblings. That unity is the offering (apparently meaning gratitude) we make to Amma (Jayalalithaa)," he said.

Like Jayalalitha, he also narrated a short story of a godman making the residents of a village realise the value of unity. "People will not accept those as leaders who had not done any public service. MGR (Ramachandran) won hearts by public service. Amma later gave shape to his ideas," he said.

In his address at the function, Panneerselvam said Jayalalithaa had turned the AIADMK into "an iron fortress which cannot be shaken by anyone". The "sacrifices" of Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa should be kept in mind to ensure the well-being of the people of the state and its growth, he added.

A day after meeting the governor, the MLAs supporting the combative Dhinakaran, stayed put at a private resort in neighbouring Puducherry. They largely remained indoors. A few of them, including Andipatti MLA Thangatamilselvan, went out for morning walk at the beach there. Police personnel have been deployed outside the resort and media was not allowed to enter the premises.

The local wing of the unified AIADMK burned effigies of Dhinakaran, nephew of Sasikala, near the resort and raised slogans against them.

In a bid to assert his authority, Dhinakaran "relieved" four ministers  RB Uthayakumar, KC Veeramani, MR Vijayabaskar and R Kamaraj  of party posts. In separate statements, Dhinakaran announced the appointments of his aides to these posts and also relieved the district secretaries of Chennai (South), Kancheepuram, Thiruvallore (West) and Pudukottai of their duties.

In the Dravidian parties' hierarchy, district secretaries play a key role in the organisational growth. Dhinakaran also appointed a number of his supporters to various others posts including that of the organisation secretary, besides expanding the office-bearers list. The appointments were made with the "approval" of Sasikala, he said.

The latest shake-up by Dhinakaran comes two days after the merger of the two factions, which has irked his followers. Under the arrangement, Panneerselvam was made deputy chief minister and the coordinator of the party. Palaniswami was named co-coordinator. It was also agreed that steps would be taken to expel Sasikala, which was a pre-condition for the merger.

In the wake of differences in the ruling party, the DMK has demanded a floor test in the assembly to prove that the government was in a majority.

In Puducherry, former MLA Om Sakthi Segar led the protest against Sasikala and Dhinakaran and submitted a petition to the district collector and SP asking them to instruct the MLAs to vacate the resort in the "larger interest of law and order".
Bharatiya Janata Party is all set to blow the poll bugle as the party went into the preparation mode. With a Cabinet reshuffle and major organisational changes already in tow, the saffron party on Thursday also announced its poll managers for each of the poll-bound state. BJP president Amit Shah appointed Union finance minister Arun Jaitley in-charge of the Gujarat assembly polls while handing the responsibility of Karnataka to Human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar.

Arun Jaitley appointed BJP election incharge of Gujarat,Thawarchand Gehlot election incharge of HP. Prakash Javadekar of Karnataka  ANI (@ANI) August 24, 2017

The Gujarat Assembly elections are likely to take place later this year. Elections in Karnataka are likely to be held in 2018. The term of the Gujarat Assembly comes to an end on 22 January 2018. The Karnataka assembly term ends on 28 May 2018. As per ANI, Piyush Goyal was made co-incharge for the elections in Karnataka:

Piyush Goyal appointed co-incharge for Karnataka elections  ANI (@ANI) August 24, 2017

For the Gujarat elections, Narendra Singh Tomar, Nirmala Sitharaman, Jitendra Singh, PP Chaudhary were appointed co-incharges:

Narendra Singh Tomar,Nirmala Sitharaman,Jitendra Singh,PP Chaudhary appointed co-incharges for Gujarat elections  ANI (@ANI) August 24, 2017

With regards to the Opposition, the Congress leadership on Monday asked party legislators from Gujarat to remain united and continue their fight for truth and ideology in Mahatma Gandhi's home state, as reported by PTI.

The report further mentioned that the meeting chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi at her residence was also attended by party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretary incharge of Gujarat Ashok Gehlot, and party's key strategist Ahmed Patel.

Gujarat MLA Shaktising Gohil said that the party leadership told the MLAs to continue opposing such forces unitedly which will result in rallying public support.

The Congress is seeking to stage a comeback after being out of power in Narendra Modi's home state for nearly two decades, while the party seeks to retain Karnataka.
Ahmedabad: Gujarat Congress in-charge Ashok Gehlot on Thursday tore into former party leader Shankersinh Vaghela and accused him of "betraying" the party at the behest of the ruling BJP.

Gehlot said it was a mistake to keep Vaghela in the Congress for two decades.

Addressing Youth Congress workers at a function in Ahmedabad, Gehlot lashed out at Vaghela for "orchestrating" cross-voting during the recent Rajya Sabha polls and triggering defection of MLAs. He said Vaghela was acting as per the instructions of the ruling BJP.

"We now realise that it was a big mistake to keep Vaghela in the party for the last 20 years. We not only gave him respect, but also made him Union minister, president of the state unit and also the leader of opposition in the Gujarat Assembly," he said.

Gehlot said Vaghela had assured that he will work as a "disciplined soldier" of the Congress when he joined the party 20 years ago.

"When he joined Congress 20 years ago, he gave an assurance that he will never leave the party. But, he didn't keep his word and betrayed the party," the former Rajasthan chief minister said.

Gehlot claimed Vaghela had deliberately laid "impractical conditions" ahead of the 8 August Rajya Sabha polls in Gujarat "so as to take forward the agenda of the BJP".

Vaghela had said that he would extend his support to Congress candidate Ahmed Patel only if Gehlot takes back the "allegations" that Vaghela had quit the party because the BJP was blackmailing him in the name of CBI.

"Vaghela knew that Congress will never accept his demands. He was only rehearsing the script given to him by the BJP. Though he had promised to vote Patel, he reneged on his own words. It reflected his double standards," Gehlot said.

Commenting on the exodus of 14 MLAs of Congress in poll-bound Gujarat, including Vaghela, Gehlot said he was more than happy to get rid of such "corrupt and opportunist" people.

"It will not make any difference to the party. Since Vaghela is not in Congress now, he will try to harm our party during the Assembly polls. But, I am confident that Congress will win power this time," he said.

Speaking on the occasion, state unit Congress president Bharatsinh Solanki announced that party vice-president Rahul Gandhi may visit a function of elected representatives of local bodies on September 4.

Vaghela (77), a Kshatriya strongman, had last month announced his decision to quit the Congress. The former RSS volunteer had also clarified that he was not going back to the BJP.

He had headed the Rashtriya Janata Party (RJP) government in Gujarat in 1996, before merging his party with the Congress.

The veteran politician, who enjoys a considerable support in North Gujarat, was expelled from the Congress along with seven other MLAs for voting against Ahmed Patel in the RS polls.

Vaghela, who recently resigned as MLA, has not yet opened his cards on his next political move.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav is trying to project his son and political heir apparent, Tejashwi Yadav, as a leader of non-Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) forces in the 27 August Desh Bachao - Bhajpa Bhagao rally planned by Yadav in Patna.

Tejashwi has been painted as Baahubali in hoardings placed at various places in the state. He also, recently, posted a video showing himself as Baahubali who was killed by Kattappa (Nitish).

The RJD leader has been playing the victim in the Assembly and outside during his statewide Janadesh Apman Yatra, alleging chief minister Nitish Kumar of backstabbing him and insulting the popular mandate by breaking the Mahagathbandhan and forming a new government with the help of BJP-led NDA.

Lalu Yadav, convicted in a fodder scam case, cannot contest elections and is trying his level best to push his 28-year-old younger son as an acceptable leader to non-NDA parties in the state. He has been supporting Tejashwis moves inside the Assembly which has witnessed uproarious scenes over the Srijan scam. Tejashwi, leader of Opposition in the Assembly, has demanded resignation of the chief minister and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi saying the scam took place when NDA was in power in the state between 2005 and 2013.

But Lalus efforts have hit a road block as Congress president Sonia Gandhi, party vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati will not be attending the rally. However, Lalu Yadav tried to downplay their absence on Thursday saying, "Sonia ji is not well but CP Joshi and Ghulam Nabi Azad will represent the Congress party."

Others who will speak at the rally are: Satish Mishra from BSP, Akhilesh Yadav from Samajwadi Party (SP), Mamata Banerjee from Trinamool Congress (TMC), Farooq Abdullah from National Conference and rebel JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav.

RJD spokesman Manoj Jha told News18 that Tejashwi has groomed himself as a firebrand young leader and his speech in the Assembly as leader of Opposition has been appreciated by all Opposition leaders. In our democracy it is important to see who can bring votes for the party. So we all are encouraging Tejashwi to take the fight ahead against BJP, he said.

When asked that if Rahul Gandhi could join Sharad Yadavs conclave, then why not Lalus rally, Jha evasively said representation is more important than a leader. Notably, Rahul Gandhi has not shared the dais with Lalu since he was convicted in the fodder scam in 2013.

Earlier, Lalu had said Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's would also participate in the rally but he later informed his inability to join the rally.

In the midst of all this, the ruling JD(U) and BJP claim that the Opposition is in disarray and the rally will be a huge flop. All NDA constituents have attacked Lalu for not postponing the rally as the state is facing a severe flood situation. BJP state president Nityanad Rai sarcastically termed RJDs rally as Pariwar Bachao - Rajniti Chamkao.

The state unit of the Congress party is also in two minds as the party has already decided to hold a rally in the same Gandhi Maidan in September or October. State Congress president Ashok Chaudhary publicly said that his party did not endorse RJDs demand of chief ministers resignation.

A section of the Congress conveyed to Jyotiraditya Scindia, when he was in Patna amid reports of possible split in the party, that the party should focus on strengthening its base instead of following any regional party which has only eroded its base in the past.
Kolkata: The BJP and RSS on Thursday came down on the West Bengal government for deciding not to allow immersion of Durga idols on the day of Muharram on 1 October and described the decision as 'unconstitutional' and an insult to the Hindu community.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday directed SPs in the districts to talk to Durga Puja committees and Muharram committees regarding holding of their respective rallies and said that there would not be any idol immersion on 1 October.

"This year Durga Puja & Muharram fall on the same day. Except for a 24 hour period on the day of Muharram, immersion will resume on 2 October and will continue till 4 October," she said in a tweet.

Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh criticised the decision as arbitrary and an attempt to appease the Muslim community of the state for the sake of vote bank politics.

"Why will Hindus be not allowed to celebrate their biggest festival? For the last few years, same thing has been happening. The decision is completely baseless and unconstitutional. It has been taken to appease the Muslim community of the state," Ghosh said.

According to state BJP leadership, the party is planning to seek a legal opinion about the decision.

West Bengal RSS unit is also unhappy with the decision and said the Hindus of Bengal would not abide by such decisions of the government.

"The Hindus of the state will not abide by such decisions. Every year same thing happens. My question is every puja committee needs to take permission from the police, but how many police permissions have actually been taken to take out Muharram processions? I would request the police to come out with the data," RSS spokesperson Jishnu Basu said.
When most people think about quilting they see it as an old-fashioned, dying art. But the Dixie Lee Quilters' Guild in Fredericktown wants to change that.

Guild President Belinda Smith explained that the definition of quilting is a creative way of putting material together to make a covering.

It is clear that the guild always has a charity project going on.

Right now we are involved in making veterans quilts for the nursing home and we are also making 11 twin quilts for Camp Hope, said Smith. We will deliver them on Veterans Day.

Mildred Porter added, when you donate a quilt it means more than just making a donation because it is made with love.

As part of their Christmas project they are creating sewing kits to donate to the 4-H girls who are wanting to learn how to sew. They discussed creative ways to house the kits last week. It was easy to see how much love they have for the art and for each other.

We are trying to get new people into it. That is why we are going in conjunction with 4-H sewers, Smith said. We can go to 4-H and put a program on for them.

Quilting skills were not something any of them had learned in school.

This was a skill that was passed down from generation to generation, Porter said.

This makes it even more important to introduce the next group of youth to quilting, Smith added. This is one of the goals of the Dixie Lee Quilters' Guilds sewing kit projects.

4-H was where I learned to embroidery, Smith said. Hopefully these kits will bring forward another generation of quilters.

Smith also explained that if they make enough kits they will be donating any extras to Operation Christmas Child and then finally if any more are left over they will go to women in Haiti.

Starting locally is our goal and then to spread out further and further, said Smith.

The Dixie Quilters' Guild have been around for 16 years and currently have 74 active members. They have monthly meetings at 6:30 p.m. the first Tuesday of the month and have an extra work session in the middle.

This extra day allows anyone to bring projects in that they want to share with the group or need help solving an issue, Smith said. We have a very safe environment for quilters of all skill levels to come and be involved without any fears or judgment.

Smith said that the club does many things to draw in members attention.

We have a basket with a different theme every month. Each member who brings an item for the basket receives a ticket to win the basket and someone goes home with it at the end of the meeting, Smith said.

We also have members choice blocks, block of the month, fat quarter drawings, charm square exchange, and more events throughout the year. Every month we have anywhere from 40 to 70 members come to our meetings and our events are fun for them, said Smith.

The membership has a wide net among the area.

We have members from Farmington, Bismarck, Perryville, Festus, Arnold, Patton, Ste. Genevieve, Ironton, and all over, Smith said Our Vice President Diane Thompson does a great job bringing in speakers and creating retreats to draw in membership.

Quilting has changed over the years. My grandmother hand made quilts out of colorful flower sacks in the late 1920s, Porter said, now the possibilities are endless.

Quilting can offer similar benefits as the adult coloring trend. They both create an environment perfect for mindfulness. This is when you shut out all distractions and focus on the moment.

Quilting allows you to think about each part individually or just get lost in the motions of stitching causing you to forget about the stress and worries of the day. Smith said it is relaxing to work with your hands and only focus on the quilt.

According to the American Psychological Association mindfulness has benefits which include stress reduction, improvements to working memory, increased ability to focus, less emotional reactivity, improvement in relationships, and much more. With society moving faster every day, mindfulness and the activities that help accomplish it need to be nurtured and kept alive.

If you are on the fence about taking up the hobby this would be a great place to start, Smith said Its fun the group gets to see a lot of old and new stuff.

For more information about the Dixie Lee Quilters Guild you can contact Smith at 573-944-3906.
New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure that after the "creamy layer" ceiling for OBC candidates was raised to Rs 8 lakh, the concept carved out by the Supreme Court is "not defeated" and the poor are not excluded.

It also asked the prime minister if consultations were held with other political parties and sections of backward classes on the issue.

"Surprisingly, the government has raised the threshold limit to Rs 8 lakh today. Prime minister needs to ask himself did he consult other political parties or sections of backward classes on the issue," said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.

"If you keep raising the income limit for backward classes, then what would happen to sons and daughters of those who are genuinely poor and are entitled to the benefit of this reservation for which 27 percent reservation was carved out," he added.

"We request the PM to seriously look into this issue so that the concept of creamy layer carved out by the Supreme Court is not defeated and genuine backward classes who are deserving and poor are not excluded in the process for they will not be able to compete with those who are more resourceful.

"As far as reservation within reservation is concerned, we will study the notification in detail and make a comment."

The creamy layer ceiling for Other Backward Classes candidates for securing government jobs was on Wednesday raised to Rs 8 lakh as the Union Cabinet cleared a proposal for a commission to work out sub-categorisation within OBCs for a "more equitable distribution of reservation benefits".
Left to himself, Vidyasagar Rao would have perhaps preferred to have been kept out of the Tamil Nadu Raj Bhavan. For the Maharashtra governor is more in the news for his presence  or rather absence  in Chennai Raj Bhavan, rather than his innings in Mumbai.

His critics point to his well-coordinated arrival in Chennai on 21 August, exactly in time to swear in O Panneerselvam and K Pandiarajan as ministers in the Edappadi Palaniswami cabinet. He was equally accommodating on 6 December 2016, when he administered the oath of office of chief minister to OPS at 1:30 am after Jayalalithaa's demise, without fussing over the unearthly hour.

Contrast this with February when Rao, despite several appeals from the VK Sasikala camp, did not take the flight to Chennai to make her chief minister, even though the AIADMK legislature party had elected her as its leader. That is what led to suspicion that Rao was acting on instructions of the BJP leadership in New Delhi, given his past as a leader of the party from Telangana. Rao had cut his teeth as the leader of the BJP in united Andhra Pradesh and also served in AB Vajpayee's team as minister of state for home and commerce.

Rao at that time took refuge in the argument that it would be prudent to wait for the Supreme Court verdict in the disproportionate assets case in which Sasikala was one of the accused. He was vindicated when Sasikala was sent to prison and it seemed as if Rao had saved Tamil Nadu from the humiliation of a chief minister being convicted by the apex court.

Like most, Rao would have expected that the crisis in Tamil Nadu would blow over once the EPS and OPS factions merged. But he had not factored TTV Dhinakaran's hold over the legislators. With 19 MLAs rebelling and handing over letters stating they had lost confidence in EPS as chief minister, Rao realised Tamil Nadu continues to be a political TurmoilNadu.

Since a significant number of legislators trooped into Raj Bhavan on Tuesday morning, Rao would have ideally been expected to stay put in Chennai Raj Bhavan and consulted constitutional experts on what he should do under the circumstances. The writing is on the wall that the EPS government is in a numerical minority and that it would need to lure some of the rebel legislators, with perks of all kinds, in order to cross the half way mark of 118 in a 235 member House.

That Rao chose to return to Mumbai the morning after the swearing-in ceremony pointed to a deliberate design to stay away from the line of fire. It was reminiscent of PV Narasimha Rao who believed that "even not taking a decision is a decision". Incidentally, Vidyasagar Rao hails from Karimnagar district, which is also home to Narasimha Rao's ancestral home in Vangara village.

Sources close to Raj Bhavan indicate that Rao is unlikely to act immediately on the letters given by the 19 legislators from the Dhinakaran camp. Nor is he planning to react to the DMK and Congress party's request to convene a special session of the Tamil Nadu Assembly and ask EPS to prove his majority. The indications are that Rao will act only if the number of rebel lawmakers touches levels dangerous enough to topple the government.

The thinking is that what is playing out now is internal strife within the AIADMK. None of the 19 MLAs have asked the governor to get a floor test done. Their public utterances show they are more keen on showing the door to EPS and replacing him with another AIADMK leader. That is not an area of dispute Rao needs to get into.

Since in the last six months, friends have turned foes and rivals have shaken hands again, Vidyasagar Rao seems keen to give the warring factions time to sort out things on their own. While he is aware that he cannot stay quiet for too long, he plans to step in only when the number of MLAs in the rebel group becomes large enough to indicate a non-functioning government in Fort St George. That threshold limit would be around 30 legislators, sources say.

It is at that stage that Rao will order a floor test and even recommend President's Rule if EPS does not get the numbers. "The situation at the moment is not threatening enough" is reportedly the advice given to Rao.

While the NDA government is to blame for not appointing a full-time governor for Tamil Nadu, Rao is clear his primary responsibility is towards Maharashtra. His position is that he will travel to Chennai whenever he needs to, otherwise, Mumbai remains his pit stop. K Rosaiah, his predecessor in Chennai retired in August last year and the Narendra Modi government replaced one Telugu bidda with another but has surprisingly not shown any hurry to relieve Rao of his additional burden.
Reuters

In his first US court appearance on Wednesday, Canadian Karim Baratov pleaded not guilty to charges that he helped Russian agents in a high-profile cyber attack on Yahoo email accounts, his lawyer said.

Baratov, a 22-year old Canadian citizen born in Kazakhstan, was arrested in Canada in March at the request of US prosecutors. They charge he was paid to break into at least 80 email accounts by Russian intelligence agents who masterminded the 2014 theft of data from some 500 million Yahoo Inc user accounts.

Baratov entered his plea during a brief appearance at the US Federal Court in the Northern District of California, lawyer Andrew Mancilla said. His next hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.

Mancilla declined to comment on prospects for a plea bargain for Baratov, who presented himself on social media accounts as a wealthy young man who loved expensive cars. He waived his right to fight the US request for him to be extradited from Canada.

Baratov is the only person arrested to date among four men indicted in the case. The others include Alexsey Belan, who is among the FBI's most-wanted cyber criminals, along with two officers in Russia's Federal Security Services  Dmitry Dokuchaev and his superior, Igor Sushchin.

Yahoo which was a struggling internet company, after a successful stint, was breached back in 2013 where the personal information of more than one billion of its users was stolen.
tech2 News Staff

SpaceX and Tesla founder, Elon Musk, has unveiled a glimpse of a futuristic space suit which he calls the SpaceX spacesuit. Musk put up a photo of the actual spacesuit on his Instagram account.

These suits could be worn by SpaceX astronauts on crewed missions to the International Space Station (ISS) from as early as next year.

The SpaceX spacesuit looks a lot more stylish than the ones we are accustomed to seeing. "First picture of SpaceX spacesuit. More in days to follow. Worth noting that this actually works (not a mockup). Already tested to double vacuum pressure. Was incredibly hard to balance esthetics and function. Easy to do either separately," says Musk in his write up. When referring to double vacuum pressure, Musk is referring to the fact that the suit was tested at a pressure differential of two atmospheres when compared to the outside. One atmosphere of pressure indicates the mean atmospheric pressure at sea level.

SpaceX, along with Boeing, is among the first private companies which have won a contract with NASA to launch humans into space on the ISS. According to Space, crewed flights are scheduled for 2018 and flights to the ISS will happen sometime in 2019.

SpaceX's spacesuits follows up on Boeing's recent unveiling of its new spacesuits for the Starliner Astronaut Taxi. Called the 'Boeing Blue', these spacesuits are lighter than the shuttle-era flight suits. According to Space, Boeing will be the first private company that would be flying humans to space.
Reuters

The engineer fired from Google for writing a memo critical of the company's diversity hiring policies has hired a lawyer who is a member of the Republican National Committee to represent him.

James Damore has not sued Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc, over his termination but said earlier this month he is exploring his legal options. Conservative lawyer Harmeet Dhillon, a member of the party-leading Republican National Committee, said on Wednesday she is representing Damore.

Before his firing, Damore submitted a charge to the U.S. National Labor Relations Board accusing Google upper management of trying to shame him into silence. Dhillon is representing Damore in that matter, according to the NLRB's web site.

Dhillon was elected to the Republican National Committee in 2016. She previously served as vice chairman and chief spokesperson for the California Republican Party. She was a delegate and delivered a Sikh prayer at the 2016 Republican National Convention.

Google fired Damore after he wrote an internal memo that said the lack of women in leadership roles in the tech industry was due to biological differences rather than discrimination. In a letter to employees, Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said Damore's memo violated the company's code of conduct "by advancing harmful gender stereotypes in our workplace.

Damore's memo and his termination became flashpoints in the culture wars with right-leaning writers and websites embracing Damore's stand and those on the left calling his arguments sexist.

Employment lawyers said employers have broad power to fire non-union employees and Damore faces an uphill battle legally challenging his termination.
tech2 News Staff

In a bid to combat data theft, the government is set to release a set of guidelines and standards to device-makers. These especially include Chinese handset makers.

In a report by The Economic Times, cybersecurity standards may be announced in a few weeks aiming at data and information protection. Sources in the IT Ministry suggest that the move comes in order to avoid abuse of information especially to servers which are not based in India.

The move has come post the Indo-China tension which has become intense, off late. As per a report by the Business Insider, the Chinese browser called UC browser has come under the governments scanner, since the Alibaba-owned browser has 50 percent of Indias market share.

According to the report, recommendations to form the guidelines shall be taken from two governmental bodies, the Reserve Bank of India and Department of Telecom. They may also take suggestions from the ISO standards. Data stored in these smartphones vary from financial transactions, user location, emails, and medical records. Since it keeps user's private information it can come in violation to the user's privacy.

The government has already issued notices to 21 smartphone makers out of which Chinese brands like Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, Huawei, OnePlus, Gionee have been notified. Meanwhile, companies like Apple and Samsung have also been notified. One notification has been pressed to Indian manufacturers like Lava and Micromax, as per ET. By 28 August, the smartphone-makers have to send their compliance.

Meanwhile, the government is focussing on the smartphone's operating system, its native apps, and the browser used by these companies. In its notification, it has asked the smartphone makers to list the steps it would take to guard user's data. Infact the government will look into the devices for verification of their security claims if and when required.

It has also warned of penalties under provisions of IT Act 43 (A) in case stipulated processes are not being followed.
IANS

As a dragging Sino-Indian military standoff continues, Chinese smartphone maker Coolpad's Global CEO James Du believes peace will finally prevail and businesses including the smartphone industry will not be affected.

"Both India and China are strategically major countries. I believe in the wisdom of the leaders of the two countries," Du told IANS, a first such reaction by a China-based smartphone manufacturer. He spoke on the sidelines of a smartphone launch.

"I believe that there won't be any major conflict and businesses would not be influenced," Du added as the company launched Cool Play 6 smartphone here.

The Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology last week said it has asked 21 smartphone makers, 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 had taken steps to ensure that mobile phone users have ensured data privacy in the wake of reports of data leakage and theft both domestically as well as abroad.

The government asked the companies to furnish the information by 28 August.

According to Du, since Coolpad fulfilled the stringent privacy requirements needed to enter the US mobile operator market, it was in a position to protect privacy and ensure data safety of Indian users as well.

"We have entered the US mobile operator market. They have the highest privacy protection and data protection requirements. Since we have entered that market, I think we have the ability to protect the privacy and data of the Indian customers as well," Du told IANS.

Chinese brands like Xiaomi, Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, Lenovo and Coolpad are dominating the Indian smartphone market. According to the International Data Corp's (IDC) Q2 2017 report, four Chinese brands make up for 45 per cent of the Indian smartphone market.

South Korean giant Samsung leads the market with 24 per cent share, followed by Xiaomi at 17 per cent, Vivo at 13 percent, Oppo at 8 per cent and Lenovo at 7 per cent.
IANS

Affirming India's priority on data protection, IT and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday said the government does not give the right to release data to anyone, except in case of compelling public interest.

"As the IT minister of the country, I can't give my data or finger print to anyone. The government does not give the right to release data to anyone, except in case of compelling public interest and this compelling public interest shall be affirmed first by the Joint Secretary Home Ministry, vetted by a committee of the Cabinet Secretary, IT Secretary and Law," Prasad told reporters at a press meet here.

He was addressing media persons about the government's stand on the right to privacy following the apex court's judgement on Thursday declaring privacy a fundamental right under the Constitution.

"Let me clarify, the Narendra Modi government is very proud to be seen as India's digital power. And India is today recognized worldwide as an emerging digital power for Digital India, Make in India.

"There are 118 crore mobile connections. There are 50 crore internet connections. India will be a global digital power and we can take good care of our cyber security and safety. I am very happy that all the big international companies are coming to India in a big way. There is Google, Facebook, WhatsApp... they are all welcome," he added

The Supreme Court ruling, by a nine-judge bench headed by Chief Justice J.S. Khehar, will have a bearing on the challenge to the validity of the Aadhaar scheme on the grounds of it being violative of the right to privacy.

Prasad asserted that like all other fundamental rights, the right to privacy is also not an absolute right.

Saying that data protection is one of the key focus of the government, the minister said the government had already formed a committee for data protection.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has constituted an experts committee to study and identify key data protection issues and recommend methods for addressing them.

The committee, headed by the Supreme Court's former Judge B.N. Srikrishna, was constituted on July 31, 2017. The committee comprises members from the government, academia and industry.

"The committee will also suggest a draft Data Protection Bill. Protection of data is expected to provide a big boost to the digital economy of the country," the government said earlier in a statement.
tech2 News Staff

For those who still remain die-hard fans of Samsungs Galaxy Note series, or had purchased the controversial Galaxy Note 7 last year, well Samsung has a surprise for them. The Korean giant started off its Note 8 keynote announcement last night by first thanking the Galaxy Note series users who had stuck around and were ready to give Samsung another chance. Samsung will be offering those who bought the Note 7 a good $425 off on the purchase of the Galaxy Note 8. However, this deal is available only in the US, for now.

According to a report in GSMArena, the Note 8 would be sold to those who had bought a Note 7, last year at discounts of up to $425 (which is close to Rs 27,000). It will be available in the Samsung online stores in the US. This is a huge discount, considering the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is priced at $930 (for AT&T customers) to $960 (For Verizon customers). The catch though is that the Note 8 discount will only be available if you are willing to exchange your latest flagship phone for the Note 8. Well played, Samsung.

While this offer is only available in the US, it is yet to be seen if it would be available in India. Considering Samsung never sold the Note 7 officially in India, there are really slim chances of that happening.

Note 8s pre-ordering is yet to begin, however it is expected to come in stores and online by 15 September.

Samsungs flagship phone comes with a 12 MP dual camera set-up, a first for Samsung. For the US users while it will come with Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset, the international model comes with Samsung made Exynos 8890 chipset. It comes with Android Nougat 7.1.1 out of the box and will be available in Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Maple Gold and Deepsea Blue.

Last year there were instances of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 exploding due to battery defects. After two recalls, Samsung decided to pull the plug on the Note 7.
Nimish Sawant

The Right to Privacy is now a fundamental right.

A nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court pronounced this verdict on Thursday morning. It was a unanimous decision with all the nine judges in favour of the Right to Privacy. The constitutional bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar ruled that "right to privacy is an intrinsic part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty under Article 21 and entire Part III of the Constitution."

The ruling was meant to deal with a batch of petitions that challenged the Centre's move to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing benefits of various social welfare schemes. While the Centre said that the right to privacy wasn't a fundamental right, the petitioners contended that the commercial use of citizens' biometrics and personal data was a breach of privacy. While the judgment given out today was related to privacy, the questions around Aadhaar's privacy debates will be dealt with by a separate five-judge bench which has been hearing the petitions since 2015.

According to Mishi Choudhary, technology lawyer and director at SFLC.in, this judgement does not make Aadhaar irrelevant. "It is certainly not a death knell for Aadhaar. But there were a lot of points related to the Aadhaar Act, which many people were not comfortable with. This judgement, gives more impetus to those who had challenged the Aadhaar scheme," says Choudhary.

Greyhound Research's Sanchit Vir Gogial says that the case against UIDAI is a separate one and there may be a chance that this judgement might not impact that case. "We are yet to find out the specifics on data exclusions and limitations and we can well expect instances where the government is allowed to collect personal data," says Gogia.

For those wondering if this judgement will have a direct effect on data sharing with private companies or websites, it won't. At least not in the immediate future, as we don't have a data privacy law to begin with. According to Gogia, since India does not have a forward-looking Data Privacy act, companies such as Google and Facebook will not be affected severely.

"With consumer apps flooding the market, consumers rarely read the fine print and there is no work around regarding that. Since the consumer is willing to share their information. Personal data is already out via the API exposures allowed by consumers on their mobile apps  again, an area where this opt-in (not often understood or termed as that) overrides any new judgement," says Gogia.

"Fundamental Rights are not applicable against private parties, but only against the state or local authorities according to Article 12. For instance, you can't go to court saying that a website which collects your private data is violating your fundamental right," says Choudhary.

But having said that, the judgement certainly gives incentives to work towards a strong data privacy policy. "There will be a need to set up appropriate and detailed standards of care regarding what is done with your data and how it is used. There is already a Data Protection Bill in consideration. Legislation will be required to implement the fundamental rights, so that in the future even private parties are subjected to regulation," says Choudhary.

Gartner research director DD Mishra believes that this is a landmark judgement in the sense that it will trigger a lot of change and will accelerate the process of creation of data privacy laws. "The judgement should also speed up creation of strong data privacy laws. It will have wider ramifications with the government having to come up with policies, regulations and laws to complement this right of privacy for individuals. Even the consequences of violating the right should be thought out," said Mishra.

According to Mishra, the judgement will affect government bodies or projects collecting personal data. So things such as public CCTV surveillance data gathering, direct marketing, cybersecurity programs, medical industries which collect medical data and so on will be affected.

"It may also affect various initiatives such as smart city or IoT-related projects which gather customer information and gain insights from it. There will be ramifications on on-going projects and future projects will have to take this judgement into consideration and ensure the right measures are taken. There will definitely be higher investments in the security and compliance sectors going forward. The judgement should improve our sense of security as there will be an added pressure to protect data," feels Mishra.

While protection of data is one thing, Mishra feels that there should also be provisions for an oversight committee to monitor how the privacy is being taken care of by public or private institutions.

The 547-page long judgement will throw up a lot more insights in the coming days. But one thing is certain, the judgement is quite a pertinent one in the technologically driven world we are living in. In some way, it puts India on par with countries such as the US, UK, EU where you have strong privacy laws.

Choudhary feels that there is a lot of work still to be done, but it's a good start. "What the Supreme Court has done, is opened a dialogue for creating the framework for recognising privacy as an eco-system. This will definitely help us in framing data privacy laws and making them part of the legislation. It will encourage setting up of detailed rules as to how even governments will deal with user data."
The West County Board of Education will meet for its regular meeting this evening at 6 p.m. in the Board of Education room located at 1124 Main Street in Leadwood.

Before getting into their agenda, the board will hold a tax rate hearing at 5:45 p.m., then recognize West County FCCLA students.

The board will then receive a superintendents report, administrators report, transportation report and facilities report.

In new business, the board will then vote to set the tax rate for the 2017-2018 school year and discuss the management discussion and analysis report for the 2016-2017 school year.

Also discussed in new business will be special education compliance, substitute nurse pay, facility usage requests, high school HVAC bids and consideration of qualifications for substitute applicants.

In old business, the board will discuss fundraisers, capital improvement projects, 2017-2018 calendar adjustment, the Missouri School Boards Association Conference and a Rocky Creek Ranch transition plan.

This meeting will be open to the public.

The North County Board of Education will also meet for its regular meeting at 6 p.m. at the Administrative Office located at 300 Berry Road in Bonne Terre.

The board will hold a tax rate hearing before beginning the meeting.

In the regular meeting, the board will discuss the MSHSAA Manual for Boards of Education and receive reports on enrollment and open house attendance.

The board will then consider an increase in pay for referees and umpires and the approval of a resolution to adopt the St. Francois County Hazard Mitigation Plan.

The board will receive two assistant superintendents reports, the superintendents report, board members reports and discuss future agenda items.
Reuters

The U.S. Justice Department is scaling back its request to obtain a broad swath of data in connection with an anti-Trump website, after critics accused the department of trampling the free speech rights of political dissidents.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia had previously issued a broader search warrant in July to DreamHost, a Los Angeles-based web hosting company, to obtain data about visitors to website disruptj20.org.

Disruptj20 is home to a coalition of political activists who organised disruptive protests during President Donald Trump's inauguration.

The Justice Department said it sought the records connected to the site amid concerns that it helped facilitate the planning of violent riots on Inauguration Day in which more than 200 people were arrested for rioting and vandalising businesses in downtown Washington.

DreamHost resisted the request, saying the scope of the warrant was too broad and trampled on the rights of 1.3 million visitors to the site, many of whom were simply exercising their First Amendment rights to express their political views.

The Justice Department on Tuesday proposed amending the scope of its warrant in a filing with the Superior Court of the District of Columbia Criminal Division, which is slated to hold a hearing over the dispute on Thursday morning.

"The warrant, like the criminal investigation, is singularly focussed on criminal activity. It will not be used for any other purpose," it wrote.

"The government has no interest in records relating to the 1.3 million IP addresses that are mentioned in DreamHost's numerous press releases and opposition brief."

The department proposed asking the court to amend the warrant, and said that DreamHost "should not disclose the contents of unpublished draft publications" or "HTTP request and error logs."

An attorney for DreamHost called the Justice Department's action "a tremendous win for DreamHost, its users and the public."

But in a statement, DreamHost counsel Raymond Aghaian added: "There remains, unfortunately, other privacy and First and Fourth Amendment issues with the search warrant, which we will address in a separate filing and at the hearing Thursday morning.
Rotterdam: Dutch police are investigating possible terror links after arresting a Spaniard driving a van containing gas canisters close to a rock concert which was abruptly cancelled over fears of an attack.

The man "was arrested and taken to the police station," Rotterdam police said, following a tip-off from Spanish authorities. The arrest came little under a week after twin vehicle attacks in Spain killed 15 people, which were claimed by the Islamic State group.

Dutch bomb squad officials "were investigating the van" which was found just two streets away from the Maassilo concert hall where an American rock band was due to play, they added.

Earlier in the evening Dutch authorities decided to cancel the concert by Californian group Allah-Las in Europe's largest port city after a tip-off from Spanish police around 5:30pm about a possible terror attack.

"In the early evening I was warned by telephone that we had received a threat which had implications for an American concert at the Maassilo in Rotterdam," the city's mayor, Ahmed Aboutaleb, told a hastily-called press conference. "This signal came from the Spanish police to the Dutch police," he added.

But Aboutaleb, the country's first Muslim and immigrant- born mayor who has spoken out against Islamic terror groups, added an investigation was under way and "we cannot say now if the van with the canisters was linked to the threat". The four-piece band, from Los Angeles, had been escorted

from the concert hall by police wearing bullet-proof vests.

In a statement sent to AFP, they said they were "unharmed and are very grateful to the Rotterdam police and other responsible agencies for detecting the potential threat before anyone was hurt."

Rotterdam police said that afterwards an officer "stationed close to the venue decided to stop a van that he saw driving at around 21:30 hrs". "The van had Spanish plates and was driven by a Spanish

national. Inside the van were a couple of gas bottles. Whether there is a link with the terror threat is being looked into," the statement in English said, adding "the driver was taken into custody.

The international connections of the cell of mostly Moroccan nationals behind the Spanish attacks are being probed as investigators retrace their movements to France and Belgium.

Spanish police carried out new raids overnight Tuesday to Wednesday after vehicles ploughed into pedestrians on Barcelona's busy Las Ramblas boulevard and a seaside promenade in the resort town of Cambrils. Fifteen people were killed and more than 120 others were wounded.

Spanish court documents have shown that at least 500 litres of acetone, large quantities of nails and detonators as well as gas canisters were found in raids on a house in the town of Alcanar, south of Barcelona.
Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Thursday chaired his second National Security Committee (NSC) meeting to prepare a strategy in response to US President Donald Trump's new policy for the region.

The meeting was attended by senior civil and military officials, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff committee, the services chiefs and Ministers of Defence, Interior, Foreign Affairs and Finance, the News International reported.

Inter-Services Intelligence Director General Lt. Gen. Naveed Mukhtar and National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. Nasser Janjua (retd) also attended the meeting.

Trump announced his strategy for the region earlier this week, harshly criticising Pakistan for providing a safe haven to "agents of chaos".

The US President cleared the way for the deployment of thousands more US troops to Afghanistan, backtracking from his promise to rapidly end America's longest war, while pillorying ally Pakistan, the daily reported.

In response, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Wednesday said that Pakistan was not looking for any material or financial assistance from the US but rather trust, understanding and acknowledgment of its contributions.

The Foreign Office urged Washington to work with Islamabad against terrorism. Statement further said that criticism by US President Donald Trump was "disappointing".
Beijing: Chinese president Xi Jinping said on Thursday that he is ready to make concerted efforts with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in to address the differences between the two countries.

Xi made the remarks in a congratulatory message sent to Moon on the 25th anniversary of the establishment of China-South Korea diplomatic relations, Xinhua news agency reported.

Xi said: "With concerted efforts by China and South Korea, bilateral relations kept developing since the establishment of diplomatic ties 25 years ago, bringing tangible benefits and making positive contributions to regional peace and development in the two countries."

Xi called on both sides to treasure the achievements and said he stands ready to join efforts with Moon to consolidate political mutual trust, properly address differences and push for the stable and healthy development of bilateral relations.

Earlier, Beijing and Seoul engaged in rows over the US anti-missile system Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD), which prompted China to impose a covert boycott of South Korean interests.

While Seoul and Washington say that the system, installed on South Korean territory, was designed to intercept North Korean missiles, China believes its deployment has only escalated tensions in the region.

China also considers the system a threat to its security. It fears that its powerful radars could be used to obtain information from its military facilities and has repeatedly warned that it would take measures to protect its interests.
Phoenix: US President Donald Trump revved up supporters on Tuesday with a defense of his response to a white supremacist-organized rally in Virginia and a promise to shut down the US government if necessary to build a wall along the border with Mexico.

Under fire for saying "both sides" were to blame for the violence between white supremacists and left-wing counter protesters in Virginia on 12 August, Trump accused television networks of ignoring his calls for unity in the aftermath.

"I didn't say I love you because you're black, or I love you because you're white", Trump said. "I love all the people of our country."

Police used pepper spray to disperse crowds after protesters threw rocks and bottles outside the convention center where Trump spoke, police said.

Adopting a glib tone, Trump said many reporters ignored his condemnation of white supremacists, including the Ku Klux Klan.

"I hit 'em with neo-Nazi, I hit 'em with everything KKK? We have KKK. I got 'em all," he said.

Government Shutdown

Funding for the border wall has flagged in the US Congress as many lawmakers question whether Trump's main promise during the 2016 presidential election campaign is really necessary.

But with a budget battle looming, Trump said he would be willing to risk a politically damaging government shutdown in order to secure funding for the wall.

He visited the border region in Yuma, Arizona, earlier on Tuesday.

"If we have to close down our government, we're building that wall", Trump said. "We're going to have our wall. The American people voted for immigration control. We're going to get that wall."

With thousands of supporters cheering him on, Trump also weighed in on another racially charged issue, hinting he would pardon former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Beijing: The US should recognise Pakistan's "important role" in Afghanistan and respect its sovereignty and legitimate security concerns, China's top diplomat told Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, defending Beijing's all-weather ally for a second time in as many days.

State Councillor Yang Jiechi's remarks came two days after US president Donald Trump sternly warned Pakistan against providing safe heavens to militants.

Trump on Tuesday unveiled his Afghan policy and also sought an enhanced role for India in bringing peace in the war-ravaged country.

Yang during a phone call with Tillerson on Wednesday defended Pakistan's role in Afghanistan.

"We should attach importance to Pakistan's important role in Afghanistan and respect Pakistan's sovereignty and legitimate security concerns," Yang said.

Elaborating on Yangs intervention expressing full backing for Pakistan, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told the media that China "valued Pakistans role in Afghanistan issue and respect Pakistans sovereign and reasonable security concerns".

China's foreign ministry had also backed Pakistan soon after Trump's statement.

"(On the) President Trump's remarks on Pakistan, I should say that Pakistan is in the frontline of fighting terrorism, made sacrifices to fighting terrorism, making important contribution to upholding peace and stability," Hua had said on Tuesday.

She had said that the international community should truly affirm the efforts by Pakistan on the matter.

In his policy address on Afghanistan and South Asia, Trump had said the pillar of his new strategy was a change in America's approach to Pakistan, considered a long-time ally of Washington.

Trumps tough speech on Pakistan came as its Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua held talks with Chinese top officials including foreign minister Wang Yi during her maiden visit in the last few days.

Highlighting the importance of her talks, Hua told the media on Thursday that "China and Pakistan are all-weather friends and partners. We have always given to each other support to our core issues and interests".

She also lauded Pakistan's support to USD 50 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) over which India has raised protests as it traversed through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

"Against the current backdrop, we appreciate Pakistani efforts in ensuring security as well as anti-terrorism cooperation in the CPEC," she said.

For her part, Janjua said "Pakistan will not change its policy towards China no matter how the domestic situation varies".

Pakistan will remain committed to the CPEC as well as promoting new advancement in our bilateral relations," Hua quoted her as saying.
New Delhi: US President Donald Trump's new policy on Afghanistan, which says that India can play a greater role, was on Thursday hailed by the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF).

"President Donald Trump's policy announcement on South Asia is a dramatic shift from the previous policy of the US towards South Asia," USISPF president Mukesh Aghi said in a statement.

"For the first time, the US has publicly acknowledged the importance of US-India partnership in the development of a secure and prosperous Afghanistan," Aghi said.

The USISPF is a non-profit organisation focused on deepening business relations between the US and India, and enhancing the strategic relationship between the two countries.

While announcing his new Afghan policy on Monday, Trump termed India as "a key security and economic partner of the United States" and said that developing a strategic partnership with India was a "critical part of the South Asia strategy for America".

He also blamed Pakistan for harbouring "safe havens for terrorist organisations, the Taliban, and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond".

Aghi said that India has played a crucial role in balancing the geopolitical equation in South Asia and has been a "reliable and trustworthy partner" for the US.

"India has been an important ally for Afghanistan especially in infrastructure development, health services and military equipment, however India's contribution had been decoupled from US policy until now," he stated.

"This announcement corrects that anomaly. It will build trust and partnership between the two countries and usher in significant strategic and business impact," he added.
Salzburg (Austria): The European Union (EU) is a "real step" closer to overhauling a controversial rule on detached workers, after talks with leaders from eastern and central Europe, French President Emmanuel Macron has said.

The so-called Posted Workers Directive allows firms to send temporary workers from low-wage countries to other member states without paying local social charges.

The regulation has come under fire from rich nations like France whose president has described it as a "betrayal of the European spirit".

Macron embarked Wednesday on a three-day diplomatic blitz through Austria, Romania and Bulgaria to drum up support for his ambitious plan to reform the directive at a summit in October.

So far he has faced staunch resistance from eastern and central European countries, but there were signs of a breakthrough after discussions with the leaders of Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic in Salzburg.

"We've firmly expressed our will to find a real compromise in October", Macron said on Wednesday evening at a joint press conference.

Although the issue affects less than one percent of the EU's workforce, experts say the trend is on the rise.

The directive was launched in 1996 to help stimulate cross-border business, at a time when EU members broadly shared similar living standards.
Baghdad: The Islamic State (IS) has threatened to carry out more attacks in Spain if the country does not withdraw from an international coalition battling the terror group in the Middle East.

The extremists made the announcement in a video entitled 'The Conquest of Barcelona' released on Wednesday. It featured two men speaking in Spanish, reports Efe news.

One appeared in military uniform with his face visible while the other wore a ski-mask.

The recording, which is nearly three minutes long, includes numerous images of Spain's King Felipe VI and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy taking part in a ceremony to honour the victims of last week's attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils.

Fifteen people were killed and more than 100 others wounded when terrorists used vehicles to run down pedestrians in the two separate attacks.

Against a backdrop of television footage of the aftermath of the Barcelona tragedy, the men praise the "brothers" who carried out the attack.

"Spaniards, you forget the Muslim blood spilled in the Spanish Inquisition. We will avenge the massacre...that is being committed now against the Islamic State," one of the speakers says.

"With God's permission, Al Andalus (the Arabic name for Spain) will become again what it was, the territory of the caliphate."

Addressing Muslims in the West, the speaker says: "If you can't emigrate to the Islamic State make jihad where you are."

An off-screen voice speaking in Arabic says that unless Spain abandons the US-led coalition against the Islamic State, "we will never leave you in peace".
Doha: Qatar is to restore full diplomatic relations with regional power Iran, its foreign ministry announced on Thursday, in a significant move at a time of diplomatic friction within the Gulf.

A statement from the ministry said Qatar aimed to bolster relations between the two countries, which share the world's largest natural gas field.

"The State of Qatar announced today (Thursday) that its ambassador to Tehran will return to exercise its diplomatic duties," read the statement.

Qatar was also seeking to "strengthen bilateral relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran in all fields", it added.

Doha pulled its ambassador from Tehran in January 2016 following attacks on the Saudi Arabian embassy, spurred by Riyadh's decision to execute a Shiite cleric in the kingdom.

The decision to restore ties comes as Qatar is locked in a diplomatic impasse with Iran's great regional rival, Saudi Arabia, which has accused Doha of ties to Shiite Iran and support for Sunni Islamist extremist groups. Qatar denies the accusations.

On 5 June, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates severed all diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar in what has become the worst political crisis to grip the Gulf region in decades.

Ironically, the crisis may have pushed Iran and Qatar closer together.

Qatar's move may be seen as provocative among those countries which have cut ties, but Saudi Arabia and its allies have not yet responded.

Political and business leaders in Qatar have argued that they have to maintain ties with Iran because of the gas field, which Doha calls the North Field and in Tehran is known as South Pars.

Qatar has also turned to Iran to help food imports as previously most supplies came through Saudi Arabia, which sealed off Qatar's only land border as part of the boycott.
DEAR ABBY: A large portion of conversation in our home has been replaced with the time my wife spends on her cellphone. Not that she is talking on it. It's games and Facebook that absorb hours of her time.

We used to spend evenings working on special projects together, but that is the exception now and no longer the rule. If I ask a question or make a comment, she answers, but we sit mostly in silence.

Must I accept this as the new norm that seems to have swept up everyone and wait for her to tire of this activity? I have gently mentioned my dismay, but when I did she became defensive and said it is HER time. Do you have any advice on how to cope with this? -- MATTERING LESS IN MISSOURI

DEAR MATTERING: Facebook and gaming can be so absorbing that when members sign on for "just a minute," the next thing they know, two hours have flown by. I say this because it has happened to me.

Discuss this again with your wife, and this time tell her you miss the closeness you had when the two of you could share activities and that you are lonely. If she doesn't realize that it is a red flag, the two of you may need professional mediation to reach a compromise, such as a scheduled date night.

If that doesn't satisfy you, look for projects or hobbies you can share with other people with similar interests. You are not alone in having this problem. Taking evening classes might solve it in the short term.

DEAR ABBY: I am a gay man. My boyfriend, "James," and I have been together for nine years with a few time-outs. I'm 59; he's 57. In many ways we have a great relationship and care deeply for each other. Our problem? We are in the same field of employment but work for different companies. He works full-time in a highly stressful position, while I work 20 hours a week and have a great time doing it.

James earns twice what I do. I have no money put away for retirement because I don't earn enough to save. James doesn't like it. He wants someone who is his equal in saving money.

Obviously, our story isn't as simple as it sounds. His therapist supports his feelings. Mine says: "In 2008, when everyone lost their pensions, you didn't see a bunch of people filing for divorce, did you? There are more important things than money."

I don't know what to do. I want to grow old with James. -- MONEY WOES IN SAN FRANCISCO

DEAR MONEY: You two need a different kind of mediation than two shrinks and an advice columnist. From where I sit, you would benefit from consulting a financial planner who can help you figure out if there's a way to put away some money for a rainy day. If you include James when you do, it might also give him some insight.

DEAR ABBY: I am a 24-year-old college graduate who has been unable to find a full-time teaching job, so I'm working as a teaching assistant. My salary is less than average, and between rent, bills and student loans, I am stretched more than thin.

Recently, a woman has been talking to me about nannying for her child after school. She'd like to hire me and have me meet her child in person, and we agreed on an hourly rate. I was excited about the opportunity and looking forward to starting.

This week she told me she wants to report my work for her on her taxes, which means I'll have to report as a freelancer and pay estimated quarterly taxes while I work for her. Abby, this is unheard of in the baby-sitting world! I have been baby-sitting from my preteens all the way through college, and never once have taxes ever been part of the conversation.

My mother says I shouldn't be upset because the woman is doing what she's supposed to as far as the IRS is concerned, but I feel shortchanged. Shouldn't she have been upfront about her intentions when we discussed my hourly rate? Am I wrong for asking her for more money per hour to make up for some of the taxes? -- AFTER-SCHOOL NANNY

DEAR NANNY: William R. Turner, CPA, says your mother is correct. Your prospective employer is obeying the law. She wants you to meet her child, negotiate an hourly rate and hire you as a NANNY, not as a baby sitter. Your new employer should have you fill out a form W-4 and pay you as an employee. Because payroll deductions will be taken out of your gross pay by your new employer, you should negotiate your hourly rate accordingly.

DEAR ABBY: I have been married five years and have two children under 3. I grew up in a large Italian-American family; my husband did not. He doesn't understand the closeness I have with my family. To him, "family" is just the four of us.

He doesn't comprehend the need for my family to get together all the time and feels that during holidays it should only be us. When they are just trying to help us out, he thinks my family is overbearing.

My husband travels a lot for work and gets upset if my family shows up to help out while he's away. Any time the topic of family comes up, we have an argument. He doesn't believe in divorce and refuses to go to counseling. It is causing a strain in our marriage, and I don't know what to do. Please help. -- BETWEEN A ROCK AND A FAMILY

DEAR BETWEEN: You obviously married someone with very different values than your own. Your husband's attitude seems unusually controlling. That he would object if your family comes around in his absence is troubling, because it appears he is deliberately trying to isolate you.

That he refuses to get counseling doesn't mean you shouldn't avail yourself of it. It may help you to arrive at a compromise that will satisfy both of you. However, if it doesn't, you may have some important decisions to make about your future, and counseling can help you do that with a clear head. Then, whether or not your husband believes in divorce will be less important than what YOU think.

DEAR ABBY: I have been taking tap dance lessons for the last five years. It's a class of adults with a broad range of age and experience, which is part of what makes it so much fun. We put on a couple of shows and recitals a year.

I have an issue with a fellow student, and it bothers me to the point that I'm thinking of dropping out. "Marguerite" is a ham. She adds lots of extra flourishes, head snaps, jumps and kicks that aren't in the choreography. She mugs shamelessly for the crowd, and it comes across as more burlesque than tap.

We have spoken to our instructor twice about it, but Marguerite is worse than ever. I hate to quit an activity I love, but I'm embarrassed by Marguerite. It's disheartening to dance the routine as we've been taught, only to be upstaged by this woman's antics. I don't fault her for her stage presence. I do have trouble with her over-the-top hamminess. I just wanted to dance, not compete for the limelight. Am I being petty? -- BROADWAY BABY IN TEXAS

DEAR BROADWAY BABY: I don't think you're being petty. And if others in the class agree with you, get them together and talk to your instructor about it again. Nobody likes being upstaged, and if Marguerite can't be convinced to conform her style to the rest of the troupe, then perhaps you all might be happier if she danced a solo.

DEAR ABBY: I have been in two relationships. The first was with a girl a couple of years older than I am. We were together for several years before she cheated on me and dumped me. I was crushed. The next girl was a few years younger. She did the same thing after we were together a year.

What am I doing wrong? Fidelity is important to me, and they both knew it from the start. How can I avoid this in the future?

I have never been a controlling person. I was always fine with my girlfriends going out with their friends without me if I couldn't go for some reason. (That's how they ended up meeting the other guys.)

The people in lasting relationships I've seen watch each other like hawks, and never allow their significant other to be in the company of the opposite sex without them. Is this normal? Should I be like them? That seems controlling, but clearly, my "no boundaries" relationship style has backfired on me. -- CHEATED ON IN NEW YORK CITY

DEAR CHEATED ON: Few things can ruin a relationship or a marriage like obsessive jealousy can. Watching one's partner "like a hawk" is stifling. It will eventually drive the person away, as you will see as you continue to observe the couples you have mentioned. Please don't try to change the person you are because YOU are just fine.

I believe that in relationships there has to be a certain amount of responsibility. If someone is mature enough to be involved romantically, that person should be willing to admit if things aren't working out. Being cheated on is painful, and being dumped is equally so. Not every relationship leads to marriage, but rather than sneak around to avoid a frank conversation, it's better to practice the Golden Rule.

DEAR ABBY: I am in a predicament. My therapist is great, but sometimes I think she shares too much. Last time I went, she was running late. When I finally got into her office, she told me the previous patient was nonverbal and had painted her nails during the session. Later in the session, she confided that years ago she had been date raped.

Abby, I am in counseling because my father raped me when I was 15 (I am now 24). Her sharing has me worried because I don't want her telling others what I say or do during counseling. Further, her story of the date rape scared me. She described a situation that is not uncommon for me to be in, and it caused something almost like a flashback in me. I think what she did was insensitive, to say the least.

I have nobody else to ask, so what should I do? I'm getting counseling for free now due to my income, and it took months to get set up with a counselor. Should I report her or accept that this was a mistake and say nothing? If I need to report her, how would I go about doing that? -- CONFLICTED ABOUT IT

DEAR CONFLICTED: You should change therapists because it appears this one has more problems than you do. As to what agency you should report her breach of professional ethics to, contact the state organization that has licensed her to practice.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069
Islamabad: Pakistan is not seeking material or financial help from the US, but Washington must trust and treat it with respect, Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa today told the US envoy here, a day after President Trump asked Islamabad to stop providing safe havens to terrorists.

While announcing America's new Afghanistan and South Asia policy  which calls for greater US troop deployment and Indian involvement in Afghanistan  Trump had hit out at Pakistan for offering sanctuaries to "agents of chaos."

The US Ambassador David Hale met General Bajwa at the Army's Headquarters in Rawalpindi, where the latter was briefed on the US's new South Asia policy announced by President Trump, according to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations  the Pakistani military's media wing.

"We can no longer be silent about Pakistan's safe havens for terrorist organisations," the US president had said.

Responding to the invective, General Bajwa said: "We are not looking for any material or financial assistance from the US, but trust, understanding and [an] acknowledgement of our contributions."

According to the ISPR statement, the Pakistan Army chief highlighted the importance of peace in Afghanistan for Pakistan and highlighted the efforts made by the country. He added that such efforts were "not [meant] to appease anyone but [were taken] in line with [Pakistan's] national interest and policy," the ISPR statement said.

General Bajwa further said that collaboration between all stakeholders in the key to bringing the war in Afghanistan to its logical conclusion, the statement said.

Hale said that the US values Pakistan's role in the "War against Terror" and seeks the country's cooperation in resolving the Afghan issue, the statement added. The US ambassador had similarly briefed foreign minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday on Washington's new policy and statements made by Trump regarding Pakistan.

During the meeting, Asif had told the envoy that Pakistan would continue to work with the international community to eliminate the menace of terrorism.
Kabul: The top US military official in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson and US Ambassador Hugo Llorens on Thursday urged the Taliban to lay down arms and end the war.

The rebels were unlikely to win against America's new strategy on Afghanistan and should join the peace process, commander of US Forces and NATO General Nicholson said in Kabul at a joint press conference with Llorens after President Donald Trump late on Monday committed to an open-ended involvement of the US in the Afghan conflict, including sending more troops to the conflict-torn country, Efe news agency reported.

Nicholson called the Taliban "a criminal organisation", who were more "interested in profits from drugs and kidnappings", for which "90 percent of the people of Afghanistan believe a return to the Taliban rule would be bad for the country."

"The Taliban have a simple choice: stop fighting against your countrymen. Stop killing innocent civilians. Stop bringing hardship and misery," said Nicholson.

"We must maintain pressure on the Taliban to join a peace process with the Afghan government to end the war in Afghanistan," Llorens said.

Following Trump's announcement, the Taliban warned the US that if it did not withdraw from the country, Afghanistan will become "the 21st-century graveyard for the American empire".

The deployment of new troops, which could be around 4,000 soldiers, although Trump was yet to specify the exact number, would add to the 8,400 US soldiers already stationed in the country.

Trump's decision marks a complete shift from the policy of former President Barack Obama's administration (2009-2017), which after having deployed around 1,00,000 soldiers in Afghanistan in 2010, had opted for a phased withdrawal of troops.

Both Nicholson and Llorens also urged Pakistan to stop sheltering the Taliban on its territory.

"The dialogue with Pakistan will be done in private and has already started," Nicholson said, adding that elimination of Taliban safe havens was key to the success of the new policy.

According to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction report released this month, the war in Afghanistan was stagnant with insurgents controlling 40 percent of the country.
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This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices.
Hurricane Harvey is gaining strength as it heads for Texas, where it is expected to make landfall late Friday or early Saturday as a Category 3 storm, with winds of at least 111 mph.

Harvey will be the first in nearly a decade to hit the state and the worst since Hurricane Rita struck the region in September 2005, and may become the first major hurricane landfall, rated Category 3 or higher, to strike U.S. soil in 12 years. Wilma was the last in October 2005the storm caused $29.3 billion in damage.

The National Hurricane Center predicts surges of 6- to-10-feet of water, possibly higher if the storm continues to strengthen. Rainfall forecasts are predicting 25 inches or more depending on how long Harvey stalls. Due to the serious dangers associated with the storm, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) encourages residents of areas that could be impacted to heed warnings and prepare for prolonged disruptions to normal services.

FEMA stands ready to support state, local and tribal officials as they prepare for Hurricane Harvey, said Administrator Brock Long. I encourage residents who will be affected to follow directions from their local officials.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts the 2017 hurricane season will be extremely active compared to previous years. The 2016 Atlantic hurricane season caused more than 700 deaths and more than $16 billion in damage.

FOX Business takes a look at the human and economic impact of these deadly storms.

Hurricane Harvey: The Latest

The storm is currently centered more than 300 miles southeast of Corpus Christi and 325,000 people in the region are under hurricane watch. Another 12 million people are under a tropical storm warning, including the cities of San Antonio and Houston, according to Fox News.

U.S. Refineries, Oil Production at Risk:

The Gulf Region accounts for roughly 17% of total U.S. crude oil production. Valero (NYSE:VLO) is among the refineries monitoring the storm. As FOX Business reports, there are 30 or so refiners in the area. Oil production in the Gulf is shutting down, too. Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA), Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Anadarko Petroleum (APC) are evacuating workers from its offshore platforms.

Texas Hurricane History:

The last five hurricanes to hit Texas caused on average, $5.6 billion in damage. The last hurricane to make landfall in the state was Hurricane Ike in September 2008. The storm hit near Galveston as a Category 2 hurricane, causing 20 deaths and about $15 billion in damage. Hurricane Rita in 2005, was the last Category 3 storm to hit the state, resulting in seven deaths and an estimated $12 billion in damage. Fifteen hurricanes have made landfall in Texas since 1950.

Gov. Abbott Readies Rescue/Recovery Money:

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered the State Operations Center to elevate its readiness level, making state resources available for possible rescue and recovery actions. Texas has also preemptively declared a state of disaster for 30 counties on or near the coast to speed deployment of state resources to any areas affected.

Hurricane Season:

The five most intense U.S. hurricanes have all made landfall in a 17-day period between Aug. 17 and Sept. 2. Mid-August through mid-October is considered peak hurricane season, accounting for 78% of days when storms occur. Nearly all major hurricanes (96%)categories 3, 4 and 5have occurred between this period.
The Latest on the launch of a satellite for Taiwan by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket (all times local):

12:01 p.m.

SpaceX has successfully landed the first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean during the launch of an Earth-observation satellite for Taiwan.

The Falcon 9 lifted off at 11:51 a.m. PDT on Thursday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, carrying the Formosat-5 satellite.

Minutes later the first stage separated and began its return, aiming for the unmanned ship named Just Read the Instructions.

Less than 11 minutes after launch, the first stage set down on the vessel, the latest success in SpaceX's drive for reusability.

Moments later the rocket's second stage deployed the satellite into low-Earth orbit.

___

11:55 a.m.

An Earth-observation satellite for Taiwan's National Space Organization has been launched from California.

The Formosat-5 satellite lifted off from coastal Vandenberg Air Force Base at 11:51 a.m. PDT on Thursday atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

SpaceX will attempt to land the rocket's first stage on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean while the second stage continues toward orbit.

The satellite is the first to be fully designed by Taiwan's space agency and is intended to advance the nation's space technology and scientific research while providing global imagery with a wide array of uses.

Its main instrument is a sensor that produces high-resolution black-and-white and color images.
Is there an age at which the dream of home ownership has passed? Absolutely not! However, when you're buying a home later in life, you have different considerations to make or your dream home could turn into a nightmare.

Many baby boomers and even older seniors are becoming first-time homeowners. According to the 2017 NAR Homebuying Report, almost a quarter of first time home buyers were over 52 years old. Thirty percent of all home sales in 2016 were made by baby boomers age 52-70, and 8% of home purchases were made by seniors age 71-91.

With this many older buyers, you're in good company. However, is buying the right choice for you? Consider the following issues when making this decision.

1. Is buying a good financial move?

In 2016, 68% of buyers aged 62-70 financed their home. If you're planning to take out a mortgage to make your home purchase when you're in or about to enter retirement, look carefully at the financial impact.

Consider your financial situation to be sure you will be able to make the payments throughout the life of the mortgage, even if your income drops after retirement or if a spouse passes away. Review any life insurance policies you have for you and your spouse or consider getting insurance.

Even if you plan to keep working, you or your spouse may retire sooner than you plan. According to the TransAmerica Center for Retirement Studies, 60% of retirees surveyed retired before they planned, mostly because of reasons other than being financially ready. If you need to retire because of health concerns or other reasons, will you still be able to afford the house payment?

While the mortgage costs in a conventional loan will remain constant, taxes, insurance, and homeowners' association fees will continue to climb. Be sure you will have funds to pay these fees as they increase over time. It is also wise to make extra payments on the mortgage if possible to pay it off faster.

2. Will this home fit your retirement lifestyle?

Consider why you want to buy a home and what activities you plan to enjoy during retirement. Make sure that you and your spouse understand each other's expectations. If one of you dreams of retirement days spent volunteering and having the grandkids visit the house constantly while the other wants to travel the world, you will likely be looking at very different types of houses.

Are you buying because you are moving to a new location to enjoy your retirement? If so, have you spent significant time in this new location to be sure you love it before making it a permanent home? It would be terrible to uproot your life and move to Florida only to realize you miss your grandkids or you don't really like the heat, bugs, or the company of other retirees.

If you plan to do significant traveling in retirement, consider how much it will cost to pay for lawn care and other maintenance while you are away. Moving to a condo or retirement community that does the lawn care for you may be a better plan.

3. What type of home maintenance is involved?

You may be able to manage your own yard work and repairs when you move into the home. However, as you age you may need assistance with these tasks. Consider the extra funds you will need to hire a lawn service and pay a handyman to do home repairs.

If you're moving into a senior community that takes care of these tasks for you, be sure to understand the additional fees. Since these fees increase over time, ask at what rate they've been increasing to be sure you can continue to afford the payments.

4. Will this home still be suitable if my health declines?

If you're moving to a home you plan to stay in for as long as possible, keep in mind that your health and fitness may change. Choose a home design and location that will be suitable as you age.

Climbing a flight of stairs to a master bedroom may not be an issue now. However, it would be wise to consider a single story home or a home with a first floor master bedroom with laundry on the first floor. Look for a home with updated windows that tilt in for easier cleaning or consider updating the windows when you move.

Remember that there may even come a time when you are not able to drive. If possible, choose a home located near public transportation or within walking distance of shops. It may be challenging to have to depend on friends or family to drive you to shopping or appointments.

Many seniors choose to live with family members. You may consider pooling resources with an adult child to purchase a multi-generational home with an in-law suite. You get constant access to spoil your grandkids, and your adult child will be able to assist with your care if you need it in later years.

The $16,122 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $16,122 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after. Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies.
Royal Dutch Shell, Anadarko Petroleum and Exxon Mobil announced they were curbing some oil and gas output on Wednesday at facilities in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of a storm expected to hit the Texas coast later this week.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued a hurricane watch Wednesday for much of the Texas coast, calling for slow-moving Tropical Depression Harvey to intensify as it nears landfall.

Shell said it was evacuating all personnel from the roughly 100,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Perdido oil and gas production platform as a precaution. Anadarko said it had shut in production and was evacuating workers from its Boomvang, Gunnison, Lucius and Nansen platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Exxon was in the process of reducing production at its Hoover facility in the Gulf of Mexico, company spokeswoman Suann Guthrie said.

The company said it was also working on transportation plans for staged evacuation of its personnel from its offshore facilities, expected to be in the path of the storm, to shore.

The U.S. Gulf of Mexico is home to about 17 percent of the nation's crude oil output and 5 percent of dry natural gas output, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. More than 45 percent of the nation's oil refining capacity is along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Harvey, which had top sustained winds of about 35 miles (55 km) per hour as it churned over Mexico's Bay of Campeche late Wednesday, could become a hurricane by Friday, the NHC said in an advisory.

Between 10 inches and 15 inches (25 cm to 38 cm) of rain are expected from the central Texas coast to southwest Louisiana, with some areas receiving up to 20 inches of rain, according to the Miami-based NHC.

"Heavy rainfall is likely to spread across portions of eastern Texas, Louisiana, and the lower Mississippi Valley from Friday through early next week and could cause life-threatening flooding," the NHC said.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster for 30 counties ahead of the storm.

In Corpus Christi, city officials warned residents to expect a storm surge of between four feet and six feet (1.83 m) and began distributing sand bags to local residents.

Other Gulf of Mexico oil and gas operators said they were watching developments closely but operations were unaffected.

Chevron on Wednesday afternoon said it had not evacuated any staff and BP Plc said normal operations were still underway. ConocoPhillips said it was making preparations but had not interrupted any operations.

(Reporting by Liz Hampton and Ruthy Munoz; Additional reporting by Apeksha Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Brown and Christian Schmollinger)
Any seasoned dividend investor would likely attest to the compounding power of dividend stocks over long periods of time. Not only can the stocks themselves appreciate over the long haul, but many of the best dividend stocks regularly increase their annual dividend payments.

Of course, finding dividend stocks that can stand the test of time isn't always easy. But even in this pricey market, there are still some dividend-paying names that look poised to pay out solid, regular dividends for years to come.

Here are two: JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS).

JPMorgan Chase

Bank stocks certainly don't offer the same meaty dividend yields they boasted in the years following the recession, or even the 3%-plus yields some of them sported as recently as last summer. But big banks are bringing some value to the table in the form of higher earnings and improved efficiency, signaling their ability to successfully leverage their massive scale. JPMorgan Chase is a perfect example.

JPMorgan's growing profitability and improving operations are particularly evident when you evaluate the bank's return on equity -- arguably the most important metric in banking. Defined as net income as a percentage of shareholders' equity, JPMorgan's trailing-3-year mean for its ROE of 11% highlights the company's improved ability to create shareholder value.

With a dividend yield of 2.2%, JPMorgan's dividend yield may not be mouthwatering, but it's still solid. Further, JPMorgan has been able to consistently grow its dividend lately, increasing it at an average annualized rate of about 13% over the past five years. While the highly regulated banking environment could limit dividend increases in the future, JPMorgan's proven ability to operate efficiently makes a solid case for strong -- and likely growing -- dividend payments for years to come.

Walt Disney

Disney's dividend was becoming less attractive earlier this year when the stock rose to $116. The rising stock price suppressed Disney's dividend yield to about 1.3%, but Disney's recent pullback has lifted the dividend yield to a meaningful level again, giving investors a buying opportunity.

It's easy to see why Disney's dividend is solid. Not only is the media giant only paying out about 27% of its earnings in dividends, but its dividend is growing rapidly. In the last five years, Disney's dividend has compounded at an average annual rate of about 19%.

Sure, dividend growth has slowed recently. The company's most recent annual dividend increase was about 10%. But with a payout ratio this low, and with analysts forecasting for average annual EPS growth of 8% over the next five years, Disney's dividend looks poised to grow handsomely over the next decade.

Of course, there are risks to both JPMorgan and Disney's dividends. In particular, unforeseen regulation hindering banking profitability could materialize in the highly regulated banking industry. And Disney's recent decision to overhaul its business model in an effort to bring content directly to consumers may not prove to be as lucrative and opportunistic as management hopes.

But both JPMorgan and Disney stand out as two companies with healthy underlying businesses, meaningful dividend yields, staying power, and exceptional upside potential. These are two dividend stocks worth betting on over the next 10 years.

10 stocks we like better than JPMorgan ChaseWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

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Daniel Sparks owns shares of Walt Disney. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Seattle-based ecommerce giant Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) controls 8.1 million square feet, or nearly 19% of the citys prime office space  more than any company controls in any other U.S. city, according to a report on Wednesday.

A thorough Seattle Times analysis of Amazons footprint found CEO Jeff Bezos company has as much real estate as the citys next 43 largest corporate inhabitants, with plans to expand to more than 12 million square feet of office space by 2022. In addition, Amazon has more than twice as much real estate in Seattle in terms of major city office space as its nearest competitor, Citi, which has more than 3.6 million square feet in New York City.

Amazon has roughly 40,000 employees in Seattle and will have enough office space to house in excess of 55,000 employees in the city by 2020, according to the newspaper, which added that the companys presence has contributed to higher local wages, increased retail spending and lower unemployment.

Company representatives did not immediately respond for a request for additional comment.

Amazon shares are up more than 25% since January. Aside from its booming ecommerce and cloud-computing business, Amazon received federal and shareholder approval this week for its planned $13.7 billion deal to acquire Whole Foods. The companys largest-ever acquisition, which is expected to close in late 2017, will significantly enhance its presence in the grocery industry.
China's Commerce Ministry on Thursday criticized a U.S. decision to launch a trade probe of Beijing's technology policy as an attack on the global trading system and said it will "resolutely defend" Chinese companies.

Trade groups welcomed President Donald Trump's Aug. 14 order to look into whether Beijing improperly requires companies to hand over technology as a condition of market access. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced a formal investigation this week.

The action improperly applies U.S. law instead of international rules and is "the destruction of the existing international trade system," said a ministry spokesman, Gao Feng, at a news briefing.

"We are strongly dissatisfied with this unilateral and protectionist practice and will take all necessary measures to resolutely defend the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese side and Chinese enterprises," said Gao.

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 that 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.

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.

___

Chinese Ministry of Commerce (in Chinese): www.mofcom.gov.cn
After several quarters of steady deal-making, The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) can see the finish line in its goal of selling nearly all of its bottling operations to bottling partners.

The company currently has every remaining U.S. bottling territory either under sale agreement or letter of intent to be sold. In the meantime, Coca-Cola continues to complete refranchising transactions with joint-venture partners and independent bottlers everywhere from China to the African continent.

Related changes to the company's profit and loss statement are gradually working their way through with each passing quarter. Let's look at some early quantitative and qualitative effects of Coke's big strategy shift.

Operating margin gets a lift

In the second quarter of 2017, Coca-Cola's operating margin, adjusted for refranchising asset impairment and restructuring charges, increased by 375 basis points, or nearly four percentage points, over the first quarter of 2016. According to CFO Kathy Waller, the improvement in operating margin is due mostly to the exit from lower-margin bottling operations.

One of the areas where margin relief is most visible is Coca-Cola's depreciation expense account. Through the first six months of this year, the company has booked $629 million of depreciation, versus $903 million within the same period last year -- a 30% reduction.

As Coca-Cola sells off its bottling businesses, depreciation for equipment-intensive manufacturing facilities disappears from its books. One could rightly point out that depreciation is a non-cash expense. But it's a real expense in that it traces the diminishment of the useful life of physical assets. Equipment must be repaired and eventually replaced. The declining depreciation on Coca-Cola's ledger will ultimately translate into a greater retention of cash that's generated from operations.

This phenomenon is one of the primary benefits of moving to a "capital light" model, in which Coca-Cola becomes more of a brand innovator and marketer than a manufacturer with heavy annual capital expenditures.

Speaking of cash flow

Higher operating margin, along with easier control of working capital as manufacturing payables and receivables diminish, means that Coca-Cola should be able to generate higher cash flow from its revenue. It should also show an improved correlation between cash flow and profit.

While the company still has several quarters remaining until all bottling operations are divested, its financial statements show evidence that the cash cycle is already getting optimized:

Metric Six Months Ended June 30, 2017 Six Months Ended June 30, 2016 Revenue $18.8 $21.8 Net income $2.5 $4.9 Operating cash flow (OCF) $3.4 $3.8 OCF to revenue 18% 17% OCF to net income 136% 78%

So far this year, Coca-Cola is generating approximately the same percentage of cash flow from its revenue totals as in 2016. But the proportion of operating cash flow to net income is impressive and bodes well for the organization's ability to be both more profitable and more cash generative, despite projected revenue declines from bottling divestitures.

Even if we add back $500 million in 2017 refranchising impairment charges in excess of prior-year impairments, the ratio of OCF to net income still stands at 113%, versus 2016's ratio of 78%. As I've cautioned, it's early yet, but the tea leaves indicate promise ahead.

Risk-taking and experimentation

Coca-Cola isn't abandoning manufacturing altogether: It's keeping its concentrates business, which supplies syrups to the ubiquitous Coke fountains we see in restaurants, convenience stores, and innumerable other concessions venues. But leaving bottled production to capable partners allows management more room to focus on portfolio extension.

Moreover, I believe that the narrowed focus also helps the executive team to inject higher risk-taking into Coca-Cola's formerly cautious culture. Indeed, as CEO James Quincey remarked on the company's July earnings call in regard to portfolio beverage experimentation:

In sum, Coca-Cola is moving from a manufacturing mindset to an innovation mindset. The bottles in the preceding picture provide a good example. Coca-Cola Plus is a beverage variant launched in Japan this year that includes the ingredient "indigestible dextrin," a type of starch, used to minimize fat absorption. According to Coca-Cola, Plus is the company's first drink ever to receive the coveted Foods for Specified Health Uses label from the Japanese government.

While I'm not sure I want to try it next time I visit Japan, Plus is nonetheless an offering meant to appeal to an increasingly health-conscious Japanese beverage consumer. And it's typical of the sometimes-quirky experiments and risks investors can expect to see more of from Coca-Cola in the coming years, as it leaves the cares of bottling behind.

10 stocks we like better than Coca-ColaWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

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Asit Sharma has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The European Aviation Safety Agency has issued an air worthiness directive about Airbus's A350-941 aircraft, warning that a problem could lead to an engine explosion under certain conditions if not corrected.

The Cologne, Germany-based agency, said that Airbus has already come up with a fix and the directive, which goes into effect Thursday, orders that it be implemented on all affected planes.

The problem involves the hydraulic fluid cooling system in the fuel tanks. EASA said a failure discovered with the hydraulic "engine driven pump" could cause a fast temperature rise.

If not corrected, EASA said the condition "could lead to an uncontrolled overheat of the hydraulic fluid, possibly resulting in the ignition of the fuel-air mixture in the affected fuel tank."
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (NYSE:FCAU) has talked to Volkswagen about jointly building light-utility vehicles, according to a Wall Street Journal report Thursday.

The two automakers have held early discussions over a partnership that could lead to joint production of vehicles like Volkswagens Caddy panel van and Amarok midsize pickup truck, which are similar to models sold by Fiat Chrysler. The two vehicles are mostly in Europe. The report said it was unclear if the potential tie-up would extend to other regions like the U.S.

Fiat Chrysler declined to comment. Volkswagen didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

The report follows confirmation from Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor that its interested in buying Jeep, Fiat Chryslers valuable SUV brand. As of Tuesday, Great Wall had yet to approach Fiat Chrysler to discuss a deal.

Talk of Chinese interest in Fiat Chrysler has put a spotlight on the Italian-American automaker, whose CEO Sergio Marchionne has publicly sought a merger partner in the past.

Volkswagen could face hurdles of its own if it wants to buy all or part of Fiat Chrysler, but the Wall Street Journal said the German manufacturer isnt currently considering a takeover. An ongoing diesel emissions scandal has cost Volkswagen almost $25 billion.

Fiat Chrysler climbed 2.8% to $14.81 in recent trading. The stock has surged 62% this year.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said Thurday it has temporarily suspended trading in the shares of First Bitcoin Capital Corp. because of concerns about the accuracy and adequacy of public information on the Canadian company. The concerns relate to the value of the company's assets and its capital structure, the SEC said in a statement. "The Commission cautions broker-dealers, shareholders, and prospective purchasers that they should carefully consider the foregoing information along with all other currently available information and any information subsequently issued by the company," said the statement. The suspension is scheduled to be terminated at 11.59 a.m. on September 7. First Bitcoin last traded at $1.79. The stock has run up 6,072% in 2017 and is up 43% in the past week. It is up a staggering 24,421% in the last 12 months. The S&P 500 has gained 9% in 2017.

Copyright  2017 MarketWatch, Inc.
Fanning the flames of GOP discord, President Donald Trump accused Republican congressional leaders Thursday of botching efforts to avoid an unprecedented default on the national debt. "Could have been so easy-now a mess!" Trump tweeted.

The president's sharp words underscored the perilous state of play as Congress heads into the fall without a clear plan to take care of its most important piece of business: If it does not increase the nation's $19.9 trillion borrowing limit, the government could be unable to pay its bills, jarring financial markets and leading to other harsh consequences.

Trump unleashed his latest criticism of the GOP's congressional leadership in a series of morning tweets that also included a rebuke of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for his inability to get the Senate to repeal the Obama health care law. The harsh posts were fresh evidence of the president's fraying relations with fellow Republicans just when the White House and Capitol Hill most need to be working in sync.

Critiquing GOP legislative strategy, Trump tweeted that he had asked McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan to attach the legislation increasing the borrowing limit  a toxic vote for many Republicans  to popular military veterans' legislation that he recently signed. The idea was floated in July but never gained steam in Congress.

Trump said that because legislators didn't follow that strategy, "now we have a big deal with Dems holding them up (as usual) on Debt Ceiling approval."

Republicans control both Congress and the White House, placing the burden on them to ensure the government doesn't default. In the past, Democrats largely provided the votes for debt limit increases.

The Treasury Department has said the debt ceiling needs to be raised by Sept. 29 to avoid potential default on government obligations including Social Security and interest payments.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, playing down Trump's notion of a debt limit "mess," said flatly that Congress would "pass legislation to make sure that we pay our debts."

"I'm not worried that's not going to get done because it's going to get done," he said during an appearance in Washington state.

McConnell likewise said earlier in the week that there was "zero chance, no chance, we won't raise the debt ceiling."

The president's latest broadsides against members of his own party came one day after the White House and McConnell issued statements pledging to work together.

After Trump's latest incendiary tweets, both sides tried again Thursday to tamp down talk of escalating tensions

Ryan, speaking to Boeing employees in suburban Seattle, said he and Trump have "different speaking styles," but they are in "constant contact" on the policy agenda.

"For me it's really important the president succeeds, because if he succeeds then the country succeeds," Ryan said.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders insisted the president's relationships with GOP leaders "are fine."

For all of that conciliatory talk, the evidence of mounting friction between the president and the Republican party is growing.

Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake said in an interview with Georgia Public Broadcasting on Wednesday that the president was "inviting" a 2020 presidential primary challenge because he was only cultivating the GOP base of voters. Trump has labeled Flake as "weak" and "toxic" on Twitter.

Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican who has been critical of the president, told MSNBC this week it was "too difficult to say" if Trump would be the party's presidential nominee in 2020.

The growing rift between congressional Republicans and Trump could make it more difficult for the White House to advance its agenda.

The White House and congressional Republicans have yet to engage in serious negotiations to address the debt ceiling or stopgap legislation needed to avert a government shutdown when the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. Trump is expected to hold meetings with congressional leaders after the Labor Day holiday.

Asked about the debt ceiling, Sanders put the onus on Congress to resolve the matter: "It's our job to inform Congress of the debt ceiling and it's their job to raise it."

She added that the White House was looking for a "clean" debt ceiling bill  without any legislative add-ons. But tea party Republicans and outside conservative groups are demanding spending cuts as the price for increasing the borrowing limit.

Raising the debt ceiling has often confounded Congress. A 2011 standoff between Republicans and the Obama administration over raising borrowing authority led to tighter controls on spending. That standoff was not resolved until the 11th hour and prompted Standard & Poor's to impose the first-ever downgrade to the country's credit rating.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said raising the debt ceiling and securing the U.S. border was a "good combination" and suggested Republicans force Democrats into difficult votes over the borrowing limit.

"Let's put them in a box when it comes to the debt ceiling. The president is not crazy to attack the Congress. He's not crazy to think of ways to put Democrats in a bad spot regarding the debt ceiling. They do this all the time to us," Graham said in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.

Beyond the challenge of the debt limit, the effort to avoid a government shutdown could be complicated by Trump's long-promised plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The president threatened Tuesday to force a federal shutdown unless Congress provides money for the project. Sanders told reporters the administration would "continue to push forward and make sure the wall gets built."

Appearing at a Louisville breakfast event, McConnell tried to brush aside the tensions with Trump, quipping that running the Senate was "a little bit like being the groundskeeper at a cemetery. Everybody's under you, but nobody's listening."

___

Associated Press writer Adam Beam in Louisville, Kentucky, contributed to this report.
American steel industry executives have appealed directly to President Donald Trump for immediate import restrictions in a letter seen by Reuters, as a U.S. Commerce Department steel national security probe languishes and steel imports surge back to 2015 levels.

Senior executives from 25 U.S. steel and steel-related companies sent the letter to Trump late on Wednesday saying the industry was suffering the consequences of government inaction but this could change with his "bold leadership" and "America First" vision.

"The need for action is urgent. Since the 232 investigation was announced in April, imports have continued to surge," the executives said in the letter.

"Immediate action must meaningfully adjust imports to restore healthy levels of capacity utilization and profitability to the domestic industry over a sustained period," they wrote.

The Commerce Department has delayed the release of its recommendations from a "Section 232" investigation into whether steel imports pose a threat to national security, which could lead to Trump imposing broad quotas or tariffs on steel imports.

The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), an industry trade group, on Wednesday reported that total steel imports through July this year were up 22 percent from the same period a year ago, with imports taking 28 percent of the U.S. market.

Imports captured 30 percent of the U.S. market in June, according to Commerce Department data compiled by the institute. Steel imports dipped briefly last year due to Commerce Department anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties imposed on steel products from China and some other countries.

Wednesday's letter followed last week's departure of White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who had been a vocal advocate for steel tariffs and other trade protections in the administration's internal debates over trade.

The executives from companies including Nucor Corp U.S. Steel, ArcelorMittal and DTE Energy said the sustained surge of steel imports into the United States had "hollowed out" much of the domestic steel industry and was threatening its ability to meet national security needs.

"Your leadership in finding a solution to the crisis facing the steel industry is badly needed now. Only you can authorize actions that can solve this crisis and we are asking for your immediate assistance," they wrote.

Under the Cold War-era law authorizing the steel national security probe, Trump would have 90 days to act once the Commerce Department submits its probe.

AISI president Tom Gibson, who also signed the letter, told Reuters the industry was trying to keep the issue "front and center" while Trump administration officials deal with a lot of other issues from North Korea to fiscal policy.

He said that domestic steel producers' capacity utilization rate is hovering around 75 percent, as steelmakers from South Korea to Turkey target U.S. demand to soak up their excess output.

"Over the long term, that is not a sustainable level," Gibson said.

(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Tom Brown)
After protests Tuesday night at President Trumps rally in Phoenix, Arizona, his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, is speaking out against the leftist media for inciting the recent violence.

I just think the saddest part truly is the role that the leftist media has played, in my opinion. You know, they really are to blame in many peoples opinions for inciting a lot of this violence, she told FOX Business Stuart Varney during an interview on Varney & Co. on Wednesday. They should take a long, hard look at themselves in the mirror and ask themselves are we part of what is going on the country right now? And I think a lot of people would say yes.

The wife of President Trumps son, Eric Trump, says that the attacks against her family are personal, but she says that is the only card his critics have to play.

Theyve been doing that since the very beginning, for over two years now. It hasnt been like weve seen it in the past, it has all been very personal when it comes to my father-in-law, when it comes to my family and I think they know that thats the only card they have to play because the reality is, the country is getting better, she said.

She also touted her father-in-laws ability to create jobs job creation and the low unemployment rate she says since they cant refute those as facts they cant refute so the only option they have is to go after him personally.

You know the establishment in Washington D.C. feels very threatened by that. And I say it all the time, when I get these opportunities to speak at these amazing rallies, the more they fight him, the more you know he is doing the right thing."
Former Assistant Secretary of Defense Larry Korb on Wednesday said he agrees with the Navys decision to relieve Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin, commander of the U.S. 7th Fleet, of his duties after a collision between the USS John S. McCain and a merchant vessel near Singapore earlier this week.

The good thing about the Navy relieving the commander of the 7th fleet, youre accountable. If this was a problem, he should have made this known to people rather than just going along, Korb told FOX Business Ashley Webster on Countdown to the Closing Bell.

Mondays accident, which left five sailors injured and 10 missing, follows a June incident involving the USS Fitzgerald and a container ship. The latter left seven sailors dead when the two vessels collided off the coast of Japan.

Korb said one of the reasons for the recent collisions could be a result of sailors being overworked.

I think whats happened with North Korea and then the Chinese, the exercises with the Australians  It could be that we are pushing these young men and young women too much, he said.
The summer is almost done. Many of us who live in the Northeast are not looking forward to winter. The progressives are sticking it to us.

Thanks to what The Wall Street Journal calls an energy blockade, we face an energy crisis.

Here's the story: NY Governor Andrew Cuomo has banned fracking, the drilling technology that releases natural gas from shale buried deep underground. There's a vast supply in New York, and its cheap, but you are not allowed to go get it.

And, Governor Cuomo is blocking pipelines that would deliver natural gas to the rest of New England.

Ah, witness the power of the greens, and the governor's presidential ambitions. Even though natural gas emits much less carbon, environmentalists hate itit is, after all, just another wicked fossil fuel. Governor Cuomo thought green would play big in national politics!

So here we are, a month from a chilly fall. Coal-fired power plants are shutting, and the nuclear plant at Indian Point is scheduled to close. Energy costs in the Northeast are way above neighboring regions.

And we are not allowed to go get the cheap natural gas that lies in abundance under our own feet. And we're not allowed to pipe it in from elsewhere.

That is indeed an energy blockade...

Governor Cuomo thinks he can rise to the presidency on the back of long suffering energy consumers. Perhaps he needs to re-calculate. Winter is coming, and New Englanders will have little patience with politicians who make life expensive because they think they are saving the planet.
You won't read this in The New York Times: The Democratic Party is a mess. It is leader-less. It is bitterly divided, and now it has to deal with a failed presidential candidate who just won't go away... Hillary Clinton.

She's got a book coming out. What she says in it is not going to make Democrats happy. She blames Russia. She blames the FBI's James Comey for her stunning defeat.

But what's making headlines today is her account of the second presidential debate. This was the encounter where the two candidates could walk around the stage. Clinton says Trump was "looming" behind her, breathing down her neck. She says she didn't know what to do - pause or turn around and say, "Back off you creep".

Two quick points: First, she had prepared for the debate, using an aide whose job it was to rattle her. She couldn't see Trump coming? She hadn't prepared for his physical presence, regardless of whether it was looming or not? Thats kind of a metaphor for her poorly organized campaign.

And second, this use of the word "looming", thats another metaphor. She couldn't see Trump looming in the campaign, steadily gaining ground while she took time off in August to raise money from the elites encamped in the Hamptons.

The insider gossip among Democrats is, Oh please, go away! Senator Schumer said as much when he said she'd blamed everyone but herself.

So why is she doing this? I'm going to speculate: Hillary Clinton can't get over losing to a man like Donald Trump. She can't believe she lost to him so she scrambles to deflect the blame. And in hindsight, calls him names.

No wonder Democrats are walking away, shaking their heads, hoping that soon she really will be gone.
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is hosting a town hall at Boeing (NYSE:BA) with CEO Dennis Muilenburg Thursday and is making a hard push for tax reform. Ryan blasted America for having a 35% corporate tax rate, the highest among developed nations, and stressed that companies need to "build here and export there" while speaking to a group of employees at the world's biggest maker of jetliners.

On the same day, Iowa has approved a deal to give Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) $208 million in state and local tax benefits to build two data storage centers near Des Moines and the promise to create 50 jobs.

The deal approved Thursday by the Iowa Economic Development Authority includes a refund of $19.6 million in state sale taxes for Apple Inc. and a $188 million break on property taxes from Waukee, a booming suburb bordering Des Moines.

Ticker Security Last Change Change % AAPL APPLE INC. 149.70 +2.83 +1.93% FB n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. MSFT MICROSOFT CORP. 247.11 +4.13 +1.70% GOOGL ALPHABET INC. 96.41 +2.47 +2.63%

In addition to the promised 50 jobs, Apple has agreed to buy 2,000 acres of land for the $1.4 billion project.

While the deal won't move the needle financially for Apple, the world's most valuable company, which has $261 billion in cash sitting outside the U.S., it does send a powerful message that CEOs, even those that disagree with some of President Trump's views, get the corporate tax plight hurting the U.S.

Apple joins Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Microsoft (NYSE:MSFT), and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in building Iowa data centers. They are drawn to the state by its generous tax breaks, wind-generated electricity and relative security from natural disasters that could disrupt service.

Ticker Security Last Change Change % BA THE BOEING CO. 177.49 -0.09 -0.05% INTC INTEL CORP. 30.43 +0.67 +2.25% T AT&T INC. 19.04 +0.20 +1.04%

As for Ryan, he is spending this week meeting with CEOs and employees across the nation, including Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and AT&T (NYSE:T).

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) told Boeing workers Thursday that his goal is to reform the countrys tax code by the end of the year as part of a bid to achieve 3% economic growth in 2018.

We have the least competitive tax system in the industrialized world for Boeing, it means we are taxing this business, these planes, your jobs in this country at a much higher rate than our competitors tax theirs, Ryan said at a town hall after touring Boeings facility in Washington. That puts us at a huge competitive disadvantage."

Ryan and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) are visiting some of the countrys major corporate hubs this week to discuss the GOPs plan to significantly lower the corporate tax rate and simplify the tax code for average Americans. The speaker met with Intel employees in Oregon on Wednesday.

Ryan said the GOP tax reform plan will improve take-home wages for American workers and make it easier for corporations like Boeing to re-invest in their businesses.

I believe that if we dont do this, we dont get to 3% economic growth, Ryan said.

The speaker downplayed concerns that the U.S. government would hit the debt ceiling. Lawmakers have yet to pass legislation to raise the federal debt limit ahead of a crucial Sept. 30 deadline.

We will pass legislation to make sure that we pay our debts, and we will not hit the debt ceiling, Ryan said. Its going to get done.

Aside from the GOPs tax reform push, Ryan said continued rollbacks of burdensome government regulations, an increase in military funding and support, and renewed focus on addressing workforce participation are among his top priorities.

Ryan said his relationship with President Donald Trump is a day-by-day deal when asked about his ability to influence Trump to engage in ethical behavior, adding that the country must repeatedly condemn repulsive bigotry and racism. Trump drew extensive criticism for his handling of the white supremacist protests in Charlottesville, Virginia.

We have different speaking styles, clearly. Were in constant contact to try to put together a shared agenda that we agree on, and were working together to make that shared agenda, Ryan said. For me, its really important that the president succeeds, because if he succeeds, then the country succeeds.
U.S. businesses are turning out to be one of the White Houses strongest allies when it comes to supporting President Donald Trumps long-awaited tax reform overhaul.

Two of the chief tax reform bill writers, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and House Ways and Means Committee Chair Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), are visiting businesses around the country this week in an effort to promote the tax reform push, set to begin when lawmakers return from August recess. And their appeals have fallen upon receptive ears.

Heres what some of Americas biggest companies have to say about GOP efforts to garner national support for a pro-growth tax reform overhaul:

AT&T

Rep. Brady visited AT&Ts (NYSE:T) employees and executives on Wednesday, which the company viewed as an important means for workers to understand the potential benefits of comprehensive tax reform.

We are looking forward to hosting Chairman Brady for this important discussion of pro-growth tax reform, AT&T said. We employ a workforce of more than 250,000 people and have a long history of investing in this country  $140 billion into the U.S. economy from 2012-2016, more than any other public company. As such, the event will be educational for our employees to better understand this efforts impact on job creation, economic growth and U.S. competitiveness.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson has attended roundtables at the White House, saying earlier this summer that companies would be willing to invest more in the U.S. if Trump completed tax reform this year.

Boeing

Boeing (NYSE:BA) CEO Dennis Muilenburg has worked with President Trump at the White House, as a former member of the presidents now-disbanded manufacturing council. Despite divisions within the GOP over other issues, including health care, Boeing said in a statement on Wednesday that it was heartened by the announcement last month that Congressional leaders and the White House had agreed upon a set of core tax reform principles.

Boeing supports comprehensive tax reform proposals that encourage companies to invest and locate quality jobs and manufacturing in the U.S. and that will raise the standard of living for all Americans and grow the U.S. economy. We are encouraged by the statement released by the administration and Congressional leadership prior to the August recess. The alignment between the House, the Senate and the White House is increasing momentum for Congressional action on a once-in-a-generation opportunity to enact meaningful tax reform that would help our company and our workforce.

UPS

UPS (NYSE:UPS) is one of the businesses pushing for tax reform in order to level the playing field for American businesses. In a statement sent to FOX Business Wednesday, the company even suggested other companies and lawmakers should align with the White Houses goals.

UPS supports tax reform because we believe it will stimulate the economy, create jobs and provide a globally competitive tax structure for U.S. companies. Tax reform is one of the single most important things this Congress and administration can do for American competitiveness, as it will spur growth and accelerate investment in the economy. We are pleased with the current focus on tax reform and encourage other businesses and Congress to align around this important effort.

Intel

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) CEO Brian Krzanich was one of the first CEOs to resign from Trumps manufacturing council in the wake of the president's response to the protests in Charlottesville, Virginia. Krzanich denounced the politicization of nearly every issue.

One issue, however, that Intel has unequivocally gotten on board with is tax reform as it seeks to help rebuild the U.S. manufacturing sector.

Intel said it was pleased to host Speaker Ryan on Wednesday and to share ideas with him.

As a major American high technology manufacturer, Intel strongly supports pro-growth tax reform that encourages manufacturing in the U.S. and would make American companies more competitive globally, the company said in a statement to FOX Business.
Ferrari is taking its entry-level model back to Italy. In name, at least.

The all-new Portofino has been revealed as the successor to the California T.

It remains a 2+2 hardtop convertible GT, and features crisp yet muscular styling very much in line with Ferraris other front-engine models. With the roof up, it has the profile of a fastback coupe.

The Portofino is powered 3.9-liter turbocharged V8 with 592 hp, which is sent to the rear wheels through a seven-speed automatic transmission. An electronic rear differential gets it to the ground most effectively and helps it accelerate to 60 mph in a claimed 3.5 seconds.

Inside, the emphasis is on luxury, with plenty of leather and 18-way power seats. A very wide touchscreen infotainment system display is augmented by a smaller screen above the glove compartment that offers the passenger convenient controls of some functions.

The California T has been a top-seller for the brand, despite a fair amount of criticism about its bulbous styling and subpar dynamics. If it drives as well as it looks, the Portofino should have no problem filling those very big shoes.

Pricing will likely be announced closer to the Portofinos public debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, but the California T started at just over $200,000 in the United States.

ALFA ROMEO QUADRIFOGLIO TEST DRIVE:
Robots and autonomous vehicles are taking over a growing number of domains, and jobs in warehouses are no exception to that rule. That is where self-driving industrial vehicle company Seegrid's new GP8 Series 6 forklift enters the picture. The GP8 Series 6 is capable of autonomously maneuvering around warehouses, picking up heavy loads, taking them where they need to go, and then unloading them -- and all without any human sweat needing to be expended.

Our autonomous vehicles specialize in helping human workers haul extremely heavy loads of materials around the facility floor, making the whole system more efficient, Jeff Christensen, Vice President of Product at Seegrid, told Digital Trends. The new GP8 Series 6 adds one more layer of automation because its capable of executing hands-free load exchange from pick-up to drop-off. That means the robot can approach a pallet, lift it up quickly and carefully, and drive off to the next point. This end-to-end automation solution optimizes warehouse operations by removing the need for human assistance to complete certain tasks.

Compared to the automated guided vehicles (AGVs) which have been used in similar facilities for years, Seegrids self-driving forklifts dont require any changes to a facilitys infrastructure in order to be used. Each vehicle operates using five cameras and image recognition algorithms, instead of the wires, lasers, magnets or tape commonly used by AGVs. This is also different to autonomous cars, which employ sensors like radar or lidar in order to move around. Christensen notes that the stereoscopic cameras the forklift uses have higher data-density and offer a 360-degree view, compared to these rival sensor technologies. Another reason they do not require radar or lidar is because the lighting levels in a warehouse are more easily controllable than the natural light in the outside world.

Although the GP8 Series 6 is still in the pre-order phase, Seegrid autonomous vehicles are already being widely used in the industry. They have cumulatively driven more than 725,000 production miles for customers including General Motors, Amazon, Whirlpool, Jaguar Land Rover and many other manufacturing and distribution companies -- all without a single accident.

The hope is that the companys new autonomous forklift will not do anything to sully that sterling safety reputation.Until Skynet's ready to make its move, at least!
Last Man Standing seems to be dying many deaths. Following its recent, and controversial, cancellation at ABC, the series has been hit once again with a bit of bad news and a bit of good news.

Although new episodes of the series wont be made, fans have been able to watch the first five seasons on Netflix, but thats about to change. On September 30, the popular streaming service will no longer carry Last Man Standing. However, unlike its cancellation, the removal from Netflix only sounds controversial.

As TV Guide reports, things come and go from Netflix all the time for various reasons. The Tim Allen-led series is leaving the streaming giant, yes, but its so that it can all be moved over to Hulu. 20th Century Fox recently struck a deal with Hulu for exclusive streaming rights to a lot of its back catalogue of TV, including Last Man Standing. So, while it will be sad for some to see it leave Netflix, its joining Season 6, which is already available on a new home. Hulu has been making gains in the streaming market of late, securing other important properties like ABCs famed TGIF lineup, which will be available to users in September.

Representitives for Hulu did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment on its aquisition of "Last Man Standing."

Doing anything to mess with Last Man Standing and its fans is a tough sell right now. Fans were upset enough after ABC canceled the conservative-leaning sitcom to rally a petition to get it brought back to TV. When ABC tried to explain that the cancellation of the show had nothing to do with its politics, fans continued to balk.

Netflix users have until September 30 to binge-watch all 5 seasons of Last Man Standing before it moves to Hulu.
Scott Baios politics may trump his acting career.

I dont give a st if I ever work again, Baio, who spoke at the 2016 Republican National Convention, sniped to The Hollywood Reporter in an interview released Wednesday. My country comes first. I guess Im just an old, angry, successful white guy who stole everything he has from someone else.

The 56-year-old Brooklyn native remains unfazed by other Hollywood types who regularly slam President Trump, 70, for various policy proposals, including a border wall with Mexico and an immigration ban, as well as his attitudes toward women, the LGBTQ community and white nationalists.

I dont give a st about Hollywood liberals. Theyre gonna hate the guy no matter what, the Charles in Charge star fumed. If he cured cancer, theyd be on him for putting oncologists out of business.

Baio added that his support for Trump has only grown stronger since the POTUS claimed violence came from many sides after Aug. 12 Unite the Right protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, in which one woman was killed and several others injured when a white nationalist drove a car into a sea of counter-protesters.

All this does is help Trump because people have had it. Conservatives in Hollywood have had it, Baio, whose most recent IMDb credit is from 2014, asserted. We know who Trump is, and we dont believe the propaganda, and I dont think most of the country does, either. The media is almost irrelevant. Its predictable and boring. I want the man to get his agenda through, and everything else is a sideshow.

This article originally appeared in Page Six.
Netflix ended up shelling out a cool a lot more than they expected for Amy Schumer's comedy special after the comedian requested a higher pay day.

The comedian was initially offered $11 million, according to Variety, but later went back to the streaming service and asked for more.

It's a hefty price tag that Netflix likley regrets considering the March special was a ratings disaster, which Schumer blamed on alt-right trolls at the time.

Schumer addressed rumors that she "demanded" more money to match comic legends Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle'S $20 million they received for their specials.

Alongside a nude photo of herself holding a plush hotdog toy, Schumer thanked fans for "chiming in on what you feel I deserve to be paid."

She said on Instagram while she believes "women deserve equal pay," she doesn't deserve "equal pay to Chris and Dave. They are legends."

The 36-year-old added that while she did ask for "more than the initial offer," she did not demand or insist equal pay to Rock and Chapelle.

Schumer's special received overwhelmingly negative reviews from users who tuned in and rated it on Netflix in March.

"I made it 10 minutes into this and shut it off," one viewer review read. The user gave the special one-star out of five.

Another viewer added, "SO BAD!! I did stay and watch the whole show in hopes that it would get better, and it didn't."

Yet another one-star user review added, "It just drags on and on. Im really disappointed."

The stand-up special didn't do much better with TV critics.

The LA Times' reviewer said the special was too over-the-top when it came to the R-rated content Schumer is known for. Newsday's TV critic gave a similar message, rating the special with a C grade, writing it's "too much" and "too carnal." The Detroit News called the special funny but predictable."
Gwyneth Paltrow's health and wellness website Goop is under fire once again.

The nonprofit organization Truth in Advertising filed a complaint on Tuesday to the California Food, Drug and Medical Device Task Force, accusing Goop of promoting "unsubstantiated, and therefore deceptive, health and disease-treatment claims" through products such as its yoni eggs and Shamam-inspired medicine bags.

"The company claims, either expressly or implicitly, that its products (or those it promotes) can treat, cure, prevent, alleviate the symptoms of, or reduce the risk of developing a number of ailments," the statement read. "The problem is that the company does not possess the competent and reliable scientific evidence required by law to make such claims."

GWYNETH PALTROW'S 'GOOP' CRITICIZED BY EX-NASA SCIENTIST FOR BOGUS HEALING STICKERS

Truth in Advertising announced its concerns with Goop's products in an Aug. 11 statement, specifically noting a blog post that had "problematic health claims." The organization gave Goop an Aug. 18 deadline to correct alleged illegal health claims on its website.

"Despite being handed this information, Goop to date has only made limited changes to its marketing," the organization said.

A Goop spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News it responded immediately to the organization's request, but was given an unrealistic timeline to allow the company to make the appropriate changes. It also called the organization's claims "unsubstantiated and unfounded."

"Goop is dedicated to introducing unique products and offerings and encouraging constructive conversation surrounding new ideas. We are receptive to feedback and consistently seek to improve the quality of the products and information referenced on our site. We responded promptly and in good faith to the initial outreach from representatives of TINA and hoped to engage with them to address their concerns," the statement read.

"Unfortunately, they provided limited information and made threats under arbitrary deadlines which were not reasonable under the circumstances. Nevertheless, while we believe that TINAs description of our interactions is misleading and their claims unsubstantiated and unfounded, we will continue to evaluate our products and our content and make those improvements that we believe are reasonable and necessary in the interests of our community of users," the spokesperson said.

This isn't the first controversy Paltrow's Goop has faced. NASA slammed the lifestyle and wellness website for selling bogus $120 stickers it claimed to be made from "NASA spacesuit material."

Mark Shelhamer, former chief scientist at NASAs human research division, told Gizmodo of the product: "Wow. What a load of BS this is."
Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn are the most recent victims of a private photo leak to threaten legal action. However countless celebrities have fallen victim to their most private moments being made public and lately one website seems to be doing a lot of the sharing: Celeb Jihad.

Websites like Celebjihad.com try to skirt the laws of the U.S. by being hosted offshore, explained Kevin Blatt, celebrity crisis expert with the VIP cyber security company Faction.One. By being located offshore, some sites think they don't need to adhere to the laws of many countries or that it's simply another layer of protection against the lawyers that represent these A -list clients.

Yet Carrie Goldberg, Internet and sexual privacy lawyer at C. A. Goldberg, PLLC, said once a website is caught breaking the law, legal action can be taken.

Now that we have revenge porn laws in two out of three of states, no legitimate company would want to take the risk of exhibiting naked pictures of nonconsenting people, she noted.

She said Celeb Jihads creators have attempted to hide their identities, but there is technology available to bring them into the light.

The operators of Celeb Jihad have attempted to skirt legal liability by masking their identity, Goldberg said. One way to find out who runs a website is to look up the ICANN registration, which is public. CelebJihad.com hired a proxy service to register their domain. We often have cases like this and its one of my true pleasures in life to unmask the identities of web sites and then sue the crap out of them.

A search of Who.Is.com, a website that lists where domains are registered, shows Celeb Jihad is tied to GoDaddy.com  an Arizona based company. Experts say the company may not be located overseas after all.

However, Phoenix-based Internet lawyer David Gingras believes tracking down the real owner of a website is often difficult, time-consuming and not always effective in the long-term.

If someone wanted to sue Celeb Jihad.com, they would need to send a subpoena to GoDaddy asking for the real name of the website's owner. It's very likely that the owner gave false information to GoDaddy such as a fake name or a non-existent address, Gingras speculated.

Gingras said even if Celeb Jihad is shut down, a similar site could easily emerge.

The sad reality is that even if you shut down one website like this, the owner can move the content to a new website the next day, and the whole process may start over, he said.

Celeb Jihad and GoDaddy did not return Fox News requests for comment.
When TV director Garry Marshall helped Susan Silver land a writing gig on a sitcom called The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1971, she thought nothing about bringing the leading lady to life.

I thought I wasnt allowed to make anything up, Silver told Fox News. Thats how naive I was. So I went in with stories from my own life. And they thought I was so brilliant! I wasnt.

Silver, one of the original writers behind the hit show about a news producer living in Minneapolis, relied on her own personal misadventures, which inspired new episodes. Silver insisted it worked because other women could easily identity with them. She described her tales in her new memoir, titled Hot Pants in Hollywood.

Every woman I know loves their best friend more than anything, but you dont necessarily want to have them in your workplace, too, said Silver. When Rhoda [Valerie Harper] lost her job and there was a position available at the station, Mary kind of hesitated I think we all have those feelings. I just pitched stories from my own life.

The one idea Silver did not come up with was the concept of having a character who was single.

It started out that she was supposed to be divorced, said Silver. And the network said, No, no, we cant have a divorced woman because theyll think she divorced [former co-star] Dick Van Dyke, because she had been the wife on The Dick Van Dyke Show.

And not all of Silvers past experiences made it on the screen. Before she took on the role, the comedy writer from Wisconsin attended UCLA where she befriend a poet who would go on to become a rock star.

[Jim Morrison], he was my pal, she described. Jim Morrison was not the guy that we know from The Doors in college. He was very preppy He had that little bowl haircut. He was very shy. He was a poet. And we used to hang out in the theater department of UCLA. He always had these poems.

Silver recalled how Morrison befriended a biker name Max Schwartz, who ultimately became a prominent beatnik poet in San Francisco. She claimed it was Schwartz who inspired Morrison to take on a new look.

[Schwartz] wore a lot of leather and had long hair, she recalled. I believe Jim took his persona, I really do. Because thats the kind of persona he developed. He was so shy, quiet, and clean cut. But years later when I saw Jim at the Troubadour, it was like whos that? It was another person.

Silver also told us about an unwanted encounter with another future star. In 1963, a family friend, who was managing a new comedian named Bill Cosby, suggested he could drive her home after attending a party for Hootenanny, a musical variety show on ABC. It was one of Cosbys first TV appearances. She revealed how Cosby seemed interested in giving her a chance to collaborate with him.

He said, Ive just done my first album. Would you like to work on my second? I said, Are you kidding? Of course I would, she said. I was so excited. We got to my apartment and he lunged at me and I did the Lucille Ball, falling out of the car with my legs up in the air.

"And he just reached over, slammed the door, and drove away. So I escaped. I was very fortunate, knowing what we now know. [But] at the time, I thought, Oh, he just tried to kiss me, so I got away I was extraordinarily lucky."

It was also during her time at UCLA that Silver decided to get a job as an extra in the 1964 film Viva Las Vegas starring Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret. Silver appeared as a showgirl and it apparently impressed The King.

Elvis always had these six guys hanging around him, she said. They came up to me the day after I was working there and they said, Elvis is having a party tonight and he wants you to come. Oh my gosh, I was so excited.

"I think the party was at six so at 6:30 I drove up. I didnt want to be the first one. The electric gate opened in Bel Air and there was only one car there, which was Elvis big Cadillac I was so terrified I backed out of the driveway and went home. I was this little virgin from Wisconsin!

Silver had better luck in 1965 when she was set up to go on a date with Lenny Bruce  by his own mother Sally Marr.

It was a New Years Eve party and his mother, a stripper, this cute little woman, said, Are you single? I want to fix you up with my son Ill call him, hell come to the party,'" she described.

Bruce did arrive and they instantly hit it off. She was even invited to see the controversial comedian perform, but was forced to be chaperoned by her uncle, a Hollywood writer.

The three of us had a date, said Silver. He and my uncle got along beautifully I only went on one date with him, but he was so brilliant and so amusing. He had beautiful eyes. He was very soulful. He was really good looking! I have a T-shirt [now] with his face on it I didnt go to bed with him then, but now I sleep with him occasionally at night. And its safer that way!

Bruce passed away in 1966 at age 40 from a drug overdose.

Silver would go to carve out her own identity in Hollywood, writing for hit shows, such as Square Pegs, Maude, and The Partridge Family, among others. Still, her fondest memories come from getting to know the very private Moore, who later lived two doors down from her in New York City.

She went out to dance every lunch hour, said Silver. She was such a perfectionist and so disciplined. She started as a dancer, so she did that all the time. She could have been a diva, but she never was. She really was the Mary you wanted her to be.

Moore died earlier this year at age 80.
Detroits Thai restaurant Katoi announced Wednesday that it will change its name in response to complaints of insensitivity and cultural appropriation.

The eatery came under fire earlier in the week when the Detroit Metro Times called out the inappropriate nature of a restaurant called Katoi with a scathing article that detailed the history of the term, which is considered derogatory to the LGBT community of Thailand.

The Corktown neighborhood restaurant owners have since apologized for the name, under which they have operated their business since 2014, and announced that it will be now be called Takoi. An August 28 reopening is planned.

NYC RESTAURANT FIRES EMPLOYEE WHO WROTE 'CHING CHONG' ON ASIAN CUSTOMER'S RECEIPT

According to the Metro Times, the issue came to their attention when a Thai woman visiting Detroit became uncomfortable upon arrival at the restaurant. What the hell is wrong with this city? she asked her date, and they promptly left. The term katoi, more commonly spelled as kathoey, is an offensive slur to transgender people in Thailand.

Co-owner and chef Brad Greenhill told the Detroit Free Press that he and his partners were unaware of the terms offensive connotations. We worked from a literal translation of it, which was 'third gender, third profile.' The history of the term coming about in the 60s was a way for people to identify and deviate from dominant sexual norms, he said. Thats what we were working under.

DC BAR OFFERS $4 DRINKS EVERY TIME TRUMP FIRES A SENIOR WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL

This word to us embodies going beyond, sort of going against normative culture, co-owner Courtney Henriette told The Detroit News. For three-plus years that word embodied that. ... We apologize to whoever weve hurt with this word. That was not our intention.

According to Time, in Thailand, kathoeys are people who are born physiologically male, but "have a female heart. The term has no western equivalent, roughly translating to ladyboy, and is typically used to describe transgender women or effeminate men.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

Katoi makes headlines as the second restaurant this week to announce a rebranding due to insensitivity. Celebrity restaurateur and Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio has renamed his Manhattan eatery, Fowler & Wells, after discovering historically racist ties to the moniker.
Going on vacation is an exciting time, especially if youve planned a trip abroad. Now, with travel agencies offering resort packages and all-inclusive trips, you can enjoy the beauty of another country more easily than ever.

Since youll be roaming new territory, though, you will need to watch out while drinking. Other countries dont always regulate their alcohol use, and you could encounter some dangerous situations while drinking alcohol abroad. Heres why:

Recently, investigators have been looking for answers about the cause of a young womans death. Abbey Conner was on vacation with her family in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, when she and her brother decided to get a few drinks from the swim-up bar.

POSTAL WORKER WHO FAKED CANCER SENTENCED TO COMMUNITY SERVICE AT TREATMENT CENTER

Mere hours later, officials found both siblings floating in the resorts pool. Unfortunately, it was too late for Abbey Conner, and her brother needed treatment for a concussion and memory loss. An attorney who investigated Abbeys unexpected death stated that the resort was serving low-quality alcohol.

In addition, the Mexican government has conducted its own investigations, shutting down two bars for unsanitary conditions and seizing thousands of gallons of potentially tainted alcohol. Not surprisingly, Mexican officials found unlabeled, expired alcohol and unsanitary practices at the bar where Conner died.

After word started spreading about Conners story, other people who had similar experiences came forward to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as well. Their stories show just how cautious you have to be while youre traveling abroad and enjoying alcohol. Tainted drinks are a real threat for vacationers.

YOUTH FOOTBALL: IS KEEPING YOUR KID'S HEAD IN THE GAME SAFE?

Staying Safe While Abroad

No matter where youre vacationing in the world, learn how to stay safe while drinking alcohol abroad. Of course, the most foolproof way is to avoid drinking, but you dont have to go this far if you follow a few guidelines.

The US Bureau of Diplomatic Security gives several tips on staying safe during a trip out of the country, including:

Drink in moderation.

You might be tempted to drink excessively on vacation, but think about spacing out your intake instead. Other countries dont have the same regulations for alcoholic content as the United States; so they may have a stronger brew anyway.

At the same time, if you do accidentally drink tainted alcohol, you might avoid the most severe side effects because of your moderation.

Stick with brand name, not home brew.

When youre buying alcohol, pay attention to the brands that the bar is using. Sometimes, vendors may sell an unregulated homemade alcohol that could contain any number of harmful filler ingredients.

Called counterfeit alcohol, these beverages are often cheaper than the average. Although not in every case, it may also have a strange color or smell. If you suspect anything unusual, play it safe by not buying from that vendor.

Watch your drink.

When youre ordering your drink, ask the bartender to mix it in front of you. Watch that he doesnt add any ingredients that you cant identify. Similarly, keep your eyes on your drink once its in front of you, and avoid any other additions like ice cubes that may also be tainted.

Again, if you suspect anything out of the ordinary, refuse the drink. Put your own safety first.

Symptoms of Tainted Alcohol

Depending on the ingredients used in the drink, you may experience a variety of symptoms from tainted alcohol. Many travelers report nausea, dizziness or vomiting before blacking out.

If the alcohol has a harder drug mixed in, it may also cause hallucinations, slurred speech, or severe anger. In some cases reported to the Sentinel, people woke up later in their rooms with bruises and scratches, not knowing anything that had happened.

IS WAXING SAFE DURING PREGNANCY?

To avoid these situations, parents should research their vacation spot thoroughly before they arrive. Check independent forums and several sources for hotel reviews, and do your research about the countrys medical centers too.

Once you arrive, stay with your family as much as you can, especially when drinking. Consider having one person refrain from drinking so that he can act quickly in case of an emergency. Also, make sure that family members understand to let someone know right away if they start feeling unusual.

Traveling abroad is a lovely adventure that you should look forward to and enjoy. While you should be aware of the alcohol that you and your family drink, you can still enjoy yourselves and stay safe. By drinking in moderation, asking the right questions, and staying aware of your surroundings, you will set your family up for an enjoyable vacation out of the country.

This article first appeared on AskDrManny.com.
A sperm donor in the Netherlands allegedly donated to 11 different fertility clinics leading him to father at least 102 children. The country limits donors to one clinic, and sets a maximum of 25 children per donor, RTL News reported.

CONNECTICUT MAN DIES OF TICK-BORNE ILLNESS

A second case featuring one man who donated to two different clinics resulting in two children has prompted the Dutch gynecologists association NVOG to urge clinics to stop using donations from the two men immediately. The NVOG allegedly received a tip from a group of single mothers, RTL News reported.

According to the news agency, there are indications that the men donated recently. NVOG said transparency between clinics about donor information would prevent such occurrences form happening in the future.

PENNSYLVANIA HOSPITAL CITED IN BOY'S HEATING BLANKET DEATH

The duo, who have not been identified, also allegedly donated sperm to mothers outside of donor clinics.
A Pennsylvania hospital has been cited by the states health department in the death of a 6-year-old boy whose temperature soared to 107 degrees while he was under a special heating blanket. The child, who was not identified, was brought to Penn State Hershey Medical Center in January with a below normal temperature.

According to a statement issued by the hospital, the boy had ongoing, complex and life-limiting health issues. He was placed under a Bair Hugger blanket which raises a patients temperature through forced hot air. In the statement, the hospital acknowledged that a review of his chart revealed his temperature had not been recorded once over a 10-hour period, WGAL reported.

10 NEW CASES OF TB FOUND AT TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL AFTER SECOND ROUND OF TESTING

After spending the night in the E.D., his blood pressure dropped and his temperature rose to 107 degrees, prompting escalation to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit the following morning. He died several hours later, the hospital statement said, according to WGAL.

The health department said the hospital failed to report the boys death until 77 days later, despite protocol calling for 24 hours notice. The hospital received five citations related to the case and has launched its own investigation. It has also limited use of the Bair Hugger blanket for pediatric patients.

POODLE RECOVERING AFTER MASSIVE TUMOR REMOVED

As a health system dedicated to providing the very best care to the most acutely ill and injured patients, we are deeply saddened that this death occurred and are taking action to prevent this type of event from ever occurring again, the hospital said, according to WGAL.
A Colorado woman who faked cancer to take paid leave from her job as a postal worker must spend 652 hours doing community service at a cancer treatment center, research center or hospice, and pay a $10,000 fine as well as $20,798.38 in restitution to the U.S. Postal Service. Caroline Zarate Boyle, 60, learned of her fate on Tuesday after she plead guilty without a plea agreement in April.

According to a news release, investigators discovered that Boyle, who once accused a subordinate of faking cancer and denied the employees request for accommodations, forged notes from two different doctors about treatment related to non-Hodgkins lymphoma. In total she was granted 112 days of sick leave, was allowed to work part-time or from home and received paid administrative leave.

PENNSYLVANIA HOSPITAL CITED IN BOY'S HEATING BLANKET DEATH

She was caught after an interview with the Postal Services Office of the Inspector General (OIG) in February 2017, during which she revealed that she was planning on continuing to take time off until her scheduled retirement in April 2017. According to the news release, Boyle said she decided to take time off from work after being passed over for a promotion.

This type of behavior within the Postal Service is not tolerated and the overwhelming majority of Postal Service employees, which serve the public, are honest, hardworking, and trustworthy individuals who would never consider engaging in any type of criminal behavior, OIG Special Agent in Charge Scott Pierce said, in the news release.

In addition to the penalties, Boyle was sentenced to 5 years probation with the first 6 months in home confinement.
A Manhattan appeals panel  in a first-of-its-kind decision  Tuesday overturned a lower-court ruling that said you cant be fired because of your gender but you could get the boot for being too cute.

The decision involved a 2013 lawsuit filed by blond massage therapist Dilek Edwards against her former boss, Wall Street chiropractor Charles Nicolai and his former lesbian Playboy Playmate wife, Stephanie Adams.

Dilek, 33, said she was axed after Nicolai admitted to his 46-year-old wife that she might become jealous of his bubbly staffer because she was too cute.

Last year, Manhattan Judge Shlomo Hagler had ruled against Dilek, saying her cuteness quotient couldnt be cited as the basis for a discrimination claim.

But the appeals panel disagreed.

Dilek was fired for no reason other than Adams belief that Nicolai was sexually attracted to her, lead Judge David Friedman wrote. He was joined by Judges Karla Moskowitz, Judith Gische and Marcy Kahn.

This states a cause of action for gender discrimination under New York State Human Rights Law, Friedman said.

A circuit court in Iowa had ruled the opposite of the New York appeals panel in 2013.

The all-male Iowa panel OKd a male dentists ouster of his female hygienist because he viewed her as an irresistible attraction.

Dileks lawyer, Maimon Kirschenbaum, said other courts have rejected the too cute discrimination claim, too.

We had looked extensively to find a case for what should be obvious  that firing a woman because you might be attracted to her is discrimination, Kirschenbaum said.

But as it turns out, there is no such case until now, he said.

The chiropractor, his wife and their lawyer did not immediately return calls for comment.

Paige Fiedler, the lawyer who represented Iowa dental hygienist Melissa Nelson, applauded the Manhattan judges.

Thats wonderful, she said.

I always thought that having a female justice on the Iowa Supreme Court would have helped the judges understand what its like to be a woman in the work place, Fiedler said.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post.
It isnt unusual for high schoolers to be called out for breaking dress code, but some feel like administrators are taking it too far when it comes to what female students wear.

Remy Altuna, who attends Beaumont High School in Southern California, took to Twitter to express her anger after allegedly being reprimanded for her outfit.

BHS is so out of line. Now they want to dress code you for not wearing a bra. My underwear is none of there (sic) business, she wrote.

Altuna posted a photo of the outfit under scrutiny: a black bodysuit and baggy jeans. She told Yahoo Style that she had gone the entire day without anyone mentioning her outfit being inappropriate or against the dress code. But when she went to the school office to get a paper signed, an assistant principal pulled her aside and told her to put on a jacket.

OFF-THE-SHOULDER TOPS WORN BY MALE STUDENTS TO PROTEST HIGH SCHOOL DRESS CODE

She said that my shirt was low cut; then she asked if I was wearing a bra, Altuna told Yahoo Style. She went on to say that because I wasnt wearing a bra, she didnt want people to think anything bad of me or talk inappropriately or have anything bad to say.

While the BHS dress code doesnt specifically mention anything about wearing a bra, it does say that Tops must cover all parts of undergarments and shall not be low cut or revealing. Altuna said that if she had worn a bra, she wouldve been violating the rules because it would have shown.

The school released a statement saying that enforcing the dress code is not a perfect process, NBC4 reports.

Altuna believes the school is being especially strict with what women wear and feels as though its become a pattern, noting that the boys dont get called out as much as the girls.

This year it just seems like theyre really out for blood, looking for anything, Altuna said.

Her tweet on the matter has stirred up a bit of controversy. Many believe that her outfit didnt break dress code and therefore she should be able to dress as she pleases without criticism. However others say its the schools right to uphold standards they so choose, and as a student she has to abide by them whether she agrees or not.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

In a follow-up tweet, Altuna wrote that the issue isnt with what shes wearing but with how others make assumptions about females based on what they wear.

If Mrs. Weber is concerned about people talking about my appearance she should focus on dealing with the students behaving inappropriately, she wrote.
President Trump is not the first U.S. leader to pivot when it comes to foreign policy. His speech Monday night before American military personnel at Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia, was in stark contrast to his campaign pledge to put America first and his promise to avoid foreign entanglements, as George Washington put it in his Farewell Address.

The president admitted that reality caught up with him after his inauguration and that America must ensure that al-Qaida does not again gain a foothold in the country from which it could plot another massive terror attack on the U.S.

A Trump administration official said the Pentagon will send an estimated 4,000 additional American forces to Afghanistan, a plan reminiscent of the Iraq surge ordered by President George W. Bush and successfully led by Gen. David Petraeus. What is different about this latest tactic is the threat of financial consequences if Pakistan doesnt stop harboring terrorists and do more to help win the war.

The question remains: What does winning look like? President Trump promised not to engage in nation building, but what is its alternative? After 16 years in Afghanistan, the cost of war has risen to an estimated $700 billion. More than 2,000 American lives have been lost and thousands more wounded. We have hardly established a foundation for a stable nation, much less built anything on it.

Departing from President Obamas announcements of timetables for withdrawal, Trump said Conditions on the ground  not arbitrary timetables  will guide our strategy from now on, adding, Another fundamental pillar of our new strategy is the integration of all instruments of American power  diplomatic, economic, and military  toward a successful outcome.

Im all for successful outcomes, but what does he have in mind? How will success be determined? How does one stabilize an unstable country mired down by rival tribes and religious conflict?

In his speech there was an implied threat to India if that country doesnt help with the war effort: India makes billions of dollars in trade with the United States, and we want them to help us more with Afghanistan, especially in the area of economic assistance and development. We are committed to pursuing our shared objectives for peace and security in South Asia and the broader Indo-Pacific region.

The president noted he has already lifted restrictions the previous administration placed on our war fighters that prevented the secretary of defense and our commanders in the field from fully and swiftly waging battle against the enemy. Micromanagement from Washington, D.C., does not win battles. They are won in the field drawing upon the judgment and expertise of wartime commanders and frontline soldiers acting in real time, with real authority, and with a clear mission to defeat the enemy.

The rules of engagement have contributed to American casualty figures. The enemy plays by no rules. Will the lifting of U.S. rules kill more of the enemy, or kill more civilians behind whom enemy forces often hide?

The president also issued a warning to the Afghan government: America will work with the Afghan government as long as we see determination and progress. However, our commitment is not unlimited, and our support is not a blank check. The government of Afghanistan must carry their share of the military, political, and economic burden. The American people expect to see real reforms, real progress, and real results. Our patience is not unlimited. We will keep our eyes wide open.

If they dont comply, will we pull out anyway? Thats what al-Qaida is banking on.

There is much that is right about the presidents announced new strategy and objectives, but the question remains: Can this war be won and the country stabilized, or will Afghanistan always be a bottomless pit?

It shouldnt be long before we have an answer.
This oped was originally published months agobefore Yale forensic psychiatrist Bandy Lee was known to be consulting with other psychiatrists and with members of Congress about creating an expert panel to advise Congress on President Trumps mental well-being. Publication also preceded recent comments calling into question the presidents fitness for office by James Clapper, who served in intelligence positions for Presidents Bush and Obama.

At the risk of sounding a bit narcissistic myself: These people should quiet down, enjoy a nice Trump cigar or glass of Trump wine and listen to me.

My insights are basic ones that an average medical student or below-average political science major in a college should be able to grasp, immediately. So, chill. Here we go . . .

Let me issue the standard disclaimer of psychiatrists who discuss the mental health of public figures: I have not personally examined President Trump. But, I dont need to.

Now, here is my assessment, once again: Donald Trump is stone cold sane and more than mentally fit to be president of the United States.

When a man acquires billions of dollars through complex real estate transactions, invests in many countries, goes on to phenomenal success in television and turns his name into a worldwide brand, it is very unlikely that he is mentally unstable.

When the same man obviously enjoys the love and respect of his children and his wife, who seem to rely on him for support and guidance, it is extraordinarily unlikely that he is mentally unstable.

When that same man remains friends with his ex-wife (Ivana Trump), who supports him, politically, it is almost impossible that he is mentally unstable.

When the same man walks into the political arena and deftly defeats 16 Republican opponents and then the Democratic heir-apparent to a two-term presidents administration, the odds of that man being mentally unstable become vanishingly thin.

And when that very same man attracts to his team the kind of intellect and gravitas represented (to name just a few) by Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Dr. Ben Carson, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, four star Marine Corps General John Kelly and Secretary of Defense James Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general and commander of the U.S. Central Command, he cannot be mentally deranged. Period. It is a statistical impossibility.

Those who imply otherwise are political opportunists, or fools, or both (and I am thinking here, in particular, of Dr. Lee). Disclaimer: I have not personally examined her for mental stability, either.

President Trump is the first human being to win this nations highest office without having held any other political office or serving as a general. Most political pundits thought his quest was pure folly. Most journalists assessed his chances as zero. So who was laboring under quasi-delusional thinking? Answer: Not Donald J. Trump.

Anecdotally, by the way, I have never had one bad Trump experience. Not one. I own several of his ties  all of them of the highest quality. I have stayed in his hotels and never had a single complaint (and I am a born complainer). I have eaten in his New York restaurant  flawless service, excellent food. I own an apartment at Trump Place in Manhattan. Impeccable design, sturdy construction, fabulous amenities.

I had two of his bumper stickers on my SUV. They stayed on throughout the campaign and peeled off, without a bit of adhesive remaining to mar the bumper.

My son wears a Make America Great Again sweatshirt. Its been laundered a bunch. It still looks great. A mentally unstable man would be unlikely to deliver superior products across multiple industries, dont you think?

If youre still worried about the mental stability of the president, note this: The stock market doesnt like instability. Investors, en masse, can take the measure of a man pretty darn well. The stock market has hit record high after record high since Trumps election, and if you think thats an accident, or that investors have all been fooled, its time to start wondering about your own capacity for rational thought.

Employers dont like instability, either. And job growth is surging.

I should note that nothing I am saying should besmirch the reputations of men like President Abraham Lincoln or Sir Winston Churchill, both of whom are said to have fought the ravages of major depression or bipolar disorder. One was instrumental in ridding America of slavery. The other was instrumental in saving the world from tyranny. Mahatma Gandhi, by the way, also reportedly suffered from depression. So did Pablo Picasso and astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Me, too, by the way. Psychiatric illness does not, a priori, disqualify a person from rendering extraordinary service to mankind.

Mind you, neither Lincoln nor Churchill nor Gandhi led a nation after becoming a business sensation and television star. That trifecta defines one man: President Donald J. Trump.

Now, think about those who are rabble-rousing about the presidents mental status. Take Sen. Al Franken. Remember? He was all worried about the president allegedly overestimating the crowd size at his inauguration. But Franken is allied with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who asserted she is Native American, when there is no evidence of that whatsoever.

And theyre still calling Trumps sanity into question? Really, you cant make this stuff up.
The opioid overdose epidemic is estimated by the Centers for Disease Control to kill an astonishing 91 Americans every single day. And the problem continues to intensify. Since 1999, the number of overdose deaths involving opioids (including both prescription opioids and heroin) have quadrupled. The proportion of Americans exposed to these addictive drugs is staggering. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, more than a third of us  nearly 92 million people  used prescription opioids in a single year, 2015.

With the costs both in human terms and economic ones mounting, people want answers. Who or what is to blame for the deaths? How did we get to a point that half a million Americans have died of this scourge since 1999? The truth is the answer is tricky and not necessarily politically correct.

Opioids are a class of drugs that include heroin, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone (brand name OxyContin), hydrocodone (Vicodin), codeine, morphine and many others. Most people who are prescribed painkillers dont become addicted. But some do.

The Affordable Care Act expanded Medicaid eligibility to include adults under 65 with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. The expansion took effect on Jan. 1, 2014. And, in the years since, drug overdose deaths have risen at an alarming rate.

Because the legal version of these drugs is often the entry point to addiction, state and local governments are looking to the deep pockets of the $13 billion-a-year opioid industry to foot their costs for treatment.

Over the past 12 months, at least 25 states, cities and counties have filed civil cases against manufacturers of opioids, the distributors and large drugstore chains. Attorneys general in Ohio, Missouri and Oklahoma have joined in and more are expected.

The blame game has turned up other offenders. Some fault the medical community. In late July, the U.S. Justice Department announced a crackdown that in large part focused on fraudulent opioid prescribing. Attorney General Jeff Sessions at a press conference described the effort as the largest of its kind in U.S. history, charging 412 people, including 56 physicians, with defrauding the federal government of $1.3 billion in illegal Medicare and Medicaid payments.

We will use every tool we have to stop criminals from exploiting vulnerable people and stealing our hard-earned tax dollars, Sessions said.

But there is more here than meets the eye. The government has been an unwitting accomplice as some use federal programs like Medicaid to gain access to the drugs and sometimes even deal them.

A bottle of oxycodone can be purchased with a Medicaid card for a tiny copay and resold for $4,000 on the street, according to one police official. This became easier after the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

The ACA expanded Medicaid eligibility to include adults under 65 with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. The expansion took effect on Jan. 1, 2014. And, in the years since, drug overdose deaths have risen at an alarming rate. According to data compiled by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, drug overdose deaths rose twice as fast per one million people in expansion states compared to non-expansion states.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., had this to say in a letter to the Inspector General at HHS requesting a full-blown investigation: While not indicative of causation, the information suggests a correlation between Medicaid expansion and opioid overdoses. By 2015, the latest CDC data shows, the five states with the highest rate of overdose deaths were all Medicaid expansion states, West Virginia, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Ohio and Rhode Island.

So the answer to the question, who caused the opioid epidemic has many answers, possibly including the medical and pharmaceutical communities themselves, and, tragically increased government spending via the expansion of Medicaid under the ACA. Yes, government is in for some blame.

Because opioids are so available and inexpensive through Medicaid, it appears the program has created a perverse incentive for people to use opioids, sell them for large profits and stay hooked, wrote Johnson.

How very sad that an unintentional consequence of the effort to improve Americans health under the ACA was this tragic epidemic.
In an excerpt released from her upcoming book, What Happened, Hillary Clinton ponders if she should have told Donald Trump to back off, you creep as he attempted to physically intimidate her on the debate stage. Instead of clapping back  the act of stepping up or snapping back at someone who comes at you inappropriately, especially online trolls (or, in this case, a presidential candidate with a childs temperament who coincidentally excels at online trolling)  Hillary chose to keep her cool. Yet again, she felt compelled to be the grown-up, the more responsible one, on the stage that night.

There is no denying that an overwhelming majority of Americans desperately wish that instead of choosing to keep calm and carry on, Hillary Clinton had forcibly acknowledged and responded to Donald Trumps bullying. Acknowledge and respond is exactly what research says female candidates should do when confronted with blatant sexism.

Noted Democratic pollster Celinda Lake studied the best strategies for women to respond to sexism on the campaign trail. In Name It. Change It.  a research and advocacy campaign I helped design for the Womens Media Center  we demonstrated why its important to clap back. The greatest gains with voters come from when the candidate herself tells the creep to back off, but it also gives a chorus of validating voices ammunition to amplify the equalizing message.

In addition to being refreshing, the made-for-TV rebuke would have helped Clinton pivot from the weak attacks being made on the Clinton Foundation (that we now know had been deliberately and unjustifiably credentialed by the Washington Post and New York Times) and, as the research shows, given her a much-needed bump.

If Hillary Clinton had called up some of the clap back moxie on display by Taylor Swift during her groping trial or by New York Times bestselling Hunger author Roxane Gay on any given day on Twitter, our country could very well be healing instead of hurtling towards the next Trump-incited crisis.

When we get to read about more of the moments from the campaign that Hillary Clinton wishes she could go back and do over, I am confident that Hillarys hindsight will provide more 20/20 vision  more importantly, more 2020 vision (only 1,167 days away!)  for women candidates going forward.

Why then was Taylor Swift -- a young pop star -- so comfortable doing on the stand what Hillary Clinton - arguably one of the most powerful women in the world -- couldnt do on that stage?

The state of conflict Hillary Clinton found herself in during that debate is all too familiar to half the population; so many, if not all, of us have found ourselves in a situation where a man close to us is behaving badly - in our homes, at our workplaces and even in our friendships.

Driven by pragmatism, sadly too many of us have also chosen option A - avoiding confrontation - as our default setting. Society provides cover for it, few men are held accountable and those closest to us - our fathers, husbands, brothers, boyfriends, friends and bosses - are taught this behavior is okay by the acceptance of it. The boys will be boys attitude is aided and abetted by women well-heeled in prioritizing harmony over confrontation. Even the women who voted for Trump - many who are now kicking themselves for it - know this to be true. It doesnt take a degree in psychology to understand that a womans ability to dismiss Trumps abhorrent behavior towards other women is directly tied to a lifetime of similar dismissals regarding the most important men in your life.

The saying Well-behaved women seldom make history is not just a quote, its a fact. In that moment during the debate when Hillary Clinton wanted to press pause, that was her turn to misbehave responsibly. What Taylor and Roxane capitalize on that Hillary didnt in that moment is that the responsible move is to confront. It was exactly at that point - with more than just history on the line - that we needed her to take the risk and use her voice to shut him down. With millions of people  most especially millions of women and girls -- watching closely and learning how to behave when confronted by vile behavior, silence is the irresponsible option.

Yes, Hillary should have told Donald Trump to back off. From what do you expect me to do, go home and make cookies? to delete your account to the rumored slapping of Robbie Mook on election night, she certainly had it in her, as we all do. Like any muscle, if we dont use it, it will waste away.

Paul Waldman was right to ask, Has Hillary Clinton abased herself sufficiently to satisfy her critics? Given the cemented double standard in the medias coverage of her, there will be those who will never be satisfied.

However, What Happened can be both a tutorial and a catalyst. With just days until we get to read about more of the moments from the campaign that Hillary Clinton wishes she could go back and do over, I am confident that Hillarys hindsight will provide more 20/20 vision  more importantly, more 2020 vision (only 1,167 days away!)  for women candidates going forward.

In fact, she already has. Whether described as Hillarys loss or Trumps victory, the 2016 presidential election results have spurred an unprecedented number of women stepping up to fix the mess we find ourselves in by running for office.

While conducting recent candidate trainings in Chicago and Columbus for VoteRunLead, the training powerhouse for women ready to run for office in the next two election cycles, I saw firsthand the power of this collective clap back at Trump, his behavior, his policies and his aggression.

Democrats, Republican, and unaffiliated women are signing up in record numbers to exercise their political voice by running for office, leading campaigns and organizing in the streets.

Theres one invaluable lesson from what I expect will be a slew of them coming from What Happened.

When youre a woman running for office and your male opponent attempts to intimidate you, clap back, call it out, confront him. Then, when you get elected, we can count on and look forward to your greater capacity for consensus building, competence and compassion to save the day.

And finally, to those still wondering about Taylor Swift and other amazing women who are using their platforms for justice, they can all thank Hillary for the opportunity to do so.
On the heels of his worst week in office, during which his crude comments about race were widely perceived as defending racism and hatred -- comments that sent some of his natural domestic allies fleeing -- President Donald Trump could not bring himself to articulate a mea culpa.

Instead, he purported to defend as "some very fine people" the monsters who shouted "Jews will not replace us" and "blood and soil" (a virulent Nazi slogan calling for lands where only Aryans may live) as they clashed with those who rejected their messages in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Police failure and general government indifference about the freedom of speech permitted one of the racists to kill one of those who had come to reject the hate.

After the deceased was identified, one of the neo-Nazis there said she deserved to die because she was "fat." It is difficult for me to accept that I am writing about neo-Nazis calling for racial purity and rejoicing in the death of an innocent -- in America in 2017. But here we are. They are among us, and these subjects must be addressed.

At first, the president made a rambling statement about bad people on "both sides"; then he read a nicely worded attack on racists; and then he held a disastrous impromptu news conference in which he was so morally ambivalent that he seemed to reject his duty as president.

Rejecting, as well, the pleas of those around him to renounce his own failure to renounce his moral ambivalence -- which won him a public accolade from the most notorious Ku Klux Klan fanatic in the country -- Trump decided to change the subject.

Like former President Bill Clinton after his disastrous public appearance before a federal grand jury that was investigating him, Trump decided to fight a war. But the war he announced we will "fight to win" earlier this week is the longest, most misguided, costliest and least understood war in our history, and we are fighting for people who hate us.

If these phrases and ideas sound familiar, they should. They are not my words -- though I agree with them -- but those of candidate Trump. He articulated them forcefully to the American electorate during last year's presidential election campaign. He actually began attacking the war in Afghanistan long before he announced his presidential candidacy.

If he has been consistent on any public issue, it has been his opposition to this useless, lawless, costly war -- until he needed to change the subject.

Why war? Because nothing strengthens the presidency and its occupant or commands the attention of the public or weakens domestic political opposition as effectively as war.

No rational person will argue publicly that our troops should die or lose or lack the resources to fight even an unjust war, and often even political opponents will jump on a wartime president's patriotic bandwagon. We will witness that scene again soon.

With the last anti-war holdout in his inner circle -- Steve Bannon -- gone, Trump embraced the present and former generals with whom he has surrounded himself and surrendered to their arguments.

I wish he had been faithful to his promise to the electorate to bring the troops home. Instead, he will send an unannounced number of service members and accompanying equipment to Afghanistan -- not to rebuild the bridges and roads the U.S. destroyed there but to fight, to kill and to "win."

What are we doing there?

The British tried to tame this unruly barren wasteland, which has never had a modern-day central government, back in the 19th century, and the Russians tried to do the same in the 20th century. They both lost a generation of soldiers and a fortune.

What are we doing there?

On Sept. 11, 2001, the United States was attacked by 19 religious fanatics, most of whom were from Saudi Arabia. These monsters were funded by Saudi wealth.

But President George W. Bush needed some country to attack in the aftermath, so he convinced Congress that since we couldn't attack the dead people who attacked us or our "friends" -- the Saudis -- who financed them, we should attack their ideological comrades residing in a safe haven called Afghanistan. Instead of attacking the 9/11 attackers' sources, we attacked their friends.

What are we doing there?

During the Republican presidential primary debates, Trump himself savaged former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush so aggressively over his efforts to defend his brother's decision to invade Afghanistan that the younger Bush quit the race; and Republicans voted for Trump in droves.

What are we doing there?

We have already spent more than 1 trillion borrowed dollars there, sent more than 100,000 troops there, killed countless innocents there, destroyed towns, cities and ancient artifacts there, lost billions in cash and equipment there; and whomever we have been fighting there for 16 years still controls more than 40 percent of the country.

What are we doing there? How will we know if we have won there? When will we come home for good from there?

The answers to these questions are deadly but easy -- when the subject has been changed here.
In a better world, Americans would never hear the name Samantha Dravis. She wouldnt be pictured on the front page of the New York Times or added to environmentalist watch lists.

This is no knock on Ms. Dravis, who is a talented attorney. Rather, its an acknowledgment that in the grand scheme of the federal government, shes one of hundreds upon hundreds of staffers. As associate administrator for policy at the Environmental Protection Agency, she didnt need Senate confirmation. Shes no cabinet secretary and never chose a public role.

But in todays anti- Trump resistance, that counts for nothing. The left lost the election, lost the argument, and is losing President Obamas precious legacy. Its response is a scorched-earth campaign against not only EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, but anyone who works for him.

Most vicious has been the retribution against Mr. Pruitt for his work to undo Obama-era climate rules. Environmentalists and Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse have ginned up an investigation at the Oklahoma Bar Association into whether Mr. Pruitt lied during his Senate confirmation. He testified that he didnt use private email for work while serving as Oklahomas attorney general. Then out came a handful of emails, over years, sent to Mr. Pruitts private address. This is hardly Hillary Clinton behavior, yet Mr. Pruitt is having to pay for a personal attorney to fight the charges. The activists stated goal: disbarment.

Click here to continue reading Kimberley Strassel's column in the Wall Street Journal.
Gerri Willis joined Fox Business Network (FBN) in March of 2010. Willis is an anchor and personal finance reporter for the network.Read More

Prior to joining FBN, Willis served as the personal finance editor for CNN Business News and hosted the weekly half-hour program entitled Your Bottom Line, which focused on ways to save Americans money and the economys effects on personal finance. Before CNN, she was senior financial correspondent at SmartMoney magazine.

Willis received the 2001 Excellence in Retirement Savings Reporting award, which is bestowed by the American University School of Communication and the Investment Company Institute's Education Foundation. She is also the author of two business books, The Smart Money Guide to Real Estate Investing and Home Rich.

Willis is a graduate of Columbia Business School, where she was a Knight-Bagehot Fellow. She was born in Spruce Pine, NC and currently resides in Westchester County.
The White House is expected to send guidance to the Pentagon in coming days on how to implement a new administration ban on transgender people in the military, issuing a policy that will allow Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to consider a service members ability to deploy in deciding whether to kick them out of the military.

The White House memo also directs the Pentagon to deny admittance to transgender individuals and to stop spending on medical treatment regimens for those currently serving, according to U.S. officials familiar with the document.

The 2-page memo gives Mr. Mattis six months to prepare to fully implement the new ban, according to these officials.

Mr. Mattis under the new policy is expected to consider deployabilitythe ability to serve in a war zone, participate in exercises or live for months on a shipas the primary legal means to decide whether to separate service members from the military, the officials said.

The policy was announced by President Donald Trump in a series of tweets on July 26, which effectively reinstated a ban on open transgender service that had been lifted the year before, under former President Barack Obama, in a move that also provided for military medical care for the condition known as gender dysphoria.

Gender dysphoria is a condition that many professional associations have said requires medical treatment. For instance, gender dysphoria is recognized by the American Psychiatric Association as a medical issue. When diagnosed by a medical professional, transition therapy and reassignment surgery is considered by some insurers and states as a medically necessary treatment.

Employing the criteria of deployability to remove service members is bound to be greeted with deep opposition.

Click for more from The Wall Street Journal.
President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are both trying to portray themselves as united on a political agenda despite their recent rift as Congress prepares to return to Washington.

The public statements on Wednesday came after signs of serious tension: Trump recently said hes very disappointed in Mitch, after McConnell said the president had excessive expectations about the legislative process.

But with Congress set to return from the August recess soon  and Republicans hoping to make deals on tax reform, health care and a spending bill  both are signaling that they hope to work with each other on a political agenda.

President Donald J. Trump and Senator Mitch McConnell remain united on many shared priorities, including middle class tax relief, strengthening the military, constructing a southern border wall, and other important issues, said Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary, in a Wednesday statement.

Sanders said Trump and McConnell will join together for previously scheduled meetings following the August recess.

Earlier Wednesday, McConnell insisted he and Trump are committed to working together.

We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we are committed to advancing our shared agenda together and anyone who suggests otherwise is clearly not part of the conversation," McConnell added.

McConnell said he and Trump are working together to pass tax reform and infrastructure legislation, prevent a government default, fund the government, pass defense authorization and appropriations bills, pass health care legislation and continue our progress for veterans.

After McConnells excessive expectations comment earlier this month, Trump fired back at McConnell over the Senate failing to pass legislation repealing and replacing ObamaCare.

GET BACK TO WORK: TRUMP SLAMS MCCONNELL AGAIN ON TWITTER



"Can you believe that Mitch McConnell, who has screamed Repeal & Replace for 7 years, couldn't get it done. Must Repeal & Replace ObamaCare!" Trump tweeted.

Trump also irked McConnell for threatening Republican incumbents and calling on him to change Senate rules.

The New York Times reported this week Trump and McConnell had not spoken to each other in several weeks, following a shouting match over the telephone earlier this month.

Fox News Chad Pergram contributed to this report.
Four Army soldiers assigned to Vice President Pence's detail have been removed from their duties after being accused of bringing women back to their hotel in Panama, Fox News has confirmed.

"We are aware of the incident and it is currently under investigation, Defense Department spokesman Lt. Col. Paul Haverstick said Thursday. We can confirm that the individuals in question have been reassigned back to the Army.

The soldiers were with the White House Communications Agency, which runs technical support for presidential and vice presidential events.

Pences office did not comment on Thursday.

NBC News, which reported the reassignment on Thursday, said the soldiers were caught on video bringing the women into a secure area.

In 2012, the Secret Service was rocked by a scandal when agents preparing for a presidential trip to Colombia were accused of bringing prostitutes back to their hotel rooms.

PENCE'S LATIN AMERICA TRIP FUELS 2020 SPECULATION

According to the Washington Free-Beacon, the four Army soldiers were removed from Panama before Pence arrived in the country on Aug. 17.

"At this time, no evidence of prostitution exists with any of the removed service members," Karen Brazell, the chief of staff to the White House Military Office, told the outlet.

Fox News Jennifer Griffin and Lesa Jansen contributed to this report.
Former FBI Director James Comey will deliver a keynote address at Howard University in September, and will join the faculty in a part-time role this fall.

Comey, who was fired as President Donald Trump's FBI director in May, will speak at the opening convocation ceremony next month. The annual event is designed to welcome students to the historically black university, Politico reported Wednesday.

The newly appointed 2017-2018 Gwendolyn S. and Colbert I. King Endowed Chair in Public Policy will also deliver a series of five lectures related to public policy, the university announced in a press release.

"I am pleased to welcome Mr. Comey to Howard," Howard University President Wayne A.I. Frederick wrote. "His expertise and understanding of the challenges we continue to face today will go a long way in sparking rich discussion and advancing meaningful debates across campus."

The King Chair was "established to provide students access to experienced, senior public service executives who developed and advanced public policy initiatives," according to the press release.

Click for more from The Washington Free Beacon.
A District of Columbia judge sided Thursday with the Justice Department in ordering web-hosting service DreamHost to turn over certain metadata from an anti-Trump website.

The site, disruptj20.org, helped organize political protests against the Trump administration including one on Inauguration Day which resulted in property damage and scores of arrests. The governments subsequent push for information from the hosting service has touched off a constitutional battle between the federal government and the company.

Chief Judge Robert Morin, of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, acknowledged Thursday in court that he was struggling to balance First Amendment rights with the valid concerns of law enforcement enforcing a search warrant based on probable cause. While the DOJ has backed off its initial, controversial request for IP addresses, the government still wants other personal information included in the metadata from DreamHost  a request Morin granted.

But the challenge is to focus on pertinent emails from people organizing violent protests without violating the privacy of ordinary website visitors. Morin tried to include safeguards to protect First Amendment rights, by forcing the government to separate records of innocent users from those that fall within the guidelines of the search warrant and to seal all those records.

Defense attorneys, though, warned of the chilling effect of even turning over the records, much less letting government investigators rummage through the emails.

The individuals who are visiting, and becoming members of an advocacy group will still know that at some point, someday, there is going to be an FBI agent sitting there and looking at this information, DreamHost defense attorney Raymond Aghaian said. At the time this information is in the governments possession and at the time that the FBI agent is reviewing that email ... that, in DreamHosts view, has itself a chilling effect on the exercise of political expression and the right to association under the First Amendment.

Defense attorneys added that, in their view, this case isnt about protecting this personal information once it has been turned over, but rather preventing the information from being turned over at all.

DreamHost attorneys asked Morin, who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, for a stay while they determine whether they want to appeal his ruling.

Morin told them to turn over all the metadata relevant to the search warrant for now, but ordered the government not to review the information until defense attorneys decide whether to appeal.
In spending half an hour excoriating the media at the Phoenix rally, Donald Trump may have shattered his own record for such a lengthy indictment by an American president.

He called journalists sick people. He said I really think they dont like our country. He said the crooked media are the source of the division in our country.

And, of course, Trump blamed the fourth estate for malpractice in reporting his remarks after the Charlottesville violence: The only people giving a platform to these hate groups is the media itself, and the fake news.

His base, as always, loved it.

But in this MSM members view, what happened Tuesday night was a missed opportunity for Trump, who is elevating his disgust with those who cover him to a major element of his case to the public. And it was a missed opportunity for the media as well.

Trump, as is well known, always needs an enemy. With Hillary leaking excerpts from her forthcoming book, with Alec Baldwin on summer hiatus, with Mitch McConnell telling associates he wonders if Trump will make it (at least according to the NYT), the press is his main punching bag.

The presidents message comes down to this: the media treat me with monstrous unfairness, they are also unfair to you, and they view you with condescension.

Thats fair game, but heres why this attack did nothing to expand his base or further his agenda.

Just 24 hours earlier, Trump had given a generally well-received speech on sending more troops to Afghanistan, and won some media plaudits for the deliberative nature of the consultations with his generals. Slamming the press (along with John McCain, Jeff Flake and dangling a pardon for Joe Arpaio) booted that story from the news cycle.

While the president seemed to be on offense, in a larger sense he was on the defensive. He was relitigating the Charlottesville story, the fallout from which was just starting to fade. When he did denounce the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacists, he told the crowd, the media reaction was it should have been sooner. He's a racist.

But that put him in the position of insisting hes not a racist. And while its fine to punch back at the coverage, the president was wrong in insisting that he media ignored his remarks such as racism is evil. They were covered and replayed again and again. (He also left out the part where he said both sides were to blame for Charlottesville.)

But some in the media also went too far, reinforcing the view that they have deep hostility toward the president and no interest in fairness.

CNN anchor Don Lemon told viewers they had just seen someone who came out on stage and lied directly to the American people and left things out that he said in an attempt to rewrite history, especially when it comes to Charlottesville. He is unhinged, its embarrassing, and I dont mean for us, the media because he went after us, but for the country.

MSNBCs Lawrence ODonnell actually interrupted Trumps speech to say: This is the president lying about the media. He is telling his audience that the media lies about him. Imagine the MSNBC reaction if some Fox host had interrupted a Barack Obama speech to assail him.

And CNN commentator Ana Navarro tweeted that Trump could maybe be suffering from early-onset dementia, adding on the air that the only defensible explanation is if he is not mentally well, because if he is, then he is just such an incredible, self-centered, narcissistic, unfit jerk.

All this plays into the hands of those who believe the media refuse to treat the president with respect.

But with a widening gap with Republican lawmakers and some corporate executives distancing themselves, the politics of grievance will only take President Trump so far.


The FBIs July raid on former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's Virginia home lasted 10 hours and involved a dozen federal agents, who seized documents labeled attorney-client, according to a source close to the investigation.

The July raid was first reported earlier this month, but the new details reflect the intensity and scope of the search, which the source described as "heavy-handed, designed to intimidate." Elements of the account were backed up by a second individual also not authorized to speak on the record.

The source said both Manafort and his wife were asleep when FBI agents entered the Alexandria, Va., condo without warning at about 6 a.m. ET. They did not conclude their search until late afternoon, around 4 p.m. ET. The 1,600-square-foot condo includes three bedrooms and a main living area.

During the raid, agents copied the electronics through a process known in law enforcement circles as mirroring and collected records -- including several documents marked "attorney-client" that included privileged material to aid Manafort's preparation for congressional testimony, sources said.

The FBI raid came the same week Manafort appeared before the Senate intelligence and judiciary committees and provided documents on a voluntary basis.

"This is an unusual step, there is no getting around it," former Justice Department official Tom Dupree told Fox News. "It is an aggressive step. I think it sends a very strong message both to Manafort himself and potentially other people who might be targets of this investigation that [Special Counsel Robert] Mueller is going to pursue this aggressively."

Dupree, who served as principal deputy assistant attorney general during the George W. Bush administration and argued appeals in all 13 circuits as well as the U.S. Supreme Court, drew attention to the timing. "This is unusual because ordinarily, if you are in the process of testifying before Congress and turning documents over to Congress, you would think the prosecutors might say, 'Well this person is cooperating and there is no need for us to go in and get a search warrant.'"

However, Dupree said, the fact that Mueller, nonetheless, went in, got a search warrant and raided his home suggests that there is something else going on here  and it suggests that Mueller doesn't trust Manafort or that for whatever reason he thought that if he waited for Manafort to voluntarily comply, that Mueller might not get all the evidence he wanted."

Asked for comment, Manafort spokesman Jason Maloni referred Fox News to a statement released earlier this month: "FBI agents executed a search warrant at one of Mr. Manafort's residences. Mr. Manafort has consistently cooperated with law enforcement and other serious inquiries and did so on this occasion as well."

The affidavit that justified to a federal judge that there was "necessity" to raid the property  considered a highly visible and aggressive law enforcement tool  remains under seal and is not public.

Two former senior FBI officials, who declined to speak on the record citing the sensitivity of the special counsel case, were split on whether the number of agents appeared excessive given the size of the property and a search that likely authorized a specific range of records. Both officials, with decades of experience at the bureau, emphasized there is "nothing typical" about a special counsel probe.

The officials said a guiding principle for federal agents seeking records is to use the least intrusive means possible.

A spokesman for the Special Counsels Office declined to comment.

Manafort has been the subject of multiple investigations into his financial dealings and lobbying work. He left the Trump campaign last August amid questions over his dealings in Ukraine; Manafort has since registered as a foreign agent for the work he did with a Ukrainian political party.
From Twitter jabs to shouting matches, the feud between the president of the United States and Senate majority leader is anything but subtle.

But Trump and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., joined together in the White House Rose Garden Monday after a lunch meeting and said their relationship is better than ever and remained united on passing tax reform.

Weve been friends for a long time, Trump said. My relationship with this gentleman has been outstanding.

McConnell reiterated the sentiment and added that the pair talks all of the time and have the same agenda.

Despite Mondays press conference, the two have seemingly been at each others throats for some time. Read on for a look at the feud between McConnell and Trump and how it got started.

Health care

Perhaps the greatest dispute between McConnell and Trump during Trumps young presidency is over health care.

Trump campaigned on the promise to repeal and replace former President Barack Obamas controversial health care law, dubbed ObamaCare. McConnell, like many other Republican lawmakers, have railed on ObamaCare since it was enacted.

Over the summer, Senate Republicans tried and failed multiple times to piece together a health care reform bill that would have passed.

Trump urged McConnell to get health care plan approved on Twitter  and criticized him multiple times when that didnt happen.

Can you believe that Mitch McConnell, who has screamed Repeal & Replace for 7 years, couldnt get it done, Trump tweeted on Aug. 10.

Trump has often said that hes very disappointed in Mitch.

TRUMP, MCCONNELL SET FOR TENSE TALKS ON GOPS FALL AGENDA

In turn, McConnell assailed the president as having excessive expectations during an event in Kentucky.

Our president has of course not been in this line of work before, and I think [he] had excessive expectations about how quickly things happen in the democratic process, McConnell said.

Trump denied the charges.

Before he tweeted, Trump called McConnell to express his extreme disappointment, a source told Fox News. The call was tense, according to the source.

And when recently asked about McConnells future as majority leader, Trump left the question unanswered.

"Well, I tell you what, if he doesn't get repeal-and-replace done and if he doesn't get taxes done, meaning cuts and reform, and if he doesn't get a very easy one to get done, infrastructure, if he doesn't get them done, then you can ask me that question," Trump told reporters on Aug. 10.

As more media attention has focused on the feud between Trump and McConnell, the president tweeted again on Aug. 24 to say that the only problem he has with McConnell is that he couldnt pass health care reform legislation.

Russia investigations

On the same phone call in which Trump hounded McConnell over health care, Trump berated the majority leader on congressional investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

STEVE BANNON RECRUITING RABBLE-ROUSERS TO TAKE ON GOP ESTABLISHMENT

Federal investigators and congressional committees are looking into Russias influence on the presidential election and whether Trump or his associates were involved.

Trump was also animated during his call with McConnell when he blasted him for what Trump saw as his refusal to protect him from the investigation, according to The New York Times.

Debt ceiling

Trump criticized McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan in a series of tweets on Aug. 24 for not tying budget legislation to a veterans bill that passed Congress.

I requested that [McConnell] and [Ryan] tie the Debt Ceiling legislation into the popular V.A. Bill (which just passed) for easy approval, Trump tweeted. They didnt do it so now we have a big deal with Dems holding them up (as usual) on Debt Ceiling approval. Could have been so easy  now a mess!

Leadership

McConnell clearly struck a nerve with Trump when he told an audience in his home state of Kentucky that Trump had not been in this line of work before.

CONSERVATIVE GROUPS DEMAND MCCONNELL STEP DOWN AS SENATE GOP LEADER

Hes also privately questioned Trumps willingness to learn and governing style, according to The New York Times.

Remain united

The White House maintained the two lawmakers are united and even share many of the same priorities, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Aug. 23.

President Donald J. Trump and Senator Mitch McConnell remain united on many shared priorities, including middle-class tax relief, strengthening the military, constructing a southern border wall and other important issues, she said.

Sanders also said McConnell and Trump will meet for previously scheduled meetings following the August recess.

McConnell also said that same day that he and Trump are committed to working together.

We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we are committed to advancing our shared agenda together, he said. Anyone who suggests otherwise is clearly not part of the conversation.

Pre-presidency

Before Trump took over the White House, he tweeted his support of McConnell and advocated for him to become the majority leader multiple times.

In Feb. 2013, Trump suggested on social media that McConnell get rid of jinxed political consultant Karl Rove.

In 2014, Trump urged Kentuckians to re-elect McConnell in order to bring money and power to the state.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway slammed former national intelligence director James Clapper on Thursday for what she called his absurd analysis on President Trumps fitness for office.

Clapper was one of numerous CNN pundits who tore into the president after his late-night rally speech in Phoenix on Tuesday. The Obama-era intel boss called the event scary and disturbing.

On Fox & Friends Thursday morning, Conway called his attack way over the line.

Its such an absurd analysis playing armchair psychiatrist, and its not just him, its a lot of people on TV, Conway said.

She cited the parade of pundits who are conjecturing about the president.

Clapper, who is now a CNN national security analyst, had questioned Trumps fitness to be in this office.

This behavior and this divisiveness, intellectual and moral and ethical void that the president of the United States exhibits, Clapper said. And how much longer does the countryto borrow a phraseendure this nightmare?"

He was far from the only pundit on CNN that night tearing into Trump.

Don Lemon, the host of CNN Tonight, earlier accused the president of trying to ignite a civil war and giving oxygen to racists.

Trumps remarks in Phoenix were reminiscent of candidate-Trump on the campaign trail, slamming the media over its coverage of his presidencyspecifically noting his response to recent violence in Charlottesville, Va.

They are sick people, Trump said of the media. You know the thing I dont understand? You would think  theyd want to make our country great again. And I honestly believe they dont.

Trump continued to trash the medias coverage of him, calling out CNN and saying you wonder why CNN is doing poorly.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has ramped up calls to remove "reprehensible" Confederate statues from the halls of Congress -- but left unsaid in her public denunciations is that her father helped dedicate such a statue decades ago while mayor of Baltimore.

It was May 2, 1948, when, according to a Baltimore Sun article from that day, 3,000 looked on as then-Governor William Preston Lane Jr. and Pelosis father, the late Thomas DAlesandro Jr., spoke at the dedication of a monument to honor Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas Stonewall Jackson.

The article said Lane delivered a speech, and Mayor DAlesandro accepted the memorial.

Today, with our nation beset by subversive groups and propaganda which seeks to destroy our national unity, we can look for inspiration to the lives of Lee and Jackson to remind us to be resolute and determined in preserving our sacred institutions, DAlesandro said in his dedication. We must remain steadfast in our determination to preserve freedom, not only for ourselves, but for the other liberty-loving nations who are striving to preserve their national unity as free nations.

He added: In these days of uncertainty and turmoil, Americans must emulate Jacksons example and stand like a stone wall against aggression in any form that would seek to destroy the liberty of the world.

With President Trump cautioning that the drive to purge Confederate statues could represent a slippery slope, the White House has flagged Pelosi's family history as she fuels the statue opposition.

Counselor Kellyanne Conway tweeted an earlier article from RedAlertPolitics noting Pelosi's father's role.

"That's rich," she wrote.

CONFEDERATE STATUE FUROR HITS CAPITOL HILL AS PELOSI AND OTHERS SEEK REMOVAL

Last week, more than a half century after Pelosis father honored the Lee-Jackson monument, it was removed from its post along with three other Confederate statues in Baltimore, according to the Baltimore Sun. The removal came as numerous monuments were removed, vandalized or otherwise being debated in the wake of the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., where a counter-protester was killed.

Pelosis office did not respond to Fox News request for comment on her fathers involvement with one of the Baltimore monuments.

But Pelosi, D-Calif., has been outspoken in fueling the backlash toward symbols of the Confederacy. Last week, she urged House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to remove the 10 Confederate statues memorialized on Capitol Hill immediately if Republicans are serious about rejecting white supremacy.

When asked why Pelosi, after serving as House speaker for years, never pushed to remove the 10 figures, her office noted that she directed the relocation of the Robert E. Lee statue from Statuary Hall to the basement of the Capitol, known as the crypt.

As Speaker, we relocated Robert E. Lee out of a place of honor in National Statuary Hall  a place now occupied by the statue of Rosa Parks, Pelosi said last week.
President Trump took aim at the Fake News, slammed congressional Republican leaders and called out former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper in a rapid-fire Twitter-storm early Thursday.

The president had been relatively quiet on Twitter this week after returning to Washington from his 17-day working vacation at his property in Bedminster, N.J. But he returned to the platform Thursday, in part to respond to criticism in the media over his Phoenix rally speech.

In a cryptic dig at Clapper, he wrote: "James Clapper, who famously got caught lying to Congress, is now an authority on Donald Trump. Will he show you his beautiful letter to me?"

Clapper, now a CNN analyst, had gone on the network after Trump's Tuesday night rally to question the president's "fitness" for office. Trumps Twitter reference to lying referred to Clappers 2013 apology for telling Congress the NSA doesnt gather data on millions of Americans. It's unclear what letter Trump was referring to.

While going after the Obama-era official, Trump also called out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan -- despite the White House earlier attempting to ease tensions with McConnell by saying the two remain united on many legislative items.

"The only problem I have with Mitch McConnell is that, after hearing Repeal & Replace for 7 years, he failed!That should NEVER have happened!" Trump tweeted, referring to health care legislation.

He also wrote: I requested that Mitch M & Paul R tie the Debt Ceiling legislation into the popular V.A. Bill (which just passed) for easy approval. They ... didnt do it so now we have a big deal with Dems holding them up (as usual) on Debt Ceiling approval. Could have been so easy now a mess!

It's unclear whether that strategy would have worked for a debt ceiling increase. Some Republicans in the House would have balked at not having a clear path to cutting spending attached, leaving GOP leaders looking for Democratic votes.

While going after Democrats, Trump seemed Thursday to once again put pressure on McConnell and Ryan.

The feud between McConnell and Trump began when McConnell criticized the president for having excessive expectations about the legislative process, after Congress failed to deliver the votes on a plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare ahead of their August recess. Trump repeatedly said he was very disappointed in Mitch, and reportedly had a profane shouting match over the phone on Aug. 9.

TRUMP, MCCONNELL PORTRAY THEMSELVES AS 'UNITED' AFTER RIFT

This week, the two have attempted to make up publicly.

President Donald J. Trump and Senator Mitch McConnell remain united on many shared priorities, including middle class tax relief, strengthening the military, constructing a southern border wall, and other important issues, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday.

McConnell also insisted that he and Trump were committed to working together.

We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we are committed to advancing our shared agenda together and anyone who suggests otherwise is clearly not part of the conversation, McConnell said Wednesday.

McConnell and Trump are set to speak for the first time since the call during the first week in September when Congress returns to Capitol Hill.

This week, the president also warned that he would close down the federal government if lawmakers do not pass a spending bill to pay for the U.S.-Mexico border wall.

I dont think a government shutdown is necessary, and I dont think most people want to see a government shutdown, ourselves included, Ryan said Wednesday in response to the presidents warning, saying that the House already approved some funding for the wall but stressed that more time would be needed to implement the plan.

RYAN TAMPS DOWN ON TRUMP'S TALK OF GOV'T SHUTDOWN IF NO BORDER WALL

But Trumps tweets continued Thursday morning, trashing Fake News.

The Fake News is now complaining about my different types of back to back speeches. Well, there was Afghanistan (somber), the big Rally(enthusiastic, dynamic and fun) and the American Legion  V.A. (respectful and strong). To bad the Dems have no one who can change tones!

Fox News' John Roberts and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.
President Trump will instruct the Pentagon to stop admitting transgender individuals into the military, Fox News has confirmed.

As first reported by The Wall Street Journal late Wednesday, the White House will send guidance to the Pentagon in the coming days regarding the new ban on transgender people in the military, giving Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis six months to implement the new ban.

The guidelines will instruct Mattis to consider the deployability of current transgender individuals in the military, and whether they should remain in service. The White House also told Fox News it will instruct the Pentagon to stop spending on medical treatments and surgeries for transgender individuals who are already in the militarya policy started during the Obama administration.

Trumps direction to the Pentagon comes just days after standing before an audience of nearly 2,000 servicemembers at Fort Myer, Va., on Monday calling for unity.

All service members are brothers and sisters, all part of the same familythe American family, Trump said Monday in his speech to unveil the administrations new Afghanistan policy. They take the same oath, fight for the same flag, and live according to the same law. They are bound together by common purpose, mutual trust and selfless devotion to our nation and to each other.

AFGHANISTAN SPEECH: TRUMP SAYS NATION NEED TO 'UNIFY,' HONORS AMERICA'S 'HEROES'

Trump first announced the transgender policy on Twitter on July 26, posting a series of tweets reinstating a ban on transgender individuals in the military that was lifted by then-President Barack Obama at the end of his second term.

After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allowTransgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelmingvictory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you.

Transgender service members have been able to serve openly in the military since last year when then-Secretary of Defense Ash Carter lifted the prior ban. Carter also gave the services until July 1 to develop policies to allow people already identifying as transgender to newly join the military, if they meet physical, medical and other standards.

WHITE HOUSE DEFENDS REVERSAL OF 'OBAMA POLICY' ON TRANSGENDER MILITARY SERVICE

Fox News John Roberts and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is recommending adjusting the boundaries of numerous national monuments -- but not eliminating them -- as part of a review ordered by President Trump.

The recommendations I sent to the president on national monuments will maintain federal ownership of all federal land and protect the land under federal environmental regulations, and also provide a much needed change for the local communities who border and rely on these lands for hunting and fishing, economic development, traditional uses and recreation, Zinke said Thursday in a statement.

The president had ordered the review into what he called the massive federal land grab executed by former President Barack Obama and other predecessors, under the Antiquities Act of 1906.

An administration official told Fox News that Zinke is now recommending a handful of revisions to the boundaries to protect public access, private property rights, cultural heritage and traditional use such as ranching and recreation. Zinke is not, however, rescinding any of the 27 monuments under review.

A summary of the report released to the media didnt say which national monuments or how much land would be impacted.

For the study, Zinke said he visited eight national monument sites in six states, including Bears Ears in Utah; Grand Staircase Escalante in Utah; Katahdin Woods and Waters in Maine; and Gold Butte in Nevada.

Ordering the review in April, Trump told the Interior Department to review all national monuments designated since 1996 that cover more than 100,000 acres.

The Antiquities Act does not give the federal government unlimited power to lock up millions of acres of land and water, and its time that we ended this abusive practice, Trump said in April.

Since 1996, former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama protected hundreds of millions of acres under the Antiquities Act, which authorizes the president to declare federal lands and waters as monuments and restrict their use.

INTERIOR TAGS 27 DESIGNATED MONUMENTS FOR REVIEW

The review was conducted on federal land in 11 mostly Western states. The list also includes marine monuments in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, including a huge reserve in Hawaii established in 2006 and expanded last year by Obama.

Shortly before leaving office, Obama infuriated Utah Republicans by creating the Bears Ears National Monument on 1.35 million acres of land that's sacred to Native Americans and home to tens of thousands of archaeological sites, including ancient cliff dwellings.

Republicans in the state asked Trump to take the unusual step of reversing Obama's decision. They said the designation will stymie growth by closing the area to new commercial and energy development. The Antiquities Act does not give the president explicit power to undo a designation and no president has ever taken such a step.

Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch said Thursday he looks forward to assisting in every way possible as additional details about the future of Utahs monuments are made public.

While Utahs national monuments are a prime example of Antiquities Act Abuse, President Trump and Secretary Zinke are working to correct those past abuses and focus on the original meaning and intent of the law, Hatch said.

Land Tawney, CEO of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, a nonprofit based in Montana that advocates for sportsmen in public lands and waters, told Fox News he is relieved Zinke isnt pushing to eliminate any national monuments. But Tawney said hes still waiting to hear what specific changes are being advocated by the Department of Interior and thinks the eight national monument sites visited by Zinke could be the ones affected.

The Interior Department said Zinkes 120-day review included tours of monuments conducted by air, foot, car and horseback, as well as virtual tour of a marine monument. The department said it met with local, state, tribal and other interested parties, and reviewed more than 2.4 million public comments submitted online.

Fox News John Roberts and Alex Pappas and The Associated Press contributed to this report.


In 1971 Kirby Williams went to Vietnam as a U.S. Army draftee and worked as a finance clerk. In 2010 he went to a Veterans Affairs clinic in southern Illinois where a radiologist took a scan of his kidneys.

Unfortunately, the radiologist missed a 2- to 3-centimeter mass in one of his kidneys, and by last December that mass had grown to between 7 and 8 centimeters. Now the 66 year old has, at most, two to five years to live.

Sadly, evidence is mounting that Williams may be just one of many veterans whose health and longevity have been compromised by shoddy practices of VA personnel more focused on earning a productivity bonus than taking care of the men and women who put their lives on the line for the nation.

Kidney cancer is a silent killer; there are really no symptoms, Williams told Fox News, in explaining why the scan results he received at the Marion VA are important.

His doctor told him the mass had been growing about six years. While physicians could have removed the affected kidney in 2010, that is no longer an option, according to Dr. L. Anthony Leskosky, a board-certified radiologist who worked at the Marion VA clinic in southern Illinois until he was fired in June because he said he reported these kinds of problems.

It would have been a surgical cure at that time, said Leskosky. That is the real crime right there.

Leskosky's documentation and claims about similar problems at the Marion VA have sparked investigations by three federal agencies into the Department of Veterans Affairs clinic to see if its radiologists rushed analyses of potentially hundreds of patient scans to boost their pay -- even though it resulted in veterans with serious or fatal conditions being untreated.

The investigations follow a report by Leskosky, who initially advised his supervisors of his concerns but was told to keep quiet about the matter.

But Leskosky, who began working at the Marion VA in March 2016 after three decades in private practice, persisted, telling the White House Office of Special Counsel, the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG), the VA Office of the Medical Inspector, three U.S. senators and two representatives.

The clinics response was to fire Leskosky, he said. A spokesperson for the Marion VA was not immediately available for comment.

Within weeks, though, of starting at the VA, he noticed patients previously diagnosed as healthy had radiology scans from years prior documenting grave conditions. These conditions, such as cancers, aortic aneurysms, bleeding ulcers and obstructions in their small bowel and colon -- if left untreated -- could cause patients tremendous pain or even premature death.

In radiology, we compare current scans to old studies, so I was pulling up the last two years of the scans. Thats when I noticed the radiologists had called their previous exams normal, but I would see a mass on the older scans, and then on my scan, I would see the mass had enlarged, and in some cases become a spreading cancer. Usually that is not survivable, Leskosky said.

As many as four to five times a day, Leskosky said, he found serious errors in prior readings, despite just four other radiologists being on staff. In one particularly egregious case, a radiologist missed a 17-centimeter tumor in a patients pelvis.

The most disturbing part is the veterans are being misdiagnosed and had their lives shortened or have been subjected to incredibly increased pain and suffering.  Dr. L. Anthony Leskosky

The most disturbing part is the veterans are being misdiagnosed and had their lives shortened or have been subjected to incredibly increased pain and suffering, he said.

In private practice, radiologists may miss key findings once or twice in a lifetime, Leskosky said.

There is no way to get over the thought that you are responsible for someones premature death, he said.

A large part of the problem, Leskosky said, is some of the other radiologists on staff were flipping through 50 to 60 patient scans a day, instead of the industry recommended 25 to 30 and, as a result, missing critical findings.

They were paid based on productivity, so the faster they read, the more money they made, and the fastest way to read is to call it normal, Leskosky said.

The median pay for VA radiologists is about $270,000 per year. Flipping through 50 to 60 scans a day rather than the industry recommendation of 25 to 30 could increase their annual compensation by $30,000 to $50,000, he said.

Instead of correcting the problem or terminating the radiologists who were missing these cancers, missing these really horrible diagnoses and making the veterans suffer to a degree that is unimaginable, and shortening their lifespan to an incredible extent, I was terminated on June 24, Leskosky said.

Under President Trump, the VA and newly appointed Secretary David Shulkin pledged to protect whistleblowers, more aggressively weed out problems and advocate for patients. A spokesperson said the VA is taking Leskoskys allegations seriously.

VAs Office of the Medical Inspector has thoroughly investigated these allegations, and is preparing a final report, Curt Cashour, a spokesman at the national VA offices. If any allegations are substantiated, VA will take swift corrective action to ensure veterans are receiving the best possible care.

Cashour said he could not release more information about Leskoskys case without him signing a release form, which Leskosky did not do.

Natalie Khawam, an attorney with the Whistleblower Law Firm in Tampa, Fla., who represents a number of whistleblowers, including Leskosky, said the VA is playing games and it is a tragedy that Leskosky was fired for trying to protect patients.

She said the Probationary Review Board looked over his case and recommended that Leskosky be retained after reviewing evidence and statements in May 2017. However, his supervisors overruled the boards recommendation and terminated him.

Instead of rewarding a caring doctor, the Marion VA tried to silence him by terminating him, Khawam said. The nations veterans have lost a great and caring doctor.

Leskosky isnt the first to cite the Marion VA management for incompetence, retaliation and questionable patient safety.

A May 31, 2017, memo from the VA National Center for Patient Safety said that in 2008 the OIG found the Marion VA was plagued by quality management and patient care problems and had a spike in the number of post-surgical patient deaths there, which the program manager called suspicious.

While conditions initially improved in 2014, the May 31, 2017, report said there have been significant declines in patient safety and employee morale, as well as a substantial increase in reports of whistleblower retaliation.

After reviewing this report, Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Mich., chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations for the Committee on Veterans Affairs, and Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., a member of the subcommittee, have launched their own inquiry into alleged mismanagement and retaliation against whistleblowers at the Marion VA facility.

Citing the VA National Center for Patient Safety report, they said the allegations by several employees are troubling and have asked the newly appointed VA secretary for a meeting to discuss the allegations.

Meanwhile, Williams says hes not mad at anyone about the Marion VA missing his mass in 2010, and likely shortening his life.

Thats water under the bridge. Nothing I can do about it now, he said.

Whether the various federal investigations into the VA clinic that botched his diagnosis will be as forgiving remains to be seen.
The left has upped the stakes in its guerilla operations against Republicans, as deep-pocketed groups fund protesters to show up to the offices and even houses of congressmen to protest their lack of "town hall" meetings.

Earlier this month, protesters targeted the home of Rep. Jason Lewis, a newly elected Republican in Minnesota's 2nd District. The protests on his doorstep grew big enough that one of his neighbors called the police.

"Fortunately my family wasn't home at the time, Lewis told Fox News. I ran for Congress, but my family didn't run ... so to bring them into it I think is not in keeping with the best of American tradition."

Protesters also have shown up at the homes of other Republican lawmakers in swing districts such as Rep. John Faso, R-N.Y., and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. Some 200 protesters showed up at Issa's home to blast him for not holding town hall meetings, leading his spokesman to say: Dragging the congressmans wife and family into this goes beyond the pale.

Local chapters of a left-wing group called Indivisible helped organize and lead those two protests.

'This is a well-oiled, very much activist plan to disrupt the democratic process.'  Rep. Jason Lewis

The targets say the whole operation is part of a one-two punch orchestrated from the top, in which left-wing groups throw their first punch by rounding up activists and training them to be as disruptive as possible during representatives town halls.

Then, when lawmakers stop holding those events, the groups throw their second punch by protesting at their homes.

This is a well-oiled, very much activist plan to disrupt the democratic process, Lewis said.

It started with the group Indivisible, which created a popular guide for making members of Congress look bad at town halls. The group says the guide is now used by "over 5,800 local groups" and has at least two groups in every congressional district.

The guide tells activists how to work as a team to hector a representative. It says after one activist asks a question at a town hall, "Other group members around the room should amplify by either booing the MoC [Member of Congress] or applauding you."

The guide also advises activists to go further and refuse to give up the microphone after their question. It gives them a script to follow: "If [Congressional staffers] object, then say politely but loudly: Im not finished. The MoC is dodging my question. Why are you trying to stop me from following up?

The guide, published in December 2016 with the goal to stop a petty tyrant named Trump, spells out ways to make the representative look bad in detail.

"Record everything," the guide advises. "Unfavorable exchanges caught on video can be devastating for MoCs."

Lawmakers say town halls used to be places where they could have meaningful interaction with constituents but dont work when the place is packed with activists trying to cause a scene.

A spokeswoman for Indivisible told Fox News that the group simply puts more political power in the hands of the people to hold members of Congress accountable.

It's no surprise that some members of Congress who were hoping their constituents wouldn't notice or care how they vote might be disappointed to see a renewed interest in holding them accountable, Indivisible press manager Helen Kalla said. Reviving the traditional town hall as the primary forum for constituents to engage with their representatives  contributes to a healthier democracy.

While local chapters helped organize some of the protests at representatives homes, Kalla said the national group does not support that. Indivisible does not condone protesting at the private residence of a member of Congress, she said.

Indivisible bills itself as grassroots, but is funded mostly by wealthy foundations and anonymous donors who give through a complex web of left-wing groups, making it hard to identify donors.

On its website, Indivisible advises potential donors that they can make a large gift tax deductible if they go through an intermediary group called the Tides Foundation. The foundation funnels more than $100 million a year to left-wing advocacy groups; liberal billionaire George Soros Open Society Foundations is one of many groups that gives money to projects through the Tides Foundation, though there is no evidence his group supports Indivisible in particular.

Indivisible also says on its website it is a project of The Advocacy Fund," another intermediary group that hides donors identities. According to the funds latest public audit, "100%" of "receivables were from two donors," as of Dec. 31, 2014.

Kalla told Fox News that some of the groups donors are public, including New Media Ventures, Propel Capital, Bauman Foundation, Public Welfare Foundation, Compton Foundation, and Arkay Foundation.

Other big donors are not public. Small donations account for more money than any single foundation or big donor, an Indivisible spokesperson also said.

Lewis said Indivisibles town hall guide and the protests are orchestrated from afar to recruit people in the district who are anything but objective or the average constituent.

Despite moving away from town halls, he said he still meets people every single working day, at hospitals, businesses, universities and elsewhere.

The author of the story, Maxim Lott, can be reached on Twitter at @MaximLott
A stand-off with China over the countrys shady tactics for obtaining U.S. tech is at the center of speculation over whether Steve Bannons nationalist trade agenda will survive in the Trump administration even after his resignation.

Late last week, just as Bannons exit as was announced, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced his office took the rare step of launching an investigation of China under whats known as Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.

I have determined that these critical issues merit a thorough investigation, Lighthizer said in a statement, citing concerns about whether Chinese policies are harming American intellectual property rights and innovation.

The obscure trade tiff has led to a great divide on this side of the Pacific.

The concern from corporate America, unions and free trade experts is that the Trump administration will follow its bluster with potentially damaging unilateral action. The concern from the so-called Bannon base, however, is that the administration will pay lip service to the fiery populists agenda, only to back down in the end.

While little-known and not used in years, Section 301 was a big deal for Bannon, Trumps chief strategist for months. In his infamous pre-departure phone call to the liberal American Prospect, Bannon talked trade shop at length and cited the Section 301 complaint.

Bannon said his internal adversaries on trade were wetting themselves and predicted the complaint would be revived despite being shelved amid tensions with North Korea.

To me, the economic war with China is everything, Bannon told the reporter. And we have to be maniacally focused on that. If we continue to lose it, were five years away, I think, ten years at the most, of hitting an inflection point from which well never be able to recover.

Section 301, which enables the U.S. to unilaterally investigate trade complaints and if need be retaliate, has rarely been used since the Reagan administration, which was battling Japanese imports of popular, low-cost cars and trying to get Tokyo to open its markets to the Big Three.

But that was before the World Trade Organizations founding in 1995. Since then, Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama preferred to tangle with trade partners through the protective umbrella of that global trade system.

It turned out the China challenge was revived even sooner than Bannon thought. After President Trump issued a memo Aug. 14 instructing Lighthizer to consider launching a Section 301 probe, the trade rep followed through on Aug. 18  the same day Bannons departure was made public.

While Trumps announcement days later on his Afghanistan strategy has angered some Bannon-ites for the presidents tilt into more foreign intervention, the prospect of a trade fight reflects the Bannon spirit still -- to the chagrin of free-trade advocates like Dan Ikenson.

Its consistent with Trumps bombastic approach, said Ikenson, who focuses on U.S.-China trade as director of the libertarian Cato Institutes Center for Trade Policy Studies. He added, Its just fireworks, more bark than bite. Unless the U.S. imposes sanctions, its par for the course.

Ikenson pointed out that Lighthizer and Bannon are on the same page when it comes to China, so its not surprising that aspect of the Bannon agenda lives on. The primary focus of the investigation involves so-called forced technology transfers, where China coerces U.S. companies into divulging sensitive technological secrets in exchange for access to Chinese markets.

The Chinese are heavily dependent on us for semiconductor tech and the tech for military operations, Ikenson said. China has decided they have to steal the technology, coerce it and condition trade with us on obtaining our technology.

Its a major security issue, he acknowledged. The free trader believes China needs to be stopped but would prefer it be done through the WTO, rather than unilaterally, because he worries other nations might go their own way, too, and destroy the young global trading system.

If we bail out of the WTO, or undermine it, all bets are off and it could be a free for all, he said.

But Ikenson doesnt think it will come to that. I think Lighthizer is smart enough not to kill the WTO, he said. I think Bannon would like to kill the WTO. But Lighthizer will not take it to the level of unilateral, retaliatory sanctions against China.

Joel Farkas, director of the right-leaning American Strategy Group, called the administrations China complaint valid.

Trade agreements should not be titled free trade when parties can violate provisions without repercussions, he said.

In an interview with the Weekly Standard, Bannon seemed to cast doubt on whether his ideals would be reflected in the administration going forward.

The Trump presidency that we fought for, and won, is over, he said.

Fox News Amy Leedecke contributed to this report.
A couple renovating their new home in Dublin, Ohio, were stunned to discover a perfectly-preserved 19th century log cabin.

Kevin Kemp and Jennifer Alexander were planning to raze the home they bought to build a new property when they found the house held an incredible secret, according to the Columbus Dispatch. Kemp and his friend Larry Daniels were removing some paneling for reuse when they uncovered the log cabin.

We pulled off one of the pieces of paneling and I said, Larry, thats a log, Kemp said in an interview with the Columbus Dispatch, which first reported the story. We pulled off another and I said, My god, this is a log cabin.

ANCIENT INSCRIPTION UNEARTHED IN JERUSALEM, THRILLING ARCHAEOLOGISTS

"It took me a minute to process it," Kemp said in an interview with Fox News. "You're not ready to see a log cabin inside a modern home and it looks like, just over time, it was forgotten."

Tom Holton, president of the Dublin Historical Society told the Dispatch that the 25-by-30-foot cabin, which is perfectly preserved, was likely built between 1820 and 1840.

Columbus historian Doreen Uhas Sauer said the earliest record of a building on the site belonged to A. Maties in 1856, though Uhas Sauer agreed with Holton that the cabin pre-dates that time.

Log cabins have been around in the U.S. since the early 1600's, when it's believed the first ones were built near the Delaware River and Brandywine River valleys. They have become a symbol of Americana, with seven U.S. Presidents having been born in them, most famously, Abraham Lincoln. Andrew Jackson, James Buchanan were also born in log cabins.

Kemp and Alexander have sinced stopped their planned renovation, and have contacted city officials to preserve the cabin. Kemp told Fox News the city of Dublin has not compensated the couple for the cabin, but they are donating it to the city, which Kemp said "would help offset some of the construction costs."

DARK AGES FORT BUILT BY MYSTERIOUS 'PAINTED PEOPLE' FOUND IN SCOTLAND

The city was able to salvage the log cabin, Assistant City Manager Michelle Crandall told the Dispatch. It has been dismantled and the city is looking to rebuild it elsewhere.

Holton described the cabin, which is larger than most from that era, as a once-in-a-lifetime find.

It was startling and was just kind of wonderment to see history just peeled away, to see history revealed right before your eyes, he said.

Follow Chris Ciaccia on Twitter @chris_ciaccia
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Forty years ago, NASA launched twin robotic explorers on a mission to travel farther out than any spacecraft had gone before, and today, they continue to be our most distant emissaries. The story of those probes, and of the people behind them, is the focus of the aptly-titled documentary, "The Farthest," airing Wednesday (Aug. 23) on PBS.

The Voyager probes, referred to by numerical designators "1" and "2," revealed the outer planets of our solar system and then continued to sail beyond. Voyager 2, which was the first to launch on Aug. 20, 1977, visited Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Voyager 1 departed Earth on Sep. 5, 1977, overtook its counterpart, and was the first to arrive at Jupiter and Saturn.

Three and a half decades later, on Aug. 25, 2012, Voyager 1 became the first craft to cross into interstellar space. It is the farthest of humanity's creations, about 13 billion miles (21 billion km) from the sun, and it is still sending data. [NASA's Epic Voyager Mission at 40: Q&A with Lead Scientist Ed Stone]

"There are two parts to Voyager," said John Casani, who in 1977 was the project manager for Voyager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "There's the part of getting the thing designed, tested and put together so it is working right, getting it to the launch pad and getting it launched. The really interesting part happens after that."

"That is where the clock that is counting down to 40 years starts, at liftoff," said Casani, in an interview preceding an early screening of "The Farthest" at Space Center Houston in Texas on Aug. 1.

"Voyager really is an amazing mission. Not only because it lasted so long, but it really, for the first time, gave anybody a picture of what the solar system out beyond Mars was like. We had no idea," he said.

Casani is featured in "The Farthest," along with more than 20 other engineers, scientists and citizens who contributed to the Voyager mission 40 years ago.

"Space films can be challenging because they can be very impersonal. This one sort of goes to the other extreme," described Jared Lipworth, consulting producer with HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, which collaborated with the Ireland-based production company Crossing The Line to present the film.

"There are just so many of the people who were involved who have stories to tell," he said. "So, it really became as much about the people as it did about the mission."

That includes Casani and Frank Locatell, an engineer who led the design and development of the Voyager propulsion module and, for the year prior to launch, was responsible for the flight readiness of all the mechanical hardware on both probes.

"I think Voyager represents an evolutionary step in human development. I don't think that's a stretch [to say]," Locatell told collectSPACE. "Voyager is a story about science, and about the application of science and what that application could mean on our development as human beings."

"When Voyager was launched, I don't think we had any idea about some of the really strange worlds we detected out there," said Don Gurnett, the principal scientist for the plasma wave instrument that provided the evidence that Voyager 1 had left the solar system in 2012. "I remember after going by Jupiter and Saturn, being invited to science fiction conferences to talk about the worlds we discovered out there."

"It wasn't just the planets  Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune  but a whole collection of moons. I lost count, but there are some 30 or so moons," Gurnett said.

In addition to revealing the details of Jupiter's and Saturn's known satellites, Voyager 1 and 2 found three new moons at Jupiter and four at Saturn. Voyager 2 found 11 unknown moons at Uranus and six at Neptune.

Voyager 1 discovered active volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io, an ocean on Jupiter's moon Europa and a nitrogen-rich atmosphere on Saturn's moon Titan.

"The Farthest" also tells the history of the Golden Record, which on each probe carries music, images and greetings from Earth should intelligent aliens someday discover the one or both of them.

"The scientists at the time, a lot of them, did not want to have anything to do with it," Lipworth said. "They did not want it on [the spacecraft] and didn't like it was getting all the attention. But that says a lot about humanity. It was as much for us as it was for any alien that might find it."

Conveying the Golden Record may be the Voyagers' last mission, but the two probes' legacy is closer to home, said Casani.

"It is like saying 'What do we think about Columbus?' He discovered the Americas, or something like that," Casani explained. "The Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria might as well be Voyager 1 and 2. They showed us what was in the outer solar system. That will be their lasting legacy."

"Voyager was not about learning how to build machines. It was about learning what was out there. Voyager told us what was out there."

"The Farthest," from Crossing The Line and HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, premieres Wednesday (Aug. 23) on PBS. See: pbs.org/the-farthest

Take an inside look at "The Farthest" about NASA's Voyagers probes at collectSPACE.

Follow collectSPACE.com on Facebook and on Twitter at @ collectSPACE . Copyright 2017 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.
Reports that a mysterious sonic weapon has been used to target American diplomats in Cuba are puzzling scientists.

Citing a review of medical records, CBS News reported Wednesday that some U.S. and Canadian diplomats in Cuba have been diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury, and likely damage to the central nervous system, after an apparent sonic attack targeted their homes.

State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said that she could not confirm the CBS report during a press briefing Thursday. "We would never give information about the the health status of one of the Americans," she said.

Nauert did confirm that at least 16 U.S. Government employees have experienced some kind of symptoms and have been provided medical treatment in America and Cuba.

Earlier this month, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that U.S. diplomats in Havana had been the victims of "health attacks" that left them with hearing loss. His comments came shortly after the State Department issued a vaguely worded statement saying there had been "incidents which have caused a variety of physical symptoms." U.S. officials later revealed that American diplomats had suffered unexplained losses of hearing. Canada's government also said at least one Canadian diplomat in Cuba also had been treated for hearing loss.

ARMY BUILDING NEW 'AMBIDEXTROUS' MULTI-PURPOSE GRENADE

The reports have baffled scientists. "The story is mysterious indeed, explained Dr. Jurgen Altmann, a physics professor at Technische Universitat Dortmund in Germany, in a statement emailed to Fox News. I know of no acoustic effect that would produce concussion-like symptoms; according to my research strong effects on humans require loudness levels that would be perceived as very loud noise while exposed.

With scant details on the apparent attack, Altmann said that it is impossible to draw any clear conclusions about what happened.

Harvard Medical School Professor Dr. Charles Liberman told LiveScience that sound-induced hearing loss requires the part of that senses audible sound to be overloaded.

Like Altmann, Liberman noted the lack of information on the incidents, and said that its hard to explain what type of device may have been used.

ARMY TESTS HIGH-TECH AIRDROP SYSTEM THAT 'SEES' ITS TARGET

"High intensity sound at nearly any frequency can cause adverse physiological effects or behavioral changes in people," added Dr. Scott Masten, a toxicology expert at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, in a statement emailed to Fox News. "We are not aware of any published research on health effects of sound when used to intentionally cause harm."

Cubas government has denied any involvement in the incidents and the State Department has not identified the source of the attacks."We're not assigning responsibility at this point, we don't know who the perpetrator was of these incidents," said Nauert during Thursday's press briefing. "The investigation is ongoing and we will continue to try to find the source of these incidents and the perpetrator."

There has, however, been speculation that the devices used against the U.S. diplomats generated infrasound, a low frequency sound below the human hearing range. In a paper published last year with the University of Portsmouth in the U.K., researcher Ryan Littlefield explained that the term infrasound defines itself as the inaudible frequency range below the human bandwidth of around 20Hz. In the paper, Littlefield describes infrasounds potential military use to immobilise or impair targets.

Another possibility is that ultrasound, which is above 20Khz, and also cannot be heard by humans, was employed. One may speculate whether ultrasound (that is inaudible) was used, but projecting it over a considerable distance and/or through walls or closed windows is difficult, said Altmann.

The Technische Universitat Dortmund professor noted that one possible explanation for the symptoms experienced by the diplomats might be the use of ototoxic chemicals that cause hearing loss.

HIGH-TECH 'BAZOOKA' FIRES A NET TO TAKE DOWN DRONES

Ototoxic chemicals, which include some industrial chemicals, can damage the cochlea in the inner ear and the auditory neurological pathways. More than 750 different groups of chemicals are considered ototoxic, according to the Government of Western Australia.

Altmann added that he is not aware of any sound weapons. The only thing that might come close is the so-called LRAD, a big loudspeaker for audible noise, he explained.

Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) technology also has already been used by law enforcement as a sound cannon to disperse large groups of people. Gizmodo reports that LRAD was used to emit a painful shrill that forced protestors to cover their ears during G20 protests in Pittsburgh in 2009.

A federal judge recently ruled that a lawsuit regarding the New York Police Departments use of sound cannons can move forward, noting that it may be considered a form of excessive force.

The lawsuit was filed by six people who said they experienced migraines and hearing damage after the police used the sound cannons during the 2014 protests surrounding the police chokehold death of Eric Garner.

Additional reporting by Fox News' Matthew Libassi.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers
A Portland International Airport ground crew member was arrested last week after allegedly using his credentials to bypass security and board a plane without a ticket.

According to The Oregonian, 19-year-old Blessing Ndayishimiye was escorted off the Boston-bound JetBlue flight late Thursday night by Port of Portland police officers.

Officers were initially alerted to a security breach at the airport before flight crew members discovered Ndayishimiye in the cabin and notified authorities.

Ndayishimiye, who works for Airport Terminal Services, also attempted to stuff a pair of bags into the aircraft's storage compartment but was unsuccessful.

He was arrested and booked on charges of second-degree trespassing, theft of services and interfering with public transportation.

The incident created headaches for passengers, who were delayed more than two hours as a result.

Port of Portland spokesman Steve Johnson told The Oregonian that all of the flight's passengers were forced to exit the plane and go through the security screening process all over again. Authorities also brought in a police dog to check luggage for possible explosives.

The FBI is currently reviewing the incident.
A regional SkyWest Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing in St. Louis Tuesday evening due to severe turbulence. Three people are recovering from injuries sustained during the turmoil.

WOW AIR OFFERING BUDGET FLIGHTS TO EUROPE FROM 4 NEW MIDWEST CITIES

SkyWest flight 3167, operating as American Eagle, was en route from Atlanta to Chicago when it hit bad turbulence, reports KTVI. After the captain learned that the commotion hurt a flight attendant and two passengers, he made an emergency landing.

AMERICAN AIRLINES PASSENGER TRIES TO OPEN CABIN DOOR MID-FLIGHT, GETS SUBDUED

The aircraft touched down at St. Louis Lambert International Airport around 5:45 pm without issue, said Marissa Snow, SkyWest Director of Corporate Communications, to KDSK. After the plane touched down on Missouri tarmac, paramedics and emergency personal arrived to transport the injured three to the hospital for evaluation. Informatino on their conditions has not been released.

The safety of all onboard our aircraft is our primary concern, SkyWest said in an official statement. Both American Airlines and SkyWest are taking care of our passengers and crew at this time.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

SkyWest flight 3167s emergency landing is not the first frenzy in the high skies to make headlines this summer. Two weeks ago, bad turbulence on an American Airlines flight to Philadelphia injured ten. Earlier in the summer, major turbulence injured 26 people on a China Eastern Airlines flight.
Christopher Cantwell, one of the faces of white nationalism to emerge from this month's rally in Charlottesville, Va., who was wanted by police on several outsanding warrants, reportedly surrendered Wednesday.

The 36-year-old Cantwell was prominently featured in a Vice News Tonight report on the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, an event that saw the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer, who was struck by a vehicle that rammed into a crowd of counter-protesters.

Cantwell turned himself in to police in Lynchburg, Va., following several arrest warrants issued by the University of Virginia Police Department (UPD) in Charlottesville, the UPD said. He was being held at the Blue Ridge Regional Jail in Lynchburg, awaiting transfer to Charlottesville.

Cantwell was wanted on three felony charges, including two counts of the illegal use of tear gas or other gas and one count of malicious body injury with explosive or fire, police said.

He reportedly acknowledged using pepper spray Aug. 11 in Charlottesville, but said he was defending himself against a counter-protester and his other option was knocking out his teeth.

During the Vice documentary, Cantwell said the death of Hayer was more than justified, asserting that the suspect who allegedly deliberately drove into a crowd of people was provoked by stupid animals."

He also reiterated that he pepper-sprayed a counter-demonstrator, saying: "I thought that spraying that guy was the least damaging thing I could do.

Cantwell has since faced backlash from social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram and the dating website OkCupid  all of which terminated his accounts.

According to the New York Post, Cantwell later released a video in which he tearfully tells people he is afraid of being arrested.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The president of a student Republican club at San Diego State University (SDSU) said he received anonymous threats of violence and calls for his resignation after he penned a letter asking for the schools Muslim association to condemn the recent terror attack in Barcelona.

The Republican club's president, Brandon Jones, posted the letter to Facebook on Aug. 17 addressed to the SDSU Muslim Student Association (MSA), calling for its leaders to condemn last weeks terror attack  or resign.

The letter  referred to as a formal request  calls for the MSA to abide by its mission statement, which the letter claims reads: The Muslim Student Association is an organization dedicated to creating a sense of community and an inclusive environment for ALL students on campus

But the group lists a different mission statement online.

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS SAY THEY WERE HARASSED AT HOWARD UNIVERSITY FOR WEARING PRO-TRUMP GEAR

Jones letter stated that the campus community cannot move forward in creating an inclusive environment for all students on campus until the Muslim organization condemns the Barcelona attack.

The letter continued, stating that if leaders of the MSA dont condemn the attack and similar radical Islamic terrorist attacks, the College Republicans would ask for the resignations of the clubs president and other leaders.

I stand by the statement we made, Jones told Fox News. He said his letter has the support of SDSUs College Republicans, and that fellow college Republican organizations across the nation have come out in support.

The MSA didnt respond to a request for comment, but wrote on Facebook that the MSA expresses its support for victims of white supremacy, nationalism, and terrorism. Our solidarity is what makes us strong and we must continue to work together to make our college campus a safe place for all students.

Other groups on campus  the Young Democratic Socialists and Transfronterizo Alliance Student Organization, neither of which responded to requests for comment by Fox News  have taken to Facebook to condemn the letter by College Republicans.

The Young Democratic Socialists called Jones letter a cruel and bigoted attack against the MSA, and claimed the College Republicans group was making Muslim students feel even more unsafe on their own campus by suggesting MSA members will be considered terrorist sympathizers unless they condemn an attack they had nothing to do with.

COLLEGE CLEARS PROFESSOR'S CONTROVERSIAL FACEBOOK POSTS

A statement by the Transfronterizo Alliance Student Organization calls for the immediate removal of Jones as club president, because they claim he has shown an extremist nature in his leadership style. It also calls for the leadership of the College Republicans to be held under probation.

The group claims it aims to create an inclusive campus environment for SDSU students who live a transborder lifestyle, as noted by The College Fix.

Jones said hes received threats of violence anonymously, and hes even heard he might be the subject of a protest at SDSU this week.

One alleged threat sent anonymously via text message stated, I hope you rot in hell (sic). Were coming for you this week ... Watch ur back every step u take. SDSU campus will be the war zone against u inhuman rats.

You are obviously not fit to serve for requesting any such actions from the muslim community, please resign immediately. You sir are a racist, so please when convenient kill yourself, an email threat said.

Jones said he also received an anonymous phone call from somebody who vowed to protest this week for his resignation and expulsion.

Jones said he received a call Wednesday afternoon from campus police, as well the Dean of Students, Dr. Randy Timm, to offer him use of campus safety resources.

When asked to confirm if school officials contacted Jones, SDSU told Fox News that the school "takes seriously the well-being and safety of all our students, faculty, and staff. When alerted to any safety concerns from our campus community, university representatives have standard guidelines and procedures to proactively reach out to individuals and/or groups to discuss their safety and provide guidance as well as support."

SDSU also said there was no confirmation of a protest scheduled on campus this week.

In response to the calls for violence against him, Jones, via online correspondence, said, I think that again it just shows the hypocrisy of the left when it comes to vioelence (sic).
A Georgia school bus driver was arrested after she allegedly drove a bus full of students while under the influence of alcohol.

Carole Ann Etheridge, a 49-year-old Walton County school bus driver, was arrested mid-route on Monday after students on the bus texted their parents to tell them they noticed something was off about the driver and the way she was driving, WXIA reported.

Etheridge was arrested at Loganville Middle School where she tested positive for DUI. Another bus driver was called in to complete her route, according to the news outlet.

There were 31 students on board the bus, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

CALIFORNIA DAD SENTENCED FOR MURDERING 5-YEAR-OLD SON AFTER DISNEYLAND TRIP

The Walton County Sheriffs Office reportedly said Wednesday that deputies found a large bottle of tequila, small bottles of vodka and prescription pills in Etheridge's purse.

Melanie Walker, a mother whose children were on the bus with Etheridge, posted on Facebook that she called the school twice earlier this year to complain about Etheridges driving, which she called erratic.

However, a spokesperson from the school district told WXIA she was not aware of any complaints filed against Etheridge, adding the driver has been with the district since March after she passed a background check.

School officials said that Etheridge is no longer employed with the school district.

Etheridge faces 16 counts of child endangerment charges, as well as DUI. Jail officials reportedly said the drivers charges were written as traffic citations and no warrants were issued. Shes currently out of jail on a $25,000 bond.
A baby was found dead in a parked car Wednesday evening outside a Procter & Gamble plant near Cincinnati, after her mother left her there while she was at work, police say.

The 15-month-old girl was found in the P&G employee lot at the Mason, Ohio, plant around 5 p.m.

Doyle Burke, chief investigator for the Warren County Coroner's Office, said the mother appeared to have left the child strapped in a car seat all day while at work, then called 9-1-1 when she returned to the vehicle and found the child unresponsive.

Although no official cause of death was announced, Burke said investigators believe high temperatures inside the car were a factor.

Even though it wasnt sweltering hot today, its obviously going to be hotter in the car, Burke said. And certainly a 15-month-old is more susceptible to something like this than an adult.

An official autopsy was set for Thursday.

No charges were filed against the mother, who is an employee at P&G.

The company released a statement Wednesday night expressing their condolences.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the affected family. We are providing our full support to both the family and local officials.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A hostage situation in a South Carolina restaurant Thursday has ended after police shot the gunman, according to officials.

One person was held hostage in the restaurant, Virginia's on King, and has been safely rescued from the building, the Charleston Police Department said on Twitter.

Police also confirmed that the restaurant employee who was shot by the assailant has died.

The gunman, believed to be a disgruntled employee, was shot by police and taken to a local hospital in critical condition.

"The shooter is a disgruntled employee. This is not an act of terrorism or hate crime," Mayor John Tecklenburg said at a news conference.

Charleston police received a call about an "active shooter situation" just after 12 p.m. at Virginia's on King, the mayor's office said.

John Aquino, an owner of the restaurant, told WSCS he thinks the gunman, who was dressed as a kitchen staff member and Aquino believes to be a former dishwasher, was angry and shot a male chef out of revenge.

Tecklenburg said as of 2:30 p.m. the situation is "still unfolding" and the shooter is still in the building. Charleston Police spokesman Charles Francis told reporters the shooter was holding "a couple" of hostages and negotiations between officials and the shooter are being conducted.

The area surrounding the restaurant was blocked and Charleston police asked residents to avoid the area.

Tom and Patsy Plant, who were eating lunch in the restaurant, told The Post and Courier a man came into the kitchen with a loaded gun and said, "There's a new boss in town." The couple escaped the restaurant through the back door.

Another diner said the unidentified armed man locked the front door and announced, "I am the new king of Charleston."

About 30 people were dining in the restaurant at the time, witnesses told the newspaper.

Charleston Police sent SWAT teams and a bomb disposal unit to the area and warned people nearby to stay inside buildings or leave.

The incident is a few blocks away from Emanuel AME church, where nine black members of a church were killed by a white man during a June 2015 Bible study. Dylann Roof was sentenced to death in the case.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Alabama Flag & Banner, a company that makes Confederate flags, has reportedly seen an increase in sales since last weeks protest in Charlottesville, Va., AL.com reported.

Everybodys got a different reason (for buying), Belinda Kennedy, the companys owner, told the website. By and large, I think people are afraid they may not be able to get it one day.

Kennedy is aware of the controversy surrounding the flag. She told the paper that she is a self-avowed Daughter of the Confederacy, but not a crusader for the cause. She said groups like the KKK hijack the flag.

Does anybody really think by taking down monuments and renaming mountains and taking down Confederate flags, that we are really going to see racism end? Thats not going to fix it, she said. That comes from inside people.

Kennedy told the paper that she has received over 100 orders in one day and orders continue to arrive. The flags can cost between $93 and $200, but account for only a fraction of her business.

Click for more from AL.com.
Two Florida elementary school students are being praised for their show of respect for the American flag despite the pouring rain.

Isaac Davis and Nate Helmuth, both 11 years old, are safety patrols at Coppergate Elementary School in Middleburg and are in charge of lowering Old Glory at dismissal time.

However, last week, a torrential rainstorm passed over the school, making flag duty a wetter-than-usual experience. Still, driving rains could not stop Isaac and Nate from doing their duty.

The two brought the flag down and completed the 13 folds while standing in the pouring rain.

School officials shared photos on the schools Facebook page.

This is what RESPECT looks like at Coppergate, they wrote. We are so proud of Nate and Isaac for their responsibility, respect, devotion to duty and love of country.

Nate, whose parents served in the military, told FOX30 that it was the respectful thing to do.

I feel like we have good people in the country and that we should all be good, Isaac added.

The schools media specialist, Kim Miskowski, took the photos and shared them on Facebook.

They were folding the flag reverently. They were reverent. And they were doing 13 folds  and you know, our country is in a little bit of turmoil  it just struck me, she told the news station. When they walked away they held it cradled it to protect it. And it was just a moment that was meant to be, I think.
Hurricane Harvey is now being considered life-threatening and considered a "grave risk" by the National Hurricane Center as the "rapidly intensifying" storm is now forecast to become a Category 3 storm before making landfall on the Texas coast.

The head of the National Weather Service said Harvey is a "grave risk to the folks of Texas."

Forecasters believe the storm, predicted to have 125 mph winds, and bringing upwards of 20 inches of rain to parts of Texas, might last for longer than expected, according to the Hurricane Center.

The storm is expected to produce devastating floods with up to almost three feet of rain throughout some middle and upper areas along the coast of Texas until next Wednesday. Areas in far South Texas, as well as central parts of Texas and Louisiana, are anticipating more than one foot of rain.

Harvey, with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, is expected to approach the middle Texas coast on Friday and make landfall by Friday night or early Saturday morning.

As of Thursday afternoon, Harvey was about 305 miles southeast of Corpus Christi and sustained winds were clocked at 85 mph.

"We havent had a major hurricane (cat 3 or higher) hit the U.S. since Wilma in 2005," Fox News' Senior Meteorologist Janice Dean said Thursday. "Texas hasnt had a hurricane make landfall since 2008, and the fact that this storm is expected to slow down and potentially bring epic floods to the coast from Louisiana to Texas is just dire."

The 68,000 residents in San Patricio County and the 22,000 people living in Calhoun County have been ordered to move inland as a storm surge of 6 to 10 feet is predicted for the area. Brazoria County officials ordered those in the Gulf side of the Intracoastal Waterway to evacuate, and voluntary evacuations have been advised for Corpus Christi.

Port Aransas Mayor Charles R. Bujan sent a mandatory evacuation order at 11 a.m. because of an imminent threat of widespread and severe damage, injury, and loss of life and property and severe economic and social disruption due to high winds and tidal surges and other public calamity resulting from Harvey.

The hurricane warning issued Thursday morning covers an area from Port Mansfield to Matagorda, while tropical storm warnings extend north of Matagorda to High Island, and south to the mouth of the Rio Grande on the Mexico border.

"People need to be in touch with their local officials and listen to the warnings," Dean said. "If you stay in an evacuation zone, you might not get help for days."

TRACK THE STORM AT MYFOXHURRICANE.COM.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster for 30 counties Wednesday ahead of the expected landfall of Harvey, and ordered the Texas Division of Emergency Management's State Operations Center to elevate its readiness level in preparation for the storm's arrival.

The governor wrote on Twitter that he's spoken with President Trump and the heads of Homeland Security and FEMA. Abbott activated about 700 members of the state's National Guard in preparation for Harvey. Military helicopters are on standby in Austin and San Antonio.

Of the people in 16 counties under a hurricane warning, about 325,000 of them are in Corpus Christi. Another 12 million people are under a tropical storm warning, including San Antonio and Houston.

Numerous cities were shipping in sandbags, extra water and other items ahead of the storm.

In Corpus Christi, dozens of people were waiting in line early Thursday at a local Sam's Club and city workers spent the day clearing storm drains throughout the area, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times reported.

Crystal Ybanez, work coordinator at the utilities department, told the newspaper the city is asking residents to help pick up trash, debris and grass or leaves in their yards to prevent its flow into the storm drains.

Harvey grew unexpectedly Thursday from a tropical depression into a Category 1 hurricane.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
An Indiana man who allegedly tried to crowdfund travel and a tryst with an underage girl in Montana has been charged with felony sexual abuse of children.

William Eugene White Jr., a 29-year-old from Montezuma, was arrested Monday at a homeless shelter in Missoula, according to Fox 59 Indianapolis. White reportedly spent the night at the shelter with the 14-year-old girl, reported to be his fiancee.

White was arrested and appeared in Missoula County Justice Court Tuesday. Fox 59 reported he did not enter a plea and his case was assigned to the public defenders office.

GoFundMe, the crowdsourcing site White used to raise funds, told KGVO that "the campaign was immediately removed, did not receive any donations, and the user has been banned.

NEVADA TEACHER ACCUSED OF SEX ROMPS WITH AT LEAST TWO TEENS RESIGNS

Deputy Missoula County Attorney Mark Handelman asked Judge Mike Frellick for a $25,000 bond for White.

This charge stems from this defendant who is 29 years of age traveling to Montana from Indiana to be with his 14-year-old fiance, Handelman said, according to KGVO. He even started a GoFundMe page to get the money he needed to come here. The victim ran away with him and they spent the night of August 20th together and committed the acts detailed in the affidavit of probable cause. Therefore, the state is asking for bail of $25,000 and conditions that he have no contact with anyone under the age of 18.

Court records reportedly stated the teenagers uncle threatened White if he were to ever show up on his property again.

White will appear in court Sept. 6.
Jurors on Thursday rejected a former employee's claim that she was fired from Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach's office in part because she didn't attend church.

The jury rejected Courtney Canfield's claim in a federal lawsuit she filed against the office and chief Kobach deputy Eric Rucker that religious discrimination was a key factor for her firing in November 2013. Kobach was not named in the lawsuit.

The secretary of state's office argued during the trial that performance issues led to Canfield's firing after 9 months on the job.

Canfield declined to comment and left the courthouse after the verdict was reached, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported.

Rucker asked Canfield's grandmother, who was a friend, to tell Rucker she was being fired. The grandmother testified that Rucker told her that Canfield's lack of regular church attendance was a reason for her firing.

Rucker testified that he dismissed Canfield largely because of work performance issues, such as frequently missing work, using her cellphone during work and not getting along with co-workers. He said the subject of church attendance came up only when Canfield's grandmother mentioned it in telling him that Canfield's life was a mess.

Kobach, a Republican, didn't testify in the trial but said in answering questions under oath for attorneys in June that he had "very limited interaction" with Canfield and wasn't notified when she was hired for an "entry level" job in the elections division. Kobach also said he would fire any supervisor who used religion as a reason to terminate an employee.

Kobach said in a statement Thursday that he was "very pleased" with the jury's decision, which he said showed courts "remain an effective institution for finding out the truth."

"Oftentimes frivolous claims like this are made in the hope that the defendant would settle and pay out money," Kobach said. "That is not my view. We have to protect the taxpayer's dollars and fight baseless lawsuits like this one."

___

Information from: The Topeka (Kan.) Capital-Journal, http://www.cjonline.com
caconservative said: Your remarks are exactly what I'm talking about. These SOB's had a legal permit for a rally. As much as I hate these groups, they had a lawful right to rally. It doesn't matter what you did or didn't see or hear. Click to expand...

"There were people in that rally. I looked the night before. If you look, they 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. 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 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."

"The University does not require permits to use public spaces," said University of Virginia spokesman Anthony P. de Bruyn.

The permit was issued to Walt Heinecke, an associate professor of educational research, statistics and evaluation at the University of Virginias Curry School of Education. The "special events certificate of approval" for a public demonstration at two parks in Charlottesville, McGuffey Park and Justice Park. Those are located within one and two blocks, respectively, of Emancipation Park, the location of a Robert E. Lee statue and the destination for the Unite the Right march. The certificate covers Saturday, Aug. 12, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

I'm sure you heard your leader say this:However, the "SOBs"have a permit for a torchlight march through the university campus because no permit was required.However, Trump's characterizing the Friday night march as "people protesting very quietly" and "people ... there to innocently protest" is belied by the videos showing angry and frankly threatening people loudly chanting slogans such as "Jews will not replace us" and an historically Nazi chant, "blood and soil."The counter-protestorshave a permit to march but not at Emancipation Park.Did Fox News like the president completely and conveniently misrepresent the reality of the situation for ya? You did swallow it whole. That much is clear.Why do you allow Trump to repeatedly make a fool of you?
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are working quickly to deport immigrants who are in the U.S. through the DACA program.

The latest example came Wednesday as ICE agents attempted to deport a Kentucky mother of two, despite a lawyer's contention that she was in the U.S. legally under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Riccy Enriquez Perdomo was arrested Aug. 17 and moved Wednesday to her fourth jail as she faces possible deportation. However, Univision reported late Wednesday, citing sources, that ICE was planning to release Enriquez.

The 22-year-old Honduran national entered the U.S. in 2004 at age 9 with an uncle and two sisters, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. She received legal status in 2015 through DACA and renewed it in January. She was previously employed at an Amazon facility in Hebron, Ky.

DACA, created in 2012 when President Barack Obama signed an executive order, was intended to offer temporary relief to young adults who arrived in the U.S. illegally as children. Since March, 770,477 people had been granted temporary status through DACA waivers.

But some Republicans have claimed DACA amounts to an amnesty program for people who are in the U.S. illegally. Many of these critics have called for the program to be ended.

Enriquez was arrested Aug. 17 after going to an immigration office to post bond for another immigrant who was eligible for release, the Enquirer reported. But when asked about her own immigration status, Enriquez was shocked to learn that she no longer had DACA status.

Her family said Enriquez was confident of her immigration status before heading to the office.

Don Sherman, a local immigrant rights activist and lawyer, filed the young mothers DACA forms and confirmed this week that Enriquez still has legal status under DACA.

President Donald Trump has spoken out strongly against DACA, but a recent McClatchy News Service story reported a deal may be in the works: The Trump administration may give on DACA removal in exchange for a funded border wall and a tougher immigration policy.

Trump promised again this week that a southern border wall will be built.

Believe me, if we have to close down our government, were building that wall, Trump told a crowd in Phoenix.

Regardless of Trump's stand, DACA also faces major litigation from 10 states, most notably Texas, that question the program's constitutionality.
A Nevada elementary school teacher has resigned after being accused of having sex romps with at least two teenage boys from her community.

Tennille Whitaker, 40, was a fourth-grade teacher at the Wells Elementary School in Elko but resigned on Aug. 16, school administrators told the Elko Daily Free Press.

Whitaker was arrested June 5 on charges of engaging in sexual conduct with two high school students aged 16 and 18.

Whitaker posted $160,000 bail and could face eight charges of sexual conduct with a pupil, according to Express.co.uk.

Whitaker, a married mother of two, reportedly had sexual relations while on school grounds, according to The Daily Caller.

FOUR LINKED TO BUNDY RANCH STANDOFF ACQUITTED IN NEVADA

Investigators said Whitaker was arrested following an unconventional eight-month probe which included surveillance, according to Express.co.uk.

In Oct. 2016, a parent allegedly witnessed Whitaker in a classroom with another student doing something inappropriate.

Police said they believe there could be more than two victims involved.

At this point we have two students that have been involved, Undersheriff Ron Supp of the Elko County Sheriffs Department said. But we think there are possibly more.

UK RAPE HOAXER GETS 10 YEARS IN PRISON

We did a lot of surveillance and some things like that and we were able to gather a lot of information that led us to circle around and we finally got down to the arrest, Supp continued.

The Elko County Sheriffs Office and FBI received search warrants and were able to seize records linked to Whitakers alleged abuse, according to KENVTV. Elko County School Superintendent Jeff Zander confirmed the records were seized on Aug. 2 before Whitaker resigned.
Two Pennsylvania parents have been charged in the death of their toddler son who suffocated when they allegedly tied a mattress on top of his crib to keep him from climbing out.

The couple, Justin J. Dwyer, 29, and Courtney Stash, 28, was charged Wednesday with involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault in connection with their 2-year-old son Eoins April 25 death.

Cops said the parents were using bungee cords and heavy bags of driveway salt ice melt to keep the mattress on top of the crib and prevent the boy from climbing out -- but neither parent initially told police about those measures, authorities said.

Police said they only learned that information when Stashs 8-year-old son revealed it to detectives several days after Eoins death.

The autopsy in the case lists the official cause of death as asphyxia due to entrapment between the crib and overlying twin mattress secured by bungee cording.

The couples lawyers did not immediately return requests for comment.

Stash called 911 after finding Eoin unresponsive inside his crib in the master bedroom, but the toddler was already dead when emergency responders arrived to the familys home in Myerstown, Penn., according to police.

According to the arrest affidavit, Stash told police she found her son standing/leaning and slumped over a top railing. He was not breathing, so she then brought the boy to the living room where she performed CPR.

Stashs son told detectives that for a few weeks, the two covered the crib with a blue mattress to keep Eoin from climbing out. In recent instances, they had begun placing ice bags on top of the mattress to weigh it down and fastening it with a red cord with hooks on the ends, he said.

The baby eventually could push the weighted mattress down, so they started fastening it with bungee cords, a detective said.

Investigators said they recovered the mattress, two 50-pound bags of ice melt driveway salt and a red bungee cord from the master bedroom.

The morning of Eoins death, before emergency help arrived, Dwyer and Stash spoke about the mattress trapping Eoin by the neck, according to a follow-up interview with the 8-year-old boy.

Bail for the couple was set Wednesday at $250,000 each.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
A South Carolina judge Thursday dismissed a North Carolina man's petition to return the Confederate flag and pictures of Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee to the York County courthouse.

Russell Walker argued before Judge Jack Kimball that South Carolina state law requires the items stay up unless the legislature votes to remove them.

In June, Walker filed a lawsuit against York County Clerk of Court David Hamilton claiming that the S.C. Heritage Act allows only the legislature to move Confederate items in public buildings.

I expect Hamilton to follow the law. I didnt write the law. Its just the way it is, Walker, of Aberdeen, N.C., told the judge.

Hamiltons court attorney Michael Kendree argued the case should be dismissed for failing to file the complaint properly. He added injury or harm was not inflicted by the removal of the flag and portraits and thus the plaintiff lacked standing.

Walker told Fox News before the hearing that he had to do it. I saw it going on here and if I dont do it no one else is going to do it."

The judge questioned Walkers motives for filing the lawsuit. You didnt even know they were gone, someone told you?" Kimball asked.

Yes sir, Walker replied.

Kimball ruled that Walker's lawsuit has no standing because he lives in North Carolina, and that it has no merit because there's been no court case regarding the Heritage Act and whether it applies to buildings.

After the judge dismissed the case, Walker told Fox News he would request all the official documents, review them and possibly get a South Carolina resident to file a new lawsuit.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
A prominent evangelical ministry has filed a federal lawsuit against the left-leaning Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), saying it defamed the Christian organization as an active hate group because it endorses the biblical view of homosexuality.

The clash marks the latest chapter in a growing feud between those who embrace historic monotheistic beliefs, whether Christian, Jewish or Muslim, and progressive activists who have begun targeting mainstream Christian groups that hold traditional beliefs about sex and other issues.

Officials of the D. James Kennedy Ministries, based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., accuse the SPLC of deceptive practices, saying that it wrongly asserts that some organizations breed or fuel hate because of their religious positions on such things as same-sex marriage and other social issues.

Its completely disingenuous to tag D. James Kennedy Ministries as a hate group alongside the KKK and neo-Nazis, Kennedy Ministries spokesman John Rabe said to Fox News. We desire all people, with no exceptions, to receive the love of Christ and his forgiveness and healing. We unequivocally condemn violence, and we hate no one.

Its ridiculous for the SPLC to falsely tag evangelical Christian ministries as hate groups simply for upholding the 2,000-year-old Christian consensus on marriage and sexuality, Rabe said. Its nothing more than an attempt to bulldoze over those who disagree with them, and it has a chilling effect on the free exercise of religion in a nation built on that. We decided not to let their falsehoods stand.

Kennedy Ministries filed the lawsuit Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Montgomery, Ala., where the SPLC is headquartered.

The SPLC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

SPLC critics say its original mission was a commendable one, setting out in 1971 to fight the Ku Klux Klan. The SPLC went after several Klan leaders, driving them into bankruptcy after court losses.

But increasingly, especially since Donald Trumps victory in the presidential election, both liberals and conservatives say that SPLC has grown overzealous  bringing down its huge and very high-profile hate-group hammer on not just people and organizations that actually encourage hate and violence against certain groups, but also on those who simply dont fall in line with liberal positions on hot-button social issues.

They deserve praise because they used the law to hurt the Klan -- a lot, said Scott Walter, president of Capital Research Center, a conservative think tank that monitors nonprofits. But as often happens in the charity world, it concocts new ways to keep donations flowing.

Hate is the issue here, Walter said. When you talk about hate groups, youre talking about a group that is a threat because of its violent tendencies and racism. If you go up to somebody on the street and ask What is a hate group? that is what they would take it to mean.

Its an outrageous lie that some mainstream Christian group is a threat in terms of violence and racism, Walter said.

In a statement after the lawsuit was filed, the Kennedy Ministries president wrote: These false and illegal characterizations have a chilling effect on the free exercise of religion and on religious free speech for all people of faith. After having given the SPLC an opportunity to retract, we have undertaken this legal action, seeking a trial by a jury of our peers, to preserve our own rights under the law and to defend the religious free speech rights of all Americans.

Members of other religious groups  including non-Christian groups -- that embrace biblical views on sexuality are also feeling pressure from the SPLC.

In recent weeks, British Muslim activist Maajid Nawaz said on Bill Mahers television show that he was considering suing SPLC for putting him on its list of anti-Muslim extremists.

SPLC has said that Nawaz has been a supporter of intelligence-gathering efforts in the name of fighting terrorism that ensnare people who have not been proven a threat to national security.

Nawaz, a former Islamist who says that many liberals overlook the growth of jihadism, thinks the SPLC made him a target for violence.

We know what happens when you list heretics, Nawaz said. They end up dead.

Maher responded with dismay and said he would support a lawsuit against the SPLC.
American rabbis critical of President Donald Trump will not try to organize a conference call with him for the Jewish High Holy Days in protest of his response to a white nationalist rally in Virginia.

The conference call for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur was a tradition under President Barack Obama, but was never planned under Trump. Rabbis representing liberal and centrist branches of American Judaism said they would not attempt to plan any such call tied to the holidays next month.

Trump denounced bigotry at the march in Charlottesville, Virginia, but also said "very fine people" were on "both sides" of the demonstrations, which drew neo-Nazis, white nationalists, members of the Ku Klux Klan and counterprotesters. One woman was killed when an alleged white nationalist drove his car into a group of counterprotesters.

"The president's words have given succor to those who advocate anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia," the rabbis said Wednesday in announcing their decision.

A White House official said the administration has planned "its own traditions to observe the High Holidays and other important days in the Jewish faith" and would announce details in the weeks ahead.

The protest came from the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, which represent the liberal Reform movement; the Rabbinical Assembly, which represents the centrist Conservative movement; and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association.

The Rabbinical Council of America, which represents modern Orthodox rabbis, had joined the presidential holiday call in the past but did not sign this week's announcement.

Rabbi Mark Dratch, executive vice president of the group, said, "We respect the office of the presidency and believe it is more effective to address questions and concerns directly with the White House."

The council had issued a statement soon after the violence in Charlottesville criticizing Trump's remarks as a "failing of moral leadership" that "fans the flames of intolerance."

____

Associated Press writer Catherine Lucey in Washington contributed to this report.
A mother who admitted burgling the house of a petrified elderly man was spared prison by a judge who told her that she would have gone to jail if she had been a man.

Terry Remmer, 23, broke into the house in Washington, Tyne and Wear, in August last year via a patio door, and stole a camera and other items.

Newcastle crown court was told that the man awoke at 5am to hear someone creeping around the house. He heard items being moved and he was frightened.

The man was too afraid to intervene so he contacted his daughter. By the time she arrived with her boyfriend, Remmer had fled. She was spotted six hours later selling one of the stolen items in an electronics store in Sunderland.

Sentencing Remmer to 18 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, Recorder Mark Lowe, QC, said: The gravity is that if you were a man you would be going to prison today. But I have to take into account not only your welfare but the welfare of your child.

Guidance issued in 2013 by the Judicial Studies Board, the body responsible for training judges, instructed them to bear in mind the disproportionate impact that prison sentences have on men and women with parenting or caring responsibilities.

Click here to read more from The Times.
Qatar has restored full diplomatic relations with Iran, ignoring the demands of Arab nations now trying to isolate the energy-rich country to downgrade its ties.

Qatar's Foreign Ministry announced early Thursday that the country's ambassador would return to Tehran. Qatar pulled its ambassador in early 2016 after Saudi Arabia's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric sparked attacks on two Saudi diplomatic posts in Iran.

Qatar said in a statement that the move "expressed its aspiration to strengthen bilateral relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran in all fields." Iranian state media acknowledged the development, without elaborating.

Qatar and Iran share a massive offshore natural gas field that requires communication between the two countries. Since the diplomatic dispute with Arab nations began in June, Iran has sent food shipments to Qatar.
Some Australian schools and kindergartens are ditching the traditional Fathers Day celebration and opting for Special Persons Day instead.

In fact, one advocate for children says the celebration -- which Australians mark in early September -- should be renamed nationally to ensure that children without dads don't feel excluded.

But Dr. Red Ruby Scarlet, an activist with a doctorate degree in early childhood studies, sparked a furor by suggesting on an Australian television program that the annual celebration to honor fathers should be renamed to avoid alienating some children.

The shows host, Rosanna Mangiarelli, asked the activist whether the day is supposed to be about children without fathers  to which Scarlet responded: Yes, but also there are children who have a dad, who also have a grandfather, and also have an auntie, and also have other kinds of relatives.

There are also a huge range of different family structures.  We have single-parent families, satellite families, extended families, lesbian and gay families.

Scarlet then fired back against critics, saying her proposal has nothing to do with political correctness and all about human rights and social justice.

There's a lot of Australian research that has actually informed a lot of international research ... that has demonstrated children's capacity to be really inclusive once they know about these ideas and they think, 'Wow, why are people seeing this as a controversy?

Why are we calling this political correctness when in fact it's about our rights?"

David Elliot, a liberal minister in New South Wales, has called out the activist on his Facebook account, saying that changes will only inflame radicals, MailOnline Australia reported.

Can't believe that someone who professes to be 'enlightened' would advocate such crap, he wrote. People still celebrate fatherhood even after their father and grandfathers have passed away, in fact for many people Father's Day is a wonderful time of reflecting and remembering.

The minister then compared the proposal to changing the name of holidays commemorating soldiers to avoid offending draft dodgers  or abolishing Labor Day celebrations to appease conservatives.
At least 22 peole were killed when a passenger boat carrying over 100 passengers sunk in a bay in northeastern Brazil on Thursday.

Dozens more were missing after the vessel went down on the Bay of All Saints in the city of Salvador.

Navy Lt. Col. Flavio Almeida said 21 people were rescued by naval teams, and private boats also rushed to the scene to help as well.

Globo News showed rescuers pulling people from the bay and anxious family members waiting for news in the terminal where the boat was expected.

In a statement the Bahia state health department said 34 people were being treated for injuries. An unconscious 1-year-old who initially responded to resuscitation efforts died in an ambulance en route to a hospital, it added.

HURRICANE HARVEY INTENSIFIES, EXPECTED TO MAKE LANDFALL IN TEXAS AS MAJOR STORM

Survivor Edvaldo Santos de Almeida told the G1 news portal that a large wave tipped the boat during a heavy rainstorm.

"There were a lot of people" on board, he said. "It took a long time to be rescued. We were in the water for two hours."

The vessel was traveling between Vera Cruz on Itaparica Island and Salvador, about an 8-mile (13-kilometer) stretch.

The accident took place a day after a passenger boat carrying more than 70 people sank on a major river in the northern state of Para, leaving at least 19 dead.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Gordy said: *Ahem*







I see a whole lot of "congress" and "government" there. Nothing about actual people being obligated to tolerate anything. The 1st Amendment protects you from government persecution, it doesn't protect you from the actions of your fellow citizens. Free speech comes with consequences. If you're an adult, you stand behind your convictions by any means necessary -- instead of crying about free speech.



With that being said, I don't think Nazis truly believe in a free and open society. In fact, silencing opposition and banning freedom of speech was one of the first things that they did when they came into power in Germany. Therefore, why are they the main ones bitching about free speech? When they preach hatred and violence, they should expect to be dealt with in a hands-on manner. Click to expand...

You do have a right to not tolerate it. You have a right to speak against it. You have a right do define it. You have a right to not be forced to listen.You do not have a right to force someone, against their will, to remain silent or espouse idea's or ideology that you disagree with. You do not have the right to enforce labels that you come up with due to your emotional based opinion.Furthermore your labeling anyone that does not agree with your political view a nazi. You are endorsing fascism and practicing it by defining anything you do not agree with as fascist then calling for physical violence. Your still mad because you cant win an election.Also, you need to understand what you read.
Environmentalists are condemning a decree by Brazilian President Michel Temer allowing mining in the heart of the Amazon.

The measure strips protection from a national reserve between the northern states of Para and Amapa and clears the way for the private mining sector to explore the forest.

The gold-rich area is larger than the Netherlands, measuring roughly 18,000 square miles (47,000 square kilometers). It is also home to numerous indigenous tribes.

The Brazilian branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature says Wednesday's decree will create conflicts between miners, indigenous peoples and conservationists working in the area.

The government says indigenous groups will be protected and the mining will attract foreign investors and create jobs.
Fadi Salim was terrified he wouldnt make it out of Syria alive.

Salim was freezing cold, filled with dread and thought he could be captured and sent back to Syria or shot by Turkish soldiers patrolling the inhospitable terrain on the border. His friend had been hurled off a rooftop in Syrias ISIS-controlled Raqqa.

His chances for survival  after deserting the army and fleeing Syria  were slim.

There were moments where I lost hope, Salim* said, recalling his journey in a phone call to Fox News from Germany. I had nothing to lose. Ive already seen death, suffering and every bad thing a human being can imagine. A phone call with my loved ones and the will to meet them again gave me a slight hope to push through.

Hed paid a smuggler $20,000 and spent the previous four weeks making his way from Damascus in southern Syria, where he was born, to Idlib in the north, which is controlled by the terrorist group Al-Nusra Front. He thought the militants might find out about his sexuality or his service in Syrias army.

Salim was exhausted, but he ran the last 20 miles or so across the border to safety in Turkey. His first night was spent sleeping between cows on a farm to evade discovery before he was taken to Hatay in southern Turkey.

Salim, 27, had been serving in the Syrian army, which forces all men to enlist at the age of 18 or when their studies are finished. However, he was against violence and felt threatened because of his sexuality. While he was in the army, Salim witnessed the aftermath of ISIS beheadings, images that still haunt him.

Learning on social media that his young friend was thrown from a high building because of his sexual orientation was a turning point for Salim.

All the society in Damascus and cities where they are not under ISIS, they say we dont share ISIS values,' said Salim. But these same people are writing comments on Facebook saying we dont care, let the fa**ots die.

Gay men in war-torn Middle Eastern countries face threats from three directions. ISIS stages public executions of gay men by hurling them off rooftops and stoning them. Iraq and Syria have laws on the books criminalizing same-sex relationships. Their own families often disown or imprison them, with some even giving them up to the Islamic State group.

In the case of his friend, Salim said its possible that his friends family told the Islamic State that he was gay.

If a family member kills their son for being homosexual, they wont pay a penalty for killing him, said Salim. In the Army, its more dangerous to be homosexual. You can be sent to jail and tortured.

ISIS has executed dozens of men suspected of being gay by blindfolding them and throwing them off rooftops. The militant group, which harnesses existing prejudice against gay men in the two countries, often distributes photographs of the barbaric executions on social media.

What ISIS represents, what they stand for, has nothing to do with a religion whatsoever. They have no understanding of Islam, said Tarek Elgawhary, director of religious studies at the World Organization for Resource Development and Education in Congressional testimony. This parallel religion that they have created is no more Islam than a pool with one lemon squeezed into it is lemonade.

President Trump has made it a priority to defeat the terrorist group. A State Department spokesperson told Fox News that ISIS crimes against the LGBT community have been abhorrent and well-documented. The spokesperson said violence and discrimination targeting any vulnerable group undermines American values and that when all people are protected on the basis of equality and with dignity, the countrys shared humanity is strengthened.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees considers LGBT people to be extremely vulnerable because, unlike refugees who are persecuted solely because of their religious beliefs or ethnic background, they can face discrimination and violence from their own families and communities.

The need to ensure that the rights of LGBTI people are respected has recently received increased attention and support from UN agencies and the broader humanitarian and human rights community. However, despite significant progress, discrimination against LGBTI persons persists, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Volker Turk said in a statement.

Although Article 520 of Syrian penal code of 1949 prohibits carnal relations that are against the order of nature and provides for at least three years of imprisonment, it wasnt until the rise of the Islamic State group, which is only now losing some of its territory in the region, that gay men were hunted like prey and barbarically killed in such a public way.

The militants use phone records and social media accounts of men that it captures in order to track down other gay men.

After meeting his parents, his two brothers and his boyfriend, who had flown out of Syria, in Turkey, Salim went to Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia and Austria before finally landing in Germany. His family members thought it was his best friend. They would have been arrested by the government had they stayed behind.

Salim has been living in Frankfurt with his boyfriend for almost two years. He has a new online organization MTVSyria - Love Wins. You Are Not Alone is a campaign to show the LGBT community in the Middle East by collecting and posting photos online with people holding signs bearing the groups name, the campaign and the location where the image was taken. Images from 600 different places worldwide, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Jamaica, Syria and Taiwan, have been posted.

The group is working with other NGOs and nonprofits to raise awareness of the existence of LGBT people in Syria, find resources for those being persecuted for their sexuality and help those who are trying to escape the war-torn region.

Im learning the language, now I speak German, said Salim. Ill start studying international communications soon. I want to work in human rights.

*Not his real name
Human remains discovered in Aruba, where Natalee Holloway vanished 12 years ago, are those of a female of Eastern European descent, tests showed.

The remains will be tested further to determine if they are those of Holloway and the results were expected within the next two weeks, the Daily Mail reported.

Holloway, 18, a straight-A student from Mountain Brook, Ala., disappeared from the island while celebrating her high school graduation.

The Daily Mail said her family had Eastern European heritage.

The discovery of the remains that may be those of Holloway was to be revealed in the docu-series The Disappearance of Natalee Holloway. The Oxygen series follows Holloways father, Dave, and private investigator T.J. Ward in their quest to find Natalee on the tropical island.

COULD THE HUMAN REMAINS FOUND IN ARUBA BE NATALEE HOLLOWAY? EXPERTS WEIGH IN

We did an 18-month undercover investigation with an informant who was friends with an individual who had personal knowledge from Joran van der Sloot, Dave Holloway told NBC's "Today" show last week.

Joran van der Sloot, a Dutch national, has long been considered a suspect in the case.

And had information that took us to a spot where remains were found. And we took those remains and had those remains tested. And they just returned last week they are human remains, Holloway said.

The Daily Mail reported that Holloways mother, Beth, gave a saliva sample to help with the testing.

"So far all the indicators are that these bone fragments are the human remains of a young female, consistent with someone of eastern European descent, an unidentified source told the Daily Mail.

It will be agonizing if Dave and Beth are told this is their daughter, but after 12 years of searching for answers it will be a huge deal for them - it might finally bring them closure,' the source continued.

NATALEE HOLLOWAYS FINAL HOURS: NEW CLUES SURFACE IN TEENS DISAPPEARANCE

During their investigation, Holloway and Ward have discovered that Natalee was apparently last seen outside a bar before her disappearance with Van der Sloot, whom she met while on her trip. Holloway and Ward discovered the information through an informant named Gabriel who was roommates with John Ludwick, Van der Sloots best friend.

Gabriel said Van der Sloot tried to kiss Natalee after her drink was spiked with the date rape drug GHB but the teen started to foam at the mouth. Natalee choked to death on her vomit and Van der Sloot panicked and allegedly put her body in a burlap sack and buried her in an Aruban park, using a cactus plant to cover his tracks.

Van der Sloot allegedly confessed to his friend in confidence.

They lived together for several months and during those months, Joran shared a lot of information with him that is not public knowledge.  And thats one of the reasons we pursued this, David Holloway said.

Van der Sloot is currently in a Peruvian prison serving a 28-year sentence for killing business student Stephany Flores just five years after Natalee vanished.

Gabriel also said that Van der Sloot was assisted by his father, Paulus, a judge in Aruba, in disposing of Natalees body, according to the Daily Mail.

Aruba Public Prosecutor Dorean Kardol disputed Holloways claims that human remains were found on the island.

During an investigation by police in an area indicated by Mr. Holloway, we found remains, but they were found to be from animals, Kardol said.

Fox News Frank Miles contributed to this report.
Human remains discovered near the location of Mondays collision between the USS John S. McCain and an oil tanker near Singapore were not those of any of 10 missing U.S. sailors, a U.S. Navy announcement said Thursday.

The remains were discovered by the Malaysian navy and were being returned to Malaysian authorities following an examination, the U.S. 7th Fleet statement said.

Meanwhile, more divers have arrived to assist in the search for the missing U.S. sailors. On Wednesday, Fox News reported that heavy equipment needed to open up the flooded, damaged compartments of the ship to gain access to some of the bodies of the 10 missing McCain sailors.

The search area covers approximately 900 square nautical miles around the initial location of the collision.

Indonesian navy ships joined the search and rescue efforts Thursday, the 7th Fleet statement said.

Meanwhile, four U.S. sailors who were injured in the collision and flown off the ship to a hospital in Singapore were released Wednesday and have returned to the command.

The collision, which remains under investigation, was the fourth significant U.S. Navy accident in the Pacific since January. It prompted the dismissal of Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, a three-star admiral who was commander of the 7th Fleet.

The USS John S. McCain is named for the father and grandfather of U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is urging Argentina to find a missing activist last seen when police evicted a group of Mapuche Indians from lands owned by Italian clothing company Benetton.

The commission's president said Friday that Argentina should investigate the Aug. 1 disappearance of 28-year-old Santiago Maldonado and make its findings public.

Maldonado's family says border police detained him when he and others were blocking a road in Chubut province, in the southern region of Patagonia.

The protesters were demanding the release of a jailed Mapuche leader wanted by Chile. Authorities deny any wrongdoing.

Maldonado's case has sparked violent protests in Argentina, where an estimated 30,000 people died or disappeared during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis vowed Thursday the Trump administration will not accept Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region, and suggested he favors providing the country with defensive lethal weapons.

The visit, timed for the 26th anniversary of Ukraine's independence from Moscow, was the first by a Pentagon chief to the former Soviet republic since Robert Gates arrived in 2007.

"Despite Russia's denials, we know they are seeking to redraw international borders by force," Mattis said, a plan he described as undermining European nations and stirring tension.

"Have no doubt," Mattis said at a news conference with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. "The United States stands with Ukraine." He said Washington does not, "and we will not," accept Russia's annexation of Crimea, a 2014 action that was followed by Russian military intervention in support of separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Poroshenko told reporters that Crimea is Ukrainian territory. "It should come back to Ukraine," he said.

Mattis said Russia had not abided by the Minsk ceasefire agreement meant to end the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine, and the U.S. would continue to maintain sanctions on Moscow.

When he was asked by a reporter whether he agrees with the Obama administration's view that selling defensive lethal weapons to Ukraine would provoke Moscow, Mattis replied, "Defensive weapons are not provocative unless you're an aggressor."

Mattis declined to say explicitly what he would recommend to the White House on the weapons issue.

"On the defensive lethal weapons, we are actively reviewing it, I will go back now having seen the current situation and be able to inform the secretary of state and the president in very specific terms what I recommend for the direction ahead," Mattis said, according to Reuters.

Poroshenko sidestepped the question of how soon he expects a White House decision on arms, but said Russia should realize that stepping up U.S. military support for Kiev "would increase the price if Russia made the decision to attack my troops and my territory."

Poroshenko said an estimated 3,000 "regular" Russian troops are in eastern Ukraine, and that he expects the withdrawal of these troops and the release of hostages before the relationship gets better.

The Trump administration has reopened consideration of long-rejected plans to give Ukraine lethal weapons, the Associated Press reported.

In his remarks alongside Poroshenko, Mattis said the U.S. is committed to helping Ukraine build and modernize its armed forces.

Sen. John McCain, a vocal critic of President Obama's cautious approach to assisting the Ukrainian army, said Wednesday that Trump should change that course.

"It is long past time for the United States to provide Ukraine the defensive lethal assistance it needs to deter and defend against further Russian aggression," McCain said in a statement.

"Raising the cost of aggression may help to change Vladimir Putin's calculus, pressure Russia to fully comply with the Minsk agreements, and, ultimately, create more stable security conditions on the ground that are essential for peace."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Prosecutors in Denmark plan to bring murder charges against the lone suspect in the death of a Swedish journalist whose headless body was found naked on a Copenhagen beach earlier this week, an official said Thursday.

Prosecutor Jakob Buch-Jepsen told the B.T. tabloid that police expect to raise the preliminary charges against Danish inventor Peter Madsen, 46, to murder and indecent handling of corpse when he appears at a custody hearing Sept. 5 on whether his pre-trial detention should be extended.

"We will make an ongoing assessment of whether it should happen before," Buch-Jepsen said. Another tabloid Ekstra Bladet, quoting unnamed sources, said Madsen has asked to be transferred to solitary confinement, allegedly out of fear of being attacked inside the prison.

Madsen has been held by authorities on suspicion of manslaughter since August 11 in the death of 30-year-old Kim Wall.

Wall was last seen alive on Aug. 10 on Madsen's submarine, which police believe he intentionally sank off Denmark's eastern coast the following day.

WHO IS PETER MADSEN, THE MAN LINKED TO JOURNALIST KIM WALLS DEATH

Madsen has denied having anything to do with Wall's death, initially telling investigators the journalist disembarked from the submarine to a northern Copenhagen island several hours into their trip and that he didn't know what happened to her afterward. But he later told authorities "an accident occurred on board that led to her death" and he "buried" her at sea.

His defense lawyer said Wednesday her client still maintains he didn't kill Wall, and the discovery of her torso doesn't mean he's guilty.

"It doesn't change my client's explanation that an accident happened," Betina Hald Engmark told Danish BT tabloid, adding "no matter what, we find it very positive that she has been found now."

Danish police disclosed Thursday the Wall's body was found naked on a Copenhagen beach and authorities are now searching for her clothes.

Copenhagen police spokesman Steen Hansen told the Associated Press investigators found a "clothes-less" torso of Wall on Monday. Hansen said that investigators were looking for the 30-year-old journalist's her clothes, including an orange turtleneck blouse, a black-and-white skirt and white sneakers.

Divers and members of the Danish Emergency Management Agency spent Thursday combing the coast of the Amager island in Copenhagen, in the area where Wall is believed to have died.

The body of the 30-year-old journalist was discovered Monday attached to a piece of metal, "likely with the purpose to make it sink", Copenhagen police chief Jens Moeller Jensen told reporters Wednesday.

Copenhagen police said Wall's head, arms and legs had "deliberately been cut off" her body.

HEADLESS BODY OF JOURNALIST KIM WALL HAD METAL ATTACHED 'TO MAKE IT SINK,' COPS SAY

In addition to the the grim discovery on the beach, authorities found dried blood belonging to Wall inside the submarine.

"On Aug. 12, we secured a hair brush and a toothbrush (in Sweden) to ensure her DNA. We also found blood in the submarine and there is a match," Moeller Jensen said.

While DNA tests confirmed Wednesday the torso is Wall's, the cause of the journalist's death is not yet known, police said, adding they were still looking for the rest of her body.

Wall's family spoke out for the first time about their grief Wednesday after police confirmed they found her emails, posting a statement to her mother Ingrid's Facebook page.

"It is with boundless sorrow and dismay that we received the news that the remains of our daughter and sister Kim wall have been found. The scale of the disaster is not yet fully transparent, and there are still a number of questions to be answered," an official statement published on her mother's Facebook page read.

The tragedy has not only affected us and our extended family, but friends and colleagues all over the world, wrote her family in the statement.

In the terrible days following Kim's disappearance we have received countless examples of how loved and appreciated she has been, as a human being and friend as well as a professional journalist," the statement continued. "There's been evidence from all corners of the world of Kim's ability to be a person who makes a difference.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Dutch police reportedly made two arrests after a performance by a Los Angeles-based rock band was canceled Wednesday night because of a threat to a Rotterdam, Netherlands, concert venue.

Authorities detained a Spaniard who was driving a van containing gas canisters just a few hundred yards from the venue. Further details on the second detainee were not available, but that arrest was reported by the Fiscal Times, which cited Dutch broadcaster NOS.

A report by a German news site suggested that the driver had been cleared of involvement in the terror threat.

Police spokesman Gijs van Nimwegen said an update on the investigation would be issued later Thursday.

The concert by the band Allah-Las in the port city of Rotterdam was called off Wednesday night after Dutch police learned about a possible threat to the concert. Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb said the warning came from Spanish police.

Two hours later police detained the van driver for questioning.

Aboutaleb said late Wednesday it was too early to know if the driver was linked to the terror threat. But a Spanish counterterrorism official confirmed the van was not connected to last week's deadly vehicle attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils.

The official said Spain's Civil Guard received "an alert indicating the possibility of an attack in a concert that was going to take place in Rotterdam."

The Civil Guard shared the information with Dutch authorities Wednesday and was investigating the threat, said the source, who spoke anonymously because the Civil Guard was still probing the threat.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Russian bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons recently flew over waters surrounding South Korea and Japan, drawing escort planes from those two countries, a Russian defense official said.

An unspecified number of Tupolev-95MS bombers, which NATO calls Bears, and Russian Sukhoi-35S fighter jets were involved in the mission, but Russias defense ministry would not say when or why the mission took place, Reuters reported.

The Russian aircraft flew over the Pacific Ocean, Sea of Japan, Yellow Sea and East China Sea, according to the report.

Whether the Russian flyover was related to the Ulchi-Freedom Guardian exercises between the U.S. and South Korean militaries was unclear.

Russia has voiced concerns about North Koreas nuclear weapons program and Japan's plans to deploy U.S. anti-missile technology.
The Russian ambassador to Sudan was reportedly found dead in his swimming pool Wednesday, becoming Russia's fourth envoy to die in the last eight months while overseas.

The New York Times reported that Mirgayas Shirinsky died at his residence in Khartoum, Sudans capital city. The Sudan Foreign Ministry did not provide his cause of death. The paper said he was in his 60s.

The Agence France-Presse reported that Shirinsky was found in the swimming pool.

He was found dead in the swimming pool of his residence at 7:05 p.m., Omar al-Mokhtar, a police spokesman, told AFP.

A police official told the news agency that there appeared to be no foul play.

An embassy press secretary told Russian news media that it appeared Shirinsky suffered a heart attack.

The Times pointed out that Shirinskys death comes almost exactly six months since Russias ambassador to the U.N. died after suffering a cardiac condition at the Russian Embassy in New York. Vitaly Churkin was considered to be Moscows great champion to the U.N.

Alexander Kadakin, Russias former ambassador to India, died in January after a brief illness and Andrey G. Karlov, Russias ambassador to Turkey, was killed at an art gallery in Turkey. He was gunned down by a former Turkish police officer who shouted Allahu Akbar! and Dont forget Aleppo!

Axios, in a February article titled, Russian Diplomats Keep Dying Unexpectedly, reported that at the time six envoys died in the span of three months and all but one died on foreign soil. The report said there were some consistencies in the reports on the deaths: some were shot and others had brief illnesses.

Shirinsky, who was reportedly fluent in Arabic and English, was a diplomat since 1977, AFP reported. He has served in posts in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

As soon as we receive detailed information from the Russian embassy staff in Khartoum, we will give information on the circumstances of the death of our colleague, Moscows foreign ministry reportedly said in a statement.
Since the break of the conflict in 2011 Syria Moscow stood by its Syrian Allay but refrained from an active intervention even after the Western coalition launched an aerial offensive against the Islamic State in August 2014. By September 2015, when the Syrian regime faced defeat from the rebels, Russia decided to act. Although the task force committed to the operation was limited, the choice of arms used included a variety of weapons from many disciplines, enabling different Russian elements  army, air force and naval units, to gain combat experience.

Russian Air Power in Combat

Russian forces deployed to several locations in Syria, including the port of Tartus and Hmeimim Air Base near Latakia. From the initial phase, these bases were protected by air defense assets including S-400 elements (surveillance radars communications nodes) and Pantsir S1 mobile air defense systems. Following the loss of Russian Su-24 to a Turkish Air Force F-16 the Russians deployed S-400 fire units to Hmeimim, completing a permanent air defense capability that covers a large part of Syria including most of the ingress and egress routes used by coalition air forces operating in Syria, as well as large area of the international airspace over the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Su-30SM fighters were also deployed to provide air cover to the strike force, augmenting the ground-based air defense elements.

The Russian Air Force Russian committed representative platforms from all units and branches and extensively recorded these activities in video. These included the Tu-160 Blackjack bombers, Tu-95 Bear and Tu-22M3 Blinder supersonic bombers. These elements deployed on long range missions from bases in Southern Russia, and, for a brief period, also operated from a forward base in Iran, demonstrating contingency operations with coalition partners. While such complex activities were not necessary operationally, the Russian forces took the opportunity to train and test their forces for such contingencies.

SU-34, the strike fighter recently delivered to the air force was widely used during the first months of the Russian involvement in Syria. The choice of this platform was its flexible armament carrying capability and high level of protection (the crew is seated side by side in an armored protected cockpit made of titanium). The Russians also deployed the brand-new SU-35 to Syria, to gather some combat experience and train its systems in a realistic environment that included Patriot and Italian Aster 30 SAMP/T air defense missiles.

The wide range of aerial weapons used in those air attacks represents the majority of weapons types used by the Russian Air Force, from standard unguided bombs to cluster munitions, incendiary and high explosive, precision laser guided and GLONASS/GPS guided weapons. Guided weapons also included cruise missiles of different variants  from the air launched KH-101 missiles launched by bombers that flew all the way from the arctic circle, to KH55 launched from Tu-95s from a range of 1,000 km. Cruise missiles were also launched from naval platforms  from frigates in the Caspian Sea, using brand new Kaliber systems, as well as missile destroyers and submarines hitting targets in Eastern Syria, some 1,500 km away from the Mediterranean Sea.

Read more
The mayor of a Canadian town refused to remove an anchor with a swastika painted on it in a park, saying it contains local "historical significance" and should remain in the public space.

The anchor, said to be a "souvenir of Nazism," was placed in a park in Pointe-des-Cascades, about 30 miles west of Montreal, according to the BBC. The town said the anchor was uncovered about 25 years ago from a merchant vessel before World War II.

Corey Fleischer, founder of Erasing Hate, went to the park last Thursday to paint over the Swastika, but was stopped by Mayor Gilles Santerre.

"Maybe the city did not know," Fleischer told the BBC. "But I know exactly what this is. There is no ifs ands or buts about it."

But Santerre released a statement on the town's website on Tuesday saying the Pointe-des-Cascades did not "endorse Nazism."

"Our village has a beautiful community and family spirit, and creates events that bring people together," Santerre said, adding officials will move the explanation plaque closer to the anchor.

Fleischer said the piece of history did not belong in a public park, but a museum.

"[A museum] is a place where people come to feel safe and this is being displayed for everybody to see," Fleischer said.
A British woman dubbed an "attention-seeking" liar for falsely accusing 15 men of rape and sexual assault during four separate encounters was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison.

Jemma Beale, 25, was found guilty at London's Southwark Crown Court in July on four counts of perjury and four counts of perverting the course of justice, The Sun reported. Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith called Beale a "convincing liar" who liked being pitied as the victim.

"This trial has revealed, what was then not obvious, that you are a very, very convincing liar and you enjoy being seen as a victim," Loraine-Smith said in court. "The prosecution described your life as a 'construct of bogus victimhood.'"

CHICAGO STABBING PART OF SEXUAL FANTASY BETWEEN NORTHWESTERN PROFESSOR AND OXFORD EMPLOYEE, PROSECUTORS SAY

Beale maintained her innocence throughout the trial and is considering filing an appeal, her lawyer Lawrence Henderson said. She also accused four doctors and medical professionals of handing the court fake evidence.

"Ms. Beale stands by the claims she made in this matter and if she had her time again she would again plead not guilty to these matters and contest the trial," Henderson said.

Investigators spent 6,400 hours and at least $320,600 sifting through Beale's claims and analyzing pieces of evidence, ultimately to conclude the accusations were fake.

"Beale is responsible for fabricating a series of extremely serious allegations, which led to several extensive investigations being carried out and teams of detectives and specialist officers spending thousands of hours on the cases and providing support to her," Detective Sgt. Kevin Lynott said in a statement.

"Her manipulation of the criminal justice system has caused police to direct significant amounts of resource into investigating her bogus complaints as well as her own offending," he added.

MAN GETS 18 YEARS IN UK PRISON FOR BOMB IN AIRPORT LUGGAGE

They were first notified about the alleged false accusations in December 2013 when one of Beale's former girlfriends said a man, Mahad Cassim, was wrongly imprisoned when Beale said he raped her in November 2010. A month before, she went to police claiming a group of men had raped her.

Investigators looked into the four sexual assaults and rape claims and found "common discrepancies." Beale was arrested in June 2014.

Cassim, whose conviction was overturned in July 2015, said in court in a victim impact statement he was extremely affected by the false rape claim.

"One of my goals is to be a successful businessman, to have a nice family and be happy," Cassim said. "I am working on the happiness -- I have a long way to go."
Cops in Venice have been told to shoot potential terrorists on sight.

The Italian city's mayor has ordered them to target anyone shouting "Allahu Akbar", Arabic for God is Greater.

Luigi Brugnaro, mayor of the tourist hot spot of Venice, revealed the order at a summer think tank and was applauded by delegates.

He said: Anyone who shouts Allahu Akbar in St Mark's Square can expect to be gunned down by snipers within four paces.

"We need to increase our security when it comes to terrorism. We had four would be terrorists arrested in Venice a few months ago who wanted to blow up the Rialto bridge.

"They said they wanted to go and meet Allah so we will send them straight to Allah without having to throw them off the bridge, we will just shoot them."

Last night he added: "I have never been politically correct, in fact I am politically correct and thats why we also need a naval blockade against people coming into Italy from north Africa."

The cry Allahu Akbar was first used by the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century before he went into battle.

Click for more from The Sun.
Danish police announced Wednesday a headless torso that washed up from local waters matches the DNA of missing Swedish journalist Kim Wall.

The discovery, a breakthrough in the investigation, gives authorities a clearer picture of the reporters mysterious disappearance after she boarded a 55-foot privately built submarine on Aug. 10 for a story she was writing about the vessels inventor, Peter Madsen. Police believe Madsen intentionally sank the submarine off Denmarks eastern coast the following day.

Madsen, 46, now at the center of the shocking mystery, initially told investigators that Wall left the submarine, and disembarked on a northern Copenhagen island hours into their trip. But he later changed his story, saying in a statement Monday that Wall died following an onboard accident and he had buried her at sea at an unspecified location.

Prosecutors said Thursday they are seeking murder charges for Madsen, the only suspect in Wall's death.

MURDER CHARGES SOUGHT FOR SUSPECT IN DEATH OF SWEDISH JOURNALIST KIM WALL

A torso was discovered Monday and DNA testing identified it as belonging to the 30-year-old journalist, said Copenhagen police chief Jens Mller Jensen at a press conference.



Police said the dismembered body was found attached to a piece of metal, likely with the purpose to make it sink, adding that the body had apparently been punctured to let air out before sinking it and Walls head, arms and legs had been deliberately cut off.

Madsen has been held since Aug. 11 on suspicion of manslaughter, and denies any involvement in Walls apparent murder. Prosecutor Jakob Buch-Jepsen told the B.T. tabloid that police expect to raise the preliminary charges against Danish inventor Peter Madsen, 46, to murder and indecent handling of corpse when he appears at a custody hearing Sept. 5.

Early life

Born in 1971, Madsen was raised with his three brothers by their father in a small town on the coast of Zealand, Denmarks largest island. He told a biographer that his father, a carpenter, was abusive.

Madsen had an early affinity for science -- launching rockets in the schoolyard by the time he was just 15 years old, according to the biography, Rocket Madsen: Denmarks Do-It Yourself Astronaut, written by Thomas Djursing.

I loved the idea that a fully armed rocket stood behind the school, Madsen told his biographer. The school day was my countdown where I constantly looked at my watch thinking T-minus-4 hours, T-minus-3 hours, etc.

Following grade school, Madsen began studying engineering at a university, but never completed his degree.

His ambitious visions and innovative inventions gained him public acclaim, propelling him to somewhat of a local celebrity and garnering him support from volunteers and investors.

Career in science

In 2008, Madsen co-founded Copenhagen Suborbitals, an amateur space exploration company. But before the organization successfully launched from a platform in the Baltic Sea in 2011, Madsens relationships with his partners had deteriorated, leaving him to continue his work alone.

DANISH POLICE: SUBMARINE OWNER SAYS WOMAN DIED IN ACCIDENT

In the biography, Djursing describes Madsen as a one-man army, earning a reputation as bad-tempered with a tendency to get frustrated with other engineers.

Madsen has been launching self-engineered submarines since 2002. He had brought other visitors on his third and latest submarine, the UC3 Nautilus -- the largest privately built submarine in the world, and the vessel from which Kim Wall disappeared.

"He's not a murderer"

After police announced Monday that Madsen changed his account of what happened to Wall, a colleague of Madsens spoke out.

In an interview with Danish tabloid newspaper BT, Jens Falkenberg, also a member of the amateur submarine building community, said, Peter is a colorful personality, but hes in no way evil, and I dont believe theres anything violent in him.

I cant imagine Peter having killed her intentionally, but I can imagine an accident happening, Falkenberg said. The submarine is an ungainly place and you move around awkwardly. Perhaps she fell and broke her neck.

To me, Peter is not a murderer, he said.

On Thursday, Denmark prosecutors said they plan to bring murder charges against Madsen.
In this film from the writer of Hell or High Water artfully delves into an unforgiving world, the stark and snow-filled terrain of a Native American reservation in the Wyoming highlands where grief is a regular visitor.

There, writer and director Taylor Sheridan uses the investigation into the death of a Native American girl to slowly unravel the pain and hopelessness felt by a diverse cast of characters.

At the center of those is Cory Lambert, played with near perfection by the talented Jeremy Renner, who gives both nuance and painful emotion to the longtime tracker.

Because Sheridan is a master at the slow reveal, were well into the story of the young girls panicked flight and death on a desolate and freezing landscape before learning exactly how Lambert and his Native American ex-wife lost their own beautiful daughter. But the cracks in his cowboy-tough bravado are evident in every scene, especially in the cautious way he relates to everyone around him.

As was the case in Hell or High Water, Sheridan and other characters in this somewhat similar film are carved from the cowboy archetypemen who are most settled when theyre out doing the job theyre hired to do. Whether that was the Texas Ranger that Jeff Bridges played in that earlier film or the tracker and predator-hunter that Renner plays here, these characters struggle the most when theyre off the job.

But when Sheridan, hunting a mountain lion, finds the young Native American girl dead and frozen in the snow, hes back in his element.

He becomes a hunter once more, eventually assisting a female FBI agent (Elizabeth Olsen), who needs help with both the investigation and navigating the culture.

Things proceed methodically as the pair and the gruff tribal police chief (Graham Greene) begin to investigate why the young womans body was found miles away from any houses or settlements, with frostbitten bare feet.

Sheridanwhose direction is sure-ha nded, though maybe a tad slow in momentsmakes great use of the stark, snow-covered landscapes and mountain terrain.

Its quite striking when the director mixes it up, interspersing quiet, wide-open looks at the mountain landscape with two scenes of intense action and violence that happen so quickly they take your breath away.

That violence and a look back at a disturbing scene that preceded it is indeed tough to watch, and unsettling. But it fits into the landscape that Sheridan is trying to define, the place where Lambert says luck doesnt live.

Perhaps the most powerful scene is one where the tracker who lost his own daughter accompanies the FBI and police chief to tell the parents of the girl found in the snow that their daughter has died.

We come to realize that she was the best friend of Lamberts daughter, so he knows the world of pain that the other father (Gil Birmingham) will soon be inhabiting.

From the amazing natural beauty of the land where the film is set to the lack of margin for error for those living there, this is a striking film that deserves to go alongside the Oscar-nominated Hell or High Water.

Rated R for strong violence, a rape, disturbing images, and language. 107 min. [PV]

LOGAN LUCKY (PG-13) 2.25 STARS

Although the cast has fun with this southern-fried version of Oceans Eleven, the script is so demeaning to hillbillies and hicks that it is hard to take seriously.

Channing Tatum does an interesting job as the lead here, a down-on-his-luck former miner who decides to rob the NASCAR track in Charlotte to get ahead in life. Adam Driver, Katie Holmes, Daniel Craig and Riley Keough form a team that uses an inventive way to pull of the heist. The nuts and bolts of the scheme slowly emerge in much the same way the heist tactics are revealed in the Oceans films.

Unfortunately, the whole thing seems to exist only to bash country folk, and only shares the smart details of the plan at the last second. It could have been more than the fair diversion it becomes.

Rated PG-13 for language and some crude comments. 119 min. [MC, PV]

THE HITMANS BODYGUARD (R) 2 STARS

Early on in the filming of this movie, stars Ryan Reynolds and Samuel T. Jackson must have just decided to have fun with it.

Seeing the violent action and extreme mayhem at every turn, they must have said, What the heck, lets make the banter between us really tight and fun, for those viewers tired of seeing bodies gunned down every other minute.

And thats just what they do here, giving this silly and overblown film something for viewers to enjoy as the bodies pile up.

The films premise isnt bad: a lifelong hitman (Jackson) is needed to testify against a guy whos even worse: a dictator (Gary Oldman) who has killed off all the other witnesses to his atrocities.

When an Interpol team given the task of guarding the hitman and getting him to a trial is attacked, the agent in charge turns to a former operative (Ryan Reynolds) now in the bodyguard business. The rest of the film is the bodyguard and hitmanwho initially hate each otherbickering and trading barbs as they try to make their way to a trial at The International Court of Justice.

If this had been done as a serious action thriller, all the violence, battle scenes and combative chases might have made sense and fit in.

But because this is done for laughs, they feel all the more overdone and out of place, as if this is all just one big joke. But seeing dozens of people gunned down isnt funny after a while, and doesnt fit into whats being done as a comedy.

Thank goodness then for that banter between the leads, as these two talented actors manage to create something to enjoy. Reynolds comic timing and the priggish persona he adopts make his character the perfect foil to Jacksons larger-than-life tough guy hitman. The bromance becomes all the more ridiculous because those conversations are happening in dangerous moments.

And while the dialogue between the two leads is creative and funny, Salma Hayek doesnt get treated as well by this script. As the hitmans foul-mouthed girlfriend, seen in brief stretches in prison and in a cantina, she manages little more than strings of obscenities. In the cantina, she savages thugs that assault her, making blood spurt with a broken beer bottle.

Rated R for strong violence and language throughout. 118 min. [MC, PV, RF]

BRIGSBY BEAR (PG-13) 2.25 STARS

(LEAVING TOWN TONIGHT) You can see where this story wants to go, showing how something as silly as a childrens program can become critical to a young psyche.

Abducted from his parents as an infant, James (Kyle Mooney) is raised in an underground bunker with nothing to focus on but a silly childrens show that his abductors create for him.

When hes finally found and released, James cant let go of the series, and eventually tries to finish it as a movie so he can move past his odd adolescence.

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, brief sexuality, drug material and teen partying. [RF]
A veteran of the U.S. Army was killed late Tuesday while walking across a highway in Stafford County, police said.

Lamont Williams, 45, of Dumfries was struck by a southbound vehicle while crossing U.S. 1 just south of the Boswells Corner area about 10 p.m., Sheriffs Maj. Don Lenhart said.

He was taken to an area hospital and pronounced dead a short time later.

Lenhart said the investigation showed that Williams and his fiancee had just returned a rental truck to a business in the northern part of the county. After parking the truck, Williams took some trash from the rental truck to a Dumpster on the other side of the highway.

The fiancee told police that she saw Williams discard the trash and start on his way back across the street. Next thing she heard was a crash and saw Williams on the pavement.

The vehicles driver, a 24-year-old Stafford man, told police he was on his way home from work when he struck what he first thought was an animal. After stopping and seeing a man in the road, the driver called 911. The impact had thrown Williams into the northbound lanes.

The countys Accident Investigation Team shut down the highway in that area to investigate, Lenhart said.

Lenhart said the crash is still under investigation, but he said preliminary indications suggest there was no speeding or intoxication on the drivers part. Police said the victim was not in a crosswalk and was wearing dark clothing.

It appears it was just a horrible, horrible accident, Lenhart said.
Dorm beds are hard to put together, pets will be missed more than parents, and UMW already feels like home.

These are some of the common sentiments expressed by the incoming freshman at the University of Mary Washington, who descended on Fredericksburg for their move-in day yesterday.

Ill miss my dog and cats, said Kelly Cyliax. We have a new puppy, too. Ugh, that was the hardest goodbye.

Shell miss her pets, but shes looking forward to meeting new people, playing softball and enjoying winters that arent as cold as those in her hometown in Pennsylvania.

Cyliax is one of 970 first-time freshmen in UMWs class of 2021. Eighty-eight percent are from Virginia and the rest are from 26 states, Washington and several foreign countries, including Argentina, Australia, Nepal, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

Thirty-five percent are male. Just under 30 percent identify as ethnically diverse.

Move-in Day 2017 was cloudy with temperatures in the mid-80snot bad compared to the typical late-August heat, and a welcome relief for families lugging storage bins up five flights of stairs. But weather was still a factor, as scattered sprinkles necessitated adding umbrellas to the list of last-minute items to pick up at the store.

Sounds of hammering echoed up and down the hallways of Mason and Randolph halls. The general consensus was that the black metal dorm beds had to be lofted to make room for under-bed storage.

In Natalie Torres room on the second floor of Randolph Hall, her uncle, Greg Benitez, was whacking on the bed with a rubber mallet. Torress 17-by-10 foot room was full of her relativesthe Virginia Beach natives mom, stepdad, uncle, aunt, brother, sister, cousins and friends all came along to help her move in.

Theres 12 of us all together, said Torres mom, who was wearing a pink UMW Mom T-shirt.

Shes only been packing for eight years, her brother joked.

Torres said UMW was the only school she visited that felt like home.

It was the best choice for me, she said.

Still, she said it was surreal to know she wouldnt be driving back to Virginia Beach with her family at the end of the day. And she was already missing her Chihuahua.

UMW was the overwhelming top choice for Torres Randolph Hall neighbor Brittany Johnson.

She visited here and she wouldnt look anywhere else, said Johnsons dad, David.

Johnson, from Winchester, said she had read alumni descriptions of UMW as a tight-knit community and was looking forward to being a part of that.

Her mom, Leslie, was helping to string Christmas lights along the ceiling above her daughters bed. She said she was really excited for Brittany to start college.

You mean, youre excited to get me out of the house, Brittany joked.

One down, one to go, David Johnson said. Brittanys sister is in eighth grade.

In Randolph Halls first-floor common room, Duneika Easley and her aunt, Theresa Puckette, were waiting for Easleys son, incoming college freshman Kyree Ford, to bring the car around so they could run out to buy him a stash of snacks.

Gotta have snacks, Easley said.

Ford is her only child, but she said she wasnt feeling anything but excited to have him start college.

Ill save sad for the sad times, she said. This is happy.

She said her son, who is from Richmond, looked at five universities but ultimately chose UMW because of its classic collegiate feel.

When we walked on campus here, it just feels like a traditional college campus, she said.

The picturesque campus and small-town vibe of Fredericksburg also attracted Morgan Mumford of Chesapeake to UMW.

She said she was excited to start her college career but was also feeling a little nervous.

I dont know a lot of people, she said. She was decorating the wall above her bed in her Mason Hall room with a poster painted by a friend and a display of photosher dog Mugsy, a pug, featured prominently.

Theres more pictures of him than us, Mumfords dad, Kenny, joked.

UMWs returning students move in on Saturday and classes begin on Monday.
Amid a renewed examination of the ties between Confederate imagery and white supremacy and slavery, VCU President Michael Rao is directing administrators to conduct an audit of symbols "of an exclusionary nature" on the school's campuses.

Senior administrators will consult with faculty, students and the community to conduct a comprehensive review, Rao said in an email to students and faculty Wednesday evening.

The review will include a discussion about "what the future of any such items may be," he wrote. "This includes statues, plaques, building and facility names and other honorific symbols. We will also be looking at applicable policies and procedures."

Rao said the process would be guided by a commitment to inclusion, free speech and civil discourse.

He also wrote that campus police are working closely with other law enforcement agencies on issues of campus security and the impact of possible protests following the Aug. 11 and Aug. 12 violence in Charlottesville.

"Students and their parents, faculty and staff have expressed concern about the impact of national and regional protests and especially the focus on Confederate symbolism given Richmond's history as the capitol of the Confederacy," Rao's email said.

Ravi Perry, an associate professor of political science at VCU, said such an audit shows the university's commitment to examining its role in white supremacy.

"I think its very important for us to do this review," he said. "I would recommend that every university and college in the commonwealth of Virginia do the same thing."

This is a developing story. Return to Fredericksburg.com later for updates.
SWEET HOME  Since Monday afternoon, about 20 firefighters from Linn County fire departments and the Oregon Department of Forestry have been assisting other agencies on wildland fires near Sisters and Lowell, as part of Oregons conflagration firefighting system.

Sweet Home Fire Chief Dave Barringer said firefighters from his department, Lebanon, Albany, Harrisburg and Brownsville are working the Milli fire about nine miles west of Sisters.

Basically, Linn County was operating on a no-go policy until after the eclipse, Barringer said. We pulled the trigger Monday afternoon and said yes.

According to Barringer, there are about 18 staff members from the local fire departments, working several vehicles from brush rigs to tenders and engines.

They are doing a good job, are safe and working day shift in the Black Butte area, he said. They are making sure the fire doesnt get into those high-dollar homes there.

The Milli fire has burned more than 12,000 acres and is about 23 percent contained. About 687 crew members are working the conflagration, which began Aug. 11. Numerous homes in the area were evacuated and several have burned.

Two firefighters from the Oregon Department of Forestry are working on the Jones Fire near Lowell, according to Craig Pettinger of the Sweet Home unit.

We managed to survive the eclipse without any incidents and that was fantastic, he said. We have pretty good weather forecast this week, then it is supposed to turn off warm and dry again by the weekend and into next week."

Pettinger said the 5,000-acre Jones fire is on the Willamette National Forest, but only about a mile from private lands protected by the Oregon Department of Forestry.

On the Willamette National Forest alone there are five fire management teams, he said.

The Oregon Department of Forestry officials said months of planning paid off as there was a minimal increase in wildfires during Mondays eclipse event that brought thousands of visitors to the state.

Only 10 new fires, covering four acres, were reported and were quickly contained.

From Friday through Monday, new human-caused wildfire starts were down by nearly 50 percent, and at the Oregon State Parks there were no human-caused fires associated with the influx of campers.

The Oregon Department of Forestry brought in additional ground and aerial resources from out of state under the Northwest Compact. After briefings they were deployed in the path of totality, where fire danger was high to extreme and travel times uncertain.

There are nine large uncontained fires currently burning in Oregon. The greatest in area is the 98,000-acre Chetco Bar fire in Curry County.

In the mid-valley, the Whitewater fire about nine miles east of Detroit has slowly grown to about 8,600 acres and is about 30 percent contained.

In the mid-valley, temperatures are expected to climb to 90 degrees on Saturday, then remain in the 90s through Tuesday (peaking at 96 on Monday), with no rain in sight.
Some say theyre a distraction; others say theyre the wave of the future.

Either way, the Fredericksburg City Council isnt likely to allow controversial electronic variable messaging, or EVM, signs anywhere but in planned development-commercial districts. Currently, only Central Park and Celebrate Virginia South have that zoning designation.

Council members spent about a half-hour after a public hearing at its meeting Tuesday discussing the latest draft of proposed changes to its sign ordinance, which covers EVM signs. It called for allowing them in commercial highway, commercial shopping, planned development-commercial district and industrial zones. That would include the shopping centers along state routes 1 and 3.

Gary Knuckles, a lawyer representing the largest owner of commercial property in Central Park, asked during the hearing that the draft be changed to allow businesses in the PD-C districts to show electronic variable messages covering up to 50 percent of the maximum size allowed for a sign. The draft allowed 40 percent. Increasing the percentage would better enable Rappaport to compete for tenants with Spotsylvania Towne Centre, which does not have a similar restriction.

We think that, given this large commercial footprint, its reasonable to permit more flexibility in electronic signage, he said. It would help and could result in fewer signs as the property owner tries to meet demand for this type of signage.

Knuckles said another option would be to combine the increase with a special-use permit to provide a little more flexibility to deal with this coming tech as it changes in the future.

Council Member Billy Withers said after the hearing that he didnt think EVM signs fit in most of the citys districts and moved to limit them to PD-C zones only.

Fellow Council Member Matt Kelly disagreed. He said that the only comments hed heard about the signs were that theyre a distraction and that theyre tacky or gauche. He said that the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration both allow EVM signs, and deciding if a sign was acceptable or not would turn City Council into the taste police.

EVM signs also can reduce the amount of signage businesses need because messages for different businesses can rotate. They also have technology that could be used to post Amber Alerts and public service announcements, he said.

If you want the Mona Lisa to show up on these signs every eight seconds and do an art history class, you can do it with these signs, Kelly said.

He pointed out that there are already several EVM signs on State Route 3 and allowing them only in PD-C zones could get the city sued.

Council Member Kerry Devine said that limiting the signs in areas that are entrance corridors to Fredericksburg will make them more welcoming, and its the councils concern and business to set the tone for those areas.

Council Member Brad Ellis wanted to amend Withers motion to increase the percentage of space for electronic variable messages to 50 percent and to prohibit the outlining of windows inside or outside of buildings in the Historic District. The draft had said only that lights werent allowed to outline the outside of windows.

Two people during the public hearing had addressed the issue of lighting downtown. Penny Parrish, a fine arts photographer who lives in Stafford County, said that she was concerned that many parts of downtown are so dark that she can hardly see where shes going, which she said is a safety concern.

People are less likely to break a window or snatch a purse if they think they will be seen or captured on camera, she said. Three businesses on Caroline Street suffered broken windows just this year.

Anne Little, who lives downtown, said that she doesnt think outlining windows and other architectural details of businesses in the Historic District is appropriate, and merchants should use lighting inside their windows to show off their merchandise. She used Whittinghams, which is known for its creative windows, as an example of what can be done to attract customers.

Ellis amendment regarding the size of the message area failed on a 43 vote, but the lighting amendment passed 43.

The draft had been based on recommendations made at four previous public hearings and a community meeting during which business owners and residents gave city officials an earful about the proposed changes. City staff also had to update some wording to comply with a Supreme Court ruling that said the city of Norfolk couldnt regulate a sign based on whether it advertised a product, good or service.

Other proposed changes in the draft include prohibiting sail signs, also known as feather flags because of their feather-like shape. Signs inside buildings would be exempted from the ordinance, as long as their features dont include such things as animation, flashing or intermittent lights, or lights changing degrees of intensity.

City Council will make its final vote on changes to the sign ordinance at its Sept. 15 meeting.
Movies playing in mid-valley theaters as of Friday. Complete and updated Movie Scene listings can be found online.

NEW

BIRTH OF THE DRAGON

(Action-adventure, drama, PG-13, 89 minutes, playing at the AMC Corvallis 12) In 1964 San Francisco, a pre-fame Bruce Lee (Philip Ng) challenges a Shaolin monk named Wong Jack Man (Xia Yu) to a fight behind closed doors. This flick dramatizes this real-life event, which helped cement Lee's reputation as one of the greatest martial artists of all time. Directed by George Nolfi (The Adjustment Bureau.)

THE B-SIDE: ELSA DORFMANS PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY

(Documentary, R, 76 minutes, playing at the Darkside in Corvallis) The new film from famed documentary maker Errol Morris profiles acclaimed photographer Elsa Dorfman, known for capturing her subjects on large-format Polaroids. Morris interviews her in her studio as she reflects on her photos, which include portraits of such celebrities as Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg.

LADY MACBETH

3  stars

(Drama, R, 89 minutes, playing at the Darkside in Corvallis) The first feature by accomplished British theater director William Oldroyd spotlights a breakthrough performance by 21-year-old Florence Pugh. This story of a young woman who spectacularly rebels against a horrific marriage is an uncompromising adaptation by playwright Alice Birch of Nikolai Leskovs 1865 Russian novella Lady Macbeth of the Mitensk District. Exact and exacting, made with formidable skill and unwavering focus, it demands to be admired and cares little if you actually like it. (Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times)

LEAP!

(Animated, PG, 89 minutes, playing at the Regal 7 in Albany and the AMC Corvallis 12) In 19th century France, a young orphan named Felicie (voice of Elle Fanning) with dreams of becoming a ballerina runs away to Paris with her best friend Victor (Dane DeHaan). Carly Rae Jepsen and Maddie Ziegler also lend their voices to this animated tale.

TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY

4 stars

(Sci-fi action, R, 130 minutes, playing at the AMC Corvallis 12) Should you really go to the theater and pay 2017 prices for the new 3-D version of a 1991 movie? Absolutely. The 3-D is occasionally impressive, but what matters most is the brilliance of the film itself, a time-traveling sci-fi actioner with badass special effects and a nifty, at times wonderfully, head-spinning plot. (Richard Roeper, Universal Press Syndicate)

CONTINUING

THE HITMANS BODYGUARD

1  stars

(Action-adventure-comedy, R, 111 minutes, playing at the Regal 7 in Albany and the AMC Corvallis 12) Through a series of contrived circumstances, a security specialist (Ryan Reynolds) is enlisted to transport an assassin (Samuel L. Jackson) to a war criminal's trial. There's nothing and no one to like in this blunt, ultraviolent, obnoxious empty vessel of a movie. (Richard Roeper, Universal Press Syndicate)

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)

WIND RIVER

4 stars

(Western thriller, R, 111 minutes, playing at the Regal 4 in Corvallis) An FBI investigator (Elizabeth Olsen) needs help from a wildlife agent (Jeremy Renner) to find a girl's killer in the snows of Wyoming. It's a stark and beautiful and haunting 21st-century thriller, filled with memorable visuals and poetic dialogue  and scenes of sudden, shocking, brutal violence. (Richard Roeper, Universal Press Syndicate)

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.

THE GLASS CASTLE

2 stars

(Drama, PG-13, 127 minutes, playing at the Regal 4 in Corvallis) The well-made adaptation of journalist Jeannette Walls' memoir doesn't shy away from some of the more shocking and tragic episodes from her upbringing. But when it tries to celebrate her cruel father's supposed bohemian idealism and love for his children, it rings sour and false. Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson and Naomi Watts star. (Richard Roeper, Universal Press Syndicate)

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)

ATOMIC BLONDE

3  stars

(Action thriller, R, 115 minutes, playing at the AMC Corvallis 12) On the strength of this ultra-violent and deliriously entertaining thriller and "Mad Max: Fury Road," Charlize Theron now is officially an A-list action star. The camerawork in one brutally funny fight sequence is cinematic jazz  amazing to behold. (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)

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)

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES

3  stars

(Sci-fi action, PG-13, 133 minutes, playing at the AMC Corvallis 12) Vengeful after a human attack on their compound, Caesar (Andy Serkis, brilliant and heartbreaking) and his ape allies go on a mission to take out the officer responsible (Woody Harrelson). The result is a war movie more serious and much darker than most big-budget midsummer blockbusters. And a whole lot more captivating. (Richard Roeper, Universal Press Syndicate)

SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING

3  stars

(Action adventure, PG-13, 133 minutes, playing at the Pix in Albany) 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)

BABY DRIVER

4 stars

(Action, R, 113 minutes, playing at the AMC Corvallis 12) Edgar Wright's "Baby Driver," about a savant of a getaway driver (Ansel Elgort) working for a criminal mastermind (Kevin Spacey), crackles with originality and dark humor and teems with perfectly timed action sequences. If you see this movie and tell me you didn't have a great time, we're going to have to talk about your idea of a great time. (Richard Roeper, Universal Press Syndicate)

DESPICABLE ME 3

1  stars

(Animated, PG, 90 minutes, playing at the AMC Corvallis 12) Gru, the lovable villain from the first two Despicable movies, must cope not just with a long-long brother but a new baddie: Balthazar Bratt, a former child star. Steve Carell returns to voice Gru and Trey Parker of South Park voices Balthazar. Other voices include Russell Brand, Miranda Cosgrove, Kristen Wiig and Steve Coogan. There are Minions as well, but the overall film is less than the sum of its parts: Its wacky but dull. (Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service)
Stafford County Sheriffs Deputy Brandon Boyle never had any doubts about being a law-enforcement officer, even after being shot four times in the line of duty.

I think this is the thing Im good at, Boyle said Thursday after receiving the Heroism Award at the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerces inaugural First Responders Appreciation Breakfast. I didnt have any second thoughts [about returning to work].

Boyle was one of seven people recognized at the event, which drew about 250 law-enforcement officers, fire and rescue workers, elected officials and business leaders to the Fredericksburg Expo Center. Others included:

Spotsylvania Sheriffs Detective Frank Corona Sr., who earned an Investigative Merit Award for his probe into a robbery at a Fas Mart convenience store on Brock Road in July 2014 in which the clerk was shot twice in the head, but survived. His diligence led to the arrest 14 months later of Derek Sprouse, who is awaiting trial on robbery and malicious wounding charges.

Fredericksburg Police Detective Katie Pearce, who received the Excellence in Criminal Investigation award for her work on a firearms purchase investigation that led to what authorities believe was a large gun ring involving multiple suspects and numerous charges. The case has been turned over to federal prosecutors.

Caroline County Master Deputy Ben Doucet and his wife, emergency services medic Leigh Doucet, were given a Heroism Award for rescuing the 2-year-old son of Sheriffs Office employee Brandon Martin after the boy fell into Lake Anna during a June 4 boat outing. They found the boy, pulled him from the water and performed CPR, saving his life.

Phillip and William Atkins were presented the Meritorious Civilian Award for helping save the life of a man who suffered a heart attack in downtown Fredericksburg on Jan. 23. The father and son noticed the man lying in a parking lot, began administering CPR and called 911 in time for the man to recover.

In addition, the Fire Prevention Division of the Spotsylvania Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management was honored with the Business of Fire Responding award for its safety education program.

Boyle received a standing ovation when he was called up to receive his award from Stafford Sheriff David Decatur.

The deputy was shot in the chest, arm, hip and upper thigh on June 7, 2016, after he and three other Stafford deputies responded to a call at a home off Forbes Street in southern Stafford. A woman living there told authorities that her son had broken in after being barred from the home.

Authorities said the deputies found a man lying on the floor in an upstairs bedroom and ordered him to show his hands. He immediately displayed a gun and starting shooting, striking Boyle.

The man got out of the home in the ensuing confusion. A suspect was apprehended later at a nearby townhouse complex. Joshua Anthony Sumter, 18, of Stafford is charged with numerous offenses, including four counts of attempted capital murder and four counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Boyle returned to work in March after months of rehabilitation and physical therapy. He said Thursday he is fully recovered and again part of the Sheriffs Office SWAT team.

He recalled the incident as initially being a blur in which he saw the gun, heard the shots, felt the bullets and returned fire all at once. After that, he said, Everything slowed down.

I told myself to keep working, he said. I was worrying about what was going on, and not quitting.

After his fellow deputies helped him from the home, he took stock of his condition. He had serious wounds to his hip and thighdoctors would later tell him a bullet missed his femoral artery by less than a quarter of an inchand his arm was shattered.

His body armor had deflected a gunshot to the torso.

Boyle said he was happy to be recognized, but he downplayed the award, saying he was doing what any of his colleagues would have done.

I just happened to be the first one up the stairs, he said.

The son of a career law-enforcement veteran, Boyle, 26, said he never considered any other career. The Michigan native joined the Stafford force in July 2014, shortly after earning a degree from Saginaw Valley State University and relocating to Virginia. His girlfriend, Melanie Schafer, is a Fredericksburg police officer, he said.

Its not for the awards or recognitionI work the midnight shift, he said of his job. I do this because I cant imagine doing anything else.
BLACKSBURG, Va. - Chris Hurst checks the dark clouds out the window of his Jeep Liberty as he barrels west up Route 460 to the crest of Brush Mountain. Rain starts, big drops, promising a heavy storm. Hurst hurtles down the far side, finds the gravel lot he's looking for and pulls off the road.

He scrambles out of the car, determined to get a picture before the rain gets too intense. "How about that," he chuckles, centering the image on his iPhone: a giant billboard reading "Giles County for Hurst. Vote Nov. 7th."

It's solid red country over here, so Hurst - running for the Virginia House of Delegates as a Democrat - is making a bold statement with that sign. Just up the road is a huge banner depicting the Ten Commandments and the American flag, and beyond that a billboard with a bloody cross and the slogan "Hang out with Jesus. He hung out for you."

This is home turf for his opponent, Del. Joseph Yost, a Republican who has represented the 12th District since 2011. One of the youngest members of the General Assembly, Yost is from an old pioneer family and chairs the local historical society.

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In a state where all the races are serving as proxies for partisan wars in Washington, the 12th is a key battleground - targeted by Democrats as one that can be flipped from Republican control, a beachhead in a region that once seemed untouchably red.

Hurst is a political novice, but a local celebrity with a tragic backstory. He was the anchor for the evening news two years ago when reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward were gunned down on live TV by a disturbed former colleague. Parker and Hurst had been living together with plans to marry.

His surprise decision this year to quit TV and run for office electrified the local race. He has raised the second-highest amount of all Democratic challengers in the 100 Virginia House races - $232,000 as of the June reporting period. Republicans are funneling cash to Yost to keep up, raising $210,000. Their district is as polarized as any in the state - one side of Brush Mountain voted for Donald Trump last fall and the other for Hillary Clinton.

But at the center of all that attention and pressure, Hurst and Yost are doing something interesting - something that suggests Washington's hyperpartisan toxicity doesn't have to play out at every level: Rather than withdraw to ideological extremes, they are converging toward the middle, staking out similar positions on many issues.

Both are opposed to the huge natural gas pipeline proposed for the county. Both want to protect manufacturing jobs, support public schools and create better mental-health services.

Yost won the endorsement of the Virginia Education Association - almost unheard of for a Republican. Hurst, the gun violence survivor, touts his support for gun rights.

And neither is a big fan of President Trump.

"I'm an unusual Republican," Yost said.

Hurst's version: "If there was a party that was just the No B.S. party, I'd be a charter member."

- - -

From the outside, it would be easy to make assumptions about the 12th District. It is part of the red backcountry, the edge of Appalachia, home to the working-class whites who helped put Trump in office.

Except it's more complicated than that. The crest of Brush Mountain is the line between Giles and Montgomery counties. Virginia Tech and Radford University are on the Montgomery side, which is economically diverse with upscale neighborhoods full of professors and business leaders. Occasional modest "We love our Muslim neighbors" signs can be spotted on the shady streets of Blacksburg.

In Giles, where the biggest employer is a factory that makes cellulose acetate and other materials for filtration devices, many of the little towns - Pearisburg, Narrows, Rich Creek, Newport - are struggling, their business districts darkened by empty storefronts.

In terms of natural beauty, though, Giles is wealthy beyond measure. The Appalachian Trail winds through the county for 50 miles, some of it along the spectacular New River Gorge. The 69-foot Cascade Falls draws nearly 150,000 visitors every year.

Those resources produce a pragmatic environmentalism among locals. There was little objection a few years ago to a natural gas pipeline for the Celanese plant, for instance, because it eliminated the factory's coal waste and supported jobs.

But the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline is just passing through on its way to Pittsylvania County and draws almost universal outrage in both Giles and Montgomery.

During last fall's presidential election, the Giles side of the district went heavily for Trump whilethe Montgomery side went largely for Clinton. With its bigger population, Montgomery tipped the overall district into the Democratic column - but only by about 500 votes out of more than 30,000 cast, according to an analysis by the Virginia Public Access Project.

That edge is why Democrats think they can pick up the district this year, with blue voters especially motivated to defy the party of Trump.

That, and the fact that Hurst looks like a rising star.

- - -

Hurst just turned 30 but has the bearing of a much older man. He had to develop his anchorman gravitas early, winning the big chair at WDBJ in Roanoke when he was only 22. The station touted him as the youngest anchor in the country.

It was something Hurst had been preparing for since his childhood in the Philadelphia area. He and his dad built sets at their house so he could stage talk shows, and he did newscasts on his high school's public-access TV channel.

He came to Roanoke in 2010, not long after graduating from Emerson College. Parker joined the station in 2015. As they fell in love their careers consumed them, but they took refuge in hiking and kayaking across the region.

Her death made headlines worldwide. She was interviewing a local economic development official on live TV when a former reporter at the station showed up and shot her, cameraman Ward and the official, Vicki Gardner, who survived.

The shooter posted his own video of the killing online before being hunted down by police and killing himself. Parker was 24, Ward was 27.

Hurst was on the air soon after, talking of his relationship with Parker. He went on living in the apartment they had shared and kept up daily phone calls with her father, who had become outspoken about guns and mental illness.

Somewhere in those discussions, as Hurst struggled to find meaning, the idea of running for office came up. After months of weighing it with his family, Hurst made the break in February. He said farewell after an evening newscast, announced that he was running for office as a Democrat and moved to a basement apartment in Blacksburg with his dog.

Many people assume Hurst is running on the issue of gun control. The Pride Fund to End Gun Violence hosted him at an event in Washington last month, along with Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ralph Northam - rare recognition for a candidate in an obscure state district race.

But Hurst's position is not what advocates on either side may think. He's a gun owner, he said; Parker liked to shoot, too. He's leery of steps to broadly restrict access to guns. Instead, he favors measures to treat mental illness and keep guns out of the hands of children or domestic violence offenders.

Even the standard Democratic call for universal background checks is too broad, he said: "I'm just not as matter-of-fact, black or white with guns as I think people expect or want me to be."

Guns are a nuanced issue in the district. Hunting and shooting are part of growing up here, but so is the memory of the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, in which a mentally ill student shot and killed 32 people and wounded 17.

Hurst would much rather talk about raises for teachers, or his opposition to the Mountain Valley Pipeline. The need for more mental-health services. Better special-education programs. Unsexy topics that don't make the national news but that people in the community wrestle with every day.

What he learned from the depths of his personal tragedy, he said, is the importance of place. "I came through the other side believing that I wanted to stay here and give back to the people who gave me such strength and support when I needed it," he said.

- - -

Yost, the Republican incumbent, has faced opposition before but never someone so high-profile or well funded. If it worries him, he doesn't show it.

At 31, Yost, like Hurst, seems mature for his years. He's quiet in the General Assembly, seldom making speeches. With his round, tortoiseshell glasses and scruffy facial hair, Yost comes across as a young history professor.

He grew up on a farm in Giles County, went to the public schools and graduated from Radford with degrees in criminal justice. "I've never lived outside the boundaries of my district," he said.

Much of what he has done since jumping into politics in 2011 is rooted in local concerns that don't follow easy partisan patterns.

Yost worked in criminal justice for a time, in jail diversion and crisis intervention training - helping the mentally ill get treatment instead of incarceration.

In the legislature this year, Yost sponsored bills to prohibit the death penalty for the severely mentally ill and to study ways that people in jail can get Medicaid services immediately upon release. The first stalled in committee; the second was signed into law.

He has also sponsored legislation to make it legal to farm hemp in Virginia - which would help struggling farmers - and favors increased education spending. In rural areas, he said, schools do much more than teach; they're community centers.

But Yost is most definitely a Republican. He's a loyal rank-and-file vote for the party's majority in the House of Delegates and thinks that government should have limits. It's his conservative outlook, and maybe his polite demeanor, that make him hesitant to even talk about Trump.

"Federal issues don't have the impact here they do in other parts of the state," Yost said. "Trump doesn't come up. We talk about our issues."

And more than anything, that intense local focus is Yost's secret weapon in the race against his hyper-articulate challenger. He has spent years grinding away at small-bore constituent services.

He and his aide scour the community columns in local newspapers for birthdays, anniversaries, awards, kids bagging their first buck - and Yost sends that person a copy of the article with a hand-signed note of congratulations. Dozens, every month. During the school year, he writes to every student who lands on the A/B honor roll - all 1,500 of them. "I have great strength in my arm," he deadpanned.

In the evenings, knocking on doors for votes, Yost sees the benefit of that unglamorous work.

"I had won the award and you sent me a letter, for the community service," said Pearisburg resident Connie Richardson, 66, when Yost asked for her support. "And I really appreciated that."

Neighbor Scott Clark, 50, a state trooper, has known Yost most of his life and doesn't think much of Hurst coming from Roanoke to run.

"He kind of is a carpetbagger," Clark said. "Which I think you'd probably hear echoed in most [places]. You might not in Blacksburg, but you'd probably hear it over here. . . . There's a pretty fine dividing line. We don't like to be like Blacksburg, and I'm sure they don't like to be like us."

- - -

On the other side of Brush Mountain, Hurst stumped for votes in a Blacksburg neighborhood - sweat-stained handkerchief in his back pocket, clipboard listing voter names, a tin full of Altoids.

He doesn't feel like an outsider, he said. Roanoke is only 30 minutes away; this was all part of his TV market. But he's quick to point out to people who come to the door - and they all recognize him - that he lives in town.

Hurst is ready for anything when he meets voters like this. Some have burst into tears, thinking back to the tragedy with Parker, perhaps conscious of Virginia Tech's tragedy, as well.

"I'm a trigger for some people," he said.

At one house, two retired nurses told Hurst that they miss seeing him on TV.

"Well, I know I'm sweatier and not as made-up in person," he said. "Just here more to listen than anything else. That's what I used to do at the TV station as a reporter, and that's what I hope to do as a delegate, too - listen to what's on your mind."

The two women - Gayle Robertson, 71, and Lynn Juliano, 63 - gave him an earful about their dislike of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. But beyond that, they said, pausing to find the words, things are just discouraging.

"Just watching what's going on up in Washington," Juliano said. "You know, the health care, and just . . . anyway, things are not going the way I would like things to go."

Hurst nodded. "You know, I was in an environment where I could let cynicism keep creeping in and feel like I was powerless to make direct change," he said. "And instead I took a leap without a safety net to do something that I'm passionate about."

"You did, yeah, you did," Juliano said, and she and Robertson pledged their support.

With that, Hurst was off to the next house. He has knocked on thousands of doors - with volunteers, more than 10,000, including over the mountain in Giles. Hurst isn't willing to write off that part of the district, thus the billboard on the highway.

But the morning after the billboard went up, a small red sign appeared in front of it: "Re-elect Joseph Yost - Delegate." Another was just up the road, and another, and another - marching deeper into Giles County.

- - -

The Washington Post's Rachel Chason contributed to this report.

- - -

Video: His girlfriend was murdered on live TV. Now he's running in one of Virginia's most competitive races.

After his girlfriend was murdered on live television in 2015, Chris Hurst left behind a career as a local news anchor in hopes of becoming a delegate for Virginia's 12th District in the state legislature. Democrats believe he could flip the competitive seat.
RICHMOND, Va. - The Republican Party of Virginia said Wednesday that Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, whose ancestors once owned slaves and fought in the Civil War, had "turned his back on his own family's heritage" by calling for the removal of Confederate monuments.

The accusation drew swift condemnation from Democrats and some Republicans, who said it amounted to calling Northam a "race traitor."

In a two-part tweet on its official account posted shortly after noon, the state party took aim at Northam, the Democratic nominee for governor, whose great-great-grandfather owned eight slaves in 1860 and nine slaves in 1850 on Virginia's rural Eastern Shore.

".@RalphNortham has turned his back on his own family's heritage in demanding monument removal (1/2)," it read. "Shows @RalphNortham will do anything or say anything to try and be #VAGov - #Pathetic 2/2."

The blowback was instant.

"I feel fine about turning my back on white supremacy. How does @EdWGillespie feel about the president's position?" Northam tweeted in response, referring to his rival in the November election, former Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie.

The Daily Beast ran a story under the headline: "Virginia GOP Calls Democratic Candidate a Race Traitor for Wanting Confederate Statues Removed."

Even a conservative blog, the Reagan Battalion, jumped in, asking the Virginia Republican Party, "Was your account hacked?"

Former delegate David Ramadan, a Republican, tweeted: "Have you lost your minds - who is in control of your twitter act?"

After nearly four hours, the state party pulled down the tweet and replaced it with this: "Our previous tweets were interpreted in a way we never intended. We apologize and reiterate our denunciation of racism in all forms."

Eric Boehlert, a writer, trolled the state Republican Party by tweeting, "It's almost like yr trying to erase history when you deleted the tweets.....#monuments."

John Findlay, executive director of the state GOP, said the party was not suggesting that Northam should stand with his ancestors as slave holders.

"We said that Ralph Northam is turning his back on his heritage and family. It is because his great-grandfather fought for the side of the Confederacy and was wounded during the Civil War," Findlay said. "When he wants to tear down monuments dedicated to those killed in action and wounded during the war, he is literally talking about a member of his own family."

Findlay noted a MassInc. poll released Tuesday that found a slim majority of Virginia voters - 51 percent - want the statues to remain on public property, while 28 percent would like them removed. A majority - 52 percent - of voters polled also consider the monuments part of Southern heritage, while just 25 percent believe the statues are symbols of racism.

"A substantial majority of Virginians believe these monuments are not about hate but about history, and we likewise share that opinion," Findlay said.

Northam called for the removal of the state's Confederate monuments after a deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville on Aug. 12, which had been called to protest the city's plan to remove a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee from a downtown park. One woman was killed by a car driven by a man whom police described as a white supremacist, and two state troopers patrolling the protest by air died when their helicopter crashed.

Gillespie, who like Northam notes that localities control the fate of their monuments, has said that his preference is to keep the statues but to add historical context.

"The RPV was right to apologize for the tweet and to take it down," Gillespie spokesman David Abrams wrote in an email. "Though Ed disagrees with the Lieutenant Governor on the issue of statues, he knows we can disagree on issues like this without devolving into divisive rhetoric."

The party tweeted about Northam after tangling on Twitter for days with former congressman Tom Perriello, who in June lost the Democratic primary to Northam.

Perriello, who grew up in Charlottesville, tweeted after the rally to denounce hate groups and President Trump's equivocating response to the violent events. He also turned his fire on Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. after the prominent evangelical leader praised Trump for his "bold truthful stmt about #charlottesville tragedy."

"The devil has his grip so firmly around @JerryFalwellJr that I'm praying for his exorcism. #Repent," Perriello tweeted.

The former congressman also tweeted: "If you have a white pastor/priest who doesn't preach on white supremacy as blasphemy against image of God in another, please say something." And: "White evangelical leaders, your whiteness is the golden calf you choose to worship and idolize, in blasphemy of God's word. #RepentNow."

The GOP replied to the last of those with, ".@tomperriello Let's not mince words: you are a Christian-hating bigot We were better off when you were out of the country #LeftWingBigot."

Perriello, who served overseas in the State Department under President Barack Obama, later said he was not accusing all white evangelical leaders of racism, only those who do not preach that white supremacy is blasphemy.

"If they can produce a single Christian leader who agrees with their nonsense, I am happy to sit down with them," he told The Washington Post. "Otherwise they should delete these tweets that insult Christianity and stoke hate."

Democrats were quick to defend Perriello's tweets.

"How rich @VA_GOP attacks @tomperriello (observant Catholic) for speaking out against white supremacy. They've been silent on Trump," tweeted Kevin Donohue, a spokesman for the Democratic Party of Virginia.
THE YEAR 1906 in the United States was a time of frustration, reflection and inspiration. The San Francisco earthquake showed the vulnerability of our thriving cities, creating destruction that cost an amount on par with the federal budget that year.

That same year, Congress passed legislation to make the meatpacking industry safer for its workers and its products healthier for consumers. In 1906, the Wright Brothers finally secured a patent for their awe-inspiring flying machine. As the year came to a close, President Theodore Roosevelt became the first American to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

History was also made in 1906 when President Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act, a bill that would enable himand future Presidentsto protect the special places that inspire us and make America great.

Over the last 100 years, U.S. presidents have exercised their authority under the Antiquities Act to designate national monuments, including some that were later established by Congress as national parks and emerged as "crown jewels" of the National Park System. For example, the Grand Canyon was first protected as a national monument.

The Coalition to Protect America's National Parks, an advocacy group mostly comprised of former National Park Service employees, is now working hard to protect these national monuments. Acting on orders from President Trump, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is now evaluating the future of some 27 national monuments created over the past two decades. This review is clearly politically driven. Polls and public comment throughout the country speak loudly that the great majority of Americans want to preserve these monuments, and the values and economic benefits they represent.

The Antiquities Act has for over 100 years provided the president with broad discretion to determine whether the historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures and other objects of historic or scientific interest merit such protection and to determine the actual size of the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected. Federal courts have consistently deferred to the presidents authority to use his or her discretion in making these determinations.

Past presidents of both parties responded to the opportunities provided by this law when designating these monuments. Most are managed by the National Park Service. A few were assigned to other federal land-management agencies, including the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management.

Most legal experts believe that no subsequent president has the authority to abolish or materially change them. Secretary Zinkes scrutiny is especially misguided with respect to the several monuments under review that were designated many years ago and are currently managed under the outcomes of constructive public planning processesactions that were far more structured and systematic than the ongoing 27-monument review process.

The Coalition to Protect Americas National Parks has actively participated throughout the public comment period regarding this onerous demand by President Trump. We have urged Secretary Zinke to reflect on the words he spoke during his January confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. He stated, then, that he is an unapologetic admirer of Teddy Roosevelt and believes he had it right when he placed under federal protection millions of acres of federal lands. We could not agree more; as president, Roosevelt used the Antiquities Act to create 18 national monuments, including the Grand Canyon.

Now, just a few months into his new job, Secretary Zinke has already reached a critical fork in the road. The Coalition urges that he act on these early promises and protect the 27 national monuments and leave them as they are. Doing so clearly reflects the duties of his office and the wishes of the American people.
It's important that we remember certain events in our history, including the following:

Every year Congress designates Aug. 26 as Womens Equality Day, because that was the day in 1920 that the Susan Anthony Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, giving women the right to vote, became law.

It was originally introduced to Congress in 1878; it took legislators 41 years to pass the bill.

On May 21, 1919, the House of Representatives finally approved the measure a full 42 votes above the required two-thirds majority. Two weeks later, by a 56-25 tally (only two votes over its two-thirds required majority), the Senate passed it too.

For it to become law, it needed ratification by three-fourths of the states, which at that time numbered 48. By March 1920, it was one state shy of ratification.

Southern states were adamantly opposed to the amendment, however, and seven of themAlabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, South Carolina and Virginiahad already rejected it.

On Aug. 18, 1920, it was up to Tennessee to tip the scale for womans suffrage and to approve the amendment. Eight days later, after Tennessees ratification, U. S. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certified the bill, and it became law.

In the fall of that same year, more than eight million women across the U.S. voted in elections for the first time. It took the remaining 12 states more than 60 years to ratify the 19th Amendment. Mississippi was the last to do so, on March 22, 1984.

Vicki Meadows

Fredericksburg
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DEAR DR. ROACH: An almost 90-year-old friend has osteoporosis. In January, she collapsed while walking home. Now, five months after having a compression fracture of her vertebra, she says she is most comfortable while lying in bed. She has been taking OxyContin and oxycodone. She is afraid of becoming addicted.

She has been advised that kyphoplasty is the recommended surgery. She is scared and wants more opinions. She saw an advertisement on TV about minimally invasive back surgery, so I called about it for her, but it was symptom-relief surgery and they do not provide kyphoplasty, which when successful relieves the pressure (almost immediately) that causes the pain without cutting the nerves. Re-establishing the original height and shape of her bone with balloon kyphoplasty seems like an amazing surgical approach and has been available for about 25 years.

My friend believes in offering up her pains (she is deeply spiritual), and I am doing my best to help her make her decision. The neurosurgeon advised her that all surgery has risks, that he has performed the surgery many times, that the vertebra will heal to this new shape and that her pain threshold should be a significant part of her decision.

It comes down to the fact that she is scared and between the proverbial rock and hard place. Please help her make her decision.  B.C.

ANSWER: A compression fracture happens when a vertebral bone, usually weakened through osteoporosis, is crushed. (Imagine a cardboard box with too much weight on top partially collapsing.) This often causes the nerve roots, which exit between the vertebrae, to be compressed by the bone, causing pain and sometimes weakness.

For a compression fracture that continues to be so painful that it requires opiates, surgical intervention is clearly worth considering. Both balloon kyphoplasty (where the compressed vertebra is returned to nearly its original height with a balloon and filled with cement to keep it from crushing again) and minimally invasive lumbar fusion (where metal rods keep the nerve from being compressed) are reasonable surgical options. I can't give an opinion on which of those two would be better, but it sounds like her surgeon has recommended the balloon kyphoplasty, which sounds entirely reasonable to me.

Long-term opiate use is safe and effective for some people, but there are many risks, including dependence on the medication. It is clear that lying in bed is a bad long-term solution.

I also can't comment on the religious nature of her pain. However, I asked a friend of mine, Clare Rothschild, a professor of Scripture Studies at Lewis University, and she recommended that your friend consult with a trusted leader in the community before making her decision.

DEAR DR. ROACH: I have (inherited) essential tremor, which is controlled by propranolol. Over the years, my dosage has increased from 10 mg to 60 mg. My tremor (in my dominant hand only) is getting worse. I have heard that there is brain surgery available to address the issue. Is this a better option than the pills? I am 75 and otherwise in good health.  C.C.

ANSWER: There are several medications for essential tremor, such as primidone, but in people for whom medications don't work, both deep-brain stimulation and focused ultrasound are now options in many major medical centers across the U.S. and Canada. You can read more about it and find centers that use these treatments at https://tinyurl.com/ETsono.
Dec. 17, 1967  Aug. 6, 2017

Kathy George Maas-Hebner, 49, of Monroe died Sunday, August 6, 2017, at Samaritan Evergreen Hospice following a long battle with breast cancer.

Kathy was born December 17, 1967, in Corvallis and grew up in Montgomery County, Maryland. She graduated from Northern High School in Owings, Maryland.

She earned a Bachelors degree in botany at the University of Maryland and a Masters degree in forestry at Michigan State University.

Kathys first job out of college took her back to Oregon where she lived in Newport and studied coastal conifers for Oregon State Universitys Coastal Oregon Productivity Enhancement (COPE) Program, gathering data to support the development of sustainable forest policies.

When the COPE program ended, Kathy took a position at OSUs Corvallis campus, serving on an Independent Multidisciplinary Science Team (IMST) to address natural resource issues, in particular Pacific Northwest salmon and their watersheds.

Most recently, Kathy worked as a senior faculty research assistant in OSUs Department of Fisheries and Wildlife where, in 2013, she co-edited, along with J. Allen Yeakley and Robert M. Hughes, the book Wild Salmonids in the Urbanizing Pacific Northwest.

During those early years in Newport, a friend introduced Kathy to Oregon State Police Detective Steve Hebner and the two outdoor enthusiasts were soon hiking through the areas old-growth forests, boating and diving off the coast, and downing pints at the Rogue Ale brewery on the waterfront. The two were married in 1996 and had their daughter Audrey in 2003.

Kathy also enjoyed travel, sewing, quilting and pets.

She is survived by her husband Steve; daughter Audrey; father John (Sarah) Maas; brothers David (Andrea) Maas and Mike (Sarah) Maas; and niece Rebecca Maas.

She was preceded in death by her mother Dina.

In lieu of a memorial, donations can be made to breast and/or prostate cancer research.
Dozens of kayakers and canoeists departed Bryant Park Wednesday morning, heading north for Independence.

The group had camped at the park, one of three stopping points on the Paddle Oregon fundraising adventure, an 85-mile trip down the Willamette River that affords paddlers an aquatic journey of camping, live music and great food. The night before, the paddlers had camped at Crystal Lake Park for the eclipse.

The event, now in its 16th year, is hosted by Willamette Riverkeeper, a Portland-based philanthropic organization with the declared mission to protect and restore the river.

The paddlers this year began their journey on Aug. 20, setting out from Marshall Island Access in Junction City. Their final destination will be Wallace Marine Park in Salem.
We have learned a few things this summer. On the upside, my husband has reached the stage where he is able to attend a good wedding party without either agreeing to buy a racehorse or being tempted to jump into the ornamental fountain.

On the downside, the US trade deal chlorinated chicken episode has clarified the UK governments post-Brexit plan for trade.

This has not necessarily developed to the advantage of those farmers who consider their primary purpose to be as food producers.

See also: 10 top tips for tup sale virgins

UK/US trade talks are only at a very preliminary stage but it is clear that the US will demand access to the UK market for US agriculture and the UK team have signalled that this isnt a problem, even if it means changing UK food standards and animal health regulations to allow it.

Elizabeth Elder and her husband Jake run sheep and cattle on 235ha in Northumberland and her husband Jake run sheep and cattle on 235ha in Northumberland

So were exchanging being told what to do by the EU for being told what to do by the US.

Hey Brexiters, I thought this whole thing was meant to be about sovereignty? But, I digress.

There are several aspects of a UK/US deal that may make it too unpalatable to the public and too problematic to achieve in short order.

However, the signal from the International Trade department is clear  agriculture is going to feature in trade deals and, if that means that cheap foreign imports completely undercut UK produce, that is absolutely fine.

Making compromises and concessions is part of any trade negotiation. Removing barriers to the UK food market is a concession the UK will make to get access to more lucrative sectors in other countries.

This may also help to achieve a rare short-term tangible benefit of Brexit  cheaper food.

The underlying philosophy of this policy was encapsulated in a recent piece for the Telegraph by well-known Brexiteer and MEP Daniel Hannan, entitled Why we should all embrace depending on the rest of the world for our food.

Mr Hannan congratulates Michael Gove on his policy of focusing subsidies on encouraging habitats and biodiversity and says the country should be prepared to pay farmers to curate the countryside. Curate. As in curating a museum.

Its not that they are against food production, its just that they dont see it as being particularly important and if UK food producers cant compete with the cheapest in the world, then they should suffer the same fate as any other uneconomic business.

The inescapable logic of this policy is that hill farming will become even more reliant on whatever environmental schemes the government is prepared to fund, and the lowlands will be dominated by large agri-businesses, operating on an ever-greater scale in search of efficiencies. The UK livestock sector would be significantly reduced.

Yet, providing security of supply of food is in itself a public good and should be a key strategic concern for the security of the nation.

If you depend on other countries to produce your food, you leave yourself vulnerable to events beyond your control which may unexpectedly interrupt supplies.

These range from drought, floods, pestilence, political instability, land seizures, nuclear fallout caused by regional tinpot dictators, falling out with former allies such as Qatar and vulnerability to industrial action throughout the supply chain, including by our own dockers and cargo handlers.

It sounds like a statement of the bleeding obvious, but ensuring security of supply of food must continue to form part of public policy.

In the meantime, we in the hills may have to start preparing for our future roles as curators of an upland Britain rewilding project (the lynx and wolf division).
Industry leaders have hit back at suggestions that support payments should be withdrawn from farmers involved in pollution incidents.

The call for subsidies to be withheld followed an investigation alleging 424 serious pollution incidents that were linked to dairy, poultry and pig farms between 2010 and 2016  part of a wider pattern of farm-related pollution that saw more than 3,700 incidents over the same period.

See also: Farmers unite around #proudofdairy on social media

The farmers were identified after a Freedom of Information (FOI) request by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism to the Environment Agency (EA) and its Scottish and Welsh counterparts regarding UK incidents of farm pollution.

The FOI request revealed there were 4,144 incidences of pollution from livestock farms between 2014 and 2016. Those named in the bureaus report included the dairy farm at Plumpton College, Sussex, which said it was working to reduce its environmental impact.

Call for crackdown

In the wake of the investigation, two prominent politicians  former shadow Defra secretary Mary Creagh and Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith  suggested farm support should be withdrawn from farms that pollute the environment.

Ms Creagh, chairman of the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee, said: This is corporate crime. If you damage the water with slurry or the air by releasing ammonia, you should lose your subsidies. The government needs to crack down on serial offenders.

Mr Goldsmith, who represents the south-west London constituency of Richmond Park, described the statistics as hugely worrying. Farm subsidies received by farmers amounted to billions of pounds and generated very little environmental benefit in return, he added.

Brexit gives us an opportunity to change that. Under a new Common Agricultural Policy, subsidies should only be provided to landowners in return for public and environmental goods. A polluting farm should and would not qualify.

But NFU dairy board chairman and Cumbrian milk producer Michael Oakes, who suffered an incident on his farm due to a burst pipe in 2015, said most farmers targeted by the investigation had done nothing wrong.

Mr Oakes, who was among the producers contacted for comment regarding a pollution incident, said: In my case and lots of others, farmers contacted the EA and worked together with them to solve the problem.

An EA statement said most farmers acted responsibly when it came to pollution. But it warned: Where farmers are responsible for serious pollution incidents, we will not hesitate to take enforcement action, including prosecution.
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...
SWEET HOME  Since Monday afternoon, about 20 firefighters from Linn County fire departments and the Oregon Department of Forestry have been assisting other agencies on wildland fires near Sisters and Lowell, as part of Oregons conflagration firefighting system.

Sweet Home Fire Chief Dave Barringer said firefighters from his department, Lebanon, Albany, Harrisburg and Brownsville are working the Milli Fire about nine miles west of Sisters.

Basically, Linn County was operating on a no-go policy until after the eclipse, Barringer said. We pulled the trigger Monday afternoon and said yes.

According to Barringer, there are about 18 staff members from the local fire departments, working several vehicles from brush rigs to tenders and engines.

They are doing a good job, are safe and working day shift in the Black Butte area, he said. They are making sure the fire doesnt get into those high-dollar homes there.

The Milli Fire has burned more than 12,000 acres and is about 23 percent contained. About 687 crew members are working the conflagration, which began Aug. 11. Numerous homes in the area were evacuated and several have burned.

Two firefighters from the Oregon Department of Forestry are working on the Jones Fire near Lowell, according to Craig Pettinger of the Sweet Home unit.

We managed to survive the eclipse without any incidents and that was fantastic, he said. We have pretty good weather forecast this week, then it is supposed to turn off warm and dry again by the weekend and into next week."

Pettinger said the 5,000-acre Jones Fire is on the Willamette National Forest, but only about a mile from private lands protected by the Oregon Department of Forestry.

On the Willamette National Forest alone there are five fire management teams, he said.

The Oregon Department of Forestry officials said months of planning paid off as there was minimal impact on wildfires during Mondays eclipse event that brought thousands of visitors to the state.

Only 10 new fires, covering four acres, were reported and were quickly contained.

From Friday through Monday, new human-caused wildfire starts were down by nearly 50 percent, and at the Oregon State Parks there were no human-caused fires associated with the influx of campers.

The Oregon Department of Forestry brought in additional ground and aerial resources from out of state under the Northwest Compact. After briefings they were deployed in the path of totality, where fire danger was high to extreme and travel times uncertain.

There are nine large uncontained fires currently burning in Oregon. The greatest in area is the 98,000-acre Chetco Bar Fire in Curry County.

In the mid-valley, the Whitewater Fire about nine miles east of Detroit has slowly grown to about 8,600 acres and is about 30 percent contained.

In the mid-valley, temperatures are expected to climb to 90 degrees on Saturday, then remain in the 90s through Tuesday (peaking at 96 on Monday), with no rain in sight.
There currently are 93 Fisher Houses in the United States and in Europe with plans for more.
Bonn traffic situation : Pedestrian danger at Bertha-von-Suttner-Platz

Bonn Motorists and bicyclists disregard the red traffic light at the Bertha-von-Suttner-Platz pedestrian crossings. Dangerous situations arise again and again, especially when turning onto Belderberg.

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Bonn police counted 17,038 traffic accidents last year - almost 500 more than in 2015. Dangerous situations arise repeatedly at Bertha-von-Suttner-Platz, especially when turning onto Belderberg road. The right turn lane diagonally opposite, from Berliner Freiheit to Sandkaule has not raised any concerns thus far but some pedestrians see a danger from drivers who run the red lights at the street crossing.

Police report 19 violations in two days

Responding to an initial inquiry, police spokesperson Ruth Braun said That area is not known to us as one of specific concern. The city press office responded similarly. Following the GA inquiry, police monitored exactly that area at the stoplights. Over two days, we carried out controls at different times of day, said Braun. The police recorded eleven red light violations from motorists and eight from cyclists. They will continue to monitor the area.

Right next to the stoplight, a Motel One is being constructed and there is a covered walkway around the building site, which is partly open to the road. Pedestrians have to wait in this tunnel to cross at the light. Pedestrians can be seen from the road at any time - both when they are waiting at the light and when they are going through the tunnel, said Stefanie Zienitz of the city press office.

The problem lies with road users themselves

GA looked at the situation and came to the conclusion that drivers cannot see pedestrians who are waiting in the tunnel at any time, but instead when they are about 10 to 15 meters away from the traffic lights. Its the same for pedestrians looking for approaching vehicles.

Zienitz says the problem is the road users themselves. When a driver approaches a pedestrian crossing, he or she must do so in a way that is fitting to the traffic situation. Police controls at the beginning of August resulted in fines for those who ignored the red light, costing violators 60 to 200 euros - plus administrative fees.

38 accidents in 2016
Article

Protecting the worlds oceans  an important goal of Germanys climate diplomacy

The worlds oceans are vital to our survival. They regulate the global climate and are a source of food and income for billions of people. Only a very small part of the seas enjoys legal protection, however. Our diplomats are working in New York right now to change this state of affairs.
Ojukwu's Son Denies Biafra, Reveals His Father Discussed The Unity Of Nigeria With President Buhari

bayonel3 at 24-08-2017 09:33 AM (5 years ago) (m)

Son of the late Igbo leader, Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu, Emeka Ojukwu(junior) has revealed in an interview, that his father told President Buhari that he(Ojukwu) wants a unified Nigeria.

Son of the late Igbo leader, Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu, Emeka Ojukwu(junior) has revealed in an interview, that his father told President Buhari that he(Ojukwu) wants a unified Nigeria. Ojukwu disclosed this in a statement, saying his father told him about his discussion with Buhari, and denied the claim by some pro-Biafran groups that he was in support of the agitation for Biafra.

The statement reads;

It has been brought to my attention that there is an article making the rounds on social media attributed to me refuting the remarks of Mr. President concerning his relationship and discussion with my late father.

Let me state the following categorically: firstly, that I made no such comments to anybody, and secondly that I am aware that His Excellencys (Buharis) comments were indeed factual.

I have noticed a disturbing trend recently of fake news being attributed to me on social media. I dont know who is behind it or what their motive might be, but let me assure you that any time I feel the need to comment publicly on any matter, I will not do so via some anonymous email or anything of the like; rather be rest assured that there will be no ambiguity whatsoever as to whether the comments came from me. .

. Let me lend my voice to those of the rest of my fellow countrymen and welcome Mr. President back home. Ojukwu disclosed this in a statement, saying his father told him about his discussion with Buhari, and denied the claim by some pro-Biafran groups that he was in support of the agitation for Biafra.The statement reads;

Post Reply I scour the world wide web to bring you interesting stories from around the globe. [email protected] Posted: at 24-08-2017 09:33 AM (5 years ago) | Hero

freethinker at 24-08-2017 09:36 AM (5 years ago)

(m) I WANT TO USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO WARN MISCREANTS THAT ARE BUSY GOING AROUND TELLING PEOPLE THAT I HATE THEM OR THEIR TRIBE TO DESIST FROM IT.

LET ME MAKE IT CLEAR TO ALL, I DON'T HATE ANY TRIBE/REGION, BUT WHAT I HATE IS INJUSTICE. NO MAN IS AN ISLAND.

LET EVERY TRIBE/REGION BE TREATED EQUALLY.

LET THIS SOUNDS AS A WARNING TO ALL.

A RESTLESS FEET MAY WALK INTO A SNAKE PIT.

HE WHO DOES NOT KNOW ONE THING KNOWS ANOTHER. Posted: at 24-08-2017 09:36 AM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac I WANT TO USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO WARN MISCREANTS THAT ARE BUSY GOING AROUND TELLING PEOPLE THAT I HATE THEM OR THEIR TRIBE TO DESIST FROM IT.LET ME MAKE IT CLEAR TO ALL, I DON'T HATE ANY TRIBE/REGION, BUT WHAT I HATE IS INJUSTICE. NO MAN IS AN ISLAND.LET EVERY TRIBE/REGION BE TREATED EQUALLY.LET THIS SOUNDS AS A WARNING TO ALL.A RESTLESS FEET MAY WALK INTO A SNAKE PIT.HE WHO DOES NOT KNOW ONE THING KNOWS ANOTHER. Reply

freethinker at 24-08-2017 09:37 AM (5 years ago)

(m) I WANT TO USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO WARN MISCREANTS THAT ARE BUSY GOING AROUND TELLING PEOPLE THAT I HATE THEM OR THEIR TRIBE TO DESIST FROM IT.

LET ME MAKE IT CLEAR TO ALL, I DON'T HATE ANY TRIBE/REGION, BUT WHAT I HATE IS INJUSTICE. NO MAN IS AN ISLAND.

LET EVERY TRIBE/REGION BE TREATED EQUALLY.

LET THIS SOUNDS AS A WARNING TO ALL.

A RESTLESS FEET MAY WALK INTO A SNAKE PIT.

HE WHO DOES NOT KNOW ONE THING KNOWS ANOTHER. Posted: at 24-08-2017 09:37 AM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac I WANT TO USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO WARN MISCREANTS THAT ARE BUSY GOING AROUND TELLING PEOPLE THAT I HATE THEM OR THEIR TRIBE TO DESIST FROM IT.LET ME MAKE IT CLEAR TO ALL, I DON'T HATE ANY TRIBE/REGION, BUT WHAT I HATE IS INJUSTICE. NO MAN IS AN ISLAND.LET EVERY TRIBE/REGION BE TREATED EQUALLY.LET THIS SOUNDS AS A WARNING TO ALL.A RESTLESS FEET MAY WALK INTO A SNAKE PIT.HE WHO DOES NOT KNOW ONE THING KNOWS ANOTHER. Reply

freethinker at 24-08-2017 09:38 AM (5 years ago)

(m) MY DEAR, IN BIAFRA WE STAND

EQUITY OR BIAFRA, QED! Posted: at 24-08-2017 09:38 AM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac MY DEAR, IN BIAFRA WE STANDEQUITY OR BIAFRA, QED! Reply

tegonwa at 24-08-2017 10:00 AM (5 years ago)

(m) So Good To Hear.Nigeria Is Forever Better As One.Nawaa O! Posted: at 24-08-2017 10:00 AM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac So Good To Hear.Nigeria Is Forever Better As One.Nawaa O! Reply

tunlade70 at 24-08-2017 10:05 AM (5 years ago)

(m) Hope Nnamdi Kanu hear this? Posted: at 24-08-2017 10:05 AM (5 years ago) | Upcoming Hope Nnamdi Kanu hear this? Reply

chukkychukky at 24-08-2017 10:42 AM (5 years ago)

(m) he has been paid by obiano Joramentity aka chukkychukky Posted: at 24-08-2017 10:42 AM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac he has been paid by obiano Reply

ruthie at 24-08-2017 10:48 AM (5 years ago)

(f) Quote from: tunlade70 on 24-08-2017 10:05 AM Hope Nnamdi Kanu hear this?

FOR WHERE... Posted: at 24-08-2017 10:48 AM (5 years ago) | Hero FOR WHERE... Reply

ruthie at 24-08-2017 10:49 AM (5 years ago)

(f) FREETHINKER & CO..THIS IS FOR YOU..AFTER ALL SAID N DONE..OJUKWU BELIEVED IN THE UNITY OF NIGERIA.. Posted: at 24-08-2017 10:49 AM (5 years ago) | Hero FREETHINKER & CO..THIS IS FOR YOU..AFTER ALL SAID N DONE..OJUKWU BELIEVED IN THE UNITY OF NIGERIA.. Reply

Haso112 at 24-08-2017 10:58 AM (5 years ago)

(m) Quote from: freethinker on 24-08-2017 09:36 AM I WANT TO USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO WARN MISCREANTS THAT ARE BUSY GOING AROUND TELLING PEOPLE THAT I HATE THEM OR THEIR TRIBE TO DESIST FROM IT.

LET ME MAKE IT CLEAR TO ALL, I DON'T HATE ANY TRIBE/REGION, BUT WHAT I HATE IS INJUSTICE. NO MAN IS AN ISLAND.

LET EVERY TRIBE/REGION BE TREATED EQUALLY.

LET THIS SOUNDS AS A WARNING TO ALL.

A RESTLESS FEET MAY WALK INTO A SNAKE PIT.

HE WHO DOES NOT KNOW ONE THING KNOWS ANOTHER.



YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A BLOOD SUCKING HATER DUDE.... WARN YOURSELF....!!! YOU'RE TRIBAL BIGOT FULL OF HATE AND WE ALL KNOW IT....!!! WHAT INJUSTICE HAS YORUBAS OR BENIN OR EDO PEOPLE DONE TO YOU... YOU JACKO WACKO.... Posted: at 24-08-2017 10:58 AM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A BLOOD SUCKING HATER DUDE.... WARN YOURSELF....!!! YOU'RE TRIBAL BIGOT FULL OF HATE AND WE ALL KNOW IT....!!! WHAT INJUSTICE HAS YORUBAS OR BENIN OR EDO PEOPLE DONE TO YOU... YOU JACKO WACKO.... Reply
felicilin at 24-08-2017 02:19 PM (5 years ago) (f)

There is no doubt that one of Kenya's richest musicians, Esther Akothee is talented, hardworking and a super mum. However, the single mother of five have been dogged with rumours that she got her wealth from old men (sponsors) and that she is a member of a cult and Illuminati.

There is no doubt that one of Kenya's richest musicians, Esther Akothee is talented, hardworking and a super mum. However, the single mother of five have been dogged with rumours that she got her wealth from old men (sponsors) and that she is a member of a cult and Illuminati. On her social media page, she is constantly posting photos of her luxurious homes, expensive cars, first class travel around Europe and her business ventures including a transport company.

Taking to her social media page today, she slammed those, who are still insisting that she made her wealth from sponsors (a coinage for sugar daddies) and men who call her a prostitute because she is a single mother. Read her post below:

"I can courageously walk into my parents compound and park my big car infront of their house without any guilt , I can slay and travel business class knowing my parents are sleeping in a cool place , I might seem mad to you , but just know this idiot is too sharp and focused in life, loosers will say am proving a point , cowards will say am a ritualists, unlucky ladies will say money from sponsors , Lazy men will call me a prostitute for having children & failed relationships , never mistake knowledge for wisdom , am too wise to live a fake life , this is me, take me or live me , you are allowed to be proud of your accomplishments and admire your efforts , if you feel am bragging then just wait , I havent offended you yet , there is nothing to brag about here , I havent arrived in my comfort zone , when I will land there! then you will know that I have surely arrived , the rate at which I will brag even God knows! thats why its taking too long to reach there , Even Amerka will know that maskini amepata.. nitawasumbua mpaka panadol ziishe kwa duka most men carry bundles of money to seduce women in the club , they drive big cars and living in mansions in runda, lavington etc , but have no idea of where their parents live , this kind of men carrying loads of money in clubs dont entertain me at all ,because money stays in the bank or on investements , men with money look broke in the clubs because they know the value of money , this spraying money in clubs are broke niggas , tell them to take you to their village you want to say hi to their parents , sijataja mutu, kama hayakuhusu usiyasome , kama yatakukera pia pole , kila mtu angangane na hali yake





On her social media page, she is constantly posting photos of her luxurious homes, expensive cars, first class travel around Europe and her business ventures including a transport company.Taking to her social media page today, she slammed those, who are still insisting that she made her wealth from sponsors (a coinage for sugar daddies) and men who call her a prostitute because she is a single mother. Read her post below:

Post Reply Posted: at 24-08-2017 02:19 PM (5 years ago) | Hero
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Press Availability

RemarksRex W. TillersonSecretary of StatePress Briefing RoomWashington, DCAugust 22, 2017Afternoon, all. I thought Id take a few moments to offer a few comments on the strategy for South Asia that President Trump outlined last night in his address to the nation, and then take a few of your questions on that subject.

I think the President did a, I think, fairly thorough job in terms of describing the new military approach. And I think the important point in that is a conditions-based approach as opposed to a time-based approach that had specified troop ceiling levels and timetables, and I think the Presidents been quite clear that what is  will be different this time is he has empowered our military commanders on the ground to make more timely decisions, to conduct battlefield operations based upon the conditions on the ground, and with the battle plans that Secretary of Defense Mattis will be approving. That is going to change the dynamic on the ground considerably. These are some of the same tactics that have been employed in the very successful campaign to defeat ISIS in Syria and Iraq, and so I think were taking a lot of lessons learned from our success there and well translate those to Afghanistan.

This is going to take some time for our military to go through a new set of training with some of the Afghan forces. The fighting will still be borne by the Afghan forces, by their military and their security forces, but we believe that we can turn the tide of what has been a losing battle over the last year and a half or so, and at least stabilize the situation and hopefully start seeing some battlefield victories on the part of the Afghan forces who have fought very bravely, but theyve been fighting, I think, with less than full capabilities that we can give them.

I think similarly on the diplomatic front, we too are going to adopt a conditions-based diplomacy. Were going to condition our efforts along with the progress we see being made by the Afghan Government, who must continue the reform efforts that weve been working on for some time  in particular, much more rigorous efforts around the anti-corruption.

Now, part of the corruption challenge in some respects has been the methods and ways in which we have been delivering some of our aid. Weve not been as accountable, I think, to ourselves in terms of ensuring that our aid programs, development programs are delivering the results that they were intended to deliver. Some of that has been challenged by the security environment. Its very difficult for many of our aid workers to operate in Afghanistan. So as the security environment improves, we expect to adopt a different approach as to how we deliver on the development and assistance that supports the Afghan Government in their reforms as well.

I think the President was clear this entire effort is intended to put pressure on the Taliban to have the Taliban understand: You will not win a battlefield victory. We may not win one, but neither will you. And so at some point we have to come to the negotiating table and find a way to bring this to an end. Now, this is a regional approach and part of why this effort took as long as it did is we chose not to just focus on Afghanistan, but we undertook a fairly comprehensive review of our relationships in Pakistan and our relationship with India. And we see this approach as requiring an integration of all three of those strategies, and use Pakistan, India to also bring pressure to bear on the situation in Afghanistan.

Pakistan in particular can play an important role here, certainly in delivering the Taliban to the negotiating table. Pakistan has suffered acts of terrorism, their citizens have suffered acts of terrorism as  I think as dramatic as any weve seen anywhere. And we stand ready to help Pakistan address terrorist organizations inside of their country, but they must  they must adopt a different approach themselves.

Pakistan and the U.S. historically had very good relationships, but over the last few years, there has been a real erosion in the confidence between our two governments. Theres been an erosion in trust because we have witnessed terrorist organizations being given safe haven inside of Pakistan to plan and carry out attacks against U.S. servicemen, U.S. officials, disrupting peace efforts inside of Afghanistan. Pakistan must adopt a different approach, and we are ready to work with them to help them protect themselves against these terrorist organizations, but certainly to begin to end their attacks that are disrupting our efforts at peace. We are going to be conditioning our support for Pakistan and our relationship with them on them delivering results in this area. We want to work with Pakistan in a positive way, but they must change their approach.

India is emerging as a very important regional strategic partner with the United States, and has played an important role supporting the Afghan Government, and in particular supporting their economy. India has provided developmental assistance. Theyve provided economic assistance. They are hosting an important economic conference in India this next week.

All of that is important to stabilizing Afghanistan as a nation  get their economy functioning, stabilize the country so that they can provide more opportunities to their citizens. These are all elements of what will lead to stability and ultimately a peace agreement. But the effort is, again, a regional effort. Put pressure on the parties to understand that this fighting is going to take everyone nowhere, and its time to begin a process  it may very well be a lengthy process  of reconciliation and a peace accord.

And Afghanistan, as the President said, can choose its form of government that best suits the needs of its people  as long as it rejects terrorism, never provides territory in Afghanistan to provide safe haven for terrorists, and accommodates all of the groups represented inside of Afghanistan, ethnic groups and others. How they want to organize themselves is up to them. But we have to recognize that their culture is a tribal culture, and their history accommodates the nature of those relationships. Theres no reason their form of government cannot accommodate that as well.

So we want to facilitate a reconciliation peace process, and we will facilitate them coming to some conclusion around how they want to govern themselves. Thats really the essence of the strategy.

And before taking your questions, I do want to make one comment on North Korea. I think it is worth noting that we have had no missile launches or provocative acts on the part of North Korea since the unanimous adoption of the UN Security Council resolution. And I want to take note of that; I want to acknowledge it. I am pleased to see that the regime in Pyongyang has certainly demonstrated some level of restraint that weve not seen in the past. We hope that this is the beginning of this signal that weve been looking for that they are ready to restrain their level of tensions, theyre ready to restrain their provocative acts, and that perhaps we are seeing our pathway to sometime in the near future having some dialogue. We need to see more on their part, but I want to acknowledge the steps theyve taken thus far. I think its important to take note of that.

So with that, Im happy to take your questions.

MS NAUERT: Ill call out on some of the reporters here. Please keep your questions tight; we dont have that much time today. Matt Lee from the AP, well start with you.

QUESTION: Thanks. Ill be really brief. It seems like  to me, at least  that with the no nation-building concept of the President laid out last night and what you just said, that the main difference  other than the time table part of the military stuff  the main difference between this new approach and the old one is that youre eliminating two-thirds of what used to be known as the clear, hold, and build strategy. In other words, we clear  or you clear, you hold, and we wont build; you will. So if thats correct, what happens to the anti-corruption efforts that you mentioned, the good governance, the counter-narcotics, the education programs? What happens to those? And more specifically, what would  whats that going to mean for particularly Afghan women and girls who have been assured for the last 16 years by two separate administrations that they wouldnt be abandoned?

SECRETARY TILLERSON: Well, I dont want to suggest that theres that dramatic a difference in terms of our expectations for Afghan Government performance. And as you point out, theres been enormous strides achieved in Afghanistan, both in terms of the numbers of millions of children that are now in schools being educated, the role of women in the Afghan economy now has been dramatically changed. I dont expect any of that to be rolled back. I think that has become part of the Afghan Government structure; its become part of what the Afghan people themselves, I think, expect.

If you go back many years ago, prior to all of this disruption, that was Afghanistan. That was the nature of Afghanistan 30, 40, 50 years ago. So I think it is part of their culture already. We want to support that.

In terms of the clear and hold, that is still the approach, is that areas will be cleared and Afghan Security Forces can hold those areas, thereby enabling some growth in the Afghan economy. Part of what Afghanistan struggles under is they do not have control over but a portion of their economy. So as the forces are able to either hold areas and stabilize them so to not give up further ground, and theyre still losing ground today, as you well know. So this is going to take a little while. But its to stabilize and then hopefully begin to regain control  and as ground is gained, it will be held by Afghan Security Forces  while allowing the Afghan Government to continue what it has been very successfully doing under our assistance now for many years, and not roll back any of those gains that have been made. Thats  I dont think thats the aspiration of the Afghan Government or the Afghan people, either.

So were going to continue to help them institutionally. We may be taking different approaches and not putting so much of the U.S. taxpayer dollar on the ground, building schools and building infrastructures. We think there are plenty of others that were going to call upon for assistance as well. Rather, were there to facilitate and ensure that there is a pathway for reconciliation and peace talks as this pressure begins to take hold, and we do  we believe, we already know, there are certain moderate elements of the Taliban who we think are going to be ready and want to help develop a way forward. How long that will take will be, again, based on conditions on the ground.

MS NAUERT: Right. Andrea Mitchell, NBC.

QUESTION: Thank you very much. Mr. Secretary, a question that embraces both the military side and the diplomatic side. On the military side, wont the new rules of engagement mean that in the short term at least, our forces will be more at risk because they will be potentially doing night raids against the Taliban again, not just training but actually supporting in a more active role because the Afghan troops are not all up to par here to push back against the Taliban advance? And on the diplomatic side, why didnt the President mention Russias rearming of the Taliban, which General Nicholson has been talking about very openly? He seemed to be letting Russia off the hook in his speech. And do you have enough people, given the fact that there are not Trump-confirmed diplomatic appointees in many of these positions in the region?

SECRETARY TILLERSON: Well, on the military operations side of it, I would really defer to the Department of Defense to answer that one, other than I know the approach is going to be, as I said, similar to what we have had success elsewhere. As Secretary Mattis describes it, its a by, with, and through approach, and I think thats part of why the need for a step-up in troop levels is so we can now, at the battalion level, organize and help the Afghan army fight in a different way with close ground advisement at the battalion level and the ability to call in support on a more timely basis as needed, to ensure victory as opposed to either stalemate or defeat.

With respect to the comment about Russia, to the extent Russia is supplying arms to the Taliban, that is a violation, obviously, of international norms and its a violation of UN Security Council norms. We certainly would object to that and call Russias attention to that. If anyone is going to supply arms, it needs to be through the Afghan Government.

In terms of our footprint on the ground, we have very competent, capable, experienced people there now. Our Afghan ambassador[1] is remaining on the job at this time. We have a Pakistan ambassador[2] thats been nominated; we hope to have that person cleared through the process soon. And even in the transition in Afghanistan, as Ambassador Hale[3] transitions out, weve nominated Ambassador Bass, a very experienced diplomat; been chief  been running the embassy in Ankara, Turkey  very complex place. Hes very well equipped to step into this situation as well. And we are looking at a couple of different people for the special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan position. Its open currently; its being filled with a very experienced individual today. So were ready to get going with very competent people we have, and Im not at all concerned about the competency level or the experience of the people that we have working on this. Im quite confident with them.

QUESTION: And India?

MS NAUERT: All right. Go to this next question. Martha Raddatz from NBC  ABC, excuse me.

QUESTION: Its all right. Secretary Tillerson, I know you dont want to talk about the military, but you were just using some military terms, and battalion level and that. I know and understand why the administration does not want to talk about tactical moves, but strategy  dont the American people deserve to know approximately how many more of their sons and daughters will be going back to Afghanistan in a war thats lasted nearly 16 years?

SECRETARY TILLERSON: Well, I think  and I dont want to speak for Secretary Mattis  but I think the intent is there will be visibility to troop levels once the decision has been made. I think what the President has conveyed, and I agree wholeheartedly with him, is that we are not going to signal ahead what our plans are. Were not going to signal ahead an increase, a decrease, the timing of any of that. It will be driven by conditions on the ground. The only way we can defeat an enemy that is as nimble and as cagey, tactically, as this enemy, is we have to be as cagey and tactical as they are. And weve not been fighting that way.

QUESTION: Could that include strikes in Pakistan?

SECRETARY TILLERSON: Im not going to comment on what it could include, but the President has been clear that we are going to protect American troops and servicemen. We are going to attack terrorists wherever they live, and we have put people on notice that if you are harboring and providing safe haven to terrorists, be warned. Be forewarned. And were going to engage with those who are providing safe haven and ask them to change what theyre doing and help us help them. Because in my view, the best  the greatest benefactor, other than the Afghan people themselves, to achieving stability and peace in Afghanistan, are the people of Pakistan. They will benefit more than any other nation.

MS NAUERT: Margaret Brennan, CBS.

QUESTION: Thank you. Mr. Secretary  Im back here. You said no preconditions to talks. Specifically, are you saying that the U.S. no longer expects the Taliban to accept the Afghan constitution and specifically the rights of women? And on Pakistan, did you articulate, in specific terms  or do you plan to  to Pakistan the consequences of their actions, whether it be sanctions, dropping their non-NATO ally status? I mean, what exactly have you communicated or do you plan to communicate?

SECRETARY TILLERSON: Well, I had a good call with the prime minister of Pakistan yesterday afternoon to give them a bit of a forewarning of what they were going to hear in the Presidents speech. And also, we did touch on the points Ive made to you today. We are going to be engaging with them in a very serious and thorough way as to our expectations and the conditions that go with that. And all of those things you just listed are on the table for discussion if, in fact, they are unwilling to change their posture or change their approach to how theyre dealing with the numerous terrorist organizations that find safe haven inside of Pakistan. Again, it is in Pakistans interest to take those actions.

When we say no preconditions on the talks, I think what we are saying is, look, the Government of Afghanistan and the Taliban representatives need to sit down and sort this out. Its not for the U.S. to tell them it must be this particular model, it must be under these conditions, and I think thats what the President means when he says were no longer nation building. Were  look, weve tried taking certain principles and forms around the world and sometimes it works; in a lot of places, it doesnt work. We dont know whats going to emerge here. Were going to be there, obviously, to encourage others. But its going to be up to the Afghan Government and the representatives of the Taliban to work through a reconciliation process of what will serve their needs and achieve the American peoples objectives, which is security  no safe haven for terrorists to operate anywhere in Afghanistan now or in the future.

MS NAUERT: Tom Rogan with The Washington Examiner.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, you mentioned the force protection concerns and Ambassador Bass shortly going to Afghanistan and the SRAP discussions. But how are you going to get someone who is able to go out beyond the wire and negotiate functionally, regularly in that weekly basis with individuals from the Haqqani Network and that force protection concern?

SECRETARY TILLERSON: Well, we are going to have to improve the security environment. It is not  the environment today is not conducive the carrying out those types of activities. Youre exactly right. And so part of what were going to have to do is, first, ensure were ready to engage when conditions permit us to engage. It, again, is why Pakistan is very important in this discussion as well. Pakistan can facilitate much of that discussion.

And there are other regional players to which this particular conflict and this unstable situation in Afghanistan are important. Weve had discussions with the Chinese about a role they might be able to play. Weve had discussions with the Russians about the role they could play if they choose to. And certainly regional players in the Gulf, GCC member countries, are very interested in seeing this area in Afghanistan stabilized as well. So there are a lot of partners out here on the periphery that I think will have, from time to time, important roles they can play. Ultimately it comes down to the two parties  the Afghan Government and the Taliban representatives.

MS NAUERT: Felicia Schwartz with The Wall Street Journal.

QUESTION: Thanks, Mr. Secretary. Going back to Pakistan, officials for quite some time  Democratic and Republican administrations  have tried to get the government to stop its  stop giving safe haven to the Haqqani Network, terrorist groups. What leverage do you think you have?

SECRETARY TILLERSON: Well, I think its  obviously, we have some leverage thats been discussed in terms of the amount of aid and military assistance we give them, their status as a non-NATO alliance partner. All of that can be put on the table. But at the end of the day, Pakistan has to decide what is in Pakistans best long-term interest from a security standpoint for themselves and for their people. Quite frankly, as I evaluate Pakistans current situation, if I were the Pakistan Government, I would be  I would have growing concerns about the strength of the Taliban and other organizations inside of Pakistan who seem to be growing their numbers and their presence to the point that at some point they become a real threat to the stability of the Pakistani Government itself.

I think they need to be thinking about what is in their best long-term interest and how can we work with them to achieve a safer, more stable Pakistan in the next decades to come as well. I think it really is up to them. Theyve got to ask themselves that question. Why is  why does this work for them and why is this going to be  going to continue to support their stability and the survival of their government in the years ahead, if they continue to allow these elements to just grow and maintain their presence inside of Pakistan.

MS NAUERT: Last question. Welcome, AFP. Front desk here.

QUESTION: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Dont you fear on the other side that too much pressure, too tough pressure on Pakistan may destabilize the Islamabad and may have destabilizing all the region with having Taliban stronger in the country?

SECRETARY TILLERSON: That is a concern, and thats why I made the comments I just made, that I think its important that Pakistan begin to think about its ability to contain these groups as well.

Its why, though, we take a regional approach. The U.S. alone is not going to change this dynamic with Pakistan. India and Pakistan, they have their own issues that they have to continue to work through, but I think there are areas where perhaps even India can take some steps of rapprochement on issues with Pakistan to improve the stability within Pakistan and remove some of the reasons why they deal with these unstable elements inside their own country.

As I said, other regional players have strong interest in Pakistan. China has strong interest in Pakistan. Having a stable, secure future Pakistan is in a lot of our interests. They are a nuclear power. We have concerns about their weapons, the security of their weapons. There are many areas in which we believe we should be having very productive dialogue that serves both of our interests and regional interest as well.

So this is  again, this is not a situation where the U.S. is saying, Look, its just us and you. What our approach is to bring  as I said, these regional approaches is to bring all the other interest into this effort. Much as weve done with North Korea and assembling this global effort in North Korea, I think too often we try to distill these challenges down to where its just the U.S. and some other country and only between the two of us can we solve it. We have to enlarge the circle of interest and bring others to  into the effort as well, and thats what well be doing with Pakistan as well.

MS NAUERT: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Thank you everyone.

SECRETARY TILLERSON: Thank you.

MS NAUERT: Well see you tomorrow. Well have a press briefing at 2:00 p.m. Thanks.

QUESTION: Thank you.

[1] Correction: The U.S. ambassador to Pakistan remains in position.

[2] Correction: A nominee for U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan has been named.

[3] Correction: Charge dAffaires Ambassador Hugo Llorens remains in position.

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Inherent Resolve Strikes Target ISIS in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Aug. 23, 2017  U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 16 strikes consisting of 36 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of yesterday's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

In Syria, coalition military forces conducted 16 strikes consisting of 36 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed two ISIS oil stills, two oil tanks and a separator.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike destroyed five ISIS oil stills.

-- Near Raqqa, 14 strikes engaged 13 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 26 fighting positions, an ISIS headquarters, a command-and-control node and ISIS engineering equipment.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes consisting of 45 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Qaim, three strikes destroyed two ISIS headquarters and two weapons caches.

-- Near Tal Afar, five strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units; destroyed eight fighting positions, seven mortar systems, four ISIS-held buildings, two tactical vehicles, two medium machine guns, a vehicle, an anti-air artillery system, a weapons cache, a command-and-control node, an artillery system and a supply cache; and damaged four supply routes.

Strikes in Previous Days

Officials also reported today details of 30 strikes consisting of 66 engagements conducted in Syria and Iraq on previous days for which the information was not yet available at the time of yesterday's report:

-- On Aug. 19 near Raqqa, a strike suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.

-- On Aug. 21 near Raqqa, 24 strikes engaged 16 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 33 fighting positions, a logistics node, a mortar system and an anti-air artillery system.

-- On Aug. 21 near Tal Afar, five strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit; destroyed 49 vehicles, 21 oil trucks, three front-end loaders, two command-and-control nodes and a tank; damaged a supply route; and suppressed five mortar teams.

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.
China slams US sanctions on Chinese firms

US ignores China's peninsula initiative

By Chu Daye Source:Global Times Published: 2017/8/23 20:48:39

China has expressed strong opposition to unilateral sanctions by the US on Chinese companies and individuals for allegedly assisting North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.



The US Treasury Department announced on Tuesday that it has listed 10 firms and six individuals from China and Russia for allegedly facilitating North Korea's weapons programs.



China is opposed to unilateral sanctions outside the UN Security Council's framework, especially countries which interfere in accordance with their own laws on Chinese firms and individuals, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Wednesday.



Hua said the US action will not help solve the problem and enhance mutual trust and cooperation with China, and urged the US to correct it.





Chinese experts said on Wednesday that the US sanctions are part of its belief that China is responsible for North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and that it would have a negative impact on bilateral trade.





Calls to Dandong Zhicheng Metallic Materials Company, JinHou International Holding Company, and Dandong Tianfu Trade Company, all identified by the US Treasury Department, went unanswered. A person at Dandong Rich Earth Trading Company declined to comment.



Lu Chao, a researcher on North Korea at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, said that the US action, which cites US law but outside the UN framework, is utterly inappropriate and infringes on China's sovereignty.





"China's sanctions on North Korea are consistent with the Security Council's resolution. If Chinese companies and individuals violate the sanctions, it's the Chinese government's responsibility to act on them," Lu told the Global Times on Wednesday.





"If there were such violations, the US should inform the Chinese government through the UN. The US' 'long-arm jurisdiction' is unacceptable," Lu said.





Starting from August 15, China has banned imports of coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore and seafood from North Korea as stated in UN Resolution 2371, which was unanimously adopted by the Security Council on August 5.

In the first seven months, China's imports from North Korea declined 16.3 percent to $1.04 billion, customs data showed on Wednesday.





Li Tianguo, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' National Institute of International Strategy, said that the US has long been suspicious of China and Russia, doubts China's commitment to UN sanctions, and blames China for North Korea's continued development of nuclear weapons and missiles.

The US has always used its economic might to impose sanctions based on its own laws, Li added.





"US policy toward North Korea has significantly changed since Trump took office. The previous policy of strategic tolerance was deemed by hawks as a failure. China has always opposed nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula, and has urged restraint from all sides," Li told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"Apparently, the US disagrees with China's stance, and its unilateral sanctions are detrimental to broader Sino-US ties, and undermine trust and cooperation between the two countries on global governance," Li said.

False belief

Lu said this is an extension of the belief of President Donald Trump and other high-ranking US officials that China is not doing its best to impose sanctions on North Korea.

"Even if there are isolated cases of UN sanctions violations, they are insignificant. So the US wants to portray China and Russia as delinquent in implementing UN sanctions and responsible for North Korea's nuclear and missile tests," Lu said.





"Trade ties are based on win-win and China is not relying on alms from the US. The US' abrasive approach hurts others, and will also hurt itself," Lu added.

"By constantly inflating China's influence on North Korea, the US shirks its responsibilities. By doing so, the US continues to turn a blind eye to China 's 'suspension for suspension' initiative," Li said, noting that the US is largely responsible for the nuclear crisis on the peninsula.

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US statement containing India's role in Afghanistan is a threat to regional peace: Analysts

Radio Pakistan 13 August 2017

Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa says peace in Afghanistan is as important for Pakistan as for any other country. We have done a lot towards that end and shall keep on doing our best, not to appease anyone but in line with our national interest and national policy. We are not looking for any material or financial assistance from the United States but trust, understanding and acknowledgement of our contributions. Collaboration and synergy of effort between all stakeholders is the key to success to bring this long drawn war in Afghanistan to its logical conclusion. The Ambassador says the United States values Pakistan's role in war against terrorism and is seeking cooperation from Pakistan to resolve the Afghan issue.

Meanwhile, Pakistan urges US that instead of relying on the false narrative of safe havens, it should work with it to eradicate terrorism. Reacting to the US President's strategy for Afghanistan and South Asia, Foreign Office, in a statement, says as a matter of policy, Pakistan does not allow use of its territory against any country. No country in the world has suffered more than Pakistan from the scourge of terrorism, often perpetrated from outside its borders. Threat to peace and security cannot be isolated from the complex interplay of geopolitics, continued existence of festering disputes and pursuit of hegemonic policies. Non-resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute remains the primary obstacle to peace and stability in the region. There is no exclusive military solution to the crisis in Afghanistan. Only an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned politically negotiated solution can lead to sustainable peace in that country.

Minister for Defence Khurram Dastgir says Pakistan is committed to working with the international community and regional partners towards the common objectives of defeating the forces of terrorism to seek an end to conflict in Afghanistan and to promote peace and stability in all South Asia. Initiating a discussion in the Senate, the Defence Minister says it is disappointing that the United States statement overlooks the tremendous counter terrorism achievements of Pakistan as well as the immense scarifies rendered by the whole nation during this struggle. Instead of relying on the false narrative of the safe heavens, the United States needs to work with Pakistan to eradicate terrorism.

Analysts on Telephone:

Lt. Gen. Retd. Naeem Khalid Lodhi (Defence Analyst) The statement made by American President is not surprising at all. American invitation to India for a role in Afghanistan is a matter of concern for the region. We should give a prompt response to American allegations. This is high time for Pakistan to get rid of American ambitions in the region. We should make our decisions based on our own national interests. We should build an alliance with regional countries including China, Russia, Turkey and Iran.

Dr. Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema (IR Expert) COAS has rightly stated that we do not need financial assistance but our sacrifices should be recognized. None of the other countries has contributed in war on terrorism as much as Pakistan has done. It seems that Donald Trump is being played in the hands of India and does not have his own policy. Everyone appreciates Pakistan efforts in fight against terrorism. America has failed to handle issues in Afghanistan. After National Security Councils meeting, government of Pakistan will give a stern response to American allegations.

Abida Hussain (Former Ambassador) America has invested huge amount of money in Afghanistan but has failed to achieve its objectives. Most of the rural areas in Afghanistan are under Talibans control. Instead of admitting its own defeat, America is leveling allegations on Pakistan. China has condemned American statement against Pakistan. India cannot play a major role in Afghanistan.

Ali Sarwar Naqvi (Former Ambassador) COASs statement reflects our national interests. American Presidents statement is continuation of old policy. Pakistan is a sovereign and independent state and it will calculate its own national interests. We will do whatever suits our national interests. American demand from Pakistan is unjustified.

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UN body criticizes US failure at the highest political level to unequivocally reject racist violent events

GENEVA (23 August 2017)  The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has called on the Government of the United States of America, as well as high-level politicians and public officials, to unequivocally and unconditionally reject and condemn racist hate speech and crimes in Charlottesville and throughout the country.

In a decision issued under its early warning and urgent action procedure, the Committee -- which monitors implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination* -- stated there should be no place in the world for racist white supremacist ideas or any similar ideologies that reject the core human rights principles of human dignity and equality.

We are alarmed by the racist demonstrations, with overtly racist slogans, chants and salutes by white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and the Ku Klux Klan, promoting white supremacy and inciting racial discrimination and hatred, said CERD Chairperson Anastasia Crickley.

In addition to the criminal investigation of the individual who ploughed his car into a crowd of peaceful protestors killing Ms. Heather Heyer, the UN experts asked the US authorities to undertake concrete measures to address the root causes of the proliferation of such racist manifestations.

We call on the US Government to investigate thoroughly the phenomenon of racial discrimination targeting, in particular, people of African descent, ethnic or ethno-religious minorities, and migrants, added Ms. Crickley.

Acting under its early warning procedure, CERD also called on the US to ensure that the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly are not exercised with the aim of destroying or denying the rights and freedoms of others. It also asked US to provide the necessary guarantees so that such rights are not misused to promote racist hate speech and racist crimes.

ENDS

For media requests please contact:

Nicoleta Panta, +41(0) 22 9179310 / npanta@ohchr.org

Background

CERD early warning and urgent action decision 21 August 2017 can be found here:

Members of CERD are independent human rights experts drawn from around the world, who serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of States parties. More information on the Committee can be found here.

*The United States ratified the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination: in 1994.

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Tillerson: US Set to 'Turn the Tide' in Afghan War With New Strategy

August 22, 2017 8:00 PM

Cindy Saine

STATE DEPARTMENT  President Donald Trump's adjustment of U.S. strategy in Afghanistan will alter the dynamics in the United States' longest war, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday, because American military commanders will be newly empowered to make decisions based on conditions on the ground, rather than on local politics or other factors.

"The fighting will still be borne by the Afghan forces, by their military and their security forces," Tillerson told reporters in a rare appearance at the State Department briefing room. "We believe that we can turn the tide of what has been a losing battle over the last year and a half or so, and at least stabilize the situation and hopefully start seeing some battlefield victories."

In his discussion of Trump's address to the nation on Monday night, Tillerson praised "the Afghan forces who have fought very bravely, but they've been fighting, I think, with less than the full capabilities that we can give them." He said Trump's Afghanistan strategy differs from those of his two predecessors at the White House, Barack Obama and George W. Bush, in that it does not set artificial timelines or announce troop levels in advance.

U.S. actions in Afghanistan will be based on conditions on the ground, Tillerson said: "This entire effort is intended to put pressure on the Taliban, to have the Taliban understand that you will not win a battlefield victory."

Continuing his remarks, phrased as if they were directed to the Taliban, Tillerson said: "We may not win one, but neither will you. So at some point, we have to come to the negotiating table and find a way to bring this to an end."

Secretary of Defense James Mattis, who was in Baghdad Tuesday, said he had not yet decided how many troops to send to the South Asian country, and would not do so until he had consulted General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

In his address Monday night from a military base outside Washington, Trump said he would not be specific about how many more troops might be sent into Afghanistan, or discuss plans for further military activities. He declared this was part of a "condition-based approach" to defeating terrorism there.

However, U.S. sources who refused to be identified said Trump has already approved sending up to 4,000 more American service members to Afghanistan, to enlarge the current force of about 8,400 U.S. troops.

Most American soldiers in the war zone are advising Afghan forces, but some are tasked with carrying out counterterrorism operations against groups such as the Taliban or the Islamic State's Afghan affiliate. Overall U.S. troop strength is down significantly from seven years ago, when nearly 100,000 Americans were deployed in Afghanistan at the height of the Obama administration's "surge" program to overwhelm the Taliban.

After years of deriding the U.S. war in Afghanistan as a "complete waste," Trump on Monday explained why he now believes it is in the United States' interest to remain committed to the country. His goal, he said, is to stop the re-emergence of safe havens in which terrorists can threaten America and make sure they do not get their hands on nuclear weapons.

Tillerson echoed Trump's statement that the U.S. is seeking a regional approach to solving Afghanistan's difficult problems, including India as well as Pakistan.

Pakistan was sure to be dismayed by president's inclusion of India, its traditional rival, in efforts to resolve the crisis in Afghanistan, as well as by this caution from the top U.S. diplomat: "Pakistan must adopt a different approach, and we are ready to work with them to help them protect themselves against ... terrorist organizations" operating in Pakistani territory.

However, Tillerson added, Pakistan must "begin to end" its efforts in the Afghan border region "that are disrupting our efforts at peace."

"What everybody should be banking on," former U.S. diplomat David Sedney said, "is [that] the United States will be with Afghanistan and make sure that it never again becomes a haven for terrorists. That means that the Taliban are not going to come back. And Pakistan must stop supporting the Taliban."

Sedney told VOA's Urdu program View 360: "Pakistan must take an affirmative test to stop the Taliban leadership from meeting in Pakistan, to stop arms and ammunition and explosives from coming from Pakistan into Afghanistan. Pakistan now knows that it cannot wait out the United States."

William Goodfellow, who is with the Center for International Policy, a public policy research group in Washington, told the same VOA program that he did not see Trump's announcement as a big change in U.S. strategy.

"I think the reason they're adding more troops is because they're worried that the Taliban have the initiative and the American generals were saying, 'Well, we have a stalemate,' " Goodfellow said. "Well, we don't have a stalemate. The American side is losing. And I think adding more troops will try to bring back a situation where you actually have a stalemate and set the stage for a negotiated settlement."

Analysts' overall reviews of the president's address were mixed.

"The president failed to define the goals or objectives that would direct the actions of the whole of government approach. The only thing he demonstrated was that his original belief, that you can rip troops out of a combat zone without considering the fallout of that action, was in fact wrong," said Moira Whelan, a partner of BlueDot Strategies and a former senior State Department official.

"Trump repealed his original Afghanistan position, but he failed to replace it with something that will make America safer," she added. .

The conflict in Afghanistan began within weeks of the al-Qaida terror network's attacks on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001. At the time, a Taliban administration was in control in Kabul, and al-Qaida had freedom of operations in much of the country. Regular government was restored in Afghanistan and the Taliban was expelled from the capital, but the country's factionalized unity government and systemic corruption have resulted in the war dragging on for almost 16 years.

In an expression of his frustration, Trump said leaders in Kabul must realize that the U.S. commitment to Afghanistan is not unlimited. The American people, he warned, expect "to see real reforms and real results."

VOA's Steve Herman, Victor Beattie, Bill Gallo, Ayaz Gul and Chris Hannas contributed to this report.

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Turkey Voices Unease to Mattis About US Arming of Syrian Kurdish Militia

August 23, 2017 2:46 PM Dorian Jones

ISTANBUL  U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis met with senior Turkish officials Wednesday in Ankara for talks on regional stability and security issues amid Turkey's uneasiness with Washington's arming of a Syrian Kurdish militia which Turkey considers a terrorist organization. On his one-day visit, Mattis met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after talks with Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli. Turkish intelligence chief Hakan Fidan also took part in the meeting with the Turkish leader.

Washington has been stepping up its military support for the Kurdish People's Protection Units, or YPG, which is fighting to capture the Syrian city of Raqqa, Islamic States self-declared capital. Ankara accuses the YPG of being an offshoot of the Kurdish rebel group PKK, which has been waging a decades-long insurgency in Turkey. The United States and Turkey have listed the PKK as a terrorist organization. Washington, however, has not done so in the case of the YPG.

Impressed by the YPG's success in fighting Islamic State, Washington has been supplying the YPG with armored vehicles and small arms since May. The YPG has captured large swaths of territory from the jihadists, much of it along the Turkish border, unnerving Ankara, which fears the YPG will further fuel secessionist demands from Turkey's restive Kurdish minority.

Erdogan has repeatedly threatened to intervene militarily in Syria to thwart any threat posed by the YPG. "Whatever the price, we will conduct the necessary intervention, Erdogan said Tuesday during a meeting at the presidential palace. Turkish forces have massed on the border facing the Syrian enclave of Afrin, which is under YPG control. The YPG has warned any attack would affect its ongoing assault on Raqqa.

Afrin is just immediately on the border of Turkey and Turkey will not allow any kind of formation which will be an autonomous region or some kind of controlled area under the control of Syrian Kurds. Turkey considers this as a major security issue, said former Turkish ambassador Unal Cevikoz, who now heads the Ankara Policy Center. But I don't think there will be any agreement between the United States and Turkey, and I think the sides will have to agree to disagree."

Local Turkish media reports, citing unnamed sources, said the U.S. defense secretary, in his meetings in Ankara, emphasized the importance of maintaining the territorial integrity of Syria and Iraq. In a bid to assuage Turkish concerns, Washington reaffirmed its commitment to offer assistance to fighting the PKK.

The two NATO allies have found common ground over concerns about an independence referendum next month by the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdish regional government. Mattis was reported during his meeting with KRG President Masoud Barzani Tuesday to have asked for a postponement of the vote. Right now, our focus is on defeating IS inside Iraq, restoring Iraqi sovereignty and territorial integrity, the defense secretary said ahead of a visit to Iraq. Mattis described his meeting with Barzani as an "honest discussion between two friends.

Ankara is looking to Washington to use its leverage over Iraqi Kurdish leadership to at least postpone the vote. The Turkish foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, Wednesday reiterated opposition to the vote during a visit to Baghdad. We have informed them that their decision is wrong . Our expectation is clear and simple. This referendum decision should be canceled," he said.

Local media, citing diplomatic sources, said Ankaras planned purchase of a multi-billion-dollar Russian surface-to-air missile system was also a topic of discussion during Mattis' talks. Mattis has recently voiced concern over the purchase, warning of its incompatibility with NATO systems.

The planned missile purchase is adding to concerns over Ankaras commitment to NATO and allegiances to its Western allies. General Valery Gerasimov, head of the Russian armed forces, is due in Ankara later this week for talks. The visit follows one by Iranian armed forces chief Hossein Bagheri's whose trip to Turkey marked the first of its kind since the 1979 Iranian revolution. Erdogan indicated Monday Iran and Turkey could carry out a joint military operation against the PKK. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard denied the claim.

Mattis' stop in Turkey was part of a regional tour that included Jordan. The U.S. defense secretary is also scheduled to stop in Ukraine.

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Trump insisted he was the real victim. He's always pretending to be the victim. It's always been his slimy modus operandi. And it's worked for him-- to some extent-- in business and certainly works among the Republican base, which only exists to celebrate it's own victimhood. As PPP's Tom Jensen pointed out in releasing his During his deranged campaign rally in Phoenix Tuesday night, Trump had several disparate stream of consciousness themes but what tied them all together was his profound pose as the ultimate victim. Forget about Heather Heyer, who was murdered by a Trump Nazi fan boy,insisted he was the real victim. He's always pretending to be the victim. It's always been his slimy modus operandi. And it's worked for him-- to some extent-- in business and certainly works among the Republican base, which only exists to celebrate it's own victimhood. As PPP's Tom Jensen pointed out in releasing his new post-Charlottesville survey yesterday, Senor Trumpanzee's "approval rating is pretty steady in the wake of the Charlottesville attack, probably because his supporters think that whites and Christians are the most oppressed groups of people in the country... The reason Trump hasn't lost more ground for his widely panned response to the attack is probably that many of his supporters agree with some of the beliefs that led white supremacists to rally in Charlottesville in the first place. Asked what racial group they think faces the most discrimination in America, 45% of Trump voters say it's white people followed by 17% for Native Americans with 16% picking African Americans, and 5% picking Latinos. Asked what religious group they think faces the most discrimination in America, 54% of Trump voters says it's Christians followed by 22% for Muslims and 12% for Jews. There is a mindset among many Trump voters that it's whites and Christians getting trampled on in America that makes it unlikely they would abandon Trump over his 'both sides' rhetoric."





Still just 11% of Americans-- including Trump voters of course-- say they "agree with the sentiment that it's possible for white supremacists and neo-Nazis to be 'very fine people,' to 69% who say that's not possible. "Almost no one in America likes neo-Nazis or white supremacists or thinks they can be good people," said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. "But Trump didnt lose many of his voters with his post-Charlottesville comments because so many of his voters do think whites and Christians are the most oppressed groups in this country."

Robert E. Lee has a 36/24 favorability with Americans, with 40% having no opinion of him either way. He's at a 61/10 spread with Trump voters but just a 17/40 spread with Clinton voters. In a finding that says a lot about how we got to where we are today, Trump voters say they would rather have Jefferson Davis as President than Barack Obama 45/20. Obama wins that question 56/21 with the overall electorate.



Things are continuing to look good for Democrats in 2018, as they lead the generic Congressional ballot 49-35. The 14 point lead for Democrats may be too good to be true though-- it's a function of a highly divided Republican base at this point. While Clinton voters say they'll vote Democratic for Congress next year 90- 4, Trump voters say they will vote Republican by only a 74-13 margin. Part of the reason Republicans have done better than expected in 2014 and 2016 is they were divided earlier in the cycle and came together by the end, we will see if that trend continues in 2018.



Democrats are very well positioned for next years elections, said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. Their voters are a lot more unified than Trumps. His attacks on his own partys Congressional leaders are having a very negative impact on their popularity.



Lamar Smith voted for TrumpCare-- and says he would again

Derrick Crowe is running for the Austin-San Antonio corridor seat currently occupied by the odious anti-health care fanatic Lamar Smith. This morning he reminded us that "In the 21st District, roughly 54,000 rely on the health care exchanges for health coverage. Instead of working to improve their insurance, Lamar Smith voted to kick them off health coverage altogether and add them to the 84,000 people who still lack coverage in this district under the Affordable Care Act. The Republicans' attempt to destroy President Obama's legacy would have let the rest of us get sicker, go bankrupt, and die earlier just so they could get a tax cut. Voters aren't as dumb as establishment politicians like Smith think they are. They know an attack on their lives and livelihoods when they see one. We need to get all of these people covered, period, no exceptions. That's why I support Medicare For All. Health care should be a right, not a privilege in this country."





North Carolina's 5th district has the same kind of assertively backward representative in Congress, Virginia Foxx. Jenny Marshall, the progressive Blue America has endorsed in the race has a very different perspective of health care than Foxx. Jenny sent me this statement earlier today:

"I firmly believe that a repeal of Obamacare is necessary because it is crushing our health care sector," Foxx said. This is how Virginia Foxx views healthcare, in business dollars and cents rather than loss of life and personal costs. If the repeal of The ACA goes through, the CBO has estimated that 1 out of 7 people in the 5th district will loose their health insurance. These hardworking citizens need medical coverage because it is just simply unavailable through their work and too expensive to purchase on their own without help of a subsidy. The repeal of the ACA will make these already vulnerable households even more at risk in regards to their personal health and economic stability. We know that a healthier and more productive workforce is directly tied to a workforce that has access to medical care as a result of being insured. Republicans, Democrats, and Unafiliated voters are the beneficiaries of the ACA and have rallied together against its repeal but their pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Her lack of concern for the medical needs and financial security of the people in the 5th district and across this county is simply appalling. Enough is enough. We need to make the interim changes needed to fix the ACA and move to enact a single payer healthcare plan that provides universal healthcare for all the people living in this country.
China, Russia Object to new US Sanctions Linked to North Korea

August 23, 2017 1:52 PM

VOA News

Chinese and Russian officials have expressed objections to sanctions the United States imposed Tuesday against several companies for allegedly supporting North Korea's nuclear program.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a news briefing the sanctions are not helping U.S.-China cooperation on efforts to rein in North Korean nuclear activity.

She said the United States should "immediately correct its mistake," and reiterated China's calls for restraint and dialogue to resolve the situation with North Korea.

At the United Nations, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia echoed one of his governments ministers who said it is another unfriendly move by the United States.

We strongly condemn unilateral sanctions, not only those aimed at us, but at anybody, Nebenzia. He said if Washington wanted to sanction third parties, it should do so through existing channels, namely the U.N. sanctions committee for North Korea. There it could put forward names of individuals or companies it believes is violating sanctions and seek to have them added to the sanctions list.

We first of all condemn that move and secondly, we do not think it is legal, Nebenzia added. And thirdly, we do not think it facilitates the stabilization and improvement in Russia-U.S. relations.

The U.S. Treasury Department announced the sanctions Tuesday, saying they were a complement to a U.N. Security Council resolution passed earlier this month that applied new sanctions against North Korea and condemned the country's ballistic missile tests. China and Russia were among the countries that unanimously approved the August 5th resolution.

A U.S. Treasury statement listed 10 companies and six people, including Chinese coal, steel and financial firms, as well as three Russian individuals.

"It is unacceptable for individuals and companies in China, Russia, and elsewhere to enable North Korea to generate income used to develop weapons of mass destruction and destabilize the region," said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. "We are taking actions consistent with U.N. sanctions to show that there are consequences for defying sanctions and providing support to North Korea, and to deter this activity in the future."

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Pakistan Army Chief Refutes Trumps Accusations, Stresses Anti-Terror Effort

August 23, 2017

VOA News Ayaz Gul

ISLAMABAD  Pakistans military chief reacted strongly Wednesday to President Donald Trumps accusations that Islamabad takes billions of dollars in aid money from Washington and helps militants plotting deadly terrorist attacks against American troops in Afghanistan.

We are not looking for any material or financial assistance from USA, but trust, understanding and acknowledgement of our contributions, General Qamar Javed Bajwa told the U.S. ambassador in a meeting at Pakistan armys headquarters in Rawalpindi.

While announcing his long-awaited Afghan policy, Trump harshly criticized Pakistan, asserting Washington is paying Islamabad billions and billions of dollars, but the South Asian nation is sheltering the terrorists U.S. forces are fighting on the other side of the border.

Bajwa in his meeting with Ambassador David Hale reiterated that peace in Afghanistan is as important for Pakistan as for any other country.

Collaboration

We have done a lot towards that end and shall keep on doing our best, not to appease anyone, but in line with our national interest and national policy, noted the Pakistani military chief.

The general underscored the need for collaboration and synergy of effort among stakeholders to successfully bring the long Afghan war to its logical conclusion.

U.S. and Afghan officials allege the Pakistani militarys spy agency is facilitating Taliban insurgents and militants of the dreaded Haqqani network to launch attacks in Afghanistan.

Hale said the United States values Pakistans role in the war against terrorism and seeks cooperation from Islamabad to resolve the Afghan issue, according to the army statement.

Pakistani security forces have uprooted all terrorist bases on their soil, including that of the Haqqani network, and have also shared evidence with top American military officials who visited Islamabad just days before Trump delivered his speech, officials insist.

The [Pakistan] army chief made an offer to them that you [U.S] pick up a point, you chose the time because you say there are training camps in Pakistan and lets go and you would see it for yourself whether they are there, Ghafoor told VOA.

The spokesman said the military has been working closely with American counterparts in fighting regional terrorism and is ready to work with the United States to address each other's "reservations" to carry forward the war.

Kashmir an issue

A separate statement from Pakistans Foreign Ministry said it is disappointing the U.S. president ignored the enormous sacrifices Pakistanis have made in fighting terrorism.

No country in the world has suffered more than Pakistan from the scourge of terrorism, often perpetrated from outside our borders, according to the ministry.

It did not name any country, but Islamabad consistently accuses rival India of using New Delhis growing influence, particularly in security institutions of Afghanistan to support and orchestrate terrorist attacks in Pakistan.

The ministry statement attempted to link Afghan stability to the resolution of Pakistans long-running Kashmir territorial dispute with India.

The threat to peace and security cannot be isolated from the complex interplay of geopolitics, continued existence of festering disputes and pursuit of hegemonic policies. Non-resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute remains the primary obstacle to peace and stability in the region, it said.

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Commander of U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet relieved of duties following string of warship accidents

The commander of the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet was relieved of his duties following a number of accidents involving warships, local media reported on Wednesday.

According to Japanese news reports, Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin was relieved of his duties due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command.

Adm. Scott Swift, commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, dismissed Aucoin on these grounds, and Rear Adm. Phil Sawyer, who has been promoted to Vice Adm., will take over the responsibilities with immediate effect, local media reported.

The dismissal follows four Navy-linked accidents in the Pacific, including two fatal collisions that left some sailors dead and missing.

The string of accidents have occurred since late January.

Swift was quoted as saying that the accidents cannot be viewed in isolation and that the Navy will review all of its ships in the Pacific in terms of training and assessments of each vessel, as well as focusing on its ships' navigation and mechanical systems.

He also said that bridge resource management will also be a focal point in the reassessment, local reports stated.

Among the Navy's major incidents of late, a collision between the U.S. Navy's guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald and a Philippine container vessel in waters about 100 kilometers southwest of Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, in June, became major headline news in Japan.

Seven sailors lost their lives in the collision that left the Fitzgerald heavily damaged and needing to be towed back to its port in Yokosuka.

The U.S. Navy, according to local media, said that serious mistakes had been made by crew members on the Fitzgerald and that its bridge team had lost situational awareness.

Other than the Fitzgerald's captain, other crew members are also facing non-judicial punishments.

The 7th Fleet comprises up to 70 ships and submarines, 140 aircraft and some 20,000 sailors.

The home port of the 7th Fleet is the Yokosuka Naval Base, located about 65 kilometers south of Tokyo.

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China's second aircraft carrier is transferred from dry dock into the water at a launch ceremony in Dalian shipyard of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corp. in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province, April 26, 2017. The new carrier, the first domestically-built one, came after the Liaoning, a refitted former Soviet Union-made carrier that was put into commission in the Navy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in 2012. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

Last stage to turn over warship to PLA navy

China's first homegrown aircraft carrier is very likely to start its first sea trials in autumn, as its manufacturer announced that it will present key achievements as a tribute to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

The Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Corp (DSIC) of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), the manufacturer of the Type 001A, posted details of a meeting on its website on August 18.

Hu Wenming, the head and Party chief of the CSIC who visited the DSIC in Dalian, northeastern China's Liaoning Province, praised the DSIC's work, saying the "key project" team has completed tasks ahead of schedule, according to the DSIC. Although the website didn't mention the aircraft carrier, the photo shows that the meeting is of "the Party Committee Working Conference of 002 Aircraft Carrier" (002 is the code of the project).

"The DSIC will greet the 19th CPC National Congress by delivering key achievements on a special product in this special time," said DSIC Chairman Liu Zheng, during a DSIC meeting on August 15 in Dalian, according to the company's website.

Liu said all personnel working on the key project led by the CSIC will stick to the directions of Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, to provide world-class naval equipment for a world-leading navy.

The Type 001A is located in the DSIC's shipyard in Liaoning Province.

The "special time" refers to the 19th CPC National Congress, which marks the opening of a new phase of China's reforms. And the enhancement of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) navy's combat capabilities is an important part of the country's military reforms, Li Jie, a Beijing-based naval expert, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Chinese experts believe the project's next achievement will most likely be the sea trials phase.

Zhang Ye, a research fellow at the PLA Naval Research Institute, told the Global Times that if the Type 001A can start its sea trials before the event, which is the last stage prior to turning the warship over to the navy, it would mark a huge step forward in China's development of a stronger navy.

China has successfully tested the Type 001A's power system and the carrier will undergo a mooring test in September ahead of schedule, meaning that the ship's power system is all set, and Zhang said he believed part of the mooring test has already started even during the power test, so the mooring test period could be shorter than expected.

More comprehensive test

The schedule for the sea trials will depend on how long the mooring test takes, Zhang noted.

The sea trials will include an even more comprehensive performance test, which would cover the propelling and communications systems under different maritime conditions, which would usually take two years, Zhang said. He added the trials would not be limited to a specific weather condition.

"The gap between the launch and sea trials of an aircraft carrier can take years. Progress depends on many factors, including funding, technological obstacles and the needs of clients. A new class of vessel normally requires more time, just like the Type 002 which is currently under construction in Shanghai, and will be very different from the Type 001 and 001A, but much more advanced," said Song Zhongping, a military expert who served in the Rocket Force.

"The Type 001A is an improved version of the Type 001 Liaoning, so the similarity and experience can largely speed things up," Song said.

China has started testing the power system of its first domestically-built aircraft carrier, and hopes to begin a mooring test in September ahead of schedule, Hu Wenming, the CSIC Chairman who has chaired the research and development of the Type 001A, was quoted as saying on a China Central Television report. The Type 001A was launched in Dalian on April 26.

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Withdrawal of Indian troops prerequisite for resolving China-India border impasse

Xinhuanet Editor Zhang Tao 2017-08-23

BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Indian military's trespassing into China's territory has entered the third month, with no signs of the south Asian country withdrawing its troops. The ball is now firmly in India's court.

The prerequisite for resolving the incident is clear: India must immediately and unconditionally withdraw its trespassing border troops and equipment to the Indian side of the boundary, as the Doklam (Dong Lang) region is undisputed Chinese territory.

Although China is a peace-loving country and firmly upholds peace, it will resolutely defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity and never allow any country to violate its territorial sovereignty for any reason.

The Doklam area borders India's Sikkim state to the west and the Kingdom of Bhutan to the south. The boundary has been delimited by the 1890 Convention Between Great Britain and China Relating to Sikkim and Tibet.

Both the Chinese and Indian governments recognize the convention. Each of the two sides for nearly 130 years has exercised jurisdiction over its side of the boundary without any dispute.

No matter what India believes, the fact that it illegally crossed the boundary is clear-cut, rendering any excuse - such as the claim that China's infrasructure construction activities threaten India's security - absurd.

Following India's logic, if China ever feels that India's infrastructure construction in the border region threatens Chinese security, China can openly send troops to Indian territory to stop it.

It's odd that while India has its troops broken into its neighbor's home, it continues to pose as the victim and seeks to garner sympathy.

A boundary is under the protection of international law once it is established by a convention. India's blatant move not only severely violates China's territorial sovereignty, but also poses a grave challenge to regional peace and norms governing international relations.

If India's logic is tolerated, we might as well throw international norms out the window.

So far, China has exercised utmost restraint. As a major country, there is great anticipation that India would make the responsible choice of abiding by the law rather than invoking nationalism.

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New US policy on Pakistan is old, and has just one wild card: Trump himself

The US has consistently hid behind the idea that Pakistan is the biggest obstacle to peace in Afghanistan. This notion is narrow, deeply flawed, and creates internal contradictionsand failuresin US policy in the region.

Speaking at Fort Myer on Monday about his Afghanistan policy, US President Donald Trump has put Pakistan on notice. While acknowledging that Pakistan has been a valued partner in the past, he has, like his predecessor, Barack Obama, accused Pakistan of harbouring criminals and terrorists and said our new strategy [will] change the approach and how to deal with Pakistan.

In 2009, President Barack Obama said much the same. So, whats new?

Trump. Trump is the new feature in this policy, not because he has found an Open Sesame to the problem of Afghanistan and, by extension, the region, but because he will make a wicked problem wickeder through an internally incoherent policy.

Consider.

For a long time the thinking in some circles in Washington has been to accuse Pakistan for US failures in Afghanistan. This line of argument is also trotted out by Indian and Afghan analysts. If Pakistan reins in the Taliban and the Haqqanis, Afghanistans political and security landscape will become salubrious for the kind of peace and prosperity that the US and Kabul envisages.

Thats a sham. Pakistan is just one regional player. There are others: the US itself, Iran, Russia, China and India. At least three, Iran, Russia and China, consider the Taliban political actors. Iran and Russia also fund and arm certain Taliban groups, a fact known to and stated by US officials.

But lets keep that aside and see the options the US can use to coerce Pakistan.

US leverage over Pakistan is on the wane

Two are upfront: aid and coalition support fund. Both are down to a trickle. In fact, Islamabad as well as the General Headquarters (Pakistan Army) have told multiple US civil and military delegations that Pakistan is not interested in US aid or military support. There are no big-ticket items involved since the US Congress scuttled the financing for the sale of Block C&D F-16s. The US has already exhausted any leverage there.

The other possibility is withdrawing the major non-NATO ally status. In real terms, given the state of relations since 2011, this does not mean anything, not even in a symbolic sense.

What else? This is where the coercive possibilities come in. Theres been much debate in a months-long review of how to deal with Pakistan.

There are two schools of thought: one, which is the driver of the current policy, rejects Pakistans strategic concerns and advocates arm-twisting Pakistan to force Islamabad to fall in step; the other believes that putting Pakistan in the doghouse will make matters worse and the US must be sympathetic to Pakistans perceptions while impressing upon Islamabad its concerns and find a balance grounded in quid pro quos.

The coercion, therefore, is likely to be graduated. In his speech, Trump said that he is lifting restrictions on how field commanders must operate in terms of the challenges they face. This means giving US commanders a free hand in determining how to identify and neutralise threats. Read in conjunction with Trumps statement that Pakistan harbours terrorists and criminals on its soil, the US could begin drone attacks outside of the air bands in which Pakistani governments have secretly been allowing US drones to operate. This could mean attacks in settled areas and cities: Peshawar, Bannu, Kohat, Quetta, Kuchlak, or even Karachi.

If this does not have the desired result, the US could begin taking measures for what Dr Moeed Yusuf has called soft diplomatic isolation. Such measures could include sanctioning individuals and entities, especially military and intelligence officials (that would mean restricted travel, freezing of assets and even arrests on foreign soils), putting the squeeze by withdrawing support from international financial institutions, pushing a resolution through the United Nations Security Council, among other things.

Given the upcoming bleak economic picture painted by independent economists, most pointing to a looming balance of payment crisis, Pakistan, according to them, will need to go back to the International Monetary Fund. Thats another area where Pakistan could be squeezed.

The final and most extreme measure, as advocated by some in the US, could be to declare Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism. That would be a clear break in a long-troubled relationship. What happens next will draw the battle lines.

Trump might make things worse

Whether any or all of this will give the US the win Trump thinks he can still pocket is of course an illusion. It wont because it cant.

Whats deeply ironic is that coercing and trying to isolate Pakistan will only worsen the problem. Pakistan, in conjunction with its regional allies, could either take a tougher position by aligning its interests with theirs or, worst-case scenario, get destabilised. Neither development is savoury for policymakers in Washington, or for the region. China already knows that the US is propping India up as a countervailing force. That doesnt go down well with Beijing.

Hopefully, it will not come to that. While Pakistans official response will be formulated after the National Security Committee meeting, chaired by the prime minister, the initial reaction, in seeking to work with the US has, nonetheless, rejected the allegations trotted out by Trump. The statement also references Jammu and Kashmir as the core dispute thereby pointing to tense Pakistan-India relations as a major source of instability in the region.

The expectation seems to be that Trumps speech was not the policy but its salient features. The policy will have its nuances and multiple tools. Rex Tillerson wants to engage Pakistan to discuss the play. Thats where the two sides could figure out whats possible and whats not. But theres the wild card, Trump, who is now being played by McMaster and the hardliners in the White House. If they prevail, the region gets a problem that will make the current situation look like a teddy bears picnic.
China-made aircraft carrier is expected to serve this year or within the sea to advance to next year

August 23, 16:02

Recently, Dalian Shipbuilding Industry News website released the news, not only for the first time announced on April 26 this year, the domestic aircraft carrier model for the 002 type, but also revealed that the construction of this key model "across the board to achieve important node goals." This message to clarify the aircraft carrier model is not always spread 001A type, from this point of view the meaning is not too big, just let the majority of military fans know the official "large", rather than the previous folk "trumpet "

The message is more important to reveal the two points: First, 002 aircraft carrier is the whole line, rather than individual or part of the node ahead of time to achieve the goal. This means that the original proposed by 2020 before the Navy's important node, will follow in advance. The official website of the message also mentioned, 002 aircraft carrier construction will be excellent results to this year's event gift. This shows that the aircraft carrier is likely to enter the sea trial within this year, the official delivery of the Navy time may be ahead of 2018 to 2019 between .

This has been released with the user before the construction of live photos of the information presented also coincide. For example, the powertrain of the 002 carrier has been tested, the chimney has smoke; aircraft carrier-based active phased array radar has also begun to install. In particular, after a dynamic, indicating that 002 has entered the carrier-based electronic equipment, the final installation phase of the subsystem. As a 001 aircraft carrier Liaoning ship imitation and improvement models, the PLA leader on the 002 aircraft carrier's general requirements is "rapid construction, rapid delivery, rapid formation of combat effectiveness."

In the rapid formation of combat effectiveness, the Navy has been in the Liaoning ship, including carrier-based aircraft, including all the posts of the implementation of "one post more than people" training mode, but also supporting the construction of the Xu Xia passenger aircraft carrier training comprehensive protection ship (wing number 88 ), Can carry out an aircraft carrier two sets of synchronized operation training, greatly speeding up the aircraft carrier training speed. In addition, the number of qualified Chinese naval carrier fighter pilots is close to 40. Even if the 002 aircraft carrier may be delivered one year in advance, two aircraft carriers need at least 48 carrier-based fighter pilots, naval carrier aircraft can also ensure that meet the demand.

Today, in the rapid construction, rapid delivery, Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Group also gives a very positive signal. The official website of the message further that the current 002 aircraft carrier project steadily advance, will be transferred to the critical stage. This indicates that the 002 is about to end outfitting and enter the mooring test phase.

In general, the mooring test is based on the completion of the installation of electromechanical equipment and its system. Through the adjustment of mechanical and electrical equipment and performance test to verify whether the mechanical and electrical equipment to achieve the original design performance, whether to meet the ship design, And mooring test outline requirements. After this phase of the trial is completed, 002 aircraft carrier will carry out navigation tests, also known as trial or sea trial.

At present, due to the continued accumulation of Liaoning ship experience, as well as the military on the second aircraft carrier's urgent needs, manufacturers are working overtime to progress. Then there may be a situation is, 002 type of aircraft carrier fastest or within this year to start the sea test.

The sea test is the last test of the ship test and the most important of the ship test. Every ship in the final stage of construction, have to carry out navigation tests. The navigation test shall be carried out in accordance with the prescribed outline to test the navigational performance, electrical equipment, navigation equipment and mechanical equipment of the aircraft carrier to verify that the overall performance and equipment quality of the aircraft carrier meet the requirements of the military. The purpose of the navigation test is through the test, the final acceptance of the aircraft carrier.

002 type of the first release of this model, there is a more significant extension of the meaning, that is, after the aircraft carrier, the upcoming construction of the domestic third aircraft carrier model can be identified as the 003 type, before the controversial " Catapult or electromagnetic catapult "problem has also been conclusive. Flat deck, conventional power, electromagnetic catapult, will be the main features of the 003 aircraft carrier.

The main reason for this inference is three:

First, Ma Weiming academicians have repeatedly indicated that China's aircraft carrier electromagnetic ejection technology has reached the level of engineering applications, and recently revealed on the "steam ejection dispute" will soon be the result.

Second, the domestic second aircraft carrier official model is determined to be 002 type, from our military equipment model naming practice point of view, which means that 003 type will be new, different models of the previous aircraft carrier. And has been rumored 001A type is Liaoning ship imitation improved type, 002 type is the conventional power steam ejection type, 003 type is the electromagnetic type. Now that the 001A model does not exist, 002 is the Liaoning ship imitation improved. Then the basic can determine 003 type is the conventional power electromagnetic jet-type aircraft carrier, and may build 1-2 ships, the future of nuclear-powered electromagnetic ejection aircraft carrier will be 004 type.

Third, the current China is to promote the "corner overtaking" innovation strategy, emphasizing the technical leader rather than run with. Specific to the construction of naval ships, in the already with the steam ejection technology engineering application of the same level of electromagnetic catapult technology, the military leaders will no longer follow the previous ideas, abandoning advanced technology without the use of backward technology. Moreover, the status quo of China's research and development, the steam ejection technology is not more mature than the electromagnetic catapult technology.

003 type aircraft carrier (formerly known as 002 type) has been opened debate has continued for quite some time. The news from the industry also revealed that the 003 aircraft carrier has been unable to start the reason, because it is necessary to modify the previous steam ejection program, instead of developing electromagnetic ejection model program.

Now it seems that after intense discussion, the military finally with the 003 aircraft carrier research institutes, construction manufacturers to reach an agreement, not hesitate to spend time, put resources and funding, the 003 aircraft carrier steam ejection program pushed to re-form the aircraft carrier electromagnetic Ejection program.

In determining the use of electromagnetic ejection program, the expected 003 aircraft carrier will soon be in China, a shipyard in Shanghai officially started construction.

It is expected that by 2019, the Chinese Navy will have Liaoning ship, 002 two completely formed combat aircraft carrier. In about 2025, 003 aircraft carrier is expected to be completed and officially delivered to the Navy.

In view of this, as the domestic aircraft carrier "chief security" of the 055-ton destroyer construction will also be adjusted. Currently under construction of the four 055 destroyers are expected to belong to Liaoning ship, 002 aircraft carrier formation. And with the 003 aircraft carrier partner, may be the use of integrated power propulsion technology, and even the installation of electromagnetic gun 055A destroyer.

(Author of the signature: 100 swords) SOURCE

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Flying Lightning: Russia's New High-Speed Military Helicopter Taking Shape

23.08.2017 - Sputnik

Russia is developing a new high-speed combat copter in addition to the existing Ka-52 and Mi-28 attack helicopters. The vehicle might be used for special military missions, according to a Russian expert.

By 2019, the Russian aviation industry is due to present a technical design for a high-speed combat helicopter for the Russian Aerospace Forces.

The contract for the air vehicle is expected to be signed between the Russian Defense Ministry and the Russian Helicopters company during the Army-2017 military forum which kicked off outside Moscow earlier on Wednesday.

The new helicopter may be based on the Mi-24 helicopter's platform but incorporate new technology; the new vehicle is expected to fly at a speed of up to 500 kilometers per hour, according to media reports.

Speaking at Heli Russia, the country's annual international helicopter industry exhibition, in May 2017, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov announced the development of a high-speed combat helicopter which he said is due to make its maiden flight before the end of 2024.

"We have plans for a new state arms program for 2018-2025 which specifically stipulates the creation of a new high-speed helicopter," Borisov said.

Russian Helicopters' press service did not specify what company will become the lead developer of the project, only noting that several design bureaus and holding companies will be involved. The developments of the Russian companies Kamov and Mil are expected to be widely used.

Experts, meanwhile, suggested that the new helicopter will be designed for performing special combat missions.

"The first modification of this high-speed vehicle will definitely be used as a combat helicopter to help conduct various special operations, forays into the enemy's rear, support subversive groups and reconnaissance battalions," Russian aviation expert Roman Gusarov was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying. According to him, this new vehicle "will take its own unique niche [in the Russian Aerospace Forces] without putting other helicopter modifications to the back burner."

In this regard, the expert recalled that it is the volume of the cargo compartment and the range rather than speed which is of special importance to transport helicopters, including the Mi-38, the Mi-17 and the Mi-26.

Gusarov was echoed by Colonel-General Nikolai Antoshkin, former deputy commander of the Russian Air Force, who described the prospects for the development of Russian high-speed attack helicopters as "very good," according to RIA Novosti.

"At the front, a high speed allows a helicopter to quickly move over the battlefield and quickly escape after it accomplishes its mission. It also makes shooting down a helicopter like this a tricky task," Antoshkin said, touting the new speedy attack helicopters as "the future of frontline aviation."

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Turkey and Iran considering joint anti-terror cooperation, says Erdogan

The Turkish president's comments on the cooperation against terror groups came as Turkey's prime minister confirmed that the country had "neutralised" 4,600 Daesh militants in Syria and Iraq.

Turkey and Iran have discussed possible joint military action against terror groups, after talks in Ankara last week between the chief of staff of Iran's armed forces and Turkish leaders, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.

Speaking to reporters before departing on an official visit to Jordan, Erdogan also said a more effective struggle against the outlawed PKK and its Iranian affiliate, PJAK, would be possible through joint action with Iran.

"Joint action against terrorist groups that have become a threat is always on the agenda. This issue has been discussed between the two military chiefs, and I discussed more broadly how this should be carried out," Erdogan said.

The PKK and the PJAK are listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, Iran and the US.

Decisive against Daesh

Meanwhile, Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the country has been the most decisive in the fight against Daesh.

Speaking on Monday at a conference during his official visit to Singapore, Yildirim said Turkey had cleared more than 2,000 square kilometres (772 square miles) of territory from Daesh during Operation Euphrates Shield.

"So far, 3,800 in Syria, 800 in Iraq - in total 4,600 Daesh terrorists - have been neutralised. Today, no other country has been more decisive in the fight against Daesh like Turkey," he said.

Operation Euphrates Shield saw Free Syrian Army fighters, who were backed by the Turkish military, take control of territory in northern Syria from Daesh between August 2016 and March 2017.

Yildirim said Turkey continues to play an active role in the global coalitions fight against Daesh.

"Terrorism is a serious threat to national, regional and global security. Close cooperation internationally in the fight against terrorism is a must."

Turkey has been fighting against PKK terrorism for 40 years, he said.

In fact, Turkey has been actively engaged in the fight against Daesh, PKK, PYD, YPG and Fetullah Terrorist Organisation, he added.

"In order to end the global threat by terrorist organizations, all countries should fight them through joint efforts, without making distinctions between them and without stressing their ethnic structure or identity," he said.

Yildirim touched on situation in Iraq and Syria while speaking at the Turkey-Singapore Business Forum.

"This confusion in Syria, Iraq will probably not last for long."

Turkey and other countries were making great efforts to end the problems in the two Middle Eastern countries, he said.

He added Turkey would become the "most stable" country in the next decades.

Source: AA

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Pukguksong-3 - SLBM

U.S. intelligence authorities reportedly captured images of a submarine-launched ballistic missile(SLBM) at the Sinpo shipyard in North Korea. KBS reported 25 September 2020 that the U.S. secured the satellite images of the SLBM and submersible launcher through intelligence assets and conveyed them to South Korea. It was the first time a North Korean SLBM under development was captured by a U.S. reconnaissance satellite.

As the photos were not released to the public, it is unknown whether the U.S. captured the missile being transported on the ground or to a submarine. South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities were reportedly assessing that North Korea is unlikely to launch the SLBM before October 10, the anniversary of the founding of the North's ruling Workers' Party.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed that North Korea fired a ballistic missile on 02 October 2019 from waters near the eastern port city of Wonsan in North Korea's Kangwon-do Province. North Korean state media confirmed that the projectile was a medium-range ballistic missile of a type called the Pukguksong-3, a sea-based version of the ground-launched ballistic missile Pukguksong-2. The "Pukguksong-3" nomenclature had previously been associated with a longer-range, three stage ICBM. The missile was fired in an easterly direction at 7:11AM local time Wednesday 02 October 2019. The maximum flight altitude was some 910 kilometers and the flight distance was around 450 kilometers. The Joint Chiefs identified the launch as a "Pukguksong-type" missile.

North Korea's state-run media reported that the country had succeeded in test-firing a submarine-launched ballistic missile, or SLBM. The media reported that the North launched the Pukguksong-3 missile in the Sea of Japan. The report said the test-firing had no adverse impact on the security of neighboring countries. It also said the launch has great significance as it ushered in a new phase of containing foreign forces' threat to the North and further bolstered its military muscle for self-defense. The report said the country's leader, Kim Jong Un, sent warm congratulations to defense officials. But it was unclear if he was present at the test launch.

During an emergency meeting, the National Security Council voiced grave concerns saying the North may be developing a submarine-based ballistic missile at a time Pyeongyang and Washington are preparing for working-level talks. Submarine-based ballistic missiles are believed to be more threatening than missiles fired from land since the launch site is harder to detect in advance. It's believed the North is developing a Pukguksong-three missile and submarines of more than 3-thousand tons and that the recent launch could have been planned in advance regardless of progress on denuclearization talks.

The North had fired Pukguksong-one missiles three times from submarines in 2016 and fired a Pukguksong-two missile from land in 2017. Meanwhile, Tokyo has corrected its analysis on the missile launch saying that it was in fact one missile that had been fired and not the initial two that it had announced. Tokyo says it's investigating further on whether the one missile had separated into two. Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, meanwhile, has said that South Korea, under the military intel-sharing pact with Japan, had asked Japan for the specifics of the missiles launched by North Korea this morning. His remarks came when asked about whether Korea and Japan shared information regarding today's missile launch during the parliament's annual audit of government ministries.

The U.S. State Department's Spokesperson called on the regime to refrain from provocations. According to Reuters, Morgan Ortagus pointed out, the North should abide by its obligations imposed by UNSC resolutions and remain engaged in substantive and sustained negotiations to do its part to ensure peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. While there were concerns the launch of a possible SLBM could prompt President Trump to change his mind over the upcoming bilateral talks, the department's response suggests that's not the case.

North Korea showcased previously unseen intercontinental ballistic missiles at an unprecedented predawn military parade on 10 October 2020 that showcased the countrys long-range missiles for the first time in two years. Also displayed were the Hwasong-15, which is the longest-range missile ever tested by North Korea, and what appeared to be a new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). The SLBM appeared to be a slightly modified variant of the Pukguksong-3, which seemed to have a diameter of possibly as great as 2.5 meters, a bit larger than the roughly 2 meters of the earlier Pukguksong-2. Ahead of the parade, which was held to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of its ruling Workers Party, officials in South Korea and the United States said Kim Jong Un could use the event to unveil a new strategic weapon as promised earlier this year. The parade featured North Koreas ballistic missiles for the first time since Kim began meeting with international leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump, in 2018.





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Despite having no suspects in custody, Danville police say progress is being made in the investigation into the shooting death of a 16-year-old high school student earlier this month.

I will tell you that the investigation has not stalled and is moving forward, Danville Police Department Lt. Mike Wallace said.

Wallace said police have filed no charges related to the killing of Nitaya Adams, 16, of Danville. A shooting early in the morning on Aug. 6 along Paxton Street left Adams dead and sent bullet hole through walls of neighboring houses and at least one vehicle.

I will continue to make the plea to call us if they have any information, Wallace said.

Adams father Malcolm Plummer said that police had not told him any more information on his daughters shooting. Plummer said he was confident the investigation would lead to arrests, however.

The Virginia medical examiners officer would not reveal the cause or manner of death in the shooting, Tracie Cooper, administrator for the Roanoke office, said.

Theres a note in here to refer all calls to law enforcement, Cooper said.

Cooper added that police departments can ask the medical examiners office to refer questions to them when information on victims is related to an ongoing investigation.

Adams, who was a rising senior at George Washington High School, was out spending the last weekend before school started with friends before she was shot, family members said earlier this month. Family described Adams as funny and compassionate and said she wanted to pursue a career in nursing.
A federal court ruling has upheld the decision last year by New York's Department of Environmental Conservation to deny a state water quality permit sought by the Constitution Pipeline, an interstate natural gas transmission pipeline.

The court's decision, handed down Friday, came while the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality is considering whether to recommend that similar water quality permits be granted for the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline and Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Opponents of the projects have closely followed the case in New York.

Each of those controversial interstate natural gas pipeline projects seeks Clean Water Act 401 water quality certification, the same certification denied the Constitution Pipeline by New York's environmental agency in April 2016.

On Tuesday, David Sligh, conservation director of Wild Virginia and an investigator for the Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition, said the court's decision contradicts repeated assertions by Gov. Terry McAuliffe that Virginia has little say over the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast projects because the pipeline companies must apply to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for environmental review and approval.

"We have known and argued to Virginia officials for over two years that they had all the authority they needed to demand necessary information and deny certification unless compliance with water quality standards is assured," Sligh said. "We were right and the governor was wrong for those many months when he claimed his administration could not affect the fates of these hugely destructive pipelines."

Sligh suggested the 30-inch diameter Constitution pipeline presented fewer environmental risks than either the Atlantic Coast or Mountain Valley pipelines, which each would be 42 inches in diameter.

"We ask Governor McAuliffe again, 'Do Virginians deserve less protection than New Yorkers?'" he said.

FERC had approved the Constitution project in December 2014. Constitution Pipeline LLC is owned by subsidiaries of Williams Partners and other partners. It would travel more than 120 miles, beginning in Pennsylvania and ending in New York, with about 98 miles in New York.

On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that New York's denial of the 401 certification "was not arbitrary or capricious." The court's decision said "the record amply shows ... that Constitution persistently refused to provide information" about alternative routes for the pipeline and about the feasibility of crossing streams without trenching through them.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman reacted to the ruling with a statement.

"It would be unacceptable for a pipeline  or any project  to pollute our waters and undermine New Yorkers' health and water resources," he said. "Today's decision marks a major win for New Yorkers, and for the state's right to take the actions necessary to protect the public and our environment."

The court said it did not have jurisdiction to rule on a "timeliness" challenge by Constitution of the state's denial of the water quality permit.

The pipeline company had argued that the state's Department of Environmental Conservation did not issue its decision until 32 months after Constitution submitted its application. The company claimed that the department's decision did not fall within a reasonable period of time and thus represented a "failure to act," nullifying the decision and waiving the state's authority to require the certification.

The court found that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has jurisdiction "over any civil action for the review of an alleged failure to act" by a federal or state agency.

Yet the court also noted that "there is nothing in the administrative record to show that [New York's Department of Environmental Conservation] received the information it had consistently and explicitly requested over the course of several years."

In a separate case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in June rejected a suit by Millennium Pipeline that claimed New York's environmental regulators had been dragging their feet on issuing a water quality permit.

The court's ruling in the Millennium case noted that unlawful inaction by a state on a water quality permit could allow a pipeline company to bypass the state and go directly to FERC to obtain authorization to begin construction.

In todays decision, the Second Circuit recognized the jurisdiction of the D.C. Circuit, and the D.C. Circuit has recently acknowledged FERCs authority to make the ultimate decision under the Natural Gas Act," Constitution said in an Aug. 18 statement. "While we would have preferred an immediate path to construction, we are pleased with the courts resolution of this jurisdictional issue.

In Virginia, DEQ recently held public hearings to solicit public comments about conditions the agency might attach to any 401 water quality certification for the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast projects if DEQ recommends that certifications be granted.

A brochure handed out by the agency at the hearings noted that "DEQ's preliminary decision is to recommend issuance of a Section 401 Certification with conditions."

Yet on Aug. 10, DEQ Director David Paylor told a crowd in Newport in Giles County that the agency has not decided what its recommendations will be.

The 303-mile, $3.5 billion Mountain Valley Pipeline and the 600-mile, $5.1 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline each would begin in West Virginia and then travel separate routes through Virginia. The Mountain Valley project would pass through six counties in Virginia: Giles, Montgomery, Craig, Roanoke, Franklin and Pittsylvania. Both pipelines would transport natural gas at high pressure.

In recent weeks, scores of individuals, politicians and local government officials have implored DEQ to extend the public comment period on the water quality certifications. Some landowners have noted that streams and springs on their properties have not yet been identified and insist DEQ needs more data before ending the comment period.

On Friday, the Franklin County Board of Supervisors added its voice to this chorus. A letter to Paylor from Cline Brubaker, the board chairman, stressed that supervisors wanted more information about pipeline-related erosion that could cause "siltation of streams, rivers and lakes in Franklin County." The board also asked DEQ to hold a public hearing in the county, which would host the longest stretch of the Mountain Valley Pipeline  more than 37 miles  of any of the 17 counties on the route.

On Wednesday, DEQ announced it would not extend the comment period. The agency said it had received about 20,000 comments about the pipelines and will review them before making recommendations at a meeting this fall of the State Water Control Board.

Both pipelines have received support in some quarters and stirred fierce opposition in others.

FERC has released final environmental impact statements for each pipeline, setting the stage for the commission to decide whether to approve the projects.
Update, Thursday afternoon:

Police have arrested a North Carolina couple charged after a shooting at a Nelson County home.

According to a release from the Virginia State Police, Sean D. Castorina and Penny M. Dawson were apprehended by the Fergus Falls, Minnesota, Police Department shortly after 9 a.m. Eastern Standard Time Thursday.

The two were arrested without incident at a gas station within that jurisdiction, Virginia State Police spokesperson Corinne Geller said in the emailed statement. They were driving a stolen truck connected to a Tuesday shooting incident in Nelson County.

The statement says the two, both of Burlington, North Carolina, will be extradited back to Virginia to face charges of malicious wounding, use of a firearm and grand larceny of a vehicle.

The arrest came after two days of investigation and searches by the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations Appomattox Field Office, the Nelson County Sheriffs Office, the Burlington, North Carolina, Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service.

Authorities began investigating after getting a call at 6:48 p.m. Monday about a silver 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt, North Carolina license plate EMA-8936, abandoned on Laurel Road near Rockfish River in eastern Nelson County.

The car was registered to a North Carolina man, 84-year-old Harold Dean Simpson, who had been reported missing to Burlington, North Carolina, police and last was seen by his family at 10:30 a.m. last Friday.

Simpson has no history of dementia or other cognitive impairments, Virginia State Police previously said, citing Burlington police.

On Tuesday evening, the Nelson County Sheriffs Office responded to a 911 call at about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at a home on Laurel Road and found a 60-year-old woman who had been shot.

She is being treated at the University of Virginia hospital for serious injuries, according to state police.

After the shooting, Castorina and Dawson fled the residence in a 2002 Dodge Dakota that belonged to the owner of the residence and were spotted at a gas station in Afton Tuesday night.

Castorina was convicted of felony second-degree murder in Johnston County, North Carolina, more than a decade ago, according to online court records, and was released last Thursday after spending more than 12 years in prison. Dawson also has a criminal record in North Carolina with several felony and misdemeanor convictions, none of which resulted in jail time.

The search continues for Simpson, Virginia State Police said Thursday afternoon. Anyone with information related to Simpsons disappearance is asked to contact the Burlington, North Carolina, police or call 911 or, in Virginia, call #77 on a cell phone.
To the editor:

I dont think its unreasonable to expect that the most hateful elements of our society should not have a voice in our government. Even with Steve Bannon gone from the White House, there are still white nationalists and enablers of white supremacy who have President Trumps ear. Sebastian Gorka is a member of the Hungarian Nazi organization and advisor Steven Miller is a devotee of Richard Spencer, a leader of the alt-right that cheered on Trumps disgraceful response when he said there are fine people on both sides at Charlottesville.

Neo Nazis, the KKK and white nationalists are not fine people, Mr. President. A so-called fine person, a neo-Nazi, killed Heather Heyer and hurt many that day in Charlottesville. Why wouldnt Trump know the difference between fine and not fine and reject David Dukes thank-you tweet?

Granted there was violence on both sides. To me, the ones on the left were out to stop these hate groups as every American should do. I do know the statue of Robert E. Lee was involved also. If the Nazis had obeen stopped in Germany when Hitler got started, maybe there wouldnt have been a world war. It got far out of hand then as it seems it has today in this country.

I know all people have their rights, but I truly think that hate groups like the neo-Nazi should not allowed to march in this country and spread their evil and hate. I think many veterans, especially the ones that fought in World War II, would agree with me. Lets not forget the many that died that day in Normandy trying to stop Nazism.

As long as Trump has Gorka and Miller as his closest advisors, he will never truly reject the hatred that they perpetuate Dump these guys, and forget the hate, Mr. President, and be a president for all Americans  the middle class, the poor, all races, all religions and the LGBTQ. I still have a little faith in you.

ROBERT HAYDEN

Blairs
Pittsylvania County staff wants to see if the landfill can be a moneymaker instead of a drain by making it a commercial site that imports trash from outside the countys borders.

On Friday, county staff sent out a request for proposal to seek out a business that can begin the process of permitting and opening a new pit in the landfill, and determine the feasibility of commercializing it. Included in the request is the task of determining the cost of the new pit and commercialization as well as the amount of garbage to be brought into this new location.

But commercialization could cause another problem  a shorter lifespan.

If we increase the flow of waste, of course the lifespan reduces, Pittsylvania County Administrator David Smitherman said.

The landfill originally opened in 1974, and is approximately 450 acres. At the current rate of use, the landfill should last at least another 113 years. But that time frame will shorten if it turns commercial, which is something county officials are talking about.

For now, though, the main discussion is making sure the landfill can one day pay for itself.

This is not an exercise to see if we can do better at operating, Smitherman said. This is to see if we can do anything on a revenue generation side.

In 2015, the Pittsylvania County Board voted to abolish a $60 per-household annual fee that had been created in 2012 to help cover costs of the landfill and make money available to pay for the high school renovation bond.

The board voted to abolish the fee after many residents complained that the cost was too financially strenuous for landlords and homeowners. The fee generated $1.6 million annually, which is less than half of the $3.5 million annual cost of running the landfill.

That 1.6 million is what we expect to be in the hole at the end of this budget year, Smitherman said. We cannot continue to run the county in a deficit.

As it stands now, the solid waste fee is included in the tax rate. Roughly 11 cents of the 59-cent real estate tax currently goes directly to the landfill.

The only way to offset that is to set a household fee or have other people pay us to take their solid waste, Smitherman said.

Landfills usually make money by charging a tipping fee, which is based on the amount of trash that comes over the scale at the entrance to the landfill. According to Smitherman, the market rate for a weighed ton of trash is from $38 to $55.

Such a policy is done at the county landfill, but only for large amounts of trash.

Smitherman noted that if the county does begin importing trash and commercializing the landfill, it will require more equipment, people and accelerated development of new phases of the landfill. However, he said that he believes that commercializing the landfill, if its determined to be feasible, would bring in incrementally more revenue than it would cost us.
MARTINSVILLE  Patrick Henry Community College has almost finished remodeling its motorsports technology education building. By the end of the month, that structure in the Patriot Centre industrial park will turn into an ultramodern Manufacturing and Engineering Technology Complex.

The complex will train students in various aspects of engineering and advanced manufacturing.

Jack Hanbury, PHCCs vice president for financial and administrative services, told the colleges board Monday afternoon that the building should be ready for occupancy by the end of the month.

This will be a top-notch facility, Hanbury said. Our students will really enjoy learning there.

The college plans to base programs such as electronics, mechatronics (a combination of mechanical engineering and electronics), computer-aided design, instrumentation, motor control and industrial maintenance in the approximately 53,000 square-foot building alongside its motorsports program.

The complex could help entice manufacturers to the community, officials have said, for two reasons. One is that skills taught in programs to be housed in the complex are commonly used within advanced manufacturing processes. The other is that the complex will have space in which companies can install their own equipment to teach people unique skills needed to do specific jobs at the firms.

Hanbury said the workforce training area will be wide open so it can accommodate virtually any type of manufacturing machinery.

Ultimately, real students and real programs will occupy the building, said college President Angeline Godwin, referring to educational programs that will enable people to get jobs.

Motorsports will be housed on the left side of the building, which will have a mezzanine so visitors can watch activities in glass-walled classrooms and laboratories from above, Hanbury said.

A large foyer with a reception desk has been added to the front of the building. The foyers terrazzo floor has a design intended to mimic electrical arcing, Hanbury said. Terrazzo is a flooring material comprised of chips of materials such as granite, marble or glass set in concrete and then polished.

The building is one of two on the former Arrington Manufacturing property that PHCC bought in 2013 for $234,443. The college continues to lease the other building  the one most visible from nearby Kings Mountain Road  to a motorsports business.

A large sign proclaiming the Patrick Henry Community College Manufacturing and Engineering Technology Complex will be installed near the highway, Hanbury said.

State funds covered the propertys purchase. By buying an existing building instead of erecting a new one, as had been planned, PHCC saved about $2.85 million and put that money toward the renovations.

Also put toward the project was about $600,000 in local funds provided to the college by Martinsville and Henry and Patrick counties which had been reserved, a $600,000 grant from the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission and a $1.85 million state appropriation for new equipment. That is a total project cost of roughly $5.9 million.

No day-to-day operating funds of the college were put toward the project, Hanbury emphasized.

An open house ceremony for the remodeled building is tentatively being planned for Oct. 19.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aben Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:ABN) (OTCBB:ABNAF) (Frankfurt:E2L2) (the "Company") is pleased to announce it will be expanding its current drill program from 2,100 metres to 2,500 metres at its 23,000 hectare Forrest Kerr Gold Property located in North Western British Columbia's Golden Triangle region. The expanded drill program will include drill holes testing the Boundary Zones to confirm and extend the high grade gold mineralization discovered in historical drilling. Drilling conducted in the early 1990's and 2000's at this zone returned some of the highest grades on the Forrest Kerr Property and the Company feels there is the potential for the expansion of the known zone based on recent data compilation, structural geological interpretation and additional field reconnaissance work.

Golden Triangle Claims Map:

http://www.abenresources.com/i/maps/ABN_Golden_Triangle_map.jpg

Jim Pettit, President and CEO of Aben, states: "Thus far we are very pleased with the progress of this first-pass drill program at our Forrest Kerr Project in the prolific Golden Triangle. As a result, we have decided to expand the drill program at the main target area. Recent drill discoveries by Pretium, GT Gold, Colorado Resources and others illustrate the significant discovery upside remaining in the district and we are confident in the potential at Forrest Kerr given the known high-grade gold mineralization present there which we are currently testing in this drill program."

Historical drilling results at the Forrest Kerr Project have ranged from trace values to several high-grade intercepts such as 9.97 g/t gold over 29.3 metres, including 125 g/t Au over 0.8 metres and 91 g/t Au over 1.9 metres, in hole RG91-21 in the Carcass Creek Zone as well as 33.4 g/t gold over 11 metres, including 326 g/t over 0.5 metres, in hole RG91-16 in the Boundary Zone. This high grade mineralization is within 200 metres vertical depth from surface and the Carcass and Boundary Zones are approx. 4 kilometres apart leaving robust discovery potential along strike, at depth and at other regional targets on the property.

Aben's Forrest Kerr Project Map:

http://www.abenresources.com/i/maps/FK-007.jpg

The historical drill holes at the two main target areas, the Carcass and Boundary Zones, were drilled decades ago with limited follow up work due to limited accessibility, high drilling costs, and a less comprehensive understanding of the geology. Since then, major infrastructure improvements have been made including the Galore Creek access road on the north end of the property as well as roads and powerlines on the south end of the property where hydroelectric facilities have been built in recent years which have helped bring the drilling costs down. In addition, rapid glacial retreats over the past 25 years have exposed extensive new areas of outcrop exposure in this highly prospective region. Aben's technical team has spent over a year analyzing and reinterpreting the historical exploration and geological data with the help of structural geologists to gain a stronger understanding of the existing targets and high-grade gold mineralization at the project.

Field based exploration activities have been underway earlier this season at Forrest Kerr where crews completed soil geochemical sampling, ground-truthed historical data and evaluated mineralization potential on a property-wide basis. Focus was placed on those areas containing historical high-grade precious and base-metal occurrences. There are also more conceptual targets to be tested south of the Boundary Zone where there are areas of outcrop with multiple shear zones and abundant sulfides with surface samples returning gold grades ranging from trace values to 3 - 5 g/t Au.

*Note: Aben has not been able to independently verify the methodology and results from historical work programs within the property boundaries. However, management believes that the historical work programs have been conducted in a professional manner and the quality of data and information produced from them are relevant. In addition, management cautions that past results or discoveries on proximate land are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved on the Forrest Kerr property.

Cornell McDowell, P.Geo., V.P. of Exploration of Aben Resources, has reviewed and approved the technical aspects of this news release and is the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Aben Resources:

Aben Resources is a Canadian gold exploration company developing projects in British Columbia's Golden Triangle, the Yukon, and Saskatchewan. Aben's flagship Forrest Kerr Gold Project is located in the Golden Triangle of BC where the Company currently owns certain mineral tenures outright and has agreements in place with various third-parties whereby it has the exclusive right to a 100% interest in the 23,000-hectare property area.

For further information on Aben Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:ABN), visit our Company's web site at www.abenresources.com.

Aben Resources has approx. 50.0 million shares issued and outstanding.

Aben Resources Ltd.

"Jim Pettit"

____________________________

JAMES G. PETTIT

President & CEO

For further information contact myself or:

Don Myers

Aben Resources Ltd.

Director, Investor Relations

Telephone: 604-639-3851

Toll Free: 800-567-8181

Facsimile: 604-687-3119

Email: info@abenresources.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.

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the Company expects, are forward-looking statements. Although management 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. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, include market prices, exploration and development successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedar.com for further information.
PVRD067: 8.4 metres of 11.30% Pb+Zn (8.05% Pb, 3.24% Zn) ; PVRD074: 6.2 metres of 14.64% Pb+Zn (11.43% Pb, 3.21% Zn); and PVRD079: 9.1 metres of 11.06% Pb+Zn (7.45% Pb, 3.61% Zn)

Vancouver, August 24, 2017 - Vendetta Mining Corp. (TSXV: VTT) (the "Company") is pleased to announce further drill results from the 2017 program at the Pegmont Lead-Zinc Project in Queensland, Australia.This initial part of the program has been executed in Zone 3 and is now being extended to Zone 2. The goal is to expand and upgrade the Mineral Resource near the base of the open pit shell used to constrain the June 2017 Mineral Resource and to locate additional mineralization within the pit shell (see news release, VTT2017-NR #6) but outside of the resource estimation search parameters.

Zones 3 Highlights:

PVRD069: 6.2 metres of 9.72% Pb+Zn (6.44 Pb, 3.29% Zn); and PVRD072: 4.6 metres of 11.32% Pb+Zn (8.20% Pb, 3.12% Zn);

BoreHole



Dip / Azimuth

From

(m)

To (m)

Vertical Depth

Be low Surface

(m)



Interval

(m)

True Thickness*

(m) Grade #

Pb+Zn

%

Pb

%

Zn

%

Ag

g/t Zone 2 PVRD067 -52/316 108.07 116.50 91.4 8.43 6.9 11.30 8.05 3.24 13 Including 108.07 115.51 90.6 7.44 6.1 12.64 9.09 3.56 15 PVRD068 -86/330 No Significant Result PVRD073 -51/324 129.30 130.55 99.0 1.25 1.0 3.82 1.06 2.76 6 PVRD074 -89/305 113.70 119.87 119.8 6.17 5.8 14.64 11.43 3.21 21 PVRD075 -81/114 106.83 114.55 112.5 7.72 7.6 9.16 6.52 2.64 11 Including 106.83 112.55 110.5 5.72 5.6 11.82 8.43 3.39 14 PVRD079 -85/325 114.56 123.62 122.6 9.06 8.9 11.06 7.45 3.61 8 Including 115.56 121.62 120.1 6.06 5.9 14.08 10.01 4.07 10 Zone 3 PVRD069 -80/153 186.68 192.93 185.1 6.25 6.1 9.72 6.44 3.29 9 Including 186.68 190.93 183.2 4.24 4.1 13.35 8.70 4.64 11 PVRD071 -71/142 188.10 194.95 181.6 6.85 6.8 9.20 6.17 3.03 9 Including 188.10 192.95 180.3 4.85 4.8 12.35 8.23 4.13 11 PVRD072 -65/136 189.09 193.72 174.5 4.63 4.5 11.32 8.20 3.12 16 PVRD077 -62/135 No Significant Result

A full summary of the sulphide lead-zinc results including estimated true widths are provided in Table 1 and the location of the holes is shown on the map in Figure 1.Michael Williams, Vendetta's President and CEO commented "These results coupled with the previously announced Zone 3 assays give us reason to be encouraged by the consistently higher grades being intersected in the current program. We will continue to focus on the areas within the pit the shell that have the greatest potential to increase both tonnes and grade while also targeting potential expansion of the resource in areas that may later fall inside an optimized pit shell. We are continuing to develop the underground target in Zone 5 and are commencing testing conceptual exploration targets near the Burke Hinge Zone."Zone 2 is a flat to moderately dipping area, located between 50 and 100 m from surface, with a strike length of 2 km. Holes PVRD067 and 068 are drilled from that same pad, the high grade intersection in PVRD069 is located in a flat dipping portion of Zone 2. Hole PVRD068 was drilled to test a modelled low grade zone in Zone 2 immediately prior to the "Z" fold, and confirmed the zone is a site of structural attenuation (stretching and thinning) separating the high grade open folds in Zone 2 and the "Z" fold.PVRD073, 074, 079 and 075 are drilled from one pad into Zone 2. Hole 073 was drilled into the attenuated fold limb at the base of Zone 1, while the high grade intersections in holes PVRD074, 079 and 075 are located in a moderately dipping open fold structure to the north-east of the "Z' fold. PVRD074 will be used for metallurgical test work.Zone 3 is located about 50 to 100 m below Zone 2, it is flat to moderately dipping, separated from Zone 2 by a drag fold called the "Z fold". It has a modelled strike of 1.2 km.Holes PVRD069, 071 and 072 are drilled from the same pad, the high grade intersections in the moderately dipping Zone 3 are spaced about 20 m apart and are in the same structural position as the previously reported high grade intersections in holes PVRD065, 066 and 063 (see VTT NR #5), located 40-50 m to the NE. Hole PVRD077 was probing the down dip extent of the high grade structure intersected in aforementioned holes, it intersected the host lithology but lacked mineralization.Table 1. Summary of Open Pit Target Zone 2 and 3 Drill Assay Results.*True thickness is estimated using structural measurements and three dimensional geological modeling.#Drill intersections are summarized using a combined 1% lead and zinc grade with maximum 1 m internal dilution.To date the a total of 52 drill holes have been completed for a total of 13,322 m in Zones 1, 2, 3 and 5.Processing, logging and sampling of the core not discussed in this release is ongoing. The Company will release results as they become available.Drilling continues with two drills, one drill is working in Zone 1 and the other has commenced the exploration program testing conceptual targets near the Burke Hinge Zone.Figure 1. Surface Map Showing 2017 Mineral Resource Block Model Contours, Pit Shell and Location of Current Results and 2017 Completed HolesTo view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:http://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2983/28626_a1503557877936_10.jpgThe drilling at Zone 2 and 3 involved drilling RC pre-collars using a 5.75 inch diameter face sampling bit to depth prior to casing and continuing the hole in NQ2 diamond core. Diamond core samples were taken on nominal 1 m lengths but varied to match geological contacts. Samples of the core are obtained using a diamond saw to half cut the core, if the hole is to be included in metallurgical test work it is then halved again. This is performed to provide sufficient sample for metallurgical test work while retaining a permanent core record.Diamond core samples were taken on nominal 1 m lengths, with a diamond saw being used to half core and then quarter the core. Quarter core samples are dispatched for analysis, so as to provide sufficient sample for metallurgical test work while retaining a permanent core record.Field duplicate samples were taken and blanks and commercially prepared certified reference materials (standards) were added into the sample sequence for every hole submitted. These were analyzed by the Company and no issues were noted with analytical accuracy or precision.Samples used for the results described herein were prepared and analyzed at ALS Laboratory Group in Townsville, Queensland. Analysis was undertaken using a four acid digest and ICP (ALS method: ME-ICP61 for 7 elements) with over limit (>10,000 ppm lead and zinc and >100 ppm silver) high grade samples being read with an atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS), (ALS methods: Pb-OG62, Zn-OG62 and Ag-OG62).Drill hole collars are located using handheld GPS, and the collars will be surveyed by a licensed surveyor prior to undertaking an update of the mineral resource estimate. Down hole surveys were undertaken using a true north seeking gyroscope with stations nominally every 6 m.All NQ2 diamond core is orientated using digital core orientation systems, this data is incorporated into the 3D interpretations. Assay intervals shown in Table 1 are down hole intervals, and the true thickness noted are based on 3D interpretations of the host lithology, structure, and mineralization.Pegmont is a stratiform, Broken Hill-Type deposit that outcrops with an overall shallow dip to the south east and is hosted in a magnetite-rich banded iron formation within high grade metamorphic rocks. The project consists of three granted mining leases and two exploration permits that cover an area of approximately 3,468 ha.Pegmont is situated in the Mount Isa  McArthur Mineral Province, which hosts one of the world's richest endowments of lead-zinc-silver mineralization, including several world-class lead-zinc-silver mines.Pegmont is located 25 km west of South 32's Cannington silver-lead-zinc operation, one of the world's largest producers of lead and silver and 28 km north of Chinova Resources' Osborne copper-gold operations. Pegmont is proximal to existing infrastructure including public roads, mine haul roads, rail, and a natural gas pipe line for power generation.In June 2017 Vendetta updated the Mineral Resource estimate for Pegmont, for details please see Vendetta's news release, VTT2017-NR#6, June 27, 2017 and the NI 43-101 technical report "Pegmont Resource Update June 2017" available on SEDAR. Vendetta Mining Corp. is a Canadian junior exploration company engaged in acquiring, exploring, and developing mineral properties with an emphasis on lead and zinc. It is currently focused on advanced stage exploration projects in Australia, the first of which is the Pegmont Lead Zinc project. Additional information on the Company can be found at www.vendettaminingcorp.comPeter Voulgaris, MAusIMM, MAIG, a Director of Vendetta, is a non-independent qualified person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Voulgaris has reviewed the technical content of this press release, and consents to the information provided in the form and context in which it appears.ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS"Michael Williams"Michael Williams, President & CEOThe TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Certain statements within this news release, other than statements of historical fact relating to Vendetta Mining Corp. , are to be considered forward-looking statements with respect to the Company's intentions for its Pegmont project in Queensland, Australia. Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive in nature, are reliant on future events or conditions, or include words such as "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "believes", "considers", "significant", "intends", "targets", "estimates", "seeks", attempts", "assumes", and other similar expressions.The forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions which, while considered reasonable by Vendetta Mining Corp. , are, by their nature, subject to inherent risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include: the interpretation of previous and current results from the 2017 drilling program mentioned in this news release, further results from the 2017 drilling program, the accuracy of exploration results, the accuracy of Mineral Resource Estimates, the anticipated results of future exploration, the forgoing ability to finance further exploration, delays in the completion of exploration, delays in the completion of the updated Mineral Resource Estimate, the future prices of lead, zinc, and other metals, and general economic, market and/or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements and assumptions will prove accurate and, therefore, readers of this news release are advised to rely on their own evaluation of the information contained within. In addition to the assumptions herein, these assumptions include the assumptions described in Vendetta Mining Corp. 's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the nine months ended, February 29, 2017.Although Vendetta Mining Corp. has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual performance, achievements, actions, events, results or conditions to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements, there may be other risks, uncertainties and other factors that cause future performance to differ from what is anticipated, estimated or intended. Unless otherwise indicated, forward-looking statements contained herein are as of the date hereof and Vendetta Mining Corp. does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements after the date on which such statements were made, except as required by applicable law.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Aug 24, 2017) - K92 Mining Inc. ("K92") (TSX VENTURE:KNT)(OTCQB:KNTNF) provides the following update on recent activity with regards to community interactions.

Recently, the newly formed Bilimoia Interim Landholders Association (BILA), which represents one of the Landholder groups in the region, has alleged that it has not had an adequate share of employment and contractor opportunities. This has been refuted by K92 and the Company has sought to engage with BILA through the auspices of the Mineral Resources Authority ("MRA"), the government body responsible for all aspects of the Mining Industry, including community relations.

As a matter of background, the Bilimoia Interim Landowners Association ("BILA") was established in 2017 with the assistance of the MRA to bring together different Bilimoian groups into one association and the Chairman was elected in April 2017. The association is termed interim as finalization of who constitutes Bilimoian Landowners awaits the outcome of an appeal of the Land Titles Commission determination of 2009.

K92 Mining understands that the first meeting of this interim association with the landowners occurred on Sunday 13th August and understands that the meeting was to deal with internal issues for BILA and its stakeholders. K92 Mining understands that the BILA is still to determine whether they will use the existing Bilimoia Development Corporation ("Bildevco") or a new business entity to participate in business opportunities created by the company and its suppliers. However, this is a matter for BILA to decide internally and is not a matter for K92 to decide upon.

Additional to the direct employment opportunities at the mining, maintenance and processing operations, there are currently many other business ventures which Bildevco and Bilimoian Landowners are participating in, including the mine catering contract, provision of security services and refuse collection as well as numerous small business opportunities including maintenance, supply of mobile plant and installation of infrastructure. Additionally, K92 will continue to train and develop the workforce, especially local Landowners, bringing mining knowledge and mining skills to the local communities for the benefit of not only these communities, but also the mine.

The expansion of the business opportunities of which K92 has identified a number, has been awaiting the formation of a single Bilimoian body to represent the Landowners, which was only recently solved with the formation of BILA, and still awaits the decision of BILA in relation to the business entity.

A meeting was arranged by the MRA between PNG National, Provincial and Local Government agencies, BILA and the Company. On the morning of Thursday 24th August, prior to the meeting commencing on site, a group of landowners represented by BILA entered the mine via the 800 mine portal. The company removed its personnel from the area in an attempt to diffuse the situation without incident. However, during their presence, the group caused major damage to two trucks and one small loader/IT as well as three light vehicles and some underground fixed plant.

No other areas of the mine nor any areas around the processing facilities were impacted by the group and no other damage reported. The Company is currently assessing the full impact of the damage, however it anticipates that there will be a disruption to operations as the damaged equipment is evaluated and then fixed or replaced.

K92 Mining remains committed to all existing agreements with all Landowner groups and to expanding the business opportunities for the Landowner groups. In addition, K92 has contributed to numerous community projects and intends to expand this involvement as the K92 operation grows.

K92 has received strong support from the various landowner groups associated with this region since acquiring the project and during the restart. Following the above incident, the Company has been in communications or held meetings with the MRA and the various Government agencies all of whom have confirmed their support for the Company and to continuing to assist to resolve the issues with the Landholder group.

K92 completed the acquisition of the Kainantu Gold Mine from Barrick Gold in March 2015. The mine had been on care and maintenance since January 2009 and K92 Mining commenced the refurbishment and rehabilitation of the mine, process plant and related infrastructure in February 2016. The Company received approval from the Mineral Resources Authority ("MRA") to recommence mining operations in October 2016, which has successfully occurred and, in early 2017, as previously reported the mine shipped the first concentrates containing gold and copper to the Port of Lae for shipment overseas for smelting and refining.

Since recommencing operations K92 has built up a workforce of 500 employees and contractors. In excess of 90% of these 500 employees and contractors are from Papua New Guinea, of which over 300 are from local landowner groups.

K92 will provide a further report on community relations in the near future and looks forward to continuing advancing the project for the mutual benefit of all K92 stakeholders including the local Landholders.

On behalf of the company,

John Lewins, Chief Executive Officer and Director

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. All statements that address future plans, activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur are forward-looking information, including statements regarding the realization of the preliminary economic analysis for the Project, expectations of future cash flows, the proposed plant expansion, potential expansion of resources and the generation of further drilling results which may or may not occur. Forward-looking statements and information contained herein are based on certain factors and assumptions regarding, among other things, the market price of the Company's securities, metal prices, exchange rates, taxation, the estimation, timing and amount of future exploration and development, capital and operating costs, the availability of financing, the receipt of regulatory approvals, environmental risks, title disputes, failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated, accidents, labour disputes, claims and limitations on insurance coverage and other risks of the mining industry, changes in national and local government regulation of mining operations, and regulations and other matters.. 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. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Star Gold Corp. ("Star Gold" or the "Company") (OTC Markets: SRGZ) announced today that it has entered into the second of two separate agreements securing water allocation rights for its Longstreet Project in Nevada. Each agreement provides for an option to lease water rights for mining purposes.

Commenting on securing of the necessary water rights, Star Gold President David Segelov stated "With the execution of these two water rights agreements, Star Gold is able to tick off another requirement on the pathway to an approved Plan of Operations and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for its proposed mine at Longstreet. The agreements provide for some redundancy as they supply an amount of water somewhat larger than is, at this point, anticipated to be needed for the proposed mine plan. Importantly, Star Gold will not be reliant on an allocation from the State of Nevada and Star Gold expects that this development will speed the process of approval of the Plan of Operations and toward the issuance of an EIS in the coming months."

About Star Gold Corp.

Star Gold is a gold exploration/development company with 125 unpatented claims located within the Walker Lane belt. The Company is currently focused on developing its flagship property, the Longstreet Property. The Longstreet Property is located in Nye County, Nevada.

Investor Contact:

David Segelov

Office: 208-664-5066

Cell: 646-626-3356

dsegelov@stargoldcorp.com

info@stargoldcorp.com

Disclaimers

Certain statements in this press release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements may be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "believe," "expect," "future," "may," "will," "would," "should," "plan," "projected," "intend," and similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Star Gold Corp. (the Company) to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company's future operating results are dependent upon many factors, including but not limited to the Company's ability to: (i) obtain sufficient capital or a strategic business arrangement to fund its expansion plans; (ii) build the management and human resources and infrastructure necessary to support the growth of its business; (iii) competitive factors and developments beyond the Company's control; and (iv) other risk factors discussed in the Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available for review at www.sec.gov under "Search for Company Filings.

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/star-gold-corp-ensures-water-rights-necessary-for-longstreet-project-300509317.html

SOURCE Star Gold Corp.
VANCOUVER, Aug. 24, 2017 - American Potash Corp. , ( the "Company") (CSE:AMP) is pleased to provide an operations update on its two Li Brine exploration projects located in southeast Utah and southwest Colorado.The AMP technical team has prepared a preliminary operations plan for drilling two brine exploration wells on the Utah Lithium property as provided for under the previously released joint venture agreement with Power Metals (August 2, 2017). The plan includes developing budgets and time lines for well design, permitting, an internal exploration plan, drilling operations, and technical contractor selection. Additional research continues to determine best geophysical logging and sampling protocols and to refine targeting concepts.A work program has also been designed to evaluate the Colorado Lithium Properties. Well log and production data is to be acquired from the Colorado Oil and Gas Division and other public sources to interpret geology, construct sections, and identify potential brine-hosting stratigraphy. The AMP Colorado Lithium Properties encompass approximately 110 oil and gas wells in the Southeast Lisbon and Andy's Mesa fields. The objective of the current work program is to provide a geologic analysis necessary to produce recommendations for new brine exploration drilling or possibly sampling shut in wells in one or both fields.On behalf of the Board of Directors"Rudy de Jonge"Rudy de Jonge, CEONeither the OTCQX nor the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Statements in this press release other than purely historical information, including statements relating to the Company's future plans and objectives or expected results, are "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and Canadian securities laws. Forward Looking Statements are based on numerous assumptions and are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties inherent in the Company's business, including risks inherent in resource exploration and development. As a result, actual results may vary materially from those described in the Forward Looking Statements.Key assumptions upon which the Company's forward-looking statements and information are based include: the price of potash will rise and not fall significantly; the Company's ability to secure new financing to continue its exploration and development activities; there being no significant changes in the ability of the Company to comply with environmental, safety and other regulatory requirements; the Company's ability to obtain regulatory approvals in a timely manner; and the Company's ability to achieve its growth strategy. These assumptions should be considered carefully by readers. Readers are further cautioned that the foregoing list of assumptions is not exhaustive. Although the Company believes that the assumptions on which the forward-looking statements or information are made are reasonable, based on the information available to the Company on the date such statements were made, no assurances can be given as to whether these assumptions will prove to be correct.SOURCE American Potash Corp. Rudy de Jonge604-782-4191
Elections are arguably the most important administrative processes underlying our democracy. So when it comes to running America's elections with efficacy and integrity, when are business processes and technologies that are two millennia old the safest and most appropriate to use? And when do 21st-century tools make more sense?This was one of many key questions explored at a two-day Election Sciences, Reform and Administration (ESRA) conference last month in Portland, Ore., that brought together more than 50 academic scholars and election administrators from across the country. Among them was Chris Walker, the elected county clerk of Jackson County, Ore. While many of the statutes and rules that govern elections have their origins in a "world of paper," Walker noted, "more and more, the administration of elections depends on the quality of electronic data transfers."Oregon, for example, now allows and encourages citizens to go online to register to vote or to update an existing registration. This particular use of modern technology -- which almost 40 states, both red and blue, now use -- saves money, greatly reduces reliance on paper records and improves the accuracy of voting rolls. But it also carries with it a certain conundrum, which anyone who's recently used a credit card at a local business might attest to.If you're like me, your touch-screen scrawl for these transactions may be far different than the way you sign paper documents, such as a voter-registration card. So even as election officials increasingly rely on software-enabled technology to reduce their reliance on paper, the existence (somewhere) of a physical signature is still considered a best practice.But there's another issue beyond the contrast between a careful signature on a legal document and a credit-card scrawl -- an especially relevant fact for states and local governments that automatically mail ballots to every registered voter. (Colorado, Oregon and Washington state now use such a "vote at home" system; in last November's elections, 21 of Utah's 29 counties also took this approach). Before any ballot in these systems can be counted, the physical signature on the ballot's outer envelope must be matched to the official signature connected with that voter's registration record, typically a digitized version of another paper record.While over 99 percent of such signatures are usually matched immediately, a residual number aren't. Fraud isn't the problem; rather, people's signatures can and do change over time, especially among voters at the youngest and oldest ends of the age spectrum. That leaves election officials with the task of contacting these voters to urge them to update their voter registration records, which many -- but not all -- do quickly enough to allow their ballot for a particular election to be validated and counted.Other types of mismatches also pose a challenge. For example, I might be "Phillip A. Keisling" for purposes of certain government records, but "Phillip Keisling" or "Phil Keisling" for other purposes. And my address for DMV purposes might be different from the address I consider my "true home" for voter registration purposes -- if, for example, I'm studying or working out of state or stationed at a military base.Technology now enables millions of such records to be matched against each other for purposes of updating voter-registration records and dealing with such common problems as duplicate registrations within and between states. But a "false positive" can lead to the cancelling of a valid registration. And in some cases, the less-than-careful use of such powerful technology has needlessly disenfranchised voters.Partisans of all stripes are now debating election-administration issues with a ferocity not seen in decades, and in too many cases with far more ignorance than is healthy for a discussion of this importance. Too many conservatives obsess over fraudulent votes that simply don't exist; too many progressives are overly protective of long-outdated records that linger on official voting rolls, to the point that many jurisdictions have more registered voters than eligible citizens.Fortunately, today we have far better tools than we did 50 years ago, when many existing election laws and practices were already a century or more old. Making our elections run even more effectively -- and be more trusted by our citizens -- isn't a matter of paper or software. Rather, it's a matter of figuring out how to best use each of these powerful tools in the optimal way. That's a goal that future ESRA conferences will focus on as we continue to bring scholars and practitioners together to share relevant new research and best practices in this vital arena.
Doubling Down on Free Speech

Universities in the Middle

The sight of white supremacists marching through the heart of the University of Virginia, carrying flaming Tiki torches and shouting Jews will not replace us!  followed by the killing of a counterprotester at a rally in downtown Charlottesville the next day  may put the brakes on state efforts to strengthen campus free speech protections.At least seven states (Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia) have enacted such laws since 2014, and many other states considered them this year. But the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer in Charlottesville this month showed how hateful speech can lead to violence. That might prompt lawmakers to rethink how such bills are written or whether to support them at all."It has been really distressing and upsetting to watch violence used against protesters, and I expect that to have a profound effect on how lawmakers view these issues, said Joe Cohn, legislative and policy director for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a nonpartisan group that helps lawmakers write free speech bills.After Charlottesville, he said, I think that my work may be cut out for me.As emboldened white supremacist groups plan events intended, in part, to provoke diverse, liberal communities, political leaders and even free speech advocates such as the American Civil Liberties Union have struggled to respond.Legal experts say campus free speech laws are often redundant, because public institutions have to uphold the First Amendment under federal law anyway. Colleges generally have adequate policies for disciplining overly disruptive heckling and other violations of free speech without being required to by state law, said Michael Olivas, a higher education law expert and professor at the University of Houston Law Center.But college and university leaders say some measures state lawmakers have considered recently could prevent campuses from disinviting speakers who pose a threat to safety or could suppress the free speech rights of counterprotesters.Michigan Sen. Patrick Colbeck said the death in Charlottesville hasnt deterred him from pushing legislation he proposed to promote campus free speech. I think the clashes that we saw there are more a result [of the fact] that we havent had an open dialogue, the Republican said.This year lawmakers in 22 states considered bills to protect free speech on public college campuses, according to the latest tally from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. That count includes some bills designed to protect student journalists, said Thomas Harnisch, director of state relations and policy analysis for the organization.Republicans, in particular, have pushed these laws in response to what they see as hostility toward conservative speech on liberal campuses. In recent years student protesters have driven away speakers such as former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, shouted down remarks by conservative author Charles Murray and escalated into riots ahead of a speech by right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos.Colbeck said such incidents remind him of the propaganda agency that sought to eliminate free thinking in George Orwells novel 1984. Our universities have devolved into those ministries of truth George Orwell warned us about, he said.Most of the laws enacted or considered so far dont go further than reinforcing existing First Amendment law. We have the First Amendment. So any law a legislature is going to pass is going to take the form of, and we really mean it, said Jim Manley, an attorney at the Goldwater Institute, a conservative think tank in Arizona that supports campus free speech legislation.But some of the new laws penalize colleges for suppressing free speech, and some proposed laws would penalize students for doing so.Five of the state laws passed so far are based on model legislation produced by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Utah and Virginia have enacted laws that prevent public universities from creating free speech zones, designated areas for protests, rallies and pamphleteering. Under the Missouri and Utah laws, courts will automatically award damages to a person whose free speech rights are violated.North Carolina enacted a law this summer based on a model from the Goldwater Institute. The law directs the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina system to create a committee to monitor free expression on campus and requires university campuses to include a discussion of free speech in freshman orientation.It also directs the Board of Governors to develop a free expression policy that, among other provisions, requires universities to discipline students who substantially disrupt protests, demonstrations or other speech and abolish both free speech zones and safe spaces, designated areas where students can avoid upsetting ideas.Some proposed measures, such as the one the Wisconsin Assembly approved this summer and the state Senate is now considering, contain stronger language. The Wisconsin bill threatens students with suspension or expulsion if they repeatedly disrupt the free speech of others with violent or disorderly conduct.Opponents say that language is too prescriptive and argue that the bill could prevent students from exerting their own First Amendment right to protest.I think its unconstitutional, this bill, said Rep. Chris Taylor, a Democrat who represents Madison, home to the University of Wisconsin. It would kill speech, no doubt about it.Michigans Colbeck has also authored two bills on campus free speech  one that would abolish free speech zones and one modeled on the Goldwater legislation  that would apply to both public universities and community colleges. The legislation is opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, which says it vaguely defines what counts as interfering with anothers speech and prevents universities from penalizing free speech disruptions on a case-by-case basis.Meanwhile, universities are trying to figure out how to balance their responsibility to uphold the First Amendment with other considerations, such as campus safety and the need to protect individuals from harassment and discrimination.Free speech shouldnt be a free-for-all, said Jonathan Alger, president of James Madison University, a public university in Virginia. The First Amendment is not completely unlimited, he said.Case law says universities can regulate the time, place and manner of speech. They can stop people from rushing into a classroom and taking it over to talk about an unrelated issue, for instance. They can stop rowdy students from yelling into bullhorns in the middle of the night, or creating too much noise in a library.Under First Amendment law, colleges have to cite convincing evidence that a speaker, rally or demonstration could lead to violence in order to cancel it. The violence in Charlottesville gives colleges and universities legal cover for canceling white supremacist rallies organized by similar groups, Olivas said, at least in the short term.In the days after the demonstrations in Charlottesville, the University of Florida, Texas A&M University, Michigan State University, Louisiana State University and Penn State University all canceled events planned by white nationalists, citing their concern that the events could lead to violence. In all of those cases, the groups had booked or asked to book event space on campus without being invited by a student or faculty group.Peter McDonough, general counsel for the American Council on Education, said that the violence in Charlottesville confronts colleges with a different kind of dilemma than, say, a campus group inviting a controversial speaker to talk politics.The white supremacists didnt come to the University of Virginia to have a reasoned debate with students. They just showed up and walked through campus, chanting slogans. There were few, if any, students sleeping in the dorms they marched past, because undergraduates hadnt moved in for the fall semester yet.Youre not inhibiting academic freedom in this context, McDonough said. The question is more about how to regulate public space, he said, which is the same question mayors across the country are confronting.Complicating the safety concerns, colleges in many states are also implementing campus carry laws that make it more likely that some people on campus  potentially on both sides of a debate  could be armed. The Charlottesville demonstrators included heavily armed militiamen.Cohn, of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, said hes thinking about adding a few lines to his model bills to say that controversial events can only be canceled if theres a specific threat and colleges have made a reasonable effort to police them. That change would merely reiterate existing First Amendment case law on the subject, he said, but it might stop colleges from being overeager to cancel such events.Universities, meanwhile, are looking for ideas for new policies that could preserve safety without raising any free speech concerns. Alger said one idea is to require all visiting speakers  regardless of the point of view theyre coming to promote  to reimburse the college for the cost of providing security for the event.
When the courts are backed up -- as they typically are -- it takes months, even years, for cases to be heard and justice to be served. In the meantime, low-income, nonviolent people often wait for hearings in jail, unable to afford bail. All of this costs the criminal justice system.One of the culprits of court backlogs is drug tests. The results take months, and waiting for them brings the system to a slow crawl.There is a type of drug test that has the potential to eliminate backlogs, speed up cases and reduce the amount of time people sit in jail awaiting court dates -- but it's only used in a few pockets of the country. It could be welcome news for many at a time when the opioid epidemic has reached a nationwide state of emergency , overwhelming courts, health care and child welfare systems In Minnesota alone, the crime lab handled almost twice as many drug cases in 2016 compared to 2011 -- and each case includes multiple, sometimes dozens, of pieces of evidence to test, says Jill Oliveira, public information officer for the state's public safety department.Last year, Hennepin County, Minn., switched from the confirmatory drug test to the microcrystal drug test and has since seen its backlog of 700 drug cases drop to zero. It used to take several months to get results back. Now it takes less than one. Faster results have in turn led to fewer hearings being canceled because drug tests weren't completed in time.It's at least as reliable as anything we've used in the past, and it takes one third of the time, says Mark Thompson, the assistant county administrator of public safety in Hennepin County. As a taxpayer or a prosecutor or a public defender, youve got to be interested in that.The Minnesota crime lab has plans to roll out microcrystal drug testing for all Minnesota counties. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, who is president of the National District Attorneys Association, says hes also encouraging his peers in other states to use it.The test is new to Minnesota but has been used for decades by the California counties of San Francisco, San Diego and San Bernardino. In fact, the microcrystal drug test used to be ubiquitous 30 years ago. Why, then, did it fall out of favor?According to Eric Person, a professor of forensic and analytical chemistry at California State University, Fresno, microcrystal tests became less common as other tests became available that are easier for many to interpret and usable for a wider range of drugs. Microcrystal tests are only considered reliable for testing heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine. In addition, chemistry schools tend to teach students how to interpret results based on confirmatory tests, not microcrystal tests. Chemists need special training on how to read microcrystal results for each drug, says Person."I think the reason that a lot of labs don't use [microcrystal tests] more frequently," he says, "is that they're uncomfortable explaining them."But the drawback to confirmatory tests, of course, is the time they take to process, which contributes to delays and backlogs in places with a high demand for drug tests.Either test -- microcrystal or confirmatory -- is widely seen as superior to field tests administered by law enforcement. When officers find drugs to be used for evidence, they run a simple color test in the field. Public defenders, however, typically challenge the reliability of such field tests and request a more in-depth test in a state drug lab. There's a famous incident in Florida , for example, where an officer mistook doughnut flakes for meth crystals, and the field test came back positive for an illegal substance.Mary Moriarty, the Hennepin County public defender, says she was initially skeptical of the microcrystal test, in part because it requires special training and equipment, and in part because some detractors don't like that they lack an easy way for a third party to double-check the results. But shecame to realize that it could provide reliable results in less time than confirmatory tests.In cases that go to trial, though, the county still uses the slower but more widely accepted method of confirmatory testing.Moriarty's satisfied with how the new drug test is working, but she wishes the county would also change how they use error-prone field tests. She wants county prosecutors to stop charging people with a drug crime based on the initial field test conducted by police officers.That would be a better way to do it," she says, "because once somebody's charged with a crime, it's on their record, even if it's dismissed."
Frederick B. Lee, Jr. was born in New York City and raised in Washington, D.C. He attended St. Albans School in Washington, D.C. and graduated from St. Pauls School in Concord, NH. He graduated from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA. Shortly after, he served in the U.S. Army. Upon completion of his service he attended the McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, CA where he earned his J.D.

Fred spent the summers of his youth in Woodstock, VT, and visited there as often as he could as an adult. He was drawn to the West through his Billings family history and his life-long friendship with the Gavin Farr family. He settled in Elko, NV and loved itand it loved him.

Fred worked for Nevada Indian Legal Services for many years, and then spent 24 years serving as Elko County Public Defender before retiring in 2015.

A life-long Episcopalian, Fred was a member of St. Pauls Episcopal Church where he served at various times as a vestry member, senior warden, and usher. He also held licenses as a lector, worship leader, Eucharistic visitor, and preacher.

The word most often used to describe Fred was kind; he had an open heart and his life touched and improved the lives of countless individuals. He had a probing intellect, a prodigious memory, and a dry sense of humor. He was a loyal companion and a loving son, brother, uncle, father, and husband.

He is survived by his wife Karen Albrethsen, daughter Laura Emma Lee, son Frederick Billings Lee III, the stepchildren he loved as his own, Greg Blackwell, Jennique Lee, and Cheryl Wright, and his sisters Jane Wolfe and Laura Kent, as well as a niece and several nephews.

A memorial service will be held on Monday, August 28th at 10 am, at St. Pauls Episcopal Church. All are welcome.

In lieu of flowers, the family believes donations to Nevada Legal Services would better represent his legacy of compassion and service. Donations can be made at nlslaw.net or sent to:

Nevada Legal Services, 530 6th Street, Las Vegas, NV 89101.

Burial will be in Woodstock, VT.
On Thursday, in the morning, at the Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law, Brisbane, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC attended the Valedictory Ceremony for the Honourable Justice John Byrne AO RFD.

Following, at 1 William Street, Brisbane, the Governor presided at a meeting of the Executive Council of Queensland.

In the afternoon, the Governor and Mrs Kaye de Jersey departed Brisbane for Regional Government House operations in Mackay.



Following, at the Mackay City Central Scout Group Den, Mackay, the Governor and Mrs de Jersey visited Mackay City Central Scout Group where His Excellency addressed guests and presented awards.
(TNS) -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has added the South Portland-based WEX Inc. to a list of approved information technology vendors, allowing the company to try and sell national defense managers equipment and services to track the agencys fleet.The company announced on Wednesday it was awarded a Schedule 70 contract from the Government Services Administration, which qualifies the company as a vendor for the Department of Homeland Security.The company said the department has a fleet of about 52,000 vehicles, which senior vice president Bernie Kavanagh said WEX wants to [arm] with WEX technology to provide their fleet managers access to data-driven insights to help them manage the daily operations of their fleet.The company plans to offer the department its telematics service, which tracks the location and performance of your drivers and vehicles in near real-time, 24 hours a day and points out where you can increase fleet efficiency and reduce fuel waste, according to its website
Giving residents the ability to track blight progress in South Bend

Blexting: crowdsourcing property mapping in the Motor CIty

Building a predictive inspections model in Cincinnati

Whether the result of a destructive natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina or the consequence of the foreclosure and home loan crisis of the mid-2000s, cities across America have been burdened with blight, the presence of vacant and abandoned properties. The effects are seen in cities large and small, from New York City to Cleveland, New Orleans, and Youngstown, Ohio.The cost of these empty lots and abandoned homes is not simply a cosmetic black eye for cities; blight causes real, tangible problems, prompting action by cities across the country. A study published this June by The Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development looked at the relationship between vacant properties and community health and crime in Cleveland, Ohio. The findings were definitive: there is significant correlation between vacant properties and violent crime, homicides, and elevated lead levels in blood tests  83 percent of homicides, 65 percent of violent crime hotspots, and 62 percent of elevated lead levels overlapped with vacancy hotspots in Cleveland.In response to what has proved to be an urgent urban crisis, cities are deploying a wide range of digital and data-driven strategies to address vacant and abandoned properties. From using data to drive efficiency in code enforcement to crowdsourcing the mapping of properties, cities across the country are making significant strides in the battle against blight.In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the city of New Orleans was faced with a an abundance of vacant and abandoned properties across the city. Mayor Mitch Landrieu, when elected to office in 2010, made it a major priority of his administration to address the issue of abandoned and vacated properties across the Big Easy.The city crafted a blight reduction strategy centered around results and improved performance management through public monthly BlightStat meetings. To further advance the work, the city began sending nudging letters to property owners when 311 complaints were filed, which resulted in more homeowners coming forward to bring properties into compliance before the city needed to take further action.Taking the efforts a step further, the city also created a decision support scorecard that organizes the steps for handling a reported property and makes the code enforcement process significantly more efficient. Previously, there was a backlog of as many as 1,500 properties awaiting inspections and hearings  the digital scorecard streamlined the process. They implemented a machine learning model that makes recommendations for next steps based on a score for the property input by a mid-level supervisor, prioritizing the workflow for the Code Enforcement Department.In South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Peter Buttigieg heard from residents on the campaign trail that they wanted to see the next administration tackle the issue of vacant and abandoned properties. In short order, Buttigieg assembled a team to address the issue and by February of 2013, the city released a Vacant and Abandoned Properties Task Force Report which laid out the publicly stated goal of addressing 1,000 vacant or abandoned properties in 1,000 days.Residents were given a window into the code enforcement process and were able to track the citys progress on the citys website. The public eye proved valuable when local media picked up on a bug in the citys progress tracking system that incorrectly showed 100 properties pending review by code enforcement officials as already addressed. Santiago Garces, the citys Chief Innovation Officer, said in an interview with Data-Smart that the revelation of this problem led to significant improvements in the citys code enforcement process.In the end, the city reached its stated goal of addressing 1,000 problem properties in September 2013, about two months ahead of schedule. By the 1,000th day, the city had taken action on 1,122 abandoned properties, repairing almost 40 percent of them, according to the citys website. By taking a data-driven approach to tackling vacant and abandoned properties and using a digital platform to increase transparency to the public, Buttigiegs administration sets a strong example for cities looking to solve public concerns over blighted properties.Detroit's Blight Removal Task Force, in partnership with Michigan Nonprofit Association, Data Driven Detroit, and Loveland Technologies launched in 2013 a physical survey to gather property condition data for all 380,000 parcels of land in the city. The city collaborative set out to create a thorough database of conditions of every property in Detroit to give the city a sense of where problem properties needed to be addressed  and an all-in-one place to keep track of properties over time. Through a mobile application aptly called Blexting, a team of about 150 residents and volunteers surveyed the entire city to compile the database and citywide property map. Surveyors used the mobile app to photograph the front of every property  residential and non-residential  and answered a standardized series of questions about the property. Their responses assessed individual properties based on estimated occupancy, vacancy, fire damage, the existence of any dumping and the use of property (commercial, public, etc.)To maintain consistency and reliability in the crowdsourced data, the collaborative maintained a mission control center where staff performed a quality check of the data submitted from the field in real time. The task force website reports that of the total 84,641 structures and vacant lots in the city, about 40,000 were deemed to fit the definition of blight and prioritized for removal or intervention. The detailed and data-driven survey questionnaire approach also allowed for the estimation of properties with indicators of future blight, of which the task force reported about 38,000 fit the bill. The task force recommended further inspection of these properties and a variety of interventions including rehabilitation, removal, and securing.In 2015, the University of Chicago team of data scientists at the Center for Data Science and Public Policy (DSaPP) worked with the Cincinnati Department of Buildings and Inspections to develop a predictive model that allows for early intervention by building inspectors at homes and properties most at risk of vacancy or violations.The predictive models the team at DSaPP developed combined data about home values, fire, crime, tax, census, and water shutoff information with historical inspection data to develop a list of properties prioritized by their need for inspection. The logic is that the earlier an inspector can visit a property likely to be in violation of city code, the earlier problems can be addressed, and the more likely it will be that the property is fixed as opposed to abandoned. DSaPPs blog post detailing the project says that the traditional method of using citizen complaints to inform property inspections leads to a violation found in 53 percent of cases. The initial results from 2015 show that using the predictive model increases the likelihood of finding a building code violation in a specific property to 78 percent.These examples of data-driven strategies set a great example for cities across the nation burdened with blight. Deploying data in the fight against blight can significantly improve the code enforcement process to prevent vacancies before they happen, give residents a window into a citys progress in the process of addressing blight like in South Bend, and bring them directly into the process of mapping properties to increase citywide knowledge with apps like Blexting. Cities in need of blight reduction strategies would be wise to learn from Detroit, South Bend, New Orleans, and Cincinnati to tackle blight while building trust with residents and increasing transparency along the way.
Unclear Reporting Requirements

Coughing on Cue

Some states are taking the war on opioids into veterinarians offices, aiming to prevent people who are addicted to opioids from using their pets to procure drugs for their own use.Colorado and Maine recently enacted laws that allow or require veterinarians to check the prescription histories of pet owners as well as their pets. And Alaska, Connecticut and Virginia have imposed new limits on the amount of opioids a vet can prescribe.Veterinarians typically do not dispense such widely abused drugs as Vicodin, OxyContin or Percocet, but they do dispense Tramadol, a painkiller; ketamine, an anesthetic, and hydrocodone, an opiate used to treat coughing in dogs  controlled substances that humans abuse.But even as some states push for veterinarians to assess the records of human clients, many veterinariansmaintain theyre unqualified to do so. And while a handful of states now require vets to check the prescription histories of pet owners, abouttwo-thirds of the states explicitly prohibit it.Im a veterinarian, not a physician. I shouldnt have access to a humans medical history, said Dr. Kevin Lazarcheff, president of the California Veterinary Medical Association. California veterinarians have access to a state database with prescription histories and may check on pet owners before they prescribe for their animals, but they are not required to do so.A veterinarian may be uncomfortable seeing alerts about his or her clients history with controlled substances prescribed by their physicians, said Lazarcheff, who lives and practices veterinary medicine in Oakhurst, Calif..And if the veterinarian suspects a client is abusing drugs, what then? Thats an interesting point, said Lazarcheff, because theres no set protocol. The one time he suspected a pet owner of abusing drugs, his office called the local police.Where it went after that, I dont know, he said. State prescription monitoring programs , or PMPs, allow physicians and other practitioners to check a patients prescription history. But at least 32 states do not require veterinarians to report any dispensing information on the PMP, according to the National Alliance for Model State Drug Laws.In the pre-internet era, most states required veterinarians to mail in paper reports of narcotic prescriptions. When states switched to electronic systems in the early 2000s, veterinarians said their offices lacked the technology to comply, and many states removed the reporting requirement for vets, said Patrick Knue, director of the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Training and Technical Assistance Center at Brandeis University.The experiences of Maine and New Hampshire this year illustrate difficulties states face trying to stop the flow of drugs to drug abusers while respecting the role of veterinarians in health care.Both states enacted laws requiring veterinarians to check the state PMP database before prescribing, but the New Hampshire Legislature repealed its law after veterinarians argued that their professional responsibilities did not extend to the human owner.Our patients are pets. Theyre not abusing the medication. The owners are, Dr. Jane Barlow Roy, past president of the New Hampshire Veterinary Medical Association, said.Maine, which had 376 drug overdose deaths in 2016, a nearly 40 percent increase from 2015, has one of the most stringent laws in the country. It requires veterinarians to check the medical records of anyone seeking an opioid or benzodiazepine (prescribed for anxiety and insomnia) for an animal and to notify authorities if the pet owner has a questionable record.Veterinarians also must get three continuing education hours in prescribing opioids every two years.But although veterinarians in Maine must check the database, they cannot enter prescriptions into the monitoring program. Only pharmacists are allowed to do that. So, a pet owner could still take a dog to multiple vets and get drugs at several offices without the drugs being recorded on the database, Maines State Health Officer Dr. Chris Pezzullo acknowledged.Some critics say tougher reporting requirements for veterinarians arent needed because vets treat smaller animals than humans and the amount of drugs they prescribe is low. But Pezzullo said animals metabolisms are faster, so higher dosages are required, making a pets drugs appealing to desperate addicts.Last year in Virginia, a dog owner took his boxer to six different veterinarians to get anti-anxiety pills and painkillers for his own use before he was caught. In a widely reported case from Kentucky in 2014, a woman cut her golden retriever twice with a razor so she could get drugs . And in the early 2000s, a man in Ohio taught his dog to cough on cue so the owner could get hydrocodone.Such cases are believed rare, but authorities are working to cut off the supply of abused drugs. In Virginia, the Fairfax County Police Department recently published an educational brochure for veterinarians, explaining how to spot a vet shopper.The clues included: new patients bringing in seriously injured animals, requesting medications by name, like Tramadol or anti-anxiety Xanax, requesting early medication refills and claiming medications were lost or stolen.The Virginia Board of Veterinary Medicine issued emergency regulations in late June limiting the duration of prescriptions for controlled substances veterinarians and other providers may prescribe. A vet may prescribe a seven-day supply and another seven-day supply only after reevaluating the animal.For chronic conditions lasting more than two weeks, the vet may prescribe an opioid for six months but must see and re-evaluate the animal before prescribing more.The goal is to decrease the intentional diversion of drugs and decrease narcotics left over in peoples homes, according to Dr. David Brown, director of the Virginia Department of Health Professions.
(TNS) -- The Caldwell administration is considering switching back to a call-in, by-appointment-only system for bulky item trash pickup on Oahu, Environmental Services Director Lori Kahikina said Wednesday.A six-month pilot project to test the system is tentatively scheduled to start in January, Kahikina told members of the City Councils Public Works, Infrastructure and Sustainability Committee. The panel discussed a scathing report on the citys bulky item pickup program issued by city Auditor Edwin Young last week . The report said the program is beset by untimely pickup service caused largely by excessive sick leave, overtime and leave without pay by Refuse Collection Branch employees.The pilot project likely will involve a single neighborhood in urban Honolulu, Kahikina told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser after the meeting. Thats where the biggest problems involving bulky items have occurred, she said. The residents in that neighborhood will be told that they will not receive once-a-month bulky item pickup from the Department of Environmental Services. Instead, they will need to call in and request a pickup, which was the system in place until it changed more than a decade ago in hopes that it would discourage illegal dumping.Environmental Services believes the bulky item pickup system could be run more efficiently if refuse workers were required to go only to the addresses that need service, Deputy Environmental Services Director Tim Houghton said.Under the current system, bulky item trucks roam street by street in a designated sector on a monthly basis.If we feel its successful, then I think wed take it islandwide, Kahikina said. Being able to keep on schedule, a reduction in illegal dumping and fewer complaints would be among the factors to be assessed, she said.Changing the policy, even islandwide, would not need Council approval, Kahikina said, but would need to be discussed with United Public Workers, the union that represents refuse workers.Council Public Works Chairwoman Carol Fukunaga said she agrees it may be time to switch back to a phone-in bulky item pickup system.That has a lot of promise, if it results in greater accountability as well as greater reliability, Fukunaga said. You know where youre going, you should know what youre picking up. And from a consumer standpoint, if youre calling, youre associated with an address.Modern technology should make it easier for Environmental Services to map out its routes more efficiently.Fukunaga said other types of software should be made available to the department that would allow it to better monitor and analyze data about employee sick leave, overtime and leave without pay.During Wednesdays meeting, Young highlighted some of the key points of his audit:>> The Refuse Collection Branch is fraught with excessive sick leave and staffing shortages, a situation that could be improved if language in the union contract were to be updated to allow more safeguards against abuse. The 10 employees with the highest sick leave took an average of 74 sick-leave days each during a 13-month period.>> Between July 2015 and April 2017, 21 employees took over 3,900 hours of unpaid leave, the report said.>> The shortages have resulted in untimely collections and excessive overtime. During the same 13-month period, 153 employees in the Refuse Collection Branch received $1.7 million in overtime. One received $75,570 in overtime, Young said.>> Oahu residents abuse the current pickup system, placing their regular refuse or green waste along with the bulky items, creating more work for employees. Youngs office recommended better monitoring and public education.>> The Environmental Services Department has seven inspectors, too few to conduct effective monitoring and enforcement, the audit said.Kahikina said she generally agreed with the audits findings and is already working to institute its recommendations.Funding is a key, she said, and she urged Council members to again consider charging homeowners for general refuse pickup. Two separate proposals by the Caldwell administration to impose a $10-per-month household trash hauling fee were shot down quickly by the Council.A 2014 bill that would have established a yearlong, by-appointment-only bulky item pickup system across Oahu died in committee. Bill 41 (2014) also would have allowed the administration to impose a fee for each pickup.General revenues subsidize refuse operations by $100 million annually, Kahikina said. Were taking that from parks, police and fire, she said.While theres some concern that charging a fee could inspire some to dump illegally along the side of the road, I think we do need to charge for our services, and not just bulky, she said. The level of services were providing now, its not sustainable.Honolulu is the only one of Hawaiis four major counties that does not charge fees for trash pickup.
(TNS) -- A few months after taking on the fixed base operation at the Johnstown airport in 2015, Nulton Aviation founder Larry Nulton said he was shooting for the stars with an estimated $800,000 renovation proposal.On Tuesday, the Johnstown-Cambria County Airport Authority voted to accept a $1,858,300 grant that enables Nulton to build a new fixed base operator office building and help launch a flight school collaboration with St. Francis University in Loretto.This is a good thing; its a really good thing, authority Solicitor Timothy Leventry said during the meeting.The state Multimodal Transportation Fund grant includes about $1.5 million for a new operations center, $250,000 for startup tuition assistance and marketing at St. Francis and $110,000 for a Redbird Flight training simulator, Nulton said.Since buying former fixed-base operator MTT Aviation in 2015, Nulton Aviation has been pushed efforts to build noncommercial aviation business at the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport.Nulton connected its flight school with Pennsylvania Highlands Community College and St. Francis. The partnerships give students interested in aviation-related careers an opportunity to get pilot training as part of their college education.The Federal Aviation Administration-approved flight simulator is vital to the flight school because it helps students advance their training.It is used as flight time toward a degree, Nulton said.Thats why its so important to the academic program. Its not a toy.The flight simulator will be set up with controls identical to the Diamond aircraft Nultons flight school is purchasing. The new plane is not funded by the state grant.With the authoritys acceptance of the state grant, Nulton said hell be ready to buy the simulator and start the bidding process on a new office building, with pilots facilities and reception area.The existing FBO office will be razed to make way for the new, larger building, Nulton said. It will connect to an existing building that holds the flight school and the existing large hangar. The structures are located adjacent to the airport terminal in Richland Township.The airport authoritys acceptance of the grant was approved, pending a final agreement with Nulton. Leventry said he is finalizing the papers, meant to protect the authority against unanticipated costs.Construction could begin soon, Nulton said.I want to go to bid ASAP, Nulton said. I am prepared to move when they sign it.
(TNS) -- Weld County Commissioner Sean Conway has again referenced his intention to sue the county amid an internal dispute over his decision to use a private email address for official business.Emails to Conway's public email address began bouncing back Monday, redirecting senders to conwaycommissioner@gmail.com Conway's shift to private email could be problematic, according to Monday emails between Conway and Weld County Attorney Bruce Barker. Barker referenced several parts of the Weld County Code, including the following: All computer-related information, including email messages, are the property of the county and considered part of the county's records even if the information resides on privately owned devices. The county has a right to inspect and review any email or other data stored on county computers and equipment or on privately owned devices if used in the course of county business. County officials may inspect and copy email and computer records when there are indications of impropriety by an employee.Further, Barker said county emails may not be forwarded to employees' personal email accounts, and the county removed the automatic reply Conway set up on his official email account."All county business will continue to go to your county email account," Barker said in the email.Conway objected, strongly.He said he's not an employee, and he took issue with the word "may" as it related to setting up an internet accessible email account (in this case, a private account)."I believe that I have a right to receive correspondence in any manner that I deem fit, including a private email address," Conway said in his email.Conway further takes issue with the county's monitoring of his email, questioning how his private correspondence becomes county property and asserting his constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.Finally, Conway says the monitoring of his email amounts to retaliation against him for exposing a meeting between county commissioners and Xcel Energy officials."This issue appears to be dictated by the desire to continue that surveillance rather than any other appropriate need," Conway said. "Thus I deem this as part of the notice previously given regarding my intention to sue ."Conway's fellow commissioners denied monitoring Conway's emails in a statement sent to The Tribune on Wednesday evening. Commissioners said there has never been any monitoring of Conway's county email apart from one search of all county emails in October to determine who forwarded attorney-client privilege emails to an external email address. That search discovered Conway had forwarded emails between commissioners and the county attorney related to a meeting with Xcel Energy officials.Conway declined an in-person interview after a Wednesday morning county commissioners meeting, and he did not respond to phone calls or texts seeking comment for this story.State legislators use private email for work-related correspondence, but county commissioners have typically used their government-provided email address.In an interview with The Tribune, Barker said he had concerns about compliance with the Colorado Open Records Act, a view shared by Freedom of Information Coalition Executive Director Jeff Roberts.The shift to behind-the-scenes communication doesn't preclude future open records requests, but it could make those more difficult, Roberts said."I think it makes it harder because the public official becomes the custodian of the records," Roberts said. "They have potentially more control over what's released or not. When there's a third party involved, like the county government itself, there's more confidence that you're going to get (the records)."
(TNS) - Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has issued a disaster declaration for the entire state in anticipation of Hurricane Harvey's landfall off the coast of Texas this week.In Texas, residents are not taking any chances, voluntarily evacuating, filling sandbags and stocking up on water and other supplies.Edwards said that even though the storm is expected to land west of Louisiana, the state could still be inundated with heavy rainfall and a slight chance that the storm could re-enter the Gulf after landfall and head back east toward Louisiana."That's not forecasted now, but it's something the weather service is telling us is a possibility," Edwards said during a news conference Thursday following a meeting with top state officials and a briefing with the National Weather Service.Shortly after Harvey was upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane, Edwards warned that its path remains uncertain and that the storm still poses a risk for Louisiana -- currently most directly in Southwest Louisiana but potentially all parts of the state over the coming weeks due to heavy rains and already rain-saturated ground.Though no signs of Harvey have reached Louisiana yet, the state disaster declaration ahead of landfall sets up the process for a federal disaster declaration, if one is later needed.White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that President Donald Trump is staying updated on the storms and "stands ready to provide resources if needed."The Trump administration does not currently have a permanent Homeland Security secretary at the peak of hurricane season. DHS oversees FEMA. Since Trump elevated Gen. John Kelly to chief of staff, Deputy Secretary Elaine Duke has been serving at the top in an acting capacity.But Sanders said that should not be cause for concern."We are in great shape having Gen. Kelly sitting next to the president throughout this process," she said during Thursday's press briefing at the White House.Harvey is expected to become a Category 3 hurricane before it makes landfall in Texas late Friday or early Saturday. The system is expected to bring 12 to 20 inches of rain to parts of Texas, with isolated amounts of 30 inches possible in some areas.The Federal Emergency Management Agency is in Louisiana and providing aid in preparation for the storm, Edwards said.The governor said that Harveys current forecast does not add additional concerns for New Orleans, where more than a dozen Sewerage & Water Board drainage pumps remain offline and only two of the five turbines that power them are running.I dont want anybody to think that we are close to pulling the trigger on evacuating New Orleans, though there have been ongoing plans and discussions about how evacuations would happen, Edwards said.2017 The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.Visit The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La. at www.theadvocate.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
(TNS) - Residents of Calhoun and parts of Matagorda counties are being forced to evacuate from their homes as the first hurricane in 10 years to hit southeast Texas barrels toward the Gulf Coast.Galveston issued a vol evac for the west end -- medical access needs - city of gal.Hurricane Harvey is expected to make landfall late Friday in between Corpus Cristi and Matagorda Bay as a Category 3 storm, with winds upwards of 110 mph, the National Weather Service said Thursday morning.As of noon Thursday, Hurricane Harvey was 340 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, moving northwest at 10 mph, with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph.The sluggish pace of the hurricane could cause it to dump more than a foot of rain across southeast Texas, causing potentially life-threatening flooding in both coastal areas and Harris County that rivals levels seen in 2001 during Tropical Storm Allison.The last hurricane to strike Texas was Hurricane Ike in 2008.The National Weather Service has issued hurricane and tropical storm warnings up and down the Texas coast.A tropical storm warning was in effect through Saturday for Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Chambers, Waller, Wharton, Austin and Colorado counties.Brazoria County is also under a storm surge warning. Chambers, Galveston and Harris are under storm-surge watches.Hurricane and storm surge warnings are in effect for Jackson and Matagorda counties.Flash flood watches are in effect for Matagorda, Jackson, Wharton and Colorado counties; the watches will likely be extended eastward late Thursday or early Friday, according to the NWS.Matagorda County officials just before noon Thursday announced mandatory evacuations for residents in the southern portion of the county.Johnny Dugger, a cattle rancher in Edna, Jackson County, just north of Port Lavaca, was preparing for the storm by packing up his tools, getting ready to do repairs when the storm is over.His plan?I guess we are going to stick it out, he said.Dugger said there are many cattle ranchers in the area who are getting ready for the storm, which is expected to dump a significant amount of water onto the region."That's going to probably put all my marshland underwater. I hope it doesn't get there," he said. "People hauling cattle like crazy. Everyone else in the area is getting their cattle out.People living south of FM 521 and in the community of Palacios must clear out of their homes by 8 a.m. Friday, said Doug Matthes, the county's Emergency Management Coordinator.Calhoun County officials at 11 a.m. Thursday called for a mandatory evacuation of the entire county, which includes Port Lavaca, Port O'Connor and Seadrift. Authorities predict the storm will bring "life-threatening tidal surges and flooding" to the area.Harvey is becoming faster and better organized as it moves northwest toward the Texas coast.After making landfall along on the mid-coast Friday night, the storm is expected to stall, according to the NWS.Tropical storm-force winds could pound Brazoria County's coastline as early as Friday afternoon, and continue through Saturday.The first counties to be hit by rain will likely be Matagorda and Jackson, according to the NWS.The storm's sluggish pace increases the odds that Harris County - and areas across southeast Texas - could see levels of rainfall comparable to Tropical Storm Allison or the 2016 Tax Day Floods, but even more widespread, said Jeff Lindner, a meteorologist with the Harris County Flood Control District."The potential here is for big rain amounts over a very large area," Lindner said. "That's something that's somewhat unprecedented across the Texas coast."In Harris County, Tropical Storm Allison left 22 dead and 30,000 homeless, and caused more than $5 billion in property damages."We're looking at a huge swath of territory on the southeast coasts that are getting a large amount of rain," said Francisco Sanchez, spokesman for the Harris County Office of Emergency Management. "If you have flooded in the past, you know to be watchful. If you are in an area that's gotten lucky over the past two years, please don't rely on that luck anymore."Residents who live south of Interstate 10 could see more than 20 inches of rain between Thursday and early next week, Kyle said."It's not all going to fall in a single day," Kyle said. "Totals are going to gradually add up."Rainfall totals will be between 10 and 20 inches for the rest of Harris County. Officials are cautioning residents to stock up on food and water, prepare for power outages and stay off the roads.Residents should expect overflowing creeks, bayous and rivers and flooded streets, Lindner said. All water sources have the potential to flood, Lindner added.Heavy rain may continue into early next week."Just because we have landfall Friday evening, it's not going to be over and done with this Saturday," Lindner said.There is a low-to-moderate chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms hitting Houston early Friday, as the outer bands of the storm come through the coast, according to the NWS.Gusty winds - mostly below tropical storm speeds - will hit the Houston area Saturday morning and continue through the afternoon.Isolated tornadoes may form within Hurricane Harvey's outer rain and storm bands. According to the NWS, the odds tornadoes will form will increase through Saturday afternoon.The Harris County Emergency Operations Center is now staffed 24 hours a day. State officials arrived Thursday morning at the center, Sanchez said.The county has also activated its Regional Joint Information Center - the mechanism it uses to keep people informed.Once the hurricane nears the coast, Sanchez said the county will have a better understanding of just how bad flooding may be and whether residents in coastal communities will need to be evacuated.Local school districts and higher education institutions - including Houston ISD and the University of Houston - on Thursday cancelled upcoming classes and programming.Fort Bend County Judge Robert Hebert on Thursday declared a local state of disaster, which triggers implementation of the county's emergency plan, according to a news release.Galveston County officials are encouraging residents to prep for supplies for up to three days, should they be unable to leave their houses, said Brittany Viegas, spokeswoman for the county."People need to be prepared to be stuck in homes with flooding and being stuck in homes without power," Viegas said.Viegas added the county judge may call Thursday for a voluntary evacuation of the Bolivar Peninsula, as Highway 87 often becomes impassable after storms.Coastal flooding in Galveston may start as early as Friday. Water levels are expected to begin to rise Thursday night, reaching 2 to 4 feet above ground level in Galveston and 6 to 10 feet in and around Matagorda Bay, according to the NWS.Brazoria County officials are also encouraging residents to prepare for power outages and flooding, especially in coastal communities that are expected to be especially hard hit."We're asking our residents to be vigilant and careful," said Brazoria County spokeswoman Sharon Trower. "And to be prepared for all of this heavy rain we're going to be getting."As part of its preparations for the impending storm, the Red Cross put out a call Thursday for volunteers for warehousing, shelter management, supply distribution and administrative support."This is the type of situation we prepare for year-round," said David Brady, regional chief executive officer of the American Red Cross of the Texas Gulf Coast."We want to be sure we have enough people to help us help others," Brady added.Volunteers can register at redcross.org/volunteer.The Red Cross is also prepping shelter trailers, emergency response vehicles and kitchen support that can be sent out as needed.2017 the Houston ChronicleVisit the Houston Chronicle at www.chron.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
(TNS) - Victoria city and county officials are urging residents to formalize emergency plans as a Tropical Depression Harvey is expected to make landfall on the Texas coast as a hurricane Friday.Wednesday afternoon, dozens of representatives from the city, county and local agencies crowded into an auditorium at University of Houston-Victoria to hear the latest update about the storm.They were briefed by John Metz, who works with the National Weather Service in Corpus Christi, through a phone call."It's time to dust off our plans," said Metz. "We have a storm coming."Through the loudspeaker in the auditorium, Metz told Victoria's business and government leaders that he thought the storm could be a "significant event."The storm is expected to hit the Texas coast as a Category 1 hurricane, but residents should prepare for a Category 2 with winds up to 100 mph, he said.Between 6 to 12 inches of rain is expected, while some areas could receive as much as 20 inches, he added."'Flash flooding possible' might be an understatement," said Metz.During the meeting Wednesday afternoon, Rick McBrayer, who oversees emergency management for Victoria, said there wasn't much time for residents to prepare to evacuate before the storm hits."I do not see that we would call for an evacuation," said McBrayer.At the city, spokesman O.C. Garza said his top priority is making sure residents are aware of the latest storm updates.For now, residents should decide quickly if they want to evacuate or prepare for the storm by stocking up on basic necessities, he said.Garza will be updating the city's Facebook page at least a couple times a day, he said.If the storm continues to worsen, the city will also set up a hotline for residents to call for information, he said."We'll probably set up a hotline," said Garza. "We usually do for emergencies."In the meantime, city employees are gearing up to clear trees and branches from roadways, he said.Similarly, County Judge Ben Zeller said his office is taking steps to prepare for the storm. Once there is more information about the direction it's headed, his office will develop a formal plan."At this point, we're monitoring it very closely," said Zeller. "All our department and emergency management folks are in close communication."2017 Victoria Advocate (Victoria, Texas)Visit Victoria Advocate (Victoria, Texas) at www.victoriaadvocate.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.


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Disaster Zone by Eric Holdeman is dedicated to sharing information about the world of emergency management and homeland security. Listen to the Disaster Zone Podcast here.
In cities like Portland, Ore., and Chicago, mass transit riders no longer have to fumble through multiple tickets or smartphone apps as they board the region's network of buses, trains or streetcars.Instead, payment systems for these various transit providers are gravitating toward cloud-based technology, making the payment and management of the rides one seamless swipe for users.Riders in Portland now have access to Hop Fastpass , described as an electronic fare system, where riders use contactless-payment devices, such as their Hop Card, to pay for fares on multiple transit systems in the area (like TriMet and C-TRAN buses, Portland Streetcar, MAX Light Rail, WES Commuter Rail and C-TRAN The Vine rapid transit).It marks a significant shift to a thoroughly modern system designed to make paying fares easier and more convenient while offering riders additional benefits, said Tia York, a public information officer with TriMet, the provider of bus, light rail and commuter rail service in the Portland-Vancouver region.Nat Parker, CEO of Moovel North America , the software company that created the Hop Fastpass app, said it's a regional fare-collection system, "which means as opposed to sort of toggling between different apps for each system, you have one stored value account that can allow you to hop-on and hop-off of these different services."While Moovel created the app, Innovations in Transportation Inc. (INIT) built the new electronic fare system and created the back-end capabilities for Hop Fastpass.The Portland Hop Fastpass system was launched systemwide several weeks ago, with Hop cards available in grocery stores and other outlets. Hop readers also accept contactless credit/debit cards and. TriMet riders can also tap via their smartphones using a mobile wallet, such as Apple Pay.For riders, Hop Fastpass offers not just an easy flow-through system, but the opportunity for cost savings as well.With Hop, every time fare is paid, the tap goes toward a day-pass or month-pass, York explained. After paying for two trips in a day, a day-pass is earned, and the rest of the rides are free until the next day.The new system also includes the concept of "fare-capping," where once you've tapped through enough rides to add up to the cost of a monthly pass, the rest of the rides that month are free.Fare-capping provides a distinct benefit to people who dont have to front $100 bucks lets say, to purchase their monthly pass, said Parker. And instead can just work up to that as they ride. So I think thats really a very advantageous feature of the system for the public.The fare-collection trend in transit today is a movement that puts the riders account on the cloud, to be accessed via a connected device. Its what Parker calls an open-loop system. Its a move away from, say, the transit fare card that has your balance stored on the card itself, known as a closed-loop system.Whereas in a system like Clipper in San Francisco or the TAP card in Los Angeles, the value of your account resides on a chip in the card itself, said Parker.Instead, a system like the Hop Fastpass takes that data off the card, or mobile device, and places it in an online cloud.Today, with the technology innovations in cloud computing  we use the [Hop] card as just a credential, or a token, that signifies an account thats resident in the cloud, Parker explained. So you dont actually store the value on the card. The card is just a unique identifier for your account in the cloud.In Chicago, metro riders use the Ventra mobile app, a similar system that allows customers to plan, manage and pay for their journeys across three transit systems from their mobile devices. The app offers riders a wide range of functionality, including the ability to add transit value, set up auto-load features, check balances, see transit purchases and travel history, as well as benefit from real-time notifications. The Ventra app reached 1 million downloads in October 2016. It has now passed the 2 million downloads milestone.In one simple dashboard, Ventra app users can pay for transit rides, review scheduling and arrival information, maintain their card balances, manage their user accounts, said Sushil Rajendran, vice-president and general manager, Central Region, for Cubic Transportation Systems , the company that developed Ventra. (Moovel has also worked with Chicago Transit Authority to develop its mobile ticketing platform on Metra, the region's commuter rail network.)Trends show the smart cards Parker describes may also be on their way out as riders gravitate toward mobile apps like the Ventra app in Chicago, rather than carrying the card.While we have account management apps where you can add value to a card, we think that card can stay in your work briefcase, or in your purse as a backup, should your phone die, said Parker. But really, the primary customer experience should be that you can check your arrival time on your phone. You can walk up to a turnstile, walk up to a bus, and literally just tap that phone as you would at a Whole Foods cashier, using Apple Pay and Android Pay.And so thats where were really focused. Were working with both Apple and Google to facilitate that, said Parker.Systems like Hop Fastpass or Ventra represent the forefront of transit, say officials.In 2010, our general manager, Neil McFarlane presented his team with a challenge: bring fare payment into the 21st century. After more than five years of development as well as internal and external testing we officially launched July 17, 2017, said York at TriMet in Portland. Hop was delivered on time and under its $34 million budget.And overall, a multi-modal fare payment option is an investment in a city's riders, said Rajendran at Cubic. Public transit is a life-enabler  whether that means getting to work on time, traveling to visit friends or family, attending a once-in-a-lifetime concert or show, or just running your everyday errands. All of these tasks are greatly improved when the journey is smooth, free of stress and well-thought-out by the city.
Like so many of his peers, Acting Missouri CIO Rich Kliethermes cited cybersecurity as his first priority when we caught up with him at the NASCIO Midyear conference earlier this year. He pointed to progress the state has made in the area of cybersecurity, backed by investments from the Legislature in a robust cyberawareness program But that's far from the only issue on the agenda for Kliethermes and the larger Missouri IT operation. Application modernization continues on an ongoing basis, as legacy systems are updated to bring new efficiencies internally and enhance service delivery to the citizens of the state.Modernization projects in progress or nearing completion in Missouri are some major ones: a new Medicaid eligibility system and an unemployment insurance system upgrade, as well as a new labor exchange system, described by Kliethermes as a jobs bank for state citizens."The list can go on and on  big, small ... truly every team that I have across our 14 executive departments is working on modernization of some type," he said.
(TNS) -- For a brief, shining moment, a federal judge imposed the principle of equality in Ubers dealings with its passengers. The judge was Jed S. Rakoff of U.S. district court in New York, who in a price-fixing lawsuit last year overturned an obscure provision of the companys customer agreement that required all disputes to be resolved by an arbitrator and barred class-action complaints.Uber can breathe easier now, because that moment is over. On Friday, a federal appeals court overruled Rakoff and reinstated the arbitration provision.Even though Spencer Meyer, the customer who brought the lawsuit, said he hadnt seen the arbitration language when he set up his Uber account, the appeals court said he could have read it if he wanted to. It was right there, lurking within a terms and conditions page hyperlinked on his smartphone. Once he clicked the I agree button to set up his account, however, he was sunk, because the customer agreement incorporated the arbitration mandate whether he agreed to it or not.Courts around the country have recognized that (an) electronic click can suffice to signify the acceptance of a contract, the appellate judges ruled.You can count that as another example of a court that doesnt have a clue about the real world.Meyers lawsuit alleges that Uber and its former CEO, Travis Kalanick, were engaged in illegally price-fixing Uber fares. (Kalanick was ousted as CEO earlier this year, but hes still on the Uber board and fighting to stay involved.) After Meyer filed his lawsuit seeking class-action certification in 2015, Kalanick and Uber moved to throw out the lawsuit and force Meyer into arbitration, citing the arbitration clause.Thats when Rakoff cried foul.Its proper to note that Rakoff has been a long-term critic of mandatory arbitration. In an article for the New York Review of Books last November, he listed it as one of the chief factors denying ordinary Americans their day in court. Arbitration provisions, he wrote, were almost always the result of one-sided contracts imposed on weaker parties who have no realistic ability to negotiate, let alone contest the terms.Among those who routinely and implicitly agree to arbitration clauses are employees, bank customers, software buyers and physician and hospital patients. These clauses put all of them at a disadvantage, because arbitrators can set their own standards for evidence and dont have to set forth the reasoning behind their decisions. The arbitration clauses typically forbid punitive damages and class-action complaints. And although the clauses may allow both sides to share in selecting the arbitrator, these judges know where their bread is buttered; any given consumer may land in arbitration once in his or her life, but a company is a return client.Rakoff observed that federal courts have favored arbitration for decades as a docket-paring device, but he pinpointed a 2011 Supreme Court decision involving AT&T wireless service, written by Justice Antonin Scalia for a pro-business majority, as throwing the door open even wider to the abridgment of Americans constitutional right to trial by jury.Hes not the only skeptic. In 2014, President Barack Obama decreed by executive order that complaints against federal contractors about workplace discrimination or abuse could be arbitrated only with the consent of the parties after the disputes arise. Surprise arbitration clauses, in other words, were out. The rule, naturally, is in the crosshairs of the Trump administration.In his ruling against Uber in July 2016, Rakoff took aim at the legal fiction, bizarrely common among his fellow jurists, that ordinary consumers have waived their right to a jury trial because they supposedly agreed to lengthy terms and conditions they often werent even aware of.The Uber situation, he found, was a perfect example. He applied a microscope to the Uber account registration process. This began on Meyers Samsung smartphone with a couple of screens that invited the customer to enter their name, a password, their address and their credit card information.At the bottom of the second page was a hyperlink to Ubers Terms of Service & Privacy Policy, but that didnt need to be clicked on to complete the account registration. Even if one does, the user would simply be taken to yet another page requiring a further click to access the policies themselves.And what were they like? In Rakoffs words, nine pages of highly legalistic language that no ordinary consumer could be expected to understand. To Rakoff, the presentation of the arbitration clause indicated that the creators of Ubers registration screen hoped the eye would be drawn seamlessly to the credit card information and register buttons instead of being distracted by the formalities in the language below.Who could possibly doubt that? The average consumer, having once tried to navigate any of these agreements, is all but conditioned to skip them, click on I agree without a second thought, and complete the transaction. When I tried to access Ubers terms, I found them to be 6,000 words of legalese, with the arbitration clause a 1,000-word block buried deep within the whole.On a smartphone, its practically impossible to read them, much less ponder them, as they come at least six or seven screens down. If theres a way to print the entire agreement from an iPhone to give it serious consideration other than by grabbing it screen by screen, I couldnt find it. The agreement is accessible on Ubers website, but Ubers entire business model is built around smartphone use, not the web. Its pitch is that users will find it quick and easy to sign up, sign in and order a car; the hassle of digging out the arbitration agreement and reading it is exactly what it knows its target audience doesnt want. And of course theres no way to opt out of the arbitration clause, unless you dont want an Uber account at all.The appellate judges who examined Rakoffs ruling seemed to be utterly oblivious to all this. Their conclusion, written by Appeals Judge Denny Chin, was that the arbitration clause was accessible enough. The hyperlink to the terms and conditions was on the same page as the account registration button  never mind that the terms and conditions themselves were at least two clicks away.Chin pointed to a 2012 federal court ruling upholding click-through online agreements  which was itself based on a Supreme Court case upholding the fine print on the back of a Carnival Cruise Line ticket. For those to whom the internet is an indispensable part of daily life, the 2012 ruling held, clicking the hyperlinked phrase is the twenty-first century equivalent of turning over the cruise ticket. If you dont read it, he said in effect, dont come whining to us.Is this enough? The appeals court essentially has given businesses in all walks of life the latitude to lard their terms and conditions with legal gibberish and hide them behind just enough click walls to discourage anyone from reading them. Consumer companies, doctors, hospitals and employers know that almost no one reads these things, and that even if they do, they have no recourse if they want the merchandise or service, the medical treatment, or the job on offer.Theres no technological obstacle, obviously, that would prevent Uber or any other service from posting, right on top of the registration page in big red letters: IF YOU CLICK HERE, YOU GIVE UP YOUR RIGHT TO SUE US IN COURT. Theres no reason Congress shouldnt mandate such disclosure. The only reason not to do so is to allow a business to conceal the truth. Why would any legislators or judges worth the name want to allow a business to mistreat its customers this way?
(TNS) -- As Los Angeles police pitched their plan to fly drones Wednesday night in a series of forums held across the city, the reaction was less positive than they might have hoped.Dozens of residents expressed concern ranging from skepticism to outright opposition to any use of drones by the Los Angeles Police Department, telling department brass they were worried about their privacy, over-militarization of the police and that the devices would be flown far more than the LAPD has pledged."I wish the trust was there," said one woman at a meeting held near Griffith Park. "I wish that I could say, 'Oh great, please do it.' But you guys really need to earn back some trust in the community. It's not there."The LAPDs proposal to fly drones during a one-year pilot program is still in the early stages  the civilian Police Commission must sign off on the pilot program and a policy for testing the drones before any are flown.Officials said use of the drones would be limited: standoffs with hostage takers or barricaded suspects, bomb scares and shootings in which a gunman is still targeting people. Department brass have said the devices could help gather crucial information as those incidents evolve without putting officers at risk.Assistant Chief Beatrice Girmala said this month that if the LAPD was to fly drones, each use would require the approval of a high-ranking officer and would be documented for later review. Girmala stressed that the drones would not be weaponized.But at community meetings near Griffith Park and in Van Nuys, the proposal drew largely negative responses. Other meetings were held in San Pedro and Westwood.About two dozen people attended the meeting in Van Nuys, with speaker after speaker saying no to the LAPDs use of drones. Some expressed fears that the pilot program would be the first step to a Big Brother state in which citizens movements are tracked by the government.Im not fooled by the image of a cute little unmanned drone, said Edie Pistolesi, a professor of art at Cal State Northridge and member of Jewish Voice for Peace. This is the beginning of the police state. Hello, Nazi Germany.The LAPD has plenty of high-tech equipment and should focus more on crime prevention and mental health services, said another speaker, Ronnie Veliz.You dont need this help with all the militarization you already have, said Veliz, 33, director of Somos Familia Valle and a student at Cal State Northridge.The police are already viewed as an occupying force, and deploying machines instead of humans will further erode their relationships with residents, several speakers said.The meeting occasionally turned contentious. As Cmdr. Edward Prokop, who leads the LAPDs counterterrorism and special operations bureau, explained that drones would not raise civil liberties issues because of the way they would be deployed, an audience member shouted: We dont believe you.At one point, the audience chanted: Drone-free LAPD. No drones, L.A.Another meeting, held in an auditorium near Griffith Park, also drew about two dozen people, including members of the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition. Although one woman said she supported the LAPD's use of drones  they could be helpful scanning the L.A. River for people during heavy rainstorms, she noted  the rest of the room was wary.At one point, some critics stood and turned their backs to Girmala, the LAPD assistant chief, as she explained the advantages the LAPD sees in using the devices.After the meeting, Jerome Courshon, the vice-chair of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council, acknowledged that Girmala offered some examples where a drone might be useful, but said he was still concerned about public oversight and "mission creep"  that police would quietly expand their use over time."I'm skeptical that this is going to be used properly 100% of the time," he said.Drones have been hailed by law enforcement across the country as a valuable technology that could help find missing hikers or monitor armed suspects without jeopardizing the safety of officers. But efforts to deploy the unmanned aircraft have frequently drawn fierce criticism from privacy advocates and police critics for whom the devices stir Orwellian visions of inappropriate  or illegal  surveillance and fears of military-grade, weaponized drones patrolling the skies.The LAPD first obtained the unmanned aircraft three years ago, when Seattle police unloaded a pair of Draganflyer X6 drones that stirred criticism in that city. The controversy accompanied the drones to L.A.; after public outcry here, the devices were locked away and never flown.The LAPD destroyed the Draganflyers this month, just before the department revealed it wanted to test different drones as part of the pilot program.Critics, though, have raised concerns that the LAPD could use the drones to surveil innocent people, lawful protesters or residents in minority communities.Whenever we hear that a government agency, especially police, is interested in acquiring drones, we have lots and lots of concerns, said Adam Schwartz, a senior lawyer with the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation. If they went forward with it, there needs to be a great deal of safeguards and restraint.Those safeguards, Schwartz said, would include a policy specifying the exact situations when the devices could be flown and requiring a high-ranking officer to deploy them. There should also be some sort of paper trail so the public can see when the drones are flown, he said.Although public feedback and Police Commission approval are good, Schwartz added, getting the City Council to consent to any use of drones by the LAPD is better.The timing of Wednesdays meetings was criticized by some residents and advocacy groups. The Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, which has been among the most vocal, sent a letter to Mayor Eric Garcetti on Tuesday, accusing the LAPD of failing to alert the public about the meetings in a timely manner. The group also took issue with the fact that none of the meetings were held in the southern or eastern areas of L.A. or downtown.We demanded that these meetings be canceled and rescheduled," the group wrote.The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California echoed those concerns, emailing supporters a letter urging them to "tell the L.A. Police Commission: no to drones -- at least until our community has had a fair chance to ask the questions important to them."Before the forum held near Griffith Park, Girmala noted that information about the meetings was posted on the LAPD's website and distributed to the media. Residents who weren't able to attend the meetings can still weigh in by mailing a letter or sending an email to the LAPD, she added.
(TNS) -- Sacramento Regional Transit has begun scolding scofflaws via loudspeaker at light rail stations, and officials say the practice is causing loiterers to leave and others to straighten up their behavior.The new Voice of God approach to security, which came online last month, is unusual and possibly unique among transit agencies. Security officers at an operations center downtown monitor live video feeds from light rail cameras and use new public address systems at stations to call out people who loiter, smoke, drink alcohol, fight or otherwise break the rules.The effect, as seen in several videos released by the agency, is at times comical. The announcements sometimes startle the person being addressed, causing them to jerk their heads up and around to see where the voice is coming from.SacRT security chief Lisa Hinz, a Sacramento Police Department lieutenant, said most people are complying with the instructions they receive from afar. Im pleasantly surprised, she said. Were immediately able to stop bad behavior.Hinz said the agencys policy is to address the person respectfully. A typical approach: Sir in the red shirt, please be advised, smoking is not allowed in light rail stations.The loudspeaker communication is one way. If the person does not comply, the operations center worker will advise that person that an officer or transit agent is being dispatched to the station. Violators of SacRT ordinances can be issued a citation.In one video released by SacRT, a man is sitting against a wall smoking at a downtown station. He suddenly looks skyward, then right and left. When he sees the overhead camera, he waves in acknowledgment, takes a last hurried drag on his cigarette, puts it out, waves to the camera again, then gets up and leaves the station.In another video at the Royal Oaks station, a man is sitting on a low wall with what looks to be a bottle of alcohol next to him. He glances up once, then twice, a surprised look on his face. Then he grabs the bottle, tosses it quickly into a dirt planter area behind the wall and walks away.Unfortunately, the way that he disposes of the bottle is not ideal, but he does stop drinking, Hinz said.Video cameras with the ability to pan, tilt and zoom have been in place at all 52 stations since last year. The loudspeakers are in operation in about 30 stations and should be installed in all stations by this fall, Hinz said.The agency typically employs guards in person at stations to manage behavior. But not all stations are patrolled in person, and stations are not patrolled all the time, Hinz said. The agency last year opened a joint operations center with city police on Richards Boulevard to fill in the gaps. Workers are now there on duty all hours during the week, Hinz said.Operations center supervisor Vitaliy Yakimchuk said dispatchers watch camera feeds on a rotating basis, jumping from station to station, but focus more on stations that are busy or that have more problems.SacRTs PA system use appears to be unusual for a transit district. Local officials say they believe it is cutting edge.Portland, San Diego and San Jose, which have light rail systems with open stations similar to Sacramentos, report that they do not use public address systems to enforce rules. A spokesman for BART, the Bay Area-wide commuter rail system, said station agents in booths monitor platform activity via live cameras and use loudspeakers to warn people to step away from the yellow safety strip area as trains approach the platform. But, he said, the agents do not use the system to enforce behavior rules.The use of cameras and other new technology by law enforcement has come under scrutiny by some privacy advocates and civil liberties activists who say they fear government can use that technology to target individuals for monitoring. They also warn that abuse can occur when law enforcement agencies employ technology without adequate public input, and controls, up front.When contacted by The Bee, however, representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy advocacy group, said they havent formed an opinion of SacRTs use of loudspeakers and surveillance cameras.A bill currently in the Legislature would require police agencies, including SacRT, to draw up a surveillance policy by July 2018 and have that policy approved during a public hearing by the agencys board of elected officials.Under that bill, SB 21 by Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, any new surveillance technology considered for use after that date also would have to have local board approval before being put to use.The goal, Hill has said, is to make sure the public has a say on how law enforcement uses cameras and recorders.SacRT security chief Hinz said she believes transit riders, especially women, will feel safer as a result of the public address system. You know that there are people watching and monitoring behavior, and can dispatch a police officer.Light rail rider Elizabeth Stevenson, a downtown state worker, said this week she likes the idea, although she hasnt seen it in use yet. A year ago, an angry male stranger at a station began yelling at her, causing her to fear for her safety. It does make me feel better to know someone may be watching, and could speak to the man and dispatch police units, she said.Lynnette Green, a state worker and rider, said she wants to see SacRT do more about people who cause a ruckus on trains, which have cameras but are not yet monitored in real time. She agreed with Stevenson that the PA use may encourage more people to ride because they will feel safer.Big Brother is watching, she said. In a good way.
(TNS) -- SEATTLE  More than 2 billion people log into Facebook every month. Every day, the social-media crowd uploads billions of photos, calls up hundreds of millions of hours of video, and fires off a prodigious flurry of likes and comments. Somebody has to store that slice of humanitys digital record.Much of that task falls to Surendra Verma, a Seattle engineer who for more than 20 years has been building software that files away and retrieves large volumes of data.Verma leads the storage team at Facebook, the group charged with making sure that the social network can accommodate its daily deluge without losing someones wedding photos.Most of that unit is based in Seattle, part of a workforce that today numbers 1,600 people, up from just 400 three years ago. That makes Facebook one of the fastest- growing technology companies  outside of Amazon, anyway  in the city.While Facebook employees work on a wide range of products in Seattle, the office has developed a specialty in the geeky realm of systems software.About a quarter of the Facebook engineers in Seattle work on the companys infrastructure projects, the tools to transmit, store and analyze the growing heap of data people feed into the social network.Thats a common trade in the region, where Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and Google are all building their own clouds  giant, globe-straddling networks of data centers and the software that manages them.Facebook could have built its products on computing power rented from those cloud giants, but it decided to build its own tools, from custom hardware designs all the way to mobile applications. Supporting Facebooks network are nine massive data centers  a 10th, in Ohio, was announced earlier this month.Facebooks cloud is different from the others in that its designed to support just one customer: Facebooks own apps.They happen to be some of the most widely used pieces of software in the world  and their use keeps expanding.Verma is an Indian-born engineer who got his start at IBM before moving to Microsoft, where he worked most recently on Windows file systems. He joined Facebook in 2015.By then, the Seattle office had come to pilot Facebooks storage-software efforts. We could find some very good engineers here, he said. And so a bunch of these projects started, and just got momentum from there.His teams job, he said, is to be invisible to Facebooks product groups, letting the companys other engineers build whatever they can think up on top of a reliable foundation.But a wave of new services, and the rapid growth in the number and quality of videos and photos that people share, is putting a huge burden on the networks infrastructure.Facebook in January 2016 started a monthslong rollout of live video streaming, a milestone in the social networks effort to compete with popular streaming services.Then Instagram Stories, aimed at competing with the ephemeral photo-sharing application Snapchat, launched last August, and quickly made its way to 250 million monthly users. (Facebook bought Instagram in 2012.)Up next: live video broadcasts on Instagram, called Live Stories, a feature the product group hoped to launch before Thanksgiving.Vermas team wasnt sure its systems could meet that deadline, and negotiated a few days of delay on the planned start date. After scrambling, the team scraped together the internal storage space needed to accommodate the new feature, which went live Nov. 21.We looked very hard at our capacity, everywhere, Verma said. We scrounged everything we could, looked at nooks and crannies.One of the people doing the looking was J.R. Tipton, a manager on Vermas team.Tipton left the Chicago suburbs and came to Seattle in 2001 for the same reason as thousands of others in the 1990s and 2000s: a job offer from Microsoft.Fifteen years later, he became part of another phenomenon reshaping the region, opting to leave maturing Microsoft for a job with a younger tech giant in the area.I wanted an adventure, Tipton said of his move to Facebook last year.Tipton and Verma are among the 640 people at Facebook in Seattle who, on LinkedIn, list past experience at Microsoft.Seattle, home to Boeings legions of engineers long before Microsoft came along, has never really been a one-company town. But the range of options for technologists has ballooned in the last decade, with Amazon uncorking another Microsoft-like growth spurt, and Silicon Valley giants seeding local outposts to scoop up some of the talented software developers here.When Facebook set up shop in Seattle in 2010, it was the companys first U.S. engineering office outside its Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters. Last year, Facebook Seattle, which then numbered about 1,000, moved into nine floors of custom-designed office space. That was followed in short order by two more leases that would give the company enough space for about 5,000 employees in Seattle.Today, Tipton works on the Facebook system that is the last line of defense keeping peoples photos and videos from getting wiped out by a software error or power outage at a data center.That would be cold storage, the backup system storing redundant copies of all of the photos, videos and other data Facebook stores.The engineers who designed the system in 2013 wanted to build something more efficient than the typical rack of servers, which suck up energy both to keep their hard drives powered on and to run the fans and air-circulation systems that keep the stack of electronics from overheating.The company landed on a design that leaves most hard drives in Facebooks rows of servers powered down until needed, hence the cold in cold storage.The software built to run that system was designed to handle plenty of growth in the amount of data people were throwing at Facebook.Each cold-storage room in Facebooks data centers was built to house up to one exabyte of data. Thats 1,000 petabytes, or 1 billion gigabytes, or the combined hard drive space of 500,000 top-of-the-line MacBook Pro laptops.At the time, it seemed laughably huge, Tipton said of the software layer built to manage all of that.Last year, it became clear it wouldnt be enough, the result of growth in both the number of Facebook users and the launch of data-intensive features like Instagrams Live Stories.Tipton and his Seattle-based group spent the first half of 2016 taking a long look at the cold-storage software, which was starting to show its age in a world of 360-degree video. They could invest more time and energy in keeping the old architecture working, or rebuild.They opted to rebuild.It has to be much, much bigger, he said.Tipton has metaphors at the ready to describe that continuing challenge, the fruit of years explaining his day job to nontechies.You stand on top of a hill and see the buffalo herd coming, he said.And if that doesnt sound harrowing enough, he tries again: Were basically laying the railroad track down as the train is coming.
The Confederate statue known as Silent Sam remains standing at UNC-Chapel Hill despite recent and loud calls for his removal, including one on Tuesday night.

Though Gov. Roy Cooper suggested that maybe the university might think about taking down the statue in the name of public safety, UNC is leaving it alone for now. Seems reasonable people (and lawyers) can disagree over the meaning of the states statue statute.

And so Silent Sam remains, ever vigilant for the presence of virgins.

If you ever wondered why a statue of a Confederate soldier ended up at UNC-CH 48 years after Robert Lee (the general, not the sportscaster) surrendered at Appomattox, UNC Libraries has you covered.

If you poke around the libraries' web site, you'll find info about every building, monument and memorial on the Chapel Hill campus. Here's one of the Silent Sam collections, with exhibits from the statues dedication in 1913 and how views of the statue have changed over the years.

There's also a timeline (through 2015) of key moments in Sams life, photos through the year and documents about the creation and funding of the statue. The outrageous Julian Carr speech from the dedication  the one in which he brags about horse-whipping a black woman 100 yards from where the ceremony was taking place  is here.

UNC Libraries, by the way, are responsible for the handy online database that everyone is using to figure out where Confederate monuments are hiding in North Carolina. Heres the entry for Silent Sam, for instance. The site also catalogs statues and memorials that commemorate things over than the Civil War, so its a great research resource.

The Herald-Sun, meanwhile, plowed through a lot of the source material I linked to above and put together a biography of sort on Silent Sam. The story notes that the statue:

 was erected two years later than scheduled.

 wasnt known as Silent Sam until 1954.

 has been vandalized by students from UNC and other area colleges for decades before protesters took over that job in recent years.

 ran into financial difficulties. The university initially refused to pay for the statue, but ended up coughing up $500 to cover the bills when fundraising efforts fell short.

If youre interested in history and curious about how we got to a point that were debating the fate of a 104-year-old statue at the North Carolina's flagship state university, I recommend all of these links above.

Meanwhile, back in the 21st century, the N&O continues its Silent Sam coverage with a deep-dive into the debate over the interpretation of the state's two-year-old monuments law. (The story cites this School of Government blog post, which dives even deeper into the law.) A Herald-Sun story looks at the cost of the efforts to keep people from ripping Sam from his pedestal. Barricades are cheap. Overtime pay for local cops, sheriff's deputies and state troopers is not.

Want to make sure you see these blog posts? Like me on Facebook, and follow me on Twitter.

Have something to say? Email me at john.newsom@greensboro.com.
Quick, what's more important: social media or real life?

For the title character in "Ingrid Goes West," there is no question, and perhaps no distinction.

Powered by Aubrey Plaza's searing performance, director and co-writer Matt Spicer's feature debut explores such a dark side of social media obsession, it's hard to consider it satire. It's a story about young women who find validation in likes and followers, who equate social media experiences with real-life ones.

Like so many millennials, Ingrid (Plaza) is an Instagram junkie. Her phone is always in hand, a portal to all that is #perfect and #blessed. Any free moment is spent scrolling through photos. The double-thumb-tap she uses to "like" images is as instinctive as blinking.

But she's also obsessive and mentally unstable. She once crashed a wedding and attacked the bride after fixating on her expertly curated Instagram profile.

Flush with cash after her mother dies, Ingrid moves to Los Angeles to be near her latest social media obsession: Blonde, beautiful Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen), whose life on Instagram looks like a chic California magazine captioned with literary quotes and hashtags like #weekendvibes.

Ingrid styles her hair like Taylor's. She eats at her favorite breakfast spot. She buys the purse Taylor posted about. Then she works out a way to meet the Instagram star so they can be friends.

Olsen is pitch perfect as sunny, superficial Taylor, who says everything is "the best" and has no qualms about asking a gas station attendant to lay on the ground to snap a perfectly-framed social media pic.

The screenplay by Spicer and co-writer David Branson Smith looks at how Taylor's appetite for admiration might allow for a friend like Ingrid  her sycophantic fawning feeds right into Taylor's million-follower ego.

Plaza disappears into the unhinged Ingrid, a character exciting in her sheer unlikeability. She lies and steals to get what she wants. She exploits trust and kindness. But she brims with a deep human fear of inadequacy, one she hopes internet popularity might remedy. Plaza brings a vulnerability and desperation to Ingrid that makes her relatable. She's obsessive and unstable, but she just wants to be liked, online or anywhere.

O'Shea Jackson plays Ingrid's landlord/neighbor/admirer Dan, this story's version of the manic pixie dream girl. Though Jackson gets to show off his sparkling smile more here than in "Straight Outta Compton," his character exists to be Ingrid's savior and moral foil.

"Ingrid Goes West" has fun with some social media tropes and Southern California tendencies, but it feels less like a satire than a cautionary tale, for both the envious and the envied. It dips into rich territory by examining the covetousness social media inspires, not just for things, but for attention. Still, even someone with millions of followers can feel lonely or unseen.

Taylor and Ingrid may approach Instagram from opposite sides, but both live in a world where "likes" have tremendous value.
What: Guilford County Board of Education meeting

When: 6 p.m. today

Where: Guilford County Schools Central Office, 712 N. Eugene St. in Greensboro

On TV: Meetings are broadcast live on Spectrum (Channel 2). Replays air at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. the next day and at 1 p.m. Saturday. You can also watch online at http://media.gcsnc.net/gcstv.

Whats going on? Staff will give presentations on construction, literacy and the districts online portal for enrollment, magnet school lottery and student transfers.

Want to be heard? Speakers can address the board for 3 minutes during the comment period. Speakers must sign up before the meeting or by calling (336) 370-8100 before 5 p.m.

Follow along: Get live news updates by following @JessiePounds on Twitter.
CHARLESTON, S.C.  A fired dishwasher shot and killed a chef and held a person hostage for about three hours before he was shot by police at a crowded restaurant in a tourist-heavy area of downtown Charleston on Thursday, authorities and one of the restaurant's owners said.

The hostage was freed with no injuries, Mayor John Tecklenburg said. The shooting took place at Virginia's restaurant on the usually crowded King Street, a line of shops and nice dining that caters to both tourists and residents in South Carolina's largest and most historic city.

Tecklenburg quickly said the shooting was "the act of a disgruntled employee" and not a terrorist attack or a hate crime in a city where nine black church members were killed by a white man two years ago.

"This was a tragic case of a disturbed individual, I think, with a history of some mental health challenges," Tecklenburg said at a news conference.

Authorities did not release the names of the gunman or the employee he killed. They initially said they believed there were "a couple" or a "small number" of hostages.

The shooting was reported shortly after noon Thursday.

Peter Siegert, 73, and his son Peter Siegert IV, 45, were quoted by The Post and Courier of Charleston as saying that just after several waitresses and kitchen workers walked out the door without saying a word, a man in an apron with a gun came out of the kitchen and locked the front door.

"'I am the new king of Charleston,'" the Siegerts quoted the man as saying.

The man told diners to get on the floor and move to the back of the restaurant. The Siegerts said they escaped out a back door and didn't know how many people were left behind.

One of the restaurant's owners, John Aquino, told WCSC-TV that a dishwasher who had been fired came back to the restaurant and shot a chef to get revenge.

The restaurant was packed with a lunchtime crowd and the first officers to arrive were able to get the man who was shot and a number of diners out safely, interim Charleston Police Chief Jerome Taylor said.

The site is a few blocks away from Emanuel AME church, where nine black members of a church were killed by a white man during a June 2015 Bible study. Dylann Roof was sentenced to death in the case.

It is also just several blocks from where more than 100 cruise ships dock in Charleston each year.
After Trump was elected, I reassured my children that the extreme statements made during his campaign were just rhetoric; that his presidential powers would be limited by Congress and the courts. Indeed, such has proven to be the case.

However, his recent rant to level North Korea with nuclear weapons if that regime continues to threaten us has me worried. I am confident North Korea would never initiate an attack against us because that would be suicidal. But given Trumps history of poor and rash decisions, he might use our nuclear weapons pre-emptively against them, either in anger or due to faulty intelligence. Trump has his finger on the nuclear button and the unfettered authority to push it. Whether North Korea could or would retaliate is not the point. The North Korean people are people, just like ourselves. They already suffer under an oppressive regime and do not deserve the massive carnage our nuclear arsenal would wreak. No country does!
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GREENWICH  Advocates and supporters of a healthy Long Island Sound gathered near the beach in Greenwich Thursday to plead for a waterway they fear is at risk under President Donald Trumps administration.

Nearly 50 people, including local politicians from lower Fairfield County and environmental experts, met with U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy to ask that he continue to push for funding and environmental supports to the coastline despite a proposed federal budget that cuts money to the Environmental Protection Agency by about one-third and eliminates money to improve the Sound.

Murphy, calling Long Island Sound an unbelievable economic engine and a $5 billion asset between the fishing, aquaculture, boating and tourism industry, said he has made it his mission to protect it.

This is a quality of life issue first and foremost. Its why people come to Connecticut. They want to be next to the water. They want to enjoy all of this benefit, he said, standing in the Bruce Museums Seaside Center at Greenwich Point.

Murphy heavily criticized Trumps proposed funding decrease for the EPA and its programs, particularly elimination of the Long Island Sound fund, a cleanup and habitat and ecology restoration program, and other geographic programs that allocate about $4 million a year to states like Connecticut.

Those funds are always under threat because they do tend to accrue to a small number of states and theres always a battle over whether they will remain in the budget, Murphy said. Theyre under much greater threat today because we have a president who does not believe in environmental protection and ecological restoration and seems to have zeroed in on some of the specific programs that help keep the Sound alive.

Murphy said the cuts would be absolutely devastating if they were carried out.

In contrast to the presidents spending plan, the Department of Interior, Environmental and Related Agencies appropriations bill for the 2018 fiscal year includes $8 million for the Long Island Sound Program. The bill, introduced into the House last week, was referred to the House Appropriations Committee. Congress determines appropriations, not the President.

Murphy said the funding includes more money for aquaculture research for shellfish health and development and sea grants for research.

The reason we were able to get a doubling of Long Island Sound funds was in part because, for now, Republicans in the House and Senate have chosen to effectively ignore the presidents budget, Murphy said. Ive never seen anything like it. They are very publicly sort of taking his budget, tearing it up, throwing it out and then turning to Democrats to negotiate with us.

Murphy, Greenwich resident Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn) and other members of the Connecticut and New York congressional delegations also have introduced the Long Island Sound Restoration and Stewardship Act to legislate oversight for and restoration of the Sound.

The act is designed to restore the Long Island Sound through 2020 by combining two water quality and shore restoration programs at $40 million and $25 million per year, while providing additional focus, oversight and coordination of federal projects relating to the Sound.

This is the first time you had all in one place all of the federal investments necessary in order to protect this ecological and economic asset for generations, Murphy said.

The act passed unanimously out of the Senates Environment and Public Works Committee in April with bipartisan support but has not come up for a vote in the full Senate. Murphy said he did not know when a vote would take place.

Murphy also spoke on local issues, including the dispute with New York over dredging the Sound. New York State has filed suit to prohibit Connecticut from dumping contaminated sediment dredged from harbors and ports at a new Long Island Sound underwater disposal site after two older sites were closed. Connecticut is fighting the suit.

Murphy said the Army Corps of Engineers has proposed a Long Island Sound dredging plan to open more of the Sound to accept dredged material that is now being discussed in Washington.

If we get this plan through and implement it, we will have a lot of new areas in the Sound where we can dispose of dredging material, Murphy said.

Denise Savageau, Greenwichs Conservation Director, told Murphy that help from Washington was crucial to keeping the Sound healthy.

From a municipal perspective, we cannot do this alone, she said. If we want to have a clean Long Island Sound and harvest the shellfish and swim and recreate in Long Island Sound, we need to do this as part of a partnership. This is a big program. Its a watershed-wide program and we need everyone involved whether it be federal, state or local government all working together as well as the non-profits.

Ed Stilwaggen, owner of Atlantic Clam Farms in Greenwich, asked Murphy for help keeping garbage out of Long Island Sound. He routinely brings in 200 to 300 pounds of bottles, plastics and other trash each day he finds while out on his boat in the Byram River, he said.

I went out to see and it is criminal how much physical garbage is at the bottom of the Sound, Murphy said. You would never believe it unless you see it with your own eyes.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
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GREENWICH  Henry Hittle turned 18 in Belize this summer while fulfilling requirements for his Master Scuba Diver certification.

Hittle, who is going into his senior year at the Stanwich School, began working toward his certifications three years ago after an eighth-grade trip with the school to Key Largo. He now wants to keep climbing the ladder.

When I first got into it, I didnt know what to expect really, Hittle said over a bowl of warm cereal at the Drawing Room in Cos Cob Wednesday. But I immediately fell in love with it. I started getting really into it, moving up the ladder to rescue diver  its the equivalent of an underwater lifeguard  and Im working my way up to master diver, and then divemaster.

The certifications serve a dual purpose  fulfilling the young divers passion to surpass ordinary physical human limits while exploring the deep sea, and qualifying him to volunteer with organizations like the Coral Restoration Foundation without putting himself, other people or coral in danger.

It comes down to passion, said Hittle. Being more experienced as a diver opens up more opportunities or you to volunteer for a cause you like, like coral restoration.

CRF uses coral nurseries to help existing coral regrow, hanging them like ornaments on deep-sea trees. Hittle puts his diving skills to use through helping the foundation in its nurseries.

I never knew about the ecosystem or dangers to the coral reefs before the school trip, Hittle said.

Going into his senior year at Stanwich means finishing his Moral Leadership Project  one that all Stanwich students begin planning in their sophomore year and finish before graduation  and his topic fits his calling.

Hittle chose coral reef protection and restoration: spreading awareness of the threats coral reefs face and sharing information on how ordinary citizens can help make a difference.

He has been sharing news and information through his Facebook page, Cool Coral, since his junior year at Stanwich  a page that has garnered more than 1,200 followers from 31 different countries.

The young environmentalist also uses the site to repost information and news on coral reefs from scientific pages including National Geographic, the Discovery Channel, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and CRF  where he channels most of his efforts.

I started the Facebook page teaching about what anyone can do  anywhere you are you can affect it, he said. Like farmers using less acidic pesticides, and reducing the acidity of the water that flows down to coral reefs.

And three years after that first trip, Hittle is still going strong, going further in depth than he imagined.

Last weekend, he went to Key Largo after winning a dive package from the CRF gala. He was accompanied on the trip by Upper School science teacher Dana McNamee, and IT specialist Jeff Magliola. McNamee and Magliola are scouting the area for when the senior class will take a trip to MarineLab in October, said Laura Dianis, communications director for Stanwich School.

Hittles mother, Lisa Bailey gives her full support, but also admits that watching her son dive makes her nervous sometimes.

The goal of the Stanwich school is to make Gods world a better place, and Henrys moral leadership project makes Gods world a better place, she said.

Hes got, I dont now, 79 or 80 hours already logged in ocean dives and everything, she said Tuesday. Hes a recreational diver, deep diver. I just watched a video of him doing a deep dive  I mean they had a big bull shark with him at the Aquarius Reef! I dont know how he does it.

In finishing his project, Hittle will return to CRF in October to plant coral in the Aquarius Reef  a highly restricted area.

He is also collecting donations for CRF.
GREENWICH  The towns Harbor Management Plan has gotten the states approval after more than three years in the works.

State officials sent the Harbor Management Commission a letter saying the plan, delayed for years by debate, legal writing, editing and scrutinizing fine print and interpretations, was good to go, said HMC Chairman Bruce Angiolillo Wednesday.

We are pleased to have worked with the Greenwich Harbor Management Committee to accept the first-ever Harbor Management Plan for Greenwich, wrote Dennis Schain, communications director for the Connecticut Department and Energy and Environmental Protection, in an email this week.

This plan will guide the orderly use of the waters along the towns coast and help improve coordination between DEEP, the Harbor Management Commission and the Harbormaster, he wrote.

Municipalities along the coastal Connecticut use their respective harbor management plans to make decisions regarding docks, piers, moorings and other regulations taking place 10 feet from the shore and farther.

A major goal of drafting Greenwichs first Harbor Management Plan, Angiolillo said during its final stages, was for town officials to retain home rule.

Under the towns unique Special Acts from the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Board of Selectmen  and by delegation, the Harbor Management Commission  is given more control over delegating and regulating moorings than other coastal towns.

Greenwich is the only town with the special acts regarding its harbors; other coastal municipalities follow provisions outlined in the Connecticut Harbor Management Act, passed in the 1980s, when managing harbors.

The duties described in the early ordinances have long caused disputes between the current commission and six-year Harbormaster Ian MacMillan, since responsibilities given to the Selectmen overlap some of the duties in the state-defined harbormasters job description.

The plan now approved by DEEP allows MacMillan to issue permits, his primary responsibility, while officially recognizing the Selectmen as having a standing in Greenwich harbor business, able to review decisions made by the Harbor Management Commission and hear grievances between the state and town officials, state and residents, and town and residents.

With a plan in place, commissioners also will be able to nominate candidates for the Harbormaster position when it opens. Without a plan, the governor makes the selection; if the plan is adopted, the governor will make his appointment from among the Harbor Management Commissions recommendations.

Angiolillo said Thursday the commission was ready for the next steps.

"The Commission now looks forward to completing the process this fall when it presents the plan to the RTM for its consideration and approval, he said. The town-wide contributions to this effort cannot be overstated and are a testament to our community."

Commissioners expect the plan to go before the RTM this October. If it is approved, it will be adopted by ordinance as regulation for Greenwich Harbors.

But in the confirmation letter, Land and Water Resources Director Brian Thompson offered a disclaimer with the approval.

Thompson said although approving the plan signifies DEEPs recognition that its provisions are consistent with Connecticut law and the Connecticut Harbor Management Act, it does not mean DEEP agrees with the plans provisions or approves of its activities or proposals.

Once approved by the town, the plan will be subject to yearly review.

As the State of Connecticut's approval letter underscores and demonstrates, said Angiolillo, taking the time necessary to draft a comprehensive, thoughtful and durable Harbor Management Plan for Greenwich was the right way to proceed.

E: JTuriano@greenwichtime.com; T: @jturianoGT; IG: @greenwichgreen
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GREENWICH  One by one, the preschoolers strapped on safety goggles and grabbed a saw. Back and forth, the children pushed the blades through a thin piece of wood tied with a red ribbon, their arms quaking from the effort.

This is tricky! said Jordan Rosenthal, 3, wielding a saw half her height.

Parents and teachers gathered round, watching  many nervously  and helping the children. When 4-year-old Oliver Halios saw broke through the skinny plank, the room erupted in cheers.

The ribbon sawing Thursday morning marked the opening of the new STEAM room at Temple Sholom Selma Maisel Nursery School.

When nursery school classes resume in September, 3-year-old and prekindergarten children will have access to the new room outfitted with knee-high wooden work benches, water tables, programmable robotic toys, ramps and a cannon-like wind tunnel made out of clear plastic.

When we stay on the cutting edge of early childhood education, our students reap the benefits, said David Cohen, director of the nursery school. We see public and private elementary schools investing in these programs and we want to ensure our students will arrive ready for the challenge.

Temple Sholom spent about $20,000 on the new STEAM room, Cohen said. The nursery school has been planning the new addition since January, when Cohen attended an early childhood STEM conference at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California.

The nursery schoolers will use the STEAM room on a weekly basis, receiving safety instruction and activity prompts but also with the freedom to experiment. The new space does not shy away from putting drills, screwdrivers, hammers and other tools into the hands of young children.

We dont play around with fake stuff, Cohen said. Woodworking is highly recommended for (young childrens) development and physical skills, but its something that a lot of people shy away from.

For an additional $5,000, the nursery school also added a new gymnastics room with pint-sized parallel bars, balance beams and mats next door to the STEAM room. The gymnastics room will be used as part of the schools physical education classes.

It will really do wonders for developing gross motor skills and building confidence, said Cohen.

The new additions are part of Selma Maisels efforts to offer forward-thinking early childhood education to children of all faiths and ethnicities, administrators said.

We are always looking to grow and enhance our program and see what will entice kids, said Eileen Robin, executive director of Temple Sholom.

emunson@greenwichtime.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson
FAIRFIELD  Local elected officials agree that high speed rail line would be an economic boost to the entire state, but they sought reassurances from U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy Thursday that they would not be left out of the planning and approval process.

The summit was hosted by Murphy and the Business Council of Fairfield County in order to get feedback on the Federal Rail Administrations plan for rail investment along the northeast corridor to improve passenger rail service.

At the center of the discussion was a high speed rail line  trains traveling at 220 mph  between Washington, D.C., and Boston. Connecticut is at the heart of this fight, said Joseph McGee, vice president of the Business Council. Its not a commuter line, he said, but it is connected to the MetroNorth New Haven line. This is the heart of the economy, he said, getting people to work.

It would not be something that happened in the next few years, Murphy said, and it is expected to cost about $150 billion over 20 year. The FRA plan at this point calls for a hub station in Westports Greens Farm section.

I absolutely believe we need to go through the process, Westport First Selectman Jim Marpe said. And I see the value of what were trying to do for the economy of Connecticut as a whole.

But a siting map showing a station in Greens Farm, he said, concerns him. That area, he said, is not prepared at this point for a massive transportation interchange.

Murphy said any new rail line through Connecticut would have to be approved by the state, and he said he has a meeting with the northeast corridor committee coming up. My first question is to explain to me Greens Farm, Murphy said, and why they think that is the place the interchange should go.

Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling said his city is currently dealing with the plans to replace the aging Walk Bridge in South Norwalk, but he said the impact from that work will impact more than just the immediate area surrounding the bridge. The state Department of Transportation has permanently, or temporarily taken at least 17 good-sized properties to facilitate that construction. We dont know what thats going to do to our grand list, to our business community, Rilling said.

Any planning for a new high speed rail line, Rilling said, would need to take into consideration of the impact of construction on the individual communities. Im glad were going to be at the table, he said.

First Selectman Mike Tetreau said it is important to have the discussion. We need this kind of boost for our economy, Tetreau said. For residents to get a real understanding of this type of project, Tetreau said, they need to know what it will look like, and how it will actually function when done. Its more than just the tracks, he said.

The high speed rail, Murphy said, could cut the trael time from New Haven to New York to about an hour. One suggestion has been to use the existing two middle rails for the high speed trains, but McGee said that would only work for stations where there is a middle platform  Stamford, New Haven, 125th Street and Grand Central.

Stamford Mayor David Martin said hes not fearful about where theyve drawn (the route with) their crayons, because its not going to happen there. Instead, he said, everyone at the table should realize that the MetroNorth line is absolutely critical to their towns. I need that Walk Bridge done in Norwalk, Martin said, or were all in trouble.

Martin said the high speed plan is well-intentioned, but said it may be that it will instead travel at 160 mph through Fairfield County. The devil is in the details, he said, adding that they absolutely need investment in MetroNorth in the area.

Should they tell the federal government they arent interested in the high speed rail, it could mean less invesment in the existing rail system. There are four other rail bridges that like the Walk Bridge are over 100 years old, that could no longer be a priority if they shut down high speed rail.

Better commute times are critical to the future 25 years from now, and five years from now, Martin said.
One of my good friends sent me a book to add to my collection of books of historical times called Historic Houses of Connecticut, by H. J. Randolph Mason, printed by the Pequot Press in 1963.

Two Greenwich homes are listed: Putnam Cottage (pre-1729) and the Bush Holley House. I found the information about Putnam Cottage fascinating.

The cottage is now used as headquarters of the Putnam Hill Chapter D.A.R. It was built around 1692 when Timothy Knapp bought the land. In 1729, he deeded one half to his son Israel Knapp. The house is famous for having Gen. Israel Putnam as a guest.

In 1901, Col. Herschel Adams purchased the house, and with several townsmen organized the Putnam House Associates and turned the house over to the D.A.R. chapter. I have enjoyed looking at the beautiful and rare furnishings and the portrait of Gen. Putnam by Darius Cobb who was commissioned to do the work by Col. Adams.

Another interesting house is the Stanley-Whitman house in Farmington, Conn., described thus: no finer example of 17th century to be found in New England, although the exact date of construction is not known. The great center chimney of stone and the framed overhang reflect Elizabethan or Jacobean architecture brought from England.

In 1935, the owners, Mr. and Mrs. D. Newton Burney, had the house expertly restored and deeded the property to the Village Green and Library Association.

Opposite the front entrance the stairway, built against the center chimney, leads to the second floor while on either side are the parlor and the hall, each with a large fireplace of original masonry. Beyond is the lean to with kitchen, butlery and birth and death room probably added later, around 1760. Similar to the Bush Holley House, this house is furnished with rare pieces of early American design, many gifts of local residents, the book relates.

I thought it particularly interesting that several pieces are fashioned by local cabinet makers including clocks, chests, chairs and a lamp collection. This I would like to see. There are also exhibits of old manuscripts and other items associated with historic Farmington.

Another historical house in Connecticut is the Florence Griswold house (1817) in Old Lyme. It is a younger house than that in Farmington, and is an outstanding example of Greek revival architecture, similar to my favorite house on Riversville Road, with the glorious architecture of the front of the house. Also similar to Greenwich history is that in 1900 Miss Florence Griswold welcomed a group of American artists, thus, according to the book, forming the first summer art colony in the country. Those in the colony were Henry W. Ranger, Childe Hassam, Willard Metcalf, Frank W. Dumond, and Allen Talcott.

Florence Griswolds father was a colorful packet ship owner and captain who brought back rare furnishings from Europe and the East, many ending up in the house. There were also antique treasures loaned by collectors, and also a permanent collection of rare Staffordshire, Lowesloft, Satsuma and Imari China.

The artists did some of their finest paintings on the doors throughout the first floor of the house and covered 30 panels in the dining room with superb examples of their work.
They were happy to sample the fruits of our labor. Photo: Kevin Summers/Getty Images

One minute youre rescued from being cooked by a fire, the next youre being turned into sausages to be cooked by the people who saved you. Back in February, Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service firefighters were called to a farm in the English village of Milton Lilbourne, where they rescued 18 piglets and a pair of sows from a fire. Fast-forward six months, and those firefighters feasted on sausages made from those pigs  a thank-you from the farmer.

The firefighters posted to Facebook about getting to sample the fruits of our labor, which they highly recommended, in what is probably the most morbid case of social-media marketing. A spokesperson added to the BBC that, We can tell no porkies, the sausages were fantastic. Not everyone was so thrilled: Responses to the story included calling it the most vile thing I have ever heard of, and PETA unsurprisingly showed up on the scene, telling the BBC it will send the firefighters vegan sausages. Important life lesson learned: If you eat pigs you rescue from a fire, keep it to yourself.
May soon be medically important drug-free. Photo: Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images

Experts warn that antibiotic-free beef probably isnt in fast foods immediate future, but Mickey Ds says its working on a plan to figure out how it can be done. The chain announced yesterday that its removing antibiotics from all its chicken worldwide (only Americas gets that treatment right now), and is in the middle of developing similar policies for beef, pork, dairy cows, and egg-laying hens. That pretty much covers all the animal bases, and would be a radical move for such a large buyer of meat products. Its the countrys largest purchaser of beef and among the largest for pork.

Health activists have been urging Big Food to quit injecting human antibiotics into meat for years (to the point of staging a shareholders revolt against McDonalds and publicly shaming In-N-Out), but the problem doesnt have an easy solution. Cows live a lot longer on feedlots than birds do in chicken houses  thats more opportunity for them to get sick and require antibiotics. Also, McDonalds U.S. chicken comes from just two behemoth suppliers, so going antibiotics-free was logistically pretty straightforward. But it buys beef from thousands of individual ranchers.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the chain told consumer watchdogs earlier this month that it hopes to have a timeline soon for reducing medically important antibiotics from its beef. Per the story, it plans to initially focus on beef sourced from ten countries, which account for about 85 percent of its supply.

McDonalds has actually been working to reduce its role in creating mutant strains of superbugs for a decade and a half now. Yesterdays announcement also noted a more immediate milestone: removal of a group of antibiotics called HPCIAs (or highest priority critically important antimicrobials) from all broiler chickens used in Europe, Brazil, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. That will happen in January of 2018, then by the end of 2019 for Australia and Russia. Suppliers in the other roughly 100 countries where McDonalds operates will have until 2027 to comply.
The restaurant is in downtown Charleston. Photo: Google

One person was killed in a hostage situation at a Charleston, South Carolina, restaurant called Virginias on King on Thursday. While it was still ongoing, Charleston mayor John Tecklenburg attributed the crime to a disgruntled employee, saying it is not an act of terrorism or a hate crime. It was later reported that the individual was a fired dishwasher, but his name has not yet been released by the police. The shooting was first reported at 12:17 p.m. yesterday, and the wounded individual was taken to Medical University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The suspect continued to hold another person hostage for several hours, until the police shot him, and he, too, was taken to the hospital. On Thursday night, the Charleston County Coroners Office revealed that the victim was the restaurants executive chef, Anthony Shane Whiddon. He is survived by a wife and two sons. (A friend has started a GoFundMe to help the family.)

UPDATE: We've asked the coroner's office to release the name of the person who died. We know it was a restaurant employee #chsnews  Brad Streicher (@bradrstreicher) August 24, 2017

.@CityCharleston notes one person was held hostage at Virginia's on King this afternoon. Hostage is safe. One person has died. pic.twitter.com/OfJBqKt2Xq  Gavin Jackson (@GavinJackson) August 24, 2017

There were reportedly 30 customers inside the restaurant when the shooter arrived. Those included Peter Siegert and his son Peter Siegert IV, who spoke with the Post and Courier. They say that two waitresses and three kitchen workers walked out the front door without saying anything, before an older man dressed like a kitchen worker walked in with a small caliber revolver. After locking the door, he reportedly said, I am the new king of Charleston. Customers were told to get down and head to the back of the building, and most of them were reportedly able to get out through two side exit doors. The younger Siegert tells the Associated Press that the gunman never pointed his revolver at the patrons, and after directing people to the back, told everybody to get out.

Heavily-armed police moving around the area near Virginia's on King Street as shooting situation continues. #chs pic.twitter.com/cXSboosHS1  Sam Spence (@samwithans) August 24, 2017

Active scene on King Street in downtown Charleston. Police say shooter is inside Virginia's on King, a restaurant. @ABCNews4 #chsnews pic.twitter.com/IuKXnXw5FE  Bill Burr (@BBonTV) August 24, 2017

@ABCNews4 a pic from the scene on king street right now pic.twitter.com/S0Vyj2MnKr  Eleanor Wade (@ewadethemermaid) August 24, 2017

CNN reports that police asked people to avoid the area around Virginias and nearby businesses were evacuated during the hostage situation. The owner of the nearby Mosa Boutique, Sarah Cobb, tells CNN that police are blocking off the whole block, and that the streets are teeming with SWAT and police and people heavily armed. An employee of a nearby hair salon, Sandy Troeder, tells WCIV that police and SWAT team members broke down the restaurants door and proceeded to carry a body out.

A bomb squad arrived at the scene, and at 2:37 p.m. Post and Courier crime reporter Andrew Knapp tweeted that a loud explosion was heard and paramedics were seen wheeling a stretcher to and from the restaurant. Following that, he reports that police broke down the perimeter, and that one officer told citizens the shooter is down. At 2:59 p.m., ABC News 4s Victoria Hansen tweeted that the hostage situation ended, adding that there would be a press conference at 3:15 p.m. At 4 p.m., Live 5 News reported, parts of King Street were still blocked off as police continued to investigate. The owners of the restaurant, Bennett Hospitality, released a statement from managing director Marty Wall (in full below) and say that the restaurant will be closed indefinitely.

We are deeply saddened and heartbroken by what transpired yesterday at our restaurant Virginias on King. We are devastated by the passing of Shane Whiddon, our beloved and well-respected chef and friend. Our thoughts and prayers from Holy City Hospitality and Bennett Hospitality are with Shanes family, our work family, and the customers and employees who are affected by this awful tragedy. Were extremely grateful for the incredible teamwork of the many law enforcement agencies and the Mayor of Charleston in handling yesterdays events. We would also like to thank the Pastor and staff at St. Matthews Lutheran Church for all the support they provided law enforcement and our staff. The outpouring of support from the community has been remarkable and for that we are very grateful.

Portions of King Street still blocked off, police still investigating following deadly standoff pic.twitter.com/MqMX6Jgd13  Kolbie Satterfield (@KolbieReports) August 24, 2017

Police breaking down perimeter, allowing people closer to scene. One officer told citizens shooter is down. #chsnews  Andrew Knapp (@offlede) August 24, 2017
Ready for selfies, if youre south of the border. Photo: Starbucks

After months of watching rogue baristas trot out unsanctioned drinks (some of them pretty gross-looking), Starbucks today is giving its mythical-creature-obsessed customer base a 100 percent official Mermaid Frappuccino. Thats it on the left: Its a striking shade of pastel green, it tastes like melon, and it gets topped with blue whipped cream and shiny pink pearls  man, is it Instagram-worthy! Unfortunately, you cant have it, sorry to say. Its only available at Mexicos 600 locations:

Ya esta aqui! Hoy podremos compartir juntos mi bebida favorita: Mermaid Frappuccino. #MermaidSeason pic.twitter.com/iHyMbCHJw9  Starbucks Mexico (@StarbucksMex) August 24, 2017

A press release brags that Starbucks has captured the fantastical characteristics and classic elements of these creatures to create the new Mermaid Frappuccino for customers there. The drink combines the Frappuccino cream base with melon and, apparently, some magical flavor from the sea, then coats it in a thick layer of blue and pink sprinkles. Realizing its opened a Pandoras box and needs to discourage Americans from demanding baristas give them this drink  which honestly theyre still going to do, regardless  the company has also issued a statement saying the Fraps magical (and therefore very specific) ingredients are not available in Starbucks stores in the U.S. What it shouldve gone with is: Your whipped cream will NOT be blue.

Unless this is some sort of attempt to troll Trump supporters, it all sort of feels like a marketing blunder in America. After all, the mermaid is quite literally Starbuckss logo, so you could argue thats a wasted chance to reinforce brand identity. Unicorns, meanwhile, are fake creatures that a Brooklyn cafe claims it modeled a drink on first, and has sued the chain for copying.
Paper cherry blossoms line the ceiling. Photo: Noah Fecks

In Tokyo, a specific style of bar has become increasingly popular: tiny, beautiful places that play records on vinyl and serve fine Japanese whisky. This type of establishment (see: JBS, Bar Martha, Track) considers what you hear as important as what you eat, and though it can feel a little austere, its undeniably appealing.

Ariel Arce wants to make it clear that Tokyo Record Bar, her underground space on Macdougal Street that opens on August 31, is not that. As a Jewish woman opening a Japanese-style space, I have to reiterate, this is an homage, she says. Its a place where you can go and bask in the glory of someones obsessive appreciation of music. Its our take on things that we find to be really tasty and fun.

Directly upstairs, Arce operates Airs Champagne Parlor, which opened in June. Arce first became enamored with Champagne (she calls the nectar of the gods) while working on the floor of Grant Achatzs the Office in Chicago. She moved back to New York City to work at Bird & Bubbles, and then, in the tiny space that now holds Tokyo Record Bar, Arce oversaw Riddling Widow for restaurateur Ravi DeRossi, which planted the seeds for her current project. I had been in this space for two years  just in here, alone, slinging Champagne, she jokes. But it was incredible because I got to work out hundreds of ideas. One of these was a recurring party shed hosted at Riddling Widow on Thursdays called  Tokyo Record Bar. My friend would spin and Id do a Champagne omakase. Wed have a couple snacks. It became our most popular night.

In this iteration of the idea, Arce will offer a $50, seven-course izakaya tasting menu  chef Zach Fabians spicy nori chips, caviar sushi, beef nagamaki, and yuzu ice pops  for two seatings per night, at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. Beer, sake, and cocktails are extra. There are 16 guests per seating, and theyll help curate the vinyl that plays during their dinner, like patrons working the jukebox. Later, from 10:30 p.m. to 2 a.m., Tokyo Record Bar will turn into a bustling bar with a DJ and a la carte menu. Well play some music and you can come in here and do whatever you want, she says.

But Arce insists that unlike at Airs Champagne Parlor upstairs, where she spotlights new Champagne winemakers, this is a music-first establishment: Some people exercise for endorphins, but for me, its listening to music. If I were to ever do something that was a passion project, this is it. To that end, shes brought in custom-designed single-driver speakers (Fostex F200A), an Audio-Technica turntable, a Cayin A-50T amplifier, and over 500 records. A lot of Elvis and Stevie Wonder and Johnny Cash and Motown, she says. Sony invited Arce to shop its back catalogues, and she emerged with a prized Aaliyah vinyl. You come because youre a lover of music and you want to participate in this experience, she says. And then while youre here, we want to entertain you with a little food and beverage.

Arce recognizes that the decision to fashion this after Japans record bars opens herself up to criticism about authenticity and cultural appropriation. She wants to get ahead of the conversation. Its like saying, Youre not French, why would you open a Champagne bar? she says. Arce has actually never visited Japan, and this Tokyo Record Bar is more a reflection of the Japan in her imagination; the ceilings lined with paper cherry blossoms. Its not intended to offend in any way, she says. Were not trying in any way to reappropriate someone elses culture. This is a place thats supposed to be fun. And we are truly trying to pay our respects to a culture that is hyperfocused on quality. We connect to that.

The shiso-wasabi mojito. Photo: Noah Fecks

Chilled spicy cucumbers and sweet-and-salty peanuts. Photo: Noah Fecks

Pork katsu with shishitos and shiro-miso-lime aioli. Photo: Noah Fecks

Kampai! Photo: Noah Fecks

Kaluga caviar sushi with puffed rice, dashi, and chives. Photo: Noah Fecks

The logo is the fox, considered a deity of rice. Photo: Noah Fecks

One of over 500 vinyl records. Photo: Noah Fecks

Michelle Double created the (faux) floral arrangement. Photo: Noah Fecks

Owner Ariel Arce. Photo: Noah Fecks

Tokyo Record Bar, 127 Macdougal St.; no phone
In some troubled waters. Photo: Thomas Kitchin & Victoria Hurst/Getty Images

Washington state wildlife officials warn thousands of salmon are on the loose in the Pacific after the net at their farm broke and they made a Finding Nemostyle break for the open sea. Cooke Aquaculture says one of its farms in the San Juan Islands suffered a structural failure on Saturday, and an untold number of more than 300,000 fish got their first taste of freedom. The company is blaming the mishap on, of all things, the eclipse  arguing that the rare astronomical event caused exceptionally high tides and currents. But experts say its more likely the culprit was just faulty holding pens.

Their initial guess was maybe 4,000 to 5,000 fish had gone AWOL, but the company added itll take time to count up exactly how many. The CBC reported yesterday that the company now admits the number missing could in fact be much higher.

Either way, the situation is a serious debacle. Now that divers are down there assessing things, Cooke Aquaculture says it appears that many fish are still contained within the nets. Crews are working to recover as many live salmon as conditions permit, which sounds dire. The Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife notes that because the farm was full of Atlantic salmon, an invasive species, the escapees could mate with Chinook salmon (the native kind) or steal all their food. We dont know what the fallout will be, a concerned marine ecologist tells The Guardian. It runs from something quite modest all the way to something very serious. Rather than hope for the best, wildlife officials put out a notice encouraging anglers to just go medieval on them (Wed like to see as many of these escaped fish caught as possible).

Invasive or not, the fish dont mean nobody no harm, some experts argue, and couldnt inflict any if they tried anyways. These things are kind of couch potatoes, an official with the NOAA explained to the Seattle Times, so the local sea life isnt exactly in danger. Imagine a dairy cow getting lost out in the Serengeti is the analogy he used  It doesnt last very long.




Haiti - FLASH : Hundreds of Haitians panicked, flee Neiba in RD





Following the assassination of a 65-year-old Dominican farmer who lived in the Savica neighborhood of Neiba (Baoruco province in the southeastern part of the Dominican Republic), whose body was discovered on Monday, the population accusing the Haitians of being behind the murder, killed the same day at knifepoint a young Haitian aged 20 years in retaliation, triggering a panic in the Haitian community of Neiba, a rural town of about 30,000 inhabitants.



In the night of Monday to Tuesday, nearly 300 Haitians left the city hastily to Haiti, some sought protection in military barracks to be brought early Tuesday on the border of Malpasse by the Dominican migratory authorities.



On Tuesday afternoon, the Refugee Support Group (GARR) welcomed 48 Haitians fleeing Neiba (17 women, 7 men and 24 children) to their premises in Fond Bayard, Ganthier. Our compatriots said they were afraid for their lives "Rumors circulated in our neighborhood that Dominican civilians armed with machetes and knives would kill us. I escaped with my three children to save our skin," testified a mother exhausted by the trip.



Unfortunately, just as in Haiti when a population is not well educated, popular justice is blindly applied to the simple public clamor, whether justified or not, as was also the case in the Ortega community in Moca in 2015, when more 300 Haitians had been driven out after the destruction of all their possessions https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-13568-haiti-social-murder-of-a-dominican-more-than-300-haitians-expelled-from-ortega.html



While condemning this double murder, the , GARR invites the Dominican authorities to continue investigations to identify the perpetrators and urges the Haitian authorities to contact the Dominican Government in order to take measures to protect the Haitian community living in Neiba.



TB/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Social : More than 85,000 Haitians have migrated to Brazil, Chile and Argentina





The International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN Migration Agency, and the Institute of Public Policies on Human Rights of the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) presented the results of a Study on Haitian migration to MERCOSUR member and associate countries through field surveys in Brazil (Sao Paulo), Chile (Santiago) and Argentina (Buenos Aires).



The study used institutional and normative survey questionnaires on Haitian migrants in each of MERCOSUR countries. Additionally, the field work included qualitative interviews focused on the conditions and strategies of reception and assistance to Haitian migrants in San Pablo, Santiago de Chile and Buenos Aires.



Haitian migration flows between 2014 and 2016 to Brazil and Chile and to a lesser extent towards Argentina, have different characteristics compared to Haitian migration that entered between 2010 and 2014. Between 2014 and 2016, Haitian migration flows were mainly composed by direct and indirect relatives of migrants already settled in those countries.



According to the study, Brazil is the country with the highest number of Haitians. By the end of 2016, 67,000 residencies had been granted, including temporary and permanent. In Chile, there were almost 18,000 residencies by the end of 2015, while in Argentina, the number was less than 1,200.



As regards social rights, there is no robust correlation between regular migratory access measures and effective access to health, education, housing and work. However, in Argentina, Brazil and Chile, there is evidence of an acceptable level of guarantee of access to social rights, in particular to education and health. Additionally, in Brazil, the regularization of migrants has significantly contributed to the access to the formal labor market.



The study includes public policy recommendations at two levels of action: 1) entry and visa policies and 2) mechanisms of integration in the destination country.



Explained Matteo Mandrile, the IOM Regional Project Development Officer who coordinated the study: "The dynamism of Haitian diaspora requires designing and implementing integrated public policies of mobility and integration, especially considering that Haitian migrants in South America have settled in, but at the same time part of them continue to move at the intra-regional level.



This study, funded by the IOM Development Fund and the Government of Brazil, is part of a series of projects that IOM has been implementing in South America in relation to Haitian migration, including a study on Haitian migration to Brazil conducted by IOM in 2014, which analyzed the main migration routes to Brazil, and a research in 2016 on the labor insertion of Haitians in the Southern region and the Federal District of Brazil.



Download the study (in Spanish) :

https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/Diagnostico_Regional.pdf



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Quebec : Haitian asylum seekers, 3 times more children than estimated





Of the more than 8,000 asylum seekers intercepted at the Quebec border since June while illegally crossing the Canadian border, nearly 2,700 are young people under the age of 18, according to a statement Wednesday by Kathleen Weil, the Quebec Minister of Immigration, who called for the profile of these young people so that school boards are preparing.



This is 3 times more than the estimated number of children at the beginning of the week by the school boards of the Montreal region, who expected to integrate around 800 additional students in the classrooms.



This is 6 times more than the estimate released on Friday, August 18 by the Chief Superintendent of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Claude Castonguay, who estimated to 500 the number of children...





While in Ottawa Justin Trudeau assures that the situation is under control at the Canada-US border and despite his statements on immigration rules in Canada, the opposition believes that the Canadian government has implicitly false hopes to the migrants by letting them in and placing more emphasis on Canada as a land of welcome, rather than the strict dimension of the Immigration Act and the status of asylum seeker or refugee...



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21893-haiti-diaspora-haitian-canadian-deputy-emmanue-dubourg-on-the-front-line.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21876-haiti-social-haitians-leave-haiti-to-enter-canada-illegally.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21850-haiti-canada-more-than-6-400-haitians-have-illegally-crossed-the-quebec-border.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21788-haiti-politics-haitian-migrant-file-end-of-mission-in-canada.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21774-haiti-flash-the-canadian-army-builds-a-border-camp-for-haitian-migrants.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21762-haiti-quebec-two-haitian-ministers-on-mission-in-montreal.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21748-haiti-montreal-nearly-2-400-haitians-seeking-asylum-ceci-calls-for-help.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21717-haiti-flash-waves-of-haitian-refugees-unprecedented-in-quebec.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21037-haiti-flash-extension-of-tps-procedures-to-follow.html



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





Nolle prosequi Mayor Josue Alusma

The titular Mayor of Port-de-Paix, Josue Alusma, was given a nod. The investigating judge Vinx Etienne has made an order of dismissal (nolle prosequi) 432/5000

The titular Mayor of Port-de-Paix, Josue Alusma, was given a nod. The investigating judge Vinx Etienne has made an order of dismissal, no charge having been withheld against the aedile of this commune. The mayor was imprisoned on 3 August 2017 under the charge of having opened fire on 3 August 2017 on the Papayo bus the route Port-de-Paix / Port-au-Prince and injuring a young passenger, Beethoven Noel https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21714-haiti-flash-mayor-josue-alusma-in-custody.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21840-haiti-news-zapping.html



Former soldiers demand their integration

Former demobilized soldiers demanded their integration into the new armed force of Haiti and threatened of actions, without specifying which, if the Government did not accede to their demand. To avoid social unrest, the Head of State by presidential decree appointed this week a Council of three members to manage this situation before it degenerates...



Caribbean : Haiti big beneficiary of the EDF

Did you know ? Haiti receives approximately 42% of the financial aid allocated to the Caribbean region under the 11th European Development Fund (2014-2020)



DGI : Revenue exceeds estimates

The Directorate General of Taxes (DGI) announces a surplus of nearly 560 million Gourdes of revenues compared to the forecast of 33 billion, for the year 2016-2017... The increase of the prices of the fuel being undoubtedly no stranger to this surplus.



PM speaks with the American charge d'affaires

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant met with Robin Dallio, the new US Charge d'Affaires. Strengthening Haitian-American cooperation and other topical issues in Haiti was at the heart of the meeting.



MUPANAH Summer Camp

Because in its objectives, the Museum of the Haitian National Pantheon (MUPANAH) is required to promote the identity values of the Haitian nation and that the children of today are the citizens of tomorrow, the Museum has partnered with Heritage Nou, to offer the young public, aged 5 to 15, a summer camp with the theme "Kilti m se fos mwen". This summer activity includes traditional dance workshops, drawings, painting, pottery, handicrafts, physical education, chat and theater, began on August 14 and will end on Friday, August 25, 2017.



HL/ HaitiLibre




















Collagin responds to watchdogs calls for buyers to boycott its products

By Michelle Perrett

The owners of Young in Spirit, the producer of CollaGin, has hit out at The Portman Group for damaging its business after a Retailer Alert Bulletin was issued against its product.

Writing on the CollaGin Blog, one of the Young in Spirit owners Camilla Brown, said: We are shocked and honestly gutted that today they took the first step to potentially, irrevocably hurt a start up company which has no power nor contacts to counteract such damning words.

She also accused The Portman Group of failing to provide the vital details of how it had worked to adhere to the rules and asked why a huge corporation would want to do this to them.

The ruling could be extremely detrimental to our brand and business, but at the end of the day Liz (Berwick) and I aren't going to bow down to corporate bullying, she said.

The blog response came after The Portman Group issued an alert instructing supermarkets, off-licences, convenience stores and other alcohol retailers not to place orders for CollaGin, in its current packaging after 29 October 2017.

The Independent Complaints Panel (ICP) said the product made therapeutic claims and the packaging contained several references to the beneficial effects of the active ingredient collagen including the elixir of youth, Skin & Tonic and beauty drink. It concluded that it should not appear on the product label in its current form.

The secretary of the ICP has responded to the accusations.

The Code rules are not here to stifle creativity, innovative brands are one of the UKs great success stories. However, its vital that producers understand the codes, which govern alcohol marketing; these rules exist so that they cannot make therapeutic claims about alcohol and we have explained this to the company, said Kay Perry.

The Portman Groups free Advisory Service exists to help producers interpret the rules. The company did contact the Advisory Service about this product, but they chose not to take that advice on board. We would urge the producers to get in contact with the Advisory Service as soon as possible.

The ruling was made after two members of the public complained about the use of phrases such as the elixir of youth and anti-aging botanicals.

The ICP also noted that quotes from the company in media articles and on their own social media channels created an atmosphere in which the drink was being associated with beauty and anti-aging properties.

However, Young in Spirit said that Skin & Tonic was not a health claim and did not imply a beauty claim. It also stated that The Elixir of Youth was not a health claim and provided the definition: The elixir of life, also known as elixir of immortality and sometimes equated with the philosophers stone, is a mythical potion and supposedly grants the drinker eternal life and/or youth.

It also stated that stories about the product in the media were not based on the companys press materials and were outside of its control.

They revealed that they were PR consultants and new to the industry and that they would like to work with the Portman Groups Advisory Service to make changes to the product to bring it in line with the code.








(New York Times) A federal appeals panel upheld on Wednesday the insider trading conviction of Mathew Martoma, a former portfolio manager for Steven A. Cohen, in what prosecutors once called the most lucrative insider trading scheme of all time. Lawyers for Mr. Martoma, who is serving a nine-year prison sentence, had argued, in light of a recent ruling by the Supreme Court, that the jury in the trial had not been properly instructed and that the evidence the government presented was not sufficient to support a conviction.

To read this article:
The Eastern Uusimaa Police Department has confirmed that it is investigating the attempted aggravated assault stabbing of a young man in Pahkinarinne, Vantaa, on Sunday.

Several people of immigrant background have experienced more verbal and even physical abuse following the suspected terror attack in Turku, South-west Finland, on 18 August, reports Helsingin Sanomat .

YLE and Helsingin Sanomat both report that the victim of the attempted assault says he was approached by two men who asked if he was a Muslim before one of the men brandished a knife and tried to stab him.

The victim managed to flee with minor injuries and reported the incident to police, writes Helsingin Sanomat.

Police are investigating an attempted aggravated assault, reads a press release from the Eastern Uusimaa Police Department. The attack having a racist motive is one line of inquiry, but police cannot confirm that the act was racist. Polices information [about the incident] is based primarily on information provided by the plaintiff. The incident had no eyewitnesses.

Both of the suspected offenders have yet to be found and brought in for questioning, according to Helsingin Sanomat.

Suspected assault in Espoo

Helsingin Sanomat also calls attention to a second, possibly racially motivated assault. A 16-year-old girl of Somali background was assaulted by an elderly man in the staircase of her apartment building in Leppavaara, Espoo.

A relative of the victim told the newspaper that the elderly man verbally abused the girl in the staircase and accused her of the events in Turku. The man then hit the girl in the head as she tried to back off, causing her to fall down the stairs.

She was taken to hospital, reportedly with a concussion.

Weve yet to have the time to interview the parties to the incident, so were still trying to determine what exactly happened, Jyrki Kallio, a detective inspector at the Western Uusimaa Police Department, told the newspaper.

Vandalism in Parainen

A man has also been taken into custody for breaking the windows of an immigrant-owned pizzeria in Parainen, a municipality located some ten kilometres south of Turku, in the early hours of Saturday.

Kari Puolitaival, the deputy chief of police at the South-west Finland Police Department, reminded in a news conference that it remains unknown whether the act of vandalism was a reaction to the stabbings that had occurred less than a day earlier in Turku.

Were looking into the cause of the act. No other similar cases have been brought to our attention, he stated according to YLE.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Vesa Moilanen  Lehtikuva
A father-of-two has been found not guilty of breaking his teenage son's little finger in a row over the washing-up not being done. Stock image

A father-of-two has been found not guilty of breaking his teenage son's little finger in a row over the washing-up not being done.

The argument started when the man returned home to find his son playing video games while the dishes were still dirty.

The alleged victim (17) said his finger was broken while they struggled.

The accused (42) insisted he acted in self-defence and did not intend to cause the injury.

Judge Kathryn Hutton dismissed the case at Dublin District Court, saying there were inconsistencies in the evidence.

The father denied assault causing harm to his son at their south Dublin home in January 2016.

The alleged victim said his father returned to the house and complained that the dishes were not cleaned and they then had an argument.

"I remember out of frustration and out of anger I called him a faggot," the teenager told the court.

He said he left the room and his father pushed him hard, causing him to slip and fall.

Crack

During the subsequent confrontation, the young man put his hands up to his face to defend himself and said his father got hold of his hand.

"I heard a crack and saw that my right pinkie was broken," he said. "I was in a lot of pain and felt frightened."

He said his father then tried to "fix" the finger because he thought it was dislocated.

The teenager got scared and pushed him away before going up to his bedroom.

His father followed him to check that he was OK and the young man grabbed his hurley stick and "warned him not to come any closer".

He subsequently had two operations on his finger and still could not straighten it.

The teenager agreed with Nicola Cox, defending, that his father might have been acting in self-defence.

In his statement, the accused told gardai his son hit him on the back of the head five to six times and he turned around and caught his hand to protect himself.

This "unfortunately resulted in his finger being broken", he added.
Thomas Buckley said he had the drug for medical reasons. Photo: Douglas O'Connor/www.doug.ie

A DJ was caught bringing 4,000 of cannabis into Dublin Airport up his sleeve, it has been alleged.

Thomas Buckley (34) was arrested and charged with a drugs offence after he was stopped by customs officers in the airport.

He had arrived on a flight from Spain at the time of the incident earlier this year, a court was told.

The case was adjourned when Mr Buckley appeared before Dublin District Court.

The accused, of Knockaverry, Youghal, Co Cork, is charged with possession of cannabis with intent to sell or supply.

A garda sergeant told Judge Fiona Lydon that the DPP had directed summary disposal of the case at district court level.

Stuffed

Outlining the allegations, the sergeant said the accused arrived at Terminal 1 at Dublin Airport at 1pm on February 14.

The flight was from Barcelona, where he had been working as a DJ, the court heard.

He was stopped by a customs officer and cannabis with an estimated value of 4,000 was found stuffed into a jacket sleeve, it was alleged.

According to the prosecution, the accused said he had the cannabis for medical reasons.

The judge accepted jurisdiction to deal with the case.

This means it can be heard in the district court instead of being sent to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, which has tougher potential sentencing powers on conviction.

The judge adjourned the case to a date in October.

The defendant, who has not yet indicated how he intends to plead to the charge, did not address the court during the brief hearing.

He was remanded on continuing bail.
Only Finns drink more milk than us, but weve gone off butter. Photo: Stock

Only Finns drink more milk than us, but weve gone off butter. Photo: Stock

The Irish are the second biggest consumers of milk in the world.

However, when it comes to buttering our bread, we are five times more likely to use a spread or margarine.

Ireland is behind only Finland when it comes to drinking milk, with the nation consuming 169 pints per head last year, according to the latest figures from Euromonitor Inter- national.

Dropped

We lost our mantle as the biggest milk consumers in recent years after being passed by the dairy-mad Finns. The New Zealanders are in third place.

A decade ago, Ireland was consuming 235 pints per person, but the national milk intake has dropped by just over a quarter since 2006.

The Finns have a love affair with all things dairy, with one of their most distinctive national dishes consisting of blood sausage with lingonberry jam and a glass of milk.

While Ireland is a leading nation in terms of drinking milk, we are number 21 in the world when it comes to butter.

Euromonitor figures show Northern Europe comes out on top, with Sweden, Denmark and Germany ranked as the top butter consumers in the world.

While most of the top 10 butter-eating nations have increased consumption, the Irish have cut back.

The figures reveal Irish people ate just over three-and-a-half pounds of butter per head in 2006, but this had dropped to just under two-and-a-half pounds last year.

While our consumption of butter is low it comes to margarines and spreads.

Irish people indulge in these products five times as much, with more than 12 pounds eaten per head last year.

When it comes to cheese, however, Ireland is only 40th on a list topped by the French.
A TD has called for an investigation after a man collapsed on a busy street after being turned away from hospital because he did not have a referral letter from his GP.

The man, who is in his 50s, presented himself at St Columcille's Hospital in south Dublin, telling staff he was suffering from chest pains.

After pleading for attention, he is understood to have been told he needed a referral letter from his GP in order to be seen by a doctor.

He left the hospital just after lunchtime and got the bus to nearby Bray in order to visit his doctor.

However, he suffered a suspected heart attack on Bray Main Street and was cared for at the scene by passers-by until the emergency services arrived.

Surgery

He was rushed to St James's Hospital, where he has since undergone surgery.

Details of the case have been provided by the man's family to Sinn Fein TD for Wicklow, John Brady.

Mr Brady said he and the family are now demanding an urgent investigation following the incident.

"We are talking about a matter of life and death here," said Mr Brady.

"I have sought a meeting with hospital management to establish what exactly the protocols and procedures are here.

"I am also calling on Health Minister Simon Harris to demand a full investigation by the HSE."

St Columcille's was downgraded in November 2013, with a decision being made to shut down the emergency department.

As a result, those cases are diverted to St Vincent's University Hospital.

However, the hospital does have a medical assessment unit (MAU) and an injuries unit (IU).

Infection

While the hospital would not comment on individual cases, a spokeswoman said the medical assessment unit did not accept "walk-in patients".

"The medical assessment unit assesses patients referred by GP with acute medical conditions such as chest infec- tion, urinary tract infection, collapse, deep vein thrombosis, anaemia without active bleeding, fever and headaches," she said.

"The MAU is open seven days per week, from 8am to 6pm.

"It accepts GP referrals and patient transfers from St Vincent's University Hospital. It does not accept walk-in patients.

"The IU is open seven days per week, from 8am to 6pm.

"It manages minor injuries, and governance of the unit is with the emergency department in St Vincent's University Hospital."
The HIDTA's mission is to use a multi-disciplinary approach to deal with the ongoing threats to public health and safet, particularly as it regards prescription drug diversion, the emerging threat of heroin, as well as marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine.
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.
Why IU lost to Ohio St.: Buckeyes too good, but QB Williams not too bad

The result of Indiana's game against No. 2 Ohio State was nothing if not expected. But at least QB Dexter Williams showed some flashes for Hoosiers.
HUDSON  People from across the region filled a 75-person capacity room at Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute on Tuesday afternoon to voice their opinions about proposed district maps.

The North Carolina General Assembly is required to redraw districts following a June U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld a lower court ruling from August 2016 that 28 North Carolina House and Senate districts were racially gerrymandering.

The North Carolina General Assembly will have until Sept. 1 to submit redrawn maps to the U.S. District Court of the Middle District of North Carolina.

Catawba County would not change representation under either of the two proposed maps for the N.C. Senate or House, but other counties in the area would be affected.

Caldwell County, currently part of the 45th Senate district, would become part of the 46th Senate district along with Burke and Avery counties.

The 46th district currently consists of Burke and Cleveland counties.

Iredell County would no longer be a part of the 44th Senate district, which would be composed of Lincoln, Cleveland and a portion of Gaston counties under the new plan.

Iredell County would be a part of the 34th Senate district along with Yadkin County.

Alexander County, now part of the 73rd House district, would become part of the 94th House district along with Wilkes County.

The hearing in Hudson was at 4 p.m., the same time as six other hearings throughout the states.

The hearings were connected by a video feed which cycle around so a few people at each hearing could be heard before the feed cut to another hearing where another group would speak.

Technical problems plagued the hearing, with people in the room often having difficulty understanding what people in other sites were saying.

The video feed also would freeze or go out at certain times.

Initially, the only microphones in the room at Hudson were suspended from the ceiling, but a hand-held microphone was brought in later in the hearing.

The comments, both those in Hudson and at other sites, were largely critical of the proposed maps.

The criticism included the facts the hearing had been rushed, the new maps did not effectively address gerrymandering, and the public had been given insufficient time to study the proposal before commenting.

The House and Senate redrawn maps were released over the weekend, while the data the committees used in drawing the maps was released Monday.

The fact Thomas Hofeller, the mapmaker who also helped draw the original maps that were found unconstitutional, was involved with drawing the new maps also drew criticism.

Two Hickory residents spoke at the hearing in opposition to the new maps.

Sarah Huffman, who said she is a member of Indivisible Citizens of Catawba Valley and the Hickory NAACP board, said the proposed maps needed to be redrawn.

The redistricting process must be open, avoid racial or partisan gerrymandering and allow voters to pick their own political representatives and not the other way around, Huffman said. These new maps, and Ive only had a short time, a very, very short time to study them, only corrects about 10 percent. Whats happened to the other 90 percent?

Thelma Eley criticized the Republican Party and Republican leaders, saying they have proven year over year that their concern is not for the marginalized but for those who have those deep pockets and who look more like them.

Gerrymandering is not just and does not provide the voices of all North Carolinians to be heard.

The set-up of the hearings and the technical problems also received heavy criticism.

You might as well say Just go home, because, like my friend here, shes not going to make it into the next round, so we know, depending on when we come back, we have another hour and 45 minutes to wait before she can speak, Kathryn McCurdy of Alexander County Indivisible said during a break.

Now thats insane.

A few people did express support for the redrawn maps.

Ted Alexander, the chairman of the Republican Party in the 10th U.S. Congressional district, said he believed the maps are an improvement over previous drawings by both parties and the proposed maps reflected changes in voter registration.

The courts should respect the process and allow the General Assembly to fulfill its obligation to draw maps under the North Carolina constitution, Alexander said.

Im concerned that continued litigation of these maps and districts will only serve to create continued unnecessary expense, chaos and uncertainty for voters and candidates alike, Alexander said. Im a native of North Carolina, grew up in Burke County. I cant recall a time in our states history where districts have been challenged over and over and over just because someone or some group doesnt like the outcome.

Sen. Warren Daniel, who represents the 46th district and is a member of the Senate redistricting committee, was present at the hearing.

Daniel is one of the senators who will see his district change under the new map  he would represent Burke, Caldwell and Avery counties.

Daniel currently represents Burke and Cleveland counties.

Burke and Caldwell have been aligned since after World War II, most of that time Burke and Caldwell had always been together as a district, so theres a lot of economic similarities, Daniel said in an interview during the break in the meeting. I think from an economic standpoint, the two counties, and Avery, fit together.

Rep. Destin Hall, a member of the House redistricting committee who represents Caldwell County, would not have his district changed under the proposed maps.

Hall said he believed, even with the tight timeframe, the public comments would have an influence on the process.

I think the committee is committed to listening as much as we can for as long as we can, and then well go back to Raleigh later this week and early next week, and well debate what we should do moving forward, Hall said in an interview during the break.

Even with the technical difficulties, the comments of those who came out will be noted, Hall said.

I think people have been able to get their voice heard today, because whatever the technological issues may have been, there are, as I understand it, representatives and senators at every physical location, so these folks are in the room with an actual member of the general assembly, Hall said.

Hall added the representatives and senators also are taking comments made through phone calls and emails into consideration.

For more information about the redistricting process, visit the General Assemblys home page at www.ncleg.net.
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The one-day bank strike on August 22 was a testimony to the disruptive power of the unions, but wont help resolve any of the key issues bedevilling the industry, which is 70% in the public sector. What the strike has demonstrated to ordinary bank customers is that they should shift to private sector banks in order to avoid disruptions.

Some of the demands made by the unions are defensible, including compensation for banks which were loaded with the costs of managing demonetisation, and declaring wilful defaults on corporate loans as a criminal offence.

But many more make no sense.

The unions want a halt to banking sector reforms and consolidation, and a no-writeoff policy on bad loans. Nowhere in the world do banks adopt a no-writeoff policy, and bad loans resulting from business failures do involve haircuts and writeoffs, especially when the failures are bonafide and not the result of fraud or the siphoning of funds.

As for consolidation, India has simply too many banks, and some degree of consolidation is vital for survival. Many small banks  Dena Bank, Indian Overseas  United Bank, and Central Bank of India, among them  are weakly capitalised, and without more equity, they cannot grow and survive.

So, while it is fine for unions to be concerned about the future of their jobs and the bad loan situation, their strike will do nothing to improve the situation. For example, when it is fair to ask the government to compensate banks and staff for the extra work they did during demonetisation, how is it fair to ask banks to bear the losses caused by the unions own strike, which resulted in inconveniencing customers, and caused business losses? Will unions bear these costs? In any event, since public sector banks are ultimately a sovereign responsibility, any losses  whether due to demonetisation or a strike  will ultimately have to be compensated by the taxpayer, whether through recapitalisation or lower dividends payable to the exchequer.

The real problem the strike highlights is the blissful unconcern the unions display about the long-term competitive positions of public sector banks. The strike impacted public sector banks more than private ones, since this is where the unions are strong. And it is public sector banks that are facing bigger losses than private banks due to the bad loans overhang.

Public sector banks are overmanned and inefficient, and will thus bear the brunt of higher competition due to the disruptions caused by big changes in banking business models.

For example, the arrival of payment and small finance banks means that there will be competition for low-cost deposits and high-interest paying borrowers. Airtel Bank, for example, is paying 7 % on deposits and Kotak Bank 6% when public sector banks have reduced savings bank rates to 3.5 %. Small borrowers, who pay the highest rates on borrowings, will increasingly be wooed by small finance banks.

Another big disruption heading at the speed of light towards stodgy public sector banks is digital banking. With demonetisation giving a push to e-payments and mobile banking, banks need fewer branches and ATMs in future. Even cheques are largely redundant for large payments. At some point, if e-wallets, online payments and mobile banking spike, even credit and debit cards will be less and less in demand. This means the most cost-competitive banks will not be those with lots of branches or ATMs or card customers, but those who can keep overheads lean and focus on digitising customer transactions. An Airtel with over 300 million mobile customers does not need too many branches to reach new customers. The Post Bank of India, with nearly 1.5 lakh branches, will be able to reach more customers in rural areas than any public sector bank  in fact, all of them put together.

Nandan Nilekani, former chairman of the UIDAI, says that banks will have to learn to earn money from data  the information they already have on their millions of customers, which they can use to cross-sell products like mutual funds or even consumer products. Thus fee income from cross-selling products will be key to profits, not just plain vanilla lending.

Given the changing nature of the challenges facing banking, public sector banks are on a losing wicket where they will have to shed labour rather than maintain current manpower strengths. Employment in banks will grow, but not of the kind which will join unions. The future of banking employment lies in those who manage bank technology and networks, those who focus on cyber frauds, and those who can sell and market products, and those who can offer customised services. But unionised banks are not the best advertisements for customer service. New banks will increasingly seek to replace manpower with technology.

In this scenario, what should unions do to stay relevant? The answer is simple: They should be demanding skill upgradation courses so that they can enhance their careers; they should be demanding better voluntary retirement schemes for those who are too old to retrain.

The last thing they should be doing is going on strike, and weakening the very banks that provide them a livelihood right now. They are cutting the branches they are sitting on.

R Jagannathan is editorial director, SwarajyaThe views expressed are personal
I had the good fortune of defending the Supreme Court judgment in Shah Bano case in Parliament in 1985 and to argue on behalf of Muslim women in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of instant triple divorce in 2017.

The Shah Bano judgement came after changes in the CrPC which included the ex-wife in the definition of wife. This change was necessitated in order to take care of a situation where the husband would desert the wife and when the deserted wife went to court seeking maintenance allowance, he began divorce proceedings. In the case of a Muslim husband only three pronouncements were sufficient to divorce her. Shah Bano was a text book case where she was first deserted by her prosperous lawyer husband 40 years after marriage and three years later when she approached the court, the husband used the instrument of instant divorce and asserted that he was not liable for any payment beyond the Iddat period, that is three months. The court in the light of new law that is section 125 of CrPC, decreed in favour of Shah Bano and ordered the husband to pay a paltry sum of less than Rs 250 per month. The matter went to higher courts and finally the Supreme Court upheld the judgment of the lower court in favour of Shah Bano.

At this stage the Muslim Personal Law Board jumped into the fray and began organising protest meetings saying that this judgment was an interference in matters of religion and if this judgment was not reversed it would obliterate the community identity of Muslims. It was the same separatist argument that was advocated by the Muslim League before 1947. Then it was asserted that Muslims were a separate nation, now it was asserted that the Muslims have a separate identity. The movement used extremely violent language. Outside Parliament in a protest meeting a call was given to break the legs of Muslim MPs who had opposed the Boards demand and inside Parliament, ZR Ansari, a minister, used contemptuous language for the Supreme Court judges describing them as teli and tamboli (oil pressers and paan sellers) trying to interfere in religious matters.

The Muslim Personal Law Board built up such pressure that the government was forced to take cognisance of it. To its luck, even Congress leaders such as Narasimha Rao and Arjun Singh held the view that the Congress Party cannot perform the role of a social reformer for Muslims and advised the prime minister not to endanger the political constituency of the party by ignoring the demands of the Personal Law Board. Rajiv Gandhi, the young prime minister, could not ignore this advise and agreed to bring a legislation to reverse the judgment. The announcement to this effect created such a massive backlash that within a few days the government was forced to do something to manage the adverse reaction and at this stage Ayodhya came handy and the unlocking of the gate was organised to divert public attention from the Shah Bano verdict.

I resigned the day the Bill was introduced on February 23, 1986. During the discussion, not a single minister of the government defended the bill on merit. They were simply said that there was an apprehension of a breach of peace. It sent out a message that the parliamentarians were not doing it because it was the right thing to do. They were doing it because they were fearful of the Personal Law Board and its threats. A government with 421 MPs was scared and out of that fear they were compelled to do something. This was something that was bound to offend public sensibilities.

I resigned because in August 1985, I had taken almost 60 minutes to defend the Shah Bano judgement in Parliament. Rajiv Gandhi wrote a small note congratulating me for the reaction that my speech had elicited. Six months later, the government decided to bring a legislation where the specific intent of the Bill was to reverse the judgement. I had defended that very judgment in Parliament. At that stage I realised that I have no moral right to continue in the government and to me the maintenance of my integrity was more important than the maintenance of the office that I was holding.

The Supreme Court judgment of 2017 is a victory for Muslim women and their organisations. The women who have fought this case lacked resources or any organised support system and yet they persevered and took the fight to its logical conclusion. I was approached by Shaista Amber, who asked me if I could appear on their behalf in Supreme Court and I took up my black coat and gown after a gap of 21 years.

This is a historic judgment that will pave the way for a new era in this country. The 2017 Supreme Court judgment will not only have a liberating effect on Muslim women  the threat of triple talaq that hung over their heads has been removed  but it also sends out a strong message of gender equality. It is a great source of inspiration even for non-Muslim women also. If these poor Muslim women without any resources can fight their battle successfully, why cant others?

The Supreme Court has used the word unconstitutional to describe triple talaq in a majority judgment. The door is now open and other provisions like polygamy can be challenged on the basis of its being arbitrary and unilateral. In fact my understanding is that like triple talaq, the unrestrained right to polygamy also finds no sanction in the Quran. It was an Arab practice and every Arab practice is not part of Islam. This judgment has opened the door, it is the beginning of a journey not the end and now the women will not stop at anything less than genuine equality of status as guaranteed by the Constitution of India.

In matters of social reform, the path is never smooth. You will hear about many cases where the man will still make three pronouncements. And the woman will refuse to move out saying there is no legal sanction for triple divorce. And if she chooses to go to the police, it will be a fit case for prosecution under harassment and mental torture. If in two or three cases effective action is taken, people will simply forget about triple divorce.

The community has always wanted to move forward. It is the clerics who are the obstacles. In 1986 they succeeded in arousing Muslim passions but with the rise in literacy and awareness levels particularly among women, this time they got no real response. Secondly, the present political dispensation also discouraged them from launching any aggressive protest movement. The manner in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi supported Muslim women and the affidavit and advocacy by the government has certainly helped them fight this historic battle.

This judgment brings to my mind an observation of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Sometime in the mid-1950s, Taya Zinkin, a correspondent from The Guardian, London had interviewed Panditji. She asked him what he considered his greatest achievement in life? Panditji had said: I succeeded to secure rights for my Hindu sisters which were denied to them for centuries. Then she asked and what his lifes greatest disappointment was ? Panditji shot back: I could not achieve the same for my Muslim sisters.

Many people say that the stand I had taken in 1986 has now been vindicated. I do not look at the judgment in this way. What I had done was dictated by my conscience and in matters of conscience no external vindication is needed. Yes I would again say that the credit for this glorious verdict goes to the brave Muslim women who displayed great courage and fought valiantly to secure justice. This judgment has redoubled the faith of the common men and women in our system, our judiciary and our constitution. It is a happy omen for our secular, democratic Republic.

Arif Mohammad Khan is a former Union minister and was counsel for the All Indian Muslim Women Personal Law Board in the triple talaq case
August 24, 2017 is a red-letter day in the history of India. In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court of India has unanimously declared the right to privacy to be a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution.

The Supreme Court has categorically held that the right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution of India and as a part of the freedoms guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution. The judgment represents a quantum leap in the evolution of legal jurisprudence pertaining to privacy in India.

Traditionally, Indian society has its roots in the joint family system. Consequently, sharing of information has been an integral part of Indian culture. It is pertinent to note that as on date, India does not have a dedicated law on privacy. The Indian Information Technology Act, 2000 is not a law that safeguards privacy in the digital and mobile ecosystem.

The Aadhaar-based litigations in the Supreme Court gave rise to the issue as to whether the right to privacy was a fundamental right . Now, the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court has delivered its historic judgment wherein it has unanimously declared that the Right to Privacy is a fundamental right, as an intrinsic element of Article 21 of the Constitution. Article 21 stipulates that no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty, except according to procedure established by law.

The said judgment is extremely important as it recognises, for the first time, the current significance of privacy, both personal and data privacy. The judgment of the Supreme Court mirrors the hopes and aspirations of the people, as without privacy, the very notion of modern life is under threat.

The path-breaking judgment states that the earlier decisions in the MP Sharma v. Satish Chandra and Kharak Singh v. State of UP cases have been overruled.

The main ramification of the present judgment is that the Right To Privacy remains in Article 21. Therefore, it is safe to assume that the courts from now on will read more in the right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The interpretation provided by the Supreme Court is ingenious, topical, relevant and will withstand the test of time.

This judgment empowers the hands of the citizen against the state. It also now provides citizens an effective legal remedy of challenging any state action, violating their privacy, under the writ jurisdiction. Any person can challenge such action, before the Supreme Court and High Court under Article 32 and 226 of the Constitution respectively.

India is at the cusp of a new digital revolution. The government has already launched the Digital India Programme with the objective of transforming India into a knowledge society and economy by 2018. An integral component of Indias march towards Digital India are issues pertaining to the protection of privacy. Given the fact that India does not have a dedicated law on privacy, the present judgment assumes more significance as it provides the status of sanctity to the right to privacy.

With a population of about 1.33 billion, India is expected to become the most populous nation in the world in the next seven years. The mobile revolution has transformed sections of our population into global authors, global transmitters and global broadcasters of data. In that context, it becomes extremely important that the privacy of data of Indians as also their personal privacy be adequately protected.

In that direction, the judgment of the Supreme Court comes in as shot in the arm. The judgment has huge long-term ramifications for the state as also other stakeholders in the digital ecosystem.

The Supreme Court upholds the sanctity of one of the most critical aspects of modern-day life. With the passage of time, the judgment will also have a direct and monumental impact on how the legal jurisprudence on privacy will develop in India.

Pavan Duggal is Supreme Court advocate and cyber law expert

The views expressed are personal
There are four things passengers want when they are travelling by train: Punctuality, comfort, safety and cleanliness. Railways minister Suresh Prabhu has diligently delivered on the last one cleanliness. He has also improved the comfort level of travelling by train. But punctuality and passenger safety continue to be sore areas for the Indian Railways.

On November 27, 1956, then rail minister Lal Bahadur Shastri announced his resignation in the Lok Sabha for the Ariyalur train accident. And on Wednesday, Prabhu offered to resign after the two derailments. The derailment of Kalinga Utkal Express has so far claimed more than 20 lives and left another 156 injured. It also shows that theres still a long way before the Indian Railways make its vast network accident-free (a large number of accidents are caused by human errors) and improve punctuality.

Despite these accidents, it will be a mistake to remove Suresh Prabhu.

Heres why. Prabhu is perhaps the only minister in the recent times, after Nitish Kumar, who is reforms-oriented. He has not shied away from hiking fares  keeping in mind the acute cash crisis the giant organisation faces despite its monopoly in the sector. His intent is right, his vision is clear and things, at least on some fronts, look better.

In the last 13 years, the seat of the railway minister on the second floor of Rail Bhavan has almost become a game of musical chairs. During the 10-year-long UPA era, Indian Railways saw eight railway ministers. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs record was slightly better than the Indira Gandhi regime when India saw 11 railway ministers during a period of 13 years. And in 2012 it came to such an extent that one minister presented the rail budget, then he was sacked, and another minister replied to the debate on the rail budget.

But things didnt improve.

Being a rootless politician also helps Suresh Prabhu in managing the railways, which has been a victim of regional political ambitions for a long time. Prabhu, unlike Mamata Banerjee or Ram Vilas Paswan, didnt accord special attention to his voter-base. Thats why he could afford to present a budget without announcing any new train.

Indian Railways need better supervision at the ground level, overhaul of its archaic infrastructure and bureaucratic set up and generate more revenue to become sustainable. And yes, India also needs high-speed trains to connect the vast country in a faster, better way.

Prabhus entry into the Cabinet and the BJP had been dramatic. Hours before Modis first Cabinet reshuffle, he joined the BJP and his name was included in the list of new ministers who would take oath. His exit will not help the Indian Railways. Theres no guarantee that the 14th railway minister in 13 years will improve the Indian Railways.

@SaubhadraC

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Ileana DCruz says it would be wrong on her part to say that she cannot be a prop in a movie as she has enjoyed playing a glamorous diva on screen. Recently, actor Taapsee Pannu had spoken out against the way women were portrayed in films, recalling a shot from her debut Telugu film, in which a coconut was thrown at her navel. They threw a coconut at me. I dont know what is so sensuous about a coconut hitting my midriff, Pannu had said at the time.

However, Ileana, who has worked extensively in down South, believes that objectifying women is not an issue of only South Indian films as it happens everywhere. I dont want to put a finger and say it only happens in South Indian films, it happens everywhere. There could be films in Bollywood as well, where the women sometimes are just a prop...It would be prudish to say I dont want to be a prop in a film because there are certain films Ive loved doing as I have looked very glamorous in them. At the end of the day, its your choice if you want to do it, said Ileana.

The actor says she had been in such situations when she was shot in a certain way but couldnt object as she was a newcomer in the world of films back then. I have been parts of some films in the South where I didnt expect certain shots to be shot in a certain way. I wasnt experienced enough, I was very naive, I didnt have the standing of an actor to say that I dont want to do this shot. So it really depends. Some people are ok with it, some are not. At the end of the day, you are doing the film for the audience. May be some section of people actually like watching this, she adds.

Recalling the experience while shooting her very first film, Ileana, who will next be seen in Baadshaho, says, They threw a fairly big shell on my belly. I didnt understand it. I asked the director, Why did you throw a shell on me? and he was like, it looks beautiful. I said but it was really heavy. There was also a shot with flowers around my waist. I asked why are you taking shot of my waist, he said because it looks beautiful, lovely. It is supposed to be a mark of a womans beauty, its the perception there, they believe that the waist line is the most attractive part.

Baadshaho, also featuring Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi and Esha Gupta, is scheduled to release on September 1.
A little over 36 years after he co-founded Infosys Ltd with six others and exactly a decade after he stepped down as its chief executive officer, Nandan Nilekani has returned to the company after he was unanimously named by the board as its non-executive chairman in a widely anticipated move.

The appointment, a significant victory for co-founder NR Narayana Murthy in his fight against the board of Infosys, will soothe the nerves of the companys largest investors, who have been spooked by the events of the past week, during which Vishal Sikka stepped down as CEO.

R Seshasayee has resigned as non-executive chairman and Ravi Venkatesan has stepped down from his position as co-chairman. Venkatesan will retain his seat on the board as an independent director.

Sikka, who was appointed executive vice-chairman last week after he resigned as CEO, has also stepped down.

Sikka will receive a severance payout of $246,575, a variable pay of $205,572 and company-paid benefits for 90 days.

Infosys declined to comment on the tenure of Nilekanis appointment as chairman.

UB Pravin Rao will retain his position on the board as well as his post of interim CEO.

Nilekanis appointment has also brought about sweeping changes on the board, with the resignations of directors Jeffrey Lehman and John Etchemendy. Nilekani served as Infosyss CEO from 2002 to 2007.

His comeback mirrors the return of Murthy in June 2013 when he was brought in to orchestrate a turnaround of the companys flagging fortunes.

I am happy to return to Infosys, now in the role of non-executive chairman, and look forward to working with my colleagues on the board and in executive management on the business opportunities we see before us and delivering benefits to our clients, shareholders, employees and communities. I thank Vishal for his service as the CEO of Infosys over the last three years and wish him well in his future endeavors, Nilekani said in a statement.

Nilekani is expected to take charge of Infosyss hunt for its next CEO and also help reconstitute the board of the company which has, over the past 18 months, come under fire for alleged lapses of corporate governance.

Mint had reported earlier on Thursday that Nilekani was likely to return as chairman and that he had insisted on a clean slate as one of the primary conditions for his return, raising the prospect of a massive overhaul of the board.

Earlier on Thursday, Mint also reported that the entire board, barring two directors, had offered to resign.

Mint also reported that Nilekani himself was likely to want to retain at least a few board members, such as Venkatesan and DN Prahlad, since he wants a functional board to start with.

Nandan is the ideal leader for Infosys at this stage in the companys development. His appointment will allow Infosys to focus on the strategic changes it needs to make in order to capitalize on the attractive opportunities in the years ahead. Under Nandan, Infosys will build a cohesive management team that will no doubt take the company to a leadership position in the industry. I believe these changes will infuse further confidence to the stakeholders in executing the transition plan and in reinforcing the strategy for the future, Seshasayee said in the statement.
At the congress (Photo: VNA)

Addressing the congress, Deputy Secretary of the Soc Trang Party Committee and Chairman of the provincial Peoples Council Lam Van Man, said that the Vietnam - Cambodia friendship had always been developed by the two Parties and States in diverse areas, including politics, economics, security and defence. The establishment of the Association in Soc Trang province is also a practical activity to mark the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam - Cambodia diplomatic relationship, he said.

With a total population of over 1.3 million, Soc Trang province is home to a large ethnic Khmer community, numbering over 400,000 or representing 30.71%. It is the locality of many veterans who were Vietnamese volunteers to Cambodia. At present, a lot of enterprises in Soc Trang province are doing business in Cambodia.

In the 2017-2022 period, the Soc Trang Vietnam - Cambodia Friendship Association will help deepen the relations with partners and the Cambodia -Vietnam Friendship Associations in Cambodian localities; and disseminate the Vietnamese Party and State external policies about Vietnam - Cambodia relationship.

Mr. Man was elected as President of the Association./.
Shares in Infosys rose for a third straight day on Thursday, following reports that former chief executive Nandan Nilekani could return to the board to help the software services exporter ride out its latest controversy.

The board has been locked in a dispute for months with the companys founders, led by former chairman Narayana Murthy, who have accused the directors of governance lapses. Vishal Sikka resigned as CEO last week amid what he said were baseless/malicious and increasingly personal attacks - sparking a sell-off and wiping billions of dollars off the firms market value.

The stock soared 2.71 per cent to an intra-day high of Rs 918.80 on the BSE. It had opened at Rs 907.

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the scrip jumped by 2.85 per cent to the days high of Rs 918.25.

The surge comes a day after as many as 12 fund managers, representing institutional investors at Infosys, have suggested bringing Nilekani back on the board of the IT major to restore confidence of stakeholders and help resolve the leadership crisis.

This is the second major pitch for Nilekani after an investor advisory firm IiAS said the co-founder, who had served as CEO between March 2002 to April 2007 and later went on to head the UIDAI, should be brought back on to the Infosys board as its non-executive chairman.

The 12 fund mangers, in a joint letter according to sources written to Infosys chairman, among others, said Nilekani enjoys confidence of various stakeholders, including customers, shareholders and employees.

Given his credentials, we feel that his joining the board at this stage will restore confidence of stakeholders in the company and also facilitate resolution of the contentious issues that Infosys is facing presently. We do hope that you will consider the above and do the needful, said the signatories of the letter.

The companys stock had crashed 10 per cent last Friday after shock exit of Vishal Sikka as CEO and 5 per cent more on Monday despite a share buyback announcement on Saturday.
Technocrat Vishal Sikka termed his dramatic resignation as CEO of the global software major Infosys as one of the hardest decisions of his life.

It was one of the hardest decisions of my life, but I feel that it had to be done, Sikka, 50, told Forbes India in his first interview since his decision to quit on August 18 caught stakeholders unawares and tanked the IT majors stock to a three-year low of Rs 884.20 on the bourse.

Though the companys Board accepted Sikkas resignation, it appointed him as Executive Vice-Chairman on an annual salary of $1 till the new CEO takes over by March 31, 2018.

Quoting German novelist Hermann Hesse in the context of his exit from the iconic company three years after he joined as its first non-founder CEO in 2014, Sikka said he believed in living gracefully and letting go of things not meant for him though some think holding on makes them strong.

It is freedom from the known that helps you renew yourself, asserted Sikka, who has been inspired by the teachings of Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurthi.

On his achievements, he said: We grew revenues steadily while keeping a strong focus on margins, closing the first quarter of 2017-18 at 24.1 percent operating margin, beating our competitors for the first time in many years. Meanwhile, revenue per employee grew for six quarters in a row.

Sikka however said that his departure would not stall the companys push into AI, automation, computing and data analytics.

Asked if he thought Indian promoters found it difficult to give up control over a company after handing over the reins to professional CEOs, he said that he would not like to generalise or comment on it.

I dont think we can make generalisations of it. I want to say the world is going through profound change in terms of landscape, manufacturing, retail, telecom or even services, as everything has undergone seismic changes on the back of new digital technologies, computing and now AI, he said.

On what he would do for the company as its Vice-Chairman over the next seven months of his tenure, Sikka said: I want to help with the transition, find a good management team and help (COO-turned-interim CEO U.B.) Pravin (Rao) establish this.

I also want to help institutionalise some of the initiatives and strategies, and maintain relationships with key clients, as Infosys is a peoples company and employees make it all matter.

A doctorate in Artificial Intelligence from Stanford University, Sikka was inspired over two decades ago by the meteoric rise of the Bengaluru Tigers, Indian tech start-ups incubated by a bunch of smart entrepreneurs. Two of them were Infosys co-founders N.R. Narayana Murthy and Nandan Nilekani, who were also his heroes.

Known as a disruptor in the Silicon Valley for creating German tech giant SAPs Hana platform, Sikka agreed to join Infosys on a call from its former Chairman K.V. Kamath in 2014, months after leaving SAP as its Executive Director.

When Sikka made a presentation on how to transform a traditional software services firm like Infosys, Murthy, who was then Chairman on return from retirement to revive the companys sagging fortunes, liked it and hired him.

Sikka, however, expected non-interference and support from Murthy, and would have never imagined that three years after presiding over a massive overhaul at Infosys, which started showing results, he would walk away from the very thing that had consumed him, said the magazine.

Ultimately, Sikka reached a point where personal attacks (by Murthy) took a toll on his ability to make changes. Even investors were disappointed by his exit, as he bolstered its shares 20 per cent during his three-year challenging tenure, said Forbes.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will investigate the Srijan scam involving alleged transfer of government funds amounting to more than Rs 800 crore to accounts of a non-government organisation in Bihars Bhagalpur district.

A notification for the probe was issued on Thursday by the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions.

The scam took place between 2007 and 2013, when BJP leader Sushil Modi was the finance minister though the government says the NGO, Srijan Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti, was authorised to transfer funds in 2003 when RJD chief Lalu Prasads wife, Rabri Devi, was the chief minister.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar ordered a CBI probe into the scam last week as he moved quickly to rob the Opposition of an issue to question his policy of zero-tolerance on corruption.

The chief minister decided to hand over the case to the central agency after a high-level review meeting with chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh, DGP P K Thakur, principal secretary (home) Amir Subhani and inspector general of police (IG), economic offence unit (EOU), Jitendra Singh Gangwar, who was sent to Bhagalpur to inquire into the matter.

An initial probe has revealed involvement of nationalised banks, government officials and employees in the fraudulent withdrawal of government funds in three districts of Bhagalpur, Banka and Saharsa.

Earlier, opposition parties led by leader of the opposition in Bihar assembly, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and RJD chief Lalu Prasad had called for a CBI probe into the scam.

The scam came as a major embarrassment for Kumar, who had broken ranks with the opposition to join the BJP-led NDA last month on the issue of corruption charges against Tejashwi and other members of Lalu Prasads family.

Alarmed over the magnitude of the scam, Bihar chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh has asked all district magistrates to get their accounts checked thoroughly, raising doubts that the government may have been caught napping, even as it was the government, which eventually detected the scam.

The scam went unnoticed for so long as the NGO managed to furnish doctored bank statements and passbooks with the help of bankers and government officials.

The NGO allegedly used to procure cheque books from banks and forge signature of the district magistrate to issue cheques in its own favour, transferring huge funds to its account.

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Policemen led by their senior officer in Uttar Pradeshs Mathura thrashed the staff at a toll plaza on the Agra-Delhi highway, and allegedly looted cash after the boom barrier fell on their vehicle that was passing through the area, officials said on Thursday.

The incident took place at 10.45pm on Tuesday when circle officer (CO) of the Refinery area in Mathura, Nitin Kumar, was crossing the Mahuwan Toll Plaza. The barrier in the VIP gallery suddenly fell on his official vehicle, which angered Kumar.

Policemen from Farah and Refinery police stations reached the spot and Kumar allegedly led them in beating up the toll staff and the incident was captured on a CCTV camera installed at the plaza.

The footage also revealed that two of the policemen took away the cash lying inside the abandoned toll booths, officials said.

Vehicles at the toll plaza passed without paying tax for about one and a half hour amid the chaos.

Additional director general of police (ADG) Agra Zone Ajay Anand took notice of the matter and on Thursday suspended one of the constables who was identified as one of the policemen taking away the cash.

We are identifying others involved and a report has been sought from SSP Mathura about the whole incident. An exemplary action would follow against all involved so that no such case is repeated in future, Anand told the Hindustan Times on Thursday morning.

Efforts are on to identify the other one in uniform and would face the same action, he added.

Kumar, on his part, claimed the toll plaza staff misbehaved with his men when they were trying to remove the barrier from the vehicle. According to CO Refinery, the staff at toll plaza got aggressive and even pelted stones after which the policemen took the action.

He denied looting of cash but said that if anyone found guilty would face action.

An FIR was filed against toll plaza manager Anil Kumar and two dozen others for stone pelting and misbehaving with the policemen at the Refinery police station. However, reports said the contractor of the toll plaza left for Lucknow to get his complaint against the policemen registered.

Police are now relying on the CCTV footage to find out the other policemen involved in the incident and the role of Kumar has been placed under the scanner.

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Haldwani

The management of the government-run Motiram Baburam (post graduation) College in Haldwani, on Thursday said it will impose a dress code for students, a move that has divided the students union in the institute.

Popularly known as MB (PG) College, one of the largest in the state with student strength of more than 13,500, the management said it will be imposing the dress code selected by the state government for the students, from September 10.

The students union election at the college is due in less than two months and the move could have political impact on the campus, students said.

The National students Union of India (NSUI)--the students wing of the Congress-- has decided to oppose the move while RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), said it will ask the college management to impose the dress code after the students union polls.

Admissions are presently on at the college for graduation and post graduation courses.

And a ruckus was created at the college campus when two NSUI activists--Harshit Joshi, Rohit Prakash and Rohit Rawatthreatened to immolate themselves by pouring kerosene on their bodies, if the student intake was not increased in the college.

With regular protests and demonstrations, the college management is taking its time to implement the dress code.

Time will be given to the students to get the dressesa pair of gray trousers and white shirt for boys and gray salwar suit for girlsready before the dress code is imposed, said college principal Jagdish Prasad.

The NSUI will oppose the move to implement dress code in the college, said student leader Harishit Joshi.

There are so many poor students in the college who will not be able to meet the expenses of making even a single set uniform and they will have to borrow money for getting the clothes stitched, he said.

Instead the college management should try to improve the standard of education at the college.

The ABVP welcomes the move to impose dress code at the college but it should be implemented after the students union elections are over, said ABVP leader Chandra Shekhar Joshi.
Haldwani: Shayara Bano, a resident of Kashipur who filed petition against triple talaq in the Supreme Court has returned to her home after the SC verdict banning instant triple talaq. She is overjoyed that Muslim women have got justice and she played a small role in the entire process.

Shayara, who will now commute between Kashipur to Moradabad for MBA said that she had anticipated a positive response from the court but did not know that it would deliver such an overwhelming verdict.

The verdict has strengthened my resolve to work for the masses, particularly children. I gained strength from the support of my family members who have always been with me at the time of need, said Shayara.

Shayaras father, Iqbal Ahmed said that some officers from the Intelligence Bureau and the Local Intelligence Unit (LIU) had come near the family court in Kashipur and met him. They said that they were monitoring Shayara as there could be threat from fundamentalist elements. I said that we live at Hempur depot of the Indian Army which is well protected and the entry of outsiders is restricted due to which we do not need security, he said. Although Iqbal pointed out that the Local Intelligence Unit were free to take any decision on her security.

Shayara said that her husband Rizwan who had divorced her in 2015 through triple talaq is married to someone else and so there is no question of reconciliation. She is fighting for the custody of her two children and plans to complete her MBA for a secure job so that she sustain her children. She also said that she would mull over the issue of marriage in the future and would decide only after consulting her family.

A fighter at heart, Shayara said that the society is plagued with evils and there is need to petition the courts about them. The uniform civil code is one of the issues which needs to be pressed forward now, so that the law for marriage is the same for all, she said.
DEHRADUN: Investigation in wildlife crime cases will receive a boost as the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is set to upgrade and equip five laboratories for analysing biological samples.

Under the MoEFCC plan, the Zoological Survey of India will modernise its five labs in Kolkata (headquarters), Chennai, Pune, Dehradun and Hyderabad. Boasting a network of over 1,000 scientists across the country, the ZSI recently recruited 40 more scientists to work in these five labs that will from now deal exclusively with wildlife cases.

The notification is to be done by the Union home ministry within a few months following which the process of equipping the five labs with modern, cutting-edge tools will start. The MoEFCC is engaging the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Bareilly for its expertise in toxicology test. These five labs will also conduct toxicology test once they are upgraded.

In the September 3, 2016 edition, Hindustan Times reported that the MoEFCC was looking for new labs for promptly carrying out forensic tests. The decision was taken after a spate of delay in lab findings affected investigation in tiger deaths.

Of the 62 tiger deaths reported so far this year, the National Tiger Conservation Authoritys website mentions the cause of mortality is known only in 12 and the remaining cases are under observation. This delay on many occasions affects the process of investigation. We definitely need more laboratories for speedy results to ascertain the cause of tiger deaths, NTCA member secretary Debabrata Swain said.

Moreover, Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India and Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology-the Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species will be relived from the burden of large number of wildlife cases. The labs were already conducting forensic tests of wildlife and custom cases. But, with the strengthening, we will focus on wildlife crime mainly, ZSI director Kailash Chandra told HT.

As per official records, WII received 3,322 samples for testing between 1987 and 2016. In 2015, the institute started began to impose costs for conducting tests. But its still conducting forensic tests free of cost for Uttarakhand.

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Taking seriously rumours that a tracking chip was installed in currency notes after demonetisation, three robbers in Delhi allegedly stole lakhs of rupees from a bank only in coins to avoid getting detected.

The three friends, contractual employees at a Delhi Transport Corporation bus depot where the bank is located, told the police they had planned to sneak away with the coins because they believed notes could be tracked down.

The men were arrested on Tuesday evening, 12 hours after they robbed Syndicate Banks branch in north Delhis Mukherjee Nagar.

Police found coins of Rs 5 and Rs 10 amounting to Rs 2.3 lakh stolen from the bank in 46 polythene bags.

They said stealing banknotes, especially the Rs 2,000 notes, was not their plan at all as they believed that notes could be tracked through chips or GPS after demonetisation. So, they decided to steal all the coins instead, a police official said.

They also thought coins would be easier to use as shops and money exchangers might accept them without suspicion.

The three men were cleaners and storekeepers at the depot, which they joined a month ago. They told the police they planned the robbery after watching crime thrillers and heist films.

They entered the bank from a window. They had cut the window grille with equipment available at the depot. A bank employee noticed the window when he came to work that morning. Thats when the bank staff realised there had been a break-in and all Rs 5 and Rs 10 coins were missing.

When police began probing the case, they had two clues. While breaking into the bank, they had ended up breaking two blades of a hacksaw they used to cut the window grille. The two broken blades and a plier left behind at the spot made us suspect it could be the handiwork of electricians, said a senior police officer.

The officer said that the recoveries made the police suspect that people working at the DTC bus depot adjacent to the bank could be involved.

CCTV footage made the cops job easier. Though they were masked, one of them had an R tattooed on his left wrist. Police began questioning the workers at the bus depot and looked for the tattoo.

The cops zeroed in on Rahul, a 21-year-old bus cleaner, who had a similar tattoo on his wrist. He led them to his two accomplices, Rahul and Anuj. All of them belong to Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh.

The arrested men led the police to the stolen coins which they had hidden on the roof of an abandoned building nearby, said police.

They were unable to carry all the packets containing the heavy coins. So, they hid most of the coins under an empty white sack and carried along only five packets which contained roughly Rs 10,000, the officer said, adding much of the Rs 10,000 was used by the suspects to buy ganja and smack.

A DTC spokesperson told HT that the accused were not employees of the corporation. They were hired by the manufacturer responsible for maintaining our buses. However, we are planning to issue a letter of caution to all depots to create deterrence and prevent such incidents, a DTC spokesperson said.

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A 25-year-old man from Myanmar was shot dead in a dhaba at southwest Delhis Uttam Nagar on Thursday morning.

Police said that the victim, Inayat, had come to Delhi looking for a job two years ago. He worked as a cook at Mulla Biryani Dhaba where he was allegedly shot dead around 9am. The accused is on the run.

Information was received that a firing incident had occurred in block B, JJ Colony, Hastsal, Uttam Nagar. On spot enquiry, it came to notice that one person named Inayat, aged 25, was found injured and shifted to Mata Chanan Devi Hospital. He was declared brought dead at the hospital, said additional deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Gaurav Sharma.

Police have recovered the gun from which Inayat was shot in the back.

Police sources said that the accused is an ex-worker of the dhaba, who had been fired twice from the job.

On Thursday morning, as soon as the restaurant opened its shutter and customers began coming in, the accused entered the outlet and shot Inayat.

Police said that the incident was captured in a CCTV. A case of murder has been registered at Uttam Nagar police station. The staff of the dhaba is being questioned. Investigation is underway, said a senior police officer.
The resident doctors at Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi went on strike for indefinite period on Wednesday after their colleague was allegedly manhandled by the attendants of a patient.

The emergency services were also interrupted at the hospital.

The strike badly affected the patients who were asked to return from the emergency gate by the security guards without being treated.

A resident doctor was allegedly assaulted by a patient in the Out Patient Department (OPD) of the hospital on Wednesday.

The resident doctors said that they called for strike to oppose such assault and to get their security concerns fulfilled.

Around 2:30 in the afternoon, a patient assaulted a doctor alleging that his treatment was being delayed by the doctor. Such incidents are not new to us. Earlier also we witnessed such violence. Our security should be increased to check such attacks. We will go for indefinite strike till are demands are fulfilled, Dheer Singh, president of Safdarjung resident doctors, told ANI.

An FIR was also filed in this regard, said Sigh demanding proper security arrangement in the hospital.
Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President of Myanmar Htin Kyaw (Source: VNA)



President Htin Kyaw stressed that Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trongs visit is an important historic milestone and will open up a new chapter in the two countries ties.

Meanwhile, Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong noted that the visit will offer the two sides to outline strategic orientations to create a new hallmark, a new height and a new impetus for the bilateral ties across sectors.

They expressed their delight to see the Vietnam-Myanmar ties growing across diverse areas, especially since former Party General Secretary Do Muois visit in 1997. Two-way trade hit USD548.3 million, exceeding the set target of USD500 million. Vietnam has become the ninth largest trade partner and the seventh largest foreign investor of Myanmar.

Both sides agreed on major orientations to lifting bilateral ties to a greater height by intensifying political links at all levels, especially at the highest level while continuing to strengthen bilateral relations on the Party, Government, National Assembly, sector and local channels.

Further attention will be paid to people-to-people exchange, especially young leaders and people.

On national defence-security, they pledged to soon establish the national defence policy dialogue mechanism at the deputy ministerial and vice chief of the general staff levels and the Joint Working Group mechanism at the head of the external relation agency level.

The two countries will reinforce joint work in defence industry, army medical training, sharing of information, consultation and mutual support at bilateral forums, especially within the framework of the ASEAN Defence Ministerial Meeting (ADMM) and the ADMM Plus.

They vowed to not allow any individuals or organisations to make use of this countrys territory to sabotage the other country.

Regarding economic cooperation, the two sides proposed promoting the current development momentum and actively supporting each other to host trade and investment promotion activities to increase trade value.

They suggested focusing on cooperation in banking, finance, aviation, telecommunication, and other supplementary fields such as mining, agro-forestry-fisheries, tourism, and consumer products.

It is also necessary to increase exchanges and share experience in economic management, reshuffle and institutional reform.

Vietnam and Myanmar agreed to enhance air, land and sea route connectivity through stronger cooperation in seaport construction, maritime and aviation transport, and shipbuilding, as well as consider the establishment of an aviation joint venture and the development of roads connecting the two countries and within the cooperation framework of ASEAN, Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), and Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam (CLMV).

The transport of passengers and goods along the bilateral economic corridors will help promote trade, investment and tourism exchanges between Vietnam and Myanmar in particular and in the region as a whole.

Party leader Trong took this occasion to thank President Htin Kyaw and the Myanmar Government for creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese businesses to make investment and hoped the country will provide more support for them to do more for the host countrys development efforts.

President Htin Kyaw welcomed Vietnamese firms to step up investment in Myanmar for mutual benefits and highly valued Vietnams investment of 500 million USD in tourism.

The two leaders also exchanged regional and international issues of mutual concern and affirmed Vietnam and Myanmar have shared a lot of benefits and similar viewpoints on regional and global security matters over the past few years. The two sides have actively coordinated and supported each other at sub-regional, regional and global forums.

They agreed to push ahead with information and viewpoint exchanges in such organisations as the GMS, the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC), and the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) to intensify cooperation in using effectively and sustainably water resources from the Mekong River for the common development and prosperity of the region and each country.

President Htin Kyaw affirmed Myanmar supports Vietnam to run for a non permanent seat at the UN Security Council in the 2020-2021 tenure.

As regards the East Sea issue, the two leaders shared the same opinions that any disputes in the East Sea should be settled through peaceful measures and in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

They called on the involved parties to implement fully and effectively the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and soon reach a Code of Conduct in the East Sea to maintain regional peace, stability, security and cooperation.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Htin Kyaw emphasised that Vietnam and Myanmar need to promote role and strengthen coordination with other ASEAN member nations to maintain internal solidarity and unity as well as promote the central role of ASEAN in regional architectures, realise the ASEAN Communitys targets, and contribute to peace and stability in the region.

Late on the day, President Htin Kyaw hosted a banquet in honor of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and the Vietnamese high-ranking delegation./.
In an accident that highlighted the unsafe working conditions on the NH-24 expansion project in east Delhi, a safety officer was killed and two other workers injured after being rammed by an allegedly speeding Toyota Fortuner in the early hours of Thursday.

The impact of the hit was such that the safety officer, 27-year-old Jasveer Singh, first lost a leg before falling on the Fortuners bonnet. The car driver, however, did not choose to stop and drove a further 50 metres before swerving the SUV to throw off the victim before speeding away.

Everything happened so quickly that I could not note down the Fortuners registration number. There was dust all around, said Keshav, a worker who survived the accident with a few injuries.

Through Thursday, the local police remained clueless about the white Fortuner involved in the accident.

We searched the stretch of the road for any CCTV footage, but failed. There are CCTV cameras installed, but they are not working because of the construction work going on for the expansion of the NH-24, police said.

The accident occurred at about 1.45am on Thursday on NH-24 near Mayur Vihar Phase-2. Singh, Keshav, Deepak and a driver Sachin had been tasked with putting up safety boards along the road where expansion work is going on.

Massive construction work is on at NH-24 from Sarai Kale Khan up to UP Gate for the expansion of the arterial road and the building of Meerut Expressway.

These men, hired by a construction company, had been moving around in a van to place the safety boards wherever required. The accident occurred when Singh, Keshav and Deepak got off the van to place the boards.

Singh was instructing us on how to go about the work. Our safety blinker lights were on. The vans parking lights were on. But a white Fortuner still managed to hit the van before ramming us, said Keshav.

The worst hit was Singh whose left leg was immediately cut off as he was flung a few feet in the air before landing on the cars bonnet. As the Fortuner drove on with Singhs body, Keshav and Deepak lay injured.

Sachin, the sole unharmed man, called the police control room after which a PCR team reached the accident spot. The victims were rushed to a nearby hospital where Singh was declared brought dead. The other two men are out of danger, said police.

A case of causing death by negligence, rash and negligent driving and causing hurt by a negligent act has been registered against the unidentified driver. It is a case of hit-and-run. We are yet to get a clue in this case, said Omvir Singh, DCP (East).
Fancy a major throwback all the way from the 19th century?

Delhi Police on Thursday tweeted a picture of the first FIR (First Information Report) they had filed on October 18, 1861 with a caption that said #KhaasHaiItihaas (History is important). The stolen items mentioned in the FIR are three large cooking utensils, three small vessels, a bowl, a hukka (smoking pipe), womens clothing and a kulfi (ice cream).

Originally written in Urdu, the FIR was filed 156 years ago under the Police Act at the Subzi Mandi police station in North Delhi by Maeeuddin, a resident of Katra Sheesh Mahal. The total worth of items stolen from his house was 45 annas (about Rs 2.81 then).

According to a report in The Hindu, the document was framed and put on display at the Delhi Police Museum in 2014. A photo of it was also put inside Subzi Mandi Police Station.

Twitter users loved the walk down history lane:

This is nice!  Priyanka (@autumnrainwish) August 24, 2017

the most beautifull thing its in urdu...and i saw few words of Urdu still being used in registering FIR...got it done for my mobile   bhupesh kakkar (@bhupi_kak) August 24, 2017

WoW! Vry intresting   Neetu Bindal (@NeetuBindal) August 24, 2017

Were the stolen items recovered and the accused convicted or penalised? Hindustan Times has reached out to the Delhi Police and will update this copy upon getting a response.

Kindly let us know if the stolen property were recovered & your first charge sheet filed in the court led to conviction of the accused?  Badal  (@Victor27941368) August 24, 2017
The Supreme Courts declaration that citizens have a right to be left alone is a huge milestone in the history of the Indian Republic and civil rights. The court has ruled that citizens have a right to privacy, which is intrinsic and fundamental to dignified human existence. While the court has not spelt out the full contours of privacy  it has given an illustrative example as to what privacy means. It said privacy includes at its core the preservation of personal intimacies, the sanctity of family life, marriage, procreation, the home and sexual orientation. By doing so, the court has affirmed an unwritten and ambiguous right, though recognised internationally as a fundamental human right. By stepping in  the courts have also filled a huge void left by our constitution framers.

Privacy as a right has not been given a separate legal status in any country. Across the world it has arisen out of judicial pronouncements. The nine-judge Supreme Court bench, which decided on the case, had to cast away the historical burden of previous judgments that refused to recognise privacy as a fundamental right. Interestingly, while doing so, a son, who was part of the nine-judge bench, overruled his fathers previous verdict in the infamous ADM Jabalpur case. While this judgment has crystallised an amorphous idea  it has also reopened a debate on many contentious issues that have been decided in the past. For instance, in the case of rights of the LGBT community, this nine-judge bench is of the opinion that the matter was wrongly decided on the touchstone of privacy. Sexual orientation of an individual is a matter of privacy. Similarly, the cases of abortion and willful termination of ones life  are set to witness renewed deliberations.

So far, the court has only decided if there is a right to privacy. Now that this is settled, it will turn its attention to the government project Aadhaar. Privacy is central to the legal challenge facing Aadhaar, the 12-digit biometric unique identity number; it is yet to be tested on its touchstone.

While privacy in India is still in its infancy, following immense developments in the field of media, technology and scientific thinking, the increasing role of corporations in the lives of citizens there is an urgent need to address this. The country could not have got a better gift from the judiciary for its 70th year of independence.
New Delhi

One in every five students from Class 1 to 8 in Delhi government schools have not received the money they are supposed to get in lieu of writing material and uniform.

The government, on Wednesday, told the Delhi High Court that it inspected 118 schools and found that out of the 7.6 lakh students enrolled in classes 1 to 8, almost 1.7 lakh were yet to get the benefits for uniforms and writing material.

Out of the total 7,59,517 students of classes I-VIII, payment has actually been disbursed to 5,50,130 students and payment process has been initiated in respect of 41,298 no. of students and actual transfer into their accounts will occur within a week days time, reads the affidavit filed by the Directorate of Education.

The government said all the students received free textbooks.

According to the document filed during the proceedings of a PIL filed by the NGO Justice for All, out of the 118 schools, 85 have reported that 50-80% students received the benefits, says the affidavit.

The government said payments were delayed because many students did not have Aadhaar cards, bank accounts or the students had simply not linked the two.

The main problem is the bank account of many students has not been linked with their the Aadhaar number. Many others simply dont have Aadhaar. As the benefits are now transferred through an Aadhaar-based direct benefit transfer, the process is taking longer, said Atishi Marlena, advisor to education minister Manish Sisodia.

Soumya Gupta, the director of education, said they had set a deadline of August 31 to ensure bank accounts of all students are linked with Aadhaar. If need be, the DOE would consider giving students the reimbursements in cash. No child will be denied of the benefits, she said.

The DoE, said in the affidavit, they received the inspection reports from 10 North Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) schools, 12 south DMC schools, 10 east DMC schools, 10 New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) schools and five schools under the Delhi Cantonment Board.

The document said the North DMC schools had not provided uniforms to their students and two SDMC schools had not given textbooks and writing material.

However, the reports also said all students in the inspected schools were seen carrying books and stationery and wearing uniforms.

While the North DMC spokesperson was unavailable for a comment, SDMC officials said their reports must have been misquoted. Our schools were found to be 100% compliant, according to inspection reports we submitted to the DoE, said an SDMC official.

Schools under the DCB had not provided any writing material. The CEO of the DCB said they would soon rectify this.We are holding a finance committee meeting on Thursday, and we will ensure all students get free notebooks too, said B Reddy Sankar Babu, the CEO of the DCB.

The Right to Education Act of 2009 mandates that students admitted to private unaided schools under the Economic Weaker Sections of society and Disadvantaged Groups categories, and all students admitted to government-run schools are entitled to books, uniforms, and writing material.

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The Indira Gandhi National Open University (Ignou) has signed an agreement with the governments Common Service Centres (CSC) under the Digital India programme for facilitating a bunch of online support services to its prospective and enrolled students.

The university said the MoU that was signed on August 22 will help students to submit online admission and examination forms, re-register, and avail of other services provided by Ignou, including payment facilitation through the CSC SPV Digital Sewa portal.

CSCs are access points in villages where the government provides a host of services related to ration cards, birth certificates, railway tickets, money transfers, etc. The CSCs also train people for using digital services.

Over 2 lakh CSCs will act as a single contact point for all the digital support services of the university.

This initiative will help the IGNOU to outreach its potential students in far flung and disadvantaged regions besides providing alternative digital support helpdesk to urban and semi urban students. The University is also progressing towards digitizing its learning resources (study materials) and students can be benefitted to access its learning resources at CSCs, it said in a statement.

Ignou is planning a series of workshops for the Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) of the CSCs to acquaint them with the digital support services to be given to its students. The regional workshops under the first phase will be held in Lucknow, Patna, Jammu, Ahmedabad, Raipur, and Guwahati in September.

The university is also contemplating to train and orient the VLEs to brand its Digital Learning Ambassadors (DLAs).
Seven members of a gang allegedly involved in leaking a question paper of the online examination for sub-inspectors (SI) last month have been arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh Police.

The online examination for SI recruitment was organised by UP Police recruitment board from July 7 to July 31 at 97 centres across the state. The test, however, was cancelled after the question paper was leaked on July 24 on social media platforms of WhatsApp, Facebook etc.

A case in this regard was registered at cyber crime police station in the state capital.

We have arrested seven persons for their involvement in the question paper leak, Amitabh Yash, IG, STF told reporters in Lucknow.

During the probe, it was found that Rs 10 lakh was charged by the gang who used to install remote access tools in computers of examination centres to solve the papers, he said.

It was also found that a Mumbai-based firm which was hired by the police to conduct the examinations lacked necessary online security measures and ignored physical, administrative and technical counter measures.

A security audit of all recruitments made by the company is underway, Yash said, adding efforts are on to arrest the kingpin of the gang.
Around 600 additional police personnel have been deployed in Gurgaon to maintain law and order in view of the verdict by the special CBI court in Panchkula on Friday in a rape case in which Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is the accused.

Apprehending trouble by his followers, in case the verdict goes against the Dera chief, the police has intensified checking at public places and set up 17 nakas (check posts) at the borders and other sensitive places to prevent any untoward incident.

The district administration, meanwhile, has set up peace committees across the district, particularly in rural areas to maintain peace and harmony.

Thousands of Dera followers have gathered at Panchkula over the last two to three days, forcing the Haryana government to announce a ban on mobile internet and data services and impose prohibitory orders across the state, including Gurgaon.

A meeting to discuss the law and order situation and to check police preparedness was also called on Thursday evening by Simardeep Singh, DCP, traffic, in which senior officials were present.

The Gurgaon police has issued special instructions to officials for maintaining law and order. All police stations have been asked to maintain an adequate force, share area information with control room on an hourly basis and maintain adequate riot control equipment. Also, 24-hour check posts have been activated at the borders to prevent movement of suspicious persons, Singh said.

As a precautionary measure, additional police force would be deployed at the Dera Sacha Sauda ashram in Sector 51. The SHO of Sector 50 along with his team will be deployed at the ashram, police said.

ACP (Sadar) Anil Yadav will be the in-charge of the deployment and patrolling of police officials in the city.

The administration has also imposed a ban on carrying licensed weapons or any other firearms. It has put curbs on the sale of petrol and diesel in large quantities.

The police are also keeping a check on any large movement of vehicles, particularly those going towards Panchkula.

Two videographers have been roped in at every police station, to record any untoward incident. The city police has also asked people to avoid listening to rumours and report the same to police.

The rape case against Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was registered in 2002 by the CBI on the directions of Punjab and Haryana court after complaints from two of his women followers. The chargesheet was filed by the CBI in July, 2007.

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The Centre and state government are in agreement that the Kherki Daula toll plaza has to be shifted, but all eyes are on a feasibility report that will be put before the board at the next meeting to be held 15 days from now.

A committee will be formed in a day or two to prepare the feasibility report which will assess the impact of the shifting of the toll from Kherki Daula to Sehrawan near Panchgaon, 11km away.

After a high-level meeting on Kherki Daula toll shifting on Wednesday, all stakeholders concurred that a committee must be formed to prepare a feasibility report which will be submitted in the next 15 days, said Ashok Sharma, project director (PD), National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

The shifting has to happen for sure but the grievances of the consortium of five banks has to be addressed before the shifting. The committee will prepare a feasibility report for that purpose, Sharma said.

Sharma will head the committee while representatives of five banks will be its members. The committee will mainly look at three things  the revenue loss from the shift, the impact on traffic volume and the legal tangles involved.

The consortium, led by Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC), has State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB), Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) and Bank of India (BOI) as members.

The consortium had formed a special purpose vehicle  the Millennium City Expressway Limited (MCEPL)  to run the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway from April 2014 to Jan 2023. This came after the termination of the previous operator the Delhi Gurgaon Super Connectivity Limited  by the Delhi High Court.

S Raghuraman, chief executive officer (CEO), MCEPL, said, From April 2014 till date, we have assessed a loss of Rs 98 crore due to toll exemption to locals of 31 villages. The exemption was not part of the agreement.

Also, the present volume of traffic crossing the toll averages around 75,000 per day. The shifting of the toll from the present site to the new location 11km away would definitely reduce traffic volume, he said.

The MCEPL owns the 27.7km stretch between Rao Tula Ram (RTR) Marg and Kherki Daula toll plaza. If the toll is shifted to Sehrawan, then it would add another 11km to the road length under MCEPLs control.

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Dr RN Singh was a 28-year-old senior resident in the department of paediatrics at Gorakhpurs Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College when the hospital got its first case of what was later diagnosed as Japanese Encephalitis.

That was in 1978. Since then, the mosquito-borne viral infection has caused annual outbreaks in the region, killing hundreds of children each year.

An 8-year-old boy was brought to the emergency early in the morning with a high fever that was about 104 degrees Fahrenheit, convulsions, and incoherent behaviour. He went into a coma six to eight hours later and died the next day. No one knew of what, recalls Dr Singh. Soon, the hospital was getting around 50 cases a year.

Japanese encephalitis and the deadlier Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) became the national buzzwords after 30 children died between August 9 and 11 in BRD Medical College, Gorakhpurs largest government hospital, amid allegations that a private company contracted to supply oxygen cylinders cut supply over a payment dispute.

The states Bharatiya Janata Party government admitted the shortage but dismissed allegations that an interruption in oxygen supplementation, which is crucial for critical care patients, caused the deaths. It said the vector-borne disease and other complications were responsible. However, opposition parties blamed government apathy for the tragedy.

The first JE case was reported in the North Arcot district of Tamil Nadu in 1955 and the infection stayed confined to southern India till 1973 when it was recorded from Burdwan and Bankura districts of West Bengal. In 1978, suspected outbreaks of JE were reported from 18 states and 24 states and Union Territories.

Gorakhpur did not have the testing facilities needed and a diagnosis was made on the basis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis. When cases started growing, samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune, which confirmed it as encephalitis caused by Japanese B virus, the 68-year-old doctor said.

There is no cure for encephalitis and symptoms are treated to manage the disease. The death rate is a high 30%, which means 30 of the 100 people who develop the symptoms die of it. Neurological disabilities in JE survivors often affect limb movements, mental ability, hearing and speech.

Records at BRDs physical medicine and rehabilitation (PMR) show it attended to 7525 cases in 2016-17 and 5750 in 2015-16. This year, the figure has already crossed the 4000-mark even as the peak season has set in for JE and AES.

After completing his residency, Dr Singh moved out of BRD and started a private practice in Gorakhpur and works to raise awareness about hygiene and early signs of encephalitis in the seven districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh Gorakhpur, Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Basti, Deoria, Sant Kabir Nagar, and Sidharth Nagar. Of these, the worst affected are Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, and Maharajganj.

After Gorakhpurs worst outbreak in 2005, India began vaccinating all children against JE from the next year. Vaccination, however, did not bring down the numbers, so India sought help from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States.

NIV established a branch in Gorakhpur in 2007 and after extensive testing, concluded in 2007 that non-JE cases were also in circulation, said Dr Singh.

Doctors began using the blanket term AES in 2008 for non-JE cases caused by viruses, bacteria, fungus, parasites, spirochetes, chemical, and toxins.

Like much of eastern UP, Gorakhpur is a JE-prone area and chief minister Yogi Adityanath wants a research centre in the area. But experts believe previous studies were good enough to reduce the number of deaths.

Until we clearly identify the cause for these cases in Gorakhpur, outbreaks cannot be stopped, said Dr Singh.

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A nine-member bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday delivered a landmark judgment unanimously declaring the right to privacy a fundamental right under the Constitution.

Privacy had emerged as a contentious issue while the apex court was hearing a batch of petitions challenging the Centres move to make Aadhaar mandatory for government schemes.

The privacy debate is not easy to follow. Distinctions are made between what individual privacy means when it comes to the government as opposed to private players such as Google and Facebook.

Here is a nine-point primer on the right to privacy and the Indian governments view of it:

1. What is Privacy?

Not everyone understands what privacy means, which makes the privacy debate even more difficult. And those who do may interpret it differently.

One of the earliest definitions comes from Warren and Brandeis, who, in a 1890 paper, described privacy as the right to be left alone. In that sense, privacy is not necessarily about hiding something or keeping stuff secret.

In 1975, Altman describes privacy as selective control of access to the self. This implies that privacy concerns an individuals ability to control what personal information is disclosed, to whom, when and under what circumstances.

Some suggest that the social context and culture determines the meaning of privacy: what is considered private in one part of the world may not be so in the other. Helen Nissenbaum proposed the idea of contextual integrity wherein boundaries allow individuals to control the transfer of personal information. But there are multiple boundaries, not one, which she calls context based boundaries.

2. Privacy from government

Traditionally, privacy has been understood in terms of surveillance by the state. Given that the government enjoys influence over the state machinery and have coercive powers related to law enforcement, mass surveillance is in a contest with the basic tenets of a liberal democracy.

The right of privacy against the State is thus premised on the idea of personal freedom.

3. Privacy from private actors

In recent years, with the onset of the data science revolution, private companies like Google and Facebook are able to collect and store large volumes of data about their billions of users. Their business model relies on processing the troves of data and monetising the free service by selling advertisements.

The right to privacy against private actors is founded on principles of contract law, most prominently involving notice and consent.

4. Its a trade-off

Privacy is often at loggerheads with national security and the benefits of big data. Governments justify surveillance programmes by claiming that the information gathered about citizens would help in fighting terrorism. But that comes at the cost of their privacy.

Given that both national security and privacy are vaguely defined, advocates Vrinda Bhandari and Renuka Sane in their document on privacy framework in the age of internet point out that there is no clarity on when one gives way to the other, and it is undeniably the rhetoric of national security that invariably overwhelms privacy.

5. Indian governments contradictory views

The Indian government argues that privacy concerns by private bodies should be viewed differently than by the government. In the Whatsapp Case, for instance, the Union government had said that the right to privacy is an integral part of Article 21 of the Constitution, which provides for the right to life and personal liberty. But in the case of Aadhaar, the government contradicts this view, arguing that privacy is not constitutionally inherent. Basically, they asked the court to view the right to privacy on a case by case basis.

6.Whats the impact of privacy invasion?

Identify theft: your personal information can be used to get phone numbers or credit cards in your name.

The motive could be financial fraud or to take part in illegal activities. Further, acquired information can be used to manipulate an individual in ways that they dont even know. Your data can be used to get you to buy something online, try to get you to act in a certain way or to believe in something in a particular way. For instance, targeted political advertising, where campaigners spend money to show separate content to people with differing political beliefs.

7. Is privacy only for the elites?

When people say In India, privacy doesnt matter, some point towards the lack of awareness and sensitivity to privacy issues, others toward cultural attitudes.

But one of the most common points is that privacy is only the preserve of the rich and the elite. They care about privacy, supporters of this view argue, as they already have access to basic services which the poor need. Privacy comes at the cost of development, as has been argued in the case of Aadhaar.

But as Alok Prasanna Kumar puts it, such an argument misunderstands the right to privacy and underplays its role in allowing individuals to make free choices. Privacy-is-for-elite argument is that of a paternalistic and patriarchal state that knows whats good for you and wont let you make your own choices,

8. I have nothing to hide

I dont care about privacy as I have nothing to hide is quite regularly heard. Implicit in this argument is that only those who have something to hidebecause they have done something wrongare concerned about privacy invasion. And if thats not the case, how can an individuals information be used against her?

But experts say that this argument wrongfully equates privacy with secrecy, which are two distinct concepts. Privacy is about exercising the choice to withhold information, which others have no need to know, Bhandari and Sane wrote in an op-ed, while secrecy is about withholding information that people may have a right to know.

Question: If you have nothing to hide, will you share your Facebook/Gmail password with your friends?

9. Orwellian Reminder

Does the spread of technology mean that privacy is dead? If you think so, George Orwells classic novel 1984 will set alarm bells ringing. He talked about a surveillance state where people were aware that they could be monitored by the government at any given moment. And in such a society, where privacy shrinks to zero, Orwell said people cant have unconventional thoughts, which is the way to a totalitarian society.

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Williams rookie Lance Stroll heads to Spa determined to continue the good form the 18-year-old has shown since his home race in Canada.

In fact, Spa will be Stroll's second home race this season as Belgium is the country of origin of his mother Claire-Anne.

The family's affinity with the venue won't boost the teenager's enthusiasm however as Stroll has never been a fan of the daunting Ardennes track.

"In Spa, I am heading to my second home race of the year," he says.

"I am half Belgian, as this is where my mother was born, so I do have an affinity with the country.

"However, I have to admit that, unlike most Formula 1 drivers, Spa is not my absolute favourite.

"Having said that, I did win there last year in Formula 3, so I cant complain about it too much.

"It is a very interesting track with some amazing sections and also there is always that air of uncertainty regarding the weather. You can have it raining in sector three and dry in sector one."

Stroll scored points in Canada, Azerbaijan and Austria but finished well outside the top ten in Britain and in Hungary.

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The world is looking to India with positive expectations and it feels that a successful India is vital for a global balance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said.

Addressing a group of over 70 additional secretaries and joint secretaries here on Wednesday, the PM said that good governance should be a priority for the officers.

Thursdays meeting was first of five such interactions with bureaucrats that have been scheduled.

An official release said, during the interaction the PM emphasized the need for all the wings of the government to work together to achieve the best possible results.

The PM said all officers must keep the poor and the ordinary citizens in their minds while taking decisions, it read.

During the interaction, officers also shared their experience on subjects like digital and smart governance, administrative procedures and accountability, transparency, increasing farmers income, skill development, Swachh Bharat, consumer rights, environment protection, and other aspects.
Anjuara Khatun, 9, is a bright student. However, for the past two weeks, she hasnt been able to attend classes because her school is submerged under flood waters.

Despite that, Anjuara has been able to keep up with her studies, thanks to a floating school that holds classes on a boat for students of inundated schools in Assams Barpeta district. Our school in Tapajuli Char is under water.

Classes on the boat are held for two hours every afternoon. The boat travels to the three chars to pick students up from their marooned homes

But we are able to continue with our studies by attending classes on the boat, said the Class 4 student of Alipur primary school. Like Anjuara, nearly 60 students of three primary schools located on Mazidbitha, Bheragaon and Tapajuli chars (sandbars) in Barpeta district benefit from the novel initiative. In Assam, sandbars formed by silt deposition of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries are populated by nearly 25 lakh people. These chars, located in 14 districts, are severely affected during the annual floods.

A boat on which classes are held at Mazidbitha, Assam. (Utpal Parashar/HT Photo)

We began conducting the classes on the boat six months ago. It proved a blessing for the students during the floods, said Jahidul Islam, a development worker with Jhai Foundation, which launched the initiative.

Classes on the boat are held for two hours every afternoon. The boat travels to the three chars to pick students up from their marooned homes.

Initially there was some hesitation from some parents. But now theres no such issue. The students look forward to the classes and parents are also happy, said Jahidul Beg, who teaches English to the students.

There are over 2,000 villages located on the chars of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries. Over 68% of residents in these villages live below the poverty line and face problems related to erosion and flooding.

Students in front of a floating school in Assam. (Utpal Parashar/HT Photo)

In Majidbitha Char and nearby areas, schools remain closed for nearly three months every year due to the rising waters of the Beki, a tributary of the Brahmaputra.

`Floods damage our houses and crops. But thanks to the classes on the boat, the studies of our children dont get affected, said farmer Kasim Ali, whose two children, Magroon and Kohinoor, attend the classes daily.

The school on boat has become popular and theres demand from other areas to start similar initiatives for flood-affected students. The Jhai Foundation is planning to get a bigger boat or buy another one to cater to more students.

Nearly 23,000 of the 51,898 schools in Assam have been affected by floods this year. Many of the schools that remain above water are acting as relief camps for thousands in the flood-affected districts.

While classes in affected schools have remained disrupted for weeks now, Anjuara and her friends from Mazidbitha, Bheragaon and Tapajuli chars are lucky to have a boat to continue their studies.

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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested an assistant director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at Patna in Bihar for allegedly taking bribes from different persons.

The ED is a nodal agency for probing economic crimes such as money laundering and violation of foreign exchange regulations.

According to a CBI FIR, ED assistant director Shashi Shekhar had allegedly taken bribes to the tune of Rs 10 lakh and parked the money with a Kolkata-based businessman, Raj Kumar Agarwal with an intention to take them back as lawful income at a later date.

The CBI registered the FIR on Wednesday after being tipped off that a Patna-based representative of Agarwal, identified only by his first name Dilip, would deliver money along with some blank cheques to Shekhar.

Dilip was also arrested along with the ED official after filing of the FIR, said a CBI spokesman. Agarwal has also been named as an accused in the case.

The case has been filed under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act as well as over charges of criminal conspiracy.

The CBI said the accused ED official entered into huge cash transactions despite knowing that any single cash transaction above Rs 2 lakh is punishable under the Income Tax Act.

According to ED sources, Shekhar was transferred to Bhubaneswar only four days ago. He was transferred to Patna from Mumbai few months ago.

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Gearing up for the Gujarat assembly polls, the Congress on Thursday announced the formation of five election committees and appointed over 100 additional office-bearers in various party units in the state.

Rajya Sabha MP Mudhusudan Mistry, who had unsuccessfully contested against Narendra Modi from the Vadodara Lok Sabha seat in 2014, has been made the chairperson of the election manifesto committee, while former party state chief Siddharth Patel will lead the election campaign committee.

The two other members of the election manifesto committee are Deepak Babaria and Gaurav Pandya.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has approved the names of some additional office-bearers, executive committee members, 13 presidents of district and city Congress committees and five assembly election-related committees in the Gujarat Pradesh Congress, according to a statement from AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi.

Arjun Modhwadia, also a former Gujarat Congress president, will head the election publicity and material committee. Vijay Dave, who has been made a general secretary, will be the convener of the election publicity and material committee.

Senior party legislator Shaktisinh Gohil has been made chairman of the election media committee, while Naresh Raval has been made chairman of the election co-ordination committee for urban areas.

Himanshu Patel, who has also been made general secretary of the state unit, will be convener of the election media committee.

The Congress high command has also appointed 10 new vice-presidents to the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee. It has also appointed 14 general secretaries, 63 new secretaries, seven spokespersons and four executive committee members and nine special invitees.

Among the new vice-presidents are former Lok Sabha MP Jagdish Thakor, senior advocate Babubhai Mangukiya, Satyajit Sinh Gaikwad and Pravin Rathod.

The Congress is out of power in Gujarat for nearly two decades. The main opposition party saw desertions by several of its MLAs ahead of the August 8 Rajya Sabha polls.

The home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to go to the polls later this year.
BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday turned the tables on the Congress by holding the grand old party responsible for India not having a robust privacy law for decades.

He was reacting to the Congress statement hailing the Supreme Court verdict declaring privacy a fundamental right as a blow to fascist forces.

Shah described the apex courts decision as one that is in accordance with the governments vision and actions and said the government will ensure equitable social delivery, particularly to the poor in consonance to todays judgement.

He also used the occasion to lash out at the Congress by stating, ...It is equally strange that those who brought Section 66A and championed censoring on the Internet are speaking of liberties and rights" .

Recently elected to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat, Shah wrote in his blog: ... Those waxing eloquent today on privacy architecture are the ones who have ensured India does not have a robust privacy law for decades. Those commenting on Aadhar are the same people who did not provide it a legal backing

for years!

Even as the Congress took potshots at the BJP by referring to the SC judgment as a sound rejection of the party's ideology of suppression through surveillance, Shah retorted that the Congress should remember their record of trampling on right to life and liberty as well as internet censoring. He also brought up Emergency, referring to it as a step that snatched away the right to life and right to liberty of millions of Indians.

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The Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday slammed the Haryana government for allowing a massive buildup of Dera Sacha Sacha followers in Panchkula, and directed the Central government to provide adequate security ahead of the verdict in a rape case against dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

The high court division bench of acting chief justice SS Saron and justice Avneesh Jhingan also warned Haryana director general of police (DGP) of action if the police failed to provide proper security. It observed that the court did not want a repeat of the lawlessness witnessed during the February 2016 Jat quota agitation in which nearly 30 persons had lost their lives and property worth crores was damaged in Haryana.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL), asking it to monitor security in Panchkula. The petitioner lawyer, RS Dhull, a resident of Panchkula, had submitted that despite prohibitory orders in place, more than 1.5 lakh dera followers have already entered Panchkula as on August 23. The court called for top law officers of Punjab, Haryana and Central government and asked them to apprise court post lunch about the steps taken to ensure law and order.

The Union of India shall make its own assessment in this regard. The State of Haryana shall also provide its own assessment and requirement from time to time, the court directed. When CBI pointed out that the security of witnesses, the Investigating Officer of the CBI and the public prosecutor in the trial needed to be strengthened, the court asked Haryana to take steps.

While adjourning the matter post lunch, the court also asked Dera Sacha Sauda to apprise it about the steps being taken to defuse the situation.
Right on National Highway 1 in Haryanas Kurukshetra district lies a village enveloped in an eerie air of uneasiness. A guarded house is at its entrance. This is where the joint family once headed by Joginder Singh, whose only son Ranjit Singh was shot dead allegedly by followers of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh 15 years ago, lives.

He was allegedly shot dead at 4 pm on July 10, 2002, in his fields, as he was exposing how the dera head was allegedly exploiting women, including one of Ranjits relatives, inside the sect headquarters in Sirsa.

The family has since been shouldering struggle which the family members likened to fighting a pahaad (mountain). They not only lodged police complaints against the dera head but had to move one court after another to have the case move forward.

Saari duniya hamein kehti thi, kyun pahaad se lad rahe ho?, par babaji (Ranjits father) hamesha kehte the, maine bete ki arthi uthai hai, main kaise ye ladai chhod dun, Ranjits brother-in-law Prabhu Dayal says, meaning Joginder continued the fight despite people asking him why he was fighting a mountain.

Other family members nod in unison with anger simmering in their eyes while he adds, Hum ladte rahe aur baki sab uparwale pe chhod diya, meaning that the family continued the struggle leaving all on to the Almighty.

Joginder died at 75 last year, still in hope that the family will someday get justice for his son and daughter.

Other family members recall how dera supporters tried all pressures, including money and intimidation, for withdrawal of complaints but the family unitedly withstood the threats. They would come armed in the courtroom. Id tell them they could eat us alive if they wanted, said another family member who did want to be named.

Though the family is highly guarded  about a dozen cops at home in the village as well at some kins house in Kurukshetra  Dayal has been critical of that too. They have done their official duty, but we take care of their meals and other facilities day in and day out, he says, adding that it was he who asked the police to cut the security. We have left everything to God as it is He who is responsible for whatever happens to us. We live with this conviction and will die with it, adds Dayal.

Other villagers refused to talk to HT, saying that aside from the security cover, the lane to the village and the house as well as the surroundings are under CCTV camera surveillance.

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Four persons named in the FIR in connection with Gorakhpurs BRD Medical College tragedy, were found to be untraceable here on Thursday.

The FIR was filed on Wednesday in Lucknows Hazratganj police station after their names figured as accused in chief secretary Rajive Kumars report on the tragedy. Another accused  Dr Kafeel Khan was found to be ill and on bed rest.

While there was no official confirmation on their whereabouts, HTs efforts to trace them proved futile. Former BRD principal Dr Rajeev Mishra and his wife Purnima Shukla, both accused of taking commission in supply of oxygen, equipment purchase and outsourcing employees, are said to be untraceable for the last few days and their residence-cum-clinic at Betiahata is lying deserted. Another co accused, Dr Sateesh, incharge oxygen supply and chief pharmacist Gajanan Jaiswal, were also not traceable.

SSP, Gorakhpur, Satyarth Aniruddha Pankaji said, The FIR has been lodged in Lucknow and case transferred to Gulhariya police station in Gorakhpur. But we are yet to receive the order and record.

Once the case is registered at Gulhariya, the investigation officer will summon the accused for recording their statement and take action accordingly, he said.

Dr Purnima Shukla runs her homeopathic maternity clinic at a multi-storey building in citys posh locality. While she was employed at Gola community health centre, she had also managed to take the additional charge of BRDs homeopathic centre, using her influence. As her role came under scanner, she was sacked from the post.

Sources said it was she who took decision on contract on oxygen supply and other financial matters, setting aside rules.

While she is accused of taking 12% to 14% commission on oxygen supply, outsourced employees were hired on commission between of Rs 50,000 and Rs 3 lakh, sources said. She has not come here for last several days, said Shuklas neighbour.

Dr Rajeev Mishras official residence on the college campus was also found to be locked and there is no clue about his whereabouts.

All the accused had also failed to turn up for the inquiry conducted by Indian Medical Association (IMA) team last week.

Dr Kafeel, nodal incharge, NHRM, is ill and taking rest at his residence in Basantpur.

Booked for corruption and private practice, Dr Kafeels private hospital Medispring is lying closed since his role came under scanner, despite reports that he saved many lives during.
The government welcomed on Thursday a landmark Supreme Court judgment guaranteeing privacy as a fundamental right but defended Aadhaar, the controversial biometric identification project that was challenged on grounds of infringing upon personal freedom.

In separate press conferences hours after the verdict, law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and finance minister Arun Jaitley attacked the opposition Congress and recalled the suspension of privacy and fundamental rights during the Emergency.

The government clearly sees the right to privacy as a fundamental right, and like other fundamental rights, this isnt absolute but subject to reasonable restrictions, Prasad said.

Jaitley blamed the previous Congress-led UPA administration for bringing Aadhaar without a law and said this move led to the court case on privacy. He pointed out that the judgment called for a balance between individual rights and legitimate interests of the state that included preventing the dissipation of social welfare. This aim, the minister added, was furthered by Aadhaar.

This is a positive judgment...I am sure the Aadhaar act has fair, just and reasonable restrictions that further the objective of social welfare.

Prasad said the government had recognised privacy as a fundamental right when it introduced the Aadhaar act in Parliament last year in comments made by finance minister Arun Jaitley.

Much before even the creation of the nine-judge SC bench, the finance minister acknowledged that right to privacy was a fundamental right. The essence of this judgment is a wider affirmation of the crux of observations made by him.

When asked what the restrictions were, he said they were mentioned in the Constitution. If I want to give a speech naked in front of Rashtrapati Bhavan, I wont be allowed despite my freedom of speech, he said.

Thursdays SC verdict was likely to have a wide-ranging impact, from laws banning beef consumption to Indias colonial anti-homosexuality Section 377.

But when Prasad was asked about how his government would react to Section 377, he parried. I think today is an important day for the poor and underprivileged and right to privacyon that issue, we will revert to it at sometime in the future, he said.

Prasads remarks came amid a torrent of criticism of the government stand in the case with opposition leaders  including Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi  accusing the NDA administration of muzzling individual rights. But the law minister dismissed those allegations and defended Aadhaar.

He also defended Aadhaar, saying seeding the 12-digit number system with accounts and initiating direct cash transfers had saved the government Rs 57,000 crore. Rajiv Gandhi said if he sends Rs 1, only 15 paise reaches the ground. Now, if we send Rs 1,000, Rs 1,000 reaches the ground.

Prasad held up his Aadhaar card and asserted that there was nothing on it  such as records of diseases  which could be used to profile someone. The poor feel happy and empowered, the world is appreciating Indias technology. But he refused to comment on the legal challenge to Aadhaar, preferring to wait for the verdict of a three-judge SC bench.

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After the Supreme Court delivered a groundbreaking judgment on Tuesday declaring right to privacy a fundamental right , reactions poured in thick and fast.

On social media, people were quick to hail the Supreme Court for delivering one landmark verdict after another -- two days earlier, the apex court had struck down the Islamic practice of instant triple talaq in an important judgment.

Twitter cheered the courts unanimous decision, calling it huge and thanking the apex court for the verdict.

The nine judge bench of the Supreme Court has unanimusly held that privacy is a fundamental right under the Indian Constitution.  Gautam Bhatia (@gautambhatia88) August 24, 2017

Seems like a complete victory on privacy for now. True test will be its subsequent application. Let's all thank the Supreme Court.  Apar (@aparatbar) August 24, 2017

Kudos to the SC for holding Right to Privacy a fundamental right under Art 21. Aadhaar Act & any other law will be tested on reasonableness https://t.co/R0LGz2FlQu  Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) August 24, 2017

Others did not forget to congratulate the band of petitioners, lawyers and privacy advocates who had tirelessly worked for this day, fighting the battle in court.



Congratulations to all lawyers, activists, others who fought this govt's sinister designs to deny Indians their fundamental right to privacy https://t.co/mZJeL9Ax9U  Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) August 24, 2017

To the #RightToPrivacy lawyers and campaigners, you've earned a place in history. Massive gratitude.  Mitali Saran (@mitalisaran) August 24, 2017

Many commentators were quick to point out that the ruling government could take no credit for the ruling since it had argued against the individual right to privacy.

Always remeber that the privacy case arose from the Government basically wanting to prevent any ruling in the Aadhaar case two years ago 1/2  Apar (@aparatbar) August 24, 2017

The Government had argued in the Supreme Court that Privacy is NOT a fundamental right under the Constitution. #NeverForget https://t.co/GbraWAWbyg  Sushant Singh (@SushantSin) August 24, 2017

(As the head of the govt. that OPPOSED it and lost 9-0 in Supreme Court. ????)  Aisi Taisi Democracy (@AisiTaisiDemo) August 24, 2017

Politicians from Opposition parties welcomed the verdict, even as leaders from the ruling NDA maintained a stony silence.

I have a right to privacy & it's a fundamental one. Yeyy ????????  Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) August 24, 2017

SC holds Privacy as Fundamental Right.Hope IT STOPS MODI govt from intruding into my kitchen, wardrobe,bedroom&tapping private conversations  Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) August 24, 2017

A far-reaching judgement which will have consequences in various domains, as technology is playing a greater role in our day-to-day lives.  Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) August 24, 2017

Others speculated what the judgment meant for Aadhaar, pointing out that the right to privacy would still carry reasonable restrictions.

This is NOT a judgement on #Aadhaar. Defining "reasonable restrictions" on #RightToPrivacy will decide the future of UIDAI  Nitin Sethi (@nit_set) August 24, 2017

Reasonable restrictions could provide a backdoor to Aadhaar for legitimacy. Judgement needs to be read before celebrating. #RightToPrivacy  Mayank Jain (@Mayank1029) August 24, 2017
Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner says that the row between his driver Kevin Magnussen and Renault's Nico Hulkenberg is over and done with.

The drivers fell out in Hungary when they were competing over 11th place. Hulkenberg attempted to pass Magnussen around the outside of turn 2 at the Hungaroring, and was pushed wide onto the grass.

The German driver subsequently labelled Magnussen "the most unsporting driver of the whole grid" for his actions, adding: "When it comes to racing, he's just nasty."

Magnussen - who was handed a five-second time penalty by the race stewards - didn't take the criticism well. When he met his rival in parc ferme after the race he told Hulkenberg to "suck my b***s, honey!"

Steiner revealed this week that he'd run into Hulkenberg at the airport after the race. He said he was confident that there would be no further recriminations or insults bandied around between the pair this weekend.

Its been handled fine," he said. "At some stage there is a cut-off. Its getting old. No-one wants to hear old news.

Nothing more needs to be said. I dont think we need to have a hugging session between Nico and Kevin," he added.

"I dont think we need to get into he said/he said," Steiner continued. "We have our standpoint and he has his own ... Just move on.

It was fun, but fun has a sell-by date. If you keep on going on about the same thing it gets old."

Magnussen said he was looking forward to getting back to work at Spa after four weeks off.

"I have many good memories from competing at Spa," he said. "Ive won in every category Ive raced there, with the exception of Formula 1.

"Spa is just flat out. Youre pushing everywhere," he noted, adding that not even Eau Rouge and Raidillon required the driver to lift in today's cars.

"Im sure it will be pretty easy flat out. Its a bit like a roller coaster," he commented. "Eau Rouge and Pouhon are probably the best sections, but the whole track is just amazing.

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
A Hindu man and his family in Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur have embraced Islam after allegedly facing social boycott for over 28 years since he married a Muslim woman.

Vinod Prakash Khare (51), a resident of Rajnagar town in the district in Bundelkhand region, said he had married a Muslim woman nearly 28 years back. Post the marriage, his wife was assigned a Hindu name.

However, their alliance was not accepted by the family, relatives and society at large and his family was ostracised, he alleged.

Khare, his wife, daughter and sons converted to Islam on August 21.

The Hindu society has not been supportive of us. Nobody used to invite us to marriages, he said.

I was not even allowed to lend a shoulder to my fathers body during his funeral procession. In such times, the Muslim society helped us, so our family decided to accept Islam, said the man, who is now rechristened as Ghulam Mohammed.

Rajnagars sub-divisional magistrate Ravindra Choukse said he was aware about the familys conversion.

I have got information about the conversion of Khare and his family. In case of any dispute or controversy necessary steps would be taken, Choukse said.

A local leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad said they were trying to resolve the familys problems.

I am in touch with the family. We are working to sort out their problems. They have assured to reconsider their decision, he said.
The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday Indians have a constitutional right to privacy, a verdict that could have wide-reaching implications on broader civil rights issues, including homosexuality and prohibition.

Laws on beef possession in many states could also come up for review.

Experts have said the right to privacy case would be a test of our democracy, with the possibility of citizens challenging laws based of individual rights.

Privacy is not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, and the government has argued that people cannot expect an absolute right to privacy.

Here are a few issues that may feel the ripples of the Supreme Courts verdict declaring right to privacy a fundamental rights:

Section 377

Activists have argued that Section 377, which criminalises homosexuality, violates the Indian citizens fundamental rights to equality and to life with dignity and privacy.

On Thursday, Chief Justice JS Khehar said privacy was protected as an intrinsic part of Article 21 that protects life and liberty.

In its judgment, the SC said: It is an individuals choice as to who enters his house, how he lives and in what relationship. The privacy of the home must protect the family, marriage, procreation and sexual orientation which are all important aspects of dignity.

Ones sexual orientation is undoubtedly an attribute of privacy, it said.

Beef laws  unlimited right to search, seizure will be vulnerable

In 2015, the Bombay high court said the state shall not intrude on the privacy of citizens to find out if they are in possession of beef or any other form of meat.

The Maharashtra government later said the high court while coming to the finding that right to privacy forms part of the fundamental right to personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, ought to have appreciated that right to privacy has not yet been designated as a fundamental right.

The Supreme Court on Thursday deemed right to privacy as a fundamental right.

The court also said: ...as new cases brought new issues and problems before the Court, the content of the right to privacy has found elaboration in these diverse contexts. These would include... food preferences and animal slaughter.

I do not think that anybody would like to be told by the State as to what they should eat or how they should dress or whom they should be associated with either in their personal, social or political life, Justice J Chelameswar noted.

Is right to be forgotten on the cards?

In 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) said people could ask search engines such as Google to remove certain information from web results appearing under their names. This was dubbed the right to be forgotten.

According to Googles transparency report, it has since received over 720,000 removal requests and accepted about 43% of them.

Europe is known to have some of the most progressive laws on privacy, and the SCs verdict terming privacy as a fundamental right in India could trigger a debate on the need for right to be forgotten in the country.

Here is what the Supreme Court said on a few other issues:

Abortion

A womans freedom of choice whether to bear a child or abort her pregnancy are areas which fall in the realm of privacy. 

Euthanasia

Concerns of privacy arise when the State seeks to intrude into the body of SUBJECTS.57 Corporeal punishments were not unknown to India, their abolition is of a recent vintage. Forced feeding of certain persons by the State raises concerns of privacy. An individuals rights to refuse life prolonging medical treatment or terminate his life is another freedom which fall within the zone of the right of privacy.

Internet hacking

Telephone tapings and internet hacking by State, of personal data is another area which falls within the realm of privacy. The instant reference arises out of such an attempt by the Union of India to collect bio-metric data regarding all the residents of this country.

With inputs from agencies

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The Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Thursday that individual privacy is a fundamental right, a verdict that will affect everything from the way companies handle personal data to how much the government can keep a tab on its citizens.

The ruling is an important milestone in shaping how Indias democracy treats its citizens. It settles a debate that arose from the legal challenges to the Aadhaar programme, which activists said infringes upon individual privacy by recording biometric details and since it is must for a number of other obligations such as filing income tax returns.

The order could also shield people from intrusion by non-government entities. Heres a list of possible protections that are implicit from the order by the 9-judge bench:

WhatsApp privacy

The top court is hearing a petition challenging the policy of widely-used mobile messaging service WhatsApp to share user data with its parent Facebook. Thursdays order not only singles out technology for being a challenge to privacy, but also recognises that an understanding between two people cannot be the basis for a third person to infringe upon someones privacy.

It was rightly expressed on behalf of the petitioners that the technology has made it possible to enter a citizens house without knocking at his/her door and this is equally possible both by the State and non-State actors. It is an individuals choice as to who enters his house, how he lives and in what relationship.

If the individual permits someone to enter the house it does not mean that others can enter the house

- Justice SK Kaul

Protection from moral police

In being specific about right to privacy from state and non-state actors, justice Kaul also mentions a persons freedom in choosing relationships. This implies that people such as vigilante groups that hunt couples in parks and neighbourhoods that restrict single people of opposite genders from meeting are violating a fundamental rights.

When the courts identify an infringement of a persons Article 8 rights, and in particular in the context of his freedom to conduct his sex life and personal relationships as he wishes, it is right to afford a remedy and to vindicate that right.

- Justice SK Kaul

Keeping away paparazzi

Justice Kaul said the weight of public opinion and interest in comparison to protect an individuals privacy was a crucial aspect in determining rights to privacy. He quoted a defamation suit involving model Naomi Campbell who was photographed by a British tabloid at a drug rehab. The UK court wondered if the damage to Campbells privacy could be weighed against the gains of her drug problem triggering a wider public discussion on the issue of narcotics.

It is yet to be determined how far that doctrine will be taken in the courts of this jurisdiction in relation to photography in public places. If taken literally, it would mean a very significant change in what is permitted. It would have a profound effect on the tabloid and celebrity culture to which we have become accustomed in recent years.

- Justice SK Kaul

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India and Nepal on Thursday inked eight pacts, including on cooperation in countering drug trafficking.

The pacts were signed after comprehensive talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba on strategic bilateral and regional issues.

Had a positive meeting reviewing the gamut of our partnership, Modi said at a joint press event with Deuba and assured him of Indias commitment towards overall growth and development of the Himalayan nation.

Deuba said Nepal will never allow any anti-India activities from its soil.

The two leaders also jointly inaugurated the Kataiya- Kusaha and Raxaul-Parwanipur cross border power transmission lines.

Modi identified defence and security as an important aspect of bilateral ties.

Earlier, Deuba was accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan, where he is staying as a state guest.

Deuba arrived here on Wednesday on a four-day visit, his first foreign trip after assuming office in June this year.
Activists fighting against the government collecting peoples biometric details for the 12-digit Aadhaar identification number on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court judgment that called privacy a fundamental right.

Shanta Singh, Aruna Roy and Major General SG Vombatkere are among the four people on whose petitions the top court pronounced its privacy verdict. Retired Karnataka high court judge KS Puttaswamy was the fourth petitioner.

They argued that Aadhaar violated a persons right to privacy guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution.

They hailed the court order as historic and expect it to deliver a favourable verdict on the efficacy of the Aadhaar law, which a three-member bench will hear.

I hope that the order will free the poor and deprived from the clutches of Aadhaar and ensure that they get their entitlements under different government schemes, Singh said, calling the judgment pro-poor.

According to the activists, a large number of poor people in India were excluded from welfare schemes because of deficiencies in the Aadhaar law and cited specific instances in the top court.

We have many case studies in Rajasthan where the poor had been denied their monthly quota of ration as Aadhaar authentication failed  machines failed to read weak finger impressions, said Roy, a Magsaysay awardee and former member of the National Advisory Council.

The government used Aadhaar to wrongly exclude many from the beneficiary list. And we have evidence for that.

Usha Ramanathan, an Aadhaar critic, was happy that the unique identification hearing was back on track and will conclude within the next few months.

The court set up a three-member bench to validate the Aadhaar law. The first petition against Aadhaar was filed in 2012.

Another anti-Aadhaar campaigner, Reetika Khera, said the order was a victory for an ordinary Indian who wants his or her rights to be protected from an intrusive government.

It is a historic and watershed moment in the fight for the deprived sections, said the development economist at IIT, Delhi. And she added that the next fight is to ensure the court strikes down the Aadhaar law.

The civil society members hailed the courts views on gay rights and intrusion in the name of beef ban.

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By his second year at IIT-Kanpur, Sambhav Karnawat was decided on two things: he wanted to have his own business and he wanted to return to Jaipur. So the start-up germ was seeded in him. Four years after graduating as an engineer in 2012, Sambhav founded Jewelove, an online site for platinum jewellery. A family background of jewellery business has helped the 27-year-old, whose start-up is so far self-funded.

Jalandhars Harshvardhan Tiwari did not have a family business or deep pockets to fall back on. But he and Sambhav have two things in common: an engineering degree and a lack of interest in the jobs that campus placements threw up.

We are nurturing our youngsters to be job creators and not job seekers, said Narendra Modi whose government started the Startup India, Standup India programme.

During his days at Lovely Professional University, Tiwari and his friends took a trip to Manali and the idea of ZORoute, an intercity cab aggregator was born.

It is the Karnawats that Narendra Modi is banking on when he says, We are nurturing our youngsters to be job creators and not job seekers, from Red Fort on August 15. To push private investment and to create jobs, the Modi government has sought to fire the start-up dream with tax incentives, reduction in patent registration fees, better access to public projects and easier clearances.

The association of IT and BPO industry, NASSCOM said that start-ups are poised to create 2.5 lakh jobs by 2020 but that was an estimate in 2015 before investors tightened their purse strings.

Presently start-ups account for only 80,000 jobs. Experience in other countries like US and Israel show that start-ups have the potential to create hundred thousand jobs. But this leap from thousands to hundred thousand will take decades, said a government official.

Data on venture capital (VC) investment in new start-ups shows a graph that was on a steep ascent from 2013 to 2015 but has been nose diving since 2016.

Gone are the heady days of 2015 when VCs invested $2 billion in more than 550 new ideas and start-ups; that number is down to just 209 deals in eight months of 2017 that shows investment of just $785 million. Today cautiousness has set in; investors have realised only a really innovative idea will succeed and give returns on investments, in a country that sees at least four start-ups being conceived every month. But start-ups can live up to the Prime Ministers expectation of becoming job creators only if they get the right funding at the right time by displaying the right innovation.

A real innovative idea is rare.

A start-up can be successful only when it solves an intractable problem in a way that reduces cost and increases convenience. And the worth of a start-up is because while solving a problem, it will create direct and ancillary jobs. The trick for entrepreneurs is to identify the sector where government initiatives lack and technology could solve problems. The examples are many: agriculture, education, healthcare, etc. But with the success of e-commerce, incubators say that most youngsters are only interested in retail-based start-ups.

Data shows that of the 800 start-ups recognised by the government so far, only 10 were eligible for the financial benefits under Startup India, Standup India programme. Officials say that innovation, a key criteria for being chosen was missing. And that is why the government is thinking of linking job creation as the main factor for start-ups to be eligible for federal benefits. A large number of applications come to us only because they want apna kuchh. Of the almost 1,000 applications that we have got this year, only 100 are worth incubating. Of this, perhaps only 20 will get investor attention and funding, said Chintan Bakshi, COO of Rajasthan-based incubator, Startup Oasis.

Sector in nascent phase

Why dont all start-ups stand up, is a question that haunts Mohalis Harshvardhan Tiwari. ZORoute is his second attempt at entrepreneurship. Unlike Karnawat, who got support from his family business, Tiwari has the burden of arranging investment for his start-up.

Of the 12,000 start-ups that applied for investment, Indian Angel Network (IAN), one of the largest network of angel investors in Asia, invested in only 40.

It takes time for the start-up ecosystem to mature. So a high rejection list in the formative years of the sector is natural. Indias largest private job creator, the IT sector was also a bunch of start-ups in the 1980s, with the exception of Tata Consultancy Services. Did the sector become a $150 billion industry creating 4 million jobs, overnight? asks Saurabh Srivastava, founder of IAN and co-founder of NASSCOM.

The answer is no. And the expansion from a $50 million sector in 1988 to an over $150 billion industry has taken three decades for the IT sector.

With the right nurturing these start-ups could grow into larger industrial houses fulfilling Modis wish of large-scale job creation. But Modis wish will have to wait, today the start-up sector is still in its nascent phase, which is already seeing cautious investors and a large number of them not maturing beyond an idea. Data shows that only one out of every seven start-up idea gets funding for growing into a business.

Policies to ease business

Indias role model in the case of start-ups is the Silicon Valley. But politicians and policymakers should remember that it took decades before the Valley became the net new job creators in America.

To help the start-up sector mature, the government has to ensure several facilitating policies. The education sector has started realising the importance of innovation in its syllabi but it has to be more enabling. The government has to take ease of doing business several notches higher where setting up and winding up of businesses do not take too much time. Legal protection against busting start-ups also has to be made a priority. The examples of Stayzilla, where the founder was jailed for a civil offence of not paying a vendor, does not inspire the entrepreneurial spirit.

Jeweloves Sambhav Karnawat has already expanded his team from three to over 100 people he directly and indirectly employs. He wants to expand his workforce to 1,000, but that will happen gradually over the next five years. And for that, his wishlist to Prime Minister Modis government is to ensure easy and timely access to the governments start-up funding schemes.

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Applicants taking the constable recruitment test in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday claimed that they were not allowed to appear for the examination as they did not have Aadhaar cards.

This happened the same day the Supreme Court declared privacy a fundamental right while disposing of petitions questioning the validity of the 12-digit Aadhaar number.

As many as nine lakh candidates from across the country applied for the month-long police constable recruitment test for 14,282 posts. It is being conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB), also called Vyapam.

According to sources in Vyapam, about 10,000 students couldnt take the test on the first day due to technical glitches. Some of them alleged they were denied entry as they didnt have Aadhaar cards. When applicants offered other identity cards, they were allegedly told that Aadhaar was mandatory. This caused widespread confusion across various centres.

Arun Shukla, 22, a resident of Bhopal who was denied entry to the examination centre at IES College, Bhopal, said: I have been preparing for this exam for the past two years. Now, they didnt even give us a chance to take the exam. They just wrote on my admit card  Non Aadhaar and asked me to leave the centre.

Applicants who filed their documents for verification online also faced trouble.

Krishnakant from Hisar, Haryana, was denied entry as the officer on verification desk couldnt access his online documents. What kind of digitalisation we are talking about? I was denied entry as there was problem in their server. I wasted my time to prepare for this test, he said. Vyapam authorities, however, blamed a glitch in the authentication software. Confusion over Aadhaar however, continued at exam centres HT visited.

MPPEB examination controller Ashok Singh Bhadoriya said, Charges regarding manipulations are baseless and unfounded. Aadhaar is not compulsory. Candidates can use any of their identity cards... I have asked the candidates, who couldnt take the exam, to submit an application. If their case is found genuine, we will give them another chance after September 18.

RTI activist Ajay Dubey said, MPPEB has given a contract to a private firm which failed in performing its duty... Same thing happened in the recruitment test of prison guards. If they are not capable enough ...they shouldnt play with future of youngsters.

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Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar, released from the district jail on Thursday after granted bail by the High Court, alleged that Narendra Modi government was doing injustice to the Narmada dam oustees in Madhya Pradesh with an eye on votes in Gujarat, which is going to polls later this year.

Patkar said the Madhya Pradesh government was bent on suppressing the voice of those who oppose illegal works as well as the corrupt.

The activist, arrested on August 9 on the charge of holding government officials captive during her indefinite fast for full rehabilitation of those displaced by the Sardar Sarovar Dam project, was granted bail by the Indore bench of the HC on Wednesday.

The state government wants to keep those who stop illegal works and put a check on corrupt people, in jails. It is very painful that the state government is doing injustice by concocting charges in courts, Patkar told reporters.

The activist (62) said she would return to the Narmada valley for the cause of the oustees who are displaced due to closure of the gates of the Sardar Sarovar Dam (SSD) in neighbouring Gujarat.

Narmada valley is my home. I will go there. What is happening in the name of rehabilitation of the SSD oustees will not be tolerated. Several of the rehabilitation works, which the government claimed to have completed in its reply to the high court, are in fact yet to be carried out on the ground, she added.

Patkar said Modi government was responsible for the problems being faced by the displaced people.

Modi government should stop doing injustice to the displaced people, which is being done to reap electoral gains in the Gujarat Assembly polls this year, she alleged.

She said the gates of the SSD have been closed with an eye on the Gujarat polls.

Patkar alleged the Madhya Pradesh government had failed to rehabilitate the people in the submergence area of the dam by July 31.

Patkar, who was on indefinite hunger strike at village Chikhalda in Dhar district, was shifted to hospital after her condition deteriorated, and subsequently arrested on August 9.
In arriving at the landmark verdict, the Supreme Court had some of the best judicial minds in the country assisting it on all aspects of laws and some more. These are some of the prominent advocates whose arguments on right to privacy being part of the Constitution resonated with the court.

Gopal Subramanium The former Solicitor General of India assisted SC as amicus curiae in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case. He acted as the Special Public Prosecutor in the prosecution of accused of the terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001. In the privacy case, the senior advocate had appeared for one of the petitioners with the argument that the right to privacy is very much a fundamental right, which is co-terminus with the liberty and dignity of the individual.

Shyam Divan A senior advocate in SC, Divan is an expert at civil litigation. He has represented citizens groups in environmental cases and also assisted SC as amicus curiae in the Bellary mining case relating to illegal iron ore mining in the forests of Karnataka. Divan had represented one of the petitioners in the privacy case. He argued that an individual must be allowed to determine what information of his can be allowed to be put out and this is closely tied to a persons right to dignity.

Anand Grover A senior advocate known for legal activism on issues relating to homosexuality and HIV, he has argued landmark cases of public interest, such as LGBT rights in the Naz Foundation case and the Bhopal Gas disaster case. He had also argued for one of the petitioners in the privacy case, saying that there exists no dignity without privacy.

Arvind P Datar Datar is a prominent senior advocate in the top court. Appearing for one of the petitioners in the privacy case, he had argued that privacy is an essential part of the fundamental rights section of the Constitution. Datar argued that the right to privacy is found in Articles 14, 19, 20, 21 and 25 of the Constitution when read with the Preamble.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his joint press appearance with Nepals visiting PM Sher Bahadur Deuba on Thursday afternoon, he must have felt a sense of deja vu. After all, Deuba was the third Nepali PM he was hosting in a year and a half. KP Oli, a stridently ultra nationalist leader, visited last February while Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda had come last September.

But while that tells its own story of Nepals unending political instability, this particular visit of Deuba was significant for it reflected a changed political context. And it was a context India was broadly comfortable with, despite its fragility.

Over the past year and a half, India has been closely involved in shaping the domestic political process in Nepal  but away from the media glare. It wanted Oli, who signed key transit and connectivity agreements with China; took a hardline on the issue of accommodating Madhes in the constitutional project despite Indian urging; and stoked resentment against India, out of power in Kathmandu.

To achieve this, India brokered an agreement between Prachanda and Deuba. The Maoist leader became PM first and the optics of the relations with India improved. But for Delhi, he was a stop gap measure. Its comfort level was higher with traditional ally Nepali Congress. In NC, India had backed Deuba in internal elections for presidency, and breathed a sigh of relief when Prachanda  in line with his promise  handed over power to Deuba in June this year.

Given that this is an India-supported government, and Delhis priority remains keeping KP Oli out, it was important to roll out the red carpet. Modi thus had an unscheduled warm up meeting with Deuba on Wednesday, extended full state honours, and promised development cooperation on Thursday.

But rest assured, politics would have been discussed. In the local elections, UML  Olis party  has done well, coming at the top. India would like to see NC revive, and stitch a broader alliance with Maoists and Madhesi parties to ensure democratic forces win in general and provincial elections in November.

This has become even more urgent due to the wider geopolitical tension with China and Beijings open support to Oli. Delhi believes that a victory for Olis party would mean the return of Beijing in Kathmandu politics and the installation of a potentially unfriendly regime. It is not as if NC is pliant or does not engage with China, but in the political matrix in Kathmandu, it is a much preferred alternative.

The urgency of maintaining a degree of control over elite politics has meant that for India, the issue of Madhesi accommodation has slipped down the priority list. PM Modi did mention in his remarks that he hoped Deuba would accommodate the aspirations of all Nepalis in the constitutional project.

Deuba reciprocated by saying that he had introduced an amendment which would have addressed the discontent to vote that failed to muster up the required two-thirds majority; but they would continue to try to give a sense of ownership of the constitution to everyone.

But it all sounded like both sides were going through the motions. For now, India wants to appease Deuba and a section of the Nepali elite to keep Kathmandu in good books, counter China and keep Oli out, and Deuba wants to get tangible Indian support to manage his party and win the next election. That was the unsaid, but essential purpose, of the Modi-Deuba date.

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Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Thursday met former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi and held wide-ranging discussions on bilateral issues and friendship between the two countries.

Sources said while Deuba expressed satisfaction over the ties and friendship with India, there was also in-depth discussion on the regional situation.

Senior Congress leaders Dr Karan Singh and Anand Sharma were also present during the meeting held at Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Deuba is on a five-day official visit to India and has held bilateral discussions and delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House.

Modi also hosted a dinner in honour of Deuba.
A womens college in Jharkhands Daltonganj has banned its students from wearing jeans and using mobile phones inside the campus to promote sense of equality between rural and urban students and help them perform better.

Officials of the Yodh Singh Namdhari Womens College - Nilamber Pitamber Universitys (NPU) only constituent girls college in the region - have asked intermediate and undergraduate students to wear the college uniform comprising salwar-kameez and dupatta from the new session that began two days ago.

Ours is the first NPU college to have implemented a dress code for students. Its already there in Ranchi University colleges.The move will create a sense of equality among the students who hail from both rural and urban areas and from rich and poor families. In addition, it will also help students perform better, the colleges principal-in-charge Dr Mohini Gupta said.

Ranchis three women colleges - Nirmala College, Womens College and Marwari Womens College - have been following dress codes for the last several years.

The students can bring mobile phones to college so as to stay connected with relatives but using them in the classes or in the campus has been totally banned. The move was initiated after some of the students were earlier found to be misusing the wifi connectivity available in the campus and watching objectionable  porn  contents, Gupta added.

Though we have not made the violation of dress-code punishable yet, we intend to implement it strictly. On finding students using cell phones, we will call their parents to the college to apprise them about their wards activities, she said.

The college administrations decision to ban casual outfits was first announced in April this year before it ran into a storm with two students bodies taking opposite stance on the move. The colleges student union leaders insisted on a strict dress code and a ban on jeans and a rival students body threatened to take out a jeans-march if it was banned.

Purnima Singh, president of the students union, welcomed the colleges decision to introduce a dress code.

Wearing jeans and tops casually was improper. Now, the girls will dress more decently, Singh, who has a backing of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) that is affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, said.

Kamalesh Pandey, chief of All Palamu Students Union, said, We were earlier opposing ban on jeans and tops without introducing any dress code. Now, that a dress code has been introduced, nobody will naturally come in casual wear. We thank college authorities for meeting our demands.

Colleges routinely impose dress codes on women, limit or screen their male visitors, and have other rules that men dont. Female students across the country have protested such rules, saying they were discriminatory and distressing.

St Xaviers College, one of Mumbais best-known colleges, banned female students from wearing ripped jeans in December last year. It previously forbade female students from wearing shorts, sleeveless tops, and short dresses.

Sarojini Naidu Girls Post Graduate Government College in Madhya Pradeshs Bhopal also issued a similar dress code banning jeans and other western attires on the campus in the same month last year.
Panic on Thursday gripped Udhampur after rumours of a possible terror strike started doing the rounds on social media, even as the police dismissed as baseless reports of militants being sighted in the highway township.

However, the police have sounded a high alert as a precautionary measure and asked citizens to not panic and report any suspicious movement.

In view of the rumours that terrorists had entered Udhampur and are planning attack and the subsequent panic, several private schools in the district closed for the day as parents rushed and took home their wards.

Only some private schools are closed, rest all the educational institutions, including government-run schools, functioned normally, Chief Education Officer, Udhampur, Jattu Ram Bhardawaj told PTI.

Officials said Army-run schools and Kendriya Vidyalaya in the town also remained closed today.

Udhampur district police also came out with a post on Facebook saying there were intelligence inputs about infiltration through the Line of Control in Poonch-Rajouri belt.

High alert has been sounded for security installations at all places in Jammu zone as a precautionary measure, the post read.

The district police asked the people to report any suspicious movement but there is no need to panic and added: Rumours of terrorists being sighted in Udhampur are baseless.

Meanwhile, the police conducted search operations at several places in Miran Sahib and R S Pora areas on the outskirts of Jammu since last evening.

The searches were carried out as a precautionary measure after inputs about movement of suspicious persons, a police officer said but denied sounding of high alert in the Jammu zone.

He said the situation in the border districts of Poonch and Rajouri were normal. PTI TAS AB KIS ZMN KIS
New Delhi Playing a good host, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj promptly walked up to Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and offered him a glass of water after he began to cough due to a sore throat while speaking at a press meet with counterpart Narendra Modi.

The two prime ministers addressed the media after holding extensive bilateral talks at the Hyderabad House here.

As Deuba was at the fag end of his address, he coughed and his voice turned hoarse. Without waiting for officials, Swaraj, who was sitting in the front row, quietly walked up to Deuba, who continued to read his statement from the podium.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the lid of a water jar kept in front of them, Swaraj poured water in a glass and offered it to the Nepalese prime minister.

Officials from either side had little time to react as all of it happened in a matter of seconds.

Unaware of this, Deuba went reading his address for a few moments, before he realised that Swaraj was waiting for him with the glass.

A surprised Deuba said, Sorry, I have a bad throat and accepted the water.

Swaraj waited to take the glass back but then an official stepped in and she went back to her seat while Deuba continued his address.

The external affairs minister is known for her prompt response on twitter to Indians in distress abroad.
Individual privacy is a fundamental right, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday, a watershed verdict that will test the validity of a controversial biometric identification project as well as other draconian restrictions over eating beef and gay sex.

In a unanimous ruling, the nine-judge bench said the right to privacy was inherent in the right to life, liberty and speech, but not without reasonable restrictions when it came to national security, fighting crime and distribution of state benefits.

The right to privacy is inextricably bound up with all exercises of human liberty, justice SA Bobde said in his personal conclusion that is part of the unanimous judgment.

Thursdays judgment becomes the touchstone for the validity of Aadhaar, a 12-digit biometric identification card the government is pushing for use in everything from operating bank accounts and buying property to tax declarations. Critics have opposed the move as an intrusive tool open to misuse by the government, which has already collected finger prints, iris scans and personal details of more than 80% of the countrys 1.25 billion people.

A separate three-judge bench is already hearing a challenge to Aadhaar that the government says is necessary to plug leakages in its subsidy programmes and prevent corruption.

Thursdays verdict also has a bearing on broader civil rights as well as a law criminalising homosexuality. A ban imposed on the consumption of beef in many states and alcohol in some could also come up for review.

I do not think that anybody would like to be told by the State as to what they should eat or how they should dress or whom they should be associated with either in their personal, social or political life, said justice J Chelameswar in his personal conclusion.

The hearing took an unusual turn when justice DY Chandrachud, one of the nine judges, overruled a 1976 order co-authored by his father, late justice YV Chandrachud, that upheld the suspension of fundamental rights by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during Emergency.

The judgments rendered by all the four judges are seriously flawed, he noted. Life and personal liberty are inalienable to human rights. No civilised state can contemplate encroachment on life and personal liberty.

In upholding privacy as a fundamental right, the top court overruled earlier judgements in 1954 and 1962 that said the right to privacy was not part of the Constitution. The judges cited instances of privacy and personal freedom from Ramayana and Quran to the Bible.

All hail privacy

Thursdays verdict was welcomed by both the government and opposition parties with each saying its stand had been vindicated.

Calling the verdict a positive development, finance minister Arun Jaitley said the matter went to court because Aadhaar was brought by the previous Congress-led UPA government without a law, so there were no safeguards.

I am sure the Aadhaar act has fair, just and reasonable restrictions that further the objective of social welfare, he said.

The Congress said the ruling heralded a new era for personal freedom and human dignity.

It strikes a blow on the unbridled encroachment and surveillance by the state and its agencies in the life of the common man, party president Sonia Gandhi said.

Civil liberties activists also hailed the decision as an important milestone in shaping how citizens are treated in the worlds largest democracy whose constitution has been largely silent on protecting individual privacy.

It is a historic and watershed moment in the fight for the deprived sections, said Reetika Khera, development economist at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and anti-Aadhaar activist.

Our next fight is to ensure that the court strikes down unconstitutional Aadhaar law.

Thursdays verdict comes two days after the court in a landmark judgment struck down the Islamic divorce practice of instant triple talaq as unconstitutional.

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Clashes broke out in north Kashmirs Handwara on Wednesday night after it was confirmed that the person killed in an encounter in the area on Tuesday was a civilian and not a militant.

The deceased has been identified as Shahid Bashir Mir of Daril Tarathpora area of Handwara. The 21-year-old was reportedly a student of the Government Degree College, Handwara and according to the police, was missing since August 21.

Speaking to HT, director general of police (DGP) SP Vaid said, Yes, he (the man killed) was a civilian. According to his family, he was missing for a few days. How he was present in the jungle where the gun battle was on remains to be investigated. We are looking into the matter.

Police officers in Handwara told HT that protests were going on in the area since last night and expressed apprehensions that the man might have been caught in crossfire.

On Tuesday, army had claimed that a militant was killed in a gun fight. A Srinagar-based army spokesperson on Thursday said, Army launched an operation in the Haphruda forest on the intervening night of August 21-22. The army column was fired upon by the terrorists, which was retaliated. During search operation, the body of an individual was recovered and handed over to the police. He added further investigations into the matter were on.

People close to the Mir family have alleged that it was a staged encounter.

In a press statement, released on Thursday, moderate Hurriyat chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq expressed deep grief and anger at the killing of Mir.

The separatist leader asked, How long will we carry the dead bodies of our youth killed with impunity by our oppressors,while the world looks the other way and does not raise its voice against such brutality?

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Qatars Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman Al-Thani will arrive here today on a two-day visit, during which he will call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and hold talks with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj, the MEA said.

Qatar is an important trading partner for India in the Gulf region with bilateral trade in 2014-15 standing at USD 15.67 billion. It is also one of Indias largest suppliers of crude oil.

Al-Thani is scheduled to arrive in Delhi on Friday evening.

On Saturday, he will told talks with Swaraj, followed by a call on the Prime Minister, the MEA said.
RJD chief Lalu Prasads proposed BJP Bhagao, Desh Bachao rally at Gandhi Maidan in Patna on August 27 seems to have lost its sheen.

The rally, an effort at uniting the opposition parties to take on the BJP-led NDA in the 2019 Lok Sabha poll, will not be attended by Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi and BSP supremo Mayawati. However, the Congress will be represented by Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Mayawati on Thursday justified her decision to skip the rally, saying her party has conveyed to the RJD that it will share the stage with it only if it is decided in advance which party gets how many seats.

JD(U) dissident Sharad Yadav has also confirmed participation in the rally. Among other leaders who will attend the rally are West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, former chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand Akhilesh Yadav and Hemant Soren, respectively.

We have extended invitations to 17 parties that have come together with the Congress to form a joint opposition platform, said Bhola Yadav, a close aide of the RJD chief and MLA from Bahadupur in Darbhanga.

He said Om Prakash Chautala-led INLD, DMK and a few other parties from Jharkhand will also be represented at the event.

Prasads younger son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav has already undertaken a two-phase statewide tour to drum up support for the rally.

The rally will be different from the past with respect to ambience, extensive use of technology and less of rustic flavour. The change can be attributed to the advent of Tejashwi as the widely accepted next generation leader, they added.

Yadav himself is supervising the arrangements for the rally.

Video clips of CM Nitish Kumars statements against PM Narendra Modi before the 2015 assembly elections and Modis DNA comment and other remarks against Kumar will be played at the rally. Facts will speak for themselves before the malik (read public) to make an assessment how Kumar insulted their mandate, said RJD leader Sanjay Yadav.
The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday granted parole to AG Perarivalan, one of those convicted in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, to visit his ailing father.

It is the first time Perarivalan has been given parole since his arrest in 1991.

His mother had applied for one month parole for him to visit his ailing father.

The government order, granting him ordinary leave or parole, did not specify the number of days of parole. It also said that strong police escort should be provided to Perarivalan during the leave period.

PMK founder S Ramadoss in a tweet expressed happiness at the development.

Earlier, Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswami had told the assembly that the matter is under the governments consideration.

He said the government would take into consideration the feelings of all concerned and take a decision.

Perarivalan and six other convicts have been in prison since 1991, the year a woman Tamil Tiger suicide bomber blew herself up and killed Gandhi at an election rally near Chennai.
The district administration has decided to impose curfew in Sirsa city and three villages, adjoining the Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters from 10pm on Thursday, till further orders.

District magistrate (DM) Prabhjot Singh said besides Sirsa, curfew has been imposed in Bajekan, Nejiyakhera and Shahpur Begu villages.

The DM said that military has also been called to maintain law and order in the district.

Meanwhile, a health department team on Thursday conducted a mock drill in Sirsa civil hospital to ascertain preparedness of the hospital staff in case of emergency after the court verdict on Friday in the rape case against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

A health department spokesperson said the objective of the mock drill was to test efficiency in carrying the injured to the hospital from the accident site and starting treatment quickly. He said all arrangements were made in the hospital for providing healthcare services to the people, including all necessary equipment and medicines. Addition of new services and improvement of existing services are carried out regularly, the spokesperson added.

The spokesperson said necessary guidelines were issued to all the doctors for tackling emergency situations. Separate beds were prepared for provision of multi-specialty services in civil hospitals in the district, besides other permanent and temporary beds. As many as 30 ambulances are functional and specialist doctors have been deputed. Oxygen and blood are available in adequate quantities, he added.

Meawhile, the Sonepat district administration has ordered petrol pump operators to install CCTV cameras. Besides open sale of petrol and diesel, selling them in large quantities has also been prohibited. All operators have been instructed to keep around 40% stock reserve on their petrol pumps.
The Supreme Court on Thursday made individual privacy a fundamental right, a verdict that will have significant implications on a range of issues.

The top court gave its ruling while disposing a bunch of petitions that challenged the 12-digit Aadhaar number saying the biometric-based identity infringed on ones right to privacy derived from Article 21 of the Constitution dealing with fundamental right to life.

Here is what the four main petitioners, who have been dogged in their fight for right to privacy  have to day about what the courts verdict means for Aadhaar.

Justice (retired) K S Puttaswamy

Justice (retired) K S Puttaswamy (HT Photo )

Former judge of Karnataka high court, Justice (retired) K S Puttaswamy was the first to challenge the 12-digit unique identification number Aadhaar in the SC. He argued the biometric-liked ID number infringed ones right to privacy, which is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21.

Today he is a relived man as the SC had upheld his argument and declared privacy as fundamental right.

I have been proven right, the former judge said from his home in Bengaluru. If legislation (on privacy) is put forward by the Central government, it will solve 90% of the problems, if not all.

Born on February 6, 1926, Puttaswamy was educated in Maharajas College of Mysore and studied law in Government law college , Bangalore. He started practicing as a lawyer in 1951 and was appointed as a judge in Karnataka high court in 1977.

Shanta Sinha

Magsaysay Award winner child right activist Shanta Singh, who is also former chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), challenged the governments decision to link Aadhaar number with welfare schemes, saying it violated the right to life of the poor guaranteed under the Constitution.

It is a historic order and will free the vulnerable from clutches of Aadhaar, she told HT. I am hopeful that the court will ensure that the poor are not deprived from their entitlements which is crucial for their survival.

Sinha, 67, runs a non-government organisation, the MV Foundation and is an academician with the Hyderabad Central University. She was the first chairperson of the NCPCR set up in 2007.

Aruna Roy

Civil servant turned activist Aruna Roy had challenged biometric collection of residents for Aadhaar saying there were no statutory safeguards and the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) was putting in jeopardy not only rights and life of people but also national security.

She said the scheme violated fundamental rights of the citizens by making Aadhaar mandatory for seeking benefits under welfare schemes such as subsidised ration, pensions, scholarships and maternity benefits.

I hope the SC order open eyes of the government and they reverse its decision to link Aadhaar with welfare schemes which has led to exclusion of the poor, she told HT. We had presented empirical evidence before the court that a large number of deprived have been denied benefits because of faulty Aadhaar scheme.

Roy, 71, heads Rajasthan-based Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, and was instrumental in framing the Right to Information, National Food Security and National Rural Employment Guarantee laws as member of the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council. Chennai born Roy quit Indian Administrative Service in 1974 and started civil rights movement in Rajasthan with her husband Bunker Roy.

Dr Major General Sudhir G Vombatkere

Dr Major General Sudhir G Vombatkere (HT Photo )

An army man turned activist Vombatkere had questioned Aadhaar saying it gives the government unprecedented powers for surveillance of people through technology without any safeguards for citizens on their personal information. His petition also said linking Aadhaar with Permanent Account Number (PAN) violated article 14 (equality before law) and article 19 (g) (part of fundamental rights giving rights to individuals to practice free trade and profession).

It is a reason to rejoice for republic of India as privacy is now a fundamental right, he told HT over phone. But, it is too early to say whether the ruling will lead to dilution of UIDAI as the petition has to be heard by a three-member bench.

Vombatkere retired as additional director general, discipline and vigilance in Army headquarters in Delhi, and is adjunct associate professor with the University of Iowa, United States. He was among those who protested against nuclear plant in Kudakoolam in Tamil Nadu.

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The Congress on Thursday hailed the Supreme Courts decision on right to privacy with P Chidambaram calling it a landmark verdict and one of the most important judgments delivered by the top court since the advent of the Constitution of India.

The verdict has given the main opposition party a handle to attack the BJP-led NDA government for what it called attempts to invade the privacy of the people.

Today, we can once again celebrate our freedom. Tomorrow, there will be other challenges, other questions, and other attempts to invade the right to privacy. We shall overcome those challenges too, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram told reporters.

He said the most important fundamental right of a citizen is embodied in Article 21 of the Constitution. It is the right to life and liberty. Civilised societies will breathe meaning into that precious right and guard against any erosion of that right.

Chidambaram said the Article 21 has acquired a new magnificence by virtue of this judgment. Privacy is at the core of personal liberty. In fact, privacy is an inalienable part of life itself.

He said the Aadhar, as conceived by the previous Congress-led UPA government, posed no challenge to the right to privacy. We It is Modi sarkars implementation that does. It is the current government which argued that there is no fundamental right to privacy, he said. We salute the Supreme Court and the many counsels who worked tirelessly, did extensive and splendid research and presented persuasive arguments before the court.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi welcomed the courts decision, tweeting,

SC decision marks a major blow to fascist forces.A sound rejection of the BJP's ideology of suppression through surveillance#RightToPrivacy  Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) August 24, 2017

Party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted,

Path breaking & seminal judgement of Supreme Court declares 'Privacy' as fundamental right. A great victory for liberty & freedom.1/2  Randeep S Surjewala (@rssurjewala) August 24, 2017

2/2 S.C rejects Modi Govt's attempt to whittle down the right to privacy as a fundamental right by AG's plea of no mention in Constitution.  Randeep S Surjewala (@rssurjewala) August 24, 2017

#RighToPrivacy verdict is a blow to the creeping advances of those who want to convert India into a fascist police state.  Randeep S Surjewala (@rssurjewala) August 24, 2017

Heres how other opposition parties reacted to the decision:

AAP

Delhi Chief Minister and AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal welcomed the Supreme Court verdict.

Minutes after the landmark decision by the apex court, the chief minister tweeted,

Thank u SC for this v important judgement  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) August 24, 2017

CPI-M

Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the Supreme Courts ruling that the right to privacy is a fundamental right will have far-reaching consequences in various domains.

Congratulations to all lawyers, activists, others who fought this govt's sinister designs to deny Indians their fundamental right to privacy https://t.co/mZJeL9Ax9U  Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) August 24, 2017

We have been opposed to mandatory Aadhaar, data misuse by foreign tech corporates. This judgement will pave the way for securing our rights  Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) August 24, 2017

TMC

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday also welcomed the ruling.

We welcome this verdict by Honourable Supreme Court #RightToPrivacy is a Fundamental Right  Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) August 24, 2017

The verdict will have bearing on the governments Aadhaar scheme that makes compulsory linking of the unique biometric identity with bank accounts, income tax returns and for availing government benefits. The petitions challenging Aadhaar will now be referred to a separate five-judge bench.

(With agency inputs)
The Supreme Court held out hope for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in a landmark judgment on Thursday, saying right to privacy cannot be denied to them merely because they are a miniscule fraction of Indias 1.25 billion people.

Sexual orientation is an essential attribute of privacy, the court said, virtually reopening the 2013 judgment on gay rights.

Discrimination against an individual on the basis of sexual orientation is deeply offensive to the dignity and self-worth of the individual  The right to privacy and the protection of sexual orientation lie at the core of the fundamental rights guaranteed by Article 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution, it added.

The court stopped short of giving a ruling on Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that criminalises sex between consenting gay adults, saying it would leave the constitutional validity to be decided in an appropriate proceeding.

In July 2009, the Delhi high court read down Section 377. But the Supreme Court reversed the verdict and re-criminalised gay sex in December 2013.

The LGBT community across India welcomed the top courts privacy ruling on Thursday, saying it will boost their fight against the 2013 judgment  popularly known as the Naz verdict after Naz Foundation, an NGO, which filed the petition.

The court has left it to the Parliament to scrap Section 377 that bans unnatural sex.

I welcome this judgment. It is a relief to hear sexuality spoken of in the language of rights and dignity, said Gautam Bhan, professor, activist and one of the original petitioners against Section 377.

Lawyers believe Thursdays verdict will help the curative petition against the 2013 judgment. I dont think Koushal will be able to withstand this challenge in the curative petition, senior advocate Anand Grover said.

Besides gay rights, the privacy verdict could affect powers of police to arbitrarily conduct search-and-seize operations under Maharashtra rules banning cow slaughter and beef.

The Bombay high court had struck down this privilege to police and the Maharashtra government has challenged the order in the Supreme Court.

The intrusive two-finger medical test conducted on rape survivors too could fall foul of the privacy verdict. Also efforts to ban adult pornography might hit a roadblock.

The DNA profiling bill is another subject that might get influenced by the privacy judgment.

The biggest concern is that the bill has left the task of defining privacy and security safeguards to regulations, which include appropriate use of DNA data and timely removal of obsolete or inaccurate information.

False DNA matches can spark privacy concerns. Now that the top court upheld the right to privacy, chances of the bill being shelved are high, unless all safety regulations are taken into account.
A nine-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar ruled on Thursday that privacy is a fundamental right, a judgment that will have a bearing on civil rights as well as Aadhaar. The judgment was unanimous.

The privacy verdict comes two days after the court in a landmark judgment struck down the Islamic divorce practice of instant triple talaq as unconstitutional.

The other members of the bench were justice J Chelameswar, justice RK Agarwal, justice SA Bobde, justice AM Sapre, justice RF Nariman, justice DY Chandrachud, justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and justice S Abdul Nazeer.

Highlights:

4:05pm: India is very happy that digital India is developing, but technology giants should respect individuals data, says Prasad.

3:55pm: The Modi government is proud to see the evolution of a digital India. We are happy India is a robust digital power. And we are taking care of security... We have already outlined data is very important. With respect for data collection, theres a committee and we will wait for the panels report: Prasad answers a question on how the SC judgment will impact data collection by WhatsApp, Facebook.

3:52pm: While concluding his address, Prasad hits out at Rahul Gandhi and says the Congress leader needs to do homework before commenting.

3:51pm: Government stands with all princes laid out by the Supreme Court today.

3:50pm: Aadhaar works on minimum information, maximum use. It is admired all across the world. It is a technology marvel: Law minister reiterates safety and uses of Aadhaar

In 3 years, we saved 57 k crores that used to be pocketed by middlemen.

3:40pm: The court has spoken clearly about balancing the equity - between individual rights and other interests, Prasad says, repeating that no fundamental right is absolute.

SC has affirmed what government had said in Parliament SC has affirmed what government had said in Parliament while moving Aadhar Bill.

3:35pm: Prasad starts reading the judgment after saying: Like all other fundamental right, right to privacy is not absolute. Subject to same conditions as those of life and liberty

3:30pm: Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad says the government, while moving the Aadhaar act, had acknowledged that privacy is a fundamental right subject to reasonable restrictions.

What has been the Congress record in the protection of individual liberty, questions Prasad, reminiscing the Emergency.

3:20pm: The Supreme Court declaring privacy as a fundamental right will enhance citizens trust in digital services and help in their wider adoption, IT industry body Nasscom says.

3pm: After Rahul, Congress president Sonia Gandhi says, SC judgment on fundamental right to privacy heralds a new era for individual rights, personal liberty and human dignity.

Congress and Opposition together spoke for right to privacy against arrogant attempts of BJP govt to curtail it.

1:45pm: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi welcomes SC judgment on right to privacy, tweets: SC decision marks a major blow to fascist forces. A sound rejection of the BJPs ideology of suppression through surveillance.

Shortly before, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had welcomed the ruling.

1:15pm: In its judgment, the SC said: It is an individuals choice as to who enters his house, how he lives and in what relationship. The privacy of the home must protect the family, marriage, procreation and sexual orientation which are all important aspects of dignity.

Justice Chandrachud also disagrees with 2-judges bench that refused read down section 377 IPC, making gay sex illegal @htTweets  bhadra sinha (@BhadraSinha) August 24, 2017

12:55pm: Expressing hope that the citizens of India would now be protected from any kind of snooping, senior advocate Indira Jaising said, It is a day to celebrate.

Privacy is fundamental. It certainly has an impact on the day-to-day life. This verdict prevents any kind of snooping, she said.

12:40pm: The Aadhaar we conceived was perfectly compatible with the right to privacy... It is the interpretation of this government of the Article 21 which is an invasion of the right to privacy. Theres no fault in the Aadhar concept, there is fault in how this government plans to use or misuse Aadhar as a tool: P Chidambaram addresses a press conference.

This governments approach to Aadhaar inconsistent with UPAs approach, which is why challenges have arisen.

12:35pm: SC upholds the right to privacy. Nothing vague or amorphous about it. People thank the Honourable Judges. These are moments that make India: Kamal Haasan

12:30pm: The advocate who represented petitioners, Poovayya, tells BloombergQuint the ground breaking judgment is a proud moment for citizens.

12:15pm: Congress leader and former MP Sanjay Nirupam hails the ruling, says SC delivered another historical verdict (after triple talaq) declaring right to privacy as a fundamental right of the citizens.

12:05pm: The verdict is a Warning of institutions of democracy to government of PM Modi, says Salman Khurshid, Congress leader and SC advocate.

Hope cheer leaders remember the govt aggressively opposed Privacy Right before Court. Shall await ministers congratulating the PM for this.

11:55am: Congress P Chidambaram says privacy is the core of personal liberty. Article 21 has acquired a new magnificence.

11:50am R Chandrasekhar, one of the petitioners of the case, tells ANI he is glad about the SC verdict. As the world moves towards digitization, citizens must have rights against misuse of information.

11:40am: Delhi chief minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal joints Opposition leaders in hailing the SC verdict. Thank u SC for this v important judgment (sic).

11:25am: Former attorney general Soli Sorabjee tells NDTV the top court did not hesitate to overrule earlier judgements. Its a good thing, it shows the SC is progressive.

The ruling could have a bearing on ruling on Aadhaar law, beef ban and gay sex law.

11:20am: Music composer Vishal Dadlani too reacts to the verdict, tweets: Is it alright to want to send the Supreme Court & the Bench some serious hugs right now?

11:10am: Congratulations to all lawyers, activists, others who fought this govts sinister designs to deny Indians their fundamental right to privacy, says CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury.

I have a right to privacy & it's a fundamental one. Yeyy   Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) August 24, 2017

11:05am: The Congress party welcomes the verdict. Path breaking and seminal judgment. A great victory for liberty and freedom. The Supreme Court rejects Modi governments attempt to whittle down the right to privacy, partys chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala tweets.

Prime Minister Narendra Modis government has rejected suggestions that the programme, set up in 2009, poses a threat to civil liberties despite personal data being leaked in security breaches.

In May, then attorney general Mukul Rohatgi rejected suggestions that Indians could refuse to provide their iris scans or fingerprints to the government, telling a court the concept of absolute right over ones body was a myth.

11am: It is not clear what impact will the ruling have, Bhushan tells mediapersons outside the Supreme Court.

10:55am: Former AAP leader and noted lawyer Prashant Bhushan speaks to media: SC has today held in a historic judgment that privacy is a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution. A smaller bench will take up the Aadhaar case.

Kudos to the SC for holding Right to Privacy a fundamental right under Art 21. Aadhaar Act & any other law will be tested on reasonableness, he tweets shortly after his statement.

The ruling possibly means unreasonable restrictions (breaching privacy) under laws will be struck down, says Bhushan.

The bench has not said anything about Aadhaar. The court has only ruled on right to privacy.

10:50am: The validity of Aadhaar law will be tested on the right to privacy judgment by a 3-judge bench.

10:45am: SC rules right to privacy is a guaranteed fundamental right under Article 21. The judgment was unanimous.

The latest ruling overturns two earlier decisions by smaller benches of the Supreme Court which said privacy was not a fundamental right.

10:35am: SC begins to deliver verdict on whether right to privacy is a fundamental right. Justice Chelameshwar starts reading the judgment.

Here are the 9 things you should know about privacy.

10:30am: Judges assemble in courtroom to deliver the verdict.

9:45am: Here are a few things you need to know about the case:

The Supreme Court is hearing a challenge to the Delhi high courts September 23, 2016 order by which it allowed WhatsApp to roll out its new privacy policy but stopped it from sharing the data of its users collected up to September 25, 2016, with Facebook or any other related company. The issue was rooted in a reference by a three-judge bench that was hearing a challenge to the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar scheme on the grounds of its being violative of the fundamental right to privacy.

The decision to set up the nine-judge bench was taken to examine the correctness of two apex court judgments delivered in the cases of Kharak Singh and MP Sharma, decided by six and eight judge benches respectively, in which it was held that this right was not a fundamental right.

The Centre contended that though after the mid-seventies, several judgments by the benches of strength of two or three judges had held that right to privacy was fundamental but it was the judgment of 1954 and 1962 by the larger benches that holds the ground. The judgments of 1954 and 1962 had held that the right to privacy was not a fundamental right.

The Centre had termed privacy as a vague and amorphous right which cannot be granted primacy to deprive poor people of their rights to life, food and shelter.

(With agency inputs)
Road projects worth Rs 5,253 crore are being implemented which would benefit both India and Nepal, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday.

The projects include a 300 km road from Kakarwaha to Varanasi entailing Rs1,499 crore investment besides a Rs1,338 crore project for linking Rupaidiha to Barabanki, he said.

Nepals Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba who is on a visit to our country and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have emphasised on closer cooperation between the nations. We are implementing a number of road projects entailing Rs 5,253 crore investment that will benefit both the nations, road transport, highways and shipping minister Gadkari said.

The Cabinet on Wednesday approved an MoU to be signed with Nepal for construction of a Rs 159-crore bridge on Mechi river at Indo-Nepal border.

Elaborating the projects, Gadkari said a Rs 158 crore bridge is being constructed on river Mechi with assistance from ADB under which Kakarvitta in Nepal would be linked to Pani Tanki in West Bengal.

This six-lane bridge will link Nepal with East West Corridor and ADB will provide Rs 89.52 crore loan while the rest will be borne by the Road Transport and Highways Ministry.

Another 144 km road will be completed by October this year to link Rupaidiha to Barabanki at a cost of Rs 1,338 crore under NHDP, the minister said.

Besides a 300 km road will be completed by June next year, linking Kakarwaha to Varanasi at a cost of Rs 1,499 crore.

The minister said that apart from this, an 83 km stretch from Sonauli to Gorakhpur will be completed by October at a cost of Rs 570 crore.

The other projects being implemented include Rs 512 crore Muzaffarpur-Sonbarsha stretch, Rs 247 Fobesganj to Jogbani stretch, Rs 429 crore project for linking Piprakodi to Raxaul, he said.

In addition to these, the minister said 10 roads are being developed at a cost of Rs 500 crore for constructing Rs 305 km stretches under Indo-Nepal agreement and NHIDCL which is executing these has opened its branch office in Kathmandu for this.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sanghs (RSS) Bengal unit has said it will not abide by the Mamata Banerjee governments decision to restrict immersion of Durga idols on Bijoya Dashami after 6pm on September 30 in order facilitate the Muharram processions the same day.

With Muharram scheduled a day after Dussera this year, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee asked the people on Wednesday to cooperate with each other and not to fall prey to provocation leading to communal problems.

Hindus will immerse the idols following shaashtra guidelines. It is the governments duty to ensure both communities are able to perform their rituals as per religious guidelines. Hindus will immerse idols after 6pm on Bijoya Dashami as the almanac allows it, said Jisnu Basu, general secretary of RSS south Bengal.

Bijoya Dashami celebrations, one of the most colourful part of Bengals biggest annual festival, fall on September 30 this year, a day before Muharram - when Shia Muslims mourn the battle of Karbala. At several places, Muslims practice the procession on the eve of Muharram.

Immersions take place on Bijoya Dashami and the day after, especially after sundown, because the processions are decorated with creative light panels. The lighting has been a major attraction of immersion processions.

On Wednesday, the chief minister held a meeting with organisers of major pujas in Kolkata and announced that immersions will not be allowed after 6pm on September 30. Immersion will resume on October 2 and will continue till October 4, she had said.

On October 3, the state government is expected to organise processions of the best pujas on Red Road.

Last year, when Muharram fell a day after Dashami, a series of small to medium scale communal clashes took places across various districts in West Bengal that continued for nearly a week. While no lives were lost, properties were destroyed.

Sachindranath Singha, Vishwa Hindu Parishads (VHP) in-charge for West Bengal, Odisha, Sikkim and Andaman, told HT that Hindus will continue immersion processions after 6pm, as according to the Hindu almanac Dashami ends at 11 pm.

The government cannot deprive the Hindus to appease the Muslims. We will not let them do that. It is the administrations duty to ensure peace during Bijoya Dashami processions. What if Bijoya Dashami and Muharram fall on the same day next year or in the near future? Will Hindus be barred from Dashami celebrations altogether? Singha said.

Asked whether they plan to move court, the RSS general secretary said there was no need for that.

Singha, however, did not rule out legal measures.

Last year, under similar circumstances, the court was approached at the last moment and the judge rebuked the state government for appeasing minorities at the cost of the majority. His order makes it clear it is the administrations duty to ensure peaceful commencement of both events, Basu said.

In 2006, when a few families approached the Calcutta High Court against the government order restricting immersion on Dashami after 4pm, justice Dipankar Dutta ordered that since Dashami was to end around 6pm, Hindu families must be allowed to immerse idols till that time.

To put it curtly, the state government has been irresponsibly brazen in its conduct of being partial to one community, thereby infringing upon the fundamental rights of people worshipping Maa Durga, the order said.

The judge added, Never has there been a restriction on immersion of Durga idols on Bijoya Dashami at any earlier point of time. It has been brought to the notice of this Bench that in the years 1982 and 1983, Muharram was observed on the day following Bijoya Dashami, but no restriction of the nature impugned herein was imposed.

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Justice DY Chandrachud wrote the lead verdict in the Supreme Courts landmark judgment on Thursday that declared right to privacy integral to the Constitution.

His conclusions got the backing of three members of the nine-judge bench  Chief Justice JS Khehar, Justice RK Agrawal and Justice SA Nazeer.

The judge overturned two previous verdicts on the hotly debated subject and overruled another judgment often described as the darkest hour in Indian judiciary.

In doing so he set aside the opinion of his father, Justice YV Chandrachud, in the controversial ADM Jabalpur case.

The senior Chandrachud was among four out of five judges who in 1976 upheld a presidential order to impose Emergency in the country. The Congress was in power then.

The presidential order suspended the rights of a person to approach a court for enforcement of rights conferred by Article 14, 21 and 22 of the Constitution during the Emergency period.

There was only one dissenting opinion, which was written by Justice HR Khanna.

The judgments rendered by all the four judges constituting the majority in ADM Jabalpur are seriously flawed. Life and personal liberty are inalienable to human existence. They constitute rights under natural law, said Chandrachud, striking a discordant note in the privacy verdict.

Dignity is associated with liberty and freedom. No civilized state can contemplate an encroachment upon life and personal liberty without the authority of law. Neither life nor liberty are bounties conferred by the state, nor does the Constitution create these rights, he said, agreeing with Khannas views in 1976.

He was supported by Justice RF Nariman and Justice SK Kaul.

I fully agree with the view expressly overruling the ADM Jabalpur case, which was an aberration in the constitutional jurisprudence of our country and the desirability of burying the majority opinion ten fathom deep, with no chance of resurrection, Kaul said.

Nariman expressed similar opinion.

We are of the view that the aforesaid statement made by the learned author reflects the correct position in constitutional law. We, therefore, expressly overrule the majority judgments in ADM Jabalpur, he said.

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The Supreme Courts judgment declaring the Right to Privacy a fundamental right will have no direct impact on WhatsApp and Facebook, a cyber security expert said on Thursday.

The reason for this is Facebook and WhatsApp are private entities. These private entities dont get covered under the ambit of fundamental rights as they are enforced under Part 3 of the Indian constitution and they are only enforceable to state action, Pavan Duggal, a Supreme Court advocate and cyber law expert, told IANS.

Earlier, the Delhi High Court had restrained WhatsApp from sharing with Facebook the user information existing upto September 25, 2016 when its new privacy policy came into effect.

WhatsApp has to completely delete all data of users who chooses to opt out of the instant messaging app after the coming into force of its new privacy policy, the court had ruled.

The Supreme Court on Friday declared that right to privacy was a fundamental right and protected as an intrinsic part of life and personal liberty and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.

Rejecting the governments contention that privacy was not a fundamental right, a nine-judge Constitution bench unanimously overturned two earlier rulings in the MP Sharma and Kharak Singh cases that held that the right to privacy was not protected by the Constitution.

That effectively means if the state violates the fundamental rights, you can challenge them in a court of law. A private person is not an instrumentality of the state, Duggal said.

According to him, the ramifications of this judgment on the digital and mobile eco-system will be fascinating to examine.

Because in physical world, privacy is a well understood concept but privacy in the digital world is not defined, he said, adding that the government has to quickly wake up to the reality of the connection between privacy and cybersecurity.

WhatsApp had informed the High Court that when a user account was deleted, the information of that person was no longer retained on its servers.

IT and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the government does not give the right to release data to anyone, except in case of compelling public interest.

There are 118 crore mobile connections. There are 50 crore plus smartphones. India will be a global digital power and we can take good care of our cyber security and safety. I am very happy that all the big international companies are coming to India in a big way. There is Google, Facebook, WhatsApp... they are all welcome, the minister said.
For the second time in a fortnight, two sons of pro-Pakistan separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani were on Thursday questioned by the NIA in connection with a terror funding probe allegedly involving Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, officials said.

Nayeem and Naseem were questioned earlier on August 8. The elder son Nayeem is a surgeon by profession, while Naseem is an employee of the Jammu and Kashmir government.

According to officials, who are not authorised to speak to media, the two were asked to bring certain documents related to financial transactions that have come under the scanner of the NIA.

Nayeem is tipped as the natural successor to lead the Tehrek-e-Hurriyat, a separatist conglomerate comprising pro-Pakistan hardline groups, after his 87-year-old ailing father.

The NIA had registered the case of terror funding and named Saeed, leader of the Pakistan-based Jamaat-ud-Dawa and banned terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, as an accused.

It had 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.

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. PTI SKL ZMN
The Supreme Court will likely pronounce on Thursday whether right to privacy is a fundamental right, with a possible bearing on the challenge to the validity of the governments Aadhaar scheme.

The case

The Supreme Court is hearing a challenge to the Delhi high courts September 23, 2016 order by which it allowed WhatsApp to roll out its new privacy policy but stopped it from sharing the data of its users collected up to September 25, 2016, with Facebook or any other related company.

The issue was rooted in a reference by a three-judge bench that was hearing a challenge to the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar scheme on the grounds of its being violative of the fundamental right to privacy.

Initially, on July 7, a three-judge bench said all issues arising out of Aadhaar should finally be decided by a larger bench and the Chief Justice of India would take a call on the need for setting up a constitution bench.

The matter was then mentioned before CJI Khehar who set up a five-judge constitution bench to hear the matter.

However, the five-judge constitution bench on July 18 decided to set up a nine-judge bench to decide whether the right to privacy can be declared a fundamental right under the Constitution.

The hearing in the case had commenced on July 19 and concluded on August 2.

The decision to set up the nine-judge bench was taken to examine the correctness of two apex court judgements delivered in the cases of Kharak Singh and MP Sharma, decided by six and eight judge benches respectively, in which it was held that this right was not a fundamental right.

The bench and the lawyers

Besides Chief Justice of India, JS Khehar, the other judges of the bench are justice J Chelameswar, justice SA Bobde, justice RK Agrawal, justice RF Nariman, justice AM Sapre, justice DY Chandrachud, justice SK Kaul and justice S Abdul Nazeer.

The hearing saw a battery of senior lawyers, including attorney general KK Venugopal, additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta, Arvind Datar, Kapil Sibal, Gopal Subaramaniam, Shyam Divan, Anand Grover, CA Sundaram and Rakesh Dwivedi, advancing arguments either in favour or against the inclusion of right to privacy as a fundamental right.

The arguments

The Centre contended that though after the mid-seventies, several judgments by the benches of strength of two or three judges had held that right to privacy was fundamental but it was the judgment of 1954 and 1962 by the larger benches that holds the ground. The judgments of 1954 and 1962 had held that the right to privacy was not a fundamental right.

The Centre had termed privacy as a vague and amorphous right which cannot be granted primacy to deprive poor people of their rights to life, food and shelter.

The hearing saw a partisan divide with the Centre and BJP-ruled Maharashtra and Gujarat contending that right to privacy was not a fundamental right and those ruled by the Congress -- Karnataka, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry and TMC in West Bengal asserting that privacy was a fundamental right.

The Unique Identification Authority of India, too, said privacy was not a fundamental right and there were sufficient safeguards to protect data collected from the people -- their iris scan and finger prints.

The attorney general had contended that right to privacy cannot fall in the bracket of fundamental rights as there were binding decisions of larger benches that it was only a common law right evolved through judicial decisions.

The bench had wanted to know about the tests which could be used to regulate and enforce privacy right when there could be legitimate or illegitimate use of data.

Meanwhile, the petitioners had contended that the right to privacy was inalienable and inherent to the most important fundamental right which is the right to liberty.

They had said that right to liberty, which also included right to privacy, was a pre-existing natural right which the Constitution acknowledged and guaranteed to the citizens in case of infringement by the state.

The apex court, during the hearing, favoured overarching guidelines to protect private information in public domain and said there was a need to maintain the core of privacy as the notion of privacy was fast becoming irrelevant in an all- pervading technological era.

What next?

After the nine judges bench decides whether right to privacy is a fundamental right or not, then a regular bench will hear the challenge to the validity of the Aadhaar scheme.
In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously ruled that individual privacy is a guaranteed fundamental right.

The ruling delivered by a nine-judge bench said right to privacy was at par with right to life and liberty, and that the verdict will protect citizens personal freedom from intrusions by the state.

In his part of the judgment, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul quoted lines by American poet and satirist Felicia Lamport which is mentioned in the book The Assault on Privacy24.

Heres the poem:

DEPRIVACY

Although we feel unknown, ignored

As unrecorded blanks,

Take heart! Our vital selves are stored

In giant data banks,

Our childhoods and maturities,

Efficiently compiled,

Our Stocks and insecurities,

All permanently filed,

Our tastes and our proclivities,

In gross and in particular,

Our incomes, our activities

Both extra-and curricular.

And such will be our happy state

Until the day we die

When well be snatched up by the great

Computer in the Sky
The Supreme Court on Thursday lauded its three former judges, Justices Saiyid Fazl Ali, Subba Rao and H R Khanna, for their vision and dissents from their colleagues to protect the rights of individuals, as it held right to privacy as a fundamental right.

Justice RF Nariman, a member of the nine-judge constitution bench which held right to privacy as intrinsic part of Article 21 of the Constitution, recalled the three former judges for their Three Great Dissents.

Justices Fazl Ali, Subba Rao and Khanna were Supreme Court judges from 1950-51, 1958-67 and 1971-77 respectively.

Article 21, with which we are directly concerned, was couched in negative form in order to interdict State action that fell afoul of its contours. This article, which houses two great human rights, the right to life and the right to personal liberty, was construed rather narrowly by the early Supreme Court of India.

But then, there were judges who had vision and dissented from their colleagues. This judgment will refer to three great dissents by Justices Saiyid Fazl Ali, Subba Rao and Khanna, he said in his 122-page verdict which formed part of the 547-page judgement.

The first great dissent referred to by Justice Nariman was by Justice Fazl Ali in the case of A K Gopalan vs State of Madras, 1950. Justice Nariman went on to say that the foresight of Justice Fazl Ali simply takes our breath away.

The subject matter of challenge in the case of AK Gopalan, a communist leader, was the validity of certain provisions of the Preventive Detention Act of 1950.

It was decided in the Gopalan case that free speech and expression was guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a) and was hence excluded from personal liberty under Article 21.

Justice Ali, in his dissent from other judges of bench, had adopted the view that fundamental rights are not isolated and separate but protect a common thread of liberty and freedom.

On all counts, his words were a cry in the wilderness. Insofar as his vision that fundamental rights are not in distinct water-tight compartments but do overlap, it took twenty years for this Court to realise how correct he was..., Justice Nariman said.

In the second great dissent, Justice Nariman referred to Justice Subba Raos dissent in Kharak Singh vs State of UP, which had a direct bearing on the question decided by the nine-judge bench on Thursday.

In the Kharak Singh judgement, Regulation 237 of the UP Police Regulations was challenged as violating fundamental rights under Article 19(1)(d) and Article 21.

The decision in Kharak Singh case invalidated domiciliary visits at night authorised by Regulation 236(b), finding them to be an unauthorised intrusion into the home of a person and a violation of the fundamental right to personal liberty.

However, Justice Rao in his dissenting views said that the rights conferred by Part III have overlapping areas.

Where a law is challenged as infringing the right to freedom of movement under Article 19(1)(d) and the liberty of the individual under Article 21, it must satisfy the tests laid down in Article 19(2) as well as the requirements of Article 21, Justice Subba Rao had said.

All six judges had struck down sub-para (b), but Justice Subba Rao joined by Justice Shah, struck down the entire Regulation as violating the individuals right to privacy.

At a footnote, Justice Nariman alludes to the farewell speech of Chief Justice SR Das: Chief Justice SR Das in his farewell speech had this to say about Justice Subba Rao, Then we have brother Subba Rao, who is extremely unhappy because all our fundamental rights are going to the dogs on account of some ill-conceived judgments of his colleagues which require reconsideration.

The third great dissent referred to by Justice Nariman was the judgement by HR Khanna in ADM Jabalpur vs SS Shukla which he termed as remarkable.

In the footnote of the verdict, he said that Justice HR Khanna was in line to be next Chief Justice of India but was superseded because of this dissenting views in the judgment.

He went on saying that developments after this judgment have also made it clear that the majority judgments are no longer good law and that Justice Khannas dissent is the correct version of the law.

In the ADM Jabalpur case of 1976, the five-judge bench by a majority verdict 4:1 had arrived at the conclusion that Article 21 is the sole repository of all rights to life and personal liberty, and, when suspended, takes away those rights altogether.

Emergency was imposed in the country for a period of 21- month from 1975 to 1977. Justice HR Khanna was lone dissenting judge who had held that the suspension of the right to move any Court for the enforcement of the right under Article 21, upon a proclamation of emergency, would not affect the enforcement of the basic right to life and liberty.
A businessman shot dead his two minor daughters and seriously injured his wife in southwest Bihars Rohtas district on Thursday.

Lalit Narayan Singh, who ran an agency of a leading mobile service provider, had apparently planned to end his life after killing his wife and daughters. A suicide note found at his rented accommodation at Bikramganj in Rohtas district, 110 km southwest of state capital Patna, suggested Singh was under acute depression following his inability to repay the loan he had taken to run his business.

Singhs only son Ashirvad, 7, was away at a relatives house in neighbouring Bhojpur district when the incident took place.

Police said Singh, originally a resident of Patariya village in Agiaon police station area of Bhojpur district, first tried to slit the throat of his wife Gudiya Devi, 35, who was then asleep, with a knife at about 3 am. However, she woke up, raised an alarm and fled to the house of a neighbour, who informed the police, they said.

In the meantime, he shot dead his daughters Tanu, 15, and Tanya, 12, with a licensed pistol and fled, leaving behind a suicide note, the police added.

Bikramganj sub divisional police officer (SDPO) Niraj Kumar said primary investigations suggested that Singh was under depression as he was unable to clear his debt. The suicide note said it was becoming difficult for Singh to take care of his family due to the loan, Kumar said.

Police were searching for Singh. The exact cause of the killings will be known only after he is arrested, the SDPO said.

The seriously injured wife of Singh was fighting for survival at a Bikramganj private hospital and the bodies of his daughters had been sent to Sasaram, headquarters of Rohtas district, for post mortem examination, the SDPO said.
US defence secretary James Mattis is expected to begin his two-day visit to India on September 25, with focus on Afghanistan, counter-terrorism and greater sharing of defence equipment and technology, government sources said on Thursday.

Mattis be followed by secretary of state Rex Tillerson, as two countries look to strengthen bilateral ties and step up engagement.

Tillerson, who wouldnt accompany Mattis due to scheduling problems, will be in New Delhi for the first two-plus-two India-US dialogue involving external affairs and defence ministers of the two countries, sources said.

The proposal for the new format, which replaces the India-US Strategic and Commercial Dialogue, is still to be received from the state department.

President Donald Trump had on August 21 called for a closer engagement with India on Afghanistan as he laid out US strategy for the war-ravaged country.

In his address to the nation from Fort Myer military base in Virginia, Trump asked New Delhi to contribute more towards economic and development assistance to Kabul. He singled out Pakistan-based terrorist groups for creating instability in Kabul and South Asia at large, something that India has been saying all along.

Trumps address was followed by a phone conversation between Tillerson and his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj, diplomatic sources in New Delhi and Washington said.

US national security adviser HR McMaster and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval, too, discussed Afghanistan in a detailed phone conversation.

Though New Delhi is tight-lipped, sources said the two sides discussed ways in which India could contribute towards a stable Afghanistan without putting boots on the ground.

While Afghanistan is going to be central to Mattiss meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, defence minister Arun Jaitley and Doval, the revival of the defence technology and trade initiative (DTTI) would also feature widely.

At present, the DTTI has joint working groups on aircraft carrier, hot engine aircraft technology and future vertical lift helicopters, with small unmanned aerial vehicles and roll-on-roll-off C-130J modules off the table.

India is looking at six V-22 tilt rotor Osprey aircraft for rapid deployment on its western and northern borders. The US also wants to sell F-16 and F-18 multi-role fighters to India through the government-to-government route.

Secretary (defence production) Ashok Kumar Gupta was likely to visit Pentagon early September to review the DTTI projects and also look at new India-specific technologies, sources said.

India is looking to speed up setting up of tri-services command in Andaman and Nicobar Islands as China rapidly militarises the South China Sea. New Delhi is also stepping up engagement with the US Pacific Command based in Hawaii.

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Nepals Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Thursday said that his country would never allow any anti-India activities to stem from its soil as two countries stepped up their economic ties through a clutch of agreements after he met his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

Nepal would never allow any activities against friendly neighbour India and there would be every support and cooperation from our side, he said.

He and PM Modi were issuing a joint statement after a meeting on Thursday.

Deubas visit comes in the backdrop of India and China courting Nepal and amid border tension between the two major Asian powers.

Deuba also asked PM Modi to support Nepal more and to build more trust and understanding to promote relations.

He said Nepal has historical relations with India and his visit was to enhance the partnership for overall development of Nepal and consolidate the relations between the two countries.

India has played an important part in our development efforts and we request Prime Minister Modi to support us more for development plans and first to build trust and understanding to expand our relations, Deuba at a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

PM Modi, said India is fully committed to enhance its partnership in Nepals development and termed the meeting with the visiting PM positive.

I believe that our discussion of today and the agreements we have agreed upon, will run a new energy in our bilateral relations. He was speaking about the eight pacts two countries signed. The two leaders also jointly inaugurated the Kataiya- Kusaha and Raxaul-Parwanipur cross border power transmission lines.

Modi identified defence and security as an important aspect of bilateral ties the pacts signed which included one for a bridge over Mechi bridge, an MoU for utilisation of Indias housing grant component to support reconstruction of 50,000 houses and reconstruction of the health and educations sectors in Nepal.
They are beautifully chiselled pieces of art works, similar to the ones displayed across museums across the world, chronicling different periods of India's rich history.

Yet, since the last decade, around 900 pieces of art works which are valued at an estimated amount of Rs.1,800 crore are kept locked in a godown of a police station in Jaipur, without any expert supervision and at a risk of getting damaged.

The artefacts are predominantly from 2nd-12th century and are from various archaeological sites of the state such as Jhalawar, Kota and Udaipur, a senior police officer said.

These artefacts are at the police station due to a long-running court case that hasn't decided their final fate yet. The antiquities are a part of the art works seized from the alleged antique thief, Vaman Ghiya, after he was arrested in 2003.

"At the time of the confiscation, experts had valued the artifacts at Rs.2 crore each on an average. The market price of some of them went as high as 1 million dollars at the time," said Anand Shrivastava, inspector general of police, Udaipur range.

Shrivastava, under whose supervision the investigation of the case took place, said the artifacts included statues dating back to the time of Samudragupta, various busts of gods and goddesses and other periods of Indian history. "Some of them were so heavy that they had to be lifted with cranes, " said Shrivastava.

Ghiya was acquitted by the Rajasthan High Court in 2014 and since then the case is pending at the Supreme Court, resulting in a deadlock over the fate of the antiquities.

Artifacts kept in dismal conditions

The sight of the ancient statues of gods and goddesses scattered in the open at the Vidhyadhar Nagar police station in Jaipur is quite an unlikely one.

Some of them are kept in the open with no roof over them, at the risk of getting damaged or weathered by constant exposure to rain and heat.

There are no efforts by the authorities to get an expert opinion about their current condition or to preserve them. Ironically, the police at present don't even have the key to the godown where the rest of the artifacts are kept.

There should be some kind of protection and efforts to preserve such sculptures and they shouldnt be kept in open. Theres a risk of them getting damaged. said Arjun Prajapati, artist and Padma Shri recipent.

Surendra, in-charge of the police godown, said: "The last in-charge of the godown retired a couple of years ago and he is yet to hand the charge over to me. This is why, at present, I don't have the keys to the room.

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The students election for the presidential post at University of Rajasthan, the states largest in terms of enrolment, is set be a keen contest this year.

Although last-night shift of votes is said to determine poll outcomes, political equations are volatile on the campus for the August 28 elections.

The post of president received 18 nominations on Wednesday, but nine withdrew on Thursday. Going by the mood on the campus, it appears that three major candidates are locked in a big fight, though a rebel candidate may emerge a dark horse.

The three main contenders are Sanjay Macheri of RSS-affiliate Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Pawan Yadav, an ABVP rebel candidate, and Deepak Meena of Congress student wing National Students Union of India (NSUI).

Ticket to Macheri led to resentment among some ABVP members who felt that Yadav was more deserving. As the rumour goes, Macheri got the ticket due to pressure from a BJP bigwig. Akhilesh Pareek, who contested unsuccessfully for the university president post on an ABVP ticket last year, has thrown his weight behind Yadav.

Macheri is a Rajput and unlikely to get the votes of Jat students who number 6,000-7,000 in the university. Jats and Rajputs have a long-standing political rivalry that stems from the latters long rule in the state despite the numerical strength of the former.

Yadav, who has the reputation of a committed and hard-working student leader, has alleged that his modest background came in the way of getting the ABVP ticket. He has drawn sympathy of many students after ticket denial.

Success of NSUIs Deepak Meena largely depends on how many Meena votes (roughly 6,000) swing in his favour. Also, the anti-incumbency sentiment among students, directed at the BJP government, might translate into votes for the NSUI.

NSUI rebel candidate Rahul Bhakar could be a dark horse. Though he does not seem to have much support in the university, his Jat identity might prove to be a turning point. The university has had four Jat presidents since 2013.

If Jats decide to support Bhakar one night before the polls, he might outdo the other three contestants, said Pankaj, an MSc (environmental science) student.

For the post of general secretary, eight candidates in the fray but the fight appears to be between NSUIs Manvendra Budania and ABVPs Rakesh Yadav.

The counting will be held on September 4.

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Health officials found a 14-year-old girl doing the nurses job during surprise inspection at Sumitra Nursing home in Mohanlalganj on Wednesday.

There were no doctors or paramedical staff despite patients admitted in the wards. Those looking after the patients were not qualified, stated the report filed by the health team and submitted to the office of chief medical officer of Lucknow.

Dr SK Rawat and Dr RK Chaudhary who went for inspection at the hospital said when they asked for the list of doctors and documents regarding the hospital registration and panel of doctors, they were provided none.

The minor girl Vimla is a resident of Unnao and she told that she was coming to the hospital to learn nursing, said the report. The health team has asked the Mohanlalganj police to initiate action against the hospital that was functioning illegally.

The case of Vimla appears to be an example of how quacks are produced by unregistered hospitals, said Dr Rawat.

When the team met one Laxmi Prasad sitting in the doctors room and demanded papers from him, he allegedly misbehaved and threatened the team of dire consequences. When cops were called to the spot, the owner of the hospital turned up and alleged that the team was demanding money in the name of inspection.

In another inspection at Parag hospital of Nigoha, the health team found blood transfusion being done to a woman without the supervision of a qualified doctor.

There was no qualified nurse, neither was there any pharmacist to dispense medicine and the pharmacy was running without the mandatory license, said chief medical officer Dr GS Bajpayee.

The hospital has been issued notice to present its documents with the office of the chief medical officer of Lucknow.

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A police sub-inspector was killed in an encounter with the dacoits in the jungle around Manikpur in Chitrakoot district on Thursday.

The gun battle between the police and the members of Babli Kol gang is on for the last eight hours and reports suggested that three dacoits have been nabbed. One of the dacoits has sustained injuries in the encounter.

Police teams engaged in anti-dacoity operations in Patha region came to know about the presence of Kol and his gang around the forest post in Nihi Chiraiya.

Two police teams from Man and Manimau police circles were sent in the forests. As they were close to the forest post, the dacoits opened fire at the police. Sub-inspector Jai Prakash Singh, posted at Raipura police station, was hit in the abdomen multiple times.

Police said the sub-inspector died while being taken out of the forest.

An encounter is on between police and dacoits in Chitrakoot. (HT Photo)

A dacoit Raju Kol and two others have been arrested. Reports earlier claimed that a dacoit Lavkesh Kol had been killed in the encounter but it was later found that he was firing at police teams and may have been injured.

Taking the higher ground, the dacoits were retreating towards more inhospitable terrain. They are firing heavily. The STF teams have joined the operations and we may possibly corner them at the point of our choice, said a police officer.

Babli Kol, who was with Shiv Kumar Dadua and Balkhariya gangs, carries a cash reward of Rs 5.30 lakh announced by the Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh governments.
AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL: TRUTH TO POWER (Documentary) Direction: Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk Featuring: Al Gore Rating: 3.5 / 5

Its been more than a decade since the Oscar-winning feature length documentary An Inconvenient Truth alerted audiences to the catastrophic consequences of climate change.

In the intervening years, former US vice-president Al Gore has continued his crusade for a renewable energy revolution.

While the first film made extensive use of the slideshow format, the cleverly titled sequel follows the Nobel Peace Prize activist on his travels around the world in a bid to shake up international climate policy. (His globetrotting approach, incidentally, has earned him quite a few critics, and calls of hypocrite.)

Anyway, Gore argues powerfully and effectively that if political and corporate lobbyists are not ignored, and stringent corrective measures are not implemented, we will continue to witness extreme temperatures and apocalyptic natural disasters such as the melting of the ice caps and resultant floods in cities as far-flung as Miami and Chennai.

The cleverly titled sequel follows Nobel Peace Prize winner Gore as he travels the world to shake up climate policy. His globetrotting approach, incidentally, has earned him quite a few critics, and calls of hypocrite.

Taking over from David Guggenheim, who helmed the original, co-directors Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk (who also serves as cinematographer) present Gore as a recovering politician dedicated to the cause of our environmental future.

They show him at the 2015 Paris climate conference, negotiating with the dissenting Indian delegation and eventually even persuading them to vote in favour of the treaty. (Unfortunately, earlier this year, US President Donald Trump pulled America out of the historical accord.)

Whatever you may think of the former Veep, An Inconvenient Sequel, like its predecessor, is powerful and essential viewing.

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THE HITMANS BODYGUARD Direction: Patrick Hughes Actors: Samuel L Jackson, Ryan Reynolds, Salma Hayek Rating: 2 / 5

The Hitmans Bodyguard begins with explosion and shots fired. Then men emerge, all dressed in suits. Theres a top shot of a city. Cars  big and small  bounce about; theres an impossible-to-do jump; armed men die in every scene.

Its the formulaic car chase bromance, with one critical problem  that formula stopped working in the 1990s.

So it doesnt help that the ingredients are all there: One carefree, funny hitman (Samuel L Jackson), a sarcastic bodyguard (Ryan Reynolds), a foul-mouthed, yoga-loving girlfriend (Salma Hayek); a strained relationship between the two men that quickly proceeds to soul-searching talks between the chases and gun-slinging.

Fast cars, check. Foul mouths, check. Yoga-loving girlfriend, also check. Maybe the movie set out trying to be ironic. Either way, it offers too few laughs and far too many predictable plot turns.

As Jackson and Reynolds dash across Europe, from London to the Hague, they must fight off henchmen sent by a ruthless Eastern European dictator being tried for war crimes. It all gets pretty tiresome pretty soon.

The one thing that rescues the film is the fact that director Patrick Hughes seems intently aware of its predictability. So he mixes in a dash of fun, some irony, even a few tongue-in-cheek digs at the genre itself.

Still, there are only a few moments that stand out  notably one in which Jackson sings a very heartfelt rendition of Nobody gets out alive. The LOLs are too few and far-between. If not for Reynolds, Jackson and Hayek, it would have been unwatchable. Even they can only manage to make it slightly less so.

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Film: Vivegam

Director: Siva

Cast: Ajith, Vivek Oberoi, Kajal Aggarwal and Akshara Haasan

Rating: 2.5/5

Ajiths highly anticipated Vivegam is an ambitious film, both in terms of scale and making, but not all such attempts, particularly in this case, deserve praise. Siva and Ajith have teamed up for the third time in Vivegam, and they desperately try to take things up a notch by setting their story against a lavish, international backdrop, only to fail miserably in the process and churn out a half baked product which is fuelled by great action.

Ajith is his effervescent self as he plays an agent, Ajay Kumar. He leads the anti-terrorist squad whose members include Vivek Oberoi, Aarav Choudhary, Amilia Terzimehic and Serge Crozon-Cazin. They make quite a team and their friendship is the pillar of their relationship. Theyre on a mission to stop a nuclear attack but things dont pan out the way they anticipated, especially for Ajith.

Sivas intention to make an international film, on a scale Tamil cinema hasnt witnessed so far, is truly commendable, but his writing is a huge let down. Despite great action, which is the films saving grace, the twists are very predictable and it gets worse post interval. The pre-interval portion, especially the stretch that leads to Akshara Haasans introduction, is easily the films best sequence. It builds the tension effectively and is followed by a breathtaking chase sequence on the streets of Serbia.

Kajal Aggarwal has a surprisingly decent role where more is expected of her than just looking good.

Vivek Oberoi, despite his earnest performance, is made to look like a joker in a poorly written role. He repeats his dialogues way too many times, and its quite irritating. Kajal Aggarwal, in a surprisingly decent role where more is expected of her than just looking good, plays the hapless wife of Ajith to the T, and its easily one of her better performances yet. Akshara Haasan is merely cast in a cameo of a hacker, and one really wonders what drew her to this project.

Its Ajiths show all the way and he packs a solid punch. Going by the visuals, the effort he has put in to play the part is quite evident. There couldnt have been a better star to play his character and he is a treat to watch. Its sad that all that hard work gets lost in a film that needed better writing.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

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Though the state has amended the Tree Act to ensure swift issuance of permissions felling trees for development projects, not even 1% of 5.43 crore saplings planted across Maharashtra during the Van Mahotsav held from July 1 to 7 found space in Mumbai.

Information available on the forest departments website revealed that a paltry 0.07% (42,516) saplings were planted during the weeklong celebrations. It also came to the fore that the state had no tree target for the financial capital.

On Wednesday, city based NGO Watchdog Foundation filed a complaint with the union environment ministry and the state forest department to and highlighted the abysmally low figures for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) that is home to 18 million of 110 million in Maharashtra.

A city which has serious air pollution problems during winters needs more trees, and the state needs to focus on making Mumbai a healthier city, said Godfrey Pimenta, trustee, Watchdog Foundation. There are hundreds of school, college grounds, housing society premises, industrial areas and few open grounds where at least another 40,000 saplings could have been planted. Even road medians or road islands should have been considered.

Forest department officials said only a small percentage of plantations are carried out by them in Mumbai, and that majority of the citys land is belongs to the district collector, revenue department or the civic body.

We had encouraged these agencies to carry out more plantations, but they did not take it forward, said Jitendra Ramgaokar, deputy conservator of forest, Thane forest division.

Senior forest officials said they would need to verify the details before commenting.

I will not be in a position to comment until I corroborate all details from forest field staff, said P Srivastava, additional principal chief conservator of forest, information and technology, state forest department.

The Mumbai suburban collector told HT that they completed the target of planting 30,000 saplings  twice the number of they planted in 2016. Mumbai is an urbanised district, and we do not have vacant land to plant saplings. Plots are either marked for development projects or they have been encroached upon. However, we have ensured adequate number of sapling plantations at open plots we could find along with various state bodies and the municipal corporation, said Deependra Singh Kushwa, Mumbai suburban collector.

Sapling planted

5,43,35,049  saplings planted across the state between July 1  7 (state wide tree plantation drive by forest department)

42,516  saplings planted in Mumbai (0.07% of plantations in state)

12,167  saplings planted in Mumbai city

The data revealed that in Mumbai city 4,037 saplings were planted in non-forest areas, 7,110 saplings planted by individuals by registering themselves on the forest departments helpline and another 1,020 through offline registrations.

30,349  saplings planted in Mumbai suburban

For Mumbai suburbs, 500 saplings were planted by the forest department, 14,411 saplings were planted in non-forest areas, 125 through registrations on the departments helpline and 13,212 offline registrations.

(Source: mahaforest.nic.in)

Ample space for plantations in Mumbai

NGO Watchdog Foundation identified locations such as - open areas adjoining Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), Vihar Lake, Kanjur, Vikhroli, Mulund, Gorai, Madh Island, Erangal, Aksa, Powai, Mumbai Port Trust Land, eastern water front from Sewri to Trombay, Navy Nagar, Colaba, Ghatkopar hills, Powai, Dahisar, Lokhandwala, Oshiwara and Malad (West), where these plantations could be done.

According to data from NGO Praja Foundation, there were 35.98 lakh trees in the city, against 19.17 lakh in 2008, when the last tree census was carried out. But the number of trees per person is at a low 0.28.

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After the Supreme Courts order on Wednesday, thousands of liqour shops, restaurants, which were shut down within city limits as they fell within 500 metre of a highway, will reopen in the state.

The state excise department will soon start the procedure to reissue licenses to such restaurants, bars and pubs. The SC in December last year had banned all establishments within 500m of highways that serve liquor. The ban was aimed at reducing accidents on highways caused by drink driving.

Following the ban, the state government had cancelled the licenses of 15,699 establishments including restaurants, bars and liquor shops. There was an uproar over the verdict as thousands of such establishments had to shut shops, even those within city limits.

On Wednesday, the Apex Court clarified that the ban on sale of liquor at state and national highways does not apply within city limits granting a big relief to the industry.

The Indian Hotel and Restaurant Associations (AHAR) president Adarsh Shetty said the verdict has brought a big relief as more than 50% establishments in the state will be able to restart operations. Valsa Nair, principal secretary, state excise department told HT , We are in the process of issuing guidelines to follow the Supreme Court order.

A senior official from the excise department said cities like Pune, Nashik, Aurangabad etc were badly affected with the SC ban. The fresh order will help them restart their operations in all the big and small cities as it will cover municipal corporations as well as municipal councils. It will also cover satellite cities, said the official.

The state has already exempted Mumbai from the SC restrictions by issuing a notification in April to denotify both the Eastern Express Highway (EEH) and Western Express Highway (WEH) and then handle them over for repair and maintenance to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). De-notifying these highways means they were no more called highways and as such all the establishments there could serve liquor.

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A 75-year-old man died after falling off the 21st floor of a high-rise in Thane on Thursday.

The police are yet to ascertain if the deceased committed suicide or fell off accidentally.

Thane resident Firoz Gandhi lived on the 21st floor of Neelkhant Heights along Pokharan Road no. 2.

PC Giridhar, senior police inspector of Vartak Nagar Police station, said, Gandhi used to stay alone in his flat, while his daughter and son-in-law stayed in the adjoining building. The incident took place around 8am. The residents spotted him and alerted us. His daughter claimed her father had no reason to commit suicide and must have fallen off the the balcony.

He said the police are investigating the case further. We have registered an accidental death report, Giridhar said.

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Municipal staff in R South and R Central wards of the city, which includes Kandivali and Borivali, received packets of dry cow dung on Wednesday to remind them of the problem of untreated sewage and animal waste that is dumped into the Dahisar, Poisar and Oshiwara rivers.

Members of RiverMarch, a citizens group campaigning for the rejuvenation of Mumbais rivers, which have now turned into sewers, said that if the municipal corporation did not take remedial action to reduce the pollution in the rivers, they will get wet dung from the rivers. Tejas Shah, a RiverMarch member, said. We request Mumbaiites that if they are facing similar water pollution in their river, they should package the waste and hand it over to the civic body as a gift.

According to RiverMarch members, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been promising to clean the rivers over the past one year, but there has been no action on ground. The group alleges that nine schools, residential complexes and offices are facing a health hazard. HT had reported in December last year that Borivli residents were shocked after finding rotten buffalo carcasses dumped into the Dahisar river. There are 18 cow sheds located along the river.

Even after filing hundreds of complaints, speaking personally to the civic officials, submitting newspaper cuttings and reporting health issues being faced by citizens, BMCs apathy towards this issue has forced us to send this message to them, said Gopal Jhaveri, RiverMarch member who met BMC officials on Wednesday.

He added that the citizens were fed up and had given the BMC an ultimatum of resolving the pollution problem after Ganeshotsav. If they fail to do so, we will ensure that a packet of cow dung will be waiting for them daily at their offices. We will carry out a similar protest at the state pollution control board office as well, said Jhaveri.

Dahisar resident Alenkar Deshmukh told HT that he and his family have to bear the stench from the river daily. It is difficult to begin and end our day with this horrible smell. I am afraid that my entire family will need to be rushed to a hospital soon due to the infection. No action has been taken against the tabelas and the issue has been prevalent for ages, he said.

The municipal officials ignored the dung packets but asked the protestors to meet them for a discussion. BMC officials from R-Central refused to comment on the matter, but R-south ward officials said desilting and regular river cleaning had been done over the past six months. The cleanup is an ongoing process and certain sections of the river are free from waste. However, there is need for more awareness among the tabela owners and the problem will be resolved soon, said Sahebrao Gaikwad, assistant municipal commissioner, R-south ward.

Officials from BMCs solid waste management (SWM) department said that nets had been installed along the length of the river to trap debris. Waste including cow dung is being regularly removed from the river. We will be installing more nets over the next fortnight, said a senior civic official.

Jhaveri, however, refuted BMCs claims stating that the nets have been stolen twice already, and there is no plan in place to remove the urine or provide vehicles at these locations for effective cleanup.

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Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has refused to allot land at Bandra-Kurla Complex to the railways ministry for the ambitious Rs98,000-crore bullet train project. He has offered two alternative sites instead  behind Dhirubhai Ambani International School at BKC and at Dharavi  where a terminus could be built.

In a meeting held on Wednesday with central authorities and officials from the Japan government, Fadnavis reiterated his governments stand.

Railways officials expressed concern that if the BKC plot was not alloted, it would delay the project by one-and-a-half years. The Centre plans to complete the project by 2023.

He said that if it caused any delay in the project, railway authorities should blame themselves for not undertaking a feasibility check.

The state government has earmarked the BKC plot for Fadnavis pet project International Financial Services Centre. The Union government has not approved the 50-hectare land as a finance special economic zone (SEZ), which will lead to tax concessions.

In Wednesdays meeting, Fadnavis said that the High Speed Rail Corporation, which is under the railways ministry, had failed to prepare a detailed project report.

He also urged railway officials to check feasibility of other alternative sites.

It is not the first time that the state government has suggested options for the starting point of the bullet train services. Earlier, it had asked the railways ministry to consider plots at Dadar, Kurla and Bandra.

According to an official from the transport department, the plot where IFSC is proposed cannot be shared for the bullet train, even if the station is underground. Though the terminus needs only 0.9 hectares of 47, parking slots and other related activities will take up more space. Other sites suggested are in the vicinity and would not disturb the design of the project, said the official.

The central authorities have been asked to check the feasibility of the two alternative sites, said Nitin Kareer, principal secretary, urban development department.

The state government also wants the authorities to extend the bullet train corridor to Nagpur via Nashik. A Spanish firm has been conducting a study for the extension, which will run parallel to Fadnavis pet project Samruddhi corridor (Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway).

Over tax concessions for IFSC and a plot for the terminus, Fadnavis is playing hardball with the Centre, said the official.

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Ten days, 7,610 public mandals and 119 immersion points  this is what the massive police bandobast will have to contend with during Ganeshotsav this year. To help them out, drones will be used to monitor crowds during the immersion processions. Police estimate that 1.25 lakh idols will be immersed by residents this year. To ensure their safety, security will be beefed up at spots in the city.

Police have made preparations for visarjans on the second, fifth, seventh and tenth days of the festival.

Platoons of the state reserve police force (SRPF), quick reaction team (QRT) and riot control police will on duty. Police have also asked the local anti-terrorism cell (ATC) to keep a watch on festivities. Rashmi Karandikar, spokesperson, Mumbai police, said volunteers of the national cadet corps (NCC), road safety patrol students and home guards will assist the police.

Bomb detection and disposal squads will be stationed across the city to deal with calls regarding abandoned luggage. The police have cancelled the weekly offs and leaves of all personnel to ensure that they are functioning at maximum capacity.

Senior officials, including the commissioner of police DD Padsalgikar, visited various spots to take stock of security measures.

Police have drawn up a list of habitual criminals and their whereabouts to ensure that street crimes and burglaries do not increase while people are away on vacation. A few criminals will also be externed from city limits to ensure they do not create any law and order issues during the festive season.

Special squad for women, child safety

Special squads will ensure the safety of women and children during Ganeshotsav. A missing persons squad will also be set up to attend to incidents of minors getting lost in the massive crowds. Such squads will be stationed at immersion points to ensure that children are quickly reunited with their families, said officials.

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A magistrates court on Thursday sent four men to judicial custody for allegedly leaking an episode of the popular television series Game of Thrones. It denied further police custody of the four employees of a private firm, which has been tasked with storing and airing the series. They were arrested on August 14.

The company came under fire after the fourth episode of GoT season 7 was found on the internet in the first week of August with the its watermark on it. It was a low quality video. It initiated an internal inquiry and found that it was leaked by its two employees. After a first information report was filed, two more employees were arrested.

The cyber police told the magistrate that they needed further custody of the accused to probe if there is any financial link to the case and who uploaded the episode on the internet. The defence lawyers argued that the accused were in their custody for 11 days and fully cooperated with the police, hence further custody was not required.

The four men have applied for bail. The cyber police said the illegal activity had taken place from Bengaluru. However, they have not been able to ascertain the roles of the accused and motive behind the leak.

A police official said that they had got leads by checking mobile phones and laptops of the accused. Once our analysis is complete, we will be able to reveal more information, added the official.

They have been booked under sections 408 and 34 (breach of trust with common intention) of the IPC and sections 43 and 66 (penalty and compensation for damage to computer related offences) of the Information Techology Act.
An inquiry by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has termed Shiv Sena member Sunil Shitap responsible for carrying out the unauthorised work that led Siddhi Sai building in Ghatkopar to collapse on July 25.

The report, submitted to civic chief Ajoy Mehta on Wednesday, has recommended strict action against Shitap, accusing him of disregard for law and greed to grab public land. The report has also named negligent Ghatkopar ward officials and recommended a preliminary inquiry into their actions.

Mehta, in his written recommendations on the report, has ordered exemplary punishments against the accused. He said all of Shitaps illegal constructions must be demolished and the committees 13 recommendations must be implemented in six months.

We will ensure that the strictest action is meted out to the accused, he said. A senior civic official said the BMC will explore options for Shitaps punishment.

A structural consultant appointed by the BMC to conduct the inquiry said the walls on the ground floor were indiscriminately removed and unauthorised repairs were ongoing even minutes before the collapse. The structure would have survived longer, had it not been tampered with indiscriminately, read the report. He added that overexposed RCC columns at the ground level triggered the collapse. Officials found a mechanical hammer at the spot.

Shitap is currently in judicial custody. The Shiv Sena has distanced itself from him.

This is a big step for all of us fighting for justice. We are satisfied with the report and hope that Shitap is severely punished, said Binita Ramchandani, whose parents had a flat on the fourth floor.

Shitap is said to have owned three flats on the ground floor and one on the first. He allegedly wanted to convert a maternity home run by Dr Padma V Khade into a restaurant. The report says work started even before Khade could vacate the premises.

The report added that the then medical officer of health (MOH) issued a certification to the maternity home without proper documents and the current MOH and sanitary inspector of the N ward Ghatkopar also cancelled the maternity homes registration, acting on Shitaps wife Swatis request. Swati contested the 2017 BMC elections as a Sena candidate. It also suggested an inquiry into the actions of the wards executive engineer and the staff of the building and factory department, N ward, for not taking action against the unauthorised work.

Tampering with structures should be a cognisable offence: Civic body

In its report on the Ghatkopar building collapse, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporations (BMC) committee made 13 recommendations to prevent such a disaster from recurring.

Civic chief Ajoy Mehta received the report on Wednesday and ordered that the recommendations be implemented within six months.

One of the committees most significant recommendations is that tampering with a structure be made a cognisable offence by amending the Indian Penal Code and the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act.

The occupant will be fully responsible for any tampering done to any of the buildings structures. Any repairs must be done under the strict supervision of structural consultant, read the report.

With an increase in the number of redevelopment projects in the city, the committee has also recommended creating a separate cell to examine disputes related to dilapidated buildings.

Other recommendations include creating a software to track structural audits of buildings built more than 30 years ago, standardising structural audit reports, making it mandatory to obtain a no-objection certificate from the society to carry out repairs and creating a new post of technical assistant to check illegal alterations and additions to structures in every ward.

Sunil Shitap  the prime accused in the case  appointed an interior designer, whose qualifications have been questioned, as the load-bearing columns of the building were tampered with.

As HT had reported on Monday, the BMC is likely to make arrangements for the registration of interior decorators and designers.

BMC officials said they did not receive any complaints from the residents of Siddhi Sai regarding the repairs.

They thus plan to come up with awareness campaigns to help citizens register complaints and make them aware of the importance of conducting structural audits.

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The Bombay high court on Wednesday refused to accept the state governments stand that all the 1,537 silence zones in Mumbai no longer exist after the August 10 amendment to the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000. Which means not only do the silence zones still exist in Mumbai, but also no loudspeakers can be used in these areas.

We are not accepting your stand that there are no silence zones, the division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Riyaz Chagla told advocate general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, expressing displeasure over the adamant stand taken by the state government over issue of silence zones after the amendment to Noise Pollution Rules came into force on August 10.

The new rules require each silence zone to be specifically notified and provide that no area shall be treated as silence zone unless so notified by the state. Relying on this amendment, the state government claimed that after August 10, no silence zone existed in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra, as it has not yet notified any silence zone in terms of the amended rules.

Terming the stand of the state government as highly unfair, the court said what was least expected from the state government was to allow the situation that existed for past 14 years to prevail till the time new silence zones were notified.

The judges disapproved the states stand that all the silence zones were wiped out immediately after the amendment to Noise Pollution Rules came into force on August 10.

Even when the judges specifically asked him, advocate general replied that the states stand was that the August 2016 judgment did not operate after the amendment and no silence zones existed as of today.

It was hearing a bunch of petitions concerning increasing menace of noise pollution and the non-implementation of the Noise Pollution Rules, 2000.

During the course of hearing on the petitions, the bench also said that its judgment of August 2016 holding that areas falling within 100 meters of educational institutions, hospitals, religious shrines and courts are deemed silence zones and no specific declaration was required to make these areas silence zones, was still in operation till it is reviewed or modified.

That means the areas surrounding all educational institutions, hospitals, religious shrines and courts still continue to be silence zones and in terms of the very same judgment no loudspeakers can be allowed to be used in these prohibited areas.

Hearing on the petitions will continue of Thursday when the court is likely to make it clear as to the existence of silence zones in Mumbai and elsewhere in Maharashtra and whether loudspeakers are to be allowed in silence zones during the forthcoming religious festivals.
Just when students of University of Mumbai (MU) thought the announcement of results would end their woes, theres more to add to the chaos. Hundreds of third-year Bachelor of Arts (BA) students, who received their results on Wednesday, complained that theyve been marked absent for exams they appeared for in April, and their results have been withheld. Almost every city college has received complaints from BA psychology and BA literature students.

Its one thing to tell students that their results are withheld pending assessment, but wrong to mark students absent without any proof. Our students were left in tears, said Hemlata Bagla, principal, KC College, Churchgate, adding that the college received several complaints on Thursday and forwarded all to the university immediately. Instead of calming students anxiety, the university has added to their stress.

While colleges received a consolidated sheet with results of BA psychology and BA literature, complaints of students started pouring in on Thursday. When I checked my result online on Wednesday, I was told my result is withheld but when I checked the result sheet in college on Thursday, I was shocked to find that Ive been marked absent for two exams, said a student of St Andrews College, Bandra.

She said that close to 38 students from her batch were facing the same problem.

Its complete chaos not just because of the problem but the fact that theres no point of contact to help bring clarity in such situations anymore. All we can do is forward students complaints to the university help desk, said Marie Fernandes, principal of St Andrews College.

After missing several deadlines to announce results of all 477 exams held by MU between mid-March and May 2017, the state government has ordered MU to announce results of those students whose paper assessment was over. So, while, several major results have been announced in the past one week, including that of BA, Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS), Bachelor of Science-Information Technology (BSc-IT), among others, results of almost 20%-25% students from each department have been withheld as assessment of their papers are still pending.

On Thursday, the help desk set up by MU to hear complaints of students related to results was overcrowded with anxious students. Students worst nightmares came true when the help desk staff, set up at the examination house in Kalina campus, were informing students about the reasons behind this error. I was shocked when the help desk staff told me that my result is withheld either because assessment is still not complete or because my papers are not found. Does this mean they have lost our answer booklets? asked Abhishree Kulkarni, 21.

Hundreds of students were seen waiting in serpentine queues outside the examination house on Thursday, most complaining about the same issues.

On being questioned about the problem, officials from the varsity blamed the error on a technical glitch. Its not possible to find out how many are affected by the problem as of now, but we are checking into all the complaints. It looks more like a technical glitch at this moment. Students just need to calm down for a few days because we will be releasing all results by August 31, said Vinod Malale, deputy registrar, heading the help desk.

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Want to get home quickly and safely? Just check Twitter before you hit the road. As Ganeshotsav celebrations intensify, traffic congestion is expected to worsen as major roads will be shut. Not to worry, Ridlr and the Mumbai polices official Twitter handles will help you ensure a smooth commute.

The city polices Twitter handle was launched on December 28, 2015. It reaches 34.68 lakh people, providing accurate traffic updates. Motorists can tweet the police about traffic snarls or in case of any untoward incidents.

The Mumbai police commissioners Twitter handle, which 19.15 lakh people follow, also disseminates up-to-date information about traffic in the city.

Ridlr, with a reach of 28.65 lakh Mumbaiites, helps commuters connect, warn each other of blocked routes and find alternatives for a snarl-free journey.

We work closely with the Mumbai traffic police, BEST and railways, to pass on information about roads closed on specific days, diversions that can be used and extra buses and trains that are plying, said a Ridlr spokesperson. The transit app has been associated with Mumbai traffic police for the past five years.

The Mumbai polices Twitter handle not only broadcasts information, but also acts as a watchdog.

In September last year, they arrested four people for circulating false messages on Whatsapp groups. The group was booked for promoting enmity between religious groups and criminal conspiracy. The handle also keeps a close watch on content posted on the social media and acts against those spreading hatred.

Where to expect snarls

The Mumbai traffic police will shut 53 roads for traffic during Ganeshotsav. About 54 roads will be turned into one-way streets, while 99 roads will be closed for parking. These restrictions will be imposed from midnight to 6 am the next day for four days. About 21 roads will be shut in south Mumbai in Colaba, Pydhonie, Kalbadevi, Malabar Hill, Tardeo, Bhoiwada. In the eastern suburbs, 20 roads will be shut in Bhandup, Mulund, LBS Road, Ghatkopar, Kurla, Chembur, Dadar TT, Shivaji Park. In the western suburbs, 12 roads in Borivli, Andheri, Kandivli, Aarey colony, Juhu, Vile Parle and Santacruz will be shut for traffic. No vehicles will be allowed on the Babasaheb Ambedkar Road from Bharat Mata Junction to Bawla Compound from 3 pm to 7 pm daily. No north-bound vehicles will be allowed on Sane Guruji Marg from Chinchpokli Railway Bridge. Areas surrounding Lalbaugcha Raja will see traffic restrictions daily.

3,600 traffic police, 500 wardens to handle chaos

The police have set up five traffic police control rooms at important immersion points such as Girgaum Chowpatty, Shivaji Park Chowpatty, Bada Masjid, Bandra, Juhu Chowpatty and Ganesh Ghat-Powai. The traffic police will set up watch towers at strategic places to monitor the flow of traffic during processions and immersions. About 3,600 traffic policemen and 500 traffic wardens will be deployed, said Amitesh Kumar, joint commissioner of police, traffic. NGOs will also assist the traffic police, with members of the civil defence, Anirudhas Academy of Disaster Management, road safety patrol teachers, water safety patrol, NSS students and scouts and guides.

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Extending the scope of the loan waiver announced in June, the state cabinet said it would waive the interest of loans defaulted on from June 30, 2016.

The farmers who have taken loans between April 2009 and March 2016 are covered under the waiver. But, the interest accumulated on loans defaulted on after June 30, 2016 was not covered. Farmers paying instalments on loans taken in 2015 and 2016 were also not covered. By revising the scope of the waiver, we have extended the benefits to farmers. However, there is cap of Rs 1.5 lakh on benefits to each farmer, said an official from the cooperation department.

The state governments announcement, made on Wednesday, is expected to add to the benefits of about 40 lakh farmers who defaulted on loans last year.

The state government has been constantly revising its parameters for the loan waiver, based on the farmers demands and complaints.

The government has also decided to extend the benefit of the scheme to the farmers who have cleared their outstanding dues by July 31.

As a reward for their timely payment, such farmers will get 25% of the repaid amount or Rs25,000, whichever is less. Farmers with outstanding loans for allied farming activities, excluding fishing, will also get the benefits of this waiver.
Though the Siddhi Sai building in Ghatkopar that collapsed in July killing 17 people had completed 30 years in 2014, it did not find a mention in the civic bodys list of buildings more than 30 years old that require a structural audit.

The report submitted by a three-member panel to the municipal commissioner on Wednesday, revealed this. The report further states that the building and factory staff in the N ward (Ghatkopar) had not updated the list after 2013.

The civic body has made it mandatory for buildings over 30 years old to get a structural audit. A 2009 circular also makes it mandatory for the building and factory department to make a list of such buildings and issue notices under section 353 B of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act to conduct an audit within 30 days. The society is even liable for prosecution under section 471 of the MMC Act if they do not conduct repairs if specified in the report.

The report states, The building was, however, structurally audited by the residents twice but the audit reports were not submitted to the building and factory department of N ward so they were not aware of the status of the building till it collapsed. The structural reports stated that the building needed repairs. However, the report states that the building would have survived longer if not tampered with indiscriminately.

The report further reveals that 1,610 notices were issued in the ward. However, no follow-up was undertaken post this. Despite repeated attempts, N ward official Bhagyashree Kapse was not available for a comment.

The report has recommended an inquiry against the building and factory department for the lapses. The Siddhi Sai building in Ghatkopar (West) collapsed on July 25, killing 17 people and injuring 13. The building was built in 1983. The probe has nailed Shiv Sena member Sunil Shitap, who undertook unauthorised work on the ground floor of the ground plus four storey building, eventually leading to its collapse.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, leader of opposition and Congress corporator Ravi Raja said that the report is shielding civic officials. He has written to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis demanding a probe by a retired high court judge on the collapse. Raja said, The report is putting the blame entirely on one individual. The building was on the main road and the work was on for 18-20 days, then how can BMC be unaware of what has happened? The corporator has also demanded that civic officials named in the report be dismissed immediately.

As reported by HT, the report has pointed at administrative lapses on part of the medical officer of health, the sanitary inspector, the executive engineer of the N ward and the building and factory staff.

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The Maharashtra government has decided to appoint VN Magare, principal, Kirti College in Dadar as acting registrar of the University of Mumbai (MU), which is struggling to declare results of the examinations held in the first half of the year.

The post of the registrar, who is the administrative head of the varsity, fell vacant on Monday after the current registrar, MA Khan, left the varsity to assume his new role as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Haj Committee of India (HCI). Magare will hold the position for three months, or until the varsity appoints a new registrar during this period.

"After vice-chancellor, registrar is the most important position at a university. We will soon issue a resolution on the appointment of the new registrar," said an official from higher and technical education department.

The latest appointment completes the change of guard in varsity leadership initiated by the government after the varsity failed to meet the July 31 deadline for declaring the results. Currently, all the top positions at MU have been filled temporarily.

On August 9, governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, as chancellor of the university, sent MU V-C Sanjay Deshmukh on an indefinite leave and appointed Shivaji University, Kolhapur V-C in his place. Dhiren Patel, director of Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute, Matunga, was appointed as acting pro V-C. A week later, Arjun Ghatule, controller of examination at Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (YCMOU), was appointed as the new incharge director, board of examination and evaluation, in the place of Deepak Wasave.

Khan was appointed as the CEO of HCI in July, and he was hoping to leave the varsity by July 20. However, the state government didn't relieve him of his duties until Monday.

MU saw a huge delay in results of the examinations held in the first half due to its decision to adopt an on-screen assessment system. The delay has affected thousands of students aspiring for higher education and job opportunities.

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Where did you have your first drink? What was the hangout spot you headed to in those lazy evening hours after college?

For many Mumbaiites who crossed over into adulthood in the new millennium, the answer to both questions is, Hawaiian Shack.

It offered the nightclub experience minus the snobbery. Prices were low. It had no dress code. It let you rub shoulders with the kinds of cool adults you hoped to become.

After 14 years of an open-door policy, it shut for good on Sunday.

We feel we achieved our purpose, says Sheen Romy, daughter of the late founder, Romy Lalwani.

Lalwani opened the Shack in 2003, a sort of slice of Goa in the heart of Bandra. Its low lighting, potted palms, bamboo interiors and Jamaican music were reminiscent of the beach shacks that were already disappearing in that tiny neighbouring state.

Hawaiian Shack was significant because it opened at a time when the nightlife of Mumbai was very different from what it is now, says food critic Roshni Bajaj Sanghvi. There were so few pubs, and most were out of reach for penny-pinching students and youngsters. The entire idea of a relaxed space with good music and affordable drinks was a novelty. For one generation, it was the place to go.

It was my fathers dream, an act of love. My mother Sadhna was once not allowed to enter a nightclub because she was wearing sneakers. This was what led to the idea. I feel we have made him proud. It is time to move on, Sheen Romy, daughter of Romy Lalwani, founder of Hawaiian Shack.

Then Bandra changed, along with the city. You cant throw a bagel today without hitting a cafe or pub that will offer free wi-fi and happy hour deals at cheerful, welcoming rates. There are no dress codes. The real problem is not prices so much as parking.

For those who remember a different Mumbai, it is hard to see another icon disappear  after Rhythm House, Crown Bakery, Cafe Samovar.

I was in college the first time I visited Hawaiian Shack. I liked it so much I kept going back. I was there last month, catching up with friends, says bank executive Sajit Tadavi, 33.

Back then a club like this was a novelty, adds public relations executive Keyur Barad, 32. I have so many fond memories of the place. The DJ station that moved like an elevator between the two levels was something we saw there for the first time.

The truth, Sanghvi points out, is the iconic status of the place had ebbed, despite a recent revamp.

Todays college crowd has so many options in Bandra alone, she says. They were not as keen on Hawaiian Shack.

Barad agrees. He will miss the memories, he says, but we are spoilt for choice and that loyalty for one destination is simply gone.

ICONS NO MORE

* Rhythm House: The Kala Ghoda music store where you could put on headphones and listen to hours of free music, discover new bands, marvel at strains of Carnatic when you had only known Chopin established in 1948 and frequented by Mumtaz, Shammi Kapoor, A R Rahman and Zakir Hussain, it shut in February 2016. Profits had been plummeting for years. The record store has been bought over by a jewellery chain.

* Cafe Samovar: Impoverished artists could get a good meal here, at rates they could afford  or put on a running tab. Artist MF Husain, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and filmmaker Shyam Benegal were patrons. Cafe Samovar, set up in 1964, quickly became a focal point of the Kala Ghoda art culture, situated as it was within the Jehangir Art Gallery. It shut in 2015, after the gallery won a three-decade battle to reclaim the space for art.

* Crown Bakery: This landmark in Mahim opened in 1953 and was the place to go for real mawa cakes, the butteriest biscuits and puffs of all kinds. It will be replaced by part of a Metro rail station. The bakery shut last year after it was claimed by the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation, which is building the Colaba-Seepz corridor along this stretch.

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The All India Jain Minority Cell slammed Shiv Sena Member of Parliament (MP) Sanjay Raut for calling Jain monk Naypadmasagarji Maharaj a terrorist and demanded an apology for it.

Raut, MP from the Rajya Sabha, on Wednesday said the Shiv Sena has filed a complaint with the Election Commission about a video clip released two days before the Mira Bhayandar municipal election, in which the Jain monk openly advocated voting for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to create a meat-free society.

Raut equated the Jain monk to televangelist Zakir Naik, called him a terrorist and appealed to the Jain community to shun him. The BJP won the Mira Bhayandar polls with a sweeping majority.

The All India Jain Minority Cell, a community outfit, released a statement condemning Rauts words as improper and sought an apology.

The cells chairman, Lalit Gandhi, said, The entire Jain community is peace-loving. Raut should take back what he said about the Jain monk and apologise. I strongly condemn it.

He said though the Jain community does not endorse any one particular party, for the past three years political outfits have been brewing controversies during the Jain festival of Paryushan.

Last year, political parties had made threatening speeches and created an issue over closing abattoirs during Paryushan. All this must stop, Gandhi said, adding the community has been peacefully living in Maharashtra for several years.

The Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena had strongly opposed the BJPs move for close abattoirs and ban sale of meat during the Jain festival of Paryushan.

This year too, the controversy over Jain leader Naypadmasagarji Maharajs comments took place after the eight-day Jain festival of Paryushan started on Friday.
The Shiv Senas ambitious journey from its headquarters in Dadar to the seat of power in Mantralaya has been stymied (at least for now) by an unlikely part of Greater Mumbai  Mira-Bhayander.

The BJP posted a massive win in the corporation elections there last week, more than doubling its seat tally from 29 to 61. While the Sena too improved on previous performance (by 8 seats), in the context of the battle this was a setback.

Having ruled the Mira-Bhayander corporation as allies (as they do in the BMC and state), the two parties had decided to go their separate ways this time. Willy-nilly, this election became a prestige issue for both parties.

The Sena had taken a particularly belligerent position, breaking into the ranks of the NCP (particularly) to get greater heft in the area, and claimed it would get a majority on its own.

To see the BJP roar to an almost two-thirds majority cut the ground from under them. The prospect of running the corporation together had been squandered. Worse, the party had come off looking a poor also-ran.

Politically, this is the more damaging aspect for the Sena. The Mira-Bhayander civic poll results, seen in conjunction several other municipal corporations in Maharashtra since 2014, diminish the Senas claims of being the pre-eminent party in the state.

Ramifications of corporation results are now not restricted to local influence. Incessant acrimony between the BJP and Sena, the constant jostling for pole position, will have a bearing how the assembly shapes up in the next elections.

Since 2014, on almost every issue, the two parties have responded to each other like opponents rather than allies. Indeed, given the taut relations, there has been wide speculation whether the alliance will survive till 2019.

The problem for the Sena, however, is vexatious. It exists in the same political space that is being swamped by the BJP and sees an existential threat: Even a shriller, more extreme position has little value because the BJPs fringe has occupied that too.

Not that the Sena has been oblivious to the threat. In fact, it has made tangible and interesting efforts to reinvent itself as larger than just a sons of the soil, anti-minority party in recent times, and with some success too.

It has been trying to build a fresh cadre through sports. Elsewhere, it has also been wooing the city youth  party-hoppers, entrepreneurs etc  through a hitherto unrevealed cosmopolitanism by seeking a more expansive nightlife for Mumbai. It has sided with students (on disputes that have arisen) and conservationists by opposing the proposed Metro 3 rail car shed at Aarey Milk Colony.

In all of this, it has used the BJP as target practice. The fact that it is now the junior partner in the old alliance still rankles the Sena. Worse, most recent corporation election results seem to have only bolstered the BJPs position.

Essentially, this is because chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has so far tackled challenges squarely, astutely and with finesse. Among all major BJP-ruled states, Maharashtra remains relatively free of problems like vigilantism, bigotry et al. Yet, there are issues like farmers deaths, delayed university examination results (Mumbai), failure to still apprehend killers of rationalists Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar, joblessness, health care shortcomings which could become fertile ground for the opposition to rock the boat.

But who can do this? The two biggest losers in the Mira-Bhayander corporation elections were MNS and NCP. The first has almost ceased to exist as anything but a spoiler, yet without any gain to itself.

The NCP, connected once with the immense clout of Sharad Pawar, is now scrambling to remain relevant. From 27 seats previously when it was allied with the Congress to zero this time is telling of beleaguered the opposition in the state is.

The Congress, with 10 seats (19 previously) did not do as badly when you consider the destruction otherwise. But it is still in a dazed, Alice In Wonderland state of mind, riven by internecine strife, unable to find a strong rallying cause for its workers or voters. That leaves the Shiv Sena. It will be interesting to see how Matoshree moves from here.
Two months after its deadline, Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) officials said repairs at Bandras Bandstand promenade would be completed in 15 days. Residents who had written to the MMB multiple times met with board officials on Wednesday. An inspection carried out on Thursday revealed problems with how work was executed, said officials.

Bandstand residents said almost Rs4 crore has been spent on two phases of the project since 2013. Phase II of the project started in October 2016 and was to be finished in June this year. However, it is still ongoing. The steps and wall built in Phase I have started to disintegrate owing to the monsoon tide, said Robin Nath, secretary, Bandra Bandstand Residents Trust.

The plan was to use plum concrete, or a mass of concrete, to withstand the force of the waves. But, only the top of the steps is concrete. The rest is hollow. The contractor is not following the plan and the MMB has failed to supervise his work, said architect P K Das, volunteering as a consultant on the project.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Mumbai chief and MLA Ashish Shelar tweeted on Thursday that quality checks and a third-party audit would be carried out to ensure that work of a high quality.

Committed 2ensuring Carter rd Bandstand retain their glory!Will spk w MMB CEO,strict action wil b taken 4 shoddy wrk https://t.co/HbZOGWffZh  ashish shelar (@ShelarAshish) August 24, 2017

An MMB engineer told HT that the material used was tested and deemed usable. However, he said, owing to the lack of professional supervision, certain tiles and steps had broken off. Only the tiles directly in contact with the waves came off. We will use packing concrete at these places, he said. A proper schedule needs to be prepared and shared with the residents, he added.

The official said lighting and amphitheatre-related repairs on the promenade would form Phase III of the project.
The district health department has formed a panel of three doctors, including an additional chief medical officer, who will inquire into the death of a 45 year old patient who died an hour after he was beaten up by a ward boy on August 22.

Surendra, the patient, was already critical when he was beaten up and the entire act was videographed by a local journalist through the window of the general ward at the MMG government district hospital. Dr NK Gupta, the chief medical officer, said that the panel of three doctors will inquire into the incident and will also ascertain the cause of death of the patient.

The post mortem report of the victim will also be a part of the inquiry process. It will be used to assess what actually happened during the incident and whether the assault on patient led to his death. We are also in process of writing to the service provider with whom the ward boy was working. The contract of the company will also be reviewed, Dr Gupta said.

The inquiry by the panel will start on Friday and they will soon submit a report, he added.

The MMG Hospital authorities forwarded a complaint to Kotwali police officials and briefed them on the incident on August 22.

We have registered a non-cognizable complaint against Rakesh and are investigating the case. The FIR has been registered under section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of IPC. A memo on the death of the patient was also sent to us, said Laxmi Chauhan, station house officer, Kotwali police station.

Read I Ghaziabad: Critical patient beaten up by district hospital staff, dies an hour later

Surendra was found by hospital officials at the main entrance of the MMG district hospital on August 22 and was later shifted to the emergency ward for treatment. After treatment, he was shifted to the ward where Rakesh was seen changing his clothes and later beating him up.

The entire act was filmed through the window by a local journalist and the video was made viral over the social media. After this, the hospital officials swung into action, but Surendra succumbed nearly an hour after he was assaulted by Rakesh. He was later removed from serving at the hospital with immediate effect.

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Three men who allegedly opened fire on a police party near Sakipur roundabout in a bid to escape were arrested by police from Ecotech-3 area after an hour-long encounter. The exchange of fire left five men injured, including three criminals and two policemen.

Wounded men were shifted to the district hospital in Noida and their condition is stable now, doctors told the police.

The incident took place around 1.30 pm, when police personnel from Surajpur led by inspector Manish Saxena had laid a checkpoint near Sakipur roundabout. The team of eight personnel was checking the vehicles, when five men arrived on two bikes. Before they could be intercepted for checking, they opened indiscriminate fire on the team. However, no one received any injury.

Police said that three bullets hit the left window of the police vehicle that was stationed near the checkpoint. As police also started retaliating to the gunshots, the three men fled from the spot.

Anit Kumar, circle officer, Greater Noida-3 said, Inspector Manish Saxena sent an alert and was following them. They were intercepted again near D park in Ecotech-3 area and opened fire on the policemen.

Among the five men, two managed to escape on one bike, while the arrested trio left behind their Bajaj Pulsar RS 200 and ran towards the fields. By the time, police personnel of various police stations had gathered and cordoned the area.

Suniti, SP (rural), Gautam Budh Nagar said, The trio was opening fire as a result of which the policeman ran after them and two other managed to flee on their bike.

During the exchange of fire, two policemen from Badalpur police station received injury. The two policemen head constable Vikas and constable Nitin received injury in hand and back respectively.

The accused have been identified as Shyam Veer, 27, Kalu, 25, residents of Dankaur and Vikas, 27, resident of Kalipura in Greater Noida. All of them have received injury in their legs, said police.

Police said that they will question the trio after their condition improves. However, it has been found that the three men were previously involved in robbery and attempt to murder cases.

Police recovered three countrymade pistols, six live cartridges, eight used cartridges, five mobile phones and bike from their possession. The Bajaj Pulsar Bike RS 200 was looted by them three week ago from a student in Knowledge Park.

Police said the absconding persons have been identified as Govind and Rohit and they were on a red bike, which police is suspecting might be Apache.

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As part of the ongoing magisterial inquiry into the death of class 4 student Arman Sehgal, the additional district magistrate (ADM city), who had gone on an inspection to GD Goenka school on the day of the incident, has submitted her report to the inquiry officer.

Sources said that the report has reference to a defunct oxygen cylinder placed at the medical room of the school and the absence of the staff nurse when Arman was brought to the room for treatment soon after he fell in the corridor. During the ADMs inspection on August 1, the day of the incident, the nurse said that she had gone to attend on a pregnant teacher.

The sources also said that the station house officer, Indirapuram, who was present with ADM (city), took the latter on a visit to the gallery outside the classroom, the spot where the incident took place. He claimed site was cleaned up soon after the incident.

According to school authorities, the incident took place on the second floor corridor and the area had no CCTV coverage.

The school authorities on August 12 held a press conference saying they did not feel the necessity of installing a CCTV in the corridor. Questions had also been raised by mediapersons about the expired medicine strip and defunct oxygen cylinder found at the schools medical room. But, the school officials, including Ankur Malhotra, the director, and Dr Kavita Sharma, the principal, left the press conference midway without giving any answer.

The report by ADM is now a part of the inquiry and its contents will be made a part of the ongoing magisterial probe. We are now waiting for the police report. The final outcome of the inquiry will be submitted directly to the district magistrate, said Rajesh Kumar Yadav, the inquiry officer who refused to reveal the contents of the report.

Arman allegedly fell on the corridor outside his class and was rushed to Shanti Gopal Hospital. However, he was declared brought dead at the hospital. His parents later called the police and filed an FIR against the school authorities against sections of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to culpable homicide not amounting to murder and destruction of evidence.

Read I Ghaziabad: Parents of boy who died in GD Goenka School allege police laxity

His parents had alleged negligence on the part of school authorities with regard to ensuring proper treatment of Arman, which, they said, could have saved his life.

Since then, the Ghaziabad police carried out two forensic examinations on the school premises and the magisterial inquiry officer also visited the school only on August 18. The authorities had shut down school on August 3 and it remained closed for nearly a week.

Armans parents, relatives and school officials have already recorded their statements before the inquiry officer.

Five of the school officials also approached the Allahabad high court, which directed that any coercive action against the petitioners be kept on hold till August 28.

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The Noida authority on Thursday said that it will act against illegal constructions in Grihapravesh housing project in sector 77 as per the law.

The move comes a day after the Allahabad high court ordered the authority to inspect the site, if necessary, and act in accordance with the law.

The high court order on August 23 came in response to a plea filed by the realty firm, Grihapravesh, which developed an apartment complex in Sector 77. The Grihapravesh builder launched the housing project in 2011 and delivered 501 dwelling units on December 9, 2015.

The builder has filed a plea in high court against the Noida authoritys two notices issued on July 4 and August 9, 2017.

The authority, in these two notices, made specific reference to certain deficiencies expecting the developer to comply with the same within the time prescribed therein, failing which, it said it would issue demolition orders.

The senior counsel appearing for the petitioner, Grihapravesh, submitted that the firm will address all the deficiencies that are necessary under the provisions of Law/Regulations within a period of four weeks from August 23 and submit a report to the authority concerned thereafter.

The authority concerned shall thereafter, once again examine the compliance, if necessary, after site visit and if still they find that compliance is either not done or certain more compliances are necessary, they may so indicate to the petitioner, and if he fails to comply with the same, may proceed to take appropriate action in accordance with law (sic), read the court order.

The authority officials said that the order vindicated their stand with regard to illegal structure in the housing project.

HC order has justified our action against the builder that has constructed illegal structures inside the housing project. We will implement the HC order, Santosh Kumar, officer on special duty, Noida authority, said.

Read I Homebuyers grievances: Noida authority warns action against these 22 builders

The builder claimed it was already complying with the building regulations.

The Noida authority was unnecessarily troubling me with notices and abrupt inspections with certain motives. I delivered the project in 2015. Why is the authority harassing me now? I welcome the HC order. I feel a sense of safety because all activities will be carried out as per the order. If the authority keeps hassling me, I will seek justice from the court. Since March end, the authority has been harassing me. It prompted me to move court, Abhay Kumar CMD, Grihapravesh, said.

Noida authority OSD Santosh Kuamr refuted all allegations levelled by the builder.

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For the past four days, students of Modern Public School at Shahberi, Gautam Budh Nagar have not been able to attend classes due to the ongoing tiff between parents and school administration over fee hike.

Around 650 students have not been attending classes as parents have locked down the school since last Monday, staging a sit-in outside the school. Parents allege that the school administration has hiked the school fees by 70% and increased the annual fees from Rs 1,000 to Rs 8,000.

A 70% hike by school management is totally unjustified. Moreover, neither the school manual nor CBSE manual describes any annual charge. The school is charging parents for constructing the school building and other infrastructure expenses which is unjustified, said Moin Khan, a parent.

The parents have been protesting against the fee hike for the past one month, demanding a roll back of the hiked fees. However, on Sunday, a group of agitating parents decided to shut down school after talks between them and school management failed.

We have been protesting against the fee hike since long but the school administrations attitude towards us is completely dismissive. Those parents who had not paid the fees were barred from attending Parents Teachers Meeting as well. Therefore, we decided to shut down the school, said Pawan Fagna, another parent.

Earlier, parents had also alleged the school management including teachers are discriminating against such students whose parents have not paid fees by excluding them from bus services and other amenities. However, the school management had refuted these allegations in the past saying that no discrimination is done against students and bus services were terminated after the parents did not pay fees for the entire academic year.

The parents protest at Shahberi based school comes in the wake of continued protest of various parents bodies across Delhi-NCR for the past six months against fee hike by private schools. Parents have been demanding introduction of regulatory law for private unaided schools.

Till the tiff between parents and school management continues, the fate of 650 students at Modern Public School in Shahberi looms in the dark as they are not able to attend any classes.

The schools principal Tapti Chatterjee confirmed that no classes have been held in the past four days. However, she refused to comment on behalf of the school management.

Those people who have been protesting can continue to do so. I dont wish to comment on this issue, said Chatterjee in a telephonic conversation with HT.

When district magistrate of GB Nagar, BN Singh was approached for his comment, he said, I am not aware of the issue as nobody has approached me. Whenever anybody will approach the administration, appropriate action will be taken.

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Two schools in Ghaziabad have issued transfer certificates (TCs) to 50 students of various classes after their parents allegedly failed to pay up the hiked fee. The move comes after the arbitrary fee hike issue over which the parents and associations have held various protests, refusing to pay the fees.

So far, 16 TCs have been issued by DPS Indirapuram while Presidium School, Indirapuram issued another 34 TCs. The agitated parents from both the schools met Ghaziabad administration officials on Wednesday and Thursday and also requested the district inspector of schools (DIOS) to intervene.

We just demanded the justification of annual charges and other fees structure from the school but they denied. We are paying fee based as decided for 2016-17 and not as per 2017-18. The school has instead issued TC and also harassing our children, said Atul Srivastava, a parent from Presidium School, who also filed a writ petition against the school in Allahabad high court.

The school denies transport to our children and once they reach school, they make our children sit in isolation and do not allow them to attend classes, said Ranjeet Verma, another parent from Presidium School.

However, the school authorities said the children were issued TCs as their parents failed to pay up for past two years.

It is becoming very difficult for us to run school, if fees is not coming and a heavy amount is pending on account of fees. We have nearly 3,200 students enrolled but nearly 500 have not paid or have paid partially. How will we be able to pay our teachers as per Seventh Pay Commission? There have been couple of instances where we have given additional time and even asked them to pay in instalments, said GS Matharoo, CEO of the Presidium School.

I even asked them if their financial condition is not proper, they give us in writing and we will consider. However, some of the parents are deliberately bent on protests and non payment of fees. If they pay up, we will revoke the TCs, he added.

The parents met additional district magistrate Rajesh Kumar Yadav and sought his intervention to revoke the TCs.

The matter of fee hike is with state administration and cannot be dealt at local level. However, upon parents complaint about school harassing their children, I have directed Indirapuram police officials to inquire and take action, Yadav said.

The parents from DPS Indirapuram also met RS Yadav, district inspector of schools (DIOS), on Thursday and demanded intervention.

We have issued TCs to 16 students but we have not prohibited any child from coming to school so far. It is because out of nearly 6,500 students, only 16 have not paid up. We have just increased 10% which is approved by the managing committee. The fee is unpaid since April, said Meeta Rai, principal DPS Indirapuram.

The members of all school parents association said that they have a previous government order of October, 2016 which said that schools cannot charge fees under several heads, including the annual charges.

The DPS Indirapuram has filed a petition at Allahabad high court. Its counsels contended that the government order deals with government and government aided educational institutions where financial support is extended by the state and this order cannot be made applicable upon unaided institutions.

The high court in its last interim order on May 23 directed that no coercive action be taken against the petitioners.

Prima facie, this court finds substance in the arguments advanced on behalf of the petitioner, in as much as prescription of fee for government and government aided institutions cannot ipso facto be made applicable upon privately managed institutions affiliated to CBSE Board (sic), the court said in its interim order.

However, the court also observed that, it would be within the competence of the State to ensure that institutions do not indulge in profiteering, but a regulatory mechanism known to law would have to be evolved for the purpose.

Issuing TCs by school is arm twisting tactics even though the court in its order has not given explicit stay against the previous government order. However, it is time that state government intervenes and brings out fee regulatory mechanism for private school also, said Sachin Soni, member of the association.

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The Bihar legislative assembly remained disrupted for the almost the entire day on Thursday following RJD-led oppositions insistence that the house debate the grim flood situation in the state by accepting an adjournment motion moved by it.

In the state legislative council, the opposition RJD and Congress raised the twin issues of Srijan scam and floods in the state by creating noisy scenes, leading to adjournment of the house within minutes after it assembled for the day.

Trouble started in the pre-lunch sitting of the assembly when RJDs Abdul Bari Siddiqui raised the demand for acceptance of an adjournment motion for a debate on the grim flood situation.

This evoked instant reaction from deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi, who asked the RJD members to convince their party chief Lalu Prasad to cancel the August 27 rally in view of the big loss of human lives due to the deluge in 18 districts.

The RJD is totally insensitive to floods and only paying lip service to the plight of victims. The government is working overtime to provide succour to the 1.50 crore people affected by floods. But the RJD is only interested in its rally, Modi said.

Enraged by Modis comments, Siddiqui said the rally would take place at all costs and reiterated his demand for the adjournment motion to be taken up. As he did so, RJD MLAs moved to the well of the house to press the demand raised by their party colleague.

As the house plunged into disorder, Speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary reasoned the chair was ready to allow a special debate on the flood situation under rule 43 so that the government could also give a detailed reply on the situation. But RJD members remained adamant on their stand, forcing the Speaker to adjourn the house till 2 pm.

Later, when the house sitting resumed, RJD members along with CPI-ML (liberation) MLAs once again trooped into the well, flaying the government for its handling of flood. A CPI- ML( liberation) member, Mehboob Alam, invited the ire of the Speaker when he stood up on the reporters table during the opposition protest.

I will take disciplinary action against you if you do not alight from the table. This is against the decorum of the house, Choudhary said, even as he adjourned the house for the second time till 4.55 pm.

Some business of the house, including the approval of the appropriation bill for supplementary demand of Rs 18,313 crore, was taken up later.

Road construction minister Nand Kishore Yadav and parliamentary affairs minister Shravan Kumar slammed the RJD for disrupting the house and ignoring the Speakers suggestion to hold a special debate on the floods.

 The house runs as per rules and not on the whims and fancies of the opposition. The RJD has been exposed for doing little for the flood hit people and has raised the issue of flood victims only to seek publicity. The CM and entire government machinery are working overtime to provide relief to the flood victims, said Shravan Kumar.

In the state legislative council, the opposition RJD and Congress raised the twin issues of Srijan scam and floods in the state by creating noisy scenes, leading to adjournment of the house within minutes after it assembled for the day.

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The Bhagalpur chief judicial magistrate issued arrest warrants against three people in connection with the multi-crore Srijan fund transfer scam on Wednesday evening.

The accused were identified as Amit and Priya Kumar, the son and daughter-in-law of Srijan Mahila Sahyog Samiti founder Manorama Devi, and Bhagalpur public grievances redressal officer Rajeev Ranjan Singh.

The NGO is accused of working in cahoots with bankers and treasury officials to illegally divert government funds into its own accounts. The scam, estimated at over Rs 700 crore, first came to light when a government cheque presented to a Bhagalpur bank bounced due to insufficient funds on August 3.

Amit and Priya had taken over the reins of the NGO after the demise of Devi in February. Lookout notices have been issued against the duo to ensure they do not leave the country. Singh used to be a land acquisition officer at Bhagalpur.

Investigators have also found a December 2003 letter from the then Bhagalpur district magistrate KP Ramaiah, advising district officials to encourage the NGO by opening accounts in its cooperative bank. As many as 10 people have come under the scanner in connection with the alleged scam, which the state opposition has compared with Madhya Pradeshs Vyapam controversy.

Ramaiah, incidentally, had contested unsuccessfully on a Janata Dal (United) ticket in the 2014 elections from Sasaram  a constituency reserved for scheduled caste candidates.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has been on the offensive in the state assembly for over three days now, raising fears that the five-day monsoon session may come a cropper. It has demanded the resignations of chief minister Nitish Kumar and deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi for their alleged involvement in the scam.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad has even alleged foul play in the death of Mahesh Mandal, a welfare department official accused in the fund transfer scam. Mandal had succumbed to chronic kidney disease on August 20.

The Bhagalpur district magistrate had initially appointed a three-member committee led by deputy development commissioner Amit Kumar to investigate the Srijan scam. The probe revealed that certain fraudsters illegally transferred government funds to the NGOs accounts by forging the district magistrates signature. It also found that the scam has now spread to multiple departments beyond the geographical boundaries of Bhagalpur. The state government transferred Amit Kumar as the district magistrate of Lakhisarai on August 18.

Besides diverting government funds, the NGO is accused of avoiding government audits between 2007 and 2014 by fudging bank passbooks while continuing to earn interest on the principal amount.

Eleven FIRs have been filed and 18 people arrested in the scam until now. The state government has recommended a CBI probe into the matter.

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Attempting to create history, 3,082 children from 160 schools went home happy, each carrying their own ecofriendly clay idol of Lord Ganesha that they created from scratch.

These students were hand picked by their respective schools to be part of the biggest workshop held in Pune; to make 3,000 Ganesh idols using river clay. They ended up making precisely 82 idols more.

Amid the shouts of Ganpati Bappa Morya, the children began slowly kneading the clay, learning and following master sculptor Vivek Khatavkar, as he slowly took the children through the process of giving life to a clay mould.

Brainchild of mayor Mukta Tilak, the idea was to promote an environment- friendly Ganesh Festival. We thought of training 3,000 students in making clay idols, where sculptor Vivek Khatavkar would help them with a live demonstration. It is indeed very nice to see the students enthusiasm and eagerness to learn something new, she said.

This is the worlds biggest workshop and these children inspire others to be aware about the environment, said Prakash Javadekar, minister for human resource development. Ganeshotsav was started to create awareness among the people. It is said that every new beginning always takes place in Pune, I am happy to see so many eager students here today with so much energy. The idea of seeds within these clay Ganesha idols means that during immersion, these seeds will sprout new plants where ever they flow, thus, giving us new plants and help us create green cover. By holding such events is how you create awareness among students, there is new hope and these young students are the new generation who will bring about a change in the peoples thinking, he added.

Municipal commissioner Kunal Kumar was present throughout the event that stretched for nearly two hours. This is a process of change, a process of making the entire society at large aware of environmental protection. It is a long process but this is a miniature milestone. Children of all ages coming together; showing the path, that once we decide we can do wonderful stuff, be creative, use your talent, the message is strong and it is reaching everyone, he said.

An enthusiastic Kumar said that the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) stands committed to see that the festival dedicated to Lord Ganesha is celebrated in an ecofriendly way. But we are moving in the right direction with every Punekar joining us. We are hoping that our event will make it to the Guinness world records, he said.

The students were thrilled at the end of the workshop. Harish Deetharla, a student from Mount Mary School, was very excited and couldnt stop showing his little Lord Ganesha. Pranjal Surve, a student from PVG Muktangan English school, I made an idol which has seeds with which I will plant trees. It was a very nice event.

A student of Agrasen High School, Athrava Sanas, was with all his school friends and said, I enjoyed being here and made a shadu clay Ganesha, which is not harmful to earth. One should only use clay idols and I plan to take this idol home.

The Guinness World Record team at work

Milind Verlekar, Guinness consultant, was present throughout the event working on making it a huge success.

We had 3,082 students participating in this official attempt of Guinness World Record and 61 instructors for this entire workshop kept watch over the workshop. The Chief Instructor, Vivek Khatavkar, was on the stage teaching and instructing on how to make a sculpture of Lord Ganesha and his demonstrations were displayed on digital LED displays spread over all the ground, Verlekar said.

3,100 students from 160 schools in the Pune Municipal Corporation limits had registered for this lesson with their complete details. All the registered students were supplied with wristbands having pre-printed barcodes affixed to it. The participating students were supplied with the exact details of the gate through which they were supposed to enter. There were three (3) entry gates and each students barcode was scanned at each gate. After the scan, the number at the entry gate increased on the display attached to the gate. The summation of all the entry gates was continuously displayed on the central LED display.

Every gate was monitored by two independent witnesses who later submitted their reports about the headcount they had on these gates.

Fifty students were grouped and were monitored by stewards appointed specially for this purpose. Each steward was supposed to take count of the 50 students in his/her marked area. The steward was also supposed to monitor that each of the student marked to him/her were participating in this lesson fully. There were 60 areas marked separately with white ribbons consisting of 50 students each and thus, there were 60 stewards in the entire activity. The stewards counted the head count before the lesson , after the lesson and he/she also counted to perfection about how many students participated completely and finished the final sculpture.

Along with the stewards, all the 60 designated areas were attended by additional instructors who are experienced arts teachers from Pune city. These teachers were working as instructors to guide the participating students on how to sculpt the Ganesha idol.

All the participating students were taught simultaneously by all the instructors. The students followed the instructions and sculpted beautiful Lord Ganesha idols with the help of Shadu clay, which is completely ecofriendly.

The entire workshop lasted for a duration of 1 hour and 31 minutes, where each of the participant was making his/her own sculpture, with the help of the instructors. Two timekeepers were also present at the venue who marked the start of the lesson and also ended the lesson.

This official attempt took place at the single venue of Baburao Sanas Ground, near Sarasbaug.

Two witnesses attended the lesson and monitored the entire event from the perspective of a third person and later also gave their detailed review of the lesson.
Tricity residents who were planning to travel out of station on Wednesday had a hard day deciding which mode of travel to opt for as reaching the Chandigarh railway station became an impossible task due to elaborate security arrangements around the station while airfares saw an unprecedented surge.

The flights between Chandigarh and Delhi, which usually cost between Rs 1,600 and Rs 3,000, were priced at Rs 8,000 on Wednesday.

A Spicejet ticket between Chandigarh and Delhi, scheduled for 8:25 pm, cost Rs 7,992 while a Jet Airways ticket cost Rs 6,112. Vistara and Indigo tickets cost Rs 4,719 and Rs 4,729 respectively.

According to airline officials, the airfare will remain the same (around Rs 4,729) till August 28 and will further come down to Rs 2,098 on August 29. In September, it will come down to Rs 1,688.

A Panjab University official whose daughter was to go to Chandigarh in Shatabdi Express on August 24 said, she cancelled the tour, owing to security concerns. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation(IRCTC) officials said that many residents got their tickets cancelled at the last moment, in view of the heightened security arrangements around the railway station.

Echoing the same opinion, sources from Chandigarh railway station said that there were more cancellations than the bookings since the security around the station was enormous. Travel agents across the city stated that residents are opting for private cabs to go Delhi and other places out instead of taking a flight or a train.

While taking the route to the Chandigarh railway station had become an impossible task for many residents, the air fares saw a sky rocketing rise on Wednesday.

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He is the man of the moment. Special CBI judge Jagdeep Singh was flown into Rohtak jail on Monday morning in a helicopter to pronounce the sentence on self-styled godman Ram Rahim Singh.

The judge sentenced he godman to two 10-year prison terms that will run consecutively.

Singh, who pronounced Singh guilty of raping two women in a heavily guarded courtroom on Friday, is known for his competence and toughness. Eyewitnesses recall how he didnt let the tense atmosphere in Haryanas Panchkula -- more than 200,000 dera followers had camped in the city -- to unfaze him as he walked into the court on Friday.

Soon after, Singh convicted Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim in a 15-year-old rape case, filed by two of his women followers. (LIVE updates)

A very competent, tough and upright judge with a no-nonsense attitude. That is how Singh is described by his colleagues in the legal fraternity.

An additional district and sessions judge rank official, Singh was designated as the CBI special judge last year. This is his second posting as a judicial officer.

Singh joined the Haryana judicial services in 2012 and was posted at Sonepat. The CBI court posting, which is generally given after a lot of checks by the high court administration, is his second posting.

Prior to joining the judicial service, he was a Punjab and Haryana high court lawyer. Singh likes keeping a low profile and is a man of few words. But all those who know him vouch for his competence and integrity, said a lawyer who has practiced with him. Singh, who hails from Haryana, took up both civil and criminal cases between 2000 and 2012.

Singh completed his law degree from Panjab University (PU) around 2000. He was a bright student, recalled a Haryana judicial officer, who has known him since his Panjab University days. He is considered a very hardworking and upright officer, he added.

Jagdeep hit the headlines in September 2016, when on his way from Hisar to Panchkula, he played a Good Samaritan and rushed four people, who were seriously injured in a road accident, to a hospital in Jind district. As per reports, he first called up emergency to rush an ambulance, but when the operator told him, Will the ambulance come flying?, he stopped a private vehicle and himself took the injured to the hospital.

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The Sahnewal airport will see its first flight in three years on September 2. Bookings from the Ludhiana to New Delhi Alliance Air flight AI-9838 started on Wednesday.

The 70-seater turbo propeller ATR aircraft will depart from Ludhiana at 4:45 PM and arrive in New Delhi at 5:55 PM. The price of 50% of the 35 tickets is capped at Rs 2,079 under the governments Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik scheme that is aimed at promoting inexpensive regional connectivity.

The remaining seats will be priced depending upon the demand, sources said.

Since its last regular flight, operated by Air India to Delhi on May 16, 2014, the Sahnewal Airport has been operating chartered flights at a considerable cost to the exchequer. So far, business houses have been using the airport to park their chartered planes. Spread over 127.5 acres, the airport has a 4,800-foot runway.

Sahnewal airport director AN Sharma said all arrangements were in place for the flight on September 2. Ludhiana deputy commissioner Pradeep Agarwal had visited the airport a fortnight ago to review the approach road, and had directed measures to beautify it.

While the marker lines on the runway have been freshly painted, the security system at the airport has also been revived.
Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim rape case verdict is proving dampener even for the coming Panjab University student council elections that is to be held tentatively on September 8.

Student parties are finding it difficult to campaign as classes have been declared off and a majority of students have left for their homes.

With hardly 15 days left for polls, student bodies worry about their campaign as there is panic among the students regarding the dera case verdict.

Classes off

UT administration has announced on Wednesday that all the educational institutions in Chandigarh will remain closed on August 24 and 25. No classes will be held on August 26 and 27 as being Saturday and Sunday.

No class campaign can be done in these four days. Class campaigning is an important part in preparing for the elections and that is on a halt for now. Rest will depend on the verdict on Friday. I hope the situation remains peaceful, said Harmanjot Gill, state president of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

Library, Student Centre closed

AC Joshi library in PU remained closed on Thursday. Only the outside reading hall was available to the students. Most of the shops in Student Centre were also closed.

Only a few students are available to talk. Many of them are leaving. They are having problems as the bus service has been shut down but they are finding ways to go home as the university is closed for four days, said a student at the library.

Dera case verdict is talk of the day

Talk of the day has been shifted from PU polls to Gurmeet Ram Rahim rape case verdict. No student is interested in hearing about the election.

Every one is talking about the case verdict, what will happen after the verdict, and how it will impact those living in Chandigarh and even the students in PU, said president of Students for Society (SFS), Damanpreet.

He added,  Those who have left dont know how they will return to campus. In case the situation becomes tense, there might be a possibility that the election is postponed.

Hostels empty

Sources told HT that many students residing in hostels have either left or are leaving. Many had to come back as the bus service has been suspended and they feel stranded.

No student is to be seen at Student Centre or on the campus. All our plans about campaign have been wasted. Now the campaign is on a halt for now. Nobody is ready to talk about election, said Chandan Rana of National Students Union of India (NSUI).

Internet shut down comes as blow

As the student organisations had planned to campaign on social media, a blow has shattered their hopes. Mobile internet services will also be shut down for the next 72 hours in Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh. No bulk messages, no Facebook, no WhatsApp.

Its too bad a situation. As colleges are closed, we had planned to campaign on social media. However, that too is not an option now, said Prabh Grewal of ABVP unit in DAV College, Sector 10.

Harpreet Kaur of Indian National Students Organisation (INSO) at Post Graduate Government College, Sector 11, said, We are campaigning in the hostel. However, if the situation becomes tense, students will want to go home. Though we really hope that the situation remains peaceful. Vijay Kumar of All India Student Association unit of the same college said, Many of the students have started suspecting each other to be a dera follower. We are asking students not to panic.

The general body meeting of SFS that was scheduled to be held on Thursday has also been postponed.
All roads led to Panchkula for the third day on Thursday. The steady stream of Dera Sacha Sauda followers marched into this sleepy town on the eve of the CBI special court hearing in Sector 1 that will give its verdict in the rape case against their leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

The influx of the nearly three lakh dera followers (according to intelligence inputs) has left the estimated two lakh residents of the town outnumbered and on the edge. Many residents wanted to know why the district administration has imposed prohibitory orders but not enforced it, while others were busy stocking up on ration to brace for any eventuality post Fridays verdict.

It was calm today but we dont know how it will pan out tomorrow. The influx is an unnecessary nuisance and has brought our life to a standstill. I kept the gate locked for the whole day to keep trespassers away. Its like being held hostage in your own house, says Aarti Bansal, a chartered account staying in Sector 12 along the Zirakpur-Kalka highway.

They roam in groups through Sector 4. It makes us uneasy. They ring the bell in the evening and request for a place to stay overnight. How do we know who they are? Ive been forced to take leave for the safety of my family, says Umesh Narang, an advocate in the Punjab and Haryana high court. This case has got too much hype. Nobody is above the law so why are we being put through this uncertainty? he says.

Cops face music

Vandana Kashyap, a housewife based in Sector 2, says her heart goes out for the cops. I see how they have been patrolling the streets and the conditions in which they have to operate. Its a thankless job for them either way. But what I find ironical is that they search vehicles of residents and check identity cards of staff, while the dera followers in hundreds have a free run in adjoining lanes, she says.

A resident of the neighbouring Sector 6, who is visiting her mother from Dubai and did not want to be named, said life was normal in the morning but the gates to her lane were closed by afternoon. There is no dearth of essential supplies. We have stocked up on milk, bread and vegetables just in case. We used to go to the Gymkhana Club in Sector 3 for swimming but have discontinued that routine ever since this buildup, she said.

LPG supply, however, has been affected. My trucks with cylinders are held up in godowns on the outskirts of Panchkula. We cant take the risk in such circumstances, says Lily Bawa, a Congress councilor who owns a gas agency.

Civic nightmare

The sheer number of followers has raised concerns about the towns sanitation. Carrying backpacks and bags, men and women dera followers walk, sit, sleep, eat and even defecate along roads, green belts and parks. The Panchkula municipal corporation has a tough job on its hands, says Narang.

Meanwhile, the followers spent the day reading newspapers, playing cards, chatting and making the most of the langar service. Fruit and ice-cream vendors followed by food stalls did a brisk business in the morning before they were sent packing by the police.

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After a rap from the Punjab and Haryana high court, the police on Thursday night started a massive exercise to evict over two lakh followers of Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh from Panchkula and Chandigarh, ahead of Fridays court verdict, even as the army is to be deployed in Panchkula.

Director general of police B S Sandhu told reporters that as per the directive of the high court the police started the drive to take the dera followers, who were gathered in large numbers, out of Panchkula.

He said the 20 columns of the army from the western command will be deployed in Panchkula late on Thursday night along with the paramilitary and state police forces to handle any exigency.

We will take the dera followers to the nearby places. The high court directed the counsel for the dera chief to make an appeal to his followers to vacate the place ahead of his appearance in the court, he added.

Sandhu said the law and order situation in the city was under control.

On the sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singhs appearance in a special CBI court in Panchkula on Friday, he said: He is likely to appear in the court at 2.30 pm.

Fearing violence by the huge mass of dera supporters gathered at Panchkula where the court is based, officials announced several other restrictive steps even as the sect chief appealed to his followers to maintain peace.

Nearly two lakh sect followers have descended on Panchkula and nearby places mostly from across Punjab and Haryana.

A central Bureau of Investigation court in Panchkula will pronounce its verdict in the rape case against Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on Friday. The court has asked the sect chief to appear in the court.
Even as mobile internet services were suspended in Chandigarh, Haryana and Punjab to stop rumour-mongering in the Ram Rahim rape verdict, the Dera Sacha Sauda chief figured among the top three Twitter trends on Thursday afternoon .

The hashtag #RamRahimVerdict was trending on the second spot, while the hashtag #iSupportMSG, started exclusively by his followers, was trending at the third spot.

Many citizens appalled at the state of affairs in Chandigarh as well as Ram Rahims enormous clout took to social media to vent their frustration . The religious leaders followers, on the other hand, used the hashtags to talk about his various humanitarian works.

Many Twitter users were aghast at the behaviour of Ram Rahims followers who have laid siege to Chandigarh, ahead of the August 25 court verdict on the rape case Ram Rahim is accused in.

Govt hijacked!!! Is this how responsible citizens behave? Looks like democracy will be on hold for a week. #RamRahimVerdict, tweeted Siwa.

Who cares what the man did in his past. RAPE IS RAPE. No one should be spared #RamRahimVerdict (sic), wrote Mathiya.

Approx 50,000 supporters for Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. Who is there for the rape victim? #RamRahimVerdict  Swati Magdaline (@SwatiMagdaline) August 24, 2017

.

Whether he is guilty or not,accused falsely or otherwise, followers have no right to threaten violence & siege Tricity #RamRahimVerdict  pic.twitter.com/wm4qVVPOAj  Madhulika kak (@madskak) August 24, 2017

Followers resilient

Ram Rahims followers, however, used the hashtag to showcase the religious leaders charity work. They also started a rival hashtag #iSupportMSG to rally support and heap praises on their guru.

Twitter account @ITwingDSS sent the first tweet with the hashtag #iSupportMSG at 12.45 pm, which has been retweeted more than 1.9k times till now:

.@Gurmeetramrahim Ji's sole purpose is to serve humanity and He has been continuously working for the welfare of the society. #iSupportMSG  IT Wing (@ITwingDSS) August 24, 2017

This tweet attracted a barrage of replies and soon after, many Twitter handles dedicated to Ram Rahim aggressively started tweeting the hashtag. Supporters remain hopeful for a verdict in favour of Ram Rahim with a dera premi tweeting, #iSupportMSG AND #RamRahimVerdict IS VERDICT OF GOODNESS AND JUSTICE.. GOODNESS WILL DEFINITELY WIN TOMORROW!

#iSupportMSG Beacuse he is one and only who always hold my hand in every problem. @Gurmeetramrahim

Are you???  PuJA sEtIA (@PujiiSetia) August 24, 2017

Saint @Gurmeetramrahim is the force behind millions of people taking up oath for upliftment of society.



That's why #iSupportMSG pic.twitter.com/vtA0pnCWhl  ITWing Haryana (@ITWHaryana) August 24, 2017

Not only his followers,number of social communities supporting Dr.MSG.Why so many people supporting him?#iSupportMSG  Er.Raman Gill (@gillr863) August 24, 2017

The @ITwingDSS account tweeted a plethora of hastags in praise of Ram Rahim such as #60MillionStandWithMSG, #RichIndianHeritageWithMSG, #MSGgreatSocialReformer, #MSGwhoEradicatedProstitution and #MSGchangingSocietyForBetter. Many of these were retweeted in huge numbers by accounts of followers, some with the suffic Insan in them.

For people not invested in the situation, it was an opportunity to make jokes and sarcastic comments.

Internet will be restored on Monday to ensure people wont miss #GameOfThrones #RamRahimVerdict, Ganeshan Iyer tweeted.

Babas fans - we are peace loving, law abiding people Also Babas fans- agar kuch hua to hum laashein bicha dengey #RamRahimVerdict, Komal Verma tweeted.
Police in Jharkhands Dhanbad have told a court rats ate 45kg of marijuana that was confiscated from a man, who was smuggling 145kg of the narcotic from Bihar to West Bengal.

Police seized the marijuana from inter-state GT Road (NH-2) under Barwadda police station of the district from a man named Shivaji Kumar, a resident of Jagdishpur in Bhojpur district of Bihar, who was carrying it his Honda car in May 2016.

Police deposited the seized narcotic in the malkhana (storeroom) of the Barwadda police station and booked Kumar under the Narcotic Drugs Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. They filed a chargesheet against Kumar in a local court on July 11, 2016.

After the charges were framed against Kumar on July 5, the court on Tuesday asked the police to produce the seized marijuana before it.

Police produced nearly 100kg of the haul before the court. When the court questioned about the remaining quantity, officer in-charge of Barwadda police station Dinesh Kumar submitted a report saying rats finished off the rest of the marijuana that was kept in plastic sacks inside the malkhana.

When contacted, Kumar refused to comment on the issue saying the matter was subjudice.

In May, the furry rodents were blamed by Bihar police of polishing off more than 900,000 litres of alcohol that they seized from people flouting prohibition laws in the state. Police later launch an inquiry to examine the claims.
After making waves in Bollywood with Baby, Pink and Naam Shabana, many believed Taapsee Pannu had bid adieu to Telugu industry. She proved all of them wrong by signing Telugu horror-comedy soon after the release of Pink, and although the film took a while to get made, it finally released last week and has rocked the box-office. Made on a shoestring budget, the makers recovered the films cost in just three days. It might not be a blockbuster but the film sure has won over audiences and critics alike with its quirky twist the to the horror genre.

According to director Mahi Raghav, the response to the film has been phenomenal and the numbers are beyond satisfaction. The films story is set in a haunted house, and like most films in this genre, revolves around a bunch of characters who have died tragic deaths and now seek revenge in the form of ghosts. In an entertaining twist, the ghosts are afraid of humans and this is because of some flaws of the lead characters which become their strength.

In the US, the film collected Rs 1.92 crore (US $300,000) from its opening weekend and thats huge considering the films budget. Raghav also confirmed that remake talks have been initiated for the film across the languages, including in Bollywood.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

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Learn to speak a few words in the local language and make sure your purchase isnt made with endangered plants or animals. These are some of the tips from the United Nations World Tourism Organizations new Travel. Enjoy. Respect handbook. It is part of a global public awareness program that comes with a manual on how to be a responsible tourist.

The launch comes amid a tourism crisis in Europe this summer, where locals across Spain and Italy have been staging anti-tourism protests in response to unsustainable visitor numbers, and incidents of tourists behaving badly in their cities. Visitors to Barcelona are being greeted with messages like Tourists go home and Stop destroying our lives pasted onto lamp posts and scribbled on walls.

Spaggia di Masua beach in Sardinia, Italy. Italian cities have resorted to bans on everything from outdoor drinking after nightfall to food trucks and street hawkers. (Shutterstock)

In a bid to curb acts of hooliganism and restore civility in their streets, Italian cities like Rome, Turin, Florence and Milan have resorted to bans on everything from outdoor drinking after nightfall, food trucks and street hawkers to eating and drinking near historic fountains. Most recently, Florence issued a thinly veiled warning to visitors in a tourism campaign dubbed #EnjoyRespectFirenze, reminding tourists that any display of uncivil behaviour will be met with hefty fines.

Whenever you travel, wherever you travel, remember to respect nature, respect culture, and respect your host, said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai in a statement. You can be the change you want to see in the world. You can be an ambassador for a better future. The UNWTOs travel campaign will launch in various languages and outlets around the world.

Refrain from giving money to begging children and support community projects instead. (Shutterstock)

Here are some of tips from the UN handbook:

* Honour your hosts and our common heritage.

* Learn to speak a few words in the local language. This can help you connect with the local community in a more meaningful way.

* Always ask before taking photographs of other people as a matter of privacy.

* To protect our planet, purchase products that arent made using endangered plants or animals.

In protected areas, access only the places open to visitors. (HT file photo )

* Reduce your water and energy consumption when possible.

* In protected areas, access only the places open to visitors.

* To support the local economy, buy locally-made handcrafts and products. Respect livelihoods of local vendors and artisans by paying a fair price.

* Do not buy counterfeit products or items that are prohibited by national/ international regulations.

* Take appropriate health and safety precautions prior to and during your trip. Know how to access medical care or contact your embassy in case of an emergency.

* Research well before engaging into voluntourism.

* Observe national laws and regulations. Respect human rights and protect children from exploitation. Abusing children is a crime.

* Refrain from giving money to begging children and support community projects instead.

The full manual can be found here.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for more
American blogger Matt Kepnes wasnt big on travel until he was 23, when he took his first journey abroad. Back then, he had a desk job in health care with two weeks vacation a year. He chose to go on a solo trip to Costa Rica and fell in love with travel. The next year he went to Thailand and met five backpackers who were living my dream.

I grew up in an environment where travel wasnt a thing for my family, it wasnt a thing for my friends, he said in an interview for the AP Travel podcast, Get Outta Here. I had always assumed that travel was expensive. Here were five people proving me wrong. He quit his job to travel in 2006 and created the popular Nomadic Matt blog, offering tips on budget travel and what to do in destinations as well as the motivation some of us need to get out there and see the world.

Here are some travel tips from his interview.

Look out for cheap flight deals, which can also give you air miles. (iStock)

Get in the travel state of mind:

For many people, travel is easy. You just got to go. If youre like me, you decide on a beach, quit your job to travel. Other people, they need a shove. ... They need to know everything is going to work out, its going to be OK. For a lot of people even taking a two-week vacation with your family seems like a pipe dream. I want to get people in the right frame of mind and have them say, What can I do today to be one step closer (to financing a trip) whether thats walking rather than Uber, one less Starbucks. Anything you can do today to build that positive momentum, every step you take after that becomes a lot easier. A lot of people need that push.

To travel cheaply, travel like you live:

We imagine travel to be expensive because we imagine it to be hotels, fancy meals, expensive tours, resorts, cruises, expensive flights. Now is the golden age of flight, so many amazing flight deals going around now. You can fly pretty cheaply. You can get tons of credit-card bonuses, miles and theres just a lot there.

When youre in a destination, travel like you live. Stay in an Airbnb. Hostels have private rooms. Check for budget hotels. Go to the market for food. Take local transportation. Google free things to do. Theres so much information available on the internet now. Its really easy to find deals and everything. If you just go travel and do what you do back home, you get into the local rhythm a lot easier.

Picking a destination:

I go online and look for the latest flight deal and I just kind of go. I travel off season. ... Where havent I gone and out of all those destinations, whats cheapest. Thats where Im going next.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for more
A 70-year-old member of an Islamic group was murdered while another was injured by members of a rival group over disagreement about religious beliefs in Pakistans Punjab province, police said on Thursday.

Waliur Rehman, a resident of Karachi, was leading an 11- member team of a Tablighi Jamaat and travelled from Raiwind to Chiniot for preaching purposes.

During the course of door-to-door preaching, Rehman and his group went to the house of two brothers - Ikram Khan and Imran Khan - who were students of Darul Uloom Muhammadia Ghousia, Bhera, Sargodha District, Sadar Police Station SHO Muhammad Afzal was quoted as saying by The Express Tribune.

Rehman had an argument with Ikram and Imran over difference of opinion over religious beliefs, he said.

Afzal said that Rehman and one of his companions Abdullah Khan were sleeping in a mosque when accused Ikram and Imran attacked them with a spade yesterday.

Rehman was killed on the spot while Abdullah suffered critical injuries on various parts of the body, he said.

The injured was shifted to a hospital in Faisalabad.

The police have arrested accused Ikram while his brother is still at large, Afzal said.

A case had been registered against them.
Even as tensions between the United States and Russia fester, there is one surprising place where their military-to-military contacts are quietly weathering the storm: Syria.

It has been four months since US President Donald Trump ordered cruise missile strikes against a Syrian airfield after an alleged chemical weapons attack.

In June, the US military shot down a Syrian fighter aircraft, the first US downing of a manned jet since 1999, and also shot down two Iranian-made drones that threatened US-led coalition forces.

All the while, US and Russian military officials have been regularly communicating, US officials told Reuters. Some of the contacts are helping draw a line on the map that separates US- and Russian-backed forces waging parallel campaigns on Syrias shrinking battlefields.

There is also a telephone hotline linking the former Cold War foes air operations centres. US officials told Reuters that there now are about 10 to 12 calls a day on the hotline, helping keep US and Russian warplanes apart as they support different fighters on the ground.

That is no small task, given the complexities of Syrias civil war. Moscow backs the Syrian government, which also is aided by Iran and Lebanons Hezbollah as it claws back territory from Syrian rebels and Islamic State fighters.

The US military is backing a collection of Kurdish and Arab forces focussing their firepower against Islamic State, part of a strategy to collapse the groups self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq.

Reuters was given rare access to the US Air Forces hotline station, inside the Qatar-based Combined Air Operations Area, last week, including meeting two Russian linguists, both native speakers, who serve as the US interface for conversations with Russian commanders.

While the conversations are not easy, contacts between the two sides have remained resilient, senior US commanders said.

The reality is weve worked through some very hard problems and, in general, we have found a way to maintain the deconfliction line (that separates US and Russian areas of operation) and found a way to continue our mission, Lieutenant General Jeffrey Harrigian, the top US Air Force commander in the Middle East, said in an interview.

As both sides scramble to capture what is left of Islamic States caliphate, the risk of accidental contacts is growing.

We have to negotiate, and sometimes the phone calls are tense. Because for us, this is about protecting ourselves, our coalition partners and destroying the enemy, Harrigian said, without commenting on the volume of calls.

The risks of miscalculation came into full view in June, when the United States shot down a Syrian Su-22 jet that was preparing to fire on US-backed forces on the ground.

US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said those were not the only aircraft in the area. As the incident unfolded, two Russian fighter jets looked on from above and a American F-22 stealth aircraft kept watch from an even higher altitude, they told Reuters.

After the incident, Moscow publicly warned it would consider any planes flying west of the Euphrates River to be targets. But the US military kept flying in the area, and kept talking with Russia.

The Russians have been nothing but professional, cordial and disciplined, Army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, the Iraq-based commander of the U.S.-led coalition, told Reuters.

DIVIDING LINE DOWN THE EUPHRATES

In Syria, US-backed forces are now consumed with the battle to capture Islamic States former capital of Raqqa. More than half the city has been retaken from Islamic State.

Officials said talks were underway to extend a demarcation line that has been separating US- and Russian-backed fighters on the ground as fighting pushes towards Islamic States last major Syrian stronghold, the Deir al-Zor region.

The line runs in an irregular arc from a point southwest of Tabqa east to a point on the Euphrates River and then down along the Euphrates River in the direction of Deir al-Zor, they said.

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, during a visit to Jordan this week, said the line was important as US- and Russian-backed forces come in closer proximity of each other.

We do not do that (communication) with the (Syrian) regime. It is with the Russians, is who were dealing with, Mattis said. We continue those procedures right on down the Euphrates River Valley.

Bisected by the Euphrates River, Deir al-Zor and its oil resources are critical to the Syrian state.

The province is largely in the hands of Islamic State, but has become a priority for pro-Syrian forces. It also is in the crosshairs of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

SDF spokesman Talal Silo told Reuters last week that there would be an SDF campaign towards Deir al-Zor in the near future, though the SDF was still deciding whether it would be delayed until Raqqa was fully taken from Islamic State.
The death toll from two separate ferry wrecks in Brazil surged on Thursday, with 41 people killed overall, according to authorities.

The public safety department in north-central Para state said 19 people were confirmed dead so far after a boat sank on the Xingu river late Tuesday.

That vessel, the Capitan Ribeiro, had 49 people on board, of whom 23 were rescued and seven remained missing, the department said in a statement.

Separately, the navy said 22 people died when a ferry sank early Thursday off the northeastern state of Bahia.

That boat had 133 people on board, of which at least 21 had been rescued, naval commander Flavio Almeida told AFP.

The vessel was running the short route from the island of Itaparica across the bay to the city of Salvador, capital of Bahia state, when it went down.

There was no immediate information about the causes of the two sinkings.

Newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo said the boat in Para, in a northern Amazon region, may have been caught in a storm.

Residents join in the search and rescue mission for the passengers of the "Comandante Ribeiro" that sank the night before, in the Brazilian state of Para, Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017. (AP)

The vessel in the fatal incident in Para had left the port of Santarem bound for Vitoria de Xingu.

Ferries, fishing vessels and big commercial ships ply the Amazon waterways as one of the main forms of transport in a region with relatively few roads.
A womens dormitory at Bangladeshs most prestigious university said on Thursday it has dropped a ban on students wearing what it called indecent clothing after an uproar.

A notice posted at Dhaka Universitys Kabi Sufiya Kamal Hall barred its 2,300 residents from wearing such clothes including t-shirts, threatening disciplinary action against anyone who disobeyed.

A photo of the order went viral on social media, with many accusing authorities of Talibanising the dormitory.

Do we have to change our clothing every time we go to the dining room for lunch or dinner? said one student at the dormitory, who asked not to be named. I am not sure whether I should study or keep changing clothes three times a day.

Dhaka University is Muslim-majority Bangladeshs largest secular bastion. The head of the dormitory said she had not issued the order, which did not reflect its policies.

We are very embarrassed seeing the distorted notice, Sabita Rezwana Rahman told AFP.

She said a new notice had been put up saying only that students should wear appropriate dress to enter the dormitory office.
Workers in Charlottesville draped giant black covers over two statues of Confederate generals on Wednesday to symbolize the citys mourning for a woman killed while protesting a white nationalist rally.

The work began around 1 pm in Emancipation Park, where a towering monument of Gen. Robert E Lee on horseback stands. Workers gathered around the monument with a large black drape. Some stood in cherry-pickers and others used ropes and poles to cover the statue as onlookers took photos and video. Some of the crowd cheered as the cover was put in place.

Its great. Its a good start, said Jamie Dyer, who spoke a short time later from nearby Justice Park, where workers covered a statue of Gen. Thomas Stonewall Jackson. They do have to go, but it is a start, and Im glad the city has finally recognized it has to happen on some level.

Later Wednesday, local media reported that a man with a gun strapped to his leg approached the Lee statue and began cutting the tarp with a knife.

Police asked him to stop, and he complied. He addressed reporters and bystanders, saying he thought it was illegal under state law to cover a war memorial and that doing so amounted to erasing history.

In front of TV cameras, the man starting arguing with others at the scene over what should be done with the statues and who was at fault for the violence that unfolded at the August 12 rally.

The decision to shroud the statues came at a city council meeting earlier this week. Irate residents packed the meeting, screaming and cursing at councillors over the citys response to the rally. The event, dubbed Unite the Right, is believed to be the largest gathering of white nationalists in a decade.

Neo-Nazis, KKK members, skinheads and members of various white nationalist factions clashed violently with counter-protesters in the street adjacent to Emancipation Park.

The fighting went on largely uninterrupted by authorities until the event was declared an unlawful assembly and the crowd was forced to disperse. Later, a car rammed into a crowd of demonstrators who were marching through downtown, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring more than two dozen others.

The man who police say was driving, James Alex Fields Jr., has been charged in Heyers death.

The death toll for the day climbed to three when a helicopter that had been monitoring the event and assisting with the governors motorcade crashed, killing two state troopers.

The rally was sparked by the city councils vote earlier this year to take down the Lee statue. That decision is in the midst of a legal challenge, and a judge has issued an injunction preventing the city from removing the statue while the lawsuit plays out.

A state law passed in 1998 forbids local governments from removing, damaging or defacing war monuments, but there is legal ambiguity about whether that applies to statues such as the Lee monument, which was erected before the law was passed.

A hearing in the case is scheduled for Sept 1.

A statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee, unveiled in 1890, stands at the centre of Lee Circle along Monument Avenue August 23 in Richmond, Virginia. (AFP Photo)

The council initially planned to leave the Jackson statue in place but at the meeting Tuesday took the first administrative steps toward having it removed as well.

In other developments Wednesday, Christopher Cantwell, a white nationalist from Keene, New Hampshire, turned himself in to face three felony charges in Virginia, authorities said. Cantwell was wanted by University of Virginia police on two counts of the illegal use of tear gas or other gases and one count of malicious bodily injury with a caustic substance, explosive or fire.

University police issued a brief statement late Wednesday saying Cantwell turned himself in to police in nearby Lynchburg, Virginia, where he was being held at a regional jail pending transport to Charlottesville.

It wasnt immediately known if Cantwell has a lawyer.

Contacted by The Associated Press on Tuesday, Cantwell acknowledged he had pepper-sprayed a counter-demonstrator during an Aug. 11 protest on the campus of the University of Virginia. But he insisted he was defending himself, saying he did it because my only other option was knocking out his teeth. He also said he was looking forward to his day in court.

Lynchburg police, contacted by AP late Wednesday, declined to release further information about Cantwell.
China on Thursday questioned Indias move to build a new road near Pangong lake in Ladakh sector, saying it had slapped its own face by allowing such a project along the border that is yet to be demarcated.

The foreign ministry said the new road project sanctioned by India near Pangong lake, where border troops of the two countries clashed last week, was not conducive to maintaining peace and tranquillity along the border.

Reacting to a report on the project in Hindustan Times earlier this week, the foreign ministry contended the move revealed a contradiction in Indias stand on construction of structures along the border.

The Hindustan Times report had said the of home ministry has approved the construction of a standalone road project from Marsimik La to Hot Spring. Marsimik La in Ladakh is about 20 km from the northwestern tip of Pangong lake. The Border Road Organisation (BRO) has taken over the project after it was cleared by the home ministry.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying reacted strongly when Chinese state media cited the report and sought a reaction at the regular news briefing on Thursday.

It seems according to reports the Indian side is slapping its own face. The Indian side is closely following Chinas road-building recently but Indias actions themselves have proven that the Indian side says something and does another, Hua said.

Its (Indias) words are in complete contradiction to its deeds in terms of border issues, she added. The western section of the India-China boundary has not been delimited. The two sides have agreed to uphold border areas peace and tranquillity before disputes are settled. The current road construction by the Indian side is not conducive to peace and stability in that area and will not help with settlement of the current situation.

Hua was referring to the intervention in June by Indian troops to block the construction of a road by Chinese troops in Donglang or Doklam near the Sikkim border. New Delhi said the road would alter the status quo and have serious security implications.

China has repeatedly blamed India for trespass in the Doklam area and for triggering the two-month military standoff. Dokalm is under Chinas control but claimed by Bhutan.

Beijing has also blamed New Delhi for the skirmish near Pangong lake on August 15, saying Indian troops triggered the scuffle in which Chinese soldiers were injured.

The foreign ministry had said on Monday that China has lodged serious concerns over the incident which occurred along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). According to our information, on August 15, the Chinese border troops conducted normal patrol on the Chinese side of the LAC around Pangong area," Hua said on Monday.

During this process, the Indian side took some violent actions and injured the Chinese border personnel. This has violated the consensus between the Indian and Chinese side in relation to the border issues, she had added.
Former undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson is looking to crowdfund enough money to buy Twitter so President Donald Trump cant use it.

Wilson launched the fundraiser last week, tweeting: If @Twitter executives wont shut down Trumps violence and hate, then its up to us. #BuyTwitter #BanTrump. The GoFundMe page for the fundraiser says Trumps tweets damage the country and put people in harms way.

As of Wednesday morning, she had raised less than $6,000 of her $1 billion goal.

In an emailed statement, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the low total shows that the American people like the Republican presidents use of Twitter.

Her ridiculous attempt to shut down his first amendment is the only clear violation and expression of hate and intolerance in this equation, the statement read.

Wilson wrote on the fundraisers GoFundMe page that she hopes to raise enough money to buy a controlling interest of Twitter stock. If she doesnt have enough to purchase a majority of shares, she said, she will explore options to buy a significant stake and champion the proposal at Twitters annual shareholder meeting.

If Plame were to hit her $1 billion goal, shed still fall far short of gaining a controlling interest in the company. As of Wednesday, a majority stake would cost roughly $6 billion. But a $1 billion stake would make her Twitters largest shareholder and give her a very strong position to exert influence on the company.

Twitter declined to comment Wednesday on Wilsons tweet about seeking to buy the San Francisco-based company.

Wilsons identity as a CIA operative was leaked by an official in President George W. Bushs administration in 2003 in an effort to discredit her husband, Joe Wilson, a former diplomat who criticized Bushs decision to invade Iraq. She left the agency in 2005.
An Indian-origin CEO in the US has said the woman, who racially abused him and asked him to Go back to India for writing an anti-Donald Trump article, is no way a representative of all the supporters of the US president and counts many conservative Republicans as friends and very good people.

Ravin Gandhi, chief executive of GMM Nonstick Coatings, was subjected to a hate-filled voicemail by the woman after he wrote an article saying he will not defend Trumps economic agenda after the violence in Charlottesville where white supremacists clashed with counter-demonstrators earlier this month.

Youre a f****** Indian pig ... Get your f****** garbage and go back to India, and sell it there, the woman said in the voicemail.

In an interview to MSNBC, the 44-year-old said he said he has received unequivocal support from the American community, barring the quotes at the bottom of some of the online articles from nutjobs like that lady. He said he was so stunned when he heard the voicemail, he thought it would be a good American moment to put it out there.

I was born in this country, I was raised in this country and Ive built a business in this country, Ive paid millions of dollars of taxes in this country, Im raising my two kids in this country, I love this country and I am just as American as anyone else. Thats something not even up for debate, he said.

Gandhi said he gets infuriated when someone thinks he is not an American based on how he looks and his last name.

He added he wanted to call out this incident to show that someone who is leading a fantastic life, is the CEO of a company and whose race is not an issue at all in day-to-day life. Gandhi says, there are a lot of people in this country, insidious scumbags who are filled with hate and I wanted to throw light on the fact that I could also be a victim of racism.

He also called on moderate Republicans to speak out if they think they made a wrong choice by voting for Trump because this president when he sees that people believe something, I think hell respond to it and I want him to get the Republicans and Democrats in a room and actually be bi-partisan.

We can change stuff in this country if we speak out and I will believe that till the day I die, Gandhi said.

After Charlottesville and its aftermath, I will not defend Trump even if the Dow hits 50,000, unemployment goes to 1%, and GDP grows by 7%. Some issues transcend economics, and I will not in good conscience support a president who seems to hate Americans who dont look like him, Gandhi wrote for CNBC.

The woman on the voicemail also called the Indian American US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, a Bangladesh creep and said they will start taking down Buddhist statues. Gandhi is not a Buddhist and grew up in Illinois Waukegan, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Gandhi has garnered a lot of support on social media:

I really want to give Ravin Gandhi a hug right now...that racist lady was awful #inners  Jan Erickson (@Mistress_Jan) August 23, 2017

That message! Just so angry and full of hate. So we are to lie down & not speak out? Nah. I'm not afraid. #Inners #RavinGandhi is American  Lisa Miller (@lisa_babyska81) August 23, 2017

Mr. Ravin Gandhi, I am proud you are a fellow american & I'm so sorry you were verbally assaulted by an unhinged racist. She is not America  Nofearnofavors (@Nofearnofavors4) August 23, 2017

I hate to tell you this Ravin Gandhi, but that lady who left that voice mail isn't that rare. I've met many like her. #inners  Jean Dunn (@jeandunn52) August 23, 2017
More than 10,000 Ukrainians have died as a result of the military aggression in Donbas, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.

"All in all, more than 10,000 Ukrainian lives are on the conscience of the aggressor. We will never forget and never forgive," the president said speaking at the military parade in Kyiv on the occasion of Ukraine's Independence Day.
An Indian-origin portfolio manager, who is serving a nine-year jail term for his role in the most lucrative insider trading scheme in the US, has lost his bid to overturn his conviction after an appeals court ruled that there was overwhelming evidence against him.

Mathew Martoma, 43, was convicted in 2014 for his role as the central figure in the most lucrative insider trading scheme ever charged involving $ 275 million in illegal profits.

Martoma, who had changed his name from Ajai Mathew Thomas, had served as a portfolio manager of CR Intrinsic Investors, a division of hedge fund behemoth SAC Capital, led by billionaire Steven Cohen.

Martoma had been charged with collecting confidential information about a high-profile Alzheimers drug trial from two doctors and making profits and avoiding losses of 275 million dollars for SAC Capital.

In appealing against the conviction, Martoma argued that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his conviction but a three-judge bench at the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a 2-1 decision yesterday that the government presented overwhelming evidence that at least one tipper received a financial benefit from providing confidential information to Martoma.

Former US Attorney Preet Bharara had led the governments case against Martoma and his successor at the Southern District of New York Acting US Attorney Joon Kim welcomed the Second Circuits affirmation of the conviction.

We are gratified by the Second Circuits affirmation of Mathew Martomas conviction. The strength of our securities markets rests on their integrity and fairness.

And the successful prosecution of those who cheat by trading on illegally obtained inside information, as Martoma did to the tune of over USD 275 million, is critical to maintaining that integrity and fairness in our markets, Kim said in a statement.

SAC had pleaded guilty to insider trading and agreed to pay USD 1.8 billion to settle the criminal and civil charges against it. It changed its name to Point72 Asset Management and now only manages the personal wealth of its founder Cohen, who has not been criminally charged.

It was alleged that Martomas entire success across his four years at SAC Capital was based on illegal insider trading.

Days after beginning his employment at SAC Capital, Martoma began searching for doctors who would be willing to provide him access to confidential information about an Alzheimers disease drug trial conducted by Elan Pharmaceuticals and Wyeth Corporation.

Prosecutors had alleged that Martoma exploited his personal and financial relations with doctor Sidney Gilman who chaired the Safety Monitoring Committee (SMC) for the trial.

Martoma obtained inside information about the drug trial that Gilman learned at the SMC meetings and through other communications with drug companies Elan and Wyeth.

The judges said in the ruling Gilman, over the course of approximately 18 months and 43 paid consultation sessions for which he billed USD 1,000 an hour, regularly and intentionally provided Martoma with confidential information from the bapineuzumab clinical trial. PTI YAS AMS ASK AMS
Two hundred Muslims rallied in the streets of Granada, southern Spain, on Wednesday in protest against a surge in anti-Islamic hate crimes following last weeks deadly attacks in the country.

The protest was called after the citys main mosque was attacked with flares on Saturday by a handful of members from a far-right group, Hogar Social, who also unfurled a Spanish flag outside the building, according to images on Spanish TV.

Muslim groups have reported a jump in anti-Islamic hate incidents since the twin vehicle attacks in Barcelona and the nearby seaside resort of Cambrils that killed 15 people last week. Those attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group.

It is very important for us to affirm our values as Muslims which are the same as those of all other human beings on this planet, said Nizar Liemlahi, director of the Dar Loughat Muslim cultural association, one of the co-organisers of the rally.

Only 0.1 percent of the worlds Muslims commit attacks and these people do not represent our values or our principles, added Liemlahi, a psychologist who moved to Spain from Morocco in 2010.

The protesters brandished banners with slogans such as I am Muslim and I want to live in peace and We also are victims as they gathered outside Granada city hall.

Mounir Benjelloun, head of the Spanish Federation of Islamic Religious Entities (FEERI), said the increase in anti-Islamic incidents since the attacks was unbearable.

Unfortunately, after what happened, there is an avalanche of cases. In my 25 years in Spain I have not seen anything like it.

Vandals have defaced mosques with racist graffiti and some people have posted videos on social media sites calling for the expulsion of all Muslims, he said.

About 1,000 Muslims marched in Barcelona on Monday against terrorism.
Pakistans top leadership on Thursday called on the US to eliminate terrorist sanctuaries on Afghan soil as it rejected President Donald Trumps call for India to take on a larger role in Afghanistan, saying New Delhis policies are inimical to peace in the region.

A five-hour meeting of the National Security Committee, which was attended by the three service chiefs and chaired by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, rejected Trumps remarks that Pakistan had been undermining the USs war against terror despite receiving billions of dollars in aid.

In a statement issued after the meeting, the civilian and military leadership countered the US criticism by reminding it of Pakistans role in the protracted conflict and asking that Washington work with Islamabad with a focus on core issues such as the elimination of terrorist safe havens inside Afghanistan, better border management, the repatriation of millions of Afghan refugees and a re-invigoration of the Afghan peace process for a political settlement.

The leadership also roundly rejected Trumps suggestion that India should do more in Afghanistan, with the committee saying that New Delhi cannot be a net security provider in the South Asia region when it has conflictual relationships with all its neighbours and is pursuing a policy of destabilising Pakistan from the east and the west.

The leadership expressed concern at Indian policies inimical to peace in the region, including alleged interference in internal affairs of neighbours and using terrorism as an instrument of state policy.

The committee also condemned what it described as state inflicted repression on the people of Jammu and Kashmir and reiterated Pakistans diplomatic, political and moral support for their struggle for self-determination.

The statement reflected Pakistans long-standing grievances regarding any major role for India in the development and reconstruction of Afghanistan.

While unveiling his new policy on Afghanistan, Trump had accused Pakistan of harbouring agents of chaos and providing safe havens to terror groups. He had called on Pakistan to change such policies even as White House officials threatened cuts in aid and military support, as well as other measures to force Pakistans hand.

The leadership also called on the US to appreciate Pakistans role in combating terror.

The meeting decided that as the next step, foreign minister Khawaja Asif will tour friendly nations for reassurances of their support. In the first of these visits, Asif will visit China, where he will consult the leadership and present Pakistans perspective.

Asif will also keep his commitment to US secretary of state Rex Tillerson to visit Washington and discuss the new South Asia policy. However, the visit to China will precede the US trip.

Asif announced the decisions made at the meeting in the Senate, saying Pakistan had to manage the blow-back of the protracted conflict in Afghanistan that had resulted in a deluge of refugees, flow of drugs and arms and, recently, terrorist safe havens in eastern Afghanistan.

He said, The claims of aid worth billions of dollars being provided to us by the US are also misleading to the extent that since 2001, the reimbursements to Pakistan only account for a part of the cost of the ground facilities and air corridors used by the US for its operations in Afghanistan  rather than any financial aid or assistance.

A politically negotiated outcome remains the best option to bring stability to Afghanistan and Pakistan has supported all Afghan-owned and Afghan-led initiatives for peace, he added.
Pakistans electronic media watchdog was on Thursday ordered by the high court here to stop airing anti-judiciary speeches by ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif after his disqualification as the premier.

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.

After his disqualification, Sharif held a roadshow from Islamabad to his hometown of Lahore during which he had made a number of speeches in different cities.

The contents of his speeches was seen in some quarters as being critical of the apex court.

Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Mamnoon Rasheed Sheikh, hearing a contempt of court petition filed by Amaan Welfare Foundation President Amina Malik, on Thursday issued notices to Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) Chairman Absar Alam asking him to file a report by September 12 - the date of the next hearing of the case, Dawn newspaper reported.

The petition was filed by Malik earlier this month against the former premier and 13 federal and provincial ministers of the ruling PML-N for their outburst against the Supreme Court following Nawazs disqualification in the Panama Papers graft case.

The petitioner had asked the court to direct PEMRA to stop airing and telecasting the contemptuous, derogatory and defamatory speeches allegedly made by Nawaz and PML-N ministers.

During the hearing, Maliks counsel Advocate Azhar Siddique argued that members of the parliament had made statements against the judiciary following the Panama Papers scandal verdict.

However, the governments lawyer argued that the petition was based on allegations and, therefore, could not be heard by the high court.

After hearing the petitioners arguments in chambers, the judges ordered a temporary ban on the airing of the alleged anti-judiciary statements made by Nawaz Sharif, his brother chief minister Shahbaz Sharif, Minister for Railways Saad Rafique and 16 other members of parliament till it deliberates the maintainability of a case regarding the same.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will meet with powerful Pakistani generals on Thursday to formulate a response to the new US policy on Afghanistan that includes greater pressure on Islamabad to do more to rein in militants.

President Donald Trump has chastised Pakistan for harbouring agents of chaos and providing safe havens to militant groups waging an insurgency against a US-backed government in Kabul, saying Islamabad must promptly change tack.

White House officials have gone further and threatened aid and military cuts, as well as other measures to force nuclear-armed Pakistans hand and bring about an end to the 16-year-war.

Abbasi has not responded yet to Trumps remarks but foreign minister Khawaja Asif said Washington should not use Pakistan as a scapegoat for its failures in Americas longest running war. Pakistan denies harbouring militants.

As is often the case with Pakistan, the final decision about how to proceed rests with the military, which has ruled the country for nearly half its 70-year history. It calls the shots on key parts of Pakistans foreign policy, including ties with the United States, Afghanistan and arch-foe India.

Army chief general Qamar Javed Bajwa, who will be part of the National Security Council meeting on Thursday, a day earlier met with US Ambassador David Hale and said Islamabad wanted trust and understanding rather than US aid money.

Pakistani officials bristle at what they say is a lack of respect by Washington for the countrys sacrifices in the war against militancy and its successes against groups like al Qaeda, Islamic State or the Pakistani Taliban.

Pakistan estimates there have been 70,000 casualties in militant attacks since it joined the US war on terrorism after the Sept 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

We feel the American administration led by Mr Trump has been totally one sided, unfair to Pakistan and does not appreciate and recognise Pakistan has been a pivotal player...in the campaign against terrorism, Senator Mushahid Hussain, chairman of the senate defence committee, told Reuters on Thursday.

Pakistani officials have also been angered by Trump imploring old rival India to play a greater role in reconstructing Afghanistan, warning a greater Indian role in Kabul could be a threat to regional peace.

Pakistan fears New Delhis greater influence in Afghanistan would leave it sandwiched by India, its bigger neighbour against whom it has fought three wars since independence in 1947.

Analysts have also warned putting greater pressure on Pakistan risks driving Islamabad deeper into the arms of China, its northern neighbour which is investing nearly $60 billion in infrastructure projects as part of its Belt and Road initiative.

Chinas top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, told US secretary of state Rex Tillerson in a phone call the United States must value Pakistans role in Afghanistan and respect its security concerns, according to Chinese state media.

Things have changed since 9/11, added Hussain.

The US today has far more diminished clout and leverage in the region and we have far more strategic space and options in our foreign policy.

The relationship between the two countries has endured periods of extreme strain in recent years, especially after al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was found and killed by U.S. special forces in Pakistan in a 2011 raid.
White House aide Jared Kushner held talks on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Thursday with the aim of restarting long-stalled peace efforts but pessimism was high over President Donald Trumps pledge to reach the ultimate deal.

The visit comes with both Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not in a position to make major concessions, some analysts say, and no details have emerged of how Trumps team would overcome that.

Trump also faces a range of crises in addition to controversies at home that may make it difficult for him to focus on the complexities of a major Israeli-Palestinian peace push.

We have a lot of things to talk about - how to advance peace, stability and security in our region, prosperity too, Netanyahu said in brief public remarks as he met Kushner in Jerusalem.

And I think all of them are within our reach.

Kushner, who is Trumps son-in-law, said: The president is very committed to achieving a solution here that will be able to bring prosperity and peace to all people in this area.

The US delegation was to meet Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday evening.

A US official said earlier that Trump remains optimistic that progress toward a deal can be achieved.

The visit is part of a regional tour by Kushner, Trump aide Jason Greenblatt and deputy national security adviser Dina Powell. They have also held talks with Egyptian, Saudi, Emirati, Qatari and Jordanian officials.

I think (the Israeli-Palestinian conflict) clearly remains important, important enough that senior officials continue to engage on it, including Jared Kushner, Dan Shapiro, US ambassador to Israel under Trumps predecessor Barack Obama, told journalists this week.

But given the very poor prospects of a significant political breakthrough, Id be surprised it if warrants a major investment by the president.

Palestinian leaders have grown frustrated with the White House after initially holding out hope that Trump could bring a fresh approach to peace efforts despite his pledges of staunch support for Israel.

Trump aides have held a series of meetings with both sides, portraying them as hearing out concerns before deciding on a way forward, while the US president himself visited Israel and the Palestinian territories in May.

But Palestinian leaders note that the White House has not even said clearly whether its focus will be a two-state solution to the conflict, which has been longstanding US policy.

The two-state solution envisions an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, a concept which has been the focus of international diplomacy for years.

Dissolve the PA?

When Trump met Netanyahu at the White House in February, he said he would support a single state if it led to peace, delighting right-wing Israelis who want to annex most of the West Bank, but raising deep concern among Palestinians.

Signalling their frustration, some Palestinian leaders have spoken of taking a harder line in recent days.

Ahmed Majdalani, a senior Palestinian Liberation Organisation official who is close to Abbas, told AFP on Thursday that one option if no progress is reached would be to dissolve the Palestinian Authority - a threat that has been made in the past.

That would in theory leave Israel with the responsibility of governing and providing services to Palestinian cities in the occupied West Bank.

But at the same time, Majdalani said they could also unilaterally declare Palestinian statehood.

He said it was an option under consideration because the American administration has not presented any initiative until now, while the Israelis continue with their settlement activities and refuse to abide by obligations they signed up to.

A couple dozen Palestinians protested the visit on Thursday in Ramallah, burning the Israeli flag and pictures of Trump.

Netanyahu, for his part, is under pressure from his rightwing base not to make concessions to the Palestinians and to continue Jewish settlement building, and there is little incentive at the moment for him to change course, some analysts say.

He is also facing a graft investigation that limits his room for political manoeuvre, Shapiro noted.

Shapiro, currently a fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies think tank in Tel Aviv, said the focus should instead be on short-term goals such as improving the Palestinian economy in order to keep the possibility of a two-state solution alive.

I believe (Trumps) leverage has declined considerably, at least from the point-of-view of getting major concessions or a commitment to a major programme toward two states from the leaders, so thats why I think the shift should come to the more practical on-the-ground steps, he said.
The United States must value Pakistans role in Afghanistan and respect its security concerns, Chinas top diplomat Yang Jiechi told US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a phone call, according to Chinese state media.

Chinas Foreign Ministry defended its ally Pakistan earlier this week after President Donald Trump said the United States could no longer be silent about militants using safe havens on Pakistani soil.

On Monday, Trump committed the United States to an open-ended conflict in Afghanistan, signalling he would send more troops to Americas longest war and vowing a fight to win.

He insisted that others - the Afghan government, Pakistan, India and NATO allies - step up their own commitment to resolving the 16-year conflict, but he saved his sharpest words for Pakistan.

Yang, who outranks Chinas foreign minister, told Tillerson on Wednesday that China was willing to coordinate with the United States on Afghanistan and make joint efforts to realise peace and stability there and in the region, according to a Chinese statement issued late that night.

We must value Pakistans important role on the Afghanistan issue, and respect Pakistans sovereignty and reasonable security concerns, Yang told Tillerson.

Pakistan has been battling home-grown Islamists for years. It sees Afghanistan as a vital strategic interest and a bulwark against old rival, India. Islamabad denies harbouring militants, who move across the porous border with Afghanistan.

China and Pakistan consider each other all-weather friends and have close diplomatic, economic and security ties.

Beijing has its own security concerns in the region, in particular any links between militants in Pakistan and Afghanistan and Islamist groups China blames for violence in its far western region of Xinjiang.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Pakistani Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua in Beijing on Tuesday, according to a statement on Thursday. He praised Pakistans efforts to combat extremism and to secure the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a development initiative central to President Xi Jinpings global Belt and Road development plan.

Given the current complicated and changing international and regional situation, the strategic significance of China-Pakistan relations is even more prominent, Wang said.
A Spanish man was detained by Dutch police on Wednesday after he was found driving a van with gas canisters near a Rotterdam venue where a rock concert was cancelled due to a threat of a possible attack.

Although Spanish police tipped the Dutch to potential danger at the venue known as Maassilo where California band Allah-Las was set to play, a judicial source in Spain told Reuters there was no link to the attacks in Spain last week.

The source said the tip resulted from an investigation by the Spanish Civil Guard that had been under way for some time and had no direct relation to the two vehicle attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils in Catalonia that killed 15 people.

Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb told a news conference it was also not clear whether the threat tip and the detection of the van were connected. He warned against swift conclusions while noting the white van had Spanish license plates and had been flagged for circling near the concert venue.

It would be wrong at this moment to pile up these facts and conclude ... there was a plan to attack with gas bottles, etcetera, because that was the picture last week in Barcelona. I would be careful with that.

The driver, whose name was not released, was taken into custody for questioning, and a bomb squad was examining the vehicle. Dutch authorities did not specify the number of canisters in the van.

People gather at the scene where police are investigating a van with Spanish licence plates containing gas canisters which was found near a Rotterdam venue where a rock concert was cancelled, in this handout picture obtained by Reuters August 23, 2017. (REUTERS)

Spanish news agency Europa Press, quoting Spanish anti-terrorist force sources, reported later that the Spaniard arrested in Rotterdam had, in principle, no link to jihadist terrorism. The gas canisters in his vehicle were apparently for domestic use, it said.

Police said the concert was cancelled at around 7 p.m., shortly before doors were to be opened for guests.

As concert-goers were sent away from the Maassilo, a former grain silo complex on the Maas River that has been converted into an event hall, the venue was cordoned off.

No injuries, arrests or detentions were reported until the bus driver was detained at around 9:30 p.m.

The band is unharmed and are very grateful to the Rotterdam Police and other responsible agencies for detecting the potential threat before anyone was hurt, Allah-Las said in a statement published by Billboard.

The National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorisms office said the threat level in the Netherlands was unchanged at substantial, where it has been since 2013.

The Guardian newspaper reported earlier this month that the band has received hate mail from people who are offended by its name, which includes the Arabic word for God. The band says it is not intended as an insult.
Russian nuclear-capable strategic bombers have flown over the Pacific Ocean, the Sea of Japan, the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, prompting Japan and South Korea to scramble jets to escort them, Russia said on Thursday.

Russias defence ministry said in a statement the Tupolev-95MS bombers, code named Bears by NATO, flew over neutral waters and were accompanied by Russian Sukhoi-35S fighter jets and A-50 early warning and control aircraft.

It gave no details about the overall number of aircraft that had taken part in what it called a pre-arranged flight and did not say when or why the mission took place.

The TU-95MS bombers were refuelled in mid-air during the mission, the ministry said.

During parts of the route, the bombers were escorted by South Korean and Japanese military jets, it added.

Russia, which shares a border with North Korea, has repeatedly voiced concerns about rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula caused by Pyongyangs nuclear missile programme, and has complained about Japans plans to deploy a U.S. anti-missile system on its soil.
Russias ambassador to Sudan was found dead in a swimming pool at his residence in Khartoum, the fourth Russian envoy to die on the job over the last year.

Sudans foreign ministry said ambassador Mirgayas Shirinsky died on Wednesday, according to a statement carried by state-run SUNA news agency. The ministry offered its condolences to the government and people of Russia and praised Shirinskys diplomatic efforts while in office.

Authorities in Sudan offered no details on the circumstances surrounding the death but the Russian foreign ministry said on Thursday that Shirinsky, 62, died of a heart attack.

Everything happened around 6:00 pm local time. The Russian envoy was found in his residence with evidence of an acute heart attack, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters.

Embassy staff called an ambulance but Shirinsky could not be saved, Zakharova said. He was a great professional, she added.

Shirinsky had been in the Russian diplomatic service since 1977 and had previously served in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Rwanda. He was appointed ambassador to Sudan in 2013.

He is the fourth Russian ambassador to die on the job over the past year, including UN envoy Vitaly Churkin and India envoy Alexander Kadakin. The ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, was shot by an assailant in Ankara in December 2016.
The visa-free regime between Ukraine and the European Union and the entry into force of the Association Agreement with the EU on September 1 will be the final evidence of a break with Russia, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.

"In a week, on September 1, the agreement will come into force and become a roadmap for reforms, and we have one road  a wide Euro-Atlantic highway that leads to a membership in the European Union and NATO," the president said speaking at a military parade in Kyiv on the occasion of the Independence Day of Ukraine.

He stressed Ukrainians received the well-deserved right to travel to the countries of the European Union without visas. "The Association Agreement and the visa-free travel are the most convincing evidence of our final - de facto and de jure - break with the empire, with the one that [U.S. President] Ronald Reagan once called the evil empire," Poroshenko said.

"I hope that U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis, who is present here, will confirm the correctness of the quotation, and we, Ukrainians, can vouch for the accuracy of the definition, because we've learnt this the hard way," the head of state summed up.
New UK immigration figures released on Thursday show Indians  including students  have one of the highest compliance rates of non-EU citizens as they depart before the expiry of visas, casting doubt on claims that a large number of Indians abuse the visa system.

Ninety-seven percent of the 330,127 Indian citizens who entered Britain during 2016-17 returned before the expiry of their visas, according to Home Office analysis of its exit checks programme.

Indian professionals  particularly in the IT sector  were given the most visas: 58% of the total granted during the year.

Figures for the year ending March 2017 released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) confirm doubts long expressed by UK universities and higher education stakeholders about claims that large numbers of Indian and non-EU students do not return to their countries after completing studies.

ONS said that there is no evidence of a major issue of non-EU students overstaying their entitlement to stay, spreading cheer among stakeholders, who have been demanding that non-EU students be taken out of the overall migration statistics.

The new set of figures is unlikely to lead to an immediate change in policy, but will add pressure on the Theresa May government to remove students from migration statistics. However, indications are that more curbs are likely in 2018.

The figures also show a 10% rise in Indian student numbers from the previous year, considered significant in the backdrop of a 50% drop in their numbers since 2010. The marginal increase is estimated to be at the postgraduate level, while the largest drop was for vocational courses.

The visa figures related to Indians prompted calls on the government to improve the overall UK visa offer. Prime Minister May had linked this to expediting the speed and volume of the return of illegal Indians in the UK during her November 2016 visit to India.

Nicola White from our Migration Statistics Unit comments on today's quarterly migration release: https://t.co/NeENKw3vCs pic.twitter.com/lv1AdleGMs  ONS (@ONS) August 24, 2017

Responding to the figures, Jitesh Gadhia, a Conservative member of the House of Lords, said: Indian visitors, students and workers bring huge benefits to the UK economy through their purchasing power, academic contributions and skill sets  enriching our country.

Going forward, the UK government should now have much greater confidence in providing Indian visitors, students and skilled workers with favourable visa access terms which are not discriminatory in any way.

Industrialist Swraj Paul added: The UK is losing students to its detriment. My personal experience tells me both UK students and economy gain from international students.

For years, the ONS has estimated foreign student overstayers at just over 100,000/yr. The true figure revealed by exit check data is 4,600  Helen Warrell (@helenwarrell) August 24, 2017

The ONS figures also revealed that tens of thousands of EU citizens left the country after the Brexit vote, confirming reports that uncertainty over their future stay in the UK had prompted many to leave and discourage others from moving to the UK.

Since 2010, governments headed by David Cameron and May have cracked down on abuse of student visas, which included closure of the post-study work visa that was popular among self-financing Indian students, and the shutting down of nearly 920 bogus colleges that were admitting Indian and other non-EU students for allegedly non-academic purposes.

Faced with new statistical doubts, home secretary Amber Rudd  who has promised more curbs on international students  announced a new study by the influential Migration Advisory Committee on the financial and other impact of students coming to the UK.

Rudd said: There is no limit to the number of genuine international students who can come to the UK to study and the fact that we remain the second most popular global destination for those seeking higher education is something to be proud of.

We understand how important students from around the world are to our higher education sector, which is a key export for our country, and thats why we want to have a robust and independent evidence base of their value and the impact they have.

Responding to Rudds new study, Universities UK chief executive Alistair Jarvis said: This is an opportunity to build on the considerable evidence that shows that international students have a very positive impact on the UK economy and local communities.

Recent research by Oxford Economics showed that international students generate more than 25 billion for the economy and support over 200,000 jobs in communities across the UK. International students also enrich our campuses and the experience of UK students, culturally as well as economically. Many return home having built strong professional and personal links that provide long-term soft power benefits to the UK.

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A transgender Singaporean and her friend have been sentenced to a year in prison in the capital of the United Arab Emirates for dressing in a feminine way, friends and family say.

Abu Dhabi police did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the twos arrest and quick sentencing shows the danger that the LGBT community can face in the Mideast nation, home to the famous nightclub scene of Dubai.

Nur Qistina Fitriah Ibrahim, a transgender woman who has not undergone a sex-change operation, and her friend, freelance fashion photographer Muhammad Fadli Bin Abdul Rahman, were arrested in Abu Dhabi on August 9, their friends said.

Police stopped them at Yas Mall as they were trying to eat at a food court, said Radha Stirling, CEO of the advocacy group Detained in Dubai.

Fadli at the time of his arrest was wearing a white T- shirt, a bow tie and earrings, his brother Muhammad Saiful Bahri Bin Abdul Rahman said.

I hope to bring my brother back to Singapore as soon as possible, he said. My brother is a friendly, selfless and jovial person. Its ridiculous to be jailed for his dressing.

Ibrahim, who is known by the nickname Fifi to friends, is a frequent traveller to Abu Dhabi and had not had any trouble in the past, friends said.

The two believed they will sort out the issue and return home quickly, but were sentenced to a year in prison in a court hearing, Stirling said. She alleged the two did not retain lawyers at the advice of the Singapore Embassy in Abu Dhabi.

Chan Zhi Wei, an official at the Singaporean Embassy, called the allegation that consular officials advised against getting a lawyer incorrect, without elaborating.

The embassy is currently rendering the necessary consular assistance to the individuals in question and their families are being assisted to seek legal advice, he said.

Abu Dhabi advertises itself as a tourism destination and is home to the long-haul air carrier Etihad Airways. However, the emirate bordering Saudi Arabia is more conservative than Dubai, the UAEs commercial heart.

But even trips to Dubai can pose risks to LGBT travellers and others as laws sometimes contradict social attitudes, Stirling said. A British man in the UAE faced charges of cross dressing last year, but Stirling said she helped him leave the country after paying a fine of 5,000 dirhams ($1,360).

Meanwhile, alcohol possession for foreigners is technically illegal without a government-issued license obtainable only after gaining their employers permission, though liquor and beer is widely available in bars and clubs in both cities. Foreigners also have faced charges in the past for having sex outside of marriage.

Such laws are common in other Mideast nations, based in part on Islamic legal codes.

Alcohol, prostitutes, homosexuality, sex outside marriage and revealing clothing are all ever present, making these practices seem legal or at least, common and acceptable, Stirling said. In reality, they are serious offenses that can lead to lengthy imprisonment, fines and deportation.
Back in Washington from a raucous tour of Arizona, US President Donald Trump escalated his battle with the Republican leadership on Thursday, publicly venting his frustration with their failure to advance his legislative agenda, especially the repeal and replacement of Obamacare.

The only problem I have with Mitch McConnell is that, after hearing Repeal & Replace for 7 years, he failed! That should NEVER have happened! Trump tweeted, the two exclamation marks and capitalised NEVER conveying his frustration.

McConnell leads Republicans in the US senate and has been at the receiving end of Trumps ire after a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Healthcare Act, as Obamacare is officially called, failed to pass.

Trump has also been angry with fellow Republican John McCain, whose deciding vote caused the bill to repeal Obamacare to fail. Trump, without naming him, attacked the Arizona senator at a rally on Tuesday.

Earlier on Thursday, Trump tweeted that he had asked McConnell and House speaker Paul Ryan to tie the contentious debt ceiling bill  to enable the federal government to borrow  to the popular Veteran Affairs Reforms bill that was recently passed, but they didnt  Could have been so easy-now a mess!

These attacks came just the day after the White House issued a statement dismissing reports about Trump and McConnells worsening relationship, saying they remain united on many shared priorities, including middle class tax relief, strengthening the military, constructing a southern border wall, and other important issues.

There have been reports that the two leaders have not spoken for a long time and their last conversation, on phone, had turned into a profane shouting match, according to The New York Times. The publication had said McConnell had privately wondered if Trump could save his presidency from recent crises.

The two have been engaged in a very public spat, with McConnell  whose wife Elaine Chao is the transportation secretary  saying that Trump being new to this line of work  had excessive expectations about how quickly things happen in the democratic process.

Trump needs the support of both McConnell and Ryan to advance his legislative agenda, on which there has been little progress  Obamacare is still around, getting funding the border wall has been a struggle, and there is no sight of his vaunted infrastructure development and tax reforms.

Critics and allies both have been dismayed by Trumps public spat with his key leaders on Capitol Hill, despite the fact that it was McConnell who delivered Trump his biggest legislative achievement  confirming Neil Gorsuch to the vacant slot on the Supreme Court bench.

Asked if McConnell should step down, Trump told reporters recently, Ill tell you what, if he doesnt get repeal and replace done and if he doesnt get taxes done, meaning cuts and reform, and if he doesnt get a very easy one to get done, infrastructure  if he doesnt get them done, then you can ask me that question.
Investigators in the US have revealed how a 16-year-old girl, who reunited with her birth mother at a Missouri farm last year, was tortured, murdered and burned in a fire pit last month, according to a Washington Post report.

Rebecca Ruud, 39, was arrested Monday by Ozark County sheriffs deputies and charged, among other crimes, with the first-degree murder of Savannah Leckie, whom she had given up for adoption at birth, 16 years before, the report said.

Leckie was adopted by a couple in Minnesota and lived with them till 2016. The couple, however, got divorced and the girl began having problems with her adoptive mothers new boyfriend.

A sheriffs deputy wrote Leckie was in touch for years with her adoptive mother who in 2016 agreed to take Savannah back and she was delivered to Ruud in Ozark County.

While the two it appeared from Ruuds Facebook feed that the two were spending a good time together, a sheriffs investigator wrote the girls new life was bleak.

Savannahs inability to adapt to life on the farm irritated Ruud, the affidavit said.

On July 18, Ruud reported a fire burning at the top of a hill on her property. Less than an acre of brush had burned, and firefighters put it out. But when they returned to the familys makeshift living quarters and asked for water, Ruud refused, according to the affidavit. She said Savannah got a small burn in the fire, and was laying down and couldnt be disturbed, the Washington Post reported.

Ruud later said the girl had run away. The police launched a search.

The girls remains were later found in a burn pit on the remote property.

Several searches of the property turned up human teeth, a meat grinder, a knife and 26 bottles of lye, which can be used to accelerate the breakdown of bodily tissue, according to court documents. Human bone fragments were found in a field about 400 yards (365 meters) from the home on August 4. During that search, Ruud and her husband left the farm and got married.

A forensic analysis identified the remains as Savannahs, the sheriff said.

Ruuds ex-boyfriend, Buddy Smart, told investigators he had seen her discipline Savannah by forcing her to crawl through a hog pen and making her to bathe in a pond, the affidavit states. Ruud acknowledged that was true and told investigators that when Savannah cut her arm in a suicidal gesture, she forced the girl to scrub the wound daily with alcohol and salt as punishment.

With inputs from agencies
The US has asked India and Pakistan to continue to engage in direct talks aimed at reducing tensions between the two countries.

I think one of the things that we would do is ask or encourage India and Pakistan to sit down together and engage in direct dialogue that is aimed at reducing tensions between both of those countries, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert told reporters on Wednesday.

She was responding to a question on the statement made by the secretary of state Rex Tillerson a day earlier in which he sought some steps of rapprochement on issues with Pakistan.

What was he referring to in terms of the steps India could take? Nauert was asked at her daily news conference.

Well, I think going up to 30,000 feet, we view the whole strategy and handling Afghanistan as being a regional strategy, and that, of course, incorporates India as well as Pakistan, so incorporating all the nations in that region who we believe can help assist and help make Afghanistan a stable place where youll never have a terror group that will take root in that country again and can launch attacks on other countries, Nauert replied when asked if Tillerson was linking, a solution on Kashmir with Pakistan-Afghanistan.

In terms of Kashmir, our policy on that has not changed. We continue to encourage the sides to sit down and talk together about that, the spokesperson said.



India an important regional strategic partner to US

India is emerging as a very important regional strategic partner. They have played an important role in supporting the Afghan government and, in particular, supporting the economy, Nauert said.

India has provided developmental assistance, they have provided economic assistance, theyre hosting an important economic conference in India next week, she said, adding, that the US recognises Indias contributions in Afghanistan.

Theyve done a lot in terms of development and helping to promote Afghanistans economy. So we appreciate that, were grateful to that, and we look forward to India continuing to play a role in what we believe is an eventual  what we hope is an eventual peace process in Afghanistan, Nauert said.

Theyve pledged about $ 3 billion since 2001. So we continue to thank them for that and look forward to them hopefully doing more to be a part of the solution, she said.
The best thing about surprises is that they come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes serious discussions on live television can become the butt of jokes because of unexpected bloopers and Alastair Stewart, an ITV anchor, found out the funny way.

Stewart was discussing guidelines on milk allergies in infants, with Lucy Wranka and her two children on Wednesday. While George obediently sat next to his mother through the interview, little Iris decided it was a good time to do a recce of the studio.

The anchor introduced Iris and said she will do whatever she chooses to do over the next couple of minutes.

Keeping a straight face for most part of the segment, Stewart discussed skin rashes, vomiting and constipation with Lucy and interviewed George on his experience, while Iris ambled about. She shouted, jumped in front of the camera and climbed on to the desk, impervious to her surroundings.

Stewart, who could no longer contain his amusement, let out a smile and bid goodbye to the viewers with Iris sitting right in front of him on his desk, waving her arms.

You can watch the video here:

This toddler just crushed a TV interview https://t.co/SqYzbBb5d1 pic.twitter.com/1Q5zDgWmA8  TIME (@TIME) August 24, 2017

The internet loved the news anchors patience and showered him with praise:

This man's patience....his face  LpinedaBR80 (@LPinedaBR80) August 24, 2017

Awesome moment of heartwarming   ADATA Technology (@ADATATechnology) August 24, 2017

Too funny, he did a great job with the kids. Keep up the good work.  Mark Gilmore (@mdgilly) August 24, 2017

This guy is a pro. Seriously. Wow. That would be hard for anyone! I feel bad for that mom who probably wasn't sure what to do!  Kristen Nannini (@KristenLee1983) August 24, 2017

Earlier in March, political science expert Robert Kelly was being interviewed by the BBC on the impeachment of South Korea President Park Geun Hye via webcam, when his two children burst into the room and instantly became internet sweethearts.
The White House is expected to tell the Pentagon in coming days how to implement a ban on transgender people in the military, according to a memo that says the defense secretary may decide whether to remove service members based on their ability to deploy, a US official said on Wednesday.

The two-and-a-half-page White House document gives Defense Secretary Jim Mattis six months to fully implement the ban, according to a story first reported by The Wall Street Journal and confirmed by the official.

It also directs the Defense Department to deny admittance to transgender individuals and to stop spending on medical treatment regimens for those currently serving, the Journal reported, citing US officials.

Mattis is expected to consider deployability - meaning the ability to serve in a war zone, participate in exercises or live for months on a ship - as the main legal reason to decide whether to separate service members from the military, the Journal reported.

A rainbow flag flies as people protest President Donald Trump's announcement that he plans to reinstate a ban on transgender individuals from serving in any capacity in the US military, in Times Square, in New York City, New York. (Reuters)

President Donald Trump said on Twitter on July 26 that the US government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the military, a reversal of Pentagon policy.

The surprise announcement, citing healthcare costs and unit disruption, appealed to some in Trumps conservative political base but created uncertainty for thousands of transgender service members, many of whom came out after the Pentagon said in 2016 it would allow transgender people to serve openly.

Five transgender members of the US military including Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans sued Trump earlier this month, saying that the ban was made without consulting senior military commanders. It named as defendants Trump, Mattis and other military leaders including Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Dunford said in a memo a day after Trumps tweets that there would be no change in policy until Mattis received an official order from the president.

This file photo taken on July 25, 2017 shows a police officer standing guard as dozens of protesters gather in Times Square near a military recruitment center to show their anger at President Donald Trump's decision to reinstate a ban on transgender individuals from serving in the military in New York City. (AFP)

Stephen Peters at the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group for LGBTQ rights, responded in a tweet: This proves @realdonaldtrump knows nothing about what it means to be #transgender or to serve in the military. Trans service members already do deploy, proving repeatedly what matters is their ability to accomplish the mission, not gender identity.

The Obama administration, which ended the transgender ban in 2016, allowed currently serving transgender personnel to immediately begin serving openly but set July 1, 2017, as the start of new enlistments by openly transgender people.
The events in the skies over the Mediterranean and southern Europe on August 1, 1943, have long been a historical bone of contention. On that fateful day 178 Consolidated B-24D Liberators of five heavy bomb groups, carrying more than 500 tons of bombs, took off from bases in Libya on one of the most audacious aerial raids in history, code-named Operation Tidal Wave. Their targets were vital oil refineries around the Romanian city of Ploesti. Seven of Europes largest and most modern refineries were targeted, including Astra Romana, capable of processing more than 2 million tons of oil per year. Ploesti produced all the aviation fuel used by the Luftwaffe.

The raid was conceived by Colonel Jacob Smart, at the time considered one of the best planners in the U.S. Army Air Forces. After following a carefully laid-out course, the bombers would descend to low altitude along the southern foothills of the Transylvanian Alps to reach the third and final initial point (IP), then turn southeast toward the refineries. They would attack at low level in a five-mile-wide swath, aiming for pinpoint targets to destroy the key installations without hitting the city itself.

If all went well, the massive aerial assault would cut a third of Adolf Hitlers oil refining capacity in less than 20 minutes.

But all did not go well, and after a disheartening series of mistakes, accidents, bad luck and determined enemy defense, Tidal Wave succeeded in destroying only two of the refineries and damaging three othersat the terrible cost of 54 Liberators. After nearly 16 hours and some of the most savage and desperate fighting ever seen in the air, 310 men were dead, more than 300 wounded and 108 taken prisoner in Romania. More were imprisoned in Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, or interned in Turkey.

What went wrong with operation tidal wave?

What went wrong? That question was officially answered by the USAAF two weeks after Tidal Wave, but to this day it has inspired endless debate among military historians. Among the official explanations was the loss of the lead mission navigator on a plane that unaccountably fell into the Ionian Sea. But there was much more to the story.

Participants in the raid included two bomb groups of Maj. Gen. Lewis H. Breretons Ninth Air Force, the 376th Liberandos under Colonel Keith K. Compton and the 98th Pyramiders commanded by Colonel John Killer Kane. They were joined by three groups from the Eighth Air Force in England: Colonel Leon Johnsons veteran 44th, the Eight Balls; the 93rd Traveling Circus, commanded by Colonel Addison Baker; and Colonel Jack Woods fledgling 389th Sky Scorpions.

Comptons force increased altitude to 12,000 feet and maximized power, while Kanes group remained at lower altitude and cruise power for maximum fuel economy, increasing the distance between the two main forces. A high storm front over Albania further separated the forces. Orders calling for total radio silence made it impossible to regroup.

Finally, a disastrous wrong turn short of the final IP by Compton and Baker caused the leading groups to head for Bucharest instead of Ploesti. After that the entire mission was a shambles. Compton ordered the 376th to break off the bomb run and hit targets of opportunity. The 93rd was badly mauled attempting to hit White Four, Kanes target.

Group, squadron and element leaders, pilots and bombardiers had to improvise and do the best they could. Kanes and Johnsons groups, arriving almost 20 minutes later, were forced to bomb burning targets, further adding to the days chaos. The alerted German and Romanian defenders found the Americans low-flying bombers easy targets, and Liberators fell with terrifying frequency.

A radar-directed flak battery awaits B-24s in the distance. German and Romanian defenders found the low-flying Liberators easy targets. (National Archives)

What do we think now?

Those are the main points of what history considers the reason for Tidal Waves failure. Yet history is rarely chiseled in stone. And the best source of information is often those who were there.

Major Robert W. Sternfels is a veteran of Kanes 98th Bomb Group at Ploesti. On the drive to White Four, Sternfels was in the thick of it, at the controls of his Liberator, The Sandman. Perhaps the most iconic image from the raid shows The Sandman emerging from a pall of smoke and flames as it skirts refinery smokestacks at White Four.

When large aircraft fly in close formation, it creates turbulence capable of tossing 30-ton bombers around like leaves in a storm. The prop wash was fierce, Sternfels recalled during an interview at his Laguna Beach home.Both my copilot Barney Jackson and I had our hands full just trying to stay on the bomb run.

He has vivid memories of following Kane along the railroad line leading to the city. The Germans had put an ingenious flak train on the tracks paralleling the bomb run. It hosed deadly point-blank anti-aircraft fire into the low-flying B-24s. Kane led his 39 planes right into the fires and towering black smoke rising from Astra Romana, already hit by bombs from the shattered Traveling Circus.

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Sternfels, a veteran with more than 300 combat hours on 50 missions, admitted he had never seen anything like it before or since. When we went into that black smoke, I could only use instruments. Balloon cables were all around, he said, referring to the low barrage balloons with explosive-laced cables the Germans had deployed over the refineries, but I couldnt see them. The right wing struck one and fortunately the propeller broke it. I was more scared at that moment than Ive ever been in combat. I dont know what we hit with our bombs. The target was nearly impossible to see.

Many of the bombers ended up as long flaming smears of wreckage in the fields around the target. Somehow the pilots of The Sandman managed to bring their ship and crew back to Benghazi, one of the 26 survivors of Kanes original force.

B-24D crew of The Sandman: (standing, from left) Major Robert W. Sternfels, pilot; copilot Barney Jackson; navigator Tony Flesch; bombardier Dave Polaschek; flight engineer Bill Stout; (kneeling, from left) radioman Frank Just and gunners Harry Rifkin, N. Petri, Merle Boland and Raymond Stewart. This photo was taken after the Ploesti raid. Note balloon cable scar to the left of crew on fuselage. (Courtesy of Robert W. Sternfels)

MOre than met the eye

According to Sternfels, there was a lot more going on behind the scenes that affected the missions outcome than is commonly known. The roots lay with Colonel Jacob Smart, the man most responsible for the audacious Tidal Wave plan. Smart conceived the entire low-level concept, the route, approach and bomb run for each plane, said Sternfels.

The four main groups were to turn onto the bomb run in waves of several planes each, keeping formation in the turn. Smart sold the idea to the USAAF brass, but the men who would actually have to carry it out didnt think it could be done. Among those was Kane, who never minced words in expressing himself. During the initial mission briefing meeting Kane said, What idiot armchair lawyer from Washington planned this one? remembered Sternfels. It looked good on paper, but that turn was totally impractical.

Smarts lack of understanding of how large bombers behaved in close formation was obvious to the pilots. We practiced staying in try even once and wouldnt work. And thats exactly what happened. We were in formation as we reached the IP. But after that turn the entire formation was scattered and it was impossible to get it back together in the few minutes we had before we reached the target. We were supposed to be in the fourth wave, but were so tossed around, to this day I cant tell you which wave we ended up in.

Sternfels related one surprising incident that revealed Smarts unsuitability for the task of planning the raid. On July 15, just two weeks before Tidal Wave, my crew and I were preparing for a mission to Foggia, Italy, when a staff car pulled up. And out stepped Smart, fully geared up in brand-new flight suit and Mae West life preserver. He came up to me and said, Id like to fly with you today as an observer. Smart was on the flight deck with me, Barney and our flight engineer, Sergeant Bill Stout. He was standing there between our seats watching as we went through our checklist. I asked him if he would step back to let my flight engineer come forward and call out speed and engine readings. Smart did so and we took off.

A wave of B-24Ds from the 44th Bomb Group bores in on Ploestis burning Colombia Aquila refinery on August 1. (National Archives)

Passenger interference

On the way north toward Italy, Smart again came between the pilots seats. Then he did something virtually unheard of in any aircraft. He reached out to adjust the fuel mixture controls, said Sternfels, still astonished after more than 68 years. You just dont do that if youre a passenger. Even a general doesnt do that without the pilots permission. I didnt say anything but adjusted the mix to what I wanted and we flew on. A little while later, Smart did it again! That was too much of a breach of protocol for Sternfels.I said,Colonel, please dont touch the controls! He didnt say anything.

In 1993 I went to South Carolina to interview Smart, the veteran pilot related. The meeting between the Tidal Wave planner and pilot was pleasant but brought an astonishing revelation. I always wanted to ask him about his actions in my plane, Sternfels recalled. But I didnt want to just come out with it. So I asked him in a roundabout way, By the way, how many hours did you have in B-24s before that mission with me? Smarts answer stunned Sternfels. The man who had conceived and planned the complicated raid admitted, I just completed my first check-out ride the week before. So until just three weeks prior to the huge mission he had planned nearly six months earlier, Smart was totally unfamiliar with the B-24D or how it handled in close formation. I dont know if he flew a combat mission prior to Foggia, Sternfels said.

Sternfels also asked Smart, Why didnt we send some [de Havilland] Mosquitoes to photograph the target? Smart said they didnt want to alert the Germans. So our briefings never mentioned the heavy flak or barrage balloons, Sternfels pointed out. We were told the flak guns were manned by Romanians who would run to the shelters when we flew over. We didnt know how vicious the flak would really be. They knew we were coming. Maintaining radio silence was a moot point. Of course no one could know that then, so we cant be blamed for trying to keep the Germans in the dark. However, radio silence worked against the mission as soon as things went wrong.

Colonel catastrophe

According to Sternfels, however, a far more telling reason for Tidal Waves ultimate tragedy rested with another man, Colonel Keith Compton, who led the mission. I dont like to say anything bad of a man who is no longer alive to defend himself, Sternfels commented cautiously, but Compton was very confident and at times arrogant. He was accustomed to doing things his own way. That was a primary reason for the way the mission came apart. Sternfels reasoning was based on his own observations before, during and after Tidal Wave and examination of documents and photos. He interviewed several other veterans of the operation, including Compton in 2000, at that time a retired lieutenant general.

The Sandman narrowly avoids colliding with three smokestacks as it emerges from the smoke of the burning Astra Romana refinery. (National Archives)

Comptons lead 376th Liberator, Teggie Ann, which also carried the mission commander, Brig. Gen. Uzal W. Ent, took off from Benghazi at 0600. Berka Two and Terria, the 376th and 93rd bases, were much closer to the coast than Lete, Kanes field. Once the Liberandos were assembled, Compton put his plane on high power settings and headed north. In a relatively short time the 376th and the 93rd were far ahead of the 98ths desert-weary ships, which stayed at lower power settings because Kane was concerned about wearing out their sand-scoured engines. The gap started at takeoff and widened over the Mediterranean, Sternfels explained. Compton never gave a thought to the following groups.

unlucky lead

More controversy surrounded the bomber carrying 1st Lt. Robert W. Wilson, whom some sources say was the lead mission navigator. After a series of violent pitch oscillations, the B-24 Wilson was aboard, Lieutenant Brian Flavelles Wongo Wongo!, flipped onto its back and fell into the Ionian Sea, killing the entire crew.

Losing a plane and crew was bad enough, said Sternfels. But Flavelle wasnt carrying the lead navigator. That implies he led the mission. If Flavelle was in the lead ship, Compton would have seen him go down. Several other crews did see the crash.

Compton told me he didnt learn about Flavelles crash until he returned to Benghazi, Sternfels pointed out. Compton admitted he led the mission from takeoff to landing. I found documentation to back it up.

Another B-24 piloted by Lieutenant Guy Iovine dropped out of the formation to assist Flavelle. They later said they wanted to drop life rafts, he explained. They werent able to climb to rejoin the mission and had to turn back. But theres no way to drop life rafts from a B-24D. Theyre in compartments on the top of the fuselage. You cant get at them in flight. Some sources say Iovines plane was carrying the deputy mission navigator.

By the time the leading groups reached the mountains of Albania, Compton and Kane were separated by at least 30 miles. Ploesti, a controversial book by James Dugan and Carroll Stewart, claimed that storm clouds over the Albanian mountains convinced Kane to begin circling for what was known as frontal penetration, a maneuver to prevent collisions in clouds. This earned a strong comment from Sternfels: We never did that. That was a fictional explanation for the wide gap between the two formations. But it never happened. In fact Id never heard of it until long after the war. Our navigation logs show we climbed and worked our way through. The book also stated that at Comptons altitude, there was a strong tailwind that was not present at Kanes altitude, further adding to the gap. This was untrue, according to Compton.

As for the confusion supposedly resulting from the loss of the two most trained navigators, Sternfels said, Thats baloney. If only two men knew the route, why did we take along 176 others? All the navigators were trained and had very cleverly drawn low-level course charts.

Navigational errors

How, then, could so many qualified navigators have failed to keep the force on course at the critical moment?

I found a photo of Compton just prior to takeoff. In this photo, he is holding under his arm a set of charts and maps. Compton was familiar with the route and approach. But his job as the mission leader wasnt to be looking at maps. That was Wicklunds job, Sternfels said, referring to Captain Harold Wicklund, one of the most experienced navigators in the USAAF. Wicklund had already flown to Ploesti on the Halverson Project raid of June 12, 1942.

According to Comptons copilot, Captain Ralph Thompson, Compton had the charts and maps on his lap during the approach to the IP. The 376th and 93rd reached the first IP at Pitesti and continued on, said Sternfels. Kane and Johnson were by now almost 60 miles behind the lead force. When they reached Targoviste, the second IP, Compton turned the force southeast, he continued. Most of the other pilots realized it wasnt the right place. Several Liberando pilots broke radio silence to let Compton know he had turned too early, but he didnt have his radio turned on. If he had heard the calls, he might have saved the mission, as it would have taken only a few minutes to get back to the correct course. Instead, Compton continued on and didnt realize his mistake until he saw the church spires of Bucharest ahead. At that point he asked Ent for permission to tell the group to break off and bomb targets of opportunity; Ent agreed.

Questionable orders

The Circus 32 remaining ships (five had turned back), led by Baker and Major John Jerstad in Hells Wench, turned east to try an improvised attack on Kanes target, White Four. They flew into a deadly hailstorm of flak. German and Romanian gunners found ripe targets at point-blank range, and 88mm, 37mm and 20mm batteries took a terrible toll on the low-flying B-24s. When the Circus emerged from the smoke and carnage, Hells Wench wasnt among them. Only 15 of the attacking 93rd Group Liberators returned to Benghazi.

It still amazes me that Compton ordered the 376th to break off the bomb run and hit targets of opportunity, said Sternfels. Many planes just jettisoned their bombs rather than face the flak. They werent even under fire when he sent that order.

Interviewed by Sternfels, bombardier 1st Lt. Lynn Hester said: I wasnt told to drop the bombs. Compton pulled the lanyard on the pilots pedestal and dropped them right through the doors, pulling them off their tracks. I never saw the target nor did I see the bombs explode. Since a firing unit switch must be turned on for the ordnance to be fully armed, Comptons bombs probably never exploded.

Then Compton compounded his error. After conferring with General Ent, he sent MS (mission successful) to Benghazi. The MS signal went out while the 93rd was being totally mauled.

Colonel Keith K. Compton turned too early, at Targoviste, compelling his 376th Group Liberandos to bomb targets of opportunity. (Courtesy of Robert W. Sternfels)

Very few of the 376th bombed a refinery, said Sternfels. Otherwise theyd have lost a lot more planes flying into that flak. Only three of the 28 Liberandos B-24s managed to do any real good with their bombs. Those were led by Major Norman Appold, a very smart and excellent pilot, he said. Appold took his element around the city and hit White Two, a Circus target.

Kanes, Johnsons and Woods groups made the correct turn. But by then Tidal Wave had become a total debacle. The flak train, flak batteries and fighters were fully alerted.

After Compton returned to Benghazi, he went into conference with Brereton and Ent. A photo Sternfels found after the war tells a very compelling story. It was taken only minutes after Comptons plane landed, he explained. If you look at his face, he doesnt look like a man who led a successful mission, nor does he look like someone who ran into a ton of bad luck. He looks guilty.

Tidal Waves final outcome was both a failure and a success. While only two refineries were totally destroyed and three others moderately damaged, the raid eliminated vital oil refining capacity just when Hitlers war machine needed it most to stop the relentless Soviet drive toward the Fatherland.

In the wake of the costly mission, the USAAF awarded five Medals of Honor to pilots, both living and dead. Kane was honored for leading his group into the fires and smoke of White Four. Johnson, whose 44th successfully struck White Five, also received the medal. Three medals were awarded posthumously: to Baker and Jerstad of Hells Wench, and to the 389ths Lieutenant Lloyd D. Hughes, who dropped his bombs on target despite flames erupting from his B-24. Every man who participated in Tidal Wave was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

There were countless other stories of heroism in the deadly skies over Ploesti, some of which were recorded and others that will forever remain unknown. But to many who look back on the dangerous mission today, every single young man who climbed into a Liberator on that Sunday morning was a hero. That was certainly how Kane felt. A warrior with the soul of a poet, he wrote a deeply moving epitaph:

To the Fallen of Ploesti

To you who fly on forever I send that part of me which cannot be separated, and is bound to you for all time. I send to you those of our dreams that never quite came true, the joyous laughter of our boyhood, the marvelous mysteries of our adolescence, the glorious strengths and tragic illusions of our young manhood, all of these that were and perhaps would have been, I leave in your care, out there in the blue.

Mark Carlson writes frequently on aviation topics from San Diego, Calif. Major Robert W. Sternfels (USAF, ret.) is the author (with Frank Way) of Burning Hitlers Black Gold, which is recommended for further reading. Also see The Ploesti Raid Through the Lens, by Roger A. Freeman.
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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has emphasized the priority of a diplomatic, political and legal way to reintegrate Donbas and Crimea into Ukraine.

"Ukraine is ready to give a tough military response to the aggressor if an offensive is launched. But nevertheless we proceed from the priority of a peaceful, diplomatic, political and legal way of returning Donbas and Crimea," the president said speaking at the military parade in Kyiv on the occasion of the Day of Independence of Ukraine.
Poroshenko: Our army in better shape than ever, still needs to meet NATO standards

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has stressed the need to strengthen the Ukrainian army and switch it to the NATO standards.

"I believe in our army, it is in a better shape than ever, which is, by the way, an assessment of European think tanks. But there is still much work to be done to strengthen and modernize it, to get it fully compatible with NATO standards," the president said speaking at the military parade in Kyiv marking the Independence Day of Ukraine.

He stressed Ukraine is currently looking for efficient solutions "in order to deter in the long run the Russian army, which is largest in Europe and third largest in the world."
If youre unable to catch this years installment of Lil Waynes annual Lil Weezyana festival, featuring performances from himself, Gucci Mane, and more, dont despair just yet. Tidal members can catch a live stream of the festival when it pops off on Friday, August 25th. If you happen to roll with Jay-Zs streaming platform, tune in at 7:00 PM Central time for a high definition feed of the festivities, which will be taking place from Bold Sphere

Music at Champions Square in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Tidal has been coming through with exclusive videos, giveaways and live concert streams along these lines for a minute, so if youve been looking to jump on board the streaming wave, why not check it out? Remember to catch the concert this Friday, by checking out the official site link here when the time comes around.

Lil Wayne
While YoungBoy Never Broke Agains A1 YoungBoy project has been earning the young artist a spot at the table, its easy to forget that YoungBoy has a darker, violent past. About eight months ago, the Baton Rouge rapper found himself jailed for attempted murder charges over his involvement in a drive-by shooting. While the rapper was eventually released from jail after serving a brief stint, he recently went to court over his aggravated assault charges. There, he was left at the mercy of Judge Bonnie Jackson, and Baton Rouge publication The Advocate provided a detailed analysis of the proceedings.

YoungBoy, born Kendall Gaulden, was given a suspended sentence of ten years, three years of probation, 250 hours of community service, a $5000 dollar fine, and a stern lecture from the Judge. And while Judge Jackson did give YoungBoy a tough but fair sentence, she certainly did not mince words when addressing YoungBoys violent behavior. Fortunately, you all were bad shots, said Jackson, before addressing YoungBoys commitment to his locale. You know how much killing is taking place in New Orleans. Baton Rouge isnt much better. Thats the environment were living in.

She also showed little interest in the fact that YoungBoy is on the cusp of a promising career; in fact, the Judge took an accusatory tone toward hip-hop in general, warning YoungBoy that his involvement in the genre meant he had a larger social responsibility. Your genre has normalized violence, she said, according to the Advocate. People listen to you.

YoungBoys lawyer James Manasseh claimed that his client was good-hearted, kind, sweet young man, who was attempting to make amends by buying children school supplies and copping his mother a house. YoungBoy allegedly promised the judge that he was committed to doing right, but the Judge reiterated that failure was not an option.

Heres hoping that YoungBoy can live up to his promised expectations, otherwise his career may end before it ever truly blossoms.

[via]

YoungBoy
The Aussie artist came to prominence through her work with Bon Iver.

Hot on the heels of her appearance earlier this year at Forbidden Fruit, Aussie up-and-comer Gordi is set to play the Button Factory, Dublin on November 9.

Her debut album Reservoir is released on August 25.

It's a long way from her musical beginnings playing songs for classmates at her weekly school assembly.

From growing up in the tiny Australian farming town of Canowindra to performing backing vocals with Bon Iver and touring with Asgeir, Tallest Man on Earth, Highasakite, Local Natives and Of Monsters and Men, she's had a wild ride so far and this looks set to continue.

Gordi, also known as Sophie Payten, explains that the album title comes from an emotional place.

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"The name Reservoir, it's that thing that you can't describe, that space that anxious people would probably live their life in. It's actually an expression my friend and I use."

"If I'm really down one day, Ill say, "Oh I'm a bit in the reservoir today" You're mulling everything over, and you're sitting in all these thoughts and feelings. In order to be able to write a song I need to go to that place, but I couldn't live a functional life if I spent all my time in there."

Tickets for Gordi's Button Factory date go on sale August 25 at 9 a.m from Ticketmaster and usual outlets.

While you're waiting for the gig to come around, have a listen to Gordi below:
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Standing up to your friends and doing the right thing is hard, particularly in politics.

That's why the refusal by President Donald Trump and Energy Secretary Rick Perry to rig the nation's electricity markets and pander to coal mining executives is such a breath of fresh air.

Perry released his long-anticipated study on the reliability of the nation's electric grids late Wednesday. The findings will disappoint operators of coal-fired and nuclear power plants who were hoping for an emergency declaration that would force grid operators to buy their electricity, even when it's not the cheapest available.

The study throws them a bone, though, by declaring that a "diverse portfolio of generation resources" is needed. Also missing in the final version is the declaratory language that renewable energy sources do not pose a risk to grid reliability, which was part of the staff-drafted report leaked last month.

Coal and nuclear power lobbyists likely will read some of the study's old-fashioned thinking about grid reliability as an argument to pay their plants a subsidy to keep operating. But in fact, the study's call for "essential reliability resources" clearly states that any new rules should not favor one source of energy over another.

Perry appears ready to allow the market to decide which form of electricity generation will win, while applying his customarily light regulatory hand only when necessary.

All in all, it is not the frontal assault that natural gas producers and the renewable energy industry had feared. The study does tell us things we already knew, such wholesale electricity markets need adjusting to reflect new technologies and small, distributed sources of energy need to be integrated.

But the study will be the second disappointment for coal miners and coal-fired power plant operators in just two days.

Coal industry executives have been begging the Trump administration to use emergency powers for months to keep uneconomical coal-fired power plants operating, according to a scoop Tuesday from The Associated Press. Miners fear that if coal-fired plants continue to close at the expected rate, demand for their product will plummet.

RELATED: Willing to pay extra to keep coal miners working? You may have to.

Robert Murray, CEO of coal mining firm Murray Energy, called on the Energy Department to order a two-year moratorium on closing coal-fired power plants, or else his company and others would face "immediate bankruptcy," according to a letter sent to the White House and obtained by the AP.

In another letter, Murray said he heard Trump tell Perry, "I want this done."

Both White House and Energy Department officials confirmed Tuesday that it's not going to happen.

"With respect to this particular case at this particular time, the White House and the Department of Energy are in agreement that the evidence does not warrant the use of this emergency authority," Energy Department spokeswoman Shaylyn Hynes said in a statement.

Last month, I reported on the coal mining industry's effort to convince Perry to declare a state of emergency, and how it would lead to higher electricity prices. Ordering electric grid operators to buy power from uneconomical coal plants would also hurt the natural gas and renewable energy industries, which are far more economically efficient.

Ironically, Trump and Perry may not pay much of a political price for their recent decisions, thanks to rising coal prices in recent months, according to the Chronicle's Washington correspondent, James Osborne. Even though the surge in coal has little to do with Trump's policies, that doesn't mean he can't take credit for it.

RELATED: Is Donald Trump actually saving coal?

Perry and his boss made the right decision. American consumers shouldn't pay more to protect an industry that should be allowed to die. Burning coal to make electricity makes no economic sense.

The renewable power industry owes more to Perry than it would like to admit. As governor he promoted wind energy, which is why Texas has installed more wind generation than any other state.

There's a lot not to like in Perry's study, but he refrained from making the politically expedient decision that could have cost the renewable industry dearly. He deserves credit for sticking to his commitment to free markets and light regulation.
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The Houston-area medical community, caught by surprise and devastated 16 years ago by Tropical Storm Allison, was taking no chances Thursday as Harvey churned closer to the Texas coast.

Three UT Physicians walk-in clinics will be closed on Saturday morning as a precaution "for the safety of patients and the staff," said Andrew Casas, chief operating officer for the network of clinics. He said other locations are expected to be open.

The closed clinics are: UT Physicians Bayshore Family Practice, UT Physicians Bellaire, and UT Physicians Cinco Ranch.

RELATED: Harvey upgraded to hurricane, could make landfall as Category 3 storm

At Memorial Hermann Health System, patients who are stable enough for early discharge were being released Thursday to keep the number of patients down in advance of the storm, said Tom Flanagan, vice president of trauma and disaster preparedness for the hospital network.

Doctors at Texas Children's Hospital were also assessing patients on Thursday to see if any could go home early, officials there said.

Flanagan said Memorial Hermann facilities are being stocked with enough food, water, medical supplies and linens for 96 hours in case roads become impassable.

Hospital officials in the region said Thursday there were no plans at this time to cancel elective surgeries or other procedures scheduled for early next week, but that could change quickly.

Flanagan urged any patient with an appointment on Monday to call before leaving home.

Casas added that anyone with a prescription should also think ahead.

"We are urging patients if they do not have a seven-day supply of their prescription to call in to their doctor and get a refill right now," he said.

In addition he said his staff has already begun printing out lists of patients with scheduled appointments through Tuesday. Those paper lists will go home with multiple staff members so they can begin calling patients to cancel appointment if needed.

They are using print-outs rather than electronic lists in case power is lost and people cannot sign onto computers.

At Houston Methodist, its leaders are meeting several times a day as they monitor the weather but a spokeswoman said they feel confident they are ready after drills on hurricane preparedness.

The measures being taken are in part lessons learned from the toll in 2001 when the torrential rains of Allison flooded the Texas Medical Center causing billions of dollars of damage. Thousands of patients had to be evacuated, at times down dark stairwells in stifling heat as hospitals lost all power, including backup generators.Tens of thousands of laboratory animals died in the basement of the Baylor College of Medicine as the water rose.

Since then, generators and laboratory animals have been moved to higher floors. Casas said clinic refrigerators now have battery-powered backups to protect vulnerable medications, including vaccines against tetanus which can become crucial in a natural disaster.

"We lost a lot of vaccine in Allison," he said.

RELATED: Why Tropical Storm Harvey is already being compared to Allison

Across the Medical Center, massive flood doors were installed after Allison that can be closed to seal off institutions if water levels rise to flood levels.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said some 200,000 people have gone through six waves of mobilization to date, about 100,000 have served under contract.

"Some 200,000 went through six waves of mobilization, already about 100,000 voluntarily went to serve under contract, 130,000 soldiers with combat experience were enlisted in the mobilization reserve, and in case of escalation they are ready to promptly return to the military ranks," the president said speaking at the military parade in Kyiv on the occasion of the Independence Day of Ukraine.

He also said 42 servicemen received the title of Hero of Ukraine. At the same time, the president said that on the Independence Day he signed a decree conferring the title of Hero of Ukraine and the Order of the Golden Star on two more servicemen - Lieutenant Vasyl Tarasiuk and Captain Yevhen Loskot (posthumously)  for exceptional courage, heroism and self-sacrifice in defending the state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

"24-year-old Lieutenant Vasyl Tarasiuk, courageous defender of Avdiyivska industrial zone - one of the hottest spots on the current contact line, and Captain Yevhen Loskot, who stopped the movement of the column of Russians towards Schastia in 2014. Having been surrounded, he blew himself up with the last grenade shouting "Glory to Ukraine!" the president said adding that he conferred the most honorable titles on him today.

"Some 200 parade participants have been awarded with state awards for courage on the frontline," he said.
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The mother of 16-year-old Joseph "Joey" Reeves has one message for her son: "Please come home."

The Cleveland teen has been missing since March 29 when he ran away from a residential treatment center in Houston, according to his mother, Ruby Napiorski.

"I am very worried about him. I just need to know he is okay," she said. "There is no way he could be on the streets for this long without assistance."

Napiorski suspects her son's friends are harboring him with good intentions but without realizing the emotional toll it is taking on his family.

"We've tried to reach his friends but no one is fessing up to seeing him," she said. "I just want him to know it's time to come home. I will come and pick him up wherever he is. He just has to call."

Reeves is described as a white male, 5' 10" tall, weighing approximately 150 pounds. He has blue eyes and blonde hair he frequently dyes darker colors.

Anyone with information about Reeves is asked to contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-842-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST) or Houston Police Department at 1-713-884-3131.

To reach Reeves' mother, the number is 281-622-0467.
The investigation into tuberculosis at a Fort Bend County high school has identified 10 additional infections, but public health officials said Wednesday the campus outbreak is now contained.

The new infections bring the total number at George Bush High School to 24, but only the first four, confirmed in late May, involved active disease, which is contagious and potentially fatal if not treated. The other 20 are symptom-free, when the infection is not contagious and the treatment is easier.

"This is good news, that all the testing identified no more active cases of TB," said Dr. Kaye Reynolds, deputy director of the Fort Bend County Health and Human Services Department. "It's really good that the investigation has identified people who now will be cured and that the clustering won't start another outbreak."

Reynold said the health officials will continue to monitor the situation and work vigorously to track down 66 people, potentially exposed at George Bush but not enrolled at the school this fall, who still need to be tested. Nearly 560 people were screened as part of a requirement to enroll in fall classes; those not tested graduated, moved to another school or dropped out.

Two Houston doctors of infectious disease - Baylor College of Medicine's Dr. Daniel Musher and Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital's Dr. Michael Chang - said the numbers at George Bush suggested "a significant clustering," particularly the original four cases of active disease.

They said the 20 infections identified through mass screening were less surprising because it is unclear how many already were carrying the infection and how many caught it from one of the four experiencing symptoms. They acknowledged, however, that it is a safe assumption that many did pick it up at George Bush.

Reynolds acknowledged the numbers seem daunting, but characterized the investigation as successful.

The cluster first was revealed in mid-June, when county health officials called for more than 600 people at George Bush - mostly students but also staffers - to get tested to determine if they had contracted the infection after TB was confirmed at the 2,200-student high school. They initially were vague about the extent of the cluster, but said that there were at least two active cases. They later acknowledged there were four.

A first round of testing on June 19 identified 10 infections and a second round Aug. 3 identified 10 more. The second round was required for continued enrollment because health officials were so disappointed at the turnout for the first - only about a third of those exposed.

TB is one of history's great scourges. It declined steadily in the U.S. throughout most of the 20th century before increasing slightly in the mid-1980s and again recently, experts say, partly a result of complacency the disease was on the way to eradication. There are roughly 10,000 cases annually in the U.S., including about 1,400 in Texas and 350 to 400 in the Houston area and 20 to 30 in Fort Bend County.

TB primarily attacks the lungs but can affect other organs, as well. Most infections do not cause symptoms - latent tuberculosis - and, thus, are not contagious. About 10 percent progress to active disease, which kills about half of those infected if left untreated.

In those contagious, it usually takes prolonged close contact to pass on the infection, which is not spread as easily as a cold, flu or measles. It may be passed on if droplets coughed or sneezed into the air reach the lungs of another person.

There is no TB vaccine approved for use in the United States. Treatment is by antibiotics.

Wednesday's announcement of the additional cases caused some alarm among parents, who posted concerns on a facebook page about Fort Bend Independent School District. The postings described one parent as "beyond frustrated" and raised questions about the extent of the testing, such as whether it included bus drivers.

Reynolds noted that no family members of the four people with active disease contracted the disease, an indication the bacteria likely was not that contagious.

Tuberculosis typically is treated effectively, but it takes time. Prophylactic medicine for those infected but without symptoms typically lasts for four months or nine months, depending on the doctor's choice of regimen. Antibiotics for those with active disease can be taken for as long as two years, though the duration usually is nine to 15 months.

"It's not an easy disease to treat, which is why we need to close the loop and finish out the investigation involving those not returning to George Bush," said Reynolds. "But we'll get to them. We have to."
COASTAL CRISIS As coastal water temperatures rise, fish and other species have to adapt

COASTAL CRISIS As coastal water temperatures rise, fish and other species have to adapt

Ryan Macias and Grant Lewis methodically unfurled a low-slung net stretched between two poles and began dragging it across the bottom of Matagorda Bay one cloudy morning in early May.

The water was the color of chocolate milk, and shallow, only about waist-deep on Macias, a field technician for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

The seine net dragged up a half-dozen sea creatures - a couple of brown shrimp, a pink one, and a tiny, translucent jellyfish.

But Leslie Hartman, TPWD's Matagorda Bay Ecosystem Leader who was overseeing the work, quickly saw what was not in the net: juvenile southern flounder.

She wasn't surprised.

"It's been warm, too warm, for southern flounder the past couple of years," she said. "You don't see the effect as much on the adults, but you do with juveniles. And in a couple of years, fishermen in Texas are going to start to notice."

FISH FIGHT: Debate over who can catch red snapper creates 'really ugly situation'

This year, the number of juvenile flounder caught by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department as part of its annual survey hit an all-time low, worrying fisheries biologists across the state.

For decades, the popular, albeit funny-looking fish has been declining in numbers off the Texas coast. Over-fishing is one reason, but a main factor is environmental.

Southern flounder, prized for its delicate meat, only spawn in cold water and prefer temperatures around 62 degrees Fahrenheit.

But water temperatures off the coast have been rising for years, especially the winter-time lows. This year, for the first time on record, the daily average surface water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico never fell below 73 degrees, as Houston experienced its hottest winter on record.

Some fish species - like gray snapper - are thriving in warmer waters. Others, like the southern flounder, are struggling.

It's a trend happening worldwide, as climate change causes the oceans to heat up, either killing marine plants and animals or causing them to "shift" into habitats they find more suitable. Studies have found that roughly two-thirds of marine species that live in the northeastern part of the United States have extended their range due to warmer waters. Among them: black sea bass, lobster, yellow tail flounder and monkfish.

"If temperatures continue to rise, there might be some species that are not ultimately able to survive in certain places," said Rutgers University's Malin Pinsky, one of the nation's leading experts on the impact of climate change on fish populations.

In the Gulf of Mexico, several tropical fish have moved into coastal waters while warmer temperatures have thrown off the migration patterns of birds and fueled the spread of invasive plants.

In Texas, state leaders often acknowledge the impacts of climate change but frequently refuse to acknowledge the cause. For example, in the state's recently released coastal master plan, which runs 208 pages, climate change is never mentioned.

Hartman, however, doesn't mince words.

"It doesn't matter if you believe in climate change or not," she said. "The water is getting warmer. We have data that shows it. So our challenge becomes how do we manage this ecosystem that's in the middle of a change?"

Southern flounder is one of the most temperature-sensitive fish species found along the Texas coast. Not only does it dictate if they spawn or not, it also plays a major role in whether the fish become male or female.

Cold water tends to produce females, which are bigger than males and prized for their meat.

That trend was observed at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas, which led the state's first efforts to get the finicky fish to spawn in captivity to start a restocking program.

"Eighteen degrees Celsius (about 64 degrees Fahrenheit) was the key," said Joan Holt, the former director of UTMSI's Fisheries and Mariculture Lab who oversaw the pioneering work. "At that temperature, you had a 50/50 split between males and females, which is what you want in a fishery. If you raised the temperature above that threshold, you'd get less females and more males."

Having a fish population that is seriously skewed toward one gender would obviously be detrimental to its long-term survival.

So are temperatures creating more male southern flounder in the wild?

"We don't know," Holt said. "But I would assume that would be happening."

It would take Hartman and her crew almost four hours to catch their first flounder recently on Matagorda Bay, the only one they would see that day.

During this year's spring gill net season - the 10-week period that the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department samples fish populations - crews observed more adult southern flounder than they had the year before.

Still, the numbers were low enough to be the fourth-worst on record, and State data shows southern flounder numbers dropping since the early 1990s.

"Long-term, they're showing a pretty steep and steady decline," said Mark Fisher, science director for the department's coastal fisheries division.

Any improvement in recent years likely has been due to stricter fishing regulations, Fisher said, and restocking efforts.

Along with the diminishing juvenile southern flounder population, another harbinger of the changes warming waters will bring along the Texas and Louisiana coasts is the increasingly ubiquitous presence of black mangrove, a plant that tolerates salt and thrives in the tropics.

"What has happened over the last 50 years, and we've got good aerial images that show this, is that cold snaps make mangroves retreat," said Steve Pennings, an ecologist with the University of Houston. "The problem is there haven't been many cold snaps."

Studies by Pennings and his colleagues project that black mangrove will replace 100 percent of all salt marshes in Texas, and 95 percent of those in Louisiana, should winter temperatures increase by two to four degrees.

The switch has serious ecological implications on coastal water quality, fish populations and bird habitat.

Black mangroves are virtually impenetrable because of their dense branches. They develop long, horizontal roots and root-like projections that poke through the ground.

Pennings and his team are studying a test plot of mangrove in Port Aransas, hoping to learn more about the ramifications of the plant's expansion in Texas.

One thing they know already is that wading birds try to avoid black mangrove, which is significant in Texas, where thousands of bird watchers flock to coastal communities each year.

And the changing climate is affecting bird migrations through the state, mostly in the winter.

A 2011 study conducted by scientists at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute showed a correlation between rising temperatures and the arrival and departure times of six species known to migrate through Port Aransas, including the double-crested cormorant, eared grebe and the herring gull.

Lee Fuiman, one of the study's authors, said it wasn't clear that climate change was exclusively to blame for the disruptions they documented since migratory birds face threats from other sources.

However, he said, there is mounting scientific evidence from around the globe that climate change is throwing off migrations for several species.

"The winters are getting warmer here. We know that. And when we look at the larger picture, you start seeing trends in seasonal patterns that cannot be ignored," said Fuiman, director of UTMSI's Fisheries and Mariculture Laboratory.

Texas Parks and Wildlife researchers collect gill nets in Matagorda Bay to conduct a fish count. Texas Parks and Wildlife researchers collect gill nets in Matagorda Bay to conduct a fish count. Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close COASTAL CRISIS 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

***

Two years ago, Shannon O'Leary pitched what sounded like a straightforward post-doctoral project to her advisers at Texas A&M University Corpus Christi: study the genetics of southern flounder to better understand its adaptation strategies.

She turned to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for help collecting specimens.

The first year, department employees in Galveston collected six juvenile flounder while Hartman managed to get two. By May this year, despite the department's efforts, none could be found.

"We decided to try to expand the project to Alabama and other states in the western Gulf," O'Leary said. "But they are telling us the same thing. "

During the spring sampling effort, not one of the 10 ecosystem teams was able to collect a juvenile flounder in the seine nets.

That might come as a surprise to many recreational fishermen, who still report great success in catching adult flounder, particularly during the fall spawning runs.

"The thing of it is, think about how fish spawn," Hartman said. "They're not like people who think, 'I'm going to have two kids and do real good by them.' They're like, 'I'm going to have a quarter million babies.' And here we are, and the best we can come up with is two juvenile flounder? That's not good."

Still, not everyone is convinced that warm water temperatures can be singled out as a threat to flounder.

Greg Stunz, director of sportfish conservation science at the Harte Research Institute at Texas A&M University Corpus Christi, said the fish population is affected by regulations and climate.

"I think it would be really hard to tease the two apart," he said.

To help southern flounder, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has banned gigging - which involves spearing the fish - during the fall.

It was a controversial move, but one state fisheries managers thought necessary.

Whether southern flounder ultimately adapts to its changing environment remains to be seen.

Studies suggest that coastal Texas may be on the edge of southern flounder's natural range, which means it wouldn't take much to force the population to shift elsewhere.

For "a lot of marine critters," Hartman said, the right temperature sets off hormonal cues.

"If they don't get those cues, they're just not going to spawn," she said. "Is that what's happening with flounder? It's hard to say. Biology is a messy, messy science."
Sandra Melgar slumped forward, put her hands over her face and let out a howl as the judge read the verdict late Wednesday.

Guilty.

Family and friends in the courtroom let out shrieks, covered their faces and began to cry.

The outbursts capped an emotional case centered on the prosecutors' claims that Melgar stabbed her husband, Jaime Melgar, 31 times, then tied herself up in a bedroom closet to stage a home invasion.

Minutes after the verdict, Melgar, 57, who has been free on bail since her arrest, was taken to the Harris County Jail.

She will return to court Thursday to begin the punishment phase of the murder trial in front of state District Judge Kelli Johnson. She faces five years to life in prison.

Prosecutor Colleen Barnett had argued that the crime scene did not match Melgar's story of a home invasion, and that she was motivated by a $500,000 life insurance policy.

"I would like to thank the jurors for their patience and attention throughout this long, difficult case," Barnett said in a statement released by the district attorney's office. "Jaime Melgar was by all accounts a wonderful man."

Defense attorney Mac Secrest put on an elaborate defense that included DNA experts and a former homicide investigator who outlined problems with the lead investigator.

The lead investigator, who was later fired for backdating a search warrant in a different murder case, also took the stand for the defense.

Jurors deliberated about eight hours before handing down their verdict.

Neither the defense nor family answered questions as they left the courtroom.

Melgar maintained her innocence in the Dec. 22, 2012 killing, which occurred the day before the couple's 32nd wedding anniversary.

Friends discovered the couple in the home when they arrived the next day for an anniversary party.
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Tropical Depression Harvey churned toward the Texas coast Wednesday, threatening to become the first hurricane to hit the state since Hurricane Ike pounded the region in 2008.

The storm, which continued to gain strength as it moved slowly across the Gulf of Mexico, is expected to bring heavy rains, high winds and a storm surge from South Texas to the Houston area.

The storm could make landfall near Matagorda Island by late Friday, according to early weather service models.

For Houston, the potential for life-threatening flooding remains high, with officials predicting at least 8 to 12 inches, with higher amounts scattered across the area.

"Depending on how quickly that rain falls, we could have major flash flooding in Houston," said Michael Walter, spokesman for the city's emergency operations center.

Officials said it's still too early to tell what the storm may do, but they warned residents to be prepared.

"We're asking everyone to play it safe," said Steve Rosa, Brazoria County's emergency management coordinator. "Now's the time to stock up on everything you need in case of an emergency - batteries, radios, food and water."

Gov. Greg Abbott Wednesday pre-emptively declared a state of disaster for 30 counties, including Harris County, based on Harvey's growing strength and targeted path toward the coast.

Harvey's main threat, meteorologists said, is its prolonged duration coupled with heavy rainfall.

The storm is projected to move slowly across southeast Texas and then stall while dumping between 10 to 15 inches over the state's middle and upper coast for about three days, said National Weather Service meteorologist Dan Reilly.

Before it makes landfall, Reilly said the storm is likely to strengthen into a hurricane, bringing winds of 70 mph or higher, along with flooding and possible tornadoes.

'Still very uncertain'

Emergency crews from Corpus Christi to Houston elevated their readiness levels Wednesday morning after forecasts revealed remnants of Harvey resurged into a tropical depression and continued to intensify. By Wednesday afternoon, the weather service issued tropical storm watches for counties near the coast including Harris, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Victoria and Wharton.

Counties closer to the Gulf are expected to receive the heaviest rain totals and see tides rise on Thursday.

The National Weather Service issued its first-ever storm surge watch for Texas for Calhoun County about 150 miles southwest of Houston, warning of the potential for 4 to 6 feet of water above ground and the possibility of mandatory evacuations.

After the storm makes landfall, it's expected to hook eastward and slowly hover over Houston through Monday, pouring additional amounts of rain on the region, according to weather and emergency officials.

But officials warn that the storm's path could change.

"While the track of this storm is still very uncertain, we do know that this will be a significant rain event for our entire area," said Niki Bender, emergency management coordinator for the city of Galveston. "Residents should prepare their homes for tidal flooding, gusting winds and rains in excess of 15 inches from Friday to Monday."

One weather service model has the storm arriving late Friday, while another predicts a late Saturday landfall.

"The track could change," Reilly said. "But once it makes landfall it's forecast to sit for a while - a recipe for heavy rainfall."

Emergency crews prepared Wednesday by cramming into emergency meeting rooms, fueling rescue vehicles and staffing their operation centers.

More than two dozen state agencies - including the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Texas Attorney General's Office - were also prepping Wednesday for a possible hurricane.

"As the State Operations Center increases its readiness levels, I also encourage Texans in the storm's path to make their own emergency preparations, heed warnings from local officials and avoid high water areas," Abbott said.

Harvey's resurgence

The last hurricane to hit Texas was Ike in 2008, a catastrophic storm that killed dozens in the state, wreaked billions of dollars in damages and devastated the coasts of Texas and Louisiana with 100 mph winds and a powerful storm surge.

Since then, the Gulf has remained relatively quiet - dubbed by some the "Ghost Coast" for its lack of hurricane activity.

Last week, then-Tropical Storm Harvey appeared to offer little threat to Texas as it moved westward through the Caribbean. It brought heavy rains to northern Central America and the Yucatan Peninsula, but by Saturday had become disorganized and degenerated into a tropical wave.

Once it crossed over Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, the storm regained speed after hitting the Gulf of Mexico, said Brian Kyle, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

That's pretty typical behavior for storms, which often lose strength over land but regenerate over warm open water, he said.

Once winds hit 39 mph, the depression will be re-categorized as a tropical storm.

Kyle said winds could reach hurricane level - upwards of 70 mph - by the time it reaches the Texas coast.

Oil companies on alert

The storm's resurgence has put oil and gas companies in the Gulf on high alert. Shell, ExxonMobil and Anadarko Petroleum have each announced a reduction of production and personnel in the Gulf of Mexico.

"We are closely monitoring weather updates, determining which of our facilities may potentially be in the path of the storm and preparing those structures," said Susan Guthrie, ExxonMobil operations media coordinator. "We will evacuate personnel from those offshore facilities expected to be in the path of the storm."

Regional stores from Walmart to Lowe's have stocked up on supplies in case of a disastrous storm.

"We've got an entire aisle for storm prep as soon as you walk in," said Dustin Spacey, manager of the Lowe's in Pearland.

Spacey said the store was fully stocked with pallets of water, charcoal grills, generators, flashlights, batteries and portable air conditioning units.

Spacey said that after the Tax Day Flood of 2016, what he needed most - what people wanted most - was water.

Jordan Blum, Emily Foxhall and Marialuisa Rincon contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump has widened an extraordinary rift with his own party, as he threatened a government shutdown over his long-promised border wall and attacked key lawmakers whose votes he needs heading into a crucial legislative period.

The escalating tensions between the Republican president and the Republican Congress endanger delicate negotiations in the coming weeks to overhaul the tax system, keep the government running and avoid a costly default on the country's debt. They are the clearest signs to date that the uncomfortable alliance between Trump, who won the presidency promising to "drain the swamp," and Republican lawmakers who hoped to enact long-stalled conservative priorities, has begun to fray.

In a challenge to Republicans late Tuesday, Trump threatened to shut down the government in a matter of weeks if Congress did not fund the wall on the southern border that was a signature promise of his campaign for the White House.

"If we have to close down our government, we're building that wall," Trump told a raucous rally in Phoenix as his supporters chanted, "Build that wall!"

"The American people voted for immigration control - that's one of the reasons I'm here," he added. "One way or the other, we're going to get that wall."

On Wednesday, he followed up on the threat by attacking Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, a Republican who has said he is skeptical of building a wall between the United States and Mexico unless, as Trump promised, Mexico pays for it. Flake is one of two Republican senators up for re-election next year in a swing state, and the president has put his finger on the scale toward a primary challenger, Kelli Ward.

"Not a fan of Jeff Flake," Trump said in a Twitter post. "Weak on crime & border!"

And amid a frosty period in his relationship with Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, Trump questioned the Senate leader's approach, faulting Republicans for failing to blow up long-standing Senate rules that make most legislation subject to a filibuster that requires 60 votes to overcome.

"If Republican Senate doesn't get rid of the Filibuster Rule & go to a simple majority, which the Dems would do, they are just wasting time!" Trump said on Twitter, suggesting a change that McConnell and other Senate Republican leaders have repeatedly rejected.

McConnell on Wednesday sought to play down the friction between himself and the president, issuing a statement in which he insisted that their common legislative priorities were on track.

"The president and I, and our teams, have been and continue to be in regular contact about our shared goals," McConnell said. "We are working together to develop tax reform and infrastructure legislation so we can grow the economy and create jobs; to prevent a government default; to fund the government so we can advance our priorities in the short and long terms; to pass the defense authorization and defense appropriations bills so we can support our troops and help implement an effective strategy against ISIL; to provide relief from Obamacare; and to continue our progress for our nation's veterans."

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, echoed that statement and said the president and McConnell "will hold previously scheduled meetings following the August recess to discuss these critical items with members of the congressional leadership and the president's Cabinet."

But there is growing evidence of tensions that have erupted privately between the president and other senior Republicans as well. In a testy call this month, first reported by Politico, Trump vented angrily to Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, over Russia sanctions legislation he said would damage his presidency, according to a person familiar with the conversation. Corker insisted that he would not back down on the measure, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.

Yet Trump's threat Tuesday of a shutdown introduced new uncertainty to the ambitious wish list. It sharpened a suggestion that Trump made early this year, in the wake of a budget agreement he grudgingly accepted even though it omitted money for the wall, that the United States needed "a good 'shutdown'" this fall to force a partisan confrontation over federal spending.

Trump has asked Congress to allocate $1.6 billion this year toward building a wall along the roughly 1,900-mile border with Mexico. Currently, a mix of barriers - including chain-link fences and steel walls to keep people from crossing and steel beams to stop vehicles - stretches across about 650 miles of the border. So far, Congress has provided $341 million this year to repair and bolster the existing border barriers.

Overall, the Trump administration is seeking $3.6 billion for the border wall over the next two fiscal years. In the past, however, Mr. Trump has said there is no need for a wall along the entire border, which spans four states: California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

Congressional leaders distanced themselves from the president's threat. Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin said Wednesday in Oregon that no one wanted a dispute over the border wall to result in a lapse in government funding, adding that he did not believe that such a confrontation would be necessary.

White House officials said Trump's words were not meant as a legislative directive or veto promise so much as a message to lawmakers, including Democrats who have previously supported spending on border fencing.

"Protecting our borders is only controversial if you are looking for reasons to obstruct a long-standing and bipartisan effort," said John Czwartacki, a spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget.

Hard-line conservative nationalists such as Stephen K. Bannon, the chief strategist ousted from the White House last week, have counseled the president to take a hard line on wall funding to buck up his political base after the embarrassing defeat of legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act. They have warned Trump that signing a funding bill that does not include substantial sums for the wall could would enrage his core supporters.

On the other hand, Trump's bare-knuckled tactics could alienate congressional Republicans when he can ill afford to lose their support.

The president wants to push through a tax overhaul by year's end, but first Republicans must approve a budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 to trigger special procedures that would allow the package to pass the Senate with only 51 votes, instead of the 60 required for most legislation.

A budget resolution is always difficult, but it will probably become entangled in another divisive issue, the debt ceiling: The Treasury Department has estimated that the government will reach its borrowing limit sometime in October, at which point Congress will have to vote to increase the debt limit to avoid a default.

Most immediately, the government will run out of money Oct. 1 unless Congress approves new government spending bills. But in that conflict, the president may have handed Senate Democrats the whip, while inoculating them from blame. They can now filibuster any spending bill that contains wall funding, forcing Republicans to strip out the money and challenge Trump to veto it.

"If the president pursues this path, against the wishes of both Republicans and Democrats, as well as the majority of the American people, he will be heading toward a government shutdown, which nobody will like and which won't accomplish anything," said Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the minority leader in the House, said Trump's threat had made it clear that he was willing to sow chaos in the service of his top policy priority. "The president said he will purposefully hurt American communities to force American taxpayers to fund an immoral, ineffective and expensive border wall," she said.

Republicans privately vented their dismay at the president's tactics and language - especially his political maneuvering against their colleagues. The contest between Flake and Ward appears to have become something of a proxy fight between the president and the majority leader.

"I would just say that I think it's important that we all stay unified as Republicans to complete our agenda," Ryan cautioned.

But Sanders signaled that the president was willing to stoke such disputes if he believed it would serve his purposes.

"I think everybody knows this president isn't somebody who backs down," she told reporters on Air Force One as Trump returned to Washington on Wednesday. "If he thinks we need to lean in a little, I'm sure we will."

(BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM.)

White House aides had urged Trump not to mention Flake by name at the Phoenix rally, which he instead used to savage the news media as unpatriotic and "sick," angrily defend his response to racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, and praise Joe Arpaio, the former Arizona sheriff whose aggressive immigration crackdowns led to a federal conviction for criminal contempt of court.

The president criticized Flake only obliquely in the speech - "Nobody knows who the hell he is," Trump said - and waited until Wednesday morning to take aim at the senator by name on Twitter.

In an interview Wednesday on "The Brian Kilmeade Show" on Fox News Radio, Flake said, "I will continue to support the president and work with him when I think he's right and challenge him when I think he is going in the wrong direction."

(END OPTIONAL TRIM.)

Trump appears to be in a fighting mood. Before his exit, Bannon repeatedly warned Trump and John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, that September could be the breaking point for the Trump presidency - "a total meat grinder," Bannon told them.

Conservatives will object to raising the debt ceiling unless it contains some provisions to help rein in government spending - an unlikely scenario. Instead, Ryan and McConnell will have to rely on Democratic votes to pass the increase - putting the president in the awkward position of having to sign it despite repeatedly promising to tackle the country's debt.

Bannon warned White House colleagues that that could send the conservative House Freedom Caucus into open revolt against the speaker. To placate them, Bannon counseled, the White House must extract wall funding at all costs.
AUSTIN -- Sandra Bland wasn't mentioned by name.

But it was clear that her highly publicized death, which helped galvanize the Black Lives Matter movement, was a key part of a hearing Thursday aimed at stopping police from locking up Texans over minor traffic offenses.

More than two years after the 28-year-old Prairie View A&M graduate died after being pulled over for a traffic violation that led to her arrest, criminal justice reform advocates showed up in force at the Department of Public Safety's headquarters in Austin.

After failing to make much progress with the Texas Legislature on the topic earlier this year, those groups think they have found a seldom-used bureaucratic procedure to force DPS to consider changing its rules for officers to assure they are not locking up people too quickly for minor traffic offenses.

"We believe there is a need to clarify the point at which an officer can move to arrest a person at a traffic stop," Kathy Mitchell of the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition told the 5-member Public Safety Commission which oversees the DPS.

Mitchell acknowledged that constitutionally officers have discretion to arrest a person for a traffic violation in Texas. But that doesn't make it good policy, she said. And she said her group's research shows it happening far more often than it should in places like Houston.

To clamp down on the practice, Just Liberty, another criminal justice reform advocacy group that spoke at the hearing, has taken the rare step of trying to petition the Public Safety Commission to change rules for traffic stops that turn into arrests. Among those to sign that petition is Geneva Reed-Veal, the mother of Sandra Bland who has become a national advocate against alleged police brutality.

Typically DPS sets its own policies to guide officers. But there is a provision in Texas law that allows the commission to consider a petition from the public that sets rules when it is "necessary for carrying out the department's work."

But Texas Highway Patrol Chief Lt. Col. Ron Joy told the Houston Chronicle after Mitchell's comments were made at the meeting that DPS already has clear rules that limit instances in which a person can be arrested for a traffic stop.

He said it is not common and not in his agency's interest to tie up troopers for hours making arrests on minor traffic violations. He said what happened in Bland's case was "misconduct" by a trooper who did not follow current guidelines. That trooper Brian Encinia was later fired by DPS after he was indicted on perjury charges.

Whether the petition presented Thursday moves forward beyond the initial stages is still a big question. The Public Safety Commission took no official action on the request after listening to testimony. DPS officials say they will respond to the request in writing within 60 days, but did not tip their hand as to whether they will adopt the rule change or rejected it outright.

Bland was pulled over for failing to changing lanes without signalling in July 2015. After Bland refused to put out a cigarette and get out of her car, she was arrested after a struggle with Encinia and booked into the Waller County jail. Days later she was found dead in her cell. The death was ruled a suicide and it was later revealed that Bland had a history of mental health issues and may have suffered from depression.

Mitchell said she trusts the highway patrol doesn't want to arrest people for minor offenses, but said the current DPS rules are not clear enough to prevent what happened to Bland. And it happens more frequently than that. She said her group looked at two months of bookings into the Harris County jail in 2016 and found that 11 percent were people arrested on a charge related to a traffic violation.

A spokesman for the Harris County Sheriff's Office could not speak to the validity of Mitchell's numbers, but stressed that the jail population has been in decline since Sheriff Ed Gonzalez was elected in 2016. The jail population has dropped from 9,000 to about 8,300 as the sheriff has stressed reforms to keep people from being locked up for minor offenses.

Though the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition didn't identify the arresting agency in those bookings in Harris County, Mitchell said the data shows that law enforcement needs refined rules. By changing the rules at DPS, she said it could set a standard for other local law enforcement to follow to assure people are not losing their freedom over not using a turn signal or speeding.

The Texas Young Republican Federation is among the groups pushing for the same reforms and have signed onto the Just Liberty petition. Jason Vaughn of the Texas Young Republicans and a Round Rock resident, said at the Thursday hearing that groups like his believe government should always be careful before taking someone's liberty away -- even if for a brief time.

PSC commission chairman Steven Mach, of Houston, made clear in questioning Mitchell that there are two sides to why traffic issues turn into something more and stressed the role of people pulled over potentially escalating the situation.

"We've made great strides in terms of having the public be informed about the importance of cooperation and courtesy for police who are just trying to do their job," Mach said after listening to Mitchell and six others who testified for the rule change.

Mach also questioned why the groups are not pushing the Legislature to make the change instead of pushing a rule change that would just affect DPS. Advocates have tried to pass changes to state law, but have so far failed.

Originally the ideas were part of a bill named after Bland, but those provisions were stripped out of the legislation before the Sandra Bland Act was passed and signed into law. That legislation now focuses on requiring jail staff to immediately determine if an inmate suffers from mental illness and divert that person to a mental health facility.
Solomiansky district court of Kyiv has extended the pre-trial preventive measure for suspended head of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine Roman Nasirov until October 21.

The corresponding decision was taken by the court at a meeting on Wednesday evening, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported.

After the court session, prosecutor of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, Andriy Perov said investigators have reason to believe that Nasirov still has a British citizen's passport, which he hasn't handed in, and this is the grounds for extending the preventive measure against him.

As reported, on March 2, 2017, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine told Nasirov he is suspected of committing crimes pursuant to Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (misuse of public office leading to serious consequences).

Kyiv's Solomiansky District Court on March 7 remanded Nasirov in custody for 60 days and set bail at UAH 100 million. On March 16, SAPO said Nasirov and his wife had posted UAH 100 million bail.

On June 2 Kyiv's Solomiansky District Court turned down a request by Nasirov to change the terms of his pretrial detention.

On July 28, director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) Artem Sytnyk said that investigators of NABU completed the investigation of the case against the dismissed head of the State Fiscal Service Roman Nasirov, who had been handed a final suspicion.
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AUSTIN - A federal judge on Wednesday again tossed out Texas' voter ID law, ruling that a watered-down version the Legislature passed this year still discriminates against black and Latino voters.

U.S. District Court Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos of Corpus Christi said Senate Bill 5, approved in this year's regular legislative session, did not fix the discriminatory aspects of Senate Bill 14, passed in 2011, which created one of the strictest voter ID laws in the nation.

Attorney General Ken Paxton immediately called the ruling "outrageous" and pledged to appeal it. Groups representing minority voters, however, cheered the decision as a victory.

The ruling comes after a judicial panel invalidated two of Texas' congressional districts. Together, the legal issues could affect upcoming elections in Texas, including primaries for state and federal office set to take place in March.

Republicans in Texas have for years fought to require voters to show certain documents before casting a ballot, citing concerns over voter fraud.

The latest iteration, known as Senate Bill 5, still requires voters to present one of seven acceptable forms of photo ID to cast a ballot. But it lets people without such identification vote, so long as they sign an affidavit and bring paperwork, such as a utility bill or paycheck, showing the person's name and address.

Paxton and the Trump administration's Department of Justice argued those changes cured the law of any discriminatory effect or intent, but in her 27-page ruling Ramos disagreed.

More Information Voter ID law's timeline 2011: The original law (SB 14) required voters to present one of seven forms of photo ID. 2014: U.S. Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos ruledSB 14 is discriminatory. 2016: The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled SB 14 is discriminatory. June 2017: A revised law (SB 5) was signed that created options for voters who say they cannot "reasonably" obtain an ID. Wednesday: Judge Ramos rules that SB 5 preserves the original bill's discriminatory features. See More Collapse

"The provisions of SB 5 fall far short of mitigating the discriminatory provisions of SB 14," she wrote.

The judge went point by point, explaining why she was ruling that SB 5 didn't cut it.

The legislation trades one obstacle to voting with another, she wrote, "replacing the lack of qualified photo ID with an overreaching affidavit threatening severe penalties for perjury." The result could be a chilling effect on voters, who out of fear or misunderstanding may not show up on election day, she wrote.

She cited the requirement for a voter to attest on the Declaration of Reasonable Impediment form the reason why he or she doesn't have one of the limited forms of photo ID that the state accepts - something the judge said doesn't have anything to do with the stated purpose of preventing voter fraud.

"Requiring a voter to address more issues than necessary under penalty of perjury and enhancing that threat by making the crime a state jail felony appear to be efforts at voter intimidation," she wrote. "The record reflects historical evidence of the use of many kinds of threats and intimidation against minorities at the polls - particularly having to do with threats of law enforcement and criminal penalties."

Ramos, who first tossed out the law in 2014, also criticized SB 5 for not meaningfully expanding the number of acceptable photo IDs, which allow for a concealed handgun license, but not a college student ID, for example. It also doesn't allow for federal or Texas state government IDs, "even those it issues to its own employees," she noted in the ruling.

Overall, she ruled, the approved list "perpetuates the selection of types of ID most likely to be possessed by Anglo voters and, disproportionately, not possessed by Hispanics and African-Americans," she wrote.

Paxton insisted the changes made to Texas voter ID law this year resolved all issues raised by the 5th Circuit Court.

"The U.S. Department of Justice is satisfied that the amended voter ID law has no discriminatory purpose or effect," he said in a statement. "Safeguarding the integrity of elections in Texas is essential to preserving our democracy. The 5th Circuit should reverse the entirety of the district court's ruling."

Plaintiffs in the case, including Congressman Marc Veasey, D- Fort Worth, said the ruling demonstrates again that the voter ID law intentionally discriminates against Texas citizens.

"As the lead plaintiff in Veasey v. Abbott, I am proud that we have so far successfully challenged and blocked these illegal efforts to restrict voting. It is time for Texas Republican leaders to end shameful efforts to hold power through voter suppression," Veasey said in a statement.

Rolando Rios, a lawyer representing the Texas Association of Hispanic County Judges and Commissioners, is confident the ruling will be upheld on appeal.

"We are very pleased with the ruling, it eliminates the voter ID law by root and branch because of the intent to discriminate against Hispanics," he said.

Andrea Zelinski contributed to this report.
The entirety of Padre Island National Seashore's 70-mile stretch along the Texas Coast has been shut down "until further notice" as Hurricane Harvey continues to bear down.

Harvey is expected to make landfall as a Category 3 hurricane near the chunk of land around Houston and Corpus Christi. The storm was upgraded to a hurricane at around noon Thursday.
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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is holding negotiations with United States Secretary of Defense James Mattis in Kyiv on Thursday.

The meeting began at the Ukrainian presidential administration office at midday. Poroshenko and Mattis are expected to make remarks to the press after the talks.

The Ukrainian president, the U.S. secretary of defense and the defense ministers of a number of other countries attended a Ukraine Independence Day parade in Kyiv's Independence Square earlier on Thursday.

When speaking prior to the Pentagon chief's arrival, Poroshenko underscored the importance of the upcoming talks and said that the U.S. delegation's visit was crucial for efforts to strengthen Ukraine's defense capabilities.

Apart from his talks with Poroshenko, Mattis will also meet with Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak.

During their bilateral meeting, Poltorak and Mattis "will discuss the current security situation in the country and in the world, key aspects of reforms ongoing in the Ukrainian Armed Forces and major avenues for further cooperation between the two countries' defense agencies," the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
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The company has become one of the countrys biggest maritime training employers  second only to the Navy  thanks to its scheme which sees the next generation of skippers receive training and mentoring from launch masters who are nearing retirement.

Real Journeys is not just learning about diversity and inclusion, its living it every day as part of its operation, said Bev Cassidy-Mackenzie, chief executive of Diversity Works NZ.

They are deserving winners and prove that diversity and inclusion is not solely the domain of corporations based in big cities; its alive and well in heartland New Zealand.



Diversity Awards NZ 2017 Award winners

Supreme Award  Real Journeys
JillianCain via Getty Images

One of the most pronounced aspect of the populist wave which has swept over parts of the West has been the emergence of businessmen - always men - as alleged standard-bearers of "the people". Donald Trump and Rex Tillerson in the U.S. have their counterparts in Britain's Brexit movement, many of whom claimed that their business experience gave them insight into how best to steer the country's future. Mark Zuckerberg is even rumored to fancy his chances at the presidency in 2020. For the plutocrats, involvement in politics usually means a substantial pay cut, but in compensation it feeds the ego. It also offers the opportunity to implement pro-business policies. But what's in it for "the people" who support them?

The appeal of businessmen in politics is certainly not based on the historical score card. Since Herbert Hoover, the four presidents with successful backgrounds in business - both Bushes, Carter and Hoover himself - oversaw the worst GDP performances of all modern presidents. Hoover and another businessman-turned-president, Warren Harding, are frequently considered two of the worst U.S. presidents in history. By contrast, Harry Truman - who ran a Kansas City haberdashery shop into the ground in the recession following World War I - oversaw substantial economic growth. There is no evidence for a link between business acumen and economic stewardship.

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Nor, in theory, is there any reason to expect that the skillsets required to be a successful entrepreneur or corporate leader would translate well into democratic politics. In the U.S., the president is often idealised as the "commander-in-chief" or, as George W. Bush put it, "the decider". But the position as head of a democratic government is best understood as that of arbiter-in-chief. Democratic politics appears slow, messy and indecisive because it requires balancing the legitimate claims of seemingly endless constituencies. Its checks and balances are designed to avoid sudden ruptures with the old ways until the consequences for each group in society can be calculated, debated, and hedged against. Silicon Valley "disruptors" and authoritarian CEOs might find their services more useful elsewhere.

The need to arbitrate between the needs of so many different groups requires a fundamentally different mindset to that required to pander to the needs of the one group that looms largest for most chief execs: the shareholders. It requires creativity, determination and smarts to make a success of a large enterprise in the cutthroat world of global capitalism. But it also means being able to embrace a relatively narrow set of goals, and impatience with "externalities" such as the environmental damage caused by business which negatively impact the rest of society. It's no surprise that when businessmen get the reins of political power, one of their first instincts is to make it easier for their brethren to pursue the bottom line - and ignore social goods - by abolishing regulation.

Why, then, have businessmen been so adept at positioning themselves as tribunes of "the people" during the populist wave? One reason is impatience with traditional elites in Western democracies - the lobbyists, party hacks and journalists who shape public debate and influence policy. People who believe that democratic politicians have delivered them neither dignity or economic security see appeal in manly deciders who will move boldly and "drain the swamp" of the dithering establishment. No matter that the precise content of the decisions to be made is often obscure - the very readiness to break taboos and sweep aside the establishment gives them credentials. It is a form of worship of the will, the impulse to act, which we are familiar with from the history of European fascism.

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The road to power for the plutocrats is also paved with gold. In a society which views wealth as the main marker of worldly success, the businessman establishes his credibility by having amassed so much of it. For many people, mastery of the intricate rituals of diplomacy or the democratic decision-making process is remote from their daily lives. To achieve it does not command respect. But making your first billion is not only a relatable desire but also seems to denote a mastery of the "real world" of deals and practical striving. Never mind that the sort of knowledge required to run a real estate empire hardly translates into the expert knowledge needed to broker a multilateral trade deal. As British populist politician Michael Gove remarked, "the people" have had enough of "experts" they cannot relate to.
Theresa May with King Salman of Saudi Arabia. Copyright, Number 10.

It was apparently without irony that the UK Mission to the United Nations marked World Humanitarian Day on August 19th by tweeting its support for the #NotATarget campaign. The Tweets focused on the rights of children, as well as on schools, hospitals and other civilian sites and services, rightly arguing that they should never be targets in war.

Only two days prior, a leaked UN report had accused Saudi forces of killing hundreds of children as a result of the terrible bombing campaign it has waged against Yemen for the last two and a half years. It is a bombardment which has been armed and supported by the UK government right from the start.

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Almost 3.8 billion worth of arms have been licensed to the Saudi regime since the war began. These include the same Typhoon fighter jets which are flying over Yemen, and the Paveway IV bombs which are being dropped from the sky.

The results have been devastating, and have created one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. Over 10,000 people have been killed as a direct consequence of the air strikes, with many more dying as a result of the terrible breakdown of the health system and infrastructure.

UNICEF warns that 10 million children have been left in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, with most lacking basic medical care, adequate nutrition, fresh drinking water, suitable sanitation and education.

Recent months have seen the spread of cholera, a deadly yet preventable disease that is caused by consuming contaminated food or water. According to estimates from the World Health Organisation (WHO), it has already infected 500,000 Yemeni people, killing almost 2,000.

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A recent analysis by Oxfam found it to be the worst cholera crisis on record, with researchers reaching the horrifying conclusion that "more people in Yemen have contracted cholera than any country has suffered in a single year since modern records began."

The situation is dire, but it is a man-made crisis. That is one reason why a group of medical experts, writing for the Lancet, last week accused the UK government, and others that are arming Saudi forces, of playing "a crucial role in creating conditions conducive to the spread of cholera."

Despite her government's complicity in the tragedy, Theresa May has said she wants to forge a 'deeper partnership' and an 'intensification' in the UK's relationship with Saudi Arabia. It is a relationship she has pulled out all stops to impress and defend, with arms sales, kind words and a high profile state visit to Riyadh at Easter.

UK arms export criteria clearly states that, if there is a 'clear risk' that weapons 'might' be used in a serious violation of international humanitarian law, then an arms sale should not go ahead. There are few who have been accused of violation as serious as those which a UN Expert Panel and many of the world's leading NGOs have accused Saudi forces of committing in Yemen.

None of this has passed without controversy in the UK. Arms sales to Saudi have been the subject of intense debate, with the High Court recently considering a Judicial Review application from Campaign Against Arms Trade, which argued that the arms sales haven't just been immoral but also illegal.

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After months of deliberation, the Judges came down on the government's side, a verdict which campaigners fear will be regarded as a green light for further arms sales to despots, dictatorships and human rights abusers. The verdict is being appealed.

In the meantime, Saudi military representatives are among those expected to fly into East London in three weeks time for Defence & Security Equipment International 2017 (DSEI), one of the biggest arms fairs in the world. While there, they will be greeted by government ministers, glad-handed by civil servants and descended on by arms dealers and representatives from supposedly 'respectable' companies like BAE Systems.

Thousands of activists will gather outside the Excel Centre, which has the dubious honour of hosting this carnival of the grotesque. A week of action has been called, which will include people from all sorts of groups and all walks of life, united in a bid to stop the arms sales and to end Downing Street and Whitehall's support for the brutal devastation that has been inflicted on the people of Yemen.

Thousands have been killed, vital and lifesaving infrastructure has been destroyed, and the worst cholera epidemic in the world has taken root. What more will it take for Theresa May to live up to the messages being Tweeted by her colleagues at the UN? What more will it take to stop the government she leads from arming those that show such a callous disregard for human life?
When Donald Trump first stepped into the Oval Office eight months ago, sections of the business community were cautiously optimistic.

The real estate mogul was talking their language. His America First economic narrative was positive and his endless promises to spearhead a revival of previously stalwart American industries seemed genuine.

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US business leaders - albeit those outside of Silicon Valley - were reasonably buoyant about their prospects under his mantle. Many were happy to align their brands with this new, straight-talking outsider. It made business sense. He was a disruptor.

However, total pandemonium in the Trump White House, and months of relentless feuds, factionalism and controversies have finally come to a head.

All in all, the last 10 days or so have been nothing short of catastrophic for Trump's presidency and have mortally wounded his relationship with US business. Both the media and the political class were already overwhelmingly stacked against him. But now, business is starting to turn its back on him too.

The final straw came just days ago. His response to a protest by white supremacists and Neo-Nazis resulting in death and mayhem in Charlottesville, has laid bare Trump's failure to understand his role and lead the nation in a time of crisis.

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This lack of authority and judgement has finally tipped American businesses over the edge. Association with him is damaging their reputation. He's poisoning their brands. So his economic advisory councils have imploded and the man who once branded himself as the master of the deal now cuts a lonely figure.

First to go was the CEO of Merck, one of America's - and the world's - largest pharmaceutical companies. Then the chips began to fall. The heads of Intel, Under Armour and GE woke up, smelt the coffee, and quickly followed suit in the face of the backlash over the president's comments.

Once the scale of the crisis had set in, the race was on to see whether the walkouts would become wholesale, or the president would disband these councils in their entirety.

Trump claimed he got there first, taking to Twitter to announce their wind-up. However, unlike the boardroom-kingpin character he spun for 14 seasons on NBC's The Apprentice, corporate America just isn't taking "You're fired" for an answer.

The president's relationship with big business has always been conflicted and marred by outbursts.

On the campaign trail, in public, he launched visceral attacks on America's corporates for exporting jobs, dodging tax, and allowing foreign investors to monopolise the US economy. Yet as soon as he assumed office, the private narrative took over and he offered the top jobs in his administration to the bigwigs at these very firms.

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But just last week, with a single tweet in two hours of pre-market trading, Trump's latest sucker punch against Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos saw around $5.7bn briefly wiped off the online retailer's stock market valuation.

The likes of General Motors and Boeing have also been caught in the crosshairs of one of Trump's 140-character tirades. As president-elect, he also slammed the defence contractor Lockheed Martin via Twitter, which saw its valuation drop by almost $4bn.

As a maverick outsider, Trump touted his business credentials; this would more than compensate for his non-existent experience in both domestic and international politics, he said.

But his promise to lead the charge towards US economic prosperity by managing the government like his business empire depended on him having the big corporates onside. And that now seems impossible long term.

America's tech giants had already openly rejected Trump's agenda, with anti-Trump feeling so widespread that there are even murmurings of Mark Zuckerberg running against Trump in 2020 on a pro-globalisation platform.

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In a frenzied effort to avoid guilt by association, businesses across the board are now following suit and taking active steps to distance themselves from the president's administration, albeit subtly, as its disjointed alliance with corporate America turns sour.
The general election was historic for many reasons - Britain had a stark choice to elect its first female Prime Minister of the 21st century, nationalise many of the country's utilities and infrastructure to a degree not seen since 1945, or even renege on the decision to leave the European Union after all.

Whoever took on the reins on 9th June would undoubtedly be taking on the most challenging brief since David Lloyd George or Winston Churchill, Britain's leaders during the great wars of the twentieth century.

Now that the dust has settled, and parliamentarians will soon return to Westminster from the summer recess to take up the challenge of Brexit, you would be forgiven for overlooking the fintech sector in a list of Theresa May's top priorities for this two year parliament that has the potential to define a generation.

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Fintech may not be at the top of many commentators inbox's, but it has a huge part to play in Britain's future. The industry is after all currently worth 7 billion to the UK economy and employs 60,000 people up and down the country.

The UK is Europe's fintech capital and home to four unicorns - that's those businesses worth over $1 billion - and seven more exciting fintech companies currently operating on our shores have been forecast to join this elite billion-dollar club. Many other start-ups look promising and I wish them well for the future.

Brexit is clearly Britain's main preoccupation, it will affect every sector, some will benefit, some I fear may not do so well in the long-term. The fintech sector relies on foreign talent to drive its businesses, many of these businesses are born global and so depend on the skills, knowledge and experience of Europe's graduates to power their growth in the EU, the world's largest economy.

Understandably the lack of certainty over Brexit is a concern for many entrepreneurs (the users of our digital currency).

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However, I think in the near-term not much will change, a lot will depend on how far policy modifications emanating from Brussels will influence British trading patterns. Without British diplomats occupying a place at the negotiating table, access to the world's largest single market could become far more difficult.

But frankly many of the arguments that politicians are currently grappling with are rather parochial. They miss the wider revolutions that are taking place in financial technology globally. While Britain and the EU argue around trade agreements and currency clearing they forget that new technologies are increasingly taking these decisions out of their hands.

The power of peer-to-peer digital currency trading is that it is between individuals on a global scale, no banks or states playing middleman. That is where the power will lie in future. Britain's politicians need to start thinking bigger than Britain - financial technologies don't need to have borders.

One of the reasons I started my business here was because Britain offered a European base for my organisation, it has an enviable reputation for being open, tolerant and fair. I hope and expect it continues to be exactly that.
Kyiv is counting on the delivery of defensive armaments, primarily air defense and anti-tank systems from Western countries, Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak said.

"Of course, a time will come when we supply the Ukrainian army with modern weapons unaided. However, at the present time, Western partners' support is of paramount importance. This is a question of solely defensive weapons, first and foremost, air defense and anti-tank systems we are very much in need of. We are ready to receive them and promptly teach our troops to use them correctly and efficiently," Poltorak said in an interview with the Narodna Armiya (The People's Army) publication.
Media producers and regulators need to take a considered approach to how they portray suicide in drama and film. Campaigners can learn from other public health debates such as the portrayal of cigarette smoking.

Controversy over Netflix and one of its latest hit shows was sparked by a study published last month suggesting that teen drama '13 Reasons Why' may have increased suicidal ideation in viewers.

The study was published the same day as the news that Apple had been pressured into removing VPNs from its China App Store, making it even harder for residents of the world's most populous country to access content from the likes of Netflix, Facebook and YouTube.

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On the surface, these two stories only seem to have a passing relevance to one another, but they both feed into broader discussions about censorship and the extent to which content ought to be restricted. Before we get onto that, let's consider the Netflix study.

Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the study found that Google search queries involving suicide increased by 19% during the days following the release of 13 Reasons Why, which centres around a teen suicide.

Members of the media were quick to draw their own conclusions from the paper, with The Telegraph suggesting that the Netflix show "should be withdrawn" due to the possibility that it is "driving young people to consider suicide". Meanwhile, the journal article's authors suggested that shows ought to be evaluated before release to identify potential risks, and that troubling scenes ought to be removed retrospectively -- something that is done in China.

Before rooting for all-out censorship, it's worth considering that the study's findings were not all bad. Search queries following exposure to the show also increasing for 'suicide hotlines' and 'suicide prevention', indicating "elevated suicide awareness". While various conclusions could be drawn from this, at the very least it suggests that the show increased interest in suicide-prevention and help-seeking. This fits with the narrative of public health campaigners that advocate openness with young people about challenging issues, such as those concerning sexual health -- so long as balanced, good quality information is made available. It might have been interesting, therefore, for the study to have considered which particular resources the search queries led to, and how useful they might have been. Information about this could be used to help funnel search queries (and distressed individuals) towards useful resources - something that Google has shown interest in facilitating since as early as 2010, and that Facebook is beginning to take more seriously.

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Stepping back from the specifics of the case, the idea that there can be utility in being exposed to unsettling art and media illustrates a fundamental belief in western culture; one not typically found in Asia. In western societies, we tend to interpret the Three Wise Monkeys and the aphorism, 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil' as indicative of wilful blindness and a turning of one's back on moral duties. By contrast, in eastern cultures such as in China and Japan, there is a sense that unnecessary exposure to vice serves to perpetuate unhelpful emotions and ideas. The truth perhaps lies somewhere between these two positions.

While westerners may criticise Chinese censorship, most of us still believe in limits when it comes to the exposure to content; for instance, we don't necessarily desire young children to be needlessly exposed to graphic violence. Nor is exposure to morally challenging material useful if it comes at us so frequently as to leaves us desensitised or fatigued.

How do we balance these positions from the perspective of public policy? How do we allow art to be expressed freely without it causing needless harm to those exposed to it? This question strikes at the heart of the Netflix debate about the portrayal of suicide. The authors of the journal paper suggest that content producers ought to follow WHO media guidelines on suicide, but these guidelines only refer to news and documentary media -- not to fictional content. In fact, of all of the literature that guides news media on how to cover suicide, guidance around fictional content is virtually non-existent.

Some of the non-fiction guidelines remain relevant in the world of fiction. Before or after the credits, films and dramas can look to provide helpline numbers and appropriate 'factfiles' that help balance views and educate the audience (examples of positive moderation). But leaving aside debates about the 'philosophy of art', morally dubious ideas and characters that engage in unwise activities (and say untrue things) are often seen as an important feature of artistic, fictional content. This sets it apart from non-fiction.

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In developing guidance for fictional content, we might do well to look to parallel cases of other public health concerns, such as smoking. Studies over the past 10 years have linked exposure to smoking in films with increases in adolescent smoking. Subsequently, lobbying groups have been pushing for the film industry to award R ratings to films that feature smoking prominently. While this remains an ongoing struggle, it seems reasonable that impressionable children should be protected by 'parental guidance' when it comes to exposure to potentially harmful health behaviours. As for how age restrictions can be enforced with digital devices, this is something for technology companies to figure out, and figure it out they will if regulators pressure them.
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Saying a product promotes "anti-ageing" is no longer acceptable.

In the battle against ageism this is something of a landmark victory. Age UK says that ageism, or age discrimination can impact on someone's confidence, job prospects, financial situation and quality of life. They also claim the way older people are represented in the media can have a wider impact on the public's attitudes.

As a marketer I have always thought it counterproductive that brands invest very little in targeting older consumers. This has much to do with the youthfulness of the industry; advertising agency personnel tend to be younger than the population as a whole. Clients are also very sensitive about positioning their brands too far from the proverbial youth market. In basic terms youth equals hip, whereas old is tired, and potentially (they fear) a one way trip to the brand knackers yard in the sky.

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To be fair there is also evidence to prove that younger consumers are far more likely to try new brands than over 55's. But maybe that has a lot to do with poor communication. Why should older adults engage with brands when they feel no affinity?

I wrote about this subject with the HuffPost at the beginning of 2015. This coincided with Age UK research revealing that 67% of older adults believed that advertising portrayed them negatively, with 75% not relating to advertising at all.

Bright old things

Ironically my article was inspired by a November 2014 cover feature in The Times Magazine entitled "Do You Want to Live Forever", which predicted that "the global anti-aging market will hit 216 billion by 2018". Looking for any signs of change I was delighted to visit 'Bright Old Things' at Selfridges, which offered a fresh twist on the store's Bright Young Things series profiling the newest and most exciting creative talents in fashion.

I asked Selfridges' Creative Director Linda Hewson to explain her strategy: "As a centenary-old department store which has been successfully reinventing itself over and over again, it made so much sense for us to shine a light on the wealth of talent and experience harnessed by bright, older creatives. These people can definitely teach us all a thing or two about growing old whilst staying young at heart and relevant."

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Bright Old Things launched December 2014 to great critical and public acclaim, which possibly inspired other department stores along with fashion and beauty brands to recalibrate their own marketing strategies to better account for the needs and desires of an ageing population.

Last year industry bible Marketing Week joined the movement with a leader article headlined "Over-50's marketing should stop focusing on age".

It began: "Over a third of the UK population is aged over 50 yet representation of this demographic in advertising is lacking and tends to be stereotypical. Just as the term 'millennial' should not be used as a catch-all for younger people, lumping mature consumers into a '50-plus' demographic is lazy and off-putting for consumers."

The article revealed that the Helen Mirren campaign for L'Oreal's Age Perfectly Golden Age day cream was born out of consumer research that helped the brand recognise a need to ensure women of that age are "not invisible" and give them the "presence and confidence to stand shoulder to shoulder in any room".

According to Hugh Pile, CMO at L'Oreal: "Brands should celebrate (older consumers) because from a strict marketing perspective they are a highly valuable audience. They are loyal, cash-rich and quite frankly there is so much to celebrate from their lives and experiences. That was why Helen was such a strong fit for us because she is a bold, confident and sassy individual who reflects those values."

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Anti-ageing is out

Fast forward to August 2017 and The Sunday Times headline reads: "How dare you say I'm ageing, my face cream is a youth liberator."

The basic premise of the News feature is cosmetic companies and magazines have been ditching the term 'anti-ageing' in their quest to lure the older woman.

According to The Sunday Times the American fashion magazine Allure is at the forefront of the movement, after the magazine banned the word "anti-ageing" and is recruiting celebrities to its cause led by, you guessed it, Helen Mirren.

Speaking in the September (17) edition of the magazine Dame Helen said that when L'Oreal originally reached out she made the same point: "I said, this word 'anti-ageing' - we know we're getting older, you just want to look and feel as great as you can on a daily basis."

Allure's editor in chief, Michelle Lee, said the term was "subtly reinforcing the message that ageing is a condition we need to battle...Growing older is a wonderful thing. I'm not going to lie and say that everything about ageing is great. We're not the same at 18 as we are at 80. But we need to stop looking at our life as a hill that we start rolling uncontrollably down past 35."

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The Sunday Times points out that the cosmetics industry sells nearly 350bn worth of products globally each year. Consequently it is extremely sensitive to the feelings of its customers and is quick to identify trends - especially when its older customers are often the wealthiest.

Kristof Neiryneck, vice president and global category director skincare at the Walgreens Boots Alliance, told the Sunday Times: "It's important to have the best possible skin for your age. We are not 'anti' growing older and we use positive language in our product names to reinforce this. We are inspired by the modern women around the world who defy the conventions of age".

Coming of age

It looks like the fashion and beauty industry is finally coming of age and I predict that other sectors won't be too far behind, especially digital health and assisted living - or agile ageing as I prefer to brand it - which is expected to become a trillion-dollar industry in its own right. More about that next time.

It would be wildly optimistic to suggest that ageism is dead and buried, and you can read more about the subject in this excellent blog by Nicola Palmarini (IBM Global manager solutions for ageing populations), however I do believe the tide is slowly but surely turning.
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It has become a truism now to say that the vote to leave the European Union last year was because of a desire for lower immigration. But it is also true that the vast majority of the British people - Leavers and Remainers - want EU nationals already living in Britain to stay here, to have their rights protected, and to continue to contribute to our country. That is why the new immigration figures released this morning are so concerning.

The top line of the new figures will probably be that annual net migration in the last year was 246,000; a substantial fall, though still far, far away from the Government's target of bringing it below 100,000. But buried in the report was a truly concerning statistic - that the numbers of EU citizens emigrating from Britain has risen sharply, by 33,000. The Office for National Statistics themselves say this increase is statistically significant.

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This truly worrying statistic is symptomatic of the failings of this Government. Their obsession with draconian cuts in immigration is sending a signal to many people already living in Britain that they are no longer wanted. This unwelcoming attitude was summed up yesterday, when it emerged that the Home Office has sent letters to up to a hundred EU citizens, with an absolute right to live in Britain, threatening them with deportation. One of the things that makes Britain great is our tolerance and our openness to the rest of the world, and I fear that this Government's attitude is putting that at risk.

If this Brexodus of EU citizens continues, all of us will be made worse off. Our public services need the work done by EU citizens, with more than 60,000 of them working in our National Health Service alone. Higher education is dependent on international students, who support over 200,000 jobs in university towns and cities the length and breadth of Britain. And for the sake of our public finances, EU citizens - who are generally young, working, and not in need of state assistance - are a huge boon. Researchers at UCL found that they are worth 20bn to the public finances. Think how much worse the deficit would become if too many of them just up and leave.

Urgent action needs to be taken to prevent the flow of EU citizens leaving Britain from turning into a flood once we leave the EU. First, symbols matter. There must no longer be any talk of deportation letters, 'go home vans', and the rest of this Government's unnecessary anti-immigration apparatus. But policy matters too. A good place to start would be for the Government to drop its damaging and unachievable target of cutting annual net migration to the tens of thousands, as Open Britain has been campaigning for for months. With the current figure running at more than twice this level, Ministers would need to reduce migration by a staggering 146,000 to hit their cap. Nobody believes this can be hit, and the damage that would be done to our economy if it was achieved wouldn't bear thinking about.

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We need an immigration system that works for our economy, public services and universities; for EU citizens who have made their lives here; and also for the millions of people who voted Leave in the hope of more control over migration. We do need reform. Current EU rules allow us to remove people with no prospect of supporting themselves from this country after a few months. We can learn from other EU countries in finding ways to link public services more closely to contribution. And we should crack down hard on unscrupulous employers who seek to recruit exclusively from the EU when there are British people who would want to apply for available jobs. But all of these remedies are achievable within the Single Market. Ministers should not be pulling out of the world's biggest trading bloc. Instead, imaginative diplomacy should be able to square the circle of protecting our economy and delivering a fairer immigration system.
Children with a father in prison are often the innocent victims torn away from their dads and left counting the days until they can visit them.

As if that's not tough enough, thousands of children are refused the chance to spend quality time with their fathers.

At the crux of the matter is a prison scheme that grants family visits as a reward for male prisoners for demonstrating certain behaviours. While intended to instil discipline in male prisoners, the Incentives and Earned Privileges Scheme (IEP) also hurts the ones that have done nothing wrong - their children.

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Family visits are being refused if fathers have not reached a certain level in the scheme.

Motivation

Dads are entitled to two hours of visiting time every four weeks. If they want more, or family visits during weekends or holidays, they have to reach a higher level in the scheme. They can do this by demonstrating motivation by signing up to do courses or helping prison officers or fellow inmates. If they fail to make the grade, or misbehave, they don't get extra family visits.

Tough, you might say. But tough on who? Tough on the innocent child looking forward to precious time playing with their dad. Tough on the distraught child who is now having sleepless nights. Tough on the child whose emotional development may never recover. And perhaps even, in the long run, tough on you and I, as the likelihood of dads reoffending will be higher.

A child's right

How can we allow a situation which knowingly causes such upset to children as a means to teach the dad a lesson? As Barnardo's Vice President Floella Benjamin said in the House of Lords last month, it should be a child's right to visit their dad in prison, not for a dad to earn the right to see their child.

What makes this situation not just cruel but nonsensical, is that this rule doesn't apply to women's prisons. Guidance for women's prisons states that 'children should not be penalised from visiting or contacting their mother because of the mother's behaviour'. Are we really saying that a father is less important than a mother? It is unlikely a child sees it that way.

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And we aren't talking about a handful of examples. Around 200,000 children are affected by parental imprisonment each year in England and Wales and children make nearly 10,000 visits each week to public prisons. Barnardo's supports thousands of children and their families affected by a parent in prison every year.

Mental health problems, bullying and poverty

It's also a fact that life chances tend to be worse for children of prisoners. They are more likely to experience mental health problems, bullying, poverty and a decrease in school attendance and achievement. They are also more likely to become offenders themselves.

We urged the government to end this scheme a year ago and were told it was under review. But we're still waiting, and children are still suffering.

Thankfully there are some positive moves. Lord Farmer's recently published review said good family relationships are urgently needed and "indispensable" to a prisoner achieving rehabilitation. The Ministry of Justice's own research shows that, for a prisoner who receives regular visits from a partner or family member, the odds of reoffending are 39 per cent lower than for prisoners who had not received such visits.
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Terrorism affects our lives with quite miserable regularity at present. Most days we wake up with the niggling fear that somewhere in the world a man will have driven a car or lorry into a crowd. Or a man will have walked into a pop concert with an explosive. Or a man will have reversed his car into a protesting crowd. We are afraid of men in airports. We are afraid of men while on demonstrations and marches. We are afraid of men on public transport. We are afraid of men while we walk around cities.

Some men, and some women, will be bristling angrily already while reading this. I am using the word "man" they will be thinking. They will probably be shouting in annoyance, "that is sexist!" "Women kill too" they will protest.

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Truth isn't sexist. All of the people who have committed all of the most recent acts of global terrorism are men. All of them.

95% of the 437,000 global homicides each year have a male perpetrator. It isn't sexist. It is fact according to United Nations Office On Drugs and Crime (UNODC) figures.

It was therefore frustrating to see Jason Burke in the Guardian at the weekend finding all sorts of different links between the perpetrators of recent terrorist attacks except the one that was blindingly obvious. They are all men. Violent men.

Joan Smith wrote here about the other notable link amongst other recent male terrorists. They frequently, so frequently that it is impossible to exclude its relevance, have a history of violence against women. Often the violence is against women they are, or have been, in an intimate relationship with.

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Since that article one of the suspects in the Barcelona attack has been shown to have a history of domestic abuse. James Alex Fields Jr. the murderer in Charlottesville had a history of domestic abuse of his own mother.

At the time of the Barcelona terrorist attack ABC news reported that there was already an arrest warrant issued for Driss Oukabir, one of the suspects. It was for domestic violence. Not terrorism.

Or was it?

The World Health Organisation report 'Violence Against Women. Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Against Women' in 2016, showed that globally 30% of women will experience physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner.

Let's think about that. Terrorism is horrific. But 30% of the global population will not experience directly an act of terrorism that harms them physically. 30% of women will.

Most of the perpetrators of terrorism are male. Many of the perpetrators of acts of global terrorism also commit acts of terror against the women in their intimate relationships.

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On my project 'Ride for Murdered Women' the other day the woman I honoured on bike ride 72 was a 43-year-old, qualified solicitor by the name of Alison Jane Farr-Davies. Alison had been beaten to death and thrown downstairs naked by her boyfriend. The coroner recorded that one of her injuries was "penetrating cardiac injury'. I wasn't sure what that was. So I Googled. What I found was this...

"Cardiovascular penetrating injuries are common in military conflicts in large numbers. As a result most of the data are from major wars of the past century... Low velocity projectiles such as small fragments from anti-personnel and anti-tank mines, mortars, grenades, rockets and bombs are responsible for the majority of wounds" - US National Library Of Medicine

James Dean, her murderer, hit her like a rocket or a bomb. It could be said that he was her war. Being in a relationship with a violent man is similar to being in a war. It hurts like war. It is perpetual lived terror. It hurts like terrorism.

Violence and abuse of women is committed in such numbers that it is, and should be seen as, terrorism. It is designed to create terror in women specifically and to stop them going about their daily lives in safety.

It does. It should be tackled as a priority as high on the list of global governments as any extremist terrorist threat. There should be a COBRA meeting, or its global equivalent, called every day that a woman dies. A woman dies like this somewhere in the world every day.

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On visiting Thailand, I had images in my mind of subservient women who would see themselves as second-class citizens to men. My limited knowledge was that of 'Thai Brides' who could be purchased by mail order to accommodate the needs of men. I felt that their view of feminine would be deferential, accommodating, in service and self-sacrificing; rather than strong.

My journey began with a flight from London to Doha, Doha to Bangkok and finally Bangkok to Chiang Mai. The pilot (or captain) of this third flight was a woman; I was equally surprised and delighted when I heard her dulcet tones welcome us over the speaker system. Women in Thailand were not limited to being cabin crew, they could fly planes too!

I wondered whether this was a rare case, or were women empowered in Thailand to follow the career and life path of their choosing?

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As we drove from Chiang Mai airport to our hotel I saw huge portraits of a woman on the streets, the portraits were adorned with floral garlands and sometimes framed in intricate ornate gold. These portraits were of Thailand's Queen Sirikit, widowed in October 2016. Mother's day is celebrated on her birthday in August. It seemed that the Queen was equally revered as her husband and even took over while her husband entered the Buddhist Monkhood for a period of time.

Photo Credit: Shutterstock

I then learned of their recent prime minister, also female: Yingluck Shinawatra a Thai businesswoman and politician, a member of the Pheu Thai Party who became the 28th Prime Minister of Thailand following the 2011 general election. Yingluck was Thailand's first female Prime Minister and it's youngest in over 60 years. Unfortunately her time is clouded as she was removed from office on 7 May 2014 by a Constitutional Court decision that found her guilty on a charge of abuse of power, which she still disputes.

So women can get the top roles in Thailand, running the country and piloting planes, my preconceived ideas were very wrong, but what about the women who were not at the highest echelons of society, how did they fare?

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Well, there was Ploy, a taxi driver who was working twelve-hour shifts to make ends meet. She was a single parent; her husband passed away 13 years ago while renovating their home. Now her mum looks after her daughter while she works. "I am a strong single mum"; she says smiling, while driving me to dinner in town.

Photo Credit: Jenny Garrett

Then there was Aom who we met at the entrance to a temple, Aom is a Maechi, a Buddhist laywomen who has dedicated her life to religion, vowing celibacy. Maechi's occupy a position somewhere between that of an ordinary lay follower and an ordained Monk. Aom was dressed in white robes, unlike the Monks who dress in orange, she had a shaved head and a kind smile. She said that being a Maechi helped her, she had a broken heart after a long-term relationship in which she came home to find her partner in bed with someone else, and a difficult childhood in which her stepmother beat her so severely she had to have stitches, she showed us the scars. Yet she smiled and prayed and thanked Buddha while showing us around.

And then there was Nong, our male tour guide, who told us that he and his wife wanted another child but he would have to be a stay at home dad to make it happen. His wife's career meant that she earned more than him and they didn't have parents to help out with child care. He said that stay at home dads were still rare in Thailand, but increasing in numbers as women succeed in the corporate world. In 2016, the BBC reported that almost a third of business roles in Thailand were held by women.

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Photo Credit: Jenny Garrett

From Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand, I visited In Hua Hin a pretty beachside town, and then onto the city of Bangkok. Bangkok is well known for its vibrant street life and cultural landmarks, as well as its notorious red-light districts. Here I saw women earning money as street food stalls holders, hotels employees, shop assistants, office staff, tuk tuk drivers, masseurs and prostitutes. I cannot ignore the sex industry and the violence against women that exists within it. Thailand still has a problem with this, and although I personally didn't see it, it has been written about. Much like the instagram models that we always see fully made up, photo shopped and with perfect lighting, I never got to see the un made up, just woken up face of Thailand. If I had, I may have been saying that many women are victims rather than empowered view I have shared.

Thailand appears to be a very tolerant society, one that accepts you as you are. As a black person I obviously stood out as different, however I never felt anything but welcomed and accepted. I came across a number of 'lady boys' as the Thai people call them and no one batted an eyelid or treated them any differently.

Thailand really feels like an inclusive place. Yes there is poverty and there is wealth, but there also feels like opportunity. Most importantly there is acceptance, kindness and warmth, perhaps emanating from their faith and patriotism.

In the future, when I think of Thailand I won't think of Thai brides and subservient women, I will remember the female breadwinners, leaders and hard working women, helping the country, their families and themselves to thrive, however they can.

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It's one of the key questions of today that urgently needs answering - how can we reduce the pressure on A&E?

In England, A&E departments have targets to see, treat and then either admit or discharge at least 95% of patients within four hours. But they are struggling to achieve this.

The reasons why are complex, reflecting wider pressures on the NHS and social care. And while this is ultimately a problem for the big decision-makers to resolve, new research from the British Red Cross suggests we can all contribute.

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The study, commissioned by the Red Cross and conducted by the University of the West of England, Bristol and the University of Bristol, found that over a third of people surveyed attended A&E because they were worried and didn't know what to do.

More than half said they had sought advice before attending A&E, mostly from their GP surgery or relatives. Many expressed a desire to use A&E services appropriately, but found it difficult to know whether a health problem was severe enough to need urgent care.

The most common reasons for attending A&E were pain, falls, and other types of accidents resulting in minor injuries. Treating fever in children was another common reason for seeking help.

Clearly, many of us are confused about when and where to go for help. The fact that more than half sought advice elsewhere before attending A&E shows how difficult it can be to assess this.

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Yet at the same time, some of the most common reasons given for attending A&E were ones which could have been easily treated with a little knowledge of first aid. Unfortunately, the study found first aid was rarely attempted before attending A&E. Health-care professionals have called first aid a 'lost skill'.

To help ease the pressure on A&E, clearer public information is definitely needed. But if more of us learnt first aid we could also contribute by having both a better understanding of when to go to A&E, and more confidence around making those decisions.

This is particularly true for several groups of patients who, according to the research, use A&E frequently. First aid learning tailored to their needs could make a real difference - such as teaching parents of young children how to manage fever and vomiting.

Anyone interested in learning first aid can do so easily enough, right now. At the Red Cross we offer a range of ways for people to lean from a free mobile app, to hands-on courses.

But ultimately we would like everyone to have the opportunity to learn first aid at key stages throughout their lives, starting at school. This would help to equip a generation of people with the first aid skills they need to help in an emergency.

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We already know that first aid can and does save lives - we released a study last year which found that up to 59% of 'pre-hospital' deaths from injury could potentially be prevented if more people stepped in with some simple first aid.
In her Conservative Party conference speech last year, Theresa May rejected "supranational institutions that can override national parliaments and courts." She was even more explicit in her Lancaster House speech setting out the Government's Brexit position, back in January: "We will take back control of our laws and bring an end to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in Britain", she said. Finishing the role of the ECJ in Britain was, supposedly, a central, water-tight guarantee at the heart of the Government's Brexit plan. After the publication today of their position paper on disputes resolution, this guarantee is leaking like a sieve.

The paper was vague, but its leitmotif was the Government's climbdown on the role of the ECJ. They float future models for the UK, such as the EFTA Court and the EU-Moldova Agreement, which are subordinate to the ECJ in more or less all cases. They have admitted that all existing ECJ case law will remain in place, and even that the UK will need to pay close heed to future ECJ judgements in order to avoid regulatory divergence. And yesterday, in their paper on civil judicial cooperation, the Government pledged to continue to participate in the Lugano Convention, which states that courts from contracting parties to the Convention should take into consideration judgements made by the European Court of Justice.

In the last couple of days, the Government has made a slight but vitally important change to its rhetoric. Instead of ending the jurisdiction of the ECJ, as Theresa May promised in her Lancaster House speech, they now talk about ending its "direct" jurisdiction. This is classic obfuscation which should fool nobody; a distinction without a difference. All the models listed in the government's paper give the ECJ immense control over countries that are not EU members. Whether the ECJ's jurisdiction is direct or indirect, the implication is clear - Brexit will not mean taking back control of our laws in any meaningful way.

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The Government's red line on Euro-judges has been emphasised so repeatedly it is in danger of developing its own logic. We should remember the consequences of the Government's decision to impose this negotiating position on itself. They argue that Britain must pull out of the Single Market solely in order to "liberate" ourselves from the influence of the ECJ. But these papers reveal, through a mountain of fudge and equivocation, that the ECJ will continue to have influence over our country whether we are in the Single Market or not. The key question is: why is the Government deliberately damaging our economy, by giving up membership of the Single Market which is the best option to protect British jobs, trade and growth, when doing so will not bring back control of our laws in the way they promised? As the Open Britain group of which I am a member is campaigning for, we should remain in the Single Market after Brexit.

You won't find the answer in any speech by the Prime Minister. The truth is she, like David Cameron before her, is prioritising her own job instead of the the jobs of millions of British people, and trying to avoid a Tory party split. Her main priority is surviving her party conference with her Cabinet and backbenchers in open warfare over the EU. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking on Britain's timetable for withdrawal, triggered, at the insistence of her party's "Bluekip" wing, just before her disastrous general election which swallowed four precious months of negotiation time.
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Today around three-quarters of a million 16-year olds will find out results to their GCSE exams. A-level options, university courses, even the beginnings of whole careers can hinge on a series of numbers down a sheet a paper that represents the culmination of two years hard work.

Yet while it seems like this is one of the most important factors in how they will do in life, the world of opportunities is still heavily shaped by forces outside of their immediate control. Today we at the Adam Smith Institute publish a series of twelve policy suggestions that we believe could transform the fortunes of Britain's young. They should be done because they're right to do - but it wouldn't hurt the Tories to think about their self-interest and how to pick up some of the youth vote.

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Take the style of university course that these GCSE leavers may soon be applying to. With our state controlled system courses are almost concrete set as lasting three years. At the moment only 14 universities offer courses that last two years. Money for our universities comes mostly from central government (with the exception of just five private universities) and they are heavily incentivised by this funding stream to only offer courses that keep students enrolled for longer. But the longer that students are at university, the longer they're racking up debts despite their ability to earn money being heavily constrained. This could, and should, change. Students should have a greater set of choices of course lengths and the government should encourage that diversity when it provides taxpayer funds.

Once they're out of university, young people face a whole raft of new problems. High house prices, with low availability and a cut-throat rental market, make young life in urban areas precarious. The Tories should make new legal vehicles for three and five-year rents and provide stability to young tenants and landlords. They should also show that they are serious on housing across the country, especially in London. Allowing denser streets, making planning permits more easily transferrable, and devolving power over planning to city-regions would help kickstart a housebuilding revolution.

Higher costs and lower expectations led the youth vote to abandon the Conservatives at the last election. But young people are not everywhere so keen to look to leftist leaders like Jeremy Corbyn. In Germany young voters are flocking Chancellor Angela Merkel. She's been in power for 12 years, is called Mutti (or 'mum' in northern German), yet she is the preferred candidate for Chancellor of 57% of 18-24 year olds there. Mrs Merkel has done this by pursuing policy on areas that young people care about, including inculcating a liberal global outlook as she lead Germany to support an influx of refugees.

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Britain's Conservatives could show that they're internationalist relatively easily. By seeking to continue to have the freest possible movement with the European Union they could show young people they care about their future job prospects. But they should go further and get reciprocal working rights for young Britons to work in countries where they time-and-again say they want to live and work - Canada, Australia, New Zealand and even the USA. Global Britain cannot afford to be an empty phrase harking back to an idealised past but a promise to the next generation.

And when young people go abroad we shouldn't be hitting them with punitive taxes. If you want to travel abroad in order to study, work or even party in Ibiza, the government should not be adding a hefty penalty. Conservatives should be shouting with adulation at young people getting out into the world and should make it as easy as possible. Raising the Air Passenger Duty exemption to thirty (from 16 as it is now) wouldn't cost the treasury too much but would be noticeable for young people on tight budgets, showing that the government is on their side.

As young people across the country open those examination results, they'll see a verdict on the work that they've put in over the past two years. In two years more, they will be of voting age, and it won't be long before they get to cast their verdict on British politicians. If the Tories want that to be a good thing for them, they'd better start showing they're taking young people's concerns seriously.
Mike Kemp via Getty Images

This weekend thousands of people will take to the streets of Notting Hill in West London to celebrate Carnival.

Amidst the colour, music, food and celebration the Metropolitan Police will be deploying hundreds of officers to ensure everyone has a safe, friendly and crime free time.

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But it won't just be Bobbies on the Beat monitoring people's behaviour. The police will be using cameras to scan the faces of people in the crowds in order to weed out known troublemakers.

These cameras aren't just regular CCTV, they are armed with automatic facial recognition software.

Facial recognition sounds fairly benign. Right now you are probably visualising a policeman watching 100's of television screens showing CCTV images looking out for known criminals lingering in the crowd. Well, that might have been the case in the past, but with this technology the process is automated by an intelligent computer programme.

By creating a biometric algorithm of a person's face, this information can be fed into the facial recognition system enabling the cameras to scan multiple faces at a time, only alerting the officer when a match has been made. The system, we are told, does not save the faces which do not match, so those of us who are innocent by-passers have nothing to worry about.

What a good idea you may think. In an era of heightened security who doesn't want a system which automatically picks bad people out of crowds, preventing them from doing harm. Right?

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Except the promises that only known criminals or people on terror watch lists are being sought out aren't quite as they seem

The Home Office are currently investing millions of pounds in the building of a two-pronged facial recognition approach to policing.

One is the system being used at Notting Hill: a live scan of faces run against a watch list of known criminals.

The other is the creation of a system used to identify people from still images taken from CCTV, for example by comparing them against custody images held by the force. Both systems are currently being used outside of the law. There has been no public debate about the use of facial biometric recognition software, no debate in Parliament, and no proposed legislation.

This is particularly worrying when you consider that back in 2012 the High Court ruled that the retention of custody images of innocent people is unlawful.

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The Judges insisted the Government quickly address the problem, but it took the Home Office almost five years to publish their review, and when it finally arrived at the start of this year, the response changed nothing.

So, the retention of custody images continues - despite the fact that being taken into custody does not make a person guilty of a crime. Not only are these images retained but increasingly police forces are turning them into facial biometrics, mostly without the person's knowledge.

The number of images and biometrics being held are far from small. Sky News revealed earlier this week that 20 million images are now sat on the Police National Database, over 16 million of which have been made into biometrics.

According to the former Biometrics Commissioner Alastair MacGregor QC in his annual review 2013/2014, "hundreds of thousands" of these images are of innocent people.

This is profoundly worrying. A facial biometric is as unique to a person as their fingerprint or DNA biometrics. Picking a person out of a crowd using fingerprints is pretty tricky, but doing it using a facial biometric is far easier.

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Because biometrics are so sensitive to a person's human rights and personal privacy the law was changed back in 2012 so that an innocent person's DNA and fingerprints must be automatically deleted by the police. That law does not currently apply to custody images. The Home Office have said they don't want that to change.

The Home Office believe that a person's facial image is "generally less intrusive" than fingerprints and DNA because "people's faces are on public display all of the time".

Furthermore they say Police IT systems are not "generally designed to automatically weed, review or destroy images, or to differentiate between convicted and un-convicted individuals" and it would be too costly to get the police to upgrade their systems.

Too costly? But the Home Office are currently offering 5 million pounds in contracts to companies who can help them build facial biometric recognition systems. Why that money isn't being spent on protecting the innocent is far from clear.

That question is one of many Big Brother Watch would like to see answered by the Home Secretary.

We are so concerned by the lack of protection for innocent people's custody images that we have launched the FaceOff campaign calling for:

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An end to the retention of innocent people's custody images.

An end to the creation of innocent people's facial biometrics.

The Government's yet to be published Biometric Strategy to legislate for custody images and facial biometrics to be given the same protections as fingerprints and DNA.

If you want to offer your support visit www.bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/all-campaigns/face-off/ and sign the petition, write to your MP and share the campaign on social media.
Militants have committed 18 truce breaches, and two Ukrainian servicemen have been wounded in the past 24 hours, the press service of the headquarters of the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) in Donbas said.

In Donetsk region, grenade launchers and large-caliber machineguns were used against Ukrainian positions in the Avdiyivka industrial zone, Zaitseve and near the Butovka mine, the headquarters said.

In the Luhansk sector, militants twice fired 82mm mortars in the vicinity of Novooleksandrivka. Grenade launchers were used in the vicinity of Katerynivka and Krymske, the headquarters said.

In the Mariupol sector, Ukrainian positions near Pavlopil, Shyrokyne and Lebedynske were shelled, it said.
A few days ago, the Sunday Times front page ran the headline "Universities take foreign students ahead of British, drive for higher fees betrays sixth formers". A catchy title to sell papers, but one which has real ramifications for international students on the ground.

You see, as I speak to international students across the UK - from Edinburgh to East Anglia and Cambridge to Cardiff - we are worried. Harmful rhetoric espoused by the government and the media has led to increasing hate crime against migrants and international students are often one of the most likely groups to be victims of crime.

We are easy targets for criminals - we don't have established support networks, we're more likely to be alone, we're more likely to carry important documents on our person because of the nature of our visa status, and we're less likely to report crime because universities are still not doing enough to support us. This makes international students incredibly vulnerable.

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Regardless of this, the Sunday Times had a prejudice to justify and it went for it despite a lot of evidence suggesting the opposite. International students don't lead to shortfalls of UK students entering university; in fact they broaden the diversity of university courses. Their fees also contribute to supporting courses and programmes which would otherwise be shut down allowing home students a greater variety of courses to pick from. This is backed up by data from Universities UK and the 157 Group.

Foundation courses were heavily criticised, and said to be churning out international students who were ill equipped to attend university. In fact, these Pathway Programmes and Foundation Courses are run for students who have failed to make their A Level qualifications. They support students by helping them build on their potential to develop academic skills, and in boosting their knowledge of the subject area in order to help them transition into university. Just like pathway programmes, they are a vital tool for the students who need them, and are in no way a "back door" into higher education. If there is concern that there are not enough foundation programmes to help students access university, than perhaps the solution is to fund them better?

International students pay on average 36% more than the actual cost of their course. They pay for their pathway programmes, and it's an extra year they must pay for on top of their degree. The fees for these courses quite often sustain jobs and income for many local further education institutions who have links to international universities. In essence, international students' fees are used to subsidise the education of home students. The picture becomes more complicated with regards to widening participation - most institutions have an obligation to operating widening participation programmes. Since there is no budget surplus from home students' fees, international students are necessarily the only source of funding for these activities. In other words, what Andrew G and Lord Adonis propose would result in less funding for widening participation, directly disadvantaging underprivileged home students. This would be entirely counterproductive to their stated aim and result in poorer quality courses.

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The diversity of international students in the UK is vast, as is the courses they choose to study. We need to make sure it stays that way. Many UK universities offer specialist courses that are highly populated by international students, as well as many international postgraduate researchers that are leading the way in academic innovation.

But quite simply, even alongside all of this the data the journalist used was deeply flawed. They are comparing data for international students which is for students aged 18+ entering into their first year of university, to a set of data called ALL r - data collected from all providers (regardless of whether they recruit international students at all) and includes part-time courses, online courses, higher national courses, and teacher training. These four areas have all experienced a significant decline over the past 10 years and none are open to international students. So yes numbers are going down in these areas, but this is not because of international students.

Alongside all of this, there's no real winner here. The Sunday Times got a snazzy headline based on bad data. A journalist got a front page on #fakenews. But international students continue to be a pawn, and are scapegoated, in a wider political game. Universities were silent during the referendum and then all yelled #WeAreInternational when it became apparent their research funding was disappearing. They remain far too silent, far too often.

On campuses across the UK this narrative continues to determine the experiences of international students. A Malaysian student who worked two part time jobs in Malaysia alongside studying to get his scholarship to come to the UK was met by a comment: "they're only here because they're loaded". A Chinese student who was top of her class was told "her English is so bad". International students around the country are being told: "They're taking up the spaces so we can't have them".

International students should not be made to suffer because of the harmful rhetoric and divisive political narrative surrounding Brexit. These students have become easy targets, both on campuses and through government policies, urgent action is needed to show that international students are welcome. To do this, they must be removed from net migration figures, the UK cannot pretend it is open for talent and is a 'global' outward looking nation, at the same time as its approach to international students suggests it is anything but. In order for us to call our education sector truly global, education needs to be accessible to everyone.

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I believe there is a global responsibility of accessible education, and UK universities should look at ways they can fulfil this responsibility. We should be looking to facilitate those transformative experiences for students, those moments that inspire them to create positive change in their countries and communities, and leave lasting impact. These transformative experiences are the essence of growth and creativity.
Spotify Finalizes Deal With Warner Music Group Clearing Path To Stock Exchange Listing

Spotify has closed its third and final major label deal, signing a new multi-year global pact with Warner Music Group. Sony, Universal and Merlin had previously announced new deals with the music streamer.

This deal clears the way for Spotify to enter the public stock markets via an IPO or a direct listing.

Ole Obermann, Chief Digital Officer, WMG, commented on the renewed partnership with Spotify: It's taken us a while to get here, but its been worth it, as we've arrived at a balanced set of future-focused deal terms. Together with Spotify, we've found inventive ways to reinforce the value of music, create additional benefits for artists, and excite their fans all over the world. Even with the current pace of growth, theres still so much potential for music subscription to reach new audiences and territories."

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Violinist/author Gerald Elias, associate concertmaster with the Utah Symphony and Boston Symphony violinist "in residence" at Tanglewood as a BSO violinist, is also a novelist.

Review: Musician's Sixth Thriller A Joy to Read

Violinist/author Gerald Elias, associate concertmaster with the Utah Symphony and Boston Symphony violinist "in residence" at Tanglewood as a BSO violinist, is also a novelist. A graduate of Yale University, adjunct professor of music at the University of Utah, first violinist of the Abramyan String Quartet, and music director of the "Vivaldi By Candlelight" concert series, Elias is a busy man.



For all this, he finds the time and passion to dedicate himself to a completely different art form  and to, over the years, excel equally at that "secondary" activity.



Elias is a master storyteller/novelist, who has published six thrillers  all combining his love of music with a fabulously crafted fiction style to create an unusual, original and gripping series of mysteries. Each is centered on a wonderfully complex central character  a blind classical performer/mentor violinist  one Daniel Jacobus.



All Elias' novels have classical music themes, as can be deduced from their clever musical play-on-word titles: "Devil's Trill," "Danse Macabre," "Death and Transfiguration," "Death and the Maiden" and "Playing with Fire." Each is sub-titled "a Daniel Jacobus Mystery."



He has just published his sixth installment in the series, "Spring Break." The book, like each of the earlier volumes in the series, possesses writing with equal verve and narrative skill; the adventures of the curmudgeonly and semi-jaded violinist/detective, Daniel Jacobus, are as engaging as ever.



"Spring Break" is, like its predecessors, wonderfully and imaginatively conceived, written and plotted, and is a joy to read. Elias has both a musician's ear and a writer's knack for concise conversational patter and "groaner" puns, which creates a sense of immediacy that enabled this reader to feel like he was present in each scene in the novel. The action never flags; its fast pace and crisp dialog make this tale of murder and power a real page-turner.



The story, as described by the publisher's press release is, in brief, as follows:



"In violinist/mentor/amateur sleuth Daniel Jacobus we have an imaginative, ornery, reclusive, witty protagonist. The sixth in the Daniel Jacobus series finds the blind violin teacher taking a speaking engagement at a prestigious music conservatory that's hosting a symposium on Baroque music. When a member of the conservatory's faculty dies, the question is: Was it natural causes, or murder?"



The classical music world, as lived by Daniel Jacobus, is a busy and eventful place. Things happen. Music comes alive in the hands of brilliant student violinists performing great Baroque music. You can imagine and almost physically hear the dulcet tones of Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons"; timeless melodies float, thanks to Elias' gracefully descriptive prose.

Gerald Elias: Spring Break 215 pages  A Daniel Jacobus Mystery. Published by Severn House, 2017. ISBN 978 0 7278 87122.
Peter A. Cook was the town's only combat casualty in Vietnam. The 20-year-old Army private was killed in 1970. Navy Lt. Francis Horahan, 25, was killed the year before when the plane he was on went down in California.

Clarksburg Looks to Add Peter Cook's Name to Veterans Field



The Select Board reviewed a number of issues on Wednesday. Select Board member Kimberly Goodell was absent. CLARKSBURG, Mass.  The Select Board on Wednesday gave its blessing to add Peter A. Cook's name to Veterans Field as a way to keep his memory alive.

Edward Denault of Peter A. Cook Post 9144 Veterans of Foreign Wars approached officials about changing the name of the town field on West Cross Road to Private Peter Cook Veterans Field.

The VFW is named after Cook, a town resident killed in 1970 in Vietnam, and Denault said in the likelihood that the VFW will eventually shut down, they want to memorialize Cook.

"A lot of our members are getting older and we don't know how long the VFW will be able to maintain itself in the form it is in now," Denault said. "When that day comes, and it will come, we all feel the obligation to keep the name in the community in some form."

He said the VFW is not really proposing changing the name but adding to it. He said the town field's name was changed to Veterans Field in the 1980s and they would only be adding Cook's name to it.

He said currently the signage isn't visible and a new sign would be a better.

"There is no real visible sign and you have to go out in the field to find the plaque ... locals still call it the Town Field," Denault said. "It would be nice to have something more visible that when you drive by you don't need to squint."

The board did not have an issue with the renaming and gave the project their blessing.

"That sounds good to me and I'd be in agreement with that," Chairman Jeffrey Levanos said. "It's a good idea."

Denault said the post plans to do some fundraising and wanted public input before designing the sign. Levanos suggested bringing it up at town meeting

"Everybody will have a shot and if someone objects and the majority disagrees, we will find another option," Denault said.

In other business, the Select Board voted to add an article to the special town meeting on Sept. 27 that will allow the town to appropriate $19 million to renovate Clarksburg Elementary school.

With this, the board members also approved a ballot question for the Proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusion needed to raise the funds for the project.

Levenos said the town will have more specific numbers at town meeting and will be able to tell residents how exactly the project will affect their taxes.

"We will know how much the school will provide, how much the town will provide and how much per thousand taxes will go up," he said. "Forty years is a long and when we are on the floor there will be questions. There should be questions and we are going to answer them."

Last week, the School Building Committee was told that the tax rate could rise between $3.20 and $3.25 per $1,000 valuation to cover the town's portion of the project, estimated at $7.7 million. The Massachusetts School Building Authority is expected to cover 70 percent of eligible costs.

The board asked to table a vote to allow Town Administrator Carl McKinney to sign U.S. Department of Agriculture/MSBA documents related to the Clarksburg School on behalf of the Select Board.

"On my end, I feel more comfortable reviewing something before I put my name on it," Levenos said. "I am just not comfortable with the way it is written."

McKinney said they can change the wording to create a two-step process through email that would ensure the Select Board approves any documents before signing.

"I understand you don't want give me a blank check that's absolutely fine," he said. "We can let this gel and figure out some wording. There is no rush."

The Select Board also voted to re-enter into an electrical aggregation program with Colonial Power that will increase the rate 0.10708 per kilowatt hour from 0.104 per kWh.

"It's a third of a penny if you boil it down," Levenos said.

The contract represents 100 percent green energy and is a three-year contract.

Residents can opt out and select the energy source of their choice. If they choose not to opt out, they automatically will join the aggregate.

Before closing, the board agreed that instead of inviting candidates for the 1st Berkshire District seat to a future meeting, the town will try to hold a forum for all candidates for state representative. There are four Democrats -- John Barrett III, Lisa Blackmer, Stephanie Bosley and Kevin Towle -- and one Republican, Christine Canning-Wilson, vying to replace the late Gailanne Cariddi in representing North Berkshire on Beacon Hill.

"We have been contacted by a couple of the candidates and my thing is if we bring a candidate in, it looks like we are endorsing them," Levanos said. "So I want to get away from that."

McKinney said if the candidates can attend a forum, it would be a good opportunity to ask Clarksburg-specific questions.

"We can tailor it to municipal issues that are related to Clarksburg," he said. "A lot of the time they just provide canned remarks but we can bring up specific items."

The board also approved a revised fee schedule with minor changes in organization. The revised fees can be found at Town Hall.
Jane Culnane of Chenaille Terrace brought printouts to illustrate the problems she had with the plans presented for the route near the cul de sac. Marge Cohan, president of the Berkshire Bike Path Council, said many of the same concerns had been raised about the Ashuwillticook, and residents should be recognized for making sacrifices to benefit North Adams. PreviousNext

North Adams Bike Path Plans Draw Complaints, Praise



City Planner Larysa Bernstein, Mayor Richard Alcombright, BRPC Senior Planner Lauren Gaherty, project engineer Matthew Kearney and City Councilor Joshua Moran at Wednesday's hearing. NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  City Council chambers were packed on Wednesday night for an often emotional hearing on the proposed bike path that will cut from the Williamstown line to the airport.

Dubbed the "Cariddi Mile" by Mayor Richard Alcombright in memory of longtime bike path proponent Gailanne Cariddi, the section would run along land behind a cluster of homes on Chenaille Terrace.

But a number of Chenaille Terrace residents opposed to the project say the 12-foot paved pathway would have a deleterious effect on their quiet cul de sac.

"It's beautiful and a private oasis ... they want it to remain that way," said Kimberly Rose, whose mother owns a home behind which the path will run. "They just want to maintain what they have."

Others, however, said the path would be of a community benefit and economic driver for the entire area.

"Bike trails bring a lot to the community," said Josh Chittenden of Adams who rents bikes at Berkshire Outfitters for people to use on the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail. "I'm really exicted to hear about an extension. ... I think it would be a great thing for the city of North Adams and for Williamstown."

The city is hoping to piggyback the 1-mile section onto the 2.5-mile route planned in Williamstown that ends near Galvin Road. The Mohawk Bike Path is expected to break ground by 2019 and the city is hoping to tap into soon-to-expire scenic byway money to start the leg from the border to the Harriman & West Airport.

The Williamstown-North Adams section has an estimated budget of $4.9 million; another extension of the Ashuwillticook north to North Adams is targeted for fiscal 2022 at $5.6 million. The short-term goal is to create a bike path connecting Williamstown to Lanesborough, the long-term, to create a cross-county path.

Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art is so confident the path will happen that it incorporated an access way through its campus as part of its $65 million expansion project.

However, cutting a 14-wide pathway through more densely populated areas of the city is proving difficult. A section through Greylock was put on hold after intense opposition to running it through a narrow public roadway in the thickly settled neighborhood.

Some of the same issues surrounding that route were brought up by Chenaille Terrace residents, including concerns about privacy, noise and security , as well as the nearby wetlands, flooding and wildlife.

Jane Culnane of Chenaille Terrace said she was a proponent and user of bike trails, but felt that this was not the right spot.

"I thought long and hard about this bike trail ... I struggle with the bigger questions," she said. "As a result of this probability, the frustration on the street is palpable."

More people had shown up to oppose the Greylock route and it seemed unfair that it should pushed on the smaller Chenaille Terrace, she said. Rose felt that they had been "a little bit demonized" for not wanting a public path in their back yards.

Bike advocates talked about how bike paths raise property values, encourage exercise and healthy living, and attract visitors who spend money. Several spoke of meeting people from around the United States and the world  but a Chenaille Terrace resident retorted that they probably hadn't spoken to the people whose back yards they were in.

Ellen Janis of Davenport Street said she frequently drives to Adams to walk the trail and sees people who live along the path using it.

"It's a peaceful place, it's not loud, there's no trash ... that trail runs through neighborhoods," she said. "It seems like a huge asset for the community ... if all of us want a bike trail but none of us want it near our house, we'll never have it."

The route was selected because it would not cross private property. The city is being given the land along the city line by Fusco, former owner of The Spruces Mobile Home Park, including a parcel on the Williamstown side currently being used as a parking lot by an acupuncture practice. The rest of the land is at Harriman & West Airport.

The mayor said city officials and engineers would continue working with residents and the acupuncturists, who vented their frustrations about not knowing of the plans until July, on privacy and security concerns. The next steps are more concrete plans, such as traffic surveys and environmental permitting, and estimates as the project moves toward 25 percent design.

Plans for the bike path were informed by the public sessions for the city's master plan, Vision 2020. Residents said they wanted bike paths for accessibility and safety, to connect public places and as an alternative transportation resource.

"Everyone wanted to be off the road," said Lauren Gaherty of Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, who has been guiding the bike path project for years. "The Ashuwillticook Rail Trail is sort of the vision and model that we'd like to see."
There are about 3,000 Russian servicemen in the occupied areas of Donbas, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.

"Our intelligence has confirmed that the minimum strength of forces of the Russian Federation in the occupied territory is some 3,000," Poroshenko told journalists after the talks with U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis in Kyiv on Thursday.

He also noted that the total number of armed forces in the occupied territory of Ukraine is 39,000. According to the president, they include Russian special forces and other regular servicemen of the Russian army.

Poroshenko said he expects Russia to meet the security provisions of the Minsk agreements, including the withdrawal of its forces from Ukraine and the release of hostages.
Washington is considering a possibility of supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine, United States Secretary of Defense James Mattis said after talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Kyiv on Thursday.

Mattis said that upon return to the U.S., he, acting on the basis of what he has seen and learnt, would inform the U.S. leadership of specific things and would recommend that they be put into practice.

Defense weapons themselves cannot provoke anyone, except for the aggressor, but Ukraine is not the aggressor and is fighting in its own territory, the secretary of defense said.

Poroshenko, for his part, said that "first and foremost there is a high degree of responsibility when we have defense capabilities, including within cooperation with the U.S."

"Debate on supplies of defensive weapons to Ukraine would only raise the price [of aggression] if Russia decided to attack my territory and my forces. It would be a powerful motivation to cease these irresponsible steps," Poroshenko said.
Ukrainian president, U.S. defense secretary say sanctions help keep Russia at negotiating table

Sanctions against Russia are helping keep the Russian side at the negotiating table, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.

"I would like to say that sanctions are not a goal in themselves, but they are only a tool to ensure Russia's presence at the negotiation table and to ensure full implementation of the Minsk agreements," Poroshenko told reporters after talks with U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis in Kyiv on Thursday.

The United States will continue putting pressure on Russia using sanctions, Mattis said.

The U.S. and its allies will continue supporting Ukraine in its struggle, and sanctions will remain until Russia begins fulfilling the earlier stated agreements, he said. The U.S. is making considerable diplomatic efforts to settle the conflict, Mattis said.
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Hollywood screenwriters toil their lives away trying to come up with the next crazy, catchy story to pitch. Yet, sometimes, history does the work for them.

Tom Cruises latest vehicle American Made, directed by Doug Liman, sees the A-lister play the infamous Barry Seal: a pilot who became a drug smuggler, who in turn became an informant, finding himself at the centre of the Iran-Contra scandal of Ronald Reagans era.

Seals love of flying blossomed early; he took his first solo flight at the age of 15, before gaining a pilots licence at 16, earning money by towing advertising banners. After serving in the Louisiana Army National Guard and Army Reserve, he joined Trans World Airlines in 1968 as a flight engineer, before becoming one of the youngest command pilots in the entire fleet.

According to his wife Deborah Seal, he became involved in drug smuggling in 1975. During the early 1980s, he developed a close relationship with the Medellin Cartel, whose leadership included Pablo Escobar. It was then that he moved his operations from his home state of Louisiana to an airstrip in rural west Arkansas.

In 1983, however, Seal was caught in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as he tried to smuggle a shipment of Quaaludes into the country. By his own admission, he had by then flown more than 100 flights of 600 to 1200 pounds of cocaine each, equating to between $3bn and $5bn worth of drugs into the US.

He was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Former FBI agent Del Hahn, however, describes how Seal was desperate to avoid jail time; after his offer to turn snitch was turned down multiple times, he eventually flew straight to DC and the office of the vice presidents drug task force. They sent him to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

 American Made - Trailer

Seal was soon enlisted into a sting operation. The aim? The Reagan administration was keen to see the Contras militia overthrow the revolutionary Sandinista government which had installed itself in Nicaragua; Seal claimed the Sandinistas had made a deal with the Medellin Cartel, and proof of such could lend justification to the USs support of the Contras, despite accusations of human rights violations amongst the counter-revolutionaries.

And so, the pilot flew into an airstrip in Nicaragua with CIA cameras installed on his plane, snapping pictures which showed Escobar and several other members of the Medellin Cartel loading kilos of cocaine onto a plane with the aid of Sandinista soldiers.

Seal claimed that one of the men present, Federico Vaughan, was an associate of Tomas Borge of the interior ministry of Nicaragua. However, Wall Street Journal reporter Jonathan Kwitny threw doubt over Seals accusations, claiming there was no evidence tying any Nicaraguan officials to the drug shipment.

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Others, however, jumped on Seals testimony. And that would be his undoing. A front page story in The Washington Times by Edmond Jacoby about links between Sandinista officials and the Medellin Cartel discussed Seals mission and appeared to out him as a government agent.

Cruise control: the film star is in his comfort zone in American Made

The DEA cut him loose, but that also left him vulnerable. He was later arrested by the FBI in Louisiana, though only received six months supervised probation; a condition of his sentence was that he spend every night, from 6pm to 6am, at the Salvation Army halfway house in Baton Rouge.

It was outside of this building that he was shot and killed on 19 February, 1986. A friend said of the incident, I saw Barry get killed from the window of the Belmont hotel coffee shop. The killers were both out of the car, one on either side, but I only saw one shoot, cause Barry saw it coming and just put his head down on the steering column.

Colombian assassins sent by the Medellin Cartel were apprehended trying to leave Louisiana soon after Seals murder. Three of the men were convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. However, some believe the CIA was behind the killing.

 American Made Clip - Jorge Ochoa Asks Barry

After his death, Louisiana attorney general William Guste hand-delivered a letter to US Attorney General Edwin Meese in protest at the governments failure to protect Seal. Though he called him a heinous criminal, Guste added: At the same time, for his own purposes, he had made himself an extremely valuable witness and informant in the countrys fight against illegal drugs.

Barry Seals murder suggests the need for an in-depth but rapid investigation into a number of areas. Why was such an important witness not given protection whether he wanted it or not? Theres still no real answer to this question today.

American Made hits UK cinemas 25 August
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About 13 per cent of people in Britain do not accept the science of climate change, according to a new poll.

The survey of 1,200 adults in the UK by Censuswide found men (17 per cent) were significantly more likely than women (11 per cent) to deny the widespread evidence of global warming  from melting sea ice and glaciers and rising sea levels to animals and plants heading for the poles.

However, a substantial majority of 70 per cent said they did agree the temperature is rising and that greenhouse gas emissions are to blame  as accepted by every major scientific organisation in the world.

People over 55 were more likely to dispute the evidence than those in younger age groups with 15 per cent falling into this group, the poll found.

The East Midlands appeared to have the highest rate of denial with 18 per cent of respondents in that region saying they did not believe in global warming at all, followed by 16 per cent in the South West and 15 per cent in the North East.

The lowest rates were in the South East (8 per cent), East and North West (both 11 per cent), and Scotland and the West Midlands (both 12 per cent).

The idea that fossil fuel emissions would cause global warming was predicted by Swedish Nobel Prize winning chemist Svante Arrenhius in 1895.

Even oil industry scientists accepted this is happening as long ago as the 1980s.

The pollsters, commissioned by gocompare.com asked: Do you believe in Global Warming?

Those who answered, 'Yes, completely':

South East: 55%

East: 52.5%

Scotland: 45%

London: 44%

North West: 44%

South West: 42%

Yorkshire & The Humber: 40%

East Midlands: 39%

Wales: 34%

West Midlands: 33%

North East : 29%

Those who answered, 'No, not at all':

East Midlands: 18%

South West: 16%

North East : 15%

London: 14%

Yorkshire & The Humber: 13%

Wales: 13%

Scotland: 12%

West Midlands: 12%

East: 11%

North West: 11%

South East: 8%
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Apple's iPhone release date might finally have been revealed.

The launch event will take place on 12 September, according to French website Mac4Ever, which said that it had heard the news from phone networks. That means the phone itself is likely to open for pre-orders the Friday after  the 15th  with a full release a week later.

Mobile phone operators have been told to get ready for those dates so they can be prepared for when the phone goes on sale, the site claimed.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. 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March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

The event might also be the first that Apple holds in the Steve Jobs theatre, the new auditorium that is being built specifically for these kind of events on its spaceship-like campus in California. But recent videos have shown that work is still ongoing and so it still may not be ready in time.

Apple is expected to launch three phones at the upcoming event  the iPhone 7s and 7s Plus, which will be internal improvements on the existing phone, and a much major upgrade in the iPhone 8. That premium model will include a range of new features including facial recognition and a brand new design, according to multiple leaks.

Recommended Facial recognition will be the big feature of the next iPhone

Apple usually opens pre-order the Friday after launch and then actually puts the phone on sale a week after that. But it might choose to change that schedule a little this year, given that it is rumoured to be taking longer to create the premium phones, and so might release them a little later.

Some had even suggested that the phones might not arrive until closer to Christmas. But Apple's guidance appeared to suggest that it was confident that it would be able to make enough of them in good time.

Though Mac4Ever has had reasonable success with Apple rumours in the past, the date couldn't be immediately confirmed and it wasn't clear which carriers had told the company. But it's almost certain that the Apple event would have fallen that week or the week before, anyway.

At the iPhone launch event, Apple is also expected to reveal a third version of the Apple Watch that will include a data connection, and an updated version of the Apple TV that will allow people to watch in 4K.
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Cargill, one of the largest global agricultural companies, has joined Bill Gates and other business giants to invest in a nascent technology to make meat from self-producing animal cells amid rising consumer demand for protein thats less reliant on feed, land and water.

Memphis Meats, which produces beef, chicken and duck directly from animal cells without raising and slaughtering livestock or poultry, raised $17m from investors including Cargill, Gates and billionaire Richard Branson, according to a statement on Tuesday on the San Francisco-based startups website.

The fundraising round was led by venture-capital firm DFJ, which has previously backed several social-minded retail startups.

Recommended We need to end the meat and dairy industry altogether

Im thrilled to have invested in Memphis Meats, Mr Branson said in an email in response to questions from Bloomberg News. I believe that in 30 years or so we will no longer need to kill any animals and that all meat will either be clean or plant-based, taste the same and also be much healthier for everyone.

Mr Branson suggested in March that New Zealands dairy farmers replace cows with cannabis.

This is the latest move by an agricultural giant to respond to consumers, especially millennials, who are rapidly leaving their mark on the US food world.

Thats happening through surging demand for organic products, increasing focus on food thats considered sustainable and greater attention on animal treatment.

Big poultry and livestock processors have started to take up alternatives to traditional meat.

The world loves to eat meat, and it is core to many of our cultures and traditions, Uma Valeti, co-founder and chief executive officer of Memphis Meats, said in the statement. The way conventional meat is produced today creates challenges for the environment, animal welfare and human health. These are problems that everyone wants to solve.

To date, Memphis Meats has raised $22m, signalling a commitment to the clean-meat movement, the company said.

Cargill has taken an equity position in Memphis Meats first series of funding, Sonya Roberts, the president of growth ventures at Cargill Protein, said in an email, without disclosing the investment amount.

Bloomberg
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Angela Merkels powerful chief of staff, Peter Altmaier, has warned that Brexit will be a severe loss for Britain and stressed that the best the UK can hope for from the negotiations with the European Union is to limit the negative impact of departure.

Speaking to the Lindau Nobel Laureates meeting in Germany, Mr Altmaier emphasised his personal affection for the UK and even said he would have chosen Britain to claim asylum if he had to.

But he also pointed to the apparent chaos on the British side since the general election failed to deliver a majority for the Conservatives.

When we see the preparations for the Brexit talks in Brussels and we see how difficult it is for our friends in the UK to establish their national interest and their national negotiation papers then we can see this will mean a severe loss, not only for the UK but also for the EU, he said.

Mr Altmaier, who has been Ms Merkels trusted chief of staff since 2013 and has been described as the most powerful man in Berlin by The Economist, divulged that some British ministers had been privately describing Brexit as a possible win-win for the UK and the EU.

When one of my colleagues from the British government went to Berlin in January and told me Peter, lets try to make a win-win situation out of this mess I said yes, but can you imagine when you have a couple, man and wife, and two children, the house, the boat, the car, they are married for 30 years, and then they are going to divorce? Can you imagine how to make a win-win situation out of that mess? It will be a win-win situation for the lawyers of course, but certainly not for the family concerned, he said.

Making it clear that the challenge of Brexit was damage limitation he added: We have to ensure good co-operation after Brexit in order to limit the negative impact as good as we can.

Mr Altmaier warned that Britain was likely to end up as a relatively impotent rule-taker outside the EU if it wanted to enjoy the benefits of the single market.

Of course there is life outside the European Union, look at Switzerland. But in Switzerland for many decades already [they are] transposing every economically important directive and regulation from Brussels into Swiss legislation in order to be part of the single market without any influence on the content of what is adopted in Brussels.

Over the past week the UK government has been releasing position papers on various aspects of Brexit including the customs union, standards checks on goods exports and the legal regulatory framework.

But the EU side has stressed that it will not even discuss post-2019 arrangements until sufficient progress has been made on the settlement of outstanding liabilities, the rights of EU citizens in the UK and the Irish border.
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Nearly half of businesses operating in the UK's food supply chain say European Union workers are thinking about leaving because of uncertainty around Brexit, an industry survey showed on Thursday.

Food processing makes up the biggest chunk of British manufacturing and relies heavily on immigrants, all though much of debate so far around Britain's departure from the EU has focused on sectors like car production and aerospace.

Forty-seven per cent of companies in Britain's food supply chain -- which includes farms, food processors, supermarkets and restaurants -- said their EU workers were considering their future as a direct result of the June 2016 Brexit vote, according to the survey compiled by several trade bodies.

Nearly a third of respondents to the survey, conducted between March and May, said some EU staff had already departed.

While Britain's economy has slowed sharply this year, evidence that the Brexit vote made an impact on the labour market is less clear.

Still, official data last week showed the number of EU-born people working in Britain rose just 1.6 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter, the weakest increase in seven years.

"An abrupt reduction in the number of EU workers eligible to work in the UK after Brexit would result in significant disruption for the entire food supply chain," said Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium.

He added that this would have consequences for the availability and price of food in Britain.

Around a fifth of the 2 million EU nationals working in Britain are employed in the food and drink supply chain.

Thirty-six percent of companies in the survey said their businesses would be unviable without access to EU workers.

Prime Minister Theresa May has said the government will guarantee the rights of EU citizens already in resident in Britain, but the details of a future immigration system are still unclear.

"We must stress the urgency for more detailed information about a new system before 2019, if it is to be implemented once the two-year Article 50 period ends," the report said.

The future of the border between the British province of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland was another worry cited by respondents in the survey.

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.

Britain wants no border posts or immigration checks between Ireland and the British province of Northern Ireland after Brexit, but critics have said this goal may be unworkable.

The report said some companies could move to the Republic of Ireland if Brexit disrupts the Common Travel Area that currently exists with Northern Ireland.

The survey, based on 627 companies, was compiled by the Food and Drink Federation. Members of the Association of Labour Providers, British Beer and Pub Association, British Hospitality Association, British Retail Consortium, Food and Drink Federation, Fresh Produce Consortium, and the National Farmers Union, took part.

Reuters
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Low-cost airline Jet2.com is hiring 1,700 new employees across the UK.

The company said on Thursday that it was adding 900 cabin crew and over 700 ground staff roles as well as 180 pilots.

It said that 34 new Boeing 737 planes were being delivered to the company between 2016 and 2019, fuelling demand for new pilots.

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The low-cost airline operates from nine UK airports, and has recently opened new bases at Birmingham and London Stansted.

Steve Heapy, chief executive of Jet2.com, said he is delighted to be creating so many opportunities.

The company said it would be hosting roadshows across the country to find the right staff.

European budget airline carriers have seen rapid growth in recent years, stretching to meet demand for cheap longhaul flights.

In July, Icelandic airline Primera Air announced budget transatlantic flights between Scandinavia and the US.

In April, Norwegian Airlines launched flights to Singapore.

But Brexit is a lingering concern for the industry.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary warned in August that planes could be grounded in the summer of 2019 after Brexit, if agreements are not put in place to ensure the aviation industry can continue to operate as it currently does.
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Florida is set to execute a white man for killing a black person for the first time in the history of the state.

Mark Asay, who bears white supremacist and swastika tattoos, is due to be killed after 6pm at Florida State Prison in Railford on Thursday by a drug which has never been used in an American execution.

The sunshine state has not carried out an execution since that of Oscar Bolin 19 months ago which took place five days before the Supreme Court ruled the states capital sentencing law unconstitutional in January 2016.

Mr Asay, who is alleged to be a neo-Nazi, has spent nearly three decades on Death Row after being convicted of two racially motivated, premeditated murders in Jacksonville in 1987.

Recommended US state poised to bring back death penalty

The incident took place during a night of drinking and hunting for prostitutes with his brother Robbie and friend Bubba McQuinn. Mr Asays first victim was a black man named Robert Booker whom he witnessed having a conversation with McQuinn.

According to court documents, Mr Asay shouted at Mr Booker and hurled racial slurs and epithets at him. Although Mr McQuinn tried to intervene, Mr Asay is said to have grabbed his gun and shot Mr Booker in the stomach. When pressed about why he shot Mr Booker by his friend, according to court documents, Mr Asay replied: You got to show a n***** who is boss.

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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. 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A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. 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Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

The group of friends then drove away continuing to look for women and encountered Renee Torres, who court documents identified as Robert McDowell, a black man dressed as a woman.

According to documents, Mr Asay is then said to have acted as a lookout while his two friends engaged in a sexual act. Nevertheless, Mr Asay then came back and dragged Mr Torres from the car and shot the victim six times.

Mr Asay is then said to have later told a friend Mr McDowell, who was mixed race, white and Hispanic, had previously cheated him out of money in a drug deal.

Despite the fact Mr Asay is set to become the first white man to be executed in Florida for killing a black man, at least 20 black men have been executed for killing white people since the state reintroduced the death penalty back in 1976, according to data from the Death Penalty Information Center.

The planned lethal injection use etomidate, an anaesthetic that has been approved by the Florida Supreme Court, alongside two other drugs. It will also be the first execution in the entire US using an untested triple-drug lethal injection procedure.

Doctors employed by Mr Asay's attorneys raised alarm bells about etomidate in court declarations and claimed there have been cases where it caused pain and involuntary writhing in patients.

In January 2016, the Supreme Court ruled Floridas capital punishment system, which did not require unanimous juries before a judge imposes a sentence, was ruled unconstitutional. Now Florida's Legislature requires a unanimous jury for death penalty recommendations.

While dozens of inmates on Floridas death row are eligible to be resentenced, this is only the case if they were sentenced before 2002. This means that Mr Asay does not qualify.

Mr Asay is set to become the 24th inmate executed since the Governor of Florida Rick Scott took office. This is the most under any governor in Florida history.
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A man has been jailed for 18 years for possessing an explosive with intent to endanger life after a pipe bomb was found in his hand luggage at Manchester Airport.

Nadeem Muhammad, 43, was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on Wednesday after being found guilty following a trial earlier this month.

After sentencing, Judge Patrick Field QC criticised airport security for making a "wholly erroneous and potentially dangerous" conclusion that the bomb was not viable after it was seized by officers.

The court heard Muhammad, of Tinline Street, Bury, had been planning to board a Ryanair flight to Italy on 30 January when security officers uncovered the device, made of masking tape, batteries, the tube of a marker pen, pins and wires, in the zip lining of his small green suitcase.

Muhammad claimed that he had never seen the device before and it had nothing to do with him.

Airport security initially believed the bomb was not viable and, after being questioned by counter terrorism officers, Muhammad, who was born in Pakistan but had an Italian passport, was released.

Judge Field said he had been "alarmed by some of the evidence in the case".

He said: "In these dangerous times it seems to me there's no room for complacency.

"I express hope that security at the airport and policing at the airport will be subject to a review at the highest level."

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 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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 court had heard that airport staff swabbed the device, which was later found to contain nitroglycerin, but found no trace of explosive and terminal three security manager Deborah Jeffrey initially put it into her pocket.

Judge Field said: "It occurred to me and I'm sure to others listening to that evidence that by acting that way she put herself, her fellow employees and members of the public at risk."

He said the situation was "compounded" by police who accepted the assurance that the device was not viable and missed an "early opportunity" to arrest Muhammad - who was allowed to board a flight to Italy five days later and another back to the UK before he was arrested on February 12.
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I dont feel welcome here anymore, says Lukasz, a Polish man who has lived in the UK since he was eight years old.

Its like staying at someones house and you definitely outstayed your welcome  thats how I feel.

The 28-year-old is one of thousands of European citizens considering leaving Britain because of last years vote for Brexit.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that 122,000 Europeans left the UK in the year to March, with the unprecedented exodus driving a drop in net migration.

Business groups have raised mounting concerns over brain drain from vital industries, while organisations representing EU migrants have urged the Government to offer solid guarantees over their status following Brexit.

Lukasz, who did not want his second name published, moved to London as a young child when his mother was offered a better job in the capital.

Educated in Acton and Greenwich, he now drives London buses and said he sees the UK as home and feels like more of a tourist in Poland.

I enjoy the diversity of people and culture here  nothing and no one is the same, I have made many friends from all over the world, Lukasz told The Independent. I love the UK.

In the period following the EU referendum, which saw a spike in hate crime including a student being stabbed in the neck for speaking Polish, he started feeling unwelcome.

A chart showing a sharp decrease in EU net migration following the EU referendum in June 2016 (ONS)

Someone sprayed GO HOME on a Polish shop near me, Lukasz said.

Racism has shot up, I started noticing at work  I had few passengers arguing between each other.

My mum had an incident where she was on a bus with my two-year-old sister, where a guy said f**k off, go back to your country you b****, if not I will stab you.

Maybe this guy was not mentally stable, and it was reported to the police, but in 20 years of living in the UK I never heard anyone be racist to me or my family. Since the referendum it has all come out. 

Lukasz now feels his 20 years of effort to fit into Britains way of life is wasted and is saving up to leave the country shortly before the deadline for Brexit.

He said he will miss his life-long friends, the food and the diversity of London, but fears that the UK is isolating itself, adding: Its like the world is going backwards now and everyone wants to shut its doors.

Matteo Mencarelli, a 30-year-old Italian man, has moved from the UK to Bulgaria in the wake of Brexit.

He arrived in London for a masters degree at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in 2010 and has since been working at the UK office of the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Eva Scheffer, a Dutch aid worker, left the UK following the vote for Brexit (Supplied)

Mr Mencarelli described his years in the British capital as priceless and a completely different world from his previous homes in Rome and Toronto.

Like many Europeans living in largely Remain-voting London, he was shocked by the referendum result.

Perhaps my friends, colleagues and I were too naive and didnt think it would actually happen but once it did, it had a huge impact on us, he said. For the first time we felt unwelcome here.

Mr Mencarelli said the vote to leave the EU acted as a catalyst for him to pursue a career working for international organisations in the Middle East and is planning his future while living with his partner in Sofia.

I miss living in London and I am extremely concerned for its future, he added.

I am hopeful that once the dust settles and a reasonable deal is struck with the EU, freedom of movement will be preserved and us Europeans will still be able to freely work and live in the United Kingdom. I do hope to be able to move back in a few years.

Eva Scheffer, a Dutch aid worker, has already left the UK because of the potential impact of Brexit and now fears for her friends.

I was offered a job in my field in the Middle East, and the uncertainty of whether or not I would be able to build a life in the UK after Brexit was definitely part of the decision to accept, the 29-year-old said.

 Brexit Secretary: UK wants temporary EU customs deal

I am very worried for my friends who are still there, both EU citizens and UK citizens.

The EU citizens are in a very insecure position at the moment, as most of them havent been there for five years, so might be told to leave after Brexit  the same situation I faced when I was there.

For UK citizens, especially many very international oriented ones, Brexit will cost them opportunities to work and study abroad.

ONS figures show the vote to leave the EU is having a dramatic effect on migration even before any new laws are introduced.

Net migration has fallen by a quarter to 246,000, while EU net migration was down 51,000.

The ONS said the change was mostly caused by plummeting arrivals from the EU, as the number of European citizens leaving Britain rose by 33,000.

These results indicate that the EU referendum result may be influencing peoples decision to migrate into and out of the UK, particularly EU and EU8 citizens, said Nicola White, the head of international migration statistics.

It is too early to tell if this is an indication of a long-term trend.

Seamus Nevin, the head of employment and skills policy at the Institute of Directors, said the exodus could cause an acute labour shortage in vital industries.

But the Government is continuing plans to cut net migration to a target of 100,000 a year and said it was encouraged by Thursdays figures.

Brexit: the deciders Show all 8 1 /8 Brexit: the deciders Brexit: the deciders European Union's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier Getty Brexit: the deciders French President Emmanuel Macron Getty Brexit: the deciders German Chancellor Angela Merkel Reuters Brexit: the deciders Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker EPA Brexit: the deciders The European Parliament's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt Getty Brexit: the deciders Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May Getty Images Brexit: the deciders Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond PA Brexit: the deciders After the first and second appointed Brexit secretaries resigned (David Davis and Dominic Raab respectively), Stephen Barclay is currently heading up the position PA

There is still more work to do to bring net migration down further to sustainable levels, said immigration minister Brandon Lewis.

People who come to our country to work bring significant benefits to the UK, but there is no consent for uncontrolled immigration.

Ian Murray, the Labour MP for Edinburgh South, said the UK was facing a Brexodus that would damage the economy, universities and public services.

When EU nationals with every right to be here are being sent letters telling them they will be deported, it is small wonder that increasing numbers of them are choosing to move away from Britain, he added, referring to a Home Office blunder that saw 100 Europeans sent deportation notices in error.

Campaign group the3million, which represents EU citizens in the UK, said it was little wonder that so many were fleeing Britain.

All we want is the assurance that we can continue our lives here as normal after Brexit, added co-chair Nicolas Hatton.

The UK Government must strike a deal with the EU which guarantees EU citizens current rights in full, permanently under the ECJ, and independently of the main Brexit agreement.

Only then can we have the certainty we need that our future is in the UK, a country we love and which we want to continue to call home.

Are you considering leaving the UK because of Brexit? Contact us by emailing lizzie.dearden@independent.co.uk
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The number of EU citizens being detained in the UK for alleged immigration offences has risen by almost a third since Brexit, official figures have revealed.

Home Office data showed 3,699 EU nationals were held in UK detention centres in 2016  1,000 more than in 2015.

The number is likely to rise further this year, with figures for the first quarter of 2017 showing a 19 per cent increase compared to the final quarter of last year.

Recommended Number of EU citizens working in UK hits record high despite Brexit

The number of EU citizens being held in the UK has now increased more than six times over since the Conservatives came to power in 2010.

The data was released by Brandon Lewis, the Immigration Minister, in response to a parliamentary question.

Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrats home affairs spokesperson, told The Guardian: The Conservatives seem hell-bent on creating a hostile environment for anyone not from the UK.

These scare tactics should be beneath any civilised government. It risks damaging our reputation abroad and will ultimately serve us badly in the negotiations with the EU.

Brexit racism and the fightback Show all 9 1 /9 Brexit racism and the fightback Brexit racism and the fightback Demonstrators protest against an increase in post-ref racism at London's March for Europe in July 2016 PA Brexit racism and the fightback These cards were found near a school in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, the day after the EU referendum Twitter/@howgilb Brexit racism and the fightback Getty Brexit racism and the fightback Romford, Essex, June 25 @diamondgeezer Brexit racism and the fightback A worker at this Romanian food shop was asleep upstairs at the time of this arson attack in Norwich on July 8, but escaped unharmed. Hundreds later participated in a love bombing rally outside the shop to express their opposition to racism and their support of the shop owners. JustGiving/Helen Linehan Brexit racism and the fightback This neo-Nazi sticker was spotted in Glasgow on June 26 Courtesy of Eoin Palmer Brexit racism and the fightback But after news emerged of neo-Nazi stickers appearing in Glasgow, some in the city struck back with slogans of their own. Courtesy of Eoin Palmer Brexit racism and the fightback Getty Brexit racism and the fightback More signs began to appear in some parts of the UK, created by people who wanted to show their opposition to post-referendum racism Courtesy of Bernadette Russell

Experts said one of the main reasons for the rise is likely to be new regulations that allow immigration officials to deport EU nationals who are sleeping on the streets, even if they have not committed any crime and pose no threat to public safety.

It comes as the Home Office admitted mistakenly sending letters to 100 EU nationals in the UK telling them they faced deportation if they did not leave the country.

The letter told recipients they were liable to be detained for failing to provide evidence they had a right to remain in the UK under EU law.

The Home Office admitted the letters were issued in error and said it was urgently looking into how the mistake had been made.

The letter, signed by UK Visas and Immigration, stated: "A decision has been taken to remove you from the United Kingdom in accordance with section 10 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999."

It continues: You are therefore a person who is liable to be detained under paragraph 16 of Schedule 2 of the Immigration Act 1971.
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The family of a young Afghan man due to be deported from the UK within days are launching a desperate appeal to stay his removal over fears he will be killed by the Taliban.

Samim Bigzad, 22, risked his life to reach Europe after receiving death threats from Islamist militants who vowed to behead him because the construction company he worked for had contracts with the Afghan government and American firms.

He reached Britain on a lorry from Calais in November 2015 but was refused asylum and denied permission to appeal, and has now been detained ahead of his scheduled deportation on Saturday.

Mr Bigzad is due to be put on a commercial flight via Istanbul to Kabul  the city he fled in fear of his life two years ago.

I believe hes going to get killed, said his cousin, Arash. The Taliban have his details and all the information they need to find him.

Kavel Rafferty, who has been hosting him at her home in Margate, has started a petition signed by more than 1,000 people appealing for a grace period to review Mr Bigzads asylum claim.

She said her lodger had no warning of the impending deportation until he went to his monthly appointment at an immigration office in London in July and was taken into custody.

Samim Bigzad, 22, has been living in Kent while caring for his father (Supplied)

His father and cousin are British citizens  I cant see why theres a problem with him staying, she told The Independent.

The Home Office wont accept anything Samim or his solicitor says he is refusing to eat or drink, Im very worried about him.

Ms Rafferty, who works as an illustrator, offered her spare room to the Refugees at Home charity after watching the crisis unfold in Calais and was asked to house Mr Bigzad.

He just seemed a bit lost, like a lovely young man, the 45-year-old said.

He is a genuinely nice lad who needed some help  he came for a week and then he just ended up staying.

I think hes probably been quite down but hes not the sort of person to complain, hes just thankful for anything.

Mr Bigzad has been studying English while being the primary carer for his father, a British citizen and former Afghan national who suffers from mental illness after being imprisoned and tortured by the Taliban almost two decades ago.

Suspected Taliban militants patrol after they reportedly took control of Ghazni's Waghaz district, in Afghanistan (EPA)

His cousin Arash, a British citizen who also lives in Margate, said Mr Bigzad became a target for the insurgents when the construction company he worked from accepted contracts with authorities.

Arash, who did not want his full name to be published, said his cousin received a phone call from men claiming they represented the Taliban with a death threat because the company was working with American troops.

Mr Bigzad kept working for several weeks until he received a second phone call from the same group, who vowed to behead him.

They said we know where you live, where you work and when we see you well chop your head off, Arash said.

Once the Taliban know who you are theyre very clever people and they will assassinate you, they will kill you.

Almost 16 years after the US invasion of Afghanistan, the Taliban still controls huge swathes of the country, where it is competing with al-Qaeda and Isis in a bloody campaign of insurgent battles and terror attacks.

The Taliban, which refers to itself as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, captured Kabul in 1996 and has brutally targeted anyone accused of colluding with the government or Western imperialists.

After being urged to flee by his mother, Mr Bigzad paid a smuggler to leave Afghanistan via Iran to Turkey, then crossed the Aegean Sea alongside thousands of migrants at the peak of the refugee crisis.

Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Show all 13 1 /13 Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people A man reacts in shock after a suicide car bombing in a diplomatic zone of Kabul, Afghanistan, left at least 80 people dead Reuters Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people The Taliban has denied responsibility for the deadly suicide car bombing that set more than 50 cars alight Reuters Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Two Afghan men carry one of the many injured in the attack REUTERS Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people A man tries to drive his vehicle heavily damaged in the blast AP Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Two men walk away from the scene, covered in blood REUTERS Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people The bomb was detonated near the German embassy in the citys heavily guarded diplomatic district REUTERS Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people One of many cars destroyed in the attack burns Reuters Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people The attack sent plumes of smoke over Afghanistans capital AP Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Several buildings have been damaged in the blast AP Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people The car bombing is thought to be one of the most deadly attacks ever to hit the capital Alamy Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Wounded victims lie on their beds in Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital in Kabul AP Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Relatives of Afghan victims mourn outside a hospital after the blast in Kabul Reuters Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Crowds in Kabul survey the damage after the deadly attack EPA

He journeyed onwards through Europe and to Calais, boarding a lorry where he told relatives he almost suffocated to reach Dover in 2015.

Arash said the family resorted to paying smugglers along the well-trodden route after exhausting legal options, with his uncle previously attempting to bring Mr Bigzad to join him in the UK in 2010 under asylum legislation.

His father is very upset, he cant eat or sleep now and he doesnt know what will happen to his son, he added.

Arash said that in addition to the danger from the Taliban, the family had suffered discrimination as members of a Dari-speaking ethnic minority in Afghanistan.

A case worker familiar with Mr Bigzads case said his asylum application was turned down in March 2016 and that one appeal had been dismissed in court and two other attempts refused.

The original refusal was based on credibility and its a classic kind of case, the man, who did not want to be named, told The Independent.

In my experience Afghans are more likely to be refused on issues of perceived credibility and I would argue that there are a lot of issues surrounding that with the Home Office and social services.

Home Office statistics show that little of a third of of all asylum applications were granted in 2016, with the rate for Afghan applicants standing at 35 per cent, sparking criticism from humanitarian groups amid worsening violence in the country.

Charities called on the Government to stop deporting migrants to Kabul following a terror attack that killed at least 90 people earlier this year, which was followed by numerous other atrocities in the capital.

 Donald Trump's ever-changing views on Afghanistan

There has also been heavy criticism over the plight of Afghan military interpreters who have been refused asylum despite being targeted by the Taliban because of their collusion with British forces.

Around 500 British troops from the UK are estimated to remain in the country, where they will soon be joined by thousands more American troops after Donald Trump announced increased efforts to combat terror.

As the conflict worsened last year, deportation flights resumed from the UK after the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of Theresa May, then the Home Secretary, and declared Kabul safe for returns  despite the Foreign Office advising against all but essential travel to the city for Brits.

A spokesperson for the Home Office said they could not comment on individual cases but insisted all asylum claims were carefully considered on their merits.

All country policy and information is based on a careful and objective assessment of available evidence from a range of sources including media outlets, local, national and international organisations, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, she added.

We continually review our country policy and information to ensure it is up-to-date, accurate and relevant, so that staff can make fair and considered decisions.

Ms Rafferty said she was terrified at the thought of Mr Bigzad being forced back to the city where militants threatened his life and concerned for his severely ill father.

Sam is not just a number, not just a statistic, she added. He's a shy, lovely, funny, polite and harmless young man who needs our help.
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Tian Tian, the UK's only female giant panda, is "believed'' to be pregnant and being closely monitored, according to Edinburgh Zoo.

Sources said staff at the zoo have believed the panda is pregnant since late July and that her cub could be born as early as Friday (25 August). The breeding season lasts until late September, a zoo spokesperson said.

The information was revealed in email correspondence released by the Scottish Government under the Freedom of Information Act.

Recommended Tian Tian the panda is still loving that snow

Tian Tian was moved to Scotland along with a male breeding partner, Yang Guang, in 2011. However, several attempts to get the panda pregnant failed.

She was reportedly artificially inseminated for the fifth time earlier this year after staff said it was unlikely the pair would ever mate naturally.

A spokesperson for Edinburgh Zoo said: "Giant panda breeding is a very complicated process but we believe that Tian Tian is pregnant.

Special report: Why China's giant panda has never been in greater peril Show all 2 1 /2 Special report: Why China's giant panda has never been in greater peril Special report: Why China's giant panda has never been in greater peril 9440.bin Special report: Why China's giant panda has never been in greater peril 1735.bin

"Although a specific date was suggested, like all babies it's hard to predict precisely and the panda breeding season can last until late September.

"Tian Tian is being closely monitored by our expert team and we will be the first to share any news as soon as we can."

If the panda gives birth to a cub it is likely to be returned to China at the age of two - the age at which it would usually become independent in the wild.
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Labours plan to introduce a Real Living Wage of 10 per hour would result in a pay rise for almost a quarter of Britains workers, the party has said, suggesting more than five million people would benefit.

Jeremy Corbyn has promised to raise the statutory minimum wage to 10 per hour by 2020 - a significant increase on the current 7.50.

New analysis released by Labour and based on House of Commons Library figures shows that in some parts of the country more than 40 per cent of workers would see their wages rise.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts that the National Living Wage, which employers must legally pay to anyone over the age of 25, will rise from the current 7.50 per hour to 8.75 by 2020  less than the 9 per hour promised by Government ministers and significantly less than Labours proposal.

Meanwhile the National Minimum Wage, which applies to 18-24-year-olds, will have risen from the current 7.05 for 21-24-year-olds to 7.75 by 2020. The rate for 18-20-year-olds is much lower: currently 5.60.

Labours policy would increase the legal minimum wage to 10 per hour for anyone over the age of 18  thereby abolishing the different pay rates between people over and under the age of 25.

The change would also force employers to pay staff an actual "Living Wage", which is the amount it is calculated an average employee needs in order to maintain a certain quality of life.

The Living Wage, which employers are under no legal obligation to pay, is different to the Governments National Living Wage, which was introduced by then-Chancellor George Osborne in 2015. Critics say the latter is not high enough for many people to live off.

Labour says its policy would mean a pay rise for 23 per cent of workers. In areas such as West Somerset, and Weymouth and Portland in Dorset, more than 40 per cent of employees would see their wages increase. In contrast, in areas such as Oxford and South Cambridgeshire only 10 per cent would see a difference.

People aged under 25 currently earning the National Minimum Wage would be more than 2,500 better off under Labours proposals, the party said.

Should I vote Labour? Corbyn's biggest policies explained Show all 9 1 /9 Should I vote Labour? Corbyn's biggest policies explained Should I vote Labour? Corbyn's biggest policies explained Brexit Labour is committed to leaving the European Union but would have different negotiating priorities to the Conservatives. It has said it would have a strong emphasis on staying in the single market and the customs union. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and leading figures in Brussels have been unambiguous that membership of the single market is impossible without free movement. PA Should I vote Labour? Corbyn's biggest policies explained Immigration The party would drop bogus immigration targets but move to a managed system of migration favoured by many leave voters. It has said this may include employer sponsorship, work permits, visa regulations or a tailored mix of all these. Getty Should I vote Labour? Corbyn's biggest policies explained The Economy Labours manifesto commits to balance government spending with the amount raised by taxation, which can mean little more than significant tax increases. The greatest burden will fall on higher earners but they cannot meet demand on their own. It has also promised to bring rail companies back in to public ownership and cap fares. The party would also renationalise Royal Mail. It also promises a transition to publicly owned energy. Peter Byrne/PA Should I vote Labour? Corbyn's biggest policies explained Tax No one earning under 80,000 would pay any more in national insurance or income tax. It would raise corporation tax, from the current low of 19p to 26p. This higher rate would still be a competitive internationally, but the government is currently fighting hard to attract business in the wake of Brexit and they say a low corporation tax rate is crucial. Labour would also lower the top, 45p income tax threshold to 80,000. In theory, this could raise 7bn, but only if higher earnings did not decide to move abroad. Reuters Should I vote Labour? Corbyn's biggest policies explained NHS Labour has promised more money for GP services, free hospital parking for patients, staff and visitors, and to take a million people off NHS waiting lists by guaranteeing treatment within eighteen weeks. These promises will be expensive to keep, and there is no certainty that the party s commitment to raising taxes on higher earners, increasing capital gains tax and reversing cuts to corporation tax will be enough to meet the need. PA Should I vote Labour? Corbyn's biggest policies explained Education The party has pledged to abolish university tuition fees and reintroduce maintenance grants and give free school meals to all schoolchildren. PA Should I vote Labour? Corbyn's biggest policies explained Housing Labours manifesto commits to building 1m new homes, and would introduce controls on rent rises for private renters. It would also scrap the so-called bedroom tax. Getty Should I vote Labour? Corbyn's biggest policies explained Environment Labour would ban fracking, but, crucially, also supports new nuclear projects. It would also introduce a new Clean Air Act to deal with illegal air quality Getty Should I vote Labour? Corbyn's biggest policies explained Defence Its manifesto says it is committed to the NATO target of 2 per cent spending on defence. It is also committed to the renewal of Trident, even though Jeremy Corbyn has spent a lifetime campaigning against it. AFP/Getty Images

Rebecca Long-Bailey, the Shadow Secretary for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, said: The stagnation of real wages currently being experienced is unprecedented since at least the Second World War. We must take bold and imaginative measures to tackle low pay. One crucial step in this direction is to raise the Minimum Wage to the level of the Living Wage, expected to be at least 10 per hour by 2020  for all workers aged 18 or over.

People should be rewarded for a full days work and need the dignity that comes with decent wages. Britain needs a pay rise and only a Labour government can deliver one.

Critics have claimed Mr Corbyns plan to lift wages would create problems for small businesses, many of which would see their wage bills soar.

"If a 10 minimum wage was to be introduced it would mean very difficult decisions for many small businesses - they would have to look at their business models," said Adam Marshall, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, when the plan was first announced last year.

 Tory MP admits he doesn't know what the minimum wage is

Labour has also released analysis showing that household disposable incomes in the UK are rising more slowly in this decade than any since records began.

Incomes are not set to increase at all this year and forecasts for every year until 2021 have been cut.

It means that, between 2010 and 2010, there is set be just a 1 per cent rise in household disposable income  the lowest level of any decade since records began in 1949.

The second lowest growth rate in a decade was between 2000 and 2010, when household incomes rose by 2.3 per cent  more than double the forecast for the current decade.

Labour blamed the Conservatives decision to raise VAT in 2010, despite having previously said they had absolutely no plans to do so. The average household is now paying almost 2,000 more in tax than it was in 2010, mostly as a result of the VAT rise.

According to the OBR, disposable household income growth for the year 2017 will be zero per cent  the ninth lowest rate of growth in any year since 1949.

A Treasury spokesperson said: We appreciate some families are concerned about the cost of living which is why we are helping them keep more of what they earn.

"We are cutting income tax bills for 30 million people and increasing the National Living Wage which is worth an extra 1,400 every year.
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The Government will today pave the way for a climbdown over Theresa Mays controversial policy of counting foreign students as migrants in official immigration statistics.

Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, will ask her independent advisers on immigration to review the costs and benefits of overseas students.

The move follows warnings by universities that classing the students as long-term migrants is deterring young people from coming to Britain to study and damaging its successful higher education sector.

Ms May appears increasingly isolated on the issue. As Home Secretary, she launched a crackdown which banned more than 900 mainly bogus or low-quality colleges from bringing in foreign students, according to the Home Office.

But there is growing evidence that ministers have exaggerated the number who overstay their visas as they justified curbs on overseas students.

Last month the Office for Statistics Regulation watchdog said official figures suggesting about 100,000 stay illegally in the UK each year after their courses end are potentially misleading and should be downgraded to an experimental number. It is based on a survey of students leaving the country at ports and airports.

The Governments critics claim the true figure for overstayers is just 1,500 a year.

The Independent and Open Britain, which urges a soft Brexit, are running a Drop the Target campaign against the tens of thousands goal and calling for overseas students to be omitted from the statistics.

Cabinet ministers including Philip Hammond, Boris Johnson and Liam Fox and Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, have called for students to be taken out of the migration statistics.

 David Davis suggests immigration target won't happen during next parliament

The new study will be seen as another example of the Cabinet flexing its muscles after Ms Mays failure to win an overall majority at the June election.

One senior member of the Government who backs lifting students out of the figures said: Its a really positive step forward  a good sign.

"There has been data recently from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showing the large economic contribution that students make.

"So this is a now a move towards the Government establishing an agreed fact-base, so we can form policy that is most appropriate and suitable to our needs.

Recommended Foreign student numbers plummeting in wake of Brexit

A Tory MP pressing for the reform said: This looks like a way of getting the PM off the hook. She likes evidence-based policy, and the review will hopefully provide the evidence.

Ironically, removing students from the figures would help Ms May hit her target to bring net migration below 100,000 a year. It currently stands at 248,000, including about 73,000 foreign students.

The latest quarterly figures will be published today  along with the first data from exit checks introduced in 2015 to track the departure of more than 100 million air, rail and ferry travellers.

The Migration Advisory Committee will report on EU and non-EU students by September next year. Its study will include the impact of tuition fees and other spending on the national, regional, and local economy and the education sector; the role foreign students play in contributing to local economic growth and their impact on the provision and quality of education provided to UK students.

The ONS has admitted that overseas students paid 4.5bn in tuition fees in the 2015-16 academic year, almost double the 2.4bn previously estimated.

Ms Rudd said: There is no limit to the number of genuine international students who can come to the UK to study and the fact that we remain the second most popular global destination for those seeking higher education is something to be proud of.

"We understand how important students from around the world are to our higher education sector, which is a key export for our country, and thats why we want to have a robust and independent evidence base of their value and the impact they have.

 Michael Fallon says Tories have not costed immigration proposals

Brandon Lewis, the Immigration Minister, said: We have always been clear that our commitment to reducing net migration to sustainable levels does not detract from our determination to attract international students from around the world. Since 2010 we have clamped down on abuse, while increasing the number of genuine students that come to the UK.

The Home Office insisted the UK is the second most popular destination for foreign students, with four UK universities in the worlds top 10; 16 in the top 100 and satisfaction among foreign undergraduates at 91 per cent.

Last year saw an increase of 6 per cent in visa applications for Russell Group universities, while visa applications sponsored by universities are 17 per cent higher than they were in 2010.

Alistair Jarvis, chief executive of Universities UK, said: "We welcome the Government's commitment to a detailed examination of the net benefits of international students. This is an opportunity to build on the considerable evidence that shows that international students have a very positive impact on the UK economy and local communities."
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The Conservative party received nearly 25m in donations ahead of this year's general election, more than twice as much as the Labour Party.

Figures published by the Electoral Commission show a record 40.1m was donated to political parties for the election on the 8 June.

The period between 1 April and 30 June saw an increase in 9.4m in reported donations compared to the previous quarterly record which coincided with the 2015 election.

A breakdown of the donations shows the Conservative Party received 1,180 donations with a total value of 24,902,297 while the Labour Party pocketed less than half of the amount with 681 donations worth 10,239,474.

Unions were the Labour Party's top four donors with Unite the Union donating more than 4m, the GMB giving 1,200,000, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) just over 1m and Unison a total of 922,000.

The Conservative Party received most of its money through individual donors but JCB Service, a company which manufacturers construction equipment, was the party's biggest donor with a donation of 1.5m.

John C Armitage, the co-founder of the hedge fund Egerton Capital, was the party's second biggest donor, contributing 1.1m. He also donated 65,000 to the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign.

Longtime Tory donor, John Griffin, the founder of the mini-cab company Addison Lee, also donated just over 1m to the Tories. He was previously embroiled in controversy over wether his donations to the party may have influenced the Government's policy over taxi regulation.

With a donation of 1m, John E Gore was the fourth biggest Tory donor.

The Liberal Democrats received a total of 4,891,943 from 456 donors in the months surrounding the election while the nine remaining parties received less than 1m.

The Women's Equality Party received nearly 283,000, the Green Party 176,363 and Ukip 156,455.

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 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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 value of outstanding loans to political parties increased by nearly 980,000 compared with the period from 1 January to 31 March, to reach a total of more than 4m.

Overall, the Liberal Democrats have more than 1m worth of outstanding loans, followed by the Conservatives with 838,347 and the Labour Party with 819,579.

The Electoral Commission said 12 parties failed to meet the deadline for reporting donations, included four donations respectively to the Liberal Democrats and Labour and three to the Conservative Party. Each case will be considered in respect to the Commission's enforcement policy.

Bob Posner, the Commission's Director of Political Finance and Regulation, said: The snap general election prompted political parties to raise record-breaking sums in the second quarter of 2017.

"Voters can have confidence that, where parties fail to submit information by a statutory deadline and there is no reasonable explanation, we will take a robust approach in dealing with these breaches.
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At a number of political rallies over the last two years, a character calling himself Michael the Black Man has appeared in the crowd directly behind Donald Trump, impossible to miss and possibly planted.

He holds signs that scream BLACKS FOR TRUMP and wears a T-shirt proclaiming with equal conviction that TRUMP & Republicans Are Not Racist.

Almost always, he plugs his wild website, Gods2.com, across his chest.

And so it was Tuesday night, before a crowd of Trump supporters in Phoenix who had come to watch another show. There was the President, whipping up the wildly cheering crowd, and then there was Michael the Black Man, chanting just beyond Trump's right shoulder in that trademark T-shirt.

The presence of Michael the Black Man - variously known as Michael Symonette, Maurice Woodside and Mikael Israel - has inspired not only trending Twitter hashtags but a great deal of curiosity and Google searches. Internet sleuths find the man's bizarre URL, a easily-accessible gateway to his strange and chequered past.

The radical fringe activist from Miami once belonged to a violent black supremacist religious cult and he runs a handful of amateur, unintelligible conspiracy websites. He has called Barack Obama The Beast and Hillary Clinton a Ku Klux Klan member. Oprah Winfrey, he says, is the devil.

Most curiously, in the 1990s, he was charged, then acquitted, with conspiracy to commit two murders.

But Michael the Black Man loves President Donald Trump. And President Trump's campaign apparently loves him right back.

It's unclear if the White House or President Trump's campaign officials are aware of Michael the Black Man's turbulent history or extreme political views, but he and his followers have stumped for the president at his inauguration and the Super Bowl.

In July, he posted video footage of himself at the Mar-a-Lago Club, President Trump's so-called Winter White House, for the Republican Party of Palm Beach County's annual Lincoln Day Dinner.

Wearing a black dinner coat over a white BLACKS FOR TRUMP T-shirt, Michael the Black Man posed with the local GOP's chairman, apparently took a photo of first lady Melania Trump and recorded a selfie video that showed his arm slung over the shoulder of Florida Governor Rick Scott.

I saw you on TV with Trump, Scott can be heard telling Michael the Black Man. You did a good job.

At a campaign rally in late October 2016, down in Sanford, Florida, Trump even gave the BLACKS FOR TRUMP signs an approving shout-out.

Look at those signs behind me, Trump said to the roaring crowd. Blacks for Trump. I like those signs.

The candidate, wearing a camouflage Make America Great Again hat, turned to the sign-holders and offered a thumbs-up. Michael the Black Man, standing behind Trump and grinning widely, gave a thumbs-up right back.

Blacks for Trump, the candidate said again. You watch. You watch. Those signs are great, thank you.

The signs drew national attention at the time, but not because of Michael the Black Man. Rally watchers came away perplexed after one event when white women were seen waving the signs. That same month, New York Magazine and the Miami New Times published articles recounting the sign maker's story.

Before he started calling himself Michael the Black Man, the man identified as Maurice Woodside joined a cult led by Hulon Mitchell Jr, who went by Yahweh Ben Yahweh and eventually turned violent. The two men met when Woodside was 21 years old.

Woodside followed Yahweh's fiery teachings for years, even after the leader allegedly denied his dying, cancer-stricken mother medical treatment and instead prescribed her vegetables, nuts, and herbs, prosecutors once said in court, according to the New Times.

In the early 1990s, the New Times reported, Woodside, Yahweh and 14 other members of the cult were arrested by federal agents and charged with racketeering and conspiracy in 14 murders and a firebombing, reported the New Times.

Ricardo Woodside, Maurice's brother, had once been in the cult but left after his mother's death. Woodside testified in court that his brother had helped beat a man named Aston Green, who argued with Yahweh and was taken to the Florida Everglades and beheaded with a dull machete, reported the New Times.

He also testified that Maurice Woodside was the cult member who stabbed a Louisiana man named Leonard Dupree in the eye with a sharpened stick.

Yahweh was sentenced to 11 years in prison. Maurice Woodside, who denies the cult was violent or murderous, was acquitted along with six others.

In later years, Woodside changed his name to Maurice Symonette. Eventually, he became Michael the Black Man, an anti-Democrat - or as he calls them, Demon-crat - who preaches the Bible and abhors homosexuality. He started a private radio station, BOSS 104.1 FM, to broadcast his radical beliefs, and began causing a ruckus in public.

At an Obama campaign speech in Coral Gables, Florida, in 2008, he and a group of other protesters loudly interrupted the future president, shouting Barack, go home! and waving signs that declared Obama endorsed by the KKK, reported the Miami New Times.

One sign, held by Michael the Black Man, read: Blacks against Obama.

His website, Gods2.com, proclaims on the landing page: LATIN, BLACK AND WHITE MUST UNITE!

Links on that site lead to another one, honestfact.com, which claims that the Real KKK Slave Masters are CHEROKEE Indians (Hidden Babylonians).

The proclamations only get more unhinged from there: ISIS AND HILLARY RACE WAR PLOT TO KILL ALL BLACK & WHITE WOMAN OF AMERICA WITH MS-13.

And: YAHWEH BEN YAHWEH Taught Us To Vote Republican & is Now VINDICATED.

And: BLACKS FOR TRUMP SUPPORTS SENATOR JEFF SESSIONS

Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Show all 15 1 /15 Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Kandy Freeman participates in a Black Lives Matter protest in front of Trump Tower in New York City, U.S. January 14, 2017. Stephanie Keith/Reuters Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower People participate in a Black Lives Matter protest in front of Trump Tower in New York City, U.S. January 14, 2017. Stephanie Keith/Reuters Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Hawk Newsome, a Black Lives Matter activist, leads a protest outside Trump Tower in New York City on January 14, 2017. Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Hawk Newsome (C) leads a chant during a Black Lives Matter protest in front of Trump Tower in New York City, US. January 14, 2017. Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower People participate in a Black Lives Matter protest in front of Trump Tower in New York City, U.S. January 14, 2017. Stephanie Keith/Reuters Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower An NYPD officer speaks with a Black Lives Matter leaders during a protest in the snow outside Trump Tower in New York City on January 14, 2017. Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Kandy Freeman participates in a Black Lives Matter protest in front of Trump Tower in New York City, U.S. January 14, 2017. Stephanie Keith/Reuters Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower An NYPD officer speaks with a Black Lives Matter leaders during a protest in the snow outside Trump Tower in New York City on January 14, 2017. Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Carol Garza, a Black Lives Matter supporter, protests outside Trump Tower in New York City on January 14, 2017. Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower People participate in a Black Lives Matter protest in front of Trump Tower in New York City, U.S. January 14, 2017. Stephanie Keith/Reuters Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower A Black Lives Matter supporter protests in the snow outside Trump Tower in New York City on January 14, 2017. Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Black Lives Matter activists march in front of Trump Tower on January 14, 2017 in New York City. Kevin Hagen/Getty Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Black Lives Matter activists march in front of Trump Tower on January 14, 2017 in New York City. Kevin Hagen/Getty Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Black Lives Matter supporters protest in the snow outside Trump Tower in New York City on January 14, 2017. Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Black Lives Matter Kandy Freeman marches in front of Trump Tower on January 14, 2017 in New York City. Kevin Hagen/Getty

The site also displays a photo of a Confederate flag with the caption: Cherokee Democratic Flag.

In Phoenix Tuesday night, as supporters chanted build that wall!, Trump turned again to the roaring crowd behind him and flashed a thumbs up.

Michael the Black Man flashed one back, smiled and mouthed, I love you!

The Washington Post
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A hostage situation in Charleston has ended after a gunman was critically shot and wounded, according to reports.

Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg told reporters that several hostages had been freed after the assailant, whom the mayor had earlier referred to as a disgruntled employee, had been shot and was in critical condition. One person was shot and killed, Mr Tecklenburg told reporters.

Police officers engaged for hours in a tense standoff with the still-unidentified shooter, who holed up with multiple hostages inside a downtown Charleston restaurant. A section of King Street, in the city's central commercial district, was blocked to cars and pedestrians.

Multiple local news outlets reported that the hostage-taker was a dishwasher who had worked at the restaurant and that the slain man was a chef.

The city's mayor said the shooter was likely a disgruntled employee, according to the Post and Courier.

This was not an act of terrorism, said Mayor John Tecklenburg earlier in the day. This was not a hate crime.

The Post and Courier of Charleston quoted diners from a restaurant who recounted a man entering with a pistol and saying I am the new king of Charleston. Other witnesses told the newspaper the gun-toting man said There's a new boss in town.
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The following is a retelling based on contemporary accounts of a confrontation in Charlottesville between two middle fingers and a Confederate flag.

According to his family history, Allen Armentrout's great-great-great-great grandfather once put on a Confederate uniform and went off to war for the losing side of the US Civil War.

More than a century and a half later, Armentrout, in his early 20s, has repeatedly argued that the cause his ancestor fought for has been distorted.

First by a tyrannical government that wants to erase Confederate history, and through lies spread over decades that would simply say the war was over slavery, and North was right and the South was wrong, as he once lectured to city officials in Florida, where he attended Pensacola Christian College.

More recently the Confederacy was besmirched in Charlottesville, by people who misappropriate Robert E. Lee and the Confederate flag for their personal agendas, Armentrout told the Daily Progress. He meant those white supremacists who rallied at the rebel general's monument two weekends ago, provoking violence and horrifying the country.

Recommended Charlottesville white supremacist surrenders to police

So Armentrout decided to defend his concept of history. Last week he picked up his rebel flag, slung a rifle across the back of his faux-19th century uniform, and drove to Charlottesville to show the world what he felt the Confederacy stood for.

He couldn't have known it, but he was driving straight into the Great Middle-Fingered Standoff of 2017 - a viral conflagration that would cause hardship on both sides.

Lara Rogers didn't know Armentrout's family history, or Armentrout, or anything thing about him.

She was driving to work last Tuesday when she saw his flag peeking from a crowd of gawkers gathered around Lee's statue in Emancipation Park - just a few days after white supremacists had marched on her city beneath the same banner.

The Confederate flag kind of throws up a whole lot of traumatic imagery very quickly, Rogers told The Washington Post. So she pulled over.

Her memories of the scene match descriptions that have run everywhere from the Daily Progress to CNN: Armentrout in his uniform with his gun and his flag, reverently saluting the image of a Confederate general as the crowd of residents around him grow larger and louder.

I said many things to him, she said. Our community is traumatised, this is wildly inappropriate, the flag you're carrying is a call to violence.

Armentrout's response, Rogers said, was the same one seen in so much footage of his demonstration: Nothing.

No retort, she said. No eye contact. He just keep saluting the general he would later call the greatest American that ever lived.

It was a lost cause, Rogers said.

So out they came: Fingers three-of-five and eight-of-ten, which Rogers held inches from Armentrout's face for the duration of his public reverence.

Me standing in front of him with my middle fingers up was a half-hour, she recalled. And a good part of it on my own.

Neither of them backed down.

Armentrout kept saluting and Rogers kept flipping him off as the crowd around them chanted terrorist go home and other things.

And still, as some chants turned into anguished, angry screaming.

And still, as a woman implored Armentrout at the point of tears: You have a home to go to. You have people. There are people who are dead here, or injured.

Only after police officers took Armentrout aside and whispered in his ear did he leave the shadow of Lee's statue.

And even then Rogers followed him, berating him as he loaded his flag and gun into a police vehicle: Can't walk out of the park by yourself? So proud and brave.

And even after that, when he had departed Charlottesville and she had gone back to her job and family in the city, there would be consequences.

In popular retellings (i.e. on Twitter), Rogers was the middle-fingered hero who thwarted a one-man epilogue to the previous weekend's public racism.

And rather than restoring Robert E. Lee's dignity, Armentrout became the subject of ridicule himself. Tweeters like reporter Adam Rawnsley reimagined the student's demonstration in the voice of soldiers from the Civil War:

Armentrout, who did not return a message from The Post, tried his best to separate himself from the extremists who came before him.

I hope that man serves time, he said to CNN of James Alex Fields Jr, who is accused of driving into a crowd of counter-protesters on 12 August and killing Heather Heyer.

And he tried to explain, not for the first time in his life, his devotion to Confederate history.

I went up there to represent what I believe is right, he told the Pensacola News Journal.

But he didn't make much headway with his critics.

He's misguided and miseducated if he believes the Confederate cause was for states rights, Rogers said. It's all white supremacy. It's all violence on black and brown bodies. It's just as bad.

And as the News Journal and other outlets reported, after the demonstration Pensacola Christian College apparently kicked the student out before he could begin his senior year.

I have been released from my school and will be unable to return to college to finish my senior year, Armentrout told WXII News 12 in North Carolina, his home state. I'm processing this and making adjustments to my life to compensate for this scrutiny.

A relative who didn't want to be named confirmed to The Post that Armentrout had been expelled, although the school said it couldn't comment on individual students.

Members of the KKK are escorted by police past a large group of protesters during a KKK rally in Charlottesville (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Pensacola Christian College recognises the dignity and value of all people and we respect the history of America, wrote a spokeswoman for the school - which publishes curriculum used by fundamentalist Christian families and forbids female students from wearing pants.

We encourage individuals to exercise discernment and seek to build reconciliation, especially during a time of mourning like Charlottesville is experiencing.

When Rogers learned of her opponent's travails, she did not feel much sympathy.

I'm honestly surprised a Christian college in Florida did this, but I do think those things need to happen, she said. It's normalising white supremacy culture if they don't.

And besides, she has faced her own retribution since Tuesday's standoff.

Entire threads on far-right message boards are now devoted to attacking Rogers. One included a photo of her two-fingered salute, titled What would you have done to Lara Rogers, if she was doing this to you?

You can imagine the suggestions.

I'm being doxxed big time, Rogers said. My home address, and maps to my house where I live with my husband and three children.

And email after email filled with hate, a recent sampling of which she shared with The Post.

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.

Really thought you'd get past just being a c , huh? a 3.30am missive begins, before the author hits on Rogers, insults her, attacks black people, and condemns her defiance of that young man who was standing for what he believed in.

We're now going to make sure he makes it into and through whatever school he wants, the man writes.

The Washington Post
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Christopher Cantwell, a white nationalist from Keene, New Hampshire, has turned himself in to face three felony charges in Virginia, authorities said.

Cantwell was wanted by University of Virginia police on two counts of the illegal use of tear gas or other gases and one count of malicious bodily injury with a caustic substance, explosive or fire during the violence in Charlottesville earlier this month.

University police issued a brief statement late on Wednesday saying Cantwell turned himself in to police in nearby Lynchburg, Virginia, where he was being held at Blue Ridge Regional Jail pending transport to Charlottesville.

Recommended Petition calls for Heather Heyer statue in place of Robert E Lee

It wasn't immediately known if Cantwell has a lawyer.

Contacted by the Associated Press on Tuesday, Cantwell acknowledged he had pepper-sprayed a counter-demonstrator during the 11 August protest on the campus of the University of Virginia. But he insisted he was defending himself, saying he did it because my only other option was knocking out his teeth. He also said he was looking forward to his day in court.

Cantwell appeared prominently in a Vice News documentary about the neo-Nazi clashes, weeping openly and expressing his belief in an "ethno-state". He also described the death of counter-protester Heather Heyer, 32, who was run over during the clashes by domestic terrorist James Alex Fields Jr, as "more than justified".

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.

Lynchburg police, contacted by AP late on Wednesday, declined to release further information about Cantwell.

AP
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Were you deeply alarmed by President Donald Trump's performance in Arizona on Tuesday night? If so, that is understandable. Trump is getting worse. He rambled and ranted with abandon. He hinted that he will pardon Joe Arpaio. He escalated his attacks on the media, accusing them of misrepresenting his response to the violence in Charlottesville. Yet he also doubled down on his defence of Confederate monuments, claiming that they are trying to take away OUR heritage and OUR history. (Emphasis added.)

All of this appeared to signal a growing contempt for the rule of law and an increasing indifference to the health of our democracy and institutions, and to his own responsibilities and duty to the public to try to calm the antagonisms unleashed in Charlottesville's aftermath. If anything, at this difficult moment of national introspection, Trump conspicuously sought to further inflame those antagonisms. Some reacted with deep panic: Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper labelled the speech downright scary and disturbing, adding: I really question his ability to be - his fitness to be - in this office.

But without minimising the dangers that Trump still poses, it's worth considering Trump's act in a somewhat less alarming light, by comparing it with another, similar performance: Dustin Hoffman's powerful depiction of the public deterioration of legendary political satirist and comedian Lenny Bruce, in the movie Lenny. And this hints at where this could - could - all end up.

It is true that Trump's performance did energise the crowd at key moments, such as when he hinted that the Arpaio pardon is coming and when he attacked the media (CNN sucks! CNN sucks! chanted the crowd). But The Post's Jenna Johnson captures another side of the audience's reaction with this memorable description:

As the night dragged on, many in the crowd lost interest in what the President was saying.

Hundreds left early, while others plopped down on the ground, scrolled through their social media feeds or started up a conversation with their neighbours. After waiting for hours in 107-degree heat to get into the rally hall - where their water bottles were confiscated by security - people were tired and dehydrated and the president just wasn't keeping their attention. Although Trump has long been the master of reading the mood of a room and quickly adjusting his message to satisfy as many of his fans as possible, his rage seemed to cloud his senses.

Obviously, the comparison between Trump and Lenny Bruce, as portrayed by Hoffman, is imperfect in all kinds of ways. But not in this one way. Bruce was arrested for various low-level charges, including obscenity and drug possession, and in the movie Lenny, Hoffman depicts Bruce's later performances as public displays of increasing grievance, resentment and self-absorption over his legal plight, and deteriorating awareness of his audience.

In one of these, Bruce is muttering to himself unintelligibly as audience members shift uncomfortably and begin to leave. Where you going? Bruce says, despairingly. Then he slips into sardonic self-pity over his persecution for obscenity: Hey, where you people going? Oh, come on, man! I haven't even said [expletive depicting sexual act] yet!

In another, Bruce is reading to his audience from documents involving his legal troubles, and he is so deep in the legal weeds (and in his self-absorption) that people again begin leaving. Oh, come on, man! Bruce says to the departing patrons. Where you going? No, I don't wanna do t- and a!

There were hints of this sort of deterioration from Trump on Tuesday night. There was the self-pity, the self-absorption, the outsize resentment and grievance. And it could get worse. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican-Kentucky, reportedly has confided that he isn't sure Trump's presidency can be saved. Degenerating relations with congressional Republicans could imperil other pieces of his agenda, leading to more anger and frustration. Special counsel Robert Mueller's probe continues, meaning more revelations lie ahead.

Tuesday night, Trump actually read aloud from his previous comments on Charlottesville - just as Bruce did from his legal documents - to illustrate how unfair the media is being to him. It's not hard to imagine the dynamic that Johnson describes above getting worse over time, with Trump increasingly wallowing in the details of his persecution while his audiences increasingly lose interest.

To be clear, Trump still commands immense control over the news cycle, which means he could very well turn things around. And whatever is to be on that front, I don't want to minimise the dangers Trump still poses. It is horrifying that Trump continues to stoke racial division for what appear to be deeply cynical purposes (as former chief strategist Stephen Bannon openly revealed to be the case). Trump may expand his deportation dragnet, and Tuesday night Trump threatened a government shutdown over his Mexican wall. This and the Arpaio pardon could maximise the ugliness. The attacks on the press could further erode public faith in the news media's legitimate institutional role and could conceivably end in violence. An effort to remove Mueller remains a very real possibility. Trump controls our nuclear arsenal, and he still has not faced a full-blown crisis.

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

Meanwhile, The Trump Show - such as the one witnessed on Tuesday night - poses a threat in another way, too. It is a distraction from all of the various damage the Trump administration is doing on the deregulatory front, and from his continued self-dealing and naked profiting off of the presidency, which is itself a serious threat to the future health of norms governing the conduct of our public officials.

But for all that, further deterioration into an increasingly buffoonish and self-absorbed figure (again, with apologies to Bruce for the imperfect comparison) also remains a possibility. Hoffman may not look the part, but it's seductive to imagine an actor of his ability and depth playing it.

The Washington Post
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An Asian-American physician who sparked debate when she revealed some white patients in Oregon had refused to be treated by her because of her ethnicity, has revealed she has experienced the same thing in every state she has worked.

Writing in the aftermath of the neo-Naz-led violence in Charlottesville, Esther Choo, a doctor at Portlands Oregon Health & Science University, said there were a lot of white nationalists in her state and two or three times a year, a patient would insist on being treated by a white person - even if it was the intern.

Weve got a lot of white nationalists in Oregon. So a few times a year, a patient in the ER refuses treatment from me because of my race, she started a twitter thread that was shared by thousands of people.

Yet Ms Choo said that while Oregon had a history of white supremacism, despite the relatively progressive views of the residents of its largest city, Portland, she had encountered similar incidents in every place she had worked as a doctor - Connecticut, California and Massachusetts.

There is a little bit of racism everywhere you go. These things happen everywhere - its not isolated to one state, she told The Independent.

Ms Choo, who has more than 15 years experience, said she had not written or spoken out about her experiences before. Its not something you come out of a hospital wanting to talk about, she said.

 White supremacist patients refuse treatment' by Asian-American doctor

Yet as she saw the images of violence taking place in the Virginia college town, she felt inspired to write. She said as she watched the television cameras zoom in on the faces of those taking part, she realised she had seen those ideas before in the emergency room.

She added: When it happens in a hospital shift you are very busy, running around like a crazy person, and you have to move on. It might not even stand out from the shift. The last traffic accident you dealt with, may be the thing you remember from the night.

When I was watching Charlottesville, I started to feel the anger and hate I had never really stopped to think about.

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.

Ms Choo said the impact of a patient refusing to be treated could be not just insulting, but embarrassing and distressing, particularly when she was less experienced. Nowadays, she adopted a more practical approach.

Many people who commented on her Twitter thread suggested she ought to have simply walked away from any such patients and left them to it. Yet she said, she had never felt that. In a real life situation, my instincts are to do my job.

She said since posting her thread, she had received messages from doctors of colour from across the country sharing similar stories and experiences.

She had also heard from lots of white doctors, expressing outrage and also asking how they can best support colleagues of colour. She said: That was one of the positive things - people asking how to reach out and help others.

The violence in Charlottesville happened during one of the largest white supremacist gatherings in a number of years. The demonstrators were met by scores of anti-fascist protesters and the clashes left up to 20 people a hurt.

A young woman, Heather Heyer, 32, was killed after a young man allegedly drove his car into a group of people. The 20-year-old, said to have been an admirer of Adolf Hitler, has been charged with her murder.
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Florida is set to execute a 53-year-old convicted murderer with a drug never before used in a lethal injection.

If the execution is carried out, Mark James Asay would be first person to die by an injection using etomidate  an anaesthetic developed in Belgium in the 1960s.

The anaesthetic would be followed by rocuronium bromide, to paralyse him, and potassium acetate, to stop his heart. It would also be Floridas first time using potassium acetate, and the second time it was ever used in the United States.

Recommended Driver could face death penalty after 10 die in back of lorry

The use of a previously untested execution drug has raised concern from many experts.

"There are outstanding questions about whether it's going to do what it needs to do during an execution, Jen Moreno, a lethal injection expert for the University of California, Berkeley Law School, told the Associated Press. The state hasn't provided any information about why it has selected this drug."

Florida Supreme Court Justice Barbara Pariente accused the state of treating Mr Asay like the proverbial guinea pig in a dissenting opinion earlier this month. The use of the untested drug, she claimed, would amount to cruel and unusual punishment.

Mark Asay is set to be executed on Thursday in Florida (Florida Department of Corrections via AP)

The states high court says expert witnesses have testified that Asay is at small risk of mild to moderate pain from the drugs use.

Even Janssen, the manufacturer that invented the drug in the 1960s, has spoken out against its use.

Janssen discovers and develops medical innovations to save and enhance lives, the company said in a statement. We do not support the use of our medicines for indications that have not been approved by regulatory authorities."

It added: "We do not condone the use of our medicines in lethal injections for capital punishment.

The state wont be buying the drug from Janssen, however. Etomidate is off-patent, and several different companies produce a generic version. The state has not revealed the company from which it will buy the generic drug.

Many states have been forced to turn to new lethal injection drugs in recent years, as drug manufacturers have taken a stand against the death penalty. Florida is using etomidate to replace midazolam  a drug Pfizer Inc discontinued last year to prevent it being used in executions.

In April, an Arkansas execution was stayed after the drug supplier, McKesson, revealed it had provided the drug to the prison for medical purposes  not for executions.

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

Asay would be the first inmate to be executed in Florida since January 2016, when the US Supreme Court ruled the states death penalty process unconstitutional. He would also be the first white man in Florida to be executed for killing a black man since 1979.

Asay was convicted of killing Robert Lee Booker, a black man, and Robert McDowell, a latino man, in 1987. Prosecutors say Asay shot Mr McDowell, who was dressed as a woman, after hiring him for sex and discovering his true gender. He was sentenced to death in 1988.

I have served 36 years of my life in prison, Asay recently told NewsJax4. If the purpose of prison is not accomplished now, it's never going to be accomplished.

He added: I'm not a violent person or a threat to society. But if the government is like, Well, we can't be sure, then I'm prepared to submit to the execution Thursday and go on and be at peace with my Lord.
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A motorist has been arrested after allegedly driving into a group of transgender women who were protesting over the police shooting of one of their friends.

A photographer from a local newspaper was present when the car apparently refused to stopped for the demonstrators who had blocked an intersection in St Louis and captured the action.

Pix from car that drove through protesters, car stopped was surrounded, then drove through, one person ended up on hood, only minor injuries, wrote David Carson, a photographer with the St Louis Post-Dispatch.

Reports said more than 100 people had gathered to protest over the shooting of 30-year-old Kenneth Kiwi Herring. The mother-of-three had been shot and killed by police the day before, after officers said she cut an officer with a knife.

Police said that on Wednesday evening, protesters had walked from a Transgender Memorial to an intersection and blocked traffic in all directions.

A vehicle approached, stopped, honked its horn and attempted to drive around the protesters, police said in a statement.

The protesters surrounded the vehicle and began striking it with their hands and a flag pole. Several protesters also kicked and jumped on top of the vehicle. The driver of the vehicle...proceeded to drive away when three protesters...fell from the vehicle.

 Summer camp for transgender children in California

The statement added: Police attempted to stop driver of vehicle who initially refused to stop. He stopped about a block away from the incident and was taken into custody.

But the St Louis Post-Dispatch quoted a witness identified as Keith Rose, who said the driver had his middle fingers raised before accelerating through the group.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

The report said the witness, who was in the group of protesters, said the driver stopped for a few seconds before accelerating gradually and driving into the group.

Mr Rose said that a protester was thrown over the hood of the car by the impact and others were hit by the car.

Ms Herring had been shot the day before, after police responded to a domestic disturbance when they found her cut across the face, arms and chest.

Her pain, her struggle, her legacy will not be forgotten by anyone here, said Morgan Hunlen, one of her friends. She was a resilient character that may have reached an unfortunate and tragic end, but lived a life that should be celebrated.
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Donald Trump has been accused of lying directly to the American people at a rally in Arizona by a CNN anchor.

The Presidents address to the crowd in Phoenix was a total eclipse of the facts, Don Lemon said.

He also claimed Mr Trump was trying to rewrite history about his response to the violence in the Virginian city of Charlottesville, where a far right protest over the decision to removal a statute of Confederate General Robert E Lee led to clashes between white supremacists and counter protesters.

One of those counter protesters, Heather Heyer, 32, was killed when a car drove into a crowd of them. The man suspected of being the driver, James Fields Jr, 20, has been charged with second degree murder

Mr Trump claimed the media had distorted their reporting of his response to the which saw him as he blame "many sides for the violence and stop short of explicitly condemning the far right.

Following the furore, Mr Trump initially rolled back his comments but later doubled down on them and said his response had been perfect during his 77-minute speech at the rally.

In his speech to his supporters, he attacked the decision to remove Civil War statues saying: "They're trying to take away our culture. They're trying to take away our history".

He called those calling for the removal of the statues honouring people who tried to save the slave-owning Confederacy in the 19th century as "weak, weak people".

In a piece to camera, Mr Lennon said he had to speak from the heart and joined a host of other critics who have questioned Mr Trumps fitness for office.

Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade Show all 8 1 /8 Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AP Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AP Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AP Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AP Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AFP/Getty Images Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AP Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AFP/Getty Images Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AP

He said: Hes unhinged, its embarrassing. I dont mean for us the media because he went after us but the country. This is who we elected President of the United States. A man so petty he has to go after people he deems to be his enemies like the imaginary friend of a six year old.

His speech was without thought, it was without reason. It was devoid of facts, it was devoid of wisdom, there was no gravitas, there was no sanity there. He was like a child blaming a sibling for something else. He certainly reopened the race wound from Charlottesville."

He added that the President was "a man clearly wounded by the rational people who are abandoning him in droves. A man backed into a corner by circumstances beyond his control and beyond his understanding.

If you watch that speech as an American you have got to be thinking what is going on, this is the person we elected as the President of the United States.
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Donald Trump has launched an attack on a former intelligence chief who in recent days questioned his fitness for the presidency

James Clapper, who served as Director of National Intelligence under Barack Obama and stood down in January, has become increasingly critical of Mr Trump. Following the President's widely-criticised response to the neo-Nazi-led violence in Charlottesville that left a young woman dead, Mr Trump held a rally in Arizona where he defended his actions.

After the event, Mr Clapper said he had found Mr Trumps speech in Phoenix to be downright scary and disturbing.

I really question his ability to be - his fitness to be - in this office, and I also am beginning to wonder about his motivation for it, he said on CNN. How much longer does the country have to, to borrow a phrase, endure this nightmare?

On Thursday, among a series of tweets, Mr Trump attacked Mr Clapper and accused him of lying to Congress.

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

James Clapper, who famously got caught lying to congress, is now an authority on Donald Trump. Will he show you his beautiful letter to me, he wrote.

 Donald Trump 'shows traits of a sociopath' says MSNBC commentator

Mr Clapper is a member of what Trump supporters have termed the deep state, the intelligence and law enforcement institutions they claim are opposed to the President.

There is little doubt that Mr Trump has become increasingly isolated among in his relationship with many such agencies. Last week, after Mr Trump appeared to defend those responsible for events in Charlottesville, four generals representing various branches of the armed services, tweeted to say there was no place for racism or bigotry in the military.

Mr Trump also saw senior business executives who made up two advisory councils quit, amid concern that his stance could hurt and offend not only their workforces but their customers. Members of an arts advisory group also resigned.
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Donald Trump has once again harshly criticised Republican leaders that he needs to advance his policy agenda  this time over how to raise the amount of money the government can borrow to pay its debts.

Further displaying party disunity, Mr Trump on Twitter expressed frustration with Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, saying they did not heed his advice to attach legislation increasing the USs debt ceiling to a measure on veterans affairs.

I requested that Mitch M & Paul R tie the Debt Ceiling legislation into the popular V.A. Bill (which just passed) for easy approval, Mr Trump wrote in a Twitter post.

They ... didn't do it so now we have a big deal with Dems holding them up (as usual) on Debt Ceiling approval. Could have been so easy-now a mess! he added.

The Veterans Affairs bill  which is intended to expedite the appeals process for veterans who were denied disability benefits  passed the House and Senate with bipartisan support earlier this summer. Any Republican attempt to raise the nations debt ceiling will also need the support of Democrats.

Seven months into his presidency, Mr Trump seems to be trying to run the government the way we ran his multi-billion dollar company, observers suggest, despite the vastly different organisations and incentives of employees.

The President's management style, which has involved him publicly threatening members of Congress on Twitter, could become a real issue if reported rifts worsen between Republican leaders and the former real estate tycoon. Poor relations could undercut attempts to cut taxes, pass a budget and rebuild infrastructure. Some on Capitol Hill are already said to be concerned about Mr Trump's brinkmanship; he has threatened a government shutdown if Congress does not provide funding for his oft-promised border wall, even though a shutdown could be a disaster for Republicans.

I don't think a government shutdown is necessary and I don't think most people want to see a government shutdown, ourselves included, Mr Ryan said on Wednesday.

The Treasury Department has said the $19.9 trillion cap on the amount the federal government may borrow to pay its debts must be raised by 29 September. If Congress fails to increase this amount, the government could default on its debt, and many economists have warned that economic growth could slow down significantly as a result.

Federal debt is the amount of money the government currently owes for spending on payments such as Social Security, Medicare benefits, military salaries, interest on the national debt and tax refunds.

With the White House, House and Senate under one party control, the American people expect and deserve a plan from Republicans to avert a catastrophic default and ensure the full faith and credit of the United States, said Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House.

Iran's 'Trumpism' contest Show all 10 1 /10 Iran's 'Trumpism' contest Iran's 'Trumpism' contest AFP/Getty Images Iran's 'Trumpism' contest AFP/Getty Images Iran's 'Trumpism' contest AFP/Getty Images Iran's 'Trumpism' contest AFP/Getty Images Iran's 'Trumpism' contest AFP/Getty Images Iran's 'Trumpism' contest AFP/Getty Images Iran's 'Trumpism' contest AFP/Getty Images Iran's 'Trumpism' contest AFP/Getty Images Iran's 'Trumpism' contest AFP/Getty Images Iran's 'Trumpism' contest AFP/Getty Images

With so much at risk for hard-working families, Republicans need to stop the chaos and sort themselves out in a hurry, she added.

Raising the debt ceiling is one of the must-pass measures Congress will take up when it returns from recess on 5 September.

Congress will have about 12 working days from its return to approve spending measures to keep the government open. While the budget and debt cap are separate, they are likely to become entangled.

Mr Trumps Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has been pushing for a clean raise to the debt ceiling, meaning one that is not attached to spending cuts or any other bills. But conservative Republicans  who dont want to increase the USs borrowing limit without also cutting federal spending in the process - have been emboldened by weeks without complete clarity from the White House.

Democrats are likely to oppose any proposed deep cuts to federal spending.

Mr McConnell and Mr Ryan have repeatedly said the debt ceiling would be raised without issue.

Speaking at an event with Boeing employees in suburban Seattle on Thursday, Mr Ryan insisted Congress would pass legislation to make sure that we pay our debts. He added, I'm not worried that's not going to get done because it's going to get done.

Mr Ryan also said he and Mr Trump are in constant contact to work on a policy agenda, adding for me it's really important the president succeeds, because if he succeeds then the country succeeds.

Later, in an interview with CNBC, Mr Ryan said he did not view Mr Trump's tweets as going after me. He also said the idea of tying debt ceiling legislation to the veterans bill had been considered, but that they still have more options.

Mr McConnell said earlier in the week that there is zero chance  no chance  we won't raise the debt ceiling.

Mr McConnell and Mr Trump are reported to be in a political cold war, according to the New York Times, and have apparently not spoken to each other in weeks. Relations between the pair appeared to frost after Mr McConnell failed to secure enough Republican votes for a bill that would have overhauled the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare.

The only problem I have with Mitch McConnell is that, after hearing Repeal & Replace for 7 years, he failed! That should NEVER have happened! Mr Trump also tweeted on Thursday.

During an event in Kentucky on Thursday following Mr Trump's morning tweets, Mr McConnell did not address the reported rift between the President and congressional Republicans. Instead, he spent a portion of time criticising the previous administration of former President Barack Obama.

This new administration in Washington and this Congress is interested in getting America growing again, Mr McConnell said.

The majority leader, in a statement released on Wednesday, had attempted to tamp down reports that his relationship with Mr Trump has soured.

The President and I, and our teams, have been and continue to be in regular contact about our shared goals, he said. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we are committed to advancing our shared agenda together and anyone who suggests otherwise is clearly not part of the conversation.

However, at the event in Kentucky, Mr McConnell joked that running the Senate was a little bit like being the groundskeeper at a cemetery. Everybody's under you, but nobody's listening.

On Thursday afternoon, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she thinks the relationships between Mr Trump and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill are fine.

Certainly there are going to be some policy differences, Ms Sanders said during a White House briefing. But there are also a lot of shared goals and that's what we're focused on.

She added: We're disappointed that Obamacare, they failed to get it repealed and replaced, but at the same time, President Trump has worked with leader McConnell to reach out to other members and to work on those shared goals and we're going continue to do that when the senate comes back from recess.

It is clear that there may be some tough negotiations ahead. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said raising the debt ceiling and securing the US border was a good combination and suggested Republicans force Democrats into difficult votes over the borrowing limit.

Let's put them in a box when it comes to the debt ceiling. The president is not crazy to attack the Congress. He's not crazy to think of ways to put Democrats in a bad spot regarding the debt ceiling. They do this all the time to us, Mr Graham said.
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One of Donald Trumps top spiritual advisers has claimed the President is a king who was put in power by God.

Whether people like him or not, [Mr Trump] has been raised up by God, because God says that He raises up and places all people in places of authority, televangelist Paula White recently told Jim Bakker, a right-wing pastor and vocal Trump supporter.

She added: It is God that raises up a king, it is God that sets one down and so when you fight against the plan of God, youre fighting against the hand of God.

Ms White is a controversial televangelist who preaches prosperity gospel  the idea that God will bless believers with wealth on Earth, as well as happiness in the afterlife. She is also a personal friend of Mr Trumps, who serves on his spiritual advisory counsel and led a prayer at his inauguration.

In her appearance on Mr Bakers television show, Ms White compared Mr Trump to Esther, the Biblical figure who rose from her childhood as an orphan to become the Queen of Persia. Ms White said Mr Trump is similar to Esther in that they both transcended their non-conventional backgrounds to become great leaders.

They even say that about our President, Well hes not presidential." she said. Thank goodness! And I mean that with all due respect, because, in other words, hes not a polished politician.

Paula White and Donald Trump in a meeting at the White House (Michael Reynolds/Getty Images)

Mr Bakker, who was previously imprisoned on charges of mail and wire fraud, repeated the claim that Mr Trump is a king  though he specified that he meant this in a Biblical sense. He went on to tout Ms Whites unlimited access to the President, claiming she could walk into the White House whenever she wants to.

Mr Trump has previously called Ms White a "beautiful person with amazing insight. Ms White, too, has defended Mr Trump, telling reporters that he absolutely has a relationship with God.

He is a Christian, he accepts Jesus as his Lord and savior, she told Politico.

In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour Show all 39 1 /39 In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud arriving for a reception ahead of a banquet at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump, accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud being welcomed at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump with King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud during a welcome ceremony with traditional sword dancers at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud with US President Donald J. Trump and wife Melania during a welcome ceremony at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump adjusts the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal, after it was bestowed upon him by Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud presents U.S. President Donald Trump with the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 Palestinians print posters depicting US President Donald Trump in preparations for his planned visit, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband White House senior advisor Jared Kushner, before delivering his remarks to the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump looks on as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef exchange a memorandum of understanding Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump shares a laugh with a child during a visit to the American International School in the Saudi capital Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers rest during preparations ahead of President Trump's landing in Tel Aviv, Israel Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump makes her way to board Air Force One in Riyadh as she heads with her husband the US President to Israel Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One for Israel, the next stop in Trump's international tour, at King Khalid International Airport AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers wait for the arrival ceremony of US President Donald Trump at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive aboard Air Force One at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod near Tel Aviv, Israel Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump disembark Air Force One on arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump and his wife, US First Lady Melania Trump are welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, in Lod outside Tel Aviv, Israel EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sit during welcome ceremony in Tel Aviv AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump chats wife Sara Netanyahu as US President Donald Trump chats to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a welcoming ceremony to welcome Trump at Ben Gurion International Airport Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump delivers a speech upon his arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump gestures during a press conference with Israel's President at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump watches as First Lady Melania Trump signs the guest book at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump walks with first lady Melania Trump in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in Jerusalems Old City Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump stands next to Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz at the plaza in front of the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and White House senior advisor Jared Kushner leave notes at the Western Wall in Jerusalem Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Ivanka Trump, assistant and daughter of US President Donald J. Trump, touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump arrives in a vehicle to Saint Damaso's Court for a private audience with Pope Francis in Vatican City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis walks past Ivanka Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on the occasion of the private audience with President Donald Trump, at the Vatican AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis exchanges gifts with US President Donald Trump during a private audience at the Vatican Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis meets US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania during a private audience at the Vatican Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis with US President Donald J. Trump EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis gets into is car after meeting with US President Donald Trump AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 President Donald Trump and his wife Melania look at the frescoed ceilings during their visit to the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump security vehicles are seen in front of Air Force One before take off from Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump wave to reporters before boarding the Air Force One to Brussels, at the end of a 2-day visit to Italy including a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, at Rome's Fiumicino international airport AP

Mr Trump has not regularly attended church since becoming president, and does not have a hometown congregation. According to CNN, he recently appeared not to know the difference between a Protestant (which he claims to be) and an evangelical Christian. A recent Politico article floated the idea that he is the least God-fearing president to occupy the White House In centuries.

But Ms White, Mr Bakker, and many other Christian leaders still seem to believe that he will serve their agenda well.

Gods shaking America, people, and its time, Mr Bakker said. You better be ready, because were going to have the harvest time. Its honestly going to be the greatest time.
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Campaigners have criticised a proposal by the Trump administration to alter the boundaries of several protected national parks and possibly permit drilling and mining, as a ruinous sell-out to special interests.

Interior Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has recommended that Donald Trump later at least three so-called national monuments - among them Utahs Bears Ears National Monument - as part of a review of the federally-owned parks.

Mr Zinke said he would not seek to rescind any of the 27 of the parks he was asked to review. However, he said he would push for some boundary changes and he also left open the possibility of allowing drilling or mining.

Indigenous Americans are among those protesting to keep the parks untouched by big business (Getty)

The recommendations I sent to the president on national monuments will maintain federal ownership of all federal land and protect the land under federal environmental regulations, and also provide a much needed change for the local communities who border and rely on these lands for hunting and fishing, economic development, traditional uses, and recreation, he said in a statement.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Mr Zinke declined to reveal his recommendations for individual sites and would not answer if any monuments would be newly opened to energy development, mining and other industries that Mr Trump has championed. You can protect the monument by keeping public access to traditional uses, he said.

Yet campaigners were quick to criticise the proposals to alter the parks, which were carved out of the wilds and oceans by Mr Trumps predecessors. The Sierra Club, one of the USs oldest environmental groups, said it appeared there was an intention to sell-out public lands to special interests.

Any recommendation from Secretary Zinke to shrink national monuments is hypocritical at best and ruinous at worst. Secretary Zinke claims to support public lands, but now we know hes just one more Trump administration stooge for polluting special interests, said Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune.

Whether the preservation of Native American sacred sites or a natural wonder of the world, public lands and waters are granted monument status for a reason. Stripping these places of that protection devalues the diverse history they preserve, the outdoor economy they support, and the future they offer.

The US has a total of 129 national monuments, the first of which, Devils Tower in Wyoming, was established by Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. In addition to Bears Ears, reports suggest Mr Zinke has recommended changes to Grand Staircase-Escalante, also in Utah, and Oregons Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.

Bill Clinton declared the 1.9m-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante in 1996, while Barack Obama designated the 1.35m-acre Bears Ears last year. Cascade-Siskiyou, which now encompasses more than 113,000 acres, was established by Mr Clinton shortly before leaving office and expanded by Mr Obama in January just before he left office.

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

Trump had ordered Mr Zinke to examine more than two dozen sites established by three presidents under the 1906 Antiquities Act, including Republican George W Bush. The process pitted those who have felt marginalised by federal actions over the past 20 years against backers who see the sites as bolstering tourism and recreation while safeguarding important relics, environments and species, the AP said.

Other campaigners also denounced the proposals.

Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters, described Mr Zinkes review a pretext for selling out our public lands and waters to the oil industry and others.

Jacqueline Savitz, senior vice president of Oceana, which has been pushing for preservation of five marine monuments included in the review, said: A change can be a small tweak or near annihilation. The public has a right to know.

A tribal coalition that was behind a push for the creation of the 2,100-square-mile Bears Ears National Monument on sacred tribal land, is prepared to launch a legal fight against even a slight reduction in its size, said Gavin Noyes of the non-profit Utah Dine Bikeyah.
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Top US rabbis are breaking with tradition, saying they will not organise their annual conference call with the President ahead of the Jewish High Holidays because of Donald Trumps response to violence in Charlottesville.

We have concluded that President Trumps statements during and after the tragic events in Charlottesville are so lacking in moral leadership and empathy for the victims of racial and religious hatred that we cannot organize such a call this year, rabbinical groups wrote in a joint statement.

The groups that issued the decision represent the Reform Jewish Movement, the Reconstructionist Movement and the Conservative Movement.

Recommended Top science adviser to Trump resigns over his Charlottesville response

The presidents words have given succor to those who advocate anti-Semitism, racism, and xenophobia, they wrote. Responsibility for the violence that occurred in Charlottesville, including the death of Heather Heyer, does not lie with many sides but with one side: the Nazis, alt-right and white supremacists who brought their hate to a peaceful community. They must be roundly condemned at all levels.

White nationalist demonstrators earlier this month descended on Charlottesville to protest the removal of a Confederate statue. The rally, met by counter-protests, quickly became violent  prompting the governor to declare a state of emergency.

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 has received widespread bipartisan criticism for his comments insisting that white supremacists, neo-Nazis and other hate groups did not deserve 100 per cent of the blame for the violence that resulted in the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer.

Tuesday night at a rally in Phoenix, Mr Trump read out portions of his three statements regarding Charlottesville and maintained that he had adequately condemned white supremacists. However, he left out his most controversial lines in which he said there was blame for the violence on all sides.

Many still believe the president wasnt forceful enough in his denunciation of hate groups, further evidenced by the rabbis refusal to participate in a call with Mr Trump to mark the upcoming Jewish holidays Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year  beginning 20 September  and Yom Kippur, starting 29 September.

US rabbis had organised a call to speak with Mr Trumps predecessor Barack Obama each year of his presidency, according to the Washington Post.
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Congress has uncovered emails, one from a current aide of Donald Trump, which were sent in 2016 to campaign officials regarding setting up meetings between Mr Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The emails were part of a set of 20,000 that were turned over to Congress a few months ago as part of the investigation into alleged ties between the campaign team and Russia.

Rick Dearborn, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff, sent an email regarding an individual who wanted to connect then-candidate Mr Trump and the Russian leader, CNN reported.

The individual in question was not named but referenced as "WV".

It remains unclear who this person is, what this person's intent was, and if the meeting actually was set up.

A source told CNN that Mr Dearborn "appeared skeptical" in the email.

The email was reportedly sent around June 2016, the same month Donald Trump, Jr met with Russian, Kremlin-connected lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya in Trump Tower.

Mr Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and campaign manager Paul Manafort were also at the meeting and according to an email thread made public by Mr Trump Jr himself, the meeting was taken to discuss possible information Ms Veselnitskaya had on opponent Hillary Clinton's financial ties to Russia.

The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images

Prior to his position in the White House, Mr Dearborn was a top aide of Attorney Jeff Sessions, who was a Senator at that time. He was a policy aide to the campaign.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said to CNN: "We aren't going to comment on potentially leaked documents."

Mr Trump has repeatedly lamented members his administration leaking information to the press.

Campaign adviser George Papadopoulos also sent a questionable email in March 2016, according to what an unnamed source told CNN.

This source said the email was sent to Trump campaign officials with the subject line: "Meeting with Russian Leadership -- Including Putin" but the idea was rejected at the time by the campaign.

Paul Manafort joined the campaign that same month but the timeline of the beginning of his tenure and the email.

Mr Papadopoulous seemed undeterred by his initial email's rejection and on 27 April 2016 he sent a message to Corey Lewandowski, campaign manager at the time, that read: "Putin wants to host the Trump team when the time is right".

It was the same day as then-candidate Mr Trump gave a foreign policy speech which Mr Dearborn played a part in crafting at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. That evening there was a reception at the hotel which then-Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak attended and one of the times Mr Sessions encountered him.

It was a meeting Mr Sessions failed to initially disclose ahead of his confirmation as Attorney General.
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A Washington DC court has ordered a company to turn over records of visitors to an anti-Donald Trump website.

Chief Judge Robert Morin of the Superior Court of DC has said the Department of Justice can follow through on a search warrant for web hosting company DreamHost's disruptj20.org site.

The site was used to organise protests against Mr Trump on Inauguration Day, 20 January 2017, and authorities are looking for more information on the rioting that occurred that weekend.

Mr Morin had also ruled that the government must minimise data collected on innocent visitors to the site and any third parties that are involved with the site.

The search warrant also specifies that the government must disclose both the search and collections methods used as well as the names of the investigators involved in collection and search procedures.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

The DOJ is required to present the data in two separate packages: one will data of innocent visitors and third party groups that will never be reviewed and one with data that appears to violate DC criminal code with regards to rioting and and an accompanying explanation has to how that data is evidence of a crime.

The government can begin collecting the data immediately, but reviewing it will have to wait until DreamHost decides whether it wants to repeal Mr Morin's ruling or not.

Prior to the ruling, DreamHost made the search warrant public and estimated that it involved 1.3 million visitors' IP data and other information that could qualify as a violation of the Privacy Protection Act.

Outside the courtroom a lawyer for DreamHost, Raymond Aghaian, said despite the search warrant limiting review to data that appears to violate riot criminal codes, the government being allowed to "see that information and identify who these political dissidents are is problematic".

"When it comes to sensitive First Amendment issues such as this one, it should not be the case where the government gets to rummage through material to determine whether something is valid or not," he added.
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Iraq war veteran and Senator Tammy Duckworth has taken Donald Trump to task over his ban on transgender people serving in the United States military.

Ms Duckworth, who lost both of her legs serving in the military, said that, at the moment in her military career where it mattered the most, she really didnt care the gender identity of the people fighting to keep her alive.

When I was bleeding to death in my Black Hawk helicopter after I was shot down, I didnt care if the American troops risking their lives to help save me were gay, straight, transgender, black, white, or brown, Ms Duckworth said. All that mattered was they didnt leave me behind. If you are willing to risk your life for our country, and you can do the job, you should be able to serve  no matter your gender identity or sexual orientation.

Mr Trump announced his plan to reverse policies favoured by his predecessor, Barack Obama, in a tweet last month. The tweet  notable because it was a declaration of consequential national policy declared for the first time on social media  sparked widespread outrage, and appeared to catch the Pentagon, who at the time referred questions about the policy to the White House, off guard.

High ranking military officials later indicated that a ban on transgender people wouldnt be enforced until they had received official directives from the White House on the matter. Mr Trumps West Wing sent over that paperwork this week.

Anything else is not just discriminatory, it is disruptive to our military, and it is counterproductive to our national security, Ms Duckworth continued. If the President enacts this ban, which would harm our military readiness, the Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who oppose this discrimination must enact legislation that prevents it from taking effect.

Transgender in Pakistan Show all 16 1 /16 Transgender in Pakistan Transgender in Pakistan Dancing at Shakeela's party, an event to celebrate a transgender life in middle-age Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Venue staff members watch people dance at Shakeela's party in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Security searches guests as people arrive at Shakeela's party in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Members of the transgender community dance at Shakeela's party in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Shakeela, a member of the transgender community, works in the kitchen at home in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters Transgender in Pakistan 'It's the first time a transgender party has been held openly,' says activist Farzana Jan Transgender in Pakistan Farzana Jan, a member of the transgender community, poses for a photographer ahead of Shakeela's party in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Guests at Shakeela's party Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Money thrown by the guests is used by people to help them start a new business or project Transgender in Pakistan Rani smiles from behind her make-up as she prepares for the party Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Shakeela resting at her home in Peshawar Reuters Transgender in Pakistan A photo hangs on the wall in the home of members of the transgender community in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Make up lies on the floor as members of the transgender community prepare for Shakeela's party in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters Transgender in Pakistan A guest counts money she plans to throw at Shakeela's party Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Bubbly helps Shakeela with her dress as members of her own family watch on Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Chahat, a member of the transgender community, prepares for Shakeela's party in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters

Mr Trump has been criticised before for actively avoiding military service in his youth, and his apparent disgust for transgender people who want to enlist on their own volition. The President received four draft deferments for college, and one for bad feet. Later in life, after becoming a celebrity, he once joked that his sex life was his own form of the Viet Nam war, and that avoiding sexually transmitted diseases was the enemy then.
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President Donald Trumps response to the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia has received a resounding thumbs down from US voters.

Americans overwhelmingly disapproved, 60 per cent to 32 per cent, of Mr Trumps handling of the situation, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll.

Almost 60 per cent of voters said Mr Trumps decisions and behaviour have encouraged white supremacist groups, while only three per cent say he has discouraged these groups. The majority believe these groups pose a threat to the US.

In the wake of the Charlottesville rally  said to be the largest white supremacist gathering in the US decades  Mr Trump did make scripted remarks condemning white supremacist groups, including neo-Nazis and the KKK. One day later, however, he appeared to walk back those comments.

In a freewheeling press conference at Trump Tower, the President claimed that some fine people had attended the rally, defended statues of Confederate generals, and repeated his claim that both sides were to blame for the violence at the event.

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.

Despite widespread backlash, Mr Trump defended his comments at a campaign rally this week, calling them "perfect. The negative response, the President claimed, was engineered by the fake news media.

They only take out anything they can think of, and for the most part, all they do is complain, he said. But they don't put on those words. And they don't put on me saying those words."

But it appears Mr Trump has larger problems than his battle with the media: A record number of voters now say that prejudice against minority groups is a problem in America. Half of all voters say such prejudice is a very serious problem, while 31 per cent say it is somewhat serious.

More than half of all Americans also say there is too much prejudice in the US overall. Only 40 per cent say there is too much political correctness  one of Mr Trumps favourite talking points. This margin is the widest its been since Quinnipiac first started asking the question.

And while Mr Trump has claimed that the problem of prejudice is not of his creation  nor, charitably, of Barack Obamas  voters still appear to hold him accountable for it. Sixty-five per cent of voters say the level of hatred and prejudice in the US has increased since his election. Only two per cent say it has gone down.

"Elected on his strength as a deal-maker, but now overwhelmingly considered a divider, President Donald Trump has a big negative job approval rating and low scores on handling racial issues," Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said.
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Angela Merkel remains the overwhelming favourite to win next months German federal elections to the Bundestag, according to all polls.

Ms Merkels Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party and their Christian Social Union (CSU) allies in Bavaria are polling at around 38 per cent of the vote, with the closest opposition, the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), trailing on 24 per cent  according to two of the latest polls by firms Civey and INSA.

The centre-right liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), Ms Merkels preferred coalition partners, are also set to comfortably secure a place in the German parliament this time around, giving the Chancellor options should her party fall short of a majority by itself.

Accordingly, nearly half of all voters, 45 per cent, believe the result of the German elections are now a foregone conclusion, despite a month of campaigning still to go, according to another poll by Allensbach.

The SPDs new leader Martin Schulz initially saw a poll surge when he took charge of the party in March, drawing level with Ms Merkel in some surveys. His honeymoon period did not last long, however, and the SPD has crashed back to its weak performance, typical of recent years.

If Ms Merkel wins on 24 September she will be set to have been Chancellor for 16 years by the next elections in 2021  double the maximum terms of two US presidents and longer than the premiership of Tony Blair.

Despite Ms Merkels overtly pro-refugee policies, the populist right has failed to make significant inroads. Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) are polling in the high single figures or at around 10 per cent, depending on which pollsters are to be believed.

Martin Schulz, SPD leader, is a former president of the European Parliament (AFP)

In a bid to fire up his supporters Mr Schulz on Wednesday pledged to remove all US nuclear weapons bases from German territory were he elected as Chancellor.

CDU politician Jens Spahn has meanwhile criticised young Berliners for speaking English to one another in bars and cafes, arguing that by adopting the language they are showing a metropolitan disdain for those who do not speak it.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

The Civey poll had topline figures of CDU/CSU at 38 per cent; SDP 24 per cent; FDP 9 per cent; Linke 9 per cent; AfD 8 per cent; and Grune 8 per cent.

The INSA poll had topline figures of CDU/CSU at 38 per cent; SDP 24 per cent; FDP 9 per cent; Linke 9 per cent; AfD 10 per cent; and Grune 7 per cent.
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Thousands of Muslims joined vigils in Barcelona to condemn terrorism and show their support for the victims of the recent attacks.

More than 2,500 people from different communities gathered close to Las Ramblas in central Barcelona, Spanish newspaper El Pais reported.

Last Thursday, a van was driven into a crowd on the busy street, killing 13, before a bloody getaway in which a man was stabbed to death. A later attack in the seaside town of Cambrils killed one.

People take part in a demonstration organised by several Muslim association of Catalonia which gathered the main religious denominations of the community to express their rejection of any type of terrorism after the attacks in Catalonia, in Barcelona (EPA/ANDREU DALMAU)

The crowd held placards reading "We are also victims," "Terrorism has no religion," and "We are all Barcelona, not terrorisms."

At the front of the procession was a large green banner reading: "We are Muslims, not terrorists."

A girl holds a banner that reads: "Muslims Against Terrorism" during a protest by the Muslim community condemning the attack in Barcelona, Spain (AP/Santi Palacios)

Many took to the streets to chant "not in my name."

Representatives from the Islamic communities read a statement rejecting the attacks and expressing their support for the victims and the wounded in Catalan, Spanish and Arabic.

The procession was joined by the Catalan president, Carme Forcadell, the secretary for external and institutional relations, Raul Romeva, and the first deputy mayor of Barcelona, Gerardo Pisarello, as well as members of the Catalan parliament and Barcelona City Council.

Muslims react as they gather at Plaza Catalunya to protest against terrorism in Barcelona, Spain (REUTERS/Sergio Perez)

The lone fugitive from the initial attack, Younes Abouyaaqoub, 22, was shot dead on Monday west of Barcelona after a huge manhunt.

Barcelona Attack Show all 30 1 /30 Barcelona Attack Barcelona Attack Police officers patrol on Las Ramblas following yesterday's terrorist attack, on August 18, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. Thirteen people were killed and dozens injured when a van hit crowds in the Las Ramblas area of Barcelona on Thursday. Spanish police have also killed five suspected terrorists in the town of Cambrils to stop a second terrorist attack Getty Images Barcelona Attack Tourists and locals walk along Las Ramblas following yesterday's terrorist attack, on August 18, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. Thirteen people were killed and dozens injured when a van hit crowds in the Las Ramblas area of Barcelona on Thursday. Spanish police have also killed five suspected terrorists in the town of Cambrils to stop a second terrorist attack. Getty Images Barcelona Attack Police officers patrol on Las Ramblas following yesterday's terrorist attack, on August 18, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. Thirteen people were killed and dozens injured when a van hit crowds in the Las Ramblas area of Barcelona on Thursday. Spanish police have also killed five suspected terrorists in the town of Cambrils to stop a second terrorist attack. Getty Images Barcelona Attack People leave a fastfood with hands up as asked by policemen after a van ploughed into the crowd, killing two persons and injuring several others on the Rambla in Barcelona on August 17, 2017. A driver deliberately rammed a van into a crowd on Barcelona's most popular street on August 17, 2017 killing at least two people before fleeing to a nearby bar, police said. Officers in Spain's second-largest city said the ramming on Las Ramblas was a "terrorist attack" and a police source said one suspect had left the scene and was "holed up in a bar". The police source said they were hunting for a total of two suspects AFP/Getty Barcelona Attack Police officers tell members of the public to leave the scene in a street in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017. Police in the northern Spanish city of Barcelona say a white van has jumped the sidewalk in the city's historic Las Ramblas district, injuring several people. AP Barcelona Attack Injured people react after a van crashed into pedestrians in Las Ramblas, downtown Barcelona, Spain, 17 August 2017. According to initial reports a van crashed into a crowd in Barcelona's famous Placa Catalunya square at Las Ramblas area injuring several. Local media report the van driver ran away, metro and train stations were closed. The number of people injured and the reasons behind the incident are not yet known. Official sources have not confirmed that the incident is a terrorist attack. EPA Barcelona Attack AP Barcelona Attack REUTERS Barcelona Attack AP Barcelona Attack People move from the scene after a van crashed into pedestrians near the Las Ramblas avenue Reuters Barcelona Attack A policeman stands next to an ambulance after a van ploughed into the crowd, injuring several persons on the Rambla in Barcelona AFP/Getty Images Barcelona Attack Reuters Barcelona Attack Firefighters stands outside an evacuated mall after a van ploughed into the crowd, injuring several persons on the Rambla in Barcelona AFP/Getty Images Barcelona Attack Policemen stand next to vehicles in a cordoned off area after a van ploughed into the crowd, injuring several persons on the Rambla in Barcelona AFP/Getty Images Barcelona Attack Plain-clothes policemen phone as they walk past police cars in a cordoned off area after a van ploughed into the crowd, injuring several persons on the Rambla in Barcelona AFP/Getty Images Barcelona Attack A policemen and a medical staff member stand past police cars and an ambulance in a cordoned off area after a van ploughed into the crowd, injuring several persons on the Rambla in Barcelona AFP/Getty Images Barcelona Attack A person is stretched out of a mall by medical staff members in a cordoned off area after a van ploughed into the crowd, injuring several persons on the Rambla in Barcelona on August 17, 2017. Police in Barcelona said they were dealing with a "terrorist attack" after a vehicle ploughed into a crowd of pedestrians on the city's famous Las Ramblas boulevard on August 17, 2017. Police were clearing the area after the incident, which has left a number of people injured. AFP/Getty Images Barcelona Attack Children, some in tears, are escorted down a road in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017. Police in Barcelona say a white van has mounted a sidewalk, struck several people in the city's Las Ramblas district. AP Barcelona Attack Mossos d'Esquadra Police officers and emergency service workers move an injured man, after a van crashes into pedestrians in Las Ramblas, downtown Barcelona, Spain, 17 August 2017. According to initial reports a van crashed into a crowd in Barcelona's famous Placa Catalunya square at Las Ramblas area injuring several. Local media report the van driver ran away, metro and train stations were closed. The number of people injured and the reasons behind the incident are not yet known. Official sources have not confirmed that the incident is a terrorist attack. EPA Barcelona Attack Mossos d'Esquadra Police officers attend injured people after a van crashed into pedestrians in Las Ramblas, downtown Barcelona, Spain, 17 August 2017. According to initial reports a van crashed into a crowd in Barcelona's famous Placa Catalunya square at Las Ramblas area injuring several. Local media report the van driver ran away, metro and train stations were closed. The number of people injured and the reasons behind the incident are not yet known. Official sources have not confirmed that the incident is a terrorist attack. EPA Barcelona Attack Injured people react after a van crashed into pedestrians in Las Ramblas, downtown Barcelona, Spain, 17 August 2017. According to initial reports a van crashed into a crowd in Barcelona's famous Placa Catalunya square at Las Ramblas area injuring several. Local media report the van driver ran away, metro and train stations were closed. The number of people injured and the reasons behind the incident are not yet known. Official sources have not confirmed that the incident is a terrorist attack. EPA Barcelona Attack A police officer cordon off a street in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017. Police in the northern Spanish city of Barcelona say a white van has jumped the sidewalk in the city's historic Las Ramblas district, injuring several people. AP Barcelona Attack AFP/Getty Images Barcelona Attack AFP/Getty Barcelona Attack AFP/Getty Images Barcelona Attack AFP/Getty Barcelona Attack AFP/Getty Images Barcelona Attack AFP/Getty Images Barcelona Attack AFP/Getty Images Barcelona Attack AFP/Getty Images

Police say he flashed what turned out to be a fake suicide belt at two officers who confronted him in a vineyard.

They said they had "scientific evidence" Abouyaaqoub drove the van that sped through Las Ramblas promenade before he hijacked a car and fatally stabbed its driver while making his getaway.

Abouyaaqoub's brother and friends made up the rest of the 12-man extremist cell, police said.

Isis claimed responsibility for the attacks.
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French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has been accused of having crossed the line with its latest front cover reacting to last week's Barcelona attack.

The front page cartoon depicts two people lying on the ground in a pool of blood after having been run over by a white van with the caption "Islam is a religion of peace..... eternal".

The cartoon aims to reflect on the terror attack which unfolded in the tourist city when a white van ploughed into people on La Rambla, killing 13 people and injuring more than 100 others.

A dozen extremists of Moroccan origin are believed to have plotted the attack.

Critics of the magazine have seen the cover as suggesting Islam is an inherently violent religion.

The drawing has once more divided opinions between those who believe the magazine is a bastion of free speech and those who argue repeated attacks on Islam and the latest cartoons fuel Islamophobia.

The cartoon became one of the top trending topics in France with many arguing that Charlie Hebdo had gone too far, describing the drawing as "Islamophobic", "racist" and "revolting".

Translation: "Shameful association which is the foundation for racism and the National Front"

Translation: "But who is still defending Charlie Hebdo?"

Translation: "Freedom of speech is the right to criticise all religions. Charlie Hebdo has always been a partisan of atheism."

Translation: "I love the Islam that I've been taught. I denounce its vile appropriation by terrorists who use it for their own purpose. I respect the freedom to caricature everything."

Speaking to BFM TV, Socialist MP Stephane Le Foll called the cartoon "extremely dangerous" and warned such association of ideas between Islam being a religion of peace and the violence of the attack could be used by others.

"When you're a journalist you need to exercise restraint because making these associations can be used by other people," he said.

In an editorial inside the magazine, Charlie Hebdo's editor Laurent Sourisseau known as "Riss" explained his editorial choice by saying experts and policy-makers are avoiding asking hard questions out of concern for moderate Muslims.

"The debates and questions about the role of religion and in particular the role of Islam in these attacks have completely disappeared," he wrote.

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Show all 39 1 /39 In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Pencils, representing the freedom of expression, placed in tribute in Nantes Reuters In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack France's Jason Lamy Chappuis soars through the air over a message that reads "Je suis Charlie" Getty In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Solidarity in Nice AP In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Turkish citizens organised a vigil in front of the French consulate in Istanbul AFP In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Graffiti decorates a London wall in solidarity with the victims of the attack in Paris AFP In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack A tribute of flowers and candles outside the French Embassy in Prague, Czech Republic AP In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Messages of sympathy near the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris AFP In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Workers install a poster reading 'Je suis Charlie' (I am Charlie) on the Palais des Festivals facade in Cannes In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack A woman looks at floral tributes left outside the Charlie Hebdo magazine offices in Paris In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack A woman places flowers near the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Journalists of international press agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) hold signs reading "Je suis Charlie" (I am Charlie) at their headquarters in Paris as they observe a minute of silence for the victims of an attack by armed gunmen on the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris which left at least 12 dead and many others injured In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Pens and pencils are placed in the form of a peace sign over the names of late French cartoonists Cabu, Tignous, Wolinski and late Charlie Hebdo editor Charb on the Place de la Republique (Republic Square) in Paris In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Australia mourns victims of the Paris massacre at Federation Square in Melbourne In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Indian artist Sudarsan Pattnaik is pictured with his sand sculpture, in tribute of those who lost their lives in the attack by gunmen on French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in Paris that killed 12 people, at Golden Sea Beach in Puri, some 65 kilometers from Bhubaneswar In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack A man holds a placard that reads "I am Charlie" as members of the European Parliament and citizens gather during a minute of silence for victims of the shooting at the Paris offices of weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo, in front of the EU Parliament in Brussels In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack A painting of the 'Marianne', the national symbol of the French Republic is placed between candles to commemorate the victims killed in an attack at the Paris offices of the weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo, in front of the French Embassy in Berlin In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Pencils and flowers of condolance are placed at the French embassy at Pariser Platz in Berlin In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Mourners hold signs depicting victim's eyes during a rally in support of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical weekly newspaper that fell victim to an terrorist attack, at Union Square in New York In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack People hold up placards reading 'I am Charlie' during a gathering in Nice Getty Images In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack A man lights candles set near the portrait of three of the four cartoonists killed, in Paris Getty Images In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack A man holds the French national flag tied a black ribbon as he and others gather in Lyon to pay their respects Getty Images In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Parisians gather to pay respect for the victims of a terror attack against 'Charlie Hebdo' Getty Images In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack People gather in front of the 'Club de la presse' in Montpellier, to show their solidarity for the victims of the attack by unknown gunmen on the offices of the satirical weekly, 'Charlie Hebdo' Getty Images In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack A drawing depicting cartoonist Jean Cabut, left, Charlie Hebdo editor Stephane Charbonnier, center, and cartoonist Georges Wolinski, is placed outside the French Embassy in Berlin, Germany. The message reads 'Victims of their success, R.I.P.' AP In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack A woman lays a candle during a gathering at the Place de la Republique in Paris Getty Images In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack People take part in a vigil in Trafalgar Square, London, following the deadly terror attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris PA In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack People light candles forming the name Charlie during a gathering in Strasbourg, eastern France Getty Images In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack People stand stand in Marseille, southern France, next to a portrait of French cartoonist Georges Wolinksi, killed during an attack by unknown gunmen on the offices of the satirical weekly, 'Charlie Hebdo' Getty Images In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack People hold placards reading in French 'I am Charlie' during a gathering at the Place de la Republique in Paris Getty Images In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack A man holds a placard reading 'With all our heart with Charlie Hebdo, Freedom of the press: Our freedom' during a gathering in Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack The French and European union flags fly at half-mast at the French Embassy in Washington, DC Getty Images In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack People gather at the Place Royale in Nantes to show their solidarity for the victims of the attack in Paris Getty Images In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Flowers, candles and a sign reading 'I am Charlie' are placed against a wall during a demonstration in Paris AP In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Journalism students hold a banner reading in French: 'Journalism students : Solidarity' as they raise pens during a gathering at the Place de la Republique in Paris Getty Images In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack People gather for a rally in solidarity with the killed Charlie Hebdo employees, in Geneva, Switzerland EPA In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack A man holds a placard reading: 'Freedom of the press is priceless, fundamentalism, of any kind, will not pass' as others hold up placards reading in French, 'I am Charlie' during a gathering at the Place de la Republique in Paris Getty Images In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Journalists raise their press cards as others hold up pens during a gathering at the Place de la Republique, following the terrorist attack on the offices of the satirical weekly, 'Charlie Hebdo' Getty Images In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack People hold candles at a rally in support of the victims of Wednesday's terrorist attack, at the Place de la Republique in Paris Getty Images In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack People gather in front of the city hall of Rennes, western France, following the attack in Paris Getty Images

The magazine, which is notorious for its provocative and politically incorrect stance, regularly mocks religions including Islam.

In January 2015, Charlie Hebdo was the victim of a terror attack, when a pair of gunmen walked into the magazine's offices and opened fire, killing 12 people with their automatic rifles.

The magazine had previously published a number of controversial caricatures of the prophet Mohammed.
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Germany's main opposition candidate has vowed to remove all US nuclear weapons from bases in Germany if, against the odds, he is elected in next month's vote.

Martin Schulz, the former President of the European Parliament and now leader of Germany's left-wing Social Democrats (SPD), is the lead challenger to Angela Merkel's bid for a fourth term in office as Chancellor.

Speaking at a campaign rally in the western city of Trier, Mr Schulz said he would resist President Donald Trump's demands to Nato members to increase their defence spending.

"Trump wants nuclear armament. We are against this," he told his supporters. "As Chancellor, I will commit Germany to having the nuclear weapons stationed here withdrawn from our country," he added.

According to unofficial estimates, about 20 American nuclear warheads are stationed at a military base in Buechel, in western Germany. Tthe US embassy in Berlin said it did not comment on nuclear weapons in the country.

Mr Schulz also said he would use the 30bn (27.6bn) Ms Merkel has earmarked to increase military spending for other purposes in a bid to distance himself from his rival.

The US had been pressing Germany to increase its military spending long before Mr Trump's election last November but the new President repeated the demands, adding Germany owes Nato "vast sums of money" and should pay the US more for defending it.

President Trump also suggested he might abandon Nato allies if they do not increase their spending to the two per cent of GDP minimum target specified by the alliance.

Germany was placed under Nato and the US' military protection following the Second World War and has since been wary about using military force.

Ms Merkel pledged to reach Nato's military spending target by 2024, a commitment she said the government endorsed three years ago when Mr Schulz was a junior coalition partner.

But Mr Schulz told his audience at the Trier rally: "What to do with our money is the central question of this election. Trump demands that two per cent of GDP, 30bn, should got to military spending and Merkel agrees to that without asking German citizens."

Mr Schulz has ruled in a grand coalition with Ms Merkel's conservatives over the last four years making it difficult for his party to criticise the Chancellor's recent record and to differentiate his party from her conservative alliance.

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. 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In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. 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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. 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But defence has appeared to be one of the issues which created the biggest divide between the two candidates, although it may not resonate as a priority with many voters.

After 12 years in office, Ms Merkel has become increasingly confident on the global stage and she has pushed for Germany to become more militarily self-reliant.

Earlier this year, she said times when Germany could rely on others to defend it were "to some extent in the past".

Recent polls show Mr Schulz lagging about 15 points behind Ms Merkel in opinion polls with around 23 per cent of voting intentions, against up to 39 per cent for the Chancellor.

A booming economy and low unemployment are predicted to lead Ms Merkel to a fourth election victory but she would have to form another coalition to rule.

While a repeat of the grand coalition of the last four years is unlikely, the race for the third place could determine whether the next government will lean to the right or to the left.

The election will take place on 24 September.

Additional reporting by agencies
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Two people were injured by an explosion in the centre of Kiev, Ukraine's capital, on Independence Day, police said on Thursday.

The blast occurred at 2.06pm (12.06pm BST), police said in a statement, giving no more details.

The local television channel 112 showed a woman lying on the ground in the street near the building of the Ukrainian government.

Witnesses told the TV channel that the explosive device seemed to have been thrown from a passing car.

The country is marking the 25th anniversary of its breakaway from the Soviet Union and troops from Nato, which the Ukrainian government officially wants to join, took part in a military parade in the capital.

US Defence Secretary General James Mattis is currently in the city as part of a foreign tour to reassure America's eastern European allies of its continuing support in the face of Russian aggression.

He said they were still "actively reviewing" the possibility of sending lethal defensive weapons to the the country but insists this is not provocative.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

The country has been gripped by a separatist war in the eastern region of Donbas since the Euromaidan protests lead to the collapse of the pro-Russia government in 2013.

It is currently unclear whether the explosions are connected to these tensions.

Russia has denied it is aiding the rebels but Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said there were currently 3,000 of its troops on its soil and the region of Crimea was annexed by Moscow in 2014.

Recommended Ukraine state infrastructure hit by massive cyber attack

In a joint press conference with Mr Poroshenko earlier on Thursday, Gen Mattis said Russia had not abided by the Minsk ceasefire agreement to end the separatist war.

He said: Despite Russia's denials, we know they are seeking to redraw international borders by force, undermining the sovereign and free nations of Europe.

"Defensive weapons are not provocative unless you are an aggressor and clearly Ukraine is not an aggressor since it is their own territory where the fighting is happening.

Mr Poroshenko said he was "satisfied" with the progress on discussions about weapons, and also said he and Gen Mattis had discussed the possibility of a UN-backed armed force being sent to eastern Ukraine.

Additional reporting by Reuters
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Danish prosecutors are seeking to charge inventor Peter Madsen with the murder of Swedish journalist Kim Wall.

Ms Walls headless torso was found naked in waters off Copenhagen and a search is being conducted for her clothes, Danish police said.

The 30-year-old was last seen aboard the submarine of enthusiast Mr Madsen, a Danish aerospace engineering enthusiast. He is in custody on suspicion of manslaughter.

Prosecutor Jakob Buch-Jepsen said police expect to raise the preliminary charges against Madsen to murder and indecent handling of a corpse when he appears at a custody hearing in early September.

Peter Madsen, right, talks to a police officer after being rescued from his sinking submarine (AFP/Getty)

A cyclist discovered Ms Walls torso on Monday, and Copenhagen police later said the bodys head, arms and legs had deliberately been cut off.

Police investigator Jens Moeller Jensen told reporters DNA tests had confirmed the torso was Ms Walls.

Dried blood found inside the submarine was also matched to DNA obtained from Walls toothbrush and hairbrush.

The cause of the journalists death is not yet known, police said.

Madsen initially told police he had let Ms Wall off the submarine on an island.

The UC3 Nautilus submarine is lifted from a salvage ship in Copenhagens harbour (EPA)

According to her family, she was working on a story about Madsen, 46, who dreamed of launching a manned space mission.

He later told police he buried Ms Wall at sea after an accident aboard his submarine.
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The father of a new mother who was "cut in half" in a hospital lift shortly after giving birth has demanded answers over her death.

Rocio Cortes Nunez, 25, was pushed on her stretcher into the elevator which suddenly took off before she was all the way in, leaving her head trapped in the doors while the rest of her body pulled away.

Hundreds walked behind a hearse carrying her coffin in the town of Dos Hermanas in Seville, Spain.

Her father Juan Manuel Cortes later spoke out over her death, saying: They have killed my beautiful daughter, the joy of my life. No father should have to bury their daughter.

Mr Cortes dismissed claims Ms Nunezs death in Valme Hospital in Seville on Sunday was a freak accident and said the lifts, which he said were 30 years old, should not have been in use.

And he insisted that two porters, rather than one, should have accompanied Ms Nunez when she was being moved from the second to the third floor after giving birth by C-section.

Recommended Newborn baby dies of sepsis after being sent home from hospital

Her mother Maria del Carmen Nunez also criticised the hospital and demanded that in their investigation they find somebody responsible for the death of my daughter.

She added the lifts at the clinic did not have adequate maintenance amid suspicions that a mechanical or electronic failure was to blame for the tragedy.

Ms Nunezs husband Jose Gaspar also spoke out at the funeral and demanded the hospital take action. He told Spanish paper ABC: This cannot end like this. This time it has been Rocio but tomorrow it could be another person. I'm a total wreck.

It has now emerged that Ms Nunezs baby boy Triana was not with the young mother when a porter was moving her from the second to the third floor of the hospital. The infant was moved to a specialist hospital after developing respiratory problems but is now said to be in full health.

One unnamed hospital worker said: If they hadn't taken the baby to another hospital she could have suffered the same fate because they always put new-borns on their mother's breast, even when it's been a Caesarian.

Regional health minister Marina Alvarez described the incident as a quick, unusual and tragic accident which came after the lift made an unusual movement when it suddenly lurched up.

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

Officials in Valme Hospital, who are investigating the tragedy, said the elevator had been fully inspected just over a week earlier during a regular check and no problems had been detected.

Investigators are working on the theory that the lift moved before Ms Nunez was fully inside because of a mechanical or electronic failure with the automatically controlled door.
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Russia's ambassador to Sudan was found dead in the swimming pool of his Khartoum residence, officials have said.

He is the sixth senior Russian diplomat to have died suddenly overseas since last year's US election.

The Sudanese foreign minister released a statement confirming Mirgayas Shirinsky, who was in his early sixties, died at his Karthoum home but he did not give a cause of death.

The AFP quoted a police spokesman saying he was found in the swimming pool.

His death comes after a string of Russian diplomats have died suddenly overseas since November.

On the morning of the US election day, Russian diplomat Sergei Krivov, 63, was found lying unconscious on the floor of the Russian Consulate in New York with a head injury. Russian officials later said he had died from a heart attack.

In December, Andrey Karlov, 62, the Russian ambassador to Turkey was shot in the back as he was making a speech at a photo exhibition in the capital city of Ankara.

A man wearing a suit and tie fired eights shots and shouted "Allahu akbar" and "We die in Aleppo, you die here".

In January, the Russian Consul in Athens, Greece, Andrei Malanin, 55, was found dead on the bathroom floor in his apartment. Police said Mr Malanin had appeared to have died from natural causes.

A couple of weeks later, Alexander Kadakin, died after a brief illness at the age of 68, sources told the Hindustan Times. It was later reported he had died from heart failure but few details are known.

In February, Russia's ambassador to the UN for more than a decade, Vitaly Churkin, collapsed in his office and died. Postmortem tests suggested Mr Churkin died from a heart attack but at the time officials said further examinations were required.

The foreign ministry in Moscow told Russia's RIA Novosti state news agency: "We grieve to announce that on 23 August in Khartoum the Russian ambassador to Sudan, Mr Shirinsky died."

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

Russia's foreign ministry also reposted a tweet from the Russian embassy in Panama expressing its condolences after the death of Mr Shirinsky, who it described as having "devoted his life to the service of the homeland".

Russia's embassy spokesman told the AFP there were signs Mr Shirinsky had suffered a heart attack.

According to the embassy's website, Mr Shirinsky was born in 1954 and he spoke Arabic and English.

He started his career as an ambassador in Egypt in 1977 and had previously been posted in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Rwanda. He took on his post as an ambassador to Sudan in 2013.
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The politician who penned a bill which would ban imports of inhumanely slaughtered animals to Switzerland has denied media reports that this will apply to kosher and halal meat.

In an interview with The Independent, Matthias Aebischer said Switzerland would continue to abide by their international obligations and make sure Jewish and Muslim communities can eat meat that complies with their religious requirements.

Mr Aebischer, a member of the left-wing Social Democratic Party of Switzerland, submitted the bill in June. It has already been approved by the Swiss parliament, and will be voted on by the Council of States, the country's upper house, later in the year.

The politician said he was motivated to write the bill because he wanted to level the playing field for Swiss agricultural workers, who are already prohibited from slaughtering animals in ways considered inhumane.

"The farmers in Switzerland have a lot of restrictions, more than in the EU. That means for example battery eggs are not allowed in Switzerland," he said.

Mr Aebischer added that he's been in contact with Muslim and Jewish groups in Switzerland and they're aware his proposal does not include imports of halal and kosher meat.

Switzerland has stringent animal rights protections, including a law against keeping sociable animals separated from others of their species, according to American organisation Peta.

There are currently around 18,000 Jewish people in Switzerland and 450,000 Muslims.

Each year, about 140 tonnes of kosher meat is imported, according to Mr Aebischer. Halal meat can be produced inside Switzerland, because Muslim scholars accept that animals can be stunned before they're killed.

In the past, Jewish and Muslim leaders have argued that traditional methods of slaughter are less painful for animals.

Inside Switzerland, the proposed bill has drawn ire for a different reason: because it would ban imports of foie gras, a luxury food product made from the liver of a force-fed duck or goose.

Speaking about the reaction, Mr Aebischer said he expected the bill would pass easily except for that part. "I think it will pass because everybody knows that theres an exception for kosher and halal beef. Our problem in Switzerland is much more the foie gras because the French product in Switzerland is a religion. I think well have to make an exception for it."
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Turkey will never be a member of the European Union as long as it is governed by its current president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has said.

His remarks in an interview with newspaper Bild are likely to further inflame relations between the two Nato allies after Mr Erdogan urged German Turks to boycott Germany's main parties in next month's general election.

"It is clear that in this state, Turkey will never become a member of the EU," Mr Gabriel said.

Recommended Erdogan celebrates grip on power as Turkey marks coup anniversary

"It's not because we don't want them but because the Turkish government and Erdogan are moving fast away from everything that Europe stands for."

EU leaders have been critical of Mr Erdogan's crackdown on opponents before and after a failed military coup against him in July last year.

Accession talks have ground to a virtual halt though Turkey remains a candidate for membership.

Turkey's Western allies fear that sweeping new powers Mr Erdogan won in a tightly fought referendum in April are pushing Turkey away from democratic values.

 Turkey's president Recep Erdogan wins referendum to greatly expand powers

Mr Erdogan says both the crackdown and the increased presidential powers are needed to help tackle serious challenges to Turkey's security both at home and beyond its borders.

At a highpoint in tensions earlier this year, Mr Erdogan angered Germany, home to three million Turks, about half of whom can vote in the election on 24 September, by accusing German authorities of Nazi-like behaviour.

Relations between the two countries have also been strained by Turkey's arrest of a Turkish-German journalist and a German human rights activist.

Reuters
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Donald Trump is actively reviewing the possibility of sending lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine after the countrys president said at least 3,000 Russian troops were now on its soil, Americas defence secretary has said.

James Mattis said the US stands with Ukraine at a joint press conference with Ukranian President Petro Poroshenko.

Mr Mattis said Washington would continue to put pressure on Russia over what he called its aggressive behaviour, but stopped short of promising to provide lethal weapons to Kiev.

He said Russia has not abided by the Minsk ceasefire agreement meant to end separatist violence in eastern Ukraine.

Despite Russias denials, we know they are seeking to redraw international borders by force, undermining the sovereign and free nations of Europe, he told reporters.

Mr Mattiss visit, timed to coincide with Ukrainian Independence Day, is the second high-profile show of US support in as many months, after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson came to Kiev in July.

Ukraine has counted on US support against Russia since a pro-Western government took power following street protests in 2014 when the Kremlin-backed president fled the country.

Russia annexed Crimea that year and since then some 10,000 people have been killed amid a Moscow-backed separatist insurgency.

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 some of Mr Trumps comments during the election campaign last year, such as appearing to recognise Crimea as part of Russia, stoked fears in Kiev he might mend ties with Moscow at Ukraines expense.

Kiev wants the US to supply lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine  a move the previous administration under Barack Obama shied away from.

On the defensive lethal weapons, we are actively reviewing it, I will go back now having seen the current situation and be able to inform the secretary of state and the president in very specific terms what I recommend for the direction ahead, Mr Mattis, a former Marine Corps general, said. Defensive weapons are not provocative unless you are an aggressor, and clearly Ukraine is not an aggressor, since it is their own territory where the fighting is happening.

Mr Poroshenko said the pair had discussed whether an armed force could be posted in eastern Ukraine with the backing of the UN.

Earlier this year scores of tanks and other US fighting vehicles landed in Germany on their way to take part in Operation Atlantic Resolve, which foresees the continuous presence of an American armoured brigade combat team in Europe on a nine-month rotational basis.

The mission, which saw the biggest transfer of American armour to the region since the fall of the Soviet Union, was meant to help allay concerns held by Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and other Nato allies about Russia.

Russia has dismissed as buffoonery concerns about its own wargames, which are planned for next month.

It will hold joint exercises with Belarus that Nato believes could be the biggest since 2013 involving up to 100,000 troops.

Additional reporting by agencies
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Venice's controversial mayor has declared that anyone shouting "Allahu akbar" in the city's famous St Mark's Square will be shot "after three steps".

Luigi Brugnaro also said the Italian city was safer than Barcelona, where terrorists killed 13 people earlier this month in a van attack at the La Rambla tourist hotspot.

His previous controversial stances have included a ban on books about homosexuality in Venice's schools.

According to The Times, Mr Brugnaro said: "We keep our guard up.

Recommended Thousands of Muslims march against terrorism after Barcelona attack

"If anyone runs into St Mark's Square shouting 'Allahu akbar' we will take him down.

"A year ago, I said after four steps. Now, after three."

Defending his remarks at a conference in northern Italy, he added: "I have never been politically correct, I am incorrect. I would shoot, we would shoot."

Concrete barriers have been installed in some of Italy's most famous sites in the wake of the Barcelona atrocity.

Major tourist attractions in Milan, Rome, Bologna and Turin are all stepping up security in pedestrianised areas. Although Italy has not suffered any attacks on its territory there have been repeated warnings by Isis that the country is on its hit list.
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Egyptian officials, furious at a US decision to cut millions in military and other aid have cancelled a high level meeting with Jared Kushner and other Trump administration officials, saying that the US move reflected poor judgement.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson allegedly called Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Tuesday to inform him that $195m (152m) in military aid and $96m (75m) in other aid was to be cut over human rights concerns.

Shortly after, President Abdel Fattah al- Sisi met with US presidential advisor Mr Kushner during his tour of the region aimed at restarting talks in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - but his meeting with Mr Shoukry was abruptly cancelled.

 Donald Trump shakes hands with Egypt President El-Sisi and pledges support to his regime

Egypt sees this measure as reflecting poor judgment of the strategic relationship that ties the two countries over long decades and as adopting a view that lacks an accurate understanding of the importance of supporting Egypts stability, the foreign ministry said in a statement of the not-yet-public US decision.

The US embassy in Egypt said that the Kushner-Shoukry meeting had not been fixed in the visitors' schedule. Mr Kushner and several other top US officials are on a multi-stop tour of the Middle East taking in Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt and Qatar.

One of the main issues that has reportedly attracted the US concern is a new law regulating both local and international NGOs, which gives President Sisi the authority to monitor their activities and control funding.

Civil society organisations warned that the legislation would result in unprecedented levels of repression, making it impossible for many charities to function.

Egypt has faced growing criticism over its human rights record since democratically elected Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi was overthrown in a coup in 2013.

Thousands of prisoners of conscience have been detained, tortured, died or disappeared while in the custody of the state, rights groups allege.

Former US President Barack Obama froze some aid to Egypt in 2013, under whose administration the relationship between the two countries soured. Mr Trump, however, spoke of a reboot in Washington-Cairo ties when he assumed office in January.

News agencies contributed to this report
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In the scorching summer of 2014, 16-year-old Dohas parents were desperate. The Israeli bombing campaign across the Gaza Strip - Operation Protective Edge - had knocked out electricity, water and other infrastructure across the coastal enclave.

One day, they ventured out to find water for Doha and her little brother Mohammed. Struck by an Israeli shell, they never came back.

Doha, now 19, has managed to rebuild her life. She is engaged - and so excited about it she cant stop smiling - and is set to become the first in her family to go to university.

 Gaza marks 10 years of Israeli blockade

Im happy now, but all my joys are incomplete, she said. Nothing will alleviate the loss of my parents.

Saturday August 26 marks the three year anniversary of the end of the seven-week 2014 conflict, in which 2,200 Palestinians and 71 Israelis, among them four civilians, lost their lives.

While Dohas future holds promise, life in the Strip is still punishingly hard for its two million residents.

Over the last decade, living conditions for Gazans have greatly deteriorated thanks to Israeli sea and land blockades and sky-high unemployment rates. The economy has effectively collapsed and it is difficult for Palestinians to import cement mixture and other necessary building materials because of Israeli fears they could have a dual use in creating tunnels used by militants.

The July 2014 war - which the UN estimates destroyed 17,000 homes - greatly exacerbated the situation. Much crucial infrastructure was not adequately rebuilt, if at all.

Gaza blackout Show all 10 1 /10 Gaza blackout Gaza blackout A Palestinian man works at his workshop as he fixes mobile power generators in Gaza City, July 9, 2017. REUTERS Gaza blackout Palestinians pray in a makeshift mosque lit by battery-powered lights during a power cut in Gaza City, July 18, 2017. REUTERS Gaza blackout A Palestinian vendor sells fruits and vegetables during a power cut in a makeshift shop lit by battery-powered light in Beit Lahiya town, in the northern Gaza Strip, July 13, 2017. REUTERS Gaza blackout A Palestinian woman is seen from the window of her kitchen as she uses a candle light to prepare food during a power cut in Beit Lahiya town, in the northern Gaza Strip, July 13, 2017. REUTERS Gaza blackout Buildings are seen at night in Gaza City, July 18, 2017. REUTERS Gaza blackout Buildings are seen at night during a power cut in Gaza City, July 18 REUTERS Gaza blackout A Palestinian woman washes dishes in her kitchen as she uses a candle light during a power cut in Beit Lahiya town, in the northern Gaza Strip, July 13, 2017. REUTERS Gaza blackout Members of a Palestinian family prepare food on a fire on a beach during a power cut in the northern Gaza Strip, July 12, 2017. REUTERS Gaza blackout Palestinians make food during a hot weather on a beach during a power cut in the northern Gaza Strip, July 12, 2017 REUTERS Gaza blackout A Palestinian woman holds her child as she walks out of her house lit by a torch during a power cut in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 3, 2017. REUTERS

While Gaza has had to contend with unreliable power since militant group Hamas seized control of the area in 2006, in recent months the issue has reached crisis levels.

The rival Palestinian Authority (PA), based in the West Bank, has been waging a long term effort to weaken Hamas. By hiking fuel delivery prices, it has gradually strangled Gazas access to electricity, which means the lights are often only on for three hours a day.

Hospitals in the Strip have warned that the frequent cuts endanger patients lives and the sewage treatment system has broken down. Since the water supply to many households relies on electric pumps, many people are also having difficulty washing, cooking and doing laundry.

Gazas water is not safe to drink. While Doha and her family have a water filter paid for by the Catholic aid agency Cafod and installed by Islamic Relief, it needs electricity to function.

During the searing 40 degree summer the family have been forced to buy water instead.

We havent had any [water] for six days, Doha told visiting CAFOD representatives, as the sound of flowing water started and she jumped up to fill a tank in order to wash clothes and dishes.

I lose sleep every night, because I keep waking up to see if the water is running.

In April, Major General Yoav Mordechai, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) coordinator of government activities in the Palestinian Territories, warned that Gaza faces an impending humanitarian crisis.

The commander sent letters to several international bodies including the UN to say that urgent action is needed to prevent the situation for civilians from deteriorating.

 "I am that girl": Huda Ali Ghalia, who was filmed after family was killed on Gaza beach, graduates

Of all the issues we deal with - the peace process, Palestinian institution building, the region - this is the one issue that keeps me up at night, Nickolay Mladenov, the UNs special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said recently.

The effects of the crisis are devastating, he said. And all of this, at the end of the day, will come back to Israels doorstep.

The worsening conditions have already led to rare unauthorised protests against Hamas rule.

Some are worried the deepening situation could lead to renewed violence between the Strip and Israel - which could ultimately destroy thousands of lives like Dohas all over again.
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Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank have started the new school year in improvised tents after Israeli authorities demolished their classrooms the day before term began.

Around 80 children aged five to 10 from the village of Jub-Ad-Dhib had to attend classes in cramped tarpaulin tents or under the hot sun on Wednesday. One day earlier, Israeli authorities had decided to confiscate and destroy steel terrapin cabins used as school buildings along with other educational equipment.

The area was sealed off, declared a military zone, and security forces used stun grenades to keep residents away, Israeli human rights group BTselem said in a statement.

Israeli media said that locals had thrown stones at soldiers during the demolition.

 Soldiers drag 8-year-old from house to house in Hebron for over an hour

The six newly installed cabins, donated by the EU, were put in place so that local children did not have to walk an hour to get to school.

Over the past two weeks, four Palestinian communities have seen their educational facilities  donated by international bodies and NGOs  destroyed on the grounds that they had been built without proper planning permission.

The security forces also removed solar panels powering a school for Bedouin children near Jerusalem on 9 August, ignoring a High Court petition over their removal in the process.

The High Court ended up issuing a temporary restraining order against removing the panels, but it came an hour after they had already been dismantled.

Another brick in the wall: Saving schools in the West Bank Show all 2 1 /2 Another brick in the wall: Saving schools in the West Bank Another brick in the wall: Saving schools in the West Bank 8423.bin Another brick in the wall: Saving schools in the West Bank 8424.bin

Critics of Israeli policy point out that building permissions for new Palestinian homes and infrastructure in the occupied West Bank are almost impossible to obtain.

The demolition of a school building the night before the start of the year epitomises the administrative cruelty and systematic harassment by authorities designed to drive Palestinians from their land, Roy Yellin of BTselem said.

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the body which implements Israeli policy in Palestinian areas, did not immediately respond to The Independents request for comment.

Last month, the Netherlands lodged a complaint with the Israeli government after dozens of Dutch solar panels donated to the same village were confiscated by Israeli authorities, again on planning permission grounds.

More than 300 structures in the occupied West Bank demolished by the Israeli authorities in 2016 were at least in part funded by the EU or international NGOs, an Israeli military official said earlier this year.

Last year also saw the highest number of Israeli demolitions of Palestinian structures since rights groups began record-keeping.
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Qatar has restored diplomatic relations with Iran, ignoring the requests of its Arab neighbours.

Saudi Arabia has led the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt in demanding that Qatar cuts ties with Tehran in return for lifting the boycott they have currently placed on the nation.

The four countries suspended diplomatic relations and all travel to Qatar after accusing Doha of sponsoring terrorism and cosying up to the Iranian regime.

During Qatar's dispute with its neighbours, Iran allowed Qatar Airways, the national carrier, to use its airspace and also sent supplies to help the countrys 2.7 million people.

In a short statement, the Qatar foreign ministry said its ambassador would return to Tehran to exercise his diplomatic duties.

"The state of Qatar expressed its aspirations to strengthen bilateral relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran in all fields," the Qatari Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a research fellow at the James A Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice Universit, said the moved showed Qatar was prepared to move in a different direction".

"It could very well be calculated toward reinforcing the point that Qatar will not bow to this regional pressure placed upon it," she told the Associated Press.

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

Saudi Arabia and its allies have accused Iran of interfering in Arab states such as Iraq and Yemen, claiming Tehrans increasing influence has destabilised the region.

Iran however claims it is helping countries fight Sunni extremists and accuses Saudi Arabia of backing the insurgents.
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The announcement by Qatar that it is restoring diplomatic relations with Iran is a very public indication that the confrontation between the Sunni states in the Gulf, now in its third month, not only shows no sign of ending but looks set to escalate.

The Saudis will be infuriated by the move. They have been leading an alliance of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt in carrying out a blockade of Qatar with the warning that it will not be lifted until Doha meets a 13-point ultimatum. The confident expectation of the group was that the Qataris would cave in. That has turned out to be a major miscalculation.

Recommended Qatar restores diplomatic relations with Iran

Riyadh and its allies have accused Qatar of a variety of offences including supporting extremism. But one of the key sources of anger has been Dohas amicable relations with Tehran, the Saudis bitter Shia sectarian rivals in the region. There is some evidence that the Saudis had been emboldened to make the move, which is not without risk, because of threats against Iran made by Donald Trump during an arms-selling trip to the Kingdom.

But what the Saudis thought was a position of strength began to weaken rapidly. In keeping with his now established pattern of confusing and contradictory behaviour Mr Trump followed up an initial statement condemning Qatar with conciliatory ones. Meanwhile US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defence Secretary James Mattis made a point of showing their support for Qatar, pointing out that it was a key ally and that US military operations in the Middle East were being run from there.

Doha acknowledged that it was being economically hurt by the Saudi-led embargo, but also pointed out that it was wealthy enough to cope with that. Tehran had first reacted to the crisis with a measured call for reconciliation but soon stepped in to take advantage, flying in food and opening up its airspace to Qatar Airways as the Saudi alliance closed theirs. Turkey, which vies for Sunni leadership with the Saudis, also sent in supplies, including construction material, and offered to send reinforcements to troops they already have based in Qatar.

If there was any further Saudi expectation that the punitive measures against Qatar will also send a warning signal to Oman and Kuwait, two other Sunni Gulf states with relatively good relations with Iran, that has failed. Also, any hope of isolating Iran, something Mr Trump had also wanted, shows no immediate sign of materialising. More than a hundred countries attended the inauguration of the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani earlier this month, including Russia, China, India and every single major state in Western Europe. The Qatari delegation was headed by the Emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

The Saudis insist that Qatar must make concessions before there is any resolution to the situation. It opened the land border to allow Qataris to perform the Hajj in Mecca, a gesture Doha dismissed as politically motivated.

The Hajj concession came after talks between the Saudis and Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali al-Thani, a member of the Qatari ruling family who the Saudis have been promoting. But the Sheikh, whose brother was driven out by the current Emirs grandfather in 1972, is a marginal figure in Qatar. Dalliance with him, holds Doha, is a sign of increasing Saudi anxiety that they are failing to get their way. There may well be some truth in this; the Qataris are unlikely to be the first to blink in this volatile standoff.
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Amnesty International has said a US-led coalition campaign to oust Isis from Syria's Raqqa has killed hundreds of civilians, and those remaining face greater risk as the fight intensifies in its final stages.

The rights group also said Russia-backed Syrian government forces had carried out indiscriminate attacks against civilians, reported to have included cluster and barrel bombs, in a separate campaign against the militants south of Raqqa city.

Civilians are... trapped in the city, under fire from all sides, Amnesty said in a report.

It said the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which includes Arab and Kurdish militias, must take more care as they battle for the city's central districts.

It is imperative that all the parties to the conflict take all feasible precautions to minimise harm to civilians, including ending the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects in populated civilian areas, in compliance with the prohibition on indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks.

Isis, which took over Raqqa and its environs in 2014, uses civilians inside the northern Syrian city as human shields and targets those trying to escape with snipers and mines, Amnesty said.

Isis wouldn't let us leave. We had no food, no electricity, a former Raqqa resident told Amnesty, one of 98 displaced individuals it spoke to in northern Syria.

It is difficult to establish how many people have died in the battle for Raqqa.

People interviewed by Reuters displaced by the fighting said air and artillery strikes have killed civilians, and Reuters reporters have seen massive material damage to buildings and infrastructure as they visit recaptured areas.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors Syria's war through a network of on-the-ground contacts, said between 5 June and Wednesday it had documented the deaths of 789 civilians, 200 of them children, in Raqqa city as a result of bombardment by the US-led coalition and SDF.

Monitoring group Airwars told Reuters they believe between 725 and 993 civilians have likely been killed from coalition actions in Raqqa city since the offensive began in early June.

Hundreds more civilians have reportedly died after being fired on by Isis or being caught in their minefields, Airwars Director Chris Woods said.

Coalition forces have listed 16 reports of alleged casualties in or near Raqqa between 6 and 30 June, dismissing three as 'non-credible', while 13 others are pending assessment, Amnesty said.

It called on the coalition to establish a more transparent and independent reporting procedure.

The coalition says it is very careful to avoid civilian casualties in its bombing runs against Isis in both Syria and Iraq, and investigates any allegations.

The coalition was unable to provide more recent statistics when contacted by Reuters.

Amnesty criticised the US-led campaign for artillery and air strikes on areas containing civilians and asked for an end to attacks that risk being indiscriminate.

Whether you live or die depends on luck because you don't know where the next shell will strike, so you don't know where to run, former Raqqa resident Mohammed told Amnesty.

Syrian government forces, backed by the Russian air force and Iran-backed militias, have also been advancing against IS south of the River Euphrates that forms Raqqa city's southern edge.

Amnesty said residents had told it that air strikes had hit camps where people had fled the fighting.

Amnesty said the testimonials they collected suggested cluster bombs had been used in some of the attacks.

Russia and Syria say they only target militants.

Neither Russia, Syria nor the United States are signatories to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, but international humanitarian law prohibits indiscriminate attacks against civilians.

Amnesty urged the international community to urgently increase aid for fleeing civilians.

There has been a recent increase in the number of coalition air strikes on Raqqa.

Lieutenant General Steve Townsend, the coalition's commanding general, said Raqqa was now the coalition's priority following the recapture of Iraq's Mosul from Isis last month.

The fight has now entered into the very hardest parts of the city. And so our partners are needing greater assistance, Townsend told reporters in Baghdad on Wednesday.

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Show all 30 1 /30 In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian family arrives at a checkpoint, manned by pro-government forces, at the al-Hawoz street roundabout, after leaving Aleppo's eastern neighbourhoods Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian woman, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, reacts as she stands with her children in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood, after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian pro-regime fighters, gesture as they drive past resident fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian rebels withdrew from six more neighbourhoods in their one-time bastion of east Aleppo in the face of advancing government troops, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian rebels withdrew from six more neighbourhoods in their one-time bastion of east Aleppo in the face of advancing government troops, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian residents, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, arrive in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood , after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian pro-regime fighters, gesture as they drive past residents fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian residents, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, arrive in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood, after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian residents, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, arrive in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian pro-regime fighter speaks with a child, as residents flee violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood. Syrian rebels withdrew from six more neighbourhoods in their one-time bastion of east Aleppo in the face of advancing government troops AFP/Getty Images In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Smoke rises as seen from a governement-held area of Aleppo, Syria Reuters In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian soldiers targeting rebels-held areas in the eastern neighborhoods in Aleppo, Syria. According to media reports, the army is now holding on 99 percent of Aleppois eastern neighborhoods EPA In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian pro-government forces patrol Aleppo's eastern al-Salihin neighbourhood after troops retook the area from rebel fighters Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian soldiers rest following the battle at al-Sheik Saeed neighborhood in Aleppo, Syria EPA In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian pro-government fighter walking past closed shops in the Bab al-Nasr district of Aleppo's Old City. Once renowned for its bustling souks, grand citadel and historic gates, Aleppo's Old City has been rendered virtually unrecognisable by some of the worst violence of Syria's war Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria The crucial battle for Aleppo entered its 'final phase' after Syrian rebels retreated into a small pocket of their former bastion in the face of new army advances. The retreat leaves opposition fighters confined to just a handful of neighbourhoods in southeast Aleppo, the largest of them Sukkari and Mashhad Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian civilans arrive at a checkpoint, manned by pro-government forces, at the al-Hawoz street roundabout, after leaving Aleppo's eastern neighbourhoods. Syria's government has retaken at least 85 percent of east Aleppo, which fell to rebels in 2012, since beginning its operation Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian civilians flee the Sukkari neighbourhood towards safer rebel-held areas in southeastern Aleppo Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrians celebrate in the government-held Mogambo neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, after rebel fighters retreated into a small pocket of their former bastion in the face of new army advances Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrians celebrate in the government-held Mogambo neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, after rebel fighters retreated into a small pocket of their former bastion in the face of new army advances. The fall of Aleppo would be the worst rebel defeat since Syria's conflict began in 2011, and leave the government in control of the country's five major cities Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian refugee Aliya inside the tent where she lives with her husband and ten children in a camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian refugee women and children outside the entrance to their tents in the refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA Wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA Wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian refugee woman outside the entrance to the tent where her family live, in the refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A vehicle drives past a mosque at night in Idlib, Syria. Picture taken with a long exposure Reuters In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Damaged buildings stand in the rebel-controlled town of Binnish in Idlib province, Syria Reuters In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria The night sky is seen through damaged windows in the rebel-controlled town of Binnish in Idlib province, Syria Reuters In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Damaged buildings stand in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret al-Numan in Idlib province, Syria Reuters

Townsend said it was logical to assume there had been some increase in civilian casualties as a result of increased strikes, but that he had seen no hard evidence that casualties had increased significantly.

The United Nations says at least 200,000 people have fled Raqqa in recent months, and that up to 20,000 civilians remain trapped inside.

Islamic State is on the back foot in both Syria and Iraq. The US-backed SDF have captured swathes of its territory in northern Syria and Russia-backed Syrian government forces are making rapid advances in the central desert area.

Reuters
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After scrambling over a few boulders and making my way down a trail, Millers Point tidal swimming pool comes into view. Located on a wild stretch of South Africas False Bay, a man-made rock wall encloses the inviting pool, keeping out all but the biggest waves. Despite the fact weve just driven past a penguin colony, my Cape Town mates tell me I am still on the warmer, Indian Ocean side of the Cape of Good Hope.

A water-slide entry gives the pool a playful look, and convinces me to put down my coffee and splash on in. I dont know what words I shriek on entry. But after being told I am soft, I am reassured the tidal pool will grow warmer as the day goes on.

Swimming your way around Cape Town might not seem like the most intuitive way to explore the famous Mother city, but a friend told me there are more than 22 tidal swimming pools ringing the peninsula. And when she suggested swimming as many as possible in one day as an exhilarating challenge, I was in.

The pools, which fill with salt water at high tide and warm up with the sun, offer more than just a safe place to swim. Scattered through some of Cape Towns most beautiful coastal suburbs, they also offer a dip into history. Built for protection from sharks and rough seas, some of the pools date back to Victorian times and come with stories of secret tunnels, bawdy parties and scandalous nudity.

They took on a more significant role during the rigid years of apartheid when most beaches were whites-only spaces. Pierre Belanger, associate professor of landscape architecture at Harvard University, says the informally developed pools were used by all races and were secluded spaces that united and mixed people.

These days, the pools continue to be a fun (and free) place to immerse in the local culture. Here are five of the best:

Picture perfect: St James Pool

Admire the colourful Victorian bathing boxes at St James Pool (Diane Selkirk)

St James Pool is a much loved (and photographed) tidal pool boarded by cheery crayon-coloured Victorian-era bathing boxes. The large sheltered pool has a shallow, sandy entry and a stunning view of False Bay. Visitors often take a break from the beach to explore the historic buildings that line the water, check out the surfing at Muisenburg or stop for a lazy lunch at the collection of nearby bars, cafes and restaurants. One bonus for visitors is that St James is easily reached by train.

Best for a braii (BBQ): Millers Point Pool

Have fun on the Millers Point slide (Diane Selkirk)

This one is a well-kept local secret. Found on a scenic stretch of road between Simonstown and Cape Point, the secluded pool makes a great destination for a day away from it all. Braai (BBQ) pits are found on the grassy area near the pool  take a hint from the locals and bring along boerewors for a lekker South African lunch. But beware of the cheeky, light-fingered baboons, otherwise you may find yourself lunchless and hungry.

Ideal for camping: Soetwater Kommetjie

The two pools are located near the base of the Slangkop lighthouse (Diane Selkirk)

Soetwater has two pools: one in the camp ground and one in the day use area. Both are set in grassy parkland near the base of the towering Slangkop lighthouse. Out to sea from the Soetwater pool there are forests of kelp where pool-visitors may catch sight of the occasional seal. For those who prefer to visit just for the day, head to Kommetjie pool and keep an eye out for the newly returned greater flamingos  theyve started revisiting the area after decades away.

Most magical sunset: Saunders Rocks

Breathtaking views are guaranteed at Saunders Rocks (Diane Selkirk)

The Atlantic coast is famous for its gorgeous sunsets  and its unrelenting wind. Luckily Saunders Rocks pool at Bantry Bay offers the perfect vantage to watch the sun sink into the sea thanks to the huge granite boulders which protect swimmers from the breeze. Stop by late in the day for a refreshing swim, then watch the sky turn a breathtaking pink and gold before taking advantage of the showers and heading out to indulge in sundowners in the nearby restaurants.

Fun for families: Camps Bay

Camps Bay has several tidal pools to choose from (Diane Selkirk)

Here you can take your pick from two different areas with tidal pools, a nearby playground, a strip of shops and restaurants and a spectacular view of Table Mountain and the Twelve Apostles peaks. For a more low key dip, families head to Maidens Cove pool where swimmers can set up their umbrella in a sweet stretch of fine white sand and snorkel in the pool. Those who prefer action set up their picnic along the edge of the larger Camps pool. Be sure to keep an eye out to sea for whales swimming by from June to December.
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Five years ago, when I got the government scholarship that would allow me to go to Canada, I started to dream of new words. French and English words, spoken and written, fresh words, dusty words; words to define myself and my body, to cradle the girl that I wanted to be.

I had plenty of words already; Arabic is a dense language with words that are sometimes too poetic to be patriarchal. But when it comes to sex, sexuality and gender, there is a disheartening lack of words in the standard use of Arabic. I didnt have words specifically for who I was and who I was becoming.

I said goodbye to Tunisia, and I ran away. I took a plane for the first time, I touched the snow for the first time, I was scared, I was happy, and mostly, I was alone. But not for long. Hot child in the city, I met Montreals community of queer and trans people of colour, a community that taught me the first of the words I needed. Precious words to name my feelings, my desires, my distress, my orgasms, my transgender body, my transgender body of colour, and all the fast-paced beats of my heart that has now become open to the possibility of being. Being me, being trans, a girl seeking birth, a stranger seeking home.

My gender story started a long time ago when, as a child, I used to steal Barbie dolls from the neighbours daughter. It started with identifying with Prue Halliwell from Charmed, and with my marked, yet forbidden, love for belly dancing. Throughout the years, there was the same old feeling of a lack or hunger inside  a different sort of hunger from craving words. A hunger for budding breasts, blossoming cheekbones, body borderlands and, as I would later discover, womanhood.

 Donald Trump bans transgender people from the military

Being trans has different and endless definitions, according to every trans person, and so do womanhood and manhood, according to everyone, if everyone really cares to think about them. I did not wish for womanhood as much as I wished to redefine womanhood in a way that would make me feel good in my skin. I was yearning to redefine gender, humanness; to, in Janet Mocks words, redefine realness. Needless to say, redefining all these things came along with redefining my privileges and life prospects, what I could or could not achieve as a gender minority. And apart from the happiness, the excitement, the wonderful local and international family of queer and trans people of colour (Q&TPOC), redefining myself and finding the words to be trans came with social insecurities, nightmares about being murdered, and high costs of hormonal treatments that were not fully reimbursed by Quebecs healthcare system.

But the hardest thing was that, as an immigrant, my new words would never fully belong to me. They were meaningless in my mother tongue; they couldnt make the journey home.

In Tunisia, I do not exist

Coming back to Tunisia in 2015, coming back and coming out, makes my new words  and by extension the person that I am or have become  lose their meaning. At Tunisian customs, if an agent notices that the name and the gender marker on your passport do not match your appearance, then you have to explain things in Western terms, switching to French to use the word transgenre and give a definition that is hardly understood in an Arabic context. Better to turn into a cloud of smoke.

To my mother, too, my personhood can only be defined in Arabic words of binary sexes. When coming out to her, I felt the pressure of the words, or more accurately, the old pressure caused by the lack of words. I could not use trans in English or French, simply because my mother does not understand English or French and has no knowledge of what the word signifies in these languages. Losing meaning, the foreign word trans annihilates me.

I crossed one sea and one ocean, hoping to find words to define myself. Words that, when uttered in Arabic, are as hollow as the sound of the wind.

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I remember my mother asking me this question: why would you follow the West? I looked into her tearful eyes and told her that this has nothing to do with the West; that it is all about me, about how I feel, about giving birth to the gender hybrid I have always been. I told her about mermaids, in whom some townspeople where she lives believe. I told her about shape-shifting smokeless fire Jinns mentioned in the Quran; I told her about brave Jalel, who recently sparked a huge debate in Tunisia, and who, once more, made me acknowledge the existence of the little girl in me who dreamt to be a witch and hex all patriarchs.

But, again, and to my greatest dismay, there was no Arabic word for trans. A monster, at least, has a definition. A mermaid too. But not the being I am.

Being a trans person in the Arab world is a bit of an anachronism. It starts with a paradox, and ends with negation. The words  , in Arabic, literally mean the one who changes his sex. Outside the dictionary, unknown to the public, this expression, anatomical and, dare I say, implying all the condemnatory social and religious baggage about changing ones natural morphology, is meaningless. In queer and medical circles, the word   a literal translation of the English trans  is used. Once uttered outside these circles, this Anglicism, too, signifies absolutely nothing. And thats what being trans in the Arab world means. It means crossing the boundary of the intelligible, stepping outside the domain of the definable, standing on the verge of linguistic nothingness, perched and fearing that, today or tomorrow, we might turn into dust.

In a place where you dont exist, neither in the language nor legally, how is it possible to live? How is it possible to even engage in speaking or in a meaningful public presence without being signalled as unintelligible, foreign, non-human, non-existent?

Saying goodbye to my mother, I realised that it was the last time I would see her. Inside, I hoped she could see me for the first time, even though she could not find the words to define the person standing in front of her.

In Quebec, I do not exist either

In the post office, in the bank, at the registration desk of a conference, in the library, in most places where you need to show an ID card to access a certain service, I do not exist. My vampy lipstick, the winged eyeliner, the curly black hair, and the black-painted nails, all introduce a young woman who likes to be feminine and who, clearly, isnt afraid of using some makeup.

Transgender in Pakistan Show all 16 1 /16 Transgender in Pakistan Transgender in Pakistan Dancing at Shakeela's party, an event to celebrate a transgender life in middle-age Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Venue staff members watch people dance at Shakeela's party in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Security searches guests as people arrive at Shakeela's party in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Members of the transgender community dance at Shakeela's party in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Shakeela, a member of the transgender community, works in the kitchen at home in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters Transgender in Pakistan 'It's the first time a transgender party has been held openly,' says activist Farzana Jan Transgender in Pakistan Farzana Jan, a member of the transgender community, poses for a photographer ahead of Shakeela's party in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Guests at Shakeela's party Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Money thrown by the guests is used by people to help them start a new business or project Transgender in Pakistan Rani smiles from behind her make-up as she prepares for the party Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Shakeela resting at her home in Peshawar Reuters Transgender in Pakistan A photo hangs on the wall in the home of members of the transgender community in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Make up lies on the floor as members of the transgender community prepare for Shakeela's party in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters Transgender in Pakistan A guest counts money she plans to throw at Shakeela's party Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Bubbly helps Shakeela with her dress as members of her own family watch on Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Chahat, a member of the transgender community, prepares for Shakeela's party in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters

She is a girl, an Arab girl, a sophisticated girl, a goth girl, a femme-fatale girl, just a girl, until her papers say she isnt. It is at that moment when people around you stare at you in revulsion and the person to whom youre showing your ID starts to misgender you. It is at that moment when I feel the pressure, the obligation, and all the sadness that comes with having to publicly explain that Im trans and that I have been transitioning from male to female. Things get complicated when the person to whom I have to explain this chooses not to understand and, later, refuses to provide me with the same service with which they provide cisgender people.

Because my legal papers do not match my gender presentation, Im always outed and exposed to the risk of verbal and physical violence. Because my legal papers still carry the wrong gender designation and the wrong name that was assigned to me at birth, I started to avoid going to the post office (my roommate does it for me), and I pretend to have forgotten my ID at home whenever someone asks me for it. Because my legal documents invalidate my gender identity, Im constantly denied existence as a woman, as myself.

As an immigrant trans woman in Quebec, I have to be accepted as a Canadian citizen before I will be allowed to change my sex designation and name. Only then can I have coherent and concordant legal papers where my gender designation is female, and my name is Dalia. But to become a citizen, I will have to wait five to six years. Until then, Im obliged to play hide-and-seek in a legal limbo, living in fear and discrimination.

Moons And Stars

Today, denied socio-semantic and legal existence in Tunisia and still not legally recognized as a trans woman in Quebec, I stand in an awkward space of not belonging anywhere.

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I keep dreaming of having a home, a homeland, of knowing that I belong somewhere  somewhere where there are words to define myself. I keep dreaming of not having to run away only to find words that would later fail me. I keep dreaming of making sense in all languages, in every country of the world.

Sometimes, though, I wonder if we can really belong somewhere, if being or becoming a citizen of a country means really having a home. And what does it mean to have a home when you are always in between  in between cultures, in between genders, in between existing and not existing, in between existing and the threat of your existence being gruesomely ended.

I tend to feel at peace on airplanes, precisely nowhere in the sky, a tiny particle among moons and stars. Somehow, it is comforting, but sometimes it is my worst nightmare  being uprooted, floating, always in orbit. I wonder if people who have travelled long journeys in space and identity are supposed to find a home, or if somewhere they are fated to become moons and stars.

This article was amended on 18 November 2021 to remove the authors name and photograph.
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Unless you were a Catalan  or a Spaniard  you might have missed the signs of grave political division behind the Barcelona massacre. International reporting almost willfully dodged the tricky bits of the story. We were invited to gape at the horror, fear and sorrow created by Islamist murderers  without contemplating for a moment that some of the reactions to this act of barbarism were quite different from the stories of national and international unity that Europe and the world were supposed to share.

There was a guilty clue to all this when the first reports emphasised the unity of the Barcelonan and Spanish people, merely mentioning the 1st October referendum on Catalan independence which the Madrid government claims is illegal. Terrorism, ran the message, could heal such divisions. Indeed, the subliminal story was thus quite simple: some things  terror, murder and pain  could not be beaten by notions like regional independence and freedom from central government control.

I was struck by the way that one British television reporter constantly interrupted eyewitnesses who failed to express trauma, shock and mental torment in reaction to the massacre. They could not state the obvious: that these attacks are becoming normal  a word loathed by all journalists  and might, perhaps, have a context that was not being addressed.

So lets mention that context now. The Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy arrived several hours late in Barcelona to express his condolences. And not once, during his sermon of grief for the people killed and wounded in this Catalan city, did he mention Catalonia. He spoke only of the pain of the Spanish nation. And in his own peroration, the Catalan president Carlos Puigdemant spoke of Catalonia as a country, which it is not. The Catalan interior minister differentiated between Spanish and Catalan victims of the Barcelona attack. At his press conference, he spoke in Catalan  not in Spanish.

Barcelona Attack Show all 30 1 /30 Barcelona Attack Barcelona Attack Police officers patrol on Las Ramblas following yesterday's terrorist attack, on August 18, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. Thirteen people were killed and dozens injured when a van hit crowds in the Las Ramblas area of Barcelona on Thursday. Spanish police have also killed five suspected terrorists in the town of Cambrils to stop a second terrorist attack Getty Images Barcelona Attack Tourists and locals walk along Las Ramblas following yesterday's terrorist attack, on August 18, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. Thirteen people were killed and dozens injured when a van hit crowds in the Las Ramblas area of Barcelona on Thursday. Spanish police have also killed five suspected terrorists in the town of Cambrils to stop a second terrorist attack. Getty Images Barcelona Attack Police officers patrol on Las Ramblas following yesterday's terrorist attack, on August 18, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. Thirteen people were killed and dozens injured when a van hit crowds in the Las Ramblas area of Barcelona on Thursday. Spanish police have also killed five suspected terrorists in the town of Cambrils to stop a second terrorist attack. Getty Images Barcelona Attack People leave a fastfood with hands up as asked by policemen after a van ploughed into the crowd, killing two persons and injuring several others on the Rambla in Barcelona on August 17, 2017. A driver deliberately rammed a van into a crowd on Barcelona's most popular street on August 17, 2017 killing at least two people before fleeing to a nearby bar, police said. Officers in Spain's second-largest city said the ramming on Las Ramblas was a "terrorist attack" and a police source said one suspect had left the scene and was "holed up in a bar". The police source said they were hunting for a total of two suspects AFP/Getty Barcelona Attack Police officers tell members of the public to leave the scene in a street in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017. Police in the northern Spanish city of Barcelona say a white van has jumped the sidewalk in the city's historic Las Ramblas district, injuring several people. AP Barcelona Attack Injured people react after a van crashed into pedestrians in Las Ramblas, downtown Barcelona, Spain, 17 August 2017. According to initial reports a van crashed into a crowd in Barcelona's famous Placa Catalunya square at Las Ramblas area injuring several. Local media report the van driver ran away, metro and train stations were closed. The number of people injured and the reasons behind the incident are not yet known. Official sources have not confirmed that the incident is a terrorist attack. EPA Barcelona Attack AP Barcelona Attack REUTERS Barcelona Attack AP Barcelona Attack People move from the scene after a van crashed into pedestrians near the Las Ramblas avenue Reuters Barcelona Attack A policeman stands next to an ambulance after a van ploughed into the crowd, injuring several persons on the Rambla in Barcelona AFP/Getty Images Barcelona Attack Reuters Barcelona Attack Firefighters stands outside an evacuated mall after a van ploughed into the crowd, injuring several persons on the Rambla in Barcelona AFP/Getty Images Barcelona Attack Policemen stand next to vehicles in a cordoned off area after a van ploughed into the crowd, injuring several persons on the Rambla in Barcelona AFP/Getty Images Barcelona Attack Plain-clothes policemen phone as they walk past police cars in a cordoned off area after a van ploughed into the crowd, injuring several persons on the Rambla in Barcelona AFP/Getty Images Barcelona Attack A policemen and a medical staff member stand past police cars and an ambulance in a cordoned off area after a van ploughed into the crowd, injuring several persons on the Rambla in Barcelona AFP/Getty Images Barcelona Attack A person is stretched out of a mall by medical staff members in a cordoned off area after a van ploughed into the crowd, injuring several persons on the Rambla in Barcelona on August 17, 2017. Police in Barcelona said they were dealing with a "terrorist attack" after a vehicle ploughed into a crowd of pedestrians on the city's famous Las Ramblas boulevard on August 17, 2017. Police were clearing the area after the incident, which has left a number of people injured. AFP/Getty Images Barcelona Attack Children, some in tears, are escorted down a road in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017. Police in Barcelona say a white van has mounted a sidewalk, struck several people in the city's Las Ramblas district. AP Barcelona Attack Mossos d'Esquadra Police officers and emergency service workers move an injured man, after a van crashes into pedestrians in Las Ramblas, downtown Barcelona, Spain, 17 August 2017. According to initial reports a van crashed into a crowd in Barcelona's famous Placa Catalunya square at Las Ramblas area injuring several. Local media report the van driver ran away, metro and train stations were closed. The number of people injured and the reasons behind the incident are not yet known. Official sources have not confirmed that the incident is a terrorist attack. EPA Barcelona Attack Mossos d'Esquadra Police officers attend injured people after a van crashed into pedestrians in Las Ramblas, downtown Barcelona, Spain, 17 August 2017. According to initial reports a van crashed into a crowd in Barcelona's famous Placa Catalunya square at Las Ramblas area injuring several. Local media report the van driver ran away, metro and train stations were closed. The number of people injured and the reasons behind the incident are not yet known. Official sources have not confirmed that the incident is a terrorist attack. EPA Barcelona Attack Injured people react after a van crashed into pedestrians in Las Ramblas, downtown Barcelona, Spain, 17 August 2017. According to initial reports a van crashed into a crowd in Barcelona's famous Placa Catalunya square at Las Ramblas area injuring several. Local media report the van driver ran away, metro and train stations were closed. The number of people injured and the reasons behind the incident are not yet known. Official sources have not confirmed that the incident is a terrorist attack. EPA Barcelona Attack A police officer cordon off a street in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017. Police in the northern Spanish city of Barcelona say a white van has jumped the sidewalk in the city's historic Las Ramblas district, injuring several people. AP Barcelona Attack AFP/Getty Images Barcelona Attack AFP/Getty Barcelona Attack AFP/Getty Images Barcelona Attack AFP/Getty Barcelona Attack AFP/Getty Images Barcelona Attack AFP/Getty Images Barcelona Attack AFP/Getty Images Barcelona Attack AFP/Getty Images

It may be a jolly idea that the cultist murderers of Isis  however unwittingly  could create Spanish unity on the eve of Catalonias independence vote, but the idea that this potentially catastrophic moment in Spanish history played no part in the aftermath of the massacre is ridiculous.

Why was it, I wonder, that only a few journalists  in The Irish Times, for example, where Paddy Woodworth, an expert on Spain and the violent struggle for the Basque country, spoke of an Isis attack which exposed Spains political faultline, or on the front of Politico  chose to put the slaughter of the innocent in Barcelona into the context of Spanish politics?

Did the attackers realise this? Woodworth asked. He reported that Puigdemonts loud insistence, only hours after the killings, that the attacks would not slow the momentum towards Catalan independence, was almost indecent.

For 20 hours after the massacre, Spaniards (of both varieties) witnessed the spectacle of Rajoy and Puigdemont presiding over separate crisis committees in the same city. They claimed they were coordinating, but did not sit in the same room. Only recently, it seems, have the Catalan security forces had access to European security agencies. The Madrid daily newspaper El Pais lectured its readers on how the outrages in Barcelona should bring Catalan political forces back to reality.

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There were, in the worlds reaction to the attack, a few oblique references to the 15th and 16th century ethnic cleansing of Spains Muslim population by the married royal Christian duet of Ferdinand and Isabella. I have never bought into the idea that these epic historical crimes actually prompt todays Isis murderers to drive trucks into innocent Europeans  let alone justify such wickedness. A wretched and small Armenian group briefly murdered Turkish diplomats in retaliation for the 1915 Turkish Holocaust of a million and a half Christian Armenian civilians. But other peoples do not take their revenge in this way.

Survivors of the Jewish Holocaust and their descendants and co-religionists do not violently assault the people of modern-day Germany. Nor does the worlds Jewish community wish revenge for their own dispossession and ethnic cleansing from Christian Spain along with the Muslims. Save for those who converted to Christianity or died at the stake  at least 1,000 Jews, perhaps as many as 10,000  the entire Muslim and Jewish communities were thrown out of Spain and Portugal by the early 17th century.

In fact, Spain and Portugal decided to make amends by giving full citizenship  and full passports  to the descendants of Jewish families expelled from their countries. The original expulsions, Spains justice minister said in 2014, were a historical error, a tragedy according to his government.

Jewish descendants of the victims, many living in Israel, could thus have a right of return  a right which Israel does not grant to the former inhabitants of Palestine who were driven from their homes or fled after the creation of Israel. But nor were Muslims to have a right of return to Spain or Portugal after the two countries declared their act of generosity towards the descendants of Jewish victims. Passports there were, but Muslims need not apply.

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There were voices which declared that the Christians of Andalusia had been forced to put down Muslim rebellions  and that the Muslim expulsions therefore took place in a time of war. In popular imagination, expulsion in a time of war  and this might apply to the Palestinian Arabs  somehow doesnt quite equal the wholesale expulsion of peoples on purely racial grounds. The real reason, however, behind the final Spanish-Portuguese decision  and of course, they adopted a just, fair and moral attitude towards descendants of the Jewish victims  is that they did not want Muslims coming to live in their countries.

Well, after Barcelona, many would say how right they were. But then we have to recall that the Muslim murderers of Barcelona were of Moroccan origin  and that Morocco was, along with Algeria, the land to which the Muslims of Spain were expelled in the 15th century. Just as Algeria turns out to be the country of origin of some of those who have massacred the innocent in France, whose own terrible colonial history in Algeria is usually sidelined when reporting atrocities in Paris or Marseilles.

Nothing justifies the massacre of innocents. Besides, the mass murderers of Barcelona did not care who they killed  neither their citizenship nor their religion  but at such moments of terrifying emotion, we should surely reflect a little bit more on what we journos used to call background, putting the story in context, so to speak.

The Spanish and the Catalans know all this. They know their medieval history. And they spotted the pathetic anti-Spanish and anti-Catalan snubs of their little politicians last week. So why cant we be told the same story?
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Like many events that end up with a person in handcuffs, my story begins in a bar. I was in Atlanta earlier this month for Netroots Nation, the annual meeting of progressive organisers and writers, when I overheard friends discussing how to resist President Trumps first visit to Trump Tower.

I jumped into the conversation: Well, you call me, of course. Twenty minutes later, we had a rough plan that we would unfurl a banner inside Trump Tower the following week. I have been to many protests since the inauguration, and I was proud to do my part.

Together with Ultraviolet and the Working Families Party, we commissioned a painted banner that simply read Women Resist White Supremacy. Through sheer luck, not only would Trump be in Trump Tower during my act of resistance, but he would be giving a news conference about 3.30pm. I knew from my previous work as a campaign advancer that the Secret Service would begin sweeps to clear the space about an hour before he spoke, so the best possible time for the action was 2pm.

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Unlike previous presidents, Trumps home is in a public space. You dont have to sneak into Trump Tower. You enter via an atrium next to a Nike store. Then you pass through airport-style security run by the Secret Service. I wore my banner as a slip of sorts under my flowy dress. It was made of fabric, so it didnt set off the metal detector.

Like every good political operative I worked for Bernie Sanders 2016 campaign and then the MoveOn super PAC supporting Hillary Clintons campaign  I run on coffee. Conveniently, the Starbucks inside Trump Tower is located on the second floor and overlooks an atrium  exactly where Id want to hang the banner.

I sipped a flat white and waited for the right moment, when uniformed NYPD wouldnt be nearby. Then I unfurled the banner. A security officer grabbed it almost immediately. I ended up on the ground.

In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President-elect Donald Trump acknowledges guests as he arrives on the platform at the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump looks on during the 58th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington AP In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President Donald Trump shakes hands with Justice John Roberts after taking the oath at inauguration ceremonies swearing in Trump as the 45th president of the United States Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President Donald Trump raises his fists after his inauguration on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol Getty In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. President-elect Donald Trump greets outgoing President Barack Obama before Trump is inaugurated during ceremonies on the Capitol in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump resident-elect Donald Trump arrives on the platform of the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Attendees partake in the inauguration ceremonies to swear in Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States at the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump US President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address during ceremonies at the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. President Donald Trump waves with wife Melania during the Inaugural Parade in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters registered their rage against the new president Friday in a chaotic confrontation with police who used pepper spray and stun grenades in a melee just blocks from Donald Trump's inaugural parade route. Scores were arrested for trashing property and attacking officers AP In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators protest against US President Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A woman holds a sign before the start of the Presidential Inauguration of Donald Trump at Freedom Plaza in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Anti-Trump protesters prepare banners for a protest against the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, in Berlin REUTERS In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators shout slogans against US President-elect Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators march, block foot traffic and clash with U.S. Capitol Police at the entry checkpoints for the Inauguration of Donald Trump Alamy Live News In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators display a banner as people arrive for US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A man displays a placard as people lineup to get into the National Mall for the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump raise their hands as they are surrounded by police on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A demonstrator wearing a mask depicting Donald Trump protests outside the US Embassy in London Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators hold placards as they protest outside the US Embassy in London Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Former US President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush arrive for the Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden share an umbrella as President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address at the inauguration in Washington DC Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton arrive on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. Vice President Mike Pence takes the oath of office on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Advisors to President-elect Donald Trump, Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon depart from services at St. John's Church during the Presidential Inauguration in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump take cover as they are hit by pepper spray by police on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump An activist demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump is helped after being hit by pepper spray on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A police officer tries to tackle a protester demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump Reuters/Adrees Latif In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Police arrest and detain a protester in the street in Washington DC Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A police officer falls to the ground as another shoots pepper spray at protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters

Since Starbucks is a public place and I was a paying guest, I knew I hadnt violated any laws. At worst, I could be banned from the building. I expected from past protest actions that Id be given a warning and a request to leave. I clearly and politely explained to the NYPD officers who detained me that the protest was done and I was heading out.

They had other ideas.

A detective grabbed my wrist and cuffed me. A gaggle of officers from multiple law enforcement agencies escorted me to a room near the atrium. A few chairs had Trump campaign materials plastered on them. Inside the room with me were more than 10 officers from the NYPD and the Secret Service.

Then the questions began, and they were bananas. A young woman from the Secret Service began the questioning; male NYPD officers tagged in and out. They never asked me whether I understood my rights, and I wasnt actually sure at that moment what rights, if any, I had. I was focused on not getting put in a car and being whisked away.

It was clear right away that these officials wouldnt see me the way I see myself: as a reasonably responsible, skilled non-violent political operative who works on a mix of electoral and issues campaigns. To them, I was clearly a threat to national security. It felt like an interrogation on homeland. Here are my favourite parts of the conversation, as I remember them.

NYPD: Why would you come to the Presidents home to do this?

Me: It was wrong for the President to support white supremacy.

NYPD: Dont you respect the President?

Me: I dont respect people who align with Nazis.

Secret Service: Do you have negative feelings toward the President?

Me: Yes.

Secret Service: Can you elaborate?

Me: He should be impeached and should not be president.

They were concerned with who bought my train ticket, once they saw the receipt on my phone. The NYPD officers didnt seem to believe me that some organisations work for justice and organise these legal protests.

Each time they touched my phone, I said I dont consent to the search of my phone. (They held my phone during the interview, and I can only hope they didnt poke around it  although they wouldnt have found much to interest them, unless they like Bernie GIFs.)

Secret Service: Have you ever been inside the White House?

Me: Yes.

Secret Service: How many times?

Me: Many. I was a volunteer holiday tour guide for the White House visitors centre.

Secret Service, eyes wide: When was the last time you were there?

Me: December. I explained that I probably wouldnt be invited back until we have a new president.

The officers ran through a raft of predictable questions about firearms. (I dont own any, and they seemed puzzled by my commitment to nonviolence as a philosophy.) They asked whether I wanted to hurt the president or anyone in his family. Obviously not. Then came the mental health questions.

Secret Service: Do you have any mental health disorders?

Me: No.

Secret Service: Have you ever tried to commit suicide?

Me: No.

Secret Service: Have you ever had suicidal thoughts?

Me: No.

I was trying very hard not to roll my eyes at the repeated questions when an NYPD detective suggested my protest could be charged as a felony. In the next second, the Secret Service agents asked me to sign Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act waivers so they could gather all my medical records. My mind was still focused on the f-word: felony. But I didnt want to sign the waivers.

I meekly asked whether I should talk to a lawyer. I was told it was my prerogative but also that it might mean Id be held longer. Being in a room with that many enforcement agents hurt my ability to reason dispassionately, and I was now looking at a criminal record from a basic, even banal, nonviolent protest. I signed the forms.

Trump was about to start his now-famous news conference, and the Secret Service needed to resume patrols. They let me go with just a ban from the building.

But a few days later, I heard they were canvassing my neighbourhood, in West Philadelphia, looking for information about me, including from people Ive never met. One woman they approached found my contact information online and told me about this exchange in a Facebook messenger request. They asked her whether she knew me and whether I was a threat to the President. Since I live in West Philly, she replied that the only threat lives in the White House and that the President is racist.

Secret Service: Do you know Melissa Byrne?

Neighbour: No.

Secret Service: Why would she protest President Trump?

Neighbour: Because hes a f***ing racist.

Thanks, neighbour!

In the end, I couldnt stop wondering why they were devoting so much time to me when they could be pursuing neo-Nazis. I was treated as a national security threat when all Id done was exercise my First Amendment right to free expression. This isnt normal, and it shouldnt be how nonviolent protesters are treated by armed agents of the government.

Melissa Byrne is a political strategist living in Philadelphia. This piece originally appeared on the Washington Post
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There is something touchingly naive, rather than Machiavellian, in the Governments series of position papers for the Brexit negotiations. There is the assumption throughout that the European Union needs the UK as much, if not more than, the UK needs the EU. Even without the bitterness that this increasingly acrimonious divorce is inducing in British-European relations, this would be a fantasy  but as the talks stall and drag inexorably towards the set departure date of March 2019, these are dangerous illusions.

This is certainly the case with the latest document, Enforcement and dispute resolution. The tone, though infused with legal jargon, is that of a marriage guidance manual, full of wishful thinking and ever-so-reasonable presumptions and assumptions. Thus it presupposes that there will indeed be a new, deep and special relationship between the UK and the EU, and that such arguments that arise can be settled through some joint arbitration mechanism, as is usual in international agreements.

The paper rightly says that in no other case does the EU insist on the supremacy of EU law, including case law and interpretations issued by the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Yet that does not necessarily mean that there will be an arbitration mechanism for disputes between the UK and the EU, for the simple reason that there may, in fact, be no agreements to police. And even if there was some form of free trade agreement, and a joint arbitration committee attached to it, that would still miss the point about the greater part of the activity of the ECJ, which is the role it plays in determining European law.

For example, if the ECJ makes a ruling on employment law or product specifications that affects the single market, then that may well lead to a divergence from the laws or regulations operating in the UK. That, in turn, might have an effect on the ability of British people to operate in Europe, or British-based enterprises to export to Europe, if the ECJ judges that the British version of their rules isnt compatible with European law.

In that circumstance, there is no role for a British court or cross-border arbitration court, because it is solely a matter of what the EU wishes to import or the people it wishes to allow to work in the EU. Even if the arbitration committee or court was entitled to judge on such matters, would both parties agree that it was sovereign and that its judgements necessarily overruled those of the British Supreme Court (and High Court of Justiciary in Scotland) and the ECJ?

If so, then the British would not have entirely taken back control of their own laws. The simplest option in most cases would be for the British Parliament to alter British laws and relations as the ECJ redefined their European counterparts. In which case, as usual, the substance of sovereignty remains in the European Union, not in the UK. Except  again as with so many other aspects of Brexit  that the British will no longer have a seat in the ECJ, just as they will not be represented in the European Parliament or Council of Ministers.

It is certainly welcome that the Government has brought forward some more documents explaining its thinking. Those thoughts are disappointing in many respects, but that is more or less inevitable given the context of Brexit  no position paper can be judged satisfactory when it is part of such a disastrous policy.

The illuminating thing is that the papers do highlight the vast array of problems that werent even mentioned in the referendum campaign in 2016. They demonstrate once again the paramount need for the British people to be given a say on the final terms of Brexit before it is too late. That would be an excellent topic for the next discussion paper.
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The Governments new paper of options on the role of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) after Brexit appears to open the way for keeping the UK within CJEU jurisdiction, at least for an interim period. However, PM Theresa May maintains her unfortunately dogmatic stance that we will take back control of our laws.

Under the Prime Ministers vision, Parliament will make laws, UK judges will interpret them and the Supreme Court will be ultimate arbiter in disputes over them. The UK will completely leave the CJEUs jurisdiction. I think it important to highlight the loss of what has been an important check and balance on the executive branch of the UK government, at least as far as EU law extends.

Having worked in the Commission, I saw a high degree of idealism, of working towards something greater than purely national interests, particularly important on transnational and global issues such as the environment and social rights. This gives the EU institutions the impetus to promote the wellbeing of those with less power at the national level over those holding political power.

 Tory Leave MP has interview gatecrashed by people holding EU flags

Losing this check on power, the structure of the UK Constitution means the executive has tremendous power to push through policies, claiming political legitimacy from manifesto commitments few of the electorate have ever read.

The prime principle of our Constitution is parliamentary sovereignty. In theory, this means that a majority in Parliament can overturn any proposals by the executive that it does not approve of.

In practice, as the executive is de facto from the largest party in the Commons, there is no effective separation of powers between them and the legislature: they are fused. The executive has tremendous power to push through whatever it wants, however egregious the policy, particularly if it has a large parliamentary majority.

Other counterweights to this threat of unchecked power  the House of Lords and the courts  have their constitutional limitations.

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The Lords powers were weakened by two Acts of parliament in the twentieth century, which asserted the supremacy of the Commons and removed the Lords veto over legislation.

The UK courts have somewhat limited power over the executive. They can scrutinise government decision-making processes, and the legality of their actions or decisions, but generally rule on procedural, rather than substantive grounds. Parliamentary supremacy means is nothing to prevent Parliament inserting a clause into legislation which can exclude the ability of a court to hear a judicial review against the government.

In contrast to the UK, the US Constitution creates an admirably strict separation of powers between the executive, legislature and judiciary. Each arm of government can rein in the power of the others in ways defined by the constitution: the US founding fathers understood the danger of a lack of effective checks and balances against tyranny and railed against it in the Declaration of Independence. Some may fear that without such checks in the UK, our own political balance may be difficult to maintain.

The CJEU has at times provided such a check, helping to act in UK citizens interests over that of the sometimes deleterious instincts of the government.

In my own area, the environment, the CJEU has provided a strong impetuous for the mainstreaming of environmental issues into EU (and thus UK) law. In 1985, it held that environmental protection is one of the Communitys essential objectives. It later ruled that environmental protection is a mandatory element in the free movement of goods, putting environmental sustainability on a par with economic factors in a way that seems implausible, if not impossible, from a national government.

Recently, it took a CJEU decision, informing a UK Supreme Court ruling, to require the Government to take effective action to clean up the atmosphere, even though 40,000 people a year die in the UK each year from air pollution. Without the CJEU, the Government would still be inactive, even as tens of thousands of its citizens continue to die from causes it could help prevent.

The CJEU has further helped to create important rights for UK citizens, including gender equality, equal pay for equal work whether done by a man or a woman, and asserting freedoms of religion, association and expression.

A loss of CJEU jurisdiction will mean that the UK executive can indeed take back control, and potentially with little constraint other than rebel MPs and five-yearly general elections. This aspect of Brexit seems worryingly under-debated. A question for the country will be whether any constitutional changes will be needed to ensure that there are adequate checks and balances so that this executive power is properly and adequately challengeable.
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Isis is in freefall. In recent weeks the terrorists final few hiding holes in Mosuls Old City have at last been liberated and there are widespread, though unconfirmed, rumours that its leader al-Baghdadi is dead.

Focus is therefore increasingly on Syria amidst mounting expectations Isiss forced control over Raqqa, its de-facto capital, will be next to crumble. With its implosion seeming increasingly imminent, any pretension of statehood is now over.

This brings belated hope that civilians can at last attempt to rebuild their lives. Yet these hopes must be tempered by pragmatism. Significant military defeats sadly do not spell the termination of the terrorists poisonous ideology nor those deluded fighters who linger on. Just as Isis increasingly resembles a sinking ship, its militants, like rats, are deserting it.

The question is therefore what will become of those deserters. Many expect that in desperation Isis will revert to its status as an insurgency, as its predecessor al-Qaeda did in Iraq after its own rout by Anbars Sunni militias in 2007. A separate question is what this pseudo mob will look like.

It is likely that some Isis militants will seek rapprochement with the al-Qaeda-linked Syrian franchise  Hayyat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Regardless of whether this will further harden the latters enmity to the Syrian opposition, the threat posed by HTS and its terrorist agenda should not be understated.

 Liberated from Isis, women burn their burqas and men shave off their beards

HTS has no desire to unite Syria  and Syrians know this. Antithetical to the democratic aims of Syrias Arab Spring, HTSs vision is one of sectarian violence and jihadism  deploying suicide bombers and violently imposing its corrupt agenda on the local Sunni population against its will in the same way Isis was infamous for.

The notion of HTS absorbing some remnants of Isis has been dismissed by some on the grounds that the history between them is too acrimonious. At a strategic level this may be true, although in reality the affiliations between al-Qaeda, Isis and HTS run deep. HTS and Isis are the most ideologically compatible of the rebel groups, practicing the same Salafist-jihadist ideology and sharing the same goal of establishing a jihadi state. It is no coincidence that HTSs founder, al-Jolani models himself on Osama Bin Laden  one of the very few al-Qaeda figures respected by both HTS and Isis. He is also backed by the very ideologues pursuing unification of Syrias jihadist factions.

HTS may already be soaking up Isis deserters. There is evidence that militants are defecting to HTS in significant numbers, and just this month there were reports HTS facilitated a panicked exodus of 100 Isis militants and their families into Idlib.

This should raise alarms on multiple grounds. First, militants fleeing Isis to HTS will bolster the latters somewhat fragile ranks. Second, Isis militants are trained in barbaric warfare: whether they belong to Isis or HTS their regressive agenda and destructive impact will be the same. Third, and perhaps most menacingly, HTS is opportunistically positioning itself as the solution to the humanitarian crisis facing Syrian civilians. To gloss over the common ideological lineage that HTS shares with Isis and al-Qaeda risks allowing them to hijack the Syrian peoples genuine plight to further their own perverted jihadist goals.

However HTS lacks authentic widespread popularity  an alien to the local population, a number of towns taken over by them have voiced their rejection through empassioned anti-HTS protests.

In Saraqeb city east of Idlib, and after suffering a period of violence and bloodshed at the hands of HTS, local civilians successfully forced HTS militants out of their city  just one example of communities taking a stand against HTSs attempts to repress. Many Syrian rebels are also turning against HTS and gravitating towards the array of other rebel groups present on the ground.

Divisions and in-fighting within HTS, and between HTS and other rebel groups are rife, intensifying insecurity in the region  including open warfare, bombings and assassinations.

This complex picture points to a clear message: while the collapse of Isis in Western Iraq and the erosion of its base in eastern Iraq brings optimism, it does not in itself bring an end to the militants or the agenda they espouse.

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

The hope is that the cities wrecked by Isis can be restored, people can rebuild their lives and for the sake of the global community, that these terrorist ideologies are weakened. Yet as long as a power vacuum exists it risks creating the conditions for these groups to flourish, whether this manifests as Isis, al-Qaeda, HTS or an amalgamation of all three.

Ultimately, it will be a reassertion of the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people that will defeat those extremist movements  a natural desire to live in a democratic and free country, in which their lives are respected and their children have a genuine future.

While many may not have heard of HTS, to paint them as a moderate group would be a fools error. We must all recognise the parasitic threat carried by terrorists as they scurry from one faction to another, plaguing local populations wherever they go. After all, this has ramifications for anyone who cares about what is happening in Syria, not only for the sake of the millions of innocent civilians affected but because the jihadis' foul stench can so easily spread across oceans, impacting on our stability and security.

Ahmet Altindal is Middle East and North Africa Analyst at Integrity UK
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Over recent days, Europe has once again been struck by terror; in Barcelona and Cambrils, Spain, and Turku, Finland, attacks have killed and injured citizens from across the continent and across the world. Those sad events remind us that, today, no corner of Europe is immune, no country unaffected.

By whatever means they are pursued, there is nothing noble in these acts of cowardice. There can be no justification for such murder and violence.

Faced with these threats, citizens  rightly  expect us to do more than just condemn after the fact. Maintaining peoples security is a primary role of any government; and it is certainly a priority of the current European Commission too. We cannot promise that such attacks will not occur again; I wish we could, but in this  as in other areas  there is no such thing as zero risk. What we can do is make it harder and harder for those who would seek to perpetrate murder and atrocity.

 Barcelona terror attack suspect shot dead by police

Terrorists need weapons. New EU laws, agreed earlier this year, restrict gun ownership, closing loopholes that were so tragically exploited nearly two years ago in Paris; meanwhile, we continue to intensify our fight against illegal trafficking through routes like the Balkans. And we've tightened controls around the materials used to build homemade explosives.

Terrorists need money. Last December we proposed new ways to combat money laundering, to tighten controls on illicit cash movements, and to freeze and confiscate the assets of suspected or convicted criminals and terrorists.

And terrorists need to move. We are making it harder for them to do so. Since last April, anyone seeking to enter or leave the EUs Schengen zone faces new security checks. Countries will share information about those flying to, from or within Europe, under new EU rules on passenger name records agreed in April 2016  even if many EU countries still need to get moving to implement those rules. Under our proposals for a European travel information and authorisation system, those hoping to visit the EU would have to undergo checks before even setting foot on European soil.

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Finally, we are working to improve how Europe's different law enforcement information and data bases talk to each other, making it harder for terrorists to assume different identities in different countries, or otherwise slip through the cracks.

Terrorists do not sit still, and nor should we. As we crack down on one form of terror, they find others to pursue. They adapt to changing technology and changing trends, and so should we.

So we also take upstream action to tackle radicalisation. EU networks help national practitioners learn from each other and support those on the front line challenging radicalisation in our communities. The European internet forum, grouping internet companies and national authorities, tackles radicalisation online. Around 90 per cent of the terrorist content identified by Europol gets taken offline and we're working with the internet companies to make detection more automatic. Toughened EU anti-terror laws mean those travelling to Syria to fight for Isis, or those receiving terrorist training, face criminal prosecution.

The Commission is working with national and local authorities to identify and spread the best practice in protecting so called soft targets, such as public spaces, airports, stations, schools or hospitals. In September, I will be meeting city leaders from across the Euro-Mediterranean region, who are gathering in Nice to reinforce their efforts to tackle radicalisation and protect their citizens.

This is not the first time Europe has faced a terror threat. In recent decades we have seen the Baader-Meinhof Gang, the Red Brigades, ETA and the IRA. But todays threat is more global. It targets our European way of life, seeks to divide our communities, and undermine our values.

When it comes to security, national authorities remain the first line of responsibility, and the first line of defence. But the EU can and does provide significant support: improving information sharing on potential threats, boosting cooperation, and cutting the space available for terrorism to thrive and spread.

When terrorism strikes, citizens across Europe rise up to show their compassion for victims, and their revulsion at the attackers nihilistic worldview: Je Suis Paris, I Am London, No tinc por. We need to show that same solidarity and determination, redoubling our efforts at local, national and European level to defeat those who seek to do us harm.

Julian King is the European Commissioner for the Security Union
IT is reported that Sean MacBride, as Foreign Affairs Minister, was reluctant to accept US dollars under the post-war Marshall plan unless the USA made explicit its opposition to the partition of Ireland.

Who would have thought that the Border would ever again impinge upon Ireland's economic policies? But never say never.

Even further back, at the 1912 constitutional convention - whose centenary John Bruton tried unsuccessfully to have given the attention it deserved - one delegate said the only options for the Ulster question were coercion ("military solution" in today's lingo), "which was intolerable"; or partition, which was unthinkable.

Most people still thought it was unthinkable until it happened. Even when it did, many, including some leaders of the new Irish state, thought it could not last.

The lesson to be learnt in today's circumstances is that anything can happen and some of it can be very bad. There is no room for wishful thinking, or being distracted by detail.

In a curious way, the attention given to the Border is a distraction, one which could be dangerous if dealing with the Border question becomes the central issue.

Already, people could be forgiven for thinking that if they can cross the Border freely, and the trucks are checked somewhere else, all will be well.

It will not of course. The main advantage of last week's blizzard of reports from the British government was not so much what they contained, but that they turned some much needed attention towards the central questions, and even on that government's attitude towards them.

This has changed dramatically, but in such a confused manner that it would be easy to miss the change. When Remain Chancellor Philip Hammond and Brexit ministers Liam Fox and Michael Gove issued a statement saying the UK would indeed leave both the customs union and the single market, it looked like a hardening of the position.

It certainly showed Mr Hammond positioning himself for the party leadership. But the statement had all three in favour of a transitional arrangement after formal exit in 2019.

That is a major change for the Brexiteers. One might well ask how they could ever have thought otherwise, but they did, and it is surely an indication that this is all still to play for.

The question here is what should the Irish Government be playing for, and how should it go about it?

In a paper published by the Institute for International and European Affairs (IIEA) lawyer and former Commission official John Temple Lang argues the membership of the EEA (European Economic Area offers the best, and perhaps the only, solution, both for the UK as a whole and Scotland in particular, as well as for both parts of Ireland.

Here then, is the diplomatic objective for the Government - probably the most difficult and delicate since de Valera kept us out of the war; maybe since the Treaty negotiations themselves. The stakes may not be quite as high as those, but they are high enough.

The Department of Finance has already calculated the intolerable consequences of a disorderly Brexit. That is a better word than 'hard', which implies a deliberate choice. It is clear no one who matters wants that choice now. It could still happen though.

As one official put it, Ireland is "off the EU chart" when it comes to the exposure of its food, indigenous manufacturing and chemical industries. It is not just agri-business, although it is the most vulnerable, with almost 50pc exposure to the UK. Apart from Cyprus at 25pc, the next most exposed, not surprisingly, are Holland and Denmark but their figure is just 10pc. Doubtless this is a concern to them, and they may be useful allies, but it is not the cataclysm it represents for Ireland.

The vulnerable sectors count for more than just their economic size. They are the sinews of the economy outside Dublin and the foundation of social life, especially in the border region. No wonder Mr Varadkar got tired of talk about cameras and off-line customs posts.

If trade is not free, or nearly so, an invisible border will make no difference to the damage done. That is why the British report on how it might operate is less relevant that the previous day's one on UK intentions.

Free movement of people may well continue, irrespective of the outcome of the negotiations, but that outcome will decide the nature of the border and determine the degree of loss in Irish incomes, employment, creditworthiness and social cohesion.

First up is the transition arrangement. Ireland's challenge is to persuade both Britain and the 26 that a cliff-edge departure in 2019 would be bad for them, even if worse for us. The challenge should not be underestimated.

The reports seemed to show that the UK has few, if any, realistic ideas as to how the transition should be organised. It would be nice to think this is an opening negotiating position, but it probably isn't. Even with the best will in the world, it would be hard to find answers.

There is little legal basis for such transitional arrangements. The difficulties have increased after the European Parliament's decision to put a time limit of three years on any such arrangements, even though governments had merely said there should be some limit.

At the risk of sounding glib; to use the divorce analogy, the disputing parties have to agree what happens to the house, the children and the fish knives, and then carry on together for three years as if nothing had happened.

People in Britain are beginning to say, ever so quietly, that perhaps in the end nothing should happen; or at the most, membership of the EEA or something very like it.

But the politics are poisonous, with the Labour Party's Brexit spokesman Barry Gardiner - who himself voted to remain - saying such an arrangement would make the UK "a vassal state".

Even if a transitional arrangement is secured, the Government is right to keep planning for the worst, as well as hoping for the best, and at least there would be some extra time to get ready.

It is in those years that any special arrangements on the island of Ireland would be negotiated.

There is much talk of the North somehow remaining in the customs union, but little on how "special status" would work in practice.

There are also a dreadful dilemmas as in all of that. As so often before, an Irish Government would face making choices between the interests of the Republic and those of the North and the island as a whole.

In this case, a vital requirement for Dublin is that its full membership of the EU does not come into question.

Another is that, if the UK does fully exit, the other 26 will recognise that the Republic requires assistance on a scale different from any other member state.

The unpalatable truth is that special arrangements on the island could well threaten both of these objectives; making markets speculate more about Irexit and EU governments think they have done enough for Ireland, especially since cash will be in short supply without Britain's contribution.
International markets are increasingly looking to Ireland for potential opportunities due to Brexit, with a fivefold increase in the number of Chinese delegations visiting here so far this year.

Dublin Chamber said interest had also been expressed from Korea, Indonesia, and Singapore, as well as the western Balkans, and Belgium.

"We've seen a lot of inbound activity," said Chamber CEO Mary Rose Burke.

Ms Burke said there have been 10 delegations from China so far this year, whereas there were just two in the same period in 2016.

Some have been high-level, and have involved the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Embassy with one recent event involving food, technology, finance and aircraft leasing sectors.

"Everybody is looking to the future, with the change, where potential new markets are.

"We would feel that Ireland is on the map, and on the radar of these countries," Ms Burke said.

"Places like Singapore would be appearing to take more of an interest in Ireland and I would interpret that as being on the back of Brexit.

"People are looking at what does their European strategy mean in the event of Brexit."

Hong Kong interest came from the fintech and ICT sectors, from the ICT sectors in western Balkans and Hungary, and from logistics and maritime transport in Belgium.

One in four firms now think Brexit will have a positive impact on their business as they look at the potential for new markets beyond the UK, a survey by the Chamber has revealed.

The Chamber - which represents over 1,300 companies across the four local authority areas - said that around one in four companies (23pc) believe Brexit will affect them positively.

This is up from one in seven firms (14pc) at the same point last year.

The survey, carried out in the first two weeks of August involving 359 companies, found that the number of firms that believe that Brexit will hit them negatively fell slightly in the 12 months to August from 50pc to 46pc.
London is set to retain its position as the city with the greatest capacity in private data links, a lead that may help stem any erosion in the city's position as Europe's premier financial centre, even after the UK leaves the European Union.

The UK capital currently has an installed bandwidth of 159 terabytes per second, a figure that exceeds any other European city and is greater than the capacities in either New York or Silicon Valley, according to a new report from Equinix Inc., a US company specialising in data centres that host many of these private data connections.

The report, released last Wednesday, forecasts that London will retain this lead, with its overall private bandwidth tripling to 486 terabytes per second by 2020.

Businesses are turning to private data networks due to the huge amounts of data they are now generating, where public internet connections may struggle, said Russell Poole, managing director of Equinix's UK business.

The rapid transfer of data has long been of importance to the financial sector. Exchanges have been letting traders place their computer servers next to exchange systems - a practice known as colocation - in order to facilitate high frequency trading.

After telecommunications companies and firms that sell cloud and IT services, the banking and insurance sector is the largest user of private networks, Equinix said. And by 2020, the sector will exceed even those network-centric industries in its use of private data infrastructure.

Connections between businesses that have co-located their data in the same or adjacent data centres will "dwarf global internet traffic in three years," Poole said.

"The UK is already the largest collocation market in Europe and the third largest in the world due to its well-established interconnectivity," said Darren Watkins, managing director for Virtus Data Centres Ltd., adding that since the Brexit vote, he had not seen any decline in business in the UK.

(Bloomberg)
Dublin-based Cubic Telecom has raised 40m in venture capital, one of the highest funding rounds ever by an Irish tech firm.

The new round brings the companys total funding close to 80m.

The five-year old firm will partly use the money to increase staff counts at its Sandyford headquarters to 160 people, according to chief executive Barry Napier.

The companys backers include Audi, chip company Qualcomm and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF). The Brazilian tech firm Valid is a new investor.

Cubic Telecom connects cars and computers to mobile networks. It is also heavily investing in new software for other products to connect online, an activity known as the internet of things.

The company has deals in place with approximately 80 mobile operators around the world. It recently began trials with China Mobile, the worlds biggest operator.

Mr Napier told the Irish Independent that the new funding round has diluted his shareholding to under 50pc of the company.

Our revenue is growing and thats the most important thing, he said. Were going after where the revenues really are in the internet of things, not a few cents every month but in segments where customers stay with you for ten years.

Cubics customers include Audi, Volkswagen, HP, Lenovo, Panasonic, Qualcomm and Woolworths.
Pre-tax profits at the Arrow Group, one of the largest meat processors in the country, last year increased by 53pc to 37.73m.

New accounts show that the Co Waterford-based group achieved the sharp increase in pre-tax profits in spite of revenues dipping by 2.4pc from 511.65m to 499m in the 12 months to January 1 this year.

The group achieved the sharp rise in profits after the business's administrative expenses reduced by 48.5pc from 51.25m to 26.35m.

Numbers employed by the group last year increased from 1,681 to 1,790, with staff costs increasing from 67.59m to 70.25m.

In their report, the directors of the group address the potential effects of Brexit on their business.

They state that the potential effects identified are most noticeably on exchange rates, labour costs/availability and particular tariffs in relation to goods and services.

The group is controlled by brothers, Peter, Michael and John Queally - who own the Dawn Brand. It also manufactures and distributes pet foods.

Takeover

It was recently announced that Dawn Meats has acquired Dunbias operations in the Republic of Ireland.

It comes following an agreement between both companies to establish a majority owned joint venture in the United Kingdom comprising the UK operations of both organisations.

The deal is subject to approval by the relevant competition authorities.

In Ireland, Dawn Meats will have 9 facilities (including 5 abattoirs), following the addition of two complementary Dunbia facilities - one abattoir in Slane, and one boning hall in Kilbeggan.

The development is the second major merger in the Irish beef sector in the last 12 months following link up between the Larry Goodman owned ABP Group and Slaney Meats in 2016 which was vigorously opposed by farmers.

The companies say the combined UK businesses will trade as Dunbia and will deliver enhanced scale and market presence to better serve existing farmer suppliers and customers of both organisations across the retail, manufacturing, wholesale and food service sectors.

The businesses are highly complementary, and will offer customers regionally sourced solutions for both beef and lamb from 15 facilities across Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Across Dawn Meats and Dunbia, the businesses process approximately 900,000 cattle and 2.6m sheep annually.

Dawn Meats is also a 49pc shareholder in Elivia, the number 2 beef processor in France, which processes approximately 500,000 cattle annually.

Dunbia is a leading processor of beef and lamb with 9 sites located across the UK and Ireland, employing around 4,000 people. The company is one of Northern Irelands largest privately owned companies and currently exports to 36 countries worldwide.
As president of the Irish Charolais Society, I would like to compliment Christy Comerford on his comments in last week's Farming Independent and what he said about suckler farmers being forced out of business.

Is the government trying to destroy one of the best assets we have in the beef industry?

For generations, Ireland has relied upon the suckler farmers nationwide to produce top quality beef that demanded attention and indeed envy worldwide and without fail, they did not disappoint.

Today, various schemes and stipulations are intent on reducing the quality of beef we as a nation produce.

From our point of view, the Charolais breed was introduced both in Ireland and the UK to improve the quality of beef cattle produced when crossed with native breeds and using Charolais has done just that.

The introduction of Charolais aimed to produce a leaner carcass with a lower fat content while also availing of the breed's natural ability to surpass all others when it came to weight for age.

Ireland has long been envied for our ability to produce a high quality product coming off the back of suckling cows and being predominantly grass fed. There is NO substitute for naturally reared beef.

Only last week, we saw an article published stating that the quality of beef has dropped significantly of late. Why? Has it anything to do with the "new rules" suckler farmers are being governed by?

The comparison of potentially telling dairy farmers they have to breed replacements from the beef bulls and milk them in the parlour may sound ridiculous but it's quite close to what is being expected from the suckler farmer in reverse!

We cannot accept production of beef like broiler chickens! If this is allowed, the consequences for our beef industry will be devastating.

There is a greater need for healthy and naturally produced beef today than ever before and we must retain our standing as a top quality producer.

I am calling on the IFA to get off the fence and put pressure on the government to safeguard this wonderful product we have before it's too late.

Failure to do this will force the suckler farmers of Ireland to form an independent body of representation.

The onus is on ALL beef breed societies to offer their support to any body which represents the best interests of the suckler farmers of Ireland.
BUSINESSES are to revive the Alliance for Insurance Reform a decade and a half after it was successful in bringing about huge changes.

Supermac's owner Pat McDonagh said the spiralling cost of cover meant it was time to bring the pressure group back into operation.

A resurgence of fake accident claims has prompted business people to revive the pressure group, he said.

The alliance was instrumental in pushing for changes in the legal and administrative infrastructure around insurance when Mary Harney was Minister for Jobs and Enterprise.

The changes led to the setting up of the Injuries Board, and the introduction of laws to make it an offence to lie in court in a personal injuries case, and other insurance reforms - including road safety laws and court reforms to increase competition and lower premiums.

Mr McDonagh told the Irish Independent: "It is time to bring back the Alliance for Insurance Reform. Its actions helped to relieve a lot of pressure on insurance premiums and led to the setting up of the Injuries Board."

The Injuries Board was put in place to offer a quicker and cheaper form of compensation to those injured in work or road accidents. It does not pay legal costs, in most cases.

The Department of Finance said recently legal and other costs for personal injury claims can typically represent over 42pc of the actual compensation amount paid to claimants.

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Motor insurance premiums have shot up by a combined 70pc in the past three years, according to Department of Finance figures - and the cost of public liability and other forms of insurance have also surged, hitting businesses hard. Mr McDonagh added: "The legal people have got to know ways to get around claims being decided by the Injuries Board. They tell their clients: 'We will get you more - take it to court.'

"But that is really about ensuring the lawyers get fees."

He said he will not head up the alliance this time, with a figurehead yet to be chosen.

Mr McDonagh warned that due to several factors, including increased liability payouts by the courts, the compo-culture is costing businesses millions of euro. Insurance is a major cost for firms that continues to go up every year and must be tackled.

"That is affecting jobs," he said, adding many transport fleets can no longer compete due to insurance.

A large number of businesses were interested in reconstituting the pressure group, and meetings are expected to be arranged from next month.

Mr McDonagh has just advertised for a claims manager for his fast-food chain.

There are around 35 claims a year in the 120 Supermac's outlets in this country. That is up 20pc in the last two years.

He said he is again considering the option for his business of self-insurance. He said insurers were too anxious to settle spurious claims instead of standing up to serial claimants.

After motor insurance providers were raided earlier in the summer by agents from the European Competition Directorate as part of a probe into allegations of anti-competitive practices, he asked: "Why has it taken the EU authorities to come in and investigate insurance companies and brokers? That raises a very big question."

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has been probing insurers for possible price-fixing for a year now, but has yet to issue any findings.
Innovation Zed, an Irish medtech company, has commenced working with the NHS in South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw, England.

The work will see the companys insulin pen accessory used with diabetes patients as part of a national NHS Test Bed programme exploring new models of care.

InsulCheck Connect, a snap-on accessory for disposable insulin pen users, automatically collects and records pen usage and behaviour data 'on the go'.

The InsulCheck Connect device is being offered to diabetic patients at the Northern General Hospital, Sheffield as part of a programme designed to better support them to manage their condition.

It is hoped the programme will involve up to 300 diabetes patients in total.

Read more: Mainstay back pain treatment clinical trial passes mid-way point

The data collected by the device, when merged with other data such as sugar level readings, will then enable diabetic patients and their medical professionals to improve the management of the condition and generate better health outcomes.

Innovation Zed, which is headquartered at NovaUCD, was founded in 2009 by John Hughes and William Cirillo.

Commenting on the announcement, Mr Hughes said that he was "delighted" to have the device incorporated into the test bed programme in England.

"Our research with insulin pen users highlights that, as with other conditions, injection compliance is significantly below what is prescribed. We firmly believe that this work will demonstrate that our insulin pen accessory can greatly improve injection compliance and generate better health outcomes for people with diabetes," Mr Hughes said.

While Liz Howarth, South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Perfect Patient Pathway Test Bed programme director said that they were looking forward to working with "our partners, patients and the evaluation team to assess the impact of this particular project."
This week, Paddy Cosgrave announced a further expansion of his Web Summit company as well as a host of new speakers, including Al Gore and Francois Hollande. He also reiterated that he might bring other conferences back to Ireland, to follow the 'Moneyconf' financial technology event that will be held next Spring in Dublin.

In all, the company he co-founded with Daire Hickey and David Kelly, now employs 160 people - with another 40 on the way by the end of the year. The vast majority of these are stationed in the company's Dublin office, putting Web Summit in reach of smaller multinational firms such as Twitter (which employs a little over 200 here).

But Cosgrave's interests don't end there. Although he has publicly denied an intention to enter politics here, the Wicklow-born entrepreneur still retains a strong interest in social and economic matters in Ireland.

Given his platform, some of these views threaten to transmogrify into political intervention.

Expand Close Paddy Cosgrave has announced new Web Summit partners. Photo by Adrian Weckler / Facebook

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Whatsapp Paddy Cosgrave has announced new Web Summit partners. Photo by Adrian Weckler

Homelessness is one such issue. Cosgrave believes that the system in Ireland is stacked to keep the conditions around homelessness just the way they are. He also hints that the political status quo, where every government is dominated by either Fianna Fail or Fine Gael, is barely capable of tackling the issue.

"The homeless problem is a human tragedy but it's a great business opportunity," he says. "It's being exploited by people who are probably very favourably disposed to some of the more traditional parties. It's very profitable for people who probably don't vote for Sinn Fein. These people tend to own hotels and hostels and, I think, vote for another type of party.

"So when such a problem is just so profitable, it's unlikely that it is going to be solved with any great haste."

At a business level, some of the factors pushing homelessness, he says, are also contributing to a "challenging" rental market for people being hired into Dublin to work at the Web Summit.

"To circumvent some of the challenges of relocation into Dublin, we have a six-bedroom house which acts as a permanent crash pad for people when they arrive in Dublin so they don't have to worry when they're trying to find somewhere to rent. I've no doubt that other companies are doing something similar. It's quite a challenging climate."

Cosgrave thinks that employers' bodies here should refocus their efforts away from traditional concerns.

"Debates about the cost of wages re spurious," he says.

"That business organisations like Ibec should be focused not on the cost of wages but on the actual cost of living, including rent and insurance. This is pretty important for Irish companies' growth. When the cost of living, which is the single biggest overhead for your employees, is unusual, it makes it more challenging for companies to remain competitive.

"We still have another side to our economy, which is doing incredibly well. But if we want to continue to be ambitious and grow great Irish companies of the future, we have to think seriously about how we can remain competitive. And that involves helping to reduce the cost of living."

Cosgrave has other quasi-political activities under way. In April, he gave a press conference in Dublin pledging to push for stronger anti-corruption legislation in Ireland. At the time, he said that Ireland sits "at the bottom of the table" in tackling white collar crime.

His plan, he said, included co-opting senior executives to co-sign a letter urging the Government to pass anti-corruption legislation in September.

How is this progressing?

"That's something for me to come back to in late September," he says. "I think the last item on the order of business for the Cabinet before they went into summer recess happened to be a focus on the anti-corruption bill. That would seem to indicate that towards the end of September, there might be some movement on emergency legislation that was drafted five years ago but has until now been sitting on ice. So I think that's a very positive indication."

Despite these criticisms of the Irish political establishment, Cosgrave says he is now back on track with the Government and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

"We've a great working relationship," he says. "I was at the recent U2 concert with Leo and spent a good deal of time chatting to him. We're working in lots of different ways to help each other.

"We also have a very positive working relationship with the IDA who have become a partner with us again. They were with us in force at our US event in May and that's only going to go from strength to strength."

Does this mean that there might be more conferences to come for Dublin or elsewhere in Ireland?

"We're looking at the potential," he says. "I think there's ample opportunity to do other conferences in Ireland."

Cosgrave says that new conferences may not necessarily be strictly tech-related.

"If you look at the speakers we have for the Web Summit, it's obviously good to be getting the CEO of Oracle or Intel or someone like Al Gore and Margrethe Vestager, people who are obviously very important. But what's equally important to use is the diversity of speakers we're getting. We're now able to build world-class events across areas such as fashion within Web Summit.

"When we started doing that, people thought it was a bit bizarre. But now you have some pretty influential people such as the managing editor of Vogue coming. The same is true for sport and film and other areas. That's a testament to a great team here." At present, Web Summit employs 160 people, with at least 40 more expected by the end of the year.

Of this 160, 130 are located in Dublin according to the company's head of talent acquisition, Ronan Mooney.

The type of person being hired now is very different to two or three years ago, Cosgrave says. It's production design, data science and other non-support roles.

"We now outsource what you might call some of the more challenging drudge work," he says. "That reflects the change in the jobs we're now hiring for, most of which are much higher value-oriented. Ireland happens to have some good service providers in the support area. There are some very notable companies in Ireland like Voxpro that provide services that we previously would have provided."

Many of these higher-tiered roles, he says, are coming from companies like Oracle, Salesforce, Google and Facebook.

"As you begin to scale, you start to need to add some good senior leadership," he says.

Multinationals sometimes get a hard time in Ireland, but they're a great resources for startups like us."

Part of the upscaled job profile is associated with the Web Summit's increased commercial activity with 'partners'. Whereas these once included whoever was keen to get involved, the company's accredited partners now include high-paying blue chip multinationals such as Mercedes, Siemens and Airbus.

They also increasingly include city or country governments, keen to use the event as a platform for inward development.

"We've announced a bunch of new partners, including includes cities from Europe but South America and elsewhere," says Cosgrave.

"We also have country delegations from the Middle East, Japan, Korea, Alaska and lots of other places. We've come a long way in a short space of time. If you take a company like Mercedes, it does very little by way of conferences in the world and the events it partners with are of a certain calibre and usually have been established for a very long time."
Almost half of parents believe that their children's education is being negatively impacted by substandard internet at their school.

Some 46pc of primary or secondary school children are suffering as a result of unsatisfactory broadband, according to a recent Pure Telecoms parents survey.

Furthermore, one third of parents (34pc) would consider moving their child to a different school if they felt that their requirements in terms of broadband access and speeds were not being met.

The research found that the average parent spent 213 per child on internet-connected devices intended for schoolwork this year, with 16pc of children typically relying on the internet to do their homework.

Some 67pc of parents consider the strength of the internet service when choosing a school for their children.

"Access to internet-connected digital tools and resources is vital for all children living in a modern society, so it is concerning that so many parents believe their childs educational achievement is being stunted by poor broadband speeds and access in school," Paul Connell, CEO, Pure Telecom, said.

"Not surprisingly, our research showed that the majority of those parents are living in areas outside of Dublin."

Under the Schools 100Mbps project, the Government rolled out 100Mbps broadband to over 780 post-primary schools in Ireland.

Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton has also launched the Digital Strategy for Schools 2015-2020 Action Plan 2017, which includes 30m in ICT grants to schools, as well as a programme to enhance high-speed broadband connectivity in primary schools.

"It is great to see the Government investing in a digital strategy for schools including technologies such as interactive screens and cloud-based learning tools. The availability of high-speed broadband in all  not just secondary  schools across Ireland will be crucial to its success," said Mr Connell.

The research, carried out by Censuswide on behalf of Pure Telecom, surveyed parents of primary and secondary school children from a group of 1,001 adults.
Some 67pc of parents consider the strength of the internet service when choosing a school for their children. stock photo

Almost half of parents believe their children's education is stunted by substandard internet access at their school.

Some 46pc of school children are suffering as a result of unsatisfactory broadband, according to a Pure Telecom survey. A third of parents would consider moving their child to a different school if they felt that their requirements in terms of broadband were not being met.

The research found that the average parent spent 213 per child on internet-connected devices intended for school work this year, with 16pc of children typically relying on the internet to do their homework.

Some 67pc of parents consider the strength of the internet service when choosing a school for their children.

"Access to internet-connected digital tools and resources is vital for all children living in a modern society, so it is concerning that so many parents believe their child's educational achievement is being stunted by poor broadband speeds and access in school," Paul Connell, chief executive of Pure Telecom, said.

"Not surprisingly, our research showed that the majority of those parents are living in areas outside of Dublin."

Under the Schools 100Mbps project, the Government rolled out 100Mbps broadband to more than 780 post-primary schools in Ireland.

Education Minister Richard Bruton has also launched the Digital Strategy for Schools 2015-2020 Action Plan 2017, which includes 30m in ICT grants to schools.

It came as Fianna Fail criticised the Government's record on rural affairs. Spokesperson on Communications, Climate Action and Environment,Timmy Dooley said Fine Gael's record on rural Ireland was "300 post offices set to close and a failed broadband plan".

Rural and Community Affairs Minister Michael Ring acknowledged there was "no room" for complacency as the Government pushes on with its blueprint for rural development.

"I know how ambitious the plan is. We still have a long way to go to fully deliver on our commitments to improve the lives of people living and working in rural Ireland," said Mr Ring as he attended the Diageo Baileys Champion Cow competition at the Virginia Show in Co Cavan.

"There is certainly no room for complacency, but this progress report shows we are moving in the right direction."

At the launch of the six-month progress review, Mr Ring said just seven of the 202 actions proposed for first half of 2017 had been delayed.

The plan, which was launched last January, is an inter-departmental project which includes schemes such as the Royal Canal Blueway, the Lough Allen Broadway, some 172 village and small town renewal schemes, in addition to help for rural art and culture and new transport initiatives in disadvantaged rural communities.
CGTN photo

China will channel more energy into deleveraging in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) administered by the central government amid improving corporate performance.

A State Council meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang Wednesday agreed the work will be a priority in the ongoing national campaign to bring down debt levels, according to an official statement.

Central SOEs have made headway in cutting outdated capacity, reining in debt risks and improving competitiveness, the statement said.

Combined profits of central SOEs rallied 16.4 percent year on year in the first seven months, in contrast to a 3.7-percent drop in the same period of 2016. The debt-to-asset ratio edged down 0.2 percentage point from the beginning of the year.

Given the favorable conditions, more efforts are needed to dissolve the debt of SOEs and a guideline will be formulated, according to the meeting.

"Warning lines" of debt ratios will be drawn for state firms. Those breaching the limits will see bigger weighting of debt management in their annual assessment and will be banned from making a debt-fueled investment.

The government will encourage SOEs to adopt multiple means to reduce debt. Rapidly growing firms will be allowed to use part of their profits to repay debt. Those with low debt ratios or strong earnings power can include costs of capacity cuts and other reform measures into current losses.

A document on assets disposal of bloated steel and coal companies will be rolled out to guide SOEs to replenish capital for transformation.

Debt-to-equity swaps will be pushed forward, with state investment funds to be encouraged to participate in the process. Central SOEs should speed up the pace of mergers and acquisitions.

The regulators will implement stricter accountability systems to prevent piling corporate debt.

The meeting agreed that the deleveraging should help China's economic shift and restructuring.

There will be more effective measures to eliminate excess steel and coal capacity and tackle "zombie companies." New capacity in thermal power, electrolytic aluminum and construction materials will be under rigorous control.

Meanwhile, the "Internet Plus" and "Made in China 2025" plans will continue to be propelled to foster the new economy and reorganize traditional industries.

During the meeting, policymakers also discussed measures to stimulate technological innovation. Equity and option incentive plans in state-owned tech-firms will be expanded.

Favorable policies including tax reductions for tech firms will be further implemented.
A year on from one of the most disastrous tech launches in history, Samsung is back with a successor to the smartphone that kept catching fire.

The Galaxy Note 8 has been released in Ireland with promises from Samsung executives that it will not overheat, cause a fire hazard or be banned from planes.

Whereas the Note 7 caused injuries, worldwide travel warnings and an unprecedented public relations disaster for the world's biggest phone company, executives now swear that the new phone is "completely safe".

"None of us will ever forget what happened last year," said Samsung Mobile chief executive DJ Koh at the launch of the device.

To make completely sure the phone won't see red, Samsung has even reduced the size of the battery to less than that of rival handsets on the market.

"Safety is the most important thing," one Samsung demonstrator told the Irish Independent at a hands-on preview of the new device given to this newspaper.

Expand Close Koh Dong-jin, president of Samsung Electronics Mobile Communications, holds the Galaxy Note 8 smartphone during a launch event in New York City. Photo: Reuters/Brendan McDermid / Facebook

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Whatsapp Koh Dong-jin, president of Samsung Electronics Mobile Communications, holds the Galaxy Note 8 smartphone during a launch event in New York City. Photo: Reuters/Brendan McDermid

Samsung has about three weeks to see if the public is ready to accept its new phone, with Apple reportedly set to announce its iPhone 8 in mid-September.

The Note 7 fiasco cost the Korean company up to 6bn and briefly lifted arch-rival Apple into top spot as the world's biggest phone maker.

Since then, recent Samsung models such as the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus have restored the company's fortunes. However, the Galaxy Note 8 is 999 at launch, making it the most expensive new handset ever launched in Ireland.

Samsung is hoping some key new features will make punters overlook the high price. These include facial and iris-scanning technology as well as higher levels of artificial intelligence.

However, the main new feature is the Galaxy Note 8 has the biggest screen - 6.3 inches - of any mainstream phone on the market. This makes it a replacement device for some tablets and laptops, as Ireland has the highest number of people watching TV and movies on their phones.

To stop the phone being a brick, Samsung has stretched the screen out to the sides of the device so that the overall size of the gadget is no bigger than other large phones which have smaller screens, such as the iPhone 7 Plus.

The Note 8's other main selling point is an advanced new camera system that is optimised for shaky hands and low light.

The Galaxy Note 8 has two cameras on the back of the phone rather than just one. Both of them are 'stabilised', meaning they don't capture blurry pictures just because your hands are a bit shaky.

Samsung also believes that the phone's built-in S-Pen stylus will win over some workplace customers, as it can do advanced things like translate web pages from a different language.

"The Note 8 is arguably Samsung's most important smartphone launch in its history," said Neil Mawston, executive director at research firm Strategy Analytics. "After the Note 7 battery fiasco, Samsung has been given a second chance by consumers and the company must not screw it up."

The phone isn't perfect, with a relatively low memory storage limit of 64GB. While the device lets you store extra photos or videos on a memory card, this isn't as fast or reliable as a high storage phone from Apple or Huawei.

Nevertheless, if it can keep from exploding, Samsung has arguably the hottest phone of the year on its hands.

"I know lots of loyal Note series customers, they were so disappointed," said Samsung Mobile chief Koh earlier this year.

"Disappointment is deeper, the expectation is higher, so I must meet their demand and their expectation through the Note 8."

The Note 8 comes as the de facto head of the Samsung conglomerate, Jay Y Lee, remains on trial for alleged bribery and embezzlement in Korea. Despite this, Samsung's ability to sell hardware and earn profits remains intact. Its last quarterly financial results showed that its sales rose 20pc and it made a record 8bn in profit.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York

As Wall Street and world stocks chalk up record high after record high, anxiety about a steep correction is mounting.

Yet all else being equal, the odds of say, a 20pc fall are pretty much the same as another 20pc rally. So why are investors more wary of and obsessed with the former rather than the latter?

Much can be explained by behavioural economics, in particular the "prospect theory" advanced by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky in 1979 that people perceive gains and losses differently, so their investment decisions appear irrational.

Related to this is "loss aversion", the notion that people would rather avoid losses than experience equivalent gains.

This asymmetry is reflected in the behaviour of long-term investors since the financial crisis. Figures show that pension funds' allocation to equities as a share of their overall portfolios is now the lowest in years, and by some measures, decades.

On some levels, this is unsurprising. Pension and insurance funds are compelled to hold more bonds to meet capital adequacy rules. And an aging population and "baby boomers" are shifting out of equities into fixed income assets as they approach retirement between now and 2021.

But still, given the near nine-year bull run in stocks, you might have expected investors in recent years to be increasing their exposure to assets that are soaring in value. The S&P 500 has more than tripled since March 2009, and UK stocks have more than doubled.

According to Credit Suisse, US private pension funds' direct allocation to equities is 26pc of their total investments and has been below 30pc every month since March, 2008.

For the preceding 45 years it was always above 30pc, reaching 48pc in Q3 1987. That bullishness turned out to be hubris on 'Black Monday' when US stocks plunged more than 20pc percent on October 19 that year, the worst day in Wall Street history.

Similarly, UK pension funds have seen their equity allocations decline over the past 15 years, according to Mercer. The fall accelerated after the crisis, with the current equity allocation of 29pc half of what it was in 2008.

If long-term investors are effectively underweight equities, as these figures suggest, the more likely it is that the nine-year rally will continue for some time to come.

Demand wanes when valuations get stretched, but are stocks too expensive? That depends on your starting point. While world stocks may be up a third in barely 18 months and at a historic high, they're only up 10 percent from the pre-crisis peak.

Japanese stocks have nearly tripled from their post-crisis low, but are still 50pc below their peak in 1989.

Part of it can be explained by fear of the unknown. By definition, uncharted territory is unknown. And while potentially disastrous, a drop of say, 50pc, would take the S&P 500 back to where it was only six years ago. Familiar territory.

The notion of "mean reversion", that prices will eventually move back toward the historical average, is also hard-wired into investors' psychology. So a 'melt down' scenario is somehow easier to visualize and rationalize than a 'melt up' scenario.

According to Kahneman and Tversky, when it comes to economics and finance, human beings act irrationally. They are willing to settle for modest gains even if they have a reasonable chance of getting more, but are prepared to take more risk in trying to limit their losses.

This suggests that people fear losses more than they crave an equivalent amount of gains. Seeing 20pc of your portfolio go up in smoke would be more painful than a 20pc rise in its value would be pleasurable.

They also found that investors are inclined to hold on to losing investments for too long in the hope that they recover. But sometimes they don't recover, and losses snowball.

Mr Kahneman was awarded the Nobel prize for economics in 1992 and is considered one of the founding fathers of behavioural finance.

He also recommended that investors check their portfolios once a quarter at most to prevent day-to-day market fluctuations from giving them palpitations.

Good advice, but unlikely to be heeded. (Reuters)
A German supermarket has emptied its shelves in an effort to make a point about racism and diversity.

The Edeka store in Hamburg removed foreign-made products from its stock, replacing them with sign bearing anti-xenophobia slogans.

It is believed the move will be followed be a larger campaign from Edeka, the largest supermarket chain in Germany.

Surprised shoppers entered the store to find that much of the normal selection was gone, demonstrating how reliant they are on other countries for everyday products.

Instead, they were greeted with signs saying: This shelf is pretty boring without diversity.

Other signs said: Our range now knows borders, "This is how empty a shelf is without foreigners" and "we will be poorer without diversity".

Edeka in Hamburger Hafencity macht Aktion gegen Rassismus. #saynotoracism pic.twitter.com/S3puFdn62g  Sven (@opendev) August 19, 2017

The campaign was met with mixed reactions among the German public, with some praising its boldness.

Sven Schmidt, who supplied photos of the stunt to The Independent, said he liked the campaign but had some negative reactions after posting the pictures to Twitter, which were widely shared.

He said: Looking at all the mentions of hate and lack of understanding of other people I got, I'm happy that I posted it and showed my two cents against the racists, even though I know it was mainly about diversity.

Julia Klockner, a vice Chairperson of the Christian Democratic Union party, praised it on social media, calling it a wise action that would give people pause to think.

But others derided it as a marketing campaign, taking advantage of the politically charged atmosphere ahead of the countrys federal elections next month.

And some opposed the move politically. Marcus Pretzell, of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party responded to Ms Klockners remarks by saying: Why exactly should it be wise? Is it not rather completely mad?

Others said it was not the place of a supermarket to become involved in political discussions.

Such conversations have become more frequent in Germany in recent weeks, as the country prepares to go to the polls.

Immigration has been a key theme in German politics since the 2015 decision of the Chancellor, Angela Merkel, to allow more than a million migrants into the country, many refugees from war-torn Syria.

A company spokeswoman said: Edeka stands for variety and diversity. In our stores we sell numerous foods which are produced in the various regions of Germany.

But only together with products from other countries it is possible to create the unique variety, that our consumers value. We are pleased that our campaign caused so many positive reactions.
Ryanair has cut ticket prices for its flights to Spain to avoid any impact on demand from last week's attacks in Catalonia, the airline's CEO Michael O'Leary said on Thursday.

He said Ryanair, the largest carrier to Spain in terms of passengers, had "generally" not seen any impact on bookings to the country since Islamist militants killed 15 people last week in Barcelona and the seaside resort of Cambrils in Catalonia, northeastern Spain.

But Ryanair has reduced air fares to Spain by up to 7pc, in a similar precautionary step to the one it took after attacks in London, Paris and Brussels, O'Leary said.

"We lowered the fares to keep people moving," he told a news conference marking the opening of a new technical centre in Spain, which will create 250 jobs.

Spain's Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said on Thursday he did not expect the attacks to have any significant short-term impact on tourism, which accounts for about 11pc of Spain's economy.

O'Leary said Ryanair continued to be confident of growing in Spain despite heavy competition in some regions.

For the current year ending in March 2018, Ryanair has forecast growth in the country of around 10 percent to 38 million passengers.

Ryanair has a 17pc share of the Spanish air transport market, according to Spanish airport operator Aena.
The RTE autumn schedule boasts a strong offering of factual programming across RTE One and RTE2.

RTE One kicks off with a series of documentaries shining a light on inequality in Ireland.

Dr Eva Orsmond reveals how where you are born can determine your life expectancy while Joe Duffy explores how where you went to school impacts your life in Ireland's Health Divide and Philip Boucher Hayes tackles how we work and what we earn in What Are You Working For?

On the 30th anniversary of the Lotto, We Won the Lotto meets some of the winners who scored big and goes behind the scenes at Lotto HQ as some of the country's newest millionaires arrive to collect their winnings.

Couples who have been married for more than 50 years will share their ups and downs in Golden.

RTE One will also air a two part doc looking at the relationship between women and the Irish State over the past 100 years from restricting their ability to work to blocking their access to birth control.

RTE2, which traditionally serves the 15-24 demographic is widening its scope to 20-44 with a range of programmes tackling issues affecting the under 45s in Ireland.

Baz Ashmaway makes a welcome return to RTE to front a series of documentaries, kicking off with an exploration of gambling addiction in Ireland.

Vogue Williams fronts a three part doc exploring sperm donation, sugar daddies, and anxiety.

Joe O'Shea will explore our obsession with wealth as he guides viewers through the top 30 billionaires and millionaires who make up this year's Sunday Times Rich List.

Sherlock star Yasmine Akram meets the Irish people making their own fortune serving the super-rich in Irish in Wonderland.

Schizophrenia: The Voices in my Head tracks the daily lives of Irish people living with schizophrenia while young transgender people's transitions are charted in My Trans Life.

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Trauma - Life and Death in A&E - is a four part series giving viewers an insight into the world of medical emergencies at four Irish hospitals.

There will be a bigger investment in RTE investigates and Prime Time celebrates 25 years with two special programmes charting the most unforgettable moments while Claire Byrne Live will also return.

The new season will also see a bigger focus on 'event TV' with Weather Watch Live, a week long special of live broadcasts from weather observing stations which will reflect our enduring obsession with the Irish weather.

Ireland's Greatest Sporting Moments, meanwhile, will be voted for by the public and fronted by Evanne Ni Chuilinn and Des Cahill.

Ireland's Deep Atlantic was two years in the making and sees underwater camera specialist Ken O'Sullivan exploring our seas.

Also new to the schedule is Dermot Bannon's Superhomes where he travels to the US and a Room to Improve special will see him tackling the Donegal home of Daniel and Majella O'Donnell.

Wedding guru Franc will return to RTE with Say Yes to the Dress, the Irish version of the hugely popular TLC show while Dermot Bannon will tackle the home of Daniel and Majella O'Donnell in Room to Improve.

In drama, Amy Huberman will return for a second series of Striking Out while Elaine Cassidy stars in a new six part thriller series, Acceptable Risk.

She plays a woman who discovers all is not as it seems when her husband is murdered. The series also stars Angelina Ball, Lisa Dwyer Hogg, and Morten Suurballe and was filmed in Ireland and Vancouer.

Brendan Gleesons critically acclaimed serial killer thriller Mr Mercedes will air on RTE, along with returning series Vikings, Homeland and Doctor Foster.

On RTE2 a new season of foreign drama gives Irish viewers a first look at series two of Norwegian detective series Mammon, Danish thriller Below the Surface and the latest from Borgen creator Adam Price, Ride Upon the Storm.

Stefanie Preissner's Can't Cope Won't Cope will also return for a second series.

Moone Boy's David Rawle, meanwhile, teams up with Pauline McLynn for a family show about three Australian children to move to Ireland and whose parents are zombies.

The Young Offenders six part series will also air on RTE next year.
A man carried out an armed raid at a petrol station before firing a shot from a rifle while hijacking a van in a crime rampage in Co Laois, it has been alleged.

Joseph Moore (31) is accused of shooting the gun while seizing a Volkswgaen Caddy from a man kilometres from the scene of the initial garage robbery.

Earlier, it is alleged, Mr Moore had threatened to kill a woman and stole her car at his own home.

The incidents are all alleged to have taken place on Friday and Saturday last. Mr Moore is further charged with burglary at a house and robbery at another petrol station in Co Laois a week earlier.

He was remanded in custody after Dublin District Court heard he made a series of apologies in reply to the charges.

No bail application was made on his behalf.

Moore, from Market Mews, Marlborough Village, Abbeyleix, Co Laois, is charged with threatening to kill a woman and unlawfully taking her car at that address on August 18.

He is charged with then robbing a man of 930 at the Emo Filling Station, Portlaoise Road, Mountrath, on August 19.

Mr Moore is charged with unlawfully seizing a Volkswagen Caddy by threat of force at Derrykearn, Abbeyleix later on August 19.

Separately, the accused is charged with a earlier burglary at a house at Oldtown, Abbeyleix on August 10 last, then robbing a man of 1,970 at Jones Oil, Tea Lane, Portlaoise the next day, August 11.

Today, Garda Keith Shier of Portlaoise Garda Station said the accused was arrested last night and made no reply to the charge of unlawful taking of a car.

In reply to the threat to kill charge, he said "I'm so sorry," Gda Shier said.

He said "I'm sorry, I apologise to everyone involved" when charged with unlawfully seizing the van.

"I'm so sorry" was the response to Garda Shier's robbery charge.

Detective Garda JP O'Brien said the defendant replied "I am sorry" in reply to the remaining two charges.

He confirmed to the judge that there had been no local court sitting and no offer to convene one.

Det Gda O'Brien said he was applying for the accused to be remanded in custody. Defence solicitor Brian Keenan said he was making no bail application on Mr Moore's behalf at this stage.

Det Gda O'Brien asked for advance notice to be given of any bail application, saying the alleged offences were serious and involved a "fully loaded rifle being discharged" while a vehicle was hijacked.

Judge O'Neill remanded the defendant in custody to appear in court again on August 29.

Mr Moore "suffered significantly" as a result of this incident and spent a number of days in hospital before he was arrested, Mr Keenan said.

He asked Judge O'Neill to recommend medical atttention for the accused while he is in custody.

She did this, and granted free legal aid after hearing the accused was unemployed.

Mr Moore, wearing a navy and white tracksuit top, navy bottoms and white runners, did not speak during the hearing.
Self-styled cleaner to the stars Gina Farrell fled her solicitors office this week after grabbing the deeds of an apartment she owns and against which an undertaking had been given to pay a 100,000 debt, the High Court was told today Thursday.

Mr Justice Donald Binchy was told that on Monday last Farrell, with her husband Michael and an unidentified man, had gone to the offices of her solicitor Enda P. Moran in Celbridge, Co Kildare, on the pretext she needed to check the deeds and then ran off with them.

A locum solicitor who tried to stop them and recover the deeds had been pushed aside.

The court heard that her solicitor had previously given an undertaking to another firm of solicitors, to whom Farrell allegedly owed a legal costs debt of 158,471, that a settlement figure of 100,000 would be paid to them directly from the sale of her apartment in St Rapheals Manor, Celbridge.

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Judge Binchy was told that solicitor Brien OBrien had represented Farrell, trading as Gina Farrell Cleaning Services, in a 17-day High Court case in which developer Sean Dunne was awarded 22,500 on the basis Farrell had overcharged him, between 2003 and 2006, for cleaning services at an apartment complex his company Hollybrook (Brighton Road) Management owned in Foxrock, Co Dublin.

Initially a legal costs and VAT bill of 263,470 was reduced to a balance of 158,471 on payment by Farrell of 105,000. Later this figure had been reduced to 100,000 after settlement talks which, Judge Binchy heard, had not been paid. Part of the deal had been that an application for judgment against her for the 158,471 figure would be adjourned.

The court was told that while in July last Farrells apartment, jointly owned with her husband Michael, had gone sale agreed for 208,000 their solicitor Enda Moran had not heard from anyone with regard to the sale.

Then on Monday August 21st Michael and Gina, with the unidentified man, had visited Enda Morans office on the pretext they needed to check something in the deeds on the instructions of Bank of Ireland to see if they could obtain a loan from the bank.

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When a locum solicitor in Mr Morans office had presented the deeds on her desk Gina Farrell grabbed them and proceeded with her husband and the other man to flee from the office, the judge was told.

The court heard that the locum solicitor had attempted to take back the deeds but had been pushed aside. The locum had later made a phone call to Brien OBrians office stating that the 100,000 undertaking regarding the proceeds of sale had been cancelled. Auctioneers had since confirmed that the Farrells Celbridge apartment remained sale agreed.

Judge Binchy was told that Brian OBrien, practising under the style of OBrien Redmond Solicitors, believed Gina Farrell and her husband were conducting the sale through another solicitor and that they intended dissipating the proceeds.

The judge granted OBrien injunctions against the Farrells, who live at Dangan Park, Kimmage, Dublin 12, restraining them from dealing with their assets including the sale of their Celbridge apartment.

Judge Binchy also granted OBrien a Mareva injunction restraining the couple from reducing their assets below 175,000.

The proceedings, brought on an ex parte basis, were adjourned.
A Dublin man has been extradited from the UK and charged with the murder of Gareth Hutch, who was shot dead in a suspected crime feud killing last year.

Jonathan Keogh (31) appeared in Dublin District Court today charged with the murder, after he was arrested under warrant in England and extradited to face trial here.

Judge Grainne ONeill remanded him in custody for the preparation of a book of evidence.Mr Keogh is the third person to be charged in connection with the death of Mr Hutch, who gardai believe was a victim of the Kinahan and Hutch feud.

The accuseds sister, Regina Keogh (39) and co-accused Thomas Fox (29) have already been charged and sent for trial to the Special Criminal Court.

Mr Hutch (35), the nephew of gang boss Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch, was gunned down as he was getting into his car outside Avondale House flats, on North Cumberland Street in inner city Dublin on the morning of May 24 last year.

Jonathan Keogh, a brother of murder victim Michael Keogh, left Ireland following Mr Hutchs murder and A European Arrest Warrant was issued late last year.

He was arrested by police in Romford, Essex on June 11 last following a surveillance operation by Britains National Crime Agency.

Mr Keogh appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court on August 10 and was told he would be extradited to Ireland.Two armed gardai stood outside Dublin District Court this afternoon when the accused was brought before Judge ONeill.

Garda Sergeant Enda OSullivan told Judge ONeill he arrested the accused on foot of a European Arrest Warrant at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel at 2.21pm.

Mr Keogh was brought to Clondalkin Garda Station, where he was charged in Sgt OSullivans presence at 3.50pm, Sgt O'Sullivan said. He made no reply to the charge after caution and was handed a copy of the warrant and charge sheet.

No bail application was made on his behalf as this can only be done in the High Court on a murder charge.Judge ONeill asked Mr Keoghs solicitor, Damien Coffey, if there was any other application being made as obviously, bail doesnt apply.

Mr Coffey asked for Mr Keogh to be remanded in custody for a week.Judge ONeill noted that there was a significant garda presence in the court for the case and asked if any security concerns could be circumvented to remanding the case to a different court.

I believe we will have any security that needs to be in place for whatever court sits, Sgt OSullivan said.Judge ONeill adjourned the case to Cloverhill District Court on August 30.

Mr Coffey said he had no other application to make at this time and asked for permission to speak to the accused in custody when the case concluded.

Mr Keogh, wearing a navy and white Nike tracksuit with white runners, stood with his arms folded during the brief proceedings and consulted his solicitor but did not address the court.He has not yet indicated how he intends to plead to the charge.

Jonathan and Regina Keogh's brother Michael was shot dead as he sat in his car in May.
A man in his 40s has appeared in court charged with the murder of a mother-of-three who was found with head injuries at a flat on the northside of the city earlier this year.

Cathal O'Sullivan (44) was remanded in custody after he was charged with the murder of Nicola Collins at his flat on Popham's Road, Farranree, Cork, on March 27 last.

Det Sgt Kieran O'Sullivan gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution. He told Judge David Waters, at Cork District Court, he arrested Mr O'Sullivan outside Mayfield garda station where he charged him with the murder of the 38-year-old.

Mr O'Sullivan stated "not guilty" when the charge was put to him after caution.

Free legal aid was granted in the case.

Gardai raised no objection to the assigning of legal aid after an application was made for same by defence solicitor Joe Cuddigan.

Judge Waters remanded Mr O'Sullivan in custody to appear in court on August 30 next.

Ms Collins was living at Clashduv Road, Togher, Cork, at the time of her death. However, she was originally from Tralee, Co Kerry.

Her funeral took place in her hometown of Tralee on April 4. At her requiem mass, her sister Carly told mourners of Ms Collins's struggle with life, of her unfair share of suffering, her tendency to be hard on herself and her honesty and humour.

Ms Collins is survived by her parents Kay and Michael and her three sons Nick, Adam and Michael.
A father is fighting for life after both he and his 11-year-old son fell from a farming vehicle this afternoon.

The 47-year-old man was airlifted to Tallaght hospital after the accident in Shinrone, Co Offaly.

He was later transferred to Beaumont hospital where he remains in a critical condition.

Gardai say officers in Shinrone, Co Offaly were called to the scene of the accident at a house in Congort at approximately 3.45pm.

It is believed that two males were on a teleporter when they fell from it.

A teleporter is a farming vehicle, that is effectively a cross between a tractor and a forklift.

A garda spokesman confirmed that one male (47 years) was seriously injured and airlifted to Tallaght hospital. He was later transferred to Beaumont.

An 11-year-old boy, believed to be the older man's son, was also injured in the accident and taken to Tullamore hospital where his injuries are described as non-life threatening.

The Health and Safety Authority has been notified and inspectors are expected to attend the scene on Friday morning.
Members of a violent gang suspected of being behind a series of rural robberies were arrested in dawn raids by armed gardai in south Dublin yesterday.

Gardai have established that the gang is linked to the robberies which included some "particularly brutal" aggravated burglaries on elderly people in recent months.

A total of four individuals remain in garda custody following the raids on addresses in Shankill, Tallaght and Rathfarnham in a planned operation against the mob who are suspects for up to 17 robberies in Co Roscommon and neighbouring counties.

In total, seven searches were carried out yesterday and the suspects are being held at three different southside garda stations.

Gardai have been gathering CCTV and other forensic evidence including fingerprints as part of the investigation.

No property linked to the robberies was seized during the raids but gardai believe they have enough evidence to charge some of those in custody in connection with the spate of burglaries.

"This was a major operation against a very serious organised crime grouping," a senior source said last night.

"Some of these burglaries were absolutely brutal in their nature."

It's understood that a number of those targeted by gardai have links to slain crime lord 'Fat' Andy Connors - but none of those arrested is related to him.

The extended Connors Traveller gang, which has more than 200 members, was the chief target of Operation Fiacla and other large investigations, but his murder did not end his gang's nationwide crime spree.

Apart from terrorising rural communities, the gang targeted by gardai yesterday is highly active in south Dublin.

The DMR East Garda Division - which includes affluent areas such as Dundrum and Blackrock - has the highest burglary rate in the country with a total of 1,800 in 2016.

At least five burglaries are carried out in the area every day, but the number is still significantly lower than the 2,100 burglary-related offences that were carried out in 2015.

The large decrease is largely due to increased activity by local gardai in the DMR East Division, while national units working under the auspice of Operation Thor have also helped curtail the activities of burglary gangs.

Despite having the highest rate of burglaries in the country, the garda division responsible for policing south Dublin has the lowest number of gardai with just 648 officers covering the area.

The Dublin-based gangs in particular use the motorway network to travel the country carrying out burglaries. Many of these criminals are currently under investigation by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB).

It is understand that several of the criminals are Dublin-based but there are also serious organised burglary gangs based in Limerick, Galway, Wexford and Waterford.

Meanwhile, a series of talks, 'Thinking Ahead', will also begin next month aiming to offer safety and security advice from experienced gardai and homecare specialists to homeowners.

Hosted by Castle Homecare, the event will take place in the Stillorgan Park Hotel from September 28 as part of Bank of Ireland's Positive Aging Week.
Residents in care homes pay top-up charges for social activity programmes, but this can also include religious services in the facility, it has been revealed. Stock Image

Nursing home residents are being charged for religious services as part of a "bundle" levied on a weekly or monthly basis.

It is the first time private nursing homes have confirmed that religious services can be part of the controversial top-up charges imposed on residents.

It follows revelations by Dublin Independent Councillor Christy Burke that he was informed a 20 Mass charge was being imposed on some nursing home residents.

The charges bundle, which would cover activities and social programmes, can include religious services in the facility, said Tadhg Daly, of Nursing Homes Ireland.

He said pastoral services can include Mass, First Friday visits or visits to the sick, as well as apostolic prayer groups.

But Mr Daly said he was "unaware" of any specific Mass charge.

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Priests do not charge for their services, but it is tradition to make a donation of appreciation.

However, Councillor Burke said the claims that residents were being charged for Mass now needed to be investigated by Health Minister Simon Harris.

Justin Moran, head of advocacy and communications with Age Action, said testimonies from families about the charges warranted an independent investigation.

"There needs to be a full investigation of the nature and scale of the additional fees being imposed on many nursing home residents," he said.

"We've recorded examples of people with medical cards being charged for doctor services, of people being charged for services they physically cannot use, and now there are new reports of people being charged to attend Mass.

"Fair Deal is publicly funded to the tune of 1bn, but there are basic issues of transparency and fairness in how some nursing homes are levying additional charges on residents that are simply not being addressed.

"We would urge the Government and the HSE to tackle this problem and to support older people in nursing homes and their families."

The Department of Health, which is reviewing the Fair Deal nursing home scheme, confirmed yesterday it was to embark on an "information-gathering exercise" on the extent of the top-up charges.

Minister for Older People Jim Daly is to meet with Ombudsman Peter Tyndall to discuss nursing home charges.

A spokesman for the Ombudsman's office previously upheld a complaint in relation to charges imposed on a resident who could not take part in "social programme" activities in a particular nursing home.

As a result of the complaint, residents in the nursing home who do not have the capacity to take part in the social programme will be charged a nominal fee only.

Residents in the home will have input into the content and design of the social programme if an increase in the charge is being considered.

They will now receive a breakdown of the activities involved in the programme before signing up to those activities on admission.

But the ruling applies only to the nursing home at the centre of the complaint.

There are no regulations to compel the roll-out to other nursing homes.
Christina Noble at the IFTA Awards 2015 at The Mansion House

ONE of the country's leading rights campaigners has revealed she was attacked in her home last night.

Christina Noble (72) has described the terrifying moments she was held at knife point by a home-intruder at her home in Dublin.

The childrens rights campaigner spoke on the Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk this morning about her ordeal.

She was asleep on her couch when her house was broken into - Ms Noble was told it was likely the man used a screwdriver to jolt open the door, which was locked

There was something tipping my arm and when I turned around he put the knife he had in his hand over my throat, Ms Noble said.

Ms Noble, a mother-of-three, described how the attacker demanded money, and became increasingly more threatening when she did not meet his demands.

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He was screaming give me the money, give me the money. Im going to kill you, do you understand, Im going to kill you'," she said.

The attacker stayed in Ms Nobles home until she was able to hit a panic button, which caused her attacker to flee.

He was here for 12 minutes, and that could have been 12 hours when somebody has a knife right up to your throat. She said.

Ms Noble described her attacker as being around five feet six inches in height, dressed in black and having a Dublin accent.

She described how she has been like living in a dream since it happened but that reality hit home today.

Here I am in the home that I value and love, the home I bought for my family to bring them back together again, and it feels soiled now," she said.

Ms Noble, who had just returned from doing charity work in Vietnam, wanted to warn people to lock their doors and be vigilant.

I just want people to know there is a man going around doing this," she said.

The Dublin native founded the Christina Noble Children's Foundation in 1989, after she had a recurring dream, during the Vietnam War, about children over in Vietnam appealing for her help.

She arrived in Ho Chi Minh City in 1989 and against all the odds, set up the Christina Noble Children's Foundation, which provides vital health services, education and support to thousands of vulnerable children and their families annually.
Health Minister Simon Harris has come under pressure to order an investigation after a man collapsed on a busy street just hours after being turned away from a Dublin hospital.

The incident, involving one of Mr Harris's own constituents, was described as "deeply upsetting" by fellow Wicklow TD John Brady.

The man in question, who is in his 50s, presented himself at St Columcille's Hospital in Loughlinstown, south Dublin, with chest pains.

After pleading with staff to be seen by a doctor, the man was told that the hospital could not treat him because he did not have a referral letter from his GP.

After leaving the hospital, the man - who was in serious pain - walked across the footbridge in Loughlinstown and took a bus to his home town in Bray.

He later collapsed on the main street while he was en route to his GP.

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The man suffered a suspected heart attack and was treated on the scene by passers-by before the emergency services arrived.

He was rushed to St James's Hospital where he has since undergone surgery.

Details of the case have been provided by the man's family to Mr Brady, a Sinn Fein TD.

The family have asked not to be identified at this time.

Mr Brady said both he and the family are now demanding an urgent investigation. "We are talking about a matter of life and death here," Mr Brady told the Irish Independent last night.

Investigation

"I have sought a meeting with hospital management to establish what exactly are the protocols and procedures here. I am also calling on Health Minister Simon Harris to demand a full investigation by the HSE," he added.

St Columcille's Hospital was downgraded in November 2013 with a decision being made to shut down the emergency department entirely.

As a result, emergency cases are diverted to St Vincent's Hospital.

The hospital does, however, have a medical assessment unit (MAU) and an injuries unit (IU).

Mr Brady says this incident yesterday illustrates the "disastrous decision" to downgrade the hospital.

While the hospital would not comment on "individual cases", a spokeswoman said the medical assessment unit does not accept "walk-in patients".

"The medical assessment unit assesses patients referred by GP with acute medical conditions such as chest infection, urinary tract infection, collapse, deep vein thrombosis, anaemia without active bleeding, fever and headaches. The MAU is open seven days per week from 8am to 6pm. It accepts GP referrals and patient transfers from St Vincent's University Hospital. It does not accept 'walk in' patients," the spokeswoman said.

"The IU is open seven days per week from 8am to 6pm. It manages 'minor injuries' and governance of the unit is with the emergency department in St Vincent's University Hospital.

"The medical assessment unit and the injuries unit have seen a combined total of 12,778 attendances in 2016."
The silver Saab was left on its side after the crash in Dublin. Photo: Colin O'Riordan

A man remains in hospital today with serious head injuries after a car struck a number of pedestrians in the capital.

Gardai have issued an appeal for information in relation to the collision, which occurred in the Dublin 2 area on Tuesday evening.

Shortly after 6pm, a silver Saab convertible crashed into four male pedestrians at the junction of Adelaide Road and Earlsfort Terrace in the city centre.

The female driver of the car and one of the pedestrians were taken to St Vincent's Hospital, where they were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

A second male pedestrian was taken to Tallaght Hospital, with non-life-threatening injuries.

The final two pedestrians were taken to St James's Hospital.

One of the casualties was subsequently removed to Beaumont Hospital in a serious condition.

Emergency services rushed to the scene of the crash, with paramedics treating the injured on site.

"I didn't see it happen, but when I got here, there were medics working on someone on the ground," an eyewitness told the Irish Independent.

"There was bits of the car all over the road and there was at least three fire engines and two ambulances, from what I saw," they added.

Pictures from the scene show the silver Saab convertible flipped over on to its side after the accident.

Debris from the car and a pillar was scattered across the scene.

A Garda spokesman said that the collision was not being treated as a hit-and-run incident.

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He said no arrests had been made and the investigations into the incident were ongoing.

The roadway from Earlsfort Terrace on to Harcourt Road was sealed off into the early hours of yesterday morning to facilitate an examination, which was conducted by Garda forensic collision investigators.

One woman, who works near the scene, said: "I didn't see it happen, but came across it after.

"There were ambulances everywhere, it looked really bad."

Investigating gardai are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed the crash, or to any motorists with dash-cam footage of the incident, to contact Pearse Street Garda Station on 01-666 9000, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.

Separately, gardai are investigating a fatal road accident in Co Offaly, which occurred in the early hours of yesterday.

A 23-year-old man died when his car crashed into a wall at Shannongrove in Banagher.

The accident occurred at approximately 12.05am.

The victim's car struck the wall and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

His body was removed to Portiuncula Hospital in Galway.

Gardai have completed a forensic examination of the scene.

Anybody with information has been asked to contact gardai in Portumna on 090-9741004.
Gao Feng, spokesperson with China's Ministry of Commerce, is seen at a regular briefing held in Beijing, Aug. 24, 2017. (Photo: mofcom.gov.cn)

China's anti-dumping probes against U.S. products were legal procedures, a spokesperson with the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Thursday.

In response to a question whether China's probes were counter-measures to a U.S. investigation into China's intellectual property practices, MOC spokesperson Gao Feng told a press briefing that both probes were legal.

The anti-dumping probe into optical fiber preform products imported from Japan and the United States, starting from Aug. 18 this year, was in response to legitimate review applications filed by domestic industry representatives, Gao said.

China launched anti-dumping measures to optical fiber preform imports from Japan and the United States from Aug. 19, 2015, with an implementation period of two years.

As for the anti-dumping probe into dispersion unshifted single-mode optical fiber products imported from the United States and the European Union, which began from Aug. 22 this year, all procedures are according to law, Gao said.

Gao reiterated that China would take all appropriate measures to defend its legal interests in response to the U.S. trade investigation as it damaged the international trade system and cast a shadow over China-U.S. economic and trade ties.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer last week formally initiated an investigation into China's intellectual property practices under a rarely used trade law, despite worries about potential harm to China-U.S. trade ties.

Section 301, which was heavily used in the 1980s and early 1990s, allows the United States to unilaterally impose tariffs or other trade restrictions on foreign countries. But the country has rarely used the outdated trade tool since the World Trade Organization was established in 1995.
A terrifying armed robbery at a city centre hotel was caught on CCTV, the manager has revealed.

Two hotel workers were locked in a baggage room and threatened with knives during a terrifying raid at the Conrad Hotel, on Earlsfort Terrace in Dublin 2.

At approximately 1am yesterday, three raiders entered the five-star hotel wearing balaclavas and carrying knives.

The raiders threatened two staff members and claimed they had a gun.

The workers were locked in a baggage room and threatened during the ordeal.

Staff were ordered to open the safe but were unable to do so as it was time-locked.

The raiders fled with a sum of money, believed to be around 300, from a cash till float.

A major Garda investigation is ongoing, although no arrests have yet been made in the case.

The Conrad Hotel's manager Martin Mangan said that while the incident was traumatic for the staff, nobody was physically harmed and the gang fled through a side or back exit.

"No hotel guests were affected, and the small number of team members and contractors impacted by the incident are safe.

"The well-being, safety and security of our team members and guests are a priority, and our efforts are currently focused on providing support services to the impacted team members and contractors, and working with gardai as they complete their investigation," he added.

Mr Mangan said that most transactions at the hotel are by credit and debit card, and very little cash is involved.

"The robbery was also recorded on our CCTV system which was only recently upgraded as part of an overall large scale refurbishment."

A Garda spokesman said that officers in Pearse Street were "investigating a robbery that occurred at a hotel on Earlsfort Terrace at approximately 1am this morning".

"Three males wearing balaclavas, two armed with knives, entered and threatened staff.

"They left with an undisclosed sum of money. No one required hospital treatment," added the spokesman.
Two popular beaches in Dublin have tested positive for sewage contamination and swimmers are being warned to avoid going in the water.

Loughshinny and Rush South beaches were found to have high levels of microbial contamination after routine testing on Monday.

Fingal County Council issued a 'Do Not Swim' notice for both.

They reported the sources of contamination were a wastewater treatment plant and a sewer network.

The beaches will remain open but members of the public are being advised not to swim there.

Loughshinny has had an all-season restriction on swimming in place after it was classified as having poor water quality in 2016.

People planning on visiting these beaches are being advised to check the EPA website.
Gardai have arrested 13 people after a large fight broke out among customers at a restaurant in south Dublin early yesterday morning.

Emergency services from across Dublin were called to the incident at Flash Harry's on Temple Road in Blackrock at approximately 1.30am.

Flash Harry's is a part of the Eddie Rocket's chain of restaurants and was opened in 2015.

An 18th birthday party was taking place in the venue and it is understood that a fight broke out amongst customers.

The Garda public order unit attended the scene and quickly brought the situation under control.

No injuries were reported to gardai.

A spokesman confirmed that gardai arrested 13 people "following a public order incident" at the restaurant.

The suspects were detained at Blackrock, Dundrum, and Dun Laoghaire Garda Stations and later released without charge.

A file will be prepared for the DPP.

It is understood that the incident occurred after 1am as the restaurant and bar was closing up for the night.

A manager at the restaurant and bar, who did not wish to be named, said nobody had been injured during the altercation.

The representative also said that there had been no damage to the property.

They said it was "unclear" what started the massive brawl but that it had been resolved quickly by gardai.

A spokesperson for the restaurant group said: "We are grateful to gardai for their swift and effective response and helping to bring the situation under control."

Stephen Barr, a manager at the neighbouring bar Three Tun Tavern, said they, like most businesses, were closed as the incident took place.

"Gardai have visited us looking for CCTV footage and not many know how it all came about," he said.

"All we know is that it would have happened after we closed.

"We stop serving around 11.30pm so when we were leaving nothing had happened yet," he told the Irish Independent.

Mr Barr said it was unusual for such an event to happen in the area.

"Everywhere would be closed at that time so it's a weird one to happen around here for sure," he said.

Gardai are currently undertaking an investigation to uncover what led to the incident taking place.
Belfast actor Michael Patrick says he can now laugh about the 'absolutely ridiculous' time in his youth when he ignored his swollen testicle. Photo: Gerry Mooney

For teenage boys, puberty is often a source of great embarrassment. With truckloads of hormones arriving by the day, 14-year-olds are used to finding unexpected swellings in their trousers, but for Michael Patrick, from Belfast, it was a different story.

"I had a swelling in my left testicle. I first noticed it when I was 14 or 15, and I didn't tell a soul about it," he recalls. His father, Michael, had died from Motor Neurone Disease when he was just eight years old, and he didn't want to worry his mother, Patricia, who had her hands full raising four children on her own.

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"I didn't have any sort of father figure to talk to, so I just ignored it and hoped it would go away on its own. It didn't, and it just got bigger and bigger and bigger," he explains. "I was terrified about it, but I just put it to the back of my brain and ignored it. I nearly told my mum so many times, then ended up telling myself it would go away or sort itself out."

Michael, now 26 and working as an actor, describes his teenage self as "a bit of a nerd, but a loud nerd". He loved science, and went on to study physics at Cambridge University, but wasn't interested in sport, and says he was a bit heavier in school.

Although he would share just about everything with his friends (still his close friends today), he felt this was one thing he could never raise, and instead spent his nights silently panicking about what it might be.

The swelling, meanwhile, continued to grow, and began to interfere with his daily routine in rather awkward ways.

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"Running was difficult, it would swing about quite a lot. We did this thing in PE where one person would sprint and another person would sprint behind them. My mate was behind me and my ball swung out of my PE shorts," he laughs, cringing at the memory.

"Things like that, or trying to go the swimming pool, were very embarrassing, or if I was on my feet for a long time I'd feel it getting heavy and there'd be an ache from the dragging nature of it."

What Michael wouldn't learn for three years was that it was a hydrocele testis, a harmless build-up of fluid around the testicle that causes the scrotum to swell. In a desperate attempt to treat it without alerting his mum, Michael resorted to a series of foolhardy home remedies.

"In my head, it was tied up with masturbation. Maybe it was Catholic guilt, but at that age you're exploring your body and learning about all these changes, so I thought it must be something to do with that. So I tried 'fasting' for a long time, then I tried doing it too much, I tried squeezing it, I tried every cream that was sitting in the medicine cupboard, I tried cold showers, hot baths, anything I thought would make it go away. It didn't, of course."

Expand Expand Previous Next Close Belfast actor Michael Patrick says he can now laugh about the 'absolutely ridiculous' time in his youth when he ignored his swollen testicle. Photo: Gerry Mooney My Left Nut is a Show In A Bag production for Dublin Fringe Festival 2017. Photo: Cait Fahey / Facebook

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While hydroceles are quite common and benign, as the years passed he became convinced it was something far more sinister.

"My dad died from a sickness, so going through this potentially life-threatening illness really made me think of my dad again. It brought up memories I didn't want to think about - I thought, 'if this is testicular cancer, I'll have to go through all those things my dad went through'."

Just before his 18th birthday, Michael says his testicle had grown to the size and shape of a "giant avocado", and he decided he couldn't put it out of his mind any longer.

"It was getting sore, and people could see it through my trousers, I was trying to hide it and I wasn't able to hide it. At that stage, I eventually did tell my mother and we went to the doctor," he explains.

"The doctors' reaction was 'wow, look at the size of that thing! Why have you not come in sooner?' They were shocked, and that worries you a bit - doctors shouldn't be shocked, they should know what's going on.

"I got fast-tracked through a lot of stuff because it was so big, and that made us all so worried. I had to go for an ultrasound on a Saturday, and you never get an ultrasound on a Saturday with the NHS, you have to wait, so that made us think it was something really serious."

After a gruelling weekend, Michael's results came back, and he was told it was a hydrocele. The doctors explained that the testis is generally surrounded by lubricating fluid, and excess fluid is absorbed by an outer membrane, but that the membrane had stopped working.

They would have to drain the fluid, either through needle aspiration or a surgical procedure, which reduced the chances of the hydrocele recurring. Michael opted for the surgery.

"They drained 400ml from it - less than a pint, more than a can of Coke. They stitch your testicle directly to the inside of your scrotum, so that's what I have now.

"My left testicle is no longer floating around freely, it's stuck firmly to the wall of the scrotum and that performs the draining function. There were stitches to deal with, but then it was fine.

"If I'd left it any longer, there was a risk of it bursting - the skin was stretched pretty taut by the time I went in. I was very lucky, it could have been a lot worse. Now the skin is a bit loose, it's a bit dangly, but I can live with it!"

Michael, working with his friend and co-founder of the Pan Narrans theatre company Oisin Kearney, has drawn on the experience for a one-man show, My Left Nut, premiering at the Dublin Fringe Festival next month.

"This is the first time I've ever written anything. It was petrifying, if it hadn't been accepted to the festival, there's no way I ever would have written it.

"I've never had the same feeling I had when I was studying for exams until I had to write this play. But now I'm very happy with what's come out of it," he says.

"I didn't have any hang-ups in terms of feeling too frightened to share stuff, I wanted to share the story with people. They say write what you know and I've written exactly what I know about this period of my life."

While he kept a tight lid on what was going on at the time, Michael now sees the humour in it and looks back on that time as "absolutely ridiculous". "What was I so worried about? I was embarrassed about wanking? The doctors aren't going to care!"

He explains that despite the show being largely comic in tone, it also tackles his family's grief and why he was so reluctant to seek help.

Before he started writing the play, Michael interviewed his mother about her memories of the time and about his father: "She was embarrassed as well, she had to raise two boys without having a husband to talk to, and she was as awkward as I was.

"She beat herself up a bit about it - I remember when the doctor asked me how long I had it for, I said three years and my mum just put her head in her hands. I felt so guilty."

The play has also prompted him to reassess his father's death and how it affected his childhood.

"My dad and I were very close, but I was so young when he died that I didn't really fully accept his death. Even when I'm writing this, I'm still processing his death more and more. I don't think it's something you ever fully come to terms with," he says.

Michael has since read the play to his family, and while his mother was a bit concerned about the "cruder elements" about teenage boys' antics behind closed doors, they are happy the story is being told. He describes it as "my thank you letter to them: I went through this horrible period in my life, because I was an idiot, and you were there for me the whole way through".

As for the audience, Michael hopes it will prompt men to take their health issues seriously and not put things off in a misguided attempt to appear 'manly'.

"When it comes to doctors, men tend to think 'ah it'll be alright, I don't want to bother them, it'll be grand'. It's such a cliche, but I would hope this play would help people to open up and share their problems. I've written a play about it and I still don't talk to people enough.

"I was in a very loving, supportive family with a lot of close friends around me, and I still didn't open up. You can have all the support in the world, but it doesn't matter if you're not willing to make the first step.

"Don't bottle it up like a complete fool, because you think it's manly to sort it out yourself. You can't be manly if you're dead."

* My Left Nut is a Show In A Bag production for Dublin Fringe Festival 2017 and runs at Bewleys Cafe Theatre from September 11 to 23. For more details or booking, see fringefest.com

WHAT IS HYDROCELE TESTIS?

Hydrocele testis is "an accumulation of fluid within the layers around the testicle itself", explains Robert Flynn, consultant urologist at the Beacon Hospital. The cause of most hydroceles is unknown, but in some cases it can occur after infection, trauma or very rarely in association with testicular tumours.

Hydrocele testis is quite common, especially in men over 40, but can affect men of any age, including infants and children. "I would see one a week on average," says Dr Dermot Lanigan, urologist at Bon Secours Cork. Hydroceles are typically benign and not painful, although it can be uncomfortable and the dragging feeling can cause an ache.

"A painless swelling is the only symptom, and they can progress slowly in size," adds Dr Lanigan. "But they are completely harmless in themselves. They don't have any effect on testicular function, sexual function or sperm count. The main reason someone would come to see a specialist is either worry or because they're awkward and they're unsightly."

Most hydroceles are quite small and do not need treatment, but if they continue to grow, the fluid can be removed with a surgical procedure. "In surgery, you drain the fluid out and you open the outer layer of the sac, invert it and stitch it behind the testis so that the fluid that collects in between the layers can't reaccumulate," explains Dr Flynn.

It is a day case procedure, and Dr Lanigan notes that it is not as painful as men may imagine. "I tell patients they'll be walking funny for a day or two, and tender maybe for a week or 10 days after, but the wound is small, the situres dissolve, they tend to heal up well."

The fluid makes it more difficult to feel the testicle, and in men under 40, there is a risk there may be an underlying tumour.

"The big thing men worry about when they feel any swelling is of testicular cancer, but this is normally a smooth swelling of the whole sac rather than a hard little lump on the testis. We can normally distinguish the two, but occasionally a hydrocele might mask a tumour or an epididymal cyst at the back of the testis, rather than the hydrocele which is at the front," says Dr Flynn.

"Men are great at burying their heads in the sand when it comes to their own health," he adds. "Men are slow, even young men delay in presenting with scrotal swellings, and with young men it's a higher likelihood that it might be something sinister. If they are worried they should seek professional advice from the GP."
Lack of "dreaming" sleep is linked to a higher risk of Alzheimer's disease, a study has found.

The finding is based on data from a US sleep study involving 321 participants over the age of 60 whose progress was monitored for 12 years.

Every percentage reduction in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep - the sleep phase during which most dreaming occurs - was associated with a 9pc higher chance of developing any type of dementia and an 8pc greater risk of Alzheimer's.

Lead researcher Dr Matthew Pase, from Boston University School of Medicine in the US, said: "Different stages of sleep may differentially affect key features of Alzheimer's disease.Our findings implicate REM sleep mechanisms as predictors of dementia."

While it is common for dementia patients to suffer disturbed sleep, whether this is a result of the condition or plays a role in causing it remains unclear.

Earlier this year the same team found that people who regularly sleep more than nine hours per night are twice as likely to develop dementia as people who sleep fewer hours.

The new research appears in the journal 'Neurology'.

Dr Alison Evans, from the charity Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "It is impossible to tell from this study whether disturbed REM sleep could be causing increased dementia risk or whether it's an early consequence of disease processes already under way in the brain. Larger studies involving more detailed testing will be necessary to better understand the complex relationship between sleep and dementia."

Meanwhile, thousands of cases of dementia could be prevented by increasing levels of lithium in tap water, another major study has suggested.

Scientists at the University of Copenhagen compared dementia rates to the natural quantities of lithium in water for more than 800,000 people in Denmark, from areas occupied by nearly half of the population.

They found that in places where lithium was highest, the dementia rate fell by 17pc compared with those with the lowest levels. Although researchers warn that the link could be due to other environmental factors, they say that it is worth investigating.
Karen Birney checks into the Radisson Blu Athlone for a taste of the Midlands and stonking views over the River Shannon.

Set the Mood

The sun always shines on Athlone.

Or at least that seemed to be the case when, on my second trip to the maritime town this summer, the sun broke through the cracks of a cloudy grey sky that followed me from the capital as soon as I pulled into the hotel carpark.

This visit was an altogether more subdued one to 'Ireland's Ancient East' however, as I' was swapping the rather cramped cruiser I'd shared with old college friends on the River Shannon weeks previously for the far plusher setting of a river-front suite in the newly refurbished Radisson Hotel.

The Radisson has undergone a stylish revamp since I last stopped in for a look; the new interiors are clean, cool, slick and unfussy and a newly decked terrace overlooks a glistening marina just begging to be enjoyed with a crisp G&T in hand.

That would have to wait, however. First, our group was wetting whistles with a tour of the famous Kilbeggan Whiskey Distillery... a 15-minute drive from the hotel.

Guilty Pleasure

Putting My Fitness Pal to sleep, I stepped into the oldest licensed distillery in Ireland and geared up for a tasting of a drink I'm admittedly a long way from appreciating myself.

The scent of old oak wood greeted us, and following a full tour (and weighing up the possibility of hiring the bar streaming with natural light on the first floor as an intimate wedding venue - watch this space), we tasted three whiskeys from the Kilbeggan Distillery Range.

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I decided whiskey #2 was most palatable, but that I would be limiting my purchases to stationery instead of a bottle from the adjoining gift shop.

Cheap Kick

The panoramic views of the Shannon on a sunny morning will draw you out of your room and into Athlone no matter how long you promised yourself you'd lie in.

A short and quiet run through the town is a pleasure awarded to the early risers. The only trouble is trying not to stop to take photos of the beautifully still, colourful pubs and shop fronts that really showcase their personality when there's nobody else around.

Runners and cyclists should ask about the #BluRoutes trails which have been carefully planned by the hotel's fitness staff.

Top Tip

If you find you often suffer a case of diner's envy at mealtime, go for the steak in Elements Restaurant - mine was cooked to perfection.

And don't pass on dessert. I did and the sounds my fellow diners made as they savoured their's will haunt me for many nights to come.

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Insider Intel

Hens and stags will enjoy the evening atmosphere of one of the oldest pubs in the world, Sean's Bar on the Left Bank (seansbar.ie), which can trace its official routes back to 900AD. And while you can relax over a pint in the main bar at Sean's, the hustle and bustle of the outdoor area is never far from earshot.

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For some peace and quiet try out the less touristy Gertie Browne's on Costume Lane which serves a creamy pint and is a treasure trove of old world knick-knacks that'll keep your eyes busy for hours.

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Glitches

The Nespresso machine in the suite is a welcome addition for some. But for those unfamiliar with the concept of capsule coffee it sits like a infuriating puzzle until you find yourself in a Crystal Maze style conundrum of your own making.

I may be one of the only civilised coffee drinkers left still enjoying my morning instant, but a little 'how to' wouldn't have gone amiss. I'm sure I could have picked up the phone to just ask at reception, but I found myself 'locked-in'.

Get me there

Athlone is less than an hour-and-a-half from Dublin by car and the Radisson (radissonblu.ie/hotel-athlone) is ten minutes walk from the train station. Summer packages are available from 119.

Kilbeggan Distillery (killbeggandistillery.com) is about 15 minutes away from the hotel by car. Tours start from 14pp and run seven days a week.

Read more:
Flightradar24.com's view of Ireland and the UK at 10.53am on August 23, 2017. Screengrab: Flightradar24.com.

Thats the 1055 BA flight from Copenhagen, I say to my colleagues, pointing out of the window from our London Victoria office.

No one seems interested. But I am.

As the Airbus A320 begins its final approach to Heathrow, its running about five minutes late, travelling around 185 knots and at 4,000 feet. I wonder whos on board and what awaits them once they arrive in west London.

Unfortunately, thats one thing Flightradar24 cant tell me. Everything else the aircraft-tracking website has covered  the registration number of the aircraft, model, time spent in the air, distance to destination (a subscription fee unlocks even more info, including aircraft age, wind speed and temperature).

I look at the planes on my computer screen then watch them pass overhead. Another BA flight, this time from Marseilles, appears through the clouds.

Im just one of two million people around the world who use Flightradar24 to follow any of the 16,000 flights that are flying through the air at any given moment.

Thanks to @flightradar24 I'm becoming a planespotter. Oh, what's this? Just @British_Airways' BA8 Boeing 777 arriving from Tokyo. pic.twitter.com/r21yoQNVHJ  Hugh Morris (@horatiomo) June 23, 2017

Head to the site now and youll see Ireland, the UK, Europe, North America, the whole world, awash with tiny, yellow planes of various shapes and sizes. Theres something satisfying about spotting an A380, the worlds largest passenger jet, as it completes a seven-hour flight from Doha. It may seem dull, but its oddly addictive.

CEO Fredrik Lindahl remembers how the site was born.

It was 2006 and internet entrepreneurs Mikael Robertsson and Olov Lindberg had just launched Flygresor.se - a Swedish flight comparison website, not dissimilar to the likes of Skyscanner, which still exists - and they needed a way to drive traffic to it from Google.

Back then - and to a certain extent still today - getting a lot of other websites to link to your website was important to rank well, says Fredrik.

Expand Close In 2016, a United Airlines flight from Belfast to Newark made an emergency diversion to Shannon Airport. Pic: Flightradar24.com / Facebook

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Whatsapp In 2016, a United Airlines flight from Belfast to Newark made an emergency diversion to Shannon Airport. Pic: Flightradar24.com

Mikael and Olov saw that these ADS-B receivers (flight tracking technology) were available and decided that making a website showing what air traffic looks like at any given time would be something that would attract a lot of links.

Though it was only intended to support Flygresor, the tracking site soon overtook its maker in popularity.

To avoid Google starting to think that Flygresor was about flight tracking over Sweden rather than finding the cheapest plane tickets to New York, the flight tracking component was moved to a separate domain, says Fredrik, and Flightradar24 was born.

But it was in 2010 that the site got its big break: the Icelandic ash cloud.

The April eruption of Eyjafjallajokull (below) led to the grounding of some 100,000 flights across Europe and North America - as many as 19,000 a day - throwing thousands of holiday plans, and the profit margins of airlines, into disarray. It also drove people online to look at how the volcanic dust was affecting their holiday.

Expand Close Ash plume from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull crater on May 15, 2010. Photo: Getty / Facebook

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Since then, Flightradar24 has grown inordinately, increasing the number of data receivers it uses around the world from 500 to 15,000 and launching an app.

Based predominantly in Stockholm, it employs more than 30 people around the world, several of whom manage its Twitter account, which has helped highlight the sites uses to the social media savvy.

Earlier this month, Boeing drew a massive outline of a Dreamliner in the sky over the course of a 17-hour flight, starting and finishing in Seattle, the manufacturers headquarters. Such a stunt would not have been possible without Flightradar24, which monitored the 787s progress. Boeing later used the website for a playback of the flights route in a tweet which has since been retweeted 3,500 times.

Flightradar24s Twitter account, which boasts 375,000 followers, splits its time between genuine aviation updates (storms, drones, emergencies and delays), airline activity (deliveries of new aircraft) and quirky content (bizarre holding patterns, interesting planes or mesmerising air traffic flows).

Who knew aviation could be so fun?

Fredrik breaks down users of the site into four categories: professionals, aviation enthusiasts, laymen tracking the flight of a loved one, or people like me, who spot a plane overhead and want to know where its going.

Whenever media reports on a specific flight, theres a spike in traffic, he says. For example, whenever the Pope is going somewhere on a plane, that tends to draw a big crowd.

Additionally, when there is a crash or an emergency diversion, the public flocks to the website to see the details, while sometimes crash investigation teams request data from the site.

In the wake of a number of high-profile incidents (MH370, for example), the media is increasingly ready to report on any issues affecting aircraft, with Flightradar24 providing minute-by-minute details of where a plane is at any given time.

But on a daily basis, its more fun for glancing at the sky and instead of wondering where that jet is going, knowing.

How does Flightradar24 work?

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Flightradar24 uses a number of data sources to track planes, including ADS-B, MLAT and radar. Broadly speaking, it is GPS navigation sources used by aircraft, sent from satellites to receivers around the world that feed into Flightradar24.

Accordingly, there are some parts of the world where the receivers cannot pick up signals for aircraft. Flightradar24 estimates it tracks around 70 per cent of all commercial passenger aircraft using ADS-B through some 10,000 receivers. It says that 100 per cent of Europe and the US is covered, with good coverage across a host of nations, including much of Asia and South America.

When an aircraft is out of radar, its position is estimated (for up to two hours).

Some aircraft without ADS-B transponders do not appear on Flightradar24, especially light aircraft in general aviation. Many private jets, military aircraft and helicopters do not appear, while some aircraft - like Air Force One - have their paths blocked for security reasons.

For more information visit flightradar24.com/how-it-works.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Premium

John Downing Opinion New British prime minister Rishi Sunaks succession proves an important milestone in British political inclusivity

There is an old saying in British politics that goes: The right looks for converts while the left seeks out traitors. It comes to mind when one reflects upon the election of Rishi Sunak as the UKs first non-white prime minister in a party traditionally seen as most opposed to mass immigration and the dilution of national identity via multiculturalism.
Would some kind soul try to answer the conundrum of the Border issue in the minds of the politicians of Ireland, the UK and the EU?

Ireland doesn't want any change.

The UK wants to have its cake and eat it - it wants full trading access to the EU countries, but it does not want to give free access to the UK to Johnny Foreigner and, in addition, insists that it will be able to make trade treaties with countries outside the EU at the same time as having unhindered access to EU markets.

The EU, meanwhile, is playing Donald Trump to the UK's Kim Jong-un. The EU bureaucracy just wants to show that it can flex its muscles because it thinks that it is in the driving seat, hoping that the world is oblivious to the fact that Greece, Spain and Portugal are bankrupt, and quite possibly Italy, and that the former Eastern European countries now in the EU will continue to be net recipients of its largesse for years to come.

The EU grandees have issued a diktat that they will not move to the next stage of negotiations unless Ireland is happy with progress made on the future of the Border. Best to ignore the fact that no progress has been made to date on any issue whatsoever.

Now, you report (Irish Independent, August 22), that the Taoiseach has told the UK government that he will stall talks if a satisfactory deal is not reached on the Six Counties (Northern Ireland, as he puts it).

I still do not understand how anyone can believe anything that any of these comedians have said.

Clearly the majority in the UK has, God help us, accepted that leaving the EU was a disastrous decision, and that economic harmony with the EU countries, and especially Ireland, is in the interests of all.

None of the players in this tragedy has acted in any way responsibly, although the main villain of the piece is the UK, where there is no plan, let alone any idea where it is or where it wants to be, or even how it can alleviate its schizophrenia.

We need to accept that our politicians are second-rate and not up to the tasks that need to be resolved. This is the classic case of power without responsibility.

We need to confront these power structures because it is we, the ordinary folk, who will bear the brunt of their failures - not them, the upper classes of our societies, who always ride on the wave of our suffering and, whatever happens, end up somehow financially sound.

Voice our disgust? Take to the streets? If we do not, we deserve what is coming to us.

We truly have a responsibility. We have the power to confront self-absorbed, self-satisfied users.

This power was not given to us - it was wrenched from our exploiters by the blood of our fathers and grandfathers.

We owe them, and our children, a debt that we cannot deny.

Harry Charalambou

Muswell Hill, London, UK

Courage needed on housing crisis

The daily reports of the crisis in the housing market make grim reading.

Despite various initiatives by the Government, it remains a social emergency affecting not only the homeless, but the hundreds of thousands paying exorbitant rents and those trying to buy a home in a rising market.

The Government's policy response, Rebuilding Ireland, has not only been inadequate, but in some cases has made things worse. The basic failing of this policy is the over-reliance on the private housing market to provide housing supply. Apparently, only 15pc of new social housing outlined in Rebuilding Ireland will be built by local authorities and housing associations.

The recent measures announced by Minister Eoghan Murphy are already meeting with resistance and will come nowhere near to solving the crisis.

The policy of driving people into the private rental sector in recent years has had disastrous consequences, with rent spirals and evictions and the lack of long-term security for tenants. It also obliges State subsidies to chase ever-rising rents, which are pocketed to a large degree by global equity and vulture funds. This means ordinary taxpayers' money is adding to the profits of these funds.

In 1937, US president Franklin D Roosevelt, in his second inaugural address and extremely concerned by the housing crisis in the United States, was moved to say: "I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished... The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much - it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."

But there was fierce political opposition to low-cost public housing for low-income Americans. Landlords and the real estate industry believed rental and sales markets would be undercut by cheaper public housing. Fiscal conservatives in Congress were afraid of the budgetary impact of a costly public housing programme. Yes, you are right in thinking this has a familiar ring to it.

In spite of all this opposition, Roosevelt signed the Wagner-Steagall Housing Act into law on September 1, 1937. The new law established the United States Housing Authority, which acted as a loan-granting agency to state and local housing authorities for low-cost housing projects across the country. The USHA was empowered to advance loans amounting to 90pc of project costs at low interest and on 60-year terms. By the end of 1940, more than 500 USHA projects were in progress or had been completed.

The Government needs to take radical action to increase the supply of affordable and social housing. The country needs houses built, and it needs them built now. The question is, have we got a political leader with the qualities and courage of Roosevelt?

Tony Walsh

Finglas West, Dublin 11

Cobbles difficult for disabled

Regarding the removal of the cobble stones in Temple Bar: as much as I love to see cobble-stoned roads, as a wheelchair user, I would be delighted to see them removed. It would be much more comfortable for me and easier to move the chair. I avoid Temple Bar for this reason, as the paths are often blocked by artists and others displaying their wares.

Stephanie Byrne

Dublin 15

Leo's communication insights

Wise words and welcome openness from our Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in Montreal: "True friends, whether countries or individuals, must be able to speak to each other, and they can only do that by speaking to each other, not ignoring each other."

Eve Parnell

Dublin 4

Twilight years not always so hot

By her own admission, Anne Robinson is still enjoying sex at 72, and good luck to her.

Contrast the woman, neglected in "that department", who asked her husband: "Are we going to have sex tonight or what?"

"What," came his reply.

Tom Gilsenan

Beaumont, Dublin 9
In the labour market, your salary is one way to quantify what you're worth. If some are paid a lot more to do the exact same thing, seeds of resentment will grow. (Stock photo)

In the labour market, your salary is one way to quantify what you're worth. If some are paid a lot more to do the exact same thing, seeds of resentment will grow.

All the same, Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O'Connor found herself at odds with the Government line on pay yesterday, when she said she believed in equal pay for equal work for teachers.

The question was framed in the context of a possible top-up to her own salary.

She is on record saying she would like equal pay to other 'super junior' ministers. But this would mean a 16,000 top-up and also involve a legislative change - so she won't be asking for it. Even so, the minister said: "Everyone who does the same job deserves the same pay."

Teachers are adamant that younger entrants should be on the same pay level as their colleagues. This was the issue that sparked the ASTI union to call for seven days of strike action last winter.

Education Minister Richard Bruton has pointed out that the funding simply isn't available.

Yet it is hard to insist that teachers who mingle in the same staff rooms, teaching the same classes, should be happy with different pay scales.

Unfortunately, a legacy of cuts and freezes from the austerity years cannot be reversed overnight.

The restoration of pay equality across the public service would cost more than 200m a year. The money is not there. But teachers argue that those hired since 2011 are being discriminated against.

They have a point. It may take another few budgets to address, but the argument of equal pay for equal work is a solid one. This is not just about the monetary cost - basic societal values, such as fairness, must also come into play, and these should not be cheapened lightly.

Another directionless and delusional Brexit paper

The deeper the British government gets into the thicket of Brexit, the thornier the issues become.

Yesterday, Theresa May's cabinet produced yet another "position paper" which seemed devoid of purpose, given that no identifiable "position" was discernible.

The absurd contradiction to which Mrs May appears to be wilfully blind is that she professes to be interested in creating a "deep and special" relationship with the EU post-Brexit while doing everything possible to undermine it. Yesterday's objective was to extricate the UK from what is regarded as the detestable interference of the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

As with its other papers on customs and cross-border civil judicial co-operation, the aims of this paper appear irreconcilable. It seeks to "maximise certainty", while respecting "the autonomy of EU law and the UK legal systems". Once more, Mrs May is trying to have the best of all possible worlds. Expecting to be able to freely do deals with EU competitors beyond the reach of the ECJ is a stretch too far. The EU court is the guarantor of EU treaties.

Holding out the hope for some other unspecified "structure" to hold sway is delusional. So, too, is expecting the countries of the EU to opt into some new arrangement, turning their backs on the jurisdiction of the ECJ.

The paper claims to offer a number of precedents, but points out that these are "purely illustrative" and "without any commitment". But with 14 months already gone and only one year to go to finalise an EU-UK partnership, something more concrete might be in order.
Poor Romy, I have the paws walked off her, but I'm pretty sure she's not complaining. Up with the larks, we are out there most mornings by 7am in the summer to make the most of the morning light, which has been truly stunning for the last few months. You really should try it.

Our pre-breakfast ritual is a 30 minute walk - nothing too vigorous mind, just a few laps of the park beside my home. It's a ritual we both enjoy and I enjoy what follows - a slowly brewed coffee before I begin my assault on the rest of the day.

I used to envy the mental strength and resolve of writer friends who got up at 5am in order to write for two hours before they went to work. I've always been a morning person, but thanks to Romy, I've discovered this 'secret window of the day' and the value of these extra hours which most people sleep through.

Some people might call it mindfulness, but I don't have a title for what these walks bring to me, which are now a key part of my day - a time to empty my brain and park those 'next day' mental lists that inevitably swirl around my head before it hits the pillow. With every step, I'm acutely aware that these walks are good for both the heart and the soul.

If I started out on these walks focussing on my heart, weight loss and fitness, I'm now looking at the bigger picture.

And when I read this week that researchers at the University of Cambridge have recommended people be given dogs on prescription to stave off the problems associated with ageing, I wasn't a bit surprised.

The scientists found that owning or walking a dog was one of the most effective ways to beat the usual decline in activity in later life, and I couldn't agree more.

It's not just the physical benefits, either - being out in nature with your dog means you often start your day with a completely different life experience.

The other morning, I was so transfixed by the scenery I spotted at 6.30am in Tullow, Co Carlow, I couldn't resist making a short video to post it up on Instagram for those souls starting Monday by flipping from bed to crowded bus in a matter of minutes.

Yes, indeed, morning walks are now a religious seven days a week ritual and, if I'm lucky, I'll get to replicate the experience again with Romy at the end of the day.

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If anyone spotted two lunatics jumping around on Sandymount Beach at 9.15pm on Monday night, stepping out into the fabulous peach evening light unfolding across Dublin Bay, that was the pair of us again, switching up the routine from parkland to beach.

As a desk-bound journalist, I'm uber aware of my largely sedentary lifestyle and how, because of our weather, we've tended to live so much of it indoors. However, thanks to Romy, one long look from those impossibly gorgeous brown doggie eyes is usually enough to get me off the couch and reaching for my coat.

Dog lead and mobile phone for security, I've changed up the routine so there are now no media intrusions. Before, I was all about the headphones and listening to news, music and podcasts. Now it's all about me and the dog, quiet time for my head and good exercise for the body to set me up for later life.

As a Dubliner, walking the dog has given me another gift - of exploring my native city and at weekends, we could spend hours on the go, with frequent pit stops. Thankfully, Romy is small enough to be carried if she gets tired.

Another favourite adventure for the two of us is the Bray to Greystones coastal walk followed by open air breakfast at the Happy Pear, but the key to this is doing it early. A trip along Vico Road, Ireland's answer to the Bay of Naples, followed by a green juice at Select Stores in Dalkey is another favourite of ours and a lap of the Hill of Howth on a sunny day is good for the soul.

Romy may look like a puppy, but she's seven - in dog years, that's middle aged so on those walks, we have a lot in common.
Oscar-winning director James Cameron has said the celebrated Wonder Woman film is a step backwards for women.

The film, by Patty Jenkins and starring Gal Gadot, has been widely lauded and holds the title of the highest-ever grossing film directed by a woman.

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But Titanic director Cameron said in an interview with The Guardian that the hero is an objectified icon.

All of the self-congratulatory back-patting Hollywoods been doing over Wonder Woman has been so misguided, he said.

Shes an objectified icon, and its just male Hollywood doing the same old thing. Im not saying I didnt like the movie but, to me, its a step backwards.

Cameron has made many films with strong female characters, such as The Terminators Sarah Connor and Aliens Ellen Ripley.

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He hailed Connor for not being a beauty icon, but instead earning the audiences respect through pure grit.

Cameron, 63, won three Oscars including best director for his work on Titanic.
Charlotte Crosby and Stephen Bear have called it quits again, after the Love Island star tweeted "we wasn't right for each other."

It's been a turbulent couple of days for the former Geordie Shore star.

She became emotional on Ireland AM on Wednesday when asked about the news ex-boyfriend Gary Beadle is expecting a baby with Emma McVey.

Charlotte fell pregnant with Gaz's baby in 2016, but suffered an ectopic pregnancy in April. She was rushed to hospital and doctors told her she could have died.

Meanwhile, Gaz continued filming for Ex on the Beach and didn't come home to be by her side.

Today, Stephen Bear tweeted: "Sadly me and Charlotte have split up. We have had a good run but we wasnt right for each other."

Charlotte has been touring Ireland for the past two days promoting her new cosmetics range.

When asked if she still speaks with Gary or any of the guys from the show she said, Oh no, the boys I hardly ever speak to. Apart from Aaron. Aaron and I were texting yesterday. Scotty T doesnt even bother speaking to us, I'm gutted, I'm gutted, hes just shunned us.

However, she said she would return for a reunion show.

Obviously if there was ever a reunion show, I would pop my head in, because its my family," she added.

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"Im never going to ever turn my back on it. I would never say a bad word about it, its amazing.
We live in a world prospering from buzzwords.

Amid the influx of cleverly devised marketing speak, with influencers selling #sponcon in our feeds; every now and then a worthwhile product comes along, which seems to live up to its promise.

Enter the Instagram-influenced trend of 'computer glassses' - like Kim Kardashians waist trainer and skinny tea before it, suspicious were raised about its effectiveness. Pictures of beautiful bloggers wearing oversized frames began flooding our feeds with this new xxxx which promises to ease the strain placed on your eye from staring at a computer screen all day, all while wearing a pair of hipster spectacles.

Computer Vision Syndrome and Digital Eye Strain are two of the leading causes of disruptions in your eyesight and these computer glasses boast features like anti-reflective coating which protects from blue light,w which is largely sourced from electronic devices.

"The distances people work at is new to this generation - computer screen distance is new for us, were used to looking in the distance or very close, at something like book," Mr. Arthur Cummings, Consultant Eye Surgeon at the Wellington Eye Clinic and Consultant Ophthalmologist and Head of the Department of Ophthalmology at Beacon Hospital told Independent.ie Style.

"This results in postures being strained, neck ache and backache. Glasses can help, with the right prescription; youre at your best for that particular distance. In terms of these newer things, they have anti-reflective coating, Im not 100% sure what their roles are."

The dialogue around blue light is a a big one for consumers as well as medical practitioners and Mr Cummings states, due to the long-term effects among patients.

"Blue light is a hot topic in opthamology, its the major cause of massively increasing episodes of short sightedness in southeast Asia and a very big increase in myopia; it has a lot to do with people spending significant time looking at screens," he explains.

"Thats why people who spend time on their laptop or tablet before bed sleep worse, because of the blue light. Some of the phones today have different settings where the colours can warm a little after 10pm.

"Some of these glasses cut out blue light; you wont see a massive difference day to day, but there are long term benefits."

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Although 'computer glasses' might be just another Insta- fad, theres nothing that can help your sight like giving them a break from technology and enjoying the outdoors and it's simply a case of: no harm, no foul.

"With screens, theres a 20/20/20 rule: every 20 minutes, you take a 20 second break looking at something 20 feet away. Looking into the distance allows your eyes to relax," he added.

"For the most part, if someone tries them and feels they make a difference, it cant do any harm."
A man paddles a kayak along a flooded street in China caused by Typhoon Hato (Chinatopix Via AP)

At least 16 people have been killed in the most powerful typhoon to hit the southern Chinese region in more than half a century.

The gambling hub of Macau said eight people were killed in the former Portuguese colony, including two men found overnight in a submerged parking garage.

Another 153 were injured amid extensive flooding, power outages, and the smashing of doors and windows by high winds and driving rain.

"It's a calamity, the losses are high and a lot of buildings need repair," said Macau lawmaker Jose Pereira Coutinho, adding that he heard from many people who still had no water or electricity a day after Typhoon Hato tore across the 30 square kilometre (19 square mile) territory.

He said the flooding was at its worst in the older parts of the city centre, where narrow lanes date back from Macau's time as a Portuguese colony for more than four centuries.

"People were just swimming, they cried for help. There were no boats. The water came so suddenly," said Mr Coutinho, who slammed the city government for having "reacted so slowly and so badly".

Casinos in the city centre "were either closed or barely operating", while some resorts in the newer Cotai district were in better shape but operating without air conditioning, Union Gaming Research analyst Grant Govertsen said in a report.

The chief executive of Macau's local government, Chui Sai On, ordered measures to "further the relief efforts", the Government Information Bureau said in a statement.

Residents waded in waist-high murky water and rows of city buses sat half-submerged on city streets, according to photos circulating among residents.

Fallen trees blocked roads, causing traffic jams, and residents lined up with buckets to collect water from public standpipes, television video showed.

Macau, which is surrounded by water, is vulnerable to high tides and has few options for draining storm run-off.

The territory took almost a direct hit from the storm as it churned towards mainland China.

Its reliance on the mainland for electricity compounded problems.

Power cuts in neighbouring Guangdong province, which supplies nearly 90% of Macau's electricity, cascaded into outages across the city, forcing casino operators, a hospital and the city's mobile phone company CTM to switch to back-up generators.

CTM also said two equipment rooms were seriously damaged by flooding, affecting telecommunications service in the area.

Power utility CEM said on Thursday it was restoring service but about 40,000 customers remained in the dark because of damaged power supply facilities.

China's official Xinhua News Agency said eight more people were killed in Guangdong and one person remained missing.

Typhoon Hato roared into the area on Wednesday with winds of up to 160 kilometres (100 miles) per hour.

It weakened into a tropical storm on Thursday as it moved further west inland.

Xinhua said almost 27,000 people were evacuated to emergency shelters, while extensive damage to farmland due to the heavy rain and high tides was also reported.

Almost two million households lost power temporarily, while fishing boats were called back to port and train services and flights suspended, Xinhua said.

Three of the deaths in Macau were men, aged 30, 45 and 62.

One fell from the 11th floor of a building, one was hit by a truck and another was killed when the wind blew down a wall.

Two others, a man aged 48 and a woman, 44, died from drowning, according to a press statement.

Flooding and injuries were also reported in Hong Kong, which lies across the water 64 kilometres (40 miles) from Macau, but there were no reports of deaths.

AP
Chinese Foreign Ministry says US sanctions 'will not help' solve DPRK issues

The US sanctions targeting Chinese firms which Washington said were linked to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) "will not help" solve the issues, said Hua Chunying, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday.

Hua made the remarks at a press conference, hours after the US Treasury Department said it is imposing new sanctions on Chinese and Russian entities and individuals for doing business with Pyongyang that could help advance the DPRK's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

"The US action will not help solve the problem and is not good for the mutual trust and cooperation with China," Hua said.

She also stressed that China opposes any unilateral sanctions outside the framework of the United Nations Security Council, urging the US to stop this wrongdoing and correct it.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered more solid-fuel rocket engines, state media reported yesterday, as he pursues nuclear and missile programmes amid a standoff with Washington, but there were signs of tension easing.

The report carried by the KCNA news agency lacked the traditionally robust threats against the United States after weeks of unbridled acrimony, and US President Donald Trump expressed optimism about a possible improvement in relations.

"I respect the fact that he is starting to respect us," Mr Trump said.

"And maybe - probably not, but maybe - something positive can come about."

The KCNA report, about a visit by Mr Kim to a chemical institute, came not long after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson appeared to make a peace overture, welcoming what he called recent restraint shown by the reclusive North.

Mr Kim was briefed about the process of manufacturing intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) warhead tips and solid-fuel rocket engines during his tour of the Chemical Material Institute of the Academy of Defence Science, KCNA said.

"He instructed the institute to produce more solid-fuel rocket engines and rocket warhead tips by further expanding engine production process and the production capacity of rocket warhead tips and engine jets by carbon/carbon compound material," KCNA said.

North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests and dozens of missile tests since the beginning of last year, significantly raising tension on the heavily militarised Korean peninsula and in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions. Two ICBM tests in July resulted in a new round of tougher global sanctions.

The last missile test on July 28 put the US mainland in range, prompting heated exchanges that raised fears of a new conflict on the peninsula.

Mr Tillerson, however, noted what he called the restraint the North had shown and said on Tuesday he hoped a path could be opening for dialogue.

South Korea and the United States are conducting an annual military exercise this week involving computer simulations of a war.

The drills, which the North routinely describes as preparation for invasion, run until August 31, and included a South Korean civil defence exercise yesterday that saw traffic halted, movie screenings interrupted and hundreds of thousands of people directed to underground shelters.

The KCNA report said Mr Kim had given "special thanks and special bonus" to officials of the institute, calling them heroes. A photograph showed Mr Kim in a grey pinstriped suit, smiling before a large flow chart that described some kind of manufacturing process.

There was none of the fiery rhetoric of recent weeks, when Mr Kim threatened to fire missiles into the sea near the US Pacific territory of Guam after Mr Trump warned North Korea it would face "fire and fury" if it threatened the US.

But there were some signs of tension after the United States imposed new North Korea-related sanctions, targeting Chinese and Russian firms and individuals for supporting North Korea's weapons programmes.

China reacted with irritation, saying the United States should "immediately correct its mistake" of imposing unilateral sanctions on Chinese companies and individuals.
People look at the landslide that hit the village of Bondo in Graubuenden in south Switzerland (Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP)

Rescue workers have used a helicopter and dogs to search for at least eight people still unaccounted for in a Swiss Alpine valley a day after a mudslide and rockslide hit a small village near the Italian border.

The village of Bondo, about 130 kilometres (80 miles) north of Milan, has been evacuated.

The slide on Wednesday morning sent around four million cubic metres (140 million cubic feet) of material crashing down, causing an impact equivalent to 3.0 on the Richter scale, senior police official Andrea Mittner said.

Police in the canton of Graubuenden said buildings were damaged, and images from the scene showed a trail of destruction left by a river of mud and stone.

Officers initially said there were no injuries.

However, police said on Thursday that they have not been able to reach eight people who may have been in the Bondasca valley at the time of the slide - nationals of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Six of those people have been reported missing by relatives, none of them children.

Mr Mittner said a Swiss army helicopter searched the valley during the night, but found nothing.

On Thursday, workers began searching with dogs but did not immediately find anyone.

A helicopter equipped with a device that can locate mobile phones was also being sent up.

Around 120 people were involved in the operation - police, firefighters, troops and others.

Mr Mittner described the missing people as "Alpinists and walkers".

"These people may have been in the disaster area at the time of the event," he told reporters in the nearby town of Stampa.

"We hope this was not the case, but it is possible that they had an accident."

"We don't know where exactly they are missing," he added.

"The area is around five kilometres (three miles) long."

Early on Thursday afternoon, police received a separate, unverified report that a group of another five or six people may be missing, but "we don't know yet whether this group is missing in this area, or whether these people are missing at all", Mr Mittner said.

An alarm system went off on Wednesday in time to allow for the evacuation of about 100 residents.

Markus Walzer, a Graubuenden police spokesman, said the alarm system was put in place after a similar mudslide in the region five years ago.

He said the weather in the region had been good in recent days, and the cause of the mudslide was not immediately known.

Mr Mittner said that Bondo would remain sealed off until at least Friday morning.

It was not immediately clear when residents might be able to return home.

AP
Alumni of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism attend a candle vigil for Kim Wall at the campus in New York (AP)

Swedish journalist Kim Wall was last seen alive on August 10 (Tom Wall via AP)

A Danish inventor suspected of killing a Swedish journalist on board his submarine could be charged with murder, a prosecutor said.

Jakob Buch-Jepsen said police expect to raise the preliminary charges against Peter Madsen from manslaughter to murder and indecent handling of a corpse when he appears at a custody hearing on September 5 on whether his pre-trial detention should be extended.

"We will make an ongoing assessment of whether it should happen before," Mr Buch-Jepsen told the BT tabloid.

Police earlier revealed that the headless torso of reporter Kim Wall was found naked and they are now searching for her clothes.

The 30-year-old was last seen alive on August 10 aboard the submarine.

The cause of the journalist's death is not yet known, police said.

Divers and members of the Danish Emergency Management Agency were combing the coast off Amager island in Copenhagen, where Ms Wall is believed to have died, looking for an orange turtleneck blouse, a black-and-white skirt and white sneakers, Copenhagen police spokesman Steen Hansen said.

A cyclist discovered her torso on Monday.

Copenhagen police say the body's head, arms and legs had "deliberately been cut off".

DNA tests have confirmed the torso was Ms Wall's and dried blood found inside the submarine, which sank during the trip, also matched her DNA.

According to her family, Ms Wall was working on a story about Madsen, 46, who dreamed of launching a manned space mission.

Madsen initially told police he had let Ms Wall off the submarine on an island.

He later told police he buried her at sea after an accident aboard his submarine, UC3 Nautilus.

Tabloid Ekstra Bladet, quoting unnamed sources, said Madsen has asked to be transferred to solitary confinement, allegedly out of fear of being attacked inside the prison.

The plight of the reporter has resonated worldwide. On Wednesday, a candlelight vigil was held by classmates at the Columbia University School of Journalism in New York, where Ms Wall studied.

Norway-based investor Georg Poul Artmann, who holds about 75% of the shares in the Rocket Madsen Space Lab company that owns the 40-ton, nearly 18 metre (60ft) long submarine, told Denmark's Berlingske newspaper he will "clean up" within the company following recent events.

He did not elaborate.

Mr Artmann said his fascination with space had prompted him to invest 250,000 Danish kroner (31,000) to support Madsen's space activities.

He also said Madsen was the company's day-to-day leader and as "an investor I have not interfered in the daily operations".

A self-taught engineer, Madsen was one of a group of entrepreneurs who founded Copenhagen Suborbitals, a private consortium to develop and construct submarines and manned spacecraft.

However, the group split up in 2014 and the Rocket Madsen Space Lab was created.

AP
Un-named alleged member of a terror cell accused of killing 15 people in attacks in Barcelona leaves a Civil Guard base on the outskirts of Madrid before appearing in court in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday Aug. 22, 2017. Four men were arrested last week for their alleged involvement in the planning or execution of attacks in Barcelona on Thursday and the northeastern resort town of Cambrils early Friday. (AP Photo)

Un-named alleged member of a terror cell accused of killing 15 people in attacks in Barcelona leaves a Civil Guard base on the outskirts of Madrid before appearing in court in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday Aug. 22, 2017. Four men were arrested last week for their alleged involvement in the planning or execution of attacks in Barcelona on Thursday and the northeastern resort town of Cambrils early Friday.(AP Photo)

Un-named alleged member of a terror cell accused of killing 15 people in attacks in Barcelona leaves a Civil Guard base on the outskirts of Madrid before appearing in court in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday Aug. 22, 2017. Four men were arrested last week for their alleged involvement in the planning or execution of attacks in Barcelona on Thursday and the northeastern resort town of Cambrils early Friday.(AP Photo)

Un-named alleged member of a terror cell accused of killing 15 people in attacks in Barcelona leaves a Civil Guard base on the outskirts of Madrid before appearing in court in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday Aug. 22, 2017. Four men were arrested last week for their alleged involvement in the planning or execution of attacks in Barcelona on Thursday and the northeastern resort town of Cambrils early Friday. (AP Photo)

Four men were arrested last week for their alleged involvement in the planning or execution of attacks in Barcelona on Thursday and the northeastern resort town of Cambrils early Friday.(AP Photo)

One of the four surviving suspects in the terror attacks in and around Barcelona last week has been conditionally freed because of a lack of evidence against him, Spain's National Court said.

Judge Fernando Andreu ruled that Salh El Karib's passport should be confiscated and that he will be required to show up in court once a week while he remains under investigation.

El Karib, who worked in a cybercafe in Ripoll, the Catalan town where the extremist cell was allegedly formed, had been in police custody since investigators found that he purportedly purchased plane tickets for some of its members.

On Tuesday, the judge freed with similar restrictions another suspect and sent two others to jail.

Eight more people connected to the attacks are dead, six of them shot by police.
People stand next to candles and flowers after the terror attack in Barcelona, Spain. Photo: AP/Santi Palaciosas

Regional police in Spain may have missed an opportunity to uncover a militant plot ahead of last week's deadly Barcelona attack due to procedural errors and a lack of communication among investigators, two police sources and two individuals close to the investigation said.

The errors and miscommunication centred around a major blast on August 16, the eve of the attack, at a house where suspected Islamist militants were making explosives, the sources said.

For several hours, Catalan police did not link the explosion to militancy and so no public alarm was raised, before an accomplice drove a van into crowds in Barcelona, killing 13 people in Spain's deadliest attack in more than a decade.

Catalan police, the Mossos d'Esquadra, also took 10 hours to send bomb experts to the scene of the explosion in a town about 200km south-west of Barcelona, the region's capital, delaying the discovery of the militant cell, the sources added.

The sources declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue or because they were not authorised to speak to the press.

A judicial source said that, as part of the investigation into the attacks, police would look at whether a lack of co-ordination or information-sharing had contributed to the delay in discovering links between militancy and the explosion.

The source said police needed to complete the investigation before reaching any conclusions about possible errors.

Mossos chief Josep Lluis Trapero told reporters that it was unfair to criticise his force with the benefit of hindsight.

"Now, with all the information that we have, yes, it is easier to make the link, but that's playing dirty and it deceives people," Mr Trapero told a news conference.

In response to questions about the agency's handling of the attack, a spokesman for the Mossos declined to comment and referred to Mr Trapero's comments at the press briefing.
Flood-affected people sleep by the national highway toll plaza at Araria district, in the eastern Indian state of Bihar (AP)

Devastating floods triggered by monsoon rains have killed more than 950 people and displaced close to 40 million people across northern India, southern Nepal and northern Bangladesh in recent days.

The rains have led to wide-scale flooding in a broad arc stretching across the Himalayan foothills in the three countries, causing landslides, damaging roads and electric towers and washing away tens of thousands of homes and crops.

The northern Indian states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Assam are the worst hit, accounting for the deaths of 680 people, most of them from drowning, snake bites or landslides.

South Asia's monsoon rains last between June and September.

Disaster management authorities in Bihar said the state's death toll of 367 could go up further as floodwaters recede and bodies are recovered from submerged houses.

Army soldiers and volunteers have evacuated around 770,000 people from inundated areas.

Of these, some 425,000 were living in 1,360 relief camps set up in school and government buildings, said Avinash Kumar, a Bihar state official.

In neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, the state government said around 2.3 million people in 25 districts have been affected by the floods after at least three major rivers overflowed their banks, entering fields and homes.

An Uttar Pradesh government spokesman blamed the unprecedented flooding on the release of water from dams in upstream Nepal.

"Rains have been intense but the release of water from Nepal has aggravated the situation," said Manish Sharma.

Army troops have been helping to evacuate people marooned on rooftops or trees, while air force helicopters dropped packets of food, drinking water and medicines to those camping on higher ground, mostly along highways.

Meanwhile, the state administration was bracing for the threat of infections as floodwaters recede.

Health workers have begun sending supplies of mosquito repellent, bleaching powder and water purification tablets to the worst-hit areas, said health official Badri Vishal.

In the eastern state of West Bengal, the top elected official, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, said 152 people had died and 15 million had been affected by floods in the past few weeks.

Another 71 people were killed in Assam as rivers breached their banks and entered low-lying villages.

At the renowned Kaziranga National Park, officials said around 300 animals, including around two dozen rhinos and a Royal Bengal tiger, have been killed after floodwaters submerged nearly 80% of the wildlife park.

In neighbouring Bangladesh, the death toll climbed to 132 while some 7.5 million people have been affected in this year's floods, according to the Disaster Management Ministry.

Crops on more than 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres) of land have been washed away while another 600,000 hectares (1,482,600 acres) have been damaged, posing a serious threat to food production, the ministry said.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said Bangladesh was at risk of "devastating hunger" after major floods that destroyed crops, homes and livelihoods of people across many impoverished areas in a delta nation of 160 million people.

"Many flood survivors have lost everything: their homes, their possessions, their crops," Christa Rader, WFP's Bangladesh country director, said in a statement.

"People need food right now, and the full impact on longer-term food security threatens to be devastating."

Nepal's Home Ministry spokesman Ram Krishna Subedi said floodwaters were receding and rivers were returning to normal.

The death toll from the floods in Nepal stood at 146, with about 30 missing.

AP
(Photo/CNN)

The new Afghanistan strategy introduced by US President Donald Trump might cause a new round of adjustments and changes to its global strategy, two Chinese experts said in an article published on haiwainet.cn.

Trump said on Aug. 22 that the U.S. will not withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. A new strategy in Afghanistan and South Asia was made centering on counter-terrorism.

There are mainly three impacts of the new strategy, said Li Yan, assistant director of the Institute of American Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), and Wang Shida, assistant director of CICIR's Institute of South and Southeast Asian and Oceanian Studies.

Trump's plan might mean warfare in Afghanistan will be escalated, they pointed out, elaborating that details of the plan such as additional troop numbers have not been released, but Trump emphasized the importance of using the military to solve Afghan issues.

They added that Trump also said that U.S. forces in Afghanistan will focus on counter-terrorism instead of reconstruction and spreading democracy, which means more military actions against the Taliban and ISIS in the country are likely.

The balance of power in South Asia will be broken by America's action to pressure Pakistan and ally India, said the two scholars who are also commentators of haiwainet.cn.

Trump spoke highly of India's role in the new Afghanistan strategy, encouraging India to take a more positive and active role, but he lambasted Pakistan, claiming that it offered a safe haven to "agents of chaos." He also pressured Pakistan to shut down terrorist sanctuaries that line its border with Afghanistan.

Pakistan may encounter heavier pressure and tougher foreign and security policies from India and other neighboring countries as a result of the strategy, thus affecting the peace and stability of South Asia, according to the experts.

The new strategy might lead to a new round of adjustments to American global strategy, they concluded.

The strategic change this time is the most significant change since the American army announced to end its combat mission in Afghanistan in 2014.

The new strategy was made after considering various elements, revealed by U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. The experts argued that amidst the current vague global strategy adopted by Trump Administration, counterterrorism might become a priority.

Counterterrorism has been placed high on the list of U.S. global strategy since Trump assumed the presidency, they added.

The Afghan issue is likely to be a significant factor that influences Trump's global strategy, they said, adding that there is also a possibility for the U.S. to send more troops in the fight against terrorism.
Amal and George Clooney have pledged $1m (850,000) to a non-profit legal advocacy group that targets white supremacist organisations.

Human rights barrister Amal, and her actor husband George, made the donation in the wake of the violence at Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month. On August 13, neo-Nazis marched in the American city, and a speeding car ploughed into a group of anti-fascist protesters, killing one woman and leaving at least 19 people injured.

"We are proud to support the Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC) in its efforts to prevent violent extremism in the United States," the couple said. "What happened in Charlottesville, and what is happening in communities across our country, demands our collective engagement to stand up to hate."

In a statement given to 'USA Today', Oscar-winner George said: "Amal and I wanted to add our voice (and financial assistance) to the ongoing fight for equality. There are no two sides to bigotry and hate."

The actor's comment that there are "no two sides" might be taken as a response to Donald Trump's remarks following the Charlottesville tragedy. The American president has claimed "many sides" were to blame for the violence, later adding that "there are two sides to a story".

Richard Cohen, president of the SPLC, has welcomed the Clooneys' contribution.

"Like George and Amal Clooney, we were shocked by the size, ugliness, and ferocity of the white supremacist gathering in Charlottesville," he said.
Donald Trump is setting out to fulfil one of his key campaign promises, with an executive order to build his proposed wall along the US-Mexico border.

To restrict illegal immigration, Mr Trump has promised to build a wall on the southern US border and to deport illegal migrants living inside the United States. On his personal Twitter account on Tuesday, Mr Trump tweeted: "Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!"

Here's everything you need to know about the planned wall.

When did he propose building the wall?

Mr Trump's presidential campaign got off to an explosive start in June 2015 when he used incendiary language in announcing plans to build a wall along the border with Mexico.

"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best," he said. "They're sending people that have lots of problems... They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists."

Mr Trump pledged to keep migrants out. "I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words," he said.

Despite the outcry over the remarks, Mr Trump's proposal resonated with a large block of voters and it became a pillar of his presidential campaign.

How long will it be?

The US border with Mexico is roughly 3,057km long and spans four states: California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. In comparison, the Berlin Wall was 154km, while the Great Wall of China is 20,921km long.

There is already roughly 1,126km of fence along the border - the remainder is either open, nearly impossible to actually build on, or impassable.

Mr Trump said in 2015: "You know, the Great Wall of China, built a long time ago, is 13,000 miles. I mean, you're talking about big stuff. We're talking about peanuts, by comparison, to that."

Mr Trump has said his wall will cover 1,609km, with natural obstacles protecting the rest of the border.

How much will it cost?

Estimates vary hugely. In February last year, Mr Trump told MSNBC he could finish the wall for $8bn (6.7bn). Most other estimates are far higher.

The existing border fence cost about $2.4bn (2bn). Building the rest would cost between $15bn (12.7bn) and $25bn (21bn), with an annual maintenance cost of $700m (592m), according to an estimate by Marc Rosenblum, the deputy director of the US Immigration Policy Programme at the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute, who is cited in a report in January last year.

Who will pay for it?

The Mexicans, says Mr Trump. No chance, says Mexico.

During his campaign, Mr Trump boasted he would "make Mexico pay" for the wall by seizing remittances from undocumented immigrants from the country and increasing fees on entry visas to the US for Mexican citizens.

After the Republican candidate met President Enrique Pena Nieto in September, he said the pair had not discussed the issue - a claim contradicted by the Mexican leader. "At the start of the conversation with Donald Trump I made it clear that Mexico will not pay for the wall," Mr Nieto said at the time.

Earlier this month, Mr Trump said the building project would initially be paid for with a congressionally approved spending bill and Mexico would eventually reimburse the US, though he has not specified how he would guarantee payments. Mr Trump will meet Mr Nieto at the White House next week.

Does he need approval from Congress?

No. In claiming authority to build a wall, Mr Trump is expected to rely on a 2006 law that authorised several hundred miles of fencing along the frontier. That bill led to the construction of about 700 miles of various kinds of fencing designed to block both vehicles and pedestrians.

Is it actually a wall?

Mr Trump admitted after his election in November that it may in fact be part wall and part fence. "I'm very good at this, it's called construction," he said at the time.
Donald Trump threatened to shut down the US government in order to secure funding to build his controversial wall along the border with Mexico, in a remarkable speech on Tuesday night.

Afterwards, his critics openly questioned whether he was fit to be president.

During a divisive 80-minute speech, Mr Trump defended his response to the Charlottesville white supremacist violence and took aim at the media, blaming them for giving far-right groups "a platform".

The president's efforts to build a barrier along America's southern border have stalled in Congress, where many lawmakers question whether his main campaign promise is really necessary. The House has passed a spending bill with funding for the costly project, but it faces an uncertain future in the Senate.

But with a budget battle looming, Mr Trump said he would be willing to do what it takes to secure the necessary funding for the wall.

In a remarkable address to a rally crowd in Phoenix in the border state of Arizona, the US president said he had a message for "obstructionist" Democrats.

"If we have to close down our government, we're building that wall," Mr Trump said. "We're going to have our wall. The American people voted for immigration control. We're going to get that wall."

He also accused Democrats of putting American security at risk by not supporting the proposal.

The wall was one of Mr Trump's most popular campaign vows, prompting frequent rally chants of "Build that wall!" The president had promised Mexico would pay for the barrier, but Mexico has so far refused.

Mr Trump has asked for $1.6bn (1.35bn) to begin construction, with Congress under pressure to pass some kind of spending bill to keep the government open after September 30.

Republicans in Congress haven't shown much appetite for fighting to spend potentially billions more on a border barrier either. The funding would add to the deficit at the same time Republicans are trying to figure out how to pay for tax cuts.

The issue could get wrapped up with legislation to raise the federal government's debt limit, which needs to be raised between late September and mid-October to avoid a default.

One option being considered by GOP leaders is attaching a debt limit measure to the stopgap spending bill that will likely be considered next month.

Under that scenario, Mr Trump's threat to shut down the government over the border wall could entangle the debt ceiling debate.

Mr Trump last week blamed hatred "on many sides" for the violence 10 days ago in Virginia that left a protester dead and several injured when they were run over by a white supremacist.

He said, getting visibly angry, that he had "openly called for healing, unity and love" in his responses.

"What happened in Charlottesville strikes at the core of America and tonight, this entire arena stands united in forceful condemnation of the thugs that perpetrated hatred and violence," he said.

He accused the "truly dishonest people in the media and the fake media" of "trying to take away our history and heritage" because, he said, they "don't like our country".

He quoted his own initial public response to what happened in Charlottesville. "This is what I said on Saturday: 'We're closely following the terrible events unfolding in Charlottesville, Virginia,' - this is me speaking. 'We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence.' That's me speaking on Saturday, right after the event," he said.

In fact, what he actually said on August 12 was: "We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides."

James Clapper, the former US director of national intelligence and retired lieutenant general, openly questioned Mr Trump's fitness to be president.

Mr Clapper described Mr Trump's address as "downright scary and disturbing" and said the president may be "looking for a way out".

"I question his fitness to be in this office and I also wonder if he is looking for a way out," Mr Clapper, who has served both Republican and Democratic administrations, said. He added that Mr Trump could be a threat to national security: "I worry about access to the nuclear codes if he decided to do something, in a fit of pique, to tackle Kim Jong-un ... It's pretty damn scary," he said.
The US Navy has said it had removed Seventh Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin after a series of collisions involving its warships in Asia as the search goes on for 10 sailors missing since the latest accident.

Vice Adm Aucoin's removal comes after a pre-dawn collision between a guided-missile destroyer and a merchant vessel east of Singapore and Malaysia on Monday, the fourth major incident in the US Pacific Fleet this year.

"Admiral Scott Swift, commander of US Pacific Fleet, today relieved the commander of Seventh Fleet, Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin, due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command," the US Navy said in a press release.

Adm Swift, who travelled to Japan to relieve Vice Adm Aucoin, ordered his deputy Pacific Fleet commander, Rear Admiral Phil Sawyer, to immediately take command of the powerful US force.

The Seventh Fleet, headquartered in Japan, operates as many as 70 ships, including the US Navy's only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, and has around 140 aircraft and 20,000 sailors. It operates over an area of 124 million square km from bases in Japan, South Korea and Singapore.

An official Chinese newspaper said on Tuesday the US navy's latest collision shows it is becoming an increasing risk to shipping in Asia despite its claims of helping to protect freedom of navigation.

"Losing another ship now is bad timing. It may raise concern over America's defensive capabilities and it could send the wrong signal to North Korea and China," a senior Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force officer said, asking not to be identified.

An international search-and-rescue operation involving aircraft, divers and vessels from the US, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Australia is looking for the 10 missing sailors.

On Tuesday, US Navy and Marine divers found human remains inside sealed sections of the damaged hull of the USS John S McCain, which is moored in Singapore.

The US Navy is also working to identify a body found by the Malaysian navy about eight nautical miles northwest of the collision site.

Photos posted on the Twitter account of a Malaysian navy frigate showed crew carrying what appeared to be a body to a US Navy helicopter.

The latest collision has already prompted a fleet-wide investigation and plans for temporary halts in US Navy operations.

The John S McCain's sister ship, the USS Fitzgerald, almost sank off the coast of Japan after colliding with a Philippine container ship on June 17.

The bodies of seven US sailors were found in a flooded berthing area after that collision.
Qatar has restored full diplomatic relations with Iran, defying the demands of Arab nations now trying to isolate the energy-rich country to downgrade its ties.

Qatar's Foreign Ministry announced early on Thursday that the country's ambassador would return to Tehran.

The country withdrew its ambassador in early 2016 after Saudi Arabia's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric sparked attacks on two Saudi diplomatic posts in Iran.

Qatar said in a statement that the move "expressed its aspiration to strengthen bilateral relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran in all fields".

Iranian state media acknowledged the development, without elaborating.

Qatar and Iran share a massive offshore natural gas field that requires communication between the two countries.

Since the diplomatic dispute with Arab nations began in June, Iran has sent food shipments to Qatar.

AP

In announcing its decision, Qatar did not mention the diplomatic crisis among Gulf Arab nations since June, when Qatar found its land, sea and air routes cut off by its neighbours over Doha's policies across the Middle East.

However, the move comes just days after Saudi Arabia began promoting a Qatari royal family member whose branch of the family was ousted in a palace coup in 1972.

"Qatar has shown it is going to go in a different direction," said Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a research fellow at the James A Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University.

"It could very well be calculated toward reinforcing the point that Qatar will not bow to this regional pressure placed upon it."

The shared gas field's vast reserves made Qataris have the highest per capita income in the world, as well as funded the nation's Al-Jazeera satellite news network and secured hosting the 2022 Fifa World Cup.

Shiite power Iran has incorporated the crisis into its regular criticism of the Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia, part of the two powers' long-running proxy war.

On Wednesday, the Central African nation of Chad announced it would close its embassy in Doha, accusing Qatar of trying to destabilise it from neighbouring Libya.

The diplomatic crisis began on June 5, when Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates cut ties to Qatar over allegations including it funding extremists and being too close to Iran.

Qatar has long denied supporting extremists.

The boycotting countries later issued a list of 13 demands to Qatar, including that Doha shut its diplomatic posts in Iran.

Qatar ignored the demands and let a deadline to comply pass, creating an apparent stalemate in the crisis. Attempts by Kuwait, the US and others have failed to make headway.

In recent days, however, Saudi Arabia announced it would allow Qataris to make the annual hajj pilgrimage, which is required of all able-bodied Muslims once in their life.

Saudi state media said that came in part due to an intercession by Qatari royal family member Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani, who met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and later a holidaying King Salman in Morocco.

But Sheikh Abdullah has no role in Qatar's government and his last position was as head of the equestrian and camel racing federation decades ago.

Sheikh Abdullah's grandfather, father and brother were rulers of Qatar until a palace coup ousted his branch of the royal family in 1972 and a prominent Saudi columnist has suggested the sheikh could be the start of a Qatari government-in-exile.

AP
People pay respects at a memorial tribute of flowers, messages and candles to the attack victims on Barcelona's Las Ramblas (AP)

Spanish authorities shared information with Belgium more than a year ago about the alleged cell leader in last week's Spain attacks, but did not have any details at the time to indicate he was dangerous, officials have said.

Abdelbaki Es Satty, an imam who is blamed for recruiting young Muslims in a Catalan town to commit attacks in Barcelona, had served a four-year prison term for drug trafficking in 2012 and had been questioned as early as 2006 in a national police operation against jihadism.

But the Catalan police officer who answered an informal request for information from Belgium in early 2016 did not have the complete records on Es Satty, according to the remarks by high-ranking police and government officials in Catalonia and interviews conducted by the Associated Press.

The chief of the interior department in the Catalan regional government, Joaquim Forn, acknowledged on Thursday that Belgian police in Vilvoorde made an informal request for information on the imam in 2016, when Es Satty spent three months in the city known for Islamic State recruiting.

Mr Forn said police gave their Belgian counterparts what they had but at no point had anyone told them Es Satty had been investigated or was dangerous.

The exchange was described by another Catalan official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an informal conversation between two police officers.

Es Satty was one of two suspects that died in a blast at a house in Alcanar on August 16 which disrupted the cell's plan to set off bombs at high-profile targets in Barcelona.

Following the explosion, other members of the cell carried out attacks with vehicles and knives as weapons on August 17-18 that left 15 dead and more than 120 injured.

Police confirmed on Thursday the identity of the second body found in the house used as an explosives workshop as that of Youssef Aalla.

One suspect survived the blast and has been jailed.

A National Court judge also released Salh El Karib, one of the four suspects arrested in the wake of the attacks, because of a lack of evidence that the cyber cafe worker was part of the plot.

El Karib lived in Ripoll, the town where the extremist cell was allegedly formed.

He used his credit card to purchase plane tickets for another suspect in the case, according to court documents released on Thursday.

He was reimbursed in cash and was paid an additional five euros (4.60), the documents said.

The judge saw insufficient evidence to keep him in police custody and ordered his release, requiring him to stay in Spain and show up in court once a week while the investigation is open.

Judge Fernando Andreu also freed under similar restrictions another of the suspects on Tuesday, once again for lacking proof of his involvement, and sent to jail the other two people arrested after hearing their evidence.

Eight more people connected to the attacks are dead, six of them shot by police.

While the investigation continues and expands beyond Spain's borders, new revelations on Thursday raised questions about the level of co-ordination and intelligence-sharing between different security forces and departments in Spain.

Both Civil Guard and National Police in Spain are formally in charge of counter-terrorism work and have accumulated experience after decades of fighting Basque militants and religious extremism, but Catalonia's Mossos d'Esquadra regional force has led the response and initial investigation into last week's attacks in their operational area.

Catalonia, the north-eastern region where separatist sentiment runs high, is currently ruled by a coalition of parties that are openly seeking the region's independence from Spain.

The regional government has vowed to push ahead with a referendum on the issue on October 1 despite the vote being unconstitutional under Spanish laws.

The Mossos' work has so far won widespread praise, especially in Catalonia.

Although the central government and the national law enforcement agencies have publicly acknowledged the Mossos' success, some officers' unions have publicly complained about how being excluded from the response and investigation led to missing valuable input.

An officer who leads an independent group of police agents who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity said that the Civil Guard's experts on explosives would have been key to assess what the cell was doing when their bomb workshop exploded.

Two of the main unions, the Civil Guard's AUGC and National Police's SUP, went even further earlier this week by openly criticising authorities in a joint statement and saying that the decision to sideline them was aimed at "transmitting an image overseas of a 'self-sufficient' Catalan state".

The events highlight "a deficient functioning of communication" between police forces because authorities in Catalonia did not have information on a 2007 National Police investigation into a jihadi cell where Es Satty's name had appeared, their statement said.

"It is evident that if somebody would have alerted us, we would have acted in a different way," Mr Forns told reporters on Thursday in response to criticism.

Also this week, justice officials revealed that the imam had won an appeal for showing good behaviour against an expulsion order handed down in 2015, right after he served time in prison for drug trafficking.

The Valencia local court upheld Es Satty's appeal because he had found a job and showed determination to reintegrate into society.

AP
A traffic sign in Houston reminds motorists to prepare for Hurricane Harvey (Godofredo A Vasquez/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Tropical Storm Harvey has intensified into a hurricane and forecasters said it would become a major hurricane to hit the middle Texas coastline.

Sustained winds reached 80mph more than a day before landfall was expected late on Friday between Port O'Connor and Matagorda Bay, a 30-mile stretch of coastline about 70 miles north-east of Corpus Christi.

Forecasters said a "life-threatening" storm surge along with rains and wind were likely as Harvey was intensifying faster than previously forecast.

A major hurricane means winds greater than 110mph.

As of midday on Thursday, Harvey was about 340 miles south-east of Corpus Christi, moving to the north-northwest at about 10mph.

Once Harvey makes landfall, it is possible the storm could then just stall inland for as many as three days, exacerbating the threat of flooding brought by tropical downpours, the National Hurricane Centre said.

Some forecasts indicated rain totals over several days extending into next week could exceed 24in.

Harvey would be the first major hurricane to hit Texas since Ike in September 2008 brought winds of 110mph to the Galveston and Houston areas and left damage costing 22 billion dollars (17 billion).

Numerous cities were shipping in sandbags, extra water and other items ahead of the storm.

In South Padre Island, Dave Evans took advantage of the free sandbags, noting he and his fiance live in an older house prone to flooding.

"The master bedroom floods every time the rain gets very strong. I think our home is below sea level," Mr Evans told The Brownsville Herald.

Alex Garcia, of Corpus Christi, was buying bottled water, bread and other basics in Sugar Land, a Houston suburb, after dropping his daughter off at college in Houston.

The beer distributor salesman said grocery items were likely to be more available in Houston than back home, where he said shops were "crazy".

"We'll be selling lots of beer," he laughed.

Mr Garcia's house is about three miles from the bay.

While a seawall offers some protection, "it floods in Corpus all the time", he said.

"Harvey is looking like it's going to just meander around the area," National Weather Service meteorologist Penny Zabel said.

"It's going to hang out for a few days, and that's why we're looking at such high rainfall amounts."

Texas governor Greg Abbott has ordered the State Operations Centre to elevate its readiness level, making state resources available for possible rescue and recovery actions.

Mr Abbott also pre-emptively declared a state of disaster for 30 counties on or near the coast, to speed deployment of state resources to any areas affected.

Nearly all of the state's 367-mile coast was under a hurricane or tropical storm warning or watch as of Thursday.
Cuba is co-operating with the US investigation, a spokeswoman said

At least 16 Americans working for the US government in Cuba suffered symptoms as a result of activity attributed to a covert sonic device, the United States has said.

The diplomats suffered severe hearing loss.

This is the first time the US has disclosed a number of Americans affected.

State department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said it is possible there are more.

All of the 16 are US citizens, she said, and they have been treated by doctors either in Cuba or the US.

Ms Nauert said the incidents are no longer occurring, b ut she said the US has not located a device that caused the symptoms and has not identified the perpetrator.

Some of the 16 are still in Cuba and others have returned to the US.

Ms Nauert said Cuba is co-operating with the US investigation.

AP
(The Beijing News/Peng Ziyang)

A young Japanese woman who has devoted nearly 10 years to the cause of promoting her government to admit its guilt about China's "comfort women" and spreading historical facts about the group says she will proceed with the job no matter how difficult it is.

A lot of people regard "comfort women" as a proof of history, but few of them care about their mental stateare they happy, do they feel lonely and hurt? Well, Yoneda Mai cares.

The most heartbreaking journey

Mai does part-time jobs in Japan and lives on a very low income. She can barely buy herself new clothes, and most of her money is spent on visiting the seniors in Hainan province, southern China.

The 33-year-old had stayed in the province for three years to help the "comfort women" after she learnt about their stories in 2008. Though she later returned to Japan for health reasons, she still cares about the group and visits them in every summer and winter.

In recent years, her journey to Hainan has gradually become heartbreaking, because the seniors are dying one after another. In this year alone, three former "comfort women" in Hainan passed away.

She was very grieved when Huang Youliang, the last remaining Chinese survivor to file a lawsuit against the Japanese government for her suffering, passed away on August 12.

A different childhood

When she was three years old, Mai began to protest in the streets with her mother, a feminist. She grew up freely and only wanted to go to work upon high school graduation. It was not until she learnt about the Nanjing Massacre that she decided to go to university to study history.

Like Mai, most of the Japanese students barely learn the history about Japan's war crimes, such as the Nanjing Massacre and the "comfort women." Instead, they are taught that Japan is a victim of war.

The unknown knowledge has aroused Mai's curiosity about the war, and her teacher suggested she go to university if she wanted to pursue truth.

Years later, she was admitted by a university and chose international relations as her major. There, she saw classmates from other Asian countries debate heatedly over former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to the Yasukuni war shrine. At first she was confused, but later felt ashamed for missing such an important part of her country's history.

In 2008, Mai attended a trial in Tokyo when eight "comfort women," including Huang Youliang, sued the Japanese government, demanding an apology. Their stories shocked her, and she decided to do something for them.

(The Beijing News/Peng Ziyang)

Go to China

The first thing she did when she came to Hainan was to join a folk organization called "Hainai Network," founded by a group of Japanese lawyers.

In 2009, the Japanese court rejected the appeals of the "comfort women," claiming that individuals have no right to sue the state. Mai was at the scene when three Japanese lawyers were summoned to announce the results to the senior victims. She saw some of them burst into tears.

Huang, the most persistent one, demanded an apology from the soldiers who had raped and tortured her, even though the Japanese government refused to apologize, Mai recalled.

In 2011, when Mai graduated from university, she came to Hainan to learn Chinese. With the help of a Chinese student, she found out the addresses of all the "comfort women" and has visited them ever since.

Now, she is close to the seniors and knows they are kind, lonely, and sensitive. They've been hurt deeply, but they still treat others nicely, even if they are Japanese.

(The Beijing News/Peng Ziyang)

Do not stop fighting

Apart from regularly visiting the seniors, Mai made a video to record the daily life of a senior and translated the local dialect into Mandarin and Japanese. Over the years, she has displayed photos and videos about the seniors and has held seminars across the world in a bid to raise awareness about the group.

In Japan, she repeatedly tells people that their current life is closely related to history and if they don't learn from and reflect on history, they will repeat the mistakes. But she knows it is hard to change people's attitudes toward "comfort women," especially when that history and the Nanjing Massacre has been left out and witnesses are dying.

Sometimes she even wonders if she, a Japanese person, should visit the Chinese seniors and if her visits will do any good. "I will not stop this cause until the Japanese government apologizes. But if they do not, I will continue to go to China to accompany the seniors and tell them they are not forgotten," she said.
Despite predictions of a "red wave" rolling throughout the country  one in which Republican political candidates would cruise to victory up and down the ballot on the strength of nationwide frustration with crime, inflation and dissatisfaction with the Biden administration  Tuesday's midterm election delivered more of the same for many Rhode Islanders. In addition to Democratic victories in all the major statewide races, voters in North Kingstown, Narragansett and South Kingstown skewed overwhelmingly blue in General Assembly races and all local school boards and town council races. With the results of Tuesday's midterm election all but finalized pending a few outstanding mail-in ballots and certification, it appears local boards of government in Southern Rhode Island towns will see a large number of familiar faces. With that in mind, do you believe your local town and school committee seats are held by the best representatives available in your town? Why or why not? Let us know in this week's poll question below.

You voted:
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From the raw and experimental sound of FLACO to the soul-tinged thoughtful music of Clint Breeze and the Groove, Naptown is home to a variety of distinct hip-hop artists. For the third consecutive year, the Chreece music festival will bring dozens of local hip-hop artists to Fountain Square and expose residents of Indianapolis to the diverse entertainers within the genre.

You have the trap rappers, the avant-garde backpackers, the art rappers, the old school, the true school, the lyrical. There are so many different flavors, and you can come listen to it all and hear your city, said Oreo Jones, the visionary behind the festival.

Jones is a man of many talents  he raps, he coordinates events and he even hosts a cooking show. In fact, Chreece got its name from a slipup he made on his show.

I meant to say cheers, and I put that word and the word peace together. It caught on, said Jones.

According to a report by Nielsen Music, hip-hop is the most popular genre in the U.S. Despite Americas love of hip-hop, Jones says artists still face a variety of stereotypes.

There has always been a stigma with hip-hop. When I first started playing shows, it was (like) pulling teeth to get a venue to take you seriously and book hip-hop, he said. There is always a stereotype of gang banging around it, they look it at it like World War III is going to happen, but in reality there is actually a community of positivity and organization behind it.

He hopes the success of Chreece will show venues around Indy that hip-hop fans can come together peacefully and that the local music industry should take hip-hop seriously. Jones says that the success of the festival is due to the fact that the performers have a voice that people in the community want to hear.

All money raised from Chreece will benefit Musical Family Tree, a nonprofit organization that aims to support local performers and preserve, document, and promote Indianas musical heritage.

The festival takes place on Aug. 26, and while some venues are open to all ages, others are strictly 21 and older. Tickets are $15 presale and $20 the day of.

For more information and to see a list of the 50 artists scheduled to perform, visit chreece.do317.com.
Last week, a group of Arlington High School students gathered in Delvonte Arnolds history class to discuss the events in Charlottesville, Virginia. The discussion began with a screening of a clip from popular cable television show Vice News, before the floor was opened up for comments.

Christian Edwards, a junior, shared his opinion during the discussion. Both sides are right in some regards and both sides are wrong, he said. Edwards suggested that opposing parties work on coming together on one accord to prevent instances like this from happening in the future.

When Arnold asked the class whether the protesters were acting within the boundaries of the law by assembling, junior Rajiah Abdullah shared that many of them were.

Its in the Constitution that everybody has the right to protest and everybody has the right to say how they feel, she said. I think that its the way we carry ourselves when we do it.

Arnold, along with government teacher Marty Weyland and school librarian Charles Swink, organized the discussion.

This is their life, said Arnold. Whether or not they want to talk about racism, it exists.

This is Arnolds first year with the district. The Gary, Indiana, native shared that many more gatherings like this would take place throughout the year.

Swink, who taught history for 15 years before becoming a librarian, shares that it was imperative that he attend class that day to help students understand this is an important time in history.

Its like a photograph, he said. They have to be a part of it and understand it. They just cant let it fly by.
Police officers consistently use less respectful language with Black community members than with white community members, the first systematic analysis of body camera footage shows.

Although subtle, widespread racial disparities in officers language use may erode police-community relations, researchers warn, saying: The many small differences in how they spoke with community members added up to pervasive racial disparities.

Our findings highlight that, on the whole, police interactions with Black community members are more fraught than their interactions with white community members, says Jennifer Eberhardt, professor of psychology at Stanford University and coauthor of the study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The findings about racial disparities in respectful speech held true even after researchers controlled for the race of the officer, the severity of the infraction and the location and outcome of the stop.

To analyze the body camera footage, researchers first developed an artificial intelligence technique for measuring levels of respect in officers language that they then applied to the transcripts from 981 traffic stops the Oakland (California) Police Department made in a single month.

The data shows that white residents were 57 percent more likely than Black residents to hear a police officer say the most respectful utterances, such as apologies and expressions of gratitude like thank you.

Black community members were 61 percent more likely than white residents to hear an officer say the least respectful utterances, such as informal titles like dude and bro and commands like hands on the wheel.

To be clear: There was no swearing, says coauthor Dan Jurafsky, professor of linguistics and of computer science. These were well-behaved officers. But the many small differences in how they spoke with community members added up to pervasive racial disparities.

The fact that we now have the technology and methods to show these patterns is a huge advance for behavioral science, computer science and the policing industry, says Rob Voigt, a linguistics doctoral student and the studys lead author. Police departments can use these tools not only to diagnose problems in police-community relations, but also to develop solutions.

The Oakland Police Department, like many police departments nationwide, has been using body-worn cameras to monitor police-community interactions. But drawing accurate conclusions from hundreds of hours of footage can be challenging, Eberhardt says. Just cherry-picking negative or positive episodes, for example, can lead to inaccurate impressions of police-community relations overall.

The police are already wary of footage being used against them. At the same time, many departments want their actions to be transparent to the public.

183 hours of footage

To satisfy demands for both privacy and transparency, the researchers needed a way to approach the footage as data showing general patterns, rather than as evidence revealing wrongdoing in any single stop.

Yet researchers cant just sit and watch every single stop, Eberhardt says. It would take too long. Besides, their own biases could affect their judgments of the interactions.

So, researchers examined transcripts from 183 hours of body camera footage from 981 stops, which 245 different OPD officers conducted in April 2014.

In the first phase of the study, human participants examined a subsample of the transcribed conversations between officers and community members  without knowing the race or gender of either  and rated how respectful, polite, friendly, formal and impartial the officers language was.

In the second phase, the researchers used these ratings to develop a computational linguistic model of how speakers show respect, including apologizing, softening commands and expressing concern for listeners well-being. They then created software that automatically identified these words, phrases and linguistic patterns in the transcripts of the officers language.

In the third phase, researchers used this software to analyze the remaining transcripts  a total of 36,000 officer utterances with 483,966 words. Because the team had so much data, they could statistically account for the race of the officer, the severity of the offense and other factors that could affect officers language.

Understanding and improving the interactions between the police and the communities they serve is incredibly important, but the interactions can be difficult to study, Jurafsky says. Computational linguistics offers a way to aggregate across many speakers and many interactions to detect the way that everyday language can reflect our attitudes, thoughts and emotions  which are sometimes outside of our own awareness.

Our findings are not proof of bias or wrongdoing on the part of individual officers, Eberhardt cautions. Many factors could drive racial disparities in respectful speech.

Tone of voice

The research team is currently extending their work to analyze the language used by community members during the traffic stops and to study other linguistic features captured by the body cameras, including tone of voice. They also plan to explore the interplay of officers and community members speech as it unfolds over time.

There is so much you can do with this footage, Eberhardt says. We are very excited about the possibilities.

Eberhardt praised the City of Oakland and OPD for being open to having their data examined and said she hopes that other departments across the country will invite similar collaborations.

Im hopeful that, with the development of computational tools like ours, more law enforcement agencies will approach their body camera footage as data for understanding, rather than as evidence for blaming or exonerating. Together, researchers and police departments can use these tools to improve police-community relations.
Indianapolis drinking water may be considered healthy at the moment, according to federal standards, but does that mean it is? Six of the past 12 quarterly reports published by Environment Working Group (EWG) on Citizen Energy Groups drinking water ruled that the water was noncompliant with federal guidelines. According to the report from March 2017, in which Citizens Water passed, the water still contained eight cancer-causing contaminants, including arsenic.

Carlton Waterhouse, professor and director of the Environmental, Energy and Natural Resources Law Program at Indiana Universitys Robert H. McKinney School of Law, says that just because Indianapolis drinking water is up to standards doesnt mean those standards have citizens best health in mind.

Complying with the law is meeting the minimum health-based standard, Waterhouse said. Those other standards that are directly health-related I think are more important for us to make sure we have good and healthy drinking water  as healthy as humanly possible, not as safe as we can get away with. As long as theres compliance with the law, not as safe as humanly possible  Im sure no one who wants to fly on an airplane would take that attitude.

In February, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warned residents of East Chicago, Indiana, of the possibility that their drinking water contained high levels of lead. Gov. Eric Holcomb granted a disaster declaration for the city to address their water contamination issues. Waterhouse believes more needs to be done than what is legally obligated in order to keep Indianapolis from going down this track.

The threat we face is that were like East Chicago a few years ago, before the sampling was done, where they found the high lead levels, Waterhouse said. It doesnt mean that we dont have the problem; it just means that we arent aware of the problem, just like they werent aware of the problem until somebody actually did some sampling and found it.

Denise Abdul-Rahman, environmental and climate justice chair of NAACP Indiana, echoes Waterhouses sentiment regarding the seriousness of this issue and how it is viewed on a political level. She says President Donald Trumps decision to decrease the Environmental Protection Agencys budget from $8 billion to $5 billion has only further hurt East Chicago and Indianapolis.

Indianapolis, Riverside area and Martindale-Brightwood and East Chicago, these communities are defined as environmental justice communities, Abdul-Rahman wrote in an email to the Indianapolis Recorder. There will need to be more local grassroots organizations, like Kheprw Institute. Because of the slashed EPA budgets, these communities will have to fend for themselves.

Abdul-Rahman continued:

The concern is the contamination, such as vinyl chloride and the health impacts associated, it is impacting the raw groundwater at Riverside and White River well field. The conversations initially held, indicate that the raw ground water exceeds 15 ppb (parts per billion), which exceeds the safe drinking levels. However, the finished water is considered safe to drink according to IDEM (Indiana Department of Environmental Management) and Citizens Water.

Waterhouse puts the onus on political authorities to act.

That is a political policy-based decision to value the economic benefit of these practices without more strict regulations over the health of the people who are limited to drinking water from a tap because they cant afford to get water from other sources, Waterhouse said. It is frustrating. It is disappointing. To some degree it is a reflection of the state we live in and what the values are of the people who have been elected. I think there has to be attention to the political process. People have to realize that your vote impacts your health.

Denise Abdul-Rahman, NAACP Indiana
The majority of individuals wrongfully convicted of murder, sexual assault and drug crimes are Black, according to a study recently released by the National Registry of Wrongful Convictions titled Race and Wrongful Convictions in the United States. In addition, African-American prisoners who are convicted of murder are about 50 percent more likely to be innocent than other convicted murderers. Connie McCullar, the mother of an incarcerated Black man, feels her sons past caused a judge to view him as criminal despite what she views as a lack of evidence.

I dont know if they had a vendetta against Black boys, or whatever, but something caused them to say, Im taking those boys down, and we are going to say whatever to get them off the street. I understand that  my child could have been doing any and everything wrong in Indianapolis, but he still doesnt deserve to be locked up for something he didnt do, said McCullar.

The incident that landed her son behind bars occurred in April of 2001, when Tiara McGinty, 13, was preparing to leave her home. According to court documents, McGinty opened the front door to multiple men in black hooded sweatshirts standing on her porch. McGinty turned her back to the men and attempted to walk back inside her home, but she was shot from behind through a screen door. Bullets struck her thigh and her back, bruising her heart and breaking her rib. During an interview with Indianapolis Police Detective Jeffrey Wager, McGinty identified McCullars son, Kendrick Morris, as one of the shooters. Morris was charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery and unlawful possession of a firearm. He was sentenced to 60 years in prison.

In 2015, McGinty stated she was pressured into identifying Morris by law enforcement and admitted to not knowing the identity of the shooters. (Detective Wager) basically told me that the three men that was in question was the ones who shot me, McGinty was quoted saying in a court document.

When Morris filed a petition arguing that her statement warranted a new trial, the court decided McGintys new testimony failed a nine-part common law test for newly discovered evidence and that her repudiation of her original testimony only served to undermine her credibility. The Recorder reached out to McGinty for comment but was unable to speak with her as of press time.

Surprisingly, or maybe not surprisingly, (neither) this detective nor the courts will ever willfully admit to any wrongdoing, so despite the overwhelming show of evidence of my innocence the court denied me justice, Morris wrote in a letter to the Recorder. What was done to me was done in the dark with no one paying attention.

It has been well over a decade since Morris found himself behind bars due to this incident, and he is still claiming innocence. His mother believes the victim of the shooting knows her son didnt pull the trigger that night.

I do believe (Tiara) was coerced into identifying my son, said McCullar. She told me this herself when she came to the last trial. She came to me crying, saying, Im really sorry, I didnt mean to do this to your family. I asked her, Why would you say my son did it? She said They showed me a picture and said, this is who shot you. I was like, wow.

Nationwide, there are a number of organizations seeking justice for wrongfully incarcerated individuals. The Innocence Network is a group of organizations providing free legal investigative services to such inmates. Here in Indiana, the Wrongful Conviction Clinic at IUPUI is a founding member of the Innocence Network and allows students to put law into practice by providing live-client representation to Indiana inmates in state and federal proceedings.

Frances Lee Watson is a clinical professor of law at IUPUI and the founder of the Wrongful Conviction Clinic at the university. Watson is also Morris attorney. Watson has hundreds of letters in numerous storage bins inside her office from individuals who claim innocence, but she is only able to take on a small number of clients each year. Morris case was brought to her attention because one of her law students knew him personally. Typically, a research assistant helps her sort through the large numbers of letters her office receives. Watson says DNA evidence helps tremendously in wrongful conviction cases, but there was no DNA evidence in Morris case.

It takes years and years and years to just do one case, and I do them with law students, which only makes them take longer, Watson said. The last one I got was out of Muncie. He was a mentally disabled white man and was exonerated due to DNA evidence, but he waited years and years for representation. The first people you can help are DNA cases.

Watson said it is unlikely that Morris will find himself out of jail anytime soon. The most he can hope for is a modification of his sentence or a governors pardon.

Its a hard process to say the government cheated, cop you lied, judge you are wrong, and we never met that hurdle with Kendrick. They think he shot a little girl and are convinced they are right, and when the police think they are right, they are right, said Watson. I have strong opinions on all of these issues from a public defender perspective. I tell my students, if we could fix the public defender system, that would go a long way toward righting wrongful convictions, and then we wouldnt have to do this innocence stuff. Do it right the first time, and keep these kids out of prison.

According to a 2016 study by the Sixth Amendment Center, an organization that works to ensure that no person faces jail time without having the aid of a lawyer with the time, ability and resources to develop an effective defense, Indianas public defender system is extremely underfunded and the states model for providing the Sixth Amendment right to counsel services is inherently flawed.

The public defense systems in many Indiana counties have undue judicial interference, undue political interference, flat-fee contracts or all three, that produce conflicts between the lawyers self-interest and the defendants right to effective representation. These conflicts result in public defense attorneys throughout Indiana carrying excessive caseloads and spending insufficient time on their public cases, the report states.

McCullar still has hope for a sentence modification and would like to see her son given a second chance.

All throughout his life, if he did it, he would say, I did that. Hes not a liar, and he wouldnt lie about shooting a child, said McCullar. I really would like for him to get a sentence modification and for them to let my child out. I know they know he didnt do this. Its been a really hard 17 years without my child.

Kendrick Morris, pictured here with his parents, says he has been wrongfully convicted of attempted murder.
The National Black Church Initiative (NBCI), a faith-based coalition of 34,000 churches comprised of 15 denominations and 15.7 million African-Americans, has launched a campaign through social media #LetsComeTogetherAsANation to begin the process of racial healing. After everything that has happened these past years, from the police shootings under the Obama administration, the Charleston, South Carolina, massacre at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, and the most recent deaths of Heather Heyer and others in Charlottesville, Virginia, we need to take the time for racial and spiritual healing.

Rev. Anthony Evans, president of the National Black Church Initiative, says, The Black and the white Church is standing up for people who love humanity. Rest in peace, Heather.

We plan to stand up for humanity and our nation with an interracial faith-based campaign consisting of all the Black and white denominations: Church of God in Christ, African Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, Christian Methodist Episcopal, Baptists, Pentecostals, Episcopalians, Anglicans, Catholics, Lutherans, Protestants, Apostolic, Presbyterians, Evangelists, United Methodists, Evangelicals, Seventh-Day Adventists, Mormons, Amish, Muslims, Samaritans, Jews and the United Church of Christ, for the primary objective of supporting this ad campaign.

We plan to use social media, commercials and events in our communities geared at crossing the dividing lines that plague the people of America into committing discriminatory and hateful actions toward one another.

You can donate toward our campaign through PayPal. Visit our website.naltBlackChurch.com.
Indians always get smitten by the momentous consequences of secularism in our country. Amid the murmur and babble that goes around validating the comeuppance of those asserting within religion, society, and groups, lies a society that's bonded.

We have instances where altercations between two people have led to communal unrest, where a word-war has lead to haggling of family members or mob lynching and where a 'rapist' from a different community is seen as community agenda.

But who is to say that India is a land of diversity and this multifariousness thrives in every part of the nation. We have people from Sikh community who have gone over and beyond their code of conduct to help distraught people, we have Hindus assisting Muslims during Ramadan and Muslim men risking their lives to save victims or Muslim women who have been making Shiva Lingas for 17 years.

Here we have curated a list of some instances that validate the bond of love Indians share and swear by.

TOI

Pooriben Leuwa, an 85-year-old Hindu woman has been fasting during Ramzan for the past 34 years, says that she and her Muslim friends "share a faith called love".

"For the past two years I have not been keeping well," Pooriben said. "My family and my doctor have allowed me just three Rozas this year - 27th, 28th and 29th. But I argue with them every day to allow me to observe the entire 40 days."

Local Sikh's risk their lives to save the holy books-othr items at a Mosque whn flood watr enterd tral village &flowd into homes! #Kashmir pic.twitter.com/gXUgv21Ze2  Salman Nizami (@SalmanNizami_) July 21, 2017

When Kashmir was hit by a severe drought, people from each community stepped ahead to help those in need. In such crisis, the Sikh community came forward to help save a mosque and Muslim men and women who were stuck in the flood rapids.

The video shows men from the Sikh community risking their lives to save holy items of a mosque in Kashmir.

PTI

We've had enough debacles between Hindu and Muslim communities, but do you know that the same people have offered help to each other in the most magnanimous ways?

The derailment of Utkal Express near Muzaffarnagar took 23 lives and left many injured, but the accident paved way for an exemplary episode of communal harmony where people helped one another. Several saints travelling in the train was rescued by local Muslims.

PTI

Must you remember Hafiz Junaid, a 16-years-old who was killed because he was carrying beef, you'd retrieve just how excruciating and troublesome his death was.



In the wake of Junaids lynching, people from his village Khandwali, in Ballabhgarh, have decided not to celebrate Eid and sport black armbands while offering Namaz, marking a silent protest. The village sarpanch said that Eid would not be a splendid event this time. Their decision has found resonance with a large section of people from all communities across the country, who have copied the gesture to express solidarity with Muslims.

ANI

Over 56 passengers travelling in the ill-fated bus, which came under terror attack in Anantnag were saved by Sheikh Saleem, a Muslim man who came to their rescue. When the bus came under attack, Saleem did not stop and continued driving, till they reached safety.

6. When Sikhs across London opened gates for victims

Sikh Gurudwaras in London have started collecting and distributing spare clothes, toys, toiletries for #GrenfellTower evacuees! #Share pic.twitter.com/TT1cTWZXRp  Harjinder S Kukreja (@SinghLions) June 14, 2017

Just about every human tragedy in the last half a decade has had a common silver lining - Sikh community opening their doors, their hearts and Gurudwaras when the world has needed them the most.

So when a knife and car attack in London left 6 dead, Sikhs Gurdwaras across the city were available to those who were affected by the attack. This ensured that Londoners stranded had someplace to go and have food to eat.

BCCL/REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE

More than 64 people died during the floods that took Gujarat by storm. In this time of death and destruction, some 3,500 Muslims from Dhanera, Deesa, Palanpur and nearby villages trooped into the aid of the town, cleaning places of worship and residents alike, after water started receding slowly.

AFLA TOON

Fundamentalist and religious radicals may find this piece of information too disturbing for their feeble mind, but Atif Anwar, a Muslim man wanted to break his Roza with Hindus,

He stood blindfolded at India Gate, New Delhi, holding a placard where he asked Hindus to join in and help him break his fast ahead of Eid. As a result, several passersby stopped and helped him break his fast.

Sikhs serving FREE Tea and Food (Langar) to people queuing up at ATMs and Banks after Govt. banned  500/1000 currency notes #DeMonetisation pic.twitter.com/NC0NZApKl7  Harjinder S Kukreja (@SinghLions) November 12, 2016

After the currency ban took the entire nation by storm, a lot of people lost their lives out of tension, and some became ill, just waiting for their turn to come. The queues were long and tiring, and while everyone had their own way of dealing with it, here's how the Sikh community decided to help.

BCCL/REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE

Two women, one a Hindu and the other Muslim, approached the district magistrate seeking permission to donate one of their kidneys to the other's husband. Both men have been on dialysis following renal failure. Unfortunately, they couldn't do so because of mismatch in blood groups, but their will and desire moved everyone at the court and at the hospital.

Sikh brethren continues feeding muslims at iftar in #Pakistan Such a great bond between Muslims and Sikhs A historic one .. so #loveislove pic.twitter.com/QtC3pyRbrt  Usman Shafqat Chatha (@UsmanOnBoard) June 3, 2017

Be it the Sikh man who delivered free food to the needy in Australia, or this group of people who helped distraught people standing in long queues outside the bank during demonetisation, the Sikhs have been there for anyone and everyone.

Sikh community in Peshawar stepped forward to serve iftaar to poor Muslims for Ramzan. They served Rooh Afza milk to all the fasting Muslims.
In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court has ruled that the individual's right to privacy is a fundamental right. The SC order has finally put to rest the debate over individual's right to privacy, especially in the context of Aadhaar.

The order was delivered by a nine member bench comprising of Justices JS Khehar, J Chelameswar, S A Bobde, R K Agrawal, R F Nariman, A M Sapre, D Y Chandrachud, Sanjay K Kaul and S Abdul Nazeer. Read more

1. After Supreme Court Order, Govt Takes U-Turn, Now Says Privacy A Fundamental Right

The government has welcomed the Supreme Court's unanimous decision to declare individual privacy a fundamental right, but said it should be subject to "reasonable restrictions", like every other right guaranteed under the Constitution.

"We welcome the verdict of the Supreme Court on right to privacy. Privacy should be a fundamental right subject to reasonable restrictions," Union Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said. Read more

2. Army On Standby Ahead Of Verdict As Thousands Of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Supporters Gather In Punjab, Haryana

Both Punjab and Haryana have asked the Army to be on standby ahead of the CBI court's verdict in a rape case against head of Dera Sacha Sauda, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

This is in addition to central paramilitary forces and state police being deployed in various districts of Punjab and Haryana which have a large presence of dera followers. Read more

3. Man Stabbed To Death In Broad Daylight In Delhi, Onlookers Didn't Help Him And Just Made Video

A man in his 20s has died of multiple wounds after he was stabbed by two attackers in west Delhis Khyala on Wednesday. The victim, identified as Akbar Ali was stabbed with knives multiple times on Tuesday allegedly after a fight over money.

Though over a 100 people had gathered there, no one came forward to help him despite his repeated cries for help. The two men who had stabbed him were arrested later. Read more

4. Over 50% Railways Accidents In Last Decade Were Due To Derailment, 2016-17 Saw 193 Deaths

The derailment of Puri-Haridwar Utkal Express on August 19 in which 23 people died and days later the derailment of Kafiyat Express have raised serious questions about the maintenance of railways infrastructure in the country.

According to an IndiaSpend analysis of data tabled in the upper house of the Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, the death toll in railways accidents in 2016-17 was 193 despite fewest train accidents over 10 years (104) with 78 of this accidents were derailments. Read more

5. 15-Year-Old Girl Stalked, Hand Chopped Off In Full Public View In Uttar Pradesh

In a shocking case, a 15-year-old girl was chased by a stalker through a busy market in UP, pinned to the ground and then attacked with a sword till one of her hands was severed.

The assailant, identified as Vinod Chaurasia, had all but hacked off her other hand of the girl before he was overpowered by the crowd of 200-300. Read more
The government will soon set up a commission to examine the sub-categorisation of 'Other Backward Classes', or OBCs, even as it has raised the OBC creamy layer criterion to Rs 8 lakh from Rs 6 lakh.

Reuters

This means that those in the OBC category earning up to Rs 8 lakh per annum would now get the reservation benefits. The commission is expected to submit a report within 12 weeks of the appointment of a chairperson, Jaitley added.

The NCBC has recommended sub-categorisation within OBCs into Extremely Backward Classes (Group 'A'), More Backward Classes (Group 'B') and Backward Classes (Group 'C'), MoS for Social Justice and Empowerment Krishan Pal Gurjar said.

Reuters

"It has been recommended that the Extremely Backward Classes should be grouped into a separate group which could include aboriginal tribes, vimukta jatis, nomadic and semi- nomadic tribes, wandering classes etc," the minister said.

The recommendation was made to distinguish between extremely backward classes and 'forward' groups among the OBCs.
A History of John McCains Calls for War

Why we dont care about McCain

By Jim Carey

August 24, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - A history of all the instances McCain has called for US-led intervention around the world. Theres obviously a long history here, so Geopolitics Alert has compiled the largest examples from Europe to Asia. Well start with the obvious wars first.

Afghanistan and Iraq

Obviously every US Senator (besides Californias Barbara Lee) voted to give President George W. Bush the power to invade Afghanistan following the events of September 11th. However, McCain wasnt happy with just moving to invade Afghanistan. No, he had other targets on his mind as early as the day after the towers fell.

Despite McCains claim in 2014 that the Iraq war probably wouldnt have happened if he had won the 2000 Republican primary and the general election, this assertion seems ridiculous. On September 12th, 2001 , McCain appeared on MSNBC presenting an extensive list of countries he felt were providing a safe harbor to groups like al Qaeda. This list, of course, included Iraq and several other nations that appear later on this list.

Syria

Another country on that 2001 list (of course) was Syria. Now, the Bush regime may have never gotten a chance to continue toppling Mideast countries (thanks to the failure in Iraq and the exposure of that war being sold on lies). But McCain seemingly never lost sight of his hatred for Bashar Al-Assad.

Shortly after the Arab Spring broke out in Syria, McCain  and his constant partner in war crimes Sen. Lindsey Graham  quickly found communication channels with the Syrian opposition. Just a few short months after the US endorsed protests in Syria (even having their ambassador attend ), McCain and Graham began calling for arms to start flowing to the Free Syrian Army and other rebel groups.

Libya

McCains plans for Syria never quite worked the way he wanted, but he probably shouldve known they would never yield a positive result. If McCain didnt want to look at Iraq to prove that point, he had another more recent example he couldve used: the NATO intervention in Libya.

It was less than a year before McCain wanted to arm Syrian takfiris that he had supported with the bombing and no fly zones in Libya. McCain even wanted tougher actions against the country. Which has now become an anarchic Wild West thats home to all sorts of horrors from the Islamic State to a new slave trade .

West and Central Africa

McCain is also a champion of the war on terror in other parts of Africa. While McCain hasnt directly supported terrorists in some countries in Africa, he still has called for more US intervention across the continent.

This list includes countries dealing with Islamic insurgencies, such as Mali . McCain has also called for plans like  deploying Special Forces  to rescue girls kidnapped by Boko Haram in Nigeria and intervention in Sudan, where McCain and his wife have invested money for some time.

Iran

Another country on the list of hated nations initially put forth by Bush undersecretary of defense Paul Wolfowitz, and also another long time target of McCain is of course Iran.

Although McCain has always said he prays there will never be at war with Iran, the man incessantly calls for it and even jokes about bombing the country when he feels the mood is right. The truth of the matter is, McCains positions towards Iran are so hostile that even flagship neoconservative institutions like the Cato Institute think he is too hawkish.

Bosnia and Kosovo

But McCain isnt satisfied with just backing Salafi jihadists in the traditional Middle East and North African theaters. Hes also backed violent radicals across the fringes of Europe. This trend actually started in the mid-1990s when McCain was a vocal supporter of then president Bill Clintons war in Bosnia.

Many of the Muslims traveling to Bosnia joining the mujahideen there have joined groups like IS in recent years. And IS flags can occasionally be seen in the Sunni areas of Bosnia now. McCain was still backing potential Takfiri movements, recently accusing Russia of interfering in local affairs, and calling for more US intervention in the country.

McCain made similar decisions when he advocated US intervention in Kosovo in the late 90s. In the Kosovo conflict, McCain backed the Kosovo Liberation Army: a genocidal jihadist organization with ties to Al Qaeda under Osama Bin Laden.

Ukraine

Dont be fooled into thinking that McCain only supports jihadists in Eastern Europe though! He also backs the overt Nazis acting as death squads for Kiev in the ongoing Ukrainian conflict.

This, of course, started in 2014, but McCain has continued to pledge support for Kievs crimes in the Donbass region to this day. This is all par for the course in McCains larger theme of challenging Russia the country he believes controls the separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Russia

The story of McCains hatred of Russia spans back to the Cold War. We wont get into McCains fear of communism thats evolved into just general Russophobia. But we will say he didnt have many excuses to focus on making threats towards Moscow for a good 15-20 year stretch.

This changed in 2008, with the war in South Ossetia between Georgia and Russia. During this conflict, McCain was the loudest voice saying the US should immediately call a meeting of the North Atlantic Council to assess Georgias security and review measures NATO can take to contribute to stabilizing this very dangerous situation.

This same situation repeated in Ukraine in 2014 but McCains worst comments came this year. As soon as the US Intelligence Communitys accused Russia of interference in the 2016 US elections and without any evidence McCain was first to say the event was an act of war.

North Korea

The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DRPK/North Korea) was also an early target of McCains making his September 12th wish list. More recently though, the restyled Trump opponent McCain was all-in on the new regimes saber rattling. Calling on Trump to strike the nuclear-armed country .

Bonus: China

China is kind of in its own class with McCain, whos made strange, vague threats towards the country in the past. Such as the Arab spring is coming to China, whatever that means. China may be a target on the periphery for McCain, but he does still encourage antagonizing the country to this day. Calling for things like more freedom of navigation drills and other naval exercises in the South China Sea.

So, in summation, next time someone asks why you dont care about John McCains clock running out, show them this article. McCain has encouraged the spread of death worldwide. The day he leaves congress will be a victory for the human race.

This article was first published by Geopolitics Alert -
How We Know The So-Called Civil War Was Not Over Slavery

By Paul Craig Roberts

When I read Professor Thomas DiLorenzos article the question that lept to mind was, How come the South is said to have fought for slavery when the North wasnt fighting against slavery?

Two days before Lincolns inauguration as the 16th President, Congress, consisting only of the Northern states, passed overwhelmingly on March 2, 1861, the Corwin Amendment that gave constitutional protection to slavery. Lincoln endorsed the amendment in his inaugural address, saying I have no objection to its being made express and irrevocable.

Quite clearly, the North was not prepared to go to war in order to end slavery when on the very eve of war the US Congress and incoming president were in the process of making it unconstitutional to abolish slavery.

Here we have absolute total proof that the North wanted the South kept in the Union far more than the North wanted to abolish slavery.

If the Souths real concern was maintaining slavery, the South would not have turned down the constitutional protection of slavery offered them on a silver platter by Congress and the President. Clearly, for the South also the issue was not slavery.

The real issue between North and South could not be reconciled on the basis of accommodating slavery. The real issue was economic as DiLorenzo, Charles Beard and other historians have documented. The North offered to preserve slavery irrevocably, but the North did not offer to give up the high tariffs and economic policies that the South saw as inimical to its interests.

Blaming the war on slavery was the way the northern court historians used morality to cover up Lincolns naked aggression and the war crimes of his generals. Demonizing the enemy with moral language works for the victor. And it is still ongoing. We see in the destruction of statues the determination to shove remaining symbols of the Confederacy down the Memory Hole.

Today the ignorant morons, thoroughly brainwashed by Identity Politics, are demanding removal of memorials to Robert E. Lee, an alleged racist toward whom they express violent hatred. This presents a massive paradox. Robert E. Lee was the first person offered command of the Union armies. How can it be that a Southern racist was offered command of the Union Army if the Union was going to war to free black slaves?

Virginia did not secede until April 17, 1861, two days after Lincoln called up troops for the invasion of the South.

Surely there must be some hook somewhere that the dishonest court historians can use on which to hang an explanation that the war was about slavery. It is not an easy task. Only a small minority of southerners owned slaves. Slaves were brought to the New World by Europeans as a labor force long prior to the existence of the US and the Southern states in order that the abundant land could be exploited. For the South slavery was an inherited institution that pre-dated the South. Diaries and letters of soldiers fighting for the Confederacy and those fighting for the Union provide no evidence that the soldiers were fighting for or against slavery. Princeton historian, Pulitzer Prize winner, Lincoln Prize winner, president of the American Historical Association, and member of the editorial board of Encyclopedia Britannica, James M. McPherson, in his book based on the correspondence of one thousand soldiers from both sides, What They Fought For, 1861-1865, reports that they fought for two different understandings of the Constitution.

As for the Emancipation Proclamation, on the Union side, military officers were concerned that the Union troops would desert if the Emancipation Proclamation gave them the impression that they were being killed and maimed for the sake of blacks. That is why Lincoln stressed that the proclamation was a war measure to provoke an internal slave rebellion that would draw Southern troops off the front lines.

If we look carefully we can find a phony hook in the South Carolina Declaration of Causes of Secession (December 20, 1860) as long as we ignore the reasoning of the document. Lincolns election caused South Carolina to secede. During his campaign for president Lincoln used rhetoric aimed at the abolitionist vote. (Abolitionists did want slavery abolished for moral reasons, though it is sometimes hard to see their morality through their hate, but they never controlled the government.)

South Carolina saw in Lincolns election rhetoric intent to violate the US Constitution, which was a voluntary agreement, and which recognized each state as a free and independent state. After providing a history that supported South Carolinas position, the document says that to remove all doubt about the sovereignty of states an amendment was added, which declared that the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States, respectively, or to the people.

South Carolina saw slavery as the issue being used by the North to violate the sovereignty of states and to further centralize power in Washington. The secession document makes the case that the North, which controlled the US government, had broken the compact on which the Union rested and, therefore, had made the Union null and void. For example, South Carolina pointed to Article 4 of the US Constitution, which reads: No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up, on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due. Northern states had passed laws that nullified federal laws that upheld this article of the compact. Thus, the northern states had deliberately broken the compact on which the union was formed.

The obvious implication was that every aspect of states rights protected by the 10th Amendment could now be violated. And as time passed they were, so South Carolinas reading of the situation was correct.

The secession document reads as a defense of the powers of states and not as a defense of slavery. Here is the document.

Read it and see what you decide.

A court historian, who is determined to focus attention away from the Norths destruction of the US Constitution and the war crimes that accompanied the Constitutions destruction, will seize on South Carolinas use of slavery as the example of the issue the North used to subvert the Constitution. The court historians reasoning is that as South Carolina makes a to-do about slavery, slavery must have been the cause of the war.

As South Carolina was the first to secede, its secession document probably was the model for other states. If so, this is the avenue by which court historians, that is, those who replace real history with fake history, turn the war into a war over slavery.

Once people become brainwashed, especially if it is by propaganda that serves power, they are more or less lost forever. It is extremely difficult to bring them to truth. Just look at the pain and suffering inflicted on historian David Irving for documenting the truth about the war crimes committed by the allies against the Germans. There is no doubt that he is correct, but the truth is unacceptable.

The same is the case with the War of Northern Aggression. Lies masquerading as history have been institutionalized for 150 years. An institutionalized lie is highly resistant to truth.

Education has so deteriorated in the US that many people can no longer tell the difference between an explanation and an excuse or justification. In the US denunciation of an orchestrated hate object is a safer path for a writer than explanation. Truth is the casualty.

That truth is so rare everywhere in the Western World is why the West is doomed. The United States, for example, has an entire population that is completely ignorant of its own history.

As George Orwell said, the best way to destroy a people is to destroy their history.

Apparently Even Asians Can Be White Supremacists If They Are Named Robert Lee

ESPN has pulled an Asian-American named Robert Lee (Lee is a common name among Asians, for example, Bruce Lee) from announcing the University of Virginia/Wiliam & Mary footbal game in Charlottesville this Saturday because of his name.

What We Learned From Charlottesville

By Paul Craig Roberts

We learned, although we already knew it, that the US media has no integrity.

We learned that the liberal/progressive/left holds fast to myths that justify hate.

We learned that misrepresentation is the hallmark of American history.

We learned that some websites that we thought were brave are not.

We learned that Identity Politics has a firm hold and that the demonization of white people is now an ideology that rivals in strength the neoconservative ideology that Americans are the exceptional and indispensable people. Obviously, we cannot simultaneously be both deplorables and the best people on earth.

We learned that the liberal/progressive/left will cooperate with the military/security complex to bring down a president whose intent was to normalize relations with Russia and reduce the dangerously high tensions between the two major nuclear powers.

In brief, we learned that the US is on a firm course of both internal and external conflict.

=====

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts' latest books are The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West , How America Was Lost , and The Neoconservative Threat to World Order .
Korea, Afghanistan and the Never Ending War Trap





While the US-backed 'Hunger Games' in South Korea plow on, a 'new strategy' for Afghanistan is really all about business. But China is already there



By Pepe Escobar

August 24, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - There are more parallels between an unfinished 1950s war in Northeast Asia and an ongoing 16-year-old war in the crossroads between Central and South Asia than meet the eye. Lets start with North Korea.

Once again the US/South Korea Hunger Games plow on. It didnt have to be this way.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov explained how: Russia together with China developed a plan which proposes double freezing: Kim Jong-un should freeze nuclear tests and stop launching any types of ballistic missiles, while US and South Korea should freeze large-scale drills which are used as a pretext for the Norths tests.

Call it sound diplomacy. Theres no conclusive evidence the Russia-China strategic partnership floated this plan directly to the administration of US President Donald Trump. Even if they did, the proposal was shot down. The proverbial military experts lobbied hard against it, insisting on a lopsided advantage to Pyongyang. Worse, National Security Adviser H R McMaster consistently lobbies for preventative war  as if this is any sort of serious conflict resolution.

Meanwhile, that plan for an enveloping fire around Guam remains on Kim Jong-uns table. It is essential to remember the plan was North Koreas response to Trumps fire and fury volley. Kim has stated that for diplomacy to work again, it is necessary for the US to make a proper option first. As in canceling the Ulchi-Freedom Guardian war games  featuring up to 30,000 US soldiers and more than 50,000 South Korean troops.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in dutifully repeats the Pentagon mantra that these Hunger Games, lasting until August 31, are defensive. Computer simulations gaming a  very unlikely  unilateral Pyongyang attack may qualify as defense. But Kim and the Korean Central News Agency interpret the war games in essence for what they are: rehearsal for a decapitation, a pre-emptive attack yielding regime change.

No wonder the KCNA insists on a possible catastrophe. And Beijing, crucially, concurs. The Global Times reasonably argued that if South Korea really wants no war on the Korean Peninsula, it should try to stop this military exercise.

Cant pack up our troubles

It would be a relief to defuse the drama by evoking that great World War I marching song; Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag/ And smile, smile, smile.

But this is extremely serious. A China-North Korea mutual defense treaty has been in effect since 1961. Under this framework, Beijings response to Trumps fire and fury was a thing of beauty. If Pyongyang attacks, China is neutral. But if the US launches a McMaster-style pre-emptive attack, China intervenes  militarily  on behalf of Pyongyang.

As a clincher, Beijing even made it clear that its preference is for the current status quo to remain. Checkmate.

Hunger Games apart, the rhetorical war in the Korean Peninsula did decrease a substantial notch after China made its position clear. According to a Beltway intel source, that shows the US and Chinese militaries, as the US and the Russians in Syria, are coordinating to avoid a war.

Evidence may have been provided by a very important meeting last week between the chairmen of the US and Chinese Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford and General Fang Fenghui. They signed a deal that the Pentagon spun as able to reduce the risk of miscalculation in Northeast Asia.

Among the prodigious fireworks inherent to his departure as White House chief strategist, Steve Bannon nailed it: Theres no military solution, forget it. Until somebody solves the part of the equation that shows me that 10 million people in Seoul dont die in the first 30 minutes from conventional weapons, I dont know what youre talking about, theres no military solution here, they got us.

And extra evidence in the they got us department is that B-1B heavy bomber decapitation practice runs  out of Andersen Air Force Base in Guam  have been quietly suspended. This crucial, largely unreported fact in the air supersedes rhetoric from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Pentagon head James Mad Dog Mattis, who previous to Bannons exit were stressing strong military consequences if North Korea chooses wrongly.

Once again, its all about BRI

Now lets move to Afghanistan. Mad Dog Mattis once famously said it was fun to shoot Taliban fighters. Known unknowns Don Rumsfeld was more realistic; he moved out of Afghanistan (toward Iraq) because there were not enough good targets to bomb.

Anyone who spent time working/reporting on the Afghan Hindu Kush and the southwestern deserts knows why the proverbial theres no military solution applies. There are myriad reasons, starting with the profound, radicalized Afghan ethnic divide (roughly, 40% are mostly rural, tribal Pashtun, many recruited by the Taliban; almost 30% are Tajik, a great deal of them urban, literate and in government; more than 20% are Hazara Shiites; and 10% are Uzbek).

The bulk of Washingtons aid to Kabul throughout these past 16 years has been on the bombing, not the economy, front. Government corruption is cataclysmic. Warlords rule. The Taliban thrive because they offer local protection. Much to Pashtun ire, most of the army is Tajik. Tajik politicians are mostly close to India while most Pashtun favor Pakistan (after all, they have cousins on the other side of the Durand line; enter the dream of a future, reunited Pashtunistan).

On the GWOT (Global War on Terror) front, al-Qaeda would not even exist if the late Dr Zbig Grand Chessboard Brzezinski had not come up with the idea of a sprawling, well-weaponized private army of demented jihadis-cum-tribal Afghans fighting the communist government in Kabul during the 1980s. Add to this the myth that the Pentagon needs to be on the ground in Afghanistan to prevent jihadis from attacking America. Al-Qaeda is extinct in Afghanistan. And Daesh does not need territory to concoct/project its DIY jihad.

When the myth of the US in Afghanistan as a categorical imperative is exposed, that may unveil what this is all about: business.

And were not even talking about who really profits from large-scale opium/heroin trade.

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Two months ago the Afghan ambassador to Washington, Hamdullah Mohib, was breathlessly spinning how President Trump is keenly interested in Afghanistans economic potential, as in our estimated $1 trillion in copper, iron ore, rare-earth elements, aluminum, gold, silver, zinc, mercury and lithium. This led to the proverbial unnamed US officials telling Reuters last month that what Trump wants is for the US to demand some of that mineral wealth in exchange for assisting Kabul.

A US Geological Survey study a decade ago did identify potential Afghan mineral wealth  gold, silver, platinum, iron ore, uranium, zinc, tantalum, bauxite, coal, natural gas and copper  worth as much as US$1 trillion, with much spin dedicated to Afghanistan as the Saudi Arabia of lithium.

And the competition  once again, China  is already there, facing myriad infrastructure and red-tape problems, but concentrated on incorporating Afghanistan , long-term, into the New Silk Roads, aka Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), along with its security cooperation arm, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Its no secret the Russia-China strategic partnership wants an Afghan solution hatched by Afghans and supervised by the SCO (of which Afghanistan is an observer and future full member). So from the point of view of neocon/neoliberalcon elements of the War Party in Washington, Afghanistan only makes sense as a forward base to harass/stall/thwart BRI.

What Russia and China want for Afghanistan  yet another node in the process of Eurasia integration  is not much different from what Russia, China and South Korea want for North Korea: increased connectivity as in a future Trans-Korean Railway linked to the Trans-Siberian.

As for Washington and the proverbially bombastic, failed futurists across the Beltway, do they even know what is the end game of investing in two never-ending wars with no visible benefits?
The trial date of Brendt Christensen, who has been charged with abducting Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang, might be postponed, as more time is needed to prepare for his defense, said the suspects attorney.

According to China New Service, Tom Bruno, Christensens attorney, told local media that he plans to file an application to postpone the trial, which was scheduled on Sept. 12. Bruno accused the local government of not providing him with some crucial case-related documents, including forensic reports from the local government, adding that his team needs more time to collect materials and evidence regarding the case.

The local government has already offered Bruno over 1,000 pages of case reports on Aug. 12, reported Chinanews.com.

Christensens federal kidnapping trial, which has been set for Sept. 12 in Urbana, will be his fourth appearance in court regarding Zhangs case. He pleaded not guilty in July, and has not provided any information about Zhangs whereabouts. Law enforcement officials believe that Zhang is no longer alive.

A yellow ribbon campaign was launched on Aug. 22 at the University of Illinois in support of Zhang, during which Zhangs family was presented with replicas of the diaries that investigators took as evidence during the early part of the investigation. Zhangs family has also urged US President Donald Trump to provide more resources to help find her.
Freedom for the Speech We Hate: The Legal Ins and Outs of the Right to Protest

By John W. Whitehead

If there is any principle of the Constitution that more imperatively calls for attachment than any other, it is the principle of free thought  not free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the thought that we hate . Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes

August 24, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - There was a time in this country, back when the British were running things, that if you spoke your mind and it ticked off the wrong people, youd soon find yourself in jail for offending the king.

Reacting to this injustice, when it was time to write the Constitution, Americas founders argued for a Bill of Rights, of which the First Amendment protects the right to free speech. James Madison, the father of the Constitution, was very clear about the fact that he wrote the First Amendment to protect the minority against the majority .

What Madison meant by minority is offensive speech.

Unfortunately, we dont honor that principle as much as we should today. In fact, we seem to be witnessing a politically correct philosophy at play, one shared by both the extreme left and the extreme right, which aims to stifle all expression that doesnt fit within their parameters of what they consider to be acceptable speech.

There are all kinds of labels put on such speech its been called politically incorrect speech, hate speech, offensive speech, and so onbut really, the message being conveyed is that you dont have a right to express yourself if certain people or groups dont like or agree with what you are saying.

Hence, we have seen the caging of free speech in recent years, through the use of so-called free speech zones on college campuses and at political events, the requirement of speech permits in parks and community gatherings, and the policing of online forums.

Clearly, this elitist, monolithic mindset is at odds with everything America is supposed to stand for.

Indeed, we should be encouraging people to debate issues and air their views. Instead, by muzzling free speech, we are contributing to a growing underclass of Americansmany of whom have been labeled racists, rednecks and religious bigotswho are being told that they cant take part in American public life unless they fit in.

Remember, the First Amendment acts as a steam valve. It allows people to speak their minds, air their grievances and contribute to a larger dialogue that hopefully results in a more just world. When there is no steam valve to release the pressure, frustration builds, anger grows and people become more volatile and desperate to force a conversation.

The attempt to stifle certain forms of speech is where we go wrong.

In fact, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that it is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment... that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea offensive or disagreeable. For example, it is not a question of whether the Confederate flag represents racism but whether banning it leads to even greater problems, namely, the loss of freedom in general.

Along with the constitutional right to peacefully (and that means non-violently) assemble, the right to free speech allows us to challenge the government through protests and demonstrations and to attempt to change the world around usfor the better or the worsethrough protests and counterprotests.

As always, knowledge is key.

The following Constitutional Q&A, available in more detail at The Rutherford Institute ( www.rutherford.org ), is a good starting point.

Q: WHAT LAWS GIVE ME THE RIGHT TO PROTEST?

A: The First Amendment prohibits the government from  abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances . Protesting is an exercise of these constitutional rights because it involves speaking out, by individual people or those assembled in groups, about matters of public interest and concern.

Q: WHERE CAN I ENGAGE IN PROTEST ACTIVITY?

A: The right to protest generally extends to places that are owned and controlled by the government, although not all government-owned property is available for exercising speech and assembly rights. However, beyond public or government property, a person cannot claim a First Amendment right to protest and demonstrate on property that is privately owned by someone else. This also applies to private property that is generally open to the public, such as a shopping mall or shopping center , although these areas sometimes allow demonstrations and other free speech activity with permission from the owner. You are also entitled to engage in protest activities on land you own. The Supreme Court has ruled that the government may not forbid homeowners from posting signs on their property speaking out on a political or social issue .

Q: WHAT ARE MY RIGHTS TO PROTEST IN A TRADITIONAL PUBLIC FORUM?

A: Places historically associated with the free exercise of expressive activities, such as streets, sidewalks and parks, are traditional public forums and the governments power to limit speech and assembly in those places is very limited. The government may not impose an absolute ban on expression and assembly in traditional public forums except in circumstances where it is essential to serve a compelling government interest. However, expression and assembly in traditional public forums may be limited by reasonable time, place and manner regulations . Examples of reasonable regulations include restrictions on the volume of sound produced by the activity or a prohibition on impeding vehicle and pedestrian traffic . To be a valid time, place and manner regulation, the restriction must not have the effect of restricting speech based on its content and it must not be broader than needed to serve the interest of the government.

Q: CAN I PICKET AND/OR DISTRIBUTE LEAFLETS AND OTHER TYPES OF LITERATURE ON PUBLIC SIDEWALKS?

A: Yes, a sidewalk is considered a traditional public forum where you can engage in expressive activities, such a passing out literature or speaking out on a matter of public concern. In exercising that right, you must not block pedestrians or the entrances to buildings. You may not physically or maliciously detain someone in order to give them a leaflet, but you may approach them and offer it to them.

Q: CAN MY FREE SPEECH BE RESTRICTED BECAUSE OF WHAT I SAY, EVEN IF IT IS CONTROVERSIAL?

A: No, the First Amendment protects speech even if most people would find it offensive, hurtful or hateful . Speech generally cannot be banned based upon its content or viewpoint because it is not up to the government to determine what can and cannot be said. A bedrock principle of the First Amendment is that the government may not prohibit expression of an idea because society finds it offensive or disagreeable . Also, protest speech also cannot be banned because of a fear that others may react violently to the speech. Demonstrators cannot be punished or forbidden from speaking because they might offend a hostile mob. The Supreme Court has held that a hecklers veto has no place in First Amendment law .

Q: HOW DO THESE RIGHTS APPLY TO PUBLIC PLACES I TYPICALLY VISIT?

A: Your rights to speak out and protest in particular public places will depend on the use and purpose of the place involved. For example, the lobbies and offices of public buildings that are used by the government are generally not open for expressive activities because the purpose of these buildings is to carry out public business. Protesting would interfere with that purpose . Ironically, the meetings of a governmental body, such as a city council or town board, are not considered public forums open for protest activities because the purpose of the meeting is generally to address public business that is on the agenda. However, some government councils and boards set aside a time at the meeting when the public can voice their complaints .

The grounds of public colleges and universities are generally considered available for assembly and protest by students and other members of the institutions community. However, those who are not students, faculty or staff of the institution may be denied access to the campus for speech and protest activities under rules issued by the school.

Public elementary and secondary school grounds also are not considered places where persons can engage in assembly and protest. However, students at these schools do not lose their right to free speech when they enter the school. The First Amendment protects the right of students to engage in expressive acts of protest, such as wearing armbands to demonstrate opposition to a war, that are not disruptive to the school environment.

Q: DO I NEED A PERMIT IN ORDER TO CONDUCT A PROTEST?

A: As a general rule, no. A person is not required to obtain the consent or permission of the government before engaging in activities that are protected by the First Amendment. One of the main reasons for that constitutional provision was to forbid any requirement that citizens obtain a license in order to speak out. The government cannot require that individuals or small groups obtain a permit in order to speak or protest in a public forum.

However, if persons or organizations want to hold larger rallies and demonstrations, they may be required by local laws to obtain a permit. The Supreme Court has recognized that the government, in order to regulate competing uses of public forums , may impose a permit requirement on those wishing to hold a parade or rally. Government officials cannot simply prohibit a public assembly according to their discretion , but the government can impose restrictions on the time, place, and manner of peaceful assembly , provided that constitutional safeguards are met. Such time, place and manner restrictions can take the form of requirements to obtain a permit for an assembly.

Whether an assembly or demonstration requires a permit depends on the laws of the locality. A permit certainly is required for any parade because it would involve the use of the streets and interfere with vehicle traffic. A permit to hold an event in other public places typically is required if the gathering involves more than 50 persons or the use of amplification .

Q: DO COUNTER-DEMONSTRATORS HAVE FREE SPEECH RIGHTS?

A: Yes, they do. Just because counter-demonstrators oppose you and the viewpoint of your demonstration does not mean they have any less right to speak out and demonstrate. However, the same rules apply to counter-demonstrators as apply to the original assembly. The group cannot be violent and must assemble and protest in an appropriate place and manner.

Q: WHAT CAN'T I DO IN EXERCISING MY RIGHTS TO PROTEST?

A: The Supreme Court of the United States has held that the First Amendment protects the right to conduct a peaceful public assembly . The First Amendment does not provide the right to conduct a gathering at which there is a clear and present danger of riot, disorder, interference with traffic on public streets or other immediate threat to public safety. Laws that prohibit people from assembling and using force or violence to accomplish unlawful purposes are permissible under the First Amendment.

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Q: AM I ALLOWED TO CARRY A WEAPON OR FIREARM AT A DEMONSTRATION OR PROTEST?

A: Your right to have a weapon with you when you protest largely depends on what is allowed by state law and is unlikely to be protected by the First Amendments guarantee to freedom of speech. Not all conduct can be considered speech protected by the First Amendment even if the person engaging in the conduct intends to express an idea. Most courts have held that the act of openly carrying a weapon or firearm is not expression protected by the First Amendment.

The right to possess a firearm is protected by the Second Amendment , and all states allow carrying a concealed weapon in public , although most require a permit to do so. Some states allow persons to openly carry firearms in public. However, it is not yet settled whether the Second Amendment guarantees the right to possess a firearm in public. Thus, the right to carry a firearm at a demonstration or protest is a matter that depends on what is allowed under state law. Carrying other weapons, such as stun guns, which are not firearms also is subject to restrictions imposed by state law . Possession of weapons also may be prohibited in certain places where demonstrations might take place, such as a national park.

Even if possession of weapons is allowed, their presence at demonstrations and rallies can be intimidating and provocative and does not help in achieving a civil and peaceful discourse on issues of public interest and concern. Demonstrations often relate to issues raising strong feelings among competing groups, and the presence of counter-demonstrators makes conflict likely. In these situations, where the purpose of the gathering is to engage in speech activities, firearms and other weapons are threatening, result in the suppression of speech and are contrary to the purpose of the First Amendment to allow all voices to be heard on matters of public importance.

Q: WHAT CANT THE POLICE DO IN RESPONDING TO PROTESTERS?

A: In recent history, challenges to the right to protest have come in many forms. In some cases, police have cracked down on demonstrations by declaring them unlawful assemblies or through mass arrests, illegal use of force or curfews. Elsewhere, expression is limited by corralling protesters into so-called  free-speech zones . New surveillance technologies are increasingly turned on innocent people, collecting information on their activities by virtue of their association with or proximity to a given protest. Even without active obstruction of the right to protest, police-inspired intimidation and fear can chill expressive activity and result in self-censorship. All of these things violate the First Amendment and are things the police cannot do to censor free speech. Unless the assembly is violent or violence is clearly imminent, the police have limited authority under the law to shut down protesters.

Clearly, as evidenced by the recent tensions in Charlottesville, Va. , were at a crossroads concerning the constitutional right to free speech.

As Benjamin Franklin warned,  Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech .

It must be emphasized that it was for the sake of preserving individuality and independence that James Madison, the author of the Bill of Rights, fought for a First Amendment that protected the minority against the majority, ensuring that even in the face of overwhelming pressure, a minority of oneeven one who espouses distasteful viewpointswould still have the right to speak freely, pray freely, assemble freely, challenge the government freely, and broadcast his views in the press freely.

This freedom for those in the unpopular minority constitutes the ultimate tolerance in a free society. Conversely, as I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People , when we fail to abide by Madisons dictates about greater tolerance for all viewpoints, no matter how distasteful, the end result is always the same: an indoctrinated, infantilized citizenry that marches in lockstep with the governmental regime.

Some of this past centurys greatest dystopian literature shows what happens when the populace is transformed into mindless automatons. For instance, in George Orwells 1984, Big Brother does away with all undesirable and unnecessary words and meanings, even going so far as to routinely rewrite history and punish thoughtcrimes.

Where we stand now is at the juncture of OldSpeak (where words have meanings, and ideas can be dangerous) and Newspeak (where only that which is safe and accepted by the majority is permitted). The power elite has made their intentions clear: they will pursue and prosecute any and all words, thoughts and expressions that challenge their authority.

This is the final link in the police state chain.

If ever there were a time for us to stand up for the right to speak freely, even if its freedom for speech we hate, the time is now.
A Military Junta is Now Ruling the United States



Notes On The Junta, An Unnecessary Land-Corridor And A Regular Russian Maneuver



By Moon Of Alabama August 24, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - According to a 1950s political theory The Structure of Power in American Society is mainly built on three elite groups, the high military, the corporation executives and the political directorate. (The "political directorate" can best be described as the bureaucracy, the CIA and their proxies within Congress.) On election day I noted that only the military had supported The Not-Hillary President . The corporate and executive corners of the triangle had pushed for Hillary Clinton and continued to do so even after Trump had won. (Only recently did the "collusion with Russia" nonsense suddenly die down.) I wrote: The military will demand its due beyond the three generals now in Trump's cabinet. That turned out to be right. A military junta is now ruling the United States: Inside the White House, meanwhile, generals manage Trumps hour-by-hour interactions and whisper in his ear  and those whispers, as with the decision this week to expand U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, often become policy. At the core of Trumps circle is a seasoned trio of generals with experience as battlefield commanders: White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and national security adviser H.R. McMaster. The three men have carefully cultivated personal relationships with the president and gained his trust.

...

Kelly, Mattis and McMaster are not the only military figures serving at high levels in the Trump administration. CIA Director Mike Pompeo, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke each served in various branches of the military, and Trump recently tapped former Army general Mark S. Inch to lead the Federal Bureau of Prisons. [...] the National Security Council [..] counts two other generals on the senior staff. With the firing of the renegade Flynn and various other Trump advisors, the Junta has already removed all independent voices in the White House. It is now attaching more control wires to its "salesperson" marionette: The new system, laid out in two memos co-authored by [General] Kelly and Porter and distributed to Cabinet members and White House staffers in recent days, is designed to ensure that the president wont see any external policy documents, internal policy memos, agency reports, and even news articles that havent been vetted. Trump has a weakness for the military since he attended a New York military academy during his youth. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Your Free Daily Newsletter But he does not like to be controlled. I expect him to revolt one day. He will then find that it is too late and that he is actually powerless. --- The Zionist propaganda is claiming that Iran is taking over Syria and that its sole concern is to create a land-corridor between Iran and Lebanon. The AP is now reporting this myth as if it were fact. The argument the AP writers make is illogical and fails: The land-route would be the biggest prize yet for Iran in its involvement in Syria's six-year-old civil war. [...] It would facilitate movement of Iranian-backed fighters between Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon as well as the flow of weapons to Damascus and Lebanon's Hezbollah, Iran's main proxy group. That landline would facilitate something that, according to further AP "reporting", has already been achieved without it: The route is largely being carved out by Iran's allies and proxies, a mix of forces including troops of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Hezbollah fighters and Shiite militias on both sides of the border aiming to link up. Iran also has forces of its own Revolutionary Guard directly involved in the campaign on the Syrian side. So, apparently, Iran needs a land corridor to move weapons and fighters to Syria and Lebanon. To open that currently closed-off land corridor it has moved weapons and fighters to Syria and Lebanon. Somehow that argument is not convincing at all. --- The usual NATO propaganda outlets are retching up fear over an upcoming Russian maneuver: Russia is preparing to mount what could be one of its biggest military exercises since the cold war, a display of power that will be watched warily by Nato against a backdrop of east-west tensions. Western officials and analysts estimate up to 100,000 military personnel and logistical support could participate in the Zapad (West) 17 exercise, which will take place next month in Belarus, Kaliningrad and Russia itself. It follows a lot of speculation and obvious bullshit. In reality Zaphad is a series of smaller maneuvers taking place over some six month. It includes local police and civil defense agencies which lets the numbers look big. Each year such maneuvers take place in one of the four military districts of Russia. The number of soldiers at the core of the exercise will amount to about a division size force of 13,000-15,000 troops. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is unusual with that maneuver but the NATO propaganda attempts to make it look like an imminent Russian invasion of western Europe. This article was first published by Moon Of Alabama - In case you missed it - T he Plot To Seize The White House
Home No Wonder US Forces in Morale Crisis By Finian Cunningham August 24, 2017 " Information Clearing House " -The spate of deadly US Navy collisions is a symptom of a wider morale crisis among American military forces. Part of the reason is that American troops are simply exhausted from being abused by political masters in Washington. Over-stretch is one way of putting it. American forces continue to be assigned in overseas wars and operations around the globe with no end in sight. And for no credible purpose either. This is not just a Navy problem. It affects all other branches of the US military: Army, Air Force, the Marines and National Guard. When President Donald Trump announced his brazen U-turn sending more American troops back to Afghanistan, the move had the backing of the Pentagons top brass. No doubt stock prices for US arms manufacturers spiked. But what about ordinary American soldiers? One can imagine renewed Afghan missions are not welcome, given that the US has been fighting its longest war  16 years  in that country known as the "Graveyard of Empires." Any army is only as good as the morale among soldiers. Morale depends on having a respected leadership and a credible just cause. In Americas case, there are neither of these attributes, therefore it is no surprise that morale diminishes, as does fighting effectiveness. Look at the appalling record of US military defeats or failures. The fatal collision of a US Navy guided-missile destroyer this week with an oil tanker near Singapore  in which 10 missing American crew are feared dead  was the fourth major accident involving the Pacific 7th Fleet this year alone. The admiral of the fleet has been dismissed from his command post. Several military commentators are pointing to low morale among rank-and-file Navy members, from being forced to spend longer periods at sea on deployment, with little training and demanding work hours. As a report in military.com noted: "Operational demand around the globe means less time at home for rest and training; crews are therefore operating with greater stress and exhaustion levels." The report quotes Congressman Rob Wittman, of the House Armed Services Committee, saying: "I believe that there are even more basic causes for this systematic operational failure of our fleet including a demanding operational tempo, limited training opportunities and inadequate funding to support basic needs." But heres the paramount issue that is not mentioned. Why are US forces being increasingly despatched to Asia-Pacific? Of course, it is to do with US imperial objectives of confronting China over its alleged expanding influence in that region. The ramped-up tensions with North Korea are also connected to the US aim of curtailing China. When we say the "US aim" we mean precisely the ruling class and their imperial designs. What ordinary Americans get out of this strategic "Asian Pivot" is far from certain. Combine dubious mission with dubious leadership, long months away from home under wearying conditions, and is it any wonder that morale of crew members sinks? The problem is much bigger than the US Navy and the Asia-Pacific. The American military must be the most internally conflicted force there is. The surge in wars ever since the September 11 terror incidents in 2001 was supposed to be about "defeating terrorism." All too often, however, that official purpose has been distorted to serve ulterior objectives, such as regime change. How must American troops, navy and air men feel when they realize that their own commanders and intelligence agencies are supporting the same terrorists that the rank-and-file soldiers are supposed to be combating? American troops no doubt know whats going down on the ground. They will know that the Pentagon and CIA are arming and training terrorist death squads in Syria, Iraq, and, yes, Afghanistan. Russias foreign ministry reported this month that foreign jihadist fighters are being flown by unidentified helicopters to various parts of Afghanistan. Some Taliban units have been identified driving US Humvee military vehicles. This covert duplicity all sounds like a repeat of Americas dirty wars in Syria and Iraq, where thousands of American troops were killed or maimed for life. Over the past century, American forces have been involved in dozens of wars around the world. A case can be made that the First and Second World Wars were a just cause for the Americans. But all the other conflicts have been simply wars of aggression, carried out for some ulterior nefarious purpose. The official pretexts for these wars are always shown eventually to be fraudulent, whether it was fighting Soviet expansionism as in Korea and Vietnam, or fighting terrorism as in Iraq and Afghanistan. Or, the biggest fraud of all, to protect human rights as in Libya and Syria. The history of crimes and lies is catching up with American imperialism. Its never-ending need for wars around the world is no longer tenable. The US is not pursuing some noble crusade. It never has been. It is a warmongering state that is addicted to wars of conquest in order to satisfy the economic lust of its elites. Its easy for armchair generals like Donald Trump and his Joint Chiefs of Staff to threaten nuclear war against North Korea. But nobody of a sane mind could possibly accept this criminal recklessness. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Your Free Daily Newsletter In a recent media commentary , a former US nuclear missile launch officer, Bruce Blair, said that no-one among serving officers believes that Trump has any right to launch a pre-emptive strike on North Korea. Nuking another country just because it seeks to acquire nuclear weapons enjoys virtually zero support from US nuclear troops, wrote the former missile launch officer. The inference is that there is widespread distrust of the American leadership and its motives. That again leads back to the issue of morale crisis among Americas military forces, across all sectors. A military force is only capable if it has the will to fight a clearly identified enemy, whom it views as a threat to their country and compatriots. For decades the American military has been abused with official lies and debased to conduct heinous crimes against humanity. But increasingly it seems the only enemy the US armed forces are up against are the rulers in Washington, with their imperialist schemes of world domination. More than 80 years ago, the most decorated American soldier, Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler (1881-1940), came to the stark conclusion that "war is a racket"  at least American wars are. Butler described his 34 years of service fighting wars in the Philippines, South America, the Caribbean, and China as being "a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism." One might conjecture that this realization is dawning on more and more serving US personnel. Their operations, sacrifices and violence against others is not for any just cause. This realization inevitably leads to flagging morale among ordinary servicemen, whether they are riding in a Humvee in the Middle East, installing missile systems in NATO countries on Russias border, or sailing ships that threaten nuclear war with North Korea and China. Sooner or later, the lousy paycheck and missing family at home no longer makes sense or morality. To hell with it, as Smedley Butler declared. Finian Cunningham has written extensively on international affairs, with articles published in several languages. He is a Masters graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a scientific editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a career in newspaper journalism. He is also a musician and songwriter. For nearly 20 years, he worked as an editor and writer in major news media organisations, including The Mirror, Irish Times and Independent This article was first published by Sputnik - Search Information Clearing House === Click Here To Support Information Clearing House Your support has kept ICH free on the Web since 2002. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load. What's your response? - Scroll down to add / read comments Please read our Comment Policy before posting - It is unacceptable to slander, smear or engage in personal attacks on authors of articles posted on ICH. Those engaging in that behavior will be banned from the comment section. Click here to comment on our Facebook page
Pentagon Makes a 20-year Plan, While Washington Outsources Its Color Revolution

By Scott Humor & Kulak

August 24, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Trumps new commitment to continue the war in Afghanistan comes as a shock, after all the Americans had voted to stop Washingtons wars around the world. As a punishment, they are being treated to an artificially created civil conflict, while the deep state continues to use the US infrastructure, financial and human capital and military to pursue its doctrine of perpetual war.

Reading from the teleprompter, Trump not only unveiled plans for open-end war, he also promised to stop revealing any future US plans.

It makes sense to look at the plans they have revealed so far to see what to expect. After all, we all have witnessed working of the plan revealed by the general Wesley Clark in 2007 to take out seven countries in five years.

In August 2012, TRISA-Threats published  Operational Environments to 2028: The Strategic Environment for Unified Land Operations. In this publication, TRADOC G-2 identified potentially contentious OEs and missions the US Army could face, including the OEs of Iran, China, Yemen, North Korea, Pakistan, and Nigeria as possible environments.

For those who dont know this yet, Operational Environments are countries that the US bombs and invades.

THE TRADOC mentioned here is the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command. TRISA is Tradoc Intelligence Support Activity.

Keep in mind, this 20-year plan written in 2012 prior to the mass migration from Africa and the Middle East to Europe, but it speaks of the European economic and societal collapse by the year of 2028. This plan also speaks of Ukraine becoming a NATO member, even so it was written prior to the Maidan color revolution and the war in Ukraine. Also, this plan was written prior to the North Korea obtaining the Soviet ICBM technologies from Ukraine, but it names North Korea as Operational Environment, or, in plain English, a war zone.

Reading this remarkable document should enlighten you on predetermined nature of the US wars, engagements, lead from behind actions, and all the activities in support for human rights. For the Europeans to blame Muslims in an ongoing migrant crisis is like blaming cattle for running over their fields, and ignoring cowboys driving and steering their herd from behind.

According to this plan, the most crucial event of 2016 wasnt Hilary Clinton losing the elections and Donald Trump winning. The most important event was the Indian government signing the logistics support and communication interoperability agreements that the U.S. has lobbied intensively for since 2005, but the Indian government had been refusing to sign because it will nullify Indias independent security stance, interfere with Indias easy access to Iranian energy supplies, jeopardize Indian partner status in the Silk Road projects among other things.

Newly elected Indian government threw caution to the wind, and signed the LEMOA agreement in April 2016. LEMOA stands for Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA), an India-specific version of the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA). The three agreements  Logistics Support Agreement (LSA), Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation (BECA) are referred to as the foundational agreements which the U.S. signs with countries with which it has close military ties.

The agreement permits American aircraft and warships to access Indian military bases for refuelling, repair and other logistical purposes.

This agreement gives the US military a legal foothold in Eurasia. Something they have never had before.

Sure enough, soon after the events started coming like bananas. To name a few:

Uncontrolled growth of the US personnel and equipment in Afghanistan Naming Pakistan a threat to the US. Skirmishes between India and Pakistan, in which the US takes Indias side. This hostilities were most likely initiated by the US SOF dressed as corresponding militaries. Skirmishes between India and China, in which the US takes Indias side. Most likely initiated by the US SOF. Transfer to Korea ICBM technologies from Ukraine by the SBU under a full control of the C.I.A. The attempts to initiate a war on North Korea.

So far, the US attempts failed because Russian fleet positioned itself between the N. Korean coast and the US 7th Fleet, and the Russian battleships were ready to intercept anything flying from the US ships towards N. Korea.

However, this Russias strategy wont work if war is initiated by the South Korea, or by the US special forces dressed as South Koreans or Chinese troops.

7. Ongoing war on Yemen.

8. The US has lost the war on Syria, but they plan to transfer their surviving proxy troops into Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan and India.

9. Blockade of Qatar.

10. Blaming Russia for supplying arms to Taliban, to make Russia and Afghan government cooperation impossible.

11. Blaming Russia for supplying North Korea with ICBM technologies, which has been written into plan in 2012.

North Korean spies were arrested in Ukraine in 2011 for trying to obtain these technologies. The arrests and convictions were made by the Ukrainian security services when Yanukovich still was a president. After the Maidan putsch, SBU raided the RD-250 rocket engines manufacturer and seized all its technological documents.

12.Operational Environments to 2028 names Azerbaijan as one of the future war zones.

13. As a pretext for war, Pentagon planed in 2012 to blame Pakistan for WMD proliferation, direct threat to the Homeland, terrorist organizations, and regional tensions with India.

14. The plan also predicts the Cold War with China and a proxy military conflict using Indias military and the US SOF and proxies acting from Afghanistan.

It is unlikely that the U.S. will face China in armed conflict over the forecast period. However, Chinas military strength and technological prowess will manifest beyond its borders in other ways that will significantly impact the U.S. Army. A mercantilist version of the Cold War is a potential outcome from Chinas rise.

15. Chinas cooperation with North Korea, Sudan, Iran, Burma, Venezuela, and others contributes significantly to the proliferation of anti-access capabilities that will threaten the ability of the U.S. Army to deploy and sustain in key regions of the world. In human language, defense cooperation between countries threatened the US capability to attack and destroy those countries.

16.In 2012, the US didnt see Germany and the EU among four most powerful, economies: the US, China, India and Japan. An indication that back in 2012, there were already plans to destroy the economies of the EU and Germany.

17. The US keeps undertaking steps to minimize perceptions of American military occupation.

18. In 2012 Pentagon also planned in relations to Russia to trigger a war between Russia and China:

Russia is also facing a general decline in military capabilities and is struggling to fund and implement a sweeping set of military reforms that would slash the size of ineffective reserve forces, stockpiles of antiquated equipment, a bloated officer corps, and military bureaucracy, while simultaneously transforming the armed forces into a professional force with modern weapons, doctrine, and enhanced readiness. Russian military doctrine is still focused on the core mission of a large Asian land war, with China.

19. In 2012 Pentagon planned that post-2020, after Putin leaves by their estimates, NATO will be able to start an occupation of Russia.

Future deterioration in Russias security environment could eventually (post-2020) lead to increased dialogue and mil-mil relations with Russia, potentially leading to combined training or small-scale combined operations with Russian ground forces in the Arctic, the Caucasus, or Central Asia.

In the US terms combined operations is something only possible under the conditions of NATO invasion.

20. The true reason why the US funded NGO continue aiding to the migrant flow in Europe and why the US interfering with the energy security of the European countries: to create conditions for military intervention in Europe.

There are no likely scenarios requiring a U.S. limited intervention over the next decade. Later in the forecast period (2025-2030) there is a possibility that population declines and continuing financial weakness will seriously erode social and economic conditions in some European states, leading to widespread collapse in civil order, failure of national governments, or humanitarian crises due to natural disasters that weakened states are unable to contend with. 

21. IRREGULAR WARFARE in and against Russia

U.S. Army involvement in irregular warfare in the Europe/Russia region during the forecast period appears unlikely.  One exception that could arise late in the forecast period would involve a request by a weakened Russia for NATO assistance to stabilize key oil producing regions upon which Europe depends.

As of now, the US is conducting an irregular war against Ukraine for three years, and it will go on in perpetuity.

One last thing stated in the 20-year plan is the CULTURAL PERCEPTION OF TIME.

Western cultures tend to have a view of time that is concrete and short-term, whereas Eastern cultures are more likely to focus on the long term and make decisions accordingly.

If one party is working from a five-year plan and its opponent is working from a twenty-year plan, the first party will find itself at a distinct disadvantage.

If the opponent sees time in terms of centuries, then the first has already lost. Unless the first party achieves total control through either annihilation or conquest and assimilation, its opponent will simply wait until the opportune timebe that ten, fifty, or two hundred years laterand then reassert itself.

According to this plan by 2018 we should expect wars in Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and Iraq and Libya to continue as launch pads for the wars in Iran, China, Korean Peninsula, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, and Nigeria. War on China has started using India as a proxy, and later by the US will interfere directly or via proxies in Afghanistan.

Ongoing collapse of the European economies with the US acting as a stabilizing military force against civil disobedience.

Russias economy being weakened by the devastation of its trading partners in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

The end of the doctrine of nation building means that the regions devastated by the US will be maintained in a state of devastation in perpetuity to promote collapse of neighboring countries.

I wonder whats in their 100-year plan?

India fighting America's war .. the price will be very heavy. We've been through that https://t.co/wvGUlA0uEy   (@Staaplaarr) August 23, 2017

Donald Trump tells @narendramodi to send 15000 Indian soldiers to #Afghanistan to fight against AlQaeda that were created & armed by USA  Nardeep Pujji (@AWAKEALERT) August 23, 2017

Scott Humor

Director of Research and Development

author of The enemy of the State

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In case you have forgotten what happened in Ukraine, this book should refresh your memory with the incredibly precise and humorous chronicles: ANTHOLOGY OF RUSSIAN HUMOR: FROM MAIDAN TO TRUMP

Outsourcing the color revolution

by the Kulak

If the ideology of globalism is synonymous with globalization which includes outsourcing, one of the increasingly overt signs of globalist information operations is outsourcing to foreigners the task of questioning the loyalties of and smearing Americans. We see this in the highly publicized Hamilton68 project of the German Marshall Fund , which began as an Atlanticist think tank in Germany during the Cold War and has now expanded its remit after the alleged Russian attack on American democracy, to calling Americans tweeting that they want National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster fired dupes of the Kremlin. Yet the GMF is a foreign funded think tank which, like the Atlantic Council, receives money from foreign governments .

Hamilton68 is the work of Clint Watts, a former FBI agent who advocated for the Syria jihadists at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI), a neocon think tank in Philadelphia. Mr. Watts testified before a Senate panel on claims of Russian interference in the 2016 election, claiming without any proof that Russian bots had influenced then Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and the candidate himself. The Hamilton68 project is also joined by J.M. Berger, a former expert at the Brookings Institute, whose holy grail project is to link domestic right wing militia extremists to the Russians, and Andrew Aaron Weisburd, an IT worker and former Internet Haganah Hasbara troll based in Carbondale, Illinois. The group also lists Jonathon Morgan, an Austin, Texas based data professional whose New Knowledge project pushes the same themes of Russians allegedly backing the alt-right or far right in the U.S., but does not disclose its funders. Mr. Morgan does appear to work with the New America Foundation, a Washington D.C. think tank funded by globalist billionaires Bill and Melinda Gates and Pete G. Peterson via their family foundations . The NAFs chairman of the board is former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Google received its start up capital from the CIAs venture arm In-Q-Tel and as Wikileaks Julian Assange has documented, Mr. Schmidt and Googles in house think tank worked closely with the Obama State Department to gather intelligence around the world and promote the Arab Spring .

The Alliance for Securing Democracy initiative launched in July 2017 by the GMF lists former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul and several hardline neocons and Russophobes among its board of advisers . Michael Morrell, the former deputy CIA director who called for killing Russians and Iranians in Syria on the Charlie Rose Show and who has labeled Donald Trump an unwitting Russian agent, is among the advisory signatories to the Alliance for Securing Democracy, as is anti-Trump former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves. It should be noted here that the Estonian security services were the alleged source of a report that Trump attorney Michael Cohen had met with members or agents of the Russian security services in Prague, Czechia prior to the election. That report turned out to be completely false , and begs the question of whether Mr. Ilves former security services chiefs had anything to do with spreading the falsehood via the Steele dossier, in order to defame Trump over his campaign promise to get along with Russia.

While citing RT or Sputnik as sources, Hamilton 68 dashboard refuses to disclose the names of 600 alleged accounts acting to amplify Russian influence online. This lack of transparency has been faulted by even the anti-Kremlin media organization Meduza, in an article by long time Russia watcher Kevin Rothrock . The real reason why Hamilton68 likely refuses to name the names of supposed Russian dupes or agents of influence in America is because its less slick predecessor, the anonymous PropOrNot trolling project touted after the election in The Washington Post, prompted the threat of a libel lawsuit by Naked Capitalisms publisher Yves Smith against the WaPost . The Jeff Bezos Amazon CEO owned newspaper eventually had to issue a quasi-retraction, saying it could not vouch for PropOrNots claims that numerous alt and new media sites including the massively trafficked Drudge Report advanced Russian propaganda . Clearly Hamilton 68s GMF backers do not wish to be sued or deposed as to who has been funding their effort, in the same way dirty Trump dossier and ex-MI6 agent Christopher Steele has been brought into British and American courts for libel suits.

When Americans tweeted about the hypocrisy of politicians like Sen. John McCain denouncing neo-Nazis rallying in Charlottesville while ignoring Ukro-Nazi violence and overt use of Hitlerian symbols like the 2nd SS Das Reich divisions wolsfangel in Ukraine, the Atlantic Council responded with whataboutism . Rather than defend Kievs Azov Battalion or the Svoboda Party leaders McCain and then Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland hobnobbed with, Atlantic Council writer Donara Barojan attacked the messengers, pushing the alt-right equals Russian agents line Hamilton 68 and The Washington Post routinely promote . Ms. Barojan is of course, not an American citizen, but appears from her LinkedIn CV to be Lithuanian. What qualifies her to label American citizens like Infowars host Alex Jones as Russian dupes, label Twitter competitor Gab.ai an alt right echo chamber , or promote tweets labeling the recently ousted counselor to the president Steve Bannon as somehow sympathetic to neo-Nazis Bannon denounced as losers is not clear. Ms. Barojan is joined in the byline of the piece by Ben Nimmo, a former member of NATOs press office after several years at Germanys DPA . Mr. Nimmos best Internet claim to fame appears to be attacking the Russia wants war, look how close they put their country to our bases meme.

What is clear is that Ms. Barojan is one of many European think tankers and EU propagandists like the EU Stratcom task forces Jakub Kalensky or KremlinWatch program director Jakub Janda, who routinely attack President Donald Trump and his supporters on Twitter as Russian assets. Bellingcats Eliot Higgins, a British citizen funded by Google and the Atlantic Council, also uses his Twitter feed to label Trump and his supporters as vile racists.

Why should any of this matter? Because the Atlantic Council already receives U.S. and NATO government funding, and with the recently passed Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act sponsored by Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) theyre all likely to receive more of your tax payer dollars to say how much they hate you and your president, Mr. Trump voting American. While the U.S. government produced Cold War propaganda and paid off reporters to advance it during the Operation Mockingbird era of the 1950s through 70s, never before in American history have so many deplorable Americans paid with their tax dollars to be insulted as useful idiots for the Kremlin.

While Hamilton68 does not name the full 600 accounts it claims to monitor for Kremlin disinformation, that hasnt stopped mainstream media outlets Reuters and National Public Radio from uncritically reporting its findings . The problem of U.S. taxpayer funding for anti-Russian and anti-Trump agitprop abroad into groups like the German Marshall Fund, Bellingcat coming back home into globalist and Democratic Party linked G-NGOs like the Atlantic Council and New America Foundation is one few Trump supporters seem to be aware of. However, with the EU Stratcom task force having already attacked Breitbart and the Steve Bannon led conservative populist magazine being a frequent target of the fighting Russian disinformation crowd, it seems likely that the former counselor to the president Mr. Bannon will become all too aware that his globalist adversaries arent exactly hiding their agendas to shut him up behind a Cold War 2 veneer in short order.

the Kulak

The Essential Saker: from the trenches of the emerging multipolar world $27.95
President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to throw in the towel as his illness has made it impossible for him to lead the country.

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has begged President Muhammadu Buhari to resign and go home for a good rest. The Governor said he still stands by all he said about President Buhari on his ill health and has no apologies.

Speaking on Wednesday in Ado Ekiti, the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Partys Governors Forum advised the president to stop deceiving Nigerians as the truth cannot be hidden forever.

He said, If not for our efforts, Buhari wouldnt have returned now. Buhari is sick and tired and even his physical appearance betrayed this and he needs to go home and rest.

Today, they have cancelled the Federal Executive Council meeting. You cannot hide the truth forever, it will reveal itself someday. You cannot continue to deceive Nigerians.

Every word that has come out of my mouth, I have no apology for them. President Buhari was indeed in a coma and one of those who visited him said his recovery is a miracle. That shows that he was indeed very sick. Let Buhari go back to Daura and rest, dont send him to an early grave.

Fayose, however, denied reports on social media that he vowed to commit suicide if the president came back alive from his medical vacation to the United Kingdom.

He attributed the rumour to the work of miscreants spreading misleading reports about him in the social media.

How can I commit suicide because of an old man? Such are from miscreants on the social media. Let me tell you expressly, why would I commit suicide? I cannot commit suicide because of my mother. Even if they are burying my mother now, I will cleverly stay away from the grave so that I wont fall into it. I cant commit suicide because of Buhari. I never said that and will never make such statement.

Fayose said pressure from him and civil society groups, including Resume or Resign Movement, was responsible for the forced return of the president to Nigeria.

The pressure from me and many other Nigerians made the president return home. They have been treating this matter under the table forgetting that the life of a president is an open book that can be read by everybody and anybody.

Not until civil societies and people like us started making noise. You cant be our president without us knowing what is happening to you.

For me, the president went to a coma on July 6. Today, they can come back and organise rallies and all that attested to the fact that the President recovered by a miracle which we are glad about.

We are happy that he is back. But when you look at the President physically, you will see that he is emaciated, tired and weak. You dont have to be president at all cost when you are tired, you go home.

I stand by all I have said about the President. We are glad he is back but dont over-flog him. I am not a sycophant and I stand to speak for Nigeria. Somebody must be able to speak on behalf of the poor masses. This was how they deceived us during the time of YarAdua.

I am not a hypocrite and I will never be one. This country deserves a very healthy person. Office of the president is not for a sick man. The president is tired and should be allowed to resign and go and rest. 

The governor also took a swipe at those saying Buhari was old enough to be his father.

Buhari is not old enough to be my father. My mother is older than Buhari, not to even talk about my father, he can only be my uncle. I am close to 60.

Asked if he would honour the invitation if invited to see the president, the governor said that could be misinterpreted, adding that he would prefer to watch from a distance.

I cannot go and greet the president if invited and the reason is that such action would be misinterpreted to be something else. So, it is good for me to wish him well from a distance and be able to tell Nigerians the truth.

I dont want to talk about 2019, but I want to tell you that Nigeria needs a president that is agile and strong. The job is too much for an individual that does not have what it takes.

We wish him well and we want him to recover but the President should throw in the towel, resign and go home.

They said he would come back and resume in his office, he resumed in his office, they said rats have taken over his office. Now, they said he is working from home, tomorrow, they would say he is coming from the bedroom. All these stories are ending up in a make-belief.
A 72-year-old woman simply identified as Victoria has alleged that two herdsmen attacked and raped her at her farm in Ore, Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State.

The incident which happened recently, sparked a protest in the state yesterday, with residents calling for the immediate apprehension and prosecution of the suspected herdsmen.

The victim who narrated her ordeal to the protesters, said she was working on her farm when two herdsmen came in, overpowered her, tore her clothes and had sex with her. According to her, they threatened to kill her if she made noise while they took turns to rape her.

The protesters called on the state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, to as a matter of urgency, address the menace being caused by the herdsmen in the state. The leader of the protest, Oluwatuyi Adekanmbi, said herdsmen invade peoples farm, destroy their crops and also attack the owners of the farm. According to Adekanmbi,only recently, a farmer, Orimisan Omowole, was murdered on his farm in the Odigbo area and his heart was removed and placed on his chest by his attackers.

Source: Naijaloaded
Members of the Kaduna State Traffic Law Enforcement Agency (KASTELEA) on Wednesday barely escaped mob action after they reportedly caused an accident in Kaduna state.

One of the motorcycles was burnt to ashes at the Katsina Road Round by the irate mob, acording to New Nigerian.

An eye witness who spoke at the scene of the incident said; Some KASTELEA officials were chasing a commercial tricycle popularly called Keke Napep before the Round -About and as the Keke NAPEP man was trying to negotiate the Round -About, he fell down and two of the passengers legs got broken and they were been carried away to the hospital by the officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps, he said.

He explained further that, after the accident, the KASTELEA officials were trying to escape with their motorcycle and the youth around pursued them and started beating them and they all escaped from the scene of the accident and the youth burnt their motorbike in anger.

It was gathered that less than an hour after the incident, top officials of the agency re-enforced to the scene to ascertain what truly happened and to know the level of the causality at the scene.

Speaking to newsmen, Simon Bivan, Corps Marshal Assistant of the KASTLEA said: it is a pity that our officials are now target of the hoodlums in the course of carrying out their social responsibility.

Although one of the affected officials of the agency who also spoke to our reporter said: We discovered an accident after a Keke Napep carrying passengers drove wrongly, which led to the accident, and we rushed down to the scene to rescue the victims and somebody from no where came to attack us and later youth gathered and resulted to burning our motorcycle to ashes.
Four days ago, we gave you an update on the murder of 8-year-old Miss Chikamso Victory by a 23-year-old undergraduate of the University of Port-Harcourt, (UNIPORT) Maxwell Ifeanyi Chukwu Dike.

We told you that the devil-minded 200 level student was trying to dump the body of late Chikamso when he was apprehended by local vigilantes in the early hours of Saturday, August 19, St Messiah Street, Eliozu, Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital. He abducted the child, who was his neighbour, raped her and after killing her, he removed her vagina, eyes, tongue and breasts.

Heres another update, Investigation into Chikamsos murder took a different twist this morning, as the man who allegedly asked Dike, who is currently on the run, to get human body parts so they can use it for money ritual, was apprehended by officers of the Rivers state police command this morning.

In an interview with Channels TV this morning, heres what the state commissioner of Police, Zaki Ahmed, disclosed.

Im delighted to inform you that the second suspect who the principal suspect alleged asked him to get those parts has been arrested this morning (Thursday). There are two of them. The principal suspect when he was arrested, he confessed to committing the crime and he mentioned that someone asked him to get some parts of a human being for them to make money. So that person has been arrested this morning. I strongly suspect that this person we have arrested is involved in the crime. The boy gave his name and gave his number and he mentioned that this is the person who asked him to get these human parts that they are going to make money he said

After being arrested by police, Ifeanyi Dike escaped from detention on Sunday night. The police boss said his men are working towards getting him rearrested.

There has been prostests in the city of Port-Harcourt over his escape, with people literally fingering the police
Read the short letter posted by Chidi Mokeme, an Anambra native below:

MR PRESIDENT YOU ARE RIGHT ABOUT THE UNITY OF NIGERIA BUT. My major concern about Mr Presidents speech is the dictatorial tone applied, negating your fatherly factor and the concerns of dissenting voices in a democracy, especially as it relates to the restructuring of Nigeria.

These dissenting voices in my estimation does not include IPOB. Mr President I agree with you that it is good to keep Nigeria united. But to say that the type of unity we currently have is nonnegotiable smacks of dictatorship.

In case you have forgotten the so called unity was actually discussed by our fathers and the terms of unity Nigerians wanted was agreed upon. But the military boys came in with violent disorder and destroyed what was negotiated prior to independence and in 1963, and gave us what you now describe as nonnegotiable, called 1999 constitution.

What the military led by one man gave us is unanimity and not unity. They took away the content of what was negotiated that was supposed to be nonnegotiable and gave us inequality, stifled systems that undermines Nigerias progress, development and prosperity. Indeed our fathers had a detailed discussion and negotiation with the British in the 50s about the kind of union that was acceptable us.

They all agreed on real federalism whereby each zone maintained its own economy, peculiar political structure and institutions. These included resource control, regional/state police and prisons and many other creative structures that made Nigeria progressive pre-independence to 1967.

Any document decided by Adulsalam Abubakar and his junta called the 199 constitution is without our general contribution ant it is largely not acceptable. And the change required cannot be made by only a council of state populated by retired generals from one region or national assembly without equal representation from across the states and zones.

There maybe need for input from other well meaning Nigerians if we are serious about carrying zone along. A unity based on inequality and military imposition must be negotiable.
Son of legendary actor, Pete Edochie, who will run against incumbent governor Willie Obiano, among others on November 18, has picked up his nomination form to run for the Anambra governorship election.

Yul Edochie

Popular Nollywood actor, Yul Edochie, has on Wednesday, picked up his nomination form to run for the Anambra governorship election on the platform of the Democratic Peoples Congress (DPC).

In a press conference after picking up his form, the son of legendary actor, Pete Edochie, who will run against incumbent governor Willie Obiano, among others on November 18, revealed his plans for the state, should he emerge the winner in the race.

He said: I am joining the race to harness the creative potentials of the youths and the resource-endowment of Anambra to move the state to the next level of development, reduce poverty rate through wealth and job creation, provide infrastructure and develop critical sectors in the state.

These would occupy my governance model if elected to govern the state for the next four years. Politicians have failed us. So I am in the race to touch the lives of Anambra people positively. The people are tired of stories.

The actor who with an entourage of supporters, visited the partys national office in Abuja on Tuesday, later took to Instagram to make the announcement of his party affiliation while calling on the support of every well meaning Nigerian who is tired of the old ways.

He wrote: My name is Yul Edochie. And Im running for Governor of Anambra State, 2017 under the platform of the Democratic Peoples Congress. DPC. (moving forward with the people). Im a good man, with a good heart, with integrity who is touched by the suffering of the masses.

I cannot do it alone. I need the support and prayers of every well meaning Nigerian who is tired of the old ways, who wants a better life for the people. Old ways will never open new doors. Always remember that if you are not part of the solution then you are part of the problem. So be part of the solution today. Its time to vote them out. Join the movement today.
Sierra Leonean embassy officials: (L-R) Head of Chancery Unisay S. Kamara, Charge d'affaires Kumba Alice Momoh, First Secretary Robert Koroma, and Defence Attache Colonel Daramy

The Embassy of the Republic of Sierra Leone in Beijing, Peoples Republic of China, has presented its compliments to its compatriots in China, the Chinese government and people, and other partners for the recovery and humanitarian efforts in the aftermath of the August 14th mudslide and flood disaster in Freetown.

Sierra Leones Charge d'affaires to the Peoples Republic of China commended the government and people of China for their unflinching supports during the countrys disaster. Madam Kumba Alice Momoh said China is a true friend and partner to Sierra Leone especially in time of need, pointing out that the Chinese are the first to come to the aid of Sierra Leone during the Ebola outbreak and the recent flood and mudslide disaster.

Addressing Sierra Leoneans at a briefing session on its accomplishments and further plans for collective intervention, Madam Momoh recalled a fruitful meeting held with Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs Officials who conveyed condolence messages on behalf of the government and people of the Peoples Republic of China. Ministry Officials appreciated the fact that Sierra Leones President, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma is always consoling China in time of sorrow and distress caused by natural disasters.

The charge d'affaires thanked the Chinese government for the US$1 million donation and also the Chinese Red Cross which provided US$ 100, 000 to the Red Cross in Sierra Leone for rescue efforts.

We appreciate the good effort of China railway 7th Group, China Friendship Hospital and other Chinese enterprises in Sierra Leone for their supports, she said, and added that Sierra Leone has learnt a great lesson. We must prevent a recurrence of such disaster by obeying the land laws of Sierra Leone.

Madam Momoh admonished young people who study in China to treat their education with all seriousness, because, as she puts it the younger generation have a great role to play in developing Sierra Leone for a brighter future.

Unisa Sahid Kamara, Minister Counsellor and Head of Chancery assured all of the Embassys cooperation for the good of Sierra Leone.

The August 14th disaster caused the loss of more than 400 lives with an estimated 600 and more missing, the destruction of property and the displacement of thousands of people, a great number of them being children.

Over forty embassies and missions in China signed a book of condolence opened at the Sierra Leone embassy in Beijing.

The charge d'affaires briefing was climaxed with prayers being offered for the country and also Sierra Leoneans based in Beijing signing the book of condolence.

Abu Bakarr Kargbo is a Senior Staff Writer of Standard Times Newspaper in Sierra Leone and an Intern at Peoples Daily Online.
Sultan of Sokoto, Saad Abubakar, in a lecture, has declared that anyone advocating for Nigerias breakup is challenging God.

Abubakar said this on wednesday, at a colloquium organised by Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), he said;

When people talk about restructuring, if they mean we should disintegrate the country, I will not support it.

But if it means making things and lives better and much conducive and convenient for Nigerians, then lets sit down and discuss about it. I know that many of these groups from the North, West, South-South and South East agitating for this or that have their positions.

But despite the realities at present, no group has the right to tell anybody you must leave this place or that place if we still live in this country called Nigeria. And I support the Presidents position 100%, I believe what he said is right.

And I say, instead of talking about devolution of power, lets talk about devolution of economy. It is good to sit down and dialogue, but there must be respect. I must respect you and you must respect me.

And the greatest thing we can do for this country is to always reflect on our history. We didnt fall from the sky, but came from somewhere. We became Nigeria in 1914 through amalgamation.

People are shouting that our coming together as a country in 1914 was a mistake, but God doesnt make mistakes. If God doesnt want such a thing as Nigeria to happen, nobody could ever have made it happen.

So we claim to be very religious, but we challenge God, you dont come out in the open and say you are challenging God, but by actions and utterances, many people are virtually challenging God. There is no wrong in you saying I want to be better than I am.
The Russian ambassador to Sudan, Mirgayas Shirinskiy, was reportedly found dead in his swimming pool on Wednesday at his home in Khartoum, Sudans capital city, becoming Russias fourth envoy to die in the last eight months while overseas.

The Sudan Foreign Ministry did not provide his cause of death.

A police official, Omar al-Mokhtar, told AFP that there appeared to be no foul play.

He said:

He was found dead in the swimming pool of his residence at 7:05 p.m.,

The Agence France-Presse also reported that Shirinsky was found dead in the swimming pool.

https://twitter.com/MID_RF/status/900450411651399680
In what will come across as a really shocking development, a young boy has been tied up to a tree for years by his own granddad.

The poor boy had spent years, all alone, tied to a tree

Photos have shown the moment a little boys shocking nightmare comes to an end as he was rescued after being tied up alongside cattle for five years.

According to The Sun UK, Umesh, eight, is visually impaired and mentally disabled, but as if this was not bad enough he was also bound by his grandma because he was naughty.

Both his dad Bhagawati Lal and mum Manu Devi, died of the HIV five years ago and Umesh went to live with his grandparents in Udaipur, in Rajasthan.

Finally the boy is rescued

But gran Peepi Bai, 75, allegedly decided to keep him tied with a rope in the cow stable because the little lad is violent and used to run away.

She said: Umesh was a normal child till he was three.

But after his parents died he started behaving differently. We dont earn enough money to get him treatment.

Mrs Bai added: Hes sometimes violent and leaves home without anyone knowing.

We are old and cannot run around looking for him. And so we have to keep him tied up.

Elsewhere in the same city, Jiva Ram, 11, from Baydi village in Udaipur, also suffered from polio and mental breakdowns.

He was tied to a tree outside his house by his dad Hurma Ram, 35, a farmer, before he went out to work in his farm.

He said: He had harmed himself in the past. To avoid any problems we had to keep him tied.

Both the boys are now free and been taken to a shelter home.

Another boy was found close by, also tied up and alone

Bhojraj Singh, Aasra Vikas Sansthan child welfare charity founder, said he was shocked to find them tied to a tree like animals.

He said: It was heartbreaking. We were shocked to see the condition in which both children were found.

Javi was found naked while one of his legs was tied to a tree, whereas Umesh was tied to a bamboo pole, among the cattle.

Both the boys have been shifted to a shelter home where they will be taken good care of.

We shall start their treatment and help them grow into good human beings.
A life has been lost after men of the Nigeria police shot at a crowd in Uyo scrambling for money scattered by armed robbers.

There was commotion at a street in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state after men of the Nigeria Police opened fire on people scrambling for money scattered in the streets of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, by armed robbers on Wednesday.

One person was shot dead by the police during the commotion, according to reports.

The incident happened after the robbers had attacked occupants of a vehicle who had withdrawn a huge sum of money from a bank and were heading to government House Uyo. They were ambushed by the robbers who collected the money and decided to spray some for the locals.

The shooting of the victim caused serious pandemonium in the area as the youths reportedly went on rampage.
Permit me to say this but TECNO Mobile is full of surprises. Gosh! Its either they are in the news for touring around the country capturing stunning images with one of their devices today or they are at an award ceremony tomorrow bagging awards for smartphone innovation and excellence.

On Friday 18th August 2017, Africas leading smartphone brand TECNO Mobile threw an outlandish 2-in-1 party in Lagos to celebrate the launch of its newest smartphone series  TECNO Spark and Spark Plus. The TECNO Spark series are camera-centric smartphones built to deliver optimal photography experience on a smartphone. Boasting a superior 13MP rear and 5MP front camera, the device is capable of detecting low lighting conditions before activating a command that will automatically enhance the image brightness for clear, colorful and breathtaking images. The device conjures the use of its camera flash combined with a screen flash to deliver stunning images whether during the day or at night. Unlike other low to mid-range devices out there with very few tangible USPs, the TECNO Spark and its variant the Spark Plus are stylish and futuristic. The Spark Plus debuts a fingerprint scanner, 6.0-inch HD crystal clear HD screen, 3400mAh battery, 8 inbuilt image filters and Android 7 Nougat for effective multitasking.

The brand also announced at the Spark Party, the unveiling of its One Million Dream Campaign, which is the brands way of identifying young, talented people and then empowering them to fulfill their humankind potentials. The sum of One Million Naira each will be given out to four promising individuals to enable them light-up their dreams.

The extravagant Spark party had in attendance a large number of undergraduate delegations from Unilag, LASU, Yaba-Tech and Federal College of Education (Technical) Akoka, as well as working professionals who found the party an entertaining spot to unwind and relax from the stress of the week. Held at the Muri Okunola Park in Victoria Island, guests were hosted to a thrilling night with MC Bash as Master of Ceremony, bringing a perfect blend of Comedy and keeping the crowd ecstatic, and good music from a line of artistes including Mayorkun, Immaculate, Olaboi, Gbasky, Willcino, Jabby Jay, and one of Nigerias finest disc jockeys, DJ Consequence, among others.

Next Stop: ABUJA. Date: 23rd August 2017. Get your grooves on and ready Abuja!

More photos from the Spark Party:
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday signed a deal with the United Arab Emirates, UAE, to extradite Nigerians who abscond to the middle-eastern country after committing crimes in the country.

The UAE, especially Dubai, one of its major regions, is one of the major destinations of wealthy Nigerians including those who have been accused of various financial crimes, Premiumtimes reports.

A former Delta State Governor, James Ibori, had escaped to Dubai when he was wanted both in Nigeria and UK for financial crimes. He was eventually extradited from there to London where he was subsequently jailed for money laundering.
Nigerian rapper JJC Skillz took to his social media page to celebrate his wife, Nollywood actress, Funke Akindele-Bello as she turns 40 today, 24th August.

He shared the below before and after photo on Instagram and wrote;

We went from friendship to relationship to love and familyIt was like yesterday when I was just another face in the crowd to now being the lucky man you wake up to see every morning I pray God will keep our love and hearts happy and our faces smiling throughout our earthly year. Amen  Happy Birthday My queen #MRSFAB @funkejenifaakindele
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.

US outlines effects of withdrawing land from oil drilling AP - Fri Nov 11, 7:32PM CST The U.S. Interior Department's plan to withdraw hundreds of square miles in New Mexico from oil and gas production for the next 20 years is expected to result in only a few dozen wells not being drilled... $SPX : 3,992.93 (+0.92%) $DOWI : 33,747.86 (+0.10%) $IUXX : 11,817.01 (+1.82%)

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%)
There are several access-control products available to self-storage operators today, and knowing which to choose can be difficult. This checklist will help you cultivate the perfect security solution for your new site, or assist in the expansion or retrofit of an existing one:

Keypads. Simply put, you need durable, weather-tested, UL-listed keypads with thick metal enclosures that are properly grounded and sealed during installation. Keypads at all gate entry and exit points are ideal. Theyre the only means for tracking how long tenants are on site. This helps you ensure people arent sleeping in units. A two-keypad system is the bare minimum for any storage access-control system.

Flexibility is also important. The best keypads have inputs for proximity-card readers, credit card readers, fingerprint scanners and more. Those that allow tenants to pay at the gate after hours, addressing past-due bills at any time are a bonus.

Video cameras. These are another must-have. Cameras make people feel safe, and that alone is a compelling reason to install them at your site. Internet-protocol (IP) cameras are ideal for self-storage facilities because they have the best resolution and zooming capabilities for the price. Most IP cameras are cloud-enabled, which allows you to view your feed from any Web browser or mobile app. Thermal cameras and temperature-monitoring cameras are great add-ons for premium facilities with wine storage or boat/RV lots.

Consider adding pinhole cameras in your entry and exit keypads so youll have an up-close view of everyone entering and exiting the facility. It also gives you a close view of tenants alongside their access history so youre better equipped to deal with internal theft should it arise.

Gates and fencing. The best type of gate for your business will depend on space constraints and the physical layout of your property. Slide gates, barrier arms, swing gates and vertical-pivot gates are a few of the more common types found at storage sites today.

Door alarms and electronic locks. Think of these as two sides of the same coin because they achieve the same goal: securing and monitoring every storage-unit door. Your customers want to know your facility is safe, but more important, they want to know their unit is safe. Individual door-security products help prevent theft and increase the value of each unit at your site. Alarms and electronic locks can increase revenue as well because you can charge higher rental rates for alarmed units.

Control hardware and software. Your system needs to integrate with your property-management software to give you real-time reports and create access codes for new tenants. Ideally, your controller and software allow for mobile gate entry, custom reporting and pay-at-the-gate features. Ask questions about these items when researching systems.

Mobile apps. Apps for gate entry are an unbeatable tool for your access-control system as well as your marketing efforts. Millennials and younger tenants love apps, but customers of all ages love convenience. These tools are like a garage-door opener for your gate and other doors, and are also a great way to make your site more handicap-friendly. The one you choose is important. Select one that works with your access-control system so youll have a log of all access activity.

Site graphics. These are a great way to show off your facility and security features to anyone who walks in your office. Let your security be a marketing tool for your property by putting your features on display.

Elevator keypads and controls. These are a bit lesser known, but elevator keypads are rising in prominence as more multi-level facilities are built. Elevator controls ensure tenants only have access to their unit floor, reducing the risk of customer theft.

Christine DeBord manages the marketing and the reseller channel departments at PTI Security Systems, a provider of access-control and security systems for the self-storage industry. To contact her, call 404.649.5594; e-mail [email protected]; visit www.ptisecurity.com.
FREELTON, ON  Andrew Gresel Hits The Jackpot At Gold Rush 100. The night everyone was waiting for all season has finally arrived at Bennett Chevrolet Flamboro Speedway.

The Gold Rush 100 was the main attraction with lots of money on the line. This was the fourth Gold Rush and in the previous three attempts, the pole sitters took the challenge and went to the rear of the field to see if they could make their way to the front to pickup an additional $5000 on top of the first prize money of $5000 for winning. In the first three races, the Casale brothers managed to hold onto that cash. You could be sure that twenty one combatants would be ready and willing to be the first.

PHOTO GALLERY COURTESY OF DEREK SMITH / RACEPULSE.COM

The Pure Stocks were also on hand for a 30 lap invitational with a first prize of $500 on the line. That is a good pay day for this division. Time trials would get under way at 630 with Pure Stocks up first. We would have mutli car qualifying with 3 to 4 cars on at once running for both divisions. In Pure Stocks, Rodney Rutherford would set the fast time with Gary Slama next followed by Clinton Kerkhof, Nick Clarke and Mark Thorne rounding out the top five. Twenty six cars were signed in but just twenty four would take the green. The two bubble cars were ready and waiting in case someone couldnt make it but that wouldnt be the case.

The cars lined up behind the Bennett Chevrolet pace truck and the had a wave lap as fans rose to their feet to salute the Pure Stock drivers. Rodney Rutherford would lead lap one. As the field jockeyed for position, Rutherford continued to lead and by lap eight, lapped traffic was starting to become an issue. Rutherford had moved away from the field slightly but Slama used the traffic to gain on the leader. Rutherford too used the lapped traffic to his advantage and had his biggest advantage of the race at this point. Rutherford and Slama began to break from the field and had at least a twenty five car over the third place car of Kerkhof. A few laps later Slama was once again closing the gap.

With ten laps to go a pack of seven lapped cars seemed like they may play into the outcome of the race. With five to go Slama was right on Rutherfords bumper looking for a way around. Slama did the same thing last year at the Gold Rush for Pure Stocks, he started form the back and was their looking for the lead. Rutherford used the track and did what he needed to do to hold the lead. As the cars would exit four with checkers in site, Rutherford held off Slama to win by about two car lengths. Rutherford led flag to flag and would pick up the $500 first prize as well as the $250 as leader at the half, thanks to Freedom Village. The 49 car of Scott Brooks also got a $250 prize for being the last running car, also from Freedom Village.

In between races, the twenty Super Late Models lined up on the front stretch. In their multi car qualifying session, twenty one cars took to the track and the top five qualifiers were Tyler Roahrig of Indiana was the fast car turning a lap of 14.242. Next was Pete Shepherd III, Glenn Watson, Andrew Gresel and Brandon Watson. Drivers were introduced and each were asked if they would take the $5000 challenge and most agreed they would take it and head to the rear of the field. But that all really didnt matter unless the top dog Tyler Roahrig didnt take the challenge. Well he did and would head to the rear. Keara Gallant from Freedom Village was track side prior to the race to offer the invocation and the anthems of the United States and Canada were played. We then heard to those famous words, Gentlemen Start Your Engines. The roar of the ground pounders was deafening as the cars took off to take place behind the pace truck.

The Super Lates also had a wave lap and fireworks set off as the cars prepared to take the green. Pete Shepherd and Glenn Watson would be pole after Tyler Roahrig took the challenge and was back to the final spot, number twenty one of the field. The green flag flew and Watson was the leader the first time past. As the cars were exiting two after the first lap the 07 car of Todd Campbell slowed and the lack of power caused some problems for Shawn Chenoweth and Derrick Tiemersma who were running right behind. Campbell retired to the infield as the rest of the pack continued on. By lap five Watson was still leading followed close by Shepherd, Gresel and Matt Pritiki. Two laps later lapped traffic was starting to be creep into the field. The top three would continue for several laps bumper to bumper as they settled in for a long race.

The race lead would change on lap seventeen due to the lapped traffic as Shepherd used it to his advantage to make it by Watson. Watson would then battle Gresel for second/third place. On lap twenty Gresel made his move and was up to second. The first caution of the race came the next time by as the 52 of Gary Passer was smoking and the field would slow and get back to even. On the restart, Gresel would get off the mark quicker and was the new leader with Sheherd back to second. Another caution a few laps later and a pre-determined fuel stop would take place as the cars would all stop in turns one and two to fill their tanks.

Gresel would continue to be the leader and the cars took the green.

Tyler Roahrig who of course took the $5000 challenge was up to sixth. Shawn Chenoweth who got nixed up with Campbell on lap one had made his way up to ninth. Another caution a lap later as the X car was around in one. Gresel was the leader again and by lap thirty he led Shepherd and Watson with Roahrig up another spot to fifth. He would move to fourth as lapped traffic helped him out by lap fourty. A caution as Tyler Hawn, Terry Baker and Paul Pelletier got involved in turn three and the cars were lose and around in the grass. At the half way mark, Gresel continued to lead and picked up a cool $1000 thanks to Freedom Village. Gresel and Shepherd started to put some distance between themselves and the rest of the pack. On lap 57 after some handling issues, the 10 of Chenoweth was around out of two with a suspected broken rear shock or something in the back causing a wheel hop and he came to a stop in the infield where he sat for several laps until he pulled it off to the middle.

With about thirty laps to got Gresel had built almost a full straight away lead. Lapped traffic on lap 75 but Gresel made it through unscathed. Lap 86 saw Tiemersma and Shepherd come together resulting in a flat right front tire and a big spark show for Shepherd. On the restart, Gresel was over anxious and the start was called back. Second try was better and Gresel continued out front. Brandon Watson was next followed ny Glenn Watson and Roahrig. Brandon Watson and Gresel banged and battled off the restart. the next time by it was a family affair as the two Watsons lined up side by side and traded a lot of paint. Brandon cleared Glenn with Roahrig right there waiting for his opportunity to get past. But Gresel wouldnt be denied and with five to go he had a full straight lead once again. By this point just seven cars remained from the original twenty one that started. Gresel would exit four and headed for the checkers making it back to back Gold Rush wins. Brandon Watson was second with Roahrig, Glenn Watson and Tyler Hawn rounding out the top five.

Congratulations to Gresel on the win and winning a cool $5000. He also picked up the $1000 prize from Freedom Village as half way leader. Tyler Roahrig picked up and extra $500 from Freedom Village as the highest finishing U.S. driver finishing third. The top three came to victory lane where they all received a trophy with Gresel getting a wreath of flowers and a bottle of milk like they do at the Indianapolis 500. Thanks to Frank Casale for the great looking trophies and wreath of flowers for both race winners, Gresel and Rutherford. They also were greeted with a bottle of champagne sprayed to celebrate their victories. Thanks to Mike Kiers for the bottle of milk and for taking care of getting them all to victory lane.

Thanks to everyone involved for making it a great race and thanks to all for your help and the cash prizes. Nice to have Freedom Village back as a supporter at Flamboro Speedway.

Make plans to join us this Saturday for our regular race night and then make your way down to Jukasa Speedway reopening on the Cayuga Speedway site. All these cars will be on hand and Jukasa as teamed up with Gallanger Ford of Milton for the Gallinger Ford Super Double. All racers who raced here Monday and race Jukasa Sunday will be eligible for additional cash prizes. The overall winner will get a extra $1200, second overall gets $500 while third overall gets and extra $300. Thanks to David Gallinger and everyone at Gallinger Ford of Milton for their support in these events!!

This Saturday at Flamboro, its $10.00 front grandstand admission!! Join us for Budget Tire Pure Stocks, Klotz Auto Repair & Engine Machine Shop Mini Stocks, Rays Auto Centre & Towing Super Stocks, Pro Four Modifieds and the Lucas Oil Can Am Midgets. Also at intermission the always exciting King of the Hill spectator races. Its the last one for 2017, grab your car and a helmet and hit the track to see if you can be King of the Hill and take home $100 and some bragging rights. Register in the pits prior to racing begins.

Pits open at 4pm, front gates at 5pm and racing gets underway at 630pm. I believe we start the night with make up features for Super Stocks and Pro Fours rained out from July 22nd. Check the website for all the details as well as the tight point races!! www.flamborospeedway.ca
The increasing sophistication of bumper bars is costing a major Australian insurer as more cars get written off instead of repaired.Insurance Australia Group ( IAG ), which sells insurance under brands including NRMA, CGA and Swan Insurance, saw an 8% drop in its share price, to $6.22, after it announced that profit margins would narrow in the year ahead.Driving the margin pressure were higher average costs for motor-vehicle repairs and a series of large claims in IAG's commercial business, chief executive Peter Harmer told Fairfax Media, as he expressed confidence in addressing both pressures.In motor, the IAG boss said that the rising number of technologies used in sensitive parts of cars  especially bumpers  led smash repair costs to skyrocket."The parts of some vehicles, particularly grilles and bumper bars, have actually skyrocketed in the past little while, and we've obviously got to make sure that we recover those input costs," Harmer told the news agency.He cited as an example a car with a grille that cost $21,000 to replace, and said there were more constructive write-offs  where the cost of repairing a car is worth more than its current value."There is an increase in the number of vehicles written off simply because the cost of repairing them exceeds the cost of replacing that vehicle," Harmer said.This dynamic drives up costs for the insurer, which Harmer said is being addressed by transferring some of these costs to consumers, limiting costs by having more work done within its car repairers network, and working with manufacturers on reasonable and sustainable pricing of car parts, the report said.The insurer's profits have also been impacted by elevated large losses in its commercial division, and the company said insurance prices would likely continue to increase in this part of the division.IAG saw 48.6% rise in net profit to $929 million, due in part to stronger investment incomes and reserve releases.In its results for FY2017, which ended on June 30, the insurer reported a widening in insurance margins, from 14.3% to 14.9%, helped by reserve releases. Its outlook for reported insurance profit margins, however, was between 12.5% and 14.5% for the year ahead, caused in part by higher costs in motor and commercial insurance, Fairfax reported.The slump in share price was an example of company shares being priced for high expectations, but falling sharply on cautious outlook sentiments, David Spotswood, Shaw Stockbroking analyst, told Fairfax.
Boston Insurance Brokerage (BIB), a Boston, Mass.-based national wholesale brokerage offering commercial insurance solutions, has promoted John Roderiques to associate vice president of its workers compensation division and Cara Treen to account executive.

In their new roles, Roderiques and Treen will be instrumental in growing BIBs workers compensation division while continuing to provide a high level of service and creative solutions to clients.

Initially, Roderiques will focus on growing the business in the New England region. He will also work with agents to provide solutions for their workers compensation risks.

Previously as an underwriter in the workers compensation division, Treen supported agents to evaluate risks and bind insurance for their clients. In her new role, she will work closely with agents to protect their clients employees.

Source: Boston Insurance Brokerage

Topics Agencies Workers' Compensation Massachusetts
A number of Philadelphia-area law firms are setting up practices to serve the cannabis industry despite concerns of an uncertain future.

Many of the citys biggest law firms  including Duane Morris, Fox Rothschild and Cozen OConnor  have recently established practices to serve the cannabis industry as Pennsylvania gears up to make medical marijuana available to patients by early 2018.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported the uncertainty comes from the apparent disconnect between state and federal laws.

Marijuana has been legalized in some form by legislatures in 26 states. But federal law  under the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution  supersedes all state laws.

It remains a federal crime to possess, grow, distribute or prescribe marijuana in any form.

In Pennsylvania, although Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf signed the law legalizing medical marijuana in April 2016, attorneys had also been technically barred from offering advice to cannabis businesses under state law. After being petitioned, the Disciplinary Board of the state Supreme Court issued an opinion that state attorneys could counsel clients about the Pennsylvania law, but only if they made clear the consequences they might face for violating federal laws.

Joseph Bedwick, a partner at Cozen OConnor, said there is a lot of uncertainty at the moment for new cannabis law practices. At any moment, theoretically, they can say, Were going to crack down on this, he said.

Joshua Horn, co-chairman of the cannabis practice at Fox Rothschild, is more optimistic. He said its unlikely the feds would shut down state-legal medical marijuana operations. He cited the current status of the law, current guidance from the U.S. Department of Justice and federal government budgetary constraints.

Horn said medical marijuana is popular with residents in Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania isnt the most liberal state.

Information from: The Philadelphia Inquirer

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Cannabis Pennsylvania
The Grim Reaper has some happy news, but if pension funds turn this into a party theyre dicing with death.

Continuous Mortality Investigation Ltd., which produces longevity projections using data on lives that are insured or in pension plans, said the average life expectancy of men and women aged 65 declined in the past two years. The greatest reductions in projected lifespans were seen at the oldest ages.

PwC has estimated that if this trend continues, the deficits of U.K. corporate pension plans could shrink by 310 billion pounds ($396.3 billion). So there could be good news ahead for these companies and for insurers, as their liabilities get bigger the longer pensioners hang around.

U.S. Death Rate

In the U.S., the celebrations have already started. The American death rate rose slightly for the first time since 1999, prompting firms including Verizon Communications Inc. and General Motors Co. to cut estimates of future payments to their retirees, Bloomberg News reported. This worsening mortality picture reduced the combined pension liabilities of at least 12 large companies by $10 billion.

The CMI only released its projections a few months ago, and the full-year 2017 British earnings season hasnt hit yet, so theres little news yet on which U.K. businesses, if any, will adjust their models. But insurers and company pension plans shouldnt rush to revise assumptions about how much they need to set aside to meet their future obligations, and investors should watch closely to see if any of them introduce changes.

After all, this isnt the first time the gains in life expectancy that have marked out the last 40 years or so has stalled. Even as recently as the 1990s estimates showed a decline, only to be swiftly replaced by a return to the upward trajectory.

And the poorer social care that academics say may be dragging down the life expectancy outlook doesnt need to be a permanent feature of British society. Since the global financial crisis government spending cuts have coincided with a sudden and sustained increase in the number of elderly, and in those suffering from dementia, according to the Institute of Health Equity. Though the financial constraints on care are unlikely to dissipate any time soon, neither is public concern over standards of treatment for the elderly, particularly as increasing numbers people approach old age themselves. That could be a powerful break on any austerity-related increase in mortality.

Despite the recent downturn, the long-term trend is still for longer lives. It would take a sustained increase in mortality rates  which actuaries plug into their models to figure out how long we will all live  to reverse this trend.

And the CMI has noted that the life expectancy of those in defined benefit pension schemes is holding up better than for the general population. Thats another reason why lags in longevity shouldnt be an excuse for abandoning pension prudence.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has vetoed a workers compensation reform bill that has been strongly opposed by the insurance industry.

Rauner on Aug. 18 vetoed HB 2622, which would have created the Illinois Employers Mutual Insurance Co. by allowing the director of the Illinois Workers Compensation Commission Operations Fund to make a loan of $10,000,000 for the initial capitalization of the company as a nonprofit, independent public corporation, according the legislative synopsis of the bill.

Under the bill, Illinois Employers Mutual would have been established as a domestic mutual insurance company, the sole purpose of which would be to provide workers compensation coverage. Except for the initial loan amount, the no additional state funds would have been allotted to the company.

Applauding Rauners veto of the bill, Jeffrey Junkas, assistant vice president state government relations for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI), said in a statement that House Bill 2622 would have injected Illinois into the insurance business by creating in essence, a state fund called the Illinois Employers Mutual Insurance Company (IEMIC) to provide workers compensation insurance in Illinois. Given the state of Illinois poor track record on many of its programs and the very competitive nature of the workers compensation market in the state, this legislation was unnecessary and would have placed a new burden on taxpayers.

Along with HB 2622, state lawmakers this year passed another workers comp measure, HB2525, which essentially would require would require pre-approval of workers comp insurance rates.

The legislative analysis for HB2525 states that the under the bill, a workers comp premium rate is excessive if it is likely to produce a long run profit that is unreasonably high for the insurance provided or if expenses are unreasonably high in relation to the services rendered.

The bill was sent to Rauner on June 29 but as of this writing he had not yet acted on it.

PCIs Junkas said he hopes the governor will veto HB2525, as well. Legislation such as HB 2622 and HB 2525, with its debunked notions about insurance rate regulation, diverted attention away from the real solutions needed to further reform Illinois workers compensation system, Junkas said.

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Topics Carriers Legislation Workers' Compensation Illinois
Nearly 25 percent of employee thefts involve large-scale losses of more than $1 million and 29 percent are carried out over five or more years.

According to a study on embezzlement by specialist insurer Hiscox, high-loss cases often result from schemes that repeatedly divert small sums of money over time, making them difficult to detect. These schemes typically go on for years. The average loss for cases that continued for five years or more was $2.2 million, and for cases lasting 10 years or more, the average loss was $5.4 million.

The 2017 Hiscox Embezzlement Study found that U.S. businesses victimized by employee theft lost an average of $1.13 million last year. Small and mid-sized companies (fewer than 500 employees) continue to be disproportionally victimized by employee theft, representing approximately 68 percent of cases.

Funds theft is the most common embezzlement scheme, used in more than one-third of all cases, followed by check fraud (22%). Funds theft is most commonly perpetrated by women (56%) while 70 percent of check fraud cases occurred at companies with fewer than 100 employees.

This is the third annual Hiscox Embezzlement Study, which examines employee theft cases that were active in the U.S. federal court system in 2016.

There is a necessary level of trust between employees and their employer that is required of successful businesses, said Doug Karpp, Crime & Fidelity product head at Hiscox. When there is a breach in that trust because an employee or executive steals, it can have a significant impact on the entire organization both financially and emotionally. Business owners and executives need to make the shift from blind trust to intelligent trust to ensure they are able to spot and prevent employee theft.

The Risk Markers

Although there is no typical embezzler, the Hiscox report points to several common characteristics of white collar criminals, including:

the median age of a perpetrator is 48 years old;

slightly more women than men commit this type of crime (51% vs. 49%, respectively); and

finance and accounting are the most common job functions of embezzlers (37%).

According to the Hiscox analysis, embezzlers do not discriminate when picking their targets  businesses of all sizes and industries may be impacted. Although large companies (500 employees or more) experience fewer instances of embezzlement (24% of cases), they tend to suffer a higher median loss compared to small and mid-sized businesses ($452,025 vs. $289,864).

According to the study, financial services continues to account for the highest number of cases of employee theft (18%) of any industry examined. Financial services also takes the lead for the highest total loss across industries, at more than $120 million for the year.

Warning Signs

Many business owners blame themselves for allowing theft to happen under their watch, but the warning signs are often subtle.

Perpetrators of embezzlement typically need three things to get away with a crime  means, motive and opportunity, said Karpp. Business owners and executives should aim to understand the warning signs and common schemes of an embezzler in order to identify areas where they can tighten security and implement controls to manage their exposure.

Hiscox has identified five common characteristics to watch for:
A Delaware judge has dismissed a class-action lawsuit filed by former stockholders of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia over the companys 2015 acquisition by Sequential Brands.

The lawsuit said that Stewart leveraged her position as controlling stockholder to secure greater consideration for herself than was paid to other stockholders. They also accused Sequential of aiding and abetting Stewarts alleged breach of her fiduciary duties.

The judge said that Stewart was entitled to the deference given to corporate leaders under Delawares business judgment rule.

He also said the plaintiffs likely could not prove that Stewart engaged in a conflicted transaction or that they suffered any damages as a result. The judge said that the consideration Sequential offered to Martha Stewart stockholders actually increased after negotiations with her began.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Legislation
Verisk Analytics Inc. has agreed to acquire LCI, a provider of bankruptcy risk prediction and management tools for banks and creditors.

When the transaction is complete, LCI, based in Burlingame, California, will become part of Argus, Verisks data and advisory services organization for financial institutions.

The purchase price is $151 million, which the announcement said is to be paid in cash to stockholders of LCI. The transaction is expected to close during the third quarter of 2017.

LCI develops bankruptcy data and consumer behavioral data, process automation software, expert services, and research to automate expensive processes in the bankruptcy life cycle.

Chris Lundquist, chief executive officer and president of LCI, said LCI is an excellent fit for Arguss focus on advising creditors throughout the account management life cycle and assisting clients with regulation, bankruptcy, charge-off and debt collection.

For Argus, the combination will allow it to introduce a new decisioning algorithms and management workflow products, according to Nana Banerjee, group president of Verisk Analytics.

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Risk Management
Researchers are turning to the sky to help stop earthquakes from rumbling deep beneath the Oklahoma soil.

The U.S. Geological Survey in coordination with the Oklahoma Geological Survey and other groups last week began using a modified small airplane to study the states geology in an attempt to map deep, existing faults.

The aircraft over the next two months will fly over portions of the state at an altitude of about 400 feet, using sensitive equipment to measure the naturally occurring magnetic fields created when different rock types are next to each other.

The goal of this project is to better map the faults that are deep within the ground, and particularity to map the faults that are likely to create an earthquake, USGS research geophysicist Anji Shah said Aug. 15.

We have found many of the earthquakes have occurred in sequences that form lines, which suggests there are faults associated with those earthquakes. But when we compare it to our existing fault maps, they dont seem to line up. This makes it difficult to tell what the earthquake risk is and suggest there are faults we are not aware of.

The Oklahoman reports that researchers over the past two years have used data from oil and natural gas companies to improve their fault maps, gaining a much better picture of the ancient cracks that crisscross the state.

But most of the industry data covers only the first mile or so beneath the surface. Most of the states earthquakes have been much deeper.

The deep faults are the ones that are moving, said Jeremy Boak, director of the Oklahoma Geological Survey. A better understanding of those faults will give us a better idea of how the earthquakes are working.

The magnetic survey is designed to measure faults up to five miles below the surface.

Earthquake research and regulations have focused on saltwater disposal wells that take high volumes of water produced along with oil and pump them into the Arbuckle formation, which is the deepest sedimentary rock layer underlying much of Oklahoma.

Earthquake activity peaked in mid-2015 and has dropped steadily since then, although three of the largest earthquakes in state history occurred late last year.

Weve seen a 50-percent reduction, but thats still more than the people of Oklahoma are comfortable with, Boak said. Every step of the way, were trying to get better knowledge and see how much we can localize what we need to do with specific actions.

While researchers have a strong understanding about part of the problem, they are continuing to study many aspects of how the forces underground have interacted to cause the states ongoing earthquake swarm.

Were still learning a lot about how injection creates earthquakes, Shah said. Were learning about how far a single injection well can reach. Thats an active area of research and one we would like to know more about and better answer the question.

A better understanding of the faults and the underground forces will help researchers make better recommendations to regulators at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, Boak said.

The study will take place over the next six to eight weeks as the modified aircraft flies back and forth in a tight grid pattern over parts of 18 counties. The onboard equipment is passive only, measuring existing magnetic forces on the ground, Shah said.

For the most sensitive view possible, the aircraft was modified to reduce its own magnetic noise by replacing steel bolts with brass and other similar modifications.

The project is a joint effort of different agencies and divisions. The first sweep is looking at southwest Oklahoma, roughly following the Meers Fault. The area is not part of the Oklahoma Corporation Commissions Area of Interest and has not experienced earthquakes as part of the states swarm over the past six years. But there is evidence of earthquake activity up to magnitude 7.0 thousands of years ago, Boak said.

Besides faults, researchers also are studying ancient buried magma in the area.

The magnetic survey plane then will move further north to two areas that have experienced the strongest earthquakes over the past few years. The surveys will include an area in northwest Oklahoma near Fairview and a larger area in north-central Oklahoma stretching from Prague through Cushing and to Pawnee.

The Oklahoma Geological Survey has contributed $30,000 to the project, Boak said.

The last large-scale magnetic map using aircraft in Oklahoma was conducted in the 1970s, but that survey had a much lower resolution and was not as clear as what the researchers hope to collect with the current project, Shah said.

We tried to work with that existing data, but they werent sufficient, she said. The surveys were doing now are much higher resolution. Were hoping that will give us a much better image of the faults.

Updated fault maps could be released a few months after the surveys are completed, Shah said.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Aviation Oklahoma Earthquake
Harvey, which could strengthen into the first hurricane to strike Texas since 2008, forced workers off Gulf of Mexico platforms, sent cotton rallying and has airlines preparing for flight disruptions.

Tropical Storm Harvey, which has shut oil and natural gas platforms and triggered a rally in cotton prices, is on track to strike Texas late Friday with hurricane force winds and life-threatening flooding from Corpus Christi to Houston.

Harveys top winds strengthened to 60 miles (97 kilometers) per hour, up from 45 mph earlier, as it bears down on the Texas coast about 335 miles southeast of Port Mansfield, according to a National Hurricane Center advisory at 7 a.m. local time. The storm is expected to be packing winds of as high as 96 mph when it makes landfall.

It could develop into a hurricane just before landfall.

It could intensify right up to landfall on Friday, said Jeff Masters, co-founder of Weather Underground in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I expect a Category 1 hurricane at landfall, but I cannot rule out a Category 2.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster for 30 Texas counties so emergency crews will be prepared to rescue stranded residents. In addition to the potential loss of life, flooding can close roads and knock out power to homes, businesses and refineries. There are about 30 plants along to the coast to Louisiana that collectively can process 7 million barrels of oil a day and flooding can shut units, spark fires and create supply disruptions.

We think the primary impacts will be from widespread and potentially catastrophic flooding, with total rainfall amounts over the next week exceeding a foot in a large area from Corpus Christi to the Louisiana coast and then up to 100 miles inland from there, said Todd Crawford, chief meteorologist at The Weather Company in Andover, Massachusetts. Many locations in those areas may exceed two feet. Clearly Houston is at risk for historic rainfall amounts over the next week.

The U.S. Weather Prediction Center is calling for more than 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain from Corpus Christi to Houston in the next seven days.

The Gulf Coast from Corpus Christi, Texas, to Lake Charles, Louisiana, is home to nearly 30 refineries  making up about 7 million barrels a day of refining capacity, or one-third of the U.S. total. Its in the path of heavy rainfall that was expected to start late Thursday. Flooding poses risks to operations and may cause power failures.

Biggest impact of this storm will be a significant reduction of crude oil imports into the Texas Gulf Coast, resulting in refineries cutting crude rates, Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston, said by email. There will also be a significant impact on petroleum product exports impacting supplies into Mexico.

Houston wholesale conventional gasoline rose 1.9 percent to $1.5926 a gallon Wednesday, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

While oil supplies could be disrupted, natural gas demand could fall, said Matt Rogers, president of the Commodity Weather Group LLC in Bethesda, Maryland. When hurricane Ike hit Texas in 2008, power outages cut electricity demand, reducing the need for gas and depressing prices.

Ike, a Category 2 storm when it struck near the mouth of the Houston Ship Channel, killed 103 people across the Caribbean and the U.S., including at least 21 in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas. It caused about $29.5 billion in damage, according to a 2009 National Hurricane Center report.

Harvey is strengthening faster than they thought, so it could make landfall as a Category 2 instead of a Category 1, Rogers said.

Heavy Rains

Exxon Mobil Corp. said its cutting output at its Hoover production platform in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of the storm. The companys also working on plans to evacuate staff in stages from offshore facilities that will be in the path of the storm, Suann Guthrie, a spokeswoman, said by email. Royal Dutch Shell Plc shut production at its Perdido platform and evacuated the facility.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. said Tuesday its removing nonessential staff from some production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico in response to weather conditions. Cheniere Energy Inc. activated the severe weather team at its Sabine Pass LNG export terminal in Louisiana, Eben Burnham-Snyder, a spokesman, said by email. At this time no production impacts expected.

Along the coastline, seas could rise 5 to 7 feet (1.5 to 2.1 meters) above ground level. From 10 to 15 inches (25 to 38 centimeters) of rain will probably fall across parts of Texas into Louisiana, the hurricane center said. Some areas could get as much as 20 inches of rain.

It is going to be a wet one, Masters said. It is not going to move fast after landfall and that is going to cause big trouble from flooding rains.

Oncor, CenterPoint

The current track calls for the storm to land in southeastern Texas. Masters said at least one computer-forecast model shows the storm heading back into the Gulf of Mexico early next week before coming ashore in Texas again.

Texas power suppliers Oncor Electric Delivery Co. and CenterPoint Energy Inc. said they expect Harvey to make landfall Friday and are making preparations. American Electric Power Co. is making arrangements to bring in outside repair crews if theyre needed, Larry Jones, a spokesman, said in a phone interview Wednesday.

Cotton rallied on speculation the storm will threaten U.S. crops. On ICE Futures U.S. in New York, cotton for December delivery climbed 1.6 percent on Wednesday to settle at 68.89 cents a pound after earlier reaching the highest since Aug. 10. Prices were little changed at 9:49 a.m. New York time.

American Airlines Group Inc. is allowing people traveling through Houston and nine other cities on certain dates to rebook their flights without a fee because of the storm. United Continental Holdings Inc. is offering the same in eight cities, while Delta Air Lines Inc. is offering a similar waiver for Houston flights.

Policyholder-owned State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. has the largest share in the market for home coverage in Texas, followed by Allstate Corp., Farmers Insurance and United Services Automobile Association, according to data compiled by A.M. Best Co.

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Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics Catastrophe USA Texas Louisiana Flood Energy Oil Gas Hurricane Aviation Mexico
Aug. 24, 1992 was anything but a typical Monday for Robert Reynolds as he drove through debris-filled roads and devastation on the way to his family-run agency then located just north of Homestead, Fla.

Hurricane Andrew had just barreled through the region, killing 26 people, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands, and destroying more than 25,000 homes and damaging at least 100,000 others.

Reynolds arrived at his office, the Morris & Reynolds Insurance Agency, at about 2:00 pm that day, after the Category 5 storm had passed, and was not prepared for what he saw.

It was an absolute mess, he said. It was hard to comprehend and process just like that, the world had changed.

The agency, founded in 1910 by Reynolds grandfather, had taken a direct hit from the powerful storm. Dead fish were plastered all over the inside walls; the roof, doors and windows were gone, and all of the agencys client files, still in the big green file cabinets, were wet.

Its one thing to have to serve clients within our industry in the important role we play as agents, especially after a natural disaster, but to also deal with the direct impact of that same disaster it made for very interesting times, Morris said.

Just as the insurance industry does in the aftermath of a catastrophe, Reynolds and his agency employees got to work. They began fielding office visits from their clients, as well as some who werent their clients, and working with carriers to pay out claims. Travelers Insurance set up a claims office on the Morris & Reynolds Agency property and loaned the agency a generator so it could power its business until electricity was restored, which wasnt until exactly 30 days after the storm hit.

Reynolds and his employees came to the office, or what was left of it, every day including weekends to help clients get their claims paid and get back on their feet.

Twenty-five years later, Reynolds is still proud of how the industry and his agency came together during that time.

The promise we keep in this business is if someone has a claim, we are going to help them and get it paid, Reynolds said.

Andrews Impact on the Industry

Not all citizens and businesses got back on their feet after Hurricane Andrew. The category 5 storm was the costliest disaster in U.S. history when it struck Florida and then Louisiana with overall damage at the time of $15.5 billion, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I).

And when all was said and done, the industry was not prepared to pay that amount in claims. Andrew was responsible for the failure of at least 16 insurers between 1992 and 1993, I.I.I reports.

Before Andrew, insurers writing in Florida were not looking closely at their exposure in hurricane prone regions. It was the first cat 5 hurricane in Florida since the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, a hiatus that gave everyone who lived there and insurance companies a false sense of security.

I cant tell you how many companies told me they were driving street by street to count how many homes they insured because they didnt know  it was a free-for-all, said Reynolds.

Andrew was a wake-up call on how vulnerable the industry was to a major catastrophe and how inadequately insurers were pricing their risks. Andrew forced insurers to take a more responsible approach to how they managed their books of business and capital.

The industry learned that at any given point in time, they have to make sure they are properly capitalized and reinsured, and to make sure that risk is spread very broadly in the insurance and reinsurance market rather than concentrated on a few players, said Roger L. Desjadon, CEO of Florida Peninsula and Edison Insurance Co., and chairman of the Florida Property Casualty Association.

After Hurricane Andrew, the state formed the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF) to protect and maintain insurance industry capacity. It was founded in 1993 during a special legislative session and still provides reimbursements to insurers for a portion of their hurricane losses.

In addition to private reinsurance that Florida insurers buy, the FHCF fund currently has $17.6 billion available, and according to the state this is the second year there is more money available than it would need to pay out if storms racked the state.

Catastrophe Models

Andrew helped fuel the development of the catastrophe modeling industry. Technologically, it was a very different world in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew came through, not just for people who werent using cell phones or the internet in their everyday lives, but for the insurance industry and how it assessed risk.

Cat models were in the very early stages and not widely used by the industry before Andrew. Karen Clark, CEO of Karen Clark & Co., developed the first cat model in the 1980s.

We had clients using models before Andrew but they didnt believe the numbers because they were higher than what they thought [storms would cost], she said.

Since then insurance companies have accepted and widely implemented cat models, according to Jackie Noto, flood risk expert and meteorologist for catastrophe modeling company RMS.

Hurricane Andrew put hurricane models on the map, and with data from Hurricane Andrew we were able to release other models with more info and data, Noto said. As a scientific community, we react to the lessons learned from events.

In addition to modeling risk, cat models are now used by insurance companies to assess their reinsurance needs, evaluate their capacity, and understand if the premium they are charging matches the cost associated with the risk on their overall books, Noto said.

Events like Andrew have proven the value of catastrophe modeling to show what the impact on a portfolio could be, she said.

Andrew also taught insurance companies about the importance of individual characteristics of their risks, like roof age, the quality of a home and its materials, and over time insurance companies have expanded requirements in underwriting to make sure they look at those features.

Before cat models were used, insurers didnt have the ability to look at those attributes or know what your unknowns were or what the impacts of those unknowns could be, Noto said.

Building Codes

Andrew forced Florida to take a better look at its building codes and improve the quality of construction built in the state.

According to I.I.I., before Andrew, standards for construction and code enforcement varied widely from one county to the next. The storm demonstrated the important role strong building codes play in public safety and led to the Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule (BCEGS), mandated by state statute, with a focus on preventing losses from natural disasters.

There is now a uniform set of codes across the state that stipulate all new structures undergo tougher inspections and be built with shatterproof glass and straps to reinforce between roof and walls. Many of the new building code measures were pushed for by the insurance industry in an effort to reduce loss.

Hurricane Deductibles

I.I.I. says its was the high cost of Andrew, combined with a recognition of the growing exposure of construction on vulnerable coastal areas, that created the hurricane deductible concept. It works by having customers pay a percentage deductible for storm-related damages rather than a flat amount.

Now, hurricane deductibles are used in at least 19 states and help to maintain the availability and affordability of insurance, I.I.I. said.

New Hurricane Products

Companies have looked at ways other than traditional insurance policies to help clients recover after a hurricane event.

Topa Insurance Co., based in California, launched a product earlier this year with ARC called StormPeace that offers reimbursement expenses of $1,000 up to $15,000 for clients that suffer hurricane damage.

In the event of a large storm, the company reaches out to policyholders in the area via text or email asking if they have been affected and have storm-related expenses, whether it be to fix damage to their home or evacuation costs. If the policyholder says yes, money is then sent to the customers bank account.

John Donahue, president and CEO of Topa, said the product helps customers at a time of crisis.

This product is designed to say to the consumer that in the worst-case scenario, you are going to have cash quickly. You dont have to wait for claims adjusters or estimates, he said.

After Andrew when insurers realized that they had more risk than they could handle, Donahue said, they had to raise deductibles, which moved the cost burden more to customers and less to the insurance company. The downside for the consumer, he said, is that many people may not have enough damage to their home to meet their deductible and can get stuck paying out of pocket for repairs.

StormPeace helps policyholders in that scenario.

With this policy, as long as you know the storm was within a certain distance of your home you are going to be compensated, he said.

Community Awareness

Andrew also taught the industry about the importance of educating customers on hurricane mitigation and preparedness, and most companies now spend more time and resources on these efforts.

Florida insurers send hurricane information to their policyholders each season and many offer discounts for mitigation work done on customer homes.

Technology and social media have provided a more direct way for insurance companies to reach out to their customers to help them prepare for a storm.

The opportunity to talk and communicate with costumers in advance of what they need to do is much better than it used be, Desjadon said.

While those efforts have helped customers understand their risk and reduce company exposure, experts say they still worry about what they call hurricane amnesia because of the number of years since a significant storm event in Florida.

For the insurance industry, that is a timeless hurdle.

Florida has never gone this long without a large hurricane landfall, said Megan Linkin, natural hazards expert for Swiss Re. There is a complacency that has occurred  people have short memories. And people who have moved to the area since are not well versed in the potential impact a storm like Andrew can have.

Next: A Look At Floridas Current Risk to Major Hurricanes

Topics Carriers Catastrophe Natural Disasters Florida Reinsurance Hurricane Market
A federal bankruptcy judge has approved a $1 million loan for the Alaska Dispatch News to keep it operating as negotiations continue with potential buyers.

The newspaper will use the loan from potential buyers approved this week to continue paying insurance premiums and employees, KTUU-TV reported. Without the loan, Alaska Dispatch News could not afford its ongoing expenses and would have to fold, said Cabot Christianson, the newspapers lawyer.

The Anchorage-based newspaper filed for bankruptcy on Aug. 12. Last week, a judge and Northrim Bank allowed Alaska Dispatch News to move $800,000 out of its account to pay newspaper carriers and another $50,000 to pay workers compensation, insurance premiums and employee reimbursements while hearings for its sale were delayed.

Alaska Dispatch News owes over $2.5 million to several vendors. The newspapers current owner and former publisher Alice Rogoff invested $17 million into the paper, said she said in court via telephone last week.

The Binkley Co. LLC out of Fairbanks and current Alaska Dispatch News publishers Ryan Binkley and Jason Evans have expressed interested in buying the paper. Binkley and Evans have offered to buy it for $1 million.

The newspapers hearing for its official sale is scheduled for Sept. 11.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Legislation Workers' Compensation
Medical payments per claim in Californias workers compensation system dropped 9 percent in 2016 from two years prior, according to a report issued by the the Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau on Thursday.

The WCIRBs California Workers Compensation Aggregate Medical Payment Trends report compares medical payment transaction data from calendar year 2014 to calendar year 2016.

WCIRB researchers used reported medical payment data representing more than 90 percent of the California workers comp insurance market.

Among the findings of the report are:

Medical payments per claim dropped 9 percent from 2014 to $3,474.

The decline in medical payments per claim was driven by a drop in medical utilization, as reflected in a 10 percent reduction in paid medical transactions, which offset a 4 percent increase in payments per paid transaction.

The average pharmacy paid per transaction declined by 17 percent during the three-year period driven by decreases in all drug categories.

The average paid per physician general provider transaction increased 12 percent during the three-year period.

The medical legal share of medical costs increased from 10 percent to 12 percent largely as a result of the number of medical legal reports per claim increasing 8 percent over the three-year period.

The full report is available in the research section of the WCIRB website.

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Topics California Trends Workers' Compensation
CGTN photo

Construction began on an Internet security training institute in central China's Hubei Province on Wednesday.

The project in Wuhan airport economic zone, covers an area of 100 hectares and will cost 5 billion yuan (751 million US dollar).

The institute will open in June 2019 and be capable of providing professional training for 10,000 people.

Meanwhile, supporting projects such as an international talent community and a supercomputer center were inaugurated on Wednesday.

The Internet security institute is supported by the Office of the Central Leading Group for Cyberspace Affairs.

From 2017 to 2027, China plans to build four to six international-standard Internet security institutes, according to a joint document issued by the Central Leading Group and the Education Ministry in August.

In 2014, the number of China's Internet security personnel needed in key industry information systems and infrastructure was 700,000, which is expected to double by 2020, according to Feng Huamin, vice president of Beijing Electronic Science and Technology Institute.

As of last year, China only had 143 Internet security majors spread over 126 universities, which are approximately 10% of technology universities.

China has about 751 million Internet users.
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The Filipino-Irish family caught up in the Barcelona terror attack have returned safely to Ireland.

Father of the family, Norman Fernandez Potot, suffered a fracture to his forehead when a van was driven into pedestrians on Las Ramblas last Thursday.
UPDATE 10pm: Police in Rotterdam stopped a van with Spanish licence plates containing a number of gas bottles close to the venue of a concert by an American rock band that was cancelled following a threat, the mayor of the Dutch port city said.

Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb said at a hastily arranged press conference that the van's driver had been detained and was being questioned.

Allah-Las are a four-piece band from Los Angeles.

In an interview with The Guardian last year, band members said they chose the word Allah, Arabic for God, because they were seeking a "holy sounding" name.

They said they did not realise it might offend Muslims.

Lead singer Miles Michaud told the newspaper the group received emails from Muslims around the world who said they were offended.

Michaud said the band usually wrote back and explained its intentions were honourable "and mainly they understand".

EARLIER: A concert in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam by American rock group Allah-Las was cancelled on Wednesday night because of a "terror threat", police said in a statement.

The mayor of Rotterdam said the driver of a van from Spain had been detained after a warning from police in that country which itself suffered weekend terror attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils.

"Police took this information seriously enough that after discussion with organisers it was decided to cancel the event," a Rotterdam police statement said.

An investigation was under way, but no arrests have been made, police said.

Concert organiser Rotown said earlier on Twitter that the concert venue, a former grain silo called Maassilo, was being evacuated because of the unspecified threat and concertgoers would get their money back.

The show had not yet started when the decision to cancel it was made.

Dutch television showed officers in body armour outside Maassilo and what appeared to be members of the band leaving the venue in a white van with a police escort.

The band did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

Allah-Las is a four-piece band from Los Angeles.

In an interview with British newspaper The Guardian last year, band members said they chose the word All, Arabic for God, because they were seeking a "holy sounding" name and did not realise it might cause offence.

"We get emails from Muslims, here in the US and around the world, saying they're offended, but that absolutely wasn't our intention," lead singer Miles Michaud told the newspaper.

"We email back and explain why we chose the name, and mainly they understand."

Rotterdam (file pic)

The mayor, Ahmed Aboutaleb, said police stopped a van with Spanish licence plates containing a number of gas bottles close to the venue.

He said the van's driver was being questioned.

AP
The association says Ireland and the EU should co-fund aids to help Irish companies invest in enabling technology, management training, plant renewal and expansion, refinancing, market research and innovation to regain competitiveness following single market fracture.

The 600m is about 5% of the value of annual export sales to the UK by Irish agri-food companies. The funds would help the sector maintain its edge in the face of currency challenges, and to help avoid Irish goods being displaced by cheaper UK imports in their home market.
Air Berlin, which is being kept in the air thanks to a 150m government loan, has been in talks with interested parties since last week, when it filed for insolvency after major shareholder, Gulf carrier Etihad, said it would no longer provide funding.

Part of Air Berlins appeal to bidders lies in its access to take-off and landing slots at airports such as Dusseldorf.

As part of a restructuring earlier this year, Air Berlin transferred leisure routes to tourist destinations in Spain and Greece to its Austria-based unit Niki. Goodbody analysts said buying Niki would strengthen Lufthansas position against Ryanair on such routes.

Lufthansa is unlikely to be able to buy all of Air Berlin for competition reasons.

Together the two would control around 95% of German domestic routes. Ryanair boss Michael OLeary said on Tuesday he would be interested in a bid for Air Berlin as a whole, but complained Ryanair hadnt been invited to the process, which he sees as favouring Lufthansa.

German aviation investor Hans Rudolf Woehrl, who also wants to buy Air Berlin as a whole, has also criticised the process, saying he was not invited to bid. Thomas Cooks German airline Condor is also part of the negotiations and EasyJet is also said to be weighing up Air Berlins assets.

TUI said it was involved but only in those talks that relate to 14 planes its TUIfly unit rents to Air Berlin. TUI has been seeking options for TUIfly since plans to put it into a leisure-oriented venture with Niki and Etihad collapsed in June.

Any sale will be decided by a creditor committee, which met for the first time yesterday and includes representatives from Air Berlin, the federal labour office which is paying staff wages, Commerzbank, and Eurowings.

Ryanair said, on Tuesday, it would be interested in bidding for Air Berlin if it had access to more data on the airlines finances. But we dont know how much restructuring it will take, how much money is it losing, why is it losing so much money in a market where we make money, Mr OLeary said.
Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) chief executive, Pat Dawson, said Tunisia was still too raw, after 39 tourists were killed in a terrorist atrocity in Sousse in June 2015, including three Irish.

Tunisias tourism revenues have risen 19% this year, reflecting a recovery in a vital sector crippled two years ago.

Tourism accounts for 8% of Tunisias GDP, provides thousands of jobs, and is a key source of foreign currency, but it has struggled since two major attacks in 2015.

The first, at the Bardo National Museum, in Tunis, left 21 tourists dead, while 39 holidaymakers were killed in the second attack, on a beach in the resort city of Sousse.

Tunisias tourism minister, Salma Loumi, said 4.58m foreigners visited the North African country between January and this month, bolstered by arrivals from neighbouring Algeria. Visits by European tourists rose 16%.

Last month, Britains foreign office said it was no longer advising against travel to most of the North African country, including the capital, Tunis, and major tourist destinations.

Thomas Cook will resume offering holidays in Tunisia, for UK holidaymakers, following the change. It had not stopped offerings for French, German, and Belgian holidaymakers, because their governments hadnt advised against travel.

However, Mr Dawson said it looked unlikely that Tunisia and Turkey, which has also suffered from terrorist attacks, would figure highly in the eyes of tour operators and airlines, as they assessed Irish interest.

Mr Dawson said: I dont envisage airlines and tour operators putting Tunisia and Turkey back on the schedule for 2018, but it is, of course, up to them to decide. Turkey may come back more quickly, but my feeling is that Tunisia is still too raw for many Irish people, considering three Irish tourists died in Sousse.

Mr Dawson said the travel agents would encourage airlines to open more routes from airports like Cork and Shannon to the likes of Croatia and Slovenia, in light of terror uncertainty in major European destinations.

There is an opportunity for more routes, to and from regional airports across Europe. There is nothing like travelling from your own local airport, instead of travelling to Dublin all the time. Cork, Shannon, and Knock are superb airports, and holidaymakers add significantly to the local economy when using them.

There is a huge market for hundreds of thousands of Irish holidaymakers who dont live in Dublin, and we would be encouraging tour operators and airlines to spread the love to the regions.

Mr Dawson said that asking holidaymakers to use the M50 or the M8 to get to Dublin Airport was not the answer.

We have to make it as easy as possible for consumers, its as simple as that. Looking outside of Dublin would do that, he said.

Tunisian officials expect the number of foreign tourists to rise to 6.5m this year, up 30% from 2016, due to improved security and interest from new markets, including Russia.

That would mark a return to normal, below a record 6.9m visitors in 2010.

Additional reporting Reuters
The UKs Recruitment and Employment Confederation said 29% of firms surveyed reported higher confidence in hiring and investment, but 20% were less confident than before. The positive margin was the narrowest since the REC started the survey in its current form in June 2016.

Employers confidence about the economy, in general, was the lowest since November.

This drop in employer confidence should raise a red flag, REC chief executive Kevin Green said.

Businesses are continuing to hire to meet demand, but issues like access to labour, Brexit negotiations and political uncertainty are creating nervousness, he added.

It is unclear how much Britains government will curb immigration by EU workers after the country leaves the bloc in March 2019.

Official statistics last week showed that year-on-year growth in the number of non-British EU-born workers fell to a seven-year low in the three months to June.

The REC said staff shortages were most acute in the construction and health and social care sectors, both of which rely heavily on foreign staff.

Overall, 40% of employers said they had absolutely no spare capacity, up from 35% a year earlier.

Meanwhile, eurozone business growth maintained a solid clip in August, driven by the best manufacturing performance in six and a half years despite a strong euro, easily offsetting a mild slowdown in services growth.

The momentum was underpinned by strong manufacturing growth in both of the eurozones biggest economies, Germany and France, and suggested 0.5% economic growth for the eurozone in the last three months.

The data is likely to support expectations that the ECB will proceed later this year with making plans to scale back its multi-billion euro monthly asset purchases.
Cork City Public Participation Network (PPN) said its members were unanimously in favour of extending the boundary. The PPN also favours the retention of two autonomous local authorities.

The statement from the city PPN comes on the heels of a pledge from Cork County PPN to lobby against the expansion.

The proposal to extend the city boundary to an area that would increase the size of the city eightfold and include rates-rich areas such as Ballincollig, Little Island, Carrigtwohill, Blarney and Cork Airport, is recommended in the Mackinnon report which has the backing of Government.

Martha Halbert, co-ordinator of Cork City PPN, said prior to their meeting the MacKinnon expert group earlier this year, the network had held a secretariat meeting, an emergency plenary meeting and conducted a survey among members to formulate their response.

Unanimously the Cork City PPN members were in favour of the retention of two autonomous local authorities [as per Mackinnon] and, furthermore, the expansion of the boundaries of Cork City to enable the city to grow to a sustainable size, with compensation for the county for the loss of revenue as a result of the expanded boundary, Ms Halbert said.

Siobhan ODowd, a social inclusion secretariat representative on Cork City PPN, said while she understood the anxiety in the county, she believed the city council is cognisant of the unique and distinct identity of communities.

As a community worker and an individual Ive had direct experience of their involvement and can honestly say they take the lead from communities themselves, Ms ODowd said.

The city view is entirely at odds with the county PPN which believes a boundary extension will be a fiscal disaster.
Around 50 residents held a protest outside a house in a small North Cork village yesterday which is being leased by Daffodil Care Services Ltd, which works on behalf the child and family agency Tusla.

Shanballymore Concerned Residents Group (SCRG) say the house, which is 1.4km from the village, is just a few hundred metres from the busy and dangerous N73 Mallow/Mitchelstown road.

Furthermore, they say that adjoining fields are home to farms that contain potentially dangerous animals such as bulls and horses.

There are no facilities or amenities for young people in the area; the village does not even have a shop. There is not even a footpath outside the house, SCRG spokesman Billy Gallagher said.

The house in Shanballymore, where about 50 local residents held a protest.

Those who protested are also concerned about the security implications if one of the teenagers causes trouble.

Mr Gallagher said the nearest garda station is in Kildorrery, but is only open on a part-time basis.

Its likely that gardai would have to come to the scene from 24-hour stations at Mitchelstown and Fermoy, which are respectively 18km and 19km away.

Thomas OFlynn, who owns the next door farm, said he was concerned teenagers might wander into a potentiallly dangerous situation.

Ive a suckler herd of cows and two Limousin bulls, aged four and eight. Ive been chased by cows after calving. They can be very dangerous. A man was killed by one in the village of Araglin last year, Mr OFlynn said.

Ive never had a problem with the bulls, but they can turn on you at anytime.

Theres nothing for the teenagers to do in Shanballymore unless they play GAA, Mr OFlynn added.

Mr Gallagher said SCRG was considering all its options including the possibility of legal action.

None of the teenagers have moved into the house yet.

Cllr Frank OFlynn, who attended the protest, said Daffodil Care Services Ltd was exempt from getting planning permission to turn a residential property into a care home.

The trouble with that is that the locals only found out by accident that this was happening. There should have been public consultation first on the matter, Cllr OFlynn said.

Carlos Kelly, a director of Daffodil Care Service Ltd, attended a recent meeting at Shanballymore Community Centre where he was asked a series of questions by SCRG members.

Some of the questions focused on unruly incidents which had occurred at other residences which house troubled teenagers.

In a statement sent to the Irish Examiner, Mr Kelly said as he noted at the end of the meeting in the community centre he is happy to discuss and address any specific issues that our neighbours may have.
The proposed development, by a company of local interests, had met major opposition.

It had caused divisions in the mid-Waterford area around the villages of Ballylaneen, Stradbally, and Bunmahon. Both sides accused each other of intimidatory tactics to win local support.

Plans for an 11-turbine farm, reported last month in the Irish Examiner, had been at an advanced stage, but opposition was stepped up in recent months. A public meeting in July, organised by the projects development company, did not receive a favourable reception.

The company, BSB Energy, issued a statement this week: In view of the feedback from the consultation process, the local campaign of opposition, the lack of local support, the committee is advising that the current wind farm proposal will not be proceeding any further. The current project is also not compliant given the proposed changes in the planning guidelines.

The change in guidelines that affected the proposal was the set-back distance between turbines and residences, which must be at least four times the span of the blade on the turbine. The project had been designed according to old guidelines. To proceed under the new guidelines would have meant eliminating some turbines, making the project unviable.

BSB Energy director and local businessman Paddy Power said he would have continued if the guidelines had not changed. They (opposition) wouldnt have stopped me, he said.

They were willing to say anything and do anything to get their way, but they wouldnt have stopped it going ahead.

We had originally planned for 34 turbines but we came down to 11 but some wouldnt have made it with the new guidelines and it wouldnt have been viable.

Fiona Keane of the Mahon Valley Against Turbines group said they were relieved the project wasnt going ahead. The last few months have been a real eye-opener in relation to how inappropriate projects could easily be pushed through planning in order to satisfy a few developers, she said.

We were lucky, we stopped this with people power. Not all communities have been successful.
The allegations are being examined by a State- appointed reviewer Dr Richard Thorn. The former president of Sligo Institute of Technology is probing up to two dozen complaints made against UL by current and former staff, in areas of finance, human resources, and governance.

A report is due in the autumn, with any corrective measures against UL to be taken by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and the Department of Education.

Following the series of allegations of misconduct at UL, and in other institutions, Education Minister Richard Bruton is finalising provisions to grant more authority to the HEA. This includes new powers allowing the authority to impose an investigator on higher education institutions.

Under Section 20 of the Universities Act (1997), any external intervention can only be with the agreement of the university.

This is a serious erosion of the autonomy of the university, often stated to be a pillar of the Governments policy on higher education, and a central tenet of the Universities Act, said UL president Dr Des Fitzgerald in an email to staff.

UL had resisted attempts by the HEA to appoint an investigator, but when he took up office in May, Dr Fitzgerald reversed ULs position and wrote to the secretary general of the Department of Education indicating their full support for a thorough examination.

Speaking on Limericks Live95FM, Dr Fitzgerald said issues regarding the universitys finances are not cultural, nor had any evidence of any illegal affairs been brought to his attention.

Instead, he said, issues have arisen around the scale of the university and how rapidly it has built up suitable management programmes.

The management [structure] was too lean for the scale of the organisation thats there, he said.

Two employees from ULs finance department remain suspended at a cost in excess of 120,000 to the State. They refused to sign confidential severance agreements of nearly 60,000 each to end their dispute with UL, which they claim arose as a result of questioning expenses to some senior staff.

Its not appropriate that people should be on paid leave for a period of two years. It started out as a fairly simple issue for members of staff. That escalated and shouldnt have been allowed to escalate, said Dr Fitzgerald.

On legal action taken against the Limerick Leader and its then editor Alan English regarding the first report on financial allegations, he said: I wouldnt have done that. It was a mistake.

Dr Thorn said he has heard the testimonies of very traumatic incidents for individuals, in the finance department in particular, with more than 25 people interviewed.

Very high-level matters concerning questions of governance have been raised, and, on the other hand, matters of deep concern to individual employees, he said. The legal advice sought in respect of severance packages and whether or not it was appropriate, or overly used is something that well be looking at very carefully.

The review is examining severance payments made to staff, totalling over 800,000, some of which had not received written prior approval from the department.
Mr Ring released a progress report on the Governments action plan for rural Ireland, but is facing a backlash over broadband problems, local funding debacles, and high unemployment figures outside of urban areas.

His progress report claims that 195 of 202 parts of the Governments rural action plan have been completed, are on schedule, or are in progress. Progress has been made on town and village schemes, the CLAR programme, rural transport links, as well as outdoor recreation infrastructure, says the report.

Launching the report and insisting there is still no room for complacency, Mr Ring faced strong criticism from rural campaign groups and opposition party TDs who said the Government had hollowed out communities outside of the M50.

Irish Rural Link chief executive Seamus Boland said that six months since the action plans launch, there is still high unemployment in rural areas, a strong need for broadband, and concern about the sustainability of rural communities. There are still some 300,000 homes without broadband, he said.

He said there is a need to put a stop to migration and emigration of young people from towns, with youth employment impacting on areas.

The types of jobs available are less well paid and wont keep a family going. Young people are leaving, the unemployment level in some rural areas is up to 25%, said Mr Boland.

Better broadband in rural areas could stop this, argued Mr Boland, noting that the plan to improve internet access nationwide was delayed by a year, contributing to the emptying of towns. [Towns] are looking at a drain of people leaving, rather than coming back, he said.

Mr Ring, speaking to RTE, agreed there is a need to progress the National Broadband Plan, being overseen by Denis Naughten, the communications minister.

Broadband is a very important infrastructure for rural Ireland, it is important that we roll it out, he said.

Mr Ring also wants to see more money spent. We are hoping to get more money for rural Ireland, we need the infrastructure.

Fianna Fail accused Mr Ring of being the go-to minister for bluster and fudging for this Government.

Every number of months, he is trooped out on national radio to talk about the Governments commitment to rural Ireland, Clare TD Timmy Dooley.

He has supported a Government for the past six years that has systematically hollowed out communities outside of the M50 motorway.

If he is so committed to rural Ireland, why has he done nothing about the projected closure of nearly 300 post offices up and down the country?
No school has received an emergency asthma inhaler for first-aid kits, under a scheme established two years ago by then health minister, Leo Varadkar.

Chief executive of the Asthma Society of Ireland, Averil Power, said the failure of the scheme, combined with some teachers reluctance to administer asthma medication, was putting childrens lives at risk.

The Irish National Teachers Organisation reacted angrily, describing Ms Powers comments on teachers as wide of the mark.

INTO president, John Boyle, said there was no reluctance on the part of schools to administer medication. The thousands of children who attend school regularly, with a range of conditions, are proof of that, he said.

Describing the scheme as a well-kept secret, Mr Boyle said no information, equipment, or training had been provided to schools regarding this scheme.

Mr Boyle said that given the 20% prevalence of asthma in schools, the inhalers should be sent to all schools, as a matter of course.

Ms Power, meanwhile, said several children in Britain had died from fatal asthma attacks at school in recent years.

It is essential we do everything we can to avoid a similar tragedy here, she said.

She said the scheme that allowed schools, sports clubs, and other community facilities to get inhalers for their on-site first aid kits was a positive move.

However, last year, the society warned Health Minister Simon Harris that the schemes conditions made it unworkable and resulted in schools not taking it up.

In October 2015, Mr Varadkar had signed regulations that allow prescription-only medicines, including asthma-relieving salbutamol, to be administered by trained people in emergency situations.

However, the organisations must first register with the Health Products Regulatory Authority and have a member undergo a training course accredited by the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council.

Mr Harris confirmed, in a written Dail reply to Fianna Fails Declan Breathnach, that while seven organisations were registered, none of them appeared to be schools or sports clubs.

The Asthma Societys medical adviser, Prof Richard Costello, said the minister for health should make it clear to teachers that they should not be reluctant to give a child reliever medication in an asthma emergency.

Prof Costello said the potential side-effects, such as shakiness and increased heart rate, were minor and temporary.

Up to eight puffs of salbutamol can safely be taken in one day. Delay in taking medication, on the other hand, could cost a life, he said.

The department, meanwhile, said the legislation did not change the good Samaritan rule that allowed people to help someone in distress to take a medicine prescribed to them.

www.asthma.ie
Watches are not rocket science. Or are they? Watches are not rocket...

Perhaps you dont have a PhD. Well, thats a shame, because with some watches, youll need one to understand how to tell the time. Perhaps you dont have a PhD. Well,...
ADS ADS

The Richard Mille RM 67-01, launched two years ago, is the thinnest self-winding Richard Mille watch available. It doesnt win any records (the worlds thinnest self-winding wristwatch is the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Automatic, presented this year), but thats not the point of this piece. For a Richard Mille watch, it is very thin at just 7.75mm high and with a movement that is just 3.6mm in thickness. The RM 67-01 was an exercise in style, producing a much thinner watch while keeping the skeletonisation familiar of Richard Mille models that also creates an impression of depth.

The two latest extra-flat incarnations from Richard Mille couldnt be more different from their predecessor. Although they are a whisker thicker, at 7.8mm in total height, their design bears no resemblance whatsoever to the RM 67-02 and their colourful cases in QuartzTPT contrast with the sober look of the original. Since both models have been designed for Olympic athletes, an additional factor was added into the design equation: lightness. These watches are, like all Richard Mille timepieces, designed to be worn during competition and therefore need to be almost imperceptible on the wrist in terms of weight and comfort, yet also withstand the same physical shocks of different disciplines.

RM 67-02 Automatic High Jump

The high jump model was specially developed for Mutaz Essa Barshim, a Qatari athlete who won the silver medal in the high jump at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. It was in Rio where Richard Mille met the athlete and saw a new opportunity. Ive been working for over fifteen years to push haute horlogerie beyond the niche it had tucked itself into and open it to new, as yet unexplored or poorly served disciplines, he said, with the high jump, there was a blank slate. In Barshims case, the result is a watch with a red QuartzTPT bezel and case back and a carbon-fibre case middle, with hand-painted red decoration on the architectural elements of the dial, all to recall the colours of the Qatari flag.

RM 62-07 Atomatic Mutaz Essa Barshim  Richard Mille

RM 67-02 Automatic Sprint

You might remember Yohann Blake sporting his bright yellow and green RM 59-01 in front of a TV audience in the millions during the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Early last year, Richard Mille started preparing his next Olympic coup by signing a partnership agreement with South African athlete Wayde van Niekerk, the world champion over 400 metres. It was a prescient move, since van Niekerk went on to scoop gold at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro with a world record time of 43.03 seconds. His Richard Mille timepiece is clearly visible on all photos of the race and the record time. The Sprint version of the new RM 67-02 has been designed to Wayde van Niekerks specifications, with a bright yellow and green QuartzTPT case and the colours of the South African flag on the dial.

RM 67-02 Automatic Wayde van Niekerk  Richard Mille

Extra-flat and ultra-light

The new RM 67-02 models are powered by the seventh Richard Mille movement to be developed in-house by the brand. The Calibre CRMA7, the successor to the CRMA6 that powers the RM 67-01, is machined from grade 5 titanium that is subsequently DLC coated in grey and black. It has the same thickness of 3.6mm but unlike the CRMA6 calibre things have been reduced to the bare essentials: the watch shows only the hours and minutes, with no seconds, no date and, therefore, no need for the W-D-H function setting indicator. The oscillating mass is made of CarbonTPT and white gold, rather than the heavier platinum used in the RM 67-01.

Arguably the biggest innovation with these two new watches, however, is the strap. After developing lightweight and comfortable perforated rubber straps for Felipe Massa, Velcro and honeycomb polyeurethane straps for Rafael Nadal, Richard Mille has developed a comfort strap for the new RM 67-02 models. Taking some design inspiration from the shoes worn by athletes, it is produced in a fabric with a ply designed specifically to ensure maximum elasticity and optimum aeration. Because its elasticity allows it to sit snugly on the wrist even during extreme physical exertion, there is no need for a clasp. As a result, this is the lightest strap ever produced by Richard Mille and it keeps the overall weight of the RM 67-02 down to just 32 grammes, making it the lightest self-winding Richard Mille wristwatch.
Organizations must prepare for the drone age. It is clear that these devices will play a role in how business is done.

It still seems unclear, however, exactly how drones will be administered. Thats too bad: Drones pose obvious risks. Just within the past week, there were potentially dangerous incidents in Memphis and Delhi, India. Beyond safety, commercial drones clearly point to significant operational and management changes. Most obviously, customer fulfillment will look a lot different once drones are fully integrated.

The drone industry seems to be in a state of flux. According to Forbes contributor Kate Harrison, the confusion stems from Taylor v. FAA, a court challenge to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) control over small drones and similar aircraft. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit found that the FAA had no registration control over hobbyist drones.

Harrisons piece is based on a conversation with Jonathan Rupprecht, the attorney for John Taylor, who brought the suit. He says that the process of determining the limits of FAA power going forward will be slow, future rulemaking will be delayed, and that the ensuing confusion will be wasteful. The bottom line is that a general sense of confusion surrounds drones.

The FAA, according to legal blog JD Supra, retains control among non-hobbyists. It is charged with controlling usage and safety regulations. The post outlines six areas of concern at the federal level: a prohibition on nighttime flying and operation at more than 100 miles per hour, pilot testing requirements and remote pilot certification, the need to register devices with the FAA and airspace restriction.

State laws, the post says, are more geared to protecting personal privacy rights against drones. These devices have the capability of spying or eavesdropping.

It is possible to differentiate between hobbyist and commercial drone use. More broadly, however, confusion at the hobbyist level seems likely to impact the commercial side. Remember that we live in the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) era, in which there is little differentiation between consumer and professional equipment.

Administrative bodies should work as fast as possible. Drone delivery has come  at least to Reykjavik, Iceland. ZDNet reports that the AHA marketplace is delivering packages of food and consumer goods to a drop-off point on the other side of the city. This service, which is being run by Flytrex, at this point is not allowed by the Icelandic Transport Authority to drop packages at homes.

Carl Weinschenk covers telecom for IT Business Edge. He writes about wireless technology, disaster recovery/business continuity, cellular services, the Internet of Things, machine-to-machine communications and other emerging technologies and platforms. He also covers net neutrality and related regulatory issues. Weinschenk has written about the phone companies, cable operators and related companies for decades and is senior editor of Broadband Technology Report. He can be reached at [email protected] and via twitter at @DailyMusicBrk.
After Google released Android Oreo on August 21, the only question everybody has is if their phone would receive the update anytime soon. But the reality is that, at this point, there is still a big bunch waiting for last year's Android 7.0 Nougat update. However, Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) which was launched last year has now seen receiving WiFi certification from the WiFi Alliance (WFA) with Android 7.0 Nougat onboard.

The Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) was spotted running Android 7.0 Nougat in the online database of the Wi-Fi Alliance, as reported by Android Headlines. The certification usually means that the official update should start rolling out anytime soon.

According to the listing, Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) will support single-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n (2.4GHz) and Wi-Fi Direct connectivity features. However, the listing shows that the device will be powered by Android 7.0 Nougat operating system.

The listing also reveals the smartphone with model number as SM-J510FN with the certification ID WFA64489 and the date of certification is 21st August 2017. Samsung Galaxy J5 (2017) has been running Android 7.0 Nougat since its launch, but its precursor of the same device is getting this version almost now, as reported by Dutch website Galaxy Club.

The latest spotted certification does not betray when Samsung wants to roll out the update to the device. All we know is that the start of the rollout is getting closer. It might take weeks or even months before the new software actually roll out to the Dutch devices. However, since the update has started collecting necessary certifications, it shouldn't be too long before it starts hitting units in the wild.

With Android Nougat on Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016), the smartphone will receive the update in form of multi-window support, improved reading on the smartphone with the ability to resize text and screen size. In addition, the notifications panel will also be updated, giving users the option to respond to messages directly via the notifications bar. Android Nougat also has shortcuts like double tapping recent apps button, which will help the user toggle between multiple apps.




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Salem was originally found guilty of laundering profits from an Egypt-Israel gas deal under former president Hosni Mubarak

Cairo Criminal Court ordered the acquittal on Tuesday of Mubarak-era business tycoon Hussein Salem of money-laundering charges linked to the export of gas to Israel.

His son Khaled and daughter Magda, who were charged in the same case, were also aquitted on Tuesday.

Salem and his offspring were originally convicted in absentia in October 2011 and sentenced to 7 years in prison and over $4 billion in fines. However, he later appealed at the Court of Cassation, which granted him a retrial, the outcome of which was Tuesday's aquittal.

Salem was accused of laundering more than $2 billion in profits he made from the deal, which was agreed between the governments of Egypt and Israel.

Earlier this year, Salems lawyer Mahmoud Kebbiesh, told Ahram Online that the "money laundering charges in connection with the gas export deal represented the last criminal case against Hussein.

Salem had faced various charges relating to the gas deal.

In 2012, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison in absentia after being convicted of corruption in connection with the same Israel gas deal. He was charged of being involved in providing Egyptian natural gas to Israel at prices below the international market price.

He was later acquitted in a retrial in 2015, a ruling the prosecution later appealed. But he was finally acquitted by Cairo Criminal Court in May 2017.

Salem, who was granted Spanish citizenship in 2008, fled to Madrid soon after the 2011 revolution that ousted long-time president Hosni Mubarak. The businessman still resides in Spain, although there has been discussion of his possible return to Egypt.

Since 2011, Salem has been sentenced to several prison terms for corruption, money laundering, seizing state-owned land, bribery, and squandering public funds.

However, in 2013, he filed several requests with the prosecution to reconcile with the Egyptian state by paying large amounts of money in exchange for charges against him and his family members being dropped.

In mid-2016, the Egyptian government agreed to settle with Salem and his family members in three corruption cases, on the condition that he pays EGP 5.3 billion.

In February, an Egyptian court unfroze the assets of Salem and his family.

Salems lawyer Kebbiesh said previously that the businessman had the option of returning from Spain after the reconciliation deal with the government in 2016. However, the lawyer said he had no idea when he would return.

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Egypt has strongly condemned the beheading of 11 people in the Libyan desert on Wednesday in an attack claimed by Daesh, the foreign ministry said in a statement late on Wednesday.

Nine soldiers and two civilians were beheaded at dawn in an attack on a checkpoint manned by forces of Libyan military strongman Khalifa

Haftar in the Al-Jufra region, around 500 kilometres south of Tripoli.

Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack via its Amaq channel.

Cairo affirmed its support for Libya's government and people in the "fight against terrorism."

Libya has plunged into chaos since the 2011 fall of longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed revolt.

Cairo added that will continue to support its western neighbour until it reaches national unity and rebuilds state institutions.



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The ministry said the two suspects, identified as Mohamed Younis and El-Sayed Mostafa, shot at police as they tried to apprehend them at their hideout.

They were involved in a range of violent incidents recently, the statement said, without specifying further.

Younis was responsible for mobilising and storing explosives within the group, according to the statement.

Hasm has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks on security personnel in recent months, mostly targeting police checkpoints.

Security forces have arrested and killed dozens of suspected Hasm members in the past few months.

Officials have said the group is linked to the banned Muslim Brotherhood

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Local Dems sweep; town rejects pot Every Democrat on the local ballot won their race Tuesday, including Jamestown resident Peter Neronhas re-election as the states top prosecutor, and local voters followed suit with the statewide trend...

Voters rebuff allowing retail pot sales in shops By a margin of 157 votes, the electorate decided Tuesday not to allow local businesses to cultivate, manufacture, test or sell recreational marijuana in Jamestown. The referendum to allow the...

School board agrees to contract with North Kingstown Jamestown students entering high school can continue to choose North Kingstown as their destination for grades 9-12. We are pleased to continue this historic partnership, said Ken Duva, superintendent of...
Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi chaired on Thursday the first meeting of the Supreme Council to Combat Terrorism and Extremism.

El-Sisi called on the council to adopt a comprehensive national strategy to combat both domestic and international terrorism and extremism within a framework that covers the security, cultural, economic, social and media aspects.

The council was formed by the president in April after deadly attacks by Islamist militants against churches in Alexandria and Tanta to coordinate efforts in the government's war on terrorism.

In the last four years, Egypt has been fighting against Islamist militant terror attacks on army and police, mostly in North Sinai, which have left hundreds of security personnel dead. Islamist militants have also carried out deadly attacks against Coptic churches on a number of occasions.

The council's members include Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal, the grand imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed Al-Tayeb, and Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II.

Council members also include the ministers of defence, endowments, foreign affairs, interior, communication, justice, education, higher education, and social solidarity, as well as the heads of intelligence and the Administrative Control Authority.

El-Sisi stressed to council members the importance of spreading moderate religious discourse and virtuous concepts, as well as developing plans to protect young people from the dangers of extremism by providing job opportunities, the presidential spokesperson Alaa Youssef said in a statement.

El-Sisi urged a revision of counterterrorism legislation domestically and internationally, as well as enhancing coordination and cooperation between state's apparatuses on fighting terrorism.

The president also stressed the importance of using media platforms to increase awareness and counter terrorism and extremism, Youssef said.

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Four Triad biotechnology companies and researchers have received grants from the N.C. Biotechnology Center as part of its fourth-quarter 2016-17 funding cycle.

The largest grant of $200,000 was provided to Wake Forest University Health Sciences to help purchase a liquid chromatographymass spectrometry instrument. Industrial development grants are used for the acquisition of research equipment and core facilities that serve multiple scientists.

Wake Forest researchers will use the instrument to expand its ability to analyze small molecules naturally present in the body or introduced by consumption of foods, exposure to environmental agents (pathogens, pollutants, pesticides, tobacco products) or the ingestion of medical drugs.

Wake Forest Health Sciences researchers also received a $75,000 technology-enhancement grant. The funding will go to help develop a point-of-care diagnostic device for influenza that uses nanopores  extremely small holes that allow only certain types of viruses or bacteria to pass through  and their DNA to be detected and measured.

AestasRx of Lewisville received a $75,000 company inception loan to assist with its development of a diagnostic test that can provide early detection of Alzheimers disease before appearance of clinical symptoms.

In the industrial internship program, Kepley Biosystems of Greensboro received $3,000.

Richard Craver

AT&T adds cell tower on New Walkertown Road

AT&T said Wednesday it has added another cell tower to its 4G LTE network in Winston-Salem.

The tower was placed on New Walkertown Road and will serve Smith Reynolds Airport, Carver High School and surrounding communities.

Richard Craver

Moodys gives credit negative view to Herbalife

Moodys Investors Service said Tuesday that it considers Herbalife Ltd.s plans to repurchase up to $600 million of common shares through a modified Dutch auction as credit negative.

The rating agency said the announcement does not affect Herbalifes ratings, including the Ba3 corporate family rating or stable rating outlook.

Investopedia defines a Ba3 rating as generally speculative in nature and not considered to be investment-grade bonds suited for people wishing to avoid the risk of losing their principal.

Herbalifes board of directors confirmed Monday it had flirted with selling the company to a private investment group before opting to accelerate its $1.5 billion share-repurchase program. Instead, the board plans to buy back $600 million worth of its shares for between $60 and $68 a share by Sept. 19.

The company has more than 1,000 employees at its East Coast manufacturing plant in Winston-Salem.

Richard Craver

Japan Tobacco has plan for Natural American Spirit

Japan Tobacco Inc. said Wednesday it will launch a new style of Natural American Spirit in Japan in October.

The company said the Organic Leaf One style represents the first time non-menthol products have been launched with 1 milligram of tar by the brand.

The cigarette uses 25 percent more organic tobacco leaf, which the company said is cultivated with an organic farming method accredited by the U.S. Agriculture Department.

In January 2016, Japan Tobacco spent $5 billion to buy the international brand rights from Reynolds American Inc.

Reynolds could not be reached for comment on whether any of its 13 styles of Natural American is similar to the Organic Leaf One style.

Richard Craver
Triad congressman Ted Budd has joined a U.S. House member from Ohio in urging the revocation of a recent trade ruling that went against an ATM maker with a Greensboro plant.

The Republican congressman from Advance and U.S. Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) went to bat Wednesday for Diebold-Nixdorf and its local plant that employs about 150 people.

In their letter, Budd and Turner asked U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to overturn a recent decision by the International Trade Commission that found Diebold had infringed on a Korean competitors patented ATM technology.

In addition to its plant on Pleasant Ridge Road, Diebold is headquartered in Canton, Ohio, and has a number of other domestic facilities. Information has been corrected to fix an error. See correction below. 9:28 a.m./08-24-17

Correction: The headquarters of Diebold was incorrect.
Wells Fargo & Co.s top executives told employees Tuesday that the bank is within a few weeks of completing the remediation process for its fraudulent customer-accounts scandal.

The bank released a question-and-answer styled employee memo by Timothy Sloan, the banks chief executive.

Sloan said the bank will announce at that time its retail account analysis, conducted by a third party, for 2009 through 2016.

At least 2.1 million customer checking and credit-card accounts are confirmed to have been affected in the scandal, although Sloan cautioned the number could be significantly higher.

Sloan said the bank will begin sending refunds of fees or charges incurred on potentially unauthorized accounts. Sloan said the refund total now tops $5 million. Customers will be notified whether they will receive a refund check or a credit to an account.

The bank also plans within weeks to send notices about the $142 million class-action settlement to current and former customers, including information about how they can participate. The settlement has received preliminary approval from a federal judge.

Customers who had an account opened without their approval will be automatically enrolled in the settlement.

Weve heard customers concerns about potential harm to credit scores due to unauthorized accounts, and thats why an important part of this settlement is remediation to customers for increased borrowing costs due to credit-score impact associated with a potentially unauthorized account, Sloan said.

Our retail banking account analysis, the class-action settlement, broad customer outreach and resolution of customer complaints are all very meaningful milestones, Sloan said.

It will help us fulfill our commitment to make things right for customers harmed by improper sales practices in our community bank.

Seeking Alpha contributor Chris Murphy said Sloans memo may have added more uncertainty to the mix on the negative impact of the scandal.

The news could get even worse for the company since additional class-action suits could be filed as customers receive notices of the current suit, Murphy said. The CEO mentioned the suits could be an issue in the future.

Im not sure how theyll calculate remediation for increased borrowing costs, but the uncertainty of what that final number and any additional fines or class-action settlements are likely to put enormous pressure on Wells Fargos stock in the coming weeks and months.

In short, the other shoe has yet to drop, Murphy said.

Analysts, investors and key congressional leaders, in particular U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have been calling for significant changes to Wells Fargo and its board of directors since the scandal erupted nearly a year ago.

The bank announced Aug. 15 a major shake-up, with Chairman Stephen Sanger and two other members retiring Dec. 31 and Vice Chairwoman Betty Duke transitioning to chairwoman Jan. 1.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Justice Department, state attorneys general offices and at least two congressional committees are conducting inquiries into the bank.

Wells Fargo confirmed Aug. 4 it could experience overall losses reaching $3.3 billion in its attempt to resolve its customer-account scandals. The estimated loss has more than tripled since October 2016.

Already, John Stumpf was allowed by the board to retire as chairman and chief executive on Oct. 12, while community bank head Carrie Tolstedt resigned and was retroactively fired with cause. Stumpf lost $69 million in compensation as one ripple effect of the scandal.

Sanger transitioned from lead independent director to non-executive chairman after Stumpfs retirement.

The results of our reviews will generate news headlines, but even as we face this renewed coverage, the best thing we can do is stay focused on fixing problems, making things right for customers, and building a better, stronger Wells Fargo, Sloan said.
Egypt's foreign minister Sameh Shoukry met on Thursday in Cairo with Alistair Burt, the UK's minister of state affairs for the Middle East and North Africa, where they discussed the war against terrorism and the latest developments in the Middle East, the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement.

The two ministers discussed consultation and coordination between Egypt and Britain on regional issues, including the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and finding solutions to end the crises in Libya, Syria, Yemen and Iraq.

Burt said that although London has not yet resumed direct flights from the UK to the Sinai resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh, British tourism to Egypt has increased 60 percent in 2017 compared to the previous year, according to the statement.

The UK imposed the ban in late 2015after a Russian passenger jet crashed shortly after taking off from Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport, killing all 224 people on board.

Burt told Shoukry that Britain values its economic relationship with Egypt, saying the UK remains the largest foreign investor in the country.

Shoukry briefed Burt on the new security measures Egypt has implemented at its airports since the 2015 crash, urging the UK to resume flights to Sharm El-Sheikh as soon as possible.

Burt's visit to Egypt comes as part of a Middle East tour that included Israel and the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza.

On the eve of his first visit to Cairo, the British minister penned an op-ed published in Egypt's Al-Ahram daily newspaper where he talked about British efforts against terrorism domestically and internationally, as well as the UK's keenness to respect civil and religious freedoms while countering extremism.

"Britain will not leave Egypt and its neighbours alone in the fight against terrorism; the UK has sent hundreds of military missions to liberate Iraq and Syria from Daesh's control," Burt wrote in Al-Ahram.

"Although Britain has not decided to ban the Muslim Brotherhood organisation as other countries have done, the UK has tightened monitoring on the activities of the group and visa requests by its members, and is also monitoring sources of funding for the Brotherhood," Burt said in the op-ed.

Egypt banned the Muslim Brotherhood organisation in 2013, designating it a terrorist group, and has called on the UK and all Western countries to do the same.

On Thursday evening, Burt met with interior minister Magdy Abdel-Ghaffar to discuss various regional and domestic security issues.

Abdel-Ghaffar discussed with Burt Egypt's efforts to secure its various ports and touristic destinations.

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GREENSBORO  Sheriff's deputies are trying to figure out what made a man kill his father and another man today.

Sean Tyler Simmons is accused of killing his father, Brian Kirk Simmons, and his father's friend, Barry Dale Rodgers, inside their home at 2406 Flora Vista Road.

He faces two counts of first-degree murder.

"There's nothing in the evidence that tells us exactly what happened," said Col. Randy Powers with the Guilford County Sheriff's Office. "He was talking to us but what he was saying didn't make any sense."

Powers said Simmons, 19, of Greensboro, stopped cooperating with deputies and requested a lawyer.

Simmons is scheduled to appear in court Thursday, according to jail records.

Deputies were called to 2406 Flora Vista Road about 1:35 a.m. after reports of a shooting. The elder Simmons and Rodgers were pronounced dead at the scene.

Powers did not say where Simmons was arrested. He said there are no other suspects at this time and no indication that alcohol was involved.
The Republican-controlled state House is scheduled today to discuss possibly overriding five vetoes by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, including House Bill 205 on newspaper legal notices.

Whether any votes take place may depend on if Republicans have enough support to surpass the necessary 60 percent threshold, or 72 votes, if all 120 representatives are present.

The General Assembly has overridden five Cooper vetoes this year, including the bill for the state budget for 2017-18.

The House passed HB205 by a 60-53 vote June 29 with 14 Republicans voting no and five Democrats voting yes, including Rep. Ed Hanes of Forsyth County. The Senate approved the bill by a 32-14 vote with five Republicans voting no, including Sen. Joyce Krawiec of Forsyth, and two Democrats voting yes.

The version of HB205 vetoed by Cooper on July 17 affects newspaper legal notices only in Guilford County in a pilot program. It also eliminates a statewide exemption on workers compensation for newspaper carriers that has been state law for more than 20 years.

Cooper defended his HB205 veto by saying legislation that enacts retribution on the media threatens a free and open press, which is fundamental to our democracy.

The initial version of HB205 would have had a statewide affect, while another version added Buncombe, Durham and Forsyth counties to the pilot program. Forsyth commissioners notified bill sponsors twice that they did not support the legal notice pilot program.

Also up for veto override consideration are HB140 (Dental Plans Provider Contracts/Transparency), HB511 (Game Nights/Nonprofit Fund Raiser), HB576 (Allow Aerosolization of Leachate) and HB770 (Various Clarifying Changes).

The House passed HB140 by a 69-43 vote, HB511 by a 76-32 vote, HB576 by a 75-45 vote and HB770 by a 74-34 vote.

Meanwhile, the Senate has not taken action on whether to considering overriding SB16, titled the Business Regulatory Reform Act of 2017.

Political analysts and advocates said Wednesday that HB205 is the most likely veto to survive.

If any of the five Democrats who voted yes on HB205 decide to support the governors position, the bills supporters would need to change the minds of most dissenting Republicans, as well as almost every Republican who was absent when the initial vote took place. said Mitch Kokai, policy analyst with Libertarian think tank John Locke Foundation.

The HB205 compromise would allow Guilford commissioners to publish non-county legal notices on the countys website for a fee, as well as county legal notices at no charge. Those notices could be in place of or addition to notices in newspapers.

Fees collected by the Guilford clerk of court would be dispersed 50 percent to the county board of education for local teacher supplements, while 40 percent would go to the Guilford general fund and 10 percent to administrative costs. Guilford commissioner comment has suggested the board would lean toward supporting the ordinance.

Sen. Trudy Wade, R-Guilford, and sponsor of the final version of HB205, said the bill was an action of eliminating special carve-outs for the newspaper industry.

Coopers veto, she said, makes it clear his number one priority is brown-nosing those who cover him  to the detriment of the newspaper employees (contractor workers) denied workers compensation coverage.

Some legislators opposed to HB205 said their main objections were the lack of widespread accessible broadband for internet coverage in many rural counties, and the potential for rural community newspapers to lose tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual revenue from county government legal notices.

Rob Schofield, policy director of left-leaning N.C. Justice Center, said its increasingly clear that the leachate spray proposal is a crude and ineffective scheme. The credit insurance proposal was an absurd last-minute giveaway. Obviously, the newspaper proposal has some passionate opposition. And, of course, the Christian right is against the casino nights bill.

Schofield said the odds of successful veto overrides really comes down to how much (House Speaker Tim) Moore is willing, and whether he is able, to crack the whip.

If members are allowed to vote their consciences, its hard to see how theyll come up with the votes to override any of the bills outside HB770.

John Dinan, a political science professor at Wake Forest University, said it is difficult to project how any of the veto override attempts will go.

Still, if we take legislators votes on passage to be a good projection of legislators votes on veto overrides, the House would be poised to gain the three-fifths support needed to override each of the vetoes slated to be taken up except for HB 205, Dinan said.
Former SciWorks executive director Paul Kortenaar will be leaving Kaleideum to accept a position in Texas, with co-director Elizabeth Dampier set to fly solo in Kaleideums top leadership job starting Sept. 1.

Dampier and Kortenaar were both named executive directors of Kaleideum when it was formed in 2016 by the merger of SciWorks and The Childrens Museum of Winston-Salem.

Kaleideum continues to lay the plans for a new museum that will face Merschel Plaza in downtown Winston-Salem.

Im really proud of everything we did and the mission of Kaleideum, Kortenaar said Wednesday morning. I have loved living in Winston-Salem. It has been an unbelievably welcoming community and one that behaves as a community.

Kortenaar praised Dampier and said that when the opportunity for the merger came up, we all recognized that it was the right way to go.

Kortenaar will lead a new childrens museum being started in El Paso, Texas.

Kortenaar has a wonderful professional development opportunity that he could not turn down, Dampier said on Wednesday, adding that Kortenaars departure was not foreseen when the plans were made and put into effect to merge the two museums.

The long-term plan for the museum was that there would only be one executive director, but it was not part of the plan for Paul to leave so early. He is excited for the project. Things will go forward as planned and we are excited about that, she said.

Kortenaar was director of education at the Ontario Science Center in Toronto before he came here to head SciWorks. SciWorks started as the Nature Science Center in 1964. The name change came after an expansion opened in 1992.

The Childrens Museum opened in 2004 after a capital campaign. Dampier was hired as executive director in 2009.

Dampier had the title executive director-museum and Kortenaar the title of executive director-community in the merged organization.

Kortenaars last day will be Aug. 31. Going forward, Dampier will assume all the duties of directing Kaleideum, including fundraising and planning for the new Kaleideum.

Ben Staton, who chairs the Kaleideum board, said the next three years will be an important time and that the museum was fortunate to have Elizabeth Dampier running the two current locations and prepared to assume the responsibility for Kaleideum and its future direction.

Dampier said museum officials have already had their first meeting with architects and designers of the new headquarters, and will invite public involvement in September.

Local architects Stitch Design Shop and global architects Gensler, with an office in Raleigh, will head the design effort.

A capital campaign will raise funds for the new museum building.
An 18-year-old homicide victim found Tuesday morning with a gunshot wound to the head was registered as an incoming senior at Carver High School, the school system confirmed.

Eduardo Vladimir Barrientos body was found Tuesday at 8:55 a.m. more than a 15-minute drive from his home.

Railroad workers performing a routine line check found his body on a pathway in the wooded area behind Sunnyside Ice, at 2001 Glendale St., 20 feet from the tracks.

Friends and family took to Facebook to express their heartbreak at the loss of Barrientos, who was less than a week shy of starting his senior year.

When I saw the news this morning, I never imagined it would be someone I knew, Mayra Vanessa Bermudez posted on Facebook in Spanish. My heartfelt regrets to the Barrientos family ... Marisela, Aya and Francisco. My deepest condolences. My prayers are with you. God give them peace.

Police are treating the incident as a homicide investigation and are following up on multiple leads, said Lt. Mike Cardwell of the criminal investigations division.

Cardwell said its not uncommon for people to walk through the area where Barrientos body was found as there are several footpaths.

Cardwell declined to say whether police believe Barrientos was killed in the wooded area where the body was discovered or elsewhere.

Police and forensics teams combed the area throughout the day. Barrientos body did not appear to have been at the site for long, police said.

Its crazy how you see somebody one day then the next day you get the news that they (are) dead, Samona Tyson, a friend and co-worker of Barrientos, posted on Facebook. He was so handsome and sweet Every time he comes to work, he always has a smile on his face.

This is the 18th homicide this year in Winston-Salem compared to 17 homicides during the same period in 2016.

Barrientos father, Francisco, declined to speak about his son at his house Wednesday afternoon.

Carver teacher Jahdai Jeffries posted on Facebook that he will miss Barrientos and that moments like these are the hardest part of teaching.

This kid was my student. A student I spent a lot of time with. A student whose parents I stayed late into the night to chat with. A student I will deeply miss. A human, a friend, a kid who didnt deserve this, Jeffries said. Loving these kids is hard, but I will never change it. I have cried with two students today, the love and connections are real.

Cardwell said police have not made any arrests in the case. They are following up on calls and the possibility of any surveillance footage in the area.

We went through the entire area and were going through forensic evidence and tips, he said. We hope to continue to receive calls from the community.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the police at 336-773-7700, CrimeStoppers at 336-727-2800, or en Espanol: 336-728-3904.
FLINT, Mich. (AP)  A Michigan city council member accused of pawning his publicly owned laptop has pleaded no contest to willful neglect of duty.

The misdemeanor charge against Flint Councilman Eric Mays was announced Wednesday. Genesee County prosecutor David Leyton says "it's time for this matter to be put behind us."

The Flint Journal quotes police as saying Mays pawned his laptop computer for a $100 loan on nine occasions. He last got the laptop back in May by paying $116 at Music Man Pawnshop.

Mays has told the newspaper that the laptop was safer at the pawn shop than at Flint's City Hall.

He will be sentenced on Nov. 27.

___

Information from: The Flint Journal, http://www.mlive.com/flint
RENO, Nev.  It was a tale of two Trumps in the desert Southwest.

Within a 24-hour span, President Donald Trump delivered one speech in which he tore into the media and members of his own party, and a second in which he called for national unity and love. The about-face seemed to reflect the president's real-time internal debate between calls for moderation and his inclination to let loose.

On Wednesday, the president spoke in measured tones and stuck to his prepared remarks as he praised veterans at an American Legion conference in Nevada as examples for a nation yearning to set aside its differences.

"We are here to hold you up as an example of strength, courage and resolve that our country will need to overcome the many challenges that we face," he said.

The night before, the president cut loose in Arizona, defying instructions from his aides to stick to the script and angrily renewing his fight with the press over its coverage of his comments about the race-fueled violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The public push-and-pull in Trump's message mirrors the internal dynamics at the White House, where new chief of staff John Kelly has organized and regimented the West Wing staff but has been unable to rein in the president's tendency to veer off course.

The president's speech in Reno was full of the calls for patriotism and national healing that would not have seemed out of the ordinary had they been uttered by previous occupants of the Oval Office.

But his rally in Phoenix on Tuesday night was uniquely Trump. He opened his remarks with a talk of unity but quickly erupted in anger, blaming the media for the widespread condemnation of his response to the violence in Charlottesville at a protest organized by white supremacists.

Trump read from his three responses to the racially charged violence, becoming more animated with each one. He withdrew from his suit pocket the written statement he'd read the day a woman was killed by a man who had plowed a car through counter-protesters. But he skipped over the trouble-causing part that he'd freelanced at the time: his observation that "many sides" were to blame.

That, as well as his reiteration days later that "both sides" were to blame for the violence that led to the death of Heather Heyer and two state troopers, led Democrats and many Republicans to denounce Trump for not unmistakably calling out white supremacists and other hate groups.

By the time he arrived at the American Legion conference, Trump seemed more congenial. He even thanked Sen. Dean Heller, a Nevada Republican with whom he has openly and repeatedly feuded. He discussed his early efforts to restructure and improve the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Later in the speech, Trump said Americans aren't defined by the color of their skin, the size of their paycheck or their political party.

"Our hearts beat for America. Our souls fill with pride every time we hear the national anthem," Trump said. "This is the spirit we need to overcome our challenges."

When Medal of Honor recipient Donald Ballard joined the president onstage and offered praise for Trump, the president smiled and praised Ballard's declaration that Trump was "the right leader to lead us out to drain the swamp."

"That was very risky of me," Trump told the veterans, explaining that he didn't know in advance what Ballard would say. "That could ruin the whole day for me."

Since Kelly took over last month as chief of staff, he has ousted lightning-rod chief strategist Steve Bannon and hard-charging communications director Anthony Scaramucci while limiting dissenting voices, restricting access to the president and steering the president toward a desired outcome on key decisions.

He has urged Trump to more closely follow a game plan. But Trump's broadside against the "damned dishonest" media, which he says is out to get him, was one of several detours he took from remarks prepared for the Phoenix rally. Trump unabashedly acknowledged that his own advisers had urged him to stay on message, and that he simply couldn't.

His diatribe against the press wasn't in his prepared remarks, according to two people familiar with the plan but not authorized to speak publicly about the president's decision.

Though he was subdued in speaking to the veterans, Trump often resurrects his free-wheeling 2016 campaign style when in the comforting presence of his most fervent fans. He flings insults at perceived enemies and meanders from topic to topic. In Phoenix, his ease was apparent. As he discussed his responses to Charlottesville, Trump interrupted himself to add: "I didn't want to bore you. You understand where I'm coming from. You people understand."
WASHINGTON  How unstable and divorced from reality is President Trump? Weve reached the point where the nation has the right and the need to know.

Were not accustomed to asking such questions about our presidents. We dont know how to even begin inquiring into a presidents mental health, so we rationalize aberrant behavior as being part of some subtle strategy. We say that Trump is cleverly playing to his base, or employing the madman theory of foreign relations, or simply being unpredictable to gain an advantage by keeping everyone off balance.

But if Trump were really playing three-dimensional chess, presumably hed be getting things done. His approval ratings would be rising rather than falling. Allies in Congress would be expressing admiration rather than increasing dismay.

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., hit a nerve last Thursday when he said that Trump has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence needed in a president. That indictment was significant because Corker, who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee, is a respected Capitol Hill veteran who chooses his words carefully  and who thus far has been willing to give Trump a chance. Corker said he feared that our nation is going to go through great peril and called for radical change at the White House.

Democrats have been slightly more plain-spoken. Rep. Adam Schiff told CNN Sunday that I certainly think that theres an issue with the presidents capability. And fellow California Rep. Jackie Speier tweeted last week that Trump is showing signs of erratic behavior and mental instability that place the country in grave danger.

Speier went so far as to call for action under the 25th Amendment, which allows the vice president and the Cabinet to relieve the president of his powers and duties if he is unable to discharge them.

Trumps performance last week following the Charlottesville incident was indeed alarming, the problem being not just what he said but how he said it. After initially blaming the violence  which led to the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer  on many sides, Trump reversed course and specifically condemned neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan  but looked like the reluctant star of a hostage video. Then Trump went back to blaming both sides in what can only be called an angry, red-faced rant.

We should assume that the ugliness we heard from Trump about Charlottesville reflects his true feelings. And we can conclude that he failed to grasp how jarring those sentiments would sound to most Americans ears.

Anyone can have a bad day. But according to many published reports, Trump often erupts into rage  especially when he sees something he doesnt like on the cable news shows he is said to watch compulsively.

In his Twitter postings, he increasingly lashes out in ways that are often counterproductive. I can see some method behind his incessant ranting about fake news, which may actually help him with his political base. But why attack Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., whose help the president needs if he is to get legislation passed or nominees approved? Why campaign against Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who has been a frequent critic but ended up supporting Trump on health care? Is Trump unable to imagine how other GOP senators  all of whose votes he needs if he is to get anything done  are going to react?

I have spoken with people who have known Trump for decades and who say he has changed. He exhibits less self-awareness, these longtime acquaintances say, and less capacity for sustained focus. Indeed, it is instructive to compare television interviews of Trump recorded years ago with those conducted now. To this laymans eyes and ears, there seems to have been deterioration.

I am not professionally qualified to assess the presidents mental health; psychiatrists and psychologists who have the proper credentials and experience to do so are silenced by ethical rules. The stakes are so high, however, that the officials who work alongside Trump and observe him closely bear a tremendous responsibility.

It is of some comfort that Trump is surrounded by levelheaded military men  Defense Secretary James Mattis, national security adviser H.R. McMaster and chief of staff John Kelly  who are unlikely to do anything rash. But no one elected them.

It is uncomfortable to talk about the presidents mental health. But at this point it is irresponsible not to.
Were you deeply alarmed by President Trumps performance in Arizona on Tuesday night? If so, that is understandable.

Trump is getting worse. He rambled and ranted with abandon. He hinted that he will pardon Joe Arpaio. He escalated his attacks on the media, accusing them of misrepresenting his response to the violence in Charlottesville. Yet he also doubled down on his defense of Confederate monuments, claiming that they are trying to take away our heritage and our history.

All of this appeared to signal a growing contempt for the rule of law and an increasing indifference to the health of our democracy and institutions, and to his own responsibilities and duty to the public to try to calm the antagonisms unleashed in Charlottesvilles aftermath. If anything, at this difficult moment of national introspection, Trump conspicuously sought to further inflame those antagonisms. Some reacted with deep panic: Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper labeled the speech downright scary and disturbing, adding: I really question his ability to be  his fitness to be  in this office.

But without minimizing the dangers that Trump still poses, its worth considering Trumps act in a somewhat less alarming light, by comparing it with another, similar performance: Dustin Hoffmans powerful depiction of the public deterioration of legendary political satirist and comedian Lenny Bruce, in the movie Lenny. And this hints at where this could  could  all end up.

It is true that Trumps performance did energize the crowd at key moments, such as when he hinted that the Arpaio pardon is coming and when he attacked the media (CNN sucks! CNN sucks! chanted the crowd). But The Posts Jenna Johnson captures another side of the audiences reaction with this memorable description:

As the night dragged on, many in the crowd lost interest in what the president was saying.

Hundreds left early, while others plopped down on the ground, scrolled through their social media feeds or started up a conversation with their neighbors. After waiting for hours in 107-degree heat to get into the rally hall  where their water bottles were confiscated by security  people were tired and dehydrated and the president just wasnt keeping their attention. Although Trump has long been the master of reading the mood of a room and quickly adjusting his message to satisfy as many of his fans as possible, his rage seemed to cloud his senses.

Obviously, the comparison between Trump and Lenny Bruce, as portrayed by Hoffman, is imperfect in all kinds of ways. But not in this one way. Bruce was arrested for various low-level charges, including obscenity and drug possession, and in the movie Lenny, Hoffman depicts Bruces later performances as public displays of increasing grievance, resentment and self-absorption over his legal plight, and deteriorating awareness of his audience.

In one of these, Bruce is muttering to himself unintelligibly as audience members shift uncomfortably and begin to leave. Where you going? Bruce says, despairingly. Then he slips into sardonic self-pity over his persecution for obscenity: Hey, where you people going? Oh, come on, man! I havent even said [expletive depicting sexual act] yet!

In another, Bruce is reading to his audience from documents involving his legal troubles, and he is so deep in the legal weeds (and in his self-absorption) that people again begin leaving. Oh, come on, man! Bruce says to the departing patrons. Where you going? No, I dont wanna do t and a!

There were hints of this sort of deterioration from Trump Tuesday night. There was the self-pity, the self-absorption, the outsize resentment and grievance. And it could get worse. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) reportedly has confided that he isnt sure Trumps presidency can be saved. Degenerating relations with congressional Republicans could imperil other pieces of his agenda, leading to more anger and frustration. Special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs probe continues, meaning more revelations lie ahead.

Tuesday night, Trump actually read aloud from his previous comments on Charlottesville, to illustrate how unfair the media is being to him. Its not hard to imagine the dynamic that Johnson describes above getting worse over time, with Trump increasingly wallowing in the details of his persecution while his audiences increasingly lose interest.

To be clear, Trump still commands immense control over the news cycle, which

means he could very well turn things around. And whatever is to be on that front, I dont want to minimize the dangers Trump still poses. It is horrifying that Trump continues to stoke racial division for what appear to be deeply cynical purposes (as former chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon openly revealed to be the case). Trump may expand his deportation dragnet, and Tuesday night Trump threatened a government shutdown over his Mexican wall. This and the Arpaio pardon could maximize the ugliness. The attacks on the press could further erode public faith in the news medias legitimate institutional role and could conceivably end in violence. An effort to remove Mueller remains a very real possibility. Trump controls our nuclear arsenal, and he still has not faced a full-blown crisis.

Meanwhile, The Trump Show  such as the one witnessed last night  poses a threat in another way, too. It is a distraction from all of the various damage the Trump administration is doing on the deregulatory front (which Matthew Yglesias summarizes here), and from his continued self-dealing and naked profiting off of the presidency, which is itself a serious threat to the future health of norms governing the conduct of our public officials.

But for all that, further deterioration into an increasingly buffoonish and self-absorbed figure (again, with apologies to Bruce for the imperfect comparison) also remains a possibility. Hoffman may not look the part, but its seductive to imagine an actor of his ability and depth playing it.
F ati Ibrahim was one of scores of women gathered outside a tent in a remote community of Maiduguri, northeast Nigeria, struggling for a chance to get in and receive help.

Three years ago her husband was murdered, her first son went missing, and she was forced to flee her hometown of Gwoza in northeast Nigeria when Boko Haram Islamist militants attacked.

Struggling to cope, a friend guided her to free counselling sessions set up this year by the NEEM Foundation, a non-profit that helps people impacted by the eight-year insurgency in which Boko Haram has killed more than 20,000 people.

"She told me that they will be able to help me if I come here," Ibrahim, 28, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation while attending a session in Dalori near Maiduguri where she lives.

For most of the 1.8 million people uprooted by Boko Haram's bloody campaign to create an Islamic state in the northeast are children and women who, having lost their fathers and husbands, are trying to survive in crowded camps and local communities.

Food, shelter and security are seen as the main concerns for those forced to flee their homes but increasingly health experts fear that psychological wounds are being left to deepen in a region with few psychiatrists and no mental health services.

To fill this gap the NEEM Foundation set up its Counselling on Wheels programme to provide psychological and social services to people in some of the most remote parts of Maiduguri, a city at the heart of the militants' operations.

The NEEM Foundation also runs deradicalisation programmes for both former Boko Haram militants and women and children rescued from the militants whose beliefs they often adopt while under their control.

Thousands of girls and women have been abducted by the group since it began its insurgency in 2009  most notably the more than 200 Chibok girls snatched from their school in April 2014  with many used as cooks, sex slaves, and even suicide bombers.

UNABLE TO WALK, TALK

NEEM Foundation Executive Director Fatima Akilu said she had seen tragic examples of the impact of the violence on children including a four-year-old girl who was unable to walk after her town was bombed and her father killed.

"Through therapy, she is now standing up and walking on her own because there is nothing neurologically or physiologically wrong with her. I think she saw they bombed her town and they killed her father," Akilu told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"Another girl stopped talking. They killed her father in front of her and her mother had to bury her father in front of her. She comes here and through therapy she started to talk again. You do see these big changes when you take time to provide the intervention."

Using tricycles to reach communities, many of which are impassable by car and swamped by debris, NEEM's psychologists and counsellors hold sessions in tents or under trees for different groups of between eight and 10 people.

"We started in February with two tricycles. We have now grown to 12 tricycles. We see on average 1,200 (people) per month," said Akilu.

"We have four teams and we work in communities where a lot of aid has not reached. There are more people in these kinds of communities than there are in the IDP (internally displaced persons) camps where resources are being directed."

The programme begins with assessing the needs of the participants and psychologists and counsellors then spend the next three weeks teaching them how to block negative thoughts, an essential skill to cope with the trauma they have been through, and also how to build resilience.

NEW ROLES

"For some people, their coping skill is keeping busy. We always encourage them to do something," Akilu said.

"These were women who had never worked ... (then) they find themselves with no brother, no husband, no uncle. Women have had to step into roles they would ordinarily not have had if not for the insurgency and we teach them to embrace the new roles." Two weeks later and then months later, the psychologists return to evaluate the people and in the meantime, the different groups continue to meet, encouraged to consider their group as their "counselling family" who are there for support.

When people are found to need more support than the group sessions can provide, they are brought to the NEEM's centre in Maiduguri city, where they are offered more personalised counselling.

For the past two months, Yana Muhammed, 25, has been attending the Counselling on Wheels sessions in the Dalori area of Maiduguri.

A mother-of-three, Muhammed fled her hometown of Askira Uba about 130 km (80 miles) south of Maiduguri almost three years ago, after Boko Haram attacked and razed their house.

"I was always worried about the property and everything else we lost, but the counsellors taught me how to stop worrying," she said.

In the past three years since she was displaced from her home by Boko Haram, Muhammed has received various forms of aid from other agencies, such as food and medication, but this is the first time she has received psychological support.

"I have never seen any other group that helps people from their worrying," she said.

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The aftermath of extreme acts of public violence are frequently occasions for mourning, protest, debate and reflection. But they can also be opportunities to transform how we remember the past.

In the months after white supremacist Dylann Roof murdered nine African American church members in Charleston in 2015, municipal and state governments across the South removed or renamed 60 (of the roughly 1,500) symbols of the Confederacy on public land.

Now, in the days since the so-called Unite the Right gathering in Charlottesville in which torch-bearing marchers carried Nazi and Confederate flags, chanted You/Jews will not replace us, and beat protesters  murdering one  while defending a statue of Robert E. Lee, we once again are in the midst of an intense public controversy over the appropriateness of public monuments to the Confederacy. As we grieve over the death of Heather Heyer and seek ways to thwart the rise of neo-fascists and white supremacists, we should also consider other recent examples of public violence and their connection to the monuments in our public spaces.

Last winter, for example, law-enforcement officers trained tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons on protestors at Standing Rock, sending 26 people to the hospital. Meanwhile, American Indian activists have for years demanded the renaming of places that honor notorious Indian killers and pushed for memorials that accurately describe the murders of unarmed Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho people at Wounded Knee and Sand Creek as massacres. Following this most recent violence in Charlottesville, we again have before us an opportunity to step back and discuss the complicated fact of many public monuments, to question whether or not they represent anything resembling a shared history, to look unflinchingly at the ideologies they support and to decide what to do about them.

President Trump and others who oppose the removal of Confederate monuments from public spaces protest that it erases history. Such claims should give us pause and prompt us to question whether such monuments honestly and accurately represent the past. Exactly what historical lessons can these statues teach us? They do not lead us to a deep understanding about causes of the Civil War or the experience of enslaved African Americans, nor do they reflect the plurality of views that existed within the American South at the time. Monuments, whether devoted to the Confederacy or the Unions simultaneous battles with Indigenous nations for land and resources in West, do not offer a clear and objective recounting of what happened in the past. Instead, they are historical artifacts that tell us more about the time in which they were erected than they do about the subject they purport to revere.

They are, in essence, physical manifestations of an elite groups perspective of the past that have been imposed on our public spaces in order to convince the rest of us to accept their point of view as a shared civic value. The statues that depict Confederate heroes are imagined as timeless remembrances of former glories, yet they are dramatically out of sync with the historical record.

This is not to argue that these statues are without any historical value, and for that reason, the decision as to what should be done with them should be vigorously debated and decided by each community that houses one. A good starting point for any discussion is to consider why people across the country decided to memorialize the Confederacy  a short lived, anti-democratic, pro-slavery, tyrannical and failed movement  at all.

Monuments to the Confederacy bloomed from the 1890s through the 1920s. Three factors converged in these decades and provided the context and motivation for the installation of hundreds of statues in city streets and parks. First, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, in an effort to honor their fathers as this generation passed away, helped to propagate a Lost Cause narrative that downplayed the central issue of slavery as a motivation for the war and pointedly excluded all African American perspectives. The group raised funds to construct monuments in public places and did so, not through public conversation, but rather because of their wealth, power and influence.

A second factor that led to the erection of Confederate monuments was the fact that the newly emerging industrial cities across the country were eager to acquire monuments to adorn their public spaces. New developments in metal casting made heroic-sized statues affordable, and in the ensuing monument mania of the 1890s-1920s, most cities chose as their subjects a narrow profile of heroes that portrayed powerful white men connected to military service, government and industry.

Finally, this period was also bookended by two intertwined phenomena that secured the ascendancy of white supremacy and Jim Crow. It began following the overthrow of Reconstruction policies that had extended civil rights to African Americans and ended with the enactment of racist laws that severely restricted the immigration of people from most countries outside of northern Europe, because they were not considered to be sufficiently white. Monuments to the Confederacy can indeed teach us a great deal, not about the Civil War, but about how power operated in America from 1890 through the 1920s: Those who cast their ideas in bronze and fixed them in our public spaces were an elite minority who were invested in drawing a very small and exclusive circle around who deserved to be seen and represented.

This brings us back to the question of what should be done with these monuments to the Confederacy  and indeed, to all monuments that glorify systems of oppression and violence. If we believe memorials in our public spaces should reflect our values and our shared historical experiences, one thing seems clear: such statues cannot be left as they are. They are neither history in any meaningful sense of the term (which is deliberative, considers a range of evidence, and is open to revision) nor are they representative of the communities in which they are located. Some argue that they should be systematically torn down. Removing them means eliminating a rallying point for present-day assertions of white supremacy. But it is not enough simply to take the monuments down and expect the historical conditions that put them there to likewise disappear.

Another option is to find ways to learn from them in order to prevent the rise of the societies and ideologies they were intended to extol. The position of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the organization charged with protecting places that represent our diverse American experience, is instructive: while history should never be destroyed, public memorials should reflect our values and therefore deserve community discussion and revision. A deliberative and inclusive process of consideration could result in a range of outcomes.

While some communities might reject the statues outright and some may wish to leave them largely alone, others might chose to engage with them as a way to contend with the complexity and anguish of the dual periods that they symbolize, which include both the age they claim to represent (slavery and the Civil War) and the time in which they were created (the reassertion of white supremacist narratives). They might be moved to local museums where they can be properly contextualized. They might be replaced with plaques explaining what had been there and why they were removed. They might be surrounded by other monuments to freedom, resistance and civil disobedience that represent a wider diversity of our citizenry. They might be allowed to stand but subject to historical or artistic reinterpretations.

As ongoing debates in postwar Germany, post-apartheid South Africa and post-communist Eastern Europe have shown, the fate of monuments to failed regimes, colonialism, and abhorrent ideologies is often hotly contested, but nevertheless demands sustained conversation. We have to trust that we too are capable of grappling with historical complexity and discomfort, and can similarly reckon with the painful past. After more than a century since they were erected, it is time to contend with our own monuments that continue to cause pain and justify violence.

Lisa Blee is associate professor of history at Wake Forest University and the co-author of the forthcoming book Monumental Mobility: The Memory Work of Massasoit. Barry Trachtenberg is the Rubin Presidential Chair of Jewish History at Wake Forest University and author of the forthcoming book The United States and the Holocaust: Race, Refuge, and Remembrance.
DAVID F. MOSER, Winston-Salem

Picking a fight

I am sorry that Heather Heyer lost her life in Charlottesville. Violence of that magnitude and insanity should never occur. The KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and even Black Lives Matter are all hate groups that stir up trouble and look for opportunities to create chaos and violence. They thrive on media exposure and anti-protesters showing up. But, as per our U.S. Constitution, they all have a legal right to protest and parade. Anti-protesters also have a right to stand across the street and protest as well.

When will people learn that if you show up at a parade to protest that group (and in the Charlottesville case, carrying chemical agents and paint balloons) you are probably going to have a fight? You cant then play the victim card and put all the blame on the other group. Stay home. Let them have a parade, and no one come out to see it. Make it a non-event. Even the media should stay away. Hate groups thrive on attention and chaos. Dont give them what they want.

In 1979, the Communist Workers Party planned a rally that was ambushed by the KKK, and a gun battle ensued, killing a number of people. They and the media blamed the Klan, and played the victim card. But the rally was called Death to the Klan march and the CWP openly dared the KKK to show up. They got their wish.

If you pick a fight, dont blame the other side if you get one.

******

GERALD BEAN, Winston-Salem

The right to free speech

Though it is difficult for some of my liberal brothers and sisters to accept, our conservative brothers and sisters are right: The KKK, white supremacists and Nazis who gathered in Charlottesville to promote their vision of tearing down our nation had a right to be there. They had a right to speak their foul message of hatred and division.

Others had the First Amendment right to protest, too, but to whatever degree they led the violence (and I think our conservative brothers and sisters have been misled into exaggeration, but that doesnt matter), they were wrong. Thats not how we should settle matters in America.

Our conservative brothers and sisters are prudent to note that there is a difference between supporting the right to speak (or believe or worship) and supporting what is said (or believed or worshipped). I am in firm agreement with the principle.

Let this be a teachable moment for all of us, our conservative brothers and sisters included. For surely, if Nazis of all people have the right to free speech (and belief and worship), any group of people does. If the KKK can assemble freely, so can, for instance, the Muslims and atheists and Satanists and others our conservative brothers and sisters sometimes find distasteful. Im sure our conservative brothers and sisters will support their right to do so just as vigorously.

Because once you give the nod to Nazis  well, to whom can you ever say no?

***

THOMAS A. SEAVER, Winston-Salem

Our faith

One quote from one of your Aug. 12 Scoreboard respondents (Trump and North Korea) caught my attention. She stated, President Trump is our leader and we should put our faith in him. She is certainly entitled to put her faith where she wishes. However, as for me and my family, we choose to place our faith in Jesus Christ.

Please submit letters online to Letters@wsjournal.com or mail letters to: The Readers Forum, P.O. Box 3159, Winston-Salem, NC 27102. Letters are subject to editing and are limited to 250 words. For more guidelines and advice on writing letters, go to journalnow.com/opinion/submit_a_letter.
Theres not a whole lot thats new about The Hitmans Bodyguard. Its mismatched-pals premise is the stuff of classic buddy comedies. Stars Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson play their typical character types: Reynolds the handsome do-gooder; Jackson the unflappable badass whose favorite word is mother(expletive). And like many movie heroes past, theyre tasked with taking down a brutal dictator.

Yet that kind of familiar framework is what makes this action-packed mashup of gun battles, car chases, fist fights and international intrigue such a delight: Leave realitys chaos at the door, and lose yourself in a world where the bad guys get whats coming to them and Sam Jackson spontaneously breaks into song. (He actually sings three times in this film  once in Italian! With nuns! Plus his own, original F-word-laden tune.)

And did I mention theres a love-story subplot?

Reynolds plays Michael Bryce, a well-manicured, tightly wound, type-A personality who works in executive protection, providing high-end, high-stakes bodyguard services for societys unsavories. His career and polished image take a nosedive after a weapons dealer he was protecting is killed by a sniper. Bryce blames his Interpol detective ex-girlfriend, Amelia (Elodie Yung), for the deadly mistake, believing she leaked information to her law-enforcement colleagues.

A couple years later, Amelia is tapped to transport notorious hit-man Darius Kincaid (Jackson) to International Criminal Court, where hes to be the sole witness testifying against murderous Belarusian dictator Vladislav Dukhovich (Gary Oldman, always perfect). Dukhovich deploys his bottomless army of goons to take out their convoy and ultimately eliminate Kincaid, who promised his testimony in exchange for the release of his wife, Sonia (Salma Hayek), from jail.

Outgunned and desperate, Amelia turns to Bryce for help, promising to help restore his career if he can get Kincaid to The Hague safely. Thus begins the odd-couple pairing of Reynolds and Jackson and premise for various physical and verbal throw-downs, with the bad guys and each other.

When Bryce says hes there to keep Kincaid out of harms way, Kincaid replies, I am harms way.

And he proves it, taking out baddies even while handcuffed and outracing a fleet of armored cars while whipping a speedboat through Amsterdams canals. Jackson soars in roles like these, and his performance is as bulletproof as Kincaid is rumored to be. The 68-year-old is as thrilling an action star as any decades younger. It wouldnt be surprising to learn he does his own stunts, and insisted on manning that speedboat himself.

Jacksons Kincaid is also the storys wise elder, giving Bryce romance advice as they dodge Dukhovichs thugs.

Reynolds works his comic and superhero action chops and Hayek is at her fieriest as a barmaid unafraid to cut a guys carotid with a broken bottle.

Director Patrick Hughes (The Expendables 3) keeps the action grounded in the storys narrative without compromising the excitement. The movie is loud, with several explosions that could shake a nervous viewer from her seat, but the chases are epic, especially the speedboat scene, during which Reynolds character kept pace on a motorcycle.

Screenwriter Tom OConnor mitigates the serious matter in hisal of a tyrant for war crimes against his own people  with brisk banter and thrilling fight sequences, along with a touch of sweetness as it becomes clear that both Bryce and Kincaid are motivated by love.

If only movies could make that universal.
Capsule reviews of movies in local theaters

Note: (AMC Hanes 12 was formerly Wynnsong 12)

47 Meters Down H

Two sisters on vacation in Mexico are trapped in a shark cage with enough air to last about an hour. Then the sharks start circling the cage. Rated PG-13.

Showing: Marketplace

Annabelle: Creation HHH

After the death of their daughter, a dollmaker and his wife take in a nun and several girls from an orphanage that has shut down. The guests become the target for Annabelle, the dollmakers possessed creation. Rated R.

Showing: ABC Hanes 12, Grand 18, RED Cinemas, Lexington Cinema, Starmount, Two Rivers Cinema

Atomic Blonde HH

A British spy (Charlize Theron) is sent into Berlin during the waning days of the Cold War to investigate the death of a fellow agent and retrieve a missing list of agents. Rated R.

Showing: Grand 18

Baby Driver HH

A young man (Ansel Elgort) indebted to a crime boss (Kevin Spacy) comes to a crossroads about continuing a life of crime or going straight. Rated R.

Showing: Grand 18, RED Cinemas, Lexington Cinema, Two Rivers Cinema

Birth of a Dragon HH

Based on the movies and life of Bruce Lee, and the bad blood between Lee and kung fu master Wong Jack Man. Starring Billy Magnussen, a graduate of the UNC School of the Arts, Philip Ng, Terry Chen. Rated R.

Showing: ABC Hanes 12, Grand 18, RED Cinemas

The Big Sick HHH

The cultural differences between a couple increase as the relationship develops. Screenplay by Winston-Salem native Emily Gordon. Rated R.

Showing: Aperture, RED Cinemas

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie HHH

Two pranksters hypnotize their principal into believing he is Captain Underpants, a dim-witted superhero. Rated PG-13.

Showing: Marketplace

The Dark Tower HH

The Gunslinger has to save the world from the Man in Black, who is trying to destroy the Dark Tower, which controls the world. Starring Idris Elba, Katheryn Winnick and Matthew McConaughey. Rated PG-13.

Showing: ABC Hanes 12, Grand 18, RED Cinemas, Lexington Cinema

Despicable Me 3 HH

After Gru is fired for letting Balthazar Bratt get away, he finds out about Dru, the twin brother he never knew he had. Dru wants to team up with Gru for one last heist. Rated PG.

Showing: ABC Hanes 12, Grand 18, Lexington Cinema

Dunkirk HHHH

This is the story of the evacuation of Allied troops from Britain, Canada France and Belgium from the beach at Dunkirk in the early days of World War II. The troops were surrounded by the Germans and cut off. Rated PG-13.

Showing: ABC Hanes 12, Grand 18, RED Cinemas, Lexington Cinema

The Emoji Movie HH

Gene wants to be a normal emoji instead multi-expressional. Rated PG.

Showing: Grand 18, Lexington Cinema

Girls Trip HHH

Four old friends, (Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith and Tiffany Haddish) meet in New Orleans to renew their friendship. Pinkett Smith is an alumna of the UNC School of the Arts. Rated R.

Showing: ABC Hanes 12, Grand 18, RED Cinemas, Lexington Cinema

The Glass Castle HHH

A girl grows up in a family of drifters: the mother, an artist, and the father, an alcoholic who keeps the children entertained to keep their minds off their poverty. Rated PG-13.

Showing: ABC Hanes 12, Grand 18

Good Time HH

A bank robber tries to get away from the people looking for him. Starring Robert Pattinson, Benny Safdie and Taliah Webster. Rated R.

Showing: Grand 18, RED Cinemas

Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 HHH

The gang is back again to look into the parentage of Peter Quill. Awesome Mixtape No. 2 is the music, this time. Rated PG-13.

Showing: Marketplace

The Hero HH

Sam Elliott plays an aging movie star who is reflecting on his life. Directed by Brett Haley, a UNCSA alumnus. Rated R.

Showing: Marketplace, RED Cinemas

Hitmans Bodyguard HHH

A bodyguards assignment is to get a hitman to a trial at the International Court of Justice. Starring Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Salma Hayek and Gary Oldham. Rated R.

Showing: ABC Hanes 12, Grand 18, RED Cinemas, Lexington Cinema, Starmount, Two Rivers Cinema

Kidnap HH

A woman (Halle Berry) fights to save her kidnapped son. Rated R.

Showing: Grand 18, Lexington Cinema, Starmount, Two Rivers Cinema

Landline HHH

In 1995 New York, Ali, a teenager, discovers that her father is having an affair, her sister is discovering her wild side and their mother has discovered that she cant have it all. Rated R.

Showing: RED Cinemas

Leap! HH

A young orphan goes to Paris with hopes of becoming a ballerina. Voices include Elle Fanning, Mel Brooks, Dane DeHaan and Carly Rae Jepsen Rated PG.

Showing: ABC Hanes 12 Grand 18, RED Cinemas, Liberty Theatre

Logan Lucky HH

Two down-on-their-luck brothers (Channing Tatum and Adam Driver) decide to improve their fortune by robbing the Charlotte Motor Speedway during a NASCAR race. Rated PG-13.

Showing: ABC Hanes 12 Grand 18, RED Cinemas, Starmount, Two Rivers Cinema, Liberty Theatre

Nutjob 2: Nutty by Nature H

Surly and his friends discover that the mayor is going to destroy the park to build an amusement park. With some help, they set out to stop him. Rated PG-13.

Showing: ABC Hanes 12, Grand 18, RED Cinemas, Lexington Cinema, Starmount, Two Rivers Cinema

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales H

Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) battles ghosts and his enemy, Capt. Salazar (Javier Bardem), to find the Trident of Poseidon which bestows control of the seas to whoever has it. Rated PG-13.

Showing: Marketplace

Rough Night H

Five girlfriends accidently kill a male stripper during a wild bachelorette weekend in Miami and try to cover it up. Rated R.

Showing: Marketplace

Spider Man: Homecoming HHH

After working with the Avengers, Peter Parker tries to get on with his normal life as a high school student. But, when the Vulture threatens, Spider Man swings into action. Rated PG-13.

Showing: ABC Hanes 12, Grand 18, RED Cinemas, Lexington Cinema, Two Rivers Cinema

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets HH

Alpha is being threatened, and Valerian (Dane DeHaan, a UNC School of the Arts alumnus) and Laureline must find out who is behind the threat and stop them. Rated PG-13.

Showing: Marketplace

War for the Planet of the Apes HHH

Caesar plans revenge after the apes suffer heavy losses. Rated PG-13.

Showing: ABC Hanes 12

Wind River HH

An FBI agent works with a game tracker to solve a murder on an Indian reservation. Rated R.

Showing: Grand 18

Wonder Woman HHH

Diana, the princess of the Amazons, leaves to fight a war after the pilot of a plane that crashed near her village tells her about a war to end all wars, where she discovers her powers. Rated PG-13.

Showing: Grand 18, RED Cinemas, Lexington Cinema, Starmount, Two Rivers Cinema
Boca Raton, FL, USA, 08/23/2017 /SubmitPressRelease123/

A vehicle going in reverse is potentially very dangerous because it may cause an accident with another vehicle or strike a pedestrian. Vehicles are built to go forward and visibility out the back may not be good and passengers or cargo may block the view. We also go into reverse in potentially dangerous situations: crowded parking lots and out of driveways (possibly crossing sidewalks) into streets. No matter which direction a vehicle is moving the driver has a responsibility to drive safely says Boca car accident lawyer Joe Osborne.

A study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that between 2002 and 2006 there were 48,000 injuries nationwide due to accidents involving all types of vehicles backing up on public roads and private property such as driveways and parking lots. These accidents also caused an estimated 463 deaths.

There are all too many instances of serious injuries and deaths involving vehicles going in reverse.

A two-year-old boy was killed in July after he was struck by an SUV driven by his grandmother who was backing out of a driveway in Fontana, California, reports the Los Angeles Times. A police officer at the scene told the Times, Its one of the worst calls you can go to. Police report the child went behind the vehicle without anyone seeing him. A neighbor who works as a nurse tried to use CPR to revive the child but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Another two-year-old boy was killed in June in Jacksonville after being struck by a vehicle backing up, driven by his mother, according to WJXT, in an apartment complex parking lot. He survived the collision but died hours later at a hospital. The boys mother was visiting his grandmother and asked her to watch her two small children while she went to the store. The two-year-old left the apartment without his grandmother realizing it and was behind the vehicle when his mother backed out of a parking spot.

A Virginia volunteer firefighter was killed when he was struck by a firetruck going in reverse at the scene of a vehicle accident in May, reports WSLS.

The Florida Highway Patrol stated that a 59-year-old Panama City resident and Bay County Road and Bridges worker was killed in a work site accident in Fountain in February. He was part of a work crew doing street maintenance when he was struck and killed by a dump truck that was backing up, according to WJHG. The worker was taken to a local hospital where he died.

Under Florida statute, The driver of a vehicle shall not back the same unless such movement can be made with safety and without interfering with other traffic. Violation of the law is considered a moving violation and you may be ticketed if law enforcement finds you were going in reverse in a dangerous manner. In a personal injury case if the driver is cited for violating this law it can be used as evidence of negligence and can greatly help the case.

If you or a loved one have been injured in a car accident or as a pedestrian by a vehicle going in reverse, contact Boca car accident lawyer Joe Osborne at (561) 800-4011 or fill out this online contact form. You can discuss your case, how the law may apply and your best legal options to protect your rights and obtain compensation for your injuries.

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Joe Osborne Personal injury lawyer

(561) 800-4011

source: http://www.oa-lawfirm.com/drivers-backing-need-use-caution-says-boca-car-accident-lawyer-joe-osborne/

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Qatar is to restore full diplomatic relations with regional power Iran, its foreign ministry announced Thursday, in a significant move at a time of diplomatic friction within the Gulf.

A statement from the ministry said Qatar aimed to bolster relations between the two countries, which share the world's largest natural gas field.

"The State of Qatar announced today that its ambassador to Tehran will return to exercise its diplomatic duties," read the statement.

Qatar was also seeking to "strengthen bilateral relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran in all fields", it added.

In Tehran, the foreign ministry said Qatar's decision followed a telephone conversation on Wednesday night between Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Qatari counterpart, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani.

"During the conversation... the Qatari side expressed their desire to send their ambassador back to Tehran and we welcomed this decision," said ministry spokesman Bahram Ghassemi.

"The development of relations with our neighbours is an absolute priority" for Iran, he said.

Doha pulled its ambassador from Tehran in January 2016 following attacks on the Saudi Arabian embassy, spurred by Riyadh's decision to execute a Shia cleric in the kingdom.

The decision to restore ties comes as Qatar is locked in a diplomatic impasse with Iran's great regional rival, Saudi Arabia, which has accused Doha of ties to Shia Iran and support for Sunni Islamist extremist groups.

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Philadelphia, 08/23/2017 /SubmitPressRelease123/

All parents worry about their childrens safety, especially around water. Whether your child is swimming in a public pool, lake, or right in your own backyard, you want to make sure theyre safe at all times. Many parents send their kids to swimming lessons to ensure they know how to handle themselves in the water.

However, a specific type of drowning can occur even if a child doesnt suck water into his or her lungs. Known as dry drowning, it is a rare but terrifying condition that has been known to cause death in young children.

Dry Drowning vs. Secondary Drowning

According to WebMD, dry drowning is not actually a medical term. However, the phrase is colloquially used to describe a condition in which water does not enter a childs lungs. Instead, the child breathes in water that causes the childs vocal cords to spasm and close off the airway. As WebMD states, You would start to notice those signs right away  it wouldnt happen out of the blue days later.

Sometimes dry drowning is confused with another type of drowning called secondary drowning. With secondary drowning, water actually does make it to the lungs, where it irritates the lungs lining. In serious cases, this irritation can lead to a buildup of fluid in the lungs, causing pulmonary edema and even death. In some cases, children have died a day or two later after swimming.

What Parents Need to Know About Dry Drowning

According to Dr. Mark R. Zonfrillo of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, dry drowning and secondary drowning are both extremely rare, accounting for just 1 to 2 percent of drowning accidents.

Both dry drowning and secondary drowning also have several warning signs. Parents should look for:

Coughing  If a child leaves the pool coughing or struggling to take in air, and this persists over time, parents should see a doctor right away.

 If a child leaves the pool coughing or struggling to take in air, and this persists over time, parents should see a doctor right away. Struggling to Breathe  Children who are having difficulty breathing or who seem like theyre working hard to breathe need to be treated immediately.

 Children who are having difficulty breathing or who seem like theyre working hard to breathe need to be treated immediately. Fatigue  Most kids are pretty tuckered out after a long day of swimming, but doctors say parents should keep an eye out for excessive tiredness.

 Most kids are pretty tuckered out after a long day of swimming, but doctors say parents should keep an eye out for excessive tiredness. Vomiting  Any child who starts throwing up after leaving the water should be seen as soon as possible by a doctor.

 Any child who starts throwing up after leaving the water should be seen as soon as possible by a doctor. Wooziness or Forgetfulness  Doctors also caution parents to watch for changes in personality. If children start acting woozy or incoherent, get them to an emergency room right away.

Doctors also say that any child who has been pulled from the water in a rescue situation  such as a child who started to drown and was assisted from the water  should be evaluated by a physician.

Philadelphia Personal Injury Lawyer Discusses Water Safety

Philadelphia personal injury lawyer Rand Spear explains, Conditions like dry drowning and secondary drowning are scary for parents. However, being informed can go a long way toward keeping kids safe around water. Any time a parent has concerns about their child, its always best to contact the childs pediatrician.

Contact a Philadelphia Personal Injury Lawyer Today

If you or your child has been injured at a pool, lake, or swimming facility, get the legal help you deserve. Contact Philadelphia and New Jersey personal injury lawyer Rand Spear today at 877-GET-RAND.

Sources:

source: http://randspear.com/2017/08/13/what-is-dry-drowning/

Social Media Tags:dry drowning, personal injury lawyer near Philadelphia and New Jersey, pool accidents and drowning, Rand Spear the Accident Lawyer

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Dave and Ellie Everitt give $3 million to K-State Libraries

Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017

A rendering of the first-floor renovation and modernization project at Kansas State University's Hale Library. The project has received support from university alumni Dave and Ellie Everitt. | Download this photo.





MANHATTAN  Dave and Ellie Everitt, Marco Island, Florida, have given $3 million to Kansas State University Libraries.



It's the first major gift given toward the K-State Libraries' first-floor renovation and modernization project. The renovation will create a more accessible entrance to the first floor. It will include group study spaces, instruction rooms, satellite meeting spaces for student services, exhibit space for special collections, a cafe and flexible event space. The project will also provide a home for the Center for the Advancement of Digital Scholarship and the Open/Alternative Textbook Initiative.



Ellie Everitt graduated from Kansas State University in 1973 with a degree in clothing and textiles from the College of Human Ecology. Dave Everitt received his degree in industrial engineering from the College of Engineering in 1975. They are both KSU Foundation trustees and serve on the Innovation and Inspiration Campaign steering committee. Dave Everitt is on the foundation's board of directors.



While they support both of their colleges, the Everitts enjoy investing in programs that positively affect the entire campus. When the KSU Foundation and K-State Libraries told them of the Hale Library renovation project, they jumped at the opportunity to make a difference.



"The K-State Libraries are an integral part of supporting research and helping K-State reach its 2025 goals," Dave Everitt said. "This renovation will help the libraries enhance their role by supporting collaboration and multidisciplinary studies. Another aspect of the project I like is the ability to showcase special collections that are in the library or that travel through the library. It's a place people go to appreciate these historical and important documents."

The Hale Library renovation project is estimated to cost $6.5 million, and the Everitts' donation of $3 million goes a long way in making it a reality.



"The Everitts' gift is a profound affirmation of K-State Libraries' value to the university, and we look forward to leveraging their generosity," said Lori Goetsch, dean of K-State Libraries. "The reimagined Hale Library will more effectively provide students, faculty and researchers with diverse spaces that anticipate their needs and encourage their success."



The Everitts are also passionate about supporting the Open/Alternative Textbook Initiative, which will be located in the renovated space.



"Textbooks have become an enormous expense for students and are not cost-efficient," Ellie Everitt said. "The digital textbook initiative helps create the ability for professors to keep information up to date and relevant to students' area of study, and they save students money."



Philanthropic contributions to K-State are coordinated by the KSU Foundation. The foundation is leading Innovation and Inspiration: The Campaign for Kansas State University to raise $1.4 billion for student success, faculty development, facility enhancement and programmatic success.
More than 1.4 million Muslims have so far arrived in Saudi Arabia for the hajj, authorities said Thursday.

More than two million people are expected to participate in this year's hajj, a pillar of Islam that capable Muslims must perform at least once in their lives, which starts next week.

"So far 1,313,946 pilgrims have arrived by air, 79,501 by land, and 12,477 by sea -- an increase of 33 percent compared with the same period last year," the state-run Saudi Press Agency said, citing passport officials.

That includes more than 400 Qatari pilgrims, local media reported, despite an intensifying political row between Doha and Riyadh since early June.

All Qatari pilgrims arrived through the Salwa border crossing with Qatar.

The hajj has been clouded by the worst political crisis in the Gulf in decades, with Saudi Arabia leading a four-state bloc that suspended all ties with Doha on June 5 over accusations the emirate backed Islamist extremists.

Qatar has denied the charge and said this week it was worried pilgrims from the emirate would be treated badly.

But the Saudi media has repeatedly broadcast images showing officials courteously assisting Qatari pilgrims.

The hajj ministry has said the kingdom, home to Islam's holiest sites, welcomes all pilgrims from different nationalities.

The ministry added it was equipped to handle the additional crowds after the completion of expansion works at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the most revered site in Islam.

More than 1.8 million faithful took part in last year's hajj.

The annual pilgrimage this year is marked by the return of Iranians after Tehran's boycott last year of the holy rites after tensions between Riyadh and Tehran boiled over following a deadly stampede during the 2015 pilgrimage.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online

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Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis descended Thursday on Sanaa Thursday in a major show of force for ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, whose alliance with the country's Shia Houthi rebels has been shaken by mutual distrust.

Tensions have been rising between Saleh and his one-time foe, rebel chief Abdul Malik al-Houthi, who in 2014 joined ranks in a shock alliance that drove the government out of the capital and into the southern province of Aden.

The rally marking 35 years since the founding of Saleh's Arab nationalist General People's Congress (GPC) sends out a signal that the strongman remains a force to be reckoned with.

"We came today to the square to show our faith in the General People's Congress and in Ali Abdullah Saleh," Saeed al-Obeidi said at the rally.

"Today the GPC proved that it is a national party and that the Houthis are incapable of leading the nation the way a real political party can."

Chanting "With our souls, with our blood, we serve you, Yemen," crowds poured into the four-square-kilometre (1.5-square-mile) square and poured into the streets of the capital, waving the blue flag of the GPC and carrying pictures of the 75-year-old Saleh.

Saleh ruled Yemen with an iron fist for more than three decades before stepping down in 2012 after a bloody year-long uprising.

But the strongman retained the loyalty of some of the best-equipped units in the military and later joined forces with the Houthis, after they overran the capital in 2014.

The ensuing civil war between the Saudi-backed government and the Houthi-Saleh alliance has killed thousands and brought the Arabian Peninsula country to the brink of famine.

Saleh's supporters had travelled to Sanaa from across the impoverished country, camping out in Sabaeen Square overnight ahead of the rally.

An AFP reporter in Sanaa said the Houthis had set up checkpoints at the main entrances to the city.

But they did nothing to stop the demonstrators from reaching the square, where the rebels had also deployed but did not interfere with the rally.

Saleh -- who survived the 2011 Arab Spring protests that saw a string of his peers ousted from Egypt to Libya -- appeared in person at the rally and gave a brief speech behind bulletproof glass, surrounded by heavily armed guards.

"We are political pioneers with a solid anchor, and we have been facing conspiracies against us since 2011," he told the cheering crowd, referring to the start of protests in Sanaa that eventually led to his resignation.

Saleh said he was ready to deploy "tens of thousands of fighters to the frontlines", on condition the rebel-led government train and pay them.

Analysts have said the rally serves in part as public protest against the Iran-backed Houthis, who with Saleh have run the capital since 2014.

The rebels have rapidly risen in a parallel government in Sanaa, and now hold clout in the city's economy, defence and educational ministries.

Former troops and civil servants in the parallel rebel-run government have not been paid for months.

Saleh's second-in-command in the GPC, Aref al-Zouka, on Thursday accused the Houthis of financial mismanagement and corruption, saying the party refused to be "allies for show".

A war of words between Saleh and Abdul Malik al-Houthi, whose rebel group have historically clashed with Saleh's troops, has escalated in the past week.

The two have publicly accused each other of treason, with Saleh hinting his allies were merely "a militia" and the rebels warning the former president he would "bear the consequences" of the insult.

The Houthis reportedly suspect Saleh has been negotiating with a Saudi-led Arab military coalition that supports the Yemeni government.

Saleh was a strong ally of Saudi Arabia from the late 1970s, when he fought the Houthis for control of Yemen, until 2014.

The Saleh camp has meanwhile accused the Houthis of aiming to consolidate their power in Sanaa.

The war between the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, and the rebel camp has killed more than 8,300 Yemenis since 2015 and pushed the country to the brink of famine.

More than 30 people, including civilians, were killed on Wednesday in air raids on Sanaa, where the coalition has been bombing the Houthis since joining the war in 2015.

A cholera outbreak has independently claimed an estimated 2,000 lives since April in Yemen.

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Qatar ordered the embassy of Chad be closed and gave its diplomats 72 hours to leave, the Qatari foreign ministry said on Thursday, accusing the African country of joining a "campaign of blackmail" with its decision to shutter the Qatari embassy.

Qatar is involved in a row with four Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain over allegations that Doha supports terrorism. Qatar denies the charges.

Chad said on Wednesday it was giving Qatari diplomats 10 days to leave the country, accusing Qatar of trying to destabilise the central African nation through its northern neighbour Libya.

The director of the Qatari foreign ministry's media department said the timing of the Chadian decision shows that it "comes within the campaign of political blackmail against the State of Qatar with the intention of joining the siege countries for very well known reasons".

Senegal said this week it had returned its ambassador to Qatar after having recalled him three months ago, in a bid to encourage a peaceful resolution to the feud.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online.

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Russian nuclear-capable strategic bombers have flown over the Pacific Ocean, the Sea of Japan, the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, prompting Japan and South Korea to scramble jets to escort them, Russia said on Thursday.

Russia's Defence Ministry said in a statement the Tupolev-95MS bombers, code named "Bears" by NATO, flew over neutral waters and were accompanied by Russian Sukhoi-35S fighter jets and A-50 early warning and control aircraft.

It gave no details about the overall number of aircraft that had taken part in what it called a pre-arranged flight and did not say when or why the mission took place.

The TU-95MS bombers were refuelled in mid-air during the mission, the ministry said.

During parts of the route, the bombers were escorted by South Korean and Japanese military jets, it added.

Russia, which shares a border with North Korea, has repeatedly voiced concerns about rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula caused by Pyongyang's nuclear missile programme, and has complained about Japan's plans to deploy a U.S. anti-missile system on its soil



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Two hundred Muslims rallied in the streets of Granada, southern Spain, on Wednesday in protest against a surge in anti-Islamic hate crimes following last week's deadly attacks in the country.

The protest was called after the city's main mosque was attacked with flares on Saturday by a handful of members from a far-right group, Hogar Social, who also unfurled a Spanish flag outside the building, according to images on Spanish TV.

Muslim groups have reported a jump in anti-Islamic hate incidents since the twin vehicle attacks in Barcelona and the nearby seaside resort of Cambrils that killed 15 people last week. Those attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group.

"It is very important for us to affirm our values as Muslims which are the same as those of all other human beings on this planet," said Nizar Liemlahi, director of the Dar Loughat Muslim cultural association, one of the co-organisers of the rally

Only 0.1 percent of the world's Muslims commit attacks and these people "do not represent our values or our principles," added Liemlahi, a psychologist who moved to Spain from Morocco in 2010.

The protesters brandished banners with slogans such as "I am Muslim and I want to live in peace" and "We also are victims" as they gathered outside Granada city hall.

Mounir Benjelloun, head of the Spanish Federation of Islamic Religious Entities (FEERI), said the increase in anti-Islamic incidents since the attacks was "unbearable".

"Unfortunately, after what happened, there is an avalanche of cases. In my 25 years in Spain I have not seen anything like it."

Vandals have defaced mosques with racist graffiti and some people have posted videos on social media sites calling for the expulsion of all Muslims, he said.

About 1,000 Muslims marched in Barcelona on Monday against terrorism.

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US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Thursday that the United States was committed to helping Ukraine's military, and sanctions against Russia would remain in place until Moscow stops supporting rebels and returns Crimea.

"Mr President, we continue to support Ukraine and remain committed to building the capacity of your armed forces," Mattis said after meeting Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

He said Washington has recently approved delivery of military equipment worth $175 million (148 million euros) to Ukraine that would boost its defence capacities.

But the issue of lethal weapons is still under consideration, he added.

"On the defensive lethal weapons, we are actively reviewing it," he said.

"Defensive weapons are not provocative unless you are an aggressor. And surely Ukraine is not an aggressor."

"The United States stands with Ukraine," Mattis said, accusing Moscow of "seeking to redraw international borders by force, undermining the sovereign and free nations of Europe."

Sanctions against Russia "will remain in place until Moscow reverses the actions that triggered them," he said.

Kiev is battling a pro-Russian insurgency in the eastern regions of Lugansk and Donetsk.

Parts of these regions declared independence in 2014, shortly after Moscow seized the Black Sea Crimea peninsula from Ukraine.

More than 10,000 people have died in the conflict. Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of orchestrating and fuelling it with weapons and troops brought across the porous border.

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LEXINGTON  The second of two men accused in September armed robberies in Cozad was sentenced in Dawson County District Court to four-eight years in jail for the crime.

According to court records, Christian Poore, 29, of Cozad pleaded no contest in April to robbery, a Class II felony. A person making a no-contest plea neither admits nor denies guilt, but the plea is treated the same as a guilty plea.

Another robbery charge, and two counts of use of a firearm to commit a felony, both Class IC felonies, were dropped in a plea deal, court records say.

Poore started his sentence on Aug. 14, and he received 137 days credit for time already served.

According to court records, the charge stems from alleged armed robberies at a Cozad home and at a Cozad motel hours apart on Sept. 25.

Court records say Cozad Police Department officers were called to the home at about 12:34 a.m. and determined that two masked men had forced their way into the home. They allegedly held one resident and a witness at gunpoint and stole a coin purse containing credit cards and identification, court records say. Witnesses told police that there may have been a third person waiting outside and out of sight, court records say.

At 2:14 a.m., Cozad police were called to a second robbery at a Cozad motel. The two victims told police that two men approached them at a nearby gas station and said they needed cash.

Court records say, two masked men later allegedly forcibly entered a motel room and demanded credit cards and the victims personal identification numbers. The masked men allegedly held the victims at gunpoint while allegedly taking credit cards, passports and cash.

Joseph Pittman, 27, was also arrested and charged with two counts of robbery, Class II felonies. Pittman was sentenced to five-eight years in prison, and he received five months, 17 days credit for time already served in Dawson County Jail.

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KEARNEY  University of Nebraska at Kearney business students dont wait until they reach the workplace, diploma in hand, to work with clients, solve problems and provide services.

Janice Woods, director of business internships and experiential learning within the Business Division of the College of Business and Technology, said students are required to take one three-hour course involving significant real-world experiences.

Most internships are done as part of a class. However, Woods said the working relationships sometimes continue with students being hired by clients to work on special projects.

Internships may be paid or unpaid, depending on if clients are for-profit businesses, government entities or nonprofits.

Part of my job is to help employers, as well, to talk to them about grants and state funds available, Woods said.

Were trying to show that internships can be mutually beneficial to the business and the student, she said, adding that some business owners tell her they cant live without the interns.

College of Business students work at least 12 weeks and 200 hours for the three college credits required. Woods said the hours scale up for students seeking more credits.

One of my jobs is to visit students out on internships, she said. When I visit them, were able to build relationships with the businesses.

That can provide contacts for more matches for future students working on business-related degrees.

Most students want to stay in Nebraska for their real-world experiences. Most also are looking ahead to a job they can do after they graduate, Woods said.

Among the few who want international internships to broaden their horizons were three UNK business students who spent most of their summer abroad: Victoria Aldinger of Wilcox, fashion merchandising in Milan, Italy; Nathan Immel of Hastings, employment recruiting in Dublin, Ireland; and Louis Harper of North Platte, working with a sustainable housing company in San Ignacio, Belize.

There is a newer program closer to home that helps students interested in health care-related careers find internships.

Michelle Fleig-Palmer, associate professor of management and director of the UNK Health Care Management Programs, said she and Professor of Management Kay Hodge saw the need seven years ago.

They learned from Peggy Abels, director of health science programs, that graduate programs for students pursuing medical-related careers want them to also have some business-related experience at the undergrad level. Graduate schools dont have time to teach such courses.

Were looking at business topics under the umbrella of health care and health care management, Fleig-Palmer said.

This fall marks the sixth year of core health care management courses. A minor in health care management was added in fall 2015.

Fleig-Palmer said they have found that business students also are interested in the classes.

The minor includes instruction in leadership, human resources management, management processes and scheduling, and health care policy. Fleig-Palmer said there are 45-50 declared students in the program and others who will take a course or two.

Internships are encouraged, but not required, she added.

She said internships are good for students, including some who have worked after graduation at the facilities where they were interns or at other health-related businesses and are important to the community.

In one course, Health Care Management: Managing People Effectively, students research health care topics.

Fleig-Palmer gave an example of a student who looked at physician recruitment issues for small rural hospitals and found that it is important during the interview process to make sure candidates understand the community environment.

She said a big issue is telling recruits they cannot compartmentalize the work and community parts of their lives as they might have done in big cities. Instead, they should expect to have contact with their small-town patients at church, local businesses, and school and community activities.

Many health care management internships involve accounting-finance or human resources work.

This summer, UNK students had internships at Kearneys Help Care Clinic, Kearney Regional Medical Center, Lexington Regional Health Center, Mary Lanning Hospital in Hastings, and Kearney County Health Services in Minden.

Money for the internships comes from a special UNK seed grant.

Our goal is to see net new, Fleig-Palmer said, meaning that a facility with one intern now might pay the cost for a second one in the future.
According to a Nebraska Chamber of Commerce & Industry press release, the forums allow the state chamber to gather input from business leaders on important issues while chamber staff summarizes recent state legislation affecting the business community and reviews Nebraskas competitiveness in national studies and comparisons. This years State Chamber forums will include a review of important legislation from the 2017 session of the Nebraska Legislature, issues awaiting the Legislature in 2018 and the latest state rankings in areas important to the business community.
KEARNEY  University of Nebraska at Kearney professors Doug Biggs, Scott Darveau and Kim Carlson received the prestigious Pratt-Heins Faculty Awards during UNKs recent Faculty/Staff Convocation.

For 36 years, the Pratt-Heins Foundation has recognized UNK faculty members for their outstanding contributions in the categories of teaching, service and scholarship, and research, according to a news release from UNK Communications.

Doug Biggs

Doug Biggs, a history professor, received the Pratt-Heins Foundation Scholarship and Research Award.

The award is based on production of original work in the nominees discipline. Each nominee submits a list of research documents and publications, evaluations from individuals qualified to evaluate the scholarship and research of the nominee, and administrative evaluations from the department chair and dean.

Before joining UNK in 2008, Biggs was already an established scholar, faculty member and department chair of his former college. At UNK, he has served as dean of his college and has served as a mentor to countless graduate students.

His book, Three Armies in Britain, is the standard text for all undergraduate reading, according to Dr. Gwilym Dodd at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom.

He is the managing editor for the series, Late Medieval Europe 1100-1600.

Biggs has been published in many scholarly journals, including the Journal of Medieval History, Journal of Historical Review and Journal of Medieval Military History.

He has been elected as a fellow to the prestigious Royal Historical Society in the United Kingdom, and he was elected as president of the White Hart Society, a society of historians of the reigns of King Richard II and Henry IV.

Scott Darveau

Scott Darveau, a professor of chemistry, received the Pratt-Heins Foundation Service Award.

Selection for the award is based on outstanding service to UNK students, the university and to education and peer evaluations.

Darveau joined UNK in 1997, became a professor in 2007, and has served as the chair of his department.

He has received many awards, including the Outstanding Honors Faculty of the Year in 2006.

Darveau is a faculty mentor for new hires, has served as the committee chair organizing the Don Fox Lecture and Awards Banquet, and has served as faculty adviser to the UNK student affiliate of the American Chemical Society.

He assisted the Office of Health Studies in its Kearney Health Opportunities Program interviews for pharmacy school, has been active in the UNK union serving on the executive committee and as a UNKEA negotiator, and has served in many offices with the UNK Faculty Senate, including president.

Darveau is active in the Nanoscience Summer Camps and has guest lectured at numerous elementary and high schools throughout the area.

He has been involved with the Boy Scouts of America, serving as Cub master, assistant Scout master, Order of the Arrow Lodge adviser, roundtable commissioner and, currently, as district chairman.

In 2016, the Covered Wagon District awarded him the district award of merit, its highest volunteer recognition.

Kim Carlson

Biology professor Kim Carlson received the Pratt-Heins Foundation Teaching Award.

Selection for the award is based on peer evaluations from faculty, chair and dean of the nominees department and student comments from course evaluations.

Carlson received her bachelors and masters degrees from UNK, and her doctorate from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She joined the UNK faculty in 2003 and was tenured in 2008. She was promoted to professor in 2012 and serves as assistant chair of her department.

Her classes are tough, rigorous and challenging, but always highly rated by students. Throughout her teaching career, she has always been rated highly.

Carlson passionately mentors undergraduate students, many of whom have gone on to higher academic pursuits or professional careers. Many have written that they wouldnt have dreamed of trying to get into medical school had it not been for her encouragement and engagement.

She involves her students in her research, which is evidenced by numerous joint publications, enabling students to gain confidence and high academic acclaim.

She was instrumental in developing and team-teaching the general studies capstone course, The Science of Fear.

In recognition of her outstanding teaching, she was awarded the Leland Holt Security Mutual Faculty Award in 2015. Carlson received the Pratt-Heins Award for Scholarship and Research in 2011 and the Pratt-Heins Award for Service in 2012.

SAFE Awards for Excellence

Staff Awards for Excellence, also known as SAFE, were also presented at the convocation. SAFE Awards are presented annually to honor UNK staff members for outstanding service to students, UNK and education in general.

The awards are sponsored by Fidelity Investments.

Recipients of the SAFE Awards were Julie Saalfeld, eCampus office associate, and Lonna Weiss, Student Affairs administrative assistant.

A third SAFE Award, made possible by the Jim and Lynn Rundstrom Family Foundation Fund, was awarded to Alta Kramer, interlibrary loan and document delivery associate in the Calvin T. Ryan Library.
KEARNEY  When Dr. Cathrin Carithers tries to create partnerships with the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing-Kearney Division and area hospitals and clinics, what she hears most is, We need nurses.

Nebraska universities, including the Kearney Division, are working to adjust to the ever-changing health care system to address the nursing shortage occurring across the country. UNMC College of Nursing has divisions in Kearney, Scottsbluff, Norfolk, Omaha and Lincoln. Carithers is assistant dean of the Kearney Division and a clinical associate professor.

We say What can we do for you? How can we help you? she said, and the answer is, We need nurses.

That is the message loud and clear, and I know we are looking at expanding our reach, and I know that there are several hospitals who have said You know, we have had to close beds or turn away patients because we dont have the nurses to care. Or, conversely, We are using travel nurses which are more expensive, but at least theyre there to provide the care.

Nebraska is projected to be short about 4,000 nurses by 2020, according to the University of Nebraska Medical Center. In 2009, the average age of a Nebraskan nurse was 46 years old; about half of all the current nurses in the state are expected to retire in the next 10 years.

According to UNMC, of Nebraskas 93 counties, 73 have a lower-than-national-average ratio of registered nurses to patients, and more than one-third of the counties have no nurse practitioners. Nine counties in the state have no registered nurses, while four counties have just one registered nurse.

With the help of funding, Carithers said the Kearney Division upped its annual traditional baccalaureate student enrollment numbers from the 40s to 56 students as well as its graduate student numbers. The Kearney Division also added the advanced or the accelerated baccalaureate nursing program, which allows students to finish their courses in just one year.

Were really trying to increase the numbers as best we can to meet that shortage, Carithers said.

Learning to retain nurses once they are trained is another important aspect of combating the issue.

We know that, by and large, nurses who receive their education here tend to stay here versus those who are coming from outskirts may return home, Carithers said. That is one thing we really value here ... educating these nurses to stay.

Nursing is a field that will continue to provide job stability. As the baby boomer generation ages and retires, the demand for more health care professionals will increase, particularly in geriatric care, according to UNMC.

You know nursing is a very caring profession, Carithers said. What we hear a lot when we interview our student applicants is, I am caring. I am empathetic. I want to help that person and their family reach the best state of health that they can.

Technology and clinical and academic partnerships are other ways in which the Kearney Division has worked on to keep up with the changes in health care. Several years ago, the school started to offer designated education units  tapping into clinical experts who are providing bedside care.

The nurses mentor two students each over the semester. Students can also learn from high-fidelity simulation scenarios in which faculty can control the situations that students work through.

Were team players. We want to be at the table as a member of that health care team to improve health outcomes for Nebraskans and beyond, Carithers said.

@AmandaPush
The United States has a recent record of executing wars badly, so badly, in fact, that the hangover is still causing headaches. Consider that in Operation Desert Storm in 1990, U.S. and coalition forces handed Saddam Husseins elite Republican Guard a six-week beating. Saddam and his military were driven out of Kuwait and were on the brink of defeat when President George H.W. Bush called for a cease fire. It was humanitarian, but it led to embarrassment for his son, who declared a global war on terror in 2001.

President George W. Bush set out to drive terrorists out of Afghanistan, then became convinced Saddam had stockpiled weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and invaded. Bushs global war on terror, Operation Enduring Freedom, spanned from 2001 to 2014, and theres still considerable work to do.

Iraq remains a haven for terrorists and U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan, making that 16-year conflict the longest in U.S. history. The blame for the drawn-out Afghanistan war goes to Bush II and his successor, Barack Obama. Today, it appears our newest commander-in-chief, Donald Trump, will not accept a share of the blame if the war in Afghanistan also drags on through his presidency.

Tuesday night in Phoenix, Trump outlined how Afghanistan will be different under his administration. He doesnt plan to announce troop levels, as was the style of Bush and Obama, and he doesnt intend to release timelines. Obama liked to tell Americans when he planned to withdraw troops, a strategy some believe was a big aid to enemy leaders. They held on until the next withdrawal deadline, and the war dragged on.

Abandoning those strategies, Trump said he intends to hand over prosecution of the war to his generals. For his largest departure, Trump said the U.S. would fight to win. After 1 decades of stagnation, Americans must feel encouraged that a president is finally ready to win the long conflict.

None of this resembles candidate Trump, who campaigned on the pledge to bring all troops home and wash his hands of Afghanistan, which, to-date, has cost 2,500 American lives.

Points Trump made are good ones. We will be fighting a war, not nation building, and we will fight for our own interest because 20 terrorist groups now work out of Afghanistan.
Red tape kills jobs. It stifles innovation. And it prohibits growth. Thats why my administrations mission is to make state government more effective, more efficient, and more customer-focused. Over the past 2 years, weve successfully put environmental quality permitting online. Were helping nurses get licensed more quickly. And the Legislature and I partnered to abolish unnecessary professional licensing requirements for the banking, medical, and auto industries to create more opportunity for hardworking Nebraskans.

As governor, I have also worked with the attorney general to push back on onerous regulations created by the Obama administration. These include the Waters of the U.S. rule and the Clean Power Plan. Thankfully, Washington is reversing course on these rules under the new administration. In the past six months, the Trump administration has moved to repeal the 2015 WOTUS rule, as well as launched a review of the controversial CPP, which was proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2014.

The decision to repeal WOTUS and review CPP will help create more certainty for and spur future growth in Nebraskas top industries. For example, WOTUS would have allowed the EPA to have regulatory power over practically any body of water in Nebraska  even ponds, ditches and large puddles. This power would have been easily misused by environmental activists. CPP would have been a major burden to the ag producers in our number one industry, and businesses also would have been required to file expensive and unnecessary permits.

Nebraska was also at the forefront of fighting President Obamas unnecessary and misguided CPP. Under the CPP, Nebraska would have been required to show a 40-percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in fewer than 10 years. This would not only be nearly logistically impossible, but also expensive for Nebraskans who enjoy low utility rates, thanks to our unique public power system.

It takes longer to plan new power transmission lines and new sources of power than the Obama administration was willing to give states for compliance. Additionally, studies estimated that under CPP utility bills would rise by 12 percent to 35 percent. I applaud President Trumps review of this rule, and hope that he finalizes a full repeal soon.

Both of these moves by the Trump administration will return power back to the states, where it belongs. We live in a diverse country governed by a diverse set of governors. These governors know what solutions work best for their individual states. In Nebraska, we have clean air and clean water because state and local government have exercised common sense oversight without stifling private sector innovation and job creation.

Here in Nebraska, my administration continues to focus on identifying new ways to make government work better for the people. Thats why I recently announced a review of all regulations in my agencies. Currently, Nebraskas Administrative Code consists of 7.5 million words. It would take someone more than 10 weeks to read the entire code. While Nebraska already boasts a growth-oriented regulatory climate, this is a great opportunity to identify additional opportunities to make state government more effective and efficient. If we cant find a legitimate reason for a rule or regulation, we will work to get rid of it.

Pete Ricketts is governor of Nebraska.
Painter and professor Amal Nasr speaks to Ahram Online about the process of collecting the work of the prominent artist's and making it available to the public

The Italian publishing house Skira is planning to provide copies of its Mahmoud Said catalogue raisonne for sale in a limited number of Egyptian bookstores this September, and will be distributed by the AUC Press.

The 864-page catalogue documents the work of the man who is rightly called the founder of Egyptian modern painting, complete with descriptions, explanations and scholarly comments.

The catalogue, which was launched earlier this year, was the result of three years of work under the direct supervision of prominent collector and scholar Hussam Rashwan and Christies Valerie Didier.

This is an unprecedented effort in documenting the works of an Egyptian artist and of course it made perfect sense that the first to merit this hard work would be no other than Mahmoud Said, said painter Amal Nasr.

Nasr, a professor at the Alexandria University School of Fine Arts, is one of the scholars who contributed to the catalogue.

It was not at all an easy job to work on this catalogue, essentially due to the fact that a considerable number of the works of Mahmoud Said are not in his museum nor for that matter in the private collections that are kept in Egypt, Nasr said.

According to Nasr, as to others who contributed to this task, it took a considerable deal of effort to locate all Saids paintings, sketches and notes, and it took almost as much work to get the permission of the collectors to have their pieces photographed.

Obviously too it was an expensive job and it was thoroughly funded by collectors and donors who wished to contribute to an overdue exhaustive documentation of Mahmoud Said, Nasr added.

Born to an aristocratic family in Alexandria on 8 April 1897, Said passed away at the age of 68 on 8 April 1964.

It was at his early teens that Said started to experiment with drawing. However, due to the conservative social norms of his time, he was not allowed to follow this artistic path.

Said had to succumb to the wishes of his father and study law and take the subsequent judiciary path. He would not, however, abandon his interest in drawing and throughout the years he accomplished one portrait and painting after the other.

Clearly, he did portraits of his family members; but his real work as I would call it was with the outstanding drawings of the poorer women of Alexandria rather than of the aristocratic women of his family, Nasr said.

Nasr is the author of a chapter in the catalogue dedicated to compare Saids vivid drawing of young Alexandrian women, often nude, who worked as house-helps, escorts or in other humble jobs, and the later stage where the artist spent more time on scenery drawings.

Many people tend to think of Said in the limited scope of his nudes; his nudes are stunningly beautiful not just in terms of portraying the instinctively beautiful and sensual models he chose but certainly in showing the defiance that these women had and the pride they carried themselves with no matter the humble setting they were from, Nasr argued.

She added that Saids passion for drawing beautiful poor women was in fact more about his passion to break away from the limitations of his aristocratic family and circle and also to defy the norms of the time about forcing women to succumb to tamed patterns of conduct and behaviour.

His women are not at all tamed  and in fact the way he drew them made them more impulsive and defiant than they might have been, as I learned upon comparing the photos of these models to the final drawings, Nasr argued, adding that he had given a daring gaze to his models.

As Nasr argued in her study in the catalogue raisonne, away from the portraits, it would not be possible to isolate the beauty of the bodies and the features of the models that the artist drew from the setting of the painting.

Actually, after the liberation he had from his assumed social status after the death of his father, Said dedicated considerable effort to the scenery drawings, Nasr said.

She added that there are many ways of looking at the works of Said and the evolution of his style of painting and this would all be possible in an academic fashion due to the compilation of his catalogue raisonne.

Nasr argues that this catalogue will help many realise the wider talent of Said, which is not at all given a fair representation via the collection displayed in his house-turned-museum on Mohamed Said Pasha Street in Alexandria.

It should also, she added, bring attention to the need to dedicate more time and funds to document modern and contemporary Egyptian artists. With this catalogue raisonne it would be actually possible, perhaps for the first time, to expect Mahmoud Said to be given his due in terms of being studied, and to be compared to world painters, Nasr said.

She argued that this catalogue should also bring more attention to the poorly attended and poorly managed museum  to the works of Mahmoud Said and also to the works of Seif and Adham Wanly.

The Wanly brothers were born in the early years of the 20th century  1906 and 1908  to a wealthy Alexandrian family. Like Said, the Wanly brothers were not encouraged to take up art by their family but they too did end up pursuing their chosen path.

Their works, which they started to produce in the 1920s, are partially displayed in the Mahmoud Said Museum, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and elsewhere.

This is another overdue task but this would be a much harder one given the huge volume of stored works of the Wanly brothers, Nasr commented.

She suggested that the next task that the Alexandria art community is willing to take up relates to prominent Alexandrian painter Abdel-Hady El-Gazzar, who was born in 1925 and who represents the generation following that of Said and the Wanly brothers.

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Striking workers are seen picketing at Pearson International Airport in Toronto on Friday, July, 28, 2017. About 700 ground crew workers at Canada's busiest airport are voting today on whether to accept a new contract offer and potentially end a four-week-long work stoppage.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
Mohamed Ben Attias film is a Tunisian, French and Belgian co-production, and is now showing in Zawya, Cairos arthouse cinema

Characters names can sometimes be a reflection of their actions and temperaments. That is certainly the case for Hedi (Majd Mastoura), in Tunisian director Mohamed Ben Attias film Hedi: A Wind of Freedom. The film was released last year in France and is currently showing in Cairos cinema Zawya.

Hedi means calm or wise in Arabic. That is indeed how Hedis mother (Sabah Bouzouita) likes to see her son, whose life she controls, leaving him little room to make his own choices.

While his mother actively prepares his marriage, Hedi, who works in the field of business, is sent to Mahdia by his employer to search for new clients. There he meets Rim (Rym Ben Messaoud), who works as an animator in a local hotel, and is seduced by her freedom and independence. For the first time, the calm and

reserved young man tries to take his life into his own hands. Love brings him to counter his mothers decisions, defying her crushing authority at last.

The entire country is in a state of transition following the Arab spring. The films events mirror the state of many young Arabs, torn apart by the gap between their hopes and desires, and their lives; between the things of which they dream, and those within reach.

The choice of presenting a man crushed under the weight of family and society rather than a woman is a significant choice. This shows that in the Arab world, everyone falls victim to the same oppression. No one is spared, contrary to popular discourse.

The film tackles the issue of personal freedoms in the general sense, insisting that one must free oneself from within before fighting social conventions and constraints. Hence the ending of the film, when Hedi rejects Rims influence, despite his love for her. He questions everyone, including himself, yet simultaneously refrains from harshly judging other characters.

The filmmaker does not fall into the trap of wanting to judge characters, or categorise them as either good or evil. He rather attempts to justify their behaviours, as he did when explaining the reasons behind Hedis mother and his employers authoritarian natures.

Hedis employer was oppressed in every aspect of his life, at home, at work and everywhere else. Later, Rim, the rebellious girl who seduced the protagonist, also tried to take over his life and choices. Hence one of the most violent and sensual confrontation scenes in the film.

Hedi: A Wind of Freedom, is quite aesthetically pleasing. Everything flows calmly. The characters, who are well-portrayed, are not very complex, but they are deep. Without becoming too politicised, the film succeeds in getting to the bottom of the crisis.

By depicting a personal problem, the film evokes a societal one affecting the post-revolutionary reality. Hedis business trip, for instance, which he undertook to broaden his clientele, is reflective of the economic climate of the revolution.

There is a clear relation between politics and daily life, where existential crisis tears the characters apart.

Tunisian cinema has garnered much attention recently via films like this and Raja Amaris Foreign Bodies. Both films received critical acclaim at regional and international festivals, and were praised by film enthusiasts. Ben Attia was awarded the Best First Feature at the Berlinale and actor Majd Mastouras performance was awarded as well, after Tunisia had been absent from the festival for nearly 20 years.

Do not miss the film screening at cinema Zawya.

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A rescue worker carries an unconscious 1-year-old to a waiting ambulance after he was rescued in the waters of the Bay of All Saints, where a passenger boat carrying more than 100 people sunk, in Salvador, Brazil, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. The boy, who initially responded to resuscitation efforts, died in an ambulance en route to a hospital, according to a statement released by the Bahia state health department. The accident took place a day after another deadly passenger boat accident on a river in the northern state of Para. (Xando Pereira/A Tarde/Futura Press via AP)
In this image taken from video officers stand behind a cordoned-off area in Rotterdam, Wednesday Aug. 23, 2017, after a concert by an American rock band was cancelled Wednesday night following a threat, the city's mayor said. Police detained the driver of a van with Spanish license plates carrying a number of gas tanks inside. (RTL via AP)
The play is a comedy directed by Salah Ihab

Cairos Falaki Theatre will host The Danish Experience, an Arabic-language play, for three nights starting 28 August.

The play is comedy about a young man who aspires to fulfill his dreams as an artist, but is faced with harsh realities and a society that thinks his dream is a waste of time. Going against the current, will his dreams survive, or will society prevail?

Based on hints in the plays marketing material, the play may contain some loose references to Shakespeares Hamlet.

The Danish Experience is performed by Alam Mowazy troupe, and is the result of an improvisation workshop.

The plays director is Salah Ihab, and Mohamed Halwani and Mohamed Osama are executive directors.

It debuted in June at Hosapeer Theatre.

Programme:

28 and 30 August at 7pm

29 August at 5pm and 8pm

Falaki Theatre, 24 Falaki Street, Cairo

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture

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Three months have passed since the death of the novelist, writer and the leftist politician Sherif Hatata in May, and last week Dr. Refaat El-Saeed also died.

El-Saeeds death constituted a heavy loss among the second generation of the pillars of the leftist movement in Egypt. He wasn't just a writer, historian, journalist, member of parliament and the secretary-general of the Tagammu Party (the Nationalist Progressive Unionist Party), he was an influential leftist figure who played a prominent role in the Egyptian political movement for six decades.

This was in spite of his differences and standpoints which ran in contradiction to and even in opposition to the leftist factions in Egypt.

El-Saeed, who was born in 1932, first joined the Democratic Movement for National Liberation (HADITU), the biggest underground leftist organisation in Egypt. He continued struggling among its ranks until it was disbanded and hundreds of its members were detained and tortured in Al-Wahat Prison in the Western Desert.

A quick look at the titles of the books he has written will be enough to show his contribution in this sphere alone. El-Saeed wrote six volumes on the history of the socialist movement from 1900 to 1957, three books on socialist thought pioneers, including Nicola Haddad, Essam El-Din, Hefny Nassef and others, seven books on leaders of political action in Egypt starting with Mohammed Farid and ending with Gamal Abdel-Nasser, two novels and his autobiography in two parts.

In addition, he wrote essays in Al-Taliaa(The Vanguard) monthly magazine, being its managing editor in the sixties and the early seventies, and in Al-Akhbar newspaper, in which he has worked for a long time, and Al-Ahaly newspaper, the Nationalist Progressive Unionist Partys organ.

What's surprising is the volume of his work despite his spending fifteen years behind bars. According to his autobiography, he was imprisoned for the first time in his life when he was fifteen years old, wearing schoolboy shorts. He was the youngest political prisoner ahead of the 1946 student and workers uprising.

Following his release from detention he didn't stop participating in demonstrations and distributing pamphlets. Then he was detained once again during the Cairo Fire in January 1952. His family paid EGP 500 as a bribe bribe to the chief of the Royal Diwan in order to secure his release and allow him to complete his university studies.

He was detained several times during the royal and republican eras and he wasnt able to pursue his universitys studies in the Faculty of Law, but he earned a PhD in history after his release from Al-Wahat Prison.

He devoted himself to writing, especially after President Sadat ordered the closure of Al-Taliaa.

As for the three different political platforms which Sadat launched in 1975, and which developed into political parties in time, El-Saeed was an early participant. He remained working within the ranks of the Tagammu Party until he was elected its secretary-general before finally retiring and holding an honorary post.

Regardless, whatever the differences with El-Saeed due to his strong links with the regime, according to his opponents, and his compliance with the restrictions imposed by the security bodies on the political parties, the demise of El-Saeed means the loss of a main player in the Egyptian political movement for over six decades.

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Approximately 12 years ago, I hired my first physician in recovery. He had temporarily lost his license following a bout with alcohol. After a stint in a rehabilitation clinic, he was ultimately reinstated. My journey to hire this physician was arduous at best. During the interviewing process, I narrowed the field down to two candidates: one with a past and one without. I wrestled with the in recovery situation and made it a concern of great magnitude. I became so focused on how this would look for my group, as well as the bind I would personally be in if he relapsed. I was so conflicted. My gut told me to hire this physician with the checkered past. Removing that component from the equation, I noted he really clicked with my organization. Inquiries revealed that the patients and staff at his previous hospital adored him and were sad that he was no longer able to work at their facility.

After many sleepless nights, I caved into my concerns. I did not hire him. I could not do it. I cowardly worried what others would think. What a mistake! I hired the other candidate who I did not like. He looked very good on paper, and I had convinced myself that his hiring would cause fewer waves in my organization. It did not take long to realize that this new physician was a terrible fit. I cut him loose and immediately called the recovering physician. I explained why I did not hire him in the first place. When we met again, he looked me squarely in the eye and said, I will never let you down. I hired him on the spot, and he works in my group to this day. Unequivocally, this physician does a wonderful job. I have no regrets!

That experience convinced me to give a break to other doctors in the recovery program, which now includes two orthopedic surgeons, one Physical Medicine doctor and a very well published anesthesiologist. All of these doctors have been well received equally by patients and staff. They are practicing outstanding medicine and are paid no less than my other physicians. Giving these talented doctors a second chance was the right thing to do. We have all made mistakes  some more serious than others  but for there but for the grace of God.

What most people do not realize is that these doctors in recovery are randomly tested for drugs and alcohol on a monthly basis. This is mandated by the physician recovery system in our state. What other medical group can say with certainty that a subset of their doctors is absolutely not using drugs or alcohol?

Upon speaking with a large number of recovering physicians, I discovered that their largest impediment in becoming gainfully employed is staring back at them in the mirror. They are their own worst enemies. They have lost a great deal of confidence and self-esteem. Many feel like no one would want us. These once vibrant, dedicated and self- assured professionals often become depressed and insecure. This is understandable  they have been through hell and back and need someone to say, Its going to be OK. They really think everyone is talking behind their backs and many times they do not want to leave their homes.

What I tell the docs is this  you are not that important, and none of us are talking about you. We have our own lives/families to deal with. This always gets a chuckle from the docs and helps them see the bigger picture: other people are probably giving little to no thought about what they have been through.

I have helped at least ten other doctors find jobs, including an OB/GYN who was working at Starbucks when he called. One of my greatest joys in medicine occurred when I got a call from a young neurosurgery resident who lost his position after the first year because of a DWI. He was teaching a Stanley Kaplan course and was considering giving up. Instead, he made a life changing call. Through what I feel was divine intervention, I was directed to a neurosurgery program that was looking for a PGY1. I immediately called this young man, and he got on the first flight out. He was hired immediately and is now a practicing neurosurgeon.

I am thoroughly convinced that this appreciative doctor will play it forward for the rest of his life.

Stephen F. Chambers is an internal medicine physician.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Kilkenny has hosted an international English language trade mission from China, Russian, Japan, Korea, Turkey, Mexico, Ukraine and Croatia.

The initiative was designed to help increase the number of students from these countries that study English in Ireland each year.

According to the organisers Marketing English in Ireland (MEI), the association that represents 66 regulated language schools and colleges nationwide, Ireland is an increasingly popular destination.

Students come from countries such as China, Russia, Japan, Korea, Turkey, Mexico, Ukraine and Croatia.

In addition to the facilities of MEI members schools, a large number of secondary schools are used over the summer period to facilitate the large numbers of international students coming to Ireland.

According to David OGrady, chief executive of Marketing English in Ireland (MEI), said: The largest numbers of students that study English in Ireland every year come from Italy and Spain, however there has been really strong growth in the new and emerging markets including China, Russian, Japan, Korea, Turkey, Mexico, Ukraine and Croatia.

It was for this reason that 40 international education agents from these countries were brought to Kilkenny and other locations throughout Ireland to meet with a selection of MEI schools and colleges.

Arising from the success of the trade mission, it is anticipated that strong students numbers will continue to Kilkenny.
Editor's Note: Kitco readers, have your say! Check out our newest feature - KITCO CHAT! - where you can share your comments and ask questions directly to us.

Market participants will have their ears finely tuned today listening for any new information coming from comments made during the Federal Reserves annual symposium held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Tomorrows activity will be of vital importance as both Janet Yellen as well as Mario Draghi will speak directly to members present at the symposium. It is an unusual occurrence for the heads of the ECB (European Central Bank) and the Federal Reserves chairperson to speak from the same podium on the same day.

In anticipation of these speeches, markets remain muted but under pressure. The U.S. dollar has traded quietly, with a fractional gain of +0.16%, currently trading at 9322. U.S. equities and gold have all closed modestly lower on the day.

Gold futures are currently trading at $1291.10, as of 3:10 EDT, for a net loss of $3.60 on the day.

Another potential economic storm is brewing as we get closer to day zero, when the government must either raise the debt ceiling or effectively stop paying its bills, which means shutting down.

With a potential government shutdown looming overhead, market participants have become increasingly concerned about a stalemate over the debt ceiling and the U.S budget. Politicians continue to have deep divisions when it comes to the United States budget, and the clock continues to tick. Concerns that President Trump is adamant about adding funding for the proposed Mexican border wall to the budget has certainly heightened the already existing anxiety.

Gold Outperforms Stocks YTD

For the first time since 2011, gold is outperforming U.S. equities year to date. With a robust gain of approximately 12%, gold is showing a greater return than U.S. equities. Gold, which began the year trading at $1120 per ounce, is now within striking distance of $1300.

This years gains in gold have been largely predicated upon a weakening dollar, which has declined roughly 10% this year vis-a-vis the U.S Dollar Index. Add to that various hotspots creating geopolitical turmoil or chaos, and you have the necessary ingredients for stronger safe haven pricing, which of course, gold is a major recipient of.

Although the outcome of the various events we have spoken about in todays report is uncertain, one distinct possibility is that the level of volatility and price swings within multiple markets could certainly ramp up considerably.

For those who would like a deeper analysis, simply use this link.

Wishing you as always, good trading,
SHANGHAI, Aug 24 (Reuters) - China's Ministry of Finance auctioned 80 billion yuan ($12.02 billion) of three-month deposits at an average yield of 4.51 percent on Thursday, traders said.

That was slightly higher than the yield of 4.46 percent in the previous three-month auction.

The sale, like previous auctions, is part of the ministry's cash-management programme. Banks bid for the right to take the deposits. ($1 = 6.6545 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by the Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Sunil Nair)
(Recasts with peso reversing losses)

MEXICO CITY, Aug 23 (Reuters) - The Mexican peso shook off early losses on Wednesday as the market doubted U.S. President Donald Trump would make good on threats to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

At a campaign-style rally in Arizona late on Tuesday, Trump in a speech that played to his conservative base of support warned he might terminate the NAFTA pact with Mexico and Canada if three-way talks failed to bridge deep differences.

Top officials in both Mexico and Canada dismissed Trump's threat as a negotiating tactic. The Mexican peso depreciated 1 percent early in the session, but it retraced those losses to trade near flat.

"The irrational comments of (Trump) again raised doubts about the stability of his administration, which has been losing credibility in the face of financial markets," said Gabriela Siller, analyst at Banco BASE.

Mexico's peso has been the best performing currency this year, up more than 17 percent, as it rocketed back from a record low in January on bets Trump will not scrap NAFTA.

The first round of trade talks ended on Sunday with little sign of any breakthrough coming. Brazil's benchmark Bovespa stock index rose about 0.6 percent to close at its highest since January 2011 as the government announced a raft of privatizations. The Brazilian real strengthened more than 1 percent.

A government council approved a massive sale of state assets including stakes in some of Brazil's busiest airports as well as oil exploration, highway and power dam licensing rights, as President Michel Temer seeks to reduce state involvement in the economy and cut a widening budget gap. Still, shares of Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA fell 11 percent as traders booked profits from a 50 percent jump on Tuesday. A government proposal to privatize Eletrobras, as the power utility is known, fueled hopes of lower debts and higher efficiency at the firm. Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 20:34 GMT: Stock indexes Latest Daily YTD pct

pct change

change MSCI Emerging Markets 1,075.60 +0.29 +24.74 MSCI LatAm 2,859.69 +0.10 +22.18 Brazil Bovespa 70,477.63 +0.67 +17.02 Mexico S&P/BVM IPC 51,280.17 -0.10 +12.35 Chile IPSA 5,127.93 +0.26 +23.52 Chile IGPA 25,613.97 +0.19 +23.54 Argentina MerVal 23,256.86 +1.56 +37.47 Colombia IGBC 10,974.98 +0.15 +8.36 Venezuela IBC 198,170.53 +0.07 +525.04

Currencies daily % YTD %

change change

Latest Brazil real 3.1411 1.019 +3.44 Mexico peso 17.665 0.01 +17.43 Chile peso 640.180 +0.09 +4.77 Colombia peso 2,980.000 +0.13 +0.72 Peru sol 3.237 +0.03 +5.47 Argentina peso (interbank) 17.220 -0.03 -7.81 Argentina peso (parallel) 18.250 +0.38 -7.84 (Reporting by Michael O'Boyle;Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
Editor's Note: Kitco readers, have your say! Check out our newest feature - KITCO CHAT! - where you can share your comments and ask questions directly to us.

(Kitco News) - Once a skeptic of the cryptocurrencies, billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban seems to have given in to the hype just two months after saying that bitcoin was in a bubble.

Courtesy of Flickr/TechCrunch

The outspoken Dallas Mavericks owner is investing in 1confirmation, a crypto venture capital fund founded by Runa Capitals Nick Tomaino, according to Forbes.

Aiming to raise $20 million to invest in blockchain-based companies, the fund plans to invest up to $500,000 in early stage companies before their initial coin offering (ICO). The fund will also assist in the development of their product in exchange for a potential discounted token price once the startup is ready to issue an ICO.

Early in June, Cuban took to Twitter to share his take on the rallying digital currency, when it was trading around $2,800. Since then bitcoin has rallied, hitting an all-time high above $4,000 in August.

I think its in a bubble. I just dont know when or how much it corrects. When everyone is bragging about how easy they are making $=bubble, he wrote to some 7 million followers, many of whom challenged him on his rhetoric.

I think it's in a bubble. I just don't know when or how much it corrects. When everyone is bragging about how easy they are making $=bubble https://t.co/hTrV5DeWNd  Mark Cuban (@mcuban) June 6, 2017

One such follower was Tomaino, who directed Cuban to an article he had published online featuring the beneficial characteristics of bitcoin, to which Cuban responded you missed the most important characteristic. Ubiquitous acceptance.

You missed the most important characteristic. Ubiquitous acceptance.  Mark Cuban (@mcuban) June 7, 2017

More than two months later, it seems the former Coinbase product manager made an impact on Cuban, landing his investment.

I think Nick is smart and understands the space, Cuban told Forbes. [1confirmation] was one of several unique investments that will provide me a chance to learn more.

This is not Cubans first investment in the cryptocurrency space. Holding a stake in an online eSports betting site, Unikrn, he plans to invest in tokens sold by the site. He is also looking to invest in a third crypto-related project, telling CNBC on Tuesday that Its an interesting space that I [want] to get involved with and learn more.
SAO PAULO, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Gerdau SA, a Brazilian steelmaker, has appointed Gustavo Werneck da Cunha as the company's new chief executive officer effective from Jan. 1, 2018, according to a securities filing on Thursday. It also said that from that date members of the family which owns the company will relinquish management duties, and will act exclusively as board members, referring to CEO Andre Bier Gerdau Johannpeter, and Executive Vice-Presidents Claudio Johannpeter and Guilherme Chagas Gerdau Johannpeter.

(Reporting by Ana Mano)

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.
SARAJEVO, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Croatia's government said on Thursday it would hire an adviser on a possible transaction to buy back a 49 percent stake in oil group INA held by Hungarian energy firm MOL .

Croatia, which holds 45 percent of INA, has been at odds with MOL for years about management rights and investment policy at the Croatian oil firm. In December, it said it had approached MOL about a buyout. An adviser, which would be selected by the energy and finance ministries, would help the government in a deal, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic told the cabinet session.

He said a panel in charge of negotiations with MOL had outlined criteria to purchase the stake, and an adviser would assess INA's value and review possible strategic partners.

The government and MOL have been unable to settle differences to now. Zagreb wants more influence in decision-making at INA, while MOL wants to keep its management rights. INA's market capitalisation now amounts to 32.4 billion Croatian kuna ($5.16 billion). But analysts have questioned the relevance of the figures, given the free float is small and said it remains unclear what price MOL would demand from Croatia.

The government has floated a proposal to sell 25 percent of state power board HEP in an initial public offering (IPO) to help to fund an INA buyout. Analysts have said this might not raise enough money. ($1 = 6.2794 kuna)

(Reporting by Maja Zuvela; Editing by Edmund Blair)
* Rates for ships ex-Middle East are at near 3-mth high

* Increased inter-regional trade lifts demand for ships

* Mideast demand especially strong due to refinery outages

By Jessica Jaganathan and Seng Li Peng

SINGAPORE, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Rates for tankers carrying refined fuels like gasoline and diesel have soared this month as trade activity picked up and caused a supply crunch in ships, several shipbrokers and traders said.

The high rates indicate strong consumer fuel demand due to the persistently low crude oil prices that have resulted from years of oversupply, refiners said. "Our order books are pretty good. Whether it's gasoline for cars or diesel for industry, we're receiving calls to ship more fuel," said one shipper based in Singapore.

Rates for medium-range (MR) tankers carrying about 30,000 tonnes of oil products like gasoline, diesel or jet fuel, plying the benchmark Middle East to Japan route rose to around 155 points on the Worldscale rate, up 5 points from a week ago, said Rachel Yew, an analyst at OFE Insights.

Thomson Reuters Eikon data shows that rates for bigger tankers, around 75,000 tonnes, from the Gulf to Japan have also soared, jumping from 88 Worldscale points in June to 120 points now, close to half-year highs.

U.S. rates to Amsterdam/Rotterdam/Antwerp (ARA) for ships over 38,000 tonnes have risen from 67 points in early August to over 120 points.

Regional rates for shipping within the Gulf of Mexico have also soared , pushed up by tropical storm Harvey, currently heading for the U.S. Gulf coast. .

Fuel demand has been strong across the globe, particularly in the Middle East, where refinery outages and peak summer demand are causing a spike in diesel imports. East Africa is also seeing strong demand growth. This has made it more expensive to lure tankers away from those routes, shippers and traders said, causing tightness in the tanker fleet and pushing up rates.

"It's like when it rains and Uber (taxi) prices go up in one location," a Singapore-based shipbroker said.

"It goes up for everybody looking for a ride, and it doesn't matter where you are," the broker said.

Rising Chinese fuel exports and higher jet fuel shipments from Asia to Europe are also pushing up demand for ships. One of few exceptions on fuel demand is the United States, where gasoline consumption during the summer driving season has been lower than expected.

"U.S. gasoline demand remains sluggish," said investment bank Jefferies in its latest weekly note.

That has resulted in a surge in U.S. fuel exports to Europe and Latin America, however, pushing up Atlantic tanker rates, said Enrico Paglia of Italian ship brokerage Banchero Costa.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ GRAPHIC: Clean tanker rates ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Seng Li Peng and Jessica Jaganathan; Editing by Henning Gloystein and Tom Hogue)
CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) - A disgruntled employee armed with a handgun was holding hostages at a restaurant in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, on Thursday and at least one person was shot and taken to the hospital, police said.

Witnesses said the shooter brandished the pistol and shouted as he entered the Virginia's On King eatery, in the heart of the city's commercial district, while about 15 to 20 people were having lunch. Many of the customers fled.

One shooting victim was found at the scene and transported to an area hospital, Charleston Police spokesman Charles Francis told reporters at a news conference.

Francis said the gunman was holding "a couple of hostages."

Police helicopters buzzed overhead and heavily armed police SWAT team members blocked off several blocks of King Street. People were told to avoid the area.

The shooting was "not an act of terrorism," Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg said at the news conference.

"This is not a hate crime. It's a disgruntled employee," Tecklenburg said. "We have our expert police negotiators attempting to negotiate with the shooter. Hopefully there will be no more shots fired today."

Asked whether the gunman had recently been dismissed from his job, Francis and the mayor declined to comment.

Virginia's On King is an upscale restaurant serving what it describes as traditional kitchen comforts with familiar Southern dishes.

The local Post and Courier newspaper quoted a couple, Tom and Patsy Plant, who said they were eating lunch with their daughter Laura when the man walked in from the kitchen and said, "There's a new boss in town."

The Plants, who said they fled with other customers through a back door, described the suspect as a black man in his late 50s. Patsy Plant told the paper he looked like "an ordinary grandpa, but he had a crazy look. It was very crazy."

The restaurant is just a block and a half from the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, where on June 17, 2015, a white supremacist gunman killed nine members of a Bible study group in what officials called a racially motivated hate crime.

The church shooter, Dylann Roof, has already been sentenced to death in federal court for the massacre. He pleaded guilty in April to separate state murder charges.
By Christopher Spink

LONDON, Aug 24 (IFR) - Norkse Skog's protracted debt restructuring looks set to be extended even further with the paper producer saying the planned public launch of the revised proposals at Thursday's extraordinary general meeting would no longer take place after new directors joined the board yesterday.

Since the EGM was called on August 3 local Norwegian investors have built up equity stakes in the company. GSO and Cyrus, who had received their equity from a previous restructuring, have reduced their stakes in recent months, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Ole Anders Engebretsen and Bertel Steen declared stakes of 7.6% and 7% this month, for instance. And yesterday the board said it would recommend that Christen Sveaas, now the largest shareholder through his vehicle Kistefos, became the new chairman.

Sveaas will replace current chair Henrik Christensen. Nils Hoff, Joanne Owen and Mimi Berdal will also step down in favour of Ragnhild Marta Wiborg, Jon-Aksel Torgersen and Annette Beate Waknitz Malm Justad. Only Eilif Due would remain as a director under the plans.

The board changes and termination of the debt exchange are the latest instalments in the Norske Skog saga. The highly leveraged Norwegian company has been battling structural decline in the newsprint industry and various debt exchanges attempted since 2015 have failed to return it to financial health.

"The election committee has in addition considered the recent changes in the shareholder structure of the company, and on the views received from the company's largest shareholder groups," the company said yesterday.

However, the motivation of the new shareholder group is unclear. The current restructuring proposals, now shelved, anticipate that creditors will see some of their debts converted into equity, which would dilute existing shareholders.

Ahead of the EGM Norske Skog said this morning that the existing recapitalisation plans would be postponed "in order to provide the new board with an opportunity to review the recapitalisation transaction and allow for discussions with relevant stakeholders prior to a public launch."

However, the company said work would continue on finalising the creditors' proposed provision of 16m short term liquidity. This is backed by holders of the 290m 2019 senior secured bonds and a 100m Norwegian securitisation facility due 2020.

"The work with finalising the documentation for this liquidity facility is being progressed in an expedite manner," it said.

"Whilst both the company and these holders remain committed to further progress the transaction, we consider it natural that a new board is given an opportunity to review the recapitalisation transaction prior to a launch," said Lars Sperre, the company's CEO.

The company's original restructuring plan and accompanying tender offers being run by Goldman Sachs, outlined on June 2 and extended multiple times, are now terminated. Creditors had since set out an alternative proposal as well as short term standstill arrangements. The latter are also due to expire today.

It is unclear if that means the company would be forced to file for court protection. So far it is making use of 30-day grace periods as coupons and interest payments come due.

Norske Skog shares have risen 5% to NKr1.04 this morning. The EGM takes place at 1pm CET.

(Reporting by Christopher Spink, Editing by Helene Durand, Julian Baker)
LAGOS, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Nigeria's GT Bank traded the largest volume on the Lagos bourse on Thursday in deals worth 2.89 billion naira ($9.2 million) as foreign funds exchanged shares in off-market deals following strong half-year results, traders said.

Guaranty Trust Bank traded 71 million units in mostly cross-deals at an average price of 40.80 naira between some offshore funds and local investors, traders said.

A broker said foreign funds viewed the bank favourably as one of the most profitable and some were taking positions in it.

Last week the top tier lender posted an 18 percent rise in half-year pretax profit to 101.10 billion naira, the highest profit level so far announced by any lender in the West African country. Shares in GT Bank rose 0.25 percent to close at 40.60 naira, valuing the lender at 1.19 trillion naira. The stock is up 65.2 percent so far this year, adding to 36 percent gains last year.

The equity market in Africa's biggest economy, which recorded lacklustre performance earlier this year, has benefited from dollar inflows into the currency market after the central bank in April liberalised the market for foreign investors.

That singular reform has pushed the index up 38 percent so far. Though stocks shed 1.3 percent on Thursday on profit taking, particularly in Nigeria's biggest listed company Dangote Cement .

Traders also said investors were selling off some lenders which had been overbought prior to the release of half-year earnings to book profits.

Top decliners were fuel retailers Conoil , MRS and 11 Plc, formerly known as Mobil Oil each down more than 4.9 percent.

($1 = 314 naira)

(Reporting by Oludare Mayowa; Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha, editing by David Evans)
By Chijioke Ohuocha

LAGOS, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Nigeria's central bank said on Thursday it is setting up two financial instruments to provide liquidity support to its non-interest paying lenders.

It is a push by Nigeria, home to the largest Muslim population in sub-Saharan Africa, to establish itself as the African hub for Islamic finance, which follows religious principles such as bans on interest and gambling.

The central bank has been working to set regulatory ground rules for such things as Islamic bonds (sukuk) and insurance (takaful) to try to emulate the success of the industry in Malaysia.

Nigeria's banking industry is dominated by lenders offering conventional products.

Islamic banking is currently offered by the Islamic window of Sterling Bank , Stanbic IBTC , a unit of South Africa's Standard Bank , and Jaiz Bank , a full-fledged Islamic lender which has operated since 2012.

But Nigeria wants to increase the sector.

"In a bid to aid liquidity management and deepen the financial system, the central bank hereby introduces two new financial instruments ... for access by non-interest financial institutions," the central bank said in a circular.

Nigeria is gradually opening up to Islamic finance to bring non-interest banking to over 80 million Muslims and develop one of Africa's growing consumer and corporate banking sectors.

In October the regulator granted liquidity status at its discount window for banks' investment in Islamic bonds issued by national governments, and for banks' liquidity ratios. Among other conditions, it said non-interest lenders must have a liquidity problem to be able to access the new window -- which will offer liquidity at zero interest, although lenders will be required to post collateral.

If a lender is unable to repay the funds, the central bank will discount the collateral at maturity, the regulator said in the circular.

Islamic banking products, which are compliant with Islamic sharia law, do not charge interest on financing. Profits or losses are instead shared with the borrower, meaning they discourage unnecessary speculation and spread risk.

Nigeria launched a 100 billion naira ($318 million) debut sovereign sukuk in the local market in June to help develop alternative funding sources for government and to establish a benchmark curve for corporates to follow. ($1 = 314.00 naira)

(Reporting by Chijioke Ohuocha Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
By Eliana Raszewski

BUENOS AIRES, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Latin America will likely grow a modest 1 percent or less as a region this year as governments struggle to pass reforms after years of populism and economic mismanagement, a managing director of Standard & Poor's said on Thursday.

That is well below the 2.5 percent growth rate projected for the United States and 6 percent in Asia, said Roberto Sifon Arevalo, who follows sovereign and international public finance ratings in Latin America for the credit rating agency.

"Many countries, especially the big ones in the region, are coming out of high commodity prices which allowed them to do a lot of populism, with a lot of spending and little control and this has a cost," he said in an in an interview.

"The region is quite disappointing," he said.

Sifon Arevalo praised center-right Argentine President Mauricio Macri's reform efforts since taking office in late 2015 but said he would like to see the fiscal deficit lowered faster in the region's third largest economy.

"The level of debt keeps growing," he said.

In Brazil, the region's largest economy, Sifon Arevalo said the agency was waiting to see if planned reforms came to fruition. S&P last week held Brazil's rating at "BB" while lowering its outlook to negative.

In Colombia, which passed a tax reform late last year, Sifon Arevalo said S&P wanted to see new fiscal numbers efore deciding whether to change its rating. S&P has a "relatively low growth estimate" for Peru due to fallout from a corruption scandal involving Brazilian builder Odebrecht, which has slowed public works projects.

While Peru has an investment grade rating of BBB+, Sifon Arevalo said "two years ago it was much more comfortable at this rating level than it is now."

(Reporting by Eliana Raszewski; Writing by Caroline Stauffer; Editing by Tom Brown)
HANOI, August 24 (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 0453 GMT.

August 24 USD/VND mid-point 22,447 USD/VND interbank 22,738/22,739 USD/VND unofficial 22,730/22,750 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 36.23/36.45

Interbank offered rates Overnight 0.5-1.3

1 week 0.7-1.4

1 month 1.4-2.0

3 months 3.0-3.7

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)
COLOMBO, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka will not go ahead with a proposed tax on profits from share trading that was planned as part of a major tax reform bill, a top government official said, after the move dented investor sentiment and drove down the main share index.

The island nation's principal share index has shed 4.1 percent since July 27 through Wednesday and has fallen in 16 out of the past 18 sessions due also over fears about the proposed tax.

"There will be no change on the taxes levied in stock trading. The share transaction levy will remain as the same," Junior Finance Minister Eran Wickramaratne told reporters in Colombo on Thursday.

Currently, trading of shares at the Colombo Stock Exchange is subject only to a transaction levy of 1.12 percent and there is no tax on the profit made.

"This news will give back energy to the market," said Hussain Gani, deputy CEO at Softlogic Stockbrokers. "Uncertainty that has hindered the sentiment will get cleared and we will see much better foreign, local, and high networth investor participation."

Sri Lankan stocks were 0.1 percent firmer at 6,389.63 as of 0849 GMT.

The new tax reform bill, which will be presented in parliament on Friday, was expected to impose a 28 percent tax on stock trading, defined under the bill as shares which will be sold within a short period, market analysts said earlier.

The Inland Revenue Bill will be presented with amendments after the country's top court ruled that the major tax reform cannot be passed into law in its current form. The bill was proposed in May to meet conditions set by the International Monetary Fund for a $1.5 billion loan it approved last year.

The bill is expected to support fiscal consolidation, make the tax system more efficient and equitable, and generate resources for social and development programs, the IMF said earlier.

(Reporting by Shihar Aneez; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)
STOCKHOLM, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Sweden's central bank bought 1.125 billion Swedish crowns of government bonds in a reverse auction as part of its quantitative easing programme, it said on Thursday. It bought 500 million crowns of 2019 bonds at an average yield of -0.673 percent and 625 million of 2025 bonds at 0.402 percent. Investors offered to sell the Riksbank 2.65 billion crowns and 2.55 billion crowns in the two bonds respectively.

(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.


PRAGUE, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Following are results of Thursday's auction of 4-week Czech Treasury bills compared with the previous sale of bills with the same maturity. AUCTION DATE 24/08/17 01/06/17 YIELD (PCT) -0.250 -0.250 SOLD IN AUCTION (BLN CZK) 34.824 1.196 incl.FINMIN RETAINED (BLN) 0.000 0.000 INVESTOR DEMAND (BLN) 37.324 2.256 TOTAL VOLUME (BLN) 0.00-5.00 0.00-500 AUCTION OFFER (BLN) 0.00-5.00 0.00-500 CORRESPONDING PRIBOR 0.36 0.20 KEY POLICY RATE (PCT) 0.25 0.05

(Reporting by Petra Vodstrcilova; Editing by Robert Muller)

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.
Editor's Note: Kitco readers, have your say! Check out our newest feature  KITCO CHAT!  where you can share your comments and ask questions directly to us.

(Kitco News) - The debt ceiling debate could be good for gold, one analyst says, as the issue becomes a heated topic with U.S. President Donald Trump taking to Twitter Thursday to call the whole thing a mess.

I requested that Mitch M & Paul R tie the Debt Ceiling legislation into the popular V.A. Bill (which just passed) for easy approval, tweeted Trump, referencing Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan. Could have been so easy-now a mess!

I requested that Mitch M & Paul R tie the Debt Ceiling legislation into the popular V.A. Bill (which just passed) for easy approval. They...  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2017

...didn't do it so now we have a big deal with Dems holding them up (as usual) on Debt Ceiling approval. Could have been so easy-now a mess!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2017

The concerns over the debt ceiling are great indeed. The U.S. already has about $20 trillion of debt and will need to raise the ceiling once again in order to continue paying its bills.

In a report published on Thursday, the Bipartisan Policy Center said that the U.S. government will run out of money as soon as October 2, if Washington fails to raise the debt cap.

The biggest fear is a government shutdown, which is why various political figures have been calling on lawmakers this summer to find a solution and fast.

Back in July, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin asked lawmakers to raise the debt ceiling by September 29.

House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi called on Republican leaders to figure out a plan to avoid a default.

With the White House, House and Senate under one party control, the American people expect and deserve a plan from Republicans to avert a catastrophic default and ensure the full faith and credit of the United States, said Pelosi on Thursday.

Even Fitch Ratings came out this week saying that the countrys AAA credit rating may be at risk if U.S. officials fail to raise the debt ceiling in a timely manner.

What Does That Mean For Gold?

According to Jonathan Butler, commodities analyst for Mitsubishi, the debt ceiling issue will be one of the central drivers for the yellow metal this fall.

Gold prices continue to hover just below their key psychological $1,300 level, last trading 0.21% lower on the day at $1,292 an ounce.

As Congress went away on summer recess without agreeing on extension of the debt ceiling, it is going to be very much a case of brinksmanship, as Congress and White House seek to bash out a deal that will involve the debt ceiling being suspended or extended for a further period, Butler told Kitco News. [If Washington fails] then the U.S. is very much in danger of breaching that debt ceiling fairly soon.

The debt ceiling debate will be a supporting factor for gold in the short-term just as it was in 2011, Butler added. The risk of an accidental default would have huge repercussions and be very positive for the safe-haven metal.

However, realistically, Butler believes that a default is unlikely and a political compromise will be reached.

I don't expect we are likely to see a major existential crisis that we saw back in 2008, but the going could get quite tough around the debt ceiling. We know from recent history, notable in 2011, that the macro uncertainty and domestic political uncertainty in the U.S. can make for a strong gold price.

In fact, Butler admitted to being surprised that the market has not taken more heat in light of the political impasse that has developed regarding the debt ceiling.

Not just the precious markets, but also currencies and others. We will be hearing a lot more about the debt ceiling in the very near future as Congress returns from its recess, he said.
SHANGHAI, Aug 24 (Reuters) - A unit of China's largest gold producer is the latest state-owned enterprise to announce mixed-ownership reforms to raise $338 million from investors including Chinese e-commerce platform JD.com , the official Xinhua news agency said.

China National Gold Group Gold Jewellery Co, which supplies precious metal items to shops, unveiled the plan on Thursday to raise 2.25 billion yuan ($337.86 million) by offloading a 41 percent stake to investors, Xinhua said, citing the company.

Seven firms including JD, Citic Securities and Industrial Bank will take a 24.52 percent stake, while management, staff and other investors will also be allowed shares in the firm, whose parent is the China National Gold Group Corp .

China has pledged to allow private capital to invest in government-run enterprises as part of a "mixed ownership" reform programme aimed at rejuvenating the country's bloated and inefficient state sector.

Telecoms group China Unicom last week announced a $11.7 billion ownership reform plan which was later mired in confusion about fundraising details. ($1 = 6.6596 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Brenda Goh; Additional Reporting by Cate Cadell in BEIJING; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
* Sanctions include $354,000 fine

* Asfari asks Consob to revoke decision

(Adds comments, details, updates shares)

By Sanjeeban Sarkar

Aug 24 (Reuters) - Italy's markets watchdog has imposed sanctions on Petrofac Ltd CEO Ayman Asfari, including a 300,000 euro ($354,000) fine, in relation to dealing in shares of an Italian company, Petrofac said on Thursday.

The investigation by the Italian National Commission for Companies and the Stock Exchange (Consob) was in relation to a transaction made in 2012 involving the shares of a listed Italian company, Asfari said in a statement.

"The premise of Consob's case was that I met with an Italian executive who provided inside information. I can show irrefutable evidence that such a meeting never took place," he said.

Asfari said he did not receive a notification from Consob of the charges and therefore did not have the chance to defend himself.

"It now appears there had been an unsuccessful attempt to notify me of the investigation back in mid 2016. I never received a notification from Consob," he said.

Petrofac's Chairman Rijnhard van Tets said the board fully supported Asfari in his defence against the decision, and the steps being taken by Asfari to prove his stand.

Oilfield services company Petrofac said Asfari had asked Consob to revoke its decision as he was not given the opportunity to defend himself, and that he would challenge the decision if it was not revoked.

A Consob spokesman declined to comment about the issue. A Petrofac spokesman declined to comment beyond its statement.

Petrofac said Asfari had informed the company he believed the decision to be wholly without merit, and was determined to contest the decision and the process by which it was conducted, to the fullest possible extent.

The Consob sanctions include a 12-month disqualification from taking up a management role with any Italian-listed company and an order confiscation property with a value of 385,000 euros. Asfari has been questioned by Britain's Serious Fraud Office in connection with a global investigation into oil and gas services firm Unaoil. Petrofac's shares were down 3.5 percent at 1514 GMT. ($1 = 0.8480 euros)

(Reporting by Sanjeeban Sarkar in Bengaluru. Editing by Jane Merriman and David Evans)
A guest post by David Garrett:

Last weekend we had a celebration for my daughters 16th birthday. I say we, but it was actually one of those celebrations  a pig on a spit, mountains of delicious food, lots of singing  which my Tongan rellies organize so well. I was pretty well superfluous, other than as a gofor and guest. It was a wonderful occasion, with several of the young girls doing traditional Tongan dances, which are significantly different from those in other Pacific countries, and everyone singing in those wonderful Tongan harmonies.

My children have dozens of cousins  so many I cant keep up, and dont even bother trying to remember names, and who belongs to whom. Whoever their parents are there is one characteristic they all share: most of them are fluent in Tongan, and those who arent can understand it, and speak it well enough to get by. When I remarked to one of Aunties that this was wonderful, and asked how they all did it, she looked puzzled, gave me a playful poke  which nearly knocked me over  and said Its easy Tevita; we just talk to them in Tongan all the time and pretend we dont understand if they answer in English.

I tried hard to have my two children also be brought up bi-lingual, but for whatever reason it didnt work. Perhaps it was my presence  I dont understand the language, so of necessity my wife had to speak to me in English, and I spoke to the children in English. They are significantly poorer for the lack, and disadvantaged and somewhat embarrassed because of it, at the kind of event we had last Saturday.

The bilingual second generation phenomenon is not unique to the Tongans of course  our local general store owners are Chinese, and their three children are fluent both in English and not one but TWO Chinese languages. The Cambodian family who own one of the bakeries in nearby Helensville (best Chelsea buns I have ever tasted) have two university educated children  both doing very well I am proudly informed  who are both fluent in English and their parents native language.

Why are things so very different for Maori, with the supposedly treasured te reo being spoken only by a tiny percentage of the Maori population, most of them  I suspect  university educated professionals? Why are there incessant demands for funding and government action of various kinds to preserve the Maori language? Why did the Maori language effectively almost die out?

The answer given by  frequently white  university educated agitators is that it was beaten out of them due to the cruel honkey gummint. Incredibly, my daughter was told last year by her 23 year old teacher that Maori children were beaten for speaking their language as recently as the 1970s. I suppose for her, 1975 is as remote as 1840.

First some facts: It is undeniable that in the past  the far distant past, NOT in the 1970s  Maori children were strapped or caned for speaking Maori at school. Perhaps I should repeat that slightly differently, so as to forestall those who repeat this claim ad nauseum  YES, back in the early to mid 20th century, Maori children were required to speak only English when at school, and were punished using the methods of the day if they broke into Maori.

What is always missing from the now widely accepted heartbroken and outraged narrative is that the policy of enforcing the speaking of English only at school came from Maori themselves! Most particularly it originated from the guy on the back of the $50 note  the eminent Maori lawyer and Cabinet Minister Sir Apirana Ngata. (A lot more very non PC initiatives which would make todays pakeha fish hook wearers squirm came from Ngata, but I digress)

In the 1920s and 30s Ngata, as Minister for Native Affairs, was ranked third in the cabinet, and occasionally served as Deputy Prime Minister. He was responsible for the then native schools, and was firmly of the view that to succeed in the modern world, Maori needed to be fluent in English as well as Maori. Thus came the policy  harsh as it may seem to the soft inhabitants of the 21st century  to physically punish those who broke this cardinal rule: Maori at home, English at school.

As far as I am able to ascertain  and I look forward to any reliable evidence to the contrary  the policy of beating Maori kids for speaking their own language was gone by the late 1940s; it certainly did not continue into the 1960s as the callow young woman who taught my daughter last year told her class.

It is important to emphasize that certainly at the end of the war, the Maori language was alive and well, particularly in provincial and rural areas. Old documentary footage of post-war Maori Battalion functions shows those addressing the audience of their former comrades in te reo not English, and the speakers were in turn acknowledged in te reo. Clearly then, those who were being addressed  then still relatively young men  understood and spoke Maori.

For whatever reason the language died away within a generation or two, so that by the 1970s Maori fluency was confined to the old or very old, and to a very few university educated Maori like Moana Jackson and his whanau. So, heres the $64,000 question: WHY did it virtually die out, and why are taxpayers of all races  including my Chinese friends who run our local store  being asked to stump up to save this supposed treasure? And why is the loudest noise coming from Maori who are as white as me?

It is quite clear from my Tongan rellies that resourcing  aka government funding  has nothing to do with why all my daughters cousins at least understand their parents and grandparents language, and most are fluent in it. My older Tongan rellies are all from the bottom end of the socio-econmic spectrum; they are factory workers, kiwifruit orchard workers, and manual labourers.

But the next generation wont be: like the children of our Chinese store owners and the Cambodian bakers, the next generation  my daughters cousins  are either aiming to become skilled tradesmen or to follow some profession. But again I digress: this piece is about the fluency in their own language of our Pacific community, and other immigrants from further afield. In short, only the Maori seem to need a great deal of help with fostering a language which THEY allowed to be virtually lost; other ethnic groups manage just fine without any help from me.

I will be blunt (just for a change); if Maori value their language so much, it is up to them to save it. It is not the gummints fault or my fault that it became critically endangered. It is not up to me or to the gummint to save it. If they need any advice on how, I can direct them to my rellies in Manurewa.
Authorities in western Colorado say they found 25 pounds (11 kilograms) of meth inside a car driven by a 13-year-old.

The Mesa County Sheriff's Office says the boy along with his two older cousins, a 22-year-old man and his 19-year-old sister, were arrested after being pulled over Tuesday on eastbound Interstate 70 near Fruita, about 16 miles (26 kilometers) east of the Utah border. All three are from Los Angeles and face possible drug charges.

Sheriff's office spokeswoman Megan Terlecky says they were headed to Denver.

In addition to not having a driver's license, the 13-year-old is accused of failing to drive in a designated lane.
Watermelon Crawl names Best in Show winner, donates to Childrens Hospital







The organizers and beneficiary celebrated on Aug 18 the results of the citys first Watermelon Crawl event at THE TENNESSEAN Hotel. During the Watermelon Crawl, several downtown Knoxville businesses offered watermelon-focused food and cocktails and accepted donations for East Tennessee Childrens Hospital. From left: Maggie Kornahrens, event organizer and director of marketing for THE TENNESSEAN Personal Luxury Hotel; Callie Word, community development manager for East Tennessee Childrens Hospital; Ryan Sheley, operations manager for Maple Hall, which was winner of Best in Show for its Sheltons Reverie cocktail; and Dave Mason, account manager for Graphic Creations, which provided promotional support for the event.



KNOXVILLE  The organizers of Knoxvilles first Watermelon Crawl recognized the events Best in Show winner and made a donation to East Tennessee Childrens Hospital at a ceremony on Aug. 18 at THE TENNESSEAN Personal Luxury Hotel.



The Shelton's Reverie cocktail by the team at Maple Hall and The Parlor at Maple Hall was named Best in Show based on voting by Watermelon Crawl guests. Voting was done through donations to Childrens Hospital, with one dollar equaling one vote.



During the Watermelon Crawl on Aug. 1-6, a collection of downtown Knoxville restaurants and bars presented original watermelon-based creations, from cocktails to food to dessert. Guests who purchased the items could vote for their favorite creation through donations to East Tennessee Childrens Hospital, which totaled $352.



Were thrilled with the camaraderie and teamwork that the Watermelon Crawl created among downtown businesses, Maggie Kornahrens, event organizer and director of marketing for THE TENNESSEAN Personal Luxury Hotel, said. And we all love the extra benefit of supporting East Tennessee Childrens Hospital as we celebrate the sweetest part of summer. We already have ideas for an even bigger Watermelon Crawl in 2018.



Participating establishments included Babalu Tapas & Tacos, Cafe 4, Cruze Dairy Farm Pop-up Shop, Fairgrounds and Windows on the Park at Holiday Inn Worlds Fair Park; The Drawing Room at The Tennessean Personal Luxury Hotel; Juice Bar in Market Square; Knox Whiskey Works; Maple Hall and The Parlor at Maple Hall; and Oliver Royale.



Graphic Creations, 213 E. 4th Ave., provided graphic design and printing services in support of the event.



East Tennessee Childrens Hospital is not affiliated with or an organizer of this event. Published August 23, 2017
TBI agents seize more than 600 pounds of marijuana, cash, multiple firearms



KNOXVILLE  A joint investigation by Special Agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Union County Sheriffs Office, Maynardville Police Department, Knoxville Police Department, 4th Judicial District Drug Task Force, 8th Judicial District Attorneys Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration has resulted in four arrests and the seizure of a substantial amount of marijuana and firearms.



Gregory Corum

Julio Carmona Godinez

Abraham Cruz

Saul Sanchez Martinez Images courtesy of TBI

The 10-month long investigation focused on a drug trafficking operation that involved the distribution of large amounts of marijuana throughout Upper East Tennessee. On Tuesday evening, TBI Special Agents with the Drug Investigation Division, working alongside authorities from partner agencies, executed two search warrants at locations in Luttrell and Knoxville. A third location was searched in the Powder Springs area of Grainger County. As a result of those searches, Agents seized more than 600 pounds of marijuana, approximately $50,000 in cash, multiple firearms, and vehicles. Four men were arrested and booked into the Union County Jail. Their names and charges are as follows:



 Gregory Corum, DOB 10/23/58, Luttrell, TN  Possession of Marijuana for Resale Over 70 Pounds. $100,000 bond.

 Julio Carmona Godinez, DOB 2/29/79, Powder Springs, TN - Possession of Marijuana for Resale Over 70 Pounds. $250,000 bond.

 Abraham Andrade Cruz, DOB 6/20/91, Powder Springs, TN - Possession of Marijuana for Resale Over 70 Pounds. $250,000 bond.

 Saul Sanchez Martinez, DOB 9/8/79, Knoxville, TN  Sale and Delivery of Marijuana. $45,000 bond.



At this time, the investigation remains active and ongoing, with additional charges pending.






The Dark Tower



Roland Deschain (Idris Elba), the last Gunslinger, is locked in an eternal battle with Walter O'Dim (Matthew McConaughey), also known as the Man in Black. With the fate of worlds at stake, the Gunslinger must prevent the Man in Black from toppling the Dark Tower, the key that holds the universe together. Directed by Nikolaj Arcel.



V.I.P



Kim Kwang-il (Lee Jong-suk), son of a high-ranking North Korean official, is suspected of committing serial murders around the world. To stop the killer, South Korean police officer Chae Yi-do (Kim Myung-min) chases after Kwang-il, while North Korean secret service officer Park Jae-hyuk (Jang Dong-gun) protects him. Directed by Park Hoon-jung.







Annabelle: Creation



Former toymaker Sam Mullins and his wife Esther (Miranda Otto) are happy to welcome a nun and six orphaned girls into their California farmhouse. Terror soon strikes when one child sneaks into a forbidden room and finds a seemingly innocent doll that appears to have a life of its own. Directed by David Sandberg.







The Mimic



Hee-yeon (Yum Jung-ah), who recently moved to Jangsan, meets a young girl in the woods. She brings the girl to her house, but her husband (Park Hyuk-kwon) finds her odd as she mimics the voice of his daughter. Afterwards, the people in town go missing and different voices keep being heard. Directed by Huh Jung.







War for the Planet of the Apes



After losing many of his family and friends in the war against the humans, Caesar (Andy Serkis), the former leader of the evolved apes, prepares for revenge. Meanwhile, out of fear the apes might rule the humans in the future, the Colonel (Woody Harrelson) plans a merciless attack on the apes. Directed by Matt Reeves.
President Moon Jae-in looks pensive during a meeting with his senior secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae, Thursday. / Yonhap



Government warned of paradox of reform'

By Kim Jae-kyoung

Just 100 days after his inauguration, President Moon Jae-in and his aides may still feel euphoria with approval ratings hovering over 80 percent and strong public support for his policies.

Statistics might make them believe everything is on the right track but experts warn that South Korea faces a "paradox of reform" as Moon's policies are destined to constrain future economic growth.

Many of his new measures aimed at fixing ongoing problems, ironically, go against key values that ensure future economic success, namely competition, productivity and innovation.

Simply speaking, the new programs are short-sighted and based on yesterday's logic, and not designed to brace for the global trends that will shape the evolution of the economy over the coming decades.

In other words, Moon's policies could help produce more jobs and bolster the economy in the short term but in the long term they will be a heavy social burden and become a major stumbling block to Korea achieving sustainable growth.

"The government is counting on economic growth to pay for a substantial portion of Moon's new economic and social programs," Sohn Sung-won, a professor of economics at California State University, told The Korea Times.

Describing Moon's approach as "too optimistic," he forecast budget deficits to go up for the foreseeable future.

"It could hurt economic growth in the long run well after President Moon's term ends," he said. "A new approach to boost economic growth in the long run is needed."

This concern comes as Moon, since his inauguration, wasted no time in fulfilling his campaign promises aimed at redistributing wealth and supporting low-income families.

The problem is many of his policies, viewed as populist, require a huge amount of taxpayers' money but lack a detailed financing plan.

Among them are a job creation plan for the public sector, a nuclear-free energy policy with a promise not to raise electricity fees for five years, an increase in the basic pension for all senior citizens, and a sharp hike in the minimum wage.

The latest one is his promise to boost public health insurance coverage. Under Moon's plan, the increased coverage will cut individual medical expenses by 18 percent over five years and by 46 percent for low-income households.












By Park Hyong-ki





Kim Jo-won / Courtesy of BAI

Kim Jo-won, a veteran state auditor, may be appointed as the new governor of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).



A number of news outlets have reported since last week that Cheong Wa Dae has almost completed its ethics and personnel evaluation of Kim.



They added that President Moon Jae-in is highly likely to appoint Kim as the FSS chief next week.



After considering candidate options presented by the chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the President names his FSS chief.



Unlike the FSC chairman, the FSS chief does not have to go through a confirmation hearing as it is a quasi-sovereign agency. Both the FSC and the FSS are financial regulators, with the former being a regulatory policymaking body and the latter an enforcement agency.



"Cheong Wa Dae has not given us a heads up regarding the possibility of Kim's appointment," an FSS spokesman said.



However, the regulator and the financial industry are said to be shaken up by the news.



Kim has no financial background. He mostly spent his entire career at the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea (BAI) after passing the state exam in 1978.



He was the BAI secretary-general in 2006, after serving as former President Roh Moo-hyun's secretary for public discipline.



To this end, sources say Kim, as an "outsider," may be coming to assist the President and the FSC to reform and root out corruption.



The President has mentioned numerous times via interviews and books that to reform organizations, industries or markets, it sometimes needs an outsider who can bring and use a different perspective, in addition to social consensus.



He said in a book that this was one of the lessons he learned after the former Roh Moo-hyun administration failed to drive change at the prosecutors' office and the justice ministry, as well as the police agency.



Kim worked with the President during his election campaign. Moon has introduced financial policies aimed at boosting consumer protection and reducing household debt, along with strictly regulating and rooting out malpractices in the industry. This also includes getting rid of the industry's practices of appointing chief executives with close political ties to gain favors.



The new FSS chief is expected to work closely with FSS Chairman Choi Jong-ku and the Fair Trade Commission Chairman Kim Sang-jo as the Moon administration seeks to increase cooperation between the financial regulator and the antitrust agency.




By Jung Min-ho



China is trying to kill it; and North Korea isn't helping it. South Korea's tourism industry will likely see the biggest-ever deficit this year, the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) said Thursday.



The KTO estimated that the deficit will reach a record $15 billion (17 trillion won) and the total number of visitors will be around 12.5 million, down 27 percent from 2016, by the end of the year.



An increasing number of Koreans traveling overseas is also widening the deficit. The KTO believes the number will surpass 26.6 million, an 18.9 percent increase from last year.



"Since 2007, this will be the first year that the number of Koreans traveling abroad will be more than double that of foreign visitors here," KTO President Jung Chang-soo said at a meeting Wednesday. "While the gap in 2007 was 6.9 million, it is expected to be 14 million. The size of the deficit will also jump to $15 billion from $10.8 billion."



According to the KTO, the number of Chinese visitors decreased by 62.4 percent from March to July since China's government started economic retaliation against the deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery here, compared with the same period last year.



As North Korea and the United States have raised military tension on the peninsula over the past few weeks, an increasing number of Japanese are becoming reluctant to visit. In a survey by Fuji News Network, 92.1 percent of respondents said they feel insecure over North Korea's war threats, the KTO noted.



China and Japan are South Korea's biggest sources of tourists. Of 17.2 million foreigners visiting here last year, nearly half of them were Chinese (8 million), followed by Japanese (2.3 million).



This has put the KTO on edge. As part of an effort to diversify the country's tourism market, the KTO is mainly targeting three countries  Vietnam, Taiwan and Russia. It plans to hold more promotional events there in the coming months with Korean celebrities.



The KTO also expects many more tourists from Kazakhstan and Mongolia, where it opened offices this year.



Meanwhile, the KTO is pinning hopes on the PyeongChang Winter Games, which is scheduled to be held from Feb. 9 to 25. In the run-up to the Olympics, the KTO will beef up its promotions through more online marketing and interactions with media companies.










By Kim Se-jeong



The German word Freikauf means paying a ransom for someone.



It was also the name of a secret operation by the West German government to purchase the freedom of some East Germans in the days of the Iron Curtain.



Under the operation, which ran from 1963 to 1986, the West German government paid cash and goods to East Germany in exchange for releasing those held in prisons, children and the elderly to the West.



It paid 3.4 billion Deutsche Marks, equivalent to 1.83 trillion won  or 53 million won per person.



Almost 34,000 left East Germany through Freikauf over the 23 years.



People who escaped were not aware that their freedom had been purchased. Upon their arrival, they were warned to remain silent about their ordeal and they did so. There were rumors about the freedom purchase among people, but details of it were not available until German reunification in 1990.



Can this secret project be an option for South Korea in dealing with North Korea?



That was the question at a forum organized by the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB) and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Seoul, Wednesday.



Conservative leaders in Korea were previously attracted to a modified version of Freikauf. Both former President Lee Myong-bak and Park Geun-hye pushed to pay North Korea to release prisoners of war, but these attempts failed due to a lack of consensus in the South.



"I think South Korea should sort things out first: can we agree on paying North Korea?" Yoon Yeo-sang, the NKDB director, said. He added North Korea is aware that it's not an option for the South. "When I visited Pyongyang the last time (10 years ago), a North Korean official explained it would be difficult for South Korea to start Freikauf."



Freikauf is being openly reconsidered as a new rapprochement tactic by President Moon Jae-in, who pledged to build hospitals in the North in exchange for meetings between separated families in the South and North.



Paying North Korea for a project never won support from people in the South.



The prosecution was called in for a special probe into the $450 million sent from South Korea to North Korea through Hyundai Asan prior to former President Kim Dae-jung's historic meeting with Kim Jong-il in 2000  the company's chairman took his own life under growing pressure.



Prof. Lee Jong-duk from the University of Seoul also expressed skepticism, claiming that to follow West Germany's experience would not work here since the situations in North Korea and East Germany are completely different.



The biggest difference is that the regime in North Korea is gearing itself up militarily and posing threats to the world. And this has caused strong responses against North Korea, including the threat of a military response by the U.S.



Yet, the testimony of Peter Keup, who spent 24 years in East Germany and who benefited through Freikauf, and two North Korean defectors, made an emotional appeal that what matters most are people's lives.



"I had no single happy moment in East Germany. I was never happy there. My happy moments only began in the West," Keup said.




















By Lee Kyung-min







Starting next month, the government will give 500,000 won ($443) in state support to women who failed to report their pregnancies to health authorities in time.



Under the current law, the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) issue a debit card with a 500,000 won balance to pregnant women as part of its welfare support. They can use it only for pregnancy-related treatments.



The health ministry said eligible under the expanded program will be women who had miscarriages before applying for the state support, or who simply delayed reporting it. Only those who report a miscarriage or childbirth within 60 days of either will be eligible.



Up to 200,000 won will also be given to women living in ministry-designated remote provincial areas with low medical access.



They include islands off Incheon, six counties in Gangwon Province, three in the Chungcheong provinces, nine in the Jeolla provinces and 15 in the Gyeongsang provinces.



Since January, women pregnant with twins or more were given 900,000 won, up 200,000 won from a year earlier.



Starting October, the government will shoulder part of infertility treatment costs. Couples can visit community health centers to see if they are eligible and how much support they can receive. Both men and women are eligible.



According to data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA), 219,110 people underwent infertility treatment last year, up 12 percent from 2012. About 15 percent of couples in Korea are believed to have difficulty conceiving.



The expensive treatments led some couples to call their babies before they are born "samcheon," or "ocheon," indicating they spent 30 million won or 50 million won for the treatment.



The increased support for pregnant women or couples who try to get pregnant comes amid a record low birthrate.



Statistics Korea data released Wednesday showed the number of babies born in the first half of the year fell below 200,000, a significant indicator that the total number of newborns will fall below 400,000 for the first time since 2000 when the statistical office started compiling data.



Experts say Korea will continue to see a decreasing birthrate amid the steady decrease in the workforce population amid an "aged society," defined by the number of senior citizens surpassing that of newborns.




Leaders of South Korea and China exchanged congratulatory messages Thursday to mark the 25th anniversary of normalizing diplomatic ties between the two countries, the foreign ministry said.



In the message, President Moon Jae-in assessed that their bilateral relations have seen significant advance and expressed hopes that the Seoul-Beijing ties that he cherishes will further develop into a "substantial" strategic cooperative one, according to the ministry.



Chinese President Xi Jinping also said he regards China-South Korea relations as important, hoping that the two neighbors will "appropriately" deal with their differences and further advance the ties in a "stable and healthy manner," the ministry said.



Separately, the foreign ministers of the two countries also exchanged messages to mark the anniversary.



South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha hoped the two will continue to strengthen cooperation based on a consensus reached in a summit held in July and work together in efforts to tackle the root cause of North Korea's nuclear problem and establish permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula.



Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi hoped the two will intensify exchanges and further advance their "mutual understanding and trust" and move the ties forward in a healthy and stable manner.



Since establishing formal diplomatic ties on Aug. 24, 1992, the two countries have expanded cooperation in numerous areas. In particular, their trade have surged more than thirtyfold with human exchanges up nearly seventyfold.



The ties, however, have been marred recently by the prolonged row over South Korea's decision last year to allow the deployment of a U.S. missile shield called THAAD.



South Korea and the U.S. claim that the THAAD system is solely aimed at inbound missiles from North Korea, but China strongly objects to the deployment, saying that it will undercut its strategic security interests. (Yonhap)




By Jun Ji-hye



The Donald Trump administration is seemingly turning positive about dialogue with North Korea, while Pyongyang is apparently exercising restraint in its rhetoric against Washington.



North Korea has made no provocations since its July 28 test-firing of what it claimed was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), though it has more recently threatened to fire missiles toward Guam.



President Trump said Tuesday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has begun to "respect" Washington, suggesting his administration is taking a positive view on a possible thaw in U.S.-North Korea relations.



"I respect the fact that I believe he (Kim) is starting to respect us," Trump said at a rally in Phoenix, Arizona, according to Bloomberg. "Maybe, probably not, something positive will come out of it."



Earlier in the day, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said dialogue between the United States and North Korea could be possible in the "near future," welcoming what he called the "restraint" the Kim regime had shown recently with its nuclear and missile programs.



"I think it is worth noting, we have had no missile launches or provocative acts on the part of, or provocative actions, on the part of North Korea since the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolution," Tillerson said at the State Department.



"I am pleased to see that the regime in Pyongyang has demonstrated restraint. We hope this is the signal we have been looking for, that they are ready to restrain provocative acts. And perhaps we are seeing a pathway in the near future to having some dialogue."



The repressive state test-fired Hwasong-14 ICBMs, July 4 and 28, claiming the missile was capable of striking targets on the U.S. mainland.



Military tension here has been further escalated after Kim threatened to strike areas around Guam with four Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missiles in response to Trump's warnings of "fire and fury like the world has never seen."



For his part, Trump also tweeted that Washington's nuclear arsenal was "now stronger and more powerful than ever before" and that the U.S. military is "locked and loaded" to deal with the North's provocations.



Amid the heightened tension, several U.S. generals and commanders have visited South Korea and stressed diplomatic efforts were the preferred means over military action to resolve tension.



U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford, who visited Seoul last week, said the armed forces were putting top priority on supporting diplomatic and economic efforts to better deter the Kim regime and that military options are only a contingency if these efforts fail.



Adm. Harry Harris who commands the U.S. Pacific Command made similar comments during his visit here Tuesday, saying, "We hope and we work for a diplomatic solution to challenges presented by Kim Jong-un."



But it remains to be seen whether a breakthrough could be made in Washington-Pyongyang relations as the North criticized President Trump's Twitter habits shortly after he claimed the North had started to respect the U.S.



The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency claimed Trump tweets "weird articles of his ego-driven thoughts" and "spouts rubbish to make his assistants have a hard time."




By Yi Whan-woo



South Korea and China may find it difficult to fully restore their ties even if they manage to resolve the ongoing row over the deployment of a U.S. missile shield here, analysts said Thursday.



The two countries notably toned down celebrations for the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.



Presidents Moon Jae-Jae in and Xi Jinping exchanged congratulatory messages with each other, while Foreign Ministers Kang Kyung-kwa and Wang Yi also did the same.



But the People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, did not comment about it amid deteriorated ties between the two nations over the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in South Korea.



The daily only briefly mentioned a reception hosted by a private Chinese diplomatic association, Wednesday, to commemorate the treaty.



The South Korean Embassy in Beijing and Chinese Embassy in Seoul scaled down their own ceremonies as well.



Although foreign ministers of the two countries joined each other's ceremonies on the 20th anniversary, First Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam led the South Korean delegation on behalf of Kang to a reception run by the Chinese Embassy here.



In Beijing, Wan Gang, chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a political advisory body, represented his country instead of Wang Yi at a ceremony organized by the South Korean Embassy.



Given this climate, analysts speculate that Seoul and Beijing, even if they manage to settle the row over THAAD, are unlikely to fully restore the friendship they built since the establishment of relations in August 1992.



They said the dispute over THAAD hints at a greater risk of victimization for Seoul as the row between Beijing and Washington intensifies in the region.



"The THAAD deployment comes as part of U.S. policy in East Asia. The U.S. will continue to expand its influence in the region while China will try to prevent that, possibly by pressing South Korea," said Kwak Jin-o, a senior researcher at the Northeast Asian History Foundation. "The THAAD dispute is only a piece of possible, forthcoming conflicts involving the three parties."



Speaking on condition of anonymity, a researcher at the Korean National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA) said President Moon Jae-in added to the THAAD conflict by "sending the wrong signal."



"He opposed THAAD before he was elected president, took a dubious stance as president and then suddenly ordered the deployment of additional THAAD launchers," the researcher said. "It apparently was a snub to China that was already upset when the first batch of THAAD components arrived in March."



Hwang Jae-ho, a professor of international relations studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, said the difference between the U.S. and China in their strategies to curb North Korea's military threat could also complicate the Seoul-Beijing relations.



China refused to accept the U.S argument that THAAD is only aimed at deterring North Korea's ballistic missile attacks and has been bullying the South for its joint decision to set up the battery.



Kim Han-kwon, also a researcher at the KNDA, said that the THAAD dispute is "tougher to handle" than the trade war between Seoul and Beijing in 2000 over the former's safeguard measure taken against Chinese garlic to protect its market.



It was touted as the biggest clash between the two sides before the THAAD row emerged.



"THAAD involves both Koreas as well as the U.S. and China, while the dispute over garlic only concerned Seoul and Beijing," Kim said.



Several analysts remained skeptical whether Moon and Xi can hold a summit this year.



The two leaders only met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Germany in early July.



"I'd say Moon and Xi will be able to hold talks beginning next year at the earliest," Kwak said.



However, he warned of being hasty to run a summit and urged focusing on revising the China policy.



"The general consensus among opinion leaders is to be patient regarding a summit because such talks in an untimely manner could only further damage our national interest," Kwak said.



To mend ties, experts stressed raising awareness toward a rising China and refreshing Seoul's policy toward Beijing accordingly.



"China, as a world power, apparently wants respect from South Korea as it shows to the U.S. But in our view, Beijing tends to remain as a huge yet poor country in the 1990s that had a lot to do to catch up with Seoul," Hwang said. "We should take it to heart that China can be seen as a threat in terms of military, economic and foreign policy."




Lim Jong-hyeon Kim Ki-yong, left, and Ham In-ok



By Yoon Ja-young

A maintenance engineer who saved a man from drowning in the sea has been presented with a humanitarian award from the LG Foundation. A middle-aged couple who saved five people in a house fire also won the award.

Lim Jong-hyeon, a 35-year-old engineer at LG Electronics' customer service center, was passing by a beach in Sokcho, Gangwon Province, Aug. 13. He saw a man swept away by a wave, losing the life belt he was clinging to. Lim immediately jumped into the water, and pulled the man out onto the beach. After sitting exhausted for a while, Lim quietly left.

His heroic deed became known after a vacationer who was at the site noted that he was wearing the LG Electronics uniform, and posted the story on the company's web bulletin board.

"Nobody had the courage to jump into the water except for this one man who did so without any hesitation. After completing the rescue, he was so exhausted that he couldn't even walk. I wonder if he is okay," wrote the witness.

"I grew up near the sea so I know how to swim. I just jumped into the sea, having no time to think whether I should do it or not," Lim said.

"It was not easy though since the man had lost consciousness while the waves were fierce," Lim added.

In the other case Kim Ki-yong and Ham In-ok, a middle-aged couple in Danyang County, North Chungcheong Province, was woken up suddenly at around 1 a.m. Aug. 17 by their dog barking loudly. They saw their neighbor's house was on fire. The couple rushed in their pajamas to the scene with a fire extinguisher, and also called 119, the emergency number for the fire service.

They first woke an elderly couple and helped them evacuate. After hearing that there were more family members left in the house, they went back to help three more leave of the house.

LG Foundation launched the awards in 2015, after LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo decided that those who sacrificed themselves for the nation and society should be compensated, and that businesses should play a role in this. Including Lim, Kim and Ham, a total of 50 people have been given the LG Humanitarian Award.

Among the 50 were 10 marine police, six soldiers, three firefighters and two policemen. In March, a Sri Lankan worker won the award for saving a 90-year-old woman from a house fire, becoming the first foreign recipient of the award. Some of the winners even donated their award money to charity.

"As the number of award recipients rises, I get the feeling that the society is getting better. LG will continue supporting courageous heroes," an LG official said.
By Woo Ji-won



International students in Korea can expect tuition fee increases up to 8 percent this semester, while Korean students face a much lower rise.

With universities' fall semester just around the corner, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) has imposed an additional 8 percent charge -- from 268,000 won ($237) to 337,000 won -- on 800 international students, on top of the fees they have already paid. The move will give the school an additional 250 million won for the second semester that starts next month.

Early this year, Seoul universities, including Kyunghee, Hanyang, Konkuk and Sungkyunkwan, raised first-semester tuition fees for international students by up to 7 percent.

According to the Higher Education Act, tuition fee increases are limited to 1.5 percent. But the Ministry of Education said in November that international students are not subject to the regulation.

"In universities outside Korea, there are many cases where tuition fees vary depending on whether you are an international student or not," a ministry official said. "We have no responsibility to equalize every fee."

Universities say the latest fee hike for international students is inevitable to compensate for the extra cost of support services and scholarships for them.

International students at HUFS said there had been inadequate consultation on the increase.

"This is clearly a discriminatory policy," said a Chinese HUFS student who asked to remain anonymous. "I don't see why only foreign students have to pay that much, even if it's for scholarships. If you pay more only to receive your own money, then it isn't a scholarship anymore."
A second-ranked National Assembly official throws a glass at a lower-ranked colleague during dinner at a Yeouido restaurant in Seoul on Aug. 16. / Courtesy of SBS



By Ko Dong-hwan

Employees of Korea's National Assembly caused havoc at a Seoul restaurant when one of them threw a glass at a colleague.

A security camera inside the restaurant in Yeouido, central Seoul, captured the Aug. 16 incident. The National Assembly is in the area.

The video shows about 10 white-collar workers at a dinner gathering, when a man throws a glass at another across the table. Next to the attacker is another man on his knees.

According to broadcaster SBS, the attacker was identified as a second-ranked secretary, the one on his knees a fourth-ranked secretary and the victim a third-ranked chief of administration.

Before the incident, the lower-ranked secretary gave a speech during a raise-a-glass ceremony. But the speech somehow irritated his superior. He then made the man kneel and started criticizing him. The chief of administration called on his superior to stop. This enraged the second-ranked secretary further and he threw the glass.

The report quoted a restaurant waitress as saying they saw the victim get hit and start to bleed. They gave him a towel before calling an ambulance.

SBS's report said that after the gathering turned sour, an assistant secretary at the scene took the attacker outside. The assistant secretary told SBS the glass "slipped" from the attacker's hand.

The employees were warned not to talk about the incident in public as the National Assembly has "enough troubles already," the report said.

The incident came less than 10 days after the National Assembly said it would clamp down on sexual harassment and embezzlement committed by high-ranking officials.
By Kim Rahn

Park Seong-jin

President Moon Jae-in tapped a mechanical engineering professor to lead the newly established Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Thursday.

If the National Assembly endorses the nomination, the Moon administration will have finalized the full lineup of its Cabinet.

Moon named Park Seong-jin, 50, a professor at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), for the minister post.

Born in Busan, he earned his bachelor's, master's and doctor's degrees in mechanical engineering at his alma mater, and served as research professor at Mississippi State University.

Park is the CEO of the POSTECH Holdings, a company owned by the school's Industrial-Academic Cooperation Group, established to link research and technology with investment for commercialization. He is also a vice head of the school's Research and Business Development Foundation.

"He has experience of working with large and small companies for the last 10 years," presidential spokesman Park Soo-hyun said. "At POSTECH Holdings, he has led projects to invest and support startups. As an inaugural minister, we expect him to help create an innovative economic environment for small firms and startups."

The nomination took a lot of time _ more than three months after Moon's inauguration and more than a month after the National Assembly passed the government reorganization bill to create that ministry in mid-July.

Cheong Wa Dae initially considered naming a head of a small-sized or startup company for the position, but many turned down the nomination offer because they would have had to give up their stakes in their own companies according to the law on civil servants, Park said.
By Jung Min-ho

Reporters of Korea's largest broadcaster KBS said they will go on strike Monday, vowing to fight until CEO Ko Dae-young steps down.





KBS CEO Ko Dae-young

KBS reporters' union said Thursday that its 300 members at the company's headquarters in Seoul made the decision to strike after 99.3 percent of them voted in favor of it Aug. 16. More reporters at KBS regional branches are expected to join after holding votes.

They are calling for the resignation of Ko, who they say played a key role in turning KBS into a cheerleader for former President Park Geun-hye and her cronies.

"This will be the beginning of our last fight to boot him out of KBS and normalize operations as a news outlet," union leader Park Chong-hoon said.

About 350 employees of MBC, another major broadcaster, have refused to work following the revelation of an "MBC blacklist," in which its journalists were categorized into different groups based on their loyalty to the company. They claim executives used it for personnel matters as a means of controlling journalists.

Under the two previous conservative governments, the two broadcasters lost much of their credibility. Earlier this month, President Moon Jae-in appointed Lee Hyo-seong as the new chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, the telecommunications regulator, and told him to ensure fairness and independence for broadcast media.
By Maija Rhee Devine

Any heart-warming "comfort women" stories? Yes!

The accounts, however, dovetail with testimonies about abortions and babies abandoned at birth, given up for adoption, or brought to their new home countries to face chilling receptions.

The heart-warmers involve children of comfort women from various nations. The Survey of Korean Comfort Women Used by Japanese Soldiers (Center for War/Women's Rights, Seoul, 2002) says that over 30 percent of the interviewees produced biological children and 20 percent adopted children during the post-war decades. Here, the focus falls on those who adopted children.

Lee Ok-seon, 90, is such a mother. After her "comfort woman" life in Yanji, China, she was abandoned by her manager with no way to get back to Korea, she struggled to survive. Unable to bear children because of injuries from her comfort woman years and after her childless marriage ended, she married a Chinese man with two children. She poured her love on those children while caring for her husband, who later became paralyzed. After his death, she repatriated to Korea but left her heart in China _ with her children and grandchildren. We shared a hotel room in Dallas, Texas, in April 2016, during her testimony-giving trip to the United States. Asked about her children, she breathed a sigh "powerful enough to crack the earth." Her son, handicapped, is doing poorly, and she sends him the money friends occasionally give her. Her love for him is wringing her heart.

In the 2016 documentary "The Apology" by Tiffany Hsiung, former Chinese comfort woman Grandma Cau, 92, cackles pleasantly as her adopted daughter serves her steaming soup. Cau's tiny eyes form smiling curves, even after her daughter chided her in a shrill, "Don't cut wood, Mother. You hear me?"

In another scene, former Korean comfort woman Grandma Gil Won-ok, 89, and her adopted son, a minister, enjoy a kimchi-enriched meal in her room. Then, he says, "The Korean War! What ass-splitting' poverty we lived through, Mother. People didn't have even barley to eat, but we ate white rice! You worked hard to feed me well!" She flashes a smile. Soon, he stretches out on the floor for a nap. She lies down and slings her arm around his shoulder. They become a mother and her little boy again.

Emah, an Indonesian, cursed her beauty as this forced her to serve ten Japanese soldiers daily in military brothels in Chimahi for three years, longer than plain-looking girls had to do. After the war and a brief marriage, she adopted two of her brother's children and lived as a fulfilled mother. Following a year as a 16-year-old comfort woman, Doming, a South Moluccan, adopted two children and lived to enjoy 10 grandchildren and a few great-grandchildren. (Comfort Women Troostmeisjes, Jan Banning, 2012, p.41, p.77).

To those experiencing comfort-women-fatigue or acid reflux attacks upon hearing yet more comfort women sexual violence stories while watching politicizing by government officials and advocates of opposing camps, these stories of love should provide relief and more reasons to honor these women _ the snatchers of heaven in their loving.

The author of an autobiographical novel about Korea, "The Voices of Heaven," and a book of poetry, "Long Walks on Short Days," Maija Rhee Devine is working on her next books _ a work of nonfiction and a novel about the comfort women of WWII. Contact: www.MaijaRheeDevine.com or maijadevine@gmail.com.
By Robert Skidelsky





VLADIVOSTOK _ Russia's Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) railway "can be hardly named as a popular tourist attraction," says one tourist website of the some 2,000-mile railway traversing Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East. "Most people even never [sic] heard of it."



The BAM's older rival, the Trans-Siberian Railway, is certainly more popular. Since opening in 1916 it has attracted many big names, including the travel writers Peter Fleming, Paul Theroux, and Colin Thubron. But it is the BAM  this unloved northern spur, initiated by Stalin in the 1930s, and completed under Leonid Brezhnev in 1984  that offers the more useful window onto the Russian mood outside of cosmopolitan Moscow and St. Petersburg. Today, BAM land is overwhelmingly Putin land.



I was inspired to take the BAM across Siberia by Dervla Murphy's book, Through Siberia by Accident, even though Murphy, an intrepid Irish grandmother, broke a leg slipping in the train car's primitive toilet. I was further motivated by the fact that my great-grandfather had built the far-eastern section of the Trans-Siberian Railway in the 1890s, yet I had never been to its terminus, Vladivostok, where my father was born. So three friends joined me on an improbable two-week railway adventure across Siberia.



The BAM  like the Motherland Calls statue in Volgograd, the eternal flames at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Victory Park in Moscow, and the giant hydroelectric plants that line the train's route  is a symbol of the once-mighty Soviet Union. It was the regime's last great thrust into the Far East.



As Brezhnev put it, the BAM was "the construction project of the century," pushing, cutting, and tunneling its way through thousands of miles of rivers, forests, and cliffs usually covered in permafrost. Today, it endures in the mythology of the Soviet Union chiefly as a monument to collective effort.



Tynda is a typical BAM town. Across from the station stands a statue of a heroic young woman enveloped in machinery; in the park lay an ancient engine; and beyond there, rows of featureless apartment blocks stretch into the distance. A forlorn job application on a large signpost reads, "Nice girl, gentle without bad habits, will sell cement."



The BAM museum in Severobaikalsk is full of mannequins and photographs of BAM workers, their medals, and the machinery they used, including the giant metal samovars in which they made their tea. Pride of place goes to Fedor Fedorovich, the generic unsung hero whose task it was to prevent accidents by banging the rails and wagon couplings with a hammer to check for faults.



To Tatiana Nicolaevna Vetrova, the museum's curator, the BAM was a symbol of unity. The stations along its route  some quite striking  were built in the architectural style of the nations of the Soviet Union that had joined together to complete this mighty project.



I asked Tatiana whether the museum had a brochure for tourists. "There are many academic treatises on the subject," she replied. I persisted, requesting again a short guide for tourists, but she, too, was immovable, stating that there are too many facts to fit into a short space.



Finally, Tatiana sold me the story of BAM, written in verse, for 350 rubles ($6). The railway was, the story said, "the roll-call of our youth." BAMovstsy (as the construction workers are called) did not make much money, nor did they expect to. Instead  in an obvious criticism of capitalism  they worked for their country, and for one another. "How to make friends as we did then, that is what we teach our children."



The tone is overwhelmingly elegiac: back then, comrades came together to build a new world. In Tatiana's words, the BAM was "a labor of love and heroic sacrifice built by the dedicated workers, for the sake of their children and grandchildren." Like the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, the horrors fade, but the flame never dies.



Yet the horrors were plentiful. Tatiana insisted that BAM construction was started in 1974, the politically correct date, after which "clean labor" was used. But the railway's first section  initiated by Stalin to offer an eastern route that ran farther away from the Chinese border  was built by forced labor, including Russian inmates and German and Japanese prisoners of war, herded together in so-called BAMlags, now ghost towns.



Even when volunteers were used, they were not nearly as enthusiastic as official accounts claim. Lacking adequate housing and electricity, few re-enlisted, and many deserted before completing their term.



Nonetheless, the Brezhnev-era BAM construction showed what that dying Soviet system was still capable of achieving. Indeed, the railway's completion amounts to an asterisk on the conventional assessment of how decrepit the late Soviet Union really was.



The truth is that Siberian Russia  still home to 20-30 million Russians  benefited significantly more from the Soviet system than the European population centers did. The heart of Russia, we were often told by those we met during our BAM journey, is rural, not urban. In fact, the Soviet state sustained the Tsarist policy of subsidizing Russians to move east. Only now are they returning to Europe, replaced partly by an influx of Chinese and Uzbeks.



Our journey on the BAM furnished poignant reminders of the region's previous prosperity. One that stuck in my memory was a deserted kolkhoz (collective farm) on Lake Baikal, which once thrived on fishing and fur. The village, still inhabited and well maintained, consists of a few people growing vegetables, keeping chickens and the odd cow, and selling trinkets to visitors like me. At the same time, rusting fishing boats line the shore like beached whales.



In the village, as we enjoyed a homemade lunch of soup and pancakes, our hostess praised Putin, whom she credited with restoring Russia to health after the Soviet Union's disintegration. "Why is the West so down on Russia?" one of our fellow travelers asked. "Don't they understand that a chaotic Russia is a much greater threat to the world than a united one?" It is hard to get a hearing on international law in BAM land.







Robert Skidelsky, a member of the British House of Lords, is Professor Emeritus of Political Economy at Warwick University. Copyright belongs to Project Syndicate.




As expected, the first meeting between Korean and U.S. negotiators to revisit their bilateral trade deal ended up as a staring contest Tuesday.



The two sides reaffirmed they had different views on the impact of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (KORUS FTA) and could not agree even on a date for their second meeting.



U.S. officials called for renegotiating the five-year-old free trade accord, which President Donald Trump described as a "horrible deal" destroying the U.S. economy. However, their South Korean counterparts made it clear they would not discuss its revision until and unless both sides look into what is causing the U.S. trade deficit.



America's shortfall in two-way trade with Korea has more than doubled since the deal went into effect _ from $13.2 billion in 2011 to $27.6 billion last year. Washington thinks this is due to various nontariff barriers set up by Seoul while the latter says the gap could have been wider had it not been for the deal.



It remains to be seen whether the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will agree to Seoul's call for the joint study of the reasons for the trade imbalance. If Washington rejects the Korean proposal and demands to "negotiate or terminate" the deal, however, there will be limitations to Korea's foot-dragging.



If the renegotiation eventually proves inevitable, the aphorism Korean officials should recall is "A good offense is the best defense."



Korean negotiators should be able to use this as an opportunity to rectify poisonous provisions in the existing agreement, including the investor-state dispute (ISD) settlement clause and excessively strict protection of U.S. intellectual property rights, to help ease Seoul's deficit in the services trade. If the U.S. side is reluctant to compromise, Korean officials need to be adamant enough to threaten to diversify the nation's agricultural and energy import sources away from America.



The North Korean nuclear crisis is pushing tension on this divided peninsula to new highs. But that should be no reason for Seoul to put its economic interests far behind security matters, weakening its bargaining leverage and playing into the hands of the U.S. leader, the self-styled "artist of the deal."








Korea's birthrate decline getting out of hand







There was some more depressing news about Korea's plunging birthrate this week. The latest Statistics Korea report showed that the number of newborns fell below 200,000 in the first half of the year. There were only 188,500 babies born between January and June, down 12.3 percent from the same period last year.



The outlook for the second half is also bleak as the number of newborns tends to be lower in November and December. Officials expected that the figure for the entire year could be lower than 400,000 for the first time ever. The downward trend in the birthrate is likely to persist as more Koreans choose not to marry.



Despite the grave repercussions of the low birthrate on the nation's society and economy, the Moon Jae-in government has not properly responded to the unprecedented baby crisis.



President Moon is aiming to raise the birthrate to 1.4 children per woman in the next five years. For this, the government recently announced that it will provide 100,000 won in childcare allowance for families with children under five years old starting July 2018. This kind of short-sighted program is laughable from the perspective of a mother struggling with a job, childcare and household chores. It will have little effect in convincing women to have more children.



One of the first things Moon should have done after taking office was to establish a ministry for dealing with population issues as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe did a few years ago to turn around his country's falling birthrate. Due to such efforts, Japan's birthrate has been climbing, recording its highest birthrate in 21 years last year with 1.46 children per woman.



With one of the lowest birthrates in the world at 1.12, Korea urgently needs a new ministry to serve as a control tower for policies regarding babies, mothers and families.



The government has spent more than 100 trillion won on programs to promote the birthrate over the last 10 years, but it has continued to fall. The absence of a control tower has hampered the effectiveness of programs aimed at boosting the birthrate, as they have been scattered among various ministries. Deputy Prime Minister Kim Dong-yeon said Thursday that he will consider establishing a department for population issues in the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, but this will not be enough.



It is also important for the corporate sector to get behind family-first policies. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg shared his plan to take two months of paternity leave when his second child is born later this year in a recent Facebook post. Korean CEOs should encourage childcare leaves for moms and dads to create a more family-friendly workplace and promote a work-life balance.




By Stephen Costello





President Trump was headed in this direction from the beginning. The only questions were when he would get here, and how bad it would be. Well, here we are, and it is pretty bad. As was the case with former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, impeached five months ago and imprisoned, Trump has now made getting him out of office the most important goal for the U.S. political/social system. The best case for this can be found in today's Washington Post, by one of America's best public intellectuals and foreign policy thinkers, David Rothkopf. His article, "Trump Must Go" makes explicit what has been becoming clear for the past six months.

For Koreans and Northeast Asians there are several things to think about as the U.S. goes through the next months and years of its political drama. Koreans, in particular, know something about living with corrupt and dictatorial governments. But to paraphrase Leo Tolstoy, each bad government is bad in its own way. And each society and its leaders will react in their own different ways. Many Americans have been envious of the remarkable courage, focus, organizational ability and determination of the 17 million people who came out in Gwanghwamun Square for 11 Saturdays in a row, pushing their system to eject former President Park.

It may well be that the U.S. system also needs the energy of millions of demonstrators to force the legal structures to do what they must. Those legal, institutional and political structures will certainly be tested in ways not seen for a generation  at least since the resignation of President Richard Nixon almost exactly 43 years ago today. We also have our own sources of civic strength, and they too will now be increasingly called upon.

It's time for America's friends to stand up and help.

The U.S. crisis is unique partly because it impacts people and governments around the globe, not just at home. As we have seen, it directly affects South and North Korea, China and Japan. The risk of conflict or war over Korea was never great, but the effects of destabilization, of failing to take responsibility for some of the most dangerous dynamics at work in this region, are massive and ongoing.Because of this, particularly thoughtful reactions are called for from U.S. friends and allies, and from all leaders.

Some are speaking up, both about President Trump's dangerous and counter-productive threats and refusal to talk to the North Koreans, and about his failure to denounce racists and anti-immigrant forces in the U.S. The Chinese and German presidents, the EU, Canadian leaders have all been clear in their statements.

Korean President Moon Jae-in may feel he should try to work with the U.S. administration, because the stakes for the peninsula are so high, and this prevents him from speaking hard truths to Trump. That strategy always depended upon a degree of strategic wisdom and purpose from the White House. But wisdom and purpose have been absent from the U.S. position for years. President Moon has bent over backwards trying to be a good ally, but the time for a reassessment has come.

Trump administration policy directly blocks all negotiations with North Korea, and blocks South Korea from any role except following U.S. policy. It was intended to do so. This reality makes the Korean president's position untenable. Any longtime ally acting as a friend to the U.S. must confront its self-destructive and counter-productive policies. That is what leadership means today, and it's also what friendship to the U.S. means today. The most involved Americans would welcome this. Moon's statement that Trump has promised him there will be no first strike is nice, but it is empty. There never would have been such a strike. The Chinese and Russians have been clear and public about this.

It is up to Americans to deal with their corrupt and destructive president. As Koreans know, no one else has the right or responsibility to do so. This will take some time, during which the U.S. capacity to help solve the North Korea puzzle, already small, will continue to shrink. If the U.S. is to play any constructive role at all in coming years, it will have to be led there.

The time for the Korean government to decide on a durable policy direction is now.

Seoul can scale back or reduce the ROK-U.S. military exercises in coming days. Together with China and Russia, it can press Pyongyang to freeze its missile and nuclear programs. It can then gather a coalition of powers, many of them waiting for someone to organize this effort, to jointly spell out a roadmap for returning to security, diplomatic engagement and economic development in Northeast Asia.

The U.S.'s global pressure and isolation campaign will have to stop, and unconditional talks with North Korea will have to begin. Capping and rolling back DPRK weapons programs will be on the table, along with an end to the Korean War and other logical goals. A group of national leaders, organized by Seoul, can present this initiative to President Trump at the U.N. General Assembly in New York next month. A list of benefits to him and the U.S. could be colorfully described. Trump could still refuse to help, but the initiative would continue.

The Chinese, Japanese, Russians and U.N. all have good reasons to welcome Seoul's lead on breaking this impasse. And yet none of them has the legitimacy, interest, flexibility and capacity to take the lead. Only South Korea does, and it can expect broad and robust cooperation.

For three months, the government's leverage has drained away, and nothing it has said or done has moved any party. Moon keeps saying he wants to lead. Now he could actually do so.

Stephen Costello is a producer of AsiaEast, a web and broadcast-based policy roundtable focused on security, development and politics in Northeast Asia. He writes from Washington, D.C. He can be reached at scost55@gmail.com.
By Donald Kirk





Donald Trump's notion of "fire and fury" for North Korea inspires cheers, fears and jeers. Is he threatening the biblical "fire and brimstone," or does his rhetoric more closely resemble Shakespeare's "tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing"?

Yes, there are those who think the American president is an idiot, but you also find some who admire him for getting Kim Jong-un to back down. Kim did call off ordering a missile to hit somewhere off Guam, didn't he? That's true enough _ though it's not likely the fearless, "Respected" leader has given up on that idea while thousands of U.S. and South Korean troops play annual war games in defiance of a torrent of rhetoric

So what to do? Might a quick hit, a "pre-emptive strike," maybe even "massive retaliation," be the way to wipe out the terrorist of the North? As the dust is settling, would not millions of North Koreans rise up in rebellion and install a more reasonable and humane leader? Why, they might even hold an election like those in South Korea!

Oh sure. You don't have to have follow North Korea too closely to know that such a denouement is the stuff of fantasy. More likely, as everyone knows, bombardment of the North would precipitate a conflagration of unpredictably bloody proportions. Nobody but nobody wants Korean War II though some insist on keeping the military option out there, dangling it in Kim's face in case he gets ideas of carrying out his threats.

But surely there are other ways to bring the North, if not into submission, at least into the realm of reason.

Here's one. How about bombarding North Korea with leaflets instead of bombs? Okay, defectors from the North for years have been unleashing balloons over their former homeland, blowing leaflets hither and yon on which are written tales of the excesses and terrors of the Kim dynasty mingled with news, real news, from South Korea and elsewhere. Lately, however, President Moon Jae-in, in a quest for negotiations, has told them to knock it off. No reason for upsetting North Korean leaders while calling for dialogue.

Anyway, leaflets lofted on balloons have not been too effective. Not so many people have seen them. Instead, drones should fly high over all North Korea day-and-night dropping devices filled with tons of leaflets wafting everywhere. And what about including a few dollar bills and candy bars so folks would have that much more incentive to scramble around looking for them in the face of dire commands not to touch them?

This leaflet bombardment need not be a one-day or now-and-then phenomenon. It should go on for weeks, months, infuriating North Korean leaders but getting through to all their hungry, unhappy people. Leaflets should bear different news every day, including exposes of the high living of the ruling elite compared with the desperate circumstances of the typical citizen. Human rights abuses would merit top billing, banner headlines reporting executions, imprisonment, torture and suffering.

Messages might vary from target to target  some aimed at Pyongyang, others for less fortunate communities elsewhere. Special editions might float down on mass rallies and parades. Think of dropping clouds of leaflets on those great shows of military hardware in the capital.

In this high-tech age, it should be possible to bombard specific concentration camps and prisons, remote villages and towns with leaflets tailored for individual conditions. Some might target military bases with articles about the hardships of army life, the poor food, the dangers of duty above the demilitarized zone, the perks of officers accustomed to bullying the men and women who form the backbone of the North's 1.2 million soldiers, sailors and airmen.

North Korea would undoubtedly respond with antiaircraft barrages, perhaps short-range missile shots and Soviet-era MiGs zipping around, but the planes carrying these leaflets would be drones. Nobody would get hurt, on the ground or in the air. Piloted U.S. aircraft would stay away other than for maybe a few high-flying U2 spy planes up there to see how everyone was doing way down below.

The greatest fun would be to cascade leaflets on one of Kim Jong-un's palaces while he was feasting with sycophantic minions. The message would be simple. Sorry, comrade, the party's over. Everyone toast to that.





Donald Kirk, www.donaldkirk.com, has been covering war and peace in the region for decades. He's at kirkdon4343@gmail.com.
By Lee Hyo-sik



Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) is asking 5,000 workers to take unpaid leave beginning in September as it doesn't have enough ships to build until June of next year.



Korea's largest shipbuilder said Thursday it asked union leaders to help persuade 30 percent of its 17,000-strong workforce to take time off from work without pay, stressing it must reduce labor costs to stay afloat amid the prolonged industry slump.



The company said it cannot force employees to take leave, meaning each individual has to agree to it. If the number does not reach 5,000, management plans to suspend some production lines and subject workers to training.



As of June, HHI's backlog of orders stood at only 85, down from 110 the previous year. In the first six months of this year, the shipbuilder secured orders for only 17 ships. It hasn't won a single order for offshore plants since November 2014.



The ongoing shortage of work will likely continue until June of next year, according to HHI officials, because the shipbuilder failed to secure enough orders over the past two years.



"We have about 30 ships to work on in the second half of 2017. So about 5,000 workers have become idle," a HHI official said.



Normally, the shipbuilder works on more than 40 ships over the six month period.



"Management told the labor union that it will take the surplus manpower off from work beginning in September. The company will discuss with union leaders how long and under what conditions they will remain idle." he said.



The official said the shipbuilder has no other choice but to put 5,000 employees on either unpaid leave or subject them to training sessions because the union workers refused to accept a 20 percent cut in base pay.



HHI may have to place more workers on temporary leave in 2018 if it continues to struggle to win new orders in the coming months.



Early this month, the shipbuilder failed to sign a $1.44 billion container ship deal with CMA CGM, the French container transportation and shipping company. Instead the French company placed orders for nine container vessels with China's Hudong Zhounghua Shipbuilding and Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding.



Hyundai Heavy was initially sure of winning the deal but it was outpaced by the Chinese shipbuilders, which offered to build the vessels for $160 million each. HHI offered to construct the ships for $175 million each.




Kwon Won-kang, Kyochon Chicken chairman

By Lee Hyo-sik

Kyochon Chicken has been struggling to set up a presence in the United States, China and other foreign markets as it has failed to appeal to consumers there.

One of Korea's largest fried chicken franchises also has often run into trouble with foreign business partners.

Over the past few years, Kyochon, BBQ and other franchises made inroads into foreign markets to find new sources of income as the domestic market approaches saturation point. But it turned out to be easier said than done because they failed to make profits while investing millions of dollars to set up ventures with foreign partners.

Kyochon, founded in 1991, opened its first overseas store in the U.S. in 2007 and once operated as many as four shops in New York and Los Angeles. But it now runs only one store in Los Angeles as its U.S. operations continue to incur losses.

During the 2007 to 2016 period, the firm's U.S. business never made a profit. In 2016, Kyochon lost 3.9 billion won ($3.4 million) in the U.S., equivalent to nearly 35 percent of its 10.3 billion won operating profit.

"We tried hard to run a successful business in the U.S. but things did not turn out to the way we hoped," a Kyochon official said. "Even though we downsized our presence, it is only temporary. We will soon draw up new business plans to expand in the world's largest economy."

The company also suffered a setback in Japan as it had to close its store in Tokyo last September, only nine months after the opening, because its local partner went bankrupt. It plans to open new shops in the world's third-largest economy but the officials have remained silent about the timing.

Kyochon is also having a difficult time in China because of the continued dispute with its Chinese partner. In 2012, it signed a master franchise contract with a Chinese company based in Shanghai, allowing it to open and run fried chicken stores in the city under the Kyochon brand.

Under the master franchise contract, Kyochon handed over control of the franchising activities in China to its partner, and in return, it receives a certain percentage of revenue from its partner.

But according to Kyochon, the Chinese firm did not pay due fees and the two often disagreed over how the stores should be run.

However, the fried chicken franchise said things have been running quite smoothly in Southeast Asia. It has entered Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Cambodia by signing the master franchise deal with local partners.

"Despite minor setbacks, we will continue to expand our overseas ventures" the official said. "We are currently restructuring our business abroad and when it is done, we can do much better. In particular, we will focus more on opening stores in Southeast Asia."
Waves surge at the Wan Chai waterfront as Typhoon Hato hits the city.



By Ernest Kao





Hong Kong was left picking up the pieces on Wednesday after a battering by the biggest storm in five years, which killed five people in neighbouring Macau and paralysed cities along mainland China's southern coast.

Typhoon Hato triggered the No 10 signal  the highest in Hong Kong's storm warning system  for the first time since 2012, forced the cancellation of hundreds of flightsto and from the city and around the region, and caused a power blackout in Asia's biggest casino hub.

The No 10 signal was raised shortly after 9am, when the centre of the storm was within 80km of Hong Kong, and stayed in force for five hours as Hato, the Japanese word for pigeon, besieged the city with torrential rain and hurricane force winds.

Economic losses were estimated at HK$4 billion to HK$8 billion as the stock market, businesses, offices and schools remained closed throughout the day. It was only after 5pm, with the typhoon signal down to No 3, that shops began opening and public transport services resumed.

As of 5pm on Wednesday, 480 flights had been cancelled at Hong Kong International Airport, one of the region's busiest cargo and passenger hubs, and around 600 take-offs and landings were scheduled until 6am on Thursday.

In a rare move, the Airport Authority said it was keeping its two runways open to handle the backlog overnight.

Other airports in the region were not spared either  270 flights were cancelled in Shenzhen, 130 in Zhuhai and 25 in Guangzhou.

Power supplies were disrupted from Zhongshan to Foshan on the mainland, while a power cut plunged Macau's famed casinos into darkness for hours.

Five people were killed and more than 150 injured in the former Portuguese enclave.

As Hato swept past the south of Hong Kong, 121 people sought medical treatment at public hospitals, while 380 had to seek refuge at temporary shelters.





Waves flood the Lei Yue Mun waterfront in Ma Pui Tsuen as Typhoon Hato rages.



The Government Flying Service scrambled four helicopters in eight rescue operations, plucking to safety 39 crew members from stranded cargo ships southwest of the city.

At its peak, Hato was packing gusts topping 193km/h, making it stronger than Typhoon Vicente, the last storm to trigger a No 10 warning signal.

There were nearly 700 reports of fallen trees, among them a 150-year-old heritage Chinese banyan on Tsim Sha Tsui's Park Lane shopping boulevard.

Floods inundated low-lying and coastal areas. Dozens of residents had to be evacuated from the fishing village of Tai O, where sea swells surged up to 3.85 metres high.

"Typhoons have flooded my house two or three times in the past 20 years I've lived here, but this definitely has been the worst," Li Kwok-ping, a resident of coastal Lei Yue Mun, said.

"We tried to stop the waves from coming into our house with wooden boards, but it was no use."

The internet was abuzz with photos and videos of the storm, including one that went viral of a work gondola dangling precariously from a residential block in Hung Hom and smashing into a flat window.

As Hato moved further inland across southern China, the No 10 signal was replaced by No 8 at about 2pm, and all signals were cancelled by 8.20pm.

Macau-based meteorologist Clarence Fong Chi-kong said that the typhoon track passing the south of Hong Kong meant Hato spent more time over water, allowing it to pick up more force. Most typhoons in recent years have approached from the east and packed less of a punch.

Professor Johnny Chan Chung-leung of City University, said Hato's impact on storm surges was the most significant.

"As a typhoon approaches, pressure drops and wind speeds pick up, leading to a storm surge at sea." he said.

"[Hato's] storm surge happened to coincide with the [high] tide at noon. This kind of phenomenon occurs, but is very rare.

"By the end of the century, Hong Kong's sea level is estimated to rise by at least a metre. The risk of severe floods is only going to be greater."
By Woo Ji-won, Park Si-soo



An American gang member has been arrested for fatally shooting a Korean woman in Los Angeles.

The tragedy happened Aug. 8.

Devon White, 20, approached Oh Hye-soon, 67, who was leaving her business in Lynwood around 8:40 p.m. He allegedly tried to steal her belongings but the woman resisted, which led to a scuffle. White then shot her, according to reports. The man was caught on Aug. 17 and is being held at the Men's Central Jail in Los Angeles.

Glendale Police Sgt. Robert William said Oh was found next to a car in the garage of an apartment complex. She had been shot once.

Oh was pronounced dead at 9:40 p.m. after being taken to a nearby hospital.

Police said the alleged motive was robbery and they were not sure whether White had followed the woman before the shooting.

White is a documented gang member from South Los Angeles, police said.
The trainee, Han Seo Hee, who was involved in T.O.P marijuana scandal, and who allegedly provided the drug for the idol, has recently spoken up and given her side of the story saying she never offered T.O.P drugs, to begin with.

During her trial and appeal in court on August 18th, the trainee stated she was never the one to give drugs to T.O.P in the first place. She reported to K-Media, "I acknowledge my crime, and I'm deeply reflecting on my actions." When asked if she felt wrongly accused of anything, she responded, "The one who offered it was the other party. I've never forcibly offered anything, and the electronic cigarette in question was not mine."

Due to her past use of drugs and smoking, fans were outraged and questioning if she was even telling the truth! She continued to state that T.O.P actually brought the drug and that she felt he put his own career on the line and was wronged in the whole situation.

"I had less to lose than him, and he had a lot to lose. That's probably why they tried to put the blame on me. There are a lot of things I think are unfair, but even if I explained each thing, people won't believe me. That's why I think it's better to hold back and move on."

Han Seo Hee is currently appealing her court sentence that she received in early June. What do you think of her claims and side of the story? Share your thoughts and opinions with us down below!
She said the United States should "immediately correct its mistake," and reiterated China's calls for restraint and dialogue to resolve the situation with North Korea.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a news briefing the sanctions are not helping U.S.-China cooperation on efforts to rein in North Korean nuclear activity.

Chinese and Russian officials have expressed objections to sanctions the United States imposed Tuesday against several companies for allegedly supporting North Korea's nuclear program.

At the United Nations, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia echoed one of his government's ministers who said it is "another unfriendly move by the United States."

"We strongly condemn unilateral sanctions, not only those aimed at us, but at anybody," Nebenzia. He said if Washington wanted to sanction third parties, it should do so through existing channels, namely the UN sanctions committee for North Korea. There it could put forward names of individuals or companies it believes is violating sanctions and seek to have them added to the sanctions list.

"We first of all condemn that move and secondly, we do not think it is legal," Nebenzia added. "And thirdly, we do not think it facilitates the stabilization and improvement in Russia-U.S. relations."

The U.S. Treasury Department announced the sanctions Tuesday, saying they were a complement to a UN Security Council resolution passed earlier this month that applied new sanctions against North Korea and condemned the country's ballistic missile tests. China and Russia were among the countries that unanimously approved the August 5th resolution.

A U.S. Treasury statement listed 10 companies and six people, including Chinese coal, steel and financial firms, as well as three Russian individuals.

"It is unacceptable for individuals and companies in China, Russia, and elsewhere to enable North Korea to generate income used to develop weapons of mass destruction and destabilize the region," said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. "We are taking actions consistent with UN sanctions to show that there are consequences for defying sanctions and providing support to North Korea, and to deter this activity in the future."
Former undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson is looking to crowdfund enough money to buy Twitter so President Donald Trump can't use it.

Wilson launched the fundraiser last week, tweeting: "If @Twitter executives won't shut down Trump's violence and hate, then it's up to us. #BuyTwitter #BanTrump." The GoFundMe page for the fundraiser with a billion-dollar goal says Trump's tweets "damage the country and put people in harm's way."


Former chiefs of the U.S. Forces Korea insist Washington would not need Seoul's approval to strike North Korea with its "offshore military assets," the Voice of America reported on Wednesday.

They were contradicting President Moon Jae-in, who said in his speech marking Liberation Day on Aug. 15, "Without the consent of [South Korea], no country can determine to take military action."

Burwell Bell, the USFK commander from 2006 to 2008, said, "In accordance with international law, the United States would not need South Korean approval, cooperation to strike the North with our own offshore military assets."

"These assets could be launched from the continental United States, Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, and on the high seas near North Korea," he added. "Other allied partners such as Japan, Australia, etc. could participate in combat operations without receiving approval from [South Korea] as long as they remained offshore."
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has paid a visit to the Chemical Material Institute of the Academy of Defense Science, which is in charge of developing the North's ballistic missiles.

The official [North] Korean Central News Agency on Wednesday said Kim "instructed the institute to produce more solid-fuel rocket engines and rocket warhead tips" by further expanding production process and capacity.

It quoted Kim as praising researchers for developing a reliable re-entry vehicle that allows a warhead to survive the intense heat and friction of re-entering the atmosphere.

The claims are seen as a rebuttal to South Korea and the U.S., which have said that the North still does not have that technology.
Korea's birthrate fell to a record-low 1.04 children per woman during the second quarter of this year, according to Statistics Korea on Wednesday.

Couples must have at least 2.1 children to sustain the current population level, but at this rate Korea faces a precipitous decline.

The number of babies born in the first half of this year fell below 200,000 for the first time ever. Some 28,900 children were born in June, down 12.2 percent from the same month last year and the lowest figure since Statistics Korea began tallying such data in 1970.

In the first six months of this year, 188,400 babies were born, down 12.4 percent on-year.


WAVE SEEKERS:

Editors Note: As a world renowned surfing town, La Jolla has its legends of the sea. Were stoked to bring you their stories in this new summer series.

Theres a heart-shaped, 29-acre island in Fiji by the name of Tavarua that the entire La Jolla surf community is talking about. Its got great surf, they say, perfect weather and kind people. Plus, the co-founder and co-owner of Tavaruas all-inclusive resort is one of the most beloved local surfers and the protagonist of this weeks Wave Seekers series, Jon Roseman.

Im from La Jolla and I started surfing pretty adamantly at age 10, he told La Jolla Light. At WindanSea, its a little more advanced, so I guess I was 12 or 13 when I started sitting on the inside. There was a very set pecking order back in those days; you had to earn the respect of the older generation, and then, slowly, I earned my place in the lineup.

Roseman said he considers himself lucky to have grown up in La Jolla. La Jolla has some incredible waves for California; its a really good training ground for surfers. WindanSea, Bird Rock, Little Point, Horseshoe ... there are incredible waves that are very preppy for places like Hawaii or Fiji. The other thing thats great about La Jolla is that it breeds a lot of style in everyones surfing.

When asked what the La Jolla surfing style looks like, Roseman replied, Its like grace under pressure. The great surfers that have come out of La Jolla, from way back, like Chris ORourke  can ride a really juicy, powerful wave, effortlessly. Like theyre almost doing it while theyre asleep. But at the same time, theyre doing crazy, giant, powerful turns. I like to think thats what makes a La Jolla surfer stand out from the rest of the world.

Roseman attended La Jolla High School, surfing the waves of WindanSea after class, and though he never wanted to leave La Jolla ever, he went to college in Santa Barbara. I was really fortunate, I had tons of friends that I grew up with in La Jolla, its hard to leave that kind of brotherhood.

He continued traveling, looking for waves all over the map from Mexico to Hawaii.

Roseman recalls, I had a girlfriend from Malibu while I was up at school. We broke up for all sorts of reasons, but the most important reason was that I loved to surf and she didnt, and because of that breakup, I went to Hawaii. My late friend, the incredible La Jolla surfer David Anderson, and I spent the whole winter there with another couple of Australian friends. I was going to meet them in Australia, but I heard there was an incredible wave in Fiji called Tavarua, basically a surf camp, so I thought, On my way to Australia, Ill stop by there myself. I think it was late 1988 or early 1989, and that was my first time to Fiji.

And that, Roseman said, was the trip that would change everything.

They just had a cyclone, and the waves were terrible (laughs). It was pretty intense, but I still fell in love with it, the Fijians and everything, I didnt want to leave. I remember the first fun waves I got out of (reef surf break) Cloudbreak. I was like, Oh my god, this is it, this is clear paradise. You can get like 20 tubes in an hour. Its mind-blowing. Its what you dream of your entire life. The waves are like the ones you draw on your schoolbook when youre falling asleep in class.

Roseman stayed in Fiji as a lifeguard in the then-primitive surf camp. In 1993, the owners wanted to sell my partner and I, part of the management package of the island, and we were talking about it. Geez, what if we just try to borrow a bunch of money and try to buy it ourselves? So thats what we did. We borrowed money, we did everything we could, anything to be able to own it. We mortgaged ourselves pretty heavily at that age, which was our early 20s. It was a crazy endeavor back then, because Tavarua, as gorgeous as it is, its in a Third World country, and its kind of a dichotomy in the sense that its paradise, but theres all these challenges.

We suddenly had some really big Fijian employees, and we had to earn their respect, learn to deal with the Fijian people, their customs, their rules.

We came up with a concept to ramp up their surf camp and make it into a more user-friendly resort, to have surfers, but also families, kids. And now, about 30 years later, we have second-generation staff, even the villages that surround the island, theyre our families. Its a big part of the Fijian culture, which is a very social culture. They say, whats mine is yours and whats yours is mine. I think that can expand to so many different things.

Through the years, Roseman started several charity programs in Fiji, including the Scripps Health Scripps-Fiji alliance. My dad, David Roseman, who retired from Scripps Hospital, helped me start the Scripps Fiji, providing medical care, education to Fijians, but also bringing Fijians to the United States for advanced treatment of all sorts of cases, he explained.

At age 51, he still surfs at the highest level, and expects to continue for the next 20 years. But to do so, he trains with a local instructor.

I work with Jay and May Complete Health. It helps me a lot with confidence, and you get all this extra training that targeted for surfing muscles. For example, last week we had a pretty good swell down in Fiji and we paddled a couple really big waves at Cloudbreak. My arms felt great. I was thanking Jay in the water, he said.

Roseman has a 14-year-old daughter, Helena, who also likes to surf. Its really neat, he shared. Shes like my little surf buddy now. Shes always like, Dad, take me surfing here and there! Its like a dream come true.

As a surfer who divides his time between Fiji and La Jolla, Roseman often gets the question, How can you surf in La Jolla after experiencing waves in Fiji? In those cases, he answers, I have as much fun surfing at home as I do when Im in Fiji. The waves are different, but its as fun. Home is home, and were lucky to grow up in WindanSea and La Jolla, one of the most absolutely beautiful spots in the entire world.
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...
The Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday ruled that the sentencing hearings of Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong will not be broadcast live.

Judge Kim Jin-dong said Lee and the other defendants submitted opinions opposing filming or broadcasting. "We decided it would be right not to allow broadcasting after weighing the public interest against the irreparable disadvantages and damage the defendants could suffer, he added.

The Supreme Court revised court regulations on Aug. 4 to allow the verdicts in major trials to be broadcast.

The other defendants include former Samsung executive Choi Gee-sung.
PRESS RELEASE

Russia, China Respond to New Sanctions: They Wont Help

Aug. 23, 2017 (EIRNS)The U.S. Treasury Departments announcement yesterday of new sanctions on Chinese and Russian individuals and companies, for allegedly conducting business with North Korea that abetted its missile and nuclear weapons program, has drawn a sharp response from both Russia and China.

As reported by TASS, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov charged that "Washington has stepped on the same rake again," warning that by imposing these new sanctions, the U.S. is continuing the "persistent destruction of bilateral relations" which began with Barack Obama. While Ryabkov said that his government is in the process of formulating a response, he expressed the hope that "the voice of reason will prevail over time. In theory," he noted, "Washington should have learned from the past that we do not accept the language of sanctions, since these actions only hinder solutions to real problems."

From China, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in her regular press briefing today that U.S. sanctions "will not help solve the problem, nor are they conducive to U.S.-China cooperation and mutual trust.... We urge the U.S. side to stop this wrongdoing and correct it." She continued, however, that the "extremely tense" situation on the Korean Peninsula "has shown some signs of abating" thanks to the efforts of several parties, though "it remains highly complex and sensitive."

Speaking more forcefully, Global Times editorialized today that the U.S. "has acted beyond its authority and its unilateral sanctions are unreasonable." These actions, it asserted, "aim to tarnish the international image of China and Russia ... and portray the two as violators of UN sanctions."
The Great American eclipse of 2017 - Four Personal Experiences

The eclipse, on August 21st, 2017, was an event that was shared by people in the 14 states that were in its path and others who traveled in order to have a total eclipse experience.

In South Carolina with Ben Shapo-

I saw my first total solar eclipse in 1991 when a friend asked me to go to Mexico to see the celestial event. Although I was skeptical, Mexico seemed like a great vacation. Mexico did not disappoint, but the eclipse surpassed all expectations. Since then, I have traveled to two other countries to see eclipses, once to Venezuela in 1998 and once to Hungary in 2000. So a trip from Washington, DC to South Carolina for another eclipse sounded like a piece of cake.

Except for the weather. The National Weather Service, the Weather Channel, Accuweather, Intellicast, and the Weather Underground all had forecasts for South Carolina that differed as violently as the summer storms that sometimes visit the Palmetto State. After scrutinizing all sites, I decided to try my luck at a park along the shores of Lake Murray, just outside of Columbia.

I arrived at 7:45 a.m. to a crystal-clear, blue sky. Things still looked great at 11:00 a.m., but the clouds started forming just after that. By 1:00 pm, as the eclipse was about to start, the sun seemed to be dodging clouds. Then, a large cloud loomed just as totality approached. To the immense relief of the hundreds of people in the park, the cloud just missed the sun as totality started, and they were all treated to the incredible sight. Two minutes later, another cloud covered up the sun.

Who would have guessed that my easiest trip would result in the most nerve-wracking of all my eclipse-viewing experiences ....

In Beatrice, Nebraska with Murray Gorchow and Lois Shulman-

Here is our experience of the total solar eclipse:



My new bride of two weeks, Lois & I, set out on our "honeymoon" trip by car from suburban Detroit MI to Beatrice NE hoping for clear skies in southeastern Nebraska. Although I'm 70 years old, this amateur astronomer had never seen a total solar eclipse before Monday.







The weather and skies that morning did not look good at all so we decided to drive 15 miles further south chasing clearer skies. We were rewarded for our 850 mile adventure on a dirt road between cornfields. We saw the moon totally block the sun as day turned to night. We were treated to the sun's brilliant white corona emanating out into space as well as the beautiful "diamond ring effect" just before and again just after our 2 minutes and 15 seconds of totality. It was an awesome breathtaking experience that brought us both to tears!

In Goreville, Illinois with B

Goreville, Illinois was the best place in the world to view the eclipse according to Brian Fields, the MC who guided visitors through the eclipse event. Fields is a professor of Astronomy and of Physics at the University of Illinois. We had to agree with him. This was the best place to be that day.

The Department of Astronomy at the University of Illinois and the City of Goreville, Illinois cooperated and created an event that was welcoming, fun and educational. In addition, they provided perfect weather with the longest viewing time on earth!

The viewing experience was greatly enhanced by being with others who were also interested in the event, and receiving clear instructions about what to look for and when. Free glasses were available. I liked being told when to put glasses on and when I could remove them. Kudoos to the group that arranged this event! And even more amazing was the knowledge that we were sharing this phenomenon with countless spread across the country.

I loved talking with people from other places  from Madison  a professor of religion with her family ; from Detroit, a retired couple who worked for an oil company, from Chicago  Ed and his brother-in-law from Albany, N.Y. and nephew from Albuqueque, NM. He also brought great equipment for viewing. He made a special piece of equipment for capturing the suns shadow. Visitors came from as far away as Australia, Italy and Costa Rica..

Having the 44 individuals in the astronomy departments from the University of Illinois in Champaign and in Goreville instructing and answering questions was wonderful. I loved being able to chat with this friendly group and getting help with the telescope so I could photograph though the lens. (The telescopes had special filters). There were also activities for children, food that was aavailable, and real toilets.

Clear instructions about what would happen and what to look for were repeated over the loud speaker several times because when things begin to happen, many things happen quickly. The first change we noticed when the eclipse began, was the lengthening of shadows. Soon the wind picked up a little and the air quality changed so that it was harder to breathe. There was an erie quality to the light as we observed the 360 degree sunset.

I was surprised at how long it was light. It really didnt seem dark until the last sliver of the sun was covered. But, then, with glasses off, I looked at the sky an saw what appeared to be a blue circle around the rim of what had been the sun. This was in place for about 2 and a half minutes and then, suddenly, the diamond ring popped out and glasses went on, while the moon continued on its path across the sun. It was stunning.

It was over. We were awed. But it was time to head home. And now our story is less delightful. We found ourselves crawling along highway 57 such that, in 9 hours we had only gone one hundred and fifty miles. There was no highway supervision- no signs for alternate routes, no Police giving directions - very spotty internet service, no live radio announcements, and a road under construction with narrowed and merging lanes. There were no hotel rooms available anywhere along our route, so, eventually after torrential rains began, we, as many others, pulled our car into a lot near a closed restaurant, slept for a few hours. At daybreak the next day, we saw a fast food restaurant open across the street, got coffee, used the facilities and returned to a road that moved.. A woman in the long line at the restaurant wondered how she would convince her boss that the 5-hour trip really took her 15-hours. We wondered how we made it home. Goreville is planning for the next Eclipse in seven years. The experience was so incredible, we were grateful to have gone and might consider returning. Eclipses are addicting.

At the Adler Planetarium (Chicago) with Debra Davy -

On Tuesday, August 21st, the city of Chicago being the closest it has come to a total solar eclipse in 92 years, the Adler Planetarium- Americas first planetarium and dedicated to the study of astronomy and astrophysics- hosted Eclipse Fest. This reviewer arrived at 9am- the museum was to open at 9:30- and there was already a line 1 miles long to get free appropriate viewing glasses; the Adler gave away 250,000 pairs to protect the public prior to the eclipse. The mood was respectful, anticipatory and expectant; everybody I met was thoroughly engaged. The museum provided free general admission to check out exhibits including Chasing Eclipses, their newest enthralling and preparatory experience. There were indoor and outdoor activities and space on the lawns for all to participate.

Before the days events began, I spoke with Annie Vetter, Curator of Experience at the Adler. She worked on Chasing Eclipses, a fascinating display. The goal of the Adlers enormous efforts with regard to the eclipse, she said, is to inspire and encourage, to make people aware, to empower people to see and experience the eclipse for themselves. This is the first time since 1925 a total solar eclipse has come to Chicago. Usually, its difficult to see, for instance, the Milky Way because of light pollution. But with the eclipse we can connect with the sky. The Adler wanted to make this a free event with free glasses, and inside, live feeds of the whole eclipse.

Soon, the planetarium was filled both inside and out. Lying back on the grass outside, moments before it began at 11:54 am, subtle and unusual natural accompanying phenomena will be noted. The air is filled with dragonflies. As a creeping darkness in the right upper quadrant begins, a coolness descends. By 12:15 PM, the sun begins to appear like the Apple logo. Its quiet outside amidst the crowd on the northeast tip of Northerly Island on the shore of Lake Michigan. A penumbra and fingers of light penetrate the outline, even as blackness invades the orb. In Chicago, it reached maximum .89 magnitude at 1:19PM. Despite the overcast day, everybody is thrilled, speaks in hushed tones, and everybody stays for the full show.

The eclipse ended at 2:42 PM when the moon left the suns edge. Exiting the Adler campus at 2PM, walking up Solidarity Drive, packed with spectators, I was hailed by a cabdriver parked behind the shuttles. Ill turn off the meter if I can use your safety sunglasses. I demurred to the offer but handed him my pair. He leaned out the window to take in the sight. Soon we were approached by a policewoman; she asked, Can I see too? This had been an especially shared time in a very special city.

Photos: B.Keer unless otherwise noted.
Two California businesses  one a beloved national brand and the other an upstart in the states hottest sector  have teamed up for new product releases in two of the North Coasts top industries: beer and cannabis.

Lagunitas Brewing Co. last week released its SuperCritical Ale, a hoppy beer that is brewed with terpenes, aromatic compounds of essential oils that are extracted from some plants, including cannabis and hops. The brew, available only in select California locations for a limited time, contains no THC, the chemical that triggers psychoactive effects.

Lagunitas, based in Petaluma, received the terpenes from Santa Rosa-based CannaCraft Inc., a cannabis-extract manufacturing facility that has made a name for itself in the newly legalized industry despite being raided by police last year.

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In exchange, Lagunitas assisted CannaCraft in developing new vaping products for its AbsoluteXtracts line, which do contain THC. CannaCraft included terpenes that were derived from hops in the new products, with Lagunitas brewers providing guidance on obtaining a beer-like aroma for the high-inducing weed.

It should be available for sale in about five weeks, said Dennis Hunter, CannaCraft founder.

The collaboration is the latest example of businesses outside the cannabis sector exploring ways to take advantage of interest in marijuana, which becomes legal for recreational use Jan. 1.

According to estimates, Californias annual cannabis crop is worth $7 billion, making it the states most valuable agricultural crop.

A Santa Rosa symposium was held this month to explore opportunities for the wine industry to partner with cannabis producers. There, one brand  Legion of Bloom  introduced a sparkling wine infused with terpenes from a cannabis strain cultivated in the Russian River Valley. That product also did not contain THC.

Breweries and wineries have to walk a fine line, as cannabis is still illegal under federal law. Those businesses do not want to risk losing their federal license by selling marijuana on site or infusing a cannabis extract with THC in their product.

Still, the collaboration is a sign of businesses looking to capitalize on new interest in the cannabis industry, Hunter said: I think its going to open the door for partnerships and more business looking to our industry as a legal industry.

Lagunitas may have been a natural partner; it has had a stoner-friendly vibe since its founding in 1993. Its Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale commemorates a 2005 St. Patricks Day raid by state Alcohol Beverage Control agents to arrest employees smoking pot at the Petaluma plant.

Jeremy Marshall, the brewer for Lagunitas, said he valued working with CannaCraft, especially its high-tech labs that conduct the extraction process using pressurized carbon dioxide.

As beer drinkers want to explore the newest versions of hoppy India Pale Ales, Marshall said terpenes can play a valuable role in creating unique aromas and mouthfeels to a drink.

For SuperCritical, Marshall used terpenes from the Blue Dream and Girl Scout Cookie cannabis strains, which were combined with seven different hop strains. The beer registers 6.6% alcohol by volume, rather low for Lagunitas.

I think it will be no different than other mainstays in my spice rack I can use, Marshall said of terpenes.

Hunter said terpenes are an emerging cannabis category that is likely to grow in terms of marketplace acceptance. They could work especially well as an aroma and flavor enhancement for food, he said.

A few years ago ... it was hardly talked about, Hunter said of terpenes. Its the buzzword everywhere now.

Swindell writes for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat/McClatchy.
Some of Ubers biggest investors sparred again Thursday, filing court documents in a tit-for-tat fight that could determine who wins control of the ride-hailing giant in search of a new chief executive.

The first salvo of the day was fired by Benchmark Capital, which filed documents brushing aside Uber co-founder Travis Kalanicks response to a lawsuit brought against him by the powerhouse venture capital firm.

That was followed later in the day by Uber investors Shervin Pishevar and Steve Russell intervening in the Benchmark lawsuit against Kalanick.

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The moves raise the stakes at the company, which has been leaderless since Kalanick resigned under pressure in June after a series of controversies and missteps.

Benchmark filed its suit earlier this month, alleging that Kalanick in 2016 misled Uber into approving three new seats on the companys board of directors and granting him appointment powers.

In its court filings Thursday, Benchmark said Kalanick failed to disprove the firms claims he committed fraud and breached his fiduciary duty.

Mr. Kalanicks papers do not dispute the overwhelming factual basis for Benchmarks allegations that Mr. Kalanick committed fraud and breached fiduciary duties in connection with the 2016 stockholder vote that created the three board seats at issue, Benchmark said in the legal documents.

The filings come a week after Kalanick shot back at Benchmark, one of Ubers earliest investors, by calling its lawsuit against him a smear campaign and an ambush less than two weeks after his mothers funeral.

A spokesman for Kalanick, who wants the dispute to go to arbitration, again dismissed Benchmarks suit in a statement Thursday.

Benchmarks suit relies on meritless, personal attacks against Travis Kalanick that have no basis in law or fact, the statement said. Benchmarks shameful tactics and unfounded claims punish Uber, its employees and its investors at a critical time when the company most needs stability and leadership.

In its filings to the Delaware Chancery Court, Benchmark also reiterated its desire for a status quo order that would prevent Kalanick from filling two vacant board seats. Without it, the Menlo Park, Calif., venture capital firm argues Kalanick can interfere with Ubers high-profile search for a new CEO.

Meanwhile, Pishevar issued a scathing letter to Ubers board of directors, alleging Benchmark had abandoned its fiduciary duties.

We are seeking to intervene in the lawsuit because if Benchmark insists on trying to use the courts to try to take over this company, we are committed to doing everything we can to try to stop this abuse, Pishevar said, according to a letter obtained by Recode.

Pishevar and Russell accuse Benchmark of using dirty tactics to try and elect its preferred candidate for CEO, Meg Whitman. The current CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise has said she is not interested in being Kalanicks replacement.

Pishevar and Russell have advocated for Benchmark to reduce its holdings in Uber and to take its fight with Kalanick to arbitration.

david.pierson@latimes.com

Follow me @dhpierson on Twitter

UPDATES:

6:10 p.m.: This article was updated to include news of the actions of Shervin Pishevar and Steve Russell.

This article was originally published at 1:05 p.m.
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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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
The Note 8 features all Samsung's latest technologies, including a state-of-art stylus as well as facial and iris recognition. Although it lacks innovations, Samsung sees it as the culmination of its recent developments.

The Galaxy Note 8 is the successor to the combustible Note 7, which had to be taken out of production amid a worldwide scandal.

Samsung unveiled its latest flagship smartphone at a media event in New York on Wednesday, primed to compete head-on with Apple's latest iPhone set for release early next month.

It is Samsung's first smart device to feature dual cameras, with a 12 megapixel rear-mounted camera featuring zoom-in and telescopic functions.

It is almost identical in appearance to the S8, with a sleek edge-type screen sans home button on the front panel. The 6.3-inch screen is the biggest of any Samsung smartphone.

The company postponed the release to ensure all safety features were up to standards. The battery power has been reduced from the combustible component of the Note 7, but it claims this has not sacrificed usage time.

The release came about three weeks late this time. Samsung has tended to rush the launch of its Note series to get a head start on rival Apple.

A Samsung staffer said, "We did not pressure workers to meet tight release deadlines and told them to focus on safety. The success of the Note 8 is essential for us to regain the trust of our customers."
The bread and butter of the faith-based film genre is real-life stories, usually involving miracle healings or visions of Jesus himself, and often times both (Miracles From Heaven, 90 Minutes in Heaven).

But the filmmakers of faith-based projects have been expanding their purview, in terms of genre, and in telling stories that usually depict a contemporary, inclusive representation of Christianity. The story behind All Saints, written by Steve Armour and directed by Steve Gomer, manages to encompass all of the above.

The line between fiction and nonfiction is deliberately blurred in All Saints, which tells the true story of a church resurrected by unlikely saviors. The film was shot on location at the real All Saints Church in Smyrna, Tenn., and many members of the church play themselves on-screen. John Corbett brings his folksy charm to the role of the Rev. Michael Spurlock, who is tasked with putting a dying church out of its misery, its mortgage astronomical and membership dwindling. Its all set to become a big box store, but with a vision from God and a few dozen Burmese immigrants, Michael reverses course, reviving the institution from a certain termination.

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Nelson Lee plays Ye Win, an ethnically Karen man from Burma, a refugee from brutal civil war, who has just arrived with a group of families in the United States. Lacking support and resources, he turns up at All Saints church. When the needy Karen land on his doorstep, the rebellious Michael decides that he speaks to a higher power than money  and that God has instructed him to plant a farm on the church land to feed the Karen people and pay the mortgage.

All Saints is rather fascinating in its relationship to faith and religion. Its a film not so much about scripture as it is about community. The folks who need community the most cling to the church not necessarily for the prayers, but for the people. Though there are a few well-placed Bible verses, this story is about the purpose that a church serves to bring different kinds of people together and offer common goals, salvation and collective endeavors.

The cinematic execution of All Saints is serviceable at best. Its stilted at times, with too much dead air hanging around, and the stakes and roller coaster of ups and downs in the script often seem out of step with the emotion on-screen. There are high highs, low lows, and last-minute saves that seem amped up for cinematic purposes.

Corbett is impassioned as Michael, even when his shaggy-dog sensibility doesnt quite fit this part. Lee gives the best performance in the film as the stoic and striving Ye Win, searching not even for the American dream, but simply a place to call home. He bonds with cranky Vietnam vet Forrest (Barry Corbin) through their shared war experiences and offers Forrest the thing he needs the most: a friend.

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All Saints

Rating: PG, for thematic elements

Running time: 1 hour, 48 minutes

Playing: In general release

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Six minutes into Bushwick (after a three-minute-long shot of the Brooklyn skyline), its clear that the New York City borough is under attack.

The camera, which unflinchingly captures the action in a series of single takes, follows grad student Lucy (Brittany Snow) as she navigates the nearly unrecognizable streets of the titular neighborhood, newly transformed into a battlefield.

Its not until halfway through the film that we find out its actually Texas that is invading the urban neighborhood, which isnt often in the film and television spotlight and until now has been best known for its increasing gentrification and large population of hipsters.

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Theres this perception of the people there, that maybe these arent the real New Yorkers, noted Bushwick co-director Jonathan Milott. Were focusing on just one person in this borough that is not the main part of New York, we think its more interesting.

The film, which opens in Los Angeles on Friday, debuts less than two weeks after the Charlottesville, Va., unrest. With white supremacist rallies still planned in many cities across the country, its not so fantastical to imagine a second civil war erupting in 2017 America.

We caught up with Bushwick directors Cary Murnion and Jonathan Milott to talk about Charlottesville, the apocalypse and how Los Angeles might be affected by an all-out civil war.

Why Bushwick as the backdrop of this film?

Cary Murnion: Theres two main reasons. One was Id lived in Bushwick for five or six years back [around] 2007 and I love the neighborhood, I love the people. I think the people there would fight back if someone was trying to invade their neighborhood. So I thought it was a good setting for this kind of story. And strategically, if you were going to invade New York City, you wouldnt go right into the heart of Manhattan, you would find a soft spot first, put down your forces, get yourself ready and then try to surround Manhattan. Also, theres not many films that are actually set in the boroughs and that was another reason why we thought itd be more interesting. I dont think much of Brooklyn, and especially Bushwick, has ever been seen in a film this sort of way.

Why do you think so many apocalyptic films are framed around New York?

CM: It really is a true melting pot of people so I think there are lots of different perspectives and different stories you can tell.

Jonathan Milott: And its just the reality, theres a reason why the 9/11 attack happened in New York City and Washington, D.C.

CM: Washington, D.C., is obviously the capital of the United States, but New York City is kind of thought of as representative of the United States. As in, if you can take down New York City, you can take down the rest of the country.

How do you think Los Angeles would be affected in this hypothetical world?

CM: With the whole state of California being almost the model state of liberals, to take Los Angeles would be representative of taking down California. And also taking down Hollywood would be huge because I think thats what theyd think of as [the place responsible for] getting the message out to liberals through movies.

How relevant does this film feel in the wake of Charlottesville?

CM: Its scarily relevant. We started this movie we filmed it in 2015. We started thinking about this movie back in 2009 when [then-Gov.] Rick Perry made this horrible statement where he thought Texas should secede from the United States. So weve been thinking about this for a long time. Back when we started it, we thought of it as a far out kind of idea. Like a big what if, a huge what if. And now it seems very close to reality. So its sad.

JM: And even though we definitely set out to make an action movie that is entertaining, the way we filmed it with long takes, the way we concluded it, we purposely made decisions along the way to try not to glorify violence. To try to have an anti-violence message that maybe is not hitting you over the head like an antiwar film.

CM: Wed hoped that the movie would be more of a cautionary tale, because in the end of our movie theres no winners. We hoped to at least communicate that violence begets violence and its not a means to an end. Seeing what happened in Charlottesville is a perfect example of what happens when violence explodes and people take it to the extremes. And I think its good to have a movie that can be an outlet to experience that, but its also sad that its happening right in our backyard.

Do you think that people still have an appetite for political thrillers when they can get their share of anxiety from the news?

CM: I think that [question] came out with Detroit because Ive heard how amazing that movie is and yet people arent going out to see it. Hopefully [our movie] has enough of that escapism where it is an action movie first with political undertones that goes along with it. I dont think its overt. I think this movie is a reflection of the times but hopefully its a movie that will live on past this time.

JM: We have our own political opinions, but we tried to keep [the film] a little bit more of a question that were raising for people. So no matter what side youre on, if you watch this, hopefully you come away with more questioning of this type of action, this type of violence, as opposed to preaching one way or the other.

The film calls to mind post-apocalyptic media like The Walking Dead, The Purge and Call of Duty. What films, shows or other forms of media informed this portrayal?

CM: Video games werent something that we specifically referenced. In terms of other films, one of the big references for us was Children of Men, with not only the long-take stuff but just the fact of taking what is essentially a sci-fi idea and trying to ground it and make it something that you can actually believe. And then stylistically its nothing like it, but Gravity was another one where were following two people who are put into a very extreme situation and they have to figure out how to get through it piece by piece.

JM: With Walking Dead its kind of similar in that the characters are unaware of whats going on. In Walking Dead, when Rick comes out of his coma and nobody is around, he has to kind of figure things out himself, which I think mirrors what were doing. When youre on the ground in this type of situation, things are not as obvious as they might seem and I think thats something we wanted to address with our characters. There is confusion, there are no easy answers, you dont know who to trust, and in fact you cant really trust anybody. So there are some interesting parallels.

What was the thought process behind the single-shot style of shooting?

CM: To immerse the audience in this neighborhood, to really make you feel like youre with Lucy the whole time. We wanted you to feel like youre in Brooklyn and experiencing this like Lucy did. The second reason is  the way not to glorify violence is to let the takes play out. Its not going to always be pretty, its not going to always be perfect and its going to be messy.

JM: I think its another aspect that might be a little bit different from your typical action movie because usually youd shoot somebody and youd cut away. Whereas with this, if someone gets shot or someone gets hurt, youre just stuck with that and you have to see how they deal with the repercussions of that. It makes it more tangible in a way.

CM: We also thought it would be a fun ride in the sense of this intense experience that doesnt give you a break. I think theres nine hard cuts in the film total and we feel like that was the maximum that we needed to give people a kind of little bit of respite from this experience. We wanted to keep them on edge for the whole time.

sonaiya.kelley@latimes.com

follow me on twitter @sonaiyak
The urban action movie Bushwick, filmed to look mostly like one long take, is 90 minutes of real time that feels like five minutes of story and eighty-five minutes of Why am I following these people and their every walking/running step?

When college student Lucy (Brittany Snow), on her way home to the titular Brooklyn neighborhood, emerges from the Church Street subway station, she encounters a full-on street war complete with helicopters, explosions and black-clad paramilitary figures shooting civilians. Escaping certain death, she stumbles into the home of janitor and ex-Marine Stupe (Dave Bautista), who reluctantly takes her along as they search for family and seek answers about this mysterious hostile takeover.

Realistically depicting full-scale domestic terrorism is one thing, but directors Cary Murnion and Jonathan Milott seem unaware of how their long-take gimmick  the cuts are easily determined  destroys logic, emboldens the use of stereotypes, and kills suspense.

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Bautistas gruff, stolid character has a certain rugged authenticity, but its a head-scratcher in this day and age that a movie about what turns out to be a race war invasion on a multi-ethnic enclave is told through the eyes of a white protagonist. The end of civilization has been yawn-worthy for a while now in expensive blockbusters, so its dispiriting when plucky indie filmmakers with digital toys want their shot at empty spectacle, too.

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Bushwick

Running time: 1 hour, 33 minutes

Not rated

Playing: Laemmle Monica Film Center, Santa Monica; AMC Dine-In Sunset 5, West Hollywood

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calendar@latimes.com
The cowboy on horseback. The farmer amid endless fields of grain. The fisherman standing on the prow of his boat. Could there be more classic American images than these?

But what about the people behind these images? Are they as stereotypical as people imagine, especially where conservation is concerned? The documentary Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman examines that question and comes to some unexpected conclusions.

Co-directed by doc veterans Susan Froemke (who for many years worked for Maysles Films) and John Hoffman and playing for an Oscar-qualifying week before running on Discovery, Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman is an involving film that tells a more complicated story than its unexciting title would indicate.

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Two centuries ago, were informed, 80% of Americans worked in these kinds of jobs. Now it is 1% of the population that manages two-thirds of our land.

The standard notion, as the directors say in a press statement, is that real Americans, the ones who run the tractors and barges and fishing boats, who go to church and town meetings, are hostile to the values of environmentalism because the work many of them do, producing food at industrial scale, is inherently destructive of nature.

Benefiting from the access of writer Miriam Horn, who wrote a book with the same title, the filmmakers have found that an opposing trend exists.

Focusing on a group of what they call heartland conservationists, individuals who are determined to preserve natural resources because they see that philosophy not as a threat to their livelihood but as a way to preserve it for future generations.

Making this case most specifically is rancher and former rodeo champion Dusty Crary, whose family has run a sizable ranch on the same land outside Choteau, Mont., since the 1930s.

With his ranch being close to the Rocky Mountain Front, considered the largest unaltered land mass in the lower 48 states, Crary is acutely aware that this isnt guaranteed to stay this way. But I wouldnt be much of a man if I didnt feel obligated to keep that intact for everybody.

In the early 1980s, in response to the OPEC oil crisis, the Bureau of Land Management issued 43 oil and gas leases on the land, a threat that united Crary and his neighbors in a quest to protect the areas pristine character.

Not all the local people agreed with the protection notion, and Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman allows folks who wonder how much land do we need to save? to have their say.

But finally, the desire to leave this country the way it was created sways more individuals than not. As one supporter puts it, if we diminish these areas, we take something from the psyche of the American people thats irreplaceable.

Half a continent away, the filmmakers pick up the story of Justin Knopf, the fifth generation of a family to grow wheat on a 4,000-acre farm in Salina, Kan.

But just because, as he says, were not a small organic farm does not mean Knopf is unconcerned about conservation. We dont have the luxury to forsake the environment, he says, though what that means specifically is inevitably different than what it means in Montana.

In an area where residents remember stories of how topsoil erosion led to the Dust Bowl, being proactive in preventing a repetition is a top priority.

Which is how Knopf became a believer in no-till farming, a system of working with nature and not against it by using crop rotation and regenerative planting instead of a plow.

Looking at one of the last native prairies, one farmer comments, its been undisturbed since Jesus walked the Earth. Once you kill it, its gone forever.

Louisiana fisherman Wayne Werner, the films third protagonist, faces a similar threat. The mighty red snapper, the signature fish in Werners Gulf of Mexico home waters, has been so overfished that its in danger of depletion.

Out of desperation as much as anything else, Werner and his fellow fishermen began talking to environmentalists, and out of those discussions came the notion of tailoring a quota to each fisherman.

Though some conflicts with sport fishing advocates still remain, Werner sees this plan as a common-sense solution. The films notion that these kinds of remedies can find receptive ears is welcome news indeed.

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Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman

No rating

Running time: 1 hour, 43 minutes

Playing: Laemmle Monica, Santa Monica

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kenneth.turan@latimes.com

@KennethTuran
On a rainy summer afternoon, Ilana Glazer is huddled under the awning of a Brooklyn cafe. Clad in a black raincoat, jeans and a pair of clogs, shed suggested meeting here to talk about the new season of her show, Broad City, but it turns out its closed. Glazers backup plan, a coffee shop around the corner, is quickly deemed too loud.

Finally, she settles on a mostly empty bar down the block. After some fussing with her iPhone, Glazer summons her creative partner, Abbi Jacobson, via FaceTime from Los Angeles. Parked in front of her laptop in an anonymous Airbnb rental, Jacobson looks cozy in a white sweatshirt.

Glazer orders some fries  theyre insane, she promises  a plate of $1 oysters and a side of pickles and has just begun talking about Season 4 when something catches Jacobsons eye.

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Sorry -- time out, says a suddenly animated Jacobson, 33. Great ear story.

Oh my goodness, thank you, replies Glazer, 30, cocking her head to display the story in question: three hoop earrings dangling from her right lobe. Im telling a new ear story.

I never get a new ear story, says Jacobson with feigned jealousy.

To viewers of Broad City, the enthusiastic banter is a familiar scene. The buddy comedy, which returns to Comedy Central Sept. 13 after an unusually long hiatus, follows the New York misadventures of twentysomething best friends Abbi Abrams and Ilana Wexler -- younger, slightly exaggerated versions of co-creators Jacobson and Glazer.

Actors Ilana Glazer, left, and Abbi Jacobson of Comedy Centrals Broad City. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

In a comedy tradition dating back to Lucy and Ethel, the women are a study in contrasts. Ilana is the hypersexual, supremely self-confident free spirit with an outrageous wardrobe and vague professional aspirations, while Abbi is the slightly more reserved one, a struggling illustrator who worships Oprah Winfrey and has a paralyzing crush on her cute neighbor. Both are enthusiastic pot smokers. A recurring motif depicts the friends, whose apartments are separated by an annoyingly long subway ride, discussing the minutiae of their lives via FaceTime.

Whats keeping the two apart in real life isnt the logistics of New York City public transportation, but rather their busy professional lives. Jacobson is on the West Coast working on Disenchantment, an animated series created by Matt Groening for Netflix. Glazer, who was recently seen in the bachelorette comedy Rough Night, is hunkered down in New York prepping a stand-up tour that begins in November.

In the 3 1/2 years since its debut, Broad City has become a critical darling, winning praise for its distinctive blend of outrageousness and heart. In a sign of Broad Citys importance to Comedy Central, the series was renewed for Seasons 4 and 5 before Season 3 even aired. While same-day ratings are relatively modest, the show draws a healthy weekly audience of 4.3 million viewers. And like many of the inventive, quasi-autobiographical comedies to which it compares  Louie, Girls, Atlanta  Broad Citys cultural influence far outweighs its Nielsen performance.

It has not only invaded the lexicon (see the sudden ubiquity of Ilanas catchprase, Yasss, Queen) but also attracted a cameo by Hillary Clinton in a bid to impress millennial voters.

Once unknowns who started making Broad City as a Web series after failing to make the house improv team at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, Glazer and Jacobson have since become fixtures on late-night couches and magazine covers alike. And while the characters they play may be maturing at a comically slow pace, Jacobson and Glazer have grown measurably as artists  not only taking over the reins of Broad City as showrunners but branching out into directing, producing, books, podcasts, stand-up and other creative pursuits.

For fans of Abbi and Ilanas high jinks, its been an especially long 17 months without Broad City on the air. Initially, Glazer and Jacobson had asked to delay production of Season 4 in order to film during the winter. Previous seasons had all been set in the summer, and they reasoned that a show about the humiliations of life in New York would be incomplete without depicting the cruelty of the citys colder months.

Things didnt necessarily work according to plan.

For the most part it was sadly, like, extremely, scarily warm, says Glazer, taking a sip of her Arnold Palmer. But it was, like, emotional winter.

ADDING THE CURRENT MOOD TO A NEW SEASON

In case theres any doubt, she is referring to the aftermath of the presidential election, which fell in the middle of a planned break in the writing of Season 4. Regrouping in December, Jacobson and Glazer rewrote several episodes and tweaked details of others to reflect the current mood. (For instance, Ilanas bedroom wall is now covered in Planned Parenthood posters.)

The way we were feeling was just so overwhelming that it felt like it had to be infused into the show as an overall undertone.  Abbi Jacobson

The way we were feeling was just so overwhelming that it felt like it had to be infused into the show as an overall undertone, explains Jacobson. As if on cue, a news alert on her computer announces the latest Trump administration controversy, a press conference at which the president seemed to backpedal from his earlier denunciation of white supremacists.

He said, What, are we gonna take down George Washington monuments next? I dont know what the ... is happening, she says wearily.

While Broad City, executive produced by Amy Poehler, is more about ridiculous capers than hot-button issues, it has an exuberant feminist streak evident in Abbi and Ilanas steadfast friendship and a raunchy brand of body-positivity. Storylines revolve around mishaps like warping a prized dildo in the dishwasher or getting stuck on a long flight without a tampon. The duo also famously insisted that the pixels used to censor Ilanas nether regions in one episode be dark, suggesting the presence of pubic hair, rather than flesh-toned.

Their response to Donald Trumps victory is in keeping with this spirit. In an early episode from the new season, Ilana realizes with horror she hasnt had an orgasm since Nov. 8. She seeks the help of a sex therapist modeled after Betty Dodson, famed for running workshops in which women look at their vaginas with mirrors -- the perfect resistance art, says Glazer.

Ilanas orgasm drought felt like a very organic, emotional way of talking about how were all feeling in response to the election, says Jacobson.

Trumps name is also bleeped like a curse word throughout the episode, a decision reached following conversations about how are we gonna talk about this and not feel disgusting every time we say Trump, Glazer says. This was a smaller, graspable joke that played on bigger questions. Not saying his name makes it feel a little bit better, she continues, noting how former First Lady Michelle Obama criticized Trump on the campaign trail without mentioning him directly.

The show has a spirit and an energy to it that embraces everything you could say about Abbi and Ilana.  Comedy Central President Kent Alterman

The show has a spirit and an energy to it that embraces everything you could say about Abbi and Ilana. Its really funny, its really engaging, its really winning, and its also very political and has a strong point of view, says Comedy Central President Kent Alterman. Id put it this way: there is no other reaction to the election like this one. It hits the target so hard.

COMING INTO THEIR OWN AS STORYTELLERS

Broad Citys singular response to Trump reflects Jacobson and Glazers increased self-assurance as storytellers, Alterman says. After co-creating the series, the duo took over as showrunners in Season 2 and, in a further extension of their stewardship of Broad City, each directed two episodes this season.

Its a whole other part of this storytelling that Ive always been really interested in. I feel like this was the right time to do it, says Jacobson, who also recently hosted a contemporary art podcast called A Piece of Work.

Glazer agrees: It felt clicked in and self-actualized  like oh, this is the final step in how the show is meant to run.

More of a creative challenge for Glazer and Jacobson is that while their alter egos are struggling unknowns  the era when they might have thrown a house party in order to pay for a rat exterminator, as their alter egos did last season are well behind them  they no longer are. Jacobson concedes that coming up with the shows signature broke, scheming storylines is definitely more difficult than it once was, but says they havent exhausted all the down-and-out tales from their 20s  at least not yet.

The friends have committed to at least one more season of Broad City, but the future of the series beyond that is an ongoing conversation. I dont think wed ever want to do it past a point where every episode was our baby, which they still are, Jacobson says.

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour 

meredith.blake@latimes.com

Follow me @MeredithBlake

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Taxiing with a three-tier approach, United Airlines has called upon Brooks Brothers, Tracy Reese and Carhartt to create new uniforms.

Each of the three companies is helping to design new outfits for 70,000 staffers. The company expects to roll out its employees new look in 2020. Reese and design teams at Brooks Brothers and Carhartt have already gotten started by meeting with Uniteds workers in recent months in its U.S. hubs. A spokeswoman said its too soon to provide details of what the uniforms will look like.

In addition, TUMI will be the official luggage provider for the airlines 24,000 flight attendants, offering them the option of a two-wheel or four-wheel bag.

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To offer a more diverse selection, United did its own in-house research before deciding on the three brands. Focus groups, open houses and surveys were conducted to get a better handle on the different needs for employees.

Nearing its 200th anniversary, the classic American label Brooks Brothers is designing and manufacturing uniforms for all United pilots, male flight attendants and male customer service representatives. This is the first time the company has worked with an airline, a company spokeswoman said Thursday.

Brooks Brothers will also be manufacturing Reeses designs for female flight attendants and female customer service representatives. Zac Posen, Brooks Brothers creative director of womens wear, will not be involved with the project. Interestingly, Posen has his own expertise in airline uniform design. Last fall Delta unveiled his creations for its front-line employees.

Carhartt, another brand with a long heritage  130 years  will suit up the ramp service and technical operations workers and catering employees. Cintas will be responsible for the distribution of Carhartt garments as well as providing a select number of employee-favored items. Cintas designed the most recent incarnation of Uniteds uniforms, which were introduced in 2013. The airline also worked with Cynthia Rowley briefly in 2011 and some of her designs were incorporated into the 2013-released uniforms, a United spokeswoman said.

Known for her signature rich colors and prints, Tracy Reese said, For me as a designer, there is no prouder moment than seeing amazing women wearing my designs while accomplishing the many important endeavors required of each day. I look forward to continuing the United tradition of excellence and style with some added Tracy Reese flair.

Given the inevitable weather delays, mechanical hold-ups and serpentine security lines that are part of air travel, United staffers will at times be showing their new uniforms to a captive audience.

United Airlines and United Express run about 4,500 flights daily in 338 airports across five continents. Last year alone more than 143 million customers flew United and United Express.

Lisa Lockwood also contributed to this article.

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Are we experiencing a golden age of the Los Angeles cookbook? We just might be. Over the last few years, there have been so many cookbooks from L.A. chefs and food writers that they would easily fill a shelf in your cookbook library. And this year is no different: Rustic Canyon executive chef Jeremy Fox published On Vegetables in April, which was soon followed by Nguyen Trans Adventures in Starry Kitchen and Bill Esparzas L.A. Mexicano. This fall, Josef Centenos Baco: Vivid Recipes from the Heart of Los Angeles will hit the market, as will books from chefs Wes Avila and Kris Yenbamroong, who run Guerrilla Tacos and Night + Market, respectively. Actually, youll probably need two shelves.

That there are now this many cookbooks showcasing this range of L.A. cooking is striking. While Altadena-based independent press Prospect Park Books has been distributing and publishing local cookbooks for a decade, major publishing houses have expressed this level of interest in L.A. dining only relatively recently. Scroll back a decade, and outside a handful of very well-established chefs  Wolfgang Puck, Nancy Silverton, Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Miliken  national publishers didnt pay as much attention to the food of L.A. as they did to the food of other major cities.

I feel L.A. has traditionally been an underpublished area, says Ten Speed Press executive editor Jenny Wapner, who acquired Guerrilla Tacos. But book publishing has to work in tandem with all the other media. We had to wait for L.A. to be a nationally recognized food city in the way that New York and San Francisco are. You cant just do a book in a vacuum; you have to wait for the stars to align.

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The stars have aligned because the national media has (belatedly) become aware  and respectful  of L.A.s food culture. In the last three years, the city has been named Americas Greatest Dining City (Eater), the Most Exciting Food City in America (GQ), the Best Eating City in America (Lucky Peach), one of the Best Food Cities in the World (Food & Wine), among various other superlative accolades. Undeniably, Wapner says, L.A. is having a moment right now.

For local chefs too, the timing was right.

Centeno was approached to write a cookbook a few years ago, but it wasnt until 2015 that he decided to ink a deal. By that time, he was 3 years into running his restaurant Baco Mercat in the Historic Core. It just felt like the right time. We either had to jump at the opportunity now, while someone was interested, or it was going to pass, he says. He also wanted to document this particular moment in downtowns history, to capture at least one small part of it, he says, Because everything here is changing so fast.

Avila says he had been interested in writing a cookbook, but didnt feel ready until recently. By the time I was approached to write Guerrilla Tacos, I felt like I had enough recipes, he says.

That said, editors are not greenlighting book proposals based just on the fact that L.A. is part of the national food conversation. A books ability to reach to a wide audience is a factor  and crucially, so is the authors voice and story.

Voice was certainly a consideration for Wapner, who says Avila is one of the most dynamic and compelling people Ive ever talked to. Clarkson Potter editor-at-large Francis Lam says he was drawn to Night+Market in part because of Yenbamroongs story of growing up in a restaurant family and absorbing the citys flavors. People really want a sense of a person, and I think Kris book delivers on that, Lam says.

Individually, these chefs tell fascinating stories of self-discovery; place their books side by side and a map of Southern California cooking emerges, one that reflects a diversity not often found in earlier generations of L.A. cookbooks.

In L.A. Mexicano, for instance, Esparza takes us from Costa Mesa to Sherman Oaks as he explores Mexican cooking in Southern California. And the energy of Avilas book shifts depending on whether hes making tacos in Pico Rivera or street taters in the Arts District.

That didnt happen on purpose, Avila says, about how L.A. plays out in the pages of Guerrilla Tacos. But as we were writing it, the city just naturally became part of the book. L.A. is almost like a third author.

This sense of place raises timely themes.

We certainly didnt intend this to be political, but wow, says Prospect Park Books publisher Colleen Dunn Bates, who began work on L.A. Mexicano before the presidential election in November. This book took on a political overtone that I never thought of when we started. Every single one of the stories starts with immigration. And that was not intended.

These narratives reflect the history of Los Angeles  and of the country as well. At any other time, these cookbooks would resonate far beyond the city for that very reason, but theyre especially relevant now.

Along those lines, Lam sees Yenbamroongs story fitting into a larger discourse.

In a moment when were talking so much about immigrants and their place in our society, its incredibly exciting to talk to immigrants and children of immigrants who can speak about what they do and how they enrich our national culinary consciousness, he says.

The L.A. story is an American story.

Tien Nguyen is the co-author, with Roy Choi and Natasha Phan, of L.A. Son: My Life, My City, My Food.

food@latimes.com
For 46 hours, Andrew Hollands legs and arms were shackled to a chair in the San Luis Obispo County jail.

The inmate, who suffered from schizophrenia, was left in his own filth, eating and drinking almost nothing. He was naked, except for a helmet and mask covering his face and a blanket that slipped off his lap, exposing him to jail staff who passed by his glass-fronted cell.

When he was finally unbound, guards dumped him to the floor of a nearby cell. Within 40 minutes, he had stopped breathing.

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Carty and Sharon Hollands son Andrew Holland died in January in the San Luis Obispo jail after spending 46 hours strapped, naked, in a restraint chair. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Hollands death Jan. 22 has provoked outrage in the Central Coast county, a record $5-million legal settlement, and questions about the way California jails handle a sharp increase in the number of mentally ill inmates.

The surge in inmates requiring psychiatric care follows changes to California sentencing laws meant to reduce the state prison population, shifting offenders to county jails built to house those awaiting trial or serving short sentences rather than provide intensive, long-term care. At the same time, mental health experts say, an acute shortage of long-term care facilities makes it more likely that patients will experience a crisis that ends in their arrest, turning jails into the mental health centers of last resort.

After nearly three decades of federal litigation to establish that psychiatric care in prison is a constitutional right, advocates for the mentally ill now find themselves starting over. Unlike the centralized state prison system, counties operate independently and jail standards have few specific requirements. Mental health experts say most counties are ill-prepared for the challenge.

From 2012 to 2016, jails in California reported a 30% jump  from 13,270 to 17,350  in the number of inmates identified as needing mental health services, according to the California Board of State and Community Corrections.

In 2015, Disability Rights California, an advocacy group that inspects detention centers, inspected jails in three counties  Sacramento, Santa Barbara and Sonoma  and reported shortfalls in them all, including excessive use of solitary confinement. Too often, jailers rely on isolation units to deal with prisoners afflicted with psychotic episodes or suicidal thoughts, said the organizations counsel, Aaron Fischer.

You can throw people in safety cells and take away their clothes, but its not treatment and its cruel, he said.

Photos of Andrew Holland. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Other counties, including Riverside, Fresno and Yuba, are embroiled in litigation alleging inadequate treatment for mentally ill inmates. In Marin, the countys grand jury recently criticized the practice of holding mentally ill inmates in isolation cells for more than 24 hours, a treatment the panel said courts have ruled is cruel and unusual punishment.

In Santa Clara, three guards were recently convicted of second-degree murder for killing an inmate who suffered from bipolar disorder. And in Los Angeles County, home of the nations largest jail system, a federal monitor is overseeing efforts to address a previous surge in suicides, physical abuse of inmates and poor mental health treatment.

Hollands death was one of three in nine months at the San Luis Obispo jail, including one inmate who slashed his arm with a razor blade. County grand jurors reviewing jail practices said they could not evaluate the role of mental healthcare in the deaths because the sheriff would not release medical records.The panel called for an independent investigation.

About 260 of the jails 600 inmates receive treatment for mental illness, according to the county.

Holland, a frequent inmate at the jail, had been incarcerated since September 2015 after a public disturbance in a city park led to his arrest for battling with local police. He faced additional charges for allegedly attempting to headbutt jailers, but the most recent of those charges was postponed in early January by a judge who ordered Holland sent to a psychiatric facility to be stabilized for competency to stand trial.

He was not moved. Instead, Holland remained in an isolation cell for 10 days until he was moved to a restraint chair when deputies saw him repeatedly strike himself in the face and head.

Though some departments cap the use of a chair restraint to two hours, the Sheriffs Department policy allowed jailers to restrain inmates for up to 16 hours. The county has never explained why Holland was restrained for nearly two days.

A sheriff-coroners report concluded he died from a pulmonary embolism. A private autopsy conducted for Hollands family went further, linking the embolism to deep vein thrombosis, the likely result of a blood clot in the leg caused by long immobility.

An FBI spokeswoman said agents launched a civil rights investigation into the countys jail as a result of Hollands death.

San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson declined to discuss Hollands case but in a statement said the inmate suffered from a level of mental illness that could not be adequately addressed in county jail. At a county board meeting this week, the sheriff and county mental health director conceded that jailers had been told there was no room for Holland at the countys 16-bed psychiatric facility even though space became available. Jailers did not administer involuntary medication, despite a court order permitting it.

They attributed Hollands death to poor communication.

Sharon Holland, left, and husband Carty look over photos and letters written by their son Andrew Holland. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

The county said it has made sweeping changes that include discontinuing use of the restraint chair, making it easier to move inmates quickly to psychiatric facilities and improving training for jailers. Inmates will no longer spend more than 72 hours in an isolation cell, the county said.

Officials declined to say whether any jail staff have been disciplined.

Hollands parents, Sharon and Carty, said they learned the full extent of their sons ordeal only after they hired experts and investigators and watched jail surveillance recordings that captured his final two days.

They said their sons mental health deteriorated in jail without proper care, and that they were refused permission to visit him or to pay so that he could receive his usual medication.

The Hollands hired Dr. Homer Venters, former chief medical officer of New Yorks city jails, who toured the San Luis Obispo jail in June in preparation for litigation. Venters concluded the jail has no treatment facilities for mentally ill inmates. Five months after Hollands death, he wrote, the jail still relied on isolation as a primary response to mental health exacerbation.

The surveillance video, Hollands parents said, contradicts the Sheriffs Department version of their sons death, including the contention that jailers checked their restrained son twice every 30 minutes and regularly provided food, water and medical checks.

The Hollands, who watched the video, said they were struck by the number of jail staff who walked past their son, his head at times slumped to his chest, without taking notice of his condition.

How could they treat my son as though he werent even human? asked Sharon Holland. I began to feel so sorry for them. They were less human than he was.

Brian Hedley, a private investigator hired by the family, said he viewed the full recordings and that Holland appeared to be offered food only twice, and water infrequently.

The county reached the legal settlement with the Hollands before they filed a claim or lawsuit. The couple said county officials told them that the $5 million was the largest pre-litigation jail settlement in state history.

The county has refused to make the video public, but The Times viewed portions of the recordings and obtained Hollands jail medical records.

Holland grew up in San Luis Obispo County, a building contractors son who spent his summers surfing. Symptoms of schizophrenia appeared when he was a teen, and he eventually started using illegal drugs.

He was jailed seven times over 10 years. Holland could be calm and passive when fully medicated but at other times was unpredictably violent, regarded by jail staff as a full-restraint inmate with a history of sucker punching, according to jail records.

He was often held in isolation for weeks, shocked by a Taser or doused with pepper spray. Twice in the month before his death jailers restrained him with a body binding system jailers call the Wrap.

How could they treat my son as though he werent even human?  Sharon Holland, whose son Andrew died in the San Luis Obispo County jail

Hollands condition deteriorated sharply in late November 2016 when, complaining of medication-induced muscle tremors, he stopped taking his pills.

On Jan. 20, he was in his isolation cell, smeared in his own feces, when jail staffers saw him repeatedly hit his head with his fists to the point he bled. Officers donned armor, preparing to force him out of the cell, but a family friend on staff talked Holland into cooperating.

The video shows Holland wheeled face-down on a gurney, arms chained to his waist behind his back, to a glass-fronted cell in a central area of the jail. There, jail logs state, a relatively compliant Holland was strapped into the restraint chair, his face obscured by a helmet and spit mask.

Jail staff entered his cell every few hours to massage his limbs to prevent blood clots. A mental health therapist wrote that Holland spit and cursed at them. The therapist said he repeatedly asked Holland to commit to not harming himself any further and when Holland refused, ordered he remain in the chair.

At several points, the blanket covering his lap fell, leaving his genitals exposed to anyone looking his way.

Those images are always going to be with me, Sharon Holland said, in that chair, people walking by him and not helping him. Not paying any attention to him.

And the very strange thing is, she said as her voice cracked, because I hadnt seen him in so long, in some ways, even those images are dear.

After nearly two days, Holland agreed not to harm himself. Within half an hour he was removed from the chair.

Two female inmates were brought in to mop up his urine and feces while Holland was placed, still naked, on the floor of the adjacent cell.

For the next half hour, the video shows jail staff visible through the cells glass front as Holland attempted to stand, collapsed and sprawled on the ground. He lay on his back with an arm resting on his head. Finally, the arm fell to the floor and he stopped moving.

Only then did jailers enter.

As emergency medical technicians perform CPR, the video shows deputies and two nurses standing by, watching. A deputy behind them turns his head toward someone off screen, laughing.

For updates and more, follow @paigestjohn.

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Californias proposed plan to satisfy a major federal education law is falling short, according to a new report.

While the report by the Boston-based nonprofit Bellwether Education Partners praises the states Every Student Succeeds Act plan for using multiple signs of student performance and employing up-to-date tests, it highlights the plans lack of detail about how it will identify and help low-performing schools.

The current method of measuring growth does not actually capture individual students improvement over time, the report states.

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President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015 to replace the No Child Left Behind Act. Where the much-criticized former act took a prescriptive, test-score-based approach to grading schools, ESSA gives states more agency to design their own systems.

Californias State Board of Education spent months soliciting feedback and fine-tuning its plan. Gov. Jerry Brown must now review the plan before a Sept. 18 submission deadline.

Four education experts looked at the states plan for Bellwether, which aims to help educational organizations become more effective. The report was written in partnership with the Collaborative for Student Success, a Virginia nonprofit that promotes high academic standards. Here are two problems they found:

1) Inadequate identification of underperforming schools

The law requires states to use academics and other factors to assess schools, and says that states must identify its bottom 5% of schools serving low-income students and intervene to improve them. It is largely up to states to determine which schools are in that bottom tier.

But according to the report, Californias plan doesnt clearly state how it will do that.

California plans to use ratings on the School Dashboard  a color-coded school grading tool  to identify its lowest-performing schools: On the Dashboard, red is the color denoting lowest performance. Orange is the next lowest color. In Californias plan, those deemed either red across all measures or all red with one orange category will be flagged. But by that criteria, the state will be able to identify only one-third of the schools that would make up the lowest 5%.

The State Board of Education this summer deferred until January a final decision on how to identify the rest of the bottom 5%.

The Bellwether report said its hard to know how the different factors schools are graded on  such as academics and suspension rates  will come together to differentiate good and bad schools. The report also said that the Dashboard could hide some schools underperformance. A school, for example, could fall outside the bottom category if it had poor ratings for its academics and graduation rate but better ones for such factors as suspension rate.

2) Lack of specifics on required intervention

The report dings the state plan for not specifying how districts and the state would intervene to improve underperforming schools.

The states plan would be greatly improved by including more details about its system of supports and interventions, including the timing of any interventions, the funding allocated to low-performing schools, and any actions the state takes if district-level improvement efforts prove ineffective, the report states.

Bellwether also criticizes the state plan for being unclear about what a school has to do to no longer be considered underperforming. As currently proposed, schools could potentially exit improvement status without making any improvements, the report states. Rather than having a clear target, schools will be left to guess about what level of performance will be good enough in future years.

David Sapp, deputy policy director and assistant legal counsel for the California education board, questioned the reports conclusions. Sapp said the report wrongly suggests that because something isnt mentioned in the states ESSA plan, the state isnt doing it.

It isnt an accurate or fair portrayal of what California is doing, he said.

The report, for example, criticizes California for not using a system that tracks individual students progress, Sapp said. But he said the state Board of Education has indicated that it intends to create such a system by next fall, in time for the first year that California plans to identify low-performing schools under ESSA.

Also, the state has its own school accountability system, the Local Control Funding Formula, with categories for identifying underperforming schools, he said. Were not going to include a whole bunch of stuff outside the scope of what the federal government is asking for.

California State Board of Education president Mike Kirst responded later Thursday with a detailed critique of the report. Among other issues he had with the report, he said that the Dashboard itself is clear enough and that the student-level growth metric is not required by the law itself.

To read the article in Spanish, click here

Joy.Resmovits@LATimes.com

@Joy_Resmovits

UPDATES:

4:15 p.m.: This article was updated to include a response from Mike Kirst.

This article was originally published at 1:50 p.m.
The California Supreme Court on Thursday made a key ruling in the long-running question over the states use of the death penalty.

The high court decided that a key provision in Proposition 66, last years ballot measure to speed executions, failed to impose strict deadlines for resolving death penalty appeals. The ruling left most of the initiative intact, and that could mean the resumption of executions.

Heres a review of the issue from the pages of The Times:

What is Proposition 66?

Sponsored by prosecutors, it would require courts to rapidly review death penalty appeals, force more criminal defense lawyers to represent death row inmates and remove public review requirements for the states lethal injection procedures.

California has the largest death row population in the country, with more than 740 inmates awaiting punishment after executions were suspended in 2006, when the states method for lethal injection was challenged in court. Their appeals go directly to the state Supreme Court and take an average of 25 years.

Proposition 66 would designate trial courts to take on some initial challenges to convictions and require appointed lawyers who dont typically take capital appeals cases to represent death row inmates. It also would require that the entire appeals process be limited to within five years of a death sentence.

What was the opposition to it?

Opponents of the death penalty sued to block Proposition 66 after the November election, in which the ballot measure gained 51% of the vote.

They argued it usurped the power of the judicial branch to run the courts and said Proposition 66 infringes on offenders rights and impairs the constitutional and inherent powers of the courts.

East Block houses most of the inmates on death row at San Quentin State Prison. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

What is the process for appealing a death sentence?

California law allows each person given the death penalty an automatic appeal and a separate habeas corpus challenge to the California Supreme Court.

The appeal is based on the written record of what happened at trial and could involve, for example, a challenge of a judges ruling on whether to admit evidence.

It can take a decade or longer for the California Supreme Court to rule on an automatic appeal.

Afterward, the court considers the inmates habeas challenge. That is based on events that were not reflected in the trial transcript, such as newly discovered evidence of juror misconduct.

The gurney inside the lethal injection chamber at San Quentin State Prison hasnt been used since 2006. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Why has the death penalty in California been stalled for so long?

California has not executed an inmate since 2006 because of issues related to the lethal injection method used. Courts struck down Californias previous three-drug lethal injection method, and Gov. Jerry Browns administration did not propose a new protocol until last year.

Californias death row is the largest in the country, and more than 15 prisoners have exhausted their appeals and could be executed.

The inmates facing imminent execution are older than 50  one is approaching 80  and were condemned for crimes that took place decades ago.

With Thursdays ruling, Proposition 66 backers predict that executions would resume in months. But some are skeptical.

Kent Scheidegger, legal counsel for the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation and an author of Proposition 66, said that if the court decides appeals more quickly, we should see a very substantial speedup.

But Christina Von der Ahe Rayburn, who represented the challengers, said federal courts could delay the resumption of executions.

Nobody is going to be executed tomorrow, thank goodness, she said. But it does make executions more possible in the short term.

She noted that a federal judges legal hold on executions remains in force until the state devises a new lethal injection protocol the court can review.

The proponents prediction of executions occurring in months is overly optimistic on their part, she said.

I just cant imagine the federal case gets resolved that quickly, especially if it can go up on appeal, she said.
Premier Li Keqiang inspects the Ministry of Science and Technology on Aug 22, 2017. [Photo/China Daily]

Premier Li Keqiang called to further strengthen technological innovations to proceed with Chinas innovation-driven development and boost economic restructuring.

He spoke during an inspection at the Ministry of Science and Technology on Aug 22.

Innovation-driven development has made breakthroughs in a number of areas, playing a vital role in promoting stable economic growth and steadily increasing employment opportunities, Premier Li said when chairing a meeting at the ministry.

The Premier called for continuing supply-side structural reform by using innovation as a leading force to build China into a leader in innovation and technology. Noting an accelerated process of technological breakthroughs that could be industrialized, he said the country should boost the contribution rate of sciences and technologies to the level of national economic growth.

The country should establish an open platform for innovations and carry out the strategy of Made in China 2025 to advance customized and smart innovations, Premier Li said. Enterprises are encouraged to join in with basic research and to help transform technological achievements, he said. In addition, he wants to delegate more power to research institutions and universities in fields such as fund management and arouse enthusiasm among scientists and technologists.

Last year, China spent 1.55 trillion yuan ($231 billion) on research and development, accounting for 2.1 percent of the countrys GDP. Enterprises contributed more than 78 percent, Wan Gang, minister of science and technology, said at the meeting. More than 1 million effective patents were registered last year, ranking the country third globally, he said.

Meanwhile, the nation has made vast progress in innovating new technologies. The contribution rate of scientific and technological progress in the national economy rose to 56.2 percent last year, with world-leading technologies in areas such as high-speed railways, nuclear energy and mobile telecommunication, Wan said.

Before the meeting, the Premier visited the Torch High Technology Industry Development Center, an institution administered by the ministry to promote innovation incubators and small and medium-sized enterprises that are based on certain technologies.

Zhang Zhihong, the centers director, told the Premier that enterprises in high-tech zones spent 537 billion yuan on research and development last year while making an output value of 8.8 trillion yuan.

Premier Li encouraged employees at the center to deliver the torch of innovation across the country to benefit all people.

Technological innovation has become a vital way to achieve industrial upgrades and to support medium-and high-speed economic growth, said Zhou Zixun, a senior columnist at the China Economic Times newspaper in Beijing. Technological innovations also can help enterprises cut outdated production capacities and improve competitiveness, he said.

China ranked 20th in the Global Innovation Index last year. The country also ranks 17th in the national innovation index, the only developing country in the top 20 in technological innovation, according to a report released by the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development.
At a time when Jewish delicatessens are becoming as rare as Borscht Belt comics, Los Angeles noshers are being served another heaping helping of bad news.

Canters  the famed Fairfax Avenue deli and late-night hangout  was ordered closed this month for the first time in 20 years due to health code violations.

When it reopened three days later, the Los Angeles County Health Department had bestowed the restaurant with a less-than-stellar C grade.

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Food is again being served at Canters. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

The developments have prompted an outpouring of sadness from deli lovers.

There is no god, writer and comic John McKay said on Instagram. The 32-year-old West Hollywood resident said he and his friends had just eaten there a week before.

A C grade? Youve got to be kidding me, said Bruce Elliot, a 66-year-old San Fernando Valley native. Who gave it a C? They ought to be ashamed of themselves.

Meanwhile, Canters owners vowed to clean up their act.

We are just having some growing pains as we evolve, part-owner Dena Stein told The Times on Thursday. We wont let it happen again.

A health inspector visited the establishment Aug. 7, and while the bakery and deli received A grades, the restaurant did not.

Among other things, inspectors observed more than 10 cockroaches and 20 rodent droppings in restaurant storage areas, and more than 20 flies in the food preparation area, according to the health department. The inspector noted a total of 11 violations.

The health department describes vermin as a major critical violation that can lead to food-borne illness.

Because of that, the department ordered the Fairfax Avenue restaurant to close immediately.

The 24-hour restaurant reopened three days later on Aug. 10, after two follow-up inspections.

Although the bakery and deli earned A grades  those ratings are posted at Canters front door  the restaurant was given a score of 72.

Stein said the violations were found mostly in the basement and that they have all been corrected. The entire Canters family, which has owned this business for over four generations, takes this rating very seriously. We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience, she said.

Two weeks after the health department delivered its verdict, customers were bellying up to the restaurants polished wooden counters and booths as usual on Thursday.

To me its still an A, said Phil Zelznick, 68.

Canters Deli and the bakery both received A grades; the restaurant got a C. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Zelznick has been coming to Canters about once a month for more than 30 years, a tradition hes continued even after moving to Adelanto. He orders the corned beef or the smoked fish and usually takes a bag of bagels, pastries and more fish home to tide him over until the next trip.

He said he was unaware of the restaurants C grade, displayed as it was Wednesday at the entrance at the far end of the restaurant. But even if he had known, he wouldnt stop coming, he said. His father came here, and so did his cousin Harold, his aunt Eva and his uncle Mike. He says there are too few places like Canters left. He wants to help keep it alive.

Its a traditional Jewish deli. I was raised on this kind of food, but my kids dont come to places like this. Now these kind of places are closing all over, Zelznick said.

Fellow diner and friend Lance Kolin said he wasnt bothered by the temporary downgrade.

At 68, its too late to be worried about that kind of thing, Kolin said.

Traditional Jewish delicatessens have been struggling to stay afloat as their clientele ages and younger patrons seek out trendier food options. A surge in rental rates and food costs also forced some delis owners to rethink their business models.

In 2012, two longtime Southern California institutions  Juniors Deli in West Los Angeles and Jerrys Famous Deli in Costa Mesa  shut down following disputes over rent.

Canters has revamped its menu, added a food truck and stepped up its delivery service. But for the most part, the restaurant, founded in the 1930s, tries to offer the experience that Zelznick and others recall from their childhoods. At lunch Thursday, white-haired customers noshed on pastrami and read newspapers in the honeyed glow of illuminated ceiling tiles.

Carmen Davenport, 69, said shes been coming since she was 16. She gets the Danish and the potato salad and sometimes the corned beef. She heard about the C grade on the news, but she was undeterred.

I cant stop coming here, she said. I love this place.

She said the restaurants food has marked nearly every major event in her life. She was raised in the Fairfax District and remembers getting lunch at Canters when she worked as a hospice nurse nearby. Shes celebrated birthdays with her son and anniversaries with her husband here. A former waitress was her neighbor and their sons became friends.

I saw the C and thought, well Ill just give it a chance. Everybody needs a second chance.

veronica.rocha@latimes.com | @VeronicaRochaLA

frank.shyong@latimes.com | @frankshyong

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For the last two decades, UC Berkeley professor Daniel Kammen has served as a climate change advisor under Republican and Democratic presidents.

On more than one occasion, his views were at odds with the Clinton, George W. Bush or Obama administrations, but he believed his mission to mitigate the effects of climate change was more important than any political divide.

But President Trumps widely criticized remarks about racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Va., proved to be a breaking point, much as they did for a number of other White House advisors.

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In an open letter to the president, Kammen resigned as science envoy to the State Department on Wednesday morning. The first letter of each of the seven paragraphs spelled out the word I-M-P-E-A-C-H, a clear homage to members of the Presidents Arts Council who resigned last week in a letter with the word R-E-S-I-S-T spelled out in a similar manner.

The president was also forced to dissolve two economic advisory and manufacturing councils after the bulk of the business leaders attached to each panel stepped down following Trumps remarks that both sides were to blame for violence at a Charlottesville rally by white nationalists and that some very fine people were marching alongside neo-Nazis.

My decision to resign is in response to your attacks on core values of the United States, Kammen wrote. Your failure to condemn white supremacists and neo-Nazis has domestic and international ramifications.

Kammen, an energy expert who has served in various governmental roles since 1996, told The Times on Thursday that his decision to resign had been building since the president decided to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord, a move that put the administration at odds with the mainstream science community.

Mr. President, I am resigning as Science Envoy. Your response to Charlottesville enables racism, sexism, & harms our country and planet. pic.twitter.com/eWzDc5Yw6t  Daniel M Kammen (@dan_kammen) August 23, 2017

But Trumps decision on climate change was just one of many positions that Kammen said he could not tolerate.

The response to Charlottesville, the issues around Muslim immigrants, he said. There was a pattern that was not consistent with my mandate as science envoy. In fact, my work felt increasingly distant.

In his letter, which almost instantly went viral on Twitter and earned more than 110,000 likes, Kammen said the president had repeatedly made statements and pushed for policy positions that restricted the rights of women and minorities.

Particularly troubling to me is how your response to Charlottesville is consistent with a broader pattern of behavior that enables sexism and racism, and disregards the welfare of all Americans, the global community and the planet, Kammen wrote.

Trump was widely criticized for his response to the violence in Charlottesville, where one woman was killed and more than two dozen injured when a man plowed into counter-protesters at the Unite the Right rally, staged by white nationalists. In his first remarks on the issue, Trump failed to specifically condemn white supremacists and neo-Nazis, a pair of extremist populations that expressed support for him throughout the 2016 campaign.

The president went on to call out the racist organizations by name two days later, but seemed to backpedal in an Aug. 15 news conference in which he said Ku Klux Klan members, neo-Nazis and what he described as the alt-left all shared blame for the violence in Charlottesville. Trump continued to defend his remarks during a campaign-style rally in Phoenix this week, attacking the media, saying they misrepresented his comments, and reading a truncated version of his original statement that left out the parts that drew criticism in the first place.

Kammen, who studied physics at Cornell and Harvard, has sat on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change since 1999. The U.N.-backed panel shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. He is coauthor or author of a dozen books and has served as a climate change advisor to the World Bank Group, according to his biography page on the UC Berkeley website.

In 2010, Kammen was appointed a fellow for the Environment and Climate Partnership for the Americas by then-Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.

Though he has distanced himself from the Trump administration, Kammen says his work with the State Department has opened doors that will help him continue his work to combat climate change.

Science envoy is an unpaid external position at the State Department. They support work in the field. They support the embassies. Ive been working very closely with a number of African governments, a number of Middle Eastern governments. Those projects can continue, to the extent that my team, my research group here at Berkeley has the bandwidth to do it, he said. I have students working closely all over the region. If nothing else, it opened up some great partnerships.

james.queally@latimes.com

alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Follow @JamesQueallyLAT & @AleneTchek for breaking news in California.

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The California Supreme Court largely upheld a measure Thursday passed by voters to speed up executions but severely diluted a key provision aimed at ending a backlog of appeals.

The majority decision, signed by five of the seven justices, is likely to have the biggest effect on more than 15 death row inmates who have exhausted their appeals.

Backers of Proposition 66, sponsored by prosecutors and passed with 51% of the vote in November, predicted executions would resume in months unless Gov. Jerry Brown decides to commute death sentences.

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There has not been an execution in California in more than 10 years, primarily because of court challenges.

This is going to put some heat on Jerry Brown, whether he allows the law to be enforced or gets in there to try to change things, said Michael Rushford, president of the pro-death penalty Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, which helped write the ballot measure. Is the governor going to step up on his way out the door and commute these guys sentences as the governor of Illinois did some years ago?

As state attorney general, Brown enforced the death penalty. As governor, he did not take a public position on Proposition 66 or on measures to end capital punishment.

His office did not comment on Thursdays ruling.

A federal court order blocking executions remains in force, but Rushford said the states new proposed single-drug protocol for lethal injection renders the federal challenge moot.

Once the California Supreme Court decision is final, in 30 days, prosecutors around the state will go to judges to obtain execution dates, he said.

Challengers tried to persuade the court to throw out all of Proposition 66, which was intended to remove several hurdles to restarting the death chamber at San Quentin.

Instead, the ruling upended only one provision, a requirement that all state death penalty appeals be decided within five years.

The court construed the deadline as a mere directive, not a requirement.

That deadline is only an exhortation to the parties and the courts to handle cases as expeditiously as is consistent with the fair and principled administration of justice, Justice Carol A. Corrigan wrote for the majority.

Because of a huge backlog of appeals, the California Supreme Court would have to spend 90% of its time on death penalty cases for at least the next five years to meet the five-year deadlines, legal analysts said.

But without a strict timetable, appeals can take decades to resolve.

Six of the justices agreed that the measures time limits on resolving appeals have no legal force and that judicial leaders need not devise new rules to implement them.

Rushford said inmates who have exhausted their appeals dont have much time left.

I think months is a reasonable estimate of when the next execution will occur, he said.

Kent Scheidegger, legal counsel for Rushfords group and an author of Proposition 66, said that if the court decides appeals more quickly, we should see a very substantial speedup.

But Christina Von der Ahe Rayburn, who represented the challengers, said federal courts could still delay the resumption of executions.

Nobody is going to be executed tomorrow, thank goodness, she said. But it does make executions more possible in the short term.

She disagreed with Rushford that the federal case that has blocked executions could be resolved within months.

Thursdays ruling surprised and disappointed her, she said, though she was heartened by language in the decision that indicated the justices wont make much effort to honor the deadlines.

UC Berkeley law professor Elisabeth Semel, who runs a clinic for defending death row inmates, said Thursdays decision does not help those who have exhausted their appeals, but called it a major victory for hundreds of other death row inmates with appeals pending in the state system.

By interpreting the deadline on deciding appeals to be flexible, those inmates may be many years away from the execution chamber.

Santa Clara University law professor Gerald Uelmen, who ran a state commission several years that examined the states death penalty system, said several of the measures provisions may actually increase delays.

It is just going to boggle up the system even more, Uelmen said.

Corrigan, writing for the majority, said it remains to be seen how effective Proposition 66 will be in expediting death penalty appeals. Much will depend on whether the Legislature provides more funds for the courts, she said.

The time limits reflect the voters will, which we respect, Corrigan wrote. However, they were presented to the voters by the proponents of Proposition 66 without the benefit of hearings or research exploring their feasibility or their impact on the rest of the courts work.

Opponents of Proposition 66 challenged the measure the day after the November election, contending the initiative usurped the authority of the courts.

The court put the new law on hold while considering the challenge.

The courts decision left in place several contentious requirements of the new death penalty law.

Criminal defense lawyers who have done appeals will be required to take death row cases if they want to continue to receive appointments from the courts to represent indigent defendants.

There has been a shortage of qualified lawyers willing to handle death penalty appeals because many attorneys consider the pay inadequate and the emotional toll high.

Thursdays decision also did not overturn a part of the measure that transfers review of habeas corpus capital challenges to the lower courts.

In the past, only the California Supreme Court reviewed those challenges in the state system.

Proposition 66 further ended public review of execution methods, a requirement under the old law that was blamed for the dearth of executions. The ruling left that provision in place.

California law gives each person convicted of the death penalty an automatic appeal and a separate habeas corpus challenge to the California Supreme Court.

It now can take a decade or longer for the California Supreme Court to rule on an automatic appeal.

Afterward, the court considers the inmates habeas challenge. That is based on events that were not reflected in the trial transcript, such as newly discovered evidence of juror misconduct.

Once state courts have completed their reviews, death row inmates can challenge their verdicts and sentences in federal court. Proposition 66 did not affect federal courts.

Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye and Justice Ming W. Chin did not participate in the Proposition 66 case because they serve on the Judicial Council, the policymaking body of the courts and a defendant in the lawsuit.

They were replaced by two members of the Courts of Appeal: Santa Ana-based Justice Raymond J. Ikola, an appointee of Gov. Gray Davis, and Sacramento-based Justice Andrea L. Hoch, an appointee of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Corrigan, a conservative, was joined in the majority ruling by Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar  a Republican appointee who has voted frequently with the liberals  Hoch and Justices Goodwin Liu and Leondra Kruger, both appointees of Gov. Jerry Brown.

Liu wrote separately to stress that the deadlines set in Proposition 66 need not be enforced. Hoch, Kruger and Werdegar joined him.

The five-year limit, construed as directive or simply unconstitutional, has no binding effect and provides no guidance for responsible actors charged with the fair and efficient administration of justice, Liu wrote.

Corrigan and Kruger face voters next year in a routine retention election.

Justices have been ousted at the ballot only once. Voters rejected the late Chief Justice Rose Bird and her liberal colleagues after a campaign that accused them of refusing to enforce the death penalty.

Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuellar, in a dissent joined by Ikola, said the majority should simply have struck down the deadline for deciding appeals as unconstitutional rather than engage in a novel reinterpretation and neutering of the initiative.

The majoritys decision to simply construe the deadlines as flexible was at odds  entirely  with what the initiative says, how it was designed to work, and how it was sold, wrote Cuellar, a Brown appointee.

Courts do not have the power to disregard a clear statement that a judicial deadline is mandatory, nor to construe a mandatory deadline to be something other than what it is, Cuellar said.

Cuellar and Ikola also would have struck down a provision in the measure that shifted review of habeas corpus challenges to the lower courts.

California has more than 740 inmates on death row, the most of any state.

maura.dolan@latimes.com

Twitter: @mauradolan

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UPDATES:

2:45 p.m.: This article was updated with additional background, reaction and details.

12:30 p.m.: This article was updated with additional reaction and details from the ruling.

10:55 a.m.: This article was updated with additional details from the ruling and reaction.

This article was originally published at 10:25 a.m.
A 20-year-old Ohio man pleaded not guilty to battery Thursday after he allegedly sucker punched a Trump supporter at an anti-illegal immigration rally in Laguna Beach on Sunday, officials said.

Richard Losey was charged with one misdemeanor count of battery, according to the Orange County district attorneys office.

Laguna Beach police arrested Losey on suspicion of battery with a hate crime enhancement, but prosecutors determined there is not enough evidence to charge him with the enhancement.

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Political motivation is not an area covered under hate crimes in the penal code, Susan Kang Schroeder, chief of staff for the district attorney, said in a statement.

Police said R.C. Maxwell was peacefully speaking with a group of people at Main Beach Park when the counter-protester punched him.

Maxwell, a black Trump supporter, told The Times he went to speak with counter-protesters trying to find commonalities and was explaining his views when he was attacked. He said he was also pepper-sprayed and choked.

The confrontation was captured on video that was posted to social media.

In the video, Maxwell is surrounded by a crowd of counter-protesters, some with bandanas covering their faces.

There is a problem with illegal immigration; I speak out against that. That doesnt make me a Nazi, Maxwell says.

Youre a traitor! someone shouts over him.

People want you in chains, dude, another voice says.

If you want to keep the peace, you should leave, someone says.

Shortly after, Maxwell is knocked to the ground.

Police said Losey fled before officers arrived.

The America First! rally was billed as a vigil for victims of crimes committed by immigrants in the U.S. illegally. A police spokesman estimated the crowd of protesters and counter-protesters grew to about 2,500, with only a few dozen there for the anti-illegal immigration rally.

The two sides were separated by the boardwalk and a team of police officers in riot gear and on horseback.

The rally was organized in the wake of violent clashes that broke out at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., where one woman was killed and more than a dozen were injured when a car plowed into a group of counter-protesters.

In the aftermath of Charlottesville, people are emboldened to take a stand for what they deem as xenophobic or racist ideologies, but I think its gone too far, Maxwell said. Now its resulting in violence  no one on the left is condemning this.

He said he alerted authorities that night and reported the attack to Laguna Beach police the next day. Police identified the suspect as Losey, of Lancaster, Ohio.

Detectives arrested Losey on Tuesday as he was trying to buy a bus pass to Ohio in what they believe was an attempt to flee the state to avoid criminal prosecution, police said.

Anyone with any information about the incident is asked to call the Laguna Beach police at (949) 497-0701.

alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Twitter: @AleneTchek

UPDATES:

Aug. 24, 5:10 p.m.: This article was updated with charging information from the Orange County district attorneys office.

This article was originally published on Aug. 23 at 10:45 p.m.
A man who pointed a gun at police died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after an hours-long standoff with SWAT officers in South Los Angeles early Thursday morning, authorities said.

The suspect, who was not immediately identified, was pronounced dead inside an apartment in the 6200 block of San Pedro Street, according to Lt. Chris Ramirez, an LAPD spokesman.

Officers responded to a report of gunshots in the area shortly before 1 a.m., and found the suspect brandishing a handgun and arguing with a neighbor, Ramirez said. The man may have pointed the weapon at the neighbor and toward an officer before barricading himself inside his apartment, Ramirez said.

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SWAT officers were called to the scene, and police made several attempts to contact the suspect, according to Ramirez. But the man did not respond.

After several hours passed, Ramirez said officers heard a gunshot and sent a tactical robot into the building in the hopes of determining the suspects location. The suspect was pronounced dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound by Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics a short time later, he said.

No officers were injured in the incident. It was not immediately clear what time the man shot himself, according to Ramirez, who said the suspect did not fire at officers.

james.queally@latimes.com

Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for crime and police news in California.

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UPDATES:

6:45 a.m.: This article was updated with additional details from the LAPD.

This article was originally published at 6 a.m.
A Riverside County teenager has been charged with trying to smuggle an endangered Bengal tiger cub into the country from Mexico, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

Luis Valencia, 18, of Perris, was charged with one count of unlawful importation of wildlife after agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection found the cub seated on the floor of his car during a vehicle inspection at the Otay Mesa border crossing Wednesday, according to a news release issued by the U.S. attorneys office in San Diego.

Valencia and a passenger in the vehicle said they had nothing to declare when they were first approached by agents, according to a criminal complaint in the matter. But an agent noticed the tiger cub seated between the passengers legs at a secondary inspection station, court records said.

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Valencia initially told investigators that he purchased the cub earlier in the week from a man who was walking a full-sized tiger on a leash through the streets of Tijuana, according to the criminal complaint. He said he planned to keep the tiger cub as a pet at his home, according to the complaint.

Under further questioning, Valencia admitted that he had been in communication with the man who sold him the tiger in advance of his trip to Mexico, according to the complaint. There was also a compartment in Valencias vehicle that had been specifically built to house the cub, the complaint said.

Valencia said he paid $300 for the cub. Bengal tiger cubs in the U.S. can be sold for at least $1,500, according to the complaint.

If convicted, Valencia faces up to 20 years in federal prison, prosecutors said. He was released on $10,000 bond and is due in court next month.

All species of tiger are protected under the Endangered Species Act. There are only 2,500 wild Bengal tiger specimens remaining on Earth, and that population is in decline, prosecutors said.

To import a tiger into the country, a person would have to obtain a special permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, according to the news release. Valencia failed to do that, prosecutors said.

The cub was transported to the wildlife sanctuary at the San Diego Zoos Safari Park. Customs and Border Protection agents are working with the zoo to ensure the cub remains healthy, officials said.

james.queally@latimes.com

Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for crime and police news in California.

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Occidental College previously fell short in numerous, serious, persistent and systemic ways in reporting sexual assaults and other crimes on or near campus, but the school since has made changes and is now in compliance with a federal crime-reporting law, the U.S. Department of Education has concluded.

In a report released this week, federal investigators found that from 2009 to 2013, administrators at the Eagle Rock liberal arts school violated multiple mandates of the Clery Act, which requires colleges to report campus crime statistics each year. The violations included a failure to accurately compile and disclose crime statistics, issue timely warnings of potential safety threats, maintain accurate daily crime logs and provide necessary crime-prevention information to students, employees and parents.

The college lacked administrators with expertise in the law and its requirements and had inadequate systemwide policies and procedures in place, according to the Clery Act Compliance Division of the Department of Educations office of Federal Student Aid, which conducted the review.

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Occidental has since hired additional staff and made institutional changes, and the Clery Act Compliance Division, or CACD, acknowledged in its conclusion that the campus is now in compliance with the law. The review states that, while serious concerns remain, most of the violations have been satisfactorily addressed by such changes. Nevertheless, it says, the officials and directors of Occidental are put on notice that they must continue to develop the institutions campus safety program and take any additional necessary action to fully address the [identified] deficiencies and weaknesses.

In a letter sent campuswide Wednesday, Occidental College President Jonathan Veitch acknowledged the reports findings.

We failed to get this right. Our own assessment, confirmed by the findings of the review, makes it clear that we simply did not dedicate sufficient time, resources and expertise to Clery reporting, he wrote. As we and many of our peer institutions have learned, the requirements of the Clery Act are more complex and require more resources than previously believed. Since 2013, we have fully cooperated with CACDs review and significantly invested in remedying our shortcomings. The safety of the Oxy community is a paramount concern, and we have learned much from this experience.

The federal investigation, following a formal complaint in April 2013, came amid growing national concern over how colleges reported and handled sexual assault cases. A separate investigation was launched that same year into whether Occidental had violated Title IX, after dozens of students and faculty members filed federal complaints that campus administrators had fostered a hostile environment for victims of sexual assault.

Investigators concluded in June 2016 that Occidental had failed to address some sexual misconduct complaints promptly but had not otherwise violated federal civil rights laws. Administrators voluntarily agreed to a number of campus reforms. Title IX, an anti-discrimination law, requires colleges that receive federal funding to impartially investigate reports of sexual assault.

As a result of the Clery violations cited in the latest report, Occidental probably will be subject to hefty fines. The amount will be determined in a separate process that will take at least 60 days, officials said.

The Clery Act, which stemmed from a 1986 rape and killing on a Pennsylvania campus, is intended to give the public an accurate view of campus safety, and the statistics are consulted by parents, students and others evaluating college campuses. The law covers all criminal allegations, regardless of whether they are reported to police or adjudicated in court.

Veitch said in his letter to the Occidental community that in addition to conducting an internal review that led it to revise its reports for 2013, 2014 and 2015, Occidental has taken a number of steps to improve its reporting overall, including creating an internal Clery compliance team with representatives from a wide variety of campus staff, hiring a full-time Clery coordinator and a new campus safety chief, and providing additional training for staff responsible for Clery reporting.

The school, he said, also has improved campus safety policies and procedures and worked to become more transparent about safety issues, such as issuing communitywide safety bulletins and an annual report of formal and informal Title IX complaints.

We are grateful to the Oxy community for helping us to address this important issue, and are confident we now have the resources, policies, and procedures in place to fully meet our reporting responsibilities and, more importantly, the needs of the Oxy community, Veitch wrote.

rosanna.xia@latimes.com

Follow @RosannaXia for more education news
The White House is getting ready to move on a contentious plan to shrink national monuments in the West, which could involve the redrawing of borders at several that are home to unique geological formations, rare archaeological artifacts and pristine landscapes.

The blueprint delivered to President Trump on Thursday by the Department of Interior  but not yet shared with the public  represents an unprecedented effort to roll back protections on federal land.

Even before its release, state attorneys general, environmental groups and Native Americans have put the administration on notice that acting on it would be illegal.

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The plan sent to the White House does not include elimination of any monuments, but it suggests the president make changes at a handful, according to comments Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke made to the Associated Press on Thursday morning.

Two large monuments in Utah and one in Oregon have already been revealed to be among those on the list for downsizing.

Zinke said in a separate statement Thursday that the plan would provide a much needed change for the local communities who border and rely on these lands for hunting and fishing, economic development, traditional uses, and recreation.

Such changes could alter forever some of the countrys iconic landscapes. California has more monuments on the review list than any other state. The list included San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, which forms a backdrop to Los Angeles; Mojave Trails National Monument in the Southern California desert; Giant Sequoia National Monument in the southern Sierra Nevada; Carrizo Plain National Monument on the southwestern edge of the San Joaquin Valley; and Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in Northern California.

Zinke had earlier announced that he would be recommending no changes to another California monument on the list, Sand to Snow National Monument.

Zinkes assurance that no monuments would be eliminated altogether was little solace to advocates who expected to get clarity on Trumps plan Thursday. Instead, they were told no further details would be disclosed about which monuments would be downsized and how significantly. The secrecy added yet more public confusion to what has often seemed a scattershot review.

Throughout it, Zinke has made a very public show of riding on horseback to inspect some lands threatened, and ignoring others altogether, despite pleas from local politicians to visit and hear them out about why changing the borders would be detrimental.

Despite placing six of our national monuments in the cross-hairs, he never visited California, said Daniel Rossman, acting California director for the Wilderness Society. It is unconscionable, on this deadline for final recommendations, that Secretary Zinke continues to leave the American people in the dark.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) called upon the White House to release the recommendation.

The American people have the right to see his entire report, she said. A proposal to strip protections from public lands should be made public immediately.

Over the summer, California Democrats at both the state and federal level defended the designations and vowed to fight any changes.

Once designated, a National Monument becomes part of our national heritage and the birthright of all future Americans, Gov. Jerry Brown wrote Zinke in July.

In a June letter to the Interior Department, California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra vowed to take any and all legal action necessary to preserve the California monuments.

The state Legislature passed a resolution urging the Trump administration to retain the protections. And Californias two Democratic senators, Feinstein and Kamala Harris, also asked Zinke to leave Californias monuments alone.

But members of the congressional Western Caucus, including California Republican Reps. Paul Cook, Doug LaMalfa and Tom McClintock, urged Zinke to revoke the Berryessa Snow designation as a national monument and to reduce the size of all the other California monuments except Sand to Snow.

When he signed an executive order ordering the review in April, Trump accused his predecessors of an egregious abuse of federal power in their creation of some national monuments. Since that time, Zinke has been examining the 27 monuments larger than 100,000 acres established since the presidency of Bill Clinton.

Zinke has already revealed that Bears Ears National Monument in Utah is among those targeted for a significant downsizing.

The report sent to the White House also recommended reducing the size of Utahs Grand Staircase-Escalante and Oregons Cascade-Siskiyou, according to the Washington Post.

Zinke previously identified five monuments in addition to Sand to Snow, all outside California, that he will recommend remain untouched.

The public has weighed in too. Some 2.7 million people have sent comments to the department, more than 90% of them urging it not to ease protections.

White House officials said the report may not be released publicly for weeks, as they review and consider changes to Zinkes plan. But the president is expected to order most if not all of Zinkes plan implemented. Whether he has that authority is an open question. No president has attempted to unilaterally redraw the boundaries of the nations vast network of public lands.

Not every state is rushing to defend monuments under attack. Leaders in Utah lobbied Trump to rescind the designation of the 1.3-million-acre Bears Ears National Monument in the remote desert Canyonlands of their state. The monument was created by President Obama just before he left office, and the move enraged state officials who complained it killed off potential oil, gas and mining jobs in the region.

The monument was created at the behest of five tribal nations eager to protect more than 100,000 cultural and archaeological sites they fear are vulnerable to looting and grave robbing.

The creation of Bears Ears was central to Obamas environmental legacy, and it also intensified long-standing tensions between Utah and the federal government over monuments. The dispute stretches back to the Clinton administration, whose creation of the 1.9-million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument riled some Utah residents. They decried the move, which derailed a proposed coal project in the area, as an economically destabilizing land grab.

Utahs governor and two U.S. senators were at the ceremony where Trump signed the executive order calling for the review of the national monuments. The president remarked on how heavily Sen. Orrin Hatch lobbied him to rescind the designation of Bears Ears.

But even with the fledgling Bears Ears monument, the easiest for Trump to target politically, voters are hardly as enthusiastic as politicians about dismantling it. Polls show they are divided. The campaign against Bears Ears triggered an intense backlash before Trump even signed his order, in which outdoor apparel company Patagonia led a boycott effort that cost Salt Lake City a major trade show that has been providing an economic boost to the city for 20 years.

It and other major retailers have mobilized customers in support of the monument, helping generate tens of thousands of the comments sent to the administration. Patagonia recently began running pointed commercials in Western states warning Zinke that the land belongs to the people and flashing images of once-pristine landscapes ravaged by logging and drilling.

The administrations plan is rooted in a provision of the 1906 Antiquities Act that it argues limits presidents to protecting the smallest possible amount of land needed to preserve historic artifacts and ecologically significant landscapes. Zinke has suggested presidents have ignored the language in recent monument designations, pointing out that the average size of national monuments has grown substantially in recent decades.

No president should use the authority under the Antiquities Act to restrict public access, prevent hunting and fishing, burden private land, or eliminate traditional land uses, unless such action is needed to protect the object, said his statement Thursday.

evan.halper@latimes.com

bettina.boxall@latimes.com

Twitter: @boxall

Halper reported from Washington and Boxall from Los Angeles.

ALSO

Trump administration will keep hands off Californias Sand to Snow National Monument

A nearly $17-billion water project is being planned for California. What will it cost the Southland?

From spectacular vistas to the pits: A decades-long public land battle continues in the California desert

UPDATES:

3:05 p.m.: This article was updated with more reaction.

11:40 a.m.: This article was updated after the White House said it had received Zinkes plan.

This article was originally published at 9:30 a.m.
In the four decades since Florida reinstated the death penalty, the state had never executed a white man for the murder of a black victim.

That changed Thursday at 6:22 p.m. when Florida used a controversial cocktail of lethal injection drugs to execute 53-year-old Mark James Asay for a 1987 double murder that prosecutors say was racially motivated.

The case was riddled with legal challenges.

In 1988, after a jury split 9 to 3 on whether Asay deserved to die, a judge sentenced him to death under a sentencing provision that early last year the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional.

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Executions had been on hold in Florida since that ruling, which said the states system of capital sentencing invested too much power in judges and too little in juries, violating the 6th Amendment.

Asays attorneys argued that the states new death penalty statute should be applied to their client. But their request for a stay was denied this month by the Florida Supreme Court.

And in a bizarre wrinkle, the Florida Supreme Court announced in a ruling 10 days before the execution that it had mistakenly identified one of the victims as a black man.

We have previously described the victim born Robert McDowell as a black man dressed as a woman, the court said. Renee Torres nee Robert McDowell may have been either white or mixed-race, Hispanic but was not a black man. We regret our previous error.

Asays attorneys argued in a petition last week that the mistake entitled him to a new hearing because the case against him was built on a theory of racial animus towards blacks.

Mark James Asay in an undated photo. (Florida Dept. of Corrections / AP)

Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit group in Washington, D.C., that monitored the case, said the sentence was unfairly imposed and therefore unconstitutional.

Florida prosecutors misrepresented the role of race in the killing in order to obtain the death sentence, he said.

But this week the Florida Supreme Court disagreed, ruling that the error does not negatively affect this courts final determination.

The manner of the execution also came under scrutiny at a time when Florida and other states are struggling to find chemicals to be used in lethal injections.

Asay became the first death row inmate to be executed with Floridas controversial new three-drug cocktail, a combination of etomidate, rocuronium bromide and potassium acetate.

His attorneys argued that the states adoption of etomidate as the first drug in the lethal injection protocol puts him at substantial risk of serious harm, in violation of the 8th Amendment. But the Florida Supreme Court ruled that Asay failed to demonstrate that the states new drugs are likely to cause serious illness and needless suffering.

One of the justices, Barbara Pariente, disagreed. In its rush to execute Asay, the state has jeopardized Asays fundamental constitutional rights and treated him as the proverbial guinea pig of its newest lethal injection protocol, she wrote in a dissenting opinion.

The murder victims were Robert Lee Booker, a black man, and Robert McDowell, also known as Renee, a cross-dresser who was white or Latino.

At Asays trial, witnesses testified that the night of the murders Asay was drinking and shooting pool at Jacksonville bars with his brother, Robbie, and a friend, Bubba McQuinn. After the bar closed, McQuinn suggested that they go downtown to find prostitutes.

Downtown, Asay spotted his brother in his truck talking to Booker, according to testimony. Asay called Booker the N-word, pointed a finger in his face, pulled a gun from his back pocket and shot him in the abdomen. The bullet perforated his intestines and an artery, causing him to die of internal hemorrhaging.

McQuinn, who fled with Asay in his truck, testified that when he asked Asay why he shot Booker, he used the N-word to explain that it was to show him who is boss.

Asay and McQuinn continued to look for prostitutes, eventually finding McDowell, apparently unaware that he was a man dressed as a woman. After driving to a nearby alley, Asay stood watch outside. Suddenly, as McDowell started to get into the truck with McQuinn, Asay grabbed McDowells arm, pulled him from the truck and shot him six times.

In a recent interview with a Jacksonville TV channel, Asay admitted he killed McDowell during what he called a drunken meltdown, but insisted he did not kill Booker.

He also maintained he was not a white supremacist, saying he had had African American friends throughout his life.

Asay covered himself in swastikas and supreme white power tattoos, but he said in the interview that was only so he could blend in within a Texas prison at the age of 19.

They are not representative at all of who I am, but they are tattoos, and theyre not easily removed, he said.

Since Florida reinstated the death penalty in 1976, the state has executed 28 black death row prisoners, 20 of whom had at least one white victim, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Of the 56 white death row prisoners who have been executed before Thursday, none had black victims.

Nationwide 20 white defendants have been executed for murdering black victims, and as many as 288 blacks have been put to death for killing whites.

Death penalty opponents have long cited racial disparities in the use of capital punishment, noting that the most reliable predictor of whether someone will be sentenced to death is the race of the victim.

Jarvie is a special correspondent.

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UPDATES:

7:35 p.m.: This article was updated with details about the murders and the legal questions surrounding the execution.

This article was first published at 4:05 p.m.
Louise Linton would perhaps like to be known for the films shes appeared in and the philanthropic endeavors shes undertaken, but thats not why she was thrust into the spotlight this week.

While shes played small supporting roles in a handful of films with high-profile actors, including Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep in Lions for Lambs, and starred in Scavengers, she wasnt the sort of celebrity who regularly turned up in gossip blogs.

Then she caused social media to blow up, was ridiculed internationally and wound up issuing an apology on Tuesday for inappropriate and highly insensitive behavior.

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How did that happen?

Steven T. Mnuchin and Louise Linton in Washington in January. (Saul Loeb / Associated Press)

Two months ago, the 36-year-old Linton married Steven T. Mnuchin, 54, President Trumps Treasury secretary. On Monday, Linton accompanied her husband to Kentucky, where he went to discuss a tax plan he supports but many worry would benefit the wealthy.

Linton later posted a picture on Instagram of her and Mnuchin descending from the plane. The caption catalogued her expensive outfit:

Great #daytrip to #Kentucky! #nicest #people #beautiful #countryside #rolandmouret pants #tomford sunnies, #hermesscarf #valentinorockstudheels #valentino #usa

Sure, Instagram is for showing off, but the post struck many people as insensitive, at best, given that she was traveling at taxpayer expense and appeared to be bragging about an exceptionally lavish wardrobe.

(A Treasury spokesman issued a statement later that said the Mnuchins reimbursed the government for Lintons travel expenses.)

But that wasnt where it ended.

One of the responses on Instagram came from a woman named Jenni Miller, who wrote: Glad we could pay for your little getaway. #deplorable

Instead of ignoring Miller, as any public relations consultant would have begged her to do, Linton responded in a message dripping with snark and fury:

Did you think this was a personal trip?! Adorable! Do you think the US govt paid for our honeymoon or personal travel!?! Lololol. Have you given more to the economy than me and my husband? Either as an individual earner in taxes OR in self sacrifice to your country? Im pretty sure we paid more taxes toward our day trip than you did. Pretty sure the amount we sacrifice per year is a lot more than youd be willing to sacrifice if the choice was yours....

The Instagram post has since been deleted and Linton set her account to private, but the damage had been done, prompting Tuesdays public apology.

I apologize for my post on social media yesterday as well as my response, the statement said. It was inappropriate and highly insensitive.

Vanity Fair estimates that Lintons outfit cost thousands of dollars; her sunglasses alone sell for $445 and the Hermes scarf for $940.

Linton describes herself as a passionate advocate for people and animals and is involved in a number of philanthropic activities, including serving on the board of the UCLA Mattel Childrens Hospital and Ambassador for the Scottish Butterfly Trust for Cystic Fibrosis.

She has shown off her lavish lifestyle many times before. Town & Country magazine featured her in a piece in which she discussed the various jewelry pieces she planned to wear to her June 24 wedding (where the guests included Trump and First Lady Melania Trump). She has graced the covers of several other prominent magazines.

The Trumps and the Pences attend the wedding of Steven T. Mnuchin and Louise Linton in June. (Kevin Mazur / Getty Images)

Linton was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, to wealthy parents William and Rachel Hay.

When Linton was 14, her mother died from breast cancer. Linton would later describe her mother as an extraordinary, compassionate, selfless person.

Linton and her two siblings, Suzanne and David, grew up in a castle in Dalkeith and spent weekends at Scotlands Melville Castle  a childhood most children can only dream of but which Linton described a very normal life.

The castle is magical and filled with so much history, she told Flavour magazine in 2015. It was an idyllic childhood spent mostly outdoors with all the animals. My siblings and I zoomed around on little motorbikes, kayaked, fished, spent time racing through the woods shooting each other with B.B. guns.

Not so normal: Linton said the castle in Dalkeith is definitely haunted.

Many people have claimed to see a ghost, she told the Daily Record in 2015. Many have even claimed its Mary Queen of Scots because its where she had her romance with David Rizzio.

From a young age, Lintons eyes were set on acting. She had been drawn to the arts at a young age. As a child she joined the Edinburgh Drama Academy and later was taught by a private teacher from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts.

She had a significant detour beginning at age 18, when she decided to spend a few months volunteering in northern Zambia before moving to Southern California to pursue a journalism degree from Pepperdine University and later a law degree from the University of West L.A. Law School.

It was the first of those pursuits that led to another out-of-touch moment.

The aspiring actress later wrote about her gap year in northern Zambia in a memoir self-published in 2016 titled, In Congos Shadow: One Girls Perilous Journey to the Heart of Africa.

Linton received backlash for remarks some found offensive and factual errors about the country. In the book, Linton describes having to protect an HIV-positive orphan girl, and her close encounters with wildlife  which many people argued was an example of elitism and a white savior complex.

She later retracted the book and issued an apology on her website:

I never imagined the book would insult anyone. I have great warmth and admiration for Zambia and her people, and was deeply dismayed and saddened that I had caused them any offense.

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melissa.etehad@latimes.com

Follow me on Twitter @melissaetehad
Washington state officials are asking anglers to come catch as many Atlantic salmon as they can pull from the waters around the San Juan Islands. No restrictions on hours, size or limit. No kidding.

But the reason behind the sudden open season is worrying. A fish-farm spill occurred Saturday off Cypress Island when anchor lines on a commercial net pen with more than 300,000 salmon gave way, allowing thousands of the 10-pound, farm-raised Atlantics to escape and, officials fear, mix with the wild Pacific salmon.

Farm officials said the pen damage was the result of exceptionally high tides and currents that occurred in the days leading up to and during Mondays solar eclipse. Others doubted the moons effect on the tides was the cause, noting there have been higher tides without pens being washed out.

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The release  the size of the spill could be 5,000 fish or more  probably created a surge in competition among the two species for food and habitat, according to state officials. They say the spill put the more popular native wild salmon at increased risk, particularly the endangered Chinook, a Northwest dinner-plate favorite.

Farm fish, which typically do not fare well outside their pens, are regularly harvested and sold or turned into seafood product.

Experts have long worried about colonization of the two salmon into one species through crossbreeding, and disease is becoming a greater concern. On Wednesday, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, responding to concerns about the spill, said research shows that sea lice from salmon farms have been lethally infecting juvenile wild salmon for years.

The societys ship, the research vessel Martin Sheen, is currently filming the operation of salmon farms in Canadas British Columbia region, according to spokeswoman Zorianna Kit. The footage reveals a proliferation of disease symptoms among the Atlantic salmon crowded into the pens, including salmon with sea lice, open sores, swollen gills, tumors and deformities, Kit said.

But the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife says the farm fish do not currently pose a threat to native fish populations through disease or crossbreeding, though the spill needs to be fished out soonest.

Our first concern, of course, is to protect native fish species, said Ron Warren, head of the Fish and Wildlifes fish program. So wed like to see as many of these escaped fish caught as possible.

The department hopes fishers who catch or net the Atlantics report their hauls to the state. A Fish and Wildlife Web page that provides detailed information and sketches used to identify the farm fish notes that the Atlantics are commercially grown in sea-water net pens in Puget Sound and in some freshwater hatcheries as well. Occasionally some of these fish will escape from their holding pens and may be caught by anglers in fresh or saltwater.

In a statement, Canadian-based Cooke Aquaculture, which operates the 30-year-old fish farm near Cypress northwest of Anacortes, Wash., said that it did not have a solid estimation of the fish loss, but that many salmon remained in the pens. The company maintains a detailed fish escape and recapture plan as part of its operations, and has implemented that plan in response to this loss of fish.

Cooke was apparently aware its pens were vulnerable, stating it applied for permits to allow us to strengthen and update the Cypress site even before the existing fish were harvested out.

Casey Ruff, who heads a natural resource management group for several local Indian tribes, questioned the companys explanation for the spill. He could not be reached for comment Wednesday but earlier told Seattle online newsite Crosscut that amongst the tribes, these net pen operations have been a big concern, and we have grave issues with their proposed expansion and negative effects to wild salmon resources.

Our hope is the Department of Ecology comes up with a best management framework for these operations trying to get permits to expand, he said.

Cooke, a global corporation, is hoping to expand here and proposed a controversial net pen operation in the Strait of Juan de Fuca near Port Angeles. The company vows to do better. We will work with the relevant authorities to make sure we can employ the best knowledge, technology and the expertise of our global experts as we rebuild the farm, Cooke officials said in the statement.

Anderson is a special correspondent.

ALSO

Poor little zooplankton  they got totally punkd by Mondays eclipse

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Interior Department gives Trump list of a handful of national monuments to shrink
Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. Its Thursday, Aug. 24, and heres whats happening across California:

TOP STORIES

A mentally ill inmates last days

For 46 hours, Andrew Hollands legs and arms were shackled to a chair in the San Luis Obispo County Jail cell. The inmate, who suffered from schizophrenia, was left in his own filth, eating and drinking almost nothing. He was naked, except for a helmet and mask covering his face and a blanket that slipped off his lap, exposing him to jail staff who passed by his glass-fronted cell. When he was finally unbound, guards dumped him to the floor of a nearby cell. Within 40 minutes, he had stopped breathing. His death raises questions about the treatment of mentally ill inmates in Californias county jails. Los Angeles Times

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Hoping to prevent weekend unrest

San Francisco police will be out in force Saturday for a rally that is expected to draw white supremacists and counter-protesters who have clashed violently in the past. San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said he hoped a large police presence can prevent the kind of violence seen in Virginia and elsewhere. Los Angeles Times

The next ambitious building project

On a spectacular site near the Getty Center covering 447 acres, billionaire philanthropist Nicolas Berggruen is planning the new headquarters for the 7-year-old institute that bears his name, a low-slung campus of buildings. It will be designed by Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron (with L.A.s Gensler) and set within a landscape by Michel Desvigne and Inessa Hansch. Los Angeles Times

L.A. STORIES

Killer sentenced: A South Pasadena man who admitted to murdering his 5-year-old son after a trip to Disneyland this year was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years to life in prison. Los Angeles Times

Arena update: Backers of the Clippers proposed arena in Inglewood are seeking last-minute legislation that would give the arena a significant break under the states primary environmental law governing development. Los Angeles Times

Garcetti raking in the cash: Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti  a longtime critic of big money in local politics  has set a surprising city record requesting large contributions, using a little-known and largely unregulated process called behested payments.  KPCC

Changes at LAX: A $14 billion expansion is underway at Los Angeles International Airport, making it the fastest-growing airport in the U.S. More flights mean cheaper fares but also possible delays. The Wall Street Journal

IMMIGRATION AND THE BORDER

Hablamos Espanol: Drawing on a critical mass of native speakers, the United States now has by some counts more than 50 million hispanohablantes, a greater number of Spanish speakers than Spain. New York Times

Allegations: A recently filed lawsuit claims that a Pasadena principal threatened to set immigration officers on a mother and a caretaker. Los Angeles Times

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Interesting study: California communities with large white populations arent planning for their fair share of low- and moderate-income housing growth, according to a new study of Bay Area cities. Los Angeles Times

Looking for signatures: A group representing prisoners, their families and supporters has proposed a ballot measure to let felons in state prison vote in California elections. Los Angeles Times

Legislation alert: California lawmakers are considering a sanctuary state bill to prevent local and state police from enforcing federal immigration law. Oregon passed a similar measure more than 30 years ago. NPR

The trolling continues: California Democrats are stoking a debate over Donald Trumps mental health and fitness for office, opening a new front in the resistance to the president but raising fears that the line of criticism could backfire. Politico

CRIME AND COURTS

Shooting in Mid-Wilshire: A man was hospitalized in serious condition Wednesday morning after he was shot during a home invasion in the Mid-Wilshire area. Los Angeles Times

See you in court: Randall Arney, the former artistic director of the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles who was dismissed in February after 17 years at the theater, filed a lawsuit Tuesday accusing the Geffen of age and disability discrimination. Los Angeles Times

Battleground Berkeley: Some law enforcement agencies wont even say whether theyre identifying hate groups as gangs or terrorists, even though many fit law enforcement definitions of gangs and terrorist networks. East Bay Express

THE ENVIRONMENT

Big up to us: California is the most energy-efficient economy in the world, and least carbon intensive. Wired

Taxes on the water: Californians would for the first time pay a tax on drinking water  95 cents per month  under legislation to fix hundreds of public water systems with unsafe tap water, a problem most pervasive in rural areas with agricultural runoff. The Mercury News

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

Where we go from here: Heres the daunting challenge that Ross Levinsohn faces as he takes over the reins of the Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times

Missed it by that much, Part 1: Californians hoping to pocket Wednesdays $758.7-million Powerball jackpot prize are out of luck. We didnt get a jackpot in California, said Cathy Johnston, spokeswoman for the California Lottery. But three tickets with five of the six winning numbers were sold in the state. Los Angeles Times

Missed it by that much, Part 2: For nine blissful innings, Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill held the Pittsburgh Pirates without a hit. But the boys in blue still lost, 1-0. Los Angeles Times

An era ends: Warren Olneys local current affairs show on KCRW, To the Point, is becoming a weekly podcast. Pulling the plug on the one-hour program means Olney wont have his own daily radio show in the nations second-largest media market for the first time in 25 years. LA Weekly

Read it and weep: Alice Waters is out with a new memoir about her life at the center of counterculture and as a chef. The New York Times

Scandal: Two leadership figures at Cinefamily, a prominent fixture in the Los Angeles repertory cinema scene, resigned Tuesday evening amid a scandal alleging misconduct in and around the nonprofit theater on Fairfax Avenue. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Los Angeles area: partly cloudy Thursday, sunny Friday. San Francisco area: partly cloudy Thursday and Friday. Sacramento: sunny Thursday and Friday. More weather is here.

AND FINALLY

Todays California memory comes from Kei Moriyama:

I was born in 1952 at the Los Angeles Japanese Hospital in Boyle Heights just east of Little Tokyo. In the early 1900s, access to adequate healthcare was a major issue for the Japanese in Los Angeles due to discrimination. In 1929, despite the legal challenges they faced, a group of Japanese doctors established a 42-bed hospital in Boyle Heights to serve the community. They appropriately named the facility the Japanese Hospital. With the signing of President Roosevelts Executive Order 9066 in 1942, 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry, including medical professionals, were forced into incarceration camps scattered throughout the remote regions of California, Arizona, Utah and Wyoming. When the Japanese finally returned to their homes after the war, hospitals continued to deny them essential medical and maternity services. For my mother, having her baby at the Japanese Hospital was her only option. Last year, the former Japanese Hospital was designated as a Historical-Cultural Monument. This hospital is where my life began and it will forever hold a special place in my heart.

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Benjamin Oreskes and Shelby Grad. Also follow them on Twitter @boreskes and @shelbygrad.
After The Times reported in 2013 that Wells Fargo stuck customers with hefty fees for accounts they never authorized, Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer sued the bank.

At first, San Francisco-based Wells scoffed, claiming that L.A.s city attorney had no jurisdiction. The bank soon learned that it was mistaken, and it settled with Feuer and two federal agencies for $185 million.

In the past, virtually any Californian would have been able to sue Wells Fargo for unlawful or fraudulent practices under state unfair competition laws. Voters sharply restricted that authority in 2004 by approving business-backed Proposition 64, but the state attorney general retained the power to sue, as did district attorneys  along with the city attorneys of Los Angeles and three other California cities with populations of more than 750,000.

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But state law gave only the attorney general and district attorneys  not those four city attorneys  the ability to gather records from suspected violators before filing suit for unfair competition. That power to subpoena documents, which can be invoked only if theres a reasonable belief that a violation has occurred, helps investigators determine whether a lawsuit is warranted. A company or other suspected violator that doesnt want to turn over the documents can challenge the subpoena in court.

Feuer was hampered in his Wells Fargo investigation because he lacked the power to issue subpoenas.

It makes sense for the state attorney general to have pre-litigation subpoena power to enforce unfair competition laws, given that the attorney general is the states top law enforcement official. But the A.G. has limited resources and must leave many legitimate claims untouched. Californias 58 county district attorneys, meanwhile, seldom take on these cases. As criminal prosecutors, they are generally focused on violent crime. Unfair competition, while unlawful, is a civil matter with civil remedies and is outside the comfort zone or bandwidth of many district attorneys.

But the city attorneys in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose and San Francisco are exactly the right people to bring these cases. They represent hundreds of thousands of people (in L.A.s case, millions) and are tasked with protecting consumers and enforcing civil as well as criminal laws. The Los Angeles city attorney has, for all practical purposes, the job description and duties of a state attorney general.

But not the tools. Feuer was hampered in his Wells Fargo investigation because he lacked the power to issue subpoenas. The bank continued its practices, ripping off many more customers, for three years as Feuer used more cumbersome methods to assemble his case. Fortunately, two federal agencies  the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Comptroller of the Currency  also were interested in Wells Fargos actions and helped the city attorney get what he needed. Had that not been the case, the bank might never have been forced to atone for, or even acknowledge, its wrongdoing.

Lawmakers have taken up a bill to correct the gap in California law that authorizes city attorneys to act while limiting their ability to do so. It ought to be an easy call. AB 814 already has passed the Assembly, and Californians would be well served if it now moves through the Senate and to the governors desk.

The bill is getting resistance from business groups, which claim to be comfortable with the attorney general and district attorney having pre-litigation subpoena powers but not those four city attorneys. Why not? They might not be ethical, the assertion goes, and might unnecessarily hound businesses just to make political points.

The argument is specious. The city attorneys of L.A., San Diego, San Jose and San Francisco are not small-town lawyers looking to make a buck. They are elected officials with hundreds of thousands of constituents, including the businesses within their borders, and each of them represents more people than about two-thirds of the district attorneys. Three of them have criminal as well as civil enforcement responsibilities (San Franciscos city attorney does not).

The real objection of opponents is clear. Thirteen years ago, they rolled back Californias unfair competition laws at the ballot box by confining enforcement power to a handful of people while keeping investigatory powers from precisely those few  the city attorneys  who would be most likely to use them. They are on their guard against the kind of scrutiny and enforcement that Wells Fargo got from Feuer even without subpoenas, and worry that they might be more frequently held to account for violating the law.

But they should be held to account. City attorneys have the statutory power to do it, but they also need the tools that the attorney general and the district attorneys have. The bill would finally provide it.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
Violent clashes between political factions have become so frequent in Berkeley that they have a Wikipedia page  2017 Berkeley protests  at least as detailed as that for several minor European wars. This weekend, that Wikipedia page will be updated, as right-wing troublemakers converge on the famously liberal Northern California college town for the fifth time in the last year, for an event billed as No to Marxism in America.

I didnt know that economic collectivism posed an imminent danger to Chez Panisse and its environs, but thats beside the point. Neo-Nazis and white supremacists will glom on to the demonstration, and no appeals to Berkeleys plainly less-than-Marxist present-day sensibilities is going to keep them away.

But the nature of the Wikipedia update is a matter yet unsettled. The subheading for Sunday, Aug. 27, could offer gruesome detail of violent clashes between right-wingers and leftist counter-protesters, in particular the black-clad, semi-organized brigade of anti-fascists known as Antifa. Or it could be a three-sentence summary of a silly provocation that the good citizens of Berkeley ignored. The choice is up to my fellow liberals.

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So far in Berkeley, nobody has died. Charlottesville, Va., was not so lucky. But in Berkeley, as nowhere else, the invigorated left has too eagerly played into the rights hands, supplying the kind of imagery that must make Fox News host Sean Hannity salivate. There was, to mark the start of a chaotic year, the counter-protest to a scheduled campus appearance by right-wing celebrity Milo Yiannopoulos last winter. Antifa destroyed property (both on campus and in the city of Berkeley), set fires and attacked Donald Trump supporters. The nation watched as Berkeley burned for the sake of, well, I am not sure what. The morning after, Trump mused about cutting off federal funds to the university, which he said practices violence on innocent people.

I doubt that seminars on Das Kapital are on the schedule for this weekends anti-Marxism gathering. The single purpose of these rallies is to goad the left into a response, which then allows the right to claim moral superiority  and to thereby perpetuate its campaign of incitement, as if there were urgent points to be made about the Confederacy and Jewish control of the media.

My message to those who might protest in Berkeley: Forget about it. Read a book. Take your kids to the park. Volunteer at a soup kitchen. Visit a museum you havent gone to before. Take a nap. But whatever you do, dont give the extremists the one thing they so desperately want: A response.

As soon as a single leftist in a balaclava throws a punch, the video will be splashed across the front page of Breitbart News for days.

Ive witnessed the far rights loudest voices stir up real-life crowds and legions of online trolls. I know all too well the writings and social media musings of Lauren Southern, Kyle Based Stickman Chapman, Richard Spencer, Jason Kessler, Brittany Pettibone, Nathan Damigo, Jack Posobiec. If you dont know who these people are, good for you. If you cant identify the flag of Kekistan, youve spared a valuable neuron from death by inanity. If youve never spent an hour on 4chan, you probably have a sunnier view of humanity than I do.

Although Id never portray myself as an expert on right-wing extremism, I am confident that these are not Hitlers willing executioners, imbued with a blazing vision of a Thousand Year Reich. They are hateful, but their hate is disorganized and juvenile, their diatribes against free trade tweeted from Chinese-made iPhones.

They can cause real damage. They can take real lives. But they do not represent a real threat to the republic. They are a virus that has infected the body politic. Troubling, yes, but not dangerous until it can bind to the host protein that is the militant left.

The neo-Nazis in our midst are outcasts who do not deserve the attention of reasonable citizens who seek measured debate in the public sphere. Dressed in their helmets and capes, wielding sticks, they are like the extras of a bad dystopian staging of one of Shakespeares war plays. They are looking for their fellow actors, the anarchists dressed in black. Without them, this is a dull show with a repetitive script, a tale told by an idiot, signifying nothing.

President Trumps condemnation of the violent right would have vitiated their movement, but he is unwilling to distance himself from the forces that helped him defeat more than a dozen Republicans in the presidential primary. So he will call them decent, even if they are anything but. And as soon as a single leftist in a balaclava throws a punch, the video will be splashed across the front page of Breitbart News for days.

You can be certain that the No Marxism marchers are hoping for chaos. Lets give them peace instead.

Alexander Nazaryan is a senior writer at Newsweek covering national politics.

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Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook.
To the editor: As we evaluate President Trumps new policy on the Afghanistan war, we should be mindful of the first law of holes: If you find yourself in one, stop digging. (There is no winning military strategy in Afghanistan, Opinion, Aug. 23)

The president might learn something from another leader who got mired in the graveyard of empires. At a 1986 Politburo meeting, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev looked in the mirror and said it is time to go:

We have been fighting in Afghanistan for already six years. If the approach is not changed, we will continue to fight for another 20-30 years.  What, are we going to fight endlessly, as a testimony that our troops are not able to deal with the situation? We need to finish this process as soon as possible.

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The result: Moscow got out of its hole and never looked back.

We should leave it to the neighboring countries that have a stake in cauterizing the malignant Islamic State and other terrorist cancers that would emerge in a collapsed Afghanistan and threaten their security to fashion a regional containment policy. The U.S.  from offshore  could provide air power and special forces to knock out terrorist cells as they emerge.

Doing anything more risks staying in the hole weve been in for 16 years. It is time to stop digging.

Bennett Ramberg, Los Angeles

The writer served as a policy analyst in the State Departments Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs in the George H.W. Bush administration.

..

In the 1980s, Islamic fighters were battling the Soviets in Afghanistan. The U.S. supported those fighters, as it was happy to see the Soviet Unions resources drained by an endless war.

Now, after 16 years of fighting the Taliban and others and supporting a corrupt government, we find ourselves draining our resources in an endless war. The victory we seek continues to grow less ambitious and decisive.

Russian President Vladimir Putin must be smiling.

Doris Isolini Nelson, Los Angeles

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
I heard something from Sean Hannity on Monday night that gave me a glimmer of hope for our fractured and fraught nation.

President Trump had just read a carefully crafted speech from a teleprompter in which he re-upped on American military engagement in Afghanistan, and I was sampling the commentary on MSNBC and CNN. After a while, the experience of having my liberal biases reinforced by one talking head after another grew tedious, so I switched to Fox News.

Hannity was on, doing an interview with former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton. These are two men with whom I have a lot of disagreements, but it actually felt good for my brain to have my assumptions challenged. Hannity, in particular, was very pleased with the presidents speech, giving Trump more credit than I think he deserves for setting a resolute new direction in a war that has been careening on and on since 2001. Still, his argument inspired me to come up with a counterargument of my own  a healthy intellectual exercise.

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Then, the subject shifted to the tragedy of Charlottesville and the provocations of white nationalists. Hannity noted that there had been several protests against racism and neo-Nazis earlier in the day. He went out of his way to tell Fox viewers that the people engaged in these demonstrations were almost all peaceful and that they were properly exercising their rights of free assembly and free speech. And he repeated that point a few minutes later.

I took it as a moment of grace. I am sure most of the people demonstrating were no fans of Trump or Fox News. Hannity could have mocked them and played up the antics of the handful that were troublemakers. But he didnt. He did the right thing, the American thing.

Or at least it used to be the American thing.

Having largely abandoned the common ground where the hard work of our nation gets done, Americans are retreating into tribes  Trump lovers versus Trump haters, city liberals versus country conservatives, whites versus nonwhites, do-nothing Republican politicians versus do-nothing Democratic politicians. From micro-aggression-monitoring students on college campuses to fearful Bible-believing folks in farm towns, everybody seems to want a safe space. Everybody wants to hear views they agree with and a version of the news that fits neatly into their predispositions.

1 / 51 la-1491523602-y7ephyarj1-snap-image (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 51 la-1491368625-0bgh58ihw8-snap-image (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los angeles Times) 6 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 51 Trump inspires millions to take to the streets -- to oppose him. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 21 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 22 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 23 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 24 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 25 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 26 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 27 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 28 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 29 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 31 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 32 / 51 Cartoon caption contest winner at the DENT conference in Sun Valley, Idaho: Jon Duval, executive director of the Ketchum Community Development Corporation. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 33 / 51 Old radicals and big media descend on Selma (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 34 / 51 Horsey imagined the creation of the Ann Coulter phenomenon in this cartoon from 2007. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 35 / 51 This David Horsey drawing is a reconfiguration of a cartoon he first published in 2006. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 36 / 51 Donald Sterling, owner of the L.A. Clippers, should give Cliven Bundy a call. After Sterling loses his NBA franchise and the deadbeat Nevada rancher loses his cattle, the two old racists will both need a buddy. Maybe they can team up together and open an all-white rodeo. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 37 / 51 Besides sending a chill up the spine of the international community, Vladimir Putin has accomplished one other thing by seizing Crimea and threatening the rest of Ukraine: Putin has brought back the bear. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 38 / 51 The right-wing insurrection at the Bundy ranch in Bunkerville, Nev., has taken another weird turn with new revelations about the family history of Cliven Bundy. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 39 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 40 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 41 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 42 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 43 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 44 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 45 / 51 David Horsey / Los Angeles Times (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 46 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 47 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 48 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 49 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 50 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 51 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)

What I heard in Hannitys words the other night was that it is OK to disagree, that the people on the other side are not all demons and traitors. Combined with the presidents unusually sober speech, it felt like a good sign. Even in this discordant time, maybe we can all find a way to get along, even find areas of agreement the way Americans are supposed to do.

Sadly, and unsurprisingly, Trump went from sober to intoxicated the next night at his campaign rally in Phoenix and proved he still has no inclination to be a president for all of us. He spent much of his time ranting about the fake news media. He singled out the failing New York Times for abuse and wildly accused the Washington Post of lobbying for its parent company, Amazon. He jabbed at ABCs George Stephanopoulos by name, deriding his short stature. He bashed the media in general for making up stories and claiming sources that are bogus. (Trump seems to have the illusion that every mainstream news outlet operates with the same low ethics as his favorite newspaper, the National Enquirer.) His careless tirade revved up the crowd, prompting a chant of CNN sucks! Some in the audience turned toward reporters in the hall to demand that they stop asking hard questions about the Trump campaigns alleged ties to Russia.

Amid all this slander, perhaps Trumps lowest point came when he said of journalists, for the most part, these are really, really dishonest people. And theyre bad people. And I really think they dont like our country. And I do not think it will change.

Are journalists truly dishonest, bad people? Tell that to the hundreds of reporters who have given their lives covering the news in dangerous places. And, please, Mr. Trump, do not question the patriotism or the love of country of the men and women who cover our wars, who monitor our government and who investigate and expose those who abuse the public trust. Defending the principles that make this nation a beacon of liberty is exactly why journalists do what they do.

Of course, people like Sean Hannity and me are not straight news guys. We are paid provocateurs (thought hes paid quite a bit better). Our job is to express our opinions as boldly as we can to encourage public debate about the big issues of the day. So, it is notable when a liberal cartoonist and a conservative TV commentator are driven to explain tolerance and free speech to our disgruntled citizenry. That should be the task of the president, but, apparently, the current occupant of the White House has no interest in that part of his job.

David.Horsey@latimes.com

Follow me at @davidhorsey on Twitter

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2018 electionCalifornia in Congress

Aug. 24, 2017, 2:53 p.m. Reporting from Washington

California Republicans are urging Trump to support DACA

Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) (Douglas Graham / Roll Call)

Reps. Jeff Denham and David Valadao joined four other Republicans Thursday to urge President Trump to leave in place deportation protections for some people who were brought to the country illegally as children.

Trumps mixed messages on whether he would continue the 5-year-old Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program has been a source of consternation since the Republican took office in January.

California is home to an estimated one-third of the 750,000 people who were granted work permits under the program. Republican attorneys general for Texas and nine other states have given the Trump administration an early September deadline to end the program or be sued.

In a letter to Trump, the representatives encouraged the president to focus on deporting criminals and to allow the program to continue until Congress can find a permanent legislative solution for the people who qualify for the program.

Denham of Turlock and Valadao of Hanford each represent agricultural districts in the Central Valley with large Latino populations, and each face potentially tough battles with Democrats in 2018.

We have violent criminals preying on our communities, and our resources should be going toward their deportation instead of being directed toward the young men and women protected through DACA, who are working toward a better future, Denham said in a statement.
Defense Secretary James N. Mattis condemned Russias attempts to redraw international borders by force and pledged support for Ukraine on Thursday but stopped short of promising U.S. weapons for Ukraines fight against pro-Russia separatists.

Mattis is the first Pentagon chief in a decade to visit Ukraine, which has been on the front lines of Russian aggression since Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014 and began supporting armed insurgents in eastern Ukraine.

Deliberations in the Trump administration have heated up in recent months over whether to provide lethal defensive weapons, such as Javelin antitank missiles, to Ukrainian forces that are battling the separatist insurgency.

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The debate has been awkward for President Trump, who faces multiple investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion between Moscow and his campaign.

Washington has no treaty obligations with Ukraine and the Obama administration gave nonlethal military aid to the government in Kiev. It also shared intelligence and posted U.S. troops to the Lviv region in western Ukraine, far from the conflict zone, to train Ukrainian soldiers.

Critics fear sending sophisticated U.S. arms to a low-level conflict on Russias border would worsen Washingtons already precarious relations with Moscow. Those who support sending arms argue that the war has been prolonged because the U.S. has not provided stronger support.

Senior Defense and State Department officials have privately supported proposals to supply more lethal weapons, according to U.S. officials, but the White House has yet to make a decision.

Standing beside Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko at the presidential building in Kiev, Mattis indicated he was in favor of stepping up military aid, but he stopped short of committing to it.

Mattis said he doesnt consider providing defensive weapons to be controversial because Ukraine is fighting a foreign enemy in defense of its sovereign borders.

Defensive weapons are not provocative unless youre an aggressor, and clearly Ukraine is not an aggressor since its their territory where the fighting is happening, he said.

Mattis declined to reveal his advice to Trump on the issue, saying, I owe him some confidentiality on that.

Washington has provided Ukrainian forces with about $750 million in nonlethal materiel since November 2015, including small reconnaissance drones, Humvees, and night-vision goggles, according to the Pentagon.

The aid includes mobile radars that can be used to warn against incoming mortar and artillery attacks and to pinpoint their source.

Poroshenko said Thursday that he was grateful for the U.S. assistance, but that further aid would apply greater pressure on Moscow and deter Russian forces from further incursions.

Having discussions about lethal weapons would increase the price if Russia made the decision to attack my troops and my territory, he said. And that would be a strong motivation to stop them.

Poroshenko met with Trump at the White House in June. The administration subsequently announced additional financial sanctions on Russians involved in supporting the secessionists in Ukraine.

The fighting has continued despite several cease-fires negotiated by international leaders. The efforts include the 2015 Minsk agreement, which calls for Russia to end its occupation of Crimea.

Russia has funneled heavy weapons and deployed about 3,000 troops into eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian officials say.

Ukraine aspires to join Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and other former Soviet bloc nations in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. But Russian President Vladimir Putin is strongly opposed to further expansion of the military alliance that originally was created to counter the Soviet Union.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson already has visited Kiev to show support. On Thursday, the 26th anniversary of Ukraines independence from the former Soviet Union, he expressed U.S. backing for the beleaguered country.

We remain steadfast in our support for your sovereignty, territorial integrity and democracy, Tillerson said.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and other Republican hawks in Congress have urged Trump to break with the Obama-era limits on sending lethal weapons to Ukraine.

It is long past time for the United States to provide Ukraine the defensive lethal assistance it needs to deter and defend against further Russian aggression, McCain said in a statement.

Doing so was part of the Republican Partys platform at its convention last year until it was cut by the Trump campaign. Since then, the administration has declined to commit one way or the other.

Were not going to rule that out right now, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Wednesday. No decisions have been made.

During Mattis visit to Kiev, Ukraine celebrated its independence day with a massive military parade that featured hulking tanks, ballistic missiles and thousands of Ukrainian troops goose-stepping in formation.

For the first time, U.S. Army soldiers and a color guard participated in the annual parade. The two dozen troops are part of a multinational training group in Ukraine.

Mattis looked on from Maidan Square, a historic public plaza famous for large protest rallies against Russia. He also placed roses at a memorial to Ukraines Heavenly Hundred, protesters killed in the square by pro-Russia forces in late 2013 and 2014.

Have no doubt, the United States stands with Ukraine, Mattis said. We support you in the face of threats to sovereignty and territorial integrity, to international law and to the international order.... And despite Russias denials, we know they are seeking to redraw international borders by force.

Times staff writer Tracy Wilkinson in Washington contributed to this report.

william.hennigan@latimes.com

Twitter: @wjhenn

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Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan is better acquainted than most Democrats with the financially stressed voters who helped carry Donald Trump to the White House. He comes home to them every week.

Throngs of erstwhile Democrats voted for Trump in Ryans Rust Belt district in Youngstown, and they cheered his return for a bombastic rally in July.



For the record: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the New America Foundation hosted a meeting of centrist Democrats in Aspen, Colo. The meeting was hosted by the think tank Third Way.

Yet Ryans plan for winning them back is increasingly out of step in a Democratic Party fast moving to the left.

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People from areas like where I come from dont necessarily hate corporations, said the congressman, who wants Democrats to focus on boosting business instead of berating it for economic inequality. In Ryans view, the hate the rich guy thing doesnt work.

Union leader RoseAnn DeMoro has equally strong views about what will fail Democrats: Ryans corporate-friendly approach, which she complains the party has clung to since Bill Clinton entered the White House. In any other place they would have fired the entire group of people and started from a different narrative after the last election, said the executive director of National Nurses United. Not the Democrats. They have lost a thousand seats in the last decade and they are still staying the course.

Beneath the united front that Democrats project over matters such as President Trumps appeasement of white supremacists and policy missteps is a deep fissure over how to win back voters on the issue that matters most, the economy. The centrist economic policies that have been a driving force of the Democratic agenda for decades are under heavy attack from an ascendant left, led by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

Moderates are now scrambling to rebrand and reassert the Clintonomics that served them so well in the 1990s and into the Obama administration, including embracing global trade and collaborating with industry. But Hillary Clintons stinging loss has become a major drag on a platform that stops far short of progressives promises of Medicare for all, free college, expanded Social Security, increased taxes on the rich and protectionist trade policies.

I am completely dubious of these claims that socialized medicine is wildly popular.  Jonathan Cowan, president of Third Way

Worried that they have nobody with equal star power to Sanders or Warren, centrists are eagerly seeking out recruits in such places as a stealthy confab held in Aspen, Colo., this month by Third Way, a centrist think tank. But in a sign of the sensitivities, organizers promised not to name the nationally known politicians in attendance lest they face harassment from the left for showing up.

A formidable group of Democratic elected officials led by one of the creators of Clintonomics, Will Marshall, has banded together under the name New Democracy to confront the growing influence of the left. Many of them hail from Trump country.

The group Priorities USA, which is packed with Hillary Clinton loyalists, has also plunged into the economic message debate armed with data from its focus groups of persuadable Trump voters in swing states. The effort is promoted as beneficial to Democrats of all varieties  and Priorities USA has no plans to get involved in primaries  but it also cautions candidates against banking too far left. Priorities Chairman Guy Cecil, citing the focus group findings, warned Democrats it would be a mistake to stress economic fairness over growth.

Achieving economic success to these voters is more about working hard and leveraging the opportunities you are given, not leveling the playing field, Cecil wrote in a widely distributed memo this month.

A lot of this is familiar. Centrist and progressive Democrats have been tangling for decades over what economic path to take, and the tension only grew in the aftermath of the election. The fight is playing out in backrooms in Washington and hostile volleys between activists over social media.

California Sen. Kamala Harris is among those caught in the crossfire. Activists on the left created a vivid meme that attacked her as a centrist corn cob  an insult progressives hurl at politicians they accuse of twisting themselves into positions palatable to the center. They cited her decision while California attorney general not to prosecute billionaire Steven T. Mnuchin, now Trumps Treasury secretary, for misdeeds state investigators uncovered at the California bank Mnuchin ran. Their meme went viral after Center for American Progress President Neera Tanden, a longtime advisor to Hillary Clinton, called on Sanders to tell his supporters to knock it off.

Party leadership sought to foster harmony with the rollout this summer of Democrats A Better Deal platform, which had populist undertones but was muted enough to not repel moderates. The vague document drew no small measure of mockery. Some complained it was about as inspired as the Papa Johns pizza chain slogan it sounded like (Better ingredients. Better pizza.).

The plan was silent on the issue fast emerging as a key focus among Democrats in the economic debate: whether to pursue a single-payer, government-run healthcare system, also known as Medicare for all. Large numbers of Democratic politicians, emboldened by the failure of Republicans to repeal Obamacare, are now backing it, including even some moderates like Rep. Ryan. Ben Tulchin, lead pollster for the Sanders presidential bid, argues that the concept has broad support from voters and can give a boost to Democrats even in conservative districts.

But the push has energized a counter-movement by Third Way.

I am completely dubious of these claims that socialized medicine is wildly popular, said Jonathan Cowan, president of Third Way. They never tell people in their polls that it would mean taxes go up significantly and they would not keep their doctor. Try that out. The moment you actually tell people what it is, support collapses.

Cowan noted that Colorado voters in November soundly defeated a single-payer proposal. This is a dangerous political fantasy, he said. If you believe in single-payer health insurance and dont care about the consequences, fine. But to argue it is a political winner when it literally has never gotten more than 30% in a ballot measure is wrong.

Third Way finds itself in a place it had not expected: re-litigating the same fights that played out during the Democratic primary. Its leaders anticipated that at this point they would be advising a Hillary Clinton White House on implementing the many policy proposals she had adopted from their playbook. Instead, they find themselves straining to bring them back into the discussion at all.

Sandersism is the only cause on offer for Democrats right now, Cowan said. It didnt win in the primary. It hasnt been winning since the primary. Its incumbent on Democrats to create and offer a true alternative to this.

Once they do, its going to be a tough sell in a party that has grown impatient with its own establishment.

DeMoro, the union executive, has her own prediction on how it will be received by the voters that Democrats are eager to win back: This is how it reads to middle America: They are smug, they are not listening, they are not capable of listening.

evan.halper@latimes.com

Follow me: @evanhalper

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A District of Columbia judge ruled Thursday that a Los Angeles-based Web host provider must provide the government with digital data from a website widely used to help organize protests against President Trumps inauguration in January.

The ruling by District of Columbia Superior Court Chief Judge Robert E. Morin marked a win for the government, although Morin said he would supervise the governments use of the data it collects from Web host DreamHost.

Chris Ghazarian, general counsel for DreamHost, said the company needed to review the ruling before deciding whether to appeal. He said he was glad Morin acknowledged the companys 1st Amendment concerns but said the warrant was still problematic.

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The mere fact that this information is being turned over to the government means the next time youre sitting at home with your family thinking about visiting a website, youre going to second-guess yourself, he said.

The Department of Justice initially filed a search warrant in July to obtain data from DreamHost about the 1.3 million visits to disruptj20.org, a website associated with organizing demonstrations on Inauguration Day that resulted in about 200 arrests.

The government said it sought the data to gather evidence for prosecutions of those involved in violence. The case was filed in a local court because the rioters were charged under District of Columbia law.

DreamHost refused to turn over the data, arguing that the warrant was overly broad in scope and thus unconstitutional. It said the website had registered more than 1 million visits, including people who did not take part in violent protests.

The government amended its search warrant request Tuesday to omit the digital addresses of visitors to disruptj20.org or any material that was written on the site but not posted online.

In a 90-minute hearing Thursday, Morin ruled from the bench that DreamHost must provide the government with all other data from disruptj20.org that it sought under the search warrant.

But Morin put restrictions on what they could do with the material.

He ruled that the government must disclose how they plan to review the data, identify those involved in the process and explain how they will avoid collecting protected information about innocent visitors to the website.

Morin also limited the scope of the search from when the website domain was created in October 2016 to Inauguration Day on Jan. 20. He also said the Justice Department cannot distribute or publicize the data it collects, including to any other government agency.

Under his order, the government can sift through the data and determine what applies to the investigation and what does not. Officials will keep material they find appropriate and seal the rest in court.

The court ruled the company must turn over the information but the government cannot begin searching it until DreamHost decides whether it plans to appeal.

Assistant U.S. Atty. John Borchert told the court that any other solution would be unworkable. The government will look only for information that relates to the planning and organizing of violence, he said, such as emails identifying people bringing crowbars or deciding where to meet with gas masks.

The nature of any search warrant is that it is going to sweep more data than will be seized, he said. There will not be an intrusion of anybodys reasonable expectation of privacy.

But Raymond Aghaian, who represented DreamHost in court Thursday, said the government still would be able to obtain data on any person who communicated with or activated an account under the disruptj20.org domain.

When it comes to sensitive 1st Amendment issues such as this one, it should not be the case where the government gets to rummage through material to determine whether something is valid or not, Aghaian said.

Under the law, prosecutors may bring charges based on evidence found in plain view while enacting a different search  say when bomb-making equipment turns up in a search for narcotics.

That scope could be dangerous when searching the digital world, according to Stephanie Lacambra, an attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit group that focuses on digital civil liberties.

They may say, Well, it was in plain view, we were able to see it and now we have evidence of another crime we didnt know about beforehand,  Lacambra said.

Sixty civil liberties groups and other organizations sent a letter to Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions on Thursday to express concern about the search warrant demand and the precedent it sets.

The Justice Departments actions in this case conflicted with core American values, the letter states. Americans have a right to seek information without fear of surveillance; they have a right to privacy; they have a right to dissent; and they have a right to petition their government without fear of persecution.

While the hearing was underway, DreamHost suffered an online attack that shut down several of its Web services. A spokesperson said the company not think the attack was related to the court case.

lauren.rosenblatt@latimes.com

Twitter: @LRosenblatt_

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The White House is preparing guidance for the Pentagon to carry out President Trumps decision to bar transgender people from the military, but the ban appears to have exceptions for current service members, according to a military officer familiar with the deliberations.

The draft details suggest that White House officials are backing away from the blanket ban Trump described, instead giving discretion to Defense Secretary James N. Mattis to retain people now serving in the military while barring new entrants who are transgender.

Mattis reportedly could allow a self-declared transgender service member to remain in the military if the person is considered capable of being deployed in a war zone, in military exercises or aboard ship.

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The Pentagon would have to stop admitting transgender people into the military, end payments for medical treatment related to gender transition, and fully implement the restrictions within six months, according to the draft guidelines, which were first reported by the Wall Street Journal in Thursdays editions.

The guidelines are not final and have not been officially sent to the Pentagon. They are still being vetted by Trump administration lawyers to try to protect against likely legal challenges.

Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders wouldnt say whether the White House was close to sending such guidance to the Defense Department. When we have an announcement on that Ill let you know, she said.

In anticipation, however, one congressional critic vowed to seek legislation to undo any ban. Democrats and Republicans have said that anyone who wants to serve should be allowed to do so.

When I was bleeding to death in my Black Hawk helicopter after I was shot down, I didnt care if the American troops risking their lives to help save me were gay, straight, transgender, black, white or brown, said Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a Democrat who lost both her legs in the attack during her Army service in Iraq.

If the president enacts this ban, which would harm our military readiness, the Democratic and Republican members of Congress who oppose this discrimination must enact legislation that prevents it from taking effect, Duckworth continued in her statement.

Trump unexpectedly announced the ban on Twitter on July 26, writing that the military would no longer accept or allow transgender troops to serve in any capacity.

The announcement was a reversal for Trump, who had promised repeatedly during his presidential campaign to support the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Although the president wrote that he decided after consultation with  Generals and military experts, top military officials said they were blindsided. In an unusual move, the Pentagon indicated it would not take action without fuller presidential guidance through proper channels.

Trumps tweet was an attempt to undo a policy of his predecessor. The Obama administration last year lifted a long-standing ban on transgender service members, allowing those in the ranks to come out openly. The Pentagon was preparing to allow openly transgender people to join the military in 2018.

The day after Trumps tweet, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, told commanders in a memo that the current permissive policy would remain until direction came from the White House and implementation guidance was issued by the secretary of Defense.

A change in military personnel policy at a minimum can take months of study and preparation before it is put into place.

If the Trump administration declares some service members cant be deployed on ships, in combat or for military exercises because of their gender identity, the Pentagon could be vulnerable to lawsuits claiming its standard is discriminatory.

Five transgender women in the military filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia earlier this month, accusing Trump and the Pentagon of unconstitutional discrimination and violating their rights to equal protection and due process.

Ashley Broadway-Mack, president of the American Military Partner Assn., a Washington-based organization that advocates for LGBT rights in the military, said in a statement, Transgender service members are just as deployable as any other service member.

These brave men and women are already risking their lives for this country around the world, she added.

Trump wrote in his tweets that he wanted to bar transgender troops because of tremendous medical costs and disruption. Both concerns appear to be unfounded, according to studies.

A Rand Corp. study commissioned by the Pentagon last year estimated there were about 2,450 transgender people serving on active duty. It concluded that allowing transgender troops to serve openly would cost $2.4 million to $8.4 million in additional healthcare costs annually, a tiny fraction of the Pentagons $6-billion healthcare budget.

The study also predicted little or no impact on unit cohesion, operational effectiveness or readiness.

Polls show that American voters overwhelmingly support allowing transgender people to serve in the military. That is true regardless of age, gender, education level or racial group; the exception is Republicans, who are opposed by a wide margin.

In a Quinnipiac University Poll conducted July 27 to Aug. 1, 68% of voters and 55% of those in military households said they supported permitting transgender service members, while 27% of voters (39% in military families) were opposed.

Times staff writers Noah Bierman and W.J. Hennigan contributed to this report.

brian.bennett@latimes.com

Twitter: @bybrianbennett

david.cloud@latimes.com

Twitter: @davidcloudLAT

UPDATES:

4 p.m.: Updated with information on public opinion polling regarding transgender people in the military.

This article was originally published at 3:10 p.m.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tends toward restraint in public comments, but his observation that President Trump, as a newcomer to politics, had excessive expectations about the legislative process provoked an unexpected war with the White House that shows no signs of easing.

Trump, in tweet after scalding tweet, has turned on McConnell, attacking the Republican Senate leader  and at times House Speaker Paul D. Ryan  in a relentless barrage that continued Thursday, long after each sides offices had tried to put the matter to rest by pledging to work together on shared GOP priorities.

The outbursts from the president have not only driven a wedge between the White House and its Capitol Hill allies, they have also exposed the limits of the presidents understanding of how to interact with Congress and how the legislative branch works.

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In many ways, Trumps escalating retorts have only proven McConnells initial criticism correct.

This week, for example, Trump picked a fight with Congress over his proposed border wall with Mexico, threatening a government shutdown if lawmakers fail to provide construction funds, even though Trump once promised the money would come from Mexico. Though the wall was a key Trump campaign promise, it is not a priority for his party, particularly those who would rather cut government spending.

In recent weeks, Trump has started blaming the collapse of the GOP healthcare overhaul on one vote  referring to Sen. John McCains stunning dissent. In fact, the so-called skinny Obamacare repeal bill that McCain helped defeat was merely a placeholder for continued negotiations, and it remained highly uncertain whether the broader effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act would have succeeded.

The president has also been pushing for elimination of the Senate filibuster, making it easier to pass legislation with a simple majority. But most senators from both parties resist that idea, preferring to preserve the Senates longstanding protection of minority views. Besides, top agenda items  healthcare and tax reform  can be accomplished under rules that only require 51 votes for passage.

And on Thursday, Trump second-guessed GOP leaders plan for the upcoming debt limit battle, saying Congress should have linked that difficult vote to a popular Veterans Affairs bill that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. Most view that idea as overly simplistic, saying such a maneuver would have more likely backfired and defeated both measures.

I requested that Mitch M & Paul R tie the Debt Ceiling legislation into the popular V.A. Bill (which just passed) for easy approval. They......didnt do it so now we have a big deal with Dems holding them up (as usual) on Debt Ceiling approval, he tweeted. Could have been so easy-now a mess!

Presidents have always encountered challenges with the legislative branch, even when the House and Senate are controlled by their own party. But Trump seems to negotiate with leaders in Congress in a way that more resembles his business experience  as an employer directing his employees, rather than as co-equal partners in government.

Trump appears to be unaware, or unconcerned, with the deepening divisions he is creating among the very leaders and lawmakers he will need to rely on for passage of the bills he wants to sign into law.

As the probe into Russian election meddling intensifies, Trump has been reaching out to some senators directly, sometimes with mixed results.

He called Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who led passage of a Russia sanctions bill, to express his displeasure with the legislation. He also reached out to Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), author of legislation to protect Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III from being fired from the Russia inquiry.

After Trump defended white supremacists last week after the Charlottesville violence, Corker said that Trump has not shown the stability needed of a president.

Asked about Corkers statement Thursday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders blasted the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, who was once under consideration to be Trumps secretary of State, calling his ridiculous and outrageous claim not worthy of a response.

Trump renewed his attacks Thursday, even as McConnell tried to move past their public spat. The two reportedly have not spoken since the president berated him in a profanity-lace phone call earlier this month over the Senate leaders failure to shield the president from the Russia investigation and the healthcare bills demise.

The only problem I have with Mitch McConnell is that, after hearing Repeal & Replace for 7 years, he failed!That should NEVER have happened!

Republicans in Congress, who have the majority in both chambers, have reluctantly come to the conclusion that, despite their hunger for leadership to unite the fractured party, they are largely on their own.

As they prepare for a turbulent fall session, when Congress will need to fund the government for the new fiscal year to avert a federal government shutdown and raise the debt limit to avoid a financial crisis, many lawmakers feel they are without a reliable partner in the White House to build public support.

Congress members are by and large nervous creatures, said Matt Schlapp, a Trump ally and chairman of the right-leaning American Conservative Union. Theres no question theyre nervous right now and theyre nervous about the White House.

Ryan this week downplayed Trumps threats to shut down the government over the border wall, insisting Congress had no intention of repeating what many Republicans viewed as a political mistake in 2013 when Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) led the party to shut down the government for 16 days over an effort to defund Obamacare.

I dont think a government shutdowns necessary and I dont think most people want to see a government shutdown, ourselves included, Ryan told reporters at event in Oregon.

McConnell, at a speech Thursday to farmers in Kentucky, returned to his usual restraint, making note of some of Trumps accomplishments since taking office, such as lifting federal regulations.

Sanders insisted the presidents relationship with congressional leaders is fine, and that Trump and McConnell are scheduled to meet once lawmakers return in September to discuss shared priorities, including tax reform, infrastructure, healthcare and the agenda ahead.

Trump, though, has rarely shown a willingness to shift his approach, and his current regard for Congress was apparent during his rally this week in Phoenix.

It was only toward the end of a combative speech, after complaining about the home-state senators and the media, that Trump acknowledged he must rely on lawmakers as he pursues tax reform and his agenda ahead.

It seemed almost like an afterthought. We need the help of Congress, Trump said.

lisa.mascaro@latimes.com

@LisaMascaro

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State lawmakers can pass all kinds of bills aimed at building more affordable housing. But they cant repeal the fundamental law of supply and demand for desirable land.

Land costs are what really drive up housing prices and make homeownership increasingly beyond the reach of so many Californians. Rentals are virtually impossible, too, in attractive regions along the coast, especially San Francisco.

Land prices on the coast are among the highest in the nation. A residential acre in the average U.S. metropolitan area is valued at $20,000, the Legislative Analysts Office reported two years ago. Along Californias urban coast, an average acre is worth more than $150,000.

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Sure, you can buy or rent homes relatively cheaply in gritty little towns off Interstate 5 in the San Joaquin Valley. Inland land prices in California are typically below the national average, the analyst reported.

But there arent many job opportunities on the San Joaquin Valleys west side, except for picking crops. And during the drought, there was a serious shortage of drinking water in some places. It had to be trucked in. Wells ran dry.

The jobs are in the Bay Area, where its practically impossible for a middle-class family to move. The median selling price for a single-family home in San Francisco during July was $1.4 million, according to the California Assn. of Realtors.

In Los Angeles County, the median price was $566,000. In San Diego: $613,000. San Bernardino County had the lowest price in Southern California: $266,000.

So its not the lumber, labor and bathroom fixtures that mostly run up housing costs. Its the desirable land. But that other stuff costs a lot, too.

The legislative analyst reported that materials, labor and government fees all are higher in California than the rest of the country. And regulations can tie up developers projects agonizingly for years, adding cost.

Then theres the transportation quagmire.

Unlike New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C., where someone can live far out in the burbs and commute by rail to a job in the city, a resident of Palmdale or Modesto may need to drive 90 minutes to work, then back home at night. That can be a home wrecker.

A half century ago, when California had fewer than 20 million people, you could buy a three-bedroom, two-bath home in Sacramento for less than $20,000. Today, with the states population doubled, the same house would cost 10, 15 or 20 times as much, depending on the location.

Weve just got too many people packed into livable areas. To sustain the population growth and return housing to semi-affordability in California, well need to stack people on top of each other in cities, as Manhattan does. That goes against the grain of Californias revered ranch-style living. But its inevitable.

Want a suburban or country lifestyle? Then well need to greatly upgrade our commuter rail system. That doesnt mean a bullet train. It means usable, dependable regional rail.

So this is a long way of expressing skepticism about the Legislatures current effort to pass an effective affordable housing package. That said, the lawmakers deserve credit for at least trying.

There are a few things that legislators  at least the Democrats  are trying to do while working within the parameters of what Gov. Jerry Brown will accept.

They want to create some permanent funding to help finance affordable housing. This is the toughest task because it involves raising revenue and that requires a two-thirds majority vote.

Lawmakers are about maxed out on politically risky revenue-raising this year. They previously increased gasoline prices to pay for road repairs and extended cap-and-trade polluter fees that will boost some consumer prices.

SB 2, by Sen. Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), would impose a $75 fee on real estate documents such as deeds and liens, raising around $250 million a year. It would affect mortgage refinancing, but not real estate sales.

SB 3, by Sen. Jim Beall (D-San Jose), is a proposed $3-billion bond issue to help fund affordable housing. It would go on the 2018 state ballot.

State Treasurer John Chiang, whos running for governor, thinks thats too miserly. He advocates going big and bold with a bond from $6 billion to $9 billion.

The lack of affordable housing is a major risk to Californias economic prosperity, Chiang told me. We did a poll and 63% of voters have a close family member or friend who has moved away from California because of increased housing costs.

Im trying to build up passion in the Senate, said the mild-mannered Chiang.

The reason the bond is not bigger is that the governor says, Thats it! Beall told me. Hes agreed to a $7 billion total for all bonds.

Democrats also hope to pass a water-and-parks bond issue of nearly $4 billion.

Brian Dahle to replace Chad Mayes as Assembly GOP leader 

Another thing the Legislature wants to do about affordable housing is to streamline the regulatory process, speeding up development and lowering costs.

SB 35, by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) would eliminate many local restrictions in communities that have not been meeting their required housing goals.

We have a housing shortage that is threatening Californias economy, diversity and environment, he says. The working class is being pushed out of urban areas and their longer commutes are worsening climate change, he explains.

To fix all this will require changing Californias lifestyle  unless millions decide to flee the state.

george.skelton@latimes.com

Follow @LATimesSkelton on Twitter

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Trump promotes sons Justice with Judge Jeanine interview President Trump promoted via Twitter an interview with his son Eric Trump just before it aired Saturday night on Fox News Justice with Judge Jeanine. Eric Trump on @JudgeJeanine on @FoxNews now!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 21, 2018 Eric Trump called into the show to defend his father from criticism prompted by the first government shutdown in more than four years, as well as a series of Womens March events that saw protesters in dozens of cities take to the streets to oppose the presidents policies. .@EricTrump joined me over the phone from Mar-a-Lago ! pic.twitter.com/Hro3TzUW52  Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) January 21, 2018 Speaking to host Jeannine Piro  who is reportedly an old friend of the presidents  Eric Trump offered effusive praise for his father, ticking off glowing statistics to illustrate the strength of the U.S. economy and gains against Islamic State fighters overseas. My fathers working like no ones ever worked before to bring back this country and to fulfill his promise to make America great again, said the executive vice president of the Trump Organization. He also repeated a sentiment recently expressed on Twitter by his father: That Democratic lawmakers forced a government shutdown on the anniversary of the presidents inauguration in a bid to distract from his achievements. You look at this whole government shutdown, and the only reason they want to shut down government is to distract and to stop his momentum, Eric Trump said. I mean, my father has had incredible momentum. Hes gotten more done in one year than arguably any president in history. Facebook

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Trump tweets: a perfect day for all Women to March President Trump hailed the nationwide Womens March gatherings Saturday. On Twitter, the president called it a perfect day for all Women to March, seeming to imply that those taking part were celebrating his administrations accomplishments: Beautiful weather all over our great country, a perfect day for all Women to March. Get out there now to celebrate the historic milestones and unprecedented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months. Lowest female unemployment in 18 years!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 Participants in the marches across the United States were actually seeking to deliver a powerful rebuke to Trumps policies and mount a crucial mobilization for this years midterm elections. But Trump continued to tout his administrations unprecedented success in tweets sent later in the day: Unprecedented success for our Country, in so many ways, since the Election. Record Stock Market, Strong on Military, Crime, Borders, & ISIS, Judicial Strength & Numbers, Lowest Unemployment for Women & ALL, Massive Tax Cuts, end of Individual Mandate - and so much more. Big 2018!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 The Trump Administration has terminated more UNNECESSARY Regulation, in just twelve months, than any other Administration has terminated during their full term in office, no matter what the length. The good news is, THERE IS MUCH MORE TO COME!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 21, 2018 In addition to the roll call of major American cities where womens marches took place  including New York, Washington, Los Angeles, Dallas, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta  protesters also raised their voices in suburbs and small towns, reflecting the aim of coalescing a broad-based movement on the anniversary of Trumps inauguration to oppose the presidents stance on immigration, healthcare, racial divides and an array of other issues. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Laura King. Facebook

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Trump calls shutdown a present from Democrats By Associated Press President Trump is blaming Democrats for the government shutdown  tweeting that they wanted to give him a nice present to mark the one-year anniversary of his inauguration: This is the One Year Anniversary of my Presidency and the Democrats wanted to give me a nice present. #DemocratShutdown  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 That comes after Senate Democrats late Friday killed a GOP-written House-passed measure that would have kept agencies functioning for four weeks. Democrats were seeking a stopgap bill of just a few days in hopes that would build pressure on Republicans, and they were opposing a three-week alternative offered by GOP leaders. Democrats have insisted they would back legislation reopening the government once theres a bipartisan agreement to preserve protections against deporting about 700,000 immigrants  known as Dreamers  who arrived in the United States illegally as children. Trump on Saturday accused Democrats of holding our Military hostage over their desire to have unchecked illegal immigration: Democrats are holding our Military hostage over their desire to have unchecked illegal immigration. Cant let that happen!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 Democrats are laying fault for the shutdown on Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress and the White House and have struggled with building internal consensus. In a series of tweets hours after the shutdown began, the president tried to make the case for Americans to elect more Republicans to Congress in November in order to power through this mess: Democrats are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border. They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead. #WeNeedMoreRepublicansIn18 in order to power through mess!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 He noted that there are 51 Republicans in the 100-member Senate, and it often takes 60 votes to advance legislation: For those asking, the Republicans only have 51 votes in the Senate, and they need 60. That is why we need to win more Republicans in 2018 Election! We can then be even tougher on Crime (and Border), and even better to our Military & Veterans!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 #AMERICA FIRST!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 The stopgap spending measure won 50 votes in the Senate, including five from Democrats. Although the House and Senate were in session Saturday, it was unclear whether lawmakers would take any votes of consequence. Trump had been set to leave Friday afternoon for a fundraiser at his estate in Palm Beach, Fla., where he intended to mark the inauguration anniversary. But he remained in Washington and ended up scrapping his plans to attend the Saturday fundraiser. Read More Facebook

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Trump tweet casts doubt on likelihood of averting shutdown President Trump appeared to cast doubt on the likelihood of reaching a deal to avert a government shutdown Friday night in a tweet. Trump also sought to blame Democrats for what would be the first shutdown since 2013. His message came just hours before the midnight deadline by which lawmakers must pass a measure to fund government agencies, or some operations will cease. Not looking good for our great Military or Safety & Security on the very dangerous Southern Border. Dems want a Shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the Tax Cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 Despite last-minute negotiations Friday between Trump and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, Congress remained deadlocked over a spending bill and the federal government was headed toward a shutdown at midnight. Senate Democrats  joined by some GOP deficit hawks and immigration allies  were set to filibuster a stopgap funding bill approved by the House on Thursday. A Senate vote was planned for 10 p.m. Eastern, and even White House officials predicted it would fail. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Lisa Mascaro. Facebook

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Trump signs surveillance law after confusing tweets By Associated Press President Trump on Friday signed a bill into law to renew a foreign intelligence surveillance program, announcing his action in the latest in a series of confusing tweets about the spy program: Just signed 702 Bill to reauthorize foreign intelligence collection. This is NOT the same FISA law that was so wrongly abused during the election. I will always do the right thing for our country and put the safety of the American people first!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 19, 2018 Trumps tweet on Jan. 11 created chaos in the House just before it voted to reauthorize what is known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. He linked the intelligence program to a dossier that alleges his presidential campaign had ties to Russia. That caused people to wonder if he didnt support the program that allows U.S. spy agencies to collect intelligence on foreign targets abroad. Trump and other Republicans have alleged that Obama administration officials improperly shared the identities of Trump presidential transition team members mentioned in intelligence reports. Democrats say there is no evidence that happened. Shortly before the House vote, and after conferring with House Speaker Paul Ryan, Trump did an apparent about-face. This vote is about foreign surveillance of foreign bad guys on foreign land, he tweeted. We need it! Get smart! In his tweet announcing that he had just signed the bill, Trump wrote: This is NOT the same FISA law that was so wrongly abused during the election. I will always do the right thing for our country and put the safety of the American people first! There are no obvious links between the dossier Trump spoke of, which includes salacious but unsubstantiated allegations against him, and the reauthorization of the spying program, or between the program and Trumps oft-repeated claims that the Obama administration conducted surveillance on Trump Tower during the presidential campaign. Facebook

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In tweet, Trump suggests that Pennsylvania trip is a political one The White House press office was once again forced to walk back a tweet from President Trump on Thursday morning after he described a trip to Pennsylvania later in the day as a political one  a statement that would force the Republican Party, not taxpayers, to pay for the journey. The White House had said Trump was going to an industrial equipment company outside of Pittsburgh to highlight the good economy and new tax cuts, making it an official, policy-oriented event. It was widely assumed that the trip had a political cast  the area is holding a special election to fill a congressional seat vacated by a Republican who resigned. Trump, by his tweet, seemed to confirm that politics was the whole purpose: Will be going to Pennsylvania today in order to give my total support to RICK SACCONE, running for Congress in a Special Election (March 13). Rick is a great guy. We need more Republicans to continue our already successful agenda!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018 Trump later shared via Twitter a pair of video clips of his speech at H&K Equipment, in which he touted the tax cuts he signed into law just before Christmas and tried to turn the conversation back to his accomplishments after weeks dominated by distractions, including questions about his mental health and comments about immigration that some considered racist: Departing Pittsburgh now, where it was my great honor to stand with our incredible workers, and to show the world that AMERICA is back - and we are coming back bigger and better and stronger than ever before! pic.twitter.com/kWPgylqFzj  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018 AMERICA will once again be a NATION that thinks big, dreams bigger, and always reaches for the stars. YOU are the ones who will shape Americas destiny. YOU are the ones who will restore our prosperity. And YOU are the ones who are MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! #MAGA pic.twitter.com/f2abNK47II  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018 The Republican National Committee, rather than the White House, is supposed to pay for political travel so that taxpayers are not financing party activities; for trips that combine policy and politics, parties have split the cost under past presidents. Neither the RNC nor the White House responded to emails sent Thursday asking who would pay. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement later Thursday suggesting that taxpayers would foot the bill. She insisted that Trump would be conducting government business while in Pennsylvania. Read More This post contains reporting from the Associated Press and Times staff writer Noah Bierman. Facebook

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Trump tweets praise of Bob Dole after awarding him Congressional Gold Medal By Associated Press Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole knew the art of the deal before President Trump published the 1987 book of the same name. The two shared a stage under the Capitol dome Wednesday as Dole, 94, accepted Congress highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, for his World War II service and decades of work in the House and Senate. Trump later praised Dole in a tweet, attaching to his message a video composed of clips from the ceremony: Today, we witnessed an incredible moment in history  the presentation of Congress highest civilian honor to our friend, and true AMERICAN HERO, Bob Dole. #CongressionalGoldMedal pic.twitter.com/qNQqDLRmCk  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 17, 2018 At the ceremony, the president saluted Dole as a patriot and gave tribute to Doles struggle as a veteran who worked his way back from a grievous shoulder wound he suffered in Italy. He knows about grit, said Trump. But it was Doles penchant for working across the aisle that earned him his latest award, according to the legislation. Bob Dole was known for his ability to work across the aisle and embrace practical bipartisanship, reads the legislation Trump signed in September. Some of the awards 300 recipients include George Washington and Mother Teresa, according to the Congressional Research Service. Read More Facebook

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Trump touts report that seeks to link terrorism cases with immigration By Joseph Tanfani The Trump administration on Tuesday released a report attempting to link terrorism with migration, arguing that it was evidence of the need to dramatically reshape the nations immigration system. New report from DOJ & DHS shows that nearly 3 in 4 individuals convicted of terrorism-related charges are foreign-born. We have submitted to Congress a list of resources and reforms....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 ....we need to keep America safe, including moving away from a random chain migration and lottery system, to one that is merit-based. https://t.co/7PtoSFK1n2  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 The report, ordered by President Trump in an executive order last year, said that 75% of the 549 people convicted of terrorism charges since 9/11 were born outside the U.S. Administration officials called that a sign that the U.S. needs to scrap its policy of family preferences for visas, which they call chain migration, and a diversity visa lottery program. But the report did not specify how many  if any  of the convicted terrorists entered the country through those means. It also did not detail how many of the convictions were related to attacks or plans in the U.S. versus overseas and how many involved people who went to fight overseas for the Islamic State or another terrorist group. Those details were not available, officials said. The report, due last year, is being released in a highly charged moment in the immigration debate, as Trump and some Republicans in Congress seek tough new border and immigration measures in return for a deal protecting the 690,000 people in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Trump also fired off a pair of tweets on the topic earlier Tuesday: We must have Security at our VERY DANGEROUS SOUTHERN BORDER, and we must have a great WALL to help protect us, and to help stop the massive inflow of drugs pouring into our country!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 The Democrats want to shut down the Government over Amnesty for all and Border Security. The biggest loser will be our rapidly rebuilding Military, at a time we need it more than ever. We need a merit based system of immigration, and we need it now! No more dangerous Lottery.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 The focus of our immigration system should be assimilation, a senior administration official said on Tuesday, speaking on condition that his name not be used. He said the nation should give priority to potential immigrants who speak English, who have an education and those who are committed to supporting our values  not family members of people already here. The official said the timing of the report was coincidental. Read More Facebook

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Trump tweets welcome to president of Kazakhstan By Associated Press President Trump said Tuesday that he and the president of Kazakhstan are united in a shared determination to prevent North Korea from threatening the world with nuclear devastation. Trump and President Nursultan Nazarbayev discussed North Korea along with other issues during meetings at the White House. Today, it was my honor to welcome President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan to the @WhiteHouse! pic.twitter.com/TerYFZViax  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 Trump said Kazakhstan, once part of the Soviet Union, is a valued partner in our efforts to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons. Together we are determined to prevent the North Korean regime from threatening the world with nuclear devastation, he said, as both presidents addressed journalists between meetings. Nazarbayev noted that his country once had one of the worlds largest nuclear arsenals but voluntarily gave it up after the Soviet Union collapsed. He said his country is in talks with Iran, which was the focus of a global deal that lifted some economic sanctions in exchange for Irans curbing its nuclear program. Trump has sharply criticized the Iran nuclear deal and threatened last week to pull out soon unless other countries fix what he says are terrible flaws. Read More Facebook

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Trump falsely claims his approval rating among black Americans has doubled By Alex Wigglesworth President Trump lashed out at the news media Tuesday morning in a tweet denouncing the special counsel investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion among members of his campaign team. Do you notice the Fake News Mainstream Media never likes covering the great and record setting economic news, but rather talks about anything negative or that can be turned into the negative. The Russian Collusion Hoax is dead, except as it pertains to the Dems. Public gets it!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 It wasnt immediately clear exactly what prompted the presidents tweet, but it appeared as though he was watching Fox & Friends. A short time later, Trump tweeted a headline from a report that aired during that mornings episode: 90% of Trump 2017 news coverage was negative -and much of it contrived!@foxandfriends  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 The segment focused on the latest survey results from conservative watchdog Media Research Center, which purportedly analyzed the evening news broadcasts on ABC, CBS and NBC from Jan. 20 to Dec. 31 and found that 90% of the statements made about Trump were negative. Study: 90% of Trump media coverage in 2017 was negative pic.twitter.com/vbrwup4Drg  FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) January 16, 2018 But believe it or not, through all this negative coverage, they did a survey of 600,000 people about how black America views this president, co-host Brian Kilmeade said. His numbers have actually doubled in approval. Trump highlighted the statement in another tweet: Unemployment for Black Americans is the lowest ever recorded. Trump approval ratings with Black Americans has doubled. Thank you, and it will get even (much) better! @FoxNews  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 But its not true. The claim appears to have originated from a misreading of data from the online polling firm SurveyMonkey, according to factcheck.org. The firm polled 600,000 Americans in 2017 and found that Trumps approval rating among blacks actually dropped from 23% early in his presidency to about 17%, as of the week ending Jan. 3. Some conservative outlets, including Breitbart, produced an average from those and other SurveyMonkey figures and compared them to the scores Trump received from black voters in the 2016 exit polls. That methodology is not sound. And since the statistics measure different things, the comparison is misleading. Facebook

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Trump goes after senator who surfaced his immigration remark By Associated Press President Trump turned his Twitter torment Monday on the Democrat in the room where immigration talks with lawmakers took a famously coarse turn, saying Sen. Richard J. Durbin misrepresented what he had said about African nations and Haiti and, in the process, undermined the trust needed to make a deal. Senator Dicky Durbin totally misrepresented what was said at the DACA meeting, Trump tweeted, using a nickname to needle the Illinois senator. Deals cant get made when there is no trust! Durbin blew DACA and is hurting our Military. Senator Dicky Durbin totally misrepresented what was said at the DACA meeting. Deals cant get made when there is no trust! Durbin blew DACA and is hurting our Military.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2018 Trump was referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects young people who came to the United States illegally as children. Members of Congress from both parties are trying to strike a deal that Trump would support to extend that protection. Trump also cast doubt on the likelihood of reaching an agreement in tweets sent earlier Monday: Statement by me last night in Florida: Honestly, I dont think the Democrats want to make a deal. They talk about DACA, but they dont want to help..We are ready, willing and able to make a deal but they dont want to. They dont want security at the border, they dont want.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2018 ...to stop drugs, they want to take money away from our military which we cannot do. My standard is very simple, AMERICA FIRST & MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2018 On a day of remembrance for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Trump spent time at his golf course with no public events, bypassing the acts of service that his predecessors staged in honor of the civil rights leader. Instead, Trump dedicated his weekly address to Kings memory, saying Kings dream and Americas are the same: A world where people are judged by who they are, not how they look or where they come from. That message was a distinct counterpoint to words attributed to Trump by Durbin and others at a meeting last week, when the question of where immigrants come from seemed at the forefront of Trumps concerns. Some participants and others familiar with the conversation said Trump challenged immigration from shithole countries of Africa and disparaged Haiti as well. Without explicitly denying using that word, Trump lashed out at the Democratic senator, who said Trump uttered it on several occasions. Read More Facebook

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Trump thanks pundit for laudatory Fox & Friends spot By Alex Wigglesworth President Trump thanked Fox News personality Stuart Varney after Varney praised Trump during an appearance on Fox & Friends. In a pair of tweets early Sunday, Trump quoted from Varneys commentary, in which he argued that Trump deserves more credit for the booming economy. The pundit, who also hosts a show on Fox Business Network, cited moves by some corporations to raise workers minimum wage or pay out one-time bonuses in response to the GOP tax cuts. President Trump is not getting the credit he deserves for the economy. Tax Cut bonuses to more than 2,000,000 workers. Most explosive Stock Market rally that weve seen in modern times. 18,000 to 26,000 from Election, and grounded in profitability and growth. All Trump, not 0...  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2018 ...big unnecessary regulation cuts made it all possible (among many other things). President Trump reversed the policies of President Obama, and reversed our economic decline. Thank you Stuart Varney. @foxandfriends  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2018 Varney was reacting to a quote from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), who on Thursday called the bonuses handed down to workers pathetic in comparison to the gains corporations are expected to see from the tax cuts. In terms of the bonus that corporate America received versus the crumbs that they are giving to workers to kind of put the schmooze on is so pathetic, Pelosi told reporters. Its pathetic. Varney shot back Sunday that the bonuses, along with explosive stock market growth, are enriching all Americans. This is a huge shot in the arm, its the result of this tax cut deal and I think President Trump should get the credit for it, he said. .@Varneyco Sets the economic record straight after Nancy Pelosi calls U.S. mass bonuses crumbs pic.twitter.com/BvjIHGm3HE  FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) January 14, 2018 The sweeping tax plan passed last month lowers the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% and cuts personal income taxes. Analysts say the benefits will largely flow to corporations and the wealthy, as theyre more likely to be in positions to share in corporate profits. For instance, Wells Fargo & Co., which responded to news of the tax overhaul by announcing it will raise workers pay to at least $15 an hour, also reported that it expects to pay an effective tax rate of 19% this year, down from about 31% in previous years. That should amount to tax savings of more than $3 billion annually. On average, middle-class Americans are expected to see a very small tax cut in the near term and a tax increase after 2025, when all of the tax cuts for individuals expire. The tax cuts for corporations, however, are permanent.  This post contains reporting from Times staff writer James Rufus Koren. Facebook

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Trump touts MLK proclamation in tweet, but ceremony is overshadowed by reports of racist remarks By Associated Press President Trump signed a proclamation Friday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, noting the contributions of a great American hero. Today, it was my great honor to proclaim January 15, 2018, as Martin Luther King Jr., Federal Holiday. I encourage all Americans to observe this day with appropriate civic, community, and service activities in honor of Dr. King's life and legacy. pic.twitter.com/samlJsz1Nt  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018 Overshadowing the event was mounting backlash from Trumps comments during a private meeting with lawmakers the day before. A short time after the meeting, which was called to discuss a possible immigration deal, reports emerged that Trump had asked participants why the United States should accept immigrants from shithole countries in Africa, Central America and the Caribbean. Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin, the Senates second-ranking Democrat, appeared to confirm those reports on Friday. Trump did not respond Friday to several questions about the incident, including whether he actually used vulgar language to describe African nations, or if he is racist. The president said at the White House that love was central to the slain civil rights leader. Trump said the nation celebrates King for standing up for the self-evident truth Americans hold so dear, that no matter what the color of our skin or place of our birth, we are all created equal by God.  This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Noah Bierman. Facebook

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Trump criticizes Democrats in tweet calling for stricter immigration rules President Trump hit out at Democrats on Thursday night in a tweet calling for stricter immigration rules. Trump wrote that members of the party seem intent on having people and drugs pour into our country from the border with Mexico: The Democrats seem intent on having people and drugs pour into our country from the Southern Border, risking thousands of lives in the process. It is my duty to protect the lives and safety of all Americans. We must build a Great Wall, think Merit and end Lottery & Chain. USA!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018 It wasnt immediately clear exactly what prompted the tweet. Earlier Thursday, Trump rejected a bipartisan compromise to resolve the standoff over so-called Dreamers, young immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children but have temporary permits to work, attend school or serve in the military. The president drew widespread condemnation after reports emerged that he had asked participants in an Oval Office meeting about the proposal why the United States should accept immigrants from shithole countries in Africa, Central America and the Caribbean. Read More Facebook

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Trump touts bill aimed at improving border screening for fentanyl By Associated Press President Trump signed legislation Wednesday aimed at giving Customs and Border Protection agents additional screening devices and other tools to stop the flow of illicit drugs. Speaking at a surprise bill-signing ceremony while flanked by members of Congress from both parties in the Oval Office, Trump described the bill as a significant step forward in the fight against powerful opioids such as fentanyl, which he called our new big scourge. He echoed that language Thursday in a tweet: Yesterday, I signed the #INTERDICTAct (H.R. 2142) with bipartisan members of Congress to help end the flow of drugs into our country. Together, we are committed to doing everything we can to combat the deadly scourge of drug addiction and overdose in the United States! pic.twitter.com/ELZvFol5Lo  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2018 The legislation will pay for new portable and fixed chemical screening devices to detect and intercept fentanyl at ports of entry and in the mail, along with other laboratory equipment and personnel, including scientists. Trump has made fighting the opioid epidemic a centerpiece of his administration, though critics say he hasnt dedicated nearly enough money or resources to make a difference. Trump suggested during his remarks on Wednesday that hed like to take a more aggressive approach to the drug crisis  but the countrys not ready for what he has in mind. So were going to sign this. And its a step. And it feels like a very giant step, but unfortunately, its not going to be a giant step, because no matter what you do, this is something that keeps pouring in, he said. And were going to find the answer. There is an answer. I think I actually know the answer, but Im not sure the countrys ready for it yet, he added. Does anybody know what I mean? I think so. Facebook

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Trump applauds news that Toyota-Mazda plant is slated for Alabama By Associated Press Japanese automakers Toyota and Mazda on Wednesday announced plans to build a mammoth, $1.6-billion joint-venture plant in Alabama that will eventually employ about 4,000 people. President Trump lauded the news in a tweet: Cutting taxes and simplifying regulations makes America the place to invest! Great news as Toyota and Mazda announce they are bringing 4,000 JOBS and investing $1.6 BILLION in Alabama, helping to further grow our economy! pic.twitter.com/Kcg8IVH6iA  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 Good news: Toyota and Mazda announce giant new Huntsville, Alabama, plant which will produce over 300,000 cars and SUVs a year and employ 4000 people. Companies are coming back to the U.S. in a very big way. Congratulations Alabama!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2018 Several states had competed for the project, which will be able to turn out 300,000 vehicles per year and produce the Toyota Corolla compact car for North America and a new small SUV from Mazda. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and company executives held a news conference to announce that the facility is coming to the Huntsville area not far from the Tennessee line. Production is expected to begin by 2021. The decision to pick Alabama is another example of foreign-based automakers building U.S. factories in the South. To entice manufacturers, Southern states have used a combination of lucrative incentive packages, low-cost labor and a pro-business labor environment, because the United Auto Workers union is stronger in Northern states. Read More Facebook

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Trump highlights call for border wall in tweets on visit with Norways prime minister By Associated Press President Trump praised Norways prime minister in a tweet on Wednesday after Erna Solberg became the first foreign leader to visit with the president in 2018. Today, it was my great honor to welcome Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway to the @WhiteHouse - a great friend and ally of the United States! Joint press conference: https://t.co/qWR1BhfQZI pic.twitter.com/PJvwznjRCO  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 Trump also shared via Twitter a video clip of a joint news conference he held with Solberg on Wednesday afternoon. In the clip, Trump responds to a question from a reporter by saying there can be no bipartisan immigration deal absent funding for his long-promised wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. Republican and Democratic lawmakers have been seeking a solution for hundreds of thousands of so-called Dreamers, young people who were brought to the United States as children and are living here illegally. The United States needs the security of the Wall on the Southern Border, which must be part of any DACA approval. The safety and security of our country is #1! pic.twitter.com/4CFzQXb5aS  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 We need the wall for security, we need the wall for safety, we need the wall for stopping the drugs from pouring in, Trump said Wednesday.  Any solution has to include the wall because without the wall, it all doesnt work. On Tuesday, Trump drew widespread attention when he said during a meeting with a bipartisan group of lawmakers that he would be agreeable to signing a stand-alone bill to protect the Dreamers, before moving on to a more comprehensive immigration bill. That contradicted the Republican consensus that Dreamers fate needed to be part of a broader immigration bill that would include some version of Trumps promised border wall and other immigration reforms. Trump backed away from a stand-alone Dreamer bill in subsequent tweets and public comments. Read More This post contains reporting from Los Angeles Times staff writer Noah Bierman. Facebook

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Trump praises Cabinet in tweet touting meeting By Associated Press President Trump promoted a meeting of his Cabinet on Wednesday, sharing via Twitter a link to a video of the session posted on the White House YouTube account. In his tweet, Trump thanked his Cabinet for working tirelessly on behalf of our country and wrote that the last year has been one of monumental achievement. I want to thank my @Cabinet for working tirelessly on behalf of our country. 2017 was a year of monumental achievement and we look forward to the year ahead. Together, we are delivering results and MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! https://t.co/ptXa1hAPwW pic.twitter.com/yv6RALkQf3  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 The former reality television star continued to dispense accolades at the meeting Wednesday, greeting reporters in the Cabinet Room by saying: Welcome back to the studio. Then he proceeded to relive a Cabinet Room session from the prior day, when he had allowed reporters and TV cameras to stick around for much of his meeting with a bipartisan group of legislators on the thorny issue of immigration. It was a tremendous meeting. Actually, it was reported as incredibly good. And my performance  you know, some of them called it a performance  I consider it work, Trump said. Trump went on to say he had received letters from news anchors calling it one of the greatest meetings theyve ever witnessed. He added that the media will ultimately support Trump in the end, because theyre going to say, if Trump doesnt win in three years, theyre all out of business. Asked for examples of letters received from news anchors, the White House said it had received private communications. It also offered a series of positive on-air comments and tweets from journalists about the unusual access to the meeting. During his remarks, Trump swung from praising his own meeting coverage to telling journalists that they were dependent on his presidency for ratings to threatening a strong look at libel laws. Still, Trump thanked the journalists in front of him, joking: Youve gotten very familiar with this room. I appreciate your nice comments yesterday. Facebook

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Trump blasts DACA ruling in tweet calling courts broken and unfair By Lisa Mascaro President Trump denounced the federal courts Wednesday as broken and unfair after a district judge in San Francisco issued a nationwide injunction keeping protections in place for so-called Dreamers. Trump tweeted: It just shows everyone how broken and unfair our Court System is when the opposing side in a case (such as DACA) always runs to the 9th Circuit and almost always wins before being reversed by higher courts.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 On Tuesday night, U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco temporarily blocked the Trump administrations decision to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, which has protected from deportation some 700,000 people who came to the country illegally as children. Alsup granted a request by the state of California, the University of California and other plaintiffs to stop Trump from ending DACA on March 5. The administrations decision to end DACA, which was announced in September, was based on a flawed legal analysis, Alsup wrote in his decision. Dreamers would be irreparably harmed if their DACA protections, which allow them to live and work legally in the U.S., were stripped away before the courts had a chance to fully consider their claims, he ruled. The action is the mirror image of a ruling in 2015 by a federal judge in Texas who ruled in favor of that state when it sought to block President Obama from expanding DACA to include the parents of Dreamers. Trump administration officials praised that judicial ruling. By contrast, they sharply criticized Alsups decision. Read More Facebook

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Trump thanks lawmakers for productive immigration meeting, says deal must include border wall President Trump thanked a bipartisan group of lawmakers for participating in a meeting on immigration legislation on Tuesday. Much of the discussion involved so-called Dreamers, an estimated 700,000 young people who were brought to the country illegally as children and are now facing deportation. In a tweet, Trump wrote that there was strong agreement to negotiate a bill to protect Dreamers, as well as put into place some of the reforms favored by Republicans. Thanks to all of the Republican and Democratic lawmakers for todays very productive meeting on immigration reform. There was strong agreement to negotiate a bill that deals with border security, chain migration, lottery and DACA. https://t.co/SdqAQ3aL3z pic.twitter.com/8DYHZHspAy  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2018 The most notable exchange of the meeting came when Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the San Francisco Democrat, asked Trump whether he would be agreeable to signing a stand-alone bill to protect the Dreamers, before moving on to a more comprehensive immigration bill. Yeah, I would like to do it, Trump responded. The statement drew widespread attention because it contradicted the Republican consensus that Dreamers fate needed to be part of a broader immigration bill that would include some version of Trumps promised border wall and other immigration reforms. Trump later backed away from a stand-alone Dreamer bill, tweeting that a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico must be part of any deal: As I made very clear today, our country needs the security of the Wall on the Southern Border, which must be part of any DACA approval.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 Pressure has been mounting for Congress to broker an immigration deal by Jan. 19 as part of a must-pass budget package to fund the government. This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Noah Bierman. Facebook

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Trump thanks officers and veterans in tweets President Trump doled out a slew of accolades Tuesday via Twitter. He thanked the nations law enforcement officers, including in his message a hashtag denoting a day of appreciation organized by a national support group for law enforcement families. On behalf of the American people, THANK YOU to our incredible law enforcement officers. As President of the United States - I will fight for you, and I will never, ever let you down. Now, more than ever, we must support the men and women in blue! #LawEnforcementAppreciationDay pic.twitter.com/Qb4uxB4JRm  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2018 Trump later expressed gratitude for federal immigration agents, in particular: .@ICEgov HSI agents and ERO officers, on behalf of an entire Nation, THANK YOU for what you are doing 24/7/365 to keep fellow Americans SAFE. Everyone is so grateful!#LawEnforcementAppreciationDay

President @realDonaldTrump https://t.co/HXCpTlruVo  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 The president thanked veterans as he cited his administrations efforts to curb the number of veteran suicides by improving mental health treatment for the high-risk group: Today, it was my great honor to sign a new Executive Order to ensure Veterans have the resources they need as they transition back to civilian life. We must ensure that our HEROES are given the care and support they so richly deserve! https://t.co/0MdP9DDIAS pic.twitter.com/LP2a8KCBAp  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2018 Trumps tweet included photos of the president signing an executive order Tuesday directing the secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs to develop a plan to provide seamless access to mental health and suicide prevention resources for 12 months for members leaving the armed forces. Also on Tuesday, Trump touted a law he signed the day before designating the birthplace of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. a national historic park: It was my great honor to sign H.R. 267, the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park Act, which redesignates the Martin Luther King, Junior, National Historic Site in the State of Georgia as the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park. https://t.co/Qe0b6HBFTY pic.twitter.com/QTgaqTawPT  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2018 And he thanked House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) for sharing a video compilation comprised of clips of politicians and commentators praising the GOPs tax cut bill: Thank you @GOPLeader Kevin McCarthy! Couldnt agree w/you more. TOGETHER, we are #MAGA https://t.co/QaxtqpyXTR  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018  This post contains reporting from the Associated Press and Times staff writer Alex Wigglesworth. Facebook

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Trump hails tax bill in tweets recapping speech to farmers By Associated Press Connecting with rural Americans, President Trump on Monday hailed his tax overhaul as a victory for family farmers. Farm country is Gods country, Trump told the annual convention of the American Farm Bureau Federation. Trump became the first president in a quarter-century to address the federations convention. His Southern swing also included a stop in Atlanta for the national college football championship game. Cant wait to be back in the amazing state of Tennessee to address the 99th American @FarmBureau Federations Annual Convention in Nashville! #AFBF18



On my way now - join me LIVE at 4:00pmE: https://t.co/QaljAqekdD. pic.twitter.com/Wm7Io0hYT8  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 Joined by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and a group of Tennessee lawmakers, Trump said most of the benefits of the tax legislation are going to working families, small businesses, and who  the family farmer. The package Trump signed into law last month provides generous tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans, and more modest reductions for middle- and low-income individuals and families. In every decision we make, we are honoring Americas PROUD FARMING LEGACY. Years of crushing taxes, crippling regs, & corrupt politics left our communities hurting, our economy stagnant, & millions of hardworking Americans COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN. But they are not forgotten ANYMORE! pic.twitter.com/MdYS7xnukQ  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 The president vastly inflated the value of the package in his speech, citing a total of $5.5 trillion in tax cuts, with most of those benefits going to working families, small businesses and who? The family farmer. The estimated value of the tax cuts is actually $1.5 trillion for families and businesses because of cuts in deductions and the use of other steps to generate offsetting tax revenue. We have been working every day to DELIVER for Americas Farmers just as they work every day to deliver FOR US. #AFBF18 pic.twitter.com/QDH7fvFkZ7  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 From Nashville, Trump traveled to Atlanta to watch Alabamas Crimson Tide and Georgias Bulldogs face off Monday night in the College Football Playoff National Championship. We are fighting for our farmers, for our country, and for our GREAT AMERICAN FLAG. We want our flag respected - and we want our NATIONAL ANTHEM respected also! pic.twitter.com/16eOLXg6Fi  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 Before departing for the game, Trump referenced his ongoing defense of the American flag and the national anthem, saying there was enough space for people to express their views. We love our flag and we love our anthem, and we want to keep it that way, he said. Facebook

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Trump tweet hails drop in unemployment rate for African Americans By Associated Press President Trump touted a drop in the unemployment rate for African Americans on Monday in a tweet. African American unemployment is the lowest ever recorded in our country. The Hispanic unemployment rate dropped a full point in the last year and is close to the lowest in recorded history. Dems did nothing for you but get your vote! #NeverForget @foxandfriends  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 The rate fell to 6.8% in December, the lowest level since the government began tracking such data in 1972. The reasons range from a greater number of black Americans with college degrees to a growing need for employers in a tight job market to widen the pool of people they hire from. Trump also hailed the development via Twitter on Saturday. His latest tweet on the topic came about an hour after it was discussed during an episode of Fox & Friends, according to Mediaite. Facebook

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Trump talks up the economy and dresses down the media in Sunday tweets With President Trump cheering from the sidelines, the White House on Sunday pressed its defense of the presidents fitness to govern, as fired former aide Stephen K. Bannon reversed course and apologized for his role in a new books explosive portrait of Trump. The presidents critics, meanwhile, said Trumps stream of taunts and insults in response to the book  Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, released last week  served only to underscore the authors unsettling portrayal of Trumps year-old presidency, depicting a leader whose own aides consider him childish, ignorant and dangerously erratic. Trump provided more ammunition Sunday morning, as he continued to attack the book via Twitter while preparing to depart Camp David for the White House: Leaving Camp David for the White House. Great meetings with the Cabinet and Military on many very important subjects including Border Security & the desperately needed Wall, the ever increasing Drug and Opioid Problem, Infrastructure, Military, Budget, Trade and DACA.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018 Ive had to put up with the Fake News from the first day I announced that I would be running for President. Now I have to put up with a Fake Book, written by a totally discredited author. Ronald Reagan had the same problem and handled it well. So will I!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018 The most vehement defense of Trump on Sunday came from senior advisor Stephen Miller, a onetime Bannon acolyte who distanced himself from his former mentor. In a combative appearance Sunday on CNNs State of the Union, Miller called the book grotesque and writer Michael Wolff the garbage author of a garbage book. Trump is known to closely monitor aides televised performances in putting forth his case, and he gleefully weighed in within moments of Millers televised clash with host Jake Tapper. CNN has long been a particular target of Trumps ire. Jake Tapper of Fake News CNN just got destroyed in his interview with Stephen Miller of the Trump Administration. Watch the hatred and unfairness of this CNN flunky!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018 Trumps reaction, however, seemed to bolster Tappers on-air depiction of Miller as using his appearance on the show to play to the president rather than addressing questions put to him. I get it  theres one viewer that you care about, the host said exasperatedly after Miller turned the discussion repeatedly to negative news coverage of the president while deflecting specific queries. Later on Twitter, Trump took up two themes that have been prevalent on his social media feeds recently. The president again went after the news media, tweeting that the recipients of his self-proclaimed most dishonest & corrupt media awards of the year, which he promised earlier in the week to announce on Monday, would actually be revealed the following Wednesday: The Fake News Awards, those going to the most corrupt & biased of the Mainstream Media, will be presented to the losers on Wednesday, January 17th, rather than this coming Monday. The interest in, and importance of, these awards is far greater than anyone could have anticipated!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018 Trump later lauded a New York Post opinion piece that compared him favorably with his predecessor, President Obama, as well as Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. In quoting the op-ed, Trump initally misspelled consequential as consensual, but he deleted those tweets and re-sent the messages. His is turning out to be an enormously consequential presidency. So much so that, despite my own frustration over his missteps, there has never been a day when I wished Hillary Clinton were president. Not one. Indeed, as Trumps accomplishments accumulate, the mere thought of...  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 ...Clinton in the WH, doubling down on Barack Obamas failed policies, washes away any doubts that America made the right choice. This was truly a change election  and the changes Trump is bringing are far-reaching & necessary. Thank you Michael Goodwin! https://t.co/4fHNcx2Ydg  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 Trump also continued talking up the economy, which has been enjoying a period of strong gains. The Stock Market has been creating tremendous benefits for our country in the form of not only Record Setting Stock Prices, but present and future Jobs, Jobs, Jobs. Seven TRILLION dollars of value created since our big election win!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018 In addition to Miller, other senior administration officials made the rounds of Sunday news talk shows to decry the claims made in Wolffs book. CIA Director Mike Pompeo said Wolffs characterization of Trump as averse to digesting classified briefing material was ludicrous, and the ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, insisted that that those around Trump love their country and respect their president. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Laura King. Facebook

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Responding to book that mocks his intelligence, Trump tweets hes like, really smart By Tracy Wilkinson President Trump declared himself a very stable genius on Twitter on Saturday and later in a televised news conference called the author of a book that questioned his mental fitness a fraud. His comments came on a bone-cold day at Camp David during a weekend retreat with top administration officials and Republican congressional leaders strategizing on the years legislative agenda, including matters such as infrastructure, immigration, welfare reform and national security. Now that Russian collusion, after one year of intense study, has proven to be a total hoax on the American public, the Democrats and their lapdogs, the Fake News Mainstream Media, are taking out the old Ronald Reagan playbook and screaming mental stability and intelligence.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 ....Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart. Crooked Hillary Clinton also played these cards very hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames. I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 ....to President of the United States (on my first try). I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius....and a very stable genius at that!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 Still, Trumps explosive rebuttal to author Michael Wolffs claims not only opened the day, but it also ensured the presidents capability to fill the highest office in the land was a topic that would not go away. In his early-morning tweets, Trump said two of his greatest assets have been mental stability, and being, like, really smart. He noted that his former Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, played these cards [about competence] very hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames. I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star to President of the United States (on my first try). Read More Facebook

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In morning tweets, Trump touts job numbers and takes digs at news media By Associated Press President Trump used Twitter on Saturday morning to tout a drop in the unemployment rate for African Americans. He also used the tweets as an opportunity to take digs at media outlets whose past coverage he has found to be critical. The African American unemployment rate fell to 6.8%, the lowest rate in 45 years. I am so happy about this News! And, in the Washington Post (of all places), headline states, Trumps first year jobs numbers were very, very good.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 The unemployment rate for African Americans fell to 6.8% in December, the lowest level since the government began tracking such data in 1972. The reasons range from a greater number of black Americans with college degrees to a growing need for employers in a tight job market to widen the pool of people they hire from. Still, the rate for black workers remains well above those for whites and some other groups, something experts attribute in large part to decades of discrimination and disadvantages. Robust job creation has lowered unemployment for all Americans. U.S. employers added nearly 2.1 million jobs in 2017  the seventh straight year that hiring has topped 2 million. In his tweet, Trump praised a report that noted the numbers, touting the fact that it appeared in the Washington Post (of all places). Minutes later, Trump renewed his attack on an ABC News reporter who was suspended last month after filing an erroneous report on Michael Flynn, Trumps former national security advisor. Brian Ross, the reporter who made a fraudulent live newscast about me that drove the Stock Market down 350 points (billions of dollars), was suspended for a month but is now back at ABC NEWS in a lower capacity. He is no longer allowed to report on Trump. Should have been fired!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 The reporter, Brian Ross, was reportedly reassigned within ABC News upon returning from his unpaid suspension. But on Saturday, Trump wrote that he should have been fired. Trumps tweets came hours before he was set to host congressional Republicans and administration officials at Camp David. The meeting scheduled to begin at midmorning Saturday was expected to touch on the budget, infrastructure, immigration, welfare reform and the shape of the midterm election this fall. Facebook

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Trump commends Sen. Rand Paul after he proposes eliminating all U.S. aid to Pakistan President Trump commended Sen. Rand Paul after the Kentucky Republican announced plans to introduce legislation that would eliminate all U.S. aid to Pakistan. Trump tweeted Friday night: Good idea Rand! https://t.co/55sqUDiC0s  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 On Thursday, the Trump administration announced it was suspending security assistance to Islamabad until the country moves aggressively against local militants who have attacked U.S. troops in neighboring Afghanistan. Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration at the apparent inability of Pakistani authorities to rein in militants who cross out of the countrys rugged tribal areas to attack U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Tracy Wilkinson. Facebook

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Trump continues to lash out at Sloppy Steve Bannon in tweets on tell-all book By Associated Press President Trump is praising a major Republican donor family for distancing themselves from his former advisor Steve Bannon. Trump tweeted Friday: The Mercer Family recently dumped the leaker known as Sloppy Steve Bannon. Smart!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018 Trump has continued to lash out at Bannon over an explosive new book that quoted his former aide as questioning Trumps competence and describing a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower among Donald Trump Jr., Trump campaign aides and a Russian lawyer as treasonous and unpatriotic. On Thursday, billionaire GOP donor Rebekah Mercer issued a statement distancing her family from Bannon. Mercer is a co-owner of Breitbart, the populist website Bannon helps run. I support President Trump and the platform upon which he was elected, Mercer said. My family and I have not communicated with Steve Bannon in many months and have provided no financial support to his political agenda, nor do we support his recent actions and statements. The book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, quickly shot atop Amazons best-seller list, and the publisher moved up its release date by four days, to Friday. Trump took up the topic again on Twitter on Friday night, denouncing both Bannon and the books author, Michael Wolff, in starkly personal terms: Michael Wolff is a total loser who made up stories in order to sell this really boring and untruthful book. He used Sloppy Steve Bannon, who cried when he got fired and begged for his job. Now Sloppy Steve has been dumped like a dog by almost everyone. Too bad! https://t.co/mEeUhk5ZV9  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 Trumps message linked to a meme depicting a parody book cover titled, Liar and Phony, that featured a photo of Wolff and disparaging quotes about the author. In a tweet sent earlier Friday morning, Trump suggested the book was intended to serve as a distraction from the FBIs investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, which Trump wrote is proving to be a total hoax. Well, now that collusion with Russia is proving to be a total hoax and the only collusion is with Hillary Clinton and the FBI/Russia, the Fake News Media (Mainstream) and this phony new book are hitting out at every new front imaginable. They should try winning an election. Sad!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018 That came amid reports that Trump directed his White House counsel to tell Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions to not recuse himself from the Justice Departments Russia investigation. Trumps effort to keep Sessions, a vocal and loyal supporter of his election bid, in charge of an investigation into his campaign offers special counsel Robert Mueller yet another avenue to explore as his prosecutors work to untangle potential evidence of obstruction. Read More Facebook

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Trump praises the economy ahead of meetings at Camp David By Associated Press President Trump is praising the strength of the U.S. economy ahead of meetings at Camp David with congressional Republicans. Trump tweeted early Friday: Dow goes from 18,589 on November 9, 2016, to 25,075 today, for a new all-time Record. Jumped 1000 points in last 5 weeks, Record fastest 1000 point move in history. This is all about the Make America Great Again agenda! Jobs, Jobs, Jobs. Six trillion dollars in value created!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018 The president also told reporters on the South Lawn that the tax cuts are really kicking in after Congress passed a package of tax cuts at the end of 2017. And the president praised the December jobs report, which found U.S. employers added 148,000 jobs in December and the unemployment rate stayed at 4.1%, the lowest level since 2000. The modest but steady pace of hiring is a reassuring sign for investors who have been buoyed by the just-passed Republican tax plan and have been sending stock market indexes roaring to uncharted heights. The president is meeting with Republican congressional leaders and members of his Cabinet on Friday and Saturday to discuss the 2018 agenda. Read More Facebook

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Trump tweets as Dow crashes through 25,000 By Associated Press President Trump dispatched a congratulatory tweet as the Dow Jones industrial average rose above the 25,000-point mark Thursday, just five weeks after its first close above 24,000. Dow just crashes through 25,000. Congrats! Big cuts in unnecessary regulations continuing.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 After the Dow closed above 25,000, Trump shared a graphic depicting the stock indexs record-setting rise. MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/iONbr1DkVk  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018 Later in the day, the president was back on Twitter, complaining that news outlets had barely covered the stock market milestone. He suggested that the strength of the economy would be the biggest story on earth, had it unfolded during the presidency of his predecessor. The Fake News Media barely mentions the fact that the Stock Market just hit another New Record and that business in the U.S. is booming...but the people know! Can you imagine if O was president and had these numbers - would be biggest story on earth! Dow now over 25,000.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018 The Dow broke past 1,000-point barriers in 2017 on its way to a 25% gain for the year, as an eight-year rally since the Great Recession continued to confound skeptics. Strong global economic growth and good prospects for higher company earnings have analysts predicting more gains, although the market may not stay as calm as it has been recently. The Dow has made a rapid trip since it reached 24,000 points Nov. 30, partly on enthusiasm over passage of the Republican-backed tax package, which could boost company profits this year with across-the-board cuts to corporate taxes. Read More Facebook

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Trump reacts to Fire and Fury book in tweet lashing out at author and Sloppy Steve President Trump lashed out at the author of a soon-to-be-released book about the chaotic first year of his presidency Thursday night. In a tweet, Trump called Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, a phony book and claimed that hed never spoken to its author, Michael Wolff. Look at this guys past and watch what happens to him and Sloppy Steve! Trump wrote. He appeared to be referring to former White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, whose stunning criticisms of Trump and his circle figure prominently in the title. I authorized Zero access to White House (actually turned him down many times) for author of phony book! I never spoke to him for book. Full of lies, misrepresentations and sources that dont exist. Look at this guys past and watch what happens to him and Sloppy Steve!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018 Trumps tweet came hours after he had his lawyer demand that Henry Holt & Co. and Wolff stop publication the book. Instead, the publisher expedited the books release to Friday, four days before it was slated to hit bookstore shelves, in response to unprecedented demand. Published excerpts on Wednesday and Thursday whetted that appetite and roiled Washington. Bannons comments, including that it was treasonous and unpatriotic for Trumps son Donald Trump Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner and campaign manager Paul Manafort to have met in 2016 with Russians said to have dirt on Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, prompted Trump on Wednesday to rebuke his former advisor, saying Bannon had lost his mind. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writers Brian Bennett and Alex Wigglesworth. Facebook

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Trump thanks senators who attended meeting on immigration President Trump tweeted thanks to Republican senators who attended a meeting about possible immigration legislation on Thursday. In his message, Trump also listed his top priorities when it comes to any type of overhaul of the nations immigration system. Thank you to the great Republican Senators who showed up to our mtg on immigration reform. We must BUILD THE WALL, stop illegal immigration, end chain migration & cancel the visa lottery. The current system is unsafe & unfair to the great people of our country - time for change!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 Trumps tweet echoed his remarks at the beginning of Thursdays meeting, when he insisted again that constructing a border wall and overhauling two legal immigration programs must be part of any deal with Democrats to protect the so-called Dreamers from deportation. Two-year deportation protections and work permits given under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program begin to expire March 6 under an executive order. Trump announced in September that he was ending the Obama-era program, but told Congress to draft a law to continue protections for people brought to the country illegally as children  a group that has widespread public support. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Brian Bennett. Facebook

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Trump resumes Twitter war against kneeling NFL players President Trump has resumed his Twitter war against NFL players who kneel during the national anthem to protest social injustice and racial inequality. In a tweet early Thursday, Trump replied to a supporter who shared a meme that appears to depict family members lying on the grave of a fallen soldier with the caption: This is why we stand. Show this picture to the NFL players who still kneel! Trump wrote. So beautiful....Show this picture to the NFL players who still kneel! https://t.co/tJLM1tvbvb  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 The president has denounced players who kneel during the anthem in previous tweets. Hes also called for the firing of players who do so. His latest message came amid news that the NFL finished the regular season with TV ratings that fell nearly 10% below the previous season. Analysts attribute the drop to controversies facing the league, as well as changing viewing habits and a possible saturation point in the number of games available. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writers Stephen Battaglio and Alex Wigglesworth. Facebook

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Trump credits himself with facilitating talks between North and South Korea By Associated Press President Trump says his tough stance on nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula is helping push North Korea and South Korea to talk. Trump tweeted early Thursday: 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. Fools, but talks are a good thing!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 That assertion is in conflict with some of the presidents own statements. Last year, he ridiculed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for talking about negotiations with the North. This week, Trump seemed open to the possibility of an inter-Korean dialogue after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made a rare overture toward South Korea in a New Years Day address. But Trumps ambassador to the United Nations insisted that talks wont be meaningful unless the North is getting rid of its nuclear weapons. The overture about talks came after Trump and Kim traded more bellicose claims about their nuclear weapons. In his New Years Day address, Kim repeated fiery nuclear threats against the United States. Kim said he has a nuclear button on his office desk and warned that the whole territory of the U.S. is within the range of our nuclear strike. Trump mocked that assertion Tuesday evening in a tweet. Facebook

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After disbanding his vote fraud panel, Trump still says voting system is rigged By Brian Bennett One day after disbanding his troubled voter fraud commission without any findings of fraud, President Trump continued to call the U.S. voting system rigged and said states should require that Americans have voter-identification cards. In two tweets on Thursday morning, Trump blamed the commissions failure on the lack of cooperation from mostly Democrat States that refused to hand over voter rolls because they know that many people are voting illegally. However, voting supervisors in Republican-led states refused as well, objecting on privacy and other grounds. Many mostly Democrat States refused to hand over data from the 2016 Election to the Commission On Voter Fraud. They fought hard that the Commission not see their records or methods because they know that many people are voting illegally. System is rigged, must go to Voter I.D.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 As Americans, you need identification, sometimes in a very strong and accurate form, for almost everything you do.....except when it comes to the most important thing, VOTING for the people that run your country. Push hard for Voter Identification!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 Despite Trumps assertions, analysts have not found evidence of widespread voter fraud. Trump created the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity in May after alleging, without proof, that millions of illegal votes were cast for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. Trump was elected after winning a majority in the electoral college, but the nationwide count showed Clinton received nearly 3 million more votes. The commission sought personal data on voters across the country and faced mounting lawsuits in recent months over privacy concerns. Read More Facebook

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Trump touts another good day for stocks, credits tax cut By Associated Press President Trump touted another good day for the stock market Wednesday in a tweet. Stock Market had another good day but, now that the Tax Cut Bill has passed, we have tremendous upward potential. Dow just short of 25,000, a number that few thought would be possible this soon into my administration. Also, unemployment went down to 4.1%. Only getting better!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 Big gains for technology and healthcare stocks helped U.S. indexes set records again Wednesday. Some analysts attributed the surge to investor enthusiasm for Trumps $1.5-trillion tax cut. All told, Wall Street analysts estimate the tax package should boost earnings for companies in the Standard & Poors 500 index by roughly 8% this year. Thats much more generous than the average tax cut of 1.6% that middle-class families will receive, according to the Tax Policy Center. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 The public has been less enthusiastic about the tax law. A Monmouth University poll last month found that nearly half of Americans disapproved of it, with only 26% in support. Still, as Trump also noted on Twitter, some workers have seen a benefit: So far, dozens of companies have announced bonuses and higher minimum wages as a result of the tax cut. AT&T, Comcast, Bank of America, and American Airlines have all pledged to pay $1,000 bonuses to their employees. Some 40 U.S. companies have responded to President Trumps tax cut and reform victory in Congress last year by handing out bonuses up to $2,000, increases in 401k matches and spending on charity, a much higher number than previously known. https://t.co/bmWrwWzxMR  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 Investors also appear less concerned than many politicians about how the additional profits will be used. The Trump administration says it expects companies will plow much of the extra profit back into their businesses, purchasing more software, machinery, and other equipment. Those investments will make workers more productive and provide a key boost to the economys long-run growth. They should also boost wages and salaries for employees. Opponents of the tax law respond that companies are more likely to pass the windfall on to shareholders in the form of higher dividend payments and share buybacks, which raise the price of those shares still in investors hands. Previous cuts in corporate tax rates, in the United States and overseas, havent always led to higher wages. For Wall Street, its all good, at least in the short run. Most analysts take the view that either way, companies and the economy will benefit. Facebook

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Trump reacts to death of Mormon Church president By Associated Press President Trump mourned the death of Mormon Church leader Thomas S. Monson on Wednesday evening. Trump tweeted a link to a statement in which he said that Monson demonstrated wisdom, inspired leadership, and great compassion and delivered a message of optimism, forgiveness, and faith. Melania and I are deeply saddened by the death of Thomas S. Monson, a beloved President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...https://t.co/ETD3fWtfU3  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 A church bishop at the age of 22, Monson became the youngest church apostle ever in 1963 at the age of 36. He served as a counselor for three church presidents before assuming the role of the top leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in February 2008. After a life of church service, Monson died Tuesday at his home in Salt Lake City, according to church spokesman Eric Hawkins. He was 90. Read More Facebook

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Trump tweets that Iranian protesters will see great U.S. support at the appropriate time By Associated Press President Trump continued to express support for Irans anti-government protesters on Wednesday. In a tweet, Trump commended the protesters and pledged that the United States will support them at the appropriate time. Such respect for the people of Iran as they try to take back their corrupt government. You will see great support from the United States at the appropriate time!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018 Trumps tweet Wednesday morning came as Iranian Ambassador Gholamali Khoshroo sent a letter to United Nations officials complaining that Washington was intervening in a grotesque way in Irans internal affairs. The President and Vice-President of the United States, in their numerous absurd tweets, incited Iranians to engage in disruptive acts, the ambassador wrote to the U.N. Security Council president and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The U.S. didnt immediately respond to the letter, which maintains that Washington has crossed every limit in flouting rules and principles of international law governing the civilized conduct of international relations. At least 21 people have been killed and hundreds arrested in Iran during a week of anti-government protests and unrest over economic woes and official corruption. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people took part in counter-demonstrations Wednesday backing the clerically overseen government, which has said enemies of Iran are fomenting the protests. Trump has unleashed a series of tweets in recent days backing the protesters, saying Iran is failing at every level and declaring that it is time for change in the Islamic Republic. Facebook

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Trump congratulates Sen. Orrin Hatch upon news of his retirement By Associated Press President Trump congratulated Sen. Orrin Hatch for an absolutely incredible career upon news of Hatchs impending retirement. In a tweet Tuesday afternoon, Trump called Hatch a tremendous supporter and wrote that he will be greatly missed in the Senate. Congratulations to Senator Orrin Hatch on an absolutely incredible career. He has been a tremendous supporter, and I will never forget the (beyond kind) statements he has made about me as President. He is my friend and he will be greatly missed in the U.S. Senate! pic.twitter.com/0VjzLEeHTl  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 Hatchs decision to retire from the Senate after four decades lets the Utah Republican walk away at the height of his power after helping to push through an overhaul of the tax code and persuading Trump to downsize two national monuments. Retirement also preserves the 83-year-olds legacy by allowing him to avoid a bruising reelection battle that would have broken his promise not to seek an eighth term. Read More Facebook

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Trump tweet exaggerates progress in improving veterans care By Associated Press President Trump played up tremendous progress in improving care for veterans in his first year on Tuesday in a tweet. His message linked to an Instagram video describing eight accomplishments that show Trump is fighting for our veterans. But it overstates the impact of these steps. We will not rest until all of Americas GREAT VETERANS can receive the care they so richly deserve. Tremendous progress has been made in a short period of time. Keep up the great work @SecShulkin @DeptVetAffairs! https://t.co/ir25vW15hx pic.twitter.com/OtuzIgxMn6  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 Of the eight achievements cited, two are ceremonial proclamations recognizing National Veterans and Military Families Month and National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. Two are pieces of legislation that extended the troubled Veterans Choice program on a temporary basis. This became necessary because the Trump administration repeatedly miscalculated the amount of taxpayer dollars available to pay for care from private doctors outside the Veterans Affairs system when veterans had to endure long waits for treatment at VA medical centers. The departments poor budget planning caught lawmakers off guard. A fifth claim involves telehealth, a step letting doctors practice medicine across state lines using digital technology. Announced in August, it has yet to take full effect because a proposed VA regulation hasnt been completed. The VA wants authority to practice across state lines to come from legislation, not a regulation. On Wednesday, the Senate approved a telehealth measure that now goes to the House. A sixth claim refers to legislation that streamlines the appeals process for disability compensation claims within the VA. This step has had limited effect so far because it applies to new disability claims, not the 470,000 pending claims. The last two initiatives make it easier for the VA to discipline employees. The department has pointed to more than 1,300 employees who have been fired under Trumps watch. Because their infractions are not detailed in public documents, the effect on veterans care is not fully known. Facebook

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Trump unleashes his first tweetstorm of 2018 By Noah Bierman President Trump clearly didnt resolve to change his Twitter habits this year. With nine disparate tweets over three hours on Tuesday morning, the first working day of 2018, Trump continued to exploit social media to be the most aggressive commentator in chief in American history. For any other president, his posts would have made for a monumental day of (mis-)statements. Yet for Trump, the series  attacks on political foes and media, provocations of foreign leaders and self-praise for events he had nothing to do with  was all but unremarkable. His Twitter barrage  sent between 7:09 a.m. and 10:16 a.m.  reflected a familiar gamut after nearly a year in office: Attacks on political foes: Nearly 14 months after his election, Trump called for the jailing of Huma Abedin, Crooked Hillary Clintons top aid (his misspelling, another occasional feature of Trump tweets). Crooked Hillary Clintons top aid, Huma Abedin, has been accused of disregarding basic security protocols. She put Classified Passwords into the hands of foreign agents. Remember sailors pictures on submarine? Jail! Deep State Justice Dept must finally act? Also on Comey & others  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 In the same tweet, he disparaged the Deep State Justice Dept, headed of course by his appointees, calling on it to act against James B. Comey, the FBI director he fired for investigating the Russia thing. Diplomatic provocations: Trump again called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Rocket man, ridiculed the volatile nuclear-armed foe for recent military defections and openly speculated about potential talks between North and South Korea. Sanctions and other pressures are beginning to have a big impact on North Korea. Soldiers are dangerously fleeing to South Korea. Rocket man now wants to talk to South Korea for first time. Perhaps that is good news, perhaps not - we will see!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 Perhaps that is good news, perhaps not  we will see! Trump wrote. Later Tuesday, Trump tweeted: North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times. 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!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018 Also later Tuesday, Trump tweeted an attack on Pakistan, his second in as many days, and added a new one against Palestinians: It's not only Pakistan that we pay billions of dollars to for nothing, but also many other countries, and others. As an example, we pay the Palestinians HUNDRED OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect. They dont even want to negotiate a long overdue...  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 ...peace treaty with Israel. We have taken Jerusalem, the toughest part of the negotiation, off the table, but Israel, for that, would have had to pay more. But with the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 Undermining media: Trump offered Congratulations! to A.G. Sulzberger, who took over as publisher of the New York Times this week. The Failing New York Times has a new publisher, A.G. Sulzberger. Congratulations! Here is a last chance for the Times to fulfill the vision of its Founder, Adolph Ochs, to give the news impartially, without fear or FAVOR, regardless of party, sect, or interests involved. Get...  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 ....impartial journalists of a much higher standard, lose all of your phony and non-existent sources, and treat the President of the United States FAIRLY, so that the next time I (and the people) win, you wont have to write an apology to your readers for a job poorly done! GL  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 But the two-part post was really yet another slam against a perceived media foe: Trump said the paper had a last chance to fulfill its journalistic mission, and accused it of relying on phony sources and substandard reporters  just days after he granted another exclusive interview to the paper. As a bonus, the tweet contained a recycled falsehood, that the paper apologized after the election for reporting on him unfairly. It didnt. Trump later said on Twitter that he would soon announce the most dishonest & corrupt media awards of the year. Stay tuned! I will be announcing THE MOST DISHONEST & CORRUPT MEDIA AWARDS OF THE YEAR on Monday at 5:00 oclock. Subjects will cover Dishonesty & Bad Reporting in various categories from the Fake News Media. Stay tuned!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018 The president also tweeted a quote from Fox Business Networks Lou Dobbs Tonight, which aired a segment praising Trumps first-year accomplishments. Dobbs reportedly joined Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday for a gala to celebrate New Years Eve. President Trump has something now he didnt have a year ago, that is a set of accomplishments that nobody can deny. The accomplishments are there, look at his record, he has had a very significant first year. @LouDobbs Show,David Asman & Ed Rollins  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018 Taking credit: Trump congratulated himself for policing the border with Mexico, an area where his policies and anti-immigration rhetoric are believed to have had some effect on reducing illegal crossings. Thank you to Brandon Judd of the National Border Patrol Council for your kind words on how well we are doing at the Border. We will be bringing in more & more of your great folks and will build the desperately needed WALL! @foxandfriends  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 He took credit for employee bonuses by companies after he signed Republican tax cuts into law last month. Companies are giving big bonuses to their workers because of the Tax Cut Bill. Really great!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 But the jaw-dropper was Trump congratulating himself for planes not crashing. Since taking office I have been very strict on Commercial Aviation. Good news - it was just reported that there were Zero deaths in 2017, the best and safest year on record!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 It was the safest year on record worldwide, but the American streak without commercial jet passenger deaths goes back to 2009. Trump, who has promoted deregulation as one of his top accomplishments, has not signed off on any new airline safety regulations. The White House pointed to new security screening of passengers, to electronic devices to prevent terrorist attacks and to Trumps support for privatizing air traffic control  a proposal that has gotten nowhere in Congress. Falsehoods: Trump said President Obama, in brokering the 2015 nuclear arms limitation deal with Iran, foolishly gave money to the brutal and corrupt Iranian regime. He didnt. The people of Iran are finally acting against the brutal and corrupt Iranian regime. All of the money that President Obama so foolishly gave them went into terrorism and into their pockets. The people have little food, big inflation and no human rights. The U.S. is watching!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 The nuclear deal, which included major U.S. allies as signators, released Irans own funds that had long been frozen. Trumps art of the deal: When Trump sees a big deal looming, he often blasts the other side  to gain leverage, as hes written. This week he resumes a showdown with Democratic lawmakers over funding the government and immigration protections for so-called Dreamers, who were brought to the country illegally as children. Democrats are doing nothing for DACA - just interested in politics. DACA activists and Hispanics will go hard against Dems, will start falling in love with Republicans and their President! We are about RESULTS.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 Trump, who in September ordered a gradual end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, sought to shift blame for the resulting controversy, saying Democrats are doing nothing for DACA and are just interested in politics. Trump has insisted that any help for Dreamers be paired with funding for a border wall and a crackdown on legal immigration. Democrats, and some Republicans, are opposed. Read More Facebook

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In tweet, Trump suggests U.S. will withdraw financial assistance to Pakistan By Shashank Bengali Pakistan lashed out Monday after President Trump accused its leaders of lies & deceit and suggested the United States would withdraw financial assistance to the nuclear-armed nation it once saw as a key ally against terrorism. It was the presidents latest broadside against Pakistan after a speech in August in which he demanded its leaders crack down on the safe havens enjoyed by Taliban militants fighting U.S.-backed forces in neighboring Afghanistan. The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2018 U.S. Ambassador David Hale was summoned to the Foreign Ministry to discuss the presidents statement, U.S. Embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire said. Pakistan lodged a strongly worded protest and asked for clarification about Trumps comments, according to two foreign office officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Pakistans prime minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, called a Cabinet meeting for Tuesday and a meeting of the National Security Committee on Wednesday to discuss Trumps New Years Day tweet. Read More Facebook

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Trump continues to tweet in support of Iranian protesters By Laura King President Trump expressed renewed support Sunday for protesters in Iran, declaring that people are finally getting wise as to how their money and wealth is being stolen and squandered on terrorism. In a tweet from his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, the president said the nationwide economic protests that began on Thursday  and have taken on wider political overtones as they have grown in size  were a signal that Iranians will not take it any longer. Big protests in Iran. The people are finally getting wise as to how their money and wealth is being stolen and squandered on terrorism. Looks like they will not take it any longer. The USA is watching very closely for human rights violations!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2017 Trump has tweeted about the protests for three days straight as Iranians took to the streets despite a heavy police presence, tear gas and scores of arrests. The defiance gained urgency after two people were reported shot to death in the city of Dorud, about 200 miles southwest of Tehran. As the conflict escalated, Iranian authorities on Sunday slapped a temporary ban on Instagram and the messaging app Telegram, which were widely used to fan protest fervor. Iran, the Number One State of Sponsored Terror with numerous violations of Human Rights occurring on an hourly basis, has now closed down the Internet so that peaceful demonstrators cannot communicate. Not good!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2017 Irans leaders already are casting Trumps increasingly effusive expressions of support for the demonstrators as opportunistic meddling and are painting the demonstrators as foreign pawns, adopting a strategy that some analysts say could jeopardize the legitimacy of the nascent antigovernment protests. Read More Facebook

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Trump tweets condolences after Colorado deputies are shot in ambush, one fatally By Associated Press A man fired more than 100 rounds at sheriffs deputies in Colorado early Sunday, killing one and injuring four others, before being fatally shot himself in what authorities called an ambush. Two civilians were also injured. President Trump expressed sorrow, writing on Twitter: My deepest condolences to the victims of the terrible shooting in Douglas County @DCSheriff, and their families. We love our police and law enforcement - God Bless them all! #LESM  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2017 Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said deputies came under fire almost
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.
Sometimes we get it wrong. At the Aug. 8 Newport Beach council meeting, I supported the efforts of my colleagues to reject revenues generated by the recent increase in the state gas tax (Senate Bill 1). This was presented as a way to protest the increase in the state gas tax and I, like many of you, believe taxes are already too high in California.

But in retrospect, it is clear that this protest gesture will have no effect on the tax, it will not save Newport Beach residents one penny, and it will deny residents the benefits of this revenue to improve our streets and roads.

Approving the application would have brought $480,000 in revenue to the city, money paid at the pump by Newport Beach residents, for improvements to our internal roads and highways. Furthermore, this revenue source is estimated by the Orange County Transportation Authority to generate $1.9 million annually to Newport Beach.

As I stated above, I did vote no on applying for SB 1 funds. However, had I voted yes, the motion not to accept the funds still would have passed 4 to 3. But, having voted no affords me the opportunity to introduce a motion to reconsider the vote, which I will do at the first council meeting in September.

The council has a fiduciary responsibility to the people of Newport Beach. To refuse these funds to improve our roads is not exercising that responsibility.

This experience has taught me that proposals from the council dais that can have hundreds of thousands of dollars in impact on the city should not be acted on quickly. This entire issue should have been fully vetted by the Finance Committee before it came to council. And a full report from staff on the fiscal impacts should have been presented.

As a council member, I was elected to be a steward of our tax dollars and address the critical street maintenance issues, safety and infrastructure needs of our city. If you feel strongly about this issue, I encourage you to come to the Sept. 12 City Council meeting and take the opportunity provided to address the council.

JEFF HERDMAN is a Newport Beach city councilman.
Last year I ran for Newport Beach City Council because I did not like the Team Newport system of boss rule. I came to consider my opponent Will ONeill as a smart, thoughtful and hardworking person, despite his recent support of policy changes that took hundreds of thousands of dollars away from the arts.

Despite this misstep, I still believe that he wants to do the right thing. That is why it is so disappointing to see him participate in what is nothing more than political grandstanding by voting to turn down $480,000 in transportation funds that are needed to repair our streets.

Team Newport says that it wants to send a message that it opposes the recent gas tax increase. Most of us oppose it but to deny the taxpayers of Newport Beach the benefit of their own tax monies makes no sense. The money we are talking about is money that we paid at the pump to which we are entitled.

What good does it serve to tell the California Transportation Commission that we do not want our own money, but that it should go ahead and spend that money in Oakland? We should thank council members Diane Dixon and Brad Avery for standing up to this nonsense.

Councilman Scott Peotter has called these gas tax revenues blood money and free money. These revenues are not free; we paid them at the pump and deserve to have them returned to our community. This sort of contrary, partisan, political posturing is one of the reasons some are seeking a recall for Peotter.

The money lost, $480,000 this year and $1.9 million annually thereafter, is significant. Peotter bemoans the inflated cost of a recall but opposes bringing four to six times that amount into the city annually because of some ill-placed ideological litmus test. Rejecting the funds is not going to eliminate the gas tax; it is simply going to present a windfall to another municipality.

Residents have been told that Councilman Jeff Herdman will move for reconsideration of this spiteful decision. That means that Mayor Kevin Muldoon, or council members Marshall Duffy Duffield, Peotter or ONeill will have the opportunity to rectify their mistake, take off their ideological blinders and do right by our community.

I ran because I believe that the City Council should be a place to solve problems, improve roads and traffic and make our quality of life better. Politicians who just want to play political games and engage in empty ideological gestures should run for a different office.

PHIL GREER lives in Newport Beach.
Former Newport Beach councilman and defeated Assembly candidate Keith Curry is upset that the current council refused to apply for gas tax money (Commentary: Newport councils $480,000 rejection sends the wrong message to Sacramento, Aug. 18).

The council refused to apply for Gov. Jerry Browns gas tax because the state would use Newports and other cities applications for free money as proof that the citizens want the gas tax.

There is a repeal of the gas tax underway and will likely be on the November 2018 ballot. The City Council felt that the big picture of getting rid of the gas tax for all Californians was more important.

I know it is an anathema for a big government advocate to understand that some things are more important than higher taxes and bigger government. Giving more money to Sacramento and Caltrans, which already mismanage billions, is foolish.

This Democratic Party passed gas tax (sorry to be partisan, but only one Republican voted for it) will raise the state gas tax from 40.6 to 58.3 cents/gallon, second only to Pennsylvania at 59.3.

Registration and excise taxes go up for every car as well. Even those electric cars (the ones that Brown wants you to buy to keep those greenhouse gases low) must pay $100 a year extra to make up for the fact that they do not pay gas taxes.

California has the second-highest cost for gasoline (we are behind Hawaii by one penny a gallon). In November, once the tax kicks in, California will likely be the highest price per gallon in the U.S.

The poor are the hardest hit, as they tend to commute longer distances and pay a much larger percentage of their income on transportation. Of course every product (think Amazon) gets shipped, so all costs will go up to pay the tax.

As a councilman, Curry used to openly boast about Newport Beachs lack of potholes. Now, in his latest editorial, he claims that the gas tax funds that the current council voted to reject were needed state funds to improve our streets, specifically MacArthur and University.

The council did not include any income from the gas tax in this years budget, and our roads will continue to be of the same standard that we are used to.

Special kudos to Councilman Jeff Herdman to stand up against the Curry doublespeak to vote for the taxpayers and not the big government tax-and-spend types.

Amusingly, Curry claims, In the last council meeting we experienced one of the most irresponsible and ideologically misguided acts in recent memory.

Curry must have forgotten the $255,000,000 Civic Center (including debt service), as well as the $232,000,000 (principal and interest) of non-refinance-able Civic Center debt with which he saddled the City of Newport Beach.

The $480,000 of unguaranteed gas tax funds that the council is eligible to apply for equals less than 0.2% of the amount of Civic Center debt that Curry left Newport Beach taxpayers.

SCOTT PEOTTER is a Newport Beach city councilman.
Aug. 7

Identity theft: 4200 block of Woodleigh Lane. A woman reported having received in late July a Discover credit card statement. Not having personally opened an account with Discover, she called their fraud department and learned from a representative there that someone using her personal identification, including her Social Security number, had opened it on Nov. 3, 2016. On Aug. 7 she received a letter from Fidelity Investments stating a check that was deposited in her account was being reversed due to payment having been stopped on it. The victim said shed never opened a Fidelity account. A Fidelity representative confirmed it had been opened in her name, also using her personal information.

Aug. 10

Mail theft: 800 block of La Porte Drive. A woman reported that she believed sometime between Aug. 3 and Aug. 5 someone stole two checks from her mailbox that had been sent from the Los Angeles City Controllers office to her husband.

Aug. 11

Forgery: 800 block of Town Center Drive. A woman who co-owns a barber shop with her husband said that someone made three copies of a company check theyd given an employee on July 14 and cashed it three separate times. The employee who received the original check said she had not made any copies of it but had simply deposited it in her financial institution account.

Petty theft from unlocked vehicle: 1600 block of Orange Tree Lane. A woman reported that the car shed left parked on the street in front of her house Aug. 6 and not driven in the interim had apparently been entered sometime between then and Aug. 11, when she noticed its hood was slightly open. She approached her car, pulled the door handle and the door opened. Inside, she found miscellaneous papers on the passenger side seat and saw that the glove compartment was open. Missing was a coin purse and some currency. She told the responding deputy she did not recall locking her car when she parked it on Aug. 6.

Aug. 14

Vandalism: 4200 block of Woodleigh Lane. A woman reported that someone driving northbound on the street apparently threw a water bottle at her parked Lexus RX 400, leaving a 5-inch-by-5-inch dent on the lower left rear hatch of her vehicle. She found the water bottle on the ground near the Lexus.

Aug. 15

Commercial burglary: 600 block of Foothill Boulevard. A loss prevention officer reported that video footage she reviewed showed a black male enter the store, steal two high-end purses, one a Balenciaga and the other a Proenza Schouler, then flee without paying. While reporting that theft, the officer told the responding sheriffs deputy that a similar incident had taken place at the La Canada store July 9 when a black woman entered the store, then dashed out, but that crime had not been reported. Also, video surveillance tape from Aug. 12 at the Glendale location of the same chain store showed the same two suspects stealing (unidentified) items, then making a getaway in a black, four-door, 2008 Chevy Malibu or Impala missing a front grill and having a dent in its hood.

Aug. 17

Burglary, vehicle: 100 block of Berkshire Place. A woman reported that sometime between 7:20 a.m. and 2:43 p.m., someone shattered the rear drivers side window and stole a jacket and a basket from her cars interior.

Aug. 19

Petty theft: 1000 block of Green Lane. Sometime between 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 18 and noon on Aug. 19, someone entered a vehicle a man had left parked unlocked in his driveway and stole a prescription pill bottle filled with Adderall and a canvas briefcase. A Rockland Place resident found the victims briefcase on that street and reported the find to the sheriffs station.

Aug. 20

Vandalism and defacing personal property; hate crime-gender: Residents of the 4500 block of Viro Road and the adjacent 100 block of Lamour Road reported graffiti had been spray-painted on a fence as well as on two vehicles, a Volkswagen Jetta and a van. Although the sheriffs crime report does not specify the words used in the graffiti, a photo of the red Jetta that was posted on Facebook by a victim over the weekend shows the words Kill women evil painted in blue on the hood. A female reported hearing the distinctive spraying sound of a spray paint can after midnight, which prompted her to look out her window. She saw a man in his 20s, approximately 6 feet tall and 220 pounds walking away from her neighbors fence, getting into a small vehicle and driving south on Viro Road and out of view.

Aug. 21

Vandalism: 1400 block of Foothill Boulevard. A woman reported that she parked her 2006 Chevy Corvette in the parking lot at about 5 p.m. At 8:30 p.m. when she returned to her car, she discovered someone had left a 10-inch scratch on its left rear fender.

carol.cormaci@latimes.com

Twitter: @CarolCormaci
Officials with Target Corp. have confirmed that the 45,865-square-foot small-format retail store being planned for La Canada Flintridges Town Center, in the former site of the locally founded Sport Chalet, is anticipated to open its doors to shoppers in July 2018.

The La Canada retail space will be the 11th of 130 scaled-down stores being planned for use in dense suburban and urban neighborhoods across the nation through the end of 2019, according to a release issued Friday, which included renderings of what the space will look like.

We look forward to providing the many residents in the San Gabriel Valley with a more convenient option to shop Target closer to home, said Mark Schindele, Targets senior vice president of properties, adding the stores offerings will be curated to meet the quick-shopping needs of the local neighborhood.

The location plans to offer family apparel and accessories, beauty products, home decor and back-to-school items and will maintain a grocery selection. An on-site CVS pharmacy, with pick-up service, and a Starbucks coffee shop are also being planned.

Currently, the Target store closest to La Canada is located in Eagle Rock Plaza, about 6 miles south off the Glendale (2) Freeway. Others in the general vicinity include one in the Glendale Galleria and two in Pasadena, near the Foothill (210) Freeway. A smaller 24,750-square-foot store is expected to open on Burbanks Magnolia Park in March of next year.

Rob Fuelling, senior vice president of Town Center property owner IDS Real Estate Group, said in the Aug. 18 release the lease with the national retailer completes a five-year strategic plan to reposition La Canadas Town Center area as a preeminent neighborhood shopping center within the San Gabriel Valley.

Combining quality restaurants with our retail tenants provides neighboring residents with the opportunity to shop, dine and socialize in one community-centered location, he said in the statement.

Reactions to last weeks news of Target moving into town have been mixed, with many La Canada residents taking to social media to lodge complaints about foreseen congestion, traffic and compounded parking issues in the Town Center.

La Canada Community Development Director Robert Stanley confirmed the area contains a total of 478 parking spaces, including 147 rooftop spaces on the store building itself, while the former Sport Chalets office building and future site of a new City Hall next to the retail property has 104 dedicated parking spaces.

Target spokeswoman Kristy Welker said Monday the company intended to make full use of the current structure and its square footage.

Our store design team is currently working through the design of the interior, Welker said. The exterior of the store will remain as the current footprint, except for the addition of a second elevator to the roof parking.

Welker said the new tenants have not yet decided what they will do with Sport Chalets pool area, located on the west side of the property.

sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardine

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In a bid to jump-start his flagging campaign to lead Germany, Martin Schulz of the center-left Social Democrats has made a startling campaign promise, saying he would remove U.S. nuclear weapons from the country if he became chancellor.

Feeding on widespread fears among Germans of a possible conflict after President Trumps recent exchange of tough talk with North Korea, Schulz ratcheted up his anti-nuclear weapons language at a campaign rally late Tuesday.

He called for the removal of about 20 U.S. nuclear warheads that according to German media reports are believed to be stationed in the western part of Germany  until now largely forgotten vestiges of the Cold War that ended nearly 30 years ago. Government officials have not confirmed the presence of nuclear warheads in Germany.

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As chancellor, Id push for the ejection of nuclear weapons stored in Germany and if theyre stationed in this state of Rhineland-Palatinate, then for the removal of those weapons here, Schulz told a campaign rally in the southwestern state, which has long been home to several large U.S. bases.

Schulz said Trumps conflict with North Korea shows us more than ever before how urgently we need to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons and encourage disarmament.

Schulzs party is stuck some 14 percentage points behind Chancellor Angela Merkels conservative Christian Democratic Union with just one month of campaigning before the Sept. 24 election.

The challengers antiwar language can go down exceptionally well among voters in Germany, where memories of the two world wars it started in the last century linger even generations later. Other Social Democratic Party chancellors, from Willy Brandt, who won the 1971 Nobel Peace Prize for his Ostpolitik, to Gerhard Schroeder, who won reelection in 2002 against long odds with an anti-Iraq war campaign, have successfully tapped into that pacifist streak.

Merkel did not immediately comment on Schulzs remarks this week. But a Merkel ally criticized Schulz for overly simplifying a complicated topic in the heat of an election campaign.

Id advise Martin Schulz against compromising Germanys position in its carefully calibrated international security architecture for a play to the gallery, Juergen Hardt, Merkels transatlantic policy coordinator, said in an interview. A credible nuclear deterrent is a pivotal element of NATOs defense posture. And Germany will remain a partner to that.

Some political scientists said Schulz, frustrated by his partys inability to narrow the gap with Merkels conservatives in polls, felt compelled to ramp up the rhetoric in a Hail Mary attempt to shake up the campaign. They estimate his party, the SPD, currently the junior partner in Merkels grand coalition government, needs to at least halve the conservatives 39%-25% lead in polls to have a chance of keeping its seats in the next government after the election.

Schulz is desperately grappling to try to find an issue that will excite voters, said Thomas Jaeger, a political scientist at Cologne University. He hasnt gotten anywhere by talking about social inequality or standing up for the little guy that the SPD likes to focus on.

Jaeger said a former German foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, had made a similar demand in 2010 for U.S. nuclear warheads to be removed that briefly caused tension in Merkels coalition government with his pro-business Free Democratic Party and between Berlin and Washington.

The Free Democrats were then trounced in the 2014 election, not only falling out of the government but also even failing to clear the 5% threshold needed to win seats in the Parliament.

Westerwelle took a beating for that because it made a lot of people think he didnt have a clue about what he was doing on foreign policy, Jaeger said.

Hajo Funke, a political scientist at Berlins Free University, said Schulz may manage to attract voters to the SPD with his unorthodox attempt to shake up what has until now been viewed by many as a dull and predictable campaign.

Germans are all ears when it comes to talking about peace and disarmament, Funke said. Its a sexy campaign issue for him and whats wrong with that? Trump is clearly a loose cannon out there, and thats the last thing you need when there are nuclear weapons on the deck.

Kirschbaum is a special correspondent.
Italian riot police turned a water cannon on Eritrean and Ethiopian migrants in Rome on Thursday, scattering them from a piazza where they had camped for five days after being evicted from a building where they had been squatting for several years.

Migrants threw bottles and gas canisters at the police, but were driven back by the water jet in Piazza Indipendenza, yards from Romes central Termini station. Among the migrants bowled over by the water was a woman walking with a crutch.

The clash reflected Italys increasingly hard line on migrants. About 400,000 have arrived since 2014, mostly sailing from Libya.

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Almost all of the evicted migrants had reportedly received refugee status, or a similar form of protection, prompting protesters and aid groups to claim the eviction and the police operation proved Rome is abandoning migrants it had provided with asylum.

Italian law enforcement officers use a water cannon to disperse migrants in central Rome on Thursday. (Angelo Carconi / Associated Press)

In Germany and Sweden, refugees get help with housing. Here in Italy, you get evicted, said Father Mussie Zerai, an Eritrean priest who assists migrants in Italy.

In the lead-up to the clashes, 800 Eritreans and Ethiopians were evicted on Saturday from an empty office building on Piazza Indipendenza that had been occupied by migrants since 2013.

Around 100 set up camp with their suitcases on the grass in the piazza outside the building. Early on Thursday, police arrived and turned their water cannon on the group.

In a statement, Rome police said the operation was urgent and necessary after the migrants refused offers of alternative accommodation, but also because of the threat from migrants equipping themselves with gas canisters and inflammable materials.

Zerai said the accommodation offer consisted of 80 places in migrant centers. That is not going to take care of the 800 people who were evicted, he said. And why did they only start thinking of alternatives after evicting all those people? he said.

After the piazza was cleared, migrants regrouped closer to Termini station before riot police chased them across a parking area in front of frightened tourists. In a video published by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, one person, presumed to be an officer, is heard saying: If they throw something, break their arm.

It is shaming that the lack of alternative housing led to violence, said charity Doctors Without Borders, which treated 13 of the migrants, mainly women, for injuries after the police operation.

BREAKING: @MSF has treated 13 #people injured at Piazza Indipendenza in #Rome, from where 100 Eritreans and Ethiopians have been evicted. pic.twitter.com/SjVw0hUn5x  MSF Sea (@MSF_Sea) August 24, 2017

Eritreans frequently qualify for asylum after fleeing their countrys brutal government, which keeps men in military service for decades. Many of the 800 who were living in the occupied building work in Rome and send their children to local schools.

They are people fleeing war and persecution, already victims of terrible trauma. People who have the right to support to integration in a way to become autonomous, said Stephane Jaquemet of the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

We are refugees, not terrorists, said Yohannes Haglos, 35, one of the Eritrean refugees camped in the piazza. Why does Italy hand out asylum permits only to turn its back on you, offering no languages courses, no help at all?

Kington is a special correspondent.

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He was known as El Padrino  the Godfather  and, as co-founder of the once-dominant Guadalajara drug cartel, Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo reigned over Mexicos multibillion-dollar narco-commerce with all the ruthlessness and aplomb of the fictional Don Corleone.

The former street cop and bodyguard turned-drug kingpin counted police commanders and politicians among his protectors and supplicants.

But eventually, Gallardo went too far. The international outrage following the 1985 murder in Mexico of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent, Enrique Kiki Camarena, eventually led to the fall of Gallardo and his close associates and the splintering of their nationwide criminal network.

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The fallout of Camarenas murder  and the unraveling of Gallardos cartel  continues to be felt in Mexico to this day, influencing law enforcement, politics and how modern cartels operate. Even though Gallardo was arrested decades ago, the case made the news again this week when a Mexican federal court sentenced Gallardo to 37 years in prison for the murder of Camarena and a Mexican pilot, Alfredo Zavala.

As part of Wednesdays court decision, Gallardo also was ordered to make the equivalent of $1.18 million in reparation payments, presumably to the families of the victims.

Gallardo, now in his early 70s, has been in Mexican custody since 1989, when intense pressure from U.S. authorities led Mexican authorities to arrest him.

But the kingpins case had dragged on for decades in Mexican tribunals amid a plethora of legal maneuvers and a court ruling throwing out a previous 40-year sentence against Gallardo. It is said to be one of the longest judicial proceedings in Mexican criminal history. Several more years of appeals are possible, authorities say, even though Gallardo has already served the bulk of his term.

The official sentencing comes 32 years after Camarena  the DEA agent and former Calexico cop and U.S. Marine  was brazenly snatched in broad daylight in Guadalajara. Camarena was kidnapped while walking along a street to meet his wife for lunch. Zavala, who was assisting Camarena in his undercover investigations, also disappeared.

Exterior of the house in Guadalajara where Enrique Kiki Camarena was tortured in 1985. (Rick Tulsky / Los Angeles Times)

The Camarena case, which has inspired films, books and television series, put the public spotlight on the organized and brutal nature of Mexican drug-trafficking rings. The intense law enforcement focus ultimately contributed to altering the makeup of the drug gangs, but did not come close to putting an end to the illegal cross-border commerce.

In a sense, the takedown of the Guadalajara cartel set a template for the Mexican drug wars that have raged to this day  often with much more bloodshed and brutality than in the heyday of Gallardo and his henchmen.

After Camarena disappeared, an irate Reagan administration pressed the Mexican government to find him. U.S. customs officials all but shut down the nearly 2,000-mile-long border, triggering a binational crisis.

It was a low point in U.S.-Mexico relations perhaps unmatched until President Trump took office in January amid threats to build a border wall, slap a tariff on Mexican imports and carry out large-scale deportations of Mexican citizens in the U.S. illegally.

The bodies of Camarena and Zavala were found, a month after their February 1985 disappearances, near a ranch in the western state of Michoacan. Their remains showed signs of torture.

The subsequent manhunt for the killers was called the largest in DEA history. Suspicion immediately fell on the Guadalajara cartel and its three principal figures: Gallardo, Ernesto Don Neto Fonseca and Rafael Caro Quintero, all giants of the Mexican demimonde, subjects of corridos (ballads) and legends.

In his undercover work, Camarena had developed an extensive informant network that led to large-scale seizures of marijuana and destruction of pot plantations in northern Mexico, authorities say. His murder was called payback for the damage done to the Guadalajara mob.

Mexican authorities soon rounded up Fonseca and Caro Quintero, but Gallardo  reportedly protected by authorities  was not arrested until 1989.

Though Gallardo remains in prison, Fonseca was transferred to house arrest in 2016 under terms granted to elderly prisoners with health problems.

Caro Quintero was released from prison in 2013 on a legal technicality, to the dismay of U.S. authorities  who have offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his capture or conviction. Both Mexican and U.S. officials are seeking Caro Quintero.

In 2016, Caro Quintero gave an interview from hiding to Mexicos Proceso magazine denying any role in Camarenas murder and rejecting reports that he had returned to the drug world.

Amid continuing demand for drugs in the United States, experts say, the destruction of the Guadalajara cartel resulted in a fragmenting of the market and the emergence of distinct regional cartels.

Among them was the Sinaloa cartel of Joaquin El Chapo Guzman and other criminal mobs in Tijuana, Ciudad Juarez and elsewhere. All built on the sophistication of the Guadalajara cartel, with its close ties to South American cocaine producers. The evolving U.S. appetite for heroin, amphetamines and other illicit substances has been a boost for the trafficking enterprise.

Under pressure from U.S. authorities, Mexican officials have taken down one drug lord after another. Critics question, however, whether the kingpin strategy has exacerbated the problem, amid escalating national homicide rates. Violent junior sicarios, or hit men, and other would-be successors now regularly battle for leadership after the incarceration or murders of their bosses.

The arrest of Guzman, and his extradition this year from Mexico to the United States, is a case in point. His absence and the subsequent leadership void have spurred violent clashes among competing blocs fighting for control of Guzmans fractured empire.

Mexican drug gangs since the 1980s have diversified into other fields  including extortion, kidnapping, human trafficking and the forced takeover of legitimate businesses.

Like their predecessors in the Guadalajara cartel, Mexicos current narco-leaders maintain financial and social ties to police and elected lawmakers. The nexus among gangs, law enforcement and politicians  and the resulting impunity for many criminals and corrupt officials  continues to bedevil reform efforts in Mexico.

For U.S. anti-drug authorities, a key lesson of the Camarena killing was the need for an immediate and robust response to any menace to its personnel.

Because of the Camarena case, even the mere allegation of a threat is the tripwire that unleashes DEAs fury, Jay Bergman, former regional director of the DEAs Andean office, told the Los Angeles Times in 2015. The message is loud and clear: Just thinking about harming an agent will turn your world upside down.

Cecilia Sanchez in The Times Mexico City bureau and special correspondent Chris Kraul in Bogota, Colombia, contributed to this report.

patrick.mcdonnell@latimes.com

twitter: @mcdneville

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Islamic States slick propaganda videos have long included children, but its latest offering purports to show something different: an American child and supposed son of a U.S. soldier threatening President Trump.

The seven-minute video, titled The Fertile Nation, centers on a 10-year-old boy, identified only as Yousef, who says he moved with his mother to areas controlled by Islamic State two years ago.

My father is an American soldier who fought the mujahideen [holy warriors] in Iraq, Yousef, speaking with an American accent, says to the camera.

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I didnt know much about Islam except the name. But when me and Mom came to the Islamic State, we started to learn the correct Islamic creed.

The boy speaks rapidly and somewhat mechanically, as if reciting a memorized speech. He says he is in Raqqah, the Syrian city that is Islamic States de facto capital. Clips of him are interspersed between footage of airstrikes on what is identified as Raqqah, which has been the target of a wide-scale U.S.-backed campaign to dislodge the jihadis.

While the child speaks primarily in English, he also uses some Arabic words, which he pronounces with what sounds like a native Levantine accent.

Yousef is also seen among Islamic State fighters preparing antiaircraft cannons and donning what appear to be suicide belts.

Later on, Yousef, who is shown playing with another child, said to be an Iraqi from the Sinjar region, complains about the strikes as numbers of casualties flash on the screen and he speaks directly to President Trump.

This is my message to Trump, the puppet of the Jews, says Yousef. This battle is not going to end in Raqqah or Mosul. Its going to end in your hands. Mosul is the Iraqi city that was recently retaken from Islamic State.

The video was released Wednesday. The Los Angeles Times could not verify any of the claims made in it, including the background of the child.

Heather Nauert, a U.S. State Department spokeswoman, said at a news briefing Wednesday that she could not confirm that the child was an American..

First and foremost, any child used in that capacity in an ISIS video, regardless of what is being done, is sick, said Nauert, referring to Islamic State by one of its acronyms.

Weve seen ISIS use children the ages of some of our own children here as suicide bombers, as homicide bombers. Its sick, its depraved, and it is another example of just how wrong and how evil ISIS is.

Bulos is a special correspondent.

Twitter: @nabihbulos

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The case of the 13-year-old arrested Wednesday afternoon and charged in a gas station robbery in Wilson Borough is properly placed in the juvenile system, a Northampton County official said Thursday morning.

If the boy were 15 and committed a crime with a weapon, he would be automatically charged as an adult, First Deputy District Attorney Terry Houck said.

If a child is younger than that, there are factors such as age and "amenability to treatment" that could be weighed when considering a transfer to adult court, Houck said.

But at this point, the boy is where he belongs, in the custody of the county juvenile detention center and awaiting hearings, Houck said.

After an initial hearing, the teenager can then challenge the charges of robbery, criminal conspiracy, terrorist threats, theft, receiving stolen property and crimes committed with firearms before a judge in juvenile court or he can make what in adult court would be a plea, Houck said.

If adjudicated -- what would be called pleading or being found guilty in adult court -- the teenager can be sent to a variety of facilities, depending on various factors, including if he's been in the system before, Houck said.

Is he drug-involved? Did he have proper parental supervision? Questions such as these factor in the level of security required, Houck said.

The weapon was recovered after the boy was arrested without incident about 4 p.m. at home, borough police Chief Steven Parkansky said. It was an Airsoft-type of toy, Parkansky said.

But to be charged with a weapons offense, "it doesn't have to be an operable weapon," Houck said.

Whatever happens to the teen, he won't be in custody beyond his 21st birthday, Houck said.

Robbery is a felony of the second degree in Pennsylvania and the basic charge in adult court comes with a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine, records show.

The investigation continues into the robbery, Parkansky said. He had no further information to release on another person in the mini market about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at 2134 Northampton St.

On Wednesday, police said the 13-year-old talked to that male before pointing the weapon at a female clerk and taking an undisclosed amount of money.

Information gathered after photos of the suspect were put on social media assisted in the arrest, Parkansky said.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
A 50-year-old Boy Scout leader from Catasauqua is charged with sexually assaulting three scouts over a number of years, the Lehigh County District Attorney's Office reports.

Stephen Piller, of the 200 block of East Wood Street, was to be arraigned Thursday in Central Booking after five counts of indecent assault and one court of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse were filed in the court of District Judge Michael D'Amore, District Attorney Jim Martin said in the news release.

Piller's surrender was prearranged and he went to court accompanied by his attorney Michael E. Moyer, Martin said.

At his arraignment, Piller was released on $100,000 unsecured bail with a preliminary hearing tentatively scheduled Sept. 6 before D'Amore in his Allentown courtroom on Union Boulevard.

Piller was a scout master affiliated with the Minsi Trails Council of the Boy Scouts of America, authorities said.

The assaults happened at Piller's home and at Camp Trexler, a Boy Scout facility in Monroe County, Martin said.

Minsi Trails Council Scout Executive Craig Poland said Thursday that as soon as the organization learned of the allegations it took immediate action "to preclude this individual from any further participation in the Scouting program."

"The behavior included in these allegations is abhorrent and runs counter to everything for which the Boy Scouts of America stands," Poland said in a prepared statement.

"... The safety of our youth members is of paramount importance and we seek to prevent child abuse through a comprehensive program of education on the subject, the chartered organization leader selection process, criminal background and other checks, policies and procedures to serve as barriers to abuse and the prompt mandatory reporting of any allegations or suspicion of abuse. "

On March 17, the county's Office of Children and Youth Services made county Detective Andrew Millen aware of "possible sex assaults in the Catasauqua area," Martin said.

Millen interviewed the first victim, who was 12 when he joined the scouts, Martin said. The boy met Piller through scouting and two years later, Piller "allegedly made sexual advances toward and touched the juvenile inappropriately" at Piller's home, Martin said.

The boy was also sexually assaulted by Piller at Camp Trexler, Martin said. The assaults continued for three years at both places, Martin said.

A second victim told Millen he met Piller through scouting when the boy was 14, Martin said. Piller was a head scout master by that point, Martin said. The teen was "inappropriately touched" by Piller at the Catasauqua home and the boy was photographed, Martin said.

The boy was also sexually assaulted by Piller at the Monroe County camp, Martin said. The abuse continued for three years, Martin said.

A third victim told Millen he also met Piller through scouting and was sexually assaulted as a minor over "multiple years" at both locations, Marin said.

Any Monroe County charges will be prosecuted in Lehigh County, Martin said.

Piller's attorney said they have been cooperating with authorities since they were first contacted in April. When Millen reached out in recent days, Piller made arrangements to surrender, which Moyer said is another form of cooperation.

While Moyer wouldn't comment on the charges because he just received the complaint on Thursday morning, he said Piller is a lifelong Lehigh Valley resident with no previous criminal record.

The Minsi Trails Council is "cooperating fully with local law enforcement on this matter," Poland said.

And it will lend help to any victim who reaches out, he added.

"The BSA offers assistance with counseling to any scout, former scout, or the family member of any scout who suffered abuse during their time in scouting," Poland said. "The BSA has a toll-free help line (855-295-1531) and email contact address (scouthelp@scouting.org) for these sensitive matters."

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
TRENTON -- A woman arrested by two New Jersey state troopers for refusing to answer questions during a 2015 traffic stop will receive $30,000 under a settlement with the state, court records show.

Rebecca Musarra, a Philadelphia attorney, put her right to remain silent to the test after she was pulled over for allegedly speeding on Route 519 in Warren County -- and ended up in a holding cell for it.

In a recent interview, Musarra said she hoped the case, which drew national attention after it became public, would become a civil liberties lesson for police and members of the public.

"Hopefully this give average citizens a little more courage to assert their rights," she said.

Dashboard video obtained by NJ Advance Media showed the two troopers growing increasingly frustrated over getting the silent treatment, arresting Musarra for refusing to answer questions and then, after cuffing her, informing her she had a right to remain silent.

The video showed Musarra handed over her license, registration and insurance at the start of the October 16, 2015 stop. But as Trooper Matthew Stazzone began asking her questions -- including "do you know why you're being pulled over tonight?" -- Musarra stayed mum.

After several minutes, Stazzone told the woman she was "going to be placed under arrest if you don't answer my questions."

She then broke the silence to tell the trooper she was an attorney and did not have to answer questions. He ordered her out of her vehicle and, with the help of Trooper Demetric Gosa, placed her under arrest.

As the two troopers cuffed her and walked her toward a troop car, Musarra asked them, "Are you detaining me because I refused to speak?"

"Yeah," Stazzone replied, according to the video. "Yeah, obstruction," Gosa added.

The troopers placed her in the back of the car and Stazzone read Musarra the Miranda warning before taking her to the nearby State Police barracks in Washington.

Musarra was detained and questioned at the station before a supervisor told her the troopers had made a mistake and she was free to go, she claimed in the federal lawsuit.

Legal experts interviewed by NJ Advance Media said motorists should follow police orders during traffic stops, but are under no obligation to answer questions, thanks to constitutional protections against self-incrimination.

Musarra's attorney, Kevin Costello, told NJ Advance Media she had requested a formal letter from State Police acknowledging the troopers had violated her rights. But court records show the division refused to provide it.

The agreement, reported Wednesday by NJ Civil Settlements, which provides a partial list of settlements paid by New Jersey government agencies, was reached in July but has not yet been approved by a judge.

Under the settlement, the state admits no wrongdoing.

However, Musarra said she received a different letter from the Office of Professional Standards, the division's internal affairs unit, indicating its investigation substantiated her complaints.

Capt. Brian Polite, a State Police spokesman, said he could not comment on any correspondence between Musarra and internal investigators. He said, however, that the troopers involved "were given additional training regarding criminal arrests" after the incident.

A spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, which represented the troopers in the civil case, declined to comment.

S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
A 21-year-old Washington man is accused of sexually assaulting a teen last May in a Phillipsburg parking lot.

Tyrin Henry, of the 100 block of Belvidere Avenue in Washington, committed the crime against a 14-year-old in a vehicle outside the Phillipsburg skate park, according to an affidavit filed at state Superior Court in Belvidere.

Henry was arrested Aug. 8 and charged with second-degree sexual assault, according to a criminal complaint. Records indicate he was in the Warren County jail as of Wednesday.

Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Thirteen children will be left standing on the side of the road when they are due go back to school on Tuesday in the Vicarstown and Emo areas if the bus service does not change in the meantime.

The current public bus service is not catering for the number of students that need to get the bus to school in the area.

There are currently 13 families in the communities of Vicarstown, Emo and surrounding areas that have not been granted tickets for the bus to and from Portlaoise Secondary Schools.

Parents in the area are holding a meeting tonight Thursday, August 24 to discuss their options ahead of the new school term beginning next week.

In 2009, Bus Eireann cut the service from a 52 seater bus to a 32 seater because the numbers were not there however, eight years on the number of students has changed.

The meeting of parents this evening has received local political backing as a representative for Charlie Flanagan will be in attendance along with local TD's Brian Stanley and Sean Fleming.

Yvonne Kelly has six children, four of them have been through secondary schools in Portlaoise and one is currently 14 years-old and attending Portlaoise College.

Yvonnes son was not granted a ticket for the bus this year after her other four children got the bus for years.

We have all rang Bus Eireann and begged them to get my boy and my girl onto the bus.

I know another mother whose daughter did not get a ticket and my heart breaks for her. Her daughter is starting first year and this situation has taken all of the good out of her starting school.

My nearest school is Athy by 0.02km, but Athy had no availability. All my children went to Portlaoise and my priority is to get my child a place in school. He didnt get a place in the first two secondary schools I tried so I took the third option. I was very grateful to Portaoise College for taking Tiernan on.

Some of the parents who missed out on a bus ticket cannot dedicate themselves to school runs. There are families leaving to go to work at 7.30am so children would be dropped to school hours before the classes start and wouldnt be picked up till late in the evenings.

It is ridiculous in this day and age. There will be 13 children with no lift to school on Tuesday, the bus service will pass them by.

If I change school to Athy there is no bus going past my door, there is one going to Portlaoise, Yvonne said.

Sinn Fein TD Brian Stanley has called on the Department of Education to provide a larger bus to cater for students in the Vicarstown/Emo areas to attend secondary schools in Portlaoise.

Deputy Stanley has made this announcement ahead of the meeting which he will attend this evening.

All the parents in these cases are working and are unable to do school runs and they have the support of the Principal and Deputy Principal in Scoil Chriost Ri.

There was a 52 seater bus on the Vicarstown / Emo / Portlaoise route previously and the sensible solution would be to provide a 52 seater again instead of the 32 seater bus now in place," he said.
A man is due before a court on robbery, burglary and threat to kill charges arising from a string of incidents in Mountrath in which a filling station was raided, a shot was fired, and a car was hijacked.

Gardai in Portlaoise say a man will be brought before a court in Dublin on two counts of robbery and one count of burglary. A charge of hijacking and a charge of threats to kill will also be brought by gardai.

The man is due to be brought to court on Thursday morning, August 24.

A separate file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The burglary charges relates to a house in Stradbally.

Gardai detained a man following a string of incidents in Mountrath in the early hours of Saturday morning last, August 19.

Gardai in Portlaoise reported that a masked man entered the Emo Filling Station in Mountrath at 12.25am. A firearm was brandished. It is understood to have been a shotgun.

A quantity of cash was taken before the raider made his escape. However, it is understood that he crashed while in his getaway car but another vehicle was hijacked. However, this also subsequently also crashed.

The collision occurred at 12.35am outside a house at Derrykearn, near Abbeyleix. When the occupants of the house, a mother and son went to investigate, a shot was fired. A car was taken belonging to the householders.

A car was later discovered crashed into a tree around 1.5km from the Derrykearn scene. A suspect aged his 30s, was arrested and a firearm was discovered nearby after a search of the area by gardai.

A man, who lived in Portlaoise, was taken to the Midland Regional Hospital at Tullamore for treatment to serious back injuries believed to have been sustained as a result of the collisions.
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A man alleged to have carried out an armed raid at a filling station in Mountrath, Co Laois before firing a shot while hijacking a van appeared in court in Dublin today.

Joseph Moore (31), no fixed abode, formerly of Market Mews, Maryborough Village, Portlaoise, Co Laois, is a accused of discharging a gun while seizing a Volkswgaen Caddy some distance from where the garage was raided.

It is alleged that Mr Moore had threatened to kill a woman and stole her car at his own home on August 18.

The incidents are all alleged to have taken place on Friday and Saturday, August 18 and 19. He was also charged with burglary at a house and robbery at another filling station in Laois the previous week.

He is charged with robbing 930 from Emo Filling Station, Mountrath, on August 19 and a subsequent seizing on the same day of the van by threat of force at Derrykearn, Abbeyleix.

He also faced charges of burglary at a house at Oldtown, Abbeyleix on August 10 last, then robbing a man of 1,970 at Jones Oil, Tea Lane, Portlaoise the next day, August 11.

The Irish Independent reported that Garda Keith Shier of Portlaoise Garda Station said the accused was arrested last night and made no reply to the charge of unlawful taking of a car.

In reply to the threat to kill charge, he said "I'm so sorry," Garda Shier said. Moore said: "I'm sorry, I apologise to everyone involved" when charged with unlawfully seizing the van.

"I'm so sorry" was the response to Garda Shier's robbery charge.

Detective Garda JP O'Brien said the defendant replied "I am sorry" in reply to the remaining two charges.

He confirmed to the judge that there had been no local court sitting and no offer to convene one.

Det O'Brien asked for accused to be remanded in custody and defence solicitor Brian Keenan said he was making no bail application on Mr Moore's behalf at this stage.

Det O'Brien asked for notice to be given of any bail application, saying the alleged offences were serious and involved a "fully loaded rifle being discharged" while a vehicle was hijacked.

Judge O'Neill remanded the defendant in custody to appear in court again on August 29.

Mr Moore "suffered significantly" as a result of this incident and spent a number of days in hospital before he was arrested, Mr Keenan said. He asked Judge O'Neill to recommend medical attention for the accused while he is in custody.

She did this, and granted free legal aid after hearing the accused was unemployed. Mr Moore did not speak during the hearing.

He was remanded in custody.
Laois comedy fans can enjoy a double dose of laughs with a big local ingredient when Durrow's Bernard OShea and Limerick's Karl Spain chance their arms in Portlaoise on their Fat Chancers tour.

Fat Chancers visit the Midlands Park Hotel, Portlaoise on 17th November. The double headliner includes a date at Dublins Vicar Street on 24th February.

And when theyre not keeping audiences rolling in the aisles, the funnymen have thrown down the gauntlet to see who is the biggest loser  in weight that is  after challenging each other to a slimming contest over the tour. Expect plenty of references to fasting, snacking and even colonic irrigation.

No stranger to television and radio fans, Bernard is the co-writer and star of RTE2s Bridget and Eamon with Jennifer Zamparelli and co-host of the RTE 2FM breakfast show, Breakfast Republic, alongside Zamparelli and Keith Walsh. He is a former host of The Republic of Telly and has made regular appearances on The Panel, The Naked Camera, Just for Laughs and The Byrne Ultimatum, amongst other shows.

His foray into comedy saw him winning the Harp Newcomer Comedy Award in 2000. Since this time, he has become a regular at the Cat Laughs comedy festival in Kilkenny and the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival. His Edinburgh Fringe debut received five star reviews.

Karl is a well-known name to Irish TV audiences thanks to his television series Karl Spain Wants a Woman, Karl Spain Wants to Rock, and his appearance on Celebrity Operation Transformation. Other television credits include Liffey Laughs, The Late Late Show, The Panel, Tubridy Tonight, The Afternoon Show and The Offside Show.

A stand-up comic for 15 years, Karl is a regular performer at Kilkenny Cat Laughs, the Galway Comedy Festival, the Vodafone Comedy Festival, Cork Comedy Fest, Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Montreal Just for Laughs. He has toured extensively abroad, including Australia, the U.S., Middle East and South Africa. In addition to his own stand-up career, Karl was resident writer for Republic of Telly and writes for countless other comedians. With fellow comic Al Porter, he wrote the 2015 pantomime Freezin: The Story of The Snow Queen and a short film for Sky 1 as part of the Irish shorts series.

Commenting on the tour, Karl Spain said "Dont expect massive weight loss or body transformations or Bernard being funny.

Audiences can expect plenty of on-stage banter as Fat Chancers will feature the popular comics share the stage, as well as performing their own stand-up routines.

Fat Chancers tickets are available at www.ticket.ie/event
IFA National Sheep Committee Chairperson, John Lynskey said the factories increased the lamb kill in the lead into the Muslim festival of Eid on September 2. He said the kill increased to 61,623 last week and is likely to be higher again for the next two weeks.

Demand is strong and prices are in the order of 5.00, with tops of 5.20/kg paid earlier in the week.

Farmers should continue to select and move lambs as they become fit but insist on getting full value for the stock as well as looking for lower carcase weight limits to be increased, said Mr Lynskey, adding some plants are still only paying to 21.5kgs while others have moved up to 22kgs.

Mr Lynskey said he has received a lot of complaints and concerns over Northern lambs at the meat plants in recent week. He said farmers feel the factories are using Northern lambs and the weakness in Sterling against local suppliers.

The IFA sheep farmers leader said both the mart trade and live export buying are active. He said live buyers are offering 2.30/kg. Ewes are making 3.00/kg.
The funeral has taken place today of a 30-year-old woman from Carrigallen who died suddenly in Florida last week.

Kelly Rooney Leonard had been working and living in Delray Beach, Florida for a number of years. She passed away suddenly on August 14, 2017.

Kelly was a former Carrigallen Vocational School pupil and her passing was met with shock and great sadness in the south Leitrim town.

Kelly is deeply mourned by her mother Jacqui, father David, stepfather Eamonn, brothers Kevin and James Peter and a wide circle of family and friends, touched by her life, both here and in America.

Tributes have been paid to her memory with Carrigallen GAA club noting: We are saddened to learn of the tragic passing last week in Florida, USA of Kelly Rooney Leonard. We extend our sympathy to Kelly's mother Jacqui, father David Leonard, her step father Eamon Quinn and her brothers Kevin and James. Ar dheis de go raibh a anam dilis.

Finnegans Pub in Delray Beach, Florida, where Kelly worked, has also honoured her memory holding a special memorial for her and also paying tribute to the passing of a beautiful soul.

Our hearts are broken, a memorial post on the Tim Finnegan's Irish Pub website notes. We have lost a beloved member of our Tim Finnegans family. Kelly Rooney Leonard, your beautiful face, your beautiful soul, that infectious laugh, that Irish fight, that fierce spirit and those twinkling eyes. All you met you gave your heart, we are truly lost to see you go. Our deepest condolences to your Mummy, Daddy, brothers and all your family and friends. Thank you for all the joy you brought us, we pray you are at peace.

A Gofundme page was set up to help meet the costs of bringing Kelly home to Ireland. At the time of writing it had raised $24,346 (USD) in just 10 days.

Kelly was waked at home in Carrigallen, Co Leitrim on Wednesday, August 23.

Her Funeral Mass was held today, Thursday, August 24 at 12pm in St Mary's Church, Carrigallen.

This service was followed by burial in the adjoining cemetery.

Donations can be made in Kelly's memory to the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust.

The Trust helps to alleviate the financial hardship of bereaved families repatriating their loved ones, who have died abroad in sudden or tragic circumstances, back to Ireland.

For further details on the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust and the work they do see: http://kevinbellrepatriationtrust.com/
There was a bit of drama at the office of Edinburgh Western Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton today when firefighters had to come to put out a small fire after a strip light exploded.

V grateful to the fantastic @fire_scot for attending a small fire in our office today after strip-light exploded during surgery. #heroes pic.twitter.com/CebjAxLIyo  Alex Cole-Hamilton (@agcolehamilton) August 24, 2017

We assume he meant that he was holding a constituency surgery rather than actually performing surgery on the strip light.

Thankfully, everyone was fine and no damage was done.

* Newsmoggie  bringing you comment from a different perspective
It doesnt matter what the result of a Westminster election, the Liberal Democrats are usually under-represented. Our 23% in 2010 should have brought us 140 MPs. At this election, according to an Electoral Reform Society report, we could have had 29 or 39 MPs under a proportional system. Given that Labour and the Tories are doing generally all right out of the system at the moment, we shouldnt hold our breath waiting for reform.

If the election had been conducted under the Alternative Vote, which we campaigned for and squandered too much political capital on in the coalition negotiations in 2010, wed have had even fewer MPs than with First Past the Post. Only 11 Liberal Democrats would have been elected.

The report is generally a depressing read, highlighting how divided we are as a nation. They highlighted the number of wasted votes and pointed out that this was not a good thing for legitimacy:

In the end, we have a system that recognises the geographical location of a voter and nothing else. It is where voters are  rather than their choices  that matters. This must change if we are to restore legitimacy to our political institutions.

It says that First Past the Post has had its 3rd strike after failing to deliver decisive results in the last 3 elections. I beg to differ with that one. At least in 2010, we had a Government which had the support of more than half of the electorate for the two parties. Those of us who have been around for longer can attest to the fact that it has always been unfair. In my first election a quarter of the votes for the Alliance resulted in just 23 seats.

The report pointed out that in 1987, a similar vote share brought the Tories a whacking great majority, but in 2017 a minority government. I have to say that the latter result is by far preferable to a 3 figure majority which allows a government to do what it likes on a minority of the vote.

Different voting patterns between generations are mentioned  with the young choosing Labour  and turning out to vote more than before while elderly voters backed the Conservatives. And its not all bad news, as turnout hit a high as more voters were engaged.

The whole report is worth reading but the ERS, as increasingly these days, seems to talk about reform but doesnt seem to get the concept of a more pluralistic political culture.

Their report outlines all sorts of failings at the heart of our democracy. The system simply fails to deliver the Parliament the people ask for and that should concern us hugely.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
Looking for a job? Fancy working for the Liberal Democrats? There are plenty opportunities at the moment, but you will need to act quickly, as some of them close tomorrow.

Over at W4MP, there are opportunities available from Edinburgh to York to London

Christine Jardine MP is looking for a Parliamentary Assistant to work in Edinburgh with some travel to London.

This is an exciting opportunity based in the constituency and will require some travel to London. The successful candidate will be someone who enjoys the challenges and flexibility of working in a small team, be organised and have a strong desire to help constituents.

In York, there are two jobs going with our ruling Council group.

Firstly, they want a political assistant to the Lib Dem Group:

The post holder will work closely with the Group Leader who is the Deputy Leader of the Council and members of the Group, including those who are Executive Members. The postholder will be expected to: identify current and forthcoming local, regional and national issues of political relevance;

prepare press releases and liaise with the media;

understand the role of social media in an age of modern communication;

undertake specific research;

provide written and oral briefings on emerging issues; This is a politically restricted post governed by the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 and Local Government Restrictions Regulations 1990.

An Executive Assistant to the Deputy Leader of the Council is also sought:

Due to the specialist nature of this role you will have a working knowledge and understanding of the Councils responsibilities and of the role of the Deputy Leader and his Group within the Council. You will be a team player who is highly organised, works well under pressure and have at least two years relevant local government experience or of working in a similar role. You will need to be confident, adaptable and flexible in your attitude and be able to work on your own initiative. You will have proven written and oral communication skills, and an excellent knowledge of IT packages. You will be a highly motivated individual capable of prioritising workloads and able to work to high standards.

If you think you could shape the future of the Liberal Democrats, you have just 24 hours left to apply for the two major jobs in Vince Cables team  chief of staff and Press Secretary. I suspect the two who recently lost these jobs in the White House need not bother applying.

Tim moved the Leaders Office over to Lib Dem HQ but Vince is taking it back into Parliament. The challenge for these post holders will be to stay engaged with the party. You dont need to be in LDHQ to keep abreast of the party  its more about attitude than physical location  but there has to be an acceptance that the party is important.

The Chief of Staff job description gives room for optimism on that score:

The role requires stamina, emotional intelligence, analytical skills and clear thinking under pressure as well as demonstrating an empathy and understanding for the processes and structure of the Liberal Democrat Party in Parliament and in the country.

And here is what the Press Officer needs to do:

The role requires an acute news sense, excellent verbal and written communication, sharp political judgement and clear thinking under pressure. An understanding of the workings of the Parliamentary Lobby and an appreciation of the impact of new media on political communications would also be an advantage.

The Lib Dem Whips office is looking for a Parliamentary Assistant:

We are looking for a candidate with excellent interpersonal, communications, and organisational skills, as well as an interest in the policies and the future of the Liberal Democrats. This post would suit an enthusiastic individual who is looking for political experience in Westminster.

With London elections next May, Wandsworth Lib Dems are hiring a Campaigns and Infrastructure Manager:

The successful applicant will be an experienced campaigner, with an ability to manage a campaign and lead a team of volunteers. At this stage in the electoral cycle a key focus will be building a campaign team capable of fighting elections, so strong interpersonal skills and the ability to motivate others are important. The post-holder will be expected to establish positive working relationships across a range of key individuals, groups and stakeholders. Experience in fundraising is seen as desirable.

And, finally, a job Id love to do because its working for one of the biggest Liberal hearts we have, the amazing Roger Roberts. He just knows so much and is so committed to making the world a better place for young people, refugees and the poorest and most marginalised people in our country and beyond. Sadly, working in London isnt an option for me, but could this work for you? Its only a few hours a week, which may suit some people:

The successful candidate will be a positive and proactive individual who is able to demonstrate strong research, campaign, communication and organisation skills. Sympathy with the aims of the Liberal Democrats, a working knowledge of immigration law and a keen interest in refugees and asylum seekers is desirable. The main tasks include conducting legal and legislative research, coordinating migration-linked campaigns and office/parliamentary administration.

Youll have to hurry, though. Get your application for Rogers job in by midnight.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
Hero of Mollywood's first musical hit 'Thiramala' shares his Hollywood stint, directing Prem Nazir and more
THE homeless charity, the Peter McVerry Trust, has called on the Government to fund the building of affordable rental housing as the housing crisis in Limerick escalates.

Pat Doyle, chief executive of the housing and homeless charity, which has made a multi-million euro investment in Limerick, said the latest rental figures are deeply worrying.

Rents have risen in Limerick city by nearly 11 per cent in the last year, with the average rent now standing at 919, according to the latest report by the property website Daft.ie, published this week.

In county Limerick, rents were on average nearly nine per cent higher in the first three months of 2017 than a year previously. The average advertised rent in county Limerick is now 722, up 28% from its lowest point.

As a result, Mr Doyle said they expect that they will continue to see people who are unable to maintain or secure new rental accommodation ending up in homeless services.

The rising cost of rent is the main source of new homeless cases, and our worry is that we will see even more households losing their homes as the situation worsens.

Unfortunately, rising rents also make our job of finding homes more difficult. At the moment we dont have enough social housing so we are overly reliant on the private rental sector. If rents continue on their runaway path, and alternative affordable supply is not forthcoming, then we cannot secure homes for people to move out of homeless services, he said.

He added that securing rental accommodation in Limerick was now extremely challenging.

Labour city councillor Joe Leddin has called on the council to make available details of all council owned land within the metropolitan area that is either zoned for residential development or suitable for the building of houses.

He said as the housing crisis continues to unfold week after week, the Government and Minister for Housing have to focus on resolving the lack of housing availability.
LIMERICK is one of five towns or cities vying to be named Irelands friendliest town.

The Treaty City has been shortlisted alongside Ennis, Swords, Trim and Waterford City for the Retail Excellence Ireland accolade, which will be announced on November 9 in Killarney.

Retail Excellence Ireland runs the awards on an annual basis, with the aim to drive up standards in retail operations and town centres throughout the country. Limerick will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Navan in Co Meath in picking up the title last year.

David Fitzsimons, the chief executive of Retail Excellence said: Ireland is renowned the world over for its warm welcome and hospitality to all. This is always particularly evident in retail operations throughout every village, town and city in the country and this is why it is important to mark the significant contribution being made by retailers and city and county councils in driving standards.

He said the five areas selected represent standard bearers in driving customer excellence, hospitality and pride.

Limerick hopes to be celebrating on November 9.
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WASHINGTON  Ban the box laws, which bar employers from asking job applicants whether they have a criminal record, may be harming some of the people they are intended to help.

Twenty-nine states prevent state and sometimes city and county employers from including a criminal history box on job applications. Nine states have extended the ban to private employers as well.

On Dec. 7, the city of San Antonios Human Resources Department adapted a policy of excluding questions on criminal history on applications for municipal jobs, excluding police and fire academy applications. The policy recommendation came from the City Council Governance Committee.

But criminal background reviews are processed for every civilian hired, a policy that already existed before last year, according to a city memorandum dated Dec. 7. The citys new policy does not apply to private-sector or other employers.

Elsewhere in Texas, according to a National Employment Law Project report, an Austin city ordinance bans the criminal history box for municipal jobs and Austin private employers. Dallas and Travis counties also do not use the box for county government job applications.

The idea behind the laws is that removing the box stops employers from immediately rejecting a candidate with a record before meeting him. If granted an interview, the applicant might be able to make a good impression and perhaps explain his conviction before the employer uncovers it.

But several recent studies have found that black men, even those without a criminal history, are less likely to get called back or hired after a ban the box law is put in place. Researchers suspect that employers who cant ask about an applicants criminal background pre-emptively weed out young black men, who disproportionately have criminal records.

One study of ex-offenders in Massachusetts found that regardless of race, people with criminal records were less likely to get jobs after ban the box than before. The authors of that study theorize that in the wake of ban the box, which became law in Massachusetts in 2010, employers may have raised the minimum requirements for job applicants, and that more ex-offenders, emboldened by ban the box, may be stretching for jobs they previously thought were out of reach.

The new questions swirling around ban the box laws have split advocates who agree on the need to expand job prospects for a notoriously hard-to-employ group.

Jennifer Doleac, an economics professor at the University of Virginia who has studied ban the box laws, said they should be scrapped.

We have two very good studies that show its really hurting young black men who dont have college degrees and who struggle in the labor market for other reasons, Doleac said. If this law is getting people interviewed for jobs theyre never going to get, that can become discouraging for job seekers and a waste of everyones time.

But ban the box supporters point to some groups, such as young white men, who appear to have been helped by the laws. They argue that giving liability protection to companies that hire ex-offenders or making it easier for ex-offenders to get their criminal records expunged could help close the racial gaps in how ban the box is affecting job applicants.

The problem isnt ban the box, the problem is racial discrimination and that we havent been able to tackle it, said Michelle Rodriguez with the National Employment Law Center, which supports ban the box.

Some studies have found race to be a major factor in whether people with criminal records were helped or hurt by ban the box in both the public and private sectors.

In a recent study of the effect of ban the box on private, for-profit employers in New York and New Jersey, researchers sent out applications with similar resumes but changed the names of applicants so that they were distinctively black or white, based on birth certificate data. The fictitious applicants were all 21- to 22-year-old males.

Before ban the box, about 8 percent of blacks and whites with criminal records were contacted by potential employers, according to the study, which was published in August. Among applicants with no criminal history, roughly 13 percent of blacks and 14 percent of whites were called back. After the criminal history box was eliminated, nearly 15 percent of white applicants got called back compared to about 10 percent of black applicants.

Overall, white people with and without criminal records were more likely to get a call back from a potential employer after ban the box. The odds also improved for black people with a criminal record, but it decreased for blacks without one. Before ban the box, white applicants received 7 percent more callbacks than similar black applicants, but ban the box increased this gap to 43 percent.

For Amanda Agan, an economics professor at Rutgers University and an author of the study, the penalty is too steep for blacks, particularly those without a record.

Overall it hurts black people, Agan said. Its not just this one cost, its a big cost.

In a paper published last year, Doleac found that young black and Latino men without a college degree were 5 percent and 3 percent less likely to be employed after ban the box than they were before it. Older low-skilled black men and highly educated black women, however, were 9 and 4 percent more likely to be employed after ban the box.

Racial discrimination is a problem and pervasive in a lot of settings. I think these studies really show though that employers are perfectly happy to hire young black men when they can ask about their criminal history, she said. They seem to care more about a criminal record than race.

Other studies have not put such an emphasis on race. Researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, who conducted the Massachusetts study, found that ban the box decreased the ex-offender employment rate by nearly 4 percent, no matter the race of the applicant.

Citing those mixed results, ban the box supporters say it would be premature to eliminate the laws.

What the conclusion really should be from them is ban the box works, but lets make sure were also focused on black workers and discrimination they experience in the workplace, Rodriguez said. Why would you throw out all that good when you can . try to target that population that needs more support?

Mychal Cohen, a researcher with the Urban Institute, a Washington think tank, said making it easier for ex-offenders to get their criminal records expunged and redacting identifying information such as names and addresses from job applications could help boost the employment of black people with a criminal record.Sta

Staff writer David Hendricks contributed to this report.
The Houston-area is experiencing heavy flood incidents and high water has taken a toll on some car owners who were left with no a choice but to pass through flooded areas. Some cars simply have low body frames, making them susceptible to damage from extreme water levels.

If your car gets caught in floodwaters, here are some tips from State Farm Insurance:
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It's a favorite talking point among Texas politicians. With the U.S. oil and gas boom on, will the day come when the United States becomes "energy independent," i.e. we produce enough oil and gas we don't have to rely on imports from the Middle East.

Only that goal is likely a ways off. Even with production nearing record levels, U.S. consumption far outpaces what domestic wells can pump - resulting in imports of about 10.1 million barrels a day last year.

But what if we thought less about our national reserves and more about continental reserves? The United States, Canada and Mexico rank as the first, fourth and eleventh largest oil producers in the world.

And according to analysis done by the American Petroleum Institute, the United States "could supply virtually all" its oil and other liquid fuel needs right her in North America by 2020.

"U.S. consumers are already enjoying the advantages of leading the world in production and refining of oil and natural gas. With resources from Canada and Mexico rounding out our supply, we're shielded even more from overseas disruptions that once frequently sent fuel prices on a roller coaster ride," API President Jack Gerard wrote in an op-ed in the Washington Examiner Thursday.

RELATED STORY: In Texas, shine of NAFTA dulls

Those comments come as President Donald Trump is in the midst of a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canadian and Mexican officials. And many in the oil and gas sector - and industry at-large - are worried Trump might want to scuttle a deal that in their minds has been a great boost to the U.S. economy.

In a rally in Phoenix Tuesday night, Trump said he would "end up probably terminating" NAFTA "at some point."

In the meantime, lobbyists are furiously trying to get their message to Trump that ending NAFTA would harm industries like oil and gas - something Trump has said he wants to grow.

"With NAFTA's important zero-tariff, trade liberalization and market access policies, U.S. energy resources flow to our neighbors, and profits flow back, generating job growth and stimulating even more production and economic activity like construction and manufacturing," Gerard wrote.
Midwinter Break

By Bernard MacLaverty

W.W. Norton. 243 pp. $24.95

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Meet Stella and Gerry Gilmore, the couple at the center of Bernard MacLaverty's new novel, "Midwinter Break." Originally from the north of Ireland, they have lived much of their adult lives in Scotland. They are empty-nesters. Their only child, Michael, has moved to Canada and started his own family. Michael's absence - along with the traumatic events that accompanied his birth - have cast a shadow over the Gilmores' marriage, a shadow they have never fully reckoned with. During the course of this sure-handed and captivating novel, they will finally be forced to do so.

Stella is a retired teacher and practicing Catholic who is searching for a way of living "a more devout life." With her remaining years, she wants to "make a contribution, however small" to the world. The problem is that she's not sure whether Gerry will be a part of this final act. A former architect and university professor, Gerry drinks too much and is given to making punning quips as a means of remaining emotionally disengaged from his life.

Gerry also mocks her faith, especially when he is inebriated. She has booked a long weekend in Amsterdam for them, in part, to decide whether there is a viable life for her outside of their marriage. Ostensibly a romantic getaway, the trip is actually an opportunity for Stella to visit the Begijnhof, one of the oldest enclosed courtyards in Amsterdam, which was once home to the Beguines, "a Catholic sisterhood who lived alone as nuns, but without vows." Stella has aspirations of taking up residence there, but she learns that it's not so simple. She can't just leave Gerry and move into a life of piety and good works in one of the most desirable spots in Amsterdam.

MacLaverty's novel is relatively short (240 pages), but it feels like a more expansive work because of its unhurried pace and careful attention to each moment of the Gilmores' sojourn. (If you can, read it in real time, over three or four days, to give yourself a midsummer break from your own routine.) We accompany this couple not only to the Anne Frank House and the Rijksmuseum, but also into their deepest selves. It is an intimate book that makes wonderful use of the close third person. Here's a passage in which Stella, remembering the early days of their courtship, conflates the stones from a beach with the illusions of falling in love:

"She was always on the lookout for stones. Only white perfect ones would make her stoop. ... When they were wet and glistening they seemed special but she knew that when they dried out maybe some yellow or grey would creep into their colour. The perfect ones would end up in a glass bowl on her table. It was their simplicity she found so attractive."

A restrained simplicity is also the stylistic hallmark of this novel. MacLaverty's only missteps are his occasionally clumsy and largely unnecessary segues into flashbacks. The reader doesn't need the hand-holding to jump into the past that still haunts Gerry and Stella. Those events, parceled out slowly in the narrative, are tied to the "Troubles" of the late 20th century: the murders and bombings that made daily life in Belfast and elsewhere in Northern Ireland so frightening.

This is familiar terrain for MacLaverty, whose 1983 novel "Cal" told the story of a terrorist accomplice who falls in love with a victim's wife. A violent encounter is what prompts Gerry and Stella to move to Scotland; it is also one of the sources of their marital difficulties. Gerry's drinking and Stella's desire to live a life of faith are their respective means of coping with these experiences. MacLaverty manages to dramatize this without reducing his protagonists to mere casualties.

A carefully assembled structure of symbols and allusions gives "Midwinter Break" resonance and depth. The Netherlands was the birthplace of King William III (aka William of Orange), who deposed the Catholic King James II in the Glorious Revolution. The novel's title refers to Christina Rossetti's poem "In the Bleak Midwinter," which imagines the nativity in a snowy northern landscape. And the snow that falls late in the book calls to mind James Joyce's "The Dead," in which a husband discovers a passionate secret his wife has kept from him.

Contemplating the mysteries that lie at the heart of every marriage, Stella thinks, "Nobody could peer into a relationship - even for a day or two - and come away with the truth." It's a measure of MacLaverty's achievement here that he has done exactly that.

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Michaud is a novelist and the head librarian at the Center for Fiction.
Pious Fashion: How Muslim Women Dress

By Elizabeth Bucar

Harvard. 235 pp. $29.95

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It may be that someone steeped in Islamic traditions would find Elizabeth Bucar's exploration of style among Muslim women in Iran, Turkey and Indonesia simplistic. Indeed, the main message in her book, "Pious Fashion: How Muslim Women Dress," is quite basic: Fashion among Muslim women, whether they are fully cloaked in a chador or wearing an Alexander McQueen skull-print scarf as a head covering, along with skinny jeans and a fur vest, is varied, highly individual and nuanced. At times, their style is intentionally political and subversive. At others, it is aimed purely at modesty - as the faith dictates. And sometimes, it is all about fashion, beauty and personal delight.

But Bucar, an associate professor of philosophy and religion at Northeastern University, balances her academic inquiry with the wide-eyed surprise of an eager fashion student. She boils down generations of political change into a few easily digestible paragraphs. Historians might be horrified, but this isn't a book about revolution in Iran or colonialism in Indonesia. It isn't even about the traditions of batik fabric or styles of dress in the Ottoman Empire, although there is a bit of that here. "Pious Fashion" is a look at contemporary dress and how it can help us see the "Muslim community" as a vast array of individuals rather than an inscrutable monolith.

Bucar argues that fashion is a form of communication and self-identity. Some readers will find that position alone provocative. Using pious fashion as a tool for exploring diversity among Muslim women will undoubtedly be seen as both subversive and political by many. But Bucar strives to be nonjudgmental and apolitical. As part of her research, she organized focus groups, visited college campuses, interrogated shopkeepers and loitered in bustling neighborhoods like an itinerant street-style photographer. It should not take all of that effort just to document what should be so obvious to non-Muslims. But this is where we are in 2017: overwhelmed by assumptions, prejudices, ignorance, miscommunication.

Bucar is an able and reassuring guide. She tells her readers up front that she is not a fashion expert. Her mission is not to opine on whether a woman's coat is in vogue. She is not, as she says, Miranda Priestly of "The Devil Wears Prada," casting judgment from on high. But Bucar has taken a lesson from Priestly's famous monologue, in which the powerful fashion editor coolly traces the history and meaning of a frumpy "cerulean" sweater worn by her dismissive and self-satisfied assistant, Andy.

"This monologue helps to show the value of the scholarly study of fashion. The bookish Andy thinks fashion is of interest only to silly, superficial people. She thus represents the long-standing scholarly tendency to devalue the significance of dress as a cultural and economic phenomenon," Bucar writes. "Close reading of pious fashion allows us to understand the nuances of Muslim women's dress. Just as a blue sweater is never just blue, pious fashion is never merely clothing."

When readers meet Bucar, it's 2004 and she's flying to Tehran to study Persian. In advance of her trip, she's been struggling with her attire, attempting to figure out how best to abide by local laws dictating that women wear proper hijab. This is more challenging than she expects because "hijab" is not a uniform or a specific dress code. It simply means modest dress, and that is open to interpretation depending on occasion, geography, social class and a host of other elements. It is not as simple as covering herself from head to toe in black wool because, under the wrong circumstances, that would be akin to a man showing up for a business meeting in Silicon Valley wearing a top hat and morning coat. It would be overly formal, terribly self-conscious and a bit ridiculous.

There are nuances of pious fashion that are rooted in history and politics. And those nuances change from country to country, as do the terms used to describe modest attire. Bucar focuses her attention mostly on 20-something women because they were most accessible to her and because, she believes, they are most attuned to and interested in fashion. She speaks to groups of them in Tehran, where hijab is dictated by law.

She visits Yogyakarta, Indonesia, where pious dress is a choice. There, it is generally seen as the culmination of a personal journey of self-awareness and self-improvement. It is a style of dress, but it is also a personal commitment.

In Istanbul, Bucar learns that women's clothing styles are a reflection of the tensions within Turkey itself: its European-ness, its secularism, its Islamic character. Here, too, a head covering is a matter of choice.

For those women who decide to cover their heads, the choice of scarf is significant. Women experiment to find the most flattering color and the most attractive way of securing it around their heads. Perhaps they wear a little faux bun under the scarf to create the illusion of an abundance of (hidden) hair and to elongate their faces. They consider how the scarf will accent the rest of their attire. And in Istanbul they will often fold the scarf in such a way that the identifying brand tag hangs off the back for all to see.

In Iran, pious fashion means not showing the curves of the body. In Indonesia, it means covering the body, but an hourglass figure is celebrated. There's no tension between being modest and being attractive. And in Turkey, dressing modestly carries a particular onus to be beautiful and stylish as well, lest a woman look old-fashioned and out of touch in a country that strives to look forward.

Pious fashion is not a defense against scrutiny and critique. Indeed, Hayrunnisa Gul, who was the first Turkish first lady to wear a headscarf, was brutally criticized by the Turkish elite for being provincial and by other Muslim women who thought she simply had bad taste.

While Tehran has its hijab enforcers, what's appropriately pious is something that seems to be forever in flux. It's not simply a question of whether a woman should or should not show her hair or her ankles, it is also a matter of how she chooses to cover herself. Is it too ostentatious? Too matronly? Too matchy-matchy? The answer is influenced by cultural norms that are, in part, dictated by other women, local fashion designers and ... fashion bloggers. Instagram, it seems, knows no boundaries.

Bucar disabuses readers of any preconceived ideas that women who adhere to an aesthetic of modesty are unfashionable or frumpy. They are far from it. Indeed, a photograph of a woman in Turkey wearing an ankle-length leather dress - fitted through the bodice and with a flared skirt - paired with a lace scarf and a structured handbag exudes sophistication and elegance. What she wears and how she wears it are her choice. And she has chosen skillfully.

The source of some of Bucar's most striking images of women in Tehran is a fashion blog called the Tehran Times, founded by an Iranian fashion designer named Araz Fazaeli. The blog includes photographs of art as well as pictures of women snapped on the street - women who are dressed in ways that would delight any social-media addict.

"The main issue in Iran is not the dress code," Fazaeli says. "Fashion is creative enough to make its way through any restrictions."

This is true. Fashion always finds a way.

But the question that keeps nagging is this: Why should there be any restrictions to begin with? Why should a government create laws that impinge on a woman's right to choose her attire freely? Bucar notes that when a culture invests so much of its identity in the appearance, in the piousness of women, it also is investing women with a cultural and social power. Perhaps. It's an interesting argument but not one that Bucar makes convincingly.

Still, she introduces her readers to the lively Muslim women in her focus groups. They are thoughtful and stylish, funny, opinionated, devout and delightfully bitchy when they are asked to assess the style chops of their peers and some of the local fashion editors.

In the conversations Bucar has with them, we learn that they, like women who call themselves Methodist, Catholic, Jewish or atheist, are simply trying to present their best selves to the public. And no matter who you are or where you live, that can be complicated.
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Opening Day feels so long ago, not just in weeks and months.

On April 2 in Arizona, the Giants publicly and privately expressed confidence they would be solid. Outsiders saw some flaws, a few missing pieces, but nothing that screamed last place.

I think everybody in the clubhouse thought we were going to have a big year and had a chance to do something special, shortstop Brandon Crawford said. We filled our biggest quote-unquote problem from the year before by filling the closer role. We thought we had the lineup and starting pitching to at least get to the playoffs and maybe win a World Series.

Closer Mark Melancon, who blew the save on Opening Day, made news Wednesday just by his promotion to the eighth inning in a 4-2 victory that secured a 4-3 homestand and a series win against the playoff-contending Brewers.

Melancons circuitous journey is but one story in a book that could be titled, Giants Season Goes Haywire.

The schedule has kept the Giants away from Arizona since that opening series. They finally return Friday night.

The Diamondbacks are having a dream season, or at least the best facsimile in a year of domination by the first-place Dodgers. Arizona has held a wild-card spot for much of the year. Its fans might struggle to recognize the Giants.

Only three position players from the Opening Day lineup  Crawford, Buster Posey and Jarrett Parker  started in Wednesdays win, which was settled when Parker accidentally hit a two-run double down past third base on a checked swing to break a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning.

Exit velocity: 61 mph.

Where was the rest of Wednesdays lineup on Opening Day?

Kelby Tomlinson, Carlos Moncrief and Ryder Jones were in the minors. Gorkys Hernandez was on the bench, and the thought of Pablo Sandoval being a Giant again would have been dismissed as ludicrous.

The Giants might get two more Opening Day players back for the Diamondbacks series: Joe Panik, returning from a concussion, and Hunter Pence, who has missed three starts with a hamstring injury. But manager Bruce Bochy was not ready to promise that.

Nor is Bochy ready to delve into 2018. He deferred when asked if the Giants recent improvement on the mound  they held the Brewers to six runs over three games  projects well for next year.

But he did allow that we dont believe were the team that had this tough year. We have the talent to get back to where weve been the last six, seven years. These guys are really good. They are. These pitchers are really good. It just so happens we have a lot of guys who just had off years.

Nobodys was more off than Matt Moores, but he has lowered his ERA by half a point (5.88 to 5.38) over his past three starts. He held Milwaukee to one run in six-plus inning and thought the entire staff showed something in the series.

The kind of lineup they have, theres a reason they have a good chance of getting to the postseason, Moore said. They have a lot of power and a tough middle. To kind of come here and ruin their day  three days  is something moving forward we can build on as a club.

Moore did not get the win. Hunter Strickland did. Melancon pitched the eighth only because Bochy wanted him to have a clean inning. Strickland entered with a man on.

Parkers checked-swing double in the seventh scored Denard Span and Hernandez, who reached on a pinch double and hit batsman, respectively. The Giants got a Moncrief sacrifice fly in the eighth before Sam Dyson saved it. Dyson allowed his first homer as a Giant, to Stephen Vogt.

Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: hschulman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hankschulman
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Texas has its fair share of glorified horror stories.

From the Texas Chainsaw massacre to The Donkey Lady to La Llorona, there are not many urban legends that Texans havent heard.

But perhaps the real terror lies within the hundreds of small towns that are scattered throughout the Lone Star State.

RELATED: 12 eerie Texas ghost towns to visit this summer

Social website OnlyInYourState.com listed 12 scary houses in Texas that could be haunted earlier this month, and we decided to build on that by introducing other nightmare-inducing abandoned homes across the state.

While it is unknown if evil spirits actually haunt these houses, the abandonments are located on or near some pretty creepy properties.

For example, Ranger, a small town in North Texas  which has numerous abandoned homes that are photographed by Flickr users  was once seen as a hub for members of the Ku Klux Klan.

RELATED: Drone footage shows the creepiness of an abandoned West Texas water park

On the other hand, a school in Indian Gap that has been abandoned for over 50 years stands near a historic cemetery.

No matter the case, these fear-provoking homes are as eerie as they come and the perfect gateway to the upcoming Halloween season.

Click through the slideshow to view photos of abandoned homes across Texas.

rsalinas@mysa.com

Twitter: @RebeccaLSalinas
Albany

State Board of Elections chief enforcement counsel Risa Sugarman filed a lawsuit earlier this month seeking to curb campaign fundraising committees set up by the state Senate's Independent Democratic Conference, court filings show.

If Sugarman is successful, the lawsuit could have consequences for the 2018 elections, when a number of IDC members, who broke away from mainline Democrats in 2011 and have aligned with Republicans, may face primaries inspired by the election of President Donald Trump.

Under an arrangement struck last year, the IDC is using campaign accounts associated with the state Independence Party  a minor party with a statewide ballot line  to boost its ability to raise and spend money in elections. Unlike the IDC's previous political action committee, its new party campaign committee can take six-figure campaign donations and transfer unlimited amounts to IDC candidates. And its housekeeping committee meant for party-building operations could take unlimited sums.

That's because the Independence Party is a statewide political party that got more than 50,000 votes on its ballot line for governor in the 2014 election, while the breakaway IDC is not considered itself a constituted political party under state election law.

Before the arrangement with the Independence Party, unlike rival Senate Democrats, the IDC could raise and spend far less money through a political action committee to defend its members and elect new ones.

The lawsuit is seeking a court order to dissolve the housekeeping account and disallow the unlimited money transfers from the campaign account to IDC members. It also seeks to freeze donations and expenditures by both IDC committees until the housekeeping account is closed and a statement is filed by the IDC reflecting that the campaign committee is not an official party committee.

The Sugarman filing notes that the IDC leader, state Sen. Jeffrey Klein, is chair of the conference's new campaign fundraising arm  the Senate Independence Campaign Committee  and its housekeeping account. Klein is also an enrolled member of the Democratic Party.

Sugarman's complaint, filed in state Supreme Court in Albany County, states that election law specifically requires that party officers of committees, such as Klein, be enrolled members of that party, including the Independence Party.

An attorney for the Independence Party and IDC members who are respondents strongly pushed back against the lawsuit.

"The Constitutional protections afforded the freedom to engage in association by the Independence Party and the Independent Democratic Conference for the advancement of beliefs and ideas through freedom of speech is a core value established by the First Amendment," said Lawrence Mandelker, a Manhattan attorney who has represented the Independence Party. "Risa Sugarman is wrong on the facts, wrong on the law, and as with every other case she has handled this will be proven to be another unsubstantiated action on her part."

The court filing was first reported by Politico New York.

The fundraising arrangement with the Independence Party paid immediate dividends last year for the IDC, when it boosted its campaign abilities to back Marisol Alcantara, who narrowly won a Bronx Senate seat and ended up joining the conference.

This is not the first time Sugarman's unit has investigated the IDC's campaign finances. In 2016, the IDC settled with Sugarman for $27,000 over its political action committee's activities during the 2014 elections helping an IDC member, Queens state Sen. Tony Avella.

cbragg@timesunion.com  518-454-5619
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Border Patrol said this week that agents in the Laredo Sector recently seized over $1 million in narcotics.

The first seizure occurred Saturday after agents at the Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 35 encountered a white Dodge Durango hauling a trailer at the primary lane.

The driver was questioned regarding his immigration status and was referred to secondary after a Border Patrol canine alerted to the presence of concealed humans or narcotics. A further search of the trailer resulted in the seizure of 10 bundles of marijuana weighing a combined 592 pounds.

The marijuana was estimated to have a value of $473,552. The driver, a U.S. citizen, was arrested. The driver and marijuana were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration and Border Patrol seized the vehicle.

READ MORE: Fourth Webb County jailer involved in alleged assault of inmate was 'Officer of the Year,' complaint states

On Monday, agents seized 240 pounds of marijuana. Agents at the Border Patrol checkpoint on I-35 encountered a black tractor hauling a white trailer at the primary lane. The driver was questioned regarding his immigration status and was referred to secondary for a non-intrusive inspection. A further inspection revealed anomalies in the cab sleeper area.

A further search of the tractor resulted in the seizure of 10 bundles of marijuana. The marijuana was estimated to have a value of $191,888. The driver, a Mexican national, was arrested. The driver and marijuana were turned over to the DEA.

Also Monday, agents seized 29 pounds of methamphetamine at the checkpoint on I-35 after they encountered a green Ford F-350 at the primary lane. The driver was questioned regarding his immigration status and was referred to secondary when a Border Patrol canine alerted agents to the presence of concealed humans or narcotics.

RELATED: Tropical Storm Harvey projected to make landfall as Category 3 hurricane

A further search of the vehicle resulted in the seizure of eight bundles of methamphetamine. The methamphetamine was estimated to have a value of $929,280. The driver, a Mexican citizen, was arrested. The driver, vehicle and methamphetamine were turned over to the DEA.
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WESLACO  No cement has been poured nor bollard thrust into the ground, and yet President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful" wall has driven a wedge between the Border Patrol and communities on the border.

During a recent stakeholder meeting intended to strengthen relations with farmers, border agents fielded hard questions about the fate of properties and livelihoods in the path of Trump's wall.

"The average American does not understand that we'd be giving up our sovereign territory," said Foss Jones, 68, whose family farms would be cleaved, leaving hundreds of acres pinched between the wall and the Rio Grande. "Who will feel safe in that no man's land behind the wall?"

Earlier this month, Border Patrol maps depicting plans to build 32 miles of fencing in Starr County and 28 miles of levee wall in neighboring Hidalgo County were leaked to the public. Days later, hundreds of protesters marched in the Rio Grande Valley to oppose the plan that would maroon large swaths of refuge land, including the popular Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge.

Though the U.S. House last month passed a $1.6 billion budget for new fencing in Texas, the Senate has not voted on the budget. Existing plans are preliminary and likely will take shape as feasibility studies guide the project, not to mention the changing views of the commander in chief, agent Raul L. Ortiz assured landowners.

READ MORE: 'It's such a punch in the gut': Border wall construction could affect wildlife near Laredo

Uncertainty has fed anxieties and has strained relationships for an agency charged with securing the border and helping fulfill Trump's most evocative campaign promise.

"I don't make policy," said Ortiz, deputy chief of the agency's Rio Grande Valley sector. "I create strategy."

An integral part of that strategy is to shore up a roughly 10-mile gap in existing border fence, which goes through farms and a piece of the Santa Ana refuge.

Jones and his wife's family own much of the farmland that surrounds Santa Ana, which has become a rallying point for environmental groups and community activists who argue that the only strategy involved in building a wall through the 2,088-acre refuge is expediency.

Ortiz acknowledged that with the federally owned refuge, the government won't have to use eminent domain or negotiate costly compensation to take property. For that reason alone, the refuge figures prominently in the border wall plans, he said.

But agents also say the Weslaco station of the Border Patrol is the region's second-busiest drug trafficking corridor. The Rio Grande City station is the busiest and the most volatile along the border, according to the agency.

After the stakeholder meeting, Ortiz recited the three elements that broadly describe the agency's strategy: personnel, technology and infrastructure. As these pieces have been implemented in some areas, smugglers have shifted operations to exploit areas lacking them.

"Smugglers look for the path of least resistance," Ortiz said. "If the refuge doesn't get a fence and the area around it does, Santa Ana becomes a thoroughfare for illegal traffic."

But as plans have emerged, several congressmen from border districts, including Reps. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville and Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, penned a letter to the Homeland Security Department, expressing concerns about the potential for environmental damage to the refuge.

The Real ID Act of 2005 made it possible for the department to waive environmental laws and expedite building 54 miles of border fence a decade ago. The agency announced that it would again be waiving environmental laws to build a section of wall near San Diego, California. Legal challenges to the waivers in 2007 and 2008 were unsuccessful.

RELATED: Laredo congressman, others propose 'smart' wall at fraction of the cost

"The wall doesn't work," said Scott Nicol, co-chairman of the Borderlands Team for the Sierra Club. "I just saw a group of immigrants run through here."

Nicol pointed out handprints and footprints on the rust-colored steel bars of fencing that passes through the Old Hidalgo Pumphouse Museum and World Birding Center, about a dozen miles west of the Santa Ana refuge. People regularly scale the wall built there, making use of makeshift ladders, prompting environmental groups to criticize the sacrifice of refuge land for limited enforcement benefit.

In February, the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that even as the Border Patrol claims that fencing benefits security operations, the agency has yet to develop metrics to assess the actual contributions.

Visitors are still allowed to walk the refuge trails in Hidalgo, but the property is largely sealed off by the fence. Some fear that Santa Ana, the "jewel" of the refuge system, will be next.

"We have to stop it from happening," said Tiffany Kersten, 30, a board member of the Friends of the Wildlife Corridor, a nonprofit that supports the Santa Ana and Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuges. "It's important for people to see what we would be losing."

Kersten, who briefly worked at Santa Ana and still guides birding tours there, cautioned that a wall would upset the delicate ecological balance of a refuge that is host to an impressive array of species found nowhere else in the country, such as the endangered ocelot.

Nature tourism brings in around $463 million to the Valley annually. Birders from across the globe descend on Santa Ana to glimpse Harris hawks flying overhead and chachalacas skipping across Tamaulipan thornscrub. Also found are an abundance of butterfly species.

"If Santa Ana were a state, it would be No. 2 for butterfly species," Kersten said.

Hoping to capitalize on mounting resistance to the wall, the Lower Rio Grande Valley Sierra Club is planning future actions and urging local leaders to draft resolutions.

Even those who embrace a hard-line approach to immigration enforcement have questioned a strategy that would isolate private property. One farmer, who declined to give his name, said putting up a wall would create a volatile area inhabited by border agents and smugglers. Already, some farmhands refuse to work near the river out of fear for their safety.

Frank Schuster's family owns farms around Santa Ana that grow cabbage, kale, cilantro and onions in the winter and that grow cotton and corn in the summer. In recent years, smugglers moving groups of people and drugs through their property have upended their sense of security.

Still, he is conflicted by the prospect of a wall. Not only would a barrier split the farm, leaving about 300 acres south of the wall, but Schuster, 64, worries that the area would become a staging ground for smugglers.

Flooding is another concern. In 2010, the swollen waters of the Rio Grande inundated Santa Ana, and fleeing animals scurried through his family's land. A levee wall would trap animals trying to escape rising waters.

"At Santa Ana, the levee wall would give a chilling reminder to the visitors that they are moving from the visitor's center to an area less secure," Schuster said. "It is hard to be for the wall. If Mr. Ortiz says that a wall would be another tool ... for the Border Patrol to be more effective in doing their difficult job, how can we be against a wall?"

Amid the swirl of anxious citizens pressing for clarity, Ortiz admitted that his input is confined to that of a law enforcement officer.

"We're not talking about closing parks down. That's not what we want to do," Ortiz said. "But something has to happen."
All four of Webb County's district judges spoke up at the Commissioners Court meeting this week to request on record that their staff not be slashed during the ongoing budget process.

"I'm not asking for any additional staff. I'm simply asking to preserve the number of people I have now," 111th District Court Judge Monica Notzon said, kicking off a 40-minute discussion.

Tensions were especially high between Commissioner John Galo and 406th District Court Judge O.J. Hale. Their heated exchange ended with a plea by Commissioner Jaime Canales for cordiality.

The judges were asking specifically that they be allowed to keep their two bailiffs and court coordinators  an argument that originated back in March.

When Hale was in the process of hiring a new bailiff this spring, he came before the county's Policy Committee asking to award the same salary that his previous bailiff made.

While considering this, Galo said the Policy Committee, on which he serves, realized that state statute says that the 406th District Court should only have "a bailiff," and Hale has had two.

READ MORE: Fourth Webb County jailer involved in alleged assault of inmate was 'Officer of the Year,' complaint states

In discovering this section of the Texas Government Code, and another that says courts should only have "a" court coordinator, Galo said he does not want to be in violation of state law. This could mean that a few of the court coordinator and bailiff positions would need to be renamed and reclassified, Galo said.

Hale ended up filing a court order demanding that Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina set the new bailiff's salary to what his previous employee had been receiving. After consulting with outside counsel, Commissioners Court approved the requested salary.

Notzon, the first judge to speak to Commissioners Court on Monday, said she has had her two court coordinators for the whole time she's been on the bench, over six years.

"I cannot function without these coordinators," she said. "We have thousands of criminal cases that one coordinator handles and thousands of civil cases that another coordinator handles."

But as far as the statute is concerned, Galo responded, the court is entitled to one each.

"Well, that might very well be," Notzon said, "but there's also a statute that ... solidifies that each court is in the best position to determine what positions they deem necessary to perform their functions."

341st District Court Judge Beckie Palomo read commissioners a resolution the Board of Judges passed Aug. 4 that restates "their determination of the need of the district courts to appoint appropriate staff and support personnel in order to satisfy the needs of Webb County." The Board of Judges is made up of the four district court judges plus Tijerina.

RELATED: Border wall plans divide South Texas authorities, community

Galo said Commissioners Court is trying to follow the laws as accurately as they can, but that there's a problem in Palomo's court because she has two bailiffs.

"Each court has two bailiffs," Palomo said. "And I understand what you're saying, and it's good that you want to follow the law. Because I will provide a documentation that shows that we're not just following one statute, but other statutes that are available to us to appoint grand jury bailiffs, which is what our bailiffs do."

When Hale approached the podium, Galo said he believes all the district courts are overstaffed.

"I have to vote on the whole entire budget. Not only your office. Every elected official's office. They're all going to take exception with me, that's fine. But I have to try to figure out what I think is best for all the departments as a whole. I look at each department individually and say: Are the overstaffed? Are they understaffed? What evidence do I have of that? All evidence points that the judiciary is overstaffed, as far as I'm concerned," Galo said.

He said Nueces County, which is larger than Webb, has eight district courts with five employees per office. Webb has more employees in their four district courts, he said.

"My job is to protect the interests of Webb County as well," Hale said. "Any case that goes before my court I have jurisdiction over. And I also have the authority to make the determination of what is needed to carry out the duties and the responsibilities that I have. ... I have the right to make the determination of the need. That's by statute and by constitution."

"Determination subject to what?" Galo quipped. "Commissioners Court approval? I determine you need five. You determine you need 20. Who gets the last word?"

49th District Court Judge Joe Lopez, who spoke last, said there are many district courts across the state that have only one court coordinator.

"The problem is that in some of those courts the infrastructure that's set up for them is centralized. So as a result of that they have a centralized judicial system in which many clerks, many positions, call them coordinators call them assistants ... are centrally employed. They'll just move from one location to another in a centralized system. And our infrastructure is not set up that way," Lopez said.

On Wednesday, Galo told LMT he was not influenced by what the district court judges said regarding their need for these positions.

He will wait to see the budgets and staff positions these courts propose to the budget officers, Galo said, but "I'm not going to vote for anything that doesn't comply with the statute as we read it as well as our counsel."

Julia Wallace may be reached at 956-728-2543 or jwallace@lmtonline.com
WASHINGTON  Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke delivered his long-awaited review of more than two dozen national monuments to the White House on Thursday without revealing which monuments he recommended for downsizing  and the Trump administration wouldnt say when the information would be made public.

Late Thursday, the Washington Post reported that Zinke had recommended reductions in three monuments  two in Utah and one in Oregon that touches into California, attributing individuals briefed on his decision.

The secretary recommended reducing the size of Utahs Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, as well as Oregons Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, the Post report said.

It was unclear from Zinkes brief summary whether any of the five monuments in California that were reviewed would be affected. At an event in Montana, he said only that he did not call for eliminating any monuments but recommended changes to a handful.

Environmental groups said they are bracing for millions of acres of potential reductions from a half dozen monuments in the West, including California.

We very much doubt it will be a few little boundary changes here and there, said Matt Lee-Ashley, a senior fellow at the liberal advocacy group Center for American Progress. Why on earth go to all this trouble or keep your recommendations secret if youre just going to tinker around the edges?

Lee-Ashley predicted a shutdown of half or more of the monuments in the study.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., released a statement demanding that Zinkes report be released to the public.

The American people have the right to see his entire report, she said. A proposal to strip protections from public lands should be made public immediately.

The unprecedented review, initiated by President Trump in April, was intended to determine whether any parts of more than two dozen U.S. monuments created by recent presidents under the 1906 Antiquities Act were suitable for commercial use.

Zinke indicated in his summary that he believes monument designations under the act should be limited to areas of historic or scientific interest and not include landscape areas, biodiversity and view sheds.

There are 129 national monuments created under the act altogether, but the review covered mostly those in the West, designated by presidents going back to Bill Clinton. In California, they included Berryessa Snow Mountain, Carrizo Plain, Giant Sequoia, San Gabriel Mountains and Mojave Trails national monuments. Sand to Snow National Monument in the Mojave Desert was listed for review, but Zinke announced earlier that he would leave it untouched.

A legal analysis by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said the 1976 Federal Land Policy Management Act explicitly prohibits the interior secretary from revoking or modifying a monument, and he is vowing to sue if Trump tries to change the boundaries of any monuments in the state based on Zinkes recommendations.

Zinke said boundary adjustments are included in his recommendations for some monuments but did not specify what those adjustments would be. Public access for uses such as hunting, fishing or grazing would be maintained or restored, he said.

The Interior Department did not respond to a question about what will happen next, but environmental groups said Trump could sign an executive order carrying out Zinkes recommendations or the administration could ask Congress to carry out the recommendations.

Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, told reporters Thursday that he would initiate legislation to overhaul the Antiquities Act to prevent further abuses by presidents who use the law to increase protection on large swathes of land.

Feinstein and Rep. Mike Thompson , D-St. Helena, asked President Barack Obama to declare monuments in the state partly because Republicans in Congress, including Bishop, had for nearly a decade blocked their legislation to protect the land.

If Bishop cared about abuses of the Antiquities Act, hed allow protective legislation to move through his committee, said Ryan Henson, senior policy director of the California Wilderness Coalition.

The Mojave Trails and Castle Mountains monuments are among three designations made by Obama last year. The 1.6 million-acre Mojave Trails includes the last undeveloped segment of historic Route 66 and provides a biological link between Joshua Tree National Park and the Mojave National Preserve. The 21,000-acre Castle Mountains monument protects a rare high desert grassland.

In his summary, Zinke appears to make an oblique reference to Mojave Trails, citing protection of World War II bombing craters as an example of an overly expansive use of presidential power. Mojave Trails contains the remnants of Gen. George Pattons World War II tank training grounds.

Mojave Trails came under review at the request of Rep. Paul Cook, R-Yucca Valley (San Bernardino County), who asked Zinke to remove half a million acres from the monument in the Cadiz Valley. The area surrounds a private company, Cadiz Inc., which wants to pump billions of gallons of water from the desert aquifer underlying the monument to sell to Southern California cities.

Cook also asked Zinke to add Castle Mountains to the review to aid a Canadian company that owns a gold mine in the area. Zinke acknowledged that many monuments, though large, reflect a long public debate process and are largely settled and strongly supported by the local community.

Trump has ordered a similar review of national marine sanctuaries, due from Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross by Oct. 25. The marine sanctuaries are under the jurisdiction of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a branch of the Commerce Department. The marine review is part of the administrations effort to expand the potential for coastal oil and gas drilling.

Carolyn Lochhead is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: clochhead@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @carolynlochhead
The White House isn't even pretending that Mexico is going to pay for that wall anymore.

With President Donald Trump threatening to shut down the government over Congress funding the border wall, reporters pressed White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday about why Trump would insist upon Congress funding something that Mexico was supposed to be paying for -- something Trump promised at dozens and dozens of campaign rallies to the delight of his crowds.

Huckabee Sanders' responses were telling. Asked four times, she completely declined to reiterate that Mexico would pay for the wall. Each time, she deflected.

First:

Q: Sarah, the president promised over and over again during the campaign that Mexico would pay for the wall. So why is he now threatening a government shutdown if Congress won't pay for it?

SANDERS: The president's committed to making sure this gets done. We know that the wall and other security measures at the border work. We've seen that take place over the last decade, and we're committed to making sure the American people are protected. And we're going to continue to push forward and make sure that the wall gets built.

Then:

Q: Why is he threatening a shutdown over -- over paying for it? ... He asked people -- his crowds chanted back at him, 'Mexico's going to pay for it,' and now he's pushing -- threatening a shutdown of the -- of the government.

SANDERS: No. Once again, the President's committed to making sure this happens, and we're going to push forward.

Then:

Q: Since the president is going full-court press threatening a shut down over funding of the wall, does that mean he is abandoning any efforts to negotiate with Mexico any payment for construction?

SANDERS: Certainly, I don't think any efforts have been abandoned.

And then:

Q: How is that not a concession from this White House that Mexico isn't actually going to pay for this wall and American taxpayers will?

SANDERS: Again, this is something the president is committed to. He's committed to protecting American lives and doing that for the border wall is something that's important. It's a priority and we're moving forward with it.

QUESTION: But he's not saying that Mexico is going to pay for it.

SANDERS: He hasn't said they're not, either.

"He's not saying they're not, either," is a pretty fitting conclusion to these four exchanges, because it's what Huckabee Sanders and the White House are not saying that sticks out like a sore thumb.

That's because they've had answers to this question before. Trump himself has suggested that Congress would fund the wall in the near term but that Mexico would be made to pay for it later. Here's his tweet, from April:

"Eventually, but at a later date so we can get started early, Mexico will be paying, in some form, for the badly needed border wall," Trump tweeted on April 23.

And then-White House press secretary Sean Spicer was asked the same question as Huckabee Sanders back in April, when the White House first wanted to attach the border wall to a government funding bill. Spicer had an answer:

Q: Isn't Mexico supposed to pay for the wall?

SPICER: Well, I think, Jim, the president's made very clear that initially we needed to get the funding going, and there's to be several mechanisms to make sure that that happens. That funding piece will happen in due time.

Apparently the company line has changed, and it no longer includes Mexico paying for the wall at some future date. Of course, we probably should have seen that coming, given we now know Trump told Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto privately back in January that it wasn't actually a huge priority for him.

Trump also proposed at the time that the two of them would simply stop talking about Mexico paying for the wall. Huckabee Sanders seems to be taking that tack.
Washington

James Comey, the FBI director fired by President Donald Trump, will give a series of lectures at Howard University.

The historically black college announced Wednesday that Comey will be the keynote speaker at the school's opening convocation Sept. 22 and will "lead and conduct" five lectures during the academic year.

The university said Comey will donate his entire compensation of $100,000 to a Howard University scholarship fund.

The school's president, Wayne A.I. Frederick, said in a statement that he hopes Comey's lectures will "go a long way in sparking rich discussion and advancing meaningful debates across campus."

In the school's statement, Comey credited Howard for what he called a "long-standing history of being a vibrant academic community and the perfect place to have rich dialogue on many of the most pressing issues we face today."

Comey was appointed FBI director in September 2013 by President Barack Obama. The traditional 10-year term for FBI chiefs was cut short when he was fired by Trump in May amid an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.

Comey was an adjunct professor at University of Richmond Law School and a specialist in national security law at Columbia University Law School.
As Conroe basks in being the fastest-growing city in the United States, that designation means more manufacturing and industrial companies could be moving to the area.

Nearly 3,200 people in Conroe are classified as production workers, according to the Greater Conroe Economic Development Council. Those workers account for 6.62 percent of the jobs in the city.

That number could go up as more manufacturing and industrial companies move to the area, according to Conroe City Administrator Paul Virgadamo. He and local industry leaders have been recruiting businesses to move into the city's industrial park, called Conroe Park North, and technology park, called Deison Technology Park.

There are about two dozen companies currently in Conroe Park North and no companies inside the Deison Technology Park, according to GCEDC information. Filling those parks with companies comes with sometimes providing incentives or tax abatements to companies to entice them to Conroe.

"When industry comes here, they are normally looking at not only other cities in Texas but also other cities outside Texas," Virgadamo said. "We want to try and provide the best opportunity to get them to relocate here in Conroe."

The city looks at each company differently before deciding to offer a cash incentive or tax abatement. They use a specialized formula looking at job creation, revenue and other statistics to determine what, if any, incentive the city might offer.

"(Providing an incentive) is a tool for us to get them to move here as opposed to somewhere else," Virgadamo said.

Once those companies are in town, hiring workers is a completely different ball game. The companies will sometimes utilize third-party services, such as locally operated Staff Force Personnel, to deal with recruiting and hiring workers.

Staff Force Personnel, located near the intersection of Interstate 45 and Texas 105, specializes in hiring industrial, assembly and clerical workers, as well as workers in other fields. The type of work can range from temporary placement to full-time employment, according to Staff Force Personnel Recruiter Stephanie Padilla.

She said the company is currently focusing on hiring nearly 300 workers for an undisclosed medical distribution company in Conroe.

"That's our main job that we're staffing for (right now)," Padilla said. "But we do staff for a lot of other companies here in Conroe that are manufacturing."

Padilla said entry-level jobs the company advertises typically pay $9 to $10 an hour. Jobs that require more experience do pay more, although Conroe's young manufacturing industry means those jobs might not pay as well as their counterparts in Houston.

"The pay isn't what you would see in Houston," Padilla said. "It makes it a little harder finding the right candidate because of pay in Conroe. It's going to be different."

As more companies move in, Virgadamo said more people will likely move to the area. That growth also will bring retail shopping and jobs, which translate to sales tax dollars for the city.

"It's kind of a domino effect, not only on the retail and restaurant side but the industrial park side as well when a company decides to build their manufacturing plant here," said Virgadamo, pointing out companies like ICOTEX that recently moved into the city. "It provides a lot of job opportunities for people in the Conroe community and people in Montgomery County."
This week, the State Department announced it will withhold millions of dollars in aid to Egypt, a long-standing U.S. ally and a major recipient of American security assistance.

This was no small move - more than $290 million in aid would be cut or delayed - and Egypt's foreign ministry responded angrily, accusing Washington of "poor judgment." But the move heartened many critics of Trump's foreign policy, who cheered the fact that the administration based its decision on Egypt's poor human rights record.

Martin Indyk, the executive vice president of the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, said that Trump making a stand on human rights was a "head-scratcher" - even "Obamaesque."

Underneath the surface, however, the focus of the move may not be Egypt, but rather North Korea.

Gardiner Harris and Declan Walsh of the New York Times suggest that a key factor in the decision to curtail aid to Cairo is its ongoing relationship with Pyongyang. "Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson's top priority has been to increase North Korea's economic and diplomatic isolation, and he has asked foreign leaders in almost every meeting that they cut ties with Pyongyang," the reporters explained.

The pressure on Egypt appears to be part of a broader U.S. push to make it clear that North Korea is a problem for the world, not just Washington, Seoul and Tokyo.

North Korea is one of the world's most isolated nations, and it has been under U.N. sanctions since 2006. Yet it still has a long history of economic relationships with other counties, and some of these relationships are still around.

Some are well-known- North Korea's trade with China or shipping of migrant workers to Russia are hardly well-kept secrets. But there are more surprising economic links out there, too. The Washington Post's Kevin Sieff recently took a look at the trade ties between North Korea and a number of African nations, for example, while the Associated Press's Jon Gambrell recently reported on the role of North Korean laborers in U.S.-allied Gulf states.

Some of this trade may seem relatively benign - North Korean-made statues are in high demand in some African states, Sieff noted - but there is often a military component, as well. Reuters reported this week that two North Korean shipments to a Syrian government agency responsible for its chemical weapons program have been intercepted in the past month. Either way, the deals provide Pyongyang with hard currency that can aid its nuclear weapons program.

Like many of North Korea's foreign partners, Egypt's relationship with Pyongyang goes back to the Cold War, when North Korean fighter pilots helped train their Egyptian counterparts ahead of the 1973 war with Israel. The relationship endured into the modern era, with Egyptian telecom giant Orascom helping set up North Korea's mobile phone network (although that deal didn't turn out too well in the end).

Neither U.N. sanctions or American military aid appear to have shaken this relationship. "I believe Egypt wants to have it both ways," said Mohamed Elmenshawy, a columnist at the Egyptian daily Al Shorouk News, who was among the first to argue that the relationship with North Korea could be a problem. A recent U.N. report showed how Egypt appeared to play both sides: Egypt helped intercept a North Korean ship carrying weapons through the Suez Canal last year, but it also was accused of illicitly procuring Scud missile parts from Pyongyang.

Previous U.S. administrations have tried to push nations such as Egypt to end their ties to North Korea. "The U.S. pressuring countries to sever links is part of the constant game of 'whack-a-mole' in trying to shut down sanctions evaders," said Kent Boydston, an expert on North Korean trade at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

These moves didn't necessarily work, and some experts even doubted American resolve to enforce them. "For more than a decade, under both George W. Bush and Barack Obama, the United States tolerated and sometimes even contributed directly to the deficiencies of sanctions on Pyongyang," Anthony Ruggiero, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, wrote in the National Interest.

Under Trump, this seems to have changed. The new administration has made a significant push to sanction Chinese and Russian firms and individuals who do business with North Korea. It has also sought inventive ways to make sure other nations comply with U.N. sanctions. Andrea Berger, a senior research associate at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, noted this year that North Korea appeared to have played a role in a decision to keep sanctions on Sudan in place.

Trump seems to have warned Egypt's President Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi of a similar response during a July phone call, when he called on countries to "fully implement U.N. Security Council resolutions on North Korea, stop hosting North Korean guest workers, and stop providing economic or military benefits to North Korea," according to a White House readout.

The strict punishment of Egypt may be a recognition of how seriously the United States views the North Korean threat. In an email, Berger noted that Egypt's alleged procurement of missile parts from North Korea was "almost as bad as it gets" in terms of sanctions violations.

And without Egypt, there might not be a North Korean nuclear program at all: Berger pointed out that Egypt helped kick-start Pyongyang's nuclear development 40 years ago when it gifted two Soviet-made Scud missiles that North Korean scientists could reverse-engineer. "North Korea did just that, and the Scud missile design became the backbone of much of the country's ballistic missile arsenal," Berger said.

Will Trump's action finally compel Egypt to break ties with North Korea? Elmenshawy thinks it will work. "What Cairo receives from its strategic relationship with Washington is not replaceable by any other country," the columnist said.

Of course, Egypt's relationship with North Korea is relatively small fry compared to its links with China and Russia, but withdrawing aid is one more way to ramp up pressure on Pyongyang. And given the other alternatives being discussed (nuclear war, for example), it may be one of the better options on the table.
Just before the fall semester in 2016, the National Labor Relations Board delivered a ruling that emboldened a nascent movement of graduate students at Brandeis University. The board said teaching and research assistants at private universities are employees with the right to form unions.

"There is great feeling on the part of students that they're not heard by the administration, they're not valued," said Benjamin Kreider, a doctoral candidate in public policy at the school in Waltham, Massachusetts. He and others mobilized for collective action, leading to a graduate student vote to join the Service Employees International Union. They are part of a larger movement that has grown since the NLRB ruling last August.

But their efforts could be derailed as a partisan shift on the labor board, from Democrat to Republican, signals that last year's ruling could be overturned.

Graduate students at approximately 15 private universities across the country have filed petitions or participated in elections to form unions in the last year, said William A. Herbert, the executive director of the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions at Hunter College in New York. Many grad students say collective bargaining is the only way universities will listen to their demands for balanced work loads, higher pay and comprehensive health insurance.

It is hard to quantify the cost to universities or the benefit to graduate students at these private schools because the campaigns of the last year have yet to produce a contract. Collective bargaining among graduate students is a contentious issue that is as much about economics as it is about power.

"The growing wave of private college organizing has emerged for one core reason - the desire among grad workers to use their freedom to have a real say over the work they do," said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. "The truth is that grads, alongside a growing army of their contingent academic peers, grade the papers, teach the classes and perform the research that creates new knowledge and keeps universities running."

Graduate students have nevertheless encountered resistance from some universities. Loyola University Chicago and Boston College are challenging the NLRB's certification of graduate unions on the grounds that the board has no jurisdiction because of the schools' affiliation with the Catholic church. In a letter to students and faculty Monday, Boston College Provost David Quigley said the school also joins institutions such as Columbia University and Seattle University in opposing the very premise of the board ruling.

"Our position is that our graduate student research and teaching assistants are best characterized as students - not employees - and that the mentoring relationship to which faculty commit themselves in the scholarly training of graduate students is a partnership that differs from that of university employees or any other workplace association," he wrote.

That argument could gain traction as Republicans are poised to take control of the labor board. President Donald Trump named Philip A. Miscimarra, who was the only dissenter in the graduate ruling, chairman last spring and nominated attorneys Marvin Kaplan and William Emanuel to fill two of the five seats on the NLRB. Kaplan won Senate confirmation this month, while Emanuel is still waiting for a vote. Once they are installed, many observers expect the board will revisit the ruling.

"Because the chairman of the NLRB wrote a vigorous dissent in the case one would have to assume that when there is a Republican majority this is one of the decisions that's going to be reversed," said Joseph Ambash, a Boston attorney who has represented universities in fighting graduate bids to form unions. "The new majority is likely to take up the pending appeals from universities. . .and those appeals may result in a different outcome than would have been the case under the Obama board."

The NLRB declined to comment.

There is a history of the labor board shifting positions on the question of graduate workers' rights that tracks closely with the party in power. The board supported collective bargaining for grad students at New York University in 2000, but four years later, with new members appointed by President George W. Bush, it reversed the ruling in a case involving Brown University. That decision was then overturned in 2016 by a board largely appointed by President Barack Obama.

Teaching and research assistants at Columbia reignited the fight three years ago by filing a petition with the NLRB to join the United Auto Workers. The Massachusetts of Institute of Technology, Stanford University and the entire Ivy League submitted a brief that said bringing students to the table would disrupt operations if negotiations included the length of a class, amount of grading or what's included in curriculum.

Michael Burrows, a doctoral candidate and research assistant at Duke University, said the contributions of graduate students as instructors and researchers should afford them the same basic rights as any other employee at a university. He said that after Trump's election, union organizers at Duke sped up their campaign to join the SEIU out of concern that the new administration would overturn the Columbia ruling.

The results of the vote in February were indeterminate after the university challenged the eligibility of more than 500 ballots, but a preliminary tally was decidedly against unionization. Rashmi Joglekar, president of the Graduate & Professional Student Council at Duke, said students may not have "clearly understood the benefits or detriments" of being part of a union, and the campaign became very polarized.

Burrows said the university undermined the campaign by stripping voting rights from students who were not teaching during the semester and took a combative stance from the beginning. Duke spokesperson Michael Schoenfeld called that perspective an "inaccurate assessment that doesn't recognize the collaborative relationship that exists between graduate students and the university." He said Duke just announced that it would be providing scholarships for all sixth-year graduate students, an issue that the graduate student council advocated.

Though the university will not recognize the graduate union, Duke students have affiliated with SEIU.

"We want Duke to bargain with us. . .but dealing with the hand we've been dealt, this seems like the best-case scenario," Burrows said. "We want to see teaching done better, research done better, so we're trying to draw attention to that and oppose to the increasingly corporate structure that we see at private universities."

Herbert at Hunter College said there has been a divide among universities in how to engage graduate unions. While some schools have vehemently opposed student bargaining, others such as Brandeis, Tufts University and American University have let the process proceed with little objection.

Brandeis Provost Lisa Lynch said the university "looks forward to working with the SEIU to reach a collective bargaining agreement with PhD students who teach, and recognize them as vitally important members of our community."

With the threat of a reversal of the NLRB ruling under Trump, universities could play an outsized role in the future of graduate worker rights. When the labor board overturned the NYU ruling, for instance, the university still chose to recognize its graduate student union.

"We hope that universities, as progressive institutions which have already taken legal actions against the administration, would bargain with us in good faith regardless of who Trump appoints," Kreider said. "Student workers remain committed to organizing for improvements no matter what happens."
A body discovered in Nokesville, Virginia, is that of a missing Fairfax County 18-year-old who authorities say was probably killed in a gang-related incident, Prince William County police said Thursday.

The body of Miguel Angel Ruiz Carrillo, of the Mount Vernon section of Fairfax County, was found Tuesday near Nokesville Road and Fauquier Drive after a day-long search using dogs, police said. Authorities said information obtained by Fairfax County police during the investigation into Carrillo's disappearance led them to search the area.

Carrillo was last seen on the evening of Aug. 3 and was reported missing by his family the next day. Police said they later uncovered evidence that Carrillo might be endangered and involved in gang activity. They have not provided details on that evidence or said what gang might have been involved in his disappearance.

But Mercedes Carrillo, the victim's mother, said in an interview two weeks ago that friends of her son's said they saw a group attack him at about 6 p.m. on Aug. 3 after he went to a pond near his home where he liked to fish. She said the group took her son into a wooded area, which neighbors said police began searching after he disappeared.

No one has been charged in connection with the killing, but last week Fairfax County police charged three people for gang participation and abduction in connection with Carrillo's disappearance. Jose Vincent-Sosa, 20, and Edwin Dinarte Moreno, 18, both of Alexandria, along with a female juvenile, were arrested, police said.

Mercedes Carrillo said she thought that her son was not involved in a gang. He did have a cellphone, but he had not answered it since he disappeared. His mother said he was in the 10th grade at Bryant Alternative High School in Alexandria.

"He was very quiet," she said.

Mercedes Carrillo said her family is originally from El Salvador and has been in the United States for three years. She has another son.

If the killing is gang-related, it would follow an uptick in violence by the MS-13 street gang in Northern Virginia and across the Washington area that has left dozens of young people dead or behind bars. Earlier this year, police charged 10 people in connection with the MS-13-related killing of 15-year-old Gaithersburg teen Damaris A. Reyes Rivas, whose body was found in the Springfield area in February.

Fairfax County prosecutors said Reyes Rivas was killed in retaliation for the slaying of 21-year-old Christian Sosa Rivas, whose body was found along the Potomac River in the Dumfries area in January. Sosa Rivas, of Fairfax City, was allegedly killed by MS-13 members for passing himself off as a leader of the gang, according to a search warrant filed in Prince William County.

Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin Roessler Jr. said he was troubled by the latest killing. He said Fairfax County police had been working with the FBI and local partners to stamp out MS-13, as well as educate school-age children to keep them from falling prey to gang recruitment.

"My greatest fear is these senseless murders are continuing to happen," Roessler said.
SANAA, Yemen -- An airstrike by a Saudi-led coalition on Wednesday hit a two-story motel north the capital, killing at least 46 people, the latest in an escalating barrage of air assaults in war-torn Yemen this year, witnesses and officials said.

"I saw a few bodies hanging out from the windows," said Mohammed Aluraiji, 34, a seller of khat, the narcotic leaf chewed by many Yemenis. "Bodies were completely burned. ... I was completely shocked."

The assault comes as the alliance between the rebel Houthi movement and loyalists of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who together control the capital and much of northern Yemen, shows signs of splintering. In recent months, sharp differences have emerged over U.N. initiatives, the control of ministries, and military and political decisions.

Saleh's supporters are planning a major rally in the capital on Thursday to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the founding of the General People's Congress, Saleh's political party that controlled the Middle East nation for more than three decades. Residents fear possible violence as armed factions from both sides are positioned in the capital.

Wednesday's airstrikes, which occurred around 3:30 a.m., may have been intended to exploit the divisions. There were other airstrikes targeting areas around the capital, Yemeni officials said.

Some local media reports suggested that Houthi rebels were killed in the attack on the motel, which was near a Houthi checkpoint on the main road about 19 miles north of the capital. Health ministry officials and witnesses said most of the victims were khat farmers who were staying at the motel.

"We are still extracting bodies from under the rubble," said Zaid Alshami, a senior health ministry official. "The numbers of dead could go up."

A Saudi-led coalition spokesman told Reuters that information about the attack was being collected, but did not elaborate further.

Yemen's conflict pits the Houthi-Saleh alliance against the recognized government of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who was ousted from power two and half years ago. Saudi Arabia and its neighbors are seeing to restore Hadi to power, not least because they are wary of the Shiite Houthis and their suspected backing by Iran, Saudi Arabia's main rival.

More than 10,000 Yemeni civilians have been killed, mostly by airstrikes conducted by the Saudi-led coalition that have targeted hospitals, schools and other civilian targets. More than 3 million people have fled their homes, and the country is grappling with a hunger crisis and an outbreak of cholera.

Human rights activists have called on the United States and Britain to stop selling weapons to the Saudi-led coalition.

A report last week by a group of international aid agencies led by the U.N. High Commission for Refugees found that more airstrikes have struck Yemen this year than in all of 2016. There have been 5,676 airstrikes this year compared to 3,936 in all of last year, according to the report by the Protection Cluster in Yemen.

The number of clashes on the ground have also intensified, increasing by 56 percent from last year, the report said.

---

Raghavan contributed from Cairo.
The Trump administration has pledged full funding to an oft-maligned U.N. relief agency for Palestinian refugees, defying calls by Israel's Prime Minister and pro-Israel lawmakers to dismantle it, according to several diplomatic sources.

Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has privately assured the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, that the United States, which provides more than $300 million to the agency each year, will maintain its current levels of funding to the organization. "America has long been committed to funding UNRWA's important mission, and that will continue," said one official at the U.S. mission to the United Nations.

Thomas Shannon, the Undersecretary of State for political affairs, meanwhile, wrote on Aug. 1 to several wealthy donors, including Canada and the Gulf states of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, to cough up more than $100 million to meet a shortfall in funding for UNRWA, according to those diplomats.

The State Department did not immediately respond to request for comment.

The moves run contrary to the administration's push to rein in spending on U.N. relief programs elsewhere. It reflects growing concern that the imposition of sharp cuts to Palestinian relief programs could thwart the White House campaign to restart Middle East peace talks, and inject further political instability in a region that stands permanently perched on the brink of political upheaval.

It also highlights one of the curious realities of Washington politics: While Israel and its Congressional backers routinely bash UNRWA for what they view as its pro-Palestinian bias, U.S. officials find ways each year to raise hundreds of millions to fund the organization, which provides a range of services to 5 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

"The Israelis are stuck in a position where the only thing worse than supporting UNRWA is not supporting UNRWA and having total chaos in the West Bank or Gaza," said Ilan Goldenberg, a former State Department official who served as a member of then Secretary of State John Kerry's Middle East negotiating team. "As with all issues involving the Palestinians there is a combination of public railing against UNRWA, with the public reality of continuing to fund it," he said.

The debate over funding comes at a time when the Palestinian refugee agency is confronting an aid gap of just over $126 million for 2017. With its cash set to run out in September, the agency may have to cut programs for vaccines, diabetes medicine, and sanitation. For the time being, UNRWA is pressing ahead with plans to open its schools for the new year, but they cannot keep them open without more funds.

"UNRWA faces a chronic funding shortfall and in 2015 we almost had to postpone the beginning of the school year for 500,000 students," Chris Gunness, UNRWA's chief spokesman., said in a statement "This year our shortfall stands at a $126 million US dollars and urgent action is required to avoid impacting our services."

Hady Amr, a former State Department official, said UNRWA faces budget shortfalls of $80 to $120 million each year, but that "the funds seemed to eventually arrive" after pressing Canada and the Gulf states to dig deeper in their pockets.

But a Congressional aide that works close with UNRWA said the agency's financial position is "more precarious than ever."

"We met with UNRWA and they are very, very worried, and they are seriously facing the prospect of shutting down," the aid added. "There is a real serious risk that UNRWA will not be able to continue to operate."

The Trump administration's embrace of the U.N. refugee program contrasts starkly with its typically tough stance towards the Palestinian Authority.

In one of its first acts on the Middle East, the Trump administration held up $221 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority that had been approved in the final days of the Obama Administration.

Earlier this month, Republicans and Democrats in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee signed off on the Taylor Force Act, named after an American national stabbed to death in Israel last year, which would cut assistance to the Palestinian Authority if it continues to make payments to the families of terrorists. The law, however, would have no impact on funding for Palestinian refugees.

At the U.N., Haley has taken an unapologetically pro-Israel position across most fronts, vowing to oppose any action aimed at pressuring Israel to halt the construction of settlements. She also blocked U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres from hiring former Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad as his top Libya envoy, and later pledged to oppose the appointment of any Palestinian national to top U.N. jobs.

Last month, Haley derailed a push by the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, Riyad Mansour, to press for a vote on a General Assembly resolution that would have secured tens of millions in funding for Palestinian refugees. Shortly before the vote was scheduled to take place she privately threatened to cut some of the more than $300 million in funds the United States gives the Palestinians each year if they went ahead, according to three diplomatic sources. The White House, she argued, is committed to slashing funding, and the move would likely provoke Congress into retaliating against the Palestinians with even steeper cuts.

Mansour, the Palestinian envoy, promptly withdrew the resolution.

An official at the U.S. mission to the United Nations said that while the U.S. supports continued voluntary funding for UNRWA it opposes the adoption of a U.N. resolution that would legally require it to make contributions. Such a requirement, the official suggested, would undercut U.S. leverage that ensures the money is properly spent. "We will not stand for budget practices that discourage accountability in UNRWA or in any organization in the UN system," the official said.

But behind her tough talk, Haley has emerged as an unlikely champion of UNRWA. In early June, she paid a high-profile visit to the agency's Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem, where she posted a photo of herself with Palestinian refugees. on Twitter "Had a chance to talk with girls & women about their lives, their hopes, and their dreams," she wrote.

That same month, she parried attacks on the agency by House Republicans, including Ros-Lehtinen, who asserted the agency was using U.S. taxpayer dollars to incite terrorism. Haley said that, though the United States needed to continue to pressure the relief agency on certain issues, "there is also good that comes out of UNRWA: what they do with schools and healthcare. You do see value in it."

UNRWA was established nearly seventy years ago, after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, to aid the more than 700,000 Palestinians displaced by the conflict. Today, it provides food, education and other services to for more than 5 million Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, including a corps of more than 30,000 school teachers who serve more than half a million children.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu views it as unacceptably cozy with Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that refuses to recognize Israel. "I told U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley that it's time to dismantle UNRWA," Netanyahu told Likud ministers.

UNRWA is also famously unpopular with Republican members of Congress, who believe that it's used to incite anti-Israeli violence. "I've introduced legislation over the years that exposes problems and offers solutions on UNRWA," Ros-Lehtinen said at the June hearing. "Particularly the incitement issues, the ties from Hamas to its employees, and the fact that U.S. taxpayer dollars are used to support this violence."

Still, every year, Republicans and Democrats alike agree to continue funding UNRWA. And Israel, which grants visas and permits to UNRWA workers, has taken no steps to shutter the agency's operations.

Netanyahu and his U.S. supporters - primarily Republican lawmakers - have floated the idea of having the U.N.'s main refugee organization, UNHCR, take over UNRWA's duties.

But the proposal, which would require approval by the U.N. General Assembly, has little chance of succeeding. It also faces stiff opposition from the PLO, which maintains that UNHCR is not empowered to help all needy refugees to the same extent. "The mission is quite different," the Palestinian delegate said. For instance, he added, "UNRWA provides people with jobs and education."

Despite its historical mistrust of UNRWA, Israel has grudgingly accepted its humanitarian role, which lessens Israel's burden for providing relief to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza as well as Palestinians refugees spread across the Middle East.

A representative from the PLO Delegation in Washington, D.C. cautioned that sharp U.S. cuts in funding would "hinder" ongoing Middle East peace negotiations led by President Trump's son-in law, Jared Kushner, and the President's special envoy, Jason Greenblatt, who has himself visited an UNRWA office in March. So far, the Palestinian official noted, they haven't heard from the "very fluid and unpredictable" Trump administration one way or another about plans to reduce UNRWA funding.

Some observers suggested it is unlikely Israel would move to shutter UNRWA's operations.

Hady Amr, the former State Department official, said while he wouldn't dismiss the calls for the agency's closure as mere "bluster," Israel also needs UNRWA. "It provides critical services," he said, "without which the West Bank and Gaza would explode."
Two years after North East Independent School District trustees considered  and rejected  changing the name of Robert E. Lee High School, they plan to take up the issue again.

The NEISD board has placed the name change issue on the agenda for a special meeting set for 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Given the recent events in our country and with feedback from our community, the Board felt it was necessary to review the issue again, the district said in a statement. They did not want this to lead to any disruptions or distractions from the Districts mission, which is to provide the best possible education to students.

Sandi Wolff, the trustee for District 3, which includes Lee, said the schools name and its statue has come up repeatedly in discussion among board members. She said the political climate has shifted significantly in the two years since the board last considered the issue.

In 2015, Wolff was in the majority on a 5-2 vote against changing the high schools name in the wake of a racially-motivated mass shooting at a church in South Carolina that left nine African American congregants dead.

That massacre sparked a national argument over the appropriateness of public memorials to the Confederacy and its heroes, and it heated up again this month in the wake of fatal violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. White supremacist groups rallying to support that citys statue of Lee and counter-protesters who wanted it removed clashed repeatedly and a woman was killed when a man who had marched with neo-Nazis drove his car into a crowd.

The University of Texas at Austin removed several statues associated with the Confederacy from its campus. And last week, dueling online petitions revived the debate over Lee High School, which opened in 1958 and prominently features a large statue of the Confederate leader in its entry hallway.

Special meetings of the school board typically do not include opportunities for public comments, and the district made clear they would not be allowed next week.

Kenny Strawn, president of Lee High Schools Young Democrats club, who had vowed last week to make changing the schools name a priority, said Thursday he was overjoyed that the board decided to revisit the issue.

Next weeks vote will likely be Wolffs last, as she is stepping down from the board Sept. 8 because of plans to move to a home outside the area she represents.

I think societys values and the environment in which we live has changed dramatically from just two years ago, she said. North East wants to be reflective of those community values, and our first concern has always been the education and safety of students and the people that work with our district and schools.

Wolff said the name change debate has opened the door for a positive conversation among Lee students.

Its a very exciting time to be a student at Lee, Wolff said. To know that you can affect change at your school is very empowering for our students.

lcaruba@express-news.net
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Local emergency response teams began preparing Thursday for an influx of evacuees fleeing Hurricane Harvey, as the storm churned toward the Texas Gulf Coast.

San Antonio has been a federally and state-designated evacuation center since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when more than 25,000 evacuees were brought to the Alamo City. That means San Antonio is a point of refuge for anyone seeking shelter from a natural disaster, said Joe Arrington, public information officer for the San Antonio Fire Department.

There are designated shelter facilities around the city. Those shelters are always ready to go, Arrington said, but the city is currently making preparations to ensure they have everything they need, including enough beds for evacuees. Many of these facilities include large warehouses that have been retrofitted as sleeping quarters and meeting areas.

A full list of shelters was not yet available, but Southside Independent School District confirmed that South Side High School is one such designated site if activated by the Red Cross, a district official said Thursday. The district is on standby. The high school was last used as a designated hurricane shelter during Hurricane Katrina.

Now Playing: Tropical Storm Harvey keeps growing and is now forecast to become a major hurricane as it heads toward the Texas coast. Ryan Sartor (@ryansartor) has that story. Video: Buzz 60

Harvey is expected to affect South Texas as early as tonight. The city activated its Emergency Operations Center Wednesday evening.

This morning, the city activated its Joint Information Center, which includes the fire department, police, the Bexar County Sheriffs Office and multiple other resources, all operating out of the EOC, Arrington said.

All of the decision-makers from major agencies are here, Arrington said. If we need to get evacuees here, those decisions are made there in the EOC.

As of Thursday morning, San Antonio had not yet been asked to send resources to the Gulf Coast but local officials were preparing for that possibility, Arrington said.

Buses from around the state, in addition to ambulances and other medical support teams, are staging at the Freeman Coliseum on the citys East Side, Arrington said.

Teams from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, can also stage there until they are needed at the coast, he said.

The fire department has firefighters who are members of the states water rescue and urban search and rescue teams who are on standby, Arrington said.

In terms of local preparations, Bexar County Public Works crews have positioned barricades near known low-water crossings and other areas prone to flooding, Bexar County spokeswoman Monica Ramos said in a news release. Electronic message boards are also up at these locations, in case of high-water.

County staffers are also monitoring the regions creeks and they are also making sure area drainage systems and low-water crossings arent clogged with debris, Ramos said in the release.

vdavila@express-news.net

@viannadavila

Staff writer Alia Malik contributed to this report.
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HOUSTON  A Houston lawyer acting on behalf of a San Antonio death row inmate is seeking a last-minute reprieve with a newly filed motion citing a need for more DNA testing on evidence from the 2003 lovers lane slaying.

Juan Castillo is set for execution on Sept. 7 for his role in the murder of Tommy Garcia during a bungled robbery. But on Tuesday, David Dow, a University of Houston law professor with the Texas Innocence Network, filed a motion to withdraw the execution date.

The case centers around the death of a 19-year-old rapper, who was shot repeatedly after Castillos then-girlfriend lured him to a secluded spot with the promise of sex and drugs. Castillo was one of four people convicted in the crime, but he was fingered as the trigger man and was the only one hit with a capital sentence.

In April, Castillos counsel filed a motion requesting DNA testing on a knit cap sent to a crime lab back in 2003, a few weeks after the slaying. The Bexar County District Attorneys Office filed a response opposing the testing, but the court has not yet issued a decision  and that's why lawyers are asking to cancel the death date.

Given today's date, and the certainty additional proceedings will be needed to ultimately resolve Mr. Castillos motions, the court should exercise its power to withdraw the imminent execution date, Dow wrote in the latest court filings.

If the court grants the motion, more time will obviously be needed for the forensic analysis to be completed. Once completed, it will be necessary to determine whether, in view of the results of the testing, the outcome of Castillos trial would have been different if the results had been known to the jury.

And, Dow notes, if the court denies the request for DNA testing, Castillo should still be entitled to an appeal.

Previously, Castillo had an execution date set for May, but Bexar County prosecutors asked to have it reset. Notice to the defense of the scheduled execution did not arrive within the 90-day threshold required by law, the district attorneys office said in a statement.

The latest motion in Castillos case comes just days after a federal appeals court found in favor of a Texas inmate slated for execution Aug. 30.

Steven Long was sentenced to death for the 2005 murder of an 11-year-old girl in Dallas County. Long was convicted after he confessed when police found his bloody fingerprint near the body, stuffed under a vacant home.

But in light of claims of intellectual disability  at least one expert pegged Longs IQ as somewhere in the 60s, and the Supreme Court's groundbreaking decision in Bobby Moores case earlier this year, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals this week stayed the execution.
AUSTIN -- A three-judge federal court panel in San Antonio on Thursday struck down portions of the state's redistricting plan for state House districts and ordered state lawmakers to redraw nine legislative districts due to "intentional discrimination" by race.

The unanimous decision marked the third setback for state officials in two weeks in voting-rights cases, after a Thursday decision tossed out a new law softening Texas' strict voter-identification requirements and another last week invalidating several congressional district boundaries.

In an 83-page decision for the judges' panel, U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez gave Attorney General Ken Paxton three days to advise advise him whether the Legislature will address the corrections and, if not, he set a Sept. 6 hearing to consider remedies for the violations.

The court panel found "intentional discrimination" in the way the Legislature drew boundary lines in two House districts (HD 54 and 55) in Bell County, in Central Texas; three districts in Dallas (HD 103, 104 and 105); two districts in Nueces County (HD 32 and 34), and two in Tarrant County (HD 90 and 93).

The judges' panel ruled that contested House district boundaries in Harris County, Fort Bend County and Bexar County "require no further changes." It also left intact other House district boundaries across Texas.

The decision also said that no changes are required in Midland and Ector counties because the Mexican American Legislative Council, one of the plaintiffs in the case, "lacks standing to pursue its claims" in those counties.

The decision said some of boundaries adopted in 2013 intentionally overemphasized race and that others diluted Latino voting strength.

"The Legislature in 2013 purposefully maintained the intentional discrimination" in its redistricting plan, the ruling states. "Thus, violations found by this Court . . . now require a remedy, including specifically in Bell County, Dallas County, Nueces County, and Tarrant County."

In a statement, Paxton said he was disappointed by the decision and vowed to appeal.

He said the state's House map was adopted by the court in 2012 "and has been in effect for the last three election cycles. A three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court in San Antonio invalidated a portion of the map drawn for the Texas House of Representatives."

"The judges held that maps they themselves adopted violate the law," Paxton said.

Thursday's decision, if it becomes the subject of lengthy appeals, could complicate upcoming campaigns. Filing by candidates for House seats opens Nov. 11.

The prolonged legal battle over the redistricting maps has cost Texas taxpayers upwards of $3.9 million, a sum that doesn't include any costs incurred since mid-2014, when the total was tallied.

Gov. Greg Abbott, who last week had expressed irritation over the previous court decision against the state in another voting-rights case, has no immediate comment on Thursday's order. He had defended the 2011 maps in court when he was attorney general.

Gary Bledsoe, president of the Texas NAACP, a plaintiff in the case, said he was glad the court acted "so timely" because the order opens the possibility for for new House districts to be in place by the time candidate filing periods end in December.

"That means there would be a more diverse Texas Legislature, and I think that's a great thing," said Bledsoe.

He said he was disappointed, however, that the court turned down changes in Ford Bend and Harris Counties, where he said minorities are underrepresented.

Rep. Rafael Anchia, a Dallas Democrat whose district was one of the first identified by the court as racially imbalanced, said voters should be outraged that the state continues to defend its map in court. Anchia is chairman of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus that is a plaintiff in the long-running case.

"It should really bother you that the state is intentionally acting to deny your voting rights," he said. "Every Texan should be upset."

State Rep. Helen Giddings, a Dallas Democrat who chairs the Texas Black Legislative Caucus that has opposed the redistricting maps, said the decision affirms that they are discriminatory and must be redrawn.

"Once again, the State of Texas has been handed a much needed wakeup call from the federal courts." she said. "We cannot continue to discriminate against minority communities and expect the courts not intervene . . . The voter influence of people of color and the effects of their vote should not be diminished."

Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, another plaintiff in the case, applauded the decision.

"With this final of several rulings on liability in Texas state redistricting in 2011 and 2013, the case now moves to remedy; this is a most welcome development," he said.

"The state of Texas needs to move on with fixing permanently the rights violations in which it has regularly  as confirmed by this court's recent rulings  and continually engaged. The people of Texas need to have confidence that the electoral system in which more and more will participate is untainted by intentional discrimination or discriminatory effects."

Nina Perales, vice president of litigation for MALDEF and lead counsel for the Texas Latino Redistricting Task Force in the case, said the ruling affirms that Texas "racially gerrymandered its voting districts and used Latino voters as pawns in doing so.

"With the 2018 election cycle fast approaching, it's time for Texas to stop discriminating against Latino voters and agree to a remedy that will provide equal opportunity to all," she said.

Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa called the ruling "an historic victory for the sacred voting rights of all Texans" and urged state officials to quickly remedy the issues.

"Once again, Texas Republicans didn't just cheat to win a silly game, they used Jim Crow-era tactics to rig our election system," Hinojosa said. "Make no mistake, Republicans have stolen the voice of Texans at the ballot box for years.

Republican Party of Texas Chairman James Dickey diagreed.

"We oppose any identification of citizens by race, origin, or creed and oppose use of any such identification for purposes of creating voting districts," he said. "If lawmakers are forced to redraw these House districts, we ask that they be drawn accordingly."

House districts affected by Thursday's decision

HD54: Scott Cosper, R-Killeen

HB55: Hugh Shine, R-Temple

HD103: Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas

HD104: Roberto R. Alonzo, D-Dallas

HD105: Rodney Anderson, R-Grand Prairie

HD32: Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi

HD34: Abel Herrero, D-Robstown

HD90: Ramon Romero Jr., D-Fort Worth

HD93: Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth

Austin Bureau Jeremy Wallace contributed to this story
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Schlitterbahn Waterparks across the Texas coast are preparing for Harvey.

Spokeswoman Winter Prosapio told mySA.com they are "battening down the hatches" for an "extra soggy" next few days as Tropical Storm Harvey creeps towards some of their locations.

The impending inclement weather is affecting Schlitterbahn in Galveston and Corpus Christi the most.

The park is directing customers to check their website for changes to operating schedules.

"Guests who have reserved cabanas should visit the website's cabana pages to get in contact with their respective park's admissions department for refunds," a spokesperson told mySA.com.

RELATED: Tropical storm warning issued for Bexar County, Harvey expected to dump 6-10 inches of rain on S.A.

Those who have booked events at the Corpus Christi location are asked to call 877-587-8320 with any questions about the schedule change.

Schlitterbahn's Galveston and South Padre's Waterparks will be closed Aug. 25-27. Schlitterbahn Corpus Christi's Riverpark, resort and Veranda Restaurant will be closed Aug. 24-28, the company said.

The New Braunfels location will remain open "at this point," Prossapio said.

The park has scheduled American Heroes Weeks at its various parks, honoring military and first responders with free admission.

The special at the New Braunfels location is still scheduled to start on Monday. The Galveston location had their promotion this past week but cut it off Thursday due to the weather.

Text HARVEY to 77453 to receive instant alerts on the massive Texas storm.

mmendoza@mysa.com

Twitter: @MaddySkye
Antiracism vigil: Program and candlelight vigil in solidarity with those who protested against white supremacist rallies in Charlottesville, Va. The event is from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Chinese Culture Center, 750 Kearny St., San Francisco. Information: http://nomoreexclusion.org/

Freedom rally: A day of freedom, spirituality, unity, peace and patriotism, sponsored by Patriot Prayer, at 2 p.m. Saturday at Crissy Field in San Francisco. Information: http://bit.ly/2w5rOLn

No Hatred in S.F.: Antiracist rally at Crissy Field, sponsored by Brown Lives Matter. Event is from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. Information: https://www.facebook.com/events/822986844534064

Equality rally: March and rally in reaction to events in Charlottesville, Va., and to promote diversity and inclusivity. Event starts at noon Saturday at Harvey Milk Plaza, Castro and Market streets in San Francisco. Information: https://www.facebook.com/events/1461327617288267/

Diversity rally: Counterprotest to Patriot Prayer rally, featuring music performers including Michael Franti and Spearhead. Noon to 5 p.m. Saturday at Civic Center Plaza in San Francisco.

Interfaith gathering: An interfaith gathering in response to the Patriot Prayer rally in San Francisco on Saturday and No Marxism in Berkeley rally on Sunday. The gathering takes place from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at Grace Cathedral, 1100 California St. in San Francisco.

Flower power: Counterprotesters plan to march to Patriot Prayer rally and distribute flowers to attendees to meet their hatred with flowers for their hair. Meet at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the Ralston Memorial Statue on the Marina Green. Information: www.facebook.com/events/259332287906232/

Dance rally: Mobile dance rally to protest the Patriot Prayer rally held that day at Crissy Field. Noon to 5 p.m. Saturday at Dolores Park, 19th and Dolores streets in San Francisco. Information: www.facebook.com/events/1946489382274941

Pride Parade: Rise Up contingent invites people to march with it in the Silicon Valley Pride Parade. Assemble at 8:30 a.m. Sunday at southwest corner of St. James Park, St. John and First streets, San Jose. Information: www.facebook.com/groups/riseupforjustice

No Marxism in Berkeley: Protest to expose the plan of purging our nation from a free nation to a communist nation. Event is from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday at Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park in Berkeley. Information: www.facebook.com/events/1356598631088305

Counterprotests to anti-Marxism rally: Counterprotesters plan to gather at 11 a.m. Sunday at Ohlone Park, corner of Hearst Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Way, and march to site of anti-Marxism rally. Information: www.facebook.com/events/1456134894478324

Climate change: Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, hosts a conversation on climate change with UC Berkeley Professor Daniel Kammen and Impossible Foods CEO Pat Brown. The event is from 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the San Francisco Zoo, Sloat Boulevard and Great Highway. Tickets required; event will also be streamed on Speiers Facebook page. Information and tickets: http://bit.ly/2uZ9ELJ

Virginia candidate: The Sister District Project is raising funds for Kathy Tran, a candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates, by hosting a discussion with Rita Bosworth, the Sister District Project founder, and former Assemblyman Ted Lempert. 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Co., 390 Capistrano Road, Half Moon Bay. Information: www.goo.gl/d2KVLu

Town hall: Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, hosts a town hall meeting at the Crockett Community Center, 850 Pomona St., from 10 to 11 a.m. Sept. 1. Information: www.facebook.com/events/336289353489096

Town hall: Town hall for students in West Contra Costa middle and high schools and Contra Costa College. Speakers include members of the Richmond and El Cerrito city councils and other government panels. The event, hosted by Contra Costa Young Democrats, is at 5 p.m. Sept. 7 at John F. Kennedy High School, 4300 Cutting Blvd., Richmond. Information: www.youngdems.org.

Voter registration: Volunteers will help new U.S. citizens register to vote after swearing-in ceremony. Sponsored by Democracy Action, which works to advance Democratic candidates. From 10 a.m. to noon Sept. 7 outside the Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. For information: https://demaction.us/

Picnic in the park: Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, hosts a picnic in Golden Gate Parks Marx Meadow picnic area. RSVP at http://chiuassembly.ngpvanhost.com/form/-1081566039410473216

Town hall: Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, holds a town hall at 7 p.m. Sept. 15 at Dance Palace, 503 B St., Point Reyes Station. Information: http://bit.ly/2vpinSI

To list an event, email Trapper Byrne at tbyrne@sfchronicle.com
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.
Longford students gathered in their droves at the nine secondary schools around the county last Wednesday as the Leaving Certificate results were handed out.

There was a great buzz in the county as 553 students opened envelopes to reveal the outcome of months of study during the academic year.

Two of Longford's students received top marks in this year's exams, earning themselves 635 points each; that's the maximum result of eight H1s on the new grading system, meaning they got a grade of between 90 and 100 percent.

The two students were Elizabeth Larenz from Cnoc Mhuire, Granard, and Shauna Burke from Ballymahon Vocational School and Principals from the respective schools were quick to praise not only their top students, but students across the points spectrum.

We've had exceptional results from very top marks of 625 points, and five or six with 550 or 570 points. But I want to congratulate all our students on their great achievement," said Moira Mahon, Principal of Cnoc Mhuire, Granard.

"We had the full range of results - the high points, but also the students who struggled, and I want to congratulate them for sticking to the course and doing the Leaving Cert. It was a struggle, but they did it."

Rosemary Johnston, Principal of Ballymahon Vocational School said that Shauna was a very hard-working student and her results were terrific.

"She studied very hard and did so well," she said.

Overall the results were great. We've had very high points. The students worked very hard. We're very pleased. There were a lot of personal bests too. They were a great bunch of Leaving Certs."

According to their respective school principals, the two girls are planning on studying science in college and are thrilled with their results.

Other schools around the county are also brimming with pride following last week's results.

Josephine Donohue, Principal of Mercy Secondary School in Ballymahon said that she was very proud of her students for their achievements.

We're very happy with the way our students have done right across the board, from the ones who have gotten very high points to the ones who have achieved the best that they could do, she said.

Scoil Mhuire Principal Aoife Mulrennan was also delighted with the results received by just over 90 girls in the Leaving Cert class this year.

"We had 30 per cent of the girls getting just over 400 points and 15 per cent getting over the 500 mark. A lot of them are very happy with their results," Ms Mulrennan told the Longford Leader.

"We had huge levels of attainment in the three core areas of English, Irish and Maths - 100 per cent attainment across those three in the higher level, which was phenomenal success for the girls, so we're very proud of them, very happy."

Meanwhile, over in St Mel's College, Longford, Principal Declan Rowley expressed similar pride and delight at how well the young men in the school had done.

I must say, I had a lot of happy faces, he told the Leader last Wednesday.

There were some great top results, but also the kids in the middle seem to be happy that they got the points for their chosen course, and that's key because sometimes we put a lot of emphasis on the top kids.

But every kid is aiming at some level and they have to maximise their potential.

One of the 67 Leaving Certificate students in St Mel's achieved 590 points, according to Mr Rowley, while five or six of the lads had over 550, and seven or eight more had over 500.

I'm very happy. I think there's generally a very even balance every year.

I think the kids who put in the huge work get the results, and the kids who don't overly work - they're not all suited to school, but they've all achieved the level that they needed to achieve.

Mr Rowley offered some sound advice to students.

College is not for everybody, he added. Whatever your dream is, go after it and it doesn't have to be related to college.

Also: Two Longford students with top marks in this year's Leaving Cert exams
There was a great turnout for the recent launch of this years Longford People of the Year Awards. This the second year of the fundraiser for Midlands Simon and it is once again sponsored by Kiernan Structural Steel whilst the Longford Leader are back on board as the media partners.

The awards provide the community with the opportunity to honour individuals that have made lasting and inspirational contributions or whose achievements in themselves have been worthy of recognition.

The recipient of the overall award last year was Victor Connell, the disability campaigner from Killoe.

Edgeworthstown native, Noel Greene, is the Community fundraising organiser for Midlands Simon and speaking at the launch in the Longford Arms last week, he said: Midlands Simon are very proud to be part of the Longford People of the Year Awards.

Our work in Longford would not be possible without the support of the community and it is a great opportunity to recognise the achievements of community leaders.

Back at the launch was the CEO of Midlands Simon, Tony O'Riordan, and he outlined the increasing involvement of the organisation in the fight against homelessness in Co Longford . He told the launch event: At any one time Midlands Simon are working with over fifty people of the county. Right now we are working with 13 families and 31 children.

We are fortunate in Longford that we have the support of the community; Longford Council and the HSE. With this support Midlands Simon are able to intervene and successfully support people to have a home of their own.

The launch event was one of the first official functions for newly elected Mayor of Co Longford, Cllr Martin Mulleady, and he commended the great work being done by Simon.

He also praised the role and involvement of the housing dept in the Council and said he was aware that they had a very strong and solid relationship with the Simon team.

He added: Everybody deserves to have a roof over their head and homelessness comes in many forms but it is unacceptable at any level and we will work with Simon and any other agencies to combat the problem.

Ballinamuck woman, Tess Murphy, is the President of Midlands Simon and she told the gathering that she was pleased to see the work and progress being made by the organisation in the county.

She peeled back the layers and explained the different aspects of homelessness and whilst the issue isnt as visible or evident in the county, it is a very real and unfortunately growing problem.

Joe Flaherty, MD with the Longford Leader, said the paper was delighted to work with the awards again this year and especially as the proceeds from the event will be used to combat homeslessness in the county.

He reserved special mention for Frank and Dolores Kiernan of the sponsors, Kiernan Structural Steel, and said that the Kiernan family have never been found wanting when it came to supporting community event and organisations.

For his part, Frank Kiernan, said the family are delighted to be involved in this years awards and he hoped that they are a great success and will aid Midlands Simon in their bid to tackle homelessness in the county.

If you wish to nominate somebody for an award this year, you can do so by completing the coupon that appears on page 14 and will continue to appear over the coming weeks.

The closing date for nomination coupons will be Friday, Sept 9.

Also: Longford 2017 honourees revealed
The 'scenes of utter devastation in Inishowen which have badly affected families, businesses, voluntary groups and sporting organisations will require a special emergency fund, according to Donegal minister, Joe McHugh.

The Minister was speaking after he was joined by Government Ministers Shane Ross and Longford/Westmeath's Kevin Boxer Moran last night (Wednesday) in visiting some of those affected by the freak weather event on Tuesday night.

I believe it is now appropriate to consider bringing in the Defence Forces to assist the local authority in the cleanup in Donegal pic.twitter.com/xUsDqoNLaf  Kevin 'Boxer' Moran (@kevinboxermoran) August 24, 2017

The three Ministers visited homes in Burnfoot where families have lost everything in the flood waters.

They also joined council officials in visiting roads and bridges destroyed in the floods. They also paid a visit to the Red Cross centre in Muff which has lost vital life-saving equipment.

After visiting families in Buncrana, Bridgend and Burnfoot, Minister McHugh said: Family homes have been destroyed in the flood waters and the affects on homeowners is devastating.

Working along with Government colleagues Kevin Boxer Moran and Shane Ross, it is essential that an emergency aid package is put together so we can help families rebuild their lives and so that bridges and roads washed away in the floods are restored as soon as possible.

We have heard incredible stories of neighbours saving neighbours at the height of the floods. It is a miracle that no lives were lost during this weather event.

It is clear now that six major bridges and roads need to be repaired so that, for example, people can travel from Moville to Muff. There are a number of other areas where people have been cut off and access needs to be restored as soon as possible.

Donegal County Council staff have worked tirelessly to find emergency accommodation for those who need it and we need to look at how we protect homes in the future. Ministers Moran, Ross and I will be working together to seek an emergency fund to deal with all these issues in the days ahead.

Minister Moran said: It is devastating to see someones house destroyed by water and I have witnessed this again in homes in Inishowen.

People lose valued possessions and lose all the work they have put in to making their houses homes for their families.

It is essential now that an emergency Government package is put together so that people can return to some semblance of normality over the next few weeks.

As the Minister at the Office of Public Works it is also essential that we examine how we can prevent a repeat of the devastation caused by Tuesday nights flood. We will have an initial picture over the next few days from Donegal County Council on the damage caused and the repairs needed.

"It could take a bit longer to get a final assessment and I'm assured by council staff that they will work hard over the coming days and weeks to assess all the damage caused in the area."

The Ministers said they wanted to pay tribute to council staff, volunteers and neighbours who did so much work on Wednesday to minimise damage and help with the clean-up.

Ministers McHugh and Moran will meet councillors and council staff in Carndonagh this morning.

They are also due to visit more homes and businesses on the peninsula which were hit by flood waters.
School & Education, Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Health & Wellness

By Long Island News & PR Published: August 24 2017

Long Islanders Invited to Come Learn About Alzheimers Disease, Get Free Memory Screenings & Hearing Exams, and Hear from Experts.

Long Island, NY - August 24, 2017 - On Tuesday, September 26, the Alzheimers Foundation of America is hosting a free Concepts in Care educational conference which will provide Alzheimers-related education and services to Long Islanders living with Alzheimers, their family and professional caregivers, and the general public. The event, part of AFAs national Educating America Tour, will be held at the Marriott Melville (1350 Walt Whitman Rd., On Tuesday, September 26, the Alzheimers Foundation of America is hosting a free Concepts in Care educational conference which will provide Alzheimers-related education and services to Long Islanders living with Alzheimers, their family and professional caregivers, and the general public. The event, part of AFAs national Educating America Tour, will be held at the Marriott Melville (1350 Walt Whitman Rd., Melville ), from 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

There are more than 50,000 people on Long Island who are currently living with Alzheimers disease, said Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr., AFAs President and Chief Executive Officer. This conference will help give people a better understanding of the illness, enable them to learn from experts and help them be more prepared to work with, and care for, people who are impacted by the disease.

Peter Davies, Ph.D., Director of the Litwin-Zucker Center for Alzheimers Disease & Memory Disorders at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, will keynote the conference, providing an overview of Alzheimers disease, research and clinical trials. Dr. Davies is also a professor of pathology and neuroscience at Hofstra Universitys Northwell School of Medicine. For more than 35 years, Dr. Davies research has been focused on the biochemistry of Alzheimers disease, with a specific interest in the development of new treatments and diagnostic tests for Alzheimers disease.

Jane Stelboum, certified yoga teacher and owner of Sarasvate, will present Yoga Designed for the Brain, where she will teach attendees how simple, effective yoga tools can help the caregiver stay grounded, calm and focused. In this session, she will teach breathing technique and meditation to help reduce stress and improve your mood. Her company, Sarasvate, focuses on preventing memory-related diseases like Alzheimers and helping those already impacted by the disease to live an enhanced quality of life for as long as possible.

Bert Brodsky, Founder of the Alzheimers Foundation of America and Chairman of its Board of Directors, and Jared Finkelstein, Co-Chair of AFA Young Executives, will both share their stories as caregivers for loved ones with Alzheimers disease.

In addition, there will be a session taking a look inside some of AFAs local member organizations, including The Bristal Assisted Living, EAC Network and the Town of Babylon.

A Q&A session will be held following each session to give attendees the opportunity to ask questions. Participants will also be able to receive a free memory screening, a free hearing exam, and have the opportunity to network with one another. The event will also feature a display of the AFA Quilt to Remember, the nations first large-scale quilt that pays tribute to the more than 5 million Americans living with Alzheimers disease.

AFAs 15th Anniversary Educating America Tour is made possible by a grant from The Edward N. and Della L. Thome Foundation, with the support of Allergan, Eli Lilly and Company, and Merck (gold national sponsors); Avanir Pharmaceuticals and Mylan (bronze statewide sponsors); Biogen, CVS Health, Eisai, Purdue Pharma and Senior Helpers (teal statewide sponsors); the Bristal Assisted Living (supporting statewide sponsor); and Kmart Pharmacy (community statewide sponsor); and is also supported by a grant from Genentech.

For more information or to register, please call AFAs national toll-free helpline at 866-232-8484 or visit www.alzfdn.org/events

About Alzheimers Foundation of America (AFA)
Local News, Business & Finance, Politics

By Long Island News & PR Published: August 24 2017

Major Milestone Reached in Design-Build Project as First Span of Iconic Bridge Set to Open to Traffic; Bridge Connecting Rockland and Westchester on Track to Open in 2018 and on Budget at $3.98 Billion.

Albany, NY - August 24, 2017 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the opening of the first span of the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, an iconic twin-span cable-stayed crossing that will serve the Hudson Valley for the next century. The Governor commemorated the milestone with a ribbon-cutting ceremony that featured more than 800 dignitaries and residents from Rockland and Westchester counties on the cable-stayed area of the first span. The construction project is one of the largest in the nation and the biggest in the history of the New York State Thruway Authority. Four lanes of Rockland-bound traffic will begin crossing the first span late Friday night into Saturday morning.

"The new Mario M. Cuomo Bridge is much more than a magnificent, cutting-edge structure, it is a symbol for this state and this nation. The opening of this new span shows the world that we have our energy and our boldness back, that we will continue to accomplish greats things, and that we are building bigger and better than we have in decades," Governor Cuomo said. "Excelsior reminds us that the motto of this state says reach even higher, and we're not only building a new bridge with this in mind - we are building a new state and a stronger economy. This historic project is providing quality jobs, hope and opportunity to both residents and visitors of this state, and I look forward to future generations of New Yorkers crossing the Hudson River on this new bridge for the next 100 years."

Governor Cuomo drove on the new bridge span in a 1955 Corvette with Armando "Chick" Galella, who drove the same model year Corvette as part of the inaugural procession that crossed the Tappan Zee Bridge on December 15, 1955. The Sleepy Hollow resident is a veteran and Bronze Star recipient who survived the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

The Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge will partially open to four lanes of Rockland-bound traffic overnight on Friday, August 25, weather permitting. For the next few months, northbound/westbound drivers on the New York State Thruway (I-87/I-287) will cross the Hudson River on the new bridge, while southbound/eastbound drivers will use the old bridge, each having four traffic lanes available. Later this fall, the new bridge will completely replace the 62-year-old Tappan Zee Bridge when four lanes of Westchester-bound traffic are also shifted onto the first span.

At Governor Cuomo's direction, the New York State Thruway Authority has managed the bridge replacement project since 2013 with two fundamental objectives - first, to fully open the bridge to traffic in 2018, and second, to finish the bridge at or below the budgeted cost of $3.98 billion. Currently, the project remains on budget and on schedule, as construction of its second span continues to progress.

After all traffic has been shifted onto the first span, design-builder Tappan Zee Constructors will demolish the landings of the old bridge, which occupy the same footprint of the second span, and connect the second span to land. When completed, drivers will reap the full benefits of the 3.1-mile twin-span, which will include:

Eight general traffic lanes;

Four breakdown and emergency lanes;

Space for future bus rapid transit and commuter rail;

A bicycle and walking path with six unique viewing areas;

Cashless tolling; and

Energy-efficient LED lighting.

The original Tappan Zee Bridge, linking Rockland and Westchester, opened in December 1955 and there are now more than 140,000 vehicles crossing it daily.

As the first cable-stayed bridge ever built across the Hudson River, the new Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge uses steel cables placed at an angle to connect the bridge deck to vertical towers that extend high above the roadway. The bridge features eight 419-foot towers standing at a five-degree angle, and has a total of 192 stay cables that would stretch 14 miles if laid end-to-end. More than 110,000 tons of all-American steel is being used to build the bridge, and approximately 7,000 people have contributed to the project to date, totaling nearly 9 million work hours.

The project has been recognized across the nation, including by former President Barack Obama, who put it at the top of his list of critical infrastructure priority projects. Once complete, the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge will not only connect the Hudson Valley, it will serve as the main conduit between Upstate and the New York City metropolitan region.

This project is using the design-build construction process which Governor Cuomo championed and brought to New York. The process incentivizes the private sector to be creative on methods that speed construction time and reduce cost, while the state also achieves more cost certainty. Tappan Zee Constructors is responsible for both the design and construction. This model is being used across New York's large infrastructure projects including on the new Kosciuszko Bridge in New York City. That project opened its first span in late April.

The New York State Thruway Authority is the owner of the project to replace the Tappan Zee Bridge; Tappan Zee Constructors is the consortium designing and building the new bridge.

Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge Construction Timeline:

October 2013: First foundational steel piles driven into Hudson River

September 2014: Start of pile cap installation

November 2014: First piers constructed

April 2015: I Lift NY super crane's first lift (600-ton precast concrete pile cap)

May 2015: First pier cap constructed

June 2015: First girder assembly placed by super crane

September 2015: Start of tower construction

November 2015: First road deck panel installed

April 2016: Towers reach halfway point

July 2016: First stay cable installed on westbound crossing

October 2016: Final girder assembly installed on westbound span

December 2016: Final main span tower topped off

April 2017: Westbound span connected

August 2017: Westbound span paving operations completed

Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey said, "The Tappan Zee Bridge replacement is one of the most urgently needed and important infrastructure projects in the nation, and today marked another important step toward providing much-needed relief for commuters and strengthening a critical link in our region's infrastructure system. I'm proud to have supported Governor Cuomo's vision and leadership and to have helped secure $1.6 billion in federal funding through a historic TIFIA loan to make this new bridge a reality for the Lower Hudson Valley. Our state and regional economy depends on reliable transportation infrastructure, and this innovative solution will continue to spur economic growth for years to come. It is fitting that this great system of infrastructure will be named after Mario Cuomo, a great governor of the state of New York."

Congressman Eliot Engel said, "One of the nation's largest infrastructure projects, the new Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge will enhance safety, reduce congestion and promote greater economic development. I am pleased to have been a part of working to obtain the necessary funding to make today a reality."

Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney said, "It was an honor to join Governor Cuomo and my friends from the Hudson Valley to celebrate the opening of this historic bridge, and I want to thank the Governor for doing this right. From start to finish, this project has been a model for how we should do all of our big infrastructure projects - it's on budget, it's on schedule, it's engaged with the private sector, and I was proud to do my part to secure federal financing through the TIFIA program. The political climate is ugly right now, but this bridge is a symbol of what we can get done when we push all that aside and do what we're supposed to do."

Senate Democratic Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said, "It is a great day for Westchester and New York State as we witness the completion of the first span of the Mario Cuomo Bridge. I commend Governor Cuomo for his leadership on this monumental project. This is a needed investment in our local infrastructure, one that will positively impact countless hard working commuters, travelers and businesses. I look forward to continuing this commitment to improving Westchester and rebuilding our state for the future."

Senate IDC Leader Jeff Klein said, "The opening of the first span of the Mario Cuomo Bridge represents a milestone in New York's commitment to improving our infrastructure. I look forward to working with Gov. Cuomo to continue to invest in projects that move the state forward."

New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento said, "This is a proud moment in the history of our great state. Not only is this project on time and on budget, it was built entirely by union labor and with American-made steel. I thank Governor Cuomo for once again setting the standard for the rest of the country by ensuring the best workforce and products were used on this magnificent bridge. The fact that highly skilled and highly trained union labor got the job done using only the best quality U.S. steel means we can all enjoy, with great confidence, a state-of-the-art crossing for generations to come."

Tappan Zee Constructors President Terry Towle said, "After years of hard work by thousands of dedicated people, we are proud to have traffic on the new bridge for the first time. In addition to maintaining one of the best safety records in the industry, our team has consistently met tight deadlines under extremely challenging conditions. Together we are building an iconic bridge that will serve this community for generations."

Incoming Thruway Authority Executive Director Matthew Driscoll said, "This is a historic moment for New York State and the Thruway Authority with the opening of its next great bridge. This day would not have been possible without Governor Cuomo and his efforts to get this state-of-the-art project moving after decades of dysfunction. This incredible infrastructure project has created jobs, boosted the economy and will provide a quicker, safer ride for motorists across the state and the Thruway Authority and all of its employees are proud to be a part of it."

New NY Bridge Project Director Jamey Barbas said, "Opening a new bridge is always a momentous achievement and a significant milestone on any project, but especially on one of this size and scale. Putting traffic on the first span is a culmination of many striving toward the same goal. I want to thank all of the hard-working men and women who made this day possible."
Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Politics

By Long Island News & PR Published: August 24 2017

Firefighting Team of DEC Employees and Volunteers Battled 3,500-Acre Blaze.

Albany, NY - August 24, 2017 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today welcomed home a team of 20 New York State Department of Environmental Conservation employees and volunteers who helped battle and contain the Gibralter Ridge Fire in the Kootenai National Forest near Eureka, Montana. This is the second New York firefighting crew dispatched to fight wildfires in western states this summer.

"New York is proud to welcome home this team of brave men and women who have been battling wildfires out west for the last two weeks," Governor Cuomo said. "Helping neighbors in their time of need is the New York way, and I commend our courageous volunteers and Forest Rangers for stepping up and helping to save lives and natural resources on this mission."

When the New York team arrived in Montana, approximately 80 firefighters and support personnel were assigned to the fire, but that number rose to 378 as the wildfire continued to spread. Currently, the fire is only 19 percent contained and is expected to burn until late September.

The firefighting team is made up of DEC employees and volunteers, including State Forest Rangers, that joined crews from other states to help battle the wildfires. When the New York crew arrived, they were the first of several crews to work on the Gibralter Ridge Fire, which had started the day before. The fire quickly increased to 3,500 acres but has remained at that size for more than a week. Three-hundred-and-seventy-eight firefighters and support personnel continue to contain that fire.

The returning crew of New York Forest Rangers, employees and volunteers from across the state include:

Jeremy Oldroyd, Forest Ranger, Crew Boss, Broome County

Chris DiCintio, Forest Ranger, Columbia County

Joseph Pries, Forest Ranger, Nassau County

Aimee Bills, Forest Ranger, Herkimer County

Russell Martin, Forest Ranger, Ulster County

Robert Stratton, Forest Ranger, Sullivan County

Jason Scott, Forest Ranger, Hamilton County

Arthur Perryman, Forest Ranger, Warren County

Donald Nelson, Pesticide Control Specialist 2, Onondaga County

Christopher Sprague, Senior Forester, Chenango County

Harry McDaniel, DEC Volunteer Firefighter, Chenango County

Lawrence Day, DEC Volunteer Firefighter, Steuben County

John Wernet, DEC Volunteer Firefighter, Suffolk County

Daniel Gaidasz, Senior Forester, Saratoga County

Matthew Vincent, DEC Volunteer Firefighter, Essex County

Jonathan Cleveland, Forestry Technician, Allegany County

Stephanie Larkin, Marine Biologist, Jefferson County

Mark Solan, Pesticide Control Specialist, Saratoga County

Tyler Briggs, DEC Volunteer Firefighter, Albany County

Frederick Hamilton, Wildlife Biologist, Suffolk County

The crew created control lines with hand tools, chainsaws and intentional fire to contain the wildfire and protect the several residences that were threatened. They worked in rough mountainous terrain and endured daily temperatures hovering close to 90 degrees. Currently, the fire is 19 percent contained at 3,554 acres and is expected to burn until late September.

"I commend our staff for their bravery over these past two weeks in helping to contain this wildfire and protect precious natural resources and private homes," said DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos. "All New Yorkers should be proud of work our fire crews do to battle these blazes. For nearly 40 years, New York has stood ready to willing to assist our sister states in their time of need."

The first team of firefighters that began their 14-day assignment in Montana on July 24, arrived back in the Capital Region on Tuesday, August 8.

In 1979, New York sent its first firefighting crew to assist western states with large wildfires. On average, one or two crews have been sent as needed, to assist with wildfires every year since.

Last year, DEC sent 33 firefighters, including one 20-person crew, to several western and southern states as well as Canada. In addition to helping contain the national wildfires and minimize damage, these crews also gain valuable experience that can be utilized fighting wildfires and managing all-risk incidents in New York.
Three Arrests Made in Connection with Nassau County Pharmacy Burglary Spree

Local News, Crime

By Long Island News & PR Published: August 24 2017

Anthony Cataldo of Holbrook, 50, Bill Ford of Massachusetts, 48, and Nicole Maupin of Bay Shore, 29, in custody for robbing painkillers and other items from three Pharmacies, police say.

NCPD reports the arrests of Anthony Cataldo of Holbrook, 50, Bill Ford of Massachusetts, 48, and Nicole Maupin of Bayshore, 29, for Burglary that occurred in various locations in Nassau County.

Nassau County, NY - August 24, 2017 - The Major Case Bureau reports the details of 3 arrests for Burglary that occurred in various locations in The Major Case Bureau reports the details of 3 arrests for Burglary that occurred in various locations in Nassau County

According to the Burglary Pattern Team detectives with the assistance of the Asset Forfeiture Intelligence Unit, 3 subjects were arrested on August 22, 2017 for multiple burglaries in Nassau County.

The defendants identified as Anthony Cataldo, 50, of Holbrook , Bill Ford, 48, of Lynn, Massachusetts and Nicole Maupin, 29, of Bay Shore

The Investigation revealed that these 3 defendants did break into three pharmacies:

Transcript Pharmacy  87 Fulton Street, Farmingdale on July 30, 2017 Duane Reade  1149 Merrick Avenue, North Merrick on August 21, 2017 Rite Aid  5125 Merrick Road, Massapequa on August 22, 2017

The above defendants did remove large quantities of fentanyl, oxycontin and oxycodone. Searches of two of the defendants residences recovered large quantities of fentanyl, oxycontin and oxycodone. Also recovered were tools and communication devices.

Defendant Cataldo is being charged with 4 counts of Burglary in the 3rdDegree. Defendant Ford is being charged with 2 counts of Burglary in the 3rd Degree and defendant Maupin is being charged with 3 counts of Burglary in the 3rd Degree. They will be arraigned on Wednesday August 23, 2017 at First District Court in Hempstead
Jihadists loyal to the Islamic States arm in Libya overran a checkpoint manned by the Libyan National Army (LNA) yesterday. LNA officials confirmed that at least 11 people were beheaded after the raid.

The so-called caliphates Amaq News Agency claimed that 21 members of General Khalifa Haftars militia were killed and wounded in an attack by Islamic State fighters on a checkpoint in the Jufra region.

LNA spokesman Ahmed Mismari told the press that Amaqs claim was generally accurate. The terrorist organization Daesh (Islamic State) attacked al-Fogha checkpoint in Jufra region this morning, killing nine soldiers and two civilians were slaughtered, Mismari said, according to Reuters. Mismari added that the 11 people were beheaded.

The Jufra region is in the middle of Libya, south of the city of Sirte, which served as the Islamic States stronghold in North Africa until late last year. Local Libyan forces, backed by the US and its allies, pushed the jihadists out of Sirte over the course of several months.

The State Department reported in July that the Islamic States Libyan branch had as many as 6,000 fighters in its ranks as of early 2016, but more than 1,700 ISIS terrorists were killed during the Sirte counterterrorism operations.

This left the group with approximately 4,300 fighters, at least some of whom have stayed in Libya. It is not clear how many Islamic State loyalists are still in the country. But State confirmed that many members of the terrorist organization fled to Libyas western and southern deserts, abroad, or into neighboring urban centers. [See FDDs Long War Journal report, How many fighters does the Islamic State still have in Libya?]

The attack in the Jufra region yesterday confirms that the organization continues to operate well south of its former safe haven along the Mediterranean coast. Since the loss of Sirte, the jihadists have been reorganizing for future operations.

It is certainly possible, if not likely, that the jihadists recorded the beheadings for use in propaganda. In Feb. 2015, the Islamic State released a gruesome video documenting the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians along the coast. The video was used to announce the Islamic States growing presence in the country, frighten its local opponents and threaten the West. [See FDDs Long War Journal report, 21 Egyptian Christians executed in Islamic State video.]

Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
On Aug. 19, a young man went on a stabbing rampage in the Russian city of Surgat. Eight people were wounded before the attacker was shot and killed by authorities. The Islamic States Amaq News Agency quickly claimed that the stabbings were carried out by one of the caliphates soldiers in response to calls to target citizens of the Crusader nation coalition, a standard formulation used after a series of previous attacks.

Two days later, on Aug. 21, Furat media (an Islamic State propaganda arm) released a short video featuring the terrorist responsible for the Surgat assault. The jihadist, identified as Masaud al Surghuti (seen above), swears allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, whom he addresses as the Emir of the Believers and the caliph. Al Surghuti calls upon supporters to lash out with the simplest weapons they can find, including household tools.

Furat medias video, titled Blood for Blood, opens with a scene of a Russian child, Khattab ar-Rusi (seen below), beheading a captive. The child was featured alongside other minors in previous Islamic State productions. The group regularly makes children commit such shocking acts and has developed a program, named Cubs of the Caliphate, to brainwash minors.

The video then cuts to security footage of the attack in Surgat and its aftermath, including an image of the dead terrorist laying on the ground.

In the immediate aftermath of the stabbings, Russian authorities downplayed reports that it was an act of terrorism. Russian investigators said they were looking into the assailants possible psychiatric disorders and said terrorism was not their main theory of the case, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

But Furats video establishes that the young man had online ties, at a minimum, to the so-called caliphate. He was able to record and send his oath of allegiance to the Islamic States propagandists before meeting his demise. Of course, he could very well have been mentally ill and a jihadist, as the two are not mutually exclusive.

Furats video is similar to previous releases by the Islamic State. Throughout 2016, Amaq News Agency produced videos of terrorists swearing allegiance to Baghdadi before a string of attacks.

Such clips are not released after most attacks claimed by the group. In some cases, there is no public statement of fealty to the so-called caliphate. In other instances, terrorists have professed their allegiance to Baghdadi and his so-called caliphate online or in phone calls, but their stated allegiance was not first released by the Islamic State. For example, Omar Mateen, who massacred 49 people at an Orlando nightclub in June 2016, repeatedly swore his allegiance to Baghdadi during conversations with authorities on the night of his rampage. The couple responsible for the Dec. 2015 San Bernardino killings also referenced their bayat (oath of allegiance) to Baghdadi on social media.

The Islamic State videos disseminated after several small-scale attacks have helped the group bolster its claims of responsibility. Indeed, authorities determined in a number of cases that the terrorists were remote-controlled by Islamic State handlers living in the lands of the self-declared caliphate.

Similar videos of terrorists swearing allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi

The videos listed below featured jihadists who recorded their bayat to Baghdadi prior to their day of terror and the clips were then released online by the Islamic State.

On July 18, 2016, an Afghan teenage refugee bordered a train in the German city of Wurzburg and hacked at passengers. The teenager, identified as Muhammad Riyad, brandished a knife in an Amaq video as he swore his loyalty to Baghdadi.

On July 24, 2016, a veteran jihadist from Syria blew himself up, perhaps accidentally, outside of a music festival in Ansbach, Germany. More than a dozen people were injured. The bomber, identified as Mohammad Daleel, rehearsed the oath of allegiance to Baghdadi in an Amaq video released online two days after his attack.

On July 26, 2016, a pair of jihadists assaulted a church during morning mass in Normandy, France, killing an elderly priest and taking several people hostage before being gunned down by police. Amaqs video showed the two performing the oath of allegiance to Baghdadi shortly before carrying out the murder.

On Aug. 17, 2016, two young jihadists, identified as Uthman Mardalov and Salim Israilov, assaulted Russian policemen in Balashikha, which is east of Moscow. The pair swore allegiance to Baghdadi in footage that was disseminated by Amaq.

On Dec. 19, 2016, Anis Amri, a Tunisian man, drove a large lorry into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin. Twelve people were killed in his vehicular assault. Days later, Amri was subsequently killed during a shootout with Italian police in Milan. Amaq released a video of Amri swearing allegiance to Baghdadi, and US officials discovered that he had ties to Islamic State operatives in Italy.

Screen shots from Amaqs videos of the Wurzburg, Ansbach, Normandy, Balashikha, and Berlin terrorists swearing allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi:

Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
Cars / F1

Gear up for a weekend of fun with the creative team behind the much talked about Boudoir Noir from 2015.

Aug 24, 2017 | By LUXUO

Boudoir Blanc, one of the four exciting after parties being held during the Singapore Grand Prix 2017, is set to give you two evenings of decadent fun. Dubbed as a multi-sensorial experience, the event is created and organized by luxury lifestyle creative agency Imaginoires Founding Director, Jeannette Tan.

Come September, you can expect an unforgettable weekend of parties to take place at the Clifford Pier, with sweeping panoramic views of the Marina Bay area to commemorate a decade of the race in Singapore. Promising an interesting lineup for all, we take a look at whats in store for the Formula 1 weekend. Here are five highlights of Boudoir Blanc 2017.







An alternate reality

Proving once again that a historic location can be the setting for some boundary pushing fun, the Clifford Pier will be transformed into two different worlds on September 16 and 17th. Step through those glass doors on Saturday to revel in the Fantasy Land that will welcome guests and the surrealistic Twilight Zone on Sunday.

Signature cocktails all night long

Thanks to Vodka Grey Goose, guests will sample specially crafted signature cocktails over the two nights. These cocktails will be served at Boudoir Blancs specialty pop-up bars by Maison Ikkoku. Ensuring that there is something for every palette the organisers, Imaginoire have roped in Tattinger as the official champagne sponsors so you can be certain that you will be toasting the night away. As the official beer sponsors Peroni will be ensuring a steady supply of delicious beer from the Italian brewery.

One Tequila, Two Tequila, Three Tequila, More!

Straight from Mexico, comes Tequila Codigo 1530 that offers an interesting lineup of spirits. Aged in a manner similar to whiskey, this is one to sample and enjoy at a leisurely pace while you soak in the atmosphere of Boudoir Blanc. Start it off with the Blanco that has been aged for over seven years before making your way through to the Rosa, Reposado, Anejo and Origen which have been rested for several months. With its interesting flavours, we guarantee that you will appreciate tequila in a whole new way.

Boudoir Players

From Hanli Hoefer to Nellei Lim, Sonya Davidson, Ginny Wiluan and Kata Chay as just some of the Boudoir Players, who will be present to help ring in the festivities. Personifying the various traits of Boudoir Blanc, the influencers are set to help take you on a journey through the unique trackside party.











A little party never hurt nobody

From burlesque royalty Fallon Dee making her debut in Singapore and Acantha Lang as Boudoir Blancs emcee the weekend, this will be one party for the ages. Over two days, guests will be dancing the night away with French DJ Klingande, DJ Erok and Patrick Oliver as they spin at The Clifford Pier.
Malappuram: Vipin, the second accused in the sensational Kodinhi Faisal murder case was found murdered on Thursday morning. The natives found Vipin with grave injuries on early morning near Pulichodu. Though he was rushed to hospital, he succumbed to injuries.

Faisal who was converted to Islam was hacked to death by a group of assailants on November 19. Vipin was bailed out from jail a few days back.
In assessing markets, media still places too much emphasis on the occupant of this building. Photo by JT Sorrell/iStock.

This article touches on politics, a wee bit of a charged subject these days. Please understand our commentary is limited to how political developments influence markets. We favor no politician nor any party.

It seems someone keeps forgetting to alert media to the not-so-breaking news that the Trump Trade isn't what's driving markets. With each passing day, headlines continue to claim the Trump Bump is morphing into a Trump Slump right before our eyes-with many presuming this spells trouble for stocks generally. The latest fixation: Small cap. From July 25 through August 21, the Russell 2000 (an index of teensy US stocks) fell -6.4%, putting its cumulative return since Election Day at 14.8%.[i] Or, said differently, putting its return behind the S&P 500 and S&P 100 (an index of yuuuuge US stocks) since Election Day. Journalists seized upon this and churned out the slew of articles we just linked to claiming a once-resilient Trump Trade is giving way. Look out below!

Or not. You see, Trump Trade logic is flawed. Unlike most sector and country performance data-which show little influence from the election-US small cap is one area where the election seems to have affected returns. But take this to heart: That period was fleeting. It ended on December 8, 2016. The huge majority of it ended November 14, 2016. The broad, global equity market rally-quite obviously-didn't. The fleeting small-cap pop after last year's election is yet more evidence Trump Rally theory cannot explain the good returns thus far in 2017. Hence, fearing a Trump Slump looms doesn't make much sense, in our view.

The case for a small-cap Trump Bump held that his stimulus plans, tax cuts and deregulation would benefit these firms substantially. Meanwhile, proponents theorized Trump's protectionism would ding big multinationals more than primarily domestically oriented small firms. Obviously, none of this has happened at this juncture, which you may interpret as explaining why small cap has faltered. But take note! Small cap's jump was over before Trump was eveninaugurated. Exhibit 1 plots the Russell 2000's returns divided by the S&P 100's from December 31, 2015 to August 22, 2017.

Exhibit 1: If There Was a Small-Cap Trump Trade, It Has Been Over for Months

Source: FactSet, as of 8/23/2017. Russell 2000 Index and S&P 100 Index total returns, 12/31/2015 - 8/22/2017.

Obviously, the pop up around the election-and slump thereafter-stands out. However, the Russell 2000 was actually outperforming during much of the period after February 11, 2016's correction low. Which makes sense! The Russell fell much more than the S&P 100 during the correction. A big bounce back-relief rally-when Energy and China-related fears proved overblown seems a logical explanation for this aspect. But it isn't a full explanation. Were that the case, one would expect small-cap outperformance to extend to non-US stocks, too. Yet that didn't happen. Exhibit 2 shows the Russell 2000 versus a gauge of teensy non-US stocks (the MSCI World Ex. US Small Cap Index). You'll notice the post-election reaction looks strikingly similar to Exhibit 1.

Exhibit 2: US Small Versus Non-US Small

Source: FactSet, as of 8/23/2017. Russell 2000 Index with gross dividends and MSCI World Ex. US Small Cap Index with net dividends, 12/31/2015 - 8/22/2017.

All this leads us to a conclusion we've shared here before: To whatever extent there was a Trump Rally-which doesn't seem like that great of an extent, in our view-it was a short-term, sentiment driven move lasting a few weeks. It ended well before 2017 began.

Yet global equity markets have had a stellar year thus far. A non-US-led stellar year, that is. It is really hard to argue Trump's winning-and proceeding to be stymied by intraparty gridlock-is super bullish for Austria, Denmark and Spain. Yet those nations are among the best performers this year while the US is near the bottom. There is no sign of a Trump Trade in these data.

If the Trump Trade doesn't explain the rise, we figure you can look askance at media claims a lack of big legislation or regulatory reform (or or or!) will smack stocks. If a Trump Bump didn't boost stocks, there is little logic in fearing it will soon turn into a Trump Slump.
MARTINSVILLEA Martinsville man faces abduction charges, after being arrested by city police. Timothy Calvin Kendrick, 45, was charged in connection with an alleged incident on Aug. 4.

According to an arrest warrant and criminal complaint, a man told Martinsville Patrol Officer C.L. Griffith that between 3:30 a.m. and 4 a.m., he was at Kendrick's house, along with several other people. Kendrick suddenly became angry, the man said, over money he thought someone in the house had stolen. Kendrick then allegedly grabbed a shotgun and told everyone in the house they were not going to be allowed to leave until his money was recovered.

The man mentioned above alleged he was held against his will for about two minutes until Kendrick was distracted and the man was able to force his way out the door.

A Dec. 8 hearing has been set for Kendrick in Martinsville General District Court.

MARTINSVILLE CIRCUIT COURT

In another case, Martinsville police recently charged Michael Leon Williamson, 31, of Martinsville, with forging a prescription, uttering (passing) or attempting to utter a forged prescription, and attempting to obtain or procure the administration of a controlled substance by the forgery or alteration of a prescription or written order.

Arrest warrants and a criminal complaint by Martinsville Patrol Officer A.M. Parnell allege the following:

Art Robertson, a pharmacist at 806 S. Memorial Boulevard, stated that Williamson came into his pharmacy and allegedly attempted to pass off a fraudulent prescription. Robertson immediately noticed that the hand-written prescription was incorrect and that Williamson was not a patient of Dr. (Keshavpal) Reddy. Robertson stated that Reddy is a child-care physician and does not write prescriptions for adults. Once Robertson confronted Williamson about the issue, he immediately left the business.

Contact was made with Reddys assistant, who verified that Reddy did not issue the prescription and that Williamson was not a patient of his.

Robertson stated that Williamson had an entire stack of the same prescription cards that he tried to pass off in his pharmacy, the criminal complaint alleged.

A Sept. 29 hearing has been set for Williamson in Martinsville General District Court.

In another case, a Nov. 17 hearing has been set in Martinsville General District Court for Timothy V. Kowalewski, 45, of Ridgeway, who is charged with possession of burglary tools.

An arrest warrant and criminal complaint by Martinsville Patrol Officer J.W. Willard allege the following:

On Aug. 8, Willard responded to 201 Aaron Street, Bargains Galore, in reference to people being in the building. The building is burnt down and has condemned signs posted by the city of Martinsville. Willard observed a person with a flashlight in the building. Willard made contact with the person (Kowalewski) outside the building. Kowalewski allegedly had in his possession bolt cutters, two hammers, pry bar, hacksaw, gloves and tin snips. Kowalewski allegedly said he had the tools to cut copper in the building.

Kowalewski also was charged with misdemeanor offenses including one count of trespassing.

Three other people were charged with misdemeanor trespassing: Zackary Louis Randolph, 21, of Collinsville; Samuel Lamont Foreman, 47, of Martinsville; and Jeffrey Cornell Young, 56, of Martinsville, according to court records and the police department.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh's health and human services chief, Felix G. Arroyo, was fired after a city employee filed a sexual harassment claim against him.

"Felix Arroyo has been terminated from the City of Boston after a comprehensive internal investigation," Walsh spokeswoman Laura Oggeri said in a statement Friday.

"The City will immediately begin to search for candidates to fill the Chief of Health and Human Services position and we hope to announce an appointment soon," she added.

A city employee who had worked for him filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination as the internal investigation was underway.

A spokeswoman for Arroyo has told the Boston Globe and Herald that the charges are baseless.

Arroyo had been put on paid administrative leave on July 28 after the woman raised the allegations with administration officials. The Boston Globe reported that she then filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination last week.

The woman, who started working for Arroyo in 2015, has been moved to another job.

The Globe, which was first reported Arroyo's firing, had obtained the complaint. The woman said Arroyo would frequently make inappropriate comments, and he "grabbed my bottom on several occasions and spanked it frequently," the Globe reported.

The woman named Walsh in her complaint and claimed she had been demoted after complaining about Arroyo's behavior.

"It was a lateral move," Mayor Walsh said earlier this week, adding that the woman had requested the job change. "Same salary, same job title. This was not a demotion. This was making sure that she felt safe until this investigation was completed."

Nobody should feel like they're in a hostile work environment, Walsh added.

Arroyo, a former Boston city councilor at-large, unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2013 and later endorsed Walsh over John Connolly in the race to succeed Mayor Thomas Menino. Arroyo is also the former political director for the union SEIU Local 615.

Walsh tapped Arroyo as his health and human services chief in January 2014.

Arroyo is the son of Felix D. Arroyo, a former Boston city councilor and the current Suffolk Register of Probate.

Walsh is running for re-election this fall; he is facing City Councilor Tito Jackson, among others, who had criticized the administration's response to the allegations.
The largest multi-million single-ticket winning Powerball jackpot in North American history was won by a woman in Chicopee yesterday afternoon, the owner of the gas station which sold the big prize said.



Bob Bolduc, who owns the station, a Pride Station & Store location at 27 Montgomery St., wished the woman well and said he plans to give the store's entire commission, estimated at $50,000, to local charities concerning children and education.



A clerk named Angelica sold the woman her winning ticket around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, said Bolduc.



"We found out half an hour ago," Bolduc said outside the store at 10 a.m. during a quickly organized press conference. "The lottery was able to tell us it was yesterday at 2:30, and (the buyer) was a middle-aged woman."



The purchase would have been recorded by the store's surveillance cameras, but nobody had had time to look back yet at the time of the press conference, according to Bolduc.



Her identity, "Is probably on the (surveillance) tape," Bolduc said. The woman has yet to claim the prize, which she may choose to receive in annual installments or as a $480.5 million lump sum.

Bolduc said he hopes she is generous with her winnings, as the area has "a lot of needs."

Marsha Del Monte, president of Pride Stores, expressed surprise and shock at the development.



"What are the odds?" Del Monte said. "We've sold some big winners in the past, but certainly you never think something like this is going to happen. You think it's going to be some rinky-dink place out in Iowa or something."



The Pride in question sold a one million and several multi-million tickets in the past, Bolduc said, and several years ago the Pride in Feeding Hills sold a $10 million tickets.



Bolduc, who has owned the store for 30 years, said after a routine morning he arrived at the store around 8 a.m. and immediately started receiving calls from national media.



"All of a sudden, we realized it was real. They couldn't all be making the same mistake," Bolduc said. "That was it. We set this up, and here I am. No big deal," he said, laughing.



The Massachusetts State Lottery initially reported the winning ticket as sold at a store in Watertown, and corrected the error mid-morning on Thursday.



That store, Handy Variety, 95 Common St., actually sold a $1 million winner, as did Sandy's Variety, located at 378 Washington St. in Dorchester.

Pride, a chain operating roughly 30 locations in Western Massachusetts and Northern Connecticut, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
EASTHAMPTON -- Superintendent Nancy Follansbee has said she will unveil the results of two civil rights investigations at tonight's School Committee meeting.

A posted agenda item devotes 30 minutes to "School Culture and Climate Investigation, Finding, and Action Plans."

Follansbee has said two investigations are underway after a series of racially charged incidents at Easthampton High School last spring. One probe is being conducted internally. The second was launched by the office of Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey.

In addition, the Northampton-based Collaboration for Educational Services has been working with parents, teachers, students and administrators to assess the schools' diversity climate.

According to the agenda, tonight's meeting starts at 6 p.m. with an executive session "for the purpose of discussing strategy with respect to litigation, as an open meeting may have an effect on the litigation position of the School Committee as declared by the chair."

The committee's regular session is scheduled for 7 p.m.

The School Committee will meet in the second-floor meeting hall at 50 Payson Ave.
The ex-husband of Wednesday's $758.7 million Powerball jackpot winner was killed in a hit-and-run crash last year.

William Wanczyk, a 55-year-old former Northampton firefighter, was killed in November of last year when a speeding pickup truck crashed into the Amherst bus shelter where he was sitting.

Mavis L. Wanczyk, who won Wednesday's Powerball jackpot, divorced William in 2012, according to court records. The New York Post inaccurately reported on Thursday that Mavis and William were still married at the time of William's death.

William worked for the Northampton Fire Department from 1986 through 1989 before suffering an injury on the job.

Peter Sheremeta of Belchertown was arrested in connection with Wanczyk's death and in June was arraigned on charges of manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide while under the influence of alcohol and other counts.

Mavis, a 53-year-old health care worker from Chicopee, was the sole winner of the $758.7 jackpot -- the second highest in the lottery's history, and the highest won by a single ticket.

She elected to take the $480,500,936, and will take home $336,350,655 after taxes.

Wanczyk quit her job after 32 years working at Mercy Medical Center after learning she won.

"It was a chance. A chance I had to take," she told reporters Thursday.
Nippon Flour Mills-owned company to increase production capacity to 80 million pounds of pasta annually

Dry pasta manufacturer, Pasta Montana http://www.pastamontana.com/ , owned by Nippon Flour Mills http://e-nippn.com/ , marked its 20th anniversary this week in Great Falls, MT, by opening a new $6.5 million processing line. Pasta Montanas 91,000-square-foot facility, which employs 115, will increase production capacity from 55 to 80 million pounds of pasta annually  a 28 percent rise.

"Our new production line will move 4,850 pounds of pasta per hour, and operate 24 hours each day, enabling us to continue to grow our staff," says Randy Gilbertson, Chief Operating Officer of Pasta Montana "We are honored to be recognized by the Great Falls Montana Development Authority and Montana Wheat and Barley Committee for our contribution to the region."

Founded in 1997, Pasta Montanas goal was to create the worlds finest pasta using a blend of wheat, water and technology. In the spring of 2000, Nippon Flour Mills, Japans oldest industrial flour miller and a leading producer of flour-related products, purchased Pasta Montana to help the company go global.

"Japanese ownership strengthens our commitment to quality. We benefit from having the strong financial backing of a solid, established, publicly-traded Japanese company," continues Gilbertson.

CEO of Pasta Montana, Miharu Kobayashi, and CEO of Nippon, Hiroshi Sawada, along with Japanese representatives for the consul general of Japan and U.S. relations attended an event on Monday, August 21, 2017, recognizing Pasta Montanas 20 years of pasta production in Great Falls this week.

"I really feel happy because of the great nature of Montana and the nice people from Montana who received us very cordial, we could come this far with success in our business in Great Falls, Montana." Mr. Hiroshi Sawada, CEO of Nippon.

The Great Falls region of Montana is home to four Japanese-owned companies: Pasta Montana, Columbia Grain, Montana Specialty Mills and Helena Chemical.

"Japanese companies are investing and trading in Great Falls because the Japanese consumer insists on the highest quality ingredients, and the agriculture we produce here is among the worlds best," says Brett Doney, President and CEO of Great Falls Montana Development Authority (GFDA). "The high quality ingredients plus low manufacturing costs, supply chain partnerships, skilled workers, and numerous other benefits gives food manufacturers an advantage locating here."

"Pasta Montanas success proves that agri-processing operations are thriving in the Great Falls region," says Collin Waters, executive vice president, Montana Wheat and Barley Committee. "From locally owned Montana Specialty Mills and Timeless Seeds to major global companies such as General Mills, Grain Craft and Malteurop, companies worldwide are turning to our region for our robust agriculture and agri-processing industry."

"Our region has naturally emerged as a food and agricultural processing hub. Our primary role is to act as concierge for these businesses whether they are international corporate expansions or entrepreneurial start-ups. We are here to help." Said Doney.

About Pasta Montana

Founded in 1997 and bought by Japanese company Nippon Flour Mills (TSE: NFM) in 2000, Pasta Montana is situated in the heart in North Central Montana. The area is famous for its gluten strength and high protein durum wheat. Pasta Montana manufactures over seventy dry pasta shapes ranging from petite shells and orzo to fettuccine. Everything from the plants processing and packaging machinery to the 30,000-square foot storage warehouse is state-of-the-art. With multiple Long Goods and Short Goods pasta lines, Pasta Montana is large enough to service industrial client needs, but small enough to provide excellent customer service. http://www.pastamontana.com

About Montana Wheat and Barley Committee

The Montana Wheat and Barley Committee is the producer-funded and directed checkoff organization for wheat and barley growers in the state. It is the mission of the Montana Wheat and Barley Committee to protect and foster the health and prosperity of the Montana wheat and barley industry by encouraging scientific research to improve production and quality; maintaining current markets; promoting new market development; and serving as an educational and informational resource. http://wbc.agr.mt.gov/

About the Great Falls Montana Development Authority

Founded in 1992, the Great Falls Montana Development Authority is an economic development organization that works to create high paying jobs and promote growth and diversification throughout the Great Falls region of Montana. The public-private partnership includes a trade area of 13 counties that extend from the Eastern slope of the Rockies to the Canadian border. The Great Falls Montana Development Authority sees its role as engaging, leading, guiding and facilitating regional efforts to build a prosperous and sustainable future for its community. http://www.GFDevelopment.org/

Vision

Hungry to Grow the Great Falls region

Mission

Grow and diversify the Great Falls regional economy.

Create higher wage career opportunities.

Improve market competitiveness.

The first economic development organization in the Rocky Mountain West to earn accreditation from the International Economic Development Council.

GFDA is a certified Community Development Financial Institution and a 501(c)3 charitable organization. High Plains Financial is a certified Community Development Corporation that offers SBA 504 loans statewide. GFDA and High Plains Financial are Equal Opportunity Lenders.

GFDA is proud to host a Montana Small Business Development Center

and a Montana Procurement Technical Assistance Center.

For more info, click to our website. http://www.gfdevelopment.org/

***

Governor Bullock Celebrates Montana Trade Relationship with Japan http://www.matr.net/article-78490.html
Prospera Business Network is the lead non-profit organization advancing and supporting community-centered economic development in southwest Montana. Our focus is helping people start and grow their business  in turn strengthening our regions economy and communities.
Introducing Student Project: Vidz Learning

Created by Big Sky Code Academy Grads  Jenn Turner & Cody Melton

Vidz Learning was built with the React stack during the final project weeks of Big Sky Code Academys Web Development Bootcamp. Vidz Learning is an on-line content delivery system designed for teachers representing all subject areas to share their content with paying students. Teachers are able to build a robust curriculum which students pay for and access using their password protected account.

Grab Your Spot Today!

Classes are filling up! Join our Web Development Bootcamp

Full Story: http://mailchi.mp/bigskycodeacademy/careers_data_science-1046617?e=a18c2207fa
Africa.com announces an exciting new cross-media initiative in partnership with Coca-Cola Africa. This initiative recognizes current and former women Presidents and Prime Ministers. The corresponding research identified not just high-profile personalities but the women who have served as president or prime minister of an African country for a minimum of three months.

A key dimension of the Women Heads of State Initiative is to build the capacity of emerging female leaders. To this end, Africa.com will work with Coca-Cola Africa in developing a free online training workshop to inspire African women and girls to pursue a career in civil service while promoting meaningful measures to address gender equality.

Coca-Cola Africa is happy to support such an initiative that seeks to advance the conversation on women empowerment in Africa. At Coca-Cola, we believe that women are critical not only to the success of our business, but to the continued success of the communities we proudly serve. Women and youth empowerment is one of the focus areas under our sustainability platform, JAMII where we commit to unlock economic opportunities through the provision of improved access to soft skills training, networks, finance & markets. said Patricia Obozuwa, AOU Vice President for Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability.

Africa.com Chair Teresa Clarke added, This work is a complement to our groundbreaking work in the private sector, Women Leading Corporate Africa, in which we offer free online training workshops to help women and girls who are interested in climbing the corporate ladder.

The initiative will launch on March 23, 2022, at the Africa.com virtual summit, Women Heads of State Initiative  Top 6 Opportunities for Africas Advancement. The free online event will focus on Africas advancement agenda through a gender lens. A dynamic video presentation will reveal the 22 women who have served an African country as president or prime minister. Special guests include former President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf; Prime Minister of Namibia, Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila; and Former President of Mauritius, Ammenah Gurib-Fakim.

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People might expect a solar house to be futuristic and sterile, but the student-built House by Northwestern is cozy, warm, and inviting. Its student designers selected every detail with thoughtfulness and care, taking into account their end users comfort and needs.

Thats what sets it apart from other model homes. Its not just a solar house  its a solar home.

We spent a lot of time interviewing people and researching what makes a house a home, said Northwestern Engineering junior Vivien Ng, who led the houses interior design. Homes needs to appeal to the five senses and have a human touch. We want the owners to feel happy to live there.

Ng joined the rest of the student team, sponsors, faculty, and guests August 23 for House by Northwesterns official ribbon-cutting ceremony in Evanston. Called Enable, the house is Northwesterns first-ever entry into the US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, a competition that showcases innovative solar-powered houses designed, built, and operated by collegiate teams from around the world.

Northwesterns student team worked around the clock for three months to complete its entry, which will be deconstructed and shipped to Denver next month. Students will then have nine days to reconstruct the house and build its garage for the October 5-15 competition.

Before diving into the houses planning and design, the students first identified their target market. They selected people ages 55 to 70 who lacked options for homes where they can age-in-place. Throughout their research, in fact, students discovered that only 1 percent of current US homes have key features to support aging-in-place.

To meet this need, the team designed Enable with elements that support an active lifestyle while meeting accessibility requirements outlined in the Americans with Disabilities Act, such as zero-step entrances and single-floor living. The house also features Luna Lights, developed by a Design for America startup, which uses an ultra-thin sensor and a lighting system to illuminate pathways to the bathroom or bedroom when a user leaves his or her bed.

We wanted to make downsizing exciting, said Northwestern Engineering senior Stephen Staley, the teams construction manager. Its technologically advanced, inexpensive to maintain, and multifunctional. People shouldnt have to downsize to a boring ranch home.

And Enable is definitely not boring. The roof is lined with solar cells that harvest enough energy to power both the entire house and an electric car in the garage, with energy left to spare. The house also has self-cleaning windows and walls that break down air pollutants.

The sun not only powers and charges the house but also cleans it, said faculty director Dick Co.

The students took energy efficiency into account for every decision when selecting materials for the house. The kitchen countertops, for example, look like stone but are made from the same type of glass used in smart phone screens. Not only is this material more durable, it is also more environmentally friendly because it doesnt require mining or the transportation of stone.

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Co thanked industry partners Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, FedEx Freight, GAF, and Marvin Design Gallery. He also thanked the students for their hard work and the Northwestern community for its support.

It takes a village to build a house, said Co, chemistry professor and managing director of Northwesterns Solar Fuels Institute. We are so proud to be on this team and see the outpouring of support.

Although the end product is impressive, the students most valued the process of designing and constructing it from scratch.

None of us had ever built a house before, and this experience threw us into the deep end, said Northwestern Engineering senior Sophie Sisson, one of the teams captains. It was definitely different from a traditional summer internship.

This was highlight of my student career, added Ng, who majors in manufacturing and design engineering. We learned everything that goes into a house and get to see the project come to completion.
In addition to carrying Lyme disease, some ticks also carry a microparasite known as Babesia microti that can infect human blood. These microscopic insects often live in deer ticks. The infection they cause is called babesiosis and can occur with or separately from Lyme disease. Babesiosis can be severe if not treated.

What is babesia? Share on Pinterest Ticks may cause Lyme disease or babesiosis. Avoiding their haibtats is one way to avoid these conditions. Babesia microti is a malaria-like parasite that lives in certain kinds of ticks. The microscopic organisms can be transmitted to humans via a tick bite, from a mother to an unborn child, or through a tainted blood transfusion. The infection the parasite causes is known as babesiosis. Babesiosis can result in a very mild illness, but it can be life-threatening for certain groups of people. At-risk groups include: the elderly

people without a spleen

immunocompromised individuals, including those with cancer or AIDS

people with other serious conditions, including liver or kidney disease

Symptoms and complications Symptoms of babesiosis may mimic symptoms of Lyme disease, a condition that is also transmitted by ticks. The symptoms of babesiosis can range from barely noticeable to severe. Some people may not even realize they have babesiosis, while others may experience more generalized signs of illness, including: Share on Pinterest Babesiosis may cause serious complications in those with weakened immune systems, the elderly, and those with chronic liver conditions. fever

loss of appetite

fatigue

muscle aches

drenching sweats

headache

chest pain

shortness of breath

hip pain

abdominal pain

jaundice

nausea In some cases, babesiosis may cause more serious illness as a result of the infection. These complications can include any combination of the following: low blood pressure

kidney failure

severe hemolytic anemia from the excess destruction of red blood cells

liver problems

Causes Babesiosis is caused by the parasite babesia. This parasite has a life cycle that involves two host organisms. Ticks, the first host, transmit babesia to humans via a bite. Humans are the second and end-stage host organism for babesia. Except in the rare cases of infections spread from mother to fetus or via blood transfusion, humans can not transmit babesiosis from person to person.

Diagnosis Share on Pinterest A diagnosis of babesiosis may be made by examining a blood sample under a microscope. Because of the nonspecific nature of the early symptoms of babesiosis, diagnosis is often difficult in the initial stages of the disease. Doctors working in an area where babesiosis infections are common may test for it in people experiencing some of the symptoms of babesiosis. As part of the diagnosis, a doctor will likely examine a blood smear under a microscope to look for signs of the babesia parasite. A doctor may also order blood work. Blood samples are sent to specialized labs that search for signs and indicators that suggest babesia parasites are present. Additional blood work and testing may be ordered to help rule out other causes of the symptoms.

Babesia and Lyme disease Babesia and Lyme disease are considered coinfections. Both are most commonly spread to humans through tick bites, and they share some similar symptoms. However, babesia and Lyme disease are not dependent on each other to exist. A person may test positive for one, both, or neither. Each condition caused by these infections requires different treatment. Therefore, treating one type of infection does not treat the other. In some people, babesia parasites may go undetected, which can lead to the parasites being spread through blood transfusions. Fortunately, babesia and Lyme disease exist together in a very small percentage of cases. In the United States, babesia is found primarily in the Northeast. A person infected with babesia may experience no symptoms or signs of babesiosis for years after a tick bite, or ever. Lyme disease is much more likely to cause signs and symptoms, so the person is much more likely to be treated.

Treatment Even if a person tests positive for babesiosis, if they do not have any symptoms of the infection, no treatment is necessary. However, in other cases, treatment with an antiparasitic drug, such as quinine or atovaquone, is needed to cure the infection. In the most severe cases, antibacterial drugs, including clindamycin or azithromycin, may be used. People with severe cases of babesiosis may require hospitalization for intravenous medications, fluids, blood transfusions, and treatment of any complications. These include liver problems and kidney failure.

Outlook Some people who contract babesiosis may never experience any symptoms, while others may experience a life-threatening illness. The overall likelihood of either scenario depends on the health of the individual, how soon babesiosis is diagnosed, and the persons response to treatment. With early detection and treatment, most people can expect to make a full recovery. However, some people, particularly those with impaired immune function, may suffer from chronic relapses of babesiosis. People who experience a reoccurrence of babesiosis symptoms will need to be monitored with repeat blood draws and continued medications.
According to new research, the rapid eye movement stage of sleep  which is when most of our dreaming occurs  may raise the risk of dementia if this phase is insufficiently entered. Share on Pinterest Researchers say lack of REM sleep may raise the risk of dementia. It is known that people with dementia often have sleep disturbances. However, researchers do not yet know why these sleep troubles occur, nor is it clear whether different kinds of sleep and sleep phases influence the chances of developing dementia. A new study  published in the journal Neurology  investigates the rapid eye movement (REM) stage of sleep and whether or not there is a link between REM and dementia incidence. Put simply, sleep occurs in two large stages : REM and non-REM. In more detail, the first four stages are all non-REM. The fifth and last sub-phase of sleep, REM, typically occurs after 90 minutes of non-REM sleep, and this is when the brain does most of its dreaming. The first author of the new study is Matthew Pase, Ph.D., of the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. Dr. Pase and team examined data from the large population-based Framingham Heart Study (FHS), which started in 1971.

Studying REM sleep and dementia risk Dr. Pase and colleagues examined a subset of FHS participants who had taken part in the Sleep Heart Health Study for 3 years between 1995 and 1998. At the time of that study, the participants were at least 60 years old and half of them were male. Sleep stages were assessed using a home-based sleep study, or polysomnography, which is a widely used approach for assessing sleep phases and disorders. The test can determine sleep cycles and different stages of sleep, such as REM or non-REM, by recording things such as physiological changes and brain waves. The team followed up the participants for up to 19 years, all the while looking for cases of dementia. During the follow-up period, Dr. Pase and colleagues noted 32 diagnoses of dementia, 24 of which were Alzheimers disease. Those who developed dementia spent 17 percent of their entire sleep in REM, on average, whereas those who did not receive a dementia diagnosis spent 20 percent, on average, in REM.

Less REM correlates with dementia risk The researchers adjusted for variables such as sex and age, and they found a strong correlation between higher dementia risk and a lower percentage of REM sleep and longer REM sleep latency, which refers to how long it takes someone to reach the REM phase. Specifically, with every percentage point that REM sleep decreased, the researchers found a 9 percent increase in dementia risk. The correlation withstood adjustments for possible confounders such as cardiovascular risk factors, depression, and medication. Dr. Pase and team excluded from their analysis those who had mild cognitive impairment  an early marker of Alzheimers  at baseline, as well as those who developed dementia early in the study. He spoke to Medical News Today about the significance of the findings. In our study, the association between lower REM sleep and dementia was not explained by those with cognitive impairment at baseline or by those who converted to dementia within the first 3 years, [which] suggests that reduced REM is not simply a consequence of early dementia. Matthew Pase, Ph.D. Speaking to MNT about the possible mechanisms that could explain the findings, he said, We do not have the exact answers but we have a few hypotheses. Possible mechanisms may include (i) stress or anxiety, which may curtail REM sleep and increase risk for dementia, (ii) there may be a contributing role of sleep disorders such as sleep-disordered breathing, which may disrupt REM sleep and increase risk for dementia, and (iii) more REM sleep may help maintain brain integrity in the face of changes that occur with aging and early Alzheimers disease.
The relationship between stress, cardiovascular health, and the brain is complex. A new study uses brain imaging and computer-learning to uncover which individuals are most at risk of stress-related cardiovascular disease. Share on Pinterest Breaking research sheds new light on the connection between stress, the heart, and the brain. Psychological stress, as we are all aware, affects our physiological state. In a stressful situation, our body assumes that we are in imminent danger, and heart rate and blood pressure escalate in readiness for trouble, ready to fight or fly. Although this reaction is designed to aid our survival in the wild, if the response is triggered often, it can harm cardiovascular health. However, not everyone responds in the same way, and people respond to psychological stressors to varying degrees. Some individuals are more likely to demonstrate sharp blood pressure spikes to psychological challenges than others. These exaggerated responses put the individual at an increased risk of high blood pressure , or hypertension, atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular disease mortality . Because this subsection of the population has an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease, grasping why they respond excessively could help science to understand the mechanism in more detail, and, in the future, help to curtail it.

Stress and the brain Cardiovascular reactions to stress are generated and regulated by regions of the brain collectively referred to as brain areas for visceral control. They include cell groups in the: prefrontal cortex , which has roles including complex planning and decision-making

, which has roles including complex planning and decision-making insula , which is linked to homeostasis, among other tasks

, which is linked to homeostasis, among other tasks hippocampus , which regulates emotion, memory, and the autonomic nervous system

, which regulates emotion, memory, and the autonomic nervous system amygdala , which controls emotions

, which controls emotions thalamus , which has roles such as relaying sensory and motor information and regulating alertness

, which has roles such as relaying sensory and motor information and regulating alertness hypothalamus , which helps to regulate metabolism and the autonomic nervous system

, which helps to regulate metabolism and the autonomic nervous system periaqueductal gray , which is involved in pain modulation

, which is involved in pain modulation pons , which is involved in sleep, breathing, swallowing, and bladder control, among other things.

, which is involved in sleep, breathing, swallowing, and bladder control, among other things. medulla, which is responsible for autonomic responses Activity throughout these regions (and others) orchestrates the physiological response to psychologically stressful events. Researchers believe that differences in the patterns of activity across the brain areas for visceral control might account for individual variation in stress-produced cardiovascular responses, and, therefore, stress-related cardiovascular risk.

Brain imaging the stress response In an effort to glean a deeper understanding of the brain-body link between stress and health, a group of researchers from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania set up an experiment based on brain imaging. The team conducted mental stress tests on participants while they were in an MRI scanner. Participants were given negative feedback while carrying out a stressful, timed computer challenge. At the same time, blood pressure and heart rates were monitored. In all, 157 men and 153 women aged 30 to 51 were included in the study. The results are published this week in the Journal of the American Heart Association. As expected, the stressful test induced an increase in blood pressure and heart rate compared with the participants baseline readings. Once the team had the brain scan data, they used machine-learning techniques to tease out the specific brain pattern that marked the size of an individuals physiological stress response. They were able to successfully predict the size of each participants cardiovascular response from the particular patterns of activity measured in their brain. The brain areas that were most useful in predicting the size of the physiological stress reaction were those areas considered important in deciding whether information coming in from the senses signals a threat, which included many of the brain areas for visceral control mentioned earlier.
The study was carried out by researchers from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. Prof. Brge Nordestgaard, of the universitys Department of Clinical Medicine, is the corresponding author of the study, and Christian M. Madsen, of the universitys Department of Clinical Biochemistry, is the papers first author.

The new research challenges this belief  at least in part. As the authors note, this is the first time that a study has drawn a connection between high HDL cholesterol levels and excessive mortality in the general population.

By and large, the medical community suggest that higher levels of the good kind of cholesterol are desirable, as it may protect against heart disease and stroke . By contrast, it is the bad cholesterol, or low-density lipoprotein (LDL), that blocks the arteries.

A new study published in the European Heart Journal finds that good cholesterol , or high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, may raise the risk of premature death.

Traditionally, we have been told by physicians not to worry about good cholesterol, which is scientifically known as high-density lipoprotein. New research, however, finds an alarming association between high levels of this cholesterol type and excessive mortality.

Madsen and colleagues combined data from the Copenhagen City Heart Study, the Copenhagen General Population Study, and the Danish Civil Registration System.

In total, they examined data on more than 116,000 people and clinically followed them for an average period of 6 years, during which time more than 10,500 people died.

Blood tests for both types of cholesterol levels were taken non-fasting, and statistically, the researchers adjusted for all known variables that are normally associated with all-cause mortality. Such factors included age, body mass index (BMI), smoking  both current and cumulative  alcohol consumption, physical activity, and diabetes.

Overall, 0.4 percent of the men and 0.3 percent of the women had extremely high levels of HDL in their blood. Extreme levels were defined as equal to or higher than 3.0 millimoles per liter for men, and equal to or higher than 3.5 millimoles per liter for women.

The study found that men with extreme levels of HDL in their blood had a 106 percent higher chance of dying prematurely than men with normal levels of this type of cholesterol. Women with extremely high levels of HDL cholesterol were 68 percent more likely to die prematurely than women with normal levels.

Additionally, the mortality rate in men with very high levels of the supposedly good kind of cholesterol also had a 36 percent higher mortality rate than men with normal levels.

The lowest mortality rate was found in those with medium levels of HDL. This was defined as 1.9 millimoles per liter for men and 2.4 millimoles per liter for women.

Prof. Nordestgaard spoke to Medical News Today about the significance of the findings, saying, Until now everybody has believed that the higher the HDL cholesterol the better.

But we now show that individuals with extremely high HDL cholesterol have a higher mortality rate than those with average levels. People and doctors should stop thinking that HDL cholesterol is good cholesterol and that it may be advantageous to raise HDL cholesterol. Prof. Brge Nordestgaard

Rather, Prof. Nordestgaard continued, they should focus on reducing LDL and remnant cholesterol (=cholesterol in triglyceride-rich lipoproteins) with lifestyle changes or drugs.

He cautions that as the study was observational, it cannot explain causality. But he suggests that future studies should try to understand why people with the very highest HDL cholesterol have increased mortality.
Older smokers are usually more set in their ways, but a dollar increase in cigarette prices makes them 20 percent more likely to quit, a new Drexel University study found.

The study, published in Epidemiology, used 10 years of neighborhood-level price data to determine how it affected nearby smokers, focusing on those who skewed older.

"Older adult smokers have been smoking for a long time and tend to have lower rates of smoking cessation compared to younger populations, suggesting deeply entrenched behavior that is difficult to change," said Stephanie Mayne, PhD, the lead author of the study who is a former doctoral student at Drexel and now a fellow at Northwestern. "Our finding that increases in cigarette prices were associated with quitting smoking in the older population suggests that cigarette taxes may be a particularly effective lever for behavior change."

Taking a look at the local relationship between smoking habits and cigarette prices is an understudied but important area to look at, according to the senior author on the study, Amy Auchincloss, PhD, associate professor in the Dornsife School of Public Health.

"Results on this topic primarily have come from population surveillance," she said. "But we had neighborhood tobacco price data and could link that to a cohort of individuals who were followed for about 10 years."

Smoking cessation remains an important focus of public health efforts since it remains the largest preventable cause of death and disease in not just the United States, but the world.

The cohort Mayne and Auchincloss looked at included smokers ranging in age from 44 to 84 and stretched across six different places, including the Bronx, Chicago, and the county containing Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Data were taken from the study population between 2002 and 2012 as a part of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Artherosclerosis (MESA).

In addition to finding that current smokers were 20 percent more likely to quit smoking when pack prices went up by a dollar, Mayne and Auchincloss' team showed that there was a 3 percent overall reduction in smoking risk.

However, when the data was narrowed to heavy smokers (defined as smoking more than half a pack a day), there was a 7 percent reduction in risk. When prices increased by a dollar, heavy smokers also showed a 35 percent reduction in the average number of cigarettes they smoked per day, compared to 19 percent less in the overall smoking population.

"Since heavy smokers smoke more cigarettes per day initially, they may feel the impact of a price increase to a greater degree and be more likely to cut back on the number of cigarettes they smoke on a daily basis," Mayne said.

While the data focused on a population older than 44, Mayne believes the price effect may be "similar or possibly stronger in a younger population."

"Some research suggests younger adults may be more price-sensitive than older adults," she pointed out.

Something she found, though, was that smoking bans in bars and restaurants did not appear to have any effect on smoking behavior in the study population. Although more research is likely necessary to see why that is and whether it's true - Mayne will soon publish a study devoted to that - one possible explanation is that the economic pressures of a cigarette price increase provide a stronger incentive to quit than placing limits on smoking in public places.

Mark Stehr, PhD, an associate professor in Drexel's School of Economics who also served as a co-author on the study, also had a thought on the bans' effect.

"A ban may be circumvented by going outside or staying home, whereas avoiding a price increase might take more effort," he pointed out.

Based on results from this study, raising cigarette prices appears to be a better strategy for encouraging smoking cessation across all ages.

"More consistent tax policy across the United States might help encourage more older adults to quit smoking," Mayne said.

"Given our findings, if an additional one dollar was added to the U.S. tobacco tax, it could amount to upwards of one million fewer smokers," Auchincloss said. "Short of federal taxes, raising state and local taxes and creating minimum price thresholds for tobacco should be essential components of a comprehensive tobacco control strategy - particularly in places with high tobacco prevalence.

Article: Longitudinal Associations of Local Cigarette Prices and Smoking Bans with Smoking Behavior in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), Stephanie L. Mayne, Amy H. Auchincloss, Mark F. Stehr, David M. Kern, Ana Navas-Acien, Joel D. Kaufman, Yvonne L. Michael, Ana V. Diez Roux, Epidemiology, doi: 10.1097/EDE.0000000000000736, published 16 August 2017.
It's that time of the year when Apple is all set to announce the next iPhone and it seems like the date may just be September 12th. So if you are excited about the new device, we suggest you mark down the date on your calendar.

The claim was made by Mac4Ever, detailing in a report that it confirmed with telecom companies that Apple should be holding a press conference on that day. The event is supposed to be held at 9:00 AM.

 Youtube

This move does not come to us a surprise as Apple have announced their new line of iPhones every September since 2012. Apple is also known for holding their press conferences on a Tuesday which is enough to indicate that the launch will either be on September 5 or September 12. If you are currently looking to buy a new iPhone, we would advise you to hold off as the release of the new iPhone is a matter of weeks away. If these dates are true, the phone is expected to be available for pre-order on September 15th and will be available on sale to the public on September 22.

 BCCL

At the same press conference, Apple is also expected to announce the new iteration of the Apple Watch which is rumoured to have LTE connectivity. The company is also expected to give us an update on Apple TV which is expected to have a 4K video output.

 YouTube

Recent leaks have pointed to Apple releasing three models of the iPhone this year where the company will give a powerful update to the current generation in the form of the iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus. The Cupertino giant will also announce a super expensive model i.e. iPhone 8 to commemorate the iPhone's 10 year anniversary. The new device is expected to have a full frontal display which will be taller and will also have 3D facial recognition capabilities.

Source: Mac4Ever
PIGEON - Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker School District will have another competition to win a title in.

The Laker school board approved the creation of an equestrian team to compete under the Lakers' banner at Monday night's meeting.

"What I would like to do is, I want to share my passion for horses with kids," club advisor Tracy Potter told the Tribune. "So I want to give them some experience with horses. Down the road I want to see them compete in the Michigan Interscholastic Horsemanship Association (MIHA)."

Potter, who will be assisted by Karlee Herzog, noted there was a lot of interest from the students in the program.

"We had several kids (19) here at Laker sign up in June," she said. "So we're going to spend the first year learning what the students want to do. Then we want to build a solid foundation of learning horsemanship and building from there."

Some of the students will be from the elementary school, some will be "junior high age," Potter said, and some will be from the high school.

"We are in the beginning stages," Potter said. "The next thing is we're going to be meeting weekly with students and creating the foundation of learning. The first thing I wanted to do is send out a list of things I want."

Laker Superintendent Brian Keim liked the idea.

"I think it's a very exciting opportunity to add a program that will connect with students in our district," Keim said. "It has a broad age range so young students all the way up through older high school students can learn the different aspects of horsemanship and develop their skills as far as they wish to."

Keim said the program is a good thing for the district.

"I think it makes sense for us to have an equestrian program simply because of the farming demographic and background in our area," he said. "There are a number of local owners and I think it's a great opportunity for students to learn those skills and develop in a way they would have been able to otherwise."

The program will start out as a club sport, meaning the participants and Potter will shoulder the cost of the program, Keim noted.

"If the club shows sustainability and success over time they could return to the board to received varsity status and school-sponsored status," he said. "At that time we would assume the cost."

In other matters, the school board heard an update on the budget for the coming year and voted to add an amendment to the food services contract for a second head cook position.

The board is scheduled to meet next at 6 p.m. on Sept. 18.
The U.S. Army has suspended a group of drill sergeants at Fort Benning in Georgia amid allegations of sexual assault toward female trainees.

The suspensions stem from a "recent sexual assault allegation made by a female trainee against a drill sergeant at Fort Benning," according to an Aug. 23 press release from the Maneuver Center of Excellence.

Officials at the base and U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command have opened an investigation into the incident.

"Initial review of this incident revealed indications of additional allegations of sexual misconduct involving trainees and drill sergeants," the release states. "We take these allegations very seriously, and we will ensure a full and thorough investigation of the facts."

When reached for comment, a Fort Benning spokesperson would not say how many drill sergeants have been suspended or how many female trainees are involved.

"Our initial actions are to ensure the safety and welfare of all of our soldiers," according to the release. "The drill sergeants have been suspended from drill sergeant duties, and will have no contact with trainees during the course of the investigation."

Counseling, legal and medical services have been made available to the trainees involved in the allegations, the release states.

Fort Benning officials stressed that the investigation is still ongoing, and "we are gathering all the facts at this time."

"There is no place for sexual harassment or sexual assault in our Army," the release states. "Our Army remains committed to maintaining a values-based climate, intolerant of these acts, and to respond appropriately when accusations are made."

In 2014, an estimated 20,300 service members out of 1.3 million troops on active duty were sexually assaulted, including about 1 percent of men and 4 percent of women, according to a study by the Rand Corp., a California nonprofit funded in part by the Pentagon.

Of those, several thousand were estimated to be in the Army, according to the research. Only a fraction of troops who are victims of sexual assault actually report the crime; many don't out of fear of reprisal, advocates say.

In fiscal 2016, there were 2,497 reports of sexual assault in the Army, according to the Department of Defense Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military for Fiscal 2016 -- the most recent year for which data are available.

Given the decrease in the size of the Army during this time, the number of soldiers reporting a sexual assault in fiscal 2016 equates to 4.4 reports per 1,000 active duty soldiers, compared to 4.2 per 1,000 in fiscal 2014 and 2015, according to the report.

"The Army believes the increase in the rate of reports of sexual assault by service member victims (from 2.3 in FY12 to 4.4 in FY16) does not equate to an increase in actual assaults," it states. "Rather, the unprecedented priority placed on sexual assault prevention and response by Army leaders since FY12 has seemingly encouraged victims who previously were reluctant to come forward and report," it states.

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.
The U.S. Army announced today that Spc. Matthew R. Turcotte died Wednesday morning during a live-fire training exercise at Fort Carson, Colorado.

Turcotte, 20, was assigned to the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. He was shot while participating in a combined arms live-fire exercise at a southern range when the accident occurred, according to an Aug. 24 Fort Carson press release.

Turcotte received "extensive medical aid" at the location of the accident, but he was pronounced dead on the range, the release states. The cause of the accident is under investigation.

Turcotte, originally from North Smithfield, Rhode Island, entered the Army Aug. 10, 2015, according to the release. The young infantryman arrived at Fort Carson Dec. 8, 2015. He deployed to Kosovo once during his two years in the Army.

"Our deepest condolences go out to Matthew Turcotte's family on his tragic and unexpected passing," said Col. David Zinn, 2nd IBCT commander. "He exemplified commitment to our Army and selfless service to our Nation. Matthew was a tremendous soldier who will be dearly and personally missed by the Warhorse Brigade Team."

The Army stresses safety during all training, especially live-fire exercises, but accidents still occur.

On May 14, Sgt. Terrence Hinton was killed during training in Hawaii when he lost control of the truck he was driving, struck a guardrail and overturned into a culvert. The military tractor-trailer had been towing heavy equipment to a dock on Hawaii Island and no other vehicles were damaged in the incident, the Army said.

In May 2016, Pfc. Victor J. Stanfill, an infantryman with the 101st Airborne Division's A Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team died from injuries sustained during a live-fire training exercise at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana.

Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Thursday pledged continued aid to Ukraine as it clashes with pro-separatist, Russian-backed forces on its eastern borders but stopped short of saying whether the U.S. would supply the country with weapons in the three-year-old conflict.

"We do not, and we will not, accept Russia's seizure of Crimea and despite Russia's denials, we know they are seeking to redraw international borders by force, undermining the sovereign and free nations of Europe," he said during the joint press conference with Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko in Kiev.

Mattis is the first U.S. defense secretary to visit Ukraine since Robert Gates in 2007. The secretary's visit coincided with Ukraine's celebration of its 26th Independence Day.

"Have no doubt, the United States stands with Ukraine," he said. "The U.S. will continue to press Russia to honor its Minsk commitments and our sanctions will remain in place until Moscow reverses the actions that triggered them."

Related content:

The Minsk II agreements stipulate a withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front lines, with such movements approved by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Speculations in the news media that Mattis would for the first time announce the U.S. would provide lethal weapons -- such as javelin anti-tank missiles -- to Ukraine did not materialize.

Instead Mattis said the U.S. in recent years has pledged $750 million in non-lethal military equipment for Ukraine, including $175 million to the country's efforts in fighting pro-Russian separatists in the east.

When the secretary was asked, as a matter of principle, if he believes in arming the Ukrainians, or if it would create more turmoil and would escalate tensions with Russia, he demurred.

"Defensive weapons are not provocative unless you're an aggressor," he said. "And clearly Ukraine is not an aggressor since it's their own territory where the fighting is happening."

Mattis said he would not like to elaborate further because he owes President Donald Trump more "confidentiality on that."

Poroshenko earlier in the conference said defending Ukraine does not solely rely on lethal weapons but also on "electronic defense," among other capabilities, and how the U.S. has chosen to respond thus far has created a stronger partnership.

Poroshenko said he was "satisfied" with actions and negotiations made in Kiev Thursday.

Mattis said, "I believe no relationship stays the same. It either gets weaker or stronger -- and by being here I'm making a statement that we intend to strengthen the relationship between our two countries.

He added, "I need to come here to better understand the situation your soldiers face on the front lines," saying such a visit will allow him to advocate more clearly in Washington, D.C., on what specialized equipment is needed.

On Wednesday, Sen. John McCain, a Republican from Arizona and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee -- and an avid supporter of arming Ukraine -- said that supplying Ukrainian soldiers with better means of defending themselves is long overdue.

"It is long past time for the United States to provide Ukraine the defensive lethal assistance it needs to deter and defend against further Russian aggression," he said in a statement.

"Raising the cost of aggression may help to change [Russian President] Vladimir Putin's calculus, pressure Russia to fully comply with the Minsk agreements, and, ultimately, create more stable security conditions on the ground that are essential for peace," McCain said.

The senator added, "In other words, providing defensive lethal assistance to Ukraine is not opposed to a peaceful resolution of this conflict -- it is essential to achieving it."

Meanwhile, the U.S. continues to train with Ukraine's soldiers. Specifically, the California National Guard is preparing for Exercise Rapid Trident next month at the International Peacekeeping Security Center near Yavoriv, in Ukraine's western region.

Rapid Trident will have approximately 1,800 personnel from 14 nations, including Bulgaria, Canada, Estonia, Italy, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The Air Force training component for Rapid Trident is going to consist of "C-130J aircraft and about 40 U.S. personnel," U.S. Air Forces Europe spokesman Gabe Myers told Military.com Thursday.

The integrated training for the aircraft and airmen will be held at Starokonstantinov air base, Myers said.

"They're going to be training on aeromedical evacuation, tactical airlift, logistics, planning, and search and recovery. So it's just another example of the jointness, the partnering with allies and nations that we do all over the theater," Myers said.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.
President Donald Trump took to Twitter Thursday to fire back at former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper for questioning his fitness to hold office.

"James Clapper, who famously got caught lying to Congress, is now an authority on Donald Trump," the president said in an early morning Tweet. "Will he show you his beautiful letter to me?"

The Tweet referred to Clapper's March 2013 testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in which he denied that the National Security Agency was collecting millions of Americans' phone records.

It was unclear what Trump meant by the "beautiful letter," other than possibly Clapper's letter of resignation from the DNI post, which has not been made public.

During his 2013 Senate testimony under oath, Clapper was asked by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., whether the NSA collected "any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?" Clapper responded "No, sir."

Wyden asked again: "It does not?" Clapper said "Not wittingly. There are cases where they could inadvertently, perhaps, collect, but not wittingly."

In June 2013, the Guardian newspaper began publishing documents leaked by Edward Snowden showing that the NSA was collecting phone records. Several members of Congress accused Clapper of perjury. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., charged that Clapper "did directly lie to Congress, which is against the law."

In July 2013, Clapper sent a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, then chairwoman of the Intelligence Committee, saying "my response was clearly erroneous, for which I apologize."

"While my staff acknowledged the error to Sen. Wyden's staff soon after the hearing, I can now openly correct it because the existence of the metadata program has been declassified," he said.

In comments on CNN early Wednesday morning, Clapper questioned Trump's fitness for office and said he had concerns about Trump's access to the nuclear codes.

Clapper, a retired Air Force lieutenant general and now a non-resident senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said, "I really question his ability to be -- his fitness to be -- in this office. I also am beginning to wonder about his motivation for it -- maybe he is looking for a way out."

Clapper also said the recent crisis over North Korea's test launches of two intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, raised his concerns about Trump's possible resort to a nuclear response.

"I worry, frankly, about access to the nuclear codes," he said. If "in a fit of pique he decides to do something about (North Korean dictator) Kim Jong-un, there's actually very little to stop him."

In a series of tweets on Thursday morning, Trump also lashed out at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., on the debt ceiling and the failure of the health care bill.

He again charged that the media did not give him fair coverage of his various speeches and comments in the aftermath of the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va.

In the Tweets, Trump rated the tone of his Monday night national address on Afghanistan as "somber." He said his rally in Phoenix on Tuesday night was "enthusiastic, dynamic and fun." His address to the American Legion convention in Reno, Nev., Wednesday was "respectful and strong," he said.

Trump added: "Too bad the Dems have no one who can change tones!"

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
#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 U.S. commander in Afghanistan said Thursday that "additional capabilities" were already arriving in the military buildup announced earlier this week by President Donald Trump.

Army Gen. John Nicholson, commander of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan and the NATO Resolute Support Mission, was careful not to say whether the new "capabilities" included more troops, but Army Gen. Joseph Votel, Nicholson's superior as head of U.S. Central Command, said Tuesday that additional troops could be on the ground within days or weeks.

At a news conference in Kabul, Nicholson said "There will be additional capabilities, some of that is already arriving, but we are not going to talk about the specific numbers," the New York Times reported.

Echoing what Trump said Monday in an address to the nation, Nicholson said "We are not going to telegraph to the enemy what it is we are going to do and how we are going to influence the battlefield."

In forceful terms, Nicholson, who has been lobbying for more troops since February, said that Trump's pledge to send more resources and put pressure on Pakistan meant that the U.S. will stay in the 16-year-old war until the Taliban agrees to lay down its arms and the Islamic State offshoot known as ISIS-K is destroyed.

The message to the Kabul government and the Afghan National Security Defense Forces was "We are with you in this fight and we will stay with you." Nicholson said.

"The United States and our NATO Allies and partners are with you. We stand with your security forces against terrorists and the enemies of Afghanistan," Nicholson said.

"Along with our Afghan partners, we will relentlessly pursue ISIS-K (Islamic State-Khorasan province) and annihilate them," Nicholson said. "We will continue to crush the remnants of al Qaeda, and we will increase our pressure on all terrorist groups in Afghanistan."

Nicholson said the Taliban should view Trump's renewed commitment as a guarantee that they cannot win on the battlefield by waiting for the U.S. to lose resolve.

He urged the Taliban to "Stop fighting against your countrymen. Stop killing innocent civilians. Stop bringing hardship and misery to the Afghan people. Lay down your arms and join Afghan society. Help build a better future for this country and your own children," Nicholson said.

Nicholson also repeated some of the pledges that U.S. commanders have been making since U.S. troops entered the country in 2001 -- the Afghan security forces would become more professional, corruption would be curbed, and the government would be reformed.

The Taliban immediately rejected Nicholson's offer. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told The Associated Press that the group would "not giving our guns to anyone and our Taliban are fighting until the last U.S. soldier is no longer here in Afghanistan."

Afghanistan's New Unity Government (NUG) of President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah expressed relief at Trump's buildup which will add troops and keep the flow of U.S. support and aid coming that props up the failing economy.

In his own address to the nation Wednesday, Ghani said that "After this (Trump's commitment), there is no timeline or time-based conditions -- the US will stay with the Afghan people to the end."

However, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in Tweets that the new Trump strategy "excludes bringing peace and prosperity to Afghanistan and is focused on more war and rivalry in the region."

In the long deliberations on a new strategy, Trump acknowledged Monday night that "my original instinct was to pull out" and abandon the effort that has cost the U.S. nearly $1 trillion and the lives of more than 2,250 troops.

However, Trump said he had come to realize that a "hasty withdrawal" would allow Afghanistan to return to being a sanctuary for terrorists to plot attacks against the U.S. homeland and repeat the mistakes of the Obama administration in withdrawing from Iraq, resulting in the rise of ISIS.

"We cannot repeat in Afghanistan the mistakes our leaders made in Iraq," Trump said.

Currently, there are about 8,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, although defense officials told the Wall St. Journal earlier this week that the actual number on the ground was closer to 12,000 due to overlaps in troop rotations and the widespread use of troops on so-called "temporary" assignment. A similar situation exists in trying to determine the actual number of U.S. troops in the ground in Iraq and Syria.

Nicholson began asking in February for a "few thousand" more troops and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was believed to be considering deploying about 3,900. However, Mattis said earlier this week that there was a number "I'm authorized to go up to" but he would not give any figures until Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford presented him with detailed deployment plan.

In his speech, Trump said he was also counting on more support from NATO. "We will ask our NATO allies and global partners to support our new strategy, with additional troops and funding increases in line with our own. We are confident they will," Trump said.

In a statement Tuesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said "NATO remains fully committed to Afghanistan and I am looking forward to discussing the way ahead with Secretary Mattis and our allies and international partners."

However, it was unclear how much support NATO could and would offer, given the focus of the alliance on the Russian threat.

In addition to the U.S. forces, NATO and coalition partners have about 4,500 troops in Afghanistan. They are strictly limited to the train, advise and assist role, unlike the U.S. forces which also carry out counter-terror raids and airstrikes.

Some allies have already indicated that they are only prepared to make modest increases in their troop commitments.

Poland, which has 200 soldiers currently serving there, has said it intends to boost that number to 230. Britain has 585 troops in Afghanistan, and an additional 85 advisers have already been pledged.

"The U.S. commitment is very welcome," Michael Fallon, Britain's defense secretary, said in a statement Tuesday. "It's in all our interests that Afghanistan becomes more prosperous and safer: That's why we announced our own troop increase back in June."

However, Fallon did not indicate any plans to increase British forces beyond what it has already pledged.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
Three additional Kmart stores in Michigan will close in 2017, the company announced August 24.

The store closings - which affect 28 Kmarts nationwide - follow reports that show owner Sears Holding Corp. continues to show sales declines and losses across both its Kmart and Sears brands.

New closings will affect:

Utica/Shelby Township, 7601 23 Mile Road

Bay City, 4001 N Euclid Avenue

Sandusky, 545 West Sanilac

The closings come "as we continue to transform our business model so that our physical store footprint and our digital capabilities match the needs and preferences of our members," according to the statement from Sears Holdings.

Each of the stores will close in mid-November, allowing the company to push its holiday inventory into existing, higher-performance stores.

Liquidation sales will begin as early as August 31.

No count was available on the number of employees affected. They were told this morning, the company had said earlier.

"Eligible associates impacted by these store closures will receive severance and will have the opportunity to apply for open positions at area Kmart or Sears stores," according to the statement.

Kmart has closed several stores in Michigan this year:

Two closings

Three closings

Ten closings

Sears stores in Michigan also have been affected as the company downsizes, including Woodland Mall in Grand Rapids and Macomb Mall in Roseville.

Some downsizings are due to Sears Holdings Company determining that the stores are underperforming.

Other closings come as spinoff Seritage Growth Properties - the real estate arm of the company - decides to "take back" space leased to the stores and find tenants that can pay more.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - West Michigan county treasurers are touting a state-administered fund designed to bail out homeowners in danger of losing their homes or condominiums to mortgage or tax foreclosures.

The Step Forward program, first created in 2010, has already paid out more than $307 million to 34,597 homeowners, according to the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA). The program has about $40 million available before it expires in 2020.

"We take no pleasure in foreclosing on homes here in Kent County," said County Treasurer Ken Parrish during a press conference on Thursday, Aug. 24.

Kent County has been the program's fourth largest participant, paying out more than $15 million to 1,699 homeowners who needed help paying their mortgage, property taxes or condo fees.

Kalamazoo County Treasurer Mary Balkema said she also supports the program because it helps sustain property values throughout the county. In Kalamazoo County, the program has paid out $5.5 million to 593 homeowners since 2010.

Ottawa County Treasurer Brad Slagh said the no-interest loans allows distressed homeowners to reset their finances after an illness, divorce, layoff or death in the family. In Ottawa County, the program has paid out $4.5 million to 478 homeowners.

"The Step Forward Michigan program has provided hope for some of our residents who did not know where to look for hope," said Slagh.

In Wayne County, the program has paid out more than $101 million to 10,834 homeowners. In Oakland County, the program has paid out $33.6 million to 3,059 homeowners. In Macomb County, the program has paid out more than $22 million to 2,260 homeowners.

The program offers up to $30,000 to homeowners who can demonstrate they have less than $10,000 in cash reserves and can show they have gone through a hardship. Applicants must show they have enough income to cover future mortgage payments, taxes and condominium fees.

The five-year loans are in the form of a lien against their property that is discharged over five years, assuming the recipients stay in their homes.

"If you've been hit with a hardship, you could get an interest-free loan of up to $30,000 to get caught up on property taxes, mortgage or condo payments," said MSHDA Executive Director Earl Poleski.

Persons interested in participating can see if they qualify by accessing stepforwardmichigan.org or by calling 866-946-7432.

Local housing agencies that can help with the application include: Kalamazoo Neighborhood Housing Services; Community Action House in Holland; Neighborhood Housing Services in Grand Haven; Inner City Christian Federation and Home Repair Services in Grand Rapids.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and former Michigan Gov. John Engler were among several hundred dignitaries, friends and neighbors who attended a memorial service for former U.S. Rep. Vernon Ehlers on Thursday, Aug. 24.

Ehlers, who died on Aug. 15 at age 83, was remembered as an environmentalist, educator, father and public servant who encouraged his students, family and colleagues: "Leave it better than you found it."

DeVos said she first knew Ehlers as an educator - he was her physics professor at Calvin College. "I have to acknowledge it was not my favorite class," she said at a gathering after the service at Eastern Avenue Christian Reformed Church.

She also remembered Ehlers as a county commissioner and state legislator in her early political career as chairwoman of the Kent County Republican Party in the mid-1980s.

"He was always such a gentleman over the years," said DeVos, adding she appreciated Ehlers' dedication to life-long learning.

"Vern has been a good friend and an important person in my life," said Engler, who served in the State Senate with Ehlers during the 1980s.

"Vern was someone who left a legacy at every stop," said Engler, noting Ehlers was charged by Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich with bringing electronic record-keeping to Congress. "He was a good man and a model public servant."

Pete Hoekstra, who was nominated as U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands by President Donald Trump, served with Ehlers in the neighboring congressional district for 17 years.

"Vern was awesome," said Hoekstra. "Vern was a kind sincere genuine Christian leader in Washington and he displayed that each and every day to me and his colleagues."

U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, who succeeded Ehlers in 2011, said he looked up to Ehlers as a role model.

"Vern was a humble man, he was a thoughtful man, he was a role model for many people, including me," said Amash, R-Cascade. "People in the community looked up to him as a man we could respect, who would represent everyone fairly and independently."

U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Benton Harbor fondly remembered Ehlers as a frugal legislator who would skip a stop on the Washington Metro to save on the fare even if it meant being late to a meeting.

"He cared deeply about the Great Lakes," said Upton, noting Ehlers served as co-chairman of the Great Lakes Caucus. "He was a teacher. He taught all of us. He was honest as the day is long, not afraid to vote against the party line when it needed to happen. A conscience of the House, for sure."

U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, said he got to know Ehlers as a state legislator and as district director for Hoekstra. "He was a man of great integrity. He's someone who is greatly missed in the process."

During the memorial service, the Rev. Thea Leunk encouraged the mourners to follow Ehlers' favorite Bible verse: "To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

In a light-hearted eulogy, former staff members Rick Treur and Chris Barbee recalled Ehlers was a meticulous, detail-oriented boss who corrected their emails, packed a lunch instead of dining out and brought bananas he bought at Meijer to Washington because they were cheaper.

"The years we worked with him were some of our best professional memories," Treur said. "We're grateful he left us better than he found us."
LANSING, MI -- Three lucky players in Michigan won $1 million in the $758 million Powerball jackpot drawing held on Wednesday, Aug.23.

And while only one player in Massachusetts won the grand prize, having three $1 million winners in Michigan is extremely exciting. The three winning tickets that matched all five white numbers drawn were bought at

O'Connor's Deli, located at 650 South Grand Street in Fowlerville

Melvindale Liquor Market, located at 17973 Allen Road in Melvindale

Old West Tobacco, located at 45029 West Pontiac Trail in Novi

Their tickets matched 6-7-16-23-26 to win the $1 million prize. If you're one of the lucky winners, you need to contact the Michigan Lottery Public Relations Division at (517) 373-1237 to schedule an appointment to collect your big prize.

The prizes must be claimed at the Lottery's headquarters in Lansing. Powerball tickets must be claimed within one year of the drawing date.
Jiefu Gong, 21

SCIO TOWNSHIP, MI - The 21-year-old driver of a Corvette in a May crash that left a passenger injured is facing a felony reckless driving charge.

Jiefu Gong of Ypsilanti Township was arraigned in early August in Washtenaw County 14A-1 District Court on one count of reckless driving causing serious impairment of bodily function, court records show.

He's scheduled to appear in court Aug. 29 for a preliminary hearing.

The felony charge carries a punishment of up to five years in prison and/or a fine $1,000 to $5,000.

Gong and a 17-year-old Ann Arbor girl were in a Corvette traveling on Huron River Drive just east of Wagner Road in Scio Township on May 27 when the vehicle struck a tree, according to the Washtenaw County Sheriff's office.

They were trapped inside the vehicle before Scio Township firefighters extricated them from the mangled yellow Corvette.

Gong and the passenger suffered broken bones in the crash and were treated at the University of Michigan hospital, according to the sheriff's office.

Police say Gong was likely driving too fast around a tight turn.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Kent County will be playing a more direct role in an organization dedicated to meeting the immediate and emergency needs of county residents.

The Kent County Board of Commissioners on Thursday, Aug. 24, approved a merger of the local Community Action Agency with the county's Community Development Department and the Kent County Housing Commission.

The newly-formed county department will operate as "Kent County County Community Action."

The merger puts services like the agency's weatherization services, utility shutoff protections, food distribution and senior services under the same roof as rental assistance, Community Development Block Grant programs and other services offered by the county.

"This merger brings together staff from two programs that result in decades of understanding of the resources available to help some of our most vulnerable residents," Kent County Board Chairman Jim Saalfeld said in a statement. "By bringing these programs together, Kent County is providing better service at lower costs, thereby serving our communities in a more efficient manner."

Though it will become a division of county government, the new department will maintain the leadership of Susan Cervantes, who has nearly two decades of experience with Community Action Agency and has served as its associate director since 2013.

Cervantes said she believes the merger will be beneficial for customers and that they will continue to "experience services seamlessly" throughout the transition.

"I am thrilled to see us pull together two teams with a wealth of knowledge who can serve our clients more effectively and efficiently," she said.

The agency, currently a division of the Area Community Services and Employment Training Council (ACSET), provides weatherization, utility shutoff protections, food distribution, senior services and other services for low-income residents of Kent County.

The agency was previously one of two divisions within ACSET, which also oversees the regional employment and job training agency West Michigan Works!

ACSET was formed in 1985 through an agreement between Kent County and the city of Grand Rapids and tasked with serving as an advocate to reduce the causes, conditions and effects of poverty, provide social and economic opportunities for low-income residents and to administer job training programs.

The council's 2016 financial statements show that community action agency programs made up less than a quarter of an about $27 million budget. The council's total budget increased from $20 million to $31 million after, in October 2015, it expanded Michigan Works! services from a three-county region to a seven-county region that now spans Kent, Allegan, Barry, Ionia, Montcalm, Muskegon and Ottawa counties.

About half of Community Action Agency funding comes from federal sources (about $4 million) with the remainder drawn from state ($380,873), local ($581,456) and private ($3,767) sources, its annual report shows.

The potential of merging the two agencies was evaluated over the last 18 months, according to a press release, and both the Community Action Agency's advisory committee and the county's Housing Commission provided input throughout the process. A community forum was held in February to receive comments or concerns from residents.

Kent County commissioners authorized staff in March to begin the process of merging the organization with the county department. The Grand Rapids City Commission also signed off on the merger on Tuesday, Aug. 22.

"We are pleased to support this partnership," Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss said in a statement. "Our residents will benefit from the enhanced coordination and more efficient operations that will result from this new alliance."

Agency employees will be housed in the Kent County Human Services Complex at 121 Franklin St. SE in Grand Rapids.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI-- A man is suing the Kent County Sheriff's Department for holding him in jail pending a transfer to immigration authorities.

Juan Jose Romero-Lara, 32, filed the lawsuit Tuesday, Aug. 22 in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids.

He claims that holding him -- particularly when a judge issued a personal recognizance bond that would have brought release -- violated his constitutional rights.

Romero-Lara a Mexican citizen, was booked into the Kent County Jail on Aug. 17 on domestic violence charge.

The next day, Romero-Lara was arraigned before Wyoming District Court Judge Steven Timmers. The judge set a $500 personal recognizance bond, which typically means release within hours.

But authorities with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement office asked the jail to hold Romero-Lara on a "detainer" until they could pick him up.

ICE agents took custody of Romero-Lara from the jail on Monday, Aug. 21.

Lawyers for Romero-Lara contend the jail has no legal authority to hold anyone who has paid a bond or been given a personal recognizance bond.

They are seeking a class-action status for the lawsuit so that others with similar situations as Romero-Lara can join the lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, the jail received about 1,900 ICE detainer request in 2015.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan was in a Grand Rapids courtroom Wednesday in support of a wrongful death lawsuit involving a minister who died three years ago.

The 84-year-old Farrakhan made no comments, but he was there to support the family of Robert Muhammad, a Nation of Islam minister who police say accidentally drowned in Muskegon Lake while on a September 2014 outing with co-workers.

According to the co-workers, the 39-year-old Muhammad went for a swim off a boat, but only traveled a short distance from the boat before going under water.

Muhammad's family and friends believe something more sinister took place. Photos taken after his body was recovered the next day show what appear to be facial injuries.

Police investigated the death, however, and determined that no one would face any charges. Including Muhammad, eight people were on the boat when Muhammad went under water.

The lawsuit names the seven other men as defendants.

In court Wednesday, Aug. 23, lawyers for Muhammad's family suggested the investigation was a conspiracy and sought to have a handful of police and fire agencies added as defendants, including the Muskegon County Sheriff's Department.

Judge Joseph Rossi, after hearing arguments for much of Wednesday, denied the request.

Muhammad was leader of the Nation of Islam's Grand Rapids study group, a husband and father of eight.

Berve Power, attorney for Muhammad's family, said he doesn't believe the injuries to Muhammad's face could have occurred with the recovery of the body. Muhammad's body was recovered in 28 feet of water the day after the incident.

"He was a very upstanding man. He still deserves in death our commitment to pursue justice," Power said.
SAUGATUCK, MI - There are less than two weeks left to weigh in on a controversial permit application in the dunes near Saugatuck.

A permit application for a marina has been filed with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the North Shores of Saugatuck Property - 300 acres of dunes and woods at the mouth of the Kalamazoo River.

The land has been privately held for years to the chagrin of conservationists, and was most recently in the hands of the late oil tycoon Aubrey McClendon. McClendon had purchased the property in 2006 after yacht builder Franklin Denison's death.

The newest owners of the duneland, Jeff and Peg Padnos, are hoping to bring a cottage and marina development to life, working with developer Brian Bosgraaf's company Cottage Home.

They've proposed 40 home sites -- 23 of which would be constructed around a new marina that they want to dig out of the sand.

There are seven home sites on Lake Michigan and eight home sites Kalamazoo River that have been listed for sale to date. Prices range from $1.5 million to $2.95 million.

"We certainly expect the permit application to be thoroughly reviewed but we also fully expect it to be granted," said Brian Bosgraaf of Cottage Home.

Two permits

The marina is a concern for environmentalists, who are worried what the impact of the new basin would mean for water levels in the interdunal wetlands on the site.

Building the marina will require approval from both the Army Corps and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. North Shores has also applied for a permit for the marina from the DEQ.

However, the DEQ application is on hold because it's not complete, said DEQ engineer John Bayha, who is overseeing the application.

A letter sent to Jeff Padnos from Bayha outlines a number of issues with the North Shores permit application. Missing elements include an environmental impact statement. The DEQ is also asking the developer answer what will happen to the sand removed from the site, and to address the possibility of contaminated dirt underneath the former boat factory.

The Army Corps permit is contingent upon the DEQ's approval, Katie Otanez of the Army Corps said.

Otanez said the Army Corps would evaluate the permit application on 21 public interest factors - including water quality, aquatic organisms, wildlife, historic properties, threatened and endangered species and navigation. The threatened native species -- Pitcher's Thistle -- may be on or near the property, according to the Army Corps.

The Corps has jurisdiction over the parts of the proposed marina that would impact the navigable waterway, Otanez said. The Corps does not regulate activity that impacts critical dune areas - that's the DEQ's job, Otanez said.

Digging out sand

The entrance to the new marina would be built off of the Kalamazoo River from the same point where an old industrial dock used by the Denison's Broward Marine operation.

During the 1980s and early 1990s, several large barns housed the yacht manufacturing operation. Those have since been torn down and a large open yard remains -- and that's where North Shores wants to dig its new boat basin.

Building the marina would require crews to dig out 241,750 cubic yards of sand from an area 1,639 feet long, 200 feet wide and about 18 feet deep, according to the permit application.

Some of that sand - about 67,200 cubic yards worth - would be spread along the Lake Michigan shore, according to plans filed with the Army Corps. The rest of the sand would be stockpiled elsewhere on the site.

The developer is proposing to excavate the marina by leaving a wall of dirt at the entrance to the marina to act as a "plug" for the basin. The rest of the marina would be dug out - and any water that collects would be pumped through a filter out into the river.

The new marina would be lined by 3,395 feet of sheet pile seawall.

At the entrance to the marina, once completed, large stones would be placed to mark the edges.

A buried town

Part of the lore of the Saugatuck dunes includes the buried, abandoned lumber town of Singapore.

The lumber town of Singapore was established there in the 1830s, and was eventually buried by the dunes when the forests were depleted and the town was abandoned. Some of the homes were slid across the icy river to Saugatuck, where they stand today.

Bosgraaf has an old map of Singapore in its heyday -- and believes the area where the town was won't be dug up during development. He believes part of it is buried by a tall dune -- made of sand dumped there by the Army Corps as they dredged the river channel.

"There's also great evidence that everything was removed piece by piece," Bosgraaf said. "There was nothing there and in 1905 there was nothing there. That's why the government put the spoils from dredging the channel there."

However, the Army Corps believes an investigation of the property to see if there are remnants of the town is justified, according to its public notice about the permit. The town may be eligible to list in the national register of historic places, the notice states.

How to weigh in

The Army Corps public comment period ends Aug. 30 -- but comments submitted after that will still be reviewed, Otanez said.

Submit comments to the Army Corps on the permit in the following ways:

- Address mail to: Kerrie E. Kuhne Chief, Permit Evaluation Western Branch Regulatory Office Detroit District, Corps of Engineers 477 Michigan Avenue Detroit, Michigan 48226

- By email (include your name and mailing address): Katie.L.Otanez@usace.army.mil

Otanez is also available to answer questions at 313-226-5479.

Bayha said there will likely be a public hearing on the DEQ permit application. No date has been set yet, as the application is still on hold as they wait for more documents.

Comments are being accepted at any time for the DEQ permit, Bayha said.

Submit comments to the DEQ on the permit in the following ways:

By mail: John Bayha, P.E., Kalamazoo District Engineer, Water Resources Division, 7953 Adobe Road, Kalamazoo, MI 49009

By email: BayhaJ@michigan.gov

By fax: 269-567-3555
JACKSON, MI - A man accused of robbing an American 1 Credit Union branch and being chased on foot by police earlier this week laughed and admitted his guilt during arraignment on Thursday.

Omar Martin, 33, was arraigned Aug. 24 on one felony count of bank robbery after he allegedly robbed an American 1 Credit Union branch, Tuesday, Aug. 22.

"I want to plead guilty to all of this," Martin said, laughing.

Martin was arrested at 4:53 p.m., in the 500 block of W. Ganson Street after a short foot chase with police after the robbery was reported.

At about 4:40 p.m., Martin allegedly entered the credit union branch at 930 W. North St. and slipped an employee a note demanding money and indicating he had a weapon, police said.

After he left the building with an undisclosed amount of cash, bank employees provided police with a description of a suspect that matched Martin.

No injuries were reported.

Police did not locate any weapons in the incident, Director of Police and Fire Services Elmer Hitt said.

"All of us who work at American 1 are so grateful that none of our team members were harmed during (the robbery)," said American 1 Credit Union Vice President of Marketing & Communications Laura Pryor in a written statement. "The speed with which the police department responded and apprehended a suspect was remarkable."

Martin was out on bond at the time of the robbery for an unrelated charge of second-degree arson, according to court records. The bond in that case has since been revoked.

Fingerprints taken after his arrest showed he also has an active warrant for first-degree home invasion out of Ingham County, Jackson County District Judge Joseph Filip said during Martin's arraignment.

A preliminary examination is scheduled for 8:30 a.m., Sept. 6, in Filip's courtroom. Bond was set at $250,000.

Bank robbery is punishable by up to life in prison.

Martin also is scheduled to begin a jury trial in his arson case on Oct. 9, in Circuit Judge Thomas Wilson's courtroom.
JACKSON, MI - Ninety years after opening its doors as the home of the Jackson Citizen Patriot, new plans surround the building at 214 S. Jackson St.

Wisconsin-based General Capital Group has plans for a three-story, 73-unit apartment complex in the building. If the project comes to fruition, it will be named the Albert Kahn Apartments, after the famous Detroit architect who designed the building.

With 56 one-bedroom apartments and 17 two-bedroom spaces, the complex will encompass the former Citizen Patriot building and the building at 200 S. Jackson Street.

New construction would add apartments surrounding Beffel Lighting, 208 S. Jackson St., forming a U-shaped building.

A view of the potential footprint for the proposed Albert Kahn Apartments.

"We don't approach these projects with any kind of prototype in mind," said Sig Strautmanis, a partner with General Capital. "We think it's more fun and interesting to look at each site individually and to have something like the Cit Pat building to define the character of the project."

The Albert Kahn Apartments will include 4,000 square feet of commercial retail space on the first floor. Live/rent units backing up to Cortland Street will allow select tenants to have a small, public office connected to their living space for business.

Costs for the project total nearly $15 million, Strautmanis said. The two buildings and accompanying parking lot were sold by the Herald Publishing Company in June for just under $320,000, per city documents.

General Capital opened its first Michigan development in Paw Paw and is working on buildings in Muskegon, Benton Harbor and Niles, Strautmanis said. With the state offering incentives to projects in walkable city centers, General Capital has taken advantage.

"We like to brand them so each has a unique character and marketing campaign," Strautmanis said. "We're excited to develop something that will be unique to Jackson and to this property. You can expect it will be something edgy and fun."

Who's eligible to live there?

The low- and moderate-income apartments have income restraints. Less than half would go to people making less than 30 percent or 50 percent of the county median income, while the remaining 47 apartments go to people making 60 percent of the county median income or less.

The data will factor in 2018 numbers and vary based on the size of the household. In 2017, 60 percent of the county median income for a one-person household was $25,500, Strautmanis said.

A two-person household would have to make less than roughly $29,160, while a four-person household would be capped at roughly $36,420.

One bedroom units could cost as low as $300 a month, while higher-end two-bedroom units could range near $800 a month, Strautmanis said.

General Capital is in line for state funding since the housing is designated for low and moderate incomes. A Payment in Lieu of Taxes ordinance was approved by the Jackson City Council on Aug. 22 - helping lower property taxes for the complex. Through PILOT, the state refunds the city of Jackson for any lost taxes.

General Capital will also submit a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit proposal to the state in 2018.

"I can say without any doubt, it would be very difficult to support a project of this scope, scale and cost without the use of leverage such as the affordable housing tax credit. What it does is, it helps us buy down the cost of construction."

If the tax credit falls through, General Capital's development agreement with the city is voided.

"Quite frankly, this still has to go for (state) approval," City Manager Patrick Burtch said. "This is not something that's a done deal."

Under the development agreement, construction must commence by July 21, 2018, and the project must finish by July 31, 2019.
PORTAGE, MI -- Portage will soon be home to a steakhouse chain that is popular on the east side of Michigan.

Black Rock Bar & Grill is planning to open a new location at 420 Trade Centre Way in Portage, the company said in a press release. The location is just west of South Westnedge Avenue and north of I-94.

Construction on the 1.7-acre site is set to begin in September, but an opening date for the restaurant is yet to be determined.

Black Rock's website lists nine locations, including six in Michigan and three in Florida. The Portage location would be the first on the state's west side for Hartland, Mich.-based restaurant chain. Black Rock is also planning a location in Ann Arbor.

Black Rock's includes allowing customers to cook their own cuts of steak, from sirloin to filet, on volcanic rocks at more than 750 degrees dropped off at the customer's table.

The flagship Black Rock location was opened in Hartland in 2010, followed by a second restaurant in Novi in 2012. The company announced plans to expand across Michigan in 2015.
[August 24, 2017] ADDING and REPLACING Walmart Launches New Time-Saving Express Experience in Washington, D.C.

A footnote has been added after Express Lanes in the second paragraph, and to the end of the press release. The corrected release reads: WALMART LAUNCHES NEW TIME-SAVING EXPRESS EXPERIENCE IN WASHINGTON, D.C. Retailer Introduces Express Money Services and Offers Fee-Free Walmart2Walmart Powered by Ria Transfers For customers, time is money. Today, Walmart is announcing that Washington, D.C. customers can now use Express Money Services, the first of two Express services rolling out this year to help busy customers save even more time in-store. A similar express experience for Pharmacy customers is expected to launch later this year. Express Money Services is a new feature in the Walmart app that is combined with in-store Express Lanes* to help expedite customers' Money Services transactions. To celebrate its launch, Walmart is waiving fees on Walmart2Walmart domestic money transfers initiated using the Walmart App in all stores through September 30, 2017 - saving customers $4 to $16 per transaction and time spent in line at the store. "We want to make every day easier for busy Washington, D.C. families, and offering a seamless shopping experience for Money Transfers makes this a reality," said Kirsty Ward, vice president, Walmart Services. "The new experience is faster for both associates and customers, and with our offer to send funds fee-free via Walmart2Walmart using Express Money Services, there's no better time to try our unique service." Customers using Express Money Services will enjoy a dramatically faster, easier and more convenient experience using the Walmart App. Previously, customers needed to fill out lengthy money transfer paperwork in stores; now, this work can be done while at home or on-the-go using the Walmart App. Once at the store, customers can now fast-track through a dedicated Express Lane to quickly complete their transaction. With the help of the ap, they simply scan a QR code at the debit reader with their smartphone and pay the cashier; receipts and transaction details are saved electronically - helping to make future transactions even more convenient. The app upgrade also allows customers to easily send pickup information to receivers through email or text message.



Express Money Services is initially available for domestic and international money transfers and will expand to include bill payments and check cashing. Walmart introduced its groundbreaking money transfer service, Walmart2Walmart, three years ago with the goal of bringing customers dramatically lower costs and a simpler money transfer experience. Since that time, millions of Walmart customers have enjoyed more than half a billion dollars in fee savings using this service.

Access this link to use b-roll with permission from Walmart. About Walmart Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) helps people around the world save money and live better - anytime and anywhere - in retail stores, online, and through their mobile devices. Each week, over 260 million customers and members visit our 11,695 stores under 59 banners in 28 countries and e-commerce websites in 11 countries. With fiscal year 2017 revenue of $485.9 billion, Walmart employs approximately 2.3 million associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting http://corporate.walmart.com on Facebook (News - Alert) at http://facebook.com/walmart and on Twitter (News - Alert) at http://twitter.com/walmart. Ria is the licensed money transfer operator for all Walmart2Walmart domestic money transfer transactions. Walmart acts as the authorized agent of Ria. Ria is a registered trademark of Continental Exchange Solutions, Inc. dba Ria Financial Services, licensed as a Money Transmitter by the Department of Financial Services of the State of New York; licensed by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance, NMLS ID 920968, LICENSE NUMBER 18943; and authorized independently or through its affiliate, Ria Financial Services Puerto Rico, Inc. OCIF LICENSE NUMBER TM-031, to operate as a Money Transmitter in all United States' jurisdictions where it conducts business. *Express Lanes available in the vast majority of Walmart stores View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170824005654/en/

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Tata Motors is still looking for partnership with other global automobile companies for its new advanced modular platform (AMP) despite talks with VW group firm Skoda failing to fructify, according to company Managing Director and CEO Guenter Butschek.

The homegrown auto major is seeking to share its new vehicle platform AMP with potential partner to bring volume and create economies of scale, while also creating access to new technologies keeping in mind future opportunities in the Indian market, he said.

"We are still seeking for opportunities ... We are still open and we are still elaborating opportunities ... We are open for all kind of collaborations," Butschek told PTI.

He, however, said there are no particular companies to name as potential partner at present. Earlier this month, Tata Motors and Skoda decided not to pursue their proposed long-term partnership due to feasibility issues, just over four months after they had entered into the agreement.

He said from a technical feasibility point of view, there would have been a 'lot of good reasons' to continue with the VW/Sokda partnership but "it was not only about technical feasibility in terms of product attributes, cost and rate and performance".

"It was also about certain expected financial thresholds, seeming opportunities, leveraging the volume and bringing economies of scale to the two of us. Where at the end of all of the discussion, we were on both sides short against initial expectations," Butschek said.

He further said Tata Motors' motive behind seeking a partner for AMP was to share the platform to bring volume and create economies of scale, create access to "new technologies in the future where we see opportunities and needs in the Indian market".

"This has not changed because we can accomplish a lot by leveraging on AMP for different tophead across different segments," Butschek said when asked if Tata Motors was still open to partnering other global automobile companies.

Stressing on the need for such a collaboration, he said: "We expect a lot of as far as volume perspective is concerned in future since the market is expected to rapidly grow in the next ten years but we will not get anywhere close to the volume game as displayed by the competition."

In February Tata Motors had announced that it planned to launch new vehicles on its AMP from 2018 and reduce the number of vehicle platform to two from the current six. It is looking to deliver 7-8 product variants from the two platforms. As far as partnership with Skoda is concerned, he said the "story has been formally suspended".

"It does not mean that we don't find other projects where we could cooperate. As far as AMP is concerned, we have made up our mind. We have decided to go with AMP. Skoda is going to go ahead with MQB platform," he added.

Based on the now suspended alliance with Skoda, Tata Motors had planned to launch products in the Indian market starting calendar year 2019. On the other hand Skoda Auto was to take the lead on behalf of the Volkswagen Group to drive forward work towards development of vehicle concepts in the economy segment.
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The Notice calling the Thirty fifth Annual General Meeting of the Member of the Company scheduled to be held on Friday, the 15th September ,2017 at 9.30 A.M. at 18, Rabindra Sarani, Poddar Court, Gate No.4, 4th Floor, Room no.3, Kolkata-700001, Containing the Business to be Transacted thereat, is attached herewith.As per Section 108 of the Companies Act, 2013 read with Rule 20 of the Companies (Management and Administration) Rules, 2014 and amendments there to and Regulation 44 of the SEBI (Listing Obligation and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, the Company is Providing to its Member the Facility to cast their vote by electronic means on all resolutions set forth in the Notice. The Instruction for e-voting is mentioned in the said Notice.Source : BSE

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Sub: AGM related InformationRef: CRANESSOFT  EQWe wish to inform you the following:The Annual General Meeting of the Company is scheduled to be held on Thursday 28th September, 2017 at 10:30 AM, at Bangalore.Please take notice that the Register of Members & Share Transfer Books, will remain closed from 23rd September, 2017 to 28th September, 2017 (both days inclusive) for the above purpose.Drafts of Notice for the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Members of the Company and Directors' Report were considered and Mr Asif Khader, MD was authorized to finalize these documents.The present auditors M/s. S Janardhan & Co, retire by rotation, in terms of section 139(2), on completion of their term of office and the new firm M/s. Sethia Prabhad Hegde & Co, is hereby proposed to be appointed, in place of the retiring auditors.We request you to kindly take note of the same and acknowledge receipt.Source : BSE

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This is to inform you that Company has signed a Joint Venture Agreement with Francisco Albero S.A.U., Spain to manufacture and supply Oxygen Censors to the Indian automotive industry.Source : BSE

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Pursuant to provisions of Regulations 30 & 47 of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements ), Regulations 2015, we submit herewith the copy of Notice alongwith newspaper advertisement clippings for convening the 29th Annual General Meeting of the Members of the Company scheduled to be held on Monday , the 18th September, 2017 at 11.00 A.M at the Registered Office of the Company.The same have been sent to the shareholders of the Company through e-mail/post.This is for your kind information and record pleaseSource : BSE

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Sudarshan Sukhani of s2analytics.com told CNBC-TV18, "We are going to see a minor buzz on the upside starting with Ashok Leyland where a dip or a sharp correction seems to be finding support, so it is a buying opportunity here, as usual if the stock closes strong, carry it forward."

"A lot of public sector undertaking (PSU) banks are suggesting at least a minor double bottom is in place and a rally is going to continue. So, Canara Bank is a buying opportunity for me but it is not alone, Allahabad Bank and Bank of Baroda have similar patterns. So PSU bank is a theme that could play out today."

"HDFC did not correct. It is in a world of its own. It is a buying opportunity. As it now breaks and tries to make lifetime new high, it's just a little shy of that. It had a good day yesterday," he said.

"Vedanta is also on the verge of another breakout on the upside. It had an excellent day yesterday and is an outperformer among metal stocks. It is a buying opportunity."

"So there are four buys and to balance out, Cummins India had a dismal chart. It had two sharp rallies both were sold into. It's on the verge of breaking on the downside. It's a short sell."

"Two midcap stocks - Blue Dart Express and Finolex Cables are for buying."
Mitessh Thakkar of miteshthacker.com told CNBC-TV18, "Kajaria Ceramics has opened with a gap up, that should see some more traction in the coming few days. I would buy that with a stop loss of Rs 652 for targets of around Rs 695."

Bharat Electronics (BEL) is a buy as well. Keep a stop loss at Rs 181, look for target of Rs 195," he said.
After Vishal Sikka, Infosys' chairman R Seshasayee is planning to leave, sources told CNBC-TV18. Seshasayee is unhappy with the recent course of events at the company and is planning to move on.

Not only Seshasayee, but co-chairman Ravi Venkatesan is also exploring options to move on. Both Seshasayee and Venkatesan will make a decision on whether to carry on with the IT giant in coming few days.

The sources further said that both of them have assured the top command that they will leave only when the situation at Infosys stablizes.

Infosys will also appoint a search panel soon to oversee CEO selection and board re-composition. The panel may consist of founders, board members and outside business leaders.

On August 17, Vishal Sikka resigned as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Infosys with immediate effect.

The CEO selection process is likely to be completed within four months.

The company's top 10 clients of the company have written to the board expressing concern over the ongoing turbulence in the company. Clients seek clarity on the appointment of new CEO and other operational matters.

On Wednesday, a CNBC-TV18 source-based report said that Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani could return as the head.

Infosys told CNBC-TV18 that they do not have further updates on the issue. The company said in case of developments, it will inform the media and will refrain from making comments on speculations and rumors.
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Hit by a major technical glitch this week, Bank of Barodas thousands of customers found their savings and current accounts wrongly debited with charges, especially for NEFT and RTGS transactions.

The bank sent out a statement to its customers on Tuesday clarifying that the process of upgrading its core banking software has led to the glitch and has asked its customers not to panic. The bank said it is resolving the technical issues arising from the migration of customers to the newer system.

"The upgradation exercise went through smoothly during the weekend over August 12-13, 2017Considering the massive scale and magnitude of the upgradation, there have been some glitches in the NEFT/ RTGS [transactions] and outward clearing related transactions, which have been addressed by our team on a war footing basis around the clock and have largely been fixed ever since. Intermittently, there have been challenges such as the speed of the systems, which we are currently addressing; we expect this process to be completed during the course of this week. We have also communicated to our customers via SMS, notices in newspapers and communication on the bank's website," the bank said on its website.

Approximately 8,300 accounts were also impacted on August 12, 2017 on account of an erroneous debit of service charges that were not due from the customers. These charges have since been reversed and impacted customers have been duly informed via SMS on August 20, 2017.

The total amount debited is yet to be known but it is reported to have been lakhs of rupees on a cumulative basis.

While emails sent to the banks CEO and MD PS Jayakumar and communications department remained unanswered, a senior Bank of Baroda official said, "Some of the over 70 million customers who migrated to the new system have faced auto debit of money from their accounts. Some are savings, current and NRI accounts. We are crediting the wrongly debited money back to the customers."

Speaking to Moneycontrol, a bank customer from Vadodara in Gujarat said: "I was shocked to see multiple debits of Rs 16 and Rs 17 from my account. I was confused because I hadnt done many transactions. The bank has assured it will reverse the charges."

The banks 24X7 contact centre has been providing the requisite information to customer queries arising out of system issues that may have had an impact on certain transactions, according to the bank.

The bank can be reached at:

1800 22 33 44 and 1800 102 44 55+91 22 6698 3049 and +91 22 6698 3070+9170202 32131 and +91 98338 62638cbssupport@bankofbaroda.com
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Britannia Industries plans investment of Rs 100 crore to capture 50 percent of the premium biscuits market within two years.

According to a Livemint report, a company executive said Britannia aims to remake the Pure Magic, Bourbon, and Treat brands to stimulate its flat growth.

Britannias Marketing Vice President Ali Harris Shere told Mint that discretionary marketing and pricing are the key areas of focus.

Cream biscuits, which currently constitute only 7.5 percent of Britannias total revenue, take away close to 30-40 percent of its total advertising budget.

Of the Rs 100 crore, Rs 50 crore will be earmarked for the 'Treat' brand. This involves a new packaging and biscuit design, new chocolate and vanilla flavors and a television advertisement campaign, set to launch in a weeks time. The Treat brand is expected to hit an additional 200,000 stores in India, including rural stores of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Britannias net profit for the quarter ended 30 June fell 1.4 percent from a year earlier to Rs 216 crore.

The company is also looking to clear its inventory and cover up its losses following the rollout of the Goods and Services (GST) taxes, which hurt earnings.
Ashok Gajapati Raju

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As the government charts out Air India's disinvestment, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju today said he would not like the national carrier to "go the Kingfisher way" and people losing jobs.

Air India, which is surviving on taxpayers' money, has been in the red for long but managed to eke out an operational profit of Rs 105 crore in 2015-16. A group of ministers, where Raju is also a member, is looking at the modalities for disinvestment of the national airline.

Noting that Air India has really worked well in the past few years, he said the whole idea of privatisation is to have a vibrant airline.

"We don't set timelines. We have some indications within us and we hope that we will stick to it," Raju said in reply to a query about tentative timeline for the disinvestment.

On whether Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) would be offered to Air India employees, he said personally he would like the airline to be vibrant and "not go the Kingfisher way or something like everybody has gone home and nobody has employment".

Bogged down by financial woes, Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines went belly up in 2012.

"I had already interacted with the press and what did I say, if you can find me a 'bakra' (scapegoat) who is willing to give me Rs 50,000 or 60,000 crore... I am not searching for bakras but actually I am searching for proper investors and proper investors means a reasonably decent balance sheet," Raju said.

His remarks came in response to a question on whether Air India's debt would be waived off.

The carrier has a debt burden of more than Rs 50,000 crore.

To a query about the government recently deciding to withdraw certain privileges extended to RJD chief and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, the minister did not provide a direct reply, saying anything has to have a reasoning.

Last month, the government withdrew the tarmac access given to the vehicle of Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi at Patna airport.

"Anything has to have a reasoning. Now what is the reasoning... At the time of independence we had a privileged class with privileges. Today, we don't have that.

"... Now for instance as civil aviation minister, I am not checked in India because nobody in India believes that the civil aviation minister is a threat to the civil aviation sector... that resulted in a very unusual thing of me having a matchbox in my pocket," Raju quipped.

Asked about the preparations for the upcoming audit by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) later this year, Raju said it is going on.

"We are hoping that we will come out with flying colours. We need to keep our rating high and in fact second to none in the world," he said.
ExxonMobil misled public for years regarding climate change even when its own research papers acknowledged the threat, claims a recently published research paper.

The company has been in hot water after it was claimed that it had tried to raise doubts about the authenticity of science regarding climatic change through its ads and campaigns. All this when the company had internally accepted the fact that the human activities are leading to global warming.

Science historian Naomi Oreskes and Harvard researcher Geoffrey Supran have published, as per a Wired report, the first comprehensive analysis of the companys communications for the past four decades in their paper Assessing ExxonMobils Climate Change Communications, which was published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

The study analysed 187 documents of the company regarding climate change circulated between 1977 and 2014. Of this 83 percen, peer reviewed scientific literature and 80 percent internal document acknowledged the problem was man-made.

60 percent of ExxonMobils peer-reviewed papers and 53 percent of its internal documents acknowledge serious impacts of climate change and global warming. A 1982 internal document lists flooding and sea level rise and a 2002 paper lists coral reef bleaching and the disintegration of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet among them.

But when it came to the ads it took an altogether different approach. Of the total advertisements Exxon published in The New York Times between 1989 and 2004, 81 percent expressed doubt about the scientific findings regarding the topic, while only a tenth acknowledged the scientific reality.

The study also stated that the oil giant had misinformed the public about the long term viability of oil reserves.

However, a report in The Guardian stated that the company, which has always denied the allegations have deemed the new study as inaccurate and preposterous.

Our statements have been consistent with our understanding of climate science, said ExxonMobil's spokesman Scott Silvestri. He further added that the researchers were trying to attack the companys reputation at the expense of the shareholders
accusing it of promoting Google Shopping in organic search results while simultaneously demoting rival services.

Moneycontrol News

James Damore, the engineer who was fired from Google for writing a ten-page memo blasting Googles left bias that was critical of the companys hiring policy, has now put matters a notch higher by bringing on board a lawyer who happens to be a member of the Republican National Committee, multiple media reports claim.

Indian-origin Harmeet Dhillon on Tuesday had confirmed that Damore is his client.

Dhillon said to CNN that she will represent Damore in the process related to a complaint he had filed at Google with the National Labor Relations Board.

Also Read: Google memo writer feels he empowered women, compares situation to being gay in 1950s

Dhillon is well known for her work with the Republican Party. She was also under consideration to lead the civil rights decision in President Trumps Justice Department.

Damore, who had previously termed Google as a psychologically unsafe environment, has stated he has no political inclinations to the Right wing in the US.

After he was fired August 7 for violating Googles code of conduct by perpetuating gender stereotypes, Damore said other ex-Googlers told him they had been fired for similar reasons.



We represent Google employees terminated for violating Google's rigid PC codes. https://t.co/GwYcY21UYV

 Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) August 23, 2017

On its official website, Dhillons law firm has asked current or former Google employees whether they have experienced any shady or illegal employment practices or not.

Dhillon is reportedly exploring all possible avenues by gathering information about working conditions at the search giants office, particularly targeting those whose views are different than Googles political orthodoxy.

Also Read: Fired Google employee James Damore takes up queries on Reddit

Google has denied Damores allegation that its hiring practices are illegal. The company said Damore was fired for violating the companys code of conduct and advancing harmful gender stereotypes in our workplace.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai himself condemned parts of the essay, which stated that women are not well-represented in tech due to biological reasons, also stating that it violated the companys code of conduct by advancing harmful stereotypes in our workplace.

Damores memo has become a flashpoint of political conflict as different groups have taken his side, with right-leaning ones supporting his stand and those on the Left calling him sexist.
The first signs of an improved investor sentiment for Infosys showed on Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as the IT company's American depositary receipt (ADR) surged over 1 percent soon after the appointment of Nandan Nilekani as Chairman.

The company's ADR saw an uptick of over 1 percent to intraday highs of USD 15.04 post the announcement. At the time of publishing this report, it was trading at levels of USD 14.96 on the NYSE.

Back home on the Indian bourses, Nilekani's return is likely to bring some cheer to company's stock which got battered after Vishal Sikka announced his exit last week.

Nandan Nilekani makes a comeback to Infosys as a non-executive, non-independent director and chairman of the Board of Directors.

I am happy to return to Infosys, now in the role of non-executive chairman, and look forward to working with my colleagues on the Board and in executive management on the business opportunities we see before us and delivering benefits to our clients, shareholders, employees and communities," Nilekani said in a statement.

"I thank Vishal for his service as the CEO of Infosys over the last 3 years and wish him well in his future endeavors," he added.

The release also said the company's board has accepted the resignations of Vishal Sikka, R Seshasayee, Jeffrey S Lehman, John Etchemendy, and Ravi Venkatesan.
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Hospital chain Narayana Health (formerly known as Narayana Hrudayalaya) said it will hike the prices of angioplasty packages shortly as the government embargo period of six months ended this month.

"When the government came out with the directive of control on stent pricing they suggested that for six months the prices of procedures can not be changed, and we followed that in letter and spirit," said Dr Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, Vice Chairman, Managing Director and Group CEO at Narayana Health to Moneycontrol on sidelines of an industry event in Mumbai.

"We would definitely have the procedure prices revised upwards," Raghuvanshi said.

A stent is a tiny expandable metal scaffold to open up narrowed or weakened arteries to ensure blood flow preventing heart attacks. The minimally invasive procedure to put stent in the artery is called angioplasty.

The Indian drug price regulator - the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) -- in February imposed a ceiling on the prices of coronary stents citing huge unethical markups at each stage of the supply chain.

The price caps brought down the prices of stents by as much as 85 percent. The widely used drug eluting stent (DES) price was fixed at Rs 29,600, exclusive of GST.

The price control of stents hit hospital bottom-lines as realisations on stents went down significantly while the volumes largely remained static.

Now hospitals are trying to recoup a further slide in revenues by raising package costs that include doctor consultation fee, anesthesia charges, facility and room rents, food, medicines and other consumables.

An angioplasty package costs anywhere between Rs 1 and 3 lakh depending upon hospital to hospital, number of stents and type of stent, facility, type of room and the location.

Raghuvanshi said prices caps on stents brought down the angioplasty cost by 10-12 percent.

Narayana Health, which makes little over 40 percent of its revenues from cardiac services, was also hit by the price control on stents.

The company expects it would lose about Rs 40-45 crore in revenues due to stent price control in FY18, directly impacting its margins and profits.

In pre-price control regime hospitals had margins of 50 to 60 percent on stents and in some cases by about 100 percent, whereas the procedure prices were kept low.

"We basically want to sort of remove the anomaly of where the procedure prices have typically been priced low and material prices were priced higher," Raghuvanshi said.

Even the introduction of Goods and Service Taxes pushed the costs of hospitals, Raghuvanshi said.

While healthcare services are exempt from GST, all other materials and services consumed by hospitals saw an increase in taxes to the tune of 3 percent.

Narayana Health said the impact of NPPA's recent move to cap the prices of ortho knee implants is negligable.

"For us it is orthopedic constitutes 4-7 percent depending on various centres; as such the margins on joints were not that huge compared to stents," Raghuvanshi said.

Founded by renowned cardiac surgeon Devi Prasad Shetty in 2000, Narayana Health has a network of 23 hospitals and seven heart centres across the country with a bed capacity of 7000.

Narayana Health which has acquired Gurgaon-based multi-speciality hospital NewRise Healthcare from drug maker Panacea Biotec for Rs 180 crore in April said it's constantly evaluating various assets for acquisitions, leasing and public private partnership opportunities in the geographies where it is already present to deepen its business.
Infosys non-executive chairman R. Seshasayee speaks during a news conference in Mumbai, India, February 13, 2017. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui - RTSYGP3

In yet another turn of events at Infosys, R Seshasayee stepped down as the IT bellwether's Chairman and Director of the board Thursday evening.

Nandan Nilekani has been roped in as the companys co-founder, as non-executive, non-independent director and chairman of the Board of Infosys, in a dramatic turn of events in the very public battle between the board and founders continues.

Infosys also said it had accepted the resignation Vishal Sikka, who was the executive vice chairman and board director, with immediate effect.

"Under Nandan, Infosys will build a cohesive management team that will no doubt take the Company to a leadership position in the industry," Seshasayee said.

"I believe these changes will infuse further confidence to the stakeholders in executing the transition plan and in reinforcing the strategy for the future. I am confident our employees and customers will join me in welcoming Nandan to the Company," he added.

Prior to the announcement, reports suggested that Seshasayee is unhappy with the recent course of events at the company and was planning to move on.

A chartered accountant by profession started his career in 1971 with what was then called Hindustan Lever.

Seshasayee, an industry veteran had joined Ashok Leyland in 1976 where he rose among the ranks to become the Executive Director (Finance) by 1983. He was then elevated to Deputy Managing Director by 1993 and became the Managing Director in 1998.

The investment management specialist became the Executive Vice Chairman of the automotive giant in 2011, and remained the Non-Executive Vice Chairman, until July 2016.

At Ashok Leyland, Seshasayee led the company's transformation into a global leader through globalisation and diversification. He led the company to a series of acquisitions and joint ventures.

During during his tenure as Managing Director, the company's turnover increased five times from Rs 2,045 crore to Rs 12,093 crore while the net profit grew 30 times and the market cap grew 14-fold.

The 69-year-old has been the Chairman of the Infosys Board since 2011 and has also been the Chairman of IndusInd Bank since 2007 along with Asian Paints.

Besides the two, he had also served on the Board of ICICI Bank from 1997 to 2003.

During 2006-2007, Seshasayee served as the President of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

He has also been a member of several Government of India delegations, including the one at Doha Ministerial Round of the World Trade Organisation in 2001 and the Hong Kong Ministerial in 2005, besides being the Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum  Middle East in 2007.

He was bestowed with the Star of Italian Solidarity award by the Italian Government and the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
nandan-nilekani-infosys_slide_44142497

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The Infosys boardroom battle has all the makings of a soap opera. From a nagging mother-in-law who always has her way to a perpetually distressed daughter-in-law who is finally thrown out, the company has seen it all. It now enters a new phase where a senior family member is invited to set the house in order.

Reports say that Nandan Nilekani, a Co-founder, is set to return to Infosys as a Non-executive Chairman soon. Nilekani, it is said, needed some nudging from some board members of Infosys after domestic mutual funds made it clear that they were in favour of him taking interim charge to restore the confidence of stakeholders in the company.

The letter signed by 12 domestic mutual fund official and insurance companies was addressed to the Board of Infosys. The letter said that Nilekani enjoys the confidence of various stakeholders viz, customers, shareholders, and employees. Given his credentials, Nilekani is best positioned to resolve the contentious issues that the company is facing, says the letter.

The real reason for calling back Nilekani was mentioned in a quote of a senior fund manager in a newspaper report: There is a consensus among all of us that Nilekani is the best man for the job because no credible professional will join Infosys at this juncture.

Interference by the co-promoters who collectively own only 12 percent of Infosys has exposed the workings of Infosys, where no professional would like to work in a scenario where he feels every decision of his will be publicly dissected.

Domestic funds are right in calling back Nilekani as only one of the co-promoters should be made to clear the mess that they themselves have created.

Other reports say that the entire board of Infosys is willing to quit, barring two independent directors, as Nilekani wants to start with a clean slate. This, too, is an obvious fallout since neither the promoters nor the board or the investors has the stomach to participate in another round of the tussle between the two sides. Legacy issues need to be pushed under the carpet, for now.

Nilekani, it is said, will be joining Infosys with a time-bound mandate of achieving predetermined goals. His job, the promoters would like us to believe, is to bring corporate governance in the company back to its earlier level.

However, the resignation of the existing board would mean that the new set of directors would be viewed by the market to be more pliable to the promoters. Irrespective of their independence, the new members will have a tag of being promoter-approved.

While this might ensure a smooth running of the company, it is important to note the reason why Vishal Sikka was brought in the first place. Sikkas entry was at a time when the company was in need of a business focus and drastic measures were needed to rein in the attrition rate as one in every five employees was quitting the company as per its quarterly data.

One of the first things that markets, and more importantly, the institutional investors would like to know is whether Nilekani would continue the business model crafted by Sikka or would he like to try a new model. Going back to the cost-arbitrage model that worked when the promoters were at the helm would not be taken positively by the market as that approach is fast approaching its sell-by date.

One parameter of how effective Nilekani is in controlling Infosys could be the attrition rate of the company by the December 2017 and March 2018 quarters. Another would be retaining old clients and new client additions.

While Nilekanis entry might sound like an anti-climax to the soap opera, there is enough spice left in the story. Witch-hunting and finding faults in decisions taken by the earlier team and clarifications on Narayana Murthys allegations will keep viewers riveted to their seats and TRPs in good health.

But markets do not like sob stories, they prefer a happy ending ever quarter. Nilekani should know it: he has been there and done that.
Kalpataru Power Transmission | Company incorporated wholly owned subsidiary in Republic Of Senegal.

India's largest power transmission company Sterlite Power Grid Ventures Ltd will invest around $1 billion per year in the next few years to build power lines in Brazil, a source with direct knowledge of the plan told Reuters on Wednesday.

The source, who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak publicly about the plan, said Sterlite is looking to build a large portfolio of power transmission projects in Brazil as part of a long-term strategy in the country. Sterlite is also a major manufacturer of equipment for the electricity industry.
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India's second largest information technology company, Infosys has invited State Bank of India Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya to join its board, as per a report by Fortune India.

Bhattacharya, who is due to retire as SBI Chairman this October, had reportedly received offers from other companies as well, but Infosys was first in the race. She was offered the position on Infosys' board just 10 days before the company got struck by crisis following the resignation CEO Vishal Sikka.

Infosys already has 3 women members on its board, Roopa Kudva, MD of Omidyar Network India Advisors and Omidyar Network partner, Punita Kumar-Sinha, Founder and Managing Partner at Pacific Paradigm Advisors, and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairperson and Managing Director of Biocon.

Bhattacharya became the first woman to head State Bank of India in 2013. She tops the list of Fortune Indias Most Powerful women List, the only such ranked list in the country and has been ranked 25th by Forbes magazine in the worlds 100 most powerful women list,

She is said to enjoy the support of both founders and the current board. Her appointment marks the fourth instance of a woman being put on the companys board.

Email sent by Fortune to Bhattacharyas office did not elicit any response.

She will be required to wait for the mandatory cooling period before taking up any private assignments.
* Nilekani says he will personally review recent investigations

* Vishal Sikka says bringing Nilekani back an 'excellent idea'

20:48 Here's a summary of what Sikka said about Nilekani's return and reports of him joining HP.

20:16 Sikka says the Board had insisted he stay back after quitting as CEO for the sake of continuity and succession. But when Nilekani agreed to come back, he felt it was necessary to give him a free hand, so resigning from Infosys altogether would be the best option.

20:08 "Nilekani is a great man and I am sure the company will thrive going forward," says Sikka.

20:02 Will Sikka become an entrepreneur? For sure, he says.

19:56 I want to take some time and think about the lessons I've learnt from the last three years at Infosys: Sikka

19:54 Nandan is an extraordinary leader and an iconic man, says Sikka.

19:51 Sikka says he is keen to take some time off and is not looking to take up a job immediately.

19:49 On the decision not to make the Panaya investigation report public, Sikka says it was the Board's mandate. He calls the probe a "nonsensical detour".

19:45 He says there is no truth to rumours that he will be joining Hewlett Packard. Reports had suggested that he would take up the CTO role at the firm.

19:43 Sikka says he made no specific comments on Narayana Murthy. He was referring to the generally "vitiated atmosphere".

19:40 Infosys Board insisted that I stay back, says Sikka.

19:38 Resigned because I felt I couldn't do the job anymore, says Sikka. Says he offered to quit as executive vice-chairman because he felt it was in the best interests of all concerned so that Nilekani could have a free hand and it also meant that the succession process would be complete.

19:36 Vishal Sikka speaking now to CNBC-TV18. Says he thought it was a brilliant idea to bring Nilekani back.

19:12 How will the markets react to the developments in the last 24 hours? We'll have to wait till Monday, but experts say Nilekani's return should see Infosys jump 7-10 percent on Monday.

18:38 That's it from the investor call. Nilekani has spoken at length over the last 90 minutes but we still have no clarity on why several Board members resigned yesterday.

18:34 On Infosys' relationship with Murthy: Iconic founders have always had a relationship with the company, whether formal or informal. Murthy is very much in that league. I will seek his advice and inputs. But I do have an obligation to look at the company from all complex stakeholder angles. The Board will have the final say.

18:32 We have received emails from candidates interested in taking up the CEO role, he says.

18:29 "I have come here to take stock and go forward," Nilekani says on investor call.

18:26 Nilekani says Infosys' legal team will take a look at the class action lawsuits.

18:24 Strategy will be in place by October. We are fully aware of what we need to do to make sure investors are on board with our decisions, says Nilekani.

18:22 Will ensure Infosys gets back its iconic status, he says.

18:17 Murthy among shareholders who asked me to take up this assignment, says Nilekani.

18:14 Murthy is a transformational leader and a visionary, says Nilekani, listing out his fellow co-founder's achievements. "I owe my professional success to him," he says.

18:11 The investor call has begun. Nilekani says his experience with Aadhaar and global trends in technology will hold him in good stead in his new role.

18:04 Read the full text of the Infosys press release in which it regretted earlier comments on Narayana Murthy.

17:57 The press conference has ended. Nilekani will address an investor call in a few minutes.

17:52 Murthy is the father of corporate governance in India, says Nilekani.

17:49 Nilekani says he is committed to reviewing recent investigations with an unbiased mind.

17:45 I will not run this company based on comments on Twitter and TV channels, says Nilekani.

17:43 Asked about who first approached him to return to Infosys, Nilekani says the answer is best left for a novel.

17:40 Expect Prahlad and Ravi Venkatesan to do a great deal of the heavy lifting, says Nilekani.

17:38 My return to Infosys is also a form of national service, he says.

17:36 Nilekani says there is no time-limit on his appointment as non-executive Chairman.

17:34 Asked whether everything is hunky-dory at Infosys now, Nilekani says yes.

17:32 Nilekani says he plans to be at Infosys for as long as required. "I have had a record of doing things successfully," he said.

17:30 Nilekani reiterates that he has returned to Infosys to represent "100%" of the stakeholders.

17:28 DN Prahlad has been appointed as the Chairman of Edgeverve Limited with immediate effect.

17:27 I would like to think that I am here not just because I am a co-founder, says Nilekani.

17:25 Nilekani says a firm has been appointed to look for a new CEO. A committee will also look into the governance structure of the Board.

17:23 A sub-committee of the board will seek feedback from investors and shareholders on corporate governance issues.

17:21 Nilekani says he will receive a full briefing on recent investigations including the Panaya acquisition.

17:20 Reading from a press release, Nilekani says it is unfortunate that there were disagreements between the Board and co-founder Narayana Murthy. It wishes to state that it was not the Board's intention to cause any personal distress, anguish.

17:17 A board meeting of Infosys took place this morning.at which they resolved to reboot the company's strategy in October.

17:15 "Our immediate priority is to have stability and make sure the management and the whole board are back to what they should be doing," says Nilekani.

17:12 Nilekani says the transition is officially complete after two board meetings.

17:10 I am here to help everybody, says Nilekani.

17:09 "I am back here because there was no one else," jokes Nilekani.

17:07 Nilekani says he was unanimously invited at Thursday's board meeting to join the Board as non-executive Chairman.

17:00 The press conference is set to begin now. Nilekani and Pravin Rao are having a chat before taking the stage.

16:55 Nandan Nilekani will address a press conference at 5pm.

16:20 Interim CEO UB Pravin Rao has sent out an email to employees welcoming back "Employee No.0002" Nandan Nilekani. Read the full text here.

15:46 The unanimous decision of the board (to appoint Nilekani as non-executive chairman) reflects the confidence every one of us had in his credible leadership to steer Infosys out of these troubled time," says Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw.

15:10 What next for Vishal Sikka? Is he heading to Hewlett Packard as CTO? Read more here.

14:27 Stay tuned for the media interaction and the second conference call due today.

11:53 Balakrishnan further says that Vishal Sikka leaving Infosys because of Narayana Murthy is a 'big lie' and opines that Nandan should retract the statement made by the Infosys board on NRN Murthy.

11:25 Speaking to CNBC-TV18, former Infosys CEO V Balakrishnan says that there are a lot of good and eligible alumni that can fill the CEO post at Infosys.

11:12 In his closing statement, Nilekani thanks investors for attending the call and apologizes for 'yanking them' out of their long weekend. With this the first investor call comes to an end. There will be another one at 6:00 IST for global investors.

10:51 Will take every effort to ensure that business performance is intact, see no disruption in near term: Nandan Nilekani

10:50 Nandan Nilekani says Vishal Sikka felt it was the appropriate time for him to exit Infosys entirely.

10:46 For the post of CEO "we are looking at internal candidates, external candidates and Infosys alumni," says Nilekani.

10:45 Nandan Nilekani says the company is searching for a new CEO globally and will look at right additions for the board.

10:44 Nandan Nilekani says the legal team will look at issues with respect to potential class action lawsuits.

10:37 The company will discuss business related issues with investors after the board meeting in October.

10:32 "I see my role as a holistic role which interacts with all stakeholders to take this company forward," Nilekani says.

10:31 This company will be a board managed company: Nilekani

10:28 Mr Murthy is one of the iconic visionaries of India, you can think of him as a father of corporate governance in India: Nilekani

10:23 Speaking to investors, Nilekani says that there was universal acceptance on him joining back the company. "I was invited by the board unanimously and also I have the full support of the founders, Mr Narayana Murthy," he says.

10:18 Nandan Nilekani starts the first investor call after coming back to Infosys.

23:08 We'll bring you live updates from the two investor calls at 10 am and 6 pm tomorrow along with the Press Conference at 4 pm. Stay tuned to Moneycontrol for more updates.

22:02 Nandan Nilekani says happy to return to Infosys, now in the role of non-executive chairman. I wish Vishal Sikka well in his future endeavours, he adds.

22:02 R Seshasayee says Nandan Nilekani is the ideal leader for Infosys at this stage in the cos development.

Vishal Sikka says in Nandan, we have found an ideal leader to manage transition. Nandan's appointment to help guide Infosys to new frontiers of success, he adds.

22:33 Nandan Nilekani: The man who was a true technocrat. Here is his full profile.

22:30 Nilekani took over as the CEO from Founder NR Narayana Murthy in 2002, and stayed on in the role until 2007. He was succeeded by S Gopalakrishnan.

22:27 An electrical engineer from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Nandan Nilekani co-founded Infosys in 1981, and went on to hold several positions at the company, including that of chief operating officer, CEO, president and managing director.

22:21 Infosys' ADRs rally over 1% to USD 15 on Nandan Nilekani's return. Read the full story here.

22:12 R Seshasayee steps down as Infosys Chairman: Here's all you need to know about him.

22:07 The company will continue to look for a permanent CEO.

Earlier this week, Vishal Sikka had stepped down as the CEO and UB Pravin Rao had been appointed as an interim CEO.

21:53 Nandan Nilekani returns as Chairman of Infosys: Read the full company statement.

21:49 Ravi Venkatesan resigned as the Co-Chairman of the Board, but will continue as an Independent Director.

Talking about Seshasayee, he said, "It is a great privilege to have worked with a person of such stature and dignity as Sesh. It has been an honour for the entire Board to be captained by him. His strength of character and his unwavering commitment to the Company is deeply admired by all members who have served alongside him on this Board."

21:40 Here's what you should know about Nandan Nilekani:

21:36 Major overhaul at Infosys: Nilekani to be chairman, Sikka, Seshasayee resign from Board. Here's the full report.

21:31 Resigning was one of the hardest decisions, but had to be done, says Vishal Sikka. Read the full story here.

21:22 Prof. Etchemendy, the outgoing Director of Board said, "With Vishals departure, the board and his successor will embark on a new phase in Infosys future, and I think that giving up my board seat to a new independent director is the right decision."

21:15 Analyst comments coming in now:

"Investors' confidence in the board has sunk to new depths and they want to see immediate changes. I expect them to install a new CEO and move aggressively to kickstart a fresh start for the firm. The damage is now done and the only way forward is positive, decisive change. Wipro and TCS, in particular, are lurking to target Infosys clients, creating a real panic to get their ship in order as quickly as possible. The speed of these changes this week indicates a fresh urgency to get their act together and come back fighting," Phil Fersht, CEO and Chief Analyst, HfS Research tells Moneycontrol.

21:12 Prof. Lehman, who was slated to retire from the Infosys Board in April 2018, says, With Vishal's departure, Infosys is entering into a stage in which the time demands on independent directors will be compounded even further."

"In light of the other demands on my time, I think it best if I accelerate my departure from the Board by a few months to allow a new independent director to start in this important role, he added.

21:08 Board coup at Infosys: Nilekani to be chairman, Sikka, Seshasayee resign from Board. Here's the full story.

21:06 Infosys severs all ties with Vishal Sikka, settles full and final dues. Read more here.

21:04 Outgoing Board Chairman R Seshasayee said, "Under Nandan, Infosys will build a cohesive management team that will no doubt take the Company to a leadership position in the industry."

"I believe these changes will infuse further confidence to the stakeholders in executing the transition plan and in reinforcing the strategy for the future. I am confident our employees and customers will join me in welcoming Nandan to the Company," he added.

21:00 UB Pravin Rao who appointed as the interim CEO after Vishal Sikka resigned, will continue as the Interim CEO and MD.

20:54 According to the company's declaration made to stock exchanges, the first investor call will take place at 10:00 am IST on August 25, 2017.

The second investor call will take place at 6:00 pm IST on August 25, 2017.

The dial-in numbers for the calls will be put up on the Companys investor website.

A Press conference will take place at 4:00 PM IST on August 25, 2017.

20:52 Here's what Nandan Nilekani had to say:

I am happy to return to Infosys, now in the role of non-executive chairman, and look forward to working with my colleagues on the Board and in executive management on the business opportunities we see before us and delivering benefits to our clients, shareholders, employees and communities. I thank Vishal for his service as the CEO of Infosys over the last 3 years and wish him well in his future endeavors.

Nilekani also stated that the Board will actively consider a broad based shareholder consultation process as a critical part of its overall engagement initiatives with all the stakeholders of the Company that are being taken up on a priority basis.

20:50 M Damodaran, former Chairman, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) tells CNBC-TV18 that Nilekani's first task would be to do an investor call.

20:42 Ravi Venkatesan has also resigned as the Co-Chairman of the Board with immediate effect, but will continue as an Independent Director.

20:41 Prof. Jeffrey Lehman and John Etchemendy have also resigned as the directors of the Board with immediate effect.

20:39 Welcoming Nilekani, outgoing Chairman R Seshasayee said, Nandan is the ideal leader for Infosys at this stage in the Companys development. His appointment will allow Infosys to focus on the strategic changes it needs to make in order to capitalize on the attractive opportunities in the years ahead."

20:36 Nandan Nilekani thanks Vishal Sikka for his contributions.

20:32 R Seshasayee has resigned as the Chairman of the Board and as a director on the Board with immediate effect.

Vishal Sikka has resigned as the Executive Vice-Chairman of the Board and as a Director on the Board with immediate effect.

Nandan Nilekani has been appointed as the non-executive, non-independent director and as the Chairman of the Board of Directors with immediate effect.
Infosys Chief Executive Vishal Sikka_Infosys_Vishal_Sikka_Infosys1

Infosys will cut all ties with former CEO and Managing Director Vishal Sikka. According to the companys statement, Sikka will be paid his agreed-upon severance, truly marking the end of his tenure with Indias second largest software services company.

Last week, after Sikka resigned, he had been appointed executive vice chairman of the Board, but since the new role wasnt active, the company said it would now complete all resignation formalities of the first non-co-founder CEO of the company.

Dr. Sikkas employment contract as MD and CEO as executed on April 1, 2016 and approved by the shareholders. Accordingly Dr. Sikka will receive 90 days base pay in lieu of notice of USD 246,575, a variable pay of USD 205,572 and company-paid COBRA (employee benefits) for 90 days, the company said in a statement.

It further said all equity awards outstanding as on separation date to the extent such awards are unvested will terminate on the date of separation.

All equity awards that vested during his employment with the Company will remain as vested as per the terms of the equity plan and award agreement. A separation agreement reflecting this and other terms such as a mutual release and non-disparagement obligation has been approved by the Board, the statement added.

Nandan Nilekani, the new chairman of the Board, said the Board will actively consider a broad based shareholder consultation process as a critical part of its overall engagement initiatives with all the stakeholders of the Company that are being taken up on a priority basis.

Infosys had earlier said that if he had run the course at the company as EVC, Sikka would have received USD 1 as his salary until he stayed. It had also said Sikka will not receive his severance package because his resignation does not fulfil the clauses laid out in his agreement.
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Mahindra Agri Solutions Ltd is expecting its turnover to almost double to Rs 1,500 crore in the current fiscal on new product launches, good monsoon and business acquisition in Europe, a top company official said today.

Part of the Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, it today launched an advanced insecticide 'Tromph' to be used mainly in rice and cotton crops and aims to have 20 per cent share in this Rs 150 crore segment, its MD & CEO Ashok Sharma said.

"We expect our turnover to almost double at about Rs 1,500 crore this financial year from Rs 800 crore last year. Out of total turnover, Rs 500 crore would come from Europe business," he told PTI.

It had acquired majority stake in Netherlands-based OFD Holding BV, which is into the fruit distribution business.

On the new insecticide, he said Tromph is designed to kill insects in paddy and some other crops.

The molecule belongs to 3rd Generation technology and is a leading solution for key pests across the world. Tromph will be marketed and sold in India by Mahindra Agri Solutions.

It has been launched from Karnal in Haryana and will soon be introduced in other important markets in west and south India.

"Tromph is an advanced insecticide that has been developed to kill the insect pests that infect various crops such as rice, cotton, chillies, vegetables and fruits like mangoes. It helps farmers protect their crops from insects like the Brown Plant Hopper, known to severely damage rice, and also from the sucking pest in cotton," the company said.

The product is very effective against those pests which have grown resistant to other generic insecticides, it added.

Sharma said the market size of this insecticide in India is about Rs 150 crore and the company is trageting to capture 20 per cent market share.

"We, at Mahindra Agri, have a vision of delivering FarmTech Prosperity and have been working towards providing a full range of solution to the farmers, including high quality hybrid seeds, advanced agrichemical solutions, micro irrigation and agri-advisory through our Samriddhi centres," Sharma said.

Mahindra Agri Solutions also has a strong outputs business consisting of fruits and vegetables, pulses, edible oils and dairy.
In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Dipan Mehta, Member of BSE & NSE shared his readings and outlook on the market, specific stocks and sectors.

On Infosys front, he said long-term fundamentals unlikely to change even if Nandan Nilekani joins Infosys board.

He further said that any rally on Infosys due to Nilekani return or buyback should be used to exit.

Below is the verbatim transcript of the interview:

Anuj: Your thoughts - Nandan Nilekani was at the helm back in 2004 and as we know, the IT industry now is different from what it was in 2004. If we have a rally because of this reason, is that another exit opportunity?

A: Yes, absolutely because whether Mr Nandan Nilekani joins the board or not, it is not going to change the long-term fundamental course of the IT industry or Infosys for that matter. We have been saying on regular basis that there are structural changes taking place within the IT industry and the shift towards platforms, products, cloud computing is where Indian IT companies find themselves at a disadvantage and although the share of digital business is growing within the IT industry, it is just not big enough to drive growth. And that is the real problem with the IT companies.

Also the traditional services have become commoditised. So that is not going to change much and in fact, any positive news flow coming through for Infosys will still be a good opportunity for investors to exit and I know that many investors are still holding on to Infosys despite the correction, despite the clear writing on the wall that growth is going to slow down substantially despite the fact that rupee is appreciating. So it is just that investors are married to the stock because they have seen fabulous returns in the past and this could be a good opportunity to exit, the buyback and Mr Nandan Nilekani coming back, if at all, on the board and that may boost the sentiment on the stock.

Reema: You said that you will sell into any rally in Infosys. What about public sector undertaking (PSU) banks? They were the leading sector yesterday. The PSU bank index gained about 2 percent. Any buys there and how would you approach the midcap PSU banks like Allahabad Bank which rallied yesterday?

A: They are completely avoidable at this point of time. The PSU banks have lost the plot and while we have a fantastic rally in the banking space especially private sector banks, non-banking finance companies (NBFC), and the rally is based on strong numbers coming through, be it credit growth or be it in terms of managing their Non-performing assets (NPAs) or increasing their net interest margins. So we have a whole host of private sector banks and NBFCs which are consistently improving their qualitative and quantitative ratios and then you have the PSUs which are clearly not able to get their act in order.

My sense is that in a few years, PSUs will go the way MTNL or Air India has gone and they will become a problem case for the government unless massive reforms take place over there, especially in terms of how they handle the management and the HR policies over there. So, unless that is done, PSU banks are in a long-term decline and every rally should be taken as an opportunity for investor to exit our of PSU banks. In any case, there are so many choices in private sector banks and NBFCs that that in it should take up most of the allocation on the banking side in a portfolio.

Latha: I wanted to ask you about the real estate stocks. We are getting a very mixed picture. There are newspapers like for instance today, Mint, saying that there is a pickup and earlier some other papers also had that. We spoke with real estate guys yesterday and they said there are absolutely no trades happening in the real estate space, except for a little bit on affordable housing. But there, even a 20 percent growth is from a very small base. DLF has individual news going for itself in terms of debt deleveraging. What are your thoughts on that stock and other real estate stocks?

A: Per se our view on real estate has been negative and that is because of the past track record, be it on the financial front or on the corporate governance front or in terms of managing their balance sheet. The basic business model is not very attractive, where they keep on investing capital and they try and get into projects and then the projects have a long gestation period. There is a high degree of volatility in their earnings and as such, there is no real differentiation or something unique selling point (USP) about these stocks. So I would say they are a complete avoid as far as investors are concerned. You may be better-off buying a property rather than buying real estate stocks and I believe property returns would have been higher than investments made in real estate stocks. So that basically is the view.

I think it is without exception that these companies need to be completely avoidable at this point of time. And again any rallies over here could be good exit opportunities.

Latha: There is talk about even Larsen and Toubro (L&T) probably selling off one of its units. How would you look at L&T?

A: L&T has become a far more complicated company than it was a few years ago and some divisions do well and other divisions do not do that well and then there is overseas orders which sometimes have high margins, low margins and then there is an issue with gathering orders on the domestic market as well. So, given the complexities which are there in L&T, end of the day again, the growth rates are not flowing through.

So I would say that while the track record has been great so far, going forward I do not think L&T will deliver spectacular returns as it has done in the past. Also competition is gradually creeping in and certain projects which could only be done by L&T, be it on the residential or on the commercial side or infrastructure projects, there are many more bidders over there and lately they have lost a few marquee projects to competition as well. And again valuation is not at attractive levels so keeping that in mind, I would say L&T is an avoid.

Latha: There are two other areas I wanted to discuss with you. First, metals. Would you still go for any of them and in particular, there is a very good change we broke this story as well that Tata Steel and JSW Steel have thrown their hat into all the three steel companies, Bhushan Steel, Essar Steel and Electrosteel Steels. There is some inorganic move coming, any of the metal stocks?

A: Not really. Metal prices are trading at the higher band and while you will see excellent results in this quarter and next quarter, as you look one year down the line, base effect will catch up and there is a high degree of volatility in their earnings as well. They have not been great wealth creators in the past. So keeping that in mind you may have trading opportunities in metal stocks but certainly not on a long-term basis that they can deliver sustainable returns.

Latha: This was the other set of stocks that I wanted to ask you, Tata Global Beverage, Bata India. With varying degrees, the consumer stocks have done very well and Tata Global of course, has seen a vertical move, anything in that space?

A: One observation I have is that there is a great deal of investor appetite for consumer oriented stocks and wherever there is a whiff of good numbers like what we saw in Bata or Tata Global, they have been bid up and investors are taking positions over there. There will be a few consumer oriented stocks which from time to time will outperform in terms of financial numbers and investors will have a quick look at that and buy into those, but by and large consumer oriented stocks are trading at the higher band of their price-earnings ratio (P/E) multiple and when you keep in mind that the track record of the past 2-3 quarters have not been that great and going forward also, next couple of quarters may be subdued.

So while the long-term is good, to deal with disappoint on the earnings front in the short-term may keep a cap broadly on most of the consumer oriented stocks. So, while long-term positive for consumer oriented stocks, I think short-term you may have a few bright sparks like Tata Global or Bata but by and large, you need to be a bit more patient within these stocks to really get through the immediate short-term pain for excellent returns on a long-term basis going forward.

Reema: DLF has moved well in the last few days on expectation of debt deleveraging. Is all the good news priced in into the stock right now?

A: I do not really track DLF that closely because of our negative view on real estate stocks and DLF has been a wealth destroyer rather than a wealth creator. So while news flow may cause the stock to have a trading bounce, from a long-term investment point of view DLF and other real estate stocks are a complete avoid. No doubt management is making great efforts to deleverage the balance sheet. But after that, what? Where is the growth really going to come from? Some of the assets that they are selling also are kind of jewel in the crown over there, but that is going to impact long-term earnings.

Latha: At the moment, are you in a mood to add to positions even in your favoured sectors like brand stocks, consumer stocks and NBFCs? We are already at rich valuations in both places.

A: Investors need to have a hard look at their portfolio and unless they have at least 40 percent in financials, this is a good opportunity to get into the financials on the banking side or wealth managers or housing finance companies, micro finance companies, the entire range over there, a lot of the sectors over there especially companies, banks lending to the consumer side are still quite attractive and those could be looked at. But that is assuming you have a gap in your portfolio to buy because one cannot go overboard and buy 60-70 percent of the portfolio into banks and financials.

As far as the consumer oriented stocks, better to just wait and watch and buy only when there is a sharp correction in them. The market may not correct as a whole but individual stocks could correct 10-15 percent and that is the opportunity over there.
3:30 pm Market at Close: The Indian market ended the session and the truncated week on a subdued note, with the Nifty holding on to 9850-mark.

The Sensex was up 28.05 points at 31596.06, while the Nifty was up 4.55 points at 9857.05. The market breadth was narrow as 1,425 shares advanced against a decline of 1,126 shares, and 153 shares are unchanged.

Pharmaceutical stocks were the top gainers on both indices, while Adani Ports, Bajaj Auto and HCL Tech were the top losers.

2:50 pm Results: Tutorial services provider Career Point's first quarter profit doubled to Rs 7 crore from Rs 3.4 crore on year-on-year basis.

Revenue grew by 25.6 percent year-on-year to Rs 22.6 crore from Rs 18 crore while EBITDA jumped 78.3 percent to Rs 8.2 crore from Rs 4.6 crore.

EBITDA margin expanded sharply to 36.3 percent from 25.6 percent YoY.

The stock rallied 18 percent.

2:35 pm SPVs sale deal: Dilip Buildcon shares rallied nearly 6 percent intraday on agreement for divestment of entire stake in 24 special purpose vehicles (SPVs).

The Bhopal-based road developer informed exchanges that it has signed a term sheet with Chhatwal Group Trust (Shrem Group) today for divestment by way of sale, transfer or disposal of 24 subsidiaries of the company.

Total project value of these subsidiaries stood at approximately Rs 10,500 crore.

"The sale is for 14 operational projects, and 4 under construction projects & 6 HAM projects, which are at different stages of under construction and pre-construction," Dilip Buildcon said.

It had signed agreement with Shrem Infrastructure with respect to SPV - DBL Tuljapur Ausa Highways, which is also being covered under term sheet signed today, it added.

2:15 pm Market Check: Equity benchmark indices continued to trade just above the flat line, with the Nifty trading above 9850-mark.

The Sensex was up 30.92 points at 31598.93, while the Nifty was up 5.45 points at 9857.95. The market breadth was narrow as 1,344 shares advanced against a decline of 1,047 shares, while 129 shares were unchanged.

Lupin, Sun Pharmaceuticals, and Aurobindo Pharma gained the most on both indices, while Adani Ports, Bajaj Auto and HCL Tech were the top losers.

1:55 pm Management Speak: On Monday, McDonald's India terminated its franchise agreements with Connaught Plaza Restaurants Limited (CPRL), which runs 169 restaurants in north and east India. Also McDonald's has filed an appeal with the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLT) challenging the reinstatement of Bakshi.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Vikram Bakshi, MD of CPRL spoke at length about the agreement.

"We go right back to the judiciary who gave me the right to come back and work in the company and to bring it back to its old glory. McDonald's doesn't want it. So I guess the decision finally have to be made, one way or the other. What you are forgetting is that I did not start this," said Bakshi.

If partners have to part, they have to part on the basis of policy of India, he added.

He further said that according to Indian policy a foreign company wanting to buy out the shareholding of an Indian partner, it can do so on the basis of fair market value.

1:35 pm Appointment: Tata Sons today announced the appointment of Roopa Purushothaman as its Chief Economist and Head of Policy Advocacy.

Purushothaman, who will join Tata Sons with effect from September 1, comes from Everstone Capital, where she was leading the research function.

"In her role, Purushothaman will drive macroeconomic research as well as all policy and advocacy initiatives as relevant to the businesses of the Tata group," Tata Sons said in a statement.

1:18 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks continued to consolidate in afternoon, with the Nifty hovering around 9,860 level as investors looked for triggers.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 45.64 points at 31,613.65 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 12.65 points at 9,865.15.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained half a percent each. About 1,354 shares advanced against 998 declining shares on the BSE.

Equity market will remain shut on Friday for Ganesh Chaturthi holiday.

1:10 pm Liquor stocks in focus: Investors cheered liquor stocks, as key companies in the sector rose between 2 and 15 percent intraday.

United Spirits (up 6 percent), Globus Spirits (5 percent), Pincon Spirits (8 percent), Radico Khaitan (5 percent) and United Breweries gained around 2 percent.

The development comes after a newspaper reported a clarification issued by the Supreme Court stating that the highway liquor ban does not apply within city limits. This is seen as bringing in a huge relief to these companies.

The publication further laid out what the apex court said in its order. "The purpose of the directions contained in the order dated December 15, 2016 is to deal with the sale of liquor along and in proximity of highways properly understood, which provide connectivity between cities, towns and villages. The order does not prohibit licensed establishments within municipal areas. This clarification shall govern other municipal areas as well. We have considered it appropriate to issue this clarification to set at rest any ambiguity."

12:58 pm Realty monetisation: State-run telecom operator MTNL told NewsRise that it is awaiting government approval for its proposal to sell unused properties in major metro cities New Delhi and Mumbai.

It expects Rs 3,500-4,500 crore from the sale of properties in both cities.

The reduction in Rs 15,000 crore loan book is depending on realty monetisation, said MTNL which expects approval for sale of some properties soon.

12:45 pm Assets sale deal: Dilip Buildcon hits record high of Rs 608.95, up 5.4 percent intraday Thursday on likely assets sale deal with AION Capital.

Sources told CNBC-TV18 that private equity fund AION Capital has emerged as frontrunner to buy the stake in company's assets and the deal is expected to finalise within a month.

As per this deal, the road-focused engineering procurement construction contractor will first transfer its completed assets to a special purpose vehicle (SPV).

Hence, initially Dilip Buildcon will transfer its nine completed projects to the SPV, followed by transfer of 10 more under-construction projects upon completion, sources said.

CNBC-TV18 learnt that AION Capital will have 75 percent stake in SPV and the rest will be held by Dilip Buildcon.

12:37 pm Europe trade: Europeans stocks opened higher as investors await comments on monetary policy from the Jackson Hole meeting.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.32 percent higher in early deals with most sectors moving in positive territory.

Concerns over US President Donald Trump's comments threatening to shut down the government eased overnight. In the meantime, investors will be focused on addresses from central bankers at the Jackson Hole economic symposium.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, who is set to address the group on Friday, gave no indication on the future steps of the central bank in a speech in Germany on Wednesday.

12:24 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks continued to trade in a tight range in afternoon due to lack of triggers at domestic as well as global level.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 21.91 points at 31,589.92 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 4.20 points at 9,856.70.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices continued to outperform benchmarks, up nearly half a percent each as about five shares advanced for every four shares falling on the BSE.

Healthcare stocks were in demand as Aurobindo Pharma, Lupin, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's Labs, Wockhardt, Divis Labs, Ajanta Pharma and Glenmark rallied 2-9 percent.

12:05 pm USFDA nod: Zydus Cadila has received the final approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to market Candesartan Cilexetil tablets USP 4 mg, 8 mg, 16 mg and 32 mg.

The drug is used to treat high blood pressure (hypertension) in adults. It will be manufactured at group's formulations manufacturing facility at Moraiya, Ahmedabad.

The group now has more than 140 approvals from USFDA.

11:50 am Earnings review: "June quarter earnings were disappointed as we were expecting 2 percent decline in earnings of our universe of 174 stocks but the actual decline was 9 percent in earnings," Gautam Duggad, Head of Research, institutional equities at Motilal Oswal Securities said.

So overall it was below expectations. GST related volatility was expected but despite that also overall earnings season was not good, he feels.

All sectoral earnings barring metals disappointed in Q1FY18, he said.

He expects 10-11 percent earnings growth for full year (FY18) against 7.5 percent in same period last year as second half of the year will have low base due to demonetisation factor that hit earnings in second half of FY17.

To that extent, there will be some optical jump to earnings on headline numbers, but underlying operating environment is not showing any meaningful recovery, whether it is capex sector, banks asset quality or broader consumption environment, Duggad said.

11:35 am Order win: Shares of Indian Hume Pipe Company advanced nearly 4 percent intraday as it has received order worth Rs 100.46 crore.

The company has secured a work order of Rs 100.46 crore from Municipal Corporation Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh.

The order includes the augmentation of water supply scheme part-II-distribution system, Bilaspur (Chattisgarh) under AMRUT mission.

The work is to be completed within 24 months.

11:20 am Buzzing: Shares of MEP Infrastructure Developers surged 6 percent intraday as it has received toll collection rights from NHAI.

"The company has received the letter of acceptance (LOA) from National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) informing that MEP has been engaged as 'user fee collection Agency on the basis of Competitive Bidding through e-tender for Chennasamudram fee plaza of NH-4, in the state of Tamil Nadu," company said in press release.

The terms of the contract is of one year.

The operations will commence after complying with the statutory formalities viz. submission of performance security, signing of contract as stated in the LOA.

The contractual amount for the said project is Rs 74.70 crore payable to NHAI on a weekly basis over a period of 1 year.

11:05 am Deposit rates: Bank of India slashed savings deposit rate by 50 bps to 3.5 percent for balance upto Rs 50 lakh but kept savings deposit rate unchanged at 4 percent for balance above Rs 50 lakh.

10:58 am Deal: Private sector lender IndusInd Bank has emerged as frontrunner for deal with non-banking finance company Bharat Financial Inclusion, according to sources that told CNBC-TV18.

IndusInd Bank will discuss merger proposal with the board this week and Bharat Financial's M R Rao is likely to present IndusInd's offer to its board next week.

IndusInd Bank, Bharat Financial deal will be share-swap deal, sources said, adding the deal is likely by mid-September.

10:45 am SC Verdict: SC declared right to privacy as a fundamental right.

The bench gave a unanimous verdict that right to privacy as a fundamental right under the Article 21.

10:23 am Market Check: Benchmark indices remained volatile in morning trade, with the Nifty hovering around 9,850 level as investors looked for triggers after digesting Infosys and PSU banks consolidation news.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 17.56 points at 31,585.57 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 4.20 points to 9,856.70.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks as the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.3 percent each on positive breadth.

About 1,113 shares advanced against 807 declining shares on the BSE.

Infosys, Tata Motors, Lupin and Sun Pharma top four contributors to Sensex' gains but upside is capped by HDFC Group stocks.

9:55 am Buzzing: Shares of V-Mart Retail rose nearly 3 percent intraday on the back of opening of two new stores.

The company has opened two new fashion stores in the state of Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand.

With the opening of these stores the company has total of 17 composite & 47 fashion stores in Uttar Pradesh and 9 fashion stores in Jharkhand.

This takes the total number of stores to 151 stores in 127 Cities across 14 states, with 37 composite stores and 114 fashion stores with a total area of approximately 12.79 lakh square feet.

9:45 am Stake sale: Share price of Mcleod Russel rose 2.5 percent intraday as the company is going to sell its loss making unit.

The company has decided to dispose of its Bhatpara Tea Estate, a loss making unit of the Company in Dooars, subject to necessary approval/s.

On August 23, 2017 the company has entered into an agreement for sale with Voom Food Industries of Siliguri, West Bengal.

The company will receive around Rs 13.21 crore from sale and the sale process will get completed after the sale permission is obtained from the government of West Bengal.

9:38 am Infosys in focus: Sources told CNBC-TV18 that Infosys is in initial stages to appoint selection panel to oversee selection. The panel, which aims to complete process within 4 months, is also in charge of overviewing board composition.

Search panel may have founders, board members & independent business leaders, sources said.

Its 10 key clients expressed their concern in writing on what lies ahead in terms of operations. They sought clarity on CEO succession & operational changes and also sought clarity on issue with founders and the way forward.

Sources said chairman R Seshasayee & co-chair Ravi Venkatesan will move on only after situation is stable.

9:28 am FII View: Jonathan Garner of Morgan Stanley said key country overweights of China and India are amongst the best country performers in 2017 so far.

He recommends investors to focus on alpha rather than beta.

"Within India, we are overweight IOC and Jain Irrigation," he said.

9:25 am Buzzing: Shares of Alembic Pharmaceuticals gained 3 percent in the early trade as it has sold its formulations manufacturing facility at Baddi.

The company has sold its formulations manufacturing facility at Baddi on slump sale basis to Scott Edil Pharmacia (SEPL), a company engaged in the business of pharmaceuticals products.

SEPL does not belong to the promoter / promoter group / group companies and is not related party of the company.

The turnover and networth of the said manufacturing facility for the last financial year vis-a-vis turnover and networth of the company is insignificant.

The company continues to meet its domestic formulation demand from Sikkim unit and international formulation demand from its Panelav unit.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks opened moderately higher amid mixed Asian cues on Thursday.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 44.21 points at 31,612.22 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 12.25 points to 9,864.75.

Infosys, ITC, TCS, Reliance Industries, L&T, Sun Pharma, Lupin and M&M gained while HDFC Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HUL, Bajaj Auto and SBI were under pressure.

Nifty Midcap was up 0.2 percent.

SREI Infrastructure shares gained 3.5 percent as Bharat Road Network IPO will open from September 6-8.

United Spirits, United Breweries, Alembic Pharma, Mcleod Russel, Praj Industries and Ugar Sugar Works gained up to 6 percent.

Fortis Healthcare, DLF, Allahabad Bank, Dena Bank, SPARC, Andhra Bank, Castrol, Jaypee Infratech and Union Bank were under pressure.
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Watchdog Sebi will look afresh into complaints of alleged corporate governance-related lapses at Infosys amid a high profile leadership crisis and public spat between founders and top management of the IT firm.

Top regulatory sources said Sebi has received several representations regarding the ongoing crisis, including about allegations and counter allegations from various sides.

Some of these complaints came even before Infosys announced the resignation of its first non-founder CEO Vishal Sikka on August 18.

Earlier also, the regulator had looked into alleged corporate governance lapses following a whistle-blower's letter, presumably on Panaya deal and executive pay.

However, no concrete evidence has emerged on those matters so far.

On Tuesday, Sebi Chairman Ajay Tyagi said the regulator is keeping a close tab on the share price movement of Infosys.

"We are keeping a watch on Infosys share prices," he had said.

Besides, the government is keeping a close watch on the developments at the software major.

Infosys Co-Chairman Ravi Venkatesan had met Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday.

While several institutional investors and proxy advisors have suggested bringing back co-founder and former CEO Nandan Nilekani, there are also demands for a complete overhaul of Infosys' existing board, sources said.

As the crisis continues at Infosys following Sikka's exit, the company's stock crashed 15 per cent for the two straight trading sessions, eroding its market wealth by Rs 34,000 crore.
The Indian market on Thursday was subdued after posting strong moves in the previous sessions as the Street awaited fresh triggers.

However, a key stock in focus has been Avenue Supermarts, the operator of multi-city retail chain D-Mart, as it hit new highs. The stock crossed a collective market capitalisation of Rs 60,000 crore on Wednesday and on Thursday, it hit the Rs 1,000-mark.

HDFC Securities called the business of Avenue Supermarts a fabulous one. Having said that, this is the time to be cautious. Look at implied valuations and the growth rates built into these numbers, Dipen Sheth, head of institutional research at HDFC Securities told CNBC-TV18 in an interview. He further said that the fundamentals may be under scanner, but has a great management and in safe hands.

Speaking on Infosys, Sheth called for immediate clearing of the muck in the company. It is like Mahabharata as it never loses relevance, he told the channel.

On Coal India, he expects better times after lack of power demand and renewables shift kept the company in check. He highlighted that plants were running on low inventory and that should push up volumes going forward.

Additionally, he also said that Dish TV was a structural story and one should buy it for 2-3 years. So far, the issue of subscribers not being sticky and falling average revenue per user (ARPU). But, its merger with Videocon will help it control 40-45 percent of market share.

Batting for liquor stocks, he also said the sector was getting an unfair treatment from the government for so long. This could keep investors wary of parking their funds in India going forward.
BNP Paribas Mutual Fund has appointed Mayank Prakash as the co-fund manager for six of its debt schemes, the fund house said in a notice.

Along with Puneet Pal, Mayank Prakash will jointly manage BNP Paribas Flexi Debt Fund, BNP Paribas Money Plus Fund, BNP Paribas Corporate Fund, BNP Paribas Government Securities Fund, BNP Paribas Medium Term Income Fund and debt portion of BNP Paribas Monthly Income Plane.

Other features of these schemes will remain unchanged.
Nandan Nilekani (Image: PTI)

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IT bellwether Infosys On Thursday said it will rope in Nandan Nilekani, the companys co-founder, as non-executive, non-independent director and chairman of the Board of Infosys, in a dramatic turn of events in the very public battle between the board and founders continues.

Infosys also said it had accepted the resignation of the current Board chairman R Seshasayee, Vishal Sikka, who was the executive vice chairman and board director, with immediate effect.

Ravi Venkatesan also quit as co-chairman of the Board, but will continue as an independent director.
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, Jay Thakkar, Sumeet Jain and Gaurav Ratnaparkhi battle it out for top honours.

Below their top stock picks and analysis:

Jay Thakkar of Anand Rathi Securities

Buy Zee Learn with a stoploss at Rs 40.90 and target of Rs 45.50

Buy Tata Communications with a stoploss at Rs 623 and target of Rs 666

Buy Godrej Industries with a stoploss at Rs 584.50 and target of Rs 625.50

Sell Interglobe Aviation (Indigo) with a stoploss at Rs 1246 and target of Rs 1160

Sumeet Jain of Destimoney Securities

Buy Bajaj Finance with a stoploss at Rs 1758 and target of Rs 1865

Buy Bank of Baroda with a stoploss at Rs 136.50 and target of Rs 148

Buy Bombay Dyeing with a stoploss at Rs 76 and target of Rs 86

Buy Delta Corp with a stoploss at Rs 175 and target of Rs 194

Gaurav Ratnaparkhi of Sharekhan

Buy Tata Chemicals with a stoploss at Rs 575.50 and target of Rs 611.80

Sell Havells India Future with a stoploss at Rs 486.80 and target of Rs 457.50

Sell Muthoot Finance Future with a stoploss at Rs 455.60 and target of Rs 428.20

Sell Interglobe Aviation Future with a stoploss at Rs 1248 and target of Rs 1171.50
crude_oil_0709_356_77020118

Angel Commodities' report on Crude oil

WTI oil prices rose by 1.6 percent to close at $48.4 per barrel after U.S. crude inventories declined for the eighth straight week and as a storm approached the Gulf Coast with the potential to disrupt oil and refined products output. Libya's rising output is a headache for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which together with non-OPEC producers including Russia have pledged to cut around 1.8 million bpd of supplies between January this year and March 2018 in an attempt to remove a global glut.

Outlook

We expect oil prices to trade higher today on account of support coming from inventory withdrawals in the US. However, Libyas rising output remains a cause of concern for oil markets.

For all commodities report, click here

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

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Trident | Company issued Commercial Paper for Rs 50 crore. (Image: tridentindia.com)

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Motilal Oswal has initiated coverage with buy rating and target price of Rs 114 (implying 39 percent upside) on Trident, citing an attractive utilisation play.

The brokerage house believes Trident is set to benefit from multiple factors, including industry growth and expanding share of bed linen/copier paper.

Trident is set to deliver CAGR of 9 percent in revenue and 24 percent in earnings over FY17-20, driven by revenue CAGR of 44 percent in bed linen and 12 percent in bath linen, the research house said.

According to the research firm, the recently ventured bed linen segment is expected to turn EBITDA profitable by Q3FY18 as utilisation touches 40 percent. The segment's share in overall revenue should increase from 4 percent in FY17 to 9 percent in FY20, it believes.

The company most recently ventured into bed linen, with installed capacity of 43m meters. In the first year of operations, bed linen had 29 percent utilisation, and the company expects to ramp-up operations by adding new clients. Trident has already added more than 10 clients in FY18 so far, including large replenishment clients like IKEA and Amazon.

Motilal Oswal said after significant capacity expansion in bath linen (towel) in FY15, Trident is expected to reap its benefits and witness higher utilisation (65 percent in FY20 versus 50 percent in FY17), which would not require further addition of spindles as yarn capacity would be utilized in-house.

The research house feels the rising share of copier paper should lead to paper business margin expansion of 340bp to 38 percent in FY20.

Copier paper is among the top selling brands in India and commands high margins. Copier paper contributed 45 percent of paper sales volume in FY13, which increased to 60 percent in FY17.

The brokerage house said the share of Indian companies in the global textile market is on the rise as the country is becoming highly competitive in terms of raw material cost, labour cost and level of automation, leading to improved quality.

Trident has been proactive in capitalising on this opportunity, leading to an increase in the companys share in global towel exports to the US (from 10 percent in CY14 to 13 percent in CY16). Also, the companys share in Indian towel exports to the US has also increased from 28 percent in CY14 to 32 percent in CY16, it added.

Trident is one of India's leading diversified group of businesses headquartered in Ludhiana, Punjab. The company is one of the world's largest manufacturers of integrated home textile (bed and bath linen) and the largest manufacturer of wheat straw-based paper.

In FY17, the home textile business contributed 82 percent of its overall revenue, while Paper accounted for 18 percent. It has manufacturing plants at Budni (MP) and Barnala (Punjab) with combined installed capacity of 115mn kg of yarn, 175k MT of paper, 90MT of bath linen and 43m mtrs of bed linen. Trident also owns the world's largest compact yarn spinning unit under single roof.

At 11:01 hours IST, the stock price was quoting at Rs 87.25, up Rs 0.65, or 0.75 percent on the BSE.
ICICI Direct 's currency report

Debt market

Government bonds ended little changed in thin volume trade, as investors deferred purchases ahead of fresh supply of notes today The Go I benchmark 6. 79 % 202 7 bond yield was steady at 6 .54% in the previous session Yield on the US 10 - y ear declined to 2. 17 % from 2. 21 % in the previous session.

Forex (US$/INR)

The rupee was steady against the US$ amid thin trading on caution ahead of a three - day summit of central bankers in Jackson Hole starting today The US$ fell on account of losses against Japanese Yen and Euro. Major currencies remain in a range ahead of the central bankers Annual Jackson Hole symposium starting today. JPY continue d to remain supported due to safe haven buying demand on concerns around the US President. US August preliminary PMI data were on mixed note.

Strategy

In the currency futures market, the most traded dollar - rupee August contract on the NSE ended at 6 4. 1 2. The August contract open interest increased 3.03 % from the previous day September contract open interest increased 12.77 % in the previous session We expect the US $ to meet supply pressure at higher levels . Utilise up side in the pair to go short on US$INR.

US$INR August futures contract (NSE) View: Bearish on US$INR Sell US$INR in the range of 64.13 - 64.21 Market Lot: US$1000 Target: 63.90 / 63.80 Stop Loss: 64.32 Support Resistance S1/ S2: 64.05 / 63.85 R1/R2:64.20 /64.40

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

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Shares of V-Mart Retail rose nearly 3 percent intraday Thursday on the back of opening of two new stores.

The company has opened two new fashion stores in the state of Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand.

With the opening of these stores the company has total of 17 composite & 47 fashion stores in Uttar Pradesh and 9 fashion stores in Jharkhand.

This takes the total number of stores to 151 stores in 127 Cities across 14 states, with 37 composite stores and 114 fashion stores with a total area of approximately 12.79 lakh square feet.

The company's 15th annual general meeting will be held on September 18, 2017 at New Delhi.

The company had reported 139 percent jump in its June quarter PAT at Rs 22.4 crore and its revenue has increased by 39 percent at Rs 315.1 crore.

At 09:40 hrs V-Mart Retail was quoting at Rs 1,455.45, up Rs 7.55, or 0.52 percent on the BSE.

Posted by Rakesh Patil
Ram Nath Kovind, nominated presidential candidate of Indias ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), delivers a speech during a welcoming ceremony as part of his nation-wide tour, in Ahmedabad, India, July 15, 2017. REUTERS/Amit Dave - RTX3BL0Y

India is looking forward to expanding its economic and development co-operation with Nepal, as per the "national priorities" of the Himalayan neighbour, President Ram Nath Kovind said today.

Kovind welcomed Prime Minister of Nepal Sher Bahadur Deuba at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and congratulated him on assuming the post for the fourth time.

"He expressed happiness that the Prime Minister of Nepal is the first foreign dignitary to stay in Rashtrapati Bhavan during his Presidency, and thanked Mr. Deuba for accepting his invitation," said a statement from the Press Secretary to the President, Ashok Malik.

The President congratulated the government and people of Nepal for successfully conducting two phases of local elections.

"He also conveyed his best wishes for the conduct of the upcoming provincial and federal elections in Nepal," it said.

The statement said the President condoled the loss of lives and destruction of property during recent floods in Nepal and said the government and the people of India were committed to stand by Nepal.

"The President expressed satisfaction on the state of India-Nepal relations which have seen eight high-level visits in the past three years," it said.

India-Nepal relations derive their strength from a shared history, common culture, trade links and an open border, Kovind said, adding that it was symbolised by the "national" treatment both countries give to each other's citizens.

"India is looking forward to expanding its economic and development cooperation with Nepal, as per Nepal's national priorities," the statement quoting the President said.
MUMBAI, INDIA FEBRUARY 08: Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh during the trailer launch of his new film ' Hind Ka Napak Ko Jawab' in Mumbai. (Photo by Milind Shelte/India Today Group/Getty Images)

The CBI court's verdict on the rape case against Dera Sach Sauda leader, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is out. The Dera chief has been declared guilty in the rape case and the full sentence will be sent out on Monday.

The whole episode began after an anonymous letter was sent to then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee alleging sexual assaults by the Dera chief. In the letter a Sadhvi claimed that she was raped by the Dera chief and 35-40 others for over three years at the sects headquarters.

The issue deepened after a man was shot dead by Dera followers. It was alleged that the man was behind the anonymous letter sent to the PMO.

Two women, who were former members of the sect came out accusing the sect leader of rape. They accused that they were sexually exploited at the sects headquarters in Sirsa, Haryana.

The case which was registered in 2002 was first taken by the Punjab and Haryana high court. Later the case was shifted to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The officials of the investigating agency as per a Hindustan Times report stated that they have concrete evidence against Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. The two victims have recorded their statements in front of a magistrate under section 164 CrPc. Khatta Singh, a former close associate of Dera chief is also speculated to be a chief witness in the case.
Constitutionality of marital rape will be heard Mon, Del HC. #RightToPrivacy shd bolster our

arguments on women's right to bodily integrity. https://t.co/ThKp8qCQ6W  Karuna Nundy (@karunanundy) August 24, 2017

18:04

17:57



Final Score -

Privacy 9:0 Aadhaar#RightToPrivacy  Ramesh Srivats (@rameshsrivats) August 24, 2017



17:36

17:28 Government believes privacy is a fundamental right, with reasonable restrictions: Ravi Shankar Prasad. Read more here.

17:14

17:02 Earlier in the day, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the government is doing everything possible to protect data.

The said that right to privacy is a fundamental right, but it is not absolute.

16:46

16:37 Right to privacy verdict may reopen debate on sexual orientation. Read the full story here.

Constitutionality of marital rape will be heard Mon, Del HC. #RightToPrivacy shd bolster our arguments on women's right to bodily integrity. https://t.co/ThKp8qCQ6W Karuna Nundy (@karunanundy) August 24, 2017

16:03

15:56 The Law Minister also said that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government had not planned Aadhaar well.

15:55 Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the government considers right to privacy as a fundamental right. However, he says that the right is not absolute. He adds that there must be reasonable restriction which must be "fair" and "just".

Prasad also said that government initiatives must be balanced between individual right to privacy and the state's interests.

15:50 Talking about Aadhaar, Ravi Shankar Prasad says, "It works on a fine principle of minimum information, maximum use."

He cites 32 crore SIM cards being issued using Aadhaar. He says that telecom companies will be punished if found guilty of passing data.

15:48 Law and Justice and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad says that right to privacy is not absolute and that there have to be reasonable restrictions.

15:41



Govt welcomes judgement. Govt hs been of view, particularly with regard to Aadhar that #RightToPrivacy should be Fundamental Right-RS Prasad pic.twitter.com/7fOwQIe6zF  ANI (@ANI) August 24, 2017



15:28 According to the PTI, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has said that the Supreme Court verdict on right to privacy strikes at "unbridled encroachment and surveillance" by the State and its agencies on the life of the common man.

15:11

15:08 The Supreme Court, in its verdict on the 'Right to Privacy' issue, also spoke of sexual orientation as an essential attribute of privacy.

Here are excerpts from the judgement:

"Sexual orientation is an essential attribute of privacy. Discrimination against an individual on the basis of sexual orientation is deeply offensive to the dignity and self-worth of the individual."

"The privacy of the home must protect the family, marriage, procreation and sexual orientation which are all important aspects of dignity."

"Ones sexual orientation is undoubtedly an attribute of privacy."

15:02 The entire Supreme Court verdict on the matter of 'Right to Privacy' can be accessed here.

For a quick recap, read: Supreme Court's Right to Privacy verdict: Heres what will change as privacy is declared a fundamental right.

14:53

: Following Justice Chelameshwar's order after the right to privacy verdict, abortion laws may also come under the scanner. The order said that the woman's right to bear or abort the child is within her privacy, therefore, a woman has the right to take decision.

Welcome the SC verdict upholding #RightToPrivacy as an intrinsic part of individual's liberty, freedom & dignity. A victory for every Indian Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) August 24, 2017

2:01 pm: According to CNN-News18, Justice Chelameshwar said: It is sufficient to go by the understanding that the right to privacy consists of three facets i.e. repose, sanctuary and intimate decision. Each of these facets is so essential for the liberty of human beings that I see no reason to doubt that the right to privacy is part of the liberty guaranteed by our Constitution. An individuals rights to refuse life prolonging medical treatment or terminate his life is another freedom which falls within the zone of the right of privacy.

1:57 pm: Apart from Section 377 and Aadhaar, Supreme Court's verdict will have a far-reaching impact on euthanasia and the debate surrounding abortions, Justice Chelameshwar tells CNN-NEWS18.

1:47 pm: "Privacy is an intrinsic recognition of heterogeneity, of the right of the individual to be different and to stand against the tide of conformity in creating a zone of solitude. Privacy protects the individual from the searching glare of publicity in matters which are personal to his or her life. Privacy attaches to the person and not to the place where it is associated," Justice Chandrachud tells CNN-News18.

1:29 pm: The petitioners had previously said that enforcing the use of Aadhaar is an infringement of privacy. They also stressed that the Aadhaar database was originally presented as a purely voluntary programme that offered to provide every Indian with an identity card.

1:21 pm: The Supreme Court verdict that upholds right to privacy as a fundamental right opens way for discussions in other two important facets  Section 377, which pertains to the decriminalisation of sexual orientation, and Aadhaar.

1:00 pm: The Supreme Court's verdict brings back the conversation around data protection. In India, passwords, bank account, credit card, debit card and or other payment instrument details constitute as personal data. Reports of physical, physiological and mental health condition, a persons sexual orientation, and biometric information are also personal information.

Also Read: Data Protection and the larger Right of Privacy

12:48 pm: The judgment has not addressed issues of Aadhaar and Section 377 and other issues peripheral to the Right to Privacy debate. It did not say anything about citizens having the right to not share their biometric details, says senior advocate and petitioner Prashant Bushan in an interaction with the media after the verdict.

12:45 pm: "Article 21 is the right to life and liberty. Any corrosion of that should be fought. Privacy is the core of personal liberty. Privacy is an inalienable part of life itself. Today we can once again celebrate our freedom. This verdict is a setback to the government," says P Chidambaram.

12:42 pm: "The judgement delivered today is a landmark verdict and will rank among the most important judgement delivered by the Supreme Court since the advent of the Constitution of India," said P Chidambaram.

12:38 pm: "Privacy is the core of the right to liberty," said P Chidambaram.

12:19 pm: The historic judgement on the right to privacy may impact GSTN, GST and Aadhaar. They might have to undergo major surgery, Subramanian Swamy, BJP MP tells CNN-News18.

12:04 pm: Privacy which has now been recognised as a fundamental right implies that it could be enforced by filing a civil law suit and the court could enforce it like any other writ. The historic verdict, which will now define the relationship between Indian citizens and the State in the digital era, will now impact the outcome of several cases where the aspects of the Aadhaar have been challenged.

Read: Supreme Court's Right to Privacy verdict: Heres what will change as privacy is declared a fundamental right

12:01: Right to privacy is a fundamental right that can have reasonable restrictions as no fundamental rights are absolute, Sorabjee tells CNN-News18.

11:54 am: The judgement shows that the court is not obstinate to rule out its previous judgement, Soli Sorabjee tells CNN-News18.

11:48 am: It will become untenable for corporates to share private data from now, Rajeev Chandrasekhar tells CNBC-TV18.

11:30 am: The apex court, initially, referred to the 1978 judgement in the Maneka Gandhi case and said that there was no need to revisit the judgements in Kharak Singh and M P Sharma cases on right to privacy.

A three-judge bench had in 2015 referred to a larger bench a batch of pleas, including the one filed by Justice (retd) K S Puttaswamy, challenging the validity of the Aadhaar scheme and the aspect of right to privacy attached to it.

The apex court had agreed to set up a bench on July 12 to deal with the Aadhaar-related matters after the attorney general and senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for petitioners, had jointly mentioned the matter.

11:22 am: We will have to read the full judgment but I don't think direct benefit transfer or PAN card linkage to biometrics should be impacted: Jay Panda, MP, Lok Sabha told CNBC-TV18.

11:19 am: It's a welcome development. No right can be absolute, we will have to see what are the "narrowly-defined exceptions". Privacy and data security have been crying need even before Aadhaar. It doesn't have to be either-or scenario, one should be able to have Aadhaar and have privacy: Jay Panda, MP, Lok Sabha told CNBC-TV18.

11:18 am: The judgment is drawing reactions from the public in social media platforms.



Seems like a complete victory on privacy for now. True test will be its subsequent application. Let's all thank the Supreme Court.  Apar (@aparatbar) August 24, 2017



Government policies interfering with privacy can be stuck down, says Supreme Court.

Privacy is a fundamental right. The freedom that was won in 1947 has been enriched and enlarged. P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) August 24, 2017

11:11 am: Present Aadhaar Act only required for social welfare schemes and tax purposes.

11:10 am: Check out this video on how Aadhaar promises to transform India.

11:09 am: This is a big blow to the government, says Prashant Bhushan.

Right to privacy is intrinsic to right to life and is now part of Article 21, part 3, CJI Khehar said while reading the verdict.

11:06 am: Any law interfering with Right to privacy can be struck down, says Prashant Bhushan.

11:05 am: The supreme court did not say anything on the Aadhaar, petitioner Prashant Bhushan said. Currently, under Aadhaar Act, the Aadhaar is mandatory for only for filing tax and social welfare schemes.

11:05 am: A five-judge bench will look at the ambit of right to privacy concerning Aadhaar. It will decide if the decision impacts Aadhaar.

10:54 am: The unanimous judgment confined itself to the right to privacy.

10:53 am: The unanimous judgment confined itself to the right to privacy.

10:52 am: The judgment does not say anything on sharing of the biometric details regarding Aadhaar.

10:51 am: The verdict puts an end to a five-year long debate on the issue of constitutional validity of the right to privacy.

10:48 am: The bench gives a unanimous verdict that right to privacy as a fundamental right under the Article 21.

10:44 am: SC declares right to privacy as a fundamental right.

10:40 am: All the Nine judges have arrived and the bench has started reading out the Right to Privacy verdict, says News18.

10:34 am: The judgment will impact all the Indians as it will define the ambit of 'privacy'. It will affect other aspects such as data protection in the technological era, Aadhaar seeding with schemes and LGBT rights among others.

10: 25 am: So far, the main arguments of the case have been this way:

The Centre, represented by Attorney General K K Venugopal is of the opinion that privacy is relative and ambiguous, hence it cannot be a fundamental right. It is also of the opinion that in India, where a massive portion of the population is below the poverty line, fundamental right to privacy would disturb the disbursement of social welfare schemes linked with Aadhaar number.

The proponents of Aadhaar, led by senior advocate Shyam Divan has argued that privacy is a natural right and is an internationally recognised Human Rights and most liberal democracies are practising it, emphasising on the dangers of no privacy rights in the digital age.

Here's a brief description of the case:

In 2012, Justice K S Puttuswamy filed a writ petition raising issues of privacy in the Aadhaar data collection and since then a plethora of PILs and petitions  as many as 22  were filed regarding the privacy issue. All of these petitions have been linked to the main petition, which is taken up by the constitution bench. Depending on the fate of privacy in the apex court, a five-judge bench would resume hearing on Aadhaar-related privacy violations.

10:05 am: A nine-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice J S Khekar, will decide today whether Indian citizens can avail right to privacy as a fundamental right under the Constitution. The bench comprises Justice J Chelameswar, S A Bobde, R K Agrawal, Rohinton Fali Nariman, Abhay Manohar Sapre, D Y Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and S Abdul Nazeer.

09.40 am: Hello and welcome to the live coverage of the Supreme Court verdict on right to privacy. The landmark judgment, expected between 10.30 am and 11 am, will examine whether or not the right to privacy is a fundamental right of citizens. It will also decide the fate of several of the government's key legislations and schemes, including the Aadhaar programme.

Stay tuned for updates.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the newly constructed gates of Narmada Dam on September 17 during his visit to Gujarat on his birthday, state BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya said.

The new gates raise the height of the dam to 138.68 metres.

"Modi will inaugurate Narmada Dam at Kevadiya in the presence of religious leaders and others. Later he will address people at Dabhoi in Vadodara district," Pandya said.

The Narmada Control Authority in June this year granted permission to the state government to close the gates, which will raise water level in the Sardar Sarovar reservoir, after being convinced that rehabilitation of the people displaced due to the project was complete.

This will be Modi's sixth visit this year to his home state where Assembly elections are due by year-end.

Ahead of Modi's visit, the state will organise Narmada Mahotsav Yatra from September 6 to 15.
A nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously upheld that right to privacy is indeed a "fundamental right" and the right has been included in Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

The remarkable verdict brings the issue of the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) community to the forefront and it may reawaken the struggle of gender activists contesting Article 377 which criminalises homosexuality.

"Sexual orientation is an essential attribute of privacy. Discrimination against an individual on the basis of sexual orientation is deeply offensive to the dignity and self-worth of the individual," the SC judgment read.

"The privacy of the home must protect the family, marriage, procreation and sexual orientation which are all important aspects of dignity," according to the verdict. "One's sexual orientation is undoubtedly an attribute of privacy."

As the nine judge bench discussed the various facets of privacy in the court on Thursday, it also observed that sexual orientation is a matter of privacy and it directly challenges the 2013 SC verdict which criminalised homosexuality.

In 2009, a Delhi High Court judgement decriminalised gay sex between consenting adults in private, arguing that criminalizing homosexual acts would violate the principles of equality and non-discrimination in the Constitution. However, in 2013, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court had set aside the high court judgement and upheld the validity of Article 377, which says "carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal" is punishable by imprisonment from 10 years to life.

Naz Foundation, a NGO, had filed a review petition against the 2013 ruling but it was dismissed in 2014. However, the curative petition challenging the verdict is still pending in the apex court.

The landmark judgement, upholding that private acts of sex between consenting adults is a matter of privacy, could rejuvenate the struggle against Article 377 in a new light.
The Rajasthan government has asked for a CBI investigation into the land scam in Bikaner. The name of Robert Vadra is linked to the alleged land scam.

The case emerged in 2014 when the state cancelled 18 mutations i.e. transfer of ownership in Bikaner after finding them to be illegal. A Firstpost report said that the land was illegally allotted or possessed in 2006-07 by some villagers, who were "wrongfully" shown as farmers displaced by Mahajan Field Firing Range of the army.

While those who had actually lost the land were rehabilitated in the 90s, it was alleged that several parties including Vadras company had purchased large amounts of land.

Gulab Chand Kataria, Home Minister of Rajasthan has alleged that Vadras company purchased the land in 2010 and sold it in small portions two years later.

"When the matter came to light, 18 FIRs were registered. Four FIRs are related with Vadra's company and now the state government has written to the CBI to investigate them altogether. The issue was also raised in the state assembly in 2014", he said.

The Congress leadership however alleged the state government of using the central agency for political gains. "BJP misuses CBI, ED and other agencies for political gains. In this alleged land scam case, the state government had formed a committee but the committee's findings were not disclosed by the government," said Sachin Pilot, President of Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee.

Robert Vadra, in his response, claimed that he was innocent and was being targeted. "Please hound, prosecute and harass as much as you want, such lies will never undermine the truth," Vadra posted on Facebook.
Representative image

Moneycontrol News

Laying to rest the much-heated debate on privacy in the wake of the debate around Aadhaar, a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court in a historic verdict pronounced the Right to Privacy as a Fundamental Right.

The ruling is based on an array of petitions that challenge the mandatory use of Aadhaar cards which assign a unique 12-digit ID to every citizen.

Privacy which has now been recognised as a fundamental right implies that it could be enforced by filing a civil law suit and the court could enforce it like any other writ.

The historic verdict, which will now define the relationship between Indian citizens and the State in the digital era, will now impact the outcome of several cases where the aspects of the Aadhaar have been challenged.

Right to Privacy as a Fundamental Right: Whats going to change?

Recognising privacy as a fundamental right has now created a change in the relationship between the State and the citizen.

Now, the States power to collect and handle data will change and possibly be diluted.

Article 21 of the Constitution, of which Right to Privacy is now part of, ensures the protection of life and personal liberty. It says no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty, except according to the procedure established by law.

How Aadhaar Will Transform India In The Future

The Supreme Court's verdict is historic. However, the apex court has not said anything yet about Aadhaar and the related biometrics system that has caused a huge stir.

This is a big blow to the government, says veteran lawyer Prashant Bhushan.

Right now, it is expected that the Aadhaar case will now return to a five-judge bench, who will now study the collection and storage of data under the Aadhaar system and analyse whether and how it breaches the privacy of citizens.

In India, passwords, bank account, credit card, debit card and or other payment instrument details constitute as personal data. Reports of physical, physiological and mental health condition, a persons sexual orientation and biometric information are also personal information.

The petitioners had previously said that enforcing the use of Aadhaar is an infringement of privacy. They also stressed that the Aadhaar database was originally presented as a purely voluntary programme that offered to provide every Indian with an identity card.

Apart from Aadhaar, the validity of the provision will also seek whether it will raise further questions as homosexual relationships between consenting adults will be seen under the purview of privacy as well.

The favourable verdict will also see whether the technology apps' privacy policy is valid or not.

The nine-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar had on August 2 reserved its verdict after hearing several arguments for six days, during which submissions were given in favour and against the inclusion of the right to privacy as a fundamental right.

The contentious issue had emerged when the apex court was dealing with a batch of petitions challenging the Centre's move to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing the benefits of various social welfare schemes.

However, despite the judgement, privacy is not defined in India. Many previous court judgments have said it is difficult to define. Therefore, all controversies like Section 377, Aadhaar, Section 66 among others. will have to be dealt on a case-to-case basis.
In a historic judgement, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that Right to Privacy is finally a part of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution to Indian citizens under Article 21.

A nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar, has unanimously declared Right to Privacy as part of the Right to Life and Liberty assured by the Article 21 of the Indian constitution.

This verdict is on par with petitioners argument which had earlier opposed an SC benchs observation -- that Right to Privacy was not absolute by positing that the right was embedded within Right to Life and Liberty.

The current judgment has overruled previous SC judgments that did not hold the said right as fundamental. Formerly, a six-judge bench (Kharak Singh, 1962) and an eight-judge bench (MP Sharma, 1954) had ruled against the right being a fundamental right under the Constitution.

The judgment has not addressed issues of Aadhaar and Section 377 and other issues peripheral to the Right to Privacy debate. It did not say anything about citizens having the right to not share their biometric details, said senior advocate and petitioner Prashant Bushan in an interaction with the media after the verdict.

He also told the media that the judgment would be an impediment for the government as it has not considered Right to Privacy as a fundamental right.

Read more: LIVE SC verdict on right to privacy: Judgment to have bearing on Aadhaar, GST, GSTN, says Swamy

The Aadhaar Act passed in 2016 requires social welfare schemes and income tax returns be claimed through Aadhaar number. Senior Advocate Bhushan said that such laws would be considered by a separate bench on grounds of whether they fell under reasonable restrictions" which could be imposed on fundamental rights by the legislature.

According to Bhushan, Aadhaar use in the case of social welfare schemes could be made possible with reasonable restrictions to the right to privacy. The government would need to know the details of people availing these schemes. Bhushan also said that if restrictions were introduced to peoples travels and purchases, as per the senior lawyer, they would be unreasonable.

A nine-judge bench, comprising Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justices J Chelameswar, SA Bobde, RK Agrawal, Rohinton Nariman, AM Sapre, DY Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and S Abdul Nazeer, were hearing arguments raised by over 20 petitions questioning the infringement of peoples privacy by the Aadhaar rules that mandate collection of biometric information.

On July 19, when the SC had observed the Right to Privacy was not absolute and courts could not stop the State from putting reasonable restrictions, Senior Counsel Gopal Subramanium had argued, Privacy is a broader concept and data sharing is only one aspect of privacy. Privacy is about the freedom of thought, conscience and individual autonomy and none of the fundamental rights can be exercised without assuming a certain sense of privacy. He added that the State was under a positive obligation to safeguard the fundamental rights of its citizens.

The Aadhaar Act passed in 2016 has compelled the citizens of India to register for an Aadhaar number and link it with all important details such as bank accounts, PAN Card, tax returns, mobile numbers and the like.
RJD leader and Bihar's former chief minister Rabri Devi today alleged the Nitish Kumar government killed six accused in the multi-crore rupees Srijan NGO scam by administering "poisonous injections" like many implicated in the Vyapam fraud in Madhya Pradesh.

"How have the six accused in the Srijan scam died? They were killed by poisonous injections," Rabri Devi, wife of RJD president Lalu Prasad, told reporters outside the Legislative Council in Patna.

The alleged Srijan Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti scam relates to fraudulent transfer of crores of rupees of government money to the NGO in Bhagalpur over several years.

"What happened to your antaratma ki awaz (inner voice) now when the accused in the Srijan scam are being killed?" she said, hitting out at the chief minister while drawing a parallel between the Srijan and Vyapam scams.

Many accused in the Vyapam racket involving fraudulent recruitment in government jobs and admissions to educational institutions had died under mysterious circumstances.

Inside the Council, RJD members created a din demanding the admission of their adjournment notice to discuss the Srijan scam. The chair was forced to adjourn the House till 2:30 pm amid the ruckus.

She joined the chorus led by Lalu and their son Tejashwi Yadav, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, for the resignation of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi to enable the conduct of an "impartial probe" by the CBI. Kumar had recently recommended a CBI inquiry into the scam.

Rabri also demanded that the CBI probe be conducted under the supervision of the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi disputed Lalu's claim that the CBI was yet to take up the case and showed a letter to journalists which said it had already done so on August 21.

On Lalu pointing an accusing finger at the government over the death of Mahesh Mandal, a prime accused in the alleged scam, Modi showed a letter from the Bhagalpur Senior Superintendent of Police informing the state police headquarters about his "critical" illness caused by failure of both kidneys.

Nitish Kumar's JD(U) hit back at Rabri Devi, with party spokesman and MLC Neeraj Kumar demanding that she disclose the names of six accused who she claimed were poisoned to death at the government's bidding.

He slammed Lalu and her for making "baseless" accusations against the state government of trying to destroy vital evidence in the case.

Meanwhile, a Bhagalpur court today issued arrest warrants against absconding additional district magistrate-cum-land acquisition officer Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Srijan secretary Rajni Priya and her husband Amit Kumar in the case.

Amit Kumar is the son of Srijan Mahila Sahyog Samiti founder Manorama Devi who died in February this year. The NGO is now being run by Manorama Devi's daughter-in-law Rajni Priya and Amit Kumar.

Chief Judicial Magistrate T Yadav accepted the prayer of inspector of Bhagalpur town police station and ordered that warrants be issued against them.
A five-judge bench will soon take up for consideration petitions challenging the violation of right to privacy due to lack of legal safeguards on information collected for Aadhaar, This comes after the Apex Court today ruled that right to privacy is a fundamental right.

The Supreme Court, though, did not make any comments on the issue of Aadhaar today.

Currently, under Aadhaar Act 2016, the Aadhaar is mandatory for only for filing tax and social welfare schemes. Some legal experts, however, suggest the complete document may include certain exclusions to the right, so that the mandatory linking of PAN to Aadhaar and for welfare benefits may not have to be changed.

The petition against Aadhaar was filed by former Karnataka High Court Judge Justice JS Puttaswamy, now 91-year-old, in 2012. He had then argued the use of Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory for availing welfare services like PDS, LPG subsidies, pension, among others. His petition set a precedent for many other future petitions.

A five-judge bench will look at the ambit of right to privacy concerning Aadhaar. It will decide if the decision impacts Aadhaar. The bench will look at whether Aadhaar is guided by a reasonable law that is not unconstitutional in nature.

After controversies surrounding the Aadhaar number infringing on the citizens privacy, the courts have been moved to deliberate on the issue.

The nine-judge bench which today unanimously ruled that the right to privacy was a fundamental right as guaranteed by the Constitution of India, convened since late July this year after the Centre argued parts of the article covering privacy law were not a fundamental right. Today's verdict, overruled all previous judgements on Right to Privacy.
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Rabbis installation at Keneseth Israel will get a boost of student creativity
Performances of traditional music and dancing are helping to raise living standards in an isolated settlement, as Hou Liqiang and Yang Jun report from Fanpai, Guizhou province.

Things are peaceful at night in Fanpai village. The only sounds are the babbling of water in the stream and the occasional bark of a dog. There are no streetlamps, so only moonlight and the ambient glow from a few homes illuminate the settlement in Taijiang county, Guizhou province.

Only one small corner of the village provides a contrast, the cultural center, where groups of residents often gather for discussions that often last until long after midnight.

Nobody can remember exactly how many discussions have been held, but the topic is always the same: finding a proper development mode for the village, which is famed for its cultural heritage but is mired in poverty.

Since the 1990s, Fanpai has been renowned for its rich cultural heritage, including muguwu, literally "wooden drum dance" after the mugu drum, together with multivoiced love songs. They are listed as national cultural heritage. The dance, which records the migratory history of the local Miao ethnic group, has been performed for tourists domestically and overseas, according to Wan Dexue, Fanpai's former Party chief.

Fame has failed to bring major changes to the village. Most of the young people have left to work in big cities, and if the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation had not arrived in 2013 to help the development of tourism, the village would have vanished, he said.

According to the village committee, 115 of Fanpai's 2,009 residents live below the national poverty line, which was 2,952 yuan ($443) last year.

With 10 million yuan donated by China Minsheng Bank Corp in 2013, the foundation launched a project to help eradicate poverty by developing local tourism. A tourism cooperative was established in 2014, and each of the 20 groups to which residents belong can elect one or two representatives to be members of the cooperative's council, according to Wan, who is director of the council.

The foundation covers the council's operating costs and all profits are distributed among the villagers.

It's not unusual to see outsiders controlling the tourist industry in many ancient villages. However, those responsible for Fanpai's development are determined to allow the villagers to be the dominant force in tourism development to ensure the local culture is preserved.

When the foundation invited Liu Zhaofeng, head planner of Guizhou Architectural Design and Research Institute Co, to design plans for Fanpai, he initially refused because he thought a village as well-known as Fanpai would be too commercialized. Liu had visions of other renowned settlements, which are littered with traditional buildings damaged by poorly designed upgrades.

"However, when I arrived in the village, I discovered I was wrong. Though famous, it hasn't been developed much," he said.

Fascination

Liu decided to accept the offer and found a company that teaches residents how to raise their village's profile and change their own destinies. He asked just 1 yuan for the task, because he was fascinated by the village and wanted to devote himself to its development.

In many ancient villages, planning and construction are undertaken solely for the benefit of tourists, Liu said. Instead, he took the needs of the villagers into consideration and planned the cultural center, construction of which began in 2014 and ended in May.

The center includes one room where the lusheng, a traditional Miao reed-pipe, is displayed and another where the history of the village is the centerpiece. The center also provides a gathering place for traditional events.

"The older generation is confident about their culture, but that's not the case with younger people. They are at a loss, and some are abandoning their traditional culture. At this key time for cultural inheritance, I planned the cultural center in the hope that the younger generation will see their culture when they return and gain confidence from it," Liu said.

The center is a bridge between the villagers and outsiders, and a guesthouse, which opened last month, provides accommodations for tourists, and academics and students researching rural development.

Che Maomao, the foundation's representative in the village, said it has invited Xunmei, a tourism development company that has been running guesthouses in a Miao village nearby, to help run 10 rooms in the cultural center and two recently renovated houses.

Xiao Yifei, Xunmei's general manager, said 30 percent of the revenue from the guesthouses will be given to the cooperative and the company will cover all the operating costs.

Irrespective of whether Xunmei makes money from the project, it guarantees the villagers a payment of at least 100,000 yuan a year.

"We are unlikely to make money from this project, but we hope we can set an example and prompt the villagers to start their own guesthouses," he said, adding that locals will be employed at the center's guesthouse as training to open their own.

Xiao's father left his hometown in Hunan province and spent more than 20 years teaching in a nearby county that is a center for Miao culture.

That commitment bred a passionate attachment to Miao culture in his son, which is why Xiao is determined to contribute to Fanpai's development.

"We hope we can help the villagers to gain skills and make money through their own efforts," he said.

Xunmei has now signed a three-year contract with the cooperative, which should be enough time for the residents to learn the skills needed to run their own guesthouses.

The cooperative has been in existence for three years. It mainly caters for tourists who visit to watch cultural performances or experience rural life. However, the money generated - several thousand yuan - isn't enough to run the guesthouse, so Xunmei can provide help by bringing more tourists to the village, according to Wan, the council director.

History through song

The development of tourism has brought high hopes to the local people, who long to see the younger generation return and preserve and then pass on the traditional culture.

Wan Zhengwen, who has officially been named as an inheritor of two of Fanpai's national cultural heritages, said it has been difficult to pass on the old knowledge and songs that record Miao history, mainly because the ethnic group doesn't have a written language and its history is recorded through song.

"Most of the young people have left the village for work. I visit the primary school to teach the children about our culture, but when they graduate, they will leave the village for further education," he said.

Change may be on the horizon, though. According to Wan Zhengwen, as more tourists have arrived, some of the younger people have expressed an interest in learning from him. "Many people have told me that if they had known tourists were interested in our traditional culture, they would have learned from me," he said.

Yang Guangzhong and his wife performed muguwu across China, and in France and Portugal, for more than a decade. However, in 2013, Yang contracted pleurisy and was forced to give up dancing.

He said the villagers have benefited from the cooperative's work by selling homemade wine, pork and other agricultural produce, and he has high expectations of increased success.

"We used to perform the dance outside the village. Many of the young people still do, but that's just for local dignitaries and bosses. If more tourists visit, the younger villagers will return and we will dance to promote the development of the village," he said.

Between 1995 and 2013, Zhang Xingrong performed muguwu at locations nationwide. Although the 46-year-old privately considers himself too old to perform the dance, he is willing to continue until tourism has developed to a point where it becomes profitable for the young people to return.

"Muguwu has been passed down for generations in the village. If we don't develop tourism, it will either be lost or only performed in other places."

Contact the writer at houliqiang@chinadaily.com.cn

A tourist dresses in Miao traditional costume as she learns muguwu in Fanpai village, Guizhou province. Muguwu was listed as a national cultural heritage in 2006.Yang Wenbin / Xinhua

(China Daily 08/24/2017 page6)
August 24, 2017

Notes On The Junta, An Unnecessary Land-Corridor And A Regular Russian Maneuver

According to a 1950s political theory The Structure of Power in American Society is mainly build on three elite groups, the high military, the corporation executives and the political directorate. (The "political directorate" can best be described as the bureaucracy, the CIA and their proxies within Congress.)

On election day I noted that only the military had supported The Not-Hillary President. The corporate and executive corners of the triangle had pushed for Hillary Clinton and continued to do so even after Trump had won. (Only recently did the "collusion with Russia" nonsense suddenly die down.) I wrote:

The military will demand its due beyond the three generals now in Trump's cabinet.

That turned out to be right. A military junta is now ruling the United States:

Inside the White House, meanwhile, generals manage Trumps hour-by-hour interactions and whisper in his ear  and those whispers, as with the decision this week to expand U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, often become policy. At the core of Trumps circle is a seasoned trio of generals with experience as battlefield commanders: White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and national security adviser H.R. McMaster. The three men have carefully cultivated personal relationships with the president and gained his trust.

...

Kelly, Mattis and McMaster are not the only military figures serving at high levels in the Trump administration. CIA Director Mike Pompeo, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke each served in various branches of the military, and Trump recently tapped former Army general Mark S. Inch to lead the Federal Bureau of Prisons. [...] the National Security Council [..] counts two other generals on the senior staff.

With the firing of the renegade Flynn and various other Trump advisors, the Junta has already removed all independent voices in the White House. It is now attaching more control wires to its "salesperson" marionette:

The new system, laid out in two memos co-authored by [General] Kelly and Porter and distributed to Cabinet members and White House staffers in recent days, is designed to ensure that the president wont see any external policy documents, internal policy memos, agency reports, and even news articles that havent been vetted.

Trump has a weakness for the military since he attended a New York military academy during his youth.

But he does not like to be controlled. I expect him to revolt one day. He will then find that it is too late and that he is actually powerless.

---

The Zionist propaganda is claiming that Iran is taking over Syria and that its sole concern is to create a land-corridor between Iran and Lebanon. The AP is now reporting this myth as if it were fact. The argument the AP writers make is illogical and fails:

The land-route would be the biggest prize yet for Iran in its involvement in Syria's six-year-old civil war. [...] It would facilitate movement of Iranian-backed fighters between Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon as well as the flow of weapons to Damascus and Lebanon's Hezbollah, Iran's main proxy group.

That landline would facilitate something that, according to further AP "reporting", has already been achieved without it:

The route is largely being carved out by Iran's allies and proxies, a mix of forces including troops of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Hezbollah fighters and Shiite militias on both sides of the border aiming to link up. Iran also has forces of its own Revolutionary Guard directly involved in the campaign on the Syrian side.

So, apparently, Iran needs a land corridor to move weapons and fighters to Syria and Lebanon. To open that currently closed-off land corridor it has moved weapons and fighters to Syria and Lebanon. Somehow that argument is not convincing at all.

---

The usual NATO propaganda outlets are retching up fear over an upcoming Russian maneuver:

Russia is preparing to mount what could be one of its biggest military exercises since the cold war, a display of power that will be watched warily by Nato against a backdrop of east-west tensions. Western officials and analysts estimate up to 100,000 military personnel and logistical support could participate in the Zapad (West) 17 exercise, which will take place next month in Belarus, Kaliningrad and Russia itself.

It follows a lot of speculation and obvious bullshit. In reality Zaphad is a series of smaller maneuvers taking place over some six month. It includes local police and civil defense agencies which lets the numbers look big. Each year such maneuvers take place in one of the four military districts of Russia. The number of soldiers at the core of the exercise will amount to about a division size force of 13,000-15,000 troops. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is unusual with that maneuver but the NATO propaganda attempts to make it look like an imminent Russian invasion of western Europe.

Posted by b on August 24, 2017 at 14:11 UTC | Permalink

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In honor of upcoming Womens Equality Day, local businesses and organizations will host a series of events throughout the week of Aug. 21-27 to highlight the work that women do for the community of Morgan Hill, and to honor their accomplishments.

All community members are invited to join in the week of discussion, celebration and support for women of all ages and from all walks of life.

One of the Womens Week organizers is Morgan Hill City Councilwoman Caitlin Jachimowicz, a criminal defense and civil litigation attorney. She worked with the City of Morgan Hill, the Chamber of Commerce and local businesses to make the weeklong support for womens equality a reality.

Im thrilled that (these groups and businesses) have come together to honor women and the work we do in our community, and Im looking forward to honoring the women I have met in my work with the city that sometimes work behind the scenes, Jachimowicz said.

She also promoted the inclusiveness of the events, to which all local women as well as men are invited.

Below is a complete list of Womens Week events in Morgan Hill. For more information, visit thinkerholly.wixsite.com/womensweekmh/events.

 A screening of Hidden Figures, the story of a team of female African-American mathematicians who served a key role in NASA during the early years of the U.S. space program. The screening will take place 7 p.m. Aug. 21 at CineLux Theater, 750 Tennant Station. Tickets cost $5.

 Let Your Voice Be Heard workshop, hosted by the American Association of University Women, 7 p.m. Aug. 22 at the Morgan Hill Library, 660 W. Main Ave. The AAUW will present effective tools to communicate with elected officials in a practical workshop for civil engagement. Get tips and tricks for becoming more involved in the democratic process. Contact [email protected] for more information.

 City Council proclamation declaring Womens Week in Morgan Hill, 7 p.m. Aug. 23 at council chambers, 17575 Peak Ave.

 A Powerful Women panel will provide attendees an opportunity to learn about the challenges and successes of women who are successful in traditionally male-dominated fields. Afterwards there will be a brief Q&A session, and light refreshments will be provided. Women invited to participate on the panel include U.S. Representative Zoe Lofgren, local architect and business owner Lesley Miles, Superior Court Judge My-Le Jacqueline Duong, Gavilan College President Kathleen Rose, VP Area Manager of Kaiser Irene Chavez and Morgan Hill Assistant City Manager Christina Turner. The panel will start 6:30 p.m. Aug. 24 at City Council Chambers, 17575 Peak Ave.

 Friday, Aug. 25 from 6 to 9 p.m. is Ladies Night at the Friday Night Music Series, at the Downtown Amphitheater, 17000 Monterey Road.

 Saturday, Aug. 26 is Womens Equality Day. This holiday commemorates the passage of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which reads, The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

 When I Grow Up, a mixer celebrating the diversity of women in Morgan Hill. Women are asked to wear their uniform or regular working day outfit, so that children in attendance can see the many different important roles women take on in the community. Then all the women will line up along Monterey Road and take a photo holding hands, symbolizing the strength of Morgan Hills women together.
More than 200 members of the South Valley community from Gilroy, San Martin, Morgan Hill and south San Jose came together for a peace walk at the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center on Saturday, Aug. 19.

The event was planned in response to the recent white nationalist rally in Virginia, where people from several hate groups including the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacists clashed with anti-hate protesters in Charlottesville. Events further escalated when a car crashed into demonstrators, killing one and injuring 19 more.

The Clergy Alliance from the Interfaith Community of South County (ICSC) held a meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 16 in the interest of showing how the world could be different than the events that occurred in Charlottesville.

Word of the Peace Walk and Vigil quickly spread through the members of the ICSC, the larger faith community, social media and others interested in promoting peace.

Each of the clergy arrived at the Morgan Hill venue in traditional garmentsrobes, stoles, prayer shawls and head coveringsall respective of their faith traditions.

From Christian vestments and the saffron robes of Buddhist monks to the common head coverings of the Muslim kufi and the Jewish kippahall faiths in the area were represented and unified in their message of peace.

I think its important to make our case for how we want to express our free speechwhich is, were against hate, were against exclusion and were for peaceful engagement and acceptance, said Phil Cooke, priest at St. John the Divine Episcopal Church in Morgan Hill.

Father Jose Rubio of St. Mary Catholic Church in Gilroy felt with the vocal demonstrations around the country that it was necessary that people in South County be united in their stance against hate.

I am very surprised at this anti-semitic feeling, anti-immigrant feeling, anti-Muslim feeling, said Rubio. I think its importantas little as South County isfor (local) people to say something.

In his participation, Imam Ilyas Anwar of the South Valley Islamic Community in San Martin wanted to make clear that there are many people who dont want to tolerate actions and language that perpetuates hate.

Theres no place for hate in our country, said Anwar. Not in our community, not in our country.

Anwar noted that it was critical for all people to speak out and speak up. We have to be part of this community, he said You cant live in isolationregardless of race, color, genderwhatever it may bethats all secondary. The first thing is: This is our home and we have to make it. We have to make sure that the peace and safety stays here.

Love is the answer

In addition to clergy, the event was attended by nearly a couple hundred laypersons, including several active city council members as well as the mayor of Morgan Hill, Steve Tate.

Morgan Hill councilmember Rene Spring, wearing a black shirt with several lines declaring love is love written in a rainbow of colors, said that he was there to show his solidarity.

There is so much hatred, Spring said. Im not a believer in hate. I dont care if youre left or right. I think we just need to love each other more, respect each other more and I wanted to show that.

Fellow Councilmember Caitlin Jachimowicz said she participated in the peace walk because she wanted to show there are more people who are full of love, and those that hate are fewer and farther between.

But, I think they are louderand so I think its important for us to band together and work on amplifying our voices in support for one another, in unity and in love, Jachimowicz said.

The walk, less than a mile down around Monterey Road and back, ending at the United Methodist Church, concluded with messages from many of the clergy.

In her talk, Rabbi Debbie Israel of Congregation Emeth in Morgan Hill said she was asked to give a speech and not a prayer specifically. In my tradition, a call to action is a prayer, speaking truth to power is a prayer.

Israel went on to draw a comparison to several times in history where the Jews of Europe cowered in their homes fearful of Nazis marching through the streets or similarly, in the early days of the Ku Klux Klan, when African Americans hid behind closed doors when klansmen put on their robes. Israel noted their silence didnt halt atrocities.

But in 2017, we will not cower behind closed doors and we will not cower, spoke Israel. We will not be treated as other. We do not accept that our black brothers and sisters and our Jewish brothers and sisters need to stay home because neo-Nazis are coming to town. We all stand together, stand proud together.
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Continue to grow

It was a great experience with a broker as a client that drew Calum Ross , one of the countrys most successful brokers, to the channel.Initially I started out in the bank management training program. They were paying for my MBA, and I came across the mortgage broker channel more by accident than anything else, Ross, wealth advisor and principal broker with The Mortgage Management Group, says. I ended up getting my own mortgage and at the time I was working for the Bank of Montreal, my mom was (with) RBC and I got introduced to a mortgage broker and the broker was able to get the deal turned around a lot quicker for me.Ross was a first-time buyer dealing with the stresses of making that first purchase.He admits being surprised by the industry and, indeed, what its professionals are capable of achieving.I was a first-time buyer, and it was a stressful thing for me. That sort of got my attention. Here I am as a commerce graduate, thinking how do I not know about this mortgage broker concept? he says. At the time I was looking at a career in the investment industry and I realized a lot more people needed debt advice than investment advice and thats what got me interested in it.So Ross decided to take a chance.When I was in business school in the entrepreneur class, the thing that struck me was the idea that most businesses dont actually create a new product or service, they take an existing one and do it better, he says. At that point the mortgage broker channel, I thought I was going to do well and I thought if I didnt take the risk, make the jump in the early days of my doing my MBA part-time I probably never would.So I made the jump.And jump he did. Ross has since been recognized as the countrys top broker, as well as one of its highest funding professionals.As such, hes got a few ideas about how the industry will shift over the course of the next few years.Its very clear the credit capital markets are going to be under a lot of scrutiny in the next little while. We have huge amounts of consumer debt, huge amounts of government debt; and there is going to be a lot of debt aversion stuff coming forward, Ross says. People have to get very really real with credit rules. Theyre going to get tightened up and regulation and paperwork is going to become a much bigger deal. I think that the people who run very tight ships are going to be rewarded.Brokers who have more lax processes and procedures are going to have a real hard time staying on top of the mortgage channel in the next few years to come, Ross argues.Brokers and lenders alike must continue to help each other thrive in the industry, according to Ross.We have to make sure we as brokers make it profitable for lenders to do business with us. There are too many people in my opinion that have too short-term a perspective. Theyre more concerned with generating a commission but unless we create value for our clients and make it profitable for our lenders to do business with us, the long-term value proposition will be impacted, he says. Lenders are a very important part of our market. We have to be very, very cognizant of making sure the model is one that they want to be in.When it comes to success, there is such a thing as doing too much.The rate aggregators and the online lending model is going to get more popular. I think theres going to be, more than ever before, a real difference between the price vs. advice space. I think people need to realize they cant be in both spaces simultaneously, Ross says. You cant spend so much time with clients, give them all kinds of tools, and still offer the lowest rate. You cant run your business that way.People have to be very mindful of the markets they serve and very mindful of the target markets they go after, according to Ross. You cant be all things to all people.I have always focused, specifically, on helping clients through borrowing to create wealth -- real estate investors and borrowing to invest -- and the luxury home segment, Ross explains. I have never deviated from those segments. Its always been about supporting longer-term wealth and the luxury market. Ive never gone into the harder place market or the commercial space.Focus on a few tiers, be great at those, and youll be fine.No matter what, it still always come down to we must always continue to invest in ourselves and our channel, Ross believes.If we don't continue to grow our skill set and we don't continue to grow the value proposition that we bring to consumers as well as the way that we work cohesively with our partners, aka our clients and our lenders, then we're always at risk.
Pickens County Sheriff's Office

An Alabama teacher admitted to having sex with at least two students in various locations, including a graveyard and her home.

Charli Jones Parker, 31, had sex at least 11 times with a student between October 2014 and March 2016, reports Al.com. The private school teacher and student met at least four times at Graham Cemetery in Reform and three times at her house, according to the news site.
The following is the petition created by Midland ISD alumni to change name of Lee High School:

Midland ISD Alumni, Students and Midland County Residents to Superintendent Orlando Riddick and Mayor Jerry Morales: Change the name of Robert E. Lee High School.

Dear Superintendent Orlando Riddick, Mayor Jerry Morales and Midland City Council Members,

I am writing to you as an alumnus/student of the Midland Independent School District and/or Midland County resident to request that the name of Robert E. Lee High School be changed. Though what we know to be true of Robert E. Lee is not new information, in light of the recent events in Charlottesville and the surge of organized white supremacy groups in this country, including Neo-nazis and the Ku Klux Klan, I believe it is time for Midland, Texas to do what is right and end the commemoration of a confederate general by changing the name of the high school.

As we all know, Robert E. Lee was the commander of the Confederate Army during the American Civil War from 18621865. During that time, he not only fought for the preservation of the institution of slavery, but he did so using aggressive tactics which resulted in hundreds of thousands of American casualties on both sides of the war. He believed slavery was the will of God and that slavery was a greater evil to the white man than to the black race. Despite his aggressive and morbid tactics, Lee ultimately conceded and the confederacy lost the Civil War. After the war, he continued to fight for the enslavement of black people and he opposed multiple proposals by his own party for the emancipation of all slaves.

Our high schools are responsible for the education and success of students from a broad spectrum of cultural backgrounds. We have graduated successful athletes, artists, politicians, activists, teachers, entrepreneurs, lawyers, doctors and scientists of all races and ethnicities. Our diversity is a source of immense pride and strength and it could not be more antithetical to the beliefs, practices and legacy of Robert E. Lee. As such, I believe it is reasonable and necessary to change the name of the high school to reflect the inclusiveness and diversity of the student body. Robert E. Lee is a symbol of racism, hate, violence and white supremacy, and preserving his name on a public institution demonstrates complacency with these beliefs. Preserving his name is not celebrating history. Rather, it is glorifying the dehumanization of black people and the deaths of thousands of Americans.

I hope that you will join my fellow MISD alumni/students, Midland County residents and me in acknowledging that this is a matter that requires immediate attention and action, and that ignoring this issue or delaying action only further promotes MISDs and Midland Countys complicity in honoring white supremacy.

Thank you in advance for your consideration on this matter.
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Area authorities raided several locations in and around San Antonio on Wednesday morning, going after members of a ring suspected of distributing large amounts of heroin and methamphetamine.

This is the culmination of a five-month effort by (the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration) and the Texas Department of Public Safety targeting heroin and methamphetamine trafficking, said Wendell Campbell, a spokesman for the DEA. Its been a very active case; 40 arrests have been made.

Officials focused on 15 of the remaining suspects during Wednesdays operation. The San Antonio Express-News confirmed SWAT teams hit homes that included one in the 1100 block of Gibbs Street on the East Side, another in the 2800 block of Longmeadow Drive on the Southwest Side and at least one near Old Pearsall Road and Loop 410. Most of the 40 already had been arrested on federal and state charges as the investigation progressed, Campbell said.

Besides making seizures of heroin and meth, guns and cash during the investigation, agents also raided a meth conversion lab in June at an apartment complex on Huebner Road.

Conversion labs are not typical labs where meth is made. Instead, officials say, the drug is kept in liquid form  the new way for Mexican drug cartels to smuggle it into the United States. Often its hidden in vehicle parts that would already have liquid, like gas tanks, or in some other solution.

The conversion labs serve to separate the meth from the solution by using containers like gallon-size Thermos containers and pouring the solution into plastic storage tubs until the meth crystalizes, the DEA said.

Records show the investigation is tied to an indictment last week that included Mike Flores Jr., 45, who served time for a 2004 drug conviction after San Antonio police raided his home and found drugs, cash and even one of their own officers at the scene.

That now-former officer, Enrique Hinojosa, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting Flores and others in the drug operations, records show.

In the latest case, Flores is listed as the lead defendant of 14 suspects accused of dealing heroin who were indicted last week. Court records in that case show Flores was arrested Aug. 3 after he allegedly bought a kilogram of heroin from Pedro Requejo Gutierrez, 68, and crashed while fleeing from agents.

Also indicted in the case is Requejos brother Genaro Requejo, 60, who was arrested July 26 during a traffic stop in which DPS officers reported finding 250 grams of heroin in his car. Genaro Requejo reportedly told officers he had paid $11,500 for the heroin.

As part of the investigation, agents raided an apartment June 2 in the 11000 block of Huebner Road and seized 1 kilogram of heroin and 5 gallons of meth solution. The solution would make about 15 pounds of crystal meth when separated, according to the DEA.

Court records identify three suspects arrested on federal charges in connection with the conversion lab: Christian Gallegos, Yoan Lloya Morales and Larry Ozuna. They were among 11 defendants indicted June 21 on charges of trafficking heroin and meth, records show.

A judge ordered those arrested Wednesday to be held pending bail hearings in the coming weeks.

gcontreras@express-news.net

Twitter: @gmaninfedland
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A little more cloud cover and scattered showers for our Thursday afternoon. Less sunshine did allow for slightly cooler temperatures, in the upper 80s to low 90s.

Increased rain chances

Tracking Harvey

Temps in low 90s



Eyes on the tropics

SEE BELOW: See our 7-day forecast 

With low pressure sticking around, unsettled weather will continue through the weekend. Well see a decent chance of rain each day through Sunday with temperatures around 90 degrees.

Partly cloudy skies are in the forecast through the overnight hours. Temperatures will be warm and muggy, falling into the mid-70s.

Friday will be partly sunny during the morning and then mostly cloudy for the afternoon. There is a decent chance for showers and storms beginning around lunchtime and continuing through the afternoon and evening hours.

Humidity sticks around, but highs will only reach the upper 80s to low 90s. A similar forecast is expected through the weekend as an area of low pressure sticks around. This low will start to pull away from us early next week and rain chances will drop back to normal.

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In the tropics, Harvey was able to strengthen quickly to a hurricane Thursday afternoon. This storm is in favorable enough conditions that it could intensify into a major hurricane before making landfall along the Texas coast late Friday and early Saturday.

Harvey will stall over Texas and Louisiana through the weekend, which will dump significant rainfall in amounts upward of 20 to even 30 inches. Closer to home, an area of low pressure over Florida will increase our rain chances through the weekend as it moves northeast into the Atlantic.

Once over the water, there is a medium chance it could develop into a tropical system. Regardless, the forecast for Florida will remain the same.

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Trinity Life Church at I-27 and Southwest Third will host this years Beth Moore Simulcast on Saturday Sept. 16. The doors will open at 7:45 a.m. with a continental breakfast available. There will be a break for lunch. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at the door or from the church offices during the week. For more information call the church at 806-293-4154.

The First Baptist Church Womens Ministry in Plainview will participate in the Beth Moore Simulcast on Saturday, Sept. 16. Cost is $20, due at signup. A continental breakfast will be available at 7:45 a.m., and the simulcast is from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Call the church office at 806-296-6318 for additional information.

The Disciples of Christ Gospel Weekend will be held Friday and Saturday, Sept. 8-9, at First Christian Church, 2323 Broadway, in Lubbock with guest speaker the Rev. Dr. Doug Skinner. Opening worship is at 7 p.m. Friday, featuring a combined DOC choir, message delivered by Dr. Skinner, Richard Dye of Plainview at the Lords Table with elders from Brownfield and Westmont Church, and prayer offered from a leader at Community Christian Church. Saturdays program runs from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., with two keynote sessions  from 9:30-10:15 a.m. and from 10:45-11:30 a.m. The closing hymn will be sung at 11:30 and lunch will follow from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Childcare will be provided. For information, call 806-763-1995.

Saint Alice Catholic Church will be starting an adult education class for anyone interested in learning more about the Catholic faith. This is open to Catholics and non-Catholics who may want to renew their faith, refresh their faith or question the Catholic doctrine. Classes begin at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 24. Contest Peggy Pohlmeier at 293-9391 or Evelyn Ball at 293-4043 for more information.

The youth at First Presbyterian Church are collecting canned goods, monetary donations, toilet paper and soap for FISH. To help, drop off items at 2101 Utica from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Thursday or Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Phone 296-2604.

Catholic Charities of Lubbock and the Youth and Family program provide youth skills-building counseling through the S.T.A.R. program. S.T.A.R. (Services to At Risk Youth) offers short-term services to youth ages 0-17 and their families who are dealing with conflict at home, school attendance issues, delinquency, or have a youth who runs away from home. S.T.A.R. services are not for families with an open CPS investigation or youth who have been adjudicated delinquent by a juvenile court. All services are without charge. Call 806-296-7044 and ask a youth case manager for more information.

Plainview Habitat for Humanity is a Christian, nonprofit housing organization that seeks to put Gods love into action by building homes, communities and hope. It is currently accepting applications. Visit www.plainviewhabitat.org for application criteria and information. To contact its team, email plainview_habitat@yahoo.com or write Plainview Habitat for Humanity, PO Box 1125, Plainview, TX 79073

Covenant Health Plainview hosts the cancer survivors prayer support group We Fight to Live from 7-8 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month in Room B. The sessions will consist of a monthly topic and presenter, and a structured segment, allowing time for group sharing. The support group is open to those with a cancer diagnosis and anyone affected by their diagnosis. The group is led by Andrea Ingram, a cancer survivor, as well as Sherry Wall, hospital mission services. There is no charge for the group. For more information contact Andrea Ingram at 806-293-7614 or Sherry Wall at 806-291-3364.

The Apostolic Lighthouse Church, 1504 Houston in Plainview, invites the public to pray at the church from 6-7 p.m. each Friday. You need not be a member of the church to come and pray. For those who are homebound or sick, the church ministry will come and pray for you at your home. Call Pastor Armando Cardenas at 806-729-4057 for information.

Alvin Petty will pick up garage sale-types of items, with proceeds going to the Ideal Village Chapel Scholarship Fund. Call 806-685-2604.

Hopeful Hearts, a womens support group dealing with infertility and miscarriage, meets every third Monday of the month at 6 p.m. in the SinglePoint Building of First Baptist Church Plainview, at Eighth and Austin. Call 806-296-6318 for more information.
COLLEGE STATION  Texas potato growers may be few in number, but their spuds hit a market window that brings a premium each year at harvest. Now, a new potato scientist for Texas A&M AgriLife Research plans to pack even more value into the commodity through traditional and molecular breeding.

Upon arriving in Texas last January, Dr. Isabel Vales was quick to put down roots both in her greenhouses near the Texas A&M University campus in College Station and hundreds of miles away where potatoes are grown in the northwestern part of the state.

Ive been interacting with growers to hear what is important in Texas in terms of potato production. What I have learned is that even though potato production in Texas is not that large  between 20,000 and 30,000 acres  its of high value, Vales said. Because our growers are able to move fresh potatoes to the market earlier than other states, they receive two or three times higher prices than growers up north.

But there are some unique challenges for Texas potato producers, she said. High heat and occasional drought may add dimensions to production that a grower cannot control. Lately, a disease known as zebra chip has plagued some fields. And some farmers are interested in expanding into organic production, which calls for different management skills.

Vales said she is nearing a point of developing a plan to help take Texas potato farmers to the next level of production and market efficiency. Consumers also will play a role in the plans, she added, because of their desire for traits such as healthy components and a trendy preference for smaller potatoes.

Thats where her background in genetics will play a larger role. Prior to coming to Texas A&M, Vales used her education in genetics on maize at the University of Minnesota, cereals and potatoes at Oregon State University and legumes for the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics in India.

We will be expanding into the molecular aspects of potatoes in Texas so that we hopefully will be able to understand the genetic basis of some of those traits and be able to use markers for selection in our breeding program, Vales said.

She also will lean on decades of Texas potato experience cultivated by Dr. Creighton Miller, who established the potato breeding program at AgriLife Research in the 1970s.

I had worked with Dr. Miller in the past, so I knew that this is a mature program in Texas focused mostly on conventional breeding, Vales said. I am interested in using all of the new tools that have advanced a lot in potatoes over the last five-plus years. The whole genome sequence is available, and there are lots of genomic resources at our disposal.

She noted potato varieties commonly used by consumers also have many genetic resources including landraces and wild relatives that could be used to incorporate traits of interest into the potato breeding program.

Already Vales and her team at College Station and Lubbock have produced a crop that now is being harvested for examination. She plans to develop a breeding database management system to handle the information gathered and learn more about the traits in the breeding materials. She also is setting up a basic molecular lab and will utilize other genetics labs available on campus to hasten her research.

We are getting ready to plant under greenhouse conditions the parental lines to make crosses that hopefully will combine the traits we are interested in, Vales said. Some of the commercial varieties have very good traits, but they lack resistance to problems like heat or drought, for example.

She said they want to cross cultivated or elite  advanced breeding clones  types of potatoes with others to facilitate resistances, then select within the progeny those that combine high yield and quality with resistance.

The crosses done at her greenhouses near College Station ultimately will be grown in test plots under actual field conditions near Springlake and Dalhart in collaboration with potato growers there.

I cannot emphasize enough how thankful I am for the growers. Their collaborations are essential, she said. Each time I talk to them I always learn something new about what matters, what they are looking for. So that helps me figure out what to focus on and how to prioritize and move forward.

Vales earned her licentiate degree in biological sciences and her pedagogy certification, both at the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. She earned her graduate degree in biology and doctorate in biology, both from the University of Vigo, Spain.

For more information about the AgriLife Research potato research effort, see http://potato.tamu.edu.
Brian Joseph Ball, 30, was held in Hale County jail Monday on a third-degree felony charge of assault family/house members by impeding breath/circulation. Bond was not reported. He was arrested about 2:45 p.m. Sunday in the 3100 block of West 20th in connection with a disturbance. In addition to the assault charge, police also are investigating a reported criminal mischief that resulted in between $750 and $2,500 damage.

--A building in the 2900 block of West Fourth Street was burglarized. The crime was reported about 3 p.m. Tuesday.

--A purse snatching, perpetrated by a known individual, occurred between 7-9 p.m. Saturday in the 600 block of North Columbia, resulting in a loss of $100 to $750. The crime was reported about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.

--Property in the 600 block of West 24th Street was vandalized Tuesday, resulting in $100 to $750 damage.

--Property valued between $100 and $750 was stolen from a yard in the 1300 block of West 32nd between 4:30-7:30 p.m. Saturday. The incident was reported Sunday.

--A shoplifting incident occurred about noon Sunday in the 2800 block of Olton Road. The crime was committed by an unknown individual.

--A 41-year-old man was held in Hale County jail Monday on an active warrant for no drivers license. He was arrested about 10:45 p.m. Sunday in the 1600 block of North Date.

--A 36-year-old woman was held in Hale County jail Monday on $1,500 bond on a charge of driving while license invalid with no insurance. She was arrested about 11:45 a.m. Sunday in the 2600 block of Lexington.

--A 36-year-old woman was held in Hale County jail Wednesday on $5,000 bond for theft of property under $2,500 with two or more previous convictions. She was arrested about 9 a.m. Tuesday in the 1000 block of North I-27 in connection with a shoplifting incident.

--A theft of property valued between $100 and $750 occurred between 8-8:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 18, in the 500 block of North Date.

--A vehicle was burglarized between Aug. 7-19 while in the 700 block of El Paso. The crime was reported about 2:15 p.m. Saturday.

--A hit-and-run accident involving damage to private property occurred about 4:35 a.m. Saturday in the 1600 block of Quincy.

--A 54-year-old man was held in Hale County jail Monday on $1,500 bond for driving with license invalid/suspended with prior convictions or no proof of financial responsibility. He was arrested about noon Sunday in the 300 block of West Fifth Street following a traffic stop.

--A known person reportedly stole property valued between $100 and $750 from the 1300 block of Navajo Drive between 1-4 p.m. Sunday. The crime was reported Monday.

--Police responding to a disturbance in the 800 block of Kokomo about 7:30 p.m. Saturday said property at that location was damaged by criminal mischief. No arrest was made.

--A 61-year-old man was held in Hale County jail Tuesday on $2,500 bond for assault causing bodily injury family violence. He was arrested about 1:45 p.m. Monday in the 2500 block of Denver in connection to a disturbance.

--A 23-year-old woman was held in Hale County jail Tuesday without bond on active warrants for violate drivers license restriction (corrective lenses) and two for speeding (equal to or greater than 10 percent above posted limit). She was arrested about 11:40 p.m. Monday in the 400 block of West 12th Street.

--An assault causing bodily injuring arising from a disturbance reportedly occurred about 1:40 p.m. Sunday in the 1400 block of Galveston.

--A vehicle was stolen and used for joy riding between 8 p.m. Monday and 8 a.m. Tuesday. The vehicle was taken from the 4400 block of Olton Road.

--A 26-year-old man was held in Hale County jail Wednesday on $200 bond for possession of drug paraphernalia. He was arrested about 3:20 p.m. Tuesday in the 800 block of North Columbia.

--An 18-year-old woman was held in Hale County jail Tuesday on $1,500 bond for possession of marijuana under 2 oz. She was arrested about 9 p.m. Monday in the 1600 block of West 13th Street. An 18-year-old man was arrested at the same time. He was held in Hale County jail Tuesday on $200 bond for possession of drug paraphernalia.

--Property valued between $100 and $750 was stolen from the 4300 block of West Second about 10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 18.

--Jay Daniel Reyes, 24, was held in Hale County jail Monday on bonds totaling $10,400 on a third degree felony charge of prohibited substance in correctional facility-alcohol/drugs/phone/tobacco and misdemeanor charges of fail to identify and public intoxication. He was arrested about 1:30 a.m. Sunday in the 2100 block of Houston.

--An assault reportedly occurred Monday in the 700 block of Beech Street.

--Criminal mischief involving $100 to $750 damage occurred between 8:30 p.m. Saturday and 12:30 a.m. Sunday in the 1000 block of North I-27.

--Property in the 900 block of West 26th was vandalized between 5:30-6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 18. Damage is $100 to $750.

--A theft of property from a building in the 2400 block of North Columbia resulted in the loss of $100 to $750.

--The unauthorized use of a vehicle occurred between 3:30-7 p.m. Saturday in the 1600 block of North I-27.

--A 46-year-old man was held in Hale County jail Sunday on $1,500 bond for driving with license invalid with previous conviction or suspension and without evidence of financial responsibility. He was arrested about 8 a.m. Saturday in the 1800 block of West Eighth.

--Property in the 2500 block of Kermit was vandalized between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 18, resulting in $100 to $750 damage.

--Counterfeit documents or currency were used fraudulently between 10 a.m. Sunday and 1 a.m. Monday in the 2600 block of Olton Road.

--An assault occurred about 5 p.m. Sunday in the 900 block of West 25th Street.

--A 21-year-old woman was held in Hale County jail Saturday on $1,500 bond for theft of service $20 to $500. She was arrested about 4 p.m. Friday, Aug. 18, in the 1500 block of North I-27.

--A 54-year-old woman was held in Hale County jail on $1,000 bond for an active Lubbock County warrant for theft of service valued at $500 to $1,500.

--A 28-year-old woman was held in Hale County jail Thursday on eight active warrants after being arrested about 7:15 p.m. Wednesday in the 1600 block of Kermit. Bond was not reported. The charges include no drivers license (two counts), defective or no headlamps, operating unregistered motor vehicle (two counts), driving while license invalid (two counts) and driver not secured by seatbelt.

--A 39-year-old man was held in Hale County jail without bond Tuesday on an active warrant for theft by check. He was arrested about 7:30 p.m. Monday in the 700 block of South Broadway.

--Police are investigating an incident described as stealing or receiving a stolen check or similar sight order which occurred between Aug. 5-21. The crime was reported Monday in the 900 block of West 28th.

--A 23-year-old woman was held in Hale County jail Saturday on five active warrants. The charges include speeding (bond $200), violate promise to appear ($200 bond), speed 15 mph or more over posted limit (bond not reported), not secured by seatbelt child age 4 to 14 (bond not reported) and violate promise to appear (bond not reported). She was arrested about 11:45 a.m. Friday, Aug. 18, in the 2700 block of Olton Road.

--A 37-year-old man was held in Hale County jail Sunday on bonds totaling $400 on active warrants for no drivers license and failure to maintain financial responsibility. He was arrested about 4:20 p.m. Saturday in the 400 block of West 19th Street.

--A 40-year-old man was held in Hale County jail on $2,500 bond for terroristic threat of family/household member. He was arrested about 12:30 p.m. Sunday in the 800 block of Kokomo in connection to a disturbance.

--A shoplifting incident reportedly occurred about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 2400 block of North Columbia. The crime was committed by a known individual.

--A credit or debit card was used fraudulently between 6 a.m. Sunday and 7 p.m. Wednesday in the 1300 block of West 34th Street.

--A 30-year-old man was held in Hale County jail Monday on $200 bond for public intoxication. He was arrested about 11:45 p.m. Saturday in the 1400 block of Houston.

--A 32-year-old man was held in Hale County jail Sunday on $2,500 bond for violation of a protective order. He was arrested about 11:15 p.m. Saturday in the 3400 block of Olton Road.

(Anyone with information on crime in Plainview and Hale County may contact the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 293-8477 or 293-TIPS.)
A 200-acre vegetation fire in Dublin prompted evacuations of a nearby neighborhood Tuesday after the blaze more than doubled in size in less than two hours, authorities said.

The fire took hold on the U.S. Army Reserve property of Camp Parks at about 2 p.m., according to the Alameda County Fire Department.
The dean of San Francisco State Universitys historic College of Ethnic Studies sued the university Wednesday and accused its president and California State University of harassing, retaliating and discriminating against him because he is a gay black man trying to keep his program afloat.

The suit comes 18 months after a campus dispute in which students protested and staged a hunger strike over their suspicion that ongoing budget deficits at Ethnic Studies were because San Francisco State was starving it of cash and planned to shut down the unique, 48-year-old college. At the time, campus President Les Wong denied such a plan and vowed to help the College of Ethnic Studies financially. San Francisco State is the nations only university to group ethnic studies programs under a stand-alone college, and students and faculty prize its status.
One of the longest-running musical acts in show business may be over.

Chuck E. Cheeses is phasing out its iconic animatronic band, the larger-than-life ensemble that has performed at the kid-friendly pizza chain for decades, in a bid to become more parent-friendly.

An early-phase remodeling of Chuck E. Cheeses restaurants in San Antonio and Kansas City, Mo., includes a calmer, more inviting environment, a focus on food and a live stage show. The animatronic band, however, seems to have lost its gig.

We removed the animatronics in seven locations, Christelle Dupont, a spokeswoman for the Irving-based chain, said Wednesday. Were testing to see how those remodeled locations do and what parents and kids like and whats resonating with them.

Dupont said the animatronic band will be removed in successive remodels but declined to say when.

Chuck E. Cheeses has 512 corporate-owned restaurants in the U.S. The company is majority-owned and controlled by investment funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management.

Launched as separate animatronic bands in competing pizza chains more than 40 years ago, the current Chuck E. Cheeses lineup  known as Munchs Make Believe Band  is the result of a 1984 merger between ShowBiz Pizza Place and Chuck E. Cheeses Pizza Time Theatre, which had filed for bankruptcy.

The combined restaurant chain soldiered on under the Chuck E. Cheeses banner, while the ShowBiz band  the Rock-afire Explosion  was phased out and its performers cannibalized to keep the Chuck E. Cheeses-led band going.

These days, an animatronic Chuck E. Cheese performs as a solo act at most locations, Dupont said.

The band may be getting a little long in the tooth, said Tom Leverton, CEO of Chuck E. Cheeses. Children, he said, now have higher expectations of both realism and special effects.

For some purists, the original Rock-afire Explosion was the height of animatronic bands, inspiring a cult following that manifested itself in animated message boards, musical revivals and a 2008 documentary.

They are the greatest animatronic rock n roll band in the world, said Aaron Fechter, the Orlando, Fla., engineer who created them.

The Rock-afire Explosion included such characters as Billy Bob Brockali, a banjo-playing bear; Mitzi Mozzarella, a mouse chanteuse; and Fatz Geronimo, a gorilla keyboardist and frontman. In addition to designing the characters, Fechter also voiced several of them.

An original partner in ShowBiz Pizza, Fechter retained ownership of the characters and technology for Rock-afire, which began performing at the pizza chain in 1980.

When the chains merged, he kept his copyright but relinquished the electronically animated soft sculptures, which continued to perform for the rechristened Chuck E. Cheeses for several years.

Then, he said, his creations were repurposed to become characters in the Chuck E. Cheeses band.

To this day, a lot of my characters are still out there performing with Chuck E. Cheese masks and costumes and voices, Fechter said. But not very well because theyre beat up, theyre badly programmed and their showmanship is terrible. Its an abomination.

While Chuck E. Cheeses is phasing out its animatronics, Fechter is putting the band back together in his Orlando shop, tuning up his creations for a new state fair tour.

In 2013, Fechter sent the band to Las Vegas to back up pop star CeeLo Green for a seven-week run. Rock-afire has also made cameos in several recent movies.

They declare animatronics is dead, but the Rock-afire Explosion is coming back as real performing artists, Fechter said. Theyre like the Rolling Stones, an old rock n roll group thats still as young as they were in 1980.
The Energy Department, in a long-anticipated report on the security of the U.S. electric grid, makes the case for rescuing the nations coal industry from widespread plant shutdowns, but stops short of an assault on renewable power that environmentalists had feared.

The study, commissioned by Energy Secretary Rick Perry who has warned that policies favoring solar and wind may be forcing plants to shut and threatening the grid, recommends that the Environmental Protection Agency ease rules on coal plants. It also calls for changes to how wholesale electricity is traded and easier permitting for resources such as coal, nuclear and hydropower.

The report hands President Donald Trump a plan for fulfilling his campaign promise to revive Americas ailing coal industry and put miners back to work. It paints a somewhat grimmer picture of grid security than an earlier draft that concluded the nations power system is more reliable than ever, in spite of coal plant shutdowns. By contrast, the final report cautions that market designs may be inadequate to keep traditional power generation online.

It is apparent that in todays competitive markets certain regulations and subsidies are having a large impact on the functioning of markets, and thereby challenging our power generation mix, Perry said in a statement. Customers should know that a resilient electric grid does come with a price.

The report appeared to have little effect on the shares of utilities, power generators and coal miners. Miner Alliance Resource Partners LP fell 1.4 percent to $17.80 at 11:35 a.m., its biggest intraday decline since Monday. Power producer NRG Energy Inc. dropped as much as 1.9 percent, the biggest intraday decline in a week. Exelon Corp., the biggest U.S. nuclear generator, was little changed at $38.28.

The report was consistent with market expectations and does little directly to correct market anomalies, Barclays analysts led by Daniel Ford wrote in research published Thursday. Federal prodding could lead to higher profit margins in PJM, the largest U.S. power market, by the summer of 2018, according to the research.

The U.S. power industry has been waiting for the Energy Department to release the study for months. Power generator FirstEnergy Corp. said in April that it wanted to see the results before pressing ahead with a plan to divest money-losing coal and nuclear plants. Rival Exelon, the largest operator of reactors in the U.S., told investors this month that it expected the report to highlight the critical role that nuclear plays.

The report lays out policy options that could support coal in the future, but falls short of offering immediate solutions for companies like FirstEnergy, which is weighing the closing of three coal plants in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.

It is too soon to tell the extent to which the federal governments action will assist FirstEnergys facilities, Jennifer Young, a spokeswoman for FirstEnergy said by email Thursday.

The company, along with coal supplier Murray Energy, had asked the Energy Department to issue an emergency order that would enable its plants to keep operating. In the days leading up to the release of the grid report, the agency still had not granted that request.

The sweeping 181-page report concludes that coal-fired and nuclear power plants are being forced out of business primarily because they cant compete against cheap and abundant natural gas, which is flowing out of U.S. shale formations at a record pace. Policies favoring solar and wind energy have also played a role, the study shows.

It stresses the critical need to preserve coal, nuclear and other baseload plants that continue to produce power when the wind isnt blowing and sun isnt shining. The report argues that even natural gas-fired generators, which rely on pipelines to receive fuel, may be less resilient.

The more we rely on natural gas, the more were relying on fuel that arrives just in time at a power plant, said Joseph Dominguez, Exelons vice president of governmental and regulatory affairs and public policy.

Federal regulators are going to have to value these resilience attributes of dependable resources, especially coal plants that can store enough fuel on-site to last months, said Paul Bailey, chief executive officer of American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. Coal stacks up really well. Natural gas does OK. Nuclear does pretty well. Renewables dont do well in some respects and do OK in others.

You need a coal fleet in order to have a resilient and reliable grid, Bailey said.

John Shelk, president of the Washington-based Electric Power Supply Association, said ensuring the resilience of the U.S. power grid doesnt simply mean handing out subsidies for coal and nuclear plants.

Coal and nuclear want resilience to be a code word to subsidize them when they cant compete, said Shelk, whose group represents power generators such as NRG Energy Inc. and Dynegy Inc. that sell their supplies into wholesale markets. Thats a warped view of resilience. All fuels, technologies and attributes should be considered together.

Advanced Energy Economy, a group that promotes solar and wind, said the report seriously overstates the challenges associated with new energy resources. The American Petroleum Institute meanwhile noted that natural gas is now the source of more electricity in the U.S. than any other fuel and has cut consumers energy costs without government mandates and subsidies.

One way that the federal government can assist uneconomic coal plants is to compensate baseload plants for the resilience they offer the power grid, according to the report. The authors recommend that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees power markets, study ways in which those reliability attributes can be appropriately valued. That could include the creation of new pricing mechanisms or changing the agencys approach to energy price formation, the report says.

That recommendation echoes comments recently made by Neil Chatterjee, who was tapped by Trump to temporarily lead the energy commission. Chatterjee said last week that coal-fired plants are a crucial part of Americas energy mix that needed to be properly compensated to recognize the value they provide.

The commission is already weighing whether it should redesign market rules to better account for state policies encouraging the use of zero-emissions power. New York and Illinois recently established subsidies for nuclear power and others are considering doing the same.

Chatterjee on Thursday characterized the report as important, saying in a statement that FERC will remain focused on these and other issues that are critical to maintain the nations competitive wholesale electric markets and keep the lights on.

The study reaffirms our view that nuclear energy is a key and necessary contributor to a clean, reliable and resilient electric grid, which now is more important than ever, Nuclear Energy Institute Chief Executive Officer Maria Korsnick said in a statement.

One regulation cited by the report requires coal plant operators to apply for a permit before making substantial upgrades. That requirement creates an unnecessary burden that discourages rather than encourages investments, the report says.

Since ordering the study in April, Perry has taken a deliberately hands-off approach and was only briefed on its findings Tuesday morning, agency officials said. The report was overseen by Travis Fisher, a senior adviser at the department, and Brian McCormack, Perrys chief of staff.
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San Antonio-area businesses started shuttering Gulf Coast operations and ramping up emergency plans Thursday as Hurricane Harvey placed much of South Texas at risk for catastrophic flooding.

The hurricane barreled toward the refineries in Corpus Christi and the oil fields in South Texas where the industry is particularly exposed and was taking extra precautions to safeguard equipment and personnel.

By mid-morning Thursday, a hurricane warning was issued for Karnes and DeWitt counties, two of the busiest in the Eagle Ford Shale oil field, and much of the rest of the field was under a tropical storm warning.

DeWitt County Judge Daryl Fowler said he expected the countys emergency operations center would be running round the clock by Friday, and it was in contact with the oil and gas companies that operate in the county because of the chance for catastrophic flooding.

The Railroad Commission of Texas, the states oil and gas regulator, sent a notice to operators on Thursday advising them to prepare for the storm and secure equipment.

ConocoPhillips started suspending drilling and completion operations in the Eagle Ford and was moving non-essential personnel and equipment Thursday, said spokeswoman Romelia Hinojosa.

EOG Resources, the largest oil producer in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas, said it was similarly securing its facilities and sending some of its workers to drier ground.

In certain high-risk areas, we evacuated non-essential personnel, suspended drilling operations, and shut-in production, said EOG spokesman Creighton Welch. We will continue to monitor the storm and evaluate if steps to suspend additional operations are needed.

San Antonio-based Pioneer Energy Services, an oil field service company, was also evacuating field employees from the region on Thursday.

We are lowering masts where we can, moving equipment from low lying areas and shutting offices down to clear people out, CEO Stacy Locke said in an email. Locke said the company didnt want to wait to get employees out of the area because roads would get too crowded.

The Port of Corpus Christi said it was monitoring possible impact scenarios, and San Patricio County, along the Corpus Christi Ship Channel, issued a mandatory evacuation Thursday afternoon. Corpus Christi, a major refining center and the countrys fourth largest port by tonnage, was in the direct path of the storm.

Pipeline operator NuStar Energy was shutting down its terminal in Corpus Christi Thursday and activated its emergency response plans for other facilities in the Gulf Coast, said spokeswoman Mary Rose Brown. She said the company was monitoring the storm to determine our next course of action.

Valero Energy Corp. decided to shut down its Corpus Christi and Three Rivers refineries as the storm rapidly intensified into what the National Weather Service predicted would be a Category 3  possibly Category 4  hurricane by the time it reaches landfall between Corpus Christi and Matagorda Bay on Friday. As of noon Thursday, Hurricane Harvey was 340 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph.

Our Gulf Coast operations work through hurricane preparedness protocol that include activities such as assessing refinery operations and potential storm impact, securing equipment, and ensuring we have adequate supplies available, said Lillian Riojas, spokeswoman for the San Antonio-based refiner.

The company, the largest U.S. refiner, was working closely with local, state, and federal agencies, she said.

Major food retailers are working to keep vital items on the shelves as they prepare for Harvey to make landfall. Walmarts emergency operation center in Bentonville, Arkansas is speaking frequently with store operations teams in Texas to gauge where to ship additional stock of water and food items to the companys stores in Texas and Louisiana, company spokesman Reagan Dickens said.

San Antonio-based supermarket H-E-B has routed trucks carrying additional stocks of water, food and batteries to stores in and around Corpus Christi and Houston, company spokeswoman Dya Campos said.

The company is also waiting to deploy its mobile emergency response units from San Antonio, including mobile kitchens that are capable of feeding thousands of people, Campos said. H-E-Bs emergency units also include mobile pharmacies along with electrical generators and water tankers.

Our emergency response team is prepared to not only sustain our stores during these times but also to help in the communities, Campos said.

Data security and backup provider Jungle Disk has already told its 27 employees in San Antonio to work from home Friday, said the companys CEO Bret Piatt.

That will ensure that at least some of his workers can get online if the city suffers a power outage and cellular outage downtown, since the staff is spread out across Bexar and other counties, he said.

The San Antonio companys been testing its business continuity plan by having at least one person from each team work from home on a weekly basis.

If there is an emergency and companies dont regularly test contingency plans, they might not discover gaps in coverage that leave a business unable to serve its clients, Piatt said. And then youre dealing with not only the natural disaster crisis, but youre dealing with a crisis inside of your own business at the same time, he added.

The last hurricane to strike Texas was Ike in 2008. The sluggish pace of Harvey will dump over a foot of rain across southeast Texas, rivaling rainfall seen in 2001 during Tropical Storm Allison.

San Antonio-based Frost Bank activated its emergency operations center in the city as the storm picked up speed.

We got a forecast this morning that the storm was strengthening, Frost spokesman Bill Day said Thursday. Thats why we made the decision to stand up the (emergency operations center).

Business continuity, security, HR and IT personnel have gathered at the center and by phone to discuss what they anticipate with the storm and how the bank will respond, he said. The center has conference call lines and televisions so staff can monitor the storm.

We can tap into the cameras in our locations so we can see whats going on, he said. Its a nerve center for us so we can find out whats going on and communicate more rapidly, rather than having everybody scattered around.

The bank, the largest regional financial institution based in San Antonio, has also begun replenishing cash at its ATMs in coastal regions to meet customer demand, Day said.

In anticipation of Hurricane Harvey, Frost said its branches in Padre Island, Portland and in downtown Corpus Christi will be closed Friday. All other branches in the Corpus Christi region will close at noon Friday, and will remained closed through the weekend. It anticipates reopening those branches on Monday, depending on weather conditions.

No weather-related branch closing are anticipated in the San Antonio area for now, he added.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has given national banks and federal savings associations authority to close offices in the areas affected by the storm. Frost Bank is a state-chartered institution.

The OCC is encouraging bankers to follow its 2012 guidance addressing natural disasters and other emergency conditions. The guidance lists actions bankers could consider implementing, such as waiving or reducing ATM fees, temporarily waiving late payment fees and working with borrowers affected by the storm.

The Texas Department of Banking has not made any announcement regarding the storm.
Chapter 3: Connecting

Joshs mother Kathy Atkins was ready to give up in 2014 when the Facebook message arrived from a stranger. You dont know me, but I know that sob klaver. Hes here in okla i have alot to tell you. But were the suspicions swirling around Joshs father driven by spurned lovers and their need for revenge? Or did Klavers abusive tendencies  documented in court files  give credence to their darkest fears?
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Medical cannabis companies and investors are calling on Gov. Greg Abbott's office and the Department of Public Safety to approve more dispensary licenses beyond the three given provisional approval in May.

In a pair of letters this week, the coalition argues that having just three dispensaries, two in Austin and one in Schulenburg, cannot ensure that patients with intractable epilepsy have easy access to the low THC-chemical strain of the cannabis plant.

The Texas Cannabis Industry Association requested in its letter that a second round of applications be taken for the 40 companies that initially applied for but failed to obtain provisional licenses. The group specifically asks for at least nine additional licenses.

The requested number stems from a recommendation made by DPS' chief financial officer, who noted in September 2015 that at least 12 dispensaries would need to be licensed to meet the needs of some 150,000 patients with intractable epilepsy in the state.

When Abbott signed the Compassionate Use Act in September 2015, he was surrounded by epilepsy patients who suffer seizures.

"A law that will help these children is now in effect," he said at the time.

The Chronicle reported the same day that Abbott had affirmed Texas would not legalize marijuana for further medical or recreational use.

In October 2016, DPS officials reduced their recommended number of dispensaries to three.

A DPS memo sent to at least one cannabis company last November stated that the governor's office had requested the reduction, along with other regulatory changes to the state's fledgling medical-cannabis program.

The companies and investors who signed the Texas Cannabis Industry letter note that both DPS and the governor's office "failed to provide a reasoned justification for this arbitrary choice limiting the number of licensees."

A DPS spokesman said in an email that the information in the November memo was dated. He referred to the agency's website on the medical-cannabis program, which states that three licenses were deemed sufficient based on an analysis of other states' programs, the number of patients in Texas with intractable epilepsy, and statutory requirements.

Chad Sykes, chief of cultivation for San Antonio-based Alamo CBD, said in a statement that the question remains over how three dispensaries will be able to mail out medicine to patients across Texas. He also noted lingering doubts over how the initial licensing applications were handled.

"The technology and sciences required for the advancement of this medication were apparently not considered during the decision-making process when the state arbitrarily decided to issue only three permits," Sykes said.

The 2015 law gives DPS until Sept. 1 to formally license dispensaries.

"The patients and their willing physicians have been documented by the many advocacy groups," the letter from the cannabis industry association reads. "The only thing lacking to ease these families' suffering is the state government living up to its responsibility."
WEST HAVEN >> The pedestrian struck in Wednesday nights motor vehicle accident has succumbed to her injuries, according to comments on the official West Haven police Facebook site.

The victim is identified as 24-year-old Jordan Garrett of Moosup.
Since 1998, Dress for Success Houston's modus operandi has been to outfit disadvantaged women in professional attire. Wednesday night, inside a jam-packed "Summer Soiree" at Tootsies, the dress code wasn't exactly professional, though there were plenty of noteworthy outfits.

Women of Wardrobe (DFSH's next generation group) president Lauren Granello, Mary Patton, and Bria Wall welcomed 300 trendy young things to the West Ave. shopping destination. Among them, Hannah McNair  fresh from a Houston Texans practice at NRG Stadium  rocked an envy-inducing take on casual chic in diamonds, cutoffs, and desert booties. Meanwhile, her equally striking twin sister Joanna Hartland Marks paired summery white lace with coral Suzanne Kalan jewels, presumably unearthed at IW Marks.
/ Newtown Police Department

NEWTOWN - A 63-year-old town man accused of robbing $833 from the Bank of America with a butcher knife Thursday afternoon was arrested shortly after security called 911, police said.

The suspect, John McCarthy of 28 Bonnie Brae Drive, was arrested shortly after the 2:40 p.m. incident, across the street from the Bank of America branch at 6 Queen St., police said.
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Prattsville

State and federal law enforcement authorities have launched a criminal investigation that's examining the town of Prattsville's use of more than $5 million in government aid that flowed into the small community following a series of devastating storms in 2011 and 2012.

Last week, investigators served subpoenas on the Greene County town and also the town's bookkeeper and the deputy supervisor. The subpoenas sought reams of documents, including records related to the post-storm aid that came from a state-run program, the New York Rising Community Reconstruction Plan. The grant program was created by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to help more than 100 communities, including Prattsville, rebuild following three devastating storms  Tropical storms Irene and Lee and Superstorm Sandy  that wreaked havoc across New York with their record flooding.

The investigation involves several agencies, including the FBI and state comptroller's office, according to people briefed on the probe.

In Prattsville, a town of about 350 year-round residents, the community was destroyed when the Schoharie Creek burst from its banks during Hurricane Irene in the fall of 2011. The flooding unleashed a wall of water more powerful than Niagara Falls that wiped out nearly everything in its path and left residents and others, including firefighters, stranded or clinging to rooftops. In addition to helping rebuild homes and businesses, the federal aid was used to pay for two new bridges, the reconstruction of Main Street and a recreation complex.

Controversy has swirled for years in the small community over the handling of the aid, which was funneled to the state from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Much of the decision-making has been handled by a 12-member planning committee that includes the town's supervisor, Kory O'Hara, and deputy supervisor, Bonita Chase.

In 2013, the Times Union published a story highlighting accusations that town officials misused tens of thousands of dollars in aid and refused to release their spending records. Town leaders have said the allegations were unfounded and spurred by a small group of residents who questioned whether some of the money was being improperly doled out to relatives and friends of elected officials.

When the subpoenas were served on town hall last week, investigators also seized private computers and other records from O'Hara, including from his auto service station on Main Street.

"Kory cooperated with the investigation and turned over what was requested of him," said William J. Dreyer, an Albany criminal defense attorney retained by O'Hara.

The town also hired an attorney in response to the investigation. Thomas A. Capezza, who is a former assistant U.S. attorney and former general counsel for the State Police, confirmed this week that he represents the town and its bookkeeper and deputy supervisor.

"The town received a request for documents and it is cooperating fully and will honor that request," Capezza said.

O'Hara and Chase both did not respond to requests for comment.

Councilman James Thorington, who is in his 12th year on the Town Board, said the board convened an emergency meeting this week to discuss what he termed as "litigation." When asked if he considers an FBI investigation to be "litigation," Thorington said: "I probably would, yes."

"There is an investigation going on and we are cooperating to the fullest," he said. "I was not involved in any of it," he added, referring to the distribution of the block grants. "I have not been brought up on charges or been involved in any investigations to this point."

Kevin Piccoli, who was co-chairman of the local planning committee that oversaw the rebuilding effort, said nearly the entire community is pleased with the outcome. He declined to say whether he has been interviewed by investigators involved in the criminal investigation.

"I know there's one thing I can say for sure and that is people in the town, 99 percent of them, are just so delighted with everything that has been done," Piccoli said. "I mean, this town has been rebuilt from such huge devastation."

Armando "Al" Creazzo, a Prattsville resident and co-chair of the committee with Piccoli, could not be reached for comment.

blyons@timesunion.com  518-454-5547  @brendan_lyonstu
Lake Houston entities are bracing for impact of Hurricane Harvey, which is expected to make landfall along the Texas Coast late Friday. Heavy rainfall and flash flooding are possible through the weekend.

Humble Independent School District will make a decision at about 4 p.m. on whether schools are to close Monday, Aug. 28. Humble ISD parents will receive updates and emergency notifications through emails and texts issued to parents. Parents who do not have their phone numbers on file with the district are asked to check the district website for updates.

Humble ISD also has a text system set up for parents with their phone numbers on file with to receive instant alerts, in order to receive alerts parents are asked to text YES to 67587.

Huffman ISD

Huffman ISD issued an announcement to parents and staff stating they are closely monitoring the situation, and will be on a conference call this afternoon with the Office of Emergency Management and other school districts in the area.

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The school district has canceled an SAT exam originally scheduled for this Saturday. The exam will be rescheduled for Sept. 9.

Huffman ISD has cancelled all weekend activities, travel and access to district buildings.

As of 9 p.m. Thursday, Huffman ISD stated that staff will be reporting to work as normal on Friday, Aug. 25, until 12 p.m., at which time the district will close.

Huffman ISD anticipates a decision regarding the Monday, Aug. 28 school day may be made Saturday morning.

The school district will keep the community informed as information becomes available. Huffman ISD asked people to continue checking email, Facebook and Huffmanisd.net for updates.

Crosby ISD

Crosby ISD Superintendent Keith Moore announced all Crosby ISD campuses and departments will be closed Friday, Aug. 25.

Crosby ISD has cancelled all district activities for Friday afternoon and through the weekend.

The school district will decide whether to resume school on Monday by Sunday, Aug. 27 at 2 p.m.

Check Crosbyisd.org and the Crosby ISD Facebook page for updates.

City of Houston District E Office

In preparation for the potential impacts of Hurricane Harvey, the city of Houston District E office has been communicating with local entities, including law enforcement, school districts, hospitals, chambers of commerce and the Coastal Water Authority.

Two of the four flashboard gates at Lake Houston were opened this morning in expectation of the storm. District E will continue communication with the Coastal Water Authority. The community can sign up to receive updates and alerts from the City of Houston Office of Emergency Management Alerts at www.houstonemergency.org.

The Office of Emergency Management will post information on its website about shelters as they are activated, but no Houston area shelters are identified as of 1 p.m. today. People who require shelter can contact the Red Cross at 1-866-526-8300.

Residents should report storm damage to City of Houston 3-1-1 by calling 713-837-0311.

Report CenterPoint Energy power outages to 713-207-2222 or 800-332-7143. To receive power outage updates sign-up for the Power Alert Service at http://www.centerpointenergy.com/en-us/residential/customer-service/electric-outage-center?sa=ho. Follow @cnpalerts on Twitter for individual outage information. Visit http://gis.centerpointenergy.com/outagetracker/ for general outage locations.

For a list of recommended Shelter-in-Place Kit contents, visit http://houstontx.gov/oem/pages/preparedness/index.html#sipkit.

Councilman Dave Martin will share alerts on Facebook and Twitter throughout Hurricane Harvey. For more information, contact Martin's office at (832) 393-3008 or via email at districte@houstontx.gov.

Constable Pct. 4

The Harris County Constable's Office and emergency management partner ReadyHarris urged residents to review their family emergency plans, restock their disaster supply kits and stay informed.

Supply kit should include:

NOAA weather radio and batteries

Flashlight and batteries

Extra eye glasses

Bottled water

Non-perishable food

Clothing and bedding

First aid kit, medications and prescriptions

Special products for babies, elderly and medically fragile family members

Cash and credit cards

Photo ID, important documents and records

Also prepare an emergency kit for your pets and a plan on how to care for them. Never leave your pets behind.

No evacuations have been ordered at this time.

Continue monitoring local weather reports and search for #harvey #houwx on social media.

Pct. 4 will be strategically deploying 5-ton military trucks and other safety equipment. All Precinct 4 first responders have been placed on standby for possible 12-hour shifts should the situation require emergency schedule deployment.
As soon as Theo Wilson started making YouTube videos about culture and race, trolls using racial slurs started flocking to his page.

After engaging in endless sparring matches in the comments section, Wilson began to notice something curious: His trolls seemed to speak a language unto themselves, one replete with the same twisted facts and false history. It was as if they had all passed through some "dimensional doorway," arriving from an alternative universe where history, politics and commonly accepted facts had been turned inside out.

There was the idea that slavery was a form of charity that benefited enslaved Africans; that freed blacks owned more slaves than whites before the Civil War; that people of color make up the majority of those receiving aid from America's safety-net programs; and that investor and philanthropist George Soros is funding protest movements like Black Lives Matter.

Curious about where his trolls were getting their revisionist history lessons, Wilson, 36, - an award-winning poet and actor from Denver - decided to go undercover in their world. In 2015, he started by creating a ghost profile named "Lucious25," a digital white supremacist who appeared to be an indigenous member of the alt-right's online echo chamber, he said.

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His avatar was John Carter, the Confederate hero of Edgar Rice Burroughs's science fiction series about death-defying adventures on Mars.

Within a few weeks Wilson's alternate identity was questioning President Barack Obama's birthplace, railing against Black Lives Matter and bemoaning people he called "race-baiters," such as Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. After several months, he was a disaffected fixture on alt-right websites that draw white supremacists -- such as Infowars and American Renaissance -- and in the comments section of racist YouTube videos.

"To be honest, it was kind of exhilarating," Wilson told an audience during a recent TEDx talk about his experience. "I would literally spend days clicking through my new racist profile, goofing off at work in Aryan land."

During his eight months as a racist troll, Wilson never revealed his true identity. When it was all over, Wilson said, he came to appreciate the way in which the far-right media bubble disables its participants -- offering an endless stream of scapegoats for their problems but no credible solutions.

We spoke with the poet about his experience, whether white supremacists are redeemable and why he believes liberals should listen to the far-right. The interview has been edited for length.

Q: How did it feel to assume the identity of a person who - if real - would presumably hate you and everything you represent?

A: It was painful at first. I'm still me. This isn't like the blind Dave Chapelle KKK character who didn't know he was black. To get beneath the pain, I had to begin to dissociate from myself as a black person. The pin pricks didn't go away, but it began to feel like a character study. I've acted before, and the muscle I developed learning theater allowed me to do this. Acting teaches you that you can't just act, you have to be, so I would sort of tell myself I was Daniel Day Lewis or Denzel Washington becoming a role.

Q: As you became more familiar with the alt-right online, what shocked you most about their views?

A: That there are still people who think black people are not fully human and that we are lagging in terms of evolution. The comments I'd read about our facial features being monkey-like and dark skin being proof of primitiveness were shocking. The fact is that there are people who believe that the difference between us is the difference between two species, not a race. I was raised with so many examples of black excellence and nothing about inferiority. Meanwhile, the folks on these forums are still discussing phrenology. Who uses phrenology anymore? We mapped the human genome!

Q: After spending time in the white supremacist universe, do you consider all of them "bad people"?

A: It's wise to avoid absolutes. "Bad" generally means "irredeemable" and "disposable." Therefore, if I thought everyone in the alt-right were any of these, the experiment would be useless.

Q: You mention that in their forums they're also seeking "answers" to questions. What are they trying to resolve?

A: In today's America, they're struggling to understand why they'll have less opportunity than their father's generation. They also want answers to basic questions about race in America, such as: What's the point of multiculturalism? Why can only black people say the "N" word? How is racism not over when LeBron James and Oprah have huge bank accounts? How is affirmative action anything other than reverse racism? Why shouldn't I be proud to be white if someone else is proud to be black?

Q: Were you struck by the reality that infiltrating this world would've been nearly impossible for you at almost any other time in American history? You would've been putting your life at risk.

A: This experiment was completely a product of the digital age. Even when the reverse was done in the book "Black Like Me," there's always that chance you could be discovered, but here that's extremely unlikely unless someone is a hacker. The Internet is sort of what a car is to road rage. The glass and steel create this bubble of perceived safety, which amplifies people's rage, but keeps them from having to deal with the consequences of that rage. There is an honesty that is exposed in the process.

Q: You talk about "breaking out of the digital divide." Technology offers us the chance to connect with new people and ideas, but you don't believe it's a reliable tool for combating racism. Why is that?

A: James Baldwin accurately diagnosed the white culture's need for shadow projection onto black bodies as being the roots of racism. A smartphone and an iPad won't address this need. All they do is reinforce our wants and desires, so if these desires are immature, we never grow. Racism is a comfy cage, and technology hasn't provided the key for getting out. We need to have courageous, face-to-face conversations with difficult people outside of the security of our laptops.

Q: You talk about racists with something approaching compassion. Does that suggest you're hopeful about our chances of defeating racism?

A: Just because this experience made me more compassionate doesn't mean I'm more hopeful. My compassion comes from knowing these people are still so vulnerable to social programming. But the social forces that make racism commonplace aren't necessarily going away. Look at what happened in Charlottesville, for example. How did a brand-new generation of white guys get that hateful? They never joined their dad in a lynch mob. They never smelled the burning flesh of a Negro in a town square or lived in Jim Crow America. And yet, they still adopted those hateful attitudes. That doesn't make me hopeful at all.

---

YouTube video:

A black man undercover in the alt-right | Theo E.J. Wilson | TEDxMileHigh

URL: https://youtu.be/FdHJw0veVNY
BEIJING - China sharpened its rhetoric over the Trump administration efforts to investigate its trade practices on Thursday, vowing to use any means necessary to defend the country and its companies.

While analysts don't believe a trade war between the world's two largest economies is imminent, China's harsh words underline a recent fraying of the relationship between Beijing and Washington over trade and North Korea.

On Wednesday, China's Foreign Ministry demanded the United States "immediately" withdraw unilateral sanctions against several Chinese companies and individuals it accused of illegally trading with the Pyongyang regime.

Trump initially said he would set aside trade disputes with China to get Beijing's cooperation in reining in North Korea, but reversed course earlier this month by calling for a probe into the theft of intellectual property by Chinese companies.

Experts say the administration may now be coming to terms with the limits of Beijing's willingness to put pressure on Pyongyang, and wants to demonstrate it is taking steps to bring down the trade deficit, a key campaign promise.

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On Monday, the Chinese Commerce Ministry had called Trump's move on trade "irresponsible" and "protectionist," and arguing it ignored the rules of the World Trade Organization.

On Thursday, it upped the ante, saying the decision had "poured cold water" on efforts to improve trade relations between the two countries.

"We are strongly discontented with this unilateralism and protectionism, and will take all the necessary measures to resolutely defend the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese side and Chinese enterprises," Gao Feng, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, told a news conference, calling it a "violation" of the international trade system.

Nevertheless, experts think a trade war between the two countries remains an unlikely and distant prospect, mainly because it would be damaging to both sides.

"If Trump initiates sanctions against China, especially the Section 301 investigation, it would be like killing 10,000 enemies at the cost of losing 8,000 of its own troops," said Wei Jianguo, vice chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchange and former vice commerce minister. "It's really unnecessary and it would cause grave losses to both sides."

Although the United States runs a $310 billion trade deficit with China, Wei said American exports to China were substantial and growing fast.

The inquiry into the theft of U.S. intellectual property could take months before reaching a conclusion. In the meantime, China will want to keep relations on an even keel, ahead of a key Communist Party Congress in the fall and ahead of a planned visit by President Donald Trump later this year.

Shortly before he left the White House, Trump strategist Stephen Bannon had argued in an interview that the U.S. government should be "maniacally focused" on the economic war that China is already waging on the United States.

But while business leaders in the United States want to avoid a trade war, the idea that the United States should get tougher with China has many supporters.

Indeed U.S. trade groups have become increasingly vociferous in recent years about growing Chinese protectionism and barriers to investment, and broadly welcomed Trump's Aug. 14 order.

More than 20 percent of 100 American companies that responded to a survey by the U.S.-China Business Council said they were asked to transfer technology within the past three years as a condition of market access

Beijing requires automakers and some other foreign companies in China to work through joint ventures, in which they often are required to give technology to partners that might ultimately become competitors.

China agreed this month to a package of stricter sanctions on North Korea at the U.N. Security Council, but there are limits to the pressure it will put on Pyongyang because it is unwilling to do anything that might bring down the regime.

Wei welcomed the fact that Bannon had left the White House, but called Trump's move on trade the product of a "Cold War mentality."

---

The Washington Post's Luna Lin contributed to this report.
FAIRFIELD  School may be starting soon, but theres still plenty of good boating weather left.

But what if you want to invite more people out for a day on the water but dont have enough life jackets, also known as PFDs or personal flotation devices. Connecticut law requires that boaters have enough PFDs on board for all passengers, and that any boater 12 and under be wearing that jacket while on the boat, unless their below deck or in an enclosed cabin.

Fairfield also requires that anyone 8 and under be wearing a life jacket while on any town docks.

For those who keep their boats at the South Benson Marina, they no longer have to beg their slip neighbors for a jacket or too, thanks to the Sea Tow Foundation.

Officer Scott Csizmadia, a member of the Police Departments marine unit, said starting this summer the foundation has provided a station with loaner life jackets. Located on a stand near the marine unit building, the bright yellow life jackets range in size from toddler to adult, according to Cszimadia.

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The idea is those boaters that need a jacket can borrow one, and return it at the end of the day. For the most part, thats what people have done, Csizmadia said, although he estimated that about 10 have been borrowed and not brought back.

According to Andrew Kenny, marina coordinator, local Sea Tow owner, Neal McQuone, set up the life jacket station with the police marine unit. It seems to work well, and is done using the honor system, Kenny said.

Two other Fairfield County marinas, Brewer Yacht Haven Marina in Stamford, and Brewer Stratford Marina, participated in the Sea Tow program.

Sea Tow Foundation Life Jacket Loaner Stands have loaned over 35,000 life jackets to recreational boaters at no cost since 2008.

A map showing all of the loaner stand locations, including the locations for these 31 new stands, is also available at www.boatingsafety.com.

greilly@ctpost.com; @GreillyPost
The Conroe City Council is expected to adopt the city's budget and capital improvement program when it meets Thursday morning.

The meeting, set for 9:30 a.m., comes after weeks of discussions and hammering out the final budget for the coming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

The budget is expected to include a hike in sewer rates, although water rates will remain the same. Under the latest proposal for sewer and water rates, sewer rates would go up by 10 percent in the coming year, while there would be no hike in water rates.

But then after the next fiscal year, sewer rates are projected to climb by as much as 30 percent in fiscal 2020-21, with the increases being considerably smaller in following years.

Thursday morning's meeting comes after the council discussed a number of matters during its Wednesday afternoon workshop. One of those matters, apparently a rather prickly subject to Harold "Hutch" Hutcheson, manager of the Conroe/Lake Conroe Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Councilman Duke Coon, involved efforts to have a life-size sculpture of Isaac Conroe, the man considered to be the founder of Conroe, erected in Founders Plaza.

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Coon complained that he has fielded 12-15 phone calls after an article appeared in The Courier Tuesday and on its website reporting the council would discuss giving approval to the nonprofit group Conroe Live Inc. to go forward with a proposal to have the life-size sculpture of Conroe erected in the plaza.

"One thing that's important about this issue is that it is not going to cost the taxpayers money," Coon said as he addressed Hutcheson.

"I had to really pull myself back from being quite angry about that article because it's extremely misleading, without misleading, if that makes any sense," Hutcheson responded.

The Courier, relying on documents provided by the city and by Conroe Live Inc., reported that the Parks and Recreation Department had approved placing the statue, and that the City Council needed to approve it.

The Courier also reported that the estimated cost for the bronze statue would run close to $100,000, but did not clarify who would pay for the statue. According to Conroe Live, with city approval the group would "pursue and procure funding" for the project.

During the Wednesday workshop, the council also discussed committing funding to Montgomery County on Aging, heard a presentation and discussed a feasibility study for a convention center, considered the purchase of cellular amplifiers for the Police Department to improve cell phone reception inside its headquarters and other matters.

"I'm absolutely behind this feasibility study, Councilman Duane Ham said. "But I want to get it right the first time."

Coon said he also supports a feasibility study but did not want it to be on the "backs of taxpayers."

At the end of the discussion, it was determined that city staff would go forward with pursuing the feasibility study.

On the matter of cell phone amplifiers for police headquarters, Police Chief Philip Dupuis told the council that cell phones were having trouble getting reception in the downstairs area of the building and that the amplifiers would improve reception. Several bids were received for the amplifiers, with it being recommended that the city award the lowest bid of $51,854.

Some of the other matters discussed by the council on Wednesday included:

Annual payment of $85,000 to the Montgomery County Hospital District for fire dispatching services.

Purchase of a $83,955 for a new wastewater treatment plant pump.

Resolutions on the possible creation of Municipal Utility Districts at two locations near state Highway 242/

A variance request from the tree ordinance for a new project on a small lot on 4th St. and Silverdale that would include a new beauty parlor.

A variance request for a 48-room hotel proposed on a little more than one acre on Texs 105 West, near Lake Conroe.

The City Council is set to meet again Thursday at 9:30 a.m.
Retired Gen. Tommy Franks told a packed house at the east Midland elementary school named in his honor that Midland, Texas, is the American dream.

It doesnt matter what you show up with and doesnt matter who you are; Midland, Texas, will give you every chance to be everything you can be and a whole lot more, he said.

The product of West and Jane Long elementaries, Alamo Junior High, Midland High (as a sophomore) and Lee High School also said he hopes General Tommy Franks Elementary School represents opportunity to the next generation of Midland students because there is nothing more important than education.

Some people believe you dont have to have the bricks and mortar and education to do whats right; thats when people fall through the cracks, Franks said. This little elementary school will solve that.

Thursdays dedication, which included a ceremonial ribbon-cutting and the pomp and circumstance one would expect from such an event, was a celebration of the campus many hope will have an impact. Franks Elementary is the 2.0 version of Crockett Elementary, which Midland ISD officials shut down after one of the longest failing streaks in the state. Students who attended Crockett will attend either or DeZavala or Milam elementary.

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Franks Elementary will be open to the 349 students -- those located east of State Highway 349 and north of Loop 250. Many of those students attended Fasken Elementary in northwest Midland last year, but overcrowding on that campus and the situation at Crockett forced the district to make changes.

The celebration of the new campus included Franks Elementary teachers and staff in special camouflage T-shirts commemorating their new assignment. Franks Elementary Principal Leslie Goodrum called the event an opportunity to celebrate a new beginning at 401 E. Parker Ave. MISD Superintendent Orlando Riddick said he appreciated the energy in the room and that it was important for all campuses to have that type of energy. Franks said he could feel the passion the teaching staff was set to deliver to students up and down the halls.

Franks Elementary also will be a pilot campus for the Midland Values Project, which promises to complete a an attitude transformation similar to what has been reported at Midland Memorial Hospital. The Warren Charitable Foundation is funding the program that instills 12-core values inside the school and district.

I cant think of anyone who embodies (leadership) more in their life than Tommy Franks, school board President Rick Davis said. I am proud Midland is the first of its kind (to have a Tommy Franks campus).

Franks talked about coming to Midland with his family in the mid-1950s. His father worked for Bum Gibbins at Basin Supply Co. He talked about attending the University of Texas for a year before finding his calling as a military man. Franks rose up the ranks, eventually becoming commander in chief, U.S. Central Command. He led Americans response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, including the invasion of Afghanistan and the overthrow of the Taliban. He also led the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

Midland was then like Midland is now, Franks said. It is all about the energy and opportunity.

Talking to the media afterward, Franks said, Boy, I wish some of my elementary school teachers could be here. They would all be in disbelief.

Franks admits he lived his high school days for Friday nights. He also is a prime example that a person can go far if the right opportunity comes ones way.

I have recognized the value of an education, Franks said. It is the foundation on which all these people build their lives.
The voice mail started out mildly. A female caller said she's leaving a message for Ravin Gandhi, whose anti-Trump op-ed she recently read online.

Gandhi, chief executive of a Chicago company, had written a column published on CNBC's website last week criticizing President Donald Trump's response to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. The president's statement, in which he condemned racism and bigotry from "many sides," signals his "tacit support of white supremacists and Nazis," Gandhi wrote.

And each time Trump recast his message, he only "dug a deeper hole."

Gandhi said he received the woman's voice mail last Thursday, a day after his op-ed was published. Within a span of 15 seconds, the unidentified caller went from calm to derisive to vitriolic.

"Get your f------ garbage and go back to India and sell it over there. . . . Don't tell us about Donald Trump. Don't tell us about this country. . . . Go back to where the pigs live in India, and go clean your own G------ country. It's a filthy mess," the caller said.

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Gandhi was born in the United States and grew up in a Chicago suburb.

For a minute and a half, the woman meandered into the issue of Confederate statues (Gandhi did not mention Confederate monuments in his op-ed), called U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley a "Bangladesh creep" (Haley, who was born to a Sikh family, is from South Carolina), and said Buddhist doctors and statues should be sent back to India (Gandhi is not Buddhist).

"The first time I heard it, it was shocking," Gandhi told The Washington Post on Wednesday. "The 10th time I heard it, it's just comical."

Gandhi said he received other hateful responses to his op-ed. The common theme: He should go back where he came from.

"Guess what, I am where I came from," said Gandhi, who lives in Chicago with his wife and two children.

"It makes me feel fired up. I do not feel insulted. I feel the desire to educate the ignorant and show them that I am as American as one can conceivably be. This is a country of immigrants, and I am the son of immigrants."

Gandhi, 44, said his parents moved from Mumbai to Illinois in 1969. He grew up in Waukegan, Illinois, which he described as a blue-collar and diverse neighborhood about an hour's drive from Chicago. He has an accounting degree from the University of Illinois and a master's degree in business from Northwestern University. In 2007, Gandhi co-founded a company that supplies nonstick coatings to cookware, bakeware and electrical appliance industries. He now employees about 300 people.

Gandhi describes himself as politically independent, having voted for both Republican and Democratic candidates for president: George H.W. Bush in 1992, Bill Clinton in 1996, George Bush in 2000, John Kerry in 2004, and Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012.

He began writing op-eds for CNBC during the presidential campaign, and openly criticized Trump while supporting Hillary Clinton.

"One of the reasons I was so passionate last year against Mr. Trump is because I saw during the campaign when he talked about banning Muslims. I was unbelievably offended by it," he said. "There's a tremendous dog-whistle aspect to his Make America Great Again message."

Echoing Warren Buffett, Gandhi added: "When was America greater than it is now? . . . Make America Great Again is very retrograde, very backward looking."

But after Trump won, Gandhi said he decided to focus on what he said were positive aspects of his policies. As a business owner, he sees benefits in Trump's promises to lower taxes, loosen regulations, set term limits and invest in infrastructure, Gandhi wrote in February.

"Unlike a lot of my progressive friends, I did not get depressed and bury myself in the corner," Gandhi said. "I wrote op-eds that were not excoriating the president. I said, 'Let's not get hysterical.' I'm giving him a year, and by the end of this year, he's not being president for all people, I'll flip and try to speak out."

But one year turned out to be just eight months.

"After Charlottesville and its aftermath, I will not defend Trump even if 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," he wrote in his most recent op-ed published on Aug. 16.

Four days earlier, Charlottesville was engulfed in a violent clash between white nationalists who came to protest the planned removal of a Confederate statue and counterprotesters. A car, allegedly driven by a Nazi sympathizer, plowed into a group, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring 19 others. Trump was criticized not only by Democrats but also by members of his own party for not explicitly denouncing white supremacists.

Two days after Heyer's death, the president delivered a more forceful condemnation of "the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists." But he later appeared to walk back from those comments, saying "both sides" deserve some blame for the violence.

Trump defended his response in front of supporters at a rally in Phoenix Tuesday - and accused the media of misrepresenting the facts.

Gandhi decried Trump's "false equivalence between the KKK and the people who are protesting it."

"Slavery is our Holocaust in this country," he said. "Both sides in Charlottesville were absolutely aggressive. But one side is cancer, one side is chemotherapy."

Aside from the woman's voice mail, Gandhi said he received racist messages on social media and via email:

"You are angry for having been born with 50% negro blood in your veins. Embrace your heritage, quit mouthing off - we don't care," wrote one Facebook user.

"You are now the Globalist enemy. You want a war, you got one. Go back to f------ Calcutta where you came from and worship a f------ cow, you f------ f---!" another one wrote in an email.

He said he decided to be more politically vocal and to share those messages on his social media network because he wants to reach the "moderate Trump supporters." Not the likes of the female caller who, he said, does not represent the majority of Americans who voted for Trump.

"Trump is beholden to the crazy extreme of his party," Gandhi said. "The silent majority that voted for him . . . I think they're appalled."

Overall, Trump maintains an 80 percent job approval rating among Republicans, a number little changed from recent surveys, The Post reported. However, the percentage that approves "strongly" is down 10 percentage points from last month. Also, a Washington Post-ABC News poll showed that 56 percent of U.S. adults disapprove of his response to the violence in Charlottesville (though 62 percent of Republicans approve of his statements).

Gandhi said he's convinced that if the president hears the concerns of that "silent majority," he'll listen.

"His genius," Gandhi said, "is in seeing what the mob wants."
An African-American state senator from Maryland wants to censure Senate President Thomas "Mike" Miller for his defense of Chief Justice Roger Taney, who wrote the infamous Dred Scott decision and whose statue was removed from the State House grounds in Annapolis last week.

Sen. Anthony Muse, D-Prince George's, who is running for county executive in 2018 and would give up his Senate seat if he won, said the legislative chamber needs to send "an unequivocal message" to Miller, D-Calvert, that it does not agree with his support of Taney. The justice's 1857 Supreme Court opinion said blacks could not be U.S. citizens and had no rights other than those given by whites.

"In light of the tragic and violent events in Charlottesville and concerns about promoting and inciting a climate of racial hatred and division in our nation, I would hope that the majority of my colleagues will join me in strongly rebuking the senate president's remarks as well as those expressed by President Trump and others who would defend what Justice Taney stood for," Muse, who introduced a measure to remove the statue last year, said in a statement.

Jake Weissman, a spokesman for Miller, declined to comment.

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Miller, the longest-serving state Senate president in the country, is a member of the Maryland State House Trust, a four-member panel that voted 3 to 0 last week to remove the 145-year-old statue. The 46-year lawmaker, who has long defended the statue as an important piece of Maryland history, declined to vote.

The statue was removed in the early morning on Aug. 18.

Miller sent a letter to Gov. Larry Hogan, R, arguing that the panel, which traditionally votes by email, should have held a public meeting to discuss removing the statue.

Miller, an avid reader of history, also defended Taney's character, describing him as a man with a "complex" past.

"Unlike George Washington who freed his slaves upon his death, Taney freed his slaves early in his life," the letter said.

"Roger Brooke Taney was not a Confederate officer and he remained loyal to the Union until his death in 1864," Miller wrote. "Many historians have debated the conflicting anti-slavery words and works of Roger Brooke Taney."

Miller said he agreed with an 1864 editorial in theNew York Times that Taney's decision, "wrong as it was, did not spring from a corrupt or malignant heart."

Hogan opposed removing the statue in 2015 but reversed his opinion after watching the deadly violence in Charlottesville this month that followed a rally in support of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

"We can't wipe out all of our history, nor should we try to," the governor said. "But when it reaches the point where some of these symbols, whether they have historical significance or not, when they become a focal point for racism and violence, then it's time to do something about it."

The state Senate cannot consider Muse's resolution until January, when the General Assembly reconvenes for its 90-day session.

The last time the chamber censured one of its own was in 2012, when it voted to censure Sen. Ulysses Currie, D-Prince George's, for not disclosing that he had received hundreds of thousands of dollars in consulting fees. Currie was acquitted of federal corruption charges after a six-week jury trial in which a who's-who of Maryland politicians appeared as character witnesses.
Mark Merlis, who debuted as a novelist in his 40s, penning four works of fiction that explored the joys, tensions and agonies of gay life in America in the 20th century, died Aug. 15 at a hospital in Philadelphia. He was 67.

The cause was pneumonia associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the neurological disease also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, said his husband, Robert Ashe.

For much of his adult life, Merlis earned his livelihood providing health-care analysis for the Library of Congress's Congressional Research Service and, later, as an independent consultant. But since his youth, he had harbored literary ambitions he ultimately realized with the publication of his first novel, "American Studies," in 1994.

With that book and the three that followed, Merlis was widely praised for the sensitivity with which he addressed such themes as the corrosive effect of shame and the intersecting paths of past and present.

"I am, of course, a gay man whose . . . novels are swarming with gay characters," he once told an interviewer with the website EchoNYC. "And I have allowed myself to be marketed as a practitioner of a genre called gay fiction. But this is a commercial category, not an artistic one. I write, like anybody else, about how it is to be human."

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"American Studies" featured an aging gay narrator, Reeve, who is severely assaulted by a hustler. As he convalesces, Reeve remembers his beloved English teacher - a character modeled on the Harvard scholar F.O. Matthiessen - who is outed as gay and commits suicide against the backdrop of U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy, R-Wis., Communist witch hunt in the 1950s. A reporter for Newsday described the book as "one of the best gay novels of the decade."

Merlis' second book, the wildly imaginative "An Arrow's Flight" (1998), moved the Philoctetes story of Sophocles from the Trojan War to the modern day, inflicting its protagonist with AIDS instead of a stigmatic snake bite. "We get gods and goddesses, aircraft carriers and archaic armor, high priests and go-go boys," the author Christopher Bramwrote of the work.

The novel received a Lambda Literary Award and was voted one of the best gay novels of all time by Publishing Triangle, an organization of 250 gay and lesbian writers, editors and publishing professionals.

Merlis' third book, "Man About Town" (2003), was described as his most autobiographical work. The protagonist, who is gay, is a government health-care analyst and finds himself assigned to work on legislation that would deny benefits to AIDS patients who contract the disease through gay relationships or drug use. Meanwhile, he searches for the unnamed bathing suit model who had first awakened his sexual desires when he was young.

Despite the book's serious subject matter, it showcased Merlis' humor. The protagonist sees the denizens of Capitol Hill as "white guys with bad comb-overs, voting silently in the middle of the night while C-Span played Vivaldi." One particularly unimpressive senator, after introducing an amendment he failed to grasp, "had the relieved look of a school kid who has delivered his book report without throwing up."

"The hero is just close enough to the action to know that something is going on, but not close enough to know just what that something is," Merlis once told Bram in an interview, reflecting also on his own career in government. "That was how it felt for me in my Washington years: I got to go to a lot of closed meetings at which decisions seemed to be made, but I was never in the pre-meeting at which the principals actually made up their minds."

Merlis' final book, "JD" (2015), featured the intertwining narration of a widow and her late husband, who is revealed in his posthumously discovered diaries as bisexual. Taken together, Bram wrote in a tribute, Merlis' books "explore American life with the insight and power of the best work of James Baldwin and Philip Roth."

Mark Lane Merlis was born in Framingham, Massachusetts, on March 9, 1950. His father was a doctor, and his mother was a homemaker.

Merlis grew up in Baltimore - in what he called the "Cheeveresque northern section called Roland Park" - before attending Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, where he received a bachelor's degree in English in 1971. Five years later, he received a master's degree from Brown University in American studies.

"I mostly just spent my college years brooding about those unwelcome queer feelings that I couldn't shake off," he told Bram.

After college, Merlis said, he "tumbled into the bureaucratic life that ensnared me for the next 35 years." He worked for the Maryland health department and later for the federal government in the 1980s and 1990s, including on the Ryan White Care Act of 1990 that provided funding for HIV/AIDS services.

At the time of his death, Merlis resided in Philadelphia. Survivors include his partner of 35 years, Robert Ashe, whom he married in 2014, of Philadelphia; and two brothers.

"I always thought being a writer was the highest calling there was," Merlis said. "Don't you?"
The Village of Maryville has filled one of two openings in the Police Department.

At the last regular meeting of the Board of Trustees Police Officer Austin Sebastian was sworn into duty by Maryville Police and Fire Commissioner Wayne White.

Maryville Police Chief Rob Carpenter said Sebastian is a good addition to the police force.

Since we lost two officers who are now with the Illinois State Police we have been operating short handed, Carpenter said. We are happy to have Officer Sebastian on board.

Sebastian, of Collinsville, has worked with the Greenville Police Department for the last two years. He has a bachelor of science degree in Criminal Justice from MacMurray College.

Carpenter said the officer will serve a 12-month probationary period plus a 12-week training period.

The 12-week training will give Sebastian time to learn the community and the procedures of the Maryville Police Department.

The new officer fills a position left vacant when officers Colin Subick and Paul Walther resigned after they were accepted to the Illinois State Police Academy.

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There is still one vacancy to be filled.

Carpenter said they hope to have the next position filled by the end of September.

We have candidates and are finalizing test results, he said.
The Norwalk Harbor Management Commission resolved Wednesday evening to seek federal help in paying for an independent review of the Walk Bridge replacement.

During their meeting at City Hall, members of the NHMCs Application Review Committee moved unanimously to write to the states legislative delegation in Washington about obtaining funding for such a peer review.

Without such an independent review, the NHMC is simply taking the state Department of Transportations assertions about the bridge replacement, said John T. Pinto, committee chairman.

(Without) an independent evaluator, youre taking the judgment or the expertise of just one person who says, This is the best project for Norwalk,  Pinto said afterward. In other words, theyre telling us that this is the best thing for you, rather than having an independent evaluator to give us the pros and cons.

Pinto said the University of Connecticuts Engineering Department has offered to review the project. The cost of the review has yet to been determined.

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Geoffrey Steadman, planning consultant for the NHMC, said the forthcoming letter to Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and other lawmakers will inquire about the possibility of diverting federal dollars already allocated for the bridge replacement toward the evaluation.

Ball in their court

The decision to seek help from Washington came after NHMC members reviewed two recent reports concerning the estimated $1 billion bridge replacement.

This summer, the DOT released its Record of Decision and the Federal Transit Administration issued a Finding of No Significant Impact as part of their review as required under the Connecticut Environmental Policy and National Environmental Policy acts, respectively.

The release of the reports allows the DOT and its consultant to advance design work on the bridge replacement, which is expected to begin in 2019. Two preliminary projects  creation of a rail dockyard and rail-and-signal upgrades  will start next month.

NHMC members lamented the FTA issued the Finding of No Significant Impact, rather than requiring further evaluation through an Environmental Impact Study.

The ball is in their court, NHMC Chairman Anthony T. Mobilia said. If something goes wrong or there is an environmental impact, theyre going to have to correct it immediately.

The NHMC was among numerous city boards, commissions and other entities to weigh in on the bridge replacement plan. The commission outlined its concerns in a Dec. 1 letter to the FTA and DOT.

Concerns heard

Steadman said the agencies did not ignore the NHMCs comments about the project. He said the DOT responded individually to each of the concerns raised by the harbor commission.

We can say that we disagree with the basic premise that you make  a Finding of No Significant Impact  when you dont know the impacts and you dont know how youre going to mitigate them, but that seems to be the way the environmental (review) process works, Steadman said.

Among other things, the NHMC asked the DOT to allocate project funds to hire a professional engineer to assist with the review and management of bridge replacement.

In its Record of Decision, the DOT said it appreciated the challenges the city may face reviewing the project documents but added, CTDOT doesnt provide funding to reimburse for municipal staff time spent in reviewing project documents or technical reviews.

The DOT said its Walk Bridge program team is comprised of highly proficient structural, electrical and civil engineers working within their prospective disciplines.

Best product for Norwalk

While NHMC members remain disappointed with the FTAs Finding of No Significant Impact, they took comfort in the DOTs recognition the commission is responsible for reviewing all projects affecting the harbor.

That means the NHMC will review and comment on individual projects related to the bridge replacement, ranging from relocation of utility cables to DOT permit applications to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

We need to, again, just wait for the other shoes (to drop) and those other shoes are the applications coming forward, Pinto said. As long as theyve acknowledge the authority of the Harbor Commission and the Harbor Management Plan, then we use that to our best advantage.

Were not trying to be obstructionist. Were trying to work with them to get the best product that we can in Norwalk, Pinto said.
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If you're tired of getting your morning joe at the same-old, same-old chain coffee shops in San Francisco, consider planning a visit to the Upper Haight.

While San Francisco has unique coffee spots in every neighborhood, the Upper Haight is one of the 10 best places in the city to find them. According to our research, it ranks 1st in the city for independent coffee spots, with 100 percent of its coffee shops not being chains.

So where's the best place to get a great cup of coffee in the Haight? We used data from Yelp and our own fresh-brewed algorithm to identify the three non-chain coffee shops in the neighborhood that are most popular with Yelp users.

Nabbing the #1 spot is Flywheel Coffee Roasters (672 Stanyan St.), which enjoys a 4-star rating with 342 Yelp reviews. Owned by a native Nicaraguan who grew up on his family's coffee farm, it offers house-roasted beans sourced from around the globe. Every cup is made as a pourover on a Hario V60, with espresso shots pulled on a customized La Marzocco machine.

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"Great vibe, location, and black coffee!" says Yelper Jennifer D. "Flywheel checks all the important coffee criteria for me. Drinks are $4 and up and they make a solid pour-over and cold brew."

"Amazing coffee, great flavor. I had their Ethiopian roast and it was delicious," says user Ellie R.

The second most popular coffee shop in the Upper Haight is Cantata Coffee Company (1708 Haight St.), which holds a 4-star rating with 204 reviews. In addition to specialty coffee drinks named for the likes of Frank Sinatra and Madonna, this little shop also offers boba tea, gelato, and sweets. Many visitors enjoy its lack of wifi service, which encourages patrons to make conversation.

"This is by far my favorite coffee shop ever!" says user Kevork D. "I've tried everything on their menu and everything is SO good! They always make my day better with their smiles and friendliness.

Jordan S. agrees: "Nice cafe that serves coffee and bobawhat else do you need? Friendly people and good customer service!"

Yelpers' third-favorite coffee spot in the Upper Haight is Stanza Coffee Bar (1673 Haight St.), which has a 4-star rating with 198 reviews. It's known for its top-notch selection of coffee, with a choice of espresso drinks, pour-overs, or Kyoto-style cold brew. Worker bees also enjoy its access to outlets and free wifi.

"Really awesome community and coffee here," says Yelper Michael K. "I really enjoy the espresso shots, but have been trying and like the bar drinks."

What's your favorite coffee shop in the Haight, or your favorite neighborhood for grabbing a cup of coffee in San Francisco? Let us know in the comments.
The modern-day American Catholic church seems to be finally waking up to racial issues.

On Wednesday, the U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops - the leadership arm of the U.S. church - announced the formation of a special committee on racism. The category of the committee is the conference's highest; it alone holds the same top-priority rank as committees on religious liberty and the protection of (traditional) marriage.

The committee will have its work cut out for it, as the USCCB's last major effort on racism in America was in 1979.

The committee will be led by African-American Bishop George Murray, of Ohio, who was born in Camden, New Jersey, and graduated from Georgetown University.

USCCB leaders said the committee was formed in the wake of Charlottesville, so between that deadly day and President Donald Trump's speech in Phoenix Tuesday night, the move is an important one for the church. In recent years, the USCCB has operated more like an arm of the conservative evangelical movement, for its issues.

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In recent years the USCCB has prioritized religious freedom, remained in steadfast opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion, and has promoted events such as the "Fortnight for Freedom" and the amorphous "Convocation of Catholic Leaders" in July 2017.

By acknowledging the crisis of racism, and the open animus of white supremacists, the UCCSB is turning more towards an alignment with Pope Francis, who has spoken often of racial division and said: "We must overcome all forms of racism."

In announcing the committee Wednesday, USCCB President Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, of the Houston archdiocese, said: "Recent events have exposed the extent to which the sin of racism continues to inflict our nation."

To many the natural response to DiNardo was: Ya think?

For the American church, however, it's a clarion call in the midst of the silence of many priests who did not mention the Charlottesville white supremacist march or the murder of protester Heather Heyer in Charlottesville to their parishioners.

While the U.S. bishops have made various statements denouncing the recent events in Charlottesville and the rise of Nazism and white supremacist groups, the history of the USCCB on racial matters has been mixed.

There are many photos of Catholic priests and nuns marching in the Civil Rights movement, most notably at the March on Selma, Alabama. in 1965. However the history of Catholicism in this country tells a different story. Many Catholic parishes were segregated prior to the Civil Rights movement, and the first large contingent of African-American Catholic priests would enter into the seminary in the 1920's. The American Catholic Church made statements on racism as far back as the 1940's and 50's. "Colored" Catholic Girls could not live in the dorms at Catholic University - the bishops' university - up into the 1940's.

The last major statement on racism in the church and America was "Brothers and Sisters Among Us," a pastoral letter from 1979, 38 years ago. Black Catholic bishops answered that letter in 1984 with a response: "What We Have Seen and Heard." Since then, while various groups within the church have dealt with issues of race, the establishment of the new committee, and the promise of a pastoral letter on racism from the bishops in 2018 are important first steps for the Catholic Church in America. The bigger question is how will that translate into practical steps to counter racism?

The real vs. the ideal has always been a problem for the Catholic church regarding race.

Pastoral letters and statements are good, but without real confrontation, racism will always be an issue within the church. Consider that a Catholic priest just this week stepped away temporarily from his position after admitting he had been a violent KKK member who burned a cross in the front yard of a black couple's home. He went on to attend seminary in Rome and was ordained a priest. While that is a radical story, it is not surprising. Catholicism and race in America have always been fraught. Georgetown University, the nation's foremost Jesuit University, is continuing to deal with the fallout from selling slaves, recently hosting a "day of repentance" with the descendants of slaves who were sold to finance the university. And right now, many parishioners of color are sitting at Mass besides Trump voters, 45 percent of whom voted for Trump (the majority of white Catholic voters went for the president).

The fact that 6,300 U.S. Catholic parishes serve distinct ethnic and cultural groups, and are the fastest-growing congregations in the country, makes the new committee even more imperative. The Catholic Church can ill afford to lose members over racial violence and immigration policies. Hispanic Catholic numbers have steadily dropped within the American Church. Nearly 1 in 4 Hispanic adults (24%) are former Catholics, according to The Pew Forum, despite the fact that 55 percent of U.S. Hispanics - 19.2 million people - identify as Catholic. Black Catholics number just over 3 million.

What's sometimes called the "browning" of the American Catholic church is very much on the minds of many U.S. bishops - and the pope. Unlike evangelicals who have stayed strong in their support of President Trump, the USCCB knows that it cannot afford to lose their Hispanic and African American population because of a weak stance on racism. The USCCB will have to find a way to convince conservative white Catholics, many descended from immigrants, that the church should not only speak on culture war issues but also fight racism.

These changes, plus the pressures of increasing racial animus and violence, present a challenge to the USCCB. Bishop Murray told reporters in a conference call Wednesday that they would be working on a local and national level with Protestants, Jews, and Muslims, to combat racism both locally and at the national level. The major challenge may actually be to those in the Catholic community who voted for President Trump and continue to support his policies on immigration and race. Appointing Bishop Murray, who presides over a diocese in the heart of Trump voter country, is a good first step. The USCCB will need to do more than just a pastoral letter, however, to stem the tide of racial animus that is gripping not only the nation but the pews of churches around the country.

- - -

Butler is graduate chair and an associate professor of Religion and Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.
NAIROBI, Kenya - The United States is threatening to apply visa sanctions on Eritrea, one of the world's most repressive countries, for not accepting its citizens who are deported from America.

"Our goal is to get countries to agree to accept the return of their nationals," David Lapan, a Homeland Security spokesman, told reporters.

But the new U.S. policy appears to ignore what would likely happen to Eritrean deportees once they are forced to return. The country has a long track record of jailing and torturing Eritreans who attempted to flee the country. Last year, the United Nations reported on the regime's use of "indefinite national service, arbitrary detention, torture (and) enforced disappearances."

Ironically, even the U.S. State Department last year said that the Eritrean government "tortured and beat ... persons attempting to flee the country without travel documents."

Now, the United States appears eager to send Eritreans back to those very conditions.

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Many of those fleeing Eritrea are trying to avoid a lifetime of military service, which the United Nations and human rights groups say amounts to modern-day slavery. Some analysts call the country the "North Korea of Africa."

Because of the government's litany of abuses, Eritrea produces a disproportionate number of migrants fleeing across the Mediterranean to Europe. Between 2014 and 2016, more than 95,000 Eritreans arrived in Italy by boat, according to the International Organization for Migration. For years, the United States has resettled Eritreans stranded in Ethiopian refugee camps.

During his 2016 campaign, Donald Trump railed against countries that were refusing "to take their people back after they've been ordered to leave the United States," as he said in an August 2016 speech.

Eritreans are rarely deported from Western countries, but some have recently been sent home from Sudan and Egypt. Meron Estefanos, a Swedish-Eritrean radio journalist and human rights activist, followed their cases through their families in Eritrea.

"They all ended up in prison," Estafanos said in an interview.

It remains unclear which Eritreans would be deported from the U.S. -- those accused of crimes, or those whose only transgression was entering the country illegally.

As of now, the State Department considers 12 countries to be "recalcitrant" in re-admitting its citizens when they are deported from the United States: China, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, Iran, Cambodia, Myanmar, Morocco, Hong Kong, South Sudan, Guinea and Eritrea.

The United States is considering additional sanctions for Cambodia, Eritrea, Guinea and Sierra Leone, a rare step in trying to increase deportations. Those so-called "visa sanctions" would amount to restrictions on the legal travel to the United States of nationals -- including government officials -- from those countries.
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BLACKSBURG, Va. - Chris Hurst checks the dark clouds out the window of his Jeep Liberty as he barrels west up Route 460 to the crest of Brush Mountain. Rain starts, big drops, promising a heavy storm. Hurst hurtles down the far side, finds the gravel lot he's looking for and pulls off the road.

He scrambles out of the car, determined to get a picture before the rain gets too intense. "How about that," he chuckles, centering the image on his iPhone: a giant billboard reading "Giles County for Hurst. Vote Nov. 7th."

It's solid red country over here, so Hurst - running for the Virginia House of Delegates as a Democrat - is making a bold statement with that sign. Just up the road is a huge banner depicting the Ten Commandments and the American flag, and beyond that a billboard with a bloody cross and the slogan "Hang out with Jesus. He hung out for you."

This is home turf for his opponent, Del. Joseph Yost, a Republican who has represented the 12th District since 2011. One of the youngest members of the General Assembly, Yost is from an old pioneer family and chairs the local historical society.

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In a state where all the races are serving as proxies for partisan wars in Washington, the 12th is a key battleground - targeted by Democrats as one that can be flipped from Republican control, a beachhead in a region that once seemed untouchably red.

Hurst is a political novice, but a local celebrity with a tragic backstory. He was the anchor for the evening news two years ago when reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward were gunned down on live TV by a disturbed former colleague. Parker and Hurst had been living together with plans to marry.

His surprise decision this year to quit TV and run for office electrified the local race. He has raised the second-highest amount of all Democratic challengers in the 100 Virginia House races - $232,000 as of the June reporting period. Republicans are funneling cash to Yost to keep up, raising $210,000. Their district is as polarized as any in the state - one side of Brush Mountain voted for Donald Trump last fall and the other for Hillary Clinton.

But at the center of all that attention and pressure, Hurst and Yost are doing something interesting - something that suggests Washington's hyperpartisan toxicity doesn't have to play out at every level: Rather than withdraw to ideological extremes, they are converging toward the middle, staking out similar positions on many issues.

Both are opposed to the huge natural gas pipeline proposed for the county. Both want to protect manufacturing jobs, support public schools and create better mental-health services.

Yost won the endorsement of the Virginia Education Association - almost unheard of for a Republican. Hurst, the gun violence survivor, touts his support for gun rights.

And neither is a big fan of President Trump.

"I'm an unusual Republican," Yost said.

Hurst's version: "If there was a party that was just the No B.S. party, I'd be a charter member."

- - -

From the outside, it would be easy to make assumptions about the 12th District. It is part of the red backcountry, the edge of Appalachia, home to the working-class whites who helped put Trump in office.

Except it's more complicated than that. The crest of Brush Mountain is the line between Giles and Montgomery counties. Virginia Tech and Radford University are on the Montgomery side, which is economically diverse with upscale neighborhoods full of professors and business leaders. Occasional modest "We love our Muslim neighbors" signs can be spotted on the shady streets of Blacksburg.

In Giles, where the biggest employer is a factory that makes cellulose acetate and other materials for filtration devices, many of the little towns - Pearisburg, Narrows, Rich Creek, Newport - are struggling, their business districts darkened by empty storefronts.

In terms of natural beauty, though, Giles is wealthy beyond measure. The Appalachian Trail winds through the county for 50 miles, some of it along the spectacular New River Gorge. The 69-foot Cascade Falls draws nearly 150,000 visitors every year.

Those resources produce a pragmatic environmentalism among locals. There was little objection a few years ago to a natural gas pipeline for the Celanese plant, for instance, because it eliminated the factory's coal waste and supported jobs.

But the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline is just passing through on its way to Pittsylvania County and draws almost universal outrage in both Giles and Montgomery.

During last fall's presidential election, the Giles side of the district went heavily for Trump whilethe Montgomery side went largely for Clinton. With its bigger population, Montgomery tipped the overall district into the Democratic column - but only by about 500 votes out of more than 30,000 cast, according to an analysis by the Virginia Public Access Project.

That edge is why Democrats think they can pick up the district this year, with blue voters especially motivated to defy the party of Trump.

That, and the fact that Hurst looks like a rising star.

- - -

Hurst just turned 30 but has the bearing of a much older man. He had to develop his anchorman gravitas early, winning the big chair at WDBJ in Roanoke when he was only 22. The station touted him as the youngest anchor in the country.

It was something Hurst had been preparing for since his childhood in the Philadelphia area. He and his dad built sets at their house so he could stage talk shows, and he did newscasts on his high school's public-access TV channel.

He came to Roanoke in 2010, not long after graduating from Emerson College. Parker joined the station in 2015. As they fell in love their careers consumed them, but they took refuge in hiking and kayaking across the region.

Her death made headlines worldwide. She was interviewing a local economic development official on live TV when a former reporter at the station showed up and shot her, cameraman Ward and the official, Vicki Gardner, who survived.

The shooter posted his own video of the killing online before being hunted down by police and killing himself. Parker was 24, Ward was 27.

Hurst was on the air soon after, talking of his relationship with Parker. He went on living in the apartment they had shared and kept up daily phone calls with her father, who had become outspoken about guns and mental illness.

Somewhere in those discussions, as Hurst struggled to find meaning, the idea of running for office came up. After months of weighing it with his family, Hurst made the break in February. He said farewell after an evening newscast, announced that he was running for office as a Democrat and moved to a basement apartment in Blacksburg with his dog.

Many people assume Hurst is running on the issue of gun control. The Pride Fund to End Gun Violence hosted him at an event in Washington last month, along with Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ralph Northam - rare recognition for a candidate in an obscure state district race.

But Hurst's position is not what advocates on either side may think. He's a gun owner, he said; Parker liked to shoot, too. He's leery of steps to broadly restrict access to guns. Instead, he favors measures to treat mental illness and keep guns out of the hands of children or domestic violence offenders.

Even the standard Democratic call for universal background checks is too broad, he said: "I'm just not as matter-of-fact, black or white with guns as I think people expect or want me to be."

Guns are a nuanced issue in the district. Hunting and shooting are part of growing up here, but so is the memory of the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, in which a mentally ill student shot and killed 32 people and wounded 17.

Hurst would much rather talk about raises for teachers, or his opposition to the Mountain Valley Pipeline. The need for more mental-health services. Better special-education programs. Unsexy topics that don't make the national news but that people in the community wrestle with every day.

What he learned from the depths of his personal tragedy, he said, is the importance of place. "I came through the other side believing that I wanted to stay here and give back to the people who gave me such strength and support when I needed it," he said.

- - -

Yost, the Republican incumbent, has faced opposition before but never someone so high-profile or well funded. If it worries him, he doesn't show it.

At 31, Yost, like Hurst, seems mature for his years. He's quiet in the General Assembly, seldom making speeches. With his round, tortoiseshell glasses and scruffy facial hair, Yost comes across as a young history professor.

He grew up on a farm in Giles County, went to the public schools and graduated from Radford with degrees in criminal justice. "I've never lived outside the boundaries of my district," he said.

Much of what he has done since jumping into politics in 2011 is rooted in local concerns that don't follow easy partisan patterns.

Yost worked in criminal justice for a time, in jail diversion and crisis intervention training - helping the mentally ill get treatment instead of incarceration.

In the legislature this year, Yost sponsored bills to prohibit the death penalty for the severely mentally ill and to study ways that people in jail can get Medicaid services immediately upon release. The first stalled in committee; the second was signed into law.

He has also sponsored legislation to make it legal to farm hemp in Virginia - which would help struggling farmers - and favors increased education spending. In rural areas, he said, schools do much more than teach; they're community centers.

But Yost is most definitely a Republican. He's a loyal rank-and-file vote for the party's majority in the House of Delegates and thinks that government should have limits. It's his conservative outlook, and maybe his polite demeanor, that make him hesitant to even talk about Trump.

"Federal issues don't have the impact here they do in other parts of the state," Yost said. "Trump doesn't come up. We talk about our issues."

And more than anything, that intense local focus is Yost's secret weapon in the race against his hyper-articulate challenger. He has spent years grinding away at small-bore constituent services.

He and his aide scour the community columns in local newspapers for birthdays, anniversaries, awards, kids bagging their first buck - and Yost sends that person a copy of the article with a hand-signed note of congratulations. Dozens, every month. During the school year, he writes to every student who lands on the A/B honor roll - all 1,500 of them. "I have great strength in my arm," he deadpanned.

In the evenings, knocking on doors for votes, Yost sees the benefit of that unglamorous work.

"I had won the award and you sent me a letter, for the community service," said Pearisburg resident Connie Richardson, 66, when Yost asked for her support. "And I really appreciated that."

Neighbor Scott Clark, 50, a state trooper, has known Yost most of his life and doesn't think much of Hurst coming from Roanoke to run.

"He kind of is a carpetbagger," Clark said. "Which I think you'd probably hear echoed in most [places]. You might not in Blacksburg, but you'd probably hear it over here. . . . There's a pretty fine dividing line. We don't like to be like Blacksburg, and I'm sure they don't like to be like us."

- - -

On the other side of Brush Mountain, Hurst stumped for votes in a Blacksburg neighborhood - sweat-stained handkerchief in his back pocket, clipboard listing voter names, a tin full of Altoids.

He doesn't feel like an outsider, he said. Roanoke is only 30 minutes away; this was all part of his TV market. But he's quick to point out to people who come to the door - and they all recognize him - that he lives in town.

Hurst is ready for anything when he meets voters like this. Some have burst into tears, thinking back to the tragedy with Parker, perhaps conscious of Virginia Tech's tragedy, as well.

"I'm a trigger for some people," he said.

At one house, two retired nurses told Hurst that they miss seeing him on TV.

"Well, I know I'm sweatier and not as made-up in person," he said. "Just here more to listen than anything else. That's what I used to do at the TV station as a reporter, and that's what I hope to do as a delegate, too - listen to what's on your mind."

The two women - Gayle Robertson, 71, and Lynn Juliano, 63 - gave him an earful about their dislike of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. But beyond that, they said, pausing to find the words, things are just discouraging.

"Just watching what's going on up in Washington," Juliano said. "You know, the health care, and just . . . anyway, things are not going the way I would like things to go."

Hurst nodded. "You know, I was in an environment where I could let cynicism keep creeping in and feel like I was powerless to make direct change," he said. "And instead I took a leap without a safety net to do something that I'm passionate about."

"You did, yeah, you did," Juliano said, and she and Robertson pledged their support.

With that, Hurst was off to the next house. He has knocked on thousands of doors - with volunteers, more than 10,000, including over the mountain in Giles. Hurst isn't willing to write off that part of the district, thus the billboard on the highway.

But the morning after the billboard went up, a small red sign appeared in front of it: "Re-elect Joseph Yost - Delegate." Another was just up the road, and another, and another - marching deeper into Giles County.

- - -

The Washington Post's Rachel Chason contributed to this report.

- - -

Video: His girlfriend was murdered on live TV. Now he's running in one of Virginia's most competitive races.

After his girlfriend was murdered on live television in 2015, Chris Hurst left behind a career as a local news anchor in hopes of becoming a delegate for Virginia's 12th District in the state legislature. Democrats believe he could flip the competitive seat.

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Two years after North East Independent School District trustees considered  and rejected  changing the name of Robert E. Lee High School, they plan to take up the issue again.

The NEISD board has placed the name change issue on the agenda for a special meeting set for 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Given the recent events in our country and with feedback from our community, the Board felt it was necessary to review the issue again, the district said in a statement. They did not want this to lead to any disruptions or distractions from the Districts mission, which is to provide the best possible education to students.

Sandi Wolff, the trustee for District 3, which includes Lee, said the schools name and its statue has come up repeatedly in discussion among board members. She said the political climate has shifted significantly in the two years since the board last considered the issue.

In 2015, Wolff was in the majority on a 5-2 vote against changing the high schools name in the wake of a racially-motivated mass shooting at a church in South Carolina that left nine African American congregants dead.

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That massacre sparked a national argument over the appropriateness of public memorials to the Confederacy and its heroes, and it heated up again this month in the wake of fatal violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. White supremacist groups rallying to support that citys statue of Lee and counter-protesters who wanted it removed clashed repeatedly and a woman was killed when a man who had marched with neo-Nazis drove his car into a crowd.

The University of Texas at Austin removed several statues associated with the Confederacy from its campus. And last week, dueling online petitions revived the debate over Lee High School, which opened in 1958 and prominently features a large statue of the Confederate leader in its entry hallway.

Special meetings of the school board typically do not include opportunities for public comments, and the district made clear they would not be allowed next week.

Kenny Strawn, president of Lee High Schools Young Democrats club, who had vowed last week to make changing the schools name a priority, said Thursday he was overjoyed that the board decided to revisit the issue.

Next weeks vote will likely be Wolffs last, as she is stepping down from the board Sept. 8 because of plans to move to a home outside the area she represents.

I think societys values and the environment in which we live has changed dramatically from just two years ago, she said. North East wants to be reflective of those community values, and our first concern has always been the education and safety of students and the people that work with our district and schools.

Wolff said the name change debate has opened the door for a positive conversation among Lee students.

Its a very exciting time to be a student at Lee, Wolff said. To know that you can affect change at your school is very empowering for our students.

lcaruba@express-news.net
SAN ANTONIO - A car crashed into a South Side salon Wednesday night when the driver put it into reverse instead of drive.

San Antonio police officers on scene said no one was injured when the Mercedes C250 drove into Rios Golden Cut Salons, 2535 S.E. Military Dr., at about 8 p.m.
Courtesy the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere

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San Antonio could receive a 'life-threatening' 10-20 inches of rain this weekend when Hurricane Harvey lands along the Texas Gulf Coast, National Weather Services officials said.

The National Weather Service also issued a flash flood watch for the area beginning Friday afternoon.

Bexar County is under a tropical storm warning and the National Hurricane Center upgraded Harvey to a Category 2 hurricane early Friday morning, predicting strong winds moving 40-50 miles per hour for the San Antonio area.

Harvey is expected to make landfall Friday night as a Category 3 hurricane between Houston and Corpus Christi, with winds up to 125 mph and storm surges of 12 feet in parts of the Texas coast, according to the NHC.

Rain is likely Friday during the day, but that weather is a result of typical summertime showers, not the tropical storm, said Mark Lenz, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service.

RELATED: Gov. Greg Abbott orders extra emergency prep as Tropical Depression Harvey heads toward Texas

Now Playing: Harvey storms across Texas Video: San Antonio Express-News

Chances for rain will shoot up to 50 percent Friday evening and into early Saturday morning. San Antonio will likely bear the brunt of the storm's outer edges, he said.

"If we get heavy rainfall, flooding and flash flooding will be a huge concern," Lenz said, adding the entirety of Bexar County will be hit with stormy weather.

Saturday and Sunday will see a 70 percent chance for heavy rain and gusty winds going 15-25 miles per hour. The area in between I-10 and Corpus Christi could possibly see 20 inches of rain throughout the weekend.

The most rain the San Antonio-area ever received was 11.26 inches on Oct. 17, 1998, Lenz said. It's hard to say if this weekend will surpass the current record.

"The entire weekend, I would be on alert," he said, though the center of the storm is unlikely to land over San Antonio. "People are going to have to watch the latest forecast that come out from our office and the National Hurricane Center."

The Weather Channel's Hurricane Expert Dr. Rick Knabb said residents should be "a bit more afraid of water" than they have been in the past.

RELATED: South Texas keeps eye on Harvey moving into Gulf

"Nine out of ten fatalities in past U.S. tropical cyclones have been due to water, but such deaths are preventable. Most people who die during inland floods die in their car. Promise yourself that you will not drive on water-covered roads or around barricades," he said in a statement."

Showers and thunderstorms will remain a possibility all weekend, which could cause power outages across town. CPS Energy has set up a call center, stocked with 150 employees, to take reports on outages, said Albert Cantu, a spokesman for the company.

Cantu said CPS has been preparing for the impending affects of this storm since Monday.

"Our goal is to make sure to restore our customers' power as quickly as possible," he said.

Residents should be wary that outage repairs could take longer than usual if roads are flooded or closed.

"There's all kinds of obstacles," he said.

CPS Energy customers can contact the call center at 210-353-4357 or head online to report an outage. Additionally, an outage map is available on the website.

Text HARVEY to 77453 to receive instant alerts on the massive Texas storm.

kbradshaw@express-news.net

Twitter: @kbrad5
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A man ran into a West Side cafe Thursday morning, threatened to kill everyone inside and then made off with the restaurant's cash register, police said.

The suspect, who has not been identified, was arrested soon after.

Authorities said the man entered the Arizona Cafe in the 1100 block of South General McMullen around 7:30 a.m. and began threatening everyone inside.

"He was yelling, 'I'm going to kill everyone!'" said Linda Perez, the owner of Arizona Cafe. "'I'm going to kill all of you!' His hands were going everywhere, so I just ran."

RELATED: SAPD: Gunman at large after fatally shooting woman in black SUV

Perez said she had to run past the suspect and tell the employees in the kitchen to call the police.

Meanwhile, the suspect began destroying things inside the restaurant. He ripped the cash register off of the counter to which it was bolted, authorities said.

He then fled, apparently smashing the register outside the restaurant. It lay destroyed on the ground. The man also allegedly managed to smash the driver side window of a car parked in the lot outside the restaurant.

More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged

Sgt. Steven Grover said police found the suspect walking in a nearby empty lot next to an AutoZone and arrested him. Cash and change were reportedly spotted in the parking lot of the AutoZone.

Grover said the suspect appeared to be high on drugs or have a mental disorder of some sort. He's now facing charges of criminal mischief and robbery.

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cdowns@mysa.com

Twitter: @calebjdowns
The motto of the United States is no longer e pluribus unum. Sadly, its become: Hey! I was wronged. Get my lawyer on the phone!

Or, recently, south of the Mason-Dixon line: Lets grab clubs and tiki torches and go make trouble.

America has become a nation of victims. The same people who, a decade ago, might have scoffed at the idea that others were being victimized by societal norms, generational poverty and institutional racism have now themselves joined the pity party and donned the cloak of victimhood.

Conservative white males have gotten in on the act, as they rail against globalization, corporate greed, immigration, political correctness, the anti-Confederate statue lobby, affirmative action, and the man in the moon. Those who for years shrugged off the notion that there was lingering racial and ethnic discrimination against Latinos and African-Americans now insist that there is rampant reverse discrimination against white people.

As they often do, politicians make the situation worse by giving people easy outs. The bad guys are the banks, the rich, the corporations, the immigrants, the global market.

A couple of generations ago, Americans survived tough times by hustling, believing in themselves and working harder. Today, this is the pep talk for the downtrodden: Lost your job? The culprit is a racial quota or greedy boss or foreign worker. Youre a victim.

Thats a major takeaway from recent horrible events in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Hundreds of young white men who, intoxicated by a cocktail of entitlement and white privilege, expected to be running the country by now, instead feel as if the country is running over them. They worry that a society that pushes diversity, espouses liberalism, and worships at the altar of political correctness doesnt have any room for them. And the last thing they want to do is look in the mirror and take responsibility for their own lives.

So they picked up torches, and marched, and shouted: You will not replace us. Jews will not replace us.

This rank bigotry and anti-Semitism made other people feel victimized because they somehow thought they had a right to go through life without ever being offended by anything.

The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave is now the Land of the Aggrieved and the Home of the Picked On.

This transformation is much more important than the question that captivates the attention of the left and the media: Do we have a white supremacist in the White House?

A lot of my Latino and African-American friends are convinced we do. But I think theyre wrong. Some of them said the same thing about every Republican president since Ronald Reagan while turning a blind eye to outright racists in the Democratic Party. I personally never heard anyone say Trump was a racist or white supremacist until he became a Republican.

When did the greatest country on Earth stop being a place where people  with nothing but hunger for a second chance  could come to work hard and build a new life? When did it become a place where everyone pushes their own set of grievances?

As an American, none of this makes sense. I thought we were made from heartier stock.

ruben@rubennavarrette.com
Re: Put Confederate statue in its true context, Rick Casey, Other Views, Aug. 5:

Dead Confederate soldiers are not to be honored. Their cause was to keep a large portion of Americans in abject slavery. The statue should be of the men, women and children yoked together with wooden collars, being guarded by men with guns and whips, a wretched cavalcade forced to work cane fields, cotton fields or any other hard, hot labor, without having committed any crime. Not permitted to join any church or school. Not allowed to purchase property. No marriage, only children separated by sale to another distant estate.

Shame on those Confederate soldiers.

Michael Vogelsang

New age, old story

The other day, I was browsing around the library and saw a dusty copy of The Rise and Fall of The Holy Roman Empire. It got me to wondering whether somebody was writing such a book now about us.

Jim Douglas

Remember that child

Despite all the coverage of children left in hot cars, there have been few suggestions in the media on how to avoid forgetting a child in the car.

Drivers can reduce the risk of forgetting a child by making it a habit to always talk to the child while driving. This also helps the child develop language skills. Talk about the weather, road conditions, the passing scenery or anything, even if the child is asleep. It is a lot less likely that the driver will forget a child whom he or she has been talking to the entire trip.

Christopher J. Boyle

Putin all smiles

Re: Better than Hillary, Your Turn, Aug. 12:

Some people believe Donald Trump was a better choice for president than Hillary Clinton, even now. This is like saying that Benedict Arnold would have made a better president than George Washington.

Instead of a chief executive experienced in statecraft and negotiation, we have one who is alleged to have colluded with a Russian dictator and exchanges threats and insults with Kim Jong Un. That would seem funny if the fate of nations were not at stake while two self-worshiping megalomaniacs hold their fingers over nuclear buttons.

Trump seems to admire dictators like Vladimir Putin, who helped him get elected. Now, Putin seems to be sitting back, enjoying the show and pondering how to use the results to his advantage.

Im not sure how Clinton would have dealt with the present situation, but Im certain she couldnt do worse.

Steven Botts

Ethical model  not

Re: Better than Hillary, Your Turn, Aug. 12:

You have got to be kidding! The letter writer says we are not ready for a female president and Bill Clinton ruined the morals of children. I have read many absurd things, but this one takes the cake. I imagine we werent ready for a black president, either. And we arent ready to join the civilized, non-third world countries that offer affordable health care, affordable higher education, cleaner air and sensible gun control. Thanks for the clarification.

I wondered why our clocks had been set back 64 years. Certainly, Richard Nixons corruption didnt contribute to the decay of politics. And then there is our current occupant of the White House  a real model of ethics, morals, honesty, character, diplomacy and statesmanship. Really?

Nancy Powlas
Re: Statues, rainbows, Your Turn, August 13:

I understand the Express-News needs to represent different perspectives in the letters to the editor section. I can only hope that this letter writers contention  that removal of the Confederate statue is the same thing as removal of the MLK statue  is not widely shared.

Dan Bolen

History permanent

Simply stated, moving/hiding historical monuments will not make our history go away, it will just make some thin-skinned people feel better about themselves.

Is the Alamo on the list?

Michael D. Gehri

Brutal legacy

It is sadly ironic that this letter defending the Confederate monument in Travis Park appeared in our newspaper less than 24 hours after a deadly riot in another Southern city  violence perpetrated by white supremacists, many of whom carried Confederate flags and wore symbols of the Confederacy.

The letter writer claims he and other supporters of maintaining Civil War monuments seek only to honor the example set by Confederate veterans in leading peaceful and productive lives to reunite this nation. This is rubbish, as was so clearly demonstrated in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The rioters, protesting the removal of a Confederate statue, arrived itching for a fight, armed with shields, clubs and firearms. They were not there to promote peace and reunification.

These present-day terrorists were just continuing a long history of brutality. Throughout post-war history, Confederate veterans and other Southerners did all they could to maintain the oppression of African-Americans.

Indeed, Texas was among the states engaging in lynchings and Jim Crow laws designed to perpetuate that oppression.

Although we should never forget our history, neither should we erect or maintain monuments and symbols that honor the long, sorry legacy of slavery or the bloody war fought to continue that brutality.

Becky Niendorff

A bonding agent

Re: Bring back draft, Your Turn, August 8:

The letter writer states, Why not reinstitute the draft? I mean a real draft where no one can claim exemptions  . He makes some excellent points.

A draft would also do a great deal to unite the country. Requiring all of us to join a military service or commit to community service would give us an opportunity to learn from and about each other, to learn a skill, to work as a team, and to focus on community and country, not just ourselves. Two years of service would give young people time to mature while giving them direction and purpose.

We know military service offers many opportunities to learn a skill or to obtain an advanced education. So, when I say community service, I mean serious community service such as the WPA. Members of the WPA built highways, airports, hospitals and much of our parks infrastructure.

Community service should also include working with inner city and rural communities to improve access to education, medical facilities and their overall environment.

A mandatory draft would do so much to improve our understanding of the diversity this country, establishing a commitment to our communities and country.

Kathy Kennedy

Border plan

Re: Starr County could be getting its first barriers along border, front page; and If presidents wall is built, make it smart, Editorial, August 9:

The border plan drafted by Sen. John Cornyn is comparable to the Texas bathroom bill. Both largely propose to fix a problem that does not exist.

If the senator is concerned about national security, he should draw up plans to build a wall, figuratively or literally, on the Canadian border, a more likely entry point for terrorists (and maybe the Canadians would be more willing to pay for it).

But if he is just beating the xenophobic drum about keeping our southern neighbors from entering the U.S. to better their standard of living while being exploited by American employers, his effortsand our $15 billion in tax dollarswould be better spent in creating a system to eliminate or lessen the incentive for job seekers coming to the U.S.

This will work. The E-Verify program exists, but it is neither broad nor fully enforced. Expanding it and using it effectively against employers and employees would retain and create jobs for Americans while matching demand with supply.

But it will take years, disrupt lives and cause employers to pay higher wages and benefits, none of which is popular with politicians who want to sell an easy fix to satisfy constituents or supporters. So you will not hear such proposals from Sen. Cornyn and his colleagues.

Danny Root, Bulverde

Rainbow politics

So here I am, struggling to pay my property taxes. And here is the city of San Antonio also busy reappraising our property values so they can get more money. For what? To build a rainbow sidewalk for the LGBT community?

I am sure many of them pay the same taxes all of us do. Yet instead of using the money to fix roads and lower income areas that should be more important they want to build a rainbow sidewalk.

Rey Saldana, the councilman for a district that is not as affluent as other areas of the city, wants to do this instead of using the tax dollars to help his constituents. Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable.

Gilbert Romo, University City
The Dodging Duck Brewhaus in Boerne is celebrating its 15th Anniversary as of August 1st. The restaurant attracts people from far and wide for its wide array of delectable dishes and charming, relaxing atmosphere.

The Dodging Duck is a great place to sit on the covered deck and watch the ducks play on the mill pond of Cibolo Creek, have an intimate dining experience in one of the lakehouse-style dining rooms or sit at the wraparound bar and sip on the finest brews in the Hill Country.
The Econet Group is rolling out some exciting entertainment products and packages. Today, Kwese TV launched Kwese Play TV app and Kwese iFlix app, to cement its presence on the broadcasting space ahead of the Russia World Cup.

All 64 FIFA World Cup Russia2018 matches will be on ZBC TV courtesy of Kwese TV.

Econet says the two apps will enable Kwese subscribers to enjoy a wide array of television programme either on the go or in the comfort of their homes.

Econet media director, Zack Wazara, said the twin apps are set to revolutionize the broadcasting sector following the acquisition of a national content distribution licence after parting ways with Dr Dish.

The twin apps will be powered by Zol which has also partnered with Kwese to offer internet services while Econet Wifi hot spots will also enable users to enjoy the app and Kwese wifi as official distributors.

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 Bulawayo24

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A FAMILY in Zhombe got into trouble after they tried to marry off their 13-year-old daughter.

The girl who cannot be named, had to be rescued from the in-laws after having stayed there for some days following the intervention of the community.

A former junior councillor got wind of the matter and raised alarm leading to the intervention of the community.

The villagers led by the traditional leaders enlisted the services of the police to rescue the girl who had been forced to marry a 21-year old man.

The police confirmed the incident and said they took the girl back to her parents.

I can confirm that we are handling a case in Zhombe involving an under age girl who had been married off by her family.

We have since intervened and as I speak to you, she is now back at her parents home. For now, I cannot give you finer details because we are still carrying out investigations, said Midlands police spokesperson, Inspector Emmanuel Mahoko.

Ms Nomsa Mpofu, a girl child empowerment advocate, said the issue was brought to her attention by a former junior councillor through her WhatsApp platform.

I run a WhatsApp platform called Mining Girl Child Indaba where such issues are discussed. A former child councillor whom we are not going to name for ethical reasons, was the one who raised the issue and I in turn called the police who also did a splendid job, said Ms Mpofu.

The sickening incident occurred under Chief Gwesela in Zhombe who confirmed handling the case at his traditional court.

There are actually two different cases which are almost similar. The first one is that one which you are talking about of a family that tried to marry off their daughter due to hunger.

They have since appeared before my court and I have fined both the family that tried to marry off their daughter and the family that accepted the child as their daughter in-law, said Chief Gwesela.

He said in the second case, the girl was lured into marriage by a gold panner.

The second one is almost similar and they also appeared before my court. I fined both families again and ordered the girl to be taken back to her family, he said.

Chief Gwesela said he will not allow the abuse of young girls in his area.

As Zhombe chief I am clear on that, I will never allow marriages of under age girls because that is taboo in my area.

Those who are caught abusing girls will face the music. We have said as chiefs we are not going to let such things happen while we watch, he said.

This comes hard on the heels of the story of a 14-year-old girl who died while giving birth at an Apostolic shrine in Manicaland Province.

Pressure groups and child rights groups have also castigated the issue of child marriages, which are unconstitutional as the legal age of marriage is 18 years.

Statistics have shown that Zimbabwe has a 33,7 percent prevalence rate of child marriages with 5,4 percent of the girls getting married before they reach the age of 15 while two percent of boys in Zimbabwe marry before they reach 18.

Research carried out by Shamwari Yemwanasikana, a civil organisation, revealed that the major drivers of child marriages are forced marriage due to cultural and religious practices, poverty, circumstances, including teenage pregnancies and poor implementation of laws and policies that protect the girl child.

Zimbabwe Gender Commission CEO Mrs Virginia Muwanigwa is on record applauding traditional leaders for taking a leading role in eradicating child marriages.

She hailed the chiefs council for taking a stance after they vowed to fight child marriages.

Recently, First Lady Amai Auxilia Mnangagwa also warned girls against taking their bodies as playgrounds as she waded in the fight against child marriages.

 Chronicle

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The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) yesterday admitted to inadequate supervision and unbecoming behaviour by some members as having eroded public trust, faith and confidence in the force.

Addressing senior officers in Harare yesterday, Acting Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga said they would not hesitate to resuscitate the National Development Committee and to empower the Inspectorate Unit to enhance supervision of police activities at all levels.

There is a well-known Shona saying that, kugona chivi kuzvituka, may I, therefore, urge all of us to self-introspect, accept that our challenges emanate from lack of or inadequate supervision and unbecoming actions by some of our members, which have no doubt eroded public trust, faith and confidence in the police service, he said.

The young police officers need our constant and regular guidance so that they do not stray and malign the good name and image of the police service. Acting Comm-Gen Matanga said refresher, developmental and induction courses would be conducted with renewed vigour so that all officers had in-depth knowledge of police work.

Customer satisfaction, professionalism, respect, courteousness and restraint, Acting Comm-Gen Matanga said, would be the epitome of all police activities.

As we thank the President Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa for bestowing his trust on us to continue serving as members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police, I urge you not to abuse this trust, said Acting Comm-Gen Matanga.

Never should we act contrary to the oaths we took to serve the people of Zimbabwe with unbending fortitude, professionalism and loyalty.

The Zimbabwe Republic Police shall never again work in manners that will make it lose confidence and trust of the people it serves. When the people speak, we ought to listen attentively. Need I remind you of the well publicised message from His Excellency, President E.D Mnangagwa that the voice of the people is the voice of God? Acting Comm-Gen Matanga said they were going to roll out a battery of measures to improve their way of doing business in order to connect with the people.

He assured the nation that the ZRP would be heavily deployed, patrolling all communities both urban and rural. Acting Comm-Gen Matanga said they would also be conducting traffic awareness campaigns in an effort to curb road carnage and encouraging members of the public to drive safely on the roads.

He said President Mnangagwa assured the nation that the forthcoming elections would be conducted in a peaceful and democratic environment, so it was the role of the police to facilitate the provisioning of such envisaged environment.

Let us wholeheartedly rally behind the new Governments efforts of rebuilding a peaceful and prosperous Zimbabwe, said Acting Comm-Gen Matanga.

May I implore all of you to follow proper communication channels and keep yourselves abreast of pronouncements by Government, its policies and trajectory. I am hopeful that you derive benefit from the Presidents inaugural speech and the maiden speech by our minister (Cde Obert Mpofu) we sent all of you (senior officers) recently.

Acting Comm-Gen Matanga applauded the Zimbabwe Defence Forces for closely partnering the ZRP throughout Operation Restore Legacy. He said the concerns of members of the public were now common knowledge and most of concerns arose from traffic law enforcement. Complaints are double-pronged, he said.

Firstly, they serve as a feedback from the users of our service and secondly they are an indicator of matters that need to be addressed in our planning and implementation strategies.

That, the Zimbabwe Republic Police, like most modern police organisations, derive their legitimacy from the people is beyond doubt. As an organisation, we long accepted this viewpoint and committed ourselves to continuous learning under public scrutiny.

He added: Indeed, our Code of Conduct, the Police Client Service Charter and all our policies emphasise the need for professionalism in the discharge of our policing mandate at all times. Acting Comm-Gen Matanga said the force had been tarnished through continued acts of corruption by unscrupulous elements in their midst.

In this regard, the Zimbabwe Republic Police shall enhance swift justice to perpetrators of corruption and other criminal acts through undertaking thorough investigations.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Commissioner-Generals Innocent Matibiri (human resources), Levie Sibanda (operations) and Josephine Shambare (crime), commissioners, senior assistant commissioners and assistant commissioners. Herald

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THE Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC Alliance has said it respects President Emmerson Mnangagwa as the constitutionally-appointed leader of Zimbabwe, but emphasised the need to hold elections to come up with a leader with no baggage.

Addressing journalists in Harare yesterday, where they gave feedback on their recent trip to the United States following a backlash over reports that the coalition had invited sanctions for the country, MDC Alliance principals Tendai Biti and Welshman Ncube said they did not dispute that Mnangagwa was the legitimate leader of the country.

The two said Mnangagwa was appointed after Zanu PF forwarded his name to the Speaker of the National Assembly as was required by the Constitution.

But the duo claimed Mnangagwa lacked political legitimacy because he inherited former President Robert Mugabes rule that was itself marked by legitimacy questions after the stolen previous elections.

The issue of Mnangagwas leadership is legal formalism, but he lacks political legitimacy, Ncube said.

What has been the problem in Zimbabwe is the lack of political legitimacy. He inherited Mugabes crown and that includes his political illegitimacy.

Mnangagwa took over after a military intervention to settle Zanu PFs internal succession problems that led to Mugabes abrupt resignation last month.

MDC-T deputy president Nelson Chamisa, who was in the US together with Peoples Democratic Party leader Biti, said contrary to Zanu PF accusations, their trip was a meant to open lines of diplomatic communication for the benefit of the country.

Chamisa said economic growth in the post-Mugabe era could only be ushered in by a return to legitimacy and the peoples will underwritten by Sadc, Africa and the international community, which formed the basis of their diplomatic offensive which they would spread to China, Russia and other countries.

It is within this hope that the MDC Alliance presidential candidate despatched us into Africa, Europe and the United States on a global campaign for free, fair and credible elections, he said.

Chamisa said the country needed $15 billion to reconstruct and their US trip was to start the ball rolling for the raising of funds to rebuild the country as soon as they win the 2018 general elections.

Zimbabweans know that this country needs to start afresh. We need international goodwill, we need massive capital injection, but, above all, we need the international confidence, which confidence can only come with the installation of a legitimate regime in Harare through credible elections, he said.

Chamisa said Mnangagwa had promised free and fair elections, but what was worrying was the absence of a road map to the polls.

He said the opposition did not regret its role in the ouster of Mugabe and all that they needed was the undoing of the system the former Zanu PF leader left behind.

He said their visit would see America improve its humanitarian assistance.

As part of the immediate return to legitimacy, the MDC Alliance demanded the implementation of electoral reforms, the setting up of a credible biometric voters roll, media reforms, foreign observation to elections, introduction of diaspora votes, establishment of an enabling electoral environment as well as repeal of the Public Order and Security Act and Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

They also demanded the demilitarisation of government institutions.

The MDC Alliance reiterated that Tsvangirai was its presidential candidate and would defeat Mnangagwa by a big margin in the 2018 watershed elections.

Meanwhile MDC-T youth leader Happymore Chidziva said the youth also endorsed Tsvangirai as MDC Alliance presidential candidate.

He is our best foot forward as he has a record of beating Robert Mugabe in any election. The year 2018 will see us reclaiming our lost victory from Zanu PF and the unpopular Emmerson Mnangagwa will fall.

In 2008, Tsvangirai beat Mugabe in the first round, but failed to garner the majority votes required by the Constitution for an outright victory.

He, however, pulled out of the rerun citing violence, a situation that later forced the parties to enter into an inclusive government.

On Tsvangirais prospects of winning against Mnangagwa, Chidziva described the new Zanu PF leader as an easy opponent compared to Mugabe.

Its on record that Mnangagwa was beaten by Blessing Chebundo in Kwekwe and results are there. Morgan Tsvangirai was above them all and went on to beat Mnangagwas former boss, hence, even now, he will be an easy challenge, Chidziva said. NewsDay

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GOVERNMENT has made drastic cuts to former president Robert Mugabes travel expenditure after the ousted long-time leader and his family flew out of Harare to Singapore last week, nearly a month after his 37-year term came to a dramatic end following a soft military coup.

This comes as it emerged that Mugabe spent US$32,1 million on foreign trips between January and September this year against an annual budget of US$20,6 million. The Office of the President and Cabinet also spent US$1,1 million on domestic travel as of September against a budget of US$650 000.

Officials close to this situation also revealed the former leaders security team at his Borrowdale Blue Roof mansion was also reduced from 85 to 20.

Sources familiar with developments at Mugabes mansion told the Zimbabwe Independent that the nonagenarian was granted the presidential Air Zimbabwe aircraft (AZW1) when his family and security team left the country. Former first lady Grace Mugabe, the sources said, took six security personnel after resisting efforts to reduce her security details to three.

It is also understood the Police Protection Unit, which provides VIP protection, withdrew its team from Mugabes motorcade last Friday. Following last months military intervention, which brought a crashing end to Mugabes authoritarian rule, his family had been scattered across different countries before reuniting last week. It has also got together in Singapore.

According to figures obtained from the 2018 National Budget, the Office of the President and Cabinet spent US$32,1 million on foreign trips, although the trips have yielded little in tangible results for Zimbabweans. The expenditure came at a time Treasury is struggling to pay civil servants as well as finance capital projects and social service delivery.

In a massive decline from the previous years, Treasury allocated US$17 million to the Office of the President and Cabinet for foreign travel and US$700 000 for domestic travel in the 2018 budget.

Treasury figures show that the public sector wage bill currently accounts for 90% of government income, starving other critical sectors of funding.

Mugabe flew to Singapore, where his daughter Bona, son-in-law Simba Chikore and grandson Simbanashe have been stationed since the military take-over.

Bona is expecting her second child.

Mugabes fun-loving sons Robert Junior and Bellarmine Chatunga were staying at their affluent Sandhurst mansion in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, until they came back last week to face reality.

AZW1 departed at 2100hrs with 18 crew and 23 passengers on Monday last week. Mugabe had to compromise by allowing a smaller contingency, as well as a smaller security team, so that Grace could be allowed to travel with a six-member security team for herself. He also reduced the security team accompanying him, although Grace refused to take three security people with her. In the past he would have taken over 80 people, a source said. For Mugabe, he ended up flying out with three security people, although three others had already left before him. The former presidential limousine, the bullet-proof S-Class 600 Pullman, now has ordinary yellow plates and his departure was low-key given the cut in security.

The Independent also has it on good authority that Mugabes successor President Emmerson Mnangagwa has granted his former boss some wing at Zimbabwe House to use as his office during his retirement.

He will use that wing to host visitors who may want to visit him during his retirement. He also has a library space that he may choose to use. Mnangagwa wants Mugabe to be as comfortable as possible during his retirement, a security source said.

The Mugabe family has a multi-million-dollar empire built around numerous farms, prime real estate, various businesses and lucrative tenders which they wrested for self-aggrandisement.

The family also benefited heavily, directly and indirectly, from public funds during Mugabes endless globe-trotting trips and salted away some of the money.

On some occasions, the family also used public funds to acquire private assets, but their empire is now facing collapse. Zimbabwe Independent

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CHICOPEE, Mass.  Powerball announced that a single ticket sold at a Pride Station & Store in Chicopee, Mass., was the winner of Wednesday nights $758.7 million jackpot, according to the Powerball website. It was the second largest lottery prize in United States history, according to the Associated Press.

Massachusetts State Lottery initially reported that the ticket had been purchased at the Handy Variety convenience store in Watertown, about nine miles west of Boston. The lottery later corrected that statement, saying the lone winning ticket had been purchased at a Pride Station & Store in Chicopee. Handy Variety, in fact, sold a $1 million prize, according to the lottery.

The winning numbers were 6, 7, 16, 23 and 26, and the final number, called the Powerball number, was 4, reports the Washington Post. The name of the massive jackpots winner has not yet been released. The payout, which can be taken in a lump sum or in 29 yearly payments, is estimated to be around $443 million, depending on state taxes.

That isnt to say others werent close. Powerball Product Group Chair Charlie McIntyre said in a statement said several tickets also struck gold, the AP reported. Six ticketssold in Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and the Virgin Islandswon $2 million each. Thirty-four tickets others across the United States won $1 million.
NEW YORK CITY  Some of the countrys biggest craft brewers are struggling with falling sales, hurt by a glut of competitors crowding retail shelves and moves by megabrewers to scoop up some of their rivals. Ken Grossman, founder and chief executive of Sierra Nevada Brewing, the No. 2 U.S. craft brewer by volume, says its more competitive than ever.

His companys retail-store sales have fallen by 7.5% this year as of July 16, according to Beer Marketers Insights. The brewers shipment volumes fell 6.9% in 2016its first decline since Sierra Nevada was founded in 1980. Just two years ago, the Chico, Calif., company logged record sales after opening a second brewery in North Carolina, the Wall Street Journal reports.

After years of strong gains, American craft brewers are now bracing for a shakeout. Shipments are falling for many independent brewers stuck in the middle between local niche brands and competitors that were bought by heavyweights such as Anheuser-Busch InBev and Molson Coors.

Besides Sierra Nevada, those losing ground include Sam Adams maker Boston Beer Co., the biggest independent brewer, as well as smaller producers such as F.X. Matt Brewing Co., which brews Saranac in upstate New York, and Abita Brewing Co. in Louisiana, according to Beer Marketers Insights.

Benj Steinman, president of the tracking firm, said many craft brewers trying to push into regional and national markets are finding they hit a wall once they surpass 100,000 barrels. Some have stretched themselves too thin and lost ground in their home markets, while others took on too much debt to expand brewing capacity, brewers said. As they expand, they also lose the cachet of being a local brandsomething many consumers seek out, reports the news source.

They used to say a rising tide lifts all boats. And its definitely not that now, Steinman said. His firm estimates that shipment volumes declined for 16 of the top 36 craft-style U.S. brewers last year.

The troubles have continued this year. Retail-store sales of craft-style beersfrom brewers big and smallfell $143 million to $2.3 billion in the first half of 2017, according to data from Nielsen. Craft beer shipments grew for years in the double digits, even as overall beer sales fell. But craft demand began to decelerate in 2016.

We really had to put our big-boy underpants on and up our game, said Sam Calagione, founder and CEO of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton, Del., whose volumes were flat last year. Is it too crowded, the market? Were almost at the pace of two new breweries a day. That pace is not sustainable.

Shipments are still rising for many of those craft brewers that sold themselves to Big Beer, including Lagunitas, which was bought by Heineken in May; Goose Island, owned by AB InBev since 2011; and Ballast Point, which was purchased by Constellation Brands Inc. for $1 billion in 2015. Those brands benefit from their parent companies distribution networks, capital and marketing.

Local is still growing, and the larger ones are having problems, said Ryan Sentz, co-founder of Constellation, which distributes Corona in the U.S. We saw that as a potential roadblock in the future. We knew that aligning ourselves with a partner would be exponentially easier.
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg outlined NATOs crucial role in preserving peace and stability in a keynote address at the Rimini Meeting in Italy on Thursday (24 August 2017). The Secretary General delivered his remarks at a session titled: From North to South: Defence and Peace in the World, alongside Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano and Secretary of State Nicola Renzi of San Marino.

Mr. Stoltenberg explained how NATO is continuously adapting to current security challenges, including a more assertive Russia and violent instability in Europes southern neighbourhood. He noted that NATO plays an important role in fighting terrorism, including through the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan; counter-IED training for Iraqi forces; and support for partners including Tunisia and Jordan.

The Secretary General concluded: Freedom, democracy and open societies will always prevail over hatred, violence and intolerance. And united behind our common values, there is no threat we cannot face, and no challenge we cannot overcome.

In Rimini, the Secretary General also held talks with Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano. From Italy, Mr. Stoltenberg is travelling to Poland, where he will meet with the national leadership in Warsaw and visit a NATO battlegroup in Orzysz.
BART passengers helped save the life of a person in crisis who went onto the tracks at the Civic Center station in San Francisco Monday afternoon, BART officials said.

At 4:43 p.m., a man went onto the tracks at the station from one of the platforms. Immediately, several people on the platform helped the man up while others began waving their arms to alert the operator in the oncoming train.

According to BART officials, the train operator hit the emergency stop button and the train came to a stop one car into the station, and several car lengths away from the man.

Power was cut in the area and BART police responded within minutes. Officers detained the man and made sure he received the supportive services he needed, BART officials said.
A homicide investigation is underway in a rural Contra Costa County community after a woman's body was found on a dirt road, sheriff's department officials said Wednesday.

Authorities were first alerted to a report of a body along the 500 block of Camino Diablo in Brentwood near Byron on Tuesday, according to sheriff's officials. When they arrived at the scene, deputies found the dead woman.

Quarry workers discovered the woman's body just off Camino Diablo on a sandy road leading to a sand mine. The workers said there was a carpet or tarp near the woman's that appeared to be dumped with her body.

The victim is believed to be a San Francisco resident in her 40s, according to sheriff's officials. An autopsy was performed Wednesday, but officials had yet to identify the woman.

Sheriff's officials said they have no motive and no suspects and are investigating the death as a homicide.

Anyone with information is asked to call 925-313-2600. People can leave an anonymous tip by calling 866-846-3592.
In a bid to hold elected officials accountable to voters, the ACLU of California has partnered with local nonprofits to launch a website that tracks the positions of district attorneys across the state.

Its tagline? "Meet your DA, the most powerful elected official you may not know."

The site debuted Tuesday morning with an announcement video from musician John Legend, who has been a vocal critic of racial disparities within the criminal justice system.

"District attorneys are important players in our fight to end mass incarceration," Legend said. "When we aren't paying attention, their power goes unchecked."

The ACLU-CA, which partnered with Silicon Valley nonprofit De-Bug and Richmond-based Safe Return Project for the campaign, says the new tool may be especially useful in the months leading up to the 2018 election, in which 56 out of the state's 58 DAs will be up for re-election.

Through infographics and interactives, the website highlights the ideological divide between DAs and a majority of voters on key reform issues.

For example, close to 70 percent of California voters approved efforts to curtail the controversial Three Strikes Law, but only three out of 58 state DAs supported the proposition. And roughly 65 percent of voters approved a measure for greater parole access and reformed juvenile justice, but only two DAs lent their support to the ballot item.

Despite maintaining a low profile compared to other local elected officials, district attorneys wield unparalleled power in deciding if charges get filed and how severe those charges should be.

Political watchdogs in Contra Costa County may already be aware of troubles with their own former district attorney, Mark Peterson, who was charged with 13 felonies earlier this year after it was uncovered that he had been using his campaign fund as a personal checking account. KQED also reported that two out of five finalists to replace Peterson have admitted to plagiarizing swaths of their application for the job.

"Many DAs aren't used to voters paying attention to them," said Ana Zamora, a criminal justice policy director with the ACLU of Northern California, in a statement announcing the new site. "The 'Hey DA Campaign' in California will change that. ... DAs in California should expect to start hearing a lot more from their communities."

Check out the website here.
Ride-hailing app Lyft last weekend sent a message of caution to its drivers about remaining safe during planned white supremacist and alt-right rallies across the United States.

In an email, the company advised its drivers on how to respond to hateful intimidation and harassment, providing resources for reporting such incidents and monitoring their areas for outbreaks of unrest or violence.

Lyft said 66 percent of its drivers identify as minority, and it is committed to keeping all its drivers and patrons safe.

In the Bay Area alone, there are two major rallies planned this weekend. A group called Patriot Prayer is holding a "Freedom Rally San Francisco" from 2 to 5 p.m. at Crissy Field. On Sunday, an anti-Marxism rally is being held in Berkeley.

Counterprotesters are expected at both rallies.

Here is Lyft's email text in full:

Keeping Lyft a Safe Space

Lyft represents all people, including the 66% of drivers who identify as a minority - and every ride is an opportunity to bring people of different backgrounds together. With white supremacists planning rallies nationwide, we want to share an update on resources to keep drivers safe.

Watch for safety alerts from Lyft. We're continuing to monitor your city for possible activity from hate groups.

Report incidents of hateful intimidation and harassment.Our team reviews all feedback you leave for passengers for violations of Lyft's anti-discrimination policies. Rate someone 3 stars or less, and you won't be matched again.

Use the 24/7 Critical Response Line. If you ever feel unsafe, first dial 911, and then reach out to Lyft.

We're also partnering with the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization with a long history of fighting hate and intolerance, to provide educational resources for drivers. You'll hear more from us on those efforts in the coming weeks.

We're committed to continue listening, learning, and acting to protect the safety and inclusivity of our community.
There was a dash of blue among the teal and white sweaters at the Sharks captain's ice session on Wednesday.

Patrick Marleau, who signed a three-year, $18.75 million deal with Toronto in the offseason, was among the dozen or so skaters that were on the ice at the Sharks' practice facility with training camp a little more than three weeks away. The 37-year-old was dressed head to toe in his bright blue Maple Leafs attire, likely a shocking sight for longtime Sharks fans that saw in a San Jose sweater for the first 19 seasons of his career.

It's not uncommon for the Sharks, or other teams, to allow players from other teams to utilize their local practice facilities before training camp begins.

Among Sharks skaters also taking part in the skate were Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Joonas Donskoi, Aaron Dell, Ryan Carpenter and Kevin Labanc.

Thornton, who is recovering from offseason knee surgery on his ACL and MCL, looked to be moving well. He signed a one-year, $8 million contract extension with the Sharks in the offseason.

The Sharks will hold their first on-ice training camp session on Friday, Sep. 15.

Marleau makes his first appearance as a visiting player at SAP Center on Oct. 30.
San Mateo County unveiled six new mobile libraries in August, which have since been spotted at transit hubs, markets and community events in several cities on the Peninsula.

The Book Bike program offers both English and Spanish reading materials and are expected to build on the existing Bookmobile initiative, a trailer which currently visits markets with children's books and activities.

Kenny Gabe, who rides one of the traveling libraries, says the East Palo Alto library has used its bike to distribute roughly 5,000 free books to families as part of its summer reading program.

"Any chance we get to do something in the community, sign me up," Gabe said.

He says the new fleet offers chances to spotlight less-known San Mateo County Libraries' services, including a 3-D printing space, a laptop vending machine and WiFi hotspots.

"Its opening more eyes to the free services we offer here for our community, so I think thats huge," Gabe said. "Ive been bringing this out to all around town  places that arent necessarily walking distance from our library."



On Wednesday, Gabe rode a book-laden bike to a weekly farmers market at Ravenswood Family Health Center to meet families as they waited in line to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. He expects to soon install a hotspot on the cart in order to bring WiFi to local parks and community gatherings.

"You can check out books, you can check out hotspots, you can check out laptops  we can bring the 3D printer," Gabe said. "It's bringing the library outside of the four walls of our current space."

The Bookmobile and fleet of Book Bikes can be seen in El Granada, Half Moon Bay, La Honda, San Carlos, and Woodside, among other San Mateo County cities, according to the service's website.

Upcoming Stops:

Aug. 26 at San Carlos Caltrain Station

Aug. 27 at Burton Park in San Carlos

Sept. 9 and 10 at Stand Down San Mateo

For more information about the bike program, visit the library's website or call 650-207-4426.
Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and conservative firebrands Milo Yiannopoulos and Ann Coulter have been invited to speak at UC Berkeley in September, according to campus officials.

A student-run publication, the Berkeley Patriot, has invited the three speakers to campus as part of a planned "Free Speech Week" between Sept. 24 and 27.

UC Berkeley spokesperson Dan Mogulof said plans have been underway since mid-July. No time or venue has been carved out for the speaking engagements, but the school is working to provide safety and security protections, he said.

The university, which is known as the birthplace of the "free speech movement," has been a flashpoint in recent months. Several violent protests have broken out during scheduled speaking engagements by Coulter and Yiannopoulos, costing the school hundreds of thousands of dollars in security fees and damage repairs.

For its part, campus leadership has been roundly criticized for its handling of the recent skirmishes. Supporters of the conservative speakers have lambasted school officials for not doing enough to facilitate the appearances, while others have asserted that the school should never have approved speakers whose viewpoints are antithetical to the campus' stated values of inclusivity and non-discrimination.

The school's new chancellor, Carol Christ, confirmed Yiannopoulos' visit in a campus-wide message to students Wednesday, in which she reiterated the school's commitment to free speech. Sheltering students from opposing ideas would make them less equipped for life after graduation, she wrote.

"Call toxic speech out for what it is, dont shout it down, for in shouting it down, you collude in the narrative that universities are not open to all speech," she said in part. "Respond to hate speech with more speech."

Yiannopoulos praised Christ's letter on his Facebook page, writing that he hopes "Berkeley sticks to this commitment to free expression."

Coulter and Bannon have yet to respond publicly to the invite. Berkeley Patriots, a group that advances conservative and libertarian thought, did not immediately return NBC Bay Area's request for comment.

Mogulof said that the university cannot control invitations issued by student groups, nor does it attempt to. Student groups are separate legal entities from the university, he said.

"They have full independence and autonomy," Mogulof said. "As a matter of law, policy and long-standing practice, the university does not have the right or the ability to interfere with their invitations to speakers based on the perspective of those speakers."

He added that school leaders work with student groups to invite speakers not out of legal requirement, but because "it's an essential part of the academic experience."

Mogulof closed by praising the Berkeley Patriot for their handling of the upcoming events, calling them "good-faith partners."

"They have been scrupulous about their adherence to event policy," he said. "They are clearly aware of, and concerned about, tensions that might arise on campus and have expressed an interest in working with the university to address that."
Tempers flared Wednesday night at UC Berkeley when liberal activists wouldn't allow conservative groups into their planning meeting for this weekend's rallies in San Francisco and Berkeley.

The liberal group By Any Means Necessary posted fliers about the organizing meeting on campus. And when people with the College Republicans and Berkeley Patriots showed up, they were turned away.

University police were called to the scene to help sort out the disagreement. No injuries were reported.

Both sides said they plan to attend the Patriots Prayer rally in San Francisco on Saturday and the anti-Marxism event in Berkeley on Sunday. Both are predicting the other side will incite violence.

"These rallies won't be violent if the anti-fascist activists don't show up and stir up violence," one conservative said.

"We are calling on everybody; we can't have another Charlottesville. No more racist attacks," one liberal said.

In the end, the rally planning meeting was moved elsewhere, with the two sides shouting at each other as police stood watch, making sure the confrontation ended peacefully.
Three Powerball tickets in California matched 5 of 6 numbers in Wednesday night's $700 million draw, and two of those were sold in the Bay Area, according to officials with the California Lottery.

A jackpot winning ticket worth $758 million was sold in Massachusetts, according to Powerball.com.

The winning numbers were: 6, 7, 16, 23, 26 and 4 (the Powerball number).

One of the lucky Bay Area tickets was sold at a Chevron station in Milpitas and the other was sold in Daly City. The third California winner was located in Newport Beach.

The Chevron station is the very same seller of a jackpot ticket in April 2014, when Ray Buxton won $425 million.

Even though it wasn't a jackpot winner, lottery officials say the gas station owner will get a good commission bonus.



The three California winners will take home just under a million dollars each.


A driver who allegedly left the scene after causing a fatal, multiple-vehicle crash on Interstate 95 in Reading, Massachusetts, on Thursday morning has been charged with operating under the influence of drugs.

Lynn DeWolfe, 50, of Tyngsborough, is facing charges of operating under the influence of drugs, leaving the scene of a crash that caused personal injury and death, negligent operation of a motor vehicle and a marked lanes violation.

The crash happened around 10 a.m. just prior to exit 38.

Massachusetts State Police said DeWolfe was driving erratically and made contact with another vehicle, which then collided with a motorcycle. The operator of the motorcycle was thrown from the bike and was taken to Lahey Clinic, where he later died from his injuries. His name has not been released.

Police said DeWolfe did not stay on the scene and continued to drive on the highway, where she was reportedly involved in other crashes until she was stopped and taken into custody before exit 42.

DeWolfe remains held at the state police barracks in Danvers. It is not clear when she will be arraigned or if she has an attorney.

According to NBC Boston's Investigators, DeWolfe's driving record shows she has been charged twice before with operating under the influence, once in 1987 and again in 2005. She also had multiple suspensions for refusing chemical tests and was involved in at least four other crashes.
Illinois gubernatorial candidate Ameya Pawar is calling for a law to rename Christopher Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples' Day.

Pawar, a Chicago alderman running for the Democratic nomination in the Illinois' governor's race, made the proposal on his Twitter account Wednesday:

As governor, I will work to pass legislation to rename/designate Columbus Day as Indigenous People's Day.  Ameya Pawar (@Ameya_Pawar_IL) August 23, 2017

"This is about acknowledging the contributions indigenous people have made to our country and celebrating the cultural history of Native Americans living in Illinois," Pawar told the Chicago Tribune in a statement.

The movement to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples' Day began in Berkeley, California in the early 1990's. Other states, including Vermont, have adopted the holiday, while states like Oklahoma celebrate "Native American Day" on Oct. 12 every year.

The city of Evanston also celebrates the holiday after passing a bill to change the designation in 2016.
The Illinois Republican House and Senate announced Thursday that the four top legislative leaders and Gov. Bruce Rauner have reached a historic school funding reform.

This afternoon the four legislative leaders and the governor reached an agreement in principle on historic school funding reform, House Republican Leader Jim Durkin and Senate Republican Leader-designee Bill Brady said in a joint statement. "Language will be drafted and details of the agreement released once the drafts have been reviewed. The leaders will reconvene in Springfield on Sunday in anticipation of House action on Monday.

A statement released by the governor's office applauded the agreement.

Governor Rauner applauds the four leaders in coming to a consensus on historic school funding reform that reflects the work of the School Funding Reform Commission," the statement reads. "He thanks them for their leadership and looks forward to the coming days when the legislation is passed by both chambers.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was expected to speak on the agreement later in the evening.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel called the agreement a new chapter in education funding that will provide stability, parity and equity to students.

We are on the doorstep of an historic victory for students and familites not just in Chicago, but in cities, towns and villages across Illinois, Emanuel said.

The mayor thanked lawmakers and Rauner for coming together on the agreement.
The New Milford community rallied together in a show of support Wednesday to help local restaurant owners after someone painted a racial slur and a swastika on their building.

Senka Thompson, who owns Thompsons Fine American Comfort Food on Kent Road with her husband, told NBC Connecticut that they found the vandalism at their restaurant when they arrived to open for business Wednesday morning.

While we are saddened and very surprised by the hate, we are encouraged by those who support us and understand that racism hurts everyone. It is not representative of the values of our town or our country. We hope that all who disagree with this ideology will stand with us to speak out against it, the couple wrote in a statement on their Facebook page.

The community reacted to the news with a show of support.

When Senka Thompson started cleaning up the graffiti Wednesday, a group of people showed up to help her scrape it all off.

New Milford Mayor David Gronbach denounced the act in a strongly worded statement.

I am disgusted that the hatred we have been reading about nationally has appeared in New Milford with the racial epithet and swastika painted at Thompsons Restaurant. In the wake of Charlottesville, I posted, Hate Has No Home Here. This statement in opposition reflected my stand against people and ideologies that would denigrate any person or population. Today we know that there are people in our Community that hate based on skin color or ethnicity or religion. They are proud of their prejudice and want others to fear it; to be intimidated by it; to have it normalized. I am here to say that while hate may live in the hearts of some in our Community, we give it no shelter and no safe harbor. I call on New Milford to come together to not only denounce this expression of hate, but to beat it back into the furthest recesses of the twisted heart that harbors it, he wrote in part.

New Milford police said they were called out around 7:30 a.m. and ask anyone with information to call Detective Thomen at 860-355-3133.
As the state continues to run without a budget, the news for towns and cities is grim as hundreds of millions of dollars are on the line.

On Wednesday, town leaders from Glastonbury, Ellington, Tolland and Newington gathered in South Windsor to rally against the cuts.

"I assure you that we are united in our commitment to education and in our frustration and dismay over the governor's executive order," South Windsor Mayor Carolyn Mirek said.

Gov. Dannel Malloy has been running the state through executive order since lawmakers failed to pass a budget nearly two months ago. Last week he proposed eliminating all education cost-sharing grants, known as ECS, from 85 school systems and significantly reducing it for 54 others.

"It's devastating. It's the entire $12 million gone," said South Windsor Board of Education member Rick Stahr.

Stahr said they thought they prepared for the worst but the numbers they're seeing from the governor are far more extreme.

"Our worst-case scenario was $3, maybe $4 million, and that's where we were hoping to keep it, somewhere around that. But now we're looking at three times that," Stahr said. "What is the impact? I don't know, but it's going to be very deep."

"Very frustrated when you see the millions of dollars not being provided to our town. It's just unbelievable," said Catherine Stahr, whose son will attend South Windsor High when school starts back up next week.

She said the uncertainty is affecting students and staff.

"At least if we know what we're dealing with, we can deal with it, but not knowing what the budget is going to be, the ECS funding is going to be, just leaves everybody in limbo," said Catherine Stahr.

"The fact is we do not have a true education cost sharing formula that is fully funded or used the way it should be used here in Connecticut," said State Rep. Jeff Currey, (D-East Hartford, Manchester and South Windsor).

Currey was one of the several lawmakers who attended Wednesday's rally and said the House Democrats latest budget proposal was done as a bipartisan effort.

With Republicans expected to come out with a revised budget, the hope is that the end is in sight.

"If we can put the two of them together, we will have a good budget," said Rep Sam Belsito (R-Ashford, Tolland and Willington).

No vote is expected at the Capitol until the week of Sept. 11.
Pei Wei is moving its global headquarters to North Texas.



Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Wednesday the company will leave its current location in Scottsdale, Arizona and move to Irving.

"The Texas model of limited government, reduced regulations and low taxes continues to create a diverse economy that attracts businesses from a variety of industries," Gov. Abbott said in a statement. "Pei Wei is a welcome addition to the Lone Star State and I am confident that our robust economy and superior workforce will fuel their continued success and growth. As Governor, I will continue to promote policies that lead to more relocations by industry leaders."



The company was founded by P.F. Chang's in 2000 and currently has 225 locations and more than 6,000 employees around the world, including 65 locations and an estimated 2,500 employees in Texas.



"We are very excited to relocate to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which is home to some of our most loyal guests and highest-performing restaurants," John "J." Hedrick, Chief Executive Officer with Pei Wei, said in a statement. "We didn't make this decision lightly. Scottsdale is an extraordinary city that has been our hometown since the brand's inception in 2000. But our new leadership team felt that the timing was right to make this move, as we chart a new direction for the brand, its operations and our corporate culture."



The project will create at least 100 new jobs.

The exact date of the relocation wasn't revealed, although the company says the entire move to the Las Colinas Highlands office tower will happen by the end of this year.

This is the fifth headquarters relocation that Abbott has secured with the help of the Texas Enterprise Fund-Texas' deal closing fund.
Friday, 8/25 UPDATE: The San Diego Zoo Safari Park has released video of the tiger cub.

Experts say the cub is a male, about five to six weeks old. He weighs about six pounds. They added all his teeth have not grown in yet and he will be teething over the next few weeks.

The cub's eyes, ears and heart were checked by experts. He appears to be in good health.

_____________________________________________________________

The discovery of a Bengal tiger cub stashed in the back of a car led to an American teenager's arrest at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry Thursday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers rescued the illegally-trafficked cub from the traveler, who was bringing the cub from Mexico into California.

Luis Eudoro Valencia of Perris, California, faces federal charges for trying to sneak the exotic animal into the U.S. The 18-year-old told investigators he had arranged to pay $300 for the cub from a man he saw walking a full-sized tiger on a leash in Tijuana.

Around 1:30 a.m., Valencia arrived at the Otay Mesa port of entry, according to CBP. Officers conducted an inspection and then referred the vehicle for a secondary inspection. When they searched Valencia's car, they found a tiger cub lying on the floor of the front passenger side.

They pulled out the cub and placed it in an animal crate until agents from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services arrived.

According to a complaint filed with the U.S. District Court, the CBP inspector shone a flashlight and saw the tiger lying between the legs of the backseat passenger.

When asked if it was a tiger, the passenger claimed it was just a cat.

He then produced paperwork from AeroMexico Cargo that indicated a Bengal tiger was shipped on Aug. 22.

This included a sales receipt from a Mexican individual that falsely stated the species was not covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), according to the complaint.

The man failed to reveal the tiger cub to officers, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

He also said he asked the man about the tiger and agreed to purchase a cub on Friday. He returned to Mexico on Monday, waited several hours and drove to meet the individual at a nearby club. From there, they drove to another location where the cub was located.

The complaint states that Valencia said he wanted to take the tiger cub home to keep as a pet.

He denied having any photos of the tiger on his phone. But when officers searched his phone, numerous photos of several tiger cubs were discovered, including the cub he attempted to smuggle and an adult tiger.

Agents said video on the phone revealed a specially-built compartment under his car seat.

The complaint states, "these types of compartments are used to smuggle wildlife."

Valencia, a U.S. citizen, was transported to the Metropolitan Correction Center to await his arraignment.

Agents from U.S Fish & Wildlife Service have the tiger cub in their care, according to CBP. They are working with San Diego Zoo Global to ensure its well-being. The tiger cub appeared to be in good health and is currently at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido.

Officials from the U.S. Attorney's office released Valencia on a $10,000 personal surety bond. His preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 5 at 1:30 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bernard Skomal.

If convicted, he faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine or more.

Over 20 years ago, customs agents at the same port intercepted an alleged smuggling attempt to take a tiger cub out of California and into Mexico. That tiger was named "Blanca" and lived out many years at the San Diego Safari Park, said CBP officers.

"CBP officers are often faced with unusual situations," said Pete Flores, director of field operations for CBP in San Diego, in a statement. "The CBP officers at the Otay Mesa port of entry met the challenge head on and assisted in preserving the life of this endangered species."

All species of tigers are considered endangered under the Endangered Species Act, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. They are protected under Appendix I of the CITES. Legally importing a tiger requires a special permit and declaration, and prosecutors said Valencia lacked both.

Valencia could not be immediately reached for comment and the office of his court-appointed attorney, Robert Schlein, said he has not had a chance to speak to his client.



The Bengal tiger, also known as Panthera tigris tigris, is native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. The World Tiger Recovery Project said there are only 2,500 wild specimens of the tiger left, and its population is decreasing.

According to the complaint, the value of a Bengal tiger cub sold in the U.S. is about $1,500.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Rescue crews and medics from North Texas are headed to the coast in advance of Hurricane Harvey as Navy jets and personnel from two bases are headed to the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth for safekeeping.



The Fort Worth Fire Department is sending 14 firefighters and at least one rescue boat.



Theyll part of Texas Task Force One and will stage in College Station Thursday night awaiting orders to deploy to flooding, said task force spokesman Jeff Saunders.



Meanwhile, a medical bus and firefighters from the Flower Mound Fire Department are also headed to the coast.



Theyll stage in San Antonio.



The bus, capable of treating a large number of injured people, is part of the North Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Board. Other buses, from Cedar Hill, Fort Worth Medstar and Frisco, are on standby, officials said.



At Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, they are prepared to shelter jets and personnel from NAS Corpus Christi and NAS Kingsville. Both bases are being fully evacuated, said NAS JRB spokeswoman Karin Krause.



Krause said exact numbers are unclear, but the Fort Worth base is prepared to accept 100 training jets and has cots for 500 personnel.



She also said those evacuated will try to get hotel rooms.

As of Thursday afternoon, about 35 T-45 jets had arrived from NAS Kingsville.

"We will take this scenario one day at a time here as it plays it," said Capt. Jonathan Townsend, commander of NAS Fort Worth JRB. "We are uniquely postured to handle the situation. we're glad to help out."
What to Know NWS upgraded Harvey to a major Cat. 4 hurricane Friday evening; downgraded to Cat. 2 early Saturday morning

Extreme winds expected; main threat will be flooding and storm surge

State of disaster declared for 30 counties on or near the coast

Watch live video from Palacios, Texas, as Hurricane Harvey moves inland on the Central Texas coast.



Hurricane Harvey smashed into Texas late Friday, lashing a wide swath of the Gulf Coast with strong winds and torrential rain from the fiercest hurricane to hit the U.S. in more than a decade.

The National Hurricane Center said the eye of the Category 4 hurricane made landfall about 10 p.m. CDT about 30 miles northeast of Corpus Christi between Port Aransas and Port O'Connor, bringing with it 130 mph sustained winds and flooding rains.

The eye of the hurricane made a second landfall at about 1 a.m. local time on the northeastern shore of Copano Bay, as the slow-moving storm churned inland at about 6 mph. Harvey was then downgraded to a Category 3 hurricane.



Harvey's approach sent tens of thousands of residents fleeing the Gulf Coast, hoping to escape the wrath of an increasingly menacing storm set to slam an area of Texas that includes oil refineries, chemical plants and dangerously flood-prone Houston, the nation's fourth-largest city.

Fueled by warm Gulf of Mexico waters, Harvey grew rapidly, accelerating from a Category 1 early in the morning to a Category 4 by evening. Its transformation from an unnamed storm to a life-threatening behemoth took only 56 hours, an incredibly fast intensification.

Reports of damage began to emerge from Rockport, a coastal city of about 10,000 people that was directly in the path of Harvey when it came ashore.

City manager Kevin Carruth said multiple people were taken to the county's jail for assessment and treatment after the roof of a senior housing complex collapsed.

KIII-TV reports that 10 people have been treated there. The Associated Press was unable to reach an operator at the Aransas County Detention Center in Rockport just after midnight. Carruth also said that Rockport's historic downtown area has seen extensive damage.

Volunteer Fire Department Chief Steve Sims said there are about 15 volunteer firefighters at the city's fire station waiting for conditions to improve enough for their vehicles to safely respond to pleas for help.

"There's nothing we can do at this moment. We are anxious to get out there and make assessments, but we're hunkered down for now," he said.

Earlier Friday, Rockport Mayor Pro Tem Patrick Rios offered ominous advice, telling KIII-TV those who chose to stay put "should make some type of preparation to mark their arm with a Sharpie pen," implying doing so would make it easier for rescuers to identify them.

[NATL] Dramatic Images: Floods Hit as Harvey Drenches Texas

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott warned that the monster system would be "a very major disaster," and the forecasts drew fearful comparisons to Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest ever to strike the U.S.

In a tweet Friday evening, President Donald Trump said: "At the request of the Governor of Texas, I have signed the Disaster Proclamation, which unleashes the full force of government help!"

In another tweet early Saturday, Trump wrote: "We will remain fully engaged w/ open lines of communication as #HurricaneHarvey makes landfall. America is w/ you! @GovAbbott @FEMA @DHSgov"

Millions of people were bracing for a prolonged battering from the hurricane, which will likely be the strongest hurricane to hit the US in about 13 years. Forecasters labeled Harvey a "life-threatening storm" that posed a "grave risk," saying it could swamp several counties more than 100 miles inland.

Brock Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said on MSNBC earlier Friday that Harvey was a "very serious" threat and that the window for evacuating was quickly closing.

"Texas is about to have a very significant disaster," Long warned.

At least one researcher predicted heavy damage that would linger for months or longer.

"In terms of economic impact, Harvey will probably be on par with Hurricane Katrina," said University of Miami senior hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy. "The Houston area and Corpus Christi are going to be a mess for a long time."

Aside from savage winds and 12-foot storm surges, the system was expected to drop over 3 feet of rain.

Gov. Greg Abbott is warning south Texans to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Harvey and not take any chances.

Rain bands from the storm began pelting the coast early Friday. As of 1 p.m. Friday, Harvey was centered about 85 miles southeast of Corpus Christi and was moving northwest at 10 mph.

All seven Texas counties on the coast from Corpus Christi to the western end of Galveston Island have ordered mandatory evacuations of tens of thousands of residents from all low-lying areas. Officials in four counties ordered full evacuations and warned there was no guarantee of rescue for people staying behind. Voluntary evacuations have been urged for Corpus Christi itself and for the Bolivar Peninsula, a sand spit near Galveston where many homes were washed away by the storm surge of Hurricane Ike in 2008.

The Dallas Office of Emergency Management opened at shelter Friday at the Walnut Hill Recreation Center to accommodate evacuees from Hurricane Harvey.

Texas officials expressed concern Thursday that not as many people are evacuating compared with previous storms.

"A lot of people are taking this storm for granted thinking it may not pose much of a danger to them," Gov. Greg Abbott told Houston television station KPRC. "Please heed warnings and evacuate as soon as possible."

Victoria bracing for more than 30 inches of rain as Hurricane Harvey sits over the Texas Gulf Coast. Shelters in Victoria are full.

The U.S. Navy has closed Naval Air Station Corpus Christi and ordered the evacuation of all non-essential active-duty military. Oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico also began evacuating employees Thursday.

Abbott has activated about 700 members of the state National Guard ahead of Hurricane Harvey making landfall.

A NOAA hurricane hunter aircraft flies into Hurricane Harvey.

Harvey's effect would be broad. The hurricane center said storm surges as much as 3 feet could be expected as far north as Morgan City, Louisiana, some 400 miles away from the anticipated landfall.

And once it comes ashore, the storm is expected to stall, dumping copious amounts of rain for days in areas like flood-prone Houston, the nation's fourth most-populous city, and San Antonio.

Homes and businesses in Rockport are boarded up as Hurricane Harvey approaches the Texas coast. Fishermen tell NBC 5's Kris Gutierrez they are worried about their livelihood if the storm produces the expected damage.

State transportation officials were considering when to turn all evacuation routes from coastal areas into one-way traffic arteries headed inland. John Barton, a former deputy executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation, predicted state officials will do this before the storm hits, but said timing and determining where to use it are the key factors. Storms change paths and if contraflow starts too early, supplies such as extra gasoline needed to support impacted areas can't get in, he noted.

Meanwhile, residents along the Texas coast flocked to grocery and hardware stores, and gas stations to stock up on last-minute supplies, NBC affiliate KRIS reported.

Harvey would be the first significant hurricane to hit Texas since Ike in September 2008 brought winds of 110 mph to the Galveston and Houston areas and inflicted $22 billion in damage. It would be the first big storm along the middle Texas coast since Hurricane Claudette in 2003 caused $180 million in damage.

A NOAA hurricane hunter flies into Hurricane Harvey.

It's taking aim at the same vicinity as Hurricane Carla, the largest Texas hurricane on record. Carla came ashore in 1961 with wind gusts estimated at 175 mph and inflicted more than $300 million in damage. The storm killed 34 people and forced about 250,000 people to evacuate.

First lady Melania Trump tweeted "thoughts and prayers" to those leaving near the hurricane's path, adding the "entire country [is] with you."



Evacuees from the Texas Gulf Coast are seeking shelter at the St. Joseph High School gym in Victoria. It was built to withstand hurricane force winds.

The White House said the president was closely monitoring the hurricane and planned to travel to Texas early next week to view recovery efforts. The president was expected to receive briefings during the weekend at Camp David.

Trump's homeland security and counter-terrorism adviser, Tom Bossert, said the administration was "bringing together the firepower of the federal government to assist the state and local governments, but the state and local governments are in the lead here."

Millions of people in South Texas have made the decision to either flee to safety or ride out the storm as Hurricane Harvey approaches the Texas coast.
HOLDING TIGHTLY ONTO SUMMER? It's possible to make it all last, though the final days of August do seem to slide through the fingers with the ease of so many foamy ocean bubbles. One day it is springtime, and we're talking about all of the summer road trips we'd like to take, and then, we see it: Halloween candy filling the shelves at our local supermarket. But the beaches of Southern California have a pretty consistent and commendable way of sticking around throughout the calendar, whether it is summertime or not, and making your way to one is possible regardless of season. September and October, in fact, are fine months to beach it up, thanks to the continuing warm weather and the thinning of crowds (well, it is California, where places bustle all year, but, come fall, travel does wind down a touch). Embassy Suites by Hilton Mandalay Beach Resort happens to have a front row seat to some blissful beachery, and it is close to Channel Islands Harbor, too, in case you want to hop a boat out to Channel Islands National Park. There are...

"250 NEWLY RENOVATED ROOMS"... at the expansive property, a spread that includes an ample amount of ocean-front beauty (the resort sits on eight-and-a-half acres). As for the hotel's line-up of packages? There are deals designed for family trips, for getawayers looking for a long weekend, and a military family rate, too. As for finding your perfect area beach? Oxnard has a multitude, from ocean-y areas perfect for kayaking to places made for a soak-in-the-sun picnic. The summer of '17 isn't done, not at all, and balmy days will balmy-on for at least four or five more weeks, though maybe more. If you didn't get your beach time in over the last couple of months, make a night or weekend of it, at a property that's so sand-adjacent it is nearly sitting in the surf.
The Russian government is seeking information and pledging assistance in the Amber Alert case of the nine-year-old son of Russian parents who has been orphaned by their deaths.

The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services took responsibility for care of the child until arrangements can be made, preferrably with other relatives or close family friends. His mother was found slain near Santa Maria on Monday, allegedly by his father, who died Tuesday evening in a confrontation with Los Angeles Police.

"It is with special attention we are waiting for the results of the investigation and will provide all the necessary consular assistance," wrote Maxim Goncharov, Press Attache for the Russian Consulate General in San Francisco, responding to an inquiry from NBC4.

The cases of minors taken under county care are generally confidential. However, early on law enforcement authorities indicated they had not yet heard from other relatives of the boy, and raised the possibility the nearest family may be in Russia.

The Consulate has requested "official information from the US Department of State and LAPD regarding the location of the Russian minor, his health condition and the details of this tragedy," Goncharov stated in an email. "The Consulate also requested the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia to find the closest relatives of the child as soon as possible."

Natalia Morozova was awarded custody of the child during a contentious separation and divorce. Authorities in Santa Maria believe her estranged husband Konstantin Morozov, 48, shot her to death Sunday, then took the child, which prompted the Amber Alert. Morozov's own car was found in Santa Maria, and a rented Jeep in Santa Barbara.

The family previously had lived in the Los Angeles area, and an investigative lead led police to an apartment in Encino on Lindley Avenue, where they found Morozov outside. He was shot to death during the encounter with officers. Police declined to detail what led to the shooting, but said a handgun--visible on the sidewalk where he went down--was recovered.

The child was nearby but not physically hurt, said LAPD Deputy Chief Justin Eisenberg, who oversees detectives.

As part of the divorce settlement, Morozov got the family house in Orcutt, near Santa Maria, but was ordered to make two payments of $100,000 to Morozova. They were due back in court again Thursday.

Citing legal privacy requirements in declining to discuss this specific case, Amy Krueger, M.S., Deputy Director of Adult and Children's Services for Santa Barbara County, said as a matter of policy it is possible a child could be placed with a family overseas. But she could not remember the last time that actually happened.
Three Kmart stores in Southern California are among 28 nationwide locations marked to be closed by the end of this year, Kmart's parent company Sears announced Thursday.

The local Kmarts to be shuttered are at 23222 W. Valencia Blvd. in Valencia, 10400 Rosecrans Ave. in Bellflower and 16968 Main St. in Hesperia. View the full list here.

Sears earlier this year took 180 Kmart and Sears stores out of operation and said another 150 would be closed by the end of the company's third quarter, which falls in November.

The number of people who will lose their jobs locally or nationally has not been released by the firm's corporate office.

Once the nation's largest retailer, Sears now is struggling to survive in a war of attrition with the likes of Amazon.com and a resurgent Walmart.

Sears sales fell more than 13 percent, and Kmart sales fell more than 9 percent in the second quarter that ended July 29, a net loss of about $251 million.

In recent years, Sears has sold off a number of its well-known assets, such as the Lands' End clothing line and its Craftsman tool brand.

Company officials recently announced that they would begin selling their Kenmore appliance sector on Amazon.com.

Sears Holdings still retains about 1,000 stores operating nationwide and company officials disclosed in a filing this year that they have at a minimum a year's stockpile of cash to stave off bankruptcy.
President Donald Trump called for a "new unity" based on common American values while giving the keynote speech at an American Legion convention in Reno, Nevada, Wednesday.

The speech comes a day after a campaign rally in Phoenix in which Trump emphasized divisions, criticizing Arizona's two Republican senators and lashing out at the media.



But on Wednesday, he said that it's "time to heal the wounds that have divided us and to seek a new unity based on the common values that unite us."

To the members of the American Legion, he said, "We are here to hold you up as an example of strength, courage and resolve that our country will need to overcome the many challenges that we face."

Trump spoke hours after reiterating his criticism of Sen. Jeff Flake. He tweeted that he loves "the Great State of Arizona" but is "not a fan of Jeff Flake, weak on crime & border!"

At the rally Tuesday night, Trump insisted that his refusal to mention the names of Flake and Sen. John McCain showed a "very presidential" restraint.

Trump's rally on Tuesday also opened with calls for unity and an assertion that "our movement is about love," but quickly erupted in anger. He used it to push back against media coverage of his response to the violence at a Charlottesville, Virginia, protest organized by white supremacists.
Two Florida elementary school students are being commended on social media for their careful treatment of the American flag during a rainstorm.

Nate and Isaac, two safety patrols at Coppergate Elementary School, completed their flag duty quietly and calmly, according to a post on the schools Facebook page. Wet and windy weather didnt dissuade the pair as they brought the flag down and completed the 13 folds, a traditional method of folding the American flag.

We are so proud of Nate and Isaac for their responsibility, respect, devotion to duty and love of country, the school wrote.

Comments on the Facebook post praise the boys for their display of patriotism.

Way to go young men. I know your parents are very proud of you. A big thank you to their parents for raising some awesome young men, one comment read.
The two-year-old U.S. diplomatic relationship with Cuba was roiled Wednesday by what U.S. officials say was a string of bizarre incidents that left a group of American diplomats in Havana with severe hearing loss attributed to a covert sonic device.

New information released by the Department of State said that 16 Americans in the U.S. Embassy suffered from the symptoms, beginning in 2016.

Those affected are being treated in Miami and Havana.

According to Department of State spokeswoman Heather Nauert, she said the incidents have stopped but cannot say whether a device was found.

In the fall of 2016, a series of U.S. diplomats began suffering unexplained losses of hearing, according to officials with knowledge of the investigation into the case. Several of the diplomats were recent arrivals at the embassy, which reopened in 2015 as part of former President Barack Obama's reestablishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba.

Some of the diplomats' symptoms were so severe that they were forced to cancel their tours early and return to the United States, officials said. After months of investigation, U.S. officials concluded that the diplomats had been exposed to an advanced device that operated outside the range of audible sound and had been deployed either inside or outside their residences. It was not immediately clear if the device was a weapon used in a deliberate attack, or had some other purpose.

The U.S. officials weren't authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the U.S. retaliated by expelling two Cuban diplomats from their embassy in Washington on May 23. She did not say how many U.S. diplomats were affected or confirm they had suffered hearing loss, saying only that they had "a variety of physical symptoms."

The Cuban government said in a lengthy statement late Wednesday that "Cuba has never permitted, nor will permit, that Cuban territory be used for any action against accredited diplomatic officials or their families, with no exception."

The statement from the Cuban Foreign Ministry said it had been informed of the incidents on Feb. 17 and had launched an "exhaustive, high-priority, urgent investigation at the behest of the highest level of the Cuban government."

It said the decision to expel two Cuban diplomats was "unjustified and baseless."

The ministry said it had created an expert committee to analyze the incidents and had reinforced security around the U.S. embassy and U.S. diplomatic residences.

"Cuba is universally considered a safe destination for visitors and foreign diplomats, including U.S. citizens," the statement said.

U.S. officials told The Associated Press that about five diplomats, several with spouses, had been affected and that no children had been involved. The FBI and Diplomatic Security Service are investigating.

Cuba employs a state security apparatus that keeps many people under surveillance and U.S. diplomats are among the most closely monitored people on the island. Like virtually all foreign diplomats in Cuba, the victims of the incidents lived in housing owned and maintained by the Cuban government.

However, officials familiar with the probe said investigators were looking into the possibilities that the incidents were carried out by a third country such as Russia, possibly operating without the knowledge of Cuba's formal chain of command.

Nauert said investigators did not yet have a definitive explanation for the incidents but stressed they take them "very seriously," as shown by the Cuban diplomats' expulsions.

"We requested their departure as a reciprocal measure since some U.S. personnel's assignments in Havana had to be curtailed due to these incidents," she said. "Under the Vienna Convention, Cuba has an obligation to take measures to protect diplomats."

U.S. diplomats in Cuba said they suffered occasional harassment for years after the restoration of limited ties with the communist government in the 1970s, harassment reciprocated by U.S. agents against Cuban diplomats in Washington. The use of sonic devices to intentionally harm diplomats would be unprecedented.
Sen. Bill Nelson called on the Trump Administration Thursday to extend Temporary Protected Status for nearly 60,000 Haitians living in the United States until at least July 2019.

According to a press release, Nelson sent a letter to Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke, requesting TPS to be extended 18 months beyond its current expiration date of January 22, 2018.

Given Haitis continued recovery from the 2010 earthquake and last falls Category 4 hurricane, I strongly urge you to grant a full, 18-month extension of Temporary Protected Status for the roughly 60,000 Haitian nationals living here in the U.S., Nelson wrote.

Nelson says the U.S. should be focused on helping the island nation recover from two devastating natural disasters, rather than sending people home to a country that cant support them.

On Friday, Nelson will meet with a group of Haitian American community leaders in Miami to discuss the issue and how its affecting them.
A construction worker who was critically injured after being hit by a truck while conducting traffic at a New York work zone earlier this month has died, police said Wednesday night.

Suffolk County police say Gloria Taylor, 55, of Islip, died from her injuries she suffered when she was struck by the box truck that drifted over and crashed into her while she was directing traffic at the construction site in Coram on Aug. 14. Taylor had been taken to an area hospital in critical condition but ended up dying there, according to police.

Taylor was holding a sign to slow or stop traffic on the east side of northbound Route 12, which was under construction, when she was hit by the truck being driven by a 19-year-old man who was not injured, officials said. Cops did not ticket or charge the driver of the truck.

A safety check was conducted on the truck as police say they investigated.
What to Know The winning ticket for the $758.7 million Powerball jackpot was sold in Massachusetts, according to game officials

Exxon Mobil misled about climate change as research echoed the growing scientific consensus that global warming is real and caused by humans

A rare Prince music film, "Sign O' the Times," will air on Showtime beginning Sept. 16

Get the top headlines of the day in your morning briefing from NBC 4 New York, Monday through Friday. Sign up for our newsletter here.

Ticket Sold Wins 2nd Largest Powerball Jackpot, Game Officials Say

We have a winner. The winning ticket for the $758.7 million Powerball jackpot was sold in Massachusetts, according to game officials. The jackpot is the second largest in U.S. history. The numbers were 7, 26, 16, 23, 06, and the powerplay number was 04 x4. No one has matched all six balls in more than two months, so the jackpot grew after every drawing. It sometimes grows in between drawings. The odds of winning the giant prize is one in 292.2 million. Tom Rietz, a professor who researches probabilities, says one way to think about it is to envision the 324 million U.S. residents. Your chance of winning is roughly comparable to being that one lucky person out of the entire population, with everyone else losing. Almost a million additional players won prizes totaling more than $135 million, according to game officials. The jackpot now resets to $40 million.

Facing Big Fights, Kelly Seeks to Restore White House Order

In his first month on the job, White House chief of staff John Kelly has made significant progress toward imposing discipline on a chaotic operation, even as it's clear he still struggles to have the same effect on the president himself. The White House is a less contentious place and decision-making is becoming more orderly under Kelly's thumb, according to more than a dozen people interviewed by The Associated Press, including White House officials, outside advisers and others who work regularly with the administration. They say a group of more experienced advisers  including a trio of generals  is increasingly holding sway. And they describe a process in which Kelly has successfully limited dissenting voices, restricted access to the president and "stacked the deck" on major decisions to guide him toward an outcome. The new Afghanistan war strategy announced this week was a chief example of the process. But President Trump also made clear this week there's no steering him toward less incendiary rhetoric.

At Least 16 Dead as Strong Typhoon Floods Macau, Southern China

The most powerful typhoon to hit the southern Chinese region in more than half a century left at least 16 dead as a sudden deluge swamped the gambling hub of Macau, submerging streets and stranding residents. Macau said eight people were killed in the former Portuguese colony, including two men found overnight in a parking garage. Another 153 were injured amid extensive flooding, power outages, and the smashing of doors and windows by the high winds and driving rain. A Macau lawmaker said the flooding was at its worst in the older parts of the city, where narrow lanes date back from Macau's time as a Portuguese colony for more than four centuries. Residents waded in waist-high murky water and rows of city buses sat half-submerged on city streets, according to photos circulating among residents.

Exxon Mobil Misled Public on Climate Change, Study Finds

Exxon Mobil misled the public about climate change for years even as its research echoed the growing scientific consensus that global warming is real and caused by human activity, a new study finds. The conclusion is based on a study by two researchers, who used social science methods to compare what Exxon Mobil said in nearly 200 scientific publications and internal communications on climate change with what they presented in three dozen advertisements over 15 years, CNBC reported. The researchers' takeaway is that the more publicly available advertisements sowed doubt that climate change is real and caused by humans, while the scientific studies and private exchanges more openly acknowledged that scientific fact.

Despite Trump's Talk, No Official Action Yet on Opioid Crisis

Two weeks ago, President Trump declared the opioid crisis a national emergency and called it "a serious problem the likes of which we have never had." But so far, Trump hasnt formally signed such a declaration sent to Congress, NBC News reported. The millions of dollars the executive branch could direct towards expanding treatment facilities  or supplying police officers with the anti-overdose remedy naloxone  arent moving because Trump yet to take official action. A White House spokesperson would not comment on when Trump plans to get around to it.

Showtime to Air Rare Prince Music Film, Sign O' the Times

A rare Prince music film, "Sign O' the Times," will air on Showtime beginning Sept. 16. Directed by Prince himself, the film was created as an in-theater companion to his 1987 double album of the same name. The movie features performances and other scenes shot mostly at his Minneapolis studio complex, Paisley Park, with some tour footage from concerts in the Netherlands and Belgium. The 84-minute film captures Prince at a critical period, just after he disbanded his band, The Revolution, but it didn't perform well in U.S. theaters and his vision of a true live concert documentary was dashed by poor sound quality. Some critics have hailed "Sign O' the Times" as one of the best concert films ever made.
What to Know Mallory Grossman, 12, took her own life after months of bullying, her family says

The family is suing the Rockaway Township school district, saying it did nothing to stop the bullying from other girls online

The school district says claims it failed to address bullying are "categorically false"

A northern New Jersey school district says it didn't ignore the concerns of a family who claim their 12-year-old daughter's suicide was caused by bullying.

The family of Mallory Grossman filed a notice of intent to sue the district last week.

They claim school officials ignored repeated efforts to address the bullying. Grossman took her own life in June.

On Thursday, Rockaway Township school officials released a statement saying allegations they ignored the family and failed to address bullying in general are "categorically false."

Mallory was an accomplished cheerleader and gymnast who family and friends say was well-liked and sociable. But her familys attorney says she was tortured for months by several girls using texts and Snapchat.

Beginning last October, Mallory would come home and tell her mother about "the dirty looks and the constant harassment and the name-calling and the cold shoulder, the exclusion," to the point that the girl suffered chronic headaches and stomach aches, and her grades plummeted, her mother says.

The family repeatedly asked school officials for help to stop the bullying, Nagel said, but the school district did nothing. The day Mallory died by suicide, her mother had gone to the school to complain  yet again  that her daughter was being relentlessly bullied.

"For months, there were texts, there was Snapchat, there was Instagram. For months she was told she's a loser, she has no friends. And finally, she was even told, 'Why don't you kill yourself?'" said family attorney Bruce Nagel, who said a cellphone could be "a lethal weapon" in the wrong hands.

The messages were "vile and malicious," Nagel said. Two of the last Snapchats sent to the girl were taken on school grounds, without Mallory's permission, her mother said.

Mallory's mother, Dianne Grossman, says she believes schools have a responsibility "to look a little below the surface."

"Dirty looks, snide comments, things like that are important for administrators to pay attention to. It's not enough to say, 'We don't have evidence.' Just because it's not in writing doesn't mean it doesn't hurt," she said. "To a child who's 12, constant dirty looks, it does change the makeup of who you are."

Earlier this month, Nagel announced the family's plan to sue the Rockaway Township school district for gross negligence. The family is also considering suing the parents of "three or four" children for allowing the bullying to go on for months. Mallory's mother said the night before her daughter died, she spoke to the mother of one of the alleged bullies, and the mother dismissed it "and said it was just a big joke and defended her daughter."

It's not clear why Mallory was targeted. Her mother said because Mallory was popular, an athlete, a quiet child and a good student, "she kind of represented what they couldn't be," Dianne said. "She had a target on her back. It really was about the humiliation and the intimidation."

"It's hard to understand that while she had a great circle of friends and she was liked among her peers and active, that still doesn't quiet the noise of the girls that didn't like her and who decided to put a target on her back and constantly taunt her," said Dianne Grossman.

Though New Jersey has some of the strongest Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying (HIB) laws in the nation, the school district never filed a mandatory HIB report, Dianne Grossman alleges.

In a self-assessment last year, Rockaway Township school district gave Copeland Middle School an "A" grade of 94 percent for how it dealt with bullying at the school, including in the areas of curriculum and instruction, investigation procedures, and incident reporting.

A number of families from Morris County told News 4 that cruel comments posted online are a far bigger problem than face-to-face bullying, and that cyberbullying is even an issue with young kids in elementary school.

If you are in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or reach out to the Crisis Text Line by texting Home to 741741.


Twenty-five years ago Thursday, the city of Homestead was in the eye of a Category 5 storm  the highest category on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale  that unleashed its wrath on South Florida on Aug. 24, 1992.

Hurricane Andrews 175-mile-per-hour wind gusts leveled Homestead, destroyed much of South Floridas infrastructure system and left tens of thousands homeless.

As an estimated 1 million fled north from South Florida, Jeff Blakely, a historian at the downtown Homestead Town Hall Museum, decided to stay behind. The afternoon before the storm hit, Blakely said the skies were a beautiful shade of blue and "green lush greenery" covered the landscape.

"The next morning it was all gone," he said.

Homer Knowles was a pilot for Pan American World Airways in 1992. The Homestead resident said the airlines encouraged all of its employees to evacuate the suburb, located about 30 miles south of Miami.

"My sister lived in Miami so I went up and stayed with her and weathered out the storm there," Knowles told NBC6. "It was a little breezy, to say the least, but it was nothing like what was going on down here."

"I couldn't find my street, where my house was, that was the first thing. Then, when I did find it, I thought I'd made a mistake. I thought that can't be my house, but it was," Knowles recalled.

Blakley said as he traversed his neighborhood, residents looked like "walking zombies and all anyone could say was Oh, my God.

"You could not get gas. There was no power anywhere in Dade County. There were no traffic lights. There were no street signs. There were no landmarks," Blakely said.

"You didn't have air conditioning, you didn't have refrigeration, you didn't have water," Jensen added.

Hurricane Andrew was the most destructive hurricane in Florida history and the costliest in U.S. history until Katrina in 2005, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Like much of the surrounding communities, Homestead Air Force Base was also ravaged by the full fury of Andrew. Once considered a "jewel" of the Air Force, according to former Homestead Mayor Tad DeMilly, Homestead Air Force Base became a ghost town.

"The base was so badly damaged that rebuilding it was almost out of the question, said Bob Jensen, president of the Town Hall Museum.

The base was partially rebuilt and is now home to the Homestead Air Reserve.

In the days after the storm, federal and local response was slowed by bureaucratic snarls. Neither President George H.W. Bush nor the Federal Emergency Management Agency ordered a large-scale response until four days later, The New York Times reported at the time.

"We were totally ignored for about four days. Nobody came to our help, nobody brought water, there was no military, there was no police or anything. It was just wild," Knowles said.

Officials at various federal agencies told the Times that there was a breakdown in communication and coordination at top levels of government.

"After the military finally got in and they started patrolling, we had a lot of help from the police and what not," Knowles said. "They finally got people coming down with water and some supplies for the people, like ice and things like that, it got a lot better."

It was years before people began returning to Homestead and nearly two decades for the city to fully bounce back. When the hurricane hit, Homestead was home to 25,000 people. Today, the city has tripled its population, nearing 75,000 residents.

"Probably didn't start coming back until maybe 2000 because it was such a blow. The infrastructure was gone. It just took a long, long time," Blakely said.
A Navy sailor from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, was officially identified Thursday as one of 10 sailors who went missing in a crash between a destroyer and a tanker Sunday off the coasts of Malaysia and Singapore.

The body of Electronics Technician 3rd Class Kenneth Aaron Smith, 22, is the only one to be recovered so far following 80 hours of search and rescue efforts in a 2,100-square-mile swath of sea east of the Strait of Malacca, the Navy said in a statement.

The multinational rescue efforts were suspended Thursday, but the Navy said divers will continue recovery efforts inside flooded compartments of the military ship where the bodies of the remaining sailors could be.

The crash occurred between the USS John S. McCain, a guided-missile destroyer, and a merchant vessel, the Alnic MC. The exact time, according to the Navy, was 5:24 a.m. Monday, Singapore time, or 5:24 p.m. Sunday, Eastern Standard Time.

"The incident is under investigation to determine the facts and circumstances of the collision," the Navy statement said.

Smith's mother, April Brandon, told NBC10 earlier in the week that her son was "a compassionate, smart man." His father, Darryl Smith, is also in the Navy.

"Kenny is an online sci-fi author, an animal and human rights activist, and a compassionate, smart man," she said.

Lexie Mullner, Smith's friend and former classmate at Cherry Hill East High School, said he always wanted to join the Navy and follow in his father's footsteps.

"He's one of the best people I know, he always has time for the people that he cares about," she said.

The McCain incident is the second collision between a U.S. Navy 7th Fleet destroyer and a ship in two months. In June, the USS Fitzgerald hit a Japanese merchant container ship. Seven sailors were killed in a crash that was blamed on a loss of "situational awareness" and "serious mistakes" by the crew.

On Wednesday, the vice admiral of the 7th Fleet was relieved of his duties.

The other nine sailors were identified as:

Electronics Technician 1st Class Charles Nathan Findley, 31, from Missouri

Interior Communications Electrician 1st Class Abraham Lopez, 39, from Texas

Electronics Technician 2nd Class Kevin Sayer Bushell, 26, from Maryland

Electronics Technician 2nd Class Jacob Daniel Drake, 21, from Ohio

Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Timothy Thomas Eckels Jr., 23, from Maryland

Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Corey George Ingram, 28, from New York

Electronics Technician 3rd Class Dustin Louis Doyon, 26, from Connecticut

Electronics Technician 3rd Class John Henry Hoagland III, 20, from Texas

Interior Communications Electrician 3rd Class Logan Stephen Palmer, 23, from Illinois

Smith is originally from Milford, Michigan, a town near Detroit, Brandon said. He moved with his father, Darryl Smith, to Norfolk, Virginia in high school. They later moved to Cherry Hill when his father, a naval Electronics Technician Third Class Petty Officer, was transferred to the area.

Family Photos

In a statement released through the U.S. Navy, Darryl Smith thanked those who've offered support to the family.



"I appreciate the courageous work of the crew in the aftermath of the collision and the on-going rescue efforts," the statement read in part.

The Alnic MC, a 30,000-ton, 600-foot long ship sailing under the Liberian flag, punched a large hole in the USS McCain's rear port hull when the two collided. Crew sleeping quarters, machinery and communications rooms were damaged. Five sailors were hurt in addition to those who went missing.

Senator John McCain has been diagnosed with brain cancer. NBC10s Keith Jones speaks to an old friend of McCains and former prisoner of war about the news.
Ever get agitated by how fast technology is advancing?

In other words, has the high-tech world ever ... gotten under your skin?

A Pennsylvania lawmaker from Bucks County has just the idea for slowing technology's roll.

State Rep. Tina Davis, a Democrat from Levittown, is proposing a bill that prohibits employers from forcing "employees to have a sub-dermal microchip implanted on their bodies."

She came up with the idea after seeing news reports about a Wisconsin company that has been implanting microchips in employees' hands, Davis said in a statement Thursday.

"An employees body is their own and they should have the final say as to what will be added to it," Davis wrote to her House colleagues. "My bill will protect employees from being punished or retaliated against for choosing not to have the sub-dermal microchip or other technological device implanted."

Jeff Baenen/AP Images

According to Davis, California, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Wisconsin have laws that prohibit mandatory implantation of microchips.

The legislator was not available for comment Thursday.
A Pennsylvania professor known for her expertise on consumer trends has pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct for keying her neighbors' cars.

Online court records show 62-year-old Duquesne University professor Audrey Guskey pleaded guilty to three summary citations on Monday, paid $897 in fines and court costs, and agreed to pay more than $10,000 to fix her neighbors' cars.

Bridgeville police last month charged Guskey with felony and misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief after she allegedly told them that she gets upset when others park their vehicles in front of her residence. Those more serious charges were dropped Monday as part of a plea deal her attorney, Phil DiLucente, said left all the parties "happy and neighborly."

The university says Guskey has taken responsibility for her actions and the matter is resolved.
President Donald Trump opened his political rally in Phoenix with calls for unity and an assertion that "our movement is about love." Then he erupted in anger.

He blamed the media for the widespread condemnation of his response to violence at a Charlottesville, Virginia, protest organized by white supremacists. And he shouted that he had "openly called for healing, unity and love" in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy and had simply been misrepresented in news coverage.

He read from his three responses to the racially charged violence  getting more animated with each one. He withdrew from his suit pocket the written statement he'd read the day a woman was killed by a man who'd plowed a car through counter-protesters, but he skipped over the trouble-causing part that he'd freelanced at the time  his observation that "many sides" were to blame.

That, as well as his reiteration days later that "both sides" were to blame for the violence that led to the death of Heather Heyer and two state troopers, led Democrats and many Republicans to denounce Trump for not unmistakably calling out white supremacists and other hate groups.

Trump also suggested he still intends to pardon former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who is awaiting sentencing in Arizona after his conviction in federal court for disobeying court orders to stop his immigration patrols. But he left little doubt that he wanted to do it. He said he'd aimed to avoid "controversy" by not immediately granting the pardon. But Trump also said, "I'll make a prediction: I think he's going to be just fine."

Of his media criticism, the president told the crowd of thousands shoehorned into the Phoenix convention center: "You know where my heart is. I'm only doing this to show you how damned dishonest these people are."

Well after his appearance had ended, Trump sent a tweet on his Twitter account saying: "Not only does the media give a platform to hate groups, but the media turns a blind eye to the gang violence on our streets."

Trump's broadside against the media, and the "fake news" he says is out to get him, was one of several detours he took from his prepared remarks at a rally where he was introduced by Vice President Mike Pence and other speakers appealing for unity and healing.

The president unabashedly acknowledged that his own advisers had urged him to stay on message, and that he simply could not.

He went on to skewer both of Arizona's Republican senators, insisting that his coy refusal to mention their names showed a "very presidential" restraint. He said his aides had begged him, "Please, please Mr. President, don't mention any names. So I won't." Yet he'd clearly described Sen. John McCain as the reason Congress didn't repeal and replace the much-maligned Affordable Care Act, and he labeled Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake as "weak" on law enforcement and immigration.

He followed up Wednesday morning on Twitter, writing "Phoenix crowd last night was amazing - a packed house. I love the Great State of Arizona. Not a fan of Jeff Flake, weak on crime & border!"

He also tweeted that "people got it" when he read his statements on Charlottesville and repeated that he wants Republicans to get rid of the filibuster rule in the Senate  something Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is opposed to  even though that rule isn't what derailed the health care push, which only got 49 of 50 required votes.



As for how he would assist with the upcoming Herculean tasks facing Congress  passing tax reform, raising the debt ceiling, and agreeing on a budget  Trump offered little detail. He did threaten that if legislators force a government shutdown "we're building that wall," a reference to his campaign promise to close off the border with Mexico.

He also said he thinks the U.S. will "end up probably terminating" the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico "at some point," though he said he hasn't made up his mind.

"Personally, I don't think we can make a deal because we have been so badly taken advantage of," Trump said.

In the comfort of his most fervent fans, Trump often resurrects his free-wheeling 2016 campaign style, pinging insults at perceived enemies such as the media and meandering from topic to topic without a singular theme. This was Trump's eighth rally since taking office in January, and each event is attended by supporters screened by his campaign.

His comfort-level was apparent: As he discussed his responses to Charlottesville, he interrupted himself. "I didn't want to bore you. You understand where I'm coming from. You people understand."

Outside the rally, the divisiveness seen across the country was on display.

One man on a loudspeaker said the largely Latino protesters belong in the kitchen. A Trump opponent hoisted a sign depicting the president with horns. A day of noisy but largely peaceful protests turned unruly after his speech, as police fired pepper spray at crowds after someone apparently lobbed rocks and bottles at officers.

Trump is on a two-day trip to the west, which continues Wednesday with travel to an American Legion convention in Reno, Nevada. He began his Arizona visit Tuesday with a brief trip to the southern edge of the country, touring a Marine Corps base in Yuma that is a hub of operations for the U.S. Border Patrol.

Associated Press writers Jill Colvin, Darlene Superville, Alan Fram and Josh Hoffner contributed to this report.
Into the woods we go: The 2017 Darkwoods Dream Festival is once again taking over Tijuana's Estadio Caliente on Saturday, Sept. 2 -- and we're giving away FOUR tickets to one lucky winner!

Enter to win four tickets to the Darkwoods Dream Festival in Tijuana, Mexico on Sept. 2!

Darkwoods, the largest EDM festival in Baja California, will feature some of the biggest names in the dance/electronic music industry, such as Morgan Page, Datsik, Henry Fong, Vini Vici, Bad Royale, Croatia Squad, Oskier b2b Noxah, and more!

Also performing? Our very own SoundDiego TV reporter/contributor DJ IDeaL!

"The team at Darkwoods Dream Festival is working hard to bring together the Mexico and U.S. dance-music scenes," he told us. "Being that I am from Mexico, it's a huge honor to be able to perform at this event. I'm really excited to be a part of that multi-versed roster lineup and the production caliber that is being put together -- as it will be setting a new standard for other dance-music festivals in the Baja California area."



There you have it. Estadio Caliente will be straight-up lit when Darkwoods touches down on Sept. 2 to the tune of more than 15,000 fans, a massive laser show, booming sound system, and more than enough drinks and tacos for everyone! What better way to live it up than by winning four tickets to the party from yours truly?

We're pulling the lucky winners name on Thursday, Aug. 31, at noon -- so get in the mix while you can!

Enter to win four tickets to the Darkwoods Dream Festival in Tijuana, Mexico on Sept. 2!

Note: Winner must be at least 21 years of age, and a San Diego County resident.
San Diego County sheriff's deputies are investigating a law enforcement involved shooting that left one suspect dead, one suspect still on the loose in Lemon Grove.

Around 1:30 a.m. La Mesa police officers were on patrol near Fletcher Parkway and Baltimore when they saw a gray Ford sedan stopped at a green light with the door open.

An officer got out to inspect what was going on. He heard some screams from inside the car. The door slammed and the sedan led the officer on a pursuit through La Mesa and Spring Valley.

At that point, deputies joined the pursuit as it continued through Spring Valley into Lemon Grove.

The sedan stopped on Rebecca Way and three suspects ran from the car.

Deputies and officers involved said they heard some gunshots at that time, San Diego County Sheriffs Department Lt. Kenn Nelson.

A San Diego police officer K-9 unit was deployed.

There was an active bite on that suspect, Nelson said.

That suspect started firing a handgun at the deputies and officers on scene, Nelson said.

There were four law enforcement officers that returned fire on the suspect, striking him and killing him on scene, he said.

Two were La Mesa police officers, one sheriff's sergeant, and one officer from San Diego police, Nelson said.

Nelson said the suspect killed in the shooting was found to be in possession of a handgun.

A second suspect was taken into custody and was being questioned.

A third suspect was still on the loose.

The suspect killed in the shooting has not been identified.

Nelson said there were no indications this shooting was related to the shooting of an off-duty sheriff's deputy in the Gaslamp Quarter on August 7.

No other information was available.

Please refresh this page for updates on this story. Details may change as more information becomes available.
The Republican Party of Virginia apologized Wednesday for tweets aimed at the Democratic nominee for governor that many viewed as racist.

Lt. Governor Ralph Northam called for the removal of Confederate memorials.

The Republican Party of Virginia sent out two tweets on Wednesday accusing Northam of turning his back on his own family's heritage.

That set off sharp reactions from both Democratic and Republican activists, who believed the RPV was referring to Northam's Virginia ancestors, who were slave holders.

Four hours after the original post, the RPV tweeted an apology reading, Our previous tweets were interpreted in a way we never intended. We apologize and reiterate our denunciation of racism in all forms.

The party's executive director issued a statement saying the original tweet referred to Northam's great-grandfather, who fought for the Confederacy, not to relatives who had slaves.

"When he wants to tear down monuments to those killed in action and wounded during the war, he is literally talking about a member of his own family," John Finley said.

"It was just inappropriate, first of all, and I'm glad they took it down," Northam said. "There have been some blemishes in my family history, but I tell people all the time my immediate family has been one of public service."



"It's a true shame to to see the party of Lincoln stoop so low," Northam campaign spokeswoman Ofirah Yheskel said.

Republican candidate Ed Gillespie's campaign was not involved in the RPV tweet and issued a statement saying the apology was the right thing to do, adding "Though Ed disagrees with the lieutenant governor on the issue of statues, he knows we can disagree on issues like this without devolving into divisive rhetoric."

Gillespie and Northam both blame the violence in Charlottesville Aug. 11 and 12 on white supremacists and neo-Nazis.

"Theirs is a twisted mindset rooted in hating and oppressing certain of us, and my fellow Virginians and fellow conservatives reject that kind of twisted mindset," Gillespie said Saturday.

"The governor and attorney general and I have made it clear we don't welcome these people in and ask them to go home and not come back," Northam told News4.

But the Northam campaign is challenging Gillespie to go farther and denounce President Donald Trump's assertion there was blame on all sides.

"The Northam campaign will continue to remind voters that Ed Gillespie did not say anything in any way critical of President Trump or call out President Trump's name for his comments after those terrible events in Charlottesville," said George Mason University political analyst Mark Rozell.

Rozell said he doesn't think Northam will gain much from the strategy.

"I think if Ed Gillespie continues to state very strongly his own position, people will recognize this guy does not condone what happened," he said.

The candidates differ on Confederate memorials, though. While Northam wants them placed in museums, Gillespie says they should remain in place but be given some historical context. Libertarian Cliff Hyra hasn't taken a position on whether they should stay or go but says locals should decide.

Rozell thinks as Election Day approaches, issue like the economy and education move voters, not candidates' positions on memorials.


The human remains found Tuesday in Nokesville, Virginia, are those of an 18-year-old Fairfax County resident reported missing earlier this month.

The remains found near Nokesville Road and Fauquier Drive are those of Miguel Angel Ruiz Carrillo, police in Fairfax County and Prince William County said Thursday.

The killing was not random and likely was gang-related, Prince William County police said in a statement.

Prince William County police said the remains were found at 7 p.m. Tuesday near Lehigh Portland Park.

Police used cadaver dogs and helicopters in an extensive search of the area "based upon information received during the course of the investigation," police said. Carrillos body was recovered after this search.

Police say they are still investigating and no one has been charged in connection to Carrillo's death.

Carrillo was last seen Aug. 3 leaving his home in the 4200 block of Buckman Road in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County. When he didn't come home by the next morning, his family called police.

Fairfax County police previously arrested two adults in connection to Carrillo's disappearance: Jose Vincent-Sosa, 20 and Edwin Dinarte Moreno, 18, both of Alexandria. They also arrested a girl, who was not named because she is a juvenile. All were charged with abduction and gang participation.

Family members said it was out of character for Carrillo to leave without telling his family. Police said Carrillo was "associated with gang activity."

Fairfax County Police believe he was last seen in a wooded area near the end of Pole Road at Pondside Terrace.

Carrillo was an 11th-grader at an alternative school in the Fairfax County Public Schools system.

Anyone with information about Carrillo's disappearance is asked to call Detective M. Fox at 571-489-1796 or Fairfax County Police at 703-691-2131.

You can also submit a tip anonymously through Crime Solvers or text-a-tip by texting TIP187 plus your message to CRIMES(274637).
The investigation into how a tourist from Texas was buried alive on the beach in Ocean City, Maryland, has concluded -- and police said Thursday that they believe the victim voluntarily sat in a hole in the sand.

Ashley O'Connor was found dead on the beach early July 31. She walked onto the beach alone about 2 a.m. and then went missing. More than four hours later, someone walking along the beach saw an arm showing above the sand. O'Connor, who was visiting from Plano, Texas, with her family, suffocated, a medical examiner determined. She was 30.

After an exhaustive investigation, police believe that O'Connor voluntarily entered the hole in the sand, WTOP's Nick Iannelli said on News4.

"OConnor walked onto the beach in the area of 2nd Street alone and sat in a hole approximately 3 to 4 feet deep," police said in a statement issued Thursday. "At one point, the hole collapsed while OConnor was inside, ultimately causing her death."

What's still unclear, though, is who dug the hole or why the hole collapsed.

How the hole collapsed, she unfortunately is the only person that will know, Ocean City Chief of Police Ross Buzzuro said at a news conference Thursday morning, according to WTOP.

Alcohol was a factor in O'Connor's death, police believe.

The autopsy revealed that alcohol was present in Ashleys system, Buzzuro told WTOP. Her blood alcohol level was high enough to exceed legal limits for driving, he said.

A full toxicology report on O'Connor will not be conducted because her death was ruled accidental, police said.

O'Connor was a newlywed who had recently started a business with her wife, a GoFundMe page created to help with her wife's expenses says. The account had raised $5,100 toward a $5,000 goal as of Thursday afternoon.

Its not as uncommon as you might think for people to die of suffocation after holes dug into sand collapse, Harvard Medical School professor Dr. Bradley Maron previously told News4.

From 1997 to 2007, Maron documented 52 instances in which people became buried in holes in sand that collapsed. In 31 of these cases, the victims died, as he wrote in a letter to the editor published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Since 2007, the medical professor said he has heard of an additional 25 instances, from reading media reports and speaking with victims.

If you're buried in sand, you have as little as three minutes to escape before suffering permanent brain damage.

Ocean City has been at the forefront of trying to prevent sand accidents, Maron said.

Ocean City law prohibits digging holes in the sand and leaving them unfilled.
A white nationalist who says he pepper-sprayed a demonstrator in self-defense on the campus of the University of Virginia was denied bond at a court hearing Thursday.

Christopher Cantwell of Keene, New Hampshire, was taken into custody at the police department in Lynchburg, Virginia. He was transported from a regional jail in Lynchburg to the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail in Charlottesville Thursday, where he will remain in custody.

His next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 12, according to court officials. Laywer information for Cantwell was not immediately available.

Cantwell faces three felony charges: two counts of the illegal use of tear gas or other gases and one count of malicious bodily injury with a "caustic substance," explosive or fire.

Contacted Tuesday by The Associated Press, Cantwell acknowledged he had pepper-sprayed a counter demonstrator during an Aug. 11 protest, a day before a deadly demonstration in Charlottesville. He insisted he was defending himself, saying he did it "because my only other option was knocking out his teeth." He said he looked forward to his day in court.

This is a developing story. Please check back for details.
New Hampshire authorities releasing new information about a deadly police pursuit that stretched across state lines earlier this summer.

The driver, Michael Brown, of Presque Isle, Maine, was shot and killed by four troopers on June 15 after he took them on a 40-mile chase from Malden, Massachusetts, to Newton, New Hampshire.

In a report, the Attorney General is now justifying the use of deadly force by the troopers.

During a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Jeffrey Strelzin, the Senior Assistant New Hampshire Attorney General, told reporters the suspect planned suicide by police and told his family he, wasnt going down without a fight.

Authorities say after being accused of sexual assault by a family member in Presque Isle, Brown stole a pickup truck and a loaded .9 mm pistol from his uncle and went on the run.

From the start, he made it clear he never intended to be taken alive, Strelzin said.

Brown was later spotted by officers in Malden, Massachusetts, and took off.

Spike strips didnt stop him, he drove the wrong way on Interstate 495, and eventually fired six different times at officers before losing control of his car in New Hampshire. Thats when he opened fire for the final time at a rest stop.

Four Massachusetts troopers fired back. Brown died of a single gunshot wound to his neck.

In Browns vehicle, investigators found that stolen pistol and a handwritten note from his mom.

Youre my son, Strelzin read out loud. And Ill always love you.

An autopsy showed that substances found in marijuana, amphetamines and methamphetamines were in Brown's blood.

Strelzin and leaders of both the Massachusetts and New Hampshire state police forces commended all four troopers for their bravery and courage that night.

They are all now back on the job.
Early Thursday morning, the Massachusetts State Lottery said the winning $758.7 million ticket was sold at Handy Variety in Watertown, however, the agency later said it made a mistake and the winning ticket was actually sold at Pride Station & Store in Chicopee, Massachusetts.

Following the crazy mix-up, people took to social media to discuss the incident.

"Omg," Shelley Christopher-Roy posted on Facebook.

"All the media rushing from #Watertown to #Chicopee lol," Keith J. Finks posted on Twitter.

Sandra Carter added, "So dumb!"

"The Mass Lottery, The Steve Harvey of Lottery Commissions. #Powerball #Chicopee #Watertown #MassLottery #Massachusetts," @JarvisOn929 tweeted.

The name of the winner is not yet known.

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The appeal of Christianity

Regular columnist John Myhill considers the reasons for the ongoing appeal and growth of Christianity across the globe.

The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few (Matthew 9:37/ John 4:34)



The Sociologist David Martin made clear in The Future of Christianity the evidence around the world for the current considerable growth of religious faith; thus disproving the simplistic view of some atheists that religion is somehow incapable of developing in a modern world dependent on Science and Technology.



Of course, the social background of new faith varies from country to country: - In many countries that were controlled by Russia, the resistance to foreign rule was led by Christians. In contrast, in Russia itself, Putin is encouraging religious education in schools and refurbishing churches in the hope of encouraging Russian Orthodox Christianity, rather than some foreign form of religion. Similarly, in China, some Christian churches are welcomed, as supporting the new spirit of Capitalism; and China has the fastest growing population of Christianity anywhere.



In contrast, Christianity is growing fast in a number of Muslim countries, where conversion from Islam can mean the death penalty for new Christians. Islam is also growing and spreading, but this is itself a reason more people are turning to Christianity, as they feel lack of faith leaves people sitting on the fence.



In Western Europe spirituality and magic are gaining growing numbers of believers as separate organisations from Christianity; whereas in USA Christian groups have adapted to include these new forms (re-enchantment) into their churches.



Christian churches in both these areas are growing because of welcoming homosexuals into the full possibilities of leading their organisations; whilst in some African countries homosexuality is still seen as part of Western Imperialisms sex tourism, and therefore persecuted. These African churches are growing because they are seen as opposing Imperialism.



Technology enables people around the world to change lives, but science as a philosophy of ethics and knowledge has no mass appeal. The lack of scientific evidence for Faith has never been a cause of religious decline.



The fact that countries which accuse religion of blocking progress towards a less violent world, have used that accusation as the basis for state organised mass murder, makes that idea void and meaningless.



In the West, three current trends have brought Christianity back into central focus:

1) Our reverence for victims  listen to the respectful voice used by those interviewing victims, as against the combatant voice used to interview people in positions of power (Jesus on the Cross is the classic victim);

2) Personal authenticity  who am I? what is my identity? (Christianity is all about the struggles of the individual soul);

3) Yearning for community (Christians are friends looking after each other and their local communities).



The workers are few - As in Jesus own lifetime, the numbers of people with social reasons for seeking a faith (the harvest) are huge. The number of people who have real experience of the Holy Spirit transforming them, and a deep understanding of the meaning of the Bible, are few indeed. Read the Judges 7 to see how Gideon reduced his army so that God, not man, could be given all the credit.


By PTI

MUMBAI: Infosys co-founder and former chief executive Nandan Nilekani is set to return to head the company and put an end to an acrimonious dispute between its board and founders, Indian media reports said, sending the outsourcer's shares higher.

Nilekani is poised to become Infosys' non-executive chairman in the next few days, the Times of India reported on Thursday, adding he would come for a predetermined period with the aim of achieving a series of goals including hiring a new CEO.

The board has been locked in a dispute for months with the company's founders, led by former chairman Narayana Murthy, who have accused the directors of governance lapses. The dispute led to the resignation of the company's Chief Executive Vishal Sikka last week.

Sikka, a former SAP executive, who joined Infosys as its first non-founder CEO in 2014, resigned amid what he said were "baseless, malicious and increasingly personal attacks", sparking a massive sell-off in Infosys' shares and wiping billions of dollars off its market value.

Television station CNBC-TV18 also said Nilekani was likely to return as the head of the company, once a poster child of India's showpiece IT sector.

Nilekani, one of the company's co-founders who served as its CEO from 2002 to 2007, could not be reached for comment. He and his family own about 2.3 percent of Infosys, and have a net worth of $1.7 billion according to Forbes.

The media reports come after a group of 12 big institutional investors in Infosys wrote to the company this week calling for Nilekani's return to the board in a "suitable capacity" to help resolve the feud.

ET Now television channel said several members of Infosys' board have offered to resign, paving the way for Nilekani to potentially return.

An Infosys spokeswoman declined to comment. Founder Murthy, current chairman of the board R. Seshasayee and co-chairman Ravi Venkatesan also did not reply to calls seeking comment.

V. Balakrishnan, a former finance chief of Infosys who still owns shares in the company and has been siding with Murthy in the recent disputes, said Nilekani becoming the chairman of the board will give comfort to all stakeholders.

"Nandan's a global face, he's well connected, well networked globally and he has a track record of running Infosys as a CEO," Balakrishnan told Reuters. "What's required is a face which will give comfort, help to restructure the board and hire a new CEO."

By 0840 GMT, Infosys shares were trading 2.4 percent higher in a Mumbai market that was little changed.

The stock has gained 4.8 percent in the last three sessions after hitting a more than three-year low on Monday.

MUMBAI: Infosys co-founder and former chief executive Nandan Nilekani is set to return to head the company and put an end to an acrimonious dispute between its board and founders, Indian media reports said, sending the outsourcer's shares higher. Nilekani is poised to become Infosys' non-executive chairman in the next few days, the Times of India reported on Thursday, adding he would come for a predetermined period with the aim of achieving a series of goals including hiring a new CEO. The board has been locked in a dispute for months with the company's founders, led by former chairman Narayana Murthy, who have accused the directors of governance lapses. The dispute led to the resignation of the company's Chief Executive Vishal Sikka last week. Sikka, a former SAP executive, who joined Infosys as its first non-founder CEO in 2014, resigned amid what he said were "baseless, malicious and increasingly personal attacks", sparking a massive sell-off in Infosys' shares and wiping billions of dollars off its market value. Television station CNBC-TV18 also said Nilekani was likely to return as the head of the company, once a poster child of India's showpiece IT sector. Nilekani, one of the company's co-founders who served as its CEO from 2002 to 2007, could not be reached for comment. He and his family own about 2.3 percent of Infosys, and have a net worth of $1.7 billion according to Forbes. The media reports come after a group of 12 big institutional investors in Infosys wrote to the company this week calling for Nilekani's return to the board in a "suitable capacity" to help resolve the feud. ET Now television channel said several members of Infosys' board have offered to resign, paving the way for Nilekani to potentially return. An Infosys spokeswoman declined to comment. Founder Murthy, current chairman of the board R. Seshasayee and co-chairman Ravi Venkatesan also did not reply to calls seeking comment. V. Balakrishnan, a former finance chief of Infosys who still owns shares in the company and has been siding with Murthy in the recent disputes, said Nilekani becoming the chairman of the board will give comfort to all stakeholders. "Nandan's a global face, he's well connected, well networked globally and he has a track record of running Infosys as a CEO," Balakrishnan told Reuters. "What's required is a face which will give comfort, help to restructure the board and hire a new CEO." By 0840 GMT, Infosys shares were trading 2.4 percent higher in a Mumbai market that was little changed. The stock has gained 4.8 percent in the last three sessions after hitting a more than three-year low on Monday.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) on Wednesday petitioned the government to waive the extra 15 per cent cess on large ambulances. Under the GST regime, vehicles with a capacity of 10-13 persons are levied 28 per cent GST along with a 15 per cent cess. SIAM has requested the government to levy only the 28 per cent GST.

While all ambulances enjoyed excise duty concessions in the pre-GST era, the GST Council has exempted compensation cess only on ambulances that can carry up to nine persons. Cess on 10-13 seater ambulances has not been withdrawn under the GST. It is an anomaly and the government should exempt bigger ambulances as well from 15 per cent cess as has been done in the case of units which can carry up to nine persons, said SIAM deputy director-general Sugato Sen.

According to SIAM, manufacturers who make such vehicles have already suffered due to the increase in taxation, with sales taking a beating. Sales have been impacted as people who had booked such vehicles are refusing to take deliveries since costs have gone up, Sen said, adding that there was another anomaly, with cess exemption for ambulances applicable only to factory-fitted vehicles.

CHENNAI: The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) on Wednesday petitioned the government to waive the extra 15 per cent cess on large ambulances. Under the GST regime, vehicles with a capacity of 10-13 persons are levied 28 per cent GST along with a 15 per cent cess. SIAM has requested the government to levy only the 28 per cent GST. While all ambulances enjoyed excise duty concessions in the pre-GST era, the GST Council has exempted compensation cess only on ambulances that can carry up to nine persons. Cess on 10-13 seater ambulances has not been withdrawn under the GST. It is an anomaly and the government should exempt bigger ambulances as well from 15 per cent cess as has been done in the case of units which can carry up to nine persons, said SIAM deputy director-general Sugato Sen. According to SIAM, manufacturers who make such vehicles have already suffered due to the increase in taxation, with sales taking a beating. Sales have been impacted as people who had booked such vehicles are refusing to take deliveries since costs have gone up, Sen said, adding that there was another anomaly, with cess exemption for ambulances applicable only to factory-fitted vehicles.
Roshne Balasubramanian By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: In the 80s and early 90s, the south of Chennai was the hub of organ commerce, and the story of citys kidney trade drew eyes of even the international media to Villivakkam, which was known as Kidneyvakkam. While the implementation of the Transplantation of Human Organs Act 1994 (THOA) seemed futile in curbing the organ trade racket, a handful of good samaritans changed the face of the despicable situation. From a dark age of organ commerce to spearheading cadaver organ transplant, Chennai has come a long way, in both organ donation and transplant.

Ahead of a Madras Day talk on Why Chennai is the organ transplant capital, Dr Sunil Shroff, urologist and managing trustee, MOHAN (Multi Organ Harvesting Aid Network) Foundation, shares the unique history of the city.

Since 2008, a total of 5,385 transplants have been done in the Tamil Nadu, according to Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (TRANSTAN). This is the city where the first kidney transplant programme began. In fact, the word medical tourism which has been creating a buzz started with the success rates of transplants in the city, explains Dr Shroff.

With medical expertise on complex procedures, the city became the most preferred destination for people across the globe for a transplant. We have made the certification of brain death mandatory and have also been successful in making conversations about organ donation; the topic was often overlooked, he says.

From successfully creating a green corridor to transport an organ, to creating a healthy network between hospitals for organ sharing, the city is an enviable model. Many States want to duplicate the model we follow here. For example, Kerala adopted our model and from no organ donation rate, their numbers have gone up. Similarly, other states including Rajasthan, Odisha and Assam are seeking help from us, he shares.

But despite creating awareness about organ donation, disaster struck the State again in 2007. Post tsunami there were a lot of problems and the State and the city was slammed by a massive kidney scam. It was shocking to find out that people were willing to sell their organs for money. On the one hand they were homeless and on the other, they wanted to make ends meet by selling their organs! explains Shroff.

But, the government decided to step in. Having the right people at the right time made a huge difference. With the help and participation of different stakeholders including government, NGOs, health department, and private hospitals, several awareness and sensitisation programmes were conducted on cadaver organ donations, recalls Shroff.

Since then, the city has been in the forefront of organ donations and transplants, not only in India but also in the whole of South East Asia. Madras Day usually focuses on, monuments and more of the culture of the city. But, I thought a story about our medical history is worth sharing, he avers. The first hospital in the whole of Madras Presidency was set up in Fort St George in 1664 and our transplant history goes back to the 70s. So, this part of history has to be shared.

Talking about factors that have made Chennai a successful city in organ transplant, Shroff points to capacity building exercises. We have been training people as transplant coordinators and ICU specialists and we need more of them. They work along with the families of the deceased and seek consent for donation. So, having effective coordinators helped in the number of organ donations in the city, he avers.

Looking at a possibility of a transplant institute in the future, he is sure about the city going beyond transplanting organs. If anything better, we will be having more transplants of intestine, pancreas, hand, and face-composite tissues. And there will be a betterment in immuno-suppression and also induce tolerance in the recipient during transplants. We will also be in the forefront of genetic engineering. We have the infrastructure to do it and I know we can give better results,

he adds.

Dr Sunil Shroffs talk Why Chennai is the organ transplant capital will be held on August 25 at Hotel Raintree, Anna Salai, at 6 pm

CHENNAI: In the 80s and early 90s, the south of Chennai was the hub of organ commerce, and the story of citys kidney trade drew eyes of even the international media to Villivakkam, which was known as Kidneyvakkam. While the implementation of the Transplantation of Human Organs Act 1994 (THOA) seemed futile in curbing the organ trade racket, a handful of good samaritans changed the face of the despicable situation. From a dark age of organ commerce to spearheading cadaver organ transplant, Chennai has come a long way, in both organ donation and transplant. Ahead of a Madras Day talk on Why Chennai is the organ transplant capital, Dr Sunil Shroff, urologist and managing trustee, MOHAN (Multi Organ Harvesting Aid Network) Foundation, shares the unique history of the city. Since 2008, a total of 5,385 transplants have been done in the Tamil Nadu, according to Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (TRANSTAN). This is the city where the first kidney transplant programme began. In fact, the word medical tourism which has been creating a buzz started with the success rates of transplants in the city, explains Dr Shroff. With medical expertise on complex procedures, the city became the most preferred destination for people across the globe for a transplant. We have made the certification of brain death mandatory and have also been successful in making conversations about organ donation; the topic was often overlooked, he says. From successfully creating a green corridor to transport an organ, to creating a healthy network between hospitals for organ sharing, the city is an enviable model. Many States want to duplicate the model we follow here. For example, Kerala adopted our model and from no organ donation rate, their numbers have gone up. Similarly, other states including Rajasthan, Odisha and Assam are seeking help from us, he shares. But despite creating awareness about organ donation, disaster struck the State again in 2007. Post tsunami there were a lot of problems and the State and the city was slammed by a massive kidney scam. It was shocking to find out that people were willing to sell their organs for money. On the one hand they were homeless and on the other, they wanted to make ends meet by selling their organs! explains Shroff. But, the government decided to step in. Having the right people at the right time made a huge difference. With the help and participation of different stakeholders including government, NGOs, health department, and private hospitals, several awareness and sensitisation programmes were conducted on cadaver organ donations, recalls Shroff. Since then, the city has been in the forefront of organ donations and transplants, not only in India but also in the whole of South East Asia. Madras Day usually focuses on, monuments and more of the culture of the city. But, I thought a story about our medical history is worth sharing, he avers. The first hospital in the whole of Madras Presidency was set up in Fort St George in 1664 and our transplant history goes back to the 70s. So, this part of history has to be shared. Talking about factors that have made Chennai a successful city in organ transplant, Shroff points to capacity building exercises. We have been training people as transplant coordinators and ICU specialists and we need more of them. They work along with the families of the deceased and seek consent for donation. So, having effective coordinators helped in the number of organ donations in the city, he avers. Looking at a possibility of a transplant institute in the future, he is sure about the city going beyond transplanting organs. If anything better, we will be having more transplants of intestine, pancreas, hand, and face-composite tissues. And there will be a betterment in immuno-suppression and also induce tolerance in the recipient during transplants. We will also be in the forefront of genetic engineering. We have the infrastructure to do it and I know we can give better results, he adds. Dr Sunil Shroffs talk Why Chennai is the organ transplant capital will be held on August 25 at Hotel Raintree, Anna Salai, at 6 pm
By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: From the very start, the move to renovate the Pallivasal, Panniar and Sengulam hydro-electric projects had been a problematic one. The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) itself had shot down a Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) proposal in this regard.

The CEA rationale was the projects were more or less healthy. What the Central agency recommended instead was a capacity augmentation to keep them going. That was in 1992. The oldest of the three projects was the 37.5-MW Pallivasal, incidentally the states first power project. The KSEB, however, chose to ignore the CEA advice and went ahead with the deal.

In 1995, the Congress Government in the state signed an MoU with Canadian company SNC-Lavalin for a JV for the project. The very next year, it mutated into a consultancy contract. G Karthikeyan was Electricity Minister then and R Sivadasan, the second accused in the case, the KSEB chairman.

In October 1996 (the Left Government assumed office in May that year) Chief Minister E K Nayanar and Electricity Minister Pinarayi Vijayan flew to Canada for talks with SNC-Lavalin. The next year, the consultancy agreement was converted into a fixed price contract. Under it, SNC-Lavalin would supply equipment for the renovation.

The KSEB board approved the deal in January 1998, and the Cabinet, two months later. Pinarayi Vijayan - the scandal had always proven to be the proverbial sword of Damocles dangling over his political career - justified the deal pointing to the Malabar Cancer Centre. The hospital was to have cost Rs 103.3 crore, of which Lavalins share would be Rs 98.3 crore. But that money never materialised in full. There were ample warnings even otherwise.

For instance, the E Balanandan Committee had advised it would be financially pragmatic to hand over the project to BHEL. That too had been ignored. In 2001, an Assembly subject committee concluded the state had lost out massively in the deal. In 2002, the Congress Government ordered a Vigilance probe. The CAG report for the year ended March 2005 found the Rs 374.5 crore deal did not yield commensurate gains for Kerala.

In 2006, the Oommen Chandy Government decided to hand over the case to the CBI. The next year, the High Court ordered a CBI probe. In 2009, Pinarayi Vijayan was named the ninth accused in the case, leading to more bitter battles outside and within the court and within the CPM itself.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: From the very start, the move to renovate the Pallivasal, Panniar and Sengulam hydro-electric projects had been a problematic one. The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) itself had shot down a Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) proposal in this regard. The CEA rationale was the projects were more or less healthy. What the Central agency recommended instead was a capacity augmentation to keep them going. That was in 1992. The oldest of the three projects was the 37.5-MW Pallivasal, incidentally the states first power project. The KSEB, however, chose to ignore the CEA advice and went ahead with the deal. In 1995, the Congress Government in the state signed an MoU with Canadian company SNC-Lavalin for a JV for the project. The very next year, it mutated into a consultancy contract. G Karthikeyan was Electricity Minister then and R Sivadasan, the second accused in the case, the KSEB chairman. In October 1996 (the Left Government assumed office in May that year) Chief Minister E K Nayanar and Electricity Minister Pinarayi Vijayan flew to Canada for talks with SNC-Lavalin. The next year, the consultancy agreement was converted into a fixed price contract. Under it, SNC-Lavalin would supply equipment for the renovation. The KSEB board approved the deal in January 1998, and the Cabinet, two months later. Pinarayi Vijayan - the scandal had always proven to be the proverbial sword of Damocles dangling over his political career - justified the deal pointing to the Malabar Cancer Centre. The hospital was to have cost Rs 103.3 crore, of which Lavalins share would be Rs 98.3 crore. But that money never materialised in full. There were ample warnings even otherwise. For instance, the E Balanandan Committee had advised it would be financially pragmatic to hand over the project to BHEL. That too had been ignored. In 2001, an Assembly subject committee concluded the state had lost out massively in the deal. In 2002, the Congress Government ordered a Vigilance probe. The CAG report for the year ended March 2005 found the Rs 374.5 crore deal did not yield commensurate gains for Kerala. In 2006, the Oommen Chandy Government decided to hand over the case to the CBI. The next year, the High Court ordered a CBI probe. In 2009, Pinarayi Vijayan was named the ninth accused in the case, leading to more bitter battles outside and within the court and within the CPM itself.
Murali Krishna CH By

Express News Service

Vijay Devarakonda and Shalini-starrer Arjun Reddy is an emotional love story set against the backdrop of a medical collage. Director Sandeep Vanga says that the film is presented in a cinematic way with some reality.

Calling it a heavy duty cult romance, he says,The film is an emotional journey of a man called Arjun Reddy. What happens to him after his break up and how he deals with the after effects is the crux of the film.

The film has a duration of 181 minutes, but Sandeep is unperturbed by its length. Its not a rarity that a film has a run-time of over three hours, but we get to see only a few films with such duration these days. I feel one cant calculate emotion with time.



Sandeep is unperturbed with the usage of expletives in the film. I have penned the dialogues which a common man uses in the outside world. I dont know why some people are magnifying everything now.

The film faced issues with the Censor Board as the officials have ordered a few cuts. We have to oblige the Censor Board. They have took my creative struggle for granted. In one of the last year releases, a top actress says M******* thrice in a film. If that film was cleared, why apathy on Arjun Reddy?

A film like Udta Punjab was denied censor certificate by the CBFC, but entire Bollywood supported the team and finally, it saw the light of the day with just one cut. Here, Im fighting alone.

He added, Post release, I want to write to the Censor Board asking what had actually taken into consideration before censoring our film. I want to explain to them what a creative struggle will be like.

The films posters depicting an intense lip lock have stirred a controversy.

Responding on that, Sandeep said, We have released the poster 10 days ago and why create a scene now? Its not a democratic way and I dont understand why political leaders go out of their way and tear the posters. Its my debut film and my father and brother produced it. I feel industry people have become soft targets. I can assure you that I didnt put anyone down.

Arjun Reddy will have 55 premier shows ahead of its release on Thursday night in Hyderabad and the distributors are comparing the film with Baahubali: The Conclusion which had 33 premieres.

The openings are phenomenal and it feels glad when distributors say such good words. We are confident of the films success and hence we are screening it hours before the scheduled release.

Vijay Devarakonda and Shalini-starrer Arjun Reddy is an emotional love story set against the backdrop of a medical collage. Director Sandeep Vanga says that the film is presented in a cinematic way with some reality. Calling it a heavy duty cult romance, he says,The film is an emotional journey of a man called Arjun Reddy. What happens to him after his break up and how he deals with the after effects is the crux of the film. The film has a duration of 181 minutes, but Sandeep is unperturbed by its length. Its not a rarity that a film has a run-time of over three hours, but we get to see only a few films with such duration these days. I feel one cant calculate emotion with time. Sandeep is unperturbed with the usage of expletives in the film. I have penned the dialogues which a common man uses in the outside world. I dont know why some people are magnifying everything now. The film faced issues with the Censor Board as the officials have ordered a few cuts. We have to oblige the Censor Board. They have took my creative struggle for granted. In one of the last year releases, a top actress says M******* thrice in a film. If that film was cleared, why apathy on Arjun Reddy? A film like Udta Punjab was denied censor certificate by the CBFC, but entire Bollywood supported the team and finally, it saw the light of the day with just one cut. Here, Im fighting alone. He added, Post release, I want to write to the Censor Board asking what had actually taken into consideration before censoring our film. I want to explain to them what a creative struggle will be like. The films posters depicting an intense lip lock have stirred a controversy. Responding on that, Sandeep said, We have released the poster 10 days ago and why create a scene now? Its not a democratic way and I dont understand why political leaders go out of their way and tear the posters. Its my debut film and my father and brother produced it. I feel industry people have become soft targets. I can assure you that I didnt put anyone down. Arjun Reddy will have 55 premier shows ahead of its release on Thursday night in Hyderabad and the distributors are comparing the film with Baahubali: The Conclusion which had 33 premieres. The openings are phenomenal and it feels glad when distributors say such good words. We are confident of the films success and hence we are screening it hours before the scheduled release.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Gujarat government today told the Supreme Court that transparency is a key component in the technological era and providing basic personal information could not be covered under the right to privacy.

A nine-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar has been grappling with the contentious issue whether right to privacy can be held as fundamental right under the Constitution.

Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for Gujarat government, said that some aspects of privacy may be traced to various fundamental rights but providing basic personal information to authorities was needed to bring more transparency in the present technological era.

He then referred to the Supreme Court rules which make it mandatory for lawyers to part with various personal information for filing a private interest litigation.

"Your lordships are marching forward with technology by seeking various personal information under the rules," Dwivedi said.

He then referred to the fact that personal information like names, address, telephone number, occupation and national unique ID cards, if any, are being sought by the apex court for allowing a litigant to file a PIL before it.

The bench, however, said that personal information has to be used for the intended purpose only.

The hearing in the matter will continue after lunch.

Yesterday the apex court had said that there has to be "overarching" guidelines to protect an individual's private information in public domain to ensure that it was used only for an intended purpose.

The bench also comprises justices J Chelameswar, S A Bobde, R K Agrawal, Rohinton Fali Nariman, Abhay Manohar Sapre, D Y Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and S Abdul Nazeer

NEW DELHI: The Gujarat government today told the Supreme Court that transparency is a key component in the technological era and providing basic personal information could not be covered under the right to privacy. A nine-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar has been grappling with the contentious issue whether right to privacy can be held as fundamental right under the Constitution. Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for Gujarat government, said that some aspects of privacy may be traced to various fundamental rights but providing basic personal information to authorities was needed to bring more transparency in the present technological era. He then referred to the Supreme Court rules which make it mandatory for lawyers to part with various personal information for filing a private interest litigation. "Your lordships are marching forward with technology by seeking various personal information under the rules," Dwivedi said. He then referred to the fact that personal information like names, address, telephone number, occupation and national unique ID cards, if any, are being sought by the apex court for allowing a litigant to file a PIL before it. The bench, however, said that personal information has to be used for the intended purpose only. The hearing in the matter will continue after lunch. Yesterday the apex court had said that there has to be "overarching" guidelines to protect an individual's private information in public domain to ensure that it was used only for an intended purpose. The bench also comprises justices J Chelameswar, S A Bobde, R K Agrawal, Rohinton Fali Nariman, Abhay Manohar Sapre, D Y Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and S Abdul Nazeer
Anand ST Das By

Express News Service

PATNA: A businessman in Bihars southern Rohtas district on Thursday shot dead his two daughters, aged 15 and 12, and tried unsuccessfully to slit the throat of his wife before escaping.

Police said Lalit Narayan Singh, who ran a business of selling mobile phone connections, was severely depressed over mounting debts.

Singh was apparently finding it difficult to repay the debt he had taken to run his business. He was also having difficulties in taking care of his family due to a financial crunch. This is why he suffered from acute depression, said Akram Ansari, SHO of Bikramganj police station, citing findings of the preliminary investigation.

A suicide note Singh left in his rented house at Bikramganj suggested that he also planned to kill himself, said a police official.

The bodies of his two daughters  Tanu, 15, and Tanya, 12  were recovered from the house and sent for autopsy. The accused apparently shot the two girls dead with his licensed pistol. Investigations are on, said Niraj Kumar, the sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) of Bikramganj.

Singhs only son, Ashirvad, 7, escaped as he had left for an aunts house in Bhojpur district some days ago. According to a statement given to police by Singhs wife, Gudiya Devi, 35, she was attacked when she was asleep in her bedroom.

Gudiya Devi was attacked with a knife by her husband at about 3 am when she was asleep. She woke up, cried aloud in horror and fled to a neighbours house, said an investigating officer. A seriously injured Gudiya Devi was rushed to a private hospital at Bikramganj, where she is struggling for survival, he added.

Police were informed of the attack on Gudiya Devi by the neighbour. By the time a police team reached Singhs house, he had left after shooting his two daughters dead.

A manhunt has been launched to arrest Singh who hails from Bhojpur district. The exact cause of his actions would be known after he is arrested, said the SDPO.

PATNA: A businessman in Bihars southern Rohtas district on Thursday shot dead his two daughters, aged 15 and 12, and tried unsuccessfully to slit the throat of his wife before escaping. Police said Lalit Narayan Singh, who ran a business of selling mobile phone connections, was severely depressed over mounting debts. Singh was apparently finding it difficult to repay the debt he had taken to run his business. He was also having difficulties in taking care of his family due to a financial crunch. This is why he suffered from acute depression, said Akram Ansari, SHO of Bikramganj police station, citing findings of the preliminary investigation. A suicide note Singh left in his rented house at Bikramganj suggested that he also planned to kill himself, said a police official. The bodies of his two daughters  Tanu, 15, and Tanya, 12  were recovered from the house and sent for autopsy. The accused apparently shot the two girls dead with his licensed pistol. Investigations are on, said Niraj Kumar, the sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) of Bikramganj. Singhs only son, Ashirvad, 7, escaped as he had left for an aunts house in Bhojpur district some days ago. According to a statement given to police by Singhs wife, Gudiya Devi, 35, she was attacked when she was asleep in her bedroom. Gudiya Devi was attacked with a knife by her husband at about 3 am when she was asleep. She woke up, cried aloud in horror and fled to a neighbours house, said an investigating officer. A seriously injured Gudiya Devi was rushed to a private hospital at Bikramganj, where she is struggling for survival, he added. Police were informed of the attack on Gudiya Devi by the neighbour. By the time a police team reached Singhs house, he had left after shooting his two daughters dead. A manhunt has been launched to arrest Singh who hails from Bhojpur district. The exact cause of his actions would be known after he is arrested, said the SDPO.
Sana Shakil By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The government has eased several norms for its flagship regional flying scheme UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) to attract more airlines and helicopter operators to participate in the regional connectivity scheme (RCS). The civil aviation ministry made the announcements on Thursday when it initiated the process for second round of bidding for the inexpensive regional connectivity scheme. Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajpathi Raju said the government has kept special focus on priority areas in the second round of bidding. The winners of the second round of bidding are likely to be announced by November 30.

The relaxations include dilution of exclusivity clause which mandated that only one airline flies on one route in the first three years. Now, selected airline operator of a particular route may issue no-objection certificate to other airlines who want to operate on the selected RCS route. The ministry has also diluted norms that restricted two airports in close proximity with each other to participate in the bidding. The modified norms allow routes with a stage length less than 150 km for operations through fixed wing aircraft. This, the ministry believes, would enhance connectivity and ease the formation of networks under the scheme, Raju said.

The ministry has also increased viability gap funding for helicopter operators and smaller aircrafts. However, the special concession to helicopter operators and smaller aircrafts would apply only in priority areas. 10% of the estimated annual inflow in the regional connectivity fund has been earmarked for operations through choppers, Raju said. Another concession for airlines which operate in priority areas is that the maximum number of flights with VGF has been increased to 14. For other routes covered under RCS, the limit remains seven weekly flights.

Raju said priority areas are regions which have a record of low air connectivity since years and these include Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, North East region, the islands of Lakshwadeep and Jammu and Kashmir. Under UDAN, at least half of the seats on every flight are available under a fare cap of Rs 2,500 per seat per hour of flying. Operators in this round will be able to decide from about 350 airports and landing strips to operate RCS flights in the second round of bidding. The actual number of airports could increase as helicopters are able to land in places other than an airport or landing strip.

Briefing media on Thursday, aviation secretary RN Choubey said, Airlines have ordered 100 regional planes so second round will be even more interesting. IndiGo has announced it plans to buy 50 ATR planes, while SpiceJet has also signed a letter of intent to buy 50 Bombardier Q400 regional planes. Air India and SpiceJet are among airlines that have the biggest fleet of regional planes under this scheme.

IndiGo, which is the Indias largest airline operator in the domestic sector, is likely to participate in this round. Five airlines including Air India, SpiceJet, Turbo Megha, Air Odisha and Air Deccan were allotted 128 routes to fly in the first round, but only 16 routes on 8 under-served airports have been operationalised so far under first round of UDAN. New entrants Air Odisha and Air Deccan have not been able to take off yet. Choubey said the two new airlines will be able to do so by 30 September, when the six-month grace period for the first round ends.

The ministry said the un-served and under-served airports that will be connected by September under UDAN-1 include Agra, Pathankot, Shillong, Bikaner, Ludhiana, Durgapur, Vidyanagar, Salem, Mysore, Jamshedpur, Cooch Behar, Kullu, Bhavnagar, Jalgaon, Jamnagar, Kolhapur, Pantnagar, Diu, Nasik (Ozar), Raigarh and Mundra. The airports which need upgradation to host flights include Kanpur, Jaisalmer, Adampur, Raurkela, Burnpur, Utkela, Jeypore, Jharsuguda, Bilaspur, Ambikapur, Jagdalpur, Mithapur, Neyveli and Solapur.

NEW DELHI: The government has eased several norms for its flagship regional flying scheme UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) to attract more airlines and helicopter operators to participate in the regional connectivity scheme (RCS). The civil aviation ministry made the announcements on Thursday when it initiated the process for second round of bidding for the inexpensive regional connectivity scheme. Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajpathi Raju said the government has kept special focus on priority areas in the second round of bidding. The winners of the second round of bidding are likely to be announced by November 30. The relaxations include dilution of exclusivity clause which mandated that only one airline flies on one route in the first three years. Now, selected airline operator of a particular route may issue no-objection certificate to other airlines who want to operate on the selected RCS route. The ministry has also diluted norms that restricted two airports in close proximity with each other to participate in the bidding. The modified norms allow routes with a stage length less than 150 km for operations through fixed wing aircraft. This, the ministry believes, would enhance connectivity and ease the formation of networks under the scheme, Raju said. The ministry has also increased viability gap funding for helicopter operators and smaller aircrafts. However, the special concession to helicopter operators and smaller aircrafts would apply only in priority areas. 10% of the estimated annual inflow in the regional connectivity fund has been earmarked for operations through choppers, Raju said. Another concession for airlines which operate in priority areas is that the maximum number of flights with VGF has been increased to 14. For other routes covered under RCS, the limit remains seven weekly flights. Raju said priority areas are regions which have a record of low air connectivity since years and these include Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, North East region, the islands of Lakshwadeep and Jammu and Kashmir. Under UDAN, at least half of the seats on every flight are available under a fare cap of Rs 2,500 per seat per hour of flying. Operators in this round will be able to decide from about 350 airports and landing strips to operate RCS flights in the second round of bidding. The actual number of airports could increase as helicopters are able to land in places other than an airport or landing strip. Briefing media on Thursday, aviation secretary RN Choubey said, Airlines have ordered 100 regional planes so second round will be even more interesting. IndiGo has announced it plans to buy 50 ATR planes, while SpiceJet has also signed a letter of intent to buy 50 Bombardier Q400 regional planes. Air India and SpiceJet are among airlines that have the biggest fleet of regional planes under this scheme. IndiGo, which is the Indias largest airline operator in the domestic sector, is likely to participate in this round. Five airlines including Air India, SpiceJet, Turbo Megha, Air Odisha and Air Deccan were allotted 128 routes to fly in the first round, but only 16 routes on 8 under-served airports have been operationalised so far under first round of UDAN. New entrants Air Odisha and Air Deccan have not been able to take off yet. Choubey said the two new airlines will be able to do so by 30 September, when the six-month grace period for the first round ends. The ministry said the un-served and under-served airports that will be connected by September under UDAN-1 include Agra, Pathankot, Shillong, Bikaner, Ludhiana, Durgapur, Vidyanagar, Salem, Mysore, Jamshedpur, Cooch Behar, Kullu, Bhavnagar, Jalgaon, Jamnagar, Kolhapur, Pantnagar, Diu, Nasik (Ozar), Raigarh and Mundra. The airports which need upgradation to host flights include Kanpur, Jaisalmer, Adampur, Raurkela, Burnpur, Utkela, Jeypore, Jharsuguda, Bilaspur, Ambikapur, Jagdalpur, Mithapur, Neyveli and Solapur.
By PTI

SHIMLA: A group of Congress MLAs alleged the opposition BJP is disrupting the proceedings of Himachal Pradesh Assembly in a "pre-planned" manner to divert people's attention from real issues.

State cabinet ministers Kaul Singh Thakur, Mukesh Agnihotri and Sudhir Sharma, AICC secretary Asha Kumari and Chairman of the state finance commission Kuldeep Kumar in a joint statement alleged that BJP MLAs were in habit of raising issues which are under investigation to politicise them.

"The BJP believes in creating unrest by keeping law and order at bay to gain political mileage.

"The functioning of BJP workers were under cloud as it seems that many of them have been hired to create disturbances and flare up things," the leaders said.

They have nothing to do with the families of those killed in the recent accidents, nothing to discuss for giving relief to those who suffered due to incessant rains and other disasters, they said.

They said the prices of essential commodities were flaring, prices of domestic LPG refills, pulses and vegetables have gone up but the BJP leaders are trying to divert attention from this issue by creating a ruckus in the House.

"The GST has left the consumers, as well as small traders, confused. The poor and the middle class are finding it difficult to survive and where are the 'Ache Din' the BJP had promised," they said.

The Himachal Pradesh Assembly was adjourned today as BJP members disrupted the House, on the second day of its monsoon session, demanding a discussion on the "deteriorating law and order situation" through an adjournment motion.

SHIMLA: A group of Congress MLAs alleged the opposition BJP is disrupting the proceedings of Himachal Pradesh Assembly in a "pre-planned" manner to divert people's attention from real issues. State cabinet ministers Kaul Singh Thakur, Mukesh Agnihotri and Sudhir Sharma, AICC secretary Asha Kumari and Chairman of the state finance commission Kuldeep Kumar in a joint statement alleged that BJP MLAs were in habit of raising issues which are under investigation to politicise them. "The BJP believes in creating unrest by keeping law and order at bay to gain political mileage. "The functioning of BJP workers were under cloud as it seems that many of them have been hired to create disturbances and flare up things," the leaders said. They have nothing to do with the families of those killed in the recent accidents, nothing to discuss for giving relief to those who suffered due to incessant rains and other disasters, they said. They said the prices of essential commodities were flaring, prices of domestic LPG refills, pulses and vegetables have gone up but the BJP leaders are trying to divert attention from this issue by creating a ruckus in the House. "The GST has left the consumers, as well as small traders, confused. The poor and the middle class are finding it difficult to survive and where are the 'Ache Din' the BJP had promised," they said. The Himachal Pradesh Assembly was adjourned today as BJP members disrupted the House, on the second day of its monsoon session, demanding a discussion on the "deteriorating law and order situation" through an adjournment motion.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi government on Thursday attempted to hijack the Supreme Courts verdict which declared the right to privacy as a fundamental right, by claiming that the Supreme Court has only affirmed the governments stand. Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said much before the nine-judge bench was constituted in the apex court to decide on the issue of privacy, the Modi government had told Parliament that privacy is a fundamental right.

We welcome the Supreme Court judgement that privacy should be a fundamental right... SC has affirmed what government had said in Parliament while moving Aadhar Bill. Privacy should be a fundamental right subject to reasonable restrictions, Shankar told a press conference convened to respond to the landmark apex court verdict.

Similarly, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also claimed the verdict to be a victory of government and both the ministers blamed the previous UPA regime for the matter having reached court. Jaitley said, Privacy issue went to Supreme Court because previous UPA government brought Aadhaar without legal framework. We framed Aadhaar law ensuring privacy as fundamental right will be protected. Supreme Court accepted privacy is a fundamental right but not an absolute right; judgment is a positive development.

The government seemed to have taken a U-turn after the verdict as before the apex court, the current Attorney General KK Venugopal and the former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had both argued that right to privacy was not a fundamental right. In a hearing that took place on July 29, the Centres senior most law officer Venugopal had said, There is no fundamental right to privacy and even if it is assumed as a fundamental right, it is multifaceted. Every facet cant be ipso facto considered a fundamental right.

At the press conference when Prasad was asked why the then Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had told the apex court that citizens don't have absolute right on their body if the government believes that right to privacy is a fundamental right, Prasad said the government and the court are on the same page on the issue. What the A-G said was part of courtroom banter which has not been reflected in the judgement, Prasad said.

Prasad avoided questions on reference to other sensitive topics on which the Supreme Court commented in its hugely significant verdict on right to privacy. These topics were sexual orientation of people, need to maintain secrecy and the proposed surrogacy law which bars same sex parents and trans- genders from going for surrogacy. He said the issues could be discussed later as the focus now was on Aadhaar. BJP President Amit Shah too welcomed the verdict and said, Congress is engaging in false show of jubilation and vindication over SCs right to privacy judgement.

NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi government on Thursday attempted to hijack the Supreme Courts verdict which declared the right to privacy as a fundamental right, by claiming that the Supreme Court has only affirmed the governments stand. Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said much before the nine-judge bench was constituted in the apex court to decide on the issue of privacy, the Modi government had told Parliament that privacy is a fundamental right. We welcome the Supreme Court judgement that privacy should be a fundamental right... SC has affirmed what government had said in Parliament while moving Aadhar Bill. Privacy should be a fundamental right subject to reasonable restrictions, Shankar told a press conference convened to respond to the landmark apex court verdict. Similarly, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also claimed the verdict to be a victory of government and both the ministers blamed the previous UPA regime for the matter having reached court. Jaitley said, Privacy issue went to Supreme Court because previous UPA government brought Aadhaar without legal framework. We framed Aadhaar law ensuring privacy as fundamental right will be protected. Supreme Court accepted privacy is a fundamental right but not an absolute right; judgment is a positive development. The government seemed to have taken a U-turn after the verdict as before the apex court, the current Attorney General KK Venugopal and the former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had both argued that right to privacy was not a fundamental right. In a hearing that took place on July 29, the Centres senior most law officer Venugopal had said, There is no fundamental right to privacy and even if it is assumed as a fundamental right, it is multifaceted. Every facet cant be ipso facto considered a fundamental right. At the press conference when Prasad was asked why the then Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had told the apex court that citizens don't have absolute right on their body if the government believes that right to privacy is a fundamental right, Prasad said the government and the court are on the same page on the issue. What the A-G said was part of courtroom banter which has not been reflected in the judgement, Prasad said. Prasad avoided questions on reference to other sensitive topics on which the Supreme Court commented in its hugely significant verdict on right to privacy. These topics were sexual orientation of people, need to maintain secrecy and the proposed surrogacy law which bars same sex parents and trans- genders from going for surrogacy. He said the issues could be discussed later as the focus now was on Aadhaar. BJP President Amit Shah too welcomed the verdict and said, Congress is engaging in false show of jubilation and vindication over SCs right to privacy judgement.
Harpreet Bajwa By

Express News Service

CHANDIGARH: Sensing trouble ahead of the verdict in the rape case against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim, the Haryana government is likely to fly him for the court hearing.

Highly placed sources said that the state government might bring the Dera chief from his Dera headquarters in Sisra to Panchkula by a helicopter as the Panchkula district authorities have prepared a helipad at the Sector 5 parade ground in this regard. From the helipad he will be brought to court under heavy police protection. It is learnt that the road from the parade ground to the court complex in Panchkula will remain sealed from August 24.

The controversial godman enjoys a Z-plus security cover by the Haryana Police. This case of sexual exploitation was registered against him in 2002 by a CBI court after anonymous letters were circulated that he exploited his two Sadhvis (female followers). He was charged in 2007 and the trial began the following year after the CBI took the testimonies of the two women. He had been denying these charges.

A second case was registered against him for instigating the murder of Haryana-based journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati for his writings against the Dera. Chhatrapati was killed on August 24, 2002. While one of the accused was caught on spot the other was arrested a few days later.

Dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is one of the accused in the Ranjit Singh murder case. Singh, who had distanced himself from the Dera, was called to Sirsa in June 2002 and threatened by accused Avtar Singh and Inder Sain to seek apology from Gurmeet Ram Rahim for having circulated anonymous letters and in July 2002 he was allegedly shot dead.

In 2014 the CBI has also registered a case against him for forcible castration of 400 followers on the directions of Punjab and Haryana High Court, investigation are still going in that case as the bapex agency has recorded the statements of about dozen such victims.

In another case the CBI filed a closure report in 2010 as there were allegation on the dera chief and three others that they hatched a conspiracy and gor his driver Faquir Chand disappeared in 1991.

In 2007 Rahim Singh was booked by Punjab Police for imitating Guru Gobind Singh and a couple of years back he was acquitted by the local court.

CHANDIGARH: Sensing trouble ahead of the verdict in the rape case against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim, the Haryana government is likely to fly him for the court hearing. Highly placed sources said that the state government might bring the Dera chief from his Dera headquarters in Sisra to Panchkula by a helicopter as the Panchkula district authorities have prepared a helipad at the Sector 5 parade ground in this regard. From the helipad he will be brought to court under heavy police protection. It is learnt that the road from the parade ground to the court complex in Panchkula will remain sealed from August 24. The controversial godman enjoys a Z-plus security cover by the Haryana Police. This case of sexual exploitation was registered against him in 2002 by a CBI court after anonymous letters were circulated that he exploited his two Sadhvis (female followers). He was charged in 2007 and the trial began the following year after the CBI took the testimonies of the two women. He had been denying these charges. A second case was registered against him for instigating the murder of Haryana-based journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati for his writings against the Dera. Chhatrapati was killed on August 24, 2002. While one of the accused was caught on spot the other was arrested a few days later. Dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is one of the accused in the Ranjit Singh murder case. Singh, who had distanced himself from the Dera, was called to Sirsa in June 2002 and threatened by accused Avtar Singh and Inder Sain to seek apology from Gurmeet Ram Rahim for having circulated anonymous letters and in July 2002 he was allegedly shot dead. In 2014 the CBI has also registered a case against him for forcible castration of 400 followers on the directions of Punjab and Haryana High Court, investigation are still going in that case as the bapex agency has recorded the statements of about dozen such victims. In another case the CBI filed a closure report in 2010 as there were allegation on the dera chief and three others that they hatched a conspiracy and gor his driver Faquir Chand disappeared in 1991. In 2007 Rahim Singh was booked by Punjab Police for imitating Guru Gobind Singh and a couple of years back he was acquitted by the local court.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Nepal today assured India it would not allow any activity against its "friendly neighbour", as the two sides signed eight pacts, including on cooperation in countering drug trafficking and post-earthquake reconstruction in the Himalayan nation.

After comprehensive talks with his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid emphasis on closer cooperation between the two countries' security and defence forces to prevent the misuse of the open border between India and Nepal.

"Defence ties and assistance in security is an important aspect of our partnership. Our defence interests are also dependent on and connected to each other," Modi said at a joint press briefing after the talks.

Deuba assured India of "every support, every help and cooperation".

"As you (Modi) mentioned that Nepal has an open border... I would like to assure you that Nepal will never allow any activity against friendly neighbour India and there will be every support, every help and cooperation from our side," Deuba said.

Acknowledging that there were "issues" in the implementation of Nepal's Constitution, he expressed confidence that it would encompass views of the people from all sections and ethnicities.

Modi, too, exuded confidence that Nepal would take into consideration the aspirations of all its citizens during the implementation of the Constitution.

On August 21, the Nepalese parliament failed to endorse the much-awaited Constitution amendment bill to address the issues of the Madhesi people as the ruling coalition could not garner the two-thirds majority required for its passage.

Deuba said both sides also exchanged views on regional and sub-regional cooperation using BIMSTEC (The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) and BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal Initiative) and create a "win-win" situation in various areas.

Modi hoped the consensus on various issues during the talks between the two sides would add "new energy" to bilateral relations.

The Nepalese prime minister said regular engagement at the highest political level would greatly contribute to sustaining and cementing trust between the two countries and his current visit was an effort towards it.

Holding that Nepal was "not only a neighbour, but also a good friend of India", Deuba said its relation with India stood on a solid foundation.

"On the one hand, it is the rich civilisation, sociocultural and economic linkages, and, on the other hand, it is commitment by the two countries to a time-tested principle of sovereign equality, peaceful co-existence and respect for each other's sensitivity and aspirations," Deuba said.

He further stated he appreciated Prime Minister Modi's 'Neighbourhood First Policy' and the approach of Sabka Saath and Sabka Vikas. "We are eager to see that this policy is translated into concrete and development activities," he said.

The two sides, Deuba said, expressed satisfaction on the working of the Eminent Persons Group on Nepal-India Relations (EPG-NIR).

He added both the countries were hopeful the EPG would complete the work within the defined time frame and submit practical recommendation, including a review of past treaties.

The EPG-NIR, a joint mechanism of Nepal and India, was set up in February last year to give necessary suggestions to update all existing bilateral treaties and agreements.

The two leaders jointly inaugurated the Kataiya-Kusaha and Raxaul-Parwanipur cross border power transmission lines.

Modi said this would give an additional 100 MW of power to Nepal, apart from the existing 350 MW.

The two sides, Modi added, also agreed on development of the Ramayana and Buddhist tourism circuits through better connectivity.

Modi emphasised on cooperation with Nepal in economic relations, energy, water resources and connectivity projects.

The talks also focused on flood management and irrigation projects.

Modi stressed the need for greater coordination and consultation between the agencies of India and Nepal on flood management and said the two sides had to work towards a long term solution, taking into consideration each other's interests.

He also reiterated India's help in every possible way to flood-hit Nepal and said New Delhi was "committed" to partnering in Nepal's development.

Deuba expressed the hope the Detailed Project Report for the Pancheshwar project on the Uttarkhand border would be finalised soon, stressing that it would help in flood control and crop irrigation.

Modi said Deuba had informed him that land acquisition issues for Arun III irrigation project on the Arun river had been addressed and the Nepalese prime minister had invited him for the groundbreaking ceremony.

"Hydropower is a priority and has huge potential of cooperation. Both government would facilitate the early start of work on the two hydro-power projects," Deuba said.

The Nepalese prime minister also expressed satisfaction on an MoU related to the construction of a wider Mechi bridge.

"We have likewise agreed to expedite work on the bridge on river Mahakali, integrated check posts and other developmental projects," Deuba added.

NEW DELHI: Nepal today assured India it would not allow any activity against its "friendly neighbour", as the two sides signed eight pacts, including on cooperation in countering drug trafficking and post-earthquake reconstruction in the Himalayan nation. After comprehensive talks with his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid emphasis on closer cooperation between the two countries' security and defence forces to prevent the misuse of the open border between India and Nepal. "Defence ties and assistance in security is an important aspect of our partnership. Our defence interests are also dependent on and connected to each other," Modi said at a joint press briefing after the talks. Deuba assured India of "every support, every help and cooperation". "As you (Modi) mentioned that Nepal has an open border... I would like to assure you that Nepal will never allow any activity against friendly neighbour India and there will be every support, every help and cooperation from our side," Deuba said. Acknowledging that there were "issues" in the implementation of Nepal's Constitution, he expressed confidence that it would encompass views of the people from all sections and ethnicities. Modi, too, exuded confidence that Nepal would take into consideration the aspirations of all its citizens during the implementation of the Constitution. On August 21, the Nepalese parliament failed to endorse the much-awaited Constitution amendment bill to address the issues of the Madhesi people as the ruling coalition could not garner the two-thirds majority required for its passage. Deuba said both sides also exchanged views on regional and sub-regional cooperation using BIMSTEC (The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) and BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal Initiative) and create a "win-win" situation in various areas. Modi hoped the consensus on various issues during the talks between the two sides would add "new energy" to bilateral relations. The Nepalese prime minister said regular engagement at the highest political level would greatly contribute to sustaining and cementing trust between the two countries and his current visit was an effort towards it. Holding that Nepal was "not only a neighbour, but also a good friend of India", Deuba said its relation with India stood on a solid foundation. "On the one hand, it is the rich civilisation, sociocultural and economic linkages, and, on the other hand, it is commitment by the two countries to a time-tested principle of sovereign equality, peaceful co-existence and respect for each other's sensitivity and aspirations," Deuba said. He further stated he appreciated Prime Minister Modi's 'Neighbourhood First Policy' and the approach of Sabka Saath and Sabka Vikas. "We are eager to see that this policy is translated into concrete and development activities," he said. The two sides, Deuba said, expressed satisfaction on the working of the Eminent Persons Group on Nepal-India Relations (EPG-NIR). He added both the countries were hopeful the EPG would complete the work within the defined time frame and submit practical recommendation, including a review of past treaties. The EPG-NIR, a joint mechanism of Nepal and India, was set up in February last year to give necessary suggestions to update all existing bilateral treaties and agreements. The two leaders jointly inaugurated the Kataiya-Kusaha and Raxaul-Parwanipur cross border power transmission lines. Modi said this would give an additional 100 MW of power to Nepal, apart from the existing 350 MW. The two sides, Modi added, also agreed on development of the Ramayana and Buddhist tourism circuits through better connectivity. Modi emphasised on cooperation with Nepal in economic relations, energy, water resources and connectivity projects. The talks also focused on flood management and irrigation projects. Modi stressed the need for greater coordination and consultation between the agencies of India and Nepal on flood management and said the two sides had to work towards a long term solution, taking into consideration each other's interests. He also reiterated India's help in every possible way to flood-hit Nepal and said New Delhi was "committed" to partnering in Nepal's development. Deuba expressed the hope the Detailed Project Report for the Pancheshwar project on the Uttarkhand border would be finalised soon, stressing that it would help in flood control and crop irrigation. Modi said Deuba had informed him that land acquisition issues for Arun III irrigation project on the Arun river had been addressed and the Nepalese prime minister had invited him for the groundbreaking ceremony. "Hydropower is a priority and has huge potential of cooperation. Both government would facilitate the early start of work on the two hydro-power projects," Deuba said. The Nepalese prime minister also expressed satisfaction on an MoU related to the construction of a wider Mechi bridge. "We have likewise agreed to expedite work on the bridge on river Mahakali, integrated check posts and other developmental projects," Deuba added.
Fayaz Wani By

Express News Service

SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday ordered a magisterial probe into the killing of a youth in an alleged fake encounter by army in Handwara area of north Kashmirs Kupwara district in Jammu and Kashmir.

The militant claimed to have been killed by army during an operation in Hafruda forest area of Handwara in north Kashmirs Kupwara district on Tuesday turned out to be the civilian.

The deceased was identified as 21-year-old Shahid Bashir Mir of Daril Tarathpora area of Handwara.

He was a 3rd-year student of BSc at Government Degree College Handwara and missing since Monday.

Shahids father Bashir Ahmed Mir said his son had left home on Monday at around 5 pm to buy cigarettes from a local shop.

We started searching for him after he did not return in the evening. After failing to locate him, we lodged a missing report in the local police station, he said.

Mir, a carpenter by profession, said they received a call informing them that Shahids body was lying in Vilgam Army camp.

Our relatives rushed to the camp where they found him dead, he said.

Mir said his son was not having any links with militants. He was a student and you can check his attendance. He had no militant links.

Thousands of people including men and women participated in his funeral procession in his native village Tarathpora in Handwara today.

The processionists were chanting pro-Azadi, pro-militants, pro-Lashkar, pro-Burhan and pro-Afzal Guru and anti-army and anti-India slogans.

Shahid was arrested by army on Monday and killed in a fake encounter by pumping several bullets on his body. The army men involved in his brutal killing should be punished, said a woman relative of the deceased youth.

The processionists demanded that FIR should be lodged against the army men involved in the incident.

After the deceased was laid to rest, youth of the area took to roads and staged protest demonstration. They clashed with the police and paramilitary personnel, who were deployed in strength in the area. The youth pelted stones on the cops, who retaliated by lobbing tear smoke shells and resorting to heavy baton charge.

At least two government vehicles sufferer damages during the stone pelting.

Army on Tuesday had claimed that troops had killed a militant in gunfight during combing operation in at Hongnikote in Hafruda forest area of Handwara following inputs about presence of militants there.

Defence spokesman in Srinagar, Colonel Rajesh Kalia said army had launched a specific intelligence based operation in Hafruda forest on night of August 21 and 22.

The Army column was fired upon by the militants, which was retaliated. During search operations the body of an individual was recovered and handed over to the police, he said.

Kalia said further investigations are on to ascertain the facts.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Kupwara, Khalid Jehangir said, After we came to know that a body was recovered, police started investigation. According to police investigation, the deceased (Shahid) was not involved in subversive or criminal activities.

He said a material probe into the killing of the youth has been ordered and the investigation would be completed in a weeks time.

Necessary action would be taken after the inquiry report is received, he said.

SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday ordered a magisterial probe into the killing of a youth in an alleged fake encounter by army in Handwara area of north Kashmirs Kupwara district in Jammu and Kashmir. The militant claimed to have been killed by army during an operation in Hafruda forest area of Handwara in north Kashmirs Kupwara district on Tuesday turned out to be the civilian. The deceased was identified as 21-year-old Shahid Bashir Mir of Daril Tarathpora area of Handwara. He was a 3rd-year student of BSc at Government Degree College Handwara and missing since Monday. Shahids father Bashir Ahmed Mir said his son had left home on Monday at around 5 pm to buy cigarettes from a local shop. We started searching for him after he did not return in the evening. After failing to locate him, we lodged a missing report in the local police station, he said. Mir, a carpenter by profession, said they received a call informing them that Shahids body was lying in Vilgam Army camp. Our relatives rushed to the camp where they found him dead, he said. Mir said his son was not having any links with militants. He was a student and you can check his attendance. He had no militant links. Thousands of people including men and women participated in his funeral procession in his native village Tarathpora in Handwara today. The processionists were chanting pro-Azadi, pro-militants, pro-Lashkar, pro-Burhan and pro-Afzal Guru and anti-army and anti-India slogans. Shahid was arrested by army on Monday and killed in a fake encounter by pumping several bullets on his body. The army men involved in his brutal killing should be punished, said a woman relative of the deceased youth. The processionists demanded that FIR should be lodged against the army men involved in the incident. After the deceased was laid to rest, youth of the area took to roads and staged protest demonstration. They clashed with the police and paramilitary personnel, who were deployed in strength in the area. The youth pelted stones on the cops, who retaliated by lobbing tear smoke shells and resorting to heavy baton charge. At least two government vehicles sufferer damages during the stone pelting. Army on Tuesday had claimed that troops had killed a militant in gunfight during combing operation in at Hongnikote in Hafruda forest area of Handwara following inputs about presence of militants there. Defence spokesman in Srinagar, Colonel Rajesh Kalia said army had launched a specific intelligence based operation in Hafruda forest on night of August 21 and 22. The Army column was fired upon by the militants, which was retaliated. During search operations the body of an individual was recovered and handed over to the police, he said. Kalia said further investigations are on to ascertain the facts. Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Kupwara, Khalid Jehangir said, After we came to know that a body was recovered, police started investigation. According to police investigation, the deceased (Shahid) was not involved in subversive or criminal activities. He said a material probe into the killing of the youth has been ordered and the investigation would be completed in a weeks time. Necessary action would be taken after the inquiry report is received, he said.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Without mentioning anything on the Doklam issue, where armies of India and China have been engaged in an eyeball to eyeball for over two months, visiting Nepalese Prime Minister assured India that it would not allow any activity against its "friendly neighbour".

During comprehensive talks, both neighbours signed eight pacts, including on cooperation in countering drug trafficking and post-earthquake reconstruction in the Himalayan nation.

After the talks with his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid emphasis on closer cooperation between the security and defence forces of the two countries in order to avoid misuse of the open border between India and Nepal, Deuba gave an assurance of "every support, every help and cooperation"

"Defence ties and assistance in security is an important aspect of our partnership. Our defence interests are also dependent and connected to each other," Modi spoke to media after the event.

"As you (Modi) mentioned that Nepal has an open border...I would like to assure you that Nepal will never allow any activity against friendly neighbour India and there will be every support, every help and cooperation from our side," Deuba said.

On the backdrop of Nepalese parliament failed attempt to endorse the much-awaited Constitution amendment bill to address the issues of Madhesis as the ruling coalition could not garner the two-thirds majority required for its passage, Deuba acknowledged that there were "issues", but expressed confidence that a Constitution "encompassing" the views of the people from all sections and ethnicities would be a reality.

PM Modi, too, exuded confidence that Nepal would take into consideration the aspirations of all its citizens during the implementation of the Constitution.

The Nepalese prime minister said regular engagement at the highest political level would greatly contribute to sustaining and cementing trust between the two countries and his current visit was an effort towards it.

On power front, two leaders jointly inaugurated the Kataiya- Kusaha and Raxaul-Parwanipur cross border power transmission lines, Modi said this would give an additional 100 MW of power to Nepal, apart from the existing 350 MW.

The two sides, he added, had also agreed on development of the Ramayana and Buddhist tourism circuits through better connectivity.

At a time when both countries are facing floods, flood management and irrigation projects was a point of focus in the talks Modi stressed on greater coordination and consultation between the agencies of India and Nepal on flood management and said the two sides must work towards a long term solution, taking into consideration each others interests.

While he expressed the hope that the Detailed Project Report for the Pancheshwar project on the Uttarkhand border of the Indian side would be finalised soon, Deuba stressed that it would help in flood control and crop irrigation.

NEW DELHI: Without mentioning anything on the Doklam issue, where armies of India and China have been engaged in an eyeball to eyeball for over two months, visiting Nepalese Prime Minister assured India that it would not allow any activity against its "friendly neighbour". During comprehensive talks, both neighbours signed eight pacts, including on cooperation in countering drug trafficking and post-earthquake reconstruction in the Himalayan nation. After the talks with his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid emphasis on closer cooperation between the security and defence forces of the two countries in order to avoid misuse of the open border between India and Nepal, Deuba gave an assurance of "every support, every help and cooperation" "Defence ties and assistance in security is an important aspect of our partnership. Our defence interests are also dependent and connected to each other," Modi spoke to media after the event. "As you (Modi) mentioned that Nepal has an open border...I would like to assure you that Nepal will never allow any activity against friendly neighbour India and there will be every support, every help and cooperation from our side," Deuba said. On the backdrop of Nepalese parliament failed attempt to endorse the much-awaited Constitution amendment bill to address the issues of Madhesis as the ruling coalition could not garner the two-thirds majority required for its passage, Deuba acknowledged that there were "issues", but expressed confidence that a Constitution "encompassing" the views of the people from all sections and ethnicities would be a reality. PM Modi, too, exuded confidence that Nepal would take into consideration the aspirations of all its citizens during the implementation of the Constitution. The Nepalese prime minister said regular engagement at the highest political level would greatly contribute to sustaining and cementing trust between the two countries and his current visit was an effort towards it. On power front, two leaders jointly inaugurated the Kataiya- Kusaha and Raxaul-Parwanipur cross border power transmission lines, Modi said this would give an additional 100 MW of power to Nepal, apart from the existing 350 MW. The two sides, he added, had also agreed on development of the Ramayana and Buddhist tourism circuits through better connectivity. At a time when both countries are facing floods, flood management and irrigation projects was a point of focus in the talks Modi stressed on greater coordination and consultation between the agencies of India and Nepal on flood management and said the two sides must work towards a long term solution, taking into consideration each others interests. While he expressed the hope that the Detailed Project Report for the Pancheshwar project on the Uttarkhand border of the Indian side would be finalised soon, Deuba stressed that it would help in flood control and crop irrigation.
Harpreet Bajwa By

Express News Service

CHANDIGARH: With the Supreme Court today declaring privacy a fundamental right it might have come a little too late for the family of the 10-year-old rape victim as her father had to approach authorities seeking protection for his family from the glare of the media after being constantly hounded by reporters.



As the news of the 10-year-old spread in the city and grabbed national headlines with the police arresting the uncle for the alleged crime, media personnel from both television and print media descended on the servant's quarters where the family lived. Initially the victims father told the whole story to the media personnel who visited them with the hope that they would get justice.



But soon he got a shock when the media did little to protect the identity of his daughter and gave out identifying details to the public, such as the locality in which she lived and the background of the family that did menial jobs.



the furious father then refused to speak to the media, and left with no option, approached the social welfare department of the Chandigarh Administration asking that the media be restrained, He stated that he did not want any help from anyone including the government but only wants his privacy back. "He had been mentally disturbed by the media glare and by repeatedly being asked the same questions about the sordid details of what happened to his daughter, an official said.



At that time, the victims father had said, "Please leave us alone. I beg of you. I want justice for my daughter at any cost and want to see him (the uncle) hanged. What happened to my daughter should not happen to anyone elses children."



A few members of the media crossed the line by going to his house pretending to be volunteers of a Non Governmental Organization and lying that the NGO wanted to help him and is daughter in their hour of crisis. Believing them, the father in good faith told them everything in detail and the next day he was surprised to see that all the minute details had been published in the papers, sources told Express.



A police official said, "The whole life of the family has changed forever. If there was no such media publicity, it was a normal case and would have died its natural death. The family too would have slowly recovered from the horror but now it will take a long time for them to be normal. They wanted to safeguard their identify so that they would be saved from social stigma but all the details were made public (by the media)."



Even on the day the girl was admitted to hospital for the surgery to deliver the baby, the media hounded the family. The desperate

father called the police to make sure that his daughter and family, who were already facing trauma, is not disturbed. The police kept the media at bay in the hospital.



"We were told by our senior officers not to talk to the media and share any information about this case. A journalist tried to interview the girl pretending that she was a police officer but the investigating officer of the case stopped her, said a police official.



The OB vans of the news channels were present outside the house of the victims family. The area had become a hotspot for journalists. Even neighbours came to the rescue of the affected family and shooed away the reporters, asking them not to not disturb the family again. It was a scene straight out of the hindi movie `Peepli Live.



"The media must exercise complete restraint while reporting sensitive cases like rape and molestation where the future of girl or child is affected due to the coverage. Right to privacy is a fundamental right of everyone in this country, be it poor or rich. If one is powerful, he or she makes sure such coverage is stopped, says Dr Rajesh Gill a leading sociologist, questioning the lack of ethics in the media coverage of a child rape victim.



She added that the media is still haunting the family as they were trying to find out where the newborn child was and whether anyone

has adopted her nor not.

CHANDIGARH: With the Supreme Court today declaring privacy a fundamental right it might have come a little too late for the family of the 10-year-old rape victim as her father had to approach authorities seeking protection for his family from the glare of the media after being constantly hounded by reporters. As the news of the 10-year-old spread in the city and grabbed national headlines with the police arresting the uncle for the alleged crime, media personnel from both television and print media descended on the servant's quarters where the family lived. Initially the victims father told the whole story to the media personnel who visited them with the hope that they would get justice. But soon he got a shock when the media did little to protect the identity of his daughter and gave out identifying details to the public, such as the locality in which she lived and the background of the family that did menial jobs. the furious father then refused to speak to the media, and left with no option, approached the social welfare department of the Chandigarh Administration asking that the media be restrained, He stated that he did not want any help from anyone including the government but only wants his privacy back. "He had been mentally disturbed by the media glare and by repeatedly being asked the same questions about the sordid details of what happened to his daughter, an official said. At that time, the victims father had said, "Please leave us alone. I beg of you. I want justice for my daughter at any cost and want to see him (the uncle) hanged. What happened to my daughter should not happen to anyone elses children." A few members of the media crossed the line by going to his house pretending to be volunteers of a Non Governmental Organization and lying that the NGO wanted to help him and is daughter in their hour of crisis. Believing them, the father in good faith told them everything in detail and the next day he was surprised to see that all the minute details had been published in the papers, sources told Express. A police official said, "The whole life of the family has changed forever. If there was no such media publicity, it was a normal case and would have died its natural death. The family too would have slowly recovered from the horror but now it will take a long time for them to be normal. They wanted to safeguard their identify so that they would be saved from social stigma but all the details were made public (by the media)." Even on the day the girl was admitted to hospital for the surgery to deliver the baby, the media hounded the family. The desperate father called the police to make sure that his daughter and family, who were already facing trauma, is not disturbed. The police kept the media at bay in the hospital. "We were told by our senior officers not to talk to the media and share any information about this case. A journalist tried to interview the girl pretending that she was a police officer but the investigating officer of the case stopped her, said a police official. The OB vans of the news channels were present outside the house of the victims family. The area had become a hotspot for journalists. Even neighbours came to the rescue of the affected family and shooed away the reporters, asking them not to not disturb the family again. It was a scene straight out of the hindi movie `Peepli Live. "The media must exercise complete restraint while reporting sensitive cases like rape and molestation where the future of girl or child is affected due to the coverage. Right to privacy is a fundamental right of everyone in this country, be it poor or rich. If one is powerful, he or she makes sure such coverage is stopped, says Dr Rajesh Gill a leading sociologist, questioning the lack of ethics in the media coverage of a child rape victim. She added that the media is still haunting the family as they were trying to find out where the newborn child was and whether anyone has adopted her nor not.
By Online Desk

As the Supreme Court pronounced the landmark judgement that Right to Privacy is a fundamental right, one of the judges in the nine-judge constitution bench, D.Y. Chandrachud in a discordant note overruled an earlier judgement authored by his father Justice Y.V. Chandrachud in the ADM Jabalpur v Shivakant Shukla case.

According to a Livelaw report, Justice D.Y.Chandrachud in the discordant note stated that the judgments rendered by four judges, including his father, constituting the majority in the ADM Jabalpur case were seriously flawed and noted "ADM Jabalpur must be and is accordingly overruled. We also overrule the decision in Union of India v Bhanudas Krishna Gawde213, which followed ADM Jabalpur."

The ADM Jabalpur v Shivakant case popularly known as Habeas Corpus case is a hugely debated one for the verdict where a five-judge constitutional bench declared that under emergency provisions no

one could seek the assistance of any court in the country to try and save his liberty, life or limb threatened to be taken away by the State.

During the Emergency period in 1975, many people were arrested under preventive detention and several cases were filed in the courts against it. Various High Courts ruled that even during Emergency the courts could entertain a writ of habeas corpus filed by a person challenging his/her detention.

The Government challenged the decision of the High Courts and a five-judge constitution bench was convened to hear the matter in the apex court.

On April 28th, 1976, four of the judges including, Justice YV Chandrachud, held that Liberty is confined and controlled by law, whether common law or statute. It is in the words of Burke a regulated freedom. It is not an abstract or absolute freedom. The safeguard of liberty is in the good sense of the people and in the system of representative and responsible government which has been evolved. If extraordinary powers are given, they are given because the emergency is extraordinary, and are limited to the period of the emergency.

In the discordant note in today's Right to Privacy judgement, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud noted that Life and personal liberty are inalienable to human existence. These rights are, as recognised in Kesavananda Bharati, primordial rights. They constitute rights under natural law.

Reflecting on a decision of the US Supreme Court upholding the imprisonment of a citizen in a concentration camp solely because of his Japanese ancestry as a judicial decision that should have never been, DY Chandrachud overruled the ADM Jabalpur case judgement.

As the Supreme Court pronounced the landmark judgement that Right to Privacy is a fundamental right, one of the judges in the nine-judge constitution bench, D.Y. Chandrachud in a discordant note overruled an earlier judgement authored by his father Justice Y.V. Chandrachud in the ADM Jabalpur v Shivakant Shukla case. According to a Livelaw report, Justice D.Y.Chandrachud in the discordant note stated that the judgments rendered by four judges, including his father, constituting the majority in the ADM Jabalpur case were seriously flawed and noted "ADM Jabalpur must be and is accordingly overruled. We also overrule the decision in Union of India v Bhanudas Krishna Gawde213, which followed ADM Jabalpur." The ADM Jabalpur v Shivakant case popularly known as Habeas Corpus case is a hugely debated one for the verdict where a five-judge constitutional bench declared that under emergency provisions no one could seek the assistance of any court in the country to try and save his liberty, life or limb threatened to be taken away by the State. During the Emergency period in 1975, many people were arrested under preventive detention and several cases were filed in the courts against it. Various High Courts ruled that even during Emergency the courts could entertain a writ of habeas corpus filed by a person challenging his/her detention. The Government challenged the decision of the High Courts and a five-judge constitution bench was convened to hear the matter in the apex court. On April 28th, 1976, four of the judges including, Justice YV Chandrachud, held that Liberty is confined and controlled by law, whether common law or statute. It is in the words of Burke a regulated freedom. It is not an abstract or absolute freedom. The safeguard of liberty is in the good sense of the people and in the system of representative and responsible government which has been evolved. If extraordinary powers are given, they are given because the emergency is extraordinary, and are limited to the period of the emergency. In the discordant note in today's Right to Privacy judgement, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud noted that Life and personal liberty are inalienable to human existence. These rights are, as recognised in Kesavananda Bharati, primordial rights. They constitute rights under natural law. Reflecting on a decision of the US Supreme Court upholding the imprisonment of a citizen in a concentration camp solely because of his Japanese ancestry as a judicial decision that should have never been, DY Chandrachud overruled the ADM Jabalpur case judgement.
By PTI

SRINAGAR: Kashmiri separatists announced a five-day protest calendar today over the issue of Article 35A, including a strike on August 29 when the Supreme Court will hear a petition challenging the constitutional provision that grants special privileges to people of the state.

Hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, head of moderate faction of Hurriyat Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and JKLF chief Yasin Malik, in a joint statement, said there was a need for fighting on the issue with "unity and steadfastness".

"On Tuesday, 29th August, the day when Indian Supreme Court is hearing this case, a complete and comprehensive protest strike will be observed throughout Jammu and Kashmir.

"If Indian Supreme Court issues any adverse orders in this regard, a complete agitation will start from that very moment," they said.

The separatists alleged that any meddling with "state subject" law, which does not allow outsiders to buy immovable property in Jammu and Kashmir, is only aimed at changing the demography of the state.

Announcing a comprehensive protest programme, the separatist leaders said Kashmir Bar association will hold peaceful protest demonstration on August 25.

SRINAGAR: Kashmiri separatists announced a five-day protest calendar today over the issue of Article 35A, including a strike on August 29 when the Supreme Court will hear a petition challenging the constitutional provision that grants special privileges to people of the state. Hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, head of moderate faction of Hurriyat Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and JKLF chief Yasin Malik, in a joint statement, said there was a need for fighting on the issue with "unity and steadfastness". "On Tuesday, 29th August, the day when Indian Supreme Court is hearing this case, a complete and comprehensive protest strike will be observed throughout Jammu and Kashmir. "If Indian Supreme Court issues any adverse orders in this regard, a complete agitation will start from that very moment," they said. The separatists alleged that any meddling with "state subject" law, which does not allow outsiders to buy immovable property in Jammu and Kashmir, is only aimed at changing the demography of the state. Announcing a comprehensive protest programme, the separatist leaders said Kashmir Bar association will hold peaceful protest demonstration on August 25.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday wondered why citizens could not share data with state they were ready to share data with private players like Apple to access devices. It also delved on up to what extent can citizens assert their right to be anonymous on grounds of privacy.

If 99% of citizens are unconcerned about sharing personal data with private players like Apple, how is it different if the state has the same information? Justice DY Chandrachud asked the petitioners who challenged the Aadhaar scheme stating that it was a violation of citizens right to privacy.

The hearing continued for the second consecutive day before the nine-judge Bench discussing at length the status and contours of right to privacy. Justice Chandrachud went on to cite the example as to how if an individual books a train ticket, emails or ads pop up offering alternative flights for the same travel and said, Your data is public and all your information is in private hands. So what is the difference if the state maintains the same data?

Senior advocate Sajjan Poovayya, who was appearing for one of the petitioners told the Bench: Right to privacy does not stand on the pedestal of secrecy, it is also the pedestal of dignity. So the state cannot shy away with its responsibility to protect a citizens dignity and privacy just because the citizen is unconcerned. Secrecy is never a prerequisite for privacy. For example, those who disclose certain personal details to banks need not presume that the same will be disclosed by banks to other persons for other purposes, Poovayya said.

He went on to compare India and US in terms of population, tele density and Internet penetration and said, India is much ahead of US in broadband and mobile connection count.

But if the state collects information on suspicion of terrorism, is it also a violation of privacy? Justice Chandrachud questioned. It can only be done by a fair and just law to procure warrants, not without that, Poovayya argued. Justice Chelameshwar then asked, If the problem is of collection of data or its use, then where does the violation occur?

Unlimited power of the government to collect, assemble and profile my data chills us, Poovayya argued, while referring to the fact that over 100 crore people have already parted with their biometric details for Aadhaar cards and initially the exercise was done through private contractors and agencies.

Poovayya also said, If the state did not have the technology to protect the data it was collecting, it should not collect it in the first place. He cited the instance of UK destroying the electronic data it had collected from citizens as it did not have the technology to protect it.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday wondered why citizens could not share data with state they were ready to share data with private players like Apple to access devices. It also delved on up to what extent can citizens assert their right to be anonymous on grounds of privacy. If 99% of citizens are unconcerned about sharing personal data with private players like Apple, how is it different if the state has the same information? Justice DY Chandrachud asked the petitioners who challenged the Aadhaar scheme stating that it was a violation of citizens right to privacy. The hearing continued for the second consecutive day before the nine-judge Bench discussing at length the status and contours of right to privacy. Justice Chandrachud went on to cite the example as to how if an individual books a train ticket, emails or ads pop up offering alternative flights for the same travel and said, Your data is public and all your information is in private hands. So what is the difference if the state maintains the same data? Senior advocate Sajjan Poovayya, who was appearing for one of the petitioners told the Bench: Right to privacy does not stand on the pedestal of secrecy, it is also the pedestal of dignity. So the state cannot shy away with its responsibility to protect a citizens dignity and privacy just because the citizen is unconcerned. Secrecy is never a prerequisite for privacy. For example, those who disclose certain personal details to banks need not presume that the same will be disclosed by banks to other persons for other purposes, Poovayya said. He went on to compare India and US in terms of population, tele density and Internet penetration and said, India is much ahead of US in broadband and mobile connection count. But if the state collects information on suspicion of terrorism, is it also a violation of privacy? Justice Chandrachud questioned. It can only be done by a fair and just law to procure warrants, not without that, Poovayya argued. Justice Chelameshwar then asked, If the problem is of collection of data or its use, then where does the violation occur? Unlimited power of the government to collect, assemble and profile my data chills us, Poovayya argued, while referring to the fact that over 100 crore people have already parted with their biometric details for Aadhaar cards and initially the exercise was done through private contractors and agencies. Poovayya also said, If the state did not have the technology to protect the data it was collecting, it should not collect it in the first place. He cited the instance of UK destroying the electronic data it had collected from citizens as it did not have the technology to protect it.
By Express News Service

NANDYAL: A day after by-election to Nandyal Assembly segment, the gunman of a Telugu Desam leader opened fire at YSRC workers here on Thursday, setting off a wave a panic in the traders' town. Fortunately, no one was injured in the firing.

According to sources, the gunman of TDP leader Abhiruchi Madhu opened fire after an argument between Madhu and his workers with those of YSRC leader Silpa Chakrapani Reddy, who is the brother of YSRC candidate for the by election Silpa Mohan Reddy. YSRC leaders say it was an attempt on Chakrapani Reddy's life while the TDP leaders say it was an act of defence.

The argument ensued when Chakrapani Reddy asked Madhu's supporters to remove car as it was blocking their way. They were on their way to the funeral ceremony of a minority leader Basha. Madhu reportedly belongs to Bhuma faction in the town.

As already tensions are peaking in the town after the fierce electoral battle by both the sides, the argument soon deteriorated into a brawl resulting in the opening of fire. Immediately Silpa Chakrapani Reddy's supporters damaged Madhu's car and clashed with those of Madhu and for some time both the groups pushed each other around.

Meanwhile, the police arrived on the scene and brought the situation under control. They took the two quarrelling mobs to the police station and are inquiring into why the clash took place after registering a case.

NANDYAL: A day after by-election to Nandyal Assembly segment, the gunman of a Telugu Desam leader opened fire at YSRC workers here on Thursday, setting off a wave a panic in the traders' town. Fortunately, no one was injured in the firing. According to sources, the gunman of TDP leader Abhiruchi Madhu opened fire after an argument between Madhu and his workers with those of YSRC leader Silpa Chakrapani Reddy, who is the brother of YSRC candidate for the by election Silpa Mohan Reddy. YSRC leaders say it was an attempt on Chakrapani Reddy's life while the TDP leaders say it was an act of defence. The argument ensued when Chakrapani Reddy asked Madhu's supporters to remove car as it was blocking their way. They were on their way to the funeral ceremony of a minority leader Basha. Madhu reportedly belongs to Bhuma faction in the town. As already tensions are peaking in the town after the fierce electoral battle by both the sides, the argument soon deteriorated into a brawl resulting in the opening of fire. Immediately Silpa Chakrapani Reddy's supporters damaged Madhu's car and clashed with those of Madhu and for some time both the groups pushed each other around. Meanwhile, the police arrived on the scene and brought the situation under control. They took the two quarrelling mobs to the police station and are inquiring into why the clash took place after registering a case.
By PTI

CHENNAI/PUDUCHERRY: The TTV Dhinakaran-led camp in the ruling AIADMK today said he had no intention of becoming the chief minister but continued to press for the ouster of incumbent K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam.

P Vetrivel, loyalist of jailed AIADMK chief VK Sasikala and her nephew Dhinakaran, told reporters in Chennai that candidature of any other person, including Speaker P Dhanapal, for the CM's post was agreeable to them.

In neighbouring Puducherry, the 18 MLAs loyal to Dhinakaran stayed put at a resort amid tight security.

"He (Dhinakaran) is not even an MLA. He doesn't desire to be chief minister. He is not running the party with any such intentions," Vetrivel told reporters outside the residence of Dhinakaran here.

Earlier, Sasikala's Mannargudi-based brother V Divakaran had also backed Dhanapal to become the Chief Minister, with Dhinakaran leading the charge against Palaniswami.

To a question, Vetrivel said the demand of his camp was to remove Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam.

The Dhinakaran camp had revolted a day after the factions led by Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam patched-up.

Vetrivel also said some "corrupt ministers" should "get out".

"Chief minister and corrupt ministers, get out," he said without naming anyone.

Training his guns on Panneerselvam, the legislator said he had levelled corruption charges against the government and took the fight for AIADMK's two leaves symbol to the Election Commission, and wondered why he was now part of the cabinet.

Vetrivel sought an "explanation" from Palaniswami for the merger of his Amma faction with that of Panneerselvam.

To a question, he indicated the Dhinakaran faction had no intention of pulling down the AIADMK government.

"We have said nowhere that we will vote against this government. Change the chief minister and explain the reason behind Panneerselvam's induction," he said.

Vetrivel claimed some more MLAs and ministers were in talks with the Dhinakaran faction but declined to reveal names.

Earlier in the day, Dhinakaran supporters burnt posters of Rajya Sabha MP R Vaithilingam, recently 'expelled' by Dhinakaran from the party, besides that of Puducherry unit of unified AIADMK, Om Sakthi Segar.

Segar had yesterday led a protest outside the resort in Puducherry where Dhinakaran camp MLAs are staying.

Also, supporters of Vaithilingam had clashed with those of Dhinakaran in Thanjavur recently. Meanwhile, police was deployed in strength outside the resort, where the 18 MLAs from Dhinakaran camp are staying, in the coastal village of Chinna Veerampattinam in Ariyankuppam commune Panchayat limits near here.

Some of the legislators who spoke to the media while taking a walk pointed out that they were all enjoying a "free atmosphere" and were "united".

Andipatti MLA Thangatamilselvan of the Dhinakaran faction, said "there is a wrong image about us being projected in a section of tshe media. The fact is that we are all here to project the correct picture that we all remain united," he said.

Iron barricades were placed across the entry point on the side lane leading to the resort to restrict visitors.

Meanwhile, Perundurai AIADMK MLA and former Minister Thopu D Venkatachalam, originally a supporter of Dhinakaran, said he now "continues to be in the AIADMK".

Speaking to reporters, he urged Palaniswami to hold consultations with all stakeholders to end the impasse.

CHENNAI/PUDUCHERRY: The TTV Dhinakaran-led camp in the ruling AIADMK today said he had no intention of becoming the chief minister but continued to press for the ouster of incumbent K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam. P Vetrivel, loyalist of jailed AIADMK chief VK Sasikala and her nephew Dhinakaran, told reporters in Chennai that candidature of any other person, including Speaker P Dhanapal, for the CM's post was agreeable to them. In neighbouring Puducherry, the 18 MLAs loyal to Dhinakaran stayed put at a resort amid tight security. "He (Dhinakaran) is not even an MLA. He doesn't desire to be chief minister. He is not running the party with any such intentions," Vetrivel told reporters outside the residence of Dhinakaran here. Earlier, Sasikala's Mannargudi-based brother V Divakaran had also backed Dhanapal to become the Chief Minister, with Dhinakaran leading the charge against Palaniswami. To a question, Vetrivel said the demand of his camp was to remove Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam. The Dhinakaran camp had revolted a day after the factions led by Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam patched-up. Vetrivel also said some "corrupt ministers" should "get out". "Chief minister and corrupt ministers, get out," he said without naming anyone. Training his guns on Panneerselvam, the legislator said he had levelled corruption charges against the government and took the fight for AIADMK's two leaves symbol to the Election Commission, and wondered why he was now part of the cabinet. Vetrivel sought an "explanation" from Palaniswami for the merger of his Amma faction with that of Panneerselvam. To a question, he indicated the Dhinakaran faction had no intention of pulling down the AIADMK government. "We have said nowhere that we will vote against this government. Change the chief minister and explain the reason behind Panneerselvam's induction," he said. Vetrivel claimed some more MLAs and ministers were in talks with the Dhinakaran faction but declined to reveal names. Earlier in the day, Dhinakaran supporters burnt posters of Rajya Sabha MP R Vaithilingam, recently 'expelled' by Dhinakaran from the party, besides that of Puducherry unit of unified AIADMK, Om Sakthi Segar. Segar had yesterday led a protest outside the resort in Puducherry where Dhinakaran camp MLAs are staying. Also, supporters of Vaithilingam had clashed with those of Dhinakaran in Thanjavur recently. Meanwhile, police was deployed in strength outside the resort, where the 18 MLAs from Dhinakaran camp are staying, in the coastal village of Chinna Veerampattinam in Ariyankuppam commune Panchayat limits near here. Some of the legislators who spoke to the media while taking a walk pointed out that they were all enjoying a "free atmosphere" and were "united". Andipatti MLA Thangatamilselvan of the Dhinakaran faction, said "there is a wrong image about us being projected in a section of tshe media. The fact is that we are all here to project the correct picture that we all remain united," he said. Iron barricades were placed across the entry point on the side lane leading to the resort to restrict visitors. Meanwhile, Perundurai AIADMK MLA and former Minister Thopu D Venkatachalam, originally a supporter of Dhinakaran, said he now "continues to be in the AIADMK". Speaking to reporters, he urged Palaniswami to hold consultations with all stakeholders to end the impasse.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: After being on hold for weeks while the State optimistically pursued efforts to get exemption from the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, Tamil Nadu finally released the provisional rank list for medical admissions based on the national test here on Wednesday.

Out of the top 20 ranks, students from CBSE stream cornered 13 while 2 went to ICSE students, while State Board students managed only 5 ranks  a concern that those who opposed CBSE syllabus-based NEET.

Counselling for special category will be held at Government Super Multi-Speciality Hospital in Omandurar Estate on Thursday, and counselling for general category will begin from Friday and will go on at the same venue till September 4.

As it held that Tamil Nadu could not be given exemption, the Supreme Court had directed authorities here to finish counselling by that day, extending the deadline by four days. With little time left, the candidates have been informed about the counselling both by way of phone call and SMS, said an official.

In all, there are 3,534 MBBS seats in government quota, including those in the 22 government medical colleges and Rajah Muthiah Medical College, besides 102 seats surrendered to the All India Quota. Of these, approximately 2,224 seats go to State Board students, and the rest 1,310 to other boards, said health secretary J Radhakrishnan.

Of the 31,629 candidates, who applied for counselling, 27,212 were eligible. Among these, 23,830 students are from State Board with the rest hailing from other boards. The numbers show that 3,016 State Board students have not qualified in NEET, a substantially high number when compared to 63 candidates from all other boards combined.

There are 5,636 students, who completed Class 12 last year or earlier, who have applied for government seats, while 5.083 old students applied for management quota seats. This is much higher than the figure last year  3,266. This year, counselling for the management seats in self-financing colleges too would be conducted by the State government. The Directorate of Medical Education has uploaded the rank list on www.tnhealth.org. Candidates, who did not receive call or SMS, can check the rank list and attend counselling if their name is on the list, officials said.

CHENNAI: After being on hold for weeks while the State optimistically pursued efforts to get exemption from the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, Tamil Nadu finally released the provisional rank list for medical admissions based on the national test here on Wednesday. Out of the top 20 ranks, students from CBSE stream cornered 13 while 2 went to ICSE students, while State Board students managed only 5 ranks  a concern that those who opposed CBSE syllabus-based NEET. Counselling for special category will be held at Government Super Multi-Speciality Hospital in Omandurar Estate on Thursday, and counselling for general category will begin from Friday and will go on at the same venue till September 4. As it held that Tamil Nadu could not be given exemption, the Supreme Court had directed authorities here to finish counselling by that day, extending the deadline by four days. With little time left, the candidates have been informed about the counselling both by way of phone call and SMS, said an official. In all, there are 3,534 MBBS seats in government quota, including those in the 22 government medical colleges and Rajah Muthiah Medical College, besides 102 seats surrendered to the All India Quota. Of these, approximately 2,224 seats go to State Board students, and the rest 1,310 to other boards, said health secretary J Radhakrishnan. Of the 31,629 candidates, who applied for counselling, 27,212 were eligible. Among these, 23,830 students are from State Board with the rest hailing from other boards. The numbers show that 3,016 State Board students have not qualified in NEET, a substantially high number when compared to 63 candidates from all other boards combined. There are 5,636 students, who completed Class 12 last year or earlier, who have applied for government seats, while 5.083 old students applied for management quota seats. This is much higher than the figure last year  3,266. This year, counselling for the management seats in self-financing colleges too would be conducted by the State government. The Directorate of Medical Education has uploaded the rank list on www.tnhealth.org. Candidates, who did not receive call or SMS, can check the rank list and attend counselling if their name is on the list, officials said.
By Express News Service

AG Perarivalan, one of the life-term convicts in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, has been granted parole for 30 days by the Tamil Nadu government.

A letter by Niranjan Mardi, Additional Chief Secretary to Government, to the Deputy Inspector General of Prisons, Vellore, cited the health condition of the convict's father and instructed that he 'should be provided with strong police escort during the period of leave.'

This is the first time he has been granted parole since his arrest as a 19-year-old just days after Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991. Perarivalan aka Arivu has spent over 26 years in prison, much more than he has lived outside.

Arivu's mother AG Arputham had filed several petitions with the Chief Ministers special cell, seeking the release of her son on parole to meet his ailing, aged and bedridden father, and she was finally granted the request. The ordinary leave has been granted as per rule 19 of the Tamil Nadu Suspension of Sentence Rules 1982.



Reacting to the news, Perarivalans sister, Anbumani, who works as an assistant engineer in the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), Krishnagiri, said, We will fully believe it only after he actually comes out. A year back, they said he would be released and we were happy beyond words. But it never happened. This time we are more cautious but we cant help but be excited about the possibility.

In March 2016, the State government had decided to release all seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assasination case after they had served 24 years in prison. However, the Supreme Court ruling later that year held that State governments cannot unilaterally decide on the grant of remission to life-term convicts in cases investigated by central agencies like the CBI.

Anbumani, who had got married three months after Perarivalan was sent to prison, says, My son is now 25 years old and he has never seen my brother except in jail. When he was just 20 days old, we took the baby to prison for my brother to see."

Our father cannot walk; hes bedridden. He is even weaker mentally since he has not seen his son in 26 years. We are extremely happy about the news. My family and I are leaving right away from Krishnagiri to our parents house in Jolarpettai, said Perarivalans younger sister, D Arivuselvi.

She said that in the 26 years that he has been incarcerated, her brother had come out of prison only once to be admitted in hospital after he was attacked inside the jail.

Perarivalan sustained grievous injuries to his head, hands and knees and was admitted to the Government Medical College Hospital in Adukkumbarai on September 13, 2016 after he was reportedly attacked by a life convict named Rajesh Kanna in Vellore Central prison.

Perarivalan's death sentence, along with that of fellow convicts Murugan and Santhan, was commuted to life imprisonment in 2014.

Besides the AIADMK, parties like PMK and DMK have been actively rallying for the release of the convicts.

MK Stalin, DMK working president, said in a tweet, Perarivalans release on parole is a welcome move. His parole should be extended based on his need and wishes. At the same time, based on humanitarian grounds and the procedures followed in other countries, the Centre and State must take measures to release Perarivalan permanently, without delay.

AG Perarivalan, one of the life-term convicts in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, has been granted parole for 30 days by the Tamil Nadu government. A letter by Niranjan Mardi, Additional Chief Secretary to Government, to the Deputy Inspector General of Prisons, Vellore, cited the health condition of the convict's father and instructed that he 'should be provided with strong police escort during the period of leave.' This is the first time he has been granted parole since his arrest as a 19-year-old just days after Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991. Perarivalan aka Arivu has spent over 26 years in prison, much more than he has lived outside. Arivu's mother AG Arputham had filed several petitions with the Chief Ministers special cell, seeking the release of her son on parole to meet his ailing, aged and bedridden father, and she was finally granted the request. The ordinary leave has been granted as per rule 19 of the Tamil Nadu Suspension of Sentence Rules 1982. Reacting to the news, Perarivalans sister, Anbumani, who works as an assistant engineer in the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), Krishnagiri, said, We will fully believe it only after he actually comes out. A year back, they said he would be released and we were happy beyond words. But it never happened. This time we are more cautious but we cant help but be excited about the possibility. In March 2016, the State government had decided to release all seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assasination case after they had served 24 years in prison. However, the Supreme Court ruling later that year held that State governments cannot unilaterally decide on the grant of remission to life-term convicts in cases investigated by central agencies like the CBI. Anbumani, who had got married three months after Perarivalan was sent to prison, says, My son is now 25 years old and he has never seen my brother except in jail. When he was just 20 days old, we took the baby to prison for my brother to see." Our father cannot walk; hes bedridden. He is even weaker mentally since he has not seen his son in 26 years. We are extremely happy about the news. My family and I are leaving right away from Krishnagiri to our parents house in Jolarpettai, said Perarivalans younger sister, D Arivuselvi. She said that in the 26 years that he has been incarcerated, her brother had come out of prison only once to be admitted in hospital after he was attacked inside the jail. Perarivalan sustained grievous injuries to his head, hands and knees and was admitted to the Government Medical College Hospital in Adukkumbarai on September 13, 2016 after he was reportedly attacked by a life convict named Rajesh Kanna in Vellore Central prison. Perarivalan's death sentence, along with that of fellow convicts Murugan and Santhan, was commuted to life imprisonment in 2014. Besides the AIADMK, parties like PMK and DMK have been actively rallying for the release of the convicts. MK Stalin, DMK working president, said in a tweet, Perarivalans release on parole is a welcome move. His parole should be extended based on his need and wishes. At the same time, based on humanitarian grounds and the procedures followed in other countries, the Centre and State must take measures to release Perarivalan permanently, without delay.
By PTI

ISLAMABAD: Around 50 million people in Pakistan's Indus Valley are at the risk of arsenic poisoning due to an "alarmingly high" level of contamination in water, a study has warned.

'Extensive arsenic contamination in high-pH unconfined aquifers in the Indus Valley' was published yesterday in the journal of Science Advances.

It said that using a new data set of nearly 1200 groundwater quality samples throughout Pakistan, the researchers created state-of-the-art hazard and risk maps of arsenic-contaminated groundwater.

Previous studies have found that there has been considerable arsenic contamination in other South and East Asian countries, for example, India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Vietnam, researchers said.

"We estimate that approximately 50 to 60 million people use groundwater within the area at risk, with hot spots around Lahore and Hyderabad," it said.

The study further noted that this number is alarmingly high and demonstrates the urgent need for verification and testing of all drinking water wells in the Indus Plain, followed by appropriate mitigation measures.

It said that the hazard model indicates that much of the Indus Plain is likely to have elevated arsenic concentrations, although the rest of the country is mostly safe.

Unlike other arsenic-contaminated areas of Asia, the arsenic release process in the arid Indus Plain appears to be dominated by elevated-pH dissolution, resulting from alkaline topsoil and extensive irrigation of unconfined aquifers, although pockets of reductive dissolution are also present.

It also reported that arsenic-contaminated aquifers are currently estimated to affect 150 million people around the world.

"However, the full extent of the problem remains elusive.

This is also the case in Pakistan, where previous studies focused on isolated areas," it said.

Lubna Bukhari of government-run Council for Research in Water Resources said that arsenic contamination was a major concern.

"We are trying to address the issue by providing antiarsenic filter to villagers in areas badly hit by the menace," she said.

Arsenic is naturally occurring and kills human cells causing skin lesions, organ damage, heart disease and cancer.

There is no cure for arsenic poisoning.

ISLAMABAD: Around 50 million people in Pakistan's Indus Valley are at the risk of arsenic poisoning due to an "alarmingly high" level of contamination in water, a study has warned. 'Extensive arsenic contamination in high-pH unconfined aquifers in the Indus Valley' was published yesterday in the journal of Science Advances. It said that using a new data set of nearly 1200 groundwater quality samples throughout Pakistan, the researchers created state-of-the-art hazard and risk maps of arsenic-contaminated groundwater. Previous studies have found that there has been considerable arsenic contamination in other South and East Asian countries, for example, India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Vietnam, researchers said. "We estimate that approximately 50 to 60 million people use groundwater within the area at risk, with hot spots around Lahore and Hyderabad," it said. The study further noted that this number is alarmingly high and demonstrates the urgent need for verification and testing of all drinking water wells in the Indus Plain, followed by appropriate mitigation measures. It said that the hazard model indicates that much of the Indus Plain is likely to have elevated arsenic concentrations, although the rest of the country is mostly safe. Unlike other arsenic-contaminated areas of Asia, the arsenic release process in the arid Indus Plain appears to be dominated by elevated-pH dissolution, resulting from alkaline topsoil and extensive irrigation of unconfined aquifers, although pockets of reductive dissolution are also present. It also reported that arsenic-contaminated aquifers are currently estimated to affect 150 million people around the world. "However, the full extent of the problem remains elusive. This is also the case in Pakistan, where previous studies focused on isolated areas," it said. Lubna Bukhari of government-run Council for Research in Water Resources said that arsenic contamination was a major concern. "We are trying to address the issue by providing antiarsenic filter to villagers in areas badly hit by the menace," she said. Arsenic is naturally occurring and kills human cells causing skin lesions, organ damage, heart disease and cancer. There is no cure for arsenic poisoning.
By ANI

BEIJING: China on Thursday accused India of contradicting its words with actions after New Delhi decided to build a road around 20 km near Pangong Lake in Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), and warned that such a development would only worsen the on-going two-month-long stand-off in Doklam.



"It seems according to the reports the Indian side is slapping its own face. The Indian side is closely following China's road-building recently but India's actions themselves have proven that the Indian side says something and does another. Its words are in complete contradiction to its deeds in terms of border issues," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told Chinese media on Thursday.



Stating that Indias move was not "conducive" to peace in the region, Hua said the western sector of the boundary, where India plans to build a road, is not delimited".



Indian Home Ministry has approved the building of a road from Marsimik La to Hot Spring in Ladakh near Pangong Lake along the LAC - the site of a recent scuffle between Indian and Chinese troops.



On the Doklam standoff, Hua Chunying reiterated "the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all the trespassing personnel and equipment serves as the prerequisite and basis for the settlement of this incident.

"The two sides have agreed to uphold border areas' peace and tranquility before disputes are settled. The current road construction by the Indian side is not conducive to peace and stability in that area," Hua said.



Hua also said the project "will not help with settlement of the current situation". The India-China stand-off at Doklam, near the Sikkim-Tibet-Bhutan tri-junction began when China started constructing a road in the area. India objected to the road construction after the Chinese troops ignored Bhutanese protests, triggering the faceoff from June 16.

BEIJING: China on Thursday accused India of contradicting its words with actions after New Delhi decided to build a road around 20 km near Pangong Lake in Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), and warned that such a development would only worsen the on-going two-month-long stand-off in Doklam. "It seems according to the reports the Indian side is slapping its own face. The Indian side is closely following China's road-building recently but India's actions themselves have proven that the Indian side says something and does another. Its words are in complete contradiction to its deeds in terms of border issues," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told Chinese media on Thursday. Stating that Indias move was not "conducive" to peace in the region, Hua said the western sector of the boundary, where India plans to build a road, is not delimited". Indian Home Ministry has approved the building of a road from Marsimik La to Hot Spring in Ladakh near Pangong Lake along the LAC - the site of a recent scuffle between Indian and Chinese troops. On the Doklam standoff, Hua Chunying reiterated "the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all the trespassing personnel and equipment serves as the prerequisite and basis for the settlement of this incident. "The two sides have agreed to uphold border areas' peace and tranquility before disputes are settled. The current road construction by the Indian side is not conducive to peace and stability in that area," Hua said. Hua also said the project "will not help with settlement of the current situation". The India-China stand-off at Doklam, near the Sikkim-Tibet-Bhutan tri-junction began when China started constructing a road in the area. India objected to the road construction after the Chinese troops ignored Bhutanese protests, triggering the faceoff from June 16.
By AFP

RUSSIA: NATO accused Russia Thursday of "undermining stability and security in Europe" through its "aggressive behaviour".

"We have worked actively to forge a strategic partnership with Russia" since the Cold War, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told a defence and peace meeting in Italy.

"However, the aggressive behaviour of Russia has undermined stability and security in Europe," he added.

The 2014 incursion of pro-Russian forces into eastern Ukraine and Russia's annexation of Crimea have strained ties with the west to the limit.

In response, NATO has bolstered its presence in eastern European countries that are now allies but were once ruled from Moscow.

Stoltenberg described Russia's "illegal annexation of Crimea" as "the first time since World War II that a European nation had taken the territory of another country by force.

"Russia continues to destabilise Eastern Ukraine. It is a conflict in which nearly 10,000 Ukrainians have been killed and this has changed the security context enormously," he said.

But the NATO chief said he was not looking for a confrontation with Russia and that he strongly believed in dialogue.

The alliance has deployed multinational battalions to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland as NATO seeks to reassure them they will not be abandoned in any fresh crisis.

RUSSIA: NATO accused Russia Thursday of "undermining stability and security in Europe" through its "aggressive behaviour". "We have worked actively to forge a strategic partnership with Russia" since the Cold War, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told a defence and peace meeting in Italy. "However, the aggressive behaviour of Russia has undermined stability and security in Europe," he added. The 2014 incursion of pro-Russian forces into eastern Ukraine and Russia's annexation of Crimea have strained ties with the west to the limit. In response, NATO has bolstered its presence in eastern European countries that are now allies but were once ruled from Moscow. Stoltenberg described Russia's "illegal annexation of Crimea" as "the first time since World War II that a European nation had taken the territory of another country by force. "Russia continues to destabilise Eastern Ukraine. It is a conflict in which nearly 10,000 Ukrainians have been killed and this has changed the security context enormously," he said. But the NATO chief said he was not looking for a confrontation with Russia and that he strongly believed in dialogue. The alliance has deployed multinational battalions to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland as NATO seeks to reassure them they will not be abandoned in any fresh crisis.
By PTI

LONDON: A 43-year-old Pakistan-born man with an Italian passport has been sentenced to 18 years in prison in the UK for trying to smuggle a pipe bomb onto a plane at Manchester Airport.

Nadeem Muhammad had been convicted of possessing explosives with intent to endanger life at Manchester Crown Court earlier this month.

Judge Patrick Field, sentencing at the court yesterday, concluded there was no obvious motivation for Muhammad's actions.

During his trial, prosecutors had presented evidence that Muhammad intended to detonate the device on a Boeing 737 flight to Bergamo, Italy.

The jury did not believe Muhammad's claim in court that he had never seen the device before.

"Despite extensive investigation, Nadeem Muhammad's motive for attempting to take this device onto a plane remains unknown. However it is clear that the consequences, had he been successful, could have been disastrous," said Sue Hemmings from the UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

The court was told that Muhammad was planning to board a Ryanair flight to Italy on January 30 this year when security officers uncovered the device, made of masking tape, batteries, the tube of a marker pen, pins and wires, in the zip lining of his small green suitcase.

Security officers at the airport had not initially believed the bomb was viable and, after being questioned by counter-terrorism police, Muhammad was released and allowed to board another flight to Bergamo, near Milan, five days later.

The device was later passed on to counter terrorism experts for examination, who found it to be a "potentially viable" bomb containing nitroglycerin and nitrocellulose.

Muhammad was eventually arrested when he returned to the UK from Italy on February 12.

After sentencing, the judge said he was "alarmed" about some of the evidence in the case and about "the lack of concern" expressed by both airport officials and police.

"Airport security staff reached a wholly erroneous and potentially dangerous conclusion - as a result one member of staff even put the device in her pocket and tested it in the shoe X-ray machine," he said.

He said that had "put herself and fellow employees and members of public at risk".

"The situation was compounded when the police became involved because they too readily accepted it wasn't dangerous and an early opportunity to arrest him was missed."

Judge Field said there was "a risk he (Muhammad) could have escaped justice altogether" and it was "good luck rather than good judgement" that "this matter came to a satisfactory conclusion".

He noted: "In these dangerous times there is no room for complacency and I hope security at Manchester Airport will be subject to a review at the highest level."

A Manchester Airport spokesperson said: "Security is our number one priority and we work closely with (the) government, police and other agencies to provide passengers with a safe and secure environment.

Nadeem Muhammad (AP)

"In this instance, our security team successfully detected a device hidden inside the lining of a suitcase. It was deemed to be a suspicious item and passed to police to investigate further.

"These actions prevented a potentially dangerous item being taken on board an aircraft and, ultimately, to a successful prosecution," the spokesperson said.

Greater Manchester Police Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson said the airport and police have reviewed their security procedure

LONDON: A 43-year-old Pakistan-born man with an Italian passport has been sentenced to 18 years in prison in the UK for trying to smuggle a pipe bomb onto a plane at Manchester Airport. Nadeem Muhammad had been convicted of possessing explosives with intent to endanger life at Manchester Crown Court earlier this month. Judge Patrick Field, sentencing at the court yesterday, concluded there was no obvious motivation for Muhammad's actions. During his trial, prosecutors had presented evidence that Muhammad intended to detonate the device on a Boeing 737 flight to Bergamo, Italy. The jury did not believe Muhammad's claim in court that he had never seen the device before. "Despite extensive investigation, Nadeem Muhammad's motive for attempting to take this device onto a plane remains unknown. However it is clear that the consequences, had he been successful, could have been disastrous," said Sue Hemmings from the UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The court was told that Muhammad was planning to board a Ryanair flight to Italy on January 30 this year when security officers uncovered the device, made of masking tape, batteries, the tube of a marker pen, pins and wires, in the zip lining of his small green suitcase. Security officers at the airport had not initially believed the bomb was viable and, after being questioned by counter-terrorism police, Muhammad was released and allowed to board another flight to Bergamo, near Milan, five days later. The device was later passed on to counter terrorism experts for examination, who found it to be a "potentially viable" bomb containing nitroglycerin and nitrocellulose. Muhammad was eventually arrested when he returned to the UK from Italy on February 12. After sentencing, the judge said he was "alarmed" about some of the evidence in the case and about "the lack of concern" expressed by both airport officials and police. "Airport security staff reached a wholly erroneous and potentially dangerous conclusion - as a result one member of staff even put the device in her pocket and tested it in the shoe X-ray machine," he said. He said that had "put herself and fellow employees and members of public at risk". "The situation was compounded when the police became involved because they too readily accepted it wasn't dangerous and an early opportunity to arrest him was missed." Judge Field said there was "a risk he (Muhammad) could have escaped justice altogether" and it was "good luck rather than good judgement" that "this matter came to a satisfactory conclusion". He noted: "In these dangerous times there is no room for complacency and I hope security at Manchester Airport will be subject to a review at the highest level." A Manchester Airport spokesperson said: "Security is our number one priority and we work closely with (the) government, police and other agencies to provide passengers with a safe and secure environment. Nadeem Muhammad (AP)"In this instance, our security team successfully detected a device hidden inside the lining of a suitcase. It was deemed to be a suspicious item and passed to police to investigate further. "These actions prevented a potentially dangerous item being taken on board an aircraft and, ultimately, to a successful prosecution," the spokesperson said. Greater Manchester Police Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson said the airport and police have reviewed their security procedure
By Associated Press

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration is poised to impose visa restrictions on four Asian and African nations refusing to take back their citizens who've been deported from the United States, officials said Thursday.

The officials said Cambodia, Eritrea, Guinea and Sierra Leone would soon be subject to sanctions. They're meant to coax "recalcitrant" countries into accepting the return of individuals the U.S. tries to remove. Under federal law, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson can stop all or specific types of visas from being issued to such nations.

Tillerson isn't likely to ban all visas, the officials said. Rather, he would target government officials and their families, as the U.S. has done previously. The officials were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. They wouldn't say when Tillerson would act.

The Homeland Security Department said Wednesday it had recommended the State Department take action against four nations out of a dozen it considers recalcitrant. The agency didn't name the countries.

Asked for comment, the State Department confirmed it received the Homeland Security Department's notification. It also wouldn't identify the nations by name, saying only that each one has "refused to accept or unreasonably delayed the return of its nationals." It will make public the exact penalties after affected governments are informed.

"Our goal is to get countries to agree to accept the return of their nationals," DHS spokesman Dave Lapan told reporters.

The State Department has been traditionally reluctant to impose visa sanctions because affected countries often retaliate through reciprocal restrictions on U.S. citizens and officials. The measures have only been imposed twice before, against Guyana and The Gambia.

DHS currently identifies China, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, Iran, Guinea, Cambodia, Eritrea, Burma, Morocco, Hong Kong and South Sudan as being recalcitrant in accepting deportees from the U.S.

It was not immediately clear why only Cambodia, Eritrea and Guinea were selected for the sanctions or why Sierra Leone, which was last identified as "at risk" for recalcitrance, was included.

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration is poised to impose visa restrictions on four Asian and African nations refusing to take back their citizens who've been deported from the United States, officials said Thursday. The officials said Cambodia, Eritrea, Guinea and Sierra Leone would soon be subject to sanctions. They're meant to coax "recalcitrant" countries into accepting the return of individuals the U.S. tries to remove. Under federal law, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson can stop all or specific types of visas from being issued to such nations. Tillerson isn't likely to ban all visas, the officials said. Rather, he would target government officials and their families, as the U.S. has done previously. The officials were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. They wouldn't say when Tillerson would act. The Homeland Security Department said Wednesday it had recommended the State Department take action against four nations out of a dozen it considers recalcitrant. The agency didn't name the countries. Asked for comment, the State Department confirmed it received the Homeland Security Department's notification. It also wouldn't identify the nations by name, saying only that each one has "refused to accept or unreasonably delayed the return of its nationals." It will make public the exact penalties after affected governments are informed. "Our goal is to get countries to agree to accept the return of their nationals," DHS spokesman Dave Lapan told reporters. The State Department has been traditionally reluctant to impose visa sanctions because affected countries often retaliate through reciprocal restrictions on U.S. citizens and officials. The measures have only been imposed twice before, against Guyana and The Gambia. DHS currently identifies China, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, Iran, Guinea, Cambodia, Eritrea, Burma, Morocco, Hong Kong and South Sudan as being recalcitrant in accepting deportees from the U.S. It was not immediately clear why only Cambodia, Eritrea and Guinea were selected for the sanctions or why Sierra Leone, which was last identified as "at risk" for recalcitrance, was included.
By AFP

MIAMI: US Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday vowed the US would not allow "the collapse of Venezuela," saying such an event would "endanger" countries in the wider region.

"The collapse of Venezuela will endanger all who call the Western Hemisphere home," Pence said in remarks delivered before some 600 people at a Catholic church in Doral, the heart of Miami's Venezuelan community.

"We cannot and will not let that happen," he said, adding that "working with our allies in the Latin American region, the US will confront and overcome all who dare to threaten our wellbeing."

He emphasized that Venezuela's "collapse" would "drive more illegal drug trafficking with its murderous consequences" - a notion his boss President Donald Trump has also pushed.

The vice president gave his speech just back from his tour last week of Colombia, Argentina, Chile and Panama. Venezuela was among the key issues discussed.

The country has spiralled into political and economic chaos, threatening regional stability. Clashes between protesters and police this year have left 125 people dead, according to prosecutors.

In Miami Pence did not raise the spectre of military action, which Trump has evoked.

Pence insisted that the US would not make decisions unilaterally: "America first does not mean America alone."

US Senator Marco Rubio and Florida Governor Rick Scott also spoke, reiterating their pledge to ban companies in the southeastern state from doing business with Venezuelan firms.

According to 2015 census data, some 273,000 Venezuelans live in the United States -- nearly half of them in Florida, and most in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

MIAMI: US Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday vowed the US would not allow "the collapse of Venezuela," saying such an event would "endanger" countries in the wider region. "The collapse of Venezuela will endanger all who call the Western Hemisphere home," Pence said in remarks delivered before some 600 people at a Catholic church in Doral, the heart of Miami's Venezuelan community. "We cannot and will not let that happen," he said, adding that "working with our allies in the Latin American region, the US will confront and overcome all who dare to threaten our wellbeing." He emphasized that Venezuela's "collapse" would "drive more illegal drug trafficking with its murderous consequences" - a notion his boss President Donald Trump has also pushed. The vice president gave his speech just back from his tour last week of Colombia, Argentina, Chile and Panama. Venezuela was among the key issues discussed. The country has spiralled into political and economic chaos, threatening regional stability. Clashes between protesters and police this year have left 125 people dead, according to prosecutors. In Miami Pence did not raise the spectre of military action, which Trump has evoked. Pence insisted that the US would not make decisions unilaterally: "America first does not mean America alone." US Senator Marco Rubio and Florida Governor Rick Scott also spoke, reiterating their pledge to ban companies in the southeastern state from doing business with Venezuelan firms. According to 2015 census data, some 273,000 Venezuelans live in the United States -- nearly half of them in Florida, and most in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
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: Nandan Nilekani was on Thursday appointed as the chairman of the board of directors of Infosys. Sweeping changes have been made to the board in an attempt to restore stability after the resignation of Vishal Sikka as CEO, and a bitter rift between Narayana Murthy and the board came to the fore.In regulatory filing, the company said that R. Seshasayee had resigned as the Chairman of the Board and director. The filing also said that Vishal Sikka had resigned as Executive Vice-Chairman, and Ravi Venkatesan as Co-Chairman of the Board. Jeffrey Lehman and John Etchemendy have also resigned as directors.Infosys said its board of directors has unanimously approved Nilekanis appointment, terming him an iconic leader."Happy to return to Infosys, now in the role of non-executive chairman. Look forward to working with my colleagues on the Board... Thank Vishal Sikka for his service as the CEO of Infosys over the last three years and wish him well in his future endeavors," Mr Nilekani said on his appointment.The resignations brought about a near-complete overhaul of the 9-member Infosys board, meeting key and persistent demands of the founders led by Murthy.A dozen institutional investors, including HDFC Asset Management, ICICI Prudential Asset Management and Birla SunLife Asset Management  who together own roughly 10 per cent of Infosys shares  also wrote to the Board seeking return of Nilekani, arguing that he enjoyed the confidence of clients, shareholders and employees.Nilekani is a co-founder of Infosys, and served as its CEO between March 2002 to April 2007.He left the company in 2009 to head the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the Aadhaar authority. Sixty-two-year-old Nilekani held the role until 2014, before resigning to unsuccessfully contest Lok Sabha elections on a Congress ticket from Bengaluru (South).The Nilekani family has a 2.29 percent stake in Infosys as per the quarter ended June this year.In a shocking development last week, CEO Vishal Sikka tendered his resignation to the Board. In his resignation letter, Sikka cited continuous distractions and disruptions", as the reason for his resignation, an apparent reference to Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy.In an email to Infosys employees, Sikka referred to increasingly personal attacks against him. I cannot carry out my job as CEO and continue to create value, while also constantly defending against unrelenting, baseless/malicious and increasingly personal attacks, Sikka said in the letter which he later shared on his blog.Murthy and a few former Infosys executives have for months waged a public battle against the board of Infosys, accusing it of corporate governance lapses.Disagreements between the two sides included the rise in Sikka's compensation, the acquisition of Israeli automation firm Panaya for $200 million and a severance package offered to a former finance chief.


See through register with denominational numeral 2002



Latent image with denominational numeral 2003



Denominational numeral  in Devnagari



Portrait of Mahatma Gandhi at the centre



Micro letters RBI, , India and 200



Windowed security thread with inscriptions  and RBI with colour shift



Colour of the thread changes from green to blue when the note is tilted



Guarantee Clause, Governors signature with Promise Clause and RBI emblem towards right of Mahatma Gandhi portrait



Denominational numeral with Rupee Symbol,  200 in colour changing ink (green to blue) on bottom right



Ashoka Pillar emblem on the right 10. Mahatma Gandhi portrait and electrotype (200) watermarks



Number panel with numerals growing from small to big on the top left side 2 and bottom right side



For the visually impaired, raised printing of Mahatma Gandhi portrait, Ashoka Pillar emblem, raised Identification mark H with micro-text 200, four angular bleed lines with two circles in between the lines both on the right and left sides





Here is a look at the Rs 200 note that is to be released by @RBI tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/LJCEz7hNEH

 News18 (@CNNnews18) August 24, 2017



Year of printing of the note on the left



Swachh Bharat logo with slogan 15



Language panel



Motif of Sanchi Stupa



Denominational numeral  in Devanagari script



A new banknote of Rs 200 denomination will be introduced into public circulation on Friday, the Reserve Bank of India said in a statement. All other denominations will continue to remain legal tender.The Reserve Bank of India will issue on August 25, 2017 Rs 200 denomination banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series, bearing signature of Dr. Urjit R. Patel, Governor, Reserve Bank of India from select RBI offices, and some banks, a statement released by the Central Bank said on Thursday.The new denomination has the image of the Sanchi Stupa on the reverse, depicting the countrys cultural heritage. The base colour of the note is bright yellow and other geometric patterns aligning with the overall colour scheme will be on both sides of the bank note. The dimensions of the banknote will be 66 mm  146 mm.On the front side the note will have:
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the central governments argument that right to privacy is an elitist concept and that the poor need food and shelter, not privacy.



In what is going to weaken the governments case when the debate on validity of Aadhaar will commence, the nine-judge bench has rejected the submission made by its Attorney General K K Venugopal that a social welfare scheme such as Aadhaar will pass the muster only because it ensures benefits to the people.



The AG had stated that in a developing country where millions of people are denied the basic necessities of life and do not even have shelter, food, clothing or jobs, no claim to a right to privacy as a fundamental right would lie.



But Justice Rohinton F Nariman, in his separately authored verdict, trashed this argument. First and foremost, we do not find any conflict between the right to life and the right to personal liberty. Both rights are natural and inalienable rights of every human being and are required in order to develop his/her personality to the fullest, he said.



The judge held that the right to life and the right to personal liberty go hand-in-hand, with the right to personal liberty being an extension of the right to life.



A large number of poor people that Shri Venugopal talks about are persons who in todays completely different and changed world have cell phones, and would come forward to press the fundamental right of privacy, both against the Government and against other private individuals, emphasized Justice Nariman.



He wondered why the government saw an antipathy between the rich and the poor in this context. The judge noted that the AGs statement was particularly in the background of Aadhaar.



It seems to us that this argument is made through the prism of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, by which the Aadhaar card is the means to see that various beneficial schemes of the Government filter down to persons for whom such schemes are intended, he said.



Justice Nariman, however, said that the nine-judge bench has not been constituted to look into the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar Act, but it has been constituted to consider a much larger question, namely, that the right of privacy would be found, inter alia, in Article 21 in both life and personal liberty by rich and poor alike primarily against State action.



This argument (by the government) again does not impress us and is rejected, he held.
Lucknow: The report submitted to the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath after inquiry by the chief secretary has said that the death of children in Gorakhpurs BRD hospital was not due to the lack of oxygen.



The report by Chief Secretary Rajive Kumar put the blame for the deaths of children on 10th and 11th August instead on corruption.



The 27-page report said, The medical college authorities were indulged in corruption, seeking commissions for suppliers, and need to be punished. They withheld the payment to the oxygen suppliers despite having sufficient funds at their disposal.



Post the incident, Adityanath had visited the hospital and ordered a probe by a four-member committee headed by Kumar. The committee has now submitted its report to the government on Tuesday, post which government was seeking legal opinion before finally a case was registered against then Principal BRD Medical College Dr Rajiv Mishra, HOD, Anesthesia, Dr Satish, Incharge, AES ward, Dr Kafeel Khan, and Liquid Oxygen supplier Pushpa Sales at Hazratganj Police Station in Lucknow.



Charges of negligence, corruption, private practise and different acts of Indian Medical Council Act have been included in the FIR.



The report also said the BRD Medical College had surrendered Rs 2.50 crore to the government on March 31 at the end of financial year as unused funds, but did not clear the dues of the gas supplier.



As per the report, despite many reminders from the gas supplier, the college authorities did not clear the dues as they wanted higher commission.



The report said, They pretended that the payments could not be done as the government had not released the funds while the facts was that they had surrendered the funds and created an artificial paucity of funds to mount pressure on the supplier.



The report also mentioned that additional chief secretary, medical education, Anita Bhatnagar Jain had visited BRD Medical College before the CM's visit on August 9 and after coming back to Lucknow, cleared the pending payments to avoid any crisis of oxygen supply.



The report found that many a times before the situation which led to the deaths, BRD medical college authorities have created a false crisis of liquid oxygen in the hospital, so that they can purchase oxygen cylinders and earn some more commission from the suppliers.



On 10th and 11th of August 2017, the liquid oxygen supplier stopped the supply and the pressure in supply line to the wards started going down which in turn caused an alarm, the report said.



The BRD hospital authorities then started using the gas cylinders they had to ensure supply of oxygen through pipelines to the patients. This ensured that there was no shortage of oxygen to ailing patients. This took three hours on August 10-11 and during this period not a single death was reported at the hospital ICUs, the report said.



The report also said, There were dozens of other patients in the ICUs, but none of them except children suffered. The average number of kids' death in the months of July and August this year has been the same as previous years.



The same data and record was also given by Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh, after the BRD Hospital incident.
Lucknow: The age old injustice of barring lower castes from entering temples has long been banned, but in Uttar Pradeshs Hamirpur district, it still continues in letter and in spirit. Dalits from Gadaha village in the district have been told not to step outside their homes for 10 days because people belonging to the upper castes are holding a Ramayana Paath at the village temple.



When the dalits tried to attend the prayers, they were not only pushed out but the priest also put up a formal notice outside the Ram Janaki Temple, barring their entry. The diktat told dalits they cant enter the temple because they are not pure and should stay inside their houses for ten days till the Akhand Ramayana paath is underway.



Although the notice was removed after pressure from the district administration, entry of dalits remains prohibited. People from upper castes are guarding the temple premises with sticks and rods to make sure that no dalit dares to enter during the prayer meet.



The move has sparked tension and the district administration has said it will conduct a probe.



Temple priest Kunwar Bahadur Singh admitted he had banned the entry of dalits by placing the sign-board. He said he was forced to do it because they mostly come to the temple drunk. On a plank we had written that those who are not pure by karma and consume meat or alcohol should not come to the temple, because a Ramayana path is going on here, he said.



Singh said that the temple land was his ancestral property and the practice of stopping the entry of dalits was not a new one. He said he was just following his tradition.



Dalits in the village said that the Ramayana Paath was just an excuse and they are not allowed to enter the temple even on other days. They said they are forced to offer prayers from outside the temple gate.



Raju Sahu, a dalit, said he was beaten and was forced out of the temple when he tried to attend the ongoing path. Another dalit, Neelam, said they are not allowed to participate in any kind of festival or religious function by the upper caste people in the village as they feel it would bring misfortune upon them.



Speaking to ETV News18, deputy district collector Suresh Kumar Mishra assured that proper action will be taken if anyone was found guilty in the case. He said he has sent a team from the revenue department to gather the details. Proper investigation will be done after investigating the matter. Nobody can stop anyone from entering the temple. It is a crime, he said.
Todays digital world has brought forward far more new challenges than we could think of. One of the key challenges in the digital world is trying to protect your privacy, from the prying eyes of the state and non-state actors. Hence, the relevance of privacy and its protection becomes far more topical in the context of digital ecosystem.



The Supreme Court of India has come up with a landmark, historic judgment. By means of the said progressive judgment, it has now been categorically held that the right to privacy is a fundamental right which is intrinsically an integral part of Article 21 of the Constitution of India and is amenable to all the protections guaranteed to such fundamental right by the Constitution of India. The effect of this 9-Judge Bench judgment is that this judgment categorically decides once and for all the existing legal position on privacy in India. This position is applicable to the concept of privacy, both in the physical world as also in the virtual and electronic world.



Why is the judgment so important?



This judgment is so important because India has never had a dedicated law on privacy. For lack of political will or otherwise, Indian legislators have refrained from coming up with the dedicated legislation on privacy. However, some work was done on draft privacy legislation by Department of Personnel & Training, Government of India a few years back, but said draft Privacy Bill went nowhere. Even the Indian Cyberlaw being the Information Technology Act, 2000 has failed to provide any adequate legal provisions to protect and preserve privacy. No wonder, the mother legislation on the digital format in India has chosen not to be a privacy law and hence does not have any detailed or comprehensive parameters for protecting privacy.



In the context of a digital and mobile ecosystem, privacy is already an evaporating concept. State and non-state actors are continuing to evade upon the privacy of digital users and netizen community on their own free will. In this context, the present judgment comes in as a breath of fresh air by upholding the right to privacy as a fundamental right under the Indian Constitution. T he Supreme Court, as the guardian angel of the Indian Constitution, has given a loud and clear message that the pure stream of ideals, for which the Indian Constitution stands, will continue to permeate every area of human activity and endeavor and that no state action will be allowed to impede or violate those constitutional provisions.



The net effect of the Supreme Court judgment is that any state action which is violative of an individual or persons right to privacy can be challenged in the writ jurisdiction. The challenge can be preferred either before the Supreme Court under Article 32 or before the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. The net effect of this judgment is that in case if the digital privacy of a person is impacted by state action, the same can always be challenged in Court of law. This judgment effectively gives an effective, potent and efficacious legal remedy in the hands of digital citizens. The said judgment once again brings to the forefront the need for the Government to only interfere with the fundamental right to privacy of a person, in accordance with the procedure established by law. The said judgment has been given keeping in mind the current day ground realities. This becomes further evident when the following paragraphs of the judgment actually mirror the existing ground realities.



Statutory provisions that deal with aspects of privacy would continue to be tested on the ground that they would violate the fundamental right to privacy, and would not be struck down, if it is found on a balancing test that the social or public interest and the reasonableness of the restrictions would outweigh the particular aspect of privacy claimed. If this is so, then statutes which would enable the State to contractually obtain information about persons would pass muster in given circumstances, provided they safeguard the individual right to privacy as well.



The Supreme Court has re-emphasized the challenges of removing information from the Internet. The court has stated that the impact of the digital age results in information on the internet being permanent. Humans forget, but the internet does not forget and does not let humans forget. Any endeavor to remove information from the internet does not result in its absolute obliteration. The foot prints remain. It is thus, said that in the digital world preservation is the norm and forgetting a struggle.



Hence, it becomes all the more important for the privacy of a person to be protected and declared as a fundamental right.



This judgment has ushered in a new era of privacy protection and has signaled to the entire world the stand taken by the Indian Apex court that the privacy of Indian citizens is sacrosanct and needs to be guaranteed by the Indian Constitution as a fundamental right. It will be interesting to examine the present judgment in every area of human activity and endeavor in India in the coming times.



The author is an advocate, Supreme Court of India, and an expert on Cyberlaw, Cyber Security Law & Mobile Law. He can be contacted at his email addresses pavan@pavanduggal.com and pavanduggal@yahoo.com
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday said even news reports of a celebritys sexual relations amount to breach of privacy as it highlighted that the Right to Privacy could be violated not only by the government but also by private entities.



Dismissive of the 'big brother' attitude, Justice Sanjay K Kaul noted "something interesting is happening" as internet users have created information far more than humanity ever created before the advent of the 'world wide web'.



"Uber knows our whereabouts and the places we frequent. Facebook at the least, knows who we are friends with. Alibaba knows our shopping habits. Airbnb knows where we are travelling to," said the judge, who was a part of the concurring verdict on acknowledging privacy as a fundamental right.



All the information, the judge noted, were available with these entities although Uber, the worlds largest taxi company, owns no vehicles.



"Facebook, the worlds most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory. And Airbnb, the worlds largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate," wondered Justice Kaul.



He pointed out that as we move towards becoming a digital economy and increase our reliance on internet-based services, we are creating deeper and deeper digital footprints  passively and actively.



"These digital footprints and extensive data can be analyzed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, and associations, especially relating to human behavior and interactions and hence, is valuable information," said the judge.



Justice Kaul said that collation of all such information leads to creation of 'big data' which can then be exploited for targeted advertising.



"Knowledge about a person gives a power over that person. The personal data collected is capable of affecting representations, influencing decision making processes and shaping behaviour. It can be used as a tool to exercise control over us like the big brother State exercised," he said.



And this, Justice Kaul held, can have a stultifying effect on the expression of dissent and difference of opinion, which no democracy can afford.



Supporting views of Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justice Kaul said the situation warranted unprecedented need for regulation regarding the extent to which such information can be stored, processed and used by non-state actors. There is also a need for protection of such information from the State.



"Our Government was successful in compelling Blackberry to give to it the ability to intercept data sent over Blackberry devices. While such interception may be desirable and permissible in order to ensure national security, it cannot be unregulated," he added.



Citing the popular fiction '1984' by George Orwell, the judge said that what the writer had created as a fictional State can become a reality.



"The technological development today can enable not only the state, but also big corporations and private entities to be the big brother," cautioned Justice Kaul.
Kolkata: The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) Chief Bimal Gurung on Thursday sent a letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee requesting her to initiate a political dialogue to end the Darjeeling crisis.



Hinting at the failure of the Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA) and Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), Gurungs letter says, No other alternative or modified bodies will do justice to our plight and apathy of being lumped with any other arrangement other than creation of a separate state of Gorkhaland.



Under the current situation we request your honour to initiative a political dialogue on the long-pending demand of the Gorkhas wish is Gorkhaland to help to resolve the present crisis in Darjeeling, the letter adds.



Calling the GTA only an interim arrangement, the letter says, The two failed councils (GTA and DGHC) today should pave ways for us to learn from our previous mistakes that experimental models to temporarily curb peoples aspiration for separation from West Bengal has not worked in the past nor the present. In the tripartite MoU  GTA was only to be an interim arrangement and that we have not dropped our demand for Gorkhaland.



The GJM - while claiming that deaths in Darjeeling during movement happened due to police action  has demanded CBI or Judicial inquiry into the matter.



We also want compensation for the victims (injured and killed both) family members, restoration of food supplies and essential commodities, restoration of internet, cable TV and local TV channel. We also demand that all cases (old or new) filed against the agitators should be withdrawn and those who were arrested or detained should be released immediately, he said.



He said, I would like to appeal the state government to take appropriate measures to address all the issues raised by us to ensure normalcy in Darjeeling so that the people of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Siliguri Terai and Dooars can get their rightful due.



The GJM is, however, yet to release an official statement whether they are going to participate in the all party on August 29 or not.



For the last two months, Darjeeling has been under indefinite strike as Morcha leaders are demanding for a separate state of Gorkhaland. Series of violent protests reported in these two months and several people were killed in a clash with the police.
The US Embassy has issued an advisory to its citizens in Punjab and Haryana ahead of the verdict in a rape case against controversial Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on Friday. the two states are on edge with an estimated one lakh dera supporters assembling in Panchkula, defying a call by the Punjab and Haryana High Court to leave the area.

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New Delhi: The new Nepalese PM Sher Bahadur Deuba is on his first visit abroad to India after assuming office. It will be his fourth state visit to India though. It is virtually a norm now for the new head of government in Nepal to make his maiden visit to New Delhi. But over the last couple of years, with a rough patch seen in the relations between Kathmandu and New Delhi and Beijing aggressively wooing Nepal, it is wise to not take things for granted.



The Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang was in Nepal earlier this month even before New Delhi could meet the PM Deuba after he assumed office for the fourth time. He flew straight from Pakistan where he was the chief guest at the 70th Independence Day function. The visit to Nepal assumed greater significance as it took place in the backdrop of the stand-off between India and China over Doklam. Sources though denied that China officially briefed Nepal on the issue. According to them there has only been informal sharing of views.



While speaking to News 18, the Nepalese Ambassador to India Deep Kumar Upadhyay said, Nepal is a neutral country. It is in favour of reconciliation in a peaceful manner. Nepal respects sentiments linked to territorial sovereignty of nations. The small nation wedged between two Asian giants clearly wants to steer clear of taking sides as it believes it shares a unique relationship with both.



China has also been aggressively pursuing projects under One Belt One Road (OBOR) or Belt Road Initiative (BRI) with Nepal. India had boycotted the OBOR summit in Beijing in May this year but Nepal did participate. Sources in Nepal however said it is wary of indebtedness and will carefully see that cost meets benefit before jumping into any project.



While China tries to make further inroads into Nepal, India too is keen to show Kathmandu that it cherishes the relations based on historical, geographic and cultural affinity between the two. Sources say both sides have left behind the bitterness of the alleged blockade in 2015 over the Madhesi issue and are now once again focusing on implementing past understandings.



Both sides are expected to give due consideration to issues related to water management. This becomes especially crucial at a time when both Nepal and India are reeling under floods. Nepal will push for speedier implementation of work on Pancheshwar hydropower project. The other projects it is pushing for are Karnali and Arun projects.



Meanwhile, on Wednesday the union cabinet gave its nod for a new bridge on the India-Nepal border over Mechi river. An MoU will be signed between India and Nepal for laying down the modalities concerning the bridge. Mechi bridge is expected to not only improve connectivity but also improve trade. Trade imbalance is another concern Nepal has been vocal about. Nepalese ambassador to India Deep Kumar Upadhyay said, Trade gap must be mitigated. Nepali products should get free access to the big India markets. And no formal or informal hurdles should be allowed.



With these issues at hand, the two Prime Ministers will be meeting at Hyderabad House today. PM Sher Bahadur Deuba will also visit Hyderabad, Tirupati and Bodh Gaya.
Beijing: China on Thursday said India has slapped its own face by deciding to build a road near Pangong Lake in Ladakh and it would only worsen the Doklam dispute.



Beijing said the western sector of the boundary where India plans to build a road is not delimited. It warned that the move was not conducive to peace in the region.



India's Home Ministry has reportedly approved the building of a road from Marsimik La to Hot Spring in Ladakh. Marsimik La is about 20 km from Pangong Lake, where Indian and Chinese troops scuffled last week.



India and China have a dispute over the Line of Actual Control in the western sector of Ladakh.



"It seems that the Indian side is slapping its own face," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said reacting to the development.



"The Indian side is closely following China's road building, but India's action itself has proven that the Indian side says something and does another," she added.



"Its words are complete contradictions to its deeds on the border issues," she added.



"Now, the current road construction in that area by the Indian side is not conducive to peace and stability in that area."



"It will not help with settlement of the current situation," Hua said referring to the Doklam crisis.



"I should stress that the western section of the China-India boundary has not been delimited and the two sides have agreed to uphold peace and tranquillity before the disputes are settled," Hua said.



Indian and Chinese troops have been engaged in a standoff at Doklam in the Sikkim section for the past three months, which has led to escalation in bilateral tensions.



The dispute began when India stalled the construction of a Chinese road in Doklam, which lies in the tri-junction of India, China and Bhutan. Bhutan has also protested China's road building activity in its territory.



New Delhi perceives the Chinese road in Doklam a threat as the region is very close to its Siliguri corridor which connects India's northeast with rest of the country.



The 3,488 km de facto India-China border is divided into three sectors: west, middle and east.
CNN-News18's @deepab18 spoke to original petitioner & retired judge K S Puttaswamy, listen in to what he has to say on the Centre's argument pic.twitter.com/UeXoaE6Cr2  News18 (@CNNnews18) August 24, 2017

The Supreme Courts on Thursday declared Right to Privacy a fundamental right on a petition filed by retired Karnataka High Court judge and original petitioner in the case Justice KS Puttaswamy.Justice Puttaswamy had filed the writ petition in the case in 2012 and subsequently fought against mandatory Aadhaar enrolment.Speaking to News18 ahead of the historic verdict, Puttaswamy said, What will be the parameters of the judgment is anybodys guess. While an eight-judge bench had declared that privacy is not a fundamental right, I would say it should be a fundamental right, but with restrictions."If there is a legislation put forward by the central government, it will solve 90% of the problems, not all problems, but most of them, Puttaswamy added.He also acknowledged the fact that the verdict is sure to create a huge stir across the nation, just as it did two days ago when the apex court declared instant triple talaq as unconstitutional.Right to Privacy has assumed an uncharted flight. I never contemplated it would comprehend so many things, but the judges may write a good judgment. It will be a memorable one for him (the one writing the judgment)," said Puttaswamy.The contentious issue had emerged when the apex court was dealing with a batch of petitions challenging the Centre's move to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing benefits of various social welfare schemes.Initially, on July 7, a three-judge bench had said that all issues arising out of Aadhaar should finally be decided by a larger bench and the Chief Justice of India would take a call on the need for setting up a Constitution bench. The matter was then mentioned before CJI Khehar who set up a five-judge Constitution bench to hear the matter. However, the five-judge constitution bench on July 18 decided to set up a nine-judge bench to decide whether the right to privacy can be declared a fundamental right under the Constitution.The decision to set up the nine-judge bench was taken to examine the correctness of two apex court judgments delivered in the cases of Kharak Singh and MP Sharma, decided by six and eight judge benches, respectively, in which it was held that this right was not a fundamental right. While the Kharak Singh judgment was delivered in 1960, the MP Sharma verdict was reported in 1950.The high-voltage hearing saw a battery of senior lawyers, including Attorney General KK Venugopal, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, Arvind Datar, Kapil Sibal, Gopal Subaramaniam, Shyam Divan, Anand Grover, CA Sundaram and Rakesh Dwivedi, advancing arguments either in favour or against the inclusion of right to privacy as a fundamental right.
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced that there will be no immersion of Goddess Durga idols on October 1 due to the Muharram procession.



The Chief Minister made the announcement after meeting with puja organizers and Muharram committee members in Kolkata on Wednesday.



The decision was taken to maintain communal harmony and the law and order situation. There are people who may try to instigate people if we allow immersion on Muharram. They will try to disturb the communal harmony and we will not allow that to happen in Bengal, Mamata said.



I would like to instruct all senior police officers to make necessary arrangements in order to ensure a peaceful festive season. If someone tries to post fake picture on social media, police will take stern action against them. This has become a menace. I would like to request all people in Bengal to be very cautious about such fake posts. I know there are people who will try to instigate others during Puja and I have given free hand to police to take necessary action, she said.



Mamata has asked all district administration to inform Durga Puja committees and Muharram committees that there will be no idol immersion on October 1 (due to Muharram). They were also asked to inform Muharram committees to maintain peace during the procession.



On September 30 there will be Bijoya Dashami and on October 1, Muslim brothers will observe Muharram. Therefore, immersion will take place on October 2 and will continue till October 4. On October 5, all Puja organisers were asked to remove their pandals, posters, and banners, she said.



This is not the first time when immersion day was rescheduled due to Muharram in Bengal.



Last year, on October 6  a single-member bench of Justice Dipankar Dutta said that there should not be any decision which could pit one community against another, and that intolerance would rise in the event of such arbitrary decision of the government.



The court had said, We live in difficult times and it would be dangerous to mix politics with religion. There has been a clear endeavour on the part of the state government to pamper and appease the minority section of the public at the cost of the majority section without there being any plausible justification. The reason, therefore, is not far to seek.



In 2016, idol immersion fell on October 11 and the Muharram procession took place on October 12. Then, the government to appease the Muslims, rescheduled the immersion day. It is surprising that despite courts order, she once again restricted immersion due to Muharram. We condemn the announcement made by the government, BJP State Secretary, Sayantan Basu said.
It was not only the interpretation of the Indian Constitution and the international laws that prompted the nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court to elevate privacy as a fundamental right, inhering in every aspect of life and liberty.Justice S A Bobde, the second senior-most judge on the bench, highlighted how religious and mythological scriptures recognized privacy as a crucial right since time immemorial. Striking a distinct chord, the judge referred to Ramayana, Arthashashtra, Hadith and Christianity to assert the value of this right.Even in the ancient and religious texts of India, a well-developed sense of privacy is evident. A woman ought not to be seen by a male stranger seems to be a well-established rule in the Ramayana, said Justice Bobde, adding the Arthashastra prohibits entry into anothers house without the owners consent.Grihya Sutras, he said, prescribe the manner in which individual should build ones house so as to protect the privacy of its inmates and preserve its sanctity during the performance of religious rites, or when studying the Vedas or taking meals.Justice Bobde pointed out there is still a community, Ramanuj Sampradaya, in southern India, members of which continue to observe the practice of not eating and drinking in the presence of anyone else.Similarly in Islam, peeping into others houses is strictly prohibited, said the judge. He drew a parallel between the United States Fourth Amendment that guarantees privacy in ones papers and personal effects and the Hadith (discretions of Prophet Muhammad as described by his followers) which makes it reprehensible to read correspondence between others.In a separately authored judgment, Justice Bobde said: In Christianity, we find the aspiration to live without interfering in the affairs of others in the text of the Bible. Confession of ones sins is a private act.The judge emphasized that religious and social customs affirming privacy also find acknowledgment in our laws. For example, in the Civil Procedure Codes exemption of a pardanashin ladys appearance in Court, he underlined.According to Justice Bobde, privacy os a basic pre-requisite for exercising the liberty and the freedom to perform a desired activity and that the inability to create a condition of selective seclusion will deny an individual the freedom to exercise that particular liberty or freedom necessary to do that activity.He underscored that privacy is about the right to be let alone and it pre-supposes a condition to have the power to seclude oneself and keep others from intruding it in any way. These intrusions may be physical or visual, and may take any of several forms including peeping over ones shoulder to eavesdropping directly or through instruments, devices or technological aids, added the judge.The right and the need to privacy, Justice Bobde said, is not lost even in a public space. In fact, a conglomeration of individuals in a space to which the rights of admission are reserved  as in a hotel or a cinema hall must be regarded as private. Nor is the right to privacy lost when a person moves about in public, he said.
New Delhi: Definitional uncertainty is no reason why privacy cannot be recognized as a fundamental right, said the Supreme Court on Thursday, as it held that this right will develop on a case to case basis.



Justice J Chelameswar, in his judgment, dismissed the Central governments argument that privacy could not be construed as a fundamental right since it is an amorphous concept and there could be no defined contours of it.



Definitional uncertainty is no reason to not recognize the existence of the right of privacy, noted the judge, adding that there are various facets of privacy and any of them could be so essential for the liberty of the human being that the right must be accorded constitutional protection.



In my opinion, there is no need to resolve all definitional concerns at an abstract level to understand the nature of the right to privacy. The ever growing possibilities of technological and psychological intrusions by the State into the liberty of SUBJECTS (people) must leave some doubt in this context, said Justice Chelameswar.



The senior judge on the nine-judge bench underlined that man is not a creation of State and that life and liberty are such natural and inalienable rights that they existed even without the Constitution formally granting these rights.



Constitution only stipulates the limitations on the power of the State to interfere with our life and liberty. Law is essential to enjoy the fruits of liberty; it is not the source of liberty and emphatically not the exclusive source, he said.



According to Justice Chelameswar, the right to privacy is certainly one of the core freedoms which is to be defended and that it is part of liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.



He said: I do not think that anybody in this country would like to have the officers of the State intruding into their homes or private property at will or soldiers quartered in their houses without their consent. I do not think that anybody would like to be told by the State as to what they should eat or how they should dress or whom they should be associated with either in their personal, social or political life. Freedom of social and political association is guaranteed to citizens.



His view was supported by Justice S A Bobde, who also held that apprehensions that the recognition of privacy would create complications for the state in its exercise of powers is not well-founded. The declaration of a right cannot be avoided where there is good constitutional ground for doing so, he said.



Justice Rohinton F Nariman specifically rejected Attorney General K K Venugopals argument that the right to privacy is so vague and amorphous a concept that it cannot be held to be a fundamental right.



This again need not detain us. Mere absence of a definition which would encompass the many contours of the right to privacy need not deter us from recognizing privacy interests when we see them. As this judgment will presently show, these interests are broadly classified into interests pertaining to the physical realm and interests pertaining to the mind, stated the judge.



Justice Nariman gave three illustrations in the Indian context. He said that a fundamental right to privacy would cover at least the following three aspects: 1) Privacy that involves the person i.e. when there is some invasion by the State of a persons rights relatable to his physical body, such as the right to move freely; 2) Informational privacy which does not deal with a persons body but deals with a persons mind, and therefore recognizes that an individual may have control over the dissemination of material that is personal to him. Unauthorised use of such information may, therefore lead to infringement of this right; and 3) The privacy of choice, which protects an individuals autonomy over fundamental personal choices.



And all this can be read into one fundamental right or another. The argument based on privacy being a vague and nebulous concept need not, therefore, detain us, held the judge.



Justice Nariman was also of the opinion that the fundamental right of privacy, which has so many developing facets, can only be developed on a case to case basis.



Another judge on the bench, Justice A M Sapre concurred with these judges. I also hold that the right to privacy has multiple facets, and, therefore, the same has to go through a process of case-to-case development as and when any citizen raises his grievance complaining of infringement of his alleged right in accordance with law, he held.



Justice Sanjay K Kaul noted that some people do not attach importance to their privacy cannot be the basis for denying recognition to the right to privacy as a basic human right.



How it thereafter works out in its inter-play with other fundamental rights and when such restrictions would become necessary would depend on the factual matrix of each case. That it may give rise to more litigation can hardly be the reason not to recognize this important, natural, primordial right as a fundamental right, he said.


Srinagar: Locals from the Ramhal area of Handwara broke out in a massive protest on Thursday night after reports said that an alleged terrorist killed by security forces in Hafrada forest was a local third-year student.



Family members say that Shahid left home around 5 pm on Monday to purchase household items from a shop at Tarathpora, a few hundred yards from the house, when he disappeared.



We came to know on Tuesday that while he was returning back home, an Army vehicle picked him up and hes been missing since then, said a family member, who added that theyve even put up posts on social media asking for any information on Shahid.



We received a phone call around 4 pm on Wednesday to identify a body at Vilgam Army camp. When we went there, we found the bullet-riddled body of our son Shahid.



Family members were adamant that Shahid was not even remotely connected to militancy and was a regular student at a degree college in Handwara.



After news of Shahids death broke out, hundreds gathered in the area and amid pro-freedom slogans, started marching towards Tarathpora. The protestors placed the body of the slain youth at Tarathpora Chowk and refused to lay him to rest.



While the police said they were investigating the case, but as a precautionary measure have closed colleges in the area. Some schools in Baramulla have also been closed.



Meanwhile, the Army intensified searches in Handwara forest.



Inspector General of Police (Kashmir Zone), Muneer Khan said, He was a civilian. When the Army launched the operation on Wednesday, it was said that a terrorist was killed. But now it is being learnt that he was not a terrorist. How was he there? And with whom, is subject to investigation. There is no doubt that he is a civilian. He has been killed in cross-fire or something of that sort.
Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday granted a 30-day parole to AG Perarivalan, one of the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.



The parole was granted solely on humanitarian grounds to allow Perarivalan to meet his ailing and bedridden father. This is the first time he has been let out of jail since his arrest in 1991 as a 19-year-old.



His mother, Arputhammal, had been constantly lobbying for his parole. His plea was backed by many political parties, including the DMK and the PMK.



The parole was given on the orders of the additional chief secretary. Perarivalan will be escorted by a strong police presence throughout the period of leave, police said.



MK Stalin, working president of DMK welcomed the decision and said, The Tamil Nadu government has to take action to release him from jail permanently. PMK founder Dr Ramdoss also urged the state government to release all convicts permanently.



The Tamil Nadu prison authorities had earlier rejected his 30-day leave application on the grounds that he was sentenced under Central Acts and could not be granted parole under the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Suspension of Sentence Rules, 1982.



Perarivalan was arrested on 11 June, 1991 and charged with providing a 9-volt battery for the explosive device to assassination conspirator Sivarasan. He was initially given the death penalty, but it was commuted to life imprisonment by the Supreme Court in 2014.



His parole comes after another life convict in the case, Nalini, moved the Madras High Court seeking parole for six months after the jail authorities rejected her application. In her petition, Nalini said that as per law, she was entitled to avail a one-month parole once every two years.



She said she had not taken any leave during her 26-year jail term. The Madras High Court had issued notices to the state government to examine her petition.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India, over the past three days, delivered two landmark verdicts that will change the discourse of Indian civil society.



On Thursday, a 9-bench bench, led by Chief Justice JS Khehar, handed out the historic verdict, declaring privacy a fundamental right. Two days ago, on Tuesday, a 5-judge constitutional bench ruled that instant triple talaq was unconstitutional.



While apex courts decision protected and extended individual liberty, politics stood out as divided as ever.



On Thursday, as the Supreme Court ruled in favour of right to privacy as a fundamental right, the ruling party was quiet for hours. When CNN-News18 reached out, a top government official said, We are still analyzing the verdict.



More than four hours later, law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad welcomed the judgement, but he hastened to add that government has been of the view that privacy is a fundamental right, but it should be subject to reasonable restrictions.



He also questioned Congresss stand on privacy: The Congress-led UPA had brought in Aadhaar without any law. What is Congresss record of protecting individual records?



PM Narendra Modi, who had welcomed triple talaq verdict on Twitter, chose not to react to the privacy judgement till the time this story was written. BJP president Amit Shah also remained silent on the issue. Shah had held a press conference and hailed the instant talaaq verdict, hyphenating it with PMs call for New India.



During the hearing, representing the government, the Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had said that Indians did not even have absolute rights to their own bodies and that right to privacy was only meant for developed nations.



Interestingly, Congress which was embarrassed by its leading legal luminary Kapil Sibals defence of triple talaq on behalf of All India Muslim Personal Law Board, was quick to field former finance minister P Chidambaram on Thursday to claim instant victory on Privacy verdict.



Today, we can once again celebrate our freedom. This verdict is a setback to the government, Chidambaram said at a media briefing.



Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said the SC decision marked a major blow to fascist forces.



Ironically, Sibal approached the SC once again on triple talaq on behalf of Muslim personal law board. The apex court, however, refused to hear the matter.
What is the Supreme Court judgment on #RightToPrivacy case is all about? CNN-News18's @utkarsh_aanand is here to explain you. pic.twitter.com/6oz2xkrUV4  News18 (@CNNnews18) August 24, 2017

The Supreme Court is all set to rule on Thursday whether the Right to Privacy is a fundamental right in India. A nine-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar will define the contours of privacy in India and the judgment is likely to have wide-ranging implications in our lives. Here is all you need to know about the case:Is the Right to Privacy a fundamental right that should get Constitutional protection? Privacy has been recognized as a right but elevating it to the status of a fundamental right would mean making it a right cherished under the Indian Constitution, which cannot be taken away even by making a law. If privacy becomes a fundamental right, state actions can be challenged before constitutional courts as a matter of absolute right.It was during the debate on Aadhaar when a clutch of petitioners arguing against this scheme contended that collection of biometric data and their sharing are in contravention of their Right to Privacy. While they said privacy is a natural fundamental right, the Central government called it an elitist concept.The government has argued something as amorphous as privacy cannot become a fundamental right. Another argument is that when the country has millions of people below the poverty line seeking food and shelter, privacy cannot be exulted as a fundamental right as it would scuttle social welfare schemes, in particular those that are regulated through Aadhaar now.A six-judge bench in 1954 and then an eight-judge bench in 1962 held that privacy is not a fundamental right but it is a common law right, whose violation can be compensated by damages. So when the petitioners in Aadhaar case asserted privacy as a fundamental right, the government said only a nine-judge bench could reconsider and assess the wisdom of what has already been ruled by the eight-judge bench.Aadhaar is the bedrock of all social welfare measures and other schemes, even including filing of income tax returns. Sharing or leakage of Aadhaar date is a dangerous proposition as biometrics like iris and fingerprints of individuals can be misused in crimes and other uncivil acts. Apart from this, sharing of messages, photos, etc, shared between two persons using mobile phones is also an aspect of privacy and a service provider cannot legitimately get access to them and use them for other purposes.If the nine-judge bench on Thursday rules that privacy is a fundamental right, the Aadhaar case goes back to a five-judge bench. The five-judge bench will then examine whether the scheme of collection and storage of data under the Aadhaar is an aspect of individuals right to privacy and if so, does Aadhaar breaches privacy.Besides Aadhaar, criminalisation of homosexuality under Section 377 of the IPC can be one of the things that could get affected by the SC verdict. Homosexual relationship between consenting adults is indeed a matter of privacy and if it becomes a fundamental right, validity of the penal provision will come under scrutiny for trampling upon this right. Also, the indifferent sharing of personal information by financial institutions and telemarketeers may also not pass the muster if privacy is assigned the status of a fundamental right.
#RightToPrivacy: Why do we have a bench with as many as 9 judges hearing the case? CNN-News18's @utkarsh_aanand is here to explain you. pic.twitter.com/RfkKYcRUkt  News18 (@CNNnews18) August 24, 2017

The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the Right to Privacy is a fundamental right in India. The verdict came just three days ahead of Chief Justice of India (CJI) JS Khehars retirement on August 27. The verdict was pronounced by a nine-judge constitutional bench headed by the CJI. Meet the judges who gave this historic verdict:Jagdish Singh Khehar is the 44th Chief Justice of India and the first person from the Sikh community to hold the top post in the apex court. He succeeded Chief Justice TS Thakur on January 4, 2017. Khehar had been involved in major judgments in the past few years, including the 2G spectrum scam case and the case against Sahara chief Subrata Roy. He was elevated to the Supreme Court on September 13 2011, prior to which he served as the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court. He is set to retire this Sunday.Justice Jasti Chelameswar, the third most senior judge in the Supreme Court after the CJI and Justice Dipak Misra, was appointed to the apex court on October 10, 2011. Prior to being named to the Supreme Court, he served as the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court from May 2007 to March 2010 and Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court from March 2010 to October 2011. Justice Chelameswar, along with Justice RF Nariman, was part of the two-judge constitutional bench that heard the landmark Shreya Singhal v. Union of India case in 2015 and struck down the contentious Section 66 (A) of the Information Technology Act, which gave powers to the police to arrest anyone posting emails or electronic messages that cause annoyance or inconvenience.Justice Bodbe was elevated to the Supreme Court on April 12, 2013, prior to which he served as a judge in the Bombay High Court and Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. Justice Bobde was part of the three-judge bench, which also included Justice Chelameswar and Justice Chokkalingam Nagappan, in 2015 which clarified that no citizen of India without an Aadhaar card can be denied basic services and government services. During the Right to Privacy trial, Justice Bobde had asked Senior lawyer Gopal Subramanium, who is appearing for the petitioners, You are saying liberty, which includes privacy, is the bedrock of all rights. Subramanium responded by saying liberty was a pre-existing natural and inherent value that the Constitution has recognized.Justice RK Agrawal was appointed to the Supreme Court on February 17, 2014. In October 2013, he was appointed the acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court after his predecessor MY Eqbal was appointed to the Supreme Court.He was a senior counsel at the Supreme Court of India before being elevated as a judge in the apex court on 7 July 2014. Notably, Nariman also served as Indias solicitor-general between 27 July 2011 and 4 February 2013. Son of distinguished jurist Fali S Nariman, he began his legal career in 1979. The 60-year-old jurist became a senior counsel in the Supreme Court in 1993. He is also known as a scholar on the Zoroastrian faith. Justice Nariman, along with Justice Chelameswar, was part of the two-judge constitutional bench that heard the landmark Shreya Singhal v. Union of India case in 2015 and struck down the contentious Section 66 (A) of the Information Technology Act, which gave powers to the police to arrest anyone posting emails or electronic messages that cause annoyance or inconvenience. Justice Nariman was also on the five-judge bench that, by a 3:2 majority, struck down the practice of Talaq-e-Biddat or instant Triple Talaq earlier this week. During the Right to Privacy trials, Justice Nariman had asked senior counsel Gopal Subramanium, appearing for the petitioners, Your argument is that the constitutional right to privacy is much larger in dimension from the common law right to privacy, which is only confined to be left alone in my home, which is my castle?Justice AM Sapre was appointed to the Supreme Court on August 13, 2014 by then President Pranab Mukherjee. Prior to serving in the Supreme Court, Sapre served as the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court and also as the first ever Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court.Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud was appointed to the Supreme Court on May 13, 2016. Prior to that, he was the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court and a judge of the Bombay High Court. He is a known expert on human rights. During the current hearings, Justice Chandrachud had observed, Can this court define privacy? You cant make a catalogue of what constitutes privacy. Privacy is so amorphous and includes everything... if we make any attempt to catalogue privacy it will have disastrous consequences adding, If I decide to co-habit with my wife, police cant barge into my bedroom. Thats my privacy. Whether to send my children to school is not privacy because I have to send them to school under the Right to Education law. He also questioned the petitioners assertion that the right to privacy was non-negotiable. If people have put themselves in the public realm using technology, is that not a surrender of their right to privacy? he asked.Justice Kaul was appointed to the SC in February this year. He has earlier served as the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and later as the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court. He also served as a judge of the Delhi High Court. In 2008, during his time in the Delhi HC, he had rejected a petition against painter MF Hussain accusing him of obscenity in a painting. Pluralism is the soul of democracy. There should be freedom for the thought we hate. Freedom of speech has no meaning if there is no freedom after speech. The reality of democracy is to be measured by the extent of freedom and accommodation it extends, he had said while delivering his judgment.He was born in 1958 in Karnatakas Moodbidri. According to Udayavani, a Kannada newspaper, Nazeer completed his B.Com degree at Mahaveera College in Moodbidri before obtaining a law degree from SDM Law College. He enrolled as an advocate in 1983 before being elevated as an additional judge of the Karnataka High Court in 2003. He became a permanent judge of the Karnataka High Court on 24 September 2004. Nazeer was elevated to the Supreme Court in February 2017. He was the only Muslim judge on the multi-faith five-judge bench that struck down instant Triple Talaq.
New Delhi: In a landmark decision that will affect the lives of all Indians, the Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously declared that right to privacy was a fundamental right under the Constitution. A nine-judge Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar, ruled that "Right to Privacy is an intrinsic part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty under Article 21 and entire Part III of the Constitution".



The ruling on the highly contentious issue was to deal with a batch of petitions challenging the Centre's move to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing the benefits of various social welfare schemes.



Heres a look at how the case has progressed:



July 7: Three-judge bench says issues arising out of Aadhaar should finally be decided by larger bench and CJI would take a call on need for setting up a constitution bench.



July: Matter mentioned before CJI who sets up a five- judge constitution bench to hear the matter.



July 18: Five-judge constitution bench decides to set up a nine-judge bench to decide whether the right to privacy can be declared a fundamental right under the Constitution.



Nine-judge bench (Chief Justice J S Khehar, Justices J Chelameswar, S A Bobde, R K Agrawal, Rohinton Fali Nariman, Abhay Manohar Sapre, D Y Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and S Abdul Nazeer) constituted to hear the privacy matter.



July 19: Supreme Court says right to privacy can't be absolute, may be regulated.



July 19: Centre tells Supreme Court that right to privacy is not a fundamental right.



July 26: Karnataka, West Bengal, Punjab and Puducherry, the four non-BJP ruled states move Supreme Court in favour of right to privacy.



July 26: Centre tells Supreme Court that privacy can be fundamental right with some riders.



July 27: Maharashtra government tells Supreme Court that privacy is not a "standalone" right, but it is rather a concept.



August 1: Supreme Court says there has to be "overarching" guidelines to protect an individual's private information in public domain.



August 2: Supreme Court says protection of the concept of privacy in the technological era was a "losing battle", reserves verdict.



August 24: Supreme Court declares right to privacy as fundamental right under the Constitution.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled Right to Privacy as a fundamental right. The judgment of 547 pages set stage for many other cases to be debated upon by smaller benches.



Interestingly, one of the judges on the nine-judge bench, Justice DY Chandrachud, overruled a judgment which was passed by his father Justice YV Chandrachud in the famous ADM Jabalpur v/s Shivakant Shukla case of 1975.



In the case, Justice YV Chandrachud had said that the right to personal liberty has no hallmark and therefore when the right is put in action it is impossible to identify whether the right is one given by the Constitution or is one which existed in the pre-Constitution era.



Overruling his father, on Thursday, Justice DY Chandrachud said that judgments rendered by all four judges in the majority verdict in ADM Jabalpur case were seriously flawed.



Life and personal liberty are inalienable to human existence. These rights are, as recognized in Kesavananda Bharati, primordial rights. They constitute rights under natural law. The human element in the life of the individual is integrally founded on the sanctity of life, Justice DY Chandrachud said, as he wrote the historic judgment on Right to Privacy.



He added that dignity was, in fact, associated with liberty and freedom and that no civilized state can contemplate an encroachment upon life and personal liberty without the authority of law.



The power of the Court to issue a Writ of Habeas Corpus is a precious and undeniable feature of the rule of law, he said. It is rare instance in the history of Indian judiciary where a son has overruled his fathers judgment.



What is the ADM Jabalpur case?



During the case, the Supreme Court had debated on whether an order issued by the President under Article 395 (1) of the Constitution suspends the right of people to move any court for enforcement of right to liberty which falls under Article 21, when detained under a law that provides for preventive detention.



It all began when Justice Sinha of the Allahabad HC convicted then PM Indira Gandhi of having indulged in corrupt practices and declared her election invalid. Soon, facing increasing opposition pressure, she requested the President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed to declare a state of emergency, which he obediently did.



What soon followed were a string of detentions, many without trials or charges, including those of Moraji Desai, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Jayprakash Narayan, LK Advani, etc.


New Delhi: With the Supreme Court's ruling that the Right to Privacy is a fundamental right, intelligence agencies may be affected. In India, surveillance is carried out by central intelligence agencies. There are at least 16 different such agencies. Intelligence agencies in India are often established by executive order and most of them do not have clearly established oversight mechanisms other than the departments to which they report.



For example, CBI and RAW report to the Prime Minister's Office, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence reports to the Finance Ministry and the Military Intelligence agencies report to the Ministry of Defence. As such, intelligence agencies do not come under the purview of Parliament or the Right to Information Act, and their functioning is not subject to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General, though many agencies are funded from the Consolidated Fund of India. The following is a list of Indian intelligence agencies:



National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO)



The NTRO is a technical intelligence agency that answers to the National Security Advisor (NSA) and the Prime Ministers Office. It develops technology in aviation and remote sensing, data gathering and processing, cyber security, cryptology systems, strategic hardware and software development and strategic monitoring.



Research and Analysis Wing (RAW)



Established in 1968, RAW is the primary foreign intelligence gathering agency of India. It was set up after intelligence failure during the 1962 Indo-China war and the 1965 India-Pakistan war. In addition to counter-intelligence, the RAW also engages in counter-terror operations. Inputs gathered by RAW also play a major role in policy formation.



Electronics and Technical Services (ETS)



The ETS is the electronic intelligence gathering arm of RAW.



Intelligence Bureau (IB)



The IB predates even RAW and was set up in the year 1887 by the British Indian Government. It is the primary internal intelligence agency of India. The IB is tasked with gathering intelligence inputs from within India, particularly from border areas.



Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB)



The NCB is the primary drug enforcement agency of India. Its primary responsibility is to fight the trafficking of illegal drugs in the country. It was set up in 1986.



Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI)



The DRI is the Indian agency responsible for investigating and countering smuggling operations.



Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB)



The CEIB is responsible for gathering intelligence on economic and financial offences.



Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI)



The CBHI gathers information on broad range of indicators related to health status and health services in the country. It is under the purview of the Directorate General of Health Services.



Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)



The DIA, set up in 1961, is responsible for collecting and coordinating intelligence for the Armed Forces of India.



Joint Cipher Bureau (JCB)



This agency, which works in close coordination with both IB and RAW, is responsible for the encryption of sensitive intelligence data.



Signals Intelligence Directorate (SID)



The SID has intelligence officers from all three wings of the armed forces and it carries out monitoring of military links of other countries.



Directorate of Air Intelligence (DAI)



The DAI carries out air and satellite reconnaissance missions.



Directorate of Navy Intelligence (DNI)



This is the intelligence wing of the Indian Navy.



Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI)



This is the intelligence wing of the Indian Army.



Directorate of Income Tax (Intelligence and Criminal Investigation)



This is the intelligence arm of the Income Tax Department.



Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation (DGITI)



The DGITI is responsible for investigating tax law violations and it answers to the Ministry of Finance.



Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC)



The JIC is a coordinating agency that analyzes data from the IB, RAW, DMI, DNI and DAI.
New Delhi: With a historic judgment on right to privacy, Supreme Court of India has now set the stage for a re-look into its previous judgment on section 377. While pronouncing its order on the right to privacy, Supreme Court has set the stage for a re-look into the 2013 judgment which criminalised Indias LGBT community.



Discrimination against an individual on the basis of sexual orientation is deeply offensive to the dignity and self-worth of the individual, observed Justice DY Chandrachud in his judgment.



Another member of the nine-member bench, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, observed, It is an individuals choice as to who enters his house, how he lives and in what relationship. The privacy of the home must protect the family, marriage, procreation and sexual orientation which are all important aspects of dignity.



In fact Supreme Court judges on Thursday not only underlined a persons right to make love however they want to, in the privacy of their homes, they also castigated the 2013 Justice Koushal judgment.



The December 2013 judgment, the nine-member bench went on to state was having a chilling effect on a persons fundamental rights.



It poses a grave danger to the unhindered fulfilment of ones sexual orientation, as an element of privacy and dignity. The chilling effect is due to the danger of a human being subjected to social opprobrium or disapproval, as reflected in the punishment of crime. Hence the Koushal rationale that prosecution of a few is not an index of violation is flawed and cannot be accepted. Consequently, we disagree with the manner in which Koushal has dealt with the privacy  dignity based claims of LGBT persons on this aspect.



The bench also stated that, the family, marriage, procreation and sexual orientation are all integral to the dignity of the individual. Above all, the privacy of the individual recognises an inviolable right to determine how freedom shall be exercised. Privacy also connoted, the bench added, a right to be left alone.



The order has issued a new hope to Indians who have claimed a right to make love the way they want to, especially among the sexual minorities like the LGBT community.



So many of us were hopeful that Supreme Court will today uphold the right to privacy and give us a new hope. The state cannot criminalise how one wants to express themself. Supreme Court has given us hope that we have, within our space, the right to express ourselves the way we want to, allow us to make love the way we want to and with the person whom we want to. The justice Kaushal judgment was incompatible with our society, said Drubho, who is a member of, and regularly organizes, Delhi queer marches.



He added that todays judgment now will prevent the police, from barging into peoples bedrooms.



Members of the community, like write/activist Gautam Bhan, also said that the most important take-away from the judgment was how it underscored not just 'privacy' but 'dignity' as well.



"I think we are members of LGBT community are impacted as citizens of India first. I see today's judgment extending beyond "sexuality". At the same time for us the judgment, in opposition to the Koushal judgment, argues that sexual orientation is fundamental under article 14, 15 and 21 of the Indian constitution. That's very important to us as it speaks not just of privacy but of dignity as well. From the community today's order it is extremely welcome. To hear sexuality be spoken of once again, like the 2009 Naz judgment, is what the fight was all about."
#RightToPrivacy: What has been the Central government's stand in the case? CNN-News18's @utkarsh_aanand is here to explain the complex issue pic.twitter.com/JodqFBMTD9  News18 (@CNNnews18) August 24, 2017

The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the right to privacy is a fundamental right and the Union government end up up losing the argument.The Centre had submitted in SC that the right to life of millions of poor was much more important than the privacy concerns thus raised by the elite class. The argument went to an extent where attorney general KK Venugopal said that such privacy claims were not meant to be a priority in a country like India where a vast majority of citizens dont have access to basic needs.Strongly defending Aadhaar, he said the right to privacy cannot be invoked to scrap the scheme. With Rs 6,300 crore spent, the government categorically said there was no going back now.No need to recognise an independent right to privacy. It is more a sociological notion than jural concept, Attorney General K K Venugopal told the SC.The government said defining contours of privacy isn't possible. Privacy is as good a notion as pursuit of happiness, the AG said.Venugopal further said there was a reason why right to privacy was removed from Article 21, adding that rights under the latter were not absolute either. That is why we have a death penalty for gross crimes and incarceration of crime, the AG said.The contentious issue of Right to Privacy emerged when the apex court was dealing with a batch of petitions challenging the Centre's move to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing benefits of various social welfare schemes.Initially, on July 7, a three-judge bench had said that all issues arising out of Aadhaar should finally be decided by a larger bench and the Chief Justice of India would take a call on the need for setting up a Constitution bench. The matter was then mentioned before CJI Khehar who set up a five-judge Constitution bench to hear the matter.However, the five-judge constitution bench on July 18 decided to set up a nine-judge bench to decide whether the right to privacy can be declared a fundamental right under the Constitution.
Hope cheer leaders remember the govt aggressively opposed Privacy Right before Court. Shall await ministers congratulating the PM for this.  Salman Khurshid (@salman7khurshid) August 24, 2017

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Warning of institutions of democracy to government of PM Modi  Salman Khurshid (@salman7khurshid) August 24, 2017

Soon after the historic verdict on right to privacy, former minister Salman Khurshid said the verdict was a warning from the institutions of democracy to the government under Narendra Modi.In a scathing attack, Khurshid, who is also a senior advocate of the Supreme Court, took to Twitter and said that he was waiting for ministers to congratulate the PM for this.Hope cheer leaders remember the govt aggressively opposed Privacy Right before Court. Shall await ministers congratulating the PM for this., Khurshid tweeted.He added that privacy as a fundamental right has far reaching implications for the democracy.Celebrate the defeat of forces that wish to intrude in our lives, he added.Khurshid further went on to say that it was time to address gender justice across the board. The Supreme Court, in a landmark judgment, declared on Thursday that the Right to Privacy was a fundamental right and fell under the purview of Article 21 (Right to Life) of the Indian Constitution. The Right to Privacy, the Chief Justice said, was intrinsic to the right to life and was hence, a part of Article 21, part 3, of the Constitution of India.The ruling on the highly contentious issue was to deal with a batch of petitions challenging the Centre's move to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing the benefits of various social welfare schemes.Others members of the bench comprising Justices J Chelameswar, SA Bobde, RK Agrawal, RF Nariman, AM Sapre, DY Chandrachud, SK Kaul and S Abdul Nazeer also shared the same view.
Lucknow: In the second such case this month, a 15-year-old girl was chased and attacked by a stalker who chopped off her right hand with a sword in the states Lakhimpur district on Wednesday.



The victim was rushed to the medical college in Lucknow and told the police that the accused, identified as 19-year-old Rohit, had been stalking her for the last few days. She said she had not mentioned it to her family.



Rohit, who was arrested, reportedly lived in the same locality as the victim. He allegedly accosted and attacked the girl after she rebuffed his advances. He allegedly chopped off the victims hand with a sword, following which the people present overpowered him before he could attack the girl any further.



The crowd thrashed the accused and handed him over to the Sadar Kotwali police in Lakhimpur.



The incident comes days after a minor girl was stabbed to death by her alleged stalker in Balia while she was on her way to school.



The incidents have once again raised doubts on the effectiveness of Anti-Romeo squads that had been formed by the Yogi Adityanath government to check crime against women.
New Delhi: The Unique Identification Authority of India, the statutory body for Aadhaar, welcomed the Supreme Court judgment on Right to Privacy and said it strengthens fundamental rights and personal liberty.



The judgement reads that personal liberty is not an absolute right but liable to the restrictions provided in the Constitution which will be examined on a case-to-case basis. The Government is of the clear opinion that its legislation are compliant with the tests laid down in the judgement, sources in the UIDAI said in a statement to CNN-News18.



The Authority said that the apex court in its judgment said that what was required was a careful and sensitive balance between individual interests and the legitimate concerns of the state, which would include protecting national security, investigating and preventing crime, encouraging innovation and the spread of knowledge, and preventing the dissipation of social welfare benefits.



A nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the Right to Privacy as one protected by Article 21 of the Constitution of India, thus bringing it under the ambit of fundamental rights. The UIDAI said that the government welcomed this view, which is consistent with all the necessary safeguards that the government has been ensuring in its legislative proposals which had been approved by Parliament.



Sources in the authority added that personal liberty had a chequered history during previous Congress governments. Immediately after the Constitution was framed, the central government had maintained that personal liberty could be denied to an individual by any legislation irrespective of the reasonableness of that law.



The sources claimed that Congress governments had consistently argued that privacy was not a part of any constitutional guarantees. In fact, during the internal emergency when Article 21 was suspended, the Central Government had argued before the Supreme Court that a person could be killed and deprived even his life (let alone liberty) and he would still be remediless, the source added.



The UPA Government had introduced Aadhaar without any legislative support and it was in that context that the scheme was challenged in the courts. The NDA Government ensured that necessary legislation was approved by Parliament as a money bill. Adequate safeguards were also introduced, the source said.



In March 2016, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, while speaking on the Aadhaar Bill in the Rajya Sabha, had clearly stated that where the UPA Government had created an Aadhaar without any legislative support, the present government did exactly the opposite.



It gave a legislative support to Aadhaar and incorporated special safeguards with regard to privacy. It has also assured the Supreme Court that it would soon come out with a data protection law for which a committee headed by Justice Sri Krishna, a retired judge of the Supreme Court, had already been appointed.
Neon is a beauty buzzword at the moment, with vivid hues making waves everywhere from the red carpet to our Instagram feeds. And now it appears the trend is making its way to our eyelashes too.



A quick sweep of Instagram confirms that mascara is the latest beauty product to get a brightly-colored makeover, with brands such as L'Oreal Paris posting images of vibrant teal lashes for a party-friendly summer look.



The trend is popular editorially too, with fashion photographer Anaimram recently posting a picture she took on a Harper's Bazaar Mexico and Latin America shoot, which shows model Jordan Moon sporting spiky orange lashes. Photographer Christine Itel's recent shoot for Scorpio Jin Magazine also featured some striking yellow eyelashes.



The look is the natural evolution of an eye makeup trend that has been brewing on the catwalks for several seasons now.



July's haute couture shows featured rainbow combinations of eyeshadow from Chanel, while the Fall/Winter 2017 ready-to-wear shows were awash with the most vibrant shades of turquoise, pink, red and orange, courtesy of several designers including Leonard Paris, Fyodor Golan, Prabal Gurung, FentyxPuma and Versus Versace.



The look has been a hit with celebrities too, as the red carpet looks at this year's Teen Choice Awards in August proved, with Bella Thorne and Rita Ora both incorporating fluorescent hues into their beauty prep.



And it isn't just makeup that has seen something of a neon transformation of late -- dazzling colors are the latest trend when it comes to hairstyles too. The 'Rainbow hair' craze recently ramped up a level to incorporate even bolder hues, a look backed by Alicia Keys, who unveiled her fabulously vivid hair in summery shades of golden yellow, tangerine and hot pink earlier this summer. With so many options available, there's never been a better time to dabble in a bit of color.
All the biggest makeup brands are succumbing one by one to the temptation of collaborating with the hottest online beauty influencers to boost their star count, and August has been full of surprise announcements. Here are three influencers to keep an eye on this fall.



Nikkie de Jager



Dutch makeup artist and influencer Nikkie de Jager sent her 8.1 million Instagram followers into a spin last week when she announced her upcoming project with Maybelline. The social media star, who also boasts more than 7 million subscribers to her YouTube channel NikkieTutorials, has been lined up to host Maybelline's upcoming series 'I Make Up Like This' on the online video platform. The 10-part series will give 10 up-and-coming US makeup talents the chance to share the camera with de Jager, and will air in October on Maybelline's YouTube channel.



Jeffree Star



It has been a big summer for cosmetics entrepreneur Jeffree Star, who has over 5 million subscribers on YouTube and another 5 million on Instagram. Last week the controversial creative unveiled a packaging collaboration with Benefit that saw him feature on a limited-edition version of the brand's 'Roller Lash' mascara. The product launched on August 17, and is available on sephora.com and in Sephora stores across the US.



Jackie Aina



Beauty vlogger Jackie Aina has been a passionate advocate for stripping the beauty industry of prejudice since she first launched her YouTube channel, which now counts over 1.5 million subscribers. So it makes perfect sense that the influencer is joining forces with Too Faced to help the brand expand its 'Born This Way' foundation line. The star will assist the brand in creating darker hues of the foundation to suit a wider range of skin tones. Though a release date for the new products has yet to be announced, Aina has promised on Instagram that they will be available in the "near future". Keep your eyes peeled.
London and Paris have emerged the most expensive cities in Europe for students, while Budapest is the best choice for those on a shoestring budget.



That's according to a new report from online student housing site Uniplaces, which examined the cost of living in 15 cities across Europe.



Cash-strapped students looking to study or live abroad will want to consider Budapest, where they can live on 360 a month (USD $424).



How? The average cost for renting a room in an apartment is 249 a month, while the cost of food in the Hungarian capital averages an affordable 25 a week.



Students can also live in cities like Prague, Porto, Warsaw and Lisbon for about 500 a month.



At the other end of the spectrum, young people eyeing a year abroad in London, Paris and Milan will need to budget about 1,000 in monthly expenses, due mostly to the high cost of lodging.



Overall, experts at Uniplaces advise trying to limit the cost of accommodation to 30 percent of your monthly budget.



Here's a breakdown of the most affordable and expensive student cities in Europe, by monthly cost of living:



1. Budapest, 360

2. Prague, 403

3. Porto, 409

4. Warsaw, 425

5. Lisbon, 502

6. Barcelona, 640

7. Berlin, 656

8. Madrid, 658

9. Rome, 807

10. Brussels, 811

11. Amsterdam, 868

12. Munich, 893

13. Milan, 906

14. Paris, 915

15. London, 1,124
New Delhi: BJP chief Amit Shah on Thursday appointed Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in-charge of the Gujarat assembly polls while handing the responsibility of Karnataka to HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar.



The Gujarat assembly elections are likely to take place later this year. Elections in Karnataka are likely to be held in 2018.



The term of the Gujarat assembly comes to an end on January 22, 2018. The Karnataka assembly term ends on May 28, 2018.




Lucknow: In yet another blow to Opposition unity, BSP supremo on Thursday announced that neither she nor any representative from her party will be attending RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav's mega rally in Patna.



Mayawati also said that her previous experience with the coalition government was not good, and accused her allies of stabbing in the back. I would think about any coalition only if the seats are fixed beforehand, she said.



Addressing the media on Thursday, the Dalit leader said that the Opposition parties begin to reveal true colours after the results come out. "I will share the stage only if the seats are fixed."



Mayawati's statement has once again exposed a fragmented Opposition against the ruling BJP. Two days ago, a Twitter handle, claiming to be the official handle of the BSP, released a poster showing Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav together, fuelling rumours that the two leaders might share the stage at the 'BJP Bhgao, Desh Bachao rally'. But the BSP soon issued a statement clearing the air that it wasn't party's official handle. The Twitter account was, later, deleted.



Lalu Yadav had, earlier, claimed that National Secretary General of the BSP, Satish Chandra Mishra, will attend the rally on party's behalf.



Mayawati said that she or her party wasn't against any coalition of secular parties. The BSP itself is a secular party. The party has been invited to the Patna rally, but the party will not share the stage in any rally until the number of seats was fixed, said Mayawati.




Chennai: The ongoing tussle for power in the ruling AIADMK on Thursday saw the government whip seeking disqualification of the 19 MLAs supporting sidelined deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran from the Tamil Nadu Assembly following their revolt against Chief Minister K Palaniswami.



Chief government whip S Rajendran took up with the Assembly Speaker the issue of disqualification of all 19 legislators who met state Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao two days ago.



Citing reports, Rajendran said the MLAs had told the governor they were "withdrawing" support to the Palaniswami government.



On February 14, a unanimous decision had been taken to elect Palaniswami as AIADMK Legislature Party Leader and there was no change in it, Rajendran said, reading out a from a statement at a hurriedly convened press meet.



"Further, they have also addressed the media. This is anti-party (activity). Since such an act implies voluntary relinquishing of membership, they are liable to be disqualified under Tenth Schedule of the Constitution," he said.



Pointing this as well as a relevant Tamil Nadu anti-defection act, he said he had submitted a memorandum to Dhanapal seeking disqualification of the 19 MLAs.



Their meeting with the Governor was also "unilateral" as the MLAs had not kept him informed, Rajendran told reporters.



The Dinakaran camp had revolted a day after the factions led by Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam merged.



The 19 AIADMK MLAs against whom he sought action are: P Vetrivel, Thangatamilselvan, T A Elumalai,, M Kothandabani, NG Parthiban, C Jayanthi Parthiban, R Balasubramani, P Palaniappan, R Murugan, R Thangadurai, V Senthil Balaji, M Rengasamy, S Mariappan Kennedy, K Kathirkamu, SDK Jakkaiyan, LG Subramani, S Muthiah, K Uma Maheswari and R Sundararaj.


Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav will try to project his son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav as the leader of the non-BJP front during his Desh Bachao  Bhajpa Bhagao rally on August 27.In hoardings that announce the rally, Tejashwi, who was recently ousted as Bihar deputy chief minister, has been painted as Bahubali. He had recently posted a video also showing himself as the fantasy character. The video took was modelled after the movie and the memes that followed, asking by Baahubali was killed by Katappa, a veiled dig at Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar.Ever since Nitish broke away from the Grand Alliance with Congress and the RJD, Tejashwi has been playing the victim in the Assembly and outside. During his state-wide Janadesh Apman Yatra, he accused Nitish Kumar of backstabbing him and insulting the peoples mandate by joining hands with the BJP.Lalu Yadav, convicted in a fodder scam case, cant contest elections and has been trying to promote his 28-year-old son as the face of non-NDA parties. He has been supporting Tejashwis comments in the Assembly, which has witnessed uproarious scenes over the Srijan scam.Tejashwi, now the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, has demanded the resignation of CM Nitish Kumar and his deputy Sushil Modi, saying the scam took place when the NDA was in power in the state between 2005 and 2013.(Image courtesy: Alok Kumar/News18)But Lalus efforts have met a roadblock in Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mayawati, who will not be attending his anti-BJP rally.Lalu, however, tried to downplay their decision to give the rally a miss, saying, Soniaji is not well, but CP Joshi and Ghulam Nabi Azad will represent the Congress party.Satish Mishra from the BSP, Akhilesh Yadav from the Samajwadi Party (SP), TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, Farooq Abdullah from the National Conference and rebel JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav will attend the rally.RJD spokesman Manoj Jha told News18 that Tejashwi has groomed himself as a firebrand young leader and his speech in the Assembly as Leader of Opposition has been appreciated by all opposition leaders.In our democracy, it is important to see who can bring votes for the party. Other senior leaders also understand this reality. So, everyone is encouraging Tejashwi to take the fight against the BJP ahead, Jha said.(Image courtesy: Alok Kumar/News18)When asked why Rahul Gandhi, who joined Sharad Yadavs conclave, will not be attending Lalus rally, Jha said, Representation is more important than a leader.Rahul Gandhi has not shared the dais with Lalu since the latters conviction in the fodder scam case in 2013.The ruling JD(U) and BJP have raised doubts over opposition unity, saying the RJD rally would be a big flop. They have attacked Lalu for going ahead with the massive rally despite a severe flood situation in the state. BJP state unit chief Nityanad Rai has termed Lalus rally as a Pariwar Bachao  Rajniti Chamkao event.The state unit of the Congress is also believed to be skeptical as the party has already decided to hold a rally in the same Gandhi Maidan in September or October. State Congress president Ashok Chaudhary has said his party does not endorse the RJDs demand for Nitish Kumars resignation.A section of the party has reportedly conveyed to senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia that the party should focus on strengthening its base instead of following any regional party.
Lucknow: The Samajwadi Partys family feud once again was in public domain as party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav warned his son and party national president Akhilesh Yadav against entering into any kind of coalition with any party for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.



Speaking at a private function organised by former SP MLC Ashu Malik in Ghaziabad, Mulayam Singh Yadav said, I would like to make it clear that I am not in favour of any kind of coalition with anyone. If, however, Akhilesh and Ram Gopal decide to tie-up with any party then I will have to take some strict action for sure.



Mulayam Singh Yadav said that when his party fought Assembly elections on its own, they got absolute majority on their own, but when they did entered into alliance with Congress, the SP lost the elections. Mulayams statement comes days before Akhilesh is to attend a mega rally in Bihar, organised by Lalu Prasad Yadav.



Despite the Assembly election loss, Akhilesh has refused to break ties with the Congress.



On the law and order situation in UP, Mulayam targeted Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and said the crime rate has increased in the state and the government had proved to be a failure in controlling the situation.



On the Supreme Courts triple talaq verdict, he said Muslims have gladly accepted the Supreme Court's decision.
Samsung unveiled its latest flagship offering at the Samsung UNPACKED event held in New York City yesterday. The Galaxy Note 8 comes as the top-of-the-line offering by the company and also carries the tag of being Samsung Mobile's most expensive offering till date. After the Note 7 fiasco, Samsung has aimed to provide the Galaxy Note 8 with enough firepower to turn the tables around this time. Bearing the caption of 'Do Bigger Things', the new Samsung phablet aims to be a one-stop solution for smartphone users for their every possible smartphone need. With the most advanced specifications available in the smartphone industry at the moment, what all can the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 get done? Here is a list of top features that the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 has to offer.



1. Largest Infinity Display



Samsung introduced the edge-to-edge display in its previous flagship, the Galaxy S8 and the S8+ and called it 'Infinity Display'. The concept almost immediately caught up with the smartphone enthusiasts across the globe, as other industry players were also aiming to go for such bezel-less design since forever but could not really come up with something as refined as this. Now, Samsung has brought the same design to its Note series through the Galaxy Note 8. The device features a 6.3-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED display, a good half-an-inch larger than the previous Note device. As per Samsung, this will help the Galaxy Note 8 users to get more out of the device's split screen feature. This is further coupled with curved edges and an 18.5:9 aspect ratio.



2. S Pen Features



S Pen has unarguably been one of the most worthwhile contributors to the success of Samsung's Note series. Now, Samsung has further improved upon the stylus' functionality by bringing in features like Live Message and Smart Selection, both of which allow users to create animated GIFs or handwritten messages on photos and share it across an app. Additionally, a 'Screen Off Memo' functionality has been added to the device that lets users take quick notes without unlocking the smartphone. The notes can also be pinned to the 'Always on Display' for a handy access. Other simpler features added to the S Pen include gestures like glance, magnify, capture and even an option to translate the highlighted text.



3. Dual Camera Setup



Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is the first Samsung device to feature a Dual Camera setup. Samsung also claims that this is the first camera setup ever built with dual Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS). The camera setup on the Galaxy Note 8 offers 2x Optical zoom and features like Bokeh effect by the name of 'Live focus', Dual Capture that photographs things which are outside the camera frame and low-light photography capabilities. One thing that differentiates the Bokeh Effect on the Galaxy Note 8 from that offered by other devices is that the Blur effect in the images can be adjusted as per liking even after clicking the picture.



4. Bixby Voice Support



Now that Samsung has rolled out Bixby voice support to 200 countries across the globe, the addition of the same in the new Galaxy Note 8 will come as a huge plus. Samsung has further improved upon its own voice assistant to now let it couple tasks related to a single keyword. A demonstration during the unveiling of the Galaxy Note 8 showed how a simple 'Good Night' command given to Bixby initiated a series of tasks like turning the smartphone to silent mode, setting an alarm and turning on the 'Night Mode' display.



5. DeX Support



Improving upon the capability of its flagships being connected to a larger screen for more work efficiency, Samsung has expanded the DeX support to most of the apps on the Galaxy Note 8. DeX, which lets users connect Samsung devices to a screen, keyboard and mouse to essentially convert the smartphone to a full-fledged PC, will now support more apps for increased productivity through the DeX.


Washington: US President Donald Trump picked a new fight on Thursday with fellow Republicans whose support he needs to advance his policy agenda, saying congressional leaders could have avoided a mess over raising the US debt ceiling if they had heeded his advice.



In the latest in what have become regular criticisms of party leaders, Trump sought to assign blame if Congress fails to reach agreement on raising the cap on the amount the federal government may borrow, with a deadline to do so just weeks away.



Trump said he had advised Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan to link passage of legislation raising the debt ceiling to a measure on veterans affairs that he signed on August 12.



They ... didnt do it so now we have a big deal with Dems holding them up (as usual) on Debt Ceiling approval. Could have been so easy-now a mess! he said in Twitter posts.



The Treasury Department, already using extraordinary measures to remain current on its obligations, has said the debt ceiling must be raised by September 29. If it is not, the government would not be able to borrow more money or pay its bills, including payments on its debts, which could hurt the US credit rating.



A spokesman for McConnell noted the Senate majority leader had said earlier this week, in an appearance with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, that the debt ceiling would be raised.



McConnell was unequivocal about it, said spokesman Don Stewart. He said McConnell also mentioned it again on Wednesday in a statement the Senate leader issued about his "shared goals" with Trump.



Ryan, speaking at a town hall meeting on tax reform at a Boeing plant in Washington state, also said Congress would pass legislation to raise the ceiling in time to ensure debt payment. He said many options were available for increasing the limit.



There were some media reports in mid-July that congressional Republicans were considering tying a debt limit increase to funding for veterans medical care, but the veterans bill passed the House in late July and the Senate on August 1 without the additional language attached.



DEADLINES LOOM



The debt ceiling raise is one of the must-pass measures Congress will take up when it returns on September 5 from recess. Congress also will have about 12 working days from when it returns to approve spending measures to keep the government open.



While the budget and debt cap are separate, they are likely to become entangled, with Republican opponents of a debt ceiling increase likely demanding federal spending cuts.



Trump threatened on Tuesday to shut down the government if Congress failed to secure funding for his long-promised wall along the US-Mexican border. His threat added a new complication to Republicans' months-long struggle to reach a budget deal, rattled markets and drew rebukes from some Republicans.

Democrats, solidly opposed to funding the wall, have slammed Trump over his comments.



On the debt ceiling, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday that with Republicans controlling the White House, the House and Senate, "the American people expect and deserve a plan from Republicans to avert a catastrophic default and ensure the full faith and credit of the United States."



Both the spending and debt ceiling bills could pass the Republican-led House by a simple majority vote, but will need 60 votes to pass the Senate, where Republicans hold 52 of 100 seats, meaning they will need some Democratic support.



A respected think tank said in a report on Thursday the government might not have enough money to pay all its bills on October 2 if Washington does not raise the debt cap. The Treasury might not have enough money on that day to make a roughly $80 billion payment that will be due to a military retirement fund, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.



INVESTORS LOOK TO JACKSON HOLE



On Thursday, investors were more broadly waiting for speeches on Friday by central bank governors at a conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for any new indications on monetary policy. US stocks opened higher but then turned negative while US Treasury yields edged higher.



Yields on Treasury bills due in early October rose on concerns that debt payments could be delayed if lawmakers fail to raise the debt ceiling in time.



"Theres disjointedness because of the debt ceiling, said Lou Brien, a market strategist at DRW Trading in Chicago.



Trump has often expressed frustration over the fact Congress has not passed significant legislation since he took office in January.



His renewed criticism of Republican leaders came just a day after the White House and McConnell issued separate statements saying they were continuing to work together on shared priorities, seeking to counter news reports that their relationship was disintegrating.



Trump also reiterated his criticism of McConnell on Thursday over the Senate's failure in July to pass a bill to replace Democratic former President Barack Obama's healthcare law.



"The only problem I have with Mitch McConnell is that, after hearing Repeal & Replace for 7 years, he failed! That should NEVER have happened!" Trump said in a tweet.



McConnell offered muted criticism of Trump on Thursday, saying he was "a little concerned about some of the trade rhetoric" by the president and others.



"Trade is a winner for America," McConnell told a gathering of Kentucky farmers and lawmakers. "The assumption that every free-trade agreement is a loser for America is largely untrue."



Trump has repeatedly condemned trade deals he believes are bad for the United States. On Tuesday he cast doubt on any deal emerging to improve the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada.
Washington: The White House is expected to tell the Pentagon in coming days how to implement a ban on transgender people in the military, according to a memo that says the defense secretary may decide whether to remove service members based on their ability to deploy, a US official said on Wednesday.



The two-and-a-half-page White House document gives Defense Secretary Jim Mattis six months to fully implement the ban, according to a story first reported by The Wall Street Journal and confirmed by the official.



It also directs the Defense Department to deny admittance to transgender individuals and to stop spending on medical treatment regimens for those currently serving, the Journal reported, citing US officials.



Mattis is expected to consider deployability - meaning the ability to serve in a war zone, participate in exercises or live for months on a ship - as the main legal reason to decide whether to separate service members from the military, the Journal reported.



President Donald Trump said on Twitter on July 26 that the US government "will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity" in the military, a reversal of Pentagon policy.



The surprise announcement, citing healthcare costs and unit disruption, appealed to some in Trump's conservative political base but created uncertainty for thousands of transgender service members, many of whom came out after the Pentagon said in 2016 it would allow transgender people to serve openly.



Five transgender members of the US military including Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans sued Trump earlier this month, saying that the ban was made without consulting senior military commanders. It named as defendants Trump, Mattis and other military leaders including Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.



Dunford said in a memo a day after Trump's tweets that there would be no change in policy until Mattis received an official order from the president.



Stephen Peters at the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group for LGBTQ rights, responded in a tweet: "This proves @realdonaldtrump knows nothing about what it means to be #transgender or to serve in the military. Trans service members already do deploy, proving repeatedly what matters is their ability to accomplish the mission, not gender identity."



The Obama administration, which ended the transgender ban in 2016, allowed currently serving transgender personnel to immediately begin serving openly but set July 1, 2017, as the start of new enlistments by openly transgender people.
BEDFORD  Bedford County and town officials spoke about the growing community and upcoming changes, including ordinances on short-term rentals, during an annual town hall meeting attended by about 50 people Wednesday.

Elected officials and employees from the town of Bedford, the Bedford County Board of Supervisors and Bedford County Public Schools spoke at a lunch held at the Bedford Area Welcome Center about their positive working relationships and answered questions from residents and Chamber members.

Attendees wrote down questions, and moderator Tim Saunders, WDBJ-7 anchor and news assignment manager, asked the panel the questions.

An audience member asked whether local officials expect to begin regulating short-term rentals. Earlier this year, Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed Senate Bill 1578, which allows local governments to regulate short-term rentals, such as rooms offered for rent on the popular online platform Airbnb, according to News and Advance archives.

The legislation allows local entities to adopt ordinances to require people to register if they want to offer their property for short-term rentals. Registries would give local governments information needed to regulate and tax the rentals.

Bedford County Administrator Carl Boggess said the county already is requiring short-term rentals near Smith Mountain Lake to pay a transient occupancy tax. He said the board of supervisors in November could approve amending the ordinance to require short-term rentals county-wide to register and pay a transient occupancy tax.

The hard part will be enforcement, Boggess said. The recommendation from staff [to the board of supervisors] will be make [the ordinance] county-wide.

Warner said the town of Bedford has experience working with bed and breakfast businesses. He said the town may consider expanding their ordinance to include short-term rentals. The council would have to adopt any change in the ordinance.

Another audience question was what local officials are doing to assist students with entering the workforce as opposed to going to college for a two-year or four-year degree.

Bedford County Public Schools Superintendent Doug Schuch said while many jobs require a four-year degree, such as teaching, there are a lot of job opportunities that require some education beyond a high school diploma. He added the district is trying to partner with Central Virginia Community College to grow career and technical opportunities for students.

In addition, Schuch said, seniors at high schools can participate in internships for school credit, which offers them experience out of the classroom.

Susan Martin, president and CEO of the Bedford Area Chamber of Commerce, said although the event Wednesday required registration, it was free and open to the public. For about 10 years, the chamber has hosted the town hall during breakfast or lunch.

Were very appreciative of the opportunity to hear from the elected officials at the different levels, Martin said. More than 10 years weve had this event. We think its a great opportunity for our business community to get updates and insight on whats going on in our community; how its impacting them, not only as a business, but as a possible resident or individual.

She said while the event was well-attended by chamber members, she hopes more people from the general public can attend next years annual town hall meeting. She said the event was held in the evening about 11 years ago, but it was not as well attended.

The event was organized by the Bedford Area Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee.
Update, Thursday afternoon: Police have arrested a North Carolina couple charged after a shooting at a Nelson County home.

According to a release from the Virginia State Police, Sean D. Castorina and Penny M. Dawson were apprehended by the Fergus Falls, Minnesota, Police Department shortly after 9 a.m. Thursday.

The two were arrested without incident at a gas station within that jurisdiction, Virginia State Police spokesperson Corinne Geller said in the emailed statement. They were driving a stolen truck connected to a Tuesday shooting incident in Nelson County.

The statement says the two, both of Burlington, North Carolina, will be extradited back to Virginia to face charges of malicious wounding, use of a firearm and grand larceny of a vehicle.

The arrest came after two days of investigation and searches by the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations Appomattox Field Office, the Nelson County Sheriffs Office, the Burlington, North Carolina, Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service.

Authorities began investigating after getting a call at 6:48 p.m. Monday about a silver 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt, with North Carolina license plate EMA-8936, abandoned on Laurel Road near Rockfish River in eastern Nelson County.

The car was registered to a North Carolina man, 84-year-old Harold Dean Simpson, who had been reported missing to Burlington, North Carolina, police and last was seen by his family at 10:30 a.m. last Friday. Simpson has no history of dementia or other cognitive impairments, Virginia State Police previously said, citing Burlington police.

On Tuesday evening, the Nelson County Sheriffs Office responded to a 911 call at about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at a home on Laurel Road and found a 60-year-old woman who had been shot.

She is being treated at the University of Virginia hospital for serious injuries, according to state police.

After the shooting, Castorina and Dawson fled the residence in a 2002 Dodge Dakota that belonged to the owner of the residence and were spotted at a gas station in Afton on Tuesday night, according to state police.

Castorina was convicted of felony second-degree murder in Johnston County, North Carolina, more than a decade ago, according to online court records, and was released last Thursday after spending more than 12 years in prison. Dawson also has a criminal record in North Carolina with several felony and misdemeanor convictions, none of which resulted in jail time.

The search continues for Simpson, Virginia State Police said Thursday afternoon. Anyone with information related to Simpsons disappearance is asked to contact the Burlington, North Carolina, police, call 911 or, in Virginia, call #77 on a cellphone.
Update, Thursday morning: Lynchburg police said early Thursday morning that Chris Cantwell, 36, was arrested without incident on three felony warrants for charges of malicious release of dangerous gas causing injury, unlawful release of dangerous gas causing injury, and assault: unlawful injury by acid/explosive/fire.

Wednesday: The University of Virginia Police Department announced late Wednesday night that white nationalist Chris Cantwell turned himself in to Lynchburg police on Wednesday afternoon.

Campus police issued a statement late Wednesday saying Christopher Cantwell of Keene, New Hampshire, was taken into custody at the police department in Lynchburg.

Cantwell is being held in the Blue Ridge Regional Jail in Lynchburg pending transport to Charlottesville, according to a UVa police news release.

Cantwell was wanted on three felony charges: two counts of the illegal use of tear gas or other gases and one count of malicious bodily injury with a caustic substance, explosive or fire.

It wasnt immediately known if Cantwell has a lawyer.

Contacted Tuesday by The Associated Press, Cantwell acknowledged he had pepper-sprayed a counter demonstrator during an Aug. 11 protest, a day before a deadly demonstration in Charlottesville. He insisted he was defending himself, saying he did it because my only other option was knocking out his teeth. He said he looked forward to his day in court.
Tranlin Inc. will repay $5 million to Virginia, as the Chinese company resets its plans to build a paper products factory in Chesterfield County that was expected to bring $2 billion in investment and create 2,000 jobs.

In an exchange of letters with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership in late July, Tranlins top executive promised to repay the grant from the Commonwealths Development Opportunity Fund by Oct. 24 in acknowledgement that the company would not meet its investment and job commitments by the end of 2019.

While we are not fully prepared to move forward with our project in Chesterfield County, we are continuing due diligence and planning to advance the project at a future date, acting CEO Donald Lan said in a letter on July 26 to Stephen Moret, president and CEO of the state partnership.

Moret had requested repayment of the grant in a letter to Lan earlier that day that also promised state financial support when Tranlin, operating as Vastly, is ready to act on a reshaped manufacturing project here.

When and if the company is prepared to move forward, our intention is to recommit the previously announced incentive package, with incentive payments scheduled to restart after all necessary land is acquired and construction is underway, Moret told the Tranlin executive.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe and a legislative oversight committee agreed to $29.5 million in incentives for the project in 2014, with most of the money to be held until Tranlin met phased targets for jobs and investment. The company used the $5 million grant to help it buy 58 acres of property in the James River Industrial Park, while the remainder of the land needed for the project was held under an option that expired on July 31.

Lan said the company would keep the land it had purchased outright and maintain its offices and staff in Charlottesville, as the company redesigns the project with new technology already used in China to convert agricultural waste into paper products and fertilizer.

Additionally, our Virginia-based employees are diligently developing U.S. market demand for our fertilizer and paper production in anticipation of U.S. production, he said.

Secretary of Commerce and Trade Todd P. Haymore said Tranlins decision to return the $5 million grant was a way for the company to keep faith and good standing with the state as it restructures its plans.

By returning the Commonwealth Opportunity Fund money, because of the delays and their continuing due diligence, this would be a good way for them to restart, he said.

Garrett Hart, director of economic development in Chesterfield, said the decision was not a surprise because Tranlin had been open with officials about the delay in the construction schedule and the reasons for it.

When you have a project as big as this, you dont want to lose it, so you keep working it, Hart said.

Chesterfield had offered financial incentives to Tranlin through real estate tax rebates and exemptions from machine and tools taxes once the project was complete. The county is not in any position of having to ask for any money back, he said.

Hart also said hes confident that the owners of the 800 acres that Tranlin previously had under option would work with the company when it returned with a new plan. The landowner wants to move forward with the company, as we do, he said.

Moret and other Virginia economic development officials had spoken with Lan the day before the exchange of letters, which memorialized the commitments they had made informally.

Based on that conversation, I understand that Tranlin is not yet prepared to move forward fully with its previously announced project in Chesterfield County, but that the company intends to continue due diligence and planning activities in anticipation of possibly moving forward with the project at a future date, Moret said in the initial letter.

Lan responded with hope but no assurance of returning with a new proposal for a factory in Chesterfield.

We are encouraged to know VEDPs intention to recommit incentive packages at the appropriate time, as stated in that letter, and we will factor this into our planning and decisions, he told Moret. We look forward to continuing our partnership with VEDP and the commonwealth as our project moves forward.

Tranlin/Vastly employs 25 people in Virginia, most of them at its headquarters in Charlottesville. Spokeswoman Lisa Randall confirmed that the company had informed state officials last month that it would return the grant because of delays while we conducted further research and project planning based on the companys newest manufacturing facility in China.

We expect significant manufacturing gains to be realized, and it makes good business sense to incorporate this newest technology into our U.S. plans, Randall said.

The McAuliffe administration said it remains optimistic that the company will be back at the table.

We are still operating under the assumption that they are going to make an investment in Virginia, Haymore said.

So are leading members of the General Assembly.

My understanding is they are still committed to the project, House Appropriations Chairman S. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, said Thursday. It is my understanding there is newer technology that changes the economics of the original agreement.

This is no surprise, said Jones, who added that Haymore and other administration officials had kept legislative leaders informed of the projects changing status.

Haymore said the company has been very open and transparent about the reasons for the delays in the project. Tranlin said in May that it was pushing back construction plans for the project because its parent company in China had developed technology that would affect all of its manufacturing processes.

I think the way they view this is as a reset, he said.

Haymore said the state hopes the company will complete its review of the project by the end of the year, before McAuliffe leaves office in January. Were hopeful that we will have a clear indication of what they plan to do by the end of the year, he said.

VEDP and the governor came under intense criticism after the Roanoke Times revealed early last year that the state had awarded a $1.4 million grant from the fund in 2014 to a different Chinese company, Lindenburg Industry, that proved to be illegitimate.

The partnerships previous president, Martin Briley, appointed in 2011 under then-Gov. Bob McDonnell, resigned last year and the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission issued a scathing report last fall that led to major legislative reforms of the independent state authority this year.

Tranlin is a much different company, confronting rapid changes in technology and the market for its products, said Haymore, who as secretary of agriculture and forestry visited a company factory in China with McAuliffe three years ago.

We have seen them in action, he said. We have seen the paper products being made.
The slave trade and abolition

The date commemorates the events of August 22-23, 1791, in Santo Domingo (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic) which saw the beginning of the uprising that would play the most crucial role in the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. The leader of the revolution was Toussaint LOuverture.

UNESCO has been inviting the Ministers of Culture of all UN member States to organise events every year on that date, involving their entire populations and in particular young people, educators, artists and intellectuals.

I have witnessed no efforts to do so in TT .

According to the UNESCO web page, the day is intended to inscribe the tragedy of the slave trade in the memory of all peoples.

In accordance with the goals of the intercultural project, The Slave Route, it should offer an opportunity for collective consideration of the historic causes, the methods and the consequences of this tragedy, and for an analysis of the interactions to which it has given rise between Africa, Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean. My contribution to the day has been twofold.

First I want to urge TT to do its part in the commemoration of this event, which was the only successful slave uprising in human history. Secondly, I wish to recall a part of my tribute to LOuverture which I narrated on radio during African History Month, 2015. I wrote: When Toussaint LOuverture joined the Haitian revolution, he was already in his mid-forties. This was an advanced age for an enslaved person because slavery aged the Africans prematurely.

Toussaints early life had prepared him very well for the task which he had to undertake.

He soon recognised the military and political deficiency among the enslaved. In the early months of the revolution, LOuverture built an army strong enough to safeguard the freedom of the Africans in Haiti.

He also had to govern a land, which was caught up in three-way fighting between Africans, whites and persons of mixed heritage.

In quick time, Toussaint was able to drive the Spanish out of the French-speaking part of the island. And later, he forced the British to leave Haiti. In fact, the expulsion of the British by the Haitians was the worst defeat of a British expeditionary force between the reign of Elizabeth the First (15331603) and the First World War (1914- 1919).

After Toussaint LOuverture had defeated the English, who wanted to restore slavery in Haiti, the great emancipator began to develop the liberated island for a new era.

Once the army of liberation had achieved its early objectives, Toussaint believed that the economy of Haiti should be returned to its former strength.

Toussaint issued regulations that the free Haitians should go back to work, 24 hours after they had assumed control of any district.

He also ordered his commanders to take all measures to ensure that the plantations were kept running.

Toussaint told the formerly enslaved Africans: Work is necessary.

It is a virtue. It is for the general good of the State. Toussaint began a massive road-building programme. He built schools and improved the agricultural output of Haiti.

In less than two years, he put Haiti on a better financial foundation than it had ever been. But, most importantly of all, Toussaint strengthened the defences of the island against any further attempts to enslave the population.

The Haitian leader reinforced the forts and reorganised the army. Although his iron discipline did not find favour with many Haitians, he persevered until he was able to build a military force without equal in the New World.

Toussaint was justified in maintaining a strong hand in governing Haiti, because the greatest threat to Haitis freedom was Napoleon Bonaparte, the French dictator. Bonaparte had conquered large parts of Europe and he was furious with Toussaint, whom he called a rebellious slave. He said that a mere servant had stained the honour of France.

In certain quarters, Toussaint was placed on the same pedestal as the European general.

Some persons were calling Toussaint LOuverture the black Bonaparte and others went so far as to say that of the two Bonapartes, the black one is greater.

AIYEGORO OME Mt Lambert
PATT: Lewis not suspended

A release from the PATT said it noted recent media reports that she had been suspended.

The Port Authority wishes to place on record that Ms Lewis has not been suspended and continues to hold her position as General Manager/Chief Executive Officer at the Port Authority. The PATT said it viewed the statements as irresponsible and reckless as no verification of Lewis status as an employee was sought from the PATT.

The PATT called on members of the media to apologise to Lewis and to formally retract the untrue statements.
The Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) yesterday dismissed reports that it has licensed Kwese TV to operate in the country.





Reports on the licensing of Kwese TV have gone viral on social media. In a statement yesterday, BAZ chief executive Mr Obert Muganyura said in terms of the Broadcasting Services Act [Chapter 12:06], no person shall provide a broadcasting service in Zimbabwe other than in accordance with a licence issued by BAZ.





The content distribution licence issued to Dr Dish, which was specific to the provision of the My TV Africa Service, as declared by Dr Dish in its application and stated in the terms and conditions of the licence, was cancelled by the authority for failure by Dr Dish to provide the My TV Africa service, he said.





BAZ therefore wishes to advise the public not to invest in a service that cannot be provided without a licence and warns anyone who may contemplate providing an unlicensed broadcasting service to acquaint themselves with the course of action that the authority is bound to take in terms of the law, said Mr Maganyura.





Some sections of the media reported that Econet Zimbabwe employees were given Kwese TV decoders. They claimed that Government had licensed the pay TV platform owned by Econet Media, a subsidiary of Econet Global to start operations in the country. Lovemore Nyatsine, executive assistant to Econet group chief executive officer was, however, quoted dismissing the claims.





It is still premature for me to comment because there are certain procedures that are being followed. We are actually not licensed, as in that manner, certain processes need to be done.

Currently, Kwese TV is operating in Botswana, Ghana, Lesotho, Rwanda and Zambia. Herald
The late Vice President Simon Muzendas widow Mbuya Maud Muzenda, who died on Tuesday, has been declared a national heroine and will be buried at the National Heroes Acre tomorrow along with national hero Cde George Rutanhire, who died last Saturday.



Joint burials at the National Heroes Acre are rare, with the last having taken place on April 13 last year when Cdes Victoria Chitepo and Vivian Mwashita were laid to rest on the same day.



On August 11, 1981, there were joint reburials of Cdes Herbert Wiltshire Chitepo, Josiah Magama Tongogara and Jason Ziyaphapha Moyo at the national shrine, who all died during the liberation struggle in Zambia and Mozambique.





Cde Chitepo died on March 18, 1975 in Zambia, while Cde Ziyaphapha Moyo died on January 22, 1977 also in Zambia.

Cde Tongogara died on December 26, 1979 in Mozambique.





Defence Minister Dr Sydney Sekeramayi announced Mbuya Muzendas national heroine status and the joint burial arrangements at the heroines funeral wake in Chisipite, Harare, yesterday morning.





He was accompanied by Home Affairs Acting Minister Dr Joseph Made.

Dr Sekeramayi said the past weeks had been difficult for Zanu-PF following the demise of another heroine, Senator Shuvai Ben Mahofa last week.

Ambuya Muzenda passed on on Tuesday the 23rd and the following day, Masvingo Province wrote to the party requesting that she be given national heroine status, said Dr Sekeramayi.





After receiving the letter as the Politburo and after completing the consultations as instructed by President Mugabe, there was consensus that she be declared a national heroine.





Politburo members concurred that she was a consistent cadre who was committed to the liberation of the country. She is someone who was consistent during the liberation struggle and remained so even after independence.





As you all know, we also have another national hero Cde George Rutanhire who is to be buried on Saturday. As Zanu-PF, we are of the view that Ambuya Muzenda be laid to rest jointly with Cde Rutanhire.





Zanu-PF spokesperson Cde Simon Khaya Moyo said they were elated with the honour bestowed on Mbuya Muzenda.





Zanu-PF is elated that President Mugabe and the partys Politburo have accorded the late Gogo Mai Maud Muzenda national heroine status, he said.





She earned and deserved it through her contribution to the liberation of Zimbabwe in many respects. You reap what you sow through your deeds on earth.





Those who sow the wind, harvest the whirlwind. Gogo Muzenda, like her late husband Mzee, and many struggle stalwarts nurtured the freedom seed and harvested independence and sovereignty. You played your part Gogo with remarkable tenacity and courage of a lioness guarding its cubs. Your good deeds will live forever.





As the scriptures say, Blessed are those with a pure heart for they shall see God. Go well national heroine and pass our revolutionary gratitude to all the leadership and cadres who went ahead of you. Tell them Zimbabwe is intact and will never be for sale.





Daughter to the late national heroine Senator Tsitsi Muzenda and her brother Captain Vengesayi Muzenda, thanked President Mugabe and Zanu-PF for bestowing the highest honour on their mother.





We want to thank his Excellency President Mugabe and Zanu-PF for the honour that has been given to our mother, said Sen Muzenda.

Ambuya Muzenda worked very hard for the country. The family welcomes all the arrangements that have been made.





I know that our mother is happy wherever she is. We will miss her, but we are taking consolation in the honour and recognition she has been accorded.





Zanu-PF Chief Whip Cde Lovemore Matuke and Politburo member Cde Josaya Hungwe hailed the honour bestowed on Mbuya Muzenda.





On behalf of Masvingo Province, we thank the President for this honour, said Cde Matuke.

Ambuya Muzenda worked tirelessly in uplifting the lives of the poor. During her time with the late national heroine Cde Sally Mugabe they started the child survival project which after the passing on of Cde Mugabe she took the project upon herself.





She went around the country donating and building recreational facilities for the poor. When her late husband died he left more than 20 children to be looked after and she took over all the work from her husband, resembling how a motherly figure she was.





Mbuya Muzendas body was airlifted to Gutu yesterday and will lay in state at her home at Mpandawana Growth Point and will this morning proceed to Zvavahera village before returning to Harare later in the day.





Hundreds of people yesterday evening thronged Hwiru Primary School grounds at Mpandawana Growth Point to welcome the body of Mbuya Muzenda.

Two Air Force of Zimbabwe helicopters, one with the National Heroines casket, landed at the school around 5.30pm en-route to Ambuya Muzendas home at the growth point.

The body was accompanied by her children.





The body was welcomed by Cde Matuke, Gutu West legislator Cde Tongai Muzenda, Chief Gutu and service chiefs from Masvingo Province, among other dignitaries.

Zanu-PF supporters led by youths and members of the Womens League belted revolutionary songs as the hearse moved from Hwiru school grounds to the Muzenda home at the growth point.





A church service will be held at Zvavahera village before the body is flown back to Harare for burial.





Minister of State for Harare Provincial Affairs Miriam Chikukwa has apealed to all Zimbabweans to give Cdes Muzenda and Matanhure a befitting send off on Saturday by gathering at the National Heroes Acre in their numbers.





A total of 62 buses will pick up people from various parts of the country, she said. Harare Province has been allocated 30 buses, Masvingo (11), Midlands (6), Mashonaland Central (10) and 1 bus each for Manicaland, Mashonaland West, Mashonaland East, Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South and Bulawayo Metropolitan Province.





People will be picked up from the usual pick up points at 6 0 clock in the morning. Those with their own cars should assist ferry others, whilst those who can access fuel should help others with transport so that everybody gets an opportunity to attend the burials, she said. Herald
President Mugabe has described Vice President Simon Muzendas widow, Maud, as an epitome of African motherhood and branded national hero Cde George Rutanhire a giant of the struggle as he grieved over their deaths.



Amai Muzenda died on Tuesday, while Cde Rutanhire passed on on Saturday. Said President Mugabe in a statement last night: I learnt with deep sadness of the death yesterday (Tuesday) of Amai Muzenda, wife of the late Vice President, Cde Simon Vengai Muzenda.



An epitome of African motherhood, Gogo Muzenda stands tall as a symbol of the triumph of motherly femininity over adversities imposed on the African family unit by demands of our struggle against settler colonialism. Betrothed to a fierce nationalist and freedom fighter in the mould of our late Vice President, Gogo Muzenda was, for a long time, fated to raise the Muzenda family without support from her husband who would either be operating underground, or would be languishing in prison inside the then Rhodesia.





President Mugabe said Amai Muzenda single-handedly raised the family. Once freed, the late Vice President went into exile, leaving Ambuya Muzenda to shoulder the burden of raising the family single-handedly. She thus bore unaided the brunt of parenthood, itself no easy role given the broad socio-economic pressures faced by African families surviving under settler colonial conditions, and of course the direct political hostilities and open harassment to which families of nationalists were subjected by the racist regime. Still she held firm as the sole head of the family, even then while still playing her part in supporting the greater cause of our liberation struggle.





The President said Gogo Muzenda also bore children for the struggle. Like most mothers, she too bore children for the struggle, even losing one of them in one of the many bombings on our camps by the racist Rhodesian regime. As we mourn her sad departure, we thus recognise and celebrate this exemplary familys given-ness to the national cause.





Gogo Muzendas death comes barely a week after we laid to rest another heroine, Senator Shuvai Ben Mahofa, and just a few days after the sad departure of Cde George Rutanhire, himself, a giant of our struggle.





It spoke highly of Cde Rutanhires commitment to the national cause that he abandoned his role of a catechist in the Roman Catholic Church for the struggle in the early 1970s, and did so together with his newly-wedded wife, Cde Susan, who survives him, said President Mugabe.





He said Cde Rutanhire deserved the national hero status bestowed on him. It therefore comes as no surprise that the nation has honoured Cde Rutanhire by according him the status of a national hero. He more than deserved this honour.

It has been a very difficult month for our nation. Yet we must all remain strong and hopeful, converting this buffeting emotion from repeated tragedies into a lasting passion of affinity and togetherness for our nation as it goes through this dark and difficult patch.





On behalf of the party, Zanu-PF, Government, our entire nation and on behalf of my family, I wish to condole with both the Muzenda and Rutanhire families as they grieve over their saddest losses. We stand with them, as indeed we pay deserved tribute to the fallen comrades so dear to our hearts. May their souls rest in eternal peace, said President Mugabe.





Yesterday, First Lady Grace Mugabe and leaders across the political divide visited the Muzenda family home in Harare to pay their condolences. Daughter to Amai Muzenda, Senator Tsitsi Muzenda said the First Lady urged unity.





The main message of her Excellency the First Lady Dr Grace Mugabe was that she was very grateful for the work that Mbuya Muzenda played in her lifetime. She said as a country we should be appreciative of what women like her did.





She also said that those women sacrificed so much in their lives but they never gave up supporting their husbands, therefore as women of Zimbabwe, we should take a leaf from these women who sacrificed so much. We are here now with tremendous freedom but sometimes we forget that there were others earlier who sacrificed their lives for us, said Sen Muzenda.





She urged sincerely that as women of Zimbabwe, we should be focused to building our beautiful country because us as women we are the pillars of families, we are the pillars of our beautiful country and that if we emulate the good works that other women did before, we shall go a long way.





Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko also visited the Muzenda family. I do not have words but just to say l am sorry for your loss. We will be advised on the programme and arrangements when the President has spoken. This will make things easier for us as we will then know the way forward. At the moment we are still waiting as nothing has been said. We will wait for the President, said VP Mphoko.





Zanu-PF Politburo member Cde Josaya Hungwe and Masvingo political commissar Cde Jappy Jaboon said as Masvingo Province, they have written to the Politburo recommending that Amai Muzenda be declared a national heroine.





Our province has recommended that she be declared a national heroine because of the role she played during the war and after the war. As you know Ambuya Muzenda was a nurse by profession, she was supplying medical drugs during the war to the comrades. She played her biggest role in looking after our late Vice President, said Cde Jaboon.





We have lost a unifier of Masvingo Province and of Zimbabwe as well. Her wish was for us to continue supporting the ruling party and its leadership. We need to emulate life yaAmai through discipline and dignity.





MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai also visited the family yesterday. He narrated how Amai Muzenda paid him a visit to pass her condolences when his wife Susan Tsvangirai passed on and how she played a critical during the time he sought audience with the late Vice President.





There is an episode l experienced with her when the late Vice President Simon Muzenda was the acting President. There was a nurse strike and l came here. He could not speak to me until Amai Muzenda said these are your children and if you become angry where do you want them to go, he said.





She definitely was an influential woman. We have the liberation generation, the nationalist generation which is going one by one. They will leave a legacy but that legacy does not illustrate their personal life and what they were experiencing during those hard days. It is always the women who carry the burden and l am sure she was one of them.





Her son Tongai Muzenda said as a family, they were grateful as people from all walks of life were assisting in the administration of the funeral as well as with transport and food. He said her mother is survived by six children, 20 grandchildren and 15 grand- grandchildren.





Other dignitaries who visited the homestead were, Defence Minister Cde Sydney Sekeramayi accompanied by service chiefs, Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Dr Joram Gumbo, Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, Speaker of the National Assembly Advocate Jacob Mudenda, Deputy Ministers of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development (Crop Production) Davis Marapira, Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Mathias Tongofa, Mines and Mining Development Fred Moyo, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Deputy Minister Tapiwa Matangaidze.





Mourners are gathered at 43 Lewisam Avenue in Chisipite Harare. Herald
President Robert Mugabes two sons, Chatunga and Robert Junior, are back in Zimbabwe for good after sparking a diplomatic furore in neighbouring South Africa last week, the Daily News can report.



Both 25-year-old Robert Jnr and his younger sibling, Chatunga, 21, returned home with their father and mother from South Africa on Sunday after the first lady was granted diplomatic immunity from being prosecuted for allegedly assaulting a young model who was allegedly cohabiting with them at a Johannesburg hotel.



A senior government official told the Daily News this week that Mugabe summoned the two boys to his hotel room just after the 37th Ordinary Sadc Summit of Heads of State and Government in Pretoria on Saturday, and returned home with them in the early hours of Sunday.



The president and Dr Amai came back with the boys. Vatori kumba izvozvi (they are home right now). He had earlier met them at his hotel room just after the summit. They then flew together with (Finance and Economic Development minister Patrick) Chinamasa and (Foreign Affairs minister Simbarashe) Mumbengegwi and arrived aboard an Air Zimbabwe plane very early in the morning on Sunday, the source at Munhumutapa Building  the citadel of government power  said, declining to be named.



Analysts canvassed by the Daily News yesterday said there was no other alternative for the First Family but to bring the boys home.



University of Zimbabwe political scientist Eldred Masunungure said the situation had become untenable, especially after the alleged assault of a South African model, Gabriella Engels, by their mother, Grace.



The situation had become a security risk on them being in South Africa, a society they would have found extremely difficult to live in, said Masunungure.



In this case, there is no any viable alternative but to return home because the boys had become a security threat even to themselves, he told the Daily News.

Piers Pigou, senior consultant at the International Crisis Group, said it was critical that parents try and keep their misbehaving youngsters close to their bosom to keep them in check.



One might ask given the violence and bad behaviour that has been associated with these youngsters regarding their expulsion from the luxury apartment complex last month and now their mothers antics, whose security are we referring to? It sounds like an appropriate move as parents should try and keep their wayward youngsters closer to their bosom, remarked Pigou.



A close relative of the Mugabes also confirmed to the Daily News that the two boys are back in town but refused to give details citing security concerns.



Across the Limpopo River, Robert Junior could also suffer criminal charges after he pushed a pregnant hotel employee at Capital 20 West in Sandton as he fled his moms fury, with the waitress suffering a miscarriage.



As first reported by the Daily News, Mugabe told his inner circle in a top government meeting last week that he was travelling to Pretoria to attend the Sadc heads of State summit, two days ahead of schedule, to try and secure his wifes freedom as well as make arrangements to bring back to Zimbabwe his sons.



He expressed deep concern over the behaviour of the boys. He told us that he was going there ahead of the Sadc summit schedule to attend to the incident involving the first lady as well as to arrange for the boys repatriation, said a Cabinet minister who cannot be named said ahead of their arrival on Sunday.



It is clear that he is worried about their safety given the high crime rate in that country.

Chatunga, the younger of the two, who is 21 and openly boasts of living it up even while the citizens of Zimbabwe are groaning under his fathers 37-year rule, was once expelled from St Georges College in Harare.



He was then home-schooled from the age of 16 but failed his A-level exam.

Robert Jnr, meanwhile, was not only failing tests at school but he was also unable to progress to higher grade levels.



Despite this, Jnr managed to somehow study architecture in Dubai later in life.

He also reportedly dropped out of a military academy in China because he could not cope with the rigorous training.



In July, the two boys were kicked out from an apartment at the Regent MCC in West Road South in Morningside, an area where they had been relocated to.



Mugabes sons had previously relocated from an expensive pad in Dubai to South Africa after they allegedly became embroiled in fights and were accused of substance abuse.

At the Sadc summit, Mumbengegwi revealed that Mugabe pushed Sadc to take a strong stand against drug abuse.



The heads of State and government also discussed the question of drug abuse and cybercrime and on this topic, his excellency, president Mugabe, spoke very strongly in support of regional action to counter this new menace, which is finding wings in our region, he said in a documentary of the regional summit flighted on State TV on Tuesday night.



So, the summit, on the recommendations of ... the president, decided to direct the (Sadc) secretariat to come up with a comprehensive plan for combating drug abuse and cybercrime within the Sadc region for consideration by the heads of State and government at their next meeting.



Mugabe, who was among the nine heads of State and government who attended the Sadc ordinary summit, reportedly expressed exasperation at rising drug abuse at the summit.

It is said that he nearly broke down as he made a passionate plea to his counterparts to rein in on the drug menace, perhaps driven by the behaviour of his wayward sons, who have taken to drinking and drug abuse.



Pressure continues to pile on the first family in South Africa where vocal civic society groups want the diplomatic immunity given to be withdrawn.



The powerful Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) wants Grace to be declared a prohibited immigrant to be denied entry into that country and deported upon arrival.

Cosatu  which is in a decades-old partnership with the African National Congress and the communist party that freed South Africa from white minority rule  slammed the controversial decision to grant diplomatic immunity to Grace.



...Grace ... should be banned from ever coming into this country, said Sizwe Pamla, Cosatus national spokesperson in a damning statement yesterday.



Our governments camouflaged surrender and cowardice is shameful. We are turning into a Banana republic very fast because of our governments misdirected idealism.



This comes as South Africas main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, called for a parliamentary inquiry into South Africas decision to let the Zimbabwean first lady leave. Daily News
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Authorities say a 34-year-old North Carolina woman will be charged with murder once she's released from the hospital following a "domestic incident" on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus that resulted in the death of her 5-year-old son, WNCN reports. According to the Herald-Sun, the incident happened just before midnight Saturday in a housing complex for graduate students and their families. In a 911 call from the complex, a man tells the dispatcher his wife stabbed him in the face while he was sleeping. The caller says his wife stabbed him many times before he got the knife away from her. Its bleeding really bad. Im about to pass out, People quotes the man as saying before going quiet.

Both Ebony Oluwasegva and her 32-year-old husband, UNC graduate student Victor Oluwasegva, were hospitalized with injuries following the incident. Ebony Oluwasegva's 5-year-old son, Israel, died. District Attorney Jim Woodall said Monday that Ebony Oluwasegva would be charged with murder, attempted murder, and possibly other crimes upon her release from the hospital. An investigation into the incident is ongoing. A neighbor in the housing complex tells the Herald-Sun the crime "was really shocking to me because it is really quiet here." (Read more child murder stories.)
A celebrity chef has spent tens of thousands of dollars to quietly change the name of his Manhattan restaurant after he discovered its meaning had racial undertones. Per the New York Times, Tom Colicchio, the lead judge on Bravo's Top Chef, originally called his eatery in the New York City's financial district Fowler & Wells, named after publishers Samuel Wells and brothers Lorenzo and Orson Fowler, whose building rested on the same site as Colicchio's restaurant in the mid-1800s. However, a little digging by Colicchio's team after they'd already named the restaurant revealed "facts about [the Fowlers' and Wells'] beliefs that go against everything we stand for," per a statement cited by Page Six.

More specifically, the Fowlers and Wells were advocates of phrenology, the study of the shape and size of the skull, which many in the 19th century believed to be an indicator of one's mental abilitiesand which was often used to "prove" African-Americans were mentally inferior and to justify slavery (at least one of the Fowler brothers had eyebrow-raising thoughts on this). Colicchio, who's an outspoken liberal on social media, said that although his team incorporated the concept of phrenology into the restaurant's theme (including on the bar's menu), they didn't initially realize quite how bad the practice's roots could be. Once they made this discovery, they went about coming up with a new name and reworking logos, signage, business cards, and menus to match. The restaurant's new name: Temple Court, named after the building it's housed in. (Read more restaurants stories.)
Russian ambassadors are dying at a startling rate: Russian and Sudanese authorities say Mirgayas Shirinsky was found dead at his Khartoum residence on Wednesday, making him the fourth Russian envoy to die overseas since December. Authorities say the 63-year-old was found in the residence's swimming pool after suffering an apparent heart attack, the Sudan Tribune reports. Shirinsky had been the ambassador to Sudan since 2013, the New York Times reports. Vitaly Churkin, Russia's UN envoy, died suddenly in February. Alexander Kadakin, Russia's longtime ambassador to India, died after an illness in January. And Andrei Karlov, Russia's ambassador to Turkey, was assassinated in December last year. (Read more Russia stories.)
Western Europe's highest mountain is giving up more of its dead as the Mont Blanc glacier shifts and retreats. In the latest grim find, a French climber on the Italian side of the peak spotted the bodies of three roped-together climbers believed to have died in 1995, AFP reports. "The glacier is constantly shifting, and we can say that the deaths occurred around 1995," an Italian Alpine rescue spokesman says. Efforts are underway to recover the bodies from the mountain, which has also been yielding the bodies of people killed in two Air India crashes decades ago.

Glaciers in the Alps have been melting at an unprecedented rate and authorities expect to find the bodies of hundreds more missing climbers in the years to come. Mont Blanc alone is believed to hold the bodies of 160 mountaineers, along with plane crash victims and people killed in World War II skirmishes. A Swiss Police spokesman tells the Guardian that it's a "great relief" to contact families "who would otherwise never know with 100% certainty whether their loved one had perished on the mountain. Finally when a corpse is discovered, you have an absolute guarantee." (In July, the bodies of a couple who vanished after going to milk their cows 75 years ago were discovered.)
A federal judge who has compared Texas' voter ID requirements to a "poll tax" on minorities once again blocked the law Wednesday, rejecting a weakened version backed by the Trump administration and dealing Texas Republicans another court defeat over voting rights. US District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos rejected changes signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott this summer as not only lacking but also potentially chilling to voters because of new criminal penalties, the AP reports. The new version didn't expand the list of acceptable photo identificationsmeaning gun licenses remained sufficient proof to vote, but not college student IDs.

Instead, the changes would allow people who lack a required ID to cast a ballot if they signed an affidavit and brought paperwork that showed their name and address, such as a bank statement or utility bill. Gonzales Ramos, who first struck down the law in 2014, said Texas didn't go far enough with its changes and said that criminal penalties Texas attached to lying on the affidavit could have a chilling effect on voters who, fearful of making an innocent mistake on the form, simply wouldn't cast a ballot. The state's Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, called the latest ruling "outrageous" and said an appeals court should void the decision. (In May, the Supreme Court ruled against North Carolina's voter ID law.)
American diplomats treated after a series of unexplained incidents in Havana had health problems including mild traumatic brain injury and central nervous system damage, according to medical records seen by CBS News. The diplomats, some of whom ended up having to leave Cuba, were treated by an American doctor after complaining of symptoms including hearing loss, headaches, and loss of balance. Sources say the diplomats, who lived in homes provided by the Cuban government, began experiencing symptoms in the fall of 2016 after their residences were targeted with what American officials believe was some kind of advanced sonic weapon.

Officials say at least 10 diplomats and embassy employees were affected. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Wednesday that the "unprecedented" incidents "caused a variety of physical symptoms." She said some diplomats were treated in Miami and others were treated by American medical personnel who traveled to Cuba. "What has happened there is of great concern to the US government," she said. "Let me just reassure you that this is a matter that we take very seriously." Officials tell ABC News that the FBI and the State Department are investigating in Cuba. Cuban authorities are assisting the investigation, the officials say. (At least one Canadian diplomat was also targeted.)
The government says it's looking out for the economy and job growth; critics say it's "the biggest attack on the Amazon of the last 50 years." The BBC reports on a big move out of Brazil, where a protected area will be protected no moreat least in part. Located in Brazil's north, the 17,800-square-mile National Reserve of Copper and Associates (Renca) will be opened to commercial mining following Wednesday's scrapping of its protected status. The area is thought to be home to stores of gold, iron, and other minerals.

Reuters explains much of Renca will actually still be protected, as nearly 70% of it is earmarked for indigenous peoples or under the conservation mandates of Amapa state, which it partially occupies. But critics see the potential for disaster. As the head of WWF-Brazil puts it, mining there could spur "demographic explosion, deforestation, the destruction of water resources, the loss of biodiversity, and the creation of land conflict." CNBC has the government's response: "Permission to develop research and mining applies only to areas where there are no other restrictions, such as protection of native vegetation, conservation units, indigenous lands, and areas in border strips." (Read more Brazil stories.)
White nationalist Christopher Cantwell has obeyed police instructions and surrendered to authorities. The New Hampshire man faces two felony charges of illegal tear gas use and one felony charge of malicious bodily injury over his role in the Charlottesville violence, reports the BBC. He turned himself in to police in Lynchburg, Va., and will be transported to Charlottesville, where the University of Virginia Police Department had warrants out for his arrest, CNN reports. He could face several years in prison if found guilty.

Cantwell, one of the torch-bearing protesters who chanted slogans like "Jews will not replace us" as they marched against the proposed removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, told the AP earlier this week that he pepper-sprayed a counterprotester in self-defense "because my only other option was knocking out his teeth." He said he was looking forward to his day in court, though in a YouTube video posted after the Charlottesville rally, he became tearful while talking about his fear of being arrested. (Read more Christopher Cantwell stories.)
Hato, the most powerful typhoon to hit south China in more than half a century, left at least 16 dead as a sudden deluge swamped the gambling hub of Macau, submerging streets and stranding residents. Macau said Thursday that eight people were killed in the former Portuguese colony, including two men found overnight in a submerged parking garage. Another 153 were injured amid extensive flooding, power outages, and the smashing of doors and windows by high winds and driving rain, the AP reports. Lawmaker Jose Pereria Coutinho says the flooding was worst in the older parts of the city's downtown, where narrow lanes date back from Macau's time as a Portuguese colony for more than four centuries.

"People were just swimming, they cried for help. There were no boats. The water came so suddenly," says Coutinho. China's official Xinhua News Agency said eight more people were killed in Guangdong province and one person remained missing. Almost 27,000 people were evacuated to emergency shelters. Flooding and injuries were also reported in Hong Kong, which lies across the water 40 miles from Macau, but there were no reports of deaths. Hato's fierce gales blew out windows on skyscrapers in the Asian financial capital, raining shattered glass onto the eerily quiet streets below. Hong Kong's weather authorities had raised the hurricane signal to the highest level for the first time in five years. (Read more typhoon stories.)
In what one conservationist is calling an "environmental nightmare," an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 Atlantic salmon busted out of their holding pen over the weekend after a net broke, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is now pleading with locals to help catch as many as they can. Cooke Aquaculture's net pen was holding around 305,000 farmed salmon when anchor lines to the pen gave way and service walkways tipped on Saturday, reports the Seattle Times. The WDFW is now asking for the public's help in scooping the escaped fish out of the waters near Cypress Island (or wherever they may turn up), with no size or quantity restrictions. The exodus has environmentalists concerned, as they're afraid the farmed escapees could take over the feeding and spawning grounds of native chinook and steelhead salmon and pass on disease, KUOW notes.

Cooke says in a statement that "exceptionally high tides and currents coinciding with this week's solar eclipse" contributed to the "structural failure" that led to the salmon's breakout. But environmentalists are pushing back on that, KING 5 notes, with one organization claiming Cooke had the same net issue earlier this summer. KUOW also reports that tide tables and current and wind speed numbers weren't unusually high on Saturday. A Cooke spokeswoman doubled down on the eclipse explainer late Tuesday, and she also added that the escaped salmon weren't a threat to native fish because they wouldn't survive. "It's primarily a business loss," she tells the Times. The salmon, which weigh about 10 pounds each, "will be food for the seals and the fishermen can enjoy them." (Is California's salmon population in big trouble?)
The top editor at the Wall Street Journal apparently thinks his reporters are too biased against President Trump. But many in the journalism community think the newspaper has become way too deferential to the White House. The issue flared anew after staffers leaked an email from editor Gerard Baker in which he criticized an early draft of the paper's coverage of the Phoenix rally. "Sorry. This is commentary dressed up as news reporting, Baker wrote in the email obtained by the New York Times. "Could we please just stick to reporting what he said rather than packaging it in exegesis and selective criticism?" The Times then examined a later edition of the story and found that phrases had been deleted, including one saying that Trump had "an off-script return to campaign form" that "pivoted away from remarks a day earlier in which he solemnly called for unity."

Another excised line said the Charlottesville violence was "reshaping" his presidency. In response, the Journal says it maintains "a clear separation between news and opinion" and strives to avoid having "opinion seeping into news coverage." The very fact that the emails were leaked suggests discontent in the newsroom, notes the Washington Post, which rounds up journalists' critical tweets of Baker. This leak follows another earlier this month in which Politico (and not the Journal) published the full transcript of the newspaper's interview with Trump. In it, Baker "dominated the session and did so in solicitous fashion toward Trump," per industry website Poynter. Not helping the Journal's reputation as being too soft: It's owned by Rupert Murdoch, who has become a close adviser to Trump, notes media writer Dylan Byers at CNN. (Read more Wall Street Journal stories.)
Self-described Montana "mountain man" Don Nichols was released on parole Wednesday after serving 32 years for kidnapping a world-class athlete out on a training run in 1984 and killing her would-be rescueran attack that drew widespread media coverage and became the subject of a made-for-TV movie. Nichols, who must report to a parole office in Great Falls, was granted parole in April, per the AP, citing coverage in the Missoulian. Nichols, 86, was sentenced to 85 years in prison for kidnapping biathlete Kari Swenson in the mountains near Big Sky and killing Alan Goldstein, a friend helping to search for Swenson when she failed to return home from her run. The reason for the kidnapping? Don wanted Swenson to be a bride for his then 19-year-old son.

Swenson, who was 22, said she was chained up during her ordeal and spotted her would-be rescuers before her abductors did. She yelled at them to leave because Nichols had threatened to shoot anyone who tried to help her. Nichols shot Goldstein, and Nichols' son Dan apparently accidentally shot Swenson. She said she was left for dead with a "sucking chest wound" for hours as Goldstein's body lay nearby. Don and Dan Nichols fled and were arrested five months later after a manhunt in the mountains of southwestern Montana. Dan Nichols was convicted of kidnapping and assault and was released from prison in 1991. The case was the subject of a 1987 made-for-TV movie The Abduction of Kari Swenson, starring Tracy Pollan. (Read more mountain man stories.)
A dangerous moment during a street protest in St. Louis on Tuesday night: Protesters gathered around a car at an intersection, and the driver eventually pushed through the pack, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Police say three people had minor injuries, though all declined medical attention. This tweeted image shows one person on the hood of the vehicle at one point, along with a woman directly in front of the car with her hands on the hood. Another woman at the protest recorded video of the altercation. Police later arrested the driver about a block from the scene because they say he initially refused to stop for a pursuing patrol car. He was charged with felony fleeing, reports ABC News.

Two different versions of the event have emerged, per the Post-Dispatch. Police say the driver honked his horn, stopped, and tried to avoid the protesters, who were hitting his vehicle with their hands and a flag pole. Witnesses, however, portray the driver as aggressive and say he raised his middle fingers before pushing through them. The incident is drawing attention given the fatal incident in Charlottesville in which a driver plowed into a crowd of protesters and killed Heather Heyer. The St. Louis protesters had gathered after police fatally shot transgender woman Kenny "Kiwi" Herring. Police say Herring came at officers with a knife. (Read more St. Louis stories.)
Danish police said Thursday that the headless torso of Swedish reporter Kim Wall, who is believed to have died on a submarine that sank, was found naked and they are now also searching for her clothes. Copenhagen police spokesman Steen Hansen said investigators found a "clothes-less" torso. He said that investigators were looking for her clothes, including an orange turtleneck blouse, a black-and-white skirt, and white sneakers. Divers and members of the Danish Emergency Management Agency were combing the coast of the Amager island in Copenhagen, in the area where Wall is believed to have died, the AP reports.

The 30-year-old Wall was last seen alive Aug. 10 aboard the submarine of Danish aerospace and submarine enthusiast Peter Madsen. Police have arrested him on suspicion of manslaughter. Madsen has confessed to police he buried Wall at sea after an accident aboard his submarine, UC3 Nautilus. On Wednesday, a candlelight vigil was held by classmates at Columbia University's School of Journalism in New York, where Wall studied. BuzzFeed interviews a number of Wall's friends, who describe her as an adventurous "badass." (Read more Kim Wall stories.)
Judge Judy's newly released testimony in a legal dispute between her network (CBS) and a talent agency is just about as awesome as you'd expect from the outspoken jurist. The dispute itself has quite a few ins and outs, with Vulture summing it up nicely: The talent agency gets 5% of Judge Judy's net profits, but only after CBS pays Judy her $47 million salary, so it's claiming to be underpaid; CBS, meanwhile, says the talent agency is actually overpaid since it had nothing to do with the creation or production of the show beyond representing three of the show's early producers. But Judy's testimony from 2016, which was just obtained by the Hollywood Reporter and published for the first time, is a must-read. In it, she describes her negotiation process with CBS every few years, which isn't actually a negotiation at allit's just Judy getting what she wants.

Her contract allows her to produce the show herself if she so desires, she explains in the testimony, and if she did that she'd actually make $20 million more. She doesn't, because "I like the uncomplicated life I lead," but the option is always there. So when it's negotiation time, she sits down with a CBS exec for dinner and hands him an envelope with her demands (salary and otherwise), and each time those demands are met. The one year a different exec tried to hand her his own envelope, she refused to even look at it because "this isn't a negotiation," as she told him. "'You want [the show], fine. Otherwise, I'll produce it myself.' That's the negotiation." She added that CBS has "no choice but to pay me what I [want]" and that the network's "back [is] to the wall," because "they've tried to find another Judy," but they can't. More from the testimony at THR. (Read more Judge Judy stories.)
A coalition of rabbis won't hold its annual presidential conference call this year, accusing President Trump of showing support for "those who advocate anti-Semitism, racism, and xenophobia," ABC News reports. Per the Washington Post, the coalitionwhich includes the Rabbinical Assembly, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and otherscanceled the conference call with a joint statement Wednesday over Trump's comments on Charlottesville, which the rabbis called "so lacking in moral leadership and empathy for the victims of racial and religious hatred that we cannot organize such a call this year." The coalition states the "Nazis, alt-right, and white supremacists" in Charlottesville "must be roundly condemned at all levels."

George W. Bush and Bill Clinton talked with rabbinical groups ahead of the Jewish high holidays, and a conference call with hundreds of rabbis was held every year during the Obama administration, the New York Times reports. The call was typically free of "raw politics" and a chance for rabbis to discuss the high holidays and ask the president questions. Rabbi Jonah Pesner says the rabbis would have liked the opportunity to hear encouraging words from the current president; instead, Trump "has given anti-Semites comfort and aid." The organizations that pulled out of the call represent 4,000 rabbis and congregations. The move suggests Trump may have a very hard time gaining support among American Jews. (Read more rabbi stories.)
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New Delhi:

Mobile and Internet services were suspended in Punjab, Haryana and Union Territory Chandigarh ahead of CBI courts verdict in a molestation case against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh on August 25.

Section 144 was also imposed in Haryana to avoid any law and order problems as thousands of followers of Dera chief gathered in Chandigarh and neighbouring districts of the state.

Section 144 (which bars gathering of more than 4 persons at a place) has been imposed in all the districts of Haryana, the states Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Ram Niwas said in Chandigarh while briefing about the security arrangements.

Further, 22 trains have been cancelled on the Haryana route and mobile internet services have been suspended for 72 hours in Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh.

He further said that carrying of any kind of stick or weapon has also been prohibited at Naam Charcha Ghar of Dera followers, amid reports that premis (dera followers) had started descending at different places including Panchkula and Ambala.

The officials have also requested Indian railways to immediately stop all the passenger trains coming to Chandigarh as more followers are expected to reach ahead of Fridays verdict.

The Haryana government has also requested the Centre to provide 115 companies of paramilitary forces. While Punjab had already received 75 companies of central forces, Haryana got 35 companies to maintain security.

Police along with paramilitary forces like the Rapid Action Force (RAF) and SSB, held flag marches at vulnerable places including Moga, Bathinda, Sangrur, Barnala, Patiala, Ludhaina, Panchkula, Sirsa, Fatehabad, Ambala, Hisar, officials said.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh warned against any attempt to disrupt the states law and order in view of the upcoming judgement by the Panchkula court.

All steps are being taken to ensure that law and order is not disturbed in any way in the wake of the court order, Ram Niwas said.

Punjab DGP Suresh Arora personally visited the sensitive areas and put fool-proof security network in place to prevent any untoward incident, officials said.

(With PTI inputs)

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New Delhi:

Nepal PMA A Sher Bahadur is on a four-day state visit that marks his first trip abroad since assuming office in JuneA was accorded ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan a day after his arrival. After whichA joint statement was issued between the leaders in Delhi.

PM Narendra Modi on Wednesday recieved his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur at his residence.A Nepal PM SB Deuba at Rashtrapati Bhavan said 'A close neighbor, India helped Nepal in our development efforts, would request PM to support more'A .

Here are the highlights:

# I appreciate PM Modi's 'Neighbourhood First' policy and approach of 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas': Nepal PM Sher Bahadur Deuba

# Deubaji told me that the land issue for Arun III has been resolved, I thank him for inviting me to Nepal for its inauguration

# Had a positive meeting reviewing the gamut of our partnership: PM Modi at joint statement with Nepal PM Sher Bahadur Deuba

# Great honor that I have the opportunity to welcome Nepal PM Sher Bahadur Deuba here

#A MoUs being exchanged between India and Nepal pic.twitter.com/fddAXDpfmn

Earlier today, Nepal's Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and his wife Arzu Rana Deuba paid tributes at Rajghat in Delhi.

According to reports, the detailed talks between the two leaders on Thursday was unscheduled. "Happy to welcome Rt Hon Shri Sher Bahadur Deuba ji, PM of close & friendly neighbour Nepal. Look forward to more extensive talks tomorrow," PM Modi tweeted on Wednesday along with a photograph of the two.

It also includes National Planning Commission vice- chairman Swarnim Wagle and National Reconstruction Authority CEO Govinda Raj Pokharel, secretaries of various ministries and 21 lawmakers. Deuba is scheduled to visit Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh and Bodh Gaya in Bihar before returning to Nepal on Sunday.

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New Delhi:

Rodents allegedly drank 9 lakh litres of liquor in Bihar and now rats in Jharkhand ate away at least 45 kilograms of marijuana in Jharkhands coal town Dhanbad, around 170 kilometers from Ranchi.

The incident came to surface after Dhanbad police told the court that rats ate around 45 kilograms of marijuana confesticated from a man smuggling the narcotic to West Bengal from Bihar.

The Dhanbad police had seized the narcotic from the inter-state GT Road (NH-2) under Barwadda police station jurisdiction in 2016. The arrested was identified as Shivaji Kumar, a resident of Bihars Bhojpur district. Police had recovered around 145 kilograms of marijuana from the arrested.

The seized narcotic was deposited in Barwadda police stations storeroom. Police had booked Kumar under Narcotic Drugs Psychotropic Substance Act, 1985 and chargesheet was filed in a Dhanbad court last month.

Dhanbad Police produced around 100 kilograms of marijuana in front of the court on being directed.

On being questioned on the missing marijuana, Barwadda police station officer-in-charge in a report submitted to the court said rats finished the marijuana kept in plastic sacks in police station storeroom.

This year in May Bihar police had blamed rats for drinking around 9 lakh litres of alcohol seized from people trying to mock prohibition law in the state.

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New Delhi:

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sanghs West Bengal unit has refused to abide by the decision of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to restrict immersion of idols on October 1 due to Muharram.

RSS said Hindus will immerse the idols of Durga and its governments duty to ensure both Hindu and Muslims are able to perform their religious rituals.

Hindus will immerse the idols following Shastra guidelines. It is the governments duty to ensure both communities are able to perform their rituals as per religious guidelines. Hindus will immerse idols after 6 pm on Bijoya Dashami as the almanac allows it, The Hindustan Times quoted Jisnu Basu, general secretary of RSS south Bengal as saying.

The statement from RSS came after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, to maintain peace and avoid possible clashes, ordered that no immersions will take place on October 1 due to Muharram.

There will be no immersions on October 1 due to Muharram. However, immersions will resume on October 2 and continue till October 4  the day before Lakshmi Puja.

This year Durga Puja and Muharram have fallen at the same time. We have to maintain peace during the festivals. I will ask the police to talk to puja and Muharram committees. Barricades will be set up at places where Muharram processions will be taken out so that processions of both communities do not mix up. The puja committees will have to play a vital role in this regard. You have to ensure that no untoward incident takes place. We will not allow anyone to incite riots, she added.

The BJP accused Mamata of appeasing the minorities by putting restrictions on Hindu celebrations and said the party will move to Court against the order.

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New Delhi:

In a skocking incident, a 15-year-old girl was chased and attacked by a stalker who chopped off her right hand in UP's Lakhimpur Kheri on Wednesday.

The victim was rushed to the medical college in Lucknow and told the police that the accused, identified as a man named Vinod Chaurasia, had been stalking her for the last few days.

The victim, a Class IX student who remains hospitalised in a critical condition said that when she reached the milling market area of Fatehpur Saidri around 3pm, Chaurasia, who works at a welding shop nearby, spotted her, but she ignored him again. After which Chaurasia grabbed a sword and chopped off her hand.

"One of her hands fell off, while the man kept striking at her other hand even as people overpowered him and rescued the girl from certain death," eyewitness Akhilesh Rastogi, a local, told TOI.

The girl was first taken to the district hospital, but referred to Lucknow as her condition deteriorated. A doctor at the Kheri district hospital said, "She had lost a lot of blood and she was critical. That's why she was sent to Lucknow for treatment."

Kheri superintendent of police S Chinappa said, "Our priority is the health of the girl, who is in a serious condition. Once her condition improves, we will record her statement, following which the motive of the attack can be clearly ascertained."

The incident comes days after 17-year-old Ragini Dubey was stabbed to death by goons in Ballia while she was on her way to school.

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New Delhi:

A police officer was killed and one suffered bullet-injuries in a fierce gun-battle with a gang of dacoits in Uttar Pradeshs Chitrakoot district on Thursday.

The Uttar Pradesh Police have claimed that a dacoit has been gunned down and at least five including the gang leader  Babuli Kol  has suffered bullet injuries in Chitrakoots Nihichiraya forest, around 250 kilometers from state capital Lucknow.

One of our officers suffered bullet injuries in the encounter with the dacoits. He later succumbed to his injuries, said ADGP SN Sawant to media after the encounter.

He added that the police forces have gunned down one dacoit and at least five others have been injured in the encounter and a dacoit identified as Raju Kol has been arrested from the encounter site.

However, police have failed to recover the body of the killed dacoit or nab others.

The deceased police officer has been identified as sub-inspector Jai Prakash Singh, 44.

A senior police officer told the media that working on a tip off a police team launched search operation in Chitrakoots forest area to neutralise the Babuli Kol and his group.

Police said, the dacoits on siting the raiding team opened fire. The police team quickly taking position retaliated.

"More than 1000 rounds of bullet were exchanged during the gun-battle," said a police personnel part of the raiding team.

According to a senior police officer requesting anonymity said that Special Task Force has been rushed to the encounter site.

The dacoits taking benefit of the dense forest managed to escape. Police have launched a major search operation in the forested area to nab the dacoits.

The Uttar Pradesh government has announced ex-gratia amount of Rs 10 lakh for the deceased police officers family and another Rs 5 Lakh for his parents.

(With inputs from Anil Yadav and Dipesh Tripathi)







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New Delhi:

Villagers in Jharkhands Maoist-hit district Khunt took a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) rank officer and his team hostage on Thursday evening.

A superintendent of police (SP) rank officer posted in Jharkhand Police headquarters had confirmed the incident.

He told the media that DSP and his team has been made captive by the villagers of Kotam Silodan, around 60 kilometers from Jharkhand state capital Ranchi.

Jharkhand Police launched an operation led by the Khunti SP to rescue the captive police personnel. The police had to fire in the air in order to control the villagers.

The villagers, however, lost their cool as police resorted to firing in the air. As per reports, top police personnel tried to pacify the villagers but they weren't ready to listen to them.

Along with the SP, the SDM has also been taken hostage by Kanki villagers of Murhi Panchayat. Some police personnel have also been taken hostage. Nearly 1500 villagers are involved in the hostage situation.

Here are the live updates:

#8:00 AM: Jharkhand Police Director General of Police DK Pandey with team rushes to Khunti to negotiate with villages to rescue captive police officials



#8:00 AM: Villagers have blocked all roads towards the village



#8:00 AM: More than 200 police personnel have been made captive by villagers armed with traditional weapons





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New Delhi:

"If we have to close down our government, we're building that wall," said US President Donald Trump while addressing the supporters at a rally in Phoenix, Arizona. Trump added that he will shut down the government if a fund for make Mexico wall will not collect.

He told supporters at a "Make America Great Again" rally that opposition Democrats were being "obstructionist".

Mr. Trump wants Congress to finance his contentious plan to build a giant wall along the United States with Mexico to control or ban illegal immigration.



Republicans want the support of the Democrats to build a wall, need financial aid in a government spending bill, which has very fewer chances.



Mr Trump said: Now the obstructionist Democrats would like us not to do it, but believe me if we have to close down our government, we are building that wall."

He added that the American people voted for immigration control. While addressing the rally trump lashed out at media, criticized the reporting style of the media organization."These are truly dishonest people. They're bad people.

Also Read: Donald Trump: US media dishonest, lobbying tool

I really think they don't like our country," Trump said. "The only people giving a platform to these hate groups is the media." Adopting a glib tone, Trump said many reporters ignored his condemnation of white supremacists, including the Ku Klux Klan.



"If we have to close down our government, we're building that wall," Trump said. "We're going to have our wall. The American people voted for immigration control. We're going to get that wall."



In his speech, Trump has also talked about from NAFTA trade talks to the US slowdown with North Korea. He said there would be a chances that he cancel the NAFTA treaty with Mexico and Canada to jump-start negotiations, and said the standoff with North Korea over its weapons programs might have taken a positive turn.



However, it was unclear whether the speech would help lay the foundation for a comeback from the deep political crisis Trump finds himself in after only seven months in office and an approval rating below 40 percent.

Also Read: Trump says Pakistan has suffered from terror, but it has also been safe haven for terrorists

(With Reuters Input)

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DANBURY  The fourth annual American Dream Awards Gala Dinner will be held on Sept. 16 to honor members of the local immigrant community.

The gala is being hosted by the Tribuna Newspaper, a trilingual newspaper in Danbury, and The New American Dream Foundation, a new nonprofit organization that was created to serve as the philanthropic arm of Tribuna.

The recent displays of racism and bigotry across the U.S., as well as right in our backyard in New Milford, are proof that the American Dream Awards is more than just a gala, said Emanuela Palmares, the foundations vice president and editor of the Tribuna. It is a statement that we as a community celebrate, support and welcome all people, and that is truly what makes America great.

The list of honorees include Farooq Kathwari, chairman and president/CEO of Ethan Allen Interiors Inc.; Danbury Probate Judge Dianne E. Yamin; Wilson Hernandez, president of the Ecuadorian Civic Center of Danbury; and four winners of $2,000 awards to be revealed at the gala.

Over $70,000 has been given in scholarships, awards and donations to the community through the event, according to a press release.

This years gala will benefit Mission Health Day  a free day of health screenings and other community services in October for the uninsured and low-income residents hosted by Western Connecticut Health Network and Western Connecticut State University.

The nomination process for the 2017 American Dream Awards began last April and ended on June 15.

Three award categories were open to the public for nominations  American Dream Person of the Year, American Dream Student of the Year and American Dream Veterans Award. The other two categories were selected by the Tribuna Newspaper editorial board  the American Dream Lifetime Achievement Award and the American Dream Leadership Awards.

Eighty-three applications were received from nominees who were born in the United States and others who migrated to Connecticut from Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Republic of Macedonia, Thailand and India.

Eight finalists  two for the Person of the Year and six for Student of the Year  will receive two tickets to the gala. The four winners, revealed at the gala, will receive $2,000, the American Dream Awards statue and will have their names permanently displayed on a plaque in Danbury City Hall honoring Tribunas American Dream Awards.

The 2017 Person of the Year finalists are Alvaro Tovar and Bernarda Sari, both Danbury residents.

The Student of the Year finalists are Nita Asani of Bethel; Jenifer Rojas-Orellana of Ridgefield; Sandra Pani, Zaida Coraizaca, Hilary Albarracin and Kittikorn Sathong, all from Danbury. Three winners will be revealed at the gala.

This years Veterans Award winner is Paulo Barros of Norwalk. Sgt. Barros left Brazil in 1993 when he was 10 years old and became a U.S. citizen in 2005. He was a gunner with the U.S. Marines and spent time in Afghanistan as a vehicle commander and gunner.

This years American Dream Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognizes people whose life journeys have embodied the American Dream, goes to Kathwari, who arrived in the United States from Kashmir, seeking political asylum.

The American Dream Leadership Award recipients are Yamin, Hernandez and Dina Valenti, the clinic director of Boehringer Ingelheim AmeriCares Free Clinic of Danbury.

Tickets are $100 and can be purchased online. The event starts at 6 p.m. at the Amber Room Colonnade.
Purple's Mattresses, Cushions and Pillows Available in First International Market

SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 24, 2017 /CNW/ -- Purple, a comfort technology company known for creating the "World's First No Pressure Mattress," today announced its first international expansion, moving into the Canadian market. Customers in Canada are now able to purchase Purple products, including mattresses, pillows and cushions, and have them shipped directly to their home at no extra cost. Purple's products feature its patented Hyper-Elastic Polymer technology designed to improve comfort.

"A good night's sleep is a universal need, and Purple is determined to meet the global demand for our quality sleep products," said Sam Bernards, CEO at Purple. "We're excited to extend the availability of our products to Canada and solve the problem of uncomfortable sleep for our neighbors to the north."

In conjunction with the launch, Purple has announced an exclusive "back-to-school" promotion for Canadian consumers. While supplies last, customers can get $125 CAD off a platform base when they buy a mattress and base together. Purple will also offer free shipping, as well as its product warranties, including the 100-night trial for its mattress and pillow.

The company has seen rapid growth since launching last year, due in large part to its revolutionary mattress composition, created using non-toxic food grade materials. Its massively successful YouTube strategy has also garnered attention, with videos drawing millions of views and reaching tens of thousands of subscribers.

Pricing and Availability

The following products are available for purchase on Purple's website, https://onpurple.com/:

The Purple Bed Twin XL (CAD $1199 ), Queen (CAD $1599 ), King (CAD $1999 ), California King (CAD $1999 )

), Queen (CAD ), King (CAD ), King (CAD ) The Purple Pillow (CAD $169 )

) The Royal Purple Cushion (CAD $119 )

) The Purple Platform Base Twin XL (CAD $399 ), Queen (CAD $419 ), King (CAD $439 ), California King (CAD $439 )

), Queen (CAD ), King (CAD ), King (CAD ) The Purple Sheets Twin / Twin XL (CAD $249 ), Full / Full XL / Queen (CAD $269 ), King / California King (CAD $289 )

), Full / Full XL / Queen (CAD ), King / King (CAD ) The Purple Mattress Protector (CAD $109-$129 )

) The Purple PowerBase Twin XL (CAD $2999 ), Queen (CAD $3499 ), Split King (CAD $4699 )

About Purple

After 20 years of creating and licensing comfort products, Tony and Terry Pearce launched Purple in January 2016. The founders have been granted 38 patents in the advanced cushioning arena. Sixteen patents pending were used in creating the World's First No Pressure Mattress and future products. Purple has quickly become a leader in sleep and comfort technology. Its products change lives through dramatic improvements to the quality of sleeping and sitting.

Contact us:

For additional assistance, journalists, investors and analysts may contact the following member of Purple's communications team:

Savannah Turk

Director of Communications

[email protected]

801-756-2600 ext. 244

SOURCE Purple

Related Links

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CALGARY, Aug. 24, 2017 /CNW/ - Ikkuma Resources Corp. ("Ikkuma" or the "Corporation") (TSXV: IKM) is pleased to report its financial and operating results for the three months ended June 30, 2017. Selected financial and operational information is set out below and should be read in conjunction with Ikkuma's interim condensed financial statements and the related management's discussion and analysis ("MD&A") for the three months ended June 30, 2017. Ikkuma's condensed interim financial statements and MD&A are available for review at www.sedar.com and on the Corporation's website at www.ikkumarescorp.com.

SECOND QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

Production for the quarter averaged 5,861 BOE/d reflecting the impact of planned facility outages. Planned and unplanned pipeline and facility outages are expected to continue in the third quarter resulting in a similar average production for the third quarter. Production capacity remains at 6,500 to 7,500 BOE/d.

Funds from operations totaled $2.1 million in the quarter and $4.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017 , respectively, comparable to the same periods of the prior year.

in the quarter and for the six months ended , respectively, comparable to the same periods of the prior year. Improved product pricing year over year combined with lower royalties contributed to a 5% and 184% increase in operating netback/BOE for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2017 , respectively.

OPERATIONS UPDATE

Completion of the two oil wells drilled in the first quarter began in mid-July. Production operations have commenced recently on these wells, and will continue until rates have stabilized, which is likely to occur over the next one to two months.

(Expressed in thousands of Canadian dollars except per BOE and Share amounts; unaudited) Three months ended June 30, Six months ended June 30,

2017 2016 2017 2016 OPERATIONS















Average daily production















Natural gas (mcf/d)

34,259

35,361

36,243

39,790 Light Oil (bbls/d)

27

-

53

- NGL's (bbl/d)

125

27

121

77 Total equivalent (BOE/d)

5,861

5,921

6,214

6,709 Average prices and operating netback















Natural gas ($/mcf) $ 2.82 $ 1.37 $ 2.77 $ 1.63 Light Oil ($/bbl)

56.26

-

59.17

- NGL ($/bbl)

30.21

44.12

35.09

23.95 Revenue ($/BOE)

17.55

8.49

17.48

10.21 Realized gain on commodity contracts ($/BOE)

0.36

8.19

0.24

6.12 Royalties ($/BOE)

(0.01)

0.73

(0.30)

(0.24) Operating expenses ($/BOE)

(8.36)

(8.49)

(8.22)

(8.22) Transportation costs ($/BOE)

(2.03)

(1.77)

(2.01)

(1.80) Operating netback (1) ($/BOE) $ 7.51 $ 7.15 $ 7.19 $ 6.07



































FINANCIAL















Oil and natural gas sales $ 9,362 $ 4,576 $ 19,657 $ 12,472 Funds flow from operations (1) $ 2,064 $ 2,397 $ 4,892 $ 4,591

Per share  basic and diluted $ 0.02 $ 0.03 $ 0.05 $ 0.05 Income (loss) $ (898) $ (9,441) $ 1,566 $ (7,014)

Per share  basic and diluted $ (0.01) $ (0.11) $ 0.02 $ (0.08) Capital expenditures $ 2,388 $ 694 $ 11,157 $ 3,809 Property acquisitions $ - $ 2,713 $ - $ 2,734 Adjusted debt (1) $ 39,511 $ 25,819 $ 39,511 $ 25,819 Shares outstanding (000)

94,244

94,244

94,244

94,244 Weighted average shares outstanding

















Basic and diluted (000)

94,244

87,743

94,244

83,951

(1)Funds flow from operations, operating netback and adjusted debt are non-IFRS measures. See "Non- IFRS Measures".

SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

Subsequent to quarter end, Ikkuma announced a transformational $34 million Foothills acquisition, a $20 million infrastructure sale and a $10 million flow-through equity financing. These transactions, when completed, are estimated to triple Ikkuma's production to 20,800 BOE/d, triple annualized cash flow per share to $0.22/share and triple Ikkuma's drilling and recompletion inventory. Please see Ikkuma's press release of August 15, 2017 for a more detailed description of these transactions. The following summarizes each of the transactions:

Acquisition

On August 15, 2017, Ikkuma entered into a purchase and sale agreement to acquire (the "Acquisition") assets located in the Alberta Foothills and British Columbia Deep Basin (the "Assets"), effective as of July 1, 2017, for cash consideration of $34 million subject to customary adjustments. The Acquisition is subject to standard industry closing conditions, approval by the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") and the concurrent sale of certain midstream assets by the vendor to a third party purchaser. The Acquisition is expected to close on or about November 1, 2017.

Infrastructure Disposition

The Corporation has entered into a separate purchase and sale agreement to sell 51% of its trunk line and associated facilities (the "Infrastructure Disposition") in its existing northern Alberta Foothills properties to an undisclosed buyer, for a total cash consideration of $20 million. The Infrastructure Disposition has an effective date of September 1, 2017 and is expected to close September 15, 2017, but in any event, prior to the closing of the Acquisition.

Equity Issue

The Corporation announced a non-brokered private placement of 12,195,122 flow-through shares at a price of $0.82 per/share for gross proceeds of $10 million (the "Offering"). The Offering will consist of common shares issued on a "flow-through" basis in respect of Canadian exploration expenses under the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "Flow-Through Shares"). The gross proceeds from the Offering will be used by Ikkuma to incur eligible Canadian exploration expenses ("Qualifying Expenditures") prior to December 31, 2018. Ikkuma will renounce the Qualifying Expenditures to subscribers of the Flow-Through Shares for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017.

The completion of the Offering is subject to a number of conditions, including, without limitation, receipt of all regulatory approvals, including approval of the TSXV. Closing of the Offering is expected to occur on or about September 1, 2017. The Flow-through Shares issued pursuant to the Offering will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months plus one day from the closing of the Offering, in accordance with applicable securities legislation.

INCREASE TO EQUITY ISSUE

The Corporation is also pleased to announce that on August 23, 2017 it determined to increase the Offering, whereby the Corporation will now issue 15,400,000 Flow-Through Shares at a price of $0.82 per/share for gross proceeds of approximately $12.5 million (the "Increased Offering"). The gross proceeds from the Increased Offering will be used by Ikkuma to incur eligible Canadian exploration expenses ("Qualifying Expenditures") prior to December 31, 2018. Ikkuma will renounce the Qualifying Expenditures to subscribers of the Flow-Through Shares for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017. All other terms and conditions of the equity financing remain the same as previously announced.

The completion of the Increased Offering is subject to a number of conditions, including, without limitation, receipt of all regulatory approvals, including approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. Closing of the Increased Offering is expected to occur on or about September 1, 2017. The Flow-Through Shares issued pursuant to the Increased Offering will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months plus one day from the closing of the Increased Offering, in accordance with applicable securities legislation.

ABOUT IKKUMA

Ikkuma Resources Corp. is a diversified junior public oil and gas company listed on the TSXV under the symbol "IKM", with holdings in both conventional and unconventional projects in Western Canada. The technical team has worked together for over a decade in the Foothills Region of Western Canada, through two successful, publicly traded companies. The unique skills and repeat success at exploiting a complex, potentially prolific play type are fundamental ingredients for a successful growth-oriented company in Western Canada. Corporate information can be found at: www.ikkumarescorp.com .

Forward-Looking Statements and Information and Cautionary Statements

This press release contains forwardlooking statements and forwardlooking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws including, without limitation, those listed under "Risk Factors" and "Forward-looking Statements" in Ikkuma's Annual Information Form and in its other filings available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The use of any of the words "expect", "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "objective", "ongoing", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe", "plans", "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify forwardlooking statements or information. Forward-looking statements and information in this press release includes, but is not limited to, the completion of the Acquisition and the timing thereof; the completion of the Infrastructure Disposition and the timing thereof; the completion of the Offering, including the Increased Offering and the timing thereof; the use of proceeds of the Increased Offering; the funding of the purchase price of the Assets; the anticipated benefits to be obtained as a result of the Acquisition; the performance characteristics of the Assets and the anticipated potential of the Assets; and the impact of the Acquisition on the Corporation's production, reserves, inventory and financial condition. Although Ikkuma believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forwardlooking statements and information are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forwardlooking statements and information because Ikkuma cannot give any assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forwardlooking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include but are not limited to the risks associated with the oil and gas industry in general (e.g., operational risks in development, exploration and production; delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures; the uncertainty of reserve estimates; the uncertainty of estimates and projections relating to production, costs and expenses; failure to obtain necessary regulatory approvals for planned operations; health, safety and environmental risks; uncertainties resulting from potential delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures; volatility of commodity prices, currency exchange rate fluctuations; imprecision of reserve estimates; and competition from other explorers) as well as general economic conditions, stock market volatility, and the ability to access sufficient capital. We caution that the foregoing list of risks and uncertainties is not exhaustive.

In addition, the reader is cautioned that historical results are not necessarily indicative of future performance. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and Ikkuma undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forwardlooking statement or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.

Certain information set out herein may be considered as "financial outlook" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The purpose of this financial outlook is to provide readers with disclosure regarding Ikkuma's reasonable expectations as to the anticipated results of its proposed business activities for the periods indicated. Readers are cautioned that the financial outlook may not be appropriate for other purposes.

Non-IFRS Measures

This press release provides certain financial measures that do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS. These non-IFRS financial measures may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Funds flow from operations, operating netback and adjusted debt are not recognized measures under IFRS. Management believes that in addition to net income (loss), funds flow from operations, operating netback and net debt are useful supplemental measures that demonstrate the Corporation's ability to generate the cash necessary to repay debt or fund future capital investment. Investors are cautioned, however, that these measures should not be construed as an alternative to net income (loss), determined in accordance with IFRS, as an indication of Ikkuma's performance. Funds flow from operations is calculated by adjusting net income (loss) for depletion and depreciation, exploration and evaluation expense, impairment, gain (loss) on sale of petroleum, natural gas and equipment, share-based payments, unrealized gain (loss) on financial instruments and accretion. Operating netback equals the total of petroleum and natural gas sales, realized gains or losses on commodity contracts, less royalties, transportation and operating expenses Adjusted debt is the aggregate of the principal amount of the Term Loan, drawn amounts on credit facilities, and outstanding letters of credit with the bank less unrestricted cash. Reconciliations of operating netback and adjusted debt to the most directly comparable measures specified under IFRS are contained in the Corporation's management discussion and analysis, copies of which are available on SEDAR.

Oil and Gas Advisory

In this press release, the abbreviation BOE means a barrel of oil equivalent derived by converting gas to oil in the ratio of 6 Mcf of gas to 1 bbl of oil (6 Mcf:1 bbl). BOE may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A BOE conversion ratio of 6 Mcf:1 bbl is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead. Given that the value ratio based on the current price of crude oil as compared to natural gas is significantly different from the energy equivalency of 6 Mcf:1 bbl, utilizing a conversion ratio on a 6 Mcf of gas to 1 bbl of oil basis may be misleading as an indication of value.

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.

SOURCE Ikkuma Resources Corp.

For further information: Tim de Freitas, President & CEO; Carrie Yuill, VP Finance & CFO; Ikkuma Resources Corp., 2700, 605-5th Avenue S.W. Calgary, AB, T2P 3H5, Phone: 403-261-5900, Fax: 403-261-5902

Related Links

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OTTAWA, Aug. 24, 2017 /CNW/ - The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on Ukrainian Independence Day:

"Today, Ukrainians and Ukrainian communities in Canada and around the world celebrate 26 years of independence and freedom.

"As we mark both this important occasion and 150 years since Confederation, I invite Canadians to reflect on the immeasurable contribution of the Ukrainian-Canadian community to building a diverse and inclusive Canada.

"On this day, the Government of Canada reiterates its full support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as Ukraine's ongoing efforts to advance democracy, the rule of law, and sustainable economic development. Canada looks forward to continuing to work closely with Ukraine in areas of mutual interest, including the implementation of the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement, which entered into force on August 1.

"On behalf of all Canadians, Sophie and I wish everyone celebrating a joyful Independence Day.

"Slava Ukraini!"

This document is also available at http://pm.gc.ca

SOURCE Prime Minister's Office

For further information: PMO Media Relations: 613-957-5555

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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.
I have read with interest the Registers recent editorial saying that Joseph Gamin should not be entitled to public funding in his bid for governor.

I strongly disagree.

The General Assembly in 2013 passed legislation prohibiting public financing for any candidate who had committed felonies related to their public office.

Ganim was convicted and served some seven years in prison for felonies that fit within that General Assembly language. He then won both a primary and the general election in Bridgeport and now serves as its mayor. Bridgeport, with all its problems as a big city in Connecticut, actually appears to be doing well under his leadership.

Nevertheless, whether you support Joe Ganim or not, the hard fact is that the existing law clearly is unconstitutional and the State Elections Enforcement Commission should issue a declaratory ruling that Ganim has the right to participate in its Citizens Election Program just like any other candidate.

The entire concept of public financing of candidate election campaigns is to try to avoid corruption in government by helping to keep candidates away from both special interests and heavy-hitting private financing. Public financing also gives a candidate the tremendous advantage of being able to concentrate on running for office and not attending one fundraiser after another.

The General Assembly was trying to make the point that someone convicted of a felony related to their public office should not be treated the same as any other candidate. However, the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution make it abundantly clear that government cannot create different rules relating to different classes of people in the protection of political free speech. All candidates should be entitled to  and required to  follow the same rules.

I do believe in second chances. I also believe that once a sentence is completed, the General Assembly cannot create a basis for further punishment or bar someone from seeking public office. The only bar to public office should be set by the voters. Its whether or not you have their support that counts.

So far, Joe Ganim has met that test in the City of Bridgeport and is clearly entitled to the same right to participate in state public financing as every other candidate.

I want to make it clear that this is not in any way to be construed as my endorsement of Joe Ganim for governor or any other office. It is, rather, my endorsement of what I see as fair play. Ganim has paid the price to society for his previous behavior, giving up seven years of his life. If he now wants to run for any public office, he should be entitled to the same rights and privileges as any other candidate. I do not expect my position to be a popular one, but it is the right one. Meanwhile, this matter is currently being adjudicated in federal court. We will see if the Federal Judiciary agrees with my opinion or that of the Register.

Edward Marcus is former chairman of the Democrat State Central Committee in Connecticut.
HARTFORD >> None of the budget proposals increase revenues as much as a group of nonprofits, education providers, advocacy organizations, and labor unions would like.

The group is calling themselves the All Hands on Deck coalition and it would like to see the General Assembly raise revenue on wealthy individuals and corporations.

At a Legislative Office Building press conference Wednesday, they called on lawmakers to increase the income tax on the top income earners a half percent, reduce corporate tax expenditures by 10 percent, impose a penalty on large employers who dont pay their employees $15 an hour, expand the sales tax base, legalize marijuana, tax sweetened beverages, and institute tolls.

The group acknowledged that resurrecting tolls wouldnt generate revenue until at least 2024.

Ann Pratt, spokeswoman for the Connecticut Citizens Action Group, said they will continue to put out the message that there are people in the state who want these revenues to increase and we are urging our representatives to hear us.

She said these revenue solutions give them an opportunity to look at other alternatives.

However, at the moment it seems as if Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Democratic lawmakers are arguing over whether to force municipalities to increase property taxes with a shift in funding teacher retirement costs or a sales tax increase.

Senate President Martin Looney, D-New Haven, said thats a fair assessment of where the parties stand at the moment.

Right now, this is a sinking ship and we are here to create different opportunities, Pratt said.

Read more at CTNewsJunkie.com.
Officials with Connecticut and the eight other Northeastern states that are part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) announced Wednesday that they have tentatively agreed to more stringent air pollution restrictions through 2030.

The agreement reached by the states calls for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent, when compared to levels set for 2020.

RGGI states already have significantly reduced power sector carbon emissions, cutting them almost in half. The proposed new 2030 cap will be more than 65 percent lower than RGGIs 2009 starting cap.

A hearing on the proposal by the RGGI states to make their emissions rules more stringent will be held Sept. 25.

The agreement to further expand the reduction of emissions comes as the administration of President Donald Trump has announced plans to pull out of international efforts to reduce greenhouse gases. Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Connecticut energy and environment officials applauded the toughening of standards by states participating in the RGGI program.

The success of the RGGI program  and the proposals to make it even more effective  stand in sharp contrast to the Trump administrations shortsighted and wholesale retreat on climate issues, Malloy said in a statement. Despite what deniers say, there is no doubt that climate change is real and is happening, and that the burning of fossil fuels contributes significantly to the dangers we face. No matter the mood in Washington, Connecticut and the other RGGI states will continue moving forward with this highly effective and innovative regional initiative, and with other efforts to support energy efficiency and the deployment of clean energy systems within our borders.

Peter Shattuck of the Boston-based environmental group Acadia Center and director of the groups Clean Energy Initiative, said the federal governments withdrawal from international efforts to reduce greenhouse gasses has created a void that is being filled by the states through groups like RGGI. Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont are Connecticuts partners in RGGI, which makes the group a formidable force in international efforts to reduce global warming, according to Shattuck.

The RGGI states combined represent the sixth-largest economy in the world, he said. Acadia Center is a Boston-based environmental group with offices in Connecticut.

RGGI is what is commonly known as a cap-and-trade program, a term used to describe one of the mechanisms available for reducing air pollution in a nation or region while still allowing regulated companies some flexibility to meet standards that have been established.

Under such a system, companies are issued credits based on how large they are and what industries they are in. If a companys air pollution emission comes in below its allotted level under the credits, it has extra credits it may trade with other companies.

The history of cap and trade emissions programs can be traced back to the administration of President George H.W. Bush. The concept created an unusual alliance between environmental groups and free market economists, said Joel Gordes, a West Hartford-based energy consultant.

There is huge support for this kind of program because it reduces pollution, but does it with a market driven mechanism, which makes Republicans happy, Gordes said.

Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Rob Klee said the states participation in RGGI has helped reduce power sector emissions in the state by 32 percent, putting the state on a path to meet its goals for reducing emissions 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 percent below 2001 levels by 2050.

In addition to reducing greenhouse gases in the region, the RGGI program also stimulates economic growth, with participating states receiving revenues generated by the auction of carbon allowances under the program.

From 2008 to 2015, Connecticut has received $155 million in proceeds from the auction. More than 90 percent of these proceeds are invested in energy efficiency projects and clean and renewable energy.

Shattuck said under the new proposal being put forth by RGGI, Connecticut is expected to receive an additional $40 million in auction proceeds between now and 2030.

State officials say the money Connecticut already has received from the auction avoided the production of more than 450,000 tons of CO2 and provided $150,000 in customer energy bill savings.

State statute requires that 69.5 percent of RGGI auction proceeds are distributed to the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund (CEEF), the Connecticut Municipal Energy Cooperative (CMEEC), and the Town of Wallingfords Electric Division. Another 23 percent goes to the Connecticut Green Bank.

Call Luther Turmelle at 203-680-9388.
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WEST HAVEN >> The 2 Left Feet Blues Festival returns for a fifth year this weekend at the same location as last year  the Simsbury Meadows Performing Arts Center  but it has expanded from one day to three days with limited camping available.

Our lineup is just fantastic, said co-founder and Woodbridge native Tom Deegan, who created the festival and produces it with his significant other, Charlotte Silkey. They just keep getting better year after year. Everybody has just been great. Theres been no prima donna or anything...

This year I think that we have turned a major corner for 2 Left Feet, Deegan said.

The festival is run by a nonprofit, 501c3 corporation, with proceeds beyond seed money from this years festival going to Who Cares Teen Cancer America, and Musicians Lifeline.

This years headliners are King Solomon Hicks Aug. 25, Savoy Brown on Aug. 26 and Walter Trout on Aug. 27.

Also appearing are Billy Price, Dana Fuchs, David Julia, Decker and Hally, the Ghost Town Blues Band, Jarekus Singleton, Mark Telesca, onetime Hamden whiz kid Noah Kesselman  who still comes by to visit but is now a Berklee School of Music student  longtime Connecticut blues guitarist and Blues Music Award nominee Paul Gabriel, Teeny Tucker, The Rusty Wright Band, The Taylor Made Band and Connecticut bluesman Tom The Suit Forst.

The complete schedule is posted at 2leftfeetbluesfestival.com/event-schedule.

Im really excited about Savoy Brown, said Deegan. I can remember them before I went in the service  I went in the service in 69  I remember saying to myself, If ever I put together my own festival, thats who I want.

And then when we got Walter Trout.

Savoy Brown and Walter Trout both are releasing new albums Friday, Deegan said.

He said he also cant wait to see Fuchs, then quickly added, but I think our whole lineup is just great.

Gates open at 5 p.m. Friday (3:30 for campers) and 10 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. Music starts at 6 p.m. on Friday and 11 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Music goes until 9 p.m. Friday night, 8:15 p.m. Saturday and 5:45 p.m. on Sunday. Simsbury Meadows is at 22 Iron Horse Blvd. in Simsbury.

Gate prices are $20 Friday and $50 for Saturday or Sunday or $80 for two-day tickets, with reduced-price advance-purchase tickets  including three-day advance tickets ($70)  available, along with V.I.P. and camping tickets, at the 2 Left Feet website.

There also will be after-parties both Friday and Saturday night at the Maple Tree Cafe (781 Hopmeadow St., Simsbury), featuring the D. Smith Blues Band Friday and Carl Ricci & 706 Union Ave. Band on Saturday. There is a $10 cover each night for the after-parties, except for 2 Left Feet V.I.P. ticket holders, who get in free.
Contributed

BRANFORD >> Branford composer Kenneth Hampton will return to his New Haven hometown Aug. 26 for a showing of the latest film he has scored  the romantic comedy No Regrets at 10:30 a.m. at Bow Tie Criterion Cinemas on Temple Street.

Hampton runs Composers Media Group/Raise Em Up Records from his Branford studio; he said the movie will have a release in theaters in October after the red-carpet screening and soundtrack premiere here.
WASHINGTON - As I stood in line at the new Blue Bottle Coffee shop in Georgetown, I felt like a foreigner in my own country.

You see, I'm a hopeless coffee nerd. I'm the guy with all the gadgets, spouting off about brewing science and freshly roasted beans. Like many of my kind, I was looking forward to Blue Bottle's debut in Washington, even though I had fears about what $100 million-plus in venture capital might do to the Oakland, California-based company and its expansionist plans.

Despite these concerns, I fully expected Blue Bottle in Georgetown to feel like home, or at least a place where I'd be at peace with my surroundings. But upon entering the shop, I had a sinking feeling that Blue Bottle had traded in its third-wave credentials for a lifestyle brand. The evidence was be all around me.

First, there's the location: in Georgetown, in a former yoga studio, down the street from Dean & DeLuca and around the corner from a designer clothing shop with its own bar. Blue Bottle looks to be making explicit what so many Regular Joe drinkers have already surmised: Specialty coffee, with its $5 single-origin pourovers, is designed for elites only. Or tourists willing to splurge.

The interior didn't help matters: The shop features distressed concrete floors. Blank beige walls. Blonde wood finishes. Exposed silver ductwork. A long white communal table and a handful of stools to stare out a picture window that opens onto the brick-and-cobblestone street. It's Japanese minimalism meets warehouse chic.

As I inched toward the coffee bar, I inspected the products for sale: Blue Bottle branded drippers, filters, pitchers, mugs, cold brewers and more. A refrigerated case offered kiddie milk cartons filled with Blue Bottle's signature New Orleans iced coffee (with chicory root) and cute 8-ounce cans of Blue Bottle's cold brew (the ingredient list includes "time," ugh). When I finally reached a barista, I was told there was only one single-origin coffee available on the pourover bar. Otherwise, I had to order one of Blue Bottle's blends.

Coffee and espresso seemed to be pretty far down Blue Bottle's list of priorities. Style, I sensed, had supplanted the substance that had first attracted me to Blue Bottle in San Francisco several years ago. This place struck me as, arguably, the country's first chain Boutique Coffee Shop, a destination where drinkers can revel in their good taste while sipping on a caffe latte made with beans from Blue Bottle, the coffee world's closest thing to a designer brand.

Could this be the same Blue Bottle Coffee started by James Freeman, the classically trained musician who, 15 years ago, traded his clarinet for a Diedrich coffee roaster? The guy who has applied his deeply curious intellect to the pursuit of coffee roasting and brewing? The guy who co-wrote "The Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee," one of the most comprehensive mainstream books on growing, roasting and drinking coffee (and which includes his deliciously biting essay, "A Special Place in Hell: Pod Coffee")? Something wasn't adding up for me.

When reached by phone, Freeman set me straight on one thing: Blue Bottle doesn't rely on demographics and market research to select its locations. He and Bryan Meehan, chief executive officer of Blue Bottle, are more intuitive than analytical, Freeman said. Georgetown, he added, "felt like a very natural extension of who we are." In a separate interview, however, Meehan hinted at demographics, saying Blue Bottle was attracted to the neighborhood because its residents were "well-educated and well-traveled" and had an appreciation for culture. (Incidentally, Blue Bottle expects to open two more stores in the Washington, one at Union Market and another at the Wharf on the Southwest waterfront.)

The interior design isn't supposed to signal anything to customers. The shop is more like a black box theater, purposely designed to strip away clutter so customers can enjoy their coffee experience with minimal distraction, Freeman said. It's no coincidence that the giant, blonde-wood frame behind the coffee bar looks like a proscenium arch. The baristas are the stars of the show, shaping your experience.

Blue Bottle, Meehan said, doesn't have a marketing department or even someone with the title of "marketing manager." The people who sell the brand are the baristas, and Blue Bottle sends each one to Oakland for six weeks of training, with company-paid room and board. Ultimately, the baristas, Freeman said, should be like "the coolest sommelier you've ever met."

The baristas are trained not to talk down to those who walk into Blue Bottle, even if a customer wants nothing more than cookie and a caffe mocha. Yet employees should be able to engage with patrons at every level, from novice to licensed Q-Grader. Like the space in which they work, the baristas don't flaunt their coffee-geek capabilities, preferring instead to conceal them under a friendly facade.

I can attest that the baristas at Blue Bottle in Georgetown are inviting and gracious, although some clearly have more knowledge and skills than others. Then again, not even Blue Bottle can turn an amateur into champion barista with just six weeks of training. The finest baristas I know have been making coffee for years, always hungry to learn more.

Blue Bottle's limited menu is also designed not to overwhelm, Freeman said. This is why the pourover bar will feature only two or three coffees per day. You might even see those coffees for longer than 48 hours. Blue Bottle has revamped its old policy of trashing beans older than two days. The company's blends will now be served for four days, and single-origin coffees will stick around for a week. Over the past 15 years, Blue Bottle and Freeman have learned a lot more about when coffees taste best.

"We have a saying internally," Meehan said, "we don't worry about staying the same as we grow. We worry about getting better."

I must admit that seeing the Georgetown shop from Blue Bottle's perspective has alleviated some of my concerns. The location is not a harbinger that Blue Bottle has embraced style over substance. It's a sign that Blue Bottle has learned how to conceal substance within its stylish shops, a legitimate move if third-wave coffee ever wants to inch its way into the mainstream where it belongs. (At the same time, I feel like Freeman and Meehan are semi-oblivious to the image they're projecting in Georgetown with this chic, austere space, which doesn't invite inquiry into coffee as much as it creates a vacuum that customers must fill on their own, often with their phone.)

Frankly, none of this would mean much if Blue Bottle's coffees didn't live up their reputation. I've been to the Georgetown shop three times now, and three times I've ordered pourover coffees. Two cups featured single-origin beans, one from Peru and the other from Ethiopia, both trading on sweetness over acidity, as if Blue Bottle's roasters were searching for each bean's sweet spot, rather than its full complexity.

The other cup was a pourover of Blue Bottle's Three Africas, a blend that includes a naturally processed bean from Ethiopia. I've had this blend many times in the past, and this version is, by far, the finest one yet. Sweet, fruity, full-bodied. It gives blends a good name. It also has me hooked on Blue Bottle, no matter what I think of the company's evolving style.
HAMDEN >> Just under half of all town students participated in the National School Lunch Program last year, with some schools seeing more need than others, and school officials are expecting similar numbers this year.

The program provides free and reduced-price lunches to students whose families are at an economic disadvantage. The towns Title I elementary schools have the largest number of participating students, according to Michael Belden, chief operating officer of Hamden Public Schools. These schools are defined as the most needy of financial resources.

Church Street, Dunbar Hill, Helen Street, Ridge Hill and Shepherd Glen schools have the greatest concentration of need for the program, Belden said.

Church Street School has the largest population of needy students with 79 percent of the children determined eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.

We try to help as many families as we can to use the benefit, Belden said. Its a great benefit and were thankful we can provide it.

The program is federally funded, so budget insecurity at the state level will have no effect on schools providing the lunches.

Only one application for the program is required per household. And for up to 30 days into the new school year, eligibility from the previous year will continue within the same school.

Eligibility for NSLP is based on household income and the number of family members in the household. Children who are directly certified for free meals dont need their family to fill out an application. If they participate in SNAP, the Temporary Family Assistance program, or if they have a status as a homeless, migrant, runaway, or foster child, they are categorically eligible for free meal benefits.

Last year, 30.4 million children nationwide participated in the school lunch program, which provided. low-cost or no-cost lunches to children each day during the school year.

The national percentage of households reported as being food insecure is decreasing, but at 12.7 percent, the levels are still higher than before the recent economic recession, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

In recent years, about 59 percent of food-insecure households reported they had participated in one or more of the three largest Federal nutrition assistance programs: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the National School Lunch and Program and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), the USDA reported in 2016.

In Connecticuts 3rd District  which includes Hamden, New Haven, North Haven, Milford and Middletown  33,539 households participate in SNAP.
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The kids are not all rightor so the click-bait headlines would lead you to believe. There are countless stories about those flighty millennials who job-hop every year, are crazy-obsessed with their iPhone phablets and shell out too much on Instagrammable avocado toast or kale smoothies to move out of their parents basements and (gasp!) pay their own rent.

There's more than a hint of truth to that last part. About 15% of 25- to 35-year-olds were still crashing with their folks in 2016, according to a Pew Research study. And that leaves 85% either cramming into apartments with friends or living solo.

The young-at-heart data team at realtor.com decided to dig into these numbers. As it turns out, where millennials are living plays a big role in whether they are most likely to live alone, as opposed to with their folks.

And there's a lot of variation across the country, we learned. For example, Bridgeport and New Haven ranked in the top 10 U.S. metros where young adults are most likely to delay moving out of their home. But most of them live alone in more affordable cities like Albany, NY, or Omaha, NE.

"We definitely see a larger percentage of millennials living at home at an older age than previous generations," says Jason Dorsey, president of the Center for Generational Kinetics, a millennial research firm based in Austin, TX. "They hit the Great Recession, so its taking them longer to financially recover. They had a tough job market from the start. And theres been quite a lot of wage stagnation."

Adding to the generational woes: Millennials have record amounts of student debt that needs to be paid off. It's yet another factor that has helped push up the median age of first-time homeowners to 32 in 2016, according to the National Association of Realtors.

"Its more socially acceptable now to delay marriage, kids, and a home," Dorsey says. "Theres not the expectation that you would have bought your own home by age 30."

So where exactly are millennials living on their own (without roommates or romantic partners)? And where have they flown back toor never leftthe nest? To figure out it out, realtor.com's data team analyzed 2015 U.S. Census Bureau data on 18- to 34-year-olds in the largest metros. We also added in rental prices for one-bedroom apartments from the rental website Apartment List and realtor.com median home list prices to give you an idea of the local housing markets.

Ready for home-cooked meals? Lets look at where millennials are most likely to shack up with Mom and Dad.

Percentage of millennials living with parents: 51.8%

Median rent for a one-bedroom apartment: $620

Median home list price: $189,300

There are two main reasons why millennials stick around their family abodes in McAllen, which sits on the U.S.-Mexico border: They don't make enough money to move out, and even if they could, their families may not want them to. Unlike larger cities in the Lone Star State, the area lacks good-paying, professional jobs. That makes it hard to afford to live on one's own.

Plus, many of the city's close-knit families prefer to pool limited resources by living together under one roof, until major life events like marriage or childbirth.

Percentage of millennials living with parents: 45.8%

Median rent for a one-bedroom apartment: $1,210

Median home list price: $699,000

The sky-high prices in California make it hard for just about everyone, regardless of their age, to make it on just one income. What puts Oxnard on this list is that twentysomethings are simply fleeing because it doesn't have enough high-paying jobs to keep up with the increasing home prices.

However, this bucolic surf town is within reach of western Los Angelesabout an hour and a half away by car or train. That means millennials might be able to commute to the City of Angels a few days a week and then come home to dear old Mom and Dad.

Percentage of millennials living with parents: 45.6%

Median rent for a one-bedroom apartment: $681

Median home list price: $166,700

El Paso has a lot in common with McAllen. It also lies along the U.S.-Mexico border, suffers from a high unemployment rate and slow economic growth, and is seeing home costs rise. And it has a large Mexican-American population that is generally favorable toward children living with their parents well into adulthood.

So even though housing is pretty cheap, many local residents still can't afford their own digs. But many wouldn't want 'em anyway.

Percentage of millennials living with parents: 45.2%

Median rent for a one-bedroom apartment: $1,134*

Median home list price: $725,000

Many millennials want to live on their own in coastal Bridgeport, but there aren't enough homes to go aroundespecially in the right price range.

Because of its close proximity to New York Cityabout 70 minutes away on an express Metro North trainBridgeport is a popular commuter hub for those looking to save a few bucks and former city dwellers craving extra space for a family. The downtown is also experiencing a resurgence, especially in the Black Rock neighborhood, with bars, restaurants, and live music venues popping up.

That's led to "a big inventory of renters and a small inventory of rentals," says local Realtor Gail Robinson of William Raveis Real Estate.

Percentage of millennials living with parents: 44.8%

Median rent for a one-bedroom apartment: $1,062

Median home list price: $379,500

Millennials are spreading across Miami like bronzing oil on sunbathers. The beaches, all-night parties, and jobs have made it the second most desirable U.S. metro for millennial home buyers, according to realtor.com.

Even with the influx of young residents, the Magic City has one of the highest percentages of millennials who have yet to fly the coop. Thank the killer rents and rising home values. After college, many South Florida kids head home to continue with graduate studies at nearby universities or enter the job market. But theyre often met with entry-level salaries that cannot keep up with the elevated cost of living.

"I have a lot of clients who live with parents and save up little by little until they're ready to buy something," says local Realtor Giovanna Calimano, of Yes Real Estate.

The rest of the top 10 metros where millennials are most likely to live with their parents are Riverside, CA; New York City; North Port, FL; New Haven, CT; and Worcester, MA.

Now, let's look at where millennials are most likely to live solo.

Percentage of millennials living alone: 11.2%

Median rent for a one-bedroom apartment: $1,130

Median home list price: $391,900

Its no surprise that millennials are moving en masse to funky Austin, one of the most dynamic metros in the United States. And even if they are living on their own, don't expect them to be lonely. The city is praised for its great food (hello, breakfast taco!), the arts and tech festival/empire of South by Southwest, as well as its thriving entrepreneurial communities.

What is shocking is how many of Austin's millennials are making it on just one income. The median price of an apartment is more than $1,000and it gets higher the closer you get to the city center.

One reason that many millennials can afford Silicon Hills, as the Texas capital is known, is due to the influx of tech startups and other related firms. The alluring combo of higher incomes and a lower cost of living has led many to choose the city over other tech hubs.

"More and more young people have higher-salary jobs based out of the [San Francisco] Bay Area, Chicago, or New York, and telecommute from Austin, because of the quality of life," says local real estate broker Mark Strub of Strub Residential. "It really is that cool."

Percentage of millennials living alone: 10.4%

Median rent for a one-bedroom apartment: $759

Median home list price: $269,700

Yes, Nebraskayou got a problem with that? The city offers affordable rents for those just starting out, and even buying a home is within reach. Plus it boasts thriving arts, restaurant, and indie music scenes. It's home to Warren Buffett and his Berkshire Hathaway company, so we're not exactly talking about the middle of nowhere.

The city even has a decent coolness quotient. Local indie rock bands like Cursive have produced albums with Saddle Creek Records, a homegrown record label founded in part by Omaha-native Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes. The city's craft beer industry is also gaining momentum, hailed by Thrillist as one of the 10 Untapped Beer Cities Poised to Blow Up.

Percentage of millennials living alone: 10.4%

Median rent for a one-bedroom apartment: $719

Median home list price: $234,700

Plenty of the roughly 27,000 students who attend the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee stick around after graduation. And why not? Milwaukee offers many of the same amenities as nearby Chicago (about an hour and a half away), and the housing is just a fraction of the price.

For example, a brand-new, 1,200 square-foot apartment in downtown Milwaukee runs $1,500 to $1,700 a month in rent, says local Realtor Betsy Wilson Head of Realty Executives. Those a bit more flush with cash can purchase a home in good shape for $150,000 to $175,000.

Plus, millennials don't need to break the bank to have a good time. Idyllic Lake Michigan supports a large sailing community. The Milwaukee Arts Museum is one of the largest in the country, with nearly 25,000 pieces of art. And there are tons of free activities going on around town.

"Every night in summer, [there's a] free concert somewhere," says Wilson Head.

Percentage of millennials living alone: 10.2%

Median rent for a one-bedroom apartment: $743

Median home list price: $175,000

Once the prime exemplar of the decline in cities in the Rust Belt, Pittsburgh has made a big comeback in recent yearsespecially among savvy twentysomethings. They've helped propel Steel Town into a new era of prosperity, driven by the growing tech industry and management services.

The city has new art spaces, parks, bike trails, restaurants, bars, and social events, while maintaining the best parts of its old, industrial vibe. Plenty of historic factories have been renovated into reasonably priced housing with the authentic urban, loft vibe that many millennials adore. House party!

Percentage of millennials living alone: 10.1%

Median rent for a one-bedroom apartment: $870

Median home list price: $269,900

New Yorks state capital has embraced the tech industry, attracting companies like IBM and GlobalFoundries. This has helped retain local university graduates and lure millennials from other metros. That influx of young folk has laid the groundwork for a burgeoning cultural scene that has repurposed formerly abandoned industrial districts and launched a downtown renaissance.

"The reason why Albany is so attractive is because it's affordable," says local real estate broker Anthony Gucciardo of the Gucciardo Real Estate Group. Three-bedroom, two-bathroom houses rent for about $2,000 a month.

"The only people here who are likely to have roommates are those still in college," he says.

Rounding out the top 10 cities where millennials are most likely to live alone are Indianapolis; Dayton, OH; Cleveland; New Orleans; and Kansas City, MO.

* The average rental price for a one-bedroom apartment in June, according to Rent Jungle.

The post Where Millennials Live Aloneand Where They're Still Crashing With Mom and Dad appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.




The leader of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF), Chief Asari Dokubo, has said Biafra will be known as United States of Biafra.In a 13-minute clip currently trending on social media, he also revealed that he has been involved in drafting the Biafran constitution.Dokubo stated that the confederating units of Biafra may be decided by referendum.According to him, revenue will be divided 70% to the confederating units and 30% to the central Government.He noted that the Biafra government will be in charge of defence, foreign affairs, judiciary and other national issues.
45 year old Chidi Mokeme, an actor and reality show host has reacted to the public speech made by President Muhammadu Buhari on the unity of Nigeria.



President Muhammadu Buhari

Read the short letter posted by Chidi Mokeme, an Anambra native below:

MR PRESIDENT YOU ARE RIGHT ABOUT THE UNITY OF NIGERIA BUT....... My major concern about Mr President's speech is the dictatorial tone applied, negating your fatherly factor and the concerns of dissenting voices in a democracy, especially as it relates to the restructuring of Nigeria.

These dissenting voices in my estimation does not include IPOB. Mr President I agree with you that it is good to keep Nigeria united. But to say that the type of unity we currently have is nonnegotiable smacks of dictatorship.

In case you have forgotten the so called unity was actually discussed by our fathers and the terms of unity Nigerians wanted was agreed upon. But the military boys came in with violent disorder and destroyed what was negotiated prior to independence and in 1963, and gave us what you now describe as nonnegotiable, called 1999 constitution.

What the military led by one man gave us is unanimity and not unity. They took away the content of what was negotiated that was supposed to be nonnegotiable and gave us inequality, stifled systems that undermines Nigeria's progress, development and prosperity. Indeed our fathers had a detailed discussion and negotiation with the British in the 50's about the kind of union that was acceptable us.

They all agreed on real federalism whereby each zone maintained its own economy, peculiar political structure and institutions. These included resource control, regional/state police and prisons and many other creative structures that made Nigeria progressive pre-independence to 1967.

Any document decided by Adulsalam Abubakar and his junta called the 199 constitution is without our general contribution ant it is largely not acceptable. And the change required cannot be made by only a council of state populated by retired generals from one region or national assembly without equal representation from across the states and zones.

There maybe need for input from other well meaning Nigerians if we are serious about carrying zone along. A unity based on inequality and military imposition must be negotiable.
Happy New Month Nigeria! Welcome to the month of June. As the world searches for a respite from all its troubles since 2020 began, one can ...
President Muhammadu Buhari and some rats

A satirical and humourous post making rounds on social media to mock claims that rats have prevented President Muhammadu Buhari from resuming office is currently gaining attention.

Rats Association of Nigeria (RAN) has refuted the Presidency's allegation of vandalism against its members.

An Assistant Senior Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu had stated that some rodents destroyed pieces of furniture as well as air condition facilities in Buhari's office thereby necessitating a quick renovation.





Reacting to the allegation, the National chairman Rats Association of Nigeria (RAN) Comrade Ntapia O. Ntapia said "We respect protocols, our members don't cross National Red Lines. We are peaceful and law-abiding citizens as we are found in every home across the country. We therefore urge the general public and good people of Nigeria to please disregard the ridiculous and baseless allegation"

In a telephone chat with the Aso Rock coordinator of the Association Chief Tufiakwa Kpokokpo, who also debunked the accusation as false and laughable, warned the Buhari's administration to desist from instigating Nigerians against them.

"You could recall that sometimes last year, this same administration accused us of spreading Lassa fever in some parts of the country which later turned to be false after mass killing of our members. As if that was not enough, they also accused us of inserting 'foreign materials' into the 2015 national budget.

Now, they have come again with another bunkum. We are fully aware that Buhari is doing everything possible to ruthlessly annihilate and exterminate us, but he will fail" he said.

Nigerians are currently reeling in laughter over the political joke about the rat invasion. Political pundits are of the view that Buhari's failure to resume office but rather work from home is connected to his lack of fitness after spending about 104 days in the United Kingdom treating an unspecified ailment.

Buhari has also given oxygen to their claims as he cancelled the Federal Executive Council meeting yesterday for an undisclosed reason.
The China National Electric Engineering Company has disclosed that the Zungeru 700mw hydroelectric power plant in Niger State is at 47 per cent completion stage.The Deputy Project Manager, Mr. Xiao Nie, told journalists on a tour of the project on Wednesday that the $1.29bn (about N473bn) project was expected to be completed in 2020.He explained that the project was made up of four units of 175 mw each, adding however, that the first phase would be released by December 2019 while the remaining would be released after every three months.He said that the project which was inaugurated in 2013 was initially expected to be completed in 2019 but was delayed by unresolved issues with the host communities.Nie explained that when completed, the 700MW power plant would supply 2,640GWh to the national grid annually.The deputy manager said, The project consists of a dam for storage reservoir comprising an embankment and a roller-compacted concrete gravity section, a gated concrete spillway with appropriate dissipating structure.It has a main power intake structure, a four-unit out-door-type power house, an electrical substation, 332 KV double circuit transmission line to the Shiroro-Jebba line, and a 132 KV double circuit transmission line to Tegina Substation.He added, Zungeru reservoir has a maximum operation water level of 230m, and total storage capacity of 11.4109m3.He said that the Zungeru plant was expected to improve electricity supply and boost industrial development in the country.It will also be helpful for flood control, the development of fisheries and agriculture; the navigable period and the length of the fairway will also be extended, he added.The Chinese national said the CNEEC had assisted the host communities in different ways, including donation of a primary school to Zungeru town and construction of access roads to other communities.He added that the contractor had also provided boreholes, emergency assistance, and hosted a charity clinic activity among others to the host communities.Nie revealed that the firm had employed more than 3000 locals with the youths being trained in different skills acquisition.
Former Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, said on Wednesday that politicians who lost the 2015 general elections were sponsoring the ...

Former Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, said on Wednesday that politicians who lost the 2015 general elections were sponsoring the current agitation for restructuring of the country, insisting that Nigerias unity is not negotiable.Oshiomhole, who spoke at a one day Colloquium organised by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) with the theme: The Labour Movement and the Future of United Nigeria: What Role for Restructuring, also advocated the review of the allocation formula to favour state and local governments.He said the provision has not been reviewed for the past 18 years in contravention of the law.The ex-governors position on restructuring drew the anger of some of those present at the event who shouted no, no! for over five minutes until the intervention of NLC president, Ayuba Wabba.Oshiomhole, who blamed those that lost out of the 2015 general elections for fueling the agitation for restructuring, argued that most of the wealth worked for by the working class had been annexed by few political elites.While calling for attitudinal change and values, the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain noted that the current federal system in terms of structure and revenue sharing formular cannot lead to even development.Despite opposition to his view, an unrepentant Oshiomhole told the gathering that I am not here to do anybodys job. I just want to share my thoughts with you. And I will be surprised if any one of you will agree with what I want to say. I want to plead with you, allow me to state my position; then you can disagree.That is the tradition of organised labour. And of course, if there are some people who have other issues, I just want to plead with you that what is at stake; is not me. What is at stake is our country. And the country is yours. The country is mine. The country is ours.I believe in the unity of Nigeria. I have said, and I am not saying it for the first time, the unity of Nigeria is not negotiable. Just like the unity of the NLC is not negotiable. But, the governance of our country, the quality of leadership, we must continue to review it and continue to engage it.I said to you when I was president of the NLC, and I repeated it when I was governor, that we need active citizenry; citizens that can interrogate their leaders. With some of these revelations, I am sure nobody is disturbed.If we all continue to lament, I think this is the area, we have to say something. Every person is capable of doing good and also capable of doing bad. From what we have seen in America, when institutions are strong and people are active, people are ready to come out, not sponsored by political opponents, but sponsored by your own conscience and we have robust engagement. I believe things will change.I ask us to recognise that no structure will be permanent, or will be perfect. We will have to do devolution of power, we must also do review of our attitudes, our characters and joining forces to fight corruption because what has been taken from a few will not be available for the rest. I do hope that NLC has started this today, you will sustain it.The former governor also drew attention to the activities of the former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison- Madueke, insisting that an active citizenry would checkmate corruption and profligacy in the system.
Eminent lawyer and elder statesman, Prof. Ben Nwabueze has said that the leader of Independent People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has ma...

Eminent lawyer and elder statesman, Prof. Ben Nwabueze has said that the leader of Independent People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has mandated him to declare to Nigerians that he is ready to call off the struggle for Biafra if there is progress made in restructuring Nigeria.

Nwabueze said this on Thursday during a press conference by Southern Leaders of Thought at Chief Rotimi Williams Chambers, Ilupeju Lagos.





Nwabueze who is the leader of the group, warned that President Buhari will be looking for trouble if he tries to usurp the constitutional powers of the people to ask for a better Nigeria through a change in structure.





The power to restructure belongs to the people, not the National Assembly, and the government must not toy with this for the peace of the nation.





Kanu has mandated me to declare to Nigeria that he is ready to call off the struggle for Biafra if progress is made in restructuring Nigeria.
The Court of Appeal on Thursday confirmed the sack of the representative of Rivers East Senatorial District, Senator George Sekibo.The senator, elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, had gone to the Court of Appeal to challenge the ruling of the Rivers State Elections Petitions Tribunal, which removed him from office.However, on Thursday, the Court of Appeal affirmed the sack of the senator by the Tribunal.The appellate court held that the appeal filed by Sekibo lacked merit as it did not show facts as to why the decision of the lower court should be set aside.The three-man panel of the Court pf Appeal held that the ousted lawmaker only reproduced his closing remarks at the end of the hearing at the tribunal, but did not challenge the decision reached by the tribunal.The panel also held that according to the law, where an issue is not challenged, the court has no business considering it.
Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, said on Wednesday he would not commit suicide following the return of President Muhammadu Buhari from ...

Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, said on Wednesday he would not commit suicide following the return of President Muhammadu Buhari from his medical vacation in the United Kingdom.The governor was reacting to claims by the opposition elements that he boasted that he would commit suicide if Buhari returns alive from his medical vacation.Fayose said the alleged statement came from miscreants on social media.The governor spoke during an interactive session with political office holders at the Government House in Ado Ekiti.He said his statement that Buhari was on coma prompted a quick return from the UK.Fayose insisted that the President is sick and advised him to go back to his country home in Daura and rest.He contended that the Office of President needs somebody who is healthy and fit to meet up with the demands of the position.He warned Buharis minders not to send him to his early grave, saying the Presidents physical appearance after his arrival showed that he cant withstand the pressure of the presidential office.Fayose said: How can I can I commit suicide because of an old man? Such are from miscreants on the social media. Let me tell you expressly, why would I commit suicide, I cannot even commit suicide because of my mother.Even if they are burying my mother now, I will cleverly stay away from the grave so that I wont fall into it. I cant commit suicide because of Buhari. I never said that and would never make such statement. I never said I would commit suicide if Buhari returns.The governor said he would not honour any invitation to go and greet the President saying such action would be misinterpreted to be something else. So, it is good for me to wish him well from a distant and be able to tell Nigerians the truth.He added: If not for our efforts Buhari wouldnt have returned now. Buhari is sick and tired and even his physical appearance betrayed this and he needs to go home and rest.Today they have cancelled the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting. You cannot hide the truth forever, it will reveal itself someday. You cannot continue to deceive Nigerians.Every word that has come out of my mouth, I have no apology for them.President Buhari was indeed in coma and one of those who visited him said his recovery is a miracle and that showed that he was indeed very sick.Let Buhari go back to Daura and rest. Dont send him to early grave. Buhari is not old enough to be my father, my mother is older than Buhari. He cannot be my father, he can only be my uncle. I am close to 60. I stand by all I have said about the President. We are glad he is back, but dont overflog him.I am not a sycophant and I stand to speak for Nigeria. Somebody must be able to speak on behalf of the poor masses. This was how they deceived us during the time of YarAdua.I am not a hypocrite and I will never be one. This country deserves a very healthy person. Office of the President is not for a sick man.The President is tired and should be allowed to resign and go and rest. 
National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ahmed Makarfi has assured former Governor of Oyo State, Senator Rasidi Ade...

National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ahmed Makarfi has assured former Governor of Oyo State, Senator Rasidi Adewolu Ladoja and other intending members of the party a level playing ground.

Makarfi stated this on Thursday when he and other members of the PDP reconcilatory committee visited Ladoja in his Ondo Street Ibadan residence.





The former governor of Kaduna State arrived Ladojas house around 12.57 pm in company of Chief Jerry Gana, Elder Wole Oyelese, Hon. Mulikat Adeola Akande, Chief Jumoke Akinjide, Hon. Muraina Ajibola, Alhaji Azeem Gbolarumi, Dr. Eddy Olafeso, Gbenga Daniel, Senator Abdul Ningi and other top chieftains of the party.





Accord members who welcomed Makarfi included Senator Olufemi Lanlehin, Dr. Nureni Adisa, Dr. Nureni Adeniran and members of the state house of assembly on the platform of Accord party.





Ladoja who is the national leader of Accord party, while speaking, however, asked for a level playing ground for him and his men.





He said, I didnt want to leave PDP. We were forced to leave PDP. My self, Ngige, Fayose.

Mr Chairman, what are the terms. If the terms are right and the term is that equality of everybody.

Ladoja is not coming to PDP, Ladoja and his people are coming. My colleagues in Accord, they are here, some members of Oyo State House of Assembly are here, have I spoken. We won 8 seats in the state assembly. That shows how strong we are.

I can say withing the next two days, even next two hours, we can say come and raise our hands.

When we left PDP, we got a lot of offers. That is why we are in Accord. I want to assure you that it is the desire of everybody to send this government away.

Makarfi in his response said, Politics is dynamic. The convention we planned, there is going to be constitution amendment to address the issue of internal democracy. Only last week, during the primary of our party in Anambra, we granted waiver to a gubernatorial aspirant. These issues you have raised.

Dont nurse any fear, lets start together. We have a committee which seeks to harmonise everybody; lets start afresh.

You have not committed any offence to get amnesty. We want to integrate you back. It is better they get integrated under our leadership before the convention. The earlier the better.

Makarfi is currently meeting with former Minister of Justice and Attorney General during the second republic.

He is expected to meet governorship candidate of Social Democratic Party (SDP), Engineer Seyi Makinde, Chief Mojisoluwa Akinfenwa, Chief Micheal Koleose in a bid to woo them into PDP fold.
Tragedy struck on Tuesday at the Kajola police station in Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State, when a police officer, Abraham Aro...

Tragedy struck on Tuesday at the Kajola police station in Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State, when a police officer, Abraham Arowogun, gunned down his superior, Timothy Arueli, after a heated argument.Realising his evil deed, he was said to have plunged himself into a deep well afterwards killing himself in the process.A police source revealed that officers at the station were still in shock as Mr. Arowogun was an easy-going person with no record of mental illness.Mr. Arowogun, an inspector, had a heated argument with Mr. Arueli, the Division Crime Officer, DCO, over a case he was handling; because the latter had discovered that Mr. Arowogun had collected N150,000 as bribe.According to the source, Mr. Arowogun was enraged by the order of the DCO to return the money.There was an issue that happened between the two officers. Arowogun was investigating a case and the DCO, Arueli discovered that a sum of N150,000 was involved in the case Arowogun was investigating, that Arowogun had actually converted the money to his private purse, the police source explained.The DCO called him and questioned him over the money and an argument ensued between the two officers. The inspector left the DCO office angrily only to come back with a gun and shot Arueli dead.He noted that other police officers at the station ran for their lives immediately the incident happened, but the inspector headed straight to a deep well within the station and jumped into it, killing himself in the process.He came back to his senses after killing his superior officer, the source said. Realising that what he did was unprofessional and unpardonable in the police force, he just left the scene jumped into a well at the back of the station.It was gathered that the bodies of the officers were deposited at the mortuary in the Ondo State General Hospital, Ore.The Police Public Relations Officer, Ondo State Command, Femi Joseph, confirmed the incident, describing it as unfortunate.He said the command had commenced investigation into the matter.It is an unfortunate incident but we have begun investigation on it, he said. The command is sad over the incident and our hearts are very heavy.We are doing everything possible to further dig into the matter and also to talk to our officers and men on the need to avert similar occurrence.
A member of the House of Representatives, Rep. Abubakar Amuda-Kannike (Kwara-APC), has commended the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for constituting a committee on restructuring.Amuda-Kannike told newsmen in Abuja on Thursday that the committee would create a platform for Nigerians to express their views on the issue.He said, I am aware that APC, my party, has set up a committee to look at restructuring.I believe APC as a party is trying to create a platform for people to ventilate and express themselves, so that we can understand what a common and popular opinion about restructuring is all about.So, the party has a platform for pushing agenda for its supporters and Nigerians; it is ventilating restructuring. I think it is a very healthy thing to do.The lawmaker explained that the committee would not determine whether it was going to support restructuring or be against restructuring but come out with a guide for the party.I think what the committee is going to do is not to determine whether it is for or against restructuring.The party has already decided on restructuring and the devolution of powers is just one aspect of restructuring.So, the committee will address other aspects of restructuring and come out with a guide for the party.Again, APC being very sensitive to the feelings of Nigerians, has set up the committee and should be applauded, it is very proactive and this is commendable, he said.On whether Gov. Nasiru el-Rufai, the restructuring committee chairman, would jeopardise the outcome of the committees exercise, Amuda-Kannike said that he would not, saying that el-Rufai had made his interest known.What the committee is going to do is not to determine whether there is need for restructuring or devolution of powers.For any responsible person that is given an assignment, you have to declare your interest.In fact, in the legislature, we are encouraged to disclose our interest.In a way that el-Rufai is against restructuring shows that his interest is already declared. But that does not mean that he will jeopardise the exercise.If they believe that despite the fact that he is against restructuring, he is credible enough to head that committee, he cannot bring his personal opinion to bear on the overall decisions of the committee.That is what I expect from a person of his stature. And that is why the party does not have any concern that he has a personal opinion.The lawmaker said that the intention of the party was to articulate opinions at the end of the exercise which would lead to consultations and be a platform for internal debate for superior arguments.He said the outcome of the consultations would show the popularity of the issue or otherwise.The assignment is for the committee to articulate opinions and at the end of the exercise, there will be consultations and platform for expressions, internal debate for superior arguments among others.At the end of the day, it is the outcome of those consultations which will show what is popular or not.I dont think the party will come out to say there is no need for restructuring or not; the party is already trying to articulate positions on what Nigerians want to restructure.
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JERSEY CITY -- Brazicki's Tavern, which has served as a local hangout for the Jersey City Heights for 72 years, is shutting its doors for good in 10 days, ending another chapter in Jersey City's history.

The Liberty Avenue bar, located in a quiet residential neighborhood sandwiched between the bustle of Tonnelle Avenue and Kennedy Boulevard, has been run by the Brazickis since 1945, when the family took over the place from Martha Stewart's grandfather.

The impending closure of the bar -- the location for countless pig roasts and political meet-and-greets -- marks the loss of another unofficial Jersey City landmark. In recent years, longtime eateries like Puccini's, Casa Dante, Sunny's and Crazy Greek have all closed, while the 67-year-old Casino in the Park banquet hall is likely to see new management in January.

"We're losing another old-time institution," said Councilman Rich Boggiano, who was friendly with the Brazicki family's late patriarch, Tom. "And there's so few of them around."

Sean Connors, a Jersey City cop and former state assemblyman, said, "I've always felt like one of the Brazickis. They never locked the door, they always unlocked it."

The story of Brazicki's Tavern starts in 1945, when Anthony and Agnes Brazicki took over a bar run by Frank Kostyra, Stewart's grandfather. Anthony moved to Jersey City when he was run out of Buffalo for bootlegging, according to Frank Brazicki, Anthony's great-grandson.

"He was a tailor by trade," Frank, 40, told The Jersey Journal. "If you went in to get your jacket fixed, you walked out with a pint in the pocket."

After moving to Jersey City, Anthony ran a bar on Van Horne Street in the Lafayette section and lived in an apartment upstairs. The Jersey Journal reported in 1944 that the city forced Anthony to close his tavern for five days because he allowed his wife to tend bar. A year later the couple took over Kostyra's bar at 153 Liberty Ave.

Anthony's son (Frank R.) started running Brazicki's with his wife, Phyllis, in 1947 when Frank R. returned home from the war, and his son Tom took over the business in 1991 with his wife, Julie.

In charge now are Tom and Julie's children: Frank, Glenn and twins Karen and Lauren. Brazicki's Tavern was their home, literally: they lived in the apartment upstairs and they thought of the bar as their living room. They knew the regulars by their first name and preferred drink: Fred That Drinks The Budweiser, or Ruth That Drinks The Blue Moon. They could tell you where each regular sat, what time they would be summoned home for dinner and when they would return for a nightcap and to watch the ballgame.

"There was always someone here," said Karen, 29. "The guys would have no problem getting up and doing homework with us or, you know, we'd be running around. It's more than just customers, you understand what I'm saying? It's like aunts and uncles."

Every important moment in the Brazicki family's life -- christenings, birthday parties, repasts -- happened at their tavern. If it started somewhere else, it made its way back there. And not just for the family -- for the entire neighborhood.

"If the guy-down-the-block's mother died and people knew about it, well he usually ended up here with his family and people were here to help him," Frank said.

But after 70 years, the business has changed. People are headed elsewhere for drinks, Downtown mostly, the Brazickis said. Cocktail bars are hot now, and Brazicki's Tavern is a bar bar. No frills.

Years ago you'd find at least a half-dozen customers hanging out here every weekday evening, Frank said. On Monday just one customer stood at the bar, sipping a beer while Billy Joel's "A Matter of Trust" blasted from the jukebox.

So when developer Mack-Cali offered them a good price for their liquor license, they decided to sell (if the deal goes through, Mack-Cali would use the license for a different location). Tom died in June 2016 and his children promised they'd run the bar themselves and decide on its future in a year. They're not selling the building -- they're keeping it as a home.

Frank described the family's feelings as bittersweet.

"The reason why we made the decision was to make sure our mother would be comfortable for the rest of her life," he said. "So when we look at it that way, we're all OK."

The Brazicki family invites everyone to bid goodbye at the bar on Sunday, Sept. 3 starting at noon.

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.
JERSEY CITY -- A 20-year-old Jersey City man charged earlier this month with committing three gunpoint robberies within five days has been charged with another one within that period, officials said.

On Aug. 1, Izell Ross, of Freeman Avenue, was allegedly in the victim's home when he pulled a gun and demanded "Where's the money," according to the criminal complaint that said the warrant for his arrest in this incident was signed on Aug. 21.

The complaint says he then took items from the resident, including a bicycle valued at $1,600, according to the fourth complaint, which became available yesterday.

Ross was previously charged with wielding a handgun and holding a man by his shirt on Aug. 1 when he allegedly said "As a matter of fact, give me everything you got," according to a criminal complaint.

Ross and two unidentified males allegedly took the man's wallet containing $500, as well as his cell phone and car keys. They then chased the man, who fell and struck his head as he attempted to flee, the complaint alleges.

Ross was also charged with robbing a second victim on the same day by pulling a gun on the person and taking $40, that complaint says.

Finally, Ross was charged with pulling a gun on another person before taking $90 and a cell phone on on Aug. 5. He then allegedly chased the the victim and broke his ribs during a scuffle, that complaint says.

Ross was arrested on Aug. 14 on multiple robbery and gun charges. He made his first court appearance on the charges Tuesday in Criminal Justice Reform Court in Jersey City via video link from Hudson County jail in Kearny.

At the hearing, the state moved to detain him through the course of his prosecution and a detention hearing is set for tomorrow in the court of Hudson County Superior Court Judge Paul DePascale.

Ross's address is listed as being on Gloria Robinson Court on two of the complaints. Warrants for the first three robbery charges were signed on Aug. 8 and 9.

In 2015, he was charged with armed robbery and according to online court records, he served five months of time served and was sentenced to two years probation for a burglary incident in March 2016.
A recent Monmouth University Poll showed that the No. 1 problem that concerns New Jersey voters is property taxes.

But then so did every other Monmouth University Poll that has asked the same question.

Typical was a poll in 2005, the press release for which was headlined: "New Jerseyans Tell Leaders: Get Moving on Property Taxes."

That year we had a choice between two candidates born out of state who came to New Jersey relatively late in life. Neither had a clue about the roots of New Jersey's property-tax problem.

This year we again have a choice between two candidates born out of state who came to New Jersey relatively late in life. Again, neither has a clue about the roots of New Jersey's property-tax problem.

Let me sum up the difference between the plan put forth by Republican candidate Kim Guadagno, born in Iowa, and Democratic candidate Phil Murphy, born in Massachusetts.

Guadagno wants to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Murphy wants to cram even more passengers on before it hits the iceberg.

The two have not debated yet, but I got a good view of their proposals when both addressed a Chamber of Commerce forum in South Jersey recently.

Murphy argued that the best way to solve the property-tax problem would be through economic growth that would pour more tax money into state and local coffers. His former home state could be a role model for New Jersey in attracting new business, he said.

"We can recaptures the space we used to dominate, which Massachusetts by the way is dominating again, which is good value for money," he said. "I pay a premium to live in a place like New Jersey, but boy I get a rich basket of stuff in exchange for that."

That sounds nice. But history says otherwise. Back in 1975, when I began covering this issue as a reporter, New Jersey already was quite a pleasant place to live for the typical resident.

Since then we added an income tax and raised the sales tax without solving our property-tax crisis.

The reason is not far to seek. Instead of using the revenue from those taxes to directly reduce property taxes, the Trenton crowd decided to hand it out as school aid instead.

That was great for the education establishment and the teachers' unions, which got "the rich basket of stuff" Murphy spoke of. But the money never made it to homeowners.

There was plenty of money. The largest budget item by far in the current state budget is property-tax relief. It accounts for $15.7 billion of the $35 billion total.

If you divide that by the approximately 3 million households in the state, you see that each household could get about $5,000 in tax relief if the revenue were distributed equally.

But it's not distributed equally. The cities get the lion's share and the suburbs get the kittens' share.

Murphy would no nothing about that.

The lieutenant governor would do something about it, however. She'd make it worse. That would be the effect of her "property tax circuit breaker" tax plan.

The plan is so complicated that almost no one understands it. That's probably a positive, said Assemblyman Mike Carroll of Morris County.

"I don't think her property-tax proposal would help a single Republican voter," said the conservative curmudgeon.

That's an exaggeration, but not a big one. According to her own website, a family in the Hunterdon County town of Flemington with $100,000 annual income would get zero tax relief. In Matawan, which is in her own county of Monmouth, that family would get a whopping $138 in relief.

That's because under her convoluted formula you only get relief if school taxes amount to more than 5 percent of your household income.

Or in other words, if your local board of education has done a decent job of keeping down costs, you lose. The money will go to residents of some town with a bloated school budget.

At that Chamber meeting. Guadagno made a pledge that she would not run for re-election if she failed to cut property taxes in her first term.

"I have promised you lower taxes or I will not run again," she said.

No, she hasn't. If she implemented it tomorrow, almost no dual-earner families in high-cost towns would see any meaningful increase in property-tax relief.

She can't break a promise she never made.

Murphy had a 53-26 lead in that July Monmouth poll. But it's too early to predict who will win.

But it's not too early to make this prediction: Whoever it is, the Monmouth Poll in 2021 will show that New Jerseyans believe property taxes are the No. 1 problem in the state.

ADD: Then there's the question of where Guadagno would get the revenue to fund her "circuit breaker."

A third of it would come from cutting state aid to "overfunded school districts."

Or in other words, she intends to go after the very towns that voted her into office in 2009.

These districts are only "overfunded" under the school-funding formula enacted under Jon Corzine, the Illinois native the Christie-Guadagno ticket defeated in the 2009 election. In reality, such districts receive just a fraction of what the urban districts receive.

The Republicans won that election because the pluralities they ran up in the big townships in the middle of the state offset the Democrats' urban advantage.

The two biggest pluralities were in Toms River and Brick Township. Both are deemed overfunded under the Corzine formula.

That was in the news recently when Democratic Senate President Steve Sweeney sought a budget change that would have cut millions from their budgets.

Guadagno must have missed that story.

But then she seems to have missed every story about why New Jersey's property taxes are so high.
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP)  Survivors of Hurricane Ian face a long emotional road to recover from one of the most damaging storms to hit the U.S. mainland. For those who lost everything to disaster, the anguish can be crushing to return home to find so much gone. Grief can run the gamut from frequent tears to utter despair. The Lee County medical examiner says two men in their 70s even took their own lives a day apart after viewing their losses. Experts say suicides climb after disasters and more funding for mental health should be provided as climate change makes storms and fires more frequent and devastating.
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With much anticipation, thousands and thousands of residents in our area of the country were anxiously awaiting the partial eclipse locally or the total eclipse in areas to the south had to be disappointed when they were met with clouds that effectively interfered with much of their solar observations.

Bummer!

When you think about it, it really is a shame that Thursday, Friday and Saturday of last week were such beautiful, sunny days and then cloud cover and rain came into the picture. As Ive written before, its not nice to fool Mother Nature, but by the same token, its not very nice of Mother Nature to fool us.

For those readers who wanted so much to view a total solar eclipse, you will have another opportunity in seven years. On April 8, 2024, there will be a path of totality stretching from Mexico all the way to Maine and New Hampshire. A major problem for my readers to consider is with this event, it will be necessary to go to Indianapolis, the nearest point of totality for us.

Considering the problems obtaining eclipse glasses in 2017, may I suggest to readers who were fortunate to get them, you may want to hold on to them. If you cant make it to Indianapolis, there will be a partial eclipse here in the metro area and youll need those glasses again.

In regards to Mondays total eclipse, my friend Michael Bakich, who writes for Astronomy magazine and was set up in St. Joseph, Missouri, for the show, said viewers should stay flexible. This suggestion means if there happens to be cloud cover on the day of the eclipse, you should be ready to move on to another location that might have clear skies.

That might not be the easiest thing to do considering the hundreds, if not thousands, of others who might also have the same idea.

This traveling to another site might have been advantageous, but let me tell you, having to deal with all of the other cars could present a problem. Talk about gridlock.

I drove down to Beatrice, Nebraska, on Sunday afternoon and it took me an hour and 10 minutes to get there. I left Beatrice on Monday afternoon about 2:05 p.m. and drove in my driveway at home at 6:20 p.m., four hours and 15 minutes at 35 mph. Fact is, I didnt get up to 55 mph until I was at 84th Street and Interstate 80.

I didnt meet him while I was in Beatrice, but Bill Nye the Science Guy was there and, according to coverage in The Nonpareil, he rated the eclipse as a 10. Im inclined to rate it a 4. The trip home was without a doubt rated a 1.
The audience at the Mid-America Center roared repeatedly  and it wasnt just the Longfellow Lions in the crowd.

Teachers and staff members from across the Council Bluffs Community School District gathered Wednesday morning in a corner of the MAC arena.

.@CBCommSchools holding a pep rally this morning for teachers. Each school is sharing accomplishments from the past year. #cbcsd pic.twitter.com/D787h7Rkzd  Scott Stewart (@sstewartdnp) August 23, 2017

The crowd shared highlights of the past years accomplishments and heard from new superintendent Vickie Murillo as they prepared to kick off the 2017-18 school year Thursday.

A keynote speaker, Scott Siepker, an actor known for his Iowa Nice Guy character and host of IPTVs Iowa Outdoors, shared reflections on the importance of educators.

Youre all part of the student support structure, Siepker told the districts employees. Thank you very much. Some people may say that thats pandering, but I mean it.

The Mount Carmel native described how his high school history teacher and college acting professor helped shape the course of his life. Advice he shared included steal from the best and surround yourself with talented people and ask for help.

With the second-highest Powerball jackpot potentially set to be won tonight, Siepker used an metaphor for the importance of school staff.

Whether youre a custodian like my grandfather, a lunch lady like my grandma, or youre part of the support staff, youre an administrator, youre a teacher, he said, you are the lottery ticket for every single one of the students that walks into your buildings, into your district. Youre the lottery ticket that they need, that will pay them  not in a lump sum but over the course of a lifetime.

Murillo was introduced to her assembled employees through a video where she sat down with Council Bluffs children asking a variety of get-to-know questions. For the record, shes a fan of the Captain Underpants book series, homemade Mexican food, apple pie al a mode, the Kansas City Royals and Mickey Mouse.

When she walked on stage, the superintendent started out with dancing, introducing herself and sharing her reasons for embracing Council Bluffs after starting her career in the Kansas City metro area. She let her humor and personality shine through, allowing her employees to get a sense of who she is and what she has to offer.

Murillo described her listening tour and hopes to include staff input on future plans.

We are going to create a district that our families are proud of, that we are proud of, and we are already proud  Im very proud, she said. The community needs to know the work that you are doing.

Murillo brought up her predecessor  Martha Bruckner, who retired this summer and took a new job at the Metropolitan Omaha Educational Consortium  before unveiling the districts theme for the year: Forward Together.

Dr. Bruckner set the bar pretty high, Murillo said. Im trying to fill those shoes, and somebody finally told me, Dont fill her shoes. Walk in your own shoes. So Im going to take that and walk in my own shoes.
The audience at the Mid-America Center roared repeatedly  and it wasnt just the Longfellow Lions in the crowd.

Teachers and staff members from across the Council Bluffs Community School District gathered Wednesday morning in a corner of the MAC arena.

The crowd shared highlights of the past years accomplishments and heard from new superintendent Vickie Murillo as they prepared to kick off the 2017-18 school year today.

A keynote speaker, Scott Siepker, an actor known for his Iowa Nice Guy character and host of IPTVs Iowa Outdoors, shared reflections on the importance of educators.

Youre all part of the student support structure, Siepker told the districts employees. Thank you very much. Some people may say that thats pandering, but I mean it.

The Mount Carmel native described how his high school history teacher and college acting professor helped shape the course of his life. Advice he shared included steal from the best and surround yourself with talented people and ask for help.

With the second-highest Powerball jackpot potentially set to be won Wednesday night, Siepker used an metaphor for the importance of school staff.

Whether youre a custodian like my grandfather, a lunch lady like my grandma, or youre part of the support staff, youre an administrator, youre a teacher, he said, you are the lottery ticket for every single one of the students that walks into your buildings, into your district. Youre the lottery ticket that they need, that will pay them  not in a lump sum but over the course of a lifetime.

Murillo was introduced to her assembled employees through a video where she sat down with Council Bluffs children asking a variety of get-to-know-you questions. For the record, shes a fan of the Captain Underpants book series, homemade Mexican food, apple pie al a mode, the Kansas City Royals and Mickey Mouse.

When she walked on stage, the superintendent started out with dancing, introducing herself and sharing her reasons for embracing Council Bluffs after starting her career in the Kansas City metro area. She let her humor and personality shine through, allowing her employees to get a sense of who she is and what she has to offer.

Murillo described her listening tour and hopes to include staff input on future plans.

We are going to create a district that our families are proud of, that we are proud of, and we are already proud  Im very proud, she said. The community needs to know the work that you are doing.

Murillo brought up her predecessor  Martha Bruckner, who retired this summer and took a new job at the Metropolitan Omaha Educational Consortium  before unveiling the districts theme for the year: Forward Together.

Dr. Bruckner set the bar pretty high, Murillo said. Im trying to fill those shoes, and somebody finally told me, Dont fill her shoes. Walk in your own shoes. So Im going to take that and walk in my own shoes.
A Logan man was arrested Tuesday after authorities alleged he made terroristic threats during an open house at Logan-Magnolia High School.

Barret Fields, 18, is a former student of the school. As of Wednesday evening, he was still being held at the Harrison County Jail, according to Harrison County Sheriffs Office employees.

Logan-Magnolia Community School District Superintendent Tom Ridder said in a letter sent home to parents Wednesday that Fields was arrested after making a direct threat against the school in writing.

Another student demonstrated concern by turning the written threat in to office staff. Law enforcement was notified, and the former student who made the threat was taken into custody, Ridder said. Law enforcement officers are continuing their investigation of the situation today.

The district is working with law enforcement to address the situation, he added. The student who alerted staff to the threat should be commended for being aware and taking action when something did not seem right, Ridder said.
Carter Lake is experiencing a problem with vandalism in its city parks.

Mayor Gerald Waltrip expressed concern about vandalism at both Wavecrest and Mabrey parks, which he attributed mostly to people who dont live in the city.

Destruction is just terrible, he said Tuesday. We had to totally redo the bathrooms in these parks, and theyre not cheap. We cant keep funding just through taxes. We need to find a way to help us with expenses for keeping them up.

During the most recent Carter Lake City Council meeting, the mayor proposed a possible fee for anyone visiting the parks, while also suggesting the city lease Wavecrest Park to a private group that might provide better policing of the park.

While we understand the impulse, this is a bad idea.

At the meeting, Waltrip threw out a fee range of $10 to $20 a year for Carter Lake residents and $10 to $20 for nonresidents each day they use the parks. For dealing with nonresidents, the mayor suggested that someone could be paid to daily patrol the parks to ensure people are not using the parks for free.

It would help pay for the parks, he told the council.

We applaud the mayor for working toward a goal of reducing vandalism, but disagree with the notion of charging that much for out-of-towners. We also agree with Councilman Pat Patersons thoughts on having a private group monitor a city park.

Paterson said that a lot of outsiders are using Carter Lake and said he hopes Omaha will provide better recreational services on its side of the lake as a way of reducing the numbers coming to city parks.

But he seemed reluctant to accept the idea that private citizens could better secure the park than police officers. The council member said he doubts anything will happen this year on these suggestions.

The council has also allocated between $60,000 and $80,000 for security cameras in the citys municipal parks. That, coupled with the extra patrols mentioned by Waltrip, appear to be a smart plan as the city works to keep its parks beautiful.

Restricting access to public facilities must be done with great care if its done at all. Local governments receive funding from taxpayers, but those same taxpayers travel throughout the metropolitan area  often without paying for those services directly, as any Carter Lake motorist must do by necessity when driving on Omahas roads out of town.

Keeping the park open is the best outcome, as is using police officers to provide security.
LINCOLN  The number of Nebraska residents living in drought conditions dropped dramatically this past week thanks to several recent storm systems.

Officials with the United States Drought Monitor released their latest report on conditions across the state today. The update showed a large decrease in the amount of Nebraska land that is currently experiencing drought.

Cass County remained in drought-free status this week. Moisture levels for topsoil within the county have remained adequate for the entire summer. Most of Douglas County is experiencing abnormally dry conditions, but Cass, Sarpy, Otoe, Saunders and Lancaster counties are all in the healthy moisture range.

U.S. Drought Monitor officials said an estimated 44,849 Nebraska residents are living in areas with drought. More than half of the land along the states border with South Dakota is in the moderate drought zone. A total of 12.58 percent of Nebraska land is in this category. That number was 20.81 percent last week.

A total of 54.91 percent of Nebraska land is currently labeled as abnormally dry. That number was 76.75 percent last week. The abnormally dry range is the least severe of the five stages of possible drought.

Eppley Airfield in Omaha and Lincoln Municipal Airport have had a wide range of rainfall totals for the month and year. Eppley Airfield has received 2.65 inches this month and 18.33 inches during the year. The annual total is 3.88 inches below normal for this time of year.

Lincoln Municipal Airport has received 3.29 inches this month and 29.74 inches during the year. The annual total is 9.10 inches above normal for this time of year. More than three inches have fallen in the past three weeks, which has helped both Lincoln and Cass County residents in those same storm paths.
For the past eight years, instructors at Blue Yoga have been teaching a variety of classes designed to help individuals better their mind, body and spirit through the practice of yoga.

Over the next year, the yoga studio, 529 N. Main Street, will now offer area residents the chance to not only practice the craft, but also learn how to teach it themselves.

I think a lot of times if you arent a huge studio, you just dont think that you could be a school, said Ginger Rosenthal, founder of Blue Yoga. But we noticed that at a lot of other studios we go to, weve seen that all aspects of teaching arent being brought into the classroom.

Over the next nine months, Blue Yoga will hold its first-ever immersive yoga instructor certification course after recently being certified as a yoga instructor school by national organization Yoga Alliance.

The face of yoga is the poses you see and a little bit of meditation, but it actually runs a lot deeper, Rosenthal said. It has to do with nutrition, a lot of philosophy in regards to understanding how our personality, emotions and mind reacts and builds up and stresses our body out. So as you start to understand all of that you have the ability to lower your stress level.

The course, which runs from September 22 through April 20, goes far beyond just learning how to do poses and includes other lesser known aspects of yoga such as nutrition, meditation and alignment.

It gives you a good basic understanding of everything, so that way you know enough to decide if you want to become more specific, Rosenthal said. Whether that is teaching a certain type of yoga focused on the nutritional aspect or the meditation, it gives you a really great base to keep moving forward and specializing if you want.

The course will be the first and only yoga instructor certification program in the Fremont area, and will provide easier access for individuals from surrounding communities.

We are excited because Omaha and Lincoln have been the only places, so people who dont feel like commuting so far can come here, Rosenthal said. We are hoping that some of the surrounding areas, if there are people that have thought, I could teach yoga to the senior center, or at the school now they have it way closer to them and much more accessible.

Classes for the program will be held on Fridays and Saturdays twice-monthly starting September 22 and ending April 20, with the entire month of December off to account for holidays.

Rosenthal said the course currently has four people enrolled and registration is open through September 15. The full cost of the nine-month program is $2,600 including a $500 deposit to hold a place in the class.

All of that includes all of your materials, CPR certification and some field trips and special events along with the curriculum and books, Rosenthal said.

The field trips and special events will include a visit from Illuminating Hearts, which is a sound therapy group based out of Omaha, as well as trips to a Hindu Temple and Indian market in Omaha.

We will be visiting the Hindu Temple in Omaha just to see how they do things and they will give a tour and answer questions in regards to how yoga has its base in Hinduism, Rosenthal said. We will also go to an Indian market, that way they can understand some of the spices and things that we will be using in the cooking for the nutritional aspect of the course.

Those interested in signing up for the course are encouraged to call Blue Yoga at 402-709-1434 or visit its website at embraceyourway.com.

If anyone is curious or has any questions, dont hesitate to call we will gladly answer questions, Rosenthal said. Even if you dont decide to sign up, you understand something better and we got to meet and talk with you.
Next months solar eclipse could be the most photographed natural event in American history.

But unique technical and safety issues will challenge pros and amateurs alike.

So rare are total solar eclipses that few people have photographed them.

We are all in the same boat, said professional Nebraska nature photographer Michael Forsberg.

On the other hand, with potentially millions of cameras clicking away along the eclipses 2,500-mile path, theres a good chance that some folks will produce great images to memorialize the event.

As they say, nothing that is good is ever easy, said Lucas Gilman, a professional photographer and Nikon ambassador, who plans to photograph the eclipse near the Grand Teton mountain range in Wyoming.

Its definitely not an easy one, Gilman said, but with a bit of practice I think everybody can walk away with some pretty cool results.

Perhaps the most burning question about photographing the Aug. 21 eclipse is: Will it damage my camera sensor?

This question concerns both high-end professional cameras and smartphone cameras.

During totality, when the moon completely covers the sun, everyone can shoot away without worry.

But during the partial phases, before and after totality, when the sun is still bright, cameras could be damaged.

The big camera-makers, Nikon and Canon, both advise using a solar filter during the partial phases.

Photojournalist Dave Henry, a Canon photography expert, said telephoto lenses act like a magnifying glass.

Its similar to when we were kids, wed take a magnifying glass and burn a leaf on the lawn, he said. Thats what we dont want people to do: ruin their equipment, their sensor or, if theyre looking through the viewfinder at the same time, ruin their eyesight.

Solar filters block virtually all light except the bright light from the suns surface.

Solar filters and glasses should come from NASA-approved companies and meet the ISO 12312-2 international standard. Some approved companies are Rainbow Symphony, American Paper Optics, Thousand Oaks Optical and TSE 17.

People should take care not to bend or scratch the filters, which would allow damaging light to slip through.

Wide-angle eclipse shots that include the landscape are less likely to cause damage, Henry said.

In landscape photography, photographers commonly use wide-angle lenses to get the sun coming over the edge of a mountain or through the leaves of a tree, he said.

In those cases, the length of exposure typically is brief and the aperture  the hole that lets light into the camera  small, he said.

Thats going to be fine, he said. You dont need a solar filter for that.

Steve Heiner, senior technical manager at Nikon, notes that the sun reflected through a lens for prolonged periods of time may also cause damage due to accumulating heat.

Smartphone owners are probably safe from sensor damage, experts say.

Apple spokesman Alex Kirschner said iPhone owners have nothing to worry about taking shots of the eclipse.

However, smartphones, while good for selfies and landscape shots, arent designed for eclipse photography, experts say.

Ken Sklute, another Canon expert, said the eclipse is one event that the smartphones really need to sit out.

The lenses arent made for magnification, he said.

Its not going to provide a good image right from the get-go, he said.

Theres also the possibility of eye damage when people hold up a smartphone to frame the eclipse shot, Sklute said.

A better option, he said, would be buying an inexpensive compact or point-and-shoot camera with a longer lens that can accommodate a solar filter, he said.

Jeff Ramsell, an associate at Rockbrook Camera, has been shooting since 1988.

The son of an ophthalmologist, Ramsell stresses safety  for your eyes as well as your camera.

Both should have a filter during partial phases  for people watching in Omaha, that means the entire event, he said.

For folks in the totality zone, the darkness offers a short window, so you have to be ready to look away and put the filter back on the camera  and glasses on your eyes  after totality, he said.

For people who want to capture the eclipse up close, photography websites recommend using a lens between 300 mm and 2000 mm  which can get pricey.

The longer the focal length, the more detail.

At 2000 mm, the sun fills up the frame. Long lenses require a tripod for stability and remote shutter release.

During totality, its possible to see stars, the corona and even surface features of the moon.

Photographers will have the greatest success setting exposures manually to keep up with changes in light intensity, Ramsell said.

Manual focus will be the better choice, too, because autofocus will have a hard time grabbing onto the brilliant sun, Ramsell said.

It might help to practice focusing on the moon a couple of nights before to determine the right focusing distance, and then set that distance on eclipse day.

When in doubt, you could set the lens to infinity, he said.

He and other experts recommended using a digital single lens reflex camera with interchangeable lenses for this event.

But even with the right camera, he said, shooting an eclipse can be tricky at best.

If trying for a close-up time-lapse, you might have to keep moving the tripod and resetting the exposure.

For those who dont mind a little creative cheating, Ramsell said theres always the composite shot: capturing the foreground image in one shot and the eclipse in another and blending them.

Some of the best shots, Ramsell said, may not be in the sky but on the ground, such as the emotional reactions of people witnessing the event.

Ramsell said people might ask themselves whether they want to capture the event with family and friends or try to be an amateur astronomer.

After all, he said, when you zoom in close on the sun, its just a big orange spot.

I hope that people take the time to witness the event and not focus so hard on just getting a photograph, he said.

Forsberg suggests seeking advice from reputable sources like Canon and Nikon. Both companies have posted tips on their websites. NASA has, too.

Dont forget to turn around and see how the changing light affects your surroundings, he said; thats an important part of the visual story.

The light during an eclipse could be similar to that of a sunset or sunrise, two of the favorite times of the day for photographers.

Its going to be middle of the day, and its going to be twilight, he said. Hows that going to look? Thats exciting.

Forsberg is eager to see what images people come up with and how people will perceive the event in different ways, he said.

To that end, hes interested in seeing photos that are not of the eclipsed sun.

Thats important to get, but what else are you going to get? he said.

People should consider doing a time-lapse, Forsberg said.

In 2011 he co-founded the Platte Basin Timelapse project, which operates 50 cameras along the Platte River from high in the Rockies through Nebraska.

Normally the cameras take one photo an hour, capturing the long-term impacts to the watershed. Forsberg said he will probably shorten that interval to capture the eclipse.

Im going to make sure those cameras are working overtime, he said.

Nebraska native Thomas Mangelsen, a professional wildlife photographer who snapped an iconic shot of a sockeye salmon leaping into the jaws of an Alaskan brown bear, will miss the eclipse.

His cabin in the Tetons lies directly in the path of totality, but Mangelsen said he will be out of the country. He got an offer he couldnt refuse.

I have an opportunity to photograph the last of the great elephant tuskers, he said. Theres only a half dozen left in a couple of places in South Africa and elsewhere.

Friends told him hes crazy to miss the eclipse. But its the best time to go to Africa, and it fits his lifelong conservation mission, he said.

I dont think Ill regret it, Mangelsen said. But well see how I do in Africa, I guess.
The grand jury indicted Richard Lee Gathercole, 39, on one count each of bank robbery and possession of a weapon during a violent crime  both connected to the Aug. 22, 2014, robbery of the First Nebraska Bank in Nebraska City  and transporting a stolen vehicle across state lines and transporting stolen firearms across state lines on June 19, 2017, according to the FBI and court documents.
Royal DSM is kicking off Earth Day 2022 by broadening its range of marine-friendly algae-derived ingredients to include two forms of lifes-branded omega 3. The... Read More
While planning for the recently-held Dodge County Collaborative FREEmont Community Resource Fair, Terra Uhing wasnt truly sure what the turnout for the event would be.

Uhing, executive director of the Three Rivers Public Health Department, said that the a similar type of event was held six years ago to provide a service to hundreds of people  young and old  who are in need of some assistance.

From 1-4 p.m. Aug. 9, community members were invited to the Fremont Mall where children were provided backpacks loaded with school supplies, and where adults could receive a personal care bag filled with numerous helpful items.

Twenty-six agencies teamed together for the event, Uhing said, and the turnout was fairly remarkable. Around 11 a.m., a line of people started forming, and it didnt let up.

With approximately 700 people in attendance, Uhing said that shes never seen the Fremont Mall so packed. The FREEmont Community Resource Fair was a first come, first serve event, and the inventory of backpacks, school supplies and personal care bags rapidly diminished.

It surpassed any expectation I could have had, Uhing said during a Wednesday interview with the Tribune.   And the Fremont Mall was absolutely terrific to work with. They collaborated with us and let us set it up exactly how we wanted, they even opened one of their vacant stores so we could hold the backpack drive in it.

In total, 303 area children received school supplies and at least 125 adults received personal care bags.

The event wouldnt have been possible without the generous support of so many organizations, including: the Fremont Area Community Foundation, Fremont Public Schools, Fremont Health, Fremont Area United Way, Pinnacle Bank, Three Rivers Public Health Department and the Northeast Nebraska Community Action Partnership.

It was vital being able to partner with the Fremont Mall because it provided a neutral location for people to receive the items.

People like going to a neutral location because often times, people feel like there is a stigma associated with going to a particular agency, Uhing said. This place was not tied to any of us (agencies) and I think it helped people feel more comfortable.

After people received school supplies and care bags, they were invited to attend an afternoon showing of the Emoji movie. Movie expenses were underwritten by Pinnacle bank, and all tickets were given away.

I can tell you Ive never seen a movie theater that full there before, she said.

On Tuesday, the Dodge County Collaborative team met and discussed what went well, as well as what can be improved upon moving forward. The collaborative board on Tuesday voted to make the FREEmont Community Resource Fair an annual event, she said.

The plan, she said, is to contact other area businesses who hold similar campaigns to get them on board to team with Dodge County Collaborative to have all efforts happen under one roof, so that there is one large-scale event people can attend to have some of their needs met.

There will always be people who need to be served within Dodge County, and this was an excellent way to help out.

This really demonstrated what a community can accomplish when they are willing to help those that reside within that community, she said.
HAMMOND  More than 1,500 students turned out for a massive "party" at Purdue University Northwest in celebration of classes which began Monday.

Welcome-back-to-school rallies took place Wednesday at PNW Westville's campus and Thursday at PNW in Hammond. Nearly 700 students attended the rally in Westville.

The welcome rally featured dozens of booths and free food, smoothies and snacks, sharing all of the PNW resources the university offers, along with games and giveaways.

Senior mechanical engineering majors William Nge, 24, and Kyra Sloane, 24, both of Chicago, were eating snowcones as they walked around and picked up free stuff, anything from T-shirts to ink pens.

"The best part is the cool, free stuff," Nge said.

PNW freshman Jumaree Barron, 19, of Gary, said the welcome rally was very nice.

"I didn't expect to see this many students or that it would be this big," she said. "I'm ready for school. I took a gap year after I graduated from Gary New Tech High School. I'm really excited about the coming year. I'm working full time as a permit clerk in the Gary building department and I'm in school full time."

Some of the students were jammin' to disc jockeys who played "Teach me how to Dougie," by Cali Swag District, Justin Bieber's "Despacito" or Pulp's "I Spy."

Miranda Mihalic, 20, of Hammond and, Adam Davis, 24, of Gary, hadn't seen each other since a Purdue-sponsored trip to Spain in May.

They stopped right near the long line of people waiting for fudge puppies to give each other a big hug.

"We've kept in touch via text but this is the first time we've seen each other in a while," Mihalic said. "I always look forward to this. It's fun every year."

Dawn Trowbridge, who works with her brother Dan Herbst, owner of Herbkoe Fun Foods in Schererville, said there are lines of people waiting to get the sweet treats every year.

A fudge puppy is a waffle on a stick, dipped in chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles on it.

PNW Associate Vice Chancellor Kris Falzone said one feature in this year's rally was a reception for legislators to thank them for their role in obtaining the funding for PNW's Bioscience Innovation Building, with construction scheduled to begin next year.

PNW student leaders took legislators on a tour of the welcome rally.

"This rally gives students a chance to learn about some of the activities and organizations that are offered on campus, and an opportunity to get involved," Falzone said.
HAMMOND  John Buncich's long police career ended Thursday.

All his former powers as the county's top elected law enforcement officer became null and void when an eight-man, four-woman jury found him guilty in a U.S. District Court jury trial of federal public corruption charges.

Buncich's lawyer, Bryan Truitt, said after the verdict the the sheriff would prepare a letter of resignation after consulting with his legal counselors.

However, state law makes that unnecessary, according to Jim Wieser, Lake County Democratic chairman and a veteran election law attorney.

He said the law states any public officer convicted of a felony during the public officer's term of office shall be removed from office by operation of law when, in a jury trial, a jury publicly announces a verdict against the person for a felony.

Wieser said a caucus of the Lake County Democratic party's 523 precinct committee members will have to meet within 40 days to fill the vacancy left behind. He said he intends to schedule one early next month.

Those who have publicly expressed interest in running for sheriff include: Lake County Clerk Mike A. Brown, former Sheriff Roy Dominguez, Schererville Police Chief David Dowling, Richard Ligon of Gary, county police Sgt. Oscar Martinez, assistant county Police Chief Daniel Murchek and Highland attorney Thomas O'Donnell.

Chief of Police Matt Eaton, who has been serving as Buncich's second-in-command, is expected to be the acting sheriff during the interim.

The last sheriff to leave office prematurely was Rudy Bartolomei Oct. 25, 1985, when he pleaded guilty to felony charges he extorted campaign contributions from employees and ordered employees to work on his political campaigns.

Buncich already was a veteran police officer at that time.

He joined the county police force in late 1971. Buncich rose to the rank of captain and had served in all the Sheriff's Department's divisions, including: detective bureau, jail, patrol, communications and civil processing by his first successful run for sheriff in 1994.

He was re-elected in 1998. Term limits forced him to step down in 2002. He won back the office in 2010 and was re-elected in 2014 and would have remained in office until the end of 2018.

He commanded 475 county police, corrections officers and civilian employees, as well as a $32 million annual budget and a personal salary of more than $146,000.

He dedicated his most recent years in office to improving health care for county jail inmates to remove the county jail from federal supervision following a civil rights suit against the county filed in 2009.
HAMMOND  A U.S. District Court jury found Lake County Sheriff John Buncich guilty on all six counts of wire fraud, honest services wire fraud and bribery.

The jury came back to the courtroom at 10:05 a.m. after deliberating for four hours Wednesday night and one hour Thursday morning.

Buncich is free on bond until his sentencing on Dec. 6, when he faces a lengthy prison term. He is also immediately removed from office.

Buncich displayed no emotion when his verdict was read in open court Thursday morning. Some of his supporters in the audience appeared shocked and grief stricken.

Bryan Truitt, one of Buncich's defense attorneys, said he didn't agree with the verdict and would be preparing an appeal. Buncich declined comment outside the courthouse in Hammond.

Larry Rogers, another of Buncich's attorneys, argued Wednesday night to the jury that the government entrapped Buncich by giving him tens of thousands in cash uninvited and selectively editing dozens of hours of audio and video recordings to make Buncich look his worst.

The defense offered no video of its own.

Buncich took the daring step of answering the charges by testifying over three days of the trial. He insisted he was legitimately raising campaign contributions and didn't manipulate towing assignments to reward the largest donors.

But he couldn't explain away images of his grabbing and pocketing large wads of cash taken surreptitiously by the FBI and their undercover agent, Scott Jurgensen, a former Merrillville police man and towing firm owner.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson told jurors Wednesday night, "Does this look like a campaign contribution? He was taking money for doing his job. It's time to hold him responsible."

U.S. ATTORNEY IMPROVES RECORD

John Dull, who has been county attorney for several decades, said Thursday the U.S. attorney's office has won all of the public corruption cases it has prosecuted against elected public officials since the 1970s. He said most of them pleaded guilty rather than risk trial.

Acting United States Attorney Clifford Johnson said, The United States Attorneys Office will continue to vigorously prosecute public officials who use their public office as means for personal enrichment. All citizens deserve public officials who work for the public interest and not their own interest.

W. Jay Abbott, special agent in charge of the FBI's Indianapolis Division, said, "Public officials who abuse their positions for personal financial gain at the expense of the taxpayers will not be tolerated. The FBI and our federal, state and local partners will continue to aggressively pursue those across Indiana who corrupt their office for self-serving motives."

Johnson added, "Also instrumental in these investigations are the honest and patriotic citizens who come forward and assist in uncovering the truth as was the case in Lake County."

'SAD SAGA' ENDS

Mike Repay, president of the Lake County Board of Commissioners, issued a statement Thursday afternoon that said, "This is the end of a sad saga for the people of Lake County, who put their trust in John Buncich to enforce the law and remain accountable to the public.

"John Buncich violated the public trust with his actions. It will not only cost him his freedom, it adds another black mark against Lake County."

Repay added the Board of Commissioners offer their full support to Lake County Chief of Police Matt Eaton, who will supervise the Sheriff's Department until a caucus of Lake County Democratic precinct committeemen and vice committeemen elect a new sheriff next month.

The investigation of the sheriff began with a wide-ranging FBI investigation of local government towing contracts when they recruited Jurgensen, who took up towing after he retired after 20 years as a Merrillville police officer.

He testified on the first day of trial he was frustrated that he couldn't get a contract from the department he had served for so long because he wouldn't pay bribes.

Jurgensen said he was one of about a dozen who had received towing contracts from the Sheriff's Department. He said he didn't have to pay to get on the list, but Timothy Downs, a longtime friend and the sheriff's former second-in-command who pleaded guilty late last year to conducting the sheriff's political campaigning on county government time, approached him on behalf of the sheriff to buy a campaign fundraising ticket.

Portage mayor says his public corruption case is different than Sheriff Buncich Portage Mayor James Snyder, who faces federal corruption and bribery charges, said there are distinct differences between his case and the one

VIDEO EVIDENCE

The FBI wired Jurgensen and gave him buy money to give to Downs. They later arrested Downs and forced his cooperation with their undercover investigation. Downs carried a video camera into the sheriff's office in 2015 to deliver campaign crash.

Jurgensen videotaped two meetings with the sheriff in which cash changed hands.

Buncich's lawyers criticized FBI tactics for paying Jurgensen $130,000 over a five-year period.

They suggested Downs was unbelievable as a witness because he pocketed some of the money he collected for the sheriff.

They characterized as a drunk William "Willie" Szarmach, a Lake Station towing owner who pleaded guilty to paying the sheriff kickbacks and who testified as a government witness.

Benson answer was to replay for jurors the video tapes.

He showed them an FBI video surveillance recording of: Downs delivering $7,500 July 15, 2015, to Buncich in the sheriff's office.

An FBI video surveillance recording of Buncich leaning into Szarmach's tow truck and Jurgensen giving Buncich $2,500 April 22, 2016, in the parking lot outside of Delta Restaurant in Merrillville.

An FBI video surveillance recording of Jurgensen giving Buncich $2,500 on July 21, 2016, in the parking lot outside of Delta Restaurant in Merrillville.

FBI surveillance photographs of a meeting Sept. 2 between Jurgensen and Buncich in which Jurgensen gives the sheriff $7,500.

Benson said of the sheriff, "He never thought anyone would see that. If you didn't see it. You wouldn't believe it."

Benson praised Jurgensen's courage. "Think about the guts it took for Mr. Jurgensen to do this to himself and his business and family. What does he get for it? He's called a liar on the witness stand. It's hell to be a cooperator."

Defense lawyers argued the sheriff never delivered more lucrative towing to Jurgensen or Szarmach despite their political contributions.

Benson disagreed, but said it was illegal for the sheriff to take the money and make such promises regardless of the outcome. Even if the sheriff rips them off, its still a crime.

Catch up on all the stories from the trial here:

See important dates in the case against Lake County Sheriff John Buncich here:
A Crown Point man died Sunday at an Illinois hospital from injuries he suffered in a motorcycle crash earlier this month in the town of Porter, authorities said.

Robert Henderson, 45, was being treated at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn following a motorcycle crash Aug. 5 at U.S. 12 and Ind. 49 in the town of Porter, authorities said.

Henderson was riding about 9:15 p.m. Aug. 5 when he struck a rock and drove off the road, according to a crash report.

Henderson, who was lying in the grass when police arrived, told an officer he was having trouble breathing and possibly having an asthma attack. He had cuts and scrapes on his head, arms and body, the report said.

He was taken to Porter Regional Hospital for treatment and later transferred to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, said Sgt. Joe Torok, of the Porter Police Department.

Henderson was pronounced dead at 4:29 a.m. Sunday at Advocate Christ of complications from multiple injuries after his motorcycle struck a fixed object, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Henderson was not wearing a helmet, police said.
MUNSTER  A funeral will take place Thursday for Anthony Tony Rendina Jr., who himself comforted bereaved families for decades at Rendina Funeral Home in Gary.

Rendina, who died Saturday at 85, and his family owned and operated Rendina Funeral Home for 53 years.

The lifelong Catholic and Merrillville resident told colleagues his interest in the funeral business first developed as an altar boy at Cathedral of Holy Angels, where he served Mass at the Gary church's funerals.

Rendina planned to attend mortuary school after he graduated from high school, but he was drafted into the U.S. Army to serve during the Korean War.

He returned to the states and obtained his funeral license in 1953. The Rendina brothers  Tony, Romeo, Joseph, Phillip and Vince  opened the funeral home in 1961.

Greg Schafer, an employee at the funeral home, said his boss's gregarious nature helped him provide comfort and support to countless grieving families.

He always told us  treat everyone like this is your mom, or your dad, Schafer said.

Rendina was generous, particularly with children. Schafer said any child lucky enough to encounter the funeral director would be given a dollar, which Rendina urged should be spent on Dairy Queen.

He just spoiled children rotten, Schafer said.

Jim Burns, of Burns Funeral Home in Crown Point, said Rendina was a well-respected funeral director who would be greatly missed.

Rendina was also committed to the community. He served as president of the Indiana Funeral Directors Association, chairman of the Merrillville Police Commission and was a member of the Sons of Italy and the Gary Lions Club.

A funeral service will take place at 10:30 a.m. at St. Stephen the Martyr Catholic Church, 5920 Waite St., in Merrillville. The Rev. Michael Maginot will officiate with prayers at 9:15 a.m. at Rendina Funeral Home, 5100 Cleveland St., in Gary. Rendina will be interred at Calumet Park Cemetery.

*Correction: An earlier version of this article did not include all the founding brothers of Rendina Funeral Home. The founding brothers were Tony, Romeo, Joseph, Philip and Vince.
CROWN POINT  Among the Seward Johnson sculptures on display this year is a huge tooth positioned at the Sportsplex. Apparently its a wisdom tooth because the statues have been a smart public relations move by the city.

We know when we have sporting events at the Sportsplex, the tooth is a huge attraction, said Councilwoman Carol Drasga, who was instrumental in launching the annual attraction. A lot of those people who see it then come downtown. When I talk to the merchants, they say the statues have tripled their business. I know it at least doubles it and triples it for some.

This is the third year the city has leased the figures, most of them depicting people engaged in everyday activities. While many of them are life-size representations, the city brought the 31-foot-tall Abraham Lincoln to the city in 2016, and this year the huge tooth has been the object of much curiosity.

The tooth is the big Why? I tell people we want to encourage flossing, but its kind of like the Picasso in Chicago, Drasga said. The Picasso was criticized when it was first erected in Chicago, but now its an object of pride. When you have something thats expected or usual, people are somewhat interested, but the tooth is kind of goofy and theres more dialogue over it.

The figure of the man next to the tooth scratching his head says it all. It makes you laugh and you enjoy it.

This is the first time the tooth has been on display anywhere but the East Coast.

They were thrilled we took it because no one else grabbed it, she said of the curators of the Johnson figures.

Appropriately, several dentists are among the sponsors of the tooth. Sponsors are sought to cover the cost of transporting the figures to the city, and the citys Redevelopment Commission pays for brochures and banners to publicize them and for the cost of the insurance.

It makes it doable, Drasga said of the sponsors participation.

Most of the 13 sculptures are situated around the downtown square. Drasga said they help get people out of their cars and walking around to view the figures. While doing that, they might notice a shop or restaurant they didnt know about before, and they decide to try it out.

On a pleasant, sunny Wednesday, Lauren Jagiella and her two children Raegan, 4, and L.J., 3, of Crown Point, were posing for pictures with the statues with Robyn Vescovi, of St. John, and her son Drew, 3. The scene occasionally resembled trying to herd cats to get the kids positioned with the statues.

They are awesome and fun, said Vescovi, who has been back to see them a handful of times. They are slightly freaky because they are so real.

They are super cool, Jagiella agreed adding shes been back about four times. We walk around a lot with the kids and take pictures with different poses.

Kevin Niebergal, of Crown Point, works for Digital Lobby and has an office in the historic Lake County Courthouse. From his window Niebergal said he watches people visiting the statues all day long, taking selfies and enjoying them with their kids. He said he went out at 10 one night and met a man from Georgia who asked about the John Dillinger Museum and said he came to see the statues, too.

Thats fascinating to me, Niebergal said.

Aria Manalan, one of the dealers and sellers in the Old Town Square Antique Mall, said, Weve had several people who said they came to town to see the statues. Some also said they were here last year. Crown Point is a destination point. We send them to see the tooth. They bring their friends, so we think its had a positive impact on our business, especially on the weekends.

Susan James, owner of Great Harvest Bread Co., said, Its hard to tell how much of an impact theyve had, but anything new in town is a good thing. It attracts people and creates excitement. We do get people who say they came to see the statues, so I hope they continue every year to do something else.

Mike Adams, the Hot Dog Man, said the statues continue to bring people to town but not as many as in previous years.

In the first month the interest was there, but it has waned through the summer. When they first came out, it was pretty active. We had large groups taking pictures, but I havent seen that this year. Ive seen families, but not in the same numbers.

Drasga said the statues provide great viewing for people-watchers. Families come to see the statues and get their pictures taken with them amid laughter and good times.

The people are more entertaining than the statues, she said. I do a lot of people watching.

The statues will be on display through November, but the city already is negotiating to get figures for next year. Drasga said she has been trying to get the large reproduction of the sailor kissing a nurse, which was copied from the magazine cover showing the celebrations for the end of World War II.

Next to Marilyn Monroe, its the toughest one to get, she said. Its such a thank you to all the men and women in the armed services. You can have all the controversy you want about war, but almost everyone appreciates those who have given service to the country.
SCHERERVILLE  The town's Police Department recently received national accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) based in Virginia.

We traveled to Providence, Rhode Island, and went before the CALEA Commissioners, Chief Dave Dowling said. We were approved without any issues.

About 80 law enforcement departments from the U.S. and other nations attended the July 29 conference to receive CALEA accreditation at an awards banquet.

This is the Schererville Police Departments second re-accreditation process. The agency received its initial accreditation recognition status in 2007 and full accredited status in 2011.

The 2017 accreditation was based on an onsite visit two CALEA representatives made to Schererville in April, Dowling said.

The police chief of Wyoming, Michigan, and deputy police chief from Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, talked with residents and reviewed records during their three-day visit, Dowling said. The team worked with Cpl. Timothy Arvanitis, Schererville Police Departments accreditation manager, who was praised in the 33-page Gold Standard Assessment Report.

As the assessors moved through the community and interviewed a number of business owners, school officials and town employees, it was more than apparent that the agency enjoys strong support from nearly everyone the assessors came in contact with, the report states.

During these interviews people used words like professional, fair, respectable, caring and compassionate. Most of the interviewees credited Chief Dowlings approachability and involvement in various community groups as setting the example for the rest of the agency, according to the report.

The SPD provides full police services, and has developed a comprehensive community outreach program to address crime and public safety issues facing the Town of Schererville, the assessors wrote in the report.
Prairie Piecemakers Needlework Guild will meet at 7 p.m. Monday at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Military and Lincoln avenues, in Fremont. This is the guilds first meeting after summer vacation.

Members will meet at 6:30 p.m. for refreshments and the meeting starts at 7 p.m. Members should remember their homemade name tags, coffee cups and show and tell projects. New members are welcome.

Carol Elmore of Manhattan, Kansas, will present Gone To The Dogs. Elmore will show quilts featuring dogs in the textile design from the 1800s until today. She will give tips on how to start a themed collection.

Hostesses for the evening are Wanda Kruger, Marlene Preissler, Janet Divis, Ellen Vollmer, Janice Zarestky and Janet Shamburg. Greeters are Julie Joyce and Leslie Parr.

This months community service project is The Hope Center. School supplies, office supplies, snacks such as fruit snacks and juice boxes/pouches.
JOLIET, Ill.  A northern Illinois man involved in a traffic collision last month that killed a pregnant woman and her three small children made his first court appearance since he was arrested this week on felony reckless homicide charges.

During Wednesday's hearing in Joliet, a Will County judge told 25-year-old Sean Woulfe of Beecher that he's charged in the deaths of 29-year-old Lindsey Schmidt of Beecher, her three children and her unborn child. If convicted of the felony counts, he faces a maximum prison sentence of 10 years in prison.

Woulfe was arrested Tuesday, nearly a month after the July 24 collision in Beecher, and remains in custody. The next hearing is scheduled for Friday during which Wolfe's attorney, George Lenard, says he will ask that $1 million bond be reduced.
INDIANAPOLIS  Two court rulings have limited police seizures in the state of Indiana.

U.S. District Chief Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson partially has halted the seizure of vehicles in drug cases and related crimes in the state. She said state law violates due process because it doesn't allow individuals to challenge a forfeiture before property is seized.

State law allows law enforcement to hold a vehicle without taking action for up to 180 days. If the state does file a forfeiture claim, the vehicle can be held indefinitely until the case is completed.

Leroy Washington was arrested and charged with resisting law enforcement, obstruction of justice and dealing marijuana. His vehicle was seized in September, and Washington requested the vehicle be returned in November.

Jeff Cardella, a professor at Indiana University's Robert H. McKinney School of Law, filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the state on behalf of Washington in November.

"This is an injustice that I have wanted to change for several years," Cardella said.

Magnus-Stinson said vehicles are an important form of personal property because they're needed for transportation and to earn a living. Authorities must now provide a pre-forfeiture hearing when seizing vehicles suspected of being used in criminal activity.

The state Court of Appeals has also ruled that an alert from a drug-sniffing dog isn't enough evidence to seize cash that may be tied to drug trafficking.

Indianapolis police discovered more than $30,000 in cash in two parcels in 2015 after a drug-sniffing dog alerted to the packages. They siezed the money even though they didn't find any controlled substances or records of drug trafficking connected to packages.

Judge John Baker said a positive alert from a drug dog isn't enough to tie the money to illegal activity because studies show that up to 90 percent of U.S. currency has drug residue.

"Any of those individuals could conceivably have possessed and/or used the unidentified controlled substance, either legally or illegally, with or without an intent to commit drug trafficking," Baker said.

The Legislature has an interim study committee reviewing the state's forfeiture laws.
Armed with new test scores showing a strong performance by her 15,000 students, the head of the Success Academy network of charter schools takes a victory lap - and seizes an opportunity to bash her long-time sparring partner Mayor de Blasio. NY1's education reporter Lindsey Christ filed the following report:

The city's leading charter school operator is back on the offensive, barely a week after she made two humbling apologies -- one for ties to the Trump administration, the other for comments by her board chairman.

Eva Moskowitz gathered reporters Thursday to crow about the performance of her students in the most recent round of statewide testing -- and berate Mayor de Blasio for celebrating a more modest uptick in public school scores.

"What is going on in a city that is spending $31 billion a year and accepting massive failure?" said Moskowitz, the founder and CEO of the Success Academy charter schools..

"I'm outraged by the educational racisim engendered by the system. I'm also frustrated by the Mayor's response, and I know the journalists it the room are gonna think it's personal. It's not personal. The mayor's a good man, it's hard to run the city of New York, but his reaction to the scores is not appropriate," she said.

Scores out Tuesday show that 95 percent of students of color at her Success Academy schools passed the math exam, compared to 24 percent in city public schools. And 83 percent of students of color at Success passed the English test; only 29 percent in public schools did.

"The mayor is out celebrating ... a 60 percent failure rate is not worthy of a celebration. It is a moment to stand up and say, 'What is going on and how did this injustice occur?' "

De Blasio has never embraced charter schools or Moskowitz. Two weeks ago, he demanded her board chairman, hedge fund billionaire Dan Loeb, resign for saying a black state senator has done "more damage to people of color than" the Ku Klux Klan. The mayor's office dismissed Moskowitz's new attack.

"We have implemented real reforms to help close the achievement gap," a spokeswoman said. "This is nothing more than a stunt designed to distract from the deeply offensive and disqualifying comments made by Success Academy's leading financier."

Moskowitz often seems to court controversy and she has been feuding with de Blasio for years, dating back to when they were both on the City Council.

And with de Blasio favored to win re-election, their back and forth is likely far from over..
Having witnessed the translocation of the Uganda kob from Murchison Falls national park to Kidepo Valley national park in May this year, my journey to Ugandas largest national park for the translocation of giraffes, this time, was one filled with imaginations of how these beasts are chased, captured and loaded onto trucks.

One of the giraffes being captured

Throughout the seven-hour journey, I was eager to witness the capture, especially knowing that these were no kobs that were chased with high speed cars into a boma, with rangers even capturing some of the fast, goat-like animals with bare hands; with a giraffes sharp eyesight and renowned powerful kicks that can knock out the fearsome big cats in the wild, it would not be an easy task.

The boma, which had been constructed at Tangi near Pakwach, already had 10 giraffes that had been earlier captured, but none of Uganda Wildlife Authoritys (UWA) veterinarians and rangers could describe how these beasts had been captured.

Wait until tomorrow and witness by yourself, is all Simplicious Gessa, UWAs public relations officer, would say, every time he heard me asking the UWA field staff.

The captured giraffes inside the boma

On a given day, one or two giraffes are captured since a single capture can take several hours.

As early as 7am, the team was already on the ground where the giraffes had been spotted. From a given herd, the team identified a particular giraffe that everyone had to keep their eyes on, before it was shot down with a dart gun.

Instead of a bullet, we use a dart that has an anaesthetic drug, which brings it down. But we have to be very fast to get it so that it does not fall badly because then, it may break its neck and that would be a loss, said UWAs deputy director for planning, Edgar Bhuhanga.

The giraffes on the translocation truck

And for these elegantly tall beasts, there is certainly a lot of neck to break if they fell suddenly from their great height!

Once the drug begins weakening the giraffe, the assigned people run to put ropes around it. The ropes help in safely bringing it down, before veterinarians take over, to carry out necessary tests before it loading it onto a tractor-drawn crate to the holding boma.

#Giraffes can't swim & with #oil activities in Murchison Falls NP, they had to be translocated from one sector to the other. No easy task! pic.twitter.com/u642xhBRcq  The Observer (@observerug) August 24, 2017

BACKGROUND

This exercise was a result of a three-year study by Michael Brown, a PhD student at Dartmouth College, a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States.

Browns study was basically around the behaviour, and how best the giraffes in Murchison Falls national park can be managed.

He was attracted to this particular park by the fact that it has nearly 75 per cent of the worlds population of the Rothschild giraffe species.

For three years, he has been studying each giraffe individually, photographing each of them and creating a bio-data for each of them using the patterns; each has its own distinctive pattern, it is like fingerprints, Dr Julian Fennessy, the director of Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF), told The Observer.

Fennessy and Brown were part of a team of experts from UWA, Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC), Makerere Universitys College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Bio-Security (COVAB), GCF and Cheyenne Mountain Zoo of Colorado, USA, who took part in the two-week exercise of translocating giraffes from the northern sector to the southern sector of Murchison Falls national park.

The two sectors are separated by the river Nile, and connected by ferry service. The northern sector has for long enjoyed a far bigger animal population than the southern.

The translocation was based on Browns discovery that there were 1,250 giraffes in Murchison Falls national park, 500 more than UWAs earlier estimate of 750 giraffes.

These beasts, according to Browns study, are being threatened by the upcoming development projects such oil explorations and construction of power dams such as the 840MW Ayago hydropower dam.

The range of development projects in the northern sector can impact negatively on the giraffes stock. Being that this park is separated by the Nile, and giraffes, unlike other animals like elephants, etc, cant swim across the river to go to the other part of the park, they are concentrated in the northern sector; that is why we have to help them cross that natural barrier, Patrick Atimnedi, UWAs manager for veterinary services, said.

The first translocation was in 2015 when 19 giraffes were moved from the northern sector to the southern sector.

Apart from one giraffe that was killed and eaten by locals in Buliisa, the rest adapted so well, giving UWA reason to move more of the worlds tallest animals.

At least 20 giraffes were moved to the Bunyoro side of the park and two others were taken to UWEC in Entebbe.



THE DRIVE

Loading the giraffes onto the translocation truck is not as hard and as delicate as capturing and transporting them. It took less than five minutes to get five giraffes onto the truck, but it took about two and half hours to drive them on a journey of 43km from Tangi to a grassland in the newly opened honeymoon trail inside Budongo forest.

On the first day of the translocation, one of the giraffes collapsed within three minutes of set-off from Tangi. Veterinarians laboured in vain to get it up and then painfully resolved to first offload it. For several minutes, they tried to resuscitate it, to no avail.

It only showed signs of normalising after cold water was poured over it. The scene was similar to one in a hospital ward where medics pace up and down in a dash to save a life, only that this time we were in the middle of a jungle road as veterinarians struggled to save the giraffes life.

A GCF vet ran to one of the last vehicles in the long convoy to pick an oxygen cylinder that was applied for the giraffe to fully recover.

They congratulated themselves as it finally got up and went back to the wilderness to graze, reducing the translocating giraffes by one.

Apart from creating a deficit in the numbers, the particular giraffe was the one that had been fitted with a tracking device on its horn, implying that without it, the conservationists cannot keep track of that herd of four.

And the animals do not take the transportation lying down, either. One of the rangers is still nursing a broken arm, after one of the giraffes head-butted him inside the truck.

He is lucky the blow was not to his head, or chest!

Still, the team was happy the southern bank had more giraffes, a boost to tourism in the popular park, seeing as that side of the river has several budget safari lodges whose guests usually cross to the northern bank to see many of the animals.

Paraa and Chobe safari lodges, both high-class facilities ran by Marasa Investments, dominate the northern sector.



sadabkk@observer.ug
Fire has this morning gutted residences of some police officers at Katwe police barracks in Kampala.

According to the spokesperson of the police directorate of fire, prevention and rescue services, ASP Collin Agaba, the fire started at around 9:30am.

When we received a call from Katwe police station, we rushed to the scene and found 10 houses of police officers were on fire, Agaba said.

We have done our best to put out the fire but there was extreme damage to the property in the affected houses.

He added that the fire unit also managed to save Katwe police station and the other parts of the barracks from the fire.

Agaba said the cause of the fire is not yet established but the fire investigators are on ground to ascertain its cause.

nangonzi@observer.ug
President Yoweri Museveni has sacked the newly appointed Energy ministry permanent secretary, Dr Stephen Isabalija triggering panic in the ministry.

Government spokesperson, Ofwono Opondo confirmed the development of the sacking. According to Opondo, Museveni dropped Isabalija and in his place appointed the acting director at the Directorate of Petroleum, Robert Kasande to act in the position.



"He instructed that he is paid his one's month salary He didn't give reasons for terminating his contract," said Opondo.



Earlier on, junior staff in the ministry told URN that they had also heard about the termination of Isabalija's contract, but were yet to receive an official communication from the Energy and Mineral Development minister, Irene Muloni.

Dr Stephen Isabalija According to some sources, Isabalija's sacking is connected to the bribery allegations surrounding some of the now lucrative deals in the oil and gas sector as well as the hydropower dam developments. According to some sources, Isabalija's sacking is connected to the bribery allegations surrounding some of the now lucrative deals in the oil and gas sector as well as the hydropower dam developments.

Sources believe Isabalija's sacking may have been largely connected to the cancellation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between government and and China Africa Investment and Development Company (CAIDC) for constructions of Kiba dam and bribery allegations surrounding the award of the refinery deal to the Albertine Refinery consortium.

In July this year, Isabalija reportedly terminated the MoU between Uganda and China Africa Investment and Development Company (CAIDC). The investors had pledged to invest $700 million in the Kiba hydropower project.



The termination of the memorandum of understanding reportedly greatly affected, progress towards the construction of Kiba hydropower project across river Nile.



Dr Isabalija was reportedly unhappy that the Chinese investors had taken 25 months without commencing the project. The president China Africa Investment and Development Company (CAIDC), Zhao Lionel reportedly complained to the president and ministry of Energy officials.



Sources indicate that the politicians at the ministry and some of the technical persons then handling the matter were not happy with the permanent secretary accusing him of acting without consultation.



The source also indicates that Dr Isabalija's sacking could also be connected to the eviction of the artisan miners from Mubende recently. It is emerging that artisan miners were working with highly connected individuals who according to sources allegedly complained to State House.



Energy minister, Irene Muloni couldn't be reached on phone for comment. The state minister for Energy, Simon D'ujanga said he had received similar calls from other journalists. Isabalija's could not be reached on his mobile because his phone was switched off.
Government has rejected pleas to extend the Sim card registration exercise. Security minister, Lt. General, Henry Tumukunde, says all unregistered Sim cards will be switched come August 30, 2017.



"Come rain, come sunshine, non-compliant Sim card users will suffer the switch off once the August 30 deadline clocks," he said.

Early this year, government asked all mobile phone users to validate their Sim cards using their National Identification Numbers (NINs) and set the deadline of May 19, 2017.



However, government was compelled to extend the Sim card validation exercise deadline to August 30 to give more time to telecom companies to complete the verification of subscribers who hadn't yet obtained their National Identity cards.

Security minister Henry Tumukunde

On Tuesday, several government departments and agencies met under the guidance of the Prime Minister, Ruhakana Rugunda to discuss the impending deadline for the validation of Sim cards.

Also in attendance were the ministers of Internal Affairs, Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) as well as officials from the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) and National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) among others.



While appearing before the ICT Committee chaired by the Tororo North MP, Annet Nyakecho, Tumukunde noted that they resolved to stand by the deadline.

"It is our position that the August 30 2017 deadline holds and won't be postponed." reads part of Tumukunde's statement to the committee. He said the failure to enforce the deadline will undermine government's credibility.

"Government credibility is at stake with this exercise given that it has been extended twice. The laxity in this exercise reflects public trust in government to conduct its responsibility. Secondly, it will have vast negative effects on the security of Ugandans and enhancing our ability to sustain our inability to successfully investigate cases of crime and terrorism perpetuated by using mobile phone devices", said Tumukunde.



Tumukunde also said the increasing number of crimes facilitated by phones necessitate the Sim card verification to help track down offenders.

"The security concerns are very clear but I can give examples; imagine somebody driving a car without a number plate. Apply your mind on some of these examples. Imagine a group of people walking into a bank with masks on - somebody is walking into a bank and he has a mask on.

This is the problem of lack of attribution. Crimes are happening, conducted or facilitated by phones or other telecommunications services attached to individual accounts and without a mechanism to identify users of these services. It makes it almost impossible to investigate these crimes", Tumukunde added.



He listed a number of measures that have been put in place to ensure mobile money users whose lines haven't been validated don't lose their money in the process.



Tumukunde said any airtime and data bundles on deactivated Sim cards will be recorded and returned on the Sim card upon re-activation. He noted that the Sim card registration and validation will continue with improved efficiency.



"Registration will continue with improved efficiency, we shall struggle to change this situation. And we seek that less pressure is put on NIRA. However this doesnt mean that they shouldnt improve their efficiency. Foreigners will continue to register using their passports or alien cards no.6.

Refugees are able to register their Sim cards using their valid refugee cards issued by the Office of the Prime Minister. Minors will register their Sim cards through the NINs of their parents or guardians. Any other issues arising after the switch off will be handled by the joint committees that have been established...", he added.



Tumukunde said government has assessed the likely financial impact because of the unregistered users.



"We will however continue to have dialogue with the telecom companies to ensure this process is as smooth and trouble free for them and for the public." he said.



Numbers



According to information before the ICT committee, 4.7 million telephone subscribers risk being switched off since their Sim cards didn't match with the provided National Identification Numbers (NINs) while the others are corrupted.



Internal Affairs Minister Gen. Jeje Odongo says a total of 31.3 million Sim cards have been forwarded for verification to the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) by 9 telecom companies.



These include MTN (17.8 million), Airtel (9.7 million), Africell (3.2 million), K2 (72,324), Vodafone (26,059), UTL (204,956), Smile (12,897), Smart (113,595) and Tangarine (2,601).



Out of the 31.3m forwarded Sim cards; 26.6 million Sim cards have been collaborated with the provided National Identification Numbers (NINs), 4.6 million cannot be matched while 36, 556 are corrupted. Explaining the corrupted data, Odongo said that it is considered as not clear and still under verification.
Judges and magistrates under their umbrella body, the Uganda Judicial Officers Association (UJOA) are set to lay down their tools yet again over salary increment.

About a month ago, before ending their week-long strike, the judicial officers issued a 30-day ultimatum to government to increase their salary or else they lay down tools.

In a statement issued today evening by UJOA president Godfrey Kaweesa, the judicial officers resolved on Tuesday this week to go on an indefinite strike starting Friday, August 25 should government fail to comply with their genuine but humble demands.

Judges at the High court

In the statement, all members of UJOA are ordered not to report to work and any member who violates this directive shall be deregistered. Industrial action applies to all members, the statement reads.

Further, the statement says, judicial officers in possession of government property including cars should hand them over.

The statement adds that UJOA shall remain open to discussion at all times provided that the same shall promote the welfare of judicial officers.

ENTER JUDICIAL SERVICE COMMISSION

However the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) is opposed to the industrial action, advising the judicial officers to exhaust the first two options - negotiations and legal action.

According to a statement from JSC, the Chief Justice Bart Katureebe, who is also the patron of UJOA says he is not satisfied that the negotiations and legal action courses have been exhausted for UJOA to go the last resort, industrial action.

The Chief Justice, according to the statement says a petition has been already been filed in the Constitution court over the same issues that the judicial officers are laying down tools for.

The JSC appeals to the judicial officers to continue discharging their judicial functions without interruption

JUDICIAL OFFICERS DEMANDS

According to the current pay structure, the chief justice earns Shs 20m, his deputy Shs 18m and the principal judge Shs 10m while a Supreme court judge earns Shs 9.6m and a judge of the Court of Appeal/Constitutional court gets Shs 9.3m. A High court judge earns Shs 9m.

Grade II magistrates earn Shs 737, 837, a month, senior grade II magistrates (Shs 860, 810), principal magistrate Grade II (Shs 1.2m), magistrate grade I (Shs 1.5m) and principal magistrate grade I (Shs 2.1m).

A senior principal magistrate grade I gets Shs 2.2m, chief magistrate (Shs 2.4m), assistant registrar earns Shs 3.1m and chief registrar earns Shs 4.8m.

UJOA now wants the pay to be revised as follows: chief justice to earn Shs 55m, his deputy Shs 53m, the principal judge 50m, justices of the Supreme court (who are seven) each to earn Shs 34m, justices of the Court of Appeal (who are 13) each to earn Shs 33m, Justices of the High court (who are 47) to earn Shs 31m each.

The chief registrar who is one, to earn Shs 27m, registrars (who are three) to earn Shs 23m, deputy registrars (who are 29) to earn Shs 21m, assistant registrars (who are 12) to earn Shs 20m, chief magistrates (who are 44) to earn Shs 17m, senior principal magistrate grade one, (their numbers are not stated since the positions are vacant) to earn Shs 14m each, principal magistrate grade I (who are four) to earn Shs 14m, senior magistrate grade I (who are three) to earn 13.7m, grade I magistrate (who are 187) to earn Shs 13.3m and senior principal magistrate Grade II to earn Shs 12.6m.

If government agrees to the above proposed salary structure, it would pay Shs 95 billion per year on salaries of judicial officials, up from Shs 14 billion.



MEDICAL INSURANCE



The judicial officers also want government to discuss their concerns, which include the ailments associated with prolonged sitting, writing and overworking.



They cite the deaths of Richard Mafabi (chief magistrate Makindye), Francis Kobusheshe (chief magistrate Kiboga ) and Godfrey Bindeeba (Grade two, Kajjansi) who they claim succumbed to high blood pressure, among others. They suggest that a medical insurance be provided for all judicial officers.



TRANSPORT



The UJOA leadership notes that during a 2015 meeting of judges and President Museveni, the president promised vehicles to all registrars and magistrates, which have never been delivered.



So, UJOA proposes that low-cost but durable vehicles like double-cabin pick-up trucks should be procured for every magistrate. They also propose that magistrates must have drivers who are paid Shs 500,000 per month. They also want a monthly fuel allowance of Shs 2m.



And in the aftermath of the murders of former police spokesperson, Andrew Felix Kaweesi, and Senior Principal State Attorney Joan Kagezi, they suggested that every judicial officer should get bodyguards.



They say Mengo chief magistrate Mary Babirye was attacked in May at her home and 28 bullets were discharged. Since judges have security, UJOA proposes a monthly security allowance of Shs 1m for each lower-level judicial officer.



HOUSING ALLOWANCE



UJOA proposes Shs 2m in housing allowance for magistrates in hard-to-reach and hard-to-stay upcountry stations.
The state attorney in the ministry of Justice, Ojambo Bichachi, says government is in advanced stages of getting justice for Ugandans who lost property during a businessman's demolition of a government building on plot 60/62 Allidina Visram road in Jinja municipality.

While appearing before the Justice Catherine Bamugemereire-led commission of inquiry into land matters, today, Bichachi said the case had been set for hearing on November 4, 2015 in Jinja but was adjourned.

He said the case had been adjourned in Jinja after the judge handling the matter was transferred by government.

The matter is coming up on September 4 [2017] for scheduling Bichachi told the commission.

Ojambo Bichachi

The suit aims at taking back possession of the building from Simpson Birungi, the proprietor of Birus Property and Movit Products, and seeks compensation for goods destroyed during the demolition exercise.

A 2015 cabinet minute before the commission indicates that government had resolved that some immediate actions be taken against Birungi, which included among others:

Investigate and punish some government officials whose omissions and commissions directly or indirectly aided the fraudulent acquisition of a lease by Mr Birungi, eviction of bona fide tenants on plot 60 to 62 Allidina road and the demolition of a building thereon.

Bichachi told the commission, that even though they had received the cabinet minute and further instruction had been given by the late Aronda Nyakairima, then Internal Affairs minister, on June 30, 2015 to take repossession of the property, Birungi presented a June 18, 2015 court order barring government from taking any action on the matter.

By the time I received these instructions, Birus had already sued us [government], he said.

He continued that: They were challenging the attempt by government to evict them because the minster [Nyakairima] had written a letter directing the IGP [Inspector General of Police, Kale Kayihura] to deploy police.

The IGP has since suspended at least four senior police officers and ordered for an investigation by Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department [CIID] to establish their role in the eviction of tenants and demolishing of a government building.

Uganda Land Commission sitting on June 2, 2011 approved the application for the grant of leasehold to Birus Property Services. Part of the terms for the lease was to build a commercial building as indicated in the application.

Bichachi said that Birungi insisted that he had to honour the terms of his lease, and continued with building the commercial building despite the case being before court. The lease has since expired and awaits renewal.

The ULC chairperson Baguma Isoke recently told the commission that he had not seen the cabinet directive. He promised the commission that he would implement the directive once he got it.

President Museveni appointed a seven-member committee chaired by Court of Appeal Judge Bamugemereire to investigate processes and procedures in land acquisition, administration and management in Uganda.

alitwaha@observer.ug
Commercial vacancy rates in Offaly have increased from 14.7% to 15.0% since July 2016, although the vacancy rate in Edenderry has dropped considerably in the same period.

GeoDirectory has conducted an analysis of 102 locations, including 80 towns across the four provinces plus 22 Dublin postal districts.

Three towns in Offaly were included in this edition of GeoView. Edenderry has the second highest vacancy rate in the country at 27% although that figure is down an encouraging 4% from last year. Tullamore and Birr showed commercial vacancy rates of 16% and 14.4%, respectively.

Ballybofey in Donegal was the town with the highest vacancy rate, at 28.8%, having fallen by 2.6pp over the course of the year.

The new research, from the Q2 2017 edition of GeoView, shows that the highest vacancy rate of any county in Ireland was recorded in Sligo at 18%, followed by Leitrim at 16.2%, Limerick at 15.9%, Galway at 15.6% and Mayo at 15.5%. Kerry, which has consistently had a low vacancy rate over the past number of years, again had the lowest commercial vacancy rate at 10.6%. However, this has increased from 9.4% compared to the same time last year.

The largest increase in commercial vacancy rates was seen in Longford with vacancy rates increasing from 12.9% in Q2 2016 to 14.9% in Q2 2017. Only two counties recorded decreases in the same period, Dublin (-0.2 pp) and Leitrim (-0.1 pp).

The national commercial vacancy rate increased from 13.1% in Q2 2016 to 13.5% in Q2 2017, according to new research published by GeoDirectory and DKM Economic Consultants. 28,784 of the 212,717 commercial address points in Ireland were vacant.

Notwithstanding the emergence of the economic recovery since 2014, commercial vacancy rates across the 26 counties remain stubbornly high.

Despite reports of strong demand for office space in Dublin City centre, Dublin 2 continues to have a high commercial vacancy rate of 18.3%, well above the County Dublin average at 13.6%. In total, nine of the Dublin districts had vacancy rates above the national average.

At a provincial level, Connacht had the highest average vacancy rate at 15.8% in Q2 2017, an increase from 15.2% in Q2 2016. Ulster recorded the second highest rate at 14.1%, while Munster recorded a rate of 13.1%. Leinster (excluding Dublin) had an average vacancy rate of 12.6%, up 0.6pp since Q2 2016.

The report also gives a more detailed analysis of the GeoDirectory database by examining the breakdown of address points by sector of economic activity, using NACE* codes. In total, 171,069 commercial address points were allocated a NACE code. Almost one-half of the total or 81,265 properties are businesses in the services sector.

Speaking following the publication of the report, Dara Keogh, CEO, GeoDirectory said: Despite the improvements we have seen in the economy in recent years, commercial vacancy rates have remained stubbornly high. In Dublin 2, where the economic recovery is obvious and demand for office space is apparently strong, we have recorded a vacancy rate of 18.3%. This suggests there is a serious mismatch between the stock that is available and what is being demanded. One of the most prominent points to emerge from this edition of GeoView is that the vast majority of the 15 towns with the highest commercial vacancy rates were either based along the West coast of Ireland or were in the Midlands. These 15 towns had commercial vacancy rates in excess of 20% and well above the national average.

Annette Hughes, Director of DKM Economic Consultants said: Nationally we are seeing increased commercial vacancy rates, moving from 13.1% at this time last year to 13.5%. 22 counties recorded increased vacancy rates in the last 12 months, with Dublin and Leitrim the only counties to record decreases. At a provincial level, Connacht had the highest vacancy rate at 15.8%, 1.7 percentage points above the next highest provincial rate, recorded in Ulster. Leinster, excluding Dublin, recorded the lowest rate. This continues the trend that we have seen in previous editions of GeoView, where the east is out-performing the west, although vacancy rates remain stubbornly high across the board.

The GeoView Commercial Premises Vacancy Report is published by GeoDirectory and DKM Economic Consultants, tracking commercial vacancy rates nationally and by county. A copy of the GeoView Commercial Vacancy report is attached in PDF format and is available at www.geodirectory.ie and www.dkm.ie
Anna Diop Lands the Role of Starfire in the Upcoming Titans Series Dimas Sanfiorenzo Dimas Sanfiorenzo is the Managing Editor for Okayplayer. He specializes

24: Legacy alum Anna Diop has landed one of the lead roles in the upcoming live-action version of the popular DC comic series Titans.

Read: Creators Assemble, Meet the Faces Behind the New Black Superheroes

Diop, who is from Senegal, will play Starfire, a no nonsense alien princess who is seeking asylum on Earth. This is the second major casting news to be revealed this month. A couple of weeks ago it was announced that newcomer Teagan Croft will play the other lead, Raven.

Read: Marvels Next Iron Man Will Be A Teenage Black Girl

This live-action version of Titans will premiere in 2018. The show will be a part of a slate of a new DC related content that will be on a digital service. There is no official release date for the show or the streaming service yet.

Source: Deadline
A Black American Tragedy: Parents Of Bakari Henderson Speak On His Death Elijah C. Watson Elijah Watson serves as Okayplayer's News & Culture Editor. When

The parents of Bakari Henderson, the black man who was killed overseas in Greece during an altercation at a bar, has spoken publicly for the first time since his death.

Jill and Phil Henderson spoke with CBS This Morning co-host Gayle King about their 22-year-old son, who passed away last month on the Greek island of Zakynthos after a mob chased him outside of a bar and proceeded to attack him. Bakari, who had recently graduated from the University of Arizona, was in Greece to take pictures for a clothing line he was launching. The Hendersons learned of their sons death after missing a late night phone call from the U.S. embassy.

I was thinking maybe, Okay, you found his wallet. Hes over there, and hes tryin to get to another country. Whats goin on? So, when I called and Im hoping because its that night call, you know, you dont want, so Im just hopin, Phil said. We prayed before we even called her back.

The altercation stemmed from a woman asking for a selfie with Henderson in a Serbian bar, to which a Serbian man asked her Why are you talking to a black guy? before hitting Henderson in the face.

READ: 22-Year-Old Bakari Henderson Fatally Beaten Over Selfie

During the interview, there is this exchange between Jill and King where the former speaks of his son feeling more comfortable being overseas than in America because of his blackness, only to be harassed and ultimately killed because of it.

Do you think this was a racially motivated incident? Or do you just think it was just something that was out of control, and he just happened to be the unlucky victim here? King asked. How it started may not have started that way. It may have started out as an American issue, and then resulted in, you know, a black American tragedy, Jill said. The Hendersons said their son was comfortable traveling around the world. More comfortable overseas than in the United States, Jill said. He just felt it was safer over in Europe and overseas in general. He said, you know, with the climate, with African-American males in the U.S., that he just felt more comfortable overseas. Isnt that ironic, that he could say to you, I feel more comfortable in another country other than my own? King said. Yes. Yes, Jill said. And he ends up losing his life in another country. For what reason, we still dont know exactly, King said. Exactly, Jill responded.

Hendersons parents want justice and have hired a lawyer to represent their son when the case goes to trial. A number of GoFundMe pages have raised more than $100,000 to cover the costs. However, Bakaris remains are still in Greece, with the Hendersons only receiving one call from a member of Congress, Sen. John Cornyns office, about having Bakaris body sent back to the United States.

As for Bakaris attackers, nine suspects face charges of voluntary manslaughter for the violent beating.

Source: cbsnews.com
Agricultural News

FAPC Appoints Leaders of Oklahoma's Food Industry to Serve on Center's Advisory Committee

Three food industry leaders have been reappointed to Oklahoma State University's Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center's Industry Advisory Committee for a 3-year term.







Joe Ford, Shawnee Milling Co.; Ed Clements, Clements Foods Co.; and David Howard, Unitherm Food Systems, will continue their services to FAPC's 16-member advisory board.







"The Industry Advisory Committee offers counsel, makes decisions and takes leadership action to ensure FAPC makes sound short- and long-term plans to accomplish its mission and objectives," said Roy Escoubas, FAPC director. "We are glad to see the return of these members to the committee and looking forward to the next three years of service."







Ford, re-appointed by OSU's vice president of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, is the senior vice president of operations for Shawnee Milling Co. in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Ford is responsible for all operational activities of the company, including day-to-day management and decisions for manufacturing, accounting, selling and marketing of products made under the Shawnee Milling brand and made to the specifications of Shawnee Milling's customers.







Despite significant growth over the years, Shawnee Milling Co. hasn't lost track of its roots. The core values of Shawnee Milling Co. focus on a tradition of family values; an insistence on quality products; a record of dependable, personal service; an offering of consistent value; and a family of friendly, knowledgeable and dedicated employees.







Clements, re-appointed by the governor of Oklahoma, is the president and chief executive officer of Clements Foods Co. in Oklahoma City. Clements joined the workforce of the family business in 1985 and has held multiple roles including assistant sales manager and vice president. He is currently responsible for the profitability and well-being of the company.







Clements Foods Co. is located on the original site, which it was founded in 1952. The company is known for its reputation as a manufacturer of quality branded and private label fruit preserves and jellies, syrups, mayonnaise and salad dressings, barbecue sauces, mustards, vinegars and peanut butter.







Howard, re-appointed by the president pro tempore of the Oklahoma State Senate, is the president and CEO of Unitherm Food Systems in Bristow, Oklahoma. Howard launched Unitherm Food Systems in England in 1983 to develop and build thermal processing systems for the United Kingdom's food industry. Projecting greater opportunities in growth, Howard relocated his business to the United States in 1995.





Unitherm Food Systems is a market leader in innovative equipment technologies for pasteurization, cooking and chilling of raw, partially cooked and fully cooked food products and agricultural food commodities. The company is known globally throughout the food-processing industry for its innovative approach to the design and creation of machines and systems to maximize yields and reduce processing times, while enhancing safety and profitability.





In addition to Ford, Clements and Howard, other members of the committee include Scott Dvorak, Dvorak Farms; John Griffin, Griffin Foods; Tommy Kramer, Durant Industrial Authority; Erica Hering, Ralph's Packing Co.; Virgil Jurgensmeyer, J-M Farms; Rodger Kerr, Southwest Technology Center; John Patrick Lopez, Lopez Foods; Max McDermott, deVine Water; David McLaughlin, AdvancePierre Foods (retired); Philip Payment, HAC Inc.; Paul Schatte, Head Country Food Products; Mark Vaughan, Fresh Avenue Partners; and DASNR's Tom Coon, ex-officio, OSU vice president for agricultural programs.







"Through the visionary leadership of certain state representatives and senators, such as Sens. Bruce Price, Paul Muegge and Bob Kerr and Rep. M.C. Leist, State Statute 2-5-60 was established in 1997 to provide an advisory committee for FAPC," Escoubas said. "Appointed by the highest positions of the Oklahoma state government, FAPC is privileged to have oversight by this committee of key agricultural and business leaders."







FAPC, a part of OSU's DASNR, 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













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Agricultural News

Russia Selling Venezuela Higher Protein Wheat for Less Than the US and Canada Can Offer

Once again, OSU's Extension Grain Market Economist Dr. Kim Anderson joins host, Dave Deeken, on SUNUP this week, talking about the price of wheat, which after another week - has taken an even bigger beating.





Anderson says the Kansas City contract for wheat dropped below $4.00 this past week now at $3.99, the December contract at $4.27 and July a little better at $4.77.





In his conversations with other market analysts, it seems no one is willing to guess at where a bottom to this trend lies. He says prices continue to decline because of the news coming out of Europe, particularly from Russia and the former Soviet states. Anderson reports that Russia has the potential to produce over 3 billion bushels this year, and will likely reclaim its place from last year as the world's No. 1 exporter of HRW wheat.





Russia has boasted its latest sales of 12.5% protein wheat at low prices and easy delivery. France, too, has stepped up, announcing that 92% of their wheat crop this year features 11.5% protein or better, making for excellent milling quality wheat.





Venezuela has jumped on board with Russia, as the country's first customer this year, purchasing 2.2 million bushels expected for delivery. Venezuela has traditionally been a market for the US and Canada.





With increased competition ramping up, Anderson predicts that US exports will likely shrink this year. He says he is keeping his fingers crossed that the markets have already accounted for this eventuality. He believes the markets are building a bottom, but expressed that belief with cautious optimism.





Before seed goes in the ground, though, Anderson advises producers that marginal acres will probably not be affordable. He insists the important things to do will be to manage your costs and grow for high yields.





You can watch their visit tomorrow or Sunday on SUNUP- but you can hear Kim's comments right now by clicking on the LISTEN BAR below.







Beyond Dr. Anderson's weekly chat - the SUNUP crew has a very full lineup for your viewing this weekend:





This week on SUNUP, Brian Arnall explains how the recent moisture can impact soil fertility, especially ahead of winter crops.







- In Cow-Calf Corner, Glenn Selk explains how long a heifer or cow takes to calve, and when you need to call for help.







- Derrell Peel says recent temperatures and moisture favor potential wheat-pasture for cattle in Oklahoma.







- In the Mesonet weather report, Al Sutherland has the big winners of the recent rain, and Gary McManus has a drought monitor that reflects a wetter than normal August.







- In Food Whys, Tim Bowser explains the difference between conventional and convection ovens.







- Finally, we travel to Blaine County to learn how a family has added creativity to their farm to diversify their income.









Join us for SUNUP:

Saturday at 7:30 a.m.

Sunday at 6 a.m. on OETA-TV























You can watch their visit tomorrow or Sunday on SUNUP- but you can hear Kim's comments right now

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Omahan Laura Leininger-Campbell is savoring life these days.

Theres a lot to savor. Her first script as a playwright, Eminent Domain, was a finalist in last years prestigious Eugene ONeill National Playwriting Competition, one of 54 honorees out of nearly 1,500 entries. The honor includes an endorsement that encourages theaters everywhere to produce the play.

This weekend, one theater is doing just that: The world premiere of Eminent Domain  the story of a Nebraska farm family dealing with a transcontinental oil pipeline  is Friday night at the Omaha Community Playhouse, right in Leininger-Campbells backyard.

Its been really heady, she said of the past few months. Im just super grateful.

The path to production has been long but rewarding, delving into a topic that has been in the headlines and dividing Nebraskans and others for a long time. Her creative process included mounds of rewrites and lots of research with Bold Nebraska, a clean energy advocacy group that has protested construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.

She started writing the play in 2015, wedging it in around her job as a project manager for West Corp. A longtime Omaha actor who has won several awards, she had adapted several stories for theaters and other groups around town but had never tried a script from scratch.

A good friend, Omaha playwright Ellen Struve, pushed her to branch out.

She encouraged me to do my own story  got up in my face one day and said, I know theres original stories in there,  Leininger-Campbell said. I knew I wanted to do a story about a farm family.

Thats called writing about something you know. Leininger-Campbell grew up in Grand Island, and one set of grandparents lived on a ranch north of town.

I spent lots of time there, and it informed who I am, she said.

She started reading about farmers and landowners who had been protesting the pipeline for seven years. From that, and from meeting actual families through Bold Nebraska, she said, she found attributes for her characters.

She said they were blunt and clear about their concerns. Tenacious and resilient. And they were on both sides politically, defying stereotypes: Many of the landowners who dug in their heels against the pipeline identified as conservative.

The landowners embody the type of character traits that really define who we are as Nebraskans, she said.

The research work solidified her beliefs about how the issue was affecting farmers and their families. She testified at a Public Service Commission hearing on the pipeline.

I told the PSC that I think that the farmers who are voicing their concerns and resistance should bear more weight than they have, and thats where this play is centered, she said. I want to be sure farmers are heard above all the other rhetoric.

As much as she researched the pipeline issue, Leininger-Campbell is quick to point out that the main theme of the play is family relationships, especially how moms, dads, sisters, brothers and others learn to find common ground in love when faced with divisive and difficult problems.

When she had a rough draft, she asked the Playhouse whether she could use their boardroom for a script reading to see what she had. After that, she made her first revisions. Then actors did a staged reading of the script for the Shelterbelt Theatres Behind the Boards series.

Playhouse officials got the script last fall. Artistic Director Kimberly Faith Hickman read it and passed it on to staffers and board members. Everyone was impressed. They decided it needed to premiere in Leininger-Campbells home state.

It was a Eugene ONeill finalist  thats a pretty prominent thing in the theater community, Hickman said. Any theater in the country could have jumped on this immediately. (Its available for purchase on Amazon.com.) I feel very, very lucky that we are the first.

The ONeill award is presented each year by the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene ONeill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut. The conference is one of the countrys top play development programs. The top seven or so finalists get summer residencies at the center to produce their plays. Alumni include August Wilson, Wendy Wasserstein and Martin Sherman, whose play Bent opens at SNAP Productions the same night as the Eminent Domain premiere.

Its hard to overstate how important the ONeill recognition is to a playwright. That Leininger-Campbell found such success on her first try gives her achievement even more weight.

Most shows at the Playhouse rehearse for about six weeks, but the preparation for Eminent Domain took several months. A cast of veteran Omaha actors signed on in April, and they began with table readings. After each one, Leininger-Campbell made revisions based on input from director Amy Lane, Hickman and cast members. They repeated the process four times.

Three people in the cast  Bill Hutson, Christina Rohling and Eric Salonis  have been with the show since that first reading in the boardroom. Hutson, a familiar figure on stages around town, said the play-development experience was unlike anything hes done anywhere.

Its great to be able to work with a director and writer at the same time, he said. You usually look to the director for guidance  Did that work? is the question most often asked  but with the writer, you can ask Is that what you envisioned? and get an immediate response from her. That feedback is really invaluable.

He also got to spend a day with Leininger-Campbell at her grandparents farm, where lease-holders now work the land. That gave him a feel for the landscape referenced in the play and for the history of farm families.

The Playhouse is offering opportunities for audience members to dig deeper as well. Leininger-Campbell will speak at an opening-night reception before curtain, and on Sept. 1, she will join Lane, Hickman, Thompson and a representative from the Nebraska Farmers Union for a panel discussion after the show.

Playhouse representatives say they will be rooting for Leininger-Campbell to see her script produced across the country.

Its just a wonderful play about family and family values. The themes are relatable to anyone anywhere, said Hickman, who grew up in the South.

Playhouse President Katie Broman has a perspective thats closer to home. She grew up on a Nebraska farm and visits home frequently. She said she loves how Leininger-Campbell wrote about the changing of seasons on the Nebraska landscape as well as the different seasons in the lives of the characters.

The first time I saw it made me feel emotional; it was something I could relate to, how we have such unique land here in Nebraska, Broman said. Its a well-put-together story.
Scattered thunderstorms in northeast Nebraska and northwest Iowa, with small hail and heavy downpours reported in some locations, were moving southeast this morning toward the Omaha area.

The storms included hail in some areas and 30 mph winds, said forecasters, who called for a chance of showers and thunderstorms today in the Omaha area.

Meanwhile, mild weather is expected to continue through the remainder of the work week in the Omaha area, forecasters said.

The National Weather Service office in Valley said today through the weekend in the Omaha area will be mostly to partly sunny with high temperatures in the lower 80s. Overnight lows are forecast to be in the lower to mid-60s.

There is a chance of showers and thunderstorms Friday night through Sunday, the weather service said.

Next week, Monday through Wednesday in the Omaha area will be mostly sunny with highs in the upper 70s to around 80 and overnight lows in the upper 50s to around 60, forecasters said.
Interpreter Fraidoon Fred Akhtari regularly risked his life by helping U.S. combat missions in eastern Afghanistan. Week after week, for more than five years, the Americans requested his services. He never said no.

Later, it was Freds turn to ask for help. His work had put his life in danger, and in 2010, he applied for a U.S. Special Immigrant Visa, designed for interpreters. But the request became mired in red tape and confusion  a too-typical story for interpreters who have put their lives on the line for Americans.

Freds paperwork was lost not once but twice. His third application was inexplicably denied, and he came close to losing hope.

Enter Dave Lemoine, who retired to Nebraska after an FBI career. He met Akhtari while gathering intelligence for a U.S. defense contractor. Freds dedication and bravery had impressed Lemoine, who vowed to help.

He plunged into the bureaucratic morass, enlisting the help of nonprofits, active-duty servicemen, a National Guard unit, volunteers and attorneys. After finally winning permission for Freds family to immigrate, Lemoine got the case moved to the front of the line to beat an approaching deadline.

Fred and Homa Akhtari, along with 7-year-old Fardin and 3-year-old Leema, arrived in Omaha July 16. Lutheran Family Services arranged for help from St. Johns Lutheran Church in Bennington to furnish a Millard-area apartment for the family.

This is one interpreters story with a well-deserved happy ending. Thank you for your service, Fred, and welcome to Nebraska.
Give him a teleprompter, and President Donald Trump comes across as dignified. He is substantive and he makes sense, as in resurrecting an exit strategy from a war that had all but been forgotten. It is called victory.

His predecessor would put up with no such notion and, in Afghanistan, launched new tactics while setting a date for our withdrawal. That meant the Taliban enemy could trot around killing as the itch occurred and waiting for the happy day.

President Barack Obama finally gave up on that stupidity, tried out other plans and still saw the war drag on longer than any other in our history  16 years at this point.

During his campaign and early in his presidency, Trump wanted to yank out all the U.S. soldiers and say good riddance to a seeming misadventure that has cost us some 2,500 American lives and a trillion dollars. Even with 100,000 troops there a few years back, compared with 8,500 today, we achieved little, he knew, and yet he listened. His generals made contrary arguments, and, as he said in a nationally televised speech Monday, he changed his mind.

The points he made were good ones.

For one thing, we will be fighting a war, not trying the hopeless task of nation building, and we will be doing so in our own self-interest. Afghanistan is where al-Qaida plotted and organized the 9/11 assault. It now harbors some 20 different terrorist groups that would love nothing better than having all of us dead.

To take off with the Taliban primed for more power would be to invite more plots and more assaults here and around the world.

This war will be fought with might, no equivocation and no surcease of Taliban sorrow. Rules of engagement? Some extra precautions were long ago taken to safeguard civilians and win their support but, when stretched too far, the rules can endanger our own troops and curb their effectiveness. Trump is ordering that they be revised.

Were going to get tough with Pakistan. A major disadvantage for us has been that our terrorist enemies can obtain safe havens there, and Trump is saying no more. This will entail some difficult, tricky maneuvers, but were capable of that.

Were also going to ask India for more help, expect more assistance from our European allies and look to the Afghan government to deal with its corruption.

In what seemed to contradict his talk about our self-interest, Trump also suggested we wont be sticking around if Afghanistan does not do its bit in the war, but the nudge may be needed if we are to succeed.

Critics of all of this were quick to have at Trump for not providing enough details, such as how many more troops he would send Afghanistans way.

I hereby give them grade deductions for not paying attention. Repeating a constant thesis of his, Trump made it clear he is not going to provide our enemies a counter-strategy by giving them the details of ours. Might politics have been part of his reticence? Yes. Politics is how Washington works.

The extra bit of good news here is that Trump did not sound like an ego freak romping around crazily. He was under control, and it was clear, too, that he would not conduct war as an Obama-style, micromanaging second-guesser, disregarding, for instance, expert advice that it was necessary to keep troops in Iraq to safeguard it from terrorist ambitions. Trump seems to get it that war is war and that, if you forget as much, you make it even worse.

When Trump goes ad lib, as in a press conference where reporter shrieks about a white supremacist, alt-right protest were answered in kind, he often loses and loses big. It has been adding up to the point of a presidency in deep trouble.

Rectification resides with heeding the wisdom of others, controlling impulses, having good writers lend a hand and using teleprompters as necessary.
60 children taken ill after mid-day meal at school in Chattisgarh

UP: Principal booked for siphoning off Rs 11.46 cr from midday meal scheme

15 children fall ill after consuming midday meal in Uttar Pradesh

India

oi-Madhuri

Around fifteen children fell ill after consuming mid-day meal at a school in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur district. According to the media reports, all 15 children have been stable now.

Earlier on August 4th, nearly 220 children fell ill after consuming the mid-day meal of "poori" and "sabzi" served at four primary schools in Pahla development block of Sitapur district.

Shaken by reports of over 200 children falling ill after taking the mid-day meal at a primary school in Sitapur district, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Prashant Kumar Mishra had issued stern directives to ban the use of loose edible oil for cooking the meals.

The Chief Secretary further directed the district officials to test the quality of utensils used for cooking the food and ensure that fresh vegetables are procured by the officials concerned.

Last month, Chief Minister Mayawati had sent a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh suggesting fundamental changes in the Mid-day Meal Scheme.

OneIndia News
After 26 years, Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convict gets parole of 30 days

India

oi-Anusha

For the first time in 26 years, a convict in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, Perarivalan walked out of Vellore jail on parole. The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday issued orders granting parole for 30 days to Perarivalan a month after Chief Minister Edappadi Palanismay said that the request would be considered.

In an official letter to the police department, the additional chief secretary to the Tamil Nadu government has allowed ordinary leave to be granted to Perarivalan. "...ordinary leave can be granted on the condition that life convict Perarivalan should be provided with a strong police escort during the period of leave," the letter says.

A G Perarivalan has spent 26 years in jail and has been granted parole for the very first time. DMK's working president M K Stalin had raised the issue of parole to Perarivalan in the state assembly. Stalin along with MLAs from other opposition parties had urged the government to grant parole. Perarivalan's mother had petitioned the government multiple times to grant parole to her son so he can meet his bed-ridden father.

In 2014, then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa had decided to release all seven convicts in the case which was followed up with letters to the Union home secretary. The Supreme Court, however, did not allow the same.

OneIndia News
AIADMK crisis: It is a political seesaw at the resort

India

oi-Anusha

Two MLAs of the TTV Dinakaran camp were photographed playing on a seesaw at a resort in Puducherry where they are lodged. Inadvertently, the MLAs painted the perfect picture of the political scenario in Tamil Nadu with factions of the AIADMK indulging in one-upmanship.

MLA Tangatamilselvan along with another legislator was snapped enjoying their time at the resort even as students of Tamil Nadu protested over NEET on Thursday. Drought, farmer suicide, Cauvery issue and petrochemical protests at Neduvasal are burning up the state but 19 MLAs lodged in Puducherry are spending time indulging in games and exploring amenities at the four-star beach-facing resort. This is the second time in less than six months that AIADMK MLAs have been herded at a luxury resort while people continue to suffer.

Meanwhile, back in Chennai, in a desperate attempt to either get the support of MLAs from the TTV Dinakaran camp or disqualify them from voting in the house, the chief whip of the AIADMK S Rajendran appealed to the speaker to act against the 19 MLAs. He told the media that the 19 MLAs had acted against the party and action should be taken against them for the same. "19 MLAs have acted against the interest of the party. They have taken a decision in their individual capacity. They did not approach me. Only the speaker has the power to take action but I can recommend. I recommend that the 19 MLAs are disqualified," said S Rajendran, the chief whip, of the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly.

Speaker Danapal has issued noticed to all 19 MLAs from the Dinakaran faction. The speaker has sought an explanation from legislators on AIADMK's request to disqualify them.

The TTV Dinakaran camp, however, was undeterred and have said that they will seek the court's intervention if the whip acts. Dinakaran's advocates have held that the current whip's tenure was already completed and he was not in a position to issue whips.

On Thursday, Chief Minister Edappadi Palanisamy and his deputy O Panneerselvam have called for a meeting of all party functionaries. Palanisamy has appealed for unity and intends to call for a general council meet to oust Sasikala Natarajan. TTV Dinakaran, on the other hand, intends to approach the court if a general council is called.

As AIADMK crisis continues, three independent MLAs are on the verge of announcing their support to TTV Dinakaran taking the number of legislators in his camp to 22. Another MLA from the Palanisamy camp, Rathnasabapathy extended his support to TTV Dinakaran on Thursday bringing down the number in Palanisamy camp to 111.

OneIndia News
Amid Doklam standoff, Assam suspects Chinas role in floods, wants release of hydrological data

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia

Guwahati, August 24: At a time when India and China are involved in a standoff near the tri-border junction at Doklam in the Sikkim region, the latter's refusal to release hydrological data could further strain the relationship between the two neighbouring countries as Assam wants clarity on reasons behind the third wave of floods which led to the death of at least 60 people in August.

The latest wave of floods submerged at least 31 districts out of 33 in the northeastern state.

Thus the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Assam will soon officially approach the Centre--where again saffron party is in power-- to seek hydrological data from China to find out the "real reasons" behind the third wave of floods in the state.

Assam government maintains that the state and its neighbouring areas did not receive "unnatural rainfall" in the recent times to trigger such massive floods this month.

Recently, China said that it would not share river water data with India unless it withdraws its troops from Doklam. China would not carry out normal cooperation on hydrological data unless India agrees to withdraw troops from Doklam, as per a report by The Global Times, an English language Chinese daily.

Since long, Assam is living under the fear that release of water from Chinese dams built on the Yarlung Tsangpo, as the river Brahmaputra is known in China, could submerge the entire state. In fact, Brahmaputra flows from China to Assam.

Thus, the Assam government wants the Centre to ask China to release the hydrological data as it is a "serious issue" for the state and its "survival".

"We are flagging this issue because the third wave of floods took everyone by surprise as there was no unnatural rain. We are not linking the flood to release of water from dams on the Brahmaputra in China. There is a lot of speculation but it's a fact that China, according to the ministry of external affairs, has not shared data from May 15 as per the agreement signed in 2006 and 2013. The data has to be shared periodically and daily during the flood season," said senior cabinet minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Sarma added sharing of river water data would help to tackle floods. "It's about our survival. We need to know where the water came from. There was also no warning from China. Unnatural release of river water could be a ticking hydrogen bomb. Hence the need to share data, as it will not only end speculation but also trigger debate and research which will benefit us in the long run," Sarma said.

The minister stated that during the latest floods in Assam, the rise in water level was sudden.

"The Met office may have predicted heavy rain but check the actual amount of rainfall we received. It was not unnatural. The Arunachal Pradesh chief minister also said they received normal rainfall. If the rainfall was normal, flooding because of release of excess water from Ranganadi can be ruled out. We need to express our concern through the Centre, notwithstanding Doklam," he added.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Thursday, August 24, 2017, 7:32 [IST]
CBI fires 100 questions in 8 hours at Karti Chidambaram in INX Media case

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

For Karti Chidambaram, the Central Bureau of Investigation had over 100 questions to ask. Grilled by the CBI for over 8 hours, the son of the former union minister, P Chidambaram was cooperative, CBI sources tell OneIndia.

He was called in for questioning on Wednesday in connection with the INX Media case. Most of the questions that the CBI asked were relating to the money allegedly received by him for his services, his indirect control in firm instrumental in the deal - Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt Ltd (ASCPL) and his email conversations with directors of ASCPL in which Karti was giving instructions on various business deals.

Following a directive by the Supreme Court, Karti arrived for questioning at the CBI headquarters at around 10.20 am. He has been told to appear for questioning once again on August 28.

The evidence is strong against him and the rest, CBI sources said. It is alleged that the firms controlled by him had received around Rs 3.60 crore for allegedly assisting INX Media in getting Foreign Investment Promotion Board approaval from the Finance Ministry so that the company could get funds from Mauritius.

He was the ultimate beneficiary of ASCPL and quid pro quo, the CBI has alleged. The CBI would also question the directors of ASCPL Ravi Vishwanathan, Mohanan Rajesh and S Bhaskararaman, a chartered account who allegedly handled all the business activities of Karti. They would join the investigations at New Delhi on August 28, while Chinna Bala Nageswar Reddy an associate has been called to the CBI's office in Chennai.

The case against Karti was registered on May 15. He was then summoned by the CBI and a look out circular too was issued against him. He moved the Madras High Court which in turn stayed the LOC. The Supreme Court then vacated the stay and directed him to join the CBI probe.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Thursday, August 24, 2017, 6:07 [IST]
'The downtrodden in need of food also have right to privacy', says SC in Aadhaar matter

Quit religion if you do not want to confess in Church: Kerala HC

Feel vindicated, now privacy is a fundamental right says Justice K S Puttaswamy

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Justice K S Puttaswamy was the first to file the case in the Supreme Court seeking to declare Right to Privacy as a fundamental right. To get the Supreme Court to overrule an order of an 8 judge Bench is not easy he says.

I always knew that it would be a unanimous decision and I have pointed out the same earlier as well, he said. He however refrained from commenting on how this case would affect the judgment in the Aadhaar case. It is yet to be seen how it will shape out, he added while also stating that the government will fight it hard.

The Aadhaar case will be judged on its own merits, he said. They are two different cases, but interlinked, he also added. He also added that privacy is different from Aadhaar and will be judged on its own merits.

He further added that he is full satisfied with the result. Everyone is happy and there is nothing to find fault with with the outcome of the verdict, he further added. It is a historic judgment and now Privacy is a Fundamental Right, he also said.

Who is Justice Puttaswamy?

Justice K S Puttaswamy filed the first petition in the Supreme Court seeking to declare Right to Privacy as a fundamental right. Today he is a relieved man with the Supreme Court upholding his contention and declaring privacy as a fundamental right.

Justice K S Puttaswamy was a judge of the Karnataka High Court in the 1970s. Born on February 8 1926, he was educated at the Maharaja's College in Mysore. He studied law at the Government Law College in Bengaluru then Bangalore.

He enrolled as an advocate on January 7 1952.

He was then appointed as an additional government advocate. He was appointed as judge of the Karnataka High Court on November 28 1977. Post this he was appointed as the first vice-chairman of the Central Administrative Tribunal on September 1 1986.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Thursday, August 24, 2017, 15:59 [IST]
Flood situation improves in West Bengal, Rs 7,000 cr loss to agriculture sector

India

oi-PTI

Kolkata, August 23: A senior official of the state disaster management department said the situation in the flood-ravaged districts of north West Bengal improved further as the water receded from most of the submerged areas in the absence of major rainfall in the region, there was no report of any death from the six deluge-hit districts.

The flood toll has plateaued at 152, he said, adding that distribution of relief material, including cooked and dry food, pulses and medicines continued.

Out of nearly 800 relief camps opened in the six districts of Coochbehar, Malda, Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur, Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri, around 500 are operating wherein close to four lakh people area putting up, he said.

In the worst-affected Malda district, many areas are still under water, but the situation is improving as markets reopened with the receding of water from the inundated areas. "We are monitoring the situation 24 hours. District magistrate, BDOs are on the job," the officer said.

Meanwhile, a senior official of the state agriculture department said nearly seven lakh hectare of farm land of both north and south Bengal has been affected by flood.

The estimated loss to the agriculture sector is over Rs 6,500 crore. In the six northern districts, the state till now has faced a loss of around Rs 3812.4 crore while five south districts has suffered an estimated loss of Rs 2,715.74 crore, he said.

South Bengal faced floods last month. The official said around 4.23 lakh hectare of agricultural land in southern districts and nearly 3 lakh hectare in northern ones were affected by floods.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier said that the state has incurred an estimated total loss of Rs 14,000 crore because of the floods.

A source said the chief secretary is preparing a report on the estimated loss in the state in floods to be sent to the central government.

During today's cabinet meeting, the chief minister instructed the ministers that there must not be any discrimination during the distribution of relief materials, a senior minister said.

Mamata told the ministers that all affected people must get relief materials equally and leaders must not favour those who are close to them.

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Story first published: Thursday, August 24, 2017, 14:20 [IST]
Gurmeet Ram Rahim rape case: Dera followers stocking up arms and fuel says IB

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Director General of Punjab in a letter to all senior police officers has said that the Dera Sacha Sauda Sirsa premises has stock of petrol, diesel in drums.

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Stones and sharp-edged weapons are being stored at 'Naam Charcha Ghars.' If the court would give a verdict against Gurmeet Ram Rahim, then the devotees can use petrol and weapons to harm, destroy government and public property. Your are hereby directed to deploy sufficient manpower and made adequate law and order arrangements to ensure that all necessary steps are taken to ensure nothing untoward takes place, the letter also states.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim: Why is he such a controversial figure?

Security, meanwhile is tight ahead of the court verdict. The court has asked controversial self-styled Godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim SIngh to appear before it in a sexual assault case.

The Punjab and Haryana police have been put on high alert. The government has ordered closure of schools and colleges in Panchkula district on August 24 and 25. About 160 companies of central forces have also been called in, including the CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP and SSB. Ninety seven companies of CRPF's Rapid Action Force and a women's company have also been deployed.

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Story first published: Thursday, August 24, 2017, 7:02 [IST]
'The downtrodden in need of food also have right to privacy', says SC in Aadhaar matter

Quit religion if you do not want to confess in Church: Kerala HC

How other countries look at right to privacy

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

The nine-judge Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar, ruled that privacy is a guaranteed fundamental right, and is protected under Article 21 (Right to Life and Liberty). With this, India has taken a lead in recognising privacy as a fundamental right at a time when issues of surveillance and data breach are being increasingly debated across the world.

To get better understanding of the scenario, it will be useful to see how other jurisdictions (of different countries) treat this fundamental right.

We take a look at how other countries look at right to privacy.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

The world's oldest democracy, USA has not exactly mentioned the word 'privacy' in its Constitution. However, the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution is largely seen as the clause protecting that right. The amendment The Fourth Amendment states "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized".

AUSTRALIA

The country has its own 'Privacy Act' which came into being around 1988. It governs the handling of personal information of individuals.

Japan

In 2015, Japan adopted a system of citizen identification which united personal tax information, social security and disaster relief benefits. It was launched amid protests by critics who were worried by the privacy concerns it posed.

The law gave all Japanese citizens and foreign residents a 12 digit 'My Number'. The aim was to make administration more systematic and social welfare benefits more efficient, while also helping to cut down on tax evasion and benefit fraud. The government will eventually extend the system to bank accounts, as well, to keep track of of people's assets for taxation purposes. It will first be voluntary from 2018 but could become mandatory by 2021.

Japanese law in itself does not explicitly provide for a right to privacy. But the right is read into Article 13 of the Japanese Constitution which provides for the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" and for the right for people to be "respected as individuals".

EUROPE

Member countries of the European Union (EU) adopted the EU Data Protection Directive in 1995 which looks at protection of personal data and regulates free movement of such data.

However, come 2018, the European Commission has said that it will be rolling out a new set of rules on data protection. The new rules, the Commission cites, will give citizens lawful control over their personal data.

Also important to note is Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).

"There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others," it says.

BRAZIL

The country's Constitution states, "The intimacy, private life, honor and image of the people are inviolable, with assured right to indenization by material or moral damage resulting from its violation."

CANADA

The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act governs the collection and usage of personal information.

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Story first published: Thursday, August 24, 2017, 13:34 [IST]
Infosys turns to Nandan Nilekani, what makes him Mr Suitable?

India

oi-Anusha

At a time when Infosys is caught in a three-way battle between investors, founders and board members, all eyes are on Nandan Nilekani. With reports hinting at his possible return to the IT giant, colleagues have spoken about why Nandan Nilekani may be the one man that Infosys now needs.

Vishal Sikka's resignation sent Infosys stocks plunging for days worrying investors. A buzz about Nilekani's return on Wednesday lifted spirits with Infosys share price gaining. On Thursday Infosys stocks were trading at Rs 910 as against Monday's closing of Rs 866.

The very buzz of Nilekani's return boosted investor confidence and Infosys is currently in need of a confidence-inducing leader at the helm of affair. Morale of employees, investors, board members, founders and outsiders has taken a beating not just due to Sikka's resignation but the ugly spate that followed with board members publicly blaming Narayan Murthy for Sikka's resignation.

Nandan Nilekani, now 62, co-founded the company when he was just 26. After being CEO for five years, Nilekani stepped aside in 2007. Under his leadership, the company grew leaps and bounds and almost caught up with Tata Consultancy Services Ltd in terms of revenue. His vision for the company was different from Narayana Murthy but worked wonders. When he left, he left the company in better shape than what he had received.

Nilekani is a good face: Former colleagues

Investors believe that Nilekani can stabilise the company and hold talks with founders and board members. His negotiating skills, acumen for problem-solving and most importantly, the credibility that comes with being Nandan Nilekani had made investors believe that he can salvage the situation. Nilekani after severing ties with Infosys has never looked back. In 2013, when Narayana Murthy returned to the company and asked Nilekani to come back, he refused. Nilekani was then working on his political career which was not as successful as other roles he has taken on in life.

His ease of crossing over from corporate to policy making to electoral politics and now investments in start-ups has added ot his credentials. Moreover, colleagues like former CFO V Balakrishnan have welcomed the possibility of Nilekani's return to the company.

"He is a good face to lead the organisation given the current scenario. I personally think if at all he comes back, he should come in as the chairman and try to identify a good CEO. The board should consider getting Nandan Nilekani at the helm," he said. He also deemed it necessary for chairman R Seshasayee and co-chairman Ravi Venkatesan to step down.

In the current scenario, Infosys needs a familiar face to boost investor confidence, tactful leader to bring about a consensus between founders and board and a global icon who can salvage the situation. Nandan Nilekani may just fit the bill. With the company not too keen on bringing in a CEO from outside after their first tryst with 'outsider Sikka' ended badly, the need of the hour is to bring the company back on track.

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Story first published: Thursday, August 24, 2017, 11:42 [IST]
'The downtrodden in need of food also have right to privacy', says SC in Aadhaar matter

Is asking for right to privacy too much in a nation where we cant eat, pray, love freely?

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia

New Delhi, August 24: It is heartening to see people on social media talking about "privacy" with such gusto. The word privacy is a loaded one and most often we are confused about it.

Is privacy all about maintaining secrecy around our lives? Is it all about protecting our data from government's surveillance (as in the case of Aadhaar card) or family secrets from prying neighbours? Or, is it all about being left alone and do what we want to do unless and until it does not harm others?

The right to privacy--the landmark judgement on which was pronounced by the Supreme Court, declaring it a fundamental right under the Constitution, on Thursday--is all these and much more.

A nine-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar ruled that "right to privacy is an intrinsic part of right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and entire part III of the Constitution".

While we all focused on whether protection of our personal information and data are of utmost importance or not, as the whole matter on the right to privacy as a fundamental right has been taken up by the apex court after a slew of petitions were filed against the government's rule on mandatory use of Aadhaar card, we somehow are ignoring basic facts relating to our personal choices, beliefs and freedoms, which again are a part of the larger subject of the right to privacy.

What about our right to eat what we want to eat? What about our right to love and marry a person of our choice? What about our right to pray or not to pray? Or, what about our right to defecate in the open, as there is a massive shortage of toilets in India, without fearing about any policing?

When we talk about the right to privacy, we simply can't forget all these rights. Since the Supreme Court has declared the right to privacy as a fundamental right, now, the state should have no business in telling us what we can eat or not (read beef ban) or whom we can love or not (read the paranoia surrounding love jihad, a term coined by the Hindus to suggest that Muslim men in the garb of marrying Hindu women are converting them to Islam or Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that criminalises homosexual relationships) or our right to convert into any religion (read how the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological wing of the current Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime, is systemically conducting ghar wapsi (converting people to Hinduism who had earlier adopted Islam or Christianity as their faith).

Similarly, the government now has no right to name and shame those people who are yet to have a toilet in their houses and still defecate in the open.

Perhaps, the Narendra Modi government will find it hard to adapt to the basic tenets of right to privacy as the Centre opposed the arguments of petitioners in the Supreme Court that the right to privacy is a fundamental right.

Without ever explicitly stating, the BJP government tried to tell its citizens that individuals must surrender everything to those who govern them.

In July, the Centre told the Supreme Court that since privacy is multifaceted, it cannot be treated as a fundamental right.

"There is no fundamental right to privacy and even if it is assumed as a fundamental right, it is multifaceted. Every facet can't be ipso facto considered a fundamental right," said Attorney General (AG) KK Venugopal before the nine-judge bench of the apex court.

Now, until and unless the state does not stop prying into the private lives of individuals and introducing bans after bans curtailing individual freedoms, the historic judgement of the Supreme Court will hold no meaning at all.

Moreover, society at large should also stop itself from constantly monitoring private lives of its citizens. Till then, freedom remains only on paper.

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Story first published: Thursday, August 24, 2017, 14:38 [IST]
Prosecutions story may be attractive but should be backed by evidence

32,000 girls converted to Islam and sold as ISIS slaves: This is The Kerala Story

ISIS recruiter Shafi Armar's death not yet confirmed:IB

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Indian Intelligence Agencies have not been able to confirm the news relating to the death of Shafi Armar, the recruiter in chief for the Islamic State in India. Earlier this week the ISIS declared that Abu Yusuf al-Hindi alias Shafi Armar a resident of Bhatkal was killed in Syria's Raqqa area.

We are still working on it and ascertaining the correct picture, an IB officer said. Such news has come out in the past as well, but it turned out to be false. We are observing the chat channels to ascertain whether the ISIS faked his death.

The state department described Armar as a "leader and head recruiter in India for the Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group, ISIS".

He became the chief recruiter in India after his brother Sultan Armar died in March 2015. The state department also listed his numerous aliases, including Anjan Bhai, Chote Maula and Yousouf al-Hindi.

"He has cultivated a group of dozens of ISIS sympathisers who are involved in terrorist activities across India, such as plotting attacks, procuring weapons, and identifying locations for terrorist training camps," said a statement from the state department.

Who is Shafi Armar?

Shafi Armar is the second among the three children of a family that hails from the coastal town of Bhatkal in Karnataka. His elder brother Sultan Armar is said to have taken him along with him and together they had joined the Indian Mujahideen.

Hailing from the same place, both Shafi and Sultan were taken into the IM by Riyaz Bhatkal. While Sultan was active in IM operations, Shafi was more of a second in command for the operations undertaken by his brother. Shafi does not have any record of taking part in terrorist activities in the real sense.

His activities were online and he was in charge of the media operations. A lot of literature concerning the ISIS posted on the Ansar site were said to be the handiwork of Shafi.

His family members in Bhatkal say that he and Sultan left home around 5 years back and they have no idea about their whereabouts.

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Story first published: Thursday, August 24, 2017, 7:58 [IST]
FM Nirmala Sitharaman hints at possibility of Centre considering restoration of state status to J&K

J&K: Cop arrested for snatching money from beggar

India

pti-PTI

Jammu, Aug 24: After a video of a policeman snatching money from a roadside beggar in Ramban district went viral, the Jammu and Kashmir Police has arrested head constable Munawar Hussain.

A video clip, in which the head constable is purportedly seen "snatching" money from the beggar a few days back, went viral on social media triggering shock and uproar.

"Head constable Munawar Hussain has been suspended and arrested by the police after the incident," Ramban Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Mohan Lal told PTI.

He said an FIR has also been registered against the policeman, who was attached with Ramban police line after being transferred from "Kishtwar due to his bad habit of chronic drinking".

The SSP said Hussain came out of the police line and allegedly snatched money from the beggar. The officer said Hussain was caught by the policemen deployed there.

The SSP said three more cases are registered against him in Kishtwar. "He was kept in the policelines in Ramban after being transferred from Kishtwar due to his bad habit of chronic drinking. His ATM cards and others such items were given to his wife to operate in view of the his bad habits," he said.

PTI
Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar says he had no role in Ram Rahim's parole

Know the judge who will give verdict in Gurmeet Ram Rahim rape case

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

We are living in a time, where people take pictures, shoot videos of helpless, injured people lying on road. But a good Samaritan rushed four seriously injured people to a hospital in Jind district, Haryana.

As per reports, even he first called up emergency to rush an ambulance, but when the operator told him, "Will the ambulance come flying?", he stopped a private vehicle and himself took the injured to the hospital.

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That good Samaritan is none other than Jagdeep Singh, a CBI special court judge in Panchkula, who will deliver the verdict in the 15-year-old rape case against the head of the Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, on Friday, reports Hindustan Times.

Jagdeep Singh is known as a very competent with a no-nonsense attitude. Singh, an additional district, and sessions judge rank official was designated as the CBI special judge last year.

The current CBI court posting is his second posting. Singh was a Punjab and Haryana high court lawyer prior to joining the judicial service.

A Haryana judicial officer recalled him as a bright student. Singh is considered a very hardworking and upright officer, he said.

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Story first published: Thursday, August 24, 2017, 11:17 [IST]
Malegaon case: Purohit trying to prolong trial by hook or crook says Special Court

Lt Col Purohit reports back to his army unit, applies for 15-day leave

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

Malegaon bomb blast accused Lt Col Srikant Prasad Purohit joined services nine years after walking out of Mumbai'sTaloja jail on Wednesday and he has applied for a 15-day leave.

Soon after his release, Purohit was escorted by the police team and army vehicles to Colaba Military Station.

Meanwhile, a day after being released from Tiloja jail, Malegaon bomb blast accused Lt Col Purohit today arrived at Special NIA court in Mumbai for the investigation. The court will be hearing the case on the daily basis. Col Purohit is most likely to appeal seeking exemption from attending daily hearings.

After being released from Tiloja jail yesterday, #MalegaonBlast accused Lt Col Purohit arrives at Special NIA court in #Mumbai pic.twitter.com/6xCKOZW0iL  ANI (@ANI) August 24, 2017

Purohit who was suspended from service on January 20, 2009, continues to be under the disciplinary and vigilance ban, which prevents him from getting new postings, promotions or operational duties, according to reports.

His bail was granted after Purohit had spent more than eight years in jail. The court said that Purohit should cooperate with the investigations. He should not tamper with the evidence or influence the witnesses the court also said.

Supreme Court said "we set aside the order of Bombay High court" while granting conditional bail to Malegaon blast accused Lt Colonel Purohit, reports ANI. A bench of Justices R K Agrawal and A M Sapre passed the order on the plea.

Purohit is accused of being part of the conspiracy hatched to carry out the September 29, 2008 blast in Malegaon, in Nashik district of Maharashtra. Seven people were killed and scores injured in the blast, allegedly the handiwork of a right-wing group, Abhinav Bharat.

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Story first published: Thursday, August 24, 2017, 13:28 [IST]
Maharashtra accuses Bombay HC judge of being biased, Chief Justice transfers case

India

oi-Anusha

Chief Justice of Bombay High Court withdrew a matter from a senior judge after the Maharashtra government alleged bias. The state accused Justice Abhay Oka of the High Court's division bench of "harbouring serious bias" against it in matters relating to noise pollution and silent zones.

On Thursday, Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni submitted an application for transfer made on instructions of, Deputy Secretary of Home Department Vijay Patil. The submission accused one of the judges of being biased. The Bench reacted sharply to the allegation. "We are really shocked with the contents of the application. There is a specific allegation against me that I am biased against the state government. But we won't get provoked by such allegations," Justice Oka said. "I will not recuse myself from hearing the petitions just because the government is levelling allegations against me," he added.

The hearing was posted to the afternoon session since the state government's petition seeking transfer of case was to come before the Chief Justice. Chief Justice Manjula Chellur then transferred the cases to another bench.

The State approached the Chief Justice Manjula Chellur after Justices Abhay Oka and Riyaz Chagla refused to recuse themselves despite the state filing an affidavit on Thursday that one of the two judges was harbouring a bias against the state machinery. The bench has been hearing petitions over noise pollution and silent zones in the state.

The bench on Wednesday had rejected the state government's claim that there were no notified silence zones. The state referred to an August 10, 2017 amendment by the Union government to the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules which states that no zone can be declared a silence zone unless notified by the state government.

The division bench of the Bombay High Court refused to accept the argument and had stated that its order of August 2016 declaring 100 meters around hospitals, educational institutions, courts and religious places as silence zone will be in force until challenged. With the transfer, Ganpati festival will see no silence zones in Maharashtra at least until the next date of hearing.

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Story first published: Thursday, August 24, 2017, 17:02 [IST]
Modi Cabinet reshuffle: Here are the possibilities

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Modi Cabinet reshuffle is the talk of the town. There is hectic discussion, debate and gossip in the power corridors of Delhi as to who would get what in the reshuffle.

Top on the priority for Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be to appoint a full-time Defence Minister. Will Arun Jaitley who also holds the Finance portfolio be made a full time Defence Minister. The chances are high.

The question then is who will handle the Finance portfolio. News is abuzz that Piyush Goyal is likely to get the portfolio.

There was also a talk between Sushma Swaraj and the the PM about her portfolio. She is currently the External Affairs Minister of the country. Her health has been a factor and she may be moved a ministry where her health may not be a restricting factor.

Nitin Gadkari is likely to get more on his plate. All transport related ministries are likely to be handled by him. Modi and Amit Shah are also looking for people from the states. A review with the chief ministers of BJP led states is already on and some talent from there are likely to be brought to New Delhi.

Modi and Shah will meet with the Chief Ministers of BJP ruled states this week and undertake a performance analysis. It is likely that some ministers from the BJP ruled states may be brought to the centre, sources also indicate.

The Narendra Modi led cabinet is also expected to induct two members of the JD(U) and AIADMK, sources say. The source said that two JD(U) leaders will join the cabinet. One AIADMK leader will also join the cabinet while two others will be accommodated as ministers of state.

The PM and his team is also likely to drop a few ministers from Uttar Pradesh. They are likely to be sent back to the state to prepare for the 2019 elections. They would be part of the Amit Shah team which will make all preparations for the elections in 2019.

What will the final Modi Cabinet look like: Well it would be apt to sign out by saying," sirf Modi jaane." ( Only Modi knows).

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Story first published: Thursday, August 24, 2017, 6:52 [IST]
Mumbai under elaborate security blanket for Ganpati celebrations

India

oi-Anusha

Starting Friday, Mumbai will celebrate Ganpati festival with great vigour and pomp. As the city gears up for massive celebrations, the Mumbai police, civic authorities and district administration officials have drawn elaborate security measures. Mumbaikars should brace for security checks, identification stickers, metal detectors, hundreds of CCTV cameras and bollard along the immersion spots of various beaches.

In a bid to avoid Barcelona kind of attacks, the Mumbai police have issued guidelines to organisers of Ganesh mandals. No vehicles will be allowed to park within 500 metres of pandals. Organisers, members of Ganpati mandals, residents of a locality where a pandal has been set up will be issued identifications stickers for their vehicles to avoid confusion.

Apart from CCTV cameras that are used for traffic monitoring purposes, additional cameras will be set up at sensitive areas and junctions. Localities that will witness heavy footfall have been identified and proportionate security deployment has been designed.

Security at the beach front

Close to 17 lakh people are expected to visit Mumbai over the next ten days to witness Ganpati celebrations. Heavy footfall is expected at Mumbai's beaches. Towards the end of the celebrations immersion spots at Girgaum, Dadar, Worli, Versova, Malad and Gorai will see heavy crowds.

Bruhanmumbai Municipal Corporation has been asked to secure areas along the sea coast. The police on their part have decided to use bollards at strategic locations to stop vehicular movement as the first line of security. This is a precautionary measure to stop a Sweden or Barcelona type of attack. GIven the trend of terrorists targeting crowded places and initiating attacks using heavy vehicles, precautions have been taken to avoid such scenarios.

3,300 traffic policemen will man Mumbai's roads while at least 100 policemen will be deployed at every big Ganpati Mandal. Special anti-eve teasing squads have been formed to help women devotees visiting mandals.

Command centre near iconic Lalbaugcha Raja

The Mumbai police will set up a special command centre for ten days at the city's iconic Lalbaugcha Raja Mandal. close to 50 CCTV cameras will be used to monitor crowds in real time. All footage will be managed by a control room that will continue to work until the last day of celebrations. In all 600 policemen will guard the mandal round the clock for all days of the celebrations. Drones have not been used so far but the police are not averse to the idea if need be. The control room will double up as a command centre and a DCP rank officer will oversee operations.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police will guard Lalbaugcha Raja while Rapid Action Force and state reserve police platoons will form the outermost layer of the security.

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Story first published: Thursday, August 24, 2017, 12:33 [IST]
Once the thugs of the Valley, meet these 10 funders of terror

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

They once called the shots in the Kashmir Valley. On one phone call, they could gather a mob and unleash violence on the streets of Jammu and Kashmir. With the National Investigation Agency cracking down hard on them, they are today scouting for legal help.

The NIA is probing the Hurriyat terror funding case and has arrested scores of separatists. One such high profile arrest was that of Zahoor Watali, a prominent businessman from Srinagar. Let us take a look at the list of high-profile arrests made by the NIA and also their role in the case.

Bitta Karate

Also known as Farooq Ahmed Dar, he is known for his role in a number of attacks including those on Kashmiri Pandits. The NIA seized several documents including a visiting card of the Pakistani naval attache in India.

Zahoor Watali

One of the most crucial links in the case, Watali is said to be close to officials in Pakistan. He is said to be the man who channelised the funds between Pakistan and Kashmir. The NIA accuses him of moving funds from Dubai as well. He is alleged to have moved funds for a commission of 9 per cent.

Mohammad Aslam Wani

He is a hawala operator and a close aide of Shabir Shah. He claimed to the investigators that he had paid Rs 2.5 crore to Shah, a separatist in several installments. While Wani was discharged in a 2005 hawala case, he was convicted under the Arms Act.

Shabir Shah

A hardliner and a prominent separatists from the Valley. The Enforcement Directorate has accused him of money laundering. He is being probed in connection with a 2005 money laundering case and was arrested recently by the ED.

Altaf Ahmad Shah alias Fantoosh

Fantoosh is the son-in-law of Hurriyat hawk, Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Fantoosh was the publicity manager of the Hurriyat. He is accused of negotiating with his contacts in Pakistan and also the High Commission officials in India to obtain visas. The NIA had raided his house and seized incriminating material.

Peer Saifullah

The personal secretary to Geelani, he is said to be in the know about the financial dealings of the Hurriyat. The NIA is probing the banking details among other literature seized from him during the raids.

Mohd Akbar Khandey

The press secretary to Geelani, the allegation against him is that he was closely associated with terrorists from Pakistan occupied Kashmir.

Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal

He is accused of using funds of the Hurriyat and investing them in properties. It may be recalled that he was arrested in a fake currency case in 2000. The NIA is probing the letter heads and documents relating to land deals which were seized from him.

Nayeem Khan

Close to JKLF leader, Yasin Malik, he was recently caught on camera confessing that he had got money from Pakistan and other terror groups. The NIA seized documents, bank pass books and other material from him during a raid.

Shahid-ul Islam

The media advisor to separatist, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, he is considered to be a major link in the terror funding case. From his home, the NIA had seized letter heads of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. He is being probed for information he holds on the funding and other banking details.

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Story first published: Thursday, August 24, 2017, 9:00 [IST]
Punjab, Haryana in lockdown mode ahead of Dera chief case verdict

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

The otherwise peaceful Panchkula was abuzz with activity on Thursday, a day ahead of the expected verdict in a sexual exploitation case agains, thousands of whose followers have descended on this Haryana town.

Security has been beefed up with around 5,000 police personnel have been deployed in the city, as authorities are anticipating large-scale violence in case the verdict goes against Ram Rahim.

Fearing trouble, especially if the verdict goes against the controversial Dera chief, thousands of jawans, including 15,000 paramilitary troops, have been deployed in sensitive areas across Punjab and Haryana.

Dera Sacha Sauda has a huge following in Punjab as well as Haryana and both the states are on a high alert.

However, in what appeared to be some relief for a stretched administrative machinery, Ram Rahim Singh said on Thursday that he would appear in person before the special CBI court tomorrow while appealing to his followers to maintain peace.

Dera followers have also been arriving in great numbers at the sect headquarters at Sirsa in Haryana.

Indefinite curfew in Sirsa, 3 nearby villages

Indefinite curfew would be imposed in Sirsa town and three nearby villages from 10pm tonight as a "precautionary measure" to maintain law and order ahead of tomorrow's court verdict.

Security forces evict followers

The Haryana Police and central forces tonight swung into action to flush out scores of Dera followers who have gathered in Panchkula over the past three days. An estimated 1.5 lakh Dera followers including men, women and children have gathered in Panchkula, where a CBI court is set to deliver its verdict.

Rajnath Singh assures help

Home minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday assured Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar of all help to deal with any situation which may arise after a court delivers its verdict in a sexual exploitation case against Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

DGP Authorized to impose curfew

If need be we have authorised the DGP to impose curfew wherever required. Directions have been issued for curfew in Sirsa, after reviewing security situation, said Punjab Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh while addressing a press meet.

Centre rushes parliamentary forces

The Centre has rushed as many as 150 companies of paramilitary forces to Punjab and Haryana to assist the police forces in maintaining law and order, a senior Union home ministry official said. One paramilitary company comprises over 100 personnel.

We are in constant touch with the governments of Punjab and Haryana and have given them adequate forces, he added.

Flag march held

Flag marches were carried out by security forces in Panchkula, Sirsa, Hissar and other places while many hospitals were also put on alert as a precautionary measure, the official said.

The police were keeping a close watch on social media, particularly WhatsApp groups, Facebook and Twitter, and have asked people not to spread rumours, he said.

Internet suspended

Meanwhile in Chandigarh, a decision to suspend mobile Internet services was taken in a coordination committee meeting chaired by Punjab Governor and UT Administrator, V P Singh Badnore.

"Mobile Internet and data services have been suspended for 72 hours in Punjab, Haryana and UT Chandigarh with immediate effect," Haryana Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Ram Niwas said.

Bus and train services cancelled

The ministry of railways had been requested to immediately stop 22 train movement towards Chandigarh for two days.

Similarly, buses of Haryana Roadways coming to Chandigarh and Panchkula had already been stopped for two days, he added added.

A joint control room of Haryana and Punjab would be set up in sector-9, Chandigarh where a police officer each from both the states would be deployed for better coordination, he said.

Section 144 imposed

Over 1.5 lakh followers have gathered in Panchkula in support of Dhera Chief Ram Rahim creating panic and violence in the state and nearby areas. Haryana DGP BS Sandhu told Chandigarh Newsline that it had been impossible to prevent the followers from the gathering in Panchkula. The administration has imposed Section 144 CrPC, but, said the DGP, the orders are specific to the movement of weapons only and not on the assembly of people.

Two stadium designated a Special Jails

Sirsa's Dalbir Singh Indoor Stadium and Panchkula's Chaudhary Tau Devi Lal Stadium Complex to be designated as "special jail".

25 August declared holiday in Chandigarh

The Punjab government has declared August 25 as a holiday for the all offices, boards, corporations, agencies and public sector organizations of Punjab Government.

Haryana police on High Alert

Speaking to ANI, Haryana's Additional Chief Secretary Ram Niwas said that apart from around 50,000 personnel of Haryana Police, 53 companies of central paramilitary forces have also been deployed.

He also said that every event will be recorded on video and drones have been employed for surveillance purposes, apart from which the Army has also been sounded in case of an emergency.

OneIndia News
Police turn robbers, loot Rs 40,000 from toll plaza at Delhi

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

In Agra, the police decided to turn robbers. A toll plaza was robbed of Rs 40,000 allegedly by policemen. The authorities at the toll plaza on the Agra-Delhi highway filed a complaint against six police personnel for allegedly manhandling them and robbing Rs 40,000.

In his complaint the assistant manager of the toll plazas, O Yadav said that "Six policemen, including the circle officer of Refinery circle Nitin Singh, came to the plaza on the intervening night of August 22 and 23 and looted the cash after assaulting the staff."

He also submitted CCTV footage of the incident as proof.

The police are alleged to have arrived at then plaza in an SUC and entered lane 13 which is meant for fast lane tag vehicles. Since the vehicle did not have a fast lane tag, the barrier went down and blocked the vehicle's exit.

The police then started threatening the staff following which an argument took place. The CO, Nitin Singh however denied the allegations and said that he was on duty when he was approached by three people who complained about excess toll being charged. We have already registered a complaint against 25 people for rioting and voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), he also said.

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Story first published: Thursday, August 24, 2017, 8:17 [IST]
'We respect right of privacy, has no intention to violate it': Govt responds to Whatsapp

Right to Privacy is a fundamental right rules Supreme Court

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Supreme Court on Thursday held that Right to Privacy is a fundamental right. The verdict was delivered by a nine judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice of India, J S Khehar. The Bench in a unanimous decision held that right to privacy is a fundamental right.

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The Chief Justice of India J S Khehar who headed the nine judge Constitution Bench said in his order that privacy is protected under Article 21 and para 3.

"All judgments that proceeded on the basis that privacy is a Fundamental Right are correct. Privacy is a guaranteed Fundamental Right," the Bench held.

The 9 judge Bench overruled a 8 judge Bench judgment and a 6 judge Bench judgment in Kharak Singh. Both had said privacy not a fundamental right. The court said that right to privacy is intrinsic to right to life.

The Bench also held that right to privacy is also intrinsic to the entire fundamental right chapter of Constitution.

The court held that the 8 judge Bench judgment of 1954 in the M P Sharma case ruling that privacy is not a fundamental right" is not correct law. The unanimous order said privacy is a fundamental right and part of Article 21 which guarantees life and liberty of an individual. "Right to Privacy is an integral part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty guaranteed in Article 21 of the Constitution," the Bench also observed.

The verdict of the Supreme Court will have an impact on several other cases.

Aadhaar: Government's decision to introduce the biometric data-enabled Aadhaar ID for citizens.

Government's decision to introduce the biometric data-enabled Aadhaar ID for citizens. Section 377: Homosexuality, oral sex are a criminal offence.

Homosexuality, oral sex are a criminal offence. Section 66A of the IT Act Verdict: State can take action against an individual for sharing his thoughts on a social platform.

State can take action against an individual for sharing his thoughts on a social platform. DNA Profiling Bill, 2017: Bodily right such as the DNA of an individual can be profiled without his consent.

The government had argued that the Constitution does not guarantee individual privacy as an inalienable fundamental right. The matter came during a hearing on the Aadhaar case where the petitioners alleged that Right to Privacy is a Fundamental Right as enshrined in Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.

The government pointed out that Right to Privacy is not explicitly set out in the Constitution. The government further contended that Aadhaar is essential for all services including tax returns, opening bank accounts and securing loans, pensions and cash transfers for those entitled to welfare schemes. It has rejected suggestions that the Aadhaar programme possesses a threat to civil liberties.

Senior advocate, Gopal Subramanium while arguing for the petitioners contended that liberty existed even before the Constitution was drafted and it includes privacy. There cannot be a question of diminution but expansion of a right. Right to liberty includes freedom from encroachment on his or her privacy, he also said.

OneIndia News
'The downtrodden in need of food also have right to privacy', says SC in Aadhaar matter

Right to privacy is call of today: The old order changeth yielding place to new says SC

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Let the right of privacy, an inherent right, be unequivocally a fundamental right embedded in part-III of the Constitution of India, but subject to the restrictions specified, relatable to that part. This is the call of today. The old order changeth yielding place to new.

This was the concluding paragraph of the verdict delivered by the Supreme Court which held Right to Privacy is a fundamental right.

The Constitution Bench comprising nine judges observed, the right of privacy is a fundamental right. It is a right which protects the inner sphere of the individual from interference from both State, and non-State actors and allows the individuals to make autonomous life choices.

In the challenge laid to Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code before the Delhi High Court, one of the grounds of challenge was that the said provision amounted to an infringement of the right to dignity and privacy. The Delhi High Court, inter alia, observed that the right to live with dignity and the right of privacy both are recognized as dimensions of Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

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The view of the High Court, however did not find favour with the Supreme Court and it was observed that only a miniscule fraction of the country's population constitutes lesbians, gays, bisexuals or transgenders and thus, there cannot be any basis for declaring the Section ultra virus of provisions of Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution.

The matter did not rest at this, as the issue of privacy and dignity discussed by the High Court was also observed upon. The sexual orientation even within the four walls of the house thus became an aspect of debate.

"I am in agreement with the view of Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud, J., who in paragraphs 123 & 124 of his judgment, states that the right of privacy cannot be denied, even if there is a miniscule fraction of the population which is affected."

The majoritarian concept does not apply to Constitutional rights and the Courts are often called up on to take what may be categorized as a non-majoritarian view, in the check and balance of power envisaged under the Constitution of India. Ones sexual orientation is undoubtedly an attribute of privacy.

It is not simply a matter of personal privacy versus the public interest. The modern perception is that there is a public interest in respecting personal privacy. It is thus a question of taking account of conflicting public interest considerations and evaluating them according to increasingly well recognized criteria.

When the courts identify an infringement of a person's Article 8 rights, and in particular in the context of his freedom to conduct his sex life and personal relationships as he wishes, it is right to afford a remedy and to vindicate that right.

The only permitted exception is where there is a countervailing public interest which in the particular circumstances is strong enough to outweigh it; that is to say, because one at least of the established "limiting principles" comes into play.

Was it necessary and proportionate for the intrusion to take place, for example, in order to expose illegal activity or to prevent the public from being significantly misled by public claims hitherto made by the individual concerned (as with Naomi Campbell's public denials of drug-taking)?

Or was it necessary because the information, in the words of the Strasbourg court in Von Hannover at (60) and (76), would make a contribution to "a debate of general interest"? That is, of course, a very high test, it is yet to be determined how far that doctrine will be taken in the courts of this jurisdiction in relation to photography in public places.

If taken literally, it would mean a very significant change in what is permitted. It would have a profound effect on the tabloid and celebrity culture to which we have become accustomed in recent years.

It is not necessary to delve into this issue further, other than in the context of privacy as that would be an issue to be debated before the appropriate Bench, the matter having been referred to a larger Bench.

OneIndia News
RJD's Patna rally 'congregation of the corrupt', says BJP leader

India

oi-PTI

Sharma Ballia (UP), August 24: Ahead of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's proposed rally of opposition parties in Patna, Uttar Pradesh Power Minister Srikant Sharma on Thursday called it as a "congregation of the corrupt."

"Laluji is not organising a rally but a 'jamawada' (congregation) of the corrupt," said Sharma, who was here to tour the flood-hit areas and distribute the relief material.

The RJD chief is criss-crossing Bihar to mobilise people for the August 27 rally, which he has claimed would be a major occasion to bring together the secular forces on one platform against the BJP ahead of the 2019 polls.

Lalu is attempting a major show of strength after he was ousted from the Bihar government with the JD-U moving out of the grand alliance and joining back the NDA fold and the government with the BJP.

"There will be no impact of the rally on Uttar Pradesh politics ... SP, BSP, Congress and all the parties which are taking part in the rally have never paid attention to the development. These parties have remained confined to their personal and families' development," Sharma said.

He said that Adityanath government was working towards the development of the state without any discrimination ... people also want development and will not tolerate any kind of hindrance in it. About common civil code, he said that after ban on triple talaq, it was the need of the hour.

He said, "BJP has been in its (common civil code) favour since long and will not compromise on it'' claiming that there there was a mention of common civil code in the Constitution also.

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Story first published: Thursday, August 24, 2017, 17:07 [IST]
Manipur: How Facebook helped Imphal friends to come together to reduce accidents on roads

Road projects worth Rs 5,253 crore to benefit India and Nepal: Gadkari

India

oi-PTI

The Cabinet on Wednesday gave it's nod for a Memorandum of Understanding to be signed with Nepal for construction of a Rs 159-crore bridge on Mechi river at Indo-Nepal border.

Elaborating the projects, Gadkari said a Rs 158 crore bridge is being constructed on river Mechi with assistance from ADB under which Kakarvitta in Nepal would be linked to Pani Tanki in West Bengal.

This six-lane bridge will link Nepal with East West Corridor and ADB will provide Rs 89.52 crore loan while the rest will be borne by the Road Transport and Highways Ministry.

Another 144 km road will be completed by October this year to link Rupaidiha to Barabanki at a cost of Rs 1,338 crore under NHDP, the minister said.

Besides, a 300 km road will be completed by June next year, linking Kakarwaha to Varanasi at a cost of Rs 1,499 crore.

The minister said that apart from this, an 83 km stretch from Sonauli to Gorakhpur will be completed by October at a cost of Rs 570 crore.

The other projects being implemented include Rs 512 crore Muzaffarpur-Sonbarsha stretch, Rs 247 Fobesganj to Jogbani stretch, Rs 429 crore project for linking Piprakodi to Raxaul, he said.

In addition to these, the minister said 10 roads are being developed at a cost of Rs 500 crore for constructing Rs 305 km stretches under Indo-Nepal agreement and NHIDCL which is executing these has opened its branch office in Kathmandu for this.

PTI

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Story first published: Thursday, August 24, 2017, 23:33 [IST]
RSS worker accused of murder hacked to death in Kerala's Malappuram

India

oi-Anusha

An RSS worker was found hacked to death in Kerala's Malappuram District on Thursday morning. The deceased, identified as 30-year-old Vipin, was also an accused in a murder case. The police are yet to identify the assaulters.

Vipin was the former Mandal Sharirik Pramukh of RSS in Tirur of Malappuram.Local residents who noticed Vipin's hacked body informed the police at around 7 AM. He was lying a few metres away from bike. He was taken to a hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. Vipin was assaulted barely a kilometre away from his residence. Lijesh, Vipin's co-accused in a murder case was assaulted last week and the attack on Vipin is suspected to be on similar grounds.

Vipin was an accused in the murder of Kodinji Faisal last year. Faisal, a resident of the same district was a Hindu who converted to Islam. Last year Faisal was dragged out of a vehicle and hacked to death by a gang. Vipin was made accused in the case and was arrested for Faisal's murder.

Vipin was granted bail recently and had walked out of prison. He was found murdered on Thursday morning. The police have not established if Vipin's murder is a continuation of political killings in Kerala. The motive is yet to be established.

OneIndia News
Delhi University Admission 2022: 3rd merit list for UG courses to be out today

Safdarjung Hospital doctors go on indefinite strike, emergency services interrupted

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

Resident doctors of Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital went on indefinite strike after a patient allegedly manhandled a resident doctor on Wednesday.

Dheer Singh, President of the Resident Doctors Association said, one of his colleagues was assaulted by a patient for delay in treatment.

''A patient assaulted a doctor alleging his treatment was being delayed by doctor. Such incidents aren't new to us,'' Singh said.

He said, ''Strike is indefinite and we have lodged institutional FIR. Our security should be increased to check such attacks.''

But, other patients were left witless due to the strike by Safdarjung hospital doctors.

''Have come here for delivery of my daughter-in-law. Strike is going on here (Safdarjung Hospital ), where do we go now?'' said Ramvati.

Have come here for delivery of my daughter-in-law. Strike is going on here (Safdarjung Hospital ), where do we go now?: Ramvati (23.08.2017) pic.twitter.com/cZmIwajF8I  ANI (@ANI) August 24, 2017

According to reports, the emergency services were also interrupted at the Safdarjung hospital due to the strike. Patients who were asked to return from the emergency gate by the security guards without being treated.

OneIndia News
Explained: What the SC said and how is Talaq-e-Hasan different from triple talaq

Strict law needed for financial security of divorced women, says Shah Bano's daughter

India

oi-PTI

Indore, August 24: Siddiqua Begum, the daughter of Shah Bano whose case for maintenance was a legal landmark, said the Supreme Court's verdict on triple talaq will help the poor and illiterate women, but a stringent law is needed for the financial security of the community's divorced women.

Siddiqua Begum (70), who witnessed her mother's struggle in the corridors of courts and in the society, says divorced women from the community face financial problems.

"The Supreme Court's decision to set aside the practice that allows men to leave their wives immediately by stating 'talaq' three times, would benefit the poor and illiterate women," she told PTI in an interview.

However, she was of the view that such women would continue to face financial problems, which her mother too witnessed about 40 years ago.

"This problem can be dealt with a strict legislation enacted by the government," she said. She said the struggle of her mother, who died in 1992, was not against the practice of triple talaq, but for getting the maintenance allowance from her father. The septuagenarian recalled the difficult period her mother went through. "My father divorced my mother when she was 60.

Afterwards, we faced many problems in earning a living. My mother had to face all kinds of pressures after filing the suit for maintenance allowance, but she continued her fight," she said. She said a man who has decided to abandon his wife may adopt other ways to do so, other than pronouncing 'triple talaq'.

"But, the basic question is what are the legal remedies to safeguard the social and economic interests of the divorced woman so that they can move on in their life," she said.

The controversy around triple talaq, was in many ways, reminiscent of the Shah Bano case, which was a landmark step in Muslim women's fight for social justice and equality - but with a disappointing end.

In 1985, the Supreme Court had decisively ruled in favour of Bano, who had sought maintenance from her husband Mohammad Ahmed Khan, an Indore-based lawyer, who had divorced her. But following a backlash from orthodox Muslim groups, the then Rajiv Gandhi government diluted the order through an Act.

The Supreme Court banned the 1,400 year-old practice of instant 'triple talaq' among Sunni Muslims, in a path-breaking verdict on Tuesday. The court set it aside on several grounds including that it was against the basic tenets of the Holy Quran and violated the Islamic law Shariat.

PTI

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Story first published: Thursday, August 24, 2017, 14:01 [IST]
TDP, YSR Congress leaders clash in Nandyal a day after bypoll, shots fired

India

oi-Anusha

A day after bypolls, leaders of TDP and YSR Congress clashed in Nandyal in the presence of police and public. What started as a minor incident of road rage led to violent clashes that even saw shots being fired in the air. Section 144 has been imposed in the locality.

Family members of Jagan Mohan Reddy's YSR Congress party candidate Silpa Mohan Reddy were accused of attempting to assault TDP leader and Bhumi family member Abhiruchi Madhu on Thursday. Clashes erupted after the two groups engaged in an argument when their cars came face to face in Nandyal. Both parties refused to make way for the other leading to an argument that blew out into a full-fledged clash.

TDP leader Madhu's gunman is said to have fired in the air when YSR Congress leaders attempted to assault Madhu. Stones were pelted at each other's cars and the situation turned volatile even as the police, media and public stood witness. Police resorted to lathi charge to disperse the crowds and bring the situation under control. TDP leader Madhu was escorted to the police station after he decided to file a complaint against Silpa Mohan Reddy's supporters for assaulting him.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Thursday, August 24, 2017, 13:41 [IST]
Things you need to keep in mind while buying a new home India oi-Madhuri

Owning a home is a dream come true for everyone as it's a stepping stone towards creating assets. If you are planning to buy a property of your own, then here is a comprehensive guide regarding various regulations that will help you make a better assessment towards undertaking such key long term financial commitments.

Getting a home loan

First and foremost, one needs to account for the ratio of personal and financed proportion as EMI should not exceed 40% of your salary. It will help assess the risk of mortgage payments as oppose to your monthly rentals.

Choosing the right builder

Once you've arrived at your budget, next step is to choose a builder/ developer. Most often it's advisable to go for under construction properties as it covers risk when it comes to property evaluation. Your background checklist should include builder's experience, number of projects completed and delivered, adherence to delivery schedule, number of banking institute involved and buying options provided to you. Builders such as Provident who have come up with successful projects like Freedom Park can always be trusted to deliver on their promise.

Documents you will need

As you get closer to making purchase related decisions, there are number of legal documents that tend to leave you hassled, since the laws governing property purchase differs from state to state. Here are few documents/ certificate you should solicit from your respective agent/ builder:-

A-B Khata Certificate:- It's an essential document for showing legality of the property and presents a strong case for raising finances from banks. It's an evidence that property tax has been paid on a given property yet it doesn't imply ownership. Moreover, going for A khata properties has its own perks when it comes to possessing building license, trade license or availing a loan. Whereas B khata property certifications are maintained by local municipal authorities, with few documents it can converted to A khata.

RERA:- RERA stands Real Estate Regulatory Authority and this bill is supposed to protect buyers interest and ensure builders' compliance to delivery schedule. The new regulations are meant to bring more transparency when it comes to project registration and disclosure documents. Moreover, the act ensures the lay-out plans, specifications or terms are sale/ resale have been duly furnished to respective authorities and have been duly followed in practice.

OC/CC:- For under construction projects, these are the quintessential Possession Certificates. Occupancy Certification / Completion Certificate ensures that building compliances have been met and been duly approved by civic bodies, stating specifications of height of structure, rain water harvesting or distance from main roads. Upon completion of the project, the builders are required to obtain Building Completion Certificate with local authorities.

STP: Sewage treatment plan ensures developer has due clearance from Water and Sewage board, as inadequate sewage facilities hinder your health and quality of surroundings. Moreover, these documents facilitates the resale process as well.

Freedom is one of the most successful projects developed by Provident Housing. It provides amenities like swimming pool, gym, clubhouse, children's play area and 70% open space. The location of the project is one of its best points since it is very close to major IT parks, universities, schools and hospitals in Chennai. Perhaps there properties are priced quiet competitively for 2 and 3 bhk units starting at mere 34.9 Lacs onwards.

The apartments, built of premium quality and using state-of-the-art construction technology. The good news for buyers is that the project meets all the compliances as mandated by the Central Government and local municipal authorities including Patta, RERA and OC. This means that buyers here will not face any complications in the future and will be able to enjoy the house of their dreams.

OneIndia News
This is how Shiv Sena leader caused Ghatkopar building collapse that killed 17

India

oi-Anusha

The Bruhanmumbai Municipal Corporation in its report has held Shiv Sena leader Sunil Shitap responsible for the Ghatkopar building collapse that killed 17 people and injured 25. In a 32-page report, the inquiry panel set up by the civic body has stated that unauthorised construction work carried out by Shitap was the whole and sole reason for the building collapse.

Almost a month after the building collapse, the report details how Shitap caused the unfortunate event. Shitap has been named solely responsible for the loss of the life and property in the tragedy. Here is the chain of events that led to the death of 17 residents.

Sunil Shitap in 2009 combined two flats that belonged to him on the ground floor of Siddhi Sai building. He then gave it on lease to a maternity home. Despite Shitap not obtaining a completion certificate, the local ward health officer gave his permission for the maternity home. For years everybody turned a blind eye to the irregularity. In July this year, Shitap moved to open his own maternity clinic. He began making alterations to his ground floor flat without permission. Shitap had carried out renovation work without adequate and scientific propping.

The committee noted that a sanitary inspector visited the site, but did not prepare an inspection note. The changes made to the building were never checked either by the Building Proposal Department or the Assistant Engineer (Building and Factory). The report also suggests that Sai Siddhi was not in the list of dilapidated buildings marked by BMC. However, One structural audit carried out by a resident suggested that it required immediate major repairs.

The committee gave a clean chit to three civic officials since it found 'no documentary evidence' against them. It has, however, held executive engineer Sudhanshu Diwedi guilty of negligence But the report says building came crashing down not because it was dilapidated but because of unauthorised renovation work carried out by Shitap. Vinod Chithore, director of Engineering services and Chandrashekhar Chore, deputy municipal commissioner have asked for the Shiv Sena leader to be prosecuted for this crime by the BMC and the police.

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Story first published: Thursday, August 24, 2017, 18:28 [IST]
Trump's evangelical advisor to hold religious meet in Bengaluru in violation of Visa norms

India

oi-Anusha

A prominent evangelist and the spiritual advisor to United States President Donald Trump, Pastor Mark Burns is expected to address a religious gathering for four days in Bengaluru. The event, however, may be in violation of Indian visa norms that stop a foreigner from indulging in any kind of religious promotion or propaganda. A complaint in this regard has been filed with the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer in Bengaluru.

Pastor Mark Burns is scheduled to participate in a series of 'Prophetic Healing Meetings' between August 24 and 27 in Bengaluru. SMPC International Worship Centre, a Christian organisation is hosting the event in Bengaluru's Hennur. While a host of Indian pastors and priests will participate and speak to the crowd over four days, Pastor Mark Burns' participation may be a violation of Visa norms.

OneIndia is in possession of a document from the Ministry of Home affairs that clearly states that no foreigner is allowed to propagate or campaign for a particular religion in the country. Reply to an RTI query from the Ministry of Home affairs, Foreign division dated July 21, 2017, clearly states, "Visa is not granted to preachers and evangelists who desire to come to India on propaganda campaigns, whether or their own or at the invitation of any organisation in India."

In April earlier this year, American evangelist Donna Schambach's event in Bengaluru was cancelled after hue and cry were raised over the evangelist violating Visa norms and attempting to promote a religion. A member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad had filed a police complaint against the event and cited a Visa norm to allege that the Evangelist had violated the same. "Missionary visa is granted to a foreigner whose sole objective of visiting India is missionary work and not proselytization, meaning to convert or attempt to convert," says the RTI reply from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

It is unclear if the organisers have sought police permission to allow a foreigner to address a religious gathering which will be a violation of India Visa norms. Pastor Mark Burns is a prominent evangelist and is addressing 'Prophetic healing meetings' in Bengaluru, according to the organisers' social media posts.

OneIndia News
US lawmakers hail Trump's tough stand on Pakistan

International

pti-PTI

Washington, Aug 24: US President Donald Trump's renewed stand on Pakistan in which he lashed out at Islamabad for providing safe havens to the terrorists has been welcomed by a group of influential lawmakers.

"We appreciate the President's renewed pressure on Pakistan to cooperate in the fight against terrorists, and hold Pakistan to account for supporting extremists. The President made it clear that we are not into nation building, but focused on protecting our citizens from terrorism," Senator John Hoeven said.

"We want to bring our troops home as soon as we can but it has to be under the right conditions and when we know that our national security is protected against terrorism," he said, adding that the President is right to emphasise victory and not political timetables for US deployments to Afghanistan.

"While additional US forces could be deployed in the right capacity, such as training Afghan forces and providing powerful air support to Afghan fighters on the ground, the Afghani troops need to be the ones in combat efforts on the ground," Hoeven said.

Even as he welcomed the new Afghan and South Asia policy of Trump, Senator Steve Chabot still has doubts if Pakistan will act in a manner that satisfies the US.

"President Trump stated that other countries in the region are key to our success in Afghanistan  Pakistan and India in particular. And he's right. However, I have a high degree of scepticism that we'll have much success in getting their cooperation  particularly Pakistan. I hope I'm wrong," the Republican Senator from Ohio said.

"Overall, I think our President has come up with a very credible plan for pulling victory out of the jaws of defeat in Afghanistan," he said. "Trump promised not only to keep the enemy guessing, but to unshackle our military leaders, and our troops, so they can do whatever is necessary to win. No more too-restrictive rules of engagement  no more micromanaging our war fighters. And rather than being time-based (how long were staying) Trump will focus on conditions on the ground (is what we're doing working?)," Chabot said.

"I guess it's pretty obvious that I think President Trumps new strategy IS the right way to go. However, three caveats. President Trump said our new policy is killing terrorists, not nation-building," he said.

"And there's no question that the term "nation-building" is one that has nowadays fallen into a category that is easily, and almost universally, disparaged. But the reality is that some elements of nation-building are likely to be a part of the Trump plan in Afghanistan, even if we dont call them that," he added.

However, Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy was critical of the Trump's plan.

"After blaming his predecessors and calling for an immediate withdrawal from Afghanistan during the campaign, President Trump has swung 180 degrees," Leahy said.

"His solution to a 16-year war involving hundreds of thousands of American troops, many of whom have served multiple tours, is to send more troops and abandon the Obama administration's focus on developing a partner in the Afghan government capable of ensuring their own security. This is not a strategy," he said.

"The President can call it a plan to defeat terrorism  which has been the goal since 9/11  but the reality is that it is an open-ended 'plan' devoid of details, without a credible explanation of how he intends to do so, over what period of time, and at what cost, and what his plan is if Pakistan continues to play both sides," Leahy said.

PTI
Was not let down by the Indian Army says Lt Col Purohit

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

I am wedded to my uniform was what Lt Colonel Srikant Purohit had to say after walking out of jail. The Lt Colonel who has been in jail for 9 years in connection with the 2008 Malegaon blasts case was granted bail by the Supreme Court earlier this week.

After walking out of jail on Wednesday, he reported back to the Army unit. As he came out of the prison at around 10.45 am, two days after the Supreme Court granted him relief, a team of Military Police and Quick Response Team of the Army escorted Purohit to a military station at Colaba in south Mumbai in a car. Sources said he was given the "protection" considering possible security threat to him. Purohit, who was suspended after his arrest, reported to the liasoning unit of the Army's Southern Command in Mumbai and is currently staying at an army establishment in the city and will be under various restrictions including his movement inside the unit, the sources at the Delhi-based army headquarters said. The sources said the Army headquarters will review his suspension from service after examining the apex court order.

Purohit, who was an officer from intelligence corp, was suspended from service soon after he was arrested in connection with the Malegaon blast case in in late 2008. The sources said Purohit is likely to go to his unit in Pune where he was working before his arrest in the Malegaon blast case in late 2008. Purohit, however, did not attend a hearing related to the blast case at the NIA court in Mumbai today after his lawyer filed an exemption plea for the day.

"We filed an exemption application before the court saying that some formalities were going on with the Army, and hence he will not be able to attend the hearing today," said Purohit's lawyer, advocate Shrikant Shivde. Special NIA prosecutor Avinash Rasal said the court allowed the exemption application "only for today".

Purohit was in jail for his alleged role in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, in which the Supreme Court granted him bail on Monday. A bench of Justices R K Agrawal and A M Sapre set aside the April 25 order of Bombay High Court which had denied him bail. Six people were killed in a bomb blast on September 29, 2008 at Malegaon, a communally sensitive textile town in Nashik district of north Maharashtra.

Talking to reporters outside the court yesterday, Purohit had said he wanted to rejoin the Army as soon as possible. "I want to wear my uniform. It is outermost layer of my skin. I am wedded to it. I am very happy to get back into the service of the best organisation in the country if not the world, the Indian Army," he had said. "I have two families -- the Army and my family which includes my wife, my two sons, sister and mother. I cannot wait to return to them," he said. The Army didn't "let me down", said Purohit.

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Story first published: Thursday, August 24, 2017, 6:22 [IST]
'We respect right of privacy, has no intention to violate it': Govt responds to Whatsapp

What is Right to Privacy?

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court held that Right to Privacy is a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. What is Right to Privacy?

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Right to privacy: What is it? | Oneindia News

One of the biggest debate surrounding privacy is regarding surveillance by the state. This would include snooping and in today's context collecting personal information and biometrics for Aadhaar.

Today Right to Privacy has moved into the private sector too. Companies like Google and Facebook are able to collect and store large volumes of data about their billions of users. Their business model relies on processing the troves of data and monetising the "free" service by selling advertisements. "The right to privacy against private actors is founded on principles of contract law, most prominently involving notice and consent."

National Security:

In most instances, people have complained that information is gathered in the name of national security. Governments justify surveillance programmes by claiming that the information gathered about citizens would help in fighting terrorism. But that comes at the cost of their privacy. The Indian government argues that privacy concerns by private bodies should be viewed differently than by the government. In the Whatsapp Case, the Union government had said that the right to privacy is an integral part of Article 21 of the Constitution, which provides for the right to life and personal liberty. But in the case of Aadhaar, the government contradicts this view, arguing that privacy is not constitutionally inherent. Basically, they asked the court to view the right to privacy on a case by case basis.

Why is privacy important?

People have complained that phone numbers and other personal information is collected and shared for commercial purposes. People fear that data could also be used for illegal activities.

For instance, targeted political advertising, where campaigners spend money to show separate content to people with differing political beliefs.

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Story first published: Thursday, August 24, 2017, 11:24 [IST]
Why Modi asked Suresh Prabhu to wait and not reject his resignation

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Prime Minster Narendra Modi's response to Suresh Prabhu who offered to quit is interesting. Suresh Prabhu in a series of tweets on Wednesday said that he met with the Prime Minister and took full moral responsibility for the train accidents. The PM asked me to wait, he tweeted.

Now Suresh Prabhu, the Railway Minister did not say it in as many words, that he resigned. He only said that he took full moral responsibility. However those in the know of his meeting with the PM said that he had offered to quit, but was told to wait.

Modi only told Prabhu to wait, but did not reject the resignation. This has led to speculation in several quarters about what exactly did Modi mean when he asked Prabhu to wait.

One source in Delhi says that Modi may have asked him to wait since the Cabinet reshuffle is round the corner. Suresh Prabhu has been under pressure and the two recent railway accidents within a span of five days has given the opposition more ammunition to gun for him. The fact is that the number of accidents during his tenure have decreased, but the only problem has been that it has been taking place at regular intervals.

It would be interesting to see what decision Modi would take on the issue. The railway is very close to the Prime Minister's heart. At several meetings he has raised concerns over the Railways. Would Suresh Prabhu be replaced or would Modi take a different judgment call.

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Story first published: Thursday, August 24, 2017, 8:08 [IST]
Xi Jinping tells Chinese army to prepare for war, fight and win it

China asks citizens to avoid unecessary travel to India

International

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

Amid Doklam standoff and a recent incident in Ladakh near Pangong lake with the Indian troops, China has asked its citizens to avoid unnecessary travel to India.

In July, Beijing had issued a notice to the Chinese nationals in India asks them to pay close attention to their personal safety and local security situation.

"The Chinese government attaches great importance to safety and lawful rights and interests of overseas Chinese citizens in accordance with the security condition of the relevant countries," foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told reporters in July.

An article in the Global Times had earlier called on Chinese firms to reduce their investments in India in view of the tension.

The Indian embassy in Beijing earlier stated that the Chinese tourists arriving in India has gone up from 21,152 in 2003 to more than 2 lakh in 2013. Moreover, several firms in India employ Chinese nationals.

[China issues travel alert to its citizens in India, asks them to pay close attention]

India and China have increased forces along the border Bhutan protested about the People's Liberation Army troops building a road in the strategic location close to the 'Chicken's Neck' tri-junction. Indian troops intervened on June 16 on behalf of Bhutan to stop the road construction by the Chinese.

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NewsLifeMedia Selects SPRYLABs Purple DS Platform to Publish its Digital Magazines

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NewsLifeMedia Australia has appointed SPRYLABs to publish their digital magazine content on Purple DS, including flagship brands such as Vogue Australia, Vogue Living and GQ.Berlin, Germany, August 23, 2017 -- NewsLifeMedia, a division of Australias largest media company News Corp Australia, has appointed SPRYLAB technologies to publish their digital magazine content on Purple DS, its digital publishing initiative for their premium consumer titles. These include flagship brands such as Vogue Australia, Vogue Living, GQ Australia, and delicious. NewsLifeMedia publishes market leading magazines in Australia across key consumer categories of food, style and home.NewsLifeMedia selected Purple DS based on its innovative features and its ability to produce interactive native mobile and tablet apps for iOS and android without the need for any technical coding. This approach allows both small and large editorial teams the ability to create aesthetically optimised content, with minimum impact on time and resource.Purple DS, will deliver enhanced publishing workflows, from manually created pixel perfect through to semi-automated content delivery using SPRYLABs Templating Client. By using SPRYLABs Templating Client NewsLifeMedia will create mobile and tablet optimised interactive digital magazines of Vogue Australia, Vogue Living and GQ Australia.All apps will be available for iOS and Android and include over 600 back editions migrated from their incumbent platform.Commenting on the decision to engage SPRYLAB technologies, NewsLifeMedias Product Manager for Digital Editions, Danielle Stevenson, said:We are excited to work with SPRYLAB technologies in publishing our market leading magazines on their Purple DS platform. Their streamlined workflows will allow us to publish native apps for our customers mobile and tablets devices.Commenting on the engagement, York Walterscheid, Global Director Sales at SPRYLAB technologies, said: Our team is thrilled to be partnering with NewsLifeMedia  a globally renowned and highly regarded publisher. We look forward to produce and publish all of their great digital titles on Purple DS and to have the chance to collaborate on new ways of efficient publishing and monetization.About SPRYLAB Technologies:SPRYLAB was founded in 2007 by Stephan Heck and Benjamin Kolb and has since then enjoyed a healthy organic growth rate. The company now has more than 50 employees and SPRYLAB helps brands and marketers to create unique content, apps and services.Our products and solutions encourage advanced ways of communication, improve customer retention, and facilitate the development of new markets. This gives our customers a clear competitive edge in our digital age. SPRYLABs diverse customer base includes major publishers such as Axel Springer and Hurbert Burda, and customers operating within other industry sectors include Mercedes-Benz, High 5, The British Red Cross, Simpleshow and Weka, amongst others.SPRYLAB I Purple DSThe Purple Publishing Suite first appeared in 2012 and was recently re-branded as Purple DS  Purple Digital Stories. This comprehensive ePublishing solution consists of an array of products and services, and supports publishers and companies along the entire ePublishing process. Regardless of origin (InDesign, CMS, Print, ), anyone can use Purple DS to develop stimulating and interactive content in the form of native apps, web pages or social media feeds  all without writing a single line of code.SPRYLAB was founded in 2007 by Stephan Heck and Benjamin Kolb and has since then enjoyed a healthy organic growth rate. The company now has more than 50 employees and SPRYLAB helps brands and marketers to create unique content, apps and services.Contact:Joerdis DeutschmannSPRYLAB TechnologiesKeithstrasse 2-410787 Berlin, Germany+49 0 30 23 62 58 95 0joerdis.deutschmann@sprylab.com
Kyyba Xcelerator and Bodman PLC launching Pitch Club for Startups and Entrepreneurs

Kyyba Xcelerator, Bodman PLC and TiE Detroit will launch Pitch Club, a mentoring and funding series held across Michigan, at SPARK in Ann Arbor on Wednesday, September 27. Aimed at connecting the various ecosystems and smart zones throughout Michigan, each event will educate, inspire and provide networking opportunities and valuable experiences for being investable.Ten monthly events will be hosted on Wednesdays throughout the year in Michigan cities including: Ann Arbor, Detroit, Lansing and Grand Rapids. Currently, announced meeting dates include October 18, as well as January 24, 2018, at TechTown in Detroit and November 29 at SPARK.Hosted by Bodman Law Firm Partner Michael Melfi, who also is the founder of Be Investable, Pitch Club will provide entrepreneurs, especially those in the early stage, the opportunity to learn from seasoned entrepreneurs and investors. As part of the process, three chosen participants will have the opportunity to practice their pitch and discuss their business plan with funding experts, giving them a better understanding of the mindset of an investor. The program also will feature a guest keynote that will speak about topics related to starting a company, technology trends and opportunities for entrepreneurs.Pitch Club provides a tremendous opportunity for cross-pollination and increased deal flow across Michigan, something that currently is not at the level it should be. This program will be very valuable for both the startup entrepreneurs and investors and will hopefully create a meaningful dialogue, as well as a technological and economic impact for the entire region, said Tel Ganesan, Managing Director, Kyyba Xcelerator. In order to make this initiative even more successful, I encourage seasoned entrepreneurs in each of these areas to join us by serving as a mentor.For this initiative, Kyyba Xcelerator and Bodman PLC are partnering with other established incubators and accelerators across Michigan, including TechTown Detroit.From the elevator pitch to the public pitch to the investor pitch, the more successful entrepreneurs are pitching, the more integral this will become to their success. We are pleased to partner with Kyyba Xcelerator to help entrepreneurs to gain exposure, insights and support that will help them truly move the needle, said Paul Riser, Director of Technology-Based Entrepreneurship at TechTown Detroit.The select pool of the companies chosen to pitch at the monthly Pitch Club events will be provided investment opportunities in the form of presenting to the investment team of Kyyba Xcelerator and TiE Detroit Angels during their quarterly Angels meeting. Investment opportunities will range from $25,000 to $100,000. TiE Detroit Angels funded companies, if qualifications are met, also could have the chance to present to the TiE Global Angel Alliance (TGAA). TGAA is a global platform for funding that exposes startups to a broader investment pool and opportunities to raise additional funds much larger than any single TiE Chapter or local Angel Group. TGAA recently invested $395,000 in Zeto, and $450,000 for Hemex Health from the TiE Global network.A startup seeking to present at Pitch Club must complete an application form. Applicants can apply, view the event schedule and learn about prizes and benefits at www.kyybaxcelerator.com/the-best-part.php or by contacting Sarah Myrand at sarahm@kyybaxcelerator.com.About Kyyba Xcelerator (KX):Kyyba Xcelerator is a global second stage startup accelerator investing in technology and IP related startups in broad based industries. KX provides a custom acceleration program and scaling services to startups, including Customer Development, Product Development and Investment in exchange for equity. Industries Include: Health, Mobility, IoT, Industrial, Energy, Automotive, BlockChain and Fintech.About Bodman PLC:With more than 150 attorneys in offices throughout Michigan, Bodman PLC has delivered extraordinary results to our clients for more than 85 years. Our attorneys provide savvy business counsel to some of the region's most successful companies and individuals on a broad range of issues, and we provide clients with the personal attention of a small firm with the talent and skill expected of the nations leading law firms.About TiE:The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), was founded in 1992 in Silicon Valley by a group of successful entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and senior professionals with roots in the Indus region. There are currently 13,000 members, including over 2,500 charter members in 61 chapters across 18 countries. TiEs mission is to foster entrepreneurship globally through mentoring, networking, education, incubating, and funding. Dedicated to the virtuous cycle of wealth creation and giving back to the community, TiEs focus is on generating and nurturing our next generation of entrepreneurs.Sarah MyrandKyyba Xcelerator28230 Orchard Lake Road, Suite 201Farmington Hills, MI 48334
Portable Oxygen Therapy Systems Market Share 2017-2022: Genstar, AirSep Corporation, Greggersen Gasetechnik

Portable Oxygen Therapy Systems

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Portable Oxygen Therapy Systems Market Research 2017A market study  Global Portable Oxygen Therapy Systems Market  examines the performance of the Portable Oxygen Therapy Systems market 2017. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Portable Oxygen Therapy Systems market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Portable Oxygen Therapy Systems market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global Portable Oxygen Therapy Systems Market 2017 report includes Portable Oxygen Therapy Systems market Revenue, market Share, Portable Oxygen Therapy Systems industry volume, market Trends, Portable Oxygen Therapy Systems Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, Portable Oxygen Therapy Systems Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2022.To Get Sample Report Click Here:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Portable Oxygen Therapy Systems Market 2017 :AirSep CorporationHERSILLMEDICOPO-Two MedicalAllied Healthcare ProductsAttuchoEssex IndustriesGCEGenstarGreggersen GasetechnikFirstly, the report covers the top Portable Oxygen Therapy Systems manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on geological regions.Further, the Portable Oxygen Therapy Systems report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Portable Oxygen Therapy Systems industry, Portable Oxygen Therapy Systems industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Portable Oxygen Therapy Systems Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.Browse Full Report Here:The Portable Oxygen Therapy Systems research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Portable Oxygen Therapy Systems market revenue worldwide.Finally, Portable Oxygen Therapy Systems market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us:"Spire Market Research" is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of 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 Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244, USA
Gas-to-Liquids Processes for Chemicals and Energy Global Market 2017: Key Players  PetroSA Company, Royal Dutch Shell, Primus Green Energy, EmberClear, Sasol limited

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Gas-to-Liquids Processes for Chemicals and Energy IndustryDescriptionThe Global Gas-to-Liquids processes for chemicals and energy market is expected to reach $9.2 billion growing at a CAGR of 6.7% to reach $15.5 billion by 2022. Gas to liquids (GTL) is a refinery process that converts natural gas into liquid fuels such as gasoline. Methane-rich gases are renewed into liquid synthetic fuels either via direct conversion via syngas as an intermediary. Rapid energy consumption and price of oil and gases are the foremost drivers for gas to liquid market, whereas the fixed reactors and large sized equipment are inhibiting the growth. The increasing consumption of natural gas, especially in emerging countries such as India, Japan and China act as the opportunity for gas to liquids market.Request for Sample Report @The most common technique used at GTL facilities is Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) synthesis. F-T synthesis has gained recent attention because of the rising extend between the cost of natural gas and the cost of petroleum products. Lubricating products and production of waxes are another primary product of the F-T process and developers have reworked on their designs, to increase the enduring profitability of GTL plants. The increasing demand for waxes that are produced by F-T process is experiencing stable growth over the past decade. F-T waxes are used in industries producing paints & coatings, candles, plastic, resins, tires, synthetic rubber and other products.Global gas-to-liquids processes for chemicals and energy market is mainly segregated by production, by size, by products and by geography. Based on production, the market is segmented into Methanol to Gasoline (MTG) process, gasoline plus process, fischer-tropsch process. Based on Size, the market is categorized into small scale and large scale. Based on products, the market is segmented into diesel, ethane, LPG, base oil and paraffin. Market by geography, is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. Due to the rise in natural gas consumption, Asia Pacific is expected to be the leading market for Gas to liquids (GTL).The key players in the market includePetroSA Company, Royal Dutch Shell, Primus Green Energy, EmberClear, Sasol limited, BP plc, Compact GTL, Chevron Corporation, and Linc Energy.Leave a Query @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 8 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 Research Scope2.3 Research Methodology2.4 Research Sources3 Market Trend Analysis3.1 Introduction3.2 Drivers3.3 Restraints3.4 Opportunities3.5 Threats4 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 Gas-to-Liquids Processes for Chemicals and Energy Market, By Production5.1 Introduction5.2 Methanol to Gasoline (MTG) process5.3 Gasoline plus process5.4 Fischer-Tropsch process6 Global Gas-to-Liquids Processes for Chemicals and Energy Market, By Size6.1 Introduction6.2 small scale6.3 Large scale7 Global Gas-to-Liquids Processes for Chemicals and Energy Market, By Products7.1 Introduction7.2 Diesel7.3 Ethane7.4 LPG7.5 Paraffin7.6 Base oil7.7 Naphtha8 Global Gas-to-Liquids Processes for Chemicals and Energy Market, By Geography8.1 North America8.1.1 US8.1.2 Canada8.2 Europe8.2.1 Germany8.2.2 France8.2.3 Italy8.2.4 UK8.2.5 Spain8.3 Asia Pacific8.3.1 Japan8.3.2 China8.3.3 India8.3.4 Australia8.3.5 New Zealand8.3.6 Rest of Asia8.4 Rest of the World8.4.1 Latin America8.4.2 Middle East8.4.3 Africa8.4.4 OthersBuy now @Continued...Contact Us: Sales@Wiseguyreports.Com Ph: +1-646-845-9349 (US) Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)About Us: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.Addres:: Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt Ltd: Pune  411028: Maharashtra, Global: Ph: +91 841 198 5042
VoIP Software Market Status 2017-2022 AVOXI, 3CX, Digium, Cisco, Phone.com, ZoiPer, CloudCall, Talkroute, OnSIP, Line2

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Global VoIP Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 provides Market information about Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application.This Industry report also states Company Profile, sales, VoIP Software Market revenue and price, market share, market growth and gross margin by regions.Top Manufacturers/Key Players:AVOXI3CXDigiumCiscoPhone.comZoiPerCloudCallTalkrouteOnSIPLine2Enquiry for buying report @The Global VoIP Software report gives a thorough situation of the present and gauge VoIP Software showcase procedures, improvement methodologies and development openings. Starting a discussion on the contemporary condition of VoIP Software showcase, the report extra dissects the market powerful moving each area begun in it.The report additionally concentrates the VoIP Software bits of knowledge of the organizations and suggestions that will help the perusers to have progressive learning of the VoIP Software showcase.Browse Report @A principal diagram of the VoIP Software market is introduced to the perusers with the assistance of market definition, order, different applications, and production network examination. The VoIP Software report covers the investigation of conventional and the developing markets. The report more expresses the VoIP Software showcase rivals, their business profiles, freshest news, their piece of the overall industry, developing arrangements and methodologies, client volume and creating strategies.In next part, the VoIP Software Report assesses the gross edge examination of various locales i. e. (US, EU, China and Japan). Different areas can be included according to the prerequisite.About Us:1MarketResearch is a global business market research providing syndicated research Report, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains.We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed.We host more than 500,000 Industry research products.Contact US:1MarketResearch304, S. Jones Blvd, #3299,Las Vegas, NV  89107USA : +1 702-425-8599Email : Sales@1MarketResearch.comWeb :
Global Auto Insurance Market Share Analysis,Trends,and Dynamics 2017

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ReportsMonitor.com has added Global Auto Insurance Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 to its database of market research reports.This report studies the global Auto Insurance market, analyzes and researches the Auto Insurance development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. This report focuses on the top players in global market, likeAllianzUSAA Property & CasualtyAmica InsuranceNew Jersey Manufacturers Insurance CompanyErie Insurance GroupAuto Club Enterprises Insurance GroupAuto Club Insurance AssociationAuto-Owners Insurance Group of CompaniesAmeriprise Financial (IDS)State FarmState Auto Insurance CompaniesMercuryGeicoRequest a Free Sampple Report @Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEUJapanChinaIndiaSoutheast AsiaView Entire Report @Market segment by Type, Auto Insurance can be split intoLiability Car InsurancePhysical Damage Car InsuranceRental InsuranceMarket segment by Application, Auto Insurance can be split intoCarsTruckSUVsSome Points From Table Of Contents:1 Industry Overview of Auto Insurance1.1 Auto Insurance Market Overview1.1.1 Auto Insurance Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global Auto Insurance 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 Auto Insurance Market by Type1.3.1 Liability Car Insurance1.3.2 Physical Damage Car Insurance1.3.3 Rental Insurance1.4 Auto Insurance Market by End Users/Application1.4.1 Cars1.4.2 Truck1.4.3 SUVsReports 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.Jay MatthewsDirect: +1 513 549-5911Email: sales@reportsmonitor.comWebsite:
Global Android Sphygmomanometers Market 2017 - GE Healthcare, Omron, Philips, Microlife Corporation

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Worldwide Android Sphygmomanometers Market 2017 presents a widespread and fundamental study of Android Sphygmomanometers industry along with the analysis of subjective aspects which will provide key business insights to the readers. Global Android Sphygmomanometers Market 2017 research report offers the analytical view of the industry by studying different factors like Android Sphygmomanometers market growth, consumption volume, market trends and Android Sphygmomanometers industry cost structures during the forecast period from 2017 to 2022.Android Sphygmomanometers market studies the competitive landscape view of the industry. The Android Sphygmomanometers report also includes development plans and policies along with manufacturing processes. The major regions involved in Android Sphygmomanometers Market are (United States, EU, China, and Japan).For Sample Copy Of The Report Click Here:Leading Manufacturers Analysis in Global Android Sphygmomanometers Market 2017:1 A&D Medical2 GE Healthcare3 Omron4 Philips5 Microlife Corporation6 Paul Hartmann AG7 Suntech Medical8 Welch Allyn9 American Diagnostic10 Beurer11 Rudolf Riester GmbH12 Terumo Corporation13 Bosch + Sohn14 Briggs Healthcare15 Choicemmed16 Citizen17 W.A. Baum18 Rossmax InternationalAndroid Sphygmomanometers Market: Type Segment AnalysisWristArm TypeAndroid Sphygmomanometers Market: Applications Segment AnalysisHospitalsClinicsHouseholdThe Android Sphygmomanometers 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 Android Sphygmomanometers market share. Diverse factors of the Android Sphygmomanometers industry like the supply chain scenario, industry standards, import/export details are also mentioned in Global Android Sphygmomanometers Market 2017 report.Key Highlights of the Android Sphygmomanometers Market:A Clear understanding of the Android Sphygmomanometers market based on growth, constraints, opportunities, feasibility study.Concise Android Sphygmomanometers Market study based on major geographical regions.Analysis of evolving market segments as well as a complete study of existing Android Sphygmomanometers market segments.Discover More About Report Here:Furthermore, distinct aspects of Android Sphygmomanometers market like the technological development, economic factors, opportunities and threats to the growth of Android Sphygmomanometers market are covered in depth in this report. The performance of Android Sphygmomanometers market during 2017 to 2022 is being forecasted in this report.In conclusion, Global Android Sphygmomanometers 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 Android Sphygmomanometers industry competitors.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.James JohnsonS no. 51/14 First Floor, Office Number 4, Vishwa Arcade, Near Navale Lawns, Pune, Maharashtra, India 411041Maharashtra, IndiaTel: +1(857)2390696Web:Email: inquiry@market.bizBrowse Market Research Reports-Latest Reports-
Global Genome Engineering Market Share by Industry Research 2015 - 2023

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Global Genome Engineering Market: SnapshotThe field of genome engineering, the process of artificially introducing modification to the genetic content of an organism by introducing an artificially constructed piece of DNA of a specific composition into a recipient cell, has witnessed a significant rise in research activities in the past few years. Undertaken with the view of gaining larger clarity about the outcome of genome engineering experiments and finding newer applications of carefully controlled genetic experiments, the number of such research activities is rising at an immense pace.Some of the most easily recognizable and highly popular applications of genome engineering practices are the use of genetically engineered microorganisms to produce vaccines and genetically modified crops. A vast variety of other applications of genome engineering are also being increasingly analyzed and put to use to develop organisms or living species with an improved genetic makeup.Transparency Market Research estimates that the global genome engineering market will exhibit a remarkable 14.2% CAGR from 2015 through 2023, with markets opportunity rising from US$2.30 bn in 2015 to an estimated US$7.21 bn by 2023.Obtain Report Details @Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Companies Account for Massive Chunk in Market RevenuesGenome engineering practices find extensive usage across the academic field and industries such as agriculture, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals. In 2014, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies contributed nearly 58% of the markets overall revenue. The significant rise in the use of genome engineering practices in therapeutics and drug discovery have contributed to the immense growth of this application segment. The trend is expected to remain strong over the reports forecast period as well, with the extensive use of genome engineering in the pharmaceutical industry expected to drive the market significantly.Applications of genome engineering in the academics sector emerged as the second largest contributor to the revenues of the global genome engineering market in 2014. Owing to the preliminary success achieved in a number of academic studies, the demand for genome engineering practices has significantly increased in the academic sector, chiefly for the production of mutants and treatment of genetic disorders. The vast global rise in prevalence of genetic disorders and a variety of cancers, the academic sector is expected to lead to stable demand for genome engineering practices in the next few years as well.Vast Rise in Genome Research Activities to Help North America Retain Leading PositionHome to some of the worlds largest pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, North America is one of the mist lucrative markets for genome engineering. The region has witnessed a significant rise in research and development activities in the field of genetics and its applications across these industries. The North America genome engineering market held a valuation of US$1.27 bn in 2015 and is expected to continue to rise at a healthy pace over the reports forecast period as well. The increasing demand for research dealing with the legal, ethical, and social implications of genome engineering will continue to lead to an increase in the number of genome engineering practices taking place in the region.Over the reports forecast period, Asia Pacific is expected to emerge as the most lucrative regional market for genome engineering. The regional market is expected to benefit from rising government incentives aimed at the development of the field in emerging economies and increased interest by companies in the region due to low research costs.Some of the key vendors operating in the global genome engineering market profiled in the report are Thermo Fisher Scientific, Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, Integrated DNA Technologies, Inc., Sangamo Biosciences, Lonza Group Ltd., and Horizon Discovery Group Plc.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @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.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Browse market research blog:
$78.90 Bn for Global PVC Market by 2022

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Zion Market Research has published a new report titled PVC Market (Rigid PVC And Flexible PVC) by Application ( Pipes & Fittings, Wires & Cables, Films & Sheets, Bottles and Others) For Automotive, Electrical & Electronics, Construction, Packaging And Other End-User: Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Segment, Trends and Forecast, 2015  2021. According to the report, Global PVC Market was valued at USD 57.06 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach USD 78.90 billion in 2021, growing at a CAGR of 5.6% between 2016 and 2021. In terms of volume, the global PVC Market stood at 43,662.0 kilotons in 2015.Request Free Sample Research Report @PVC is a general purpose plastic commonly used in the construction sector, for example in window frames and shutters, pipe cabling and coating, etc. PVC can be clear or colored, rigid or flexible, depending on the added compounds and final application that needs to be achieved. PVC inherently possesses superior fire retarding properties due to its chlorine content, even in the absence of fire retardants.By application, pipes & fittings segment is expected to dominate the market over the forecast period due to extensive use in construction industry. Currently pipes & fittings segment holds over 62% of market share in terms of revenue. Film & sheets are expected to exhibit impulse growth in the forecast period. The growth of this segment is mainly attributed to a positive outlook for specialty films coupled with growing usage of plastic films & sheets in agriculture.Generally, PVC found in two type, rigid polyvinyl chloride, and flexible polyvinyl chloride. Flexible PVC is used in electrical cable insulation plumbing, inflatable products, medical devices, and signage while the rigid PVC is used in various applications includes windows and door, and construction (in the form of pipes).Inquire more about this report @Construction emerged as the leading end-user segment and growth of this segment is mainly driven by significant growth of building & construction sector in Asia Pacific. Packaging segment is expected to exhibit impulse growth in the coming year due to rising demand from the food industry. Rising demand for PVC in electrical & electronics especially from China and Taiwan is expected to support the growth of PVC market in coming years.Geographically, Asia Pacific is one of the largest markets with more than 52% of market share in term of volume and expected to show a good growth rate over a forecast period. This is due to high growth potential of building and construction industry, especially in China & India. The Middle East & Africa & Latin America is expected to be the fastest growing regional polyvinyl chloride market in coming years.Some of the key company's operative in the global PVC Market include KEM one, Occidental Petroleum Corporation, Finolex, Formosa Plastics Group, Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. Ltd., Solvay S.A., Axiall Corporation and Ineos Chlorvinyls Ltd amongst others.Browse the full "PVC Market" report atThe report segments of global PVC (polyvinyl chloride) Market as follows:Global Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Market: Application Segment AnalysisPipes & fittingsWires and cablesFilm & sheetsBottlesOthersGlobal Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Market: Type Segment AnalysisRigid PVC (polyvinyl chloride)Flexible PVC (polyvinyl chloride)Global Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Market: End User Segment AnalysisAutomotiveElectrical & electronicsConstructionPackagingOthersGlobal Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaEuropeAsia PacificLatin AmericaThe 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:
Global supply chain analytics market will grow at a CAGR of almost 14% by 2021

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The recently published report titled Global Supply Chain Analytics Industry 2016 Market Research Report is an in depth study providing complete analysis of the industry for the period 2016 - 2021. It provides complete overview of Global Supply Chain Analytics market considering all the major industry trends, market dynamics and competitive scenario.The Global Supply Chain Analytics Industry Report 2016 is an in depth study analyzing the current state of the Global Supply Chain Analytics market. It provides brief overview of the market focusing on definitions, market segmentation, end-use applications and industry chain analysis. The study on Global Supply Chain Analytics market provides analysis of China market covering the industry trends, recent developments in the market and competitive landscape. Competitive analysis includes competitive information of leading players in China market, their company profiles, product portfolio, capacity, production, and company financials. In addition, report also provides upstream raw material analysis and downstream demand analysis along with the key development trends and sales channel analysis. Research study on Global Supply Chain Analytics market also discusses the opportunity areas for investors.Download Sample Report Copy From Here:With tables and figures, the report provides key statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Reasons to Buy this ReportThe research report will enrich your decision-making capability by helping you to -a Design and improve your product development and sales strategies and enhancing your marketing activitiesa Develop business strategies by understanding the market dynamics and developments driving the Global Supply Chain Analytics marketa Develop market-entry strategies and effective ways to sustain competitiona Create merger and acquisition opportunities by identifying the market players with the most innovative pipelinesa Identify the regional market potential which would further help in designing regional market strategiesa Understand the competitive scenario in the Global Supply Chain Analytics marketa Take more informed business decisions by relying on the insightful opinions from industry expertsTable of ContentsGlobal Supply Chain Analytics Sales Market Report 20161 Supply Chain Analytics Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Supply Chain Analytics1.2 Classification of Supply Chain Analytics1.2.1 Supply Chain Planning And Procurement1.2.2 Sales And Operations Planning (S&Op)1.2.3 Manufacturing Analytics1.2.4 Transportation And Logistics Analytics1.2.5 Visualization And Reporting Tools1.3 Application of Supply Chain Analytics1.3.1 Retail And Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)1.3.2 Healthcare And Life Sciences1.3.3 Manufacturing1.3.4 High Tech And Electronics1.3.5 Automotive1.3.6 Aerospace And Defence1.3.7 Others1.4 Supply Chain Analytics Market by Regions1.4.1 USA Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.2 China Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.5 India Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Supply Chain Analytics (2011-2021)1.5.1 Global Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2021)1.5.2 Global Supply Chain Analytics Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2021)2 Global Supply Chain Analytics Competition by Manufacturers, Type and Application2.1 Global Supply Chain Analytics Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1.1 Global Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2011-2016)2.1.2 Global Supply Chain Analytics Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2011-2016)2.2 Global Supply Chain Analytics (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Global Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)2.2.2 Global Supply Chain Analytics Revenue and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)2.3 Global Supply Chain Analytics (Volume and Value) by Regions2.3.1 Global Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Market Share by Regions (2011-2016)2.3.2 Global Supply Chain Analytics Revenue and Market Share by Regions (2011-2016)2.4 Global Supply Chain Analytics (Volume) by Application3 USA Supply Chain Analytics (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 USA Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Value (2011-2016)3.1.1 USA Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)3.1.2 USA Supply Chain Analytics Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)3.1.3 USA Supply Chain Analytics Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)3.2 USA Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers3.3 USA Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Market Share by Type3.4 USA Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Market Share by Application4 China Supply Chain Analytics (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 China Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Value (2011-2016)4.1.1 China Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)4.1.2 China Supply Chain Analytics Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)4.1.3 China Supply Chain Analytics Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)4.2 China Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers4.3 China Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Market Share by Type4.4 China Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Market Share by Application5 Europe Supply Chain Analytics (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5.1 Europe Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Value (2011-2016)5.1.1 Europe Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)5.1.2 Europe Supply Chain Analytics Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)5.1.3 Europe Supply Chain Analytics Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)5.2 Europe Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers5.3 Europe Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Market Share by Type5.4 Europe Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Market Share by Application6 Japan Supply Chain Analytics (Volume, Value and Sales Price)6.1 Japan Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Value (2011-2016)6.1.1 Japan Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)6.1.2 Japan Supply Chain Analytics Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)6.1.3 Japan Supply Chain Analytics Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)6.2 Japan Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers6.3 Japan Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Market Share by Type6.4 Japan Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Market Share by Application7 India Supply Chain Analytics (Volume, Value and Sales Price)7.1 India Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Value (2011-2016)7.1.1 India Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)7.1.2 India Supply Chain Analytics Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)7.1.3 India Supply Chain Analytics Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)7.2 India Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers7.3 India Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Market Share by Type7.4 India Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Market Share by Application8 Southeast Asia Supply Chain Analytics (Volume, Value and Sales Price)8.1 Southeast Asia Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Value (2011-2016)8.1.1 Southeast Asia Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)8.1.2 Southeast Asia Supply Chain Analytics Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)8.1.3 Southeast Asia Supply Chain Analytics Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)8.2 Southeast Asia Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers8.3 Southeast Asia Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Market Share by Type8.4 Southeast Asia Supply Chain Analytics Sales and Market Share by Application9 Global Supply Chain Analytics Manufacturers Analysis9.1 IBM Corporation9.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.1.2 Supply Chain Analytics Product Type, Application and Specification9.1.2.1 Type I9.1.2.2 Type II9.1.3 IBM Corporation Supply Chain Analytics Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)9.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.2 Microstrategy9.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.2.2 125 Product Type, Application and Specification9.2.2.1 Type I9.2.2.2 Type II9.2.3 Microstrategy Supply Chain Analytics Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)9.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.3 Oracle Corporation9.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.3.2 142 Product Type, Application and Specification9.3.2.1 Type I9.3.2.2 Type II9.3.3 Oracle Corporation Supply Chain Analytics Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)9.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.4 SAP SE9.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.4.2 Sep Product Type, Application and Specification9.4.2.1 Type I9.4.2.2 Type II9.4.3 SAP SE Supply Chain Analytics Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)9.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.5 SAS Institute, INC.9.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.5.2 Product Type, Application and Specification9.5.2.1 Type I9.5.2.2 Type II9.5.3 SAS Institute, INC. Supply Chain Analytics Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)9.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.6 Capgemini S.A.9.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.6.2 Million USD Product Type, Application and Specification9.6.2.1 Type I9.6.2.2 Type II9.6.3 Capgemini S.A. Supply Chain Analytics Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)9.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.7 Genpact9.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.7.2 Consumer Goods Product Type, Application and Specification9.7.2.1 Type I9.7.2.2 Type II9.7.3 Genpact Supply Chain Analytics Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)9.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.8 Kinaxis9.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.8.2 Product Type, Application and Specification9.8.2.1 Type I9.8.2.2 Type II9.8.3 Kinaxis Supply Chain Analytics Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)9.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.9 Tableau9.9.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.9.2 Product Type, Application and Specification9.9.2.1 Type I9.9.2.2 Type II9.9.3 Tableau Supply Chain Analytics Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)9.9.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.10 Birst, INC.9.10.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.10.2 Product Type, Application and Specification9.10.2.1 Type I9.10.2.2 Type II9.10.3 Birst, INC. Supply Chain Analytics Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)9.10.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.11 Mu Sigma9.12 JDA Software Group9.13 Manhattan Associates9.14 TARGIT9.15 Logility9.16 Demand Management10 Supply Chain Analytics Maufacturing Cost Analysis10.1 Supply Chain Analytics Key Raw Materials Analysis10.1.1 Key Raw Materials10.1.2 Price Trend of Key Raw Materials10.1.3 Key Suppliers of Raw Materials10.1.4 Market Concentration Rate of Raw Materials10.2 Proportion of Manufacturing Cost Structure10.2.1 Raw Materials10.2.2 Labor Cost10.2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Supply Chain Analytics11 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers11.1 Supply Chain Analytics Industrial Chain Analysis11.2 Upstream Raw Materials Sourcing11.3 Raw Materials Sources of Supply Chain Analytics Major Manufacturers in 201511.4 Downstream Buyers12 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders12.1 Marketing Channel12.1.1 Direct Marketing12.1.2 Indirect Marketing12.1.3 Marketing Channel Development Trend12.2 Market Positioning12.2.1 Pricing Strategy12.2.2 Brand Strategy12.2.3 Target Client12.3 Distributors/Traders List13 Market Effect Factors Analysis13.1 Technology Progress/Risk13.1.1 Substitutes Threat13.1.2 Technology Progress in Related Industry13.2 Consumer Needs/Customer Preference Change13.3 Economic/Political Environmental Change14 Global Supply Chain Analytics Market Forecast (2016-2021)14.1 Global Supply Chain Analytics Sales, Revenue Forecast (2016-2021)14.2 Global Supply Chain Analytics Sales Forecast by Regions (2016-2021)14.3 Global Supply Chain Analytics Sales Forecast by Type (2016-2021)14.4 Global Supply Chain Analytics Sales Forecast by Application (2016-2021)15 AppendixAuthor ListDisclosure SectionResearch MethodologyData SourceChina DisclaimerBuy Now This Report From Here: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.Unit 1, 26 Cleveland Road, South Woodford, London,E182AN, United KingdomCall: +44 20 3239 2407sales@globalqyresearch.com
Kazakhstan Beverage Market 2017 -Develop Market-Entry and Market Expansion Strategies

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SUMMARYWiseGuyReports published new report, titled Kazakhstan Beverage Forecasts.Kazakhstan Beverage Forecasts is a bi-annual report designed as a global manual to provide both historical consumption trends for all commercial beverage categories, and forecast trends five years into the future. It is mainly numbers based, but includes a short analysis exploring the trends behind the data and forecast assumptions for each beverage category.Kazakhstan Beverage Forecasts reports cover soft, dairy, hot and alcoholic drinks and provide a comprehensive analysis of consumption trends, covering -- 1999-2016 topline consumption data for 31 beverage categories, with forecasts to 2022 measured in both million litres and litres per capita.- Insightful and valuable analysis of the drivers behind the beverage trends and forecast assumptions.GET SAMPLE REPORT @ScopeMain beverage category groups: Soft Drinks, Bulk/HOD water, Dairy & Soy Drinks & Milk Alternatives, Hot Drinks, Beer & Cider, Spirits and Wines.Individual beverage categories within each main group are as follows -- Soft Drinks: Packaged Water (excludes all water sold in large containers of >10 liters), Carbonates, Enhanced Water, Flavored Water, Juice (100% pure juice), Nectars (products with a 25-99% juice content), Still Drinks (Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Research 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
Global Polymer Foam Market to register $161.0 Bn growth by 2022

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Zion Market Research has published a new report titled Polymer Foam Market (Polystyrene Foam, Phenolic Foam, Melamine Foam, PVC Foam, Polyurethane Foam and Polyolefin Foam) for Building & Construction, Packaging, Automotive, Furniture & Bedding and Other Applications: Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis and Forecast, 2015  2021. According to the report, global polymer foam market was valued at USD 101.50 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach USD 161.0 billion in 2021, growing at a CAGR of 8.0% between 2016 and 2021.Request Free Sample Research Report @Polymer foam is an inorganic material. It is obtained by the mixture of various resins, gasses, and solid phases. The common resins used for forming polymer form include polyurethane, polystyrene, phenolic and polyvinyl chloride. Raw material such as inorganic chemicals, resins, and refined petroleum solutions are also utilized in polymer foam production. It exploits variant chemical and physical features. Thus, it finds applications in numerous applications such as construction, food and beverages packaging, furniture and wood, automotive and others.Rapidly mounting demand for polymer foam from automotive sector across the world is one of the major driving forces for global polymer foam market. Stringent rules and regulation imposed on different sectors are likely to propel the demand for polymer foam market in predicted years. However, fluctuating prices of raw material and recessionary impact are expected to have the negative impact on the growth of the polymer foam market. Nonetheless, emerging automotive industry, especially in Asia-Pacific region, is likely to witness immense opportunities within the forecast period.Based on the segmentation, the global polymer foam market is segmented into various types of foam including polystyrene foam, phenolic foam, melamine foam, PVC foam, polyurethane foam and polyolefin foam. Polyurethane foam held as the leader for the market of polymer foam in 2015. It exhibits significant share of the entire volume of the market. This trend is expected to continue in coming years due to flexible cost and strong demand from various end-applications. Polyurethane foam was followed by polystyrene foam and PVC foam in 2015. Moreover, polyolefin is also expected to witness splendid growth during the upcoming period.Inquire more about this report @Building & construction, packaging, automotive, furniture & bedding and other applications are major applications of global polymer foam market. Building & construction ruled the market by contributing the largest share among all other applications for the year 2015. Immense penetration of polymer foam in the construction sector is expected to continue the dominance over the market in the near future. In addition, packaging was the second largest segment in the market and it is likely to grow at a high CAGR due to the strapping demand in the packaging industry. Automotive and furniture & bedding are also other prominent segment that is likely to grow at the significant rate within the forecast period.Asia Pacific accounted for largest share of the entire market of polymer foam in 2015. However, it is also expected to be one of the biggest and fastest markets in coming years due to the adoption of advancing trends in automotive and construction field especially in emerging economies such as China, India, and Indonesia. Asia Pacific was followed by Europe. Surging demand for polymer foam form biomedical, automotive and furniture & bedding industries is likely to influence the positive impact in North America and Europe market during the near future. Furthermore, Latin America and the Middle East is also expected to have moderate growth within the next few years.Some of the key players of global polymer foam include BASF SE, the DOW Chemical Company, Armacell International S.A., Stepan Company, JSP Corp, INEOS Group, Adeplast S.A., Woodbridge Foam Partner and amongst others.Browse the full "Polymer Foam Market" Report with TOC atThe report segments the global polymer foam market as:Polymer Foam Market: Type AnalysisPolystyrene FoamPhenolic FoamMelamine FoamPVC FoamPolyurethane FoamPolyolefin FoamPolymer Foam Market: Application AnalysisBuilding & ConstructionPackagingAutomotiveFurniture & BeddingOthersAbout 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:
Global Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Market Research Report 2017

Global Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Market Research Report 2017

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The Global Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Market Research Report 2017 is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) industry.Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) market analysis is provided for the international market including development history, competitive landscape analysis, and major regions development status.Secondly, development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures. This report also states import/export, supply and consumption figures as well as cost, price, revenue and gross margin by regions (United States, EU, China and Japan), and other regions can be added.Then, the report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out. Whats more, the Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.In a word, the report provides major statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Global Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingFirst SolarSharpYingli SolarSolar FrontierSunPowerSolarcenturyHanwha SolarREC GroupPanasonicKyoceraCanadian SolarSuntechTrina SolarMeyer BurgerAGC SolarHarsha Abakus SolarSapa GroupWurth SolarChengdu XushuangChangzhou NESL......Ask a complete & professional report sample, please send message to tinaning@qyresearch.comTable of contents:1 Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Market Overview2 Global Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)4 Global Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)5 Global Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type6 Global Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Market Analysis by Application7 Global Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis8 Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Market Forecast (2017-2022)13 Research Findings and Conclusion14 AppendixRelated Reports:Global Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Market Research Report 2017Europe Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Market Research Report 2017China Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Market Research Report 2017USA Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Market Research Report 2017Korea Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Market Research Report 2017Japan Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Market Research Report 2017India Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Market Research Report 2017Contact Details:Company Name: QYResearch CO.,LIMITED | focus on Market Survey and ResearchTina| Sales ManagersEmail: tinaning@qyresearch.com Tel: 0086-20-22093278(CN)Web:QYResearch focus on Market Survey and ResearchQYResearch established in 2007, focus on custom research, management consulting, IPO consulting, industry chain research, data base and seminar services. The company owned a large basic data base (such as National Bureau of statistics database, Customs import and export database, Industry Association Database etc), experts resources (included energy automotive chemical medical ICT consumer goods etc industries experts who own more than 10 years experiences on marketing or R&D), professional survey team (the team member with more than 3 years market survey experience and more than 2 years depth expert interview experience),Excellent data analysis team (SPSS statistics and PPT graphics process team); QYResearch has always pursuit product quality, adhere to the quality is the soul of business.Room 2311 VILI International Building No.167 Linhe West Road Tianhe District
Olive Oil Market is Expected to Witness Significant Growth by 2022

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Once known only to the regions bordering the Mediterranean Sea, the fame and virtues of olive oil have spread far and wide, giving rise to a global market for olive oil products. The first thought that comes to ones mind is usually immense health benefits of olive oil when used as a cooking oil, but one also can't ignore the rising applications of olive oil in industries as varied as pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. While Europe might be the largest region largely due to its long heritage in the olive oil market, the fast-growing APEJ region is anticipated to become a driving force in the olive oil market in the long term.A few of the projections from Fact.MRs report on the global olive oil market have been highlighted below to give you an understanding of the current as well as future growth opportunities Request For Sample Report @The processed segment dominates the olive oil market by product type and it is anticipated to remain so for the foreseeable future. With a revenue share approaching three fourth of the olive oil market, it wouldnt be surprising if key players decided to focus their attention exclusively on this product type. Europe accounts for the largest regional contribution of approx. 1/3rd which works out to just over US$ 2.4 billion in 2022.The virgin segment of the olive oil market is much smaller than its processor brethren and it occupies the remaining portion of the olive oil market by product type. Along with Europe, major companies involved in the olive oil market could seek to target the APEJ region as it is just slightly smaller than Europe in terms of revenue contribution with a value almost touching US$ 700 million in 2017 itself.The food processor segment occupies a comparative niche in the olive oil market with a revenue share just approaching a quarter in terms of end user segment. A moderate CAGR for the period 2017-2022 means that this segment needs a customized approach to be truly successful in. Europe is on track to record the highest CAGR for the period which should help it be worth just under a billion dollars by end of 2022.The E-commerce boom is expected to bring about sweeping changes across diverse industries in the near future and the olive oil market should be no different. As Internet connectivity improves in emerging markets and the cost of data-centric smartphones plummets, consumers will certainly seek to purchase olive oil from the comfort of their homes. A revenue share of just over a fifth is hardly indicative of the immense potential this distribution channel of the olive oil market holds in the long term.Check Discount @The Mediterranean Basin is the original home of the olive tree and therefore it isnt surprising that Europe is the largest regional contributor in the olive oil market. A market value pushing past US$ 3 billion at the end of the forecast period promises ample opportunities for all players. Within this region, companies might look at targeting the processed segment as it is poised to record a steady CAGR according to this five-year study.The report has also traced key players in the global olive oil market. Companies namely, The Adani Wilmar Ltd., Adams Group Inc., Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd., Bunge Limited., Cargill Inc, Associated British Foods (Ach), and Archer Daniels Midland Company are expected to remain prominent in expansion of global olive oil market through 2022.Click to View Complete Report @About UsFact.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 UsFact.MROffice: Dublin 2Suite 988427 Upper Pembroke Street,Dublin 2, IrelandTel: +353-1-6111-593( Dublin 2 )Email: sales@factmr.comWeb:
Flow Pack Market - Reporting and evaluation of recent industry developments

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With the presence of many big, small and medium players the market has become fiercely competitive and to stand out at the point of sale packaging is playing a key role in attracting customers and building brand image. The ability of flow pack packaging to reduce the input cost and improve packaging speed is making flow packaging a preferred form of packaging. Flow Pack is commonly used for the packaging of the product which is to be consumed in one go. Flow packs can be easily customized according to the customer requirement, transparent flow packs are used for increasing the visibility of the products while printed flow packs are used for increasing the aesthetic value and to provide information about product and company to the consumer.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @Flow packs have a broad range of application in packaging for a small product such as candy, cookies, capsules to medium size products meat, detergent, etc. Flow pack caters to the various industries such as homecare, food, Personal care, and pharmaceutical. Flow pack packaging is done at a faster speed in comparison with the other form of packaging. Flow pack has very economical print plate costs even for high graphical quality which makes flow pack attractive enough for small and medium size manufacturers.Flow Pack Market: Market DynamicsThe packaging industry is seeing a shift from the traditional rigid form of packaging to a flexible form of packaging due to the technical advancement of a flexible form of packaging. Flow pack being a flexible form of packaging is expected to grow rapidly. Flexible packaging is estimated to be US$ 238 Bn in 2016 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.5% over the forecast period. The ability to reduce the input cost of raw material is the main driver for increasing the popularity for flow packs hence influencing the flow pack market. Availability of larger printable surface area on flow packs emerges as an important factor for boosting the demand in flow pack market. Processed food is majorly packaged in flow packs, with the changing the lifestyle of people in developing regions the consumption of processed food products has increased resulting in the growing demand in flow pack market.Increased penetration of the modern retail outlets in these regions is also supporting the flow pack market. However, the flow pack is not a sustainable form of packaging which can hamper the flow pack market in future. The increasing concern of the regulatory authorities around the world on the rising plastic waste may limit the expansion of flow pack market. However, flow packaging being an efficient form of packaging for packaging of a large number of units.Flow Pack Market: Market SegmentationFlow pack market can be segmented by material type and end-use industry.Based on the type of material used, flow pack market can be segmented into:Aluminum foil laminatesPaperPlasticLDPEHDPEPPPVCBrowse Market Research Report @Based on the type of material used, flow pack market can be segmented into:FoodHomecarePersonal careMedical & PharmaceuticalsOthersRegionally global flow pack market is segmented intoNorth AmericaLatin AmericaEastern EuropeWestern EuropeAsia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ)Middle East & Africa (MEA)Japan and presence of the densely populated areas in the APEJ region inculcate the demand for flow pack market in the APEJ region. Western Europe and North America are expected to follow APEJ region regarding demand in flow pack market due to the lifestyle of the consumers in the region. Latin America being a developing region is expected to exhibit rapid growth for the flow pack market. Flow pack market in MEA region is expected to be small but attractive regarding growth rate.Flow Pack Market: Key Players:Some key players of flow pack market are iPB Printing B.V., Amcor Limited, Plastopil Hazorea Company Ltd, Interpak B.V., Bemis Company, Inc., Mazzoni LB Spa, Vetipak B.V., HuaZe machAll Co.,Ltd., and The Brand Company S.p.A.,About TMRTMR 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.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Milk Packaging Market would grow at a CAGR of 3.5% from 2017 to 2025

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Global Milk Packaging Market - Size, Trend, Share, Opportunity Analysis & Forecast, 20142025. As per the report, the global milk packaging market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.5% from 2017 to 2025. The research provides an extensive analysis of market scenario to help market players gain competitive edge and investors to identify investment pockets in the industry. Furthermore, leading market players active in the market are explored in the research. Extensive analysis of market size and revenue generated by key segments for the historic period, 20142016 and the forecast period, 20172025 is offered in the study to assist market players gain leadership position and acquire huge asset base in the global industry.Key findings of the global milk packaging industry are provided in the research along with current market status. Key investment pockets and top winning strategies are provided in the research to outline key findings. Furthermore, competitive scenario and development trend of the global industry are highlighted in the research. Market attractiveness is outlined in the study based on short-term and long-term strategies for profits. Primary and secondary research methodologies are offered to gather and validate data, information, and statistics. Scope of the report is explored and definitions of significant terminologies are covered.Request Sample Here:Market dynamics of the global milk packaging industry are discussed in the research based on drivers and restraints. Increase in global population & rise in milk consumption per capita, which results in growing demand from developed as well as developing countries drive growth in the industry. Moreover, rise in variety of milk products across the globe and rise in required shelf life to facilitate export of products around the globe supplements the growth. Increase in cost of raw material create challenges in the industry. Porters Five Forces Analysis (PFFA) is offered in the research on basis of bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, industrial rivalry, threat of substitutes, and threat of new entrants. It assists market players to determine market scenario and implement strategies for growth for the future.The research provides a detailed segmentation of the global milk packaging market based on packaging type, material type, and geography. Based on the packaging type, the market is classified into tubs & cups, cans, bottles, pouches, and others. On the basis of material type, the market is segmented into glass, plastic, metal, and paperboard. Geographically, the market is divided into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. Revenue of each segment is provided using a tabular representation along with market share outlined in the research with the help of tabular and graphical format for the historic period and the forecast period.Enquire About Report At:Key market players operating in the global milk packaging market are explored in the report. The study provides an overview of each market player along with highlighting their recent developments across the globe. Moreover, financial and business segments of each player are discussed in the research. Key industry players analyzed in the report are Amcor Ltd., Evergreen Packaging, Ball Corporation, INDEVCO, Elopak, Blur Ridge Paper Products, Tetra Pack, CSK Packaging, and Clondalkin Group Holdings. These insights are helpful to gain an understanding of competitive level and capitalize on opportunities by adopting strategies such as collaborations, partnerships, mergers & acquisitions, and others to gain major market share in the international market.Progressive Markets is the answer to every possible business query. It is a market research and business consulting firm, headquartered in India with an aim to deliver up-to-date executive support to foster overall growth of an organization in its domain. Progressive Markets was found with an initiative to bridge the gap between enterprises and global opportunities.Asia Pacific Intelligence CentreUnited StatesEAST COAST U.S.Direct: +1-646-564-2246Toll Free + 1-888-906-9222Email: help@progressivemarkets.comWeb:
Saudi Arabia Pharmaceutical Market CAGR to Grow at 9.0%

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The significant rise in lifestyle-related diseases and the developments in healthcare infrastructure are expected to influence the demand for pharmaceuticals in Saudi Arabia. In 2016, the Saudi Arabia pharmaceutical market is anticipated to procure value worth US$ 5,209.5 Mn at a y-o-y growth of 6.0 % over 2015. The mounting demand for branded drug products will continue to incite the growth of the Saudi Arabian pharmaceutical market in 2016.The demand for pharmaceuticals in Saudi Arabia is expected to register substantial growth owing to the increasing penetration of health insurance companies and the rising incidence rate of non-communicable diseases. Furthermore, the exceptional rise in the per capita income of Saudi Arabia is also expected to foster the demand for branded pharmaceutical drugs. Another key factor driving the growth of the pharmaceutical market in Saudi Arabia is the countrys strategic move to allow 100% FDI in the pharmaceuticals sector. Although, the shortage of profound indigenous research capacity in the pharmaceutical industry and the delayed registration of drug and medicine patents is expected to limit the expansion of the market in 2016 and beyond.Based on the product type, the pharmaceutical market in Saudi Arabia is expected to witness an upsurge in the prescription-type branded drug products. In terms of market value, the branded drugs are estimated to reach US$ 2,760.8 Mn by 2016-end. The demand for generic drugs is projected to secure steady growth, attributing to the insisting promotion of generic drug adoption by healthcare insurance providers.Fill the Form for an Exclusive Sample of this Report@On the basis of the diseases, the pharmaceutical drugs used for treatment of cardiovascular diseases will continue exhibiting robust growth in 2016. The demand for cardiovascular medications will continue to surge due to the prominence of circulatory disorders in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, the rising prevalence of disorders related to body sugar levels is expected to make diabetes a rapidly growing disease-based sub-segment in the Saudi Arabia pharmaceutical market.The pharmaceutical market in Saudi Arabia is also segmented on the basis of distribution channel, where retail pharmacies will continue to account for 80% market share compared to hospital pharmacies. The westernised modernisation of retail pharmacies in Saudi Arabia has led to the availability of a wide range drugs and medicinal products, thereby attaining a considerable growth in the retail pharmacy sub-segment in 2016 and further.The rising resource potential in Saudi Arabia is projected to positively reform the production environment for pharmaceutical manufacturers. In order to expand the markets size, structuring alliances with well-established native companies is predicted to be a key strategy for global pharmaceutical leaders. The key players in the Saudi Arabia pharmaceutical market include Novartis AG, SPIMACO, Pfizer Inc., and Glaxosmithkline plc., Jamjoom Pharma, and Tabuk Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Co. among others.Send An Enquiry@Long-term Outlook: The Saudi Arabia pharmaceutical market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 9.0% over the forecast period 2016-2026. In terms of market value, the pharmaceutical market in Saudi Arabia is estimated to be worth US$ 12,281.4 Mn by the end of forecast period.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 :
Medical Tourism Market will be Massively Influenced by Macroeconomic Factors 2014-2020

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Medical tourism is one of the most dynamically growing industries today. Considered to be the direct impact of globalisation of healthcare, medical tourism certainly exhibits strong growth potential globally. However, based on FMIs research, the market of medical tourism is expected to concentrate within most of the emerging economies of the world.As developing nations are increasingly heading toward technological advancement and quality services in the medical and healthcare sector, the global medical tourism market is anticipated to witness robust growth over 2014-2020, predominantly in Asian countries.The top treatments people travel abroad for, include cancer therapy, cardiovascular surgeries, orthopaedic treatments, dentistry, cosmetic surgeries, reproductive treatments, weight loss therapies, health screenings, and medical tests and scans. In severe cases, a sizeable patient population also seeks second opinion from specialist doctors out of their countries.Key DriversHigh treatment costs and lengthy waiting times for medical procedures, being the two major factors in driving medical tourism, are also supported by easier and cheaper international travel. While the U.K.s population prefers to travel abroad for bypassing long waits, patients from the U.S. travel outside for availing of treatments at cheaper costs.Request For Report Sample@Medical excellence along with international accreditation are the key factors fuelling a majority of international patient flow, eventually boosting international medical tourism. Currently, over 600 medical departments and hospitals all over the globe are accredited by the U.S. Joint Commission International (JCI). The number of accredited facilities is projected to increase almost by 20% each year. This is another important driver associated with the market growth.Developing countries, with ever-evolving innovation and demonstrable achievements in medical research are estimated to accelerate the approaching medical tourist flow over the forecast period. Growing healthcare investments by various government and private sectors are also anticipated to further bolster the market growth.Key RestraintsHowever, medical tourists are highly prone to a wide variety of health risks after they return. The conditions may include TB, paratyphoid, amoebic dysentery, deep vein thrombosis, and more; usually caused due to poor post-operative care and inadequate rest. This could affect the market to some extent.Stringent documentation processes, issues related to visa approval, and limited insurance coverage are reportedly some of the most deterring factors for the global market.Global Medical Tourism Market: SegmentationFMIs research on the global medical tourism market offers a six-year forecast, segmenting the market on the basis of type of medical treatment and geography.On the basis of the type of treatment, the market is segmented into cosmetic treatment, cardiovascular treatment, fertility treatment, dental treatment, orthopaedic treatment, and other general treatments.On the basis of geography, the market is segmented into Asia pacific, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, North America, and South America.Regional OutlookSome of the prominent medical tourism centres across the globe include Thailand, India, South Korea, Taiwan, Costa Rica, Israel, Brazil, Turkey, the Philippines, Dubai, Singapore, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Canada, and the U.S. According to Patients Beyond Borders, the global medical tourism market is currently growing at an impressive rate between 15% and 25%, and the flow of patients seeking cross-border treatment options will be the highest in Mexico. South and Southeast Asia are expected to dominate the global market in the near future.Based on MTAs recently released Medical Tourism Index, there are 41 countries participating in the global medical tourism market. While India broadly secures #1, Israel ranks #1 in the quality of services and facilities.India is renowned for specialist cardiac surgeries, while Singapore is a popular medical tourism destination owing to the expertise in complicated surgical procedures. Thailand has been a popular destination for medical tourism and millions of patients have travelled to Thailand since 2006. It is also the top cosmetic surgery centre globally.Malaysia offers state-of-the-art medical infrastructure and treatments by highly skilled medical professionals, making it another sought after centre among medical tourists. With economically affordable treatment options and favourable government initiatives, Malaysia is anticipated to acquire one of the top market positions in the global medical tourism market, during the forecast period.Key Players: Global Medical Tourism MarketSome of the top key players in the medical tourism industry include Asian Heart Institute (India), Apollo Hospitals (India), Prince Court Medical Centre (Malaysia), Gleneagles Hospital (Singapore), Min-Sheng General Hospital (Taiwan), Samitivej Sukhumvit Hospital (Bangkok), Raffles Medical Group (Singapore), Clemenceau Medical Centre (Lebanon), Bangkok Hospital (Thailand), Bumrungrad International Hospital (Thailand), Fortis Healthcare Ltd. (India), Wooridul Spine Hospital (Korea), KPJ Healthcare Berhad (Malaysia), Anadolu Medical Centre (Turkey), and Asklepios Klinik Barmbek (Germany).Visit For TOC@While these players rank amongst they compete on the basis of exceptional service quality, optimum patient comfort, and relatively reasonable costs for various treatments. Several facilities are also undergoing mergers, acquisitions, affiliations, and joint ventures for delivering enhanced medical care, thereby strengthening their market positions. A few prominent examples of highly productive collaborations include the collaboration between Bumrungrad International Hospital (Bangkok) and IBM Watson for better cancer care, and the collaboration of Anadolu Medical Centre (Turkey) with Johns Hopkins Medicine (U.S.).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:
Dermatology Devices Market to Record an Impressive Growth Rate of US$ 1,000 Mn by 2022

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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.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.Request For Sample Report @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.Check Discount @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 @About UsFact.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 UsFact.MROffice: Dublin 2Suite 988427 Upper Pembroke Street,Dublin 2, IrelandTel: +353-1-6111-593( Dublin 2 )Email: sales@factmr.comWeb:
Communication Processors Market 2017- Intel Corporation, Freescale, Texas Instruments, NXP Semiconductors, Avago Technologies

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Apex Research, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the "Communication Processors Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of "Communication Processors Market" from view of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries. The research report analyses and provides the historical data along with current performance of the global Communication Processors industry, and estimates the future trend of Communication Processors market on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares "Communication Processors Market" performance both in terms of volume and revenue.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This ReportIntel CorporationFreescaleTexas InstrumentsNXP SemiconductorsAvago TechnologiesMacom TechnologyQualcommBroadcomMicrosemi CorporationIXYS CorporationPMC SierraCaviumMotorolaMarvell Technology GroupThe market research report explores the Communication Processors market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of "Communication Processors Market". The research report studies the entire value chain from raw material to end user industries. The report also shares import/export statistics along with production and consumption for all major regions and countries. Moreover, the research study classifies the Communication Processors market based on major product types, application and end users industries of Communication Processors . Besides, the report also covers geographical segmentation for Communication Processors market. The report further provides production, capacity, price per region, gross margin, production cost, for all major regions and countries listed in report.The competitive landscape of the global market for Communication Processors is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, Communication Processors market's production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Communication Processors market globally.Enquire Before Buying @The worldwide Communication Processors market 2017 is further analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Communication Processors production volume, data pertaining to demand and Communication Processors supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of Communication Processors along with detailed manufacturing sources. The report also shares list of major raw material manufacturers along with their manufacturing locations. Detailed raw material price trend analysis along with manufacturing cost analysis is also incorporated into the report. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, SWOT analysis and market attractiveness analysis has been implemented in the research study to present a comprehensive, detailed study of the industry for Communication Processors across the world.About UsApexResearch offer reports from top publishers and update to serve you with immediate on-line access to professional insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends. Customers can buys different reports across various categories such as Chemical and Material, Biotechnology, Healthcare, Food and beverages, Automobile and various sectors. Our Website offers safe and secure online ordering experience, convenient payment options.Contact UsFrank ValadezBusiness Development Executive| sales@apexresearch.biz
Gas Sensors Industry to grow at 5.4% CAGR from 2015 to 2022

Global Market Insights, Inc.

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The design & production of innovative products will continue to remain one of the key growth strategies adopted by gas sensors market players to consolidate their business position. An instance of the aforementioned fact is the recent launch of a portable flue gas analyzer by E Instruments.Sources claim that E Instruments International LLC, a U.S. based firm manufacturing and designing gas analyzers, launched a new product called the E4500-3 portable flue gas analyzer comprising of gas sensors for detecting levels of nitrous oxide, oxygen, and carbon monoxide.Request for a sample of this research report @This innovative device had been designed for effectively monitoring industrial emissions and combustion procedures. Another major corporation, Adafruit, a renowned open-source hardware firm based in the U.S., has developed a new air quality sensor named as Adafruit CCS81, which can check the proportion of carbon dioxide as well as volatile organic compounds. The contribution of these companies toward the growth of gas sensors market is undeniably massive, as is depicted from the above product launches.Building management systems require the deployment of automation on a large scale, with uninterrupted connectivity, which will undeniably increase the demand for devices equipped with actuators & sensors. These instruments include sensor functionalities that require effective charging with battery replacement, which is not a viable alternative as a result of exorbitant costs.To offer a flexible solution to the problem, Gas sensing solutions, a leading manufacturer of carbon dioxide gas sensor, Sharp Corporation, a Japanese multinational firm that produces electronic items, and the University of the West of Scotland have partnered together to develop a self-powered carbon dioxide sensor for detecting the emissions in the environment.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @Such product innovations will encourage new entrants to invest in this emerging field and will provide them with a platform to explore gas sensors market. Global Market Insights, Inc., claims that gas sensors industry, which was estimated at USD 1.9 billion in 2014, is set to produce a revenue of USD 2.89 billion by 2022.Environmental gas sensors have gained high popularity across the gas sensors market with air pollution adversely impacting over 90% of the global population. The global requirement to reduce air pollution has led to a definitive surge in the requirement for low-cost air pollution measuring equipment. It is projected that the environmental gas sensors industry will produce a revenue of over USD 2.5 billion by 2027. The technology is expected to find extensive applications across consumer electronics such as mobiles and wearable technology as well as the automobile sector as it plays an active role in checking the air quality.Europe gas sensors industry, which contributed more than 27% of global gas sensors industry revenue in 2014, is set to record a CAGR of more than 4.5% over the coming timeframe. Technological breakthroughs are slated to boost the growth of APAC gas sensors market over the coming years.Browse key industry insights spread across 95 Pages with 60 market data tables & 47 figures from the report, Gas Sensors Market Size By Technology (Electrochemical, Semiconductor, PID, Solid State, Catalytic, Infrared), By Product (Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide, NOx, Carbon Monoxide), By End-Use (Medical, Environmental, Petrochemical, Building Automation & Domestic Appliances, Automotive, Industrial), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook, Application Potential, Price Trend, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2015  2022 in detail along with the table of contents:While novel product development is one of the key strategies adopted by gas sensors industry players, the market is highly impacted through mergers & acquisitions as well. This industry is apparently quite consolidated, with the top five players contributing more than half of gas sensors market revenue in 2014. Key industry players include Figaro Engineering Inc., Dynament, ABB Group, Dragerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, Robert Bosch LLC, Yokogawa Electric Corporation, and Nemoto & Company Limited.Browse Related Reports:Optical Sensors Market Size By Product (Image Sensors, Fiber Optic Sensors, Position Sensors, Ambient Light Sensors [Cadmium Sulfide (CdS), Silicon (Si), InGaAs, Extended InGaAs]), By Application (Aerospace & Defense, Automotive, Consumer Electronics, Healthcare, Industrial), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia, China, India, Japan, Australia, South Korea, Brazil Mexico, Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Africa), Application Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016  2024About Fractovia.orgFractovia.org is one of India's leading in-house and free news portal. It is fully automated, and operates on a constant premise, interfacing with news sites and offering redesigned breaking features to readers across the globe. Our mission is to offer individuals opportunities for connections with news writers and distributors which they can pursue. We operate by mapping articles pertaining to breaking news, constantly and progressively, against a pre-determined word-based theme, offering important connections to readers and clients, as well as distributers.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAFractovia.orgPhone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@fractovia.orgWebsite:
Geekologie has shut down.

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Global Cheese Snacks Market: Product and Packaging Innovation Take Top Priority for Manufacturers, observes TMR

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Cheese Snacks Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2017  2025, a research report by Transparency Market Research, involves discussions, explanations, and statistical analysis of the factors that are or may influence the market for the given forecast period. Cheese snacks are a highly popular type of food product, especially among the urban population. One of the key advantages in favor of the global cheese snacks market is the positive convenience level of consuming these products, allowing consumers to make the most of these foods while living an increasingly hectic lifestyle.Obtain Report Details @One of the primary factors driving the global cheese snacks market is the high likeability of cheese and cheese products, coupled with the convenience of consuming cheese snacks. The swiftly expanding global urban population already knows many of the products available in the global cheese snacks market and several other factors are pushing for their increased consumption. These include packaging innovations to increase aesthetic appeal as well as improving the lifespan of perishable products. Chemical and food developments are also allowing manufacturers to come up with new cheese snacks that could increase demand volume for the overall market.In terms of packaging, the global cheese snacks market can be segmented into PET jar, pouch, can, and carton box. Each segment holds a priority in demand, usage, and appeal that also depends on the type of cheese snack being stored in it. As for distribution chains, the global cheese snacks market comprises both direct and indirect sales as core segments. Sub-segments in this category include supermarket, hypermarket, convenience stores, departmental stores, and online retail.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @The global cheese snacks market already includes a massive variety of products or flavor segments. The key flavor segments include Cheddar Cheese Snacks, Cheddar Mozzarella Cheese Snacks, Sharp Cheddar-Jack Cheese Snacks, Colby-Jack Cheese Snacks, Double Cheddar Cheese Snacks, Pepper Jack Cheese Snacks, String Cheese Snacks, and Vermont Sharp White Cheddar Cheese Snacks.One of the key restraints experienced by the global cheese snacks market is the increasing awareness towards heightened calorie consumption among urban consumers. More and more consumers are becoming aware of the problems related to overconsumption such as obesity and diabetes and are taking the required measures to cut down on the consumption of unhealthy snacks and junk foods, of which cheese products forms a large part. These consumers are instead opting for more nutritional snacks or bars with low calories content.Some of the key players include Sargento, Frito-Lay, Frozen Treats, McCain Foods, Cheese Fusions, DFM Foods, and The Connoisseurs Delish.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. 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.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Blood Transfusion Diagnostics Market Sales, Size, Share, Trends and Forecast to 2027

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Market ScenarioGlobally the market for Blood Transfusion Diagnostics Market is increasing rapidly mainly due to increasing transfusion safety. The factors that influence the growth of blood transfusion diagnostics market; increasing safety with nucleic acid testing, blood testing products, immunoassay reagents that recognize irresistible infection, safety in blood preservations, pre-typing of blood donors and others.Key Players Immucor (U.S) Ortho Clinical Diagnostics (U.S) Beckman Coulter (U.S) Quotient Limited (U.S) Diagast (France) Abbott Diagnostics (U.S) Novartis AG (Switzerland) Becton Dickinson (U.S) BAG healthcare (Germany) DiaSorin (Italy) Fujirebio (Belgium) Grifols (Spain) Siemens (Germany), Quidel (U.S), Hologic/Gen-Probe (U.S) Biokit (Spain) Bio-Rad (U.S).Request a Sample Copy @SegmentsOn the basis of type Instruments Reagents Others.On the basis of application Blood Grouping Disease Screening Others.On the basis of end users Hospital, Laboratories Blood Banks Plasma Fractionation Facilities Military Blood Banks othersTaste the market data and market information presented through more than 50 market data tables and figures spread in 200 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Global Blood Transfusion Diagnostics Market Research Report - Forecast to 2027Study Objectives of Blood Transfusion Diagnostics To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 10 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the global blood transfusion diagnostics market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth Assessment of current and emerging technologies, and their potential applications for the blood banking market. Comprehensive lists of companies developing or marketing new technologies and products, by test. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- Americas, Europe, Asia, and Middle East & Africa. To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by type, by applications, end users and its sub-segments. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market.Request Table of Content @The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.Key questions answered in this report What will the market size be in 2027 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?Related ReportsGlobal Cardiac Catheterization Market Information by Types (Angiographic Balloon Catheter, Arterial Embolectomy, Bipolar Pacing) by Applications (Coronary angiogram, Right heart catheterization, Heart biopsy)  Forecast to 2027. Know more about this report @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.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Prenatal and Newborn Genetic Testing Market Industry Trends, Technology, Applications and Growth Drivers, 2024

Global Market Insights, Inc.

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The research report Prenatal and Newborn Genetic Testing Market Size, Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Germany, France, Italy, UK, Spain, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, U.A.E, Saudi Arabia), Application Development Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2017  2024, by Global Market Insights, Inc. says Prenatal and Newborn Genetic Testing Market size is projected to experience significant growth from 2017 to 2024.Growing occurrence of the genetic diseases is the major factor driving global prenatal and newborn genetic testing market. The demand for prenatal and newborn genetic testing is increasing as expecting parents seek to test and identify genomic abnormalities. Rising R&D activities for proteomics and genomics coupled with technological advancement will propel industry growth over the forecast period.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @Advancing genome profiling technology including TaqMan PCR coupled with advances in fetal cell research are boosting the business growth. There is widespread existence of public as well as private organizations that support the research studies for genomic testing. For instance, the Max Planck Institute for molecular genetics and National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) capitalizes, promotes and conducts genomic research.Increasing awareness level in pregnant women for testing and screening about chromosomal abnormalities in fetus provides immense growth opportunities. The major challenge declining the industry growth is decreasing fertility rates globally eventually decreasing in pregnancy numbers and fertility rates, negatively impacting the market. As per, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the Population Division analyzed the world fertility patterns in 2015 were 2.5 kids per woman worldwide.According to the government of Western Australia Department of Health, approximately 5% of newborns in the Western Australia have birth defect. It is the major factor boosting the prenatal and newborn genetic testing market size. Several procedures are carried out in order to screen the birth defects such as, quad marker screen (Quad), serum integrated prenatal screen (SIPS), complete second trimester ultrasound for prenatal genomic screening, and integrated prenatal screen (IPS). Availability of these tests and increasing awareness among the pregnant women regarding these tests are propelling business growth.Browse key industry insights from the report Prenatal and Newborn Genetic Testing Market in detail along with the table of contents:Diagnostics techniques accounted for major share in technology segment owing to wide-ranging applications in detection of the birth defects through genomic testing that include, array-comparative genetic hybridization (aCGH), fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH), and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). PCR is the most preferred and widely used technique due to its indispensable applications in medical and biological research along with capability to diagnose inherited diseases with functional analysis in genes.U.S. prenatal and newborn genetic testing market will witness substantial growth owing to existence of advanced technology that include real time and multiplex PCR techniques coupled with favorable government policies. Structure for screening programs including postnatal, prenatal, selective or universal differs within the U.S. advancement in molecular testing enabled diagnosis of intricate sickling disorders and thalassemia thereby, fueling business growth over the forecast timeframe.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @India and China prenatal and newborn genetic testing market is growing significantly due to improving healthcare facilities, increasing awareness about genetic disorders, thereby rising demand for screening techniques. Moreover, developing activities and government supporting policies coupled with growing economic progress are further boosting industry growth.Some of the industry players include, Roche Diagnostic, Elitech Group, Myriad Genetics, Biocartis, IntegraGen, Perkin Elmer, WaferGen Biosystem, Interpace Diagnostics, Quest Diagnostic, Bio-Rad, AutoGenomics, Bio-Rad, Abbott, Cepheid, EKF Diagnostics, Natera, Agilent Technologies, Illumina, Ariosa Diagnostics, Sequenom, and Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings. The industry players focus on strategic alliances, mergers, partnership and acquisitions for upsurge in firm growth. For instance, in September 2016, AutoGenomics and WuXi AppTec Lab testing division formed strategic partnership for introduction of advanced molecular technology of diagnosis to China. This will provide the company with regional expansion for its products.Browse Related Reports:Digital Genome Market Size By Product (Sequencing & Analyzer Instruments, DNA/RNA Analysis Kits, Sequencing Chips, Sequencing & Analysis Software, Sample Prep Instruments), By Application (Microbiology [Biological, Clinical, Industrial], Reproductive & Genetic, Transplantation, Livestock and Agriculture, Forensics, Research and Development), By End-Use (Diagnostics & Forensic Labs, Academic Research Institutes, Hospitals, Bio-pharmaceutical Companies), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Germany, UK, Italy, Spain, Russia, France, China, Japan, India, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico South Africa, Saudi Arabia), Application Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016  2024About 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 HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog:
Global Carbon Nanotubes Market by Region Applications and Patent Insight 2023

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Global Carbon Nanotubes Market & Patent Insight 2023 Report Highlights: Functionalization of Carbon Nanotubes Global Carbon Nanotube Product Outlook Global Carbon Nanotube Patent Insight by Sector/Application: 300 Patents Global Carbon Nanotube Project Insight by Sector/Applications: 50 Projects Global Carbon Nanotubes Market by Applications & Region Global Carbon Nanotube Market Dynamics Global Carbon Nanotubes Market Future OutlookFor Report Sample Contact: neeraj@kuickresearch.con or +91-11-47067990Report Download Weblink:Carbon nanotube (CNT) is undoubtedly among the most sought after and most dynamic item among the numerous categories in the evolving field of newly synthesized nano-materials. There has been considerable growth in the research, development and technological understanding of these remarkable materials to enable them for industrial applications. Universities, small businesses and start-ups, as well as large corporations, have continued to probe and exploit numerous commercial possibilities for these fascinating materials. As a result, the list of product applications is expanding considerably and is projected to do so well into the future.The most tangible evidence for growth and interest in global carbon nanotube market is reflected by the emergence of new carbon nanotube producers capable of offering carbon nanotubes in commercial-scale quantitiesin kilograms, tons and even hundreds of tons, depending on the specific gradeat more affordable and increasingly competitive unit pricing. In addition, after several years of incubation, there is a new breed of more mature university spin-offs, or nanotechnology companies, targeting specific application sectors.In order to meet the growing demand across the sectors, global carbon nanotubes production capacity has increased considerably as more firms have started production of carbon nanotubes. In last five years from 2011 to 2016, total production capacity of carbon nanotubes in all the countries together became twice  approximately grew from close to 10000 tons in 2011 to 20000 tons in 2016. However, the actual production was much below the capacity because of low demand as carbon nanotube market across the world is at the nascent stage. As the result of minimal demand, the average capacity utilization factor of the production facilities has so far been only about 35%  40%Carbon nanotubes market by area of applications change from one region to another. In Asia-Pacific region, growing electronic and automobile sectors along with rapid overall industrial growth are driving the carbon nanotube market. On the other hand, in North America, Europe and other regions including Latin America and Africa, market of Carbon nanotube is dominated by polymer and chemical industries with moderate impacts of electronic sector sectors. Though at the beginning North America and Europe were the two leading market segments for CNTs, the economic slowdown in both of these regions badly affected the growth of this market.The sector comprising polymers and composites is likely to retain its maximum share in market. Discovery and commercial use of carbon nanotubes have benefited this sector the most as the excellent physical properties of carbon nanotubes match to the requirements of the materials in this sector. Researches indicate many more applications of carbon nanotubes are possible in this sector and exploration activities are also going on. Hence it is quite natural that this sector will continue its dominance in the entire carbon nanotube market. However, there will be a gradual decline of relative share of polymer& composites sector while those for electrical & electronics and energy will continue to increase, though marginally.With excellent physical properties and hence appropriateness in large number of industrial applications, the future market of carbon nanotubes is bound to grow exponentially. This growth is going take place both in terms of end-users and geographical regions  the scope of applications of carbon nanotubes has already broadened and is expected to broaden further while instead of being concentrated in few regions, carbon nanotube market is expanding all the regions across the world. The demand for carbon nanotubes is likely to grow annually at an approximate rate of 20% in the coming years.Report Table of Contents1. Introduction1.1 What is carbon Nanotube1.2 Overview of Global Carbon Nanotube Market2. Production of Carbon Nanotube2.1 Arc Discharge Method2.2 Laser Ablation Method2.3 Chemical Vapour Deposition2.4 Other Methods3. Functionalization of Carbon Nanotubes3.1 Covalent Functionalization of Carbon Nanotubes3.2 Non-Covalent Functionalization3.3 Protein Functionalization3.4 Polymer Functionalization4. Global Carbon Nanotube Product Outlook4.1 Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube (SWNT)4.2 Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube (MWNT)5. Carbon Nanotube Applications Outlook5.1 Polymers & Chemicals5.1.1 Polymer-Nanotube Composites5.1.2 Mixtures5.1.3 Coatings & Films5.1.4 Automotive & Aerospace5.1.5 Sporting Goods5.1.6 Aerospace5.2 Energy5.2.1 Hydrogen Storage5.2.2 Supercapacitor5.2.3 Solar Cells5.3 Electrical & Electronics5.3.1 Transistors5.3.2 Field Emission Display5.3.3 Sensors5.4 Medical & Pharmacy5.4.1 Carbon Nanotube based Therapeutics5.4.2 Carbon Nanotubes in Drug Delivery5.4.3 Carbon Nanotubes in Tissue Engineering5.4.4 Carbon Nanotubes in Cancer Therapeutics5.4.5 Carbon Nanotubes in Diagnosis/Imaging6. Global Patents Insight on Carbon Nanotubes Applications by Sector6.1 Medical diagnosis6.2 Drug Delivery6.3 Cancer Treatment6.4 Medical Devices/Implantation & other biomedical applications6.5 Renewable Energy6.6 Capacitor6.7 Polymer & Composites6.8 Plastic6.9 Mixtures & Coatings6.10 Automotive6.11 Space Research6.12 Electronics6.13 Transistor6.14 Field Emission6.15 Sensor6.16 Electricals6.17 Functionalization/Processing of Carbon Nanotube6.18 Energy Storage6.19 Battery6.20 Environmental Remediation6.21 Production/Synthesis of Carbon Nanotubes6.22 Carbon Nanotube Fiber6.23 Carbon Nanotube Film/Array6.24 Semiconductors6.25 Miscellaneous7. Recent & Ongoing Projects on Carbon Nanotubes7.1 Medical & Pharmacy7.2 Biomedical7.3 Electronics7.4 Sensor/Detector7.5 Electricals7.6 Energy & Power7.7 Energy Storage7.9 Polymer & Composites7.10 Water purification/Desalination7.11 Carbon nanotube synthesis/Functionalization7.12 Environmental remediation7.13 Carbon nanotube properties7.14 Others8. Carbon Nanotubes Market by Applications9. Carbon Nanotube Market by Region10. Carbon Nanotube Market Future Outlook10.1 According to Applications10.2 According to Regions11. Carbon Nanotube Market Drivers11.1 Outstanding Properties Suitable to Various Sectors11.2 Increasing Market Demand11.3 Steady Progress in Technology & Likely Bright Future12. Commercial Challenges12.1 High Cost of Production12.2 Purification Requirement12.3 Safety Issues13. Competitive Landscape13.1 SUSN Sinotech13.2 Nano-C13.3 Showa Denko13.4 Nanocyl13.5 OCSiAI13.6 Hanwha Nanotech13.7 Raymor13.8 LG Chem13.9 Timesnano13.10 Thomas Swan13.11 Kumho Petrochemical13.12 Nanoshel13.13 Nanothinx S.A.13.14 Klean Commodities13.15 ArkemaList of FiguresFigure 1-1: Global - Annual CNT Production Capacity (Tons), 2010 & 2016Figure 1-2: Top 5 Global Firms for CNTs According to Production Capacities (Tons), 2016Figure 3-1: Functionalization of Carbon Nanotubes Using Different MoleculesFigure 5-1: Applications of Carbon Nanotubes in MedicalFigure 5-2: Carbon Nanotube Applications in TherapeuticsFigure 8-1: Global - Carbon Nanotube Demand by Applications (Tons), 2017Figure 8-2: Global - Carbon Nanotubes Demand by Applications (%), 2017Figure 8-3: Global - Carbon Nanotubes Market by Applications (US$ Million), 2017Figure 8-4: Global - Carbon Nanotubes Market Value by Applications (%), 2017Figure 9-1: Global - Carbon Nanotubes Market Demand by Region (Tons), 2017Figure 9-2: Global - Carbon Nanotube Market Demand by Region (%), 2017Figure 9-3: Global - Carbon Nanotubes Market Value by Region (US$ Million), 2017Figure 9-4: Global- Carbon Nanotubes Market by Region (%), 2016Figure 10-1: Global - Projected Demand for Carbon Nanotubes (Tons), 2018 & 2023Figure 10-2: Global - Projected Carbon Nanotubes Demand by Sector (Tons), 2018 & 2023Figure 10-3: Global - Projected Demand for Carbon Nanotubes by Applications (%), 2018Figure 10-4: Global - Projected Demand for Carbon Nanotubes by Sector (%), 2023Figure 10-5: Global - Projected Market for Carbon Nanotubes (US$ Billion), 2018 & 2023Figure 10-6: Global - Projected Carbon Nanotubes Market by Applications (US$ Million), 2018 & 2023Figure 10-7: Global - Projected Carbon Nanotubes Market by Applications (%), 2018Figure 10-8: Global - Projected Carbon Nanotubes Market by Applications (%), 2023Figure 10-9: Global - Projected Demand for Carbon Nanotubes by Region (Tons), 2018 & 2023Figure 10-10: Global - Projected Carbon Nanotubes Market Demand by Region (%), 2018Figure 10-11: Global - Projected Carbon Nanotubes Market Demand by Region (%), 2023Figure 10-12: Global - Projected Market for Carbon Nanotubes by Region (US$ Million), 2018 & 2023Figure 10-13: Global - Projected Carbon Nanotube Market by Region (%), 2018Figure 10-14: Global - Projected Carbon Nanotube Market by Region (%), 2023Figure 12-1: Average Price of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (US$/Gram)Kuick Research is a market research and analytics company that provides targeted information for critical decisions at business, product and service levels. We are quick, predictive and known by the recommendations we have made in the past. Our result-oriented research methodology offers understanding of multiple issues in a short period of time and gives us the capability to keep you full with loads of practical ideas. By translating research answers into strategic insight and direction, we not only rate the success potential of your products and/or services, but also help you identify the opportunities for growth in new demographies and find ways to beat competition.Neeraj Chawlaneeraj@kuickresearch.comKuicK ResearchAvanta Business Center 4th Floor,Statesman House Barakhamba Road,Connaught Place New Delhi  110 001, India+91-11-47067990
Analysis of Global ENT Endoscopic and Bronchoscopic Devices Market to grow at a CAGR of 10.16% during the period 2017-2021

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ResearchMoz added Latest Research Report titled " Global ENT Endoscopic and Bronchoscopic Devices Market 2017-2021 " to it's Large Report database.About ENT Endoscopy and Bronchoscopy DevicesThe ENT endoscopes market is driven by the new-generation flexible video scopes. These are less traumatic and provide improved visualization for the surgeons. The increasing cases of sinusitis, ear infections, and sleep disorders are driving the growth of the ENT endoscopes market. Obesity and older adult population contribute to the increasing use of these devices. Surgeries related to the head and neck region that are inaccessible for surgeries are expected to increase over the forecast period. These surgeries include transnasal endoscopic pituitary gland surgery, tumor resection, and complex ear surgery. However, the preference for non-invasive procedures such as Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and other imaging technologies challenge the market growth for ENT endoscopes. Olympus is the leading manufacturer of these devices followed by Karl Storz and Arthrex.Technavios analysts forecast the global ENT endoscopy and bronchoscopy devices market to grow at a CAGR of 10.16% during the period 2017-2021.Request for Sample PDF of Premium Research Report with TOC:Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global ENT endoscopy and bronchoscopy devices market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the global demand for global ENT endoscopy and bronchoscopy devices market.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEATechnavio's report, Global ENT Endoscopy and Bronchoscopy Devices 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 more details @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 analysisMarket overviewPART 06: Market segmentation by productPART 07: Market segmentation by end-userHospitals and clinicsASCsPOLsPART 08: Geographical segmentationENT endoscopic and bronchoscopic devices market in AmericasENT endoscopic and bronchoscopic devices market in EMEAENT endoscopic and bronchoscopic devices market in APACPART 09: Market driversGrowing elderly population with respiratory disordersStrong presence of third-party service providers driving endoscopic devices marketIncreasing preference for MI proceduresM&A increasing the service networksAbout 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 Machine Learning as a Service Market Growth Rate Analysis,Trends and Outlooks 2017

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ReportsMonitor.com has added Global Machine Learning as a Service Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 to its database of market research reports.This report studies the global Machine Learning as a Service market, analyzes and researches the Machine Learning as a Service development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. This report focuses on the top players in global market, likeGoogleIBM CorporationMicrosoft CorporationAmazon Web ServicesBigMLFICOYottamine AnalyticsErsatz LabsPredictron LabsH2O.aiAT&TSift ScienceRequest a Free Sample Report @Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEUJapanChinaIndiaSoutheast AsiaMarket segment by Type, Machine Learning as a Service can be split intoSoftware ToolsCloud and Web-based Application Programming Interface (APIs)OtherView Entire Report @Market segment by Application, Machine Learning as a Service can be split intoManufacturingRetailHealthcare & Life SciencesTelecomBFSIOther (Energy & Utilities, Education, Government)Some Points From Table Of Contents:1 Industry Overview of Machine Learning as a Service1.1 Machine Learning as a Service Market Overview1.1.1 Machine Learning as a Service Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global Machine Learning as a Service 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 Machine Learning as a Service Market by Type1.3.1 Software Tools1.3.2 Cloud and Web-based Application Programming Interface (APIs)1.3.3 Other1.4 Machine Learning as a Service Market by End Users/Application1.4.1 Manufacturing1.4.2 Retail1.4.3 Healthcare & Life Sciences1.4.4 Telecom1.4.5 BFSI1.4.6 Other (Energy & Utilities, Education, Government)Reports 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.Jay MatthewsDirect: +1 513 549-5911Email: sales@reportsmonitor.comWebsite:
Wireless Signal Jammer Market 2017- BAE Systems, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Harris, Israel Aerospace Industries

Wireless Signal Jammer Market

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Apex Research, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the "Wireless Signal Jammer Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of "Wireless Signal Jammer Market" from view of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries. The research report analyses and provides the historical data along with current performance of the global Wireless Signal Jammer industry, and estimates the future trend of Wireless Signal Jammer market on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares "Wireless Signal Jammer Market" performance both in terms of volume and revenue.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This ReportBAE SystemsRaytheonNorthrop GrummanLockheed MartinHarrisIsrael Aerospace IndustriesMctech TechnologyNDR Resource InternationalHSS DevelopmentStratignWolvesfleet TechnologyNoFuKcnThe market research report explores the Wireless Signal Jammer market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of "Wireless Signal Jammer Market". The research report studies the entire value chain from raw material to end user industries. The report also shares import/export statistics along with production and consumption for all major regions and countries. Moreover, the research study classifies the Wireless Signal Jammer market based on major product types, application and end users industries of Wireless Signal Jammer . Besides, the report also covers geographical segmentation for Wireless Signal Jammer market. The report further provides production, capacity, price per region, gross margin, production cost, for all major regions and countries listed in report.The competitive landscape of the global market for Wireless Signal Jammer is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, Wireless Signal Jammer market's production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Wireless Signal Jammer market globally.Enquire Before Buying @The worldwide Wireless Signal Jammer market 2017 is further analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Wireless Signal Jammer production volume, data pertaining to demand and Wireless Signal Jammer supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of Wireless Signal Jammer along with detailed manufacturing sources. The report also shares list of major raw material manufacturers along with their manufacturing locations. Detailed raw material price trend analysis along with manufacturing cost analysis is also incorporated into the report. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, SWOT analysis and market attractiveness analysis has been implemented in the research study to present a comprehensive, detailed study of the industry for Wireless Signal Jammer across the world.About UsApexResearch offer reports from top publishers and update to serve you with immediate on-line access to professional insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends. Customers can buys different reports across various categories such as Chemical and Material, Biotechnology, Healthcare, Food and beverages, Automobile and various sectors. Our Website offers safe and secure online ordering experience, convenient payment options.Contact UsFrank ValadezBusiness Development Executive| sales@apexresearch.biz
Blood Pressure Monitoring Devices Market share forecast to witness considerable growth from 2017 to 2024

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The research report Blood Pressure Monitoring Devices Market Size, Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Poland, China, India, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, UAE), Application Development Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2017  2024, by Global Market Insights, Inc. says Blood Pressure Monitoring Devices Market size is projected to experience significant growth from 2017 to 2024.Blood pressure monitoring devices market size should witness significant growth due to increased prevalence of hypertension over the last few years. According to WHO, hypertension causes around 17 million deaths every year. Increasing unhealthy lifestyle habits such as smoking, sedentary lifestyle and presence of clinical conditions such as diabetes will serve to be a positive impact rendering factor.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @Prevalence of hypertension further increase considerably with age. As per National Center for Health Statistics, U.S., in 2015, prevalence of hypertension in people aged over 60 was around 64.9% and the prevalence should further rise in near future. The global increase in average age as well as absolute number of geriatric people will be a significant impact rendering factor. Moreover, demographic trends such as increasing life expectancy will further drive the blood pressure monitoring devices market over the forecast period.Technological advancements pertaining to hypertension monitoring should propel the blood pressure monitoring devices market. Some of the recent technologies include devices that use sensor and computerized mathematical modeling for recording of pulse. The technologically advanced products are much more comfortable and easy to use compared to conventional equipment. Other latest technologies driving the business growth includes devices that uses Bluetooth and finger blood pressure monitor.Browse key industry insights from the report Blood Pressure Monitoring Devices Market in detail along with the table of contents:Increasing government initiatives aimed at preventing the deaths attributed to hypertension coupled with the growing demand for portable equipment will drive the hypertension monitoring devices market growth over the forecast period. Excessive cost for technological developments, lack of trained physicians coupled with the low awareness in underdeveloped countries and to some extent in developing nation may hinder the blood pressure monitoring devices market growth.Automatic digital sphygmomanometer segment will show substantial growth owing to the advantages over the conventional mercury based equipment. These devices are compact, convenient, easy to use, eliminates chances of human error and provides accurate results. Home care devices segment will show at substantial growth due to increasing usage.Physicians are increasingly recommending use of home monitoring of blood pressure for patients with severe hypertension. The regular check-up at home for patients with hypertension allows greater control over the clinical condition. However, the accuracy issues with the results provided by the may hinder the demand.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @Indian blood pressure monitoring devices market will witness significant growth due to growing patient pool. The high prevalence of obesity and diabetes will further drive the region growth. Public health England estimated that, around 13.4 million people in England have undiagnosed or GP recorded hypertension. The population of England is rapidly aging and average life expectancy is high. Favorable government initiatives such as The Blood Pressure Action Plan will serve to be a positive impact rendering factor. The favorable demographic trends coupled with the high prevalence should boost UK hypertension monitoring devices market.Some of the industry players include, Contec Medical Systems, General Electric Company, Koninklijke Philips, Halma, Smiths Medical, Omron, Welch Allyn, American Diagnostic, Spacelabs Healthcare, Rossmax International and Microlife. The industry players focus on strategic alliances and innovative product launch to expand their business portfolio as main strategies. For instance, Halma acquired SunTech medical group a supplier of hyper tension monitoring technologies and products. The acquisition extended Halmas offerings in blood pressure monitoring devices market.Browse Related Reports:Digital Genome Market Size By Product (Sequencing & Analyzer Instruments, DNA/RNA Analysis Kits, Sequencing Chips, Sequencing & Analysis Software, Sample Prep Instruments), By Application (Microbiology [Biological, Clinical, Industrial], Reproductive & Genetic, Transplantation, Livestock and Agriculture, Forensics, Research and Development), By End-Use (Diagnostics & Forensic Labs, Academic Research Institutes, Hospitals, Bio-pharmaceutical Companies), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Germany, UK, Italy, Spain, Russia, France, China, Japan, India, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico South Africa, Saudi Arabia), Application Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016  2024About 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 HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog:
Global Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Software Market Growth with Worldwide Analysis 2015-2019

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"Global Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Software Market 2015-2019" The Report covers current Industries Trends, Worldwide Analysis, Global Forecast, Review, Share, Size, Growth, Effect.Description-- About Enterprise Content Management (ECM) SoftwareECM is a set of tools used to manage critical business content in an organization. It manages all types of business content, from simple documentations to interactive real-time videos. ECM solutions enable the management of business information throughout the document and content lifecycle from creation to disposition. They consist of various components that help organizations to effectively manage content related to business processes and workflows. The cloud computing model for ECM has succeeded in changing the deployment of ECM solutions from a capital expenditure model to a pay-per-use subscription model.Get Sample Report With TOC @** Technavio's analysts forecast the global ECM software market to grow at a CAGR of 13.66% during 2014-2019.- Covered in this ReportThis report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global ECM software market for 2015-2019. To calculate the market size, it considers the revenue generated through the following:Software licenses and subscriptions costSoftware implementation and maintenance cost- The report covers segmentation of the market by component types:DMSWCMDCCRecords managementDocument imagingBPMOther components- The report covers segmentation of the market by deployment mode:Cloud-based ECMOn-premises ECMThe report also presents the vendor landscape and a corresponding detailed analysis of the five leading vendors in the market. In addition, it discusses the major drivers that influence the growth of the market. It also outlines the challenges faced by vendors and the market at large, as well as the key trends emerging in the market.- Key RegionsAmericasAPACEMEA- Key VendorsEMCIBMMicrosoftOpen TextOracle- Other Prominent VendorsAdobeAlfrescoEPiServerEver TeamFabasoftHewlett-PackardHyland SoftwareLaserficheM-FilesNewgen Software TechnologiesPerceptive SoftwareSaperionSDLSoftware InnovationSpringCMSunGard iWORKSSystemwareXerox- Market DriverNeed to Increase ProductivityFor a full, detailed list, view our report- Market ChallengeHigh Costs Involved in Content and Record ManagementFor a full, detailed list, view our report- Market TrendIncreased Adoption by SMEsFor a full, detailed list, view our report- Key Questions Answered in this ReportWhat will the market size be in 2019 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
Global Yoga Mat market was 1107.75 Million USD in 2016 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.78% from 2017 to 2023

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Yoga Mat Consumption Market 2017 Market Research Report" to its huge collection of research reports.The global market for Yoga Mat is expected to grow due to evolving technology and rising demands for advanced products and services. This report is intends to offer a 360 degree view into the various aspects of this industry. This report provides the estimated market value at the end of forecast period 2017-2022 and includes the CAGR value at which this market is expected to grow over the forecast period. This report includes segmentation of the market on the basis of various aspects such as technologies, services, products, end users, and applications. These segmentations are expected to provide readers a complete guide to the global Yoga Mat market. Furthermore, the market values for each segments are included along with their growth projections over the forecast period.For more info, get a Sample PDF with TOC:This report on Yoga Mat market is developed by professional market researchers who have keen eyes on details. These professionals have considered every important aspect of the market to develop most precise projection of the global Yoga Mat market. The global market is also segmented for key regions such as the Middle East and Africa, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and North America. This segmentation provides the growth projections of the Yoga Mat market in these regions. The estimated market shares by value are included along with the CAGR to anticipate the growth of market in each of these regions. As local trends and regional government policies affect the Yoga Mat market, trends and regulations poised by governments in these regions are included. To comprehensively give insights into this market, various tables and graphs are included.Table of Contents1 Industry Overview of Yoga Mat11.1 Definition and Specifications of Yoga Mat11.1.1 Definition of Yoga Mat11.1.2 Specifications of Yoga Mat21.2 Classification of Yoga Mat21.2.1 PVC Yoga Mat31.2.2 Rubber Yoga Mat41.2.3 TPE Yoga Mat41.3 Applications of Yoga Mat5Browse Complete Report with TOC @2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Yoga Mat142.1 Raw Material Suppliers and Price Analysis of Yoga Mat142.2 Equipment Suppliers and Price Analysis of Yoga Mat162.3 Labor Cost Analysis of Yoga Mat172.4 Other Costs Analysis of Yoga Mat222.5 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Yoga Mat262.6 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Yoga Mat263 Global Yoga Mat Sales, Sales Price and Market Size (Volume and Value) 2012-2017 Analysis273.1 Global 2012-2017 Yoga Mat Market Size Analysis273.2 Global 2012-2017 Yoga Mat Sales Price Analysis283.3 Global 2012-2017 Yoga Mat Sales by Companies293.4 Global 2012-2017 Yoga Mat Sales by Product Type323.5 Global 2012-2017 Yoga Mat Sales by Applications343.6 Global 2012-2017 Yoga Mat Sales by Region364 USA Yoga Mat Sales, Sales Price, Market Size (Volume and Value) and End Users Analysis384.1 USA 2012-2017 Yoga Mat Market Size Analysis384.2 USA 2012-2017 Yoga Mat Sales Price Analysis394.3 USA 2012-2017 Yoga Mat Sales by Companies404.4 USA 2012-2017 Yoga Mat Sales by Product Type414.5 USA 2012-2017 Yoga Mat Sales by Applications424.6 USA 2012-2017 Yoga Mat Regional Import Export Analysis44Enquiry For Discount Visit @List of Tables and FiguresFigure Picture of Yoga Mat1Table Specifications of Yoga Mat2Table Classification of Yoga Mat2Table China 2012-2017 Yoga Mat Sales Market Share by Companies54Table China 2012-2017 Yoga Mat Sales (K Pcs) by Product Type54Figure China 2012 Yoga Mat Sales Market Share by Product Type55Figure China 2016 Yoga Mat Sales Market Share by Product Type55Table China 2012-2017 Yoga Mat Sales (K Pcs) by Applications56Figure Global 2018-2023 Yoga Mat Market Size (Value) and Growth Rate Forecast67Figure Global 2018-2023 Yoga Mat Sales Price (USD/K Pcs) Forecast67Figure USA 2018-2023 Yoga Mat Market Size (Volume) and Growth Rate Forecast68About 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
Global Bullet-Proof Glass Market 2017 - China Specialty Glass, Saint-Gobain, Asahi Glass, Guardian Industries, Apogee Enterprise

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The report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specifications, sales, market share and contact information. Whats more, the Bullet-Proof Glass industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.The report begins with a broad introduction of the Bullet-Proof Glass market and then drills deeper into specific segments such as application, regional markets, end-users, policy analysis, value chain structure, and emerging trends. The Bullet-Proof Glass market report makes a case for investments in particular regions based on a realistic view of their regulatory environment, manufacturing dynamics and availability of skills and resources. Also, recommendations are made based on regions and market segments that are not poised for appreciable growth in the near future.Download Free Sample Report @The Bullet-Proof Glass market and its dynamics are evaluated using industry leading tools and techniques. A qualitative analysis forms a sizeable portion of the research efforts as well. With emerging changes on the horizon, the Bullet-Proof Glass market is poised for certain important change. It is imperative that market players gear up for these changes. The report helps companiesboth new and establishedto identify white spaces and opportunities for growth in the Bullet-Proof Glass market.The leading companies in the Bullet-Proof Glass market are profiled to offer a complete overview of their growth strategies, financial standing, product and services pipeline, as well as recent collaborations and developments.The reports analysis is based on technical data and industry figures sourced from the most reputable databases. Other aspects that will prove especially beneficial to readers of the report are: investment feasibility analysis, recommendations for growth, investment return analysis, trends analysis, opportunity analysis, and SWOT analyses of competing companies. With the help of inputs and insights from technical and marketing experts, the report presents an objective assessment of the Bullet-Proof Glass market.Access Full Report @A detailed segmentation evaluation of the Bullet-Proof Glass market has been provided in the report. Detailed information about the key segments of the market and their growth prospects are available in the report. The detailed analysis of their sub-segments is also available in the report. The revenue forecasts and volume shares along with market estimates are available in the report. The competitive landscape of the market presented in the study profiles the most prominent players in the market.Fior 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:
2017-2022 Cyber Insurance Report on Global and United States Market : Allianz Global Corporate, Munich Re Group, Lloyds

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report "2017-2022 Cyber Insurance Report on Global and United States Market, Status and Forecast, by Players, Types and Applications" to its huge collection of research reports.The analysis presented examines a number of aspects regarding the Cyber Insurance advertise that showcases future and current scenarios, with regard to the dynamics at play. The pivotal impetus of the report is to provide the reader with extensive results and make them available. The futuristic research review focuses on motivators, deterrents, predictions, and the general Cyber Insurance repercussions, along with its progress throughout the period of study. The report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Cyber Insurance, whose predilection towards steady advancements is based upon the opportunities and possible restraints that may occur.The major players in global and United States Cyber Insurance market, including American International Group, The Chubb Corporation, Zurich Insurance, XL Group, Berkshire Hathaway, Allianz Global Corporate, Munich Re Group, Lloyds, Lockton Companies, AON PLC.KNOW MORE WITH SAMPLE STUDY @Furthermore, the analysis examines the advance of Cyber Insurance by a meticulous study beginning from the process cycle up to the behavior pattern of the tenacious market scenario. In anticipation, this extends the verified data and critical numbers, relating to the performance factors, transmittal format, bulk transaction, and benefits of the cumulative. A brief on the strategies to be adopted by possible entrants in Cyber Insurance can also be inferred form the report.The study employs the detailed analysis of the recurring Cyber Insurance elements, and further expands them to realize the subsequent impact of the plethora of market components. This aids the examination in including an exhaustive evaluation of the industry which in lieu equips the vendors and market neophytes to be self-sustained and knowledgeable about prospective business strategies. The report acts as a blueprint that can be utilized to understand market patterns and opportunities. On account of its summation of substantial and discretional investigative structure, there is a high possibility of captivating Cyber Insurance predictions.Table 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 SourceFor more information on this report, fill the form @2 Cyber Insurance Market Overview2.1 Cyber Insurance Product Overview2.2 Cyber Insurance Market Segment by Type2.2.1 Security or Privacy Breaches2.2.2 Intelligence Property Insurance2.2.3 Billing Error Coverage2.2.4 Others2.3 Global Cyber Insurance Product Segment by Type2.3.1 Global Cyber Insurance Sales (K Case) and Growth (%) by Types (2012, 2016 and 2022)3 Cyber Insurance Application/End Users3.1 Cyber Insurance Segment by Application/End Users3.1.1 Healthcare3.1.2 Retail3.1.3 Financial Services3.1.4 Information Technology and Services3.1.5 Others3.2 Global Cyber Insurance Product Segment by Application3.2.1 Global Cyber Insurance Sales (K Case) and CGAR (%) by Applications (2012, 2016 and 2022)4 Cyber Insurance Market Status and Outlook by Regions4.1 Global Market Status and Outlook by Regions4.1.1 Global Cyber Insurance Market Size and CAGR by Regions (2012, 2016 and 2022)4.1.2 North America4.1.3 Asia-Pacific5 Global Cyber Insurance Market Competition by Players/Manufacturers5.1 Global Cyber Insurance Sales (K Case) and Market Share by Players (2012-2017)5.2 Global Cyber Insurance Revenue (Million USD) and Share by Players (2012-2017)5.3 Global Cyber Insurance Average Price (USD/Case) by Players (2012-2017)5.4 Players Cyber Insurance Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area, Product TypesPlease click the link to avail discount on this report @List of Tables and FiguresTable Research Programs/Design for This ReportFigure Bottom-up and Top-down Approaches for This ReportFigure Data TriangulationFigure Global Sales Cyber Insurance Market Share (%) by Types (2012-2017)Figure Global Sales Cyber Insurance Market Share (%) by Types in 2016Table Global Cyber Insurance Revenue (Million USD) by Types (2012-2017)Figure Global Sales Cyber Insurance Market Share (%) by Applications in 2016Table United States Cyber Insurance Sales (K Case) Comparison by Applications (2012-2022)Table United States Cyber Insurance Sales (K Case) by Applications (2012-2017)Table United States Cyber Insurance Sales Share (%) by Applications (2012-2017)Figure United States Sales Cyber Insurance Market Share (%) by Applications (2012-2017)About 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
Cement 2017 Global Market Key Players  CNBM, Heidelberg Cement, Anhui Conch Cement, Italcementi, Taiwan Cement, UltraTech Cement  Analysis and Forecast to 2022

Cement Market

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Cement SWOT Analysis and Forecast 20227Wiseguyreports.Com adds Cement Market Market Demand, Growth, Opportunities, Analysis of Top Key Players and Forecast to 2022 To Its Research Database.Report Details:The report provides in depth study of Cement Market using SWOT analysis i.e. Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threat to the organization. The Cement Market report also provides an in-depth survey of key players in the market which is based on the various objectives of an organization such as profiling, the product outline, the quantity of production, required raw material, and the financial health of the organization.This report studies Cement 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, coveringThis report focuses on the top players in global market, likeLafargeHolcimCNBMAnhui Conch CementHeidelberg CementCemexItalcementiTaiwan CementChina Resources Cement HoldingsUltraTech CementTaiheiyo CementChina Tianrui Group CementDalmia BharatLucky CementColacemBuzzi UnicemCIMPORUbe IndustriesThis report has a complete understanding of market value and quantity, technological progress, macro-economic and governmental policy based on past and present data along with the current and upcoming trends in the market.Request a Sample Report @On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoPortland CementAluminous CementHydraulic CementOtherBy Application, the market can be split intoResidentialNon-residentialInfrastructureBy 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.Complete Report Details@Major Key Points in Table of Content:1 Industry Overview of Cement1.1 Definition and Specifications of Cement1.1.1 Definition of Cement1.1.2 Specifications of Cement1.2 Classification of Cement1.2.1 Portland Cement1.2.2 Aluminous Cement1.2.3 Hydraulic Cement1.2.4 Other1.3 Applications of Cement1.3.1 Residential1.3.2 Non-residential1.3.3 Infrastructure1.4 Market Segment by Regions1.4.1 North America1.4.2 China1.4.3 Europe1.4.4 Southeast Asia1.4.5 Japan1.4.6 India.8 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Cement8.1 LafargeHolcim8.1.1 Company Profile8.1.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.1.2.1 Product A8.1.2.2 Product B8.1.3 LafargeHolcim 2016 Cement Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.1.4 LafargeHolcim 2016 Cement Business Region Distribution Analysis8.2 CNBM8.2.1 Company Profile8.2.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.2.2.1 Product A8.2.2.2 Product B8.2.3 CNBM 2016 Cement Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.2.4 CNBM 2016 Cement Business Region Distribution Analysis8.3 Anhui Conch Cement8.3.1 Company Profile8.3.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.3.2.1 Product A8.3.2.2 Product B8.3.3 Anhui Conch Cement 2016 Cement Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.3.4 Anhui Conch Cement 2016 Cement Business Region Distribution Analysis8.4 Heidelberg Cement8.4.1 Company Profile8.4.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.4.2.1 Product A8.4.2.2 Product B8.4.3 Heidelberg Cement 2016 Cement Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.4.4 Heidelberg Cement 2016 Cement Business Region Distribution Analysis8.5 Cemex8.5.1 Company Profile8.5.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.5.2.1 Product A8.5.2.2 Product B8.5.3 Cemex 2016 Cement Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.5.4 Cemex 2016 Cement Business Region Distribution Analysis8.6 Italcementi8.6.1 Company Profile8.6.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.6.2.1 Product A8.6.2.2 Product B8.6.3 Italcementi 2016 Cement Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.6.4 Italcementi 2016 Cement Business Region Distribution Analysis8.7 Taiwan Cement8.7.1 Company Profile8.7.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.7.2.1 Product A8.7.2.2 Product B8.7.3 Taiwan Cement 2016 Cement Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.7.4 Taiwan Cement 2016 Cement Business Region Distribution Analysis8.8 China Resources Cement Holdings8.8.1 Company Profile8.8.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.8.2.1 Product A8.8.2.2 Product B8.8.3 China Resources Cement Holdings 2016 Cement Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.8.4 China Resources Cement Holdings 2016 Cement Business Region Distribution Analysis8.9 UltraTech Cement8.9.1 Company Profile8.9.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.9.2.1 Product A8.9.2.2 Product B8.9.3 UltraTech Cement 2016 Cement Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.9.4 UltraTech Cement 2016 Cement Business Region Distribution Analysis8.10 Taiheiyo Cement8.10.1 Company Profile8.10.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.10.2.1 Product A8.10.2.2 Product B8.10.3 Taiheiyo Cement 2016 Cement Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.10.4 Taiheiyo Cement 2016 Cement Business Region Distribution AnalysisContinued.Buy now @Contact Us:NORAH TRENTPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Sales@Wiseguyreports.ComPh: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)ABOUT US: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.ADDRES:WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
Worldwide Aerostat Systems Market Application, Players and Forecast To 2021

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Publisher's Aerostat 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.The report includes the forecasts, Analysis and discussion of important industry trends, market size, market share estimates and profiles of the leading industry Players.The Players mentioned in our reportLockheed MartinRaytheonRaven IndustriesAugur RosaerosystemsExelis (Harris Corporation)RT LTA SystemsNear Space SystemsAeroscraft CorporationLindstrand TechnologiesTcom L.P.Global Aerostat Systems Market: Product Segment AnalysisPowered airshipsTethered AerostatFor More Information About This Report:Global Aerostat Systems Market: Application Segment AnalysisMilitaryOffshore ConstructionDisaster ReliefGlobal Aerostat Systems Market: Regional Segment AnalysisUSAEuropeJapanChinaIndiaSouth East AsiaRequest Sample Copy At:Table of ContentChapter 1 About the Aerostat Systems IndustryChapter 2 World Market Competition LandscapeChapter 3 World Aerostat Systems Market shareChapter 4 Supply Chain AnalysisChapter 5 Company ProfilesChapter 6 Globalization & TradeChapter 7 Distributors and CustomersChapter 8 Import, Export, Consumption and Consumption Value by Major CountriesChapter 9 World Aerostat Systems Market forecast through 2021Chapter 10 Key success factors and Market OverviewInquire For This Report At:Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comReportsWeb.com 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. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028
Medical Robots Market size and Key Trends in terms of volume and value 2016-2026

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Medical Robot is a robot which enables the surgeons to perform surgeries with more precision. Medical robotics is emerging field. There are a wide variety of medical applications had emerged such as Surgical robots, laboratory robots, telesurgery, remote surgery, and teleconsultation robots, rehabilitation robots to help for the deaf and the blind. Medical robots assist in surgeries and make possible to decrease risk of infection. Medical robots are enables to increases accuracy of surgeons and reduce risk of patients For instance, heart bypass surgery requires, patients chest to be open and that long incision be made. The surgeon first cuts through skin, then tissue, and muscle, fascia, and then reaches to the heart. Through Medical robots it become easy to perform critical surgeries with precision. Medical robots are has advantages such as decrease post-operative pain, decrease risk of infection, decreases blood loss and minimum level of anesthesia. Medical robots have many challenges in the application of robotics in the medical field, such as safety, cost and reluctance to accept this technology.Medical Robots Market: Drivers and restraintsGlobal medical robots market can be driven by following drivers, Medical robots has gained widespread of acceptance by diverse range of fields such as Interventional cardiological surgery, Neurological surgery and orthopedic surgery etc., are provides lucrative market opportunities. Medical robots provides greatest contributions in more complex cases with more precision. Increasing technological innovations in medical field propels the global medical robots market. Major restraints of the market, Medical robots are expensive and need a technical professionals to perform surgeries.Request Report Sample@Medical Robots Market: SegmentationGlobal Medical Robots Market can be segmented as following typesGlobal Medical Robots by Products:Instruments and AccessoriesRobotic SystemsSurgical RobotsNeurological Surgery Robotic SystemsCardiology Surgery Robotic SystemsLaparoscopic Surgical Robotic SystemsOrthopaedic Surgical Robotic SystemsSteerable RoboticsRehabilitation RobotsTherapeutic RobotsProsthetic RobotsAssistive RobotsExoskeleton RobotsNon-invasive Radiosurgery RobotsHospital and Pharmacy automation robotsPharmacy automation robotsIV RobotsGlobal Medical Robots Market, by ApplicationNeurology ApplicationsOrthopaedic ApplicationsCardiology ApplicationsLaparoscopic ApplicationsOther ApplicationsMedical Robots Market: OverviewIncreasing the demand for advanced treatment methods for various severe diseases, increasing the prevalence of cardiac and neurological disorders and cancer are provides a robust market growth. Increasing the technological advancements and applications of these advancements in critical surgeries propels medical robots market over the forecast period.Medical Robots Market: Region-Wise OutlookDepending upon the geographic regions medical robots market is segmented into seven key regions: Those are North America, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and Asia pacific excluding japan, Japan, Middle East and Africa.North America dominating the global medical robots market. Increasing awareness among the people towards the use of innovative technologies providing lucrative market. Asian Pacific region market is considered to rapidly evolving healthcare infrastructure, this region is anticipating providing a robust growth of global medical robots market.Visit For TOC@Medical Robots Market: Key playersSome of the key players in Market are Stryker Corporation, Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Houston Medical Robotics, Inc., Hansen Medical, Inc., Kirbey lester, Otto Bock Healthcare, Kinova robotics, Varian Medical Systems, Hocoma AG, Vecna Robotics, Globus Medical, IRobot Corporatin, Titan Medical, Inc, KB Medical S.A.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:
Synthetic Biology Market Volume Forecast and Value Chain Analysis 2016-2026

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Synthetic Biology is one of the breakthrough technologies developed by mankind from chemistry, biology, computer science and engineering which ultimately changed the approach towards therapeutics. It has a varied areas of applications in biofuels, industrial enzymes, vaccine and antibody production, bio-based chemicals and synthetic biology life science research. Synthetic biologists develop such biological systems using by molding the core components (genetic circuits, part of enzymes and metabolic pathways) and understanding their performance while using these smaller parts or devices into the specific integrated systems. The production of new medicines is now done by using synthetic biology on a cellular, molecular and genetic level to address the emerging health issues.Synthetic Biology Market: Drivers & RestraintsInternationally, companies have started investing in Synthetic biology as many governmental bodies are turning towards biomass and climate change. In past few years synthetic biology has gained industrial interest which has a large scale applications and potential of new gene editing techniques are some of the drivers for this market. Traditional medicines are being replaced by genetically engineered products, DNA sequencing and DNA synthesis technologies. This market though has a potential there with any advances there are risks and hindrance like government regulations and policies, biosafety and biosecurity issues, bio-war but these issues are being addressed by the regulatory bodies and research institutions. The synthetic biology market has changed the complete approach towards traditional ways of combating with newer diseases and genetic challenges with the advanced computing and design systems.Request Report Sample@Synthetic Biology Market: SegmentationSynthetic Biology market is basically can be classified into products, technology and applications.The Synthetic Biology market based on product can be subdivided into following:Core Products.Synthetic DNASynthetic GenesSynthetic cellsDNA & RNA Purification KitsRecombinant ProteinsThe Synthetic Biology market based on technology can be subdivided into following:MutagenesisDNA sequencingGenome engineeringThe Synthetic Biology market based on applications can be subdivided into following:Pharmaceutical CompaniesResearch OrganizationsChemical IndustriesUniversitiesSynthetic Biology Market: Market OverviewSynthetic biology market is a technology which has now a massive demand in the biotechnology sector, chemical and biofuel industries and their products will outstrip the products of the other industries in the near future. There is progress towards making this technology useful in the therapeutic areas from which the society can be directly benefited. The success of synthetic biology in DNA sequencing and synthetic microbes in vaccines, faster and efficient modular DNA assembly methods has proved to be a potential market and thus there is a significant investment done by the pharmaceutical and healthcare companies.Synthetic Biology Market: Region-wise OutlookDepending on geographic regions, global radiofrequency ablation system market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa.Europe is a leading market followed by North America, Europe has invested in developing synthesis of biologically based or biologically inspired systems. In North America Defense is a major contributor in the investment done in the past years. In Asia, India and China are said to progress in developments over future to be a part of the Synthetic biology market. The success of this market will depend upon the conversion from basic research to applications which will rise the future opportunities to understand the natural biological systems. Thus the market for synthetic biology is showing no sign for slowing down but managing the future social, ethical and legal responsibilities will lead to innovation.Visit For TOC@Synthetic Biology Market: Key PlayersThe major key players in the synthetic biology market are Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Agilent Technologies, GEN9, Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC., Amyris Biotechnologies, Epoch Life Science Inc., Gevo Inc., Intrexon Corporation, Sangamo Biosciences and Gingko Bioworks.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:
Garlic Oil Market: Wide Application in Food and Pharmaceutical Industries to Bolster Uptake, notes TMR

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The growing demand for garlic oil in the food industry and its rising application in making medicines in the pharmaceutical industry, are the key factors driving the evolution of the garlic oil market. Recent advances in methods of production of garlic oil and the advent of high-yielding garlic varieties are the key factors paving way for new avenues in the market. A report penned by Transparency Market Research (TMR), titled Garlic Oil Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 20172025, offers an elaborate assessment of key trends and drivers influencing the growth of the market.Obtain Report Details @The steady demand for garlic oil in making medicines is attributed to its several curative and anti-bacterial properties to treat a variety of infections, including gastro-intestinal ailments. In addition, since garlic contains several phytochemicals, garlic oil is considered to have curative affects against cardiovascular diseases and may boost immune system against various cancer types. Furthermore, garlic oil is known to reduce cholesterol levels and is an immunity-booster. The emerging application of garlic oil as a skin-care ingredient in treating acne is expected to fuel the market growth in the coming years.The soaring application of garlic oil in seasoning and flavoring in variety of foods such as in salads dressings, vinaigrettes, sauces, and shrimps, has boosted the market. However, the slump in the production in some parts of major garlic producing countries has led to escalating price of garlic oil. Nevertheless, the advent of high-yielding varieties of garlic and significant improvements in farming methods are key trends favorably impacting the market. The higher appreciation of garlic oil in superstores and hypermarkets and the rising demand for garlic oil across online retail are crucial factors expected to catalyze the market.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @The factors affecting the production of garlic in major producing nations are expected to accentuate the garlic oil market. Since garlic oil is considered as one of the most useful and versatile essential oil, several producers of all-natural specialty oils are taking renewed interest in its production.Based on sales channel, the garlic oil market can be segmented into hypermarkets and supermarkets, specialty stores, retail stores, and online retail. Some of the key regional segments can be Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa. Some of the key countries producing garlic are South Africa, Taiwan, New Zealand, the U.S., and China. Recent advancements in the extraction process of garlic oil is anticipated to open up exciting opportunities for market players in the coming years.Key players operating in the garlic oil market include Lucini Italia Co., La Tourangelle, Ultra International B.V., NutraMarks, Inc., Herb Pharm, BOYAJIAN INC, and Hongar Farms Gourmet Foods.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. 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.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Building Applied Photovoltaics (BAPV) Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2013 - 2020

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"The Latest Research Report Building Applied Photovoltaics (BAPV) Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2013 - 2020 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"About Building Applied Photovoltaics MarketBuilding Applied Solar photovoltaic (BAPV) systems utilize solar PV panels to transforms solar radiations into electrical energy. Over the past few decades, the solar industry in Germany has been transformed from a cottage industry into a billion-dollar business with global acceptance. Building applied solar photovoltaic (BAPV) systems is one of the product types that utilize solar panels, which are retrofitted onto building structures such as a rooftops or facades to generate electricity. BAPV systems generate power by harnessing freely available solar energy at a cheaper rate than traditional energy generation techniques that utilize costly fossil fuels. BAPV systems are gaining popularity, as they aid in reducing the use of fossil fuels, offer weather protection, and do not affect building aesthetics where they are installed. Besides these factors, government subsidies and continuous innovations have fueled market growth over the last few years. The energy generated has wide applications in several sectors including residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. The major advantage of the BAPV is decentralization from grid power. Basic raw materials used in manufacturing BAPV cells is a raw form of silicon (98% pure), which is doped with boron or phosphorus. Solar electricity generated by BAPV systems is either fed back to the main power grid or employed for captive consumption. Most of the heavy machineries operate on the power generated through BAPV, due to which it is finding growing applications in commercial, industrial, and residential sectors.Get Sample copy of this Report @This research study analyzes the market size of building applied photovoltaic (BAPV) systems, both in terms of volume (annual installation capacity) and revenue. The BAPV market has been segmented on the basis of product segment, and geography in order to provide a holistic picture of the photovoltaic industry. Market data for all segments has been provided on a regional level for the period 20142020. A comprehensive competitive landscape of key companies has also been provided in this report.Key product segments analyzed in the report include rooftop, facades, and others. Growing awareness coupled with increased demand for renewable energy has fueled the global demand for BAPV systems. The report analyzes the market trends for respective product segments in terms of volume (MW) and revenue. Furthermore, the report concludes the factors attributing to the overall growth of the BAPV market. Limited rooftop surface area offering limited exposure to solar radiation compared to facades has led to a paradigm shift towards utilization of BAPV facades. Regional data has been provided for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and RoW.This research is designed to estimate, analyze, and forecast the annual installed capacity of BAPV across the global market. The research provides in-depth analysis of BAPV manufacturers, product sales, and trend analysis by segments and annual installed capacity by geography. The report covers all the major product segments of the BAPV market. It also provides detailed analysis, historical data, and statistically refined forecast for the segments covered.The market size for BAPV has been estimated on the basis of regional annual installations and indicators in the product segment. All market revenues have been calculated by considering the whole BAPV system cost. Major products analyzed in this report include rooftop and facades. The market is also analyzed on the basis of geography, which comprises various regions including North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World (RoW).This report also includes Porters Five Forces analysis, value chain analysis, and market attractiveness analysis by product segment. Some of the key market participants that deal in BAPV systems include First Solar, Inc., Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc., Pythagoras Solar Ltd., Sapa Solar, Centrosolar AG, and others (Dyesol, Power Film, Inc., Suntech Holding LLC, and United Solar Ovonic LLC.). The report provides an overview of these companies, followed by their financial revenue, business strategies, and recent developments.View Sample PDF @BAPV prices are continuously decreasing and changing depending upon product types. There is slight reduction in per product profit margin; however, the overall profit margins are increasing as the demand for BAPV is expected to continue increasing at a tremendous rate. The study presents a comprehensive assessment of the stakeholder strategies, winning imperatives for them by segmenting the BAPV market as below:BAPV Market: Product Segment AnalysisRooftopFacadesOthersBAPV Market: Regional AnalysisNorth AmericaEuropeAsia PacificRest of the World (RoW)Table of ContentsChapter 1 Preface1.1 Report Description1.2 Market Segmentation1.3 Research Scope1.4 Research MethodologyChapter 2 Executive SummaryChapter 3 BAPV - Industry Analysis3.1 Introduction3.2 Value Chain Analysis3.3 Market Drivers3.3.1 Growing consciousness about carbon footprint reduction3.3.2 Electricity generation at low cost coupled with attractive Feed in Tariff (FiT) rates and government incentive schemes3.3.3 Paradigm shift in generation of electricity from conventional to renewable sources3.4 Restraints3.4.1 High cost of BAPV systems accompanied by structural compliance approved by Division of the State Architect (DSA)3.5 Opportunities3.5.1 Emerging Net Zero Energy Building (ZEB) policy3.6 Porters Five Forces Analysis3.6.1 Bargaining Power of Suppliers3.6.2 Bargaining Power of Buyers3.6.3 Threat of Substitutes3.6.4 Threat of New Entrants3.6.5 Degree of Competition3.7 Global BAPV: Company Market Share Analysis, 20123.8 Global BAPV Market: Market Attractiveness Analysis, 2013Send An Enquiry Request @Chapter 4 Global BAPV Market - Product Segment Analysis4.1 Global BAPV Market: Product Segment Overview4.1.1 Global BAPV market, volume share, by product segment, 2013 & 20204.2 Rooftop4.2.1 Global BAPV rooftop annual installation market estimates and forecast, 2012 2020 (MW) (USD Million)4.3 Facades4.3.1 Global facades annual installation market estimates and forecast, 2012 2020 (MW) (USD Million)4.4 Others4.4.1 Global Others annual installation market estimates and forecast, 2012 2020 (MW) (USD Million)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: +1-518-621-2074USA: Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Biologics Market size and Key Trends in terms of volume and value 2016-2026

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Biologics are drugs in the form of genetically engineered proteins, derived from human genes. As per the US FDA, biologics can be composed of sugars, proteins, or nucleic acids or complex combinations of these substances, or may be living entities such as cells and tissues. The biologic drugs are derived from a variety of natural sources such as humans, animals, or microorganisms and consist of products, such as vaccines, blood and blood components, allergenics, somatic cells, gene therapy, tissues, and recombinant therapeutic proteins. Advanced biotechnology techniques and complex processes are used to manufacture biologics. They are at the forefront of biomedical research.Biologics Market: Drivers and RestraintsDrivers for the biologics market include big brand name drugs losing patent extensions, growing incidence of chronic diseases and their diagnoses across the globe, increased availability of advanced diagnostics, rising government initiatives in healthcare and growing technological advancements in research and development across the globe by big drug makers to sustain competition and invest in incremental innovation. Other factors increasing the demand for biologic drugs include rising regulatory convergence and better access to healthcare for all nations.Restraints for the market include difficulty in manufacturing, as the drugs are highly complex in nature. They must be processed under tightly controlled conditions/controls, maintained throughout the production process. This type of atmosphere and quality control procedures are not easily available in less developed nations. Environmental contamination needs to be eliminated from the manufacturing process. Further, biologics are extremely susceptible to light, heat conditions, and need extremely good refrigeration processes, which is not available uniformly throughout the world.Request Report Sample@Biologics Market: SegmentationBiologics Market can be segmented into these following ways:Segmentation by product typeVaccinesBlood and Blood ProductsAllergenic extractsHuman Cells and TissuesProteinsGene TherapiesCellular TherapiesXenotransplantation ProductsSegmentation by applicationRheumatoid arthritisAnemiaCancerDiabetesOthersSegmentation by source materialHumansAvian Cell CultureYeastBacteriaInsects Cell CultureTransgenicsBiologics Market: OverviewBiologics market is at risk over the forthcoming years due to leading biologic drugs expected to lose exclusivity over the next seven years. The patented biologic drugs are expected to be replaced by biosimilar drugs. Competition is expected to be limited in the market as the drugs are expected to be formed using various types of innovative technologies. Increasing geriatric population, early onset of ageing, increasing awareness for technologically advanced medical procedures and drugs, higher spending power, and rising incidence of chronic diseases such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, etc. are expected to drive the market growth of biologic drugs.Biologics Market: Region-wise OutlookDepending on geographic regions, biologic drug market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa.In terms of geography, North America and Europe dominate the market, followed by Asia-Pacific. However, rising technological advancement in healthcare and systematic drug review process will drive the markets over North America, Japan and other regions. Europe currently dominates the biosimilars market driven by technically advanced healthcare infrastructure and high patient awareness & regulatory harmonization. Increasing funding for development of biologics available through public-private partnerships, availability of high-quality research infrastructure and innovative strategies developed by drug makers to restrict entry of new players are factors expected to contribute to market growth of biologics over the forecast period. Emerging markets include Eastern European countries followed by countries in Eastern Africa. Rising disease incidences in these countries is expected to prove favorable for the growth of the biologics market.Visit For TOC@Biologics Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players in biologics market are Unilife Corporation, Retractable Technologies, Inc., Smiths Medicals, Becton, Dickinson & Company, Smiths Medical, Terumo Corporation, Pfizer Inc. (AC. Hospira), Roche Diagnostics, AstraZeneca, Bayer AG, Genzyme, GSK Biologicals, Lundbeck, Novartis AG, and Merck KGaA.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:
Diesel Gensets Industry Analysis, Market Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2014 - 2023

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https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/234696/kuwait-diesel-gensets-industry-market-research-reports.pdf

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"The Latest Research Report Kuwait Diesel Gensets Market - Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 2014 - 2023 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"About Diesel Gensets MarketThis research is designed to estimate, analyze, and forecast the Kuwait diesel gensets market. The overall market has been estimated on the basis of revenue, which has been calculated on a year-on-year basis. The market for new diesel gensets in Kuwait has been analyzed separately in terms of both volume and revenue. The research provides in-depth analysis of players in the Kuwait diesel gensets industry, who are involved in the business at various levels of the value chain. The research encompasses type and capacity segments of the Kuwait diesel gensets market. It includes detailed analysis, historical data, and statistically refined forecast for the segments covered. In Kuwait, the rental market is very prominent and industries that require diesel gensets for a short span of time usually prefer the renting option. On the other hand, end-user industries that use diesel gensets as a long-term backup source generally prefer to purchase new gensets. As a result, the market and market size for diesel gensets in Kuwait varies depending on the need and preference of the end-user industries. This report includes the major drivers, restraints and opportunities for the Kuwait diesel gensets market. Porters five force analysis and value chain analysis has been provided to get a better overview of the market. Market attractiveness for both new and rental diesel gensets have been included in this report to provide a robust understanding regarding the underlying factors in each market. The market attractiveness segment was analyzed on the basis of capacity ranges available in Kuwait gensets market.Get Sample copy of this Report @The type analysis for Kuwait diesel gensets was estimated, keeping in mind the major construction and expansion projects planned by the government of the nation. It was estimated that during construction phases, project developers generally prefer renting diesel gensets. Post-construction however, operators prefer buying new diesel gensets, as these are used a source of backup power. While conducting the study, we took into consideration the key construction projects planned till 2023 such as metro-rail, silk city project, and expansion of the Kuwait International Airport. The total market for diesel gensets in Kuwait was estimated only in terms of revenue. The total market was segmented as the rental market and the new gensets market. The new gensets market was analyzed further in detail and sub-segmented into four categories in terms of capacity. These are 075 kVA, 75500 kVA, 5002000 kVA, and over 2000 kVA. The market for new gensets was analyzed both in terms of revenue and units. However, while analyzing the market for rental gensets, we found it feasible to do so in terms of revenue. All the market volume and revenue figures provided are on a year-on-year basis and were not done cumulatively. We have considered 2013 as the base year for this study, while all forecasts have been done for 20142023.The capacity analysis for Kuwait diesel gensets market was estimated according to consumer preferences for various capacity segments. It was assumed that the small and mid-size capacity diesel gensets are employed at project sites for continuous power generation. Small capacity gensets were estimated to be used as backup power sources in commercial and domestic sectors. Large capacity gensets were assumed to be used in projects with high power requirements and in refinery operations. Detailed primary interviews and extensive secondary research were conducted for validating the approximate units of diesel gensets installed, and costs for each capacity segment of diesel gensets. Qualitative analysis such as historical installation trends, major planned projects, and investment by oil and gas operators were considered while computing the revenue market size for diesel gensets in Kuwait. The report for Kuwait diesel gensets has been segmented as follows:View Sample PDF @Kuwait Diesel Gensets Market: Type AnalysisRental GensetsNew GensetsKuwait Diesel Gensets Market: Capacity Analysis075 kVA75500 kVA5002000 kVAOver 2000 kVATable of ContentsChapter 1 Preface1.1 Report Description1.2 Research Scope1.3 Market Segmentation1.4 Research MethodologyChapter 2 Executive Summary2.1 Kuwait Diesel Gensets MarketChapter 3 Kuwait Diesel Gensets Market  Industry Analysis3.1 Introduction3.2 Value Chain Analysis: Kuwait Diesel Gensets Market3.3 Market Drivers3.3.1 Rapidly rising electricity consumption rates and natural gas feedstock scarcity resulting in frequent power outages3.3.1.1 Fuel Subsidies per person in GCC countries and Iran and Iraq3.3.2 Ready availability of diesel at cheaper prices resulting in increasing adoption of diesel gensets in the country3.3.2.1 Diesel prices in major markets of diesel gensets (notified as of October 13, 2014) (USD/Liter)3.4 Market Restraints3.4.1 Increase in power generation capacity addition and renewable energy deployment to reduce dependence on diesel fueled power solutions3.4.1.1 Upcoming Power Projects in Kuwait, By Capacity and Type3.5 Market Opportunities3.5.1 Increase in construction activities and booming industrial sector likely to boost the Kuwait diesel gensets industry3.5.1.1 Upcoming refinery expansion plans in Kuwait3.5.2 Introduction of new technologies such as hybrid gensets3.6 Porters Five Forces analysis: Kuwait Diesel Gensets Market3.6.1 Bargaining power of suppliers3.6.2 Bargaining power of buyers3.6.3 Threat from new entrants3.6.4 Degree of competition3.6.5 Threat from substitutes3.7 Company market share analysis: Kuwait Diesel Gensets3.7.1 Kuwait Diesel Gensets company market share analysis, 20133.8 Market attractiveness analysis for Kuwait diesel gensets market (purchase), by capacity, 20133.9 Market attractiveness analysis for Kuwait diesel gensets Market (rental), by capacity, 2013Send An Enquiry Request @Chapter 4 Kuwait Diesel Gensets Market: Type Analysis4.1 Kuwait Diesel Gensets Market: Type overview4.1.1 Weighted benefits of renting gensets against purchasing in Kuwait4.1.2 Kuwait Diesel Gensets Market, revenue share by type segment, 2013 and 20234.2 Rental Gensets4.2.1 Typical framework of a diesel genset rental contract4.2.2 Kuwait rental gensets market revenue estimates and forecast, 2013  2023 (USD Million)4.3 New Gensets4.3.1 Kuwait New Gensets revenue estimates and forecast, 2013  2023 (USD Billion)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: +1-518-621-2074USA: Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
PEOSTA (AP)  More than a dozen years have passed since a pair of local residents acquired a Connecticut-based laboratory equipment business and brought it to Peosta.

Even so, owners Patrick Mueller and John Stork approach their venture with an energy and enthusiasm that suggests it is new.

To Mueller, that sense of excitement stems from the realization that IBI Scientific is supporting research that can change the world.

"We've seen the breakthroughs that happen," Mueller said. "And it is exciting to see those developments, whether it be vaccine research that helps local economies and family farms, or it is research being done that helps patients and people."

IBI Scientific manufactures bench-top laboratory equipment, nucleic acid purification products, electrophoresis products, molecular biology reagents, polymerase chain reaction enzymes and more.

Many of the products perform specific tasks that are difficult for the layman to understand, but are critical for scientific research.

One such product is The Belly Dancer, an item that features a platform anchored at all four corners by flexible supports. The device allows researchers to shake, mix and agitate a wide range of gels, liquids or other mixtures.

Products produced by IBI Scientific assist research at universities, large commercial companies and smaller startup research firms.

Most of IBI Scientific's products are sold in the Midwest, which has a strong presence in the biotech and life science markets. However, the company's owners emphasized that IBI Scientific has "a worldwide reach."

"We compete with other American companies, and with the Japanese and the Germans," said Stork "We believe we have some of the best products of our type in the world. We are proud of the quality of our products."

Before they became the leaders of IBI Scientific, Mueller and Stork worked together at Barnstead/Thermolyne in Dubuque.

They both departed from that company in 2004, about the time Barnstead/Thermolyne was acquired by another firm.

That same year, Stork and Mueller purchased Connecticut-based business IBI Scientific. They moved the company to Peosta and started with five employees.

For the past 13 years, IBI Scientific has focused on a high-growth portion of the research community.

"Our frame of reference was on laboratory products, and we focused on the fastest-growing sliver of that market, which was life sciences," Stork said. "That involves people who are dealing with RNA, DNA and proteins. It's any type of research that deals with a human, plant or animal."

Mueller said the products sold by IBI Scientific have been used by large companies such as Harrisvaccines, the company that created a vaccine for the avian flu virus that affected chickens and turkeys throughout much of the Midwest.

But Mueller emphasized that IBI Scientific also works with a number of biotech startups and small researchers coming out of universities.

In 2012, IBI Scientific acquired Stovall Life Science, a company based out of Greensboro, North Carolina. IBI Scientific now employs a dozen people  and that number is set to grow.

After 13 years in the same building, IBI Scientific plans to move to a new location by Jan. 1.

Stork framed the move to a larger space as one that will help IBI Scientific take the next step.

"It is going to be a larger space and will really allow us to organize things from a workflow and inventory standpoint," he said.

Mueller, meanwhile, noted that the new space will allow IBI Scientific to use a dedicated lab room, a luxury the company does not have in its current home.

With the move, Mueller and Stork expect to add employees, although they are not sure how many.

"Increasing local employment has been a goal of ours since we started this," said Stork. "The way we see it is there is no limit to how many employees we can add because there is no limit to our growth."

IBI Scientific's sustained success has garnered the attention and praise of local economic development officials.

To Dan McDonald, vice president of existing business for Greater Dubuque Development Corp., the company's growth has not come as a surprise.

"We had the privilege to work with them back when the company was first forming, and it was apparent right away that we were working with smart and proven executives," said McDonald. "They really represent the entrepreneurial attitude that we want to see more of in the area."

McDonald also believes the success of IBI Scientific adds something new to the economy in the Dubuque area.

"When you look at the whole picture of Dubuque's economy, we want to be well diversified and hedged," he said. "So when you get a company like IBI Scientific, that is playing ball in an area unrelated to (more common Dubuque industries such as) food processing, or ag, or construction or financial services, I think that is a great thing. That is exactly the type of diversification we want."
Domperidone Market Set for Rapid Growth and Trend 2017-2022

Reports Monitor

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ReportsMonitor.com has added a new report to its database Global Domperidone Market Report 2017.This report identifies the Domperidone market size for the years 2012-2017, and forecast of the same till the year 2022. It also highlights the market drivers, restraints, growth indicators, challenges, and other key aspects with respect to the Domperidone market.Domperidone Market tracks the major market events including product launches, technological developments, mergers and acquisitions, and the innovative business strategies opted by key market players. Along with strategically analyzing the key micro markets, the report also focuses on industry-specific drivers, restraints, opportunities and challenges in the Copper Strips market. This research report offers in-depth analysis of the market size (revenue), market share, major market segments, and different geographic regions, forecast for the next five years, key market players, and premium industry trends. It also focuses on the key drivers, restraints, opportunities and challenges.For Requesting a Sample Copy of This Report, Please Visit @This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringHanmi Pharm.Co.,Ltd.Haosen Pharmaceutical IndustryXian JanssenFuren Pharmaceutical CompanyAstra PharmaMylanSalius PharmaFDC PharmaceuticalsSquareJohnson & JohnsonThe competitive landscape of the global market for Domperidone is determined by evaluating the various market participants, production capacity, Domperidone markets production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Domperidone market worldwide.This report segments the Domperidone marketTabletCapsuleSuspensionOn the basis of application:HospitalPharmacyClinicsFor comprehensive understanding of market dynamics, the Domperidone market is analyzed across key geographies namely:United StatesChinaEuropeJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaEach of these regions is analyzed on basis of market findings across major countries in these regions for a macro-level understanding of the market.Browse Full Table of Contents and Report Description @Some points from TOC:Global Domperidone Sales Market Report 20171 Domperidone Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Domperidone1.2 Classification of Domperidone by Product Category1.2.1 Global Domperidone Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)10 Domperidone Maufacturing Cost Analysis10.1 Domperidone Key Raw Materials Analysis10.1.1 Key Raw Materials10.1.2 Price Trend of Key Raw Materials10.1.3 Key Suppliers of Raw Materials10.1.4 Market Concentration Rate of Raw Materials10.2 Proportion of Manufacturing Cost Structure10.2.1 Raw Materials10.2.2 Labor Cost10.2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Domperidone10.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of DomperidoneReports Monitor (ReportsMonitor.com) is a platform to meet the 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. Decision makers can now rely on our distinct data gathering methods to get factual market forecasting and detailed analysis.Office C & D - 4th Floor,Siddhi Towers,Above Rupee Bank,Kondhwa Road,Pune 411048,Maharashtra,IndiaIndia: +91 2069535353Jay MatthewsDirect: +1 513 549-5911Email: sales@reportsmonitor.comWebsite:
Global Base Oil Industry Analysis by Product and by Application - Market Size, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 - 2020

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"The Latest Research Report Base Oil Market by Product and by Application - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 - 2020 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"About Base Oil MarketThis research study is designed to analyze the global market for base oil, both in terms of volume (Kilo Tons) and revenue (USD Million). The market for base oil has been segmented on the basis of product type and application. The product type has been further sub-segmented into prominent grades of base oils predominantly used in the industry. The market has also been segmented at a regional level. The regional segments provided in this study are North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and South and Central America. The report features a detailed regional segmentation along with growth forecasts for the period 20152020. Projections have been provided for both product types and applications under each region. Apart from projections, historical data regarding the consumption of base oils has also been provided in the report. While the historical data is presented for the period 20082014, all forecasts have been provided for the period 20152020.This report includes the key market dynamics affecting the demand for base oil globally. As a part of our market dynamics analysis, we have analyzed market drivers, market restraints, and market opportunities. A comprehensive competitive landscape, which includes company market share analysis and market attractiveness analysis, has also been provided in this report. The report also provides a detailed industry analysis of the global base oil market with the help of the Porters Five Forces model. The Porters Five Forces analysis aids in understanding the five major forces that affect the industry structure and profitability of the global base oil market. The forces analyzed are the bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, threat from new entrants, threat from substitutes, and degree of competition.Get Sample copy of this Report @The study also includes the value chain of the global base oil market, which provides a glimpse of the upstream, midstream, and downstream players involved in the business as well as their interaction with the ultimate end-users of the product. The market share analysis has been done keeping in perspective the base oil production capacities of the major market players. The market attractiveness analysis for the base oil market has been done on the basis of the product type. The attractiveness analysis involves benchmarking and ranking of each product grade on the basis of numerous parameters. The parameters selected are likely to have a pronounced effect on the demand for each grade of base oils, both currently and in the future.The product grade analysis has been done, both on a global and regional level. The overall base oil market has been segmented as Group I base oils, Group II base oils, Group III base oils, and others. The others segment primarily comprises synthetic and naphthenic base oils. The Group I base oils have been further sub-segmented into SN150, BS150, SN500, and others. The Group II base oils have been further sub-segmented into 150N, 500N, 600N, and others. The Group III base oils have been sub-segmented into 2cSt, 4cSt, 6cSt, and 8cSt. The primary application segments for base oils that have been identified in this market study include automotive oils, process oils, industrial oils, metalworking fluids, hydraulic oils, and others. The others segment primarily comprises greases.The key participants in the global base oil market include ExxonMobil Corporation, Royal Dutch Shell plc, SK Lubricants Co. Ltd., and S-Oil Corporation. Other market players that have been profiled in this market report include Chevron Corporation, Sinopec Corporation, Phillips 66 Company, BP plc, GS Caltex Corporation, MOGoil GmbH, and PetroChina Company Limited. This report provides an overview of these companies, followed by their financial revenues, business strategies, and recent developments.Global Base Oil Market: Product AnalysisGroup ISN150BS150SN500OthersGroup II150N500N600NOthersGroup III2cSt4cSt6cSt8cStOthersView Sample PDF @Global Base Oil Market: Application AnalysisAutomotive OilsIndustrial OilsProcess OilsMetalworking FluidsHydraulic OilsOthersGlobal Base Oil Market: Regional AnalysisNorth AmericaEuropeAsia PacificCentral & South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaTable Of ContentsChapter 1 Preface1.1 Report Description1.2 Research Scope1.3 Market Segmentation1.4 Research MethodologyChapter 2 Executive SummaryChapter 3 Global Base Oil Market  Industry Analysis3.1 Introduction3.1.1 History of Base Oils and Production Method3.1.1.1 Base Oil Production by Refining Process3.1.1.2 Base Oil Production by Synthetic Process3.1.2 Base Oil Groups3.2 Value Chain Analysis3.3 Market Dynamics3.3.1 Market Drivers3.3.1.1 Growth in Automotive Industry Resulting in Increased Demand for Finished Lubricants3.3.1.2 Stringent Emission Standards Globally Resulting in Change in Lubricant Formulation Methods3.3.1.3 Rapid Industrialization in Emerging Economies Propels Demand for Lubricants by Various End User Segments3.3.2 Market Restraints3.3.2.1 Gradual Shift to Heavy, Sour Crude Oil by Refiners will Negatively Impact Base Oil Production3.3.2.2 Plummeting Crude Oil Prices negatively affecting Base Oil Revenues3.3.3 Market Opportunity3.3.3.1 Gas-to-Liquid Technology Likely to Increase Supply of Highly Pure and Efficient Base Oils at Competitive Prices in FutureSend An Enquiry Request @3.4 Porters Five Forces Analysis3.4.1 Bargaining Power of Suppliers3.4.2 Bargaining Power of Buyers3.4.3 Threat from Substitutes3.4.4 Threat from New Entrants3.4.5 Degree of Competition3.5 Market Attractiveness Analysis3.5.1 Market Attractiveness Analysis of Global Base Oil Market, by Product, 20133.6 Company Market Share Analysis3.6.1 Global Base Oil Market: Company Market Share Analysis, 2013About 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
Emeging Evolution : Global 360 Degree Cameras Market Professional Survey Report 2017 - Samsung, Ricoh, Nikon & Canon

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Albany, New York, August 24, 2017 : Recent research and the current scenario as well as future market potential of " Analysis of 360 Degree Cameras Market in Global Industry : Market Development and Overview 2017 " globally.This report studies 360 Degree Cameras 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.Get PDF for more Professional and Technical insights @This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringSamsungRicohNikonCanonNokiaSONYBublcamPanonoTeche360flye-filmingInsta360Guopai TechnologyBy types, the market can be split intoIndustrial CameraCommercial CameraBy Application, the market can be split intoTraffic MonitoringGrid LayoutAerial SceneryOthersBy Regions, this report covers (we can add the regions/countries as you want)North AmericaChinaEuropeSoutheast AsiaJapanIndiaMake an Enquiry about TOC @Table of Contents1 Industry Overview of 360 Degree Cameras1.1 Definition and Specifications of 360 Degree Cameras1.1.1 Definition of 360 Degree Cameras1.1.2 Specifications of 360 Degree Cameras1.2 Classification of 360 Degree Cameras1.2.1 Industrial Camera1.2.2 Commercial Camera1.3 Applications of 360 Degree Cameras1.3.1 Traffic Monitoring1.3.2 Grid Layout1.3.3 Aerial Scenery1.3.4 Others1.4 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 360 Degree Cameras2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of 360 Degree Cameras2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of 360 Degree Cameras2.4 Industry Chain Structure of 360 Degree Cameras3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of 360 Degree Cameras3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global 360 Degree Cameras Major Manufacturers in 20163.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global 360 Degree Cameras Major Manufacturers in 20163.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global 360 Degree Cameras Major Manufacturers in 20163.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global 360 Degree Cameras Major Manufacturers in 2016Browse Report @4 Global 360 Degree Cameras Overall Market Overview4.1 2012-2017E Overall Market Analysis4.2 Capacity Analysis4.2.1 2012-2017E Global 360 Degree Cameras Capacity and Growth Rate Analysis4.2.2 2016 360 Degree Cameras Capacity Analysis (Company Segment)4.3 Sales Analysis4.3.1 2012-2017E Global 360 Degree Cameras Sales and Growth Rate Analysis4.3.2 2016 360 Degree Cameras Sales Analysis (Company Segment)4.4 Sales Price Analysis4.4.1 2012-2017E Global 360 Degree Cameras Sales Price4.4.2 2016 360 Degree Cameras Sales Price Analysis (Company Segment)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 Bunker Fuel Industry Analysis, Market Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2020

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"The Latest Research Report Bunker Fuel Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2014 - 2020 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"About Bunker Fuel MarketThis research study analyzes the market for bunker fuel in terms of volume and revenue. The bunker fuel market has been analyzed on the basis of fuel grade, end-user, seller type, and geography. For the research, the base year is 2013, while the forecast is for the period 20142020. Market data for all the segments have been provided on the regional level for the period 20132020. A comprehensive competitive landscape has also been included in the report, comprising companies involved in the bunkering business. Value chain analysis and Porters Five Forces model have also been included for the market, to provide a clear understanding regarding the dynamics of the industry.Porters Five Forces and value chain analysis have been carried out with respect to suppliers of bunker fuel. These high level analyses provide detailed insights into the business of bunker suppliers, traders, and brokers globally. Major drivers, restraints, and opportunities of the bunker fuel market were analyzed in detail with supporting graphs and tables. There are currently numerous drivers for the bunker fuel industry. One of the most prominent drivers is the growing demand for fuel for container ships and tanker vessels. The rapidly evolving demand patterns for various fuel grades due to implementation of sulfur emission norms in different regions was analyzed in detail in the report. Market attractiveness analysis was carried out for the bunker fuel industry based on geography. In the market attractiveness analysis, the bunker fuel industry was analyzed regionally and ranked on the basis of a number of parameters that directly impact the attractiveness of the market. Port market share has also been included in this report to offer a better overview of major bunkering destinations. In this segment, the major bunkering ports were analyzed on the basis of bunker volume traded in 2013. Apart from this, a separate segment has been incorporated for port analysis. Also, the three largest bunkering ports in the world  Singapore, Rotterdam, and Fujairah  have been analyzed separately in this segment.Get Sample copy of this Report @The fuel grades traded at different ports comprises IFO 380, IFO 180, IFO Others, and MGO/MDO. The IFO Others segment includes IFO 500, IFO 700, LS 380, and LS 180 fuel grades. The seller segment of the bunker market has been segmented into major oil companies, leading independent distributors, and small independent distributors. Key end-users for bunker fuel were identified as container vessels, tanker fleets, bulk & general cargo vessels, and other vessels. The bunker market was analyzed across five geographies: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Rest of the World (RoW). The RoW segment comprises South and Central America, and Africa. Regional data has been provided for each sub-segment of the bunker market. The bunker consumption figures for each region have been sub-segmented on the basis of fuel grade, end-use, and seller type. Key market participants in the bunkering business include Chemoil Energy Limited, Aegean Marine Petroleum Network, Inc., and World Fuel Services Corporation. The report provides an overview of these companies, followed by their financial revenue, business strategies, and recent developments.The market size for bunker fuel has been estimated by studying the possible future environmental regulation trends in the market. Detailed research of sulfur regulations in different regions has been undertaken to estimate and forecast the consumption and investments in the bunker fuel industry. The global bunker fuel market has been segmented as below:Bunker Fuel Market: Fuel Grade AnalysisIFO 380IFO 180IFO OthersMGO/MDOBunker Fuel Market: End User AnalysisContainer VesselsTankers VesselsBulk & General Cargo VesselsOther VesselsView Sample PDF @Bunker Fuel Market: Seller Type AnalysisMajor Oil CompaniesLeading Independent DistributorsSmall Independent DistributorsBunker Fuel Market: Regional AnalysisNorth AmericaEuropeAsia PacificMiddle EastRest of the World (RoW)Table of ContentsChapter 1 Preface1.1 Report Description1.2 Research Scope1.3 Market Segmentation1.4 Research MethodologyChapter 2 Executive Summary2.1 Global Bunker Fuel MarketChapter 3 Bunker Fuel Market  Industry Analysis3.1 Introduction3.2 Value Chain Analysis: Bunker Fuel Market3.3 Market Drivers3.3.1 Increasing Hydrocarbon Resource Development Activities in Offshore Areas Resulting in Increased Requirement for Bunker Fuel3.3.1.1 Global offshore oil and gas production estimates and forecast, by region, 2013  2020 (Million Barrels/ Day)3.3.2 Rapidly Increasing Bunker Requirements in Crude Oil and Product Tankers3.4 Market Restraints3.4.1 Fuel Reduction Initiatives by Global Shipping Community3.4.2 LNG as an Alternative Fuel3.4.2.1 Current development status of LNG bunkering infrastructure globally, by ports, 20133.5 Market Opportunities3.5.1 Expansion of ECAs will Increase Demand for middle distillate oils (MDO & MGO)3.5.1.1 Global fuel sulphur limits within and outside ECAsSend An Enquiry Request @3.6 Porters Five Forces Analysis: Bunker Fuel Market3.6.1 Bargaining power of suppliers3.6.2 Bargaining power of buyers3.6.3 Threat from new entrants3.6.4 Degree of competition3.6.5 Threat from substitutes3.7 Port Market Share: Bunker Fuel Market3.7.1 Bunker fuel market, port market share,20133.8 Port analysis: Bunker Fuel Market3.8.1 Major Choke Points and Bunker ports globally3.8.2 Port of Singapore3.8.3 Port of Fujairah3.8.4 Port of Rotterdam3.9 Market Attractiveness Analysis of Bunker Fuel Market, by Region, 2013About 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
Mixed Signal SoC Global Market by Application, Trends, Analysis and Forecasts to 2019

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A mixed signal SoC is an electronic circuit that integrates both analog circuits and digital circuits on a single semiconductor die. It is an IC consisting of a large number of transistors on a single chip with applications in embedded systems. Most of the electronic systems accommodate analog signals because of the applicability of analog interfaces in many systems such as temperature, pressure, sound, and video sensors. Due to the signal processing capability of digital circuits, many electronic systems today integrate both these circuits in order to achieve the mixed-signal operation.Publisher predicts the global mixed signal SoC market to grow at a CAGR of 8.46% over the period 2014-2019.For more informationCovered in this reportThis report covers the present scenario and growth prospects of the global mixed signal SoC market during 2015-2019. The report covers the mixed signal SoC market for the following application segments:- Communication network infrastructure- Consumer electronics- Computer- Automotive- OthersPublisher's report, Global Mixed Signal SoC Market 2015-2019, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report focuses on the market landscape and its growth prospects in the coming years. The report includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market. The report also focuses on the demand patterns from various geographies for the forecast period.Key regions- Americas- APAC- EMEAKey vendors- Broadcom- Freescale Semiconductor- Infineon Technologies- Intel- Qualcomm- Texas InstrumentsRequest Sample CopyOther prominent vendors- Altera- ARM Holdings- Marvell Technology Group- STMicroelectronicsKey market driver- Increased demand for wireless computing devices- For a full, detailed list, view our reportKey market challenge- Mixed signal design and verification complexities- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMake an enquiry:Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comReportsWeb.com 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. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028
Global Textile Dust Control Mats Market 2017 Analysis of Key Players, Trends, Drivers, & Challenges -2022

Textile Dust Control Mats

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The latest report Textile Dust Control Mats by QY Research added to it's database and brings to light the comprehensive study and factual information of global market. The report also provides the global market segmentation based on applications, end-users, technology, and geography. The Textile Dust Control Mats research report offers a comprehensive assessment of the Textile Dust Control Mats market and consists of historical data, scope, significant approaches and statistical data of the global market. Besides these, it also includes anticipated facts that are assessed with the aid of an appropriate set of postulations and techniques.The report includes rigorous data, in-depth analysis in two ways, namely, quantitative and qualitative, industry professionals inputs and data given by the industry members and industry analysts involved in the complete value cycle. The report features thorough study of important market and their current trends, coupled with respective market segments. Information about the numerous factors and their influence on the global market and its segments is also mentioned in the Textile Dust Control Mats report.Request for FREE SAMPLE Report @The study report evaluates the range factors of the Textile Dust Control Mats industry, such as definition, demands, share, analysis, supply, sales, size, specification, forecast trends, production, classification, industry policy, news, and application. The global Textile Dust Control Mats market report will provide significant and reliable information on the market clearly in structured format. The report will offers you a key manufacturer of the products, applications, DROS and others.Report on the Global Textile Dust Control Mats Market 2017 gives the complete description of the market across the globe. The contents that are provided in the report are briefly discussed below.The Textile Dust Control Mats Market Research Report contains: Market segmentation along with its sub-segmentation is included in the Textile Dust Control Mats market Report The drivers of the market along with the restraints The global demand, supply, and sales of the product is included in the market report The current and the future market size and position The current challenges and opportunities that the market is confronting The trends that are currently dominating the market Company profiles and their future strategies are included Technological advancements that have been developed Future predictions of the market is also includedPrimary research and secondary research were made in order to validate the data that was collected. Qualitative assessment and quantitative assessment were made across several market verticals and industrial aspects.Browse Complete Report With TOC Available @The Textile Dust Control Mats report covers the precisely studied and evaluated data of the global market players and their scope in the market using a number of analytical tools. The analytical tools such as investment return analysies, SWOT analysis and feasibility studyare used to analyze the key global market playersgrowth in the Textile Dust Control Mats industry.The report focuses on regional as well as global market, its key players, along with market segments including detailed study on various divisions and its applications. The report provides comprehensive information on each and every segment covered of the Textile Dust Control Mats market.The Textile Dust Control Mats report is a useful documentation that aids distributors, manufacturers, suppliers, customers, investors & individuals who are interested in this market.MRS Research Group is the worlds giant collection of the Market research Reports. Where we specialized in global publisher, tailor made reports and specialists consulting. Global Publisher provides in-depth analysis of global and Chinese market. Tailor-made reports represent methodologies deliverable to proper insight of the client. While, expertise research specialist helps to provide strategic solution in specialists consulting. It consists of head such as, latest report, category, niche market and news. Reports published on the million of category like chemical, machinery and equipment, consumer goods, manufacturing and construction etc. Latest national, international, business News published under news portal.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
Disinfectant Chemicals Market Size, Share, Trends, and Opportunity Analysis by Future Market Insights

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The chemical compound 1,2-dichloroethane is commonly known as ethylene dichloride (EDC). EDC is mainly used to manufacture vinyl chloride monomer. It is also a major precursor to manufacture polyvinyl chloride (PVC). EDC is a colorless liquid which has an odour similar to that of chloroform. EDC is widely used as an intermediate for manufacturing various other solvents as well as other organic chemical compound.Majority of the ethylene dichloride manufactured is consumed in the production of vinyl chloride monomer. The vinyl chloride monomer is used in the production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Thus, the growing PVC market is expected to boost the growth of the overall market of ethylene dichloride. EDC is widely used to manufacture PVC that has end uses in pipe, windows, fittings, roof tiles, fencing and automobile parts. Most of the end-user applications are in the construction industry. Thus, the growing construction industry is expected to boost the overall growth of the EDC market. Changing lifestyle and growing purchasing power in Asia Pacific has led to an increase in the demand for larger living space which in turn has boosted the growth of the overall construction industry.Request For Report Sample@EDC is an essential chemical used in the construction industry. New resin grades are being developed using ethylene dichloride which in turn is expected to augment the growth of the market. EDC is also widely used to manufacture a wide range of chlorinated solvents such as vinylidene chloride, ethylene amines, trichloroethane and trichloroethylene among others. EDC is also widely used as solvents in textile, metal cleaning and adhesive industries. However, various stringent environment regulations regarding the solvent emissions is expected to hamper the growth of ethylene dichloride market.Visit For TOC@Some of the companys manufacturing ethylene dichloride includes Gendorf, Dow Chemicals, Henan Furuidi Chemical Industry Co. Ltd., PT Asahimas Chemical and Horizon Chemical Industry Co. Ltd. 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:
Global Smart Contact Lenses Market 2017 Analysis of Key Players, Trends, Drivers, & Challenges -2022

Smart Contact Lenses

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The latest report Smart Contact Lenses by QY Research added to it's database and brings to light the comprehensive study and factual information of global market. The report also provides the global market segmentation based on applications, end-users, technology, and geography. The Smart Contact Lenses research report offers a comprehensive assessment of the Smart Contact Lenses market and consists of historical data, scope, significant approaches and statistical data of the global market. Besides these, it also includes anticipated facts that are assessed with the aid of an appropriate set of postulations and techniques.The report includes rigorous data, in-depth analysis in two ways, namely, quantitative and qualitative, industry professionals inputs and data given by the industry members and industry analysts involved in the complete value cycle. The report features thorough study of important market and their current trends, coupled with respective market segments. Information about the numerous factors and their influence on the global market and its segments is also mentioned in the Smart Contact Lenses report.Request for FREE SAMPLE Report @The study report evaluates the range factors of the Smart Contact Lenses industry, such as definition, demands, share, analysis, supply, sales, size, specification, forecast trends, production, classification, industry policy, news, and application. The global Smart Contact Lenses market report will provide significant and reliable information on the market clearly in structured format. The report will offers you a key manufacturer of the products, applications, DROS and others.Report on the Global Smart Contact Lenses Market 2017 gives the complete description of the market across the globe. The contents that are provided in the report are briefly discussed below.The Smart Contact Lenses Market Research Report contains: Market segmentation along with its sub-segmentation is included in the Smart Contact Lenses market Report The drivers of the market along with the restraints The global demand, supply, and sales of the product is included in the market report The current and the future market size and position The current challenges and opportunities that the market is confronting The trends that are currently dominating the market Company profiles and their future strategies are included Technological advancements that have been developed Future predictions of the market is also includedPrimary research and secondary research were made in order to validate the data that was collected. Qualitative assessment and quantitative assessment were made across several market verticals and industrial aspects.Browse Complete Report With TOC Available @The Smart Contact Lenses report covers the precisely studied and evaluated data of the global market players and their scope in the market using a number of analytical tools. The analytical tools such as investment return analysies, SWOT analysis and feasibility studyare used to analyze the key global market playersgrowth in the Smart Contact Lenses industry.MRS Research Group is the worlds giant collection of the Market research Reports. Where we specialized in global publisher, tailor made reports and specialists consulting. Global Publisher provides in-depth analysis of global and Chinese market. Tailor-made reports represent methodologies deliverable to proper insight of the client. While, expertise research specialist helps to provide strategic solution in specialists consulting. It consists of head such as, latest report, category, niche market and news. Reports published on the million of category like chemical, machinery and equipment, consumer goods, manufacturing and construction etc. Latest national, international, business News published under news portal.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
Macroeconomic and Microeconomic Europium Market Analysis by Future Market Insights

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Europium is a rare earth metal which oxidizes readily in presence of air and water. It is generally present in oxide form and has applications in automobiles, catalysts, consumer electronics, flat panel displays, metallurgy and fluorescent lamps and as a dopant of glass in lasers and optoelectronic devices.Growing demand from flat panel displays and LEDs in Asia Pacific market is expected to drive the market. The shift from traditional lighting to solid state lighting systems in displays is expected to fuel the market for flat panel displays and LEDs. Increasing civil infrastructure is the main factor behind growing demand for LEDs owing to its use in street lighting and highway lighting. However, the supply issues and lack of refining, alloying and fabricating technologies for europium are expected to hamper the growth of this market. Technological advances in the field of earth metal nano-crystals are expected to provide immense opportunities for the players in this market. Europium nano-crystals are being use in the LEDs as a phosphor which emits wide range of spectrum.Request For Report Sample@Asia Pacific region was the largest consumer of europium and its derivative products. China contributes highest for the consumption of this metal owing to increasing population, improving living standard and disposable income. Growing demand from Japan, Korea and China for consumer electronics is fueling the market in this region. China is the largest manufacturer of europium and its derivatives. However, export restrictions and increasing local demand has been causing supply issues. Asia Pacific is followed by North America owing to demand from LEDs and consumer electronics industries. Decreased exports from China causing development of new exploration and production sites in this region to fulfill the demand.Visit For TOC@The key players in europium market include Rare Element Resources, Avalon Rare Metals Inc., Molycorp, Lynas, Minmetals Corporation, Baotou Steel Rare-Earth, Xiamen Tungsten, Great Western Minerals Group Ltd., Indian Rare Earth, Arafura Resources Ltd. and Canada Rare Earth Corporation among others. This research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data and statistically-supported and industry-validated market data and projections with a suitable set of assumptions and methodology. It provides analysis and information by categories such as market segments, regions, product types and distribution channels.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:
Goat Cheese Market to Record Sturdy Growth by 2025

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Cheese is an old dairy product prepared from milk of cow, sheep and goat. In the last decade or two, goat cheese has grown up as the most promising market worldwide. Goat cheese is great for digestion and provides low calories unlike bovine cheese which is heavy to digest, high in cholesterol and fat. Goat cheese also contains more vitamins especially vitamin A, B1, B2, B3 and is rich in Calcium and Phosphorous. Goat cheese also provides sufficient amount of Proteins. Over the years the market has evolved from consuming bovine cheese to goat cheese. However, one of the major restraints in the market is the shorter shelf life of these products. Goat cheese is highly perishable product, can sustain maximum 60-90 days. Advances in the technology has been evolving over the years to keep it intact and maintain its flavor.A sample of this report is available upon request @Global Goat Cheese Market: Drivers and RestrainsThe fastest growing market for goat milk is majorly in the production of cheese owing to its increasing demand. Most of the manufacturers for goat cheese are based in US. The volume produced is small and almost half of the raw material is consumed for the production of the cheese and are imported. Further, U.S. goat cheese manufacturers been able to compete well in the gourmet market of cheese and have also received multiple gold medals in the international market. There are more than 100 manufacturers of goat cheese in US, which includes both artisanal and commercial goat cheese manufacturers. Consumers are preferring artisanal goat cheese owing to the factor such as artisanal producers tend to raise their own goats and utilize the milk to further process into end products such as cheese, yogurt, and others.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Due to change in food habits, there is growth in obesity and cholesterol issues across the globe. Consumers are becoming health conscious day by day, leading to increasing in demand and consumption of goat cheese. Goat cheese has come up as a significant alternative to bovine cheese and is anticipated to grow at an accelerated rate during the forecast period. Moreover, technological advancement in production of cheese, and increasing quality breeds of goat are few factors driving the market.However, the goat cheese are expensive than any other cheese available in the market and this is one of the major restraint for the growth of market. Another restraint in the market is the challenging process. Goat cheese is made at very low temperatures with a desired quantity of rennet used therefore a proper care has to be taken while preparing goat cheese. Goat cheese is also highly perishable in nature.Global Goat Cheese Market: Segment OverviewThe global goat cheese market is segmented into product type, flavour, form, distribution channel, and regions. Further, on the basis of form, the market is sub segmented into, soft cheese, semi-soft cheese, firm cheese, ripened cheese, and aged cheese. Soft cheese is expected to dominate the market.Global Goat Cheese Market: Regional OverviewGeographically, the goat cheese market is segmented into seven regions, namely North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan, and the Middle East and Africa (MEA). Eastern Europe especially France is leading the global goat cheese market production owing to its traditional Dairy industries. Greece, Italy, Spain also has a substantial production of goat cheese. North America is the second largest contributor to the global goat cheese markets mainly due technological advancements in the production process in goat cheese. North America also raises the best quality of goat breeds, and so the cheese produced from this milk is also of best quality. Cheese market in Asia Pacific has grown tremendous over the years as a result of population growth in India and China, change in their food habits and increase in consumer spending thus lead to higher consumption of goat cheese. The Middle East and Africa are demonstrating an increased use of cheese mostly the processed cheese.Buy Now: You can now buy a single user license of the report @Few of the strategies adopted by the key players in the market are partnership and collaboration with other operators, expansion into the untapped market, and joint ventures with the organizations in emerging countries to gain the strong foothold in the market. The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also includes projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to market segments such as geographies, and application.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
An earlier version of this story listed the incorrect name for the owner of Casa Apartments. The owner's legal name is Mikhail Geister. The owner refers to himself as "Mike Casa," which he introduces himself as, lists as his name in email signatures and on the apartment's website.
Global Active and Intelligent Packaging Market Research Report 2017 - Amcor Ltd, Bemis, Rexam Plc, Desiccare, Timestrip UK Ltd

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The research report is a brief inquiry into the state of the global Active and Intelligent Packaging market. An evaluation of the current market situation, historical growth, and future opportunities for progress has been presented in the publication. The market intelligence report further assesses the shares, key marketing strategies, and product portfolio of the prime players operating in the global Active and Intelligent Packaging market.Global Active and Intelligent Packaging market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingBASF SEAmcor LimitedHoneywellLandec CorporationBemis Company, Inc.Crown HoldingsRexam PlcSonocoGraphic PackagingTimestrip UK LtdVIP PackagingIntelligent Packaging Solutions Ltd.Desiccare, Inc.Freshpoint HoldingsMeadWestvaco CorporationGet a Sample Copy of this Report @The study presents an outline of the global Active and Intelligent Packaging market based on key parameters such as regions, products, technology, application, and end user. The projected volume and revenue growth of the global Active and Intelligent Packaging market during the forecast period has also been mentioned in the report. The report further offers an insight into the prime geographical segments of the global Active and Intelligent Packaging market and provides details about their past and present shares. The trends prevalent in the market have also been highlighted in the report. The study further presents an assessment of the factors that are expected to impact the growth of the market in a negative or positive way. The global Active and Intelligent Packaging market has been thoroughly analyzed with regard to the respective market segments and forecast period. Each year within the respective timeline has been briefly studied in terms of the value of the product in the regional as well as global market.To present a clear understanding of the global Active and Intelligent Packaging market, the competitive landscape has been evaluated and put forth along with the value chain analysis. Information on ongoing and initiated research and development projects and investments in innovation has been provided in the report as well.Browse Complete Report with TOC @Table of Contents1 Active and Intelligent Packaging Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Active and Intelligent Packaging1.2 Active and Intelligent Packaging Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Active and Intelligent Packaging Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Active and Intelligent Packaging Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Pure Absorbers1.2.4 Oxygen Scavengers1.2.5 Microwave Susceptors1.2.6 Moisture/Humidity Absorbers1.2.7 Odor Absorbers/Emitters1.2.8 Anti-Microbiological Packaging1.2.9 Others1.3 Global Active and Intelligent Packaging Segment by Application1.3.1 Active and Intelligent Packaging Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Frozen Food1.3.3 Packaged Foods1.3.4 Dairy Products1.3.5 Others1.4 Global Active and Intelligent Packaging Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Active and Intelligent Packaging 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)Press Releases @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
EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Portable Printer Label Market Report 2017

EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Portable Printer Label Market Report 2017

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In this report, the EMEA Portable Printer Label 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 EMEA into Europe, the Middle East and Africa, With sales (K Units), revenue (Million USD), market share and growth rate of Portable Printer Label for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast)Europe: Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy and Benelux;Middle East: Saudi Arabia, Israel, UAE and Iran;Africa: South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and Algeria.EMEA Portable Printer Label market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Portable Printer Label sales volume (K Units), price (USD/Unit), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingBrotherDYMOKING JIMCASIOEpson3MBradyWEWINGAINSCHAOn 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 intoHousehold & office GradeCommercial GradeIndustrial GradeOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume (K Units), market share and growth rate of Portable Printer Label for each application, includingManufacturingRetail & LogisticsHome & Office & EducationOthersIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want. To get a free professional report sample, please email to tinaning@qyresearch.comTable of contents:1 Portable Printer Overview2 EMEA Portable Printer Competition by Manufacturers/Players/Suppliers, Region, Type and Application3 Europe Portable Printer (Volume, Value and Sales Price), by Players, Countries, Type and Application4 Middle East Portable Printer (Volume, Value and Sales Price), by Region, Type and Application5 Africa Portable Printer (Volume, Value and Sales Price) by Players, Countries, Type and Application6 EMEA Portable Printer Manufacturers/Players Profiles and Sales Data7 Portable Printer Manufacturing Cost Analysis8 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers9 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders10 Market Effect Factors Analysis11 EMEA Portable Printer Market Forecast (2017-2022)12 Research Findings and Conclusion13 AppendixRelated Reports:Global Portable Printer Market Report 2017Europe Portable Printer Market Report 2017China Portable Printer Market Report 2017USA Portable Printer Market Report 2017Korea Portable Printer Market Report 2017Japan Portable Printer Market Report 2017India Portable Printer Market Report 2017Contact Details:Tina| Sales ManagersCompany Name: QYResearch CO.,LIMITED | focus on Market Survey and ResearchEmail: tinaning@qyresearch.com Tel: 0086-20-22093278(CN)Web:QYResearch focus on Market Survey and ResearchQYResearch established in 2007, focus on custom research, management consulting, IPO consulting, industry chain research, data base and seminar services. The company owned a large basic data base (such as National Bureau of statistics database, Customs import and export database, Industry Association Database etc), experts resources (included energy automotive chemical medical ICT consumer goods etc industries experts who own more than 10 years experiences on marketing or R&D), professional survey team (the team member with more than 3 years market survey experience and more than 2 years depth expert interview experience),Excellent data analysis team (SPSS statistics and PPT graphics process team); QYResearch has always pursuit product quality, adhere to the quality is the soul of business.Room 2311 VILI International Building No.167 Linhe West Road Tianhe District
Auction of a New Sleep Innovation Product

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Snuggling, cuddling and sleeping with your loved ones is an experience which creates love, affection and a higher level of bonding. Sharing bed with your loved ones is a great idea but there is a big possibility that your sleep may be getting affected because of this very important act of your day as well. As per a recent study, about 61% of the people who shared bed with someone reported sleep problems. Different people have different sleep patterns and thus have different sleeping habits which results into disruptions that can become quite serious sometime.Mind Your Own Sleep (MYOS) is a new product which will allow partners to share bed and still have their own personal space. This product idea is just being launched. The owners are willing to give 20% of the equity of the company for $50000 or are willing to license out the product for 7% royalty. The prototype of the product has yet to be made and this investment is required to create the prototype along with the company owners. The auction is supposed to be during the month of the September 2017 or if company reaches the desired investment level. Please login to BrandsAuction.com and become a member to get additional details and start bidding.The auction is supposed to be during the month of the September 2017 or if company reaches the desired investment level.1465 Route 23 South, #188New Jersey ,07470, USAPhone : (862) 239-4814
Global Electric Power Steering System (EPS) Market: For End Users/Applications - Passenger Vehicle & Commercial Vehicle

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Electric Power Steering System (EPS) Market: For End Users/Applications - Passenger Vehicle & Commercial Vehicle" to its huge collection of research reports.In this report, the global Electric Power Steering System (EPS) 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 is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Electric Power Steering System (EPS) in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Electric Power Steering System (EPS) market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingJTEKTBoschNSKNexteerZFMobisShowaThyssenkruppMandoOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoC-EPSP-EPSR-EPSTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @On 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 Electric Power Steering System (EPS) for each application, includingPassenger VehicleCommercial VehicleTable of ContentsGlobal Electric Power Steering System (EPS) Market Research Report 20171 Electric Power Steering System (EPS) Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Electric Power Steering System (EPS)1.2 Electric Power Steering System (EPS) Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Electric Power Steering System (EPS) Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Electric Power Steering System (EPS) Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 C-EPS1.2.4 P-EPS1.2.5 R-EPS1.3 Global Electric Power Steering System (EPS) Segment by Application1.3.1 Electric Power Steering System (EPS) Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Passenger Vehicle1.3.3 Commercial Vehicle1.4 Global Electric Power Steering System (EPS) Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Electric Power Steering System (EPS) Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)2 Global Electric Power Steering System (EPS) Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Electric Power Steering System (EPS) Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global Electric Power Steering System (EPS) Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Electric Power Steering System (EPS) Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Electric Power Steering System (EPS) Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.3 Global Electric Power Steering System (EPS) Average Price by Manufacturers (2012-2017)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 @
Flame Retardant Chemicals Market by upping the CAGR by 8.0% during the given forecast period 2017-2022

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The Global Flame Retardant Chemicals Market was valued at USD XX.XX in 2015 and is projected to reach USD XX.XX by 2020, at a CAGR of XX.XX% during the forecast period from 2015 to 2020. Flame-retardants are compounds added to or applied in surface treatment of potentially flammable materials, including textiles and plastics.They inhibit, delay production of, or suppress flames to curb the spreading of fire. With 47.0% of the global market share, Asia-Pacific is the largest market for flame-retardants and it is also the fastest-growing market, which is principally driven by China. The second largest market is North America, which is closely followed by Europe.Access Full Report With Table Of Contents @The global flame retardant chemicals market is segmented on the basis of end-use application into electrical & electronics, building insulation, wire & cable, automotive, textiles, and others. On the basis of type, the market has been segmented into inorganic compounds (aluminium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide, zinc borate and stannate, antimony oxides), brominated, chlorinated, nitrogen based, phosphorous based, nanocomposites, and others.On the basis of geography, the market has been segmented into Asia-Pacific (China, India, Japan, others), Europe (Germany, Russia, France, United Kingdom, Italy, others), North America (USA, Canada, Mexico), and the Rest of the World (Brazil).The electronic & electrical appliances along with wire & cable are the fastest-growing markets; this growth can be credited to the global rise in the demand for consumer electronics goods. This rise in demand helps the flame-retardants market by upping the CAGR by 8.0% during the given forecast period. The automotive flame-retardant market is expected to grow with the growth of the automotive industry in Asia-Pacific.Increasing economic prosperity worldwide, especially in emerging economies, has helped in shifting the preference towards low-risk fire resistant materials. The demand for flame-retardants is in correspondence to GDP growth. A high GDP growth correlates to the high construction activities and the rise in the standard of living of people. The emergence of stringent fire safety standards and legislations across Europe, North America, and the BRICS countries acts as a major growth driver for the global flame-retardants market.Request For Sample Report @By composition, the key flame-retardants in the Asia-Pacific market are aluminium hydroxide, halogenated compounds, organophosphorus, nitrogen based compounds, inorganic compounds, and organic compounds, such as nanocomposites and expandable graphite. Aluminium hydroxide is the most widely used and is a fast growing segment owing to its low adverse health effects and effectiveness as a smoke suppressant.Halogenated flame-retardants, which occupy about 30.0% of the global market share, are facing reduced dependence and a gradual phasing out, due to their unfavourable health effects and emergence of alternative raw materials including metal hydroxides. In Europe, the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) and the EU Directive on the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) has banned several halogenated compounds and other materials from use as additives in plastics.In the US, the EPA probes the health and environmental effects of several chemicals but lacks sufficient power to ban them. However, several harmful chemicals have been restricted through legislations in various countries or have been voluntarily phased out by manufacturers due to their health concerns.The major players in this market are BASF SE, AkzoNobel N. V., Clariant AG, and DuPont among others.Key Deliverables in the StudyMarket analysis for the Global Flame Retardant Chemicals Market, with region specific assessments and competition analysis on global and regional scalesMarket definition along with the identification of key drivers and restraintsIdentification of factors instrumental in changing the market scenarios, rising prospective opportunities, and identification of key companies that can influence this marketExtensively researched competitive landscape section with profiles of major companies along with their market sharesIdentification and analysis of the macro and micro factors that affect the global flame retardant chemicals market on both global and regional scalesA comprehensive list of key market players along with the analysis of their current strategic interests and key financial informationA wide-ranging knowledge and insights about the major players in this industry and the key strategies adopted by them to sustain and grow in the studied marketCheck Discount @For more information or any query mail at sales@reportsandmarkets.comAbout Reports And MarketsReports And Markets is part of the Algoro Research Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.Are you mastering your market? Do you know what the market potential is for your product, who the market players are and what the growth forecast is? We offer standard global, regional or country specific market research studies for almost every market you can imagine.Contact PersonSanjay JainManager - Partner Relations & International Marketinginfo@reportsandmarkets.comPh: +1-214-377-1121 (US), +44-020-3286-9338 (UK)
Offshore Support Vessel Market Report 2017, Trends, Analysis, Share, Estimates and Forecasts to 2022.

According to Stratistics MRC, the offshore support vessel market accounted for $29.15 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach $43.07 billion by 2022 growing at a CAGR of 5.7%. The offshore support vessels are used to transport the food, goods, employees, and other stuff to the field from shore. The offshore support vessels are now available in different categories with increasing technological superiority. The factors favoring the market growth include growing offshore fields, increasing demand for energy, declining oil and gas reserves, growing offshore and subsea exploration activities. However, environmental issues, lack of skilled labor and high initial prices are the restraints for market growth.Anchor Handling Towing Supply Vessels (AHTS) is the leading segment with more than 50% of share in global offshore support vessels market followed by platform support vessels. Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing market with increasing deep water exploration activities. Brazil, Middle East, Mexico and South East Asia have the promising markets for offshore support vessels market.Some the key players of the market include, Baker Hughes Inc., Siem Offshore, Schlumberger Limited, Intermarine Llc, GulfMark, Halliburton Company, Weatherford International, Farstad Shipping Asa, Gulfshield, Tidewater, Inc., Bourbon SA, Swire Group Ltd., Seacor Marine LLC and Havila Shipping ASA.Types of Offshore Support Vessels Covered: Anchor Handling Tug Supply Vessels (AHTS) Platform Supply Vessels Standby/Guard Vessels Multi Purpose Supply Vessel (MPSV) Specialty Vessels OthersRegions 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 advancementsWe offer wide spectrum of research and consulting services with in-depth knowledge of different industries. We are known for customized research services, consulting services and Full Time Equivalent (FTE) services in the research world. We explore the market trends and draw our insights with valid assessments and analytical views. We use advanced techniques and tools among the quantitative and qualitative methodologies to identify the market trends. Our research reports and publications are routed to help our clients to design their business models and enhance their business growth in the competitive market scenario. We have a strong team with hand-picked consultants including project managers, implementers, industry experts, researchers, research evaluators and analysts with years of experience in delivering the complex projects.STRATISTICS MRC17049 King James Way, Gaithersburg,MD, 20877, USA
Weather Forecasting System Market to Reflect Impressive Growth Rate During 2016 - 2024

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Weather warnings play a significant role to protect life and property. From the end user's perspective, agriculture and defense sectors hold maximum potential for weather forecasting system market.Increasing safety and security concerns from any undesired climatic change is fueling the growth of weather forecasting systems market. A reliable prediction of weather in stipulated time can lead to significant cost savings or even enhance the fight against pollution, natural disasters, and ecological catastrophes. Additionally, weather forecasting system has witnessed traction in the market due to rising demand in military applications such as continuous weather updates and air traffic control. Continuous technological advancements in the computing systems are expected to enhance the capabilities of weather forecasting systems which would enable it to predict and display accurate weather in the near future.A sample of this report is available upon request @This is the biggest challenge for this industry is the complexity of the systems. Weather forecasting systems are complex in nature and requires trained professional to operate the weather forecasting systems.The range of long or extended forecast is between 10 to 30 days. When predicting the climate, long-range forecast systems are generally on a seasonal timescale or longer. The success of this forecasting method is pretty much dependent on the finite knowledge and insights of ocean and atmosphere.In North America, the continuous improvements in weather satellites and weather stations are contributing immensely to the weather forecasting system market. In the U.S. itself, 12 commercial weather stations and 18 weather satellites have been deployed by the U.S. government.Request to view table of content @The weather forecasting system market in Asia-Pacific region is witnessing modest growth rate due to rapid industrialization and growth of transportation industry in the countries such as China and India. Factors such as increasing the growth of air and sea transport and dependency on rainfall for water for better economic conditions in developing regions are also contributing to the growth of Asia-Pacific weather forecasting market. Latin America and the Middle East and Africa offers potential investment opportunities for leading market players due to which, the weather forecasting systems market is expected to have substantial growth in this region during the forecast period.Airmar Technology Corporation, Thales Group, Lockheed Martin Corporation, All Weather, Inc., Columbia Weather System Inc., Skye Instruments Ltd, and Morcom International, Inc. are key players of global weather forecasting systems market.Buy Now: You can now buy a single user license of the report @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:
Construction Industry in Morocco Expected To Rise At A Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) Of 4.07% Till 2020

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Construction Industry in Morocco Expected To Rise At A Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) Of 4.07% Till 2020" to its huge collection of research reports.In real terms, Moroccos construction industry is set to perform relatively well over the forecast-period (20162020), compared to the review period (20112015). The industrys growth over the forecast period will be driven by investment in infrastructure, energy and residential construction projects.The industrys output value in real terms is expected to rise at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.07% over the forecast period, up from 1.26% during the review period.Government efforts to improve transport infrastructure will support industry growth over the forecast period. Plans to increase energy production in the country are also expected to support funding in energy infrastructure projects. In the first quarter of 2016, a consortium consisting of the Moroccan energy company Nareva, Germanys Siemens Wind Power and Italys Enel Green Power announced plans to develop five wind power projects in the country, with 850MW in combined generation capacity. Due to urbanization and population growth, demand for construction services is set to rise. Investment in social housing projects will also support industry growth.The government is seeking help from private investors to improve the country's infrastructure. The government plans to launch the countrys first construction project as a public-private partnership (PPP) in 2016.SummaryTimetrics Construction in Morocco Key Trends and Opportunities to 2020 report provides detailed market analysis, information and insights into the Moroccan construction industry including:Moroccan construction industry's growth prospects by market, project type and construction activityAnalysis of equipment, material and service costs for each project type in MoroccoCritical insight into the impact of industry trends and issues, and the risks and opportunities they present to participants in the Moroccan construction industryProfiles of the leading operators in the Moroccan construction industryData highlights of the largest construction projects in MoroccoTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @ScopeThis report provides a comprehensive analysis of the construction industry in Morocco It provides:Historical (2011-2015) and forecast (2016-2020) valuations of the construction industry in Morocco using construction output and value-add methodsSegmentation by sector (commercial, industrial, infrastructure, energy and utilities, institutional and residential) and by project typeBreakdown of values within each project type, by type of activity (new construction, repair and maintenance, refurbishment and demolition) and by type of cost (materials, equipment and services)Analysis of key construction industry issues, including regulation, cost management, funding and pricingDetailed profiles of the leading construction companies in MoroccoReasons To BuyIdentify and evaluate market opportunities using Timetric's standardized valuation and forecasting methodologies.Assess market growth potential at a micro-level with over 600 time-series data forecasts.Understand the latest industry and market trends.Formulate and validate strategy using Timetric's critical and actionable insight.Assess business risks, including cost, regulatory and competitive pressures.Evaluate competitive risk and success factors.Key HighlightsDespite economic growth and constitutional reforms, real estate transactions in the country decreased in 2015. According to Bank Al-Maghrib, real estate transactions in the country registered a decline of 2.7% in 2015, after an expansion of 15.9% in 2014. Consequently, the total number of real estate transactions declined from 129,732 in 2014 to 126,217 in 2015.In January 2016, the government launched various transport infrastructure projects in Casablanca, the countrys biggest city and economic capital, under the 20152020 Casablanca Strategic Development Plan. The projects outlined by the government under this strategy include the expansion of the first line and construction of the second line of Casablanca tramway, a tunnel on the national road RN1 and the development of the city road network. Through the plan, the government aims to support economic and urban development, improve living standards and ensure social and economic inclusion.The Moroccan construction industrys growth will be driven by a government plan to increase the share of renewable energy in terms of total energy consumption, encouraging investment in renewable energy infrastructure. To reduce the countrys reliance on imported energy and the heavy burden of fuel subsidies on treasury resources, the government is developing renewable energy infrastructure. The government aims to generate 42% of the countrys total electricity needs through renewable sources by 2020, and 52% by 2030.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 @
LIMS Market Analysis, a Size and Forecast Report 2026

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Rise in the advanced technologies and rapid innovations healthcare information technology (IT) enables unlock potential for the companies which are striving in healthcare information technology. Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) have become important tool for moving the information, gathering, decision making, calculation, review, and release the process away from the office and into work place. LIMS is a software based laboratory and information management system which enables support modern laboratory operations. LIMS has its broad range of applications in various fields such as Environmental science, Pharmaceuticals, Petrochemicals. LIMS has provides its applications in sample management, data mining, data analysis, and electronic laboratory network. In pharmaceutical industry LIMS provides enormous applications such as test library included as standard functionality, dissolution, disintegration, dosage uniformity, drug release, product assays and stability module that simplifies stability studies. Biotechnological applications, LIMS assists Research and Development labs by integrating with instrumentation to provide automation to microarrays, gel electrophoresis, gene expression profiling etc. There is a significant difference between LIMS and LIS. LIMS is aimed to process and report data related to batches of samples from biology labs, drug trails, water treatment facilities. LIS designed for process and report the data related to individual patients. Global LIMS market is expected to exhibit a significant CAGR as well as annual growth over the forecast period.LIMS Market: Drivers and restraintsGlobal Laboratory Information Management System market can be influenced by following factors, LIMS provides wide range of applications to biopharmaceutical companies to address the key challenges in drug development process. Due to applications pharmaceutical companies inclined towards LIMS. Laboratories adopted advanced technologies in order to maintain precision and robust functionality specific for bio analysis, in vitro ADME experiments, and discovery R&D and QA/QC R&D. Key restraints include lack skilled professionals to manage advanced technology is major bottleneck for global LIMS market.Request Report Sample@LIMS Market: SegmentationGlobal Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) Market can be segmented as following typesBy ProductSoftwareHardwareServicesBy Delivery ModeOn premiseCloud BasedBy End UserPharmaceutical IndustryBiotechnology IndustryHospitalsResearch centersLIMS Market: OverviewGlobal LIMS market is gaining huge traction due to increasing the demand of LIMS in biopharmaceutical companies and laboratories due to its efficiency and effectiveness. Technological advancements in the laboratory system enables to make significant changes in the market. The LIMS market expected to account a lucrative market as well as robust growth rates over the forecasted period.LIMS Market: Region-Wise OutlookLaboratory Information Management System (LIMS) market is segmented into seven key regions: Those are North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and Asia pacific excluding japan, Japan, Middle East and Africa.North America dominating the LIMS market due to increased awareness among the people towards the innovative technologies to maintain laboratory information. Asian Pacific region market is considered to rapidly evolving healthcare infrastructure, the region is anticipated to unlock the potential of LIMS market over the forecast period.Visit For TOC@LIMS Market: Key playersSome of the key players in LIMS Market are Thermo fisher Scientific, Inc., Siemens SA, Perkin Elmer Inc., Labware, Star LIMS (Abbott Laboratories. Abbott Park, U.S.A), Genologics (Illumina, Inc.), Promium LLc. LabLynx Inc., Autoscribe Informatics, Novatek International, Core Informatics etc.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.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:future market insights
Enzyme Inhibitor Market Dynamics 2017: Opportunities, Risks and Driving Factors to 2022

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ReportsMonitor.com has added a new report to its database Global Enzyme Inhibitor Market Report 2017.This report identifies the Enzyme Inhibitor market size for the years 2012-2017, and forecast of the same till the year 2022. It also highlights the market drivers, restraints, growth indicators, challenges, and other key aspects with respect to the Enzyme Inhibitor market.Enzyme Inhibitor Market tracks the major market events including product launches, technological developments, mergers and acquisitions, and the innovative business strategies opted by key market players. Along with strategically analyzing the key micro markets, the report also focuses on industry-specific drivers, restraints, opportunities and challenges in the Copper Strips market. This research report offers in-depth analysis of the market size (revenue), market share, major market segments, and different geographic regions, forecast for the next five years, key market players, and premium industry trends. It also focuses on the key drivers, restraints, opportunities and challenges.For Requesting a Sample Copy of This Report, Please Visit @This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringAstraZenecaMerckNovartisPfizerRanbaxy LaboratoriesRoche-GenentechTakeda PharmaceuticalsAbbott LaboratoriesBayerJohnson and JohnsonThe competitive landscape of the global market for Enzyme Inhibitor is determined by evaluating the various market participants, production capacity, Enzyme Inhibitor markets production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Enzyme Inhibitor market worldwide.This report segments the Enzyme Inhibitor marketReversible InhibitorIrreversible InhibitorOn the basis of application:PharmaceuticalAgrochemicalFood & BeverageOthersFor comprehensive understanding of market dynamics, the Enzyme Inhibitor market is analyzed across key geographies namely:North AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaEach of these regions is analyzed on basis of market findings across major countries in these regions for a macro-level understanding of the market.Browse Full Table of Contents and Report Description @Some points from TOC:Global Enzyme Inhibitor Market Research Report 20171 Enzyme Inhibitor Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Enzyme Inhibitor1.2 Enzyme Inhibitor Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Enzyme Inhibitor Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2012-2022)10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders10.1 Marketing Channel10.1.1 Direct Marketing10.1.2 Indirect Marketing10.1.3 Marketing Channel Development Trend10.2 Market Positioning10.2.1 Pricing Strategy10.2.2 Brand Strategy10.2.3 Target Client10.3 Distributors/Traders ListReports Monitor (ReportsMonitor.com) is a platform to meet the 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. Decision makers can now rely on our distinct data gathering methods to get factual market forecasting and detailed analysis.Office C & D - 4th Floor,Siddhi Towers,Above Rupee Bank,Kondhwa Road,Pune 411048,Maharashtra,IndiaIndia: +91 2069535353Jay MatthewsDirect: +1 513 549-5911Email: sales@reportsmonitor.comWebsite:
BRITT | Draft horses are coming to town.

And there will be a lot of them, said Melodie Hiscocks, Britt Draft Horse Association secretary-treasurer.

Thats because the 36th annual Britt Draft Horse Show will take place on Sept. 1 to 3 at the Hancock County District Fairgrounds.

Its unlike any other horse show, Hiscocks said.

Eighteen hitches, including three new ones, will return to Britt to compete for points in the North American Six-Horse Hitch Classic Series. The Britt show is one of the last events for hitches across the U.S. and Canada to earn enough points to qualify for the finals at the Oklahoma State Fair in mid-September.

Hiscocks said there are hitches from Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Utah and more. The show will comprise of Belgian, Percheron, Clydesdale and Shire performance horses.

All 18 hitches will compete on Sunday, Sept. 3.

Even if we dont add new events, it seems the show is always a little different, she said.

For the second year, RFDs Gentle Giants TV crew will be filming at the show. The weekly TV series spotlights the diverse world of draft horses at work and at play. The show is hosted by champion equestrians Pam Minick and Kadee Coffman.

Hiscocks said the draft horse association has been busy getting ready for the hitches to arrive next Thursday.

We work all year round, she said. As soon as one show is over, we start planning for the next show the following year.

The weekend event will also feature food and retail vendors in the commercial building at the fairgrounds.

Hiscocks encourages community members to come check out the horses at the fairgrounds over Labor Day weekend, especially before the shows.

Gates to the show open at 7 a.m. each morning so spectators can watch the crews ready their horses for competition.

Its fun to come out ahead of time and watch the activities that go on before the show actually starts, she said, referencing the visiting with the crews, the grooming of the horses and the preparing of the hitches. Its enjoyable just to watch them.

At 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 1, is a youth and amateur show six-horse hitch driving competition. Admission is $2 for adults, $1 for children from 6 to 12 years old and free for children 5 and younger.

Grandstand shows are at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 2, and Sunday, Sept. 3, and will feature Ladies Cart, Mens Cart Unicorn, 2-4-6 Horse Hitches, Supreme 6-Horse Hitch and Classic Series 6-Horse Hitch. Admission to the grandstand shows is $10 for adults, $1 for children from 6 to 12 years old, and free for children 5 and younger.

Once they come, theyll come back again, she said.

The draft horse show caps off the notable summer events in Britt, which Hiscocks said makes it a very lucky small community.

Theres a lot of different ways to share our community, and all the people are very gracious hosts to all those activities," she said.
Dehydrated Food Market size to Witness a CAGR Growth Through 2021

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Drying or dehydration is a process through which moisture or water content is removed from the food. Removing of water content from food makes them lighter and smaller. It helps in preservation of food for longer period of time.A sample of this report is available upon request @Dehydrated food do not require any refrigeration while preserving at home or at the time of consumption. Moreover, dehydrated food is ideal for preserving seasonal fruits and vegetables. Dehydrated food offer high nutritional value, easy storage properties and availability at low price, which is driving the demand of dehydrate food across the globe.Dehydrated food market can be segmented on the basis of technology which includes spray dried, freeze dried, vacuum dried, sun dried, hot air dried and others. Traditionally among all these segments sun dried process of dehydration was the major segment in terms of usage by food manufacturers followed by hot air dried process.However due to the introduction of new technology spray dried is expected to account for largest share in terms of market revenue contribution, followed by freeze dried during the forecast period. Vacuum dried segment is expected to show a consistent growth as compared to others. Limited usage in food products is expected to be the restraining factor for the growth of vacuum dried technology in dehydrated food market in the near future.Furthermore, dehydrated food market can also be segmented on the basis of types. This includes dehydrated dairy products, dehydrated fruits, dehydrated meat products, dehydrated vegetables and others. Among all these segment meat products is expected to account for largest market share followed by dairy products.Increasing demand for enhanced year around availability of processed and canned meat products among the manufacturers is expected to support the demand of dehydrated meat products in the near future. Moreover the dehydrated fruits and dehydrated vegetables segments respectively are expected show a favorable growth during the forecast period. This is attributed to rising demand of seasonal fruits and vegetables.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Dehydrated food market can also be segmented on the basis of region. Globally, North America is expected to account for the major market share. In North American region the U.S is expected to be the major contributor in terms of revenue followed by Canada. Increased consumption of meat products in North America is expected to support the demand of dehydrated food products across the region.Europe is also expected to be one of the prominent contributor in dehydrated food products market in terms of revenue followed by Asia Pacific. Among all the countries in the European region United Kingdom is expected to contribute the highest during the forecast period.Moreover in terms of production of dehydrated food China is expected to be one of the prominent producer of dehydrated food products. In addition, China is one of the largest meat products producer along with prime producer of various seasonal fruits and vegetables. This is expected to contribute towards significant growth in the country.Rising demand of food products with longer shelf life coupled with the increasing demand of seasonal products across the year is supporting the growth of dehydrated food market during the forecast period. Moreover, increasing demand of food manufacturers for preserving food product for longer period so that they could use it as an ingredient in their final product is also fuelling the demand of dehydrated food market during the forecast period.Some of the international players operating in dehydrated food market are General Mills Inc., Ting Hsin International Group, Unilever China Ltd, Ajinomoto Co. Inc., House Foods Corp, Nissin Food Holdings Co. Ltd. and Kraft Foods Inc, among others.Buy Now: You can now buy a single user license of the report @About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Chip on Board (COB) Light Emitting Diode Market to Register Substantial Expansion by 2016 - 2024

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In the global market APAC holds the maximum share for this market, followed by Europe and U.S... Countries like Taiwan, Japan and China are the main contributors in terms of manufacturing and use to the overall market.A sample of this report is available upon request @Government support in many countries for energy efficient technologies, slim & flat design, better color mixing and longer life span are some of the major driving forces for this market. And higher prices and complex manufacturing process are some of the restraints at current situation for this market. These restraints will be solved as the companies achieve economies of scale over a period. Thus cost saving is a good opportunity foe the market players including advancements in design front.The COB LED market is segmented on the basis of applications and geography. On the basis of application the COB LED market is segmented into illumination, automotive, backlighting and others consisting of medical equipment, projectors and others. Ob the basis of geography the COB LED market is segmented into four major regions as North America, Europe, APAC and RoW.Request to view table of content @Osram Opto Semiconductors GmbH, Perkinelmer, Citizen Electronics Co. Ltd., Cree Inc., Seoul Semiconductor Co. Ltd., GE Lighting, Enlux Lighitng, EMTEQ, Prophotonix, Cooper Lighting, LumiShoreLtd., Philips Lumileds Lighting Co., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Leiso Lighting Tech. Ltd. and Luminage among others are some of the major key players in COB LED market.Buy Now: You can now buy a single user license of the report @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:
Rising Demand For Cards and Payments Industry in Oman: Emerging Trends and Opportunities to 2020

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Rising Demand For Cards and Payments Industry in Oman: Emerging Trends and Opportunities to 2020" to its huge collection of research reports.Timetrics 'The Cards and Payments Industry in Oman: Emerging Trends and Opportunities to 2020' report provides detailed analysis of market trends in the Omani cards and payments industry. It provides values and volumes for a number of key performance indicators in the industry, including direct debits, check payments, payment cards and credit transfers during the review period (20112015).The report also analyzes various payment card markets operating in the industry, and provides detailed information on the number of cards in circulation, and transaction values and volumes during the review period and over the forecast period (20162020). It also offers information on the country's competitive landscape, including the market shares of issuers and schemes.The report brings together Timetrics research, modeling, and analysis expertise to allow banks and card issuers to identify segment dynamics and competitive advantages. The report also covers details of regulatory policy and recent changes in the regulatory structure.SummaryTimetrics 'The Cards and Payments Industry in Oman: Emerging Trends and Opportunities to 2020' report provides top-level market analysis, information and insights into the Omani cards and payments industry, including:Current and forecast values for each market in the Omani cards and payments industry, including debit card and credit cards.Detailed insights into payment instruments including direct debit, credit transfers, checks and payment cards. It also, includes an overview of the country's key alternative payment instruments.E-commerce market analysis.Analysis of various market drivers and regulations governing the Omani cards and payments industry.Detailed analysis of strategies adopted by banks and other institutions to market debit and credit cards.Comprehensive analysis of consumer attitudes and buying preferences for cards.The competitive landscape in the Omani cards and payments industry.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @ScopeThis report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Omani cards and payments industry.It provides current values for the Omani cards and payments industry for 2015, and forecast figures to 2020.It details the different demographic, economic, infrastructural and business drivers affecting the Omani cards and payments industry.It outlines the current regulatory framework in the industry.It details marketing strategies used by various banks and other institutions.Reasons To BuyMake strategic business decisions, using top-level historic and forecast market data, related to the Omani cards and payments industry and each market within it.Understand the key market trends and growth opportunities in the Omani cards and payments industry.Assess the competitive dynamics in the Omani cards and payments industry.Gain insights into marketing strategies used for various card types in Oman.Gain insights into key regulations governing the Omani cards and payments industry.Key HighlightsTo capitalize on the rising preference for Sharia-compliant banking and payment services among Omanis, banks are increasingly offering Sharia-compliant credit cards. In December 2015, Bank Nizwa collaborated with MasterCard to launch a range of Sharia-compliant credit cards. Similarly, in November 2014, Al Hilal Islamic Banking Services launched a Sharia-compliant Visa credit card which is available in Signature and Platinum variants. Cardholders are offered various value-added benefits such as unlimited access to more than 500 airport lounges around the world, a 24-hour concierge service, up to 25% discount at restaurants and free medical referrals.The central bank issued a circular in November 2015, allowing non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) to issue white-labeled credit cards in collaboration with domestic banks. NBFCs can brand white labeled cards as their own cards, without investing in the necessary infrastructure. While banks are responsible for administration and settlement processes, NBFCs are responsible for branding and marketing of these cards. This move helps serve those consumers who do not have access to formal financial institutions to obtain credit. This move is anticipated to push the growth of the credit card market.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 @
Sweet Potato Industry Production, Sales, Supply, Demand, Analysis & Outlook to 2022

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ReportsWeb.com has announced the addition of the Global Sweet Potato Market Research Report 2017 The report focuses on global major leading players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification.Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD) , market share and growth rate of Sweet Potato in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast) , covering North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India. Global Sweet Potato market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players including China, USA, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Angola, Uganda, Vietnam, Madagascar and India.Request for free sample copy atOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into Hannah Sweet Potatoes, Japanese Sweet Potatoes, Jewel Sweet Potatoes, Stokes Purple Sweet Potatoes and Garnet Sweet Potatoes. On 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 Sweet Potato for each application, including Commercial Food Industry, Home Food, Feed Industry and Others.For more information about this report atTable of Content1 Sweet Potato Market Overview2 Global Sweet Potato Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Sweet Potato Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)4 Global Sweet Potato Supply (Production) , Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)4.1 Global Sweet Potato Consumption by Region (2012-2017)4.2 North America Sweet Potato Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.3 Europe Sweet Potato Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.4 China Sweet Potato Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.5 Japan Sweet Potato Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.6 Southeast Asia Sweet Potato Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.7 India Sweet Potato Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)5 Global Sweet Potato Production, Revenue (Value) , Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Sweet Potato Production and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.2 Global Sweet Potato Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.3 Global Sweet Potato Price by Type (2012-2017)5.4 Global Sweet Potato Production Growth by Type (2012-2017)6 Global Sweet Potato Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global Sweet Potato Consumption and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)6.2 Global Sweet Potato Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/Countries7 Global Sweet Potato Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 China7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Sweet Potato Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 China Sweet Potato Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 USA7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Sweet Potato Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 USA Sweet Potato Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Tanzania7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Sweet Potato Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Tanzania Sweet Potato Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview8 Sweet Potato Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Sweet Potato Market Forecast (2017-2022)13 Research Findings and ConclusionPurchase this report -and get,Discount on report purchase -Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comReportsWeb.com 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. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028
Global Mannosylerythritol Lipids Market During The Forecast Period 2016 - 2022: Increasing Usage as Natural Ceramide Substitute to Drive Growth

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Mannosylerythritol Lipids Market During The Forecast Period 2016 - 2022: Increasing Usage as Natural Ceramide Substitute to Drive Growth" to its huge collection of research reports.This Persistence Market Research (PMR) report examines the mannosylerythritol Lipids market for the forecast period 2016 - 2022. The primary objective of the report is to identify opportunities in the market and present updates and insights, pertaining to various segments of the Mannosylerythritol Lipids market.Mannosylerythritol lipids (MELs) are a glycolipid class of bio-surfactants obtained by a variety yeast and fungal strains that exhibit excellent biochemical and interfacial properties. Bio-surfactant containing 4-O- -D-mannopyranosylmeso-erythritol as the hydrophilic group and a fatty acid and/or an acetyl group as the hydrophobic moiety are known as mannosylerythritol lipids. MEL is reported to be secreted by Ustilago sp. (as a minor component along with cellobiose lipid) and Pseudozyma sp. (as a major component).To understand and assess opportunities in this market, the report is categorically divided into two sections namely, by end-use industry and region. The report analyses the Mannosylerythritol Lipids market in terms of market volume (tons) and market value (000 US$)The report covers the Mannosylerythritol Lipids market performance in terms of value and volume contribution. The report also includes PMRs analysis of drivers and restraints witnessed in the market. Key trends are also included in the report to equip the client with crystal clear decision-making insights.The subsequent sections analyse the Mannosylerythritol Lipids market on the basis of technology, source of recovery, capacity, and region, and presents a forecast for the period 20162022. The market is segmented as follows:By End-use IndustryHousehold DetergentsLaundryDish WashOthersPersonal Care & CosmeticsSkin CareHair CareOthersPharmaceuticalsFoodOthersBy RegionNorth AmericasLatin AmericaAsia Pacific (APAC)EuropeMiddle East & Africa (MEA)To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @To deduce market size, the report considers various aspects based on secondary research. Furthermore, data points such as region-wise split and market split by end-use industry, and qualitative inputs from primary respondents have been incorporated to arrive at appropriate market estimates. The forecast presented in the report assesses the total revenue generated and expected revenue contribution by the Mannosylerythritol Lipids market.When developing the market forecast, the report begins with sizing the current market, which forms the basis for forecasting how the market is anticipated to take shape in the near future. Given the characteristics of the market, PMR triangulates the data via the different analysis based on the supply side, demand side, and dynamics of the Mannosylerythritol Lipids market. However, quantifying the market across the abovementioned segments and regions is more a matter of quantifying expectations and identifying opportunities rather than rationalizing them after the forecast has been completed.It is imperative to note that in an ever-fluctuating economy, we not only provides forecasts in terms of CAGR but also analyse on the basis of key parameters, such as year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth, to understand predictability of the market and identify right opportunities.Another key feature of this report is the analysis of Mannosylerythritol Lipids market 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 of the Mannosylerythritol Lipids market.To understand key segments in terms of their growth and performance in the Mannosylerythritol Lipids market, Persistence Market Research has developed a market attractiveness index. The resulting index should help providers identify existing market opportunities in the mannosylerythritol Lipids market.In the final section of the report, Mannosylerythritol Lipids market, the competitive landscape is included to provide a dashboard view of Mannosylerythritol Lipids companies. The report contains company profiles of some of the major players.Some market players featured in this report are as follows:Toyobo Co. Ltd.Biotopia Co Ltd.Damy Chemicals Co. LtdOtherBrowse 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 @
Deployable Military Shelter Systems Market To Make Great Impact In Near Future by 2025

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Advancements in military activities, tactics, exercises and joint operations necessitated the development of niche products used by army personnel. Furthermore, witnessing the opportunity, a handful of equipment, system and solution manufacturers engaged in niche product development suitable for military application, as a result competition intensified in niche products segment used for military applications. Deployable Military Shelter System is one of such product which is used in applications ranging from temporary medical support centres to incident commands and fatality management centres to emergency distribution centres. These systems are deployed in remote area for temporary period. These systems are totally mobile in nature and are made up of technical textiles. These systems are largely used by infantry, rescue team and medical support team but constant research and development in this niche product segment unfolded new opportunities. Nowadays, availability of shelter systems for military application has not limited to support and shelter to just soldiers but also vehicles and aircrafts. A few of the North American and European companies developed deployable shelter systems to be used as hanger for aircrafts.Request Report Sample@Drivers & ChallengesMilitary shelter systems demand is directly influenced by increase in military expenditure across the globe. Annual increase in defence budget allocation has been observed in across countries, whereas the year on year increase is very high in countries with stronger economy. Global military expenditure in 2014 was estimated at over US $ 1.7 Trillion; and with growing political and military tensions in different geographies, it is projected to increase at 1.5% annually through 2025. Moreover, a substantial share of military expenditure is channelized for buying equipment and systems for on the field military support. Since, deployable shelter systems are used in field exercises, it is anticipated that the increased military expenditure across countries will bolster the demand for deployable shelter systems viz. a viz. global deployable military systems market.Regional LandscapeIn terms of geography, the global deployable military shelter systems is concentrated in few of the pockets. Usage of deployable military shelter systems is very high in developed countries of North America and Europe. However, the trend is gradually picking up the pace in developed markets. A majority of the deployable military shelter systems manufacturers are dependent on NATO member countries for sales. Meanwhile, in recent years they also registered orders from Middle Eastern, African and Asian countries. Currently, European market for deployable military shelter systems is growing at a higher growth rate than the global average, but industry experts indicate a shift in demand from Asian countries, particularly Middle East and South Asia. In order to capitalize the opportunity, global majors engaged in manufacturing deployable shelter systems have deployed sales representatives in these countries.Visit For TOC@Deployable Military Shelter Systems Market SegmentsDeployable shelter system is differentiated on the basis of size and application.Deployable Military Shelter Systems Sizes :SmallMediumLargeKey PlayersAlaska StructuresRoder HTS HockerReevesZeppelinHDTAbout 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:
Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Treatment Market Analysis, a Size and Forecast Report 2026

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A syncytial virus is a multi-nucleated virus which results from multiple cell fusions. Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has a size of around 120 to 200 nm and is an enveloped virus with a linear minus-sense RNA genome. Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes complications such as bronchiolitis, asthma, chronic respiratory tract infections and acute otitis media in patients. Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infects the lungs and breathing passages. Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is experienced as a mild cold in healthy individuals while it can cause serious complications in infants and children younger than one year.Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Treatment Market: Drivers & RestraintsHuman respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a syncytial virus which causes respiratory tract infections, particularly the lower respiratory tract infections in infants and children. The prophylaxis for Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) treatment is in the form of medications. Infants and children become weak after recovery and continue to spread the virus for the next one to three weeks. The Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection can infect people of any ages but the severity is low in adults while infants and children with weakened immune systems show high severity of the infection. The growing number of patient cases is expected to drive the market growth while the lack of appropriate in-vitro facilities for conducting research studies for newer treatment alternatives is projected to hamper the market growth with a high impact over 2026.Request Report Sample@Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Treatment Market: SegmentationHuman Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Treatment Market is classified on the basis of treatment, end use and geography.Based on treatment, the global Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Treatment Market is segmented into the following:Supportive CareHospital CareBased on end use, the global Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Treatment Market is segmented into the following:Hospitals500 Beds200-400 BedsLess than 200 BedsAmbulatory Surgical CentresClinicsHuman Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Treatment Market: OverviewAs per the World Health Organization statistics, Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes 64 Mn infections and 160,000 deaths annually. Natural infection with Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) induces immunity against the virus which decreases over time. Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections are recurrent. Currently, Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection lacks an approved vaccine therapy owing to limited number of studies in vitro and inability to culture the virus and maintain it in a stable state. As a result, the global Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) market is anticipated to grow at a moderate CAGR during the forecast period from 2016 to 2026.Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Treatment Market: Region-wise OutlookDepending on geographic regions, global radiofrequency ablation system market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. According to the statistics of U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, it is estimated that more than half the total children population globally get infected with Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) within the first two years of birth. Owing to the viral infection outbreaks in winter and spring in North America, the diagnosis by a physical examination, chest x-rays to check for bronchiolitis, skin monitoring, blood tests for white cell counts and other laboratory tests for checking the respiratory secretions and treatment of the viral infection through medications is expected to drive market growth in the region through the forecast period and contribute significantly to the global market.Visit For TOC@Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Treatment Market: Key PlayersSome of the key market players identified in global Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Treatment Market are AstraZeneca, Arrow Therapeutics, Alnylam to name a few.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.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Protein Hydrolysate Ingredients Market Growth Set to Surge Significantly during 2015 - 2021

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Protein hydrolysate ingredients are the group of peptides derived from proteins. Protein hydrolysate are rich in protein content and are absorbed more quickly in comparison to other proteins. The different type of protein hydrolysate ingredients include milk protein hydrolysate and meat protein hydrolysate.A sample of this report is available upon request @These protein hydrolysate ingredients have relatively low antigenic properties. Protein hydrolysates ingredients enhance the digestibility and reduces the protein allergy especially in infants.There are various form of protein hydrolysate ingredients available in the market. Protein Hydrolysate ingredients market can be segmented on the basis of ingredients, application and region. Based on ingredient type, the segmentation includes milk protein hydrolysate and meat protein hydrolysate. Milk protein hydrolysates are type of peptides derived from milk proteins. There are two main sources of milk protein hydrolysates that includes whey protein hydrolysates and casein hydrolysates.The protein hydrolysates ingredients most commonly used in nutritional products are casein, whey protein and soy protein. These ingredients are the type of peptides that possess high nutritional properties and are comparatively absorbed quickly than other types of protein or amino acids.In Protein hydrolysates market, milk hydrolysate is anticipated to exhibit robust growth in the next four to five years. This is due to the comparatively less preference of consumers for meat hydrolysates ingredients.On the basis of application protein hydrolysate ingredient market is segmented into infant formula, clinical nutrition and sport and slimming food. Among all the segments infant formula is the fastest growing segment, which is anticipated to witness double digit growth over the forecasted period, followed by the sport nutrition and clinical nutrition. The protein hydrolysates market is studied across various regions that includes North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Japan and Middle East and Africa.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Protein hydrolysate Ingredients Market demand is anticipated to increase globally owing to the increasing number of health conscious consumers. Protein hydrolysate ingredients market is expected to exhibit strong growth in North America due to the increasing number of high affluent class people coupled with rising awareness of consumers regarding the health .In North America, U.S. is the most dominating market, followed by other European countries.There is increasing demand of Protein Hydrolysate Ingredients Market in U.S. due the increasing disposable income of consumers and also rising number of health conscious consumers. Furthermore, Europe is expected to exhibit consistent growth due to increasing production of milk in the European regions.However, Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing market in the forthcoming years due the increasing investment of companies to launch new ingredients especially in infant formula segment. This trend is especially witnessed in China due to the increasing consumer interest in specialist nutrition. Protein hydrolysate ingredients market is growing drastically in China due to the increasing upper middle class population that supports the growth of protein hydrolysate ingredient rich products, which are higher in price.Protein hydrolysate ingredients market is witnessing healthy growth. This is due the increasing demand for protein hydrolysate ingredients by consumers owing to the health benefits coupled with nutritional benefits associated with it across developed regions. However, various factors that restrict the growth of protein hydrolysate ingredients market include less awareness among consumers regarding the health benefits associated with the consumption of protein hydrolysate ingredients in emerging economies.Major Players that operate in protein hydrolysate ingredients market include Abbott Laboratories, Danone S.A., Davisco Foods International, Inc. Arla Foods Ingredients Group P/S, Kerry Group plc, Carbery Group.Buy Now: You can now buy a single user license of the report @About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Worldwide Medical Manifolds Market Analysis, Market Share, Application Analysis, Regional Outlook, Competitive Strategies & Forecast by 2022

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Medical Manifolds Market Size, Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa, etc), Application Development status, Price Trend, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2017  2022.Medical Stopcock Manifold is an accessory that controls the fluid flow and monitors the pressure used in hemodynamic diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.Request a Sample Copy of Global Medical Manifolds Market Research Report @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Medical Manifolds 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 Medical Manifolds Market report covers such as Merit Medical Systems, Smiths Medical, B. Braun, Fresenius Kabi, ICU Medical, Demax Medical, Argon Medical Devices, Perouse Medical and Bicakcilar.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 Medical Manifolds Market Segment by Type, covers as 2-Gang Manifold, 3-Gang Manifold, 4-Gang Manifold, 5-Gang Manifold and OthersGlobal Medical Manifolds Market Segment by Applications, can be divided into: Interventional Radiology, Interventional Cardiology and OthersRequest Discount for Global Medical Manifolds Market Research Report @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Medical Manifolds market.Chapter 1, to describe Medical Manifolds Market Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Medical Manifolds, with sales, revenue, and price of Medical Manifolds, 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 Medical Manifolds market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Medical Manifolds, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to Medical Manifolds Industry analyze the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the Medical Manifolds Market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 12, Medical Manifolds market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Medical Manifolds Industry sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source.Related Reports: -North America Medical Manifolds Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022This report focuses on the Medical Manifolds in North America market, especially in United States, Canada and Mexico. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, countries, type and application.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:
Automotive Suspension Systems Market To Make Great Impact In Near Future by 2025

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Emphasis on better ride control performance, smooth and safe ride with no vibrations for the driver are key reasons which have changed the overall scenario for automotive suspension systems market. Automotive suspension systems is very much essential for comfort driving and safety as the suspension carries the vehicle body and transmits all the forces between the body and the road. The automotive suspension system consists of wishbones, spring and the shock absorber to transmit and filter all the forces between the body and the road. It provides good ride and handling performance and also ensures that the vehicle responds favourably to control forces produced by the tyres during braking and acceleration forces. Introduction of suspension systems that have enable almost zero vibration in vehicles along with the most optimal quality ride and control are fuelling the overall demand for automotive suspensions systems market. Automotive suspension systems also helps in preventing excess wear and tear of vehicle and its components.Request Report Sample@Automotive Suspension Systems Market: Drivers & RestraintsIncreasing number of technological advancements and demand for good suspension systems globally are fuelling the demand for cheap, light in weight and economical automotive suspension systems. Manufacturers are required to invest largely in creation of advanced exhaust systems to meet strict government norms. Strict emission norms and fuel efficiency standards imposed by government in different regions have forced manufacturers to look for different solutions to achieve the same. Although the overall automotive suspension market is growing significantly, challenges such as lack of standardization and high prices of independent suspension systems is hindering the growth for automotive suspensions systems market. However during the forecast period, the companies are expected to drop the prices of automotive suspension systems.Automotive Suspension Systems Market: SegmentationOn the basis of vehicle type, the global automotive suspension systems market is segmented into,Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV)Heavy Commercial Vehicle (HCV)Passenger VehicleOn the basis of system type, the global automotive suspension systems market is segmented intoActiveSemi-ActivePassiveAdaptiveOn the basis of damping type, the global automotive suspension systems market is segmented intoHydraulicElectromagneticOn the basis of channel type, the global automotive exhaust systems market is segmented intoOEMAftermarketGlobal Automotive Suspension Systems Market: Region-wise OutlookIn terms of geography, the global automotive suspension systems 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.Global suspension systems market is expected to witness high growth in APAC followed by Europe and North America. With introduction of advanced suspension systems market in emerging economies such as India and China, APAC is expected to drive the demand for advanced automotive suspension systems. European countries such as Germany, France and UK dominated sales in Europe. Moreover, increasing demand for automotive sales globally supported by high disposable income is fuelling the overall demand for automotive suspension market and register steady CAGR during the forecast period.Visit For TOC@Automotive Suspension Systems Market: Key PlayersSome of the market participants in the global automotive suspension systems market are Magneti Marelli S.p.A, Mando Corp, Tenneco Inc, TRW Automotive Holdings Inc, BWI Group, Continental AG, Kayaba Industry Company ltd.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:
Allen Phillip Larsen, 32, was charged with five counts of assault on persons in certain occupations, going armed with intent, interference with official acts  dangerous weapon and interference of with official acts  firearm, the sheriff's office said in a news release.
Global Medical Nonwovens Market report analyses major players intricate in the pipeline product development

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Global Medical Nonwovens Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.0% in the forecast period 2017 to 2024.The new market report contains data for historic years 2015, the base year of calculation is 2016 and the forecast period is 2017 to 2024The usage of Medical Nonwovens Market are increasing in todays market owing to its benefits such as cost reduction which is a very important concern in todays healthcare in developed nations such as U.S., Germany, U.K. among others. There are other benefits to usage of medical nonwovens such as there efficiency over pulp and textile based products in terms of comfort, absorbance, barrier properties, anti pathogenic and resistance against contamination.Global Medical Nonwovens Market, By Type (Spunbond, Meltblown, Drylaid, SMS, Wetlaid), By Product Type (Hygiene (Incontinence Pads, Ostomy Liners, Disposable Underwear, CSR Wraps, Disposable Medical Wipes, Diapers), Apparel (Surgical Masks, Surgical Packs, Surgical Drapes and Gowns, Surgical Caps, Wound Care), By Usability (Reusable, Disposable), By End-User (Hospitals, Clinics, Home Healthcare, Ambulatory Surgical Centers, Laboratories), By Distribution Channel (Direct Tenders, Retail), By Geography (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa)  Industry Trends and Forecast to 2024Request for Sample Report @The Global Medical Nonwovens Market is segmented on the basis of type, product type, usability, end-user, distribution channel and geography.On the basis of type, medical nonwovens are categorized into spunbond, meltblown, drylaid, wetlaid and spun-melt-spun (SMS).On the basis of product type, the medical nonwovens market is segmented into hygiene and apparel products. Apparel segment is expected to dominate the market with around 60.0% market share.On the basis of end-user, this market is segmented into hospitals, clinics, home healthcare, laboratories and ambulatory surgical centers.On the basis of distribution channel, the global medical nonwovens market is segmented into direct tenders and retail.Browse Full Report with Details TOC @Based on geography, the market is segmented into five geographical regions: North America South America Europe Asia-Pacific(APAC) Middle East and Africa(MEA)The Global Medical Nonwovens Market major factors driving the growth of this market are the New International GMP & GDP Certification for Pharmaceutical Excipients (North America & Europe), global alliances amongst leading research institutes to boost drug discovery,Some of the major players operating in this market are Smith & Nephew Demetech Corporation Kimberly-Clark Corporation Avintiv Inc., Halyard Health, Inc. Freudenberg Performance Materials Advanced Fabrics (SAAF), Biovation LLC Intco Medical Ahlstrom Corporation, Ansell Healthcare Asahi Kasei Corporation B. Braun Melsungen AG Medtronic Cypress Medical Products Dynarex Corporation Georgia-Pacific Hogy Medical Molnlycke Health Care AB Paul Hartmann AG Precision Fabrics Group, Inc Domtar Corporation Cardinal Health UniCharm Corporation Kraton Performance Polymers Inc,Inquiry before Buying @Table Of Content:1. INTRODUCTION1.1. OVERVIEW OF THE GLOBAL MEDICAL NONWOVENS MARKET1.2. MARKET SEGMENTATION & COVERAGE1.2.1. CURRENCY AND PRICING1.2.2. LIMITATION1.2.3. STAKEHOLDERS2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY2.1. KEY TAKEAWAYS2.2. ARRIVING AT THE GLOBAL MEDICAL NONWOVENS MARKET SIZE2.2.1. MARKET CRACKDOWN APPROACH2.2.2. COMPANY REVENUE AND MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS2.2.3. DATA TRIANGULATION2.2.4. KEY DATA POINTS FROM PRIMARY SOURCES2.2.5. PRODUCT PIPELINE ANALYSIS2.2.6. PORTERS FIVE FORCES MATRIX2.3. GLOBAL MEDICAL NONWOVENS MARKET: RESEARCH SNAPSHOT2.4. ASSUMPTIONS3. MARKET LANDSCAPE SUMMARY4. PREMIUM INSIGHTS4.1. OVERVIEW4.2. GLOBAL MEDICAL NONWOVENS MARKET: KEY PRIMARY INSIGHTS4.3. MARKET OVERVIEW4.3.1. DRIVERS4.3.1.1. COST REDUCTION IN HEALTHCARE4.3.1.2. TECHNOLOGICALLY BENEFICIAL4.3.1.3. INCREASING THREAT OF HOSPITAL AQUIRED INFECTION4.3.1.4. INCREASING DEMAND FOR MODERN HEALTHCARE IN ASIA4.3.1.5. RISING ACCEPTANCE OF HOME HEALTHCARE4.3.2. RESTRAINTS4.3.3. OPPURTUNITIES4.3.4. THREATS4.4. KEY MARKET TRENDS AND UPCOMING TECHNOLOGIES5. MEDICAL NONWOVENS MARKET, BY TYPE5.1. OVERVIEW5.2. SPUNBOND5.3. MELTBLOWN5.4. DRYLAID5.5. WETLAID5.6. SPUN-MELT-SPUN (SMS)6. MEDICAL NONWOVENS MARKET, BY PRODUCT TYPE6.1. OVERVIEW6.2. HYGIENE TECHNOLOGY, BY PRODUCT TYPE6.2.1. INCONTINENCE PADS6.2.2. OSTOMY LINERS6.2.3. DISPOSABLE UNDERWEARS6.2.4. CSR WRAPS6.2.5. DISPOSABLE MEDICAL WIPES6.2.6. DIAPERS6.3. APPAREL PRODUCTS, BY PRODUCT TYPE6.3.1. SURGICAL MASKS6.3.2. SURGICAL PACKS6.3.3. SURGICAL DRAPES AND GOWNS6.3.4. SURGICAL CAPS6.3.5. WOUND CARE MATERIAL6.3.6. OTHERS7. MEDICAL NONWOVENS MARKET, BY END-USER7.1. OVERVIEW7.2. HOSPITALS7.3. CLINICS7.4. HOME HEALTHCARE7.5. LABORATORY7.6. AMBULATORY SURGICAL CENTERS7.7. OTHERS8. MEDICAL NONWOVENS MARKET, BY DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL8.1. OVERVIEW8.2. DIRECT TENDERS8.3. RETAIL9. MEDICAL NONWOVENS MARKET, BY GEOGRAPHY9.1. COUNTRYWISE MEDICAL NONWOVENS MARKET, (ALL SEGMENTATION PROVIDED ABOVE IS REPRESENTED IN THIS CHAPTER BY COUNTRY)Related ReportGlobal Healthcare 3D Printing Market  Industry Trends and Forecast to 2024Global Healthcare 3D Printing Market, By Product Type, End User, Geography (North America, Europe, APAC, South America, MEA)Industry 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 Info:Name: Ankit SinghOrganization: Data Bridge Market ResearchAddress: Data Bridge Market Research, Office Number  317, Amanora Chambers,, Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune  411028, ,Phone: +1-888-387-2818
Ophthalmic Lasers Market is expanding at a CAGR of 4.60% from 2016 to 2024

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In the recent times, the global market for ophthalmic lasers has witnessed a tremendous increase in its size and valuation. The significant rise in the number of elderly people, who are more prone to vision defects and ophthalmic disorders, is acting as the key factor behind the growth of this market. Apart from this, the increasing awareness among people regarding eye care, together with the technological advancements enhancing the level of accuracy of laser treatments, is also propelling this market substantially.With a CAGR of 4.60%, the global ophthalmic lasers market is moving towards a thriving future during the period from 2016 to 2024. Analysts expect the opportunity in this market to increase from US$0.97 bn in 2015 to US$1.44 bn by the end of 2024.This 185 page report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the Ophthalmic Lasers Market. Browse through 24 data tables and 73 figures to unlock the hidden opportunities in this market:Hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs), and ophthalmic clinics have surfaced as the key end users of ophthalmic laser surgeries. With a remarkable expansion rate, ophthalmic clinics have been reported as the leading contributors to the overall revenue generated in this market.Analysts predict the demand for ophthalmic lasers from this segment will remain increasing at a greater pace than others over the years to come, owing to the increasing preference for specialists among patients for laser procedures. Hospitals and ASCs are also expected to witness a steady increase in the demand for ophthalmic lasers in the forthcoming years.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Ophthalmic Lasers Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market:On the basis of geography, the worldwide market for ophthalmic lasers is classified into Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. Thanks to the presence of key players in a large number, North America occupied the leading position in this market with a share of more than 40% in 2016.Over the forthcoming years, the strong focus of these players on research and development and the availability of a state-of-art healthcare infrastructure and a well-established regulatory structure for timely approval of the products are likely to support this regional market to retain its position. However, it is the ophthalmic lasers market in Asia Pacific, which is anticipated to register the growth at a higher than other pace in the next few years. Due to its large base of the population, China is expected to emerge as the most attractive domestic market for ophthalmic lasers in Asia Pacific.The Middle East and Africa and Latin America are also projected to witness a considerable rise in their respective markets for ophthalmic lasers in the near future, thanks to the thriving medical tourism and the low cost of laser eye surgeries in these regions. Mexico and Columbia are likely to drive the Latin America ophthalmic lasers market while the Middle East and Africa market is anticipated to be heavily supported by Turkey in the years to come.Some of the key players in the global market for ophthalmic lasers are Lumenis Ltd., Ellex Medical Lasers Ltd., IRIDEX Corp., Novartis AG, Abbott Laboratories Inc., Topcon Corp., Ziemer Ophthalmic Systems AG, Quantel Group, NIDEK Co. Ltd., Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., SCHWIND eye-tech-solutions GmbH & Co. KG, and Carl Zeiss Meditec AG.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. 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.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:
Desulfurization Agent Market Report 2017

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Browse the full table of contents and data tables:In this report, the EMEA Desulfurization Agent 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.Request a sample copy:Geographically, this report split EMEA into Europe, the Middle East and Africa, With sales (K MT), revenue (Million USD), market share and growth rate of Desulfurization Agent for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast)Europe: Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy and Benelux;Middle East: Saudi Arabia, Israel, UAE and Iran;Africa: South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and Algeria.Order a Purchase Report Copy:EMEA Desulfurization Agent market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Desulfurization Agent sales volume (K MT), price (USD/MT), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingAlzChemTecnosulfurCarburo del CincaSMS GroupJohoku ChemicalXGchemDenka CompanyUbe Material Industries,Ltd.Hunan Heaven Materials Development Co.,LtdOn the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume (K MT), revenue (Million USD), product price (USD/MT), market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoZinc Oxide DesulfurizerIron Oxide DesulfurizerBiogas Desulfurization AgentOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume (K MT), market share and growth rate of Desulfurization Agent for each application, includingOil and GasWater and WastewaterChemical ProcessOthersIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Table of ContentsEMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Desulfurization Agent Market Report 20171 Desulfurization Agent Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Desulfurization Agent1.2 Classification of Desulfurization Agent1.2.1 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)1.2.2 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Zinc Oxide Desulfurizer1.2.4 Iron Oxide Desulfurizer1.2.5 Biogas Desulfurization Agent1.3 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2012-20221.3.2 Oil and Gas1.3.3 Water and Wastewater1.3.4 Chemical Process1.3.5 Others1.4 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Market by Region1.4.1 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Middle East Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Africa Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 EMEA Market Size (Value and Volume) of Desulfurization Agent (2012-2022)1.5.1 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Competition by Manufacturers/Players/Suppliers, Region, Type and Application2.1 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Market Competition by Players/Manufacturers2.1.1 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Sales Volume and Market Share of Major Players (2012-2017)2.1.2 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Revenue and Share by Players (2012-2017)2.1.3 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Sale Price by Players (2012-2017)2.2 EMEA Desulfurization Agent (Volume and Value) by Type/Product Category2.2.1 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.2.2 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.2.3 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Sale Price by Type (2012-2017)2.3 EMEA Desulfurization Agent (Volume) by Application2.4 EMEA Desulfurization Agent (Volume and Value) by Region2.4.1 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Sales and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.4.2 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Revenue and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.4.3 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Sales Price by Region (2012-2017)3 Europe Desulfurization Agent (Volume, Value and Sales Price), by Players, Countries, Type and Application3.1 Europe Desulfurization Agent Sales and Value (2012-2017)3.1.1 Europe Desulfurization Agent Sales Volume and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.2 Europe Desulfurization Agent Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.2 Europe Desulfurization Agent Sales and Market Share by Type3.3 Europe Desulfurization Agent Sales and Market Share by Application3.4 Europe Desulfurization Agent Sales Volume and Value (Revenue) by Countries3.4.1 Europe Desulfurization Agent Sales Volume by Countries (2012-2017)3.4.2 Europe Desulfurization Agent Revenue by Countries (2012-2017)3.4.3 Germany Desulfurization Agent Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.4.4 France Desulfurization Agent Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.4.5 UK Desulfurization Agent Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.4.6 Russia Desulfurization Agent Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.4.7 Italy Desulfurization Agent Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.4.8 Benelux Desulfurization Agent Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4 Middle East Desulfurization Agent (Volume, Value and Sales Price), by Region, Type and Application4.1 Middle East Desulfurization Agent Sales and Value (2012-2017)4.1.1 Middle East Desulfurization Agent Sales Volume and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.2 Middle East Desulfurization Agent Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.2 Middle East Desulfurization Agent Sales and Market Share by Type4.3 Middle East Desulfurization Agent Sales and Market Share by Application4.4 Middle East Desulfurization Agent Sales Volume and Value (Revenue) by Countries4.4.1 Middle East Desulfurization Agent Sales Volume by Countries (2012-2017)4.4.2 Middle East Desulfurization Agent Revenue by Countries (2012-2017)4.4.3 Saudi Arabia Desulfurization Agent Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.4.4 Israel Desulfurization Agent Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.4.5 UAE Desulfurization Agent Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.4.6 Iran Desulfurization Agent Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5 Africa Desulfurization Agent (Volume, Value and Sales Price) by Players, Countries, Type and Application5.1 Africa Desulfurization Agent Sales and Value (2012-2017)5.1.1 Africa Desulfurization Agent Sales Volume and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.2 Africa Desulfurization Agent Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.2 Africa Desulfurization Agent Sales and Market Share by Type5.3 Africa Desulfurization Agent Sales and Market Share by Application5.4 Africa Desulfurization Agent Sales Volume and Value (Revenue) by Countries5.4.1 Africa Desulfurization Agent Sales Volume by Countries (2012-2017)5.4.2 Africa Desulfurization Agent Revenue by Countries (2012-2017)5.4.3 South Africa Desulfurization Agent Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.4.4 Nigeria Desulfurization Agent Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.4.5 Egypt Desulfurization Agent Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.4.6 Algeria Desulfurization Agent Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)6 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Manufacturers/Players Profiles and Sales Data6.1 AlzChem6.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors6.1.2 Desulfurization Agent Product Type, Application and Specification6.1.2.1 Product A6.1.2.2 Product B6.1.3 AlzChem Desulfurization Agent Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.2 Tecnosulfur6.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors6.2.2 Desulfurization Agent Product Type, Application and Specification6.2.2.1 Product A6.2.2.2 Product B6.2.3 Tecnosulfur Desulfurization Agent Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.3 Carburo del Cinca6.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors6.3.2 Desulfurization Agent Product Type, Application and Specification6.3.2.1 Product A6.3.2.2 Product B6.3.3 Carburo del Cinca Desulfurization Agent Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.4 SMS Group6.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors6.4.2 Desulfurization Agent Product Type, Application and Specification6.4.2.1 Product A6.4.2.2 Product B6.4.3 SMS Group Desulfurization Agent Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.5 Johoku Chemical6.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors6.5.2 Desulfurization Agent Product Type, Application and Specification6.5.2.1 Product A6.5.2.2 Product B6.5.3 Johoku Chemical Desulfurization Agent Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.6 XGchem6.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors6.6.2 Desulfurization Agent Product Type, Application and Specification6.6.2.1 Product A6.6.2.2 Product B6.6.3 XGchem Desulfurization Agent Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.7 Denka Company6.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors6.7.2 Desulfurization Agent Product Type, Application and Specification6.7.2.1 Product A6.7.2.2 Product B6.7.3 Denka Company Desulfurization Agent Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.8 Ube Material Industries,Ltd.6.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors6.8.2 Desulfurization Agent Product Type, Application and Specification6.8.2.1 Product A6.8.2.2 Product B6.8.3 Ube Material Industries,Ltd. Desulfurization Agent Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.9 Hunan Heaven Materials Development Co.,Ltd6.9.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors6.9.2 Desulfurization Agent Product Type, Application and Specification6.9.2.1 Product A6.9.2.2 Product B6.9.3 Hunan Heaven Materials Development Co.,Ltd Desulfurization Agent Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.9.4 Main Business/Business Overview7 Desulfurization Agent Manufacturing Cost Analysis7.1 Desulfurization Agent Key Raw Materials Analysis7.1.1 Key Raw Materials7.1.2 Price Trend of Key Raw Materials7.1.3 Key Suppliers of Raw Materials7.1.4 Market Concentration Rate of Raw Materials7.2 Proportion of Manufacturing Cost Structure7.2.1 Raw Materials7.2.2 Labor Cost7.2.3 Manufacturing Expenses7.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Desulfurization Agent8 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers8.1 Desulfurization Agent Industrial Chain Analysis8.2 Upstream Raw Materials Sourcing8.3 Raw Materials Sources of Desulfurization Agent Major Manufacturers in 20168.4 Downstream Buyers9 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders9.1 Marketing Channel9.1.1 Direct Marketing9.1.2 Indirect Marketing9.1.3 Marketing Channel Development Trend9.2 Market Positioning9.2.1 Pricing Strategy9.2.2 Brand Strategy9.2.3 Target Client9.3 Distributors/Traders List10 Market Effect Factors Analysis10.1 Technology Progress/Risk10.1.1 Substitutes Threat10.1.2 Technology Progress in Related Industry10.2 Consumer Needs/Customer Preference Change10.3 Economic/Political Environmental Change11 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Market Forecast (2017-2022)11.1 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Sales, Revenue and Price Forecast (2017-2022)11.1.1 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Sales and Growth Rate Forecast (2017-2022)11.1.2 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Revenue and Growth Rate Forecast (2017-2022)11.1.3 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Price and Trend Forecast (2017-2022)11.2 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Sales, Revenue and Growth Rate Forecast by Region (2017-2022)11.3 Europe Desulfurization Agent Sales, Revenue and Growth Rate Forecast by Region (2017-2022)11.4 Middle Eastt Desulfurization Agent Sales, Revenue and Growth Rate Forecast by Region (2017-2022)11.5 Africa Desulfurization Agent Sales, Revenue and Growth Rate Forecast by Region (2017-2022)11.6 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Sales Forecast by Type (2017-2022)11.7 EMEA Desulfurization Agent Sales Forecast by Application (2017-2022)12 Research Findings and Conclusion13 Appendix13.1 Methodology/Research Approach13.1.1 Research Programs/Design13.1.2 Market Size Estimation13.1.3 Market Breakdown and Data Triangulation13.2 Data Source13.2.1 Secondary Sources13.2.2 Primary Sources13.3 DisclaimerAbout Reports And MarketsReports And Markets is part of the Algoro Research Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.Are you mastering your market? Do you know what the market potential is for your product, who the market players are and what the growth forecast is? We offer standard global, regional or country specific market research studies for almost every market you can imagine.Contact PersonSanjay JainManager - Partner Relations & International Marketinginfo@reportsandmarkets.comPh: +1-214-377-1121 (US), +44-020-3286-9338 (UK)
Seed Coating Material Market Size to Witness a CAGR Growth Through 2021

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Seed coating is a process in which seeds are directly coated with various material such as fertilizers, repulsive agents, crop protection chemicals plant growth regulators and others, which offers both aesthetic and environmental benefits. The primary goal of seed coating material is rapid multiplication and timely supply of crop at reasonable price.A sample of this report is available upon request @Other benefits associated with seed coating material include high yield per hectare, low seeding rate, multicomponent product and others, which are driving the demand for seed coating material across the globe. This growth is especially observed in the developing regions, where agriculture is the prime contributor to the overall economy.Seed coating material market is segmented on the basis of type which includes, colorants, binders, polymers and other additives. Among all the above segments polymer is expected to account for the major share in terms of revenue contribution in seed coating material market during the forecast period. Higher efficiency to improve plant ability and durability of seeds is expected to support the growth of polymer seed coating material during the forecast period.Apart from polymer, binders are also expected to show a substantial growth in next five to six years. Many different compounds are used in binders which includes various starches, sugars, cellulose, vinyl polymers, clay, gum arabic, and others. However, binder concentration is critical as too much binding delays germination, while too little binding can cause chipping and cracking of pellets in the planter box. This causes skips or wide gaps in the plant rows.Seed coating material market is also segmented on the basis of crop type which includes fruits & vegetables, cereals & grains, oilseeds, and others. Among all these product type cereals and grains is expected to account for the highest market share as compared to other segments. High consumption of cereal and grains across the globe has generated the requirement of the increased volume of the crop production is expected to contribute to the growth of seed coating material market in the near future. Moreover, oilseed segment is expected to register a healthy growth during the forecast period.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @On the basis of region, the seed coating material market segmentation includes North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Japan and Middle East and Africa. North America is expected to be dominant in terms of revenue contribution in seed coating material market followed by Europe.Increased consumption of packaged food and beverages with health benefits in North America is expected to support the demand for seed coating material among food products across the region. While, among all the countries in the European region United Kingdom is expected to account for major market share during the forecast period. Moreover in developing region of Asia Pacific.China and India are the prominent countries in terms of the production of agricultural crops contributing to significant share for seed coating market in Asia Pacific region. Moreover, in Latin America Brazil is expected to show a healthy growth over next five to six years.Growing population across the globe has generated the requirement for the production of increased agricultural crops, which is expected to fuel the demand of seed coating material market over the forecast period. Moreover, to have less impact on the environment and protecting crops, the seed coating market is expected to flourish in the near future. However, limited usage such as higher dependency on seed surface, compatibility with active ingredient and/or dye, and application temperature may hinder its growth during the forecast period.Some of the key international players in seed coating ingredient market includes Bayer Cropscience AG, Clariant International, Precision Laboratories, LLC, Chemtura Corporation, Incotec Group Bv, BASF SE and Chromatech Incorporated among others.Buy Now: You can now buy a single user license of the report @About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Veterinary Drugs Market Research Report by Geographical Analysis and Forecast to 2024

Veterinary Drugs Market

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Across developed countries the ownership of companion or livestock animals of various known and exotic breeds has remained high since the last few decades. Developing countries are catching up in this regard as well. Across the world, livestock animals are majorly domesticated for their economic value. Dairy products, meat, fibers, and fertilizers derived from companion animals have considerable market value. In addition, their labour is put to use in agriculture and farming. Besides this, humans have grown fond of petting companion animals. Spurred by these factors the demand for veterinary drugs has increased as veterinarians and owners focus more on ensuring the health and wellness of companion pets.While the market continues reeling under threat from the availability of low quality counterfeit products, the growing affordability of veterinary drugs will keep their demand pacing higher in the coming years. Given the scenario, Transparency Market Research (TMR) forecasts the market to exhibit a CAGR of 5.1% between 2016 and 2024. At this pace, the market which stood at US$17.2 bn in 2015, is forecast to reach US$26.7 bn by the end of 2024.This 155 page report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the Veterinary Drugs Market. Browse through 24 data tables and 64 figures to unlock the hidden opportunities in this market:In terms of animal type, the global veterinary drugs market is bifurcated into companion animal and livestock animal. Of these, the livestock animal segment held the largest market share in 2015 on account of the high demand for high quality protein and poultry meat. The companion animal segment will exhibit robust growth as well during the course of the forecast period. The rising pet ownership and the increase in healthcare expenditure on them will boost this segment in the coming years.Based on product, anti-infective, parasiticides, anti-inflammatory, and others comprise the key market segments. Of these, the anti-infective segment held the dominant share in the market in 2015 gaining from the increasing demand for zoonotic diseases. However, between 2016 and 2024, growth witnessed in the parasiticides segment is projected to be higher than other segments. It is forecast to exhibit a CAGR of 6.1% during the forecast period thereby emerging as the most lucrative product segment. The market will witness rising demand for anti-inflammatory drugs as well aimed at improving mobility and quality of life in companion animals.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Veterinary Drugs Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market:Regionally, North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa constitute the key market segments. Among these, North America emerged dominant in 2015, accounting for value-based share of nearly 31%. It is expected to remain at the fore of the overall market through the course of the reports forecast period. The region exhibits a higher prevalence of pet ownership as compared to other regions. In the same year, Europe emerged as the second-leading market segment. During the forecast period, Asia Pacific and Latin America is also expected to contribute to revenue generated by the overall market. The increasing incidence of infectious disease among animals will fuel the demand for effective veterinary drugs in Asia Pacific and Latin America.Some of the leading companies operating in the global veterinary drugs market are Zoetis, Inc., which dominated the overall vendor landscape in 2015, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Bayer AG., Elanco Animal Health (Eli Lilly and Company), Ceva Sante Animale, Dechra Pharmaceuticals PLC., Merck & Co., Inc., Virbac, Vetoquinol, and others.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. 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.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 Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol (PETG) Industry Future Trends and Forecast From 2017-2022

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Market Research Hub (MRH) added a new research report to its vast database titled Global Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol (PETG) Industry 2017, Trends and Forecast Report which overs forecast and analysis for the PETG market on a global and regional level. The study provides historic data of 2012-2016 along with a forecast from 2017 to 2022 based on both volumes and revenue.Request Free Sample Report @PETG is a clear amorphous thermoplastic that can be injection molded or sheet extruded. It can be colored during processing. Its a thermoplastic polymer created through the copolymerization of PET and ethylene glycol. Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol can be used in a variety of applications including for medical and food purposes, electronic devices, covers and even medical braces. PETG is often used in the sign making industry where it can create purchase or graphic displays and display cases.The study includes drivers and restraints for the PETG market along with the impact they have on the demand over the forecast period. Additionally, the report includes the study of opportunities available in the PETG market on a global level.The report has been prepared based on the synthesis, analysis, and interpretation of information about the global PETG market collected from specialized sources. The competitive landscape section of the report provides a clear insight into the market share analysis of key industry players. Company overview, financial overview, product portfolio, new project launched, recent development analysis are the parameters included in the profile.The study provides a decisive view on the PETG market by segmenting the market based on applications. All the application segments have been analyzed based on present and future trends and the market is estimated from 2017 to 2022.Key ApplicationsMedicalElectronicsFood & BeverageCosmeticKey RegionsNorth AmericaEuropeAsia PacificKey VendorsEastmanSK ChemicalsCNPC LioayangJiangsu JinghongSelenisBrowse Full Report with TOC @Key Questions Answered in this ReportWhat will the market size be in 2022?What are the key factors driving the global PETG market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key players in the PETG market?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key players?Table of Content:Part 1. Exclusive SummaryPart 2. Methodology2.1 Research Methodology2.2 Geographic Scope2.3 Years ConsideredPart 3. Introduction3.1 Product Overview3.2 Applications of Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol3.2.1 Food & Beverage3.2.2 Cosmetic3.2.3 Electronics3.2.4 Medical3.3 Manufacturing Process3.4 Raw Materials3.4.1 CHDM3.5 Cost Analysis.continueEnquire about this Report @About Industry Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of chemicals Industry 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 Industry forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and Industry share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients and customers.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 800-998-4852 (US-Canada)Email: press@Industryresearchhub.comWebsite:Read Industry News at -
Hemophilia Treatment Drugs Market is expanding at a CAGR of 5.4% from 2016 to 2024

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The global hemophilia treatment drugs market is presently catering to various sub-types of hemophilia such as hemophilia A, hemophilia B and others such as acquired hemophilia and hemophilia C. The increasing awareness of this disorder and the introduction of innovative ways of managing this disease has opened up several opportunities for the global market in recent years. According to the research report, the global hemophilia treatment drugs market was valued at US$15.8 bn in 2015 and is expected to reach US$25.1 bn in 2024, as the market is projected to progress at a CAGR of 5.4%.The global market is also estimated to benefit from the several blockbuster drugs in the existing portfolio. Presently, these drugs are contributing to the major share of the revenue of the market. The introduction of new drugs and FDA approvals for clinical trials to launch blockbuster treatments is expected to drive this market in the coming years. The commercial availability of promising drugs is anticipated to change the way hemophilia is managed and treated for many patients during the forecast period.Read Full Report:On the basis of product, the global market is segmented into recombinant coagulation factor concentrates, desmopressin, plasma derived coagulation factor concentrates, and antifibrinolytic agents. Out of these products, the recombinant coagulation factor concentrates are expected to dominate the global market in the coming years. The growing preference of medical practitioners for these therapies due to low risk of blood borne infections is anticipated to drive this segment. In 2015, the recombinant coagulation factor concentrates segment held a share of 46.6% in the global market in terms of revenue. This segment is further divided into factor VIII, factor IX and combination drugs.In terms of geography, the global hemophilia treatment drugs market is categorized into Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. Out of these regions, North America has been leading the global market for a few decades and is expected to continue its stance in the coming years due to well-established healthcare infrastructure. Furthermore, the growing awareness about the disease in the region is also expected to boost sales of products in the coming years. Currently, the U.S. is leading the hemophilia drugs market in North America.Download exclusive Sample of this report:On the other hand, Europe is anticipated to lose its share as several top-selling drug brands are experiencing patent cliff. Presently, the U.K is leading the Europe market. Asia Pacific is also anticipated to offer several lucrative opportunities to the overall market due to an exponentially growing demand for unmet medical needs. The rising per capita income, improving healthcare facilities, growing awareness about the disorder, and emerging economies of Asia Pacific have lent a significant impetus to the overall market. Additionally, increasing focus on treating bleeding disorders across Asia Pacific and Latin America are also expected give the overall market a remarkable boost in the coming few years.Some of the key players operating in the global hemophilia treatment drugs market are Shire Plc, Biogen, Pfizer Inc., Novo Nordisk A/S, CSL Behring, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Bayer AG, Biotest AG, Kedrion Biopharma Inc., and Octapharma AG. The competitive landscape of the global market can be described as a consolidated one with top ten players holding a mammoth share in the overall market in terms of revenue. Over the coming years, these companies are expected to show a keen interest in expanding their geographical reach and widening their presence in various parts of the world.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. 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.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:
Food Colorants Market to Witness Robust Expansion Throughout the Forecast by 2024

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Food colorants are coloring additives also known as dye or pigments which are added to food or beverages to impart color and give an attractive appearance to the food and beverages. Food colorants are added in the food and beverages to maintain and improve safety, freshness, nutritional value, taste, texture and appearance of foods and beverages. Natural colorants segment is expected to hold a significant market share in terms of value owing to easily availability of fruits and vegetables. The global food colorants market is anticipated to witness significant CAGR during the forecast period.Buy Now: You can now buy a single user license of the report @Global Food Colorants Market: Drivers and RestraintsEasily availability of raw materials such as fruits and vegetables and edible plants, coupled with rising consumer demand for natural colorants, which is driving the growth of global food colorants market. Furthermore, increasing applications of food colorants in food and beverage industry is expected to boost the consumption of food colorants. In addition, increasing consumer demand for processed foods leads to increase consumption of food colorants.A sample of this report is available upon request @However, stringent and expensive certifications and regulations regarding use of food colorants, and side effects associated with synthetic colors on health are expected to limit the growth of global food colorants market.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Based on the geographies, the global food colorants market is segmented into five key regions, namely North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. North America is anticipated to dominate among all the regions owing to increasing demand for food colorants in US and Canada. Europe is expected to hold the market share of global food colorants market at a second position in terms of value. This is attributed to increasing consumer awareness for natural products coupled with regulatory support for coloring food stuff in European countries.Owing to the increase in consumption of processed and ready to eat foods in India and China, the Asia-Pacific market is anticipated to contribute significantly to the global food colorants market. The Latin America and MEA regions are expected to contribute collectively in the global food colorants market.This is due to the increasing disposable incomes coupled with changing lifestyles in Brazil, GCC countries and South Africa which is fuelling the consumption of processed foods, resulting in an increase in demand for food colorants.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Foaming Agents Market Growth to be Fuelled by Advancements in Technology during 2015 - 2021

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Foaming agents are used create foam in food products and also used to add flavour to the food products. Various types of foaming agents include Gelatin and Lecithin.A sample of this report is available upon request @Gelatin is used in various food products to stabilize the foam. However, Lecithin is primarily used for converting juices to foams. Foaming agents are of various types including natural and artificial foaming agents. Natural foaming agents such as Yucca schidigera and Quillaja saponaria are used in various applications such as carbonated beverages, juices and beer. These foaming agents are especially used in products that require enhanced foaming properties.Global foaming agents market is segmented on the basis of type, application and region. Based on the type, food foaming agents is segmented into natural and artificial. Of which, the natural foaming agent is the leading segment in terms of revenue contribution, followed by the artificial foaming agents. The natural foaming agent is the dominating segment, as companies are primarily manufacturing natural foaming agents in order to meet the rising preference of the customers for the food products that contain natural ingredients.On the basis of application food foaming agents, segmentation includes beverages and dairy. Of which, beverage segment is expected to be the dominating segment over the forecast period due the expanding market for the beverage such as alcohol globally, However, followed by the dairy, dairy segment is expected to witness consistent growth in the coming four to five years. Global foaming agents market is segmented on the basis of the region into North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, Middle East and Africa and Japan.The Global foaming agents market is expected to witness robust growth over the forecast period due to the expanding beverage and dairy industry. Globally among all regions, North America is the most dominating segment followed by other regions. In North America, U.S. is expected to contribute highest market share, followed by other countries during the forecast period. North America is expected to contribute maximum market share owing to the high consumption of food products, especially in the dairy segment. However, Asia-Pacific is expected to witness fast growth in the next four to five yearsTo view TOC of this report is available upon request @A major factor that fuel the growth of foaming agents market includes the growing demand of consumers for the food products that are superior in taste. Another factor that is expected to boost the demand of foaming agent is increasing consumption of beverages such as alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks. Moreover, application of foaming agent in beverages such as alcohol is the cost-effective method for releasing foam in drinks. However, major factor that is expected to hinder the growth of foaming agents is adverse effects related to the consumption of food products in beverage and dairy segmentMajor companies operating in Foaming Agents are Nature S.A., Bergen International, Adams Food Ingredients Ltd, Desert King International, Garuda International Inc., Kerry Inc., RIKEN VITAMIN Co., Ltd. Companies operating in foaming agent market are adopting strategy to launch numerous foaming agents in order to cater to the evolving demand for foaming agents especially from food and beverage industry.Companies are also adopting a strategy to expand its geographical reach in order to increase its market presence and grab the maximum untapped and potential market related to foaming agents. Companies operating in foaming agents market are also adopting a strategy to increase the revenue by manufacturing foaming agents tailored for the specific application.Buy Now: You can now buy a single user license of the report @About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Dermatoscope Market Research Report by Key Players Analysis 2024

Dermatoscope Market

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Dermatoscopy is a process through which the examination of skin lesions can be determined using an instrument, i.e., dermatoscope. The instrument is used by dermatologists to distinguish benign tumors and malignant (cancerous) lesions, especially in the diagnosis of melanoma. Modern dermatoscope uses the liquid medium and polarized light in order to cancel out the skin surface reflection. The images or videos are digitally processed using a digital epiluminescence dermatoscope. 3Gen introduced the first polarized dermatoscope known as DermLite, which allows visualization of skin structures using an immersion fluid. The convenient method of detection and different optimization of images as compared to glass dermatoscope added an advantage over vascular pattern diagnosis. However, new developments in dermatoscope allow image at the cellular and vascular level, paving way for earlier diagnosis and treatment of cancer disease.High prevalence of skin cancer disease, rise in patient awareness about skin cancer, growth in research and development initiatives, reduction of the frequency of unnecessary surgical procedures, and high cost of treatment and diagnostic imaging procedures through MRI and X-ray devices are important driving factors of the dermatoscope market. According to the American Academy of Dermatology 2017, the World Health Organization has estimated that more than 65,000 people worldwide are likely to die of melanoma. In 2017, 9,730 deaths due to melanoma are estimated in the U.S. According to the WHO, 2015, the number of new cases of cancer is expected to rise by about 70% over the next two decades. Growth in technologies such as USB imaging and video technology of imaging melanoma is likely to fuel the growth of the global dermatoscope market. However, introduction of biological agents for melanoma detection and new technologies such as SPECT and PET are expected to hamper the market growth.This report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the Dermatoscope Market:The global dermatoscope market has been segmented based on product, technology, modality, application, and geography. In terms of product, the dermatoscope market is classified into contact dermatoscope, hybrid dermatoscope, and non-contact dermatoscope. Polarized dermatoscope (non-contact dermatoscope) is a rapid growing product segment owing to increase in prevalence of skin cancer diseases globally. In terms of technology, the market is classified into LED, xenon, halogen, and ultraviolet. In terms of modality, the market of dermatoscope is classified into hand-handled, trolley mounted, and headband. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation 2017, more than 419,000 cases of skin cancer are projected to be reported in the U.S. each year, out of which are likely to be 168,000 squamous cell carcinomas, 245,000 basal cell carcinomas, and 6,200 melanomas; these are linked to indoor tanning. In terms of application, the market is classified into skin tumors, scabies, warts, fungal infections, and others. Based on geography, the market is distributed over North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa.Geographically, North America dominates the global dermatoscope market due to increase in number of melanoma cases among men owing to tanning and ultraviolet rays. Early-phase diagnosis and treatment of the disease is driving the medical biotechnology market, which in turn is expected to drive the North America dermatoscope market. Europe is the second leading market for dermatoscope as there are favorable government policies regarding health care infrastructure and awareness among population against skin cancer. The market in Asia Pacific is expected to grow at a higher rate due to rise in population, changing lifestyle, increase in awareness about skin cancer, and growth in per capita expenditure. In addition, economic growth and rise in medical tourism along with research and cancer laboratories are supporting the health care infrastructure improvement in developing countries such as India, Brazil, and China. Thus, all the above mentioned factors collectively support the growth of the dermatoscope market in Asia Pacific and Latin America.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Dermatoscope Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market:The major players operating in the global dermatoscope market include FotoFinder Systems GmbH, Optilia Instruments AB, Dino-Lite, 3Gen, Rudolf Riester GmbH, NIDEK CO., LTD., ILLUCO Corporation Ltd., KIRCHNER & WILHELM GmbH + Co. KG, and Canfield Scientific, Inc.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. 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.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:
FOREST CITY | When Gov. Kim Reynolds and Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg visited Forest City Elementary Wednesday, they watched pre-kindergarten students learning the basics of computer coding.

They also saw older elementary students engaged in STEM activities.

"You guys are knocking it out of the park," Reynolds said during a meeting afterwards with school officials and business leaders in the community.

Reynolds said she enjoyed watching a group of girls demonstrating the catapult they built to launch marshmallows.

"That marshmallow came clear across the room," she said.

Reynolds and Gregg were in Forest City on the first day of classes are part of a Start of School tour.

Reynolds was at schools in Des Moines and Emmetsburg on Tuesday. Gregg joined her on Wednesday for visits to the Forest City, Central Springs and Garner-Hayfield-Ventura school districts.

The focus of the Forest City visit was STEM education.

The Iowa Governors STEM Advisory Council, created in 2012 while Gov. Terry Branstad was still in office, offers STEM programs in schools throughout the state.

Forest City has STEM programs at the elementary, middle school and high school level.

By the time they leave middle school, all students will have had the chance to experience an engineering class.

Mike Van Oort, technology director for the school district, said STEM classes at the middle school are now being taught as exploratory courses rather than electives, which makes it easier for all students to participate.

A third-year engineering class also is being offered at the high school level.

However, fewer girls are still participating in the high engineering courses than they were in middle school, according to Van Oort. He said only a few girls are in the high school classes.

Van Oort said some students are working with 3-D software to create a 3-D image of each building in the school district. When the images are finished, they will be sent to the police, fire and ambulance departments for use in case of an emergency.

Forest City Superintendent Darwin Lehmann said the school district has "wonderful partnerships" with the local business community when it comes to STEM.

3M in particular has been supportive, he said.

The state legislature's willingness to appropriate money for STEM initiatives has been a key element in getting the private sector involved in supporting the programs by providing money and equipment and offering internships, according to Reynolds.

She said although cuts had to be made in the state budget once again this year, instead of an across-the-board percentage cuts they were targeted cuts. This means education  including STEM  could be protected.

Reynolds said teaching kids STEM skills is important because those jobs are increasing at three times the rate of other jobs.

"It's about keeping our state innovative and competitive," she said.
Hemostats For Wound Closure Market : Segmentation, Industry trends and Development to 2025

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Historically wound types remain the same over the ages with only a slight exception being the emergence of femoral punctures associated with catheterization procedures. But with the advent of newer technologies the practice of closing those wounds are changed.These new products are commonly available on hospitals & trauma centers and have wide range of usage area. Among them Hemostat has become a very popular tool to be used as wound closure material with its excellent properties. When applied to a wound, quickly absorbs blood and other body fluids, transforms into a gel to seal the wound with a protective transparent layer, actively aids in stopping bleeding, and creates an environment for wound healing.Treatment of damaged cardiac tissue in patients with high bleeding tendency can be very challenging. In this category of surgery Hemostat proved to be a very effective with the combination of collagen sponge for the management of a myocardial woundRequest Report Sample@Topical hemostatic agents and tissue adhesives are used as an adjunct or alternative to standard suturing techniques to control bleeding or for wound closure.Hemostats for Wound Closure: Drivers and RestraintsWound closure has become a very frequent clinical practice which is growing very rapidly. The sophisticated procedures ensure rapid cessation of blood loss, prompt closure, strong adhesion of wound edges, tight sealing, reduced scarring, reduced risk of infection and more rapid healing. There is a pool of patients throughout the world which makes the market of this product is very lucrative. As the price is also very reasonable so acceptance of this product is gradually progressing.On the other hand some reports come which could restrict the growth. Surgical staples are emerging as the most useful tool on this wound closure segment. Also the market of suture which is there traditionally remains constant if not growing to some parts of the world. Few reports also suggested that patients may suffer with irritation, heat inflammation or redness on skin when hemostat are applied, though its not clear the exact reason for these.As the market is growing and price is low, so tough competitions will prevail in this segment too.Hemostats for Wound Closure: SegmentationGlobal market for wound closure products consist of hemostat are mainly driven the use of Fibrin which is the combination of thrombin & fibrinogen. Also collagen finds it use as hemostat though it still needs the approval of USFDA.Thrombin based HemostatsCombination HemostatsOxidized Regenerated Cellulose HemostatsGelatin HemostatsCollagen based HemostatsHemostats for Wound Closure: OverviewWith the rapid technological advancement in healthcare industry the Hemostats is expected to grow at a healthy CAGR in the forecasted period (2015-2025).Visit For TOC@Hemostats for Wound Closure: Region-wise OutlookGeographically, the wound closure products market has been segmented into seven major geographical regions which include North America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific exclude Japan, Japan & Latin America, Middle east & Africa. North America contribute the most in this market followed by Europe. With the new product approvals, change in regulatory policies encourages, patient acceptance helps the market to grow. Asia Pacific & Japan pose good growth potential too for wound closure products specially Hemostat.Hemostats for Wound Closure: Key PlayersWound closure product market is highly fragmented with presence of big & small companies. The market leaders in this area are Johnson & Johnson, Covidien, B. Braun, and 3M.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:
Insights into Italian Construction Industry to rise at a CAGR of 2.03% by 2020 - Key Trends, Analysis, Forecast and Opportunities

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ResearchMoz added Latest Research Report titled " Construction in Italy-Key Trends and Opportunities to 2020 " to it's Large Report database.SynopsisItalys construction industry has undergone a dramatic decline since 2008. In real terms, the Italian construction industrys output contracted by 27.3% between 2008 and 2015. The decline can be attributed to the countrys high unemployment rate, economic slowdown, weak business confidence and consumer demand, and the Eurozones depressed economic environment, leading to a fall in demand for the Italian construction industry.The industry is expected to perform slightly better over the forecast period (20162020) with change in the governments policies for foreign direct investment (FDI) in manufacturing sector, improving investor confidence and the governments investment in energy, residential, infrastructure and commercial construction projects.Over the forecast period, the construction industry is expected to get supported by government programs such as the School Building program, Invest in Italy, and Cultural and Innovation Program 20142020. Moreover, business confidence in construction industry is rising due to the governments initiatives such as tax deductions and change in FDI polices.Request for Sample PDF of Premium Research Report with TOC:The industrys output value in real terms is expected to rise at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.03% over the forecast period; up from -3.77% during the review period.The construction industry will face challenges over the forecast period. High government debts will reduce public spending on large scale infrastructure projects. Moreover, the weak housing market and lack of public administration and justice system are expected to affect the growth prospects of the Italian construction industry.SummaryTimetrics Construction in Italy Key Trends and Opportunities to 2020 report provides detailed market analysis, information and insights into Italian construction industry including:Italian construction industry's growth prospects by market, project type and type of construction activityAnalysis of equipment, material and service costs across each project type within ItalyCritical insight into the impact of industry trends and issues, and the risks and opportunities they present to participants in the Italian construction industryAnalyzing the profiles of the leading operators in the Italian construction industry.Data highlights of the largest construction projects in ItalyBrowse more details @Table of Contents1 Executive Summary2 Industry Outlook2.1 Commercial Construction2.2 Industrial Construction2.3 Infrastructure Construction2.4 Energy and Utilities Construction2.5 Institutional Construction2.6 Residential Construction3 Key Issues and Developments4 Market Data Analysis4.1 Construction Output and Value Add4.1.1 Construction output by project type4.1.2 Construction output by cost type4.1.3 Construction output by activity type4.1.4 Construction value add by project type4.2 Commercial Construction4.2.1 Commercial construction output by project type4.2.2 Commercial construction output by cost type4.2.3 Commercial construction output by activity type4.2.4 Commercial construction value add by project type4.3 Industrial Construction4.3.1 Industrial construction output by project type4.3.2 Industrial construction output by cost type4.3.3 Industrial construction output by activity type4.3.4 Industrial construction value add by project typeAbout 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:
Structured Cabling Market Analysis, a Size and Forecast Report 2026

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Structured cabling system is defined as the combination of set of cables & associated hardware used to provide comprehensive telecommunication infrastructure to various management systems, this telecommunication infrastructure enables the transmission of data, voice & video signal through a communication network from one point to other or from one system to another system. For the establishment of well-organized network connection, different types of cables & connecting devices for the connections, services & softwares for installation, maintenance monitoring & designing are required.As the communication network is the backbone of any infrastructure & the need for advanced and fast communication technique has continuously been increasing in the global market, hence the global structured cabling market is expected to show the growth during the forecast period.Request Report Sample@Global Structured Cabling Market: Market DynamicsThe key trends of global structured cabling market is the increase in demand of optical fibers cabling market in the industries because of its ability of higher speed data transfer. The key drivers responsible for the growth of global structured cabling market are drastic rise in internet penetration, high adoption rate of automation for home and industries, high bandwidth demand across the industries, rising trend of communication infrastructure & also the convergence of data centers. On the flip side there are also some key restraints which are inhibiting the growth of global structured cabling market & framed as; poor electromagnetic compatibility impedance tolerance of Unshielded twisted pair cable because of which efficiency of communication decreases, high cost of optical fiber cable and its components, fluctuations in the price of copper, compatibility issue of older communication infrastructure with the new ones & also the price issue among cable vendors because of higher competition.Global Structured Cabling Market: SegmentationSegmentation of the global structured cabling market is done on the basis of product type, service type, applications & Geography. On the basis of product type, global structured cabling market is segmented as cables (Optical Fiber Cable & Copper cable), communication outlets, patch panels & cross connects, racks & cabinets, patch panels, cables accessories & some tools used up in the installation. By service type global structured cabling market is segmented as installations & consultation, maintenance and support, software & managed service.On the basis of applications, the segmentation of global structured cabling market is done as; in residential & commercial sectors, IT & telecommunication, Government organization, military & defense sector, industrial applications, healthcare sector, transportation & others. These segments further be sub segmented as; telecom operators & datacenters are the sub segments of IT & telecommunication. Energy & power, oil & gas, metals & mining, Food & beverages come under the industrial segments. Among all the segments, IT & telecommunications segment is expected to cover highest market share of global structured cabling market. The reason behind highest market share of IT & telecommunication segment is higher demand of cabling structure service and its product from data centers and telecom providers.Geographically, the global structured cabling market is segmented into seven regions, North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia  Pacific (excluding Japan), Japan as a separate region and Middle East & Africa. North America is expected to holds the highest market share of global structured cabling market the reason behind this is the expansion of communication network architecture and also the data center convergence.Visit For TOC@Global Structured Cabling Market: Key PlayersThe key players of the global structured cabling market are Nexans S.A., CommScope, Inc., Schneider Electric SE, Panduit Corp., Legrand, Belden, Inc., Corning, Inc. ABB Ltd., Panduit Corp., Siemon, Teknon Corporation & others.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.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Optical Fiber Market Growth, Analysis and Forecast Report 2017-2025

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The Insight Partners added Optical Fiber Market to 2025 to its research database. The report is spread across 161 pages and supported by 11 company leaders.The technology which utilizes the physical properties of light by modulating a light signal with voice or data and sends it through a fiber by the virtue of Total Internal Reflection (TIR) is referred to as optical fiber technology. The growing demands for increase in the speeds of data transfer over a network with minimum data losses has spurred the need for implementations of fiber cables. The losses in copper wire data transmissions had researchers constantly put on a task to look out for a more efficient method to transmit data.Today, the fiber cables are used to transmit video along with voice and data. The installation of fiber cables in the initial stages was a bit tedious task but with growing awareness and skilled labor have made implementations quite easier. Increasing deployments of data centers in various parts of the world has significantly led to the rise in usage of optical fiber communications. Upcoming technologies where data is transferred in real-time require high bandwidth medium for propagation. High bandwidth requirements are fulfilled by the optical fiber cables.Request a Sample Report atThe global optical fiber market is segmented based on types as: step indexed optical fiber and graded indexed optical fiber. On the basis of end-user optical fiber market can be further divided into Broadcast, IT & Telecom, and Industrial, Defense, Medical and Others.The global optical fiber market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 11.7% during the forecast period 2016  2025 and accounts for US$ 27.88 Bn in the year 2025. One of the prime factors that are driving the demands for optical fiber cables is the growing needs for fast and improved networking and network services and growing penetration of broadband connections among developed and developing countries. Governments of various countries worldwide have laid their stress on the reach of high speed internet services in urban and rural areas of their countries. A fiber optic cable ensures maximum reach out of services with very less attenuations, higher bandwidths and greater reliability over longer distances as a result of which three has been a meteoric rise in its implementations in various corners of the globe.View Complete Report atThe growth of upcoming technologies, more popularly referred to as SMAC (Social, Mobility, Analytics and Cloud) demands for higher bandwidth cables. The capabilities of existing legacy copper wire cables does not match with the requirements of these technologies. As the amount and speed of transfer of data over the copper wire cables seemed to be very limited and incapable of serving the ever increasing data transmission demands, there has been a need for replacing these cables with better suited alternatives that remain cost effective as well as performance effective. The key players profiled in the report are Corning Inc., Prysmian SpA, Yangtze Optical Fiber and Cable Co Ltd, Fujikura Limited, Sterlite Technologies, Finolex Cable Limited, OFS Fitel, LLC, Alcatel Lucent, Broadcom Limited and Amphenol Corporation.Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@theinsightpartners.comAbout Us:The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Technology, Media, and Telecommunication industries.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township, Amanora Chambers, East Block, Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028
North America Specialty Solvents Market is Projected to be Valued at US$ 51.2 Bn by 2022 - Industry Research Report

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ResearchMoz added Latest Research Report titled " North America Market Study on Speciality Solvents: Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Segment to Exhibit Above Average Growth during the Forecast Period 2016 - 2022 " to it's Large Report database.The report, North America Specialty Solvents Market, lists certain chemicals under ten key chemical groups, such as alcohol, amine, ether, ester, etc., and studies their demand and forecast over the period from 2016 to 2022 in the North America market.The North America specialty solvents market is anticipated to witness significant revenue growth over the forecast period, owing to the rising demand for various end-to-end applications across various manufacturing industries, such as building & construction, pharmaceuticals & personal care, food & beverages, etc., in the North America region. Green chemicals are increasingly gaining popularity among industrial consumers, largely due to increasing government regulations. Due to this, a major trend of sustainable production has been observed among the major specialty solvents producers.To understand and assess the demand and opportunities in this market, the report is categorically split into three sections, namely market analysis - by product type, by end-use, and by country. The report analyzes the North America specialty solvents market both in terms of market value (US$ Mn) and volume (Tonnes).Request for Sample PDF of Premium Research Report with TOC:The report starts with a market overview and provides market definition and analysis about the drivers, restraints, opportunities, and key trends in the market. The following sections include analysis of the North America market - by product type, by end-use, and by country. All the three sections evaluate the market on the basis of various factors affecting the market, covering the present scenario and future prospects. For market data analysis, the report considers 2014 as the base year, with market numbers estimated for 2015 and 2016 and the forecast provided for 2017- 2022.The North America specialty solvents market is segmented as follows:By Product TypeBy ApplicationBy CountryBrowse more details @Table of Content1. North America Commodity Chemicals Market- Executive Summary2. Assumptions and Acronyms Used3. Research Methodology4. North America Commodity Chemicals Market Overview4.1. Introduction4.1.1. North America Commodity Chemicals Market Definition4.1.2. North America Commodity Chemicals Market Taxonomy4.2. Value Chain Analysis4.3. North America Commodity Chemicals Market Size and Forecast4.3.1. Y-o-Y Growth4.3.2. Absolute $ Opportunity4.4. North America Macro-economic Overview4.5. North America Chemical Industry Overview4.6. North America Commodity Chemicals Market Dynamics4.6.1. Drivers4.6.2. Challenges4.6.3. Major TrendsAbout 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:
Medical Coatings Market Analysis, a Size and Forecast Report 2026

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Medical device components and electronics require protection to be effective. Electrical charges, moisture, bodily fluids and contamination can render a life saving device useless and ineffective. Medical coatings need to be ideal for most types of substrates, including metals, glass, plastics, ceramics and silicone rubber, and should be sterilizable on all of them. Physicomechanical coatings are those designed with physicomechanical properties such as moisture, chemical and electrical barrier properties as well as tribological (lubricous) properties. The damage to the mucosal lining has led to development of antimicrobial coatings with biological function (antimicrobial activity) and physicomechanical function (lubricity). Medical device coatings are significantly used to enhance performance of devices and augment product surface function. In addition, coatings help in reducing friction between tissues and devices, provide wetting, surface coverage and coating homogeneity. Most of the medical devices require non-stick coatings over electrical insulation, molded, biocompatible or other finishes.Request Report Sample@Medical Coating Market: DriversThe increasing demand for coatings for life saving devices from medical industry is expected to increase the consumption of medical coatings. In addition, rising demand for life saving devices from emerging economies of Asia Pacific and Latin America is expected to increase the consumption of medical coatings. However, availability of substitutes, product aging, low shelf life and rising costs could hamper the growth of this market. In addition, varying government regulations for medical devices across countries may hamper the growth of medical device coating market to some extent.Medical Coating Market: SegmentationMedical coatings market is segmented on the basis of type, application and region. By type, medical coating can be segmented into lubricants, antimicrobial and hydrophilic coatings. By application, the medical coating can be segmented into medical devices, implants, medical equipment and tools and others. On the basis of region, medical coating market can be segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan and Middle East and Africa (MEA).Medical Coating Market: Regional OutlookNorth America has the largest market share for medical coating, followed by Europe and Asia Pacific. However, Asia Pacific is expected to experience fastest growth during the forecast period. India and China are expected to be the major consumers of medical coatings in Asia Pacific due to presence of an established medical industry. Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia are expected to be other major consumers of medical coatings in Asia Pacific. In addition, Latin America is expected to experience high growth due to rapid economic development and growth in medical industries. Argentina, Brazil and Peru are expected to be major consumers of medical coatings in Latin America.Visit For TOC@Medical Coating Market: Key PlayersLarge and medium medical equipment and pharmaceutical manufacturing companies dominate the medical coatings market. Some of the key players in this market are SurModics, the DECC Company, Hangzhou Kangsheng Medical Equipments Co., Ltd., Yangzhou Fuda Medical Devices Co., Ltd., Precision Coating Co., Inc. , Donwell Company, Inc., Merit Medical Systems, Inc., Harland Medical Systems , Applied Medical Coatings, LLC., Dymax Corporation , Raleigh Coatings , Abbott Laboratories , Biocoat Inc AeonClad , Bayer Material Science LLC, Boston Scientific Corporation , Covalon Technologies Ltd., Endura Coatings Ltd , Specialty Coating Systems Inc., and TheraSyn Pharmaceuticals Inc. among others.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.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Advanced Wound Care Management Market Global Industry Analysis, Technological Advancement, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024

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"The Report Advanced Wound Care Management Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"Advanced Wound Care Management Market: OverviewThe market for wound care is growing phenomenally, due to growing advancement is treating complex wounds. Advanced wound care market is anticipated to grow in forecasted period, as the products has been a promising solution for faster recovery and wound healing.Get Sample copy of this Report @These products offer superior solution than traditional products by offering desired outcome and effectiveness in healing wounds. The increasing incidences of chronic wound has aggravated the need for the products that offers faster and efficient wound healing. Thus, majority of hospitals have shifted their preferences towards the advanced wound care products. It helps to decrease the average length of stay in hospitals through early recovery from wounds. This assists to decrease the length of hospital stay in order to reduce surgical costs. Thus the rising need and demand for advanced products that increases therapeutic outcome drives the advanced wound care market.Advanced Wound Care Management Market: Scope of the ReportThe report is a combination of primary and secondary research. Primary research formed the bulk of our research efforts, with information collected from telephonic interviews and interactions via e-mail. Secondary research involved study of company websites, annual reports, press releases, stock analysis presentations, and various national and international databases. The report provides market size in terms of US$ Mn for each segment for the period from 2014 to 2024, considering the macro and micro-environmental factors. Growth rates for each segment within the global advanced wound care market have been determined after a thorough analysis of past trends, demographics, future trends, technological developments, vaccination expenditure, and regulatory requirements.The market overview section of the report includes qualitative analysis of the overall advanced wound care market including the determining factors and market dynamics such as drivers, restraints, and opportunities, along with white space analysis. In addition, market attractiveness analysis by geography, technique, product type, type of wounds, end-user, and competitive landscape by key players have been provided which explain the intensity of competition in the market considering different geographies. The competitive scenario between market players has been evaluated through market share analysis. These factors would help the market players take strategic decisions in order to strengthen their positions and increase their shares in the global market.Advanced Wound Care Management Market: Growth and Competitive DynamicsThe driving factors for advanced wound care market are mainly increasing demand for faster recovery, decrease in healthcare cost by decreasing average length of stay in hospital, rising population falling for trauma, etc. Advanced wound care market is anticipated to grow in forecasted period, as the products has been a promising solution for faster recovery and wound healing. These products offer superior solution than traditional products by offering desired outcome and effectiveness in healing wounds. The increasing incidences of chronic wound has aggravated the need for the products that offers faster and efficient wound healing. Thus, majority of hospitals have shifted their preferences towards the advanced wound care products. It helps to decrease the average length of stay in hospitals through early recovery from wounds. This assists to decrease the length of hospital stay in order to reduce surgical costs. Thus the rising need and demand for advanced products that increases therapeutic outcome drives the advanced wound care market.Geographically, the global advanced wound care market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. The applications of advanced wound care are rapidly growing in North America due to increasing direct and indirect investments by the U.S. Government and private companies in wound care. Increasing investments and penetration by key market players in Asia Pacific are likely to drive the advance wound care market during the forecast period.Major players in the advanced wound care management market are 3M, Acelity L.P. Inc., B. Braun Melsungen AG, BSN medical GmbH, Coloplast A/S, ConvaTec Inc., Medline Industries, Inc., Medtronic, Molnlycke Health Care, Organogenesis, Inc., and Smith & Nephew plc.View Sample PDF Of Report @The global advanced wound care management market has been segmented as follows:Global Advanced Wound Care Management Market, by Product TypeAdvanced Wound DressingsFoam dressingsHydrocolloid dressingsHydrofiber dressingsFilm dressingsAlginate dressingsHydrogel dressingsCollagen dressingsActive Wound CareArtificial skin and skin substitutesGrowth FactorsAntimicrobial dressingGlobal Advanced Wound Care Management Market, by Type of WoundDiabetic foot ulcersPressure ulcerVenous leg ulcerArterial UlcerSurgical and Traumatic woundsBurnsOther chronic woundsBrowse more Healthcare Market Research Reports @Global Advanced Wound Care Management Market, by End-userHospital inpatient settingsHospital outpatient settingsCommunity medical centersHome healthcareOthers (private nursing home, pharmacies)Global Advanced Wound Care management Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeGermanyFranceU.K.ItalySpainRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaRest of Asia PacificLatin AmericaBrazilMexicoRest of Latin AmericaMiddle East & AfricaSouth AfricaTurkeySaudi ArabiaRest of MEARequest for Enquiry @Table of Content1. Preface1.1. Market Definition and Scope1.2. Market Segmentation1.3. Key Research Objectives1.4. Research Highlights2. Assumptions and Research Methodology3. Executive Summary : Global Advance Wound Care4. Market Overview4.1. Introduction4.1.1. Product Definition4.1.2. Industry Evolution / Developments4.2. Overview4.3. Market Dynamics4.3.1. Drivers4.3.2. Restraints4.3.3. Opportunity4.4. Porters Five Force Analysis4.4.2. Forward  Backward Integration Scenario4.4. Market opportunity Analysis5. Global Advance Wound Care Analysis and Forecasts, By Product Type5.1. Introduction & Definition5.2. Key Findings / Developments5.3. Key Trends5.4. Market Value (In US$ Mn) Forecast By Product Type, 201420245.4.1. Advanced Wound Dressings5.4.1.1. Foam dressings5.4.1.2. Hydrocolloid dressings5.4.1.3. Hydrofiber dressings5.4.1.4. Film dressings5.4.1.5. Alginate dressings5.4.1.6. Hydrogel dressings5.4.1.7. Collagen dressings5.4.2. Active Wound Care5.4.2.1. Artificial skin and skin substitutes5.4.2.2. Growth Factors5.4.3. Antimicrobial dressing5.5. Product Comparison Matrix5.6. Market Attractiveness By ProductAbout 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.Contact usMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Interactive Projector Market to Witness Steady Growth through 2025

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Interactive projector is an interactive institutional tool, which makes any surface interactive. It eliminates the need of any type of special screen, rather it can display images on white board, projector screen or on wall directly. It also allows user to control the projection activities with the help of pen, stylus or with his own finger. Interactive projectors makes learning more interactive, fun and therefore more productive. Interactive Projector offers various advantages such as real time learning needs, efficient user interaction, easy integration of materials, multi touch collaboration, multi-user standards and PC-free interactivity.Interactive Projector Market: Drivers and RestraintsWorldwide popularity of interactive projector is increasing. Global interactive projector market is expected to grow rapidly during the period of forecast. Factors which are driving the growth of global interactive projector market are increasing adoption of interactive projectors in class rooms and conference rooms, increasing government spending on education sector, increasing adoption of e-learning & virtual learning and growing technological advancement across various application segments. On the other hand, factors which are restraining the growth of global interactive projector market are high installation cost and lack of awareness are the few factors restraining the growth of global interactive projector market. However, increasing application specific solutions expected to create great opportunity for global interactive projector market.Request Report Sample@Interactive Projector Market: SegmentationGlobal interactive projector market is segmented on the basis of product type and applications. By product type the global interactive projector market can be segmented into short throw projector, flexible projector, multi-purpose projectors and others. Out of all these types, short throw projectors are in great demand as it eliminates various problems associated with interactive system such as intrusive footprint and eye glare.On the basis of application, the global interactive projector market can be segmented into various sectors such as government, education and corporate. Out of all these application, education sector dominates the global interactive projector market. Increasing adoption of advanced technology into education sector, growing government spending & support are some of the factors responsible for this growth. Despite corporate sectors contribution to total interactive projector market anticipated to be small, the sector is expected to exhibit highest growth rate during the period of forecast. Market Players are focusing on developing specific solution for corporates.Interactive Projector Market: Region wise outlookGlobal interactive projector market can be segmented into seven regions which includes, North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific (excluding Japan), Japan as a separate region and Middle East and Africa. Out of all these regions, present global interactive projector market is dominated by North America and Western Europe Region in terms of high usage rate of interactive projectors. High technological developments in countries such as U.S. and UK, consumer awareness and increasing government funding and support to education sectors are some of the factors driving the growth of interactive projectors in North America & Western Europe. Furthermore, Asia-pacific region is expected to grow rapidly during the period of forecast due to increasing consumer awareness, gradual increase in government spending on education sector and development of education sector. However, price will play important role in this price sensitive region.Visit For TOC@Interactive Projector Market: Key PlayersKey players in global interactive projector market are Epson America, Inc., ProVision Technologies, SMART Technologies, Texas Instruments Incorporated, Mitsubishi Electric Visual and Imaging Systems, InFocus Corporation, Sony Electronics Inc., BenQ Corporation, Hitachi, Ltd., Touchjet, Inc. and CASIO AMERICA INC. among others. Key market players are focusing more on application specific requirements in order to increase the market share among different application segments. They are also concentrating more on product development in order to be competitive into market.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 Specialty Medical Chairs Market 2017- Danaher, Morita, A-Dec

Global Specialty Medical Chairs Market

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Global Specialty Medical Chairs Market 2017, presents a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Specialty Medical Chairs market globally, providing basic overview of Specialty Medical Chairs market including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. Historical data available in the report elaborates on the development of the Specialty Medical Chairs market on a global and regional level. The report compares this data with the current Specialty Medical Chairs state of the market and thus discuss upon the upcoming trends that have brought the Specialty Medical Chairs market transformation.Specialty Medical Chairs Market predictions along with the statistical implication presented in the report delivers an accurate scenario of the Specialty Medical Chairs market. The market forces determining the shaping of the global Specialty Medical Chairs market have been evaluated in detail. In addition to this, the supervisory outlook of the Specialty Medical Chairs market has been covered in the report from both the Global and local perspective. The demand and supply side of the global Specialty Medical Chairs market has been broadly covered in the report. Also the challenges faced by the players in the Specialty Medical Chairs market in terms of demand and supply have been listed in the report.Enquire before purchasing the report here:In Global Specialty Medical Chairs Market report, development policies and plans as well as Specialty Medical Chairs market size, share, end users are analyzed. Growth prospects of the overall Specialty Medical Chairs industry have been presented in the report. This industry study segments Specialty Medical Chairs global market by types, applications and companies. However, to give an in-depth view to the readers, detailed geographical segmentation of Specialty Medical Chairs market within the globe has been covered in this study. The key geographical regions along with Specialty Medical Chairs revenue forecasts are included in the report.Global Specialty Medical Chairs Market Segmentation:The global Specialty Medical Chairs market is segmented on the basis of key players, types and applications. The leading players of global Specialty Medical Chairs market includes Planmeca, Atmos Medical, Combed, Hill Laboratories Company, Cefla, Topcon Medical, Fresenius Medical Care, Danaher, Heinemann Medizintechnik, Invacare, DentalEZ, BMB medical , Medifa, Midmark, Winco, Marco, ACTIVEAID, A-Dec, Sirona, Forest Dental Products and Morita. Based on type, the Specialty Medical Chairs market is categorized into ENT Chairs, Blood Drawing Chairs, Ophthalmic Chairs, Rehabilitation Chairs, Dialysis Chairs, Dental Chairs and Birthing Chairs. According to application, Specialty Medical Chairs market divided into Hospital and Extended Care Institute and others.Request Sample Specialty Medical Chairs Research Report atGlobal Specialty Medical Chairs Market regional analysis covers:The industry research includes Specialty Medical Chairs market in North America (USA, Canada and Mexico), Specialty Medical Chairs market in Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia), Specialty Medical Chairs market in Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy), Specialty Medical Chairs market in South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.), Specialty Medical Chairs market in Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa) and Other parts of the Globe.The competitive framework of the market in terms of the Global Specialty Medical Chairs industry has been evaluated in the report. The Specialty Medical Chairs market top companies with their overall share and share with respect to the global market have been included in the Specialty Medical Chairs report. Furthermore, the factors on which the companies compete in the global Specialty Medical Chairs market have been evaluated in the report. So the overall report helps the new aspirants to inspect the forthcoming opportunities in the Specialty Medical Chairs market.Browse more category related reports here: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:
BFSI Security Market Expected to Expand at a Steady CAGR through 2026

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In past one decade, electronic banking platforms have been implemented as an efficient channel to process banking transactions remotely. These banking transactions are executed from web based applications over the internet network, thus creating security risk by exposing users data to hackers. Apart from this, the banking, financial and insurance industry is continuously witnessing threat from global terrorism, cyber-crimes, and espionage which are leveraging the loopholes in the critical infrastructure. With the increase in cyber-crimes activities, security of sensitive data including, personably identifiable information, personal banking details, commercial banking details, and confidential corporate information is at high risk, due to which, the demand for BFSI security solutions has witnessed traction in the past couple of years.Bank and financial institutions are operated in highly regulated environment. Data breach incidences in these cases occur mainly due to non-compliance to various operational standards.. Therefore, there is increasing need of BFSI security to ensure the long term visibility of banking and financial institutions and their data. BFSI security includes cyber security and physical security of banking and financial institutions.Request Report Sample@Component and Technologies Used in BFSI SecurityAccess Control SystemsCloud Based ServicesPhysical Security SoftwareSurveillance SystemsBFSI Security Market: Drivers and RestraintsIn the current changing world of information technology, banking and financial institutions are facing privacy issues due to increased data theft and unauthorized accesses. In BFSI sector, there is always existence of both internal and external threats with increased adoptions of ATMs and online banking solutions. As security breach of customers financials can hamper brand image of a particular financial institution, there necessity of safeguarding physical assets and continuous monitoring of banking data driving the growth of the market. However, the initial investment required to set up the security infrastructure is one of the challenge for the growth of this market.BFSI Security Market: SegmentationSegmentation of business BFSI Security market on the basis of systems and components:Video Surveillance:Video surveillance is used for monitoring activities inside out of the organization. Physical security has become necessary for banking and financial institutions to combat pilferage to theft related activities. This has created increase in demand for video surveillance solutions in the BFSI industry.Access Control :Access control is deployed for both physical security as well as information security. Access control systems seamlessly work against any unauthorized access. Access control solutions includes web-based access control, managed access control, control panel, visitor management systems, readers, and credentials.Intrusion and Fire Detection:Intrusion detection systems inspect all the inner and outer network activities and identifies suspicious pattern to indicate data breach attempt in the system. Fire detection system is a combination of various devices which work seamlessly to counsel end-users from any threat of fire.Physical Security Information Management (PSIM):Physical security information management is a software that act as a standalone platform for integrating multiple unconnected security application and devices. It controls them using single user interface.Regional OverviewAsia-Pacific is witnessing rapid growth in the adoption of BFSI security solutions. With respect to this trend, various security vendors such as Honeywell International Inc. and Cisco System Inc. are expanding their business in this region in order to increase its market share in this market. Besides, the Asia-Pacific market is worlds fastest growing economy and soon is expected to be largest wealth market with the increase in private banks and financial instructions in countries such as China and India. In India, according to the data released by The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the total number of bank accounts in India are around 600 million, out of which 25 million bank accounts holder are active users for mobile banking applications. North America has observed increased data breach attacks against BFSI industries in the recent past. The banking and financial institutions are promoting the use of digital wallet which is in turn is raising the risk of security for consumers data.Visit For TOC@Cisco Systems Inc., Honeywell International Inc., Computer Science Corporation (CSC), IBM Corporation, and Symantec Corporation are some of the key players of global BFSI security market.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.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Insulated concrete forms (ICF) market is expected to attain a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.5%

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Reports And Markets Publish a New Market Research Report On "Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) Market - Growth, Trends and Forecasts (2017 - 2022)"The global insulated concrete forms (ICF) market is expected to attain a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.5%. Currently, North America dominates the market for insulated concrete forms, followed by Europe and APAC.The developing regions of South America and the Asia-Pacific are expected to increase its market share in the future, owing to the growing construction activity in the developing countries.Insulated concrete form or insulating concrete form (ICF) is a system of formwork for reinforced concrete which is made with a rigid thermal insulation that stays in place as a permanent interior and exterior substrate for walls, floors, and roofs. The forms can be characterized into three main categories: block, panel and plank, each having their own advantages.Access Full Report With Table Of Contents @ICFs are revolutionizing the global residential, commercial, institutional and industrial building industries. ICF construction has been growing at 25-30% per year for quite some time.Building with ICFs is gaining momentum over other building methods because with comparable costs, ICFs offer unparalleled comfort, energy efficiency, and safety ratings. The emerging regions such as Asia, South America and the Middle-East have been witnessing sizeable growth in construction activities have excellent prospects for insulated concrete forms.Market Dynamics of the Global Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) MarketDrivers:Demand for better thermal performanceGrowing construction activity in developing countriesCompliance with energy regulationsAdoption of disaster resistant buildingRestraints:This report provides a detailed study of the ICF market segmented on the basis of material types (polystyrene foam, polyurethane foam, cement-bonded wood fiber, cement-bonded polystyrene beads and cellular concrete) and application types (residential, commercial, institutional & industrial building and others). Companies outlined in the insulated concrete form market report include the manufacturers, raw material suppliers and the end users, they are:Airlite (Fox Blocks)Amvic building systemsBuildBlock building systemsIntegraSpecLogix Insulated Concrete Forms Ltd.Nudura CorporationPlasti-FabQuad-Lock Building Systems Ltd.Superform Products Ltd.Request For Sample Report @Key Deliverables in the Study:Market analysis for the global insulated concrete form (ICF) market, with region specific assessments and competition analysis on a global and regional scale.Market definition along with the identification of key drivers and restraints.Identification of factors instrumental in changing the market scenarios, rising prospective opportunities, and identification of key companies that can influence this market on a global and regional scale.Extensively researched competitive landscape section with profiles of major companies along with their market share.Identification and analysis of the macro and micro factors that affect the insulated concrete form (ICF) market on both global and regional scale.A comprehensive list of key market players along with the analysis of their current strategic interests and key financial information.A wide-ranging knowledge and insights about the major players in this industry and the key strategies adopted by them to sustain and grow in the studied market.Insights on the major countries/regions in which this industry is blooming and to also identify the regions that are still untapped.Check Discount @For more information or any query mail at sales@reportsandmarkets.comAbout Reports And MarketsReports And Markets is part of the Algoro Research Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.Are you mastering your market? Do you know what the market potential is for your product, who the market players are and what the growth forecast is? We offer standard global, regional or country specific market research studies for almost every market you can imagine.Contact PersonSanjay JainManager - Partner Relations & International Marketinginfo@reportsandmarkets.comPh: +1-214-377-1121 (US), +44-020-3286-9338 (UK)
Veterinary Radiography Systems Market North America Industry Analysis, Technological Advancement, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024

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"The Report Veterinary Radiography Systems Market - North America Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"North America Veterinary Radiography Systems Market: OverviewVisualization of the internal parts of the body using X-ray techniques is known as radiography. Radiography is a technique for recording and generating an X-ray pattern to provide image after exposure of radiation. There are two major type of radiography systems, direct X-ray and Analog X-ray.Get Sample copy of this Report @Digital X-ray systems use digital radiography technology that captures the image directly into the flat panel detector without the use of cassette. Analog X-ray systems include devices that use film or CR cassette based technology for medical imaging. It is the oldest technology in the veterinary radiography system market which has been replaced by digital X-ray. This report analyzes the current and future prospects of the veterinary radiography system market based on type of product, technology, application, end user and geography.North America Veterinary Radiography Systems Market: Research MethodologiesThe research is a combination of primary and secondary research, conducted for understanding and arriving at trends, used to forecast the expected revenue of the major radiography techniques 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. The report provides estimated market size in terms of US$ Mn for each Product type, application, end user and geography for the period 2014 to 2024, considering the macro and micro environmental factors. The revenue generated from each product was calculated by considering number of products used in the procedures and their market demand as per their use, number of product launched, average cost of products of each sub segment, trends in industry, end user trend and adoption rate across all the geographies. The revenue generated for applications was calculated on the basis of prevalence of diseases in animals.North America Veterinary Radiography Systems Market: ScopeThe 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 type of product, application, end user and geography. The market overview section of the report analyzes market dynamics such as drivers, restraints and opportunities that influence the veterinary radiography system 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 manufacturing to their final reach to the end users.North America Veterinary Radiography Systems Market: Competitive LandscapeMarket share analysis among the market players is analyzed to signify percentage share of the major players operating in the market. 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 countries of North America, U.S. and Canada.View Sample PDF Of Report @The 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 veterinary radiography system market report areSound-Eklin- VCA Company, Idexx Laboratories, Canon, Inc., Fuji Medical Systems, Carestream Health, Cuattro Veterinary, iM3/Durr Medical, Sedecal, and Vetel Diagnostics and some other players who are involved in the veterinary radiography system market.North America Veterinary Radiography Systems Market has been segmented as follows:North America Veterinary Radiography System Market, by ProductDigital X-rayDirectIndirectAnalog X-rayNorth America Veterinary Radiography System Market, by TechnologyComputed RadiographyDigital RadiographyFilm Screen RadiographyNorth America Veterinary Radiography System Market, by ApplicationOrthopedic and RheumatologyCardiologyOncologyNephrologyOthersNorth America Veterinary Radiography System Market, by End UserHospitalClinicsDiagnostic CentreResearch CentreNorth America Veterinary Radiography System Market, by CountryU.S.CanadaBrowse more Medical Equipments Market Research Reports @Table of Content1. Preface1.1. Market Definition and Scope1.2. Market Segmentation1.3. Key Research Objectives1.4. Research Highlights2. Assumptions and Research Methodology3. Executive Summary: U.S. Veterinary Radiography System4. Market Definition4.1. Introduction4.1.1. Product Type Definition4.1.2. Industry Evolution / DevelopmentsRequest for Enquiry @4.2. Market Overview4.3. Market Dynamics4.3.1. Drivers4.3.2. Restraints4.3.3. Opportunity4.4. U.S. Veterinary Radiography System Analysis and Forecasts, 201620244.4.1. Pricing - Actuals and Projections4.4.2. Market Revenue Projections (US$ Mn)4.5. Porters Five Force Analysis4.6. Value Chain Analysis4.6.1. List of active market participants (suppliers/distributors/manufacturers/vendors)4.6.1.1. Product Type Manufacturers4.6.1.2. Product Type Distributors Product4.6.1.3. Service Providers4.7. Company Market Share Analysis5. North America Veterinary Radiography System Analysis and Forecasts, By Product Type5.1. Introduction & Definition5.2. Key Findings / Developments5.3. Key Trends5.4. Market Value and Volume Forecast by Product Type, 201420245.4.1. Digital X-ray5.4.1.1. Direct5.4.1.2. Indirect5.4.2. Analog X-ray5.5. Comparison Matrix5.6. Market Attractiveness by Product TypeAbout 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.Contact usMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Jewellery Market in Taiwan

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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 Jewellery in TaiwanDescriptionThe brand name has become a more important factor in the purchasing decisions of consumers when choosing jewellery. Consumers would rather spend the same money on a smaller diamond by a key brand name. This has benefited the sales performances of most international brands, leading to slight consolidation in the competitive environment.Jewellery Market in Taiwan report offers a comprehensive guide to the size and shape of the market at a national level. It provides the latest retail sales data (2012-2016), allowing you to identify the sectors driving growth. It identifies the leading companies, the leading brands and offers strategic analysis of key factors influencing the market  be they new product developments, distribution or pricing issues. Forecasts to 2021 illustrate how the market is set to change.Get a PDF Sample of Jewellery Market Report at:Product coverage: Costume Jewellery, Fine Jewellery.Data coverage: market sizes (historic and forecasts), company shares, brand shares and distribution data.Why buy this Jewellery Market report?Get a detailed picture of the Jewellery market;Pinpoint growth sectors and identify factors driving change;Understand the competitive environment, the markets major players and leading brands;Use five-year forecasts to assess how the market is predicted to develop.To Browse the Entire Jewellery Market Report, Visit :The Some Points Mentioned in Jewellery Market Report are:HeadlinesTrendsCompetitive LandscapeProspectsCategory DataTable 1 Sales of Jewellery by Category: Volume 2012-2017Table 2 Sales of Jewellery by Category: Value 2012-2017Table 3 Sales of Jewellery by Category: % Volume Growth 2012-2017Table 4 Sales of Jewellery by Category: % Value Growth 2012-2017Table 5 Sales of Costume Jewellery by Type: % Value 2012-2017Table 6 Sales of Fine Jewellery by Type: % Value 2012-2017Table 7 Sales of Fine Jewellery by Collection: % Value 2012-2017Table 8 Sales of Fine Jewellery by Metal: % Value 2012-2017Table 9 NBO Company Shares of Jewellery: % Value 2012-2016Table 10 LBN Brand Shares of Jewellery: % Value 2013-2016No. of Report Pages: 19Got any Query? Feel free to ask us at :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:
Greek Yogurt Market : Information, Figures and Analytical Insights 2016  2026

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Currently, greek yogurt is one of the most popular dairy products across the globe. Since greek yogurt is prepared through the straining process in order to separate the yogurt from the excess watery whey, it is also known as strained yogurt. The straining process makes the yogurt much thicker and creamier as compared to the regular or traditional yogurt. Greek yogurt contributes significantly to the growth of the global yogurt market. This is mainly attributed to its benefits such as higher protein and lower carbohydrates value as compare to traditional yogurt. Presently, greek yogurt is the highest growing product category among others including regular yogurt and yogurt drinks and second holds largest market share in terms of revenue, after traditional yogurt in the overall yogurt market. Demand for greek yogurt market is expected to increase in the next five to six forecast years owing to increasing lunch of new product with variety of flavours such as blueberry, vanilla, honey, chocolate and others.Global Greek Yogurt Market Segmentation:On the basis of product type, the global greek yogurt market is segmented into regular greek yogurt and non-fat greek yogurt, which is made from skim milk. Owing to increase the consumption of fat free and healthy products, non-fat greek yogurt products are gaining increasing popularity among the consumers.On the basis of distribution channel, the global greek yogurt market is segmented into supermarket/ hypermarket, grocery stores, convenience stores, and online retailing. In terms of revenue contribution, supermarket / hypermarket is expected to hold the highest share among all the other segments. However, online retail for global greek yogurt market witnesses steady growth in the forecasted years. This is attributed to increasing visibility of greek yogurt especially through online retailing.Request Report Sample@Geographically, global greek yogurt market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, and Middle East and Africa (MEA). North America and Western Europe are the two most lucrative market for greek yogurt in the world. In North America around half of the yogurt sold is greek yogurt.Global Greek Yogurt Market Dynamics:Increase in health consciousness among consumer has led to shift in eating preference towards healthy and nutrition food products. Availability of high nutritional value, which includes high protein, probiotics, vitamin such as vitamin D, B12, minerals such as potassium, iodine and calcium in greek yogurt is key factor that has led to increased adoption of greek yogurt among consumers and thus, fuelling the global greek yogurt market growth.Increasing application of greek yogurt is another growth driver for greek yogurt market since it is used for various medium in different countries. For instance, in Mediterranean region greek yogurt is mainly used as savoury but in the US, Mexico and Canada it is used as sweet snack with added fruits and flavours. Greek yogurt is also used in making many sauces for instance beef and lamb sauces. Greek yogurt is also used as a substitute products, for instance it is used as a substitute product for sour cream, cream cheese and butter. Thus, increasing its application among food products.Visit For TOC@Among dairy products, greek yogurt is a good option for the consumers who have slight lactose intolerance, since in the production process much of the lactose is removed from the greek yogurt. This leads to drive the scope of greek yogurt among such consumers globally. However, high lactose intolerance is restrain for adoption of greek yogurt, thus restricting the market growth. There is a high opportunity to expand and increase the revenue for greek yogurt in the Asia Pacific excluding japan and Middle East countries.Global Greek Yogurt Market Key Players:Some of the key players operating in the global greek yogurt market are Chobani LLC, Stonyfield Farm, Inc, FAGE International S.A., GROUPE DANONE, and General Mills, Inc. Owing to have strong distribution and marketing strategies companies are able to meet the increasing demand for global greek yogurt.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.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email:press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Healthcare IT Outsourcing Market will be Massively Influenced by Macroeconomic Factors

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Healthcare Information Technology encompasses all technologies and software based solutions that are utilized in modern healthcare environment. There are infinite capabilities and opportunities in the field of Healthcare IT over the world. With the fastest transformations taking place in developed countries such as United States and the Big 5 in Europe. Outsourcing of IT to countries where cheaper solutions may be obtained has been greatly exploited by companies in developed countries. Countries such as India, China, Indonesia and Singapore have been IT outsourcing hubs for other nations since the capital required to be spent in developing IT solutions in these regions is only a fraction of what may be demanded in developed countries. Skilled intelligent resources are available at very low labor costs due to a significant currency exchange hence; outsourcing has become one of the largest opportunities that has increased the economy of several nations in past few years. Major areas where healthcare IT may be employed includes biomedical research and development such as pharmaceutical research, genetics and proteomics, life science IT, biotechnology, biosimulation and disease research among others. In a rising trend, numerous applications of IT can be found in hospitals and healthcare facilities management, forensics and insurance as well.The market for Healthcare IT outsourcing can be segmented by applications and End Users such as for Hospitals, the popular solutions encompass Hospital Information Systems, Electronic Health Records, Pharmacy Information, Laboratory Information Systems, Hospital Inventory Management, E-Prescription, Expensive Equipment Monitoring, Revenue Cycle Management, Clinical Decision Support and others recent applications such as picture archiving and communication systems or PACS. For Pharmaceutical and Life Science Research, the popular IT solutions include, eClinical Solutions, Clinical Database Management, drug modeling, biosimulation, patent study and enquiry, drug database integration, lab integration, laboratory equipment solutions. In other healthcare areas such as Insurance, major applications include provider facing, complex interaction and clearing houses, real-time eligibility verification, and eClaims. Several other areas include medical device software,smart cards, asset tracking and patient tracking, telemetric systems and remote patient monitoring.Request For Report Sample@Due to the diverse number of applications, the market for Healthcare IT outsourcing is highly fragmented, with a large number of core competencies in each organization. This trend is also similar and in tandem with the overall IT market. Realizing an IT solution for a complex healthcare problem requires in-depth understanding of the complete system since it requires healthcare experts to work in tandem with the developers. The Healthcare IT market is led by North America with the largest share particularly due to a high number of healthcare companies in the region, highly innovative and unique requirements.Major factors driving the growth of outsourcing healthcare IT solutions is presence of skilled labor, management of big data, affordability in the region, necessity of reducing increasing costs in research and development, meeting demands of an ever increasing population, increasing automation in healthcare, need of complex analytical tools in healthcare environment and burgeoning fields in healthcare such as medical devices.Visit For TOC@Notable companies in the sector operating over the world include HCL Technologies, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Wipro Ltd, Hewlett-Packard, McKesson Corporation, Accenture Plc, Infosys Ltd, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Dell Inc., TriZetto, GeBBS Healthcare Solutions, GE Healthcare, Siemens Healthcare, RelayHealth, AllScripts, SureScripts, Zensar Healthcare IT, Carestream Solutions, Google Inc, Syntel, SAP and several others contribute to a significant share of the global 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:
Global Butanediol (BDO) Market Research Report 2017

Butanediol (BDO) Market

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Butanediol (BDO) MarketProvue Market Research has recently declared the expansion of Worldwide Butanediol (BDO) Market Detailed Analysis Report 2017-2022" that gives the market study of Butanediol (BDO) Market  across the global, regional and country level.Butanediol (BDO) Market : Global Industry Analysis, Capacity, Production, Price, Revenue, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecasts 2017-2022Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Butanediol (BDO) in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaRequest Report Sample:Global Butanediol (BDO) market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingBASFDairen Chemical Corp.LyondellbasellAshlandNanya Plastics CorporationMitsubishi Chemical CorporationINVISTAShanxi Sanwei GroupMarkorChemYunnan Yunwei GroupBioAmber, IncDow Chemical CompanyEastman Chemical CompanyUnion Carbide CorporationBP PlcAshland, IncCelanese CorporationChevron Phillips Chemical Company LLCShell Chemicals LimitedCITGO Petroleum CorporationExxon Mobil CorporationHoneywell International, IncHuntsman CorporationINEOS Group LimitedOccidental Chemical CorporationSasol Limited (South Africa)Solvay SA (Belgium)Total SAOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoIndustry GradeFood GradePharmaceutical GradeOn 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 Butanediol (BDO) for each application, includingAutomobileAerospaceManufacturing IndustryIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Browse Detail Report:Global Butanediol (BDO) Market Research Report 20171 Butanediol (BDO) Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Butanediol (BDO)1.2 Butanediol (BDO) Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Butanediol (BDO) Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Butanediol (BDO) Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Industry Grade1.2.4 Food Grade1.2.5 Pharmaceutical Grade1.3 Global Butanediol (BDO) Segment by Application1.3.1 Butanediol (BDO) Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Automobile1.3.3 Aerospace1.3.4 Manufacturing Industry1.4 Global Butanediol (BDO) Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Butanediol (BDO) 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 Butanediol (BDO) (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Butanediol (BDO) Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Butanediol (BDO) Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)Inquiry for Buying Report:2 Global Butanediol (BDO) Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Butanediol (BDO) Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global Butanediol (BDO) Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Butanediol (BDO) Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Butanediol (BDO) Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.3 Global Butanediol (BDO) Average Price by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.4 Manufacturers Butanediol (BDO) Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Butanediol (BDO) Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Butanediol (BDO) Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Butanediol (BDO) Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global Butanediol (BDO) Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 Global Butanediol (BDO) Capacity and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.2 Global Butanediol (BDO) Production and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 Global Butanediol (BDO) Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.4 Global Butanediol (BDO) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.5 North America Butanediol (BDO) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.6 Europe Butanediol (BDO) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.7 China Butanediol (BDO) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)About UsProvue Market Research is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations. 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.Contact UsProvue Research14715 Prairie Ave,Lawndale, CA,90260, California USATel:- +18889204862Email: info@provueresearch.comWeb:
Prefilled Syringes Market Global Industry Analysis, Technological Advancement, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024

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"The Report Prefilled Syringes Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"Prefilled Syringes Market: Scope and SegmentationThis report provides a forecast and analysis of the prefilled syringes market on the global and regional levels. It provides historical data of 2015 along with forecast from 2016 to 2024 in terms of revenue (US$ Mn) and volume (Bn Units).Get Sample copy of this Report @The report also includes macroeconomic indicators along with an outlook on prefilled syringes consumption globally. It includes drivers and restraints of the prefilled syringes market and their impact on each region during the forecast period. The report also comprises the study of current issues with distribution channels and opportunities for prefilled syringes manufacturers. It also includes pricing analysis by material and value chain analysis with a list of industry stakeholders at each node in the value chain.In order to provide users of this report with a comprehensive view of the market, we have included detailed competitiveness analysis and company players. The dashboard provides a comprehensive comparison of prefilled syringe manufacturers on parameters such as operating margin, unique selling propositions, collective market share, and geographic concentration. The study encompasses market attractiveness analysis, by material type, product type, application type, and region.The report includes consumption of prefilled syringes and the revenue generated from sales of prefilled syringes in all regions and important countries in these regions. By material, the global prefilled syringes market has been segmented into glass based and polymer based prefilled syringes. By application, the market is segmented into vaccines, monoclonal antibodies and others. On the basis of the distribution channel, the market is segmented into hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers and mail order pharmacies.Prefilled Syringes Market: Research MethodologyMarket numbers have been estimated based on average consumption and weighted average pricing of prefilled syringes by material and the revenue is derived from regional pricing trends. Market size and forecast for each segment has been provided in the context of global and regional markets. The prefilled syringes market has been analyzed based on expected demand. Prices considered for the calculation of revenue are regional average prices obtained through primary quotes from numerous regional prefilled syringes manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors. All key distribution channels have been considered and potential applications have been estimated on the basis of secondary sources and feedback from primary respondents. Regional demand patterns have been taken into account while assessing the market for various end users of prefilled syringes in different regions. Bottom-up approach has been used to estimate the prefilled syringes market by regions. Market numbers for global material, application and distribution channel segments have been derived using the bottom-up approach, which is cumulative of each regions demand. The company-level market share has been derived on the basis of revenues reported by key manufacturers. The market has been forecast based on constant currency rates.Several primary and secondary sources were consulted during the course of the study. Secondary sources include FACTIVA, NCBI, Google Books, company websites, journals, press releases, Hoovers, and company annual reports and publications.The report provides detailed competitive and company profiles of key participants operating in the global market. Major players in the global prefilled syringes market are Becton Dickinson & Co., Gerresheimer, Medtronic, Baxter International, SCHOTT AG, West Pharmaceuticals, Vetter International, Unilife Corporation, Stevanato Group, and Terumo Corporation.View Sample PDF Of Report @ The market has been segmented as below:Global Prefilled Syringes Market  By MaterialGlass based prefilled syringesPolymer based prefilled syringesGlobal Prefilled Syringes Market  By ApplicationMonoclonal AntibodiesVaccinesOthersGlobal Prefilled Syringes Market  By Distribution ChannelHospitalsAmbulatory Surgical CentersMail order pharmaciesGlobal Prefilled Syringes Market  By RegionNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaLatin AmericaBrazilMexicoRest of Latin AmericaEuropeGermanyU.KFranceItalySpainRest of EuropeAsia Pacific (APAC)ChinaIndiaJapanAustraliaNew ZealandRest of Asia PacificMiddle East and Africa (MEA)Saudi ArabiaUAERSARest of MEABrowse more Medical Equipments Market Research Reports @Table of Content1. Preface1.1. Market Definition and Scope1.2. Market Segmentation1.3. Key Research Objectives1.4. Research Highlights2. Assumptions and Research Methodology3. Executive Summary : Global Prefilled Syringes MarketRequest for Enquiry @4. Market Overview4.1. Introduction4.1.1. Material Definition4.2. Market Dynamics4.2.1. Drivers4.2.2. Restraints4.2.3. Opportunity4.3. Global Prefilled Syringes Market Analysis and Forecasts, 201620244.3.1. Market Volume Projections, 201620244.3.2. Pricing- Actuals and Projections, 201620244.3.3. Market Revenue Projections (US$ Mn)4.4. Prefilled Syringes Market - Global Supply Demand Scenario4.5. Porters Five Force Analysis4.6. Value Chain Analysis4.6.1. List of active market participants (suppliers/distributors/manufacturers/vendors)4.6.1.1.Material Manufacturers4.6.1.2.Material Distributors4.6.1.3.Service Providers4.7. Market Outlook5. Global Prefilled Syringes Market Analysis and Forecasts, By Material5.1. Introduction & Definition5.2. Key Findings / Developments5.3. Market Value and Volume Forecast By Material , 201620245.3.1. Glass-based Prefilled Syringes5.3.2. Polymer-based Prefilled Syringes5.4. Market Attractiveness By MaterialAbout 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.Contact usMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Chemotherapy Induced Acral Erythema (Hand-Foot Syndrome) Treatment Market 2016 - 2022

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Acral erythema, also called as hand-foot syndrome or palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia, is characterized by swelling, redness, paraesthesia (numbness) and desquamation (skin peeling) of palms, soles and rarely on knees and elbow. Acryl erythema is an adverse drug reaction which typically appear after several months of treatment with chemotherapeutic agents, gemcitabine and fluorouracil being the most common drugs causing reaction.A sample of this report is available upon request @Chemotherapy induced acryl erythema is a dose dependent condition, regression of which can be achieved by discontinuation of chemotherapy or by dose reduction. Treatment for chemotherapy induced acryl erythema includes symptomatic treatment with analgesics and antihistaminic drugs to reduce pain and edema.Surge in usage of chemotherapeutic agents due to increasing incidence of cancers is the major growth driver of global chemotherapy induced acral erythema treatment market. According to WHO cancer factsheet 2015, the worldwide incidence of cancers is expected to increase by 70% in next 2 decades which perhaps influence the growth of global chemotherapy induced acral erythema treatment market over the forecast period from 20162026.Moreover, lifestyle up-gradation, increasing number of smokers are some secondary considerations accountable for rise in global chemotherapy induced acral erythema treatment market.The global chemotherapy induced acral erythema treatment market has been segmented on the basis of product type, retail sales channels and geography.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @The global chemotherapy induced acral erythema treatment market is highly fragmented with large number of local as well as global players. Being the first line therapy for acryl erythema, analgesics segment is expected to contribute for major portion in global chemotherapy induced acral erythema treatment market.Study results from Valencia Institute of Cancer suggests that there is 2% incidence of chemotherapy induced acral erythema among cancer patients who are treated with chemotherapy in Europe.Geographically, the global chemotherapy induced acral erythema treatment market is segmented into five key regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. North America is expected to contribute a major share in global chemotherapy induced acral erythema treatment market owing to increased usage of gemcitabine, a common cause of acral erythema.Emerging new indications of some drugs and new therapies for the treatment of chemotherapy induced acral erythema such as topical sildenafil, nicotine patches, topical allopurinol and others are expected to launch in market within the forecast period, which are expected to boost the growth of global chemotherapy induced acral erythema treatment market.Some of the major players in the global chemotherapy induced acral erythema treatment market include Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Oceanside Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Pfizer, Novartis AG, A-S Medication Solutions, LLC., Preferred Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Syntex Pharmaceuticals Inc., Valeant Canada LP, Technilab Pharma, Inc., Allergan, Plc. And others.Buy Now: You can now buy a single user license of the report @About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Global Neurovascular Devices Industry Market 2017- Stryker Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic

Global Neurovascular Devices Industry Market

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Global Neurovascular Devices Industry Market 2017, presents a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Neurovascular Devices Industry market globally, providing basic overview of Neurovascular Devices Industry market including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. Historical data available in the report elaborates on the development of the Neurovascular Devices Industry market on a global and regional level. The report compares this data with the current Neurovascular Devices Industry state of the market and thus discuss upon the upcoming trends that have brought the Neurovascular Devices Industry market transformation.Neurovascular Devices Industry Market predictions along with the statistical implication presented in the report delivers an accurate scenario of the Neurovascular Devices Industry market. The market forces determining the shaping of the global Neurovascular Devices Industry market have been evaluated in detail. In addition to this, the supervisory outlook of the Neurovascular Devices Industry market has been covered in the report from both the Global and local perspective. The demand and supply side of the global Neurovascular Devices Industry market has been broadly covered in the report. Also the challenges faced by the players in the Neurovascular Devices Industry market in terms of demand and supply have been listed in the report.Enquire before purchasing the report here:In Global Neurovascular Devices Industry Market report, development policies and plans as well as Neurovascular Devices Industry market size, share, end users are analyzed. Growth prospects of the overall Neurovascular Devices Industry industry have been presented in the report. This industry study segments Neurovascular Devices Industry global market by types, applications and companies. However, to give an in-depth view to the readers, detailed geographical segmentation of Neurovascular Devices Industry market within the globe has been covered in this study. The key geographical regions along with Neurovascular Devices Industry revenue forecasts are included in the report.Global Neurovascular Devices Industry Market Segmentation:The global Neurovascular Devices Industry market is segmented on the basis of key players, types and applications. The leading players of global Neurovascular Devices Industry market includes Penumbra, Terumo, Stryker Corporation, W. L. Gore & Associates, Medtronic, Abbott Vascular, Johnson & Johnson and Microport Scientific Corporation. Based on type, the Neurovascular Devices Industry market is categorized into Aneurysm Coiling & Embolization Devices, Support Devices, Neurothrombectomy Devices and Cerebral Balloon Angioplasty & Stenting Systems. According to application, Neurovascular Devices Industry market divided into Hospitals, Ambulatory Surgical Units and Clinics and others.Request Sample Neurovascular Devices Industry Research Report atGlobal Neurovascular Devices Industry Market regional analysis covers:The industry research includes Neurovascular Devices Industry market in North America (USA, Canada and Mexico), Neurovascular Devices Industry market in Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia), Neurovascular Devices Industry market in Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy), Neurovascular Devices Industry market in South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.), Neurovascular Devices Industry market in Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa) and Other parts of the Globe.The competitive framework of the market in terms of the Global Neurovascular Devices Industry industry has been evaluated in the report. The Neurovascular Devices Industry market top companies with their overall share and share with respect to the global market have been included in the Neurovascular Devices Industry report. Furthermore, the factors on which the companies compete in the global Neurovascular Devices Industry market have been evaluated in the report. So the overall report helps the new aspirants to inspect the forthcoming opportunities in the Neurovascular Devices Industry market.Browse more category related reports here: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:
Vertebroplasty And Kyphoplasty Devices Market to Witness Steady Growth through 2025

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Vertebroplasty & Kyphoplasty are minimally invasive, image guided surgical procedures performed to treat the Vertebral Compression Fracture (VCF). VCFs can lead to back pain, reduced physical activity, depression, loss of independence, decreased lung capacity, and difficulty sleeping. Bone cement is injected into the back bone (vertebra) to provide support to the broken bone. Due to osteoporosis, vascular malformatins or, less commonly, cancer fractures can be caused in the vertebra. Vertebroplasty & Kyphoplasty help the patient to regain the functional abilities and avoid further vertebral collapse. Kyphoplasty is an advanced version of Vertebroplasty which can stabilize the fracture, restore heights and reduce deformities.Vertebroplasty & Kyphoplasty Devices Market: Drivers & RestraintsVertebroplasty & Kyphoplasty devices market is growing due to limitations in the traditional techniques for the treatment of vertebral compression fractures. Vertebroplasty & Kyphoplasty are advanced procedure which result in pain relief, stabilization of the fracture and avoid Downward spiral of untreated osteoporosis. Due to increase in ageing population, patients suffering from osteoporosis are also increasing.Request Report Sample@Additional benefits of the surgery which are the key drivers for this market are:Short surgical time. Patient gets discharged in less than one day.General anaesthesia required. No bracing required.Patients can quickly return to the normal activities of daily living.Complications like bleeding, infection post-surgery and chances of occurrence of another fracture are few restraints for the Vertebroplasty & Kyphoplasty Devices Market.Vertebroplasty & Kyphoplasty Devices Market: SegmentationVertebroplasty & Kyphoplasty Devices market is classified on the basis of Surgery type, product type and geography.Based on surgery type, the global Vertebroplasty & Kyphoplasty market is segmented into the following:VertebroplastyKyphoplastyBased on product type, the global Vertebroplasty & Kyphoplasty market is segmented into the following:Vertebroplasty devicesNeedleCement mixing and delivery devicesX- ray DeviceKyphoplasty DevicesBalloonNeedleX- ray DeviceVertebroplasty & Kyphoplasty Devices Market: OverviewVertebroplasty & Kyphoplasty devices market is growing due to increased incidence of Vertebral Compression Fractures (VCF) occurring due to increase in the ageing population. VCF is a major issue in the western countries driving the market growth. Overall Vertebroplasty & Kyphoplasty devices market will grow globally, however the growth rate in Asia Pacific region will be more as compared to European and North American market.Vertebroplasty & Kyphoplasty Devices Market: Region-wise OutlookDepending on geographic regions, global Vertebroplasty & Kyphoplasty market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. North America is the leading region in Vertebroplasty & Kyphoplasty Devices market due to the high volumes of surgical procedures being performed. Also, the availability of established healthcare infrastructure, high contribution of healthcare to economy, patient compliance are the reasons for the high demand in North America. Europe has the second largest Vertebroplasty & Kyphoplasty Devices market due to vast technological advancement in terms of healthcare sector. Asia Pacific market is expected to grow at a good rate as compared to NA and Europe as there is ample market opportunity in countries like India and China.Visit For TOC@Vertebroplasty & Kyphoplasty Devices Market: Key PlayersSome of the key market players in global Vertebroplasty & Kyphoplasty Devices market are Depuy Synthes, Stryker Corporation, CareFusion Corporation, Osseon LLC., Alphatec Spine, Inc., TAEYEON MEDICAL Co., Ltd., G-21 s.r.l., BMK Global Medical Company, Medtronic, Inc., Globus Medical, Inc. and SOMATEX 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:
MASON CITY | NIACC has adopted a broad range of national certifications to ensure students are ready for in-demand, 21st century careers.

In recent months, North Iowa Area Community College says it has adopted the Snap-on Multimeter, Snap-on Torque and LS Starrett Precision Measurement certifications, which serve as foundational competencies in a broad range of skilled careers.

Five NIACC instructors underwent training in July to implement these certifications in their classrooms for the upcoming school year. The college in a news release said additional certifications are planned for the year ahead and beyond.

NIACC is considered a national model, as it is a partner with 19 local high schools, ensuring students have access to the same training as those in college.

The National Coalition of Certification Centers, Snap-on and key educational and industry leaders from across the country will be at NIACC's campus Thursday and Friday to celebrate and support the project.
Global Military Smart Textiles Market 2017- TenCate, Outlast, DuPont

Global Military Smart Textiles Market

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Global Military Smart Textiles Market 2017, presents a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Military Smart Textiles market globally, providing basic overview of Military Smart Textiles market including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. Historical data available in the report elaborates on the development of the Military Smart Textiles market on a global and regional level. The report compares this data with the current Military Smart Textiles state of the market and thus discuss upon the upcoming trends that have brought the Military Smart Textiles market transformation.Military Smart Textiles Market predictions along with the statistical implication presented in the report delivers an accurate scenario of the Military Smart Textiles market. The market forces determining the shaping of the global Military Smart Textiles market have been evaluated in detail. In addition to this, the supervisory outlook of the Military Smart Textiles market has been covered in the report from both the Global and local perspective. The demand and supply side of the global Military Smart Textiles market has been broadly covered in the report. Also the challenges faced by the players in the Military Smart Textiles market in terms of demand and supply have been listed in the report.Enquire before purchasing the report here:In Global Military Smart Textiles Market report, development policies and plans as well as Military Smart Textiles market size, share, end users are analyzed. Growth prospects of the overall Military Smart Textiles industry have been presented in the report. This industry study segments Military Smart Textiles global market by types, applications and companies. However, to give an in-depth view to the readers, detailed geographical segmentation of Military Smart Textiles market within the globe has been covered in this study. The key geographical regions along with Military Smart Textiles revenue forecasts are included in the report.Global Military Smart Textiles Market Segmentation:The global Military Smart Textiles market is segmented on the basis of key players, types and applications. The leading players of global Military Smart Textiles market includes Outlast, W. L. Gore & Associates, TenCate, AFT, BAE Systems, DuPont, Ohmatex ApS and Mide Technology. Based on type, the Military Smart Textiles market is categorized into Passive Smart Textile, Ultra-Smart Textile and Active Smart Textile. According to application, Military Smart Textiles market divided into NASA and DOD and others.Request Sample Military Smart Textiles Research Report atGlobal Military Smart Textiles Market regional analysis covers:The industry research includes Military Smart Textiles market in North America (USA, Canada and Mexico), Military Smart Textiles market in Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia), Military Smart Textiles market in Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy), Military Smart Textiles market in South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.), Military Smart Textiles market in Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa) and Other parts of the Globe.The competitive framework of the market in terms of the Global Military Smart Textiles industry has been evaluated in the report. The Military Smart Textiles market top companies with their overall share and share with respect to the global market have been included in the Military Smart Textiles report. Furthermore, the factors on which the companies compete in the global Military Smart Textiles market have been evaluated in the report. So the overall report helps the new aspirants to inspect the forthcoming opportunities in the Military Smart Textiles market.Browse more category related reports here: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:
Global Sheet Metal Fabrication Services Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 - Metcam Inc., Moreng Meta

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This report studies the global Sheet Metal Fabrication Services market, analyzes and researches the Sheet Metal Fabrication Services development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. This report focuses on the top players in global market, likeAll Metals Fabricating, Inc.BTD ManufacturingClassic Sheet Metal, Inc.Hydram Sheet MetalworkIronform CorporationKapco Metal StampingMarlin Steel Wire Products LLCMayville Engineering Company Inc.Metcam Inc.Moreng MetaNoble Industries, Inc.Standard Iron & Wire Works Inc.The Metalworking GroupFill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEUJapanChinaIndiaSoutheast AsiaMarket segment by Type, Sheet Metal Fabrication Services can be split intoSteelAluminumOthersMarket segment by Application, Sheet Metal Fabrication Services can be split intoManufacturingConstructionAerospaceAutomotiveArchitectureElectronicsFood ProcessingTelecommunicationOthers (Medical, Energy and Power, etc.)Enquiry For Discount Visit @Table of ContentsGlobal Sheet Metal Fabrication Services Market Size, Status and Forecast 20221 Industry Overview of Sheet Metal Fabrication Services1.1 Sheet Metal Fabrication Services Market Overview1.1.1 Sheet Metal Fabrication Services Product Scope2 Global Sheet Metal Fabrication Services Competition Analysis by Players2.1 Sheet Metal Fabrication Services Market Size (Value) by Players (2016 and 2017)2.2 Competitive Status and Trend2.2.1 Market Concentration Rate2.2.2 Product/Service Differences4 Global Sheet Metal Fabrication Services Market Size by Type and Application (2012-2017)4.1 Global Sheet Metal Fabrication Services Market Size by Type (2012-2017)4.2 Global Sheet Metal Fabrication Services Market Size by Application (2012-2017)4.3 Potential Application of Sheet Metal Fabrication Services in Future4.4 Top Consumer/End Users of Sheet Metal Fabrication Services5 United States Sheet Metal Fabrication Services Development Status and Outlook5.1 United States Sheet Metal Fabrication Services Market Size (2012-2017)5.2 United States Sheet Metal Fabrication Services Market Size and Market Share by Players (2016 and 2017)View TOC (table of content), Figures and Tables of the Report:List of Tables and FiguresFigure Sheet Metal Fabrication Services Product ScopeFigure Global Sheet Metal Fabrication Services Market Size (Million USD) (2012-2017)Table Global Sheet Metal Fabrication Services Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure Global Sheet Metal Fabrication Services Market Share by Regions in 2016Figure United States Sheet Metal Fabrication Services Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure EU Sheet Metal Fabrication Services Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure Japan Sheet Metal Fabrication Services Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure China Sheet Metal Fabrication Services Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure India Sheet Metal Fabrication Services Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)About 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 UsBrooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
LNG Liquefaction Terminals Market Capacity and Capital Expenditure Outlook H2 2017 - Floating Terminals in Congo Republic and PNG Announced Amidst Project Cancellations in US and Canada

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MarketResearchNest.com adds H2 2017 Global Capacity And Capital Expenditure Outlook For LNG Liquefaction Terminals - Floating Terminals In Congo Republic And PNG Announced Amidst Project Cancellations In US And Canada new report to its research database. The report spread across in 40 pages with tables and figures in it.The global LNG liquefaction industry is expected to increase by 94% during the outlook period 2017-2021. North America leads globally with the highest planned liquefaction capacity additions and capex on the new build projects over the next four years. North America alone is expected to contribute 77% of the total global capacity growth and 67% of proposed capex on new build terminals. In North America, the US is expected to add 173 mtpa of liquefaction capacity, while Canada 115 mtpa of capacity.Browse more details atScope- Historical LNG liquefaction capacities data from 2011 to 2016, outlook up to 2021- Annual breakdown of capital expenditure on new build LNG liquefaction projects for the period 2017 to 2021- Planned LNG liquefaction capacity additions and capital expenditure by key countries and companies globally- Planned capital expenditure spending on new build LNG liquefaction projects by region, key countries and companies- Details of the planned, announced, and stalled LNG liquefaction projects globally up to 2021Reasons to buy- Obtain the most up to date information available on the LNG liquefaction projects globally- Identify growth segments and opportunities in the global LNG industry- Facilitate decision making on the basis of strong historic and forecasts of LNG liquefaction projects data- Develop business strategies with the help of specific insights about the planned LNG liquefaction projects globally- Keep abreast of key new build LNG liquefaction projects globally- Assess your competitor's planned LNG liquefaction projects and capacities.Order a Purchase Report Copy atTable 1: Count of Planned and Announced LNG Liquefaction Terminals by Region, 2017-2021 8Table 2: Total Liquefaction Capacity by Region (mtpa) 9Table 3: Global Liquefaction Capacity by Key Companies (mtpa) 10Table 4: Total Capex Spending on Planned and Announced Liquefaction Terminals by Region (US$ bil) 12Table 5: Liquefaction Capacity in Africa by Key Companies (mtpa) 14Table 6: Liquefaction Capacity in Asia by Key Companies (mtpa) 16Table 7: Liquefaction Capacity in Caribbean by Key Companies (mtpa) 18Table 8: Liquefaction Capacity in Europe by Key Companies (mtpa) 19Table 9: Liquefaction Capacity in Former Soviet Union by Key Companies (mtpa) 21Table 10: Liquefaction Capacity in Middle East by Key Companies (mtpa) 23Table 11: Liquefaction Capacity in North America by Key Companies (mtpa) 25Table 12: Liquefaction Capacity in Oceania by Key Companies (mtpa) 27Table 13: Liquefaction Capacity in South America by Key Companies (mtpa) 29Table 14: Global Liquefaction Capacity Additions through Planned and Announced (New Build) Terminals by Region (mtpa) 30Table 15: Global Liquefaction Capacity Additions through Existing Terminals Expansions by Region (mtpa) 30Table 16: Global Planned and Announced Liquefaction Terminals 31Table 17: Global Planned and Announced Liquefaction Terminals 32Table 18: Global Planned and Announced Liquefaction Terminals 33Table 19: Global Planned and Announced Liquefaction Terminals 34Table 20: Global Stalled (New Build) Liquefaction Terminals 351.2 List of FiguresFigure 1: Global Map of Planned and Announced LNG Liquefaction Terminals 8Figure 2: Total Liquefaction Capacity by Region (mtpa) 9Figure 3: Global Liquefaction Capacity by Key Companies (mtpa) 10Figure 4: Planned and Announced Liquefaction Capacity Additions by Key Countries (mtpa), 2017-2021 11Figure 5: Planned and Announced Liquefaction Capacity Additions by Key Companies (mtpa), 2017-2021 11Figure 6: Total Capex Spending on Planned and Announced Liquefaction Terminals by Region (US$ bil) 12Figure 7: Total Capex Spending on Planned and Announced Liquefaction Terminals by Key Countries (US$ bil) 13Figure 8: Total Capex Spending on Planned and Announced Liquefaction Terminals by Key Companies (US$ bil) 13Figure 9: Liquefaction Capacity in Africa by Key Companies (mtpa) 14Figure 10: Capex Spending on Planned and Announced Liquefaction Terminals in Africa by Country (US$ bil) 15Figure 11: Capex Spending on Planned and Announced Liquefaction Terminals in Africa by Key Companies (US$ bil) 15Figure 12: Liquefaction Capacity in Asia by Key Companies (mtpa) 16Figure 13: Capex Spending on Planned and Announced Liquefaction Terminals in Asia by Country (US$ mil) 17Figure 14: Capex Spending on Planned and Announced Liquefaction Terminals in Asia by Key Companies (US$ mil) 17Figure 15: Liquefaction Capacity in Caribbean by Key Companies (mtpa) 18Figure 16: Liquefaction Capacity in Europe by Key Companies (mtpa) 19Figure 17: Capex Spending on Planned and Announced Liquefaction Terminals in Europe by Country (US$ mil) 20Figure 18: Capex Spending on Planned and Announced Liquefaction Terminals in Europe by Key Company (US$ bill) 20Figure 19: Liquefaction Capacity in Former Soviet Union by Key Companies (mtpa) 21Figure 20: Capex Spending on Planned and Announced Liquefaction Terminals in Former Soviet Union by Country (US$ bil) 22Figure 21: Capex Spending on Planned and Announced Liquefaction Terminals in Former Soviet Union by Key Companies (US$ bil) 22Figure 22: Liquefaction Capacity in Middle East by Key Companies (mtpa) 23Figure 23: Capex Spending on Planned and Announced Liquefaction Terminals in Middle East by Country (US$ bil) 24Figure 24: Capex Spending on Planned and Announced Liquefaction Terminals in Middle East by Key Companies (US$ mil) 24Figure 25: Liquefaction Capacity in North America by Key Companies (mtpa) 25Figure 26: Capex Spending on Planned and Announced Liquefaction Terminals in North America by Country (US$ bil) 26Figure 27: Capex Spending on Planned and Announced Liquefaction Terminals in North America by Key Companies (US$ bil) 26Figure 28: Liquefaction Capacity in Oceania by Key Companies (mtpa) 27Figure 29: Capex Spending on Planned and Announced Liquefaction Terminals in Oceania by Country (US$ bil) 28Figure 30: Capex Spending on Planned and Announced Liquefaction Terminals in Oceania by Key Companies (US$ bil) 28Figure 31: Liquefaction Capacity in South America by Key Companies (mtpa) 29Request a Sample Copy atMarketResearchNest.com is the most comprehensive collection of market research products and services on the Web. We offer reports from almost all top publishers and update our collection on daily basis to provide you with instant online access to the worlds most complete and recent database of expert insights on global industries, organizations, products, and trends.Contact UsMr. Jeet JainSales Managersales@marketresearchnest.com+1-240-284-8070Pune, India
LED Lighting Market with Current Trends Analysis, 2015-2025

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LED light is a light-emitting diode product which is accumulated into the utilization in lighting fixtures. It is basically a semiconductor lighting source operate in different applications such as automotive lighting, general as well as backlighting. It has been noticed that LEDs are smaller and have a lengthier operating life as well as lower cost of ownership as compared to previous technologies in the similar area. The prices of LEDs have reduced to a point where such type of lighting is becoming the economic choice in every application. The acceptance of LED lighting is escalating in almost all major end uses such as industrial buildings, residential and commercial buildings, as well as outdoor application areas. The LED lighting systems provide more energy efficiency and longer life span. The LED light provides a lifetime of nearly 50,000 hours of brightness and work effectively by using only a fraction of energy as is utilized by traditional bulbs and CFLs. The LED lights compete with old and traditional bulbs on various parameters which include longer lifetime, energy efficiency, enhanced environmental friendliness, better durability, lower heat and smaller size. The Global LED lighting market has showcased rapid growth over the past few years. The Global LED lighting market is anticipated to grow at a stupendous CAGR over the period 2015-2025 with a substantial revenue in 2025. Thus, the revolution in LED is gaining traction in terms of market dynamics.Global LED Lighting: Market SegmentationThe Global LED lighting market is segmented on the basis of organizational structure such as organized and unorganized. The Global LED lighting market is further bifurcated by application areas such as automotive, general and backlighting. The LED lighting market in automobile industry is rising as LEDs are initiating to be used in mass market automobiles. The Global LED lighting market is also divided on the basis of end-user segment such as commercial, general, residential, industrial, outdoor and architectural. The Global LED lighting market is further segmented by technology which includes ultraviolet LEDs, basic LEDs, high brightness LEDs, polymer LEDs and organic LEDs.Request Report Sample@Global LED Lighting Market: Growth DriversThe global LED lighting market is influenced by various factors such as macroeconomic conditions which is impacting the new construction and subsequently new lighting installations. Less replacement, less heat as well as the lower price are fostering the demand for LED lights across the globe and strengthening the market of global LEDs. Such factors along with inclining demand for cost efficient lighting systems from communities and buildings will intensify the market for global LED lighting from 2015-2025. Besides this, innovation and change in technology along with different product designs by LED light manufacturers are anticipated to bolster the global LED lighting market. The rising government initiatives for conservation of energy is also fostering the growth of global LED lighting market.Global LED Lighting Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, the Global LED Lighting industry can be divided by major regions which include North America, Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific region, Japan, Middle East and Africa. In 2014, Asia Pacific captured the highest share in the global LED lighting market due to significant population growth, huge private sector LED lighting projects as well as the suitable government policies. The LED lighting has become popular in Japans educational institutions, retail stores and hospitals. Followed by it, Europe stood at second position in the revenue of global LED lighting market as the demand for LED lights are gaining traction especially for architectural and commercial lighting functions. Apart from this, U.S. holds third position in the global LED lighting market.Visit For TOC@Global LED Lighting Market: PlayersSome of the top vendors identified across the value chain of the global LED lighting market include Cree Corporation, International Light technologies, American Bright Optoelectronics Corporation, Philips Lumileds Lighting company, Samsung Electronics Limited and OSRAM Licht AG. It has been noticed that new companies from consumer electronics as well as from semiconductor segments are entering the LED lighting. Thus, the LEDs showcases a higher opportunity for service providers as well as the component manufacturers to enhance their activities in the areas of LED lighting.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.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email:press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Black Pepper Market Intelligence Report Offers Growth Prospects

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Black Pepper is a pungent hot-tasting powder spice prepared from dried and ground peppercorns, used to flavor food. It is also known as king of spices because it contains rich anti-oxidants and other nutrients. The high demand for pepper presents an attractive market opportunity for new vendors to enter the market. In the present market scenario, it is estimated that the new crop of black pepper accounts for nearly 30% to 35% of the market. The high demand is expected to increase the price of black pepper, thereby increasing the profit margin of the vendors in this market.Apart from this, black pepper powder is also used to make medicines. It often used to cure stomach upset, bronchitis, and cancer. It is sometimes applied directly to the skin for treating nerve pain(neuralgia) and a skin disease called scabies. Black peppers are also used typically as a counterirritant for pain.Request Report Sample@Black Pepper Market: Drivers & RestraintsThe black pepper market is directly influenced by the growing processed food industry. The rise in consumption of bakery products, confectionery products, and ready-to-eat and ried food in the developed economies is driving the market for the spice. The recent trend of using natural flavor enhancer has also catalyzed the growth of the global market. In the year 2013-15, the global pepper consumption is estimated at around 400,000 tons and has been increasing steadily. Increasing demand from Far East countries, which have started using more pepper in cooking, has been quite significant in driving the global black pepper market. Growth in the cosmetics industry is also directly influencing the pepper market. Due to the antioxidant and antibacterial properties of black pepper, it is often included in skin care products.As stated earlier, that the market is experiencing a major year on year increase in demand for black pepper. But unfortunately, this demand is not backed by adequate supply, which has proved to be a major restraint in this market. This is majorly due to the intensive crop losses in various parts of the world, especially in India & Brazil. Sudden climatic changes and untimely rainfall has significantly led to the fall in the yield of black pepper.Black PepperMarket: SegmentationThe global black pepper market can be broadly segmented on the basis of; type, end use and application. On the basis of type, the market can be further segmented into  organic and inorganic. Based on end use, the market can be segmented into bakery and confectionery products, frozen products, soups, sauces & dressing, beverages, meat & poultry products, snacks and convenience food, and others. Based of application, the black pepper market can be segmented into food & beverages, health care and personal care & cosmetics.Black PepperMarket: Region Wise OutlookGeographically, the global black peppermarket is segmented into seven regions which are ; North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), and Middle East and Africa (MEA) and Japan.Vietnam, followed by Brazil, India & Indonesia are the leading producer of black pepper in the year 2014 globally.India saw a fall in its average production in the same year. The leverage of large scale production and productivity helps Vietnam growers to offer world's lowest price tags.Visit For TOC@In terms of export, Vietnam leads the market globally. U.S. market continues to be the largest importer of black pepper from Vietnam. While most markets like India, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Netherlands, Spain have seen an increase in their imports, except Germany. German market recorded a drop in imports from Vietnam. Thus, with a market share of approximately 50% per cent in the global market, Vietnam has been able dominate the market.Black PepperMarket: Key PlayersSome of the major companies operating in global black peppermarket are Baria Pepper, British Pepper and Spice, Catch, Everest Spices, McCormick, MDH, Agri food Pacific, Akar Indo, Brazil Trade Business, DM AGRO, Gupta Trading, Pacific Production, PT AF, Silk Road Spices, The Spice House, Vietnam Spice Company, Visimex, and Webb James, Olam International Limited.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.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email:press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Frozen Fruits: Global Market Study (Tropical Fruits Segment Anticipated to Expand at the Highest CAGR During 2017-2022)

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"Global Market Study on Frozen Fruits: Tropical Fruits Segment Anticipated to Expand at the Highest CAGR During 2016-2022" The Report covers current Industries Trends, Worldwide Analysis, Global Forecast, Review, Share, Size, Growth, Effect.Description-Robust economic growth in the developing world, an increasing number of women joining the workforce every year, the rising penetration of retail and e-Commerce and changing customer patterns are the biggest drivers in the global frozen fruits market. In the report, Frozen Fruits Market: Global Industry Analysis and Forecast, 20162022, Persistence Market Research (PMR) has conducted an in-depth study of the global frozen fruits market based on several key parameters such as CAGR, Y-o-Y growth rate, absolute dollar opportunity and incremental dollar opportunity. The global frozen fruits market has been studied for the seven year period from 2016-2022. The analysts at PMR have provided their expert opinion on both the current and expected future trends in the global frozen fruits market that can be invaluable for any organization looking to make key business decisions.Get Sample Report With TOC @The global frozen fruits market has been studied on the basis of five geographic regions viz. North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. The global frozen fruits market report provides Y-o-Y growth projections, absolute dollar opportunity, the market value and volume on the basis of Country, Fruit Type, Technique and Application. Relevant facts related to the largest markets in each region are given in the global frozen fruits market report.As with every other report, a few assumptions have been made and certain acronyms have been used while preparing the global frozen fruits market report. These have been adequately explained in a separate section. Readers can refer to this section at the outset to ensure that they thoroughly understand the global frozen fruits market report with all of its nuances. The executive summary of the global frozen fruits market report provides a first glance at the global frozen fruits market. The summary includes a broad overview, some important drivers and restraints, the competitive landscape, and the regional split and segmentation in a pie chart format. The summary concludes with advice from PMR experts on which Application and Region stakeholders should target, along with a differentiation strategy to truly stand out in the global frozen fruits market.The global frozen fruits market is highly competitive and it is quite difficult for any one company to dominate. The report has a dedicated section for the competition landscape where information related to a number of the key players has been disseminated. The global frozen fruits market report highlights the innovations pertaining to specific companies. Important transactions that have impacted the global frozen fruits market, company details, key strategies chosen, revenue, Y-o-Y growth, Net Operating Income, major products, SWOT analysis and recent developments complete the competition landscape.The global frozen fruits market report overview section touches upon the market dynamics i.e. the drivers, restraints, opportunities and threats that can have an impact on the global frozen fruits market. A market forecast for the study period from 2016-2022, Y-o-Y growth projections, and absolute dollar opportunity analysis serves to educate the readers. This section also includes facts concerning the cold chain, supply chain, freezing equipment, frozen fruit cost analysis and the import-export scenario of frozen fruits and nuts. Government regulations that must be adhered to mandatorily in the global frozen fruits market can be referred to here. The value chain analysis has given a comprehensive explanation of the relationship between the farmer, aggregator, exporter, wholesaler, importer, retailer, buyer and consumer in the global frozen fruits market.A few readers may wish to be informed about the global frozen fruits market from the ground level itself. These individuals can refer to the introduction section of the global frozen fruits market report. The definition explains in a brief yet simple manner what frozen fruits are along with the two main methods of producing them i.e. IQF and freeze drying.- Proprietary research methodologyPersistence Market Research has pioneered an industry leading research methodology while analyzing the global frozen fruits market. The analysts first conduct exhaustive primary and secondary research to formulate a detailed discussion guide. A list of industry players comprising manufacturers, distributors, retailers and industry experts is developed. After intense interviews with industry experts and key market players, the required data is gathered. This data is then validated using the triangulation method where primary and secondary research is combined with PMR expert analysis to arrive at the final data. The final data is thoroughly scrutinized with the help of advanced, proprietary tools to obtain qualitative and quantitative insights concerning the global frozen fruits market.- Market segmentation- By Fruit TypeRed Fruits & BerriesStrawberryBananaRaspberryBlueberryWatermelonCranberryTropical FruitsMangoPapayaPomegranatePineappleCitrus FruitsLemon & LimeOrangeGrapefruit- By TechniqueIQFFreeze Drying- By ApplicationDairyConfectionery & BakeryFruit-based BeveragesJams & PreservesOthers- By RegionNorth AmericaLatin AmericaAsia PacificEuropeMiddle East & Africa- Company ProfileUran Food Group Limited.Pinnacle Foods Inc.Kendall Frozen Fruits Inc.Ardo NV.SunOpta Inc.Welch Foods.Kerry Group Plc.Other.- Table of Content1. Frozen Fruit Market Executive Summary2. Assumptions & Acronyms Used3. Research Methodology4. Frozen Fruit Market Overview4.1. Introduction4.1.1. Market Definition4.2. Market Dynamics4.2.1. Drivers4.2.2. Restraints4.2.3. Opportunity4.2.4. Trends4.3. Global Frozen Fruit Market Forecast, 201620224.3.1. Market Value and Volume Forecast4.3.1.1. Y-o-Y Growth Projections4.3.1.2. Absolute $ Opportunity4.3.2. Global Frozen Fruit Market Snapshot (2015)4.3.2.1. Market Share By Fruit Type4.3.2.2. Market Share By Technique4.3.2.3. Market Share By Application4.3.2.4. Market Share By Region4.4. Cold Chain Components4.5. Supply Chain and Margins4.6. Government Regulations4.7. Freezing Equipment: An Overview4.8. Global Frozen Fruits and Nuts: Export and Import Scenario4.9. Cost Analysis of Frozen Fruits5. Global Frozen Fruit Market Analysis, By Fruit Type5.1. Introduction5.1.1. Y-o-Y Growth Comparison, By Fruit Type5.1.2. Basis Point Share (BPS) Analysis, By Fruit Type5.2. Market Forecast By Fruit Type5.2.1. Red fruits and berries5.2.1.1. Absolute $ Opportunity5.2.1.2. Market Value and Volume Forecast, By Region5.2.1.3. Total Market Opportunity (Value & Volume)5.2.1.3.1. Strawberry5.2.3.3.2. Orange5.2.3.3.3. Grapefruit5.3. Market Attractiveness By Fruit Type5.4. Prominent Trends6. Global Frozen Fruit Market Analysis, By Technique6.1. Introduction6.1.1. Y-o-Y Growth Comparison, By Technique6.1.2. Basis Point Share (BPS) Analysis, By Technique6.2. Market Forecast By Technique6.2.1. IQF6.2.1.1. Absolute $ Opportunity6.2.1.2. Market Value and Volume Forecast, By Region6.2.2. Freeze Drying6.2.2.1. Absolute $ Opportunity6.2.2.2. Market Value and Volume Forecast, By Region6.3. Market Attractiveness By Technique6.4. Prominent Trends7. Global Frozen Fruit Market Analysis, By Application7.2.1. Dairy7.2.1.1. Absolute $ Opportunity7.2.1.2. Market Value and Volume Forecast, By Region7.2.2. Confectionery and Bakery7.2.2.1. Absolute $ Opportunity7.2.2.2. Market Value and Volume Forecast, By Region7.2.3. Fruit based beverage7.2.3.1. Absolute $ Opportunity7.2.3.2. Market Value and Volume Forecast, By Region7.2.4. Jams and Preserves7.2.4.1. Absolute $ Opportunity7.2.4.2. Market Value and Volume Forecast, By Region7.2.5. Others7.2.5.1. Absolute $ Opportunity7.2.5.2. Market Value and Volume Forecast, By Region7.3. Market Attractiveness By Application7.4. Prominent Trends8. Global Frozen Fruit Market Analysis, By Region8.1. Introduction8.1.1. Y-o-Y Growth Projections, By Region8.1.2. Basis Point Share (BPS) Analysis, By Region8.2. Market Forecast By Region8.2.1. North America Market Value and Volume Forecast8.2.2 . Latin America Market Value and Volume Forecast8.2.3. Asia Pacific Market Value and Volume Forecast8.2.4. Europe Market Value and Volume Forecast8.2.5. Middle East & Africa Market Value and Volume Forecast8.3. Regional Attractiveness Analysis9. North America Market Analysis9.1. Introduction9.1.1. Y-o-Y Growth Projections9.1.2. Absolute $ Opportunity9.2. Market Trends9.3. North America Market Forecast9.3.1. Market Value and Volume Forecast By Country9.3.1.1. U.S.9.3.1.2. Canada9.3.2. Market Value and Volume Forecast By Fruit Type9.3.2.1. Red fruits and berries9.3.2.2. Tropical fruits9.3.2.3. Citrus fruits9.3.3. Market Value and Volume Forecast By Technique9.3.3.1. IQF9.3.3.2. Freeze Drying9.3.4. Market Value and Volume Forecast By Application9.3.4.1. Dairy9.3.4.2. Confectionery and Bakery9.3.4.3. Fruit based beverage9.3.4.4. Jams and preserves9.3.4.5. Others9.3.5. Market Attractiveness Analysis9.3.5.1. By Fruit Type9.3.5.2. By Techniques9.3.5.3. By Freezer Equipment9.3.5.4. By Application10. Latin America Market Analysis10.1. Introduction10.1.1. Y-o-Y Growth Projections10.1.2. Absolute $ Opportunity10.2. Market Trends10.3. Latin America Market Forecast10.3.1. Market Value and Forecast By Country10.3.1.1. ArgentinaFull 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
Global and China PTCA Balloon Catheter Research Report to 2021

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This report studies PTCA Balloon Catheter in Global and China market, focuses on top manufacturers in global and China market, involving PTCA Balloon Catheter price of each type, production, revenue and market share for each manufacturer. This report also displays the production, revenue and market share of PTCA Balloon Catheter in USA, EU, China, Japan, India and Southeast Asia, forecast to 2020, from 2011.Split by product types, with production, revenue, market share and price of each type, as well as the types and price of each type price for each manufacturer in 2015 and 2016, through interviewing the key manufacturers, coveringCatheters: BalloonCatheters: GuideCatheters: DiagnosticSample of this report is available upon request @Split by manufacturers, this report focuses on the production, price of each type, average price of PTCA Balloon Catheter, revenue and market share, for each manufacturer in 2015 and 2016. Top players, coveringBoston ScientificCOOK MEDICALMedtronicTERUMOLEPU MEDICALAbbott Laboratories Vacular Enterprises Ltd.Optimed MedizinischeB. Braun Sharing ExpertiseKanekaBaltMINVASYSAcrostak. Corp.AngioScoreCordisAtrium MedicalVolcano CorpMicroPortJW Medical Systems (JWMS)Neich MedicalCompany 20Split by regions, this report focuses on the production, revenue, consumption and market share of PTCA Balloon Catheter in these regions, from 2011 to 2020 (forecast), coveringUSAEUJapanChinaIndiaSoutheast AsiaObtain Report Details @Table of ContentsGlobal and China PTCA Balloon Catheter Research Report to 20201 PTCA Balloon Catheter Overview and Price of Each Type1.1 Product Overview and Scope of PTCA Balloon Catheter1.2 Global and China PTCA Balloon Catheter Production, Growth Rate 2011 to 20201.3 Global and China PTCA Balloon Catheter Revenue, Growth Rate 2011 to 20201.4 Product Segments and Price of Each Type1.4.1 Catheters: Balloon and Price List (2015-2016)1.4.2 Catheters: Guide and Price List (2015-2016)2 Global and China Market Competition Analysis by Manufacturers2.1 Global Market PTCA Balloon Catheter Production, Revenue and Share List of Key Manufacturers 2015 to 20162.1.1 Global Market PTCA Balloon Catheter Production and Share of Key Manufacturers 2015 to 20162.1.2 Global Market PTCA Balloon Catheter Revenue and Share of Key Manufacturers 2015 to 20162.1.3 Global Market PTCA Balloon Catheter Average Price of Key Manufacturers 2015 to 20162.2 China Market PTCA Balloon Catheter Production, Revenue and Share of Key Manufacturers 2015 to 20163 Global and China PTCA Balloon Catheter Production, Revenue and Growth Rate by Type3.1 Global PTCA Balloon Catheter Production, Revenue and Growth Rate by Type (2011-2020)3.1.1 Global PTCA Balloon Catheter Production and Market Share by Type (2011-2020)3.1.2 Global PTCA Balloon Catheter Revenue and Market Share by Type (2011-2020)3.1.3 Global PTCA Balloon Catheter Price by Type (2011-2020)3.2 Global PTCA Balloon Catheter Production Growth Rate by Type (2011-2020)3.2.1 Catheters: Balloon Production and Production Growth Rate 2011-20204 Global and China PTCA Balloon Catheter Key Manufacturers Analysis4.1 Boston Scientific4.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors4.1.2 PTCA Balloon Catheter Product Segment of Boston Scientific by Type4.1.2.1 Catheters: Balloon and Price in 2015 and 2016 of Boston ScientificGet discount copy @List of Tables and FiguresFigure Picture of PTCA Balloon CatheterFigure Global PTCA Balloon Catheter Production and Growth Rate 2011 to 2020Figure China PTCA Balloon Catheter Production and Growth Rate 2011 to 2020Figure Global PTCA Balloon Catheter Revenue and Growth Rate 2011 to 2020Table Global Market PTCA Balloon Catheter Production Share of Key Manufacturers 2015 to 2016Table Global Market PTCA Balloon Catheter Revenue of Key Manufacturers 2015 to 2016Table Global Market PTCA Balloon Catheter Revenue Share of Key Manufacturers 2015 to 2016Table Global Market PTCA Balloon Catheter Average Price of Key Manufacturers 2015 to 2016Table China Market PTCA Balloon Catheter Production of Key Manufacturers 2015 to 2016Table China Market PTCA Balloon Catheter Production Share of Key Manufacturers 2015 to 2016Table China Market PTCA Balloon Catheter Revenue of Key Manufacturers 2015 to 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 UsBrooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:
Convenience Foods Market Expected to Expand at a Steady CAGR through 2020

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The convenience foods market is driven by busy lifestyles and ageing population. It includes a range of processed foods that has longer shelf life and are easy to use. The major attributes that consumers look for in convenience foods are ease of use, packaging, nutritional value, safety, variety and product appeal. These are prepared by adding various preservatives at specific conditions and few of them need an efficient supply chain and storage to retain their properties. Convenience foods save time and energy for preparing food at home or hotels. Technology and innovative packaging options have widened the food choices that are available in the market in various categories such as frozen, chilled, packaged foods, etc.The market has been segmented by type as canned foods, frozen foods, ready-to-eat snacks, meals, chilled foods and others. The market can also be segmented on the basis of distribution channels into supermarkets and hypermarkets, departmental stores, mom-and-pop shops, convenience stores and others. Geographically, the market can be segmented into Asia-Pacific, North America (the U.S., Canada and Mexico), Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Middle East & North Africa and RoW (Rest of the World, including Latin America and South Africa).Request Report Sample@With more women in the workforce, the demand for convenience foods is rising, primarily in emerging economies. The rapid growth of the food service industry in large number of developing markets is also expected to fuel the demand of packaged ready-to-eat snacks such as potato fries, bakery products and meat products. However, lack of proper storage and logistics is a threat to the frozen and chilled category of convenience foods in developing countries. There are stringent regulations on labelling and manufacturing of convenience foods in both developed and developing nations. One of the major drivers for convenience foods industry growth is widened distribution channels and tendency of consumers to buy off-the-shelf especially in emerging markets of BRICS and MENA.The U.S. is the largest market for convenience foods in the world and the emerging markets of Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Latin America would fuel the future growth of the same. The U.S. will remain a strategic market for convenience food processors in the forecast period due to declining trend towards away-from-home dining and at-home cooking. There is a rising demand for meal solutions/ready-to-eat meals that can be prepared in two-step cooking. For instance, in December 2013, ConAgra Foods launched 23 new varieties of quality meals and desserts in Bertolli and P.F. Changs brands to enhance consumers at-home dining experience with convenience. In addition, consumers are looking for meals with foraged, hyper-local ingredients with different flavours and blends such as mushrooms, nettles, blackberries, rose hips, seaweeds, truffles, etc.The global convenience foods market is expected to grow at a healthy CAGR from 20142020. Some of the emerging markets may even experience a double-digit growth rate through the forecast period in significant categories.Visit For TOC@Large multinational corporations follow multiple strategies to develop and penetrate the market for convenience foods in different regions. However, providing products that match local consumer taste is of utmost importance. Pricing is another important factor for convenience foods, however nowadays, consumers are ready to pay a premium price if they get to buy quality convenience foods with health benefits. Some of the common strategies that companies have adopted in recent times are portion controlled packaging, in-store promotions, mergers & acquisitions and health claims in labels. There is a growing trend towards healthy convenience foods that are rich in proteins, functional fibres, vitamins, probiotics and omega-3 fatty acid. For this, many market leaders are integrating their operations by acquiring ingredient manufacturers to increase their technical know-how. Availability of customized food ingredients has become a boon for convenience food manufacturers as they can provide large varieties in each category.Some of the key companies manufacturing and distributing convenience foods are Amy's Kitchen, Inc., Cargill, Incorporated, ConAgra Foods, Inc., General Mills, Inc., Tyson Foods, Inc., Mondel?z International, Inc. and Kraft Foods Group Inc.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.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email:press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) Market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 8.3% during the forecast period to reach $22.4 billion by 2020

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Reports And Markets Publish a New Market Research Report On "Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) Market - Segmented by Application and Geography Trends and Forecasts (2017 - 2022)"Global Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) market has a total value of $15.05 billion, as of 2015. It is one of the biggest commodity plastics. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 8.3% during the forecast period to reach $22.4 billion by 2020.Currently, Asia-Pacific dominates the market for EPS with 47% of the global revenue share, followed by North America and Europe. China alone contributes to 40% of the global consumption in this market. Large population and growing activities in construction and packaging industries across Asia-Pacific are contributing to the higher consumption in this region. Asia-Pacific would continue dominating the market during the forecast period (2017 - 2022).EPS has found numerous applications across a wide range of industries due to its lightweight, rigidity, acoustic insulating properties, low thermal conductivity, shock and sound absorbing characteristics and moisture resistant properties. A large piece of demand for EPS comes from the building and construction sector, which finds it useful in a myriad of applications such as floor insulation, insulation foam for closed cavity walls and roofs.EPS is one of the foremost choices in green building because of its application in ICF blocks manufacture. It is also used as a resin in global cup and container manufacture market. Moreover, EPS is recyclable plastic. In 2015, over 127 million pounds of EPS was recycled, including 72.8 million pounds of post-consumer packaging and 54.5 million pounds of post-industrial packaging.Access Full Report With Table Of Contents @Building & insulation and packaging are the major application of EPS, collectively accounting for about 90% of the market share. Downstream demand from the building & construction industry and packaging applications would boost the demand and revenue of EPS market. Growing demand for EPS in food processing, and consumer electronics are expected to drive the EPS market.More than 100 companies around the world are manufacturing EPS today and this number is expected to touch 200 within the next five years. However, environmental concerns and new environmental regulations being formulated are threatening the EPS manufacturers.Company profiles of the major players included in the report are Bayer MS, BASF SE, Dow Chemicals, DuPont, Formosa Plastics Group, SABIC, Total S.A., Nova Chemicals Corporation, Eastchem A.S. and Ineos Styrenics among others.Request For Sample Report @Key Deliverables in the StudyMarket analysis for the Global EPS Market, with region specific assessments and competition analysis on global and regional scalesMarket definition along with the identification of key drivers and restraintsIdentification of factors instrumental in changing the market scenarios, rising prospective opportunities, and identification of key companies that can influence this market on a global and regional scaleExtensively researched competitive landscape section with profiles of major companies along with their market sharesIdentification and analysis of the macro and micro factors that affect the Global EPS market on both global and regional scalesA comprehensive list of key market players along with the analysis of their current strategic interests and key financial informationA wide-ranging knowledge and insights about the major players in this industry and the key strategies adopted by them to sustain and grow in the studied marketInsights on the major countries/regions in which this industry is blooming and to also identify the regions that are still untappedCheck Discount @For more information or any query mail at sales@reportsandmarkets.comAbout Reports And MarketsReports And Markets is part of the Algoro Research Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.Are you mastering your market? Do you know what the market potential is for your product, who the market players are and what the growth forecast is? We offer standard global, regional or country specific market research studies for almost every market you can imagine.Contact PersonSanjay JainManager - Partner Relations & International Marketinginfo@reportsandmarkets.comPh: +1-214-377-1121 (US), +44-020-3286-9338 (UK)
Respiratory Care Devices Market : Development, Key Manufacturers Analysis and Forecast Report 2017-2025

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Global Respiratory Care Devices: OverviewRespiratory care devices are medical devices focusing on the diagnostics, treatment, control, and management of patients suffering from disorder in cardiopulmonary system. These devices are known to be reliable in providing enhanced care to patients suffering from acute and chronic respiratory abnormalities. They are primarily used as therapeutic devices, diagnostic devices, monitoring devices, and consumables and accessories. Their demand is high among end users such as hospitals, ambulatory care, and home care.Global Respiratory Care Devices: Key TrendsThe increasing prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) and other respiratory diseases such as asthma and tuberculosis is the primary factor augmenting the global respiratory care devices. The growing global population of aged people is creating a staggering demand for respiratory care devices owing to the fact that they are more susceptible to respiratory disorders. Moreover, skyrocketing pollution levels and rising incidence of tobacco smoking are working in favor of the market.Request Sample Copy of the Report @However, the lack of reimbursement policies is limiting the widespread adoption of respiratory care devices. The low-cost products offered by local manufacturers are creating pricing pressure on international players. As a result, large manufacturers are selling their products at competitive pricing, which in turn is adversely affecting the overall revenue generation of the marketGlobal Respiratory Care Devices: Market PotentialVarious studies indicate that over 1 billion people across the world suffer from respiratory challenges such as CHF (congestive heart failure), COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), and asthma, with about 80 million cases in the U.S. alone. The high prevalence is creating a pressing need for reliable breathing monitoring, training, and therapeutic devices for these patients in the hospitals and at home. This is prompting players to develop technologically advanced devices that can be cost-effective and improve patient outcomes across the continuum of care at home and hospitals. For instance, in November 2016, ADM Tronics Unlimited Inc. entered into a strategic agreement with QOL Devices Inc., regarding new respiratory training and therapy platform trademarked "Alvio" by QOL. Alvio is based on cloud technology and will be designed for use in non-regulated respiratory training applications and medical respiratory indications. Therefore, the birthing of advanced products in the near future is likely to revolutionize the global respiratory devices market.Request TOC of the Report @Global Respiratory Care Devices: Geographical SegmentationNorth America and Europe will account for a substantial cumulative share in the market throughout the review period. The presence of highly developed healthcare infrastructure and high technical acumen among end users to operate technologically advanced respiratory devices are contributing to the growth of the market in the regions. The widening base of patients suffering from respiratory diseases due to the increasing adoption of smoking and drinking habits is also fuelling the growth of these regions.Moreover, the growing geriatric population and rising funding by governments in the healthcare sectors are supplementing the growth of Europe and North America. On the other hand, Asia Pacific is expected to rise at a tremendous CAGR during the same period. The robust growth of the healthcare sector along with increasing expenditure on healthcare is one of the primary factors propelling the growth of the region. The rising per capita income and burgeoning demand for cutting-edge technologies are translating into the greater uptake of respiratory care devices in the region.Request Discount of the Report @Global Respiratory Care Devices: Competitive LandscapeThe majority of players in the global respiratory care devices market are focusing towards expanding their shares through product launches and technological advancements. The trend is likely to render the market a highly competitive arena in the near future. Some of the prominent companies operating in the market are Philips Healthcare, Medtronic Plc., Fisher and Paykel Healthcare Limited, Dragerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, CareFusion Corporation, Becton, Dickinson and Company, and Hamilton Medical AG.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
MASON CITY | Children and adults will have the opportunity to catch and tag monarchs as they make their migratory journey to Mexico during the Lime Creek Nature Centers upcoming Get Active in Nature, or G.A.I.N., program.

The event, Tagging Monarch Butterflies, begins at 4 p.m. Monday, Aug. 28, at the nature center, 3501 Lime Creek Road, in Mason City.

Tagging allows biologists to monitor monarch movements and population trends. Monarch numbers have been steadily declining, so tagging efforts have become even more important.

The event is part of the nature centers ongoing program of active, outdoor activities for children and their parents or guardians.

There is no charge to attend, but registration is required.

To register, call Todd Vonehwegen at 641-423-5309.
Global LNG Bunkering Industry Analysis Highlighting Forecasted Growth during the Period between 2017 and 2025

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LNG bunkering is the practice of offering liquefied natural gas fuel to a ship for its own consumption. Over the years, the market for LNG bunkering has gained pace due to the development of the marine sector. To study further, a new report has been included in the wide database of Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE). The research analysis is titled LNG Bunkering Market (By Vessel Segment - Tankers, Container Ships, Bulk & General Cargo Vessels, and Ferries & Offshore Support Vessels): Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 2014  2025, which studies the global LNG bunkering market on the basis of geography, with key focus on the market dynamics. The report also encloses a forecast analysis which indicates growth for the market by capacity, at a CAGR of 63.6% during the period 2014-2025.Request for sample report:For shipping companies and vessel operators, the deployment of LNG is an attractive bunkering substitute for waterways determined as emission control areas (ECAs). The report study initially starts with the research scope and research methodology. Later, the research highlights the LNG bunkering industry analysis which targets value chain analysis and market drivers.Some of the prominent drivers mentioned in the report are; compliance with IMO and increasing LNG Bunkering requirements from coastal & inland ferries, and offshore support vessels. Moreover, the readers can also access details about the market restraints, such as lack of LNG fueling infrastructure in major bunkering destinations. This section also included data related to the market opportunities, Porters Five Force Analysis and LNG bunkering infrastructure, which covers the current development status.The next section talks about the market segmentation on the basis of end user and region. Considering the prominent end-users or applications for LNG bunkering, the report focuses on container vessels, bulk & general cargo vessels, tankers vessels, ferries & OSV. Further, on the basis of geography, the LNG bunkering market is segregated into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World (RoW). In North America, rising shale gas exploration activities have caused a plunge in natural gas prices, which is likely to boost sales of LNG bunker fuel in the concerned region. Further, in Asia Pacific, the different countries such as China and South Korea have worked to heavily invest in LNG bunkering terminals.The concluding section includes information about the different manufacturers active in the LNG bunkering market. The company profiles are carefully enclosed in the report along with additional details such as business strategy, recent developments, and financial overview. The top players from the LNG bunkering market include names such as Bomin Linde LNG GmbH & Co. KG, Skangass AS, GDF SUEZ S.A., Gasnor AS and Korea Gas Corporation.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:
Self-checkout Systems Market to Incur Rapid Extension During 2017 - 2025

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Global Self-checkout Systems Market: OverviewContinuing to extend its popularity in global retail and shopping stores, self-checkout systems cancel the need for human assistance or a retail agent by automating the checkout process, which includes making payments and scanning and bagging purchased items. These systems are a massive investment for retailers and thus, they need to be user-friendly and intuitive. While the systems are still far from being perfect, it opens an opportunity for vendors to showcase their innovation and make a competitive progress in the self-checkout systems market.Global Self-checkout Systems Market: Key TrendsWith a probable double-digit CAGR, the international self-checkout systems market is projected to aggravate its growth as it witnesses an expanding deployment of the systems in different retail arrangements such as convenience and department stores, hypermarkets, and supermarkets. Retailers are expected to adopt these systems at a telling rate because of their business-profiting benefits such as reduction in the operational cost of stores, more personalized services in store offerings, and decrease in checkout time. Hardware offerings such as weighing scale, payment related hardware, price reader, and display device are prognosticated to gain impetus in the coming years.Request Sample Copy of the Report @The inflated risk of inventory loss on the part of retailers and unwillingness of customers to use the product could affect the growth of the global self-checkout systems market. However, lesser complexity, lower price, and other key advantages facilitated by the cashless model are anticipated to augment the adoption rate of self-checkout systems. Market players can look to penetrate large as well as small retail formats by allowing retailers to offer greater control, privacy, and convenience to their customers with self-checkout systems.Global Self-checkout Systems Market: Market PotentialThe Las Vegas ecommerce and retail event Shoptalk unveiled the reimagined future design of Targets Houston store as the chairman and CEO said the company is set to spend billions of dollars to give a new experience to its customers. Installed only a few steps away from each other, the reimagined store will feature an order pickup counter and self-checkout lanes for the time-starved customers. By the latest in October 2017, 40 additional Target stores will receive the new design along with the store in Houston. This reimagine design is part of the companys aim to meet its customers shopping needs by creating a smart network to work alongside supply chain and digital channels.Request TOC of the Report @Long Island Expressway (LIE) Welcome Center, a rest stop in New York, has also publicized its intentions to replace cashiers with self-checkout kiosks.Global Self-checkout Systems Market: Regional OutlookDue to the sweeping presence of various retail formats in the region, North America is forecasted to lead the global self-checkout systems market, putting behind other significant geographies of the industry. Followed by Mexico and Canada, the U.S. could be attributed for North Americas larger share in the market. Next to be lined under the list of top regional markets for self-checkout systems are Europe and Asia Pacific with decent growth opportunities for manufacturers.The growing retail industry in India coupled with a rising count of modern retail stores installed, Asia Pacific is predicted to emerge as a promising ground for market players. Europe, too, is envisaged to exhibit a continuous and steady growth in demand as an elevating number of convenience stores adopt self-checkout systems. Other regions could show some progress in the world self-checkout systems market as they feel the need to cater to the dynamic demands of customers and the urge to operate in line with todays technological advancements.Request Discount of the Report @Global Self-checkout Systems Market: Competitive LandscapeSome of the crucial players functioning in the worldwide self-checkout systems market are ITAB Scanflow, Diebold Nixdorf, Inc., Fujitsu Limited, Toshiba TEC Corporation, and NCR Corporation. Industry players could be focusing on supermarkets, hypermarkets, and other large retail formats to increase their presence as these stores accommodate a high flow of customers and more number of checkout counters. Likewise, they are prophesied to find opportunities in other leading segments of 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
Surgical Lasers Market : Rugged Expansion Foreseen by 2025

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Global Surgical Lasers Market: OverviewSurgical laser products are used in laser surgeries to destroy or cut abnormal or diseased tissues, destroy or shrink lesions and tumors, seal lymph vessels, remove moles and tattoos, and close off blood vessels and nerve endings among various other uses. They are available in different types such as argon, diode, neodymium: yttrium-aluminum-garnet, and carbon dioxide. They are used in several procedures, including laparoscopic surgeries, percutaneous surgeries, and open surgeries and in various fields such as dermatology, urology, gynecology, cardiology, oncology, ophthalmology, and dentistry.Global Surgical Lasers Market: Key TrendsThe increasing prevalence of targeted diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases and expanding base of patients suffering from ophthalmic disorder are the leading factors providing a fillip to the global surgical lasers market. The growing preference for minimally invasive surgeries is also creating an upthrust in the global demand for surgical laser products. Moreover, the rising investments in the field from both public and private sectors are augmenting the market.Request Sample Copy of the Report @On the other hand, the stringent regulatory scenario related to the approval of surgical lasers is inhibiting the growth of the market. Furthermore, the high costs of laser surgeries coupled with the shortage of suitable medical reimbursement policies are keeping the global surgical lasers market from realizing its utmost potential.Global Surgical Lasers Market: Market PotentialEmerging regions are expected to present immense growth opportunities. As a result of which, players in the global surgical lasers market are expected to shift their focus towards developing countries. The rising expenditure on healthcare and improving medical practices are boosting the uptake of surgical lasers in these countries. Moreover, the booming medical tourism sector in these regions attracts people from all over the world, which makes them promising markets.Request TOC of the Report @Rapid advancements in surgical lasers are opening new avenues for market players. The introduction of laser surgeries in the field of veterinary care is unfolding tremendous growth opportunities for the global surgical lasers market. Surgical lasers are now being used to address pain, injury, and chronic health conditions in companion pets.Global Surgical Lasers Market: Geographical SegmentationThe key segments analyzed in the research report are Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa. North America will be a prominent market throughout the forecast period, with the U.S. being at the forefront of growth. The increasing number of clinical trials and availability of favorable reimbursement policies for laser-assisted surgeries are triggering the adoption of novel technologies among healthcare professionals, which in turn is propelling the growth of the region. A large number of manufacturers headquartered in the region are also facilitating the widespread adoption of surgical laser products.Request Discount of the Report @Asia Pacific will register a healthy growth rate during the same period, owing to widening base of patient population for target diseases. The rising initiatives by governments to improve healthcare facilities are providing a significant push to the growth of the region. Moreover, the increasing awareness among healthcare professionals regarding the procedural benefits of surgical laser equipment and growing geriatric population are driving the growth of the region.Global Surgical Lasers Market: Competitive LandscapeThe majority of companies are focusing towards product launches to enhance their visibility in the high competitive arena of the global surgical lasers market. Mergers and acquisitions are also among the primary growth strategies adopted by key players to expand their product portfolio in the market. Some of the prominent companies operating in the market are Lumenis, Alma Lasers, Abbott Laboratories Inc., Spectranetics Corporation, Fotona d.o.o., Biolitec AG, Boston Scientific Corporation, and Cynosure Inc.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
Test Automation Market to Witness Comprehensive Growth by 2025

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Global Test Automation Market: OverviewThe emergence of test automation has been the biggest boon to the IT sector. This software development tool has thoroughly helped the sector in optimizing test processes, reducing time, and bringing in efficiency. Functional testing, web services testing, compatibility testing, load testing, security testing, mobile testing, and QA process design among others. The growing expenditure on development of the IT sector for improving their software services, QA, and other applications are expected to nurture the growth of the global test automation market.Global Test Automation Market: Drivers and TrendsThe research report states that the rapid development of mobile applications is expected propel the growth of the global market in the recent years. Uptake of mobile applications in communications, multimedia travel, and utilities is expected to fuel the rise of this market in the near future. Analysts expect that the usage of cloud applications is also expected to improve the revenue earnings for the global test automation market. The growing awareness about deploying test automation amongst the IT sector has been a definite positive influence on the overall market.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Despite the steady market drivers, the global test automation market is likely to face a few challenges such as high operating costs and high initial investments. However, emergence of newer and better technologies such as cloud computing services, big data analytics, and data virtualizations are expected to offer several lucrative opportunities to the global market.Global Test Automation Market: Market PotentialMobile Labs Introduced its deviceConnect Hosted Cloud, a solution for QA professionals and developers to efficiently manage their mobile testing lab. This will allow organizations to pick a well-suited mobile device cloud that caters to their need. The deviceConnect Hosted Cloud and deviceConnect On-premises Cloud and are private cloud-based mobile application testing platforms. The primary aim of these products is to ensure simple management of multiple devices for the purpose of enterprise application testing. The only difference between the two is who is managing these devices and where are they being hosted.Request TOC of the Report @Global Test Automation Market: Regional OutlookIn terms of geography, the global test automation market is fragmented into Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. Of these, North America is projected to lead the global market in the coming years due to a growing base of QA units in various organizations in a wide range of industrial verticals. Analysts expect that functional testing segment will dominate the region in the near future. Additionally, the rising investments in upgrading the current automation testing tools is also projected to drive the regional markets growth.North America will also aid the progress of security testing segment during the forecast period. The high adoption of mobile applications and Software as a Service (SaaS) on cloud will be the primary growth drivers for test automation in North America. Analysts expect that Asia Pacific will also offer lucrative growth opportunities to the global test automation market in the near future as the IT sector witness tremendous growth. The growing investments of foreign firms in the IT sector of various developing countries of Asia Pacific are expected to propel the regional markets growth.Request Discount of the Report @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
Clutch Market for Automotive forecast to witness phenomenal growth opportunities by 2021

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The clutch is a mechanically operated device. It is engaged in the connection and disconnection of power transmission between two shafts. The clutch is used in the automobile mainly for power transmission between driving shaft to driven shaft. Clutch disconnects the synchronization between a spinning engine and wheels in order to put them into the non-spinning transmission.Request Free Sample Report @Growing automobile sector is expected to boost the global clutch market growth for automotive in near future. Consumer demand for proficient transmission modes is anticipated to witness growth in the future. Escalating demand for the automotive drive train system is further expected to contribute to the global market growth. Companies focusing to offer high-quality products may also impact the market in a positive way. Furthermore, changing lifestyle and increasing spending power also enhance the growth of the clutch market for automotive. Conversely, automatic transmission vehicles may restrain the global automotive clutch market growth in near future.The clutch market for automotive is categorized based on clutch type as the semi-centrifugal clutch, electromagnetic clutch, friction clutch, vacuum clutch, dog clutch, hydraulic clutch, and centrifugal clutch. However, friction clutch segment is sub-segmented as cone clutch, plate clutch, and multi-plate clutch. The global market is further segmented on the basis of clutch size into 09-inch disc, 910 inches disc, 1011 inches disc, and 11 and above the disc. Furthermore, the clutch market for automotive is bifurcated on the basis of transmission type as continuously variable transmission, manual transmission, automatic transmission, and automated manual transmission.Request Report TOC (Table of Contents) @Geographically, the global clutch automotive market is segmented as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. Asia Pacific accounts for the highest market share in the global market. Growing niche market in India, China, and Japan for automobiles and automotive parts is expected to fuel the global clutch automotive market growth in the near future. Consumer inclination for AMT systems automobiles is anticipated to boost the growth of the global clutch market for automotive. South Korea is also showing a considerable growth in the global market. However, growing urbanization and increasing financial stability are projected to enhance the automotive clutch market growth.Market Competitive PlayersThe major industries operating in the global clutch market for automotive are Magneti Marelli, F.C.C. Co. Ltd., Aisin Seiki Co. Ltd., NSK Ltd., ZF Friedrichshafen, Borgwarner Inc., Exedy Corporation, Fiat, Eaton Corporation PLC, Torotrak, Schaeffler, Clutch Auto Limited, and Valeo. Many major players in the global market are opting for new strategies, mergers, and acquisitions in order to expand their market share. For instance, Valeo SA, Frances second-biggest auto-parts maker, acquired the German clutch maker FTE Automotive GmbH from Bain Capital, the Boston-based buyout firm. This agreement is settled for $914 Million.Browse detail report @Clutch Market for Automotive by Geographical Analysis: North America( U.S.), Europe( UK, France, Germany), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India), Latin America( Brazil), Middle East and AfricaOur value reports provide full, in-depth analysis of the parent market including most significant changes in market dynamics; the report also presents the detailed overview on segmentation of this market. We managed to present as many important information in essential form  thanks to our report You will learn more about former, on-going, and projected market analysis in terms of volume and value, assessment of niche industry developments and Market share analysis. We have not forgotten to present key strategies for major players, emerging segments and regional markets and last but not least, testimonials to companies in order to fortify their foothold in the marketAbout 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:
Top Robotics Market to Significant Growth Foreseen by 2025

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Global Top Robotics Market: OverviewThe surging demand for industrial robots with Internet of Things capabilities is transforming production lines, especially in the automotive and electronic industry. Next generation robots possess human-like attributes such as intelligence, recognition of objects, flexibility, memory, and ability to learn.Industries implementing robotic technologies receive huge financial benefits due to reduced overheads, flexibility, increased productivity, and waste reduction.Global Top Robotics Market: Key TrendsThe top factor driving the top robotics market for industrial robots is the increasing adoption of automated systems and the rising demand for industrial robots from medium and small-sized enterprises in developing countries. This is because deployment of robotic solutions ensures quality production and caters to meeting market demand in a timely manner. However, factors such as high upfront costs and high R&D expenses and unreliable performance in untested environment and absence of a high level of interface are restraining the markets growth.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Amongst industrial robots, articulated robots is expected to be leading product segment owing to their structural and operational capabilities. Articulated robots are extensively used in electrical and electronics, and automotive industries.On the other hand, the service robotics segment of this market is driven by the increasing demand for mobile robotic solution for warehouse automation and logistics, increasing demand from healthcare industry, and the increasing deployment of service robots for educational pursuits.Logistics currently holds the dominant position among the application segments of service robotics and is expected to retain its position in the near future. This is mainly due to the deployment of automated guided vehicles in production units and warehousing facilities for inventory management and freight handling.Request TOC of the Report @Global Top Robotics Market: Market PotentialFrom a leap from robotic vacuum cleaners, butlers, or medical assistants, industrial robots account for the greatest slice of the global robotics market, as per a recent industry news. Unlike the classical industrial robot that were used to carry out repetitive tasks, the next-generation robots are supported by software and peripheral vision systems and can perform varying tasks reliably that matches human capabilities.Global Top Robotics Market: Regional OutlookAsia Pacific is the leading regional market for industrial robotics market is led significant revenue contributions from China, Japan, and South Korea. The high concentration of robotic machines in South Korea and Japan to support the expanding electronics industry in these countries is benefitting the industrial robotics market in Asia Pacific. As per statistics of the International Federation of Robotics, Japan is the leading market for industrial robotics trailed by China.Request Discount of the Report @Moreover, the increasing deployment of automated systems in the automotive industry in Australia is anticipated to positively influence the regional markets growth. Strong focus on improving production techniques combined with efforts for the modernization of factories for improved productivity is one of the major factors driving robotic installations in the U.S. and Brazil.Global Top Robotics Market: Competitive LandscapeThe key players in the global top robotics market for both industrial and service robots are ABB Ltd., Mitsubishi Electric Corp. FANUC Corp., Yaskawa Electric Corp., iRobot Corporation, Intuitive Surgical Inc., Honda Motor Co. Ltd., Aethon Inc., Lely Holding S.a.r.l., KUKA AG, Nachi-Fujikoshi Corp., Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., Northrop Grumman Corporation, DJI, Parrot SA, Adept Technology Inc., DeLaval International AB, and The LEGO Group.Due to being capital-intensive, the industry restricts the entry of new market players in the market. New players are anticipated to face challenges pertaining to insufficient venture capital for innovation and product differentiation, thus limiting their presence in the robotics industry.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
VCSEL Market Research Report - Size, Growth and Forecast 2017 To 2025

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Global VCSEL Market: OverviewVertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) refers to a specialized laser diode that is envisaged to transform fiber optic communications in terms of improved efficiency and increased data speed.VCSELs offer several advantages over older edge-emitting diodes. This includes their low manufacturing cost, easier testing, and higher efficiency. In addition, VCSELs require low electrical current to generate a desired coherent energy output. VCSELs emit a narrow nearly circular beam than what traditional edge-emitting diodes deliver, which makes it easier to transfer energy from a device to an optical fiber.Global VCSEL Market: Key TrendsVCSELs are used across a wide range of applications due to their advantages of compact size, low power requirements, high reliability, and low manufacturing costs. This, along with the rising use of electrical systems in automobiles is fuelling the growth of the global VCSEL market.Request Sample Copy of the Report @VCSELs are extensively used in medical applications and proximity sensing due to their high-power efficiency and additional capabilities of low diversion, low heat, high beam light, and greater accuracy.VCSEL are used across several end users such as consumer electronics, automotive, data center, industrial, and healthcare. Low manufacturing cost and high reliability of VCSEL have led to their increased use in consumer electronics. However, the data center segment stood as the leading segment in the recent past due to surging high data transfer rates leading to the greater use of VCSELs.Multimode VCSELs are expected to be the leading product segment in the near future due to several offerings. Multimode VCSELs offer better modulation and high speed, which makes them preferable over single-mode VCSELs. Multimode VCSELs are used in data communication and 3D imaging applications. On the other hand, single-mode VCSELs are mainly used in sensing applications such as bar code, printing, and others.Request TOC of the Report @The limitation pertaining to data transmission range is one of the major drawbacks of VCSELs. While the attenuation is elevated in multimode fiber the signal degrades as the distance increases. As a result, transmission of data becomes difficult over a certain distance due to weak signal strength. These factors are challenging the growth of the VCSEL market.However, development of advanced lasers is underway to increase transmission range using VCSELs, which would augment their implementation for applications.Global VCSEL Market: Market PotentialMergers and acquisitions and strategic partnerships are key growth strategies that top companies in the market are focused on. In a recent industry development, Austrian semiconductor manufacturer ams has completed discussions to acquire U.S. based Princeton Optronics Inc. The latter designs and develops high-power VCSELs in both single and multimode and also VCSEL arrays for consumer electronics, automotive, and industrial applications.Request Discount of the Report @Global VCSEL Market: Regional OutlookNorth America has been the leading market for VSCEL over the past few years. The presence of some of the leading companies has been the major factor for the dynamic growth of the region.Asia Pacific is expected to display significant growth in the VCSEL market in the near future. The increasing per capita income and increasing affordability for premium automobiles are indirectly driving the growth of the VCSEL market. Countries such as India, China, and Singapore are contributing to the VCSEL market owing to the modernization of infrastructure and support from respective governments. These factors are collectively aiding the growth of the APAC VCSEL market.Global VSCEL Market: Competitive LandscapeSome top players in the global VSCEL market are Broadcom Limited, Lumentum Holdings Inc., II-VI Incorporated, Vertilas GmbH, Vixar Inc., Finisar Corporation, Royal Philips Electronics N.V., IQE PLC, Princeton Optronics Inc., and Santec Corporation.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
Atomic Spectroscopy Market Challenges and Opportunities Report

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Study of electromagnetic radiations that is emitted or absorbed by atoms is known as atomic spectroscopy.When electrons are excited, they move from higher valence bond to lower valence bond and emit radiations (emission). However, a relaxed electron moves from lower valence bond to higher valence bond resulting in absorption of energy.Atomic spectroscopy market can be segmented as below based on technologies:X-ray Fluorescence SpectroscopyX-ray Diffraction SpectroscopyInductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS)Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) SpectroscopyAtomic Absorption SpectroscopyElemental AnalyzersRequest Report Sample@Among all aforementioned technologies, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy market accounts for the largest share to the atomic spectroscopy market. This is due to the fact that they are efficient in analyzing solid samples precisely. Also, procedures performed via X-ray fluorescence are user-friendly in nature along with being cost efficient.Inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) market is expected to show the highest growth rate during the forecast period 2015 to 2025. This growth is attributed to revision in various regulations (chapter 231) of the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention. The revised regulation mandates the utilization of inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy by pharmaceutical companies, which will propel the overall growth of inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy market.Atomic spectroscopy is utilized in various institutes (applications):Food and Beverage TestingPharmaceuticalIndustrial ChemistryEnvironmental TestingBiotechnologyAmong all these, application of atomic spectroscopy in pharmaceutical market accounts for the largest share of total market. This large market size is due to increased utilization of atomic spectroscopy in the various pharmaceutical activities such as drugs manufacturing.Their efficiency helps develop and manufacture drugs precisely, that increases the uptake of atomic spectroscopy while manufacturing drugs by pharmaceutical companies. Hence, atomic spectroscopy market is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period 2015 to 2025.Visit For TOC@Stringent safety regulations regarding the drug safety, and food and beverage testing by regulatory authorities across the globe will drive the growth of atomic spectroscopy market at a high CAGR during the forecast period. Safety regulations will propel the demand for the utilization of atomic spectroscopy in industrial chemistry sector along with environmental testing since; it will help monitor the volume of metal in any sample. Likewise, increasing application of atomic spectroscopy in medical research and drug safety will also boost the growth of atomic spectroscopy market.However, lack of trained professionals for handling atomic spectroscopy devices and technology may restrain the growth of atomic spectroscopy market.Domicile of large pharmaceutical and industrial chemistry companies in North America have supported the region to contribute the largest share of total atomic spectroscopy market. Also, stringent government regulations regarding safety of drugs, food and beverages has also supported the large market size in the region. Asia-Pacific is expected to foresee the highest CAGR during the forecast period 2015 to 2025. This is due to the fact that major players such as Agilent Technologies are intending to expand their business in the emerging nations like India and China, which will drive the growth of atomic spectroscopy market. The major players operating in the atomic spectroscopy market include Agilent Technologies, Aurora Biomed, Bruker Corporation, Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation, Shimadzu Corporation, GBC Scientific Equipment Pty Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific, PerkinElmer, Inc., Analytik Jena AG and Rigaku Corporation among other significant players.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:
Molecular Diagnostics Market Projected to Witness Vigorous Expansion by 2025

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Global Molecular Diagnostics Market: OverviewMolecular diagnostics refers to a collection of techniques used to analyze biological markers in the individuals genetic code. The technique is used in diagnosing and monitoring diseases, detecting risks, and deciding suitable therapies for individual patients. It finds applications in blood screening, oncology, microbiology, and genetic tests. The technologies commonly employed in this technique are polymerase chain reaction (PCR), hybridization, isothermal nucleic acid amplification technology (INAAT), and DNA sequencing and next-generation sequencing. Some of the products and services used in the technique are instruments, reagents and kits, and software and services.Global Molecular Diagnostics Market: Key TrendsThe transformative and dynamic nature of molecular diagnostics has facilitated it in evolving as an attractive segment in the global in vitro diagnostics (IVD) industry. It has paved way for advancements in medical research and treatment of numerous diseases. The global demand for molecular diagnostics methodologies is largely supplemented by high sensitivity, accuracy, easy workflow, cost-effective testing, and fast turnaround time offered by these testing modalities.Request Sample Copy of the Report @In addition, these merits have created a gateway for personalized medicines, thus providing momentum to the global market. Moreover, the increasing prevalence of various types of cancer and infectious diseases is augmenting the market. Furthermore, reforms in the U.S. reimbursement scenario are working in favor of the overall market. However, delays in approvals of new molecular diagnostic tests due to the complex regulatory framework are limiting the market from realizing its full potential.Global Molecular Diagnostics Market: Market PotentialAcquisitions and partnerships have emerged as a common trend in the global molecular diagnostics market over the past few years and are anticipated to continue in the coming years as well. For instance, in September 2016, Danaher acquired molecular diagnostics firm Cepheid for approximately US$4 bn. Another case in point is Qiagen N.V., which in July 2015 collaborated with multiplex clinical molecular diagnostics and multiplex molecular technologies developer Seegene Inc. Such deals are likely to make way for the development of novel diagnostics, which will not only help players in broadening their product offerings but also in making the future of the overall market bright.Request TOC of the Report @Global Molecular Diagnostics Market: Geographical SegmentationIn terms of geography, the report presents an analysis of the market in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America. North America will represent a large share in the market throughout the forecast period. The growth of the region can be attributed to the presence of well-established and advanced laboratory accreditation infrastructure, government initiatives promoting PoC facilities and awareness regarding the benefits of early diagnosis, and the increasing expenditure on healthcare.Asia Pacific is expected to register a significant CAGR during the same period, with emerging countries such as India and China being the sights of high growth. The improving healthcare infrastructure, high unmet needs, and growing geriatric populations are attracting global players to invest in the region. The increasing external funding for clinical studies is likely to drive the growth of the region.Request Discount of the Report @Global Molecular Diagnostics Market: Competitive LandscapeA raft of players in the global molecular diagnostics market is entering into strategic partnerships with biotech firms to provide novel diagnostics solutions in order to enhance their visibility. Companies are investing hefty funds in research and development activities to introduce cost-effective and innovative products that will help them in expanding their product portfolio. Several participants are focusing towards business expansion through mergers and acquisitions, which is likely to intensify the competition in the market in the near future.Some of the prominent companies operating in the market are Abbott Molecular, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Johnson & Johnson Services Inc., Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Alere Inc., Dako, Siemens Healthcare, Novartis AG, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Bayer AG, Danaher Corporation, Hologic, Inc. (Gen Probe), and Qiagen.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
E-Health Services Market is expected to Expand USD 270 Billion by 2023

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Market Research Future adds new report of Global E-Health Services Market Research Report- Forecast To 2027 it contains Company information, geographical data and Table of ContentMarket Segments:Global E-Health Services Market has been segmented On the basis of Types; which comprises of Electronic Health Records (EHR), Electronic Medical Records (EMR), Telehealth and telemedicine, Health IT systems, Consumer health IT data, Virtual healthcare Mobile Health (mHealth), big data systems used in digital health On the basis of Applications; which includes patient records, e-prescribing, clinical administration systems, e-booking and digital imaging & archiving systems On the basis of End Users; which comprises of Hospitals &clinics, Institutes, Research facilitiesMarket Highlight:E-health is the management of healthcare organization with the help of information and communication technology (ICT). ICT has been widely used in the form of medical health records and telemedicine. With the help of telemedicine, it is possible Data related to patients, staff and finance of the hospital is stored electronically. This has resulted into transformation in the means of storing healthcare data. Initially, data was recorded manually by the healthcare staff. But now single unique identification number is needed to be entered and all the data of the patient is available within seconds. E-health has many advantages over conventional methods of clinical data management such as avoidance of manual records and timely access to patient data. The factors driving for the growth of this market are extensive use of software and ICT healthcare, reduce cost, improve quality, availability of infrastructure for implementation of e-health and safe and adequate storage of data. Cost of installation of e-health service may act as a restraint for this market. Global market of e-health services is expected to reach USD 270 billion in 2023 from USD 120 billion in 2016 with a CAGR of approximately 12.9% during the forecast period 2017-2023.Request a Sample Report @Key Players:Some of the key players in this market are: IBM (US) McKinsey & Co. (US) Motion Computing Inc. (US) Epocrates Inc. (US) Telecare Corp. (US) Proteus Digital Health (US) Apple (US) GE Healthcare (US) Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc. (US) Boston Scientific Corp (US), Cerner (US)Regional Analysis of E-Health Services Market:Globally, e-health services market consists of four regions Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Middle East and Africa. North America is the largest market. Concentration of major market players and extensive use of software for data management in hospitals North America is driving the market in this region. Europe is the second largest market. Asia Pacific shows fastest growth in this market. Whereas the market in Middle East and Africa shows steady growth.Browse Report Details @Table of Contents1. Report Prologue2. Introduction3. Research Methodology4. Market Dynamics5. Market Factor Analysis6. Global e-health services market by type7. Global e-health services market by service8. Global e-health services market by end users9. Global e-health services market by region10. Competitive Landscape11. Company Profile12. Conclusion13. AppendixEnquire about this Report @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.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
MASON CITY | At this point, the Cerro Gordo County Attorney's Office will not be assisting Mason City Schools in recouping more than $100k that was improperly disbursed under former leadership.

Several people brought up litigation at Monday's board meeting, which involved discussion of State Auditor Mary Mosiman's re-audit report for district finances July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015.

In a report released earlier Monday, Mosiman found $109,073 of improper disbursements by Mason City Schools, which involved vacation payouts for former employees, salary increases and a superintendent resignation package.

With the re-audit, there is potential for both criminal charges and civil lawsuits, but neither is certain.

Cerro Gordo County Attorney Carlyle Dalen addressed several potential misconceptions about the process Thursday.

I, along with the general public, have just recently received a copy of the re-audit upon release by the state auditor, Dalen said. The re-audit was the result of a financial investigation and not a criminal investigation.

Civil complaints, including an attempt to recuperate funds, would be pursued by the school district's attorney, Dalen said.

For clarification, the county attorneys office does not represent the school and has no involvement in the contractual relations, policy or recoupment for civil damages that may be presented through civil litigation, Dalen said. Mason City Schools has independent counsel for those concerns.

In Mondays meeting, Board President Janna Arndt suggested the district might be eligible to get back some or all of those funds.

With any potential criminal charges, the re-audit results come across the county attorneys desk and are then passed on to a law enforcement agency to see if theres a possibility for criminal charges to be filed.

If the agency finds criminal wrongdoing, the case would be passed back to the county attorney to proceed, if necessary.

Upon reviewing the re-audit, I contacted the appropriate law enforcement agency to begin the process of determining whether a criminal investigation was warranted, Dalen said. My office would only become involved if the agency determines a criminal investigation was warranted and they make a referral to my office for criminal prosecution.

Criminal charges are separate from the civil and financial matters, Dalen said, and the burden of proof is different between the two as well.

Board member Scott Warren characterized the disbursements as "improper, not illegal" during Monday's meeting.

The district says it's moving forward with internal policy changes and is preparing for the state auditor's special investigation.

The re-audit found additional concerns for years prior to 2015-17, officials said. A separate special investigation report will be issued, which will be released publicly.

Arndt said Monday investigation would include years 2012-13 in a separate audit, during which Anita Micich was superintendent.

The state auditors will be back in Mason City in September.
Function as a Service Market to Cross approx. USD 12 Billion by 2023, at 30% of CAGR

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Market Research Future published a research report on Function as a Service Market Research Report- Global Forecast 2023  Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2023.Function as a Service Market, By User Type (Operator Centric, Developer Centric), By Service Type (Automation, Integration, Microservice Monitoring, API), By Application (Web, Mobile, Research, Academic), Deployment and Vertical - Forecast 2023Market Synopsis of Function as a Service Market:Market Scenario:Function as a service provides a platform allowing customers to develop, run, and manage application functionalities without the complexity of building and maintaining the infrastructure typically associated with developing and launching an app. It is a category of cloud computing services that offers server less architecture.Major forces driving the growth of function as a service market are maturity of hosted services and a gradual shift to server less architecture. Other factors responsible for driving the growth of function as a service market are agility and scalability.The function as a service market has been segmented on the basis of user type, service type, application, deployment and vertical. The application segment is further bifurcated into web based and mobile application and research and academic application. Out of which, the web based and mobile applications segment is expected to hold the largest market share while the research and academic applications segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. This is owing to the easy deployment solutions and hence offers performance optimization.The global function as a service market is expected to grow at approx. USD 12 Billion by 2023, at 30% of CAGR between 2017 and 2023.Get a Copy of Sample Report @Study Objectives of Function as a Service Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast of the various segments and sub-segments of the function as a service market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW). To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future perspective. To provide country level analysis of the market for segmentation on the basis of user type, service type, application, deployment and vertical. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for function as a service To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the function as a serviceKey Players: IBM (U.S.), Google Inc. (U.S.), Microsoft Corporation (U.S.), Amazon Web Services (U.S.), SAP SE (Germany), Dynatrace LLC (U.S.), Infosys Ltd. (India), Rogue Wave Software Inc. (U.S.), TIBCO Software Inc. (U.S.), Fiorano Software & Affiliates (U.S.),Segments:Function as a service market can be segmented on the basis of following:By User Type Operator Centric Developer CentricBy Service Type Automation & Integration Microservice Monitoring & Management Services API Management Services Support & Maintenance Services Training & Consulting OthersBy Application Web Based & Mobile Application Research & Academic Application OthersBy Deployment Public Cloud Private Cloud Hybrid CloudBy Vertical BFSI Manufacturing Healthcare Retail Media IT & Telecommunication Government OthersBrowse Full Report Details @Regional Analysis:The regional analysis of function as a service market is being studied for regions such as Asia Pacific, North America, Europe and Rest of the World. It has been observed that North America is estimated to account for the largest share of the market, whereas Asia-Pacific is projected to grow at the fastest rate during the forecast period. The major growth in function as a service market in North America is attributed to the technical advancements and increasing investments in cloud based solutions in that region.Intended Audience Technology investors Research/Consultancy firms Software providers Cloud Service providers Professional Service providers Solution providers Integration service providers Application development platform providers Managed Service Providers (MSPs) System integratorsContinueWe are thankful for the support and assistance from Function as a Service Market Research Report- Global Forecast 2023 chain related technical experts and marketing experts during Research Team survey and interviews.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.Media Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Hyper loop Technology Market to hit Approximately USD 2 billion by the end of 2023

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Market Research Future published a research report on Global Hyper loop Technology Market Research Report- Forecast 2023  Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2023.Global Hyper loop Technology Market, By Type (Passenger, Freight) By Component (Capsule, Tube), By Application (Railways, Aircraft) - Forecast 2023In 2013, Elon Musk was the first one to invent an ultra- high-speed ground transportation system. Hyper loop can be explained as a system which builds a tube over or under the ground which contains a special environment. Hyper loop has various features such as electromagnetic motors, tube tracks have vacuum, air bearings are like ski paddles and the tube tracks are designed in such a manner that they are immune to any natural disaster.The factors contributing to the growth of the hyper loop technology market are the rising demand for fastest mode of transportation, increasing demand for cheapest transportation, better infrastructure facilities and technology which is not vulnerable to natural calamities. Furthermore, the increasing industrialization is boosting the growth of the market. However, factors such as lack of awareness, various security issues are hindering the growth of the hyper loop technology market.Hyper loop technology offers various advantages such as safety measure, faster mode of transportation, more convenient, lower cost and resistant to earthquakes among others. Various manufacturers are investing in R&D to come up with new technological solutions. For instance, in June 2017, Hyperloop Transportation technologies an American research company signs an agreement with the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT) and Hanyang University to develop a full scale hyper loop system known as the HyperTube Express within Korea.The global hyper loop technology market is expected to reach approximately USD 2 billion by the end of 2023 over the forecast period 2017-2023.Get a Sample Copy @Study Objectives of Hyper loop Technology Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast of the various segments and sub-segments of the global hyper loop technology market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To analyze the global hyper loop technology market based porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW). To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective. To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by type, component, application and region. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market. To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the global Web hyper loop technologyKey Players AECOM (U.S.), Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (US), Hyperloop One (US), Dinclix GroundWorks (India), TransPod Inc. (Canada) Space Exploration Technologies Corp (U.S.) among others.Segments:-For the purpose of this study, Market Research Future has segmented the market of hyper loop technology into component, type, application and region.Type- Passenger FreightComponent-CapsuleTubePropulsionOthersApplication- Railways Aircraft OtherRegion North-America Europe Asia-Pacific RoWBrowse Full Report Details @Regional Analysis:Regionally, North-America is projected to grow by 2023. The first operational hyperloop is expected built between Los Angeles and California. Hyperloop One Global Challenge shortlisted teams to present hyperloop route plans to be developed after various check in this region. Also, government approval to develop hyperloop technology development companies in this region. Furthermore, capital investments plays an important role for the development of hyper loop technology.Intended Audience Manufacturers Distributors Research firms Consultancy firms Software Developers Vendors Semiconductor Manufacturers End-user sectors Technology InvestorsContinueWe are thankful for the support and assistance from Global Hyper loop Technology Market Research Report- Forecast 2023 chain related technical experts and marketing experts during Research Team survey and interviews.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.Media Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Regenerative Medicine Market to Witness an Outstanding Growth by 2017  2025

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Global Regenerative Medicine Market: OverviewThe global market for regenerative medicine market is expected to grow at a significant pace throughout the forecast period. The rising preference of patients for personalized medicines and the advancements in technology are estimated to accelerate the growth of the global regenerative medicine market in the next few years. As a result, this market is likely to witness a healthy growth and attract a large number of players in the next few years. The development of novel regenerative medicine is estimated to benefit the key players and supplement the markets growth in the near future.Global Regenerative Medicine Market: Key TrendsThe rising prevalence of chronic diseases and the rising focus on cell therapy products are the key factors that are estimated to fuel the growth of the global regenerative medicine market in the next few years. In addition, the increasing funding by government bodies and development of new and innovative products are anticipated to supplement the growth of the overall market in the next few years.On the flip side, the ethical challenges in the stem cell research are likely to restrict the growth of the global regenerative medicine market throughout the forecast period. In addition, the stringent regulatory rules and regulations are predicted to impact the approvals of new products, thus hampering the growth of the overall market in the near future.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Regenerative Medicine Market: Market PotentialThe growing demand for organ transplantation across the globe is anticipated to boost the demand for regenerative medicines in the next few years. In addition, the rapid growth in the geriatric population and the significant rise in the global healthcare expenditure is predicted to encourage the growth of the market. The presence of a strong pipeline is likely to contribute towards the markets growth in the near future.Global Regenerative Medicine Market: Regional OutlookIn the past few years, North America led the global regenerative medicine market and is likely to remain in the topmost position throughout the forecast period. This region is expected to account for a massive share of the global market, owing to the rising prevalence of cancer, cardiac diseases, and autoimmunity. In addition, the rising demand for regenerative medicines from the U.S. and the rising government funding are some of the other key aspects that are likely to fuel the growth of the North America market in the near future.Request TOC of the Report @Furthermore, Asia Pacific is expected to register a substantial growth rate in the next few years. The high growth of this region can be attributed to the availability of funding for research and the development of research centers. In addition, the increasing contribution from India, China, and Japan is likely to supplement the growth of the market in the near future.Global Regenerative Medicine Market: Competitive AnalysisThe global market for regenerative medicines is extremely fragmented and competitive in nature, thanks to the presence of a large number of players operating in it. In order to gain a competitive edge in the global market, the key players in the market are focusing on technological developments and research and development activities. In addition, the rising number of mergers and acquisitions and collaborations is likely to benefit the prominent players in the market and encourage the overall growth in the next few years.Request Discount of the Report @Some of the key players operating in the regenerative medicine market across the globe are Vericel Corporation, Japan Tissue Engineering Co., Ltd., Stryker Corporation, Acelity L.P. Inc. (KCI Licensing), Organogenesis Inc., Medtronic PLC, Cook Biotech Incorporated, Osiris Therapeutics, Inc., Integra Lifesciences Corporation, and Nuvasive, Inc. A large number of players are anticipated to enter the global market throughout the forecast period.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
How Real-Time Parking System Market will Grow in Future? FMI Research Offers Insights

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Proliferating number of vehicle combined with the escalating traffic has led to a serious issue of parking in urban cities. In the absence of any systematic method or a system, sufficient time and fuel is wasted over parking. As much as more than twenty five percent of the traffic is contributed by vehicles cruising for parking. Problems are further exacerbated if there are limited parking spaces and or if they are available for any particular period of time. Therefore there arises a strong need for real time information on the availability of parking in a particular region and location. The parking industry has witnessed major technological metamorphosis, and with the introduction of new technology and systems efficient and convenient parking operation can be achieved. A real time parking system collects the data either through cameras or sensors, analyses the input and presents a location to the user either through an inbuilt device in car or through a mobile application. The utilization of real time parking system by parking operator and customer is enabling a smoother transition and efficient management of traffic and parking in a location.Global real-time parking system market: DynamicsThe real time parking system market demand is propelled with increasing usage of such systems in urban cities. The demand is further boosted with enhanced features offered by modern real time parking system such as parking spot price, spot guidance and airport and transit connections along with other services. With increasing adoption of efficient real time parking system the demand for these system is expected arise from airport, hospital, mall parking, commercial parking garages, universities, on street municipal and other event avenues. The strong integration of real time parking system and Internet of Things and cloud data is opening new avenues for the users and manufacturers. The integration is enabling users to access real time parking condition and for paid parking structures, its helping user opt for simple payment method through payment wallet. Although owing to high capital cost of equipment for real time parking systems, the adoption is relatively low but with economic pricing of these systems the application for commercial purpose is expected to increase.Request For Report Sample@Global real-time parking system market: SegmentationReal-time parking system market can be segmented on the basis of location, type and application.On the basis of type, real time parking system market can be segmented as:SoftwareHardwareServicesThe Real time parking system market can be segmented on the basis of LocationOnstreetOffstreetOthersOn the basis of application, the real time parking system market can be segmented as:CommercialPersonalTransport and AviationGovernmentOthersGlobal real-time parking system market: Region-wise OutlookOn the basis of region, the real-time parking system market can be segmented into North America, Western Europe, Asia Pacific Excl. Japan, Latin America, Middle East & Africa, Eastern Europe, and Japan. The North America and Western Europe are currently one of the largest markets real-time parking system, yet the demand for real-time parking system is relatively moderate in the regions owing to maturing automotive sales. The rising sales of automobile and increasing vehicle density in Japan and APEJ are propelling the demand for real time parking system market in the region, therefore the market is anticipated to account for substantial market share during the forecast period. Likewise Latin America real time parking system market is expected to gain significant market share over the forecast period. The Middle East and Africa real time parking system market is expected to create sustainable opportunities in key markets of Qatar, Dubai, Turkey and South Africa among other countries.Visit For TOC@Global real-time parking system market: Key PlayersSome of the key players identified in the real-time parking system market are: Streetline, Smart Parking Ltd., ParkMe Inc., Parknav, T2 SYSTEMS, Spot Innovation, Inc., INRIX, Inc., ParkWhiz API, Robotic Parking Systems, Inc., Cisco Systems, Inc., and PARKMATIC among many other participant.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:
Cosmetic Wipes Market Value to reach US$ 1,771.6 Mn by 2022

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Global cosmetic wipes market is undergoing a steady growth due to various factors such as rapid population growth in the developing regions of the world and the rapid urbanization. Due to the fast paced lifestyle of today, consumers are opting for products that save their both time and energy and are convenient to use. It is in this context that global cosmetic wipes market is undergoing a steady expansion. There are different types of cosmetic wipes available in the market today. Some of them carter to the usual needs like washing hands, for removing makeup, for feminine hygiene purposes and other personal cleansing, etc. Besides this, there are cosmetic wipes available in the market that are herbal or botanical based wipes and contain natural extracts such as aloe vera, especially for the skin care segment. There are special types of cosmetic wipes available in the market that cater to facial care category and for the purpose of anti-ageing. Such type of cosmetic wipes help in removing wrinkles and hyper pigmentation in the skin. There are various other types of cosmetic wipes available in the market today that cater to the personalized needs of the consumers.The global cosmetic wipes market is slated to touch a value of US$ 1,771.6 Mn in the year 2022 and grow at a sluggish CAGR during the assessment period.For More Details - A sample of this report is available upon request@4 Forecast Highlights on Global Cosmetic Wipes MarketAs per the forecast of Fact.MR, the dry wipes segment is slated to touch a value of US$ 601.2 Mn in the year 2022. This represents a moderate CAGR growth during the assessment period of 2017-2022. The dry wipes segment is estimated to account for nearly one-third of the revenue share of the product type segment by the year 2017 end and is expected to gain in market share by the year 2022 end.As per the forecast of Fact.MR, the drug stores cosmetic wipes segment will reach a value of US$ 312.1 Mn in the year 2017. This represents a sluggish CAGR growth during the forecast period. The drug stores cosmetic wipes segment is estimated to account for more than one-fifth of the revenue share of the distribution channel segment in the year 2017 end and is expected to lose market share by the end of the year 2022.Request For Discount:As per the forecast of Fact.MR, the acne-prone wipes segment is slated to reach a value of US$ 557.6 Mn in 2022. The acne-prone wipes segment is expected to gain some market value by the end of the year 2022. The largest share is contributed by the Europe region in the acne-prone wipes segment.Fact.MR forecasts that the absorbent cotton cosmetic wipes segment will exhibit a CAGR of 2.8% from 2017 to 2022. Absorbent cotton cosmetic wipes segment is estimated to account for more than one-third of the revenue share of the material used segment by 2017 end and is expected to lose some market share by the end of the year 2022.The report has also profiled leading players in the global market for cosmetic wipes, which will remain active through 2022. These include companies such as Hengan International Group Company Limited, Albaad Massuot, Kimberly-Clark, Rockline Industries, Procter & Gamble, Nice-Pak Products, Johnson & Johnson, Diamond Wipes International and Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget SCA.Browse 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:
Forecast and Analysis on Stone Paper Market for Period (2016-2026)

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Stone paper is neither pulp nor synthetic made paper but it is a kind of extremely durable, highly strong and ecofriendly paper which is also known as rock paper, rich mineral paper, paper from waste marble. Density range of stone paper is 1.0-1.6, which equals to or more than ordinary paper, and a texture somewhat like peel of a boiled egg. The stone paper can be recycled re-formed into stone paper again, which is not recyclable but is photo degradable and compostable under commercial conditions. Stone paper is appropriate for packaging, bags, stationery, wrappers, adhesives, grease proof paper, containers and many other applications. Stone paper market has positive outlook as a result of packaging industries. The escalation in packaging industry attributed by need for effective labelling and high-quality option, to improve the aesthetics of the packaged product.Global Stone Paper Market: DynamicsStone paper is a new type of paper making technology that can be recyclable with modern technology in high polymer interface. Its main raw material is the most abundant in mineral resources calcium carbonate with high polymer material and variety of inorganic matter as auxiliary material. The increasing application scope of the product in the packaging, labeling, and self-adhesive paper is attributed to the slight ecological impacts, with regards to usage of energy, water, carbon emissions, and deforestation. The new product development along with investment in R&D for the advancement in manufacturing techniques have been the major strategy adopted by the manufacturers. The major issues faced by the industry are related to environment regulation on mining activities. The market is highly competitive owing to the presence of large number of suppliers worldwide.Request For Report Sample@Global Stone Paper Market: SegmentationThe global market of stone paper market can be segmented on the basis of material type, application and region. On the basis of material calcium carbonate, high density polyethylene and others. On the basis of application labeling papers, packaging paper, self-adhesive paper and others. Among all application, paper packaging is major application of respective product. After packaging application self-adhesive paper segment are expected to register impressive growth during forecast period. On the basis of region North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa.Global Stone Paper Market: Regional OverviewDue to technology advancement in North America, this region is expected to witness higher growth rate during forecast period. Europe is also expected to account for second highest growth after North America due to demand of packaging application in European countries such as Russia and Germany. Asia pacific, dominated by China is expected to register highest growth in term of volume in global stone paper market during forecast year due to high demand of ecofriendly packaging, easy available raw material in this region, low cost of production and large numbers of manufacturers.Visit For TOC@Global Stone Paper Market: Key PlayersThe main player of this market such are Stone Paper Company Ltd, Soluz Stone Paper S.A, Kapstone Paper, Taiwan Lung Meng Technology Co. Ltd., Gaia-Concept BV, Parax Paper, packaging corporation.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:
Global Food & Beverage Sterilizer Market Research 2017 Key Players : Siemens, Heateflex, Parker Hannifin

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Food & Beverage Sterilizer Market Research Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.The market intelligence report examines the global Food & Beverage Sterilizer market offers insights concerning the growth prospects over the next few years. The expected forecast and figures on the basis of value and revenue have been given in the scope of the research study considering 2017 to 2022 as the forecast period. The key factors that are anticipated to influence the overall development of the global Food & Beverage Sterilizer market have been discussed in the scope of the research study. In addition to this, the growth prospects, opportunities, and the current trends in the global Food & Beverage Sterilizer market have been provided in the report.Global Food & Beverage Sterilizer market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingSiemensHeateflexParker HannifinDonaldson CompanyIndustrial Sonomechanics, LLCAquafineAndersen ProductsAmerican UltravioletCozzoli Machine CompanyFor more information on this report, fill the form @In order to provide a strong understanding regarding the global Food & Beverage Sterilizer market, the research study has addressed several queries related to the growth prospects and limitations in the market. Some of these questioned have been mentioned below:What is the expected growth rate of the global Food & Beverage Sterilizer market in the next few years?Which regional segment is likely to experience a strong growth in the coming years?What are the key application of Food & Beverage Sterilizer in the global market?Which latest trends and opportunities in the market are likely to accelerate the growth of the market?Which are the prominent players operating in the Food & Beverage Sterilizer market across the globe?Which factors are anticipated to encourage the growth of the global Food & Beverage Sterilizer market in the near future?Furthermore, the research report, in order to offer a clear picture of the global Food & Beverage Sterilizer market, throws light on the competitive landscape. A detailed list of the prominent players operating in the Food & Beverage Sterilizer market across the globe has been provided in the scope of the research report.Table of Content1 Food & Beverage Sterilizer Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Food & Beverage Sterilizer1.2 Food & Beverage Sterilizer Segment by Type (Product Category)1.3 Global Food & Beverage Sterilizer Segment by Application1.4 Global Food & Beverage Sterilizer Market by Region (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Food & Beverage Sterilizer (2012-2022)2 Global Food & Beverage Sterilizer Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Food & Beverage Sterilizer Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Food & Beverage Sterilizer Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.3 Global Food & Beverage Sterilizer Average Price by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.4 Manufacturers Food & Beverage Sterilizer Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Food & Beverage Sterilizer Market Competitive Situation and TrendsObtain Report Details @3 Global Food & Beverage Sterilizer Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)4 Global Food & Beverage Sterilizer Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)5 Global Food & Beverage Sterilizer Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type6 Global Food & Beverage Sterilizer Market Analysis by Application7 Global Food & Beverage Sterilizer Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Siemens7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Food & Beverage Sterilizer Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Siemens Food & Beverage Sterilizer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Heateflex7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Food & Beverage Sterilizer Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Heateflex Food & Beverage Sterilizer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Parker Hannifin7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Food & Beverage Sterilizer Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Parker Hannifin Food & Beverage Sterilizer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview8 Food & Beverage Sterilizer Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Food & Beverage Sterilizer Market Forecast (2017-2022)13 Research Findings and ConclusionTo Get Discount Of This Report Click here @List of Tables and FiguresFigure Picture of Food & Beverage SterilizerFigure Global Food & Beverage Sterilizer Production (K Units) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Types (Product Category) (2012-2022)Figure Global Food & Beverage Sterilizer Production Market Share by Types (Product Category) in 2016Figure Global Food & Beverage Sterilizer Consumption (K Units) by Applications (2012-2022)Figure Global Food & Beverage Sterilizer Consumption Market Share by Applications in 2016Figure Global Food & Beverage Sterilizer Market Size (Million USD), Comparison (K Units) and CAGR (%) by Regions (2012-2022)Figure North America Food & Beverage Sterilizer Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Europe Food & Beverage Sterilizer Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure China Food & Beverage Sterilizer Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)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
Car Fuel Filter Market Forecast will Surpass US$ 435 million by 2022

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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.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.For More Details - A sample of this report is available upon request@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.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.Request For Discount: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.Browse 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:
Global Specialty Food Ingredients Market Industry Players to Show High Growth Rate by 2024

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Specialty food ingredients provide specific flavors, textures, color, functionalities, and nutrients to the processed food products. These ingredients are used in the food and beverage industry, medium-sized companies, and large food manufacturing companies in order to improve the taste and flavor of the food. Specialty food ingredients consist of unique features such as emulsification, processing aids, nutritional enhancement, preservation, and coloring to meet the customer demand. They enhance the texture, shelf life, and stability of the food products. Specialty food ingredients are widely used in the food processing industry for the different applications that include convenience food, bakery and confectionery, dairy and functional food items, and meat and seafood products. Advanced technologies that qualify the specialty ingredients are encapsulation technologies, which include nano-encapsulation, spray drying, ribosomes, fluidized bed coating, micelles, chilling, bio-encapsulation, and others.Major market players involved in the global specialty food ingredients market are E. I. Dupont De Nemours and Company, Cargill Inc., Advanced Food Systems Inc., Kerry Group Plc., and Cambrian Solutions Inc. Other influencing players include Ingredion Incorporated and Tate & Lyle, Specialty Commodities, Koninklijke DSM N.V., and Sensient Technologies Corporation.Request Free Sample Report @Rising demand for packaged and convenience food items among the population with increasing disposable income is expected to boost the specialty food ingredients market growth. Growing prevalence of diabetes, obesity, increasing number of patients in the developed and developing regions, changing consumer preferences towards healthier lifestyles and nutritious food products are factors that are driving the specialty food ingredients market. In addition, the food manufacturers are focusing on developing health and wellness food ingredients in order to meet the consumers demand, which is positively impacting the market. Increased purchasing power of the population is opening new growth opportunities for the food manufacturing companies to expand their market.The specialty food ingredients market is segmented on the basis of application, specialty food ingredients, and geography. The application segment is classified into convenience food, oils & fats, bakery & confectioneries, functional foods, beverages, meat products, dairy & frozen foods, and others. Based on specialty food ingredients, the market is classified into colors, preservatives, F&B starter cultures, specialty starches, enzymes, functional food ingredients, emulsifiers, sugar substitutes, acidulants, and flavors. The geographical diversification of the market is given by North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa.Request Report TOC (Table of Contents) @The region that dominates the specialty food ingredients market growth is North America, which is followed by Europe and Asia-Pacific. North America region holds the largest market share worldwide due to rise in consumption of specialty food ingredients by the U.S. and Canada.Healthy eating habits of the people in Europe will enhance the specialty food ingredients market. Asia Pacific region may show the highest growth in coming future. Brazil, China, and India are emerging regions that are anticipated to boost the specialty food ingredients market.Browse detail report @About Us: Zion Market Research is an obligate 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:
Neuromodulation Devices Market Current Trends, Business Opportunities, Challenges & Global Industry Analysis by 2027

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Market Research Future published a research report on Global Neuromodulation Devices Market Research Report- Forecast To 2027  Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2027.Global neuromodulation devices market Information, by types by Techniques Applications - Forecast to 2027Globally the market for neuromodulation devices is increasing rapidly. The major factor that derives the growth of neuromodulation devices is the increasing development neuromodulation devices. Furthermore increasing demand for neuromodulation therapies and non-invasive techniques increasing the growth for the market.Get a Copy of Sample Report@Key Players for Neuromodulation Devices Market: Medtronic (Ireland), Accellent (U.S), St. Jude Medical, Inc. (U.S.), Synapse Biomedical Inc. (U.S.), Nevro Corp (U.S.), DynaMD, Boston Scientific Corporation (U.S.), NeuroSigma, Inc.(U.S.), NeuroPace, Inc. (U.S.), Neuronetics, Inc. (U.S.), Soterix Medical Inc. (U.S), BioControl Medical (Israel) and othersStudy Objectives of Neuromodulation devices Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 10 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the neuromodulation devices market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To analyze the neuromodulation devices market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective To provide country level analysis of the market for segments by agents, by devices and its sub-segments. To provide overview of key players and their strategic profiling in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the global Neuromodulation devices market.Request Table of Contents for this Report @Intended Audience Neuromodulation devices manufacturers Neuromodulation Devices 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 Medical Research Laboratories Academic Medical Institutes and UniversitiesBrowse Full Report Details @Segments:Global neuromodulation devices market has been segmented on the basis of agents which comprises of electrical, optical and chemical signals others. On the basis of devices include spinal cord stimulation devices, deep brain stimulation devices (DBS), sacral nerve stimulation devices, Vagus nerve stimulation devices and Gastric electric stimulation devices.The report for Global NEUROMODULATION DEVICES Market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different markets segments and regionsContinueWe are thankful for the support and assistance from Global Neuromodulation Devices Market Research Report- Forecast To 2027 chain related technical experts and marketing experts during Research Team survey and interviews.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.Media Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
MASON CITY | Cerro Gordo County Emergency Management is urging North Iowans to ensure they and their families are prepared for disasters.

Those steps include making an emergency plan, building an emergency kit and being aware of area hazards.

This past summers severe weather and flooding are a reminder that disasters can, and do, happen in our state and that is why I have proclaimed September as Preparedness Month in Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds said in a news release. I am asking Iowans to take steps now to prepare themselves, their families, their places of business and their communities for any emergency.

Iowa's Preparedness Month is held in conjunction with National Preparedness Month, which was created by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in an effort to educate the public on how to prepare for emergencies.

Weekly themes for 2017 include:

Make a plan for yourself, family and friends -- Sept. 1-9.

Plan to help your neighbor and community -- Sept. 10-16.

Practice and build out your plans -- Sept. 17-23.

Get involved! Be a part of something larger -- Sept. 24-30.
Black Coffee 2017 Global Market Key Players  Starbucks, UCC, Pacific Coffee, Chameleon, Craftsman of Coffee, Kohana Coffee  Analysis and Forecast to 2022

Black Coffee Market

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Black Coffee Market 2017Wiseguyreports.Com adds Black Coffee Market Market Demand, Growth, Opportunities, Analysis of Top Key Players and Forecast to 2022 To Its Research Database.Report Details:The report provides in depth study of Black Coffee Market using SWOT analysis i.e. Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threat to the organization. The Black Coffee Market report also provides an in-depth survey of key players in the market which is based on the various objectives of an organization such as profiling, the product outline, the quantity of production, required raw material, and the financial health of the organization.This report studies Black Coffee 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.Global Black Coffee market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Black Coffee sales volume, Price (USD/MT), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player, coveringThis report focuses on the top players in global market, likeStarbucks(US)UCC(Japan)Pacific Coffee(HK)Chameleon(US)Craftsman of Coffee(US)Kohana Coffee(US)Califia Farms(US)High Brew(US)Volcanica Coffee(US)Royal Kona(US)This report has a complete understanding of market value and quantity, technological progress, macro-economic and governmental policy based on past and present data along with the current and upcoming trends in the market.Request a Sample Report @Geographically, this report split global into several key Regions, with sales (K MT), revenue (Million USD), market share and growth rate of Black Coffee for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringUnited StatesChinaEuropeJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoDark Roast CoffeeBlack Instant CoffeeBlack Silk CoffeeBlack Iced CoffeeBlack Ground CoffeeOrgano Gold Black CoffeeOn 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 Black Coffee for each application, includingDrink To GoSupermarkets ServiceConvenience Stores ServicePersonal UseIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Complete Report Details@Major Key Points in Table of Content:Global Black Coffee Sales Market Report 20171 Black Coffee Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Black Coffee1.2 Classification of Black Coffee by Product Category1.2.1 Global Black Coffee Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Black Coffee Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Dark Roast Coffee1.2.4 Black Instant Coffee1.2.5 Black Silk Coffee1.2.6 Black Iced Coffee1.2.7 Black Ground Coffee1.2.8 Organo Gold Black Coffee1.3 Global Black Coffee Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 Global Black Coffee Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Drink To Go1.3.3 Supermarkets Service1.3.4 Convenience Stores Service1.3.5 Personal Use1.4 Global Black Coffee Market by Region1.4.1 Global Black Coffee Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 United States Black Coffee Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 China Black Coffee Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Europe Black Coffee Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Black Coffee Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Black Coffee Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Black Coffee Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Black Coffee (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Black Coffee Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Black Coffee Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022).9 Global Black Coffee Players/Suppliers Profiles and Sales Data9.1 Starbucks(US)9.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.1.2 Black Coffee Product Category, Application and Specification9.1.2.1 Product A9.1.2.2 Product B9.1.3 Starbucks(US) Black Coffee Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.2 UCC(Japan)9.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.2.2 Black Coffee Product Category, Application and Specification9.2.2.1 Product A9.2.2.2 Product B9.2.3 UCC(Japan) Black Coffee Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.3 Pacific Coffee(HK)9.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.3.2 Black Coffee Product Category, Application and Specification9.3.2.1 Product A9.3.2.2 Product B9.3.3 Pacific Coffee(HK) Black Coffee Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.4 Chameleon(US)9.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.4.2 Black Coffee Product Category, Application and Specification9.4.2.1 Product A9.4.2.2 Product B9.4.3 Chameleon(US) Black Coffee Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.5 Craftsman of Coffee(US)9.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.5.2 Black Coffee Product Category, Application and Specification9.5.2.1 Product A9.5.2.2 Product B9.5.3 Craftsman of Coffee(US) Black Coffee Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.6 Kohana Coffee(US)9.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.6.2 Black Coffee Product Category, Application and Specification9.6.2.1 Product A9.6.2.2 Product B9.6.3 Kohana Coffee(US) Black Coffee Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.7 Califia Farms(US)9.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.7.2 Black Coffee Product Category, Application and Specification9.7.2.1 Product A9.7.2.2 Product B9.7.3 Califia Farms(US) Black Coffee Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.8 High Brew(US)9.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.8.2 Black Coffee Product Category, Application and Specification9.8.2.1 Product A9.8.2.2 Product B9.8.3 High Brew(US) Black Coffee Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.9 Volcanica Coffee(US)9.10 Royal Kona(US)Continued.Buy now @Contact Us:NORAH TRENTPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Sales@Wiseguyreports.ComPh: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)ABOUT US: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.ADDRES:WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
Air Pressure Sensor Market Intelligence and Forecast by Future Market Insights

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Increase in demand for reliable sensors, low cost along with high performance feature is anticipated to fuel the growth of global air pressure sensor market.Air pressure sensor is a measuring converter of the pressure of a gas or liquid into pneumatic, electric, and other kinds of output signal. It is also used for measuring pressure drops and rarefaction. The demand for air pressure sensors market is rapidly increasing as they are widely used across various applications such as petrochemicals, building, shipbuilding, aircraft, and medical sector, among many others. In building, medical and automotive sector, MEMS-based pressure sensors (technology) are widely used. Additionally, on account of industry shift from analog to digital, air pressure sensors have become smarter in terms of sensing and efficiency performance. Advancements in ICT technology as well as Nanotechnology applications are emerging as new trends for the global air pressure sensor market.Air Pressure Sensor Market: Drivers & RestraintsImproved sensitivity in pressure sensors has strongly contributed to the demand of the global air pressure sensor market. Fast growth in Asia-Pacific region, increasing governmental regulation and vehicle production are the key factors driving the growth in the global air pressure sensor market. Advancement in technology is opening new doors to the growth of pressure sensors for medical and automotive applications. In coming years, it is anticipated that penetration of MEMS technology is going to lead the overall global air pressure sensor market. However, higher cost of the investment for production, could act as a major restraint in the global air pressure sensor market.Request Report Sample@Air Pressure Sensor Market: SegmentationOn the basis of technology, the global air pressure sensor market is segmented as:ElectromagneticCapacitivePiezoresistiveOpticalOthers (Resonant solid-state)On the basis of applications the global air pressure sensor market is segmented as:Automotive Pressure SensorsMedical SectorIndustrial SectorConsumer ElectronicsOthers (Refineries, Chemical plant, Pulp & paper, etc)Visit For TOC@Air Pressure Sensor Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global air pressure sensor market is expected to register a favourable growth for the forecast period, 2015?2025. On the basis of region, Asia Pacific, Japan and Latin America are expected to be the growth engines of air pressure sensor market in the near future. Asia-Pacific is anticipated to dominate the global air pressure sensor market. The key countries mentioned in the Asia-Pacific region are India, South Korea, and China as an outcome of growth in application sectors. Also, the region is expected to generate higher revenue as compared to North America (is practically maturing). Japan also contributes to the global air pressure sensor market remarkably. In Latin America, Brazil is expected to be the largest opportunity in terms of revenue of the air pressure sensor market. The remaining regions are expected to grow at a steady rate over the forecast period.Air Pressure Sensor Market: Key PlayersSome of the key market participants in global air pressure sensor market are ABB Ltd., Analog Devices, Inc., Analog Devices, Inc., Analog Devices, Inc., Emerson Electric, General Electric, Freescale Semiconductor, Honeywell International, Robert Bosch GmbH 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:
Global Forged Steel Grinding Balls Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, Forecast to 2022

Forged Steel Grinding Balls , Forged Steel Grinding Balls Market, Forged Steel Grinding Balls Industry, Forged Steel Grinding B

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This report studies the Forged Steel Grinding Balls market, Forged Steel Grinding Balls are a kind of Grinding Balls made of Forged Steel.Sample Report @Scope Of ReportThis report focuses on the Forged Steel Grinding Balls 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 coversMagotteauxScaw Metals GroupTOYO Grinding BallLongteng Special SteelJinan XinteShandong HuaminDongyuan Steel BallJinan HuafuJinchi Steel Ball.Market Segment by Regions, regional analysis coversNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, coversAlloy SteelStainless SteelOthersMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoMining IndustryThermal Power PlantCement IndustryOthersThere are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Forged Steel Grinding Balls market.Chapter 1, to describe Forged Steel Grinding Balls Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Forged Steel Grinding Balls, with sales, revenue, and price of Forged Steel Grinding Balls, 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 Forged Steel Grinding Balls, 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, Forged Steel Grinding Balls market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Forged Steel Grinding Balls sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceEnquiry write us @Table of Contents1 Market Overview1.1 Forged Steel Grinding Balls Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.2.1 Alloy Steel1.2.2 Stainless Steel1.2.3 Others1.3 Market Analysis by Applications1.3.1 Mining Industry1.3.2 Thermal Power Plant1.3.3 Cement Industry1.3.4 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 Force2 Manufacturers Profiles2.1 Magotteaux2.1.1 Business Overview2.1.2 Forged Steel Grinding Balls Type and Applications2.1.2.1 Type 12.1.2.2 Type 22.1.3 Magotteaux Forged Steel Grinding Balls Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.2 Scaw Metals Group2.2.1 Business Overview2.2.2 Forged Steel Grinding Balls Type and Applications2.2.2.1 Type 12.2.2.2 Type 22.2.3 Scaw Metals Group Forged Steel Grinding Balls Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.3 TOYO Grinding Ball2.3.1 Business Overview2.3.2 Forged Steel Grinding Balls Type and Applications2.3.2.1 Type 12.3.2.2 Type 22.3.3 TOYO Grinding Ball Forged Steel Grinding Balls Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.4 Longteng Special Steel2.4.1 Business Overview2.4.2 Forged Steel Grinding Balls Type and Applications2.4.2.1 Type 12.4.2.2 Type 22.4.3 Longteng Special Steel Forged Steel Grinding Balls Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.5 Jinan Xinte..5 North America Forged Steel Grinding Balls by Countries, Type, Application and Manufacturers5.1 North America Forged Steel Grinding Balls Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Countries5.1.1 North America Forged Steel Grinding Balls Sales by Countries (2012-2017)5.1.2 North America Forged Steel Grinding Balls Revenue by Countries (2012-2017)5.1.3 USA Forged Steel Grinding Balls Sales and Growth (2012-2017)5.1.4 Canada Forged Steel Grinding Balls Sales and Growth (2012-2017)5.1.5 Mexico Forged Steel Grinding Balls Sales and Growth (2012-2017)5.2 North America Forged Steel Grinding Balls Sales and Revenue (value) by Manufacturers (2016-2017)5.2.1 North America Forged Steel Grinding Balls Sales by Manufacturers (2016-2017)5.2.2 North America Forged Steel Grinding Balls Revenue by Manufacturers (2016-2017)5.3 North America Forged Steel Grinding Balls Sales by Type (2012-2017)5.4 North America Forged Steel Grinding Balls Sales by Application (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.Company Name: Wiseguyreports.comContact Person: Norah TrentEmail: Sales@wiseguyreports.comPhone: +1 646 845 9349, +44 208 133 9349City: PuneState: MaharashtraCountry: IndiaWebsite:
Biometric Vaporizer Market: Worldwide Industry Analysis and New Market Opportunities Explored

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An electronic cigarette or vaporizer also alternatively known as an ENDS (Electronic Nicotine Delivery System) is a battery operated device that gives the essence of tobacco smoking to the user without inhaling the smoke. A vaporizer which is reckoned as a crucial alternative of the conventional cigarette emits nicotine in a vaporized form that is inhaled by the user. Though the effect of using vaporizer on human body is not fully known, it is considered as less toxic that the conventional tobacco cigarette as it produces vapor instead of smoke. With the increasing demand of vaporizer, many technological advancement took place in order to protect the vaporizer for getting used by other users other than the owner. In 2014, Vapor Corp introduced the concept of biometric vaporizer. An advanced fingerprint unlock mechanism is integrated in a vaporizer that allows the owner to initiate the function of vaporizing using his fingerprint. In addition, it also protects the vaporizer from getting stolen as it will be of no use to that person. The demand of biometric vaporizer is predicted to experience a stable growth rate during the forecast period from 2018 to 2024 in order to protect the device and to keep kids away for using the vaporizer.Though the product was scheduled to be launched by Vapor Corp in 2014, the product is still in the research stage at present and is anticipated to get commercially launched by the end of 2017 of beginning of 2018. Up to 2019 to 2020, the market is predicted to experience a sluggish growth rate due to lack of consumer awareness. However, from 2021, the biometric vaporizer market is expected to grow rapidly when majority of the regulatory framework will fall in its place, thereby generating significant revenue.Browse Our Report @Initiatives taken by the parents consuming e-cigarettes to protect their children from using vaporizer considering the ill effects of tobacco is the most important factor predicted to boost the demand of biometric vaporizer during the forecast period from 2018 to 2025. Moreover, initiative taken by Vapor Corp to integrate other smart features that will keep a track of the amount of nicotine consumed or frequency of vaporizer usage is also predicted to create a better opportunity for the company to make their product salable. Furthermore, increasing health consciousness of the consumers is also predicted to boost the demand of biometric vaporizer after these advanced features are incorporated in order to keep a record of their nicotine consumption.However, predated high price of the product coupled with complex usage along with with low market penetration at the initial stage will results in low revenue inflow of the manufacturers. This in turn is expected to limit many e-cigarette manufacturers to enter into the market, thereby affecting the market negatively. Moreover, the local government and various regions proposal to impose hefty takes on e-cigarette is also anticipated to act as a restraining factor to the growth of this market in the coming years. In addition, immense competition in terms of price and product offerings of the already existing leading players of the e-cigarette market is also anticipated to deter the demand of biometric vaporizer to some extent during the forecast period.Brochure With Latest Advancements With Application @The future growth of the biometric vaporizer market is largely dependent on the regulatory framework implemented by the Tobacco Control Legal Consortium, a recently established regulatory body and vaping association. Moreover, following the regulations of TPD (Tobacco Product Directive) implemented by the EU (European Union), various vaporizer company are expected to bring drastic changes in their distribution and marketing strategies which in turn is also predicted to effect the market demand of biometric vaporizer in the coming years.Geographically, Asia Pacific region is anticipated to experience the most promising market in term of growth in the coming years owing to large consumer base of technologically advanced products. On the other hand, imposition of taxes in four major states of the U.S on e-cigarettes is expected to be the primary factor behind the anticipated sluggish demand of biometric vaporizer in North America during the forecast period from 2018 to 2025.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:
Global Fulvic Acid Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, Forecast to 2022

Fulvic Acid , Fulvic Acid Market, Fulvic Acid Industry, Fulvic Acid , Fulvic Acid Size, Fulvic Acid , Fulvic Acid Segment

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Fulvic acid is one of two classes of humic acidic, organic compounds found in the earth's soils, rock sediments and bodies of water.Sample Report @Scope Of ReportThis report focuses on the Fulvic Acid 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 coversValagro SpABiolchim SpAKoppert B.VBio-Agricultural Services, IncNutri-Tech Solutions Pty Ltd.Pure Fulvic MineralsHumic Growth SolutionsSaint Humic AcidAdler AgroMarket 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, coversIndustrial GradePharmaceutical GradeMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoMedicineFertilizerOthersThere are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Fulvic Acid market.Chapter 1, to describe Fulvic Acid Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Fulvic Acid, with sales, revenue, and price of Fulvic Acid, 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 Fulvic Acid, 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, Fulvic Acid market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Fulvic Acid sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceEnquiry write us @Table of Contents1 Market Overview1.1 Fulvic Acid Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.2.1 Industrial Grade1.2.2 Pharmaceutical Grade1.3 Market Analysis by Applications1.3.1 Medicine1.3.2 Fertilizer1.3.3 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 Force2 Manufacturers Profiles2.1 Valagro SpA2.1.1 Business Overview2.1.2 Fulvic Acid Type and Applications2.1.2.1 Type 12.1.2.2 Type 22.1.3 Valagro SpA Fulvic Acid Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.2 Biolchim SpA2.2.1 Business Overview2.2.2 Fulvic Acid Type and Applications2.2.2.1 Type 12.2.2.2 Type 22.2.3 Biolchim SpA Fulvic Acid Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.3 Koppert B.V2.3.1 Business Overview2.3.2 Fulvic Acid Type and Applications2.3.2.1 Type 12.3.2.2 Type 22.3.3 Koppert B.V Fulvic Acid Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.4 Bio-Agricultural Services, Inc2.4.1 Business Overview2.4.2 Fulvic Acid Type and Applications2.4.2.1 Type 12.4.2.2 Type 22.4.3 Bio-Agricultural Services, Inc Fulvic Acid Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017).5 North America Fulvic Acid by Countries, Type, Application and Manufacturers5.1 North America Fulvic Acid Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Countries5.1.1 North America Fulvic Acid Sales by Countries (2012-2017)5.1.2 North America Fulvic Acid Revenue by Countries (2012-2017)5.1.3 USA Fulvic Acid Sales and Growth (2012-2017)5.1.4 Canada Fulvic Acid Sales and Growth (2012-2017)5.1.5 Mexico Fulvic Acid Sales and Growth (2012-2017)5.2 North America Fulvic Acid Sales and Revenue (value) by Manufacturers (2016-2017)5.2.1 North America Fulvic Acid Sales by Manufacturers (2016-2017)5.2.2 North America Fulvic Acid Revenue by Manufacturers (2016-2017)5.3 North America Fulvic Acid Sales by Type (2012-2017)5.4 North America Fulvic Acid Sales by Application (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.Company Name: Wiseguyreports.comContact Person: Norah TrentEmail: Sales@wiseguyreports.comPhone: +1 646 845 9349, +44 208 133 9349City: PuneState: MaharashtraCountry: IndiaWebsite:
Global and Chinese 2-Amino-D-uridine (CAS 26889-39-4) Industry Status, Market Development Trends and Growth Forecast till 2022

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Recently, a new study titled Global and Chinese 2-Amino-D-uridine (CAS 26889-39-4) Industry, 2017 Market Research Report has been broadcasted to the vast repository of Market Research Hub (MRH). This 140 pages study offers a deep insight into the market trends prevailing in the global as well as Chinese market. Also, this intelligent study provides key statistics on the market status of the 2-Amino-D-uridine manufacturers and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and entities interested in the industry.Request Free Sample Report:Initially, the report opens with a brief summary of the global and Chinese 2-Amino-D-uridine (CAS 26889-39-4) markets development in the past few years. Tracking the markets historical development, the report then presents an overview of the global and China 2-Amino-D-uridine industrys current figures. This provides the readers with a concise summation of the markets historical development, which is crucial in understanding the markets future performance. The many industrial uses of are also described in brief in this section.The manufacturing technology employed in the industrial-scale manufacture of 2-Amino-D-uridine is described next in the report. Further, 2017-2022 forecasts for the global and Chinese industry are provided based on the industrial capacity, production figures, and production value. Chinas role in the global 2-Amino-D-uridine industry is elaborated upon in detail in the report, which provides the supply, consumption, import, and export figures of the China market between 2012 and 2017. This, in combination with the markets historical analysis, gives the readers a smooth extrapolative analysis of the factors that drive the development of the market.Browse Full Report With TOC:The total market is further divided by company, by country, and by application/type for the competitive landscape analysis. Country wise analysis includes details on market competition in the USA, EU, Japan and China. Moreover, the report offers profiles of key players along with their cost and revenue structure, business strategies, latest developments and contact information. In this part, the report presents the product specifications, capacity and 2012-2017 market shares for each company. Further, this smart research study works to inform the readers about the 2-Amino-D-uridine market scenario through statistical data covering the global and Chinese regions. The section also includes global and Chinese macroeconomic environment analysis and development trend, along with challenges and opportunities.Supported by several figures and tables, the research publication serves as an invaluable asset for all those interested in the global and Chinese 2-Amino-D-uridine industry. At last, the report also makes some important proposals for a new project of 2-Amino-D-uridine Industry before evaluating its feasibility.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: 800-998-4852 (US-Canada)Email: press@marketresearchhub.comWebsite:Read Industry News at -
Data Science Platform Market Grows with Next Generation Technologies

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Big data, advance analytics and predictive modeling are now becoming indispensable part of business houses, who are striving to optimize decision-making and deliver value to customers. With rise in enormous data generated in various digital platforms and corresponding increase in use of various data analytics tool the phrase data science platform has been tossed around about a lot recently. Data science platforms are supposed to be an arena where plethora of various data scientists works are collected.In colloquial term, data science platform terms defines that it provides various algorithm integrated with analytical tools that help data analyst to cluster and explore data from varied sources, and further design and implement models. These models sought from data science platform helps in framing decisions and strategies. Data science platform assist wide array of various suite of tools that is being introduced subsequently implemented to keep data science work scalable, accessible, flexible thus make it easy for a data scientist to reproduce and present dynamic results to the people who make decisions based on those results. Over the forecast period, it is expected that with rise in implementation of data analytics, big data for various business decisions and operations the market of data science platform market will gain a significant CAGR over the forecast period.Browse Our Report @Including present time and last couple of years there has been a massive wave of investment by corporate houses in order to focus on data analytic. Ample number of tools are implemented by an organization for analyzing huge amount of data generated in different level of operations. Wide number of tools provides diversified outputs for various analysis. Data science platforms needs to introduce for capturing, analyzing, integrating such various outputs into a single access point. These data science platforms are competent for deriving insights from raw data; reproduce data tables for descriptive statistics, can provide segmentation based by module, date, and event type for root cause analysis via data visualization. The algorithm of data science platform is also designed with an ability so that it can provide functionality for predictive modeling and a mechanism, which can bring in the predictive models into operations. The major factor that will drive the market of data science platform is the constant increase in use of data analytics tool by every business organization who believe that it can align their strategies and operations decisions based on data insights.In near future the market of data science platform is expected to grow and chances of technology disruption, which will totally eradicate the data science platform, market is bleak.Brochure With Latest Advancements With Application @Based on product type, Data Science Platform market can be segmented into:Open PlatformClose PlatformBased on end user type, Data Science Platform market can be segmented intoBFSIPharmaceuticals & HealthcareMeteorologyTransportationLogisticsBased on the geographic regions, global data Centre rack server market is segmented into seven key market segments namely North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. Among the aforementioned regions, North America will dominate the data science platform market over the forecast period owing to the fact that North America has the largest data centers in world and it has been foremost in developing and producing data science platform products for convenience of various industries to execute various operations. In APEJ countries such as India, Singapore and Korea will be the key contributor to the growth of data science platform market due to the very fact IT industry and subsequent data centers are increasing in these countries. Western Europe region will come next to APEJ with respect to growth of data science platform market. In Eastern Europe, the market of data science platform is expected to gather momentum over the forecast period. MEA and Latin America data science platform market is yet to see progress as both these regions are yet to make substantial move in field of data analytics and IT. However, over the forecast period it is anticipated that data science platform market will gain pace with increase in digitization as well as increase in IT spending in these specific regions.The major players identified in the global data science platform market includes:Domino Data Lab, Inc.Cloudera, Inc.WolframIBMANGOSS SOFTWARE CORPORATIONAbout 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:
Global EHV Cables Market Report Size, Share, Growth and Forecast 2017

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ReportsWeb.com has announced the addition of the Global EHV Cables Industry Market Research 2017 The report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification.In this report, we analyze the EHV Cables industry from two aspects. One part is about its production and the other part is about its consumption. In terms of its production, we analyze the production, revenue, gross margin of its main manufacturers and the unit price that they offer in different regions from 2012 to 2017. In terms of its consumption, we analyze the consumption volume, consumption value, sale price, import and export in different regions from 2012 to 2017. We also make a prediction of its production and consumption in coming 2017-2022.Request a Sample atAt the same time, we classify different EHV Cables based on their definitions. Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out. What is more, the EHV Cables industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.Browse Complete ReportMajor Points of this report:1. To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast of the various segments and sub-segments of the global EHV Cables market.2. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To analyze the EHV Cables market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porte five force analysis etc.3. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World.4. To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective.5. To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by application, product type and sub-segments.6. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market.7. To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the global EHV Cables market.Get discount on report purchase atKey Point from Table of Contents:1 Industry Overview of EHV Cables1.1 Brief Introduction of EHV Cables2 Industry Chain Analysis of EHV Cables3 Manufacturing Technology of EHV Cables3.1 Development of EHV Cables Manufacturing Technology4Major Manufacturers Analysis of EHV Cables5 Global Production, Revenue and Price Analysis of EHV Cables by Regions, Manufacturers, Types and Applications5.1 Global Production, Revenue of EHV Cables by Regions 2012-20176 Global and Major Regions Capacity, Production, Revenue and Growth Rate of EHV Cables 2012-20177 Consumption Volume, Consumption Value, Import, Export and Sale Price Analysis of EHV CABLES by Regions 20178 Gross and Gross Margin Analysis of EHV Cables9 Marketing Trader or Distributor Analysis of EHV Cables10 Global and Chinese Economic Impact on EHV Cables Industry10.1 Global and Chinese Macroeconomic Environment Analysis11 Development Trend Analysis of EHV Cables 12 Contact information of EHV CABLES13 New Project Investment Feasibility Analysis of EHV Cables14 Conclusion of the Global EHV Cables Industry 2017 Market Research ReportPurchase Complete Report atContact Information:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comReportsWeb.com 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. The market research industry has changed in last decade. As corporate focus has shifted to niche markets and emerging countries, a number of publishers have stepped in to fulfil these information needs. We have experienced and trained staff that helps you navigate different options and lets you choose best research solution at most effective cost.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028
Virtualization Software detail insight to 2022 Focusing on key Market Players like Vmware, Acronis, Citrix Systems, Datadog, Nomadesk, Evolve IP & More

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MarketSizeForecasters.com adds a new Global Virtualization Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 research report focuses on the major drivers and restraints for the global key players providing analysis of the market share, segmentation, revenue forecasts and geographic regions of the market.This report studies the global Virtualization Software market, analyzes and researches the Virtualization Software 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 Datadog, Vmware, Acronis, PayStand, Citrix Systems, ManageEngine, Nomadesk, Evolve IP, Rackspace and Mitel Networks.Request a Sample Copy of Global Virtualization Software Market Research Report @Market segment by Regions/Countries, Virtualization Software Market report covers are United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia.Market segment by Application, Virtualization Software can be split into: PC Terminal and Mobile Terminal.Request Discount for Global Virtualization Software Market Research Report @Major Points in Table of Contents:Global Virtualization Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022Industry Overview of Virtualization Software MarketGlobal Virtualization Software Market Competition Analysis by PlayersGlobal Virtualization Software Market Company (Top Players) ProfilesGlobal Virtualization Software Market Size by Type and Application (2012-2017)United States Virtualization Software Market Development Status and OutlookEU Virtualization Software Market Development Status and OutlookJapan Virtualization Software Market Development Status and OutlookChina Virtualization Software Market Development Status and OutlookIndia Virtualization Software Market Development Status and OutlookSoutheast Asia Virtualization Software Market Development Status and OutlookMarket Forecast by Regions, Type and Application (2017-2022)Virtualization Software Market DynamicsMarket Effect Factors AnalysisResearch Findings and ConclusionRelated Reports: -Global 3D Rendering and Virtualization Software Market Research Report Forecast 2017 to 2021The Global 3D Rendering and Virtualization Software Market Research Report Forecast 2017-2021 is a valuable source of insightful data for business strategists. It provides the 3D Rendering and Virtualization Software industry overview with growth analysis and historical & futuristic cost, revenue, demand and supply data (as applicable).MarketSizeForecasters.com, a Skyline Market Research LLP brand, is an online aggregator of market research reports. MarketSizeForecasters.com offers a comprehensive collection of full length reports on global and regional markets in 100+ industry verticals. We have partnered with some of the leading business and market research publishing houses and regularly update our online library to offer wide range of reports to our customers.Market size forecastersThe Green Suite #4594,Dover, DE 19901United StatesPhone: 1-201-355-0868US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketsizeforecasters.comWebsite:News:Connect with us: LinkedIn | Twitter
Hybrid Microcircuits Market to Grow at a Remarkable Pace in the Coming Years

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Hybrid microcircuits, also known as hybrid integrated circuits, are miniaturized versions of electronic circuits. It consists of passive components, such as capacitors and resistors among others, and semiconductors. The components are generally attached to a printed circuit board (PCB) or to a substrate. Hybrid microcircuits are similar to monolithic integrated circuits and can simply serve as a component of the PCB. However, components such as capacitors, inductors and resistors cannot be accommodated in a monolithic integrated circuit, whereas these components are integral part of hybrid microcircuits. The interconnects of hybrid microcircuits are often done with screen printed thick film technology.Thick film interconnecting technology offers higher versatility over thin film technology, such as choice of resistor value to be utilized for integrating in the hybrid microcircuit and use of planar resistors among others. However thick film interconnects also often result in larger size of the hybrid microcircuits. Insulating dielectrics, developed though screen printing, are utilized for multi layer thick film technique of hybrid circuit manufacturing. This technique of usage of insulating dielectrics, ensures that the in-between layer connections are made in the required places only. Hybrid microcircuits are often given an epoxy encapsulation for protection. Modern technologies such as low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) allows for development of partial three dimensional hybrid microcircuits. By this technique, the components are attached in between multiple layers of substrates, in addition to attachment of components on top of substrates.Browse Our Report @Hybrid microcircuits market has been growing at a steady pace, owing to their high levels of market penetration. The market for hybrid microcircuits is primarily being driven by the growing demand for these circuits in various hazardous area applications. Modern hybrid microcircuits are designed to have high tolerance to harsh environments and can also perform under high temperature for long periods of time. Such wide temperature tolerance range and long functional period has been resulting in growing applications in offshore safety control systems, pressure control sensors, aircraft altimeters and minesweeper sound navigation and ranging (SONAR) systems among others.Additionally, the high growth rates of various industrial sectors, in the Asia Pacific region, have also been positively impacting the growth of hybrid microcircuits market. Hybrid microcircuits are utilized in industrial applications such as DC/DC converters, solid state relays and elevator controls. Hence the growth of the industrial sector has been boosting the growth of the market for hybrid circuits. However, the declining industrial growth rates in China, North America and Europe has been hindering the growth of the hybrid circuits market. Relatively newer applications of hybrid microcircuits, such as application in electro-luminescent displays and transducers among others, are expected to offer unique growth opportunities for the hybrid microcircuits market during the forecast period.Brochure With Latest Advancements With Application @On the basis of packaging type, the market for hybrid microcircuits has been segmented into hermetic packaging and non-hermetic packaging. On the basis of high density interconnection (HDI) substrate, the market is segmented into glass fiber PCB, thick film PCB, ceramic PCB and others. By end-use industry, the market has been segmented into aerospace & defense, automotive, industrial, consumer electronics, healthcare power generation, oil & gas and others. On the basis of region, the global hybrid microcircuits market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), South America and Middle-East & Africa (MEA). Revenue wise, Asia Pacific was the largest region in 2016, followed by North America and Europe. The high revenue share of Asia Pacific can be attributed to the growing electronic components manufacturing base in the region, couple with high growth rates of various industrial verticals.The major companies of the hybrid microcircuits market globally are API Technologies Corporation (The U.S.), TT Electronics Plc (The U.K.) Genus Power Infrastructures, Ltd. (India), Hybrid-Tek. LLC (The U.S.), and Esterline CMC Electronics, Inc. (Canada) among various other companies.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:
CLEAR LAKE | One Vision, formerly Opportunity Village, will host its 48th annual Benefit Walk at 1 p.m. Sept. 17 in Clear Lake's City Park.

The event is held annually to raise funds for services provided to more than 550 individuals supported by the Clear Lake-based nonprofit organization.

This years event theme, CommUNITY, will celebrate the people who receive services, employees, volunteers, families, and supporters who all comprise the OV community.

The public is invited to support OV by gathering a team to join those supported by an organization and walk around the park.

The walk will follow OV's annual Appreciation Picnic, which begins at 11 a.m. in the park, and registration. It will include music and interactive booths and displays with more information about the services the organization provides.

There will also be games for adults and families after the event.

Before attending the Benefit Walk, participants are encouraged to set a fundraising goal and make a personal FirstGiving page at www.ovbenefitwalk.org.

Sponsorships can also be sought offline, with packets available at Tried & True in Mason City's Willowbrook Mall, the General Stores in Clear Lake, or by contacting Jennifer Pinske at 641-355-1356.

More information about the walk and One Vision is available at www.onevision.org.
Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector Market & Its Supporting Factors  Accenture, Fair Issac, Mu sigma, Analyx

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector Market Size, Status and Forecast 2021 to its huge collection of research reports.Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector Report is a research publication that incorporates opinions and industry statistics and facts through the eyes of market experts, primary and secondary data gathering, news items, numerous articles, and curating of vast historical database. The research report on the Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector puts into perspective the different disciplines in the industry to provide readers adequate and specific data for interpretation and evaluation.The scientific methods used for studying this market help in assessing the market drivers, restraints, threats, and opportunities. Furthermore, the report also gives adequate information about the threat of new entrants, bargaining power of customers and suppliers, threat of substitute products or services, and intensity of competitive rivalry.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The report on the Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector provides an overview of relevant industries, which is inclusive of its definitions, applications, industry chain structure, and classifications. Furthermore, the report also helps in highlighting the key developments and trends in the Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector. It studies the important players in the market through a microscopic vision, makes a detailed note of their operations and shares valuable opinion regarding their financial overview.The market research report on the Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector gives an insight into the policies of import and export that are governing the market. The extensively researched report include a several tables, charts, figures, and graphs to present the vast subject matter in a lucid format. The report aims to be a trustworthy guide to the readers in helping them make well-informed business decisions.Table of ContentsUnited States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector Market Size, Status and Forecast 20211 Industry Overview of Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector1.1 Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector Market Overview1.1.1 Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector 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 Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector Market by End Users/Application1.3.1 Application 11.3.2 Application 21.3.3 Application 3Browse Complete Report with TOC @2 Global Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector Competition Analysis by Players2.1 Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector 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 IBM3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 Optimization Group3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.2.5 Recent Developments3.3 Infinit Outsourcing3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.3.4 Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.3.5 Recent Developments3.4 McKinsey4 Global Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector Market Size by Application (2011-2016)4.1 Global Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector Market Size by Application (2011-2016)4.2 Potential Application of Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector in Future4.3 Top Consumer/End Users of Application Outsourcing in Banking SectorCheck Discount @List of Tables and FiguresFigure Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector Product ScopeFigure Global Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector Market Size (2011-2016)Table Global Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)Figure Global Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector Market Share by Regions in 2015Figure United States Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)Figure EU Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)Figure Japan Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)Figure China Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)Figure India Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)Figure Southeast Asia Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)Figure Global Application Outsourcing in Banking Sector Market Share by Application in 2015QYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Network Function Virtualization Market to Witness Massive Growth in the Coming Years

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Network function virtualization (NFV) represents the shiftof focus from hardware to software in the telecom industry, with operators making loftier investments in software than in storage, server, and switch hardware. The software segment accounted for a major share in the network function virtualization market in terms of revenue contribution. Geographically, this market is distributed over North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East &Africa (MEA), and Latin America.North Americadominated the global demand for network function virtualization in 2015 and is expected to retain its position over the forecast period, thus creating considerable opportunities for market players. The U.S. is a significant contributor to the growth of network function virtualization due to the superior technological infrastructure in the country and its acceptability of innovative and niche systems such as network function virtualization which are anticipated to experience rapid growth, propelling the market in North America.The market is primarily driven by the commercial deployment of NFV by telecom operators such as Telefonica, AT&T, Verizon, and CenturyLink. The migration to the 5G network further pushes the need to deploy NFV technologies. Leading vendors intending to improve customer experience of network usage is also projected to play a role. Asia Pacific is a highly attractive market for network function virtualization in terms of growth potential owing to the consumer awareness in this region. Latin America is a potentially attractive market for and its share is likely to rise over the forecast period.Browse Our Report @The network function virtualization market is highly competitive with the presence of large-scale as well as small-scale global and regional vendors. All the companies race against each other to increase their respective shares of revenue in the market. This cut-throat environment is projected to further intensify with new entrants in the market, which is primarily motivated by technological upgrades of existing services.To survive and gain success in this market, it is important for leading companies to distinguish their services through a unique and clear value proposition. Establishing communities such as Open NFV and strong partnerships are predicted to strengthen their market positions and generate revenue. Deployment of network function virtualizationis majorly implemented by service provider networks such as Telefonica, Vodafone, AT&T, and Orange. Competition between vendors offering similar solutions is more intense compared to that in the total market.In order to gain a competitive edge and to meet increasing demands, network function virtualization companies focus on providing services that increase efficiency and reliability. Key players include Brocade Communication Systems, Ericsson, Huawei Technologies, Nokia, Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Juniper Networks, and VMware.Brochure With Latest Advancements With Application @Other prominent vendors in the market include 6WIND, Affirmed Networks, A10 Networks, Allot Communications, ASTRI, Amdocs, Broadcom, Ciena (Blue Planet), Canonical's Ubuntu, Citrix, F5 Networks, Dell, Fortinet, GENBAND, Fujitsu, Intel, Ixia, IP Infusion, Mirantis, Metaswitch Networks, NFWare, NEC and Netcracker, OneAccess Networks, PacketLogic, Oracle, PLUMgrid, Palo Alto Networks, Quali Systems, Sonus Networks, Radware. Red Hat, Trend Micro,Telco Systems, Wind River, VeloCloud, and ZTE.These emerging market players have been investing huge amounts of capital in research and development activities and innovation centers in order to expand their production capacities and meet the markets growing demands. In addition, major market players are extending their share in the global network function virtualization marketthrough mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and expansions.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:
Workforce Management Business Trends That Will Drive Success In 2022

Workforce Management

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The Global Workforce Management Market Research Report provides detailed analysis of the key regional market status of the Workforce Management Industry.According to Stratistics MRC, the Global Workforce Management market is estimated at $4.71 billion in 2016 and is expected to reach $9.01 billion by 2022 growing at a CAGR of 11.4% from 2016 to 2022. Rising demand for automation and increasing cloud based solution are the major factors influencing the market growth. Whereas huge switching cost form traditional software to automation and lack of awareness among companies are some of the factors restraining the market growth.In deployment type, Cloud-Based deployment is expected to move at highest CAGR during forecast period owing to huge organisation structure and large number of offices across the regions. However On-Premise type is anticipated to hold the largest market share in 2016. High rate of adoption in countries like Germany and United Kingdom is one of the key drivers for the European region to move with highest CAGR during forecast period.Some of the key players in the market includeAtoss Software AG, Automatic Data Processing (ADP), LLC., Clicksoftware Technologies Ltd., Hot Schedules, Huntington Business Systems (HBS), Inc., Infor Global Solution, International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation, Kronos, Inc., Oracle Coporation, Reflexis Systems, Inc., SAP SE, Ultimate Software Group, Inc., Verint Systems, Inc., Workday, Inc. And Workforce Software, LLC.Sample Copy @Deployment Types Covered: On-Premise Cloud-BasedOrganization Size Covered: Large Enterprises Small and Medium EnterprisesServices Covered: Training and Education Implementation Services Support and MaintenanceSolutions Covered: Workforce Analytics Time and Attendance Management Workforce Scheduling Performance Management Absence and Holiday Management Budgeting and Forecasting Other SolutionsVerticals Covered: Energy and Utilities Manufacturing Consumer Goods and Retail Telecom and IT Transportation and Logistics Healthcare Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance Government and DefenseRegions 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 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 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 Emerging Markets3.7 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 Workforce Management Market, By Deployment Type5.1 Introduction5.2 On-Premise5.3 Cloud-Based12 Company Profiling12.1 Atoss Software AG12.2 Automatic Data Processing (ADP), LLC.12.3 Clicksoftware Technologies Ltd.12.4 Hot Schedules12.5 Huntington Business Systems (HBS), Inc.12.6 Infor Global Solution12.7 International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation12.8 Kronos, Inc.12.1 Oracle Coporation12.10 Reflexis Systems, Inc.12.11 SAP SE12.12 Ultimate Software Group, Inc.12.13 Verint Systems, Inc.12.14 Workday, Inc.12.15 Workforce Software, LLC.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.Pune, India
Outbound Telemarketing Market to Witness Massive Growth in the Coming Years

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Outbound telemarketing is a direct marketing method and a comprehensive marketing strategy adopted by business organizations to integrate sales and advertising. In outbound telemarketing, prospective customers are requested to buy some product or service through telephone calling. An efficient telemarketer can convert the cold calls of the prospective customers to real time sales leads for the organization. Business to business marketing is popular presently; business activities include fund raisers, appointment setting, lead generation, and event registration.Owing to direct human interaction in the outbound telemarketing market, there are numerous benefits such as strengthening of customer base, low cost of communication, and building of goodwill and public image. Outbound telemarketing is becoming very popular with increase in the modern approach of business. Organizations cannot depend only on inbound telemarketing and as a result the use of outbound telemarketing is gaining importance. This is likely to be one of the key drivers of growth for the outbound telemarketing market over the forecast period. Consumers expect a highly efficient customer management process in the event of grievances or complaints. They expect a fast resolution from the respective organizations as well. Additionally, emergence of the concept customer is king has made organizations opt for outbound telemarketing.Browse Our Report @Business organizations are more inclined toward outbound telemarketing due to the steep expenses incurred in inbound telemarketing such as in advertising and publicity. Outbound telemarketing saves travel expenses of the business and can directly address the concerns of customers. Expansion of business to business and business to consumer interaction is likely to drive the outbound telemarketing market over the forecast period. Owing to the cost effective and convenient mode of communication, outbound telemarketing is becoming widely popular among business organizations. Outbound telemarketing has been an important tool for customer retention for companies around the globe.The outbound telemarketing market is segmented by two types- by type and by service styles. The basic categories of telemarketing are business to business and business to consumer. Proactive and pre-existing customers are directly contacted for business discussions in the outbound telemarketing market. During the forecast period, business to business segment is likely to be the major segment on the basis of type of outbound telemarketing. On the basis of service styles, the outbound telemarketing market is segregated by call to action, appointment setting, database cleansing, and telesales. Telesales was one of the key segments in 2015 and is likely to retain its dominant position over the forecast period.Brochure With Latest Advancements With Application @Geographically, the outbound telemarketing market is segmented by North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. Asia Pacific accounted for majority of the market share in 2015 and is expected to retain the share over the forecast period. The cost effective and direct sales marketing involved in outbound telemarketing is one of the major drivers in this region. India accounts for a dominant market share in Asia Pacific. Europe and North America account for a considerable share in the outbound telemarketing market. Growing number of business organizations in these regions is increasing the share of the outbound telemarketing market. Middle East & Africa has an increasing demand for outbound telemarketing and is expected to grow at a substantial rate over the forecast period. The comprehensive business strategy involved in outbound telemarketing is one of the market drivers in this region. Brazil has one of the largest markets for outbound telemarketing in Latin America.The major players in the outbound telemarketing market are Telemarketing.com, Business Beanstalk, ETS, 5 Star, and TeleContact Resource Services. Some of the other prominent companies in the outbound telemarketing market are West, Sound Telecom, Generation Sales Group, DRS Acquisitions, and OPK Telemarketing.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:
Photodiode Sensor Market Grows with Next Generation Technologies

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Photodiode is a highly sensitive semiconductor electronic device that produces a potential difference or changes its electrical resistance when it is exposed to light. These product consist of customized integrate circuit. General purpose of photodiode sensors is to cater a wide range of applications. These photodiodes are used in multiple application across the globe. Photodiodes finds application in optical communication devices, position sensors, barcode scanners and surveying instruments among others. The increasing demand for consumer electronic in near future is anticipated to affect the demand of photodiode sensors positively in the coming years.Photo Diode Sensor market is expected to witness a steady growth during the forecast period from 2017-2025.For providing detail overview, these market has been segmented on the basis of application, product type, and geography. On the basis of end user Photodiode Sensor market is segmented into industrial, mobility, medical and others. On the basis of product type, the market is segmented into Silicon Avalanche Photodiodes, Indium gallium arsenide photodiodes, Surface-mount device infrared photodiodes and Lead selenide photodiodes among others. In terms of geographically, the Photodiode Sensor market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia pacific, Middle East and Africa and Latin America.Browse Our Report @Increasing demand for medical product such as spectroscopyand medical imagingacross the globe is one of the primary factors anticipated to drive the demand of photodiode sensors during the forecast period from 2017-2025. Moreover, rapidly growing demand of the portable barcode scanner in the retail industry across the globe in the point of sale (POS) application to simplify checkoutprocess is also predicted to drive the market growth rate in the coming years. A flexible design and technological development involved in photodiode and phototransistor that provides better sensitivity is expected to create significant business opportunity for photodiode sensor manufacturers across the globe. Currently, increasing application of photodiode sensors in auto motives, camera and communication equipment among others is also boosting the demand of Photodiode Sensor market. In automotive sector photodiode sensor usage in headlight dimmer, twilight detectors, sunlight detectorsand others application helps to drive the market and can be proved to be key essentials in the future.Moreover, advantages of using standard photodiodes leads to very good spectral response, low resistance and fastest photo detectionopportunities, low cost of customization, less lead time for customization in the Photodiode Sensor market. Other factors such as poor temperature stability, dark current temperature dependency are restraining the growth of the market.Apart from that factors such as unable to exceed the working temperature specified by the manufacturers are also restraining the growth of these market globally.Moreover, in various safety applications like smoke detectors, flame monitors many photodiode sensor products are being used. This growing demand in the security segment in return created opportunities for the growth of market demand of photodiode sensors in global market.Brochure With Latest Advancements With Application @Geographically, in terms of revenue, North America is expected to witness a steady growth during the forecast period. Increasing demand of photodiode sensor in the U.S,Canada and Mexico is driving this market in North America.Growth of industrial, medical and defense sectors are also expected to drive the Photodiode Sensor market in Asia Pacific, Photodiode Sensor market is mainly driven by China,Taiwan,Japan,Koreain Asia Pacific region which is expected to maintain a steady growth in the forecasted year because of rising demand in automotive, defense and aerospace industry.The Photodiode Sensor market is characterized by the presence of few key players in the market. The key companies in the market of these chip market are First-sensor (Germany), Kyosemi Corporation (Japan), Excelitas (The U.S.), OSI optoelectronics (The U.S.), Edmund Optics (The U.S.), Luna (The U.S.), Hamamatsu Photonics (Japan) ,NTT Electronics Corporation (Japan) and Quantum Devices (The U.S.) among others.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:
Traffic Management Systems Market Grows with Next Generation Technologies

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Road authorities deploy advanced traffic management systems to maximize operation performance and reliability of all aspects of road networks such as traffic management, control, and surveillance. Traffic management systems include urban and inter-urban systems, vehicle detection systems, ramp metering systems, bridge traffic management systems, and tunnel traffic management systems. Transportation systems play an important role in a countrys economic and social development.Metropolitan cities around the world are facing a challenge from increasing traffic jams due to continuous increase in population, increase in vehicle ownership, and limited road networks. This results in increased fuel wastage, traffic time, and monetary losses. According to Texas A&M Transportation Institute, on an average, Americans spend more than 5 billion hours in traffic and purchase an extra 3 billion gallons of fuel, costing more than USD 120 billion per year. According to the European Commissions department for Mobility & Transport, congestion costs Europe 1% of its GDP every year.Congestion costs China about 4% to 5% of its GDP. Traffic jams are a major problem in several other major economies across the world, which significantly affects their economic and social growth. Deployment of ATMS in urban and inter-urban road networks improves the efficiency of utilizing existing road networks. This minimizes financial burden on transportation authorities and governments by reducing necessary investments required for road network expansions for congestion control. This benefit fuels the demand for traffic management solutions across the world.Browse Our Report @Aggressive demand for traffic management solutions is expected from emerging countries such as India, China, and Brazil due to rapidly increasing congestion issues in their major cities. Some of the key factors driving the market include high growth rate of demographics as also the fact that developing countries are facing hyper urbanization. Further, availability of connectivity and hardware devices at affordable cost is another key factor driving the traffic management systems market. Growing need for real time information systems and rise in focus of government investment for setting up traffic management systems with latest technology is expected to drive the demand for traffic management systems over the next few years. Lack of uniform and standardized technology in traffic management is a key factor restraining market growth. Further, the emergence of IoT (Internet of Things) and the application of edge analytics in traffic management systems is a key opportunity for the traffic management system market.The traffic management systems market by software is segmented by route guidance, smart signaling, traffic analytics, and smart surveillance. The smart surveillance segment has been further segmented into video management software, video analytics by application, and video analytics. The video analytics by application segment has been further segmented into facial recognition, ANPR, incident detection, and pedestrian detection.Brochure With Latest Advancements With Application @The traffic management systems market by hardware has been segmented into sensors, display board, surveillance cameras and others. The sensors segment is further segmented into speed sensor, vehicle detection over the next few years. High adoption of traffic management systems in the region is resulting in this high revenue share. High penetration rate of latest technology in traffic management systems is expected to drive the market further in the region.Some of the key players operating in the traffic management systems market include Siemens AG (Munich, Germany), Hitachi Ltd (Tokyo), WS Atkins PLC (U.K.), Nuance Communications, Inc. (The U.S.), EFKON AG (Austria), Garmin International Inc. (The U.S.), Iteris, Inc. (The U.S.), Telenav, Inc (The U.S.), Thales Group (France), and TomTom NV (The Netherlands). The key players operating in the traffic management market are a focusing a considerable amount of their revenue in research and development for developing new products and gain competitive advantage over its competitors.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:
Terminal Management Systems Market: Worldwide Industry Analysis and New Market Opportunities Explored

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Terminal management system runs, manages and supports wide-ranging terminal networks from central and remote locations for sectors including oil and gas and chemical as well as banking and manufacturing sector. They help in managing and monitoring numerous terminals from a single location in a well-planned manner. Thus, terminal management systems help in aligning business objectives with its technology solutions. They offer a flexible and scalable solution thus ensuring security and safety at industrys several locations. Apart from this, terminal management systems provide other functionalities including storing and distributing data in real time. They are largely being deployed for faster growth and streamlining business processes.Seamless integration between various business operations and cost control through terminal management systems are the driving factors for terminal management systems market. Owing to the rapidly developing technology, terminal management system provide standardization of business processes which also includes centralized system for real-time monitoring and reporting. Moreover, terminal management systems provide effective contract management and planning which results in business growth owing to association between clients and partners. With increasing number of locations, the cost associated to personnel and operational requirement increases which can be reduced by deploying a terminal management system. Thus, it is expected to result in effective utilization of resources and assets of a company, further optimizing cost allocation of a project.Browse Our Report @Threats affecting the terminal management systems market is the lack of technical expertise to undertake a terminal management solution and development of business-critical modules. However, these days, industries are shifting towards outsourcing and contracting in and out terminal management alternatives to reduce personnel and operational cost with increasing locations.New opportunities that are expected to signal growth to terminal management systems market include the increasing demand from oil and gas industries across the world. Oil and gas is a critical industry vertical that needs proper monitoring, and control for extraction, storage as well as distribution. At present, several oil and gas industries are implementing terminal management solutions to design a purpose-driven approach for their increasing number of locations. Since, terminal management system ensures a safe and automatic functioning of business management operations, it is expected to explore opportunities in the oil and gas industry vertical in all the phases, upstream, midstream and downstream in the forthcoming period.Brochure With Latest Advancements With Application @Terminal management systems market can be segmented on the basis of project type, offering, industry vertical, and geography. On the basis of project type, terminal management systems market can be segmented into Brownfield project and Greenfield project. Greenfield is a project that constructs new facilities in a country outside its own headquartered country while Brownfield is a project that upgrades or modifies existing structure. On the basis of offering, the terminal management systems market can be segmented into software and services. The services can be further segmented into professional services and managed services. On the basis of industry vertical, the market can be segmented into oil and gas, chemical, and others. Oil and gas industry can be further segmented into upstream, midstream, and downstream. The others segment comprises of banking and financial services, manufacturing, automobile among others. On the basis of geography, terminal management systems market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and South America.Some of the key players in the terminal management systems market include Honeywell International, Inc., Electric Corporation, Siemens AG, ABB Ltd., General Atomics Corp., Yokogawa Electric Corporation, Emerson Electric Corporation, Implico GmbH, Rockwell Automation, Inc.., Schneider Electric., Marabu GmbH & Co. KG, and Glasswerks, AC2, Inc., Agidens International NV, Motorola Solutions, Inc., Toptech Systems, Inc., and Dearman Systems, Inc., Tema Business Systems.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:
Global Surgical Robotics System Industry Report Trends, Analysis and Forecast 2017

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ReportsWeb.com has announced the addition of the Global Surgical Robotics System Market Research Report 2017 The report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification.Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Surgical Robotics System in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaRequest a Sample copy atGlobal Surgical Robotics System market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingMazor RoboticsIntuitive SurgicalMedtech SAVerb SurgicalAuris Surgical RoboticsMedrobotics-Restoration RoboticsVirtual IncisionTHINK SurgicalMedtech S.ATransEnterixTitan MedicalAVRA Medical RoboticsComplete report is available atOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoOpen SurgeryMinimal InvasiveOn 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 Surgical Robotics System for each application, includingHospitalsAmbulatory Surgical CentersTable of Contents:1 Surgical Robotics System Market Overview2 Global Surgical Robotics System Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Surgical Robotics System Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)4 Global Surgical Robotics System Supply (Production) , Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)5 Global Surgical Robotics System Production, Revenue (Value) , Price Trend by Type6 Global Surgical Robotics System Market Analysis by ApplicationGet Discount at7 Global Surgical Robotics System Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis8 Surgical Robotics System Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Surgical Robotics System Market Forecast (2017-2022)13 Research Findings and ConclusionPurchase complete report atContact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comReportsWeb.com 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. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.Pune:505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028
Asia Pacific Mobile Protective Cases Market Estimated to Grow Impressively with a CAGR of 5.9% and Reach a Revenue of US$18000 Mn by 2026

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Recently, the Asia Pacific mobile protective cases business has risen due to the lowering prices of smartphones, increase in incomes and the increasing mobile devices usage. By looking to these key factors, a fresh study focusing the market current scenario and future growth prospects has been added to the enormous repository of online collection of Market Research Report Search Engine (MRRSE), with the title Mobile Protective Case Market: Asia Pacific Industry Analysis and Forecast, 20162026. This study aims to present a clear analysis of the mobile protective cases market, acknowledging its major sections such as market value, trends, competitive regions, for the forecast period during 2016 to 2026.Request for Sample Report:According to this report, the Asia Pacific mobile protective case market is predicted to register a CAGR of 5.9% during the forecast period. In terms of value, the Asia Pacific mobile protective case market is estimated to create revenue opportunities worth US$ 9,000 Million while expanding 1.8 times between 2016 and 2026.The report begins with the market overview of mobile protective cases, and further segregates the sector in terms of price range, using the three levels such as premium, mid and low. Whereas, based on the distribution channel, the five stores namely multi-brand, organized, independent, online as well as single brand, are evaluated thoroughly. The market size and volume forecast are introspected in relation to the above distribution channels, to enable buyers to improve their business modules.Another useful facet of the study is the country-wise evaluation of the regional market to help companies identify the most investment-friendly regions in the world. Geographically, the countries analyzed are China, India, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and Rest of Asia-Pacific. According to this report, China is expected to generate a huge revenue, while India is all poised to become an emerging market in the future. Additionally, the report offers valuable resources such as market drivers responsible for the growth of the Asia-Pacific region. By analyzing the market restraints hampering the Asia Pacific market, it helps buyers in the region to be well prepared for any challenges ahead. This section also evaluates the direct threats as well as it presents data about standardization, to offer high-quality business guidance. Besides this, it mentions the surge in payment options, as the reason behind the growth spurt in this market, and also describes about some of the big mergers. Using the combined effect of all these crucial evaluations the study predicts a bigger growth within the Asia Pacific market in the future.Finally, the study introduces the competitive landscape through the analysis of the top companies in this sector which are Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Reiko Wireless Inc., Pelican Products Inc., Moshi, Otter Products, LLC, Griffin Technology, Inc., Belkin International Inc., CG Mobile Ltd. and Incipio, LLC.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 States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comFollow Us on LinkedIn-Follow Us On Twitter-
RF Mixers Market - Global Trends, Share, Industry Size, Growth, Opportunities, and Forecast 2017-2022

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ReportsWeb.com has announced the addition of the Global RF Mixers Market Research Report 2017 The report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification.Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of RF Mixers in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringUnited StatesEUChinaJapanSouth KoreaTaiwanRequest a Sample copy atGlobal RF Mixers market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingMini CircuitsQorvoLinear TechnologyMarki MicrowaveAnalog DevicesSkyworks SolutionsNXP SemiconductorsTexas InstrumentsMecuryPeregrine SemiconductorL-3 Narda-MITEQMaxim IntegratedAnarenUMSM/A-Com Technology SolutionsIDTComplete report is available atOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoActive MixersPassive MixersOn 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 RF Mixers for each application, includingWireless infrastructureWired BroadbandIndustrialTest&MeasurementAerospace&DefenseTable of Contents:1 RF Mixers Market Overview2 Global RF Mixers Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global RF Mixers Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)4 Global RF Mixers Supply (Production) , Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)5 Global RF Mixers Production, Revenue (Value) , Price Trend by Type6 Global RF Mixers Market Analysis by ApplicationGet Discount at7 Global RF Mixers Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis8 RF Mixers Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global RF Mixers Market Forecast (2017-2022)13 Research Findings and ConclusionPurchase complete report atContact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comReportsWeb.com 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. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.Pune:505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028
MASON CITY | When Mason City Administrator Brent Trout leaves town for Topeka, Kansas, in October, he'll vacate a post that helps manage more than 15 city departments and divisions with over 200 employees total.

Perhaps more importantly, it will the first time in 10 years that the Mason City Council will need to fill the position.

Trout discusses move from Mason City to Topeka MASON CITY | Before Mayor Eric Bookmeyer began Tuesday's City Council meeting, he spent a fe

Mayor Eric Bookmeyer and city council members emphasized they only have had preliminary talks at most concerning Trout's replacement. Trout himself said Tuesday he still needs to work at least 45 calendar days, according to his contract terms.

History shows, however, that the city council won't want to make the same mistakes previous council members made before they hired Trout in 2007.

The Globe Gazette previously reported that the city council hired the Brimeyer Group search team of Hopkins, Minnesota on Aug. 1, 2006. Jim Brimeyer, head of the group, was tasked with helping the city find a replacement for former City Administrator Tim Moerman, who resigned in June 2005.

Brimeyer became so frustrated with council members that in January 2007, he offered to teach a one-night class on governing to them.

"If you don't want to do that my feelings won't be hurt," he told them. "We'll just walk."

The council voted to have the class, and Trout was hired in April 2007 as a result of the Brimeyer search. None of today's council members or the mayor were in office at the time.

Bookmeyer and council members John Lee, Janet Solberg and Paul Adams all told the Globe Gazette Wednesday they haven't had any discussions about Trout's replacement.

Updated: Topeka hires Mason City's Trout as new city administrator Mason City Administrator Brent Trout is heading to Kansas, after he was named the new city a

Lee, who represents the city's First Ward, said he would be open to using a search firm like council members did in 2006.

"My gut reaction is we've used search firms to find a fire chief and chief of police ... so I would not be opposed to using a search firm," he said.

Lee added he was unsure of what firms council members would choose from. According to Brimeyer's Facebook page, he no longer is head of the Brimeyer Group, and is former vice president of Skyehill Goverance Consulting in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.

Efforts to reach Brimeyer for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Adams, an at-large councilman, said he is unsure of whether he would support a firm, citing it is too early in the search.

"It's extremely early in the process," he said Wednesday. "We still need to have those discussions ... and hopefully we have those soon and we make a smart decision."

Trout said after Tuesday's city council meeting that it will be important for his replacement to work with other new hires the city has to make. Third Ward Councilman Brett Schoneman resigned in June. Second Ward Councilman Travis Hickey announced he will not be running for re-election Aug. 1.

Additionally, Bookmeyer announced in January he will also not be seeking re-election.

"There's going to be new leadership that's coming in," Trout said. "That's going to be a challenge of educating them, bringing them up to speed on what the city is doing with their budget and other things."
Automotive Roof Systems Market 2017 Global Analysis by Key Players  Webasto Inalfa,Inteva,Yachiyo,Mobitech Forecast 2022

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Wiseguy Reports has Published an Article Global Automotive Roof Systems Market 2017 which Focuses on Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market ShareReport DescriptionAutomotive Roof Systems can offer car drivers a real fresh air feeling. It is a fixed or operable (venting or sliding) opening in an automobile roof which allows light and/or fresh air to enter the passenger compartment. Sunroof may be manually operated or motor driven, and are available in many shapes, sizes and styles.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Automotive Roof 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, this report coversWebastoInalfaIntevaYachiyoMobitechAisin SeikiCIE AutomotiveWanchaoWuxi MingfangJohnan ManufacturingMotiontecShenghua WaveDongheeJinchengDeFuLaiMarket 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, coversInbuilt Roof SystemSpoiler Roof SystemPanoramic Roof SystemOthersMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoSedan & HatchbacksSUVsOthersFor Sample Report@There are 17 Chapters to deeply display the Europe Mosquito Control market.Chapter 1, to describe Rehabilitation Robotics Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Rehabilitation Robotics, with sales, revenue, and price of Rehabilitation Robotics, 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 Rehabilitation Robotics, 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, Rehabilitation Robotics market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Rehabilitation Robotics sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceFor any Enquiry write us @Table of Contents1 Market Overview1.1 Automotive Roof Systems Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.2.1 Inbuilt Roof System1.2.2 Spoiler Roof System1.2.3 Panoramic Roof System1.2.4 Others1.3 Market Analysis by Applications1.3.1 Sedan & Hatchbacks1.3.2 SUVs1.3.3 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 Force2 Manufacturers Profiles2.1 Webasto2.1.1 Business Overview2.1.2 Automotive Roof Systems Type and Applications2.1.2.1 Type 12.1.2.2 Type 22.1.3 Webasto Automotive Roof Systems Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.2 Inalfa2.2.1 Business Overview2.2.2 Automotive Roof Systems Type and Applications2.2.2.1 Type 12.2.2.2 Type 22.2.3 Inalfa Automotive Roof Systems Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.3 Inteva2.3.1 Business Overview2.3.2 Automotive Roof Systems Type and Applications2.3.2.1 Type 12.3.2.2 Type 22.3.3 Inteva Automotive Roof Systems Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.4 Yachiyo2.4.1 Business Overview2.4.2 Automotive Roof Systems Type and Applications2.4.2.1 Type 12.4.2.2 Type 22.4.3 Yachiyo Automotive Roof Systems Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.5 Mobitech2.5.1 Business Overview2.5.2 Automotive Roof Systems Type and Applications2.5.2.1 Type 12.5.2.2 Type 22.5.3 Mobitech Automotive Roof Systems Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)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
Zeolite Molecular Sieve Market to go beyond USD 4.4 Bn till 2023 at 4% CAGR

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Zeolite Molecular Sieve Market size was evaluated at 1.88 million tons for 2015 and predicted to register 1.3% CAGR gain by end of forecast period. Rising detergents demand due to growing hygiene consciousness among customers and increasing demand for petroleum products may promote industry growth.Low toxicity on exposure and minimized occupational risk is also predicted to drive the zeolite molecular sieve industry trend. Zeolite molecular sieves are used in detergents as ion exchange agents due to their chemical stability & high absorption capacity during production.But presence of substitutes like enzymes, metals and other chemicals can inhibit industry growth.Request for sample of this report@Global Market Insights has a new study based report titled "Zeolite Molecular Sieve Market Size By Application (Catalysts, Detergents), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Russia, Turkey, India, China, Qatar), Application Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016  2023".Rising trend for environment friendly catalyst substances like enzymes and heavy penetration of chemical catalysts can affect the zeolite molecular sieve market trend. But, silver infused sieves are considered to develop new avenues to enhance industry growth.Growing absorbents demand and energy along with rising focus on green technologies are predicted to increase the demand of the product. Petroleum can be utilised as catalysts and prove to be a main compound required in synthesis of chemicals.CategoriesZeolite molecular sieve market is segmented into two categories that include applications and geographical regions.Make an inquiry to purchase this report@Detergent application dominated the industry by contributing more than $1.56 billion for 2015. Major features and less abrasiveness are predicted to promote the industry demand in producing detergents.Chemical firms in China can favour industry growth and generate new avenues as detergent builder agents.Catalyst application is predicted to experience 4.6% CAGR during forecast period in revenue terms. Growth of petroleum industries is predicted to propel the demand for this application due to increasing use by end users.Europe led the industry and was evaluated at more than $1.1 billion for 2015. Turkey and Russia contributed to the growth of the industry in Europe.Asia Pacific zeolite molecular sieve market, dominated by India and China, is predicted to surpass $1.47 billion in revenue terms by end of forecast timeframe. Increasing demand of catalysts from petrochemical sector to manufacture derivates items was the key factor driving the industry growth in the region. Further, growing environmental concerns has enhanced the demand for zeolite to cleanse water and gas streams. Expenditure on infrastructure in India and China can influence the production of lightweight construction materials and thus increase demand for the product.Source Report@Latin America, led by Brazil, can experience growth due to increasing water purification activities. MEA zeolite molecular sieve market is also predicted to expand owing to LNG growth in Qatar which will create many business opportunities in the region.LeadersKey industry players profiled in the report include Interra Global Corporation, Arkema Group, Dalian Haixin Chemical Industries, Zeox Corporation, UOP LLC, BASF SE, Zeochem AG, Tosoh Corporation, Grace Catalysts Technologists, Tricat Group, Anhui Mingmei MinChem Company Limited, KNT Group, Chemiewerk Bad Kostritz, Union Showa K.K. and Yingkou Zhongbao Molecular Sieve Company Limited.About Global Market Insights, Inc.:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone:1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:
Global Military Biometrics Market to Reach a Value of US$ 10,620.6 Million by the End of 2025 from US$ 5,650.5 million in 2017

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The ongoing global threat of terrorism and illegal migration has resulted into governments focusing on upgrading of defense and military facilities with biometric authentication. Military Biometrics Market is expected to be a lucrative business opportunity in the upcoming years and is the focus of a new market report recently added to the gigantic online repository of Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) with a title Military Biometrics Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017  2025. The report provides a comprehensive analysis of the current market state as well as the future outlook of the global military biometrics market.Request for Sample Report:The report predicts that the global market for military biometrics will surge at a CAGR of 7.4% from 2017 to 2025. Rising at this rate, market is anticipated to reach a value of US$ 10,620.6 million by the end of 2025 from US$ 5,650.5 million in 2016. Moreover, the report provides a meticulous qualitative analysis of factors responsible for driving and restraining the markets growth, along with forthcoming opportunities in the market. It also includes porters five forces analysis, market attractiveness analysis and market share analysis of major vendors, thus highlighting a complete study of the overall competitive scenario in the global military biometrics market. Also, the market overview section of the report identifies key market dynamics such as drivers, restraints, risks and opportunities that currently have a strong impact on the global market and could sway the market over the upcoming years. All these information will help market participants in taking strategic decisions to strengthen and expand their position in the global market.Apart from the above elements, for better analysis, the global market is segregated on the basis of type and geographic regions. Based on type, the global military biometrics market is segmented into fingerprint recognition, facial recognition, iris recognition and others. The fingerprint recognition segment is expected to be the largest market during the forecast period. Likewise, the major geographical regions analyzed in the report are North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East & Africa and Latin America. Among these regions, North America is the largest market in the global military biometrics market. The serious threat of illegal migrations from Mexico has compelled the U.S. government to upgrade their authentication systems in border security.The key vendors operating in the global military biometrics market are M2SYS Technology (United States), 3M Cogent Inc. (United States), Crossmatch (United States), Safran Identity and Security (France), Aware Inc. (United States), BIO-Key International Inc. (United States), NEC Corporation (Japan), Fulcrum Biometrics LLC (United States) and HID Global Corporation (United States) among others.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 States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comFollow Us on LinkedIn-Follow Us On Twitter-
3D Printing Powder | Worldwide Industry Analysis and New Market Opportunities Explored

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A new research report by Transparency Market Research offers a comprehensive evaluation of the global 3D Printing Powder Market. The study, titled 3D Printing Powder Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024, is available for sale on the firms website.Global 3D Printing Powder Market: Brief Description3D printing powder is used in additive manufacturing process where a three-dimensional component is built up from digital data. Several materials are used to create a 3D printed object. Successive layers of 3D printing powder are used under digital control to make a three-dimensional object. Various materials that are used as 3D printing powder include stainless steel, tool steel, aluminum alloys, copper alloys, titanium alloys, diamond catalyst alloys, super alloys of chromium and nickel, and pure metals such as gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. 3D printing powder has characteristic morphology and packing density that ensure good flow and uniformity in 3D printing. Size and shape of powder differ broadly depending on the processing technology and end-user requirement. 3D printing materials are mostly available in spherical shape with particle size ranging between 50 m and 150 m.Browse Market Research Report @Global 3D Printing Powder Market: Major Trends3D printing powder is also known as additive manufacturing material or rapid prototyping material. Several techniques are used to produce 3D printing powder. These include water atomization, gas atomization, plasma atomization, and centrifugal atomization. 3D printing powder has extensive usage in numerous industries such as aerospace & defense, medical, automotive, and architecture. The aerospace & defense industry is the major consumer of 3D printing powder. Aircraft and spacecraft used in commercial and military purposes, airbus, missiles, engine components, etc., are principal applications of 3D printing powder in the aerospace industry. Usage of this powder ensures excellent durability and toughness in products along with weight reduction. 3D printing powder is used in orthopedic implants in the medical industry.They are used to manufacture standard and custom implants in a cost-effective manner. They are also implemented in the drug discovery process. 3D printing powder is used to manufacture dental crowns, bridges, removable dentures, etc., in the dental industry. On the other hand, usage of 3D printing powder in the automotive industry helps design automotive components with excellent mechanical strength and amended functionalities. 3D printing powder is used in prototyping and tooling by automotive manufacturers owing to improved robustness. 3D printing powder is used in architectural components. It is also consumed in the production of several consumer goods such as watch, belts, cosmetics, jewelry, and footwear.Global 3D Printing Powder Market: Regional OutlookThe global market for 3D printing powder has witnessed significant growth in the past few years. North America was the largest market for 3D printing powder in the past few years followed by Europe and Asia Pacific in 2014. Growth in the aerospace & defense industry favored the progress of 3D printing powder market in North America. Developed countries such as the U.S. and Canada generated strong demand for 3D printing powder in the past few years. Europe also held substantial share of the global 3D printing powder market in 2014. However, Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing market in the next few years. Potential market growth is anticipated in this region during the forecast period. Increasing presence of aerospace and automotive manufacturers in developing countries such as Japan, China, and South Korea boosts the market growth in this region. Latin America and Middle East & Africa are also anticipated to be lucrative markets for 3D printing powder in the next few years.Rising demand for lightweight aircraft components with superior functionality is principally driving demand for 3D printing powder. Increasing demand for jet engine components propels significant demand for 3D printing powder. Furthermore, rising demand for medical implants in the elderly population boosts the 3D printing powder market. However, lack of awareness and economic barriers are anticipated to hinder growth in the 3D printing powder market. Enhanced research and innovation programs are being carried out to bring in technological development in the 3D printing powder market. Such initiatives are projected to create emerging opportunities in the market, enabling accessibility of 3D printing powder to small- and medium-scale manufacturers.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the 3D Printing Powder market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market@Global 3D Printing Powder Market: Companies Mentioned in the ReportKey manufacturers of 3D printing powder include Arcam AB, Arkema S.A., Carpenter Technology Corporation, Erasteel Kloster AB, Metalysis, Praxair Technology, Inc., and Sandvik AB.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:Visit Blog :
Corrosion Monitoring | Industry Outlook, Growth Prospects and Key Opportunities

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A new research report by Transparency Market Research offers a comprehensive evaluation of the global Corrosion Monitoring Market. The study, titled Corrosion Monitoring Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024, is available for sale on the firms website.Corrosion is an electrochemical process that transforms metals and alloys into oxides, hydroxides, and aqueous salts. In the corrosion process, there are generally two types of reactions that take place. The first is the anodic reaction, in which reaction metal atoms are ionized and pass into solutions, leaving their electrons in the original metal. In the second process, the cathodic reaction, reduction takes place and metals are degraded by chemical reactions with O2 and H2O. Corrosion monitoring is the process of controlling and preventing of corrosion. In this process, the corrosion monitoring is done by using probes. The probes, which can be mechanical, electrical, and electromechanical, are inserted into the process stream and constantly exposed to the process stream. Corrosion monitoring techniques provide direct and online measurement of metal loss and corrosion rate in industrial process.Browse Market Research Report @There are a number of corrosion monitoring techniques being used in the industry to estimate metal loss and to take preventive measures such as weight loss coupons, electrical resistance, linear polarization, hydrogen penetration, galvanic current, and microbial. Weight loss coupons, electrical resistance, and linear polarization resistance are the most popular techniques used in industrial corrosion monitoring systems.Corrosion monitoring systems have applications where the risks of operation are high such as, in areas, where corrosion inhibitors are used and other processes involving high corrosion. The corrosion monitoring system is essential to maintain safety standards in batch productions, where corrosive component is concentrated due to repeated cycles. The oil & gas industry is the major application area for corrosion monitoring system. The oil & gas industry comprises upstream, downstream, and midstream industries and every stream is under strict scrutiny by regulators and environmental agencies. Thus, the industry needs a high level of safety and protection standards to increase their assets durability and a best practice to manage the corrosion-free environment. The need of corrosion monitoring system in oil & gas industry are essential in specific areas where accidental safety and prevention is highly important such as flow line, gathering system, transport pipeline, water injection facilities, vessels, chemical injection system, drilling mud system, etc. Increasing exploration & production of crude oil and rising demand from the downstream market is likely to propel the demand for corrosion monitoring system in the near future. Paper & pulp industry is another key market for corrosion monitoring in areas such as digesters and boiler systems.Asia-Pacific has been the key region for corrosion monitoring system in the global corrosion monitoring market in 2015 followed by North America. The region is likely to demonstrate the significant growth during the forecast period due to rise in demand from the rapidly developing economies within the region such as India and China. The North America region is expected to maintain its share in the global corrosion monitoring market due to increasing shale gas exploration activities during the forecast period. Expansion of stabilizing chemical manufacturing industries is expected to support the same trend in North America for corrosion monitoring market. Increasing investment in oil & gas and chemical industry concerning the high safety standards are anticipated to boost the corrosion monitoring market during the forecast period.The key players operates in the corrosion monitoring market are Intertek (U.K.), SGS SA (Switzerland), Cosasco (U.S.), Korosi Specindo (Indonesia), Rysco Corrosion Services (Canada), BAC Corrosion Control (U.K.) Applied Corrosion Monitoring (U.S.), Permasense (U.K.), ICORR Technologies (U.S.), and Pyramid Technical Services (India).Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Corrosion Monitoring market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market@The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth insights, understanding market evolution by tracking historical developments, and analyzing the present scenario and future projections based on optimistic and likely scenarios. Each research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology developments, types, applications, and the competitive landscape.The study is a source of reliable data on:Key market segments and sub-segmentsEvolving market trends and dynamicsChanging supply and demand scenariosQuantifying market opportunities through market sizing and market forecastingTracking current trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive insightsOpportunity mapping in terms of technological breakthroughsThe 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, Luxembourg)Eastern Europe (Poland, Russia)Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand)Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, 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:Visit Blog :
Gas Gensets | Emergence of advanced technologies and global industry analysis

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A new research report by Transparency Market Research offers a comprehensive evaluation of the global Gas Gensets Market. The study, titled Gas Gensets Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024, is available for sale on the firms website.Gas gensets is a reciprocating internal combustion engine that is used across the globe for distributed power production. Gas gensets employ natural gas to power generators and produce electricity. Currently, the market for gensets is dominated by diesel gensets. Diesel is used to fuel the generators; however, many countries have laid several norms to regulate the high levels of harmful emissions from diesel powered gensets. This is expected to positively influence the global gas gensets market in the near future. Demand for gas gensets is driven by the widening electricity demand-supply gap, rising industrialization, low operational cost, and rising carbon emissions. Gas gensets are broadly used in various end-user segments such as pharmaceutical & health care industries, communication & transportation systems, landfill sites, and manufacturing & water treatment facilities as a back-up power source during grid failure or power outages. The gas gensets market is expected to expand at a healthy pace in the near future due to the rise in environmental concerns, increase in awareness about greenhouse gas emissions, and volatility in the oil & gas market.Browse Market Research Report @The gas gensets market can be classified into two segments: application and geography. On the basis of application, the gas gensets market can be divided into standby power, primary power, and peak shaving. Many developed regions, where electricity outages are less frequent, use gas gensets for standby power. On the other hand, many developing regions where electricity demand is very high and power cuts are more common, gas gensets are used as the primary power supply, particularly in hospitals. Gas gensets also allow companies to lower expenses, as these may be deployed when the price of electricity is very high. Gensets can be configured easily to form multiple-unit power plants and the product range is suitable for a variety of business applications, regardless of location. The in-built heat-recovery process gives it competitive advantage over others, which eliminates the need for additional power required to drive the cooling system and thus increasing overall efficiency.The gas gensets market can also be segmented on the basis of geographical regions. North America is one of the rapidly growing regions for the gas gensets market. The market is dominated by the U.S. due to the tremendous growth in the production of natural gas and shale gas. The region has seen a steep decline in natural gas prices. Strong opportunity for growth exists in the next few years in the developing economies of Asia Pacific owing to the rapid globalization in countries such as Japan, China, and India. The poor distribution and management of power grids, leading to a rise in power outages, in developing economies is expected to continue to remain a major factor in boosting the demand for gas powered generators in Asia Pacific.Europe also accounts for a large share of the gas gensets market. Gas gensets are mainly used as standby power sources in the region. Major players operating in the gas gensets market are largely focusing on the developing economies for their immense market potential. Competition from diesel powered gensets is likely to be stiff due to their reliability and low maintenance cost, however the increasing use of eco-friendly fuels amid the growing restriction and regulations by governments, the global gas gensets market is expected to experience remarkable growth in the next eight years.Major players operating in the gas gensets market include Caterpillar, General Electric Company, Cummins, Dresser-Rand, MTU Onsite Energy GmbH, Generac Power Systems, and Wartsila.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Gas Gensets market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market@The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth insights, understanding market evolution by tracking historical developments, and analyzing the present scenario and future projections based on optimistic and likely scenarios. Each research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology developments, types, applications, and the competitive landscape.The study is a source of reliable data on:Key market segments and sub-segmentsEvolving market trends and dynamicsChanging supply and demand scenariosQuantifying market opportunities through market sizing and market forecastingTracking current trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive insightsOpportunity mapping in terms of technological breakthroughsThe 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, Luxembourg)Eastern Europe (Poland, Russia)Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand)Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, 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:
2017 Stationary Lead Acid Battery market report for period 2017 till 2022 companies Exide, Enersys, Hitachi Chemical Energy Technology, Leoch, GS Yuasa Corporate, Hoppecke, Narada Power, Ritar Power, Amara Raja and Others

Stationary Lead Acid Battery

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Global Stationary Lead Acid Battery market report provides detailed analysis of companies namely Exide, Enersys, Hitachi Chemical Energy Technology, Leoch, GS Yuasa Corporate, Hoppecke, Narada Power, Ritar Power, Amara Raja and others. This report study includes global market statistics and analysis for example, company performance, historical analysis 2012 to 2016, market forecast 2017 to 2022 in terms of volume, revenue, YOY growth rate, and CAGR for the year 2017 to 2022, etc.Lead-Acid battery uses a chemical reaction to do work on charge and produce a voltage between their output terminals. Despite having a very low energy-to-weight ratio and a low energy-to-volume ratio, its ability to supply high surge currents means that the cells have a relatively large power-to-weight ratio. Stationary Lead-Acid battery widely used in UPS, Telecommunication applications, Utility/switchgear, etc.Request for Free Sample Copy of Global Stationary Lead Acid Battery Market 2017 at @Top Company Profiles and Analysis included in this report: Exide Enersys Hitachi Chemical Energy Technology Leoch GS Yuasa Corporate Hoppecke Narada Power Ritar Power Amara Raja OthersStationary Lead Acid Battery Market: Key Product Type 2 V 4 V 6 V 8 V 12V 16V OtherStationary Lead Acid Battery Market: Key Application Telecommunication Applications Uninterruptible Power System Utility/Switchgear Emergency Lighting Security System Cable Television/Broadcasting Oil and Gas Renewable Energy Railway Backup Home/Residential Backup Power OtherStationary Lead Acid Battery Market: Key Region 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) OthersStationary Lead Acid Battery market belongs to chemicals and materials industry and it comprise of detailed quantitative as well as qualitative information for Stationary Lead Acid Battery market. This research report provides consumption data and expected growth rate for major consuming regions worldwide. Stationary Lead Acid Battery market report provides detailed segmentation for market of Stationary Lead Acid Battery based on products, applications, and size industry for all major regions and countries. This market research study further provides detailed information pertaining to global production, import and export data for all key regions across the globe. Moreover, this study further provides major drivers, restraints impacting Stationary Lead Acid Battery market. Additionally, the report provides the comprehensive study of expected opportunities in Stationary Lead Acid Battery market in coming future.The Stationary Lead Acid Battery market analysis report provides detailed value chain for analysis of Stationary Lead Acid Battery market. The value chain helps to analyze major upstream in raw materials, major equipments, manufacturing process, downstream customer analysis and major distributor analysis.The report also covers in-depth description, competitive scenario, wide product portfolio of prime players active in this market and business strategies adopted by competitors along with their SWOT analysis. Side by side, it also explicitly provides information about mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and all the other important activities happened in current and past few years. 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Remote Patient Monitoring Products Market 2017 Global Analysis by Key Players  Medtronic,Philips Healthcare,Boston Scientific Corporation,St. Jude Medical,GE Healthcare Forecast 2022

Remote Patient Monitoring Industry

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Wiseguy Reports has Published an Article Global Remote Patient Monitoring Products Market 2017 which Focuses on Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market ShareReport DescriptionRemote Patient Monitoring Products is the system to measure vital signs remotely, and to manage escalation strategies based on pre-determined rules applied on the measured data. Data transfer can be achieved via wireless communication means and or data transfer over other media, such as a telephone or computer network or via an optical link. Remote Patient Monitoring Products improves patient visibility and interaction, which is beneficial at any point of the care continuum.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Remote Patient Monitoring Products 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 coversMedtronicPhilips HealthcareBoston Scientific CorporationSt. Jude MedicalGE HealthcareBiotronikNihon KohdenAbbottHoneywellSHL TelemedicineTeleMedCareMarket 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, coversCOPDDiabetesCardiopathyOthersMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoHome CareLong-term Care CentersHospital CareFor Sample Report@There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Remote Patient Monitoring Products market.Chapter 1, to describe Remote Patient Monitoring Products Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Remote Patient Monitoring Products, with sales, revenue, and price of Remote Patient Monitoring Products, 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 Remote Patient Monitoring Products, 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, Remote Patient Monitoring Products market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Remote Patient Monitoring Products sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceFor any Enquiry write us @Table of Contents1 Remote Patient Monitoring Products Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.2.1 COPD1.2.2 Diabetes1.2.3 Cardiopathy1.2.4 Others1.3 Market Analysis by Applications1.3.1 Home Care1.3.2 Long-term Care Centers1.3.3 Hospital Care1.4 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 Force2 Manufacturers Profiles2.1 Medtronic2.1.1 Business Overview2.1.2 Remote Patient Monitoring Products Type and Applications2.1.2.1 Type 12.1.2.2 Type 22.1.3 Medtronic Remote Patient Monitoring Products Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.2 Philips Healthcare2.2.1 Business Overview2.2.2 Remote Patient Monitoring Products Type and Applications2.2.2.1 Type 12.2.2.2 Type 22.2.3 Philips Healthcare Remote Patient Monitoring Products Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.3 Boston Scientific Corporation2.3.1 Business Overview2.3.2 Remote Patient Monitoring Products Type and Applications2.3.2.1 Type 12.3.2.2 Type 22.3.3 Boston Scientific Corporation Remote Patient Monitoring Products Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.4 St. Jude Medical2.4.1 Business Overview2.4.2 Remote Patient Monitoring Products Type and Applications2.4.2.1 Type 12.4.2.2 Type 22.4.3 St. Jude Medical Remote Patient Monitoring Products Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.5 GE Healthcare2.5.1 Business Overview2.5.2 Remote Patient Monitoring Products Type and Applications2.5.2.1 Type 12.5.2.2 Type 22.5.3 GE Healthcare Remote Patient Monitoring Products Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)ContinuedBuy 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Medical Automation Market | Key Trends and Opportunity Analysis 2024

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Medical Automation Market: OverviewIn a highly competitive pharmaceutical industry, automation can prove to be a massive operational advantage and a key differentiator for players of all sizes. The future of the healthcare industry is increasingly being defined by the advent of faster, more accurate, and easy-to-use devices that are riding high on the wave of medical automation. With a massive number of people crossing the 60-year threshold, the healthcare industry is facing a pressing need to scale up resources and brace for a spike in healthcare needs. This is where automation is expected to be the real game changer.There are several market dynamics that are collectively creating a need for more automation in the medical industry. According to an article published in Health Affairs, there will be a shortage of 260,000 registered nurses by 2025 in the U.S. The scenario wont be drastically different in other developed countries where the workforce is aging rapidly. With fewer humans available to carry out all of the tasks in the healthcare industry, healthcare institutions and pharmaceutical companies are focusing on automation to get redundant and repetitive tasks done. However, as has been the case with several other industries, automation is regarded as a job killer and has been opposed in several countries worldwide.These push and pull factors will decide how this market shapes up in the coming years. This is what the report aims to assess. The report creates segments of the global medical automation market based on criteria such as applications, end-users, and geography.Global Medical Automation Market: Drivers and RestraintsCompanies and medical institutions are channeling more funds into medical automation systems and software enticed by benefits such as cost containment, increased speed, greater transparency in processing, and reduction in errors. This thus lays a strong foundation for the growth of the global medical automation market. Another change that is driving the adoption of medical automation is the high degree of interest in point-of-care testing devices for pregnancy, blood glucose levels, blood pressure, and HIV.On the flip side, the lack of widespread standardization and a heterogeneous regulatory environment will create several obstacles for companies operating in the medical automation market. Moreover, not all healthcare institutions can afford medical automation. It will be a few years before developing countries wholly embrace this trend.The top trends that are shaping the global medical automation market are affordable automation software and systems that make everyday tasks easier. There is a massive market that hitherto remains untapped in emerging countries, where the healthcare sector is heaving under the burden of obsolete machinery and techniques. This gap could provide a window of opportunity for companies offering medical automation software and solutions.View Report-Global Medical Automation Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe global market for medical automation can be segmented broadly based on the following fronts: End user, application, and geography. The key application areas of medical automation are therapeutic automation, lab automation, pharmacy automation, and medical automation. The segment of medical automation is composed of automated imaging and analysis and point of care testing market. The market for therapeutic automation can similarly be split into surgical and non-surgical automation. Each of these sub-segments can be further segmented based on the automation devices.Likewise, the market for lab automation can be classified into liquid handling, automated storage systems, robots and informatics, and microplate readers. The market for pharmacy automation can be further split into automated dispensaries, automated pharmaceutical packaging, and automated/smart medication compounding. The key end users in the global medical automation market are: Research labs, pharmacies, hospital and diagnostic centers, and home care centers.Using geography as a criteria, the global medical automation market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. The market for medical automation is currently the largest in North America. It is also well-established in Europe. The rising demand for medical automation solutions and software in Asian countries such as Taiwan and China will be a crucial turning point for the market.Companies that are currently at the forefront of the global medical automation market are: Carefusion Corp, Medtronic, Inc., GE Healthcare, Intuitive Surgical Inc., Roche Holding AG, Omnicell, Inc, Siemens Healthcare, Philips Healthcare, Stryker Corporation, St. Jude Medical, Inc., and others.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.Request a brochure of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving Medical Automation Market during 2016- 2024About 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:
Practice Management Systems Market | Key Trends and Opportunity Analysis 2024

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Global Practice Management Systems Market: SnapshotMedical practice is characterized as the science and the specialty of mending as per logical determination of the infection. Restorative practice along these lines, requires huge volume of patient information which is hard to keep up over the long haul particularly if it's recorded in the physical type of archives and documents. The passage of computer programming and programming frameworks like SaaS (Software as a Service) has extraordinarily aided the general procedure of patient information and restorative practice information administration. Medicinal Practice Management System (PMS) is a product that helps restorative association (or facility) to record persistent information, settle meetings with specialists, keep up record of protection installment organizations (and reaching them when required), perform charging related undertakings and create last reports. PMS these days are incorporated with Electronic Medical Records (EMR) that arrangements entirely with understanding therapeutic information (restorative and treatment history) as a comprehensive information administration framework.PMS is planned by the volume of information that should be kept up, the measure of the association and their money related limit. For the most part PMS are named; desktop variations for restricted PCs, client server (physical servers) for expansive foundations with solid fund and prerequisite for simple access to patient's private information, and web server (virtual/cloud servers) for establishments that require cost sparing options. Software companies offer administrations in various value ranges differing from couple of hundreds to thousands of dollars relying on previously mentioned parameters. Incorporated frameworks (EMR and PMS) are more costly in contrast with independent administrations.Practice Management Systems Market: OverviewMedical practice is defined as the science and the art of healing in accordance with scientific diagnosis of the disease. Medical practice therefore, requires significant volume of patient data which is difficult to maintain in the long run especially if its recorded in the physical form of documents and files. The entry of computer software and software systems like SaaS (Software as a Service) has greatly assisted in the overall process of patient data and medical practice data management. Medical Practice Management System (PMS) is a software that helps medical organization (or clinic) to record patient data, fix appointments with practitioners, maintain record of insurance payment companies (and contacting them when required), perform billing related tasks and generate final reports. PMS nowadays are integrated with Electronic Medical Records (EMR) that deals strictly with patient medical data (medical and treatment history) as an all inclusive data management system.PMS is designed according to the volume of data that needs to be maintained, the size of the organization and their financial capacity. Generally PMS are classified as; desktop variants for limited computers, client-server (physical servers) for large institutions with strong finance and requirement for easy access to patients confidential data, and internet server (virtual/cloud servers) for institutions that require cost saving alternatives. Software companies offer services in different price ranges varying from few hundreds to thousands of dollars depending upon aforesaid parameters. Integrated systems (EMR and PMS) are more expensive in comparison to standalone services. Some companies that provide these services are Acrendo Softwares, Allegiance MD, WRS Health, Practo Ray and Athena Health to name a few.View Report-Practice Management Systems Market: Opportunities and TrendsPMS have a great future ahead, as medical institutions worldwide see it as a better alternative to physical document records which have a very high error rate bringing into light the nature of human incompetency, that are minimized to a great extent in PMS. Also, medical errors result in severe adverse events and death, this is efficiently tackled by the presence of automated programmed software. Cost saving is another financial reason for a shift into PMS, it reduces data management costs and as a result the overall medical treatment costs. Medical insurance claims and payouts also see a positive change with fast processing times. Countries like the U.S. also offer subsidies to hospitals opting for such systems.Practice Management Systems Market: RestraintsPMS however, is useful only as long as the personals are trained in the dynamics of the software, this requires training and practice. Many countries also have strict patient confidentiality laws, any breach or leak patient records may pose a great threat to the integrity of the whole process and shall render an institution liable for prosecution by the law. In such a situation, PMS becomes more of a liability than assistance. However, with entry of Asian software companies like Practo Ray who have developed portable android based software systems can be easily accessed and require minimum training. Cost effective alternatives are on the rise along with better algorithms to integrate the complete process of medical practice.Practice Management Systems Market: Regional InsightPMS market is expected to increase owing to the presence of virtual/cloud based service systems, these enable companies far offshore to provide services at competitive prices. Service providers are at present largely based in the North America and European region, where the demand is the highest owing to large population patients with health insurance. The PMS market in Asia-Pacific is estimated to grow at the highest CAGR owing to more number of companies establishing business in this region coupled shift in service providers from the North American region to emerging economies. Also, with greater returns on investment a large number of Asian medical institutions are now opting for PMS.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 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, Luxembourg)Eastern Europe (Poland, Russia)Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand)Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, North Africa)Request a brochure of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving Practice Management Systems Market during 2016- 2024About 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:
NORTHWOOD | North Iowa veterans and their families are invited to attend a picnic Saturday in Northwood.

The All Veterans, All Eras Family BBQ Picnic  in its 13th year  is hosted by Vietnam Veterans of America, Jerry Parmley North Star Chapter 790. Serving will begin at noon at the Northwood Shelter House on the Worth County Fairgrounds.

Burgers, brats, sloppy joes, hot dogs and lemonade as well as plates and utensils will be provided. Guests are encouraged to bring appetizers, side dishes, salads and desserts to share.

The event will also feature music performed by a four-piece band, door prizes and camaraderie for veterans of all branches of service and their families. Shuttle assistance will also be provided.

Historically, the event serves more than 500 veterans and their families.

For questions, call Linda Parmley at 641-909-4579.
Pediatric Interventional Cardiology Market | Industry Insights, Outlook and Forecast up to 2024

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Pediatric Interventional Cardiology Market: OverviewInterventional cardiology incorporates catheter based treatments for cardiac disorders and is performed by certified interventional cardiologists. Majority of the interventional cardiology procedures are considered to be minimally invasive as these do not involve the use of multiple instruments to enter the body or large incisions (open surgeries). These procedures involve the use of catheters inserted into femoral artery in the upper leg. Real time x-ray is used to guide the catheter towards heart or vascular area. There are several advantages of interventional cardiological procedures such as low risk of infection, short postoperative recovery times and avoidance of large scars.Pediatric Interventional Cardiology Market: Trends and OpportunitiesCardiac catheterization, percutaneous valve repair, balloon valvuloplasty, embolic protection, use of stents, and atherectomy are some of the types of the interventional cardiology procedures. Disorders such as coronary artery disease, heart valve disorder and peripheral artery disorders are some of the conditions treated with the help of interventional cardiology procedures. Interventional treatment plans are recommended on a patient-by-patient basis and there are certain risks associated with interventional procedures. For instance, during angioplasty a patient may have a heart attack, coronary arteries can be damaged during the procedure and these can also lead to kidney damage and brain strokes. Complications of these procedures are blood clots, restenosis and bleeding.Cardiac catheterization procedures are instrumental in providing care for the pediatrics with congenital heart defects. Initially these procedures were performed as diagnostics that helped determine hemodynamic information and identify childs heart defects. However, advances in technology have altered the focus of cardiac catheterization procedures from diagnosis to treatment. Technological sophistication in devices such as catheters, balloons, stents and cardiac catheterization equipment and development of echocardiography to diagnose heart defects further support the use of these devices in enhancing the benefits of interventional cardiology procedures in children.Pediatric interventional cardiology market exhibits immense growth potential majorly due to increasing pediatric patient base and huge unmet needs of the same.View Report-Pediatric Interventional Cardiology Market: SegmentationThe market for pediatric interventional cardiology can be analyzed on the basis of several heart disease valve closure devices along with transcatheter heart valves and others. Heart closure devices comprises atrial septal defect and ventricular septal defect closure devices, transcatheter valves are further categorized into transcatheter pulmonary and aortic valves. Angioplasty balloons, catheters, guidewires and catheters represent other interventional cardiology devices.The geographical landscape of the market includes the analysis for four major geographies namely Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe and RoW. North America and Europe would account for the largest market shares, attributed to presence of technologically advanced healthcare infrastructure and increasing preference for minimally invasive procedures for correction of heart defects. However, with the increasing patient base and lucrative business opportunities in the emerging economies such as India and China would increase the growth of the market in these regions in near future.Pediatric Interventional Cardiology Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe factors influencing the growth of the market are continuous technological advances coupled with high degree of adoption of advanced technologies. In addition, increasing preference for minimally invasive procedures, increased investments in R&D by the market players towards development of novel devices and increased affordability of patients further fuel the growth of the market. On the other hand high cost of these procedures and presence of limited resources for effective diagnosis of heart defects might hamper the growth of the market.Furthermore, focus on development of biodegradable interventional cardiology devices along with impressive growth and uptake of transcatheter heart valves would provide lucrative growth prospects for the established and emerging players in this market. St. Jude Medical, Abbott Vascular, Cordis Corporation, GE Healthcare, Medtronic, Inc., Boston Scientific Corporation and are some of the key players competing in this market.Request a brochure of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving Pediatric Interventional Cardiology Market during 2016- 2024About 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:
2017 Rhenium Market Research Report for Period 2017 till 2022 Buss & Buss Spezialmetalle, Freeport-McMoRan, H.C. Starck, Thompson Creek and Others

Rhenium

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Global rhenium market report provides detailed analysis of companies namely Buss & Buss Spezialmetalle, Freeport-McMoRan, H.C. Starck, Thompson Creek and others. This report study includes global market statistics and analysis for example, company performance, historical analysis 2012 to 2016, market forecast 2017 to 2022 in terms of volume, revenue, YOY growth rate, and CAGR for the year 2017 to 2022, etc.Rhenium is a precious and rare metal. Its melting point is 3,186Deg C., which is the third highest melting point of all the elements. This, together with the highest boiling point (5,596Deg C.), high density (21.03 g/cc) and high hardness and resistance to corrosion and deformation, makes rhenium unique. Rhenium is a strategic commodity in applications requiring resistance to extreme high temperatures.Request for Free Sample Copy of Global Rhenium Market 2017 atTop Company Profiles and Analysis included in this report: Buss & Buss Spezialmetalle Freeport-McMoRan H.C. Starck Haraeus JCC KETE KGHM Kohsei LS-Nikko Molymet Redmet Rio Tinto Thompson Creek Toma Group OthersRhenium Market: Key Product Type: APR Rhenium MetaRhenium Market: Key Application Alloys Catalyst OthersRhenium Market: Key Region 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) OtherRhenium market belongs to chemicals and materials industry and it comprise of detailed quantitative as well as qualitative information for Rhenium market. This research report provides consumption data and expected growth rate for major consuming regions worldwide. Rhenium market report provides detailed segmentation for market of Rhenium based on products, applications, and size industry for all major regions and countries. This market research study further provides detailed information pertaining to global production, import and export data for all key regions across the globe. Moreover, this study further provides major drivers, restraints impacting Rhenium market. Additionally, the report provides the comprehensive study of expected opportunities in Rhenium market in coming future.The Rhenium market analysis report provides detailed value chain for analysis of Rhenium market. The value chain helps to analyze major upstream in raw materials, major equipments, manufacturing process, downstream customer analysis and major distributor analysis.The report also covers in-depth description, competitive scenario, wide product portfolio of prime players active in this market and business strategies adopted by competitors along with their SWOT analysis. Side by side, it also explicitly provides information about mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and all the other important activities happened in current and past few years. The Rhenium market report explores manufacturers competitive scenario and provides market share for all major players of this market based on production capacity, sales, revenue, geographical presence and other major factors.Related Reports:Enquire before Buying @Rhenium Market Research Industry Report is prepared with the help of extensive primary and secondary sources, directories, journals, newsletters and third-party application like Hoovers, Factiva, Bloomberg, Businessweek, etc.Table of Contents:Part 1. Exclusive SummaryPart 2. Methodology2.1 Research Methodology2.2 Geographic Scope2.3 Years ConsideredPart 3. Introduction3.1 Product Overview3.2 Ammonium Perrhenate & Rhenium Metal3.3 Applications of RheniumContinue (About Us:Market Reports Company is a global research and consulting company. We provide customized reports. We can study and analyze any market based on wide range of parameters.What we offer: Customized Reports: we provide customized report study on any market or industry. Region Specific Study: If you need region specific or if you are searching for particular region market study then, we have expert research team for that. How we work: We work in all domains and industries, you name it and we provide the market research industry report analysis of it. Expertise: Superior Research Team, 24*7 Customer Care ServiceContact UsJason Smith,Sales Manager, Global Business Development,Website:Email: jasonsmith@marketreportscompany.comContact us: +1-888-220-3424Address: 20 N State Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60602 United States
Anti-Obesity Drugs Market | Key Trends and Forecast Research Report 2024

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Global Anti-Obesity Drugs Market: OverviewThe World Health Organization reveals that global obesity has more than doubled since 1980, with over 1.9 billion adults overweight in 2014, of which, more than 600 million were obese. Percentage-wise, an estimated 39% of adults were overweight and 13% were obese in 2014. An additional 42 million children below the age of five were found to be overweight or obese in 2013. Based on two surveys conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an astounding 68.8% of the U.S. adult population is considered to be overweight or obese. It is no surprise, then, that today, most of the worlds population lives in countries where obesity and overweight are claiming more lives than underweight and malnutrition.This alarming rise in the prevalence of obesity, particularly in the developed region of North America, has been single-handedly propelling the anti-obesity drugs market. Anti-obesity drugs  both prescription and OTC  are of two main types: Centrally-acting drugs and peripherally-acting drugs. These contain a host of pharmacological agents that control or reduce weight by altering either the absorption of calories or regulating appetite.This comprehensive research publication offers clients an exhaustive database of accurate, authentic, objective, and the most recent information on the global anti-obesity drugs market. The overall market is segmented based on several key criteria and each segment is thoroughly evaluated to identify the leading and weakest categories. Statistical data and inputs from industry experts support the qualitative data offered in the report and help clients devise actionable and profitable decisions for the future.View Report-Global Anti-Obesity Drugs Market: Key Trends and Regional OutlookThe global market for anti-obesity drugs has been expanding at a significant pace in recent years. With the obvious driving factor being the surge in obesity levels around the globe, this market is also propelled by the strong pipeline of anti-obesity drugs. Advanced medical research by drug-manufacturing companies, medical universities and institutes, and government agencies has also substantially contributed toward the growth of the anti-obesity drugs market.The anti-obesity drugs market in North America has been flourishing over the years owing to the high level of awareness among the population about obesity and the various risks arising from the medical condition, increased healthcare expenditure, the presence of favorable reimbursement policies, extensive research and development activities in the field, and the increased involvement of government as well as non-government organizations in generating awareness and funding research.The Asia Pacific market for anti-obesity drugs is anticipated to gain momentum in the coming years thanks to the rise in obese population, resulting from increased spending on processed and packaged foods and the growing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. Improving healthcare infrastructure and mounting healthcare expenditure is also expected to drive the market for anti-obesity drugs in APAC.Global Anti-Obesity Drugs Market: Competitive Landscape SnapshotThe leading companies operating in the global anti-obesity drugs market include Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc., Takeda Pharmaceuticals Company Limited, Zydus Cadila, Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Merck & Co. Inc., Eisai Co. Ltd., Novo Nordisk A/S, Orexigen Therapeutics Inc., Zafgen, GlaxoSmithKline PLC, Norgine B.V., Pfizer Inc., and F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG. Owing to the increasing prevalence of obesity in several parts of the world, the degree of competition among players in the anti-obesity drugs market has been on the rise. Companies have been heavily investing in the development of agents with increased weight-loss efficacy and a high safety threshold. This gives players a greater chance of approval from regulatory bodies such as the US FDA.Companies around the globe are also focused on the development as well as successful commercialization of anti-obesity drugs that are both clinically effective and safe in the long run and also have the potential to generate massive sales and reach blockbuster status. The current portfolio of prescription weight-loss drugs and emerging anti-obesity drugs in pre-clinical or clinical trials acts as a significant force driving the global anti-obesity drugs market.Request a brochure of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving Anti-Obesity Drugs Market during 2016- 2024About 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:
2017 Diphenyl Oxide Market Research Report for Period 2017 till 2022 Eastman, Dow, Shandong Tianyi, Jingdong, HJ Arochem and Others

Diphenyl Oxide

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Global Diphenyl Oxide market report provides detailed analysis of companies namely Eastman, Dow, Shandong Tianyi, Jingdong, HJ Arochem and others. This report study includes global market statistics and analysis for example, company performance, historical analysis 2012 to 2016, market forecast 2017 to 2022 in terms of volume, revenue, YOY growth rate, and CAGR for the year 2017 to 2022, etc.Diphenyl ether is the organic compound with the formula O(C6H5)2. The main application of diphenyl ether is as a eutectic mixture with biphenyl, used as a heat transfer medium. Such a mixture is well-suited for heat transfer applications because of the relatively large temperature range of its liquid state. This simple diaryl ether also enjoys a variety of niche applications like flame retardant, resin, perfume, foaming agent, etc.Request for Free Sample Copy of Global Diphenyl Oxide Market 2017 atTop Company Profiles and Analysis included in this report: Eastman Dow Vikram Thermo HJ Arochem KDAC Chem Jiangsu Suhua Shandong Dadi Shandong Tianyi Jiangsu Zhongneng Shouguang Derun Jiangxi SIMO Hangzhou Henny Richfortune Jingdong OthersDiphenyl Oxide Market: Key Application Heat Transfer Agent Flame Retardant Resin Perfume Foaming AgentDiphenyl Oxide Market: Key Region 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) OtherDiphenyl Oxide market belongs to chemicals and materials industry and it comprise of detailed quantitative as well as qualitative information for Diphenyl Oxide market. This research report provides consumption data and expected growth rate for major consuming regions worldwide. Diphenyl Oxide market report provides detailed segmentation for market of Diphenyl Oxide based on products, applications, and size industry for all major regions and countries. This market research study further provides detailed information pertaining to global production, import and export data for all key regions across the globe. Moreover, this study further provides major drivers, restraints impacting Diphenyl Oxide market. Additionally, the report provides the comprehensive study of expected opportunities in Diphenyl Oxide market in coming future.The Diphenyl Oxide market analysis report provides detailed value chain for analysis of Diphenyl Oxide market. The value chain helps to analyze major upstream in raw materials, major equipments, manufacturing process, downstream customer analysis and major distributor analysis.The report also covers in-depth description, competitive scenario, wide product portfolio of prime players active in this market and business strategies adopted by competitors along with their SWOT analysis. Side by side, it also explicitly provides information about mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and all the other important activities happened in current and past few years. The Diphenyl Oxide market report explores manufacturers competitive scenario and provides market share for all major players of this market based on production capacity, sales, revenue, geographical presence and other major factors.Related Reports:Enquire before Buying @Diphenyl Oxide Market Research Industry Report is prepared with the help of extensive primary and secondary sources, directories, journals, newsletters and third-party application like Hoovers, Factiva, Bloomberg, Businessweek, etc.Table of Contents:Part 1. Exclusive SummaryPart 2. Methodology2.1 Research Methodology2.2 Geographic Scope2.3 Years ConsideredPart 3. Introduction3.1 Product Overview3.3 Uses3.3 Manufacture3.4 Raw Materials3.5 Cost AnalysisContinue (About Us:Market Reports Company is a global research and consulting company. We provide customized reports. We can study and analyze any market based on wide range of parameters.What we offer: Customized Reports: we provide customized report study on any market or industry. Region Specific Study: If you need region specific or if you are searching for particular region market study then, we have expert research team for that. How we work: We work in all domains and industries, you name it and we provide the market research industry report analysis of it. Expertise: Superior Research Team, 24*7 Customer Care ServiceContact UsJason Smith,Sales Manager, Global Business Development,Website:Email: jasonsmith@marketreportscompany.comContact us: +1-888-220-3424Address: 20 N State Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60602 United States
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Dr Carolin Antos is awarded a Freigeist Fellowship from the Volkswagen Foundation for examining the effects of the forcing technique on the foundations of mathematicsWhat happens when the foundations of a scientific discipline change without the practitioners being aware of this change? This is the case confronting the mathematician and philosopher Dr Carolin Antos in Konstanz. Her major focus so far has been set theory, and now the Volkswagen Foundation has awarded her a Freigeist Fellowship for her project Forcing: Conceptual Change in the Foundations of Mathematics.---The fellowship is worth approximately 900,000 euros and represents one of the highest endowments in Germany for the promotion of junior researchers with creative minds. The interdisciplinary project will be investigating the conceptual change that has been taking place in mathematics since the advent of the forcing technique in mathematics in the 1960s. Although the mathematics behind these new foundations has been in constant use since then, the resulting new foundations have not yet been thoroughly explained. But, according to Carolin Antos theory, they could bring about a revolutionary paradigm shift in both mathematics and in philosophy. A Bridge Fellowship from the Zukunftskolleg at the University of Konstanz enabled Carolin Antos to complete the application for the Freigeist funding.For a long time the conviction prevailed in mathematics that it was possible to formulate foundations, or axioms, which describe the whole of mathematics. But the Austrian-American mathematician Kurt Godel (1906 to 1978) demonstrated with his so-called incompleteness theorems that no axiomatization is capable of solving all questions in mathematics. Every axiomatization will contain questions, or sentences, that are independent, in other words are neither provable nor disprovable and consequently cannot be decided as true or false. In the 1960s the American mathematician Paul Cohen managed to demonstrate the concrete existence of such independent sentences with the help of the forcing method that he developed. Carolin Antos says: Up to now, there have been no reflections from outside of mathematics that investigate the effects of this on the foundations of mathematics. This is what our project is designed to do.The most prominent of these independent questions is the one concerning the cardinality of the set of real numbers. The forcing technique makes it possible to generate extremely diverse mathematical worlds, i.e. models, which answer this question in highly differing ways. The search for the decision that provides these models with the right answer leads directly into the fundamental issues of the philosophy of mathematics.The projects approach is unusual. Carolin Antos: I maintain that the change wasnt brought about by the introduction of the technique, but by its constant and comprehensive use over a long period of time. Instead of seeing forcing as the final point of a development, we view the technique as the beginning of a new development that has taken place. Carolin Antos considers the effect of this development on set theory and the foundations of mathematics to be nothing less than revolutionary. Since that time set theory has changed immensely. Forcing was a pioneering success that triggered everything else, says the woman who gained her doctorate in mathematics in 2015, but then opted for the philosophical approach to mathematics.The project will be addressed by three different disciplines in order to illuminate the development of forcing and its significance: the historical section will illustrate the application and the resulting development and practice of forcing in mathematics up to the present; the mathematical section will show how this instrument has reconfigured set theory and consequently the foundations of mathematics; and the philosophical section will investigate the influence forcing has on philosophical questions and on research programmes. The findings in the three individual disciplines will then be combined to form an interdisciplinary description of the role of forcing which in turn can open up a new interdisciplinary field for foundational research in mathematics.The Volkswagen Foundations Freigeist Fellowship aims to promote junior researchers who operate between established fields of research and want to engage in high-risk research. This is not the first time that Carolin Antos has received funding for her research into forcing. In 2014 she and the Konstanz philosopher Dr Daniel Kuby received the Bader Prize for the History of the Natural Sciences from the Austrian Academy of Sciences for the historical aspect. Similarly, she has been receiving support for another part of the project since May 2017 from a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship provided by the European Commission. With this fellowship she is currently researching in the Department of Philosophy with Professor Wolfgang Spohn. Among other institutions, she studied mathematics at the University of Vienna where she gained her doctorate at the Kurt Godel Research Center for Mathematical Logic.Facts: Project: Forcing: Conceptual Change in the Foundations of Mathematics. Funding of about 900,000 euros from a Freigeist Fellowship awarded by the Volkswagen Foundation. Five years of funding with a possible three-year extension. Commences in May 2018. Since May 2017 funding through a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship worth 170,000 euros. From 2016 to 2017 funding through a Bridge Fellowship awarded by the Zukunftskolleg at the University of Konstanz The Zukunftskolleg is an interdisciplinary research institution at the University of Konstanz for the promotion of junior researchers. The aim is to enable junior researchers to pursue self-sufficient and independent research from early on within an interdisciplinary, international environment. The Zukunftskolleg is part of the universitys institutional strategy Modell Konstanz  Towards a Culture of Creativity and has been receiving support since 2007 from the Excellence Initiative organised by the German federal and state governments.Note to editors:You can download a photo here:Caption:Dr Carolin AntosPhoto credits: Universitat KonstanzVideo link: Dr Carolin Antos describes her project Forcing: Conceptual Change in the Foundations of Mathematics.Video credits: KIM/AntosContactUniversity of KonstanzCommunications and MarketingPhone: + 49 7531 88-3603E-Mail:Weitere Informationen:Carolin Antos describes her project Forcing: Conceptual Change in the Foundations of Mathematics.credits: KIM/AntosQuelle: idw
The University of Bayreuth supports research in the forefront of structural biology applied to molecular medicine, a field that was very successful in recent years. Scientists at this university focus, among others, on the development of antiviral drugs, novel antibiotics and strategies against allergies. These projects rely heavily on the worlds most powerful, high-resolution 1-GHz nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer, the second spectrometer of this field strength worldwide, after one that is located in Lyon/France. In contrast to the installation in Lyon, the Bayreuth spectrometer is a new generation instrument.---The potential for basic and applied research in the field of molecular medicine based on structural biology techniques at the University of Bayreuth is tremendous, in particular considering the size of this university, to quote Prof. Dr. Paul Rosch, Chair of Biopolymers and Director of the Research Center for Bio-Macromolecules (BIOmac) at the University Bayreuth.Rosch proudly points out the most recent results in several key areas:Although antiviral therapies against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, exist, the disease is not curable, and virus varieties emerge that are resistant to current drugs. With the aid of NMR-spectroscopy at 1-GHz we are probing viral proteins such as reverse transciptase that are essential to the viral life cycle to create a structural basis for the development of innovative inhibitors of the enzyme, Rosch states.The spectrometer is also used to investigate the huge protein RNA-polymerase (RNAP) that is responsible for the replication of bacteria and proteins that regulate RNAP activity. The results from these studies are the structural basis for a targeted design of new therapeutics, Rosch says. We strive to be on the forefront in the fight against microbes resistant to current antibiotics. Allergy research is another focus of structural biology based on NMR-spectroscopy in Bayreuth. The conformation and dynamics of protein allergens and their complexes with small molecules can be determined very precisely with the 1-GHz spectrometer. From these results modifications that transform allergenic proteins into non-allergenic varieties can be suggested, which, in turn, may eventually be used in immune therapy or other approaches. The NMR data obtained at 1 GHz also enables detailed views of various complexes of allergenic proteins, thus paving the way to understand their so far largely unknown physiological functions. This may finally lead to the substitution of allergenic proteins by non-allergenic ones in plants and foods.This spectrometer and the expertise of our researchers made us one of the leading facilities in the field of structural biology and molecular medicine worldwide. In addition to an internationally recognized center of NMR-spectroscopy for structural biology, we are home to distinguished scientists in protein X-ray crystallography, rendering the University of Bayreuth internationally competitive in these research areas, as Prof. Dr. Stefan Leible, president of the University of Bayreuth, explains. He adds: This new spectrometer along with the unique expertise in structural biology present at the University of Bayreuth create a fantastic outlook for basic as well as applied research. Dr. Ludwig Spaenle, Bavarian State Minister of Education and Culture, Science and the Arts, confirms: The 1-GHz NMR-spectrometer is an investment of outstanding scientific quality and national importance. The University of Bayreuth once again shows that  at least in Bavaria  even small universities are capable of achieving scientific excellence and claim a prominent place in the challenging competition of scientific institutions. Stefan Muller, Parliamentary State Secretay at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, stresses: The joint investment in this new NMR instrument by the Federal Republic and the State of Bavaria definitely furthers structural biology in Germany and beyond. This technology is among the most important of our times, it has the potential for huge contributions towards the solution of major social challenges such as new possibilities to eliminate causes of diseases.Virtually all research groups in academia in the field of NMR-based structural biology supported the establishment of an internationally competitive NMR-infrastructure in Bayreuth. In addition to the University of Bayreuth, the universities of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Regensburg and Wuerzburg were the main applicants. The 12 million Euro instrumentation has been financed by the German Federal Government and the State of Bavaria. The 1-GHz spectrometer is also part of an EU-initiative to set up a network of biophysical research institutions that makes biophysical instrumentation accessible EU-wide. Thus, not only local and regional researchers are welcome to use the instrument but colleagues from Europe and around the globe are invited to make use of its capabilities.The BIOmac laboratory is, apart from the Institut des Sciences Analytiques (ISA) in Lyon/France, the second institution in the field of molecular medicine, structural biology and chemical research worldwide that got equipped with an NMR-spectrometer with the currently strongest magnet available for such an application: a high-resolution magnet with a field strength of 23,4 Tesla, equivalent to a proton resonance frequency of 1 GHz.contact:Prof. Dr. Paul RoschHead of Department of BiopolymersDirector of the Research Center for Bio-Macromolecules (BIOmac)Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Earth SciencesUniversity of BayreuthUniversitatsstrae 30 / BGI95447 BayreuthGermanyphone: +49 (0) 921 / 55-3540email:Quelle: idw
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There is a growing need in our society for fitness and wellness, which generally incurs environmental costs and swallows up large quantities of energy. At NEST, the Empa and Eawag research and innovation building, a global innovation will be put into operation on 24 August: a fitness and wellness facility powered entirely by solar energy and the power generated by its users' physical exercise. The Swiss-Liechtensteinian building technology association, suissetec, made a significant contribution to the facility's development.---The Solar Fitness and Wellness Unit's concept has two purposes: to substantially reduce the energy consumption of wellness facilities, and to produce the remaining energy by itself. It is part of NEST, the modular research and innovation platform on the Empa campus in Dubendorf, and it is enthroned on the building's uppermost platform. Two glass facades, each around eight meters high, are its eye-catching exterior features. But the architectural design by architect Peter Dransfeld is also spectacular on the inside: in the interior space, which is open throughout, three ellipsoids hover below the ceiling. They house two saunas and a steam bath. Under the wellness modules, a range of fitness equipment invites you to work out. Soon, this equipment will be used by the staff of both research institutes, Empa and Eawag.At NEST, research, industry, and the public sector work together in order to test new technologies, materials, and systems in the fields of construction and energy under real-world conditions. NEST is designed as a "living lab"  which means that its flats and office spaces are actually used, while simultaneously serving as experimental environments for innovation. This means that, even in the case of Solar Fitness and Wellness, the experience of using the wellness facilities is still a means to an end: "Our objective is to be able to meet an energy-intensive need such as wellness entirely through renewable energy," explains Peter Richner, Deputy Director of Empa and Strategic Manager of NEST.Only the practical test will show whether the energy objectives that have been set can be achieved. And the objectives are ambitious: "We want to operate the facility with one sixth of the energy that it would need with conventional operation," says Mark Zimmermann, Innovation Manager for NEST. More specifically: the aim is to reduce the 120,000 kWh of electricity that the Finnish sauna, the bio sauna, and the steam bath would normally swallow up each year to a figure of 20,000 kWh. This massive reduction is to be achieved by using a high-temperature CO2 heat pump (see box) from the company Scheco, which can generate temperatures of up to 130C. For efficient operation, the generated heat must be used over as great a range of temperatures as possible. To this end, the respective heat levels required for the different wellness modules are coordinated as a cascade. The heat is stored in layers in a large tank and made available for each of the various uses: 120C for the Finnish sauna, 90C for the steam generator in the steam bath, 70C for the bio sauna, and finally 50C and 30C for the showers and the heating, respectively. The underlying energy concept was developed jointly by Empa researchers, the NTB International University of Applied Sciences and Technology at Buchs, and Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.Using heat efficiently and avoiding lossesUsing the CO2 heat pump to generate heat reduces electricity consumption by around two thirds on its own. Moreover, additional heat and moisture recovery from the sauna and steam bath means that ventilation losses can be reduced by at least 50%. "There is also a control system that responds to actual bookings of the wellness modules and only heats them up when necessary," explains Zimmermann. In addition, improved heat insulation ensures minimal heat losses.In order to make optimal use of the north facade as well, it is fitted with an eight-meter-quadruple glazing from the company Glas Troesch. With an insulation value of 0.3 W/(m2K), in the winter semester this facade achieves a more favorable heat balance than a highly insulated wall five times thicker, while also providing a high level of comfort and daylight.On the facade and on the roof, three photovoltaic installations provide the remaining electricity, which amounts to around 20,000 kWh on average per year, via solar generation. The bifacial glass-glass modules from the company Meyer Burger convert sunlight on both the front and rear sides into electrical energy  reflected by the roof's material and the facade's white cladding. In addition to the photovoltaic installations, there is also a solar thermal system for warm water. And, last but not least, the fitness facility users contribute to energy production by using fitness equipment that generates electricity. So, after working out hard in a training session, you can relax in the sauna with a clear conscience.All the links in the value creation chain pull together"In the Solar Fitness and Wellness Unit, representatives of every link in the value chain work together in partnership on a new sustainable solution  manufacturers of individual components, building technicians, planners, and potential customers," says Peter Richner. Ultimately, NEST stands for and promotes precisely this kind of interdisciplinary cooperation, and the expedited innovation process that results from this.For the building technology sector, this pioneering project is a milestone, which is why the Swiss-Liechtensteinian building technology association, suissetec, has actively supported the creation of the Solar Fitness & Wellness Unit. "NEST demands solutions that have never been asked for before. To meet this demand, you can't afford to focus only on your little area. Everyone needs to plan together from the start. At NEST, our sector has an ideal opportunity to try out this cooperation and find out how it works," says suissetec President Daniel Huser.Weitere Informationen:Quelle: idw
Portland-based Boyd Coffee Company, often known as Boyd's, has been acquired by a Texas coffee roaster for $58.6 million.

The sale to Farmer Bros. Co. comes as Boyd's has struggled to grow revenue. Privately held Boyd's brought in $95 million during the last fiscal year, the company said in Monday's announcement. In 2013, the company told The Oregonian/OregonLive, it had annual revenue of $100 million.

Boyd's Cafe Libre coffee.

Both Boyd's and Farmer Bros. were established over a century ago, and supply coffee to restaurants, hotels and convenience stores. Farmer Bros. brought in more than $500 million in net sales during the fiscal year ending in 2016.

Farmer Bros. is a publicly traded company based in Northlake, Texas, and is buying Boyd's for $42 million in cash and 21,000 shares of a new series of preferred stock, worth $16.6 million.

Farmer Bros. executives are betting the acquisition will help it grab a larger share of the market and expand its distribution footprint.

"We believe Farmer Brothers is in a strong position to benefit from ongoing coffee industry consolidation," said Randy Clark, chairman of Farmer Bros. board of directors, in Monday's announcement. "Coming off the successful acquisitions of China Mist and West Coast Coffee, the Boyd transaction is another opportunity to advance Farmer Brothers' long term growth plans."

Jeffrey Newman, Boyd's chief executive, echoed Clark's enthusiasm about the sale.

"We are confident Farmer Brothers is the right company to take the Boyd's brand to the next level," he said. "We look forward to a smooth transition and providing the same high quality customer service that has been a hallmark of the Boyd Coffee Company for over 100 years."

-- Anna Marum

amarum@oregonian.com

503-294-5911

@annamarum
Authorities say new DNA evidence links a convicted murderer to the unsolved 1974 murder of a Portland woman whose body was found in a remote area northeast of Vancouver.

Martha Marie Morrison was last seen in Portland in 1974 at the age of 17.

KOIN-TV reports that blood stains on an air pistol allegedly used by convicted killer Warren Forrest in another crime were shown recently to belong to Martha Marie Morrison, who was 17 when she disappeared. Morrison's body was found next to Carol Platt Valenzuela's body in the Dole Valley area of Clark County in the mid-1970s.

Forrest has been in prison since 1979 for the murder of Krista Blake near Battle Ground. He has denied killing Morrison, Valenzuela and several other women.

Clark County prosecutors haven't decided if there's enough evidence to charge Forrest with the murders of Morrison and Valenzuela.

-- The Associated Press
Southern Oregon's Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument is one of three federally protected areas that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke says should be scaled back in size.

The recommendation, first reported Thursday by The Washington Post, follows a 120-day review that sent the former Montana congressman on a cross-country tour. It also affects Utah's Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments.

Zinke had been expected to release a detailed report Thursday outlining his recommendations for the roughly two dozen federal monuments included in the review, but a report never materialized. Instead, the agency issued an eight-paragraph statement that contained no specifics about what the recommendations meant for the protected areas.

Earlier in the day, The Associated Press reported that Zinke would not recommend eliminating any monument altogether. The review included monuments of more than 100,000 acres that were approved or expanded under the Obama, Clinton and second Bush administrations.

The Post reported that Zinke had set his sights on reducing the size of the 113,000-acre Cascades-Siskiyou monument. The others -- Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante  take up more than 3.2 million acres.

The Post cited multiple unnamed sources who'd been briefed on the report, but The Oregonian/OregonLive was unable to independently confirm the story.

U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, who opposed the Cascade-Siskiyou expansion and is a leader in the Republican Party, released a statement saying he appreciated that Zinke "spent quality time listening to Oregonians on every side of this issue" and traveled to the state.

"From elected county commissioners and tribal leaders to private landowners, environmentalists and outdoor recreational enthusiasts, finally all sides got a fair opportunity to have their views considered," Walden said in a statement. "I look forward to getting more specific details when they are available." Walden's spokesman did not immediately answer whether the congressman had been briefed on the recommendations for Cascade-Siskiyou.

Just before leaving office in January, President Barack Obama added 48,000 acres to the Oregon monument, which encompasses an area where the Cascade, Klamath and Siskiyou Mountains converge. Then-President Bill Clinton first designated the region, which is known for its rich biodiversity, as a protected area in 2000.

Democratic leaders in Oregon, including Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, were prepared for the bad news but not included in briefings.

Bryan Hockaday, Gov. Kate Brown's spokesman, said the Interior Department had not shared the report with Oregon's top officials. "It seems like the DC media is the best source of information for us," Hockaday said in an interview.

Zinke visited Oregon's Rogue Valley earlier this summer and toured the monument. During that visit, he also met with Brown privately.

But despite the efforts to make a personal connection, Brown was not surprised by Zinke's recommendation.

"It just reaffirms the governor's concern that the federal administration is prone to significantly scale back the protections of the Cascade-Siskiyou monument," Hockaday said.

"Any change, be it a boundary change or a change to the management of those lands could have pretty significant impacts to the lands," he said.

Sara Hottman, a spokeswoman for Merkley, said the senator had not been briefed on the report. "We have not heard anything from the administration." she said.

Wyden tweeted Thursday that by keeping the report private the administration was "ignoring" Oregonians.

Environmental groups say more than 2.7 million comments opposing any changes to federal monuments were submitted to the government during Zinke's review process.

The eight-paragraph summary released by the federal agency seemed to corroborate that sentiment. "Comments received were overwhelmingly in favor of maintaining existing monuments and demonstrated a well-orchestrated national campaign organized by multiple organizations," the summary states.

Monument supporters worry the Trump administration is trying to open up more federal land to drilling, timber harvest and other resource extraction that would fundamentally alter the landscape.

According to the Zinke summary, those who opposed monument expansions were concerned about "reduced public access, road closures, hunting and fishing restrictions, multiple and confusing management plans, reduced grazing allotments and timber production, and pressure applied to private land owners encompassed by or adjacent to a monument to sell."

Zinke's review was billed by White House officials as the first detailed examination of the Antiquities Act, the 1906 legislation approved by Congress that gives the president authority to establish federal monuments.

On a conference call with reporters Thursday, U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop, chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, said Zinke's review was about "how we protect our land" not whether the monuments should exist in the first place. The Utah Republican said Zinke was trying to restore the Antiquities Act to its original intent.



That intent didn't include setting aside hundreds of thousands of acres, or in some cases millions of acres, for preservation."

Environmental groups, such as the Center for Biological Diversity, blasted the review as "a lawless, secretive sham."

"Now Trump and Zinke are hiding the report so they don't have to face public backlash for trying to sell out America's public lands to fossil fuel development and logging," said Randi Spivak, the nonprofit's public lands director. "They're asking for a court battle. And they'll get one."

Opponents to the Trump administration-led review have said the government does not have the legal authority to unwind monument protections.

Ellen Rosenblum, Oregon's Attorney General, said she was "disappointed" in the apparent recommendation to scale back the monument.

"As I wrote to the Secretary in July, neither the President nor Secretary Zinke has the power to unilaterally revoke or reduce a monument of this nature," she said in a statement.



-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen
For the third time this month, wildlife officials said they would kill wolves in Northeast Oregon in response to attacks on livestock.

A rancher in Umatilla County had asked the state Department of Fish and Wildlife to eradicate the Meacham Pack, but state officials said Thursday they would allow no more than two animals to be killed. The pack had seven members as of December 2016.

For the first time, Oregon is considering allowing ranchers to kill the wolves under a "limited duration wolf kill permit," rather than rely on state officials.

In a statement, agency Director Curt Melcher said there's been an increase in the number of cattle and other livestock killed, "which is not surprising due to the increasing population [of wolves]"

"While it's disheartening for some people to see ODFW killing wolves," Melcher said, "our agency is called to manage wildlife in a manner consistent with other land uses, and to protect the social and economic interests of all Oregonians while it conserves gray wolves."

"It's important that we address and limit wolf-livestock problems while also ensuring a healthy wolf population," he continued.

Advocates slammed the decision Thursday as the latest disappointment from the agency.

"It certainly looks like Oregon is trying to become Idaho when it comes to wolf management," said Sean Stevens, executive director of the nonprofit Oregon Wild, "and that's a bad thing."

Idaho has a more robust wolf population than Oregon but also has legalized hunting. The animal was removed from Oregon's endangered species list relatively recently -- in 2015  in the northeastern areas of the state, like Wallowa and Umatilla counties.

Stevens said the three wolf kills in August occurred as the state's own annual report noted the population was stagnant  at roughly 112 animals  in 2016. Oregon also has an outdated plan for managing the animal, Stevens said, and he believes Gov. Kate Brown has been "a little bit asleep at the wheel" in addressing issues at the fish and wildlife agency.

"I don't think that's a direction that the broad majority of Oregonians want the agency to be going in," Stevens said of the decision to kill wolves. "I think we can coexist."

The state said it approved the kill order after four livestock deaths were confirmed in August and after the private landowner in Umatilla County made consistent and "substantial" efforts to avoid conflict with the wolves.

The landowner moved cattle from the pasture, had a horseback rider surveying the land "five days per week" to track the wolves, and removed carcasses from the field immediately after they were discovered.

"Unfortunately, this year their increasing preventative efforts have not been successful in limiting wolf depredation," Roblyn Brown, ODFW Acting Wolf Coordinator said in a statement.

"We believe lethal control is warranted in this situation but this action will only be in place as long as cattle are still at risk. We will use incremental removal and lethal control activities will be stopped as soon as the cattle are removed from the pasture."

-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen
Nearly every Portland-area home is more valuable today than it's ever been.

An analysis by the real-estate website Zillow found that 94 percent of metro-area homes would command a higher sale price today they would have during the housing bubble of the 2000s.

That would have been unremarkable during the bubble years, when home values were breaking new ground across the country. But today, only 48 percent of U.S. homes have overtaken their bubble peaks.

And Portland is near the front of the pack. Only three other metros -- Denver, Dallas and Nashville -- saw a greater percentage of homes with record values.

Portland had a pronounced housing bubble, and like most cities that saw prices fall dramatically in the Great Recession, it also saw them rebound quickly. Denver, Dallas and Nashville experienced more modest bubbles.

But the values in Portland didn't slow when they came back in line with historic levels. Instead, they've continued to climb.

"You had a big bubble, but the growth in the more recent period is what's really driving it," said Skylar Olsen, a senior economist at Zillow. "The jobs are good, and a lot of people are moving to the area."

Construction of new homes for sale has been slow, pushing prices higher.

The rising home prices have contributed to a broader affordability crisis by putting more pressure on the rental market while pushing homeownership further out of reach for some.

But the growth in home prices might be nearing an outer limit. Annual home-price growth slowed somewhat in July, to just 8.7 percent, according to Zillow, well short of the double-digit growth seen a year ago.

"Eight percent is still faster than income growth," Olsen said, "and that does put a damper on affordability."

-- Elliot Njus

enjus@oregonian.com

503-294-5034

@enjus
A new federal report shows that Oregon has some of the lowest vaccination rates in the country.

The report, published Thursday, says that only 83 percent of Oregon adolescents have received the Tdap, a booster shot against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (whooping cough).

That gave Oregon the seventh lowest rate in the country, according to the estimates by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But the rates in the report are misleading, state health officials say, because they're based on a small sample.

The CDC estimates stemmed from random calls to families nationwide.

Steve Robison, epidemiologist at the Oregon Public Health Division, said officials called only a few hundred households in Oregon.

"It's a small survey and has returned an artificially low number this year," Robison said.

He said school data indicate that 95 percent of adolescents in Oregon have received the booster.

Oregon requires that children receive the Tdap by seventh grade. It also requires a number of vaccinations, including against measles, chickenpox, polio and hepatitis A and B. Other immunizations, including against the flu, meningococcal disease and the human papillomavirus, are recommended.

Check our back-to-school guide for details.

Children who don't have proof of vaccination or an exemption by next Feb. 21 will be excluded from classes.

The CDC report said that nearly 71 percent of children age 13 to 17 were vaccinated in Oregon against four common strains of meningococcal disease. Another shot is required for a less common strain, known as B, which has caused outbreaks at Oregon State University and the University of Oregon.

Robison said that public health records put Oregon's rate at 75 percent for the common meningococcal strains  the same as Washington state, according to the CDC.

The report also looked at rates of vaccination against the human papillomavirus, which can cause cancer of the cervix, vulva, vagina, penis and anus.

Oregon is doing pretty well on that vaccine, the report said, with 62 percent of adolescents receiving one dose. Robison said state figures put the rate at 65 percent. Either percentage puts Oregon in the middle of the pack nationwide.

-- Lynne Terry
Thirteen of the Oregon refuge occupation defendants who either pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge or were convicted at trial have agreed to pay a total of $78,000 to the government toward the costs of the takeover and damage to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Based on their culpability in the 41-day occupation in early 2016, their restitution amounts differ, running $3,000, $5,000, $7,000 or $10,000 a person.

It's a far cry from the estimated $6 million that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service estimated the occupation cost the federal agency, including $2 million to move the eastern Oregon refuge's 17 employees out of town for safety to live at government expense in hotels for weeks. The rest included costs to pay for repairs and upgrades.

It's also far short of the nearly $1 million figure that the government initially floated for restitution, according to several of the defendants.

Oregon's U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams estimated last fall that the cost of the law enforcement response -- from local, county and state police to the more than 1,000 FBI agents who cycled in from Portland and other cities during the occupation -- was just under $12 million.

Jon Ritzheimer and Ryan Payne, who pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge, and Jason Patrick, who was convicted at trial of federal conspiracy and several misdemeanor offenses, each have agreed to pay $10,000 in restitution.

The least culpable have agreed to pay $3,000 each: Jason Blomgren, Eric Lee Flores, Wesley Kjar, Travis Cox and Geoffrey Stanek, according to a federal court filing Wednesday.

DOCUMENT: Joint filing on restitution agreement

Darryl Thorn, who was convicted at trial of conspiracy to impede federal workers from carrying out their jobs at the refuge, possession of a firearm in a federal facility and misdemeanor charges including trespass, has agreed to pay $5,000, according to the court filing by Oregon Federal Defender Lisa Hay.

Occupiers Blaine Cooper, Brian Cavalier, Joseph O'Shaughnessy and Corey Lequieu, who each pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge, have agreed to pay $7,000 each in restitution.

Each is responsible for their own amounts and not jointly responsible for the total.

As part of the settlement agreement, each of the men must disclose their assets to the U.S. Attorney's Office and the U.S. Probation Office.

Sean and Sandra Anderson, who were among the last four holdouts at the refuge before they surrendered to authorities on Feb. 11, 2016, and Dylan Anderson, already pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor criminal trespass and each were ordered to pay $1,000 in restitution.

Not included in the agreement are defendants Jake Ryan and Duane Ehmer, who have yet to be sentenced. Ryan and Ehmer built trenches on the refuge property and were each convicted at trial of depredation of government property.

U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown must still sign off on the restitution agreements.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian
PRINEVILLE  Authorities arrested three security workers Tuesday accused of illegally raiding an RV at the Symbiosis music festival in central Oregon. The men were released the next day without charges.

Crook County Sheriff's Sgt. Travis Jurgens tells Bend station KTVZ that the security workers detained a couple suspected of manufacturing drugs in the RV during the festival that drew tens of thousands of people.

He says the man and woman had not been manufacturing drugs and the security workers had no reason to restrain them. The man suffered an injury during the incident and was taken to a medical tent.

The three security workers faced criminal trespass and fourth-degree assault charges, but were released Wednesday at their arraignment.

Jurgens says the men work for a company that was hired to provide security during the week-long festival that coincided with the eclipse.

-- Associated Press
Oregon's former first lady Cylvia Hayes is out with new advice for people who hope to avoid jeopardizing their reputations: "Don't do what I did!"

In an essay on the website of a Monrovia, California crisis management firm, Hayes traces her public relations problems back to an October, 2014 article in Willamette Week that reported Hayes used her public position for personal gain.

For example, the newspaper reported that Hayes regularly directed her state-paid assistant to do work for her private consulting business. Hayes did not mention that allegation, although it's one reason she and former Gov. John Kitzhaber remain under investigation by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission. Federal and state prosecutors decided earlier this year not to pursue federal corruption charges against the pair.

"On October 7, 2014 my life blew up," Hayes wrote. "I was serving as First Lady of Oregon, partner to the Governor who was running for reelection. A notoriously mudslinging reporter who had been after me for years finally found something from my past to make the mud stick  a green card marriage and attempted then aborted pot growing operation."

Hayes was referring to Nigel Jaquiss, a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter at Willamette Week. His story on Hayes, First Lady Inc., ignited controversy around her consulting work that had smoldered for years since state energy officials maneuvered to make sure her firm got part of a contract. However, it was actually KOIN -- not Jaquiss -- that initially reported the pot farm story.

So what does Hayes advise people in similar situations to do? Build their social media presence, so they have "some ability to counter a false narrative," and recognize they might need to hire a reputation manager.

"In our case, we relied on political advisors and campaign communications experts who thought they could handle the situation," Hayes wrote. "In retrospect they were utterly unqualified for what we were dealing with. I strongly believe that had we brought in quality reputation management experts we could have significantly reduced the damage."

Hayes also wrote that public figures should know their local defamation laws so they are aware of any deadlines to request retractions of incorrect information.

And finally, if someone is to blame, he or she should sincerely apologize.

"In my case I hadn't committed corruption or influence peddling but I had made a terrible mistake in getting into such a high profile position without realizing some determined opponent was going to dig up my past," Hayes wrote. "My blind spot caused a lot of damage including to the person I love most in the world."

-- Hillary Borrud

503-294-4034; @hborrud
The Doublespeak Award was established in 1974 and is given by the National Council of Teachers of English. The ironic, annual tribute recognizes individuals and entities using language that is, among other things, deceptive, evasive and confusing.

Recipients include U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, President Bill Clinton, the tobacco industry and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

In 2015, Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst was granted the award for referring to Keystone XL Pipeline legislation as the "Keystone Jobs Bill" in her response to President Obama's State of the Union address. Last year the council voted unanimously to bestow it on President Donald Trump, who characterized political opponents as dishonest "while spinning unsubstantiated claims of his own."

Now the award committee is seeking nominations for 2017. Iowans should nominate Gov. Kim Reynolds for her misleading rhetoric on the Medicaid privatization experiment implemented by her former boss. Her statements deserve recognition.

After handing over management of the $4 billion Medicaid program to three for-profit companies last year, Iowans have filed hundreds of complaints, including many about losing access to care. Health providers have closed their doors. Iowans with disabilities have filed a federal lawsuit against Reynolds, accusing the state of depriving thousands the right to live safely outside institutions.

Yet the new governor continues to insist privatization is a great thing..

Several months ago she was quoted in a news release as saying Iowans with "high risk behavioral health conditions" were faring better under privatized Medicaid.

Soon after, the Register editorial board reported the private insurers owed Southwest Iowa Mental Health System about $300,000 for services provided. We recently reported on a private insurer refusing to cover care for a mentally ill teen. This week Des Moines psychiatrist Jim Gallagher told an editorial writer that the private insurers were reducing payments to workers who supervise individuals in group homes, including a man with a history of pedophilia.

Yet Reynolds does not acknowledge such problems. Worse, she pretends there are none. An August 3 press release from her office referenced a questionable survey indicating Iowa patients' satisfaction was among the highest in the nation.

"Medicaid modernization improves access, gives patients more choices and brings accountability to the program," Reynolds said in her statement.

There is zero accountability for state officials and insurers holding secret meetings about how much more public money to give the companies. And Tom Mouw, who died 27 days before the press release was issued, did not have more access to care or any choices. He had one option: moving from his home to an institution in another state.

Register reporter Jason Clayworth detailed the Orange City man's horror story Aug. 13.

After a vehicle accident left him a quadriplegic more than three decades ago, Mouw was unable to feed himself and needed a ventilator to breathe. State-managed Medicaid paid caregivers to provide daily assistance, which allowed the man to remain in his home all these years.

Then private insurers took over Medicaid. Amerigroup deemed Mouw's longtime caregivers not qualified and refused to pay them. Eventually the inability to find in-home care forced him into a facility in South Dakota. He died six weeks later.

Cyndi Mouw blames her husband's death on Iowa's decision to privatize Medicaid. Though she has not reviewed all the medical bills, she is sure her husband's care was far cheaper at home than in the facility where he spent his final weeks.

Now that he has died, he will not cost Amerigroup anything. And the insurer answers to no one about its actions.

The private companies have repeatedly refused to answer questions about Iowans' horror stories. Though Cyndi Mouw signed waiver forms allowing Amerigroup to speak with a reporter about her husband's care, the insurer did not.

Instead, the company's spokesperson said there are "a lot of people" willing to share positive privatization stories  but then did not produce a single name. This spin tactic was also employed by the Branstad administration, which touted "success stories" without identifying the supposedly happy Iowans.

The Register frequently hears from Iowans who have lost health care, closed medical services businesses or are owed money by the insurers. And now we have heard from the widow of a man who died after the insurer refused to pay his caregivers.

Reynolds should rethink her press releases on this issue. They do not reflect the reality of what is going on in this state. The current governor has no obligation to continue defending a disaster set in motion by her predecessor.

She does, however, have an obligation to be honest with the nearly 600,000 Iowans who rely on Medicaid, the thousands of health providers who serve them and the taxpayers funding the program. Unfortunately, such honesty is painfully absent.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 23, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Premier Diversified Holdings Inc. ("Premier" or the "Company") (CSE:PDH) is pleased to announce a non-brokered private placement offering (the "Offering") of common shares of the Company ("Shares") of up to 4,736,842 Shares at $0.095 per Share for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $450,000.



There is no minimum Offering amount required to close, and the Offering may be closed in tranches. The first closing is expected to occur on or about August 24, 2017. The Shares will be issued in reliance on exemptions from the prospectus and registration requirements contained in the securities legislation in the Province of British Columbia and in the jurisdiction of residency of each investor. The Shares will be subject to a hold period. No finder's fees or commissions will be paid in connection with the Offering. The Offering is subject to approval by the Canadian Securities Exchange.

The net proceeds of the Offering will be used to fund the acquisition of an interest in Sequant Reinsurance Holdings Ltd. (a Bermuda-based reinsurance company), to fund an acquisition of an interest in MyCare MedTech Inc. (an Alberta telemedicine company), and for general working capital.

About Premier Diversified Holdings Inc.

Premier Diversified Holdings Inc. participates in diversified industries through its acquisitions of securities and/or assets of public and private entities which it believes have potential for significant returns. It may act as a holding company (either directly or through a subsidiary) and may participate in management of subsidiary entities to varying degrees.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

"Sanjeev Parsad"

Sanjeev Parsad

President, CEO and Director

The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed the adequacy or the accuracy of the contents of this document. Company information can be viewed here: www.thecse.com. Further information regarding the Company can be found on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.



Not for dissemination in the United States of America.

Legal Notice Regarding Forward Looking Statements: This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are indicated expectations or intentions. Forward-looking statements in this news release include that Premier can close a private placement of up to $450,000, that the first tranche of the Offering will close on or around August 24, 2017, that no finder's fees or commissions will be paid in relation to the Offering, and that the net proceeds of the Offering will be used to acquire an interest in specific companies. Factors that could cause actual results to be materially different include but are not limited to the following: that we may not be able to raise sufficient capital to accomplish our intentions and that even if we do close the maximum private placement, capital alone may not be sufficient for us to grow our business. Growth depends on several factors including market conditions. Investors are cautioned against placing undue reliance on forward-looking statements. It is not our policy to update forward looking statements.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aben Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:ABN) (OTCBB:ABNAF) (Frankfurt:E2L2) (the Company) is pleased to announce it will be expanding its current drill program from 2,100 metres to 2,500 metres at its 23,000 hectare Forrest Kerr Gold Property located in North Western British Columbias Golden Triangle region. The expanded drill program will include drill holes testing the Boundary Zones to confirm and extend the high grade gold mineralization discovered in historical drilling. Drilling conducted in the early 1990s and 2000s at this zone returned some of the highest grades on the Forrest Kerr Property and the Company feels there is the potential for the expansion of the known zone based on recent data compilation, structural geological interpretation and additional field reconnaissance work.



Golden Triangle Claims Map:

http://www.abenresources.com/i/maps/ABN_Golden_Triangle_map.jpg

Jim Pettit, President and CEO of Aben, states: Thus far we are very pleased with the progress of this first-pass drill program at our Forrest Kerr Project in the prolific Golden Triangle. As a result, we have decided to expand the drill program at the main target area. Recent drill discoveries by Pretium, GT Gold, Colorado Resources and others illustrate the significant discovery upside remaining in the district and we are confident in the potential at Forrest Kerr given the known high-grade gold mineralization present there which we are currently testing in this drill program.

Historical drilling results at the Forrest Kerr Project have ranged from trace values to several high-grade intercepts such as 9.97 g/t gold over 29.3 metres, including 125 g/t Au over 0.8 metres and 91 g/t Au over 1.9 metres, in hole RG91-21 in the Carcass Creek Zone as well as 33.4 g/t gold over 11 metres, including 326 g/t over 0.5 metres, in hole RG91-16 in the Boundary Zone. This high grade mineralization is within 200 metres vertical depth from surface and the Carcass and Boundary Zones are approx. 4 kilometres apart leaving robust discovery potential along strike, at depth and at other regional targets on the property.

Abens Forrest Kerr Project Map:

http://www.abenresources.com/i/maps/FK-007.jpg

The historical drill holes at the two main target areas, the Carcass and Boundary Zones, were drilled decades ago with limited follow up work due to limited accessibility, high drilling costs, and a less comprehensive understanding of the geology. Since then, major infrastructure improvements have been made including the Galore Creek access road on the north end of the property as well as roads and powerlines on the south end of the property where hydroelectric facilities have been built in recent years which have helped bring the drilling costs down. In addition, rapid glacial retreats over the past 25 years have exposed extensive new areas of outcrop exposure in this highly prospective region. Abens technical team has spent over a year analyzing and reinterpreting the historical exploration and geological data with the help of structural geologists to gain a stronger understanding of the existing targets and high-grade gold mineralization at the project.

Field based exploration activities have been underway earlier this season at Forrest Kerr where crews completed soil geochemical sampling, ground-truthed historical data and evaluated mineralization potential on a property-wide basis. Focus was placed on those areas containing historical high-grade precious and base-metal occurrences. There are also more conceptual targets to be tested south of the Boundary Zone where there are areas of outcrop with multiple shear zones and abundant sulfides with surface samples returning gold grades ranging from trace values to 3  5 g/t Au.

*Note: Aben has not been able to independently verify the methodology and results from historical work programs within the property boundaries. However, management believes that the historical work programs have been conducted in a professional manner and the quality of data and information produced from them are relevant. In addition, management cautions that past results or discoveries on proximate land are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved on the Forrest Kerr property.

Cornell McDowell, P.Geo., V.P. of Exploration of Aben Resources, has reviewed and approved the technical aspects of this news release and is the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Aben Resources:

Aben Resources is a Canadian gold exploration company developing projects in British Columbias Golden Triangle, the Yukon, and Saskatchewan. Abens flagship Forrest Kerr Gold Project is located in the Golden Triangle of BC where the Company currently owns certain mineral tenures outright and has agreements in place with various third-parties whereby it has the exclusive right to a 100% interest in the 23,000-hectare property area.

For further information on Aben Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:ABN), visit our Companys web site at www.abenresources.com.

Aben Resources has approx. 50.0 million shares issued and outstanding.

ABEN RESOURCES LTD.

Jim Pettit

____________________________

JAMES G. PETTIT

President & CEO

For further information contact myself or:

Don Myers

Aben Resources Ltd.

Director, Investor Relations

Telephone: 604-639-3851

Toll Free: 800-567-8181

Facsimile: 604-687-3119

Email: info@abenresources.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.

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the Company expects, are forward-looking statements. Although management 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. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, include market prices, exploration and development successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedar.com for further information.
Thursday 24 August 2017 3:48pm

A new study of the smokefree signs at 63 New Zealand playgrounds has found that less than half of the playgrounds (44 per cent) had any such signs. Even when present, many of the signs were small and poorly designed, with some being only postcard sized.

The University of Otago, Wellington researchers found at least 15 different sign styles across the 21 local government areas they studied. The sign content themes included air quality (for example, fresh air) and of smoking by adults being a harmful example for children (we copy what we see).

One of the researchers, Associate Professor George Thomson, says that the signs featuring role modelling to children could help smokers quit, as well as helping protect children from smoking normalisation.

The desire of smokers to provide a good example can be a powerful aid to quitting  especially for parents and grandparents who smoke. Reminders of the effect of role modelling can add to other aids to help smokers quit and to stay smokefree, he says.

Another one of the public health researchers, Professor Nick Wilson, says that New Zealand badly needs national guidelines to ensure that smokefree signs in all playgrounds and parks are instantly recognisable, visible from a distance, and have effective designs that are informed by research.

It would be best if the government provided free well-designed smokefree signs to local governments throughout the country, just as they currently do for school and pre-school grounds, he says.

The smokefree signs at playgrounds should also be part of a wider government strategy to ensure that smokefree norms are effectively communicated.

As New Zealand moves towards the Governments Smokefree 2025 goal, we need to make much greater progress on smokefree public places  and childrens playgrounds are a critical area to get right, Professor Wilson says.

The study also compared the smokefree signs at playgrounds to those related to dogs, and found that dog control signs were typically less wordy and had clearer images.

Published in the international peer-reviewed journal Tobacco Induced Diseases, the article is freely accessible.

Thomson G, Wilson N. Smokefree signage at children's playgrounds: Field observations and comparison with Google Street View. Tob Induc Dis 2017

For further information contact:

Associate Professor George Thomson

Department of Public Health

University of Otago, Wellington

Email george.thomson@otago.ac.nz

Professor Nick Wilson

Department of Public Health

University of Otago, Wellington

Email nick.wilson@otago.ac.nz
Danish English

Release no. 20/2017

Columbus has today published the Interim Report for first half of 2017, cf. release no. 19/2017.

Growth driven by the services business

In the first half of 2017, revenue amounted to DKK 642m (H1 2016: DKK 595m), an increase of 8% compared to the same period last year. EBITDA* amounted to DKK 71.2m (H1 2016: DKK 66.8m), corresponding to an increase of 7%.

The revenue growth was primarily driven by growth in the services business, where revenue increased by 10%. The increase in EBITDA* was driven by a 14% increase in earnings in the services business.

The results are in line with the announced expectations for the year.

Improved operation generated growth in earnings in the services business

In first half 2017 service EBITDA increased from DKK 41.8m to DKK 47.9m, an increase of 14%. The increase is due to higher realized hourly rates and acquisitions. Further, increased utilization of Columbus Global Delivery Center in India is a considerable parameter in the improvement of service EBITDA.

Columbus Software sales as expected

In first half 2017 Columbus Software sales declined by 11%. License sales decreased by 40% due to the cloud conversion. Revenue from subscriptions increased by 17% due to a satisfactory renewal rate of previous years sale of licenses.

Columbus cloud revenue amounted to DKK 1.6m. The development is in line with expectations.

ColumbusCare and cloud drive growth in recurring revenue

In the first half of 2017, the recurring revenue increased by 16% The progress is driven by a significant growth in the sale of ColumbusCare contracts, which increased by 67%, as well as an increase in the total cloud revenue of 120% to DKK 5.5m.

Recurring revenue constituted 27% of total revenue (H1 2016: 25%).

Acquisitions in 2017

In January 2017 Columbus acquired the US IT services company, Tridea Partners LLC, which holds a leading positon within ERP and CRM in the growing food and beverage industry in the US.

DKK 000 H1 2017 H1 2016 2016 Columbus Software licenses 13,571 22,554 44,187 Columbus Software subscriptions 27,164 23,271 46,876 Exernal software licenses 53,473 47,662 86,495 Eksternal software subscriptions 106,090 99,776 195,164 Services 431,323 390,778 796,401 Other 10,694 10,496 23,584 Total net revenue 642,315 594,537 1,192,707 EBITDA before share-based payment 71,177 66,754 144,070 Share-based payment -1,158 -1,091 -5,524 EBITDA 70,019 65,663 138,546

I am satisfied with the results for first half, where we deliver growth in both revenue and EBITDA despite the cloud conversion. I am particularly satisfied with the growth in our ColumbusCare and cloud businesses, which I expect will constitute a considerably larger part of our business in the future, says CEO & President in Columbus, Thomas Honore.

Columbus maintains expectations for 2017

Columbus maintains the previously announced expectations for 2017:

Revenue in the level of DKK 1.35bn

EBITDA* in the level of DKK 150m

Columbus Software revenue of DKK 80m

Service EBITDA of DKK 140m

10% dividend on nominal share capital

Latest developments

No events or transactions with a material effect on the companys financial position have occurred since the balance sheet date.

*EBITDA before share-based payment

Ib Kune

Chairman of the Board

Columbus A/S

Thomas Honore

CEO & President

Columbus A/S For further information, please contact:

CEO & President, Thomas Honore .: +45 70 20 50 00



Translation: In the event of any inconsistency between this document and the Danish language version, the Danish language version shall be the governing version.

Columbus Columbus2020 strategy  towards growth

Based on Columbus strengthened position, as a result of successful execution of the Columbus15 strategy, the company launched a growth strategy in March. The strategy is named Columbus2020 and consists of four interconnected strategic elements.
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Mark Lundholm promises to address "dicey topics and scary consequences" related to addiction - but with humor - when he appears next month at a benefit presented by the Coleman VFW.

"We're making fun of that without getting caught up in it," he said in a recent phone interview from California.

Proceeds from the show, which is at 7 p.m. Sept. 9 at Coleman High School, will be donated to area food banks to help those recovering from this summer's devastating flooding, said Pat Murray of VFW Post 1071. Tickets are $20.

Lundholm, sober for nearly 30 years, has appeared in all 50 states and at least 10 foreign countries sharing his story with humor and covering topics others often avoid.

"The topics and the menu for that night will include dysfunction, trauma, incarceration, overdose, addiction, consequences  And on the other side of those: hope, being part of a community fabric, maturing toward some kind of spiritual quotient, how to stay out of jail, how to pay forward to your kids what wasn't given to you by your parents " he said.

He said the show will be "PG plus" and "is a good event for anyone to come to  It's very, very wide in its scope of topics."

Lundholm, who has written and performed in his own one-man, off-Broadway show, made many TV appearances, written books and been in several DVD series, said his approach is to be honest about the consequences of addiction.

"I have been addressing the subject of addiction, mental health/dysfunction, family trauma - that big bad bouillabaisse of growing up and not growing up - all that confusion that is addiction - I've been addressing it in a funny way since I was a kid."

He said the "scared straight" and "just say no" approaches of past decades "never worked."

"I've worked with adolescents and younger for over 25 years now," Lundholm said. "Telling them that drugs are bad or booze is wrong  doesn't work" because first-time users often don't experience the dire consequences portrayed in scare campaigns.

"They do it and say, 'This feels pretty good. What else are they lying about?'"

"I'm not a big preacher. I'm not going to tell people what to do," he said. "I'm going to tell you what happens if you get caught  if you get hooked  I'm going to tell you what you're going to do next."

With more than 20,000 shows under his belt, Lundholm said he has built up a network of resources that can provide help to those looking for answers.

"I have resources all over the country," he said. "It's not because I'm smart or because I'm some sort of tough guy or prophet or healer  I've learned to ask the right people the right questions so other people get the right help."

Lundholm has appeared several times at events in Midland on behalf of 1016 Recovery Network.

"I like Midland. I've been going there a long time," Lundholm said, adding that he already has gotten emails from Midland acquaintances excited about his show.

"You have a phenomenal recovery community in Midland," he added.

Lundholm says he offers a message of hope.

"You can change your thinking, and you can change the way you live."

Opening the show will be Bay City magician Cameron Zvara.

Tickets can be obtained at the Coleman VFW Post 1071, at Affordable Advertising, 223 E. Railway St. in Coleman, or by calling Pat Murray at 231-642-1303.
On Wednesday afternoon, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow paid a visit to a series of local shops in the downtown Midland area. She worked her way from the aromatic Live Oak Coffeehouse on Ashman Street to the family-friendly candy store, Heather 'n Holly on Main Street and finished by browsing the Michigan-inspired merchandise at Coyer Candle Co.

"It's an honor. I'm happy to share our business struggles and successes," said Renee Deckrow, owner of Live Oak.

At the coffeehouse, Stabenow took a few minutes to admire the decor with Deckrow before asking the barista about his drink recommendations. She even ventured next door to visit a summer camp where kids and mentors were in the process of making mats out of recycled plastic bags. Back in the coffeehouse, the Democratic senator talked with employees about the struggles and successes Live Oak has experienced since its opening in January.

"It's cool to be heard. That's the biggest thing in our community, that we try to be good listeners," Deckrow said. "And so I think it's cool that she's coming and listening to what we have to say. You want people to hear and know what a challenge it is to start a small business."

Stabenow was equally impressed by the investment given by local entrepreneurs.

"I really am inspired by talking to people who say, 'I've always wanted to do something'  to see people willing to put their own capital on the line, their own creativity, their own investment, is very inspiring. It's really what Michigan is based on," she said.

At Heather 'n Holly, Stabenow talked with co-owners Holly and Nick Gillette, all the time marveling at the colorful displays of candies and stuffed animals perched along the rim of the store. She listened intently as they explained how they made most of the candies, including the fudge. Stabenow shared her experiences working on a dairy farm and greeted patrons who were eating ice cream in a corner.

"It was an honor to have her here," Nick said. "I've been reading about her legislation that she's been trying to put through about tax cuts for small businesses, so it meant a lot."

Although Heather 'n Holly has been around for 10 years in its current location, Nick emphasized that the key to success in small business is "not getting too complacent in what you do, not being afraid to try different things." When the streetscape project is finished, he plans to have more tables outside and even provide a small retail section.

"We had to wade through this summer construction, so we want to make the most of it, absolutely."

The small business tour concluded at Coyer Candle Co., where Lisa and Scott Coyer as well as their staff warmly welcomed Stabenow.

"It was pretty exciting. We didn't find out until Monday," said Lisa after the visit.

As Stabenow walked around the shop, Lisa explained that the candles and scents were created on location while other merchandise was provided by fellow Michigan businesses.

"It's a handcrafted product. With it being handmade I feel we've set ourselves apart from everything else you could buy in Midland, when we first opened," Lisa said.

The Coyers even invited the senator to make her own candle to take home, a process which, from start to finish, took less than 10 minutes. While they waited for the wax to set, Stabenow talked with the staff about the ongoing streetscape project and the new buildings downtown, showing her interest in the community.

"I decided to do a really focused effort with small businesses and entrepreneurs because over half of our jobs are being created by small businesses in Michigan. I believe it's important to reach out and listen to them and also give them a shout out."

Stabenow shared that her campaign for small businesses will not stop at the end of this trip. She is looking forward to working on two different bills in Congress. The first bill proposes to give a 25 percent tax cut to businesses that make that first step from home to a brick and mortar operation. The second is geared toward providing businesses with less than 50 employees with a 50 percent tax cut in order to counterbalance the costs of healthcare.

In addition, Stabenow will continue to provide for the Great Lakes area. She stated her desire to make sure that there are no cuts to the budget concerning the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding and as one of the leaders on the Agriculture Committee, she is currently working on rewriting a five-year farm bill in the fall.

"With the last five-year farm bill, when I chaired the committee, I worked really hard to make sure that Michigan was on every page and I will do the same this time."
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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: Rathbone Brothers PLC (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 23/08/2017 (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" Yes





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:



0.1p Ordinary



Interests Short positions Number % Number % (1) Relevant securities owned and/or controlled: 6,830,814 5.93 (2) Cash-settled derivatives:



(3) Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell:



TOTAL: 6,830,814 5.93

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 (p) 0.1p Ordinary Sale 1,160 1098

(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: 24/08/2017 Contact name: Emma Mulhearn - Compliance Department Telephone number: 0151 236 6666

Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory Information Service.

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.
BLOOMINGTON  A Bloomington man is charged with armed violence in connection with an incident on West Market Street where he allegedly pulled a gun on another man during an altercation.

Michael Burton, 25, of the 800 block of West Oakland Avenue, also is charged with possession and delivery of cocaine, possession of marijuana with intent to deliver the drug and possession of a weapon without a valid firearm owners identification card.

Burton allegedly left a fight he was having with another man in the 100 block of West Market Street around 10 a.m. Monday and returned with a backpack containing a handgun, according to a statement presented in McLean County Circuit Court by Assistant State's Attorney Jeff Horve.

The defendant pointed the gun toward the second man during the incident, said Horve.

Associate Judge David Butler set bond at $500,000, meaning Burton must post $50,035 to be released.

The prosecutor said the altercation was captured on a police public safety camera.

After his arrest, Burton told Bloomington police "I was just being stupid" and that he "wanted people to know he had a gun," said the prosecutor. A search of the suspect's bag turned up ecstasy that the suspect told officers he intended to sell, said the statement.

Bloomington police also arrested two men Monday on multiple drug charges related to a narcotics investigation.

Wendal Durbin, 24, of Normal, was identified by Bloomington police as a major local supplier of ecstasy, Horve said in a court statement. Officers "caught him red-handed" with 331 grams of ecstasy in a hidden compartment inside his car, said Horve.

A bullet proof vest and handgun were found in the car and a second firearm was located by police during a search of a residence connected to the suspect, said police.

Durbin, also charged with weapons offenses, is being held in $250,000 bond.

A third man, Dennis R. Davis Jr., 23, of Bloomington is charged with delivery of a controlled substance near a school and distribution of a look-alike substance. He was held in lieu of $5,035.

All three suspects are scheduled for Sept. 1 arraignments.
TOKYO  The U.S. Navy dismissed the commander of the Asia-based 7th Fleet on Wednesday after a series of warship accidents raised questions about its operations in the Pacific.

A two-sentence statement said Adm. Scott Swift, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, had relieved Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin "due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command."

The move follows four Navy accidents in the Pacific since late January, including two collisions that left sailors dead and missing.

"While each of these four incidents is unique, they cannot be viewed in isolation," Swift said earlier.

He said the Navy will carry out a "deliberate re-set" of all its ships in the Pacific, focused on navigation, mechanical systems and bridge resource management. It will include training and an expert assessment of each ship.

The Navy said that Rear Adm. Phillip Sawyer, who had already been named as Aucoin's successor, would assume command immediately.

On Monday, the destroyer USS John S. McCain and an oil tanker collided off Singapore, injuring five sailors and leaving 10 others missing. Seven sailors died in June when the destroyer USS Fitzgerald collided with a container ship off Japan.

Swift, speaking Tuesday at a news conference in Singapore where the McCain is now docked, said Navy divers had found remains of some of the missing in a flooded compartment in the ship. He also said Malaysians assisting in the search had found a body, but it had not been determined if it was a McCain crew member.

The 7th Fleet said in a statement Wednesday that Navy and Marine Corps divers are continuing to search flooded compartments in the McCain in the hope of locating more of the missing sailors. The sea-based search east of Singapore "is expanding to encompass a greater area as time goes on," it said.

Singapore's government said the search area more than doubled Wednesday to about 5,500 square kilometers (2,120 square miles) with aircraft and vessels deployed by the U.S., Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia.

At least five of the 10 missing sailors have been identified by relatives.

Crew member Logan Palmer is from the Decatur, Illinois, area and his mother identified him as missing, U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis said.

April Brandon in Michigan said the military informed her that her son, Ken Smith, is missing. She said Smith's father, stepmother and grandfather served in the Navy. Brandon said, "His father and I couldn't be prouder of our son."

The family of Jacob Drake of Ohio was told he was among the missing, the Columbus Dispatch reported. Megan Partlow told The Associated Press that Drake was her fiance and she last had contact with him Sunday in a text message.

Family members of Dustin Doyon from Connecticut confirmed that he was among the missing. Local police said the Navy was in communication with the family.

The mother of a Texas sailor said her son, John Hoagland, was among the missing and had served aboard the warship since October.

The collision at daybreak in a busy shipping area tore a gaping hole in the McCain's left rear hull and flooded adjacent compartments including crew berths and machinery and communication rooms.

The cause of the collision has not been determined. The Navy previously said there was no evidence it was intentional, or that it was a result of sabotage or cyberintrusion.

The Navy last week said the Fitzgerald's captain was being relieved of his command and other sailors were being punished after poor seamanship and flaws in keeping watch were found to have contributed to its collision. An investigation into how and why the Fitzgerald collided with the other ship was not finished, but enough details were known to take those actions, the Navy said.

There were two lesser-known incidents in the first half of the year. In January, the USS Antietam guided missile cruiser ran aground near Yokosuka base, the home port of the 7th Fleet, and in May another cruiser, the USS Lake Champlain from the Navy's 3rd Fleet, had a minor collision with a South Korean fishing boat.

Aucoin assumed command of the 7th Fleet in September 2015 and was due to retire in a few weeks.

A career flight officer, he served in five fighter squadrons and flew in more than 150 combat missions, according to Navy biographies. He commanded a carrier air wing aboard the USS Kitty Hawk and a carrier strike group based in Bremerton, Washington. Prior to heading the 7th Fleet, he was deputy chief of naval operations for warfare systems.

The 7th Fleet has 50 to 70 ships and submarines, 140 aircraft and about 20,000 sailors.

-- Associated Press writers Lolita Baldor in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Robert Burns in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this story.
CHICAGO (AP)  Just weeks after being hired, four key members of Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner's communications team have resigned in the wake of the Republican's confusing response to a political cartoon that critics called racist.

Rauner announced the changes Thursday, saying he didn't sign off on a statement from his staff this week explaining that he wouldn't comment on the cartoon "as a white male." He characterized the resignations from the high pressure jobs as mutual agreements.

"The communications effort is incredibly hard because we have attacks, political attacks coming 20 times a day. We have social media attacks coming 100 times a day. We have false rumors planted that have to be dealt with," he said at a pension-related bill signing in suburban Chicago. "Getting people who can do it well and are willing to do on this scale it's a challenge ... Sometimes other things get in the way. Other loyalties get in the way."

Rauner didn't elaborate.

The four employees  Diana Rickert, Laurel Patrick, Meghan Keenan and Brittany Carl  were hired last month in a major staff shake-up that included enlisting several individuals from the Illinois Policy Institute, a conservative think tank. Last week the organization circulated a cartoon, meant as a commentary on Illinois' ongoing school funding fight, of a black Chicago schoolchild panhandling for money from a white man wearing a suit.

The image and Rauner's response prompted wide bipartisan opposition, with claims the image played up racist stereotypes and was insensitive after the recent deadly attack at a white nationalist rally in Virginia.

On Tuesday, a Rauner spokeswoman issued a statement saying the governor "as a white male" wouldn't have anything further to add to the discussion. Hours later Rauner retracted the words, saying the statement didn't accurately reflect his views.

Rauner said for days that he hadn't seen the image, but acknowledged publicly Thursday that he saw it and understood "why some people would be upset by it."

The cartoon prompted the Illinois House to stand up in opposition while in session last week. The Policy Institute removed the online image after the backlash, but continued to defend it as truthful and with statements from black residents who said they didn't find it racist.

The resignations come at a critical time for Rauner, who's seeking a second term next year. They also raise questions about his links to the Chicago-based tax policy organization that runs a statewide media service and legal arm, which has challenged Illinois' same-day voter registration law in court.

Rauner, a wealthy businessman, donated to the group before he was governor. Last month's hires included the institute's former president as Rauner's chief of staff and Rickert, who was the group's spokeswoman. The staff housecleaning, that saw roughly two dozen people either fired or resigned, came shortly after the Democrat-run Legislature dealt Rauner a major political blow in ending the state's roughly two-year budget impasse. Several Republicans broke ranks and voted for the spending plan that includes an income tax increase over Rauner's objections.

Rauner defended the staff changes, saying he's always trying to build a strong team and isn't beholden to the Policy Institute. Messages left for the four people who resigned weren't immediately returned.

"A very tiny fraction of our administration is from that organization," he said. "And in no regard, does that organization speak for me or our administration. And I do not lean on them for any particular issue or policy."

In the meantime, the state's legislative leaders are negotiating on a school funding deal. The new budget requires a revamped formula for public schools to get state money this academic year. The 20-year-old calculation Illinois currently uses is widely considered unfair, though Republicans and Democrats disagree over how to change it.
LAS VEGAS, Aug. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- THC Therapeutics (OTC: THCT) is in the process of completing an audit which will allow us to be fully reporting to the Securities and Exchange Commission. We have hired AMC Auditing in Las Vegas, NV to complete our audit. We expect the audit to be completed in the next 60 days. To facilitate this, weve hired Blue Chip Accounting in Henderson, NV to be our new CPA. Weve also hired Steve Bean from Legends Law Group out of Kaysville, UT as our Patent Attorney for the dHydronator and other intellectual property. In addition to the previously mentioned firms, THC Therapeutics has also hired a new Securities Attorney out of Salt Lake City, UT.

The dHydronator is a sanitizing herb dryer capable of reducing the drying time of cannabis from 10-14 days down to less than 14 hours. With our built-in, optional SanitiZen technology we are able to reduce the microbial load from failing cannabis and bring the contaminants down to passing levels while maintaining the integrity of the plant. This device has been rigorously tested by two 3rd party independent laboratories. Over the 9 tests and 6 strains tested on the 2nd generation prototype, we have seen a 4% average increase of THC-A. This increase in THC-A has never before been seen during the drying process. Links to testing reports 

1st Generation testing (http://thctherapeutics.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/CannLabs-Report.pdf)

2nd Generation testing (http://thctherapeutics.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Censored-Lab-Report-DigiPath.pdf)

Please read our research report from Equities.com - https://www.equities.com/news/thc-therapeutics-thct-unlocking-the-health-and-wellness-potential-of-cannabis

A press release is coming out in the next few weeks to update everyone on the dHydronator and the health and wellness spa.

Comments from our Founder & CEO Brandon Romanek: One of our first goals since we went public was to become a fully reporting company as quickly as possible. By becoming fully reporting, we are increasing our transparency to the next level, showing the investment community our commitment to doing things the right way. Becoming fully reporting will allow us to raise capital on better terms and attract more sophisticated investors. Offers have been made for THCT to raise capital that would have had a negative impact on our shareholders, but every one of these offers were rejected. Ive made it very clear one of the big ways to grow THC Therapeutics is by mergers, acquisitions and partnerships, for this to happen we need to be fully reporting. We are currently in discussions with several companies in the healthcare and cannabis industries.

About THC Therapeutics:

THC Therapeutics is a forward-thinking publicly traded health and healing company in the cannabis industry that has Better Health through the Science of Nature as their mission statement. The company is dedicated to innovating new methods and refining current industry standards in the cannabis market. We are currently in product development on the dHydronator and a subsequent product line to follow up after the dHydronator's release. The dHydronator is a sanitizing herb dryer capable of reducing the drying time of cannabis from 10-14 days down to less than 14 hours. With our built-in, optional SanitiZen technology we are able to reduce the microbial load from failing cannabis and bring the contaminants down to passing levels while maintaining the integrity of the plant. THC Therapeutics plans for future growth include cannabis technology products, personal wellness centers and flotation therapy. For more information, visit THCTherapeutics.com.

Forward-Looking Statements Disclosure:

This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. In this context, forward-looking statements may address the Companys expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as anticipates, beliefs, estimates, expects, intends, plans, seeks, will, and other terms with similar meaning. These forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. Although the Company believes that the assumptions upon which its forward-looking statements based are reasonable, it can provide no assurances that these assumptions will prove to be correct. All forward-looking statements in this press release are expressly qualified by such cautionary statements, risk, and uncertainties, and by reference to the underlying assumptions.

Phone: 702.602.THCC (8422)

Follow Brandon Romanek on Facebook and Twitter:

Twitter @BrandonRomanek

Follow THC Therapeutics on Facebook and Twitter:

Twitter @THCTherapeutics

Facebook @THCTherapies
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
Once again, the Deseret News opens its pages to permit me to express my never-ending volcanic rage and to smear and verbally assault all those who disagree with me:

Archaeology, Relics and Book of Mormon Belief'

***

Were just back from an excellent lunch with the daughter of some former neighbors. Cucina urbana is in the Bankers Hill section of San Diego, on the corner of Fifth and Laurel, not too far from Balboa Park and a reasonable walk  we walked it  from where were staying. Its a bit pricey for Italian food, but then, its not your usual Italian food. I thought it was extraordinarily good, and I recommend it very highly.

***

Heres a small but nice collection of photographs that you might enjoy, taken in my adopted home state:

Believe your eyes: 9 (un)real photos taken in Utah this summer

***

I found this interesting:

LDS Leaders Open to Progression after Judgement

I myself lean toward a cautious (and very long-term) near-universalism. I dont know that its true, but Im rooting for it.

Ive quoted a line here before from the late great Pope St. John Paul II, whom I greatly admired and whom I had the privilege of seeing at rather close quarters during a relatively small meeting in Rome not long before his death:

When asked if a Christian must believe in Hell, he responded: Yes, but we can hope that it will be empty.

I like that.

***

Heres a blog entry from Ken Gourdin thats related to the subject of my little note of yesterday that was titled Some Thoughts about the Temple:

You Breathed My Name Aloud

***

Finally, theres this:

Utah ranked 50th in US gender equality, including last in education, health

I look forward to a serious discussion of what, if anything, this ranking really means. (I realize that Im probably looking forward in vain.)

I wonder whether the metrics used in the rankings are necessarily the best, whether there might be others at least as valuable if not better. I would like to see some reflection on whether or not the measurements used are (perhaps unjustifiably) skewed against traditional family arrangements, and whether or not they unfairly privilege certain sociopolitical policy stances and results (e.g., on health care). Do they ignore, or minimize, divorce rates and abandoned families and impoverished female-headed households? Overall, is Utah really the worst state in the Union for women? That seems fairly doubtful to me. Are the United States really 45th out of the worlds 144 nations in terms of quality of life for women? Again, I doubt it very much.

Is the study on which the ranking is based biased, wittingly or unwittingly, against the (free) choices (voluntarily) made by many Utah women to marry, to withdraw from the workforce (and from politics) for greater or lesser periods of time, and to raise unusually large families? Does it, in other words, penalize those who deviate from an approved model of an ideal womans life cycle?

Does the quality of ordinary womens lives really depend, in any direct and obvious way, on the proportion of them who are represented by women in the United States Senate and House of Representatives and in their state legislatures? My wife and I are represented in the Utah Senate by a woman who happens to be a very good friend. We like her a lot. But I somehow doubt that my wifes existence would be seriously marred should our friend choose to retire and be replaced by a man of similar views.

Such headline-grabbing studies as this should never be taken simply at face value. Perhaps this ranking points to serious issues. Perhaps it doesnt. Perhaps it points to almost nothing at all. Anyway, although it will certainly be weaponized for deployment against Mormonism  indeed, it already has been  it shouldnt be used or abused in that way without serious thought. (Dont hold your breath.)

Anyway, I find myself thinking of the very well-received 2014 FairMormon remarks of our friend Sharon Eubank:

This is a Womans Church

Posted from San Diego, California
Patna: Students of the College of Arts and Crafts in Patna on Wednesday, like many times in the past, staged a rally demanding the removal of Acting Principal Chandra Bhushan Srivastava saying their education was suffering in the absence of a 'real' Principal who cared about the future of his students.

Srivastava, who is accused of not coming to the college for months, was ambushed by irate students as soon as his car entered the college campus. They threatened to physically assault the Principal if he came out of his vehicle.

Situation was brought under control after security guards intervened and asked the Principal to leave the campus before things took a violent turn.

"This man is unfit to be the College Principal. He never comes to the college nor shows any concern for the future of the students. He has also shown poor character before girl students and does not show any respect for college regulations," said the protestors demanding his immediate removal.

It may be recalled this is not the first time the students of Arts and Crafts College have rallied against Srivastava. Last year they shut down the college for nearly three months for the same reason.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novo Resources Corp. (Novo or the Company) (TSX-V:NVO) (OTCQX:NSRPF) is pleased to provide an update on its recent transactions in connection with the Karratha region of Western Australia.



Artemis Resources Limited

Further to the Companys news release dated August 15, 2017, the Company has obtained TSX Venture Exchange approval to farm-in to 50% of gold (and other minerals necessarily mined with gold) in conglomerate and/or paleoplacer style mineralization in Artemis Resources Limiteds (Artemis) tenements within 100km of the City of Karratha, including at Purdys Reward (the Gold Rights). The Gold Rights do not include (i) gold disclosed in Artemis existing (at May 18, 2017) JORC compliant Resources and Reserves or (ii) gold which is not within conglomerate and/or paleoplacer style mineralization or (iii) minerals other than gold. As a result of receiving TSX Venture Exchange approval, the Company has issued 4,000,000 common shares to Artemis. The shares are subject to a contractual twelve month hold period (inclusive of the required four month statutory hold period expiring December 24, 2017) expiring on August 23, 2018.

Pipeline Project

Further to the Companys news release dated August 11, 2017, the Company has obtained TSX Venture Exchange approval for the option to acquire the Pipeline project. As a result, the Company has issued 500,000 common shares as an initial option fee payment which are subject to a statutory hold period expiring on December 17, 2017.

Comet Well Project

Further to the Companys news release dated August 3, 2017, the Company has obtained TSX Venture Exchange approval to acquire certain tenements comprising the Comet Well project.



About Novo Resources Corp.



Novos focus is to explore and develop gold projects in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, and Novo has built up a significant land package covering approximately 12,000 sq km. Novo also controls a 100% interest in approximately 2 sq km covering much of the Tuscarora Au-Ag vein district, Nevada. For more information, please contact Leo Karabelas at (416) 543-3120 or e-mail leo@novoresources.com

On Behalf of the Board of Directors,

Novo Resources Corp.

 Quinton Hennigh 

Quinton Hennigh

Chairman and President

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 news release.
Qatar To Return Ambassador To Iran Amid Regional Crisis

08/24/17

Source: RFE/RL

Qatar says its ambassador will return to Tehran more than 20 months after he was recalled in protest over the ransacking of Saudi Arabia's missions by protesters. The decision defies demands by Saudi Arabia and several Arab allies that Doha sever remaining ties with Tehran.

Qatar's Foreign Ministry announced on August 24 that its ambassador would "return to resume his diplomatic duties," without specifying an exact date for the ambassador's return or providing his name.



A statement said Doha was seeking to "strengthen bilateral relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran in all fields," adding that Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdulrahman al-Thani had discussed the matter in a telephone call with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif.



Iranian officials have not yet commented on the announcement.



Qatar recalled its ambassador to Iran in January last year after Saudi Arabia cut ties with the Islamic republic, accusing Tehran of failing to protect its embassy in the capital and consulate in Mashhad against protesters who had ransacked them.



The protests followed Saudi Arabia's execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shi'ite cleric in the kingdom who had rallied antigovernment protests.



Riyadh said the execution was justified as part of its "war on terrorism."



Qatar's decision to restore ties with Iran comes amid a diplomatic dispute between Qatar and other Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bahrain.



The four countries cut diplomatic ties and transportation links with Qatar over the Persian Gulf state's alleged funding of Islamic extremists -- a charge Doha denies -- and its ties to Tehran.



Iran has shown its support to Qatar, in particular by sending food shipments to Qatar and by allowing Qatar's national carrier to use its airspace.



Also on August 24, Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, was quoted as saying that Iran and Saudi Arabia will exchange diplomatic visits soon.



He told the semiofficial ISNA news agency that the visit could take place after the hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia ends in the first week of September.



"Visas have been delivered for the two sides," Zarif said. "The final steps need to be completed so our diplomats can go inspect our embassy and consulate in Saudi Arabia and for Saudi diplomats to come inspect their embassy and consulate."



An agreement between Tehran and Riyadh earlier this year will allow Iranian citizens to take part in this year's hajj.



Iranians were largely absent from the pilgrimage last year following a 2015 crowd stampede that killed hundreds of Iranian worshippers.



Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would visit Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates next week for talks that are set to include the crisis in the Persian Gulf.



"Russia has been consistently calling on the interested states to abandon confrontation rhetoric, discuss the accrued points at issue at the negotiating table, and reach compromise solutions," ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.



With reporting by AP, Reuters, AFP, Al-Jazeera, and Interfax

Copyright (c) 2017 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
Tehran City Councilors Set Sights On Cleaner Sky

08/24/17

By Setareh Behroozi, Tehran Times

TEHRAN -- As evidence displays, the capital's air pollution and traffic congestion are amongst the main concerns of the newly-elected Tehran City Council. During the first session of the fifth Tehran City Council on Wednesday, the chairman Mohsen Hashemi highlighted the need for following-up on different urban management plans with the aim of reducing traffic congestion and decreasing air pollution in the capital as one of the main programs of the council.



Tehran City Council



Hashemi proposed the expansion of public transportation as the solution for environmental problems Tehrani citizens are grappling with.



He also pointed to reducing general expenses and government involvement in urban management and improving cultural and social services as the aims of the new council.



He is of the opinion that air pollution, massive traffic jam, noise pollution, urban environment damages, the sprawling city, run-down areas, labor children, etc. are all making Tehran ill-suited to inhabit.





cartoon by Arvin, Ghanoon daily



Hashemi, 56, is the eldest son of the late Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani - the fourth president of Iran.



The pro-reform Hope list succeeded to win all the 21 council seats in Tehran on May 19 election, replacing priniciplist who took the helm of the fourth council.

Najafi in, Qalibaf out

Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who served in the post of Tehran Mayor for 12 years, left his office on Tuesday for the new mayor.



Mohammad Ali Najafi, the sole candidate for the post of Tehran mayor, was formally elected at the first session of Tehran City Council on Wednesday.



Mohammad Ali Najafi

(cartoon by Mohammad Tahani)





All Tehran city councilors voted for Najafi, a reformist figure who held office at the Education Ministry from 1988 to 1997.



However, the mayor will be officially inaugurated after getting approval from the Ministry of Interior which is due to take place in coming days.



All in all, Tehrani citizens hope for a brighter future and a more vibrant city with the new council setting sights on a cleaner sky.
This is believed to be the victim of five cannibals who were arrested after the brutal rape and murder of a young woman whose flesh was then eaten in a scandal that is rocking South Africa.



Zanele Hlatshwayo, 25, is thought to be the woman who was murdered and cut up before her flesh was shared around neighbours in an unfolding cannibal saga in Estcourt, a town in the uThukela District of KwaZulu-Natal Province.



More than 300 people in surrounding villages have so far admitted to knowingly eating human flesh, and at the home of one of the arrested men eight human ears were found in a cooking pot.



Many villagers have come forward to report relatives and friends missing leading to police fear there could be many more victims.



Read Full Story .... dailymail.co.uk >>> :

















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The Volta Regional Minister, Dr Achibald Letsa, has called on all Ghanaians living along the Ghana-Togo border line not to fear because Ghanas security are up to task following the political conflict in Togo.



His comment follows a caution against travelling to the French-speaking West African country on Friday, August 25 by Isaac Owusu Mensah, Deputy Commissioner of Immigration in charge of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) in the Volta region.



Mr Owusu revealed that the GIS had picked intelligence that civilians and opposition political parties in that country were planning a political protest in the national capital, Lome, and cautioned that Ghanaians planning to travel to Togo on that day should be careful.



But speaking in an interview with Chief Jerry Forson, host of Ghana Yensom on Accra 100.5FM, Dr Letsa, who is the Chairman of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) said: As far as we are concerned we are monitoring the borders and so far there is no cause for alarm.



The situation in the region is very calm. We were worried that we will have an influx of refugees but we made preparations for that but fortunately for us the situation is very calm.

Source: AccraFM









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The processes towards the celebration of Eid al Adha in the world has begun in Ghana to be held on September 1st which has been declared a public holiday.



In connection with the Islamic big season, the world over hundreds of thousands of Muslims are being conveyed to the holy land of Mecca and Medina by air, sea and road.



Close to 7000 Ghanaians will make the journey, culminating to more than 2million people worldwide, making it the largest gathering on earth.



Kings, Queens, Presidents and other noble men and commoners would make the journey together in fulfillment of one of the five pillars of Islam. Those making the journey do so in the knowledge that Muslims of whatever status are one Umma.



From Ghana the National Chief Imam Sheikh Usman Nuhu Sharubutu is likely to go on pilgrimage to Mecca once again as done every year. The close to 100 years old Islamic leader as a non-aligned unifier is sponsored by succeeding governments to Mecca annually. His responsibility has been to pray for peace in the nation and the world while in the holy land. This has endeared him to all people of Ghana including all the religious adherents and all the political parties



The Hajj takes place from the 8th to the 12th of Zul-Hijjah beginning from August 23 which is the last month of the Hijri calendar. As part of the Hajj program in Ghana, a seminar was held by the Hajj board to sensitize the pilgrims especially the first timers on the rudiments of the Hajj pilgrimage. All intending pilgrims who need to know more about the Hajj and to have access to their Hajj travelling bags and other items are being advised to attend the seminar. All their agents would be available to attend to them.



The Hajj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, and a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey and can support their family during their absence.



It is one of the five pillars of Islam, alongside Shahadah, Salat, Zakat, and Sawm. The gathering during Hajj is considered the largest annual gathering of people in the world.



The state of being physically and financially capable of performing the Hajj is called istita'ah, and a Muslim who fulfills this condition is called a mustati. The Hajj is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people, and their submission to God (Allah). The word Hajj means "to intend a journey", which connotes both the outward act of a journey and the inward act of intentions.



The pilgrimage occurs from the 8th to 12th (or in some cases 13th) of Dhu al-Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic calendar. Because the Islamic calendar is lunar and the Islamic year is about eleven days shorter than the Gregorian year, the Gregorian date of Hajj changes from year to year. Ihram is the name given to the special spiritual state in which pilgrims wear two white sheets of seamless cloth and abstain from certain things.



The Hajj is associated with the life of Islamic prophet Muhammad from the 7th century, but the ritual of pilgrimage to Mecca is considered by Muslims to stretch back thousands of years to the time of Abraham. During Hajj, pilgrims join processions of hundreds of thousands of people, who simultaneously converge on Mecca for the week of the Hajj, and perform a series of rituals: each person walks counter-clockwise seven times around the Ka'aba (the cube-shaped building and the direction of prayer for the Muslims), runs back and forth between the hills of Al-Safa and Al-Marwah , drinks from the Zamzam Well , goes to the plains of Mount Arafat to stand in vigil, spends a night in the plain of Muzdalifa , and performs symbolic stoning of the devil by throwing stones at three pillars. The pilgrims then shave their heads, perform a ritual of animal sacrifice, and celebrate the three-day global festival of Eid al-Adha.



Pilgrims can also go to Mecca to perform the rituals at other times of the year. This is sometimes called the "lesser pilgrimage", or Umrah. However, even if they choose to perform the Umrah, they are still obligated to perform the Hajj at some other point in their lifetime if they have the means to do so.



The present pattern of Hajj was established by Muhammad. However, according to the Quran, elements of Hajj trace back to the time of Abraham, around 2000 BCE. According to Islamic tradition, Abraham was ordered by God to leave his wife Hagar (Hagar) and his son Ishmael alone in the desert of ancient Mecca.



In search of water, Hagar desperately ran seven times between the two hills of Safa and Marwah but found none. Returning in despair to Ishmael, she saw the baby scratching the ground with his leg and a water fountain sprang forth underneath his foot. [18] Later, Abraham was commanded to build Kaaba (which he did with the help of Ishmael) and to invite people to perform pilgrimage there. [19] The Quran refers to these incidents in verses 2:124-127 and 22:27-30. [n 1] It is said that the archangel Gabriel brought the Black Stone from Heaven to be attached to Kaaba.



In pre-Islamic Arabia, a time known as jahiliyyah, Kaaba became surrounded by pagan idols. [20] In 630 CE, Muhammad led his followers from Medina to Mecca, cleansed the Kaaba by destroying all the pagan idols, and then deconsecrated the building to Allah. In 632 CE, Muhammad performed his only and last pilgrimage with a large number of followers, and instructed them on the rites of Hajj. [22] It was from this point that Hajj became one of the five pillars of Islam.



During the medieval times, pilgrims would gather in big cities of Syria, Egypt, and Iraq to go to Mecca in groups and caravans comprising tens of thousands of pilgrims, [23] often under state patronage. [24] Hajj caravans, particularly with the advent of the Mamluk Sultanate and its successor, the Ottoman Empire, were escorted by a military force accompanied by physicians under the command of a hajj. This was done in order to protect the caravan from Bedouin robbers or natural hazards, and to ensure that the pilgrims were supplied with the necessary provisions. Muslim travelers like Ibn Jubayr and Ibn Battuta have recorded detailed accounts of Hajj-travels of medieval time. The caravans followed well-established routes called in Arabic darb al-hajj, lit. "Pilgrimage road", which usually followed ancient routes such as the King's Highway.



Timing of Hajj



The date of Hajj is determined by Islamic calendar (known as Hijri calendar or AH), which is a lunar year. Every year, the events of Hajj take place in a five-day period, starting on 8 and ending on 12 Dhul-Hijjah, the twelfth and last month of the Islamic calendar. Among these five days, the 9th Dhul-Hijjah is known as Day of Arafah, and this day is called the day of Hajj.



Because the Islamic calendar is lunar and the Islamic year is about eleven days shorter than the Gregorian year, the Gregorian date for Hajj changes from year to year. Thus, each year in the Gregorian calendar, the pilgrimage starts eleven days (sometimes ten days) earlier than the preceding year.



This makes it possible for the Hajj season to fall twice in one Gregorian year, and it does so every 33 years. The last time this phenomenon occurred was 2006. [31] The table below shows the Gregorian dates of Hajj of recent years (the dates correspond to 9 Dhul-Hijjah of Hijri calendars).



Ihram



When the pilgrims are about 6 miles (10 km) from Mecca, they enter into a state of holiness  known as Ihram  that consists of wearing two white seamless cloths for the male, with the one wrapped around the waist reaching below the knee and the other draped over the left shoulder and tied at the right side; wearing ordinary dress for the female that fulfills the Islamic condition of public dress with hands or face uncovered;] taking ablution; declaring the intention (niyah) to perform pilgrimage and to refraining from certain activities such as clipping the nails, shaving any part of the body, having sexual relations; using perfumes, damaging plants, killing animals, covering head (for men) or the face and hands (for women); getting married; or carrying weapons. A place designated for changing into Ihram is called a Miqat. The ihram is meant to show equality of all pilgrims in front of God: there is no difference between the rich and the poor.



Mount Safa near Kaaba inside Masjid al-Haram



Tawaf means walking seven times counter-clockwise around the Kaaba. Upon arriving at Masjid al-Haram, pilgrims perform an arrival tawaf either as part of Umrah or as a welcome tawaf. During tawaf, pilgrims also include Hateem  an area at the north side of Kaaba  inside their path. Each circuit starts with the kissing or touching of the Black Stone (Hajar al- Aswad). If kissing the stone is not possible because of the crowds, they may simply point towards the stone with their hand on each circuit. Eating is not permitted but the drinking of water is allowed, because of the risk of dehydration due to the often low humidity in Mecca. Men are encouraged to perform the first three circuits at a hurried pace, known as Ramal, and the following four at a leisurely pace.



The completion of Tawaf is followed by two Rakaat prayers at the Place of Abraham (Muqam Ibrahim), a site near Kaaba inside the mosque. However, again because of large crowds during the days of Hajj, they may instead pray anywhere in the mosque. After prayer, pilgrims also drink water from the Zamzam well, which is made available in coolers throughout the Mosque. [43]

Although the circuits around the Kaaba are traditionally done on the ground level, tawaf is now also performed on the first floor and roof of the mosque because of the large crowd.



Tawaf is followed by sa'ay, running or walking seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwah, located near Kaaba. Previously in open air, the place is now entirely enclosed by the Masjid al-Haram mosque, and can be accessed via air-conditioned tunnels. [ Pilgrims are advised to walk the circuit, though two green pillars mark a short section of the path where they are allowed to run. There is also an internal "express lane" for the disabled. After sayee, the male pilgrims shave their heads and women generally clip a portion of their hair, which completes the Umrah.



After narrating all that needs to be known about the hajj pilgrimage an experienced hajj agent had a word of advice to all those who are preparing to travel to the holy land for the hajj pilgrimage



Alhaji Gariba Ibrahim, Managing Director, Al-Balad Travel and Tours Limited, the official travel agent for Hajj, warned Hajj pilgrims to adhere to the rules governing the Hajj pilgrimage. He advised the pilgrims to stay clear from iniquities that include trading in narcotics and other dangerous drugs.



According to him, engaging in narcotics or even having the illegal substance in your possession is a grievous crime in Saudi Arabia, that could result in the culprit being beheaded or hanged to death.



To avoid this painful death and its accompanying embarrassment to the country, Alhaji Gariba admonished Ghanaian pilgrims to sustain Ghana's good image and reputation by doing away with narcotics as they travel for the Hajj.



To the best of his knowledge, he stated that Ghanaian pilgrims to Mecca over the years have comported themselves well and this had boosted the image of the country, so he expected the positive trend to be sustained.

Source: ghanaweb









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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An area of downtown Charleston, South Carolina, has been shut down after police received a report of an active shooter.

The Post and Courier newspaper reports that employees working in the area near Virginia's On King, a Southern cuisine restaurant, said they were on lockdown and the incident appears to have started at the restaurant.

There were no reports of injuries initially, but police now say one person was hurt.

Mayor of Charleston: 1 person shot by "disgruntled employee," ongoing hostage situation downtown https://t.co/sr9E2P0cww #chsnews #scnews pic.twitter.com/qPS9YpUSbe  The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) August 24, 2017

Per police, still active hostage situation; not terrorism; disgruntled employee; at least one injured; update at 230 @postandcourier  Michael Majchrowicz (@mjmajchrowicz) August 24, 2017

Mayor says shooter was a disgruntled employee. He is still in building. No condition on Vic #chsnews  Glenn Smith (@glennsmith5) August 24, 2017

Police say one person shot and rushed to hospital. Couple of hostages inside #chsnews  Glenn Smith (@glennsmith5) August 24, 2017

Crowd stands behind police tape as officers confront active shooter at @VirginiasonKing #chsnews pic.twitter.com/SInpxAxIKQ  Glenn Smith (@glennsmith5) August 24, 2017
Norcross, GA, Aug. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EasyCare announced today that it has promoted Rob Mirra to Vice President of New Business Acquisition for the company. Mirras new role will put him at the forefront of EasyCares new business-development efforts, including partnering with dealerships and dealer groups, vendors, and suppliers. He is expected to leverage his decade of automotive experience, as well as skills gained in public service as a paratrooper in the U.S. Army and a police officer with the Newport News (Va.) Police Department, to help dealers across the country achieve their objectives.

Mirra joined EasyCare in February 2016 as National Director of New Business after a successful 10-year run in automotive retail, including his position as National Director of Sales at Hyundai Motor Finance. He quickly proved to be adept at engaging dealers and building relationships, according to CEO Larry Dorfman.

Robs prior experience gives him an edge. He understands what it takes to compete in todays market and how partnering with EasyCare helps dealers reach their goals, Dorfman said. Over the past 18 months, he has proven that he lives the EasyCare culture of helping others succeed. As a result, the dealers who know and trust him have sought EasyCare out to be a part of their team. Robs a true leader; his passion and drive are something we are extremely fortunate to have on our executive leadership team.

I am grateful for the opportunities EasyCare has offered me and am eager to continue the momentum we have built over the past year, Mirra said. We have more work to do and more partnerships to build, and I cant wait to get started.

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ee38c956-2b9d-48b0-ad13-1555a9091ee7

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5d387a63-49b9-4fd9-8207-4d2bceef3cc9
Harrisburg police have arrested three men in connection to an attack and theft of an unmarked police vehicle Tuesday evening.

Niree Holman, 20, Jairo Rivera, 22, and Omar Rivera, 21, face numerous charges for their roles in the incident that began at around 9:05 p.m. Aug. 22 when police responded to a report of a fight on the 700 block of North 19th Street.

Officers saw two men pull handguns from their waistbands. One of the men racked the slide of the gun, pointed it at a woman and told her he was going to kill her, police said.

Responding officers jumped out of vehicle and ordered the men to drop their guns, police said. The men fled the scene and were able to elude the officers,. When the officers returned to the unmarked 2002 Pontiac police vehicle, they discovered the car had been stolen.

Moments later, police were told a car was on fire on Reels Lane near Lexington Street. That car turned out to be the unmarked police vehicle.

Police remained in the area and subsequently stopped three males the victim identified as the assailants. The victim told police Holman and Jairo Rivera were the men with the guns. Inside of Omar Rivera's pocket was property belonging to one of the officers, which was left in the vehicle prior to the theft, police said.

Holman is charged with carrying a firearm without a license, persons not permitted to carry a firearm and simple assault. Jairo Rivera is charged with carrying a firearm without a license, escape, simple assault and disorderly conduct. Omar Rivera is charged with arson, two counts of receiving stolen property, escape and disorderly conduct.

Police said the actions the officers took to save the woman's life are worth the cost of the damage to the vehicle.
Five Lancaster County properties are now the possession of Atlantic Sunrise pipeline builders after a federal judge gave the company immediate rights to the land on Wednesday, according to an LNP report.

Judge Jeffrey Schmehl granted the Transcontinental Pipeline motion to condemn the rights of the properties, including on land owned by The Adorers of the Blood of Christ near Columbia. The chapel its nuns built in a cornfield in the path of the pipeline doesn't immediately have to be removed, but will have to moved prior to the pipeline's construction, according to the report.

Dwight Yoder, an attorney for the nuns noted the limited right for appeal in eminent domain cases in declining to comment on Wednesday's ruling. Still unresolved is the nuns' lawsuit against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on the grounds that the pipeline would violate their rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993.

The other four properties, located in Conestoga and Manor townships, are owned by Stephen Hoffman, Hilltop Hollow Partnership, Blair and Megan Mohn, and Lynda Like. None of the landowners granted easements for right of way for pipeline construction.

Williams Partners, owners of Transco, issued a statement after the ruling saying the pipeline construction can begin in a timely fashion, pending state and federal clearances in the coming weeks.
The death of a 30-year-old Plano, Texas, woman whose body was found buried on a beach in Ocean City, Maryland, has been ruled accidental.

Ashley O'Connor was walking the beach alone around 2 a.m. July 31 when she sat in a 3- to 4-foot-deep hole near the area of Second Street, Ocean City police said in a news release. The hole collapsed at some point while O'Connor was sitting in it, ultimately causing her death.

O'Connor's body was found around 6:30 a.m. when a passer by saw her hand extending out of the sand. Detectives were unable to determine what caused the hole to collapse but said there was no evidence of foul play.

O'Connor had recently been married and had just started a painting business with her wife, Janet, according to a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for her funeral. She was vacationing in Maryland with her family prior to her death.

The chief medical examiner's office ruled the death to be accidental and that O'Connor died by asphyxia due to suffocation. Additionally, the autopsy revealed that alcohol was a factor in the death. Because O'Connor's death was ruled accidental, no comprehensive toxicology report will be completed.

O'Connor was found in a seated position about one-and-a-half feet below the sand, according to a WTOP report. At a news conference Thursday, Ocean City police Chief Ross Buzzuro said O'Connor is the only person who knows all of the facts of the incident. Police said she could have caused the collapse while entering the hole, the hole could have collapsed spontaneously while she was sitting or tractors in the area could have contributed to the hole's collapse, according to the report.
Charlie Robertson might have been York's most controversial mayor.

The cop-turned-politician, who died Wednesday at 83, left behind a legacy that spanned decades.

And 16 years ago, when Robertson was indicted, and later acquitted, of charges stemming from York's bloody 1969 race riots, that legacy forced the city to revisit an exceedingly unpleasant chapter of its past.

On Thursday, attorney William C. Costopoulos, who won Robertson the acquittal in the race riot case, remembered the former mayor as a man "who devoted his life to serving that city."

"He was a man of quiet faith and enormous love for the city and its people," Costopoulos said. "I know he would like to be remembered for his good works."

A genial bear of a man, Robertson served 29 years as a York City police officer before retiring, then promptly winning his first race for mayor in 1993.

The Democrat was reelected in 1997, and was running for a third term when he was indicted in the race riot case in the spring of 2001. Robertson narrowly won the primary election, then surrendered to authorities the next day. He dropped out of the mayor's race a week later.

The charges against Robertson stemmed from a grand jury investigation of the 1969 turmoil that resulted in the deaths of a white police officer, Henry Schaad, and Lillie Belle Allen, a black woman who was shot and killed while riding in a car through a white neighborhood.

The indictment stated that Robertson had incited a crowd by yelling "white power" and had provided ammunition to two men who shot at Allen's car.

"I am not a racist," Robertson told reporters from the local and national media after his May 2001 arrest. "My job is to comfort and heal the City of York."

He denied the charges, and claimed they were politically motivated.

Seventeen months after his arrest an all-white jury acquitted Robertson of the first- and second-degree murder charges that would have sent him to prison for life.

In 2005, the city reached a $2 million agreement to settle a lawsuit filed by Allen's family.

The controversy didn't end there. In 2014, during the Pennsylvania gubernatorial primary, state Treasurer Rob McCord challenged fellow Democratic contender Tom Wolf about Wolf's involvement with Robertson's 2001 mayoral campaign. Wolf, who chaired Robertson's re-election bid, said he also helped convince Robertson to withdraw after being indicted.

Wolf is now governor. McCord is a convicted felon, awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to federal charges that he extorted money from donors during his failed race for governor.

Like Costopoulos, former York Councilwoman Carol Brady remembered Robertson foremost as a man who loved his city.

"He did a lot of the city in his two terms," she said. "We (council) had a good working relationship with him. He was approachable and listened to all points of view."

Present and former York officials interviewed by ydr.com held similar views.

Eric Menzer, the city's former director of economic and community development, said Robertson "had a way of cutting through the bureaucracy" to get things done for the city's residents.

"There were not too many people who loved the city more than Charlie Robertson," although the former mayor's methods "sometimes ruffled some feathers," state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale told the news site.

"The city was his life," long-time York Councilwoman Toni Smith said.

When asked for comment about Robertson's death, Ophelia Chambliss, spokeswoman for the York Chapter of the NAACP, said that, "For the most part, we offer our condolences to his family and friends."

As the 50th anniversary of the race riots approaches in 2019, her group, instead of focusing on the horrors of the past, is trying to foster a more positive conversation on the future of race relations in the city, Chambliss said.

Robertson died about a month after being diagnosed with cancer, the AP reports.

He died at a nursing home, his adopted son, Chhayrong Chhum, told the news service.

"He never talked about the trial at all," Chhum said in a phone interview. "He focused on living the rest of his life by spending time with us, especially with the grandkids."
Penn State Hershey Medical Center has been cited for failing to sufficiently monitor the temperature of a 6-year-old boy who was placed under a special heating blanket and died after his temperature reached 107.6 degrees, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

The health department further cited the medical center for failing to immediately report the death to a state agency that studies such events to prevent repeats.

According to the health department, the boy was brought to the emergency room around 3 p.m. on Jan. 10 with a body temperature of 89.4 degrees. The average normal body temperature is 98.6 degrees. He was given a blanket-type warming device called a "Bair Hugger."

The medical center's policy calls for the temperatures of patients placed under such heating or cooling devices to be checked at least every two hours. The health department concluded the child's temperature was checked and recorded at acceptable intervals until 12:14 a.m. on Jan. 11, when it was 98 degrees.

But his temperature wasn't recorded again for more than 10 hours, when someone checked on him around 10 a.m. Jan. 11 and found no vital signs. Some 22 minutes later, his temperature was 107.6 degrees, and a physician determined the heating device had been on high all night, according to the health department report.

The child was transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit and declared dead at 5:39 p.m. Jan. 11, the health department wrote.

The medical center, while not disputing the health department's conclusions, said in a written statement Wednesday that child was affected by "complex and life-limiting health issues. He was brought to our Emergency Department for low body temperature and presumed [blood infection]."

The health department further cited the medical center for failing to report the event to the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority. State law requires such events involving death or serious injury to be reported to the authority within 24 hours. Instead, the Patient Safety Authority learned of the event through an anonymous report from a medical center employee.



The medical center reported the event 77 days after it took place and only after the Patient Safety Authority asked about it, according to the health department.



Such reports don't include patient names and similar personal information, but contain details of the event. The Patient Safety Authority then studies the causes and often issues information and guidelines to all Pennsylvania hospitals with the goal of preventing repeat events.



The health department required the medical center to carry out an extensive plan of correction. That plan included:

Discussing procedures for documenting vital signs with the nurses who were involved, and making sure all ER nurses are aware of requirements for monitoring patients and documenting results

Making sure all staff nurses and agency nurses are properly trained regarding the use of heating and cooling devices

Making sure agency nurses follow medical center policies and are given regular performance reviews

Making sure agency nurses are properly evaluated

Informing all doctors about the January death and reminding them of reporting requirements and procedures



This incident was first reported by investigative reporter Walter F. Roche Jr. on one of his blogs, www.healthlaw-privacy.blogspot.com.

Below is the full response issued by the medical center on Aug. 23 to PennLive.

In March, Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center leadership was made aware of an anonymous report submitted to the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority about the death of a child at our medical center in mid-January.

The patient was a 6-year-old boy with ongoing, complex and life-limiting health issues. He was brought to our Emergency Department for low body temperature and presumed sepsis. The boy was placed under a 'Bair Hugger' - a device that uses forced hot air to raise a patient's temperature. After spending the night in the E.D., his blood pressure dropped and his temperature rose to 107 degrees, prompting escalation to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit the following morning. He died several hours later. Subsequent review of his chart revealed no documentation of his temperature over a 10-hour period.

This situation raised serious issues, and our response has been equally serious.

Upon being notified by the Patient Safety Authority of the anonymous letter, we contacted the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH), prompting a visit from DOH representatives in April. Investigation into this matter revealed that an agency nurse was overseeing the child's care during the 10-hour gap in temperature documentation, and no one involved in the child's care reported the incident to our Patient Safety Department or submitted a report through our reporting system. Patient safety events, which are incidents that result in harm to or death of a patient, are required to be reported to our Patient Safety Officer within 24 hours. Such incidents that are determined to be "serious events" must also be reported to the DOH within 24 hours of the hospital's confirmation of the event.

Based on the initial findings of the investigation completed by the DOH, we were cited with five issues related to a serious event. These issues focused on the failure to report the patient safety issue, failure to meet standards of care, and failure to evaluate and ensure the orientation of agency nurses when we hire them.

As an organization that holds itself accountable for providing the highest quality care while protecting the safety of patients, employees and visitors, we recognize this situation as an unacceptable failure. We expect more of ourselves as a system and as individuals committed to the highest standards of care for each person we serve. We have responded with the utmost of focus and determination to do better. During the DOH on-site investigation, we immediately developed a corrective plan of action for each issue identified. Just as importantly, we launched our own investigation to determine what happened, how it happened and how to prevent it from ever occurring again.

We immediately began to implement measures to address this specific circumstance and enhance the overall safety of care. Among these activities, we required every Medical Center employee--not only those with direct patient care responsibilities--to undergo training to ensure the timely reporting of patient safety events. Our "standard of care" policies across the Medical Center (including the Children's Hospital) were reviewed and updated to ensure consistency with best practices. To ensure these policies are being followed, we are conducting random audits of patient records. Use of the Bair Hugger device for pediatric patients is now limited to the operating rooms, where patients are continuously attended. Finally, we created a new process to more consistently onboard and track all agency nurses, to ensure that their skills and training meet our standards, and to ensure timely evaluations of their performance.

We have submitted our formal corrective plans of action and summarized the significant progress already made in achieving these measures to the DOH. As a result of the period of time between the onsite investigation and receipt of the formal written notice of the citations on June 26, the vast majority of the action items have already been completed, and accepted by the DOH.

As a health system dedicated to providing the very best care to the most acutely ill and injured patients, we are deeply saddened that this death occurred and are taking action to prevent this type of event from ever occurring again.
Hershey Trust Company announced the sale of 4.5 million shares of The Hershey Company common stock, with 3 million shares going to Morgan Stanley and 1.5 million shares being sold to The Hershey Company.

The trust company is trustee of the Milton Hershey School Trust, which funds the Milton Hershey School. Eric Henry, CEO of Hershey Trust Company, said the good performance of the company over the years had resulted in an increase concentration of The Hershey Company stock in the school trust portfolio.

The sale, the trust company said, will allow diversification of the school trust assets, while retaining its majority voting control in The Hershey Company.

The school trust will continue to own 60.6 million shares of The Hershey Company B stock and 8 million common shares, providing the Trust with almost 80 percent of the total shareholder vote.

Michelle Buck, president and CEO of the confectionary company, said in a news release that the company would pay about $159 million, or $106 per share, to buy back the stock.

The buyback, she said in a news release, reflects the company's confidence in its marketplace position and long-term growth potential.

Hershey's stock closed at $107.44 on Wednesday.
As credit card skimming scams at gas pumps continue to become more sophisticated, Pennsylvania agencies are trying to collaborate to combat the crime.

Credit card skimming device found at a gas pump in Pa.

"Awareness and subsequent prevention" is the goal of new collaboration among the state agriculture and banking department and state police, said Robin Wiessmann, state secretary of banking and securities.

The effort is an outgrowth of Gov. Tom Wolf's mutli- agency financial education exchange among more than 20 agencies called PA-SAFE - the Pa. State Agency Financial Exchange.

"It's remarkable how quickly so many of the scams change. We're trying to stem the flood of illegal skimming. We have to nip this crime in the bud, but it's hard to know how much is already out there," Wiessmann said.

Inspection of the inside of pump cases is now being done during annual inspection of the accuracy of the pumps, said Russell Redding, state secretary of agriculture.

Efforts are targeting the ever-increasing sophistication of scammers, said Walter Remmert, director of the Department of Agriculture's bureau of ride and measurement standards, which includes the bureau of weights and measures.

The bureau is required to inspect pumps every 18 months, and is doing so about once a year, Remmert said.

The state has about 70,000 pumps at 4,000 stations.

While scammers initially inserted fake credit card readers into the card slots, some have begun opening pump cases by gaining access to universal keys, and then insert circuit boards with bluetooth readers inside the pumps.

"This is the wild west - we're learning as we go," he said of scammers.

While the state bureau of weights and measures hasn't found any skimmers during its inspections in the past year, it received about 30 reports of suspected fraud from monitoring companies, of which about six cases were verified, Remmert said.

Recently, a suspected pump tampering skimming case was identified in Allegheny County through inspection efforts, he added.

Retailers are doing an excellent job inspecting and upgrading pumps, Remmert said.

Some retailers, like Turkey Hill, have upgraded card slots with new ones that do not protrude and prevent skimming devices. And some ask their employees to check nothing is amiss at pumps while doing regular maintenance around them.

Many retailers are no longer relying on a universal manufacturer's key, and have local keys and unique screws on the pump cases. Many also have tamper-proof cases that will shut off the pumps if someone unauthorized tries to open them. Some also place also a seal around the case.

State Sen. John DiSanto, who attended Thursday's news conference at the Turkey Hill on Paxton Street, said he wants to review whether state fraud laws should increase skimming penalties from a misdemeanor to a felony charge.

Pennsylvania state police Cpl. Adam Reed said while credit card fraud is on the rise, his agency doesn't have numbers of skimming device crimes.

Turkey Hill performed two investigations regarding possible skimming in Pennsylvania in the past year, but the fraud turned out to be from another retail source, said Kim Hertzog, company spokeswoman.

New "Scam alert! Card skimmers at the pump" handout cards are available from the state to inform consumers what to watch for and what to do if they believe they've been scammed.

Tips for playing it safe at the pumps:

Don't use the pump if the face plate is loose.

Check that nothing protrudes from the card slot, and that it isn't mismatched or loose.

Look for the state safety seal to see that it was inspected in the last year.

Exercise caution at poorly lit pumps farthest from the station or closest to the street, and those with little or no video surveillance.

Look for tamper-resistant tape on pumps.

Use ATMs in well-lit locations.

Make sure no one is watching you, and cover your hand as you enter your pin.

Consider using a credit card rather than a debit card.

Actively monitor your credit card statement online.

If you see a skimming device or suspect you've been scammed:

Call your local police so they can investigate, and obtain an incident number that you can report to your bank or credit card company.

Contact your credit card company to put a hold on the unauthorized charges.

Contact credit monitoring agencies so they can flag your account. One source is AnnualCreditReport.com, or call 1-877-322-8228.

Call the Department of Agriculture's weights and measures hotline: 1-877-837-8007.

Other sources:

Pa. Attorney General Bureau of consumer Protection at 1-800-441-2555.

Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-438-4338.

Pa. Department of Banking and Securities: 1-800-722-2657.
The Pennsylvania SPCA (PSPCA) will begin operations at the Mary K. Dano Animal Shelter facility in Lancaster.

The organization will be moving into the location once the current occupant, the Lancaster County SPCA, leaves this weekend, according to a news release.

The Lancaster County SPCA announced last month that it was closing its doors. The announcement came a year after the organization came under fire for its handling of the "Libre the puppy" case.

Officials blamed the closing on a "failed business model and lack of funds."

Crowds of people lined out outside of the shelter following the announcement to adopt animals.

Under PSPCA's management, the shelter will initially only house dogs brought to the shelter by municipalities within Lancaster County, but services will gradually be expanded to include those currently being provided.

PSPCA's primary focus will be on improving the Lancaster County SPCA's live release rate through increased adoptions and support services aimed at reducing owner surrenders.
What to do with the statue of Frank Rizzo?

That's been the question since City Councilwoman Helen Gym posted a demand to take it down on twitter earlier this month.

Now the Philadelphia Mayor's Office is soliciting opinions on what to do with the statue of the controversial mayor and police commissioner.

"In response to recent public conversation around the Frank L. Rizzo monument an dits location in front of the Municipal Services Building, the City wants you to share your ideas for the statue's future," reads the call for ideas on the Mayor's website. All Philadelphians are encouraged to submit their ideas for what to do with the statue, be that taking it down, moving it to the Italian Market or leaving it where it is.

To submit your idea go to beta.phila.gov and fill out a form. There is a 500 word limit on idea proposals (although you can upload PDFs), and the city encourages you to consider the "feasibility and cost of your idea" prior to submitting it.

The deadline for idea submissions is 5 p.m. Sept. 15.

Rizzo served as mayor of Philadelphia from 1972 to 1980 and was a police commissioner before that. He has a mixed legacy: credited for lowering the crime rate, yet criticized for tactics used against minorities.

Rizzo's mural in the Italian Market is the most vandalized mural in the city, according to BillyPenn. It was defaced again on Aug. 20.

His statue, which had been under police protection, was vandalized last week when the words "black power" were spray painted on it.

PennLive had asked Philadelphia residents what they thought should happen to the statue days before. You can see their responses in the video at the top of this post or at this link.

Want more stories about Philly? Click here for all our coverage of the City of Brotherly Love.
ABINGTON, Pa. (AP) -- Police say a 14-year-old Pennsylvania girl was injured when she walked into the path of a car while video chatting with a friend on her phone.

Investigators say the teen was hit near Abington High School around 2:45 p.m. on Wednesday. Officers found her unresponsive in the street. She was taken to a Philadelphia hospital for treatment. Her current condition is not known.

"[Her friend] could actually see her," Abington Township Police Chief John Livingood told KYW-TV. "He was on the phone with her on FaceTime, and he saw the phone go flying up in the air, and heard the screaming."

Friends told the TV station that the girl was on her way to cheerleading practice.

Police say the driver immediately stopped to help. He is not facing charges.
Atlanta, IN, Aug. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Beck's is excited to partner with Harvest International, Precision Planting, and Schlipf Precision Ag to develop a multi-row width, multi-hybrid concept planter. Developed for Beck's Practical Farm Research (PFR) program, the revolutionary concept planter will help the agriculture industry gain a better understanding of the optimum row spacing, seeding rate, and hybrid combination per acre.



"Over the years, our PFR team has conducted several studies about row spacing and seeding rates, but we have yet to determine the right row spacing, seeding rate, and hybrid combination," said Jason Gahimer, PFR operations manager. "The multi-row width, multi-hybrid concept planter will allow us to plant in 10 in., 20 in., and 30 in. rows, as well as multi-hybrid, variable rate populations, and apply variable rate fertility throughout the field to identify the zones, spacing, and seeding rates that will maximize yields."



The multi-row width, multi-hybrid concept planter features a customer planter bar and row units by Harvest International; Precision Planting vSet Select multi-hybrid meters; vApply HD liquid control system, a FurrowJet in-furrow liquid attachment, CleanSweep for the pneumatic row cleaner control, and DeltaForce hydraulic down force control system, Yetter Manufacturing closing wheels and row cleaners; and a Surefire Ag fertilizer pump system. Schlipf Precision Ag in Milford, Ind., assembled the Precision Planting components onto the Harvest International planter bar.



"We're very excited to partner with Beck's to develop the multi-row width, multi-hybrid concept planter," said Byron Friesen, president of Harvest International. "The planter bar and row units were manufactured in northwest Iowa and are built out of a high tinsel strength steel. Because we laser cut everything, it ensures a high-level of accuracy, which lends itself to more precise planting."



In the fall of 2017, Beck's PFR team will utilize the planter to conduct a 10 in. row width study in wheat. Then in the spring of 2018, the PFR team will conduct initial corn and soybean field trials with the multi-row width, multi-hybrid planter in central Indiana. Before heading to the fields, the team will work with Beck's precision farming tool, FARMserver to create management zones in the fields and identify test blocks.



"In everything we do at Beck's, our goal is to help farmers succeed," said Gahimer. "Our PFR program not only delivers unbiased, agronomic data to farmers, but it also adds profitability to their operation. We're excited to partner with companies who believe in innovation, learning and farmer-focused research. With their support, we're going to help farmers unlock yield potential on every acre."

Click here to watch the PFR video to learn more about the multi-row width, multi-hybrid concept planter. For more information about Beck's PFR program, visit www.beckshybrids.com/PFResearch.



###



About Becks 

Becks is a family-owned and operated seed company that serves farmers in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee, Iowa, Missouri, and Wisconsin. According to a recent media survey, Becks ranks as the sixth largest seed company in the United States and the only one in the top six that is family-owned, making Becks the largest retail, family-owned seed company in the United States. To learn more about Becks, please visitwww.beckshybrids.com. Follow Becks Hybrids on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BecksHybrids, like Becks Hybrids on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/BecksHybrids, or visit the Becks Blog at www.beckshybrids.com/blog.



FARMserver and Practical Farm Research (PFR) are registered trademarks of Becks Superior Hybrids, Inc. CleanSweep, DeltaForce, FurrowJet and vSet Select are registered trademarks of Precision Planting LLC.



Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fab4b64f-36c6-4036-ad02-8ba86b63dc6f
Evan McLaren insists he's not a Nazi. He isn't a Klansman, either, he says.

What he is, McLaren said, is a white American of European descent who believes he increasingly is becoming a foreigner in his own land.

It is a feeling the Lower Allen Township man shares with his deeply controversial mentor, alt-right leader Richard Spencer.

As executive director of Spencer's Virginia-based National Policy Institute, McLaren is shoulder-deep in the ideology and conflict that resulted in the violent protests over plans to remove Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's monument in Charlottesville, Va.

McLaren was in the thick of that tumult. He got maced by opposing protesters for his trouble, he said, and was cited by Virginia State Police for unlawful assembly.

It is clear from a wide-ranging interview with McLaren that he believes he is in the vanguard of an effort to protect white Americans and separate them from what he and his allies regard as the polluting effects of liberalism and multiculturalism.

"We're not Nazis. We're not Confederates. We're not KKK members," the 33-year-old said. "We're dedicated to the preservation of white heritage and identity. We're talking about European culture and identity."

Greg Rothman, a state representative and chairman of the Cumberland County Republican Committee, saw McLaren in a different light.

"I thought he was goofy," Rothman said, stressing that his own contact with McLaren was minimal.

McLaren, a 2017 graduate of The Dickinson School of Law, briefly was treasurer of the county Young Republicans, but said he left early this year. He also was a law clerk with the Cumberland County District Attorney's Office last year, and served as a judicial extern for a federal judge in the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Kaytee Moyer, chairwoman of the Cumberland Young Republicans, said McLaren only attended a few of the fledgling group's events. She wasn't aware of his ideological views, she said.

McLaren was her group's treasurer "in name only" because at the time he held the post the Young Republicans didn't even have a bank account, Moyer said.

She referred a reporter to a statement issued by Rick Loughery, chairman of the Pennsylvania Young Republicans, who decried the "hatred spewed in Charlottesville."

"We must call evil by its name," Loughery wrote. "White supremacists, neo-nazis, the KKK and other fringe groups that espouse this type of bigotry are not welcome in the Republican Party...Anyone who promotes this ideology of hate...is a despicable human being."

McLaren insists he is a nonviolent, rational and deep-thinking advocate of white separatism, although he prefers the term "identitarianism."

The Southern Poverty Law Center has deemed that term to be a euphemism for racism and hate. It has labeled Spencer "a suit-and-tie version of the white supremacists of old, a kind of professional racist in khakis." The center considers the National Policy Institute to be a hate group.

Yet McLaren said the confrontation in Charlottesville helped to prove his organization's point that those speaking up for white interests are being marginalized. He blamed the police for the violence there.

The police "protected nobody," he said. "They allowed the counter-demonstrators to simply attack us...They definitely contemplated violence. They wanted it to occur. They ignored that we had a permit to assemble."

"This was the opposite of what we wanted to happen."

Protesters on both sides have criticized the police for not acting quickly to prevent the violence in Charlottesville. The town's police chief, Al Thomas Jr., insisted during a press conference that his officers did try to keep the opponents apart on what he called that "tragic, tragic weekend."

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe also praised the police, and said he will conduct a review of what happened at Charlottesville, including the police response. McAuliffe blamed the violence on the white nationalists.

Authorities said the Aug. 11 and 12 rally in Charlottesville was the largest gathering of white nationalists in decades. Alt-right demonstrators carried lit torches through the University of Virginia campus that Friday night. The next day, hundreds of people swapped punches, threw bottles and sprayed mace.

More than 30 people were injured. Police said 19 were hurt and one counter-protester was killed when a 20-year-old Ohio man deliberately drove into a crowd. The driver is facing a murder charge.

McLaren claimed that in the wake of the turmoil in Charlottesville his allies have been deliberately mischaracterized by the media as arm-raising, swastika-loving Stormtroopers. "No one connected with us was throwing controversial salutes," he said.

President Donald Trump's much-criticized comment that both sides should bear blame for the Charlottesville debacle was "balanced," McLaren said.

For his group, the Charlottesville demonstration was not about refighting the Civil War, he said. There may even be legitimate reasons for removing some Southern monuments to that conflict, he conceded.

"The South lost the war," he said, adding, however, that "the Lee statue is an item of our heritage."

That heritage includes Judah P. Benjamin, a Jew who served as the Confederacy's attorney general and secretary of war. When a reporter pointed that out, McLaren insisted "the monument controversy is not vital to me. The issue matters to me because I'm white."

Jews, he said, don't fit into his definition of "white." Instead, Jews "are a distinct people and they are not what we mean when we say 'European'," he said. "We would have to have some sort of understanding with them."

According to Spencer, McLaren and their adherents, the races shouldn't mix, but should have their own separate nations. McLaren did not rule out the possibility that his group's philosophy would lead to the division of the United States into racially-based enclaves.

Spencer described that vision during an interview with National Public Radio last year. "What I would ultimately want is this ideal of a safe place effectively for Europeans," he said. "This is a big empire that would accept all Europeans. It would be a place for Germans. It would be a place for Slavs. It would be a place for Celts. It would be a place for white Americans, and so on."

This week, Penn State University President Eric Barron said Spencer was not welcome to speak at an event this fall at the University Park campus. The university was the fifth in recent weeks to ban Spencer from appearing on its campus.

McLaren said he came to Spencer's worldview incrementally, spurred in part by what he regards as the folly of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. He flirted with the Libertarian Party, he said, and even though he is a now registered Republican doesn't regard that as a good fit, either.

"Am I estranged from the party? Absolutely," he said. "They work very hard to shut people like me out." He said Republicans "ultimately lack the courage and the fortitude" to take him on in head-to-head debate.

Rothman said McLaren should plan on being a perpetual outsider. "I don't believe there is a role or any place in the Republican Party for racists or white supremacists or Nazis," Rothman said.

McLaren said he and his allies "are pursuing a cultural effort and not a directly political effort" to forward their plans. He doesn't see a religious basis for that thrust, either. He isn't a Christian, McLaren said, but "we have members who are Christians."

What his movement seeks most at the moment is a platform and a voice, McLaren said.

"We don't have to keep advancing multiculturalism like it is religious dogma," McLaren said. "It is giving rise to a lot of tension...It leads to decline in civic trust and cooperation."

Unless his group's concerns are addressed, "we are going to end up living in a society that is increasingly foreign to us and is hostile to us," he said.

Rothman said McLaren's viewpoint is what's foreign.

"My philosophy about those groups is: Ignore them. Expose what they are saying and the rest of the world will say, 'That's absurd,' "he said.

Staff writer Charles Thompson contributed to this report.
WEST PENNSBORO TOWNSHIP -- It wasn't legal, and it wasn't right.

That's what residents attending an appeal hearing before the West Pennsboro Township Zoning Hearing Board on Wednesday night said about the board of supervisors' decision in October to approve a re-zoning request by Allen Distribution.

The Carlisle-based company has proposed constructing two warehouses totaling about 1.5 million square feet on 125 acres of farmland and eight acres within North Middleton Township.

About a dozen of the approximately 50 residents in attendance offered public comment, all opposing the rezoning and the proposed warehouses and urging the three-member zoning hearing board to overturn the board of supervisors' earlier decision.

Residents Karl Smith and Mark and Betty Butler are the names that are formally on the appeal, but Wednesday night's meeting -- which follows five standing-room-only hearings that have taken place before the board of supervisors every month since March -- was a clear indication they are not alone.

In his closing argument, attorney Nathan Wolf, representing Smith and the Butlers, cited what he said was a violation of an environmental protection law and an "unconstitutional" practice of spot zoning.

"It's an island," he said of the area that was changed from residential to industrial zoning with the supervisors' decision.

"There's nothing contiguous that is industrial," he said.

Resident Bill Barker also urged the board to overturn the decision, saying the supervisors "violated their duty".

"You can avoid a very bad decision for your township and your people," he said, adding, "There's no place for industrial land there that borders all these people."

In an email earlier this week, Karl Smith said there were about 48 houses that bordered the two properties that make up the proposed warehouse site, with a possibility that one of the buildings could be as close as 500 feet to some of the houses, and 200 feet from the closest homeowner's property line.

Wolf argued that the supervisors' belief that the residents' concerns would be addressed in the conditional use process was not reality.

"There are going to be impacts to the residents that are abutting the property," he said, later stating "It's pretty difficult to overcome a freight train that's already left the station."

Concerned residents cited studies that showed warehouses in the area had a 30 percent vacancy rate already, and another is not needed.

And while Allen Distribution has argued that the county comprehensive plan shows a desire to see this particular land zoned industrial, they said the plans are not updated, and don't adequately address how residents would be affected.

Decisions by the board, Wolf said, "have to be tied to something greater than Allen Distribution's profit margin."

Hubert Gilroy, attorney representing Allen Distribution, took much less time in his closing argument, simply stating the zoning hearing board had one duty -- to determine if the supervisors made a legal decision, not whether or not they thought it was a good one.

"This case is not as complex as Mr. Wolf would like you to believe," he said, adding that if the members thought at all that the decision was debatable, the board of supervisors' decision must stand.

The law is presumed constitutional, he said, while those looking overturn the decision had a "very heavy burden of proof".

One resident told the zoning hearing board members why he believed they were in this position now.

"You're nothing but a scapegoat for the three clowns on the supervisors board," he said, adding later, "I hope you consider the people, not the business. The people are what makes the community, not a warehouse."

Retired Colonel Joseph Nunez, a Carlisle resident, spoke to show his support for township residents.

"I may live in Carlisle, but I care about these people here," he said, adding that Carlisle, too, has experienced the building of warehouses that nobody wanted, and the people there are suffering for it. "I'm tired of municipalities making decisions that make no sense..."

"I was told as a young boy to stand up for what's right," he added, "and by God I'm doing that tonight."

Nunez went so far as to say that if the zoning hearing board didn't overturn the supervisors' decision, there would be consequences.

"You're going to hit a hornet's nest if you don't turn this around," he said, saying that the issue would be widely covered in the newspapers and even national television.

"I just can't imagine driving by and seeing a super warehouse," added another resident, whose backyard abuts the proposed warehouse site property.

He, too, stated that he believed the board of supervisors "didn't do their due diligence" before making their decision.

But now, he said, "We have the opportunity to do right. We can reverse this. It can be done, and I think it should be done."

Both sides of the appeal must submit memorandums by Sept. 12. Until then, the zoning hearing board will continue to take written statements to add to the record. After that, the board will be required to make a decision within 45 days.
Washington, D.C., Aug. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) is proud to announce April Diez, Vice Chairwoman of the Diez Group, as this years recipient of the Businesswoman of the Year award. April Diez will be presented with this prestigious award at the USHCCs National Convention in Dallas, Texas, on October 3rd.

Each year, the USHCC recognizes a female entrepreneur whose outstanding leadership, pioneering spirit, social, and economic contributions exemplify the best of Americas business community.

We are honored to present this award to April at our National Convention this year. Under her leadership, the Diez Group has risen to one of the most lauded aluminum and steel producers in the automotive industry and has been continued to be one of the Hispanic business communitys best ambassadors, said Javier Palomarez, USHCC President & CEO. April continues to be a role model for businesswomen around the country and a paradigm of success for business leaders across industry lines. We are a stronger business community because of people like April.

I am overwhelmed to receive this incredible honor. Our relationship with the USHCC, the Hispanic community and women-owned businesses is extremely important in defining who we are, said April Diez. As second generation Hispanic business owners my sister, brothers and I are very aware of the larger than life shoes we are trying to fill. We are grateful for all the tremendously talented people we work with at the Diez Group companies and proudly continue the hard work and dedication to our customers and community that our parents instilled in us.

For over 40 years, the Diez Group has been one the countrys leading aluminum and steel sales, services, and logistics centers. The company has been recognized across the American automotive industry by the countrys top car makers including General Motors, Chrysler, Honda, and Ford.

To learn more about the USHCC National Convention, visit ushcc.com/convention.

The Diez group

Hispanic MBE & WBE certified companies.

Over 40 years in business.

The Diez group is an aluminum and steel sales, service and logistics center specializing in precision level blanking; exposed, unexposed, scallop, circles, straight and configured. Cut to length lines produce trapezoids, and rectangles. Laser welding systems, precision slitting lines, wash, oiling, warehousing capable of handling coils up to 96 od and 75,000lbs, and logistics.

The Diez group makes every effort to support other MBE, WBE, and veterans by purchasing over 6% of our total purchases with them. In 1997, Delaco received the distinction of becoming the first minority steel service center to be awarded q1 by the ford motor company. Delaco steel corporation/the diez group started in 1973 by Geraldo Diez sr. The chairman and CEO. April Diez is vice chair and Jerry Diez Jr. (JD), its president.

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/765faaff-e24c-44b8-a7e0-d6390fcdbb06
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Outschool, the only marketplace for live online group classes for K-12 children, today announced its current fall 2017 offerings, giving families the ability to choose their own educational paths from more than 1,000 classes, ranging from as little as five dollars for a one-time class to hundreds of dollars for a semester-long course.



Parents use Outschool in several ways to enrich their childrens education  to accelerate their learning in core subjects, fill in gaps in their knowledge, or pursue interests in topics that aren't covered in regular schools. In addition, the breadth of classes offered gives students the chance to make their own choices, and allows them to study traditional subjects in new and interesting ways.

Our fall 2017 class lineup represents the culmination of our efforts to leverage modern web technology to transform online learning, and bring more educational choices to families and students everywhere, said Nick Grandy, an Outschool cofounder. Were grateful to have partnered with such a dynamic group of inspiring teachers who bring their passion for teaching to our learners every day.

Outschools marketplace approach allows the online destination to attract a wide range of independent teachers, many of whom also teach or have previously taught in public schools. Video chat interaction during classes makes learning much more collaborative and social than other online learning options.

It was wonderful to have a format where other kids, in addition to the teacher, could be seen and heard, commented Jen N., a Massachusetts parent. Its so much better than just watching a video to learn. The instructor was clear and friendly, and kept the subject matter interesting. Well be back!

Outschools fall classes include semester long, multi-week and one-time options across key subject areas, from core courses to advanced placement (AP) and unique approaches, including:

In addition, Outschool offers an unmatched spectrum of elective classes. A few examples:

Intro to 3D Game Design, Level 1  Create your own video games using 3D game software

 Create your own video games using 3D game software Minecraft Grammar!  Learn the parts of speech and parts of sentences while engaging in Minecraft quests

 Learn the parts of speech and parts of sentences while engaging in Minecraft quests Spy School, a High School Intelligence Course  Delve into the exciting world of espionage

You can see all of Outschools fall classes here, where families can search and filter results to find the right classes and teachers for their grade level and individual interests. Classes start on a rolling basis, so theres always a new class to start.

"I just want to say thanks to Outschool for creating such an amazing platform for students, said Ryan R., a teacher from California. I am blown away with what I am seeing in my Minecraft + Architecture History course. I literally have students from opposite sides of the world (in the US and Australia) working together to create amazing projects. The castle complex some of them built together last week was incredible! I cant wait to see what they build next!

About Outschool

Outschool is the only marketplace for live online group classes for K-12 children. The website offers parents an accessible and affordable way to broaden their children's education with collaborative and personalized instruction from independent teachers and interaction with their peers. Classes cover all subject areas and are attended by children in every state and 24 countries. Outschool is based in San Francisco. For more information, visit www.outschool.com.
Dan Albas is Member of Parliament for Central Okanagan Similkameen Nicola and member of the Conservative caucus. This column appears weekly. The new riding of COSN includes Cawston, Olalla, Hedley and Summerland, all in The Herald's readership area.
Roughly 175 pounds, the bear was nabbed on Howkan Street at about 11:00 p.m. on Monday.

Alaska department of Fish & Game trapped a black bear on Howkan Street Monday evening, which comes as officials are ratcheting-up outreach to residents about securing garbage cans in residential areas.

The Police Department retrieved the trap at about 11:00 p.m. on Monday. Inside the cylinder cage was a roughly 175-pound, "medium-sized" bear, said Captain John Hamilton. The bear will be transported to mainland Alaska and released at the north side of Thomas Bay, he said.

This appears to be one of three to four known bears that Fish & Game have been receiving complaints about from...
Meet Gavin and Macey Bebble, cousins and fellow St. Mary's stars

Two fellow Class of 2023 members, Gavin and Macey Bebble share a bond as cousins, friends and leading members of multiple talented St. Mary's teams.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Aug. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gross revenue of USD 798 million was slightly higher than in the first half of 2016. Operating profit before amortisation (EBITA) of USD 41 million was on level with the first half of 2016, giving an EBITA margin of 5.1% compared to 5.2% in the first half of 2016. Profit before tax amounted to USD 27 million compared to USD 21 million in the same period last year.



The first half of the year showed continued solid performance across business units, especially in the Nordics and in the international business units for Water and Environment & Health. The performance of the business unit for Oil & Gas also improved. The Board is satisfied with the result, which is in line with expectations.

Ramboll launched its new Group strategy Winning Together at the beginning of 2017, and a key element of the strategy is to further strengthen its presence and service offerings in key markets such as the Nordics, UK and US.

I am pleased to see that our business units are delivering in line with our strategy by winning and delivering several high profile projects, not least in the Nordics, UK and US, which gives us confidence for the rest of the year and for 2018, says Jens-Peter Saul, CEO of the Ramboll Group.

Signature projects worldwide

This confidence in the future can be attributed in particular to recent substantial project wins, with the six projects below alone exceeding a fee value for Ramboll of USD 147 million (EUR 135 million).

Ramboll won the consultancy contract for the Fehmarnbelt immersed tunnel between Denmark and Germany, which will engage 70 employees in a joint venture with Arup and TEC during the projects construction phase. The consortium has collaborated on the design of the tunnel since April 2009 and has now won the bid for client consultancy.

Ramboll also won a major project for Bestseller on a green field project in Brande in Denmark. The extension of the fashion companys existing headquarters includes retail shops, offices, a high-rise hotel and a conference building. The high-rise building is planned to be over 200 meters high, making it the tallest building in Denmark.

In Finland, Ramboll has been selected to participate in the design of the 25-kilometre Jokeri light rail line between Helsinki and Espoo which is projected to carry more than 100,000 passengers per day by 2040.

Ramboll has also been selected to participate in the expansion of the Helsinki Airport and renovation of Terminal 2 which is a significant air traffic hub and one of the largest bus and train interchanges in Finland.

In the UK, Ramboll, as part of an Arup-led consortium, is assisting with providing environmental overview services for the entire High Speed Phase 2B scheme as well as civil and environmental engineering services for the Nottinghamshire to Leeds and York section of the High Speed 2 line.

Ramboll also just landed a large contract for the design and environmental assessment of the 6-800 kilometre offshore Baltic Pipe, which will connect gas in the North Sea directly with consumers in Central and Eastern Europe and thereby strengthen the security of supply.

In addition to the six projects mentioned above, Ramboll has won a handful of new significant projects in the Americas and Middle East with a total fee value for Ramboll exceeding USD 44 million (EUR 40 million), giving Ramboll a positive outlook also for the Americas and Middle East businesses.

Key figures and financial ratios H1 2017 H1 2017 H1 2016 2016 Income statement, DKK million EUR m Revenue 730.2 5,432.4 5,413.3 10,607.7 Operating profit before depreciation and amort. (EBITDA) 49.1 365.4 368.7 782.5 Operating profit before goodwill amort. (EBITA) 37.5 278.9 278.9 602.1 Operating profit (EBIT) 36.1 268.4 168.8 338.0 Profit before tax 24.6 183.2 141.9 342.0 Profit for the period 13.7 101.9 69.3 176.9

Balance sheet, DKK million Total assets 818.7 6,091.0 6,488.0 6,383.8 Total equity 293.0 2,180.3 2,036.3 2,162.3 Net interest bearing cash/ (debt) (12.2) (90.7) (424.9) 27.3

Cash flow, DKK million Cash flow from operating activities (3.8) (28.0) (43.6) 453.6 Investment in tangible assets, net (8.5) (63.1) (55.8) (124.6) Free cash flow (12.3) (91.1) (99.4) 329.0 Acquisitions of companies (13.6) (101.4) (51.4) (50.2)

Employees Number of employees, end of period 13,263 13,194 13,024 Number of full-time employee equivalents 12,432 12,343 12,497

Financial ratios in % Revenue growth 0.4 0.4 0.2 Organic growth 0.5 1.9 0.4 EBITDA margin 6.7 6.8 7.4 EBITA margin 5.1 5.2 5.7 EBIT margin 4.9 3.1 3.2 Return on invested capital (ROIC) 15.3 9.9 16.9 Return on equity (ROE) 9.6 6.7 8.3 Cash conversion ratio 20.5 19.6 119.9 Equity ratio 35.7 31.3 33.9

About Ramboll

Ramboll is a leading engineering, design and consultancy company founded in Denmark in 1945. The company employs more than 13,000 people globally and has especially strong representation in the Nordics, UK, North America, Continental Europe, Middle East and Asia-Pacific.

With 300 offices in 35 countries, Ramboll combines local experience with a global knowledgebase constantly striving to achieve inspiring and exacting solutions that make a genuine difference to our clients, the end-users, and society at large. Ramboll works across the following markets: Buildings, Transport, Planning & Urban Design, Water, Environment & Health, Energy, Oil & Gas and Management Consulting. www.ramboll.com

Ownership

The Ramboll Foundation is the main owner of Ramboll Group A/S and its main objective is to promote the companys continuance alongside the long term development of the company, its employees and the communities it serves. All shares in Ramboll Group A/S are owned either by the Ramboll Foundation (98%) or by employees in Ramboll (2%).


Latam biggest power mongul Eletrobras heading to privatization



Brazil power wizard takes center stage in Eletrobras shock. Ferreira seen as the market choice' to lead the utility giant. CEO engineered creation of biggest private industry player.

By Vanessa Dezem, Peter Millard, and Arie Shapira

RIO DE JANEIRO

Petroleumworld 08 24 2017

It took less than 10 days to decide to privatize Latin America's largest power company.

Fortunately for the Brazilian government, with its fiscal accounts in dire straits, it already had someone enthusiastic for the job. When the Energy Ministry came to him with the proposal, Eletrobras Chief Executive Officer Wilson Ferreira Jr. jumped on board to take charge.

The decision to privatize the company is meant to transform Eletrobras into a corporation like Brazil's Embraer or Vale, Ferreira said by message on Tuesday, a day after the announcement. It will enable Eletrobras to be much more competitive when compared to its global peers.

Privatization wasn't the first option, according to a person close to the discussions. The government's initial idea was to squeeze value out of Eletrobras by selling some of its power plant concessions to generate cash for its own depleted coffers, the person said, asking not to be identified because the information isn't public. It wasn't a good plan for the company, though, so the Energy Ministry proposed privatizing it instead. It was a go.

It was likely a given that Ferreira would be enthralled by the idea; he's credited with turning CPFL Energia SA into the biggest private power company in Brazil, and is known for his penchant for privatizing assets and ability to boost profitability. He was the government's "market choice" to replace a political appointee in June 2016.

Ferreira, 58, will now preside over the latest, and boldest, move for a company undergoing a massive restructuring in the face of a sputtering economy suffering from a shortage of hope. Investors thus far appear very happy about the proposal, despite the potential hurdles ahead: shares in New York and Sao Paulo rose 49 percent, the most in at least two decades. Futures for the Ibovespa benchmark index extended gains on continued enthusiasm for the plan.

Already Working On It

The executive had already been forging ahead, glossing over the roiling economic and political instability that has shaken investor confidence, atrophied asset values and led to higher debts. In addition to privatizing the company -- which could raise as much as 20 billion reais ($6.3 billion) -- he's selling distribution subsidiaries and wind and power transmission assets, as well as slashing the workforce.

Every week in Brazil we have something new and surprising, so if we stop to consider every single event, we'll just be paralyzed," said Ferreira in an interview at the company's Rio de Janeiro headquarters last week, before the privatization was announced. "The decision we took was to forget about all this, with the purpose of turning on the light at the end of the tunnel.

His goal is to recover debt levels and resume investing in big energy projects, including with neighboring countries. Ideally, much of the work will be done by the end of the year, the CEO said.

Debt Recovery

Eletrobras has the title of top raiser of debt on Fitch Ratings ' Latin America ranking, according to an Aug. 16 report. In June, net debt reached 23.4 billion reais ($7.3 billion). Ferreira's aiming to trim its debt-to-Ebitda ratio to 4 times in the next five months, from 7.8 times when he took over the job.

The CEO has already sold the first of seven distribution subsidiaries earlier this year , for about 2.2 billion reais. The rest should be gone by the end of 2017, along with stakes in 74 special purpose companies that manage wind farms and transmission lines. Eletrobras should pocket about 5 billion reais from those sales, he said.

It doesn't make sense to invest in small wind farms, he said. We are more useful when dealing with big power projects, such as nuclear, hydroelectricity and large transmission lines.

The subsidiary sales will also reduce the workforce, alongside a voluntary redundancy plan, by 47 percent from 23,000 today. The estimated cost savings is 1.8 billion reais a year.

Still, the utility's restructuring plan as a whole -- which is on track even with the privatization -- faces resistance, Ferreira said. Analysts also say political pushback is one of the potential hurdles to the privatization.

The company has "historically operated under the political influence of various political figures who may not be so enthusiastic" about privatization, Itau BBA analysts led by Pedro Manfredini wrote in a note, which also cited possible opposition by labor unions.

The things that we are doing depend on the government: we have the politicians and people in distribution companies who don't want privatization," he said. "We're fighting."







Story by Vanessa Dezem, Peter Millard, and Arie Shapira from Bloomberg.



bloomberg. com / 08 23 2017
COSTA MESA, Calif., Aug. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Insight Investments today announced that it has expanded Scott Sullivans role to include leadership of the companys financial services division, Insight Financial Services. Sullivan, who has been leading the Ampil division, will now oversee all sales related operations for both the Ampil and IFS divisions, reporting directly to Insight Investments Chief Executive Officer, John Ford.

We are pleased to expand Scotts role within the organization, said John Ford, Chief Executive Officer, Insight Investments, LLC. Ampil is on a fast growth track, thanks to Scott and his team. His strong experience in the equipment financing industry is very valuable for both Ampil and IFS and we are confident that under his leadership, they will continue to thrive and advance to the next level.

Scott Sullivan has more than twenty years of experience in the technology finance industry. Before joining Insight Investments, he was instrumental in the sales growth of GE Capitals vendor financial services business, and he directed the launch of Key Equipment Finances global technology finance program. Since 2015, he has led the Ampil organization which has achieved double digit revenue growth. Insight Financial Services will now gain the benefit of his industry experience, knowledge and relationships, which will accelerate the business.

About Insight Financial Services

Insight Financial Services (IFS), a division of Insight Investments, LLC, delivers financially transparent technology leasing solutions for businesses acquiring hardware, software and services. Its IT Refresh Contract, Asset Management Online System (AMOS) and 44,000 square foot Asset Return & Remarketing Center, empowers IFS customers with the ability to quantify and manage the total cost of IT refresh strategies. An ISO 9001:2008 certified organization, IFS serves more than 400 customers with a managed portfolio in excess of $700 million. For more information, visit www.ifsleasing.com.

About Ampil

Ampil, a subsidiary of Insight Investments, LLC, provides custom vendor financing programs for technology manufacturers, systems integrators (SIs) and managed service providers (MSPs). Partnering with Ampil enables vendors to offer their customers flexible payment options including leasing, financing, and various usage-based billing alternatives. Ampils offering allows vendors and channel organizations to sell more solutions, more profitably, while ensuring incremental revenue and income opportunities in the future. For more information, visit www.ampil.com.

About Insight Investments, LLC

Based in Costa Mesa, California, Insight Investments, LLC helps companies worldwide better control their technology acquisition, leasing, and management requirements. Since 1987, the company has provided a wide array of solutions designed to fit specific customer needs including new and used equipment acquisition, custom leasing and financing, asset management, off-lease portfolio management, excess equipment disposal, and IT solutions for the software defined data center. For more information, visit www.insightinvestments.com.
American voters' embrace of Donald Trump last fall  that rejection of business as usual  echoed an upheaval in corporate America the year before, when professional investors holding DuPont and Dow Chemical Co. stock embraced the radical prescriptions of such billionaire corporate raiders as Nelson Peltz and Daniel Loeb to cure what they saw as failed promises and under-performance by entrenched, high-paid company bosses.

Though the activists controlled just a small percentage of the companies' shares, they won support from other fund managers with calls for cutting costs, breaking up business groups, and extracting cash. The companies' boards adopted their broad agenda.

That's why on Aug. 31, the 215-year-old DuPont Co.  which brought us General Motors and modern explosives, fabrics and corporate finance, plastics and other useful and dangerous-to-make products  will combine with the larger Dow into a corporate cluster, Dow DuPont (stock symbol DWDP). Its job will be to follow initial deep cuts with billions more, then break up by 2019 into at least three new companies designed to send shareholders cash faster and get products to market more efficiently.

The deal marks the failure by DuPont's last few CEOs to follow expansive science, management, and M&A spending with prompt profit and share-price growth. The insurgents approved Edward Breen, who had broken up Tyco International, to replace homegrown CEO Ellen Kullman, who had secretly been negotiating a Dow deal while publicly defending her record.

Breen promptly signaled a deal was close by canceling Kullman's billion-dollar IT update. He announced the Dow merge-and-split, and quickly began consolidating staff jobs and gutting corporate offices in Wilmington. Most DuPont Central Research scientists were laid off or transferred to business units. They recycled their chemicals, shut their labs, and collected severance.

Admirers of the old DuPont howled. "Apparently, your job is just to make the stock go up, to make the top 1 percent of the top 1 percent richer [by] taking all the infrastructure," Bob George, a retired DuPont sales executive, wrote in a letter to Breen. "People have gone to jail for a lot less."

"Financial terrorism [for] greed, and short-term profits," Carnegie Mellon engineering professor Ignacio Grossmann called it.

But as investors saw it, Breen and his Dow counterpart, Andrew Liveris, had broken the management logjams. Share prices for both companies have hit record highs since the plan was announced.

What now? With investors such as Loeb calling for further spin-offs, independent directors on both boards have been working with McKinsey & Co. on a review. And Breen has put his team to work reviewing factories and suppliers, in hopes of cutting an additional $3 billion  more than 10 percent of DuPont's yearly spending.

As of last week, the official blueprint remained the same from 2015: Breen and Liveris would combine the companies' pesticide and genetically modified seed businesses into one big farm-sales company, based mostly in the Midwest but run from Wilmington, with DuPont agriculture chief Jim Collins as chief operating officer.

The European Union  worried that too many pesticide mergers would squeeze farmers with higher prices and fewer less toxic bug, weed, and fungus killers  pushed DuPont to swap part of its pesticide business with Philadelphias FMC Corp. in exchange for FMCs food-additives business. Staff say FMC has promised to keep them all employed, which was doubtful under DuPont.

The rest of Dow, plus certain similar DuPont product lines, will be split into a Dow successor company based at Dow headquarters in Midland, Mich., with Dow executive Jim Fitterling as chief operating officer. DuPont's food-additives, safety-materials, and electronics businesses, plus Dow's electronics, will be broken off as a DuPont successor company based in Delaware, with Marc Doyle as COO. Breen will be chief executive of the combined companies; Liveris will be executive chairman.

Loeb and some of the Wall Streeters covering DuPont want the split to go even further  separating the former Dow Corning silicon business into a separate company and turning the DuPont businesses, which have relatively little in common, into separate firms.

Will the parts, in some ways, be less than the old whole? At DuPont's last annual meeting, earlier this year, union reps appealed to Breen to leave enough people at the plants to get work done safely. Residents of areas near aging and blighted former DuPont plants in such places as South Jersey (including those now owned by an earlier DuPont spin-off, Chemours) worry about the poisons left behind.

"Who will step up to take responsibility for past contamination that will have serious consequences?" asks Jeff Dugas, spokesman for Keep Your Promises DuPont, a pressure group urging the company to settle health claims for people exposed to cancer-causing chemicals in past and current production of its popular Teflon non-stick coating.

DuPont has left current and future retirees worried about long-term pension and medical benefits, says Lawrence Craig Skaggs, a retired DuPont lobbyist who has signed up more than 7,000 DuPonters to his Facebook site for the company's pensioners. He sees the fact that DuPont and Dow are still reviewing facility plans with consultants as a sign they are not yet "confident" of their business plans.

Given that highly paid bosses have had such trouble planning DuPont's own course, Skaggs asks: How will smaller successors be able to keep up with its commitments?
The Hershey Trust charity for poor children that finances the Milton Hershey School has sold 4.5 million shares in the company, diversifying its assets. Read more

The Hershey Trust for impoverished students has sold about $475 million in chocolate company stock, modestly diversifying the charity's chocolate-rich assets as changing consumption and retail trends are creating headwinds for the U.S. candy sector.

The deal allows the charitable trust to realign its portfolio after a run-up in Hershey Co. stock but also indicates that the trust is not looking for a merger or acquisition after rejecting the Mondelez International Inc. takeover offer last year.

Wall Street punished Hershey stock on the news on Thursday, with shares shedding 1.8 percent, or $1.92, and closing at $105.52.

The Hershey Trust, which includes a state-chartered bank that manages the $13.8 billion in charitable assets for the Milton Hershey School, said on its website after the market closed Wednesday that it had sold 1.5 million shares back to the Hershey Co. for $106 a share. The chocolate company separately announced the deal Wednesday evening.

The Hershey Trust also sold 3 million shares to Morgan Stanley but did not disclose the price for those shares.

The stock sales represented about 6 percent of the trust's $7.8 billion stake in the chocolate company. And the charity will retain 80 percent voting control over the Fortune 500 corporation.

"We are confident and firm supporters of the Hershey Co. and its management team as they successfully position the company for sustainable growth and value," said Velma Redmond, chairman of the Hershey Trust Co. board.

Milton and Catherine Hershey bequeathed the family fortune in the early 20th century to the trust to finance what was then the Hershey orphanage and trade school, now the Milton Hershey School. The institution for kindergarten through 12th grade  which has been plagued by infighting and disputes over its mission over the last two decades  is the richest private school in the United States.

The Hershey Co. rejected a takeover bid by Mondelez International Inc. for a reported $115 a share in 2016. Hershey and other legacy packaged-food companies, among them Campbell Soup, have experienced slower sales growth as consumers shop for healthier choices. Nestle, one of the world's largest global chocolate companies, said in June that it was considering a sale of its American candy business, the home of treats that include Gobstoppers, Nerds, and Butterfinger and Crunch bars, as demand for sweets has fallen off in the United States.

In February, Hershey itself announced a 15 percent cutback in its global workforce, eliminating about 2,700 workers, as it seeks to cut costs amid slow sales growth. The company also has said it will innovate in its retail packaging and over time cut calories in its single-sale candy bars.

"We see more downside than upside in the near term for [Hershey Co.] shares," Pablo Zuanic, analyst with Bala Cynwyd-based Susquehanna Financial Group, wrote in a note on Thursday. "We would not recommend owning the stock on the assumption the trust will consider radical strategic changes."

Even with the stock sale, roughly 50 percent of the trust's assets will be concentrated in Hershey Co. stock through both common and super-voting shares, according to data.

"Hershey Trust Co. has an active history of managing the investment portfolio on behalf of the Milton Hershey School Trust," Eric Henry, chief executive officer of the Hershey Trust, said in a statement. "The concentration of the Hershey Co. stock in our overall portfolio has increased over the years because of the exceptional performance of the Hershey Co. and the corresponding stock value."
Artists rendering of the new Wharton Academic Research building planned at 37th Street Walk and Spruce Street. Read more

City officials are scheduled to review a proposal early next month for a new four-story classroom and administrative building on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania for its business school.

The Wharton Academic Research Building, planned for a triangular parcel bounded by the 37th Street and Woodland Walks north of Spruce Street, is to come before the Philadelphia Civic Design Review board Sept. 5, according to the committee's website.

The building's bottom two floors would be used for lecture halls and other academic space, with its top levels accommodating research areas, academic offices and administrative spaces, Wharton Dean Geoffrey Garrett said in June remarks to Penn trustees reported by the Daily Pennsylvanian.
Officials have begun seeking a developer for the former Provident Mutual Life Insurance Co. property in West Philadelphia after abandoning a plan to move the city's Police Headquarters to the neoclassical building.

The Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. said in a solicitation posted to its website Thursday that it is seeking companies to "plan and implement a dynamic and sustainable development" at the 4601 Market St. site, while maximizing the value of the property for the city.

Philadelphia spent some $50 million to buy and renovate the insurance company property comprising 336,200 square feet of space across two buildings on 15 acres before deciding to use the former Inquirer Building at 401 N. Broad St. for the new Police Administration Building instead.

"When we decided to locate the police complex at 400 N. Broad St., we made a commitment to reactivate 4601 Market St.," Bridget Collins-Greenwald, the city's public property commissioner, said in a release. The solicitation issued Thursday "is a tangible step toward meeting that commitment."

Developers have until Nov. 1 to submit their proposals for the property. The city is open to selling the property outright, leasing it on a long-term basis, or partnering on its development with a private entity, according to the solicitation.

Philadelphia planning and development director Anne Fadullon has said the city doesn't expect to recoup the entire $50 million spent on the property.

The city's current plan calls for police to move from the cramped and dated four-story concrete building at 750 Race St., popularly known as the Roundhouse, to the former newspaper building on North Broad Street by spring 2020 at an expense of $280.3 million.
It didn't matter which candidate was headed to the White House  Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump.

Amanda Levinson and Natasha Freidus had recognized a need for more efficiency and transparency in connecting donors with groups who were helping refugees in Europe and the United States, a fragmented landscape. So they formed NeedsList in September in Philadelphia, when the results of the presidential election were still two months away.

That Trump won and imposed anti-immigration policies within his first 100 days in office just made NeedsList all the more relevant, said Levinson, its cofounder and chief operating officer.

"The political climate here makes me feel our work is important more than ever," she said, offering no wiggle room when speaking of society's obligation to come to the aid of the world's refugees. "I really think that displacement is the moral crisis of our generation."

NeedsList is one of 26 finalists in this year's second annual Stellar StartUps competition, presented by Philadelphia Media Network, parent company of the Inquirer, Daily News, and Philly.com, and sponsored by MassMutual Casualty Greater Philadelphia. It was one of 18 companies in the minority/women entrepreneurs category, which had the second-largest draw. (Technology was tops, with 21 applicants.) Winners in all eight categories will be announced at an event from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sept 12 at the Franklin Institute's Fels Planetarium. Tickets can be purchased at www.philly.com/stellarstartups.

"We are bringing the sophistication of e-commerce to an untapped and underserved market," Levinson wrote in NeedsList's Stellar StartUps application. "If we can buy flowers for our mothers online, why can't we buy diapers for a refugee mother in Greece?"

Arranging those purchases from suppliers close to where the refugees in need are helps support local businesses and eliminates the weeks or months it takes to ship items, say, from the United States to Greece, as well as the thousands of dollars in costs to do so, Levinson said, boasting of a recent same-day delivery of shorts to a refugee.

"We're going to become the Amazon of humanitarian aid," she said, "which obviously would be the dream."

A mother of two sons, Levinson, 41, of Haverford, has an undergraduate degree in American studies and a master's in public policy. Social justice is "in my DNA," she said. Her late grandmother Sis Shapiro, a feminist and civil-rights activist, was a profound inspiration. As a 12-year-old, Levinson was a vegetarian and advocate for animal rights. As a teenager in her native Denver, she volunteered with Planned Parenthood and ran her high school's Amnesty International chapter.

In 2004, she met Freidus when they moved into the same building in Boston. Freidus is a social entrepreneur who shared Levinson's commitment to refugee and migration-related issues.

"We're both from Jewish backgrounds. Jews are refugees," Levinson said. "It's part of the reason I have been drawn to refugee/immigrant rights."

Freidus, now 42 and living in France, specializes in using storytelling as a tool for social change. She and Levinson reconnected in 2015 over the Syrian refugee crisis, and, Levinson said, they soon "realized one of the most helpful things would be to map what was going on when it came to all those individuals and organizations wanting to help."

NeedsList is recognition of "a huge appetite both on the part of the nonprofits and also on the donor side  people who really want that direct, tangible way to make a difference and know where their money is going," Levinson said.

They launched a prototype platform for NeedsList.co in October 2016 and a beta on June 20, World Humanitarian Day. Levinson is at the Project Liberty Incubator, a program operated by Ben Franklin Technology Partners, in office space at Eighth and Market Streets provided by Philadelphia Media Network.

Besides Levinson and Freidus, NeedsList's staff includes a field person in Greece and a product lead in Pittsburgh. "I would like to grow the company here in Philly as much as possible," Levinson said, adding that the budget calls for 10 to 12 employees by the end of next year.

The company's investor from Norway is Katapult Accelerator, which primarily focuses on impact investing.

"Much of the philanthropic capital given to humanitarian causes tend to disappear," said Nina Heir, program manager at Katapult. Refugee aid "is a growing concern and highly fragmented today. NeedsList solves supply-chain problems while ensuring the right aid gets to the right recipients in the right time."

Its revenue model is based on fees (8 percent to 10 percent) that suppliers pay on the sale of any of their products featured on NeedsList's donor platform. Other planned revenue sources are corporate and business sponsorships of the needs of refugee-assistance organizations. NeedsList expects to reach $1.7 million in revenue by the middle of next year, Levinson said.

The ultimate goal is to help respond to crises of any kind, she said: "I'd really like to see it as a beacon of hope and as a place where people can get involved in a meaningful way."
Owners Andrea and Brian Polizzi will hand out free waffles at breakfast and lunch in Center City, outside Suburban Station at 17th Street and JFK Boulevard between 6:30 a.m. and 9 a.m.

Between noon and 2 p.m., the "Waffamobile" will stop at 18th and Walnut Streets on Rittenhouse Square with more free waffles.

In conjunction with the giveaways, Waffatopia will donate 1 pound of waffles to Philabundance for every box of waffles purchased on www.waffatopia.com between National Waffle Day and Saturday, August 26 at midnight.
Stirred by the fallout from the deadly Charlottesville protest, Bryn Mawr College this week took steps to distance itself from M. Carey Thomas, a leading suffragist and perhaps the school's most influential president, citing her racist and anti-Semitic views.

The college will no longer refer in printed materials or on its website to its main gathering space as Thomas Great Hall or the building that houses it as Thomas Library, president Kim Cassidy said in a letter to the campus community.

"While Thomas had a profound impact on opportunities for women in higher education, on the academic development and identity of Bryn Mawr, and on the physical plan of the campus, she also openly and vigorously advanced racism and anti-Semitism as part of her vision of the college," Cassidy said.

The issue has been brewing for a couple of years and over the last few months, a campus committee of faculty, students, staff, trustees, and alumnae has been debating how to handle the legacy of Thomas, who led the college from 1894 to 1922.

But Cassidy said that given the violent uproar over white supremacy demonstrators in Charlottesville this month, mounting concerns about racism, and "an especially raw moment for members of many different marginalized groups whose rights and dignities are being attacked so openly and so viciously," she thought it was prudent to issue a moratorium on the use of Thomas' name for 2017-18 while the committee completes its work.

"We will make a concerted effort to remove as many references to the name as is possible for this year," she said.

When or if the block-lettered name that hangs over the entry to the building will come off hasn't been decided, Bryn Mawr spokesman Matt Gray said.

The Main Line women's college is the latest school to deal with the complicated legacies of former leaders whose buildings bear their names. Princeton University last year after much debate and controversy decided to keep the name of Woodrow Wilson, former U.S. and university president, on its School of Public and International Affairs.

The issue also comes as campuses across the country are bracing for more controversy in the wake of the violence that started with a white nationalist march through the University of Virginia campus this month and erupted the next day elsewhere in Charlottesville at a rally, where a woman opposing white supremacy was killed.

Pennsylvania State University this week banned white nationalist Richard Spencer  who had been scheduled to appear at the Charlottesville rally  from speaking on campus this fall. Calling Spencer's views "abhorrent," Penn State president Eric Barron said: "There is no place for hatred, bigotry or racism in our society and on our campuses."

Several other colleges, including Texas A&M University, the University of Florida, and Michigan State University, also have banned appearances by Spencer.

Cassidy, too, referred to Charlottesville in her letter, calling what happened there "profoundly disturbing."

"The views and actions of neo-Nazis, the KKK, and white supremacist and xenophobic groups are antithetical to the values we strive to embrace at Bryn Mawr," she said.

Bryn Mawr's campus is diverse: About a third of its 1,381 undergraduate students are Hispanic, black, or Asian, and that doesn't include the college's significant international population. Founded in 1885, the campus is largely liberal.

Conversation over Thomas proved complicated. The former college president figured prominently in helping women achieve equal rights. For a time, she led the National College Women's Equal Suffrage League, and Bryn Mawr under her leadership served as a hub for the suffrage movement, according to a special collection in the college library. Thomas brought prominent women's rights activists, including Susan B. Anthony and Carrie Chapman Catt, to campus to speak.

But like some other suffragists, she was focused on expanding rights for white, privileged women. She was reluctant to admit black students to Bryn Mawr and also rebuffed the hiring of Jewish faculty. Her views were illuminated in the 1994 biography, The Power and Passion of M. Carey Thomas, by Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz, an emerita professor of history and American studies at Smith College.

Debate about the legacy of Thomas, who died in 1935, has been going on for more than a decade. A written summary of "a noon conversation" on campus in 2005 included discussion about correspondence from Thomas in which she indicated black students may not feel comfortable at Bryn Mawr.

"The question has never come up at Bryn Mawr College as to whether it would be possible to admit a student of the negro race, and it is the policy of the college not to decide a general question until a specific case is presented," Thomas wrote in a 1906 letter. "As I believe that a great part of the benefit of a college education is derived from intimate association with other students of the same age interested in the same intellectual pursuits, I should be inclined to advise such a student to seek admission to a college situated in one of the New England states where she would not be so apt to be deprived of this intellectual companionship because of the different composition of the student body. At Bryn Mawr College we have a large number of students coming from the Middle and Southern states so that conditions here would be much more unfavorable."

In her comments to the freshman class in 1916, she said: "If the present intellectual supremacy of the white races is maintained, as I hope that it will be for centuries to come, I believe that it will be because they are the only races that have seriously begun to educate their women."

In several letters, Thomas made anti-Semitic remarks, including a comment on her desire to have a faculty made up of "our own good Anglo-Saxon stock."

While Thomas claimed that African American students did not apply to Bryn Mawr during her tenure as president, she diverted Jessie Redmon Fauset, an African American student who received a scholarship to attend Bryn Mawr in 1901, to Cornell University, and helped pay a portion of Fauset's tuition.

Horowitz, the author of the book on Thomas, said she was "conflicted" about the college's decision to move away from Thomas.

"You're looking at a deeply flawed person," she said, "but also one with a very powerful vision of women, who was opening doors at least for some women."

She said colleges would do better to understand the deep flaws in their history and work to reshape them rather taking symbolic actions such as removing names.

As the recent debate over Thomas' legacy ensued, a student petition called for her name to be removed.

Bryn Mawr alumnae and others connected with the school posted their views on social media sites, including a private Facebook page for alumnae and the Twitter hashtag #bmcbanter.

"The Power & Passion of M. Carey Thomas is on the @Wellesley College library free books shelf & I think I have to rescue it," tweeted former Bryn Mawr College scholar Monica L. Mercado.

"Great hall!!!" tweeted another.

"I am in literal shock," said a third.

Michelle Lee, a 2015 Bryn Mawr graduate, applauded Cassidy's decision.

"I'm pretty proud that Bryn Mawr is taking steps to remove and kind of reconcile with the actual racist past," said Lee, who works as a brand strategist at a media company in New York City.

Cassidy has asked that the committee reviewing Thomas' legacy come back with recommendations in the spring.

This article has been updated to amend a quote from Thomas regarding admittance of African American students to the school.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. and DALLAS, Aug. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As business demands accelerate adoption of software-defined datacenters (SDCC), the question has become Where does security fit? With its Intelligent Security Management platform, FireMon advances security management to support the speed and security required for adoption of this next generation of networks. The platform, and its ability to provide real-time visibility and automated analysis for security controls and data within microsegmented environments, will be available for demonstration in Booth #1413 August 27-30 at the VMworld 2017 conference in Las Vegas.



In its 2017 State of the Firewall Report, FireMon found that 67% of organizations have adopted or have plans to adopt SDN with VMware NSX being the most popular solution under consideration. The continued evolution of networking adds a layer of complexity in management, and especially security. Already resource-strapped security teams are being pressured to move faster all while maintaining the networks security posture.

The FireMon platform aims to support security teams caught in the transition, providing a holistic, centralized view of security policy and data across the entire infrastructure. This enables organizations to automate management of SDN products or network virtualization platforms such as VMware NSX next to their traditional, on-premises firewalls for consistent, cross-platform management of security controls.

The cyberthreat landscape continues to grow and constant security vigilance at the cloud, storage, desktop, server and network layer is more critical than ever  regardless of where those resources reside, said Tim Woods, Vice President of Technology Alliances, FireMon. Enterprise-wide scale, visibility and automation are no longer a nice-to-have but requirements for these hybrid network deployments. And the FireMon platform is uniquely positioned to deliver on that requirement.

The current release of FireMons Intelligent Security Management platform supports the following capabilities for VMware NSX:

Visibility policy changes and data inside the NSX ecosystem

Complete policy usage and data analytics spanning hybrid environments

Ability to analyze protocol, service and application flows

Monitoring and alerting for compliance across hybrid environments

Enterprise-wide, natural-language search to instantly research any device or rule and assess security risk

Data orchestration and analysis across hybrid environments

Collaborating with FireMon helps to deliver a sophisticated virtualized network to enterprises around the globe, said Brian Lazear, senior director, product management, Networking and Security Business Unit, VMware. Their support for the NSX platform will help mutual customers adopt new networking paradigms with confidence.

FireMon will be attending VMworld 2017 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. To inquire about a demo or meeting at the event, click here.

About FireMon

FireMon is the No.1 provider of Intelligent Security Management solutions worldwide, combining advanced benchmarking, simulation, and analysis to deliver next generation security intelligence. Since creating the first-ever network security management solution 15 years ago, FireMon solutions have continued to deliver visibility into and control over complex network security infrastructure, policies, and risk to over 1,500 customers around the world.

Using the FireMon Intelligent Security Management platform, todays leading enterprise organizations, government agencies, and managed security providers have dramatically improved effectiveness of network defenses, accelerating business agility and optimizing return on investment. For more information or a free 30-day trial, visit www.firemon.com.

VMware, NSX and VMworld are registered trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.
Racist and anti-Semitic vandalism that police say was left on a car and storefront in Coatesville early Tuesday. Read more

A 25-year-old Coatesville man was in custody Thursday, accused of spray-painting racist and anti-Semitic graffiti on several locations in the Chester County city earlier this week.

George Rissell, who police said claimed having past connections to white supremacy groups, was arrested Wednesday night. He faces charge of ethnic intimidation and criminal mischief, according to Coatesville Police. They had said Wednesday they were not aware of any hate groups active in the area.

Early Tuesday morning, swastikas and racist slurs  including the N-word  were left on a Valley Mart convenience store, on a white Mercedes-Benz, and on a garage door in Coatesville's West End.

Authorities found the vandalism crossed Coatesville city lines and continued into Valley Township, where the same kind of graffiti was left on street signs and a roadway, Coatesville Police Cpl. Shawn Dowds said Wednesday.

"It is very shocking," Dowds said. "That's never happened here before."

Local experts at the Anti-Defamation League told Coatesville police that by the looks of the graffiti, the person was "educated" in the imagery, Dowds said.

On the storefront of the Valley Mart, at Strode Avenue and Valley Road, there was a swastika, as well as white-nationalist codes, 14:88 and 23:16. Similar graffiti was left on the car, parked on South Church Street, and on a garage on the 800 block of Madison Avenue, Dowds said.

Dowds said the incident may have been a reaction to the recent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., which included chants of "Jews will not replace us" and the Nazi slogan "blood and soil."

"It may be just a copycat," Dowds said. "But you have to be concerned," especially in a community with a large black population. The population of Coatesville is more than 47 percent African American, according to 2016 census data.

Janine Humphrey identified herself on Facebook as the woman who owned the car that was vandalized.

Humphrey told Philadelphia Weekly that two weeks ago she and her family had moved from Morgantown, Berks County, to Coatesville in part for its more diverse population. In Morgantown, she said, her children were often the only people of color in their school classes.

On Tuesday, Humphrey said she came home from a graveyard shift at the VA hospital when she found her car vandalized.

"I got really emotional, and my children were all saying, 'Mommy, Mommy, what's wrong?' " Humphrey said. "Then I thought, it's ridiculous that this happens in this day and age."

Humphrey said she believes the incident was a reaction to the Charlottesville rally and President Trump's response.

"The president isn't condoning it, but he's not doing anything to address it," she said. "You don't allow things to go on and then when something happens say, 'I can't believe it happened.' He has an obligation to speak up."

The incident was the second report of graffiti in the Philadelphia suburbs in the last week.

In Bucks County, authorities said Herbert Hoover Elementary School was vandalized the night of Aug. 18. Racist graffiti was left at the Langhorne school, according to the Peace Center, a local nonprofit focused on, among other things, conflict resolution and racial equity.

In Coatesville, residents have expressed concern, Dowds said, mostly on Facebook and other social-media platforms. The comments include postings by people with Coatesville ties.

"To say this infuriates me is an understatement!" posted Anastasia Carter, whose town of residence was not clear.

"I hope that whoever did this, in a place I'm proud to call home & always will be, is swiftly brought to justice," Coatesville native Shelley Hoffman wrote. "There's no place for that here or anywhere."

Local representatives also took to social media to post statements against hatred and bigotry.

"It breaks my heart that we still have to fight for equality and against hatred," State Rep. Harry Lewis Jr. (R., Chester) said. "The hate of those who cannot respect their neighbors has no place in our community. Racial slurs won't change us, and Nazi symbols won't scare us."

"Let me be perfectly clear: There is absolutely no room for this kind of hate in our communities," State Sen. Andy Dinniman (D., Chester) said. "We must continue to come together and renounce this for what it is  unacceptable garbage."

Rissell was being held at Chester County Prison Thursday unable to post $150,000 bail. His preliminary hearing is set for Monday.

Rissell had been arrested three previous times in Chester County.

Last year, in July 2016, he was arraigned on a bevy of charges including aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment and possessing an instrument of a crime. He pleaded guilty to to simple assault and possessing a weapon. He was sentenced to a minimum of a year in jail followed by three years probation.

Back in November 2010, he faced similar charges, eventually pleading guilty to one count of aggravated assault. He was sentenced to a minimum of two years in jail.

A month earlier, in October 2010, Rissell was also charged with assault, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, and terroristic threats He pleaded guilty to criminal mischief and aggravated assault, and was sentenced to a minimum of one year in jail followed by probation.

It was not immediately clear how long Rissell spent in jail on any of these charges.
An 11-year-old boy was critically injured early Thursday when he apparently accidentally shot himself in the face while handling a gun in his parents' bedroom in their South Philadelphia home, police said.

Police said the boy's parents and four other children were in the home when the gun went off about 12:30 a.m. in the house on the 2600 block of South Hicks Street, but where they were at the time is under investigation.

The boy's parents drove him to Methodist Hospital and doctors there transferred him to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, police said.

Chief Inspector Scott Small said doctors at Children's Hospital reported that they expect the boy to survive. His condition was upgraded from critical to stable later in the morning.

The handgun was recovered from the parents' bedroom, police said.

No charges have been filed.
Federal authorities say Philadelphia Police Sgt. Brian Smith accepted more than $20,000 in bribes last year from tow-truck drivers seeking an edge on their competitors. Read more

A veteran police officer accepted more than $20,000 in bribes to give two towing companies an unfair advantage in the lucrative and highly competitive business of clearing wrecks from Philadelphia streets, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

Sgt. Brian Smith, who joined the force in 2005, allegedly raked in kickbacks totaling about $800 a month between December 2015 and November 2016 to tip off the tow-truck operators to locations of fender-benders and disabled vehicles reported to the city's call center.

In exchange, according to an indictment unsealed this week, Smith texted the men with advance notice of wrecks before official calls were placed to the next towing company on the city's rotating list.

That list, implemented in 2011, was designed to fairly distribute business among Philadelphia's licensed tow operators, after a series of high-profile incidents of wreck chasing, price gouging, and violent encounters between tow-truck drivers competing over accident removal. In one 2010 turf dispute, a driver killed a rival by running him down with his truck.

The case against Smith comes less than three years after former Philadelphia police dispatcher Dorian Parsley pleaded guilty in a similar scheme, and six months after a police detective, Patrick Pelosi, pleaded guilty in a case involving $24,000 in bribes received from a friend seeking his help to clear cars from a national law enforcement database of stolen vehicles.

Smith, who had been assigned to the 26th District in Fishtown, has been suspended for 30 days with intent to dismiss, a department spokesman said.

He pleaded not guilty to charges including bribery and lying to federal authorities at a court hearing Thursday afternoon.

Court filings in his case do not identify either of the towing operators who purportedly paid him bribes.

The sergeant and his lawyer, Fortunato Perri Jr., did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Surveillance tape of a man stealing a battery June 20 from a Jeep Wrangler on the 2000 block of Lombard Street. Police believe he is Juan Carlos Lugo, a.k.a. Carlos Martinez. Read more

A man suspected of stealing vehicle batteries, mostly from Jeeps, in Center City and other neighborhoods was identified by police Thursday as 41-year-old Juan Carlos Lugo, a.k.a. Carlos Martinez.

Police are seeking the public's help in finding him. In one case, the battery bandit was caught on surveillance video June 20 opening the hood of a Jeep Wrangler on the 2000 block of Lombard Street in Center City and swiping the battery.

Lt. Martin Bernard of the Major Crimes Unit said in a phone interview last month that, since June, he has received reports of 26 stolen vehicle batteries, 22 of them from Jeeps, and most of those from Jeep Wranglers.

"The problem with the Jeeps," Bernard said, "is they don't have a locking mechanism" on the hood.

Police believe the same man is committing all the battery thefts. Besides Center City, the thefts have taken place in the Kensington area, parts of South Philadelphia, and other neighborhoods.

In addition to the battery thefts, Bernard said last month, four Jeep Wranglers have been stolen since June. Those thefts occurred in University City, Center City, and Port Richmond, he said. Police believe there could be a link between the vehicle and battery thefts.

Tipsters should call the Major Crimes Unit at 215-685-9130 or the police tip line at 215-686-TIPS (8477). Tips, which can be anonymous, may also be submitted online.
FILE PHOTO  Stanley Davis, a 21-year veteran of the Philadelphia police force and a former member of an FBI narcotics squad, is scheduled to plead guilty Monday to giving two women heroin and cocaine in exchange for sex. Read more

A former Philadelphia Police narcotics officer assigned to one of the neighborhoods hardest hit by the opioid epidemic admitted Friday to trading heroin and other drugs for sexual favors from women  including one who, while high, was involved in a fatal car wreck that killed a 90-year-old woman.

In a brief hearing in federal court, Stanley Davis, 50, pleaded guilty to federal drug distribution charges, telling U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick that he enticed two women he met in Kensington last year into a series of sexual liaisons in New Jersey motel rooms and in his police-assigned vehicle.

Investigators learned of the trysts after the woman involved in the car wreck, Rosie Dorothy Forsyth, 28, told them that Davis was one source from whom she had obtained drugs, Jack McMahon, the officer's attorney, said.

McMahon said that Davis  a 21-year veteran of the force, and a member of an FBI narcotics task force, who is married to a Philadelphia cop  confessed immediately when confronted with his crimes. But, the lawyer added, it is impossible to know whether Forsyth's intoxication on the day of the fatal wreck was tied to drugs she received from Davis.

"This was not about the accident," McMahon said Friday. "That is not anything he was responsible for legally or morally. It was just an independent event that was how all this came to light originally."

Court filings in Davis' case do not mention the wreck, and Davis is not charged with any crime related to the Nov. 16 crash along the Pennsylvania Turnpike in West Pikeland Township. Forsyth's passenger, Thelma Frey, died six days later from injuries sustained in the collision, prompting Chester County prosecutors to charge Forsyth in connection with the woman's death.

The plea agreement in Davis' case details liaisons with two women. One was Forsyth, although neither is identified by name in court records. Davis told investigators he met both last fall on the streets of Kensington as he approached them about becoming confidential police informants while they were seeking to buy drugs.

As he continued to communicate with the pair, Davis began exchanging sexually charged text messages with one of them that included nude photos of himself, according to his plea agreement. Davis later met that woman for sex at least twice over the next several weeks, with each liaison involving drug use, the document says.

One encounter outlined in court filings began with one of the women snorting heroin and smoking crack cocaine in front of Davis prior to having sex. In another, the officer gave the woman several bags of heroin  hidden under a floor mat  after she had performed a sex act upon him in his car.

Davis' last meeting with the woman occurred in November, and he quickly turned his attentions to her friend using similar seduction techniques. He offered her cocaine and heroin in exchange for sex on at least two occasions, according to the plea agreement.

McMahon said that Davis deeply regrets his actions and hoped he had made that clear to the court Friday.

During Friday's court hearing, Davis  a imposing, beefy man with a military buzz cut  spoke softly, at times barely more audible than a whisper, as he offered one-word answers to questions from Surrick.

"We've all done bad things and stupid things," McMahon said. "Some are just more stupid than others, and this was particularly stupid."

Staff writer Chris Palmer contributed to this report.
Michelena Annaloro Bruno Maggio, known as Lena, holding her grandson, Peter James Maggio. Read more

Michelena Annaloro Bruno Maggio, 93, formerly of East Falls, a retired psychologist and amateur painter and sculptor, died Friday, Aug. 4, of respiratory failure at Rosemont Presbyterian Village, where she had lived for four years.

Dr. Maggio had two notable family connections in Philadelphia: as the wife of Peter J. Maggio, president of the M. Maggio cheese company; and as a sister of Angelo Bruno, the "Gentle Don," who led Philadelphia's La Cosa Nostra for 20 years until his assassination in 1980.

Dr. Maggio's other siblings were Victor Bruno, Josephine Bruno Grasso, and Charles Bruno, who died in childhood.

Her family remembered Dr. Maggio as a professional, as a volunteer worker who championed the cause of abused children, and as a loving mother, wife, and grandmother.

Born in Philadelphia to Michele and Vincenzina Cumella Annaloro Bruno, she was the youngest of four children. She graduated from South Philadelphia High School.

"Lena," as Dr. Maggio was called, spent her young adulthood working along with her siblings in the family's grocery store at Ninth and McClellan Streets in South Philadelphia.

It was there that she met Peter J. Maggio, who regularly delivered cheese made by his family's business. The two married in 1946, and moved to East Falls to rear two sons. The couple also maintained a vacation home on Long Beach Island, N.J.

In additional to being a gracious homemaker, her family said, Dr. Maggio discovered a passion for the arts, and became an oil painter and a sculptor. Her work was shown at museums and galleries in the area, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

She graduated from Temple University with honors, earned a master's degree from Villanova University, and returned to Temple and completed a doctorate in psychology in 1980.

She worked as a psychologist for several decades at the Curtis Institute of Music and later for CATCH (Citizens Acting Together Can Help). She retired in 2005 at age 82.

Son Peter V. Maggio said his father was "so, so proud of her."

"My father used to bring her lunch every day," her son said.

Dr. Maggio was a crusader in the prevention of child abuse. She co-founded the Child Abuse Prevention Effort and served as its board chairperson in the 1970s. She lobbied in Harrisburg for stricter child-abuse-prevention laws, testified before Congress, wrote pamphlets on the subject, and helped expand existing state anti-child-abuse laws.

Her activism made Dr. Maggio a model for other women who felt constrained by social mores. "She went and did things," her son said. "For so many other women, inside and outside of the family, she was an example of how to live their lives. She was deeply admired."

When not working, she enjoyed spending time with family.

Her husband of 46 years died in 1992. A son, Michael, died of cancer in 2008.

Besides her son Peter, she is survived by a grandson; a granddaughter; three great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 26, at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church, 1700 S. Ninth St. A memorial gathering will be held at 11 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 17, at the Hyatt at the Bellevue, 200 S. Broad St. Burial is private.

Memorial donations may be made to the Michael Maggio Immigrants' Rights Foundation, 1331 G St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005, or via http://bit.ly/lenamaggio. Michael Maggio was an immigration lawyer.
U.S. Navy file photo of Electronics Technician 3rd Class Kenneth Aaron Smith, 22, from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, who was stationed aboard USS John S. McCain when it collided with the Liberian-flagged merchant vessel Alnic MC, Aug. 21. Smiths remains were recovered by U.S. Navy and Marine Corps divers. Read more

When Kenneth Aaron Smith joined the Navy in 2014, fresh out of high school in Cherry Hill, it seemed it was what he was destined to do, following his father and grandfather. This week, the young sailor's career was tragically cut short.

Smith, 22, was killed in the collision Monday between the destroyer John S. McCain and an oil tanker near Singapore, the Navy confirmed Thursday. The Navy also released the names of nine others missing in the accident, all petty officers. They are presumed to have died.

An electronics technician third class, Smith graduated from Cherry Hill High School East in 2013, and in 2014 followed in the footsteps of his father, Darryl, and grandfather, in joining the Navy. He boarded the McCain in 2015, according to a report in the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot.

In a statement issued by the Navy on behalf of the family, Darryl Smith said that his son "was a great young man, son and Sailor" and that he was "incredibly proud" of his son's service to the country.

"He truly loved his family, the Navy, and his shipmates. He will be greatly missed, and I am thankful we had 22 wonderful years together," the elder Smith said. "Most important, we ask you to keep in your thoughts and prayers all the families and friends of those affected by this tragedy."

Kenneth Smith grew up in Novi, Mich., and moved to Norfolk, Va., as a teenager to live with his father and participate in ROTC. His mother, April Brandon, who lives in a Detroit suburb, said her son had considered making the Navy a career, as his father did.

Smith moved to Cherry Hill while in high school when his father transferred to a job in New Jersey.

On Thursday, visitors stopped by the family's tan split-level home on a quiet street. A Cherry Hill police cruiser was in front of the house and an officer asked a reporter to respect the family's request for privacy.

"It's so sad. I saw some officers knocking on their door  but I didn't want to pry, especially since they were probably bringing them the news," said Vicky Korman, who lives nearby. Korman, 75, a retired food service worker, said the family moved in about two years ago and she didn't know the young sailor.

Another neighbor, John Kontovrakis, also said he didn't know Smith's family, but expressed sorrow at his death.

"You go to do your duty to your country, and you lose your life," said Kontovrakis, 83, who said he was a sailor when he lived in Greece and then spent 10 years in the Merchant Marine. "I think this collision was a mistake. There's so much equipment out there that it's hard to hit anything. How did the ships come so close?"

At Cherry Hill East, Kenneth Smith was a member of the video game club for two years and served as president his senior year, according to his yearbook profile, which included the quote: "Life is a game; the question is, do you have the controller?" On his Facebook page, Smith wrote: "I work all day and work slightly less all night. Hooya."

Andrew Adler, a Cherry Hill East classmate who now lives in New York, said Smith had "a reputation of being a very nice, respectful, good kid. It's a tragic loss for the family, friends, and the community and this is incredibly sad."

Besides his love of video games, Smith was remembered by classmates in New Jersey and Virginia as a fun-loving guy with a sense of humor. He had big dreams of becoming a star on YouTube with his video games, said Niana Jasso, who met Smith in 2009 at Deep Creek High School in Chesapeake, Va., during their freshman year.

"He was extremely funny. He always had you laughing even when you were down," said Jasso, 23, who now lives in California. "He was really kind."

Jasso said Smith visited with her and her wife, Marissa, in November. The trio went to Universal Studios and took photographs with cartoon characters, she said. Jasso said she spoke with Smith about a week ago. They mainly talked about Rick and Morty, one of his favorite shows, she said.

"I didn't hear from him after that," Jasso said.

Smith was the first sailor confirmed dead in Monday's collision near Singapore. The extensive damage to the warship has slowed the search for bodies. Divers will continue search and recovery efforts inside flooded compartments in the ship for the missing sailors, the Navy said.

Condolences poured in on Twitter and the Facebook page of Smith's mother.

"So very sorry for your great loss," one wrote. "May Kenneth rest easy and at peace. He will always be an American hero."

In a statement, Cherry Hill Mayor Chuck Cahn offered prayers and condolences to the family.

"On behalf of the members of Township Council and our entire Cherry Hill community, I want to express my sincere gratitude for the service and sacrifice of Petty Officer Smith, and all those who serve and defend the United States at home and abroad," Cahn wrote.

The Navy said it was suspending efforts to scour the seas east of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore for any survivors.

Smith was in the fourth year of a seven-year commitment. He worked in radar technology.

Samikshya Shrestha, 20, a mass communications major at Temple University in Japan, said she met Smith this summer through an online dating site. The McCain's homeport is Yokosuka.

"He was sitting there with this huge smile on his face," she said in a message. "He was goofy, nerdy, and the smartest man I have ever seen."

Her last communication with Smith was a text message on Sunday when the McCain hit port, she said. In her last text, she said she told him "I love him and for him to take care and stay safe."

Still missing are: Charles Nathan Findley, 31, of Amazonia, Mo.; Abraham Lopez, 39, of El Paso, Texas; Kevin Sayer Bushell, 26, of Gaithersburg, Md.; Jacob Daniel Drake, 21, of Cable, Ohio; Timothy Thomas Eckels Jr., 23, of Manchester, Md.; Corey George Ingram, 28, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y.; Dustin Louis Doyon, 26, of Suffield, Conn.; John Henry Hoagland III, 20, of Killeen, Texas; and Logan Stephen Palmer, 23, of Decatur, Ill.

The collision between the McCain and the 30,000-ton oil tanker ripped a gaping hole in the destroyer's hull. The McCain had been heading to Singapore on a routine port visit.The Navy on Wednesday removed the head of the Seventh Fleet, which has sustained four accidents since January, two of them fatal.
Santa Fe, New Mexico, Aug. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on Thursday, August 24 released a sources sought notice in which it invited certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) owners to submit information about their ability to replace a concrete curb at the Santa Fe National Cemetery.

Ultimately, according to the sources sought notice, the VA will award a one-time, firm fixed-price contract.



The SDVOSB contractor who receives the contract must furnish all materials, equipment, labor, and supervision necessary to replace approximately 200 lf of rolled concrete curb at Santa Fe National Cemetery, within 60 days or less of receiving a notice to proceed.



The VA anticipates the work to include:



Saw cutting existing asphalt paving to accommodate forms for new curb

Demolishing, removing, and disposing of concrete curb off site

Forming and pouring new 6-roll curb

Patching existing asphalt as required

The relevant NAICS Code is 237310, Highway, Street and Bridge Construction, and the Small Business Administration (SBA) size standard is $36.5 million.



Interested and capable SDVOSB contractors must email Contract Specialist T. Velvet Abercrumbie at Teasha.Abercrumbie@va.gov by no later than 3 p.m. EST on August 29 the following information:

A positive statement of interest in submitting a quote based on the general scope of work description

A capability statement that describes firms in-house capability to accomplish the summarized project scope/goal

Small business certification (SDVOSB or VOSB) and if firm is currently certified by the Department of Veterans Affairs Center for Veterans Enterprise (CVE) based upon North American Industry Classification System code 237990 - Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction

Firm's name, address, DUNS and CAGE numbers, and primary point of contact, including telephone number(s) and e-mail address

Information about three most relative, recent projects:

Contracting agency address and contracting officers name, e-mail address and telephone number Contract Number, date, amount of award, and date of completion If company was prime or a subcontractor, and if subcontractor, the prime companys business name, address, e-mail address, and telephone number, as well as the name, e-mail address, and telephone number of a contact person Describe items/services provided under the contract Information about performance issues under the contract (if any) that resulted in the contracting officer issuing a Cure Notice or Show Cause Notice



Contractors responding to the sources sought notice must include as the subject line of their e-mail: SS Response to VA786A-17-Q-0069 |Santa Fe National Cemetery | Replace Concrete | Project #904-M&R-FY17-007.



Businesses interested in bidding on and receiving contracts from the government must be registered with the System for Award Management (SAM) database and have as part of the Registration all current Representations and Certifications.



US Federal Contractor Registration, the worlds largest third-party government registration firm, and a firm that not only helps companies survive but also thrive, completes the required Registrations on behalf of its clients. It also makes available information about opportunities like this, as well as training on how to locate, research, and respond to opportunities.

We also make available for our clients and for contracting officers our proprietary Advanced Federal Procurement Data Search (AFPDS). Our Advanced Federal Procurement Data Search (AFPDS) gives you in one place instant bid notifications, bid proposal prospecting, and information about government procurement officers. We make this search tool available to clients, as part of our commitment to helping each and every USFCR client succeed and thrive as a government contractor.



For contracting officers, the AFPDS gives them in one place access to a database of available contractors and also a place to post information about opportunities. Contracting officers get free access to AFPDS. We also provide interested contracting officers a list of contractors who may be able to provide a service and/or product that they need.



For more information, to get started with a SAM registration, to learn more about how US Federal Contractor Registration can help your business succeed, to find out how we can help you complete the processes necessary to become certified as one or more types of small business(es), and/or to speak with our federal training specialists about how to craft a memorable proposal, call 877-252-2700, ext. 1.
NEWARK, N.J.  A mail carrier, a utility worker, and a children's librarian will be among the 12 people deciding the fate of Sen. Bob Menendez when his corruption trial begins next month.

Attorneys finished selecting a panel of 12 jurors and four alternates Wednesday out of a pool that initially numbered several hundred when questionnaires were mailed out two months ago.

The racially mixed jury, divided equally between men and women, will return Sept. 6 for opening statements. The trial is expected to last up to two months.

Menendez and a wealthy campaign donor are charged with a bribery scheme involving gifts and donations in return for political influence. The donor, Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen, is on trial with Menendez.

Both defendants attended the two days of jury selection but did not speak to reporters.

Menendez's defense team has attacked the government's case, arguing in court papers that the Democratic senator's meetings and interactions with government officials at the State Department and the Department of Health and Human Services were legitimate legislative duties.

They also have argued that those meetings and other actions taken by Menendez do not satisfy a narrowed definition of "official acts" under a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year that threw out the bribery conviction of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell.

Prosecutors contend Menendez's actions were singularly meant to benefit the interests of Melgen, after Melgen lavished Menendez with free trips on his private plane and vacations to France and the Dominican Republic.

The indictment alleges Menendez interceded to help Melgen in a dispute over a port security contract Melgen sought in the Dominican Republic; in Melgen's attempts to get visas for three foreign girlfriends; and in a Medicare dispute with the government involving Melgen's ophthalmology business.

In a separate trial this year that did not involve Menendez, Melgen was convicted on multiple counts of Medicare fraud and faces maximum penalties totaling decades in prison when he is sentenced this fall.
The defacement last week of the Frank Rizzo statue in front of the Municipal Services Building has brought to a head a years-long controversy over whether the city should continue to honor the former police commissioner and mayor with a public monument.

This week, Mayor Kenney announced that the status of the Rizzo monument would go under review. That job will fall to the Philadelphia Art Commission, a group of nine men and women drawn from the arts and business communities.

Commission chairman Alan Greenberger said that the matter was unprecedented, as far as he knew, and that the commission plans to hold hearings on it, likely not before October.

We pored over the group's charter and spoke to Greenberger to get a better sense of the group and its various duties.

What is the Art Commission?

A design review board composed of eight mayoral appointees and the commissioner of public property, the Art Commission meets on the first Wednesday of each month to review proposals for any building or public art project that is located on city property or funded with city money, including schools, statues, and building signs.

Founded in 1911 as the Philadelphia Art Jury, it adopted its current name in 1952.

"These kinds of commissions were set up in American cities about 100 years ago," said Greenberger, 65, an architect who served in Mayor Michael A. Nutter's administration from 2008 to 2016 in various positions, including deputy mayor for economic development.

"It was in recognition of the fact that Philadelphia had one of the finest and most expensive collections of public arts in America," he said, "and there was a feeling that it would be good for the city to have a group who helped it improve its beauty and avoid ugliness."

What does the commission actually do?

"We review proposals for a range of things, including public art, public buildings, public landscapes, and we have the authority to review, comment, and approve those things," said Greenberger, who heads the department of architecture, design and urbanism at Drexel University's Westphal College of Media Arts and Design.

"I know it rankles some people, but the City Charter actually uses the words beautiful and ugly  and basically we are responsible for making aesthetic judgments on what is worthy as public art and public landscapes."

The bulk of proposals put before the commission have to do with more mundane structures like "school buildings, new additions or new wings to schools, and buildings like the Juvenile Justice Center in West Philly."

Who is on the commission?

The commission must be made up of members of specific professions, including the commissioner of public property. According to the charter, the eight other members must include "a painter, a sculptor, an architect, a landscape architect, a member of the Commission on Parks and Recreation, and an experienced business executive," and finally two "members of a faculty or governing body of a school of art or architecture."

In addition to Greenberger, the members are:

The commission approves the installation of public art. Has it ever been involved with changing or removing it?

"It's incredibly rare," said Greenberger, who cited two previous instances where a sculpture was relocated due to practical concerns.

"The big Lincoln statue on Kelly Drive near the boathouses used to be on a traffic island, so that was moved over to get it out of traffic," he said. "And a piece called Phoenix that used to be at Dilworth Plaza  was moved to the foot of Society Hill Towers when Dilworth Plaza was renovated and turned into Dilworth Park."

Has there ever been a case when a piece was moved or removed entirely due to changing public opinion or political controversy?

The Rizzo case may well be unprecedented. "I couldn't say that for sure, but I have never heard of such a case," said Greenberger.

What options does the commission have when it comes to the Rizzo statue? Has it been asked to rule on whether the statue should be moved to another location or removed entirely?

"We haven't been presented with a proposal yet, so we don't know what the options are," said Greenberger. "The mayor's office is working on a proposal and once that is submitted, we'll have a sense of the options before us."
WASHINGTON  Constructing a border wall is essential to President Trump  so essential, he said, he is willing to "close down" the government to get it.

But what would it take for Trump to actually force a government shutdown? And how likely is that to happen because of the border-wall debate?

As congressional staffers will tell you, it's complicated. And nobody knows exactly how Trump would react in the moment of truth. Before now, he's treated government shutdowns as not a big deal, even a good thing. It could be a lot harder to make that argument from the Oval Office.

Here's a breakdown of the scenarios we could see playing out this fall  some leading to a shutdown, others keeping the government open past the Sept. 30 deadline.

Scenario 1: The government stays open because Congress passes funding for a border wall, giving Trump what he wants.

This is most straightforward  and least likely  outcome given the power of the filibuster and the strength of Democrats' opposition to funding a wall.

In Trump's ideal world, Republicans would include money to construct a wall in their next government-spending measure, and that measure would pass the House and Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support.

This won't happen. Though Republicans hold majorities in both chambers, the GOP doesn't have the 60 votes required to break a filibuster in the Senate. And Democrats would almost certainly exercise the filibuster to block a bill with wall funding.

Verdict: Less likely.

Scenario 2: The government stays open because Congress approves new border security measures that satisfy Trump, even though they don't constitute full-fledged funding for a wall.

This case of bait-and-switch could serve to keep the government open, depending on how precise Trump wants to be about the definition of "wall."

There are intermediate border-security measures that could gain support from both parties, potentially giving Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), the votes he needs to pass a spending bill that includes them.

At that point, if Trump agreed, it would be up to him to finesse his rhetoric on the need for a physical barrier along the border. Could better equipment and technology be described as a "wall"? In Trump's world, it could happen. But it's another matter whether his base voters would accept it.

Verdict: More likely.

Scenario 3: The government stays open because Congress passes a short-term spending bill, promising to deal with wall funding at a later date.

"Kicking the can down the road" tends to be Congress's preferred way of dealing with difficult problems, and this scenario could be no different.

As the clock ticks down toward Sept. 30, lawmakers will face increased pressure to fund the government, even if just on a temporary basis. By promising to debate wall funding later, then approving a stopgap spending measure, Congress would put off a confrontation with Trump and the possibility of a shutdown.

The downside of procrastinating is it would complicate lawmakers' already jam-packed legislative schedule through the end of 2017. The upside? Less trouble in the short term. This approach historically has held major appeal for lawmakers, increasing its likelihood.

Verdict: More likely.

Scenario 4: The government stays open because McConnell breaks the legislative filibuster, allowing funding for a wall to pass.

Trump would love for McConnell to get rid of the legislative filibuster the way he did the filibuster on Supreme Court nominations. But it would require convincing more than two dozen Republicans to reject an opinion they held just a few months ago.

In April, 61 Republican and Democratic senators wrote to Senate leaders urging them to preserve the 60-vote threshold for legislation.

"Senators have expressed a variety of opinions about the appropriateness of limiting debate when we are considering judicial and executive branch nominations," the letter stated. "Regardless of our past disagreements on that issue, we are united in our determination to preserve the ability of Members to engage in extended debate when bills are on the Senate floor."

Verdict: Less likely.

Scenario 5: The government shuts down because Congress approves a spending bill without wall funding and Trump makes good on his threat.

It's possible the president will hold Congress's feet to the fire and reject any spending bill that doesn't include funding for the wall. In that case, Trump would have to be ready to risk the political consequences of a shutdown  consequences we know he was aware of because of something he tweeted when the government shuttered last time.

"My sense is that people are far angrier at the President than they are at Congress re the shutdown  an interesting turn!" Trump wrote in October 2013.

Verdict: More likely.

Scenario 6: The government stays open because Congress manages to overcome Trump's veto of a spending bill without wall funds.

This would be difficult for Republican leaders to achieve, but not impossible. Say Republicans pass a spending bill without wall funding and Trump vetoes it. If McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., can convince two-thirds of each of their chambers that keeping the government open is more important than funding the border wall, they could overcome the veto and keep the government open.

Verdict: Less likely.
President Trump delivered a raucous, error-filled speech in Arizona on Aug. 22, just days after he was uniformly criticized for blaming "both sides" for the deadly violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va.

The president gave a revisionist account of his remarks about Charlottesville, exaggerated his accomplishments, and made a series of false and misleading claims:

Trump cherry-picked excerpts from his past statements about Charlottesville to put a positive spin on his remarks. But in his retelling, Trump failed to say he blamed "both sides" for the violence that left one counterprotester dead and 19 others injured.

Trump also wrongly suggested that the media didn't report that he had said "racism is evil," a quote from his second statement  on Monday, Aug. 14  on the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. That quote was widely reported by the media.

Trump, who spent a large part of the rally bashing the media, also wrongly claimed CNN's ratings "are going down." In fact, they've gone up.

The president falsely claimed that wages "haven't gone up for a long time." Average weekly earnings for all private workers went up 4 percent during the last four years of President Obama's tenure.

Trump exaggerated when he claimed that he has created "way over 1 million" jobs since taking office. The actual increase is 1,074,000 jobs  a little less than the more than 1.2 million that were added during the same time frame a year ago.

The president also said the nation's economy under his leadership has surged, describing the estimated 2.6 percent growth in the nation's real gross domestic product for the second quarter as "shocking." In fact, it is below the growth rate for eight of the last 18 quarters.

Trump claimed "we were one vote away from repealing" the Affordable Care Act. But the vote would have sent a placeholder "skinny repeal" bill to a conference committee with the House. The House and Senate would have had to agree upon final legislation.

Trump said by allowing insurance companies to sell insurance across state lines, "your prices go way down." But experts have disputed that idea.

Trump claimed the U.S. has "become an energy exporter for the first time ever just recently." That's false. The U.S. still imports more energy than it exports. The Energy Information Administration projects the U.S. will become a net exporter of energy  in 2026.

Trump also boasted that he has "obtained [a] historic increase in defense spending." He hasn't. His proposed budget for fiscal 2018 would increase defense spending by 5 percent  far less than the double-digit increases under Presidents George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter.

The president touted that he has signed 50 bills and boasted that he doesn't "believe that any president has accomplished as much as this president." In fact, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed 76 bills in his first 100 days, including the kinds of major legislation that Trump lacks.

Trump said "both of the countries"  Mexico and Canada  have "such great deals" under the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. Actually, the U.S. had a trade surplus in goods and services with Canada for the last two years.

Revising History on Charlottesville

The president spoke to supporters in Phoenix, Arizona  one in a series of rallies staged by his campaign since he became president. Trump also has held campaign rallies in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio  states that he won and needs to maintain if he wants to win reelection more than three years from now.

The Arizona speech came just days after the president was criticized by members of both parties for blaming "both sides" for violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Trump blamed the "dishonest" news media for cherry-picking his words to distort his statements on Charlottesville, when, in fact, the president cherry-picked his words from his past statements to put a positive spin on his much-criticized remarks.

Trump first spoke about Charlottesville on Aug. 12, the day of the white nationalist rally, and then again on Aug. 14 and 15. He read excerpts from each of his remarks to his Arizona audience, but he omitted key phrases that caused a political backlash.

First, Trump spoke of his remarks on Aug. 12, a Saturday.

Trump, Aug. 22:  So heres what I said, really fast, heres what I said on Saturday: Were closely following the terrible events unfolding in Charlottesville, Virginia  this is me speaking. We condemn in the strongest, possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence. Thats me speaking on Saturday.

Actually, Trump said, "We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence, on many sides. On many sides." In his retelling, Trump left out the words in bold. His Aug. 12 remarks were criticized at the time even by members of his own party, who faulted the president for blaming both sides and not singling out by name the hate groups that organized the rally.

Republican Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado tweeted, "Mr. President  we must call evil by its name. These were white supremacists and this was domestic terrorism." Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Republican from Utah, tweeted, "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."

It wasn't until two days later that Trump condemned "the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups" by name. But Trump followed that with remarks on Aug. 15 that again blamed both sides.

On Aug. 15, Trump said this of the rally organizers and others who protested the planned removal of the Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville: "[Y]ou had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides."

Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, responded to Trump's remarks with a six-part tweetstorm that began, "The organizers of events which inspired & led to #charlottesvilleterroristattack are 100% to blame for a number of reasons." Rubio went on to say, "Mr. President,you can't allow #WhiteSupremacists to share only part of blame.They support idea which cost nation & world so much pain."

In his retelling of his Aug. 15 remarks, Trump focused on selected excerpts and again ignored key phrases  such as "both sides" and "very fine people"  that caused another round of political criticism.

Trump, Aug. 22:  So it should have been  so then the last one, on Tuesday  Tuesday I did another one: We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence. It has no place in America.

That quote was actually from his second set of remarks, on Aug. 14, which he repeated on Aug. 15 before blaming both sides.

Trump explained his point in reading excerpts from his past statements on Charlottesville: "But the point is, that those were three different  there were two statements and one news conference. The words were perfect. They [media outlets] only take out anything they can think of, and for the most part, all they do is complain. But they don't put on those words. And they don't put on me saying those words."

It's his opinion, of course, that his "words were perfect." But he distorts the facts by omitting key phrases that caused a political backlash and by claiming that media outlets "take out" his words, when in fact he is guilty of exactly that.
Clifford E. Haines, the former head of the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Bar Associations, allegedly hit a sheriffs deputy and was taken into custody. Read more

Center City lawyer Clifford E. Haines, the former head of the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Bar Associations, was taken into custody this week after a scuffle in Philadelphia's Criminal Justice Center in which he allegedly hit a sheriff's deputy, but the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office has decided not to file criminal charges.

The incident in the lobby of the city's criminal courthouse at 13th and Filbert Streets, which was captured on surveillance video, took place Monday morning, when the lobby is usually filled with tense and confused people checking their cellphones and wending their way through security scanners to get to court appointments.

Barbara Grant, spokeswoman for the Philadelphia Sheriff's Department, said that Haines, 72, got into a dispute with a sheriff's deputy and that "Mr. Haines hit the deputy. It took a couple of officers to subdue him, and he was apprehended and detained."

Cameron Kline, spokesman for the District Attorney's Office, confirmed that the incident was referred to the office for investigation and possible prosecution.

"Our office declined to charge [Haines] after reviewing the evidence and a video of the incident," Kline said.

Haines, whose shoulder was broken when he was taken to the floor and subdued, was not available for comment.

Although Haines' legal practice is civil litigation, he was at the Criminal Justice Center for a hearing before Judge Roxanne Covington involving client Arthur "Larry" Melton, 73, former principal of Edward W. Bok Technical High School, who is scheduled for trial next month on criminal charges for allegedly cheating on standardized test scores evaluating student learning.

According to court records, "as of 11:30 a.m., [Haines] failed to appear for call of case due to sheriff's confiscation of his phone in the lobby."

Grant said the Sheriff's Department was considering a request by the Inquirer and Daily News to release the incident report and video. Kline said the District Attorney's Office would not release its copy of the video.

Haines, a former city prosecutor, started his own firm, Haines & Associates, in 2004. He was chancellor of the 13,000-member Philadelphia Bar Association in 1997 and president of the Pennsylvania Bar Association in 2009-10. Haines is former board chairman of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, a bipartisan nonprofit seeking the merit selection of state appellate judges.

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly described Haines as the current board chairman of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts.
SMITHFIELD, Va., Aug. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Smithfield Foods, Inc. recognized select facilities and employees for efforts in 2016 that led the company to achieve success across its sustainability pillars: Animal Care, Environment, Food Safety & Quality, Helping Communities, and People. Smithfield recognized the winners earlier this month at its annual Environmental and Sustainability Excellence Awards program.



The facilities honored for the awards program helped the company save more than 86.5 million gallons of water, more than 18.8 million kilowatts of electricity, more than 39 thousand dekatherms of natural gas and reduced more than 30.3 million pounds of solid waste generation in 2016. In addition to these achievements, employees volunteered more than 2,622 volunteer hours for charitable causes.

It is the collective dedication of more than 50,000 Smithfield employees that has made our sustainability program what it is today, said Stewart Leeth, vice president of regulatory affairs and chief sustainability officer for Smithfield Foods. "Were industry leaders because of the efforts and innovative approach of our Smithfield Family, from caring for animals and the environment, to helping one another and our communities.

During the Environmental and Sustainability Excellence Awards ceremony, Smithfield president and chief executive officer, Kenneth M. Sullivan, recognized employees who have developed innovative, environmentally-sustainable solutions within company facilities throughout the year. The ceremony is part of a larger training conference designed to further engage employees in Smithfield's sustainability efforts, including a boot camp and breakout sessions as well as presentations from Smithfield leadership that covered a variety of topics from air quality to charitable giving.

In addition to the award-winning projects listed below, more information about Smithfield's sustainability program can be found in the company's 2016 Sustainability Report available at smithfieldfoods.com/2016report.

PRESIDENTS AWARD WINNER

Sioux Center, IA

Identified and tackled challenges in the facilitys wastewater treatment process and developed a solution that reduced costs, improved efficiencies and reduced stress on the local landfill.

ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY EXCELLENCE AWARDS

Milan, MO

Maintained an outstanding multi-year air, water and waste compliance record.

St. James, MN

Installed innovative technology to reduce electricity consumption of nearly 150,000 KWH annually.

Hermosillo, Sonora, MX

Implemented new logistics measures, which realized significant savings in freight and fuel costs while reducing carbon emissions by more than 7,500 tons.



Ilawa, Poland

Implemented new procedures to reduce both the amount of water used in production and the volume of wastewater created.



Yuma, CO

Utilized new systems to conserve water on farms, helping achieve more sustainable operations while safeguarding water resources for area farms and communities.

Middlesboro, KY

Reduced the use of materials while minimizing waste to landfills by nearly 150,000 pounds by working with suppliers to use thinner packaging film. The project won the Kentucky Excel Pacesetter Award at the 2016 Governors Conference on Energy and the Environment.

Orange City, IA

Launched program to recycle product strapping materials, reducing waste sent to landfills.

Smithfield, VA

Revamped its Pallet Life Cycle Project, which converts used pallets to energy. Results included reducing landfill and organic waste, labor, cost, and water consumption.

Grayson, KY

Diverted more than 2,000 tons of material from the landfill in just one year, which is a reduction of nearly 50 percent.

Milan, MO

Launched an ergonomic stretching program, led by safety trainers, to improve employee health.

Laverne, OK

Supported relief efforts during the Oklahoma wildfires by supplying food, drink and provisions to local fire fighters, among other initiatives.

Timisoara, Romania

Developed visually-engaging, comprehensive employee training program that addressed animal production, bio-security, and occupational health and safety.

About Smithfield Foods

Smithfield Foods is a $15 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield, Eckrich, Nathan's Famous, Farmland, Armour, John Morrell, Cook's, Kretschmar, Gwaltney, Curly's, Margherita, Carando, Healthy Ones, Krakus, Morliny and Berlinki. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com.
Philadephia high-pressure water hydrants, like the wider red plug here, were decommissioned in 2005. The city has more than 25,000 active hydrants that are slimmer and painted orange. Read more

When Seth Donkochik drives around the city looking for parking, he keeps an eye out for fat, red fire hydrants.

He's not a collector of parking tickets or an antagonizer of the Philadelphia Fire Department. Donkochik just knows how to spot the decommissioned plugs, no longer in operation, where it may or may not be safe to park.

"I started parking all across the city, and, lo and behold, I wouldn't get tickets," said Donkochik, who lives in Northern Liberties.

That is, of course, until he did. But he fought both violations, won, and hasn't been ticketed in years, he said.

The hydrants, part of the city's now-defunct High-Pressure Fire System, date to the early 1900s, when they were installed between the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers from Girard Avenue to South Street, mostly in industrial areas where factory fires threatened to burn down the urban landscape.

The city decommissioned the fleet in 2005, but today, 924 plugs are still scattered around the city  faded cast-iron plugs confusing parking-spot hunters and ticket-writers. The Philadelphia Parking Authority trains its officers not to ticket cars in front of the decommissioned hydrants, and a ticket issued there can be challenged and revoked. The Philadelphia Police Department, though, has no written policy instructing officers not to ticket at the old hydrants.

The decommissioned hydrants have three bolts at the top and are fatter and redder than the very-much-in-operation slimmer, orange hydrants. Those distinguishing features aren't that helpful for someone circling the block for a spot.

"Oh, I avoid them now. I'd rather be safe than sorry," said Christina Sirochman, who was ticketed in Fairmount several years ago for parking by one of the hydrants while stopping at her bank. "It seems like everyone has issues on and off, so it's hard to predict."

With so many decommissioned hydrants in the city  and a city traffic code prohibiting parking within 15 feet of a hydrant in either direction  there could be hundreds of underused spaces in the city.

The Water Department maintains a list of the blocks that still have the high-pressure hydrants. But because active hydrants often sit right next to the old hydrants, it's hard to tell based on parking violation data how many tickets have been issued in error.

Neighbors in Fishtown and Northern Liberties have sporadically started to paint the old hydrants to better distinguish them as inoperable. The city supports the street art so long as the decommissioned hydrants are the only ones getting painted.

"It's not obvious they don't work," said Matt Ruben, president of the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association. "The only thing is anyone can see they look different, but that by itself isn't enough information to let you know they don't work. We're spreading the word, but we also can't 100 percent guarantee that any PPA meter inspector will definitely not ticket there."

The PPA says its parking enforcement officers are trained to distinguish the large, red hydrants from the thin, orange ones. Those ticketed in error should contact the agency, PPA spokesman Marty O'Rourke said.

But the Philadelphia Police Department has no such policy.

"There's nothing on the books with the Police Department," said Officer Tanya Little of the Public Affairs Division. "I see the different colors, but officers wouldn't know which hydrants work and which don't work. They're charged with enforcing the law on the books."

To rip out all the old hydrants would cost $4 million to $5 million, an undertaking the city is not committed to funding right now, said city spokeswoman Lauren Hitt.

Plus, natural urban erosion could take care of them within the next 50 years, predicts Harry Kyriakodis, a historian and author who researched the high-pressure water-hydrant system as part of a forthcoming book, Underground Philadelphia.

The old hydrants get pulled up as part of construction projects, Kyriakodis said. As sidewalks get repaved, the plugs slowly sink into the ground.

They may look lackluster now, but the system is largely credited with saving the city from a great fire in the early and mid-20th century, when many other cities had devastating blazes, Kyriakodis said.

"I think each one is a standing monument," he said, "to why Philadelphia didn't burn."

Kyriakodis said the hydrant system could shoot a two-inch stream of water a distance of 230 feet. The hydrants, no longer connected to a water source and separate from the active system, became unnecessary as fire equipment evolved and building materials became more fire-resistant.

But how to set the record straight for those less informed about the plugs?

"Other than putting a sign that says, 'It's OK to park in front of this one,' I don't see any solution," Kyriakodis said. "I don't think the Parking Authority wants to broadcast that it's OK to park in front of certain hydrants, because it could be a disaster if people get confused."

Some people already have.

Kevin Oliver, 31, moved to Northern Liberties two years ago and was told by multiple people that the hydrant on his block no longer worked and was fair game. He went away for a wedding last weekend and came back to two $76 tickets. He sent over a photo of the hydrant, which a reporter confirmed was actually an active one.

"I don't think anyone's intentionally doing anything illegal. People just want a place to park that's safe," Oliver said, noting the many car break-ins in his neighborhood. "If there was any way for us to know definitively what's legal, what's not legal, I'm sure that would help."

Staff writer Jonathan Lai contributed to this article.
I am completely burned out by the incessant, ham-handed, idiot-baiting debates over publicly funded statues of traitorous Confederates. In my opinion, we should wait until a person has been dead for at least 50 years before we erect a massive statue of him. That way, historians have plenty of time to ruminate on their positives and negatives. (Or just negatives: Pennsylvania had hulking depictions of Joe Paterno and Bill Cosby for far too long.)

But because no one will accept my 50-year moratorium, I submit the following proposal: We build a gleaming colossus in the image of the greatest living Philadelphian  Rob McElhenney.

McElhenney, a South Philly native, is the creator of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the wildly successful FX/FXX sitcom set in the city. He also plays one of its main characters, Mac, a repressed, delusional, and bighearted would-be bodyguard who co-owns and operates a local bar. The show has become a cultural touchstone and managed to wrangle a few Emmy nominations along the way.

Most important, McElhenney is the man behind the most famous depiction of Philadelphia of the 21st century. In a television landscape littered with glimmering versions of Los Angeles and New York, a dark, quirky comedy largely about the abundant weirdness of Philadelphia has managed to outlast virtually all its rival TV comedies. The show is currently among the longest-running sitcoms in history.

Sunny is as much about this city as it is the lives of its characters. The show itself largely takes place in South Philly (raise your hand if you've seen your house in an establishing shot!). It has skewered the Main Line elite and Pennsport tough guys. An entire episode is centered on the grand American bazaar that is the Italian Market; the characters smash beer bottles in the driveway at St. Joe's in another episode.

(Like most funny scenes in It's Always Sunny, some language in the video below is NSFW.)

There are so many uniquely Philly landmarks that have been broadcast to international audiences that there's an entire interactive map delineating the locations that characters visit  including Franklin Square, the Marian Anderson Rec Center, and West Poplar's Universal Dollar Plus store  in order to help viewers get a handle on the show. McElhenney et al. have given the world a comic view of a city that is simultaneously warm, appreciative, snide and, at times, a bit too real. The Gang, as they're called, have become Philadelphia's de facto cultural ambassadors.

McElhenney, through Sunny, has created the Arecibo message of Philadelphia. For years to come, people will watch his heartfelt, cutting ode to our city and immediately attach the word "Philadelphia to the feeling of joy. As far as I can tell, McElhenney has no scandals, and in spite of becoming a superstar, has retained his hometown cred. (And he contributes to the local economy. The dude co-owns an extremely bro-y bar here called Mac's Tavern.)

Let's build a statue to the man who gave the world Philadelphia, in all its grimy glory.

Quinn O'Callaghan is a journalist and staff writer for the Philadelphia Citizen. His books are represented by Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.
A 29-year-old Arkansas sheriff's deputy died early Thursday in a crash that occurred as he pursued a vehicle after its driver refused to pull over, authorities said.

Drew County Deputy Timothy Braden died in a crash. (Photo: Littlerock Police Department/Twitter) Arkansas State Police said Drew County Deputy Timothy Braden attempted to pull over a vehicle shortly after 1:30 a.m. The driver, 23-year-old Samuel Vincent of Monticello, "refused to stop and fled," state police said in a news release.

"Both vehicles were subsequently involved in a crash resulting in the death of Deputy Braden and injuries to Vincent," the release said, noting it happened along Barkada Road outside Monticello.

A preliminary report from state police states that both westbound drivers "simultaneously lost control" of their vehicles, causing them to leave the road and strike a tree as well as a power pole, reports Arkansas Online.

Both were taken to Drew Memorial Hospital in Monticello, where Braden was later pronounced dead, authorities said. The extent of Vincent's injuries wasn't immediately clear.

Vincent is being held on charges of first-degree murder, fleeing, possession of schedule VI controlled substances, and drug paraphernalia, records show. He was booked into the Ashley County jail at 6:27 a.m. on the authority of the prosecuting attorney.
As Los Angeles police pitched their plan to fly drones Wednesday night in a series of forums held across the city, the reaction was less positive than they might have hoped.

Dozens of residents expressed concern ranging from skepticism to outright opposition to any use of drones by the Los Angeles Police Department, telling department brass they were worried about their privacy, over-militarization of the police and that the devices would be flown far more than the LAPD has pledged.

"I wish the trust was there," said one woman at a meeting held near Griffith Park. "I wish that I could say, 'Oh great, please do it.' But you guys really need to earn back some trust in the community. It's not there."

The LAPDs proposal to fly drones during a one-year pilot program is still in the early stages  the civilian Police Commission must sign off on the pilot program and a policy for testing the drones before any are flown, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Officials said use of the drones would be limited: standoffs with hostage takers or barricaded suspects, bomb scares and shootings in which a gunman is still targeting people. Department brass have said the devices could help gather crucial information as those incidents evolve without putting officers at risk.
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After having some tense, private conversations with Donald Trump, Republican senators are indicating that the president has an obsession with making sure the Russia investigation goes away.

According to a report published Wednesday by Politico, Trump privately vented his frustration over Russia-related matters with at least two other Republican senators this month.

The president also reportedly whined to the Republican leaders because he doesnt believe they are doing enough to protect him from the ongoing investigation.

More from the report:

President Donald Trump privately vented his frustration over Russia-related matters with at least two other Republican senators this month, according to people familiar with the conversations  in addition to the presidents public admonishments of Mitch McConnell, John McCain, and Jeff Flake.  Trumps chewing out of GOP senators, according to people briefed on the calls, reflected the presidents frustration that fellow Republicans would make moves that could damage him, particularly on an investigation that he detests. Trump also complained about the Russian sanctions measure in a call with McConnell earlier this month that devolved into shouting. The New York Times first reported that Trump discussed the Russia probe with McConnell. It seems he is just always focused on Russia, one senior GOP aide said.

According to the report, Trump also expressed frustration over two pieces of legislation related to Russia, of course  one dealing with imposing sanctions on the Russians and another meant to protect special counsel Robert Mueller, the man leading the Russia investigation, from being fired by the president.

No matter what the topic of conversation seems to be between Trump and Republican lawmakers, the president seemingly always directs it back to Russa, often whining that GOP members of Congress wont help him push it under the rug.

It is exactly these kinds of interactions between the Russia-obsessed president and key members of the Senate that dont look good for Trump, particularly as he continues to be investigated for obstructing justice.
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The infamous Trump-Russia intelligence dossier that has been floating around for about a year appears to be on the verge of facing more scrutiny, Rachel Maddow noted on Wednesday night.

As Maddow said, through months of multiple investigations, the dossier  which claims, among many other damning things, that Trump worked directly with the Russians to defeat Hillary Clinton  has become increasingly verified.

The MSNBC host said if the Trump-Russia dossier becomes the new roadmap to the investigation and more of it starts to be verified, That could be the whole ballgame for the president.

Video:

The whole ballgame: #Maddow says Trump is in major trouble as the infamous dossier could soon be verified pic.twitter.com/Lt3Brg2OwW  Sean Colarossi (@SeanColarossi) August 24, 2017

The reason this is such a big deal is that, again, nothing in the dossier has been overtly disproved. And if it really is a roadmap to the investigation, well, thats a very serious roadmap to somewhere for the Trump White House. Because the two main claims in the dossier are that Russia was cultivating Trump for years, including them collecting information on him for years that could potentially oblige him to do Russias bidding, and the other part of it is that it alleges overt, knowing collusion between Trump and Russia and Russias effort to interfere in the presidential election in order to hurt Hillary Clinton. Thats what the dossier says. And if the dossier is about to be publicly defended and explained and backed up, thats conceivably the whole ballgame.

As Maddow also pointed out, the firm that commissioned the dossier  Fusion GPS  says they stand by it 100 percent, with co-founder Glenn Simpson giving 10 hours of testimony on Tuesday, urging the Senate Judiciary Committee to use the firms findings as a way forward in the investigation.

It is that kind of confidence in and a renewed emphasis on the Trump-Russia dossier that should have the White House worried going forward.

So far, the document has become increasingly verified since it was revealed a year ago. If investigators take it and run with it, it could be the whole ballgame, as Maddow said.

If it becomes fully verified, it will have meant that Trump and his campaign overtly and knowingly colluded with Russia to defeat Hillary Clinton in last years presidential election  and it would most certainly spell the end of Donald Trumps presidency.
Tucson, AZ, Aug. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Associa Arizona would like to welcome three new clients to their growing roster: the El Mirador, Casa Sevilla and Los Arroyos communities.



El Mirador is a charming, townhouse community comprised of 40 units located in the beautiful foothills of Tucson, Arizona, with views of the Catalina Mountains.



Casa Sevilla is a developing community with 48 single-family homes located in Marana, Arizona. This one-of-a-kind property is located near Dove Mountain, with spectacular views and a short drive to the brand new Tucson premium outlet mall.



Los Arroyos is a large, single-family home community with 666 units located in the town of Sahuarita, Arizona. This unique property offers beautiful views of the Santa Rita Mountain Range and a low crime rate.



The continued client growth of Associa Arizona is the direct reflection of our unmatched industry reputation for customer service, stated Kirk Bliss, Associa Arizona president. We are excited to partner with the associations and board members to bring those services to each new community and their residents.



With more than 180 branch offices across North America, Associa delivers unsurpassed management and lifestyle services to nearly five million residents worldwide. Our 10,000+ team members lead the industry with unrivaled education, expertise and trailblazing innovation. For more than 40 years, Associa has provided solutions designed to help communities achieve their vision. To learn more, visit www.associaonline.com.



Stay Connected:

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Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b780eaea-b685-448f-8403-4b20b617c847
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The Russia scandal officially came roaring back on Wednesday as a new report indicates that an email sent from a top Donald Trump aide referenced a previously unknown attempt to set up a meeting between Trump campaign associates and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to the report from CNN, an email sent from current Deputy Chief of Staff Rick Dearborn to Trump campaign officials contained information about an individual who was seeking to connect top Trump officials with Putin, the sources said.

More from the report:

Congressional investigators have unearthed an email from a top Trump aide that referenced a previously unreported effort to arrange a meeting last year between Trump campaign officials and Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to sources with direct knowledge of the matter. The aide, Rick Dearborn, who is now President Donald Trumps deputy chief of staff, sent a brief email to campaign officials last year relaying information about an individual who was seeking to connect top Trump officials with Putin, the sources said. The person was only identified in the email as being from WV, which one source said was a reference to West Virginia. Its unclear who the individual is, what he or she was seeking, or whether Dearborn even acted on the request. One source said that the individual was believed to have had political connections in West Virginia, but details about the request and who initiated it remain vague.  Sources said the email occurred in June 2016 around the time of the recently revealed Trump Tower meeting where Russians with Kremlin ties met with the presidents eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., his son-in-law Jared Kushner as well as then-campaign chairman, Paul Manafort. While many details around the Dearborn email are unclear, its existence suggests the Russians may have been looking for another entry point into the Trump campaign to see if there were any willing partners as part of their effort to discredit  and ultimately defeat  Hillary Clinton.

This, of course, isnt the first time a potential meeting between the Trump campaign and Russian officials has been discovered.

Earlier this year, it was also revealed that top Trump associates  Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort and Donald Trump Jr.  met with Russian officials during the campaign in an attempt to get dirt on Hillary Clinton.

With the new reporting from CNN, it appears the Russians were looking for another opening into the campaign  this time hoping to connect Putin himself with the Trump team.

There are many details about the latest revelation and the investigation as a whole that remain unknown, but one thing is clear: This president is becoming increasingly nervous about Robert Muellers investigation into his ties to Russia.

Nowhere is that more evident than in Donald Trumps recent erratic behavior and rapidly declining mental health.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters)  The White House is expected to tell the Pentagon in coming days how to implement a ban on transgender people in the military, according to a memo that says the defense secretary may decide whether to remove service members based on their ability to deploy, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.

The two-and-a-half-page White House document gives Defense Secretary Jim Mattis six months to fully implement the ban, according to a story first reported by The Wall Street Journal and confirmed by the official.

It also directs the Defense Department to deny admittance to transgender individuals and to stop spending on medical treatment regimens for those currently serving, the Journal reported, citing U.S. officials.

Mattis is expected to consider deployability  meaning the ability to serve in a war zone, participate in exercises or live for months on a ship  as the main legal reason to decide whether to separate service members from the military, the Journal reported.

President Donald Trump said on Twitter on July 26 that the U.S. government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the military, a reversal of Pentagon policy.

The surprise announcement, citing healthcare costs and unit disruption, appealed to some in Trumps conservative political base but created uncertainty for thousands of transgender service members, many of whom came out after the Pentagon said in 2016 it would allow transgender people to serve openly.

Five transgender members of the U.S. military including Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans sued Trump earlier this month, saying that the ban was made without consulting senior military commanders. It named as defendants Trump, Mattis and other military leaders including Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Dunford said in a memo a day after Trumps tweets that there would be no change in policy until Mattis received an official order from the president.

Stephen Peters at the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group for LGBTQ rights, responded in a tweet: This proves @realdonaldtrump knows nothing about what it means to be #transgender or to serve in the military. Trans service members already do deploy, proving repeatedly what matters is their ability to accomplish the mission, not gender identity.

The Obama administration, which ended the transgender ban in 2016, allowed currently serving transgender personnel to immediately begin serving openly but set July 1, 2017, as the start of new enlistments by openly transgender people.

(Reporting by Eric Walsh; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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As we all know, Donald Trump has issues with the extent of his popularity. We saw it with the extent to which he unsuccessfully tried to prove that more people attended his inauguration than Barack Obamas inauguration. Even during Trumps white power rant in Phoenix, it was clear he cared about crowd and protestor sizes even more than defending Nazis.

Trumps obsession with the fact that he lost the popular vote in 2016 prompted Trump to hire Kris Kobach of all people to head an election commission. Kobachs obsession with suppressing the vote was known.

Kobach was suppressing the vote in willing states with his deeply flawed cross-check (IVRC) system. According to the Brennan Center, IVRC has led to false positives and heres a shocker: it over represented minority voters in a big way. When Rolling Stone investigated the system, they found the system flagged one in six Latinos, one in seven Asian Americans and one in nine African-Americans as potential double registrants in the states they reviewed.

The news gets more disturbing because the Associated Press reports that under Kobachs watch, Kansas through out 3 times as many ballots as other similarly sized states.

Experts are worried. Heres what Wendy Weiser, director of the Brennan Center for Justices Democracy Program said. It is somewhat ironic that (Kobach) is claiming to really care about the integrity of voter rolls when this suggests that there may be a real problem that Kansas has with keeping voter rolls up to date,

Jason Kander, former Secretary of State for Missouri and president of Let America Vote told AP: Secretary Kobach uses every trick that he can to make it as hard as possible for eligible voters to cast a ballot  whether it is unconstitutional legislation, targeting immigrants or forcing more eligible voters to use provisional ballots,

Aside from obsessing with vote suppression Trump and Kobach have something else in common. Theyre losers in court. Just last month, a Federal Court upheld a courts decision to fine Kobach earlier this year for his pattern of misleading the courts in Voter ID cases. In other words, Kobach lied to the courts often enough to earn a fine.

Kobachs efforts to make voting harder in Kansas were struck down by the courts.

Everything about Kobachs history shows a man so obsessed with suppressing the vote he will do all the things Jason Kander spoke about and lie to the courts without blinking an eye.

The only reason Trump hired Kobach is to suppress the vote. When the Kobach commission comes out with a report about immigrants voting en masse on instructions by little green men from Mars (or some variant) Trumps fantasy of winning the popular vote becomes real to him and his most ardent supporters.

Also, Trump lost the popular vote in 2016 and he won the electoral college based on a lean 80,000 votes in 3 states.

Since he took office, Trump is bleeding support from voters and from his party with his all drama, no accomplishment presidency. One doesnt have to be a statistician or an expert on elections to understand that he cant win in 2020 (if he is the Republican candidate) even with Russias help.
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Trumps mental collapse is being noticed in the battleground states, as a new poll shows deep and widespread voter concern about Trumps behavior and the threat that he poses to the country.

According to the George Washington University Battleground Poll:



The survey, taken August 13-17, found a large majority of voters  71 percent  agreed his behavior is not what I expect from a president (27 percent disagreed), and 68 percent agreed his words and actions could get us accidentally involved in an international conflict (29 percent disagreed).

Almost two-thirds (63 percent) of the registered voters polled said the country is on the wrong track, and a majority (56 percent) had an unfavorable view of President Trump (41 percent favorable). A similar number disapproved of the job hes doing as president (55 percent), while 42 percent approved, and 56 percent also said he has not been effective as the president, while 39 percent said he has been effective.

Trump hasnt not only failed to live up to the standard of behavior expected of a president. He has failed to live up to the standard of behavior expected of a decent human being.

Three battleground states (Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania) gave Trump the presidency by a 78,000 vote margin. Trump is a problem that cant be fixed with policies, teleprompter speeches, or votes in Congress.

This poll provides a preview of the kind of election that voters are building to in 2020. In 2016, Trump with a huge assist from Putin and the Russians was able to make the election all about Hillary Clinton and several bogus scandals. Without Clinton around to act as a diversion from his own behavior, the focus is all on Trump.

Donald Trump is tarnishing the presidency and costing America respect around the world.

The central issue of the 2020 campaign is already taking shape, and that issue will be the lack of character and behavior of Donald Trump.
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Trump was called out by a reporter for spreading the false story and encouraging war time atrocities during the White House briefing.

Video:

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked, Does the President know that the story is false, and if so, why does he keep repeating it? And why does the White House think its appropriate for the President to perpetuate this false story if he hasnt been informed that its not true?

Huckabee Sanders answered, I havent had a chance to ask him about that, so I cant speak to it.

The follow-up question was, Then on the broader point, so the President is spreading false information via false information that seems to encourage war time atrocities. No one has thought to inform him that the storys false?

The Press Secretary replied, I didnt say no one had. I said I hadnt had that conversation, so I wasnt going to speak to something that I wasnt aware of.

The media is calling out Trump fake news. There is no more turning of a blind eye, as the White House is being asked why Trump is being allowed to spread false information. It is a valid question that should have been asked during the 2016 campaign, where Trump got the idea that he could lie all of the time without penalty because that was exactly what he did.

Trump is spreading fake news on a regular basis while calling legitimate news outlets who report the facts fake.

Delegitimizing of facts is part of the Trump propaganda campaign, and more members of the press need to set foot in the White House and call out the Presidents fake news because that is the only way that Trump will be stopped.
Croatia to hire advisor on possible buyback of INA stake from Hungary's Mol

The Croatian government has decided on Thursday to hire an adviser in the possible purchase of a 49% stake in oil and gas company INA currently held by Hungary's Mol, SeeNews reported.

The advisor, to be selected by the energy and finance ministries, will assist the government in the transaction, prime minister Andrej Plenkovic said during a session aired live on broadcaster HRT.He added that

a council in charge of negotiations with Mol has already defined the criteria for the purchase of the INA stake, as the advisor will be tasked with assessing INA's value and reviewing possible strategic partners.

Plenkovic announced the cabinets decision to regain the Mol package last Christmas, but no information have been released about the how and the when. Mol has a 49.08% stake in INA and the government holds a 44.84% stake in it.INAs market capitalisation is currently about HRK 32.4 billion (cc. USD 5.16 bn), but the relevance of this figure is diminished by the low free float and an unknown variable, namely Mols asking price for the INA stake.Croatia has been struggling to reduce public debt, which was close to 85% of GDP in January, and the government floated a tentative idea to sell 25% of state power board HEP in an initial public offering to help to fund an INA buyout, though some analysts doubted that such a move would be sufficient.Prior to todays decision, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) dismissed Croatia's claims of bribery and alleged breaches of a shareholders agreement for INA by Mol. The lawsuit was filed by Croatia in 2014 with the aim to cancel a 2009 deal which saw Mol gain managerial rights at INA without owning a majority stake.
Pizza has been a constant in Brian Kesslers life, from the time he got a job in a pizzeria as a teenager until the day he met his wife in a pizza joint. Read moreIggy's Pizza Shop is now open in Mount Pleasant
You are the owner of this article.
U.S. Congressmen Mark Sanford (left) and James Clyburn inspect one of the new lithium-ion battery-powered forklifts that will be used at the Volvo Cars manufacturing campus in Berkeley County. David Wren/Staff
MEMPHIS, Tenn., Aug. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FTN Financial Capital Markets continues to expand its public finance practice with the hiring of Ajay Thomas as executive vice president of public finance, charged with growing FTN Financials public finance presence in strategic markets and sectors across the United States. Thomas has more than 15 years of experience in public finance, with significant transaction experience. On a national scale, he has led transactions across a variety of sectors and levels of municipal issuers. Joining Thomas at FTN Financial in Texas are Kirk London, Randy Reid, Peter Lamar and Lizzeth Gamboa.



In addition, in New York, John Feery has joined the underwriting team focusing on negotiated underwriting on a national basis and Vin Kurian and Michael Solomon join the municipal banking team.

Michael E. Kisber, president of FTN Financial, said, Growing our public finance capabilities remains a key strategic initiative in diversifying our product suite to meet our customers needs. We are fully committed to issuers and their financing needs, investing in sector expertise and transaction capabilities that best serve this market. We are very excited Ajay Thomas, John Feery and the other talented professionals are joining our experienced team.

While continually looking for growth opportunities, we have been measured and strategic in our process to ensure we assemble the right team to serve our customers in a scalable and sustainable manner, said Mike Allen, executive vice president and municipal products manager of FTN Financial. Ajay Thomas is a proven leader with an accomplished record of building strong municipal banking teams in Texas and across the country.

About FTN Financial

FTN Financial Capital Markets, headquartered in Memphis, TN, is a division of First Tennessee Bank, which still operates under its original 1864 charter. First Tennessee and FTN Financial are part of First Horizon National Corp. (NYSE:FHN), which has 4,300 employees. FTN Financial has 28 offices including municipal commitment desks in Memphis, New York and Houston and Public Finance offices in Memphis, New York, St. Louis, Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Los Angeles, Sacramento and Atlanta. FTN Financial Capital Markets focuses on issuers and institutional investors through various business lines including public finance, underwriting, sales and trading of fixed income products, supported by credit and portfolio strategy, economic outlook and analysis. FTN Financial Municipal Advisors is a division of First Tennessee Bank and is an Independent Registered Municipal Advisor focusing on issuers and their financing needs while being supported by FTN Financial Capital Markets depth of resources. Information about FTN Financial and its products and services can be found at www.ftnfinancial.com.

FHN-G
A disgruntled man with a gun killed a former co-worker at a popular Charleston restaurant Thursday and took at least one other person hostage for hours until police shot him.

Terrified lunchtime diners crawled and ran from Virginias on King after the gunman barged in after noon, locked the door and announced I am the new king of Charleston, witnesses said.

Police sirens wailed in the busy commercial district, and officers blanketed the downtown streets, a scene that served as a startling reminder of an episode two years earlier when a gunman shot nine church worshippers to death in a race-motivated crime a quarter of a mile away.

But the officers contained the shooter on the second floor of the King Street restaurant before they could take him down during a tactical operation. The suspect, described as an older man, was critically wounded.

No one else was hurt.

The Charleston County Coroner's Office identified the victim as 37-year-old Anthony Shane Whiddon, of Goose Creek.

Whiddon was the executive chef at Virginia's, the coroner's office said. He was transported to Medical University Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Whiddon moved to Charleston to serve as opening chef for the now-closed Union Provisions. He previously held a line cook job at Charleston Grill. Before relocating to Charleston, he worked at Sea Island Company, a Georgia resort.

The father of two children, Whiddon joined Virginias in 2016. He was just getting comfortable in his role as executive chef, according to colleagues who cited his pride over a recent photo shoot at the restaurant.

John Aquino, who works in the Virginia's building, said a manager was texting co-workers from a closet as the gunman kept hostages.

I heard that a dishwasher got fired and came back in and shot the chef," he said.

The authorities offered conflicting accounts of how many people had been captive. One person was safely removed afterward, city officials said in a statement after initially indicating that a group had been held.

"This was not an act of terrorism. This was not a hate crime, Mayor John Tecklenburg told reporters gathered 100 yards from where city leaders first addressed the world about the mass shooting in June 2015. This was a tragic case of a disgruntled individual.

"(He) took his anger into his own hands.

The gunman, who Tecklenburg said had suffered mental health problems, was not identified by authorities on Thursday.

Officials, including Gov. Henry McMaster, commended the quick police response.

"We send our prayers to lift up the families affected by today's tragedy in Charleston, McMaster said on Twitter. As they always do, our law enforcement officers put their lives on the line today and likely prevented further loss of life."

'A crazy look'

A shooting and hostage situation unfold at Virginia's On King 12:17 p.m.: Charleston police receive calls for help after a gunman shoots a man in Virginia

Like many Charleston restaurants, Virginias specializes in Southern dishes like fried chicken with collard greens or shrimp and grits.

The restaurant is part of Holy City Hospitality, a company founded by local businessman Michael Bennett in 2001. Its sister restaurants, including 39 Rue de Jean and Coast Bar & Grill, are nearby.

Holy City Hospitality's managing director, Marty Wall, released the following statement Friday morning on the loss of Whiddon:

"We are deeply saddened and heartbroken by what transpired yesterday at our restaurant Virginia's on King. We are devastated by the passing of Shane Whiddon, our beloved and well-respected chef and friend. Our thoughts and prayers from Holy City Hospitality and Bennett Hospitality are with Shane's family, our work family, and the customers and employees who are affected by this awful tragedy. We're extremely grateful for the incredible teamwork of the many law enforcement agencies and the Mayor of Charleston in handling yesterday's events. We would also like to thank the Pastor and staff at St. Matthew's Lutheran Church for all the support they provided law enforcement and our staff. The outpouring of support from the community has been remarkable and for that we are very grateful."

Virginias takes up two stories in a building on the corner of King and Hutson streets.

To workers there, Thursday seemed like a normal, calm lunch hour.

But about 12:15 p.m., two waitresses and three kitchen staffers hurried past tables on the first floor and went through the front door, saying nothing to the diners inside, witnesses said.

Many were enjoying their meals when a man in his 50s or 60s emerged from the back of the restaurant. Clad in an apron, he also resembled a kitchen worker, the witnesses said.

But at first glance, the diners knew something was wrong.

The man was carrying a small revolver in his left hand. Some witnesses said he had called himself the new king of Charleston. Other accounts varied.

"There's a new boss in town, he said, according to Tom and Patsy Plant, who had been eating with their daughter.

To Patsy Plant, he looked like an ordinary grandpa.

But he had a crazy look, she said. It was very crazy."

He told about 30 customers to get down.

Bill Rosene of Mount Pleasant, who had been eating cornbread with his wife, looked up and saw the man walk down an aisle. Then Rosene saw the gun clutched at his side.

Everyone get on the floor! the man said, according to Rosene. Get on the floor!

No one screamed.

But everyone was kind of frantic, his wife, Tia, added.

As people ducked down, the gunman changed his mind.

No, he said, everyone go to the back, the Rosenes recalled.

They quickly obliged. People move through the dining room. Some crawled.

We did not want to give him a good target, said Peter Siegert IV, 45, of Maryland, who had been eating there with his father.

But as they herded away from the gunman, the patrons found two side exit doors.

Then, Bill Rosene said, everyone just ran out the door.

The first-floor diners scurried away, not knowing if more were still inside.

'I just ran'

It was unclear when the gunfire went off.

Cato Roemo was having lunch nearby when he heard three shots. He saw a body in the street, he said.

"I just ran," he said.

When officers from the Charleston Police Department arrived, the wounded person was inside, Interim Chief Jerome Taylor said.

The man was taken to the street, where paramedics did CPR. He was taken to Medical University Hospital, but he later died.

Officers, sheriffs deputies and federal agents converged on the restaurant. They drew their pistols and slung rifles over their shoulders. SWAT team snipers set up in nearby buildings and on rooftops.

Richard Sikoral, a construction worker at the Marion Square Hotel project across the street, led sharpshooters to the upper reaches of the unfinished building. Minutes later, two more SWAT members climbed scaffolding and took positions.

At a hair salon and other restaurants, people were told to stay inside. Doors were locked. Construction workers were ordered to leave. The Charleston Area Convention and Visitor's Bureau closed. Some area schools were locked down.

A man spoke on a cellphone, hoping to hear about his nephew who works near the scene.

Dozens of children and family members were kept inside the nearby Childrens Museum of the Lowcountry.

The children (had) no idea, visitor services associate Bobby LePire said.

Sarah Cobb, owner of MOSA Boutique on King Street, stuck her head through an open door to check on the commotion. The police told her to stay inside.

"We've got an active shooter," a policeman said while telling people to leave the street. "We don't want anyone else getting shot."

Officers showed up and broke a window to get inside, said Sandy Troeder, who works nearby.

Likening the quick police response to the mass shooting at Emanuel AME Church, Charleston County Sheriff Al Cannon said the officers managed to get inside the restaurant and stay there for most of the time while the gunman was upstairs with hostages.

Crowds gathered behind yellow police tape as the situation unfolded, hoping to reach their workplaces or to hear news that the situation was over.

'The norm'

About 2:30 p.m., two hours after the ordeal began, a loud bang echoed between the historic buildings, startling tourists standing outside a Meeting Street hotel.

The sound, Cannon said, was likely an intentional explosion meant to distract the gunman.

A Charleston police officer shot the man, the police chief said.

The mayor said the man had mental health challenges, but he gave no details.

We tragically lost a member of our community, Tecklenburg said.

After an ambulance took the wounded gunman away, rain started to fall on Charleston. The sun poked through the clouds, and church bells rang.

Im glad to hear the bells of St. Matthews are ringing, the mayor said.

Visitors in the popular tourist destination said the disturbance hadnt tinged their opinion of the Holy City.

"It's just random," John Griffith of Wilmington, N.C., said as he surveyed the police vehicles on the normally bustling Upper King Street. "But it's unfortunate (that) it's become the norm."

Brooks Brunson, Michael Majchrowicz, Prentiss Findlay, Mary Katherine Wildeman, Glenn Smith, Hanna Raskin, Schuyler Kropf, Gregory Yee and Tony Bartelme contributed to this report.
Two things are motivating the Charleston County School District to consider the idea. The first is the difficulty in attracting teachers to an area where they would struggle to afford housing. The second is the fact the district already owns land where apartments could be built. Read moreWith rents unaffordable, the Charleston school district considers building teacher housing
NEW YORK  Walmart is diving into voice-activated shopping. But unlike online leader Amazon, it's not doing it alone.

The world's largest retailer said Wednesday it's working with Google to offer hundreds of thousands of items from laundry detergent to Legos for voice shopping through Google Assistant. The capability will be available in late September.

It's Google's biggest retail partnership  and the most personalized shopping experience it offers  as it tries to broaden the reach of its voice-activated assistant Home speaker. And it underscores Walmart's drive to compete in an area dominated by Amazon's Alexa-powered Echo device.

"Voice shopping is becoming a more important part of everyday shopping behavior," said Marc Lore, CEO of Walmart's U.S. e-commerce business.

The voice-activated devices are becoming more mainstream as they become more accessible. Even Apple has one coming out this year. Walmart has said Google's investment in natural language processing and artificial intelligence will help make voice-activated shopping more popular.

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And Lore said the personalization of the partnership means people can shout out generic items like milk, bread and cheese, and Google Assistant will know exactly the brands and the size that the user wants.

Google introduced shopping to Home in February, letting people use voice to order essentials from more than 40 retailers like Target and Costco under its Google Express program. But that was far behind the Echo, available since late 2014.

Walmart, which has more stores than any other retailer and the largest share of the U.S. grocery market, also is working hard to close the gulf online between itself and Amazon.

It has overhauled its shipping strategy and is expanding store-curb pickup for groceries ordered online. But it's also had to look beyond itself and form partnerships. Walmart announced Monday it's expanding its grocery delivery service with ride-hailing service Uber, and it's been testing same-day delivery service with Deliv at Sam's Club in Miami.

Amazon generally has been building its network of services on its own, using its $99-per-year Prime membership with same-day and even one-hour shipping options to develop loyalty.

It's also been drawing in customers with its Alexa devices. Amazon doesn't give sales figures for Echo, but Consumer Intelligence Research Partners estimated that it's sold more than 10 million Echo devices in the U.S. since late 2014. That includes the core $179 Echo as well as the less expensive and smaller Echo Dot and the portable Amazon Tap.

To be more competitive with Amazon, Google Express is scrapping the $95-per-year membership starting Wednesday, allowing shoppers to get free delivery within one to three days on orders as long as the purchase is above each store's minimum.

Walmart is integrating its Easy Reorder feature  which has data on both store and online purchases  into Google Express. Shoppers who want to reorder their favorites have to link their Walmart account to Google Express.

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With other Google Express retailers, personalization takes time as the assistant learns shoppers' preferences, says Brian Elliott, general manager of Google Express. So the quick personalization with Walmart should make voice-activated shopping more attractive, he says.

While one of Walmart's biggest advantages over Amazon is its massive number of stores, Amazon's nearly $14 billion offer for Whole Foods could shake up the landscape. Whole Foods shareholders voted Wednesday to approve the Amazon bid.

Walmart says it will be tapping its 4,700 U.S. stores and its fulfillment network next year to offer more kinds of customer experiences using voice shopping. For example, shoppers can tell Google Assistant they want to pick up an order in a store. Lore said the company wants to make voice shopping as easy as possible, and "that's why it makes sense for us to team up with Google."

Internet analyst Sucharita Mulpuru-Kodali praised the partnership, but believes voice-ordering is still in its nascent stages and not likely to drive a lot of business in the short term.

"I like that Walmart and Google are partnering," she said. "That is the sort of complementary relationship that Walmart needs to have any hope in winning in online retail." She believes relatively few people have even tried voice ordering for e-commerce, though, and beyond being early it's "quite an imperfect experience at that."
Many mornings during the summer I will take my first cup of coffee outside and sit on my deck. The world is green, the birds and squirrels are loud and busy. As the steam rises from my coffee cup, I read the morning edition of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

When I'm done perusing the newspaper, I might just sit for a few minutes and let my mind wander. You can't help but think about current events and the future of your grandchildren.

Recently, the headlines have told us about hatred and skirmishes between Americans. Sometimes we get the not-so-pleasurable experience of listening to individuals telling us what they believe; for example, white supremacy. Many of us sitting at home watching the evening news might utter "Oh, my."

This news world continues to live by the philosophy, "If it bleeds, it leads." Why do we give the white supremacists more of a voice than they already have with social media? I guess I don't get it.

During my career I worked in the correctional side of law enforcement. In my opinion, the deepest hate I perceived in the prison system was that of the white supremacists. It was bottomless and it was evil.

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Many boomers had a parent who returned to America after fighting in World War II. These men and women who had the good fortune to return home had seen death and experienced a deep sense of what evil was. A few never forgot what they saw during the liberation of the concentration camps.

Some of their stories were told and those who resumed their lives in peacetime could never, ever imagine Americans waving Nazi flags. The sons and daughters of these American soldiers who know the Nazi history will never, ever understand this as well.

Building empathy

An assistant professor of communication at the College of Brockport in New York recently told me of her emotional struggles when hearing the experiences of many of her students of color. In a sense, she has learned from her students that not all in our country have had the opportunities or experiences she had.

Dr. Ashley Hnna Edwards is the stepdaughter of my wife's cousin Paul and the daughter of his wife, Cheri. Ashley is a proud 2004 graduate of Elgin-Millville High School. Years ago, Ashley's father Samir came to this country from Egypt and eventually more of his family came to America for better opportunities in their life.

Ashley witnessed this proud family work hard to become citizens. As a young woman this was an emotional experience for her to witness. This daughter of an immigrant has made it very clear she is a proud American and immensely grateful for her freedoms.

It is that very pride and gratitude that makes her committed to improving this country. Her experiences in recent years have changed the way she views her life, her journey and even her students.

The recent incident in Charlottesville and other acts of racism have shaken her. She is proud of many of her students who listen and respect each other even if they disagree. Ashley said she has made a pledge to herself to keep listening, reading, understanding and to stand up against hate and bigotry.

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We have be bridges

From my view I see many who are taking pledges to bridge the divide, to make a difference and to positively impact their own communities. We cannot rely on government to make things better.

A former supervisor of mine by the name of Percy Pitzer has established the Creative Corrections Education Foundation. Mr. Pitzer is a leader in his community of Beaumont, Texas working to bring everyone together to make a difference in many lives. It is important to promote respect, kindness and opportunities.

His foundation aids those releasing from prison, assists at-risk kids in their community and also provides scholarships for children who may have a parent incarcerated. Mr. Pitzer told me four individuals could be funded for two years of community college for what it costs to incarcerate one man, for one year.

In a recent Time Magazine article by Ilhan Omar he states, "We must build a more connected society, using our resources to uplift one another, so we can collectively benefit." This is exactly what Mr. Pitzer, and his foundation, is attempting to do.

We need to continue to promote respect and kindness as well and help those in need right here in southeast Minnesota. Provide a "hand up," not a "hand out." Our businesses and our communities need to do everything they can to keep kids in school, teach employable skills and offer educational opportunities.

All of us will be well paid for this investment as individuals given this 'hand up' will be able to make a decent wage and contribute right back to the community.

As the summer winds down and fall moves in there will still be a few mornings that I will take that first cup of coffee outside on a chilly morning. As I fold up the paper I will sit for a few minutes and let my mind wander. Like most of you, I will think about current events and the future of my grandchildren. I am optimistic.
AUSTIN  An Austin man will make his initial appearance Thursday in Mower County District Court, where he's been accused of soliciting underage males for sex.

Rodger James Montgomery, 62, faces one count of prostitution-hire or agree to hire 13-to-15-year-old, and two counts of soliciting a child to engage in sexual conduct, all felonies.

He remains in custody in lieu of $30,000 conditional bail.

The investigation began July 31, when Austin police received information that Montgomery was using Facebook Messenger to solicit males for sex, the complaint says. Photos of the messages were given to an investigator, who determined Montgomery offered $100 to a teenage boy to "clean;" but quickly clarified he wanted "sex" for the money, court documents say.

A deal was apparently struck; Montgomery then provided his Austin address to the boy.

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On Aug. 2, authorities learned there were reports of other young males being solicited for sex by Montgomery, the complaint says. A search warrant was executed at his home and Montgomery was arrested; he claimed his computer and cell phone had been hacked.

Several items of electronics were seized from his house, as was a notebook containing usernames and passwords.

Authorities met with the teenager from the July incident. He said he agreed to go to Montgomery's residence; Montgomery, though, was extremely drunk, the victim said, and allegedly asked him to go upstairs with him and "have fun."

The victim believed Montgomery wanted to have sex, the report says, so he left the house. Montgomery contacted the teenager later, again by Facebook, and offered him $100 for sexual contact, the court document says.

The prostitution charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a $20,000 fine, or both. The solicitation charges are punishable by up to three years in prison, a $5,000 fine, or both.
AUSTIN  An Austin man with a lengthy and bizarre criminal record was sentenced Friday to four years probation and time already served after pleading guilty to stalking the same person he'd been sent to prison for stalking in 2014.

Loren Francis Bellrichard, 71, was charged in January in Mower County District Court with three felony counts of stalking-two or more prior convictions.

He immediately pleaded not guilty to all counts, and was released from custody in lieu of $35,000 conditional bail. The charges were later amended to one count of felony stalking and two gross misdemeanor counts of stalking-use mail/deliver package.

He pleaded guilty in June to the gross misdemeanors; Judge Jeffrey Kritzer on Friday sentenced Bellrichard to 365 days in jail, with 360 days stayed for four years and credit for five days already served.

In addition, he was ordered to undergo psychological evaluation/treatment, and have no contact with the victim or her family. Bellrichard was also ordered to stay 500 feet away from the victim's home/work/school, and not attend any K-12 school programs/activities/events for four years.

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The felony count was dismissed.

The investigation began Jan. 3, when a man reported to police that Bellrichard had sent items to a woman who'd been stalked by Bellrichard in the past.

A greeting card with an "extensive handwritten message inside" had arrived at their home Dec. 30, the complaint says, signed by Bellrichard and calling the victim "still as lovely as ever," as well as talking about the two being together.

On Jan. 3, a package allegedly sent by Bellrichard arrived at the house. It contained two books: "The Infamous Dakota War Trials of 1862  Revenge, Military Law and the Judgment of History," and "Cy Thomson  The Generous Embezzler."

Also in the package was a blank greeting card with a picture of a bicycle on it; Bellrichard left a bicycle at the woman's house during his stalking conduct of 2014.

The next day, another letter from Bellrichard arrived for the victim, the court document says. In the letter, he wrote about the potential of the two "sharing their love together in the marital act," and discusses faithfulness and freedom, the report says.

Bellrichard was arrested at his home Jan. 6; an active criminal no-contact order remains, the record shows.

Bellrichard was charged with stalking in September 2013 after leaving letters and notes for the victim, who was then a minor. Police officers told Bellrichard to stop, the complaint says; however, the girl later received a bicycle, a softball glove, a ball and bat. An unsigned note was with the items; authorities said they recognized the writing from previous letters sent by Bellrichard.

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While in jail, Bellrichard received a two-day furlough to attend his mother's funeral in November 2013.

When Bellrichard didn't return to jail as ordered, an arrest warrant was issued. He was arrested in Wisconsin four days later and charged with felony escape from custody.

A third case quickly followed, thanks to a letter that was received by the Mower County Attorney's Office two days before Bellrichard was recaptured. The letter was specifically addressed to two employees of the attorney's office and a law enforcement officer and allegedly contained threatening statements.

That netted him felony charges of terroristic threats-reckless disregard and coercion-threat to inflict bodily harm.

On Jan. 29, 2014, a jury convicted Bellrichard of three felony counts of stalking and one count of felony violation of a restraining order in the case with the teenage girl. A fourth count of felony stalking was dismissed.

Bellrichard then pleaded guilty to the felony escape charge and the terroristic threats charge; in exchange for the plea, the coercion charge was dismissed.

At his sentencing in April 2014, he received concurrent sentences of 24 months, 23 months and 21 months, as well as a consecutive term of a year and a day in prison, for a total of about three years. He was given credit for 191 days already served.

It's unclear what his release date was.

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The incidents add another chapter to Bellrichard's public record. He was arrested in 1991 for threatening public officials, including a judge who lived in Blooming Prairie. His time behind bars was extended an additional seven years when the threats continued via letter.

In 2010, he campaigned for a seat on the Mower County Board. He wasn't elected.
Lawmakers upset with a Mayo Clinic Health System plan to eliminate most inpatient services at its Albert Lea campus are gearing up for legislative action.

Rep. Tina Liebling said she wants to prevent other communities from being blindsided by a loss of hospital services. The Rochester Democrat, who is is also running for governor, is working on a bill that would require the Minnesota Department of Health to hold public hearings when a health care provider is proposing a substantial reduction in services. Providers would be expected to justify their plans and explain the impact on the communities they serve.

"The patient is kind of getting the short end of the stick here, and so I think that state government should try to level the playing field and make sure communities get some notice and a chance to weigh in when these decisions are being made," Liebling said.

In June, Mayo announced it would be moving most of its inpatient services from its Albert Lea campus to its Austin location. Services moving include the Intensive Care Unit, inpatient surgeries and childbirth center. Those changes are set to begin Oct. 1, when the ICU will move to Austin.

Mayo's announcement has been met with fierce opposition by residents in Albert Lea. Hundreds packed a town hall meeting shortly after the decision was made public to speak out. City and county leaders said they were caught off guard by Mayo's decision. Plenty of political leaders have also expressed concerns with the plan  including 1st District Rep. Tim Walz and Gov. Mark Dayton.

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Mayo officials have said the changes are needed because the Austin and Albert Lea campuses have lost millions of dollars in recent years. They also cite difficulty recruiting quality staff for the rural facility.

'This is a red flag'

Another lawmaker is also working on legislation. Rep. Peggy Bennett, R-Albert Lea, said she is crafting a bill that would require the Minnesota Department of Health do a health impact study when a provider announces plans to significantly reduce services in an area.

"This is huge for rural Minnesota, and I think this is a red flag that has come up as a rural issue, and it's not the first time it's happened and it's not going to be the last time. I think we really need to delve into this at a state level," Bennett said.

Asked to comment on Liebling and Bennett's proposals, Mayo Clinic spokeswoman Ginger Plumbo said in a statement, "We can't comment on legislative proposals we haven't reviewed but we do look forward to working with the legislature on addressing the challenges in rural health care."

Opponents of Mayo Clinic's Albert Lea plan also want to see lawmakers take action in St. Paul. Mariah Lynne, co-founder of Save Our Hospital, said her group doesn't want other rural communities to face the loss of inpatient services that Albert Lea is facing.

"I think we have really shined a spotlight on a greater need for Minnesota and that we would hope would include legislation in the future to prevent what's happening in Albert Lea, Minnesota from happening in other larger rural communities," she said.

Broader political fallout for Mayo?

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Both lawmakers agree that the Albert Lea situation may have hurt Mayo politically in St. Paul. Bennett said while she respects Mayo, she is dismayed by how the Albert Lea situation has been handled. She said other lawmakers may be less likely to support Mayo's legislative requests in the future.

"This has definitely put a little dent in their public image  let's put it that way, especially in our area," Bennett said. "Right now, there's just such a lack of trust and a lot of anger."

Liebling said the Albert Lea situation could lead to political fallout in St. Paul.

"It does make it hard. There's resentment against Rochester and sometimes against the Mayo Clinic," Liebling said. "I try to let Mayo know that I think sometimes they are going in the wrong direction. I think they listen, but it doesn't seem to make a difference."
MINNEAPOLIS  In 2011, Brittany Seaver gave birth to her third child. It was her first while in prison.

She was looking for support during her pregnancy, but the confines of prison made support difficult to find. Two days after giving birth, the two were separated  the baby went to Seaver's mom, and Seaver went back to her prison cell.

"It's a super dramatic, scary situation," Seaver told the Minnesota Daily (http://bit.ly/2t4AmBB ).

Raelene Baker became Seaver's support. She helped Seaver through the process, comforting her with emotional care.

After the birth, Baker helped Seaver keep a relationship with her newborn.

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"She was involved in such a crazy part of my life, and she really touched me emotionally. I've always held a really special place in my heart for her," Seaver said.

Baker is a doula and the project coordinator of the Minnesota Prison Doula Project, one of the first and longest running groups in the U.S. which gives birthing and motherhood support to women in prisons and jails.

Doulas are women who provide prenatal education and group parenting classes to incarcerated mothers and mothers to be. They assist with births and help sustain relationships between the mothers and the newborns.

This support comes in many forms and can be as simple as a blanket that smells like the mother to help a baby feel closer to their parent, Baker said.

The MPDP is partnered with the University of Minnesota's Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, and sends around 25 doulas to five regular institutions around the state, along with others less regularly.

Their work comes as women and mothers are being incarcerated at increasing rates.

Rebecca Shlafer, research director of MPDP and assistant professor in the University's Department of Pediatrics, said the incarceration rate for women has risen drastically in the past 30 years, and most of the women are parenting age.

As a result, 77 percent of female prisoners in Minnesota are mothers to young children and 5.6 percent of female prisoners report pregnancy. Most of these women are their children's primary caregivers, Shlafer said.

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This state number outpaces the national average of 62 percent motherhood rate for incarcerated women.

According to Shlafer's research, 16,248 children in Minnesota have an incarcerated parent. These kids face higher risks of developing mental illness and substance abuse later in life, she said.

The MPDP started in 2010, after Project Director Erica Gerrity regularly volunteered at the Shakopee Correctional Facility and began to notice inmates struggling and stressed with pregnancy.

In 2011, the group's first full year, doulas attended 17 births. The number has since risen and by 2016, the group attended 32.

"Our project is a little tiny example of how we can think differently about the intergenerational implications of incarceration for families," Gerrity said.

While prisons do offer health care services to pregnant inmates and new mothers, she said the disadvantages to being a mother or pregnant in prison are clear.

Inmates are unable to choose their own care provider or have their family present when they deliver their child. Often they have difficulty getting access to OBGYN doctors and midwives, Gerrity said.

"Our goal is to support them to have healthy pregnancies, healthy parent-child relationships and to be better-prepared moms upon release," Shlafer said.

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Tracy Beltz, warden of the Shakopee Correctional Facility, said giving access to doulas took them out of their comfort zone.

The doulas had to get clearance to touch inmates, which is typically against regulations, she said. "It was a risky endeavor on the part of the facility."

Beltz said while Shakopee's facility does better than other prisons in providing for parents and their kids  they don't shackle pregnant inmates and they offer extended visits for kids to interact with their parents  the partnership with doulas is "extraordinarily beneficial."

The project's main focus is on pregnant mothers, but it also provides post-birth support and helps mothers develop relationships with their children, Shlafer said.

The project hopes to expand into a national nonprofit organization, and has already started to expand services into states like Wisconsin and Alabama.

After Brittany Seaver was released from Shakopee, she had a fourth child with Baker's help once again.

Now, Seaver herself hopes to one day be a doula for other mothers.
I erred in stating that Minnesota Senator Al Franken had returned his blue slip on Minnesota Supreme Court Justice David Stras, nominated by President Trump to the United States Court of Appeals to the Eighth Circuit. Neither Senator Klobuchar nor Senator Franken has returned a blue slip on Justice Stras. They are both therefore blocking his consideration by the Senate under the custom that Senator Grassley is following as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Justice Strass nomination to the Eighth Circuit is supported across the board in Minnesota. He is supported by former colleagues at the University of Minnesota Law School, by former colleagues at the Faegre Baker Daniels law firm, by former colleagues on the Minnesota Supreme Court and by prominent attorneys of all stripes who have appeared before him as a judge. There is approximately no opposition to his nomination.

Indeed, neither Franken nor Klobuchar has stated opposition to him. See, for example, the AP story by Kyle Potter just posted this afternoon.

This is the response that Franken sends to constituents inquiring on the subject:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the nomination of Justice David Stras to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. I appreciate hearing from you. On May 8, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Minnesota Supreme Court Justice David Stras to fill a vacancy on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. As senator and a member of the Judiciary Committee, I have the responsibility to vet and vote on judicial nominees, and this is a responsibility that I take very seriously. I believe the record, experience, and philosophy of all nominees should be carefully scrutinized in order to fully evaluate them. Justice David Stras is a committed public servant whose tenure as a professor at the University of Minnesota underscores how much he cares about the law. I am concerned, however, by the fact that Judge Stras nomination is the product of a process that relied heavily on guidance from far-right Washington, DC-based special interest groupsrather than through a committee made up of a cross-section of Minnesotas legal community. As President Trumps nominee to the Eighth Circuit, I am taking a close look at his record and his writings to better understand how he thinks about the important matters before our federal courts today.

I regret the error.
Former funnyman and current Minnesota Senator Al Franken titled his best-selling memoir Al Franken, Giant of the Senate. He posed for the books self-mocking cover. The title and the photograph make a small concession to self-awareness, or to the public relations value of pretending self-awareness, but he deserves credit for the thought. Its a joke.

Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar pretends no such self-awareness. With the active assistance of her hometown newspaper and its equally braindead counterparts on the national stage, Klobuchar holds herself out as a giant of the Senate. She has a certain genius for avoiding outspoken stands on important issues and leading the way on trivial matters calculated to garner broad public support. If she secures a favorable headline or two in the process, its no coincidence. It is the true object of her efforts.

Senator Klobuchar is a reliable vote for the Democratic Party line, but she is quiet about it. She doesnt want to upset anybody. She wants the reputation of a problem-solver who is above nasty partisanship. She wants to be deemed a giant of the Senate, without the irony.

Klobuchar wants more than anything else to preside over an era of good feelings  of good feelings about Amy Klobuchar. Thus she has remained resolutely silent about her purely partisan activities to block the confirmation of Minnesota Supreme Court Justice David Stras from consideration by the Senate and to obtain the appointment by President Trump of a partisan Democrat as United States Attorney for Minnesota.

Where is the Star Tribune on this story? The Star Tribune is in Senator Klobuchars pocket.

Senator Klobuchar attaches her name to many bills that dont amount to much, such as the proposed 2015 bill to resolve the crisis of the detergent pod. It represents the reductio ad absurdum of the vacuity to which she has reduced herself in the service of self-promotion. Klobuchar relies on such vacuity to present herself as the true giant of the Senate.

On Tuesday Senator Klobuchar appeared on the Comedy Channels Daily Show. Daily Show host Trevor Noah gave [her] a gushing welcome Tuesday night, according to the Star Tribunes Maya Rao. So you know it must have been bad (video below). Warning: Viewing may induce nausea.

Noah pointed out that Senator Klobuchar had been ranked as the most productive senator in terms of getting bills passed into law. Thats supposed to be a good thing.

Noah had no idea what he was talking about. He was relying on data compiled by Medill News Service from the tracking website GovTrack for the 114th Congress (Jan 6, 2015-Jan 3, 2017). Klobuchar was found to have sponsored or co-sponsored 27 bills that had been enacted into law in the session.

Klobuchar touted her accomplishment in a December 2016 press release. The Star Tribune dutifully followed up in a story by Allison Sherry entirely lacking in analysis.

In terms of productivity, Franken ranked right up there with Klobuchar. Perhaps they are both giants of the Senate.

Klobuchar earned recognition with 27 bills that she sponsored or co-sponsored. They are set forth here. Five of the 27 bills concern naming or renaming federal facilities. The late 18-term Eighth District Congressman Jim Obersrtar looms large in Klobuchars accomplishment, such as it is. Most of the rest of the bills carrying Klobuchars name amount to little more than nothing. Even so, Klobuchars bill to resolve the crisis of the detergent pod apparently didnt make it. (She claimed credit for action taken by Procter & Gamble on its own.)

Trevor Noahs show is a mainstay of the Comedy Channel. It is supposed to be funny. Noah nevertheless misplaced the humor in Klobuchars legislative distinction.
President Trumps attack on the liberal media has, of course, produced fierce criticism from the liberal media and from the anti-Trump figures the liberal media enlists as talking heads. The criticism getting the most play comes from former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

Appearing on CNN, Clapper told Don Lemon this, among other things:

I really question [Trumps]  fitness to be in this office. And I also am beginning to wonder about his motivation for it. Maybe he is looking for a way out.

But Trumps performance in Arizona last night pretty much mirrored the performances that helped him win the presidency. To infer from a performance of the kind partially responsible for him becoming president that Trump is looking for a way out of the presidency betrays a stupidity thats frightening, coming as it does from a man who was once assigned by our government to assess the motives of foreign leaders.

The notion that Trump doesnt really want to be president has been around since he launched his campaign. First, we were told he only wanted to promote his brand and would quit the race once he accomplished this. Then, we were told he just wanted to prove he could win the nomination. Once he made that point, he would exit.

Even after Trump was nominated, some speculated that he might step aside in favor of Mike Pence. All of these predictions turned out to be wishful thinking.

Its shocking that a former Director of National Intelligence takes the discredited Trump wants out theme one step further at this late date. What does Clapper mean when he says Trump may be looking for a way out by giving what Clapper considers over-the-top speeches? Does he think Trump, for whom winning means everything, wants to be impeached? That he wants to be institutionalized?

I know conservatives who would say that Clapper doesnt think for one minute that Trump is looking for a way out. They would say, instead, that Clapper is serving up disinformation in order to sow confusion to the detriment of a president he hates.

Thats possible, but I think it gives Clapper too much credit.
Ive been away for almost a week now, chasing eclipses and other nonsense largely away from the Internet and TV news. Anything happen while I was away? Whats in the news?

I see Trump has said some outlandish things lately. Like this: I do not consider Hitler to be as bad as he is depicted. He is showing an ability that is amazing, and seems to be gaining his victories without much bloodshed. More: Germans of future generations will honor Herr Hitler as a genius, as a brave man, a matchless organizer and much more.

Waitdid I say Trump? Sorrythese comments came from Gandhi. The first quote was made in May 1940, as Hitler was readying to roll over France, and the second quote was made on June 22, 1940, the day France capitulated. Time magazine seriously considered Gandhi to be Person of the Century back in 1999 before settling on Einstein as a safe and uncontroversial choice. Time had to tap dance to explain why they didnt re-up with their Man of the Half Century from 1950, who was Winston Churchill. Heres how Time explained it then:

Well, the passage of time can alter our perspective. A lot has happened since 1950. . . In his approach to domestic issues, individual rights and the liberties of colonial subjects, Churchill turned out to be a romantic refugee from a previous era who ended up on the wrong side of history.

In other words, Churchill was politically incorrect. (Incidentally, theres a statue of Churchill in front of the British embassy in Washington, accessible from the sidewalk on Mass Ave. I doubt the fact that the embassy is legally foreign territory will deter the mob when it turns its sights on WSC.)

Now Time reports that the African nation of Ghana is taking down a statue of Gandhi because of his condescending views of Africans (long known by anyone who studied Gandhi even casually), because why should the U.S. have all the fun:

Ghana has said it will remove a statue of Mahatma Gandhi from a university campus in the nations capital where it had sparked protests over the leaders allegedly racist attitudes.

I love that allegedly. I note that Trumps supposed racism is never considered to be alleged. In any case, I think Time has some old editors to erase from their collective memory for their bad judgment about Gandhi.

The real lesson here is that Gandhi, who was a hero to the Western Left precisely because of his usefulness in bashing the West, has outlived his usefulness. So he has to go. I could have filed this one under our running header, Civil War on the Left. How long until the Martin Luther King Jr memorial on the Mall in Washington is taken down because King endorsed the principles of the American Founding and quoted Jefferson approvingly? (And no one tell the Antifa mob about the Freedmans Bureau Monument.)

Trump is right. If this keeps up, this will be about the only statue well be able to have in any public place. Long live Jayne Cobb!

P.S. Are Browncoats the pop culture equivalent of Trump voters? Say yes! Give Joss Whedon more heartburn.
I dont believe we have written about the race to fill the Senate seat in Alabama vacated by Jeff Sessions. The Republican primary initially featured three main candidates: Luther Strange, who was appointed to fill the seat after Sessions became Attorney General; Rep. Mo Brooks, a Tea Party style conservative and member of the House Freedom Caucus; and Roy Moore, former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.

Moore famously refused to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments from the Alabama Judicial Building despite orders to do so by a federal court. Moore also directed probate judges to continue to enforce the states ban on same-sex marriage despite the fact that it had been overturned.

Moore and Strange emerged from the first round of the election, held on August 15. Moore captured 39 percent of the vote, compared to 33 percent for Strange. Brooks ran a distance third with just under 20 percent.

The run-off will occur on September 26, with the winner heavily favored to defeat Democrat Doug Jones in the general election. Strange is backed by the Republican establishment in Alabama as well as Mitch McConnells Senate Leadership Fund PAC. More importantly, it seems to me, President Trump has endorsed him.

Nonetheless, a new poll of likely voters by Decision Desk HQ finds Moore comfortably ahead. Hes at 50.3 percent. Strange is at 32.2 percent, about the same percentage he attained in the multi-candidate first round. The margin of error is said to be +/-4.4 percent.

Despite having received President Trumps approval, Strange suffers from weak approval numbers. 40 percent of those likely to vote in the Republican primary view him favorably; 46 percent view him unfavorably.

These numbers do not reflect disapproval of Trump. As Alexandra DeSanctis at NRO points out, 68.6 percent of the voters surveyed said they strongly approve of the president, and another 14.8 percent said they somewhat approve of him. Just 14 percent of likely voters in the poll either somewhat or strongly disapprove of Trump.

Stranges problem is that Trumps endorsement isnt swaying enough Trump supporters. Moore leads Strange by over 25 percentage points among respondents who strongly approve of the president.

Ironically, Moores showing is less impressive among those who only somewhat approve of Trump. His lead with this cohort is 10 percentage points.

Im not a student of Alabama politics, so I hesitate to explain why Moore is doing so well among Trumps most ardent supporters in the face of Trumps endorsement of Strange. However, it may be worth noting that Trump and Moore have one very important thing in common  defiance of liberal norms. In Moores case, that includes defiance of the law.

Trumps inability (thus far, anyway) to swing the GOP primary Stranges way tends to undercut his ridiculous suggestion that Jeff Sessions endorsed him early for president because of the big crowds Trump was drawing in Alabama. The implication is that Sessions realized that what a big player Trump had become in Alabama and responded accordingly.

It looks like homegrown figures who have earned the confidence of Alabama voters can prosper without Trumps support. Jeff Sessions certainly could have.
Qatar said on Thursday it will restore full diplomatic ties with Iran, in defiance of four Arab countries that have demanded Doha cuts all relations with Tehran.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, have said they will only ease a diplomatic and economic boycott on the small Gulf country after it severs its ties with Iran.

Qatars Foreign Ministry said its ambassador to Tehran will resume his diplomatic duties, 20 months after the country recalled the envoy to protest an attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran by Iranian demonstrators angered by Riyadhs execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.

Qatar looks forward to strengthening ties with the Islamic republic of Iran in all fields, read the statement, without providing a date for the envoys return.

The announcement was made shortly after Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdulrahman discussed with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Zarif ways to boost bilateral relations.

The move comes amid a regional dispute, which began in June when the four other countries cut ties and transportation links with Qatar because of its alleged support for terrorism, a charge that Doha denies.

It also comes one week after Saudi Arabia praised an intervention by a member of the Qatari royal family, whose brother was ousted from power by the current rulers grandfather.

Abdullah Ali is the brother of Ahmad Al Thani, who was the emir of Qatar from 1960 to 1972, when the current ruler Tamim Hamads grandfather ousted him from power.

Abdullah, who has met both Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed Salman, has been portrayed in both Saudi and Egyptian media as a possible replacement for the current ruler Tamim.

After the meeting, Saudi Arabia opened its land border with Qatar, which was closed in June, to allow Qatari pilgrims into the country ahead of the annual hajj pilgrimage, set to begin on Aug. 30.

To restore relations with Qatar, the Arab quartet said it must: downgrade ties with Iran, Saudi Arabias regional rival; halt its support for Islamist groups; and shut down Doha-based broadcaster Al Jazeera.

In July, Saudi Arabia warned that any closer ties between Doha and Tehran would only invite more troubles for Qatar.

(dpa/NAN)

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Russias ambassador to Sudan, Mirgayas Shirinskiy, was found dead in the swimming pool at his home in Khartoum, the Sudanese police said.

Police spokesperson said the ambassador, who was known to have suffered from high blood pressure, is believed to have died of natural causes.

Sudans foreign ministry expressed its condolences to Russia in a statement, hailing Mr. Shirinskiys diplomatic efforts.

(Reuters/NAN)

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The two-day National Health Dialogue organised by the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism, PTCIJ, the Project for Advocacy in Child and Family Health, PACFaH, and the Project Pink Blue will start today, in Abuja.

The health dialogue would be chaired by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, and hosted by the Minister for Health, Isaac Adewole, at the Musa Shehu YarAdua Centre, Central Business District, Abuja at 9 a.m. daily.

The Emir of Kano and former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Muhammadu Sanusi II, will deliver the keynote address at the programme.

According to the organisers, the dialogue is a platform that will bring together stakeholders in the health and development sectors to discuss the challenges and prospects of Universal Health Coverage in Nigeria.

Since the enactment of the National Health Act in 2014, there have been several efforts targeted at providing quality and affordable health care for Nigerians in line with the goals of Universal Health Coverage. However, these goals are yet to be achieved.

The Dialogue will recommend actionable strategies for sustainable health care financing, the organisers said.

PREMIUM TIMES brings you live updates of the event.

9.33am: Participants have started arriving for the #healthdialogue

Presentation by Dr. Faisai Shuaib, Director, Primary Health Care Development Agency.

Arrival of the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole.



10:47 AM The discussion was set in motion by Dr. Faisal Shuaib, the executive director, Nigeria Primary Healthcare Development Agency.

He discussed primary healthcare under one roof as a mechanism for delivering universal health coverage

Mr. Shuaib said people in the village most times have to sell what they have to get treatment for their ailments.

He said this shouldnt be so and as such that is what UHC, intends to take care of.

He explains that primary health care is important for achieving Universal Health Coverage, UHC.

UHC is people having access to the healthcare they need without suffering financial hardship. No matter who you are, poor or rich, everyone should have same healthcare that improves the health outcome and not suffer financial crisis in taking care of their health, he said.

Mr. Shuaib said the recent trend in the county is not encouraging as it requires making progress in coverage in three directions and achievement of six critical objective  access, equity, quality, financial risk protection, efficiency and sustainability.

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10:50 AM: He said the solution is improving efficiency by providing oversight on activities of all PHCs IN LGAs and with partners.

He announced the introduction of community health influencers promoters services at the community level.

This program will engage 20 women per ward that will be trained over 3 months to provide simple intervention for health service delivery.

Mr. Shuaib decried the poor coverage recorded in immunisation in the country.

We only have 33% coverage in routine immunisation. It is bad that we can only vaccinate only 33% of our children. What happens to the rest. This is why we are engaging with states to find solutions for immunisation for every child in Nigeria.



10:57 AM The publisher of the leading investigative online newspaper, Premium Times, Dapo Olorunyomi, in his welcome remark appreciated the presence of everyone.

He said the health dialogue was conceived as a platform for policy makers, health experts and advocates to discuss the challenges facing achieving UHC in Nigeria.

Mr. Olorunyomi said the dialogue was put together by PTCIJ, Premium Times, Project Pink- Blue, and PACFah.

He said the dialogue for Premium Times is a way of giving meaning to accountable journalism as it is written in the constitution.

The dialogue is expected to proffer a way forward to health challenges in the country.



NACA D.G, Sani Aliyu.

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11:00 AM: Runcie Chidebe, one of the partners of the program, in his opening remark decried poor funding for cancer treatment in the country.

Over 72,000 people die of cancer. This means as Im speaking to you, someone is dying of cancer.

We need to focus on funding cancer treatment because it is eating deep into the health system, Chidebe said.

In his remark, the acting director of the National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS, Attahiru Ibrahim, said the scheme is partnering with NPHCDA to ensure maximum health coverage in the country.

The acting NHIS chief said the scheme is mandated to ensure full accesible supple of health service to match the demand of health services.

This is not yet done, he said.

He said that the scheme is working towards creating NHIS at state level.

We are decentralising NHIS to the state to replicate the service delivery on the federal level so as to meet direct demands of the people.

We are working to towards deploying our programs at the state level so every state will establish its own health insurance scheme.



11:23 AM: The DG of the National Agency for the Control of Aids, NACA, Sani Aliyu, said universal health coverage is the basic right of every citizen.

He said Nigeria should not rely on the help of donors for the fight against HIV AIDS.

According to Mr. Aliyu, it is time to start sustainable health treatment for AIDs because donors might eventually start pulling out.

Universal health coverage will open the door for more access to cure and fight against preventable and sustainable ailments especially people living with HIV/AIDS.

He said what the dialogue is asking for is the right to health and having proper funding to make it happen.



12:11 PM: In his address, Isaac Adewole, the health minister, said health is a basic human right that is not negotiable.

He said the APC manifesto was clear on its commitment to health.

According to Mr. Adewole, the goal is that 80% of the country will have access to health services near their houses.

Mr. Adewole also noted that everybody should be held accountable for poor service delivery both at federal, state and local level.

The health commissioner in Nasarawa should be health accountable for service delivery in his state and so also other commissioners in other states as well as at the local government level.

He urged the media to work closely with the health ministry in the task for universal health service delivery. Health is a priority but we are not there fully.

He also said there are recorded improvements in health funding in the country.

Bauchi state appropriated 16 per cent of its budget on health which is an improvement.

We are hoping that in the next 16 months, things will change. That is why this dialogue is necessary.

Over 180 million people, Nigeria is a huge country with huge potentials. This has been driven by high fertility rate the country is blessed with. We need therefore to use this as a yard stick to change the phenomena and change the population pyramid of the country so as to have more workers than defenders.

We have alot of communicable diseases in the country driven by infectious and parasitic diseases. We need to reduce this burden. There will be more cases of cancer in the future. We need to be prepared.

There is increase in maternal mortality especially at child birth. We need to ensure that women deliver under extreme supervision to cut this down.

Our major problems again is that we have more poor people, thats why we are investing in poor people so as to change this narrative, he said.

He said the health ministry is working towards ensuring free surgery scheme for poor people across the country.

We need to change functionality of our health care system.

Mr. Adewole stressed the need to revitalise the primary health care. He said the PHC is meant to handle simple health cases which are often taking to the secondary and tertiary health care centres which are meant to handle serious issues such as cancer.

We are trying to reverse this so that 80% of everybody in this country will get close access to a PHC, 10 per cent secondary and 10 per cent tertiary hospital and we need to replicate this in all the states.

Most of the money we get from the states is invested in paying salaries. We need to invest more in providing health delivery in the state.

This dialogue will work outr plan on how to handle health service funding.

Mr. Adewole said the health service act has been implemented, what remains is the funding.

On revitalisation of PHCs, he said new structures will not be built but adequate upgrading, rehabilitation and equipping of already built or yet to complete PHCs across the country.

He however said new structures will be built in Borno because of the ravage done by Book Haram in the region.

He further addressed the poor system of cancer in the country.

He said the government is not also shutting the door on alternative and traditional medicine.

We are ready to work with them once they provide proof of their methods and we regulate their products because that is how all opithodology medicine started.

He further encouraged the private sector to join the race in the provision of quality health care delivery in the country.

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12:32 PM: In his speech, the Vice president, Yemi Osinbajo, represented by the director, Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu, said healthcare for Nigerians is important to the Buhari administration.

He explained that the president is interested in health issues, but poverty is also a major issue to look at.

The vice president decried the enormous amount of money spent on medical tourism.

Medical tourism costs billions of dollars and we want to stop that trend because it is draining our reserves.

Mr. Osinbajo also made reference to the lingering ethnic tension and agitations in some regions in the country which President Muhammadu Buhari addressed in his first national address on Monday after 103 days medical vacation in the UK.

When the president said everybody has a right to live where ever he/she likes in the country, He was trying to register peace because a bad speech can cause hypertension to someone somewhere.

He added that the Buhari government is committed to providing quality health service delivery for Nigerians, that is why we are supporting this dialogue.

He urged the states to also join in so as to ensure universal health coverage in the country.

Tea break commenced at 12: 20 p.m.

Watch live update below:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogyBm0aDGso&w=560&h=315]



Group photo with the partners

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Health Minister, Isaac Adewole leaving the event centre.

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Group photo with the minister.



1:49 PM: Panel discussion 1: Lessons learnt and best practises in NGO advocacy for health financing in child and family health.

First panel discussion has 7 panelists which was headed by Dr. Omowunmi Olabalu  development research and project center.

Chinwe Onumonuh, one of the panelist, said everyday Nigeria loses 111,000 women every year to maternal health issues.

That is why we are advocating for proper family planning.

Ms. Onumonuh said through One voice advocacy a project to help reduce maternal child health mortality, family planning has been put in the fore.

Family planning is seen as an appendage in terms of mother and child mortality.

The one voice advocacy made it easy for policy makers to make critical decision on how to go about the programme and investment in family planning, Ms. Onumonuh said.

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1:54 PM: Another panelist, Beatrice Eluaka, said 2,300 children die daily from preventable diseases.

Half of these deaths is caused by malnutrition.

Those who survive are just 33%. This means that in every 3 children, one is stunted and stunting affects the growth and development of the human brain.

We have developed a policy to tackle malnutrition in collaboration with PACFAH and the federal government to make sure the policy is achieved.

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2:17 PM: Aminu Magashi, a panelist, praised the increase in domestic health funding in Kaduna, Kano and Bauchi.

He said 100 per cent fund for immunisation has been released in some states in the North. N125 million in Kaduna, N171 million in Bauchi and half of N91 million in Niger state.

We are using our advocacy to galvanise action in the states involved, he said.



2:43 PM: Emmanuel Abanida, a family planning consultant, said the lessons learnt in all advocacies by NGOs is that the health sector needs urgent reforms.

Nigeria is in trouble when it comes to health challenges.

Pharm Ayuba, a panelist, said one in every 8 children in Nigeria die before their 5th birthday.

When you look at it you will see that 236,000 children will die every year from preventable deaths of pnuemonia and diarrhoea.

Ayuba, however, expressed delight over governments commitment in tackling pnuemonia and diahorria.

We are happy to tell you that the government has reviewed the essential treatment guideline to include treatment of children for pnuemonia and diarrhoea.

It took 6 Years before the review could be done after the WHO had released the guideline.

We are joining the government to review this guideline across the country so as to reduce childhood killer disease to drive down child mortality to a single light.

Emmanuel Abanida, a family planning consultant, said the lessons learnt in all advocacies by NGOs is that the health sector needs urgent reforms.

Nigeria is in trouble when it comes to health challenges.

Pharm Ayuba, a panelist, said one in every 8 children in Nigeria die before their 5th birthday.

When you look at it you will see that 236,000 children will die every year from preventable deaths of pnuemonia and diarrhoea.

Ayuba, however, expressed delight over governments commitment in tackling pnuemonia and diahorria.

We are happy to tell you that the government has reviewed the essential treatment guideline to include treatment of children for pnuemonia and diarrhoea.

It took 6 Years before the review could be done after the WHO had released the guideline.

We are joining the government to review this guideline across the country so as to reduce childhood killer disease to drive down child mortality to a single light.

Adama Kachala, a representative of the Muslim womens association said the association is present in the 36 states of the country with more than 600 affiliates.

She said the Muslim women association is supporting any advocacy group that want to tackle issues that concern women.

We are meeting with tradional leaders to help make poor women and children get the much needed health care.

We have trained 221 faith based organisations to advocate issues affecting women and children in terms of family planning, routine immunidation, nutrition and reduction of child killer diseases.

We are using the traditional leaders because they are more closer to the people.

We use these collaborations across all states to promote peaceful coexistence of various tribes, religions and ethnic groups.

Omawunmi Olabalu, who chaired the first panel, stressed the need for collaboration between civil society and the government.

She said the one voice advocacy made it possible to push for more advocacy.

She, however, said the major challenge health advocacy is facing in the country is the non-openness of getting information especially from the government.

The issue of transparency has been an issue, especially in releasing funds for projects.

Ms. Olabalu urged the media to do effective reports on health challenges bedeviling the country.

Cross panel discussions:

A participant asked the panelist to throw more light on the roadmap for sustainability of the projects and health goals.

In response, yuba, a panelist, said they are building capacity in all the states were projects are done

The people we put in place will sustain the projects.

On the question of how to handle family planning in relations with the religious complexity in Nigeria, Adama Kachala said the Muslim women association,FOMWAN, and the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, sat together to discuss family planning from both holy books: the Bible and Quran to back family planning initiative in Nigeria.

Also on family planning, Emmanuel Abanida, a family planning consultant, said that the idea is not to discourage people from child bearing but to create space on how to manage the economic capacity in child delivery.

Arguments have shown that fertility rate has colleration with innovations.

Participants are on another break.

Panel 2:

Discussion: The role of legislators in guaranteeing Universal Health Coverage, UHC.

The Chairman, house committee on health, Oyo State House of Assembly, Silas Okunlola said UHC is possible and that the improvement recorded in the last two years backs that claim.

The panelist said he did not believe in family planning in the past, but through advocacy in Oyo State, I have been convinced to key into the progress of family planning and Ive also championed advocacies for family planning in the state.

He said there is always a thug of war in getting other legislators to agree to a health policy but advocates have helped in educating legislators to understand more health related issues.

A panelist also from Oyo State said budgetary allocation bills passed to law in achieving UHC goals are hugely affected by poor funding.

The chairman, committee on health, Bauchi State House of Assembly, Ibrahim Katagum, said the preliminary sessions enable legislators respond on what is happening in their constituency, especially in the health sector.

He said he will communicate the deliberation of todays dialogue to other members of the legislature so as to achieve UHC.

Mohammed Okepede from Nasarawa House of Assembly said the challenge the state is facing in legislating for health is non-openness of health ministries.

A panelist, Chika Uche, said the 8th assembly had decided to have a committee for PHC and communicable diseases before they were lumped together.

Basically 80% of our diseases are treatable which is why we need to get 80% of the people to get close access to PHCs.

In the 2017 budget, there was a deliberate effort to increase funds for agencies PHC.

Uche stressed the need to contain diseases so as to bring down their spread.

A participant encouraged all states to look into issues on mental health as it is becoming rampant in the country. The participant also asked why mental health is not covered by NHIS.

A representative of NHIS however argued that the scheme encompasses mental health.

Another participant also asked the legislators to make sure there are no other bills or laws that might hinder or counter the UHC Act and other laws that might be passed to favour it.

A female participant stressed the need for both state and federal legislators to harmonise laws that have been countering health related bills thus causing states to shy away from implementing or contributing funds for health issues.

Uche Okoli, a panelist, in a closing remark urged stakeholders to keep politics aside when addressing health issues.

Panel 3: The funding question in Universal Health Coverage.

Daniel Iyayi, the Nasarawa State health commisioner, said large investment is needed to achieve UHC in the country.

Mr.Iyayi advocated for alternative sourcing for funds in terms of health care financing especially for vulnerable groups, women and children.

If there is no fund, UHC will be a mirage.

Gafar Alawode, another panelist, said some things should taking into cognicance when dealing with health financing for UHC.

The first question is how much do we need and the other is who are we spending the money on? Another critical question is where is the money coming from?

Mr. Alawode said government is the key to financing health.

In his contribution, the DG of NACA, Sani Aliyu, said the NHIS was not designed in a progressive way. It should begin by appropriating health care from the vulnerable perspective.

Making sure the poor get quality and are mostly covered as much as possible, Mr. Aliyu said.

The NACA boss said it is wrong to begin the insurance scheme with the government workers.

Mr. Aliyu compared the poor arrangement of Nigerias health scheme with that of Ghana and Gabon.

Nigeria went down the NHIS route the easiest way and it is time we come back to the drawing board to make it work.

We need to create a sustainable funding source. The biggest challenge for UHC in Nigeria is funding and unless this is sorted out, it will remain a problem.

Mr.Aliyu tasked the government to evolve a strategy that will provide for the vulnerable group.

Only 1.7p er cent of the countries population is covered by NHIS. States should come up with plans to key in on health insurance, Mr. Aliyu added.

Mr.Aliyu stressed the need to add value for the funds received for implementation of health projects to ensure equity.

He said Nigeria should start looking for ways to fund its health needs and stop looking for foreign donors.

Mr. Aliyu in his closing remark said donor confidence can be increased by ensuring accountability and reducing waste and making sure procurement is across all chains involved.

Panel discussions ended at 4:30 pm.

Lunch break and closure of todays dialogue session.

Day 2 of the health dialogue will continue tomorrow by 9:am at same venue, Musa Yaradua centre Abuja.

Premium Times will also bring you live updates and you can as well follow the conversation on twitter with #healthdialogue.

The keynote address of the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi was delivered by his representative, Umar Bala.

The emir explained that he was unable to make the event due to previous engagements.

He expressed delight in the opportunity to speak on the role of Traditional and Religious Leaders in Community Health Care under the theme Universal Health Coverage, Prospects and Challenges.

Mr. Sanusi said no doubt the much celebrated effort of Governments in the attainment of Universal Health Coverage is congruent with the continued quest by communities for accessible, affordable and qualitative health care services.

We are not unaware of the current inadequate healthcare coverage especially that of maternal, childhood mortality, Skilled Birth Attendants, unmet needs of the family planning, among others, have continued to show how far we are from achieving our goal and objectives, particularly in the Northern part of the country.

It is important to note that the Nigeria National Policy on Health has as its goal, to provide adequate access to primary, secondary and tertiary health services for the entire Nigerian population based on the principle of social justice, equity and the ideals of freedom and opportunity affirmed in the 1999 constitution.

According to the emir, Kano State shares problems of having the highest population in the country and the lowest number of health workers.

He said Kano State had a discussion with the ministry of health on the need for the Emirate Council to provide support and collaboration with government in community mobilisation on primary health issues.

We therefore promulgated the Kano Emirate Council Committee on Health, KECCoH, to work on these challenges.

The government and our development partners have always considered the traditional and religious leaders as primary agents for community mobilisation in the development programmes because they have been involved as gate keepers in various community oriented programmes ranging from immunization, control of communicable diseases, maternal and child health, eradication of diseases and so on.

He added that with the traditional and religious leaders coordinating with the communities for improved services, government should be more agile on their responsibilities in meeting-up the ever rising demand for services at all times.

We are not unaware of the various efforts made by the government and development partners in the health sector, and we are indeed grateful, he said.

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President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in Abuja signed nine international agreements that the Nigerian government says will strengthen its anti-corruption war, stabilise the economy and improve the security situation in the country.

One of the signed treaties was a mutual legal agreement with the United Arab Emirates, UAE.

The treaty with the UAE will enable the extradition of Nigerians who abscond to the middle-eastern country after committing crimes in Nigeria.

The UAE, especially Dubai, one of its regions, is one of the major destinations of wealthy Nigerians including those who have been accused of various financial crimes.

A former Delta State Governor, James Ibori, had escaped to Dubai when he was wanted both in Nigeria and UK for financial crimes.

He was eventually extradited from there to the UK where he was subsequently jailed for money laundering. He was recently released after serving his jail term in the UK.

The signing ceremony by President Buhari for the execution of the Instruments of Ratification for International Agreements between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and other Entities was held at the Presidential Villa.

Speaking at the event, President Buhari directed all agencies of government with roles to play under the respective treaties that had been ratified to ensure that they play their anticipated roles in an

effective and responsible manner in order to ensure that the country reaps the full benefits of the agreements.

It is my hope that these Instruments will reinvigorate the anti-corruption war and check the illicit flow of funds out of our country to other jurisdictions, improve national security, food security, boost our economic and tax regimes and improve the overall well-being of our creative community, he said.

The President said the signing of the agreements was an important milestone in demonstrating the sovereign capacity of Nigeria to fulfil international obligations and take important steps for the

benefit of the economy, security and the anti-corruption war.

I am delighted to perform today, the duty of executing Instruments of Ratification of certain Agreements on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, pursuant to the powers conferred on me by Section 5(1) (a) and (b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and Article 7 of the Vienna Convention on the law of treaties of 1969, President Buhari added.

Mr. Buhari said the full implementation of the agreements had been delayed due to the need for all the sides to conclude their respective ratification processes.

I am happy to note therefore, that pursuant to a Memorandum presented to the Federal Executive Council by the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Council has approved the ratification of the said Agreements.

With this sovereign act, which has been replicated in the United Arab Emirates by their responsible authorities, we are now in a position to utilize these Agreements fully to foster cooperation between our respective authorities particularly for the purpose of prosecuting the anti-corruption campaign of this Government, he said.

The signed agreements were: Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in Civil and Commercial Matters, Agreement on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons and an Extradition Treaty.

Other Agreements include Charter for the Lake Chad Basin between Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Libya, Niger and the Republic of Chad; African Tax Administration Forum Agreement on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters and World Intellectual Property Organisation Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

Agreements on the World Intellectual Property Organisation Treaty on Audio-Visual Performances and the Marrakesh Treaty to facilitate access to published works for persons, who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise were also signed.

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The police on Thursday verbally attacked a senator who raised allegations of pay-for-promotion in the force but allegedly failed to substantiate them.

Isah Misau, representing Bauchi Central Senatorial District, had accused police chiefs and officials of Police Service Commission of turning special promotion of police officers into a quid-pro-quo racket.

He stated that promotional exercises conducted since 2009 were fraught with corruption, with some officers parting with a much as N2.5 million to secure special promotion.

But the police said the senator might be on a mission to avenge his exit from the force several years ago when he was charged with several acts of misconduct when he was a deputy superintendent of police.

The police spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood, said in a statement on Thursday that Mr. Misaus allegations, which could have negative impact on the integrity of the police, were first brought to the attention of the Inspector-General Ibrahim Idris on August 10.

Consequently, the IG set up a panel with broad terms of reference and a mandate to wrap up activities and submit its report within two weeks.

But all invitations sent to Mr. Misau by panel members were rebuffed, Mr. Moshood said.

While evading appearance before the panel, the senator continued his campaign of calumny against the police in the media, Mr. Moshood said.

On August 22, Mr. Misau told Daily Trust, which had reported his initial allegations, that the State Security Service should conduct a thorough investigation of promotional exercises in the police.

The senator did not immediately return PREMIUM TIMES text messages seeking comments Thursday evening. But he told Daily Trust his reason for shunning the panels invitation.

The police and PSC cannot be judges in their own matter, Daily Trust quoted the senator as saying in a telephone interview. The invitation should have come from the IG because my allegation was directed to him and the PSC.

Mr. Misau said he was uncomfortable with the fact that the panel was led by a retired judge.

He also demanded a list of all special promotions since 2009 from the PSC but said he did not receive it, despite filing a freedom of information request.

But Mr. Moshood insisted that Mr. Misaus claims have no basis, and police will ensure that the Senate discipline him for it.

From available record, Senator Isah Hamman Misau, the Senate Committee Chairman on Navy was an Ex- Police Officer who left the Nigeria Police Force at the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police after being charged with several acts of serious misconducts, unprofessional wrong doings contrary to discipline, and other discreditable improper behaviours unbecoming of a Police officer and that are inimical to image of the Nigeria Police Force, which can lead to dismissal or compulsory retirement from the Force. He was under Pending Disciplinary Matter (PDM), to appear and face Force Disciplinary Committee (FDC) before he hurriedly exited unceremoniously from the Force. And this can explain his ill motives against the Force.

The Force hereby requests that the Senates Ethics and Privileges Committee look into the circumstances as mentioned above in the best interest of the National Assembly and the Nation, the spokesperson said.

Mr. Misau spent 10 years in the police and was ADC to three ministers of the Federal Capital Territory, namely Aliyu Modibbo; Adamu Aliero, also a senator; and Bala Mohammed.

He was elected senator in 2015.

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A staff member for State Senator Simcha Felder allegedly told one of his constituents that the senator didn't condemn President Trump's remarks about white supremacist violence in Charlottesville because the events were a false flag operation, and sent her a link to a conspiracy theory website pushing the idea. The comments by the Felder staffer were first reported by Kings County Politics.

Eliana Meirowitz Nelson, a resident of Kensington, which sits in Felder's senate district (Borough Park, Midwood, Flatbush, Kensington, Sunset Park and Bensonhurst) said that she regularly makes calls to Felder's office to register her opinion on one issue or another. Nelson said there was a concerted effort from District 17 residents last week and earlier this week to lobby Felder to speak out about the violence in Charlottesville and Trump's response to it.

Nelson told Gothamist that she reached Felder's Director of Operations, Darlene Leder, on Tuesday and said that while Leder was friendly, she told Nelson she "didn't understand why it was necessary" for Felder to make any statements since Trump had already done a good job of addressing the violence. Nelson said that after giving Leder examples of what she considered Trump's equivocating and excusing the white supremacists, Leder then turned conspiratorial.

"She told me she'd been hearing that the Charlottesville violence was a manufactured setup between the mayor and the police," Nelson told us. "She told me that James Fields was a Hillary Clinton supporter, and that fact was being suppressed, and she offered to send me an article about it."

Leder then did send the article she was referencing to Fields, which Fields shared with Gothamist. The article, from the conspiracy-minded website News Punch was headlined "Charlottesville Killer Was Hillary Supporter, Funded By Soros," and unconvincingly makes the case that accused Charlottesville murderer Andrew Fields is "actually a left-wing operative at the heart of a false flag designed to spark civil war."

Beyond the article's unfounded conspiracy theory itself, and the fact that Nelson said she had friends in Charlottesville that weekend who were not on shadowy left-wing payrolls, Nelson said she was shocked to be handed an anti-Semitic conspiracy by the staff of a prominent Orthodox Jewish politician.

"The way the right smears George Soros is quite anti-Semitic. It's playing into the centuries-old trope of international Jewish banking conspiracies," Nelson told us.

Nelson said she was given a strange reason for Felder's silence on the issue by the senator's Director of Communications, Avi Fertig. When Nelson called Felder's Brooklyn office and spoke to Fertig, she says the comms director made a somewhat novel argument. Nelson told us that Fertig "said that Felder strongly believed that words have power, and of the impact his words can have. If the senator came out with a statement about the tragedy in Charlottesville, he'd be called on to make a statement after every similar tragedy, and that if that happened, it would dilute the power of what he could do and say to comfort his own constituents if something like this happened in his district."

Fertig did not return a request for comment to Gothamist confirming that the conversation happened, but another one of Felder's constituents, Jess Byrne, reported getting a similar answer to his question from the communications director.

"I guess if I get hate crimed, Senator Felder wants to comfort me?" Nelson asked Gothamist rhetorically.

This too, struck Nelson as a bad response, which she says she told Fertig.

"I told him that Jews have a responsibility to speak out against Nazis, and that this doesn't happen every day. To say he doesn't want to speak out against Nazis now in case they come out and attack his district is disgusting and an abdication of his duties," Nelson told Gothamist.

It was especially disappointing, Nelson said, to see this kind of silence from one of the most prominent Orthodox Jews in state government, and that Felder had an opportunity to be a role model in speaking out against a rise in Naziism across America.

Nelson, a member of the group NY Senate District 17 for Progress, said she's looking forward to voting against Felder in the next election. "I wouldn't want Simcha Felder to represent me much longer," she told us. "He's not listening to his constituents, and he's blocking a lot of progress, so I wish someone else were my state senator."

Felder is one of the nine elected Democrats who have helped the Republican Party hold on to a majority in the state Senate. While not a member of the breakaway Independent Democratic Conference, Felder caucuses with the Republican Party. He has called on the IDC to return to the mainline Democratic conference, though he hasn't answered whether he actually would do so.

The state senator told Kings County Politics that while he was upset with some of Trump's comments, he didn't believe the president should be impeached. Regarding the email that Leder sent, Felder confirmed that she had done so, and told the site that "I dont know why anyone would send anything from such a crazy website. I will discuss my dissatisfaction with her shortly."

Nelson said that she regularly calls her elected officials, including Felder, and that this was "certainly the strangest interaction I've had" while doing so.
The Director General of the Voice of Nigeria has decried the enormous amount of money Nigerians spend on medical tourism in other countries.

He made this known on Thursday in an opening remark at the commencement of a two-day national health dialogue organised by the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism, PTCIJ, the Project for Advocacy in Child and Family Health, PACFaH, and the Project Pink Blue.

The event held at the Musa YarAdua Centre in Abuja.

The health dialogue was chaired by the vice president, and hosted by the Minister for Health, Isaac Adewole.

The Emir of Kano and former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Muhammadu Sanusi II; acting Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance scheme, Attahiru Ibrahim; the DG of the National Agency for the Control of Aids, NACA, Sani Aliyu; the Executive Director, Nigeria Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Faisal Shuaib, were among keynote speakers at the health dialogue.

In his speech, Mr. Okechukwu said medical tourism has cost Nigeria billions of dollars.

We want to stop that trend because it is draining our reserves, he said.

Although Mr. Okechukwu represented Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the event, he later contacted PREMIUM TIMES to say the quote represents his personal opinion.

Thousands of Nigerians travel abroad each year to seek medical treatment as the nations health care system remains poorly funded.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday returned from London after nearly four months of medical leave.

The administration has not disclosed the presidents condition or how much is spent treating him, but analysts estimate Nigeria spends several millions of naira for the presidents healthcare abroad.

Mr. Okechukwu said healthcare for Nigerians is important to the Buhari administration.

He explained that the president was interested in health issues, but said poverty was also a major issue to look at.

He urged the states to also join in so as to ensure universal health coverage in the country.

EDITORS NOTE: The statements and the quote in the report were initially credited to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who was invited for the event and was represented by Mr. Okechukwu. The VON Director General, however, contacted PREMIUM TIMES after the event to say though he represented Mr. Osinbajo at the event, the views expressed were his. While I stood in for the Vice President at the said event, I also did express my own views at the said seminar, including those regarding the Medical Tourism and the attendant concerns and challenges, he said.

The story has therefore been edited to reflect the views as Mr. Okechukwus.

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Nursing mothers have again been counselled to feed their babies only on breast milk for their first six months to develop the babies immune system.

Paediatric doctors and nurses at the National Hospital, Abuja gave the advice on Wednesday when they held an awareness campaign at the facility on exclusive breastfeeding.

During the campaign, which took the health workers round all the paediatric wards in the hospital, they enlightened nursing mothers and pregnant women on the importance of breastfeeding to the child.

The exercise was to commemorate the World Breastfeeding Week which was celebrated around the globe in the first week of August.

Led by Head, Department of Paediatrics at the hospital, Mariya Mukhtar-Yola, the professionals told nursing mothers to give their babies exclusive breast milk without water or any other food substance except prescribed medications for the first six months of the childs life.

The mothers were also lectured on how to extract enough milk for storage for the baby so that the mothers can have enough time to rest as well.

Ms. Mukhtar-Yola said the main focus of their campaign was to get the mothers to know the importance of breast milk to their children, especially the first milk that comes out of the breast in the first seven days after delivery.

The yellowish substance is known as colostrum and contains the first immunisation a child needs to prevent infections.

It is the best part of breast milk, as it contains all the vitamins, protein and a number of immunising factors for a new born, she told the new mothers.

Some cultures believe that it is not good for the child and express it away, but we are telling you that it is not true. That is almost all what the child needs for healthy growth, Ms. Mukhtar-Yola said.

She stressed that breast milk is the best gift a parent can give a child from birth to optimal age, as it makes the baby grow strong and healthy.

Audu Lamidi, a paediatrician, said the awareness campaign was very important and would be a continuous process beyond a week, because Nigerians have underrated the value of breast milk to a child.

Breast milk is a complete food for children. It is a living thing that has all the chemical components and antibodies a child needs for development. If expressed properly, breast milk can last eight hours at room temperature without getting spoilt, 24 hours in the fridge and 3 months in a freezer without contamination.

The expression of milk can be done by working mothers and because of the nature of the milk, its preservative qualities make it cheaper and efficient to handle, Mr. Lamidi stated.

He however warned that expressed milk should not be cooked, microwaved or boiled, as doing so makes it useless, killing all the antibodies and destroying the nutrients and protective properties of the milk.

One of the babies, who was brought for routine immunisation, was given the hospitals award for the most healthy and flourishing baby of the month.

The babys mother, Adefolake Atolagbe, said her baby is four months and has been exclusively breastfed since his birth.

It has not been easy, it is very stressful, but I made up my mind to do it. He is my third and I exclusively breastfed his elder ones too.

I can tell you that I can see the importance of my perseverance on the other two, they are brilliant, smart and my daughter has been topping the class.

I did not know I will get a gift today. You can see that he is looking well-nourished and flourishing well, bigger than his age and that is why I got a gift. I will advise other mothers to do likewise for their children, because the sacrifice is worth it, she added.

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The Independent Hajj Reporters has commended the federal government for taking immediate and proactive steps in seeking redress for the two Nigerian pilgrims reportedly manhandled by Saudi Arabian security agents in Madina airport.



The prompt response of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Nigerian Embassy in Saudi Arabia and the Nigerian Charge de Affairs in seeking redress for the two Nasarawa State pilgrims is commendable and unprecedented, a statement by the civil societys national coordinator, Ibrahim Muhammed, and Publicity Secretary, Abubakar Mahmoud, said.



Last week, two Nasarawa State pilgrims were allegedly manhandled by the Saudi security forces on arrival at the Madina Airport, the statement said.



It was reported that immediately after the issue was reported to the NAHCON office in Madina, NAHCON secretary, Bello Tambuwal, petitioned the Saudi authorities and alerted the Nigerian Embassy in Riyadh to the unfortunate incident.



However, after NAHCONs petition and the Charge de Affairs prompt action, the kingdom, through the Governor of Madina, expressed shock over the incident and promised to decisively deal with the security personnel involved, the statement said.



The Governor of Madina, represented by his deputy, Wahid Alsihli, alongside the deputy minister in charge of hajj and umrah affairs, Muhammad Bijawy, visited the hotel where the two Nigerian pilgrims were residing and personally apologised to them, NAHCON, and the Nigerian government.



The civil society said while it appreciated the apology tendered by the Saudi authorities, it however urged them to curtail the excesses of some of their overzealous security forces especially during umrah and hajj period.



The statement said whoever enters the kingdom of Saudi Arabia for umrah or hajj does so in heeding the call of the almighty to fulfil religious obligations and must be treated as a special guest of God, and accorded all respect and courtesy.

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The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Nigeria on Thursday announced that its government had commenced educational exchange programmes with Nigeria, with the selection of 12 Nigerian students.

The Embassys Charge d Affaires, Michel Deleen, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the first set of Nigerian students had been selected for the exchange programme.

Mr. Deleen said that the first set of the 12 benefiting Nigerian undergraduates, studying Business Administration and Communication, were carefully selected from different universities across the six

geo-political zones.

For the first time, Netherlands is to commence educational exchanges with Nigeria. And we are very eager to see what we would make of it.

There would be an exchange of 12 carefully selected Nigerian students with other 12 students from the Netherlands.

What this means is that the Nigerian students would be going to Netherlands, while the Netherlands students would be coming to Nigeria.

We really want to start with this, see the result before increasing the number of beneficiaries, as well as well extending the programme to more Nigerian educational institutions, he said.

Mr. Deleen said that the Delft University of Technology, in the Netherlands, led a team to Yaba, Lagos State, for the selection of the Nigerian students for the exchange programme.

He said that the exchange programme was meant to help Nigerian students improve their understanding of business, how to draw business plans and enhance their understanding of both countries.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands consists of four autonomous countries: the Netherlands, Aruba, Curacao and St Maarten, whereas Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba are part of the constituent country of the Netherlands.

Its capital and largest city is Amsterdam, with a population of 1.1 million.

(NAN)

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The first son of late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Emeka Ojukwu (Jr), has vindicated President Muhammadu Buhari on his reported discussions with his late father on the unity and indivisibility of Nigeria.

Mr. Ojukwu told journalists on Wednesday in Awka Anambra State, that Mr. Buharis position about he (Buhari) and his late fathers discussion was right.

The son to late Ikemba Nnewi told journalists that he never granted any media interview or posted any message on social media to disclaim Mr. Buharis discussions with his father.

My late father actually held the said meeting with Buhari before his demise and all that Buhari said in his nationwide broadcast were true.

It has been brought to my attention that there is an article making the rounds on social media attributed to me refuting the remarks of Mr. President concerning his relationship and discussions with my late father.

Let me state the following categorically; firstly, that I made no such comments to anybody, and secondly that I am aware that His Excellencys comments were indeed factual, he said.

Mr. Ojukwu said he has observed a disturbing trend in the social media whereby fake news is attributed to people on the social media.

According to him, I dont know who is behind this report attributed to me and what their motivation might be, any time I feel to comment on any matter, I do so publicly and not via some anonymous email.

Ojukwu Jr. urged members of the public to discountenance the stories in the social media or any media platform whatsoever credited to him.

He warned that such malicious and damaging publications would not be taken lightly should he track the source.

He called on Mr. Buhari not to take such comments serious as it smacks of gutter and yellow media reportage aimed at overheating the polity.

President Buhari in his nationwide broadcast on Monday made reference to the meeting he had with the late warlord.

In 2003 after I joined partisan politics, the late Chief Emeka Ojukwu came and stayed as my guest in my hometown Daura. Over two days we discussed in great depth till late into the night and analysed the problems of Nigeria. We both came to the conclusion that the country must remain one and united.

Nigerias unity is settled and not negotiable. We shall not allow irresponsible elements to start trouble and when things get bad they run away and saddle others with the responsibility of bringing back order, if necessary with their blood, Mr. Buhari said.

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The Sultan of Sokoto, Saad Abubakar, has announced that traditional leaders were in support of the federal governments move to criminalise hate speech.

The monarchs statement, reported by the News Agency of Nigeria, was made on Thursday.

Both President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo have condemned hate speech in the country and stated governments determination to criminalise it and make it an offence similar to terrorism.

Lawyers have however expressed divergent views on the governments statements on the matter.

Details later

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A Nigerian student has been arrested by Malaysian security operatives after illicit drugs were discovered in his home during a raid.

The police also picked up seven other Nigerian men and one Ugandan woman, aged between 25 and 42, for drug related offences in Petaling Jaya and Sungai Besi areas of the nation.

The Malaysian Special Tactical Intelligence Narcotics Group according to a report published by the Malaysian National News Agency, BERNAMA, said the operatives cracked a Nigerian drug trafficking syndicate, after a raid was conducted on Monday.

A statement by the deputy director of the Narcotic Department, Datuk Chiang, said the Nigerian, 36, a Business Studies student in a private college was arrested following a tip-off by the Drug Enforcement Administration, DEA of the United States.

In the raid, police found about 24.5kg of what is believed to be ganja in two bags with the estimated value of RM100, 000 (Malaysian Ringgit), Mr. Chiang said in a press conference on Thursday.

Initial investigation revealed that the syndicate had been active over the past six months and had obtained the supply from a neighbouring country.

He said all the suspects were tested negative for drugs.

Some Nigerians have been sentenced to death by Malaysian authorities in drug related verdicts in recent years despite feeble attempts by the Nigerian government to mediate.

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The National Association of Nigerian Students has rejected the downward review of cut-off marks for admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions.

The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, had on Tuesday stated the cut off marks as 120 for degree awarding institutions, 100 for monotechnics and polytechnics and 110 for innovative enterprising institutes.

Until the review, the marks were 180 for degree awarding institutions and 150 for the others.

But the umbrella body for Nigerian students on Thursday described the new pegs as unreasonable and unacceptable.

The group expressed its dissatisfaction during a protest they held at JAMB headquarters in Bwari, Abuja. The protest was led by NANS vice president, Olamide Odumosu.

Mr. Odumosu said the reduction in the cut-off marks would only lead to corruption and worsen the level of academic performance of students.

He said the review would open Nigerian students to exploitation.

JAMB in conjunction with Vice Chancellors and Provosts is exploiting Nigerian Students thereby reducing the level of education in the country, he said.

Mr. Odumosu said the association would mobilise students across the country to protest the review if not reversed.

Also speaking, Idowu Ajayi, National Public Relations Officer of NANS, said the increment of the regularisation fees by JAMB from N5,000 to N10,000 should be reviewed.

How can a minister of Federal Republic of Nigeria say something and say it was a mistake? How can scrapping post UTME be a mistake?, he quipped.

The National President of the association, Chinonso Obasi, had in a statement made available to PREMIUM TIMES also condemned the new cut off marks.

Knowledge acquisition is a function of determination and hard work and so if over the years students were able to work hard to meet cut-off points, it doesnt make logical sense to now lower the points, he said.

Mr. Obasi said the general phenomenon was that Nigerian graduates are not employable, stressing that lowering the entrance marks into Nigerian tertiary institutions would translate to churning out young people who would not be able to meet the demands and expectations of the 21st Century.

Yusuf Lawal, Director of Test Administration of JAMB, while addressing the protesters, said JAMB was ready to look into some of the issues raised by the students.

Mr. Lawal explained that the cut-off marks were the unanimous decision at the policy meeting convened by JAMB for stakeholders on August 22 in Abuja .

For the cut-off points, JAMB is a clearing house for tertiary institutions. The setup of the board is not to take over process or mandate of the tertiary institutions.

It was the tertiary institutions that met and that we should not dissipate energy on publicity, multiplicity of exam and multiplicity of admission, he said.

He said JAMB would table some of the issues for discussion.

We are already looking at how we can reduce application fee of the coming year.

There is opportunity for dialogue. It is good we ventilate, discuss and arrive at solution and move the education sector forward, he said.

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Since March of this year, a series of dinners have offered a platform for refugees from around the world to not only showcase the cuisines of their homelands, but also provide a vital source of income for a vulnerable population.

The Displaced Dinners series, conceptualized by Mazeish Grill owner Nasser Jabhimself part of a refugee family from Palestinehas put on over 40 dinners since its inception, connecting refugees from places like Syria, Russia and Central America with New Yorkers (and now folks in D.C.). The series, co-hosted by social food service Komeeda, has now expanded into the Refugee Food & Arts Festival, which will be timed to take place during the United Nations general assembly September 22nd through 24th.

"I would like to bring in a different crowd of peopleI'm not talking about the community that's always doing non-profit or activist work or things like that. I'm trying to bring in people who want to learn more about the refugee crisis, who want to help out in some way, but are not necessarily active in their daily life in this kind of organization," Jab tells Gothamist. "Food is a way of bringing that up."



Lutfi, a refugee from Damascus, and Nasser talk to guests during a recent dinner (courtesy Displaced Dinners)

The three day festivalwhich will take place at The Food Arts Center @ FEDCAP, just a few blocks from the United Nationswill highlight the "chef-ugees" during cocktail parties, brunches, receptions and dinners. The meals will be cooked and hosted by refugees who've recently arrived in the United States and are looking for a job and a steady source of income. As is the case with the dinners, Jab hopes the festival will help connect refugees with people who can offer either guidance or resources for finding employment, if not an actual job.

In Jab's experience, refugees arriving in the United States enter into a system of finding employment that's unfamiliar to them, like applying for a job online or getting access to a computer to create a resume. Through the dinners, refugees have been able to connect with people who can help them with this process and get them working.

"The purpose of these dinners at the end of the day is finding [the refugees] people who can help them find jobs," Jab says. "Every dinner that happens we say, 'They're ready and able to work, here's their resume, who can hire them?' That's the main goal."

Individuals participating in the festival are compensated for their workat the dinners, costs for food and supplies are covered and each refugee keeps whatever is left over. If the event sells out, Jab hopes he'll be able to pay each refugee between $1,000 and $2,000, depending on how heavily they are involved.



A group shot from a recent dinner (courtesy Displaced Dinners)

For attendees at both the dinners and the festival, Jab hopes it will not only be a delicious experience but an enlightening one as well.

"To be honest with you, the people who pay the heaviest price in the camps, and the people on the boats, and the people who didn't get resettled here, are people who are not politicized. They're just average people who have no one to save them, and by random chance some of them ended up here," Jab says. "The idea is that they have to put a name to the face. If something happens in France or Sweden or here, people get more motivated or more moved about it than if it happens in Iraq or Syria, because it seems that it's normal that people die in Iraq and in Syria. I would like to change that."

Refugee Food & Art Festival takes place from September 22nd to 24th at The Food Arts Center @ FEDCAP at 210 East 43rd Street. Tickets $35 - $70
The Centre of Democracy Development, CDD, has urged Nigeria to rise up to the occasion and ensure that the application of Morocco to join the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, is rejected.

The Director of CDD, Idayat Hassan, made the call on Thursday at the High-Level Policy Dialogue on Moroccos application to the ECOWAS.

According to Ms. Hassan, Morocco, since its formal request on February 24, to join ECOWAS has relentlessly pursued the agenda by designating an ambassador to ECOWAS on March 2.

She said the move by Morocco to join the ECOWAS is a direct challenge to the leadership of Nigeria in the sub-region.

ECOWAS is for the states in the West African sub-region and in this regard, the revised treaty defined the region as the geographical zone known as West Africa as defined by a resolution of the then OAU Council of Ministers.

Morocco is not classified among the member states of the ECOWAS by the UN and the African Union.

`Why will Morocco in the Maghreb want to join ECOWAS? what exactly does the region have in common either in terms of economic, religious and cultural affinity with West Africa?

Morocco host the Arab Maghreb Union so why will the host of AMU want to join West Africa? More so, it is an associated country of the European Union.

Moroccos move to join the ECOWAS is a deliberate ploy to reduce the influence and strength of Nigeria, she said.

Ms. Hassan said Nigeria has contributed a lot financially in its 42 years of ECOWAS existence.

Morocco has always held an observer status in ECOWAS since 2005 so why then have a full membership?

When you have the likes of Mauritania exiting ECOWAS though in West Africa because it said it is more of the Maghreb in terms of orientation.

I think Nigeria having invested so much for 42 years into ECOWAS and on the ideal it stands for, even for the fact that Morocco itself is a monarchical system it is not a democratic so why allow a monarchy to come into play? she said.

Ms. Hassan said that the ascension of Morocco into ECOWAS would change a lot of things adding that for example how do we adopt the supplementary protocols on democracy and good governance on Morocco?

Earlier, President of the ECOWAS Commission, Marcel de Souza, who was represented by Babatunde Idowu, Programme Officer, Office of the ECOWAS President, commended the initiative of the dialogue.

Mr. De souza said that the dialogue would serve as a platform to interrogate, deliberate and discuss Moroccos ascension to ECOWAS with a view to understand the incentive and motivations behind Moroccos decision.

He said that ECOWAS had worked hard to harmonise all sectoral policies and it could be theoretically posited that ECOWASs greatest achievement was its power of attraction and persuasion.

He said that perhaps, it was within that soft power theory that Moroccos application to join ECOWAS, Tunisias application for ECOWAS observer status and the return of Mauritania to ECOWAS should be interrogated, debated and discussed.

NAN reports that ECOWAS leaders met in Liberia in June to discuss the prospects of Morocco joining the bloc, saying it had agreed in principle to consider the request, even though Morocco is geographically located in North Africa.

Moroccos move came roughly six months after it re-entered the African Union in January, 33 years after it left the continental body in 1984 due to disagreements about the independence of Western Sahara.

The African Union recognises the independence of Western Sahara, which is also a member of the union, as a sovereign state, even though Morocco still considers it an occupied territory.

African countries reached a consensus to discuss pending issues about Western Sahara for another day in order to admit Morocco back in the family.

(NAN)

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The Oluwo of Iwo, Adbulrahsheed Akanbi, on Thursday presided over a special prayer session organised for President Muhammadu Buhari by Muslims, Christians and traditionalists at his palace in the town.

While addressing worshipers at the prayer session, the monarch said it was necessary for citizens to pray for their leaders.

He prayed that the president would recover and be sound so he could govern the country for eight years.

As I have prayed for Buhari today, new life has come for him, he prayed. He must spend eight years in power despite all obstacles from opposition.

He also said he was willing to bear any sickness that is ailing the president, saying that those who love the country must love the leaders as well.

It is painful that those who launched that campaign of Resume or Resign are not patriotic as they claimed, he said.

They politicised the campaign which shouldnt be. Buhari is my son and I wont be happy when people are wishing him dead.

If any civil servant or police officer falls sick, will you advise them to resign? Those who are clamouring for Buharis resignation are not sane.

Nigerians dont love those that love them but they are passionate about those that hate them.

All those who are wishing him dead and those who are clamouring for his resignation shall fall sick.

The president of Christian Association of Nigeria, Iwo, Caleb Ayoola, led the Christian prayer; the Iwo Chief Imam, Abdulfatai Olododo, led the Muslim prayers and Ojetunde Ajibowu, led traditionalists in prayers.

The Oluwo and other traditional rulers later rose on their feet to dance as the Christians began a thanksgiving praise for the president.

Mr. Olododo, the Imam, in his remarks, emphasised the need for religious tolerance among all religious groups.

The CAN Chairman, read from 2Chronicles 7:14 noted that God is the utmost healer urging people in positions of authority to always show obedience to Gods directive and pray for peace and harmony in the land.

Conducting the traditional prayers, Ojetunde Ajibowu, offered prayers for the president, Governor Rauf Aregbesola and the Oluwo of Iwo.

The wife of the president, Aisha Buhari, who was represented by the Wife of the Secretary to the State Government of Oyo State, Halimot Alli, appreciated the Oluwo and Nigerians for their relentless prayers for her husband.

She also urged them to continue their support for the present administration.

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The long-standing conflict in North-east Nigeria caused by insurgency, since 2009, has left more than 2 million people displaced in the region; making Nigeria the host of the worlds sixth largest internally displaced persons (IDP) population.

Since the conflict began, several government and non-governmental agencies took up the obligation of providing protection and relief interventions to the IDPs, especially women and children. For close to a decade, various organisations, such as the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, and its state counterpart, SEMA, United Nations, Victims Support Fund and International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC, have rallied support from national and global partners to improve security, rebuild the states and make tremendous impact in abating the humanitarian crisis.

Borno state was the worst hit and host to most of the IDPs, with more than 1.4 million displaced people in the state, according to the International Organisation for Migration, IOM. Hundreds of thousands of IDPs have been returning to their homes since 2016, largely to the tireless efforts by organisations, federal and state governments.

Despite these efforts, the last two years have been the direst for about 120, 000 to 130, 000 people remaining in Maiduguri and satellite camps in Borno, as living conditions worsen day after day.

Reports by the Borno Emergency Management Agency in 2016 stated that hundreds of children had died of severe malnutrition. The case did not improve months later when in 2017 United Nations Childrens Fund, UNICEF, announced that tens of thousands more children were endangered daily. UNICEF labelled it the worlds most under-funded humanitarian crisis. Severe malnutrition and diseases were killing the people, particularly children, faster than the insurgency.

And just when it seemed the humanitarian support trickled, a brother of the people and son of the North-eastern soil rose to the occasion.

THE MUHAMMADU INDIMI FOUNDATION

Established in 2013, the Muhammadu Indimi Foundation was created to unlock Northern Nigerias potential through the alleviation of hunger and illiteracy. The founder, Muhammadu Indimi, an Officer of the Federal Republic, OFR, is a native of Borno State and holds firm to the belief that charity begins at home. That is why the Indimi Foundation has been prioritising the North-east in its efforts to rebuild the nation one state at a time.

All my life is dedicated to helping people in Borno state. There are more than 200 students the Indimi Foundation is taking care of in various stages of education. I visit home often and proudly take my guests along to the city. Governor Kashim Shettima has been doing wonders in completely changing the face of Maiduguri, despite its meagre resources, Mr. Indimi said during one of the Foundations visits to the state.

The non-governmental organisation has saddled itself with the mandate of supporting the state government with consistent and relevant social protection and economic reintegration.

The displaced people touch my heart deeply and we will not rest until the people are settled back in their homes, with the support they need to make meaningful livelihoods and rebuild their legacy, the founder said.

The Indimi Foundations first project was an intensive injection of crisis relief support directly to the IDP camps in form of food, medical supplies and cash. The Indimi Foundation also donated materials to the federal government flood relief and rehabilitation committee as part of its overarching support to persons in need. In June 2017, volunteers of the Foundation spent three days visiting more than 10 camps in Maiduguri, distributing relief items to 28, 000 families from 11 local government areas who found shelter in Maiduguri IDP camps.

As part of its skills acquisition and manpower development, the Indimi Foundation has supported hundreds of students. A look at tertiary education level shows that more than 20 students have benefited from full scholarships to higher institutions outside the country. The students qualified for the opportunity of choosing any study field including minerals and petroleum engineering, agriculture, arts, communication, education and medicine.

Since inception, more than three billion naira has been dedicated by the Indimi Foundation to the support of victims of terrorism in Nigeria. However, the Foundation sees its milestones as only a tip of the iceberg and is geared to contribute more.

WHAT LIES AHEAD FOR THE NORTH-EAST?

In May 2017, Governor Shettima revealed that Boko Haram insurgents had destroyed 156,453 houses in Borno state. The destruction included 5,344 classrooms in primary schools, 38 secondary schools and 2 tertiary institutions and201 health facilities.

Speaking during a recent initiative in the state, the senior executive director of the Indimi Foundation, Ameena Indimi, revealed plans for a 100-housing unit for the IDPs with provisions for health and education facilities.

The Muhammadu Indimi Village in Bama features 3 rooms per building for each family. Next is a similar project in Ngala Local Government Area. We have been privileged enough to get the support of Governor Shettima. The state donated the land. We hope that other North-east governors will emulate his footsteps. Our vision is to see the remaining IDPs return to their homes and resettle. That would be the beginning of a wider initiative to do more housing units across North-east Nigeria over the next 10 years, Mr. Indimi said.

Meanwhile, 1,000 to 2,000 hectares in Bama have been earmarked to build modern farms for about half of returnees from the IDP camps. This was revealed by the Indimi Foundation shortly before a visit to Borno by the Minister of agriculture and rural development, Audu Ogbeh, who said that Borno State remained a very promising agricultural state despite the many setbacks it has suffered due to the Boko Haram insurgency.

Despite the devastating degree of harm done by Boko Haram to Borno State, it has remained one of the most prepared states to face the future through agriculture, the minister said.

Another critical area of resettlement in the state is healthcare. The states commissioner of health, Haruna Mshelia, noted in 2016 that hundreds of deaths were recorded across the camps because of malaria, diarrhoea, pneumonia, measles and severe malnutrition.

The Indimi Foundation plans to unveil a healthcare outreach programme in the North-east in partnership with indigenous and global health organisations to ensure a rollback in maternal and infant mortality, an increase in hygiene awareness among the people and provision of materials they need for their wellbeing.

To tailor efforts to relevant needs in the North-east, the Indimi Foundation has been conducting research through engagement with the state governments, crisis management officials, indigenous and global consultants, camp coordinators and the IDPs themselves.

As the world monitors the insurgency and the federal governments gallant security personnel combat the terrorists, it is the hope of enduring humanitarian organisations such as the Muhammadu Indimi Foundation that these collective and consistent efforts over the years will indeed strengthen communities and rebuild the entire North-east Nigeria.

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Hundreds of supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday attended special prayers for the president in Kano.

The prayers were for full health recovery for the president and for success in governance.

The prayers, led by the Chairman, Kano League of Imams, Falalu Danalmajiri, at the Kano Sani Abacha Stadium, witnessed a heavy security presence.

The Muslim prayers was attended by top government officials at both federal and states levels.

The prayers for the president was part of the solidarity rally organised by the office of the presidents special assistant on media broadcast, Shaaban Sharada, and the conference of patriotic citizens.

After the prayers, the group proceeded to the State Government House where they submitted two letters to the governor for onward delivery to the president. The letters showed their total support and solidarity with Mr. Buhari.

As at the time of compiling the report, major routes in Kano had been fully taken over by heavily armed security officials to avoid hoodlums hijacking event.

The president recently returned to Nigeria after over 100 days in the UK where he went to treat an undisclosed ailment.

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The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Dakuku Peterside, has offered N500,000 for information that would lead to the arrest of Ifeanyi Dike, a murder suspect who escaped from police custody in Rivers State.

Mr. Dike, was arrested on Saturday by local vigilante with a bag containing the body of an eight-year-old girl, Chikamso Victory, which he was attempting to dispose of after he allegedly cut off the vagina, fingers, breasts, and tongue.

The suspect, who was also said to have raped the girl before killing her, was handed over to the police in the state.

But he later escaped that Saturday night from police custody in the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, under controversial circumstances.

Mr. Peterside, who is from Rivers State, announced the reward Thursday through a statement issued by his media department.

Mr. Peterside, the statement said, is saddened by the development.

He condemned the escape of the suspect from custody, adding that the suspect being on the loose was a threat to the Rivers people and other neighbouring states.

We must all rise and condemn this heinous crime, he said.

What could an eight-year-old girl have done to deserve this wicked act? What kind of future are we trying to give our children? Are we trying to say that our girls are no longer safe? Are we saying that our girls do not have a future?

Without women, we have no future. The onslaught on girls and women is becoming increasingly disturbing. We must protect our young girls and women. This could have happened to any family. This is deeply saddening.

Please, I do not want my action to be seen through a political prism. The dastardly act should be a concern for all of us as Rivers people.

Let us join hands with the police and ensure the re-arrest of Ifeanyi Dike, he said.

Mr. Peterside called on the commissioner of police in the state and other security agencies to arrest the suspect as quickly as possible.

He offered condolences to the family of late Ms. Chikamnso.

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Despite New York City's idea of itself as a progressive capital of the planet, it lags behind cities across the country and the world as far as female representation in government goes. Even worse, according to a just-published report, the city is on pace to have fewer than 10 women on the City Council by the end of the 2021 term.

The new report from the City Council's Women's Caucus, "Not Making it Here" examines what the group of legislators say is women's underrepresentation in the City Council. With 13 out of 51 seats on the City Council currently filled by women, the number of women in government is trending the wrong way, according to the report, especially as every member of the Council gets term-limited out this year.

The report's own projections peg the number of women legislators between 9 and 12 for the next term ending in 2021, down from 18 women legislators in the terms ending in both 2001 and 2009. With that in mind, Speaker of the City Council Melissa Mark-Viverito has already launched an initiative, "21 in 21" that's working to recruit more women into politics, with the goal of having 21 women members of the City Council by 2021. The City Council's Progressive Caucus has also endorsed three women running for City Council in this year's elections.

In addition to the reduced number of women legislators on the council next year, none of the candidates for Speaker of the City Council are women, after the position was consecutively filled by Christine Quinn and Mark-Viverito. Quinn and Mark-Viverito were just the second and third women to head the city's legislative body in New York's history.

With female legislators holding just 26 percent of seats in the City Council, New York only beats out Los Angeles ad Houston in terms of proportion of women legislators in the country's ten largest cities, and lags way behind, say, Phoenix (50 percent) in that department. And while it's not one of the ten largest cities in America, the report also notes that Austin has a 70 percent female city council. Austin's city council was 90 percent women as recently as 2015, though even that ratio didn't happen without its share of sexism from the city manager's office.

The city is lagging behind Internationally as well, the report notes, as "many cities of similar size, wealth, and government structure have across the board better gender parity, with the exception of Toronto." Which in its own way makes sense when you think about it.

As laid out in this Times article, the report notes that women have an equal shot to win elections when they run, but research has shown that men are 40 percent more likely to run for political office.

The reasons for that disparity are varied. There's the fact that women are still tasked with household chores more often than men, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics calculating the 83 percent of women "spend time doing them" every day compared to 63 percent of men.

However, beyond the expectation that they act as the primary domestic caregivers, the report suggests that women aren't viewed as potential officeholders by party leaders and operatives. Without being prepared to run when they begin showing interest in politics, women are less likely to feel that they're qualified to run for political office and win, despite evidence to the contrary. "Successful professionals who received external support from a political actor and a friend or family member are twice as likely to consider running for office," according to the report.

The consequences of having fewer women in government include issues like reproductive rights, domestic violence and education disparities getting ignored or legislated in ways that hurt women more, to a kind of feedback loop in which young girls don't see themselves in government and don't run as they get older, to increased partisanship. In addition, the report notes research that says women introduce more legislation overall than their male peers.

To shoot for more gender parity, the report suggests a number of fixes. To provide more mentorship and training for women interested in public life, the Women's Caucus is calling for "more funding to be dedicated to not-for-profit groups that support women in public life." The caucus also is calling for a the creation of a paid staffer position like the Progressive and the Black, Latino, and Asian Caucuses have, which they say would help them work more effectively.

In addition, the report is calling for the "creation of a new program that would

fund the promotion of womens political engagement on a collegiate level," in order to start building a pool of qualified candidates early, and give young women networking opportunities early on in their careers.
Senator Andy Uba has said that Awka, the capital city of Anambra State, was the worst state capital in the whole of Nigeria.

Mr. Uba, a governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress, APC, disclosed this in Awka after touring the state ahead of the primary election of the party slated for August 26.

In a statement issued by his media aide, Joseph Itazi, Mr. Uba after touring the 14 local governments said that the state lacked a befitting capital.

He added that his tour of the state had also re-emphasised the enormous work that needed to be done in the state.

Let us look at Awka as a state capital, Awka till today remains the worst capital in the whole of Nigeria, its present infrastructural state does not justify its status as a capital city.

When I won my elections in 2007, I had plans for Awka. We were going to create a new Awka, with well laid out plans befitting to a state like ours

Sadly, I was removed from office after 17 days and till date no administration has deemed it worthy to toe such a path.

Let me assure you that in my first year in office, I will begin to implement such ideas, Awka must be given the status it deserves, he said.

Mr. Uba said that the current administration in the state lacked ideas and had failed to deliver benefits to Anambra people.

He said that the state had not had any development since the administration started adding that he was aware of the enormous work that needed to be done if he is voted in as the state governor.

He described his gubernatorial ambition as one laden with the burden to develop the state in the shortest time possible

He bemoaned the state of infrastructure in the state, promising to galvanise all resources available to the state for the benefit of its citizens.

Anambra State has all it takes to excel, in my years of service, I have come to understand that the state can compete with the likes of Lagos, Kano and Rivers States, with our abundant resources, we can compete with these aforementioned states.

He urged the delegates to ignore the lies peddled against him, stating that at no point in time had he the intention of changing or removing any of the party leaders, officials or delegates.

Mr. Uba also promised to run an inclusive campaign that would be powered by ideas.

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A senator, Buruji Kashamu, has vowed to contest the inauguration of a caretaker committee for Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

The caretaker executive was installed in Abuja on Wednesday by the PDP caretaker chairman, Ahmed Makarfi.

Tunde Odanye, a politician from Osun State, was named as the head of the caretaker executive in Ogun State, with a mandate to conduct statewide congresses within three months.

The congresses would produce substantive new leadership for the party at local and state level.

But Mr. Kashamu, representing Ogun East Senatorial District, said the move was one sided and an affront to the judiciary. He argued that the hitherto state executive secured a court order that it must not be dissolved.

The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court in an August 11 order said the executive, which was led by Mr. Kashamus associate, Bayo Dayo, should be recognised as a legitimate body by the PDP national executive.

The court also ordered that Mr. Dayos members be allowed to participate at the partys non-elective convention held on August 12 in Abuja.

It was at the convention that Mr. Dayos executive was dissolved, a move that was followed with yesterdays inauguration of a caretaker executive.

Messrs. Kashamu and Dayo, as well as other politicians loyal to the erstwhile PDP faction led by Ali Sheriff, stayed away from the non-elective convention, which held against the backdrop of last months Supreme Court ruling that confirmed Mr. Makarfi as the authentic leader of the PDP.

Mr. Kashamu has maintained that the Supreme Court ruling was silent on the protracted supremacy tussle that has beset the PDP leadership in the South-West for more than two years.

The party has been torn between Mr. Kashamu and former Governor Gbenga Daniel, who has the backing of Kessington Adebutu, a lottery businessman and financier of the party.

He argued that the new caretaker committee was packed with loyalists of Messrs. Daniel and Adebutu, with the exception of chairman and secretary who were tapped from outside the state.

Ariyo Folabi, the caretaker committees secretary, is from Ekiti State.

A spokesperson for Mr. Daniel, Ayo Giwa, could not be reached for comments as his phone line indicated it was unreachable Thursday morning.

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The Ogun State Police Command have arrested a 43-year-old man, Ini Udoh, for allegedly raping three minors.

The Command Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, made this known to PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday, adding that the suspect reportedly committed the crime in Ijoko community located in Sango town of the state.

Police in Ogun State has arrested Ini Udoh for having unlawful carnal knowledge of three minors, two of whom are 9 years old while the other one is 12 years old, Mr Oyeyemi disclosed.

He said the suspect who lived in the same compound with the victims parents usually lured the girls into his room whenever their parents and his own wife were not around under the pretence of sending them on errands. He allegedly had sex with them at different times.

The police spokesperson said the crime was unravelled when the mother of one of the girls noticed what looked like sperm on her daughters panties while washing it and this aroused her curiosity.

It was this (disclosure) that led to revelation that the suspect has been having sex with her and two others whenever their parents are not at home, Mr Oyeyemi said.

He said a report was subsequently lodged at the Sango Police Station and detectives then arrested the suspect.

Mr. Oyeyemi said the three victims have been taken to the General Hospital for medical attention. He added that the Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, has ordered immediate transfer of the case to the Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Labour Unit of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for further investigation and possible prosecution of the suspect.

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Polish President Andrzej Duda's chief aide Krzysztof Szczerski's Wednesday visit to the Lithuanian capital was dominated by issues of cooperation between the two neighbours.

"The talks concerned a wide range of bilateral matters, starting form security issues to infrastructure development in the spirit of the Three Seas Initiative to European policy issues", Krzysztof Szczerski said.

"President Duda has been invited to take part in the ceremonies marking the 100th anniversary of regaining independence by Lithuania, to be held in February 2018", Minister Szczerski also said.

The presidential aide went to Vilnius following an invitation from his Lithuanian counterpart, Nerijus Aleksiejunas, chief advisor to President Dalia Grybauskaite.

On Wednesday morning, Krzysztof Szczerski took part in a ceremony of presenting credentials to the Lithuanian president by Poland's new ambassador to the country, Urszula Doroszewska.

In the afternoon, Szczerski and Doroszewska, on behalf of President Andrzej Duda, laid flowers at Rasos Cemetery in Vilnius at the tomb of Polish interwar statesman Jozef Pilsudski's mother, where Pilsudski's heart is also buried. He also took part in Lithuanian ceremonies marking the Black Ribbon Day observed on the anniversary of signing the Nazi-Soviet Ribbentrop Molotov pact that determined the fate of the countries located between the two regimes. (PAP)
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Ocean City resident Stephen French, a repeat-offender drunken driver who killed Richard Ricci Branca Jr., 17, of Egg Harbor Township, in 2006, was released last month after serving close to 10 years in prison.

French, 65, pleaded guilty in 2007 to aggravated manslaughter and admitted leaving the scene after killing Branca and injuring two of his friends as they rode their bicycles along Ocean Drive between Ocean City and Longport. He was originally sentenced to 16 years.

Sherri Branca, the mother of the killed teen, wrote the state Department of Corrections and said she believed French should serve his full sentence.

I think its very unfair. ... I just dont understand the system. It makes me speechless, said Branca, 54, who added people think a parent eventually gets over the death of a child.

You never get over it. Its a part of you now thats gone.

Frenchs attorney, Joseph J. Rodgers, could not be reached for comment.

Sherri Branca said her husband, Ricci Sr., 58, has had to live without his son. Brancas daughter, Adriene Foster, 34, also of Egg Harbor Township, has had to live without her brother, she said.

French, who comes from an affluent family in Ocean City, lived above the familys real estate office, French Realty, now a Keller Williams office.

The real estate agent drank 10 glasses of wine during the course of four hours prior to getting behind the wheel of his car to drive home, according to police and court testimony.

About 9:15 p.m. July 14, 2006, French, an admitted alcoholic, was driving his car on Ocean Drive when he struck three of five bicyclists riding together. The teens were riding on the shoulder single-file toward Ocean City.

Branca was taken with severe head trauma to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, City Campus, in Atlantic City, and died as a result of his injuries four days later.

Sherri Branca said French lost his drivers license for the rest of his life but that she knows people who have previously had their driving privileges taken away for life.

Driver strikes Econo Lodge, charged with DWI ATLANTIC CITY  A driver was charged Saturday with a DWI after he was involved in two accide

That dont mean that man will not get in a car and drink and drive again, Branca said. There is nobody stopping him. You cant lock him to a pole, and hes a known alcoholic all his life.

Even though French served 10 years, Branca cant see him coming back into society and not drinking.

It breaks my heart thinking that that man  its a possibility with him being out of jail  can actually go drink and drive again and kill somebody else, Branca said. I dont want anyone else to go through what we have gone through.

Sherri and Ricci Branca Sr. lobbied Trenton lawmakers to pass Riccis Law. Named for their son, it requires ignition interlocks for drivers convicted of driving with a blood-alcohol content higher than 0.15 percent.

Branca said her family wanted to take the state law national, but paperwork in Washington, D.C., has been lost or misplaced since the death in 2013 of U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, one of the two senators representing the state at the time.
ATLANTIC CITY  In just four months, several empty lots lining Albany Avenue have been transformed into the outline of what will become Stockton Universitys Atlantic City campus and a six-story South Jersey Gas office.

Were on schedule and were moving right along, Stockton University Project Manager Mark Ciccotelli said during a tour of the $220 million Atlantic City Gateway Project last week.

The project is scheduled to be open for the fall 2018 semester.

The steel structure for the 200,000-square-foot beachfront residential building is visible from the beach several blocks away, and a parking garage next door is nearing completion.

Its impressive. I drive in every day along Albany Avenue and I cant get over how much it changes on a daily basis, said Brian Jackson, chief operating officer for Stocktons Atlantic City campus.

He said that as the excitement builds, the college is giving more tours of the campus to faculty, staff and students leaders who have arrived back to campus.

Theres a lot of interest, and we anticipate this coming spring that we will really kick into high gear as far as marketing the campus, Jackson said.

When complete, the complex will house 533 students and 15,000 square feet of retail space along the Boardwalk and on Atlantic Avenue, as well as a fitness center. Jackson said they have been in contact with local, regional, and national restaurateurs to develop the retail space.

The two boardwalk spaces were targeting for a coffee shop, as well as a restaurant, he said.

Stocktons $178.3 million Atlantic City campus facing Albany and Trenton avenues will also include a 56,000-square-foot academic building with three floors, 14 classrooms and computer labs, a 3,000-square-foot event room, and a cafe with outdoor seating.

Academic offerings at the campus will include business, hospitality and tourism, social work, organizational leadership, and  by 2019  a new community leadership and civic engagement major, which Jackson said is under development.

He said that Stockton anticipates its Atlantic City campus becoming a year-round experience.

So there will be courses offered during the summer. We anticipate really beefing up our continuing (education) options, as well, and for those students who would like to live in Atlantic City during the summer time, the housing here could be an option for them, Jackson said. Who wouldnt want to live by the beach during the summer, as well as have the experience of working here along the shore.

If you're at the #AtlanticCity Airshow today, check out the Boardwalk TVs to see a video of Stockton's AC campus opening in 2018 pic.twitter.com/CZi1dRFHAI  Stockton University (@Stockton_edu) August 23, 2017

The renderings of the campus, projected Wednesday on television screens over the Atlantic City Boardwalk during the annual Air Show, show bustling and modern buildings with tree lined sidewalks against the backdrop of blue skies and waves.

The sheer magnificence of this project is coming into sharper focus each and every day, and the enthusiasm and excitement surrounding its development is palpable. As president, I could not be more thrilled, said Stockton University President Harvey Kesselman.

Last month, Kesselman announced that the college received funding from the state for an additional 168 staff in 2018 for the Atlantic City campus.

This represents the largest increase in our central appropriation in Stocktons history and equates to an additional $4 million to our FY18 operating budget, Kesselman said.

Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian said the Gateway Project is a key component of Atlantic Citys rebirth.

It is moving forward very quickly and will be a tremendous anchor for us. Its good for Atlantic City for so many reasons to have cranes in the sky and building a wonderful foundation for our incoming Stockton students. It has been a long road since 2014 when I helped convince Stockton to come to Atlantic City and not Manahawkin. All of our hard work is really starting to pay off, Guardian said.

Rowan University also has major redevelopment underway at its $350 million Rowan Boulevard project. This week, the college held a grand opening for two new student buildings and luxury apartments in downtown Glassboro.

The privately funded partnership between Rowan, developers and the Borough of Glassboro consists of a corridor lined with shops, restaurants and medical providers at street level with housing, offices and classrooms above.

Also a public-private partnership, the project links Rowan University with Glassboros retail district along High Street via Rowan Boulevard with anchors including student apartments, a Barnes & Noble superstore and a Courtyard by Marriott hotel and conference center.
GALLOWAY  The bust of Richard Stockton has been removed from Stockton Universitys campus library in an attempt to address a longtime controversy surrounding the colleges slave-owning namesake, college officials said Thursday.

Although recent protests have erupted around the country over other controversial statues, Stockton University President Harvey Kesselman said that controversy about the colleges namesake has been going on for several years.

If you look in our 40th (anniversary), youll see that the discussion began to take place then, he said, adding even during the universitys founding it was controversial. It never was placed in context and I think thats the most important thing about this.

The bust of Stockton was on display at the Richard E. Bjork Library. It was taken down Wednesday. Stockton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, also owned slaves.

Stockton Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Lori Vermeulen sent a letter to the campus community Thursday to inform them of the decision to remove the statue.

Vermeulen said the mission of Stockton University  to develop engaged and effective citizens with a commitment to lifelong learning and the capacity to adapt to change in a multicultural, interdependent world  affords the university the responsibility to provide an opportunity for students to learn about the facts surrounding Richard Stocktons place in American history as well as in Stocktons history.

The removal of the bust is temporary, and will return with an exhibit that is being developed that will show a more historical perspective and one that will allow meaningful dialog about Richard Stockton as a controversial figure, Vermeulen explained.

One student on Thursday, incoming Stockton senior Sarah Amin of Egg Harbor Township, said she thinks removal of the statue is an overreaction.

Kesselman said the timing of the removal is relevant, thanks to recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia, and other cities around the country. He said he expects backlash, but the university tries to give an educational perspective to all issues and have a transparent conversation.

Particularly at public institutions of higher education, its a marketplace of ideas. One of the things that can happen is it is a place where people are able to express themselves hopefully in civil ways to discuss issues of relevance to them, Kesselman said.

Dylan Perry, a Stockton senior from Upper Township weighed in on the removal.

I really never heard anyone make a comment or complaint about Richard Stockton. I do know he was a signer if the Declaration of Independence and otherwise not much is known about him. But I think removing the bust is an overreaction, he said.

The real problem in our nation is not statues of historical figures. Rather the problem is that we have people in our nation with hate in their hearts. I understand we are in a PC era but removing statues will not change things. Rather, addressing the feelings that caused those statues to be removed would be a good plan going forward, Perry said.

Kesselman said the college formed several committees this year, including one to address the Stockton bust. He said the committee will take a very close look and have an honest and fair assessment of how we got to where we are.

Vermeulen is meeting next week with student and faculty campus leaders to develop the committee.

Its a really great opportunity for a teachable moment, talk across differences, talk about different points of view, Vermeulen said. Its really going to provide a good opportunity for our students and the community at large.
Upland game bird program guide available

Hunters can refer to the Projects Access Guide, published annually by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Upland Game Bird Enhancement Program. The guide includes project maps that depict boundaries of private lands enrolled in the UGBEP. Once hunters have obtained the landowner's permission to hunt, the maps with access boundaries can be an invaluable tool for hunters to locate UGBEP project areas.

The UGBEP Projects Access Guide also contains information on habitat enhancement work done on public lands, Open Fields, pheasant release sites, and the method used to obtain permission in order to hunt upland game birds.

Project maps have been created with "georeferenced capabilities," a fancy way of saying hunters can download the maps from the FWP website to most smartphones and tablets.

While no internet connection or cellphone coverage is required to view the maps, a free third-party app of the user's choice is needed for the maps to kick into georeferenced mode. Go to any online app store and search for "georeferenced PDF viewers". There are several free options available.

Hunters can find the new guide and the maps online at fwp.mt.gov. Click Upland Game Bird Access Guide.

Printed access guides will be available at FWP headquarters and regional offices by Aug. 25. Hunters can also request a copy of the book via FWP's website.

For more information, contact Debbie Hohler at: 444-5674, or by e-mail: dhohler@mt.gov.

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Block management information available

For the 2017 hunting season, over 1,300 cooperators have enrolled about 7.3 million acres in Montanas Block Management Program.

The Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks program provides hunters with public hunting access to private and isolated public land, free of charge, while assisting landowners in managing hunter impacts.

FWP publishes one statewide Block Management Hunting Access Guide that includes information for all Type 1 and Type 2 Block Management Areas (BMAs) in all seven FWP administrative regions.

The Hunting Access Guide and all BMA maps are now available on the FWP website at fwp.mt.gov. Hunting Access Guides and BMA maps can be also obtained in person from most FWP regional offices.

Due to Montanas extreme fire seasons and dry conditions, some BMAs are currently closed or restricted. With the dry conditions hunters should be prepared for BMA restrictions until the extreme conditions subside. Landowners participating in the Block Management Program can restrict access for fire danger concerns as they feel necessary. For restrictions and closures, go online to fwp.mt.gov.

Additional tools to help hunters plan for hunts on Montanas 93 million acres of private and public land can be found on line at fwp.mt.gov. Click Hunting, then view options under Hunter Access.

***

Ask first to hunt on private land

Hunters who haven't already asked permission from private landowners to hunt need to do so as soon as possible.

Montana law requires hunters to obtain permission for all hunting on private land. Whether pursuing upland game birds, coyotes, gophers or any other wildlife, hunters must have permission from the landowner before hunting on private property.

Landowners may grant permission in person, over the phone, in writing or by posting signs that explain what type of hunting is allowed and under what conditions hunting may occur on land owned or controlled by the landowner.

It is Montana law that hunters obtain landowner permission to hunt on all private land.

Here are a few things to keep in mind that will greatly improve results when attempting to secure hunting access to private land.

Show courtesy to the landowner and make hunting arrangements by calling or visiting at times convenient to the landowner.

Plan ahead and secure permission well in advance of the actual hunting date.

Provide complete information about yourself and your hunting companions, including vehicle descriptions and license numbers.

Explain what type of hunting you wish to do, and be sure to ask any questions which can help clarify the conditions of access.

Follow the landowners instructions, and bring with you only the companions for whom you obtained the landowners permission.

Be sure to thank the landowner after your hunt.

Hunters and landowners can learn more by investing some time on Montana's Hunter-Landowner Stewardship Project, an information program for anyone interested in promoting responsible hunter behavior and good hunter and landowner relationships in Montana. Visit FWP's website at fwp.mt.gov, then click "Hunting" under Quick Links.

For more information on hunting access in Montana, check out the "Hunter Access" pages on FWP's website at fwp.mt.gov.

***

Elk shoulder seasons

Elk hunters now have opportunities to fill their tags in several hunting districts around Montana.

A shoulder season is a firearms season that can occur as early as Aug. 15 and run as late as Feb. 15 depending on the hunting district. While most shoulder seasons focus on antlerless elk harvest on private land and are not intended to replace or reduce harvest during the existing archery or five-week general firearms seasons, a few are meant to address problematic distribution of elk.

For the 2017 season the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission approved shoulder seasons in 44 hunting districts, in six of FWPs seven regions.

Shoulder seasons have specific objectives and as such, the commission and department will monitor the success of shoulder seasons in each hunting district to ensure they are meeting the fundamental objectives.

For more information on shoulder seasons, including an interactive map of hunting districts with shoulder seasons, look on the FWPs website under Shoulder Seasons, a link to which is on the FWP homepage and the hunting home page.

Additionally, each region will have specific information about shoulder seasons in their areas that can be found on the web page. Some regions will employ elk hunt information coordinators. The contact information for those people will also be on the web page.

***

Comments sought on EA for Ear Mountain

Fish, Wildlife and Parks is seeking comments on a draft environmental assessment (EA) for two grazing lease renewals on Ear Mountain Wildlife Management Area.

The 3,080-acre WMA is located about 20 miles west of Choteau along the Rocky Mountain Front in Teton County.

The proposed grazing leases would allow cattle to be utilized as a management tool to remove residual vegetation and maintain vegetative condition, providing availability and quality of native forage, benefiting wildlife. The WMA has been grazed with a rest-rotation grazing system since 1991.

Copies of the draft EA are available from FWP Region 4, 4600 Giant Springs Road, Great Falls, 59405; by phone, 406-467-2488; email, blonner@mt.gov; or at FWPs website: http://fwp.mt.gov/home/publicComments.

Written comments will be accepted until 5 p.m., Sept. 13. The EA is available at www.fwp.mt.gov  Submit Public Comments.

Send written comments to: Ear Mountain WMA Grazing EA Comments, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, P.O. Box 488, Fairfield MT, 59436. Or e-mail comments to blonner@mt.gov.
LINCOLN, Neb.  Robbery charges have been filed in Nebraska against a Roundup man suspected of being the "AK-47 bandit," who investigators believe robbed banks in five states.

Court records show 39-year-old Richard Gathercole was indicted Tuesday for an August 2014 bank robbery in Nebraska City, about 50 miles south of Omaha. His attorney didn't immediately return a call Wednesday from The Associated Press.

The charges include bank robbery, possession of a weapon and transporting a stolen vehicle across state lines and transporting a stolen firearm across state lines in furtherance of a crime of violence, according to a release from the FBI.

FBI officials have been looking for years for the man they believe robbed banks in California, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska and Washington state typically while carrying an AK-47 rifle.

Gathercole, of Roundup, was arrested June 20 near Lexington, Nebraska, after a sheriff's deputy spotted a pickup truck that Kansas authorities had reported stolen by a man who fired at a state trooper.
BENGALURU, India, August 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

TO ALL STOCK EXCHANGES

BSE LIMITED

NATIONAL STOCK EXCHANGE OF INDIA LIMITED

NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE

EURONEXT LONDON

EURONEXT PARIS

August 24, 2017

Dear Sir/Madam,

Re: Disclosure under Regulation 30 of SEBI (LODR) Regulations, 2015

This is to inform you that the Board of Directors of Infosys Limited (the "Company") has at its meeting held today:

Appointed Mr. Nandan Nilekani as a non-executive, non-independent director and as the Chairman of the Board of Directors (" Board" ), with immediate effect. A brief profile of Mr. Nilekani is attached as Annexure - 1.

Accepted the resignation of Mr. R. Seshasayee as the Chairman of the Board and as a director on the Board with immediate effect.

Accepted the resignation of Dr. Vishal Sikka as the Executive Vice - Chairman of the Board and as a director on the Board with immediate effect.

Accepted the resignation of Professor Jeffrey S. Lehman as a director on the Board with immediate effect.

Accepted the resignation of Professor John Etchemendy as a director on the Board with immediate effect.

Accepted the resignation of Mr. Ravi Venkatesan as the Co-Chairman of the Board with immediate effect (however, he continues as an Independent Director).

This is for your information and records. A copy of the Company's Press Release is attached.

Yours sincerely,

For InfosysLimited

A .G.S.Manikantha

Company Secretary

Enclosed: Press Release

Annexure - 1

Press Release

[NSE, BSE, NYSE: INFY]: Infosys (NYSE: INFY), a global leader in consulting, technology, outsourcing and next-generation services, today announced that its Board of Directors has unanimously approved the appointment of Mr. Nandan Nilekani as the Non Executive Chairman of the Board, effective immediately. Mr. Nilekani is an iconic leader, a successful entrepreneur and investor, and someone who has played a pivotal role in India's transition to a digital economy. Among his many achievements, Mr Nilekani led the implementation of one of the world's biggest technology initiatives, India's Aadhaar program, which has now enrolled over a billion Indians and which is transforming the lives of ordinary Indians every day. He is also one of the co-founders of Infosys and served as its CEO from 2002 to 2007.

In welcoming Mr. Nilekani, the outgoing Chairman Mr. R. Seshasayee, who stepped down from the Board today, stated, "Nandan is the ideal leader for Infosys at this stage in the Company's development. His appointment will allow Infosys to focus on the strategic changes it needs to make in order to capitalize on the attractive opportunities in the years ahead. Under Nandan, Infosys will build a cohesive management team that will no doubt take the Company to a leadership position in the industry. I believe these changes will infuse further confidence to the stakeholders in executing the transition plan and in reinforcing the strategy for the future. I am confident our employees and customers will join me in welcoming Nandan to the Company."

Also stepping down from the Board, effective immediately, are Dr. Vishal Sikka, Prof. Jeffrey Lehman and Prof. John Etchemendy, each of whom welcomed the appointment of the new Chairman. Dr. Sikka said, "Last week I said that my remaining on the Infosys Board was to primarily enable a smooth transition. In Nandan, we have found an ideal leader to manage this transition. "I welcome Nandan's appointment as Chairman to help guide Infosys to new frontiers of success and wish him, Pravin and all Infoscions the very best in the times ahead."

Prof. Lehman, who was scheduled to retire from the Board in April 2018, stated, "With Vishal's departure, Infosys is entering into a stage in which the time demands on independent directors will be compounded even further. In light of the other demands on my time, I think it best if I accelerate my departure from the Board by a few months to allow a new independent director to start in this important role."

Prof. Etchemendy stated, "It has been a great honor and pleasure to serve the shareholders of Infosys for the past three years, and to have a front row seat during the transformative strategies that Vishal Sikka brought as the CEO. With Vishal's departure, the board and his successor will embark on a new phase in Infosys' future, and I think that giving up my board seat to a new independent director is the right decision."

Upon the appointment of Mr. Nilekani as Chairman, Mr. Ravi Venkatesan stepped down from his role as Co-Chairman. Mr. Venkatesan will continue on the Board.

The Board had, on August 18, 2017, appointed Dr. Sikka as the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) to facilitate a smooth transition. This transition has been expedited with the appointment of Mr. Nilekani. Given that the EVC employment agreement with Dr. Sikka had not yet been executed, the Board, prior to the induction of Mr. Nilekani, decided that the Company will complete all resignation formalities as per Dr. Sikka's employment contract as MD and CEO as executed on April 1, 2016 and approved by the shareholders. Accordingly Dr. Sikka will receive 90 days' base pay in lieu of notice of US$ 246,575, a variable pay of US$ 205,572 and company-paid COBRA (employee benefits) for 90 days. All equity awards outstanding as on separation date to the extent such awards are unvested will terminate on the date of separation. All equity awards that vested during his employment with the Company will remain as vested as per the terms of the equity plan and award agreement A separation agreement reflecting this and other terms such as a mutual release and non-disparagement obligation has been approved by the Board.

Mr. Venkatesan, took this opportunity to thank Mr. Seshasayee, and stated, "It is a great privilege to have worked with a person of such stature and dignity as Sesh. It has been an honour for the entire Board to be captained by him. His strength of character and his unwavering commitment to the Company is deeply admired by all members who have served alongside him on this Board."

He further stated "Jeff and John have been invaluable colleagues on the Board, providing guidance and ensuring continuity through the significant changes Infosys has seen during this period. I also thank Vishal for all his contributions including his commitment to facilitate a smooth transition."

Mr. Nilekani added, "I am happy to return to Infosys, now in the role of non-executive chairman, and look forward to working with my colleagues on the Board and in executive management on the business opportunities we see before us and delivering benefits to our clients, shareholders, employees and communities. I thank Vishal for his service as the CEO of Infosys over the last 3 years and wish him well in his future endeavors."

Mr. Nilekani also stated that the Board will actively consider a broad based shareholder consultation process as a critical part of its overall engagement initiatives with all the stakeholders of the Company that are being taken up on a priority basis.

Mr. U. B. Pravin Rao who will continue as Interim CEO and MD and, also was pleased to welcome Mr. Nilekani to Infosys. The Infosys Board will continue with its earlier stated plan to identify a permanent CEO and MD.

The Company will organize two investor calls of an hour each to discuss the announcements.

The first investor call will take place at 10.00 am IST on August 25, 2017 (12.30 am EST; 12.30 pm Singapore/HK time; 5.30 am London time). The second investor call will take place at 6.00 pm IST on August 25, 2017 (8.30 am EST; 8.30 pm Singapore/HK time; 1.30 pm London time).

The dial-in numbers for the calls will be put up on the Company's investor website.

A Press conference will take place at 4.00 PM IST on August 25, 2017.

About Infosys

Infosys is a global leader in technology services and consulting. We enable clients in 45 countries to create and execute strategies for their digital transformation. From engineering to application development, knowledge management and business process management, we help our clients find the right problems to solve, and to solve these effectively. Our team of 198,000+ innovators, across the globe, is differentiated by the imagination, knowledge and experience, across industries and technologies that we bring to every project we undertake.

Visit www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise thrive in the digital age.

Safe Harbor

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the 'safe harbor' under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements concerning our future business opportunities and growth prospects. Such forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, and unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. In addition, please note that any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on assumptions that we believe to be reasonable as of the date of this press release. The company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the company unless it is required by law.

Please follow the link for document: http://www.bseindia.com/xml-data/corpfiling/AttachLive/08f2b255-2c27-48d9-86c0-5a0ad4320b3d.pdf

The press release is also available on website of the Comppany: www.infosys.com

Annexure-1

A brief profile of Mr. Nandan Nilekani-

Nandan Nilekani is the Co-founder and Chairman of EkStep, a not-for-profit effort to create a learner centric, technology based platform to improve basic literacy and numeracy for millions of children. He was most recently the Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in the rank of a Cabinet Minister. Nandan Nilekani was previously the Co-Chairman, Infosys Technologies Limited, which he co-founded in 1981C

Born in Bengaluru, Nilekani received his Bachelor's degree from IIT, Bombay. Fortune Magazine conferred him with "Asia's Businessman of the year 2003". In 2005 he received the prestigious Joseph Schumpeter prize for innovative services in economy, economic sciences and politics. In 2006, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan. He was also named Businessman of the year by Forbes Asia. Time magazine listed him as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2006 & 2009. Foreign Policy magazine listed him as one of the Top 100 Global thinkers in 2010. He won The Economist Social & Economic Innovation Award for his leadership of India's Unique Identification initiative (Aadhaar). In 2017, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from E & Y. CNBC- TV 18 conferred India Business leader award for outstanding contributor to the Indian Economy-2017 and he also received the 22nd Nikkei Asia Prize for Economic & Business Innovation 2017.

Nandan Nilekani is the author of "Imagining India" and co- authored his second book with Viral Shah, "Rebooting India: Realizing a Billion Aspirations".

This is a disclosure announcement from PR Newswire.

SOURCE Infosys Limited
CAMPBELL, California, August 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Outdoor shoe brand selects Centric Software PLM to support rapid growth

KEEN, Inc. (KEEN), the Portland, Oregon-based manufacturer and retailer of shoes, sandals, boots, bags and apparel, has selected Centric Software to provide its Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution. Centric Software is the leading PLM solution for fashion, retail, footwear, luxury, outdoor and consumer goods companies.

(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/455901/Centric_Software_Logo.jpg )



KEEN's first product, the Newport sandal, appeared on shelves almost 15 years ago. Hot on the heels of this rugged sandal's success, KEEN has expanded to a range of outdoor, work, kids and adventure wear, from bags to work boots to children's shoes. KEEN sells its products through its own branded retail and online stores as well as via a vast network of global retail partners and distributors. KEEN prides itself on its values of quality, integrity, health, caring and pioneering, and reflects these in its commitment to environmental causes.

KEEN is growing fast, prompting the company to look for a system to lend structure and improve efficiency during this period of expansion. As Hari Perumal, KEEN's Vice President, Global Technical Operations explains, the time was right for change.

"We have grown pretty dramatically since 2003," Perumal says. "Because we manufacture, source and distribute on a global scale, we deal with a lot of complexity. Our design and development teams are spread across multiple regions to be in tune with consumer tastes and expectations in different markets as diverse as Japan, Europe and Canada. We have been running the business in the same way since the company was founded, using spreadsheets, word documents, emails and line drawings, and now we need a system to bring all these together."

Perumal continues, "Product developers spend time chasing spreadsheets rather than getting their real, productive work done. Multiply that by the number of countries we are in, and the amount of time lost just explodes. The lead time for development is drawn out because we do not have clear visibility into our KPIs. We are at a threshold where we need strong foundation systems to scale the business up and support our aggressive growth plans. We are confident that this is the right moment to implement Centric PLM and that it will enable us to grow our business."

"We chose Centric because their team has a very deep knowledge of the footwear and apparel space and because everyone loved the ease of using Centric PLM," says Perumal. "The solution is very intuitive and the user interface is so simple. Centric has worked with many footwear companies, so they have tons of best practices and lessons learned. Centric has taken these and applied them to out of the box features, which is very enticing for a company like ours that is using a PLM solution for the first time."

"We want to bring all of the global teams together, so there are no discrete people working in corners of the world that are invisible to each other," adds Perumal. "We also want to break down separate systems to help people figure out their workload. With Centric we can make all these emails and spreadsheets obsolete, so that people will come to work, log into Centric and, based on their roles and responsibilities, get a dashboard and an automated workflow that will tell them what the next steps are. We're looking forward to having business intelligence reports to tell us what progress is being made and what the pain points are, so that we can address these early on."

Perumal believes KEEN and Centric are at the beginning of a productive, long-term working relationship. "We expect Centric PLM to have a positive influence on our business," Perumal adds.

"We are delighted to begin our collaboration with KEEN," says Chris Groves, President and CEO of Centric Software. "KEEN's rate of growth is impressive and a testament to the company's dedication and innovative approach. We look forward to sharing our expertise in the PLM footwear and apparel arena to help KEEN enter their next phase of growth."

About KEEN, Inc. (http://www.keenfootwear.com):

KEEN, Inc. is values led, independently-owned outdoor footwear brand from Portland, Ore. with a mission to responsibly create original and versatile products, improve lives and inspire outside adventure. Founded in 2003, KEEN ignited a revolution in the footwear industry with the introduction of the Newport sandal, launching the concept of Hybrid footwear into the market and setting KEEN on a path of driving consistent product innovation that exists today. KEEN strives to live by its values, from its products to its actions, and by activating communities and individuals to protect and preserve the places where we work and play. KEEN employees passionately endeavor to live fulfilling lives, challenge the status quo, do good, give back, and inspire others. Learn more at http://www.keenfootwear.com

Centric Software (http://www.centricsoftware.com)

From its headquarters in Silicon Valley and offices in trend capitals around the world, Centric Software provides a Digital Transformation Platform for the most prestigious names in fashion, retail, footwear, luxury, outdoor and consumer goods. Centric Visual Innovation Platform (VIP) is a visual, fully digital collection of boards for touch-based devices like iPad, iPhone and large-scale, touch-screen televisions. Centric VIP transforms decision making and automates execution to truly collapse time to market and distance to trend. Centric's flagship product lifecycle management (PLM) platform, Centric 8, delivers enterprise-class merchandise planning, product development, sourcing, business planning, quality, and collection management functionality tailored for fast-moving consumer industries. Centric SMB packages extended PLM including innovative technology and key industry learnings tailored for small businesses.

Centric Software has received multiple industry awards, including the Frost & Sullivan Global Product Differentiation Excellence Award in Retail, Fashion, and Apparel PLM in 2016 and Frost & Sullivan's Global Retail, Fashion, and Apparel PLM Product Differentiation Excellence Award in 2012. Red Herring named Centric to its Top 100 Global list in 2013, 2015, and 2016.

Centric is a registered trademark of Centric Software. All other brands and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE Centric Software
HOUSTON, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ascend, the largest non-profit Pan-Asian membership organization for business professionals in North America celebrated its 2017 National Convention at the Marriott Marquis Houston on August 19-21, 2017. This year's convention theme was "Power Up"  a theme that was explored extensively throughout the event. The Ascend Convention is the largest gathering of Pan-Asian business professionals in North America with attendees from over 200 organizations and 60+ sponsoring organizations.

Ascend

Ascend featured some truly inspirational speakers from diverse fields ranging from Christine Ha, celebrity cook and author who talked about her vision loss to Soyeon Yi, South Korea's first astronaut who recounted surviving a life-threatening accident in space. Joe Adams, Managing Partner and CEO of RSM US LLP spoke about the power of being you. Shariq Yosufzai, Vice President of Global Diversity at Chevron Corporation gave a passionate Awards Dinner speech about the dearth of Pan-Asians in leadership positions. Yash Semlani, the 11-year old entrepreneur, community leader and Houston's Inaugural Young Ambassador discussed his impressive achievements and non-profit work. This year, the convention featured a third edition of the hugely popular Ascend Talks, with trailblazing speakers including Duy-Loan Le, an engineer and the first woman and Asian elected as a Texas Instruments Senior Fellow, and a partnership with United Way Houston where convention attendees gave back to the Houston public schools.

Anna Mok, Ascend National Executive Vice President, said: "Our Convention is unique in not only its scale and impact but also in our programming and attendees. This is the only convention for Pan-Asians where CEOs and Corporate Board directors, who are part of Ascend Pinnacle, are cross-learning and networking with each other and those of other career levels. As a lifecycle organization, Ascend features programs for different career levels including Pinnacle, the Pan-Asian Corporate Board Initiative, Corporate Executive Initiative, Executive Insight Series, and sessions for millennials and students."



Jeff Chin, the Ascend National President, said: "The convention was the perfect opportunity to reflect on what we stand for. It's more important than ever that we help build and foster an open and inclusive workplace and society, bring people together and be leaders. The beauty of this world lies in our diversity and our ability to harness our collective strengths. As I look around the Convention, I am so proud to say that Ascend and our members continually demonstrates and reinforces our beliefs and values."

At the Awards Dinner, Ascend continued the tradition of recognizing business leaders and organizations who have made significant contributions to the Pan-Asian community. Ascend recognized Shariq Yosufzai with the Ascend Inspiring Across Generations (IAG): Inspirational Leader Award; Ananda Kanapathy, Senior Director of Gas Field Operations, North at PSE&G and Ascend New Jersey Chapter President and Anindo Dutta, a Group Vice President at Oracle Corporation with the IAG High-Impact Leader Awards; Vivian Pham with the IAG Rising Star Award; Prudential Financial with the Ascend Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion Award; Bristol-Myers Squibb's Pan Asian Network and Pfizer Inc.'s Global Asian Alliance with the Ascend Affinity/ERG Leadership Awards; and finally Warren Kashiwagi, a retired Partner at Crowe Horwath LLP with the Ascend President's PhD Award. David Ono, News Anchor at ABC7 Los Angeles served as the evening's Master of Ceremonies.

Next year's Ascend National Convention will be held in San Francisco on August 25-28, 2018.

About Ascend



Ascend is the largest, non-profit Pan-Asian membership organization for business professionals in North America. Established in 2005, Ascend, a career lifecycle organization, reaches 60,000+ senior executives, professionals, and MBA/undergraduate students involved in its 50+ chapters in the United States and Canada. Visit http://www.ascendleadership.org/ for more information.

Media contact:

Sofia Poyhonen

[email protected]

212-248-4888

SOURCE Ascend

Related Links

http://www.ascendleadership.org


MALVERN, Pa., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ricoh today announced the success of its fourth annual INTERACT Users Community Event, an established community gathering built on trusted partnerships. Its value is rooted in attendees' underlying belief that the best way to empower digital workplaces is to establish a collaborative community and a sense of partnership with those involved in the daily processes of using Ricoh's solutions. The 2017 event centered on collaboration, education and information sharing with an overarching focus on helping customers leverage technologies that enable them to reach a desired business result.

This highly acclaimed event promoted actionable and effective information sharing via tracks focused on production inkjet business development, production inkjet education and workflow best practices while also showcasing Ricoh's latest technological advancements, business best practices and industry trends. The speaker lineup boasted industry thought leaders and conversation provokers including Pat McGrew, Director and Evangelist, Production Workflow Service of Keypoint Intelligence; Brent Niemuth, President and Chief Creative Officer of J. Schmid & Associates; Timothy D. Cooper, Enterprise Architect of Harland Clarke Holdings Company; and Christian Haneke, head of technical transformation at Druckhaus Haberbeck GmbH. These educational sessions took a deep look into the technologies and processes that are shaping the future of print and invited attendees to join the conversation regarding what comes next for Ricoh, their businesses and for the industry.

"The true power of intimate events like INTERACT is the wealth of information sharing, collaboration and education that occurs between peers and our Ricoh team," said Jeff Paterra, Executive Vice President, Commercial & Industrial Printing Business Group, Ricoh Americas. "It's a real two-way street. Without these insights, we cannot continue to deliver innovative solutions and promote industry advocacy that help our users work smarter and successfully deliver for their customers. And without the hands-on learning and networking with peers, users may not reap the full potential of their Ricoh services. It's these conversations that truly make industry-changing innovation possible, and we're looking forward to our next wave."

As technology continues to drive change, being aware of the latest advances and the best ways to take advantage of them is increasingly important. INTERACT is based on the belief that the best way to address this need is to directly involve key industry stakeholders, both as a form of intelligence pooling and as a way to ensure strong feedback loops for businesses looking to keep up and get ahead.

Feedback was extremely positive from this year's attendees, which included many returning companies and individuals who have found serious value in INTERACT. Highlights include:

"I was honored to be invited to join Ricoh and its customers at INTERACT. Immediately, I felt it was best mix of technical education, market education, motivation and fun for the attendees," said Pat McGrew , Director, Production Workflow Service, Keypoint Intelligence/InfoTrends. "Ricoh is known for its industry advocacy and customer partnerships, and it was really powerful to see it in action."

, Director, Production Workflow Service, Keypoint Intelligence/InfoTrends. "Ricoh is known for its industry advocacy and customer partnerships, and it was really powerful to see it in action." "INTERACT is a truly unique event. I attended last year, and I came again because it's a great way for us to not only share our ideas for how Ricoh can better work with us, but also to learn from our American colleagues in the industry. The markets in Germany and the United States are different, but there are also many similarities, and it's interesting to share our experiences and learn from fellow users," said Christian Haneke , head of technical transformation at Druckhaus Haberbeck GmbH.

and are different, but there are also many similarities, and it's interesting to share our experiences and learn from fellow users," said , head of technical transformation at Druckhaus Haberbeck GmbH. "The idea that I could share my experience with someone entering the field is really, really valuable to me. I greatly value mentorship, and I think it's absolutely vital in this industry. I remember, after one of the sessions I spoke for, someone came up and asked me, 'Why were you so open with your secrets in a room full of competitors?' But the fact is, at a conference like this, they're not my competitors. We're all on the same team, because growth for our peers is growth for the industry. If I'm sharing the secrets that I've used to make Ironmark successful, that's helping elevate the whole industry. If they get to our level, and we feel the heat from the competition, that just means we have to keep pushing harder to create a new level," said Lynne Kingsley , Vice President, Marketing & Strategic Services, Ironmark.

As the pioneer in the continuous feed inkjet industry, Ricoh continues to make investments in its market growth to help the community uncover ways to streamline workflows, drive efficiencies and produce effective output.

To learn more about the Ricoh INTERACT User Community Events and how to participate in the 2018 INTERACT Event, please contact your local Ricoh representative.

For details on Ricoh's full line of products, services and solutions for the production print market, please visit www.ricoh-usa.com or www.TakeALookAtRicoh.com. Also, follow @RicohProPrint on Twitter, Ricoh USA Production Print on LinkedIn and Ricoh USA Production Print on Facebook.

| About Ricoh |



Ricoh is empowering digital workplaces using innovative technologies and services enabling individuals to work smarter. For more than 80 years, Ricoh has been driving innovation and is a leading provider of document management solutions, IT services, commercial and industrial printing, digital cameras, and industrial systems.



Headquartered in Tokyo, Ricoh Group operates in approximately 200 countries and regions. In the financial year ended March 2017, Ricoh Group had worldwide sales of 2,028 billion yen (approx. 18.2 billion USD).



For further information, please visit www.ricoh.com.



 2017 Ricoh USA, Inc. All rights reserved. All referenced product names

are the trademarks of their respective companies.



Contacts:

John Greco

Ricoh USA, Inc.

(973) 882-2023

[email protected]



Tracey Sheehy

Breakaway Communications

(212) 616-6003

[email protected]

SOURCE Ricoh USA, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.ricoh.com


RALEIGH, N.C., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- JUST AS THE SKY IS BLUE is a powerful, compelling young-adult drama that spotlights human nature when confronted with a moral dilemma, illustrating the often less-than-clear distinction between following an honorable path and not standing up for truth in the face of opposition.

MIKA CHANELL has completed her debut novel JUST AS THE SKY IS BLUE: a gripping thought-provoking tale of a young teenage girl who grows up fast when her mother agrees to play a central role in a sensational murder trial that tears her Pennsylvania town apart.

Book Cover Image

In JUST AS THE SKY IS BLUE, Gemini Berry is looking forward to spending a lazy summer in her small hometown of Meadow Lake, Pennsylvania, with her best friend, Sunny. The teens' are obsessed with getting their hands on the "Ring of Atlantis," a legendary charm destined to bring the owner wealth. But their carefree caper is soon halted by a crime that outrages and divides the town. Charles Wilkes, a prisoner at the local penitentiary has been killed by the warden, Hugh Luther. Gemini's mother, Geraldine witnessed the crime and swears that Luther stabbed Wilkes in cold blood but did he? Geraldine agrees to testify against Luther, maintaining that he did indeed murder Wilkes and she refuses to backdown but will her family survive the escalating threats leading up to the trial? The truth about what happened that fateful night forces Gemini to learn more about humanity than she bargained for.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

MIKA CHANELL is the author of her debut novel, JUST AS THE SKY IS BLUE. She loves writing and uses her talent to explore the integrity of human character. She resides in Raleigh, North Carolina with her family.

JUST AS THE SKY IS BLUE is available at bookstores everywhere, Amazon.com, Apple iTunes, or Audible.com

Media Contact:

Maisha Williams

[email protected]

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SOURCE Mika Chanell
BOSTON, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Actifio, the Enterprise Data-as-a-Service (EDaaS) company, today announced a partnership with the Ready for IBM Storage Program to accelerate enterprise digital transformation initiatives for DevOps, analytics and hybrid cloud. Actifio's Big Database Solution is now available as a validated IBM PartnerWorld solution, enabling Actifio to support VAR, MSP and enterprise partners worldwide.

The Ready for IBM Storage program integrates and validates partner offerings with IBM technology to enable end-to-end use cases, simplify deployment, and reduce risk for clients. The Program also enables business partners to collaborate on complete solutions that enhance market positioning through association with IBM Storage.

"Digital transformation continues to accelerate the size of data, making it a massive challenge of scale for application owners and database administrators (DBAs) to develop applications faster and get better business insights through analytics," said Ash Ashutosh, CEO of Actifio. "Working in collaboration with IBM engineers and technology, we are delivering a purpose-built solution that is the data platform for enterprise cognitive and cloud computing initiatives. Actifio's Big Database solution addresses the needs of digital enterprises to instantly self-provision and protect virtual database copies on-premises in a private cloud or in a public or hybrid cloud environment."

Integrated with IBM Storage, Actifio's Big Database Solution delivers:

Instant Virtual Copies : Instantly and non-disruptively clone dozens of read/write copies for dev/test environments while consuming virtually no additional storage

: Instantly and non-disruptively clone dozens of read/write copies for dev/test environments while consuming virtually no additional storage Instant Point-in-Time History : Access 6-months of points in time near-instantly, even for a 100+ TB sized database

: Access 6-months of points in time near-instantly, even for a 100+ TB sized database Object Ready : Leverage Cloud Optimized Storage for cost-optimized long-term data retention, while maintaining ability to instantly mount images

: Leverage Cloud Optimized Storage for cost-optimized long-term data retention, while maintaining ability to instantly mount images Cloud Ready : Instantly provision virtual copies in IBM BlueMix, AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google, and Oracle Cloud platforms

: Instantly provision virtual copies in IBM BlueMix, AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google, and Oracle Cloud platforms Self-Service : Remote team members, once authorized for self-service, can securely access multiple virtual databases instantly bypassing time-consuming, manual processes

: Remote team members, once authorized for self-service, can securely access multiple virtual databases instantly bypassing time-consuming, manual processes API Integration: Integration via RESTful APIs to orchestration portals or DevOps tools including Jenkins, GitHub, Ansible, Chef, Puppet, Saltstack, and more

"Datatrend's deep expertise combined with Actifio's IBM-powered offerings drastically improves our customers' ability to enhance IT agility and bring new services to market faster," said Charlie Cox, President at Datatrend. "Our partnership with both Actifio and IBM enables us to deliver new and advanced offerings that enhance data protection, enable DevOps and allow customers to move to the cloud more efficiently."

"The collaboration between Datatility, IBM and Actifio provides our customers with a unique competitive advantage," said Jan Rosenberg, CEO at Datatility. "The combination of technologies directly meets our customer's needs for performance and flexibility to solve key business and technology challenges related to modernizing Backup and DR, delivering a DevOps strategy and enabling the Hybrid Cloud."

To learn more about Actifio and its recent news releases, please visit the website.

About Actifio

Actifio is the world's leading Enterprise Data-as-a-Service (EDaaS) platform. It enables thousands of users around the world to deliver their data just as they deliver their applications and infrastructure... as a service available instantly, anywhere. An enterprise-class software platform powered by patented Virtual Data Pipeline technology, Actifio frees data from traditional infrastructure to accelerate adoption of hybrid cloud, build higher quality applications faster, and improve business resiliency and availability. For more, visit Actifio.com or follow us on Twitter @Actifio.

Media Contacts:

Meredith Kelly

Bite for Actifio

[email protected]

SOURCE Actifio

Related Links

https://www.actifio.com/


BOISE, Idaho, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Albertsons Companies pharmacies have annual flu vaccinations in stock and are reminding customers that while they are getting vaccinated, it's a great time to review their immunization records and talk to their pharmacist about other health concerns, too.

"A quick trip to the store for your daily staples can also be a convenient time to chat with our pharmacists about broader health care needs," says Mark Panzer, Albertsons Companies Senior Vice President of Pharmacy Health and Wellness. "Our pharmacists can screen and protect customers against other vaccine-preventable diseases like tetanus, whooping cough, pneumonia and shingles, all while getting their flu shot."

By adding flu immunizations every year to a "to-do" list, patients can help prevent the spread of the flu virus. Other common, contagious (and often preventable) diseases like whooping cough and pneumonia are just as easy to be vaccinated for  and they can also be administered at the pharmacy.

"We want to do all we can to keep our communities healthy, which is why our pharmacists not only provide flu vaccinations, but take the time to do comprehensive immunization assessments and educate customers on the benefits of each vaccine," said Mark. "With immunization coverage among adults being low, our pharmacists are well positioned to improve immunization rates for all adults and protect the health of the communities we serve."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone 6 months and older, with rare exceptions, get an annual flu vaccination as soon as it is available. Vaccinations help protect individuals and those around them from possible severe symptoms, flu-related complications, and hospitalization. With up to 20% of Americans getting sick with the flu annually, flu vaccination early in the flu season continues to provide the best protection.

The CDC also recommends additional vaccinations for certain age groups as detailed below, with few exceptions:

Adults age 19 and older: one dose of the whooping cough vaccine and one dose of the tetanus vaccine every 10 years

Adults age 60 and older: one dose of the shingles vaccine

Adults age 65 and older: two different pneumococcal vaccines one year apart

These vaccines provide protection against the 1,000,000 cases of shingles, 40,000 cases of invasive pneumococcal disease, and 28,000 cases of whooping cough seen in the United States on an annual basis.

All vaccines permitted per state can be administered on a "walk-in" basis with no appointment necessary and are offered at more than 1,700 Albertsons Companies pharmacies, including those in Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen, and Carrs stores.

Most insurance plans cover the flu shot and other immunizations. Everyone who receives an immunization will also receive a coupon for 10% off a grocery purchase, where permitted by law.

About Albertsons Companies

Albertsons Companies is one of the largest food and drug retailers in the United States, with both a strong local presence and national scale. We operate stores across 35 states and the District of Columbia under 20 well-known banners including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen and Carrs. Albertsons Companies is committed to helping people across the country live better lives by making a meaningful difference, neighborhood by neighborhood.

Important Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about our perspectives and expectations, are forward looking statements. The words "expect," "believe," "estimate," "intend," "plan" and similar expressions, when related to the Company and its subsidiaries, indicate forward-looking statements. These statements reflect the current view of management and are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on various assumptions and factors, including general economic, market, industry and operational factors. Any changes to these assumptions or factors may lead to practical results different from current expectations. Excessive reliance should not be placed on those statements. Forward-looking statements relate only to the date they were made, and the Company and its subsidiaries undertake no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made.

Contact: Jenny Rapley

208-395-4812

[email protected]

SOURCE Albertsons Companies
AGOURA HILLS, Calif., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH), a leading provider of high quality single-family rental homes ("the Company"), today posted the revised "Home Price Appreciation Factor" and "Home Price Appreciation Amount" through June 30, 2017, as those terms are defined in the final prospectuses for the Company's 5% Series A, 5% Series B and 5.5% Series C Participating Preferred Shares (NYSE: AMHPRA, AMHPRB and AMHPRC). The computations of these amounts are based on the results of the House Price Index of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, or FHFA, known as the Quarterly Purchase-Only Index, or POI, specifically the non-seasonally adjusted "Purchase-Only Index" for the "100 Largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas" as of June 30, 2017, which was released August 22, 2017.

Based on the weighting among our top 20 markets established under the terms of our 5% Series A and 5% Series B Participating Preferred Shares, cumulative home price appreciation for the period from June 30, 2013 to June 30, 2017 was 31.66%, resulting in a Home Price Appreciation Factor of 15.83%. The Home Price Appreciation Amount on our 5% Series A and 5% Series B Participating Preferred Shares through June 30, 2017 was $3.957.

Additionally, based on the weighting among our top 20 markets established under the terms of our 5.5% Series C Participating Preferred Shares, cumulative home price appreciation for the period from December 31, 2013 to June 30, 2017 was 28.20%, resulting in a Home Price Appreciation Factor of 14.10%. The Home Price Appreciation Amount on our 5.5% Series C Participating Preferred Shares through June 30, 2017 was $3.526.

The computation of these amounts appears at the end of this press release and has also been posted to the "For Investors" page of the Company's website. The Company anticipates announcing the next update to these amounts in approximately three months.

About American Homes 4 Rent

American Homes 4 Rent is a leader in the single-family home rental industry and "American Homes 4 Rent" is fast becoming a nationally recognized brand for rental homes, known for high quality, good value and tenant satisfaction. We are an internally managed Maryland real estate investment trust, or REIT, focused on acquiring, renovating, leasing, and operating attractive, single-family homes as rental properties. As of June 30, 2017, we owned 48,982 single-family properties in selected submarkets in 22 states.

Additional information about American Homes 4 Rent is available on our website at www.americanhomes4rent.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements." These forward-looking statements relate to beliefs, expectations or intentions and similar statements concerning matters that are not of historical fact and are generally accompanied by words such as "estimate," "project," "predict," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "potential," "plan," "goal" or other words that convey the uncertainty of future events or outcomes. Examples of forward-looking statements contained in this press release include the anticipated timing of the next update of the Home Price Appreciation Amount. The Company has based these forward-looking statements on its current expectations and assumptions about future events. While the Company's management considers these expectations to be reasonable, they are inherently subject to risks, contingencies and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the Company's control and could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to conform to actual results or changes in its expectations, unless required by applicable law. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of the Company in general, see the "Risk Factors" disclosed in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K in the Company's subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contact:

American Homes 4 Rent

Investor Relations

Phone: (855) 794-2447

Email: [email protected]

Measurement of Aggregate HPA Amount Per 5% Series A and 5% Series B Participating Preferred Share (1) June 30, 2017





June 30, 2013 June 30, 2017 Metropolitan Statistical Area Relative

Weighting

Applied in

Determining

HPA Actual POI

Value (2) Assigned

Baseline

Value Actual

POI

Value POI Value

Relative to

Jun 30, 2013

Baseline Dallas  Plano  Irving, TX 4.754% 194.12 100 275.77 42.06% Fort Worth  Arlington, TX 4.754% 180.86 100 251.43 39.02% Indianapolis, IN 8.880% 164.50 100 200.36 21.80% Greater Chicago Area, IL 7.679% 182.20 100 213.11 16.96% Atlanta, GA 7.545% 174.20 100 239.30 37.37% Nashville, TN 6.390% 230.70 100 321.90 39.53% Houston, TX 6.312% 241.20 100 298.33 23.69% Cincinnati, OH 6.119% 166.30 100 199.83 20.16% Salt Lake City, UT 5.495% 323.90 100 417.50 28.90% Tampa, FL 5.361% 209.60 100 303.39 44.75% Charlotte, NC 5.354% 186.80 100 243.75 30.49% Phoenix, AZ 5.270% 232.50 100 317.56 36.58% Jacksonville, FL 4.776% 211.70 100 278.27 31.45% Las Vegas, NV 4.371% 133.30 100 201.63 51.26% Raleigh, NC 4.040% 197.10 100 256.63 30.20% Columbus, OH 3.167% 178.90 100 229.09 28.05% Orlando, FL 3.036% 180.00 100 254.19 41.22% Tucson, AZ 1.867% 206.70 100 263.33 27.40% Greensboro, NC 1.789% 161.00 100 182.66 13.45% Austin, TX 1.550% 316.10 100 439.88 39.16% San Antonio, TX 1.490% 226.50 100 299.39 32.18%











Cumulative HPA



0.00%

31.66%











HPA Factor (50% Cumulative HPA)



0.00%

15.83%











HPA Amount







$ 3.957



(1) The Actual POI Value and HPA Amount for each quarter since the issuance of the 5% Series A and 5% Series B Participating Preferred Shares are available on the Company's website on the "For Investors" page.

(2) Actual POI Value as of June 30, 2013 represents the value as published in the POI for each market as of October 18, 2013 and will remain constant for purposes of calculating the HPA Amount, notwithstanding any subsequent revisions by the FHFA.

Measurement of Aggregate HPA Amount Per 5.5% Series C Participating Preferred Share June 30, 2017





December 31, 2013 June 30, 2017 Metropolitan Statistical Area Relative

Weighting

Applied in

Determining

HPA Actual POI

Value Assigned

Baseline

Value Actual

POI

Value POI Value

Relative to

Dec 31, 2013

Baseline Dallas  Plano  Irving, TX 4.754% 198.79 100 275.77 38.72% Fort Worth  Arlington, TX 4.754% 186.40 100 251.43 34.89% Indianapolis, IN 8.880% 165.40 100 200.36 21.14% Greater Chicago Area, IL 7.679% 185.58 100 213.11 14.83% Atlanta, GA 7.545% 179.66 100 239.30 33.20% Nashville, TN 6.390% 237.75 100 321.90 35.39% Houston, TX 6.312% 251.00 100 298.33 18.86% Cincinnati, OH 6.119% 166.16 100 199.83 20.26% Salt Lake City, UT 5.495% 323.59 100 417.50 29.02% Tampa, FL 5.361% 218.28 100 303.39 38.99% Charlotte, NC 5.354% 193.47 100 243.75 25.99% Phoenix, AZ 5.270% 247.72 100 317.56 28.19% Jacksonville, FL 4.776% 216.03 100 278.27 28.81% Las Vegas, NV 4.371% 149.08 100 201.63 35.25% Raleigh, NC 4.040% 198.65 100 256.63 29.19% Columbus, OH 3.167% 180.44 100 229.09 26.96% Orlando, FL 3.036% 181.11 100 254.19 40.35% Tucson, AZ 1.867% 216.99 100 263.33 21.36% Greensboro, NC 1.789% 157.21 100 182.66 16.19% Austin, TX 1.550% 317.68 100 439.88 38.47% San Antonio, TX 1.490% 227.56 100 299.39 31.57%











Cumulative HPA



0.00%

28.20%











HPA Factor (50% Cumulative HPA)



0.00%

14.10%











HPA Amount







$ 3.526



(1) Actual POI Value as of December 31, 2013 represents the value as published in the POI for each market as of April 1, 2014 and will remain constant for purposes of calculating the HPA Amount, notwithstanding any subsequent revisions by the FHFA.

SOURCE American Homes 4 Rent

Related Links

https://www.americanhomes4rent.com


TEL AVIV, Israel, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Aqua Security, a leading provider of container security solutions, today announced it has joined the Microsoft Enterprise Cloud Alliance (ECA) Partner Program. Aqua's membership in the ECA enables enterprise customers to pursue a cloud-native, container-based development strategy that includes comprehensive, 'cradle-to-grave' container security and compliance controls certified by Microsoft to be fully integrated with and supported by Microsoft Azure.

"Just as containers have fundamentally changed the way applications are built, deployed and managed, Aqua has fundamentally changed how container-based applications are secured," said Ran Nahmias, Senior Director of Cloud and Strategic Initiatives for Aqua Security. "Joining the Enterprise Cloud Alliance ensures enterprise customers with containerized environments on Microsoft Azure can rely on Aqua to deliver the transformative, end-to end container security needed to take full advantage of the many benefits a container-based development strategy offers."

Aqua Security enables enterprises to secure their virtual container environments from development to production, accelerating container adoption and bridging the gap between DevOps and IT security. It's flagship solution, the Aqua Container Security Platform provides full visibility into container activity, allowing organizations to detect and prevent suspicious activity and attacks, providing transparent, automated security while helping to enforce policy and simplify regulatory compliance.

With tight runtime security controls and intrusion prevention capabilities, Aqua enables enterprises to monitor and enforce granular security policies and integrate security into their DevOps pipelines, at any scale. Aqua joined the ECA to certify its platform is supported by Microsoft and fully interoperable with Azure. ECA membership also provides Aqua with access to strategic Azure resources such as technical field sales and product development teams, and ensures its container security platform is showcased.

"The Enterprise Cloud Alliance Partner Program welcomes Aqua Security which has developed a best in class container security solution that will enable Microsoft Azure customers to accelerate business and innovation," said Chris Lwanga Principal, Cloud Ecosystem Engagement at Microsoft Corp. "Partners like Aqua Security that deliver best of breed innovations to the Microsoft Intelligent Cloud will benefit from the promotion and access that are benefits of enrollment in the Enterprise Cloud Alliance to maximize their business opportunities."

To learn more about Aqua's integration with Azure:

About Aqua Security

Aqua Security enables enterprises to secure their container applications from development to production, accelerating container adoption and bridging the gap between DevOps and IT security. Aqua's Container Security Platform provides full visibility into container activity, allowing organizations to detect and prevent suspicious activity and attacks in real time. Integrated with container lifecycle and orchestration tools, the Aqua platform provides transparent, automated security while helping to enforce policy and simplify regulatory compliance. Aqua was founded in 2015 and is backed by TLV Partners, Microsoft Ventures, and IT security leaders, and is based in Israel and San Francisco, CA. For more information, visit www.aquasec.com or follow us on twitter.com/AquaSecTeam.

SOURCE Aqua Security

Related Links

http://www.aquasec.com


DRAPER, Utah, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- New data supports Aqua-Yield as the nation's leader in nano-technology fertilizer and today, the company released new information showing its technology and distributor partnership with Bethel TriYield is having a major, positive impact on the devastating physical and economic effects of Huanglongbing (HLB) or "Greening".

Florida citrus tree before and after Aqua-Yield technology with TriYield nutritional products

HLB has devastated Florida citrus operations since first discovered in the state in 2005. The systematic greening of orchards took an incredible economic toll and farmers had few if any weapons to fight back. Over the last 12 years, numbers indicate a discouraging trend. The 2004-2005 growing seasons produced 242 million boxes of oranges compared to the 2016-2017 season of only 68.5 million boxes  the culprit: HLB. Aqua-Yield's patented nanotechnology process and delivery system, combined with Bethel Farms experience and distribution expertise (distributing as Bethel TriYield), are the farmer's best and most direct tools in combating HLB.

Steve Sorrells, President of Sorrells Groves Inc. located in Desoto County Florida, stated: "We use the TriYield/Aqua-Yield program on 5,000 acres. In order for a tree to increase production, it has to look better. After using Bethel TriYield products, our trees look better and production is up! This gives me optimism, optimism for the future. We can stay in business. We can operate and preserve our family business for the next generation. It gives me hope!"

Bethel's initial use of Aqua-Yield's nanotechnology fertilizer began on the company's sod farms in late summer of 2013. Because of immediate successes there, trials aggressively moved to Bethel's Valencia Sweet orange groves at their Arcadia headquarters. At the time, all blocks were considered 90-100% HLB infected. After only two months of applications, the younger trees began to show improvement in comparison to control trees. By December 2013, mature trees were yielding more leaves and improved root density. In January of 2014, all Bethel Citrus Blocks included Aqua-Yield technology in production programs. The numbers tell an incredibly positive story. While the 2014-2015 Florida production dropped statewide, Bethel Farms production increased 21% from an average of 224 boxes per acre to 270 Boxes per acre. In 2015, additional nutritional and organic formulations were created for use in citrus production. While the average 2015-2016 Florida production dropped another 26%, Bethel Farms 2015-2016 crop was up an average of 39%, from 270 boxes per acre to 376 boxes per acre. 2016/2017 numbers are still coming in and all expectations remain high for another across-the-board increase for all those utilizing Aqua-Yield and Bethel TriYield fertilizer technology.

Clark T. Bell is CEO and a Co-Founder of Aqua-Yield. "We were confident in our ability to reproduce results we had seen in so many practical university applications and field tests. We knew the science was not only clearly behind what we were doing, but supported every effort made in transitioning results to all areas of agriculture; from grasses to nuts and from melons to citrus." He continued, "The early results from Florida, now over several cycles, prove that our patented system and delivery process can help Florida's citrus growers return to what we hope to be historically high production numbers. Our partnership with Bethel TriYield could literally save Florida's citrus future."

Chris Kamberg is the Innovations Sales Specialist at Bethel Farms. He stated, "From the outset, our focus in joining forces with Aqua-Yield was clear, Bethel TriYield was formed in order to share the extraordinarily positive benefits of Aqua-Yield Technology. We were more than pleasantly surprised with the success Bethel Farms was experiencing with all of our Florida growers."

As previously stated, Bethel Farms is not alone in the utilization of Aqua-Yield fertilizers. Sorrel's Groves have seen steady improvement and others are also seeing increased tree vigor, canopy, root density and production. Over the most recent two-year period, numbers place increased overall production between 17- and 113%!

Stan Pelham, Business Manager for McCarlton Partnership based in Hardee County Florida, says the new technology almost assuredly saved his operations. "I've been on this job for just over 40 years. We were considering pushing our groves due to the rapid decline in production. Last year, the industry production was down around 20%, but our overall production was up just over 15%. Of course, that made us very happy. This year, the trees look even better. We've had the best-looking flushes we've seen in years. Fruit is sizing, clean and there are more pieces, so we are beyond satisfied with the program."

Pat Carlton served on the Citrus Commission for four years and is a seventh-generation Floridian. Mr. Carlton stated; "One-and-a-half years ago, we were seriously considering pushing up our groves and putting them in pasture. We were devastated by HLB just like everyone in our region. We started on the Bethel TriYield program and that, in and of itself, turned it around for us. We are a testament that in fact, it does work."

Every step in the Aqua-Yield process is patent-protected, or patent-pending protected.

Art Womack is a retired professor at the University of Southern California (USC), now residing in Hardee County Florida. Mr. Womack was eager to offer high praise. "The Bethel TriYield products utilizing Aqua-Yield's nanotechnology has turned things around for me. The smaller particles are moving throughout the tree and the delivery of those nutrients is very efficient. It has to be this technology that is so important for the success we're seeing. It's not just one grove, it's all our groves. We are seeing very few symptoms of HLB in our trees. It's an easy program to adopt and I'm seeing cost reductions of up to thirty percent. (30%) They are making it easy for the grower to apply their products and follow the program. There are a lot of more expensive products out there, but I'm not sure I would get the same results."

Finally, a necessary note about the chances taken in commitment to a dream, technology, science and advancement. In summarizing the risk of the initial investment in both time and capital, Mr. Bell stated: "The Aqua-Yield products are based solely on the science of nanotechnology. There were inherent risks associated with developing the science and financially backing its progression, but we were willing to do that because of our underlying and undying belief in the benefit it would provide at home and around the world. These numbers from Florida are an early, clear indication, that the risk of developing the process and delivery system were not only worth it, but can literally be a game-changer in the agricultural world."

Aqua-Yield is a rapidly-growing sustainable fertilizer technology company. Co-founded in 2014, Aqua-Yield has introduced the "smallest innovation in agricultural history". Aqua-Yield's technologies deliver materials directly to the plant's cells leading to a much higher overall efficiency. Aqua-Yield's process introduces liquid nanotechnology to agriculture leading to significant advantages for the grower. Results of the company's unique technologies include: higher yields, lower cost inputs, shorter crop cycles, less environmental impact and an increase in nutrient impact.

For information on Aqua-Yield visit www.aquayield.com

Contact: Clark T. Bell, 801-449-9220, [email protected]

SOURCE Aqua-Yield

Related Links

http://www.aquayield.com


Montanas landscape tells its story. From our treasured state and national parks to old mining camps, Montana has a rich and diverse history. For decades, miners and loggers put their blood, sweat and tears into their work to put food on the table, while powering a nation and building a future for their children.

And while we continue to see the benefits of natural resource development, our state has also seen some downsides. We need look no further than Zortman-Landusky, Beal Mountain, Montana Tunnels or the Berkeley pit to see that mining jobs can come at a cost, not just to local economies that once depended on good jobs, but to taxpayers who are still on the hook for cleaning up the mess left behind. According to a recent article in the Missoulian, the Montana Tunnels open pit mine owes $5 million in back taxes to Jefferson County and is also in danger of collapsing, which would destroy a nearby creek. Thats got to change. We have a duty as citizens  and an obligation as legislators  to continue to develop our natural resources as safely and cleanly as possible and with the least impact on jobs as possible.

When it comes to protecting our state, the Legislature should do what our parents and grandparents did: look to the future. In the 1970s, our citizen Legislature funded the coal trust, which funds everything from schools to roads. Montana also did what other states wish they had done. We diversified. Today, our public lands hold the key to the second largest industry in our state. Tourism currently accounts for 64,000 jobs and $3.5 billion into our economy. In 2016, over 12 million people traveled to Montana to enjoy our clean rivers and healthy forests. Consider that for a moment: for every Montanan living here, a dozen people came to our state to visit.

One of the crown jewels of our tourism economy is the Smith River. It is a place filled with grand views, clean water, and abundant wildlife. Even those who havent had the chance to float the Smith understand what this spectacular river means to our state both in terms of our heritage and our economy. Thats why I introduced House Bill 593, a bill that called for a reasonable approach to Montanas Hardrock Mining Act.

HB593 would have added some simple, reasonable changes to mining operations in Montana. First, the bill sought to hold companies  not taxpayers  accountable for mines that included sulfide ores. When exposed to air and water through the mining process, sulfide ores create the risk of acid mine drainage. Too often, acid mine drainage has been the death knell for healthy streams and rivers in Montana because it is essentially impossible to stop once it starts. So, my bill simply asked companies engaging in the process to put up enough money to protect taxpayers from being on the hook perpetually.

HB593 also called for reasonable auditing. Right now, companies only have to report on their activities once every five years. My bill would have simply changed that to three years. A lot can happen to a mining operation in five years, and we deserve to know that companies are following the law, just like everyone else. Periodic, independent assessments of operations to ensure that promises are being kept is a no-brainer.

I proposed to grandfather in all current mining operations, so that companies werent stuck with a cost they didnt bargain for. Even with that concession, big international companies resisted. Why? Because they've got their eyes on projects like the Black Butte Copper Mine at the headwaters of the Smith River. It was disappointing to learn that a multi-national corporation could succeed in resisting reasonable steps to protect Montanas vital outdoor economy.

As citizens, we have the right to expect our elected representatives to look to the future. We can protect our outdoor economy while asking corporations to play by the rules. Its a long tradition in Montana, and one worth honoring.
SILVER SPRING, Md., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- After retired Army Staff Sgt. Brian Grundtner sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) from a 50-foot fall during an airborne training jump, he did not know his recovery would include earning an MBA. Determined to recover, Grundtner completed treatment at a concussion care clinic and then went back to school. He graduated from Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota and now thrives in his new career in business.

"I think what this injury did for me, is it allowed me to kind of see areas in my life that  probably needed to be tended to," said Grundtner. "I chose to go to grad school because I felt like, getting out of the military, you need to learn the language of business, whatever business you're going to be in. So, whether it's college or a trade school or whatever, you need to learn something to apply it, because it's so different [going] from the military to the civilian world."

Grundtner shares his story of TBI recovery and hope in a new video released by A Head for the Future, a TBI awareness initiative by the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC). Grundtner's video is available online at dvbic.dcoe.mil/aheadforthefuture and on the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury's YouTube channel.

"In recognition of Back to School Month, we're highlighting Brian's remarkable story of TBI recovery," said Scott Livingston, director of education at DVBIC. "His video showcases that recovery is possible if you seek help. You can get better and find success after a TBI  just as Brian did by seeking medical treatment and returning to school. The A Head for the Future initiative features a variety of TBI resources, including videos of service members and veterans sharing their experiences of TBI recovery and sustaining hope."

After his injury, Grundtner experienced sleep issues and started therapy with Brooke Heintz, a behavioral health care provider. She taught Grundtner good sleep hygiene habits to help improve his ability to fall and stay asleep.

"Knowing Brian, and kind of knowing what his goals are," said Heintz. "I think his biggest success is really finding a loving relationship, and really knowing who he is and re-identifying a place where he belongs."

Since finishing his treatment, Grundtner has earned an MBA, found success in a new career and met the love of his life. With the support of his wife, he continues to make progress in his recovery. "If I didn't get help, I can't even imagine where I'd be right now; I just know I wouldn't be where I am at," said Grundtner.

According to recent Department of Defense data, since 2000 more than 361,000 service members have been diagnosed with TBI  most occurring in noncombat settings. Falls, motor vehicle collisions, sports-related incidents and training accidents are the most common causes of noncombat-related brain injuries among service members.

To learn more about TBI and the A Head for the Future initiative, and to find additional videos and educational resources on preventing brain injury, visit dvbic.dcoe.mil/aheadforthefuture and follow A Head for the Future on Twitter and Facebook.

SOURCE Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center
Pollinators are essential to the production of many of the fruits and vegetables we eat daily. However, pollinator populations, particularly bees and butterflies, have sharply declined in recent years due to the loss of suitable habitat. The Pollinator Habitat Initiative will create hundreds of acres of new pollinator habitat by replanting the Atlantic Coast Pipeline right of way with native grasses and wildflowers that attract the species.

The project has identified 750 acres of suitable locations along roughly 50 miles of the proposed pipeline route, with the most suitable locations found in flatter areas in southern Virginia and eastern North Carolina. Dozens of native seed mixes have been developed for the program, including native grasses such as Little Bluestem and Beaked Panicum, and wildflowers such as Partridge Pea and Black-Eyed Susan. The program is voluntary and will be implemented with the approval and input of participating landowners.

"Utility corridors offer ideal habitats for all kinds of wildlife, but especially the pollinators that are so essential for food production," said Pamela Faggert, Dominion Energy's Chief Environmental Officer and Senior Vice President, Sustainability. "This initiative builds on the more than 43,000 acres of pollinator habitats Dominion Energy has created along our electric transmission and distribution rights of way. We're excited to build on that progress and continue doing our part to improve our region's natural environment."

In developing the program, the project consulted with a number of wildlife experts, including Bob Glennon, a private lands biologist for Virginia Tech's Conservation Management Institute. "By replanting the pipeline right of way with pollinator habitats, as opposed to mowed grasses, we'll be creating hundreds of acres of new habitat for these species that we otherwise wouldn't have," said Glennon. "I couldn't think of a more environmentally beneficial use of these spaces, and I'm very proud to be a part of it."

One of the participating landowners is Ward Burton, founder and president of the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation. Two of the Foundation's parcels are crossed by the pipeline in southern Virginia and have been selected for the initiative. "As a lifelong conservationist, I couldn't be more excited to participate in this program," said Burton. "Not only will it be beneficial for the pollinators, but it's also going to create new habitats for other wildlife like quail, turkey and songbirds. I see this as a really creative way to not just restore the right of way, but actually enhance its environmental value beyond what it was when we started."

For more information about the Atlantic Coast Pipeline Pollinator Habitat Initiative, please visit https://atlanticcoastpipeline.com/pollinator.aspx.

Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC is composed of four major U.S. energy companies  Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas and Southern Company Gas. The joint venture partners plan to build and own the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a proposed 600-mile underground natural gas transmission pipeline that would help meet the growing energy needs of public utilities in Virginia and North Carolina to generate cleaner electricity, heat homes and power local businesses.

About Dominion Energy

Dominion Energy (NYSE: D) is one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 25,700 megawatts of generation, 15,000 miles of natural gas transmission, gathering and storage pipeline, and 6,600 miles of electric transmission lines. Dominion Energy operates one of the nation's largest natural gas storage systems with 1 trillion cubic feet of storage capacity and serves more than 6 million utility and retail energy customers. For more information about Dominion Energy, visit the company's website at www.dominionenergy.com.

About Duke Energy

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) is one of the largest energy holding companies in the United States. Its Electric Utilities and Infrastructure business unit serves approximately 7.5 million customers located in six states in the Southeast and Midwest. The company's Gas Utilities and Infrastructure business unit distributes natural gas to approximately 1.6 million customers in the Carolinas, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. Its Commercial Renewables business unit operates a growing renewable energy portfolio across the United States. Duke Energy is a Fortune 125 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available at duke-energy.com.

About Piedmont Natural Gas

Piedmont Natural Gas, a North Carolina corporation, is an energy services company whose principal business is the distribution of natural gas to more than a million residential, commercial, industrial and power generation customers in portions of North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Piedmont provides a foundation for establishing a broader strategic natural gas infrastructure platform within Duke Energy to supplement and complement the previous natural gas pipeline investments and the natural gas business located in the Midwest. Duke Energy is a Fortune 125 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available at duke-energy.com.

About Southern Company Gas

Southern Company Gas is a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE:SO), America's premier energy company. Southern Company Gas serves approximately 4.6 million natural gas utility customers through its regulated distribution companies in seven states and more than 1 million retail customers through its companies that market natural gas and related home services. Other nonutility businesses include investments in interstate pipelines, asset management for natural gas wholesale customers and ownership and operation of natural gas storage facilities. For more information, visit Southern Company Gas at www.southerncompanygas.com.

SOURCE Dominion Energy

Related Links

http://www.dominionenergy.com


SANTA MONICA, Calif., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Edmunds, the leading car shopping and information platform, forecasts that 1,526,613 new cars and trucks will be sold in the U.S. in August for an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 16.6 million. This reflects an 8.2 percent increase in sales from July 2017 and a 1.3 percent increase from August 2016.

"While any kind of sales lift after seven months of declines is encouraging, automakers still have a long road ahead to have a strong close to the year. It's a small step in the right direction," said Jessica Caldwell, executive director of industry analysis for Edmunds. "Inventories are still high, but automakers haven't been afraid to put cash on the hood this year, so we expect dealers will be aggressive with their Labor Day and model-year-end sales events to keep this momentum going. We're also seeing signs of discipline with fleet sales as automakers prioritize higher-margin retail sales."

SALES VOLUME FORECAST, BY MANUFACTURER Sales

Volume August 2017

Forecast August

2016 July

2017 Change from

August 2016 Change from

July 2017 GM 261,183 256,429 226,107 1.9% 15.5% Toyota 237,937 213,125 222,057 11.6% 7.2% Ford 208,231 213,411 199,318 -2.4% 4.5% Fiat Chrysler 187,472 196,756 161,477 -4.7% 16.1% Honda 161,381 149,571 150,980 7.9% 6.9% Nissan 126,397 124,638 128,295 1.4% -1.5% Hyundai/Kia 118,565 126,263 110,466 -6.1% 7.3% VW/Audi 52,161 48,648 45,915 7.2% 13.6% Industry 1,526,613 1,507,313 1,410,601 1.3% 8.2% *NOTE: August 2017 had 27 selling days, August 2016 had 26 and July 2017 had 25.

Edmunds estimates that retail SAAR will come in at 14.5 million vehicles in August 2017, with fleet transactions accounting for 13.0 percent of total sales. An estimated 3.3 million used vehicles will be sold in August 2017, for a SAAR of 39.0 million (compared to 3.4 million  or a SAAR of 39.2 million  in July).

MARKET SHARE FORECAST, BY MANUFACTURER Market

Share August 2017

Forecast August

2016 July

2017 Change from

August 2016 Change from

July 2017 GM 17.1% 17.0% 16.0% 0.1% 1.1% Toyota 15.6% 14.1% 15.7% 1.4% -0.2% Ford 13.6% 14.2% 14.1% -0.5% -0.5% Fiat Chrysler 12.3% 13.1% 11.4% -0.8% 0.8% Honda 10.6% 9.9% 10.7% 0.6% -0.1% Nissan 8.3% 8.3% 9.1% 0.0% -0.8% Hyundai/Kia 7.8% 8.4% 7.8% -0.6% -0.1% VW/Audi 3.4% 3.2% 3.3% 0.2% 0.2%

More insight into recent auto industry trends can be found in the Edmunds Industry Center at http://www.edmunds.com/industry-center/.

About Edmunds

Edmunds is the leading car information and shopping platform, helping millions of visitors each month find their perfect car. With products such as Edmunds Your Price, Your Lease and Used+, shoppers can buy smarter with instant, upfront prices for cars and trucks currently for sale at more than 13,000 dealer franchises across the U.S. Edmunds' in-house team of unbiased car-shopping experts provide industry-leading vehicle reviews and shopping tips, as well as welcome all car-shopping questions to the free Shopper Advice line at 1-855-782-4711, via email at [email protected], via text at ED411 and on Twitter and Facebook. The company is regarded as one of America's best workplaces by Fortune and Great Place to Work. Edmunds is based in Santa Monica, California, and has a satellite office in downtown Detroit, Michigan.

Contact:

Monica Favorite

Edmunds.com Corporate Communications

www.Edmunds.com

Media Hotline: 310-309-4900

[email protected]

SOURCE Edmunds
According to the new market research report "Automated Border Control Market by Solution Type (ABC e-Gate and ABC Kiosk), Component (Hardware, Software, and Services (Installation and Maintenance)), Application (Airport, Land Port, and Seaport), and Geography - Global Forecast to 2023" , published by MarketsandMarkets , the market is expected to be worth USD 1,577.7 Million by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 17.45% between 2017 and 2023. The ABC market has a huge potential across various applications, such as airports, land ports, and seaports. The major factors driving the ABC market across the world are increasing passenger travel, rising security concerns, and enhanced traveler convenience in the border crossing process.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )



Browse 88 Market Data Tables and 50 Figures spread through 164 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Automated Border Control Market - Global Forecast to 2023"

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/automated-border-control-market-24899883.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report



Market for ABC e-gate expected to grow at higher CAGR between 2017 and 2023

The market for e-gate is expected to grow at a higher CAGR between 2017 and 2023. e-gate installation has helped border crossing authorities process large number of passengers and has enhanced security. Passenger traffic is more at airports than at land ports and seaports.

ABC market for seaport application expected to grow at highest CAGR between 2017 and 2023

The ABC market for seaport application is expected to grow at the highest CAGR between 2017 and 2023. This growth can be attributed to strengthened border integrity and increased passenger traffic at seaports globally. As per the Australian Government Department of Immigration and Border Protection, more than 35 million passengers travel through Australia's major airports and seaports every year, and the number of travelers at seaports is expected to double in the coming years.

Download PDF Brochure : http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=24899883

ABC market for software component expected to grow at highest CAGR between 2017 and 2023

Software component in the ABC ensures efficiency and performance of biometric and document recognition database algorithms, along with risk assessment for travelers. The higher growth rate of the software component in the ABC market is owing to the increasing need for automation service to optimize efficiency at airports, land ports, and seaports.

Currently, Europe leads ABC market in terms of market size

Europe is currently leading the ABC market and is projected to be in a leading position for the next few years owing to the high adoption of ABC. The growth of the ABC market in Europe is because of high government funding and support, the presence of leading players, and strong technical base.

Inquiry Before Buy @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=24899883

The major driving factor for the market growth in Europe is the presence of prominent vendors of ABC OT-Morpho (France), secunet Security Networks (Germany), Indra Sistemas (Spain), Arjo Systems (France), IER SAS (France), and Cognitec Systems (Germany), among others.



Browse Related Reports

Border Security System Market by Environment (Ground, Aerial, Naval), System (Laser, Radar, Camera, Wide Band Wireless Communication, Perimeter Intrusion, Unmanned Vehicles, C2C, Biometric Systems), and Geography - Global Forecast to 2022

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/border-security-system-market-103309188.html

Access Control Market by Component (Hardware (Card-Based Readers, Biometric Readers, Electronic Locks, Controllers, and Others) and Software), Service (Installation, Maintenance, and ACaaS), Vertical, and Geography - Global Forecast to 2023

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/access-control-market-164562182.html

Subscribe Reports from Semiconductor Domain @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Knowledgestore.asp

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]



Visit Our [email protected] http://www.marketsandmarketsblog.com/market-reports/electronics-and-semiconductors

Connect us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets

SOURCE MarketsandMarkets
ATLANTA, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Aventis Systems, Inc., a leading provider of information technology hardware, software and services has been awarded a national contract from the Interlocal Purchasing System (TIPS). TIPS is a national cooperative that offers access to competitively procured purchasing contracts for public and private school districts, colleges, universities, federal, state, county and city municipalities.

Aventis Systems' contract with TIPS offers the following benefits:

10% off list price for All Aventis Systems products

Invoice payment terms available for net 30

Savings on time and financial resources necessary to fulfill bid requirements

Assistance with purchasing process by qualified TIPS staff

Access to pricing based on a "national" high-profile contract

Equalize purchasing power to smaller entities

"Our contract with The Interlocal Purchasing Systems solidifies our commitment to education and government agencies by providing a proven process to eliminate purchasing related stress," stated Hesam Lamei, Founder of Aventis Systems. "Purchasing is a necessary activity for any organization. Our contract with TIPS allows government entities to take advantage of state-of-the-art purchasing procedures to insure the most competitive prices and yield economic benefits unobtainable by individual entities."



Membership to TIPS is free to eligible public agencies. For contract detail or information on becoming a TIPS member, contact Aventis Systems at 1-855-283-6847 or [email protected]

About TIPS

TIPS, headquartered in Pittsburg, Texas, began in 2002 as a small regional cooperative of the Region 8 Education Service Center. Now established with over a decade of experience, TIPS have more than 5,000 member agencies nationwide. The primary mission of TIPS is to provide substantial savings and the best value through cooperative purchasing practices to education and government entities.

About Aventis Systems

Aventis Systems, Inc. offers custom IT solutions to build and operate complete physical and virtual infrastructures. The comprehensive solutions include high-quality refurbished and new hardware, system, and application software, and an array of in-depth managed services including infrastructure consultation, cloud hosting and migration, virtualization deployment, data and disaster recovery, security consultation, hardware relocation, and equipment buyback. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Aventis Systems fulfills technology requirements of IT professionals within various industries across the globe. From partnering with consultants and managed service providers to being the provider-of-choice for end-users from small to medium-sized businesses, educational, non-profit and government organizations, Aventis Systems goes above and beyond other value-added resellers because they "Get IT Done."

Call 1-855-AVENTIS (283-6847), visit www.AventisSystems.com or connect with Aventis Systems on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.

SOURCE Aventis Systems, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.aventissystems.com


MOSCOW, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The new-age trading and social media platform based out of Moscow, Russia, BANER.SU has announced the launch of its three-stage ICO campaign. The crowdsale of the platform offering services for private and legal companies across the globe will start on Sept. 6, 2017. The final stage of the ICO will end on June 25, 2018.

The Baner Project combines the functions of a social network, professional community, trading platform and blockchain technology. The platform enables anyone to start their own business, sell goods and services or recruit employees without any investment. It neither depends on cash investment nor the location of the user. With the ICO, the project intends to attract the required investments to develop the platform and an entire ecosystem around it further.

Market expert and Project founder Dmitry Khodzhayan outlines how the platform can help business strategies and their advertising by stating,

"Small businesses are constantly required to post advertising and look for new employees. I personally spent a whole lot of money, time and effort when placing similar ads on different websites. Back then I thought about creating a convenient and free service where any person would be able to make a personal office in just 10-15 minutes to quickly manage his entire business information: to advertise goods and services, post summaries or vacancies and upload a portfolio of his work, keep a string of news, deals and achievements."

Unlike other new ICO projects, Baner has the advantage of being established for some time now and can offer its users profit immediately. The platform's native BNR tokens will replace a cash-based system and will be used for all the exchange products, services advertising, and other paid services.

The BNR tokens act as the medium of value transaction on Baner.su platform. At the same time, the holders of BNR tokens stand to gain a considerable discount on the platform as it serves as a means of calculation between users of the network via secure channels, including remote transactions on BANER STREAM. All these will ensure a growth in demand for tokens on exchanges where they are listed, in turn exerting a positive influence on its price.

Dmitry went on to say,

"The other users would consider his page as a mini-site, where they can see all his ads, news feed, job opportunities, portfolio and the rest. All the registered users would be able to leave their comments and become subscribers. This service will be very effective in terms of attracting a large number of users as it is of interest to almost everyone. Any person wants to sell or buy something, provide or receive services, find a job or hire employees. A good conversion contributes to the growth of traffic, and this is a guarantee of the project success and an increase in the cost of tokens."

Services

Baner.su has evolved in the last 12 months and currently offers the following services.

Buy or sell from anywhere in the world with internet connection.

Adaptive design and excellent interface.

The platform unites businessmen, their contractors, and customers on the basis of a social network, where one can talk about business; attract business partners; find buyers, customers, contractors, and suppliers; post a free job announcement; create an online community.

Very affordable and the most targeted advertising.

Analytics obtained from Big Data analysis of user data.

Artificial Intelligence- Data Mining.

Complete safety as the platform operates on the basis of the blockchain technology.

Advertising

Baner's innovative solution is easily accessible from desktop and mobiles devices to access the social network in which users can talk about their business; attract business partners; find buyers, customers, contractors, and suppliers; post a free job announcement, and create an online community.

Businesses can register themselves on the Baner.su's catalog and start posting advertisements. The platform offers the service free of charge while making it as convenient as possible. These advertisements cover goods, services, and offers. The ads posted will be made available to the potential customers within minutes.

The use of new-age technologies like blockchain technology, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, and data mining capabilities makes Baner an attractive platform for businesses of all sizes. At the same time, it also increases the performance of the platform.

Data Mining

Data Mining allows for the using of artificial intelligence to collect generalized data about users while considering their preferences, desires, problems, behavioral factors and more. It also makes projections about the demand for goods and services of mass consumption. This data is then sold to large companies to identify trends, make sale forecasts and plan volume production for new products.

ICO Campaign

The BANER (BNR) token sale will run on the "BANER" private blockchain, grants the right to receive a share from the company's profits. The platform distributes 20% of all the company's profits proportionally among all the token holders.

The Baner platform has set the maximum cap for BNR at 20 million tokens. It intends to destroy all the unsold tokens following the completion of the token sale in order to ensure its value is conserved. During the ICO, investors can purchase BNR tokens at a unit price of $10 and sell them on the market once the crowdsale ends. By doing so, the participants in the ICO can make an instant profit from the growth of quotations. Otherwise, they can also choose to save tokens and receive a share in the company's profits.

The Baner Pre-ICO will run from September 6 to Sept. 30, on which 30% of all the available BNR tokens will be available for purchase at a very good discount in the early days.

Learn more about the BANER Project at  https://baner.su

Find out about BANER ICO at  https://ico.baner.su

Follow BANER on Twitter at  https://twitter.com/BanerCommENG

Find BANER on Facebook here  https://www.facebook.com/Baner-Community-ENG-1937595433120682

Telegram channel  https://t.me/BanerCommunityENG

Bitcointalk page  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2071795

BANER Slack Channel https://join.slack.com/t/banercommunity/shared_invite/MjE2ODQzODA4ODA0LTE1MDA5MDQyMTctMTBkYTg4ZmIyZA

BANER on Reddit  https://www.reddit.com/user/baner_platform/

Read the Blog at  https://medium.com/@BanerCommENG

Media Contact

Contact Name: Pavel Burtsev

Contact Email: [email protected]

Location: Moscow, Russia

Baner.su is the source of this content. Virtual currency is not legal tender, is not backed by the government, and accounts and value balances are not subject to consumer protections. This press release is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute investment advice or an offer to invest.

Related Links

Bitcoin PR Buzz

Baner.su

Related Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8QujgehTP4

SOURCE Baner.su

Related Links

https://baner.su


AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Barton Creek Equity Partners, an Austin based private equity firm, announced that it has completed the sale of FlexXray to Levine Leichtman Capital Partners. FlexXray is a leading food safety solutions platform providing specialty testing, inspection and recovery services to North American food manufacturers and processors. Over the course of a two-year investment in FlexXray, BCEP and management transitioned the company from a founder-owned and operated business to be a leading services provider to food companies in North America - while building a professional platform for future growth and service expansion. With these efforts and a significant capacity expansion, FlexXray grew revenues and EBITDA strongly and doubled its customer base under BCEP's ownership.

"Kevin Fritzmeyer and the entire FlexXray team have done a top-notch job of executing on plans for enhanced service, operational professionalization, and growth. As a result, FlexXray has performed extraordinarily well," said Ron Duncan, Partner at BCEP.

"Barton Creek Equity Partners has been the ideal partner for FlexXray during its transition from a founder-run business to the leading platform in the industry," said FlexXray CEO Kevin Fritzmeyer. "We will miss working with Ron and Michael, but are excited about our next phase of growth with LLCP."

Michael Sayre, Partner at BCEP, said, "It's a special opportunity to get to be a part of the growth and professionalization of a world-class company. Working with Kevin and the team at FlexXray was exceptionally enjoyable. We appreciate the effort and expertise FlexXray and BCEP received from Houlihan Lokey and Greenberg Traurig throughout the process. It's a gift to get to work with such consummate professionals. We wish Levine Leichtman Capital Partners the best in its investment; they have acquired a real gem."

Houlihan Lokey Capital, Inc. advised FlexXray and Barton Creek Equity Partners, and Greenberg Traurig LLP provided legal counsel to FlexXray and BCEP. Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP advised LLCP.

About FlexXray:

FlexXray is a leading food safety solutions platform providing specialty testing & inspection and other mission-critical safety services to the North American food manufacturing industry; the company is now a trusted partner to hundreds of the world's leading food brands from mom and pop food companies to Fortune 100 global businesses. FlexXray utilizes proprietary X-ray technology and other equipment to pinpoint physical contaminants and defects in food product and raw materials for its customers. In addition to FlexXray's core inspection services, the Company performs an array of ancillary services, including contaminant removal, can & jar dud detection, check weighing, repackaging, process recovery, storage, and other related services.

About Barton Creek Equity Partners:

Barton Creek Equity Partners is an Austin, Texas based private equity firm focused on middle market companies that are: closely-held or family owned; interested in a partial or complete liquidity event; and have the ability to achieve revenue and EBITDA growth organically or acquisitively by executing business improvement opportunities and leveraging our expertise and resources. BCEP's founders have worked successfully with numerous middle market companies over a combined thirty years.

About Levine Leichtman Capital Partners:

LLCP is a Los Angeles, California based private investment firm that has managed approximately $9.0 billion of institutional capital since its inception. LLCP invests in middle market companies located in the United States and Europe. LLCP is currently making new investments through Levine Leichtman Capital Partners VI, L.P., LLCP Lower Middle Market Fund, L.P., Levine Leichtman Capital Partners Private Capital Solutions, L.P., Levine Leichtman Capital Partners Europe, L.P. and LLCP Co-Investment Fund, L.P. LLCP has offices in Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, Chicago, London and The Hague.

Contacts:

BCEP

Ron Duncan, Partner

512-646-1140

or

Michael Sayre, Partner

512-646-1142

FlexXray

Kevin Fritzmeyer, CEO

817-453-3539

SOURCE Barton Creek Equity Partners LLC
#MakePeaceWithYourPores: You can show your support for the SchoolCycle cause  while spreading peace and love and prepping your pores for the upcoming school year  with Biore Skincare's new Limited Edition Deep Cleansing Pore Strips, which are designed in peaceful tie-dyed patterns filled with splashes of inspiring color. Just put on a strip, snap a selfie, and post it on Snapchat and Instagram using #MakePeaceWithYourPores and tagging @Bioreus and @girlupcampaign.

#SpreadtheLove: While you're showing your support for girls in need, this trendy tie-dyed pore strip will draw out an entire week's worth of buildup in just 10 minutes. Thanks to proprietary C-bond technology, when you remove the strip, the debris lifts away with it, revealing a clean complexion. When used regularly, Biore Skincare's Pore Strips not only decongest your pores, but also reduce their appearance, so you can go back to school having made peace with your pores while showing off your best skin.

#HowtoUse: After washing your face, thoroughly wet your nose. Peel the plastic liner off the back of the strip and press the strip on your skin, smooth side down. Let it dry for 10-15 minutes, while you snap your pretty pore-strip selfies and share them with your friends. Then slowly and carefully peel off the strip, starting at the edges.

Biore Skincare Limited Edition Deep Cleansing Pore Strips are available for a limited time for $6.49 at select food, drug and mass merchant stores. For more information, visit www.biore.com.

For more information on Girl Up and the SchoolCycle initiative, visit www.girlup.org/schoolcycle.

Kao USA Inc. is a leading manufacturer of premium beauty care brands that are recognized around the world for their innovation and quality. The Kao USA Inc. portfolio includes Ban antiperspirant-deodorants and Total Refresh Cooling Body Cloths; Jergens and Curel hand and body lotions; Biore skincare; John Frieda Frizz-Ease Luxurious Volume, Sheer Blonde, Brilliant Brunette, Radiant Red, , Precision Foam Colour and Colour Refreshing Gloss. Founded in 1882, Kao USA Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kao Corporation.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

MEREDITH CAMMAKER/ DOROTHY LYSEK

TRACTENBERG & CO. / 212.929.7979

SOURCE Biore
REDONDO BEACH, Calif., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The industry-funded Low Cost Terminal (LCT) was successfully tested this month with an on-orbit Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite. This critical milestone demonstrates the ability of an affordable tactical terminal to connect with the DoD's most highly assured protected communications network. The industry development team is led by Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT).

The AEHF system, designed for both strategic and tactical users, enables military users around the globe to securely transmit critical information which includes everything from nuclear command and control to real-time video, battlefield maps and targeting data. The AEHF system is already on orbit, and can potentially support many more users than there are terminals available today. LCT can enable more tactical warfighters to be able to use protected satellite communications, so they can have assured connectivity in contested environments.

"This is a huge milestone for protected satellite communications and its military users," said Cyrus Dhalla, vice president of communications systems, Northrop Grumman. "LCT achieves low cost by leveraging existing designs, technology, and investments, while adopting a commercial procurement and production model. It was designed for easy operation and low maintenance and training costs to make it truly affordable for tactical users needing highly protected anti-jam, low probability of detection communications."

This is the first time that a completely industry-funded and developed terminal has been allowed to access the AEHF satellite. In order to reach this milestone, the security architecture had to be validated by the appropriate organizations, and additional approvals had to come from Strategic Command and Air Force Space Command.

"The ability to send sensitive information over a protected network that is resistant to interruption and anti-jam is critical to ensuring the safety and success of our military troops here at home and allies abroad," said Iris Bombelyn, vice president, Protected Communications, Lockheed Martin Space Systems. "The successful over-the-air test of the Low Cost Terminal shows that we are ready to bring this capability to more users in the near-term."

The LCT is currently being developed in three variants: airborne, ground comm-on-the-move and rapidly deployable fixed terminal designs, which can also be deployed for maritime applications. Each variant is significantly smaller in size and weight than fully-capable strategic terminals, making them a better fit for tactical applications, while offering major cost and ease of use. The Industry team is seeking government partners to help champion the final production-version LCT for government certification. Provided testing and certifications are completed in time, the terminals can be available by the end of 2018. No other option for fielding protected SATCOM for the tactical warfighter is possible in the next few years.

The LCT takes advantage of Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin system knowledge and engineering experience gained over 30 years as providers of the nation's MILSTAR and AEHF satellite systems for protected military communications. They manage a team which combines commercial and military experience, small and large businesses, which has resulted in the innovations necessary to produce an LCT that will cost a small fraction of the cost of current generation terminals.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in autonomous systems, cyber, C4ISR, strike, and logistics and modernization to customers worldwide. Please visit news.northropgrumman.com and follow us on Twitter, @NGCNews, for more information.

About Lockheed Martin

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 97,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.

SOURCE Lockheed Martin

Related Links

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CHICAGO, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cabrera Capital Markets is proud to announce we are now a FINRA registered 15a-6 broker-dealer, also known as a chaperoning broker-dealer. The SEC adopted Rule 15a-6 namely "to facilitate access to foreign markets by U.S. institutional investors through foreign broker-dealers and the research that they provide, consistent with maintaining the safeguards afforded by broker-dealer registration."

"As a chaperoning broker-dealer, Cabrera can now offer clients high quality, locally produced international research," said Martin Cabrera, founder and CEO of Cabrera Capital Markets. "By complementing our global trading expertise with niche local broker research, we are now also able to provide access to local analysts and foreign company roadshows."

"Cabrera Capital continuously strives to provide clients with the best level of service," added Robert Aguilar, COO of Cabrera Capital Markets. "As a leading minority-owned enterprise (MBE), we work to ensure we maintain our strong relationships with state pension plans and U.S. fund managers. Now with the expansion of our international relationships and the products and services we can provide, we have further set ourselves apart from our competitors."

Over the past 18 months, Cabrera Capital Markets has revamped its equity trading desk with the addition of Paul Karrlsson-Willis as Managing Director of Equity Sales and Trading, Robert Livio (VP, Far East), Anthony Santostefano (VP, Emerging Europe and Middle East), Mike Derby (VP, Europe), Andy O'Kelly (VP, Americas) and most recently, Jon Bloom (VP, Americas). The team has an average of 30 years of trading experience.

"Over the past eight months, we have added 65 local brokers," explained Paul Karrlsson-Willis. "This has enabled our sales trading team to supply better market color and local market liquidity in both equities and bonds to our clients. The addition of local research, further corporate access and foreign IPOs has put Cabrera in the position to compete with any broker on the street."

Founded in 2001, Cabrera Capital Markets is an investment bank and full-service institutional brokerage firm with eight offices located in major financial centers across the United States. Cabrera Capital Markets provides a range of financial services worldwide to a substantial and diversified client base, including public and private pensions, financial institutions, unions, governments, corporations, foundations and endowments. Our goal is to provide our clients innovative ideas and implement cost effective solutions with excellence and integrity.

Media Contact Information: [email protected]

Related Files

Cabrera Capital Markets Now Offers International Research Corporate Access.docx

SOURCE Cabrera Capital Markets, LLC
ATWOOD  For 20 years, the First Baptist Church in Atwood has been an annual stop for Christian musician Ivan Parker.

This year, the congregation will be celebrating his return with an anniversary concert Saturday, Aug. 26, in the church.

The church's praise groups will open the concert.

Parker said he enjoys singing in a church setting, and he has a fondness for the local church.

Atwood First Baptist Church has become like an extended family after all these years, Parker said. I look forward to seeing the people that are regulars for this concert, and some have been every year.

Parker is a Southern gospel artist featured in various Bill Gaither gospel concerts. He also won multiple gospel awards of his own, dating back to 1993.

His music ranges from contemporary, Southern gospel to traditional gospel. Parker said he performs different styles to inspire everyone in the audience.

This is a music that can touch every part of your life, he said. No matter what you are going through or experiencing today, there is a message of encouragement and peace in all my concerts.

He is currently living with his family in Nashville, Tennessee. His son, Josh, is also a musician and will be on stage in Atwood.

Parker has performed at other churches throughout Central Illinois during the past 20 years, drawing fans of all ages.

He has also lent his talents to help worthy causes in the area, including homeless shelters, food pantries and other ministries.

Bill Fleming, worship leader of First Baptist Church of Atwood, said Parker's appeal goes beyond his talent.

Over the years, he has proven to be genuine Christian man, Fleming said. I see how he interacts with the crowd. He shows concern; he talks and prays with them. His show is a ministry.

First Baptist Church of Atwood built a new worship center 20 years ago that seats 350 people. It was Fleming's goal to bring more gospel music into the center and the area. Parker helped make that possible.

We decided to keep doing what we've been doing, Fleming said.

Fleming said Parker's concerts have always felt more like fellowship to the congregation: the connection is real.

They are smiling and saying they had a great time, he said of the audience.
WINDSOR, Conn., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), announced today that Carlo Bertucci will join the company as senior vice president and chief tax officer, effective Sept. 18, 2017. Bertucci, who has more than 20 years of tax experience across the financial services industry, will report to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Michael S. Smith.

"I'm pleased to welcome Carlo to Voya," said Smith. "He has significant experience in effective tax rate and tax attribute planning that will be beneficial to both Voya and our shareholders, particularly as it pertains to managing Voya's deferred-tax assets. Carlo will be a valuable member of Voya's senior leadership team in Finance and a great resource in supporting Voya's broader strategy and business objectives."

Bertucci joins Voya from State Street Corporation, where he served as senior vice president and head of international tax and transfer pricing since 2008. Prior to joining State Street, Bertucci was a partner at PwC where he advised financial services businesses on the tax consequences of various international transactions. He began his career at Price Waterhouse in 1995.

Bertucci attended the University of Toronto for his undergraduate studies and earned his law degree from York University's Osgoode Hall Law School.

About Voya Financial

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), helps Americans plan, invest and protect their savings  to get ready to retire better. Serving the financial needs of approximately 13.6 million individual and institutional customers in the United States, Voya is a Fortune 500 company that had $11 billion in revenue in 2016. The company had $517 billion in total assets under management and administration as of June 30, 2017. With a clear mission to make a secure financial future possible  one person, one family, one institution at a time  Voya's vision is to be America's Retirement Company. Certified as a "Great Place to Work" by the Great Place to Work Institute, Voya is equally committed to conducting business in a way that is socially, environmentally, economically and ethically responsible and has been recognized as one of the 2017 World's Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute, as well as one of the Top Green Companies in the U.S., by Newsweek magazine. For more information, visit voya.com. Follow Voya Financial on Facebook and Twitter @Voya.

SOURCE Voya Financial, Inc.

Related Links

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Castelo joined Woodforest in 2001 as a retail banker in Sequin, TX. She has successfully managed the bank's Converse, TX and Seguin, TX branches, as well as the De Zavala, TX branch, San Antonio's flagship 24 hour location for Woodforest. Castelo was promoted to Assistant Vice President in 2008 and in 2011 she was promoted to Regional Manager for the San Antonio area.

Julie V. Mayrant, President-Retail Division for Woodforest National Bank stated, "Cecy is a passionate Woodforest banker, committed to serving her local community, leveraging the bank's strong retail relationship, and growing and developing others. Her tenacity, work ethic, and optimism are admirable attributes."

Castelo is a graduate of the Bank Operations Institute of Texas and currently serves on the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce small business committee. She is committed to making a difference in the community, often volunteering and providing support in the areas of affordable housing, economic development, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship.

Castelo is supported by her husband and loving daughters and attributes her work ethic and passions to her strong and courageous mother. Castelo is an avid fan of the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Cowboys. She enjoys reading, developing her faith, and spending quality time with her family.

About Woodforest

Celebrating over 35 years of community banking service, Woodforest National Bank has successfully stood among the strongest community banks in the nation, proudly offering unsurpassed quality customer service since 1980. Woodforest currently operates 746 branches in 17 states across the United States. For more information about Woodforest National Bank please visit www.woodforest.com.

SOURCE Woodforest National Bank

Related Links

http://www.woodforest.com


FLORHAM PARK, N.J., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Conduent Incorporated, (NYSE: CNDT) the world's largest provider of diversified business services, was recognized on the 2017 Top 20 lists for Training Outsourcing and Content Development by Training Industry, a leading media portal for training and development professionals.

The two recognitions make for a total of 24 Top 20 recognitions for Conduent from Training Industry since 2008.

"We understand the importance of empowering workforces to drive business results for our clients," said Leo Blankenship, general manager, Conduent, Learning Services. "The continuous recognition we've received throughout our 40-year history further proves we're a trusted and valued provider of learning services for Fortune 500 companies."

For each Top 20 list, Training Industry identifies providers who demonstrate excellence in industry visibility, innovation and impact. Selections for both the Training Outsourcing and Content Development lists were also based on the providers' ability to deliver multiple types of training services, and develop and deliver multiple types of content. Other considerations included the providers' depth and breadth of subject matter expertise, company size and growth potential, strength and quality of clients, and geographic reach. Because of the diversity of services included in training outsourcing engagements, no attempt is made to rank the Top 20.

Conduent Learning Services is a global provider of learning business services.

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About Training Industry, Inc.

Training Industry spotlights the latest news, articles, case studies and best practices within the training industry, and publishes annual Top 20 and Watch List reports covering many sectors of interest to the corporate training function. Its focus is on helping dedicated businesses and training professionals get the information, insight and tools needed to more effectively manage the business of learning.

About Conduent

Conduent is the world's largest provider of diversified business services with leading capabilities in transaction processing, automation and analytics. The company's global workforce is dedicated to helping its large and diverse client base deliver quality services to the people they serve. These clients include 76 of the Fortune 100 companies and over 500 government entities.

Conduent's differentiated offerings touch millions of lives every day, including two-thirds of all insured patients in the U.S. and nearly nine million people who travel through toll systems daily. Whether it's digital payments, claims processing, benefit administration, automated tolling, customer care or distributed learning  Conduent manages and modernizes these interactions to create value for both its clients and their constituents. Learn more at www.conduent.com.

Note: To receive RSS news feeds, visit www.news.conduent.com. For open commentary, industry perspectives and views, visit http://twitter.com/Conduent, http://www.linkedin.com/company/conduent or http://www.facebook.com/Conduent.

Conduent is a trademark of Conduent Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.

SOURCE Conduent Incorporated

Related Links

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CLEVELAND, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- McDonald Hopkins LLC, a business advisory and advocacy law firm, will be hosting a Business Hour regarding the upcoming changes relating to new regulations promulgated by the IRS that become effective on January 1, 2018 concerning the new centralized audit rules for partnership and LLCs.

The event, Death of the Tax Matters Partner: What Owners of Partnerships and LLCs Need to Know About New Rules, will be moderated by David Kall with David Ebersole and Michelle Rood as panelists. During the panel discussions, Kall, Ebersole and Rood will provide insightful information and answer questions about the new audit regime, the end to the familiar tax matters partner role and the birth of the new partnership representative. The event will also cover what will happen if partnerships and LLCs do not amend their agreements and are then audited by the IRS.

To further assist partnerships and LLCs minimize any potential negative impact from the new rules; McDonald Hopkins has created two new programs, the McDonald Hopkins Partnership and LLC Amendment Program and McDonald Hopkins Partnership Representative Specialists. In addition to the new services, McDonald Hopkins has also created a partnership audit services page on their website, which provides informative content on the program, the implementation process and any subsequent updates.

The Business Hour will be held on October 17 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. ET at McDonald Hopkins' Cleveland office at 600 Superior Avenue East. For those who cannot attend in person, the event will be live streamed as a webinar. Participants will be given an opportunity to have questions answered by the panel. Interested participants are encouraged to visit the event page for more information and to register.

About McDonald Hopkins

Founded in 1930, McDonald Hopkins is a business advisory and advocacy law firm with locations in Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Miami, and West Palm Beach. With more than 50 service and industry teams, the firm has the expertise and knowledge to meet the growing number of legal and business challenges our clients face. For more information about McDonald Hopkins, visit mcdonaldhopkins.com.

CONTACT:

Deborah W. Kelm

McDonald Hopkins LLC

600 Superior Avenue, East, Suite 2100

Cleveland, Ohio 44114

Phone: 216.348.5733

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE McDonald Hopkins

Related Links

http://www.mcdonaldhopkins.com


SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- dLocal, a fintech company specializing in facilitating cross-border payments for global e-commerce merchants in emerging markets, today expanded its holistic payments platform to India. dLocal's expanded footprint and newly-opened local office in New Delhi enables global e-merchants to accept and remit payments to India using all the locally-relevant payment methods thus reaching hundreds of millions of connected consumers, contractors and freelancers who are accelerating the digital transformation in India.

An e-commerce boom is spreading across India as a new generation of smartphone-armed, digital-savvy shoppers browse the globe for merchants who can deliver purchases to their front door and provide premium content to their devices. dLocal's platform for India was developed to reduce numerous payment-related barriers between global merchants and local consumers who use the Internet to buy anything from physical goods to SaaS products to local advertising.

To ensure the widest reach for its merchant customers, dLocal supports all the locally-relevant payment methods in India, including locally issued credit cards, debit cards and bank transfers. The platform also supports unified payments interface (UPI), the latest initiative by India's Central Bank geared at boosting e-commerce and enabling instant bank payments.

In addition to seamlessly handling pay-ins in India, the platform also removes the many barriers associated with dispersing mass payouts to local contractors and freelancers, by enabling global e-merchants and marketplaces to easily transfer funds into their Indian freelancers' local bank accounts with the same ease as they already do this in the US.

"India presents incredible market opportunities for online merchants and marketplaces," said Sebastian Kanovich, CEO of dLocal. "With dLocal, they don't need to operate a local entity in India nor navigate India's fragmented and complex payment ecosystem. Instead, they can focus on marketing and merchandizing of their products, and dLocal will tackle the rest as their payments processor and merchant of record simplifying their entry into the world's fastest-growing, emerging market."

The dLocal platform allows merchants to accommodate the local payment preferences of individuals and SMBs, alleviates tax burdens and payments settlement and reduces the risks of currency exchange fluctuations. Key features include:

Local processing for pay-ins and payouts in 18 emerging markets.

1 API integration for all markets and over 200 local payment methods including credit cards, debit cards, installments, bank transfers, direct debit, and cash payments.

Ensures the broadest reach and highest acceptance rate by processing all the locally-relevant payment methods in each country where dLocal operates.

Worry-free funds repatriation to the US or Europe .

. A mobile-first payments platform that is PCI DSS Level 1 Compliant.

In-house risk chargeback management, smart routing tools, retry, and BIN-level logic.

dLocal supports global brands' e-commerce within 18 emerging markets. Brands such as Uber, GoDaddy and others use the dLocal payments platform to eliminate cross-border payments complexity and boost payment conversions in emerging markets.

To learn more about India's e-commerce boom and what merchants should know about the country's complex and fragmented payments market, please join us on September 7th for a webinar on E-commerce Payments in India. The registration link can be found here: http://bit.ly/WebinarIndia

About dLocal:

dLocal (https://dlocal.com) is the only 360 payments technology platform designed to handle mass online payments in Latin America and other emerging markets in APAC, Middle East and Eastern Europe. With dLocal, there is no need to manage separate pay-in and payout processors, set-up numerous local entities, integrate dozens of isolated acquirers and payment methods, worry about stranded funds overseas, nor undergo heavy operational burdens. By operating as the payments processor and merchant of record in each market, dLocal is making it simple for online companies to reach 2 billion digitally-savvy consumers in today's fastest-growing markets. Over 450 global e-commerce merchants, online travel providers, and marketplaces rely on dLocal to accept more than 200 locally-relevant payment methods, as well as issue millions of payments to their contractors, agents, and sellers in 18 markets around the world.

Contact:

Cutler PR for dLocal

[email protected]

SOURCE dLocal

Related Links

http://dlocal.com


"We are making it possible for lab tests to converse directly with patients by leveraging advanced artificial intelligence, medical data forensics, and the decentralized blockchain. We envision extensive possibilities for the use of this technology by doctors, patients, and medical institutions," commented Walter De Brouwer, founder and chief executive officer of doc.ai.

Deloitte Life Sciences and Healthcare is working with doc.ai to test its Robo-Hematology solution, which was unveiled on July 24, 2017 at Deloitte University in Dallas, Texas.

"doc.ai's AI-based doctors provide answers to health questions using an AI-powered platform," said Rajeev Ronanki, Deloitte Consulting LLP principal of Life Sciences and Health Care. "Platforms like these open new possibilities for patients and medical organizations by providing more personalized, intelligent healthcare. We are excited to collaborate with doc.ai and to be at the forefront of this technology."

How doc.ai Works

doc.ai is building a new platform for established medical companies to enable patients to have personalized, AI-powered conversations about their health at any time of day. Over the next twelve months, doc.ai expects to roll out three natural language processing modules: Robo-Genomics, Robo-Hematology, and Robo-Anatomics, to the industry's leading medical providers and payors.

Details about doc.ai's platform:

Working with medical companies, doc.ai's AI technology is designed to use a decentralized, edge-learning network to develop insights based on personal data. An edge-learning network performs deep learning computations at the edge of the network or on a mobile device. doc.ai's AI technology personalizes conversations with patients on their health data via a mobile app, and is available to provide information 24/7. The patient can ask the AI questions such as "What should be my optimal Ferritin value based on my iron storage deficiency?" or "How can I decrease my cholesterol in the next 3 weeks?" or "Why was my glucose level over 100 and a week later it is at 93?" AI provides the answers and additional context for each answer. Patients can leverage conversations with the AI-powered robo-doctor to achieve better health outcomes from consultations with their physician.

According to the World Health Organization, there is a shortage of over seven million physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals worldwide, and the gap is widening. Doctors are challenged to respond to the growing needs of the population, while keeping abreast of the latest developments in medicine and healthcare. Further, training doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals is an arduous process that requires years of education and experience. Artificial intelligence can help address these challenges while improving patients' care and experience.

doc.ai Digital Token Sale Details

To power its platform and incentivize the community, doc.ai will be creating digital tokens, named Neurons ("NRNs"), based on the ERC-20 standard.

doc.ai will sell and issue Simple Agreements for Future Tokens ("SAFTs"), which will convert into NRNs upon the launch of the platform. SAFTs will initially be available through a pre-sale process that is expected to start on September 7, 2017. The crowdsale process is expected to start on September 28, 2017. The solicitation, offer, and sale of SAFTs will be conducted in a manner that is compliant with applicable securities laws and regulations, including Rule 506(c) of Regulation D. In the United States, only verified accredited investors will be eligible to purchase SAFTs.

The total number of NRN to be created will be based on the number of neurons in the human brain, 86 billion. Total of 860 million NRN will be created, with one NRN representing 100 neurons in the human brain. Approximately 37% of the total number of NRNs is expected to be sold in the SAFT offering. doc.ai plans to use the funds raised from the sale of SAFTs to further develop its platform and technology.

About doc.ai

doc.ai is helping healthcare companies to improve patients' care and experience by creating the industry's most advanced intelligent natural language processing platform that generates insights from medical data. doc.ai's team is teaching machines the language of biology and training the first generation of AI in natural language comprehension and computer vision. doc.ai was founded by the entrepreneurial duo Walter and Sam De Brouwer in 2016. The Palo Alto, California, company has raised seed funding from Comet Labs, F50, Legend Star and S2 Capital, and has several prominent clients.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain information set forth in this press release contains "forward-looking information" under applicable securities laws. Except for statements of historical fact, information contained herein constitutes forward-looking statements and includes, but is not limited to, (i) the projected performance of doc.ai; (ii) the completion of, and the use of proceeds from, the sale of SAFTs; (iii) the expected development of doc.ai's business, projects, and joint ventures; (iv) the execution of the Company's vision and growth strategy, including with respect to future global growth; (v) the sources and availability of third-party financing for doc.ai's projects; (vi) the completion of doc.ai's projects that are currently underway, in development or otherwise under consideration; (vii) doc.ai's ability to launch a functional platform, which includes the related creation and issuance of NRNs; (viii) renewal of the Company's current customer, supplier, and other material agreements; and (ix) the future liquidity, working capital, and capital requirements. Forward-looking statements are provided to allow potential purchasers of SAFTs the opportunity to understand management's beliefs and opinions in respect of the future. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and undue reliance should not be placed on them. Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future performance or result expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon what management believes are reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. doc.ai's undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change, except as required by applicable securities laws. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Securities Disclaimer

This press release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer or solicitation to sell securities. Any such offer or solicitation will be made only by means that are in compliance with applicable securities and other laws, including Rule 506(c) of Regulation D. No information or opinions presented herein are intended to form the basis for any purchase decision, and no specific recommendations are intended. Accordingly this press release does not constitute investment advice or counsel or solicitation for investment in any security. This press release does not constitute or form part of, and should not be construed as, any offer for sale or subscription of, or any invitation to offer to buy or subscribe for, any securities, nor should it or any part of it form the basis of, or be relied on in any connection with, any contract or commitment whatsoever. doc.ai expressly disclaims any and all responsibility for any direct or consequential loss or damage of any kind whatsoever arising directly or indirectly from: (i) reliance on any information contained in this press release, (ii) any error, omission or inaccuracy in any such information, and (iii) any action resulting therefrom.

Press Contact

Cristina Dunning, Spark for doc.ai

[email protected]

503-507-4758

SOURCE doc.ai

Related Links

http://www.doc.ai


NASHVILLE, Tenn., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- This summer, Nashville will add a few more reasons to be known as a growing, thriving city to visit and live  for people and their pets. Today, Mars Petcare, together with Mayor Barry and other partners, announced a $350,000+ investment in the City of Nashville to make it easier for visitors and residents to welcome pets into their homes and into more public places.

A two-day adoption event, new policies and increased pet-friendly amenities in Downtown Nashville are the latest commitments of the BETTER CITIES FOR PETS initiative, which brings the voice of pets and their owners to places of influence, advocating for fewer pets in shelters, more pet-friendly places, and happier, healthier lives for both people and pets.

"Making life better starts in the homes and cities we live in, so we're taking steps to create solutions that lead to good homes here in Middle Tennessee," said Chris Mondzelewski, Mars Petcare general manager, natural brands. "Pets can't speak for themselves, so now more than ever, it's time for cities to adapt with these changes by increasing opportunities for people and pets to live, work and play together in the places they call home."

Accommodating More Pets in a Booming City

It's no secret that Nashville is growing  and with increased urbanization and more people moving into the city, this has an impact on the pet population. In fact, according to estimates, the Nashville area could be home to more than a million pets in just a few years. According to a recent survey by Downtown Nashville Partnership, more than 3,000 dogs live in Downtown Nashville. With this fast-moving population growth comes a need for more policies and homes that welcome pets in cities.

"My dogs bring so much joy to my life, and I want more Nashvillians to be able to experience that same joy," said Mayor Megan Barry. "Bringing together private and public partners to create more housing choices for people with pets and creating more pet-friendly spaces, especially in the urban core, will lead to happier and healthier lives for our residents."

To address these challenges, this summer, an innovative public-private partnership will make Nashville better for pets by encouraging adoption, adding pet-friendly amenities and offering resources that will make it easier to welcome pets into homes and make city living easier for pet owners.

Mars Petcare and its partners are proud to help their hometown by investing in pet-friendly programs and amenities in Middle Tennessee in the following ways:

Revisiting Breed and Size Bans: Mars Petcare is working with partners like ONEC1TY , one of the largest urban communities under construction in downtown Nashville , and MarketStreet , a developer known for its pet-friendly communities like Pine Street Flats , to revisit size and breed restrictions in local residential communities. One of the most common reasons people give for surrendering pets to shelters is that they can't have their pet with them where they plan to live, and policy changes are a critical way to address this.

Mars Petcare is working with partners like , one of the largest urban communities under construction in downtown , and MarketStreet a developer known for its pet-friendly communities like to revisit size and breed restrictions in local residential communities. One of the most common reasons people give for surrendering pets to shelters is that they can't have their pet with them where they plan to live, and policy changes are a critical way to address this. Installing Pet-Friendly Amenities Downtown: Together with the Downtown Nashville Partnership , Mars Petcare is supporting the needs of urban pet owners by installing more waste and hydration stations downtown, and creating "parklets" that offer more green space for pets to "go." These amenities are also emerging as a priority for local pet owners; more than 50 percent of downtown residents surveyed recently said they wished there were more waste and hydration amenities for local pups, and nearly 40 percent want more dog-friendly parks in the area, and local partners are responding to this desire.

Together with the , Mars Petcare is supporting the needs of urban pet owners by installing more waste and hydration stations downtown, and creating "parklets" that offer more green space for pets to "go." These amenities are also emerging as a priority for local pet owners; more than 50 percent of downtown residents surveyed recently said they wished there were more waste and hydration amenities for local pups, and nearly 40 percent want more dog-friendly parks in the area, and local partners are responding to this desire. Improving the Residential Pet Experience: Several developers and communities ( ONEC1TY , Pine Street Flats ) are incorporating pet-focused amenities and activities into their residential living communities, and working with Mars Petcare to promote responsible pet ownership through education in these communities. From indoor/outdoor dog runs and agility courses, to pet spas and on-site pet concierge services, living with a pet is about to become much easier in Nashville .

Several developers and communities ( ) are incorporating pet-focused amenities and activities into their residential living communities, and working with Mars Petcare to promote responsible pet ownership through education in these communities. From indoor/outdoor dog runs and agility courses, to pet spas and on-site pet concierge services, living with a pet is about to become much easier in . Making Public and Park Space Better for Pets: In partnership with the City of Nashville , Mars Petcare is supporting more pet-friendly public places, including welcoming pets into the Nashville Farmers' Market for the first time ever beginning this fall. As part of its Master Plan, Metro Parks is investing in more regional dog parks, including a premier destination dog park.

"Knowing that our residents have more pets than ever, we are working to implement new amenities to make the quality of life better for all family members, including those with four legs," said Tom Turner, president & CEO, Nashville Downtown Partnership.

Together, these partners are working on policy and practical solutions that create a sustainable pet-friendly environment, in the home and within the city.

Encouraging Nashville Residents to Bring Love Home

No city can be truly pet-friendly with a high volume of unwanted pets in shelters. To further encourage local residents to welcome pets into their homes, Mars Petcare is once again making it even easier to adopt from three local shelters this summer. On Friday, August 25 and Saturday, August 26, Mars Petcare will cover adoption fees at Metro Animal Care & Control, Nashville Humane Association and Williamson County Animal Center.

Doors will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Mars Petcare experts will be present at all three shelters, offering advice on how to help pets adjust to their new life, as well as how to prepare their home for a new furry friend. New pet owners will also receive a goodie bag packed with helpful educational materials, product samples and other additional materials for their new pet.

There's no better time to assess and implement new policies to be sure Nashville is building a future for these families  starting at home. For more information about Mars Petcare and to learn how you can help make Nashville and other cities more pet friendly so everyone can have a better, healthier life, join the movement at www.bettercitiesforpets.com.

About Mars Petcare US

Mars Petcare is the world's leading pet nutrition and health care business. A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS is the vision statement held by Mars Petcare as we believe that pets make our lives better and that pet ownership brings joy and benefits which should be accessible to everyone. In the United States, Mars Petcare food brands include PEDIGREE, IAMS, ROYAL CANIN, GREENIES, CESAR, NUTRO and SHEBA. Veterinary practices include BANFIELD and BLUE PEARL. Specialty brands include WISDOM PANEL Canine DNA Tests and WHISTLE GPS Pet Tracker. The company's WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition is a leading scientific authority on pet nutrition and wellbeing. Mars Petcare has more than 37,000 Associates worldwide. For more information about Mars Petcare's vision: A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS, visit www.bettercitiesforpets.com.

About BETTER CITIES FOR PETS

BETTER CITIES FOR PETS is a program of Mars Petcare US, the world's leading pet nutrition and health care business. The program aims to create enough places for every dog and cat to live, visit and play by supporting shelters, homes, businesses and parks. Mars Petcare works with key partners, businesses and local governments to better understand how to improve communities by: providing safe and welcoming shelters that lead to forever homes; encouraging pet-friendly, responsible homes for pets; welcoming more pets into local businesses, and giving pets plenty of park space to play. For more information about Mars Petcare and BETTER CITIES FOR PETS, join the movement at www.bettercitiesforpets.com.

SOURCE Mars Petcare US

Related Links

http://www.bettercitiesforpets.com


WASHINGTON, Aug. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Edison Electric Institute (EEI) President Tom Kuhn today issued the following statement on the U.S. Department of Energy's energy grid reliability study.

"EEI commends the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for undertaking this study to examine key factors that can enhance the resilience of the energy grid, our nation's most critical infrastructure.

"While we are still thoroughly reviewing the study, EEI has long advocated that our customers are best served by public policies that promote a balanced and diverse energy mix, which includes both traditional and renewable energy sources, and that also recognize the vital role 24/7 energy sources play in sustaining a secure, reliable, and resilient energy grid.

"We also believe it is important to value investments in more robust infrastructure, while maintaining a diverse energy mix that eliminates single points of failure. Whether to limit impacts from inevitable storms or natural events or to prepare for malicious cyber or physical attacks, supporting a resilient energy grid is an investment in national and economic security.

"As always, we look forward to working with DOE and the Administration to ensure the reliable delivery of electricity to all customers."

EEI is the association that represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies. Our members provide electricity for 220 million Americans, and operate in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. As a whole, the electric power industry supports more than 7 million jobs in communities across the United States. In addition to our U.S. members, EEI has more than 60 international electric companies, with operations in more than 90 countries, as International Members, and hundreds of industry suppliers and related organizations as Associate Members. Organized in 1933, EEI provides public policy leadership, strategic business intelligence, and essential conferences and forums.

SOURCE Edison Electric Institute

Related Links

http://www.eei.org


FREDERICK, Md., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Empower Energies welcomes Michael Slom as Vice President of Sales and Business Development.

Mr. Slom comes to Empower after running the solar asset acquisition efforts for Pardee Resources for over seven years. Michael led Pardee's investment of over $60 million into Commercial and Industrial (C&I) solar energy projects and is a highly respected figure in the solar development and financing world. Michael brings to Empower a deep network of relationships with leading developers, EPC contractors and equipment vendors from his background in acquiring late stage solar projects.

Michael will play a similar at Empower Energies, where he will focus on building out Empower's relationships with leading developers, EPC contractors and equipment vendors with early to late stage projects for acquisition by the DG Fund, Empower's C&I distributed solar project fund. The DG Fund provides the complete capital stack for the construction and acquisition of distributed solar projects and is supported by capital commitments from industry leading tax equity and cash equity investors. Michael will be reporting to Ken Beiser, the head of the Sales and Business Development group at Empower.

"We are excited to add a professional of Michael's caliber to the growing team at Empower. Mike will focus on working with developers, EPCs and other industry players with projects they are looking to monetize. Through our DG Fund, we have committed capital to deploy for C&I projects in the 500kw - 20 MW range. Interested parties can reach out to Michael through the Empower website."- John Clapp, President & CFO, Empower Energies

About Empower Energies

Empower Energies is a solar development and financing company specializing in meeting the needs of commercial and industrial customers across the U.S. Empower uses its dedicated DG Fund to provide capital to project development and acquisition opportunities, allowing it to execute quickly and efficiently with power consumers and other developers. Empower is actively seeking C&I projects as well as talented professionals in sales, finance and operations. For more information, visit empowerenergies.com or give us a call at: (240) 490-4200.

Press Contact:

Kelly Chasse

[email protected]

(401) 272 - 1300

SOURCE Empower Energies

Related Links

http://www.EmpowerEnergies.com


CLACKAMAS, Ore., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On August 16, EnergySec honored two individuals at the 13th Annual Security and Compliance Summit held at the Disneyland Resort Hotel: Michael Meason is EnergySec's Cybersecurity Professional of the Year 2017 and Andy Bochman is EnergySec's Cybersecurity Leader of the Year 2017.

Each year, EnergySec gives special recognition to individuals who have stood out among their peers in displaying EnergySec's core values of service, innovation, and excellence.

Michael Meason is the Manager of Technical Services at Western Farmers Electric Cooperative. He has eight years of experience in the utility industry and ten years of experience in enterprise IT and cyber security in the financial services sector. Michael is actively employed in the electric utility industry and has provided leadership for IT operations, telecommunications engineering, network engineering/operations, cybersecurity, and critical infrastructure protection.

Michael earned a B.S. in Computer Information Systems from Cameron University, and a M.S. Telecommunications Management from Oklahoma State University. Michael is a CISSP in good standing, a proud member of Infragard Oklahoma, and holds information assurance certificates from the Committee for Network Security Systems (CNSS), and the National Security Telecommunications and Information Systems Instruction (NSTISSI).

Andy provides strategic guidance to senior USG and industry leaders on topics at the intersection of grid modernization and security. Previously he was the Global Energy & Utilities Security Lead at IBM and Senior Adviser at the Chertoff Group in Washington, DC. A frequent speaker, writer and standards developer, Andy has provided analysis on energy sector security actions, standards and gaps to DOE, DOD, FERC, NERC, NIST, NARUC, the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC), and state utility commissions, most recently testifying before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on energy infrastructure cybersecurity issues.

His two most recent papers, both published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), are "the National Security Case for Simplicity in Energy Infrastructure" (2015) and "IoT, Automation, Autonomy and Megacities in 2025: A Dark Preview" (2017).

About EnergySec

The Energy Sector Security Consortium, Inc. (EnergySec) is a United States 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation formed to support energy sector organizations with the security of their critical technology infrastructures. Through our membership program, we support collaborative initiatives and projects that help enhance the cybersecurity resiliency of these organizations. www.energysec.org

Media Contact

Steve Parker, President, EnergySec, 503-905-2923

SOURCE EnergySec

Related Links

http://www.energysec.org


Decatur is preparing to host the largest outdoor agriculture party in the nation as the Farm Progress Show kicks off Tuesday. The three-day event, held in Decatur every other year, has been a boon for the city since it took up roots north of Richland Community College in 2005.

Farm Progress combines elements of an international trade show, technology conference and demonstration site. Vendors show agricultural and livestock products ranging from weed control to gleaming $400,000 combines, often with eye-catching 3-D displays.

Roughly 600 vendors from major corporations like John Deere, Monsanto and others will unveil new technology and equipment, with an expected attendance of more than 100,000 people. The show spans 90 acres for exhibits, 150 acres for parking and 350 acres for field demonstrations.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue is scheduled to attend on Wednesday, and country artist Easton Corbin will perform at a free concert that night.

The event, which is held in Boone, Iowa, in alternating years, started in Armstrong, Illinois, in 1953 as a way for farmers to see firsthand the progress being made in equipment, seed varieties and agricultural chemicals.

Come back Sunday for an in-depth look at how Decatur is preparing for the event, followed by full coverage next week in print and at herald-review.com.
BOSTON, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- EnerNOC, Inc. ("EnerNOC") today announced that, as a result of its merger (the "Merger") with and into Pine Merger Sub, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Enel Green Power North America, Inc. ("EGPNA"), which consummated on August 7, 2017 with EnerNOC continuing as the surviving corporation and becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of EGPNA, EnerNOC has commenced an offer to repurchase (the "Offer") any and all of its outstanding 2.25% Convertible Senior Notes due 2019 (the "Notes") in accordance with the indenture governing the Notes (the "Indenture"). The Offer is scheduled to expire at 5:00 p.m. ET on September 21, 2017, unless extended (the "Expiration Time").

The Merger constituted a "fundamental change," as defined in the Indenture, following which each holder has the right to require EnerNOC to repurchase any and all of its Notes. Pursuant to the Offer, holders who validly tender and do not validly withdraw their Notes prior to the Expiration Time will be entitled to receive cash equal to 100% of the principal amount of such Notes, plus any accrued and unpaid interest to, but excluding, the fundamental change purchase date. In accordance with the Indenture, EnerNOC has designated September 22, 2017 as the fundamental change repurchase date.

As a result of the consummation of the Merger, the Notes currently are convertible. Holders may convert any outstanding Notes into cash and will be entitled to receive $276.84 of cash for each $1,000 principal amount of Notes based on the version rate of 36.0933 that was in effect on the effective date of the Merger and the $7.67 price per share of EnerNOC common stock payable in the Merger. For the Notes tendered pursuant to the Offer, EnerNOC estimates that the amount holders will be entitled to receive, including accrued and unpaid interest to, but excluding, the currently scheduled fundamental change repurchase date, will be approximately $1,002.375 per $1,000 principal amount of the Notes.

The information agent and tender agent for the Offer is D.F. King & Co., Inc. Questions regarding the process for tending the Notes pursuant to the Offer and requests for documents may be directed to D.F. King & Co., Inc. at (800) 431-9643 (toll-free) or (212) 269-5550 (collect).

None of the representatives or employees of EnerNOC or EGPNA make any recommendation as to whether or not holders should tender their Notes pursuant to the offer, and no one has been authorized by any of them to make such recommendations. Neither the Offer nor this press release constitutes an offer to buy or the solicitation of an offer to sell the Notes in any circumstances or jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation is unlawful.

Holders of the Notes should read carefully the Fundamental Change Company Notice and Offer to Repurchase dated August 24, 2017, as it contains important information as to the procedures and timing for tendering the Notes.

About EnerNOC

EnerNOC has active demand response networks in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Additionally, EnerNOC offers an energy intelligence software that enables businesses to boost facility efficiency, simplify utility bill management and ease reporting burdens. The company's energy procurement tools and services help customers buy energy more strategically, manage risk, and optimize pricing.

About EGPNA and the Enel Group

Enel Green Power North America, Inc., headquartered in Andover, MA, manages a portfolio of over 100 renewable energy power plants for a total capacity exceeding 3.3 GW and additional 900 MW currently under construction. In January the Enel Group bought 100% of Demand Energy Networks (Demand Energy), a US-based company specialized in intelligent software and energy storage systems, whose DEN.OS software enables real-time optimization of energy management, with the potential to revolutionize the way electricity is generated, stored and consumed.

The Enel Group operates in over 30 countries across five continents, producing energy through a managed capacity of more than 85 GW. Enel distributes electricity and gas through a network of over 2 million kilometres, and, with more than 65 million business and household customers worldwide, the Group has the largest customer base among European competitors. Enel is the largest utility in Europe in terms of market capitalization and figures among Europe's leading power companies in terms of installed capacity and reported EBITDA. Enel's green energy division, Enel Green Power (EGP), a leading multinational renewable energy player, manages around 39 GW of wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and hydropower plants in Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa and has recently arrived in Australia.

Enel Media Relations

T +39 06 8305 5699

F +39 06 8305 3771

[email protected]

EnerNOC Media Relations

Sarah McAuley

(617) 32-8195

[email protected]

SOURCE EnerNOC, Inc.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Enlightened, Inc. ("Enlightened") and its protege JASINT Consulting and Technologies, LLC. ("JASINT") have been awarded the prestigious 2016 Nunn-Perry Award by the DoD. The award recognizes successful business mentor-protege teams that excel in protege development in the areas of technical assistance, business development, infrastructure enhancement and ultimately, return on investment for the DoD. Enlightened is a HUBZone certified small business specializing in cyber security, software development and integration, and management consulting services.

JASINT is a Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) specializing in cyber security, cross domain solutions, software development, systems engineering and virtualization. The Enlightened-JASINT Mentor-Protege agreement was awarded through the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). Enlightened is one of a few small business mentors in the DoD's Mentor Protege Program nationwide and are proud to have been nominated for this award by NGA.

Developmental assistance provided to JASINT included a cyber security lab which supports the DoD, NGA and intelligence community (IC) with enhanced capability and capacity to defend priority DoD networks and support joint warfighting requirements in Cyberspace. In addition, Enlightened provided business infrastructure training that involved business development, proposals, finance and customer service. Morehouse College, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), is also a part of the mentor-protege team providing additional support in Capability Maturity Model Integration.

Since 1995, the Nunn-Perry awards have recognized outstanding DoD Mentor Protege teams formed under the auspices of the DoD Mentor-Protege Program (MPP). The Nunn Perry award is named in honor of former Senator Sam Nunn and former Secretary of Defense William Perry. The DoD Mentor-Protege Program's primary goal is to positively impact the growth and capability of the defense industry base through partnerships between major defense industry contractors and innovative small businesses.

"It is such an honor for the Enlightened and JASINT mentor-protege team to receive the 2016 Nunn-Perry Award. We are delighted that our business development efforts resulted in JASINT receiving its first prime contract. The contract, with the DoD's Washington Headquarters Services, for parking lot management services opened an entirely new division at JASINT called Infrastructure Solutions (IFS). We also greatly appreciate the mentorship support and leadership of DXC Technology," said Antwanye Ford, President & CEO.

"JASINT is extremely humbled and honored to share in such a prestigious award. This award not only symbolizes the strength of our partnership but more importantly our commitment to support the DoD, IC and ultimately the warfighter," said Rodney Williams, CEO of JASINT.

About Enlightened

Enlightened is an award winning company that provides Cyber Security, IT and management solutions to resolve complex business problems for federal, state, and local government agencies. Enlightened holds GSA IT-70 and MOBIS schedule contracts, HUBZone and Small Business certified by the U.S. Small Business Administration, and rated CMMI-DEV Level 3 and CMMI-SVC Level 2 by the CMMI Institute. For more information please visit www.enlightened.com.

SOURCE Enlightened, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.enlightened.com


Service staff shows off ensembles with Queen of the Skies backdrop

TAIPEI, Taiwan, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- EVA Air revealed new service staff uniforms against the backdrop of its last 747 passenger jet in a celebration of the legacy of service it established over almost 25 years with the Queen of the Skies on Thursday, August 24, 2017. The airline staged the celebration at its maintenance, repair and overhaul affiliate, Evergreen Aviation Technologies. EVA chose trend-setting luxury fashion house Shiatzy Chen to create the new uniforms.

EVA Air revealed new uniforms for service staff on flights and at airports. Those for cabin crew and female ground staff have standing collars that suggest the idea of flying.

EVA positioned its retired jumbo jet behind the catwalk used by service staff to introduce their third-generation uniforms. EVA took its last 747 passenger flight on August 21. It will introduce its new look on flights and at airports in November 2017.

"As we bid farewell to our 'Queen of the Skies' and her remarkable performance, we welcome our new service image," said EVA Air Chairman Steve Lin. "We designed these uniforms for style, comfort and function, and to further enhance our service team's professional image."

EVA's current uniforms were introduced in 2003. The airline began working with Shiatzy Chen and lead designer Ms. Wang Chen Tsai-Hsia to create the new uniforms in 2015. The designer used color blocks, geometric patterns and streamlined shapes for professional attire with classic appeal. She chose tourmaline green, or verdelite, as the uniforms' base color.

On women's uniforms, standing collars convey the idea of flying. For the cabin crew, red collars identify chief pursers, pink represents deputy pursers and light green signifies flight attendants. For female ground staff, red collars designate supervisors and light green denotes traffic officers. Scarves further set the new uniforms apart from the current ones.

Uniforms for male ground staff suggest three-piece suits. Aircraft wings formed by green or orange dots stand out against black background on ties. Vests feature pockets for keeping pens and notebooks handy.

To fully meet its service staff's uniform needs, EVA commissioned development of a high-performance fabric that blends elastic and antistatic carbon-fiber yarns. Quick-drying and moisture-absorbent, the fabric is also flexible and breathable, ensuring that service staff can look and feel good as they attend to passengers.

About EVA Air:

EVA Air, a Star Alliance member, was established in 1989 as Taiwan's first privately owned international airline. It is part of the respected Evergreen Group and a sister company to global container-shipping leader Evergreen Line. It flies a fleet of more than 70 Boeing and Airbus aircraft to close to 70 international destinations throughout Asia, Oceania, Europe and North America where gateways are Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto and Vancouver. With just one stop in Taipei, travelers can connect to most major cities in Asia, including 25 destinations in China. Travelers can book flights at www.evaair.com.

SOURCE EVA Air

Related Links

http://www.evaair.com


CHICAGO, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines announced today that it has partnered with three world-class design and apparel companies  Brooks Brothers, Tracy Reese and Carhartt  to inspire and create a new line of uniforms for the carrier's more than 70,000 front-line employees. Additionally, United will partner with TUMI, the leading international brand of premium travel, business and lifestyle accessories, to be the official luggage provider for all 24,000 flight attendants.

"The partners we've selected uniquely match what our employees asked for in a uniforms program  style, comfort and durability," said Kate Gebo, senior vice president of global customer service delivery and chief customer officer of United. "We recognized early on that this would not be a 'one size fits all' solution  front-line employees perform vastly different roles and deserve a uniform that meets their specific needs, created by leaders in the apparel business. Our United family is excited to see how these trusted and innovative brands will deliver world-class uniforms in close collaboration with our employees."

Committed to a best-in-class uniforms program, earlier this year the airline started what will be a multi-year process to ensure the proper amount of time for collaboration among employees, labor leadership and the partner brands as well as ample time to test uniforms before finalizing designs and materials. Working closely with labor leadership for all front-line teams, employee feedback will be used to inform every aspect of the design process, which will be followed by multiple thorough wear tests with employees to ensure optimal comfort and functionality of designs and materials. The process is structured to deliver comfortable, durable and fashionable uniforms that United's talented aviation professionals will feel proud to wear while performing their varied roles.

Based on employee feedback from focus groups, open houses and surveys, United identified a variety of distinct brands to meet the needs of employees and help deliver the company's next-generation uniform program. Over the last several months, Tracy Reese and representatives from Brooks Brothers and Carhartt met with employees at all of United's U.S. domestic hub locations. United anticipates rolling out new uniforms in 2020.

Brooks Brothers

Brooks Brothers, America's oldest apparel company, has a rich heritage dating back 199 years and is globally recognized for its innovation, quality and timeless style. Brooks Brothers will design and manufacture uniforms for all United pilots and male flight attendants and customer service representatives.

"Brooks Brothers is proud to partner with United on this exciting initiative. We, like United, have a passion for quality, innovation and a shared commitment to create a uniform program that United's employees will be proud to wear."  Claudio Del Vecchio, Chairman and CEO, Brooks Brothers

Tracy Reese

For more than two decades, Tracy Reese has crafted joyful, feminine pieces in signature rich colors and unique prints for the modern woman. Her design philosophy is rooted in a commitment to bringing out the beauty in women of all shapes, sizes and colors. Like United, she is inspired by global cultures and travel. Reese will partner with Brooks Brothers to design uniforms for female flight attendants and customer service representatives that will be manufactured by Brooks Brothers.

"I am truly honored to embark on this journey with United. For me as a designer, there is no prouder moment than seeing amazing women wearing my designs while accomplishing the many important endeavors required of each day. I look forward to continuing the United tradition of excellence and style with some added Tracy Reese flair."  Tracy Reese

Carhartt

For nearly 130 years, Carhartt has built reliable, durable workwear and apparel for the active and outdoors lifestyle  it is also a brand that employees identified as their preference. Carhartt will be responsible for outfitting the ramp service, technical operations and catering operations employees. Employee apparel provider Cintas will be responsible for the distribution of Carhartt garments as well as providing a select number of employee-favored pieces.

"Carhartt was founded to serve railroad engineers with durable workwear designed to exceed their rugged requirements. Four generations later, our family-owned business still outfits hardworking people around the world. This new partnership is an incredible opportunity to outfit the men and women of United Airlines, who take on the harshest elements every day."  Mark Valade, Chairman and CEO, Carhartt

TUMI

Product quality and selection are key attributes that have made TUMI the leading international business, accessory and travel lifestyle brand. TUMI is the preferred luggage of many of United's premier customers, and this partnership gives employees what's known as the "TUMI Difference." All United flight attendants will receive their choice of either a two-wheel or four-wheel rollaboard bag.

"The partnership between TUMI and United Airlines expresses our shared passion in perfecting the journeys of our customers. As part of United's continued investment in its uniform program, we look forward to sharing the TUMI difference by being the sole luggage provider to the United Airlines flight attendant team."  Rob Cooper, General Manager North America, TUMI

Labor Leadership Partnership

"High quality, functional uniforms and luggage that flight attendants can be proud of contributes to how we feel about our workplace, our profession and our airline. Safety, health and functionality are fundamental requirements, too, and we appreciate the collaboration of United management with our union to roll out a uniform that meets all of these requirements and demonstrates the commitment to becoming the best airline in the business."  Ken Diaz, President, Association of Flight Attendants at United Airlines

"The pilots of United Airlines welcome this partnership with Brooks Brothers. We look forward to working with them to design a uniform that honors the traditions of our profession and the heritage of our airline and allows United pilots to look, feel and perform their best while flying around the globe."  Todd Insler, Chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association United Master Executive Council on behalf of the UAL MEC Uniform Committee

"Congratulations to United on its new uniform program. I'd like to commend the company for making the employees such a big part of the process. Listening to employees and implementing their ideas is a good thing and leads to positive outcomes."  Mike Klemm, President and Directing General Chairperson, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers 141

"As United's technicians, being a part of the design has been most inspirational and welcoming. Carhartt is making it possible for us to proudly represent what we stand for in Tech Ops."  Vincent Graziano, National Coordinator, Technicians and Related, Teamsters Airline Division

About United

United Airlines and United Express operate approximately 4,500 flights a day to 338 airports across five continents. In 2016, United and United Express operated more than 1.6 million flights carrying more than 143 million customers. United is proud to have the world's most comprehensive route network, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark/New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. United operates 748 mainline aircraft and the airline's United Express carriers operate 475 regional aircraft. The airline is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to more than 190 countries via 28 member airlines. For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter or connect on Facebook. The common stock of United's parent, United Continental Holdings, Inc., is traded on the NYSE under the symbol "UAL".

SOURCE United Airlines

Related Links

http://ir.united.com


MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- General Mills, Inc. (NYSE: GIS) plans to webcast two September investor presentations.

On Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017, the company will present at the Barclays Global Consumer Staples Conference. The presentation and webcast are scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

General Mills also plans to announce results for its fiscal 2018 first quarter on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017. A press release will be issued that morning, followed by a webcast conference call for interested investors beginning at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

These webcasts will be available on the General Mills corporate website at www.generalmills.com/investors.

About General Mills

General Mills is a leading global food company that serves the world by making food people love. Its brands include Cheerios, Annie's, Yoplait, Nature Valley, Fiber One, Haagen-Dazs, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Old El Paso, Wanchai Ferry, Yoki and more. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, General Mills generated fiscal 2017 consolidated net sales of US $15.6 billion, as well as another US $1.0 billion from its proportionate share of joint-venture net sales.

SOURCE General Mills, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.generalmills.com


NEW YORK, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Golub Capital recently announced that as Administrative Agent, Joint Bookrunner and Joint Lead Arranger, it provided a $225 million GOLD facility to support the acquisition of First Watch Restaurants, Inc. ("First Watch" or the "Company") by Advent International ("Advent"). GOLD financings are Golub Capital One-Loan Debt facilities.

Advent will support First Watch's continued growth through ongoing restaurant expansion, increased awareness and operational initiatives. Golub Capital has been a partner and lender to First Watch since 2011.

Headquartered in University Park, Florida, and founded in 1983, First Watch operates full-service daytime cafes under the First Watch and The Egg & I brands. The restaurants serve breakfast, brunch and lunch, seven days a week. The Company provides customers a unique farm-to-table experience with a focus on fresh ingredients and outstanding service.

"We are pleased to continue our long-term lending relationship with First Watch," said Greg Cashman, Senior Managing Director at Golub Capital. "We have been able to support financing for the Company's growth from 92 restaurants in 2011 to over 300 restaurants across 26 states to date, and look forward to their continued growth and success."

Other financing partners included The Carlyle Group, Ares Management, and Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

About Golub Capital Middle-Market Lending

Golub Capital's Middle Market Lending group provides financing for middle market, private equity-backed transactions with hold positions of up to $400 million and is an arranger of credit facilities up to $750 million. Golub Capital's award-winning team strives to establish long-term, win-win partnerships by providing dependable, fast and creative solutions that meet private equity sponsors' and portfolio companies' needs.

Golub Capital is a nationally recognized credit asset manager with over $20 billion of capital under management. For over 20 years, the firm has provided credit to help medium-sized U.S. businesses grow. The firm's award-winning middle market lending business helps provide financing for middle market companies and their private equity sponsors. Golub Capital's credit expertise also forms the foundation of its Late Stage Lending and Broadly Syndicated Loan businesses. Golub Capital has worked hard to build a reputation as a fast, reliable provider of compelling financing solutions, and we believe this has inspired repeat clients and investors. Today, the firm has over 300 employees with lending offices in Chicago, New York and San Francisco. For more information, please visit www.golubcapital.com.

About First Watch

Founded in 1983 in Pacific Grove, CA, First Watch specializes in award-winning, made-to-order Breakfast, Brunch and Lunch. A recipient of more than 200 "Best Breakfast" and "Best Brunch" accolades, First Watch offers traditional favorites, such as omelettes, pancakes, sandwiches and salads, and unique specialty items like Quinoa Power Bowls, Avocado Toast and the Chickichanga. First Watch was recognized as one of Nation's Restaurant News' 2017 Second 100 restaurant brands, and was named the 2016 top Family Dining restaurant by Consumer Reports and a 2015 Top Consumer Pick by Nation's Restaurant News. First Watch is the largest and fastest-growing daytime-only restaurant concept in the United States with more than 300 restaurants in 26 states, including more than 200 First Watch restaurants, 85 The Egg & I restaurants and one Bread & Company restaurant in Nashville. For more information, visit firstwatch.com.

About Advent International

Founded in 1984, Advent International is one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors. The firm has invested in over 325 private equity transactions in 41 countries and as of March 31, 2017, had $39 billion in assets under management. With offices on four continents, Advent has established a globally integrated team of 190 investment professionals across North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia. The firm focuses on investments in five core sectors, including business and financial services; healthcare; industrial; retail, consumer and leisure; and technology, media and telecom. After more than 30 years dedicated to international investing, Advent remains committed to partnering with management teams to deliver sustained revenue and earnings growth for its portfolio companies. For more information, visit www.adventinternational.com.

SOURCE Golub Capital

Related Links

http://www.golubcapital.com


ROCKVILLE, Md., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Goodwill Industries International is pleased to be named a 2017 winner of the American Society of Association Executives' (ASAE's) Power of A Silver Award for its Executive Development Program (EDP).

The EDP is a 16-month curriculum that blends classroom instruction and applied learning with a focus on results and performance. Its primary aim is to help learners develop the skills necessary for success as a Goodwill president and CEO. Currently, there are 162 Goodwill CEOs across the United States and Canada who lead local Goodwill organizations that create employment placement and job creation opportunities for people in their communities.

The Power of A (Association) awards celebrate extraordinary contributions that associations make to society and are considered the highest industry recognition that a program can receive from ASAE.

"The Executive Development Program demonstrates Goodwill's commitment to producing experienced leaders who are able to shepherd the community-based work we do throughout our social enterprise," said Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International. "Our leadership and learning team members are worthy recipients of this prestigious award."

ASAE created the Power of A as a means of educating lawmakers about associations and their key role in society. It has transformed since then into a platform for associations to show their value to all outside audiences, not just policymakers.

"Congratulations to Goodwill and its Executive Development Program for their efforts to enrich and strengthen lives," said Sharon J. Swan, CEO of the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and chair of the Power of A Awards Judging Committee. "They exemplify how we work best when we work together and how associations have a positive influence on our everyday lives."

Goodwill is among 56 associations to receive ASAE Power of A Awards this year. The awards program and recipients are recognized at the organization's 18th Annual Power of A Summit Awards Dinner on Wednesday, October 4 at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.

This award is the third award that the EDP has received as it is the recipient of two prestigious Leadership Excellence Awards, produced by HR.com, which acknowledge the best leadership programs and executives in the United States.

About Goodwill Industries International



Goodwill Industries International (GII) is a network of 162 community-based, autonomous organizations in the United States and Canada with a presence in 13 other countries. GII is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that is recognized by GuideStar with its Platinum Seal of Approval, the organization's highest rating for charities. GII was also ranked by Enso as the #1 brand doing the most good in the world for two consecutive years, and was the only nonprofit brand rated in Forbes' 20 most inspiring companies for three consecutive years. Local Goodwill organizations are innovative and sustainable social enterprises that create job training programs, employment placement and other community-based programs by selling donated clothing and household items in more than 3,200 stores collectively and online at shopgoodwill.com. Local Goodwill organizations also build revenue and create jobs by contracting with businesses and government to provide a wide range of commercial services, including packaging and assembly, food services preparation, and document imaging and shredding. Last year, local Goodwill organizations collectively placed more than 313,000 people in employment in the United States and Canada. In addition, more than 35 million people used computers and mobile devices to access Goodwill education, training, mentoring and online learning services to strengthen their skills, and more than 2 million people received in person services. To learn more, visit goodwill.org.

For more information or to find a Goodwill location near you, use the online locator at Goodwill.org or call (800) GOODWILL. Follow us on Twitter: @GoodwillIntl and @GoodwillCapHill, and find us on Facebook: GoodwillIntl or Instagram: GoodwillIntl.

About ASAE's Power of A Awards

ASAE's Power of A (Association) Awards, the industry's highest honor, recognize the association community's valuable contributions on the local, national and global levels. The Power of A Awards reward the outstanding accomplishments of associations and industry professionals who work tirelessly to strengthen lives, the workforce, our systems and structures, the economy and the world.

SOURCE Goodwill Industries International

Related Links

http://www.goodwill.org


MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Inc. magazine ranked Great Waters Financial, a financial planning firm located throughout Minnesota with offices in Minneapolis, Richfield, Plymouth, White Bear Lake and Duluth, NO. 3139 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 consider it a great honor to be named to the 2017 Inc. 5000 list. This ranking represents our dedication to helping educate our clients and the community about investment and retirement planning that can provide a better, more secure financial future," said Elijah Kovar, co-founder of Great Waters Financial. "We also know that this ranking would not be possible without our team members who are committed to providing top-notch service for our clients. I want to thank everyone at Great Waters Financial who work hard and maintain a steadfast commitment to going the extra mile for our clients. We are excited for the future and continuing our mission to give pre-retirees and retirees more confidence and inspiration to pursue their retirement aspirations."

The 2017 Inc. 5000 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."

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 GREAT WATERS FINANCIAL:

Great Waters Financial, a financial planning firm located throughout Minnesota with offices in Minneapolis, Richfield, Plymouth, White Bear Lake and Duluth, specializes in providing comprehensive financial planning and strategic retirement solutions to pre-retirees and retirees. Founded in 2012 by financial advisors Skip Johnson, Elijah Kovar and Justin Halverson, Great Waters Financial was named one of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal's Fast 50 companies in 2016. Since opening its doors, the company has grown to 32 employees and five office locations. Dedicated to consumer education, the firm has reached thousands of Minnesotans through its courses at local colleges and universities as well as frequent contributions on local television news shows on a wide variety of financial planning topics. Johnson, Kovar and Halverson are all life insurance and securities licensed and are members of Ed Slott's Elite IRA Advisor GroupSM. For more information visit www.greatwatersfinancial.com or call (612) 360-2127.

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.

Investment advisory services offered through AdvisorNet Wealth Management (AWM). Great Waters Financial and AWM are not affiliated. Insurance products provided by Great Waters Financial, a Minnesota insurance agency.

CONTACT

Advisor PR

(702) 685-7450

SOURCE Great Waters Financial

Related Links

http://www.greatwatersfinancial.com/


NEW YORK, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The following feature package is a roundup of feature stories dealing with health & wellness and is appropriate for special sections and for general use.

For each story included in this package, you will find the first paragraph of the feature release below, as well as its headline linked to the full text.

This is the latest in a series of topical feature packages PRN will carry as part of its regular Feature News Service. Coming up in 2017 are features on:



Package Name Slug Distribution Date Military & Veterans Military Aug. 31 Hispanic Heritage Month Hispanic Sept. 7 Entertainment Entertain Sept. 14 Workplace & Careers Workplace Sept. 21 Seniors Seniors Sept. 28



Health & Wellness Feature Package

1. Clean Machine Celebrates the Exclusive Launch Of Lentein, Higher In Nutrients And Protein Than Any Plant Ever Discovered



POMPANO BEACH, Fla., Aug. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Move over kale and cauliflower and blueberries and turmeric! There's a new superfood on the block called Lentein, a brand of protein rich water lentils boasting a nutritional profile rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, polyphenols, omega 3's and higher in nutrient density than kale, spinach, spirulina and chlorella. Praised recently in Nutrition Business Journal as "the Next Kale," this innovative newcomer is poised to disrupt the Natural Products Industry following an announcement by Clean Machine, a leader in plant-based nutrition, to exclusively market a superfood protein powder with Lentein. According to Clean Machine CEO Geoff Palmer, the newly launched superfood supplement CLEAN GREEN PROTEIN is creating excitement among consumers and retailers alike.

2. Aponi BioBotanica Unveils All-Natural, Powerful Product Line and Aims to Educate Consumers About the Timeless Value of Hemp

BAKERSFIELD, Calif., Aug. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Aponi BioBotanica unveiled its first line of products on Wednesday at an exclusive media event in New York City, with the goal of sparking meaningful conversations about the hot topic of hemp, its rollercoaster history and many health benefits. The inaugural line of products was developed with the highest purity and quality hemp extract isolate and deeply-penetrating EFA-rich emu oil to relieve acute and chronic aches and discomfort. This proprietary formula also promotes vital cellular renewal, skin restoration and repair, and relief for a balanced mind and body. Further, unlike most products on the market, Aponi also tastes great, offered in mango, pineapple and peach flavors! All Aponi products are now available to everyone at www.aponibiobotanica.com.

If you would like a copy of the complete schedule, or if you would care to comment, please email [email protected]. We welcome suggestions. Copies of previous packages are available for the media. Feature packages and feature photos are also available on the PR Newswire Web site, http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/feature-news-latest-news.

Photos that accompany releases are available via the PRN Multimedia Desk, 800-317-7677, or via the PR Newswire Photo Archive. Select photos are available via AP PhotoExpress and AP Images.

SOURCE PR Newswire Association LLC

Related Links

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/feature-news-latest-news/


CHICAGO, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), the nation's largest customer-owned health insurer and operator of Blue Cross Blue Shield health plans in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, today announced the launch of the Customer First (C1) Innovation Lab in Dallas. The 32,000-square-foot facility will serve as the company's primary hub for collaboration, incubation and development of new products and services. Efforts of employees at the C1 Innovation Lab will focus on addressing company-specific and industry-wide employer challenges like rising pharmacy costs, in-patient hospital stays, cost and quality variations among providers and health care access and affordability.

The C1 Innovation Lab will develop health care solutions for national employers by focusing its core work in the following ways:

Co-located Business Operations : Customer service and health care management teams will collaborate on-site to improve care coordination, health outcomes and the member experience.

: Customer service and health care management teams will collaborate on-site to improve care coordination, health outcomes and the member experience. Dedicated Design Team : A multi-disciplinary team of strategists, design thinkers and creators will evaluate concepts, pilot products and processes and rapidly bring solutions to the market.

: A multi-disciplinary team of strategists, design thinkers and creators will evaluate concepts, pilot products and processes and rapidly bring solutions to the market. Collaboration Space: Clients, providers, consultants and academic centers will be welcomed to work with design, customer service and health care management teams to develop solutions that reduce unnecessary health care costs.

"When considering how HCSC could better service our customers both now and in the future, we realized that there needed to be deeper collaboration and ideation between our business teams and the customers, providers and academic centers that we do business with," said Kevin Cassidy, president, national accounts, HCSC. "C1 will provide the cross-functional, flexible environment needed to directly address customer challenges and bring innovative concepts to fruition faster. This will, in turn, help us to get our members access to the new tools and resources they need to realize improved health outcomes faster."

Summer Wright Collins, who joined HCSC in June 2016 as divisional vice president, will manage operations at the C1 Innovation Lab. A former vice president of population health at Children's Health System of Texas, Collins most recently served as a public health consultant focused on health care innovation, transformation and quality improvement programs. In her role with HCSC, Collins will lead a team of more than 80 full-time employees focused on addressing specific client challenges with improving the affordability of care and health outcomes as its core mission. The cross-functional C1 team includes nurses, customer advocates, care coordinators, researchers, designers and data analysts to complement the already strong and growing foundation of customer-focused innovation capabilities at HCSC.

"Part of our model for innovation includes anticipating and listening to the real challenges our employers are facing and providing real-time solutions that make sense for their businesses," said Collins. "It's not about a one-size-fits-all approach. To truly innovate within a customer-focused culture, we have to first hear the challenge, then apply collaborative design principles, develop unique prototypes, test and perfect our concepts. That is the kind of work we'll be doing at the C1 Innovation Lab to help improve outcomes for everyone in the health care ecosystem."

HCSC will also house its new Security Operations Center onsite at the C1 Innovation Lab. The Security Operations Center will be HCSC's central location for conducting around-the-clock cyber security investigations, leveraging industry leading security monitoring and response tools. Seasoned security analysts will have the ability to engage with other cyber defense experts such as incident response, computer forensics and others.

To learn more about the C1 Innovation Lab, visit www.c1InnovationLab.com.

About Health Care Service Corporation

Health Care Service Corporation is the country's largest customer-owned health insurer and fourth largest health insurer overall, with nearly 15 million members in its Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. A Mutual Legal Reserve Company, HCSC is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. HCSC has a rating of A+ (Strong) from Standard and Poor's, A1 (Good) from Moody's and A (Excellent) from A.M. Best Company. For more information, please visit HCSC.com, visit our Facebook page or follow us at www.twitter.com/HCSC.

SOURCE Health Care Service Corporation

Related Links

http://www.hcsc.com


DECATUR  The Decatur area's unemployment numbers continue to drop, but nonfarm jobs are again harder to come by.

The unemployment rate in the Decatur metropolitan area was 5.9 percent in July, down from 7.1 percent last July, according to Illinois Department of Employment Security statistics released Thursday. The rate was the same as in June.

Decatur had the second-highest unemployment rate in the state, ahead of only Danvilles 7.1 percent.

The unemployment rate in the city of Decatur was at 6.8 percent in July, down from 7.7 percent last July.

But Decatur joined four other metropolitan areas in Illinois that lost or had stagnant nonfarm jobs over the past year. The Decatur area had 50,900 nonfarm jobs as of July, down 400 from last year.

There were payroll increases in the number of jobs in professional and business services, construction, education, and health services gained 100 jobs. There were a loss of 300 jobs in retail trade and a loss of 100 in manufacturing, government, transportation, warehousing and utilities, and information. All other major industry sectors were stable compared to last year.

Nine other metropolitan areas in the state gained jobs in the past year, but IDES Director Jeff Mays said the rate of job growth has lessened in most metros that showed gains.

While the gains in the Chicago area over the past year are promising, the drop in the unemployment rate is mostly due to the decline in the labor force, he said.

There were an estimated 3,000 unemployed people in the Decatur area labor force in July 2017.

The unemployment rate identifies those who are out of work and looking for work, and is not tied to collecting unemployment insurance benefits.

The statewide unemployment rate was 4.9 percent, down from 5.9 percent a year ago but still above the national average. Nationally, the unemployment rate was 4.3 percent in July.
MORRIS PLAINS, N.J., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Honeywell (NYSE: HON) announced that Tim Mahoney, President and CEO of Honeywell Aerospace, and Ben Driggs, President of Honeywell Aerospace Americas Aftermarket, will present the keynote address at the Gabelli & Company Aerospace & Defense Conference in New York City on Thursday, September 7, 2017, from 12:15 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. EDT.

A real-time audio webcast of the presentation can be accessed at http://www.honeywell.com/investor, where related materials will be posted prior to the presentation and a replay of the webcast will be available for 30 days following the presentation.

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.

Contacts:





Media Investor Relations Robert C. Ferris Mark Macaluso (973) 455-3388 (973) 455-2222 [email protected] [email protected]

SOURCE Honeywell

Related Links

http://www.honeywell.com


AUSTIN, Minn., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL) today announced it has acquired Cidade do Sol, a growing, branded, value-added meats company in Brazil. The company offers more than 70 products in 15 categories including authentic meats such as mortadella, sausage and salami for Brazilian retail and foodservice markets under the popular Ceratti brand.

"Strategic international growth is important to Hormel Foods and South America has been of interest to us for several years," said Jim Snee, president and chief executive officer, Hormel Foods. "The Ceratti brand has a strong family ownership and a rapidly-growing distribution of its portfolio of value-added products. This acquisition is a strategic fit for Hormel Foods, provides us an initial entry into the Brazilian market and will serve as a platform for future growth in South America."

"The acquisition of the Ceratti brand allows us to enter the fast-growing Brazilian market with a premium brand," said Larry Vorpahl, group vice president, Hormel Foods and president, Hormel Foods International Corporation. "The Ceratti brand is poised for continued growth given its strong reputation in the market and outstanding products. This acquisition allows us to establish a full in-country presence with an excellent team of professionals in sales, marketing, operations, logistics and accounting. We are committed to continued international expansion and, with the addition of the Ceratti brand, our global footprint will continue to grow."

"We are certainly proud to become part of the Hormel Foods family," said Mauro Preti, chief executive officer of Cidade do Sol. "Hormel Foods has a strong reputation with values that align closely with the values we have built throughout our 85-year history. They share an unwavering focus on product quality, state-of-the-art technology, and transparency. Hormel Foods acquisition of the Ceratti brand provides the resources of a global company and will allow us to facilitate our plans for expansion and growth."

The purchase price was approximately US$104 million, subject to customary working capital adjustments. Cidade do Sol will report into Hormel Foods International Corporation. Hormel Foods was advised by HT Capital Advisors LLC, Faegre Baker Daniels LLP, and TozziniFreire Advogados.

Hormel Foods will provide further comment about this deal during its third quarter earnings call on August 24, 2017, at 8:30 a.m. CST.

About Hormel Foods Corporation  Inspired People. Inspired Food.

Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minn., is a global branded food company with over $9 billion in annual revenues across 75 countries worldwide. Its brands include SKIPPY, SPAM, Hormel Natural Choice, Applegate, Justin's, Wholly Guacamole, Hormel Black Label and more than 30 other beloved brands. The company is a member of the S&P 500 Index and the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, was named one of "The 100 Best Corporate Citizens" by Corporate Responsibility Magazine for the ninth year in a row, and has received numerous other awards and accolades for its corporate responsibility and community service efforts. In 2016, the company celebrated its 125th anniversary and announced its new vision for the future - Inspired People. Inspired Food. - focusing on its legacy of innovation. For more information, visit www.hormelfoods.com and http://csr.hormelfoods.com/.

About the Ceratti brand  The art of flavor

Present in homes of Brazilians for more than 80 years, the Ceratti brand is one of the most traditional brands of cold cuts in the country, standing out for the unparalleled quality and incomparable flavor of its products. The company has more than 70 premium products, with various flavors which follow strict criteria for ingredient selection and production processes. Cidade do Sol complies with all the regulations required in Brazil, in addition to having a series of inspection procedures that ensure the quality of the products. The company also distinguishes itself from being the largest importer of jamon (Spanish raw ham) in the country and for product awards, including its traditional Mortadella Bologna, recognized for seven consecutive years as the Best Mortadella of the Public Market in Sao Paulo (source: CICESP). For more information, visit www.ceratti.com.br.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains forward-looking information based on management's current views and assumptions. Actual events may differ materially. Factors that may affect actual results include, but are not limited to: whether and when the Company will be able to realize the expected financial results of the transaction, and how customers, competitors, suppliers and employees will react to the transaction. Please refer to the cautionary statement regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Risk Factors that appear on pages 32 - 38 in the company's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended April 30, 2017, which can be accessed at www.hormelfoods.com under "Investors-SEC Filings."

SOURCE Hormel Foods Corporation

Related Links

http://www.hormel.com


VANCOUVER, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Mason Resources Corp. (TSX:MNR  "Mason Resources" or the "Company") reports that Hudbay Minerals Inc. (TSX:HBM; NYSE:HBM  "Hudbay") announced the August 23, 2017 acquisition of 10,755,170 common shares of Mason Resources at a price of C$0.26 per common share. The purchased shares represent all of the shares of Mason Resources acquired by Sandstorm Gold Ltd. ("Sandstorm") pursuant to the May 9, 2017 spin-out of the Ann Mason copper-molybdenum project in Nevada and the Lordsburg copper-gold property in New Mexico into Mason Resources through a plan of arrangement with Entree Resources Ltd. (formerly Entree Gold Inc.).

As at August 23, 2017, Hudbay beneficially owns and controls 10,854,170 shares of Mason Resources, representing approximately 13.9% of the 78,044,286 outstanding common shares of Mason Resources (12.5% on a fully diluted basis).

On August 14, 2017, Orion Mine Finance Management I Limited, through Mantos Copper (Bermuda) Limited ("Mantos"), acquired beneficial ownership of an aggregate of 13,664,757 common shares of Mason Resources from Rio Tinto International Holdings Limited and Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. (17.5% of the Company's issued and outstanding shares). Mantos and Hudbay are now the Company's two largest shareholders.

Stephen Scott, President and CEO of Mason Resources stated, "We are very pleased to have Hudbay Minerals as a significant new shareholder in Mason Resources. We look forward to working with our two new major shareholders, Hudbay and Mantos Copper, both of whom are well respected copper producers with extensive experience in permitting, building, and operating open pit mines. We look forward to meeting with our new investors in the coming weeks to better understand their objectives for their investments in Mason Resources."

Hudbay's news release states that the acquisition of the Mason Resources shares is being made for investment purposes, and that Hudbay may in the future increase or decrease its ownership of Mason Resources shares from time to time depending upon the business and prospects of Mason Resources, future market conditions and Hudbay's investment objectives.

Hudbay will file an early warning report (the "Early Warning Report") as required by National Instrument 62-103  The Early Warning System and Related Take-Over Bids and Insider Reporting Issues, regarding the acquisition of common shares of Mason Resources. A copy of the Early Warning Report will be available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

On July 19, 2017, the Company adopted a Shareholder Rights Plan (the "Rights Plan") to ensure, to the extent possible, that all shareholders of the Company are treated fairly and equally in connection with any take-over bid or other acquisition of control of the Company. The Rights Plan was not adopted in response to any specific take-over bid or other proposal to acquire control of Mason and Mason is not aware of any such pending or contemplated proposals. A copy of the Rights Plan agreement is available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

ABOUT MASON RESOURCES CORP.

Mason Resources Corp. is a well-funded Canadian company focused on copper exploration and development in the U.S.A. The Company's key asset is its 100% owned Ann Mason Project  an extensive, prospective land package located in the Yerington District of Nevada. The Ann Mason Project hosts two copper-molybdenum porphyry deposits, Ann Mason and Blue Hill, as well as numerous earlier-stage or untested priority targets. The Ann Mason deposit is currently at a PEA level and is among the largest undeveloped copper porphyry resources in Canada/U.S.A. The excellent infrastructure, year-round access, strong community support and clear permitting process are all factors that contribute to making Yerington, Nevada one of the best mining jurisdictions in the world. Mason also holds a 100% interest in the Lordsburg property, an exciting earlier-stage copper-gold porphyry project, located within an historic mining district in New Mexico.

Mason Resources' strong financial position and high-quality asset portfolio provide it with a solid foundation and flexibility for growth, by advancing development of Ann Mason towards Pre-Feasibility, introducing one or more strategic development partners, exploring high priority targets or considering strategic acquisitions. Major shareholders in Mason Resources include Mantos Copper (Bermuda) Limited and Hudbay Minerals Inc., owning 17.5% and 13.9%, respectively, of the issued and outstanding shares of Mason Resources. More information on Mason Resources can be found at www.MasonResources.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws.

While the Company has based these forward-looking statements on its expectations about future events as at the date that such statements were prepared, the statements are not a guarantee of the Company's future performance and are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies, local and global economic conditions and the environment in which Mason Resources will operate in the future, including the price of copper, gold, silver and molybdenum. Uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by forward-looking statements and information include, amongst others, unanticipated costs, expenses or liabilities; discrepancies between actual and anticipated production, mineral resources and metallurgical recoveries; the size, grade and continuity of deposits not being interpreted correctly from exploration results; the results of preliminary test work not being indicative of the results of future test work; fluctuations in commodity prices and demand; changing foreign exchange rates; actions by government authorities; the availability of funding on reasonable terms; the impact of changes in interpretation to or changes in enforcement of, laws, regulations and government practices, including laws, regulations and government practices with respect to mining, foreign investment, royalties and taxation; the terms and timing of obtaining necessary environmental and other government approvals, consents and permits; the availability and cost of necessary items such as power, water, skilled labour, transportation and appropriate smelting and refining arrangements; and misjudgements in the course of preparing forward-looking statements. In addition, there are also known and unknown risk factors which may cause the actual results, performances or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements and information. Such factors include, among others, risks related to international operations, including legal and political risk; risks associated with changes in the attitudes of governments to foreign investment; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; inability to upgrade Inferred mineral resources to Indicated or Measured mineral resources; inability to convert mineral resources to mineral reserves; conclusions of economic evaluations; future prices of copper, gold, silver and molybdenum; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining government approvals, permits or licences or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities; environmental risks; title disputes; limitations on insurance coverage; as well as those factors discussed in the Company's most recently filed Management's Discussion & Analysis available at www.sedar.com. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company is under no obligation to update or alter any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable securities laws.

SOURCE Mason Resources
PENSACOLA, Fla., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyundai Hope On Wheels will today present Nemours Children's Specialty Care, Pensacola with a $50,000 Hyundai Impact Award. Nemours is one of 25 recipients of this year's award, which is given to pediatric oncology departments at select children's health care providers nationwide. Nemours will use the funds to offer more one-on-one direct care through added social services to oncology patients as they begin or continue their treatment journey.

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.

"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 Hyundai Impact Award will be presented to Dr. Roger Berkow during a Hope On Wheels Handprint Ceremony. During the event, Nemours oncology patients in the Northwest Florida region 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.

"It is a great privilege to accept this generous award from Hyundai Hope on Wheels. This gift provides an exceptional opportunity for Nemours to have an immediate impact on the care of children within our oncology department," said Roger Berkow, MD, Hematology/Oncology at Nemours Children's Specialty Care, Pensacola.

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

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About Nemours Children's Specialty Care

Nemours (NAH-mors) is an internationally recognized children's health system that owns and operates the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware and the Nemours Children's Hospital in Orlando, Florida along with major pediatric specialty care practices in Delaware, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Established as The Nemours Foundation through the legacy and philanthropy of Alfred I. duPont, Nemours offers pediatric clinical care, research, education, advocacy and prevention programs to all families in the communities it serves. For more information, visit www.Nemours.org

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SEATTLE, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- IDRI (Infectious Disease Research Institute), on behalf of the Lilly TB Drug Discovery Initiative, announces it has entered into an agreement with Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., a China-based leading biopharmaceutical company, to continue development of inhalable CPZEN-45, a tuberculosis (TB) drug candidate that could potentially treat the growing problem of antibiotic-resistant TB. Burdening its victims with increased health concerns and a high cost of treatment, drug-resistant TB occurs when Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the bacterium that causes TB, becomes resistant to the drugs used to treat it, underscoring the need for the development of new drugs.

The Lilly TB Drug Discovery Initiative is a unique public-private partnership founded in 2007 by IDRI, Eli Lilly and Company and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Its focus is on the discovery of new anti-tuberculosis drugs.

Hisun and IDRI will work together to further develop CPZEN-45, an antibiotic that has a new mechanism of action that inhibits cell wall synthesis -- the 'Achilles Heel' of Mtb -- and has shown efficacy against both drug sensitive and multidrug (MDRTB) and extensively drug resistant (XDRTB) TB. CPZEN-45 was discovered by the Institute of Microbial Chemistry (IMC), a nonprofit research institute located in Tokyo, Japan.

"In 2003, when we were exploring derivatives of the caprazamycin family, which are liponucleoside antibiotics, we were surprised to find that the mode of action of CPZEN-45 was different from the parent compounds, and thus we were quite excited about this compound," said Masakatsu Shibasaki, Director of IMC and former President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan.

In 2008, IMC joined The Lilly TB Drug Discovery Initiative to collaborate on further studies for developing this candidate drug.

"Critical research and development milestones have already been achieved with CPZEN-45, making it a late-stage pre-clinical candidate with enormous potential, due to the outstanding expertise of our scientific colleagues at IMC and the RTI International (RTI) and resources provided by NIAID," said Steve Reed, President, CEO and Founder of IDRI.

"IMC has made important contributions to scale up the production of this molecule," said Gail Cassell, Executive Vice President of TB Drug Development, IDRI. "Now, we are pleased to partner with Hisun, which is one of the few companies in the world that has the expertise to scale this drug to commercial level and provide us with GMP quality material for further development and clinical trials. The real value of this relationship is clinical data with the sought-after result being a validated drug that can improve health and stop the tide of drug-resistant TB."

Bai Hua, Chairman of Hisun and Vice Chairman, China Pharmaceutical Industry Association, added, "We are excited to team up with world-class scientists to combat drug-resistant TB. I hope CPZEN-45 will soon be added to Hisun's portfolio of other anti-TB drugs, including WHO approved capreomycin."

Through its relationship with Hisun, IDRI will continue developing CPZEN-45 alone and in combination with capreomycin, a drug discovered in 1960 that is frequently used to treat TB infections.

"A combination of capreomycin and CPZEN-45 has been prepared as a spray dried powder for delivery as an aerosol using a commercially available device," said Anthony Hickey, Distinguished Fellow of RTI International and an expert on delivery of inhaled pharmaceuticals. "The product is designed to meet regulatory standards to support a Phase I clinical trial. We believe that the use of aerosols offers a new and effective way of modifying the current approach to treat TB and can potentially shorten the time of treatment."

In 2015, an estimated 10.4 million people worldwide developed TB and TB surpassed HIV as the leading infectious cause of death worldwide, with 1.8 million deaths, more than HIV/AIDS and malaria combined. MDR-TB as well as a growing number of XDR-TB cases have been reported in nearly all countries. Worldwide emergence of MDR/XDR-TB threatens global eradication of TB.

About IDRI: As a nonprofit global health organization, IDRI (Infectious Disease Research Institute) takes a comprehensive approach to combat infectious diseases, combining the high-quality science of a research organization with the product development capabilities of a biotech company to create new diagnostics, drugs and vaccines. Founded in 1993, IDRI has 125 employees headquartered in Seattle with nearly 100 partners/collaborators around the world. For more information, visit www.idri.org.

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Analysis conducted by BSI's SCREEN Intelligence program found that, over the past 10 years, an average of 3.1 attacks have occurred each week. In 2016 a total of 346 attacks took place. With terrorist attacks on the rise, and the causes of disruption also rising, BSI warns that the costs to international trade and commerce will continue to increase.

In the last decade terrorists have attacked the supply chain in 58 countries, indicating the global nature of the problem. However, there are particular routes and countries that have been hit worse by these kinds of attacks. Supply chain terror attacks occur at alarming rates in many countries, including Colombia, India, and Turkey.

Costs to the supply chain as a result of attacks are both direct and indirect. Physical attacks against the supply chain, such as arsons, bombings, or armed assaults create direct disruption and often result in the destruction or loss of transported cargo.

Additionally, attempts to tamper with international cargo shipments can compromise the integrity of the load or result in the seizure or destruction of goods by customs authorities. When companies have to unexpectedly divert or reroute shipments the costs can reach massive figures. For example, the terrorism related to the Syrian conflict forced Lebanese officials to reroute $1 billion worth of exports and resulted in the loss of $754 million in revenue for the Jordanian trucking industry.

BSI's analysis indicates that terrorism also imposes significant indirect costs on international trade and supply chains. Increased security measures, while intended to mitigate the risk of additional attacks, have disrupted the typical flow of cargo, especially for cross-border shipments. These additional procedures have often slowed the movement of freight and increased shipping costs, and companies have frequently responded by rerouting cargo or modifying shipping arrangements, further driving up costs. For example, following the Paris attack in November 2015 France imposed stricter controls along the borders with Belgium and Luxembourg, costing companies an additional $59 per delayed vehicle. The total cost to shippers in Belgium was estimated at $3.5 million within the first month following the attack.

David Fairnie, Principal Consultant, Supply Chain Security at BSI said: "The direct impact from acts of terrorism and the indirect effects from terrorist organizations exploitation of the supply chain have been, and will continue to be, critically felt across Europe. Terrorist attacks in major cities and against key transportation nodes in the UK, Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands have triggered heightened security levels and emergency border controls across the continent, leading to significant commercial impact on our client's businesses. BSI witnessed significant spikes in customer support requests, for our supply chain security advisory, resilience and business continuity services, after major terrorist events. I believe Supply Chain Terrorism will continue to significantly impact Europe for decades to come."

The report also found that in 2016 terrorists targeted a wider range of industries and modes of transport than in any other year. In particular, terrorists increasingly targeted industries generally associated with private or corporate supply chains rather than state-owned supply chain infrastructure. Over three years of data, terrorist attacks against the agriculture and food and beverage sectors more than tripled, attacks on the industrial and manufacturing materials and pharmaceuticals sectors more than doubled, and attacks against the metals industry nearly doubled.

Worryingly, despite the upward trend of attacks, BSI's report found that there is still inadequate spending on supply chain security. For example, in India, cargo throughput has increased sharply over the past decade, with air freight volume alone increasing by nearly 120 percent. However, this growth in shipping volume has not been met with a matching investment in supply chain security. Similar concerns in Bangladesh have led the European Union to recently prohibit the direct importation of air freight from Bangladeshi airports.

Jim Yarbrough  Global Intelligence Program Manager at BSI concluded: "It is a common misconception that terrorism is strictly a national security issue and that counterterrorism is solely the responsibility of governments. However, our analysis clearly shows that commercial interests and private organizations are increasingly threatened, extorted, and directly targeted by terrorist organizations all over the world. Corporations must take notice and prepare their organizations accordingly. We know that industry leaders are implementing stronger supply chain security measures and ensuring that their business partners and international suppliers are fully vetted and armed with the information and knowledge that will protect their business. They understand that these measures can go a long way in maintaining their global operations and business continuity."

To purchase a copy of BSI's Terrorist Threats to International Trade and the Supply Chain report, please click here

Notes to editors:

BSI's web-based intelligence solution, Supply Chain Risk Exposure Evaluation Network (SCREEN) provides continuous evaluation and threat ratings for 200+ countries along with interactive risk maps and qualitative reports.

BSI's Intelligence Center allows professionals to purchase SCREEN's country risk reports on a one-off basis. To learn more about our available reports and how to purchase one, please visit our website https://www.bsi-intelligencecenter.com/

About BSI

BSI (British Standards Institution) is the business standards company that equips businesses with the necessary solutions to turn standards of best practice into habits of excellence. Formed in 1901, BSI was the world's first National Standards Body and a founding member of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Over a century later it continues to facilitate business improvement across the globe by helping its clients drive performance, manage risk and grow sustainably through the adoption of international management systems standards, many of which BSI originated. Renowned for its marks of excellence including the consumer recognized BSI Kitemark, BSI's influence spans multiple sectors including Aerospace, Automotive, Built Environment, Food, Healthcare and ICT. With 81,000 clients in 181 countries, BSI is an organization whose standards inspire excellence across the globe.

To learn more, please visit www.bsigroup.com

About BSI Supply Chain Services and Solutions

BSI Supply Chain Services and Solutions is the leading global provider of supply chain intelligence, auditing services, audit compliance and risk management software solutions, and advisory services. Our mission is to help corporations, governments and associations identify, manage and mitigate global supply chain risks and maintain world class governance risk and compliance programs. Our holistic supply chain risk management suite is designed to predict and visualize risk, and develop robust risk mitigation and compliance management programs to protect your supply chain, brand and reputation. Our intelligence-infused supply chain solutions and global network empower our clients to understand global supply chain risk with unequaled precision.

To learn more, please visit www.bsi-supplychain.com

Media enquiries:

Kara Martin

BSI Supply Chain Services and Solutions

Tel: 4804487278

Email: [email protected]

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LOS ANGELES, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Lundin Law PC, a shareholder rights firm, announces the filing of a class action lawsuit against Blue Apron Holdings, Inc. ("Blue Apron" or the "Company") (NYSE: APRN) concerning possible violations of federal securities laws in connection with its initial public offering (the "IPO"). Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired shares pursuant or traceable to the IPO, should contact the firm prior to the October 16, 2017 lead plaintiff motion deadline.

To participate in this class action lawsuit, click here.

You can also call Brian Lundin, Esq., of Lundin Law PC, at 888-713-1033, or you can e-mail him at [email protected].

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, the Registration Statement filed in connection with the IPO failed to disclose that: Blue Apron decided to significantly reduce spending on advertising in Q2 2017, hurting sales and profit margins in future quarters; that the Company was experiencing difficulty with customer retention due to orders not arriving on time or with all expected ingredients; and that the Company was experiencing delayed orders in Q2 2017 related to its new factory in Linden, New Jersey. Since the IPO, Blue Apron's stock price has fallen 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 ethical rules.

Contact:

Lundin Law PC

Brian Lundin, Esq.

Telephone: 888-713-1033

Facsimile: 888-713-1125

[email protected]

http://lundinlawpc.com/

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NEW YORK, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Jerrick Media Holdings, Inc., (OTCQB: JMDA) (the "Company" or "Jerrick"), a technology company, announced today that it has added two new social publishing communities, "Serve" and "Viva" to its Vocal publishing platform. Serve, https://serve.media, explores the lives, culture, and careers of those in and around the military, while Viva, https://viva.media, explores the lives of women, from the workplace to home, family, adventure, ambition, and more.

Vocal, https://vocal.media, is Jerrick's long-form social publishing platform, engineered for the speedy and effortless creation of rich media content and the intuitive discovery and navigation by visitors. Vocal's proprietary, algorithmic engine capitalizes on the power of specific and dedicated audiences and is designed to promote maximum SEO exposure and monetization opportunities.

The Vocal platform currently hosts 21 niche-communities including food, music, science fiction, the workplace and pop culture. Connecting original content with communities passionate about the topics, Jerrick's growth since Vocal's introduction in November 2016 has exceeded all expectations. New communities are objectively and quantitatively derived in response to voices (interest levels) within the rapidly growing Vocal sub-communities.

"With nearly half of the Vocal community comprised of women, we launched Viva, a female specific community, to cultivate conversations about what matters most to women," commented Justin Maury, Head of Product, Creative and Design at Jerrick. "Today, we also launched Serve, a community dedicated to dialogue around the military. Given today's developing political climate, we wanted to provide our users with a forum through which to discuss, inform and learn about the armed forces. We plan to launch more engaging communities that inspire conversations, ideas and opportunities to our growing Vocal network."

Based on the success of the communities launched to date, Jerrick plans to substantially accelerate the rollout of new community sites on its Vocal platform throughout the remainder of 2017.

About Jerrick

Jerrick is a technology company focused on the development of digital communities, and the targeted marketing of branded digital content, and e-commerce opportunities algorithmically derived in relevance for each community.

Core to Jerrick's unique capabilities is Vocal, a proprietary long-form digital publishing and content distribution platform, capable of hosting all forms of rich media content.

Vocal uses a proprietary algorithm which intelligently bridges media-rich long-form creative content with targeted branding and ecommerce monetization opportunities in each niche-community. Each community is also managed by a dedicated team, whose primary focus is on revenue conversion of the published material via digital arbitrage. For more information please visit https://jerrick.media/news

Forward-Looking Statements

Any statements that are not historical facts and that express, or involve discussions as to, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, indicated through the use of words or phrases such as "will likely result," "are expected to," "will continue," "is anticipated," "estimated," "intends," "plans," "believes" and "projects") may be forward-looking and may involve estimates and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. We caution that the factors described herein could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements we make and that investors should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of such factors. Further, we cannot assess the impact of each such factor on our results of operations or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. This press release is qualified in its entirety by the cautionary statements and risk factor disclosure contained in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Investor Relations:

Natasha Sydor

Jerrick Media

201-258-3770

[email protected]

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"We are tremendously grateful and fortunate to have Sol as the president of our organization," said Jewish National Fund CEO Russell F. Robinson. "Not only does he bring institutional knowledge to the position, but he also has the passion and commitment necessary to continue to elevate JNF's role as we work to achieve the goals of our visionary One Billion Dollar Roadmap for the Next Decade campaign."

Upon hearing the announcement of Dr. Lizerbram's new role at Jewish National Fund, California Governor Jerry Brown remarked "Sol is not only a good friend, he's a great leader."

Dr. Lizerbram has a 35-year history of involvement with JNF, which began after he graduated medical school and moved from Philadelphia to California with his wife, Lauren. Not long after settling in San Diego, he was invited to serve on the local JNF board and later as its president, eventually joining the national board two decades ago. Lauren has been his partner through all of this and has also served as JNF's San Diego Board President and will now assume the national role of presidential advisor.

Jewish National Fund (JNF-USA) will host this year's national conference in South Florida at The Diplomat Resort and Spa from November 10-13 (3555 S. Ocean Drive, Hollywood, FL 33019). JNF's conference brings together over a thousand committed leaders, philanthropists, young professionals, college and high school students from across the country and Israel for an impactful three-day experience to learn about the key issues of the day facing Israel and the world Jewish community. Some of the invited speakers include: Ron Dermer, Israel's Ambassador to the U.S.; Gilrad Erdan, Israel's Minister of Public Safety; Ronald S. Lauder, JNF Chairman of the Board; Jose Maria Aznar, former President of the Government of Spain, and many others. To register, please visit jnf.org/nc. For more information contact Amy Penchansky at [email protected] or 212.879.9305 x804.

ABOUT JEWISH NATIONAL FUND

JEWISH NATIONAL FUND strives to bring an enhanced quality of life to all of Israel's citizens and translate these advancements to the world beyond. JNF is "greening" the desert with millions of trees, building thousands of parks across Israel, creating new communities and cities for generations of Israelis to call home, bolstering Israel's water supply, helping develop innovative arid agriculture techniques, ensuring that no citizen is left behind by making parks and public spaces inclusive for people with disabilities and special needs, and educating both young and old about the founding and importance of Israel and Zionism. For more information on JNF-USA, call 800.JNF.0099 or visit JNF.ORG.

JNF is a registered 501(c) (3) organization and United Nations NGO, which continuously earns top ratings from charity overseers. For more information on JNF, call 800.JNF.0099 or visit jnf.org. Find Jewish National Fund on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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"John comes to Sotheby's with an outstanding mix of art and luxury expertise, deep eCommerce experience, and entrepreneurial success," said Tad Smith, Sotheby's CEO. "We are tremendously excited to have John join our company to accelerate our rate of innovation in crucial growth businesses including Prints, Photographs, 20th Century Design and more."

Mr. Auerbach was most recently the global head of digital and eCommerce strategy for Kate Spade & Co, following three years as the International Managing Director for Digital and eCommerce at Christie's. John was also a member of the founding team of Gilt Groupe, and subsequently the President of Gilt's men's business; as well as the Founder and Chairman of Eloquii, a digitally-native direct to consumer women's fashion brand. John holds a B.A. from Duke University and an M.B.A from the Columbia Business School and was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of Monro, Inc.

About Sotheby's

Sotheby's has been uniting collectors with world-class works of art since 1744. Sotheby's became the first international auction house when it expanded from London to New York (1955), the first to conduct sales in Hong Kong (1973), India (1992) and France (2001), and the first international fine art auction house in China (2012). Today, Sotheby's presents auctions in 10 different salesrooms, including New York, London, Hong Kong and Paris, and Sotheby's BidNow program allows visitors to view all auctions live online and place bids from anywhere in the world. Sotheby's offers collectors the resources of Sotheby's Financial Services, the world's only full-service art financing company, as well as the collection advisory services of its subsidiary, Art Agency, Partners. Sotheby's presents private sale opportunities in more than 70 categories, including S|2, the gallery arm of Sotheby's Global Fine Art Division, and two retail businesses, Sotheby's Diamonds and Sotheby's Wine. Sotheby's has a global network of 80 offices in 40 countries and is the oldest company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (BID).

Browse sale catalogues, view original content, stream live auctions and more at www.sothebys.com, and through Sotheby's apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, Apple TV and Amazon Fire

New York | +1 212 606 7176 | Lauren Gioia | [email protected] | Dan Abernethy | [email protected]

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CHICAGO  Illinois public schools awaiting state money could be getting closer to relief, as top legislative leaders said Thursday that they've tentatively reached a bipartisan agreement to fund public schools.

Though legislative leaders said details of the plan were still being worked out, Decatur School District Superintendent Paul Fregeau was hopeful when reached by phone Thursday night.

The news is encouraging, and things are moving in the right direction, he said. There's a lot of conjecture right now, but I hope they can come up with an amenable solution.

Fregeau has said Decatur schools would run out of money by mid-November if state funding doesn't come through. He has publicly advocated for Senate Bill 1, the legislation passed by the Democrat-majority General Assembly but given an amendatory veto by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.

He is among Macon County educators who have expressed increasing concerns about the uncertainty of state funding, with several superintendents saying they would run out of cash by early next year or sooner.

Legislative leaders have been meeting privately to resolve the funding fight that has held up state money for K-12 this year, a spinoff of Illinois' unprecedented two-year budget impasse, which just ended last month. Decatur-area lawmakers said Thursday that they were heartened by the progress.

"I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get this job done," said state Sen. Andy Manar, a Bunker Hill Democrat who has worked for years toward education funding reform. He is the primary sponsor of SB 1.

Two House Republicans in phone interviews that they were briefed by party leaders on details of the plan, but have yet to see the full language.

Im encouraged that an agreement has evidently been reached, and am looking forward to hearing the details," said state Rep. Brad Halbrook, R-Shelbyville.

State Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth, said he appreciated the work done by House Republican Leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs to reach an agreement. He said more information should become available in the coming days, and he hoped the news would come as a relief to local parents, educators and students.

"People will be, I think, happy that schools closures will not happen this fall," Mitchell said.

State Rep. Sue Scherer, D-Decatur, could not be reached for comment.

While most school have already opened, the state has has missed initial payments and districts aren't sure how long they can stay open. School superintendents across the state, particularly in Central and Southern Illinois, have been on edge. Many have cut back spending and say they'll have to borrow or dip into reserves to stay open.

In Decatur, Fregeau has said the district would consider borrowing against future tax revenue if lawmakers can't provide funding by the time its reserves run out. Meridian Superintendent Dan Brue also said his district, which has frozen spending for everything but essentials, would also consider that option.

Cerro Gordo Superintendent Brett Robinson also said his district would run out of money by early January.

Mount Zion Superintendent Travis Roundcount has said the district has solid financial reserves, and administrators have not determined when their crisis point would be.

Republicans and Democrats issued cautious statements after a meeting in Chicago. Democratic leaders Senate President John Cullerton of Chicago and House Speaker Michael Madigan of Chicago said there was "agreement in concept," while Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady of Bloomington and Durkin characterized it as "agreement in principle."

"Language will be drafted and details of the agreement released once the drafts have been reviewed," the statement from Brady and Durkin read.

The four planned to meet again Sunday at the state Capitol, a day before the Illinois House was expected to convene. Rauner applauded the efforts.

The schools issue has come up now because the spending plan legislators approved last month, ending the long stalemate, requires a new funding formula. There's wide agreement that Illinois' 20-year-old calculation is unfair. But Democrats and Republicans have been at odds over fixes.

The Democrat-run Legislature approved a new formula aimed at reducing disparities in per-student funding that existed between wealthy and poor districts under the previous funding formula.

In an amendatory veto, Rauner removed hundreds of millions of dollars for Chicago Public Schools, saying the plan was overly generous and a "bailout" to the nation's third-largest district.

The Illinois Senate overrode Rauner's veto, and the House had planned a similar vote. But legislative leaders said they'd seek a compromise instead.

Also on Thursday, four key members of Rauner's communications team resigned in the wake of the governors confusing response to a political cartoon depicting a black child begging a white man for money.

Rauner said he didn't sign off on a statement from his staff this week addressing the cartoon, which critics called racist. The statement had said Rauner wouldn't comment on the cartoon "as a white male."

He characterized the resignations from the high pressure jobs as mutual agreements.

"The communications effort is incredibly hard because we have attacks, political attacks coming 20 times a day. We have social media attacks coming 100 times a day. We have false rumors planted that have to be dealt with," he said at a pension-related bill signing in suburban Chicago. "Getting people who can do it well and are willing to do on this scale it's a challenge ... Sometimes other things get in the way. Other loyalties get in the way."

Rauner didn't elaborate.

The four employees  Diana Rickert, Laurel Patrick, Meghan Keenan and Brittany Carl  were hired last month in a major staff shake-up that included enlisting several individuals from the Illinois Policy Institute, a conservative think tank. Last week the organization circulated a cartoon, meant as a commentary on Illinois' ongoing school funding fight, of a black Chicago schoolchild panhandling for money from a suit-clad white man with a cigar and cash stuffed in one pocket.

The image and Rauner's response prompted wide bipartisan opposition, with claims the image played up racist stereotypes and was insensitive after the recent deadly attack at a white nationalist rally in Virginia.

Rauner said for days that he hadn't seen the image, but acknowledged publicly Thursday that he saw it and understood "why some people would be upset by it."

The resignations come at a critical time for Rauner, who's seeking a second term next year. They also raise questions about his links to the Chicago-based tax policy organization that runs a statewide media service and legal arm, which has challenged Illinois' same-day voter registration law in court.

Rauner, a wealthy businessman, donated to the group before he was governor. Last month's hires included the institute's former president as Rauner's chief of staff and Rickert, who was the group's spokeswoman. The staff housecleaning, that saw roughly two dozen people either fired or resigned, came shortly after the Democrat-run Legislature dealt Rauner a major political blow in ending the state's roughly two-year budget impasse. Several Republicans broke ranks and voted for the spending plan that includes an income tax increase over Rauner's objections.

Rauner defended the staff changes, saying he's always trying to build a strong team and isn't beholden to the Policy Institute. Messages left for the four people who resigned weren't immediately returned.

Herald & Review staff writers Jaylyn Cook and Ryan Voyles contributed to this story.
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Eighty by 2018 Taylor Station Surgical Center joins forces with over 500 local and national organizations to increase colorectal cancer screenings rates across the country.

Colorectal cancer screening has been proven to save lives. Taylor Station Surgical Center today announced that it has made the pledge to help increase colorectal cancer screening rates by supporting the 80% by 2018 initiative, led by the American Cancer Society (ACS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable (an organization co-founded by ACS and CDC).

Colorectal cancer is the nation's second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths; however, it is one of only a few cancers that can be prevented. Through proper colorectal cancer screening, doctors can find and remove hidden growths (called "polyps") in the colon, before they become cancerous. Removing polyps can prevent cancer altogether.

80% by 2018 is a National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable (NCCRT) initiative in which over 500 organizations have committed to substantially reducing colorectal cancer as a major public health problem and are working toward the shared goal of 80% of adults aged 50 and older being regularly screened for colorectal cancer by 2018. Leading public health organizations, such as ACS, CDC and the NCCRT are rallying organizations to embrace this shared goal.

"Colorectal cancer is a major public health problem, no one needs to die of colon cancer. Screening colonoscopy saves lives and people are not getting tested. Get your colonoscopy done today! We at Taylor Station Surgical Center are committed to the 80% by 2018 goal. Please call and schedule your colonoscopy soon," said Anantha Padmanabhan, M.D., F.A.C.S.

While colorectal cancer incidence rates have dropped 30 percent in the U.S. over the last 10 years among adults 50 and older, it is still the second-leading cause of cancer death in the U.S, despite being highly preventable, detectable and treatable. In fact, in 2015 in the U.S., 132,700 cases of colorectal cancer were diagnosed.

Part of the 80% by 2018 goal is to leverage the energy of multiple and diverse partners to empower communities, patients, providers to increase screening rates. The 80% by 2018 initiative consists of health care providers, health systems, communities, businesses, community health centers, government, non-profit organizations and patient advocacy groups who are committed to getting more people screened for colorectal cancer to prevent more cancers and save lives.

"Colorectal Cancer is the second leading cause of death due to cancer and is entirely preventable. Approximately 135,000 new cases of colorectal cancer are diagnosed and 50,000 die of the disease each year. Colorectal cancers occur from polyps that are abnormal growths and these begin to appear at age 50. Polyps and even early colorectal cancers are curable do not produce symptoms. Hence, screening colonoscopy, a procedure done to detect abnormal growths when one is without any complaints, need to begin at age 50 in average risk patients. If colonoscopy is normal it needs to be repeated for screening only in 10 years. In patients with polyps colonoscopy allows the physician to remove the growths and recheck more frequently. Other options for colorectal screening are available and if a test is positive it leads to a need for colonoscopy. We are excited to join everyone in sending this important public message to screen for colorectal cancer. The cancer has a high prevalence and mortality rate but is entirely preventable," said Karamjit Khanduja M.D., Program Director of Colorectal and Rectal Surgery Fellowship at Mount Carmel Health System.

For more information please call Taylor Station at 614-751-446 or visit our website at www.taylorstation.com

Taylor Station  Comfortable Place with Exceptional Care. Taylor Station Surgical Center is recognized by the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy for quality and safety. Taylor Station Surgical Center's goal is exceptional patient satisfaction and service. We monitor patient satisfaction as part of our continuing commitment to excellence and to drive our customer service program, as well as process improvement initiatives.

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HOUSTON, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- KBR, Inc. (NYSE: KBR) announced today the appointment of Lieutenant General Wendy M. Masiello, USAF (Ret.) as a member of the KBR Board of Directors effective August 18, 2017. General Masiello has been appointed to serve on the Audit and the Health, Safety, Security, Environment and Social Responsibility Committees of the KBR Board of Directors.

General Masiello retired as a Three-Star General of the U.S. Air Force on July 1, 2017. Prior to her retirement, she served as Director of the Defense Contract Management Agency from May 2014 to May 2017. In this assignment, General Masiello oversaw a $1.4 billion Defense agency that provided 12,000 people around the world in oversight of 20,000 contractors performing 340,000 Defense and Federal contracts valued at $6 trillion. Her oversight included business system approvals, quality compliance, production capacity and delivery timeliness, and payment authorizations of $500 million each day across the spectrum of Defense technologies. General Masiello was also the key advisor to Defense leaders regarding corporate performance.

During the period of May 2011 to May 2014, General Masiello served as Deputy Assistant Secretary (Contracting), Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition. In this role, she was the Senior Contracting official in the Air Force and set contract policy and procedures, set standards for an 8,000 person contracting workforce, and maximized performance through an innovative virtual organizational structure following a 30% reduction of personnel at key headquarters locations. General Masiello also advised on acquisition and incentive strategies for major United States Air Force acquisitions.

"Wendy has had a very accomplished career in the United States Air Force, and we are excited to welcome her to KBR's Board of Directors," said Mr. Loren Carroll, Chairman of the Board of KBR. "We believe her strong government experience will be extremely valuable in light of the expansion of KBR's Government Services business."

General Masiello is a resident of Alexandria, Virginia. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in marketing from Texas Tech University in Lubbock and a Master of Science degree in logistics management (contracting and manufacturing management) from the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio. General Masiello is a distinguished graduate of the Squadron Officer School and the Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Alabama, and she completed the Program Management Course from the Defense Systems Management College, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. General Masiello is a distinguished graduate with a Master of Science degree in national resource strategy and completed the Senior Acquisition Course from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C. She is a graduate of the Joint and Combined Warfighting School, Joint Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Virginia and the Harvard Kennedy School's Senior Managers in Government, Boston, Massachusetts.

About KBR, Inc.

KBR is a global provider of differentiated professional services and technologies across the asset and program life cycle within the Government Services and Hydrocarbons sectors. KBR employs over 34,000 people worldwide (including our joint ventures), with customers in more than 80 countries, and operations in 40 countries, across three synergistic global businesses:

Government Services, serving government customers globally, including capabilities that cover the full life-cycle of defense, space, aviation and other government programs and missions from research and development, through systems engineering, test and evaluation, program management, to operations, maintenance, and field logistics

Technology & Consulting, including proprietary technology focused on the monetization of hydrocarbons (especially natural gas and natural gas liquids) in ethylene and petrochemicals; ammonia, nitric acid and fertilizers; oil refining; gasification; oil and gas consulting; integrity management; naval architecture and proprietary hulls; and downstream consulting

Engineering & Construction, including onshore oil and gas; LNG (liquefaction and regasification)/GTL; oil refining; petrochemicals; chemicals; fertilizers; differentiated EPC; maintenance services (Brown & Root Industrial Services); offshore oil and gas (shallow-water, deep-water, subsea); floating solutions (FPU, FPSO, FLNG & FSRU) and program management

KBR is proud to work with its customers across the globe to provide technology, value-added services, integrated EPC delivery and long term operations and maintenance services to ensure consistent delivery with predictable results. At KBR, We Deliver.

Visit www.kbr.com

Forward Looking Statement

The statements in this press release that are not historical statements, including statements regarding future financial performance, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's control that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the outcome of and the publicity surrounding audits and investigations by domestic and foreign government agencies and legislative bodies; potential adverse proceedings by such agencies and potential adverse results and consequences from such proceedings; the scope and enforceability of the company's indemnities from its former parent; changes in capital spending by the company's customers; the company's ability to obtain contracts from existing and new customers and perform under those contracts; structural changes in the industries in which the company operates; escalating costs associated with and the performance of fixed-fee projects and the company's ability to control its cost under its contracts; claims negotiations and contract disputes with the company's customers; changes in the demand for or price of oil and/or natural gas; protection of intellectual property rights; compliance with environmental laws; changes in government regulations and regulatory requirements; compliance with laws related to income taxes; unsettled political conditions, war and the effects of terrorism; foreign operations and foreign exchange rates and controls; the development and installation of financial systems; increased competition for employees; the ability to successfully complete and integrate acquisitions; and operations of joint ventures, including joint ventures that are not controlled by the company.

KBR's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, any subsequent Form 10-Qs and 8-Ks, and other Securities and Exchange Commission filings discuss some of the important risk factors that KBR has identified that may affect the business, results of operations and financial condition. Except as required by law, KBR undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason.

SOURCE KBR, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.kbr.com


NEW YORK, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Bressler, Amery & Ross, P.C. announced today that Kevin R. Ghassomian has joined the firm as a Principal in its Estate Planning and Administration Practice.

Resident in Bressler's New York office, Mr. Ghassomian focuses his practice on the personal legal needs of business owners, corporate executives, high net worth individuals, and their families. His representation covers all aspects of estate planning, with an emphasis on tax minimization, asset protection, business succession, and philanthropy.

Mr. Ghassomian has a breadth of experience in private client services. He has practiced with law firms throughout the country, including Nevada, Ohio, California, Kentucky, and New York. He has also worked in-house at insurance and investment advisory companies in New York City, including the headquarters of a global wealth management firm where he counseled an international client base.

"We have been increasing the talent pool in our tax and estate planning practices over the last year," said Bressler New York Office Managing Principal Andrew Sidman. "Kevin brings nearly two decades of experience in these important client disciplines, and we are glad to have him on board."

Frederick K. Schoenbrodt, II, Chair of Bressler's Estate Planning and Administration Practice, said Mr. Ghassomian was a welcome addition to the Firm. "New York City is the business and finance capital of the world and Kevin can help Bressler raise its profile among high-net-worth clients and their advisors. His familiarity with tax and asset protection laws in Nevada and other jurisdictions is a particularly compelling skillset to add to our group."

In addition to his law practice, Mr. Ghassomian is a frequent speaker, published author, and an adjunct professor of law, concentrating his scholarship on estate planning, taxation, and various wealth management topics. He also devotes time to numerous civic and charitable causes, having held leadership positions on several nonprofit boards.

Mr. Ghassomian received a J.D. from the Vanderbilt University Law School, an LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Miami School of Law, and a B.A. with high honors from the University of Kentucky. He is admitted to practice in New York, California, Nevada, Kentucky, and Ohio, where he has been repeatedly recognized as one of the top practitioners in his field.

About Bressler, Amery & Ross, P.C.

Bressler, Amery & Ross, P.C. is a leading full-service law firm that represents Fortune 500 corporations, midsize and small privately held companies, brokerage firms, banks, franchises, insurers and non-profits. The firm also represents emerging companies, high-net-worth individuals and families. The firm's main practices include securities, insurance, employment, and business litigation, including dispute resolution and tax. An NLJ350 firm and NJLJ Top 20 firm, Bressler has more than 170 attorneys in Florham Park, NJ; New York, NY; Birmingham, AL; Washington, DC; Ft. Lauderdale, FL and Miami FL. For more information, visit: www.bressler.com

Contact: Andrew Blum, AJB Communications, 917-783-1680, [email protected]

SOURCE Bressler, Amery & Ross, P.C.

Related Links

http://www.bressler.com


Kimberly-Clark unveiled IdeaStorm at the Association of National Advertisers' Innovation Day Conference in Las Vegas on August 24 th . In addition to rolling out IdeaStorm to its own teams, Kimberly-Clark is offering the tool free of charge to individuals and organizations who want to generate new ideas to achieve their goals.

"We all have individual thinking styles that lead us to approach idea generation and problem solving in a consistent way," said Thomas Merrill, senior director of Global R&D, Innovation and Capability for Kimberly-Clark. "IdeaStorm is designed to help teams break creative barriers and identify fresh solutions by using different original thinking styles for short bursts of time."

IdeaStorm was inspired by discussions among Kimberly-Clark employees about ways to tap the power of different thinking styles in the workplace. This innovative tool leverages the distinctive mindsets of eight Original Thinker types, such as the Dreamer, whose belief that anything is possible helps them accomplish what others consider impossible, and the Nonconformist, whose "outside the box" approach always gives people something new to consider.

Using the IdeaStorm method, an Original Thinker type is randomly assigned to the entire brainstorming group, or to each individual in the group. Participants then brainstorm as the assigned Original Thinker type to provide a fresh, new perspective. When time is called, the Original Thinker types are reassigned and the brainstorming is repeated as many times as needed to generate the desired amount of ideas.

"The beauty of IdeaStorm is that it can be used by anyone, whether alone or in a group -- both in-person and virtual -- to achieve breakthrough ideas," said Merrill. "Kimberly-Clark is freely sharing this tool with everyone to celebrate the value of Original Thinking in seizing opportunities, solving the toughest challenges, and building a better future."

The IdeaStorm brainstorming tool is available for free, download here. Participants are encouraged to use the IdeaStorm Starter Guide and Brainstorming Cards. These two easy-to-use elements form the foundation for an innovative, fun and productive IdeaStorm brainstorming session.

Kimberly-Clark recommends adding IdeaStorm to the traditional methods applied to brainstorming and problem solving. The key to its success is the ability to adapt the mindsets of others, and the simplicity and ease-of-use of both the tool and the playing cards.

Join the Conversation

Visit WelcomeOriginalThinkers.com to learn more and take the Original Thinkers Quiz to determine your personal thinking style. Use #IdeaStorm and #OriginalThinkers to join the conversation; connect on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter to explore open positions at Kimberly-Clark.

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) and its well-known global brands are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 175 countries. Every day, nearly a quarter of the world's population trust Kimberly-Clark's brands and the solutions they provide to enhance their health, hygiene, and well-being. With brands such as Kleenex, Scott, Huggies, Pull-Ups, Kotex and Depend, Kimberly-Clark holds No. 1 or No. 2 share positions in 80 countries. To keep up with the latest news and to learn more about the company's 145-year history of innovation, visit www.kimberly-clark.com or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

[KMB-C]

SOURCE Kimberly-Clark Corporation

Related Links

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TAMPA, Fla., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Mize, a leading provider of connected customer experience platform and warranty management software, today announced that Kubota Engine America (KEA) had completed the roll out of Mize Warranty software (mWarranty) to manage warranty with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), Distributors, and Dealers.

Kubota Engine receives warranty claims OEM customers in different formats. mWarranty maps and uploads claims to automate the claims process. Distributor and dealer partners can submit warranty claims online. Return Material Authorizations (RMA) automatically generated, and shipping labels are created by integrating with UPS. mWarranty also automates the process of sharing the warranty claims with the parent Kubota Corporation.

"We wanted to move from relying on spreadsheets to an integrated online warranty system as we grow our business with Type 4 diesel engines," Jim Strepek, Director of Service Engineering for Kubota Engine America, said. "The automated and integrated warranty solution improves productivity and helps us to handle our sales growth more effectively. Mize Warranty Software seamlessly integrates with SAP ERP system for Product shipments, Parts Returns, and financial information."

"We are excited that Kubota Engine has selected Mize as the partner to optimize their Warranty Management," Ashok Kartham, CEO of Mize, said, "Kubota is using Mize Warranty Software in Cloud securely integrated with SAP ERP system. Our Warranty solution connects and enables OEMs, Suppliers, and Distributor and dealer networks to collaborate on Warranty to improve product quality and reduce warranty costs."

The SaaS subscription model allowed KEA to deploy the robust warranty lifecycle management solution quickly and cost effectively.

"Warranty Reporting and Analysis provided by mWarranty enables us to analyze warranty data and improve product quality," said Jim Strepek. "The readily usable online warranty dashboards and visualizations provide the insights we need to understand and manage the warranty costs."

About Mize

Mize enables companies to optimize key post-sale customer interaction events such as product registration, warranty, service plans, parts, support, service, and maintenance to increase customer satisfaction and retention. Mize connected customer experience platform and Smart Blox elevate customer experience and engagement with the customers, build more knowledge about the customers and products, and increase revenue from the existing customer install base. Mize harnesses the web, mobile, cloud, IoT, and analytics technologies to maximize customer lifetime value. Please visit www.m-ize.com for more information.

About Kubota Engine America

Kubota Engine America (KEA) started as an engine division of Kubota Tractor Corporation in 1982. The Engine Division was dedicated to the sales and reinforcement of technical support of the expanding industrial diesel engine market in the United States. Kubota Corporation and KEA pioneered the compact, high-density diesel market as an alternative to small gasoline engines. In response to the continued rise in diesel engine demand in the US market, KEA was formed as an independent company and a subsidiary of Kubota Corporation and is headquartered in Lincolnshire, Illinois. Kubota is the world's leading manufacturer of both compact diesel and gasoline engines, for industrial, agricultural, construction and generator applications. The company has built an extensive engine and generator distribution network with more than 800 dealers in North America, South America and the Caribbean to support its customer base. Kubota prides itself on its track record for reliability and engineering that fulfills its "For Earth, For Life" philosophy. Please visit www.kubotaengine.com for more information.

SOURCE Mize

Related Links

http://www.m-ize.com


CHICAGO and ATLANTA, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Do you countdown to payday? You're not alone. More than three-quarters of workers (78 percent) are living paycheck-to-paycheck to make ends meet  up from 75 percent last year and a trait more common in women than men  81 vs. 75 percent, according to new CareerBuilder research. Thirty-eight percent of employees said they sometimes live paycheck-to-paycheck, 17 percent said they usually do and 23 percent said they always do.

The national survey, which was conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder from May 24 to June 16, 2017, included representative samples of 2,369 full-time employers and 3,462 full-time U.S. workers across industries and company sizes in the private sector.

More Money, Less Financial Headaches?

Having a higher salary doesn't necessarily mean money woes are behind you, with nearly one in 10 workers making $100,000 or more (9 percent) saying they usually or always live paycheck-to-paycheck and 59 percent in that income bracket in debt. Twenty-eight percent of workers making $50,000-$99,999 usually or always live paycheck to paycheck, 70 percent are in debt; and 51 percent of those making less than $50,000 usually or always live paycheck to paycheck to make ends meet, 73 percent are in debt.

"As an employer, your employees' financial problems become your financial problems," said Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer for CareerBuilder. "If workers are constantly thinking about their financial struggles, their quality of work can decrease, and it can take a hit on their morale and productivity. If you do what you can to help people keep their finances under control  by doing things such as matching 401(k) contributions or hosting financial planning seminars  you'll ease some of their financial worries and it will be less likely to have a negative impact on your business."

Debt is a Growing Issue for Workers

A quarter of workers (25 percent) have not been able to make ends meet every month in the last year, and 20 percent have missed payment on some smaller bills. Further, 71 percent of all workers say they're in debt  up from 68 percent last year. While 46 percent say their debt is manageable, more than half of those in debt (56 percent) say they feel they will always be in debt. And it should be noted that 18 percent of all workers have reduced their 401k contribution and/or personal savings in the last year, more than a third (38 percent) do not participate in a 401k plan, IRA or comparable retirement plan, and 26 percent have not set aside any savings each month in the last year.

Less than a third of workers (32 percent) stick to a clearly defined budget and a slight majority (56 percent) save $100 or less a month:

None: 26 percent

Less than $50 : 15 percent

: 15 percent $51 to $100 : 16 percent

: 16 percent $101 to $250 : 14 percent

: 14 percent $251 to $500 : 11 percent

: 11 percent $501 to $750 : 5 percent

: 5 percent $751 to $1,000 : 4 percent

: 4 percent More than $1,000 : 10 percent

Still, despite financial woes, there are certain things employees aren't willing to give up. When asked what they'd absolutely not give up, regardless of financial concerns, employees cited:

Internet connection: 54 percent

Mobile device (smart phone, tablet, etc.): 53 percent

Driving: 48 percent

Pets: 37 percent

Cable: 21 percent

Going out to eat: 19 percent

Traveling: 17 percent

Education: 13 percent

Buying gifts for people: 13 percent

Alcohol: 11 percent

Minimum Wage Workers Can't Make Ends Meet

The majority of workers (81 percent) have worked a minimum wage job, and 71 percent of them were not able to make ends meet financially during that time  more than half (54 percent) had to work more than one job.

To alleviate some financial burden, 83 percent of employers that are hiring minimum wage workers this year (45 percent) will be raising the minimum wage at their organization.

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder among 2,369 hiring and human resource managers ages 18 and over (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) and 3,462 employees ages 18 and over (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) between May 24 and June 16, 2017 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions). With pure probability samples of 2,369 and 3,462, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have sampling errors of +/- 2.01 and +/- 1.67 percentage points, respectively. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.

About CareerBuilder

CareerBuilder is a global, end-to-end human capital solutions company focused on helping employers find, hire and manage great talent. Combining advertising, software and services, CareerBuilder leads the industry in recruiting solutions, employment screening and human capital management. It also operates top job sites around the world. CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com.

Media Contact

Ladan Nikravan Hayes

312.698.0538

[email protected]

http://www.twitter.com/CareerBuilderPR

SOURCE CareerBuilder

Related Links

http://www.careerbuilder.com


WARRENTON, Mo., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Madame Voodoo's Disappearing Ink was founded in 2009 and focused solely on providing local residents with custom tattooing. Since then, the tattoo studio has expanded their services with piercings, microblading, and now laser tattoo removal. Their main goal is to give customers an experience that will leave them feeling confident and happy in their skin. They've invested in the Astanza Duality laser to perform all tattoo treatments, including complete tattoo removal, partial tattoo removal, and fading for cover-ups.

"Madame Voodoo has always been a place for customers to create great, lasting memories in," said Malissa Booth, owner. "Laser tattoo removal allows us to continue that great experience for our customers by giving them a solution to their unwanted ink and also by creating opportunities for them to add more ink through cover-ups."

The Astanza Duality featured at Madame Voodoo's Disappearing Ink is a powerful workhorse that supports two wavelengths for safe and effective removal of unwanted ink. The Duality's 1064 nm and 532 nm wavelengths work together to target and shatter trapped ink particles deep within the skin. The Q-switched Nd:YAG laser is safe to use on all skin types and uses a homogenized flat top square beam for safer application and minimized risks of treatment overlap.

"The team at Madame Voodoo are specialists in every service they offer. They go above and beyond to deliver outstanding results for their customers," said Opal Taskila, Astanza Sales Representative. "We're very excited to have the Duality laser be represented by such a hardworking and passionate group of people. Warrenton locals are sure to see fast fading on their unwanted tattoos."

About Madame Voodoo's Disappearing Ink

Madame Voodoo's Disappearing Ink is a full service tattoo and laser removal studio. They offer laser tattoo removal services, microblading, and tattooing in various styles like watercolor, lace, black and grey, traditional and more. All laser technicians have received training from New Look Laser College, the world's leading laser tattoo removal training program, and have earned the titles of Certified Laser Specialist and Laser Safety Officer.

Madame Voodoo's provides free consultations and affordable pricing. To schedule an appointment, visit http://madamevoodoo.com/ or call (636) 456-7778. Madame Voodoo's Disappearing Ink is located at 224 E. Booneslick Rd., Warrenton, MO 63383.

About Astanza Laser

Astanza is a leading manufacturer of aesthetic lasers with a unique focus on the application of laser tattoo removal. In addition to developing cutting-edge medical laser devices such as the Duality, Eternity, and Trinity systems, Astanza offers its customers a complete range of training, marketing, and business consulting services specific to achieving success in this growing field.

Astanza Laser is headquartered in Dallas, TX with customers throughout North America and Europe. For product, investor, or press information, call (800) 364-9010, or visit http://www.astanzalaser.com/.

SOURCE Astanza Laser

Related Links

http://www.AstanzaLaser.com


Previously, Summermatter was the Senior Vice President of Regions Bank's South Florida Middle Market Department. While at Regions Bank, his focus was on driving banking solutions for companies in the $25 million to $250 million range. Summermatter's experience contains over 14 years of relationship management and leadership roles in commercial banking including Asset Based, Middle Market, Municipal, Small Business, and International Banking.

Currently, Summermatter serves on the Board of Directors for the Greater Ft. Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce where he also chairs the International Trade Committee. He previously served on the Board of Directors for the Greater Ft. Lauderdale Alliance where from 2012 -2015 he co-chaired the International Action Team, which helped facilitate foreign direct investment into Broward County. In addition, Mr. Summermatter is the President of the Swiss American Chamber of Commerce for Florida since 2011.

"We're excited to have Marcel on board to lead our expansion into Broward County." said Abel Iglesias, President and CEO of Professional Bank. "Marcel is a seasoned commercial banker who will effectively grow our business in a footprint he knows well."

About Professional Bank and Professional Holding Corp.:

Professional Bank is a community bank offering personal and commercial banking products and services. The bank delivers concierge-style service through its two full service branches in Miami-Dade County and two loan production offices in Palm Beach County, providing personal, residential and commercial loans in addition to a full line of deposit products and cash management services. Founded in 2008, Professional Bank has grown to more than $455 million in assets. For more information, please visit www.professionalbankfl.com.

Professional Holding Corp. (PHC) is a financial holding company headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida. PHC's principal subsidiary is Professional Bank. PHC's Class A voting common stock is listed over the counter under the symbol "PFHD."

SOURCE Professional Bank
SACRAMENTO, Calif., Aug. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Each year, the Sacramento Business Journal puts out a list of the fastest growing companies in the Sacramento area. This year, MediaSmack is pleased to announce that it has made it to the top 5. Companies on the list are based in either Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, or Yolo counties. Businesses that made the list posted a minimum of $200,000 in revenue for the year 2014. Companies were ranked by percentage of growth from 2014 to 2016. MediaSmack ranked number 5 with a percentage of growth of 224.49% between 2014 and 2016.

About MediaSmack

MediaSmack is a digital marketing firm that caters to attorneys and law firms of all sizes. The internet marketing specialists at MediaSmack design and maintain appealing websites, compelling video productions, and have a strong history of achieving first positions in Google search engine results. Not only does MediaSmack drive a significant number of unique visitors to your website, they also facilitate lead conversion by enticing your target audience to take immediate action.

About the Founders

Since 2006, Zach Thompson, Co-Founder of MediaSmack, has developed his expertise in social media, digital marketing, and brand development through his vast experience at numerous Fortune 100 companies. Zach oversees the strategic vision and growth of the company, its clients, and sensational team. Focusing on value propositions, he assists businesses in developing a competitive marketing advantage.

Brian Meikle, Co-Founder of MediaSmack, has over 15 years combined social media and digital marketing experience working with major brand marketers, agencies, and firms. Brian is an expert and well-known authority when it comes to social media advertising campaigns, digital marketing, pay-per-click advertising campaigns, and much more.

Media Contact:

Zach Thompson

[email protected]

Related Images

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SOURCE MediaSmack

Related Links

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SANTA MONICA, Calif., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Medical Design & Manufacturing (MD&M) Minneapolis, the Midwest's largest medical technology event, will host a robust conference featuring technical sessions, case studies and panel discussions on up-to-the-minute trends and topics that are affecting the industry today. Taking place November 8-9 at the Minneapolis Convention Center, the MD&M Minneapolis conference is the premiere program to experience expert-led education.

"Staying ahead of the curve in regards to industry trends and knowledge is of the upmost importance to us and we plan to bring the latest and greatest in medical technology to the Midwest at MD&M Minneapolis," said Nina Brown, vice president of events, UBM. "This year we are excited to focus on showcasing all stages of the product development process, from research to market. We hope that this will provide invaluable information to our attendees."

Focused on topics centered on the development of new technology and product development processes, the conference will be an important resource to those looking to create successful medical devices, conquer product development challenges, and speed new devices to market. The conference is organized into three concentrated tracks surrounding everyday challenges and discoveries common to the industry. The 2017 conference tracks include:

Track A: Product Development- Focused on how to create medical devices, and get them to market faster and less expensively.

Focused on how to create medical devices, and get them to market faster and less expensively. Track B: R&D and User-Centered Design- Explore the science behind R&D, materials and design, and see how you can use what's new to inspire innovation.

Explore the science behind R&D, materials and design, and see how you can use what's new to inspire innovation. Track C: Hands-On Workshop- Interactive workshops that provide a hands-on learning opportunity.

All three aforementioned conference tracks are explored through a bevy of presentations and panels led by industry thought leaders representing organizations such as Boston Scientific, the Mayo Clinic, Olympus and more. Influential members from these organizations will explore themes within research, development, engineering, materials, and design throughout their conference sessions. New to 2017 is the highly anticipated plenary session, focused on how to sell an idea to upper management. Highlights from the MD&M Minneapolis Conference include:

Plenery Session: How to Sell Your Idea to Upper Management

Moderator:

Kevin Arnal, Owner, Beachfront Design

Panelists:

Ralph Cardinal, Director, R&D, Boston Scientific

Jennifer Raeder-Devens, Vice President, R&D, Infection Prevention, Becton Dickinson

Matt Adams, Vice President and General Manager, Minnetronix Neuro

Gain insight into how to effectively pitch an idea to upper management and take a new product to market the quickest way possible. Persuading colleagues and managers of the value of an idea is a frequent problem for engineers and this session will offer advice from top-level innovation professionals involved in moving ideas from the lab to the boardroom.

Case Study: Developing MR Conditional Devices

Presented by:

John Rondoni, Vice President Product Development, Operations, and Quality, Inspire Medical Systems

Sandy Wixon, MRI Technology Group Leader, Medtronic CRHF

Terry Woods, Solid Mechanics Laboratory Leader, FDA Center for Devices & Radiological Health

Presented by industry leaders from two prominent medical device companies and the FDA, this session will dive into best practices for developing MR conditional medical devices. Although there are currently no known health threats from temporary exposure to the MR environment, clinicians and patients are still concerned with the strength of the MR magnetic field and possible long-term health impacts. This case study will provide great insight into meeting regulatory standards while creating a top-notch medical device.

MD&M Minneapolis will run alongside five related tradeshows, including MinnPack, Design & Manufacturing Minneapolis, Automation Technology Expo (ATX) Minneapolis, PLASTEC Minneapolis, and Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) Minneapolis. To learn more, please visit: mdmminn.mddionline.com

Register for MD&M Minneapolis



To register for MD&M Minneapolis please visit: minneapolis.am.ubm.com/2017/registrations/MDM

To register for a media pass, please visit: minneapolis.am.ubm.com/2017/registrations/media

Follow us on social: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, #AdvMfgExpo #ESCconf

About Advanced Manufacturing Expos & Conferences

UBM's Advanced Manufacturing portfolio is the leading B-to-B event producer, publisher, and digital media business for the world's $3 trillion advanced, technology-based manufacturing industry. Our print and electronic products deliver trusted information to the advanced manufacturing market and leverage our proprietary 1.3 million name database to connect suppliers with buyers and purchase influencers. We produce more than 50 events and conferences in a dozen countries, connecting manufacturing professionals from around the globe. The Advanced Manufacturing portfolio is organized by UBM plc. UBM is the largest pure-play B2B Events organizer in the world. Our 3,750+ people, based in more than 20 countries, serve more than 50 different sectors. Our deep knowledge and passion for these sectors allow us to create valuable experiences which enable our customers to succeed. Please visit www.ubm.com for the latest news and information about UBM.

About UBM

UBM plc is the largest pure-play B2B Events organizer in the world. In an increasingly digital world, the value of connecting on a meaningful, human level has never been more important. At UBM, our deep knowledge and passion for the industry sectors we serve allow us to create valuable experiences where people can succeed. At our events people build relationships, close deals and grow their businesses. Our 3,750+ people, based in more than 20 countries, serve more than 50 different sectors  from fashion to pharmaceutical ingredients. These global networks, skilled, passionate people and market-leading events provide exciting opportunities for business people to achieve their ambitions. For more information, go to www.ubm.com; for UBM corporate news, follow us on Twitter at @UBM

SOURCE UBM Americas
The Navy said Thursday that it has ended its sea search operations for 10 missing sailors after the USS John S. McCain his a tanker on Monday. The Navy also identified the sailors, one of whom is Sangamon Valley High School graduate Logan Palmer, 23.

Four other stories to see are the growth of pickleball, murder plea awaits testimony, Democrat makes gubernatorial campaign stop in Decatur and Powerball has one winner in Massachusetts.

Navy ends sea search for missing sailors

The U.S. Navy on Thursday called off the search at sea for sailors missing after a collision between a destroyer and an oil tanker, and confirmed the identity of one body.

The missing sailors include Logan Palmer, a 23-year-old Sangamon Valley high School graduate who enlisted in the Navy in April 2016.

Pickleball growth knows no bounds

Since Decatur Pickleball was founded in 2014, popularity of the sport has blossomed locally.

While more than 100 people are associated with the group today, co-founder Margaret Hickman said that it originally consisted of just four players.

Murder plea deal must wait for testimony

A man charged with being part of a four-person group that robbed and murdered a Decatur woman will have to wait until he testifies in related trials before he officially receives his own 20-year prison sentence, now scheduled for Oct. 18.

Daiquan D. Cline appeared before Macon County Circuit Judge Thomas E. Griffith on Wednesday for a sentencing hearing.

Democrat Bliss makes Decatur stops

Daniel Biss, one of a handful of Democratic challengers to Gov. Bruce Rauner in next years election, made his case Thursday as a progressive candidate, focusing on taxes.

Biss, a state senator from Evanston, made his case during two stops in Decatur on Thursday morning.

$758.7 million Powerball ticket claimed

The head of the Massachusetts lottery says the winner of the $758.7 million Powerball jackpot has come forward to claim the prize.

Michael Sweeney, the lottery's executive director, says the winner will be introduced at 1 p.m. at lottery headquarters. All he would say about the winner is that it is an individual woman.
NEW YORK, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mesothelioma Victims Center is one of the top resources in the nation for the best possible mesothelioma financial compensation for construction workers or skilled tradesmen such as a plumber, electrician, or welder who has been diagnosed with this rare cancer. The group is now expanding their initiative to include contractors or lead skilled tradesmen who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma.

Skilled Trades Worker

If a construction worker, skilled tradesman, or contractor has been diagnosed with mesothelioma they are urged to contact the Mesothelioma Victims Center anytime at 800-714-0303 to ensure they are dealing directly with some of the nation's most skilled mesothelioma attorneys. Typically, these journeyman-level mesothelioma attorneys will be more than happy to provide a free compensation analysis for the diagnosed person or their family members. http://MesotheliomaVictimsCenter.Com

The types of construction workers or construction contractors who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma the Mesothelioma Victims Center is offering to assist include:

A plumbing contractor who would have overseen residential, commercial, or industrial plumbing installations or repairs

An electrical contractor who was either the lead electrician or managing an industrial, commercial, or residential installation or repair

An insulation contractor who also acted as the lead installer or oversaw the insulation at a residential, commercial, or industrial jobsite

A general contractor who ran their jobsites and participated in the labor on a residential, commercial, or industrial jobsite

A residential or commercial roofing contractor who ran the jobsite and participated in the installation or repair

The Mesothelioma Victims Center says, "We have had the honor to assist construction workers, skilled tradesmen, and contractors who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma and we cannot over emphasize how not hiring one of the nation's journeyman-level attorneys can result in not receiving the very best possible financial compensation. Before you hire a lawyer to assist with a mesothelioma compensation claim please call us anytime at 800-714-0303." http://MesotheliomaVictimsCenter.Com

For a state-by-state breakdown of licensing requirements for contractors please review the following website. http://www.homeadvisor.com/r/state-by-state-licensing-requirements/

The average age for a diagnosed victim of mesothelioma in the United States is 72 years old. Because of their age, frequently people with mesothelioma are initially misdiagnosed with pneumonia. This year between 2,500 and 3,000 US citizens will be diagnosed with mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is attributable to exposure to asbestos.

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, based on the calls the Mesothelioma Victims Center receives a construction worker, a skilled tradesman, or a contractor with confirmed mesothelioma could live in any state including New York, Florida, California, Texas, Illinois, Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, or Alaska.

High-risk work groups for exposure to asbestos include US Navy Veterans, power plant workers, shipyard workers, oil refinery workers, steel mill workers, manufacturing/factory workers, pulp or paper mill workers, plumbers, electricians, auto mechanics, machinists, miners, construction workers, insulators, rail road worker, roofers, or firemen. As a rule, these types of workers were exposed to asbestos in the 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, or 1980's. US Navy Veterans make up about one-third of all US Citizens who are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year. http://MesotheliomaVictimsCenter.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

800-714-0303

[email protected]

SOURCE Mesothelioma Victims Center
DALLAS, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Minnesota Supreme Court plans to hear arguments in the Associated Bank, N. A. v. Commissioner of Revenue case (Minnesota Tax Court, Dkt. No. 8851-R, April 18, 2017) in the near future. The Multistate Tax Commission (MTC) has filed an amicus brief in support of the commissioner.

Associated Bank took advantage of an anomaly in the statute that defines a financial institution as a "corporation." To avoid the apportionment factor rules for financial institutions, Associated Bank created two LLCs to conduct business in Minnesota. By avoiding the inclusion of interest income in the apportionment factor of the LLCs, as would be required by the financial institution apportionment rules, the bank was able to significantly lower its state tax liability.

The commissioner attempted to assert alternative apportionment to require the inclusion of the interest income of the two LLCs in the combined unitary report, but the Minnesota Tax Court determined that the two LLCs were not financial institutions, as defined by statute, and, therefore, they could use the standard apportionment rules. The commissioner failed to demonstrate that the standard apportionment method did not "fairly and correctly" determine the entities' taxable net income apportioned to Minnesota. A 2010 Minnesota Supreme Court decision, HMN Financial Inc. v. Commissioner of Revenue (doc 2010-11300), was cited as precedent for not allowing the commissioner to use the alternative apportionment statute to "look through or disregard the taxpayers' corporate structure."

The amicus brief filed by the MTC supported the commissioner, stating that the equitable allocation and apportionment statute is an indication that the Legislature expects that the standard apportionment formula may not always fairly and correctly determine the income generated in the state. The MTC supported the commissioner's application of the alternative apportionment methodology to correct a misfire of the allocation system by excluding the income generated by granting loans to customers in the state. As this income would not be allocated to any other state, there is not inequity in apportioning this income to Minnesota.

All parties agree that this situation is made possible by the definition inherent in the statute. Although the Legislature has attempted to change the definition of a financial institution in the statute since 2015, to date no law changes have been finalized in the state.

About Ryan

Ryan, an award-winning global tax services and software provider, is the largest firm in the world dedicated exclusively to business taxes. With global headquarters in Dallas, Texas, the Firm provides an integrated suite of federal, state, local, and international tax services on a multi-jurisdictional basis, including tax recovery, consulting, advocacy, compliance, and technology services. Ryan is a five-time recipient of the International Service Excellence Award from the Customer Service Institute of America (CSIA) for its commitment to world-class client service. Empowered by the dynamic myRyan work environment, which is widely recognized as the most innovative in the tax services industry, Ryan's multi-disciplinary team of more than 2,100 professionals and associates serves over 14,000 clients in more than 45 countries, including many of the world's most prominent Global 5000 companies. More information about Ryan can be found at ryan.com.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION CONTACTS:

Mark Nachbar

Principal

Ryan

630.515.0477

[email protected]

Mary Bernard

Director

Ryan

401.272.3363

[email protected]

SOURCE Ryan

Related Links

http://www.ryan.com


BUFFALO, N.Y., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB)("M&T") will participate in the Barclays Global Financial Services Conference being held in New York City.

Representatives of M&T are scheduled to deliver a presentation to investors and analysts on September 13, 2017 at 11:15 a.m. (ET).

The conference takes place at the New York Hilton Midtown Hotel. A live audio-webcast of the presentation, as well as the materials used in the presentation, will be available via the Internet at: http://ir.mandtbank.com/events.cfm. The presentation and webcast may contain forward-looking statements and other material information.

M&T is a financial holding company headquartered in Buffalo, New York. M&T's principal banking subsidiary, M&T Bank, operates banking offices in New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. Trust-related services are provided by M&T's Wilmington Trust-affiliated companies and by M&T Bank.

SOURCE M&T Bank Corporation

Related Links

http://www.mandtbank.com


VALENCIA, Calif., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Mulholland Citrus, an Orange Cove-based citrus grower-shipper of primarily mandarins, is joining Sunkist Growers, Inc.

"In the four generations of our family's farming history, Mulholland Citrus has enjoyed a longstanding relationship with Sunkist and we are pleased to now be joining the cooperative," said Heather Mulholland. "We are aligned with Sunkist's sales and marketing approach, as well as the organization's values  which, as a family business, are very important to us."

Projected to pack 8 million 5-pound carton equivalents of mandarins annually, Mulholland Citrus will join the network of packinghouses that comprise the Sunkist cooperative.

"Sunkist's quality promise is central to our brand, and we deliver on that promise by working with best-in-class growers and shippers," said Sunkist President & CEO Russ Hanlin. "Mulholland Citrus has a rich history of growing and shipping exceptional quality citrus. We are honored to welcome this industry leader to Sunkist and are looking forward to working together to deliver premium fruit to our customers."

Mulholland Citrus will begin packing under the Sunkist brand on November 1 to kick off the 2017-2018 citrus season.

"Along with their volume, Mulholland Citrus brings valuable experience and knowledge to Sunkist," said Senior Vice President & COO John Striff. "We are leveraging that experience and working collaboratively to ensure a strong start to the upcoming season."

The Sunkist cooperative of family farms offers more than 40 fresh citrus varieties. With thousands of grower members in California and Arizona, the Sunkist cooperative reflects the values and legacy of its nearly 125-year history: family-owned farms where traditional growing practices, stewardship of natural resources and a dedication to innovation are proudly passed through the generations. Founded under the principle that more can be accomplished by working together, Sunkist continues to promote a culture of family and collaboration with growers and customers to drive positive results for all.

Sunkist Growers is a citrus marketing cooperative, founded in 1893, which is owned by and operated for thousands of family farmers growing citrus in California and Arizona. For more information, visit www.sunkist.com.

SUNKIST is a registered trademark of Sunkist Growers, Inc., USA. 2017

SOURCE Sunkist Growers

Related Links

https://www.sunkist.com


DALLAS, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council has launched a regional branch in Texas, the third local council since the national group was established on November 3, 2016. The American Jewish Committee (AJC) and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) are co-conveners of the national council.

The Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council brings together recognized business, political, and religious leaders in the Jewish and Muslim American communities to jointly advocate on issues of common concern. Stanley Bergman, CEO of Henry Schein, and Farooq Kathwari, President and CEO of Ethan Allen, are the national Council's co-chairs.

During the past eight months, the national council has convened five times, twice in Washington, D.C. to jointly advocate on strengthening hate crimes legislation, the free exercise of religion for all Americans, and promoting a positive image of religious minorities in the U.S.

The planned expansion of the Council locally comes amidst a marked rise in incidences of hate speech and crimes, notably the neo-Nazi, white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, the bombing of a Minneapolis mosque, and threats to Jewish synagogues. Each regional Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council brings together business, professional, civil society and religious leaders from the two communities.

"Interest among leaders in the Jewish and Muslim communities across our country in jointly advocating on issues of shared concern is an endorsement of our national initiative, and broadens our collective response to the serious challenges facing American society," said Robert Silverman, AJC Director of Muslim-Jewish Relations.

For more information, visit www.muslimjewishadvocacy.org.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee

Related Links

http://www.ajc.org


WASHINGTON, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Sept. 15, NASA's Cassini spacecraft will complete its remarkable story of exploration with an intentional plunge into Saturn's atmosphere, ending its mission after nearly 20 years in space. News briefings, photo opportunities and other media events will be held at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, and will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

NASA also will hold a media teleconference Tuesday, Aug. 29 to preview activities for Cassini during its final two weeks.

Launched in 1997, Cassini arrived in orbit around Saturn in 2004 on a mission to study the giant planet, its rings, moons and magnetosphere. In April of this year, Cassini began the final phase of its mission, called its Grand Finale -- a daring series of 22 weekly dives between the planet and its rings. On Sept. 15, Cassini will plunge into Saturn, sending new and unique science about the planet's upper atmosphere to the very end. After losing contact with Earth, the spacecraft will burn up like a meteor. This is the first time a spacecraft has explored this unique region of Saturn -- a dramatic conclusion to a mission that has revealed so much about the ringed planet.

Cassini flight controllers will monitor the spacecraft's final transmissions from JPL Mission Control. Interviews with mission engineers and scientists will be available for media.

Cassini Media Events and Schedule

(All media teleconferences and NASA TV news conferences will be available on the agency's website, and times are subject to change)

Tuesday, Aug. 29

2 p.m. EDT -- Media teleconference about spacecraft science and operations activities for the final orbits leading up to the end of the mission will include:

-- Media teleconference about spacecraft science and operations activities for the final orbits leading up to the end of the mission will include: Curt Niebur , Cassini program scientist, Headquarters, Washington

, Cassini program scientist, Headquarters,

Earl Maize , Cassini project manager, JPL

, Cassini project manager, JPL

Linda Spilker , Cassini project scientist, JPL

Visuals discussed during the telecon will be available at the start of the event at:

https://www.nasa.gov/cassinitelecon

Wednesday, Sept. 13

1 p.m. EDT -- News conference from JPL with a detailed preview of final mission activities (also available on NASA TV and online)

-- News conference from JPL with a detailed preview of final mission activities (also available on NASA TV and online) 11:15 a.m. PDT -- Media tours of Mission Control (each group tour will last about half an hour)

Thursday, Sept. 14

10 a.m. to 3 p.m PDT -- NASA Social -- onsite gathering for 30 pre-selected social media followers (JPL-accredited media may also attend). Events will include a tour, and a speaker program that will be carried on NASA TV and online.

to 3 p.m PDT -- NASA Social -- onsite gathering for 30 pre-selected social media followers (JPL-accredited media may also attend). Events will include a tour, and a speaker program that will be carried on NASA TV and online. After 2 p.m. PDT -- Media tours of Mission Control

-- Media tours of Mission Control About 8 p.m. PDT -- Final downlink of images expected to begin (streamed online only)

Friday, Sept. 15: End of Mission

7 to 8:30 a.m. EDT -- Live commentary on NASA TV and online. In addition, an uninterrupted, clean feed of cameras from JPL Mission Control, with mission audio only, will be available during the commentary on the NASA TV Media Channel and on Ustream.

-- Live commentary on NASA TV and online. In addition, an uninterrupted, clean feed of cameras from JPL Mission Control, with mission audio only, will be available during the commentary on the NASA TV Media Channel and on Ustream. About 8 a.m. EDT -- Expected time of last signal and science data from Cassini

-- Expected time of last signal and science data from Cassini 9:30 a.m. EDT -- Post-mission news conference at JPL (on NASA TV and online)

To participate by phone in any of the three briefings, media must contact Andrew Good at [email protected] or 818-393-2433 by one hour before each of the briefings' start time. To attend the Sept. 13 and Sept. 15 news conferences in person, media must have credentials arranged in advance. Media and the public also may ask questions during the events using #askNASA.

For online streaming, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

To watch the news conferences online, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

http://www.youtube.com/nasajpl/live

Accreditation

To cover these events at JPL, media must have pre-arranged credentials issued via the JPL Media Relations Office. The deadlines to apply for credentials have passed.

Pre-arranged media credentials may be picked up at JPL Visitor Reception, located at 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, starting Sept. 13 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. PDT. U.S. media must present a valid form of government-issued photo identification to obtain credentials. Non-U.S. citizens must present their valid passport and visa or permanent resident alien registration card.

Interview Opportunities

For interviews with mission team members at JPL, media with JPL credentials may schedule interviews in the JPL newsroom or by calling 818-354-5011. Offsite media may schedule phone or Skype interviews by calling 818-354-5011.

JPL Tours

On Sept. 13, tours of JPL mission control are available to media. Space is limited and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Media wishing to join a tour must have a JPL media credential and must make a reservation with the JPL Media Relations Office at 818-354-5011, or sign up in person at the JPL Newsroom.

Resources

A Cassini press kit will be available beginning on Aug. 29 at:

https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/grand-finale/for-media

Video for the Cassini mission is available for download at:

https://vimeo.com/album/4649677

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency. JPL manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter.

For more information on the Cassini mission's finale, including graphics, fact sheets, press kit, and an up-to-date timeline of mission events, visit:

https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/grandfinale

Follow the mission on social media at:

http://www.twitter.com/CassiniSaturn

https://www.facebook.com/NASACassini

SOURCE NASA

Related Links

http://www.nasa.gov


"This is an important opportunity to recognize and honor all the men and women, past and present, who served in our military and have died by suicide," said Robert Gebbia, AFSP CEO . "We are hopeful that by honoring those we've lost, we will shed light on the issue and inspire others to talk about mental health and reach out when they are in need of help. This reaching out takes courage  courage we know these men and women possess."

This is the first time a suicide prevention organization is hosting a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider. Ceremony participants include:



Media are invited to attend the event at Arlington National Cemetery and must RSVP: https://afsp.wufoo.com/forms/arlington-national-cemetery-guest-response-form/

"Changing a culture and the way we think about mental health takes time," said participant Richard Bowers, Fairfax Fire Chief. "It's not like switching direction on a speedboat  it's more like trying to turn around an aircraft carrier."

AFSP volunteer, and retired firefighter, Leigh Boswell was staffing a table to share resources about suicide prevention at Patriot Harley-Davidson, during Rolling Thunder. During her shift, a man she was talking with divulged to her that he is the commander of the Old Guard at Arlington National Cemetery. He encouraged her to apply on behalf of AFSP.



As a retired firefighter, suicide prevention is something Boswell values very highly. Last April, a fire fighter in Fairfax County died by suicide. When this happened, Boswell reached out to the National Capital Area Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. She got connected with the AFSP Out of the Darkness Community Walk as the walk chair, and in her first year helped raise $150,000 for the cause. The year's walk is being held at 11 a.m. on September 16 in Fairfax, VA. The public is invited to attend.

For information about this walk, visit: https://afsp.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=4891

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is dedicated to saving lives and bringing hope to those affected by suicide. AFSP creates a culture that's smart about mental health through education and community programs, develops suicide prevention through research and advocacy, and provides support for those affected by suicide. Led by CEO Robert Gebbia and headquartered in New York, AFSP has local chapters in all 50 states with programs and events nationwide. AFSP celebrates 30 years of service to the suicide prevention movement. Learn more about AFSP in its latest Annual Report, and join the conversation on suicide prevention by following AFSP on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

SOURCE American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Related Links

http://www.afsp.org


Noticing parallels to the current political climate, Anchor Editions , a fine art print shop in Washington DC, recently reprinted the photos to create a conversation about immigration and raise funds for organizations fighting the Muslim ban.

"The tide of racism and xenophobia that led to the Japanese concentration camps in 1942 is swelling again today," says Tim Chambers, photographer and printer for Anchor Editions. "My hope is that today's audience viewing photographs from this shameful period in our history will remember the need to resist any violation of civil and human rights now."

Chambers digitized and restored some of Lange's negatives from the National Archives, published a photo essay, and sold limited-edition prints, donating half of the proceeds to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Several editions sold out in as little as three days, and to date, Anchor Editions has donated over $35,000 to the ACLU.

This month, Anchor Editions released more prints after completing new restorations of several of Lange's negatives. Half of the new print sales will be donated to the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), which works to protect the rights of Americans, particularly low-income immigrants and their families.

"Through social media, and discussions online, in galleries, and in the classroom, Dorothea Lange is finding a new audience and relevance as our country faces another inflection point in how we treat our citizens and immigrants," Chambers said. "The response has been overwhelming. One woman even found her great-grandfather pictured in one of the images, and I've heard many similar stories of personal connections to the photographs." Anchor Editions hopes the newly-restored photographs will connect with people in a similar way, widening the margin of support for the work of the ACLU and NILC.

Tim Chambers

[email protected]

(202) 858-1943

SOURCE Anchor Editions

Related Links

http://anchoreditions.com


YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of Northern States Metals, a one-stop, full service provider of custom-designed and engineered aluminum extrusions, parts and products, and owner of Solar FlexRackTM, the leading ground mount solar racking system to the commercial and utility scale solar industry, today announced that it has appointed Kenneth A. Mack as the company's President and Chief Executive Officer. Mack will also join the company's Board of Directors. Mr. Mack had been acting as the Company's Interim President and Chief Executive Officer since April.

Ken Mack named CEO of Northern States Metals

"The board is pleased to announce the appointment of Ken Mack as our President and Chief Executive Officer" said Paul Cusson, Chairman of the Board and Founder of the company. "Ken has a track record of strong leadership both inside and outside of the company. He has been a successful executive here during his tenure, and his deep knowledge of operations and manufacturing, together with his vision and business acumen, make Ken uniquely qualified to lead NSM successfully into the future."

"I'm honored, and I'm grateful to the board for the opportunity to lead this exceptional organization of talented and dedicated professionals," said Mack. "Northern States Metals recognizes the synergies between great products, exceptional quality and world-class services and I am proud to be leading a company that is thoroughly dedicated to its customers."

Mr. Mack joined the company in September 2015 as Executive Vice President of Operations and Engineering. Prior to joining NSM, Mr. Mack was with Permco Inc., as the Director of Global Supply Chain, where he was responsible for manufacturing facilities in the US and China, and with Federal-Mogul Corporation, a $7 billion manufacturer of vehicle powertrain and safety components, with responsibility for over 30 manufacturing facilities. Mr. Mack started his career at General Motors where he spent 16 years in increasing roles of responsibility, in the metal fabricating division and in various engineering and production positions, and ultimately as the Manufacturing Operations Manager and Engineering Group Manager for various divisions of GM.

Mr. Mack holds an MBA and MEM from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Kettering University/GMI Engineering & Management Institute.

About NSM

Northern States Metals (NSM) is a full service provider of custom designed, engineered and extruded aluminum products offering a full suite of services including extrusions, fabrication, finishing, assembly and private label packaging. NSM has served customers across 31 industries, both in the US and internationally, since 1972. More information on Northern States Metals can be found at www.extrusions.com

About Solar FlexRack

Solar FlexRack, a division of Northern States Metals, is an integrated solar company that offers custom-designed fixed tilt ground mount and single-axis tracking systems in the commercial and utility scale solar mounting industry. Solar FlexRack also offers full turn-key packages, including engineering, geotechnical, pullout testing, field, layout, and installation services to address the actual site conditions of an installation, providing a full scope of services from design to delivery and installation. Solar FlexRack has completed more than 1.5 GW of solar racking installations in 32 states across America and five countries globally. For more information on Solar FlexRack, go to www.solarflexrack.com and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

For inquiries, please contact:

Staci Lombardo

[email protected]

330-272-6643

SOURCE Northern States Metals

Related Links

http://www.extrusions.com


SCHAUMBURG, Ill., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Society of Urologic Oncology and the Society of Urologic Oncology Clinical Trials Consortium (SUO-CTC) announced today that the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO) has published results from a Phase II clinical study led by the SUO-CTC demonstrating the potential effectiveness of Instiladrin (rAD-IFN/Syn3) in patients with high grade, BCG refractory or relapsed Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer (NMIBC). The paper, titled, "A Phase II, Randomized, Open Label, Parallel Arm Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of rAD-IFN/Syn3 Following Intravesical Administration in Subjects with High Grade, BCG Refractory or Relapsed Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer (NMIBC)" can be found on the Journal of Clinical Oncology website at http://ascopubs.org/doi/full/10.1200/JCO.2017.72.3064.

The JCO paper reports durable responses in 35 percent of patients, which represents more than a three-fold improvement in recurrence-free survival compared to Valrubicin, the only agent currently approved for this indication. Instiladrin was well tolerated and no patient discontinued treatment due to a treatment-related adverse event. The data are consistent with a previous Phase I clinical trial. The study was organized and run by SUO-CTC and sponsored by FKD Therapies Oy, Finland (FKD).

"These data are encouraging and hold promise in improving the treatment outcomes for patients with high-risk nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer that persists or recurs despite standard treatment with Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG)," said Colin Dinney, M.D., Professor and Chair of the Department of Urology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC), and the Principal Investigator of the Phase II study. "Today, such patients have very limited medical options."

Instiladrin is a gene therapy consisting of an adenovirus containing the gene interferon alfa-2b. Instiladrin is given by catheter into the bladder where the virus enters the cells of the bladder wall. Inside the cells, the virus breaks down leaving the active gene to do its work. The cell's internal gene/DNA machinery picks up the gene and translates its DNA sequence, resulting in the cells secreting high quantities of interferon alfa-2b protein, a naturally occurring protein the body uses to fight cancer. This novel gene therapy approach turns the patient's own bladder wall cells into multiple interferon microfactories, enhancing the body's natural defenses against the cancer.

SUO-CTC, has now launched a Phase III registration trial of Instiladrin, sponsored by FKD Therapies, in patients with BCG-unresponsive NMIBC. The trial which opened in 2016, is recruiting across the USA now and is expected to enroll approximately 135 patients at 35 centers.

"If similar efficacy and tolerability are demonstrated in the Phase III trial, Instiladrin, with FDA approval, may represent an effective alternative to radical cystectomy for patients with recurrent NMIBC where BCG therapy has not been successful," commented Stephen Boorjian, MD, Professor of Urology and Vice Chair of Research for the Department of Urology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and the SUO-CTC's Principal Investigator for the Phase III trial. "As with the Phase II trial, the SUO-CTC will ensure a high-quality study is undertaken in a timely manner for the pivotal evaluation of this promising new approach."

Because of the high risk of progression of BCG-unresponsive NMIBC, and lack of effective therapeutic options, the safest option is cystectomy; however, many patients are understandably reluctant to undergo this procedure. An alternative is second-line chemo therapy, but the only U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)approved drug for BCG-refractory disease, Valrubicin, provides a durable (12 month) complete response for only about 8-10 percent of patients.

Although IFN protein is an established anticancer agent, instillation into the bladder has had only limited efficacy against bladder cancer because the drug is cleared from the bladder in a few hours. Interferon- gene therapy causes the cells lining the bladder to produce high levels of their own IFN for a protracted period of time, up to 3 weeks, resulting in more extended exposure and an enhanced anti-tumor activity.

About the SUO-CTC

The Society of Urologic Oncology (SUO) developed a clinical trials network in 2008. Created and operated by its members, the Society of Urological Oncology Clinical Trials Consortium (SUO-CTC) is a clinical research investigator network of over 340 members from more than 180 clinical sites in the U.S. and Canada. This national alliance of leading academic and community-based uro-oncologists is committed to furthering urology research. The SUO-CTC is a registered 501c3 not-for-profit corporation and maintains a cooperative relationship with the Society of Urologic Oncology. SUO-CTC pursues clinical trials, in concert with sponsors, to investigate therapeutic interventions which address urological cancers including, but not restricted to bladder cancer, prostate cancer and renal cancer. Together with industry, the SUO-CTC offers enhanced research options for ultimately delivering better quality of life to our patients.

Information for Patients

Details of the Phase III trial can be found on ClinicalTrials.gov and on the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network website.

Media Contact:

Rebecca Farrell

[email protected]

+1 (917) 715-7840

SOURCE Society of Urologic Oncology
City Councilman Bill Faber will not seek reelection in 2023, a move that opens up at least one of three council seats in the municipal election in April.
The Oceanlabs team mainly consists of two jack-of-all-trades men who are motivated to support the Waves project as well as the Waves community as a whole. The project began spontaneously when the Waves founder and CEO, Sasha Ivanov, asked the community to build a faucet. The now known as Oceanslab team, Fabrice Distefano (aka Sphearis) and Olivier Saintelet (aka Dibatch), responded swiftly and created https://wavesdrop.com/ . The Oceanslab team was born and kept evolving from that moment on.The two doubled down once more and created gravit.ws which is still in its prototype stage. With the community backing the project, they were able to secure 2nd place in Waves ICOhub contest out of a total of 135 entrees. This was a phenomenal achievement as the support came directly from the Waves community with no reliance on media.

"We have a lot of applications and features planned, probably years of work if I follow all my ideas. But the first one we want to focus on is our actual prototype Gravit. The engine is the foundation of our ecosystem, and the website will benefit from any new feature we bring to the platform (encryption, trading analysis, blockchain storage, automation...). This website will become the first blockchain powered social network with many automated features and content." - Febrice Distefano

The applications that Oceanlabs plan to build will help ICO creators present blockchain data in a simplified way to their investors and to help build future partnerships with third parties that may need to access this data. Another much anticipated application is a Waves payment system where users can pay for commodity goods with Waves tokens.

The following applications are only a snippet of what is to come. According to the whitepaper, Oceanlabs plans to create a wide range of applications on Waves. Being a community-driven project, Oceanlabs have also opted to support 25 Waves tokens in their ICO, along with accepting Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD, EURO and Waves.

If you want to participate in the Oceanlabs ICO, please go to http://ico.oceanlab.eu. Users will need to setup a Waves wallet and send funds to the address provided on the ICO website from their Waves wallet.

Contact: Fabrice Distefano

Email: [email protected]

Website: http://oceanlab.eu

Phone: +32471721634

SOURCE Oceanlab
PHOENIX, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- As the school year gets underway in Arizona, OneAZ Credit Union in partnership with the OneAZ Community Foundation has awarded scholarships, each valued at $1,000, to students enrolled as an incoming junior or senior at Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, or the University of Arizona, or an incoming sophomore at an Arizona community college.

"For 66 years, OneAZ has been focused on improving the lives of our members and the communities we serve," said David E. Doss, President/CEO of OneAZ Credit Union. "Education is a vital component of helping the next generation of Arizona's leaders pursue their dreams."

For nearly 10 years, OneAZ credit union has been providing financial support to Arizona university and college students through its scholarship program, which is a testament to the credit union's longstanding commitment to education. The scholarships will help students pay for various school expenses, including tuition, books and other academic necessities. This year's recipients include:

Eleanor Allen-Henderson

Cameron Bloniarz

Megan Borich

Hannah Burnam

Seamus Flannery

Regan Gee

Anikki Giessler

Maikki Giessler

Joanna Jauregui

Chelsea Koressel

Matthew Logelin

Emily McGrane

Kayla Reents

Gillian Reynoso

Sarah Schuler

Sherli Skinner

Madallena Tharp

Zachary Tisch

Mitchell Weinzinger

Applicants were required to submit a 500-word essay or a 60-second video that highlights the benefits of credit union membership to millennials. To have been eligible to receive a scholarship, either applicants or their parents, grandparents or legal guardians must be OneAZ Credit Union members.

Complete details about the scholarship are available by visiting OneAZcu.com/Scholarship.

About OneAZ

OneAZ Credit Union is a $1.9 billion full-service, not-for-profit, local financial institution with a statewide branch network serving members since 1951. More than 140,000 Arizona residents turn to OneAZ for its comprehensive business and personal financial services. OneAZ is a 10-time winner of Arizona Business Magazine's Ranking Arizona and a six-time recipient of the Peter Barron Stark & Associates Award for Workplace Excellence. The credit union is headquartered in Phoenix and welcomes members from throughout the state. For more information, call 844.663.2928 or visit oneazcu.com.

SOURCE OneAZ Credit Union

Related Links

https://www.oneazcu.com


"Office design should not be a one-size-fits-all approach," said Paul McDonald, senior executive director for Robert Half. "Companies considering a change should create a layout that brings out their team's best performance. Frequently, the optimal office setup includes a mix of private workspaces and meeting areas for collaboration."

Additional findings from the surveys:

While 65 percent of workers surveyed conceded that open floor plans help with collaboration, they also said that other office configurations, including private offices (60 percent), semi-private cubicles (68 percent) and a combination of open and private spaces (69 percent) can be collaborative.

Employees who work in open floor plans and semi-private cubicles cited the lowest productivity levels due to their workspace. Workers with private offices cited the highest levels of productivity.

One-third of professionals working in private cubicles said their workspace configuration hinders collaboration.

Fifty-nine percent of those with private offices said their workspace makes them feel relaxed. Those working in semi-private cubicles and open floor plans reported the most amount of stress (31 percent and 25 percent respectively) due to their workspace configuration.

Added McDonald, "It's not practical for every employee to have a private or even semi-private office, but employers should pay attention to the overall workplace design to ensure there are both collaboration spaces and places for employees to quietly get work done. An attractive office setting could be a deciding factor for a candidate during the hiring process."

Robert Half identifies pros and cons of different workspace configurations to help managers decide what's right for their office:

1. Private offices

Pros: Employees and management can make business and personal phone calls, hold meetings or have private conversations without being seen or heard by other staff members.

Cons: They're expensive and require more space to implement. Workers who close their doors can seem unapproachable.

2. Private cubicles

Pros: They provide some privacy.

Cons: Outside discussions can be distracting, and employees worried about disrupting others might avoid conversations, prohibiting collaboration.

3. Semi-private cubicles

Pros: Professionals can see each other, making it easier to have spontaneous conversations. This option offers an open floor plan feel, but also allows workers to feel ownership of their space.

Cons: Impromptu conversations can be disruptive to nearby workers trying to focus.

4. Open floor plan

Pros: This option saves on overhead costs, and is best for roles, departments or industries that require a high level of collaboration.

Cons: It's not ideal for introverted personalities or those who require a quiet space for concentration. It also lacks private spaces for confidential discussions.

5. Combination of private and open spaces

Pros: It isn't as disruptive as other types of configurations, and allows for employees to gather in common areas.

Cons: It's more expensive to implement and can take more time to design this type of space.

About the Research

The surveys were developed by Robert Half and conducted by independent research firms. The HR managers' survey includes responses from more than 300 HR managers at U.S. companies with 20 or more employees. The survey of workers includes responses from more than 1,000 U.S. professionals age 18 and over and employed in office environments.

About Robert Half

Founded in 1948, Robert Half is the world's first and largest specialized staffing firm. The company has 325 staffing locations worldwide and offers online job search services on its divisional websites, all of which can be accessed at roberthalf.com. For career and hiring advice, visit the Robert Half blog at roberthalf.com/blog.

SOURCE Robert Half

Related Links

http://roberthalf.com


HARRISBURG, Pa., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- To combat the use of illegal credit and debit card "skimmers" at gas stations and ATMs in Pennsylvania, four state government agencies have teamed up to raise awareness on the use of these devices. Skimmers are malicious card readers often attached to an actual payment terminal that can gather data from a credit or debit card's magnetic stripe when inserted or swiped.

Today, during a public demonstration of how card skimmers operate, leaders from the Department of Banking and Securities, State Police, Department of Agriculture, and the Office of the Attorney General discussed their campaign to educate consumers, business owners, law enforcement, and gas pump inspectors statewide on the dangers of card skimmers.

"This collaboration is a prime example of the successes that can be achieved when government agencies work together for the protection and betterment of the citizens of our commonwealth," said Secretary of Banking and Securities Robin L. Wiessmann. "Each of these state agencies has lent its specific area of expertise to this cooperative effort, helping businesses protect their customers and consumers protect themselves from financial scams."

Secretary Wiessmann offered six tips to help consumers protect themselves:

Choose gas pumps that are closer to and within the line of vision of the cashiers.

Use ATMs in well-lit, secure locations and avoid using ATMs that are stand-alone units in corners of stores or other out-of-the-way locations.

Look at the card reader slot and surrounding areas to see if anything looks out of place, mismatched, or loose.

Make sure no one is watching you enter your PIN (or possibly filming you on a cell phone).

Consider using your credit card instead of your debit card to avoid compromising your PIN and to gain other consumer protections.

Check your bank and credit card statements frequently to watch for fraudulent activity and report any unfamiliar activity immediately.

"The Office of Attorney General is working every day to protect Pennsylvanians who've been scammed, and we're partnering with the Pennsylvania Banking and Agriculture Departments, as well as the Pennsylvania State Police, to help prevent consumers from being victimized by skimming devices at gas stations. Working together we can protect more Pennsylvanians from scams like skimming," Attorney General Josh Shapiro said. "If you believe you've been scammed, call our Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-441-2555 or email us at [email protected]. We're here to help you."

As part of the campaign, the State Police officers and Department of Agriculture inspectors in the field log reported incidents into their respective tracking systems. This logged data is then analyzed to reveal state trends on the illegal use of skimmers and can lead to greater protections for consumers and business owners across the commonwealth.

"Department of Agriculture inspectors ensure that Pennsylvanians get what they pay for at the fuel pump," said Agriculture Secretary Russell C. Redding. "While our staff check to see that pumps are operating accurately, they're also watching for evidence of suspicious activity, like illegal skimmers that endanger consumers and businesses alike."

"Card skimming is a serious offense that that not only affects customers and merchants locally, but has also been known to have links to international organized crime," said State Police Commissioner Tyree C. Blocker. "As skimming devices and the criminals who use them become more sophisticated, law enforcement agencies must work together to protect consumers against this type of high-tech fraud."

The four agencies have developed a handout to help identify card skimmers, know how and where to report them, and understand what actions consumers can take if they have been victimized. The handout can be downloaded for free: www.dobs.pa.gov/Documents/Publications/Handouts/SkimmingAlertCard.pdf.

Media contacts: Ed Novak (Banking and Securities) 717-783-4721

Ryan Tarkowski (State Police) 717-783-5556

Bonnie McCann (Agriculture) 717-783-2628

Joe Grace (Attorney General) 717-787-5211

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities

Related Links

http://www.state.pa.us


WASHINGTON, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The challenges facing our country continue to grow. Funding for the U.S. Census Bureau has been cut, reducing the likelihood of an accurate and representative count. The rightwing push to weaken unions has reduced labor's ability to fund efforts that help low-income communities and people of color.

But some foundations are stepping up. "In response to this dangerous environment, smart philanthropic leaders will figure out how to play both offense and defense at the same time," writes Aaron Dorfman, president of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP), for the group's journal "Responsive Philanthropy."

The summer issue of "Responsive Philanthropy" explores ways funders can respond to such challenges by featuring "important ideas that will help funders calibrate strategy to best support underserved communities and social justice movements," Dorfman writes.

Philanthropy and the 2020 census: A once-in-a-decade chance to get it right

The 2020 census may seem like a long time away, especially with the more immediate challenges that seem to pop up every day. But Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and former head of the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, says foundations must start putting resources into the 2020 census immediately, if they haven't already started.

How should philanthropy respond to attacks on unions?

Rightwing attacks have reduced the power of labor unions, including their ability to support progressive causes, write Ludovic Blain, director of the California Donor Table, and Jim Araby, executive director of UFCW Western States Council. The authors list 10 ways foundations and donors can react.

What does winning look like for your organization in the current political environment?

Has today's political climate caused U.S. nonprofits reevaluate how they define success? Eight of our nonprofit members share what a "win" looks like to them.

Funding transformation through racial healing

NCRP Vice President Jeanne Isler describes W.K. Kellogg Foundation's racial healing program and why the foundation thinks it can transform the nation. The story takes a look at how partners in three cities  New Orleans, Dallas and Buffalo, New York  are implementing the program.

Pay it forward: A new way to fund grassroots LGBTQ organizing in the South

Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, executive director of the Campaign for Southern Equality, describes how her nonprofit supports grassroots LGBTQ organizing in the South by re-granting funds it receives. Beach-Ferrara urges more nonprofits to move resources to the frontlines.

Member Spotlight: Episcopal Health Foundation

The Episcopal Health Foundation, based in Houston, aims to transform all of Texas into "healthy communities." The foundation "believes healthy communities are created when diverse people come together to develop community-driven, people-centered health systems."

Responsive Philanthropy articles are available at no cost on NCRP's website. NCRP members receive hard copies for free.

About NCRP

The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy amplifies the voice of nonprofits and the communities they serve in the philanthropic sector. Through research and advocacy, it works to ensure that grantmakers and donors contribute to the creation of a fair, just and equitable world.

NCRP recently marked its 40th anniversary with a look at its accomplishments such as increasing transparency and accountability of foundations, helping progressive foundations deploy their resources effectively and defining exemplary philanthropy. For more information, visit www.ncrp.org.

SOURCE National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy

Related Links

http://www.ncrp.org


NEW YORK, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Global public relations leader Porter Novelli announced two enhancements to its North America team. Strahan Wallis has been tapped as managing director for Porter Novelli's Southern California region, which includes operations in Los Angeles, Irvine, and San Diego, after previously serving in a similar leadership role for the Clemenger Group owned Porter Novelli New Zealand. Additionally, Raj Iyer has joined the agency in New York as senior vice president in the strategic planning, analytics and research practice.

Based in Los Angeles, Wallis will assume regional responsibility for talent management, strategic growth and client service excellence. Wallis will draw on his previous experience as managing director in Porter Novelli's New Zealand office, where he successfully strengthened office culture which resulted in the lowest staff turnover rate in more than a decade. In his new post, Wallis reports to Jennifer Swint, President of North America.

Wallis has a strong background in technology, agriculture, food, health and financial services sectors having advised some of the world's leading companies. Some of these include: Microsoft, HP, Visa, KPMG, Credit Suisse, Fonterra (dairy), RocketLab USA (aerospace), Heineken and a number of food companies.

"Arriving stateside feels like a long time in the making," said Wallis. "I am eager to work with my colleagues in Southern California to support our clients through their most challenging communication issues. This market offers a breadth of new opportunities and challenges for our team and our clients and I can't wait to get into it."

Based in New York, Iyer will be responsible for creating broad strategies that unite communications programs, while ensuring they are properly executed and impactful. He reports to Carrie Schum, North America lead of strategic planning, analytics and research.

"Joining Porter Novelli was inevitable. I'm drawn to the best talent, culture and ideas," said Iyer. "I'm excited for this endeavor, simply because I love learning about audiences and connecting with people."

Prior to PN, Iyer ran a strategy consulting company focusing on consumer healthcare technology startups. He also worked with consumer packaged goods and lifestyle brands to drive go-to-market strategies and develop deep audience understanding. His client experience includes brands such as AstraZeneca, GSK, Hearst Publications, Heineken, LEGO, LG and Merck.

"Both Strahan and Raj are incredibly talented individuals who will make an impact on behalf of our clients, our teams and our innovation," said Swint. "Their energy, creativity and curiosity are the perfect fit for our agency culture and growth strategy. We are thrilled to have them on the Porter Novelli team."

About Porter Novelli

Porter Novelli is a global public relations agency built on a rich heritage of marketing for social good. We've been motivating people to change deeply ingrained behaviors rooted in cultural and social norms for more than 40 years. Porter Novelli is a different kind of agencyand we recognize, respect and champion companies with the spirit, drive and tenacity to do things differently. We like taking on big challenges, and even bigger challengers, and we seek out clients who feel the same wayclients who have the conviction to tell their own story, and the courage to innovate from who they have been into who they know they can be. For additional information, please visit www.porternovelli.com. Porter Novelli is a part of the Omnicom Public Relations Group.

About Omnicom Public Relations Group

Omnicom Public Relations Group is a global collective of three of the top global public relations agencies worldwide and specialist agencies in areas including public affairs, marketing to women, fashion, global health strategy and corporate social responsibility. It encompasses more than 6,000 public relations professionals in more than 330 offices worldwide who provide their expertise to companies, government agencies, NGOs and nonprofits across a wide range of industries. Omnicom Public Relations Group is part of the DAS Group of Companies, a division of Omnicom Group Inc. that includes more than 200 companies in a wide range of marketing disciplines including advertising, public relations, healthcare, customer relationship management, events, promotional marketing, branding and research.

Contact:

Amy Marriott

Porter Novelli

[email protected]

404-917-6988

SOURCE Porter Novelli

Related Links

http://porternovelli.com


LONDON, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Precision Farming/Agriculture Market Analysis By Offering (Hardware, Software, Services), By Application (Yield Monitoring, Field Mapping, Crop Scouting, Weather Tracking, Irrigation Management, Inventory Management), And Segment Forecasts, 2014 - 2025

Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5068555/

The global precision farming market is anticipated to reach USD 10.23 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc.

Precision farming, also known as site-specific crop management or satellite farming, is a concept of farm management that uses information technology to ensure optimum health and productivity of the crops. The precision farming technique largely depends on specialized equipment, IT, and software services. Furthermore, this farming technique involves a broad range of technologies including bio-engineering, robotics & automation, imagery & sensors, and big data, as well as digitization. The adoption of site-specific crop management would reduce the cost of nitrogen fertilizers, improve crop yields, reduce the usage of pesticides, provide better farm records that are essential for sale, and provide better information for management decisions.

The growing application of telematics in agriculture is anticipated to drive the demand for precision farming over the projected period. Telematics services include tracking devices using Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) to show the position of the equipment for management purposes. It also offers a real-time view of the position, coolant temperature, ground speed, and the duration before which maintenance is required. Major agriculture equipment manufacturers are adopting telematics services for their equipment in order to improve farm efficiency.

Improving the efficiency of agricultural machinery reduces the cost of agricultural operations and maximizes profitability. Additionally, good management might reduce the environmental impact. Farmers are increasingly using telematics technology to collect and manage information from their field equipment.

Telematics technology is used to capture and transfer data from the farm equipment through sensors installed on tractors and other field monitoring equipment. The increasing adoption of telematics systems by agricultural equipment companies is expected to drive the demand in the precision farming market.

Trimble Ag Software's Connected Farm uses cellular and wireless technology to transfer data. Furthermore, the company uses Farm Works software to manage data transferred from the farm equipment. Raven Industries, Inc. provides a telematics service called Slingshot. It uses cell phone networks to offer data transfer, real-time kinematic GPS correction signals, and real-time technical support in the fields. Additionally, Slingshot allows users to track the vehicle's location.

However, the lack of technology adoption among farmers is likely to restrain the market growth over the forecast period. The lack of standards and limitations on the exchange of data between the systems limits the adoption of modern agricultural machinery of different brands and companies. Furthermore, farmers lack independent consulting and advisory services owing to the lack of validated agronomic models for Variable Rate Technology (VRT) to make a decision on investments. Additionally, independent services are not linked to co-operatives, government bodies, and farmer's associations where farmers can get additional information to take decisions.

Further key findings from the report suggest:

The increasing government support for adopting modern agricultural techniques and the growing need for monitoring crop health for yield production are expected to drive the market demand.

The services segment is expected to portray a significant growth rate over the projected period, growing at a CAGR of 16.0%.

The cloud-based software model is anticipated to gain market share over the projected period as it reduces energy consumption and large data storage, and facilitates cost saving.

Innovations in GPS mapping and related applications concerning farms are helping farmers to operate more efficiently and increase their profit margins.

Drones are expected to witness enormous growth in the agriculture field as they are increasingly used in monitoring irrigation systems.

Soil monitoring is a major application of the yield monitoring segment as it is used to detect soil properties to increase the yield.

Digital revolution in the agricultural sector along with government financial incentives to farms is likely to drive the demand in the European precision farming market in the coming years.

Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5068555/

About Reportbuyer

Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishershttp://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

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OVERLAND PARK, Kan., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Rasmussen College, a regionally accredited private college, today announced its Professional Nursing Associate's degree program at its Kansas City/Overland Park, Kan. campus has earned programmatic accreditation from the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN). 1, 2 Accreditation signifies the Nursing program, which is also offered at the College's Topeka, Kan. campus, has met or exceeded standards and criteria for educational quality in nursing curriculum and preparation for nursing students to work successfully in the profession.

"Rasmussen College is committed to delivering the highest standard of education across all of our nursing programs," said Dr. Joan Rich, vice president of nursing at Rasmussen College. "The accreditation process through ACEN is a rigorous, voluntary and faculty-driven process that often takes months to complete. Successfully fulfilling ACEN's requirements and achieving accreditation reinforces the College is delivering on our responsibility to offer exceptional nursing education for our Kansas students."

About the Rasmussen College ACEN-Accredited Nursing Program

The Rasmussen College Professional Nursing Associate's degree program offers a path to a career as a registered nurse (RN). It can be completed in as few as 18 months.3 Upon graduation, nursing students are prepared for the NCLEX-RN licensure exam.

In addition to its Professional Nursing program, Rasmussen College offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree program with three entrance options. The RN to BSN Entrance Option is for students who already have obtained their RN license through an Associate's degree program (or Diploma and/or Certificate) and are looking to advance their nursing career by earning their BSN degree. The option is offered fully online and can be completed in as few as 12 months.2 Additionally, Rasmussen College offers two accelerated, pre-licensure entrance options for its BSN degree. These entrance options are designed for students who are committed to the nursing profession and eager to launch their careers as quickly as possible. Depending on whether a student already has a bachelor's degree, they can earn their BSN in as few as 18 to 33 months.2 The Rasmussen College BSN degree program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).4

"All of our nursing courses are taught by experienced nurse faculty with classroom sizes that enable faculty to focus on the individualized learner needs. We also have strong community partnerships that allow our students to have access to a variety of clinical opportunities throughout the Kansas City and Topeka areas," said Rebecca Hastings, dean of nursing, Rasmussen CollegeKansas. "There is still a lot of need in our communities for RNs as local hospitals look to grow and expand services. In fact, according to labor analytics firm Burning Glass, there were more than 15,000 job postings for registered nurses across the state over the past year. We are proud of our recent ACEN accreditation and are especially excited for our students and community members who will directly benefit from the exceptional nursing program we strive to provide every day."

To learn more about the Rasmussen College School of Nursing or apply for the Fall term, please visit http://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/nursing/.

1Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. hlcommission.org | 800-621-7440

2The Rasmussen College Professional Nursing Associate's degree program in Kansas City/Overland Park and Topeka, Kansas is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing.

Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing

3343 Peachtree Road NE, Suite 850

Atlanta, GA 30326

Phone: 404-975-5000

acenursing.org

3Completion time is dependent on transfer credits accepted and courses completed each term.

4The Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program at Rasmussen College is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.

655 K Street, NW, Suite 750

Washington, DC 20001

Phone: 202-463-6930

http://www.aacnnursing.org/CCNE

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 a high 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


FRAMINGHAM, Mass., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Rave Mobile Safety (Rave), provider of critical communication and data platform solutions trusted to save lives, today announced the launch of the Rave 911 Suite in Worcester, Massachusetts, marking a 75 percent increase in Rave 911 Suite's population coverage over the last year in Massachusetts. With expansive customer growth in local cities including Natick and Framingham, Rave solutions now protect more than 1 million people in the Bay State.

During an event held yesterday in Worcester, Senator Michael Moore was joined by Mayor Joseph Petty, City Manager Edward M. Augustus, Jr., Director Richard Fiske, and local fire and police officials to make the official announcement of the city's launch of Rave 911 Suite and Smart911.

"In Worcester and throughout the state of Massachusetts, lives are on the line each day and it's important that our emergency personnel are armed with the best solutions possible to face these situations safely and efficiently," said Fiske. "With the help of technologies like Smart911, we can rest assured that we are offering the tools our officials and communities need to improve emergency response times and information sharing capabilities. Lives can truly be saved when we work together, and I'm excited the City of Worcester is adopting this innovative and collaborative technology."

With the Worcester launch, 27 municipalities in Massachusetts including some of the Commonwealth's largest communities such as Framingham, Cambridge, and Springfield now utilize the Rave 911 Suite, a comprehensive solution offering 911 text messaging, Smart911, Rave Facility data, enhanced location data, reporting analytics and more. With Smart911, users can create an online profile that displays to dispatchers when a 9-1-1 call is made. Critical information such as home address, bedroom location, pet information, medical details, notifications for older residents or people with disabilities can all be provided to help reduce response times, improve communication and ultimately help save lives.

Residents are encouraged to create free Safety Profiles on Smart911.com. This is a secure platform to input additional information immediately shared with 9-1-1 dispatchers in the event of an emergency. The ability to share these vital details instantaneously greatly reduces response times and better equips officials responding to the situation.

"The U.S. and countries worldwide are facing adversity and unforeseen acts of violence, creating a growing need for greater safety and security measures. If it hasn't been a consideration yet, cities and states should look at technology as a powerful tool that can help create safer communities," said Juliette Kayyem, national security expert, Rave advisory board member, and former U.S. Department of Homeland Security's assistant secretary for intergovernmental affairs. "With adoption of Rave Mobile Safety's technology continuing to grow in Massachusetts, government agencies are better equipped, more prepared, and with those resources, can feel confident that they're ready to handle emergencies when they strike."

Supporting this growth, Rave delivered more than 500 million emergency notifications in and processed more than 15 percent of 9-1-1 calls demonstrating their ability to foster safer, better prepared neighborhoods by providing local officials and the community with the best resources to help during a crisis.

"While we offer a variety of services to customers, our ultimate mission is to help create safer communities. Through new partnerships with cities like Worcester, we can work together to achieve that goal," said Tom Axbey, president and CEO of Rave Mobile Safety. "The city of Worcester, Massachusetts recognizes that technology can help create safer cities through enhanced communication and collaboration and we couldn't be more proud to be a partner on this life-saving journey."

To learn more about how the Rave 911 Suite works to deliver powerful communication tools to communities in Massachusetts and to state's nationwide visit: https://www.ravemobilesafety.com/rave-911-suite/

About Rave Mobile Safety

Rave Mobile Safety provides the leading critical communication and data platform trusted to help save lives. Used by leading education and healthcare institutions, enterprises and state and local public safety agencies, the award-winning Rave platform including Rave Alert, Rave 911 Suite, Rave Panic Button, Rave Guardian, Rave Prepare and Rave Eyewitness protects millions of individuals. Rave Mobile Safety is headquartered in Framingham, MA. For more information, please visit https://www.ravemobilesafety.com.

SOURCE Rave Mobile Safety

Related Links

https://www.ravemobilesafety.com/


"We are delighted to partner with Revive Kombucha, a company that shares a similar handcrafted approach to Peet's Coffee," said Eric Lauterbach. "Our investment reflects our belief in the strength and promise of the Revive brand and our own mission to build an outstanding portfolio with multi-channel reach. In so doing, we will enable Revive to better engage with its customers and accelerate its business."

Through its relationship with Peet's Coffee, Revive Kombucha will be delivered via Coldcraft, the coffee company's own chilled Direct-Store-Delivery (DSD) network, assuring absolute product freshness and superior taste. Coldcraft, the only company-owned chilled distribution network within the coffee industry, which currently distributes Peet's and Stumptown Coffee Roasters bottled cold brew, will expand Revive's market reach throughout California in over 1,600 food service, grocery, and Peet's coffeebar locations.

"Our culturally aligned partnership with Peet's Coffee, a beloved San Francisco heritage brand, will provide Revive Kombucha with a support system to fulfill our goal of reaching the millions of people demanding tasty and healthy beverage offerings," said Sean J. Lovett, Founder and CEO of Revive. "With this investment, we can continue our commitment to innovative individualized brew batches and natural fermentation methods to create unique kombucha beverages that spotlight the true stars of the show, our premium ingredients."

Founded by Sean and Rebekah Lovett in 2010, Revive Kombucha is organic, non-GMO, Fair Trade certified, ethically sourced and raw. The product is distributed across nearly 50 states at retailers like Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, The Fresh Market, Wegmans, and Safeway.

"We are proud of our ability to scale within a startup culture," said Rebekah Lovett, co-founder of Revive. "Our focus has been on building and expanding the brewery while maintaining our in-house production, ingredient-focused approach, and ability to experiment with sustainable initiatives. We are very excited that this new partnership with Peet's Coffee will help us take this very organic operation to the next level."

"Revive is a category innovation leader with a craft brewing style that has produced the best tasting kombucha, all while keeping true to authentic natural fermentation methods," said Seth Rodsky, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Strand Equity Partners. "This Peet's partnership strengthens Revive's quest to become the brand of choice for all kombucha consumers."

Revive is also supported in this round by Series A lead investor Ilya Nykin, Prolog Ventures; Bentley Hall, CEO, Good Eggs; Wes Crain, Rodeo Ventures; Peter Henig, Greenhouse Capital; Arif Fazal, Blueberry Ventures; Joe Brunetti, formerly of Specialized Bikes; and Blair Kellison, CEO, Traditional Medicinals. Additional new investors include Seth Rodsky of Strand Equity and Larry Kahn of Beechwood Capital. Aspect Consumer Partners acted as exclusive financial advisor to Revive in connection to the transaction.

About Peet's Coffee:

Peet's Coffee is a U.S. specialty coffee company founded by Alfred Peet in 1966 in Berkeley, California. Mr. Peet grew up in the coffee trade and moved to America from Holland after World War II. His coffee style was unlike anything Americans had ever tasted beforesmall batches, fresh beans and a superior quality roast that is rich and complex. Mr. Peet's influence on the artisan coffee movement inspired a new generation of coffee entrepreneurs, including the founders of Starbucks. Today, Peet's upholds its commitment to delivering a premium product by continuing to source the world's best beans, hand-roast in small batches, and craft every beverage by hand. Peet's asserts a strict standard of freshness to ensure optimum flavor, including a unique direct store delivery network serving over 14,000 grocery stores to personally vet the freshness date on every bag. Peet's is dedicated to growing its business through its retail, grocery, wholesale and e-commerce channels while maintaining the superior quality of its coffee. Peet's is also proud of its status as the first LEED Gold certified roastery in the United States. For more information, visit www.peets.com. Stay connected to Peet's: @peetscoffee on Twitter and Instagram and facebook.com/peets.

About Revive Kombucha:

Revive Kombucha is a culture-driven, family and employee owned craft kombucha brewery launched at the Sonoma County Farmers Market in 2010. Their mission has always been to sustainably produce the best tasting kombucha using the highest quality ingredients and most innovative craft brewing techniques: from their vertically integrated brewery and unique cold press methods, to being the first to market with brewing innovations (hibiscus and ginger caffeine free brews, and other non-tea brews with coffee, yerba mate and cacao) in their product line. Revive works as hard to take care of the people and world around them as they do in brewing their kombucha. This shows in their sustainability initiatives; from their early efforts with bio-diesel delivery and award-winning Bottle Exchange program, to their current efforts with water reclamation and conservation in the brew process, and always offering living-wages and above standard benefits to employees. The founders take a playful approach to branding by giving each brew a name, with a visual image and story on the bottle, highlighting its craft brewing method, and giving each brew a unique set of ingredients, culture and personality. For more information, visit https://revivekombucha.com. Join the Revive Kombucha conversation: @revivekombucha on Twitter and Instagram and facebook.com/revivekombucha.

SOURCE Peet's Coffee

Related Links

http://www.peets.com


TOKYO The U.S. Navy dismissed the commander of the Asia-based 7th Fleet on Wednesday after a series of warship accidents, the most recent of which left a Sangamon Valley High School graduate among 10 missing sailors.

The search continued Wednesday for the sailors, who went missing after the destroyer USS John S. McCain and an oil tanker collided off Singapore on Monday. Crew member Logan Palmer is from the Decatur area and has been identified by his family as among the missing.

The family released a statement Monday through the Navy that thanked the community for its concern and asked for privacy. Logan Palmer's brother, Austin Palmer, told Herald & Review media partner WCIA that he was praying for his brother's safe return.

"In reality, I see a man that never gives up, at least from my experience. You tell him he can't do it, he'll show you he can do it," he said. "That's why I believe he's going to get through this."

The Navy released a two-sentence statement said Adm. Scott Swift, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, had relieved Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin "due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command."

The move follows four Navy accidents in the Pacific since late January, including two collisions that left sailors dead and missing.

"While each of these four incidents is unique, they cannot be viewed in isolation," Swift said earlier.

He said the Navy will carry out a "deliberate re-set" of all its ships in the Pacific, focused on navigation, mechanical systems and bridge resource management. It will include training and an expert assessment of each ship.

The Navy said that Rear Adm. Phillip Sawyer, who had already been named as Aucoin's successor, would assume command immediately.

Seven sailors died in June when the destroyer USS Fitzgerald collided with a container ship off Japan.

Swift, speaking Tuesday at a news conference in Singapore where the McCain is now docked, said Navy divers had found remains of some of the missing in a flooded compartment in the ship. He also said Malaysians assisting in the search had found a body, but it had not been determined if it was a McCain crew member.

The 7th Fleet said in a statement Wednesday that Navy and Marine Corps divers are continuing to search flooded compartments in the McCain in the hope of locating more of the missing sailors. The sea-based search east of Singapore "is expanding to encompass a greater area as time goes on," it said.

Singapore's government said the search area more than doubled Wednesday to about 2,120 square miles with aircraft and vessels deployed by the U.S., Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia.

At least three of the 10 missing sailors have been identified by relatives.

April Brandon in Michigan said the military informed her that her son, Ken Smith, is missing. She said Smith's father, stepmother and grandfather served in the Navy. Brandon said, "His father and I couldn't be prouder of our son."

The family of Jacob Drake of Ohio was told he was among the missing, the Columbus Dispatched reported. Megan Partlow told The Associated Press that Drake was her fiance and she'd last had contact with him Sunday in a text message.

The collision at daybreak in a busy shipping area tore a gaping hole in the McCain's left rear hull and flooded adjacent compartments including crew berths and machinery and communication rooms.

The cause of the collision has not been determined. The Navy previously said there was no evidence it was intentional, or that it was a result of sabotage or cyberintrusion.

The Navy last week said the Fitzgerald's captain was being relieved of his command and other sailors were being punished after poor seamanship and flaws in keeping watch were found to have contributed to its collision. An investigation into how and why the Fitzgerald collided with the other ship was not finished, but enough details were known to take those actions, the Navy said.

There were two lesser-known incidents in the first half of the year. In January, the USS Antietam guided missile cruiser ran aground near Yokosuka base, the home port of the 7th Fleet, and in May another cruiser, the USS Lake Champlain from the Navy's 3rd Fleet, had a minor collision with a South Korean fishing boat.

Aucoin assumed command of the 7th Fleet in September 2015 and was due to retire in a few weeks.

A career flight officer, he served in five fighter squadrons and flew in more than 150 combat missions, according to Navy biographies. He commanded a carrier air wing aboard the USS Kitty Hawk and a carrier strike group based in Bremerton, Washington. Prior to heading the 7th Fleet, he was deputy chief of naval operations for warfare systems.

The 7th Fleet has 50 to 70 ships and submarines, 140 aircraft and about 20,000 sailors.
ANN ARBOR, Mich., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- By enrolling in the University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business, Shelly Sahi, MBA '16, intended on enriching her growing career in Ford Motor's business officebut as she worked with the Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, she began to see a different future for herself as the CEO and owner of SAHI Cosmetics, which specializes in makeup for women of medium skin tones. In recognition of the progress SAHI Cosmetics has made so far and the potential it has for growth, the Zell Lurie Founders Fund announced today that it has made a $100,000 investment in the company.

Most cosmetics on the market are formulated for Caucasian women with pink undertones to their skin, leaving women with olive and yellow undertoneswomen of Arabic, Indian, Pakistani, Mediterranean and Hispanic descentwith makeup options that don't match their true complexions. Off-the-shelf options leave them looking like they're wearing a mask, due to foundation that doesn't match the rest of their skin, or with no choice but to buy multiple, expensive products to create their own blends at home. A former makeup artist and materials engineer at Ford who grappled with this problem her entire personal and professional life, Sahi saw the opportunity to use her science background to produce the custom blends she made for her clientsand herselfat scale.

"Growing up, I loved reading fashion magazines, but none of the women looked like me. I never want another girl to be left out in that way," said Sahi, who is of Indian descent. "At best, most cosmetics companies offer two or three shades for medium-skinned women, but our research shows that that number needs to be at least 14. We want to help women feel comfortable in their own skin, to own their color and be proud of who they are."

The Zell Founders Fund is a $10 million seed fund that seeks out extraordinary Michigan Ross students and recent alumni whose ventures need funding to move from idea to profitability, and is led by the students who represent the top talent from the Zell Lurie Institute's other established student-led funds. It was made possible by a 2015 gift from business magnate Sam Zell.

"SAHI Cosmetics is working to solve a major pain point for millions of women in the United States and around the world," said Ashka Dave, MBA MPH '17, head of the Zell Founders Fund due diligence team, along with Florence Noel, MBA '17, and Christine Priori, MBA MPH '17. "My fellow students and I began looking into the company after learning about it through the Desai Accelerator, and we were very impressed by Shelly's understanding of the market and strategies to effectively monetize and scale her products within it. We believe that she has all the ingredients necessary for a successful venture, and we're glad that we could help her along the way."

SAHI Cosmetics nurtured by Zell Lurie Institute

Earlier this year, SAHI Cosmetics took home a total of $27,000 as the top winner at the Michigan Business Challenge, the University of Michigan's business plan competition. It also earned an additional $25,000 investment, as well as access to mentorship, legal and HR services as part of the Winter 2017 cohort of the Desai Accelerator, a joint venture between the Zell Lurie Institute and the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan.

"Shelly is the prime example of a student who has taken advantage of every resource the Zell Lurie Institute offers in order to take her startup from an idea to a reality," said Stewart Thornhill, executive director of the Zell Lurie Institute and faculty lead of the Zell Founders Fund. "Her progress has been wonderful to watch, and the Fund is glad to support her as she continues to revolutionize cosmetic offerings for a largely underserved part of the population."

The funds from this investment will be used to create new marketing initiatives and bring new products to market. Since the first kitchen-counter prototypes mixed with Starbucks stir sticks, SAHI Cosmetics' product line has grown to include 49 different items, including the launch of the Diamond Foundation line in August. Products are currently sold directly on SAHI Cosmetics' website, and on Amazon.com.

For more information on SAHI Cosmetics, please visit https://sahicosmetics.com/, and follow the conversation using the hashtag #OwnYourColor. For more information on the Zell Founders Fund, please visit http://zli.umich.edu/programs-funds/zell-founders-fund.

About SAHI Cosmetics

SAHI Cosmetics provides luxury makeup that is custom-designed for women of medium skin tones who are underserved by the current cosmetics industrynamely, women of Arabic, Indian, Pakistani, Mediterranean and Hispanic descent. Our team's collective experience in materials science engineering and makeup artistry led us to develop luxurious products that match and complement our target complexion range. For more information, visit https://sahicosmetics.com/.

About the Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies

The Institute and its Center for Venture Capital and Private Equity Finance bring together an impactful combination of deep-seated knowledge, enriching experiences and strategic opportunities from the front lines of entrepreneurship and alternative investment. Students' learning experiences are further enhanced through internships, entrepreneurial clubs, business competitions and campus-wide events that foster valuable networking and engage the business community. The School's five student-led investment funds, with $8.5M under management, immerse students in the entrepreneurial business sourcing, assessment and investment process. Founding Zell Lurie advisory board members include Samuel Zell, chairman of Equity Group Investments, and Eugene Applebaum, founder of Arbor Drugs Inc. For more information, visit the Institute's website at www.zli.bus.umich.edu.

About Michigan Ross

The Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan is a vibrant and distinctive learning community grounded in the principle that business can be an extraordinary vehicle for positive change in today's dynamic global economy. The Ross School of Business' mission is to develop leaders who make a positive difference in the world. Through thought and action, members of the Ross community drive change and innovation that improves business and society.

Ross is consistently ranked among the world's leading business schools. Academic degree programs include the BBA, MBA, Part-time MBA (Evening and Weekend formats), Executive MBA, Global MBA, Master of Accounting, Master of Supply Chain Management, Master of Management, and PhD. In addition, the school delivers open-enrollment and custom executive education programs targeting general management, leadership development, and strategic human resource management.

SOURCE The Zell Lurie Institute

Related Links

http://www.zli.bus.umich.edu


TSX.V: SCZ

FSE: 1SZ

VANCOUVER, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd. (TSX.V:SCZ) (the "Company" or "Santacruz") reports on the operating results from the Rosario Project in San Luis Potosi, Mexico and the Veta Grande Project in Zacatecas, Mexico for the second quarter of 2017.

Q2 Highlights:

Silver equivalent produced ounces of 270,569;

Head grade of 207 Ag Eqv. g/t;

Improved silver recovery at Veta Grande

"At Rosario, production quarter over quarter has seen improvements as we transition from mineralized material from development to actual producing stopes at the Membrillo and Cinco Estrellas mines. In addition to this, the Veta Grande mine development has now reached Level 6, and mill recoveries have improved aiming to reach the targeted levels for silver during Q4" stated Arturo Prestamo, CEO of Santacruz adding, "The addition of Membrillo and Cinco Estrellas as feeders to the Rosario Mill has increased the gold content within our Rosario produced concentrates, while higher silver grade areas are now being accessed as the main Membrillo vein starts contributing to Rosarios mill feed."

2017 Second Quarter Operational Highlights

Summary of Production Results 2017 Q2 (2) 2017 Q1 (3) 2016 Q2 (3) Material Processed (tonnes milled) 57,684 45,474 26,419 Silver eqv. ounce production (1) 270,659 223,968 271,985 Silver production (ounces) 89,242 92,154 146,968 Gold production (ounces) 472 326 103 Lead production (tonnes) 238 144 238 Zinc production (tonnes) 725 559 835 Average Head Grade (g/t Ag Eqv.) 207 216 331

Rosario Project Operational Results

Summary of Production Results 2017 Q2 (2) 2017 Q1 (3) 2016 Q2 (3) Material Processed (tonnes milled) 27,967 18,723 26,419 Silver eqv. ounce production (1) 124,717 115,240 271,985 Silver production (ounces) 33,181 34,556 146,968 Silver head grade (g/t) 42 66 194 Silver recovery (%) 87% 86% 89% Gold production (ounces) 298 195 103 Lead production (tonnes) 40 45 238 Zinc production (tonnes) 408 382 835 Average Head Grade (g/t Ag Eqv.) 172 226 331

Veta Grande Project Operational Results

Summary of Production Results 2017 Q2 (2) 2017 Q1 (3) Material Processed (tonnes milled) 29,718 26,751 Silver eqv. ounce production (1) 145,942 108,728 Silver production (ounces) 56,062 57,598 Silver head grade (g/t) 102 117 Silver recovery (%) 64% 57% Gold production (ounces) 174 131 Lead production (tonnes) 198 99 Zinc production (tonnes) 317 177 Average Head Grade (g/t Ag Eqv.) 218 209

Note 1 AgEqvOz= (Au*Pau)+(Ag*Pag)+(Pb*Ppb*2205)+(Zn*Pzn*2205)





(Pag)



Metal Prices Q1 and Q2 20172: Ag $16.00, Au $1,150, Pb $0.90, Zn $1.15 Metal Prices Q2 20163: Ag $14.50, Au $1,100, Pb $0.76, Zn $0.71

Operations Update

In Q2 2017 at the Rosario Project the focus has been on increasing the impact of the Cinco Estrellas Property and Membrillo Vein as alternate sources of mill feed at the Rosario milling facility. The Company has made significant advances on those initiatives. The Company anticipates that starting in Q4 Membrillo and Cinco Estrellas will reach their planned production volumes and headgrades, as sufficient stopes and production areas will be in place.

At Veta Grande, the focus has been and continues to be through-put maximization and grade control. The Company continues to work on controlling grades with mine development as well as improving the mill recoveries. The main ramp at the Garcia mine has now reached Level 6 where massive sulphide areas have been identified which will increase the lead content in the mineralized material thereby allowing for additional improvements to mill recoveries.

About Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd.

Santacruz is a Mexican focused silver company with two producing silver projects (Rosario Project, including the Rosario Mine, Cinco Estrellas Property and Membrillo Vein, and the right to operate the Veta Grande Project and milling facility); and two exploration properties, the Minillas Property and Zacatecas properties. Santacruz is managed by a technical team of professionals with proven track records in developing, operating and discovering silver mines in Mexico with a corporate objective to become a mid-tier silver producer.

'signed'

Arturo Prestamo Elizondo,

President, Chief Executive Officer and Director

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 information

Certain statements contained in this news release constitute "forward-looking information" as such term is used in applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information is based on plans, expectations and estimates of management at the date the information is provided and is subject to certain factors and assumptions. In making the forward-looking statements included in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, that the Company's financial condition and development plans do not change as a result of unforeseen events, that third party mineralized material to be milled by the Company will have properties consistent with management's expectations, that the Company will receive all required regulatory approvals, and that future metal prices and the demand and market outlook for metals will remain stable or improve. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause plans, estimates and actual results to vary materially from those projected in such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause the forward-looking information in this news release to change or to be inaccurate include, but are not limited to, the risk that any of the assumptions referred to prove not to be valid or reliable, which could result in lower revenue, higher cost, or lower production levels; delays and/or cessation in planned work; changes in the Company's financial condition and development plans; delays in regulatory approval; risks associated with the interpretation of data (including in respect of the third party mineralized material) regarding the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; the possibility that results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations, as well as the other risks and uncertainties applicable to mineral exploration and development activities and to the Company as set forth in the Company's continuous disclosure filings filed under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. There can be no assurance that any forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, the reader should not place any undue reliance on forward-looking information or statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information or statements, other than as required by applicable law.

Rosario Project

The decisions to commence production at the Rosario Mine, Cinco Estrellas Property and Membrillo Vein were not based on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability, but rather on a more preliminary estimate of inferred mineral resources. Accordingly, there is increased uncertainty and economic and technical risks of failure associated with this production decision. Production and economic variables may vary considerably, due to the absence of a complete and detailed site analysis according to and in accordance with NI 43-101.

Veta Grande Project

The decision to commence production at Veta Grande Project was not based on a feasibility study on mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability. Accordingly, there is increased uncertainty and economic and technical risks of failure associated with this production decision. Production and economic variables may vary considerably due to the absence of a complete and detailed site analysis according to and in accordance with NI 43-101.

SOURCE SantaCruz Silver Mining Ltd.

Related Links

www.santacruzsilver.com


"We are excited to welcome Senator Kennedy and Congressman Johnson to CSRA's ITC in Bossier City," said CSRA President and CEO Larry Prior. "We are proud to invest in the people of Bossier City and the surrounding communities of North Louisiana, having hired hundreds of employees, with hundreds more expected to be hired over the next year. We look forward to continuing our work with Senator Kennedy and Congressman Johnson as partners in creating good-paying jobs in North Louisiana."

"CSRA plays an important role in helping the federal government fight cyber terrorism. The opening of CSRA's Integrated Technology Center will bring nearly a thousand jobs to Shreveport-Bossier City by mid-2018," said Senator John Kennedy. "I was excited to visit CSRA and meet those already on the job working as a partner to the federal government."



"One of my top priorities is ensuring hardworking Louisianans can obtain good-paying jobs," said Congressman Mike Johnson. "We are very proud of the work CSRA is doing, the jobs they have brought to the region, and the contributions they are making to our community. Bossier and the surrounding areas in Northwest Louisiana are growing, and we are making every effort to continue that trend."



"The Bossier Chamber of Commerce is excited to work with our community partners, CSRA ITC and our regional chambers to host Senator John F Kennedy and Congressman Mike Johnson for a business briefing on National issues," said Lisa Johnson, President of the Bossier Chamber of Commerce. "We are honored to showcase the CSRA ITC to our federal leaders."



CSRA's ITC facility is a state-of-the-art campus that delivers innovative, next-gen, cost-effective solutions to solve the most difficult technology challenges for over 65 federal government customers.



Senator Kennedy toured CSRA's ITC and Congressman Johnson later joined him to host a Regional Chamber of Commerce meeting at the facility this morning. The Chamber meeting included members of the Bossier Chamber, Greater Shreveport Chamber, Shreveport-Bossier City African-American Chamber, and the Minden South Webster Chamber.



About CSRA Inc.



CSRA (NYSE: CSRA) solves our nation's hardest mission problems as a bridge from mission and enterprise IT to Next Gen, from government to technology partners, and from agency to agency. CSRA is tomorrow's thinking, today. For our customers, our partners, and ultimately, all the people our mission touches, CSRA is realizing the promise of technology to change the world through next-generation thinking and meaningful results. CSRA is driving towards achieving sustainable, industry-leading organic growth across federal and state/local markets through customer intimacy, rapid innovation and outcome-based experience. CSRA has over 18,000 employees and is headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia. To learn more about CSRA, visit www.csra.com. Think Next. Now.



Forward-looking Statements



All statements in this press release and in all future press releases that do not directly and exclusively relate to historical facts constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements represent CSRA's intentions, plans, expectations and beliefs, including statements about the actual duration, services delivered, and total value realized by CSRA under customer contracts, the effects of customer contracts on our business, and our ability to enhance mission capabilities of our customers. The forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside the control of CSRA. These factors could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements. For a written description of these factors, see the sections titled "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in CSRA's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any updating information in subsequent SEC filings. CSRA disclaims any intention or obligation to update these forward-looking statements whether as a result of subsequent event or otherwise.



Click here for more high-resolution photos of today's visit.

SOURCE CSRA Inc.

Related Links

http://www.csra.com


GLENDALE, Calif., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ServiceTitan, the leading enterprise software for residential HVAC, plumbing and electrical services businesses in the U.S., was named No. 76 on the 36th annual Inc. 500/5000 list, an exclusive ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. To make it among the top 500 companies on the list, honorees met at least a tenfold growth rate over the past three years.

"We are humbled and honored to be recognized as one of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S.," said Ara Mahdessian, co-founder and CEO of ServiceTitan. "Vahe and I originally built ServiceTitan to help our fathers run better businesses. Today, we are grateful that so many of the best residential service businesses partner with us. This award is merely a recognition of the hard work that the men and women in the home services trades do. We are privileged to help contractors with tools, training and support to build their businesses and achieve their goals."

ServiceTitan has achieved an exceptional 4,784% three-year growth rate. ServiceTitan is also listed as the No. 6 top software company in the nation, No. 16 top California company and No. 5 top Los Angeles company.

"When our customers are successful, we're successful," Mahdessian said. "It's been an honor to fight in the trenches with the brilliant, passionate and extraordinary team of Titans who work tirelessly to build a software platform to help home service contractors like our fathers run their businesses."

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 ServiceTitan profile can be found at https://www.inc.com/profile/servicetitan. 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.

"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."

ServiceTitan launched in 2013 and has experienced rapid growth. The company has been named a Top 100 Tech Company in Los Angeles by Built in L.A and Rising Star in Forbes' Cloud 100 Top Companies. ServiceTitan has been awarded Stevie Awards for sales and customer service and is listed as one of the fastest growing software as a service companies on the SaaS 1000 list.

About ServiceTitan

ServiceTitan is a mobile, cloud-based software platform that helps home services companies streamline operations, improve customer service, and grow their business. ServiceTitan's end-to-end solution for the multi-billion dollar residential home services industry includes CRM, intelligent dispatch, custom reporting, marketing automation, mobile solution for field techs, and accounting integration with Sage Intacct and QuickBooks. ServiceTitan brings a fully operational modern SaaS infrastructure to an industry traditionally underserved by software. ServiceTitan is the preferred software for hundreds of the world's most successful plumbing, HVAC, and electrical companies. For more information about ServiceTitan, visit www.ServiceTitan.com.

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/.

Media Contact:

Heather Ripley

Ripley PR

865-977-1973

[email protected]

SOURCE ServiceTitan

Related Links

http://www.servicetitan.com


McCurry, one of the foremost photographers of his generation, is best known for his haunting portrait of a green-eyed Afghan refugee girl in National Geographic. A master of visual storytelling, McCurry has traveled the world for four decades capturing vibrant cultures and the human experience. His color-saturated images have appeared on international magazine and book covers, in major gallery and museum exhibitions, and in permanent and private collections worldwide.

Silversea's luxury and expedition itineraries offer guests more than 850 destinations in more than 130 countries on all seven continents, more than any other cruise line. The company's purpose-built fleet features sleek, smaller vessels that can navigate narrow waterways to reach the most secluded ports and destinations. Its newest vessel, Silver Muse, is redefining ocean travel by enhancing the small-ship intimacy with spacious suites that are the hallmark of the Silversea experience. The addition of Silver Muse expands the line's fleet to nine ships, creating a new standard of elegance in the ultra-luxury cruise market.

"Silversea has launched the most ambitious fleet and product expansion in its history, with the goal of unlocking new territories for guests and going deeper," Barbara Muckermann, Chief Marketing Officer at Silversea Cruises, says. "Steve McCurry's artistry and storytelling align perfectly with Silversea's immersive experiences, intimate vessels and unforgettable destinations. He has the ability to capture the authentic beauty in the world, and express it with passion and clarity. We look forward to capturing the emotion and inspiration of global travel through Steve's lens."

McCurry's art has taken him from war-torn Afghanistan to rural villages in India to the collapse of New York's twin towers on 9/11. Since his iconic Afghan Girl portrait in 1984, McCurry has published more than a dozen books; won scores of professional awards including the Robert Capa Gold Medal for his coverage of the war in Afghanistan; shot the last remaining rolls of Kodak's Kodachrome film in a portrait project; and collaborated with timeless global brands including Valentino, Vacheron Constantin and the Pirelli calendar. "You're present, in focus; that's traveling, to me," McCurry says. "It's an urgent need to go and observe this world that we all share."

Even after decades of exploration, McCurry believes he has many more stories to tell. "There's always room for discovery," he says.

About Silversea Cruises

Silversea Cruises, which is chaired by Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio, is recognized as an innovator in the ultra-luxury cruise line industry, offering guests large-ship amenities aboard its intimate, all-suite vessels: Silver Wind, Silver Shadow, Silver Whisper, Silver Spirit and Silver Muse  all designed to offer an atmosphere of conviviality and casual elegance. With the inclusion of the expedition ships Silver Explorer, Silver Galapagos, Silver Discoverer, and with Silver Cloud joining the Expedition fleet in 2018, Silversea's itineraries encompass all seven continents and feature worldwide luxury cruises to the Mediterranean, Caribbean, both polar regions and hundreds of fascinating destinations in between.

Note to Editor:

For Silversea and McCurry images, video and B-roll, please visit:

https://goo.gl/49fWNP

https://silversea-1.wistia.com/medias/uk24wclmf0

https://silversea-1.wistia.com/medias/hv7w4yt92g

https://silversea-1.wistia.com/medias/2i466gx8sz

https://silversea-1.wistia.com/medias/6e1yaltdo2

For more information on Silversea Cruises, please call toll-free (888) 978-4070,

or contact a travel agent.

For a complimentary brochure, please visit www.silversea.com.

To download images: http://www.silversea.com/media-centre/image-library/

SOURCE Silversea Cruises

Related Links

http://www.silversea.com


During the event, Mr. Qin indicated that under the guidance of Chinese President Xi Jinping's initiative focusing on developing the digital economy and exploring new potential areas for economic growth, Guizhou is building "China's Digital Valley" by leveraging the power of big data. In March 2016, China approved its first national big data pilot zone in Guizhou as "big data as a strategy" which has become a focal point of the province's economic development. Silicon Valley, the world's recognized center of innovation, is leading the future development of the global new economy and high technology. Guizhou values its partnership and exchanges with the US, especially Silicon Valley, with the aim of forging a win-win cooperation with innovators from the famous valley.

SinoBBD, is the representative company from China to participate in the China National Big Data (Guizhou) promotional conference. The CEO Dr. Shuaiyu Wang gave a presentation on the SinoBBD's project portfolio, investments and future planning in Guizhou to Mr. Qin. Dr. Wang said Guiyang Quckmas International Information Industry Park, one of the first projects with agreements already signed concerning collaborations with the National Big Data (Guizhou) Comprehensive Pilot Zone, which is strategically important and of high-value effort in line with the SinoBBD's "3+10+X" strategy (3: Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou as three key markets; 10: ten internet backbone cities, including Guiyang; X: other Chinese second- and third-tier cities with substantial electrical power resources). As the largest big data industrial park with the highest level of information integration in southwest China, the park will be able to hold 50,000 racks with 5kw/R and PUE below 1.4. In addition, the park is also equipped with an energy and security system for an internet data center rated at Tier 3 and higher, which ensures 99.99% reliability of the data center's facilities at all times. With proven huge business capacities, application of advanced technologies, a high level of security, professional management and maintenance capabilities as well as enhanced cost control features, the park will lay a solid foundation upon which allows SinoBBD Corp. to build and expand its presence in international markets with the aim of becoming a global information and communication technology (ICT) company. Under the guidance of the Chinese government's strategies for future development and with the support of favorable policies, SinoBBD is committed to facilitating the rapid development of a big data industry in Guizhou.

SOURCE Beijing Big Data Group
HOUSTON, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A three-year capital campaign comes to a close this weekend at South Main Baptist Church, a beacon of faith in Houston's Midtown community, with the unveiling of their new pipe organ. The organ, a focal point of the 1930s church building, marks the final stage of the Generations capital campaign which the church initiated for Sanctuary updates and building repair to continue to serve their growing community. Designed and installed by Little Rock-based organ builders Nichols & Simpson, the new pipe organ has been undergoing tonal finishing to match it to the room for the last month.

"We are delighted we had the opportunity to provide the new instrument for South Main Baptist and we are excited to see it shine this weekend. It has been a labor of love that our entire team has had a part in creating," said Joe Nichols, President of Nichols & Simpson.

The celebration begins with an organ recital on Saturday, August 26th at 6:30 p.m. with decorated organist Daryl Robinson. Robinson, the Director of Organ Studies at University of Houston's Moores School of Music, has performed across the world from Washington D.C. to Shanghai. With a setlist that includes classics from Johann Sebastian Bach and a new piece by Aaron David Miller commissioned for the occasion, the evening will be one to remember.

Following the evening of music, South Main Baptist Church will continue the historic dedication weekend with a full day of events on Sunday, August 27th. At 11:20 a.m. the church congregation, City of Houston officials, and representatives from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship will join together for a Celebration Worship and Dedication of the Restoration of the Sanctuary. Before and after the service, SMBC will host an Open House of the Sanctuary focused on building renovations and a community brunch around the campus.

Pastor Steve Wells is encouraged by the refreshed energy that the Generations campaign has created. "This is a special time for South Main Baptist Church; we are excited to be able to continue supporting our growing church body and welcome the community to our updated Sanctuary with this one-of-a-kind Nichols & Simpson organ."

South Main Baptist Church is located at 4100 Main Street, in Midtown Houston. South Main Baptist Church is rich in history, closely intertwined with the development of Houston and the Downtown/Medical Center area. For over 114 years, this church has been known for its active missions ministry and progressive stances regarding issues such as civil rights and women in the ministry. South Main continues to embrace a legacy of diversity and passion for service. SMBC is a family of grace, discovering Jesus Christ, and sharing His love with the world. Visit www.SMBC.org for more.

SOURCE South Main Baptist Church

Related Links

http://www.smbc.org


Thanks to the participation of 540 Smile Generation-trusted offices and nearly 5,000 Smile Generation volunteers, over 2,300 patients received care resulting in $4.3 million in donated dentistry on this year's Smile Generation Serve Day.

Many of these offices partnered with local non-profit organizations to combine their efforts in reaching community members. Dental Lifeline Network, a nonprofit that provides dental care for people with disabilities or who are elderly and medically fragile, partnered with The Smile Generation in eight states.

"Smile Generation Serve Day gave us the opportunity to serve more patients with special needs, in states where many had been desperately waiting for care," said Fred Leviton, CEO, Dental Lifeline Network. "We are so appreciative to all of The Smile Generation volunteers who changed lives in their communities."

Other local organizations that worked with Smile Generation-trusted offices this year include Special Olympics New Mexico, Veterans of America in Arizona, Salvation Army in California, and the Las Vegas Rescue Mission.

"Our partnership with The Smile Generation is very important," said Victoria Gonzales, Director of School and Community Initiatives with Special Olympics New Mexico. "It helps us to break down barriers for health care access for individuals with intellectual disabilities, which helps improve our athletes' quality of life."

Stephen Thorne IV, with the Smile Generation, sees Smile Generation Serve Day as a way of engaging volunteers to help people through acts of service. Thorne reflected, "I've found when people engage in the physical act of service  of giving oneself and one's time and talents to serving others  it changes our hearts and minds about what is truly important in life."

About The Smile Generation

The Smile Generation is a referral service that connects patients with trusted dentists and financial options that helps patients afford the care they want and need. The Smile Generation network is made up of more than 580 dental offices throughout Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington.

Video highlights from Smile Generation Serve Day 2017: https://sm-il.es/2w1dqmB

Website: www.SmileGeneration.com

Facebook: @smilegen, www.facebook.com/smilegen

Twitter: @smilegen, www.twitter.com/smilegen

Instagram: @smilegeneration

#Smile4ServeDay #SmileGeneration

SOURCE Smile Generation

Related Links

http://www.smilegeneration.com


The over-sized homesites abut 1,100 acres of open space, with exclusive access to St. Charles River Canyon, offering endless recreational opportunities, such as hiking, biking, exploring historic Turtle Buttes, and fishing unique rock formations. For more information on recreation at Twin Butte Estates, visit http://twinbutteestates.info/amenities/ .

Properties average 5-acres in size, and are being offered at liquidation prices, starting at $34,900. Each property has all utilities, private chip-sealed roads, clear title, and excellent financing available.

Just a quick 15 minute drive to downtown Pueblo, according to Trulia, real estate values in this market have increased 5% in the last year and there's no sign of it slowing down. Finding a premier property in this area at a liquidation price is very rare. Learn more about this area by visiting http://twinbutteestates.info/area-info/.

"What attracts people most to this community is its location, adjacent to the 1,100 acres of open space," says Joe O'Brien of Patten Companies. "This community was developed with respect for the environment. You have endless recreational opportunities right out your back door."

This southern Colorado land liquidation is available on a first come, first selection basis.

For information please call (888) 325-4565 or email [email protected].

ABOUT PATTEN COMPANIES

Patten Companies and its partners are recognized as being among the industry's foremost authorities on real estate investment and development across the nation. Our culture is founded on integrity and professionalism, which we proudly combine with a commitment to creating value and opportunity in today's exciting real estate environment. http://pattenproperties.com

Contact Information:

Visit: http://twinbutteestates.info/

Phone: (888) 325-4565

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Patten Companies

Related Links

http://www.pattenco.com


BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Spartan Invest, operations company for Spartan Value Investors, LLC, is pleased to announce Lindsay Davis, co-founder and chief operating officer, has been named a 2017 Bronze Stevie Award winner in the Woman of the Year in Banking, Financial Services and Real Estate category of the 14th Annual International Business Awards. Davis is one of four women honored in her category, the only woman from Alabama and the only person from Birmingham honored in this year's awards. Receiving more than 10,000 nominations each year from individuals and organizations located in 60 different nations, the Stevie Awards recognize outstanding performances in the workplace.

Spartan Invest, operations company for Spartan Value Investors, LLC, is pleased to announce Lindsay Davis, co-founder and chief operating officer, has been named a Bronze Stevie Award winner in the Woman of the Year in Banking, Financial Services and Real Estate category of the 14th Annual International Business Awards. Davis is one of four women honored in her category, the only woman from Alabama and the only person from Birmingham honored in this years awards.

More than 200 top executives were recruited from around the world to serve as judges. The judges review each nominee, rating them on a scale from 1 to 10. Davis will be honored at an awards gala in Barcelona, Spain Oct. 21, 2017.

Davis presides over $10 million in total assets and manages Spartan's entire retail portfolio, which currently includes 382 rental properties. She also coordinates, manages and directs the supply network of over 200 vendors. In 2016, she produced property sales of $15.5 million, buying and reselling over 160 properties. In her six years with Spartan, Davis has played an integral role in creating five brands and four companies as a partner/co-owner, generating a combined revenue of $16 million. She oversaw the formation and growth of holding company Spartan Value Investors, Spartan Invest and Spartan Realty, and with Davis's help, the total assets of the conglomerate has grown from $270,000 in 2010 to over $22 million in 2016.

Spartan Value Investors was ranked the top real estate company in Alabama in 2016 and recently made the 2017 Inc. 5000 list for the fourth year in a row. The company achieved an overall ranking of no. 1098 with three-year growth of 384 percent and revenue reaching $16.3 million. Furthermore, Spartan is currently ranked no. 11 on the Top Companies in Alabama list for 2017. Spartan Invest was also honored by the Birmingham Business Journal in 2017 for being voted as a top three "Best Places To Work" in Birmingham.

ABOUT SPARTAN INVEST

Spartan Invest, along with Spartan Value Investors, LLC, is a full-service, real estate investment firm specializing in real estate and residential rental properties, helping investors create passive income and wealth through ownership of turnkey rental properties in the stable, high-yield market of Birmingham, Ala. As a real estate investment provider, Spartan purchases, renovates and sells move-in ready properties to homebuyers seeking top-quality houses with exceptional rates of return. The company assists with the investor purchase process and provides ongoing property management and leasing services. Spartan's goal is to be a company that progressive and independent-minded investors can rely upon and trust to offer exceptional service and value. The company works to increase the overall market value of the Birmingham area and give any person the opportunity to become an investor to improve their future.

For more information, visit www.spartaninvest.com or call (205) 202-4117.

Contact:

Audrey Pannell

205.503.5955 (office)

[email protected]

SOURCE Spartan Invest

Related Links

http://www.spartaninvest.com


SINGAPORE  The U.S. Navy on Thursday called off the search at sea for a 23-year-old Sangamon Valley High School graduate and eight other sailors who were still missing days after a collision between a destroyer and an oil tanker.

Logan Palmer was among the 10 sailors on the USS John S. McCain who went missing after the accident on Monday near Singapore. The Navy confirmed the identity of one body Thursday and released the identities of all nine sailors who were still missing.

The 7th Fleet said divers will continue to search flooded compartments inside the ship, where some remains have been found. The Navy has not provided specifics.

Palmer enlisted in the Navy in April 2016. He is an interior communications electrician third class petty officer.

Palmers family on Monday released a statement through the Navy thanking the community for its support and requesting privacy.

Palmer's brother, Austin, told Herald & Review media partner WCIA that he always had big dreams of serving his country. Palmer's first love was with the U.S. Air Force, but after an injury to his eye his next choice and newfound love was on the waters, seeing the world.

Austin Palmer, 27, told the TV station on Tuesday that his brother was "a man that never gives up."

"You tell him he can't do it, he'll show you he can do it," he said. "That's why I believe he's going to get through this."

The fleet said it had identified the remains of Electronics Technician 3rd Class Kenneth Aaron Smith, 22, from New Jersey.

Other missing sailors were identified as:

Electronics Technician 1st Class Charles Nathan Findley, 31, from Missouri

Interior Communications Electrician 1st Class Abraham Lopez, 39, from Texas

Electronics Technician 2nd Class Kevin Sayer Bushell, 26, from Maryland

Electronics Technician 2nd Class Jacob Daniel Drake, 21, from Ohio

Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Timothy Thomas Eckels Jr., 23, from Maryland

Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Corey George Ingram, 28, from New York

Electronics Technician 3rd Class Dustin Louis Doyon, 26, from Connecticut

Electronics Technician 3rd Class John Henry Hoagland III, 20, from Texas

The search, which also involved aircraft and ships from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia, was suspended after 80 hours of scouring a 2,100-square mile area east of Singapore, the Navy said.

Earlier, it said a body found at sea by Malaysian forces was not one of the missing sailors. The remains were medically examined and will be returned to Malaysian authorities, it said.

The commander of the 7th Fleet was relieved of duty on Wednesday following the McCain collision and other accidents this year that raised questions about its operations in the Pacific. Seven sailors died in June when the destroyer USS Fitzgerald collided with a container ship off Japan. Two lesser-known incidents occurred earlier in the year.

The firing of Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, a three-star admiral, was a rare dismissal of a high-ranking officer for operational reasons.

Aucoin was due to retire in a few weeks, and the officer named to succeed him, Vice Adm. Phillip Sawyer, assumed command immediately.

Sawyer, speaking Thursday at a maritime security meeting in Bali, Indonesia, thanked regional navies for helping in the search for the missing McCain sailors.

"Often it is a brutal reminder that what we do is dangerous work in an unforgiving environment, requiring honed skills and constant vigilance," he said. "And even with those, bad things can happen."

Lawrence Brennan, an adjunct law professor at Fordham University and a retired Navy officer, called Aucoin's dismissal "an unprecedented peacetime move."

"Four incidents in a short time in an operational area is a problem," he said, though he cautioned against rushing to assign blame.

The Navy has ordered an operational pause for its fleets worldwide to make sure all steps are being taken to ensure safe and effective operations. The Pacific Fleet will also carry out a ship-by-ship review of its vessels, looking at navigation, mechanical systems, bridge resource management and training.

The 7th Fleet said four sailors injured in the collision and taken to a Singapore hospital for treatment were released on Wednesday.
SANTIAGO, Chile, Aug. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Highlights

SQM reported net income for the six months ended June 30, 2017 of US$204.4 million .

of . Earnings per ADR totaled US$0.78 for the first half of 2017, higher than the US$0.54 reported for the first half of 2016.

for the first half of 2017, higher than the reported for the first half of 2016. Revenues for the first half of 2017 were US$1,023.9 million , 16.2% higher than revenues for the first half of 2016.

, 16.2% higher than revenues for the first half of 2016. SQM will hold a conference call to discuss these results on Thursday, August 24 , at 11:00am ET ( 12:00pm Chile time).

Participant Dial-In (Toll Free): 1-855-238-1018

Participant International Dial-In: 1-412-542-4107

Webcast: http://services.choruscall.com/links/sqm170824.html

, at ( time). Participant Dial-In (Toll Free): 1-855-238-1018 Participant International Dial-In: 1-412-542-4107 Webcast: http://services.choruscall.com/links/sqm170824.html SQM will hold an Investor Day in New York at September 7, 2017 . Patricio de Solminihac along with senior management from the finance and operations teams will also join.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM) (NYSE: SQM; Santiago Stock Exchange: SQM-B, SQM-A) reported earnings today for the six months ended June 30, 2017 of US$204.4 million (US$0.78 per ADR), an increase from US$141.6 million (US$0.54 per ADR), representing a 44.3% increase compared to the earnings reported for the six months ended June 30, 2016. Gross profit reached US$357.8 million (35.0% of revenues) for the six months ended June 30, 2017, higher than US$260.5 million (29.6% of revenues) recorded for the six months ended June 30, 2016. Revenues totaled US$1,023.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017, representing an increase of 16.2% compared to US$881.5 million reported for the six months ended June 30, 2016.

The Company also announced earnings for the second quarter of 2017, reporting net income of US$101.2 million (US$0.38 per ADR) compared to US$83.1 million (US$0.32 per ADR) for the second quarter 2016. Gross profit for the second quarter 2017 reached US$179.9 million; higher than the US$146.9 million recorded for the second quarter 2016. Revenues totaled US$505.7 million, an increase of approximately 3.3% compared to the second quarter 2016, when revenues amounted to US$489.6 million.

SQM's Chief Executive Officer, Patricio de Solminihac, stated, "We are pleased with the results we published today. The EBITDA for this first half of the year was US$433 million. Sales volumes in the specialty plant nutrition business line were the strongest reported in recent history. As anticipated, the sales volumes in the potassium chloride business line were down compared to the second quarter last year; we are still expecting that sales volumes in this business line will be between 1.2 and 1.3 million MT this year as we maximize lithium production. Also as anticipated, potassium chloride prices have stabilized at higher levels than last year."

"In the lithium market, we continue to see strong demand growth. We expect the average price in the second half to be higher than the average price seen during the first half of this year. We continue to move forward with our new projects; in Chile, the lithium hydroxide expansion and the lithium carbonate expansion are expected to be completed by the middle of 2018. In Argentina, we are working on the hydrogeological model with the corresponding drilling, a key component of the final development stage. Finally, during July, we announced a 50/50 joint venture with Kidman Resources to develop a 40,000 MT lithium project in western Australia, the high-quality Mount Holland project. These initiatives are in line with our strategic plan to continue developing lithium projects where our competitive advantages and expertise add significant value to a growing and attractive market."

"In the iodine market, we have been working over the past several years to increase our sales volumes in line with our corporate strategy and operational plan. This year our market share should return to levels seen before the price boom period. During the first half of 2017, we saw sales volumes reach the highest levels reported during any six-month period. As anticipated, these higher sales volumes have come with lower prices, but given our current cost position, margins are healthy. Because of the higher sales volumes we have seen in recent quarters, and expectations that this trend will continue in the future, we are adding new iodine capacity in Nueva Victoria. We expect that this expansion will bring our total capacity to approximately 14,000 MT, and it is expected to be operational in mid-2018."

About SQM

SQM is an integrated producer and distributor of lithium, iodine, specialty plant nutrients, potassium-related fertilizers and industrial chemicals. Its products are based on the development of high quality natural resources that allow the Company to be a leader in costs, supported by a specialized international network with sales in over 110 countries.

SQM's business strategy is to be a mining operator that selectively integrates the production and sales of products to industries essential for human development, such as food, health and technology. The strategy is built on the following six principles:

strengthen internal processes to ensure access to key resources required for the sustainability of the business;

extend lean operations (M1) to the entire organization to strengthen our cost position, increase quality and ensure safety;

invest in the development of a specialty fertilizer market, including product differentiation, sales channel management and price optimization;

recover the iodine market share, seek consolidation and vertical integration opportunities; invest in the development of industrial nitrate applications;

search and invest in lithium and potassium assets outside of Chile to leverage our operational capabilities, take advantage of the current lithium market appeal and ensure access to raw materials for our potassium nitrate production; and

to leverage our operational capabilities, take advantage of the current lithium market appeal and ensure access to raw materials for our potassium nitrate production; and seek diversification opportunities in gold, copper and zinc projects in the region to leverage our mining operating capabilities and provide business continuity to our exploration program.

The business strategys principles are based on the following four concepts:

build an organization with strategic clarity, inspirational leaders, responsible personnel and strong values;

develop a strategic planning process that responds to the needs of our customers and market trends, while ensuring coordination between all segments of the business, including sales and operations;

develop a robust risk control and mitigation process to actively manage business risk; and

improve our stakeholder management to establish links with the community and communicate to Chile and worldwide our contribution to industries essential for human development.

For further information, contact:

Gerardo Illanes 56-2-24252022 / [email protected]

Kelly O'Brien 56-2-24252074 / [email protected]

Irina Axenova 56-2-24252280 / [email protected]

For media inquiries, contact:

Carolina Garcia Huidobro / [email protected]

Alvaro Cifuentes / [email protected]

Tamara Rebolledo / [email protected] (Northern Region)

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as: "anticipate," "plan," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "strategy," "should," "will" and similar references to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements include, among others, statements we make concerning the Company's business outlook, future economic performance, anticipated profitability, revenues, expenses, or other financial items, anticipated cost synergies and product or service line growth.

Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are estimates that reflect the best judgment of SQM management based on currently available information. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that are outside of our control and could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated in such statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Readers are referred to the documents filed by SQM with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the most recent annual report on Form 20-F, which identifies important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to SQM on the date hereof and SQM assumes no obligation to update such statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

SOURCE SQM

Related Links

http://www.sqm.com


SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Starboard Commercial Real Estate, privately owned and locally based San Francisco commercial real estate firm, today announced the sale of a three story office building located at 665 Chestnut Street in San Francisco.

The 16,900 square foot building sold for $9,435,000.00 to a local Bay-Area investment company. The deal was led by Starboard Commercial Real Estate Senior Sales and Leasing Specialist, Jerry Adamson. The building resides along the historic Columbus Avenue, in one of the most highly trafficked retail corridors in San Francisco. Three floors of the property will be used for office space, while the ground floor will be intended for medical services.

Property Highlights include:

Corner lot located along a major commercial corridor with high visibility to drive-by traffic

High ceilings: 14'0" first floor, 16'0" second floor, 14'0" Third floor, and 9'0" basement

Upgraded and newly remodeled second and third floors

New ADA compliant lift and elevator installed in 2015

Convenient access to multiple public transportation systems

Historical neighborhood near tourist

"The timeless location of the property will continue to deliver value to the buyer for many years. We are very pleased with the performance of the asset and the upside that this submarket will provide," said Jerry Adamson, Senior Sales and Leasing Specialist for Starboard TCN.

To view upcoming listings from Starboard Commercial Real Estate, please visit www.starboardnet.com.

About Starboard Commercial Real Estate

Starboard Commercial Real Estate is the largest independently owned commercial real estate company in San Francisco, California. Starboard was established in 1991 with a unique vision of what a commercial real estate firm should be. With a combined total of 55 years representing landlords and tenants, members of the firm are devoted to serving clients with the highest ethics and professionalism. By implementing the latest technology, Starboard combines innovative market techniques with hard work, pursuing every opportunity to meet its clients' commercial property goals. Our brokers are highly qualified professionals supported by skilled support staff and a full-service in-house graphic and website design team. Our brokers have access to critical information on existing tenants in San Francisco and more than 1,814 office buildings and over 103 million square feet of office space throughout San Francisco.

In 2000, Starboard became the San Francisco member of TCN Worldwide Real Estate Services, a national affiliation of independent real estate firms located in more than 200 markets with 62 offices in 8 countries, including North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Using national and international real estate expertise, Starboard provides clients with local know-how on a global scale. Hans Hansson, managing principal, and previously served on TCN Worldwide's Board of Directors and as well as regional vice president for two years. For more information, visit www.starboardnet.com.

Media Contact:

Natalie Wolfrom

PR for Starboard Commercial Real Estate

415-609-7092

[email protected]

SOURCE Starboard Commercial Real Estate

Related Links

http://www.starboardnet.com


Sumitomo Chemical, one of Japan's leading general chemicals producers and member of the Sumitomo Group, ranks second among Japanese chemicals firms and 19 th in the international chemicals markets. Founded in 1991, Sumitomo Chemical's South Korean unit Dongwoo Fine-Chem is a domestic leader in the electronics materials sector and a pioneer in the development of high-purity chemicals, etching solutions, photoresists, color films and polarizers, which are necessary for the manufacturing of semiconductors and thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal displays (TFT LCDs).

With the agreement, Sumitomo Chemical and Dongwoo Fine-Chem will co-invest in the US$150 million electronics materials facility located in Changzhou Binjiang Economic Development Zone. Once construction is finished and the facility goes into production, the facility, with a registered capital of US$50 million, will provide semiconductor manufacturers across the eastern part of China with premium high-purity reagents.

A national commitment to infrastructure and a key Yangtze River Delta location make the Changzhou National Hi-Tech District the best location for 1,641 foreign companies.

SOURCE The Public Promotion Department of Changzhou Xinbei District Commission of CCP

Related Links

http://www.czxx.org.cn


ROCKFORD, Ill., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SupplyCore, a Rockford, Illinois-based supply chain management services and technology solutions integrator, has been named to the Inc. 5000, the magazine's annual list of the fastest-growing companies in America for 2017.

Companies that appear on Inc.'s list this year have grown sixfold in revenue, on average, since 2013. This is SupplyCore's seventh appearance  only 2 percent of the companies have made the exclusive list seven times.

"SupplyCore has grown tremendously during the past few years because our associates, coupled with our external partners, up and down the supply chain work hard to exceed customer expectations through excellent performance on current contracts," President and CEO Peter Provenzano said. "This growth has allowed SupplyCore to create jobs, promote from within, support our communities and improve the readiness of our customers. All our stakeholders  customers, suppliers and associates  can take pride in this recognition."

Inc. included SupplyCore at No. 1389 on this year's list, the full version of which can be found at inc.com/inc5000. The annual conference and gala honoring the companies takes place Oct. 10-12 in Palm Desert, California.

SupplyCore was established in 1987 and currently employs 225 people. The company, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, prides itself on its global agility and responsiveness. SupplyCore also was recognized in 2016 by the Defense Logistics Agency as a Top Performing Industry Partner.

About SupplyCore

Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2017, SupplyCore is a supply chain and technology integrator providing key support to US and foreign agencies domestically and abroad, including at-risk environments. Its core competencies are in global supply chain management and performance-based logistics during times of peace, emergency, conflict, and various challenging or unusual environments. Its supply chain expertise includes procurement, warehousing, logistics, and facility support. SupplyCore's mission is to sustain and enhance the physical and human capital of our nation and its allies in times of peace and crisis. Visit supplycore.com for more information.

Contact:

Melissa Westphal

[email protected]

815-489-3955 (office)

779-348-6927 (cell phone)

SOURCE SupplyCore

Related Links

http://supplycore.com


SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Thales, a leader in critical information systems, cybersecurity and data security, announces its nShield XC hardware security modules (HSMs) and Vormetric Application Encryption solution are now certified to Federal lnformation Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2. Validation to FIPS 140-2 is a mandated requirement in many industry and government sectors and is a frequently stated best practice for organizations seeking to protect sensitive data.

Vormetric Application Encryption is a library that encrypts files or columns in databases, big data nodes, container and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) environments, allowing programmers to simplify the process of adding encryption to applications. The solution, which is managed through the Vormetric Data Security Manager (DSM), allows customers to centrally manage and securely store their encryption keys. Vormetric Application Encryption is a particularly useful tool for customers needing to meet data protection mandates, such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

nShield XC Solo and nShield XC Connect are the latest models in Thales's HSM portfolio, delivering accelerated cryptographic services to a variety of applications across the network. These hardened, tamper-resistant platforms perform functions including encryption, digital signing, and key generation and protection. With their comprehensive capabilities nShield HSMs support an extensive range of applications, including certificate authorities, code signing or any other application that uses digital keys, either on premises, or in virtual or cloud environments.

Peter Galvin, vice president strategy, Thales e-Security says:

"Our customers recognize the need to deploy systems with enhanced levels of security and trust, but quantifying that requirement is notoriously difficult. FIPS 140-2 provides a convenient and yet meaningful benchmark. It's easy for vendors to make security claims about their products but this rigorous validation of our nShield XC HSMs and Vormetric Application Encryption gives our customers the confidence they need to trust our products with their most valuable digital assets, today and into the future."

Vormetric Application Encryption is validated to FIPS 140-2 Level 1, currently the highest level of certification a software solution can meet.

nShield XC Connect and nShield XC Solo are both validated to FIPS 140-2 Level 3 as are the rest of the members of the nShield family of HSMs, including nShield Connect+, Solo+ and Edge.

Thales Datacryptor network encryption appliance is also certified to FIPS 140-2 Level 3.

Industry insight and views on the latest encryption and key management trends can be found on the Thales e-Security blog at blog.thalesesecurity.com.

Follow Thales e-Security on Twitter @Thalesesecurity, and on LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube.

About Thales eSecurity

Thales e-Security is the leader in advanced data security solutions and services that deliver trust wherever information is created, shared or stored. We ensure that the data belonging to companies and government entities is both secure and trusted in any environment  on-premise, in the cloud, in data centers or big data environments  without sacrificing business agility. Security doesn't just reduce risk, it's an enabler of the digital initiatives that now permeate our daily lives  digital money, e-identities, healthcare, connected cars and, with the internet of things (IoT), even household devices. Thales provides everything an organization needs to protect and manage its data, identities and intellectual property, and meet regulatory compliance  through encryption, advanced key management, tokenization, privileged-user control and high-assurance solutions. Security professionals around the globe rely on Thales to confidently accelerate their organization's digital transformation. Thales e-Security is part of Thales Group.

About Thales

Thales is a global technology leader for the Aerospace, Transport, Defence and Security markets. With 64,000 employees in 56 countries, Thales reported sales of 14.9 billion in 2016. With over 25,000 engineers and researchers, Thales has a unique capability to design and deploy equipment, systems and services to meet the most complex security requirements. Its exceptional international footprint allows it to work closely with its customers all over the world.

Positioned as a value-added systems integrator, equipment supplier and service provider, Thales is one of Europe's leading players in the security market. The Group's security teams work with government agencies, local authorities and enterprise customers to develop and deploy integrated, resilient solutions to protect citizens, sensitive data and critical infrastructure.

Thales offers world-class cryptographic capabilities and is a global leader in cybersecurity solutions for defence, government, critical infrastructure providers, telecom companies, industry and the financial services sector. With a value proposition addressing the entire data security chain, Thales offers a comprehensive range of services and solutions ranging from security consulting, data protection, digital trust management and design, development, integration, certification and security maintenance of cybersecured systems, to cyberthreat management, intrusion detection and security supervision through cybersecurity Operation Centres in France, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands and Hong Kong.

SOURCE Thales

Related Links

https://www.thalesesecurity.com


LONDON, August 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

CRU's World Optical Fibre & Cable conference, which has experienced rapid growth since its successful launch in 2015, will be returning to the Optical Valley in Wuhan later in the year and will be hosted again by YOFC, one of the leading manufacturers in the optical communications industry. CRU is expecting over 700 attendees in November for what has now become firmly established as the world's premier event for producers of optical fibre and cable.

(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/536199/CRU_Logo.jpg )



The opening day of the conference will bring together the world's leading producers of optical fibre and cable for a keynote discussion about the challenges and opportunities ahead for supplying global fibre and cable markets. The session will feature the top executives from YOFC, Fiberhome Telecommunication Technologies Co., Ltd., Hengtong Group, ZTT and Futong Group.

With the world on the brink of a major new era in information and communications technology, as high demand caused by the large-scale FTTH deployment around the world is being replaced by new fibre requirements in data-centre network expansion and the arrival of 5G networks; CRU are structuring the programme for World Optical Fibre & Cable 2017 to focus on the major developments in optical network concepts, product requirements and manufacturing capacity.

Over three days, participants will have the opportunity to explore how the quickly evolving global telecoms industry will impact optical fibre and cable trade flows. CRU's World Optical Fibre & Cable conference will highlight developments in China and other advanced telecom markets to show fibre's role in the new era.

With China taking a lead role in many of the latest developments in optical cable and fibre production and installation, as well as a significant market share of the global FTTx and broadband mobile subscribers; Wuhan's Optical Valley is the ideal location to gain first-hand understanding of the current and future optical fibre and cable trends. As the most important fibre optic and cable event of the year, delegates will have a unique opportunity to hear directly from industry leaders and to network with the hard-to-reach influencers of the sector from the region.

The event will also boast a large-scale exhibition demonstrating the latest high-tech solutions and services that are disrupting the entire supply chain. Registered participants will also have the opportunity to visit one of China's leading production facilities, details of which will be announced at a later date.

The CRU World Optical Fibre & Cable conference is being held on 1-3 November 2017 at the Hilton Wuhan Optics Valley Hotel in Wuhan, China

For details about the event visit the official conference website.

To request a press pass or further information about the event please contact [email protected]

About CRU: Founded in 1969, CRU Group is the leading, independent, global metals, mining and fertilizers analysis, consultancy and conference business. CRU is located in London, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Pittsburgh, Santiago, New York, Mumbai, Sydney, Tokyo and Sao Paulo; and is dedicated to providing high quality analysis and insight to its global customer base. CRU employs more than 220 expert staff, including economists, engineers, metallurgists, geologists and chemists.



For more information visit: www.crugroup.com or contact: [email protected]

About CRU Events: CRU Events has a well-established portfolio of events for the metals, mining and fertilizer industries, including Wire & Cable, World Optical Fibre & Cable, World Copper and CRU Ryans Notes Ferroalloys.



For more information visit: www.crugroup.com/events

SOURCE CRU
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Reverse logistics and service quality experts will present best practices for the aftercare of mobile devices, during the inaugural Mobile World Congress Americas in San Francisco, September 12-14, 2017. 30,000 attendees are expected to attend this event held at the Moscone Conference Center.

The Wireless Repair EXPO 2017, an onsite partner program produced by The Branding Network, is proud to host the fourth annual co-located wireless repair community event held during the largest tradeshow for wireless professionals in the US. "We are dedicated to building community for the experts in reverse logistics and service quality. Wireless repair is a critical industry segment of the overall wireless eco-system," said Michelle James, president of The Branding Network. She adds, "We are proud of the speaker lineup this year, which represents a great cross-section of the industry. These experts are leading and driving the maturing device repair industry through improved supply chain processes and innovative customer service."

Keynotes this year include CEO of CellPoint Corporation, Ehsan Gharatappeh, a veteran in reverse logistics who will address OEM compliance and chain of custody processes and CEO of Phone Medic, Christine Ricci, who is a national speaker with in-depth knowledge of leadership trends and will share advice on how to gain a strategic advantage through organizational leadership. Jeremy Willis, Director of Strategic Partnerships for AGiRepair will host a power-packed panel discussion that will include industry leaders from Samsung, uBreakiFix, iQmetrix and Katalyst whom are all in it to win it in the device repair channel.

Beginning Tuesday, September 12th, featured speakers will include Stacy Hamer, Director of Professional Services at iQmetrix, addressing a new retail POS module specifically built for repair stores. From Asset Science, John Sheeran, CEO, and Don Riley, VP of Sales, will discuss the importance of proper device diagnostics. The afternoon will showcase interactive sessions with Seth Dare of Gadget Guard, Aaron Bower of VoiceComm and Jack McArtney of Recipero. Day 1 concludes with a cocktail reception sponsored by Recipero. All Mobile World Congress Americas attendees are welcome to join us onsite in Theater #2002 for any of these hourly workshop sessions.

On Wednesday, September 13th, featured speakers, immediately following the keynote will include, Chris Johncke, CEO of iFixYouri, who will announce the Independent Repair Coalition, joined by a few of its founding members. Shiv Dawadi, CEO of Apptoe, will present a demo on how to enhance repair retailers' customer engagement. James Tenser, president of VSN Strategies, will highlight retail trends. The afternoon will feature a very important discussion regarding data privacy for the smartphone industry led by Richard Steinnon, Chief Strategy Officer of Blancco Technology Group. Jonathan Bergman, CEO of HireWellNow, will share 10 insider secrets to better hiring. Final speaker of the series will be Pasi Pihlman, Sales Director of Piceasoft, who will discuss device lifecycle solutions. Day 2 will conclude with a networking cocktail party, sponsored by Cygnett, which will also be located onsite in Theater #2002. All sessions and cocktail networking events are open to all MWCA attendees.

The official VIP party of the Wireless Repair EXPO 2017 will be hosted and sponsored by ReVamp Wholesale, and will be held Wednesday evening, September 13th, from 9pm to Midnight at Tres, a tequila lounge located at 130 Townsend St., San Francisco. ReVamp Wholesale, the premier partner of the Wireless Repair EXPO, exhibiting in the West Hall, Booth #W.128, will distribute wristbands for the VIP party.

"We are looking forward to our fourth annual event and networking among peers and leaders in device repair. This event offers a great opportunity to be a community together during Mobile World Congress Americas," added Michelle James, president of The Branding Network, producer of the Wireless Repair EXPO 2017.

For full event details, visit WirelessRepairEXPO2017.com.

For more about this Mobile World Congress Americas Partner Program:

https://www.mwcamericas.com/events/partner-programs/wireless-repair-expo-2017-tuesday/

SOURCE The Branding Network

Related Links

http://www.thebrandingnetwork.com


Combined Role of CIO and COO to strengthen operational and digital capabilities to deliver into growth markets.

SINGAPORE, Aug. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- AdvanIDe, Advanced ID Electronics, the leading independent provider of semiconductors for the smart card, IoT, M2M and RFID industry, today announced the new addition to the Executive Management Team. The role combines the strategic functions of a Chief Information Officer (CIO) with that one of a Chief Operating Officer (COO). Singapore-based Timothy Ngui was chosen to take on this leadership position and joins the AdvanIDe Executive Management team as COO with immediate effect.

"Being the leader for the delivery of secure semiconductors and value-added products and services into identification and security markets, we experience the need to improve our operational capabilities by making them faster, more efficient, more scalable and to move them to the digital domain," said Holger Roessner, CEO of AdvanIDe Holdings Pte Ltd.

Mr. Timothy Ngui is a certified Productivity and Innovation Manager and LEAN Six Sigma and Business Process Re-engineering Implementer. He has a depth of experience in Information Technology, Human Talent Management, Strategic Planning, Corporate Restructuring, Risk Management, Real Estate Management, Corporate Secretariat and Financial Analytics, Compliance and Audit. In his past career, Mr. Ngui was recently the Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President of GLG CORP LTD, an Australian Listed Company (GLE.AX) providing global textile and apparel solutions to customers from Fortune 500 companies. In 2017, Mr. Ngui provided consultancy services to an arm of the Boston Consulting Group for Corporate Finance matters for a regional bank. Timothy holds a Degree in Professional Communication from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.

"In this digital age, the demand for accurate, strategic analytics is crucial to the success of a business. AdvanIDe will enhance client and supplier engagement by leveraging on rapidly scalable solutions according to business needs. We will achieve this through connected communications across an intelligent operations eco-system," said Mr. Ngui.

AdvanIDe is going to embark on a total digital transformation moving out of the current legacy systems that were used under the prior ownership and will integrate digitally with key suppliers and clients alike.

About AdvanIDe

AdvanIDe - Advanced ID Electronics - is one of the leading semiconductor providers, focused on components for RFID transponders, chip cards and RFID readers and terminals. The company's products are used in the secure access market for applications including access management and control, automated fare collection and object identification, and secure ID and transactions for eGovernment, M2M, secure authentication, IoT and related uses. The company expects revenues in excess of USD 150M in 2017 and operates from 11 offices in key international markets and three representative offices in Korea, Japan and Taiwan. Additional information can be found by visiting www.advanide.com.

AdvanIDe Media Contact:

Ms. Sharon Gng

+65-6738-0030

[email protected]

SOURCE AdvanIDe

Related Links

http://www.advanide.com


"With a track record of building and growing professional services, pre-sales, and customer support functions, Raj is a great addition to Tufin and is sure to help move the business forward," said Ruvi Kitov, CEO, Tufin. "Raj and his team will ensure that our customers can maximize their Tufin Orchestration Suite deployment to solve their network security challenges and meet their business needs."

Raj brings over 15 years of technology services leadership experience. Most recently, he served as the SVP of client success and operations at IANS. Prior to IANS, Raj was the GM of services and customer Success at Resilient Systems. Raj received a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems from Northeastern University and an MBA from Babson College.

"Tufin's solutions are best-in-class for making security manageable for even the largest, most complex networks," said Raj Motwane, VP, global services and support, Tufin. "Our services and support team is dedicated to understanding each customer's pain points and business needs in order to provide them with the support they need to see the true value in our solutions."

About Tufin

Tufin is the leader in Network Security Policy Orchestration for enterprise cybersecurity. More than half of the top 50 companies in the Forbes Global 2000 turn to Tufin to simplify management of some of the largest, most complex networks in the world, consisting of thousands of firewall and network devices and emerging hybrid cloud infrastructures. Enterprises select the company's award-winning Tufin Orchestration Suite to increase agility in the face of ever-changing business demands while maintaining a robust security posture. The Suite reduces the attack surface and meets the need for greater visibility into secure and reliable application connectivity. Its network security automation enables enterprises to implement changes in minutes with proactive risk analysis and continuous policy compliance. Tufin serves over 1,900 customers spanning all industries and geographies; its products and technologies are patent-protected in the U.S. and other countries. Find out more at www.tufin.com.

Follow Tufin on Twitter: @TufinTech

Read more on Tufin's blog: Suite Talk

Contact:

Brian Merrill

fama PR for Tufin

(617) 986-5005

[email protected]

SOURCE Tufin

Related Links

www.tufin.com


COLLEGE PARK, Md., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Four undergraduate students from the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business produced research for a new Social Enterprise Ecosystems Report, released Aug. 16 in collaboration with Deloitte, Capital One and Halcyon Incubator in Washington, D.C.

Boston tops the 2017 ranking, which measures social enterprise activity in 21 U.S. metropolitan regions. Students who worked on the project also used it as a launchpad for an academic study presented at a conference in Rome. They were the only undergraduates who presented research at the international event, which featured paper presentations from doctoral candidates and academics.

"Normally when undergraduate students attend an event like that, they sit in the back and take notes," said Smith School professor David Kirsch, who advised the undergraduate consultants. "These students moved to the podium at the front of the room."

When Halcyon approached the Smith School's Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship about collaborating on the second edition of its Social Enterprise Ecosystems Report, Sara Herald, Associate Director for Social Entrepreneurship at the Dingman Center, jumped at the opportunity. "It provided a unique opportunity to connect our students with some of the nation's most promising social entrepreneurs," she said.

Herald worked with Kirsch to recruit students in his Social Innovation Fellows program. Participants in the program do an applied project each spring as part of their yearlong fellowship, and Kirsch thought the Halcyon project would make an interesting challenge. Volunteers included Fasika Delessa, Sarina Haryanto, Aishwariya Chandrasekar and Evan Haas.

"Most of what the students normally do is a classic marketing problem, just applying known tools to solve it," Kirsch said. "What happened here was the problem was in this unknown space called social enterprise ecosystems. We didn't know what that meant. The students couldn't just follow the well-trodden path to that set of tools and methods, and figure out what to do. They had to build it."

The team started with two basic questions: Do social enterprise ecosystems differ from traditional enterprise ecosystems like the one in Silicon Valley? If so, to what extent?

While the students delved into the data, Kirsch came across a new academic conference looking for social enterprise research submissions. The timing seemed ideal. "It was the perfect storm," Kirsch said.

The four students embraced the challenge, leading them to the first IESE-LUISS Conference on Responsibility, Sustainability and Social Entrepreneurship on April 18-19, 2017, in Rome.

Chandrasekar says her team relied on research from some of the same people in the audience, which was intimidating. But Kirsch kept pushing the team forward. "The whole experience solidified my interest in graduate school and a career in academia," she said.

Halcyon program director Ross Ryan said Halcyon has been thrilled with the results and hopes the Dingman Center partnership continues. "It has just been incredible to have partners who understand the depth of the existing literature and how to apply statistical methods," he said. "The students in particular made sure this groundbreaking analysis will catalyze future research."

Getting the students to Rome was a joint undertaking of financial support and logistics provided by the Smith School's Undergraduate Programs Office, the Office of Global Initiatives, the Dingman Center and the Center for Social Value Creation.

About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business

The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and part-time MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, specialty masters, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.

Contact: Greg Muraski at 301-405-5283 or [email protected]

SOURCE University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
FAIRFIELD, N.J., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Thomas J. Vaughn Jr., President of UNICO National, released the following statement regarding this issue:

"Columbus represents the contributions that Italians and Italian-Americans have made to make our country great. Applying 21st century morality to 15th century standards is not fair to anyone, let alone someone whose feat of connecting Europe to the Americas advanced civilization as we know it.

"As President of UNICO National, an Italian-American service organization that raises and contributes millions of dollars annually to people of all ethnicity and races, I find it disturbing that Christopher Columbus and Columbus Day are being singled out for revisionist history which seeks to tarnish this great achievement. As Italian-Americans we embrace our culture and heritage and look to preserve it. Let us embrace and learn from our history, not bury it."

UNICO National is the largest Italian American Service Organization in the United States. Our headquarters are located in Fairfield, NJ and we are made up over one hundred chapters around the country. Our mission is to promote and enhance the Image of Italian Americans; for members to be of service to the community; to promote Italian heritage and culture; to promote, support and assist charitable, scientific, cultural, educational, and literary projects; to promote members' interest in public welfare; and, to cooperate with others in civic, social and cultural development. www.unico.org

Media Contact:

Thomas Vaughan

[email protected]

973-808-0035

SOURCE UNICO National

Related Links

http://www.unico.org


Tucked within a private cul-de-sac in Marietta's East Cobb area - named Georgia's "Best Place to Live" by Money Magazine in 2016 - the estate enjoys a one-acre lot surrounded by lush landscaping, which borders historic Sope Creek and adjoins the Chattahoochee National Park and Forest. The heart of Atlanta is within only a 25-minute commute, making the area ideal for those who work in the city or require proximity to a major international airport.

The estate is comprised of a main residence and an adjacent carriage house. The main living quarters occupy three living levels, with 5 bedrooms, 5 full and 3 half baths distributed throughout more than 8,400 square feet of living area. The carriage house sits above a three-car garage (with lofted bays to accommodate up to five cars with lifts), and adds 1,300 additional square feet of area. It features one bed and one full bath, a large living room, and a laundry area.

Beautiful Honduran mahogany hewn by English craftsman trained in Gibraltar is used extensively throughout the home, including no fewer than 55 hand-carved doors. "There was more than half a million dollars spent just in Honduran mahogany in the home, and that's before the cost of the brick, stone, and fine finishes located throughout," stated David Enriquez, Platinum's vice president of operations. "The purchase opportunity presented by the auction is far, far below the construction value of the property, without even including the cost of the land."

Beyond being merely inspired by historic castles, the property also contains materials actually recovered from them. Items such as 100-year old sconces, an entry door from an English castle dating to the 1700's, and fireplaces accented in marble imported from a French castle are examples of the unique elements that comprise the property.

Despite its ties to history, the home is replete with modern creature comforts, such as a gourmet kitchen outfitted with professional-grade appliances by Viking and Sub-Zero, a butler's pantry and wet bar, 1,500-bottle wine cellar, media room and fitness center.

The avid sportsmen will also appreciate the home's media room, which features large display cases (ideal for firearms or antiques), in addition to the vast, two-story "trophy room," which serves as a beautiful display venue for the big game hunter, or that could function as a gallery for the art collector or photographer.

The property is available for open house previews daily, between the hours of 12 and 4pm (EDT) until the auction. Additional information is available at GeorgiaLuxuryAuction.com, or by contacting a Platinum representative at 800.683.9957.

About Platinum Luxury Auctions

Platinum Luxury Auctions is responsible for developing the luxury auction model for high-priced real estate auctions. The firm specializes in the non-distressed sale of multimillion-dollar properties within and beyond the United States. Platinum's team has closed more than $700 million in luxury real estate auction sales to date, while consulting on more than $2 billion in additional luxury properties worldwide.

SOURCE Platinum Luxury Auctions
LITTLETON, Colo., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ur-Energy Inc. (NYSE American:URG, TSX:URE) announces that Jeffrey Klenda, Chairman and CEO, will present at the Midwest IDEAS Investor Conference taking place August 30 -31, 2017 in Chicago.

Mr. Klenda will provide an overview of the Company's business during the presentation and will be available to participate in one-on-one meetings with investors who are registered to attend the Conference.

Ur-Energy's presentation will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, August 31, 2017. The presentation will be at the Hard Rock Hotel, Chicago (Presenting Room 2).

Unlike traditional bank-sponsored events, IDEAS Investor Conferences are "Sponsored BY the Buyside FOR the Buyside" and for the benefit of regional investment communities. Conference sponsors collectively have more than $200 billion in assets under management. The IDEAS Investor Conferences are held annually in Boston, Chicago and Dallas and are produced by Three Part Advisors, LLC. Additional information about the events can be located at www.IDEASconferences.com.

About Ur-Energy

Ur-Energy is a uranium mining company operating the Lost Creek in-situ recovery uranium facility in south-central Wyoming. We have produced, packaged and shipped more than two million pounds from Lost Creek since the commencement of operations. Applications are under review by various agencies to incorporate our LC East project area into the Lost Creek permits, and we have begun to submit applications for permits and licenses to construct and operate at our Shirley Basin Project. Ur-Energy is engaged in uranium mining, recovery and processing activities, including the acquisition, exploration, development and operation of uranium mineral properties in the United States. Shares of Ur-Energy trade on NYSE American under the symbol "URG" and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "URE." Ur-Energy's corporate office is in Littleton, Colorado; its registered office is in Ottawa, Ontario. Ur-Energy's website is www.ur-energy.com.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT

Jeffrey Klenda, Chairman & CEO

866-981-4588

[email protected]

SOURCE Ur-Energy Inc.

Related Links

http://www.ur-energy.com


PITTSBURGH, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United Steelworkers (USW) today said that the members of Locals 2L, 12L, 307L, 831L and 959L have ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company on behalf of about 7,200 workers at tire plants in Akron, Ohio; Danville, Va.; Fayetteville, N.C.; Gadsden, Ala.; and Topeka, Kan., by a three-to-one margin.

USW International Vice President Tom Conway, who chairs the union's Goodyear negotiations, credited workers' solidarity throughout the bargaining process for a contract that achieved the goals the membership identified as important.

"We were able to negotiate the best contract in recent memory because our membership was united, and from the outset, our priorities were clear," Conway said. "We are always strongest when we speak with one voice, and we proved once again that we can accomplish great things when we stand together."

The five-year contract includes significant wage improvements, retains Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA), closes gaps between labor grade tiers and extends plant protection guarantees that none of the plants will close during the term of the agreement.

The contract also includes a commitment from Goodyear to invest in the future of the facilities to enhance the long term job security of the union workforce; maintains quality, affordable healthcare; and resolves a variety of local issues.

USW-Goodyear Contract Coordinator Kevin Johnsen, a Staff Representative in District 9, praised the local union leadership for keeping everyone on the same page, even when bargaining progress was slow.

"Our leadership earned the faith and trust of our members by communicating truthfully and regularly during negotiations," Johnsen said. "The local union officers, bargaining committee members and volunteer activists deserve tremendous credit for stepping up and delivering support when we needed it."

The newly ratified agreement will expire at 6 p.m. on July 29, 2022.

The USW represents 850,000 men and women employed in metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of workers in public sector and service occupations.

More information, contact:

Kevin Johnsen  (205) 631-0137; [email protected]

Tony Montana  (412) 562-2592; [email protected]

SOURCE United Steelworkers (USW)

Related Links

http://www.usw.org


FREMONT, Calif., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- V5 Systems, the industry leader in portable outdoor computing solutions, scored three wins at Security Today magazine's 2017 New Product of the Year Awards. Security Today provides education and solutions for security professionals. The awards honor the outstanding product development achievements of security equipment manufacturers whose products are considered to be particularly noteworthy in their ability to improve security.

More than 100 entries were received in the ninth successful year of the independently juried contest.

V5 System's leading-edge products scored wins in the following categories:

Outdoor Perimeter Protection: V5 Systems Portable Security Unit (V5 PSU)

Video Surveillance Hardware & Accessories: V5 Systems Portable Security Unit (V5 PSU)

Internet of Things: V5 Portable Edge Computing Unit (PECU)

The triple wins follow closely after V5 Systems Portable Security Units scored two wins in both of the categories it entered at the International Security Conference (ISC) West Trade Show in April 2017, validating its innovative edge in the highly competitive security industry.

V5 Systems Portable Security Unit (V5 PSU)

Winning in two categories, the V5 PSU is a cutting-edge, self-powered outdoor security solution.

Features

Ability to secure any perimeter with video surveillance wirelessly in less than 30 minutes

No trenching required to connect it to the electrical grid, with ongoing self-power via bullet-resistant V5 solar panels and power management system

Turnkey solution with onboard computing, video analytics running on AI, and up to 30 days of 24/7 video storage on the device itself

Application

Used at a major port in Massachusetts to empower the administrators to combat illegal docking, which was causing financial losses, and the underreporting of fish catches, which posed a threat to the fishing ecosystem. The V5 Portable Security Unit was able to detect all boats entering the harbor and all unloading of catches. The unit enabled the port to increase ROI by 300% within just the first month.

The V5 Portable Edge Computing Unit (V5 PECU)

Winner of the coveted IoT award, this completely self-powered platform utilizes the Dell 5000 Gateway to collect, analyze and relay information in real-time to allow users to make better decisions. The platform is open and empowers users to integrate their own software and hardware applications to run in the outdoors without the need to tap into fixed power and communications.

Features

Portable computing solution for Industrial Internet of Things applications

No trenching required to connect it to the electrical grid

100% self-powered with proprietary, lightweight, high-capacity solar-power and power management system

Performs analytics on the edge

Open platform for 3rd party software and hardware integration

Application

A vineyard in California made an industry-leading advance with the use of the V5 PECU. Chemical sensors were integrated onto the computing platform to monitor several factors, including climate, soil conditions and water quality. As a result, the vineyard was able to improve the quality of its grapes, produce more wine and increase ROI many times over.

Winners of the awards will be recognized at ASIS International (American Society for Industrial Security) 2017 in Dallas, Texas, September 26-28. The winners will also be featured on securitytoday.com, the leading website of the security industry, and will be highlighted in the December 2017 issue of Security Today magazine.

The magazine is distributed to more than 65,000* subscribers monthly, as well as at key industry trade events, such as ASIS, and its website is visited by thousands of security professionals every week.

Learn more about V5 Systems and its award-winning products at v5systems.us.

SOURCE V5 Systems

Related Links

http://www.v5systems.us


AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Virsae has made four key appointments, designed to boost sales of its cloud-based unified communications (UC) service management platform, VSM, to resellers in the US and UK.

The appointments follow a second round of equity funding secured earlier this year.

Customer success manager roles have been filled in the US and UK, with a channel account manager further boosting Virsae's US head count.

Back at the company's Auckland headquarters, Virsae has appointed a development manager to lead its growing team of developers and testers.

Virsae CEO Tony Jayne said the new appointments will boost in-country resources and ensure Virsae continues to develop channel support and sales momentum.

The firm's recurring revenue grew by 88% over the 2016/2017 financial year  and the company is on track to almost double sales again within the current 2017/2018 financial year.

"These appointments bring us closer to our overseas business partners, helping them deliver new high-value services to manage their customers' unified communications platforms," he said.

Jayne said near term goals included adding resellers and developing capabilities that drilled deeper into software from the vendors fast shaping up as leaders in unified communications  names like Microsoft, Cisco, and Mitel.

David Matthieson joins Virsae as a customer success manager for the North American market. He has worked for leading USA-based integrators, including Avaya, Arrow SI, and ConvergeOne.

Also in the US, Raymond Pearson has been appointed channel account manager, and comes with 20-year track record in communications consulting.

On the other side of the Atlantic, London-based Geoff Weeks has been appointed customer success manager UK & EMEA, having worked for leading UK Avaya integrators Centrix, and AdEPT Telecom.

Michelle Lorenz joins Virsae in the newly-created position of development manager. Lorenz recently returned to New Zealand from Norway, where she headed up the global operations department of a large-scale SaaS company serving Europe and the US.

Launched in 2013, Virsae has more than 30 staff, including a team of New Zealand-based developers, and each month processes more than seven billion transactions created by hundreds of thousands of end-users.

Contacts

Tony Jayne: CEO Virsae +64 21 966-388 | [email protected]

Richard Carter: Talkies PR +64 21 526-559 | [email protected]

SOURCE Virsae
NEW YORK, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Vitech, a leading provider of investment administration software, announced today that it will be exhibiting at the 2017 SuperReturn CFO/COO Conference in Amsterdam, September 11-13, 2017.

Vitech will be showcasing V3, a powerful fund management software with extensive configurability, intuitive design and comprehensive enterprise capabilities. V3 can help firms improve client service levels, while streamlining operations and expanding organizational capabilities.

"We are excited to participate in the 2017 SuperReturn CFO/COO Conference," said Hope Nawada, Vitech's Director of Investment Solutions. "We look forward to exhibiting and discussing how V3 can transform an organization's operations and help unlock its full potential."

V3 is a highly scalable and configurable administrative platform that addresses the complex needs of investment, insurance and retirement organizations. It is an award winning, contemporary technology solution available for on-premise or cloud-based deployments.

About Vitech

Vitech Systems Group, Inc. is a leading provider of administration software to investment, insurance and retirement organizations. Vitech provides its clients with proprietary enterprise software, related implementation services and ongoing support, and offers a cloud-based application hosting option. For more information, please visit http://www.vitechinc.com.

SOURCE Vitech

Related Links

http://www.vitechinc.com


Thirty-Year Veteran of the Insurance Industry Brings High-Level Expertise in Insurance Operations and Product Development

WINNIPEG and SAN DIEGO, CA, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company (Wawanesa), one of the largest property and casualty insurers in Canada with a growing presence in the United States, today announced the appointment of Chris Henn as President of its U.S. Operations, effective August 31st.

"Chris is extremely well-versed in every aspect of the insurance business and well-known by stakeholders in the U.S. market thanks to his impressive track record in the insurance sector over the past three decades," said Jeff Goy, President and CEO of the Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company. "We are thrilled to have Chris lead our U.S. business and join our executive leadership team. We know that his deep understanding of the insurance industry and U.S. market will benefit our entire organization."

Prior to this appointment, Henn held senior-level positions with Esurance, Nationwide and Progressive, and played a key role in the significant growth of these companies. During his 15 years at Esurance, the company grew from a start-up to having over one million policies in force and more than $1.5 billion in written premium.

"Wawanesa is a company that operates with a very high level of integrity and truly cares about its customers and stakeholders," said Henn. "I am honoured to be joining an organization informed by a rich heritage and strong values, and have the opportunity to uphold that culture while driving and executing the company's growth strategy in the U.S. market."

Most recently, Henn served as Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer at Bridgepoint Education, a publicly held, for-profit education services company based in San Diego. Henn holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, and currently serves on the Board of the San Diego Food Bank.

About The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company

Wawanesa Mutual Insurance is one of the largest property and casualty insurers in Canada with $3 billion in annual revenues and assets of more than $9 billion. Wawanesa Mutual, founded in 1896 with executive offices in Winnipeg, is the parent company of Wawanesa General, which offers property and casualty insurance in California and Oregon, and Wawanesa Life, which distributes life insurance products and services throughout Canada. With over 3,000 employees, Wawanesa proudly serves over two million policyholders through nine regional offices and 41 service offices in Canada and the United States. Wawanesa actively gives back to organizations that strengthen communities where it operates, donating well above internationally recognized benchmarks for excellence in corporate philanthropy.

SOURCE Wawanesa Insurance
"It's exciting to host the U.S. debut of Rocamora's work, as this marks a new chapter in our gallery programming; this is the first exclusive film exhibition we've hosted at the gallery since it opened fifteen years ago," said Lydia Gravis, Director of the Mary Elizabeth Dee Shaw Gallery. "Rocamora's work is visually poetic and masterfully crafted, encouraging audiences to contemplate important topics affecting contemporary society. These topics aren't necessarily easy to digest, but her artistry offers accessibility in ways that, perhaps, documentary film or other disciplines would not. That's the power of art," said Gravis.

The exhibition will be available to the public from Sept. 1 to Nov. 11, 2017. An opening night reception will take place on Friday, Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. The Mary Elizabeth Dee Shaw Gallery is Northern Utah's premier venue for contemporary art exhibitions and educational programs that provide visitors access to the art of our times.

Set in the historically charged landscape of the Normandy beaches, Body of War (2010) reflects on the transformation of man into soldier. In a rigorous mise-en-scene punctuated by testimonies of retired and serving soldiers, the film deconstructs the visceral act of hand-to-hand combat, effectively immersing the viewer in the relationship between human intimacy and the brutality of war.

Across two enveloping projections, Horizon of Exile (2007) places female identity at the center of a profound meditation on the underlying cultural causes of displacement. Immersed in vast desert plains and guided by testimonies from the Middle East and Latin America, the diptych reflects on the condition of women within authoritative societies, employing testimonies and choreographed bodies to consider issues of self-image, belonging and effacement.

About the Artist:

Isabel Rocamora (b. 1968) is a British-Spanish artist filmmaker. Her practice originated in performance with live works commissioned by institutions such as the Arts Council of England and the Victoria and Albert Museum (1993  2003). Awarded internationally, her films have been exhibited at CCC, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence; the National Museum of Photography, Copenhagen; the Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Israel; the Austrian Cultural Forum, New York; and the Bologna Museum of Modern Art, among other venues. Recent solo shows include Galeria Senda in Barcelona, and the Koffler Gallery, Toronto. She lives and works in Edinburgh where she teaches film at Edinburgh University. She is represented by Galeria Senda.

The works in the exhibition are supported by: the Arts Council of England and Creative Scotland. The exhibition will be available to the public September 1-November 11, 2017. This exhibition is made possible through generous support from Tim & Stephanie Harpst, Dr. Jack D. & Bonnie R. Wahlen, Lawrence T. Dee & Janet T. Dee Foundation, Mark E. & Lola G. Austad Endowment for Visual Arts, The Kimball Family Foundation and the Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities.

Event Details:

For a full calendar of current and upcoming events at the Mary Elizabeth Dee Shaw Gallery please visit ( www.weber.edu/shawgallery ). Gallery hours are Monday-Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. The gallery is closed on Sunday.

About the Mary Elizabeth Dee Shaw Gallery

The Mary Elizabeth Dee Shaw gallery aspires to engage a diverse audience, create a sense of community, provide insight into the creative process, and challenge visitors to contemplate, discuss and understand the historical, social, and cultural context of contemporary art. It serves the Department of Visual Art & Design, Weber State University and the community of Northern Utah by presenting the work of local, regional, and nationally recognized artists, including new work, emerging media and original scholarship.

About the Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities

The Weber State University Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities teaches students to excel as they seek, understand, question and express complexities critical to the experience of being human. The Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities offers undergraduate degree programs in the following five areas: Communication, English, Foreign Language, Performing Arts and Visual Art & Design. Master's degrees also are offered in Communication and English. The college serves more than 2,000 undergraduate majors and 250 graduate students. The Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities is the Western region's foremost institution for student- centered teaching and research that investigates the human experience and aims to educate global citizens who are responsible, creative and critical artists, performers and communicators. For more information please visit, ( www.weber.edu/cah ).

Contact:

Christie Denniston, APR

Director of Marketing and PR

Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities Weber State University

Phone: 801-626-6431

Cell: 303-827-5164

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Weber State University Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities

Related Links

http://www.weber.edu/cah


BROOMFIELD, Colo., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Webroot, the market leader in endpoint security, network security, and threat intelligence, announced 15 percent year-over-year bookings growth for its fiscal year ending on June 30, 2017. The fourth fiscal quarter of 2017 marks Webroot's fourteenth consecutive quarter of double-digit company and business segment growth. Overall, Webroot's year-over-year business segment bookings for 2017 grew by 35 percent. The consumer segment grew by 6 percent.

Key Fiscal Year 2017 Highlights:

Webroot Growth

In 2017, Webroot added over 3,800 managed service providers (MSPs), bringing the total to over 9,400 MSPs. The company protects more than 210,000 businesses.

Clarity Channel Advisors named Webroot as the number one endpoint protection provider to MSPs with 30 percent market share, based on 2016 MSPmentor 501 Survey data.

Webroot added 16 new BrightCloud  Threat Intelligence Services technology alliance partners in 2017 including Clavister and Guidance Software, and renewed or expanded relationships with another six partners.

Threat Intelligence Services technology alliance partners in 2017 including Clavister and Guidance Software, and renewed or expanded relationships with another six partners. On the consumer side of the business, Webroot's 6 percent year over year growth was six times the overall information security market growth, estimated at 1 percent CAGR 2016-2021 for the consumer security software market worldwide by Gartner in its Forecast Analysis: Information Security, Worldwide, 1Q17 Update report from June 2017 .

Product Innovation in the Year

Webroot introduced SecureAnywhere DNS Protection, a domain name resolution service, to provide organizations with increased protection from multiple threat vectors. Webroot SecureAnywhere DNS Protection blocks attacks at the network layer. It uses 82 URL categories for granular control to automatically filter dangerous and questionable sites containing phishing or malware.

Webroot announced its BrightCloud Streaming Malware Detection solution for integration by network infrastructure and security appliance providers. This unique technology leverages advanced fifth-generation machine learning to identify and stop malicious files through byte-by-byte analysis over 500 times faster than traditional sandboxes. The service integrates with network appliances to detect polymorphic malware in transit, in real time, without impacting throughput or needing to download the entire file.

Webroot acquired CyberFlow Analytics, an innovator in the field of network behavioral analytics. FlowScape Analytics is now integrated with BrightCloud Threat Intelligence Services to significantly accelerate the discovery and investigation of unknown threats that access, traverse, and exit today's disparate networks.

Webroot extended new capabilities for MSPs with the release of the Unity API. MSP administrators can use the Unity API to securely integrate services and data sets to Webroot SecureAnywhere Business Endpoint Protection. This enables them to easily extract data, as well as tailor, integrate, and automate their endpoint offerings for better productivity, improved financial control, customized alerting and reporting, and increased profitability.

Awards

Webroot took top honors in the Best Customer Service Category at the prestigious SC Awards at the RSA Conference 2017.

Webroot was the only endpoint security product included in PCMag's "Best Business Products of 2016" December feature. The publication called Webroot SecureAnywhere Business Endpoint Protection "the best Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) endpoint protection software available to businesses today," highlighting "outstanding client protections" and the "standout" graphical policy management.

Webroot won gold in December in the Best in Biz Awards for Most Customer Friendly Company of the Year. This distinction underscored Webroot's commitment to customer satisfaction and support.

Webroot BrightCloud Threat Investigator received a silver Info Security Products Guide's 2017 Global Excellence Award in the New Product or Service Announcement category. The Global Excellence Awards program recognizes security and IT vendors with advanced, groundbreaking products and solutions that help set the bar higher in all areas of security and technology.

CRN named Webroot CEO Dick Williams to its 2016 list of the Top 100 Executives, an annual list recognizing technology industry leaders who have helped shape today's IT channel. Additionally, CRN named Webroot to its 2016 Internet of Things 50 list, which recognizes companies whose innovative offerings are helping connect objects, computing devices, infrastructure, data storage and data analytics to transform and improve the way we work and live.

Key Quote:

Dick Williams, CEO of Webroot

"2017 was a banner year for Webroot. More than 210,000 businesses now have safer endpoints and networks thanks to Webroot, all based on the most sophisticated threat intelligence engine in the industry. Our 14 quarters of consecutive double-digit growth prove our ability to execute, and create the foundation for much more innovation to come."

About Webroot

Webroot delivers endpoint security and network security and threat intelligence services to protect businesses and individuals around the globe. Our smarter approach harnesses the power of cloud-based collective threat intelligence derived from millions of real-world devices to stop threats in real time and help secure the connected world. Our award-winning SecureAnywhere endpoint solutions, BrightCloud Threat Intelligence Services, and FlowScape solution protect millions of devices across businesses, home users, and the Internet of Things. Webroot is trusted and integrated by market-leading companies, including Cisco, F5 Networks, Aruba, Palo Alto Networks, A10 Networks, and more. Headquartered in Colorado, Webroot operates globally across North America, Europe, and Asia. Discover Smarter Cybersecurity solutions at www.webroot.com.

Social Media: Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube | Facebook

2017 Webroot Inc. All rights reserved. Webroot, SecureAnywhere, Webroot SecureAnywhere, Webroot BrightCloud, BrightCloud, and Smarter Cybersecurity are trademarks or registered trademarks of Webroot Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

SOURCE Webroot

Related Links

https://www.webroot.com


NEW YORK, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Voya Investment Management, the asset management business of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), announced today that the state of Wisconsin has extended its contract with the firm to manage Wisconsin's 529 program through October 2020.

The Tomorrow's Scholar 529 plan is one of Wisconsin's state-sponsored college savings plans administered by the College Savings Program Board and the state. Voya provides investment management and administrative services along with the distribution of shares for the program through financial advisors.

"Voya's vision is to be America's Retirement Company," said Christine Hurtsellers, chief executive officer, Voya Investment Management. "Part of that responsibility is to deliver a wide range of effective investment solutions clients need as they balance the goal of financing their family's education with saving and investing for their own retirement. We're pleased that we've had the opportunity to help Wisconsin families with their educational saving needs and are looking forward to our continued partnership with the state by managing the Tomorrow's Scholar 529 plan."

Jim DiUlio, Director - Wisconsin 529 College Savings Program, also cited the benefits of 529 plans as an excellent vehicle for parents, grandparents or others to build wealth to cover college costs. "We are pleased with the progress we have made in growing Tomorrow's Scholar and helping families prepare for college."

529 plans have experienced strong growth as more and more people recognize the benefits of investing for college as opposed to borrowing. As of March 31st, 2017, 529 plans had 13.3 million accounts with $289 billion in assets, according to Strategic Insight, Inc. Tomorrow's Scholar has experienced significant growth over the period, adding 75,000 new participant accounts  while distributing assets for beneficiaries.

"As the costs of college continue to skyrocket, we've seen more demand for 529 accounts from advisors as they have embraced a more holistic approach to working with their clients to meet their varying investment goals," said Paula Smith, senior vice president, head of business development and strategy for Retirement and College Savings at Voya Investment Management. "Over their history, 529 products have shown to be a tax efficient, and financially effective, means to meet this demand."

Media Contact:

Kristopher Kagel

(212) 309-6568

[email protected]

Tomorrow's Scholar is Wisconsin's state-sponsored college savings plan administered by the College Savings Program Board and the State of Wisconsin. Voya Investment Management (Voya IM) provides investment management and administrative services for the Tomorrow's Scholar plan. Shares in the program are distributed by Voya Investment Management. This Web site is accompanied by a current program description for the Tomorrow's Scholar plan.

An investor's or a designated beneficiary's home state may offer state tax or other benefits that are only available for investments in that state's qualified tuition program. Please consider this before investing.

Earnings component of non-qualified withdrawals may be subject to federal and state taxes and the additional federal 10% tax. The tax information herein is not intended to be used, and cannot be used by any taxpayer, for the purpose of avoiding tax penalties. Taxpayers should seek advice based on their own particular circumstances from an independent tax advisor.

Investments in Tomorrow's Scholar 529 Plan are subject to certain charges, which will reduce the value of your Account as they are incurred. Please see the Program Description for details of charges or fees that apply to the specific Tomorrow Scholar savings plan.

Investments in Tomorrow's Scholar 529 Plan are subject to investment risks, including the loss of the principal amount invested, and may not be appropriate for all investors.

Voya Investment Management is not an underwriter for any underlying municipal securities.

An investor should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses associated with municipal fund securities before investing. More information about municipal fund securities is available in the issuer's Program Description. You may obtain a Program Description by clicking here or calling 866-677-6933. The Program Description should be read carefully before investing.

About Voya Investment Management

A leading, active asset management firm, Voya Investment Management manages, as of March 31, 2017, more than $217 billion for affiliated and external institutions as well as individual investors. With 40 years of history in asset management, Voya Investment Management has the experience and resources to provide clients with investment solutions with an emphasis on equities, fixed income, and multi-asset strategies and solutions. Voya Investment Management was named in 2016 as a "Best Places to Work" by Pensions and Investments magazine. For more information, visit voyainvestments.com. Follow Voya Investment Management on Twitter @VoyaInvestments.

About Voya Financial

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), helps Americans plan, invest and protect their savings  to get ready to retire better. Serving the financial needs of approximately 13.6 million individual and institutional customers in the United States, Voya is a Fortune 500 company that had $11 billion in revenue in 2016. The company had $517 billion in total assets under management and administration as of June 30, 2017. With a clear mission to make a secure financial future possible  one person, one family, one institution at a time  Voya's vision is to be America's Retirement Company. Certified as a "Great Place to Work" by the Great Place to Work Institute, Voya is equally committed to conducting business in a way that is socially, environmentally, economically and ethically responsible and has been recognized as one of the 2017 World's Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute, as well as one of the Top Green Companies in the U.S., by Newsweek magazine. For more information, visit voya.com. Follow Voya Financial on Facebook and Twitter @Voya.

SOURCE Voya Investment Management

Related Links

http://www.voya.com


NEW YORK, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. author Marta Papis-Almansa has received the Maurice Laure Prize for her book "Insurance in European VAT: Current and Preferred Treatment in the Light of the New Zealand and Australian GST Systems".

Dr. Papis-Almansa's work addresses the legal challenges inherent in the application of European Union value added tax (VAT) to insurance. The study provides a thorough legal analysis of the treatment of insurance in the harmonized system of VAT as compared to the treatment of insurance in the New Zealand and Australian Goods and Services Tax (GST) systems. The book is the first to draw a comparative in-depth study of the treatment of insurance in the two systems.

"This title is the first of its kind that examines the functions of insurance, the legal nature of the insurance contract and the legal context in which insurance operates," said David Bartolone, Vice President and General Manager of the International Group at Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. "Wolters Kluwer provides industry-leading content for the international global business and academic communities, and we are pleased to add this important work to our acclaimed compendium of resources. We congratulate Dr. Papis-Almansa on this well-deserved honor."

The Maurice Laure Prize was created by the IFA to encourage scientific work on international indirect taxation. The Prize is named in honor of Maurice Laure, who was instrumental in the first implementation of the VAT system, now applied in more than 160 jurisdictions.

Dr. Papis-Almansa is a researcher at the Department of Business Law at Lund University School of Economics and Management. She will receive the Prize at the Opening Ceremony at the 71st Congress of the International Fiscal Association, taking place from 27 August - 1 September 2017 in Rio de Janeiro.

Visit our website to order "Insurance in European VAT: Current and Preferred Treatment in the Light of the New Zealand and Australian GST Systems".

The 2016 edition is also available on our Digital Book Platform.

About Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.

Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. is a part of Wolters Kluwer N.V. (AEX: WKL), a global leader in information services and solutions for professionals in the health, tax and accounting, risk and compliance, finance and legal sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with specialized technology and services.

Wolters Kluwer reported 2016 annual revenues of 4.3 billion. The company, headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands, serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries and employs 19,000 people worldwide.

For more information about Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S., visit www.WoltersKluwerLR.com, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Media

Linda Gharib

Director, Communications

Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.

Tel: +1 (646) 887-7962

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.

Related Links

https://lrus.wolterskluwer.com


"For many years I drank a lot and wasn't very active," said Luke Herbst, U.S. Army wounded warrior from the Nashville, Tennessee, area. "Wounded Warrior Project contributed to my recovery, and this workshop allowed me and my wife to have some hard talks. It was important to have a safe place for her to voice concerns. I am just thankful for the opportunity to spend some quality time with her."

Through the generous support of donors, WWP offers veterans specialized mental health programs and services  tailored to each warrior's specific needs and free of charge. WWP and its supporters believe warriors already paid their dues on the battlefield.

One program is its multi-day mental health workshops that are offered as all-male, all-female, or all-couples. These workshops provide safe, private environments for warriors to express themselves and share their combat experiences.

WWP staff incorporate local activities in a recovery model that allows warriors to be vulnerable to the unknown and identify and work through anxieties together. By the end, warriors share lessons learned from the activities that impacted their personal struggles most and set achievable goals for their recoveries.

"It was invaluable for me to hear the struggles the other spouses were experiencing," said Jenna Herbst, Luke's wife and caregiver, "but it was even more meaningful that my spouse could hear them as well because many of those things I was afraid to bring up myself. With encouragement from staff, I opened up more. Since we left, I have more confidence in my everyday life because of what I learned and experienced. One of the hardest things about being married to a warrior is always worrying if I'm taking care of him well enough. So a confidence boost like that goes a long way."

To learn and see more about how WWP's mental health workshops connect, serve, and empower wounded warriors, visit http://newsroom.woundedwarriorproject.org/, and click on multimedia.

About Wounded Warrior Project

Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) connects, serves, and empowers wounded warriors. Read more at http://newsroom.woundedwarriorproject.org/about-us.

SOURCE Wounded Warrior Project

Related Links

http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org


AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Since first meeting the Wreaths Across America (WAA) team and Worcester family last fall, Taya Kyle, Founder and Executive Director of Chris Kyle Frog Foundation (CKFF), has been impressed with WAA's "ripple effect of kindness." It quickly became apparent both national nonprofits shared the same patriotic mission of honoring and respecting our military, veterans and their families.

Taya Kyle is the wife of Chris Kyle, Navy SEAL and author of the New York Times bestseller American Sniper , which inspired the 2014 movie. After her husband's death, Taya founded the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation to honor her husband's life and legacy. In her book, American Wife , she shares insights about supporting military families. While their loved ones are deployed, military spouses are serving on the home front, keeping things operational and caring for the rest of the family.

Even though Morrill Worcester, founder of WAA, didn't serve in the armed forces, his original donation of 5,000 wreaths for veteran graves at Arlington National Cemetery in 1992 has grown into a national movement. For WAA's 25th anniversary in 2016, more than 1.2 million wreaths were placed at 1,228 locations, with the help of over 800,000 patriotic volunteers.

Taya was aware of WAA's efforts because she had agreed to present the WAA Ceremonial Wreath at the Austin State Capitol for the Texas Funeral Directors Association's 11th annual WAA event last December. Afterwards, WAA arranged for a private wreath placement by Taya and her children at Texas State Cemetery, where Chris is buried, along with 3,000 other veterans and prominent Texans.

The CKFF promise, "THEY FIGHT FOR US; WE FIGHT FOR THEM" captures the dedication of Taya and Team CKFF to fulfill Chris' vision of stronger, more empowered service marriages and families. CKFF's signature programs include Revitalization Retreats, Empowered Spouses Retreat and Date Night Out to honor the service and sacrifice of our military, veterans, first responders and their families.

At the 2nd Annual Chris Kyle "Birthday Bash" in April 2017, CKFF awarded a total of $100,000 in grants to the University of Texas (UT)-Austin and Baylor University to launch the Foundation's newest project, Mastering Your Marriage. This one-of-a-kind approach combines retreat and respite with innovative new tools to help military, veteran and first responder couples to begin thriving in their service marriages while facilitating important training and research for licensed practitioners.

Chris Kyle Frog Foundation and Wreaths Across America have agreed to collaborate with support of their respective programs. What this relationship means is, that when a $15 wreath is sponsored for placement on a veteran grave, via CKFF (bit.ly/CKFFsponsorshipsWAAwreaths), $5 will be returned to CKFF. Besides Texas State Cemetery, wreaths may be also sponsored at over 1,200 WAA-participating locations, including Arlington National Cemetery, for placement on Saturday, December 16, 2017.

Taya Kyle knows how much it means to have a wreath placed on a loved one's final resting place. A CKFF-WAA wreath sponsorship will embody the "ripple effect" of kindness that she describes.

For more information, please visit www.chriskylefrogfoundation.org or www.wreathsacrossamerica.org.

SOURCE Wreaths Across America

Related Links

http://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org


NEW YORK, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ABO Capital announced today that CEO Zandre Campos was featured in Tourism Tattler discussing the recent increase in business tourism in Africa. The article entitled "Business Tourism in Africa Continues to Expand" was originally published in Tourism Tattler on August 8, 2017.

Recent ICCA rankings reveal that Africa is growing in popularity as a destination for business tourism. With all the recent opportunities presented in Africa's growing economy, the perception of doing business in Africa is evolving. South Africa, Morocco, and Rwanda are some of the countries that are helping increase business tourism in Africa.

"By looking at ICCA's recent rankings and the overall improvements of countries in Africa, it is evident that Africa is a great place to host business conferences." said Mr. Campos. "Africa has the potential to be one of the most popular destinations for business tourism and will continue to improve on their ranking."

Zandre Campos is chairman and CEO of ABO Capital, an international investment firm that invests in companies in the healthcare, energy, transportation, hospitality, education, technology and real estate sectors throughout Africa. ABO's mission is to create global value for developing countries in Africa, while contributing to their economic development.

Read the full Tourism Tattler Article:

http://www.tourismtattler.com/articles/business-and-finance/business-tourism-africa-continues-expand/67562

About ABO Capital

ABO Capital, formerly Angola Capital Investments, is an international investment firm that invests in companies in the healthcare, technology, energy, transportation, hospitality, education and real estate sectors throughout Africa. The mission of ABO Capital is to create global value for developing countries in Africa, while contributing to their economic development.

About Zandre Campos

Zandre Campos is one of the great, innovative business leaders and global entrepreneurs emerging out of Africa. Currently, he is chairman and CEO of ABO Capital, an international investment firm headquartered in Angola with holdings throughout the Globe. Mr. Campos was named one of the Top 25 African business influencers and was a recipient of the Distinguished Business Excellence Award by African Leadership Magazine. He is frequently quoted as an expert on Africa in the media and is a recurring contributor for The Huffington Post and US News & World Report. He recently addressed both students and professors at the NYU Africa House on the opportunities in Africa.

SOURCE ABO Capital

Related Links

http://www.abocapital.net


OTTAWA, Canada, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Zighra, the leading personalized identity defense platform, is announcing their first-ever patent through the U.S. patent office. The company has plans to create a significant IP portfolio in the authentication space, becoming the de facto standard for AI-Powered Continuous Authentication worldwide.

The patent covers the technology contained in Zighra's high-speed AI engine, specifically protecting the company's ability to create a cognitive signature to authenticate each user through sensor-based intelligence obtained from six distinct layers of data. This technology can be extended exponentially, to provide an N-dimensional approach to authentication in verticals such as IoT and autonomous vehicles. The deep learning algorithms that Zighra uses enable the platform to be more accurate and much faster than the traditional linear machine learning algorithms used currently.

"With every new technological achievement comes a new series of threats," says Zighra CEO, Deepak Dutt. "Protection levels need to be accurate, intuitive, multi-faceted and frictionless, to enable users to focus on living their lives and conducting their business, rather than protecting their identities and assets," he added.

As we move into a mobile-first, sensor-based, connected world, an N-dimensional approach to authentication becomes increasingly important. With behavioral intelligence, "how" we interact becomes the password. Combined with other N-dimensional elements, the user's profile is unassailably specific.

Zighra is looking to work with companies that want to license the platform. Those who are interested, visit www.zighra.com.

About Zighra

Founded in 2009, Zighra is an AI-powered continuous authentication and fraud detection platform, offering N-dimensional security. The company offers patented, light-weight technology that tracks 500-plus human and static traits including device, network, social, location, behavioral and biometric intelligence, as well as human-machine interactions. Zighra provides an optimal, yet frictionless security experience for users with technology that runs on over 700 device types and learns dynamically.



To learn more about Zighra and our mission to be your trusted identity defense partner visit www.zighra.com.

SOURCE Zighra

Related Links

http://www.zighra.com


San Francisco, Aug 19 : In a major update, search engine giant Google has added a six second video previews to its mobile search results, the media reported on Saturday.

Google would use some of its machine learning capabilities to actually analyse the entire video and then decide what six-second portion to pick for preview.

The new update would now let searches in Android's Google app or Chrome to show little preview of each video.

"Any video on the web is eligible for inclusion, though Google may not have a preview for some of the newest videos available yet because it takes the servers a bit of time to build the previews", Emily Moxley, Google's Director of Product Management for this project, was quoted as saying by TechCrunch.

The sneak peeks will only show up on Wi-Fi by default and users can opt-out of them in the settings for both the Google app and Google Chrome for Android, in case they do not wish to consume mobile data.

Google on August 17 added the "Questions and Answers" feature to Google Maps and mobile search to help users get information about places they want to go to.

Users can ask or answer a question -- or read the existing questions and answers about a place -- by simply searching for the location on Google Maps or mobile Search.
Beijing, Aug 21 : China on Monday blamed Indian troops for a scuffle between the two Armies in Ladakh sector and said it had complained to New Delhi.

Beijing said Indian soldiers started the trouble, causing injury to Chinese soldiers near the Pangong Lake.

On August 15, when Indian troops tried to stop the Chinese from entering the Indian side of the boundary, the Chinese started pelting stones, Indian officials said. Indian soldiers then retaliated.

China had a different account of what happened.

"According to our information, on August 15, the Chinese border troops conducted normal patrol on the Chinese side of the LAC (Line of Actual Control) around Pangong area," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said.

"During this process, the Indian side took some violent actions and injured the Chinese border personnel. This has violated the consensus between the Indian and Chinese side in relation to the border issues." Hua said.

"China has expressed grave dissatisfaction and we have lodged serious concerns to the Indian side" she added.

Hua also said India was told "to strictly discipline the conduct of the Indian border troops to earnestly uphold the peace and tranquility of the boundary area of the two sides".
Thiruvananthapuram, August 21 : The opposition UDF forced adjournment of the house proceedings on Monday after they kicked up a storm in the assembly demanding the resignation of health minister K K Shailaja in the wake of the Kerala high court ticking her off for abuse of power.

When the house assembled in the morning, opposition members trooped to the well of the house, shouting slogans against the health minister and accusing her of nepotism and violation of oath of office.

The opposition MLAs alleged that the minister deferred the deadline for submitting applications for vacancies in the state child rights panel so as to induct her own nominees.

Five opposition legislators began a hunger strike at the entrance to the assembly demanding Ms. Shailajas resignation.

Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, meanwhile, alleged that the health minister abused her office to induct into the child rights panel a CPI(M) member with criminal antecedents.

Chennithala came down on the state government, terming as immoral its decision to defend Ms. Shailaja despite the high courts observation that she abused her powers.

The health minister had no moral right to continue in office in the wake of sharp criticism by the HC, he said, adding that no minister in the history of the state had remained in office after such sharp rebuke from a court of law.

Ms. Shailaja is in the eye of a storm after the high court rapped her for misusing her office to postpone the deadline for submitting applications for the vacant posts of members of the state child rights commission purportedly to favour her nominees.

The original deadline for submitting applications for vacancies in the child rights panel was 30 November 2016 but the minister allegedly deferred the deadline to March last without recording any explanation.

The Kerala HC the other day rapped the minister for unilaterally extending the deadline for submitting applications and revoked the appointment of two persons who had submitted their applications after the original deadline.
Seoul, Aug 21 : South Korea's Prosecutor's Office on Monday sought a 12-year prison sentence for the vice chair of the Samsung Group over charges that include bribing the former President as part of a massive corruption scandal that has rocked the country.

The prosecution's petition was filed during the last session of the trial of Lee Jae-yong -- the eldest child and only son of Samsung's Chairman -- that began early March in Seoul's Central District Court, Efe news reported.

The prosecution also sought 10-year prison sentences for three other Samsung senior executives, Yonhap news agency reported.

Lee, 49, the "de facto" chief and heir of one of Asia's largest conglomerates, is accused of transferring 43 billion won ($37.3 million) to foundations that were controlled by Choi Soon-sil, dubbed the "South Korean Rasputin" for her close friendship with then President Park Geun-hye.

The payments were allegedly made to secure approval from a public pension fund in 2015 for the merger of two Samsung subsidiaries (one of which was part of the same fund) that reinforced total control of the Lee clan on the company.

Lee, who took over the control of the Samsung group in 2014 after his father, Lee Kun-hee, was left incapacitated following a heart attack, also faces charges of embezzlement and concealment of foreign assets and has been detained since mid-February.

The verdict in the case is expected to be made public by the end of this month.
Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 21 : Five legislators of the Congress-led opposition in the Kerala Assembly on Monday began an indefinite fast in the foyer of the House demanding sacking of Health Minister K.K. Shailaja, who is facing nepotism charges.

The Kerala High Court in its judgement last week observed that Shailaja had misused her office to appoint a member to the state Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

After raising their demand on the floor of the assembly, as Shailaja rose to move a Bill, they starting protesting against her.

Angry opposition members were seen tearing the Bill and throwing it in the air. Later they walked out of the House.

Thereafter, five opposition legislators V.P. Sajeendran, Eldose Kunnapally, Rogi M. John, N. Shamsudeen and T.V. Ibrahim began an indefinite fast in the foyer of the assembly demanding Shailaja's ouster.

Earlier in the assembly, Congress legislator Shafi Parambil, seeking leave for an adjournment motion, pointed out that it was perhaps the first such instance when a minister was continuing in office despite adverse remarks by the court.

"This is not an observation but a finding that has come in the final judgement," Parambil said.

The minister had extended the final date for inviting applications for making appointment as members to the commission and that aspirants with a doctorate in Child Rights were left out, the Congress member pointed out.

"One of the persons appointed by the minister had applied after the date was extended... The judgement said this amounts to misuse of power, which incidentally is also a violation of the oath of secrecy," Parambil said.

Dismissing the opposition's demand, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the question of seeking the minister's resignation "is ruled out".

Shailaja later told reporters that there was no reason for her to quit now, as there had been a number of instances where ministers had held on to their posts.

"The only reason the date was extended was to ensure that more applicants could apply," said Shailaja.

Meanwhile, the Kerala government, on Monday approached the Kerala High Court with a request that the single-bench verdict was pronounced without hearing the minister and hence the remarks against the minister be removed.
Kabul, Aug 22 : General John Nicholson, the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, on Tuesday said the Taliban cannot win the war in Afghanistan by military means.

He made the comments in the wake of US President Donald Trump's announcement of a new approach to Afghanistan and South Asia.

"This new strategy means the Taliban cannot win militarily. Now is the time to renounce violence and reconcile," Xinhua news agency quoted Nicholson as saying.

"Our Afghan partners know that our commitment is strong and enduring. Our future presence will be based on conditions and not arbitrary timelines," he said.

Revealing his new Afghan strategy, Trump on Monday said a rapid exit of the US troops from Afghanistan was "unacceptable" and his new strategy would shift from a time-based approach to one based on conditions on the ground.

"A peaceful, stable Afghanistan is victory for the Afghan people and the goal of the Coalition," Nicholson noted.

The announcement of new Afghan plan came as fighting has escalated and Taliban insurgents and Islamic State (IS) militants have intensified their activities by launching attacks across the war-hit country.

The NATO and US forces completed their combat mission in Afghanistan by the end of 2014, after 13 years of military presence.

About 13,000 foreign forces are currently stationed in Afghanistan for the NATO-led Resolute Support to help Afghan forces in the fields of training, advising and backing them in the war on insurgents.
Beijing, Aug 22 : China on Tuesday said there will be "utter chaos" if its troops entered India on the pretext that Indian border infrastructure posed a threat to Beijing.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said India's logic that Chinese road building in Doklam on the border posed a threat to New Delhi was "ridiculous and vicious".

It said China would in no way allow any country or individual to infringe upon its territorial sovereignty.

"The Indian side illegally crossed the boundary on the excuse of ... Chinese road building. The reason is ridiculous, vicious and facts are clear," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said.

"You may think about it. If we tolerate India's ridiculous logic, then anyone who dislikes the activity at his neighbour's home can break into its neighbour's house.

"Does that mean when China thinks that large-scale construction of infrastructure at the border area of India is posing a threat, it can enter Indian territory? Wouldn't that be utter chaos?"

To Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh's remark that India had never been an aggressor and has had no ambitions to expand its border, Hua responded: "China loves peace and firmly upholds peace. At the same time, we will safeguard our territorial integrity and sovereignty. We allow no country or any individual to infringe upon China's territorial sovereignty."

She asked India to pull back troops from Doklam to resolve the crisis.

"We have said many times that prerequisite basis for the settlement of the trespass is the unconditional withdrawal of the personnel and equipment from the Indian side.

"So we urge the Indian side to take concrete actions and make positive moves to correct its wrongdoing."

Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in a stand-off since June at Doklam in the Sikkim section of the Bhutan-China border.

This is the longest stand-off between the two armies since 1987 when they faced a similar situation at Somordong Chu Valley in Arunachal Pradesh.

It all began when Indian troops stopped Chinese troops from building a road in Doklam, citing the disputed status of the territory.

Doklam is claimed by Bhutan, which has protested against Chinese road building.

China says the construction of the road is just since Doklam has been Chinese territory since ancient times.

New Delhi backs Bhutan's claims and sees a Chinese road in Doklam as a threat because the region is very close to the Siliguri Corridor, which connects India's northeast with the rest of the country.
Washington, Aug 23 : US President Donald Trump has defended his white supremacist response to the Charlottesville violence, omitting that he blamed "many sides" for the clashes.

Trump on Tuesday holding the campaign-style rally with Vice President Mike Pence and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson in Phoenix, said he strongly condemned "neo-Nazis, white supremacists and the KKK", CNN reported.

In retelling his remarks on the August 12 violence that left one woman dead, Trump omitted his reference to "many sides" in his first response to the clashes, and also his reference to "both sides" later on Tuesday -- both seen as equating neo-Nazis with counter-protesters.

"What happened in Charlottesville strikes at the core of America. And tonight, this entire arena stands united against the thugs who perpetrate hatred and violence," Trump said.

"I hit 'em with neo-Nazi, I hit 'em with everything. KKK? We have KKK. I got 'em all," Trump said in reference to calling out specific groups in his statements.

The President also hinted that he could pardon Joe Arpaio, the former Maricopa county sheriff.

"So was Sheriff Joe convicted for doing his job? ... You know what, I'll make a prediction: I think he's going to be just fine, OK? But I won't do it tonight (Tuesday) because I don't want to cause any controversy. But Sheriff Joe should feel good."

In anticipation of Trump's first trip to Arizona after winning the White House and his first to the West amid criticism for his remarks, the political world was abuzz with not just whether Trump would set off controversy in Phoenix -- but which specific hot-button clash he could wade into.

Trump last week mocked Arizona Republican Senators Jeff Flake and John McCain, while avoiding their names.

"One vote away, I will not mention any names," he said, referring to McCain's vote against Republicans' healthcare bill.

Moving on to Flake, Trump said: "Nobody wants me to talk about him. Nobody knows who the hell he is. And now, we haven't mentioned any names, so now, everybody's happy."

Trump earlier in the day near the border viewed equipment used by US Customs and Border Patrol agents to track illegal crossings.

The President's aides planned his visit to the US-Mexico border but scrapped the visit over security concerns, a person in the know of things said.

Arizona's top Republicans -- including Flake and McCain, were not present in the rally.

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, a Republican who is up for re-election in 2018, greeted Trump at the airport but did not attend the rally.

Thousands from across Arizona flocked to Phoenix Convention Centre to protest the rally, carrying signs, megaphones and water bottles to stay hydrated in the 41 degrees Celsius weather.

Democrats including Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton lambasted Trump for even visiting the state.

Anti-Trump protesters put up an inflatable Trump -- in a white robe with a Nazi symbol -- and a giant sign that read "white supremacy will not be pardoned".

Anti-Trump protesters yelled out chants including "Shame" and "No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA".
New Delhi, Aug 23 : Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh is heading a delegation to the Kyrgyz Republic to attend a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting, on the sidelines of which he is likely to hold bilateral meetings with ministers of some member countries, which include China and Pakistan.

During the two-day meeting at Choplon Ata on August 24-25 the SCO member states will consider and approve the draft Action Plan for 2018-2019 for the implementation of the agreement on cooperation in providing assistance in the elimination of emergency situations, a Home Ministry statement said on Wednesday.

The Indian delegation comprises of senior officers from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the Ministry of External Affairs.

India got full membership of SCO earlier this year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the SCO annual Summit meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan, in June.

The participation of India as SCO Member will open additional opportunities for giving new impetus to the development of international cooperation in the field of protecting the people and territories from emergency situations within the framework of the SCO and bring it qualitatively new positions in regional and global formats, the statement said.

The SCO member countries are: China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan. Pakistan and India were inducted as full members this year.
Patna, Aug 23 : RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Wednesday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposed aerial survey of flood-affected Bihar, saying why is he visiting the victims when the flood is over and the floodwaters are receding.

"I have come to know that Prime Minister Modi will visit flood-hit Bihar to take stock of the situation. It is a drama and the flood is an excuse. He is coming on an air trip. He will now visit flood victims as the floodwaters are receding. Where was he when nearly 400 people died and lakhs of people were forced to flee their homes and take shelter on elevated roads and embankments under the sky," Lalu said here at a press conference.

He said neither Modi nor his Cabinet ministers, including those from Bihar, visited the victims.

Lalu said that floods are an annual problem for Bihar. "Floods used to hit Bihar every year. Why is Prime Minister Modi coming this year to visit flood victims? Where was he in 2015 or 2016?"

According to Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, the Prime Minister will conduct an aerial survey of flood-affected areas in the state on August 26.

The death toll due to the floods rose to 341 on Tuesday, an official said A Bihar Disaster Management Department official said 146.19 lakh persons in 2,234 panchayats under 183 blocks in 19 districts have been affected by the floods.

According to an official release, as many as 7,61,774 people have been evacuated to safe places by the rescue teams of the Army, the National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force, while the government has set up 1,085 relief camps in which 2,29,097 people are living.
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Washington, Aug 23 : The US Navy on Wednesday dismissed Vice Admiral Joseph P. Aucoin, the commander of the fleet that has sustained four collisions in Asia and deaths of over a dozen sailors in 2017, an official said.

Admiral Aucoin, the head of the Seventh Fleet based in Japan, the Navy's largest overseas fleet, was removed in connection with the four collisions since January, including two fatal ones in the past two months, the New York Times cited a US Navy statement as saying.

Admiral Aucoin was relieved "due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command", the Navy said. He had commanded the fleet since September 2015.

The move followed Monday's incident in which the guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain collided with a merchant ship near Singapore. Ten sailors assigned to the ship were missing following the accident.

The McCain and the tanker ship collided east of the Malacca Strait and the collision was the second in two months involving a destroyer from the Seventh Fleet.

Divers on Tuesday found remains of missing American sailors in the flooded compartments of the Navy destroyer, said Admiral Scott H. Swift, the commander of the US Pacific Fleet.

"It is premature to say how many or what the status of the recovery of those bodies is." Admiral Swift said the search at sea would continue despite the discovery of remains in the ship.

The Royal Malaysian Navy located one body at sea and officials were working to determine whether it was one of the missing sailors, he said. Ships and planes continue to scour the seas east of Singapore.

The collision prompted the Navy to order a rare suspension of ship operations worldwide for a day or two in the next week to review safety and operational procedures. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said an inquiry into the incident had begun.

The White House expressed its "great sadness" about the incident. "As the Navy begins the process of recovering our fallen sailors, our thoughts and prayers go out to their families and friends," the statement said.

The destroyer was named after John S. McCain Sr. and John S. McCain Jr., Navy Admirals who were the grandfather and father of Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona.
Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Aug 23 : In a first, Nepal on Wednesday launched its climate-smart snow leopard landscape management plan, leading the way in safeguarding this endangered species, also found in India, and its habitat.

Its conservation plan launched ahead of the International Snow Leopard Summit and Ecosystem Forum, which starts here on Thursday, addresses key current and emerging threats to the snow leopards, including climate change, and will be used as a model for other range countries to adopt.

"This is the first climate-smart landscape management plan for snow leopard conservation in the world and is evidence of the government of Nepal's high level of commitment to this goal," said Nepal's Forests and Soil Conservation Secretary Prakash Mathema in a statement.

He said it could not have been possible without the support of local communities, conservation organisations and other committed partners.

At the meeting, world leaders will hold critical talks to strengthen previous commitments to safeguard the future of the snow leopard and its habitat - the headwaters for rivers on which hundreds of millions directly depend as a source of freshwater.

It has been four years since the range countries first met in 2013, when they committed to an ambitious goal of securing 20 snow leopard landscapes by 2020.

This has brought the plight of this iconic species into the spotlight and created hope that commitment from the range country governments could set an example of conservation success worldwide.

Nepal's conservation plan comes ahead of the Bishkek Declaration which will be signed by all 12 range states at the close of the summit and must pave the way for more substantial action in securing 20 snow leopard landscapes by 2020.

"The plan addresses even the toughest challenges, including tackling the complex impacts of climate change. Nepal has once again established itself as a leader in conservation, showing much-needed ambition despite facing some of the toughest environmental, economic and political conditions," WWF-Nepal Conservation Director Ghana S. Gurung said.

The WWF urged the snow leopard range countries, which include political powerhouses China, Russia and India, to bolster previous commitments, or risk irreversible damage to both the species and landscape.

"This Bishkek summit sets the stage for snow leopard range states to raise the bar and take strong action now to prevent permanent damage and build resilience for snow leopards and their habitats," WWF International Director General Marco Lambertini said in a statement.
Amsterdam, Aug 24 : Dutch police are investigating a threat in Rotterdam and arrested driver of a Spanish van late on Wednesday.

The van with a Spanish license plate was halted between 9 and 10 p.m. local time on the Mijnsherenlaan street, Xinhua news agency reported.

The van was checked by the Dutch explosive ordnance disposal service. Around 11:30 p.m. local time, the bus was declared safe and driven to the police station.

During a press conference, Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb said the van was driving suspiciously near the Maassilo concert hall, where a pop concert was cancelled earlier on Wednesday night after orders of the police due to a terror threat.

The building was being evacuated shortly after 7 p.m. and dozens of people who wanted to attend the concert, which hadn't started yet, could not get in.

A team of the Dutch Special Intervention Service (DSI) was present in case of an emergency situation.

The link between the van and the terror threat at the Maassilo concert hall is being investigated. "It is too early to draw conclusions," Aboutaleb stated.

On Wednesday afternoon, Rotterdam mayor Aboutaleb received the warning of a terror threat from the Spanish police, who are extra alert after the recent attacks in Spain.

The message was that a terrorist attack was planned during the concert. According to Aboutaleb, the threat was serious enough to cancel the concert.
Moscow, Aug 24 : Russia, Turkey agreed to step up efforts to coordinate on building the fourth de-escalation zone in Syria's Idlib province, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

The statement was made following talks on Middle Eastern and African issues held between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who is also the Russian Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa, and visiting Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal, Xinhua reported.

"It was noted with satisfaction that the level of violence in Syria has substantially decreased as a result of the establishment of three de-escalation zones within the framework of the Astana process. It is agreed to intensify efforts to harmonize the fourth zone in Idlib," the ministry was quoted as saying.

According to the document, both sides underlined that there is no alternative to the political settlement of the six-year long Syrian conflict in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolution 2254, which was approved in December 2015.

Earlier this month, a third de-escalation zone in central Syria began functioning based on an agreement reached between the Russian military and moderate Syrian opposition.

The other two zones were respectively established in southwestern Syria and the outskirts of Syria's capital Damascus.
Berlin, Aug 24 : Astronomers have captured the first detailed images of the surface and atmosphere of a star outside the solar system, a report said.

Images of Antares, a red supergiant, more than 500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Scorpio, have been captured, reported Nature magazine.

The team obtained the images using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, a complex of four telescopes perched on a mountain in the Paranal desert of Chile, Efe news said.

The star makes an interesting object for study because it is rapidly losing mass in the course of an outward expansion that will lead eventually to a supernova.

"How stars like Antares lose mass so quickly in the final phase of their evolution has been a problem for over half a century," the paper's lead author, Keiichi Ohnaka of Chile's Universidad Catolica del Norte, said.

The images allowed the team to detect unexpected turbulence in the outer atmosphere of Antares -- activity that could not be explained by any known processes.

"The next challenge is to identify what's driving the turbulent motions," Ohnaka said.
Kuala Lumpur, Aug 24 : Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak will visit the US in September to meet President Donald Trump, the Malaysian government said on Thursday.

The Malaysian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Razak would undertake a working visit to Washington on September 12, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The two leaders are expected to discuss areas of mutually beneficial cooperation, including national security, the global fight against terrorism and extremism, and trade and investment that will benefit our nations and our peoples," the statement said.

Both the Malaysian government and the White House said the two countries were looking forward to celebrating the 60th anniversary of bilateral ties.
San Francisco, Aug 24 : People in the US will soon have an option to take a screening test on Google to know if they are depressed or not.

Now, when users in the US will search for "depression" on Google, they will see a box atop the results on mobile, which the search giant calls a Knowledge Panel, The Verge reported on Wednesday.

The Knowledge Panel contains information on what depression is, what its symptoms are and the possible treatments.

"The update adds the option to tap on 'check if you're clinically depressed' and take a clinically validated screening questionnaire called PHQ-9. The self-assessment is private and is meant to help steer people who might be depressed toward in-person evaluations," the report noted.

According to Google spokesperson Susan Cadrecha, the feature is being rolled out on mobile in the US soon and it is not meant to subvert a medical evaluation.

"The results of the PHQ-9 can help you have a more informed conversation with your doctor," according to National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), which partnered with Google on the questionnaire.

According to NAMI, clinical depression is fairly common condition with almost one in five Americans experiencing an episode in their lifetime. But only about 50 per cent of people who have depression get treated for it.
The Hague, Aug 24 : The Dutch police have arrested a Spanish man driving a van with gas cannisters near a concert venue in Rotterdam, hours after a tip-off over a terror threat in the city, authorities said.

The terror threat earlier on Wednesday prompted US rock band Allah-Las to cancel their gig slated to take place at the Rotterdam Maassilo, the concert venue, reports CNN.

Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb received the warning of the threat from the Spanish police that an attack was planned during the concert.

According to Aboutaleb, the threat was serious enough to cancel the concert.

The Spanish man was arrested later on Wednesday night after the police stopped his van inside a cordoned off area near the venue at around 9:30 p.m., the Mayor told the media in the early hours of Thursday.

About five gas cannisters were found in the van and a bomb squad was called to the scene as a precaution.

However, the city authorities did not offer additional details on the terror threat.

Rotterdam Police press officer Roland Ekkers said it was too soon to say if the van was directly connected.

"It can also be someone who was going to a camping site, but with the threat that we have, and what we found in the van, we decided to investigate," CNN quoted Ekkers as saying.

In a reaction, the Dutch National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV) stated that the event does not mean the threat level in the Netherlands should be raised, reports Xinhua news agency.

The terrorist threat level in the Netherlands is on a "substantial" level 4, since March 2013.

That means the chance of an attack in the Netherlands is real but there are no specific indications that terrorists are preparing to carry out an attack in the Netherlands.

It is reported that the event in Rotterdam is not connected to last week's attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils that killed 15 people and left over 100 others injured.
Mumbai, Aug 24 : Bollywood actress and ardent animal lover Dia Mirza will attend the International Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Forum (Summit 2017) to campaign for the protection of snow leopards.

"12 countries are meeting in Kyrgyzstan to protect the snow leopard and their habitats! Proud to be a part Snow Leopard Forum 2017," Dia posted.

The actress, brand ambassador for the Wildlife Trust of India, had earlier adopted two cheetah cubs at the Prince of Wales zoological park in Lucknow. She has been felicitated at award functions for her active involvement in social and environmental issues.

The International Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Forum (Summit 2017) began on Wednesday.

According to the event's official page, it brings together heads and representatives of the governments of the twelve snow leopard range countries as well as of other interested nations with leaders from international institutions, donor agencies, conservation organisations, and scientific institutions.

The effort is towards protecting the snow leopard, and to galvanize international support for their ambitious plan of securing 20 snow leopard landscapes by the year 2020.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told a group of over 70 Additional Secretaries and Joint Secretaries that good governance should be a priority for the welfare of citizens.

"The Prime Minister on Wednesday met and interacted with a group of over 70 Additional Secretaries and Joint Secretaries serving in the government. This was the first of five such interactions," the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement on Thursday.

The officers shared their experiences on issues such as digital and smart governance; administrative procedures and accountability; transparency; doubling of farmers' income; skill development; Swachh Bharat; consumer rights; environment protection; and building of a New India by 2022, the statement said.

"The combination of development and good governance is essential for the welfare and satisfaction of citizens," Modi said.

He emphasised on the need for all government wings to work in harmony and synchronisation to achieve the best possible results.

"All officers must keep the poor and the ordinary citizens in their minds while taking decisions," he said.

The Prime Minister also said that the world was looking to India with positive expectations.

Modi said there was also a strong undercurrent for excellence from the common citizens of India.

"Youth from humble backgrounds, with very limited resources are achieving best positions in competitive exams and sports."

The Prime Minister asked the officers to work to promote this spontaneous upsurge of talent, recalling the spirit and energy that they themselves would have possessed in the first three years of their service.

He said: "This was a unique opportunity for officers to deliver their utmost for the benefit of the nation."
Seoul, Aug 24 : South Korea and China on Thursday marked the 25th anniversary of bilateral relations.

Presidents Moon Jae-in and Xi Jinping, and Foreign Ministers Kang Kyung-wha and Wang Yi, exchanged congratulatory messages and stressed the importance of their bilateral relations, according to a statement issued by the South Korean Foreign Ministry.

Moon touched on the progress made since the diplomatic relations were established on August 24, 1992, while President Xi said the ties have brought substantial benefits to the people of both countries, reports Efe news.

The Chinese President expressed hope that the two nations can manage their differences properly and strengthen their relationship in a stable and healthy manner.

Despite decades of diplomatic tensions stemming from Seoul recognising the legitimacy of Taipei and Beijing of Pyongyang, the fall of the last military junta in South Korea led to a progressive rapprochement that eventually culminated into the 1992 establishment of diplomatic ties.

Since then the bilateral relations have gradually strengthened, particularly in commerce with China being one of South Korea's main trade partners.

Beijing and Seoul have engaged in rows over the US anti-missile system Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD), which prompted China to impose a covert boycott of South Korean interests after the system installation in spring.

While South Korea and the United States say that the system, installed on South Korean territory, is designed to intercept North Korean missiles, China believes its deployment has only escalated tensions in the region.

China also considers the system a threat to its security. It fears that its powerful radars could be used to obtain information from its military facilities and has repeatedly warned that it would take measures to protect its interests.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : Adobe India on Thursday announced its Women in Technology Scholarship Programme aimed at recognising extraordinary students in the fields of science and engineering.

The registrations for the programme commenced from Thursday.

"Adobe India's Women in Technology Scholarship Programme is a platform for female students in the field of technology to demonstrate their exceptional skills and get a chance to contribute in an environment that thrives on innovation," Abdul Jaleel, Vice President, People Resources India, Adobe, said.

According to Adobe India, the winners of the programme will have an opportunity to pursue an internship with the company next year.

Adobe will also sponsor tuition fees for the remainder of the award recipients' university education across B.Tech, M. Tech or dual degrees, upto two years.

All Indian female citizen students, who are currently enrolled at an Indian university for the 2017-2018 academic year, are eligible to apply for the programme.
Thimphu, Aug 24 : Literature festivals are quite the trend these days, but this one comes with an added attraction of the surreal beauty that the Land of the Thunder Dragon is known for. Literary stalwarts have already begun descending on Bhutan's picturesque capital for the eighth edition of Mountain Echoes Literary Festival, but visitors will have much more than just literature to savour.

The festival promises to be a walk along unexplored landscapes and breathtaking beauty, as well as dzongs and monasteries steeped in history. With a legacy of culture, tradition and natural beauty like few others, festival visitors will have an opportunity to indulge in activities that are close to nature.

From a visit to the the 15th century Punakha Dzong, that translates into the Palace of Great Happiness, to a trek along the Dochula pass at an altitude of over 10,000 feet, there are a lot of thrills in the itinerary of visitors.

This extraordinary advantage of the lit fest comes along with a stellar line-up of writers, artists and performers who will enthrall the visitors. While lit fest regulars like Shashi Tharoor, Namita Gokhale and Ruskin Bond will share their stories with book lovers, there are quite a few offbeat names like Markus Zusak, Padma Lakshmi, Pranay Lal, Francesca Beard and Phuntsho Namgyel that visitors may also look forward to for some interesting discussions.

Fashion is also one of the key themes this year as the festival aims to weave the traditional textile heritage of Bhutan and India with contemporary fashion, and build a common thread between the two countries and their shared cultures.

The festival will be held from August 25 to 27, with a special inaugural ceremony on Thursday evening in Thimphu.

(Saket Suman's visit to Thimphu is at the invitation of the organisers of the Mountain Echoes Literary Festival)
New Delhi, Aug 24 : As the Indian market embraces the 4G Long Term-Evolution (LTE) technology ecosystem in a big way, global chip giant Qualcomm finds it natural to innovate for the growing 4G market in the country, a senior company executive has said.

According to Counterpoint Research's "Market Monitor" service, LTE-installed base of mobile handsets crossed 150 million units in India -- behind only China and the United States -- and is estimated to surpass the US in the next one year.

Leading the 4G data race is Reliance Jio that has garnered 125 million customers across the country. Since its launch 10 months back, Jio has added seven customers per second on an average.

"The Indian market is rapidly transitioning into a 4G LTE market which marks an excellent opportunity for us," Larry Paulson, Vice President and President of Qualcomm India, told IANS.

"Our roadmap at this point entirely consists of 4G LTE. We already carry a rich legacy in 2G and 3G technology in India," Paulson added.

In March, the company announced Snapdragon 205 mobile platform that is targeted at 4G feature phones.

"Though there has not been any public announcement about 4G feature phones with Qualcomm but yes, we are moving ahead quite well with that technology," Paulson noted.

Reliance Jio has launched a "free" JioPhone that is powered by Qualcomm's 205 mobile platform.

Qualcomm believes the users in India give importance to value and that is why the company is focused on the value proposition.

"First and foremost, there is a long line of lessons in doing business in India. It is very important to listen to the market and the market has a high emphasis on value," the executive said.

"We are enabling our customers and partners to build products that not only have high capabilities but also help them package those capabilities in a value proposition. With this, we have announced our roadmap at mobile platform 200 and then Snapdragon 450, 600, 800. I think we are addressing exactly that value proposition," Paulson contended.

Acknowledging the company's upward growth trajectory in the country, he said: "From a presence point of view, yes, we have grown. We have an engineering centre in Hyderabad, a development centre in Bengaluru and a wireless division in Chennai."

The company stressed that it would continue to work on research and development and engineering technologies in the country.

Qualcomm is also confident about the newest addition to the Snapdragon 400 chipset family.

"We have four chipset families -- the Snapdragon 200, 400, 600 and 800. Each one means more and enables more. To be able to bring that technology down to Snapdragon 400 level is very good for India. That also means we will be able to hit quite attractive price points and powerful technology," Paulson told IANS.

Snapdragon 450 was unveiled at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Shanghai this year.

"This is the first time we have brought the 14 nanometre (nm) technology down into the Snapdragon 400 family. The benefits of this are power management and size," the executive said.

Qualcomm India has also started an initiative named "SoochnaPreneur", in association with Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), that aims to connect rural youth to information about government entitlement programmes.

The programme also aims to create technology-based entrepreneurship opportunities for the rural youth.

The initiative also demonstrates how advanced wireless technologies can be used for social and economic empowerment, helping to bridge information poverty gaps through last-mile information access and delivery of services.

(Krishna SinhaChaudhury can be contacted at krishna.s@ians.in)
Kolkata, Aug 24 : As floods ravage India and its neighbours, experts at IIT-Kharagpur (IIT-Kgp) say states with high forest cover are more likely to better cope with the damage caused.

In a study published in the journal Land Use Policy in July, researchers from the institute examined the impact of forest cover on flood damage in terms of human lives lost and population affected from 1998 to 2011 across all Indian states except Telangana, which came into existance only in 2014.

"The study findings indicate that for a majority of states, the presence of forest cover tends to protect human lives and reduce the adverse consequences of floods significantly," PhD scholar Kasturi Bhattacharjee of IIT-Kgp's Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, told IANS.

According to the analysis, the average number of lives lost is quite high in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

The states which have recorded a high number of people affected by floods include Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Uttarakhand.

Bhattacharjee said while for some states (such as West Bengal, Uttarakhand), the damage declined with increasing presence of forest cover during the study period, this did not apply to other states like Madhya Pradesh.

Madhya Pradesh, incidentally, is the state which has recorded the highest average forest cover at 76,294.07 sq. km. (24.75 per cent of its geographical area).

The average number of people affected and the number of human lives lost in the state during 1998-2011 were 802,687.5 and 26.14, respectively.

"For Madhya Pradesh, despite increasing forest cover, flood damage has increased. This could be linked to the percentage of forest cover and percentage of flood-prone area in terms of total geographical area of the state as well as the socio-economic parameters contributing to the state's vulnerability," Bhattacharjee explained.

On the other hand, Bihar registers the highest average number of lives lost and people affected (246.07 and 777,7357.14, respectively).

It has an average forest cover of 7,425.64 sq. km (0.08 per cent of its geographical area).

The cause of its high magnitude of devastation in floods may be due to the socio-economic backwardness, coupled with low forest cover, Bhattacharjee said.

States with a higher literacy rate tend to experience less flood damage.

"This suggests that as the awareness level of people increases, they are better prepared for floods and thereby the damage from floods reduces significantly. Also, it is often found that educated people tend to react faster during flood emergencies compared to their uneducated counterparts," Bhattacharjee said.

Data for the analysis was culled from the Forest Survey of India (FSI) of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, web portal www.indiastat.com and census reports for 1991, 2001 and 2011.

"Active involvement of local people in protection and management of forest resources is essential because state controlled forest management mechanism has failed in India," said study co-author Bhagirath Behera, Associate Professor at IIT-Kgp's Department of Humanities and Social Sciences.

The findings also have important policy implications for South Asian countries such as Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The study warns that if population growth is not controlled in low-lying inundation-prone zones, it is likely that the damage may increase in future, especially in flood-susceptible areas of India as well as other South Asian countries.

"To prevent flood damage, the need of the hour is to shift the focus from flood protection/relief to flood resilience/adaptation, as the majority of structural measures have failed in the past.

"Enhancing flood resilience/adaptive capacity by using non-structural measures such as afforestation drives is a way forward," the experts note.

Lauding the study for establishing the link in a meaningful way, natural hazards/ecohazards and disaster management scientist Tuhin Ghosh raised questions on the impact on forests themselves.

"While minimising the loss on society, are forests being highly impacted in terms of their coverage, health, soil/water quality and ecosystem services?" Ghosh, Assistant Professor, Department of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University, asked while speaking to IANS.

Further, Ghosh said he is not really convinced that literacy can always indicate the level of awareness.

"My personal experience is that the better-off literate people are not in a position to act properly during a flood situation. In contrast, illiterate rural people know how to manage floods more efficiently," he added.

(Sahana Ghosh can be contacted at sahana.g@ians.in)
Kolkata, Aug 24 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court's ruling that the right to privacy is a fundamental right.

"We welcome this verdict," Banerjee tweeted.

In a landmark judgement, a nine-judge Constitution bench unanimously held that right to privacy is a fundamental right guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
Canberra, Aug 24 : Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) President John Coates on Thursday rejected calls for his resignation, after an independent review of the organisation found its culture was "out of step" with "Olympic ideals".

Coates, who earlier this year fought off a board challenge from retired Australian athlete Danni Roche, has previously been accused of doing little to rein in high-ranking colleague and AOC Media Director Mike Tancred's alleged bullying of former AOC Chief Executive Fiona de Jong, who resigned last October, reports Xinhua news agency.

The findings, released on Thursday, said the AOC staff described the organisation as having cultural problems under Coates' watch, but despite the review calling for a re-evaluation of the AOC's cultural practices, Coates told reporters that he would not be standing down.

"Why should I resign? There has been no confirmation of bullying," Coates told press on Thursday.

"There has been some criticism of senior leaders -- I'm the President, I'm not the senior leader that is being criticised. There has been no treatment of the staff by me that is objectionable."

The AOC President went on to say that he welcomes the recommendations handed down in the report, acknowledging that the current governance model is not working.

"I'm very pleased with this report because the first recommendation addressed a big issue for us, and that is that we need to assess whether the governance model is fit for us," Coates said.

"The model we have adopted, I acknowledge, is not fit for purpose -- as the report points out."

The review was ordered after claims were made against Tancred, who has since stepped down from his role.

The report said while staff had "immense pride" for what the AOC has achieved in recent years, there was a culture problem plaguing the organization.

"It is clear that the organization is currently facing significant challenges. The modes of operation that may at one time have served it well are being questioned and its organizational culture has come under scrutiny," the findings said.

"While staff and stakeholders hold the AOC in high regard and express immense pride in what the organization has achieved over the years, they describe the organisation as being out of step -- with both their ideals and minimum expectations for a modern organisation.

"Instead of seeing the organization as celebrating the best of the Olympic ideals, staff and stakeholders speak of a more immediate horizon of challenges and difficulties that stem from a culture that is not aligned with the ideals that the organisation aspires to uphold."

The review also wants the AOC to answer the question of "how it can play a leadership role as an organisation in the Olympic family" while simultaneously "progressing the interests and ambitions of Australia".

"As it happens, the majority of the AOC's values are neither strongly nor consistently expressed in practice," the report said.

"Indeed, the AOC values are not widely recognized by staff, nor do they resonate strongly with them."

The report also said that the AOC should implement an organisation-wide "culture plan" and should "manage the risk of poor culture" before it becomes a problem.

Meanwhile, AOC member and winter Olympics Chef de Mission Ian Chesterman was named as as summer Olympics Chef de Mission for Tokyo in 2020.
Chandigarh, Aug 24 : Keeping in view the gravity of the situation, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday asked the Centre to provide additional forces ahead of a judgment by a CBI court in a rape case against Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

The High Court acting tough against Haryana for its apparent "failure" to maintain law and order, took the call ahead of the special Panchkula CBI court's verdict on Friday.

The court's observation came when the petitioner's counsel Ravinder Singh Dhull said more than 1.5 lakh Dera followers have already reached Panchkula city despite prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC.

Apprehending violence in case the court's judgment went against the sect chief on Friday, a Division Bench of acting Chief Justice Surinder Singh Saron and Justice Avneesh Jhingan said they "did not want a situation similar to the Jat reservation stir".

Without mincing words, the judges were categorically clear in saying the High Court could initiate action against the Director General of Police in case the state failed to ensure security.

Directing the Centre through the Home Secretary to provide forces, the bench asked it to make its own assessment of the situation.

The bench asked Haryana Additional Advocate General Pawan Girdhar to intervene in the matter and also sought the assistance of Punjab Additional Advocate General P.P.S Thethi in the tense situation prevailing in both the states ahead of the CBI court verdict.

A lawyer on Wednesday moved the High Court, seeking directions to Haryana to make adequate security arrangements ahead of the pronouncement of the verdict.

A Central Bureau of Investigation court in Panchkula adjoining Chandigarh has asked the sect chief to appear in the court on August 25, when it will pronounce its judgment.

The case has been going on since 2007.

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 Dera chief on Thursday appealed to his followers to maintain peace.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : In a major boost to individual freedom, the Supreme Court on Friday declared that right to privacy was a fundamental right and protected as an intrinsic part of life and personal liberty and freedoms guaranteed by Constitution.

Rejecting the government's contention that privacy was not a fundamental right, a nine-judge Constitution bench unanimously overturned two earlier rulings in the M.P. Sharma and Kharak Singh cases that held that the right to privacy was not protected by the Constitution.

"The right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and as a part of the freedoms guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution. Decisions subsequent to Kharak Singh which enunciated the above (line) lay down the correct position in law," the bench headed by Chief Justice J.S. Khehar said.

There were six judgements written by the nine judges but all of them were unanimous in asserting that right to privacy was a fundamental right.

The other judges in the bench were Justices J. Chelameswar, S.A. Bobde, R.K. Agrawal, Rohinton F. Nariman, A.M. Sapre, D.Y. Chandrachud, S.K. Kaul and S. Abdul Nazeer. They were ruling on petitions filed by retired Karnataka High Court judge Justice K.S. Puttaswamy and others against the union government on the issue.

In his ruling, Justice Kaul said: "Let the right of privacy, an inherent right, be unequivocally a fundamental right embedded in part III of the Constitution but subject to the restrictions specified, relatable to that part. This is the call of today. The old order changeth yielding place to new."

Writing for four judges, including the Chief Justice, Justice Chandrachud observed that the contention by the union government and the states supporting it that it was not necessary to read a constitutional right to privacy into the fundamental rights as betraying lack of understanding of the reason why rights were protected in the first place in the Indian Constitution as part of fundamental rights.

The Centre and some states had argued that there was a statutory regime by virtue of which the right to privacy was adequately protected. It was also sought to be fortified by contending that privacy was merely a common law right and the statutory protection reflected that.

"Elevating a right to the position of a constitutionally protected right places it beyond the pale of legislative majorities. When a constitutional right such as the right to equality or right to life assumes the character of being a part of the basic structure of the Constitution, it assumes inviolable status: inviolability even in the face of the power of amendment. Ordinary legislation is not beyond the pale of legislative modification.

"A statutory right can be modified, curtailed or annulled by a simple enactment of the legislature. In other words, statutory rights are subject to the compulsion of legislative majorities. The purpose of infusing a right with a constitutional element is precisely to provide it a sense of immunity from popular opinion and, as its reflection, from legislative annulment."

The four judges also rejected the government's argument placed by the then Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi that the right to privacy was an elitist construct.

"The Attorney General argued before us that the right to privacy must be forsaken in the interest of welfare entitlements provided by the State. In our view, the submission that the right to privacy is an elitist construct which stands apart from the needs and aspirations of the large majority constituting the rest of society, is unsustainable.

"This submission betrays a misunderstanding of the constitutional position. Our Constitution places the individual at the forefront of its focus, guaranteeing civil and political rights in Part III and embodying an aspiration for achieving socio-economic rights in Part IV. The refrain that the poor need no civil and political rights and are concerned only with economic well-being has been utilised though history to wreak the most egregious violations of human rights."

They held that the right to question, the right to scrutinize and the right to dissent enabled an informed citizenry to scrutinize the actions of the government.

"Those who are governed are entitled to question those who govern, about the discharge of their constitutional duties including in the provision of socio-economic welfare benefits. The theory that civil and political rights are subservient to socio-economic rights has been urged in the past and has been categorically rejected ... by this court."

The judges said civil and political rights and socio-economic rights do not exist in a state of antagonism as they they "are complementary and not mutually exclusive".

Dealing with the essential nature of privacy, the judges held that privacy represents the core of human personality and recognizes the ability of each individual to make choices and take decisions governing matters intimate and personal.

About informational privacy, the judges observed that apart from national security, the State may have justifiable reasons for collection and storage of data.

"But the data has to be utilised for legitimate purposes and not unauthorisedly for extraneous purposes. This will ensure legitimate concerns of the State are duly safeguarded while, at the same time, protecting privacy concerns.

"Prevention and investigation of crime and protection of the revenue are among the legitimate aims of the State."

They held informational privacy a facet of the right to privacy and said there were dangers to it in an age of information "not only from the State but from non-State actors as well".

"We commend to the Union Government the need to examine and put into place a robust regime for data protection."

In his judgement, Justice Chelameswar said all liberal democracies believe that the State should not have unqualified authority to intrude into certain aspects of human life.

"Fundamental rights are the only constitutional firewall to prevent State's interference with those core freedoms constituting liberty of a human being."
New Delhi, Aug 24 : Ride-hailing applications Ola and Uber on Thursday announced their partnership with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to provide services in Kolkata, Chennai, Bhubaneshwar and Pune airports.

Ola said it would extend its range of mobility offering to commuters through designated "Ola Zones" and "Kiosks" at the four airports.

"The partnership will enable Ola driver partners to park their vehicles at a designated area, bringing down the estimated time of arrival to as low as two minutes," the cab aggregator said in a statement.

The statement said "Ola Zones" would also serve as designated pick-up and drop-off points, delivering enhanced boarding experience to hundreds of thousands of travellers frequenting these four airports.

Saurabh Mishra, Director-Alliances at Ola, said: "This strategic alliance with AAI, assures a hassle free mobility experience for millions of passengers in these four cities."

Cab-hailing app Uber said their service would be operational in the airports in Kolkata, Chennai, Bhubaneshwar and Pune in a couple of weeks.

The company said it would set up booking zones at the airports, enabling passengers even without the app to book a ride.

"We are encouraged by the collaborative step from the AAI, enabling Uber to offer these solutions that marry the strengths of public air transit with the convenience and reliability of Uber, getting riders to and from transit stops to reach their ultimate destination," said David Richter, Global Head of Business and Corporate Development.
Morning briefing: Haribo will get $21 million in state incentives for new candy plant in Pleasant Prairie
Manila, Aug 24 : Environmental activists and netizens on Thursday hailed the cancellation of an undersea attraction and resort project that Nickelodeon plans to build on Palawan, an island province dubbed as "the last ecological frontier" in the Philippines.

In January, Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) unveiled its plan to build a 400-hectare park on Coron, Palawan, reports Xinhua news agency.

Nickelodeon said Palawan, known to have some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, is an ideal location for its multi-million-dollar project.

The Philippine Department of Tourism welcomed the project, saying that it will attract more tourists to visit the country.

But local environment group "Save Philippine Seas" was alarmed by the project and immediately created a petition opposing the project due to potential damage to its rich biodiversity and natural wonders.

It said in its petition that "building artificial structures will undeniably damage and disrupt Palawan's marine ecosystems".

The online petition against the project garnered nearly 270,000 signatures.

However, it stressed that "the battle is not over: we still need to remain vigilant and monitor updates about the proposed attraction".

VIMN said in its recent statement that it has decided to "mutually agree" with project developer Coral World Park (CWP) "to discontinue the IP licensing agreement" for the project.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday hailed the Supreme Court judgment on right to privacy, saying it heralds a new era for individual rights, personal liberty and human dignity.

In a statement, she slammed the Modi government and said the judgment strikes a blow on the "unbridled encroachment and surveillance by the state and its agencies in the life of the common man".

"The Supreme Court judgement on 'Fundamental Right to Privacy' heralds a new era for individual rights, personal liberty and human dignity," Gandhi said.

"The Congress and our governments along with other opposition parties stood together, in court and in Parliament, to speak out for the right to privacy and dignity of all Indians against the arrogant attempts of the present government to curtail them," she added.

The Supreme Court on Thursday held that the right to privacy was a fundamental right and was an integral part of the right to life and liberty.
Kabul, Aug 24 : Afghanistan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has signed a decree for the implementation of a partnership agreement signed previously by Kabul and Washington, the presidential palace said on Thursday.

The Office of the President said the decree was signed on Wednesday during the meeting of Bilateral Compact Executive Committee, known as Compact. It was attended by high level officials from both countries, including the US Embassy Charge d'Affaires and Commander of the US forces for Afghanistan, Khaama Press reported.

"The Compact is an Afghan-led initiative to demonstrate the government's commitment to creating a peaceful, stable, and prosperous society and is an important factor upon which the US relied when developing key components of the US South Asia Policy, launched by President Donald Trump on August 21," the palace said in a statement.

During the meeting, Afghan and US working groups highlighted the completion of the Compact's four matrices focusing on governance, economics, peace and reconciliation, and security.

The partnership agreement was signed by former US President Barack Obama and former Afghan President Hamid Karzai in 2012.
Islamabad, Aug 24 : Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Thursday met the top military leadership to formulate a response to the new US policy on Afghanistan that includes greater pressure on Islamabad to do more to rein in militants.

The meeting was attended by senior civil and military officials, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and service chiefs, besides the Defence, Interior, Foreign Affairs and Finance Ministers.

Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar and National Security Adviser Lt Gen Nasser Janjua (retd) were also in attendance, Geo News reported.

Sources said the Director General of Military Operations briefed the meeting over the ongoing military operations on the Pakistan-Afghan border as well as the internal security situation of the country and the situation along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

The weekly press briefing of the Foreign Office was postponed until Friday in view of the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting -- the Prime Minister's second since he assumed office on August 1.

Abbasi's first NSC meeting was held on August 16 and focused on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and "unprovoked" cross-border firing.

Abbasi on Wednesday dashed to Saudi Arabia for a day-long visit following Trump's policy speech, and held a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

The national security meeting is being held to come up with a combined response after President Donald Trump chastised Pakistan for harbouring terrorists and providing safe havens to militant groups waging an insurgency against a US-backed government in Kabul.

White House officials have gone further and threatened aid and military cuts, as well as other measures to force Pakistan's hand and force them to help bring about an end to the 16-year-old war.

Abbasi was yet to respond to Trump's remarks, but Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said Washington must work with Islamabad "instead of relying on the false narrative of safe havens". Pakistan denies harbouring militants.

Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who is part of the meeting, on Wednesday told US Ambassador David Hale that Islamabad will continue to do what it is doing in Afghanistan out of its national interests, not to appease Washington.

Hale called on the Army chief and told him that the US valued Pakistan's role in the war against terror and was seeking cooperation from it to resolve the Afghan issue, a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations said.
Kochi/Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 24 : Thursday brought mixed news for Kerala Health Minister K.K. Shailaja, who is facing nepotism charges.

While she got a huge relief in court, with a division bench of the Kerala High Court deciding to expunge the remarks made by a single judge against her last week, the state Lokayukta ordered a probe in the same case.

Shailaja is under fire over the appointment of one of her party members to the state Commission for Protection of Child Rights, while the candidature of a qualified woman was overlooked.

Following the single judge observation that the Minister had misused her office, the Congress-led opposition has been up in arms in the state Assembly.

For the past four days, five of the opposition legislators have been on an indefinite protest in the foyer of the House demanding that she quit.

With Thursday being the last day of the present session of the Assembly, the matter again surfaced as Congress legislator K.C. Joseph sought leave for an adjournment motion but like earlier, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan ruled out Shailaja's resignation.

Following this, the opposition legislators walked out of the House.

This is the first time in the state that a minister has been so rapped by the high court.

After the observation by the single judge, the state government approached the division bench for the remarks to be expunged and got a relief. The case, however, has been posted for further hearing on Friday.

The happiness for Shailaja though was short-lived as the Thiruvananthapuram-based Lokayukta, after going through a complaint by Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala, found that there was a case in it and asked Shailaja to appear on September 16 with all the documents.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : Affirming India's priority on data protection, IT and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday said the government does not give the right to release data to anyone, except in case of compelling public interest.

"As the IT minister of the country, I can't give my data or fingerprint to anyone. Government does not give the right to release data to anyone, except in case of compelling public interest and this compelling public interest shall be affirmed first by the Joint Secretary Home Ministry, vetted by a committee of the Cabinet Secretary, IT Secretary and Law," Prasad told reporters at a press meet here.

He was addressing media persons about the government's stand on the right to privacy following the apex court's judgment on Thursday declaring privacy a fundamental right under the Constitution.

"Let me clarify, the Narendra Modi government is very proud to be seen as India's digital power. And India is today recognised worldwide as an emerging digital power for Digital India, Make in India.

"There are 118 crore mobile connections. There are 50 crore plus smartphones. India will be a global digital power and we can take good care of our cyber security and safety. I am very happy that all the big international companies are coming to India in a big way. There is Google, Facebook, WhatsApp... they are all welcome," the minister said.

"We have already outlined that data is important and the government is very keen that in robust use of data with due regard to safety and security India must lead an international benchmark like we did in the case of Aadhaar," he added.

The Supreme Court ruling, by a nine-judge bench headed by Chief Justice J.S. Khehar, will have a bearing on the challenge to the validity of the Aadhaar scheme on the grounds of it being violative of the right to privacy.

Prasad asserted that like all other fundamental rights, the right to privacy is also not an absolute right.

Saying that data protection is one of the key focus of the government, the minister said the government had already formed a committee for data protection.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has constituted an experts committee to study and identify key data protection issues and recommend methods for addressing them.

The committee, headed by the Supreme Court's former Judge B.N. Srikrishna, was constituted on July 31, 2017. The committee comprises members from the government, academia and industry.

"The committee will also suggest a draft Data Protection Bill. Protection of data is expected to provide a big boost to the digital economy of the country," the government said earlier in a statement.
Chandigarh, Aug 24 : The Punjab government has declared a public holiday in all its offices here on Friday, the day a CBI court will pronounce its judgment in a rape case against Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

All government offices located in Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, will be closed on Friday, a government spokesperson told IANS.

A Central Bureau of Investigation court in Panchkula, adjoining Chandigarh, has asked the sect chief to appear in the court on Friday when it will pronounce its judgment.

The case has been going on since 2007.

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 in the Dera campus on the outskirts of Sirsa town in Haryana, 260 km from Chandigarh.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : Saying the Modi government was getting into a deeper strategic embrace with the US, the CPI-M has alleged that this will prove to be a serious threat to India's sovereignty and independence.

"The subordination of India's military and strategic resources to the US is a serious threat to the country's sovereignty and independence," an editorial in the CPI-M journal People's Democracy said.

"It appears (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi will do his utmost to endear himself to the Trump establishment," the editorial said.

The editorial said it was reported that US Defence Secretary General James Mattis was expected to visit India later this year.

"The plan is to inaugurate the logistics exchange agreement (LEMOA) by refuelling and servicing the air force plane which will bring him to India. LEMOA is an agreement which facilitates the use of Indian bases by American war planes and naval ships.

"The growing military entanglement with the US comes in the background of the continuing stand-off with China on the Doklam Plateau. The US realises that this is an opportune time to further draw in India into its strategic net.

"The US is pressing India to broaden the annual Malabar exercises by including Australia. This would make it a quadrilateral exercise involving the two closest allies of the US - Japan and Australia - apart from India.

"The Modi government has also taken steps to open up defence production in India to the US arms companies with its decision to open up all key sectors of weapons production to Indian corporate and foreign multinational companies," it said.
Lucknow, Aug 24 : The Bahujan Samaj Party on Thursday said it will not join the August 27 rally -- Bhajpa Bhagao, Desh Bachao -- in Patna, dealing a blow to Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad's bid to stitch together a front of all opposition parties.

The history of such experiments has not been heartening, hence the party has decided not to be part of the rally called by Lalu Prasad at Gandhi Maidan in Patna, BSP chief Mayawati told reporters in Lucknow.

"In the past too, the BSP has entered into alliances with some parties but our experience has not been too good, after alliances the other parties have back-stabbed the BSP," she said, adding that it has been often noticed that after elections, alliances disintegrate.

The four-time Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, however, hinted that she could entertain the grand alliance plan in future if seat sharing was in favour of the BSP.

The party had earlier dissociated itself from a poster on Twitter showing Mayawati with other opposition leaders. It even had a picture of her with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who is at daggers drawn with the BSP.

Akhilesh Yadav is flying to Patna on August 27 to attend and address the rally, said party chief spokesman Rajendra Choudhary.
Chandigarh, Aug 24 : Authorities imposed curfew-like restrictions in Chandigarh and at nearby Panchkula and shut mobile internet services in Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh for three days from Thursday as a special CBI court prepared to give its verdict in a rape case against Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on Friday.

Fearing violence by the huge mass of Dera supporters gathered at the sect headquarters at Sirsa in Haryana and at Panchkula where the court is based, officials announced several other restrictive steps even as the sect chief appealed to his followers to maintain peace.

Plying of buses to Chandigarh and Panchkula would be suspended till Friday. Likewise, the Railways cancelled 22 trains bound for Haryana. A Northern Railway spokesman said six trains going to Haryana were cancelled on Thursday.

Nearly two lakh sect followers have descended on Panchkula, where the CBI court is based, and nearby places from mostly across Punjab and Haryana.

Ending speculation, sect chief Ram Rahim Singh said he would appear before the court on Friday. "I have always respected the law. Despite a pain in my back, I will obey the law and must visit the court," he tweeted in Hindi on Thursday.

He urged his followers to maintain peace. "I believe in God. All should maintain peace."

The sect chief, who has lakhs of followers mainly in Punjab and Haryana, has been accused by a former female follower of raping her in the sprawling Dera campus on the outskirts of Sirsa, 260 km from Chandigarh.

The hearing in the case has been going on since 2007.

More than 15,000 paramilitary personnel have been deployed in Punjab and Haryana, a senior official told IANS.

In a bid to discourage more people from reaching Panchkula, Haryana Roadways stopped plying buses for two days bound for Chandigarh and Panchkula.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar told all ministers and legislators to be in their constituencies till Friday.

Haryana Additional Chief Secretary Ram Niwas told reporters that mobile internet services would be shut in Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh for three days in a bid to prevent spread of rumours relating to the court verdict.

He said this decision was taken at a meeting of Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh officials held here on Thursday.

He said a joint control room of Haryana and Punjab would be set up in Chandigarh.

Niwas said prohibitory orders had been imposed in all districts of Haryana and carrying of weapons had been prohibited.

"Besides extra police force, 18 companies of paramilitary forces would be available by this evening," he said.

Ten senior IPS officers have been deployed and two Additional Director General-level officers have been told to ensure peace. In addition, 10 Duty Magistrates will be at various locations.

As a precaution, the administration has declared a three-day holiday in all schools in Chandigarh till Saturday. The Haryana government too has closed all colleges and libraries in Panchkula district till Friday.

In Punjab, prohibitory orders have been imposed and all schools and colleges would be closed on Friday, a government spokesperson told IANS.

All Punjab government offices located in Chandigarh will be closed on Friday.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who reviewed a security meeting here on Wednesday, directed authorities to withdraw 1,000 police personnel from VVIP security and deploy them to strengthen security in the state.

A riot control room has been set up in Panchkula.

The government has declared Chaudhary Tau Devi Lal Stadium Complex in Panchkula and Dalbir Singh Indoor Stadium is Sirsa town as Speical Jails.
Kabul, Aug 24 : A top US general in Afghanistan on Thursday vowed to annihilate the Islamic State militant group and crush the remains of Al Qaeda after US President Donald Trump announced a new policy for the region.

Addressing a press conference in Kabul, Gen. John Nicholson also called the Taliban a "criminal organisation" and urged it to return to diplomacy, after years of a failed peace process with the Afghan government.

"Taliban have a simple choice: Stop fighting against your countrymen. Stop killing innocent civilians. Stop bringing hardship and misery," Gen. Nicholson was quoted as saying by Tolo News.

"It's time for them to join the peace process," he said.

On the Islamic State, Gen. Nicholson said the group was being crushed in Nangarhar and that the US will pursue them wherever else they choose to make their stand.

He also stated that: "We will continue to crush the remnants of Al Qaeda and will increase our pressure on all terrorist groups."

Gen. Nicholson and Hugo Llorens, the US Embassy's Special Charge d'Affaires, who also attended the conference said that Trump's new strategy for Afghanistan was a promise to the people in Afghanistan that together they would defeat terrorism.

"We will not fail in Afghanistan. Our national security depends on that as well," Gen. Nicholson said.

He said that the US and NATO stand by the Afghan security forces against terrorists and enemies of Afghanistan.

"Let me say to the brave people of Afghanistan who only wish to live in a peaceful country: US, your NATO allies and partners are with you. This policy announcement by (President) Donald Trump is proof of our continued commitment."

The US's new strategy is guided by conditions on the ground, and not by "arbitrary timelines", he said. The general did not disclose the number of additional troops expected to be sent to Afghanistan.

Gen. Nicholson said that the strategy encompassed all regional countries and that "we look to Pakistan to take decisive action against militant groups."
New Delhi, Aug 24 : Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday rejected suggestions that the Supreme Court verdict on privacy was a setback and said the Modi government has viewed the right to privacy as a fundamental right.

Addressing a press conference here after the Supreme Court held that the right to privacy is a fundamental right and an integral part of the right to life and liberty, Prasad said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had articulated the government's view on the right to privacy while moving the Aadhaar bill for passage in Parliament in 2016.

He attacked the Congress for accusing the government of curbing individual rights and said the opposition party had not enacted any legislation regarding getting information under the Aadhaar framework.

"The government clearly saw the right of privacy as a fundamental right," Prasad said.

Asked if it was a setback, Prasad said "Not the least".

"...Whether it was Arun Jaitley's observation or Attorney General's arguments, both have been upheld by the court," he said.

"The government welcomes the view of the Supreme Court, which is consistent with all the necessary safeguards that the government has been ensuring in its legislative proposals which had been approved by Parliament," Prasad said.

He said Jaitley while moving the Aadhaar Bill had clearly stated "Is privacy a fundamental right or not? The present Bill pre-supposes and is based on the premise and that it is too late in date to contend that privacy is not a fundamental right".

"So, I do accept that probably privacy is a fundamental right. Now, where do you fit privacy as a fundamental right? It is contended and broadly it is now accepted that privacy is a part of the individual liberty. So when Article 21 says, no person shall be deprived of his Right to Life and Liberty without procedure established by law, then let us assume that privacy is a part of liberty and no person shall be deprived of his privacy without procedure as established by law," Prasad said quoting Jaitley.

He said the right to privacy was not an absolute right and was subject to reasonable restrictions as applicable to the right to liberty, freedom and free speech.

The Minister said the essence of the apex court judgment is a "wider affirmation" of the remarks made by Jaitley.

Prasad, who is also IT and Communications Minister, said the government was keen on robust data protection laws and has appointed an expert committee to suggest a draft Data Protection Bill and to identify key data protection issues.

"Robust data protection regime is needed to balance individual interests and state interests," he said.

Attacking the Congress, Prasad said the previous UPA government was seeking data under Aadhaar without formulating a law and the National Democratic Alliance government had brought the legislation after coming to power.

Prasad said the government cannot give permission for release of data except in compelling circumstances for which there is a strict laid down procedure.

"The Congress has been attacking us from morning. The Left has also joined it. What has been the Congress record in protection of individual liberty," Prasad asked.

He said individual liberty and media freedom had been severely curtailed during the internal Emergency imposed by the Congress in 1975.

Prasad also referred to Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi's remarks that the apex court decision marks a major blow to fascist forces and said the Congress leader does not do his homework properly.

He said about 30 crore Jan Dhan accounts have been opened which have been linked to Aadhaar and also mobile numbers.

Prasad said the poor were getting subsidies directly in their account and a saving of about Rs 57,000 crore had been made over the last three years. He said the amount used to be pocketed by middle men. "The poor are very happy with this as the (subsidy) amount is directly going to their account."

Asked about the impact of the judgment on section 377 of IPC, which criminalises gay sex, Prasad said he will speak on the issue in due course.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : From Kamal Haasan to Onir to Dia Mirza to Sridhar Rangayan, celebrities took to social media to welcome the Supreme Court's judgment declaring the Right to Privacy a fundamental right, and said it is time to rethink Section 377, which criminalises gay sex.

In a major boost to individual freedom, the Supreme Court on Thursday declared that right to privacy was a fundamental right and protected as an intrinsic part of life and personal liberty and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.

Filmmaker and gay rights activist Sridhar Rangayan said it is "a big day for the LGBTQ community in India".

"I am truly overwhelmed by the Supreme Court verdict on right to privacy, and the parts of the judgment which specifically mention that sexual orientation should be a guaranteed right under the Constitution," said Rangayan, who hosts the Kashish LGBTQ Mumbai Film Festival.

"This is a big day for the LGBTQ community in India who have been fighting for their rights for over two decades. This verdict vindicates our appeal for equal rights as citizens of India. I feel truly happy and free," he added.

In 2009, the Delhi High Court had ruled that Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was unconstitutional. But in December 2013, the Supreme Court overturned the verdict.

"Shab" director Onir, who has always been vocal about sexuality and LGBTQ issues, also asked the apex court to look into Section 377.

"Landmark judgment by Supreme Court after Triple Talaq Verdict. Right To Privacy -- fundamental right under the Constitution. Lets talk 377," posted Onir, whose film "My BrotherANikhil" dealt with AIDS and gay-related issues.

Kamal said there is "nothing vague or amorphous" about the judgment.

"People thank the honourable judges. These are moments that make India," he added.

Producer Shirish Kunder appreciated the move by saying: "We live in wonderful times, where we are grateful to just get our fundamental rights back. Right To Privacy."

Actress Dia Mirza got patriotic with her tweet as she said this is "one of the many reasons why I love my country! Hail democracy".

Actors Ranvir Shorey and Annup Sonii also welcomed the judgment.

TV personality Raghu Ram, who was last seen on the silver screen in "Tees Maar Khan", became a fan of the apex court after the verdict.

"I'm a fan of the Supreme Court all over again! Two landmark judgments in three days! Killing it, Right To Privacy, Triple Talaq."
New Delhi, Aug 24 : The Supreme Court's judgment declaring the Right to Privacy a fundamental right will have no direct impact on WhatsApp and Facebook, a cyber security expert said on Thursday.

"The reason for this is Facebook and WhatsApp are private entities. These private entities don't get covered under the ambit of fundamental rights as they are enforced under Part 3 of the Indian constitution and they are only enforceable to state action," Pavan Duggal, a Supreme Court advocate and cyber law expert, told IANS.

Earlier, the Delhi High Court had restrained WhatsApp from sharing with Facebook the user information existing upto September 25, 2016 when its new privacy policy came into effect.

"WhatsApp has to completely delete all data of users who chooses to opt out of the instant messaging app after the coming into force of its new privacy policy," the court had ruled.

The Supreme Court on Friday declared that right to privacy was a fundamental right and protected as an intrinsic part of life and personal liberty and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.

Rejecting the government's contention that privacy was not a fundamental right, a nine-judge Constitution bench unanimously overturned two earlier rulings in the M.P. Sharma and Kharak Singh cases that held that the right to privacy was not protected by the Constitution.

"That effectively means if the state violates the fundamental rights, you can challenge them in a court of law. A private person is not an instrumentality of the state," Duggal said.

According to him, the ramifications of this judgment on the digital and mobile eco-system will be "fascinating" to examine.

"Because in physical world, privacy is a well understood concept but privacy in the digital world is not defined," he said, adding that the government has to quickly wake up to the reality of the connection between privacy and cybersecurity.

WhatsApp had informed the High Court that when a user account was deleted, the information of that person was no longer retained on its servers.

IT and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the government does not give the right to release data to anyone, except in case of compelling public interest.

"There are 118 crore mobile connections. There are 50 crore plus smartphones. India will be a global digital power and we can take good care of our cyber security and safety. I am very happy that all the big international companies are coming to India in a big way. There is Google, Facebook, WhatsApp... they are all welcome," the minister said.
Bangkok, Aug 24 : Former United Nations General Secretary Kofi Annan has put forward 88 recommendations to deal with the sectarian violence in Rakhine province of Myanmar and to foster development in the region.

Annan, who chaired the inquiry commission set up by the Myanmar government, on Thursday proposed addressing the restrictions on citizenship and movement of the country's Muslim Rohingya minority to prevent and resolve the sectarian conflict in the western state of Rakhine, Efe news reported.

"Unless concerted action, led by the government and aided by all sectors of the government and society, is taken soon, we risk the return of another cycle of violence and radicalisation," Annan said in a statement.

"If adopted and implemented in the spirit in which they were conceived, I firmly believe that our recommendations, along with those of our interim report, can trace a path to lasting peace, development and respect for the rule of law in Rakhine State."

The 63-page document, handed over to Myanmar's President Htin Kyaw on Wednesday, avoids using the word Rohingya for this minority, identifies the apartheid-like condition of the community and the serious discriminations it suffers as a cause of the human rights crisis in Rakhine.

The commission proposes measures to resolve the restrictions Rohingyas face to obtain citizenship and encourages dialogue between communities, while urging authorities to avoid responding with excessive force in face of the tensions between the Buddhist majority and the Muslim minority.

It also proposes several measures to foster the economic development in the region and the creation of a ministerial-level position to coordinate and implement the recommendations in Rakhine.

The preparation of the report, commissioned a year ago, was altered in the wake of an armed assault in October 2016, attributed to Rohingya rebels that led to an Army offensive in the region, the report said.

More than a million members of the Muslim minority Rohingyas reside in Rakhine, where they suffer growing discrimination due to the sectarian conflict which killed at least 160 people in 2012 and displaced nearly 120,000 Rohingyas living in 67 refugees camps.
Thiruvananthapuram, August 24 : The Lok Ayukta on Thursday ordered a probe against health and social justice minister K K Shailaja in connection with the allegation that she abused her powers to induct her nominee in the state child rights commission.

The order for probe against the minister came on a petition filed by leader of the opposition Ramesh Chennithala.

The lok ayukta directed the minister to produce all files pertinent to the case before it by September 14.

Earlier in the day, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan threw his weight behind his embattled cabinet colleague, ruling out the need for the minister to step down.

Hitting back at the opposition benchs demand for Ms. Shailajas resignation, Pinarayi said in the assembly that the opposition was raking up a controversy over the issue since they had run out of topics to corner the government.

The allegations against the health minister is that she deferred the deadline for submitting applications for vacancies in the state child rights panel so as to help a CPI(M) district committee member from Wayanad secure appointment in the panel.

The original deadline for submitting applications for vacancies in the child rights panel was 30 November 2016 but the minister allegedly extended the deadline to March 31 without giving any explanation.

However, in a major reprieve for Ms. Shailaja, a division bench of the Kerala high court on Thursday agreed to expunge the adverse remarks made against the minister by a single bench of the court.

A single bench had the other day put the health minister in the dock, noting that her decision to extend the last date for submitting applications for appointments to the state child rights panel was not made in good faith.

However, the division bench expunged the remarks, concurring with the governments argument that the single bench made the adverse observations against the minister without affording her an opportunity to make her case.

The division bench also observed that it was inappropriate to single out the minister for criticism in the case given that she was not even a party to the case.
Imphal, Aug 24 : Former Manipur Chief Minister and Congress leader Rishang Keishing, who died on Tuesday, was buried within the compound of his home in Mantri Pukhri near Imphal amid tight security on Thursday.

Family sources said the earlier plan was to take the veteran leader's body from Imphal to Bungpa, his native village in Ukhrul district, on Friday. But the family received a letter on Thursday morning from an armed group warning them not to take the body to Ukhrul.

The family declined to name the outfit. Accordingly, the burial date was advanced to Thursday.

Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, opposition leader and former Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh and many others attended the burial.

C.P. Joshi, General Secretary of the Congress, was present on behalf of the party. He also read out a condolence message from Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

Keishing died on Tuesday night in an Imphal hospital where he was admitted on July 1. He was 97 and is survived by his wife Kathingla, three sons and a daughter.

Earlier, Keishing's body was brought to the Congress office where the rank and file offered floral tributes. The party also flew its flag half mast.

As Manipur Chief Minister from 1980 to 1988 and from 1995 to 1998, he escaped assassination attempts by militants several times.

Keishing, who is of Tangkhul tribe from Ukhrul, faced death threats. On one occasion, militants ambushed him in Leishi village in Ukhrul district. Three security guards were killed but Keishing escaped unscathed.

A freedom fighter and a member of India's first Lok Sabha (1952-57), Keishing retired from the Rajya Sabha as its oldest member in 2014 after serving two terms.

Keishing said shortly before his death that he was not free to talk much in view of threat perceptions. He always spoke about integrity and communal harmony.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : In the backdrop of the government approving constitution of an alternate mechanism to oversee proposals of bank mergers, State Bank of India Managing Director Dinesh Khara on Thursday said the employees must be kept on board to alleviate their concerns during the process of consolidation.

"If we start looking at bank mergers from human angle, what is required is that the principal bank will have to address concerns of its own employees and also those of the entities getting merged. There are anxieties in terms of seniority issues and dislocation. If addressed objectively, human issues get addressed well. During the course of journey employees should be kept on board, else anxiety keeps on growing," Khara told BTVi in an interview.

The mechanism approved to be set up to oversee public sector banks' (PSBs) mergers, will give an in-principle approval to proposals brought by banks. Once the approval is accorded by this structure, the bank boards will deliberate on considerations, including profitability.

"Merger invariably involves pain, but eventually leads to gains in terms of efficiency parameters, optimising structure, leveraging branch network and improving treasury yields. The journey involves a bit of stress in the sense that the banks need to be aligned. Consider the fact that it will benefit in terms of credit scale and operations efficiency. Merger yields gains, but over a period of time, not in a quarter or so," he said.

Khara said that the pain of banks needs to be addressed for which the options are not many. Thus, consolidation is a good option if banks relatively of the same size are merged.

"The pain of banks having higher stress needs to be addressed. Options are not too many. But if it gets addressed by relatively stronger bank merging with relatively weaker bank -- not totally weak -- it will have benefit of risk management system. The better practices of relatively stronger bank get applied to the relatively weaker bank," he said.

"If such a merger is attempted, in initial case, banks may feel pain in terms of increased provisioning, but they will be able to pass on better assessment skills, which will create value to the book. Eventually the interest is in gaining vitality," he added.

The Managing Director said that however the banks should have the strength to withstand the initial stress.

"This kind of reorganisation is happening, it's a good way to merge. The only thing is that the entity in which the weaker bank is getting merged, it should have ability to withstand stress," he said.

He added that any timing for merger would be good, provided there was managerial bandwidth to take care of the increased provisioning.

"When it comes to recognition of stress in the system, there are various norms. Both banks will have to align their books. In the process both banks could be at different provisioning level. If the stress is recognised, it is making the bank future ready," he said.

Khara said that if the banks are in the same region, they would be catering to the same kind of customer base.

"They will be in a better position to administratively equip themselves to understand the customer. In different geographies, non-performing asset (NPA) levels are different. The bank understands local processes better and accordingly develops mitigation measures. In similar geographies, they would be able to reap economies of scale and work out the processes," he said.
Islamabad, Aug 24 : Top civil-military leadership in Pakistan on Thursday rejected US allegations that it was harbouring and sheltering terrorists, and asserted that Islamabad would not allow militants to use its soil against any country.

The comments came after a meeting here of the National Security Committee, chaired by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. The meeting was attended by senior civil and military officials, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and service chiefs, besides the Defence, Interior, Foreign Affairs and Finance Ministers.

Inter-Services Intelligence Director General Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar and National Security Adviser Lt Gen Nasser Janjua (retd) were also in attendance, Geo News reported.

The meeting that lasted for five hours discussed in detail the US policy review for South Asia and Afghanistan.

Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif and high-ranking military officials briefed the meeting on US President Donald Trump's policy and future strategy for the region.

The meeting said that the entire world, including the US, was aware and had admitted to Pakistan's struggle and achievements in the war on terror. "We had made sincere efforts to maintain peace in Afghanistan," the meeting said.

US senators had been taken on tours of the tribal areas cleared by the security forces.

The meeting decided to take all the parties, including the friendly countries, on board at diplomatic level.

Sources said the Director General of Military Operations also briefed the meeting over the ongoing military operations along the Pakistan-Afghan border as well as the internal security situation of the country and the situation at the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

The weekly press briefing of the Foreign Office was postponed until Friday in view of the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting -- the Prime Minister's second since he assumed office on August 1.

Abbasi's first NSC meeting was held on August 16 and focused on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and "unprovoked" cross-border firing.

Abbasi on Wednesday dashed to Saudi Arabia for a day-long visit following Trump's policy speech, and held a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

The NSC came after Trump chastised Pakistan for harbouring terrorists and providing safe havens to militant groups waging an insurgency against a US-backed government in Kabul.

Earlier, Asif said Washington must work with Islamabad "instead of relying on the false narrative of safe havens". Pakistan denies harbouring militants.

Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who was part of the NSC, on Wednesday told US Ambassador David Hale that Islamabad will continue to do what it is doing in Afghanistan out of its national interests, not to appease Washington.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : Anganwadi workers and helpers, protesting for the last 52 days outside Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal's residence here demanding increase in honorarium, ended their protest on Thursday.

Workers under Delhi State Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Association, also took out a victory march from Civil Lines till Delhi Assembly on Thursday afternoon.

The association said they called off the protest after a Gazette notification on the increase in honorarium was issued.

On July 22, the Delhi government had decided to double honorarium of around 22,000 Anganwadi workers and helpers from Rs 5,000 to Rs 9,678 and from Rs 2,500 to Rs 4,839, respectively.

Also, the Anganwadi workers were allowed an additional Rs 500 for internet bills and Rs 250 for helpers.

The decision taken in a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was then pending for Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal's approval.

On last Thursday, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that Baijal had given approval to the decision to double the salary.
Based on a 2008 Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling involving a Madison Walgreens, big box stores have sought to lower their assessments to reflect the value of other stores that are dark, or vacant. Officials from Wisconsin municipalities said they are being bombarded with assessment appeals for big box stores, which is burdening them with legal costs.
Kolkata, Aug 24 : Calling upon India and China to peacefully resolve the Doklam stand-off, British High Commissioner to India Dominic Asquith on Thursday ruled out any intervention on the part of his country as neither party has sought its services.

"We think, we still think, we always thought, and continue to think, it should be resolved peacefully. And so we look forward to these two countries - India and China - resolving the issue. They are trying to do."

Asquith said the two countries would get opportunities to discuss the issue in the next few weeks.

"A few opportunities are coming up in the next few weeks. I hope they make progress. We will support and encourage them," he said.

The High Commissioner said he had not held any discussions on the Doklam issue with Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui.

"No. it's not my business. I meet my opposite number from China, who is in Delhi, just as I meet the other envoys. But I did not talk to him on this (issue), because it is not my role, as a third party," he said.

Asquith answered in the negative when asked whether his country could play a role as a third party to work out a solution to the problem.

"I think we have been asked, neither by the Chinese side, nor the Indian side, to be involved. So since we have not been asked, it means we will not impose our services. If neither party wants us to intervene, we won't intervene."

About the security scenario in South Asia against the backdrop of the India-Pakistan tensions, Asquith said his country considered both nations as friends, but pointed out Britain has for long been standing by New Delhi on the issue of fighting terrorism.

"We have been standing shoulder to shoulder with India on the issue of fighting terrorism for a long long time. You notice, the first country (British Prime Minister Theresa) May visited outside the EU is India. So this is a very important relationship which we are going to take forward," he asserted.

However, Asquith was categorical that Britain would not intervene in the ongoing dispute between India and Pakistan.

"India and Pakistan both the countries are our friends. We value the relationship with them very deeply.We are not going to intervene between them just as we won't intervene between India and China on the issue of Doklam. Both the countries are very important for us," he added.

Emphasising the utmost importance of securing the data in a digital economy, he said they would be working more closely with India in order to protect the data in cyber space within the next couple of years.

"Digital economy is to make sure that people feel confident that their personal data is protected. So the cyber security is very important. we have been working on that very closely with India. We will go even more close in the next year or two.

"We would be collaborating with India in order to secure data that is out there in the cyber space. That is the most sensible step to take. If you are going to be a digital economy you have to protect the data," he said.
Mumbai, Aug 24 : Maharashtra gets ready to open its hearts -- and doors -- to welcome the elephant-headed god, the lovable Lord Ganesha, at the start of the 12-day long Ganeshotsav from Friday.

The festival is now in its 125th year since the celebrations were started by the freedom fighter, Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, in 1894 to rally the masses during the Independence movement and bypass restrictions by the British rulers.

What started as a modest festival with a small group of people at Keshavji Nayak Chawl in congested Girgaum in south Mumbai has now blossomed into an annual mega-public celebration in Mumbai, the entire Maharashtra, many parts of India and even abroad, with members of all communities taking part.

This year, however, the organisers are somewhat downcast and apprehend that the celebrations may have subdued with curtailment of expenses in many departments, according to top mandal office-bearers.

"On account of the triple whammy of demonetisation, implementation of GST and RERA, our public donations have dropped sharply by more than 50-60 percent this year. This will hamper the pomp and lavishness of the celebrations," Naresh Dahibhavkar, the powerful President of the powerful BrihanMumbai Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samanvay Samiti (BSGSS), told IANS.

He confided that besides donations, sponsorships and advertisements for various events connected with Ganeshotsav and social projects have taken a severe hit, besides the recent restrictions on noise pollution.

"If 10 people perform a musical 'aarti' of Lord Ganesh, it touches 70-80 deibels, but the official limit for the festival is only 45 decibelsa I feel many could violate the minimum decibel levels this year and lead to police or court cases," Dahibhavkar rued.

Nevertheless, the organisers are managing to smile through these 'vignas' (adversities) to welcome their popular 'Vignaharta' (Lord Ganesh, the remover of all obstacles).

Around 11,550 big-ticket Ganeshotsav associations, with budgets running into several crores of rupees, 190,000 medium or small organisations with budgets of between Rs 5 million to Rs 500,000, and millions of individual households, shall organise the fest this year in Mumbai, which has a population of around 1.70 crore.

Dahibhavkar said there will be nearly 300 idols in the public marquees within the prescribed height limit of 18 feet.

"However, many mandals plant to install taller idols to commemorate jubilees of their association, or mark some special occasion specific to that organization/locality," he explained.

As usual, some of the biggest idols shall be the famed Lalbaug-cha Raja, Ganesh Gully, Borivali's Kastur Park, Sewri-cha Raja, Andheri-cha Raja, Fort-cha Raja, Khetwadi, Bandra and Shivaji Park and others.

To mark the 125th year, Lalbaug-cha Raja and other major organisations have extended invites to President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, union cabinet ministers, governors and chief ministers of various states, foreign dignitaries, celebrities and others, to join the festivities, Dahibhavkar added.

The scenario is ditto in other major centres like Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, Kolhapur and the coastal Konkan region -- where it's the most important festival in the annual calendar, surpassing even Diwali.

Several million people from Konkan working in urban centres like Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Pune and other cities started trooping to their homes in the coastal districts since last five days for which the Indian Railways, state government and private operators have made arrangements to ply extra trains, buses and vehicles.

"This year, we have been directly affected by demonetisation and GST, so the celebrations will be substantially hit, but we shall cut down on certain non-essentials to make the best of the situation," said B.N. Uke, a resident of Kelshi beach village in Ratnagiri, famed for the nesting sites of the Olive Ridley turles.

For domestic and foreign tourists, the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation has organised special bus tours and walk-tours covering some of the most iconic Ganesh mandals in Mumbai and Pune, Tourism Minister Jaykumar Rawal said.

During the immersion on the final day, special enclosures would be made for the tourists desiring to witness the ceremonies at various beaches and rivers in the two cities, he added.

This year, a controversy has erupted over the origins of public Ganeshotsav with Pune's Shriman Bhausaheb Rangari Ganpati Trust claiming that its founder, Bhau Laxman Jawale had launched it in 1892 and Tilak's celebrations came only after two years.

Amidst rising temperatures, Pune's Guardian Minister Girish Bapat has intervened to say that the festival has evolved into magnificent celebrations due to the combined efforts of both Tilak and Jawale.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at q.najmi@ians.in)
New Delhi, Aug 24 : With the Supreme Court on Thursday declaring that the right to privacy is a fundamental right, legal and constitutional experts said that now every government policy, rule, regulation and law that interferes with the right to privacy could be challenged and struck down -- from the Aadhaar scheme to Section 377 on homosexuality.

The landmark judgement will have a bearing on several aspects of law, lifestyle and governance, say experts.

While Supreme Court lawyer Geeta Luthra said the judgement could lead to Section 377 -- which criminalises homosexuality -- being struck down, cyber law expert Prashant Mali feels there could be PILs filed against government policies related to its Aadhaar scheme.

Senior lawyer R.K. Kapoor said now that the Supreme Court has upheld privacy as a fundamental right incorporated within the parameters of Article 21 of the Constitution, "any government policy, rule, regulation or law that interferes with an individual's privacy can be struck down".

However, Constitution expert and former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha Subhash Kashyap said that one cannot generalise the impact of the judgement as each case has to be decided separately.

Human rights lawyer Geeta Luthra said that one of the salient aspects of the judgement is what Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said in his part of the judgement about Section 377.

"He says that according to him, Section 377 will have to be revisited... as sexual orientation is inherent to the right to privacy," Luthra told IANS.

She said that since the court has said it would hear the curative petition on the matter, chances are that Section 377 may be repealed.

"If there are like-minded judges as there were in this constitutional bench, there are chances of the Supreme Court judgement on (upholding) Article 377 being upturned and the High Court judgement (striking down Section 377) being restored," she said.

In the judgement, Justice Chandrachud has noted that privacy includes the preservation of personal intimacies, the sanctity of family life, marriage, procreation, and sexual orientation.

Luthra said that the government's Aadhaar scheme may also have to be revisited to be decided in light of the apex court decision.

"This judgement will be used as a guideline to decide on Aadhaar and I think in that sense, even if they approve of Aadhaar, there is the question of whether you should make it compulsory."

"What will ultimately happen, I feel, is that it is likely to be upheld but not made compulsory," she said, adding that the government would also need to ensure that the data collected under the Aadhaar scheme is not misused.

In the 547-page judgement, the bench observed that the balance between data regulation and individual privacy "raises complex issues requiring delicate balances to be drawn between the legitimate concerns of the state on one hand and individual interest in the protection of privacy on the other".

Noted lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who is party to the case, said that any law which restricts fundamental right will have to be examined on the touchstone of the judgement.

"If the government asks for Aadhaar for booking railway tickets or if you buy something then such a law would be considered as unreasonable restriction on right to privacy. I feel it will be struck down," Bhushan said.

Cyber law expert advocate Prashant Mali said there could be issues regarding defining reasonable restrictions.

"Now with every policy the government brings in with respect to Aadhaar, there can be PIL (Public Interest Litigation) or other litigation questioning if these reasonable restrictions are not clarified," he told IANS.

However, Constitution expert Subhash Kashyap said that while this judgement gives fresh importance to the right to privacy, every other matter needs to be decided on its merit.

"I think too much is being read into it... It will have bearing on other issues in the sense that right to privacy will be given more importance now but there is no fundamental change," he told IANS.

Kashyap said that there have been prior judgements holding privacy as a limited fundamental right.

"Even this judgement cannot and does not make it unlimited fundamental right. Restrictions and limitations can be placed on every fundamental right," he said.

"It will have to be decided in each case whether restrictions and limitations placed either by the state -- or by the individual himself -- are reasonable or unreasonable."

(Vishav can be contacted at vishav@ians.in)
Chennai, Aug 24 : The factional war in the ruling AIADMK intensified on Thursday with Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P. Dhanapal issuing notice to 19 MLAs who had rebelled against Chief Minister K. Palaniswami why they cannot be disqualified.

The 19 are part of the faction led by the now jailed AIADMK General Secretary V.K. Sasikala and her nephew T.T.V. Dinakaran.

The notice comes soon after AIADMK's Chief Whip S. Rajendran wrote to Dhanapal to disqualify the MLAs who have rebelled against the Chief Minister following the merger of the party's two main factions led by Palaniswami and former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam.

The Speaker has asked the 19 legislators to reply within a week.

Upset over the coming together of the two major factions of the AIADMK, the 19 legislators have submitted a memorandum to Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao withdrawing their support to the Chief Minister.

AIADMK's Chief Whip Rajendran said that by withdrawing support to the Chief Minister, the dissenting MLAs had attracted the provision of the anti-defection law.

The Dinakaran faction, whose MLAs are now holed up in Puducherry, reacted sharply. A spokesman for the group said this was aimed at preventing more legislators from joining them.

The move comes as the opposition parties have been demanding the Chief Minister to prove his majority in the assembly.

Another legislator wondered whether asking for change of Chief Minister is a worse crime than voting against the government during a confidence vote -- that was done by the Panneerselvam group.

The AIADMK had 134 members in the Assembly (excluding the Speaker) and this has fallen to 115 without the support of the Dinakaran faction.

The Tamil Nadu Assembly has 234 seats. One seat is vacant due to the death of AIADMK leader J. Jayalalithaa.

Of the 233 members, the DMK has 89 members, the Congress 8 and the IUML 1. Speaker P. Dhanapal has only a casting vote in a tie. The DMK, Congress and IUML are in an alliance.

Meanwhile a case has been filed in the Madras High Court by an advocate for a direction to Governor to ask the Chief Minister to prove his legislative majority.
Washington, Aug 24 : The US has urged India and Pakistan to have a bilateral dialogue over Kashmir to reduce tensions between them.

State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said in her daily briefing on Wednesday that the US encourages India and Pakistan to engage in a direct dialogue that will help reduce tensions between the two neighbours.

Nauert was commenting on a question over remarks by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that New Delhi could take some steps of rapprochement vis-a-vis Islamabad.

Nauert was asked if Tillerson was linking a solution on Kashmir with the Pakistan-Afghanistan issue.

She said: "We view the whole strategy and handling Afghanistan as being a regional strategy, and that incorporates India as well as Pakistan who can help assist and make Afghanistan a stable place."

The spokesperson said the US policy on Kashmir had not changed and urged India and Pakistan to have a dialogue.

"In terms of Kashmir, our policy has not changed. We continue to encourage the sides to sit down and talk."

India accuses Pakistan of arming and financing separatists in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan denies the charge and says it only provides moral and diplomatic support. The state is divided between the two countries.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : US President Donald Trump's new policy on Afghanistan, which says that India can play a greater role, was on Thursday hailed by the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF).

"President Donald Trump's policy announcement on South Asia is a dramatic shift from the previous policy of the U.S. towards South Asia," USISPF President Mukesh Aghi said in a statement.

"For the first time, the US has publicly acknowledged the importance of US-India partnership in the development of a secure and prosperous Afghanistan," Aghi said.

The USISPF is a non-profit organisation focused on deepening business relations between the US and India, and enhancing the strategic relationship between the two countries.

While announcing his new Afghan policy on Monday, Trump termed India as "a key security and economic partner of the United States" and said that developing a strategic partnership with India was a "critical part of the South Asia strategy for America".

He also blamed Pakistan for harbouring "safe havens for terrorist organisations, the Taliban, and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond".

Aghi said that India has played a crucial role in balancing the geopolitical equation in South Asia and has been a "reliable and trustworthy partner" for the US.

"India has been an important ally for Afghanistan especially in infrastructure development, health services and military equipment, however India's contribution had been decoupled from US policy until now," he stated.

"This announcement corrects that anomaly. It will build trust and partnership between the two countries and usher in significant strategic and business impact," he added.
Chandigarh, Aug 24 : Chandigarh and its nearby Panchkula town were on Thursday turned into fortresses with curfew-like restrictions in place as tens of thousands of followers of Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh gathered ahead of a crucial court verdict in a rape case against him.

Singing in praise of their spiritual leader, his followers in Panchkula, who are still arriving in droves, said they were here just to seek blessings from the "messenger of God".

The verdict will be pronounced on Friday by the special CBI in Panchkula which has asked the self-styled godman, whose sect is headquartered at Sirsa in Haryana, to remain present at the time of the judgment.

The Dera chief appealed to his followers to maintain peace and said he would appear before the court on Friday.

"I have always respected the law. Despite pain in my back, I will obey the law and must visit the court," Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh tweeted.

He urged his followers to maintain peace. "I believe in God. All should maintain peace."

Thousands of security personnel, comprising paramilitary forces, have been deployed to prevent the "premis" or sect followers from arriving in Panchkula.

The sect chief has lakhs of followers in Punjab, Haryana and other states. He 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, 260 km from Chandigarh.

Braving rains in the evening, devotee Bhag Singh, who has come from Moga town in Punjab along with over 100 followers, said: "We are here just to seek his blessings. For us he's god."

"Since he is coming here, we have decided to reach Panchkula ahead of his arrival," an elated Singh, who is a farmer, told IANS.

Like him, nearly two lakh sect followers have descended on Panchkula and nearby places from mostly across Punjab and Haryana.

They are spending their nights in the open. However, a few managed to take shelter in government buildings, while most spent the night on roads and parks.

Most of his followers, who also ran community kitchens, spent their time singing religious songs in praise of Gurmeet Ram Rahim.

"We have nothing to do with the court case and we do not know anything about it. We only know our father is coming here on Friday," devotee Ashok Kumar, who has come from Panipat in Haryana, said.

Despite the government stopping the plying of buses towards Chandigarh and Panchkula beyond Ambala, 45 km from here, the flow of 'premis' continued.

A sea of devotees en route to Panchkula was seen travelling on foot beyond Ambala.

"Since our 'guru-ji' is coming, we have decided to reach Panchkula to get his blessings. So we have decided to reach the venue on foot," said Bhag Singh, who is from Hisar in Haryana.

Bhag Singh and his family were carrying eatables for the community kitchen.

His wife Nirmal Kaur said the "guru ji" is like their father.

"The government is just trying to frame him in a false case. We know he will be acquitted by the court," she added.

As a precautionary measure, the Haryana government has imposed prohibitory orders across the state and shut all schools and colleges in Panchkula and Sirsa districts till August 25.

Sacha Sauda sect followers have a high concentration in Sangrur, Barnala, Mansa, Bathinda, Fazilka, Faridkot and Ferozepore districts of Punjab. Most of these districts are close to Sirsa in Haryana.

Authorities imposed curfew-like restrictions in Chandigarh and Panchkula and shut mobile internet services in Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh for three days from Thursday.

Fearing violence by the huge mass of Dera supporters gathered at Sirsa and in Panchkula where the court is based, officials announced several other restrictive steps.

Plying of buses to Chandigarh and Panchkula would be suspended till Friday. Likewise, the Railways cancelled 22 trains bound for Haryana. A Northern Railway spokesman said six trains going to Haryana were cancelled on Thursday.

More than 15,000 paramilitary personnel have been deployed in Punjab and Haryana, a senior official told IANS.

In a bid to discourage more people from reaching Panchkula, Haryana Roadways stopped plying buses for two days bound for Chandigarh and Panchkula.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar told all ministers and legislators to be in their constituencies till Friday.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court asked the Centre to provide additional forces ahead of the judgment.

Apprehending violence in case the court's judgment went against the sect chief on Friday, a Division Bench of acting Chief Justice Surinder Singh Saron and Justice Avneesh Jhingan said they "did not want a situation similar to the Jat reservation stir".

(Vishal Gulati can be reached at vishal.g@ians.in)
Hyderabad, Aug 24 : Former air hostess and model Sangeeta Chatterjee, facing trial in a red sanders smuggling case, on Thursday attempted suicide in a jail in Andhra Pradesh's Chittoor district.

Reportedly upset over not getting bail, she consumed phenyl kept in a toilet in Chittoor sub-jail. She was rushed to Chittoor Government Hospital, where she is stated to be out of danger.

Sangeeta, hailing from Kolkata, was arrested by the Andhra Pradesh Police in March this year. Three cases were booked against her and a court had granted bail in two cases.

The 26-year-old is the second wife of red sanders smuggler M. Lakshman, who was arrested in July 2014 from Nepal.

According to police, Sangeeta, who began her career as a model, came in contact with Lakshman in Kolkata, where he frequently stayed as he had established a base there too.

After the arrest of Lakshman, Sangeeta had taken over control of his network's illegal activities.

She is alleged to have expanded the red sanders smuggling network to six states in India and also in other countries, including China and Japan.

The gang is allegedly involved in red sanders smuggling from the forests of Chittoor, Kurnool and Kadapa districts of Andhra Pradesh.
Kabul, Aug 24 : The top US military official in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson and US Ambassador Hugo Llorens on Thursday urged the Taliban to lay down arms and end the war.

The rebels were unlikely to win against America's new strategy on Afghanistan and should join the peace process, commander of US Forces and NATO Gen. Nicholson said in Kabul at a joint press conference with Llorens after President Donald Trump late on Monday committed to an open-ended involvement of the US in the Afghan conflict, including sending more troops to the conflict-torn country, Efe news agency reported.

Nicholson called the Taliban "a criminal organisation", who were more "interested in profits from drugs and kidnappings", for which "90 per cent of the people of Afghanistan believe a return to the Taliban rule would be bad for the country."

"The Taliban have a simple choice: stop fighting against your countrymen. Stop killing innocent civilians. Stop bringing hardship and misery," said Nicholson.

"We must maintain pressure on the Taliban to join a peace process with the Afghan government to end the war in Afghanistan," Llorens said.

Following Trump's announcement, the Taliban warned the US that if it did not withdraw from the country, Afghanistan will become "the 21st-century graveyard for the American empire".

The deployment of new troops, which could be around 4,000 soldiers, although Trump was yet to specify the exact number, would add to the 8,400 US soldiers already stationed in the country.

Trump's decision marks a complete shift from the policy of former President Barack Obama's administration (2009-2017), which after having deployed around 100,000 soldiers in Afghanistan in 2010, had opted for a phased withdrawal of troops.

Both Nicholson and Llorens also urged Pakistan to stop sheltering the Taliban on its territory.

"The dialogue with Pakistan will be done in private and has already started," Nicholson said, adding that elimination of Taliban safe havens was key to the success of the new policy.

According to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction report released this month, the war in Afghanistan was stagnant with insurgents controlling 40 per cent of the country.
Khartoum, Aug 24 : Russias Ambassador to Sudan, Mirgayas Shirinsky, was found dead in the swimming pool at his residence here, local media reported on Thursday, citing Sudanese authorities.

The Press Secretary at the Russian embassy, Sergei Konyashin, said there were signs that the 63-year-old Ambassador had suffered a severe heart attack, reported the Sudan Tribune.

A Sudanese police spokesman was quoted as saying it was believed that Shirinsky had high blood pressure.

The Foreign Ministry in Khartoum announced Shirinsky's death and offered condolences to the Russian government in a statement praising his diplomatic efforts.

Sudanese police have ruled out the possibility of an assassination, Russia 24 reported, quoting local law enforcement agencies.

Shirinsky, an Arabic speaker, was appointed ambassador to Khartoum in 2013 and previously worked in several countries in the Middle East including Yemen and Saudi Arabia, the Sudan Tribune said.

Nine Russian envoys have died in the past year including four since the inauguration of US President Donald Trump in January.

These include Russia's Ambassador to India, Aleksandr Kadakin, who died in late January in New Delhi at the age of 67, reportedly of heart failure, and longtime Russian ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, who died suddenly in February in New York on the day before his 65th birthday, apparently of a heart attack.
Kolkata, Aug 24 : The Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) and the West Bengal government, through a joint venture company, will develop the Tajpur port in the state's East Midnapore district, a port official said on Thursday.

KoPT Chairman M.T. Krishna Babu met Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and briefed her on the developmental works in Kolkata and Haldia dock.

A consultant is being appointed to prepare TEFR (Techno Economic Feasibility Report) and it will be ready in three to four months' time.

Once the TEFR is ready, the Shipping Ministry will process for cabinet approval the development of Tajpur Port by the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of the state government and the KoPT, Babu told Banerjee, according to a statement.

Under the SPV, Bhor Sagar Port Ltd, the KoPT has 74 per cent stake, while the state holds 24 per cent.

The SPV was supposed to take up deep sea port at Sagar but studies have identified Tajpur as a better location in terms of viability of the project.

The Chairman, in the meeting, raised the issue of difficulty in movement of edible oil from Haldia by rail due to local opposition from tankers association.

"Movement by road for longer distance is becoming costly to the extent of Rs 700 to 1,200 per mt. This may result in diversion of edible oil traffic to neighbouring ports," Babu told Banerjee.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : India and Nepal on Thursday agreed to enhance connectivity between the two countries for economic growth as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepal counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba held delegation-level talks here.

"The two Prime Ministers shared the view that enhanced connectivity between India and Nepal will increase people-to-people contacts as well as promote economic growth," a joint statement issued after the discussions said, adding that both leaders reviewed the progress made in the implementation of bilateral connectivity projects.

According to the statement, both sides recognised the need for early completion of two ongoing cross-border rail-link projects - Jayanagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas and Jogbani-Biratnagar - and noted they will be completed by 2018.

It said that both leaders underlined the importance of rail links in connectivity as these links could usher in growth and development by way of enhanced trade and tourism links.

Both leaders also agreed on early completion of the field location survey of the remaining three cross-border rail links: New Jalpaiguri-Kakarbhitta, Nautanwa-Bhairahawa, and Nepalgunj Road-Nepalgunj.

The two leaders also welcomed the award of work of integrated check post at Biratnagar and directed their officials to operationalise it by December 2017, while seeking early approval of "Detailed Engineering Designs of ICPs at Bhairahawa and Nepalgunj".

Modi and Deuba also expressed satisfaction on the award of contract for 12 packages under nine roads, totalling about 240 km, under the Terai roads project.

"The Nepali side assured to resolve expeditiously all encumbrances relating to land acquisition, forest clearances and removal of utility services for early completion of the project," the statement said.

"The two Prime Ministers noted with satisfaction the progress in the construction of dharamshala at the Pashupatinath temple complex. They expressed hope that the work on the dharamshala and Nepal-Bharat Maitri Polytechnic at Hetauda would be expedited."

According to the statement, Deuba said that the Nepal government considered the Motihari-Amlekhgunj petroleum pipeline project a priority project and both leaders welcomed the finalisation of detailed engineering route survey and engineering design reports and asked officials to "expeditiously remove all bottlenecks, including right of way, land acquisition, environmental and regulatory clearances, so that the construction work could begin at the earliest".

Both Modi and Deuba also welcomed the decision to set up a joint working group on cooperation in oil and gas sectors, which would consider measures such as construction of an LPG pipeline from Motihari to Amlekhgunj, construction of a natural gas pipeline from Gorakhpur to Sunwal, and assistance of Indian Oil for preparing a detailed project report for extension of petroleum products pipeline from Amlekhgunj to Chitwan in Nepal.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday met Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and stressed on the need to expand India's economic and development cooperation and establish social institutions in the neighbouring country.

Congratulating Deuba on becoming Nepal's Prime Minister for the fourth time, Kovind expressed satisfaction on the state of India-Nepal relations which have seen eight high-level visits in the past three years.

"India-Nepal relations derive their strength from a shared history, common culture, trade links and an open border. This is symbolised by the national treatment both countries give to each other's citizens. India is looking forward to expanding its economic and development cooperation with Nepal, as per Nepal's national priorities," Kovind said.

He also expressed happiness that the Prime Minister of Nepal was the first foreign dignitary to stay in Rashtrapati Bhavan during his presidency.

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu said India was partnering to create physical infrastructure and establish social institutions in Nepal.

"Enhanced connectivity between the two countries will boost economic growth and renewed focus should be given to projects like Terai roads, rail links, integrated check posts, as well as Raxaual-Amlekhgunj oil pipeline," Naidu said.

"There was immense potential for bilateral cooperation in hydro-power sector and both countries should work for expeditious implementation of Pancheshwar project signed in 1996. We need to expand our cooperation in water resources sector for the benefit of people of our two nations," said Naidu.

Talking about the unique open border between the two nations, he said: "We must be vigilant against misuse of the open border by the miscreants. India has been rendering help to Nepal in strengthening Nepal Police and the Armed Force Police by way of providing equipment, vehicles and training."

Naidu said that India wishes to carry along all neighbouring countries with it and the endeavour of the government 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' applies to both within and outside India.

The Vice President said that Nepal was engaged in the important task of implementing the Constitution and establishing a progressive and inclusive political agenda. "It is important to establish a political system that accommodates the aspirations of every section of Nepal's society," he added.
Kolkata, Aug 24 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday claimed senior Gorkha Janamukti Morcha leader Binay Tamang would attend the August 29 all party meeting convened by the state government on the Darjeeling issue. However, he rebutted the Chief Minister, saying no such decision has been taken by the party.

Talking to media persons at the state secretariat Nabanna, Banerjee said Tamang would represent the GJM at the meeting, called to address the issues in northern West Bengal hills.

But contacted by IANS, Tamang said his party was yet to receive the official letter from the state government about the meeting.

"We have not taken any decision as no state government letter regarding the all party meet has reached us yet. We heard that the letter has come to the District Magistrate's office in Darjeeling. So we have not taken any decision that I'll be attending the meeting," GJM Joint Secretary Tamang told IANS over phone.

"We will conduct a meeting in the next two days after we receive the letter and take a decision on whether the party would attend the meeting called by the Bengal government," he said.

Earlier in the day, GJM chief Bimal Gurung wrote to Banerjee requesting her to "initiate a political dialogue" to resolve the crisis in Darjeeling.

He also appealed to the state government to "take appropriate measures" to restore normalcy in the region, which has been on the boil for over two months over the demand for a separate Gorkhaland state.

But Banerjee denied receiving any such letter from Gurung.

In the letter, a copy of which is with IANS, Gurung reminded her that the GTA (Gorkhaland Territorial Administration) was meant only to be an interim arrangement as per the tripartite MoU and the party has not dropped its demand for Gorkhaland.

"...We request your honour to initiate political dialogue on the long pending demand of the Gorkhas, which is Gorkhaland, to help resolve the present crisis of Darjeeling," he said.

He also demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation or judicial inquiry into deaths caused due to police action, withdrawal of all the cases against agitators and that those detained during the agitation be released.

He also demanded compensation for the kin of those who have been "killed in police firing" and the injured.

Gurung said the creation of autonomous bodies in Darjeeling, first as the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council in 1988 and then as the GTA in 2011, has "failed miserably".

"The two failed councils in the Darjeeling hills today should pave way for us to learn from our previous mistakes that experimental models to temporarily curb people's aspiration for separation from West Bengal has not worked in the past, nor the present," he said.

Normal life has been paralysed in the hills covering large areas in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts with an indefinite shutdown called by the GJM continuing since June 12 on the statehood demand.

Banerjee on Tuesday announced that the state government would hold talks with "all major political parties" on August 29.
New Delhi, Aug 24 : A minor girl was allegedly raped by a property dealer here, police said on Thursday.

Police said the incident in west Delhi occurred on two weeks ago but it was reported to police by the victim's mother on Tuesday after which a case of rape was registered against the accused.

"The 12-year-old victim, a class 6 student, was allegedly raped by the accused two weeks ago. The accused, who works as a property dealer in Swaroop Nagar, is still large," said a police officer said.

"The accused barged inside her house and sexually assaulted her, while she was alone. He later threatened her with dire consequences if she disclosed the matter to anyone but she told her mother later," he added.
Pallekele (Sri Lanka), Aug 24 : Disciplined innings from former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar saw India defeating Sri Lanka by three wickets in a thrilling second One-Day International here on Thursday Chasing a revised target of 231 due to rain, India were cruising at 108 for no loss in the 16th over. But the match turned on its head in a space of six overs as the visitors lost seven wickets for just 22 runs.

All-rounder Akila Dananjaya created havoc in the India's batting line-up as he scalped six wickets in his 10 overs.

But then Dhoni (45 not out) and Bhuvneshwar A(53 not out) forged a match-winning partnership to seal the deal for India.

India now lead the five match series 2-0. The visitors had defeated Sri Lanka by nine wickets in the ODI at Dambulla.

Indian openers Dhawan and Rohit started the chase perfectly by forging a 109-run partnership. The duo slammed Sri Lankan bowlers all around the park. In the process, Rohit completed his half-century. But after adding four more runs, the Mumbai batsman was adjudged leg before wicket off Dananjaya.

Trying to be aggressive, Dhawan mistimed a shot and fell prey to Milinda Siriwardana in the very next over.

All eyes were on new batsmen Lokesh Rahul, Kedar Jadhav and Virat Kohli, but the trio failed to rise to the expectations and were dismissed by Dananjaya in the same over at scores of 1., 4 and 4 respectively.

With half of the side back to the pavilion, it was now on Dhoni and all-rounder Hardik Pandya but the the latter disappointed as he was also dismissed by Dananjaya after three overs with no runs to his credit.

With chances of winning looking sleek, Bhuvneshwar then joined Dhoni in the middle and played sensibly. The duo forged a 100-run partnership and finished the proceeding with more than two overs to spare.

Earlier, sensible innings from Siriwardana (58) and Chamara Kapugedera (40) helped Sri Lanka score 236/8. But due to rain, the target was revised to 230.

Apart from the duo, opener Niroshan Dickwella (31) contributed to the cause for the hosts.

After going down in the first ODI by nine wickets, Sri Lanka regrouped their strategy in this game and started off on a positive note but some poor shot selection from the in-form and experienced players resulted in their downfall in the middle overs.

However, Siriwardana and Kapugedera played the ball to its merit to stabilise the innings. But after the fall of the latter's wicket, the lower-order failed to provide the much required support and, thus, the hosts only managed to score a chaseable target.

On the other hand, Indian bowlers stepped up to the occasion in the overcast conditions and chipped in with vital wickets at regular intervals. The fielding was also up to the mark.

After India won the toss and put the Islanders in to bat, the hosts crossed the 40-run-mark in the eighth over but then Dickwella was sent back to the pavilion. Soon Danushka Gunathilaka, who troubled the visitors in the first ODI, was dismissed by leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal.

Once again the middle-order got exposed soon and experienced players Upul Tharanga (9) and Angelo Mathews (20) were dismissed by Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel, respectively.

But just when things seemed poor for the hosts, Siriwardana and Kapugedera displayed their temperament and forged the crucial runs for their team. After giving a tough fight in the middle, the duo was, however, sent packing by Jasprit Bumrah.

Then the lower-order batsmen -- ananjaya (9), Dushmantha Chameera (6) and Vishwa Fernando (3) -- once again failed to make their mark and Sri Lanka only managed to score 236 in their allotted 50 overs.

For India, pacer Bumrah scalped four wickets while leg-spinner Chahal took two.
Washington, Aug 25 : Police officers in Charleston, US state of South Carolina, responded to an "active shooter situation," authorities said on Thursday.

"A shooting was reported just after noon in downtown Charleston near a row of restaurants and shops popular with tourists," Xinhua quoted Charleston Police Department spokesman Charles Francis as saying.

The spokesman did not mention whether there were injuries or provide description of a potential suspect.

Local reports said the police department sent SWAT teams and a bomb disposal unit to the area. Police are asking people to stay inside and those outside to avoid the area.
As the organizations collaborate through the next phase of the San Bernardino Countywide Education Open Data Platform, it will provide transparency of, and access to, education data with the goal of improving conditions for youth countywide.

BrightBytes, an end-to-end data integration and analysis platform, announced, today, a strategic partnership with San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools (SBCSS), to guide the development of areas on the San Bernardino Countywide Education Open Data Platform. This public platform provides stakeholders across the county an opportunity to explore, visualize, and analyze data in multiple ways to build awareness and engagement, inform decision making, and improve educational outcomes for all students. Amidst the rising tide of accountability, this strategic partnership creates greater transparency by incorporating qualitative and quantitative data to ensure a comprehensive approach for success for every student. Together, BrightBytes and SBCSS will drive the County Schools vision and Cradle to Career (C2C) Roadmap through a collective impact approach for college and career readiness.

Central to County Schools mission to transform lives through education, this partnership will help the organization better support all 33 districts to improve academic, career, and personal and social readiness for all students from cradle to career and to provide transparency to community stakeholders across highly engaging dashboards. We are excited about our new partnership with BrightBytes, which will allow County Schools to leverage BrightBytes expertise in sharing data with our stakeholders with the goal of helping to spur academic achievement, County Superintendent Ted Alejandre said. With an aim to make information easy to understand, actionable, and research driven, BrightBytes was selected to help guide SBCSS with these efforts.

Already in use in one of five U.S. districts, BrightBytes has proven its merit in the K-12 data analytics space. Clarity, its award-winning decision support platform, provides education organizations with seamless integration, research-driven analysis, and engaging data readability. The BrightBytes Early Insights system will be instrumental across the organization and provide valuable data to the Open Data Platform. The system uses a predictive analytics model that draws upon both the research-based indicators related to dropping out, college readiness, and County Schools historical data regarding at-risk students. The advanced algorithm can identify at-risk students as early as first grade, with better than 90 percent accuracy. BrightBytes solutions and partnership will help drive the Cradle to Career Roadmap to identify key success indicators related to a child's academic career and social readiness and depicts the collaborative continuum approach, in which families, educators, government, business, labor, faith and community-based organizations collectively act as pillars of support for students from cradle to career. This will better enable the sharing of data with internal departments, school districts, public/private agencies and other community stakeholders. The dashboard will combine data sources in support of the C2C roadmap so that educational institutions can be integrated into economic and job-creation efforts. Additionally, the dashboard will help inform the allocation of resources and support to ensure the opportunity gap is closed for all students.

Traci Burgess, CEO for BrightBytes, said, "BrightBytes deep experience in K-12 education data will be a critical component to County Schools three-year plan to build out the platform to focus on state and local priorities that describes goals, actions, services and expenditures to support student achievement. Providing contextual information around this plan is key to engage the community. As the organizations collaborate through the next phase of the San Bernardino Countywide Education Open Data Platform, it will provide transparency of, and access to, education data with the goal of engaging and informing public members and stakeholders and providing a continuum of services to improve conditions for youth countywide."

About San Bernardino County Superintendent Schools: With close to 2,000 employees, County Schools works in concert with the countys 33 school districts, which are home to more than 406,000 K-12 students in more than 540 schools. SBCSS provides leadership and advocacy for public education, as well as an array of services supporting student achievement and accountability, including fiscal oversight; human resources/credentialing; information technology; and direct student instruction in preschool, alternative and special education classes.

About BrightBytes: BrightBytes provides the leading end-to-end data management solution for education organizations. Our platforms integrate, analyze, and organize complex data from multiple systems across research-based frameworks to deliver educative, engaging, and actionable visualized results that drive student learning.
RACINE  A drug bust at a local hotel led Racine County sheriffs deputies to apprehend a Waukegan, Ill., man wanted for homicide.

Farid Rakin, 49, was arrested Tuesday along with Nicole Maise, 27, of Kenosha, at a Racine hotel. During the arrest, deputies reportedly found in their hotel room 5.5 grams of heroin, 137.8 grams of cocaine, 3.6 grams of marijuana, prescription medications, U.S. currency, cellphones, a Quest card, drug packaging material and digital scales, according to a Sheriffs Office news release.

Sheriffs officials in their release did not list the name nor the address of the hotel.

Rakin was wanted in Waukegan for homicide and aggravated battery with a firearm, according to the release. He faces possible additional charges of possession of heroin with intent to deliver, possession of cocaine with intent to deliver, possession of THC and maintaining a drug trafficking place.

Maise also potentially faces those four drug charges, with possession of heroin and cocaine charges as a party to a crime.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Rakin is the suspect in the June 5 killing of Ciera Q. Davis, 24, in Waukegan.

According to Lake County Coroner Howard Cooper, Davis died of multiple gunshot wounds she sustained as she started to drive her car away from a house party at 4:30 a.m. on June 5 in the 1600 block of 11th Street, the Tribune reported.

Her vehicle was in the middle of the road, and both the passengers side and drivers side windows were shot out, according to police. When police arrived, there was no victim, but Vista Medical Center East personnel notified them a short time later that someone had just brought in a shooting victim and the woman had died, authorities said.
Jordan Bochniak, SHRM-CP Jordan serves as an Account Manager for TBC emerging companies and as Project Administrator.

Executive and employee benefit consulting firm, The Benefit Company (TBC) is pleased to welcome Jordan Bochniak.

Upon graduating from Auburn Universitys marketing program in 2006, Jordan began her career in marketing and business development. Her desire to help clients and proactive methods of finding solutions led her into the human resources field.

Jordan earned her SHRM-CP certification and served as Director of Human Resources for two Atlanta organizations in the engineering and logistics/supply chain industries before joining The Benefit Company.

Jordan serves as an Account Manager for TBC emerging companies and as Project Administrator, assisting as a special project resource for clients as well as an internal resource for TBC. Her human resources background provides her with a unique perspective from the clients point of view.

About The Benefit Company

The Benefit Company (TBC) is an executive and employee benefit consulting firm aligned with the best interest of our employer clients and their employees. TBC is passionate about challenging the status quo  choosing the harder right over the easier wrong. Our private ownership is a meaningful differentiator, providing a mindset of investing in long-term strategies aligned with the clients best interest.
You've arrived at the newest - and largest - waterpark in the country.

Traveling from the city off Ferizaj, Kosovo, the view changes from tall spires and historic edifices into one of lush, green fields and forests. Before long, however, colorful swirls rise from the pastures. The Ujevara Resort comes into sight with shimmering pools of liquid relief, multihued, intertwined waterslide tubes and cobalt-blue umbrellas. You've arrived at the newest - and largest - waterpark in the country.

Encompassing 20,000 square meters (215,278 square feet), the aqua park at Ujevara Resort is part of a growing trend in the Balkans. The number of waterparks in the region remains small compared to other parts of the world - nearby Serbia boasts less than half a dozen, and Albania has few to speak of. But Polin Waterparks (Turkey) has dedicated wide resources to developing the area. In addition to being the designer and developer of the Ujevara Resort, for example, Polin Waterparks led some waterpark projects in Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Slovenia.

Kubilay Alpdogan, Director of Sales and Design of Polin Waterparks, says that the area is rich with opportunity. "We've been working in the Mediterranean for many years with successful projects in Spain, Italy, France, Greece, Egypt and smaller countries. So it's good to see the number of waterparks beginning to open in the Balkans specifically. We're focusing on helping developers in these areas create oases that blend relaxation and recreation."

The Ujevara Resort, which opened in June, offers a mix of attractions for all ages. Adults will enjoy Polin's Multislide, Black Hole, Body Slide, Space Hole, Aquatube, Kamikaze, Freefall, Rafting Slide and Wave Slide. Kids will delight in the company's smaller versions of the Multi Slide, Aquatube and Compact Slide, along with a Mini Pirate Ship, Baby Octopus Slide, Rabbit Slide, Frog Slide, Mushroom and Octopus Slide.

Afrim Hoxha, partner of the Ujevara resort, says guests have provided a lot of positive feedback from their visits. "I've heard comments ranging from 'Just amazing!' and 'Wonderful!' to 'Fantastic,' along with general compliments about our facility. Working with the team at Polin Waterparks allowed us to create a resort that people love. We're very pleased with the entire experience."
Attorney Hannah L. Renfro Renfros addition to the office is part of the firms continued growth in Wisconsin, and its expanded practice throughout the Midwest and nationally.

Hannah Renfro has joined the Madison, Wisconsin office of Rathje & Woodward, LLC, a full-service law firm based in Wheaton, Illinois.



Renfro joins Rathje & Woodward after serving as Chief Legal Officer at the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. Renfro was instrumental in creating the organization and establishing its legal and compliance functions. Before joining WEDC, Renfro was a litigator focusing on complex litigation in the areas of political law, antitrust, and intellectual property. She has been involved in pro bono work ranging from an immigration asylum matter to representing youth at detention hearings. Renfro earned her J.D. from the University of Wisconsin and her B.A. from the University of Kentucky.



Renfro is the third lawyer in Rathje & Woodwards Madison office, which was opened by attorney Doug Poland in November 2015, and added attorney Alison Stites in November 2016. Renfros addition to the office is part of the firms continued growth in Wisconsin, and its expanded practice throughout the Midwest and nationally. Renfros background will complement the practices and capabilities of the talented lawyers in the firms Madison and Wheaton offices.

About Rathje & Woodward, LLC:

Rathje & Woodward, LLC is a full-service law firm with clients in the Midwest and across the U.S. The firm practices multiple areas of law, including business formation and transactions, real estate, litigation, employment law, community associations and insurance law. To learn more about Rathje & Woodward, LLC, visit http://www.rathjewoodward.com, or call their Illinois location at 630-668-8500 or their Wisconsin office at 608-960-7430.
Aeroflow Breastpumps at the LEAF festival in Asheville, NC.

Aeroflow Healthcare today announced that the company has formed a breastfeeding advocacy department to promote access to breastfeeding support, supplies and services for families nationwide. With the introduction of this team, the company expands its advocacy efforts for healthy families, aiming to increase breastfeeding rates on both a local and national scale.

Breastfeeding has proven health, financial and emotional benefits for both moms and babies, but its not always easy and is often viewed as a taboo in today's society, said Meghan Bausone, Aeroflow Breastfeeding Advocacy Strategist. We want to change that by raising awareness of the benefits, sharing personal anecdotes and experiences from moms around the country, and helping women get the supplies they need through their insurance providers.

Aeroflows announcement arrives on the heels of National Breastfeeding Awareness Month (August), as the company continues to expand its advocacy efforts to increase breastfeeding and pumping among new and working moms  not just at home, but at work and in public, as well.

I know firsthand that breastfeeding isnt always the easiest choice. When my daughter was born, I didnt have a job with paid maternity leave, and after incurring debt to sustain my 12-week recovery, I returned to work with my breast pump and storage bags in hand and pumped when I could, 15 minutes here or there, in the supply closet, continued Bausone. We want to make the choice to breastfeed an easier one, by continuing the conversation on a national scale, advocating that employers support it comfortably in the workplace, and by encouraging its inclusion in health care legislation and parental leave packages.

About the Team

Meghan Bausone is the Breastfeeding Advocacy Strategist at Aeroflow Healthcare. She is responsible for the development of initiatives to improve breastfeeding rates through education and advocacy efforts. She has a background in womens health including midwifery, working as a doula and providing direct-care support for teen mothers.

Danny Polich is the Director of Government Affairs at Aeroflow Healthcare. He works with Senators and House Representatives to protect existing breastfeeding laws and advocate for better policies in the future. Danny strives to make sure mothers are represented on the Hill and has been able to keep breastfeeding policies off the table in recent rounds of health care negotiations.

Awards

The Aeroflow Breastpumps advocacy team has been diligently working to build connections and further awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding. Recently, Aeroflow was recognized by the North Carolina Breastfeeding Coalition as a Breastfeeding Friendly workplace and business. The award recognizes companies that respect and welcome breastfeeding mothers by providing a specified lactation space for employees and community members.

Additionally, Aeroflow was recognized as a workplace that makes it a priority to support breastfeeding employees by offering a specified room for breastfeeding and pumping. Aeroflow was one of 5 Asheville businesses to make the list.

Community Outreach

The advocacy team attended several August events, including a local festival during World Breastfeeding Week and a conference focusing on policy and practice change.

The team attended LEAF (Lake Eden Arts Festival) in Asheville, NC during World Breastfeeding Week (August 1-7) to promote breastfeeding resources in Western North Carolina. During the festival, guests were able to learn more about how they can locally encourage breastfeeding and support mothers in the community. The team created a breastfeeding friendly area and attracted the crowd by giving away water and advocacy stickers to festival goers. Additionally, they organized a raffle giveaway of a folding cooler and camping chair to attendees who were willing to write a sentence about why breastfeeding was important to them.

On August 4th, the advocacy team attended the Seventh National Breastfeeding Coalitions Conference which featured sessions on implementing change and strengthening the capacity of breastfeeding coalitions to increase instances of breastfeeding in the United States.

About Aeroflow Breastpumps

Aeroflow Breastpumps, a subsidiary of Aeroflow Healthcare, is a Durable Medical Equipment provider specializing in helping pregnant and nursing women qualify for their breast pump through their insurance and the Affordable Care Act. To learn more about Aeroflow Healthcares advocacy efforts and the development of the Breastfeeding Advocacy team, visit aeroflowbreastpumps.com. If you are a Lactation Consultant interested in partnering with Aeroflow, contact Danny Polich.
Schletter facility in Shelby, North Carolina Its hard to quantify exactly what this trade case could do, but I could see this cutting our business by half at least, so that would cost us 100 jobs or more.

American solar manufacturer Schletter Inc. and 26 other American manufacturers sent an open letter to the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) urging the agency to oppose tariffs that would endanger American manufacturing jobs and U.S. competitiveness. The letter follows the ITCs first public hearing on the petition on August 15, where hundreds of solar workers, elected officials, and U.S. trading partners showed up in force to oppose Sunivas request for tariffs on imported solar parts.

The tariffs requested by Suniva would more than double the price of solar panels in the U.S., undercutting the cost-competitiveness of solar and reversing its high growth trajectory. We would be forced to cut our manufacturing, seriously endangering manufacturing jobs at our factories, said the letter to the ITC. We have been building our companies to meet demand from a large and growing domestic solar market. That market is now under threat. We are true U.S. solar manufacturers and we ask that you not grant Sunivas request for global safeguards.

Suniva, a bankrupt Chinese-owned solar company, and German-owned SolarWorld, also in bankruptcy, are attempting to convince the ITC that even though requested tariffs will double the cost of solar in America, solar manufacturing will grow  which defies the laws of economics. Schletter and other American manufacturers from across the country are standing together to say this is irrefutably false.

Schletter manufactures quality solar mounting systems for utility-scale, commercial, and residential PV applications. From Schletter Inc.s headquarters in Shelby, North Carolina, the company houses state-of-the-art machinery capable of a high level of production capacities. Based in Germany, Schletter set up operation in the U.S. in 2008 with only four people. Now, we employ 200 in Shelby with plans to grow the business, said Russell Schmit, CEO of Schletter Inc.

If you overlap our jobs, with the processing plant and steel mill jobs related to our industry, and those jobs can circle out in the supply chain layers and layers, the jobs affected by our industry are even greater than the jobs we are counting at our respective companies, added Schmit. Its hard to quantify exactly what this trade case could do, but I could see this cutting our business by half at least, so that would cost us 100 jobs or more.

The notion by the petitioners that increasing the cost of modules will lead to job creation is not only unconscionable, but also counter to all we have seen since the industry was born, said Constantino Nicolaou, CEO of PanelClaw. We urge the commission to reject this petition,

Suniva and SolarWorld claim to represent solar manufacturing, even though together they employ fewer than 500 workers. There are more than 38,000 Americans, however, who work in the fast-growing U.S. solar manufacturing sector.

The companies and domestic suppliers, which signed the letter to the ITC, employ more than 5,700 workers across the United States.

There are more than 600 facilities in the United States that build supplies for the solar industry. These companies make steel and polysilicon, inverters and trackers, cells and panels and racking and mounting systems.

If the ITC sides with Suniva, homeowners and businesses who want to adopt solar will face higher prices, and demand for solar will drastically fall. This puts at risk thousands of American manufacturing jobs at factories in every region of the country where products are built. In total, 88,000 solar jobs would reportedly be lost under Sunivas requested remedy.

"The vast majority of Americans want solar and its continued adoption is vital to drive economic success in the U.S., said Michael Maulick, CEO of SunLink. There is tremendous opportunity for future growth with new technology innovations to create more intelligent solar energy. Companies that embrace innovation and deliver cutting-edge products will thrive, but ones that dont invest in innovation -- like the two petitioners -- will fail. Tariffs proposed by the petitioners will not advance the U.S. economy and only stifle continued innovation in solar.

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About Schletter Inc.

Schletter Group has designed, developed, and manufactured solar mounting products in North America since 2008. Backed by more than 20-years of solar mounting experience from the parent company headquartered in Germany and supported by divisions in 14 countries and 1,300 employees worldwide, Schletter Inc. has manufactured more than 2 GW of installed photovoltaic (PV) mounting systems in North America. Headquartered and manufacturing in Shelby, North Carolina, Schletter offers products for roof mount and ground mount systems for residential, commercial, and utility scale solar (PV) systems.

Learn more about Schletter racking systems by visiting http://www.schletter.us or call 888-608-0234. You may also design systems and purchase online at http://www.pvpowersite.com. Connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter or visit our YouTube channel.
The fourth annual Wines & Vines Packaging Conference was held this past August 16th, 2017 at Lincoln Theater in Yountville, California. Located in the heart of Napa Valley, Californias premiere wine country, it was an honor to be a finalist in two different categories: label redesign and redesign for more than two labels.

Our redesigns, for both Galen Glen Vineyard & Winery and Pinnacle Ridge Winery, were among the 52 finalists from 143 entries. 33 of those entries were in the label redesign category.

Our creative efforts for Galen Glens Gruner Veltliner won bronze in the label redesign category.

Galen Glen, an award-winning winery from the mountains of Andreas, PA, blends its love of wine and pristine vineyard with the experience of its founding owners, a chemist and engineer. We took all of this into consideration when creating its 3-part front label, which truly is a work of art.

Designing for a winery has always been a personal career goal, said Julie Moyer, one of our managing partners and designer of Galen Glens new labels. Galen Glen Vineyard and Winery has allowed me to accomplish this goal, while pushing the boundaries creatively, breaking away from their traditional look. This really was a contagious creative project, with Galen Glens founders, Sarah and Galen Troxell, spending countless hours engineering the 3 label front bottling process, which was no easy task. It would not have happened without that key piece.

We were excited to design for two PA wineries and win it big in Napa, Californias award-winning wine country! Were proud to be able to win this for our clients and help bring awareness to some truly award-winning wines. It just goes to show, you dont need to be in Napa to create some truly outstanding wine.

Check out the full scope of work we have done for Galen Glen Vineyard and Winery and Pinnacle Ridge Winery on our brand-new, shiny site!

About 3Seed Marketing

3Seed Marketing, Design & Interactive is a full-service agency with a team thats not afraid to get their hands dirty. 3Seed specializes in growing your ideas to make your business successful and has created standout brands, websites, search strategies, and brilliant ad campaigns. You cant force creativity, but you dont have to when you have a team equipped with wildly creative minds, a proven process to get ideas off the ground, and a track record like ours.

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Kerry Staton "I chose the practice of law as a profession because of a desire to serve the community and to provide equal access to justice for persons most deserving but without financial resources," he explained.

The law firm of Schochor, Federico and Staton, P.A. proudly announces that Kerry Staton, one of its founding partners, has been named a 2018 Lawyer of the Year from Best Lawyers. This is an honor bestowed on only one attorney in each practice area in each designated location. Mr. Staton is Lawyer of the Year in the area of plaintiff's medical malpractice representation for the Baltimore metropolitan area.

This is Mr. Statons second recognition as Lawyer of the Year, having also been selected in 2013. He has additionally been recognized ten times since 2008 as a Best Lawyer. A graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law, Mr. Staton is a Fellow of The American College of Trial Lawyers, the American Board of Trial Advocates, the International Society of Barristers, the Maryland Association for Justice and the American Association for Justice.

Mr. Staton was recognized as a 2014 Top Rated Lawyer in Medical Malpractice Law by American Lawyer Media and a Top 100 Lawyer by Maryland Super Lawyers from 2013 to the present. He has also been a consistent member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, as well as the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum from 2007 to the present. Mr. Staton was recently honored by the National Academy of Personal Injury Attorneys (NAOPIA) with the 2017 Top 10 Attorney Award for the State of Maryland. An accolade given to less than one percent of all attorneys, the NAOPIA award acknowledges outstanding accomplishments by personal injury attorneys nationwide.

Mr. Staton's resolve is strongly influenced by his mother, who was severely brain injured due to a negligent surgical procedure. The pursuit of justice for his mother started Mr. Staton on a road where he has consistently fought and advocated for the rights of people injured by medical malpractice.

"I chose the practice of law as a profession because of a desire to serve the community and to provide equal access to justice for persons most deserving but without financial resources," he explained.

The Lawyer of the Year Selection Process

Lawyer of the Year is awarded as part of the Best Lawyer designation, a peer review process that recognizes the outstanding accomplishments of lawyers across the country. After a nomination process, fellow attorneys provide personal assessments of each nominee. The selection committee than reviews all feedback and narrows the list of potential honorees. Attorneys with the highest level of peer feedback are recognized with the Lawyer of the Year designation.

Providing the residents of Washington DC, Maryland and Baltimore with award-winning legal representation

The lawyers of Schochor, Federico and Staton, P.A. have proudly served the residents of Baltimore, Maryland and Washington DC for more than 30 years. Leading some of the states largest class-action settlements. Schochor, Federico and Staton, P.A. attorneys are consistently recognized for providing quality legal representation. Help them congratulate Mr. Staton for his selection as Lawyer of the Year.

For more information about Schochor, Federico and Staton, P.A. or the Lawyer of the Year selection, call their office at 410-234-1000 or visit https://www.sfspa.com.
Dr. Tara Bartlett We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Bartlett to our unique group of women healthcare providers, ~ Dr. Lela Emad

Dr. Tara C. Bartlett, DO joins the Womens OB/GYN Medical Group to become the newest member of a team of healthcare professionals made up of compassionate, expert doctors, midwives, nurses and medical assistants, all aimed at providing unmatched care to patients. Dr. Tara C. Bartlett, D.O., is a practicing obstetrician and gynecologist. She graduated from University of California, Los Angeles as a Phi Beta Kappa with High Honors. She holds a B.S. degree in Biology with a minor in Global Studies. Dr. Bartlett obtained her medical degree at Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine in California. She completed her residency at Genesys Regional Medical Center in Grand Blanc, Michigan.

Dr. Bartlett holds numerous awards and certifications including Da Vinci robotic surgery certification. She is trained in minimally invasive robotic and laparoscopic surgery, hysteroscopic surgery, myosure device, novasure endometrial ablation, nexplanon insertion, and intrauterine device placement. She has participated in a number of research projects pertaining to her specialty including HPV genotyping research.

Dr. Bartlett has a special interest in international medicine and was awarded the Rafi Younoszai International/Cross-Cultural Health Scholarship Award in 2013. She has participated in medical outreach providing OB/GYN services for areas with minimal healthcare access in Peru, the Dominican Republic, and northern Spain. We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Bartlett as the newest physician to join our unique group of women healthcare providers, says Dr. Lela Emad of the Womens OB/GYN Medical Group. We are honored to have her in our practice. With this addition, both staff and patients gain a very talented and caring physician focused on providing quality support and unmatched healthcare to patients.

About the Womens OB/GYN Medical Group

With a team made up of compassionate, expert doctors, midwives, nurses and medical assistants aimed at providing unmatched care to patients, the Womens OB/GYN Medical Group offers a full range of obstetrics and gynecology services to women in the North Bay region. Services offered include;



General gynecological health screenings

State-of-the-art diagnostics

Comprehensive pregnancy and postpartum care

Full midwifery services

Minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery

Uro-gynecological procedures

Incontinence care

Menopause care

Laser hair reduction, skin care and Botox Cosmetic

Along with Dr. Bartlett, the Womens OB/GYN Medical Groups staff of physicians includes; Lela Emad, MD, Shazah Khawaja, MD, Amita Kachru, MD, and Susan Logan, MD. Together, these doctors share a unique whole-body approach to medicine as they strive to find the underlying causes of a womans health problems, rather than simply treating the symptoms. Every one of the health professionals at Womens OB/GYN is committed to both alleviating short-term ailments and maximizing long-term health.

The Women's OB/GYN Medical Group strives to better the lives of all women with a holistic approach to womens health. To learn more about these fine physicians and the many services provided by the Womens OB/GYN Medical Group visit the website. Call for an appointment at (707) 579-1102.
Pennsylvania-based education solutions provider American Reading Company has made the 2017 Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing companies in America. Ranked #3401, ARC is on the list for the fourth time.

At American Reading Company, we use an educational model to improve our business and we help schools improve with a business model, said Hileman. We are honored to be recognized by Inc. 5000 as we work to ensure every student in America is reading on or above grade level.

To qualify for this award, companies must be privately held and must have had a sales growth of at least 50% over three years. American Reading Companys three-year growth reached 93% this year, thanks to the introduction of two new products. In the spring of 2015, ARC filled a gap in supports for students in need of targeted assistance in specific reading levels with their IRLA and Foundational Skills Toolkits. ARC also launched their comprehensive ELA curriculum for Grades K12 in English and K5 in Spanish, ARC Core. ARC Core was independently reviewed by EdReports, a team of experts that analyzes materials for their alignment to the Common Core Standards. Among the 13 programs that have been reviewed so far, ARC Core was the first and remains the only K8 ELA curriculum to have received an EdReports All Green review, meeting all criteria.

In addition to sales growth, the company has nearly doubled its workforce over the past 12 months. Committed to building a just and sustainable world through business, ARC values healthy communities and the strength of the human spirit as well as high returns. The staff of more than 200 enjoys such benefits as a minimum wage of $15 an hour; distribution of 10% of company profits; and an on-site, sliding scale Spanish immersion nursery.

About American Reading Company

American Reading Company is a diverse, mission-driven, woman-owned business based in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Built and run by education activists, ARC is a trusted partner of 5,320 schools and 1,070 districts in 50 states. With a staff of more than 200, ARC helps strengthen district and school capacity at every level to ensure all students read, write, discuss, think, investigate, and solve problems at ever-increasing levels of proficiency. As a result, students academic performance is accelerated and their life prospects are fundamentally improved.
With Seremedi, we deliver a strong better together story for healthcare organizations.

Seremedi, Inc., the digital health leader and resident company of JLABS @ TMC, today announced a co-marketing and co-selling initiative with the Microsoft field teams for the Seremedi CareScriptions care management application suite. Seremedi, Inc., while being powered on the Microsoft Azure platform, delivers the CareScriptions solutions into major hospital systems, helping provide Microsoft customers, current and new access to transformational mobile care management that benefits healthcare providers and patients alike with better outcomes.

CareScriptions is built on the trusted and certified Microsoft Azure platform which includes a variety of technical safeguards enabling Seremedi to meet the needs of its customers. Microsoft Azure provides security, privacy and scalability enabling customers of all sizes to meet their compliance requirements.

With Seremedi, we deliver a strong better together story for healthcare organizations looking to leverage their investment in Microsofts enterprise capabilities as a foundation for their clinical care applications, said Dr. Clifford Goldsmith, managing director, Microsoft.

We are thrilled to co-market and co-sell our CareScriptions  Solutions with Microsoft and benefit from its incredibly strong brand and world-class marketing resources, said Kim Bond Evans, CEO of Seremedi. We fully believe this is a mutually beneficial relationship, adding an additional healthcare offering to the Microsoft portfolio to offer its current and future healthcare customers. With CareScriptions, all essential elements for continuous patient care management are integrated for best outcomes.

Patients who have major procedures often experience poor outcomes after discharge when their care team has little to no access to data informing them of the success of the patients recovery. Poor care management that is disconnected causes patients to slip through the cracks, and many get worse, not better, sometimes resulting in death. Historically, patients are discharged and disconnected from the care team, making it difficult for healthcare professionals to intervene when patients experience difficulties. Seremedi created CareScriptions to connect care teams and patients during key periods of treatment and recovery to ensure best outcomes.

CareScriptions is preferred by healthcare organizations for its unique approach to patient care which delights both care team and patient - integrating the essential care capabilities enabling care teams to instantly receive critical patient status information when they want it, how they want it. Communicating with patients is triggered in real-time using a patients media of choice -providing them with a convenient, easy to use application that assists recovery. CareScriptions minimizes adverse events, reduces readmission rates, improves efficiency, enhances patient recovery and improves the clinician-patient relationship.

Late 2016, CareScriptions was selected as one of the 2016 finalists for the MEDICA World App Competition. Seremedi was one of only two companies selected from the U.S for this competition which is part of MEDICA World, the worlds leading healthcare conference for the medical industry.

About Seremedi

Seremedi is a Houston-based digital health leader and resident company of JLABS @ TMC. Its CareScriptions integrated mobile patient care platform helps medical professionals improve the perioperative care experience by connecting patients and care teams to deliver critical patient data in real-time, increasing visibility into patient preparation and recovery, and enabling the best recovery outcomes while minimizing avoidable risks and costs. More informed, invested and connected patient-physician teams working together result in better outcomes for the patient, and a decrease in major surgery related complications, readmissions and costs. CareScriptions delivers collaborative connected care supporting the doctor-patient commitment to work together through patient recovery. Seremedi is a leading technology partner in Perioperative Care and proud to present this discussion on Enhanced Recovery and the Perioperative Surgical Home. For more, see http://www.seremedi.com or follow @CareScriptions.
RACINE  A Racine woman was sentenced this week to three years in prison for robbing, battering and stabbing another woman who tried to help her last spring when the convicted woman was reportedly homeless.

Valerie A. Fisher, 33, of the 1600 block of West Street, was charged on May 31, 2016, with two counts of armed robbery, one count of aggravated battery and four counts of misdemeanor bail jumping in connection with the incident, which occurred on May 22 of that year.

According to the criminal complaint:

A Racine woman attempted to help Fisher, whom the victim said was homeless and a drug user, with clothes and food.

At a residence in the 1400 block of 12th Street, Fisher told the victim she wanted alcohol and drugs and demanded money, the complaint said. The victim refused, so Fisher reportedly punched the victim about a dozen times in the back of the head and then stabbed the victim in the hand and the leg with a wooden-handled serrated steak knife.

On June 6 of this year, Fisher  who according to court records has a string of convictions for drug possession, obstruction and prostitution in Dane and Racine counties  pleaded no contest to a single amended charge of robbery. Two misdemeanor bail jumping charges were dismissed but read into the record, according to court records.

During a hearing on Monday, Racine County Circuit Judge Mark Nielsen sentenced Fisher to three years in prison and three years on extended supervision for the robbery charge, online court records state.
Goodness On The Go - The GoGo squeeZ Blog The thoughtful, detailed designs created by the Code18 team really embody and enhance the unique personality of each brand.

Goodness On The Go (http://www.goodnessonthego.com) is a recipe and healthy lifestyle blog from GoGo squeeZ, Americas leading brand of squeezable applesauce. Offering an array of healthy recipes, nutrition tips, and fun activities, Goodness On The Go is a blog that helps on-the-go families be a little happier and healthier every day. Recent posts have included recipes for Banana YogurtZ Bread (made with GoGo squeeZ YogurtZ, the companys innovative shelf-stable squeezable yogurt that requires no refrigeration), smoothies, gingerbread cookies, and more. Additional blog posts focus on topics such as healthy living, crafts and activities, GoGo squeeZ partnerships, and and other topics.

Counter Culture (http://www.bigelowblog.com) is a health and beauty blog offering helpful tips from the pharmacists and beauty experts on staff at New York Citys famous C.O. Bigelow, the oldest apothecary in America. Every day customers visit C.O. Bigelows store seeking advice, and Counter Culture seeks to provide authoritative answers to many of the most frequently asked questions. Recent Ask A Pharmacist posts have provided important information about antibiotics and alcohol, sunscreen, and how to get rid of scars. Meanwhile, the sites Ask A Beauty Expert section discusses beauty-related products and other topics ranging from how to choose a hair dryer or hair brush, to when you should start using eye cream.

These new blogs provide each of these clients with an owned media platform that they can use to educate and communicate with their respective communities, says Steve Pilon, founder and creative director at Code18 Interactive. The evergreen nature of the content they are publishing, along with the easy-to-use WordPress content management system, means that the sites will continue to grow more useful and valuable over time. And the thoughtful, detailed designs created by the Code18 team really embody and enhance the unique personality of each brand.

Code18 Interactive is an NYC WordPress agency that caters exclusively to national consumer and media brands. Clients of the agency include GoGo squeeZ and C.O. Bigelow, as well as Boursin Cheese, Grove Atlantic Publishing, Manhattan Wardrobe Supply, and others. Additional services include Magento 2 design and development, digital advertising, social media management, SEO, and more. The company was originally founded in Atlanta, and relocated to NYC in 2012.

For more information, please visit http://www.code18.com.
ClearView Audit was named No. 55 on the 2017 Inc. 5000 with astonishing 5779% Growth.

2017 was the 36th year of Inc. 5000, a list of the fastest growing private companies in the United States. The list includes companies from all industries, and Inc. ranks them based on percentage of revenue growth over a three-year period. ClearView Audit made the list with a three-year sales growth of nearly 6000%.

Brad Hollister, CEO, is proud of the ClearView team for not only putting in the work to be recognized in the top 10% to be even further honored on the Inc. 500 list, but to make their way to 55th, just outside the top 1% of the fastest growing companies in the country. In addition to that, ClearView is the number one fastest growing company in Wisconsin, and was also named the 4th fastest-growing software company in the country.

This honor means ClearView is listed among some of the brightest and most innovative entrepreneurs on the Inc. 5000. Major companies like Pandora, Microsoft, Dell, LinkedIn, and others have appeared on the list providing them with national exposure that helped them get to where they are today. As this was the first year ClearView could make the list, the company is looking forward to continuing its growth and ranking even higher in coming years.

2017 has been a big year for ClearView. This year in March, the increasing staff and client base lead ClearView to move its headquarters to a larger space that could accommodate its growth. In June, ClearView was named among the top 25 logistics technology solutions providers according to CIO Applications. Shortly after that, ClearView was named one of Parcel Industrys Hot Companies. The success and growth of ClearView in 2017 has now culminated in being honored by Inc. as the 55th fastest growing company in the nation.

Brad and the rest of ClearViews staff is honored by the recognition of so many prominent industry outlets, but they dont want to stop there. ClearView has big plans for coming years to keep the company moving ahead and making sure they continue to provide the greatest services and TMS software available to fulfill their mission: to bring clarity and control to all shipments.

ClearView Audit is a major transportation management system (TMS) shipping technology company and freight and parcel audit service provider aimed at reducing costs and increasing visibility for companies with annual shipping expenses ranging between one million and one hundred million dollars across all modes of transportation including small parcel, LTL freight, truckload freight, and ocean container freight. ClearView's TMS technology and auditing software provide complete visibility to the entire supply chain to bring clarity and control to all shipments. Additional information can be found on their website, http://clearviewaudit.com, by email at info(at)clearviewaudit(dot)com, or by phone at 855.737.3444.
Dentist using Practice Assistant Sikka is harnessing artificial intelligence and natural language processing to help build a self-driving practice.

Sikka Software, The Practice Optimizer Company, will be at CDA San Francisco at Booth #311, demonstrating live the newest advance in artificial intelligence (AI), Practice Assistant. Staff will be on hand to assist dentists in experiencing firsthand how AI and natural language processing facilitates a self-driving dental practice, hands-free using a smart speaker.

Gene Dorff, Dentsply Sirona: The Sikka Software advantage is the capture and proactive use of individual dentist practice data. Sikka Software compliments most practice management systems. I believe Sikka Softwares products can improve the productivity and profitability of a dentists office.

Practice Assistant is accessible by saying, Alexa, open my practice to any Amazon Echo device. This command connects the device to Sikkas HIPAA and HITECH Platform Cloud, compatible with 96% of practice management systems. Dentists can then ask Practice Assistant for their schedule and key performance indicators, including accounts receivable, open treatment plans, collections, new patients and more. This hands-free interaction allows dentists to maximize their time and schedule, fit in emergency patients and perform additional procedures to grow their revenue.

Vijay Sikka, CEO of Sikka Software: Sikka is harnessing artificial intelligence and natural language processing to help build a self-driving practice. Our goal is to use technology to make managing a practice simple so dentists can focus on their patients while simultaneously increasing revenue.

Practice Assistant works from any location with an Amazon Echo device and Wi-Fi connection, so dentists can check in with their practice at home, on location, or wherever in the world they happen to be.

Dentists can visit CDA Booth #311 for a demonstration and to enter a drawing to win an Amazon Dot. A winner will be drawn every day of the show at 3 PM PST, on the dot. Plus, dentists get 6 months of Practice Assistant free when three referrals sign-up.

For more information and to get started with Practice Assistant today, visit https://store.sikkasoft.com/pa.

About Sikka Software

Sikka Software Corporation is revolutionizing the retail healthcare industry via its platform cloud, analytical tools, apps and big data leadership. The retail industry includes over 2.1 million providers worldwide and over 600,000 in the United States. The Sikka Platform Cloud allows seamless compatibility with over 96% of the dental, veterinary, vision care and hearing care markets in the United States. Sikka Software Corporation has over 24,900 installations and is experiencing strong growth and market presence in the retail healthcare big data space. For more information, please visit http://www.sikkasoftware.com.

Media Contacts:

Geoff Martin, Alitta Boechler

Sikka Software

408-876-4040
Sunrise on Lake Michigan Kayak along Door Countys 300 miles of shoreline.

September is a great time to visit Wisconsins Door County peninsula as warm temperatures linger and popular summer activities continue at a slightly more relaxed pace. Explore and unwind with a hike in a state park or sip a glass a wine at one of eight wineries on the Door County Wine Trail. Visitors can plan their vacation today at DoorCounty.com or by calling the Door County Visitor Bureau toll free at 800-527-3529.

September Special Events

Take a fall getaway with a So Delicious, So Door County lodging package. From August 19- October 22 visitors can choose dozens of special culinary packages offering luxurious lodging, scrumptious food, a $25 Door County gift certificate and more!

Enjoy one last festival before Labor Day at Sister Bays Marina Fest, September 2-4.

Cast a line during the Sturgeon Bay Open Bass Tournament, September 9.

Sample some of the 100 different craft beers at Egg Harbor Ale Fest, September 16.

Stroll down historic third avenue in Sturgeon Bay for Harvest Festival, September 16.

Celebrate the first days of autumn in Baileys Harbor at AutumnFest, September 23-24.

For the most comprehensive list of events, visit http://www.DoorCounty.com/events.

State and County Park Activities

Door County offers 5 state parks and 19 county parks across the 70-mile-long peninsula. Each park offers a variety of recreational opportunities and scenic beauty.

Hike and learn about mushrooms at Whitefish Dunes State Park, September 2.

Celebrate Wisconsins only formally designated Wilderness State Park at Wilderness Day at Newport State Park, September 3.

Bike throughout Door County at the Door County Century Bike Ride starting at John Miles County Park, September 10.

Tour Peninsula State Parks Eagle Bluff Lighthouse at dusk for a twilight tour with songs and stories, September 29-30.

On Going Autumn Activities

Visit Third Avenue Playhouse to see "Every Brilliant Thing," September 7- October 15.

Taste the flavors of fall across the peninsula. Apple cider doughnuts, anyone?

See the world premiere of "Naked Radio" by Northern Sky Theater at the Door Community Auditorium, September 1-October 21.

Discover the many galleries located across the peninsula.

Kayak along Door Countys 300 miles of shoreline.

Sip French style cider made from locally grown apples in the tasting room at Island Orchard Cider in Ellison Bay.

Challenge friends and family with a visit to Schopfs Dairy View corn maze.

Stay Connected at DoorCounty.com

Door County is a bucolic peninsula that juts out into Lake Michigan in Wisconsins northeast corner. Named one of the Top 10 Vacation Destinations in North America by Money magazine, Door County features 300 miles of shoreline, 11 lighthouses, 5 state parks and 19 county parks. It is known for its natural beauty, artistic offerings and year-round outdoor recreation opportunities.
Its not racism, its simply bad training.

The number of unarmed American citizens being killed by police is on the rise. Statistics released by the Washington Post show that out of 638 people killed by police in 2017, 62 were either unarmed or were not known to have a weapon. Although most of the news focuses on dividing the country along racial lines in a search for answers, one of the world's leading firearms trainers says the reason much easier. Chris Sajnog, a retired U.S. Navy SEAL sniper instructor and founder of the S.E.A.L. Training System (Science-based Education for Accelerated Learning) says its not racism, its simply bad training.

Almost every law enforcement agency in the United States qualifies their officer by having them shoot at targets that are the shape of an unarmed human. Anyone who understands the basics of Classical Conditioning will understand the insanity of this type of training, Chris said. You cant test an officer's ability to shoot at the shape of an unarmed human shape under stress, and then be surprised when, under stress, that same officer shoots what appears to be the same shape hes been trained to shoot!

The same statistics reported by the Washington Post also show that out of 30 unarmed civilian killed, 13 were white, and eight were black. Chris said its not a racial issue. At night and under stress we all become silhouettes. It doesn't matter if youre black, white or green, as long as police are being trained to shoot at unarmed human shapes, were all in danger.

Chris has tried many times in his career to improve the training hes been involved with but, every time hes met with what he calls, Institutional Inertia. Chris became a whistleblower when he discovered the USCG unit he was training was violating most of their own safety rules. He reported this to the Office of Special Counsel only to find himself at the center of their investigation. I provided over 500 pieces of evidence that the USCGs training program was putting sailors lives in danger. When I gave evidence to the Office of Special Counsel that the USCG lied to investigators, they closed my case.

Chris was also asked to be on the board of director for the NRA, but when he requested to help modernize their training, they revoked his nomination. The only hard part about fixing this epidemic is changing minds of the decision makers, Chris said. Even if it seems too simple or too easy of a fix just to change the targets officers are shooting at; isnt it worth a shot?

About Chris Sajnog

Although hes done taking out terrorists, hes still on a mission: To help others learn to live their lives as true warriors. He spent most of his life training the world's most elite warriors, the US Navy SEALs. One day he came home from a long deployment and realized his two young boys needed him more than the SEAL Teams. After 20 years of serving his country, it was time to grow up  and become a father.

Chris, a Master Training Specialist in the Navy, was hand selected to write the US Navy SEAL Sniper Manual. He used this experience, plus four years of studying neuroscience and elite performance, to develop the SEAL Training System  a fundamental shift to learning any skill. Hes the author of two bestselling books, How to Shoot Like a Navy SEAL and Navy SEAL Shooting and the owner of Center Mass Group, LLC a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business in San Diego, CA and now offers his unique training online and through licensing with strategic training partners and joint ventures.
This is a tremendous decision with far-reaching impact for the Fourth Amendment, increasing transparency in the judicial process for citizens, as well as the media.

On Monday, August 21st, the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit struck a major blow against sealed search warrant affidavits and said in its published Opinion that the district court abused its discretion in the case.

In what started as an IRS tax investigation, the legal team at Minns & Arnett challenged the legitimacy of concealing the probable cause affidavits supporting three search warrants for the home, business, and storage unit of their client, Mr. Justin Smith. Attorney Michael Minns argued that Mr. Smith should have a common law right to access the affidavits supporting the warrants. According to court records, the Magistrate granted a request by Minns law partner, Ashley Arnett, for disclosure, but the Federal District Court overruled the Magistrates order granting access to the affidavits, prompting an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.

The Appeals Court agreed with Mr. Minns, stating in the published Opinion that, The district court abused its discretion by finding that the pre-indictment warrant materials here should remain sealed without making sufficient factual findings.

This is a tremendous decision with far-reaching impact for the Fourth Amendment, increasing transparency in the judicial process for citizens, as well as the media, said Michael Minns, counsel for Justin Smith, the subject of interest in the warrants.

Minns & Arnett is a trial and appellate law firm based in Houston, Texas which tries Federal cases all over the United States. The firm focuses on complex tax matters and professional malpractice cases, with a concentration in criminal tax defense. The firm has litigated cases from New York to California, in Alaska and Hawaii, Texas and Jersey.

Motions in the Magistrates Court and District Court were handled by Minns & Arnett partner Ashley Arnett, and oral arguments at the Fifth Circuit Court in New Orleans were conducted by Michael Minns.

Case Number: 16-20562

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
PSSC Labs, a developer of custom High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Big Data computing solutions, today announced it has successfully helped reverse logistics platform Optoro migrate off Amazon Web Services (AWS) and create its own in-house infrastructure.

Optoro is the worlds leading reverse logistics platform, offering a superior end-to-end reverse logistics solution that helps retailers process, manage, and sell their returned and excess inventory. Optoros software platform helps retailers optimize the management of returned and excess inventory in a more efficient and cost-effective way, maximizing recovery value, enabling consumers to get great deals, and reducing environmental waste. Founded in 2010, Optoro has seen phenomenal growth as ecommerce continues to rise, and has therefore seen a steady rise in data infrastructure needs.

PSSC Labs worked with Optoro to completely build a self-hosted infrastructure from the ground up, emphasizing flexibility and maintainability, utilizing its CloudOOP 12000 Enterprise Big Data server platform connected via a 10 GigE network backbone. Performance benefits were maximized using only Flash SSD hard drives from Micron and the latest Intel Xeon E5-2600 series processors.

PSSC Labs also worked extensively with Optoro to customize the solution so that they could continue running on an API infrastructure with a Joyent Triton platform. Unlike other providers, PSSC Labs provided the flexibility and knowledge needed to deliver Optoro with hardware that maximized performance without upselling of unnecessary upgrades said Zach Dunn, Optoros Director of DevOps. PSSC Labs delivered a complete solution with all necessary rack, power connection and out of band management tightly integrated into a simple-to-deploy datacenter environment.

Upon the completion of the migration, Optoro saw an immediate increase in the consistency and stability of performance as well as increase to storage capacity compared to AWS. The new self-hosted solution immediately halved Optoros costs as well as greatly increasing performance, and private infrastructure has also resulted in better visibility, with a clearer breakdown of usage for proper reporting and monitoring. Detailed information on Optoros migration from AWS will be available as a case study at http://www.pssclabs.com/

The CloudOOP12000 is PSSC Labs unique platform for enterprise users. It offers 2x the density and up to 35% lower power draw than traditional manufacturers as well as a near 50% increase in data throughput performance. All CloudOOP 12000 server configurations receive service and support from PSSC Labs US based, expert in house engineers. Prices for a custom CloudOOP 12000 server start at $5000. For more information see http://www.pssclabs.com/products/big-data/hadoop/high-density-hadoop-server/.

About PSSC Labs

For technology powered visionaries with a passion for challenging the status quo, PSSC Labs is the answer for hand-crafted HPC and Big Data computing solutions that deliver relentless performance with the absolute lowest total cost of ownership. All products are designed and built at the companys headquarters in Lake Forest, California. For more information, 949-380-7288, http://www.pssclabs.com , sales@pssclabs.com .

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Media contact:

Len Fernandes

Firecracker PR

len@firecrackerpr.com

1-888-317-4687 ext. 702
More than 600 vehicles on display at Old Car Festival in Greenfield Village

On September 9-10, Americas longest-running antique car show returns to Greenfield Village to immerse guests in the moving stories, sounds and innovations of the early automotive era. This years Old Car Festival celebrates the centennial of Lincoln Motor Company and brings to life the eras of American history represented by more than 600 historic vehicles dating from the turn of the century to the Great Depression.

New this year, the Main Street District inside Greenfield Village will transform into a Ragtime-era street fair of the mid-nineteen teens. The fair will include live Ragtime piano music, cake walks, dancing and food stalls filled with smoked turkey legs, hand-carved pastrami sandwiches and specialty lemonade. On Saturday, programming is extended until 9 pm with a special evening performance by the River Raisin Ragtime Revue and a tribute to not only the automobile, but the 100th anniversary of the United States entry into World War One. A fireworks finale will follow the dance and concert, immediately followed by a Dixieland style parade to exit the gates.

During Old Car Festival, guests can join the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) at Henry Ford Birthplace for a 1910 reunion picnic and learn what veterans of the American Civil War would have thought of the coming automotive age and the impact the organization had across the country in the early 20th century. The Hotel Savarine Society Orchestra will perform jazz and other dance music from the 1920s over at the Ackley Covered Bridge where guests of all ages can learn to dance the Charleston. At the Mattox Farm, guests can join the Reverend Robert Jones for a special Blues performance, see historic farm vehicles and learn how the Great Depression brought the Roaring Twenties to a screeching halt. As part of the celebration The Henry Ford will be bringing out the 1896 Quadricycle and 1901 Sweepstakes replicas, its 1917 Woods Mobilette, and in honor of Lincoln Motor Companys centennial, a 1929 Lincoln Convertible Victoria and a 1917 Liberty V-12 aircraft engine built by the company.

Old Car Festival is free with membership or $27 for adults, $24.50 for seniors 62 and up and $20.25 for youth 3-11. Children two and under are free. Discounted tickets can be purchased at participating Meijer locations. For more information, call (313) 982-6001 or visit https://www.thehenryford.org/current-events/calendar/old-car-festival/.

About The Henry Ford

The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan is an internationally-recognized history destination that explores the American experience of innovation, resourcefulness and ingenuity that helped shape America. A national historic landmark with an unparalleled Archive of American Innovation, The Henry Ford is a force for sparking curiosity and inspiring tomorrows innovators. Nearly 1.8 million visitors annually experience its five attractions: Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, Greenfield Village, Ford Rouge Factory Tour, Benson Ford Research Center and The Henry Ford Giant Screen Experience. A continually expanding array of content available online provides anytime, anywhere access. The Henry Ford is also home to Henry Ford Academy, a public charter high school which educates over 500 students a year on the institutions campus. In 2014, The Henry Ford premiered its first-ever national television series, The Henry Fords Innovation Nation, showcasing present-day change-makers and The Henry Fords artifacts and unique visitor experiences. Hosted by news correspondent and humorist, Mo Rocca, this Emmy-winning weekly half-hour show airs Saturday mornings on CBS. For more information please visit our website thehenryford.org.
Inception logo The VR industry is growing rapidly, and Microsofts Windows Mixed Reality platform is going to be a significant leap ahead

Inception, the next-generation immersive content network, recently funded by Bertelsmanns RTL Group, announced today their relationship with Microsoft for their Windows Mixed Reality platform and app. The agreement will see Inception add Microsofts Windows Mixed Reality to the growing list of platforms it already supports.

Inception has been working closely with Microsoft to port their app to the Microsoft platform, and to implement new, advanced capabilities. Inception has incorporated Cortana*, Microsofts personal digital assistant, into its core UX, providing users with a new way to navigate mixed reality experiences using their voice. Microsoft and Inception are also working on multiple content creation and distribution opportunities.

The VR industry is growing rapidly, and Microsofts Windows Mixed Reality platform is going to be a significant leap ahead, said Benny Arbel, Inception CEO. The ability to plug-and-play any of the Windows Mixed Reality headsets with any of the affordable, compatible PCs will bring immersive experiences to the masses, and were really excited to be taking the leap together with Microsoft. We believe that exhilarating immersive content should be available for everyone, which is why weve announced partnerships with leading publishers such as Time Out and Pitchfork who both have huge audiences who can benefit from mixed reality experiences.

ABOUT INCEPTION

Inception is fast becoming the leading 360 & VR destination of choice for premium content for millennials. Inception launched in October 2016, and has top apps for all leading platforms. Inception has produced notable art, music and lifestyle content, such as Daydreaming with Stanley Kubrick, and experiences from the world of Salvador Dali, music experiences with DJs Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, and a steady content creation with publisher partners including Time Out and Pitchfork.

*Cortana and voice dictation is available and localized in select markets. Experience may vary by region and device.To experience sound, Cortana and voice dictation with Windows Mixed Reality, compatible mic-enabled headphones with 3.5mm jack (USB wont be able to connect to headset) have to be attached and plugged in to the audio jack on the HMD.

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Media Contact:

Andy Morris

Code Morris for Inception

andy.morris@codemorris.com

917.710.1802
Consumers Union, the policy and mobilization division of Consumer Reports, praised McDonalds far reaching policy announced today to limit the use of antibiotics by its global chicken and beef suppliers. The consumer group has urged fast food chains to bar the routine use of antibiotics on healthy animals by their meat and poultry suppliers, a practice that medical experts have warned is making these drugs less effective for treating disease in people.

The widespread use of antibiotics on livestock that arent sick is contributing to a global public health crisis with potentially dire consequences, said Jean Halloran, Director of Food Policy Initiatives at Consumers Union. McDonalds plan is a bold vision that will help preserve the effectiveness of these critical medications to fight infections and keep us healthy. If fully implemented, it could be a total game changer that could transform the marketplace given the companys massive buying power.

In August 2016, McDonalds announced that it was no longer selling any chicken raised on medically important antibiotics in the U.S. McDonalds committed itself today to prohibiting a group of the most valuable antibiotics used in human medicine in the production of chicken sold at its restaurants worldwide. McDonalds stated today that chicken produced in Japan, Brazil, and South Korea, as well as Canada and the U.S., would eliminate the use of these high-value antibiotics as of January 2018. McDonalds chicken produced in Europe, Russia, and Australia would achieve this goal by the end of 2019. However, all markets would not eliminate these high-value antibiotics until 2027.

In a meeting with consumer and environmental organizations on August 17, McDonalds stated that 74 percent of its global chicken sales will conform to this policy as of January 2018, followed by 80 percent in 2019. By 2027, 98 percent of the chicken sold by McDonalds internationally will come from poultry suppliers that abide by this policy.

In addition, McDonalds informed the groups that it hopes to have a timeline soon for reducing medically important antibiotics from its beef. McDonalds plans to focus first on beef produced in 10 countries, representing 85 percent of the companys supply.

Antibiotic resistant bacteria dont observe national boundaries, said Halloran. We commend McDonalds for setting these goals and urge all fast food chains to use their market clout to protect public health before its too late.

As antibiotic resistance grows, the medications used to treat infections become less effective.

According to the CDC, drug-resistant infections sicken at least 2 million people every year in the U.S. and 23,000 die as a result. A 2016 report commissioned by the United Kingdom estimates that unless steps are taken to control antibiotic resistance, deaths from drug resistant infections will exceed cancer deaths globally by 2050. The World Health Organization has warned that the increasing proliferation of drug-resistant superbugs could bring about the end of modern medicine as we know it and that things as common as strep throat and a childs scratched knee could once again kill.

Seventy percent of the medically important antibiotics sold in the U.S. are fed to healthy livestock such as cows, pigs, chickens, and turkey, generally to prevent disease in crowded and unsanitary industrial farms. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and most medical experts agree that the widespread use of antibiotics for meat production threatens public health by contributing to the creation and spread of drug-resistant superbugs.

Over the past three years, Consumers Union has joined with a number of other organizations, including the Center for Food Safety, Food Animals Concerns Trust, Friends of the Earth, Natural Resources Defense Council, and USPIRG to urge the major fast food chains to stop selling meat and poultry raised on antibiotics. The groups have published an annual Chain Reaction report evaluating and grading the antibiotics policies of the restaurants and mobilized hundreds of thousands of consumers to call on the companies to adopt more responsible practices.

In response, a growing number of restaurants have adopted reforms, particularly when it comes to reducing antibiotics used to raise chicken. Most recently, KFC announced in March that it will no longer serve chicken raised using medically important antibiotics by the end of 2018.

__________

Consumers Union is the policy and mobilization division of Consumer Reports. Consumers Union works for health reform, food and product safety, financial reform, and other consumer issues in Washington, D.C., the states, and in the marketplace. Consumer Reports is the worlds largest independent product-testing organization. Using its more than 50 labs, auto test center, and survey research center, the nonprofit rates thousands of products and services annually. Founded in 1936, Consumer Reports has over 8 million subscribers to its magazine, website, and other publications.
Investigators probing an officer-involved shooting Monday say a Columbia County Sheriffs Deputy responding to a reported Pardeeville domestic incident encountered gunfire upon arrival.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation identified the shooter as Thomas Selje, 64, who died at the scene after he was hit by return fire from the deputy, according to a DOJ press release.

The Columbia County Sheriffs Office dispatched a deputy to Seljes home at 416 Vince St. where there had been a reported domestic disturbance. Neighbors reported hearing a series of pops, initially sounding like a firecracker, with the situation coming to an abrupt end and the street lighting up with arriving emergency vehicles.

Selje, formerly of Portage, according to Columbia County Court records, was pronounced dead at the scene with an autopsy performed Tuesday by the Dane County chief medical examiner.

Immediately following the incident on Monday night the Columbia County Sheriffs Office contacted the DCI to request assistance in the investigation.

According to a 2014 Wisconsin state law, local law enforcement agencies are prohibited from investigating fatal incidents involving their own officers, whether it be a shooting or a fatal traffic accident.

Department of Justice spokesman John Koremenos explained on Tuesday that investigators are expected to be on the scene with initial results later in the week and a final investigation report to be delivered to the Columbia County district attorney to determine if criminal charges against any responding officers would be appropriate.

The deputy involved in the incident, whose named has not been revealed by Sheriff Dennis Richards, has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the conclusion of the investigation.
Circlepixs suite of marketing tools work together to help agents sell more homes faster and for more money. We had big goals when we started the company 17 years ago, and this recognition not only speaks to how much those goals have continued to grow and thrive, but to how they've been supported by our entire organization top to bottom.

Circlepix is proud to announce its inclusion for the fifth time on the Inc. 5000, a list of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States. This achievement places Circlepix on Inc. 5000s Honor Roll, reserved for companies who land on the list five times or more. This milestone puts Circlepix in the upper echelon of Inc. 5000 companies  only 7% of companies honored land on the Honor Roll.

Ranking #3232 on the list, Circlepix has seen 100% growth over the last three years, with 95 employees and 2016 revenues topping $8 million. Circlepix is the only company in the Advertising & Marketing category that caters specifically to real estate brokers and agents.

Circlepix previously ranked on the Inc. 5000 in 2007, 2008, 2015 and 2016.

This is a huge honor and achievement," says Robert Davis, Chief Executive Officer of Circlepix. "We had big goals when we started the company 17 years ago, and this recognition not only speaks to how much those goals have continued to grow and thrive, but to how they've been supported by our entire organization top to bottom."

Greg Gehring, Circlepixs Chief Operations Officer, echoes Daviss sentiment. The reason for our growth is twofold: first, we have great products that make a remarkable difference in our clients lives; and second, we have outstanding, dedicated and engaged employees who love what they do.

To accommodate for Circlepixs rapid growth, the company recently broke ground on two additional facilities on the Circlepix campus in Springville, Utah. Projected completion of the two buildings is early 2018.

For more information, visit http://www.circlepix.com.

About Circlepix: Circlepix is the leader in real estate marketing automation, with over 100,000 agents across the US and Canada using its services. Its three core platforms  PIXphotography, PIXmarketing and PIXsocial  give real estate agents the tools they need to sell homes faster and for more money.
BioPharm-America-partnering-conference-brings-biotech-and-pharma-to-Boston-in-September

In one month, 800+ life science leaders will gather in Boston for the tenth annual BioPharm America life science partnering event, September 2627 at the Sheraton Boston Hotel. The event is part of Biotech Week Boston, a festival that gives delegates additional networking opportunities with 4,500+ life science industry influencers participating in 8+ Boston-based events hosted by KNect365 and partners, September 2528.

Find out more at https://ebdgroup.knect365.com/biopharm-america/registration-information?utm_source=partner&utm_medium=PRL&utm_term=BPA17-2nd-press-release-linkto-BPA17REG&utm_campaign=BPA17

The event will bring the most innovative biotech companies together with executives from pharma and finance to launch drug discovery partnerships. The unique forum provides the infrastructure for dealmaking via one-to-one partnering meetings facilitated by partneringONE.

An expanded biotech startup program is designed to provide access to the top-tier venture capitalists, pharma and private equity investors at the event in search of innovation partners. As well, the event concurrently features the Inaugural Charles River World Congress on Animal Models in Drug Discovery & Development to provide a platform for academic researchers that includes keynotes and breakout sessions focused on the major driving trends in reverse translational medicine.

The BioPharm America program features trending topics headlined by global life science executives. Highlights include:



What's the next big thing on investors' wish list? with speakers from MPM Capital; Medicxi; Novo Ventures; and PureTech Health.

Alternative financing and venture philanthropy with speakers from Foley Hoag LLP; Michael J Fox Foundation; Landmark Capital and Family Office; National Cancer Institute; and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

It takes two: Advancing innovation through academic-industry partnerships with speakers from Hogan Lovells and Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures.

Beyond IO: A future free from silos with speakers from ClearView Healthcare Partners; Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Inc.; Mass General Hospital Research Institute; and Nanobiotix USA.

What's the next big thing on pharma's wish list? with speakers from Astellas; Bayer; Merck; Novo Nordisk; STAT News; and more.

Partnering opened August 15. Register online on the BioPharm America event web page.

Additional links and information:

Follow BioPharm America on Twitter: @EBDGroup (hashtag: #BioPharmUSA).

About EBD Group

EBD Group is the leading partnering firm for the global life science industry. Since 1993, biotech, pharma and medical device companies have leveraged EBD Groups partnering conferences, technology and services to identify business opportunities and develop strategic relationships essential to their success.

EBD Groups conferences are run with the support of leading corporations and international trade associations and include:

BIO-Europe and BIO-Europe Spring, Europes largest life science partnering conferences, supported by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO)

BioPharm America, the fastest growing partnering event in North America

Biotech Showcase, a unique forum in San Francisco for presenting to investors and business development executives, co-produced with Demy-Colton

Digital Medicine & Medtech Showcase, at the intersection of technology and medicine

BioEquity Europe, the investor conference co-organized with BioCentury Publications and BIO

ChinaBio Partnering Forum, the first dedicated biotech/pharma partnering conference in China, co-produced with ChinaBio Group

Cell & Gene Exchange, a partnering forum focused on the patient community in cell and gene therapy sectors, co-produced with Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM).

EBD Groups sophisticated web-based partnering service, partneringONE, is used as the partnering engine at numerous third-party events around the world. Tune into EBD Groups Partnering Insight for timely coverage of news that influences the business strategies of the life science industry.

EBD Group is an Informa company. Informa is the largest publicly-owned organizer of exhibitions, conferences and training in the world.

EBD Group has offices in the USA and Europe.

For more information please visit http://www.ebdgroup.com.

Contact:

Erin Righetti

EBD Group

+1 760 930 0500

erighetti(at)ebdgroup(dot)com
SutiTravel is adding new feature enhancements to its travel booking solution to provide improvements to travelers. Lets take a look at the additions made to SutiTravel, over the last few weeks.

Enhancements include:

Travel and Expense Integration

SutiTravel is integrated with SutiExpense, allowing transaction data to flow seamlessly into SutiExpense.

Module Privileges

Assign module privileges to various users and allow them to access the modules as and when required.

ICICI IPG Payment Gateway Integration

We have added ICICI IPG to the list of payment gateways. Travelers can make payments through the ICICI IPG payment gateway.

Corporate Codes for Subagents

Corporate codes can be applied at the subagent level. SutiTravel allows subagents to apply corporate codes during the booking process so that organizations can earn corporate booking discounts.

Look-to-book Ratio

SutiTravel provides a look-to-book ratio for agents, helping agents to avoid any penalties that might get imposed when the look-to-book ratio is exceeded.

For more information, please visit https://www.sutitravel.com

About SutiSoft Inc.

SutiSoft provides a comprehensive suite of cloud-based business platforms and solutions for companies of all sizes. These platforms include scalable and easy-to-use solutions for HR, Employee Travel & Expense, Wireless Spend Management, CRM, Document Management, Business Data Analytics, and Electronic signature. Our platforms and solutions enable small, mid-size, and large enterprise customers to control costs, save time and assist in making smart business decisions. Headquartered in Los Altos, California, SutiSoft also has regional offices in Germany, India, and Japan. For additional information visit our website at http://www.sutisoft.com.
Altaworx

 Inc. magazine ranked Altaworx NO. 1143 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 economys most dynamic segment its independent small and midsized businesses. Companies such as Microsoft, Dell, Dominos Pizza, Pandora, Timberland, LinkedIn, Yelp, Zillow, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees of the Inc. 5000.

Altaworx is honored to be named on the Inc. 5000 list for 2017 said Altaworxs CEO, Rickie Richey. To be included in this list is a significant achievement for Altaworx and we couldnt be more thrilled to be among the many well-known growing companies such as LinkedIn, Microsoft and Yelp. We believe that our steady, consistent growth over the years  reaching a 366% three-year growth rate from 2013 to 2016 is a direct result of our ability to adapt in todays ever-changing telecommunications market coupled with our capacity to look at our clients business and find ways to have a measurable positive impact.

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 lists history. The average company on the list achieved a mind-boggling three-year average growth of 481%. The Inc. 5000s 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 http://www.inc.com/inc5000.

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.

Altaworx was founded in 2003 by Rickie Richey as Enterprise Telephony Group, Inc., to address the emerging demand for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) business telephone systems. His vision was to build a company that not only provides leading edge technology, but truly focusses on helping customers drive revenue, control expenses, increase productivity and operate more efficiently. In 2011, Altaworx continued to focus on customer impact through emerging technologies, becoming an internet telephony service provider or ITSP. The company began selling Altaworx branded SIP trunking and Hosted PBX solutions to business customers in the 22 state AT&T footprint. Today, the company operates its cloud based voice solutions from two AT&T data centers; Dallas, TX and Atlanta, GA. From its beginning as a local provider of premise based voice solutions, the company has expanded its footprint across the country and now is positively impacting customers in twenty-three states, Canada, and Mexico.

[http://www.altaworx.com

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 http://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/.
HomeTown Health We congratulate and honor Home Town Health, LLC for its achievement. Thank you again for your dedication to IACET and to our shared goal of promoting quality in continuing educating and training.

HomeTown Health was announced as the 2017 Exemplar Training Organization Award by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) on July 31, 2017. The IACET Exemplar Training Organization Award honors exemplary, results-oriented programs or projects that demonstrate cost-effective, significant and relevant impact on the populations served.

Noted in the letter of award from IACET CEO Joe McClary and 2017 Award Committee Chair Kevin Perry, With the high-quality, competitive submissions the Awards Committee received, selecting the 2017 recipient was a significant challenge for the committee. We congratulate and honor Home Town Health, LLC for its achievement. Thank you again for your dedication to IACET and to our shared goal of promoting quality in continuing educating and training.

HomeTown Health, LLC will be presented with its award at the 2017 IACET Awards Reception and Ceremony on Thursday, October 5 at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, California. The Awards Reception and Ceremony is a gathering of continuing education and training professionals, the IACET Board of Directors, Commissioners and other guests.

HomeTown Healths program submission was the Iowa Hospital Transformation Consortium that ran from fall 2016 through spring, 2017. The program was supported by the Small Hospital Improvement Program (SHIP) Grant of which HomeTown Health serves as the Project Director with the Iowa Department of Public Health. The audience was 70 Critical Access and small hospitals across Iowa. The program's goal was to build a group of hospitals and other stakeholders that work together to strengthen the rural health infrastructure and increase access for small or rural Iowa hospitals. The focus of the training provided was in three areas: quality improvement, revenue cycle management, and telemedicine, and thus served many department leaders and hospital staff.

Jennie Price, HomeTown Healths Director of Business Development and SHIP grant coordinator for the program accredits the success of the training program in large part to the standards of excellence set forth by IACET. This program gave HomeTown Health and our online education arm, HomeTown Health University, the opportunity to expand our mission of helping rural hospitals survive in the midst of rapid industry change and constant reimbursement struggles to a new state. What made the program so successful was the extensive needs analysis performed as an IACET accredited provider. This important step in the curriculum design process allowed HomeTown Health and the Consortium partners and trainers to target the support education and resources to address the specific needs of Iowa hospitals as a group, and individually.

As part of the Iowa Hospital Transformation Consortium, HomeTown Health partnered with industry experts to provide education training via webinars and a live conference event, which included the following.

In Quality areas, a team from Health Management Associates (HMA), Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network (ICAHN), and Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP

In Telemedicine areas, Global Partnership for Telehealth, National School of Applied Telehealth, Great Plains Telehealth Resource Center (gpTRAC), UVA Office of Telemedicine, and University of Iowa Health Ventures.

In Financial areas, in addition to the HTH team, Kerry Dunning, LLC, MedPerformance,

Dale Gibson Medicare Consulting, and HCCS.

Jimmy Lewis, HomeTown Health CEO says, While we are especially proud of the work done by HomeTowns team related to the IACET processes and requirements, we are even more so grateful for these individuals, businesses and organizations who partnered with HomeTown Health for the provision of the Iowa Hospital Transformation Consortium. Their level of expertise and willingness to engage their knowledge with participating hospitals is what makes a project of this nature a true success.

About HomeTown Health, LLC: HomeTown Health, LLC is a network of rural hospitals, healthcare providers, and best practice business partners who collectively pursue ways to help its members survive in this environment of constant change in reimbursement, operations and technology. HomeTown Health, LLC is committed to providing legislative representation, best practice solutions and continuing education and training through research and the continuous improvement of processes for healthcare providers. Learn more at http://www.hometownhealthonline.com or http://www.hthu.net.

About IACET: IACET is the premier standards-setting organization for continuing education and training. Their strategic mission is to promote IACET standards as a benchmark for quality program delivery. IACET Accredited Providers are an elite group of educators dedicated to quality in continuing education and training. Consumers trust the IACET CEU because they know that the Accredited Providers processes must follow the ANSI/IACET Standard for Continuing Education and Training and have been thoroughly assessed by a third party. For more information, please visit http:// http://www.iacet.org.
The President might wake up at 3:00 in the morning and just send out a tweet that says: I want King's bill on my desk !

Healthcare Matters announced today that its video interview of United States Congressman Steve King  sponsor of the Protecting Access to Care Act of 2017 is available on Cunningham Group's website.

The Healthcare Matters interview of Rep. Steve King focused on the medical professional liability tort reforms contained in his Protecting Access to Care Act. The congressmens legislation would create a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages, among other provisions that would preempt state laws governing medical malpractice lawsuits in the areas of statutes of limitation, joint and several liability, product liability and attorney contingency fees.

In the interview, Rep. King also defended his Protecting Access to Care Act against claims by some of his more conservative colleagues that it violates the concept of states rights as well as argued why his medical liability reforms could and should pass independent of whether Congress succeeds in repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

About Healthcare Matters

Healthcare Matters is an internet television program that explores the intersection of healthcare practice, the business of medicine and the law. Hosted by Michael Matray  editor of Medical Liability Monitor, the medical professional liability industrys publication of record  Healthcare Matters investigates pertinent issues facing healthcare professionals, such as succeeding in a post-Affordable Care Act healthcare delivery system, best practices for avoiding lawsuits, risk management, how to react when faced with a medical malpractice claim and new trends in medical liability litigation. Healthcare Matters is sponsored by Cunningham Group, the medical malpractice insurance specialists.
Jim Abrams, The World's Greatest Contractor "[Jim's teachings] allowed us to take a business operating at black zero ... to become a $35MM business.  Vaughn Goettler, Right Time Air

For the past four decades, Jim Abrams has shared his wisdom to help contractors rise out of the struggles, failures, and depression to become multi-millionaires. He has invented or been at the epicenter of every major industry leading change for the past 40 years. Jim will be closing his career and revealing his final thoughts on what it takes to succeed in contracting today, and how consumers demands are changing the industry. His final public appearance will take place on October 27, 2017 at 3:00 pm at the Renaissance Orlando at Sea World.

"[Jim's teachings] allowed us to take a business operating at black zero ... to become a $35MM business.

 Vaughn Goettler, Right Time Air

Registration at http://www.WorldsGreatestContractor.com before September 27, 2017, is free. Afterward, tickets can be purchased on a first come, first serve basis for $997 per attendee. The first 100 registrations will receive a free copy of the new-and-improved book from Mr. Abrams, packed with valuable insights and actionable steps to running a successful business. Attendees will be automatically entered to win a four-hour personal business building consultation with Jim Abrams. There will also be a drawing for a private tour of Jimmy Hillers $100 million contracting business facility in Nashville, Tennessee.

Jim Abrams has impacted a significant number of HVAC contractors lives and is considered to be the greatest residential service contractor in the world. Visit https://www.worldsgreatestcontractor.com/#impact to see a chart depicting The Abrams Impact, which outlines Jim Abrams years of accomplishments throughout the industry.
For the past 17 years, were proud to have contributed a measurable positive impact on the greater good of humanity and now proud to call California home, says Slone Partners President Tara Kochis-Stach

Slone Partners, North Americas premier healthcare industry-focused executive search firm, today announced the creation of a corporate Western Division and related expansion activities throughout California. This strategic initiative, overseen by Slone Partners President Tara Kochis-Stach, better allows the Company to service dozens of current California-based clients, develop relationships with next generation startups, and capitalize on the exponential growth The Golden State continuously demonstrates as a healthcare innovation hub. The expansion necessitates the relocation of Company senior personnel and is designed to ignite Company activities in San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles, Silicon Valley and San Francisco - cities and counties which collectively comprise a commanding bulk of the healthcare industry market in the United States.

The move represents a culmination of Slone Partners historically successful client talent searches conducted in California since 2000 and establishes a new division-based corporate structure and geo-presence led by CEO Leslie Loveless, Founder Adam Slone, and President Tara Kochis-Stach, supported by dozens of executive recruiters and support staff. Slone Partners clients range from private equity and venture capitalist firms with healthcare portfolios to the most respected names in the healthcare industry.

Northern and Southern California are home to hundreds of life sciences, diagnostics, precision medicine, laboratory testing, and healthcare information technology service providers. Slone Partners executive search expertise supports its clients continuous quests to identify and hire the brightest C-level leadership, executive management and senior scientific personnel. Together, these teams collectively develop advances in next generation diagnostics, precision medicine, and biopharmaceuticals, plus new technologies that streamline and power the healthcare industry.

As a whole, the healthcare industrys objective is to research, identify, manage, and eradicate diseases, increase patient comfort, and develop lifesaving therapies. Slone Partners proudly plays a vital role in these processes. Says President Tara Kochis-Stach, Every year, Slone Partners leverages our industry-leading database to track the career trajectories of, then successfully place, hundreds of the most brilliant minds at the most innovative research, diagnostics, precision medicine and biopharmaceutical companies that genuinely strive to help people. For the past 17 years, were proud to have contributed a measurable positive impact on the greater good of humanity and now proud to call California home. Commuting to and from the state to service our California clients no longer makes sense. Were in the exciting business of people, so we need to be, work, and live here.

ABOUT SLONE PARTNERS

Slone Partners delivers the leaders who build amazing healthcare organizations - People Are Our Science. Since 2000, Slone Partners specializes in delivering world-class C-suite leadership, executive, and upper management talent to the most promising and established life sciences, research, diagnostics, precision medicine and laboratory services companies. With coast-to-coast presence in the most active healthcare industry hubs of Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Austin, Research Triangle Park NC, and Washington DC, Slone Partners uniquely and precisely provides an array of executive search and advisory services to exceptional clients. Our full suite of services includes identifying, negotiating with, onboarding, and relocating talent, in addition to post-placement mentoring, success monitoring, and culture fit services. To learn more about Slone Partners value proposition and processes, visit http://www.slonepartners.com.

MEDIA CONTACT

Dirk DeSouza

misterdirk(at)gmail(dot)com

305 710 3829
Gordon Getty Establishes Honors College at USF with $15 Million Gift Recruiting top academic students will benefit the entire learning community and raise even higher the universitys strong academic reputation, said Donald E. Heller, USF provost and vice president for academic affairs.

The University of San Francisco (USF) has announced that it has received a $15 million pledge from composer, philanthropist and alumnus Gordon Getty. The gift, which matches the largest ever to USF from an individual living donor, will establish an Honors College that will expand opportunities for students to study at the Jesuit university.

Paul J. Fitzgerald, S.J., USF president, said: We thank Gordon for his extraordinary commitment to our Jesuit Catholic mission, for his leadership, and for his philanthropic support of higher education as the key to opportunity.

He added: Nearly half of Gordons gift will go toward an endowment to fund scholarships for students in the Honors College, reflecting our mission to educate young people who lead with competence and compassion and who will change the world from here.

Gettys pledge includes a $7 million endowment for scholarships for Honors College students and a $2 million endowment for visiting artists and scholars. The remaining $6 million will cover start-up costs and support student research, as well as study abroad and mentoring programs.

The Honors College will launch in fall 2018 and serve as the hub for all honors students across the universitys colleges and programs. It is designed to attract top academic students and expand USFs existing studies of arts, sciences and humanities.

In honor of Gettys father, USF Honors College students will be known as J. Paul Getty Honors Scholars.

Recruiting top academic students will benefit the entire learning community and raise even higher the universitys strong academic reputation, said Donald E. Heller, USF provost and vice president for academic affairs.

Over time and with additional funding, the Honors College may provide for a living-learning community for students, where students enrolled in a common set of courses can live together in a designated living space. The gift from Getty, who was the 2015 Alumnus of the Year, is meant to encourage other donors to contribute and help shape the initiative, which has a total goal of $35 million.

An English major at USF, Getty said he was particularly inspired by Professor Desmond Fitzgerald. He taught epistemology, my very favorite topic, said Getty, who graduated in 1956, recalling the theory of knowledge course.

Getty also said he wanted to establish the Honors College in memory of his father. When the younger Getty asked his father for advice on what to study in college, his father suggested a broad education in the humanities, which is why Gordon chose USF.

I asked him, should I go to an oil and petroleum school?

Yes, if you want to, his father responded. But liberal arts would do just as well. The main thing is to learn how to learn.

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About the University of San Francisco

The University of San Francisco is located in the heart of one of the worlds most innovative and diverse cities and is home to a vibrant academic community of students and faculty who achieve excellence in their fields. Its diverse student body enjoys direct access to faculty, small classes, and outstanding opportunities in the city itself. USF is San Franciscos first university, and its Jesuit Catholic mission helps ignite a students passion for social justice and a desire to Change the World from Here. For more information, please visit usfca.edu.
He Rushed the Pony Right to the Barricade, Frederic Remington, ca. 1900, Sid Richardson Museum This is an exhibition for anyone who loves a mystery. Its also an opportunity to see into the mind of an artist and observe the ways in which Remington sought to improve his compositions.

It has been said that perhaps no other American painter has been more copied than Frederic Remington. The Sid Richardson Museums exhibition Frederic Remington: Altered States tells the provocative story of three paintings from the museums collection that were altered after completion  one demonstrates an artists change, one demonstrates fraudulency and one remains a mystery  and explores the ways in which scholarship and scientific conservation methods have contributed to the discovery of those alterations.

Frederic Remington: Altered States is one in a series of the Sid Richardson Museums Guests of Honor focus exhibitions that assemble a small selection from the permanent collection with loaned works from other collections. This particular exhibition mines three Remington paintings from the museums collection, supported with two loaned books and two loaned bronzes to demonstrate the ways in which the artist and others modified Remingtons work.

This is an exhibition for anyone who loves a mystery, says Mary Burke, director of the Sid Richardson Museum. Its also an opportunity to see into the mind of an artist and observe the ways in which Remington sought to improve his compositions.

Highlights of Frederic Remington: Altered States



He Rushed the Pony Right to the Barricade (ca. 1900) is a black-and-white oil painting that was published in Remingtons novel, The Way of an Indian. Much later, someone other than the artist painted over the canvas with color. Through a combined effort of connoisseurship and science, the overpainting was discovered. The altered painting is displayed in the gallery with an edition of the book in which the original illustration appears.

The Thunder-Fighters Would Take Their Bows and Arrows, Their Guns, Their Magic Drum. Originally produced to illustrate the 1892 edition of Francis Parkmans book The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life, the painting on exhibit has a different number of figures than that of the illustration. A displayed edition of Parkmans The Oregon Trail allows visitors to see how Remington reworked the composition in order to remarket his painting.

"The Way Post, attributed to Frederic Remington (ca. 1881), a watercolor and gouache on paper, is signed with initials using a signature style Remington used occasionally as a young artist. However, conservation studies suggest that the signature initials were applied at a later date, possibly by someone else.

Visitors can examine two different castings of Remingtons bronze The Rattlesnake. With a preference for refining his work, Remington often modified his bronze casts, and in the case of The Rattlesnake, after 11 castings of the smaller model were produced, Remington significantly altered and enlarged the sculpture.

Opening Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017, Frederic Remington: Altered States runs concurrently with the museums current Legacy exhibition through Sunday, Sept. 9, 2018.

On exhibition since June 25, 2016, Legacy depicts the clash of cultures of the 19th century American West. The legacy of conflicts among cowboys, soldiers, explorers and Indigenous Americans during westward expansion continues to impact America today. Notable additions to the exhibit loaned from private collections include Remington bronzes The Cheyenne and The Broncho Buster, which was the first of his subjects to be cast in bronze.

About the Sid Richardson Museum

Established in 1982, the Sid Richardson Museum features paintings by Frederic Remington (1861 1909) and Charles M. Russell (1864  1926) of the 19th century American West during westward expansion. The legendary Texas oilman and philanthropist, Sid W. Richardson (1891  1959), amassed one of the most significant private collections of Remingtons and Russells in the United States. In addition to paintings by Remington and Russell, his collection includes works by other "old masters" of Western art who captured the romance and ruggedness of the western United States in the late 1800s, a time when most Americans had little firsthand knowledge of the frontier.

Free Admission, Programs, Tours and Valet Parking

Admission is free to the museum, which is open daily except for major holidays. The museum offers free public education programs for children/families, teens and adults. Docents lead free public gallery tours each Tuesday and Saturday at 2 p.m. Group tours are by appointment only. On the Second Saturday of each month at 3 p.m., the gallery tour is followed by a live performance of a docent portrayed as Nancy Cooper Russell, wife of Charles M. Russell, telling stories about his career. Visitors will find unique Western-themed items in the Museum Store. The museum is located at 309 Main St. in Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth, Texas 76102. Free valet parking is available in Sundance Square.

For information, visit http://www.sidrichardsonmuseum.org or call 817.332.6554.

Images available upon request.

Contact: Mary Burke, MBurke@SidRichardsonMusuem.org or 817.332.6554
Aviation Performance Solutions LLC (APS), a global provider of Upset Prevention & Recovery Training (UPRT), is pleased to announce completion of the 2017 Upset Prevention and Recovery Training Scholarship course by William Romualdo, a recent graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with a degree in Aeronautics.

William Romualdo was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he developed a passion for aviation at age 9, and from then on, never wavered in his goal to become a pilot. Having just completed his B.S. in Aeronautics, William already has a distinguished aviation career in which he served as a missionary pilot for African Inland Missions and went on to become a flight instructor and an A320 captain. William became keenly interested in the APS UPRT program after noting significant gaps in the standard pilot training, specifically for pilots of Airbus aircraft, in the area of upset recovery training.

Every year, APS donates one Professional Pilot Upset Training Course, a $4300 value, to a deserving pilot currently in flight school or just starting their professional aviation career. The course provides comprehensive Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (UPRT), integrating academics and on-aircraft instruction to mitigate the risk of Loss of Control-Inflight (LOC-I). Because LOC-I is the number one cause of fatalities across all sectors of aviation, UPRT is critical for pilots to be fully prepared for any unexpected, time-critical flight situation that could occur in-flight. Properly delivered UPRT compliments licensing training by ensuring pilots have a deep understanding of upset causes  with critical focus on prevention  and are trained to proficiency in the often counterintuitive skills necessary to recover from a developed airplane upset.

APS Upset Training changed my life as a pilot, said William Romualdo. Being trained correctly to face an upset can be the difference between life and death.There have been too many Loss of Control In-flight fatal accidents because pilots neither recognized their aircraft was stalled nor had the skills to recover from it. Dont wait for an upset to happen. Train now to live.

Training in upset prevention and recovery is not only critical to a pilots ability to confidently and effectively handle an unexpected upset situation, but it also improves general manual handling skills and airmanship, said Paul Ransbury, President of APS. Providing outstanding pilots like William Romualdo this scholarship training opportunity is an important way for APS to give back to the aviation industry as well as accomplish our company purpose to help pilots bring everyone home safely.

APS offers upset prevention & recovery training to all sectors of aviation: airline, military/government, corporate, owner/operator and flight schools.

2018 APS Upset Training Scholarship  apply here:http://www.apstraining.com/scholarship/

About Aviation Performance Solutions

Aviation Performance Solutions LLC (APS), headquartered at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in Mesa, Arizona, trains thousands of professional pilots and instructors in comprehensive Upset Prevention and Recovery Training skill development. APS provides integrated LOC-I solutions via industry-leading computer-based, on-aircraft (jet and piston), and full-flight simulator Upset Prevention & Recovery Training (UPRT). All training is in full compliance with the Airplane Upset Recovery Training Aid, FAA Advisory Circular 120-109A on Stall and Stick Pusher Training, ICAO Manual on Aeroplane Upset Prevention and Recovery Training, IATA Guidance Material and Best Practices for the Implementation of Upset Prevention and Recovery Training, and the FAA Advisory Circular 120-111 on Upset Prevention and Recovery Training. APS is the only Part 141 Flight School certified in the delivery of complete upset prevention & recovery, stall/spin and instrument upset recovery training courses worldwide. With additional training locations in Dallas (USA), The Netherlands (Europe), and military division in Dothan (USA), APS provides global access to the highest quality Upset Prevention and Recovery Training available. http://www.apstraining.com
Representatives with Crescent Harbor Lighting (http://crescentharbor.com) announced today that it has added new outdoor lighting fixtures from Sonneman.

Long considered at the cutting edge of contemporary indoor lighting, Sonneman has come up with many new hip, sleek outdoor designs that are sure to please, said Tim Fossett, president and spokesperson for Crescent Harbor Lighting, which is the online arm of The Lighthouse, a family-owned lighting company founded in 1972. These fixtures are not only beautiful, but also their fine workmanship ensures that they will withstand the most demanding elements.

Founded in 2003, Sonneman is a tribute to contemporary lighting design as seen through the creative mind and lens of Robert Sonneman. From the late 1960's, Robert Sonneman pioneered modern lighting, truly making it an art form. World-renowned and acclaimed for clean lines and an alliance to form and function, Robert Sonneman's award-winning pieces have been at the design forefront for over four decades.

Were so excited to now offer these great lighting fixtures on our online store, Fossett said, before adding that one of the three newly added products is the Sonneman 16" LED Double Bollard Dome Cap / Lens-White Glass Shade, a unique product that comes frosted white polycarbonate shade material.

Another newly added product is the Sonneman Crest LED Sconce. The LED illumination from a crescent downlight evokes a lunar glow, Fossett pointed out. The product comes in die-cast aluminum with frosted optical acrylic shade material.

Perhaps the most exciting newly added product is the Sonneman L'arc Grand LED Sconce. This graceful curved fixture dramatically sweeps its LED illumination in reflection across an exterior or interior surface in a bold sculptural gesture, Fossett said. The sophistication of Larc is scaled in two sizes, Grand and Petite.

For more information, please visit crescentharbor.com/Sonneman-outdoor-fixtures and crescentharbor.com/Sonneman-Lighting.

About Crescent Harbor Lighting

Crescent Harbor Lighting is the online arm of The Lighthouse, a family-owned lighting company founded in 1972.

The company specializes in a high-touch customer service approach to retailing lighting fixtures, ceiling fans and other related items.

Contact Details:

Tim Fossett

President

88 York Street

US Route One

Kennebunk, Maine, 04043

Toll Free Phone: 1-888-355-9525

Local Phone: 1-207-985-3535

Fax: 1-207-985-4569

Source: Crescent Harbor Lighting

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Leah Persaud PhD Candidate; Lehman College, City University of New York; The Graduate Center, City University of New York

The use of gene therapy is well studied due to its potential to treat cancer, the second leading cause of death worldwide. The goal of gene therapy is to introduce functional genetic material into human cells to be transcribed and translated in order to regulate, repair or suppress a molecular mechanism that contributes to a disease state.

Compared to traditional cancer therapies such as surgery, chemotherapy or radiation therapy, gene therapy is a more personalized and targeted approach because it is based on understanding the genetic profile of a patients tumor. The cytokine Interleukin-24 (IL-24), is of special interest for gene therapy because of its selective killing effect on numerous cancer cell types while having no effect on corresponding normal cells.

In this webinar, participants will learn how IL-24 treatment kills cancer cells and ultimately better understand how cell lines are used to decipher molecular signaling pathways for the development of anti-cancer therapeutics.

For this event, Thermo Fisher Scientific has arranged for Leah Persaud, a doctoral candidate at the Lehman College, City University of New York, to be the speaker.

Persaud completed her undergraduate degrees in biology and forensic science from the University of New Haven in Connecticut. As an undergraduate, she performed research on highly specific DNA nucleases for gene therapy at Justus Liebig University in Giessen, Germany. Currently, she is a doctoral candidate at the City University of New York Graduate Center, working in Dr. Moira Sauane's cancer research lab at Lehman College.

LabRoots will host the event September 28, 2017, beginning at 10:00 a.m. PDT. To read more about this event, discover what continuing education credits will be offered, or to register for free, click here.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with revenues of $18 billion and more than 55,000 employees globally. Our mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. We help our customers accelerate life sciences research, solve complex analytical challenges, improve patient diagnostics and increase laboratory productivity. Through our premier brands  Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific and Unity Lab Services  we offer an unmatched combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and comprehensive support. For more information, please visit http://www.thermofisher.com.

About LabRoots

LabRoots is the leading scientific social networking website, which provides daily scientific trending news, as well as produces educational virtual events and webinars, on the latest discoveries and advancements in science. Contributing to the advancement of science through content sharing capabilities, LabRoots is a powerful advocate in amplifying global networks and communities. Founded in 2008, LabRoots emphasizes digital innovation in scientific collaboration and learning, and is a primary source for current scientific news, webinars, virtual conferences, and more. LabRoots has grown into the worlds largest series of virtual events within the Life Sciences and Clinical Diagnostics community.
"Chris and I look forward to working with other investors to help nurture the next generation of impact entrepreneurs in South Korea, said Brian Kang, Co-founder and Managing Partner of SparkLabs Ventures.

SparkLabs Group, a network of accelerators and funds, is launching a $50 million early-stage fund (Series A & B) primarily focused on South Korea. The fund will be led by Brian Kang, who was a founding member of Samsungs first venture capital arm and later led Korea Venture Fund, which was Koreas first VC fund of funds. He has over 20 years of experience as an investment professional and several years as an entrepreneur and operator. He was CEO & Chairman of the Board at Gravity, a Softbank affliated gaming company, and then went on to launch his own gaming startup.

Brian is joined by Chris Koh, Co-founder of Coupang which is the leading ecommerce player in South Korea and received $1 billion investment from Softbank in 2015. Chris started Coupang with a classmate from Harvard Business School and their friend at Harvard Law. He was vice president of the company for five years focusing on operations and growth.

We are grateful to SeAH who was one of the first investors in SparkLabs Global Ventures, our global seed fund, and now the anchor investor along with Korea Development Bank/Multi-Asset in our new Series A fund for South Korea. We believe we have assembled the best team to service entrepreneurs in Korea since all of us have built companies from the ground up in Korea and the U.S., stated HanJoo Lee, co-founder of SparkLabs.

SeAH is a top 50 business group in South Korea and Korea Development Bank/Multi-Asset is subsidiary of Mirae Asset, which is the largest asset manager in South Korea with over US$100 billion assets under management.

Brian Kang and Chris Koh are joined by Venture Partners (part-time partners) Rob Das, Co-founder and former Chief Architect of Splunk, and John Suh, CEO of Legalzoom. Splunk is a $8 billion market cap company that Rob helped grow from concept to its IPO in 2012. John has served as CEO since 2007 to help grow Legalzoom into the leading provider of online legal document services in the U.S. that has serviced almost 4 million customers.

We are excited to launch this new early-stage fund to help Koreas rapidly growing startup ecosystem. I believe the venture capital business must evolve as the startup environment is changing fast in Korea. Finding companies of global capacity, generating rich deal flow, adding real values post investment are becoming more and more critical to the success of venture investments. Chris and I look forward to working with other investors to help nurture the next generation of impact entrepreneurs in South Korea, said Brian Kang, Co-founder and Managing Partner of SparkLabs Ventures.

SparkLabs Ventures is also supported by a heavy hitting advisory board that includes former Congressman Mike Honda, who served in the U.S. Congress from 2001 to 2017 (represented Silicon Valley in the 17th congressional district from 2013 to 2017); David Lee, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Refactor Capital; and Nadiem Makarim, Co-founder and CEO of Go-Jek, which recently raised $1.2 billion from Tencent and others.

The fund will focus primarily on South Korea startups at their Series A or B rounds, and will not be limited to graduates of SparkLabs accelerator in Seoul. The fund will focus its investments on companies that have potential to expand abroad to different markets and have the ability to take advantage of the global reach of the SparkLabs network. A secondary target region is SE Asia, so the fund will be open to startups within this region who have global ambitions.
My heart just swells with the endless flow of love the world has for dogs, evidenced by so many adoptions on this day. I'm deeply moved and grateful for the tireless efforts of animal welfare organizations around the globe that help save lives.

National Dog Day is celebrated August 26th annually and was founded in 2004 by Pet & Family Lifestyle Expert and Animal Advocate, Colleen Paige, also the founder of National Cat Day, as well as many more philanthropic days to celebrate animals and bring attention to their plight. The date of August 26th is significant, as it's the date that Colleen's family adopted her first dog "Sheltie" when Colleen was 10 years old and in 2013, National Dog Day was officially adopted into New York State Legislation.

National Dog Day celebrates all dogs, mixed breed and pure. Its mission is to help galvanize the public to recognize the number of dogs that need to be rescued each year and acknowledges family dogs and dogs that work selflessly each day to save lives, keep us safe and bring comfort. Dogs put their lives on the line every day, for personal protection, for law enforcement, for the disabled, for our freedom and safety by detecting bombs and drugs and pulling victims of tragedy from wreckage, now they're detecting cancer and seizures - things even humans cannot do.

"I'm so excited to witness the continuous growth of this day, trending #1 worldwide on popular social media sites, year after year on August 26th. My heart just swells with the endless flow of love the world has for dogs, evidenced by so many adoptions on this day. I'm deeply moved and grateful for the tireless efforts of animal welfare organizations around the globe that help save lives", says Colleen Paige.

2017 brings a beautiful short film about the unconditional love of dogs, written and directed by Colleen Paige, with an original musical score by London-based composer, Joe Purdue.

Returning partner Autotrader, highlights the best cars for dog lovers. National Dog Day has been a great partner for the last four years, says Jessica Stafford, vice president of marketing, Autotrader. Whether you are car shopping or planning for your next trip, Autotrader is raising awareness of how to properly provide comfort and safety to your four-legged passengers. For more information about Autotrader's top dog friendly cars and traveling with dogs, visit Autotrader.com/dogday

New partner Lands' End, celebrates National Dog Day in support of Freedom Service Dogs with a celebration that includes special offers on dog merchandise, a customer social media campaign and an internal employee involvement promotion. For more information, visit

LandsEnd.com and FreedomServiceDogs.org

For more information about other National Dog Day partners or becoming a partner, visit NationalDogDay.com
Seminars by Ex-FDA Officials

Get the comprehensive list of upcoming seminars by ex-FDA officials.

As manufacturing gets increasingly complex with introduction of new technologies and operating procedures, the regulations have become labyrinthine in their scope as well. Companies now not only have to worry about plants they own, but contract manufacturers, foreign facilities and the headache of ensuring that suppliers/vendors are compliant with regulations. The incremental increase in FDA Form 483s and warning letters show that the agency is becoming increasingly stringent in its inspections of facilities and operations.

Attend these seminars from ex-FDA officials to learn how FDA thinks, operates and where it is headed. The seminars are specifically designed for professionals in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, clinical research and food manufacturing companies and covered wide range of topics such as:



FDA's New Import Program for 2017

eCTD Submissions of IND and NDA/BLA to the US FDA, EU and Canada

FDA's GMP Expectations for Phase I and First-in-Man Clinical Trials

Systematic Operating Procedures (SOPs)  Whats Really Required

FDA's Medical Device Software Regulation Strategy

FDA Scrutiny of Promotion and Advertising Practices

Managing Your FDA Inspection: Before, During and After

The Regulations of OTC Drugs

US Good Clinical Practice (GCP) Regulations and ICH GCP Guidelines

Navigating the Maze for Post-Market Compliance -- Complaint Handling, MDRs, Recalls, etc.

Some of the key speakers (former FDA officials) for these seminar include:



Casper E. Uldriks, Former Associate Center Director of FDA's CDRH

Peggy J. Berry, President& CEO, Synergy Consulting (Ex-FDA Official)

Loren Gelber, Regulatory Compliance Consultant (Ex-FDA Official)

Rita Hoffman, Former FDA CDRH Recall Branch Chief

Bill Schwemer, Principal, Schwemer Consulting and Former Senior FDA & Industry Official

David L. Chesney, General Manager, DL Chesney Consulting, LLC (Former FDA Director)

Here are the recent testimonials from some of our attendees:

Speaker was very knowledgeable. Glimpses "behind the curtain" in to the FDA are quite valuable in my opinion. ComplianceOnline has a broad catalog of professional advancement opportunities, Manager, Quality Control at Quanterix Corporation.

The instructor was outstanding and shared great examples which really clarified the application of course material, Sr. VP Operations at Hologic Gen-Probe.

ComplianceOnline will be adding more live in-person seminars to its schedule for 2017, aimed at further cementing its position as the top providers of compliance training for FDA regulated companies. For more information on the 2017 seminars by ComplianceOnline please click here.

About ComplianceOnline:

ComplianceOnline is a leading provider of regulatory compliance trainings for companies and professionals in regulated industries. ComplianceOnline has successfully trained over 55,000 professionals from 15,000 companies to comply with the requirements of regulatory agencies. ComplianceOnline is headquartered in Palo Alto, California and can be reached at http://www.complianceonline.com. ComplianceOnline is a MetricStream portal. MetricStream (http://www.metricstream.com) is a market leader in Enterprise-wide Governance, Risk, Compliance (GRC) and Quality Management Solutions for global corporations.

For more information please contact:

A Reuben Bernard

Associate Director - ComplianceOnline

2479 East Bayshore Road

Suite 200

Palo Alto, CA, 94303

Phone - 650-620-3937/650-620-3915

Fax - 650-963-2556

Mail: reuben(at)complianceonline(dot)com

Website: http://www.complianceonline.com
The Indiana teams are all highly experienced in medical device product development remediation. That experience will inform how we continue to develop and innovate. Past News Releases RSS Validating Product Development...

Cognition Corporation Explores...

Cognition Corporation Talks Quality...

Cognition Corporation, a software company specializing in medical device compliance and commercialization, has opened a new office in Warsaw, IN.

As part of their ongoing growth, Cognition Corporation is extending their presence in the Midwestern United States. This new location will provide new and existing customers in the region greater access to Cognitions highly experienced and knowledgeable team.

Were an extension of the application engineering and development teams from the Lexington site, says John Peyton, one of Cognitions new team leads in Warsaw. Were all very excited to be part of this new expansion. Mr. Peyton will be heading up Cognitions quality systems integration team at the new site; other teams being built at the site include product line engineering and asset management.

These are existing competencies that we want to grow, says David Cronin, CEO of Cognition. This is a big moment of growth for us.

Along with providing greater presence to customers in the region, the Indiana site will also serve to assist the organization with pushing innovation in the Cockpit Platform.

The Indiana teams are all highly experienced in medical device product development remediation, says Mr. Cronin. That experience will inform how we continue to develop and innovate.

Having greater presence in the Midwestern region of the US is part of Cognitions ongoing strategic growth. Industry reports suggest that medical device organizations in Indiana alone take in more than $10 billion annually.

We want to build greater awareness of Cognition in the region, says Mr. Cronin. The high concentration of medical device organizations there means we absolutely should have a presence there. Our new team in Warsaw will allow us that presence and continue to help with our growth.

Cognition Corporation, based in Lexington, Massachusetts, has offered solutions for product development compliance for more than fifteen years. Cognitions core product, Cognition Cockpit, is used by thousands of users worldwide to manage their product development process and meet regulatory, performance, re-use, and time-to-market goals. For more information, visit http://www.cognition.us or call (781) 271-9300.

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PowerSchool's 20th Anniversary Celebration PowerSchools success and longevity is attributed in part to the continuous development of innovative solutions that educators, students, and parents are able to use every day.

PowerSchool, the leading provider of K-12 education technology solutions, reached a milestone this August, celebrating 20 years of developing innovative software for schools and districts around the world. PowerSchool has experienced exponential growth since its founder, Greg Porter, created a record-keeping software that eventually became PowerSchool SIS. Now, with its suite of solutions reaching more than 30 million students, PowerSchool has transformed the K-12 teaching and learning experience with tools that empower educators to personalize instruction and drive student growth.

We are proud to celebrate 20 years of improving the K-12 education experience for schools and districts around the world, stated Hardeep Gulati, CEO of PowerSchool. PowerSchools success and longevity is attributed in part to the continuous development of innovative solutions that educators, students, and parents are able to use every day. Our 1,360 employees share a common mission that has also contributed to PowerSchools success. We all believe in the power our technology has to transform how educators teach and how students learn. We look forward to the next 20 years of PowerSchool innovation and what that will contribute to the education ecosystem and the future of student learning.

To commemorate its 20th anniversary, PowerSchool hosted celebrations for employees, family, and friends at its offices nationwide. At PowerSchools headquarters in Folsom, California, Greg Porter was invited as a special guest and spoke to employees about the original vision he had for PowerSchool and how it has become a reality with the passion and innovation used to develop the Unified Classroom, an award-winning solution. Porter expressed his appreciation to PowerSchool employees for continuing to impact the K-12 education experience with groundbreaking technology.

The energy, excitement, and dedication in this room reminds me of the early days when I would code all night and talk to educators all day to build and grow PowerSchool, Greg Porter shared during an employee town hall address. I am struck and honored by PowerSchools continued innovation and excellence in serving the education community.

The afternoon of the 20th anniversary celebration was devoted to family activities that celebrated the power of STEM and technology to ignite a passion for learning and prepare children for the jobs of the future. Nearly 300 children across nine offices participated in Code.orgs Hour of Code sponsored by PowerSchool. Hour of Code is an introductory program designed to help demystify coding and encourage adolescents to learn problem-solving skills, logic, and creativity through computer science. At the Folsom office, PowerSchool also sponsored a PodPi.com session, during which children learned electronics and JavaScript coding by building simple circuits using guided comic book adventures. For the smallest PowerSchool guests, there was a story hour featuring the book, Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beatty, a tale of a young inventor of gadgets and gizmos.

The day was capped off by a public address by PowerSchools CEO, Hardeep Gulati, in which he explored the recent successes and expansion of PowerSchool and his vision for the future of education. Since August 2015, PowerSchool has completed seven acquisitions and invested almost $1B to augment and seamlessly integrate the education technology solutions it offers for assessment, analytics, learning management, student registration, special education, behavior, and school finance/HR/ERP.

About PowerSchool Group LLC

PowerSchool is the leading K-12 education technology provider of solutions that improve the education experience for 100 million students, teachers, and parents in over 70 countries around the world. We provide the industrys first Unified Classroom experience, empowering teachers with best-in-class, secure, and compliant online solutions, including student information systems, learning management and classroom collaboration, assessment, analytics, behavior, and special education case management. We streamline school office and administration operations with online solutions for student registration, school choice, and finance/HR/ERP. We drive student growth through digital classroom capabilities and engage families through real-time communications across any device. Visit https://www.powerschool.com/ to learn more.
To attain this for the 11th time in a row shows the strength of our company and our outstanding employees.

Account Control Technology Holdings, Inc. (ACT Holdings), a national leader in delivering debt recovery and business process outsourcing solutions, has been recognized by Inc. magazine as one of Americas 5000 fastest-growing private companies for the eleventh consecutive year. This is an exceptional milestone due to fewer than half of one percent of Inc. 5000 honorees reach ACT Holdings prestigious 11-time showing.

I am so proud that ACT Holdings once again made this years Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the nation," said Tracey Carpentier, CEO of ACT Holdings. To attain this for the 11th time in a row shows the strength of our company and our outstanding employees. Eleven years in a row on this prestigious list is an extraordinary accomplishment achieved through the support of our clients and the hard work and dedication of our employees.

The 2017 Inc. 5000 list is one of the most competitive in the lists history. The average company on the list achieved an astonishing three-year growth of 481%. The Inc. 5000s aggregate revenue is $206 billion, and the companies on this 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 http://www.inc.com/inc5000.

About Account Control Technology Holdings, Inc.

Founded by Dale J. Van Dellen family in 1990 who is an active Chairman of the Board, Account Control Technology Holdings, Inc. (ACT Holdings) provides comprehensive business process outsourcing and financial services to diverse industries. Our companies partner with clients to help them run the business behind their operations so they can focus on what they do best  whether its serving customers, educating students, caring for patients, or keeping communities moving forward. ACT Holdings companies include Account Control Technology, Inc., Convergent Healthcare, Inc. and Convergent Outsourcing, Inc. For more information, visit http://www.AccountControlHoldings.com.

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 15,000,000 today. For more information, visit http://www.inc.com.
DuPont Clean Technologies (DuPont) has been awarded the contract to supply the China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) with a second STRATCO alkylation unit; this time for the Sinopec Qilu Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Qilu). The Sinopec Qilu company is a large-scale refiner and producer of petrochemicals, fertilizers and chemical fiber in Zibo, Shandong Province. In order to comply with the China V standard of 10 ppm sulfur content for fuel, Sinopec commissioned DuPont for the license, engineering and equipment of a STRATCO alkylation unit with 400 kmta (10,300 bpsd) alkylate capacity.

The STRATCO alkylation unit will enable Sinopec Qilu to generate low-sulfur, high-octane, low-Rvp alkylate with zero olefins that meets the criteria of the China V standard. Startup is targeted for mid-2018.

Due to extreme plot space limitations within the Sinopec Qilu refinery, DuPont has designed the STRATCO alkylation unit with the innovative Model 74 Contactor reactors. This is the first application of the Model 74 Contactor reactors, which were developed to reduce the number of reactors in an alkylation unit. This not only reduces the amount of plot space required, but also results in an overall lower capital cost while offering the extremely high reliability and on-stream time that refiners have come to expect from the STRATCO alkylation technology, said Kevin Bockwinkel, global business manager, STRATCO Alkylation Technology.

Fundamentally, the Model 74 Contactor reactor is the same as commercially operating Contactor reactors in service throughout the world. The Model 74 Contactor reactor includes the latest improvements and each has a volume of 68.1 m3 (18,000 gallons) while the standard size Contactor reactor (Model 63) has a volume of 43.5 m3 (11,500 gallons) per reactor. Both reactor models are commercially available from DuPont.

Sinopec is driving gasoline and diesel production to new, lower-emission specifications at its refineries, said Eli Ben-Shoshan, global business leader, DuPont Clean Technologies. DuPont is pleased to be able to assist Sinopec with a custom-designed solution for its site to produce cleaner fuel.

The Sinopec Tianjin Company (TPCC) had previously awarded a contract to DuPont for a STRATCO alkylation unit at its oil refinery in the Tianjin Binhai New Area district in northern China. The Tianjin alkylation unit startup is scheduled for mid-2018.

Licensed and designed by DuPont, the STRATCO alkylation technology is the established global leader in the industry with over 90 units licensed worldwide and more than 850,000 bpsd (33,300 kmta) of installed capacity. For over 80 years, the STRATCO technology has helped refineries safely to produce cleaner-burning fuel with high octane, a low Rvp, low sulfur and zero olefins.

The DuPont Clean Technologies applies real-world experience, history of innovation, problem-solving success and strong brands to help organizations operate safely and with the highest level of performance, reliability, energy efficiency and environmental integrity. The Clean Technologies portfolio includes STRATCO alkylation technology for production of clean, high-octane gasoline; IsoTherming hydroprocessing technology for desulfurization of motor fuels; MECS sulfuric acid production and regeneration technologies; BELCO air quality control systems for FCC flue gas scrubbing and other refinery scrubbing applications; MECS DynaWave technology for sulfur recovery and tail gas-treating solutions; and a comprehensive suite of aftermarket service and solutions offerings. Learn more about DuPont Clean Technologies at http://www.cleantechnologies.dupont.com.

DuPont (NYSE: DD) has been bringing world-class science and engineering to the global marketplace in the form of innovative products, materials and services since 1802. The company believes that by collaborating with customers, governments, NGOs, and thought leaders we can help find solutions to such global challenges as providing enough healthy food for people everywhere, efficient use of fossil fuels, and protecting life and the environment. For additional information about DuPont and its commitment to inclusive innovation, please visit http://www.dupont.com.

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08/24/17

The DuPont Oval logo, DuPont and all products, unless otherwise noted, denoted with , or  are trademarks or registered trademarks of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company or its affiliates.
We are the future of energy financing.

Energy Financing Hub announced today the launch of the solar industrys first energy financing platform. This unique, simple platform features hundreds of viable solar loan programs nationwide, enabling solar contractors to offer instant financing at the point of sale, based on every homeowners individual needs and qualifications.

Our platform solves the needs of not just the contractors and homeowners, but for the lenders, too, said Amir Salahi, co-founder and CEO of Energy Financing Hub. Lenders love us because we bring the contractors to them. Contractors love us because we help them close on the spot. Homeowners love the fact that they can go solar within minutes. Its a win-win for everyone!

Energy Financing Hubs platform was developed by experienced energy professionals to meet the demands of the evolving market. Dropping prices have made solar system ownership more affordable to an increasing number of homeowners. More homeowners are choosing to either purchase solar for their home outright or to seek a lender for a loan. No longer are they limited to choosing an expensive solar lease or Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

There are many lenders in the solar industry who offer solar loans, but not all of them offer the right loan for all customer profiles, Salahi said. Energy Financing Hubs simple platform is a revolutionary tool that helps contractors find the right solar loan option for all their customers on the spot. This will simply increase their closing ratio and consequently lower their cost-of-customer acquisition.

Lowering costs for both contractors and homeowners was an important factor for Energy Financing Hub. Currently, federal subsidies, such as the Federal Tax Credit, help support adoption of solar energy across the nation. Today, that Federal Tax Credit currently supports 30 percent of the total system value. However, by year 2021, this credit will gradually drop to 0 percent for residential projects, leaving those in the solar industry left with solving how to lower the cost of solar installations to stay competitive.

Hard costs have dropped dramatically over the past few years, so it it time for soft costs to go down, Salahi said. One of the major areas to lower in soft costs is to increase the solar companies closing ratio, which will lower their cost-of-customer acquisition. For example, if a company spends $3,000 to get 10 new prospects, and they close two out of 10, then their cost-of-customer acquisition is $1,500. Now, if the same company closes four out of those 10 new prospects, their cost-of-customer acquisition goes down to $750 which means 50% reduction.

Energy Financing Hubs platform will help sustain homeowners growing demand for solar. It simplifies a complicated process, helping contractors close more deals while successfully decreasing their cancellation rate.

To learn more about Energy Financing Hub or to schedule a demo, please visit: http://www.energyfinancinghub.com.

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About Energy Financing Hub

Energy Financing Hub owns the nations first solar loan energy financing platform. Our proprietary platform aggregates hundreds of solar loans from various, prestigious lenders throughout the nation, providing solar contractors the simplest way to offer financing to their potential customers in real time. Our easy-to-use platform helps contractors increase their closing ratio, lower their cost-of-customer acquisition and increase their profitability. To see if you qualify as a contractor or to join our growing network of lenders, visit: http://www.energyfinancinghub.com
The Northeast Ohio Hospital Consortium on Opioid Addiction is pleased to announce that it has hired Allisyn Leppla to serve as its executive director. In her new position, housed at The Center for Health Affairs, Leppla will be responsible for coordinating hospital activities aimed at stemming the Northeast Ohio opioid epidemic. This is the first such initiative in the nation and represents an opportunity to make a measureable difference in mitigating the tragic epidemic taking the lives of so many Northeast Ohioans.

The enormity of the opioid epidemic in Northeast Ohio calls for a coordinated community response. Bringing the combined resources of our regions extraordinary health systems to bear on this crisis is the right thing to do. Were unified in our commitment to stem the tide of addictions, save lives and create a healthier Cleveland, said Thomas F. Zenty III, chief executive officer, University Hospitals.

The Northeast Ohio Hospital Consortium on Opioid Addiction

The Consortium is a partnership of The Center for Health Affairs, Cleveland Clinic, MetroHealth, St. Vincent Charity Medical Center and University Hospitals and is the result of years of work by community leaders and hospitals to reduce the widespread effect of the Northeast Ohio opioid epidemic. Thanks to efforts led by the Cuyahoga County Opiate Task Force and the United States Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Ohio, hospital CEOs from the region agreed in late 2016 to fund a full-time position to lead a hospital-specific response to the crisis. This decision was born out of years of discussions that lead to the production of the Heroin and Opioid Action Plan, which included recommendations around a variety of reforms, including:



Improved prescribing practices

Increased use of medication-assisted treatment

Expanded use of Naloxone

Having an executive director in this position will allow Cleveland hospitals to leverage our collective expertise and resources to educate and engage providers with best practice prescribing practices and to develop vital treatment services to help individuals recover from and navigate through addiction, said Akram Boutros, MD, FACHE, president and chief executive officer, MetroHealth.

Allisyn Lepplas Background

Ms. Leppla, who will begin her new role on Sept. 6, comes to The Center from the Cuyahoga County Board of Health where she was the program manager of injury prevention and opioid abuse. She has 15 years of experience in coalition building, grant writing and management, health equity, project planning and public speaking. Her responsibilities have given her significant exposure to the Northeast Ohio opioid epidemic, uniquely preparing her for this opportunity. Other highlights of her career include:

Serving as a founding member of the Cuyahoga County Opiate Task Force

Chairing the Ohio Injury Prevention Partnership

Co-chairing the Prescription Drug Abuse Action Group

Actively participating in the U.S. Attorneys Heroin and Opioid Action Plan Committee

The Center for Health Affairs and its member hospitals are enthusiastic about the work of the Northeast Ohio Hospital Consortium on Opioid Addiction. This swift response from the hospitals in greater Cleveland demonstrates the level of commitment to addressing this tragic epidemic.

At the Cleveland Clinic, we see firsthand the devastating toll opioids take on our patients and our community. As a region, were seeing the number of fatalities continue to rise as we try to fight an epidemic that takes 150 American lives each day. The responsibility to ease this suffering falls on all of us in the Northeast Ohio community and Cleveland Clinic is proud to be a part of this important work, said Toby Cosgrove, MD, president and CEO of Cleveland Clinic.

More information on the new executive director position for the Northeast Ohio Hospital Consortium on Opioid Addiction is available by contacting Deanna Moore, vice president, corporate communications, The Center for Health Affairs at 216.255.3614.

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About The Center for Health Affairs

With a rich history as the Northeast Ohio hospital association, dating back to 1916, The Center for Health Affairs serves as the collective voice of hospitals and the source for Northeast Ohio hospital and healthcare information. As the leading advocate for Northeast Ohio hospitals, The Center aims to enhance the effectiveness of the healthcare community and the health of the communities it serves by providing expertise, resources and solutions to address the challenges faced by the regions healthcare providers. The Centers efforts focus on areas that benefit member hospitals from a regional approach, including healthcare workforce; emergency preparedness; public policy and advocacy; finance and reimbursement; and community initiatives. And because of its business affiliation with CHAMPS Healthcare, The Center has the resources to provide a broad level of professional services to its members. The Center, located in downtown Cleveland, is proud to advocate on behalf of more than 35 acute-care hospitals located in six counties. For more, visit neohospitals.org. The Center for Health Affairs is honored to be named as one of The Cleveland Plain Dealers Top Workplaces in 2014 and 2015, as well as to ERCs NorthCoast99 List in 2003, 2004, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016.
This year has seen some major changes for our multifamily division but we have maintained our relentless drive to innovate and produce the best-in-breed solutions that will help our customers optimize their revenue. It is an honor to be ranked again...

The Rainmaker Group, a leading provider of revenue management and leasing effectiveness software to the multifamily housing industry, is honored to be ranked for the seventh consecutive year on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing privately held companies in the U.S.

Adding to this honor, Rainmaker now is part of the 2 percent of companies that have received this distinction seven times.

The companys continued success is due to its ability to deliver best-in-breed products that meet the ever-changing needs and exceed the performance expectations of its growing customer base. Since 2014, Rainmaker has grown by an impressive 67 percent, posting 2016 revenues of $46.8 million. In 2017 alone, Rainmaker has added more than 250,000 units to LRO, its revenue management platform and the customer base for Intelligent Lead Management has almost tripled.

We are beyond excited to be listed on the Inc. 5000 list for the seventh consecutive year and to be a part of the esteemed group of companies that has received this recognition seven times, said Bruce Barfield, CEO of Rainmaker. This year has seen some major changes for our multifamily division but we have maintained our relentless drive to innovate and produce the best-in-breed solutions that will help our customers optimize their revenue. It is an honor to be ranked again, but it is more of an honor to continue to serve our multifamily customers and have their ongoing support.

Founded in 1998 by Barfield, and Tammy Farley, president, Rainmaker has remained focused on delivering the highest revenue returns possible for its clients. For nearly 20 years, Rainmaker has successfully developed and expanded its proprietary suite of products and consulting services to better serve the multifamily industry.

In February, the company announced it signed an acquisition agreement with RealPage, Inc., a leading global provider of software and data analytics to the real estate industry. The acquisition of Rainmakers multifamily assets is expected to close in late fall, dependent on approval from the Department of Justice.

Rainmaker built its reputation as the industrys leading revenue management provider with LRO  Lease Rent Options. Recognizing the need to further optimize the leasing process, Rainmaker built a performance platform of solutions that now includes LRO, ILM  Intelligent Lead Management and LRI  Lease Revenue Intelligence. This integrated platform enables apartment operators to streamline operations, enhance the revenue optimization processes, improve lead performance and drive leasing. The company introduced several enhancements to its solutions during 2017, including the new Pricing Call Dashboard, LRI Forecast and Renewal Manager.

Other highly notable companies on the Inc. 5000 list include: Intuit, Zappos, Under Armour, Microsoft, Jamba Juice, Timberland, Clif Bar, Pandora, Patagonia and Oracle. Additionally, the class of 2017 includes such powerhouses as S'well, Halo Top Creamery, Bitly and Orangetheory Fitness.

"The Inc. 5000 is the most persuasive evidence I know that the American Dream is still alive, said 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.

Inc. Magazine reports that, on average, companies that made the 2017 list have grown six-fold since 2013, an impressive feat during a time when the economy grew by only 6.7 percent. Additionally, aggregate revenue is calculated at $206 billion, and the companies listed for 2017 collectively generated 619,500 jobs throughout the last three years.

About Rainmaker

The Rainmaker Group, headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, is the leading provider of revenue management and leasing effectiveness software to the multifamily housing industry. The Company combines unique demand data, proprietary algorithms, robust technology, and deep industry expertise to deliver best-of-breed demand management solutions. The Companys solutions continually analyze hundreds of variables to forecast supply and demand levels and formulate more than 1 billion optimal prices on a daily basis. Recognized as one of the top privately held companies in the United States, Rainmaker has been named to Inc. 5000s Fastest Growing Privately Held Companies for the last seven consecutive years, and was named to the Atlanta Business Chronicles List of the 100 Fastest Growing Companies in Atlanta. In February 2017 RealPage, Inc. announced its agreement to acquire Lease Rent Options (LRO) and related assets from The Rainmaker Group for $300 million.

Rainmaker's client base includes more than 300 multifamily customers, including Equity Residential, AvalonBay Communities, MAA, Lincoln Property Co, Simpson Property Group, TruAmerica and Greystar. For more information, please visit http://www.rainmakermfh.com.

More about the Inc. 5000 and Inc.

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 http://www.inc.com.
Jay Thomas, a comic and character actor whose credits include roles on "Cheers" and "Murphy Brown," has died after a battle with cancer, according to his publicist Tom Estey. Thomas was 69.

"Jay Thomas was one of the funniest and kindest men I have had the honor to call both client and friend for 25 years plus. He will be dearly missed by so many," Estey said in a statement to CNN.

In addition to his work on TV, many know Thomas from his annual holiday season appearance on "The Late Show with David Letterman," where he'd retell what Letterman once called "the greatest talk show story of all time."

The colorful anecdote involved Thomas giving a ride to a costumed Clayton Moore, star of TV's "The Lone Ranger," and getting involved in a minor car crash that escalated into more.

He first told the story in 1998 and returned almost every year to tell it again until Letterman retired. In 2013, John McEnroe filled in for Thomas, who was recovering from surgery.

Thomas' TV career started in the early '80s, and he quickly amassed a number of credits.

He recurred on "Mork & Mindy" as deli owner Remo DaVinci, played the love interest of Rhea Perlman's Carla Tortelli on "Cheers," and played tabloid talk show host Jerry Gold on "Murphy Brown."

Thomas won two Emmy awards for outstanding guest actor in a comedy series for his portrayal of Gold.
"President Trump is a man who looks to numbers and to ratings," Tapper said on "The Lead." "These numbers, sir, these numbers are disastrous."

Tapper cited unfavorable results from a Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday that called into question Trump's ability to lead the nation.

In the poll, 68% of respondents said Trump was not levelheaded, 62% said he doesn't provide the US with moral leadership, 61% said he wasn't honest, and 62% said Trump was doing more to divide the country than unite it.

Finally, 59% of respondents said Trump has encouraged white supremacist groups rather than discourage them.

"You are no doubt pleasing your base, but your behavior is causing great concern among the majority of the American people," Tapper said.

On Tuesday, in a speech in Phoenix that was largely improvised, Trump aggressively defended his response to the violent unrest at a white supremacist protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month. Trump received widespread criticism after initially placing the blame for the violence on "many sides," rather than specifically condemning white supremacist groups.

Trump denounced hate groups by name last week in a scripted statement, but seemed to double down on his original statement one day later when he again claimed "both sides" were responsible for the violence, adding that there were "fine people" protesting alongside the white supremacists and neo-Nazis.

In Phoenix, the crowd erupted in cheers as Trump relitigated the media's response to each of his statements  "the words were perfect," Trump said. But critics have argued Trump's statements have empowered the so-called "alt-right" and deepened America's racial divide.
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He was remanded by a District Court in Accra after he had been convicted by the court for failing to provide basic needs of his two children.

READ MORE: Police arraign applicant for allegedly assaulting a lady

The Ghana News Agency reported that Bernard Kissi Bekoe, was convicted in September 2016 on same offence by the court, but police say he flouted the court order leaving him in arrears of GH3,600 for his childrens upkeep.

Appearing before the same court again, he has pleaded guilty to the charge of failing to supply basic necessities to his two kids aged five and seven years respectively.

The same court whose orders he flouted earlier, but this time presided over by Mr Worlanyo Kotoku convicted Bekoe for failing to discharge his fatherly responsibilities to his two children after he pleaded guilty to the offence. However, the court has scheduled August 29 for sentencing.

Narrating to the court, the Prosecutor said after the death of the accuseds wife, the two children have been living with their maternal Aunt.

He said the complainants sister and the accused persons were lovers until her demise and they had two children.

However, the Radio Presenter has failed to honour his responsibilities to the children.

Prosecution further stated that, after several attempts to make the accused cater for his children have failed, the complainant took the matter to a Family Tribunal where Bekoe was ordered to pay GH 300 cedis monthly to the complainant for the upkeep of his two children, but the Radio Presenter still failed to comply with the order.

According the Prosecutor, a referral letter was issued to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service for investigations.
In an interview with Accra-based Hitz FM, he argued that even men of God could be tempted when ladies dress provocatively.

He said some Christian ladies in the name of fashion dress to show off their voluptuous bodies. This he added can cause pastors and other male church members to sin.

Im a preacher, Im a man of God, and the 'man' came before the 'God'. When I see a lady in a short skirt with big buttocks, it can tempt me because Im human and I have to be real.

So, I entreat ladies, especially ladies, please when youre coming to church, cover your breasts. Come on, we are not going to suck milk from your breasts, we are here to serve God and youre confusing us.

Dr Amoateng who doubles as the president of IYES Ghana shared some experiences he has had during church service.

Sometimes youre in the middle of worship and come on, you open your eyes and some breast is dancing in front of you. You will have to shout Jesus! Get behind me Satan.
A Madison police officer is back on patrol after she was charged last month with drunken driving.

The officer, Kelly Hoeft, was charged in July with first-offense drunken driving after she was seen in June going through a Southwest Side intersection and striking some signs.

First-offense drunken driving in Wisconsin is normally not considered a criminal offense, but a civil offense carrying fines of up to $300 plus a $435 surcharge. But because a 5-year-old child was in her vehicle at the time, Hoeft faces criminal charges that carry higher fines plus a minimum of five days in jail.

Hoeft, 41, of Madison, was also issued a municipal ordinance citation, failure to notify an owner of property damage, which carries a $187 fine.

Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain said that after her arrest, Hoeft took personal leave but has since returned to patrol. Once the criminal case is finished, he said, the department will perform a professional standards review.

Police Chief Mike Koval in a statement said that when Hoeft returned to duty she was re-assigned from safety education duties to patrol, after she was able to get an occupational drivers license.

According to a criminal complaint, on June 1 shortly before 10 p.m. a caller reported seeing a dark blue minivan go through the intersection of Raymond Road and McKenna Boulevard, taking out a couple of signs in the median.

Hoeft was stopped on Dolphin Drive by an officer, who noticed there was a child in her minivan. Hoeft, who identified herself with a police identification card, told the officer, Ive definitely been drinking, the complaint states.

A breath test found that Hoefts preliminary blood alcohol concentration was 0.27 percent, more than three times the limit for drivers in Wisconsin, according to the complaint.

Koval said in his statement that he is concerned with ensuring public confidence in officers, who are expected to be held to a higher standard.

When an officer makes a bad decision off-duty, it reflects poorly on all of us, Koval wrote. I have spoken with this officer and I know how she deeply regrets what this incident has meant to both her personal reputation as well as that of MPD.
Theres simply no excuse for them to dress badly. In Ghana even though politicians have often looked good in their choice of clothes, some have outshined the rest.

Below are some of the stylish politicians we found. The list is in no particular order of preference.

Samira Bawumia

The wife of the vice president, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia always steps out in style proving to many that shes perhaps the most fashionable Second Lady of all time in Ghana. The beautiful woman and mother four was recently adjudged Style Icon of 2017 at the third edition of the Glitz Style Awards. She indeed makes headlines with her impeccable style, no matter the occasion.

Nana Asante Bediatuo

Private legal practitioner, Nana Asante Bediatuo never fails to seize the moment to impress with his sense of fashion. The lawyer, who is now the Executive secretary to Ghanas president knows how to blend good practice with fashion. He is usually seen in a well-cut suit with a hat and sometimes a leather bag to match. Whether representing a client in court, attending a programme or even partying with friends, the distinguished lawyer does not disappoint with his deep sense of fashion.

Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings

The former First Lady of the Republic of Ghanas ageless personality is always demonstrated in style. The 68-year-old never fails to look classic and stunning no matter the event she goes to. She often wears African Print, Kente, Lace and other colourful fabrics sewn into the popular 'Kaba and Slit' style. One of her major signature pieces is the headwrap which comes in vibrant fabrics and colours

John Mahama

The former president of Ghana who many describe as a man with the calm swag is always looking dapper, whether in formal suits, his ethnic clothing or in casual wear. You will never find him with a dull appearance; he makes sure his looks are always on point.

Hanna Tetteh

She is mostly seen in African prints with accessories that stand out on any day. Even though she often looks simple in her clothing, you cannot take away the elegance with which she appears in them.

Jerry Rawlings

Right from his days as a military leader till now, the politician does not disappoint when it comes to his choice of clothing. Whether at a government event or a social event like funerals, Rawlings is always at his best. He has a penchant for white African shirts and certainly gives the impression of being cool even when under fire.

Dr Kwabena Duffuor
According to reports by Kasapa FM, mother of the victim lodged complaint at the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Suhum Municipal Police Command on Tuesday, August 20, 2017.

The suspects gang-defiled the 15-year-old girl at Okorase near Suhum with the Police launching manhunt to arrest them.

The Police has issued medical report form to the victim to attend the Suhum Government Hospital for medical examination and report.

The Suhum Municipal Police Commander, Supt. Joseph Owusu said the Police has launched an investigations into the case, whiles efforts are being made to arrest the suspects.

He pleaded with the community to assist the Police with vital information to arrest the suspects.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has indicated that the Exton Cubic Group Limited, does not have the environmental permit to mine.

A statement from the EPA on Wednesday, 23 August said: As a result of the public interest in the matter, the EPA would like to clarify the position of Exton Cubic Group Limiteds environmental permit status under its mining lease (That is a necessary condition for any mining activity).

READ ALSO: Minister may face legal action for seizing mining equipment of Engineers and Planners

The bottom line is that Exton Cubic Group Limited has not obtained the required EPA permit under its mining lease and, therefore, any attempt to enter the area for mining activity is illegal.

But Samuel Gyamfi told Accra-based Joy FM that the EPA statement is "sad and unfortunate."

"It flies in the face of rules which says a man cannot be judged unheard Before you take a decision against anybody you need to at least give that person a hearing. Listen to the side of the company.

We have not been given this opportunity under the circumstance. So we are shocked that the EPA will come to the media with this statement before they meet or write to us.

He wondered how the EPA concluded that the company was mining without a permit, considering the Agency has not met the Exton Group or visited the Nyinahini site.

That tells you this decision has been taken based on hearsays. The whole premise of their press release is totally flawed.

He explained that the company is currently engaging in prospecting activities and not mining and for the EPA to issue a statement indicting it for mining is unacceptable.

The Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei-Mensah, has meanwhile said that his decision not to allow Exton Cubic Group Limited to continue mining bauxite at the Tano-Offin Forest Reserve in the Atwima Mponua District, is in the interest of the country.

He had before this seized equipment and logistics hired by the company for its operations and has vowed not to release them until the company provides documents to show they have been licensed to mine in the region.

The equipment belongs to Engineers and Planners Co. Ltd, a company owned by Ibrahim Mahama, brother of former President John Dramani Mahama.
According to the Commissioner, Mr Isaac Owusu Mensah, his outfit had picked intelligence that civilians and opposition political parties in that country were planning a political protest in the national capital-Lome on Friday.

He has, therefore, asked Ghanaians wishing to travel to Togo on that day to be careful, the Ghana News Agency reports.

He added that the Aflao-Lome Border would remain opened but warned travellers not to get involved in any political activity in Togo.

A protest in the country last Saturday left seven people dead and about 27 arrested.

The protest was to challenge the presidency of Faure Gnassingbe.

The Gnassingbe family has been ruling Togo since 1967 after a coup by Eyadema.

READ ALSO: Chaos in Lome as protesters declare another day of demonstration

Faure who is also the new chairperson of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has won three presidential elections.

But many argue that he won those elections under controversial circumstances.

Residents of Togo are now demanding that the Constitution be amended to prevent his familys continued stay in power.
The launch of the first phase of the conversion of a telecom dish into a satellite dish on Thursday, August 24, by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo would make Ghana the second country in Africa to own a satellite dish after South Africa.

READ ALSO: Car Towing Government throws out mandatory tow levy policy

During a media briefing in Accra, officials from the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) and the South Africa based Square Kilometer Array Africa (SKA Africa), who collaborated to sponsor and build the dish told journalists that the facility would help put Ghana on a higher pedestal of countries that are into space science.

Professor Dickson Adomako, Director of the Ghana Space Science and Technology Institute (GSSTI) of the GAEC, said the first phase of the dish to be launched involved the structural work of the antenna, electrical works and the total configuration of the antenna which used to be a redundant telecommunication dish belonging to Vodafone Ghana that used to only point at one direction.

He said currently, there are some science commissioning going on at the Kuntunse site to be able to detect some of the celestial bodies to prove the effectiveness of the dish.

He said by the middle of 2019, the SKA Africa partners would totally hand over the dish to the Ghanaian community to manage.

Prof Adomako said although the project is purely academic and gives no defined effect on the Ghanaian people, it gives an opportunity for scientist and students to purse higher learning in space science in the country.

He said in all nine partner African countries including Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya, and Madagascar, who are studying the success of Ghanas satellite to enable them also launch and use theirs in their respective countries.

READ ALSO: Samsung launch cutting edge QLED TV in Ghana

Prof said the internet connectivity within the Kuntunse area has improved so well while the roads within the vicinity has been constructed.

Ms Anita Loots, Head of Africa Planning Office of the SKA Africa, said Ghanas satellite dish is a timely facility that would help in the effort of African scientists finding solutions for Africa.

She said: attaining the SDGs depends very much on Africas ability to gather data on health, education, agriculture, sanitation and the economies to make informed decision, and that was what the satellite dish would help in attaining.

She said South Africa supported the construction of Ghanas dish with GHC 30 million from their African Renaissance fund.
This follows the dismissal of an application by the IFC and OPEC seeking to quash a ruling by the court early on asking the two to open their defense.

According to the Judge Justice Doreen Boakye Agyei, the application by OPEC and IFC lacked merit hence her decision.

Background

The local Ghanaian company Quantum is claiming $41,319,123 in total damages the international bodies for allegedly failing to provide it with a $16-million loan facility as agreed early on in their business transaction.

The loan was to be used by Quantum Oil Terminals to construct a petroleum storage facility in Tema in 2012 to help it meet a National Petroleum Authority (NPA) regulation that required bulk oil distribution companies to construct their own storage facilities.

READ ALSO: Energy Business Quantum Oil case to be heard in Ghana as court dismisses application for stay of execution

Before the agreement , Quantum was storing its products in facilities at the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) Company Limited. BOST served Quantum Oil notice that it could no longer store its products from 2014, in line with the NPA directive.

According to Quantum, the amount includes fees and charges directly paid to IFC and OPEC Fund, fees and charges paid to various consultants at the direction of IFC and OPEC Fund and statutory fees paid by plaintiff to create charges for the benefit of IFC and OPEC Fund.
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The commission had in July this year announced that all state officials and lawmakers in the 2017-2022 government would pocket much lower salaries and fewer allowances to save taxpayers more than Sh8 billion annually.

In the new pay structure, the Members of Parliament would have their salaries slashed from the current Sh710, 000 ($6,900) to Sh621, 250 ($6,000). This notwithstanding the fact that the MPs are the world's second highest-paid servant leaders, second only to Nigeria.

Other allowances such as special parliamentary allowance, reimbursable mileage allowance, sitting allowance for plenary sessions and special responsibility allowances were as well abolished.

However, on Wednesday, women representative Gladys Wanga dismissed the review as a public relations gimmick. Her sentiments were echoed by her counterpart from Kiambu county Gathoni wa Muchomba who was quoted as saying: "I want to be paid well. I want to be honored for who I am."
In a Medium post titled "After Charlottesville, It's Time to End the Assault on Voting Rights," Schumer called on Trump to rescind the executive order creating the panel to investigate voter fraud and other electoral-integrity-related issues.

"If the president wants to truly show that he rejects the discrimination agenda of the white supremacist movement, he will rescind the executive order that created this commission," Schumer said. "And if the president does not act, the Congress should prohibit its operation through one of the must-pass legislative vehicles in September.

"Many of us found the Election Integrity Commission distasteful when it was first created," he continued. "The president's recent failure to unequivocally condemn bigotry makes its rescission imperative."

Schumer additionally called for public hearings on voting rights, which he said should include testimony from Kris Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state who serves as vice chairman of Trump's commission.

Several must-pass bills are on the table for Congress in September, including legislation to raise the debt ceiling and fund the government. Trump threatened a shutdown at his Tuesday-night rally in Arizona, and he signaled a possible debt-ceiling battle in two Thursday-morning tweets.

In an email exchange with Business Insider, Matt House, Schumer's communications director, said Schumer could also look to other must-pass legislative vehicles, including extending the Children's Health Insurance Program and reauthorizing the National Flood Insurance Program.

"Hes not picking a specific one," House said.
According to CNN, Rick Dearborn, who is now Trump's deputy chief of staff, sent information to campaign officials last year about the effort, which was not previously reported.

Dearborn was skeptical about the request, CNN's senior congressional reporter, Manu Raju, said in an interview on Wednesday evening.

The person mentioned in the email was identified only with "WV." One of CNN's sources said it was a reference to a contact in West Virginia.

The report said the email came around the same time as a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower among Donald Trump Jr., the president's eldest son; Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law who's now a senior White House adviser; Paul Manafort, the campaign chairman; and a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin.

The email represents another example of Russia's attempts to make inroads with the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election. Russian operatives reportedly targeted Carter Page, who was briefly a foreign-policy adviser to the campaign, as a potential opening to Trump's inner circle.

Page, along with Manafort and Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser, had documented contacts with Russian operatives before and after they joined the Trump campaign. All of them have denied engaging in any untoward interactions with the Kremlin on behalf of the campaign.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has come under scrutiny in recent months for his previously undisclosed talks with the Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak, during the campaign. He did not mention during his Senate confirmation hearings earlier this year that he had such discussions, but later said he did indeed meet with Kislyak on several occasions.
At an orientation session for new educators in the Madison School District Wednesday at Memorial High School, Superintendent Jen Cheatham was just finishing up her welcome address with a smoothly impassioned plea for teachers to build trusting relationships with students of color when something distinctly off-script happened.

You need to scrutinize the lens you see the world through, she was saying, urging her newly hired, mostly white staff to recognize, name and disrupt inequity wherever they see it  when suddenly a loud POP crackled through the sound system and every light went out, plunging the packed auditorium into total darkness amid startled gasps, as if to punctuate her instruction.

A few seconds later, the lights came back on, and Cheatham, barely missing a beat, intoned slowly, That was amazing, earning gales of relieved laughter over the outage, caused by MGE doing repairs in the neighborhood.

The moment helped lighten the start of an exhaustive, three-day program of lectures, exercises and small group work to prepare the 310 new staff members about 80 percent of them classroom teachers, plus other certified staff such as counselors and social workers  for the start of the school year Sept. 5.

Not all the teachers welcomed Wednesday were new to teaching, such as Wendy Gonring, who was returning to the district after 20 years away.

Gonring said she spent the first four years of her teaching career at Memorial, then took about five years to raise her children before returning to teach the last 11 years at Queen of Peace, a Catholic elementary school in Madison.

She said she enjoyed her time at Queen of Peace but was returning to teach biology at Memorial because she missed working with older students within a bigger community.

One of the orientation programs chief messages, about the importance of teachers finding common ground with students, resonated with Gonring, who said the most important job we have as teachers is trying to identify with students to better help them grow as people and as parts of our great community. We work as a team.

Hollis Rudiger is a former school librarian who will be a new bilingual resource teacher in math and English classes for sixth-graders at Black Hawk Middle School. She took a holistic view of teaching, viewing her role as first helping students gain confidence, build community connections and develop as people for better learning.

Our kids come to us as human beings before they are scholars, Rudiger said. The scholarship will come.

A new districtwide focus for the coming school year revolves around encouraging teachers to develop trusting relationships in the classroom as a means to strengthen learning. Its especially key for students of color, whose test scores still often lag far behind white students performance in the district, Cheatham said.

Learning is all about productive struggle  you have to allow yourself to feel lost, she said. Thats part of learning. You feel lost for a while, and you need your teacher to be a trusted guide to help you through.

The district will help new teachers develop these deeper ties in part by sharing exercises and activities they can use to build affiliations and actively generate trust with their students during the first few weeks of the school year, Cheatham said.

Nancy Hanks, the districts chief of elementary schools, told the new hires how trust-building changed her life, as she recalled the third-grade teacher who helped her dare to dream that I could leave the hood and go to Harvard, and who gave me the cognitive skills to do that.

Growing up on the west side of Chicago in a poor but supportive family, Hanks, who is African-American, said this teacher, who was white, made a lasting impression on her and other students by holding them to high standards, believing in them and being relentlessly curious about their lives.

She asked about their families and what they did for fun and where they went to church, Hanks said, and always focused on ways they were the same.

She had a profound impact on my life, Hanks said. She taught me how to write and how to deal with setbacks and she inspired me to be a teacher.As in years past, most of the new hires will fill vacancies caused by retirements or other reasons, for a roughly stable group of 2,800 district employees with teaching jobs, according to district spokeswoman Liz Merfeld.

Beyond the orientation program, 70 of the hires who are brand-new to teaching also will have assigned district mentors throughout their first year as teachers. Its part of a structured mentoring program developed with UW-Madisons School of Education to help new teachers strengthen a set of identified skills, Cheatham said.
That's what former Breitbart News editor Ben Shapiro asserted in a CNN interview on Wednesday night.

"One thing Trump has benefited from is that the left is constantly reacting to everything he says with an enormous level of passion, and I think that's actually a negative," Shapiro told CNN host Don Lemon.

Shapiro was discussing the reaction to Trump's freewheeling rally in Phoenix a day earlier, when Trump relitigated his remarks about the deadly white nationalist protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month.

While conservative media outlets largely applauded Trump's remarks on Tuesday night, other commentators called the president's behavior "unhinged," a "disaster," and "downright scary and disturbing."

Trump began his remarks by reading from a script before he lashed out at the journalists and news outlets that covered him. After the Arizona rally, some commentators questioned Trump's fitness for office and his mental health.

Shapiro argued that "the media" tended to take an emotional stance on Trump when the president strays from the teleprompter.

"Instead of doing objective analysis of where he was not telling the truth, they jumped to extraordinary critiques of his mental health and talking about how he was crazy and how he was morally bereft," Shapiro said.

"All that does is it plays to his crowd. His crowd thinks that the media is out to get him. His crowd thinks that the media have a particular emotional animus for him, personally."

Shapiro pointed to Lemon's own Tuesday-night response to Trump as an example.

Lemon defended his choice to take a position on Trump's fiery remarks at the Phoenix rally but insisted that having a point of view was not the same as being biased or harboring personal hostility toward Trump.

"Whether it's true or not," Shapiro responded, "that's the way a lot of his followers are going to take it."
Since violence erupted in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month at the white supremacist "Unite the Right" rally, many self-proclaimed "alt-righters" and white nationalists have argued they should not be lumped in with neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and KKK members.

Peter Cvjetanovic, a 20-year-old college student featured in a viral photo of the rally, said that he attended the march "for the message that white European culture has a right to be here just like every other culture" and that he believed the planned removal of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's statue in Charlottesville symbolized "the slow replacement of white heritage" in the US.

Richard Spencer, one of the leaders of the so-called alt-right and white nationalism in the US, has denied that the movements are racist.

"Did he say 'white nationalist'?" Spencer asked reporters, after President Donald Trump denounced neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan, and white supremacists in his second post-Charlottesville statement. "'Racist' means an irrational hatred of people. I don't think he meant any of us."

White nationalists often seek to separate their ideology from white supremacism, arguing that the white nationalist belief that white people are deserving of an ethnostate or other special protections is not inherently racist. The alt-right is a broader coalition of such groups that further distances itself from white supremacy by omitting any reference to race from its name.

But Christian Picciolini, a former white supremacist, says observers shouldn't believe claims by Spencer or others belonging to similar movements that they aren't racist.

Speaking with Business Insider, he described the alt-right and white nationalist movements as the culmination of a 30-year effort to "massage" the white supremacist message.

Picciolini would know  at the age of 14, he was recruited by Clark Martell, then the leader of the Chicago Area Skin Heads, reputed to be the first organized neo-Nazi group in the US. Two years later, in 1989, Picciolini became the leader of the group.

"We recognized back then that we were turning away the average American white racists and that we needed to look and speak more like our neighbors," Picciolini said. "The idea we had was to blend in, normalize, make the message more palatable."

This effort to normalize is visible in the alt-right rhetoric that has been prevalent during and since the 2016 presidential campaign, he said. Common white supremacist tropes like "Jewish media" and "Jewish global conspiracy" have been transposed to "liberal media" and "globalism"  or avoided altogether by invoking figures like billionaire George Soros, who is Jewish.

Picciolini said there were two reasons that alt-righters and white nationalists try to distance themselves from neo-Nazis and white supremacists:

"We lied all the time," Picciolini said. "To the media, we weren't a hate organization  we were a pro-white organization. We felt that our white pride was being taken away. It was all spin. Behind closed doors, it was all about supremacy and power and eliminating people that weren't like us."

These days, Picciolini leads Life After Hate, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping neo-Nazis, white supremacists, KKK members, and other far-right activists leave their organizations and their hateful ideologies. He said the organization had seen a flood of donations since the events in Charlottesville.

The connection between the alt-right and hate organizations has not been lost on experts like J.M. Berger, who studies far-right extremism in the US as a fellow with the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism.

"Not everyone in the alt-right is a overt white nationalist," Berger told Business Insider in an email. "But white nationalism is definitely the movement's center of gravity, and the term originated with an explicitly white nationalist website."

That website, Alternativeright.com (now Altright.com) marked the birth of the term alt-right and was founded by Spencer, who heads a white nationalist think tank called the National Policy Institute.

In a September report published by George Washington University comparing the social-media efforts of white nationalists with the Islamic State terrorist group, Berger wrote that neo-Nazi groups began pushing "for more collaboration" among "Nazi-sympathetic and other white nationalist strains" when efforts stalled to recruit more "normal" people.

In a random sample of Twitter users who followed prominent white nationalist organizations and leaders, about 19% were Nazi sympathizers, Berger found.
Ukraine, once home to thousands of Soviet nuclear ICBMs, continues to produce missiles today as it faces a Russian-backed insurgency in the countries east. Another Cold War remnant in Ukraine appears to be spycraft, which allowed the country to trick and capture two North Korean spies.

Authorities in Ukraine told CNN that the North Koreans sought "ballistic missiles, missile systems, missile construction, spacecraft engines, solar batteries, fast-emptying fuel tanks, mobile launch containers, powder accumulators and military government standards," to bring home to Pyongyang, according to CNN.

The specific plans the spies thought they were capturing showed schematics for the SS-24 Scalpel intercontinental ballistic missile, a Soviet-designed missile that can carry 10 independently targetable warheads across vast distances. Such a weapon would be a massive improvement over North Korea's current fledgling ICBM fleet.

But the designs photographed by the North Koreans were fake, and moments after the cameras flashed authorities broke into the room and detained them. The spies are now serving eight years in prison.
The plant has no power, so there's a risk that the plant could cause more explosions as the chemicals' temperatures continue to rise. People nearby have been advised not to return until the chemicals burn out.

Harvey's death toll continues to rise as family members and authorities report more fatalities. Galveston County Emergency Management confirmed three more deaths on Wednesday night, bringing the total so far to at least 41.

Some 33,000 people in Texas have sought refuge in more than 230 shelters, and 325,000 have signed up for disaster assistance, officials said.

"This is a landmark event for Texas," Brock Long, the Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, said Monday. "Texas has never seen an event like this."

Record rainfall and catastrophic flooding

Harvey arrived on the shores of Texas as a hurricane Friday night, packing sustained wind speeds as high as 130 mph. It made a second landfall as a tropical storm on the Texas border near Cameron, Louisiana, around 4:30 a.m. CT on Wednesday. As of Thursday morning, it was classified a tropical depression with maximum winds of 20 mph.

On Tuesday, a rain gauge near Highlands, Texas, a city east of Houston, registered 51.88 inches of rainfall  breaking the record for most rainfall from a single storm in the entire continental US.

The "relentless, torrential" rain has moved east, and forecasters don't expect it to fizzle out until at least Saturday. could get 3 to 5 more inches of rain by Saturday, with isolated areas seeing up to 10 inches.

Harvey was moving northeast across the top of Louisiana at 10 mph as of 10 a.m. CDT on Thursday, leaving flooding and destruction in its wake. The center of the storm was sitting about 150 miles north of Baton Rouge.

The National Weather Service called the rainfall event "unprecedented", and while the National Hurricane Center's warnings of "catastrophic and life-threatening flooding" have subsided, the floodwaters in southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana will take days, if not a week, to retreat.

The storm surge  the quick rise in water caused by a hurricane's strong winds  crested several feet at the height of the storm on the Texas coast. By Thursday, all local storm surge warnings had ended.

Widespread devastation

Harvey's devastating hurricane-force winds, storm surge on the Gulf Coast, and landmark flooding inland combined to make it a catastrophic event for Texas.

Officials expect more deaths to be confirmed in the coming days. Houston police Chief Art Acevedo told The Associated Press on Monday that he was "really worried about how many bodies we're going to find" when the floodwaters recede.

The Houston Chronicle reported Tuesday that a police Sgt. Steve Perez, a 60-year-old man who had been on the force for 34 years, died in his patrol car after he took a wrong turn and got caught in the high water.

Long said in a press conference Monday (and reiterated on Wednesday) that crews were still focusing on rescue and recovery and would have to wait until the storm passed to fully evaluate the damage. Flooding and debris on roadways are still keeping emergency crews from reaching some places.

Accounts of destruction in the areas hit hardest by Harvey have been steadily emerging.

Astounding video shows nume... @ Evan McMurry

Emergency crews plucked people from rooftops using aircraft, dump trucks, and boats as the floodwaters rose. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said on Wednesday that 8,500 people had been rescued statewide.

The Associated Press estimated that the storm knocked out power for about 300,000 residents over the weekend, and that there were still 107,000 power outages in Texas on Wednesday afternoon.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said 911 emergency services in the city had received over 56,000 calls by Monday. By Tuesday, police officers and firefighters had saved more than 3,500 individuals in Houston, Acevedo said.

Turner announced a curfew on Tuesday night, extending from 12 a.m. to 5 a.m. Wednesday, amid reports of looting, armed robberies and people impersonating police officers.

Near Port Arthur, Texas, a city located about 90 miles east of Houston in Jefferson County, over 26 inches of rain were recorded on Tuesday alone. Residents in the area were desperate to escape, and 150 boats came to find them. Mayor Derrick Freeman told CBS News that 20,000 homes had as much as 6 feet of water in them.

The coastal city of Rockport, Texas, located near the point where the hurricane initially made landfall, sustained extreme damage. Residents have been told it is not safe to return for the time being (a mandatory evacuation was put in place there). Mayor Charles Wax of Rockport told CNN there had "been widespread devastation."

As the storm approached Friday, Mayor Pro Tem Patrick Rios of Rockport requested that people who did not evacuate write their names and Social Security numbers on their arms in case rescuers later needed to identify them.

The Category 4 storm Hurricane Ike, the most recent major hurricane to hit the Texas Gulf Coast, caused $38 billion in damage in 2008. When Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in 2005, it caused over $100 billion in damage.

Why hurricane categories dont tell the full story

Hal Needham, a hurricane scientist at Louisiana State University, wrote in a blog post on the weather site WXshift that a storm's category doesn't fully convey how dangerous rainfall could be and how much damage it could cause.

"Hurricanes and tropical storms throw three hazards at us: wind, rainfall, and storm surge," he wrote. "Think of the impacts separately. Storms with weaker winds are more likely to stall and dump heavier rainfall. This shocks people, as it would seem intuitive that a Category 5 hurricane would tend to dump more rain than a Category 1 hurricane. But the opposite is true."

While strong winds can rip shingles off roofs and tear down power lines, flooding often causes more widespread, costlier damage  and can be more dangerous for humans. The scale used to distinguish a hurricane from a tropical storm is based solely on maximum sustained wind, but Needham explained that "storms are too complex to define by one number."

Trumps first serious crisis

Hurricane Harvey is Donald Trump's "first serious" crisis from a natural disaster as president. He flew to Corpus Christi Tuesday morning with first lady Melania Trump to survey the damage and relief efforts, and made a stop in Austin to attend a briefing on emergency operations from Texas leadership.

"We want to do it better than ever before. We want to be looked at in five years, in 10 years from now as, this is the way to do it," Trump said at a press conference alongside Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. "This was of epic proportion. Nobody's ever seen anything like this."

How Texas and Louisiana prepared

Thousands of Texas residents, many in the towns of Port Aransas, Port O'Connor, and Corpus Christi, near where the hurricane first made landfall, evacuated before the storm. The Corpus Christi Regional Transportation Authority began busing evacuees to San Antonio on Thursday.

Houston didn't order evacuations before the storm hit, and only issued orders in some areas of Harris County on Monday and Tuesday. Jeff Masters, a meteorologist at The Weather Company who cofounded the weather-data website Weather Underground, recommended evacuating only if local emergency experts said to do so. Many of the deaths during Hurricane Rita in 2005 occurred as people tried to evacuate.

He also issued a federal disaster declaration in 33 counties, which Trump approved. Trump has approved emergency disaster declarations in both Texas and Louisiana, directing federal aid toward the affected areas.

On Monday morning, Abbott activated the entire Texas National Guard of 12,000 people, and increased the number deployed to 24,000 National Guard troops on Thursday.

Before the storm hit, the American Red Cross opened pop-up shelters throughout Houston and San Antonio. Dallas opened shelters as well, and Mayor Mike Rawlings invited those stranded to seek refuge in a press conference Tuesday morning.

Turner, Houston's mayor, said Tuesday that more than 9,000 people are seeking shelter at the George R. Brown Convention Center, the largest shelter that has been opened so far. It has a 5,000-cot capacity.

The Health and Human Services Department said it was deploying assets to Texas and Louisiana ahead of Harvey's landfall, moving six teams of emergency medical responders to the Dallas area as well as teams to support medical personnel in both states.

FEMA said it readied 3 million meals, 2.8 million liters of water, and 8,800 staff members for the storm response.
She is one of the highest paid actresses in Nollywood.

Due to the success of her Jenifa trilogy, Funke Akindele has created the TV version of her hit movie. Titled "Jenifa's Diary" the TV series features celebrities such as Falz and Toke Makinwa.

She took to Instagram to share a video of herself dancing to her husband, JJC Skillz, song in celebration of her birthday.

"It's my birthday!! All glory to God!! #ilovemylife #iamdoingitagain Songs by my hubby @jjcskillz."

She came to limelight after featuring in popular United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) sponsored sitcom, "I Need to Know", which ran from 1998 to 2002.

She obtained an Ordinary National Diploma (OND) in Mass Communication from the former Ogun State Polytechnic, now Moshood Abiola Polytechnic and got a Law degree from the University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba.
The Sun UK reports that the love struck Angela who met CJ on Facebook and flew down to Nigeria to get married to him after only three months, has not been herself after spending over 20,000 of her life savings trying to get CJ to the UK.

Anglea, a retired taxi driver, had reportedly met CJ, 45 years her junior, on the social media and after dating for three months, she flew down to Nigeria where they got married at a registry in Lagos but since then, it has been impossible for him to move over to be with her.

The heartbroken Angela, a pensioner from Dorchester, Dorset, told the Sun UK:

CJ is the most caring man any woman could want to be with. He makes me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world.

I know in my heart we belong together and we wont stop fighting until we can be together as husband and wife. We wont let this break us.

After the wedding, I found it hard leaving CJ. I knew Id see him again soon but my family visa application was rejected.

I was so determined to get him a visa I hired lawyers to fight for us. Ive since visited him twice.

Weve spent a combined 20,000 trying to see each other. Ive used my savings and he has gradually paid me back half.

Angela said she had been single for six months following a 16-year relationship when she was contacted out of the blue by CJ.

After my relationship ended, I felt lonely. We had become more like friends than partners, so we had decided to split.

After being single for six months, I saw a gorgeous young man had sent me a friend request on Facebook.

I did wonder why he had added me but I accepted and he sent me a message telling me how lovely my profile photo was.

He was so handsome, with big, brown eyes and a body to match. I didnt see the harm in striking up a conversation with him.

We chatted for hours about our families and hobbies. It was like wed known each other for years. Before I knew it, we were messaging daily.

The only problem was he was 45 years younger and lived 4,000 miles away in Nigeria.

Angela said she knew the age gap might be frowned upon by her children, with the oldest grandchild being six years older than CJ but that she could not help falling for the Owerri, Imo State-born Computer Engineer.

Angela, who has sons aged 50, 47 and 43, continued:

Despite our huge age gap, we got on really well. I couldnt help it and began to develop feelings for him. I tried to stop myself.

He was six years younger than my oldest grandchild. But I couldnt help falling for him. When I first told my son, , about CJ, he was worried it might be a scam, so he checked him out online.

After seeing how squeaky-clean his social media was, he felt he was genuine. They could all see how happy I was.

We started chatting on Skype and Id get butterflies when I saw his face on the computer. After a few weeks, CJ told me he had feelings for me. I was so happy.

It took the sharp CJ just a month before proposing to Angela via Skype and she accepted immediately.

I was so taken aback when he asked me to marry him. I thought he was joking. But he told me he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me.

Of course, I said yes. He was beaming at me with such a big smile on his face. Knowing I made him that happy was all the reassurance I needed. There was such an amazing chemistry between us.

After accepting CJ's proposal, Angela started planning her trip to Nigeria and bought a stunning blue dress for the wedding ceremony, which had been arranged for the following month.

CJ had planned the whole day and had bought us both wedding rings. Sadly, none of my family could make it as it was such short notice. But I felt happy to have their blessings.

The six-hour plane journey felt like a lifetime. I was worried CJ might not like me in person. But the moment I saw him waiting for me, I knew Id made the right decision. I gave him a hug and he kissed me.

Wed originally planned to wait until the wedding night to consummate our relationship but we couldnt keep our hands off each other. CJ was so loving and passionate.

The ceremony was so beautiful and CJ had organized it all perfectly. It was the happiest day of my life.

I felt so lucky, but it was bittersweet because I knew I had to go back to England. The two weeks I was there flew by.

Angela said she was shocked when her visa application for CJ was rejected and he was denied entry to the UK.

The Visa was rejected because officials didnt think we had financial backing, as I was retired.

Over the following months, I tried again and again to appeal the decision. It broke my heart every time it was denied. He wasnt even allowed to visit me on a tourist visa. Id waited so long for true love, and now Id finally found it, it was being kept from me.

I know there are scam marriages and they get hold of older people like me. But they find out if you have money first. I told CJ from the beginning I havent any money. But he told me, Its you I want.

I know it goes on and thats why I was so upfront. I have helped CJ financially but he has always paid me back.

Since the marriage, Angela has visited her husband in Nigeria twice, once in March 2016 for three weeks and once in January 2017, for three weeks.

The couple's last hope is that he will be allowed to go to the UK next year on a student visa to study his Master's Degree program.

Angela says:

Our only hope now is that CJ will be allowed to come next year on a student visa to study his Masters in computing. Im hoping to go to Africa later this year to visit him and Im counting down the days until I can see him again.
The planned October opening of a long-sought day resource center for the homeless could be delayed as Dane County, Madison and nonprofits scramble to cover costs for its first full year of operation in 2018.

The facility is supposed to open in the former Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce building, 615 E. Washington Ave., on Oct. 16. The city, county and United Way are contributing $330,000 and the chosen operator, Catholic Charities Madison, $150,000  a total of $480,000  for operations this year.

But all funders apparently were not aware that Catholic Charities, when it was named as operator in a competitive process last year, had submitted a projected $680,000 operating budget for 2018. The organizations are now figuring out how to cover the additional $200,000. Catholic Charities hopes for a resolution by mid-September.

The lack of a resolution could put the opening in jeopardy, said Jackson Fonder, president and CEO of Catholic Charities, adding that the nonprofit is midway through hiring. How can you ask the provider to open on time and not give the funding it needs?

This is the greatest need in the city of Madison, Fonder said, voicing optimism that problems will be resolved. Its going to take some work and some people stepping up.

The day center, called The Beacon, will be more comprehensive than anything previously offered in the community to help the homeless. It will offer multiple services to an estimated 150 people daily in the two-story building, which the county purchased for $1.75 million in July 2016. Some $3 million in renovations are now nearing completion.

The Beacon will cost a lot to run because it will be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week, 365 days a year, Fonder said.

This is a major operation, he said. We drew up the budget after a national best-practices tour.

The $680,000 annual budget, while significant, is lean for whats being provided, Fonder said. The day center will have six full-time and seven part-time staff, which will account for most of the operating budget, and still must be supported by 20 volunteers each day, he said.

Initially, for 2017, the county pledged $130,000, the city and United Way $100,000 apiece, and Catholic Charities $150,000, for a total of $480,000, Fonder said. But United Way ended up providing $50,000 and the county boosted its contribution from $130,000 to $180,000 this year, he said.

In July, funders met to discuss the 2017 and 2018 budgets, with the city and United Way surprised by the $680,000 annual budget, even though Catholic Charities had submitted that figure when it was one of two respondents to a county-issued request for operator proposals in 2016, Fonder said.

The city had not seen the $680,000 figure before the meeting, community development director Jim OKeefe said.

They were surprised, Fonder said. But at the end of the day you cant operate this facility for $480,000 a year. The options to do so would mean eliminating weekend service and having to use even more volunteers. I think the community would be disappointed by something like that.

On Aug. 8, the funders met again at a meeting described as difficult and unpleasant, where County Executive Joe Parisi suggested that each funder provide $172,000.

Parisi intends to seek that sum in his upcoming county budget proposal for 2018, and Catholic Charities intends to give that much, but the city and United Way are currently at about $100,000 each, which would leave a shortfall of about $135,000.

United Way is planning to contribute $100,000 for 2018, with the potential for more depending on results of its annual fundraising campaign, executive vice president Deedra Atkinson said.

The citys Community Development Division requested $110,000 for Beacon operations for next year, OKeefe said, adding that Mayor Paul Soglin wasnt receptive to the larger sum and that the city will be providing funds to nonprofits offering services at the center.

Also, I dont know if weve fully pursued the potential to pare the budget back, OKeefe said.

The funders are scheduled to meet again on Sept. 8.
According to some Igbo people resident in South Africa who are in the know, the cause of the bloody war that has seen many people killed both in that country and in Nigeria stemmed from a botched agreement between the alleged principal actors, Chief Aloysius Ikegwuonu also known as Bishop and his kinsman identified only as Obrocho.

It was gathered that Bishop and Obrocho had been involved in a drug deal with the proceed amounting to millions of dollars and instead of sharing the money realized, Bishop played a fast one on Obrocho and made away with the money.

The insiders insist that when the crisis first started, the Igbo community in South Africa under the leadership of the Eze Ndigbo, Eze Martin Emechebe and his cabinet members, waded into the matter in order to resolve and bring lasting peace between the two brothers on one hand and their groups on the other hand.

This is how one of the Igbo community members captured the incident:

"At the peace meeting, it was resolved that Bishop will have to pay $5 million as part of the final settlement of the rift in the interest of peace and he accepted the settlement and a time frame was fixed for the payment.

However, before the date, Bishops camp suffered serious attacks from Obrochos camp, and the wife of Ebube Dike who was Bishop's right-hand man was shot dead in Ozubulu alongside other people by unknown gunmen.

The last straw that made the matter more difficult to be resolved was the brutal murder of Ginika, Bishops schoolmate and close friend at Comprehensive Secondary School, Ozubulu. Ginika was Bishop's companys manager.

Ginika who hailed from Mbaise in Imo State, had disagreements with Bishop and moved to Obrochos camp and joined hand to secure a drug route which they call park.

However, Ginika was killed by unknown gun men and Bishop was suspected to be behind the murder which he had denied.

After Ginikas death, the two camps declared an all out war and since then, have been killing themselves to the extent that the traditional rulers of Ozubulu and Mbaise where Ginika hailed from had intervened in the matter to no avail.

We know that the attack at the Ozubulu church was carried out following the information that Bishop was around and was billed to commission some roads in the community and attend church for Thanksgiving on the Sunday that the church was attacked.

However, he hurriedly left the town due to an intelligence report from locals that strange faces were spotted in the community before the attackers struck on Sunday."
Somewhere in the heap of human interest stories are strange tales of magun that condemns a cheating wife or woman and her lover to public ridicule or death.

Magun is a charm that originates from the Yoruba tribe in Nigeria. It literally means "do not climb." Magun has been used for centuries to catch a wife who has an extra-marital affair or to put a promiscuous woman in check. Some parents are known to put magun on their daughters to discourage pre-marital sex and ward off rapists.

In most circumstances, the charm is put on a woman without her knowledge. A stick of broom or thread is usually placed on the floor for a woman to unknowingly walk over it. Once she works over the thread or broom stick, the charm takes its effect.

Now there are different sorts of magun. The three most famous ones are;

1) a woman and her lover stick like glue during the process of sex. The man cannot detach himself from the woman. This sometimes leads to death and in some cases a public humiliation of the stuck couple.

2) In another variation when a man sleeps with a woman who has magun on her, he starts to crow like a rooster. It is said that the man would crow for three times and by the third time he would end up dead.

3) Another popular variation of magun is that of the man somersaulting three times. Just like the chicken magun, when the man somersaults the third time he ends up dead.

As crazy as magun sounds, there are many stories of the charm dooming lovers. In 2015, in Cross River State, .

Magun is popular in Nigeria. In 2001, revered Nigerian filmmaker Tunde Kelani released a movie called "Thunderbolt: Magun" which dwelt on the mystery of the charm.
According to JAMB, the cut-off marks for admission into universities and polytechnics are now 120 and 100 respectively.

This a huge slice from the previous cut off mark of 200 for university admission. This surprising announcement from JAMB hasn't been met with applause.

The state of education in Nigeria has been a source of concern since the late 80s with a decreasing funding for schools and the emergence of violent confraternity activities in universities.

The huge slash of the JAMB cut off the mark has finally confirmed what many Nigerians have been saying for years about the education system in Nigeria.

The lowering of the bar for many half-baked students to get admission into universities is suicidal. It's the same as generals enlisting children soldiers and pushing them to the front line of the war to die.

When the cut off was higher, universities weren't exactly spoiled for the choice of admitting young geniuses. With this new cut off mark expect more young Nigerians who didn't receive proper education in primary and secondary schools to knock on the doors of many ivory towers.

Public Nigerian universities have stopped being a centre for knowledge a long time ago. It is more of a passage of rite more than anything else. For many, the university is just where you chill for four years and get a degree that reduces in valuable by the day,

Four years later (if ASUU allows) after learning next to nothing they enter a labour market that cannot accommodate them. Nigeria's population crisis cannot absorb the graduates that enter the workforce annually. With this new cut off mark expect the unemployment level to further rise.

Instead of the government to put forward a plan to restructure Nigeria's educational system, it has decided to set fire on the whole thing. The lowering of cut off mark solves no problem. This controversial move by JAMB is a sign that the men in charge of our educational system have given up and abandoning the dilapidated structure. It is a cowardly move.

Young people in Nigeria are now on their own. Unless your parents can afford the expensive tuition of private universities, then the chances of getting a quality education are very slim.

It is now clear that a young Nigerian has been abandoned by the powers that be. If you are waiting on Nigerian politicians and leaders to give you top notch education, you are on an endless wait.
He said that the centre was funded by the European Union under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the project was funded by European Union under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) in conjunction with the United Nation Organization on Drugs and Crime (UNODC ).

Aregbesola lauded the effort of the European Union and UNODC for their support in the judicial sector.

Aregbesola assured the EU and UNODC that his administration would continue to ensure synergy with the judiciary toward effective use of the ICT facilities for justice delivery.

He said the centre would encourage more researchers to carry out more research in the best interest of the entire citizenry.

According to him, ICT is playing vital roles in the development of any nation and it is the role of the judiciary workers to maintain the equipment adequately.

Aregbesola also directed the Ministry of Science and Technology to ensure that Osun citizens outside the state capital have easy access to the facilities.

The Chief Judge of the state, Mrs Oyebola Adepele Ojo, praised the EU for assisting the Federal Government to improve justice delivery , especially in Osun.

Ojo said the centre would be of immense benefit to judges, magistrates, lawyers, and other relevant stakeholders in the judicial cycle.

She said that the centre would go a long way in boosting research and improving justice delivery system in the state.
He insisted that Buhari is sick and tired, advising him to resign so he can pay undivided attention to his health.

Fayose, who is the Chairman of the PDP Governors' Forum, stated this on Wednesday, August 23, during a meeting with political office holders at the Governments House in Ado Ekiti.

He said, "If not for our efforts, Buhari wouldnthave returned now. Buhari is sick and tired and even his physical appearance betrayed this and he needs to go home and rest.

"Today, they have cancelled the Federal Executive Council meeting. You cannot hide the truth forever, it will reveal itself someday. You cannot continue to deceive Nigerians.

"Every word that has come out of my mouth, I have no apology for them. President Buhari was indeed in a coma and one of those who visited him said his recovery is a miracle. That shows that he was indeed very sick. Let Buhari go back to Daura and rest, dont send him to an early grave."

Fayose also denied reports that he vowed to commit suicide if Buhari came back alive from his medical vacation to London.

"How can I commit suicide because of an old man? Such are from miscreants on the social media. Let me tell you expressly, why would I commit suicide? I cannot commit suicide because of my mother. Even if they are burying my mother now, I will cleverly stay away from the grave so that I wont fall into it. I cant commit suicide because of Buhari. I never said that and will never make such statement."

He said pressure from civil society groups, including Resume or Resign Movement' also made Buhari's continued stay in the United Kingdom uncomfortable, resulting to the President's return.

"The pressure from me and many other Nigerians made the president return home. They have been treating this matter under the table forgetting that the life of a president is an open book that can be read by everybody and anybody.

"Not until civil societies and people like us started making noise. You cant be our president without us knowing what is happening to you.

"For me, the president went to a coma on July 6. Today, they can come back and organise rallies and all that attested to the fact that the President recovered by a miracle which we are glad about.

"We are happy that he is back. But when you look at the President physically, you will see that he is emaciated, tired and weak. You dont have to be president at all cost when you are tired, you go home.

"I stand by all I have said about the President. We are glad he is back but dont over-flog him. I am not a sycophant and I stand to speak for Nigeria. Somebody must be able to speak on behalf of the poor masses. This was how they deceived us during the time of YarAdua.

"I am not a hypocrite and I will never be one. This country deserves a very healthy person. Office of the president is not for a sick man. The president is tired and should be allowed to resign and go and rest," Fayose said.

The Governor also reacted to statement credited to some Buhari loyalists that the President is old enough to be his father.

"Buhari is not old enough to be my father. My other is older than Buhari, not to even talk about my father, he can only be my uncle. I am close to 60," he added.
The group will be campaigning for the return of the minister to answer to the corruption charges of outrageous looting that she has been linked to by the EFCC.

In a statement released by the group, they urged for the anti-graft agency to file for the extradition of the former minister who is away in the United Kingdom so that she can be prosecuted for her crimes.

The group says it's resorting to protests at the agency's headquarters in Abuja because it appears like the government is not doing enough to seek justice against the former minister.

The statement read, "Following recent mind-boggling allegations of corruption and wanton looting of public funds and the collective patrimony of Nigerian citizens by the former Minister for Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke, we call on the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to apply for her extradition from the United Kingdom to face prosecution in Nigeria.

"Furthermore, a Federal High Court has ordered Mrs. Allison-Madueke to permanently forfeit several luxurious properties in several highbrow areas across the country to the Federal Government.

"It is therefore unimaginable that the Federal Government is not pushing for Mrs. Allison-Maduekes extradition to face punishment for her alleged crimes.

"In this light, we will be holding a 2-day sit out in front of the EFCC Headquarters to demand that the Federal Government applies for her extradition and prosecution in Nigeria. We will also be highlighting the level corruption at the Central Bank of Nigeria.

"Details of the sit out are as follows: Date: Monday 28 & Tuesday 29 August, 2019. Time: 9am-10am daily. Venue: Front of EFCC Office, Wuse 2, Abuja.

"We invite all well-meaning Nigerians to join us and participate in this event."

The statement was signed by the leader of the 'Our Mumu Don Do' group, Charles Oputa, aka Charly Boy, and the leader of the 'Concerned Nigerians' group, Deji Adeyanju.

Allison-Madueke has been linked to a slew of corruption cases, with courts seizing assets and funds that have been suspected to be proceeds of her loot.

On Tuesday, August 22, a Federal High Court in Lagos ordered the interim forfeiture of assets valued at $16,441,906 linked to her.

On Wednesday, August 9, 2017, Justice Chuka Obiozor of a Lagos Federal High Court also ordered the interim forfeiture of the sum of N7,646,700,000 linked to the former minister after the EFCC filed an ex parte application.

This ruling came only days after a Federal High Court, also in Lagos, ordered the permanent forfeiture of a $37.5m Banana Island mansion owned by the former minister on Monday, August 7.

In addition to the building, the court also ordered the permanent forfeiture of the sums of $2,740,197.96 and N84,537,840.70 realised as rents on the property.
Ambode disclosed this on Thursday in Lagos during the Send-off Parade hosted for 12 retired firemen and one Non-fire personnel at Alausa .

The Governor, who was represented by the Commissioner for Special Duties, Mr Oluseye Oladejo, said that plan for the recruitment was ongoing.

Ambode said the State Fire Service was also permitted to recall any of the retired firemen during emergency, stressing that they would be rewarded adequately for such service.

We are aware of old hands leaving the service, they may be retired but not tired. We can call them to service anytime and they would be rewarded.

The recruitment would be across all categories. As old ones are retiring, There has to be replacement of the retired men.

There is also plan to add to the facilities the State Fire Service maintained, Ambode said.

He commended and congratulated the retirees for the meritorious service they rendered and urged them to continue to serve anytime they were called upon.

The governor reiterated his administrations commitment to the security and safety of lives and property in the state.

The Director of Lagos State Fire Service, Mr Rasak Fadipe, described the retired men as Gallant and brave, stressing that they were some of the experienced firemen leaving the service.

Fadipe said he was happy they were retiring in good health after serving for 35 years.

He said he was happy that Some if the experienced firemen could be recalled during emergency.

This job needs experience personnel during emergency. I made the recommendation to the governor when I discovered that many of the experienced firemen were retiring. I am happy the governor approved my request, he said.

One of the retirees, Mr Johnson Adekanmi, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of the parade that serving for 35 years was not a tea party.

Adekanmi said that one of his memorable days was 1983 when the Nigeria Telecommunication building Marina, was gutted by fire and the then President Shehu Shagari, who was supposed to be traveling out stopped his journey and watched as they fought the fire.
The Commander of the agency in the state, Mrs Josephine Obi, made the disclosure on Thursday in Dutse while briefing newsmen.

She said that the command also recovered one locally-made double-barrel gun and some drugs from the suspects.

Obi said the suspects were arrested on Sunday at about 8 p.m. by officers on routine patrol along Kano-Ringim road.

She said two tablets of Tramadol, one wrap of Indian hemp, two daggers and several charms were also recovered from the suspects.

These suspects were arrested by our men last Sunday along Kano-Ringim road during a random stop-and-search on commercial vehicles.

In the first instance, only two tablets of Tramadol and one wrap of Indian hemp were recovered from them.

But, further check led to the discovery of one locally-made double-barrel gun with one cartridge fully loaded, two daggers and several charms.

This is why we keep saying that there is always a close link between the use of drugs and commission of crime, she said.

The commander said the suspects would be handed over to the police for further action.

ALSO READ: NDLEA arrests man with 25kg of ephedrine at Kano airport

She called on the public to support the agency in its fight against drug abuse.

They ought to support the agency with credible information that will assist in tackling rampant abuse of illicit drugs in the state.

The abuse of psychotropic substance and cough syrup is a worrisome development which the command is grappling with.

There is the need for all, including traditional rulers, religious groups and community-based organizations, to join hands with the agency in fighting the menace throughout the state.
In all the suggestions about what to do about the cenotaph at the Confederate burial ground, one very simple solution should be floated: chise
The four signed agreements with the the United Arab Emirates (UAE) include an agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, agreement on mutual legal assistance in civil and commercial matters, agreement on the transfer of sentenced persons, and on Extradition Treaty.

The president also signed other instruments of ratification on a charter for the Lake Chad Basin between Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Libya, Niger and the Republic of Chad; African tax administration forum agreement on mutual assistance in tax matters; and World Intellectual Property Organisation Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

Others include: The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Treaty on Audio-Visual Performances, and the Marrakesh Treaty to facilitate access to published works for persons who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise.

According to the presidency, the ratification is an important step, in line with the delivery of President Buhari's anti-corruption economic diversification vision.

After the signing, the president's Twitter handle posted, "I have directed all relevant Government agencies and bodies to commence immediate implementation of these Agreements."
"As often as work allows me, I love to watch movies. I love to relax and see a good movie and laugh. Forget myself for that period and just be in that world.

Unfortunately, her work doesn't make it easy for her to see every movie released in the cinema."

Pulse Movies asked the actress to share her top five favourite Nollywood movies of the last 10 years. It wasn't an easy task for Oboli, who has seen over five great movies in the last 10 years.

Check out Omoni Oboli's favourite movies of the last decade;

1. "Banana Island Ghost"

The filmmaker is a fan of the 2017 comedy movie, which tells the story of a ghost who refuses to go to heaven because he doesnt have a soulmate.

2. "93 Days"

"I saw it at Toronto International Film Festival last year and we were just screaming. We saw it on the last day that it showed and it was mostly white people in the hall. They knew there were Nigerians in the hall.

"Because first of all, we were so noisy. We kept shouting. It was such a beautiful film. I really really really liked "93 Days."

"I like the way it captured what we went through as a people."

3. "76"

"It was a good film," she said about the historical drama.

"76" tells the story of a young officer who gets into a romantic relationship with a beautiful O-Level student from the Southeastern part of Nigeria.

3. "Figurine"

"Take it or leave it. It's my film and I like it. It's a good film," the actress jokingly said about the 2009 supernatural suspense thriller by Kunle Afolayan.

The film starred her alongside Ramsey Nouah, who she reunites with for "My Wife and I,"which premieres this Friday, August 25, 2017.

5. "Anchor Baby"

"Fantastic movie," Oboli said about the 2010movie, which tells the story of an illegal immigrant couple from Nigeria on a quest for a better life for their unborn child.
"Hello lovelies! This week I take you to Iporin market, I was a guest on City 105.1 fm. I take you all the way to Shimawa to see some land, I remember a lot of you asking me about investing in property in Lagos, so if you're interested then this is for you.
Sekibo was dismissed by the state's three-man election petition tribunal in Abuja on Thursday, June 29, 2017.

The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) decided to fight the judgement in the Court of Appeal, but will be disappointed by the ruling that was handed down on Thursday, August 24.

The court ruled that the appeal lacked merit, and failed to show sufficient facts to overturn the tribunal's judgement.

The court pointed out that the lawmaker only reproduced his closing remarks at the end of the tribunal hearing, and did not challenge the judgement itself, which meant the appeal court had no business considering it.

In the June ruling, the tribunal also ruled that Sekibo's opponent, Chief Andrew Uchendu, was the true winner of the senatorial seat, and directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue him a certificate of return.

Chief Uchendu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had contested INEC's decision to award the December 10, 2016 victory to Sekibo after neglecting to recognise the results of some wards and polling units in the districts.

Sekibo was declared the winner by INEC returning officer, Oji Ekumankama on Monday, December 12.

According to Ekumankama, Sekibo won 93,098 votes to defeat ChiefUchendu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who had 34,193 votes.

However, the panel, sitting at Apo Quarters in the Federal Capital Territory, agreed with Uchendu, saying he won the lawful majority vote cast and instructed INEC to withdraw the certificate of return that had been issued to Sekibo.
"The Indian side is closely following Chinas road building recently, but the Indians actions themselves have proven that the Indian side says one thing and does another," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular briefing.

She said the reported decision to build a road in Ladakh is "in complete contradiction to its deeds in terms of the border issues".

"The current road construction in that area by the Indian side is not conducive to peace and stability in that area."

A video surfaced last week of a brawl between Chinese and Indian soldiers near the Ladakh area, which is over 4,000 metres above sea level on the Tibetan plateau and is a popular tourist attraction.

China and India have a number of border disputes and went to war in 1962 over the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.

In 2014 hundreds of Indian and Chinese troops faced off across the de facto border known as the Line of Actual Control that runs along the northwest Indian region of Ladakh.

The latest standoff began in mid-June after Chinese troops started building a road on Doklam plateau.

India has an army base nearby and moved soldiers into the flashpoint zone to halt the work, prompting Beijing to accuse it of trespassing on Chinese soil.
Re-reading his statements that followed the clashes, he railed at reporters at the rally in Phoenix, Arizona, for misrepresenting his remarks -- but omitted the equivocation that had sparked the backlash in the first place.

"The very dishonest media... and I mean truly dishonest people in the media and the fake media, they make up stories. They have no sources in many cases. They say 'a source says' -- there is no such thing," he said.

"But they don't report the facts. Just like they don't want to report that I spoke out forcefully against hatred, bigotry and violence and strongly condemned the neo-Nazis, the white supremacists and the KKK."

Trump dedicated about half an hour of his 78-minute speech to attacking the "sick people" in the news media, before turning his fire on his own side.

The speech was cheered raucously by supporters inside the conference center, though thousands of anti-Trump protesters, who had lined up under a blistering sun in Phoenix hours before Trump's arrival, later clashed with police outside the venue.

Police deployed tear gas to disperse them, according to AFP reporters at the scene.

Jonathan Howard, a spokesman for the city's police force, said that five arrests had been made and that protesters had thrown rocks, bottles and tear gas at police.

Shot across the bow

Speculation had been building that Trump would use the rally to formally endorse a challenger to Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, a moderate incumbent, in a shot across the bow of skeptical Republicans.

He mocked both Flake and fellow Arizona Republican Senator John McCain, implying that McCain had sabotaged Republican healthcare reforms, but elaborately avoided mentioning either by name.

Veering off script, Trump shied away from issuing a pardon for Joe Arpaio -- a former sheriff in Arizona who was convicted of wilfully violating a court order to stop targeting Hispanics in immigration roundups.

But he gave strong hints that he was preparing a future pardon, saying: "I think he's going to be just fine, okay? I won't do it tonight because I don't want to cause any controversy."

Trump voiced optimism over improvements in relations with North Korea following an escalation in aggressive rhetoric on both sides over Pyongyang's nuclear program.

"I respect the fact that he is starting to respect us. And maybe -- probably not, but maybe -- something positive can come about," Trump said of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, though the president repeated his opinion that he had not gone far enough in his condemnation of Kim.

Fitness questioned

The freewheeling speech left some critics dumbfounded, with former national intelligence director James Clapper questioning Trump's fitness to lead and his access to the country's nuclear codes.

"I really question his ability to be -- his fitness to be -- in this office, and I also am beginning to wonder about his motivation for it," he told CNN television early Wednesday, adding that he found parts of Trump's rhetoric "downright scary and disturbing."

"In a fit of pique he decides to do something about Kim Jong-Un, there's actually very little to stop him," Clapper said. "The whole system is built to ensure rapid response if necessary. So there's very little in the way of controls over exercising a nuclear option, which is pretty damn scary."

Trump's speech came at the end of a trip to Arizona that the White House hopes will re-energize core supporters who are cooling to his crisis-riddled presidency, and build momentum for a controversial border wall.

The president began his day in Yuma, touring a US Border Patrol operations base, where he met with border agents. He then traveled to Phoenix for the campaign-style rally in the evening, introduced to the crowd by Vice President Mike Pence.

His visit to the Republican state aimed to tout the benefits of a border fence with Mexico, turn up the heat on reluctant allies and demonstrate the president's determination to realize a central campaign pledge.

Trump had insisted that Mexico would pay for the wall, estimated to cost about $22 billion.

Having failed in that bid, he has turned to equally reticent Republicans in Congress to get US funding.

But with his plan running into political quicksand, Trump is trying to generate public pressure on reluctant lawmakers to support him.
"Some political or business circles seek to use the EU's funds while at the same time developing a system of social and fiscal dumping," Macron said in Bucharest.

Without reform, "this will lead to the dismantling of the European Union," he said.

"Public opinion in more developed countries with higher salaries will not accept the system in its current format," he warned.

Macron made the remarks alongside Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on the second leg of a three-day blitz through Austria, Romania and Bulgaria.

He is seeking to drum up support for revamping the rule at a European Union summit in Brussels on October 19-20.

The so-called Posted Workers Directive is under fire from wealthy EU nations.

The rule allows businesses to send workers from low-cost countries in central and eastern EU countries on short-term assignments to western Europe.

In doing so, firms do not have to make contributions to the host country's health and welfare systems -- something that critics call "social dumping."

Backed by Vienna and Berlin, Paris wants the job duration of detached employees to be limited to 12 months -- half the period proposed by the EU's executive Commission.

Macron is also demanding greater efforts to fight abuse of the directive, under which 286,000 people were employed in France in 2015.

The topic is pitting high-cost western EU members against their poorer neighbours in the former communist bloc, where most of the cheap labour comes from.

Eastern and central European governments say Macron's proposals go too far and will undercut their competitiveness.

However, there were signs of progress after discussions with the leaders of Slovakia and the Czech Republic in Salzburg on Wednesday.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico acknowledged that finding a solution would be "good news for the EU" but said any such pact should have the support of Budapest and Warsaw -- two staunch opponents of France's plan.

Romania's president on Thursday also underlined the "strong discontent" in his region over the issue.

The directive needs to be "improved," he said, but without "eliminating competition or the free market".
The regulation has come under fire from critics in rich nations, who say it amounts to "social dumping" in which payments to costly health and welfare systems are avoided.

Faced with faltering ratings at home, Macron seeks to drum up support for his plan to overhaul the rule during a diplomatic blitz through eastern and central Europe.

"The European directive on detached workers in its current format is a betrayal of the European spirit," Macron said in the Austrian city of Salzburg at the start of his tour.

He heads to Romania on Thursday and Bulgaria on Friday.

"The single market and the free movement of people weren't created to help countries promoting the lowest social rights. This is what stokes populism in our countries," he told reporters at a joint press conference with Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern.

"Austria and France are on the same wavelength," Macron added.

Both countries are among the EU's key recipients of so-called "posted workers" from central and eastern European nations.

The directive was launched in 1996 to help stimulate cross-border business activity.

But at the time the EU's membership comprised countries of broadly similar living standards.

Critics argue that the bloc's expansion in 2004 opened the system to abuse.

Firms in the former Communist countries of eastern and central Europe pay salaries that are far lower than in western Europe.

They thus start with a huge competitive advantage when bidding for work abroad in wealthy countries -- and do not contribute to the cost of maintaining the local social safety net.

Trend on the rise

Although the posted workers issue affects less than one percent of the EU's workforce, experts say the trend is on the rise.

Austria has seen the number of posted workers rise from around 106,000 in 2014 to 166,490 in 2016 in a workforce of four million, according to the Vienna-based research institute L&R Sozialforschung.

France meanwhile employed some 286,000 temporary workers in 2015 under the directive.

Backed by Vienna and Berlin, Paris now wants the job duration to be limited to 12 months, half the period proposed by the European Commission.

However, the so-called Visegrad Four group -- Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic -- say the proposal goes too far and tries to undercut their interests.

Along with Kern, Macron discussed the sensitive issue with the leaders of Slovakia and the Czech Republic in Salzburg on Wednesday afternoon, hoping to win their backing.

Notably absent from the French president's tour are meetings with the hard-right and conservative leaders of Hungary and Poland, with whom Macron has repeatedly clashed.

Poland is the country that benefits most from the Posted Workers Directive.

An estimated 500,000 of its nationals are employed by Polish companies in other EU members.

'Protective Europe'

Top officials in Brussels on Wednesday welcomed Macron's reform push.

The European Commission and its president, Jean-Claude Juncker, "have made the fight against social dumping one of their key priorities", said Alexander Winterstein, a spokesman for the EU's executive body.

Macron hopes to seal a reform deal at a summit on the EU directive in Brussels on October 19-20.

Ahead of the crucial meeting, he will host leaders from Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands later this month.

Franco-German unity is seen as a pre-requisite for an overhaul of the rule.

Paris and Berlin are "completely" in agreement, according to French diplomats.

Pierre Vimont, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Europe think tank, called changing the directive "a symbolic case" for Macron whose popularity ratings have plummeted since he took office in May.

"Macron needs to deliver for French public opinion," Vimont said.

The move is a crucial part of Macron's broader push to create a new "protective Europe" that helps shield citizens from the effects of cut-throat international competition.

The 39-year-old centrist is pushing for a new mechanism to screen non-EU investments, particularly from China, into strategic areas of the European economy, as well as tougher measures to block the dumping of cheap imports on the continent.
The regulation has come under fire from rich nations like France whose president has described it as a "betrayal of the European spirit".

Macron embarked Wednesday on a three-day diplomatic blitz through Austria, Romania and Bulgaria to drum up support for his ambitious plan to reform the directive at a summit in October.

So far he has faced staunch resistance from eastern and central European countries, but there were signs of a breakthrough after discussions with the leaders of Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic in Salzburg.

"We've firmly expressed our will to find a real compromise in October," Macron said on Wednesday evening at a joint press conference.

"Our talks mark a real step forward... and I'm glad about that."

Although the issue affects less than one percent of the EU's workforce, experts say the trend is on the rise.

The directive was launched in 1996 to help stimulate cross-border business, at a time when EU members broadly shared similar living standards.

But critics argue that the bloc's eastward expansion in 2004 has opened the system to abuse.

Firms in former Communist countries pay much lower salaries, giving them a huge competitive edge when bidding for work abroad. In addition, they don't have to pay into the host nation's social system.

'Stokes populism'

Austria and France are among the bloc's key recipients of temporary employees.

Backed by Vienna and Berlin, Paris now wants the duration of these job postings to be limited to 12 months, half the period proposed by the European Commission.

"The single market and the free movement of people weren't created to help countries promoting the lowest social rights. This is what stokes populism in our countries," Macron had said ahead of Wednesday's talks.

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico acknowledged that finding a solution would be "good news for the EU", but said any such pact should have support from Budapest and Warsaw, two fervent opponents of Macron's reform.

The hard-right leaders of Hungary and Poland were notably absent from Macron's meeting schedule, which will take him to Romania on Thursday and Bulgaria on Friday.

Budapest and Warsaw have repeatedly clashed with Paris over the proposed reform.

Poland is the country that benefits most from the Posted Workers Directive.

An estimated 500,000 of its nationals are employed by Polish companies in other EU members.

Top officials in Brussels however welcomed French efforts on Wednesday

The European Commission and its president, Jean-Claude Juncker,"have made the fight against social dumping one of their key priorities", said Alexander Winterstein, a spokesman for the EU's executive body.

Under pressure at home

Macron hopes to reach an agreement at a Brussels summit on the EU directive on October 19-20.

Ahead of that meeting, he will host leaders from Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands later this month.

Franco-German unity is seen as a pre-requisite for an overhaul of the rule.

Pierre Vimont, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Europe think tank, called changing the directive "a symbolic case" for Macron, whose popularity ratings have plummeted since he took office in May.

It is part of his broader election campaign promise to create a new "protective Europe" that helps shield citizens from the effects of cut-throat international competition.

The 39-year-old centrist is also pushing for a new mechanism to screen non-EU investments, particularly from China, into strategic areas of the European economy, as well as tougher measures to block the dumping of cheap imports on the continent.
Anne Gueguen, France's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, told reporters her government saw no need to change the 2006 Security Council resolution that sets the mission's current mandate, which expires at the end of August.

"We want to keep the mandate as such," she said, adding that "does mean there won't be any change in the resolution."

Guegen spoke before the start of close door UN Security Council consultations on whether to extend the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon for another year.

After the talks, Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzi said his government also saw no need to change the mandate for the force, a position he said was shared by many at the session.

"We think this mandate should be renewed in the present form," he said.

The 10,500-strong UNIFIL in Lebanon has been in southern Lebanon since 1978, when it was charged with confirming the withdrawal of Israeli forces from a demilitarized zone between the two countries.

After a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, the UN force's mandate was expanded to include keeping the peace and helping the Lebanese army reassert its authority in the aftermath of the conflict.

"We are for a reaffirmation of its mandate and the optimal effectiveness of its mission," the French diplomat said.

On August 7, US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said UNIFIL's mandate should be enhanced to prevent the spread of illegal weapons in southern Lebanon, which she blamed on Hezbollah and said threatened the region's stability.

"UNIFIL must increase its capacity and commitment to investigating and reporting these violations," she said.

France, which contributes 800 troops to UNIFIL, plans to submit a resolution extending the force's mandate for another year, Gueguen said.

"UNIFIL plays a decisive role to stabilize the south of Lebanon in a very difficult original context and it has demonstrated a stabilizing effect in the volatile, complex and troubled environment," she said.

In a letter to the Security Council on August 4, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he wanted to look at ways to improve UNIFIL's efforts "regarding the illegal presence of armed personnel, weapons or infrastructure inside its area of operations."
The protest was called after the city's main mosque was attacked with flares on Saturday by a handful of members from a far-right group, Hogar Social, who also unfurled a Spanish flag outside the building, according to images on Spanish TV.

Muslim groups have reported a jump in anti-Islamic hate incidents since the twin vehicle attacks in Barcelona and the nearby seaside resort of Cambrils that killed 15 people last week. Those attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group.

"It is very important for us to affirm our values as Muslims which are the same as those of all other human beings on this planet," said Nizar Liemlahi, director of the Dar Loughat Muslim cultural association, one of the co-organisers of the rally.

Only 0.1 percent of the world's Muslims commit attacks and these people "do not represent our values or our principles," added Liemlahi, a psychologist who moved to Spain from Morocco in 2010.

The protesters brandished banners with slogans such as "I am Muslim and I want to live in peace" and "We also are victims" as they gathered outside Granada city hall.

Mounir Benjelloun, head of the Spanish Federation of Islamic Religious Entities (FEERI), said the increase in anti-Islamic incidents since the attacks was "unbearable".

"Unfortunately, after what happened, there is an avalanche of cases. In my 25 years in Spain I have not seen anything like it."

Vandals have defaced mosques with racist graffiti and some people have posted videos on social media sites calling for the expulsion of all Muslims, he said.
Armoured personnel carriers full of soldiers and fighters of the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary coalition moved into Al-Nur district early in the morning as warplanes flew overhead, said an AFP photographer on the ground.

They encountered trucks parked across roads with earthen embankments aimed at stopping them, as well as sniper fire from rooftops and mortar shelling.

Six weeks after routing the jihadists from Iraq's second city Mosul, Iraqi forces launched an assault Sunday on Tal Afar, where an estimated 1,000 jihadists are holed up.

They retook three first districts of the city on Tuesday, but as with the gruelling nine-month campaign to recapture Mosul, their convoys face an onslaught of suicide and car bomb attacks.

On Wednesday, they "entered the neighbourhood of Al-Kifah North... and headed towards the centre of the city," said Ahmed al-Assadi, spokesman for the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary coalition fighting IS alongside the army and police.

"All the lines of IS defence outside the city have been broken and the troops are advancing from all directions towards the inner quarters of the city," he added.

As government forces advanced, troops said they discovered a network of underground tunnels used by the jihadists to launch attacks behind lines of already conquered territory, or to escape.

Leaflet drop

In a bid to counter these surprise attacks, the Iraqis dropped leaflets overnight calling on civilians to help by marking houses where the jihadists are located.

The International Organization for Migration said "thousands of civilians" had fled Tal Afar since the offensive began.

But around 30,000 civilians are trapped in the fighting, according to the United Nations.

Caught between the two sides, those still inside the city have been pounded by Iraqi and US-led coalition aircraft for weeks, as well as intense artillery fire since Sunday.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) fears they could be "used as human shields" and that "attempts to flee could result in executions and shootings," said the spokesman for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

The United Nations and aid agencies are working to establish shelters for the displaced.

Those who flee through desert areas face temperatures of up to 43 degrees Celsius (109 Fahrenheit), sometimes for periods of more than 10 hours, putting them at risk of dehydration, said Viren Falcao of the Danish Refugee Council.

Tal Afar was once a key supply hub for IS between Mosul -- which lies around 70 kilometres (45 miles) to the east -- and the Syrian border.

The Iraqi forces massed around Tal Afar on Tuesday before the jihadists responded with artillery fire.

Army, police and of the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary coalition later took "full control" of the Al-Kifah, Al-Nur and Al-Askari districts, the Hashed said

The Iraqi forces had encircled the city despite what Hashed spokesman Assadi called "intense" fighting. He said the battle for the city would probably last weeks, in contrast to the months-long battle for Mosul.

'On the run'

After meeting Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Baghdad on Tuesday, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said the jihadists were "on the run".

"Cities have been liberated, people freed from ISIS, from Daesh," Mattis said, using alternative names for IS.

The jihadists had not been able "to stand up to our team in combat, and they have not retaken one inch of ground that they lost," he said.

IS jihadists in June 2014 overran Tal Afar, a Shiite enclave in the predominantly Sunni province of Nineveh.

At the time, its population of around 200,000 was overwhelmingly Turkmen, one of Iraq's largest ethnic minorities.
Haftar's spokesman Colonel Ahmad al-Mesmari said "at least nine soldiers were beheaded... in addition to two civilians" when the jihadists attacked at dawn in the Al-Jufra region about 500 kilometres (300 miles) south of Tripoli.

IS claimed responsibility for the attack via its Amaq propaganda channel on the Telegram messaging app, saying its fighters had killed or wounded "21 members of Haftar's militia".

Jihadists, arms dealers and people traffickers have gained a foothold in the North African country as multiple authorities and dozens of militias vie for power.

Forces allied with the United Nations-backed Government of National Accord drove IS jihadists from their stronghold of Sirte on the Mediterranean coast in December.

The GNA underlined at the time that the battle against Islamist rebels was not over, as armed groups continue to hunt down IS members who fled Sirte as the city fell.

Analysts and military sources say the group remains active in Libya, particularly in the desert south where the GNA holds little sway.

Haftar, who backs a rival administration that refuses to recognise the GNA, controls much of the country's vast southern desert.

His self-proclaimed Libyan National Army in May seized Tamenhant base near the southern city of Sebha after driving out a pro-GNA militia.

The following month, it seized Al-Jufra, including a key military air base, from the Benghazi Defence Brigades, a coalition that includes Islamists driven out of Libya's second city by pro-Haftar forces.

That placed the strongman in control of all the major cities and military bases in southern Libya.

Also in July, Haftar announced the "total liberation" of Benghazi, three years after his forces launched a military operation to seize the city.

But clashes have continued in the city, a bastion of the 2011 uprising that later fell to jihadists.
The tremor that shook the island of Ischia on Monday, toppling houses and killing two women, has sparked much soul-searching in a country with a weakness for rule-breaking -- particularly when it comes to building or renovating houses.

Geologists insisted that the relatively minor 4.0-magnitude quake should not have killed anyone and the civil protection agency laid the blame on the "many structures built with shoddy and illegal materials" on the island.

Attempts by the council to tear down illegal constructions have sparked fury, with locals clashing with riot police.

The same battle is waged daily across Italy -- predominantly in the poorer south, the playground of Italy's mafias.

The mayor of Licata in Sicily was ousted this month by councillors infuriated by his campaign against illegal housing.

Italy's national statistic institute (ISTAT) warned last year of a "decisive rise in the level of illegality" in construction, involving nearly 20 new buildings in every 100. That number rose to 60 in every 100 in some regions in the south.

The scale "has no equal in other advanced economies," it said.

Worse, buildings allegedly restored under strict anti-seismic norms collapsed in quakes last year, including schools.

And while some buildings at risk due to poor-quality materials or unlicensed extensions are subject to demolition orders, only around 10 percent of them are carried out.

Corruption, incompetence

The worst offender is the Calabria region, followed by Sicily and the Basilicata in the instep of boot-shaped Italy.

But it is Campania -- encompassing Naples and Ischia island -- which is dubbed the "Russian Roulette of Italy" by experts because of its deadly mix of illegal houses, a high-density population and the active volcano Vesuvius.

There are over 4,500 schools, 259 hospitals and nearly 900,000 buildings in the highest-risk areas of the region.

"For at least the last 20 years the scientific community has been explaining the problem to the institutions, above all pushing for prevention measures," said Stefano Carlino, researcher at the national geographic institute in Naples.

"They are expensive of course, but also fundamental. Unfortunately the issue has not been given the attention it needs," he said.

Geologist Mario Tozzi warns Vesuvius is nothing compared to the activity seen at the nearby volcanic Phlegraean Fields over the last few years, including a rise in the ground-level of 25 centimetres (inches), tremors and ever-hotter gases.

"The Phlegraean Fields is a supervolcano made up of some 30 craters -- gaily occupied today by hippodromes and hospitals -- the eruption of which would spark the permanent exodus of half a million people," he said.

And how to forget Marsili, the undersea volcano south of Naples which is "70 kilometres (43.5 miles) long and 3,000 metres tall (10,000 feet), and just off the Calabrian coast", where an eruption could trigger a tsunami as well as devastate cities and towns.

As Italy marks the anniversary of a 2016 quake in central Italy that killed 299 people, Tozzi insisted it was not nature that buries children alive in rubble but "corruption, political incompetence and our incapability to learn from history".
Trump's remarks, at a rally in Phoenix, came hours after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said talks with the nuclear-armed North over its banned weapons programmes might be possible "in the near future".

The comments are a marked contrast to the rhetoric of recent weeks, when Trump spoke of raining "fire and fury" on the North, and come as tensions have eased after Kim pulled back from a plan to send a salvo of missiles towards the US Pacific territory of Guam.

But Washington also imposed new sanctions on Chinese and Russian firms suspected of doing business with the North.

Pyongyang, meanwhile, revealed significant technological advances in its missile programmes and ambitious plans to further improve its capabilities.

On a visit to the Chemical Material Institute of the Academy of Defence Science, Kim ordered stepped-up production of rocket engines and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) nosecones, state media reported.

At a campaign-style rally in Phoenix, Trump said his aggressive rhetoric was starting to bear fruit.

"Some people said it was too strong. It's not strong enough," he told thousands of supporters. "But Kim Jong-Un, I respect the fact that I believe he is starting to respect us. I respect that fact very much."

"And maybe, probably not, but maybe something positive can come about."

Earlier Tillerson acknowledged Pyongyang's recent "restraint" in not carrying out fresh nuclear or missile tests in response to tough new United Nations sanctions, the seventh set imposed on it.

"I am pleased to see that the regime in Pyongyang has certainly demonstrated some level of restraint that we've not seen in the past," Tillerson said at a rare press conference, adding that talks may be possible "in the near future".

US officials told AFP that Tillerson was not thanking Pyongyang, nor making any concession on Washington's determination to halt Kim's missile programme and negotiate the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

The Trump administration's rhetoric has been highly variable but Washington has said it would be open to dialogue if Pyongyang took steps to calm tensions.

In a commentary earlier this week, the North's official Korean Central News Agency described Trump as a "mad guy" who "frequently posts weird articles of his ego-driven thoughts in his twitter and spouts rubbish".

Carbon compound

Tensions between North Korea and the United States and its allies soared last month after Pyongyang tested two missiles that appeared to bring most of the US mainland within range.

The North says it needs nuclear weapons to protect itself against the US -- it regards current joint military exercises by Seoul and Washington as a rehearsal for an invasion.

It has made rapid technological strides under Kim, and released pictures Wednesday of a visit by him to the Chemical Material Institute of the Academy of Defence Science, which develops the North's missiles.

Analysts said the images revealed major advances and ambitions.

Kim, in a black suit, was shown next to a large brown tube that Joshua Pollack of the US Middlebury Institute of International Studies said on Twitter was a "wound fibre cylinder, evidently a large-diameter solid-rocket motor casing in the making".

Such casings are harder to manufacture than metal ones but are much lighter, enabling longer ranges and heavier payloads.

Other pictures included missile schematics and what appeared to be production processes.

"We have diagrams and names on two apparent new solid fuel multistage North Korean nuclear capable missiles," one of them an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile and the other a medium- or intermediate-range device, said independent missile and nuclear analyst George Herbert.

The official Korean Central News Agency said the nosecones and engine jets were made of "carbon/carbon compound material", and that Kim "instructed the institute to produce more solid-fuel rocket engines and rocket warhead tips".

Many of the elements on show were objectives rather than currently existing technology, analysts said, but even so, Jeffrey Lewis, of the armscontrolwonk.com website, noted: "It's all bad."

"If I understand North Korean propaganda, this is their way of telling us what we'll see in the air in the coming year."

jpegMpeg4-1280x720Trump has urged Beijing, North Korea's only major ally, to bring greater pressure to bear in reining in its neighbour's nuclear efforts, suggesting that the United States may offer concessions on trade in return.

On Tuesday the US Treasury slapped sanctions on 16 Chinese and Russian individuals and companies, accusing them of supporting North Korea's weapons programmes and attempting to evade US sanctions.
Officers carried out new raids Wednesday to root out a possible support network for the men, accused of ploughing vehicles into pedestrians on Barcelona's busy Las Ramblas boulevard last Thursday and a seaside promenade in the resort town of Cambrils just hours later, killing 15 including a young boy and wounding more than 120 people.

Barcelona's mayor, Ada Colau, and the head of the regional government Carles Puigdemont were due to participate in an interfaith ceremony Thursday in memory of the victims.

The international connections of the cell of mostly Moroccan nationals have also come under scrutiny as investigators retrace their movements to France and Belgium.

The scale of the assaults being prepared by the jihadist suspects emerged during a preliminary court hearing Tuesday, when Mohamed Houli Chemlal, 21, told the judge the group was planning "an attack on an even greater scale, targeting monuments" using bombs.

After Chemlal's chilling admission, Barcelona authorities said security was being boosted at key tourist sites including the iconic Sangrada Familia church as well as at major events.

'Nails, detonators, gas canisters'

At least 500 litres of acetone, large quantities of nails and detonators as well as gas canisters have been found at a house in the town of Alcanar south of Barcelona, court documents said.

They are ingredients of TATP -- the explosive of choice of the Islamic State group, which has claimed its "soldiers" carried out the attacks.

But an accidental blast at the bomb factory in Alcanar on August 16, the eve of the Barcelona van attack, forced the cell to alter its plans and turn to vehicles as killing machines.

Another false start

After losing their bombs and two cell members in the blast that was so powerful that "the mushroom cloud that was generated was visible several kilometres around", the jihadists put plan B into action.

They rented a van the next day, but again suffered a false start as it got into an accident not far from Cambrils.

A second van was used two hours later in the Barcelona rampage.

After a full day court hearing, Chemlal and another suspect, Driss Oukabir, 28, were Tuesday remanded in custody and charged with terror-related offences.

A third man, Mohamed Aallaa, 27, who owns the car used in the Cambrils attack, was granted conditional release as the judge deemed evidence against him weak.

The judge delayed a decision on the fourth suspect, Salh El Karib, whose shop allows people to make calls abroad and was among targets of police raids late Tuesday.

The men in court Tuesday were the only surviving suspected members of the terror cell, which Spanish police said they had dismantled after gunning down the last man at large and the Barcelona van driver, Younes Abouyaaqoub, on Monday.

'Imam wanted to blow himself up'

Chemlal was injured in the Alcanar explosion that killed an imam, Abdelbaki Es Satty, who is thought to have radicalised him and other young suspects. He said the imam had wanted to blow himself up.

jpegMpeg4-1280x720A Spanish judicial body said Wednesday the imam was due to be deported after serving four years in jail. But a court annulled the decision in March 2015, finding that he was showing efforts to integrate in Spain.

In the rubble of the Alcanar house, police found a sheet of paper slipped into a green-coloured book, which said: "A brief letter from the soldiers of the Islamic State on the territory of Al Andalous to the crusaders, the sinners, the unjust and the corrupters".

Al Andalous is the name of the territories in modern Spain ruled until 1492 by Muslims.

Meanwhile in Granada, southern Spain, 200 Muslims rallied in the streets on Wednesday to protest against a surge in anti-Islamic hate crimes following the attacks.

Audi in Paris, imam in Belgium

Focus is turning to the cell's links abroad.

Spanish press reported arrests in Morocco in relation to the case, but Rabat declined comment when contacted by AFP.

In Rotterdam, Dutch police were investigating possible terror links after Wednesday arresting a Spaniard driving a van containing gas canisters close to a rock concert which was abruptly cancelled over fears of an attack.

In Belgium, the mayor of the Vilvorde region told AFP that Satty spent time in the Brussels suburb of Machelen -- next to the city's airport -- between January and March 2016. He tried to get a job in a local mosque but was refused due to the violence of his sermons.

And French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said the Audi used in Cambrils had been detected speeding in the Paris region while making "a very rapid return trip" days before the Spanish attacks.
The Middle East and North Africa bore the brunt of last year's extremist violence, according to figures from the Global Terrorism Database maintained by the University of Maryland.

The report offers a different perspective after carnage in France, Britain and other European countries including Spain, where police are probing a terror cell behind attacks last week.

Western Europe suffered two percent of the attacks in 2016 -- 269 out of a total of 13,488 -- and fewer than one percent of victims: 238 out of 34,676 (0.7 percent).

In contrast, terror attacks killed 19,121 people in north Africa and the Middle East -- 55 percent of the total.

Iraq alone suffered nine of the 11 deadliest attacks in 2016, each carried out by the Islamic State group, the report said.

The deadliest attack was also in Iraq, where a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden truck outside a Baghdad shopping centre, killing at least 382 people.

So-called Islamic State was the deadliest group in 2016, its "core" operatives carrying out more than 1,400 atrocities that killed 11,700 people, including the attackers.

In South Asia, Pakistan was the worst-affected country, with more than 1,100 people killed, while in sub-Saharan Africa the attacks were concentrated mainly in Nigeria and Somalia.

While Western Europe accounted for only a small proportion of the total bloodshed, the study noted the spike in the use of vehicles as killing machines in attacks on the continent.

Last week's attacks in Catalonia used cars.

"Although this tactic is not unprecedented, there has been a marked increase in the frequency and lethality of these attacks," the report said.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - When the Davis Purdue Agricultural Center (DPAC) was established a hundred years ago, tractors with internal combustion engines were a very new technology - the way driverless cars are today. Most plowing and harvesting was done with implements pulled by livestock or people. The average yield per acre for Indiana grain crops was less than half of what it is today.

A lot of things have changed in the ensuing century but the DPAC mission has remained constant.

Were here, as we have always been, to do the research that helps farmers manage their crops and land for the best possible results, says Jeff Boyer, DPAC superintendent.

The land that would become DPAC was donated to Purdue in 1917 by Martha Davis in memory of her son, Herbert Davis. DPAC includes 523 tillable acres with a variety of soil types and 100 managed forest acres known as the Herbert Davis Forestry Farm.

In 1926, forestry professor Burr Prentice numbered, mapped, described, and tagged every tree on the property. Later generations of Purdue researchers have continued the work, making the Davis-Purdue Research Forest the oldest and largest mapped forest in North America. It has been designated as a Registered Natural Landmark.

In recent years, DPAC has been at the forefront of vital research into agricultural water use and drainage issues along with precision agriculture projects.

Centennial Field Day

The center will celebrate its rich tradition with a Centennial Field Day, Aug. 31. Participants will learn about key crop management issues from a number of Purdue Extension specialists and educators.

The agenda was designed to reflect the broad range of research we conduct at the center and through Purdue Extension, Boyer said.

Topics and presenters are:

Century of Corn and Soybean Plots: Bob Nielsen, Purdue Extension corn specialist and professor of agronomy, and Shaun Casteel, Purdue Extension soybean specialist and associate professor of agronomy.

Nitrogen Nutrient Management and Economic Optimum Rates, Original Crop Research Plot Field: Jim Camberato, Purdue Extension soil fertility specialist and professor of agronomy.

Herbicide and Weed Resistance Management: William Johnson and Bryan Young, Purdue Extension weed management specialists.

Davis Purdue Ag Center History: Fred Whitford, administrator of the Purdue Pesticide Programs, and Boyer.

Understanding Pollinators in Agriculture: Bee Aware: Justin Curley, Purdue Extension-Henry County director, and Christian Krupke, Purdue Extension entomology specialist.

Davis Purdue Ag Center Old-Growth Forest History and Management: Mike Jenkins and George Parker, Purdue forestry specialists; Brian MacGowan, Purdue Extension wildlife specialist; and Jonathan Ferris, Purdue Extension-Wayne County director.

A Century of Agricultural Technology Development: Boyer; Joel Wahlman and Alex Helms, Southeast Purdue Agricultural Center; Terry Stewart, professor of animal sciences; Dharmendra Saraswat, associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering.

The field day is free and a pork chop lunch will be served. Registration is required by Aug. 25.

Private applicator credits will be available for a $10 fee. Nutrient management, integrated pest management and crop management credits will also be available. There will also be free health screenings by St. Vincent Randolph Hospital. The event will be held rain or shine.

For more information or to sign up, contact the Purdue Extension-Randolph County office at 765-584-2271. The center is located at 6230 N. state Road 1, Farmland.

Writer: Darrin Pack, 765-494-8415, dpack@purdue.edu

Source: Jeff Boyer, 765-468-7022, jboyer@purdue.edu

Agricultural Communications: (765) 494-8415;

Shari Finnell, Manager/Media Relations and Public Information, sfinnell@purdue.edu

Agriculture News Page
Purdue students participated in EPICS  EWB Uganda Biogas Digester this summer. Purdue is reporting that the number of students studying abroad continues to increase. From fall 2016 through summer 2017, 2,409 undergraduate students studied abroad, compared with 2,201 last year. (Photo provided)

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  The number of Purdue University students studying abroad has increased four years in a row.

The increase continues due to the emphasis on global experience across various careers and Purdue Moves scholarships making that possible, said Brian Harley, associate dean of international programs and director of programs for study abroad. Last years increase led the university to being recognized as one of the nations top 25 universities for study abroad. Purdue, one of the top universities for international student enrollment, is very well known for offering American students a global experience, and encouraging more study abroad is key to that mission as we help prepare students for the global workforce.

From fall 2016 through summer 2017, some 2,409 undergraduate students studied abroad, compared with 2,201 in 2015-16, 1,964 students in 2014-15 and 1,666 students in 2013-14. From this past years graduating class, 1,643 out of 6,379, or 26 percent, of the undergraduates studied abroad. In 2013-14, the year during which the Purdue Moves study abroad initiative was announced, that number was 18 percent, which was 1,138 out of 6,275.

Purdue Moves is a range of initiatives designed to broaden Purdue's global impact and enhance educational opportunities for its students. The aspirational goal is for one-third of all undergraduate students to have participate in an international study, internship or research credit-bearing experience before graduation.

Purdue offers up to $1,000 for qualified undergraduate students who participate in a shorter-term, formalized credit-bearing study abroad program. For summer programs of at least six credits and six weeks, awards up to $2,000 are offered. Larger scholarships of up to $3,000 combined are available for qualified spring semester 2018 program participants.

In November 2016, the Institute of International Education ranked Purdue as 24th nationally in sending students to study abroad. It was the first time the university placed in the top 25.

The students who studied abroad this year studied in 58 countries and some of the most popular study programs included Ancient Greece, Baltic Discoveries through Culture and Music, and a student exchange with Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Purdue also offers programs that focus on industry partnerships and workplace visits. Some of those programs were the London and Sydney internship programs, as well as agriculture industry in Ireland, engineering projects in Uganda and an internship experience in India.

Information about study abroad opportunities or scholarships is available online. The deadline for application for spring semester study abroad programs is Sept. 15.

Writer: Amy Patterson Neubert, 765-494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu

Source: Brian Harley, bharley@purdue.edu
Septuagenarian owner Claudia Settimo reunited with her yorkshire terrier Participate Police Seize 'Savage' Yorkie in Kingston Vale



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Comment on this story on the Kingston Vale pensioner Claudia Settimo has been reunited with her much loved pet Alfie after the Metropolitan Police released him this Thursday (24 August). The Yorkshire Terrier had been seized by police from Kingston under the Dangerous Dogs Act on 18 August following a complaint by a courier that he had been bitten by Alfie on his stomach and behind the ear when delivering a parcel in June.



The victim, who is in his mid-thirties, went to a west London hospital and was treated for minor injuries. He reported the matter to police on 26 June.



Officers from Kingston borough interviewed Ms Settimo on Wednesday, 23 August. Alfie was assessed by officers from the Status Dog Unit who have approved his return and Ms. Settimo was required to sign an acceptable behaviour contract as a condition of the return of her dog.

August 24, 2017
MOLINE -- Hiland Toyota marks 50 years of business in the Quad Cities on Saturday.

Now with Derek Carr as president, Hiland Toyota, at 5500 45th Ave. Drive, Moline, began in East Moline after Toyota asked his father, Wendell, to sell their vehicles.

"(Toyota) went to all the dealerships asking anybody if they'd care to take them on, and I think everybody turned them down," Derek Carr said.

"My dad had this little lot up on 23rd Avenue with about six or seven different European and English cars that he was selling," he said. "And they came up there and asked him if he'd take it on."

Wendell and Barbra Carr opened Hiland Toyota in 1967. Derek Carr said he started working in the family business before his age hit double digits.

"I washed cars when I started out," he said. "I was a little kid. In fact I remember standing on a chair because I couldn't reach the centers of the hoods."

He said he cleaned cars until he turned 16 and got his driver's license. Then his dad moved him into sales. He became a manager in his mid-20's and, by the time he was 26 or 27, he was mostly in charge. Mr. Carr said his father watched over his work for about a year before mostly stepping away.

His children now are part of the business. Jette Carr, 23, works with rental cars and sales. Blaze Carr, 22, is a delivery specialist and who likely will start sales soon.

In 2007, Hiland Toyota left its location near SouthPark Mall for its current home.

"We just drove (the cars) off that lot, and we had a couple guys following us in vans," he said. "And we would pull them into slots out here in this lot, pile in the vans, go back, grab some more. We did this all day."

He said when they finished, only a third of the new 600-space lot was full.

"I looked at this place, and I'm like 'Oh my god. We built it too big. There's no way I could fill this lot up with cars,'" Mr. Carr said. "And lo and behold, about two or three months later, truckload after truckload after truckload just filled me plumb-full of cars.

"Every parking spot was full, and our sales just took off," he said.

His most memorable day, however, was at the former site when 65 new cars were sold. The closest they've come to that number since, he said, has been around 35-38.

He added they averaged 20 sales a day During the Cash for Clunkers program in 2009, when the government offered people $3,000 towards a new car if they traded in their old one.

"It lasted about three weeks and we ran out of cars, literally," he said. "People were driving from Rockford, Peoria, all around to buy a Toyota because their dealerships had already run out."

Hiland Toyota has won the President's Award from Toyota for the past 10 years, Mr. Carr said. He added he enjoys talking with customers about their experiences with a car or customer service.

"You're making someone happy with a vehicle they spent a lot of money on, and that just kind of makes it worth the while," he said.
MOLINE -- Mayor Stephanie Acri is excited by the opportunities for progress within the city.

Meeting with the DispatchArgus editorial board Wednesday morning, Mayor Acri talked about her 113th day in office, the Interstate 74 bridge and projects she hopes will move the city forward.

"Even though things are very good, I see all these opportunities for things to be even better," she said.

"I'm a little distracted by the I-74 bridge," she said. "We are fortunate that we've got a lot of development activity in the pipeline. But the smooth construction of the I-74 (bridge) is what I'm most energized about right now."

Mayor Acri said she spends a lot of time prioritizing and looking for ways to help people better understand what is happening in the city.

"I see a lot of opportunities to make things better," she said. "In Moline we are so fortunate; we really are lucky.

"We do have a lot of opportunities and a lot of interest in investing in the community.," Mayor Acri said. "It's a different environment than what some of our neighbors are dealing with."

She said she would like the city to improve its promotion and help for small businesses.

"We do pretty well interfacing with our big developers, but what about the other end of it where there is so much potential for growth? What can we do to better foster them?" she said. "The list goes on and on. I have to be disciplined in addressing the things that are going to make the biggest difference first.

"Entrepreneurs are tricky, because you can't make them do what they don't want to do," she said. "But you can create an environment that nourishes that kind of activity."

Mayor Acri also is anticipating the completion of The Q, the Quad-Cities multi-modal passenger rail station. Located just south of MetroLink's Centre Station, the site also includes a 95-room Westin Element Hotel and retail space.

It also will handle rail passengers between the Quad-Cities and Chicago. A start date for that service has yet to be set.

"The city has absolutely no influence over when that train comes," she said. "We don't have any money in it. We don't have any authority over it. It's all federal and state dollars. I think it's far enough through the process that it won't derail.

"Some people think the train isn't going to be helpful," Mayor Acri said. "They don't really want it; they don't care.

"I am hopeful it will have a big impact on the community and the feel of the community," she said.

She noted the Westin Element is scheduled to open by November.

"Its success is independent of the rail," Mayor Acri said. "We do have retail in the bottom of the hotel that would probably fill up faster if the train was here. But I don't think it will be an issue with it filling up. I'm not worried about that project not having the train there to support it."

She also said a redesigned city website should be rolled out early next year. Mayor Acri said residents have filed Freedom of Information request forms for information they couldn't easily locate on the site. The goal, she said, is to make it more user friendly.

"The information really is there, but most people don't have the patience to navigate a cumbersome system," she said.
ROCK ISLAND -- Colona native Dale Rigsby will perform 8-10 p.m. Friday at St. Louis radio station KDHX's Magnolia Cafe and the Stage."

It's a dream come true and a goal met, said Mr. Rigsby, now a Rock Island resident also known as Concreteslim or just Concrete. He said he plans to start Friday's show with "Blaze of Glory, a political song written this week about emotion.

The president is trying to cause troubles and I don't think it's good, he said.

After performing for decades, Mr. Rigsby, 60, said he changed his musical style years ago six years ago. He has played acoustic guitar for 35 years and said he has written 3,000 to 4,000 songs, some before he was playing instruments.

Mr. Rigsby served in the Army from 1975 to 1978, then went to Black Hawk College where he said he auditioned for the dean of music who encouraged him. He enrolled in music theory, although he couldn't read a note.

Very difficult, he said, adding his improv sessions with other music students were valuable. This was a key time, and helped with confidence and upgraded my skill level."

In 1985, he hitchhiked to Nashville. About 40 songs later, he thumbed his way home again, living on cheese crackers and cans of beans while sleeping under trees.

I had never been one without anything, and I thought I needed a little pain in my life, he said. When I got back it wasn't that hard. I could survive.

Four years later, he went to Tucson, Ariz., where he said he liked the audiences. He returned to the Quad Cities in 1999 when his mother became ill. He moved to the Los Angeles area in 2000, again returning to the area in 2008 because of his mother. She died nine years ago.

Mr. Rigsby said he once accompanied a newspaper reporter to an Arlo Guthrie concert in Indiana, getting on his bus for an interview. Ten 10 years later he was performing in Tucson as an opener for Mr. Guthrie when the stage canopy blew off. Mr. Rigsby kept playing, and Mr. Guthrie complimented his professionalism and invited him back on stage to do a song together.

He said that when he was in L.A., he heard music coming from a house down the street and met a saxophone player who worked with Red James and Michael Jackson. Mr. Rigsby said he achieved some notice -- but stopped playing music altogether after California.

I was done," he said. "I wasn't writing. I wasn't playing."

Then one day he decided to begin again but with a different sound, one he terms "upbeat" and "aggressive." He said he sat down in front of YouTube on his computer and found a drummer and a bass player.

All the sudden there was more to it," he said. "You could see things popping out."

A year and a half later, they were ready to perform under the name Concreteslim.

While pursuing his music, Mr. Rigsby had worked for hospitals and nursing homes; the name came from when he was director of environmental services for a hospital. One of his employees commented about his street smarts, saying he was "solid as a rock" before calling him "Concrete Slim."

I thought, 'Wow, what a perfect name for a blues band,' Mr. Rigsby said.

The group began as Concreteslim and the Sidewalks, then was Concreteslim and the Finishers. But Mr. Rigsby said he found life was easier when he went solo just as Concreteslim, or Concrete, without working through group decisions.

He's starting to pull out some of his old songs again, he said, but hasn't stopped writing. Songwriting, he said, has redemptive power.

The material I'm writing now is probably the best material I've written in my life," he said. "I think I'm at this point now when I understand pain.

Life can be pretty hard sometimes," Mr. Rigsby said. "I pick up my guitar and I got a feeling, and that feeling becomes a song. I find when I'm trying, I feel better about myself.

He started playing house concerts for John Taylor in Cambridge and did campaign events last year for Bernie Sanders, including a Berniepalooza in November. That led to other jobs and high rankings in ReverbNation, an online poll that he now has left.

He now has engagements around the region, including monthly gigs at the Geneseo Brewing Company at 102 S State St., Geneseo. He's made live recordings and created two CDs in six months, appearing on KWQC-TV's Paula Sands Live in June. And he said his music connections may lead to Las Vegas work next year.

He also bought his own recording studio this year, saying people in the business want a clean sound. He said bass player Tim Rockstroh has been particularly good in giving his music a chance.

He's my crutch, Mr. Rigsby said.

Tickets for the St. Louis show Friday are $10 in advance and $12 at the door. KDHX is close to the St. Louis University campus.

It's a dream come true and a goal met, he noted.
Id like to address the elephant in the room. That elephant being the Republican Party and their refusal to represent the majority of their constituents. Lets begin with stricter gun control (something that would help lessen the fears parents have when sending their children off to school), 53% of Americans favor this (Pew Research) yet the elephant in the room refuses to consider any such thing. Over 70% of Americans want stricter background checks yet again; the elephant in the room refuses to represent them. 61% of Americans say abortion should be legal. Again, the elephant in the room pushes laws that do the opposite. 74% of Americans do not want social security reduced in any way. But the elephant in the room pushes to do just the opposite, cut social security. 63% of Americans now prefer Medicare for all, but the elephant in the room fights it with all its might. 67% of Americans feel more needs to be done to reduce climate change, but not the elephant in the room. The elephant sides with the fossil fuel industry claiming its not a big concern. Given these few statistics (there are more like them) its obvious that the Republican Party is the party of minority rule, quite the opposite of what our founding fathers envisioned. The Republican Party has become a power cult, not a party that represents the majority of Americans. Remember this while you mark your ballot in this midterm election. Save Democracy! Vote Democratic!
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The Port of Virginia will purchase four new ship-to-shore cranes as part of the $320-million expansion of Virginia International Gateway (VIG).

The port said the Virginia Port Authority Board of Commissioners at its July meeting approved a spending package of $44.8 million that covers the cost of the cranes, parts, delivery from China and installation at VIG. The cranes are being built by Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co., Ltd (ZPMC) of Shanghai.

The cranes, which the port said will be the largest of their kind in the United States, will be able to handle the Ultra Large Container Vessels (ULCV) currently calling the port  and higher-volume ships of the future.

These cranes are the biggest of the big  the largest ZPMC has ever delivered to the U.S. said Virginia Port Authority Board Chairman John G. Milliken. What is unique about these cranes is their outreach, they will be able to reach across a vessel that is 26 containers wide, which is three-to-four containers wider than most cranes. We anticipated needing this capacity for the ships that will be coming to Virginia 10 years from now. When that day comes the Port of Virginia will be ready.

The port handled 234,230 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in July, an increase of 7.5% from the same month in 2016, and a record for July. For the year total TEU volumes are up 8.1%, including containers, up 8.5%; rail volumes, up 5.6%; truck volume, up 9%, and barge traffic, up 30%.

Both Norfolk Southern and CSX oproivide on-dock rail service.

The contract also includes the purchase of specialized cargo handling components for the cranes and an option on two additional ship-to-shore cranes for use at Norfolk International Terminals (NIT).

Delivery of the new cranes is scheduled for April, 2019. At that time the Port of Virginia will have 30 ship-to-shore cranes at work in Norfolk Harbor to service the biggest container ships transiting the Atlantic Ocean: VIG will have 12 cranes; NIT, 14, and Portsmouth Marine Terminal, six.

The crane purchase comes as part of VIGs $320-million project to expand the terminals berth, rail operation and stack yard and raise annual container throughput capacity to 1.2 million units.

The project is one of two large-scale expansions designed to increase the ports overall annual container capacity by 40%, or 1 million TEUs, by 2020.
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Twelve years after his catamaran ran up on a reef near Tahiti  a wreck that cost him his left leg and could have killed his family  a Rancho Santa Fe real estate investor set sail from San Diego Saturday, Aug. 19, on another long-distance adventure.

John Silverwood is headed to Hawaii by himself on what hes calling a voyage of redemption.

Its something I need to do, to prove to myself that I can, he said. I want to get that shipwreck off my back.

Silverwood, 65, departed from Harbor Island West Marina shortly after 11 a.m. on his 37-foot cutter, Espiritu Santo (Holy Spirit). A small crowd of well-wishers, including his wife, Jean, and two of their four children, was there to see him off. He expects it will take about three weeks to sail 2,300 miles to Oahu.

Its a trip filled with potential dangers  storms, other ships, equipment failures  and Silverwood said hes taken precautions to minimize them. He installed jack lines running from bow to stern that he can attach a safety harness to as he moves around the boat. He has a go bag stashed next to the life raft. There are backup batteries for the backup batteries.

He said its hard to imagine much worse befalling him than what happened in June 2005.

Sailing at night in the dark at the western end of French Polynesia, the familys 55-foot catamaran smashed into a partially submerged coral atoll called Manuae. What had been a grand, 18-month adventure  scuba diving in Aruba, horseback riding in the Galapagos, hiking in the Andes  quickly became a desperate fight for survival.

The Silverwoods  John, Jean and the children, Ben, then 16; Amelia, 14; Jack, 9; and Camille, 5  scrambled to get off the Emerald Jane as it was battered against the reef by waves. While John was up front, wrestling with the life raft, the 79-foot-tall mast fell and its spreaders sliced through his leg at the shin, nearly severing it.

The family spent 14 hours huddled on the reef, adjusting the tourniquets on Johns leg, trying to keep his shock and pain at bay and their own hopes up, until they were spotted by a French Navy plane. It had been summoned to the area by a signal from an emergency beacon on the boat.

Silverwood spent two weeks in a Tahitian hospital. Eventually his leg was amputated above the knee. He walks now with a prosthesis.

The familys saga has been the subject of newspaper and magazine articles, television docudramas and a book John and Jean Silverwood wrote called Black Wave, published in 2008. Now theres talk of a feature film.

In the years since the accident, Silverwood has continued to sail, but its been mostly short trips around San Diego and up the California coast. Five years ago, he tried to sail to Hawaii with his son Jack in the Pacific Cup race but had to turn around after about 800 miles because of illness.

Hes going this time by himself because he sees it as the only way to make a point. I was the captain of a shipwreck that almost killed my wife, my children, and me, he said. If I dont go solo, everyone thinks the handicapped guy just sat there while somebody else did all the work.

As someone who has sailed most of his life  Its in my blood, he said  hes looking forward to the peace and tranquility he finds in long days and nights on the water. And to the challenge. When you strip away all the distractions of modern life, he said, its just you and the boat and the wind, and its your responsibility to make it work.

If hes successful, hed like to be an inspiration to other amputees. Maybe theyll say, If that 65-year-old guy can do it, I need to get up and do something myself, he said.

Hes also hoping to raise money through the trip for GodSwell Sailing, a Christian-oriented nonprofit organization he started that takes people with disabilities and life-threatening illnesses out at sea as a form of therapy. The funds would be used to buy a larger boat, a catamaran.

As he and friends from his Bible-study group readied the boat Saturday morning, Silverwood said he knows bad things could happen again. Its a boat, right? Murphys Law. Murphy was probably a sailor. Mechanical problems had already pushed his departure back two days.

But he said he was ready, and he seemed eager to go.

His wife said he has her blessing. Its something he needs to do, she said. Im OK with it.

She climbed on board for last-minute photos and hugs with him. So did son Jack and daughter Camille.

Hes finally going to get it out of his system, Jack said.

The Rev. Willie Briscoe led a farewell prayer. Then the lines were untied and Silverwood was off. The plan was for him to sail up the coast to Oceanside and pull into the harbor there for a final check of everything on the boat. Then on to Hawaii.

A shipwreck like the one we had leaves a mark on everyone, Silverwood said. Why it is that I still love to sail, I dont know. But I do.

 John Wilkens is a writer for The San Diego Union-Tribune
This article is one of a series of stories about Michigans agricultural economy. It is made possible with funding from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Read more in the series here Where can you go to buy carrots and a cupcake and leave with a good dose of community? A Michigan farmers market, of course. A local farmers market is where many Michiganders and tourists are headed this summer, many open year-round, whether its a rural market with a handful of merchants peddling farm-fresh produce under simple pop-up tents or a permanent city structure with dozens of vendors and a broad variety of offerings.While a farmers market used to be a place to buy some quality local produce and flowers from the people who grow them, todays Michigan farmers markets are all that and more. And while fruits and vegetables might be what draw people in, its the experience that brings them back.At the Flint Farmers Market , a visitor might pick out produce and specialty products, ponder which vendor makes the best homemade cinnamon roll, smell handcrafted soaps, savor a full lunch, partake in a cooking demonstration or attend a meeting. At what is one of the largest indoor farmers markets in the United States, that customer might, unknowingly or not, be part of something bigger  injecting money into the local economy, helping revitalize Flints downtown, supporting longstanding or fledgling businesses, and creating a sense of place.Karianne Martus, market manager at Flint Farmers Market, says how people choose to use the market is evidence of its importance in the community. We have space in our market also thats community space, she says. In a one-year period, Martus says it hosted 504 indoor or outdoor events. Memorial services, quinceanera, weddings, community fundraising events. You name it, weve rented it.We feel honored that they chose the market for something thats so important in their lives, she says.The Flint Farmers Market houses two incubator kitchens for use by startup businesses until they can afford their own commercial kitchens. Right now we have between 15 and 20 incubator kitchen users, Martus says. Some are caterers, some are market vendors, and others are selling another product. A third kitchen is used for everything from public cooking demonstrations to Michigan State University Extension nutrition lessons.Three years ago the Flint market moved less than a mile to a new location that better suits its needs and thats more squarely seated in the red-brick-street downtown area. The expansion has seen twice as many people flocking to Flint from near and far. The last two years weve had over 500,000 visitors a year, Martus says. We never anticipated that it would be this huge.Martus sounds wistful as she describes a feature of the Flint Farmers Market that cant be measured. Theres so much love in here for each other and for the community, she says. Its a safe place for people. Theres like a little magical spirit or something. I dont know how to describe it. Were lucky we have it.I really think a lot of it is the vendors, Martus explains. Theyve been with us a long time, they know everybody in the community, they love people in the community. It would be unusual to walk down an aisle and not hear somebody saying I love you to someone. What kind of place can you work where thats the case?That friendly farmers market vibe may be difficult to describe  Martus says its sort of just something you just have to stand in the middle of the aisle and soak up  but something she contends is a crucial part of her community.Traveling nearly 200 miles to the northeast takes a visitor to an attractive spot between downtown Traverse City and the bay where the Sara Hardy Downtown Farmers Market entices customers with its own special appeal. The tent-based market, named after a local philanthropist, only accepts farm products that are 100 percent produced within seven adjoining counties, plus value-added agricultural items made from those products.Nick Viox of Downtown Traverse City exudes enthusiasm for the market he manages. I think the agriculture scene and agritourism have really grown in the region and I think our market has been a part of that.The most important thing that I think we do for community building is the food-assistance programs, Viox says. While some upscale farmers market offerings may appeal to higher-income consumers, he feels strongly that lower-income earners should also have access to fresh and local foods. We know that our region grows about 75 percent of the variety of Michigan products, so we want to make sure everybody has access to that at our market, he insists.A focus on getting fresh produce to those who need it most a common feature of Michigan farmers markets. The Sara Hardy market accepts five forms of food assistance. Markets commonly help low-income families access the Supplemental Nutrition Program (SNAP) with Double Up Food Bucks , Farmers Market Nutrition Program/WIC Project FRESH and Market FRESH. The Traverse City market also participates in Hoophouses for Health, an initiative that helps families purchase hoop house-grown produce through a voucher system.Im really passionate about our market, Viox says of the Sara Hardy Downtown Farmers Market. I think our farmers are some of the most passionate, creative and generally interested individuals that Ive ever met. They have so much passion for what theyre creating and it really shows. I encourage anybody to check out a market.Those in the Lansing area can check out a special Farmers Market at the Capitol hosted by the Michigan Farmers Market Association ( MIFMA ) on three Thursdays throughout the summer, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 27, Aug.24, and Sept. 21. Like the markets MIFMA represents, the Capitol markets feature Michigan products from fruit to flowers and prepared foods, along with a helping of community spirit. That spirit comes in the form of yoga classes and cooking demonstrations on the Capitols east lawn.The mission of the Farmers Markets at the Capitol, says MIFMA executive director Dru Montri, is to provide a thriving marketplace that showcases Michigan food and agricultural products in an effort to educate our state decision makers on the importance of supporting farmers, ag-based businesses, and farmers markets.Montri says the number of markets in the state has doubled over the last decade, from 150 when Michigan Farmers Market Association was formed in 2006 to more than 300 in 2016.The National Farmers Market Directory, maintained by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, pegs the precise number at 341 farmers markets in Michigan, making it the state with the third highest number of markets in the nation. That puts the Great Lakes State behind California and New York and slightly ahead of Ohio and Illinois.Aficionados pin the growing interest in farmers markets, in part, on consumers who want to connect more closely with their food. A sense of ownership in a farmers market and an interesting destination add to the interest. Farmers-market-friendly legislation has also played a role in the growth. The Michigan Cottage Food Law of 2010 allows residents to produce and sell low-risk foods that can be safely made in a home kitchen directly to customers, including through farmers markets. This has led to a boom in farmers market offerings such as breads and fruit jellies. In 2013, new legislation allowed small wineries the chance to apply for permits to offer wine tastings and sell wines at farmers markets. Now, Michigan craft distillers are seeking the same system to be able to sell local spirits at farmers markets.Whatever the mission of the farmers market, it is often a part of strengthening the local community, Montri says, and I think thats why so often you can feel that sense of community when youre in a farmers market setting.To find a farmers market near you, check this Michigan Farmers Market Association map . Those seeking to start or grow farmers markets will find help through Montris staff at MIFMA. Michigan State University Extension offers expertise through its Community Food Systems team, contact co-leader Julia Darnton.
It has gradually dawned on the Russian leadership that the legislation approved by the US Congress amounts not just to some more tightening of sanctions, but to the downgrading of Russias status on the international arena to that of a pariah state on par with Iran and North Korea. Until recently, Russian diplomacy had been making a big fuss around the denied access to two vast estates in New York and Maryland, and President Vladimir Putin made a point of raising it at the meetings with US President Donald Trump during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. The closure of a small US diplomatic dacha in Moscow announced last Friday was a rather weak counter to that measure enforced by the Obama administration last December, and it was certainly nowhere close to being an answer to the new devastating punishment (Svoboda.org, July 28). Putin is visibly angry about this cynical exploitation by the United States of its geopolitical advantages and perhaps also about his own miscalculations of Trumps intentions in advancing cooperation with Russia, so a much more forceful response is to be expectedbesides the dramatic reduction of the US embassy staff in Moscow (Moscow Echo, July 28).

There is no way for him to respond in kind, because Russia cannot afford any further deterioration of the investment climate. The only area that is exempt from US sanctions is cooperation in space programs, but Russian corporations are desperately dependent on its continuation (Kommersant, July 27). Propositions for dumping US obligations from Russian financial reserves would hardly make any impact on the strength of US currency, but could damage Russias financial system (Russian Council, July 27). The new US policy targets particularly the export of Russian corruption and the activities of oligarchs profitably connected with the Kremlin, and Moscow has no defense against such investigations (Navalny.com, July 28). The attempts to play on disagreements between the United States and the European Union could yield some dividends, but the conclusion about the hopelessness for Russia of confrontation in the economic sphere is beyond doubt (Gazeta.ru, July 26).

This means that foreign policy is going to be the main instrument for getting even with the United States, and Putin indeed considers himself a master of conflict manipulation (DW.com, July 26). One of the most dangerous crises develops in North Korea, but China has control over it, so the Russian defense ministry merely confirms that the missile tests pose no threat (RBC.ru, July 28). China is presently involved in a very tense standoff with India, but Moscow has no capacity for mediating in this test of ambitions (Nezavisimaya Gazeta, July 25). There may be some opportunities to influence the course of the civil war in Libya, but Russia has no capacity for a military intervention (Vzglyad, July 6). Violent unrest in Venezuela offers a chance for Putin to assert his stance against revolutions, but Caracas is too far out of his reach (Kommersant, July 28). Russia may make a demonstrative exit from the INF Treaty (1998), but the consequences could be extremely detrimental to its strategic interests (Profil, July 12). Russia has a position of power in the Arctic but it is difficult to find a way to extracting any political dividends from its military strength.

This leaves just two seats of violent conflict where Russia could move pro-actively against US and Western interests: Syria and Ukraine. The ceasefire in the southwestern corner of Syria negotiated by Trump and Putin in Hamburg is still holding despite not answering the interests of either the al-Assad regime, Iran or Israel (RBC.ru, July 24). Putin met last week with Iraqi Vice-President Nouri al-Maliki, who is a key conduit of Iranian influence, and sought to find new opportunities for Russian maneuvering (Gazeta.ru, July 25). He is, however, reluctant to be seen as Irans ally since that might endanger the deal on oil production cuts with Saudi Arabia and OPEC, which, as his ministers argue, is crucial for supporting the oil price on the level of $50 per barrel (Kremlin.ru, July 28). Syria is also the only place where military cooperation with the United States is still working, so undercutting it might be counterproductive (Nezavisimaya Gazeta, July 28).

As for Ukraine, Kurt Volker, the newly appointed US special envoy, was able to see clashes in the Donbas war zone last week, while Putin was blunt and irreconcilable in the telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (Kommersant, July 25). Three Russian divisions are ready to move into this theater and break through Ukrainian defenses around Mariupol or in the outskirts of Donetsk (RBC.ru, July 23). Large-scale Russian-Belorussian exercises, Zapad-2017, planned for September might be used as a camouflage for deploying more forces that could turn a tactical success into a strategic breakthrough (Nezavisimaya Gazeta, July 25).

Last Sunday, the largest ever naval parade was staged in St. Petersburg, featuring the largest nuclear submarine Dmitry Donskoy, which for the last 15 years has been used as a test platform (Rossiiskaya Gazeta, July 22). Chinese ships also arrived for this show after joint exercises with the Russian Baltic Fleet (Fontanka.ru, July 26). Putin basked in the role of Commander-in-Chief and reaffirmed Russias status as a great naval power. On the eve of this demonstration of might, which extended to Tartus, Syria, Putin signed a decree on the guidelines of naval policy, which prescribes the concentration of efforts on the task of ensuring for the Russian Navy the position of the second most capable in the world (Ezednevny Zhurnal, July 25).

Quite possibly, this celebration of Russias naval capabilities, which are in fact seriously over-stretched and shrinking, has helped Putin regain confidence after the fiasco with cultivating special ties with Trump. It is doubtful, nevertheless, whether Putin can move into the already belated election campaign with this failure on his hands and nothing to show for the humiliating sanctions except for costly and profitless entanglements. Residual pragmatism dictates to him the need to suppress the urge to hit back on the arrogant adversary, who refuses him due respect and treats him like a maverick and corrupt dictator. He is, however, so obviously full of himself that suppressing vindictiveness goes against the character of an almighty ruler, who is entitled to domestic adoration and external admiration.
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Yolanda Hadid says she considered suicide when the pain from her Lyme disease seemed too much to bear.

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The 53-year-old former "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star confessed in her memoir, "Believe Me: My Battle with the Invisibility of Lyme Disease," to a moment of despair during a vacation with then-husband David Foster in Florida.

"I take off my clothes and slip into the dark blue ocean, which is cool and comforting," Hadid recounted in the book, according to People.

"The waves gently wash over my naked body, and I can feel the current tugging at me," she wrote. "Tears pour out of my eyes, roll across my cheeks, and meld with the salt water as I try to still my mind to become one with the water's ebb and flow."

"God please just take me away in a wave. I can't live like this one more day. Please carry my body away. I just want to disappear," the star recalled.

"My next thought is a clear image of my three children. It shifts my consciousness immediately and that's the only thing that keeps me from letting myself drift and drown."

Hadid shares 22-year-old daughter Gigi Hadid, 20-year-old daughter Bella Hadid and 18-year-old son Anwar Hadid with first husband Mohamed Hadid.

She previously said in an interview with "The Dr. Oz Show" that her kids "kept [her] alive" after she was diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease in 2012.

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"They're the ones that kept me fighting and wanting to live," the star shared. "There were many days that I really didn't want to live anymore. But when you look at your children, it's not a choice anymore. You have to get through."

Hadid, who will release her memoir Sept. 12, moved to a farm on the East Coast this month. Bella shared a photo of Hadid smiling while watching the solar eclipse at her hew house Monday.

"Mama Yo on the farm ready for her new beginning! #cutest #EVER ECLIPSE," the model wrote.
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The student population can continue to prosper and grow because of programs such as football due to the incoming revenue. Students should reap maximum benefits by attending home football games.
'Vishal Sikka may have realised that he was in no position to deliver on the promise Infosys made to its shareholders.'

'Perhaps he was looking for an escape route and he quit under the cover of "continuous drumbeats of distractions",' says Sudhir Bisht.

You are the MD/CEO of an $8 billion enterprise.

You operate out of Palo Alto, California, thousands of air miles away from Bengaluru where your company's board of directors sits.

You have the freedom to pick any person, sack any person.

No questions are asked, no eyebrows are raised.

Your board supports you when you pay a mindboggling, outlandish severance package to an outgoing CFO.

Your board backs you to the hilt when an ageing activist-like co-founder questions you about your salary and on the bonuses that you may earn.

When you acquire a company for $200 million and when the co-founder questions the propriety of the deal, the board merely appoints legal firms to conduct a probe, but the full probe report is not made available to the co-founder.

With so much freedom of operation and so much backing from the board, what do you do?

You quit because you were distracted by the 'continuous drumbeats of distractions' by the co-founder who commands less than 4% share of the company that you head.

The above description sums up the chickening out of Vishal Sikka, PhD from Stanford University and ex-CTO, SAP SE.

Vishal Sikka was the CTO of SAP's crown jewel, a product called SAP HANA, before he was picked by Infosys to become its MD and CEO in June 2014.

Infosys had closed financial year (FY) 2013-2014 with a turnover of Rs 50,000 crores (or around $8.2 billion).

The newly appointed Dr Sikka and a committee set up by the Infosys board set an ambitious target of making Infosys a $20 billion company by March 2021.

A little over two years since Dr Sikka took over as MD and CEO, the company appears far away from that projected target of $20 billion.

The table below captures the essence of what I am saying.

Infosys' key results for 2 Financial Years BEFORE Vishal Sikka took over Infosys' key results for FY when Vishal Sikka took over Infosys' key results for 2 FYs AFTER Vishal Sikka took over FY 2012-2013 FY 2013-2014 FY 2014-2015 FY 2015-2016 FY 2016-2017 Revenue (in $ million) 7,398 8,249 8,711 9,501 10,208 Net income (in $ million) 1,725 1,751 2,013 2,052 2,140 Number of Employees 156,688 160,405 176,187 194,044 200,644 Number of Clients 798 890 950 1,092 1,162 Revenue per Employee 47,215 51,426 49,442 48,963 50,876

Data culled from https://www.infosys.com/investors/reports-filings/annual-report/annual/Documents/infosys-AR-17.pdf

From the table, it is evident that Infosys under Dr Vishal Sikka, the professional CEO who was hired by Infosys at an annual package that may be more than the lifetime salary of a mid-level Infosys employee, has been trotting when it was supposed to be cantering.

For Infosys to become a $20 billion company by March 2021, Infosys had to show a growth of 13.5% year-on-year (YoY) from April 2014 onwards.

Under Dr Sikka, Infosys showed a growth of about 5% for the FY ended March 2015.

In the next year, Infosys achieved a revenue growth rate of 9% and in the FY ending March 2017, Infosys growth was just a little over 7%.

If Infosys has to achieve its $20 billion revenue target by March 2021, it has to grow by at least 18.9% growth year-on-year over the 10.2 billion USD revenue it achieved in FY ending March 2016.

This appears to be a near impossible task.

Dr Sikka may have realised that he was in no position to deliver on the promise Infosys made to its shareholders.

Perhaps he was looking for an escape route and he quit under the cover of 'continuous drumbeats of distractions'.

Dr Sikka doesn't elaborate the source of these distractions.

N R Narayana Murthy, Infosys' co-founder, has been making a noise about Infosys not being run in line with the core values of the founders.

He protested against the bizarre compensation packages and fantastic severance pays of Infosys' CXO level executives.

Narayana Murthy also wants the full report of the independent investigation carried out by the two legal firms on the Panaya acquistion for $200 million.

Murthy is not someone to whom Vishal Sikka reported to. Murthy is not a member of the Infosys board and hence his protests should not have led to Sikka getting distracted to the extent of throwing in the towel.

Murthy, who had been exceedingly critical of the Infosys board and has raised questions on its corporate governance, has every right to criticise the company that he co-founded.

He was doing so as an activist shareholder who is no longer bound by the shackles of being a member of the board.

He is a free bird and even if he appears to be a free radical, his drumbeats should not have frightened Vishal Sikka out of his wits.

As long as Murthy is not itching to get back on the Infosys board and as long as he is not making a grand plan for the entry of his children on the Infosys board, he is well within his rights to keep criticising the company on matters of ethics, morality and corporate governance.

It is likely Dr Sikka quit Infosys as the realisation grew on him that he would not be able to achieve the targets that he set for himself for FY ending March 2021:

a. $20 billion revenue;

b. Operating margin of 30%;

c. Per employee revenue of $80,000 per employee.

The table proves that in terms of revenue per employee, Dr Sikka and his management team were able to make virtually no change.

The company had a per employee revenue of $51,426 in FY 2013-14 and in the last financial year it dropped down to under $50,876 per employee.

Dr Sikka's supporters may say that under his leadership, Infosys outperformed TCS and Wipro. But then the targets set by Dr Sikka for himself were not to outperform these competitors.

His targets were what now look impossible to achieve unless Infosys makes some big ticket acquisitions. The $20 billion dream appears too gigantic to be achieved by organic growth alone.

And if Dr Sikka did indeed quit because he was distracted by the 'drumbeats of distractions', then I have just two things to say.

Vishal Sikka is just CTO material, and not CEO material.

Dr Sikka may be a man of high IQ, but his EQ needs to be tested.

Sudhir Bisht, author and columnist, tweets @sudhir_bisht
The mergers will not involve any cash but only share swaps

The Cabinet on Wednesday approved a framework to speed up mergers of public sector banks, the first of which could take place by March.

The mergers will not involve any cash but only share swaps. The government also said there would be no job losses after any of the mergers. PSU bank unions had gone on a strike on Tuesday.

The decision lifted banking stocks, but bankers said the decision should not be forced on them. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley made it clear the process would be initiated by the boards of the banks.

An official said a number of banks were discussing merger possibilities among themselves.

The government is saying it will not force (mergers). They will leave it to the banks. If the players find it reasonable and profitable, they will work on it," said State Bank of India chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya.

Business Standard had reported in June that Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank could acquire smaller banks like Dena Bank, Vijaya Bank, UCO Bank, Union Bank of India and United Bank of India.

"You have a large number of banks in the public sector. The object is to create strong banks. Our experience of consolidation has been positive so far, Jaitley said at a media briefing after the Cabinet meeting.

He added the decision to merge would be solely based on commercial considerations.

The official said once banks had decided to merge and had worked out issues like share valuation and swap ratio, the exchanges would be notified.

Simultaneously, the Reserve Bank of India and the government would study and approve the proposal, the person said. The final approval will be given by the Cabinet.

The alternative mechanism, similar to structures put in place to approve disinvestment proposals, would be decided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and overseen by Jaitley, sources said.

After approval in principle from the RBI and the government, the banks would take steps to merge in accordance with the law and the requirements of the Securities and the Exchange Board of India, an official statement said.

The final scheme (of each merger) will be notified by the central government in consultation with the RBI, it added.

The mergers will take place under the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act.

The official said the law allowed mergers. Bids for financial and legal advisers will be issued by the banks. A strategy to revive public sector banks has pegged their recapitalisation by the government at Rs 70,000 crore (Rs 700 billion) by 2018-19.

The government has allocated Rs 25,000 crore each in 2015-16 and 2016-17 and proposes to infuse another Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) this year.

The official said mergers would reduce dependence on the exchequer for capitalisation.

Talks of bank mergers gathered momentum after five of State Bank of Indias associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank merged with the parent entity.

Consolidation among public sector banks is structurally positive as they will benefit from operational and functional synergies.

Mergers among similar banks can also result in effective implementation of non-performing asset resolution strategies, said Krishnan Sitaraman, senior director, CRISIL Ratings.

The gross NPAs of public sector banks rose from Rs 2,80,637 crore in June 2015 to Rs 5,60,841 crore a year later and to Rs 7,38,776 crore in June 2017.

The real picture about NPAs started emerging after an asset quality review of banks initiated by the Reserve Bank of India under then governor Raghuram Rajan.

Additional inputs by Abhijit Lele

Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters
Vishal Sikka who was made vice-chairman till his successor was appointed, also quit the board with immediate effect.

Infosys co-founders led by N R Narayana Murthy on Thursday had their way as they got their peer Nandan Nilekani appointed the chairman of the IT major in place of R Seshasayee, who quit under their pressure.

Nilekani, 62, who was chief executive officer of the company between 2002 and 2007 and is credited as the architect of the world's largest biometric ID card programme Aadhaar, will takeover as chairman of Infosys with immediate effect, the company said in acstatement.

Co-chairman Ravi Venkatesan has also resigned, althoughche would continue as an independent director.

Two othercindependent directors -- Jeffery S Lehman and John Etchemendyc-- also quit the Infosys board with immediate effect.

The resignations brought about a near-complete overhaul of the 9-member Infosys board, meeting key and persistent demands of the founders led by Murthy.

Infosys faced a leadership crisis after first non-founder chief executive Vishal Sikka abruptly quit on August 18, blaming founders for slander.

On the same day, the Board in an unusual move, made a scathing attack on Murthy, blaming his "misguided campaign" for Sikka's resignation.

Murthy and other former executives like ex-chief financial officer V Balakrishnan insisted that their concerns for past several months pertained to alleged lapses in corporate governance, including irregularities in the $200 million acquisition of Israeli firm Panaya.

A dozen institutional investors, including HDFC Asset Management, ICICI Prudential Asset Management and Birla SunLife Asset Management -- who together own roughly 10 per cent of Infosys shares -- also wrote to the Board seeking return of Nilekani, arguing that he enjoyed the confidence of clients, shareholders and employees.

In a late evening announcement, Infosys said its board of directors has "unanimously" approved Nilekani's appointment, terming him an "iconic leader."

Seshasayee, whose resignation along with those of other key executives including Sikka has been accepted by Board, said, "Nandan is an ideal leader for Infosys at this stage in company's development."

"His appointment will allow Infosys to focus on strategic changes it needs to make, in order to capitalise on the attractive opportunities in the years ahead," he said.

Sikka, who was on August 18 appointed executive vice chairman to oversee the transition and appointment of his successor, will be relieved immediately as the "transition has been expedited with the appointment of Nilekani," Infosys said.

Infosys said the executive vice chairman employment agreement with Sikka had not been executed and the Board decided to relieve him by paying the contractual 90 days' base pay in lieu of notice of $246,575, a variable pay of $205,572 and company-paid COBRA (employee benefits) for 90 days.

"All equity awards outstanding as on separation date to the extent such awards are unvested will terminate on the date of separation," the statement said.

Nilekani -- under whom Infosys had seen a 42 per cent CAGR in dollar revenue -- is seen as someone who the co-founders, led by Murthy, would listen to and one who can restore order in the embattled company.

He fought the last Lok Sabha election from Bengaluru on a Congress ticket and lost. Yet, he was made advisor by the Narendra Modi government to oversee the drive for a less-cash economy after demonetisation.

Considered an execution man, he was the one who rolled out India's biggest tech project, Aadhaar, under the previous United Progressive Alliance government.

Those who had been seeking ouster of the current management say Nilekani has the credibility and political capital to act as a conduit between the management and the founders.

The founders and their families holds about 12.75 per cent stake.

"I believe these changes will infuse further confidence to the stakeholders in executing the transition plan and in reinforcing the strategy for the future.

I am confident our employees and customers will join me in welcoming Nandan to the company," Seshasayee said.

Seshasayee, who had replaced eminent banker K V Kamath in June 2015 as Infosys chairman, has been the target of criticism by Murthy and others who were restrained in commenting on Sikka's performance since his appointment in August 2014.

Nilekani, who maintained a studied silence all through the leadership crisis period, said he was happy to return to Infosys, now in the role of non-executive chairman.

Nilekani said he looked forward to working with his colleagues on the Board and in executive management on the business opportunities before them in delivering benefits to clients, shareholders, employees and communities.

The new chairman said the Board will actively consider a broad based shareholder consultation process as a critical part of its overall engagement initiatives with all the stakeholders of the company.

U B Pravin Rao -- who was named interim CEO after Sikka's exit -- will continue in his current position till a permanent CEO and MD is identified.
A Chinese company named Shanghai AdUps has been sending massive data about phones and users to servers in China.

The recent directive of the government to smartphone companies, a majority of them from China, to share the security architecture they followed while making devices came after a few international reports cited instances of data theft by Chinese firms.

According to government sources, it became a matter of concern when a US-based security firm, Kryptowire, reported in November last year that a Chinese company named Shanghai AdUps has been sending massive data about phones and users to servers in China.

AdUps runs software updates and comes pre-installed in many devices sourced from China.

Although the report cited security flaws on a global level, given the presence of Chinese brands in India, the government took some time to analyse the impact and then decided to take action by seeking security details.

According to the report, AdUps was sending data including phone number, location data, content of text messages, contact lists, call history with full telephone numbers, unique device identifiers including IMEI numbers, applications installed and used etc.

The company also bypassed the Android permission model, executed remote commands with escalated privileges, and was able to remotely reprogram the devices.

On a global level, AdUps runs software updates for over 700 million devices but the government felt a majority of them may be in India.

Similarly, a security flaw in the UC Browser was first reported by the University of Toronto.

Now a government lab in Hyderabad is probing the Alibaba-owned firm for sending user details and location data to a remote server.

According to sources, UC Browser sends user and device identifiers such as IMSI (international mobile subscriber identity) and IMEI (international mobile equipment identity) numbers and location data to a remote server based in China.

However, UC Browser said it takes security and privacy very seriously and work hard to comply with local regulations of each region they operate in.

It is common practice for IT companies to place servers all around the globe to provide better service to its users.

We have strong measures in place to encrypt the data while we transmit it.

It is also standard industry practice to collect user information and data in necessary scenarios to provide users with localised services.

We take necessary authorisation from users to collect this data, the company said in a statement.

The government has already sent notices to about 30 smartphone companies to share details about security practices while making devices.

The companies have time till August 28 to send their comments.

Officials in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said India aims to strengthen and secure its cyberspace and digital infrastructure, more so in a scenario when most of the firms making smartphones in India have their servers abroad.

A majority of these firms are Chinese, which either sell directly or provide parts to Indian manufacturers.

There are original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), too, serving Indian firms.

Photograph: Edgar Su/Reuters
Co-founder Nilekani could take the role of non-executive chairman, becoming a bridge between the board and Murthy, reports Ayan Pramanik.

Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani is likely to return to the helm of Infosys, sources familiar with the developments said.

He could take the role of non-executive chairman, becoming a bridge between the board and Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy, who had suggested to Nilekani that he take on a role in Infosys, the sources said.

Nilekani, who quit Infosys as its chief executive officer in 2007 to head the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), had been maintaining his distance from Infosys, repeatedly stating he had no role to play at a company he built along with six other founders.

But he was involved in calling a truce after last weeks public spat between the board and Murthy following the resignation of CEO Vishal Sikka.

Ravi Venkatesan, co-chair of Infosys, had reached out to Nilekani for assistance in talks with Murthy, who on Wednesday evening put off till next week an analyst call planned to explain his stand, citing ill-health.

Several global and domestic institutional investors have told the Infosys board to bring back Nilekani to restore confidence of stakeholders in the company and also facilitate resolution of the contentious issues the company is facing.

According to the signatories of the letter that included Franklin Templeton, SBI, Life Insurance and HDFC Asset Management, Nilekani enjoys the confidence of customers, stakeholders and employees and his return to the board would instill credibility.

Emails sent to Nilekani and Murthy remained unanswered. Venkatesan and Infosys Chairman R Seshasayee did not respond to text messages.

The company does not have any further updates to share at this point of time. In case there are any developments we will inform the media in due course. We will not be making any comments on speculation and rumours, said an Infosys spokeperson.

If Nilekani returned, it would force Infosys to restructure its board with the possibility of both Seshasayee and Venkatesan exiting the company, the sources said.

V Balakrishnan, a former board member of Infosys and an associate of Murthy, also called for the return of Nilekani in a non-executive chairmans role.

Nandan is a global face and in turbulent times he is the best man to restore confidence among investors, he said.

Another person aware of the developments said, Nilekani is one person who can influence the board and Murthy. He is a practical person and familiar with the changing client demand. But he may not take up a full-time job.

Reports of Nilekanis return to Infosys were received well by investors, with the stock recovering 1.98 per cent to close at Rs 894.50.

Since Friday, when Sikka resigned and the subsequent public spat between Murthy and the Infosys board, the companys stock was battered down over 17 per cent with investors losing over Rs 30,000 crore.

Image: Nandan Nilekani. Photograph: Reuters.
'If the Opposition believes the BJP is out to undermine the principles on which the Constitution rests, they had better start behaving as though they believe in those principles,' says T N Ninan.

The problem with looking at issues in the country from a specific community's perspective (or from that of just one political formation) is that you miss the larger, more pervasive picture.

Only the willfully blind will seek to deny the truth in the former vice-president's assertion that Muslims feel insecure.

But, surely, the reason why the police go easy on cases of cow vigilantism is the same as why the police treat a case of attempted abduction of a young woman as one involving lesser crimes, and on that basis let a drunk young man from an influential family go home instead of being sent to the lock-up and subjected to a blood and urine test.

Both show that the police routinely look to their political bosses for a signal on what they should or should not do.

The issue is not Muslims, it is the functioning of the police.

Similarly, if the Central Bureau of Investigation or some other prosecuting arm of the State picks on politicians from the Opposition parties, or lets off politicians who happen to be in power, you miss the larger point if you define the problem as a particular government led by a particular political party misusing the State's coercive power.

The uncomfortable truth is that all political parties have done the same, at the Centre and in the states.

In this and the police matter, the problem is that the permanent executive has been compromised and suborned by the political executive.

That fact is neutral to the issue of which party is or has been in power.

The political violence in Malabar, with brutal killings of both Communists and activists of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh should not be treated like the counting of votes: Which side suffered more killings than the other.

The operative question is one of governance: Why has the Kerala government not stopped the killings?

A corollary is why it happens that West Bengal is the other state with a culture of political violence.

The RSS has often been accused of stoking communal flare-ups, but is violence deployed as a political tool by just one group?

No one should have the luxury of the position adopted by Lyndon B Johnson, who once declared: 'He may be a son-of-a-bitch, but he is our son-of-a-bitch!'

There is that other great divide, on the basis of secularism.

But people across the country can see that far too many people who swear in the name of secularism one day have crossed over to the non-secular side the next, or joined hands across the floor.

The only parties not to have done so are the Congress and the Communists, but the number of Congressmen now crossing over would suggest that, whether you like it or not, this is an issue with less and less traction.

And who would argue that the Muslims, for instance, have not been led by communal elements?

Sometimes the speck in the other's eye can look bigger than the beam in your own.

It is no different when it comes to the autonomy of the official broadcaster.

L K Advani as the minister of information and broadcasting in the Morarji Desai government set the ball rolling on autonomy, in response to the censorship of the Emergency.

Parliament passed the Bill when the V P Singh government (supported by the BJP) was in office.

Yet, today under the BJP dispensation the national broadcaster is pretty much the same kind of government mouthpiece as it was under Indira Gandhi.

This should remind one of the old saw that the difference between an honest man and a crook is merely a question of opportunity.

If that sounds cynical, blame the extent of hypocrisy in evidence.

If the Opposition parties believe that the BJP is out to undermine the principles on which the Constitution rests, and would like political contestation to be on that important question, they had better start behaving as though they believe in those principles.

IMAGE: Opposition MPs stall the functioning of the Lok Sabha, November 21, 2016.
'Transparency is us watching the government and not the government watching us.

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

Nikhil Dey was among the activists, apart from Aruna Roy, S Raju, K S Puttaswamy, Shanta Sinha and Kalyani Sen Menon, who challenged the validity of the Aadhaar scheme, saying it was violative of the right to privacy.

On Thursday, August 24, a nine-judge Supreme Court bench ruled in favour of the civil rights crusaders, stating that privacy was indeed a Fundamental Right.

Soon after the verdict was out Nikhil Dey spoke to Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf.

Your first reaction on the Supreme Court declaring that right to privacy is a Fundamental Right.

No one has seen the fine print of the judgment yet, but this is a welcome ruling.

I am in rural Rajasthan at the moment and have just come to know about the operative part of the verdict.

As soon as I get to know more, I can tell you more.

What compelled you to file a case over the Right to Privacy?

Why people want privacy is not the question to ask. I feel that just like people want food and water, they need privacy too. It is as simple as that.

And it was shocking to see when the government came in and said privacy was not a Fundamental Right.

The question now is, how they (the government) will look at the Aadhar issue which has been transferred to a five-judge bench.

There is a fear among many that India will become a surveillance State because of Aadhaar.

Aadhaar is totally a surveillance State.

Every single person can be tracked every moment without them having a choice.

First, it was if you want benefits (government subsidies), then you have to have Aadhaar, and then it came to income tax returns.

Obviously, this can lead to tracking of your every movement.

So this judgment should put a stop to that.

We all are RTI people and we believe in transparency.

Transparency is us watching the government and not the government watching us.

RTI is us watching every move of the government as to what they are doing with public money.

That is what is needed, but here the government is watching every move of every citizen regardless of anything else.

What about the benefits that Aadhaar gives poor people, like the direct transfer of subsidy money reaching their bank accounts?

On that we can have a long discussion and I can send you documents on it.

If there are whatever benefits, that can be made optional.

But now everything is mandatory.

If there are such great benefits of Aadhaar, then the people will take it themselves.

So what does the Supreme Court verdict mean for the common citizen?

I will have to go through the details of the judgment to answer that.

What happens to Aadhaar linking to our income tax returns?

I hope it will not be required and they cannot make it compulsory. I do hope so.

I also hope that they will stop these (private) companies from stealing our data (through Aadhaar).

Can we say after this judgment that we need not fear India turning into a police State in future?

I hope it doesn't.
A collection of oddball, amazing moments from the world!

A rare white moose is seen in Gunnarskog, Varmland, Sweden. Photograph: TT News Agency/Tommy Pedersen/Reuters

A portrait of actor Johnny Depp made of tobacco, by artist Abdelrahman al-Habrouk, burns in Alexanria, Egypt. Photograph: Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters

A participant from the Squadron of Flying Hussars operates a self-made flying machine during the Red Bull Flugtag Russia 2017 competition in Moscow, Russia. Photograph: Maxim Shemetov/Reuters

Participants react as they hold on to a greased pole during the "Panjat Pinang" competition for the celebration of Independence Day at Ancol Dreamland Park in Jakarta, Indonesia. Photograph: Beawiharta/Reuters

Wrestlers perform at an all female wrestling event in London, Britain. Photograph: Neil Hall/Reuters

A brown bear is seen in a shelter for bears in the village of Berezivka near Zhytomyr, Ukraine. Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters

Members of the worldwide fraternity of the omelette prepare a traditional giant omelette made with 10,000 eggs in Malmedy, Belgium. Photograph: Christopher Stern/Reuters

Dancers from 'Tutu', perform at St Margaret's Loch in their spoof Swan Lake costumes in Edinburgh, Scotland. Their Edinburgh Festival Fringe show is an invitation to those who love dance to experience familiar favourites, in an opportunity to explore some of the most famous and significant works in the repertoire from Swan Lake to Pina Bausch in a fun way with with a twist. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Burryman Andrew Taylor meets residents as he parades through the town encased in burrs in South Queensferry, Scotland. The parade takes place on the second Friday of August each year and although the exact meaning of this tradition has been lost through the years though it is thought to have begun in the Seventeenth century. The tradition is believed to bring good luck to the towns people if they give him whisky offered through a straw or a donation of money. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

A man performs a BMX bicycle trick as he jumps into East Lake in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Photograph: Stringer/Reuters
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday blamed the previous United Progressive Alliance government for bringing the biometric ID card programme Aadhaar without a law or safeguards, because of which individual privacy being a Fundamental Right had to be settled by the Supreme Court.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government, he said, while framing the law for use of the biometric identifier, ensured all safeguards and that 'privacy as a Fundamental Right is

respected'.

Welcoming the Supreme Court's ruling that individual privacy is a fundamental right as a 'positive development', he said the apex court has accepted the government's 'argument that privacy is a fundamental right, but it's not an absolute right'.

The ruling 'is positive because as the evolution of constitutional law goes on, there is always an effort to strengthen Fundamental Rights', he said.

Jaitley said the privacy matter went to the Supreme Court 'because the (previous) UPA government brought about Aadhaar without a law'.

"No safeguards were put by the UPA as to how data would be protected or the data could be used. So people challenged it saying, you are collecting the data and what will you do with it, which are the privacy clauses in it and therefore the challenge was there," he said.

When the BJP-led government last year brought the Aadhaar law, the finance minister said he was clear that 'it is too late for anybody to contend that privacy will not be a Fundamental Right'.

And so special provisions with regard to privacy and punishment in case of violations were put in.

Jaitley said he had while replying to the debate on the Aadhaar bill in Parliament on March 16, 2016 stated that the law with all safeguards is being framed 'to make sure and ensure that privacy as a Fundamental Right will be respected'.

Elaborating on the restrictions to privacy, Jaitley, an eminent lawyer, said in a room an individual would have absolute right of privacy.

"But if somebody says I will spend large amounts only of cash money and nobody has a right to find this out because I have a right to privacy, that will be subjected to restrictions which will be fair, just and reasonable," he noted.

Stating that restrictions will have to be just, fair and reasonable, he said the Supreme Court has also stated that restrictions can be for national security, crime detection or dissipation of social welfare benefits.

Jaitley said the restrictions would depend on 'case to case' but those will have to meet the test of being fair, just and reasonable.

"And, I am sure Aadhaar legislation restrictions are fair, just and reasonable and government is only interested in those fair, just and reasonable restrictions which further the object of dissipation of social welfare benefits so that they are not cornered by undeserving people and only go to deserving. To that extent I think it is a positive development," he added.

Welcoming the Supreme Court verdict, Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the right to privacy should be subject to 'reasonable restrictions'.

Prasad said much before the nine-judge bench was constituted in the apex court to decide on the issue of privacy, the Modi government had told Parliament that privacy is a Fundamental Right.

"We welcome the Supreme Court judgment that privacy should be a fundamental right... The government has been consistently of the view, particularly with regard to Aadhaar, that right to privacy should be a fundamental right and it should be subject to reasonable restrictions," he told a press conference convened to respond to the landmark apex court verdict.

Prasad also quoted Jaitley's statement in Rajya Sabha in March last year where he said that privacy as a right is subject to restrictions.

The law and IT minister said even right to expression is fundamental. But no one is allowed to protest before Rashtrapati Bhawan without clothes. Even freedom of speech cannot cross the threshold set by the defamation law.

Responding to a series of questions on Aadhaar and the data linked to it, he said only a limited set of information is in public domain, the encrypted data, including biometrics is 'completely safe and secure'.

He claimed the previous UPA government had introduced Aadhaar scheme without any legislative support.

'It was in that context that the question of the UPA's Aadhaar scheme was challenged before the judiciary. The NDA government ensured that necessary legislation was approved by Parliament. Adequate safeguards were also introduced,' a statement issued by the law ministry later said.

Prasad skirted questions on reference to sexual orientation of people, need to maintain secrecy and the proposed surrogacy law which bars same sex parents and trans-genders from going for surrogacy.

He said the issues could be discussed later as the focus today was Aadhaar.

Asked why the then Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had told the apex court that citizens don't have absolute right on their body if the government believes that right to privacy is a fundamental right, Prasad said the government and the court are on the same page on the issue.

What the A-G said was part of courtroom banter which has not been reflected in the judgment.

Congress engaging in a 'false show of jubilation': Shah

Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah said the Congress was engaging in a 'false show of jubilation and vindication' over the Supreme Court's judgment, and insisted the verdict was in line with the Modi government's vision and actions.

Referring to 'mischievous propaganda', an apparent reference to the Congress' stand that the verdict was a blow to the government, Shah said it needed to be busted as he welcomed the order, saying it strengthened Fundamental Rights and personal liberty of individuals.

'Those waxing eloquent today on privacy architecture are the ones who have ensured India does not have a robust privacy law for decades. Those commenting on Aadhaar are the same people who did not provide it a legal backing for years!' he wrote in a blog.

Attacking the Congress, Shah also referred to the part of the judgment that overruled the 1976 ADM Jabalpur case verdict of the apex court in which it had defended the then Indira Gandhi government's decision to curtail citizens' right to approach courts to challenge detentions.

These words should ring a bell to the Congress, Shah said.

Taking a swipe at a bevy of top lawyer-politicians in the Congress, he said the party's in-house eminent lawyers should brief their high command on this.

These words hold a mirror to the Congress at a time when it was engaging in a false show of jubilation and vindication, he said.

It is strange that those who snatched away the right to life and right to liberty of millions of Indians by imposing Emergency were standing today as guardians of our fundamental rights based on 'misinterpretation' of the judgment, the BJP chief said.

'It is equally strange that those who brought Section 66A and championed censoring on the Internet are speaking of liberties and rights,' he said.

Quoting the judgement, he said, it has held that right to privacy was not absolute and subject to various restrictions, a point also in consonance with the government's stand.

He also quoted Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's speech in Parliament in which he had said while piloting a bill that "I do accept that probably privacy is a fundamental right".

'Todays judgment is a welcome judgement as it strengths fundamental rights and personal liberty. Our government is committed to ensuring equitable social delivery, particularly to the poor in consonance with todays judgment by Honble Supreme Court,' he said.

The BJP, he said, fully respected the right to privacy and expressed confidence that the government will lay down a robust privacy architecture after the Srikrishna committee, which has been formed by the government to propose a data protection bill, submits its recommendations.

IMAGE: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi on Thursday. Photograph: Shahbaz Khan/PTI Photo
The Congress on Thursday hailed the Supreme Court verdict declaring privacy a Fundamental Right as a 'landmark judgment' and said it was a blow to 'fascist forces' and the 'unbridled encroachment and surveillance' by the State in the common man's life.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi said the verdict on Thursday heralded a new era for individual rights and human dignity, while party vice president Rahul Gandhi said it was a rejection of the Bharatiya Janata Party's ideology of 'suppression through surveillance'.

At the party's media briefing in New Delhi, senior spokesperson P Chidambaram said the judges' unanimous verdict was a setback to the Centre which said in court that there could be no fundamental right to privacy.

Welcoming the judgment, the Congress president said the party and its governments, along with the rest of the Opposition, stood together in court and in Parliament in speaking out for the right and against what she called the 'arrogant attempts' of the Centre to curtail it.

'The Supreme Court judgement... heralds a new era for individual rights, personal liberty and human dignity. It strikes a blow on the unbridled encroachment and surveillance by the state and its agencies in the life of the common man,' she said in a statement.

Rahul said the judgment was a 'victory for every Indian'.

'Welcome the SC verdict upholding right to privacy as an intrinsic part of individual's liberty, freedom and dignity. The SC decision marks a major blow to fascist forces,' he said on Twitter.

It was a 'sound rejection' of the BJP's ideology of 'suppression through surveillance', he said.

Chidambaram believed the verdict would rank 'among the most important judgments delivered by the Supreme Court since the advent of the Constitution of India'.

"Privacy is at the core of personal liberty. In fact, privacy is an inalienable part of life itself. By virtue of the judgement, Article 21 has acquired new magnificence," he told reporters.

The former finance minister criticised the government's approach in its interpretation of Aadhaar under Article 21 -- on the protection of life and personal liberty -- and alleged its stand was 'inconsistent'.

He also said Aadhaar was conceived as an 'administrative tool' to ensure that the benefits of welfare schemes reached the targeted people and there were no leakages and falsification.

"But Aadhaar can't become a beyond-all, end-all of all administrative issues," he said.

The fault, he added, was not with the concept, but with the BJP government's 'use and misuse' of Aadhaar as a tool.

He said the government's approach to Aadhaar was 'totally inconsistent' with the previous United Progressive Alliance government's position, which was why challenges had risen.

Chidambaram said privacy was a fundamental right and 'the freedom that was won in 1947 has been enriched and enlarged'.

He said the Congress took pride in the Supreme Court's judgment that privacy was a fundamental right and not dependent on government benevolence.

"Today, we can once again celebrate our freedom. Tomorrow, there will be other challenges, other questions, and other attempts to invade the right to privacy. We shall overcome those challenges too," he said.

Aadhaar, as conceived by UPA, posed no challenge to the right to privacy, he stressed.

"It is the Modi government's implementation that does."

Chidambaram said there was nothing wrong in distributing Aadhaar cards or in asking citizens to apply for such cards.

Asked whether the verdict would have an effect on issues such as Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalises homosexuality, he said the section was rightly struck down by the Delhi high court but (the order) was reversed by the Supreme Court.

"In the light of this judgment, it should be possible to ask the Supreme Court to take a second look at that judgment. I think many questions will arise now. There are issues about data protection, dangers of data colonisation, and the nature of data transfer," he said.

Congress's media department in-charge Randeep Surjewala said the Supreme Court had stopped the BJP government, which 'tried to turn India into a police state', in its tracks.

He described the verdict as the 'dawn of a new freedom' and a 'decisive defeat' for the BJP government.

It was a blow to 'the creeping advances of those who want to convert India into a fascist police state', he said, adding that the 'conspiracy has been nipped in the bud'.

He called it a 'great victory' for liberty and freedom.

"The Court rejects Modi government's attempt to whittle down the right to privacy as a fundamental right," he said.

Former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar said the Court had vindicated 'constitutional conscience' and validated yet again its role as 'the guardian of our constitutional rights'.

"The right to privacy has finally been recognised as part of mans 'inviolate personality' and as a right that is inherent and inalienable to human personality," Kumar said.

Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal said the government was 'ill-advised' in opposing the demand to declare right to privacy as a Fundamental Right in the Supreme Court.

Sibal, who as a senior advocate appeared for non-BJP ruled states in opposing the government's stand in the apex court, said 'this failure of the government reflects its narrow-mindedness on issues relating to individual freedom'.

"Individual house, marriages, sexual orientation, right to space, right to move freely, right to eat what an individual likes, right to be left alone are protected both within the home and at public places to the extent necessary," Sibal said.

While dubbing judgment as 'historic', 'progressive' and 'seminal', the senior Congress leader, who was also a law minister during the previous United Progressive Alliance regime, said 'the right to privacy protects individuals' inalienable right to protection'.

He stressed that the right to privacy is seeded in several articles of Part III of the Constitution and cautioned the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre that it should not in anyway compromise with the privacy of citizens in implementation of the Aadhaar scheme.

"Apart from this, data relating to the individual also needs protection and it is the legitimate expectation of individuals parting with their data to secure that protection. The state needs to frame data protection law to ensure legitimate expectation of individuals," he said.

He said the Constitution recognises that law cannot be static and communication revolution and advances in technology required court to look at privacy and recognise its importance in modern world.

"(The) government of India was ill-advised to oppose this right to privacy for the reasons that today more than anytime in the past, the individual's privacy need to be protected but no right is absolute," Sibal said.

He said, "To pass the test of privacy, any law framed must be constitutionally valid. It must be need-based and it must be proportionate to the abridgement sought to the right to privacy consistent with actual need."

'Ruling should protect misuse of private data'

Welcoming the judgment, the Communist Party of India-Marxist expressed hope that it would protect the misuse of private data in a world 'dominated by corporates'.

'The Politburo welcomes the Supreme Court verdict...this landmark judgment should pave the way to protect, in this world of technology advance dominated by corporates, misuse of private data and infringing upon the privacy of individuals,' the Left party said in a statement.
Disclaimer

This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
. 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.

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Body cameras for the Mooresville Police Department have arrived. Find out when they will be used.
Cambodias Ministry of Information on Thursday rejected suggestions that it is targeting Radio Free Asia and Voice of America following its decision to suspend the operations of several independent radio stations that relayed news content from the two U.S. media outlets deemed critical of the government.



On Wednesday, the ministry ordered radio stations Womens Media Center of Cambodia (WMC) and Moha Nokorboth of which leased airtime to RFA and VOAto suspend operations for violating terms of their license agreements.



WMC 102FM was told it had violated its 2006 agreement by airing news from RFA and VOA for more than 30 minutes each, prompting the station to end relays of the broadcasts, while Moha Nokor 93.5FMwhich also aired programs by the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP)was ordered to terminate its operations for airing outside programs without requesting authorization.



Speaking at a press conference in the capital Phnom Penh on Thursday, Information Minister Khieu Kanharith told reporters that the ministrys decision to suspend the two radio stations had nothing to do with the U.S. media outlets.



Dont twist my words, the Ministry of Information has not shut RFA and VOAI want to be clear on this point, he said.



There have been some rumors that the ministry will block these two broadcasters [from establishing radio stations in Cambodia]. I am waiting to hear their proposals so that I can decide whether they can do so.



In the meantime, he said, RFA and VOA are free to lease air time from another radio station.



Khieu Kanharith emphasized that the decision against WMC and Moha Nokor was not politically motivated and purely based on law, adding that any other radio stations that violate their agreements with the ministry will also face legal action.



Several other local radio stations in various provinces that lease airtime to VOA and RFA have also reported receiving warnings of violating their agreements with the ministry.



Kampong Cham radio headquarters in Kampong Cham province, Aug. 24, 2017. Credit: Kampong Cham radio Kampong Cham radio



Also on Thursday, the Ministry of Information closed radio station Kampong Cham 99.7FMwhich relays programs by RFA, VOA, and online Cambodian news site Voice of Democracyciting its violation of the ministrys announcement regarding business matters.



Kampong Cham radio owner Than Sorith told RFAs Khmer Service he was saddened by the decision and suggested the move was political, rather than legal, in nature.



This measure will only affect listeners and radio staffers, he said.



The move prompted villagers in Kampong Cham province, where the stations signal was most accessible, to demand that the government reopen the station, saying it provided essential education for the public on social, political, legal, agricultural, and human rights issues through its relay programming.



One resident, who spoke to RFAs Khmer Service on condition of anonymity, said that closing Kampong Cham radio would negatively affect people living in rural areas who lack access to the internet, and called the move part of the governments strategy to put further pressure on freedom.



Kampong Cham radio was also accessible in remote areas including within Tboung Khmum and Kampong Thom provinces.



Neang Sovath, a staffer with local rights group ADHOC who was regularly invited to Kampong Cham radio as a guest speaker, said the closure would negatively impact the knowledge of the people.



Larger crackdown



The attack on radio stations comes amid a larger crackdown prompted by Prime Minister Hun Sens recommendation at an Aug. 5 cabinet meeting that government agencies investigate alleged back taxes owed by media outlets and civil society organizations.



On Tuesday, Hun Sen vowed to shut down English-language newspaper the Cambodia Daily if it does not pay U.S. $6.3 million in back taxes and interest, prompting the papers owner to call for an investigation into the charges. Kong Vibol, director of the ministrys General Department of Taxation, noted over the weekend that the paper was fast approaching a Sept. 4 deadline to pay the debt or face foreclosure.



Observers say the crackdown highlights concerns over the countrys political atmosphere and the narrowing of freedom of expression in the lead up to general elections set for July next year.



Reported by Sereyvuth Oung and Sokheng Saut for RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Sarada Taing. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
One of five Chinese feminists detained ahead of International Women's Day 2015 as they planned a public campaign against sexual harassment has been denied a permit to study in Hong Kong just one week before she is due to start a master's degree in the city.



Wu Rongrong's application for the necessary travel document has been delayed by the mainland Chinese authorities because she had previously been "a target of investigation by Beijing authorities," she told RFA.



Wu and fellow detainees Li Tingting, Wei Tingting, Wang Man, and Zheng Churan were released "on bail" in 2015 after being detained for several weeks on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble."



Their detentions prompted an international outcry, as they had been planning a low-level campaign against the sexual harassment of women on public transport.



They were never charged with any crime, and Wu said she shouldn't have to face further restrictions.



"This was such a long time ago that there is no need for them to restrict me any longer," Wu said. "None of the four other feminists has been prevented from leaving the country, so I am very angry about this."



"I think the authorities are acting in a bizarre manner."



Wu said she hasn't even tried to return to her previous activism in a non-government organization since being released.



"There is no need for them to treat me this way," she said.



Wu said she had been informed of the decision with just one week left until the start of the fall semester.



Life endangered in jail

She will be unable to take up the place without the necessary immigration documents.



"The rules say that you should be able to get a permit in a week to 10 days, so I have asked the University of Hong Kong if I can register for study a week late," she said.



"I hope the authorities will process my application according to the rules."



Wu, who has been diagnosed with Hepatitis B, and who spent some of her detention in a police hospital, told RFA that her life was put in danger by her lack of access to needed medication while she was in detention.



Fellow women's rights activist Ye Haiyan said she has been under a travel ban since 2014, despite having previously traveled to a number of countries to pursue her activism.



She said Wu's attempt to keep a low profile since her release will have made little difference to the authorities' treatment of her, however.



"This has nothing to do with whether she has kept a low profile or not," Ye told RFA. "It's about what the local authorities have been ordered to do, and people like us can do nothing about that."



"Whenever there's a political movement of any kind, then the authorities have to do as they're told, and we have to cooperate with another round of oppression from them," she said.



"The situation is getting tougher and tougher these days, possibly because of the 19th Party Congress, and we are in a passive role," she said.



Meanwhile, a woman in the southern province of Guangdong who last year won a sex discrimination lawsuit against a restaurant chain, is now pursuing a lawsuit against the human resources department of her local government for failing to enforce laws against gender discrimination in job recruitment.



"These are national laws we have [against gender discrimination], and the human resources bureau isn't enforcing them," would-be trainee chef Gao Xiao's lawyer Chang Weiping told RFA.



'No women in the kitchen'

The Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court found in favor of Gao's discrimination lawsuit on appeal last September, ordering the Guangdong Huishijia Economic Development Co. to pay a fine of 2,000 yuan and issue a public apology in a newspaper.



But the company failed to comply, so the court printed part of a compulsory enforcement notice in 's Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper, ordering the company to make its apology, and to pay the cost of publication of the notice.



Gao, 29, had initially applied for 48,000 yuan in compensation, arguing that her failure to even be invited for interview as a trainee chef in 2014 was evidence of gender discrimination on the part of the company.



The company had told her the job was filled, before re-advertising it for "male applicants only,"



Gao filed her initial lawsuit with Guangzhou's Haizhu District People's Court in , after being rejected as an apprentice chef by the Haoxuan Hotel kitchen, which operates a "no women in the kitchen" policy, she told RFA.



The ruling Chinese Communist Party has promoted gender equality, at least in theory, since it came to power in 1949.



But campaigners say the reality is very different on the ground, and that discrimination still presents major obstacles for Chinese women, who face habitual workplace discrimination, harassment and domestic violence.



When Beijing hosted the Fourth World Conference on Women 20 years ago, the conference laid down a long-term program of improvements to the rights and opportunities offered to women and girls around the world, with requirements for governments to report back to the United Nations on the changes.



The Beijing Declaration pledged to "ensure equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all women and girls."



Reported by Wen Yuqing for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Gao Feng for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Chinese authorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang have instituted racial profiling as part of the registration process for new vehicles, in a move that exile groups said was likely a response to recent terror attacks in Europe.



Drivers seeking to register new vehicles for the first time in Xinjiang's regional capital, Urumqi, are being required to go through additional processes if they are members of the mostly Muslim Uyghur ethnic group, or Kazakhs, according to an official notice obtained by RFA.



The two ethnic groups are targeted in a Aug. 21 order issued by the Urumqi traffic police and posted at the Siping branch of the city's Motorized Vehicle Licensing and Testing Department.



"Any drivers of Uyghur or Kazakh ethnicity must report to the Midong No. 2 Vehicle Licensing Office ... for checking before a vehicle registration can be approved," the notice reads.



Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the exile group World Uyghur Congress, said he has received reports of similar orders from a number of different locations in Xinjiang in recent days, adding that police have dispatched additional personnel to highways and gas stations in the south of the region and public places.



"Since the series of terror incidents in Spain and elsewhere in Europe, the Chinese government has stepped up controls and surveillance of Uyghur people," Raxit told RFA.



"In particular, they are now carrying out checks in the area of vehicle first registration, purchases and transfers of ownership," he said.



"Any Uyghurs driving a large motorized vehicle in or out of any major city must now provide a reason for their trip and show their ID," Raxit said.



He said such security measures are a clear example of "religious and racial discrimination."



"These checks specifically target Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples," Raxit said. "Whenever a Uyghur wants to fill up their vehicle at a gas station, they are subjected to different treatment [to everyone else]."



'Strike hard' drive hits new groups

China regularly conducts strike hard campaigns in Xinjiang, including police raids on Uyghur households, restrictions on Islamic practices, and curbs on the culture and language of the Uyghur people, and sources have told RFA that ethnic Kyrgyz and Kazakhs are now being similarly targeted.



Ethnic Kazakhs say the ruling Chinese Communist Party in Xinjiang is now targeting Kazakhs across the region, especially those with any overseas connections.



Earlier this month, authorities in Arishan (in Chinese, Wenquan) county of Xinjiang's Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture 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.



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.



Meanwhile, border guards are detaining ethnic Kazakhs arriving back in the country with permanent residence cards or passports issued by Kazakhstan, with an estimated 1,500 held in a "political study center" in Yining city, capital of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, sources said.



A Kazakh woman in her forties identitied only by a single name Gulimula had been detained at the Khorgas border crossing, four years after she emigrated to Kazakhstan, her husband told RFA on . The whole family hold "green cards" for Kazakhstan.



Gulimula was detained after re-entering China with her husband and three children, and taken to the "political study center" in Yining, he said, adding that the purpose of such "study centers" is to target extremism.



He said some 1,500 "students" are currently being held there, the majority of whom are ethnic minority Kazakhs.



Repeated calls to the Yining municipal government rang unanswered during office hours on .



A Kazakh source said the study centers had been used as the next resort following negative media coverage of the widespread confiscation by Chinese authorities of Kazakhstan passports and green cards.



Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translate and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan discusses the findings of the final report of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State in Yangon, Aug. 24, 2017.

UPDATED at 10:27 A.M. EDT on 2017-08-25

An advisory commission on western Myanmars divided Rakhine state led by former United Nations chief Kofi Annan on Thursday called for reviews of the countrys Citizenship Law and an end to restrictions on its Rohingya Muslim minority to prevent further violence in the beleaguered region.

The final report of the nine-member Advisory Commission on Rakhine State lists recommendations that focus on the countrys citizenship verification process for Muslims, their rights and equality before the law, their freedom of movement, and the situation of those who are confined to internally displaced persons (IDP) camps.

The commission, appointed by State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi in August 2016, advised the government to take concrete steps to end enforced segregation of ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, allow unfettered humanitarian access in Rakhine, address the statelessness of the Rohingya, hold accountable those who violate human rights, and end restrictions on the Rohingyas freedom of movement.

[T]he commission has chosen to squarely face these sensitive issues because we believe that if they are left to fester, the future of Rakhine State  and indeed Myanmar as a whole  will be irretrievably jeopardized, Annan said at a press conference on the report on Thursday in the commercial capital Yangon.

This is a critical step for Rakhines and Muslims alike, he said. Only in this way can they break out of the hostility that leads to the violence and despair that has blighted their lives for so long.

The report also addressed socioeconomic development in the impoverished state, the rule of law, humanitarian aid, bilateral relations with neighboring Bangladesh, drug trafficking, and cooperation between local communities, Rakhine state, and the central government.

The commission proposed a ministerial-level appointment to coordinate policy on Rakhine state and ensure the implementation of its recommendations.

The commission based its findings and recommendations on more than 150 consultations and meetings it held with Rakhine communities, political and religious leaders, civil society organizations, central government ministers, Rakhine state officials, and nongovernmental organizations.

We will give the report our full consideration with a view to carrying out the recommendations to the fullest extent, and within the shortest timeframe possible, in line with the situation on the ground, said a statement issued by Aung San Suu Kyis office in response to the report.

We hope to set out a full roadmap for implementation in the coming weeks, it said

The statement also said that the government will set up a new ministerial-led committee responsible for implementing the commissions recommendations as an intermediate step.

Durable solutions

Though the commission proposed ways to solve sectarian tensions between Muslims and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists in its final report as well as its interim report issued in March, it did not evaluate possible human rights violations against the Rohingya, especially during a four-month crackdown by security forces following deadly attacks on local border guard stations in northern Rakhine state last October.

Some Rohingya have accused security personnel of indiscriminate killings, torture, rape, and arson, though the Myanmar government has denied most of the allegations and has so far prevented a U.N. commission from entering the country to investigate reports of atrocities.

The Annan commission did, however, touch on the lack of accountability for violations that occurred during the crackdown and said an independent and impartial investigation is necessary.

At the press conference on Thursday, Annan said the October 2016 attacks reinforced our determination to find durable solutions to the instability and insecurity that continue to blight the prospects of the Rakhine state.

Tensions remain high, and the status quo cannot continue, he said. Violence will not bring lasting solutions to the acute problems that afflict Rakhine state.

Before the press conference in Yangon, Annan presented the commissions final report to Aung San Suu Kyi and Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of Myanmars armed forces, in the administrative capital Naypyidaw.

The commission also presented the report to members of the Central Committee for the Implementation of Peace, Stability and Development in Rakhine state and met with Rakhine members of Myanmars parliament.

Annan delivered the report to President Htin Kyaw on Wednesday.

The members of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State present their final report at a press conference in Yangon, Aug. 24, 2017. Credit: RFA Rights groups have their say

International rights groups praised the commissions recommendations and called on the Myanmar government to swiftly adopt them, especially those pertaining to addressing discrimination against the Rohingya.

The 1.1 million Rohingya who live in Rakhine are denied Myanmar citizenship though many have lived in the nation for generations. They do not have access to health care or jobs and face restrictions on freedom of movement, marriage, and childbirth.

About 120,000 Rohingya live in nearly 40 IDP camps where they were confined following deadly communal violence between Muslims and Buddhists in 2012.

People in Rakhine state, in particular the Muslim Rohingya minority, have suffered a horrific catalogue of rights abuses for decades, said James Gomez, director of Southeast Asia and the Pacific at London-based Amnesty International.

This comprehensive report released by the commission today clearly outlines many of the steps Myanmars authorities must take to end discrimination and segregation in the region, he said in a statement.

Gomez urged the government to swiftly move to implement the reports recommendations for improving the human rights situation and ending discrimination by removing restrictions on the Rohingyas movement, allowing full access in Rakhine state for humanitarian workers and media, and changing the countrys discriminatory" citizenship laws.

Without concrete action by the authorities to address long-standing grievances and redress decades of violations, people in the region will continue to be trapped in a cycle of deprivation and abuse, he said.

East Asia-based Fortify Rights also called for an end to restrictions on the movement of the Rohingya per the reports recommendations.

Restrictions on freedom of movement are not only unlawful, theyre also bad for the economy and create deadly security risks, said Matthew Smith, the groups chief executive officer. These apartheid-like restrictions erode security for communities and heighten the risk of mass killings. Its a tinderbox.

Smith also accused the Myanmar government of hiding behind the commission rather than deal with ongoing atrocities in Rakhine.

The commission responded with concrete recommendations to end violations, and the government should act on them without delay, he said in a statement. The government needs to urgently address the realities on the ground.

Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of New York-based Human Rights Watch, called on Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmars de facto leader, to hit back at ethnic Rakhine extremists who perpetuate racial and religious discrimination and to amend the 1982 Citizenship Law, which prevents the stateless Rohingya from becoming Myanmar citizens.

The Myanmar government must face down Rakhine extremists and their supporters in so-called race and religion movements throughout the country and firmly commit to reform of the 1982 Citizenship Act, he said in emailed remarks.

The commission has done Myanmar an important service by setting out the case for the urgency of that reform, and in reality, that commitment is probably the only thing that will convince Rohingya to fully participate in the long-stalled nationality verification process.

Lawmakers vote down motion

Also on Thursday, lawmakers in Myanmars lower house of parliament rejected a motion to enact further security measures in Rakhine state by a vote of 232 to 150.

Khin Saw Wai, an Arakan National Party lawmaker who represents Rakhine's Rathedaung township, submitted the proposal for additional security measures on Wednesday, arguing that crime in northern Rakhine state has threatened stability, the rule of law, and public safety.

Those who supported the measure, including some military parliamentarians, held that an antiterrorist law should be enacted to combat violence and attacks by Muslim terrorists because the problems are damaging the states sovereignty.

Because the Rakhine issue is a matter for the state and the Myanmar people, all MPs [members of parliament] attitudes and actions must be the same, said Lieutenant Colonel Zaw Tun Oo, a military lawmaker.

If the issue is only acknowledged in parliament, then parliament must take responsible for what happens in the future, he said. Local [ethnic] Rakhine people and others in the country will not be pleased about what parliament has done.

Several disappearances, murders, attacks on security forces, and periodic killings by troops have occurred in northern Rakhines Maungdaw, Buthidaung, and Rathedaung townships since the end of the crackdown in February.

In early August, the Myanmar government dispatched an army battalion to provide additional security for ethnic Rakhine people following a spate of deadly attacks blamed on Muslim terrorists.

Reported by Win Ko Ko Latt for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Myanmar's President Htin Kyaw (R) receives the final report of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State from former United Nations chief Kofi Annan (R), in Naypyidaw, Aug. 23, 2017.

Former United Nations chief Kofi Annan on Wednesday submitted to the Myanmar government the final report of the advisory commission he leads that has been looking into ethnic and religious strife in beleaguered Rakhine state.

Formed a year ago by State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, the nine-member Advisory Commission on Rakhine State has proposed ways to solve sectarian tensions between Muslims and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists, although it did not evaluate possible human rights violations.

Annan met with President Htin Kyaw in the capital Naypyidaw to give him the report, the Presidents Office announced.

Htin Kyaw said that he will consider the reports recommendations and believes they will support the government in Rakhine State, the announcement said.

The statement also said that the two discussed the implementation of recommendations in the interim report that the commission submitted to the government in March, the process of educational and social development in Rakhine state, humanitarian assistance, the rule of law, security, and drug problems.

The government will hold a press conference on the reports findings on Thursday in the commercial capital Yangon.

The government said previously that it is complying with most of the 30 recommendations made by the commission by opening restricted areas of Rakhine state to news media, allowing increased humanitarian access, and agreeing to close down three internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in the Rakhine towns of Kyaukphyu, Sittwe, and Ramree.

Rakhine is home to 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims, who are considered illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh and have been denied citizenship even though many have lived in Myanmar for generations.

Communal violence between the Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists in 2012 killed more than 200 people in Rakhine and forced 140,000 Rohingya into internally displaced persons (IDP) camps where they are denied access to basic services.

The U.N. later estimated that about 90,000 Rohingya fled from the states three northern townships mainly to neighboring Bangladesh during an October 2016 crackdown by Myanmar security forces. Soldiers and police had moved into the area following a deadly attack on local border guards, which was blamed on Rohingya militants.

The security forces are said to have committed atrocities against the Rohingya during the crackdown, though the Myanmar government has denied most of the allegations and has blocked a U.N. commission from looking into them.

Thousands more Rohingya have crossed the border into Bangladesh since a military buildup started in Rakhine state earlier this month, Agence France-Presse reported on Wednesday, citing community leaders.

Myanmar border police stand guard in Tinmay village, Buthidaung township, in the northern part of western Myanmar's Rakhine state, July 14, 2017. Credit: AFP Lawmakers discuss security issues

Also on Wednesday, lawmakers in Myanmars lower house of parliament discussed security issues in northern Rakhine state, where disappearances, murders, attacks on security forces, and periodic killings by troops have occurred since the end of the crackdown in February.

Earlier this month, the Myanmar government dispatched an army battalion to provide additional security for ethnic Rakhine people following a spate of deadly attacks blamed on Muslim terrorists.

Khin Saw Wai, an Arakan National Party lawmaker, said she called for the discussions because the crimes are threatening the states stability, rule of law, and public safety.

Oo Hla Saw, a lawmaker from Rakhines Mrauk-U township, was among the 15 legislators to discuss Khin Saw Wais proposal. He called for an effective way to get rid of the terrorists and for government leaders and ministers to respond clearly on diplomatic issues that involve Rakhine state.

Maung Myint, a member of parliament from Mingin township, Kalay district, in northwestern Myanmars Sagaing region, said the government must work to resolve the issue of people living in Rakhine who are not citizens.

We have a 1982 citizenship law, he said, referring to the statute that effectively renders the Rohingya stateless by prohibiting them from holding Myanmar citizenship.

If someone is not eligible to become Myanmar citizen under this law, he has to live with support from international organizations, such as the UNHCR, he said, referring to the U.N.s humanitarian agency.

We have this problem because the government doesnt work enough on this issue, he said.

Aung Thaung Shwe, a lawmaker from Rakhines Buthidaung township, which was under lockdown by security forces following the October 2016 attacks, noted that the states residents want the government to resolve the issue of Rohingya living illegally in Myanmar.

They have asked [authorities] to check on people who live in Rakhine state illegally, according to the 1982 citizenship law, but the people didnt let them check, and the authorities let them remain only in Rakhine, he said. So they make problems only in Rakhine state.

He suggested that the government transfer the illegal Rohingya to other states and regions in Myanmar to ease pressure from the international community about the issue.

Rakhine militias clash in Chin

In a related development, two ethnic Rakhine armed groups clashed on Tuesday in western Myanmars Chin state, leaving four soldiers dead in a spillover of the violence that has gripped adjacent Rakhine state.

About 70 troops from the Rakhine-based Arakan Army (AA) attacked the headquarters of the Arakan Liberation Army (ALA) in Paletwa township near Myanmars borders with Bangladesh and India.

Khine Soe Naing Aung, vice chairman of the militias political wing, the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), said on Wednesday that the group does not know why the AA attacked its armys headquarters.

I dont know why the AA attacked us, but four ALA troops were killed, he said.

The chairman of the ALP sent a letter to the AAs chairman yesterday evening, saying that it is not good to have fighting between two Rakhine groups and asking the AA to return the headquarters to the ALP, he said, adding that the ALP had not yet received a response.

We want to solve political problems by political means, he said.

RFAs Myanmar Service has not been able to reach the AA about the attack and capture of the ALP headquarters in Paletwa township in western Myanmars Chin state.

The attack was the first such armed incident between the two Rakhine militias since 2015.

The ALA is a signatory of the governments NCA, but the AA is not.



Reported by Thiha Tun, Min Thein Aung, and Win Ko Ko Latt for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Rohingya refugees fleeing from Myanmar sit in a boat on the Naf River after the Bangladesh Coast Guard stopped them from entering the country, Aug. 19, 2017.

The leader of Southeast Asias newest Muslim insurgent group struck a diplomatic tone as he expressed gratitude to Bangladesh for hosting Rohingya refugees and pledged not to harm the countrys honor and interest.

But Ata Ullah (also known as Abu Ammar Jununi), chief of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), hammered Myanmar for allowing government forces to seal off villages and launch a crackdown against suspected militants in the Rakhine State.

More than 75,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh since October 2016 as a result of a military crackdown in Rakhine. As security officials ordered a lockdown and soldiers hunted for militants through torched villages, according to a United Nations report, terror-stricken refugees fled on foot, witnessing mass gang-rapes of women and killings of children.

Ata Ullah, in a 19-minute video posted on YouTube on Aug. 16, vowed that his group would take extreme care and caution not to harm Bangladesh, describing it as a great neighbor.

The government of Bangladesh leads all the host countries who did not think twice in extending their helping hands to our destitute people in this very needy time, said Ata Ullah, who emphasized ARSA was not affiliated with any foreign terror network.

In the video, he spoke while seated amid a lush forest backdrop while guarded by four masked men clutching assault rifles.

Our primary objective under ARSA is to liberate our people from dehumanized oppression perpetrated by all successive Burmese regimes, he said.

Ata Ullah and ARSA, which formerly called itself Harakah al-Yaqin (Arabic for Faith Movement), captured worldwide media exposure in December 2016 when the Brussels-based think tank International Crisis Group (ICG) issued a lengthy report about the new armed challenge faced by Myanmar.

Ata Ullah, according to the ICG report, was born in Karachi, Pakistan, to a migrant father who fled religious persecution in his native Rakhine State. His family moved to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, where he was enrolled in an Islamic religious school.

The report said Ata Ullah claimed to have left Saudi Arabia in 2012 shortly after serious ethnic clashes between Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists erupted, killing more than 100 people.

Though not confirmed, there are indications he went to Pakistan, and possibly elsewhere, and that he received practical training in modern guerrilla warfare, ICG said.

Security analysts have not determined the exact number of ARSAs forces and Burma has not officially acknowledged its existence. But sources within the refugee camps confirm their existence to BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.

There are more than 150 members of Myanmars separatist Rohingya groups in Ukhia-Teknaf areas, who go back and forth across the borders, said a high-ranking source at a refugee camp who requested anonymity.

More than 1 million Rohingya live in northwestern Rakhine, where they are despised by the Buddhist majority, according to U.N. officials. Human rights activists said the Rohingya  who have been dubbed as the most oppressed people in the world"  are denied citizenship, freedom of movement and access to basic services and healthcare.

A community leader at the Kutupalong refugee camp recently spoke to BenarNews and confirmed reports that ARSA supporters have been seen at camp for a few days. The source declined to say if they were armed.

But they do not do anything that might harm Bangladeshs image, the source said, referring to the insurgents.

Kutupalong is one of the two government-run refugee camps in Coxs Bazar. Its combined Rohingya population with the Nayapara Refugee Camp is about 30,000, officials said.

Myanmar, a secluded country of almost 60 million people, sits in the corner of Southeast Asia between India and China.

Myanmar receives Rakhine report

RFA has been trying to get in touch with officials in the Myanmar government to respond to Ata Ullah's video post, but to no avail.

Min Aung, a spokesperson from the Rakhine state government, said on Wednesday that the central government is the appropriate authority to respond.

Meanwhile, thousands of Rohingya have crossed into Bangladesh since Myanmar announced a military build-up in Rakhine state earlier this month, Rohingya community leaders in Bangladesh were quoted saying by AFP Wednesday.

In Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw Wednesday, a government-appointed Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, led by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan submitted its final report to President Htin Kyaw.

The commission had been tasked with proposing concrete measures for improving the welfare of all people in Rakhine state, with uncovering lasting solutions for conflict-torn Rakhine and addressing deep wounds felt by Buddhist and Muslim communities in the region, according to the commission.The body will hold a news conference in the commercial capital Yangon on Thursday.

Bangladesh security officials expressed doubts on the presence of insurgents in the area, telling BenarNews security forces on high alert would have blocked free movement.

In this side, there is no activity of any Myanmar-based revolutionary group, said Lt. Col. Ariful Islam, a border battalion official. Stronger monitoring in the Rohingya camps is already in place.

Policy of no interference

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam said he was not aware of Ata Ullahs video and Bangladesh has no ties with insurgent groups.

As per our foreign policy, we never interfere in Myanmars internal affairs, he said. The policy of the current government is that the land of Bangladesh is not for any militant group.

Security analysts said ARSA is active in the jungles of the northern Rakhine State, where their presence could stoke religious tensions. They said ARSAs emergence as an armed group signals a dangerous phase that could attract the attention of extremists in Pakistan and the Middle East.

On Oct. 9, 2016, ARSA militants, who were then known as Harakah al-Yaqin, launched coordinated attacks on police posts and killed nine officers. They posted videos on YouTube claiming responsibility for the attacks.

Myanmar responded by launching military operations that led to allegations of gang rapes and mass killings.

On Aug. 14, Myanmar government ministers met 11 Buddhist monk leaders from the administrative capital Sittwe and discussed security issues in Rakhine, border affairs minister Lt. Gen. Ye Aung said.

The meeting came four days after the Myanmar government dispatched hundreds of soldiers from an army battalion to Rakhine to increase security in the region.

The military will use armored cars and helicopters in its operation against militants in northern Rakhine state, Ye Aung told reporters.

Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service, and by RFA's Myanmar Service.


A Richmond startup company that makes nonallergenic food ingredients is moving out of the Virginia Biotechnology Park to a new location in western Henrico County. Nutriati Inc. has leased 2,160 square feet in the Gayton Crossing Shopping Center at 9782 Gayton Road.

The company is moving into a space formerly occupied by the University of Richmonds Culinary Center, said Richard Kelly, Nutriatis chief executive officer and co-founder. The space will be near The Melting Pot restaurant.

Nutriati has had an office in the Virginia Biotechnology Research Park in downtown Richmond for about three years, Kelly said. He said the companys last day there will be Thursday.

It has been great, he said of the companys time in the research park.

Nutriati needed a space where it could have both a chemistry lab and a kitchen to cook foods using its chickpea-based protein powder.

Both are available at the Gayton Crossing location, and Kelly said the company also was able to buy kitchen equipment from UR that had been used at the culinary center.

Nutriati was founded by Kelly and Michael Spinelli, its chief technology officer. The company developed a process for turning chickpeas  also known as garbanzo beans  into a protein powder that can serve as a high-protein, nonallergenic substitute ingredient for eggs, wheat, soy and milk in food products such as snack bars, health food shakes and brownie mixes.

The company will be able to host food industry customers at the kitchen, Kelly said. It is going to be a working kitchen to help us sell our products, he said.

Nutriati has contract manufacturers who extract chickpea oil and make the final products, a protein concentrate food ingredient and a gluten-free chickpea flour.

James Ashby IV with commercial real estate brokerage Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer handled the lease negotiations for the landlord. Wood Thornton of CBRE represented the tenant.
Five people, including three women, have been injured in four separate shootings that occurred across the city within a 12-hour period, according to Richmond police.

About 2:46 a.m. Wednesday, officers were called to the 2100 block of Creighton Road in Creighton Court where they found two women shot after a report of random gunfire.

The women were taken to a local hospital. One victims injuries were considered life-threatening, while the other woman is expected to recover.

Detectives have not yet released any other information about the incident, such as possible motive or circumstances for the shootings.

Anyone with information about this shooting is asked to call Major Crimes Detective J. Baynes at (804) 646-3617 or Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000.

The shooting came within hours of three others reported between 4:30 and 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. Police do not believe at this time that any are related.

A drive-by shooting Tuesday afternoon on Hull Street near Jefferson Davis Highway left a man with life-threatening injuries, police said.

Officers who responded to the scene just after 4:30 p.m. were told a vehicle pulled up and someone in the vehicle fired shots, said Richmond Police Department spokesman James Mercante.

The vehicle left the scene, and the victim made his way across the street to the parking lot of Rite Aid, Mercante said.

There was no update Wednesday on his condition.

At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, officers were called to the 2300 block of Bethel Street in Whitcomb Court where they found a man suffering from a gunshot wound.

The man told police he had been arguing with a man he knew when he was shot. The victim was taken to a local hospital with an injury that was not considered life-threatening.

Anyone with information is asked to call Major Crimes Detective M. Smith at (804) 646-6996 or contact Crime Stoppers .

Less than an hour later, and less than a mile away, officers responded to a convenience store in the 1600 block of Mechanicsville Turnpike for the report of a person shot.

The victim, a woman, had already been taken to a hospital by the time officers arrived. Her injury is not considered likely to be fatal.

She told police that a man approached her while she was in the parking lot, pulled out a handgun and shot her.

Detectives believe the incident was an attempted robbery.

Anyone with information is asked to call Major Crimes Detective E. Livengood at (804) 646-3185 or contact Crime Stoppers .

Anyone can also contact Crime Stoppers by going online to www.7801000.com or by sending a text message to 274637, using the keyword iTip followed by the tip. All Crime Stoppers methods are anonymous.
Henrico County police are asking for the publics help with finding the person who robbed a bank Wednesday morning.

Police said they responded about 9:45 a.m. to the bank in the 4700 block of South Laburnum Avenue. The robber had entered the bank and presented a note, Henrico police Lt. Chris Garrett said. The robber left the business, and no weapon was displayed, Garrett said.

The suspect is described as a black man who is 6 feet to 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs about 300 pounds. He was wearing a black bucket hat, a black, zip-up hooded sweatshirt or jacket and black pants.

Anyone with information is asked to call Henrico police at (804) 501-5000 or Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000.

You can also contact Crime Stoppers by going online to www.7801000.com or sending a text message to 274637, using the keyword iTip followed by the tip.
Ahead the first formal Charlottesville town hall to debrief after the Aug. 12 Unite the Right rally, Charlottesville police and officials have faced harsh criticism and stern questioning over their handling of the event itself, and the clashes between rally-goers and counter protesters.

Community members have lambasted police for failing to take adequate action during bouts of violence. The planned event was shut down by police before it could formally begin in Emancipation Park, and state officials declared a state of emergency a short time later.

Charlottesville resident Heather Heyer, 32, was killed shortly after the rally was broken up when a James Alex Fields, 20, of Ohio, allegedly rammed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters gathered at the intersection of Fourth Street SE and Water Street.

Later in the day, two Virginia State Police troopers died when their helicopter, which had hovered over the rally for much of the day, crashed in Albemarle County.

Charlottesville police did not respond to multiple requests for comment by press time.

At Monday nights Charlottesville City Council meeting, which turned into a six-hour town hall on the rally, Don Gathers, former chairman of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Race, Memorials and Public Spaces, asked City Manager Maurice Jones why the July 8 KKK rally was handled differently, referencing the line formed by police to divide the Klan from those protesting.

Why was there no barrier between the two factions this time, Gathers asked. It was more of a reactive stance, if there was any reaction, than proactive.

Jones replied that Unite the Right organizers were less forthcoming than the organizers of the Klan rally and there were more of them, which made policing the event much tougher.

When the Klansmen came in, we had 35-40 of them, we had been in contact with them, he said. We knew exactly where they were going to come in, we knew when they were going to come in, where they were going to park, and that type of thing. We didnt know that with this group.

The city knew where some rally participants were going to come in, he said but most of them they did not know where they were entering the park.

We were not communicating with them in the same way we communicated with the KKK, Jones said. We were communicating with the organizer of the event, and even with that, we didnt hear the truth in terms of how people were coming in and when.

Charlottesville City Council has scheduled a closed session meeting Thursday morning, according to a news release. The section of the state code cited in the closed session announcement concerns discussion, consideration, or interviews of prospective candidates for employment; assignment, appointment, promotion, performance, demotion, salaries, disciplining, or resignation of specific public officers, appointees, or employees of any public body.

On Thursday night, the city will host its first town hall meeting since the rally from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Performing Arts Center at Charlottesville High School. The city will provide an update on recovery efforts and offer opportunities for public comment.

People close to the police department said a mandatory department-wide meeting is scheduled for Friday, but said they did not know what would be discussed.

Many of the organizations who called on city and state officials to conduct an independent investigation into the preparation and conduct of police at the July 8 Ku Klux Klan rally are now also calling for an independent investigation on police response to the weekend of Aug.12.

In a statement from the Central Virginia Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, the group said that state and local law enforcement demonstrated that they are completely disconnected from the values and priorities of the Charlottesville community.

...When law enforcement had opportunities to protect students, people of color, and other anti-racist demonstrators from the thousands of white supremacists  who had promised to commit acts of violence and murder in our city  the police passively watched from the sidelines, the statement read. Both on UVas campus on Friday night and downtown on Saturday, police repeatedly refused to answer their cries for help, but instead contributed to the violence and trauma by intervening only after the white supremacists had the opportunity to assault anti-racist demonstrators.

Cynthia Neff, a Democratic activist was on-site Aug.12 with legal observers from the National Lawyers Guild. She said that many of the observers were enraged that the police did not intervene in the fights that erupted in the streets. Neff said she was also disappointed to not see any officers on Water Street later in the day.

You know how that turned out, she said.

Theres a story to tell about the police not being more active in breaking up the street-fighting, she said. There are legal observers who are enraged.  It shouldnt have been this way. It shouldnt have been at Emancipation Park in the first place.

In a letter from Legal Aid Justice Center sent to the city on behalf of the Public Housing Association of Residents, the group asked the city to conduct an independent, thorough and transparent investigation of law enforcement conduct during the July 8 Klan rally and Unite the Right. The letter also asks the city to improve its emergency planning to protect all Charlottesville residents, and take concrete steps to eradicate institutional racism by significantly improving the lives of low-income people.

The letter said that many questions need to be asked and answered, inducing if police were asked to stand down, what safety plans were created and what contingency plans were prepared to protect families in subsidized housing.

Members of PHAR and its advisory council personally witnessed many incidents of violence where law enforcement stood idly by (sometimes only a few feet away, behind double barricades) and refused to intervene, the letter said. Numerous injuries and assaults could have been prevented by the police throughout the weekend  there were certainly enough present  had those law enforcement officials been instructed to protect people and intervene in the attacks.

At Monday nights city council meeting, which became a town-hall style meeting that lasted six hours, Jones answered some questions related to city and police response.

There was no stand-down order from anybody in the city government, there was not, he said. None.

Jones also stated that an independent review of the citys response will be conducted.

We are going to do an independent review of all the planning that took place for that, the day of the event and the aftermath, so there will be a third party independent review of all of our activities of those days and what happened on Saturday, he said.

Many at the meeting asked about what would happen if the same group or a similar group applied for a permit for a demonstration in the future

Im not an attorney so I cant tell you what would happen next if someone attempted to apply for it, or the same group came back at some point in the future, Jones said. I think we have a much stronger case now in the eyes of the courts because of the previous behaviors.

Jones said that he was concerned by stories that he heard at the meeting that concerned specific incidents of violence.

We ask that you contact the city police if there are incidents that you saw in which someone was beaten, either there wasnt police presence at the time or if you saw an officer who may not have been responsive to that, we need to know about that, he said.

Jones said city police are specifically following up on the Market Street Garage beating of Deandre Harris, an instructional assistant with the city schools, and he believes that arrest will be made soon.

We need to be careful about jeopardizing the case, he said. They are building a case right now, and its not about just one individual person, there was more than one person who was involved with that. So the city police are following up on that, and I think justice will be served, and I want you to know that and were not going to rest until they are.
WASHINGTON  Phillip and Barbara Butler hadnt given much thought to the man who burned a cross on their front lawn 40 years ago.

Then they heard the startling news Tuesday that the perpetrator had become a priest and was ministering to Catholics not far from their home.

I didnt know what to say. It was unbelievable, Phillip Butler said Wednesday at a news conference.

The priest, the Rev. William Aitcheson, went public with his former Ku Klux Klan affiliation on Monday, writing a column in the diocesan newspaper.

He said his past was not a secret but that he felt compelled to make it more public after seeing images of violence at the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville on Aug. 12.

Aitcheson, now 62, described his past actions as despicable: To anyone who has been subjected to racism or bigotry, I am sorry. I have no excuse, but I hope you will forgive me.

For the Butlers, though, his announcement provided more questions than answers.

The Butlers lawyer, Ted Williams, called on Aitcheson to publicly identify his Klan associates as well as anyone who helped him with the cross burning.

The Butlers said the cross was big and heavy, more than 6 feet tall, so Aitcheson must have had help. Phillip Butler said someone also must have identified their home for Aitcheson to target them.

What did we do to have them put a cross in our lawn? he asked. The couple, among the first African-Americans to move into their subdivision, moved out after about eight years.

It makes you very afraid of whats going on, Butler said.

The Diocese of Arlington initially said that for the good of the parish, Aitcheson is taking a voluntary leave of absence from ministerial duties at St. Leo the Great in Fairfax. Through the diocese, he has declined interview requests.

In response to the Butlers news conference, the diocese released a statement saying Aitcheson will fully cooperate with law enforcement in addressing details of this case that were not gathered previously.

Williams said he believes Aitcheson, who became a priest in Nevada before eventually transferring to Virginia, came forward only because he felt he was going to be exposed.

He questioned Aitchesons statement that the Charlottesville rally prompted his public mea culpa, after so many other racial flashpoints over the decades.

The big question is: Why is this just coming out now? he asked.

The diocese, in its statement Wednesday, said a freelance reporter had approached the diocese asking whether Aitcheson had been connected to the cross burnings, which received press attention at the time.

Aitcheson was approached about this, he acknowledged his past, and saw the opportunity to tell his story in the hopes that others would see the possibility of conversion and repentance, the diocese said.

Aitcheson was convicted and sentenced to 90 days in jail in 1977 after he was charged with burning several crosses, including the one at the Butlers home in College Park, Md., and sending a death threat to Coretta Scott King. Authorities at the time said he was a University of Maryland student doubling as a wizard of a 12-member KKK lodge.

Years later, the Butlers won a $23,000 civil judgment against Aitcheson and received a personal visit from President Ronald Reagan, who with his wife, Nancy, condemned the hate crime.

But Aitcheson never apologized to the Butlers, in writing or in person during their time in court, and they said they never received any of that money.

The diocese said it only learned of his unpaid restitution this week. The diocese is committed to ensuring he fulfills his moral and legal obligations, it said.

Williams said he is researching his options in pushing the judgment and calculating possible interest in 35 years of nonpayment.

Barbara Butler said she doubts Aitcheson could say anything she would be interested in hearing in terms of an apology, and she expressed skepticism about his change of heart.
A Tennessee man who said he believes the South seceded because of federal taxation, not slavery, said hes lobbying the McAuliffe administration to let him hold a pro-Confederate rally at Richmonds Robert E. Lee monument.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Friday signed an executive order temporarily barring demonstrations at the state-owned Lee monument on Monument Avenue following violence at a white supremacist rally Aug. 11 and Aug. 12 in Charlottesville.

But Thomas E. Crompton, commanding general of CSA II: The New Confederate States of America in Dandridge, Tenn., said he and several others requested a permit around Aug. 11 for a rally at the Lee monument to be held Sept. 16. He said a state official recently verbally denied his permit request.

Were not with those white supremacists or those radicals who are killing, Crompton said. We wanted a peaceful gathering on that date showing our support to protect the monument.

A city commission created by Mayor Levar Stoney has been studying whether to add context to the monuments. After the Charlottesville violence, Stoney initially maintained that he didnt want any monuments relocated but later said the commission would expand its scope and study that issue.

The Virginia ACLU has been critical of McAuliffes order, worried that it is a prior restraint on free speech in a public space.

Crompton said he hopes McAuliffe will hear our side of the story and said hes examining legal options because he considers the rally a free-speech issue.

We are planning on having that rally, he said. The governor placing that executive order ... is only a temporary setback.

In an interview, Crompton falsely said the Confederate states seceded because of heavy taxation and tyranny by the federal government, not slavery. They were overtaxing the South and the South got fed up with it, he said. Slavery was not a factor.

Crompton also claimed that Lee despised and disavowed slavery. However, Lees acceptance of slavery was comparable to other Southerners and he denounced abolitionists from the North, according to Gary W. Gallagher, the John L. Nau III professor in the History of the American Civil War at the University of Virginia.

Bragdon Bowling, a Confederate heritage activist in Richmond, had asked the state, prior to the Charlottesville violence, for permission to hold a monument preservation rally at Richmonds Lee monument. But last week he withdrew his request, saying he wanted to preserve Confederate monuments but worried about the potential for violence.
A U.S. Army veteran was killed this week while walking across a highway in Stafford County.

Lamont Williams, 45, of Dumfries was struck late Tuesday by a southbound vehicle while crossing U.S. 1 just south of the Boswells Corner area about 10 p.m., sheriffs Maj. Don Lenhart said. Williams was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead a short time later.

It appears it was just a horrible, horrible accident, Lenhart said.

Lenhart said the investigation showed that Williams and his fiancee had just returned a rental truck to a business in the northern part of the county. After parking the truck, Williams took some trash from the rental truck to a Dumpster on the other side of the highway.

The fiancee told police that she saw Williams discard the trash and start on his way back across the street. Next thing she heard was a crash, and she saw Williams on the pavement.

The vehicles driver, a 24-year-old Stafford man, told police he was on his way home from work when he struck what he first thought was an animal. After stopping and seeing a man in the road, the driver called 911.
A remarkable thing happened last week.

You might have missed it, because while it happened in plain sight, it also happened in increments. You had to put the pieces together to appreciate the magnitude of it.

Last week, you see, America repudiated its president.

This, of course, was in response to that pathetic performance in the wake of the tragedy in Charlottesville, when he suggested moral equivalence between white supremacists and those who protest them. In response, America  a pretty broad swath of it, at least  has condemned him.

The reference is not to the shellacking he took from pundits or the reprovals of GOP leaders Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan. These things were to be expected.

But you did not expect the chairman and CEO of Merck to quit the presidents American Manufacturing Council. And Ken Fraziers departure, which he framed as a matter of personal conscience, was just the opening salvo. He was followed through the door by members of that panel and others. By weeks end, two presidential business advisory groups had ceased to exist and plans for a third had been scrapped. Members of the Presidents Committee on the Arts and the Humanities also resigned en masse.

Meantime, Mar-a-Lago, Trumps club and de facto presidential getaway in Florida, saw a rash of charities canceling their fundraising events. The Washington Post listed the Salvation Army, the American Red Cross, Susan G. Komen, and the American Cancer Society among those who have chosen to hold their galas elsewhere.

And there is yet more. Bob Corker, a respected Republican senator who has heretofore sought to engage with the president, raised sharp questions not just about Trumps competence, but also his stability, and called for radical changes in the White House. Five military chiefs also spoke out against the bigotry in Charlottesville, in a striking reproach of their commander.

Graduates of Liberty University called on fellow alumni to return their diplomas to protest LU president Jerry Falwell Jr.s support for Trump. And on Saturday it was announced that the president would not be attending the Kennedy Center Honors in December, nor host the traditional White House reception for the five honorees after three of them had spoken of boycotting the event. And really: How toxic are you when Lionel Richie doesnt want to shake your hand?

It seems that a great many Americans reached a moment of decision last week and reacted as you would have hoped. Trump and his apologists and enablers should take note, because this does not bode well for them.

For all its powers of lawmaking, war making, budget drafting, and diplomacy, the presidency also embodies the power of moral suasion. A president uses what Theodore Roosevelt called the bully pulpit  the honor and prestige of his office  to stand for what is right and remind us to do likewise.

Problematically, that office is occupied now by a man with no moral compass, a man whose only true North is self. So what happened last week was sadly predictable.

What was not predictable was this chorus of castigation from such a wide spectrum of American life. The stunning rebuke offers heartening evidence that we have not yet completely abandoned who and what we are supposed to be.

Again, this is a moment of decision. Those who chose to separate themselves from Trump last week declared their values  and character.

Those who supported him did, too.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
Modern Healthcare magazine has named Carilion Clinic CEO Nancy Howell Agee as the 23rd most influential person in health care.

Its humbling to be included among such visionary leaders in Modern Healthcares list. My story is really the story of the thousands of dedicated health care workers Ive had the privilege of working with during the course of my career, Agee said in a statement.

Recognition like this never truly does justice to the countless people who work behind the scenes to take care of the patients in our community. They have my enduring gratitude.

Agee last year just made the cut for the magazines 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare. She rose 77 places on the 2017 list, which corresponds to her growing influence on national health care policy.

She is president-elect of the American Hospital Association and has been involved in advancing hospitals viewpoint in Congressional discussions regarding the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act. The hospital association represents about 5,000 hospitals and health care systems, and 43,000 individuals.

Modern Healthcare bills itself as the industrys leading source of health care news. It accepts nominations for influential people in six categories  provider, insurers, quality, associations, policy and research and suppliers and vendors  and then offers 300 names on a ballot.

The magazine named three Republican senators  Maines Susan Collins, Alaskas Lisa Murkowski and Arizonas John McCain  as 2017s most influential people for breaking ranks with their party and playing a pivotal role in changing the direction of the health care debate.

Agee also is chair of the Virginia Business Council and serves on boards with the Coalition to Protect Americas Health Care, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges, Virginia Tech Foundation, Virginia Business Higher Education Council, Healthcare Realty, Roanoke Gas Co., HomeTown Bank and GO Virginia.

She began her career as a nurse and moved into administrative roles. She was named CEO and president of Carilion in 2011 as it was transforming from a collection of seven hospitals and primary care practices into an integrated health care system.

This is Nancys second year on the list, and it recognizes her tireless efforts in our own community, in addition to the substantial contributions she makes to local, regional and national conversations on health care, wrote board chairman James Hartley in a message to Carilion employees.

I know I speak for all of us when I say, we are so glad Nancy is engaged at the highest levels in our nations health care debate.
RICHMOND  Tranlin Inc. will repay $5 million to Virginia, as the Chinese company resets its plans to build a paper products factory in Chesterfield County that was expected to bring $2 billion in investment and create 2,000 jobs.

This marks the fourth Chinese-led business venture and the third brokered by Gov. Terry McAuliffe to falter recently in Virginia.

In an exchange of letters with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership in late July, Tranlins top executive promised to repay the grant from the Commonwealths Development Opportunity Fund by Oct. 24 in acknowledgement that the company would not meet its investment and job commitments by the end of 2019.

While we are not fully prepared to move forward with our project in Chesterfield County, we are continuing due diligence and planning to advance the project at a future date, acting CEO Donald Lan said in a letter on July 26 to Stephen Moret, president and CEO of the state partnership.

Moret had requested repayment of the grant earlier that day in a letter to Lan that also promised state financial support when Tranlin, operating as Vastly, is ready to act on a reshaped manufacturing project.

When and if the company is prepared to move forward, our intention is to recommit the previously announced incentive package, with incentive payments scheduled to restart after all necessary land is acquired and construction is underway, Moret told the Tranlin executive.

When he announced Tranlins project in mid-2014, McAuliffe hailed it as the most significant job creation venture ever attempted by the Chinese in Virginia and the largest Chinese greenfield economic development project in the United States.

He and a legislative oversight committee agreed to $29.5 million in incentives for the project in 2014, with most of the money to be held until Tranlin met phased targets for jobs and investment.

The company used the $5 million it received early on to help it buy 58 acres of property in the James River Industrial Park, while the remainder of the land needed for the project was held under an option that expired on July 31.

Lan said the company would keep the land it had purchased outright and maintain its offices and staff in Charlottesville, as the company redesigns the project with new technology already used in China to convert agricultural waste into paper products and fertilizer.

Additionally, our Virginia-based employees are diligently developing U.S. market demand for our fertilizer and paper production in anticipation of U.S. production, he said.

Secretary of Commerce and Trade Todd Haymore said Tranlins decision to return the $5 million grant was a way for the company to keep faith and good standing with the state as it restructures its plans.

By returning the Commonwealth Opportunity Fund money, because of the delays and their continuing due diligence, this would be a good way for them to restart, Haymore said.

Moret and other Virginia economic development officials had spoken with Lan the day before the exchange of letters, which memorialized the commitments they had made informally.

Based on that conversation, I understand that Tranlin is not yet prepared to move forward fully with its previously announced project in Chesterfield County, but that the company intends to continue due diligence and planning activities in anticipation of possibly moving forward with the project at a future date, Moret said in the initial letter.

Lan responded with hope but no assurance of returning with a new proposal for a factory in Chesterfield.

We are encouraged to know VEDPs intention to recommit incentive packages at the appropriate time, as stated in that letter, and we will factor this into our planning and decisions, he told Moret. We look forward to continuing our partnership with VEDP and the commonwealth as our project moves forward.

Haymore said Thursday, We are still operating under the assumption that they are going to make an investment in Virginia.

He said the company has been very open and transparent about the reasons for the delays in the project. Tranlin said in May it was pushing back construction plans for the project because its parent company in China had developed new technology that would affect all of its manufacturing processes.

They have told us it is all about the technology back in China and how that improved technology would apply here in Virginia as it relates to their paper product manufacturing, Haymore said.

I think the way they view this is as a reset, he said.

Haymore said the state hopes the company will complete its review of the project by the end of the year, before McAuliffe leaves office in January. Were hopeful that we will have a clear indication of what they plan to do by the end of the year, he said.

VEDP came under intense criticism after The Roanoke Times revealed last year that the state had awarded a $1.4 million grant from the fund in 2014 to a different Chinese company, Lindenburg Industry, that proved to be illegitimate.

McAuliffe personally closed the deal with Lindenburg at a meeting in China based on a recommendation by VEDP officials who, the Times reporting showed, had failed to investigate the companys background.

Lindenburg later defaulted on a pledge to invest $113 million and employ 349 people in Appomattox and has failed to return the state grant. Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said this month that a 17-month-old criminal investigation of Lindenburg will take several more months to complete. A VEDP suit against the company and its site consultant filed nearly 19 months ago is scheduled for a hearing on pre-trial motions Sept. 29.

Martin Briley, appointed in 2011 under then-Gov. Bob McDonnell, resigned as CEO of VEDP last year and the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission issued a scathing report last fall that led to major legislative reforms of the independent state authority this year.

Tranlin is a much different company, confronting rapid changes in technology and the market for its products, said Haymore, who as commissioner of agriculture visited a company factory in China with McAuliffe three years ago.

We have seen them in action, he said. We have seen the paper products being made.

Two other Chinese-led ventures welcomed to the state by Virginia governors also wavered far from their original plans. McAuliffe helped broker a deal with UniTao Pharmaceuticals to expand employment in the Richmond area, but the company in 2015 halted a plan to invest $22.5 million and hire 376 people at a facility it bought in Petersburg. A $1 million grant had been approved for the company. UniTao never collected it and has since sold its plant.

Last year, New Ridge Home Goods backed out of a 2014 agreement announced by McDonnell to build a 125-employee furniture factory in Smyth County. New Ridge returned more than $800,000 in local and state government grants in April 2016. It has posted a sign with the company name at a former cabinet plant it purchased in Smyth County but has not commenced operations or hiring.

Staff writer Jeff Sturgeon contributed to this report.
CHRISTIANSBURG  The New River Valley Mall will receive a total of $60,510 and see its real estate tax assessment drop by $16.3 million as part of a settlement with Montgomery County.

The county provided details of the settlement Thursday. It concludes a legal battle during which the retail propertys owner argued that the struggling commercial complex had been overtaxed in recent years. The mall filed a circuit court application to reduce its tax assessment about a year ago.

The mall argued that its assessed value in 2016 should have reflected its sale price that year of $27 million. The mall also pointed to the loss of more tenants since the property switched hands, and argued that its assessed value for this year should be $23 million.

The county valued the mall at $57 million for tax purposes during the previous four-year reassessment in 2015. The county dropped that assessment by $11 million last year in response to an appeal from the malls owner.

San Francisco-based Farallon Capital Management LLC bought the mall last year from Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust of Philadelphia. Farallon then formed another firm  NRV Mall Associates LLC  to represent the property.

The mall sought real estate tax refunds from Christiansburg and Montgomery County for 2016 and 2017. Christiansburg and Blacksburg rely on the county assessment to calculate their own tax bills.

Last month, the Christiansburg Town Council approved a settlement to reduce the towns tax bill for the mall by $18,485. That deal, along with the countys settlement, was included in an order signed by Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge David Melesco.

The order states that any claims related to tax year 2016 are dismissed, but requires the county pay the mall $30,000 within 30 days of the orders entry. The order then directs the county to refund the mall another $30,510 for taxes paid in the first half of this year and to reduce the propertys assessment to $29.7 million. The order states that the taxes for the second half of this year will be based on the new assessment.

The order also requires that the $29.7 million assessment remain in effect for 2018.

NRV Mall Associates paid real estate taxes of $77,505 to Christiansburg and $431,125 to the county in 2016, according to figures from each locality.

An attorney for the mall couldnt be reached for comment Thursday.

County supervisors Chairman Chris Tuck, whose board had discussed the matter in private until recently, said he understands the malls position. He said mall values nationwide have declined , and he cited the departure of the New River Valley Malls anchor tenant Sears in 2013 and the upcoming departure of JCPenney.

Tuck said its his understanding that the most recent reassessment relied on conditions from two or three years ago. He said things have changed in that short time.

When you have businesses such as Sears and JCPenney moving out, that factors into the value of the mall, he said. Were not seeing the demand, even the way we were three, four, five or six years ago.

I dont want to see people pay taxes on something they shouldnt pay taxes on.

The next reassessment will be in 2019.
WARM SPRINGS  Darla Elizabeth Hise pleaded not guilty Wednesday morning to the shotgun slaying of her 6-year-old daughter  charges that shook tiny Bath County so hard that seating an impartial jury became impossible as the day wore on.

At the end of a day-long effort to select a jury, Circuit Court Judge Michael Irvine granted a motion for a change of venue.

A mistrial was declared, and the case will be rescheduled once a determination is made on where the second trial will be held.

I would suggest we made a pretty valiant effort to find unbiased jurors, Irvine said.

About half of the potential jurors called to Circuit Court at the start of Hises trial said the nature of the charges alone would render them unable to keep an open mind. Nearly all of them had at least a passing knowledge of the case.

Many cited news media coverage; others knew of the incident personally or through word of mouth in a county of about 4,400 residents.

Theres talk out there, one potential juror said. I feel like Im already influenced, another said.

By 5 p.m., Irvine had declared 18 men and women unqualified to sit on the jury after he, prosecutor John Singleton and defense attorney Tony Anderson led them through lengthy questioning in panels of three or four.

The numbers looked no better two hours later, when the 19 potential jurors who were not struck for cause still fell short of the approximately two dozen needed from which to pick a jury of 12.

Last month, Anderson filed a motion for a change of venue, writing that news media coverage has evoked great passion and prejudice in the community.

Irvine denied the motion at the time, following the guidance of a Virginia Supreme Court decision that directs attorneys to make a reasonable effort to find jurors in the place where a crime occurred. The judge said late Wednesday that he was satisfied that was done, but to no avail, in deciding to grant a second defense request to move the case out of Bath County.

Hise, 27, is charged with first-degree murder in the Feb. 4 shooting of Abigail Grace Hise in their Hot Springs home.

According to court documents, Hise told a detective shortly after the incident that she believed her daughter and son were in danger from aliens and she thought she was going to save her daughter by sending her to heaven.

Hise is also charged with attempted murder of her 3-year-old son, who was found unharmed in the home.

At the time of Hises statement, authorities had arrested her the previous night after getting a call about a shooting on Billy Goat Lane. Deputies responding to the call found Hise, who led them to the home, where her daughter was discovered dead.

Shortly after her arrest, Hise was taken to the emergency room of Bath Community Hospital after complaining of anxiety and abdominal pain. In a statement there to a Bath County detective, she talked about her fear of aliens.

Anderson argued in court papers earlier that the statement should be thrown out because his clients compromised mental condition and chronic drug use made her unable to knowingly waive her right to remain silent. That motion was denied.

Tests showed that Hise had been using methamphetamines, amphetamines, and marijuana; drugs she said she had been taking for the past three weeks.

Wearing a burgundy blouse and gray pants, the defendant showed little emotion throughout the day Wednesday. She briefly wiped her eyes at one point when her attorney asked the potential jurors if they would be adversely affected by having to view graphic crime scene photographs.
RICHMOND  Officials in Norfolk want to move the citys downtown Confederate monument to a cemetery, and theyre asking Attorney General Mark Herring for an advisory opinion on whether state law allows it.

State law on the issue is murky, and a lawsuit is pending in Charlottesville Circuit Court over whether that city has the right to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Emancipation Park.

The Norfolk City Council unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday asking that due to the importance of the issue across the state, the number of monuments and people affected, the attorney general make this request a priority and provide an opinion as soon as reasonably possible.

Herring spokesman Michael Kelly said Herring will review the request from Norfolks city attorney and respond.

Ultimately this decision is one for local governments to make, Kelly said in an email. There may be different restrictions that apply to different monuments, or no restrictions, depending on where it is, who owns it, and a number of other factors that individual localities will need to identify, evaluate and consider in consultation with their city or county attorney.

Attorney general opinions may be given deference by the courts but are not binding.

The Charlottesville City Council voted in February to relocate the Lee statue.

A rally Aug. 12 attracted white supremacists and counterprotesters from across the country; one woman was killed when a car drove into a crowd of counterprotesters, and two Virginia State Police pilots died after their helicopter crashed.

Norfolk is among cities across the South taking steps to remove or relocate Confederate monuments, many constructed long after the Civil War and during times of segregation and racial oppression.

Norfolks monument has a generic rebel soldier on the top and reads Our Confederate Dead 1861-1865.

Its not even in the original location, said Mayor Kenneth Alexander. It was put into storage for several years in the late 1960s for construction of a downtown skyscraper, he said.

Elmwood Cemetery in Norfolk includes graves of white Confederate soldiers; West Point Cemetery contains a monument honoring black Union soldiers. So the City Council wants to move the Confederate monument to Elmwood.

A state law passed in 1998 makes it illegal for cities and counties to disturb or interfere with any war memorial, including removing, damaging or defacing monuments. But a Danville Circuit Court judge ruled in 2015 that the law did not apply to memorials built before 1998.

It is clear that statutes, generally speaking, do not have retroactive application unless that retroactive application is specified by the legislature, Judge James Reynolds wrote in an opinion.

In 2016, Del. Charles Poindexter, R-Franklin , sponsored a bill that passed the General Assembly and would have added language that said, The provisions of this subsection shall apply to all such monuments and memorials, regardless of when erected.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe vetoed it, arguing that the bill would end local discussions about whether to retain or move Confederate monuments.

John Adams, the Republican nominee for attorney general against Herring in November, believes state law prohibits a locality from moving a Confederate monument, spokeswoman Taylor Keeney said.
By PTI: London, Aug 24 (PTI) Brief training in mindfulness strategies may help heavy drinkers cut back on alcohol consumption, researchers, including one of Indian origin, claim.

After an 11-minute training session and encouragement to continue practising mindfulness - which involves focusing on what is happening in the present moment - heavy drinkers drank less over the next week than people who were taught relaxation techniques, researchers said.

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"We found that a very brief, simple exercise in mindfulness can help drinkers cut back, and the benefits can be seen quite quickly," said Sunjeev Kamboj from University College London (UCL) in the UK.

The researchers brought in 68 drinkers, who drank heavily but not to the point of having an alcohol use disorder.

Half of them were trained to practise mindfulness, which teaches a heightened awareness of ones feelings and bodily sensations, so that they pay attention to cravings instead of suppressing them.

They were told that by noticing bodily sensations, they could tolerate them as temporary events without needing to act on them. The training was delivered through audio recordings, and only took 11 minutes.

At the end of the training, participants were encouraged to continue practising the techniques for the next week.

The other half were taught relaxation strategies, chosen as a control condition that appeared to be just as credible as the mindfulness exercise for reducing alcohol use.

The study was double-blind, meaning neither experimenters nor participants knew which strategy was being delivered.

"We used a highly controlled experimental design, to ensure that any benefits of mindfulness training were not likely explained by people believing it was a better treatment," said Tom Freeman, who was part of the research team while based at UCL.

The mindfulness group drank 9.3 fewer units of alcohol (roughly equivalent to three pints of beer) in the following week compared to the week preceding the study, while there was no significant reduction in alcohol consumption among those who had learned relaxation techniques.

"Practising mindfulness can make a person more aware of their tendency to respond reflexively to urges," said Kamboj, lead author of the study published in the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology.

"By being more aware of their cravings, we think the study participants were able to bring intention back into the equation, instead of automatically reaching for the drink when they feel a craving," he said.

Severe alcohol problems are often preceded by patterns of heavy drinking, so the researchers are hopeful that mindfulness could help to reduce drinking before more severe problems develop. PTI SAR SAR

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By PTI: By Aditi Khanna

London, Aug 23 (PTI) The Guinness world record for the largest samosa has been smashed by a 153 kg gigantic version of the popular Indian tea-time snack prepared at a mosque here.

The enormous snack was made by a 12-member team of Muslim Aid volunteers at the East London Mosque yesterday.

After Guinness World Records officials approved their feat, the team distributed the gigantic samosa, that took over 15 hours to make, to homeless people around Whitechapel.

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The previous record for the worlds largest samosa was of 110.8 kg set by Bradford College in northern England in June 2012.

A Guinness World Records spokesperson was quoted by the Evening Standard as saying that, "This is an impressive achievement by Muslim Aid and a lot of hard work and determination has gone into this attempt to ensure its success."

"We are pleased to welcome them to the Guinness World Records family," the spokesperson said.

Members of the mosque said they decided to make the samosa to highlight the "generosity of Muslim people during religious festivals like Eid".

"We wanted to make a larger-than-ever version of this popular food to demonstrate visually how people of the Muslim faith work tirelessly throughout the year, and particularly during Eid, doing charitable acts to support the unfortunate in the community around them and further afield," Muslim Aids Zac Hussain was quoted as saying.

"The samosa will feed the homeless near our offices in London. Meanwhile, donations via Muslim Aid will feed hundreds of thousands in the developing world," he said.

The samosa needed to be triangular, contain flour, potato, onion, and peas and be deep-fried while maintaining its shape for it to be considered a successful attempt at the record. And, most importantly, it had to be fit for human consumption.

The huge samosa was set up on an oversized wire rack and then lowered into a custom built deep-fryer for the final result which was crisp and golden. PTI ASK AKJ ASK

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By PTI: London, Aug 24 (PTI) Astronomers have captured the most detailed image ever of the surface and atmosphere of any star other than the Sun.

They have also made the first two-dimensional map of the velocities of material in the atmosphere of a star beyond the Sun, revealing unexpected turbulence in the red supergiant star Antaress huge extended atmosphere.

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To the unaided eye the famous, bright star Antares shines with a strong red tint in the heart of the constellation of Scorpius (The Scorpion).

It is a huge and comparatively cool red supergiant star in the late stages of its life, on the way to becoming a supernova.

A team of astronomers, led by Keiichi Ohnaka, of the Universidad Catolica del Norte in Chile, has now used European Southern Observatory (ESO)s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) in Chile to map Antaress surface and to measure the motions of the surface material.

This is the best image of the surface and atmosphere of any star other than the Sun, researchers said.

"How stars like Antares lose mass so quickly in the final phase of their evolution has been a problem for over half a century," said Keiichi Ohnaka, the lead author of the research paper published in the journal Nature.

"The VLTI is the only facility that can directly measure the gas motions in the extended atmosphere of Antares - a crucial step towards clarifying this problem," said Ohnaka.

Using the new results the team has created the first two-dimensional velocity map of the atmosphere of a star other than the Sun.

They did this using the VLTI with three of the Auxiliary Telescopes and an instrument called AMBER to make separate images of the surface of Antares over a small range of infrared wavelengths.

The team then used these data to calculate the difference between the speed of the atmospheric gas at different positions on the star and the average speed over the entire star.

This resulted in a map of the relative speed of the atmospheric gas across the entire disc of Antares.

The astronomers found turbulent, low-density gas much further from the star than predicted, and concluded that the movement could not result from convection, that is, from large-scale movement of matter which transfers energy from the core to the outer atmosphere of many stars.

They said that a new, currently unknown, process may be needed to explain these movements in the extended atmospheres of red supergiants like Antares.

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"In the future, this observing technique can be applied to different types of stars to study their surfaces and atmospheres in unprecedented detail. This has been limited to just the Sun up to now," Ohnaka said. PTI SAR SAR

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By India Today Web Desk: Makers of Sony TV's popular show Beyhadh are all set to introduce another time leap in the show. Recently, the show took a short three-month leap, when Arjun (Kushal Tandon) was convicted for Maya's (Jennifer Winget) murder.

Now, the tables have turned and Maya is in the jail, but knowing Maya we can be sure that she will surely manage to escape.

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In the recent episode, Maya is fooled by the jailer into believing that she can escape the prison. She gets Arjun kidnapped, but after knowing that it was all a ploy, she is worried about Arjun.

According to reports in Mumbai Mirror, Beyhadh will take a five-year leap. Post the leap, Maya, will continue her mission revenge, while Arjun will be getting ready to tie the knot with his friend Saanjh (Aneri Vajani).

Reportedly, both Arjun and Maya will start living with fake identities.

Also read: Beyhadh: Thank you, Saanjh for not accepting Arjun's proposal

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In the medical camp, seven medical officers of two countries provided free pathological examinations, prescriptions and medicines to 570 patients including 163 children, 239 women and 168 men.

By Sahidul Hasan Khokon: The Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) and India's Border Security Force (BSF)jointly organized a medical camp for the first time in Killapara BSF camp of Meghalaya near Nakugaon border of Nalitabari upazila of Sherpur district of Bangladesh.

The medical camp was held from 9am to 2pm on Thursday for local people of India and to make the relations between the two border guards more cordial.

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In the morning, BGB, Mymensingh sector commander Colonel Kazi Aniruddha, BGBM inaugurated the camp jointly with DIG Uday Pratap Singh Pathania of Tura headquarters.

In the medical camp, seven medical officers of two countries provided free pathological examinations, prescriptions and medicines to 570 patients including 163 children, 239 women and 168 men.

Prior to the start of the campaign, the BSF members gave a guard of honor to BGB officials.

The Border Guards of India and Bangladesh also paid tributes at the memorial of Shaheed (Martyr) BSF members at Dalu border in the Liberation War of Bangladesh.

From 9am on Friday, a medical camp will be held for the local people of Bangladesh, jointly by the border guards of the two countries at the Nakugaon border, said BGB Mymensingh Sector Commander Colonel Kazi Aniruddha.

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Attempts to accomplish controlled descent of water from Mirs quarry continue

24 august 2017 News

According to the press service of ALROSA, the volume of water in Mirs quarry pit was 25,100 cubic meters as at 11:00 local time today. At 8:42 local time, the water level in the mine was -230.4 meters relative to sea level. Measures are being taken to achieve a controlled descent of water from the quarry by way of pin-point blasts involving aviation.

Regular water measurements in the quarry pit will continue at two-hour intervals, if observation will not be complicated by the smoke coming from forest fires.

A pumping complex capable of keeping the water level in the mine at a certain point is ready for operation on the mines level of -210 meters. The additionally installed pumps are protected by a waterproof dam. The pumps will be started after the water in the mine will reach the level of -222 meters.

According to Russias federal industrial safety regulations, mine rescue operations below the level of possible water breakthroughs are prohibited until this threat is eliminated. The rescue grouping involving EMERCOM and ALROSA and consisting of 285 people and 16 units of equipment is ready to immediately resume the rescue operation after a controlled discharge of water from the pit will be achieved.




European stocks were mostly higher on Thursday ahead of a key meeting of central bankers beginning later in the day.

Investors await speeches from Fed Chair Janet Yellen and ECB President Mario Draghi, though they are not expected to send any new policy messages.

Meanwhile, the day's economic reports proved to be a mixed bag. French manufacturing confidence strengthened in August to the highest level since late 2007, while U.K. GDP grew by 0.3 percent sequentially as initially estimated in the second quarter, separate reports showed.

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.4 percent at 375.49 in late opening deals after declining half a percent the previous day.

The German DAX and France's CAC 40 index were up around 0.3 percent each, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was rising 0.4 percent.

Swiss telecommunications provider Sunrise Communications jumped over 6 percent after posting strong Q2 results.

CRH rallied 2.6 percent in London after the building materials group reported higher profit in its first half with improved sales and announced the sale of its Americas Distribution .

Sub-prime lender Provident Financial jumped as much as 20 percent after steep losses earlier in the week.

Dixons Carphone shares plunged 21 percent after the mobile phone retailer warned of a steep fall in full-year profit, saying increasing number of customers are not opting to upgrade their handsets.

Simcorp slumped more than 8 percent after its Q2 results disappointed investors.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Market Analysis
Daniel Kammen, a Science Envoy for the Department of State, has resigned in protest against President Donald Trump's failure to denounce white supremacists and neo-nazis over their role in violence in Charlottesville.

"Your response to Charlottesville enables racism, sexism, & harms our country and planet," the Distinguished Professor of Energy at the University of California said in a letter addressed to the President Wednesday.

Trump's comments that "both sides" were to blame for the clash between white supremacists and those counter-protesting the rally on August 12 drew widespread criticism across the political spectrum.

Kammen, who was appointed to the position back in February 2016 and has served in many federal roles for more than 20 years, published his resignation letter on Twitter.

Kammen used an acrostic in his letter to convey a not-so-subtle message to the Preasident - starting each paragraph of his seven-paragraph letter by using the letters in the word "IMPEACH."

He said his decision to resign was in response to Trump's "attacks on core values of the United States."

He accused Trump of harming the quality of life in the United States, the nation's standing abroad, and the sustainability of the planet.

Kammen made it clear that the Trump administration's environmental and energy policies, as well his decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate deal are not acceptable to him.

Kammen's resignation is only the latest in the fallout over Trump's response to the violent clashes in Charlottesville.

Recently, Trump disbanded the President's American Manufacturing Council and the Strategic and Policy Forum after its members resigned over his handling of white supremacist violence in Charlottesville.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Political News
The European got off to a positive start Thursday, but remained largely in a sideways trend throughout the session. The markets ended the session with mixed results. Traders were in a cautious mood ahead of the Federal Reserve's Economic Policy Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming which kicks off today.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi are both scheduled to speak at the conference on Friday. Traders will be watching their speeches closely for any clues regarding future monetary policy.

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index advanced 0.30 percent. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone blue chip stocks increased 0.18 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, added 0.36 percent.

The DAX of Germany climbed 0.05 percent, but the CAC 40 of France fell 0.04 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. gained 0.33 percent, but the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 0.17 percent.

In Frankfurt, Lufthansa decreased 0.12 percent after the airline formally submitted a proposal to acquire parts of the insolvent Air Berlin.

In Paris, train maker Alstom rose 0.45 percent after winning a 135 million euros maintenance contract in Sweden.

In London, CRH rallied 3.83 percent after the building materials group reported higher profit in its first half with improved sales and announced the sale of its Americas Distribution .

Sub-prime lender Provident Financial jumped 13.16 percent after steep losses earlier in the week.

Dixons Carphone plunged 20.54 percent after the mobile phone retailer warned of a steep fall in full-year profit, saying increasing number of customers are not opting to upgrade their handsets.

Simcorp sank 9.83 percent in Copenhagen after its Q2 results disappointed investors.

Telecommunications provider Sunrise Communications jumped 7.31 percent in Zurich after posting strong Q2 results.

French manufacturing confidence strengthened in August to the highest level since late 2007, survey results from the statistical office Insee showed Thursday.

The manufacturing sentiment index improved to 111 in August from revised 108 in July. This was the highest score since December 2007. Economists had forecast the index to fall to 108 in August from July's initially estimated value of 109.

The UK expanded as initially estimated in the second quarter, the second estimate from the Office for National Statistics showed Thursday.

Gross domestic product increased 0.3 percent sequentially in the second quarter, unrevised from the preliminary estimate. The latest pace of growth was slightly faster than the 0.2 percent expansion posted in the first quarter.

British retailers reported the biggest fall in retail sales since July 2016 and orders placed on suppliers declined considerably from the previous year in August, Distributive Trades Survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed Thursday.

The retail sales balance plunged to -10 percent in August from +22 percent in July. The balance was forecast to drop moderately to +16 percent. The latest score was the lowest since July 2016.

UK mortgage approvals increased to a five-month high in July, data published by the UK Finance showed Thursday. The number of mortgage approvals rose to 41,587 in July from 40,385 in June. Approvals increased by 9 percent from July 2016, when the market was markedly subdued after the EU referendum.

A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed a modest uptick in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended August 19th.

The report said initial jobless claims inched up to 234,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 232,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 238,000.

Existing home sales in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased in the month of July, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Thursday. NAR said existing home sales fell by 1.3 percent to an annual rate of 5.44 million in July after tumbling by 2 percent to a downwardly revised 5.51 million in June.

The continued decrease surprised economists, who had expected existing home sales to climb to an annual rate of 5.57 million in July from the 5.52 million originally reported for the previous month.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Market Analysis
(Agencia CMA Latam) - Argentinean Finance Minister Nicolas Dujovne announced that the national government would send a tax reform bill to Congress before the end of the year. According to him, the tax reform aims to reduce from the current 41% to 33% in 2023 the tax burden in Argentina.

The tax reform bill sought by the government "will propose a gradual reduction in taxes that will give predictability to the private sector, because entrepreneurs will be able to incorporate into their projections how the tax scheme will be in the next five years," Dujovne said.

The minister stated that, according to his projections, Argentina could grow "3% or 4% per year for many years" with "floating exchange rate, integration with the world and tax reform."

by Agencia CMA Latam

For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com

Economic News

What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
(Agencia CMA Latam) - The director for the Western Hemisphere of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Alejandro Werner, affirmed that Argentina would close 2017 posting one of the highest growth rates in the region, once it could leave behind a 2% drop last year to rise above 2% in the current.

Speaking at the Council of the Americas, Werner considered that the IMF sees a "very important transformation that is taking place today in Argentina and a process of macroeconomic order that goes through the establishment of an independent monetary policy and an exchange rate flotation scheme that has been very successful in the region."

Meanwhile, Werner noted that the IMF sees that Argentina is in "a process of recovering and consolidation of growth, with balance and quickness in reforms."

Noting that the global "is accelerating, with a 3.5% average growth rate for this year and a slight growth for the next," Werner said that Argentina would grow 2.4% in 2017, while the United States' economy would increase 2%, the European would grow 1.5% and the Chinese at around 6%.

by Agencia CMA Latam

For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com

Economic News

What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
(Agencia CMA Latam) - Federico Pinedo, acting Argentinean Senate speaker, said that the upper house should pronounce itself on the political situation in Venezuela after the government of Nicolas Maduro disregarded the resolutions of his country's National Assembly.

"As Latin American brothers, we need to repudiate acts of violence and insist on our concern about human rights violations against Venezuelans," Pinedo said, according to national news agency Telam.

Several lawmakers from the ruling coalition Cambiemos presented a motion to repudiate the Venezuelan government's disregard of the National Assembly resolutions after the legislative house has refused to recognize the legitimacy of the National Constituent Assembly, elected on July 30 amid an opposition boycott.

While the National Assembly is controlled by the opposition, the National Constituent Assembly is controlled by ruling lawmakers.

by Agencia CMA Latam

For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com

Economic News

What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
(Agencia CMA Latam) - The Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos met Liam Fox, the United Kingdom's Secretary for International Trade, to analyze bilateral trade relations between the two nations.

The British official suggested that Colombian projects of strategic interest could be financed through the British export credit agency.

"The United Kingdom will continue to be a secure and stable trading partner for Colombia," Fox said.

This financial support through the UK agency would also be available to UK buyers and exporters of goods and services in Colombia, opening up opportunities for both British and Colombian companies.

by Agencia CMA Latam

For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com

Economic News

What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
(Agencia CMA Latam) - The Argentinean Minister of Agroindustry, Ricardo Buryaile, confirmed that the South American country would once again export soybean oil to China.

Buryaile heads an Argentinean delegation sent to China this week. The news brought relief to the biofuels sector only a few days after the United States has imposed a 61% tariff on Argentinean biodiesel imports. Soybean oil is used, among other things, to produce biodiesel.

"This great achievement allows us to increase our value-added exports and recover, after two years of work, a market in constant growth," said the minister.

This decision is part of the commitment made by presidents Xi Jinping and Mauricio Macri during a meeting in May aimed at balancing the bilateral trade balance.

by Agencia CMA Latam

For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com

Economic News

What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
By Shivani Chhabra: The lovely Bhumi Pednekar successfully paved her way into our hearts with her debut project, Dum Laga Ke Haisha, and has stayed there ever since. With an immensely charming persona, and an inspirational weight-loss journey, she has managed to make her presence in the industry felt.

While we admire her warm personality to bits, her style-sense hasn't risen up our fashion-radar enough to catch any attention. The actress, who generally plays safe with fashion without making any experimental appearances, was recently spotted in a not-so-great outfit that got our eyebrows instantly raised.

Picture courtesy: Instagram/psbhumi

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Also Read: Kareena Kapoor, Malaika Arora & others are making workout attire sexy again

Bhumi made a public appearance with actor Ayushmann Khurrana, who looked totally dapper, like always, while Bhumi's attire was the opposite of happening. Sporting a white, floral dress that was beautifully offset by blue and pink flowers, the actress went completely off with the styling of the attire.

Photo: Yogen Shah

Also Read: 7 outfits Gurmeet Ram Rahim wore that no average human being can

The dress was gorgeous, and would've made for a vibrant, day wear, had she not thrown over a sheer, shirt-jacket that looked out of place. While sheer jackets are a rage this season, Bhumi's ensemble had a raincoat-look to it, thanks to the weird blue pocket on it. The maroon knot-belt on it was an insult to injury that completely sunk her ship.

Photo: Yogen Shah

While the look was extremely dud, we really liked the utter simplicity with which she carried it, and looked just so pretty.

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New rules stipulate that no area will be deemed as a silence zone without the state government's notification.

By Vidya : This ganpati festival, loudspeakers can be played around hospitals, educational and religious institutions as Maharashtra government has managed to get all matters pertaining to noise pollution be transferred to another bench, while alleging that one of the Bombay High Court judges hearing the matter is "biased" against the state government.

The ganpati festivities in Maharashtra will be starting on Friday.

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The Bombay High Court was recently 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 a silence zone including 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.

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. 1500 locations were thus, notified as silence zones by the BMC.

MAHARASHTRA GOVERNMENT FILES APLLICATION

However, after hearing the petitioners, the court heard the advocate general of Maharashtra on the issue and said that the silence zones in the state cannot be wiped out just because of the amendment brought by the union government. The advocate general sought time to make his submissions.

In the meantime, the state filed an application before the Bombay High Court's chief justice asking for the noise pollution related hearings to be taken to any bench "except that of Justice Abhay Oka".

The application states that Justice Oka said, "There is hardly any compliance with the court order by the state machinery". It says that Justice Oka spoke about the court order on silence zones and said it would go on inspite of the amendment and which shows that the "honarable judge is harbouring a serious bias in the subject matter".

On receiving the application, the chief justice transferred the noise pollution related matters to a different division bench and thus, hearing on the amendment could not be completed.

JUSTICE OKA'S REACTION

Justice oka expressed shock at the letter and said, "We followed the tradition of expressing prima facie view to the learned counsels representing the parties only with a view to get proper assistance from them". Justice Oka said that the state has acted like a common litigant for the first time in his career of 14 years.

Advocates representing the petitioners including Birendra Saraf and Anil Anturkar too expressed shock. Saraf even went on to allege that this attempt is only to ensure that the move is is politically motivated and aims to create noise pollution during the coming ganapati festival.

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Anturkar said that this was setting a bad precedent as it would mean that if the state was asked inconvenient questions, it will allege bias.

The next hearing on the matter is on Monday.

Also Read:

No area in Maharashtra is a silence zone unless state government notifies it

Bombay High Court to hear petitions against no silence zones ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Indore, Aug 24 (PTI) A 30-year-old woman, who was declared brain dead yesterday, has given a new lease of life to four persons by donating her organs.

Harshita Kushwaha was undergoing treating since July 28 at Bombay Hospital, where doctor declared her brain dead last evening, a state government official said today.

After her husband and other family members gave their consent for donating her organs, Kushwahas heart was harvested and transplanted in a patient in Mumbai.

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"The heart was sent through an air ambulance to Mumbais Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital. Her liver and kidneys were transplanted in three different patients in local hospitals," the official said.

He said the organs of 26 brain dead patients had been donated during the last 22 months in Indore. These organs were transplanted in 160 patients in Indore and other cities across the country. PTI HWP ADU NSK

--- ENDS ---
Witnesses said a man emerged from the kitchen of the restaurant, told diners there was a new boss in Charleston and ordered them to leave.

By AP: Authorities say a disgruntled employee shot one person and is holding hostages in a restaurant in an area of Charleston, South Carolina, that is popular with tourists.

Mayor John Tecklenburg said at a news conference that the shooting Thursday at Virginia's in downtown Charleston was not an act of terrorism or racism.

Tecklenburg did not have the condition of the person shot, and said he didn't know how many hostages remained inside the restaurant.

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Witnesses said a man emerged from the kitchen of the restaurant, told diners there was a new boss in Charleston and ordered them to leave.

Charleston Police sent SWAT teams and a bomb disposal unit to the area and warned people nearby to stay inside buildings or leave.

The site is a few blocks away from Emanuel AME church, where nine black members of a church were killed by a white man during a June 2015 Bible study. Dylann Roof was sentenced to death in the case.

Also Read:

Orlando shooting: Six people including gunman dead

2 dead in school shooting in Saudi Arabia; no children present

Also Watch:

US: Indian national Sameer Patel shot dead in Atlanta, incident caught on CCTV

--- ENDS ---
Dear Editor,

Re: Record $417M award in lawsuit linking baby powder to cancer

This is a very interesting case and is one that has broad implications for a range of products that are currently on the markets. It also brings to the forefront that critical requirement of effective food and cosmetic safety for our small nation.

Based on this case and as the saying goes, the Jury is still out as appeals are intended, we have an unsafe product on our shelves that we are applying to our babies in Samoa. It is almost a mandatory product included in our asiga of the newborn child.

The question is, how does Samoa react?

We have this and another highly used product on our shelves used as a herbicide - Roundup know chemically as Glyphosate or locally as fitu aso. This is a product that the World Health Organization has classified as a probable carcinogen. In laymans language, probable carcinogen means that it causes cancer. California has recently required sellers of this chemical to include a warning that it causes cancer on the label.

This is where the waters get a bit muddied as in both cases we have products that are demonstrating through legal and scientific process that they are dangerous to human health. However we have strong commercial interests that do not want to see these products taken off the shelves. Basically they end up in stalemates and continue to poison the consumers who ingest these products one way or another.

The question then is, when and how does government react? Do we wait for a global announcement from WHO or other such organization? Do our local government bodies take the initiative and say - ok we need to look at this for the safety of the general public? What is the catalyst that initiates action of what we know is common sense?

Edwin
Sheraton Samoa Aggie Greys Hotel has become one of the more popular venues to host national and regional conferences in Samoa. On Monday, members of Samoa Chamber of Commerce were invited to see why.

Sheraton Samoa sponsored and hosted the Samoa Chamber of Commerce August monthly members meeting in their Harbour View Meeting Room.

One of the upcoming events for the private sector announced at the meeting is the Pacific Wave Conference. The conference is being held in Samoa for the first time on Friday 8 September. It is sponsored by the Pacific Cooperation Foundation, New Zealands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the government of Samoa and the Chamber of Commerce.

The theme for this years conference is Prosperous futures through technology.

The conference promises an impressive line-up of keynote speakers; from Jamie Beaton, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Crimson Education to Craig Hudson, Country Manager New Zealand of Xero.

The conference also includes panel discussions on the Samoan Submarine Cable Project, an Iwi perspective of innovative technology and a Pacific perspective of innovative technology.

Samoa Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer, Lemauga Hobart Vaai, encouraged members to register for the event noting there were limited spaces available.

The meeting will be held at Sheraton Samoas Harbour View Meeting room.

The meeting concluded with a special presentation from Sheraton Samoas Director of Rooms, Mark Wendt, which showcased the journey of the two Sheraton Hotels at Mulifanua and Vaisigano over the past few years with rebranding and addition of property features such as the Kids Club, Whitesands Casino and 24hour Lobby Cafe.

As the first international branded hotel resort in Samoa, Sheraton Samoa brings forth a new experience for the tourism industry. Three new members were introduced and they were Crichton Pointon Consultancy, Elis Elei and S & B Hirage.
The lack of data collection by the National Health Services Laboratory was highlighted in the first H.I.V, A.I.D.S, Sexual Transmitted Infection and Tuberculosis Reference Manual launched by the Ministry of Health.

Obtained by the Samoa Observer, the 77 page report released 20 July 2017 indicated the first manual and framework aims to develop for a programmatic disease area outside of the broader health sector framework, which it links to.

Chief Executive Officer, Leausa Dr Take Naseri in the report emphasized the importance of monitoring and evaluation of the said diseases.

It is a powerful management tool as well as one of the core functions of the Ministry of Health, he said.

The Ministry of Health as governments lead agency in the Health Sector is mandated in the M.O.H. Act 2006 to monitor and regulate health sector performance.

The manual consists of sexual health indicators that will enable tracking of progress and impact; as well as to allow informed decisions along the implementation of the current Health Sector Plan 2008-2018 and the new plan set to be operational in 2019.

The application of this manual will also serve to further the Ministry of Health endeavour to create integrated M&E systems for each disease and programmatic area within the health sector.

Crucial to this effort is the continued invaluable partnership of all stakeholders, partners, N.G.Os, and international development partners involved in the Samoas national response to H.I.V, S.T.I, and T.B.

I present this H.I.V, A.I.D.S, S.T.I. and T.B. M&E Reference Manual with great enthusiasm that it will make a change to the health of our people and overall performance of our Samoa Health Sector.

Working towards combating these diseases will involve improving health information, accountability, and evidence based management of H.I.V, A.I.D.S, S.T.Is and T.B. I invite all partners and stakeholders to use this manual to guide the way forward, Leausa stated in the report.

As of 2016 there were 24 cumulative cases of H.I.V. in Samoa according to surveillance data and 11 of these cases are currently living. The primary mode of transmission of H.I.V. in Samoa is heterosexual sex. Results from the 2008 Second Generation Surveillance Survey reveal that H.I.V. in Samoa occurs at a rate of 10.4 cases per 100,000 with a male to female ratio of 2:1.

Surveillance data is currently gathered from hospital records on Upolu and Savaii, Private provider offices, health clinics, Immigration, various N.G.Os, Samoa Family Health Association, and from blood donors.

However funding and staffing shortages at all of these organizations has limited the amount and frequency of data that can be collected for H.I.V. and other S.T.Is. Thirteen out of the 24 cumulative cases are deceased. Between 2009-2016 there were three females; eight males; 11 total living cases of people living with H.I.V.

All living cases receiving treatments and nine are receiving antiretroviral from the national health services; two are receiving antiretroviral from private providers.

There are five incidences of mother to child transmissions and currently, 3 living mothers and 2 living children, says the report.

According to the report Samoas H.I.V, A.I.D.S, S.T.I. and T.B. data came from three main sources, surveillance data from National Health Services laboratory and S.T.I. Clinic that process samples from hospitals, health clinics, and reports from private providers; behavioural surveillance survey (B.S.S.) conducted by W.H.O. (2008) and behavioural and risk factor data from the Demographic Health Survey (2014).

The report further indicates there are however issues with data from these sources.

While the issues were not identified, the report points to the N.H.S. laboratory surveillance data, there are delays in receiving and testing specimens with produces late results, especially for antenatal women who may have already given birth by the time the results are processed.

Private providers are required to report testing results back to M.O.H. but not treatment, and funding issues have made it difficult for M.O.H. to enforce this mandate.

Additionally, the facility is underfunded and therefore understaffed, which limits the quantity and frequency of how much and when surveillance data can be reported to M.O.H.

As for the B.S.S. survey, collected important data on behaviour and risk perception of H.I.V, these data are now outdated.

The Demographic Health Survey, completed in 2014 also captures important data on risks behaviours, knowledge, and attitudes relating to H.I.V.

However, for current M.O.H. planning and implementation purposes, more behavioural indicators need to be collected in addition to more comprehensive surveillance data.

These separate sources need to be integrated so that clinical data can be linked with behavioural data for M&E.

Information gathered the current Health Sector M&E framework only records prevalence and incidence of Chlamydia, syphilis, and gonorrhea. More indicators pertinent to these STIs and additionally H.I.V. need to be collected for planning purposes of the programme.

The report indicates the primary purpose of this document is to provide a data collection reference manual for the health sector with regards to M&E.

It is meant to identify what data the health sector has, what it needs to collect, and for what purposes.

The M&E framework models the chain of results i.e. what indicators produce results at what level.

The indicator glossary provides a detailed list of each indicator, its calculation, data source, and required disaggregation.
The McDonalds Samoa in central downtown Apia is up for an expensive facelift.

And its the beginning of better things to come for the country as the franchise embarks on a multi-million tala investment in Samoa that will see Ronald and his people expanding to Vaitele, the Faleolo International Airport and eventually the big island of Savaii in Saleleloga.

And the expansion plan says owner and Chief Executive of McDonalds Samoa, Tautolo Aogaleatu Charlie Tautolo, will see the company pouring in 7.4 million on the expansion.

For the Apia location, the facelift will take seven months but the restaurant will continue to open for business to maintain employment for the current staff of over 70 employees.

The Apia location expansion will increase seating capacity to 121 customers and a McCafe inside the restaurant will be added, complemented by a new system for ordering meals known as Make-for-you orders. The Make-for-you will see meals cooked upon order, allowing customers to receive hot and fresh food every time.

The expansion will start in early September.

VAITELE

Vaitele is booming with new residents and they deserve the taste of McDonalds, noted Tautolo. Vaitele is like Tafuna in American Samoa and as a family restaurant, every family deserves nothing but the best.

And McDonalds Samoa will serve nothing but the best.

Of course there is no question that new jobs will also be available which is good for the community and a huge investment in the economy.

FALEOLO

Also in the companys strategic plan is a 24-7 restaurant at the Faleolo International Airport to be located where the Polynesian Airlines Cargo warehouse was.

With the help from the Samoa Airport Authority and the Samoan Government, we were able to secure a location just outside the Airport Terminal, as planned, it will be a free-standing restaurant opened 24 hours a day, elaborated Tautolo.

With the new airport terminals soon to be completed, we feel that strategically the Faleolo location will be ideal and reaffirms our commitment to assist with Samoas tourism profile.

SALELOLOGA

And of course the big island of Savaii.

The planned Salelologa restaurant is in line with the governments platform that whats good for Upolu is also good enough for Savaii, noted Tautolo who served as a Member of the House Representative in American Samoas Legislature for 22 years including two terms as Vice Speaker of the House.

Its also a long overdue personal commitment for Tautolo to recognize his roots in the big island.

Tautolos mother, Talaleu Leaitu-Tautolo, is from the Aiono family in Fasitoouta and the Tofa family in Saipipi Savaii.

EDUCATION

One of the main community outreach assistance endorsed by Tautolo and McDonalds Samoa in the territory is education.

Every year, McDonalds finance scholarships worth $US55,0000 equivalent to close to $140,000 tala a year for students attending the American Samoa Community College and high schools.

But unlike the American Samoa Government scholarship program where students who are U.S. nationals born in American Samoa and U.S. citizens are eligible for the government awards, the McDonalds Scholarship initiative is based on merits.

Our scholarship incentive is also open to students who have attained permanent residence in the territory and the majority are from here in Samoa, said Tautolo.

We are committed to improving education opportunities for all regardless of nationality and as I stated before I remain firm on my resolve that regardless of our political circumstances the two Samoas are one.

The success rate of McDonalds Scholarship incentive is 98% with students graduating from Chaminade, Washington State College, University of Hawaii and any university in the mainland accepting students from the territory.

Tuatolo noted that the scholarship recipients success is the only reward that the McDonalds family restaurant asks for.

For Samoa, Tautolo says that an identical scholarship program is also in the strategic plan for academically gifted Samoan students especially students from low income families.

Tautolo successfully opened the first McDonalds restaurant for American Samoa in September, 2000. He now operates the two restaurants in Tafuna and Fagatogo with over 180 employees on the payroll.

While in Samoa, new employment opportunities will be available with from the three new locations on the planning board.

The expansion plan was revealed during the official presentation of $100,000 tala for the naming rights for the McDonalds Miss Samoa Pageant 2017 earlier this month in Apia.
A concrete water tank is all Ario Sanalilo has for a water supply. The problem is that it is leaking.

Today the 55-year-old mother pleads for help in repairing her water tank.

This was my old water tank that we bought many years ago because we dont have access to water on this side of the village, she said.

We are far away from everyone else and so I thank God we were able to afford one back then. However over the years the tank has deteriorated and you can tell that its falling apart.

I dont think its going to be in good shape for that long because the leaks are getting worse and thats why I need help in repairing it or maybe a new water tank please.

Ario said she requested for a water tank from a society in Samoa but so far her prayers havent been answered.

Its just me and my teenage grandson who stays at home because my husband is in Savaii, and you see our home is far away from all the other families.

Arios does not have a stable job to earn money.

My children overseas are the ones helping us with our food and bills and of course living off island they also have bills to pay too.

My husband used to work but not anymore and its hard because we cannot afford anything to fix up our water tank and that is all I need help with for my leaking water tank. Ario told the Village Voice fixing her water tank is something very important her because this its their only source of water.

I see a lot of families have new water tanks but Im still waiting to be blessed with one.

If you want to help Ario Sanalilo of Faleasiu uta with a water tank, please contact her on 7207976.
People in a restaurant in Charleston, South Carolina were held hostage for about three hours by a dishwasher, who was later gunned down.

Charleston, S.C. Police Department blocks the street during an active hostage situation in Charleston, S.C., on Thursday, Aug.24, 2017 (Picture: AP)

By AP: A fired dishwasher shot and killed a chef and held a "small number" of people hostage for about three hours before he was shot by police at a crowded restaurant in a tourist-heavy area of downtown Charleston, South Carolina, on Thursday, authorities and one of the restaurant's owners said.

The hostages were freed with no injuries, Mayor John Tecklenburg said. The shooting took place at Virginia's restaurant on the usually crowded King Street, a line of shops and nice dining that caters to both tourists and residents in South Carolina's largest and most historic city.

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Tecklenburg quickly said the shooting was "the act of a disgruntled employee" and not a terrorist attack or a hate crime in a city where nine black church members were killed by a white man two years ago.

"This was a tragic case of a disturbed individual, I think, with a history of some mental health challenges," Tecklenburg said at a news conference.

Authorities did not release the names of the gunman or the employee he killed, and would not specify the number of hostages who had been held.

The shooting was reported shortly after noon Thursday.

Peter Siegert, 73, and his son Peter Siegert IV, 45, were quoted by The Post and Courier of Charleston as saying that just after several waitresses and kitchen workers walked out the door without saying a word, a man in an apron with a gun came out of the kitchen and locked the front door.

"'I am the new king of Charleston,'" the Siegerts quoted the man as saying.

The man told diners to get on the floor and move to the back of the restaurant. The Siegerts said they escaped out a back door and didn't know how many people were left behind.

One of the restaurant's owners, John Aquino, told WCSC-TV that a dishwasher who had been fired came back to the restaurant and shot a chef to get revenge.

The restaurant was packed with a lunchtime crowd and the first officers to arrive were able to get the man who was shot and a number of diners out safely, interim Charleston Police Chief Jerome Taylor said.

The site is a few blocks away from Emanuel AME church, where nine black members of a church were killed by a white man during a June 2015 Bible study. Dylann Roof was sentenced to death in the case.

It is also just several blocks from where more than 100 cruise ships dock in Charleston each year.

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Today is undoubtedly a sad day for Samoa.

While weve known for sometime now, this is a day we dreaded. Its a day we did not want to arrive at all.

After 25 years of operations in Samoa, the countrys biggest private employer, Yazaki Samoa Eds, is officially shutting shop.

Yes at the close of business today, more than 700 employees will leave the gates of their Vaitele workplace without jobs. Which means they face an uncertain future and will add to the already high unemployment rate this country has.

Looking in a bit closer, the figures are truly frightening. Some 60 per cent of Yazaki workers are young people. 62% are women and 50% are sole income earners in their families.

Overall, Yazaki workers generate about $1.04millionin in total annual income circulating in the economy. This is not a small amount of money and it is easy to see why this is a very sad day for Samoa.

The immediate questions that come to mind are: Where will all these people go? What will they do? What about their families who depend on these employees as they are the breadwinners?

These are tough questions. And we have been asking them since the beginning when we knew that the company would eventually shut shop.

Up until now, there are no concrete answers.

Weve seen a lot of good intentions being expressed about work that is done to prepare these people for life after Yazaki. That is great. But it doesnt take away the fact that as of tomorrow, they are unemployed.

This is the last thing this country needed right now.

Keep in mind that one employee represents an average of 10 or more people who depend on them every day, every week. We are talking about workers who contribute to their families, churches, villages and their communities. It means the impact of the closure would be enormous.

The worst part is the fact the impact is going to be heaviest on some of the poorest members of this country, people who are already struggling to survive on measly incomes. The fact many of the employees of Yazaki are in this category.

Now think of the statistics once more. Think about those young people, what are they to do? Think of those women, mothers whose childrens education and livelihoods depend on the money they make? Think of the fact that the majority of Yazaki workers are sole income earners for families?

It goes without saying that these are difficult times. Its not just difficult for the families; its also difficult for the government as they try to work out what to do.

So far, weve been repeatedly assured that the government is looking at ways to minimise the impact of the closure.

During a recent interview, the Minister of Finance, Sili Epa Tuioti, for instance said there are some options.

I think in two or three years we will be able to provide for them, he said. Obviously with the investment in the submarine cable and the sorts of opportunity that will come in terms connectivity. There are also ongoing discussions with some fishing companies who are expressing interest in investing here and looking at expanding on what they are doing.

With that said, Minister Sili said there is no need to panic.

Its just a matter of firming up on some of those interests and looking at what we can do to make sure that yes we can create jobs. In tourism, if it works well, there will be another area where there will be more opportunities for people to work in.

Weve said this before and we will say it again. Minister Silis optimism is commendable. But it sounds vague, just like everything this government has said ever since the announcement was made to close Yazaki.

The fact is in a country with unemployment and crime figures are already through the roof, we are heading for an unquestionable disaster. This is not the time for abstract and vague answers. This is the time for details.

We are talking about real people with real needs. When those needs are not met and when desperation sets in, the social and economical problems we are seeing today will only get worse.

Think about it one more time. At the close of business today, more than 700 people are without jobs. Where to from here?

Write and share your thoughts with us!

Have a safe Friday Samoa, God bless!
Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi is waiting for a divine whisper from the heavens on someone to fill the vacant Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries portfolio.

The role became available on Wednesday after La'aulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Fosi tendered his resignation in the wake of criminal charges against him.

On Tuesday, Laauli was charged with allegedly obtaining money by deception.

His wife and another business partner were also charged.

The charges are in relation to an on-going dispute over a nonu company involving another senior member of the ruling Human Rights Protection Party and Associate Minister of Cabinet and Prime Minister, Peseta Vaifou Tevaga.

During his weekly media conference yesterday, Prime Minister Tuilaepa commended Laaulis bravery to step down.

Even though the charges are not related to performing his duties and responsibilities as a Cabinet Minister, he (Laaulialemalietoa) decided to resign to protect the integrity of Government and Cabinet, Tuilaepa said.

"He made the courageous decision for the sake of the governments accountability and transparency.

Tuilaepa said the former Minister has led by example.

They lead by example and they must do what is right and not leave any room to be questioned by the public, said Tuilaepa.

The Prime Minister added that this is not the first time a Cabinet Minister has resigned.

It is one of the hardest experiences to see our Minister brother go through this difficult situation. Nonetheless I want to thank him for his boldness.

Despite his eagerness to serve his country, he did the right thing and has stepped down.

According to Tuilaepa, Laaulis decision is courageous.

I was hoping this would be settled as this business venture started some four years ago, he said.

Tuilaepa added that the incident is a timely reminder to public servants that the performance of their duties are subject to public scrutiny.

This is also an important lesson to Members of Parliament and Ministers, he said.

Asked about a potential replacement for Laauli, Tuilaepa said that to date he has not yet thought about a replacement reiterating that he is waiting for a divine whisper from the Heavens on a successor.

Despite his resignation, Laaulialemalietoa is adamant that he is innocent.

I declare that only God knows the truth, he said.

I claim my innocence and I can categorically state I am clean of all the things that I have been accused of.

Laauli said he is resigning with a heavy heart out of respect for the government.

It is with a heavy heart that I announce my resignation as a Minister of Cabinet, he said in a statement.

For the integrity of Cabinet, Government and with the highest of respect to the Prime Minister, I willingly surrender my Cabinet portfolios but will retain my status as a Member of Parliament to await the outcome of the court proceedings.

Laauli vowed to fight all the charges against him vigorously.
A Chinese businessman, James Sun, has refuted claims by a Samoan woman that his company works on Sundays.

We dont work on Sundays, Mr. Sun told the Samoa Observer yesterday.

We came last Sunday to remove timber, after receiving calls that someone was stealing our timber.

We did some work by removing the nails on the timber in order for us to take our timber, but that was it.

The Chinese businessman made the comments in response to a complaint by a nearby resident, Tuilaepa Soiamoa Grey. She was unhappy that the company was working on Sunday.

As a Christian country, our day of worship is on Sunday, she said.

The woman also questioned the legality of the recent amendment to the Constitution to allow Samoa to be declared a Christian state.

I have nothing against the governments decision to make Samoa a Christian state. I fully support it.

But what I find contradictory and hypocritical, is when the government changes the Constitution, yet allows foreigners to disrespect our day of worship by continuing to do hard labour on Sundays.

Tuilaepa lives next to a construction site at Vaitele. The workers are Chinese and they have been working on the Pesega Fou School.

According to Mr. Sun, although they are not Samoans, they have a lot of respect for traditions and the culture of Samoan people.

I am married to a Samoan woman, we have four children and one on the way and we are active members of the E.F.K.S. We are God fearing people, said Mr. Sun.

We may be Chinese but we are not notorious people, we are in Samoa and we do what Samoans do and most of all, we have the utmost respect for Samoas traditions.

Please rest assured that we dont work on Sundays. We came last Sunday to remove our timber, but it was not even a whole day.

Project Manager, Faumuina Patrick Leiataualesa supports the comments by Mr. Sun.

He said there is no construction work on Sundays.

He then referred to the Pesega Fou School Principal; Rebecca Toleafoa Toala who put in place conditions of the project which strictly disallows any construction of the school project on Sundays.

We have signed the contract of the project with the Construction Company and this was one of the conditions is that there is no work on Sundays, he said.

This school belongs to the Latter Day Saints Church and under no circumstances that hard labour work is allowed on Sundays for this project, especially this project, said the Principal.

Vaa Alofipo who was in charge of leveling the site and putting up the fence said their workers have not worked on Sundays since the project started.
Ocean Beach prides itself on its independence and counter-culture community spirit. A bumper sticker sold there reads, U.S. Out of O.B.

Now its the retailer Target that some residents wish would stay away.

The Minneapolis-based company is in negotiations to lease what is currently an antique mall on Newport Avenue, the villages main commercial street. It would be home to a TargetExpress, a smaller-format store similar to the one that went in two years ago  also amid controversy  in South Park.

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At an occasionally raucous meeting of the Ocean Beach Town Council Wednesday night, a crowd of about 100 people made it clear that they dont want a large, profit-driven corporation in their backyard. A show of hands at the end of the 80-minute discussion at the Masonic Lodge saw only three go up in support of the proposal.

Before the straw vote, there were pointed questions directed at Target representatives about what will be sold in the store, calls for a boycott of other Targets in San Diego, and plans announced for a public rally next Wednesday in opposition to the project. The meeting ended with some of those in attendance waving protest signs and chanting, No Target in OB! No Target in OB!

What kind of a difference all that will make is unclear. Gretchen Newsom, the town councils president, said the community has little leverage in a private deal between the owners of the building and Target. No change in zoning is proposed, no major alterations to the buildings exterior, so it wont require a public vote by any city board.

But it wouldnt be O.B. if the residents there didnt at least make their voices heard. This is a place with a long history of challenging outside corporations that want to move in, from Winchells Donuts to CVS to Starbucks. Buy local is almost a religion there.

So no one batted an eye when Newsom showed up to chair the Town Council meeting wearing a T-shirt that reads Resist on the front. No one dismissed as pie-in-the-sky a suggestion that the community form a real estate investment trust funded through Kickstarter that would buy vacant retail space in town and give the community more say about what comes in. Audience members eagerly called out ideas for what they would like to see instead of a Target: housing, a public market, a bowling alley.

We dont want you here, Rio Mezta, a 31-year resident, told the Target representatives in one of the nights most-applauded comments. This is a social justice issue. This is a quality of life issue.

Much of the discussion centered on whether Target would agree not to sell alcohol in the store, which would be along a street already dotted with bars, breweries and liquor stores. Kimberly Hayden, a real estate director for the company, said they are prepared to open without any alcohol on the shelves,, but she declined to commit to a permanent ban.

We dont know what the future holds in terms of customer demand, she said.

That didnt sit well with many on the council and in the crowd. Youre really not taking into account what the public is telling you, said Frank Gormlie, a veteran of earlier land-use protests in town and one of the founders of the O.B. Rag, which started as an alternative newspaper in the 1970s and is now an online site and blog.

Hayden said Target operates 36 of the smaller-format stores in the U.S. They are curated to avoid duplicating what is sold in the surrounding neighborhood, she said, and that would be the approach in O.B.. (In South Park, for example, Target agreed not to sell books or in-store coffee.) She said talks with local merchants have identified gaps in available merchandise such as home decor, electronics and childrens clothing.

We have heard from people who want us to come here, she said.

But Paul Bearce from James Gang, a custom printer thats been in business for more than 40 years, said finding the right products to sell isnt enough. You dont understand what Ocean Beach is, he said, giving as an example his own willingness to pay more for a gallon of milk if its sold by a locally-owned market.

Hayden said the proposed 18,000 square-foot store would employ 40 to 60 workers, most of them residents of the community. Hours would probably be similar to those at the South Park store, which is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Target gives back in the places where it has stores, Hayden said. In San Diego, that amounts to millions of dollars annually in charitable contributions, thousands of volunteer hours by its employees, and hundreds of thousands of pounds of donated food.

We are committed to being active members of the community, she said.

To which one man in the audience replied out loud: No, thanks.

The Town Council took no vote on the proposal. Newsom said that will come at another meeting.

john.wilkens@sduniontribune.com
Snopes.com was granted a partial but significant victory in its ongoing legal battle with San Diego-based media firm Proper Media over ownership of the fact-checking site.

Tuesday, San Diego Superior Court Judge Judith Hayes finalized her tentative ruling on three pre-trial motions, confirming her decisions first issued on Aug. 3. As such, Snopes CEO David Mikkelson will remain in power of the myth-debunking site and the company will get to collect advertising funds that have been withheld by Proper Media since April.

Lawyers on both sides did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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Proper Media sued Snopes parent company Bardav, Inc. and Mikkelson in May. The firm, which manages all ad sales and placements on behalf of Snopes, alleged breach of contract and is simultaneously seeking to be recognized as a 50 percent owner of Bardav.

The early site-salvaging wins for Snopes may be short-lived, as the judge also ruled that Proper Media can move forward with some of its original allegations, including contract and ownership claims, as laid out in the firms first amended complaint.

The dispute started with the 2015 divorce of Mikkelson and his then-wife Barbara. The couple shared 50-50 ownership over Bardav, until Barbara sold her stake in July of 2016 to the five directors of Proper Media. At the time, those directors were Christoper Richmond, Drew Schoentrup, Ryan Miller, Vincent Green and Tyler Dunn.

Barbaras stake was divided among the directors, with Richmond and Schoentrup each holding 20 percent interest in Bardav; and Miller, Green and Dunn each holding 3.33 percent, according to court documents.

With their suit, Richmond and Schoentrup are asserting that Proper Media maintains a 50 percent stake in Bardav, giving the firm equal say in its management. Mikkelson holds that the five individuals, and not Proper Media, each have a minority interest.

The distinction matters as Mikkelson claims to have terminated his advertising contract with Proper Media, while Proper Media directors Richmond and Schoentrup assert that the Snopes CEO cannot terminate the contract without their approval. The companies had contracted in August of 2015 to split monthly proceeds from advertisements above an $85,000 base payout to Snopes.

Since the contract dispute earlier this year, Proper Media has withheld all advertising revenue from Bardav.

As a result, in July, Mikkelson asked fans of Snopes to keep the site afloat with donations on GoFundMe. To date, the crowd-funding campaign has raised more than $690,500.

Bardav believes its owed at least $500,000 in ad revenue. The company now must come up with a proposed order detailing what its owed, according to the judges Tuesday order.

Additional hearings for the case, Proper Media LLC vs Bardav Inc, are scheduled for October.

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jennifer.vangrove@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1840 Twitter: @jbruin
Keri Lucas doesnt like how her smartphone seems to take hold of her young daughters mind when she lets her browse through digital snapshots.

I do notice it impacts her behavior in a negative way, said Lucas, of the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, describing how its hard to pull her 7-year-old daughter away from the cellphone.

It got Lucas to thinking about when shell give her daughter her own smartphone  a device many adults didnt have a decade ago but now seems ubiquitous, even among children. This is new territory, Lucas said. As parents, were navigating something our parents didnt navigate. Trying to figure it out as we go is hard.

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As kids head back to school, many parents are wrestling with a relatively new rite of passage: when to give their kids a smartphone. While the average child gets his or her first smartphone at 10, according to research firm Influence Central, parents across the country are bucking the trend by promising to wait until their children are in eighth grade  when theyre typically 13 or 14.

The Wait Until 8th pledge  developed earlier this year by a group of Austin, Texas, parents  allows moms and dads to rally together so their children can look to other smartphone-free peers throughout elementary school, said Brooke Shannon of Austin, who leads the movement. The pledge points to the possibility that smartphones can damage a developing brain by interfering with sleep, serving as a distraction from homework, and putting a child at risk for cyberbullying.

But experts say theres little proof smartphones do such damage, as long as parents monitor usage. They note that in the relatively new world of iPhones  which turn 10 next month  more research is needed on how evolving technology impacts development.

The American Academy of Pediatrics doesnt advise an exact age for smartphones in its media usage guidelines but notes that screen time in general should be limited and monitored, and recommends that parents be mindful of their own use of mobile devices in front of their kids.

Experts caution that banning phones completely for too long may harm social growth, as phones have become a way for adolescents to interact with their peers  an important part of development. Still, supporters of the pledge say smartphones can take away from active play, and a basic phone still allows children to text their friends and stay connected with their parents.

More than 2,000 parents with children in more than 500 schools across the country have signed the pledge at waituntil8th.org since it launched in the spring, Shannon said. Its been exciting to see theres so many parents out there ... to see were not the only ones.

Once people have signed, theyre notified when nine other families from their school have also signed, and their schools pledge officially goes into effect, according to the Wait Until 8th website. That sense of camaraderie makes the pledge appealing and powerful, Shannon said.

The group decided on eighth grade, she said, because it felt elementary school is too young for smartphones but recognized a need for children to learn the responsibility of having a phone before they hit high school. Shannon also referred to reports that Bill Gates had his children wait until 14 before they got a phone.

Shannon said shes encouraged by the success of the pledge, which could bolster parents resolve this school year when their children come to them saying they want iPhones like their classmates.

The campaign from kiddos starts very early, said Shannon, who has three daughters who range from preschool to fourth grade. Even if your child doesnt have (a smartphone), once one kid from their grade does ... then the pressure is on.

But some parents take a different view for their families, challenging that the end of middle school might be too late.

Tiffanie Sperling, of Plainfield, has given iPhones to all three of her children, 8, 10 and 13. As a working mom with children in travel sports, Sperling said the phones are needed for the family to stay in touch and offer better reception than more basic phones.

The phones also are teaching Sperlings children time management and responsibility, said Sterling, who uses the phones as a reward for the kids, or takes them away as a consequence  a tactic she said is more effective at a younger age.

Sperling said she likes being able to reach her children at all times  and can even track where they are using a GPS feature. She also uses an app that allows her to control when her children can use their phones and what apps are accessible. At any time, I can just turn off the smartphone aspect of their phone, she said. I have control.

Veronica Silva, of Naperville, recently got her 11-year-old daughter a smartphone with the hope that starting early will mean more responsible use.

From now on, its going to get harder and harder for her to listen. Teenage rebellion is coming up, Silva said. The earlier she gets it, it gives me a chance to really teach her ... cellphone etiquette, risks and get her used to the technology.

Silva also wanted her daughter to have the phone as a way to fit in as she starts a new school this year. And because Silva is divorced, she said, the phone is a way for her daughter and her younger son to keep in touch when theyre at their dads house.

The pledge recognizes that some families might need a smartphone for their younger children, said Shannon, who mentioned children with special needs or those whose parents are divorced. The pledge is not for everyone.

Yalda Uhls, author of Media Moms & Digital Dads: A Fact-Not-Fear Approach to Parenting in the Digital Age, said its impossible to set a blanket rule for all families, but she usually recommends the start of middle school as a good time for a child to get a smartphone.

Uhls, an assistant adjunct professor at UCLA, said families should assess their own situation and each child when it comes to phones. Theres no research evidence that getting a phone at too young of an age is bad or good, she said. Really, its about looking at your own values, own situation, own child.

Its more important that parents model good phone behavior and set rules around the device, like not allowing kids to have their phones in their rooms at night and limiting usage in general, Uhls said. And there are some positive outcomes when children use phones responsibly. In this age, the phone and social media are two of the ways you connect with your peers, she said.

Rachel Flynn, a research assistant professor at Northwestern Universitys Feinberg School of Medicine who studies the impact of media on children, said parents should think about content and context even more than age when deciding if they should give their children a phone. More research is needed, she added.

The key here is its not going away, and we need to learn more about it and get as much information out to parents, Flynn said. Its a fascinating place to sit in the research world.

kthayer@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @knthayer
Im going to the library usually means heading downtown to the local branch of the public library, or maybe to one in a neighboring city.

But for Elizabeth Lewellen, Im going to the library took her a little farther afield  to Washington, D.C.

A middle level teacher at Mary Fay Pendleton School in Fallbrook, Lewellen was chosen for a summer teacher institute in July at the Library of Congress called Teaching With Primary Sources.

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More than 300 teachers applied for the free program, and she was among 24 teachers chosen  and one of only two from California.

The Library of Congress offers five teacher institutes annually on how to use primary sources to teach various subjects in grades K-12. Primary sources are documents, films, recordings or other artifacts created at the time they occurred. Examples are diaries, letters, photos, financial records and newspaper or magazine articles. They can also include later works such as oral histories or memoirs.

Because the Library of Congress is the nations library, it holds extensive original materials from around the world, on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office.

The session Lewellen attended was for teachers of science, technology or engineering. A 30-year education veteran, she has taught everything from kindergarten through sixth grade, including medieval history, algebra, physical science and a video elective. She was a technical TOSA  teacher on special assignment  teaching science when she got an email about the program.

Oh my gosh, this would be phenomenal, she recalled thinking.

California schools have adopted a program called Next Generation Science Standards, and our district has gone full-fledged into NGSS, Lewellen said. The Library of Congress session showed her how to use primary sources to bring science home to the students in new ways.

Science is also historical, she said. Whats beautiful about this (program) is that as the students are learning actual (scientific) concepts and laws  how forces work, photosynthesis  using primary sources can allow them to see how scientists think and develop laws and understandings of how the world works.

Lewellen was astonished at the Librarys holdings. I didnt realize they have 134 million items and artifacts. Its the biggest library in the world, and its our library, she said. I have my own readers card now. What a wonderful resource.

The Library of Congress (loc.gov) offers millions of digitized historical artifacts and documents on its website. All teachers can access materials, teaching tools and ways to use primary sources from the librarys site for teachers, loc.gov/teachers.

At the teacher institute, I wanted to work on a project on engineering and designing solutions, which the Next Generation Science Standards emphasize, Lewellen said. She developed a unit on electric cars.

I knew they had existed for a while, she said. But I didnt realize they went as far back as the 1880s. She found ads and historical materials from 1885 describing not only electric cars, but cars using steam and gasoline engines. The unit explores why and how gas engines overtook the steam and electric versions, and how were coming back around to electric technology again.

It showed me as a teacher the value of having kids analyze: Is this a reliable source? What does it make you think of?

Using an advertisement from 1912, for example, could help students explore what was being sold and how, and whether the ad was likely to cause people to buy  to change their behavior.

This will show students how to use the science they are learning  how to apply it to new solutions. Its important that we teach them how to think like a scientist, how to identify a problem, be able to evaluate it  so they can actively design solutions to those problems.

Todays educational standards, she added, are focused on preparing students for careers that dont even exist yet! We want to train them to be inquisitive and thoughtful problem-solvers.

Adding primary sources to the mix, she said, will help build students thinking skills. Ill be teaching them how to research in a productive way  whats a primary source, a secondary source  and whats just someones opinion. This will help them become more discerning.

Lewellen encourages other teachers to apply for one of the Library of Congress institutes when they come around again.

It was well worth it. I would encourage any teacher to go, she said. It will step up their teaching in a big way. Im about to start my 31st year of teaching, and I cant wait for school to start!

laura.groch@sduniontribune.com
In the musical Sunset Boulevard, silent film actress Norma Desmond is the self-described greatest star of them all. But in the production now playing at Vistas Moonlight Amphitheatre, its Normas sparkling costumes that are stealing the spotlight.

The characters glamorous Old Hollywood gowns, feathered headdresses, beaded jewelry and turbans are the latest labors of love from 33-year-old Vista designer Renetta Lloyd, whos been designing clothing and costumes since she got her first sewing machine on her 8th birthday.

Back in her grade-school days, Lloyd was sewing fashion lines for her stuffed animals. Today, the married mother of two designs for at least five area theater productions a year, as well as numerous custom orders for Halloween and Comic-Con each year.

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The Vista-raised designer has a degree in behavioral sciences and had hoped to pursue a career in art therapy, but she realized years ago that designing and sewing costumes is the creative outlet she craves.

Its a passion for me, she said. Its something I get excited about and I never want to stop.

Costume designer Renetta Lloyd holds one of the beaded headdresses that she created for Sunset Boulevard at Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista. (Charlie Neuman / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Over the years, Lloyd has designed for shows at Palomar College, North Coast Repertory Theatre, Scripps Ranch Theatre, Starlight Theatre, Premiere Productions, Cal State San Marcos, Concordia University and Moonlight Youth Theater (formerly Encore Youth Theater). But it is with Moonlight Stage Productions over the past seven years that shes most been able to express herself creatively.

This season at Moonlight, she created Desmonds sparkling 12-piece wardrobe as well as the show-stopping tentacled Ursula sea witch gown that actor Randall Hickman wore in last months Disneys Little Mermaid. Since 2010, she has designed elements for virtually every Moonlight show.

Steven Glaudini, Moonlights producing artistic director, said he thinks Lloyd can do anything.

Ive always thought she was a brilliant young designer, Glaudini said. The first time I really noticed was in 2012 with Sweeney Todd and her initial designs really blew me away. Its her taste and her choice of fabrics. Her detail work is what elevates her above other designers. She has a real sense of style.

Lloyd described 2017 as a full circle year for her because some of her first theatrical inspirations as a child have come around again in new ways.

Lloyd grew up in Vista, where her mom, Roz Lehman, taught her to use a sewing machine in grade school. By third grade, she was designing and sewing original creations on her own machine.

She was bitten by the theater bug at age 12, when she starred in a youth production of Aladdin co-produced by Hickman (of Ursula fame) and Douglas Davis. Ever since, she has continued to perform in and occasionally design costumes for the duos Premiere theater companies.

I have known Renetta since she was 12 years old. She was our go-to character actress. Any role you gave her she would nail. She was gold, Hickman said.

For Aladdin, Lloyd and her mom volunteered to sew costumes for the show. By the time she was 16, Lloyd was being paid for her original costume designs. Her first paid gig was a set of animal-inspired yellow-and-orange suits for a youth production of the ugly duckling-inspired musical Honk.

After graduating early from Vista High School, she studied (and performed and designed costumes) at MiraCosta College before heading off to Concordia University in Irvine, where between psychology classes she also performed and designed.

There she met her husband, Paul, and they moved for a few years to Colorado before resettling in 2009 in Vista, where shes now a full-time mom to daughter Aria, 7, and son Ian, 4.

Costume design has been an ideal way to bring in a little extra money, have a creative outlet and spend time with her mom, who has been a Moonlight costume shop employee for nearly 20 years. Several days a week, they work side by side on projects in Lehmans home sewing studio. Lloyd comes up with the designs and construction, Lehman finishes up with the buttons, seams, hems and hooks.

We have our own way of communicating, Lloyd said. People say its strange watching us work together because we know what the other is thinking and speak in our own shorthand.

Lloyd said she loves a challenge. She learned wiring and circuitry to create an electrified stripper costume for a Gypsy production her brother produced in Stockton. And for Sunset Boulevard she drew inspiration from Oscar-winner Edith Head to create the 1920s-style wardrobe with many secret quick-change elements.

But it was Hickmans eye-popping Ursula costume that required the most imagination. The role is usually played by a woman, so Glaudini hired Lloyd to create a bustle-like caped contraption for a man.

Lloyd engineered the costume to balance the weight on Hickmans hips using a leather weightlifters belt fitted with rotating metal hooks and copper tape. The tentacles were created from dollar-store foam pool noodles, sewn into a cape veined with gooseneck microphone cords.

Hickman and Lloyd both say it was a career highlight to work together so closely on that show.

She can look at something and create it and she can do it all, from the fantasy of Ursula to the art deco of Norma Desmond. Renetta is finally getting the recognition she has so long deserved, Hickman said.

For Sunset Boulevard, which plays through Sept. 2, Glaudini said he asked Lloyd to create a dozen costumes that were luxurious enough that they looked as they belonged to wealthy movie star.

I wanted the audience to feel that 1949 Old Hollywood wealth and Renetta just knocked it out of the park, Glaudini said.

Costume designer Renetta Lloyd, 33, has been designing and selling costumes for theater companies for more than half her life. (Charlie Neuman /San Diego Union-Tribune)

Lloyd said she drew inspiration for her costumes from designs in the original 1950 film Sunset Boulevard and the costume sketches for the 1991 Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. Besides creating Normas wardrobe, she also designed the Samson and Delilah costumes in a Paramount Studios scene.

Her technique for designing costumes is to create a basic pencil design, then go shopping.

I dont get carried away creating a full-color sketch because sometimes I dont find the fabrics that match up with whats in my head. Instead I just go shopping and let the fabrics speak to me, she said.

For this show, she went to L.A.s garment district, where high-end sequined and satin materials sell for $6 a yard, compared to $30 at local shops. Because actress Valerie Perri appears in almost every scene of the musical, all of Lloyds costumes had to be built for quick changes and clever layering.

Glaudini said he was thrilled with the results.

She found these fabrics that look like a million dollars under the lights, he said. She delivered in spades.

The familys creative gene seems to have passed on to the next generation. Lloyds daughter, Aria, is now making her own costumes and recently made her acting debut  another full circle moment  in the latest Aladdin staging by Hickman and Davis Premiere for Kids.

Lloyd said she may never get around to becoming an art therapist, but shes happily fulfilled as a wife, mom and much-in-demand North County costume designer.

There are still other things I want to do, she said, but there arent enough lives in the world to do everything I want, so Im really happy to just live this life.

pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com
BONSALL

Pala Band donates $140,000 to district

The Pala Band of Mission Indians has donated $140,000 to the Bonsall Union School District for the 2017-18 school year. The money will support Vivian Banks Charter School in its work to educate the youths on the Pala Reservation. Vivian Banks incorporates local culture into curriculum while also emphasizing standards-based education to students in grades K-5. Over the past nine years, the Pala tribe has donated more than $940,000 to local school districts. The Pala Band of Mission Indians is a federally recognized tribe whose reservation lies along the Palomar Mountain range about 30 miles northeast of San Diego.

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CARLSBAD

Academy holds leadership program

Some 170 middle school- and high school-age youths completed the Army and Navy Academys summer leadership development program, where they learned accountability, self confidence, discipline, respect, and team work. Activities included visits to the USS Midway Museum, Camp Pendleton and other points of interest. Several camp graduates have later enrolled at the academy since the program began in 2010. The Army and Navy Academy is a private not-for-profit Gurian Model School that provides a college preparatory curriculum alongside a character development program for boys. Visit armyandnavyacademy.org.

Aviara Oaks students win trip to gala in D.C.

Aiko Lozar and Pajaka Lakshmin, eighth-graders at Aviara Oaks Middle School, were selected as one of 30 finalist teams in the 2017 ProjectCSGIRLS National Competition this summer. They received all-expense paid trips to the national ProjectCSGirls gala in Washington, D.C. The gala featured national STEM leaders who conducted workshops and tech talks for the students, who were challenged to solve a global problem. Aiko and Pajaka won Honorable Mention for their design of an artificial photosynthesis device to chemically convert sunlight into an alternative fuel source, potentially reducing the environments carbon footprint. (Visit youtube.com/watch?v=8pUb6x1rK8U.) The girls were also finalists in last years competition. ProjectCSGIRLS is a national nonprofit aiming to close the tech gender gap. Visit projectcsgirls.com.

ENCINITAS

STEM workshop offered Saturday

LabRats San Diego, a nonprofit after-school education company, is hosting a Professional Development Workshop for parents and teachers from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Encinitas Community Center. Cost is $75. The workshop is designed to help parents and teachers master the skills, innovative approaches and teaching techniques to inspire students. Instructor is Shawn Carlson, Ph.D., a physicist and innovator in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education. Carlson received the prestigious MacArthur Genius Fellowship Award for his work in science. Register at sandiegolabrats.org.

ESCONDIDO

Caregiver symposium for grandparents

The sixth annual North County Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Relative Caregiver Symposium will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the North Inland Live Well Center, 649 W. Mission Ave. Meet with more than 30 community organizations and partners for resources and services in the county. Connect with other families and people in similar circumstances and learn more about local support groups. The event is free; lunch and child care are provided with preregistration. Spanish interpretation is available. Dial 2-1-1 or visit 211sandiego.org/grandparents.

FALLBROOK

Palomar College offers free English classes

Would you like to improve your English to get a better job, study for a career, or help your kids with their homework? Palomar College now offers morning English classes at St. Johns Episcopal Church, 434 Iowa St. Classes began Monday and end Dec. 14, but you may register at any time during the semester. Intermediate and advanced group meets from 8:30 to 11:20 a.m. Mondays and Tuesdays; beginners group meets from 8:30 to 11:20 a.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays. Free child care is available for ages 5 and younger. Call (760) 803-8559.

NORTH COUNTY

Local students honored

Trevor White of Ramona is the recipient of a Deans Gold scholarship, which provides $52,000 to $60,000 for eight semesters, from Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

Christina Lin of San Diego, a graduate of Canyon Crest Academy, was recently awarded the National Merit ViaSat Corporate scholarship. ViaSat Inc. provides scholarships to the children of employees. National Merit Corporate Scholarships were announced earlier in the year, but this scholarship became available at a later time.

Linnea Willing of Encinitas and Erin Taylor of Oceanside were named to the spring deans list at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.

Tara Gildersleeve and Sasha Uchitel of Carlsbad, Keara Geckeler of Encinitas and William Goo of San Marcos were named to the spring Deans List at Washington University in St. Louis.

Area student graduates

Isaac Baugh of Valley Center received a Bachelor of Arts degree in biblical studies and philosophy from Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Penn.

Group awards scholarships

Casa de Amistad, a nonprofit tutoring and mentoring program that works with underserved families and more than 240 students in North Coastal San Diego, recently awarded $60,000 in scholarships to 12 graduating high school seniors. Casa de Amistads Future Leaders Scholarship Fund, created in 2016, offers financial help to graduating seniors going on to a community college or four-year university. This year, $60,000 in scholarships was awarded to: Joselin Aragon, Luis Canales, Yvette Conde, Elizabeth Donoe, Manuel Lara and Daniel Lira of Torrey Pines High School; Aileen Castillo and Mirta Gregorio of San Dieguito Academy; Juan Duran, Erica Mozo and Jose Ramirez of La Costa Canyon High School; and Vanessa Rodriguez of Canyon Crest Academy. Besides monetary awards, students received new Apple MacBook Air computers. Visit casadeamistad.org.

OCEANSIDE

Dave & Busters fundraiser Monday

Martin Luther King Middle School families celebrate Spirit Night from 5 to 8 p.m. Monday at Dave & Busters at The Shoppes at Carlsbad, 2501 El Camino Real. Attendees are asked to wear school colors. Food, nonalcoholic beverages and Power Card proceeds go to benefit the school.

VISTA

Teacher attends C-SPAN conference

Hannah Powell, a social studies teacher at Tri-City Christian School in Vista, was one of 30 educators from across the nation selected to attend C-SPAN Classrooms 2017 Educators Conference this summer in Washington, D.C. The conference allowed educators to explore C-SPANs programs and C-SPAN Classrooms free primary source materials, and how to use them in their curriculums. C-SPAN provided airfare, hotel and meals for the two-day conference. C-SPAN is funded by Americas cable television companies, which supports C-SPAN Classroom. Visit c-span.org/classroom.

Please send items to laura.groch@sduniontribune.com at least 10 days before events.

laura.groch@sduniontribune.com
As a revered director-choreographer and the patriarch of San Diegos first family of the stage, Don Ward helped guide and inspire legions of theater artists here over the years.

Mr. Ward, whose more than 60-year career is deeply intertwined with the history and fortunes of San Diego theater, died at his Cardiff home Tuesday. He was 83.

With his wife, Bonnie, whom he met when both were grade-school-age dance students in San Diego, Mr. Ward staged hundreds of musicals around town, eventually bringing the couples three children into the family business.

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Along the way, they mentored such soon-to-be theater luminaries as the Tony Award-winning actors Christian Hoff and Brian Stokes Mitchell (who once called Don and Bonnie my theater parents) and the top Broadway director Casey Nicholaw.

We were very, very lucky to have such a career, Bonnie Ward said on Wednesday, as family and friends gathered at the house to remember her husband.

The Wards were most closely identified with three theatrical institutions here: San Diego Junior Theatre, which Don served as artistic director for 15 years (with Bonnie running the dance program); the once-mighty, now-defunct Starlight Musical Theatre in Balboa Park, where the couple were artistic leaders for more than a decade starting in the early 1980s (and where they continued to direct shows even after stepping down); and Moonlight Stage Productions in Vista, where they became mainstays starting in the 1990s.

Mr. Ward had acted as recently as five years ago in a Moonlight production of Little Women: The Musical. But he had lately faced a very difficult situation with two different kinds of cancer, his wife said.

Their son, Kelly, said his father passed away resting comfortably, as he wished.

He added, speaking on behalf of his siblings: We shared our dad with countless arts lovers who took part in San Diego Junior Theatre, Starlight Musicals, and productions at the Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista.

Its impossible to estimate how many lives he touched with his generous, gentle, and incredibly creative spirit. Suffice it to say, we have a huge extended family.

Born on Nov. 7, 1933, in Billings, Mont., Don Ward moved to San Diego as a young boy.

He and Bonnie met at Ratliffs Dance Studio here at ages 9 and 6, respectively, and first danced together a decade later at Starlight, according to a 1985 San Diego Union story.

Mr. Ward made his area acting debut at the Old Globe in 1949.

After a detour to Los Angeles, the Wards came back here to raise their children. All three  Kelly, Kirby and Lori  followed their parents onto the stage. And the two sons made show business a career: Kelly had roles in such movies as Grease (playing Putzie) and The Big Red One, while Kirby hit Broadway in the 2003 show Never Gonna Dance and has performed around the country with his wife, Beverly, who appeared in the recent Broadway musical Anastasia.

In 1985, the entire Ward family appeared onstage in a Starlight production of the musical George M, with Don and Bonnie playing composer George M. Cohans vaudeville-veteran parents.

It was the most magical thing Ive ever seen on any stage, said Bets Malone, now a top San Diego-based actor who came up through Starlight and Moonlight.

Perhaps more memorable for Malone (whose husband, Steven Glaudini, is Moonlights producing artistic director) was the moment two years earlier when she learned Don and Bonnie had cast her as the lead in Starlights production of Annie.

(It was) the regional premiere; 250 little girls auditioned and I was chosen, Malone said. They cast it quite early in the summer and had me travel around promoting the show for a couple months, singing at Starlight Society events. Don was with me every step of the way.

Malone added that before the actor playing Daddy Warbucks arrived, Mr. Ward stepped into the role during rehearsals.

I actually cried the night before the Equity (union) Daddy came, because as far as I was concerned, Don was my Daddy Warbucks.

Well, thats what he remained for the rest of my life. He called me his diamond in the rough.

In 2005, the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle honored Don and Bonnie Ward with a lifetime achievement award for their distinguished work in musical theater over the decades.

On its Facebook page, San Diego Junior Theatre said the organization was deeply saddened to note the passing of Don Ward, a friend and mentor to thousands of Junior Theatre families.

As Junior Theatres real-life Music Man, Don leaves an amazing legacy. During his 15 years of leadership, he and his wife Bonnie directed and choreographed scores of Junior Theatre productions and guided the growth of the organization from a small program at the Old Globe Theatre to a nationally recognized, multi-decade arts education institution.

Moonlight Stage Productions also paid tribute to Mr. Ward, saying: The Moonlight family has lost of one its own. We are saddened at the news of the passing of one of San Diego theaters mavericks, Mr. Don Ward.

Dons legacy lives on in all of the young people he nurtured in their acting careers who have gone on to work professionally. The Moonlight family extends its condolences to the entire Ward family.

Former Union-Tribune theater critic Welton Jones, who witnessed the Wards work on local stages over a period of decades, said Mr. Ward was always one to use his connections and expertise to help out others in local theater.

Jones said he last saw Mr. Ward a year ago this month at a volunteer cleanup event for the now-distressed Starlight Bowl, which is the subject of a hoped-for revival project.

He still had that grin  he strutted in a classical, theatrical way, Jones recalled. It was very much his kind of calling card.

Hes the last of the titans, in a way.

Don Ward is survived by his wife Bonnie; his children, Kelly Ward, Kirby Ward and Lori Ward Hermelin; eight grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

The family is planning a celebration of life for this fall; details are pending.

jim.hebert@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @jimhebert
This is the second such advisory issued by Beijing since the stand-off, and it is stronger than the July 8 warning.

By Ananth Krishnan: China on Thursday issued a new advisory to its citizens who are living in India warning them of various safety risks, coming amid Beijing's continuing anger towards Delhi over the two-month-long border stand-off in Doklam near the India-China-Bhutan trijunction.

This is the second such advisory issued by Beijing since the stand-off, and it is stronger than the July 8 warning. That was a month-long advisory, valid until August 7, that called on citizens to pay attention to their safety.

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The August 24 advisory is valid until December 31, 2017, and lists a number of new supposed "safety threats" facing Chinese nationals based in India and asks them to reduce "unnecessary travel".

Somewhat curiously, the advisory says: "There frequently occurred natural disasters, traffic accidents and infectious diseases in India."

It also said there were "several cases of Chinese citizens who couldn't leave India because of expiration of their visa."

"The embassy reminds all Chinese citizens in India to be wary of the situations above in order to secure themselves a safe journey abroad," says the advisory, that was issued by the Chinese Embassy as well as widely carried by Chinese State media outlets.

Just as the previous advisory warned, it also calls on Chinese citizens to "pay close attention to the local security situation, improve self-protection awareness, strengthen security, reduce unnecessary travel" among other measures.

It also called for "strict compliance with Indian laws and regulations" and "respect for local religious practices and customs".

The second advisory since the June 16 stand-off comes ahead of the September 3 BRICS Summit in Xiamen, southern China, that Prime Minister Modi is expected to attend.

On Wednesday, asked about the PM's visit, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said it believed the summit "will achieve success scaling cooperation to new heights" while at the same reiterated its stand on the Doklam stand-off, saying that "unconditional withdrawal of all trespassing personnel and equipment serves as the prerequisite and basis for settlement".

Also Read:

As Doklam dispute continues, whose line will Nepal toe--China or India?

China warns of 'chaos' if it enters India, terms latter's stand on Doklam 'ridiculous'

ALSO WATCH | After Ladakh skirmish, China troops likely to target other border locations, warn Intel inputs

--- ENDS ---
Federal authorities have nabbed five people accused of running a ring that trafficked recently-smuggled drugs in San Diego County for wider distribution and helped funnel at least $5 million in suspected drug proceeds to Mexico, according to a complaint unsealed last week.

An Internal Revenue Service agent began investigating in 2015 when he got tipped to suspicious activity in bank accounts linked to a South Bay man, according to the affidavit attached to the complaint.

The agent conducted surveillance and further investigation revealed more than 50 bank accounts that appeared to be used as funnel accounts. The accounts received cash deposits from around the country in amounts up to $10,000 (amounts over that trigger mandatory reporting by the bank). The deposits were then quickly withdrawn, likely to be smuggled into Mexico, according to the complaint.

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In March 2016, sheriffs deputies conducted a traffic stop on the South Bay man, William Quintero, and found a white box with $21,000 inside, according to the complaint. A search of his house revealed more than $40,000 in cash and 2,300 pounds of marijuana. A self-storage facility in Chula Vista turned up another 3,600 pounds of marijuana.

Quintero and his wife pleaded guilty to drug charges in a separate case. A search of his cellphone revealed alleged associates.

The investigation found two men, Javier Felix Bayardo and Mario Noriega Osuna, controlled many of the bank accounts and would use fraudulent Mexican IDs to open the accounts, according to the complaint.

Another alleged associate who was interviewed by agents last summer admitted his role in the money-laundering scheme. He said for the past year he would receive cash deposits from unknown people on the East Coast, and then he would withdraw the cash and give it to another man believed to be Quintero. He said he was paid $50 for every $1,000 in deposits.

Shortly after the interview the associate fled to Mexico, authorities said.

The investigation expanded into drug operations.

Agents observed Felix and two other suspects several times load items to and from a self-storage center in National City. On a few occasions, items appeared to be moved to a detached bathhouse in Alpine, a place agents suspect was being used as a transshipment point for drugs.

On Aug. 9, a day after two suspects were seen delivering a black duffel bag to one of the storage units, agents searched the storage center. Agents seized 26 grams of cocaine, 938 grams of methamphetamine, 486 kilograms of marijuana and several guns, including a fully automatic rifle.

Agents arrested Felix, Felixs girlfriend, Noriega, and the two other men the following week. They have pleaded not guilty.

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @kristinadavis
Best-selling author and bookstore advocate Ann Patchett will speak at a dinner inside the Geisel Library on Sept. 8 as part of a fundraiser for the iconic UC San Diego building.

Named by Time magazine in 2012 as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World for her efforts on behalf of the literary community, Patchett has become a spokesperson and advocate for the corner bookstore through her appearances on NPR, The Colbert Report, Oprahs Super Soul Sunday, The Martha Stewart Show and The CBS Early Show, among others.

When there isnt a bookstore in your city, there is an incredible void, Patchett said in a video shown on the Oprah Winfrey Network. A bookstore isnt just the place you come to buy books; its a community center. Its the place where you bring your kids for story hour. Its the place where terrific authors give readings. Books give us empathy; and thats what makes us more compassionate people.

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Patchett is the author of seven highly acclaimed novels, including Commonwealth, State of Wonder, The Magicians Assistant and Bel Canto, which received the Orange Prize and the prestigious PEN/Faulkner Award. She also has written the nonfiction books Truth & Beauty, What Now? and This is the Story of a Happy Marriage.

An Evening with Ann Patchett, the 14th annual Dinner in the Library, is scheduled for 6 to 9:30 p.m. Sept. 8. Tickets are $300 each or $2,400 per table, and the evening includes a cocktail reception and an opportunity to learn from UC San Diego students about their research projects.

Patchett will speak during dinner, which will be followed by champagne and a dessert reception. To make reservations or for more information, visit https://lib.ucsd.edu/dinner or call 858-534-7021.

All proceeds will support the Geisel Library Revitalization Initiative to transform and revitalize the interior public spaces of Geisel Library.

UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla will match funds raised in the revitalization initiative up to $1 million, doubling the impact of donations.

Support from Dinner in the Library makes an incredible impact on our ability to sustain and grow the UC San Diego Library as a hub of discovery and learning for our campus and community,Khosla said.

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gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @GaryWarthUT

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San Diego would regulate cultivation, manufacturing and testing of marijuana more aggressively than the state under a long list of rules proposed on Thursday by City Councilman Chris Cate.

They include outlawing any signs on such businesses, requiring them to have a positive impact on the surrounding community and mandating they have a round-the-clock liaison to respond to any complaints.

Those proposals and several others go beyond state law, but Cate is also proposing some city rules that either duplicate state law or address issues where the state hasnt adopted regulations but is expected to do so soon.

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Those include restricting use of flammable gases, requiring all employees to wear laminated picture ID badges and quickly notifying police when drugs or other inventory goes missing.

Cates proposed regulations come less than three weeks before the City Council is scheduled on Sept. 11 to discuss for the first time a separate set of regulations proposed by the citys planning staff.

Propelled partly by state voters legalizing recreational marijuana last November, San Diego is one of the only cities in the region that has signaled it may allow cultivation, manufacturing and testing of the drug.

But despite the council expressing a willingness to consider that option, its not clear whether a majority of the nine-member council will end up agreeing to legalize those activities.

The council approved legalized sales of medical marijuana at permitted dispensaries in 2014, and decided last winter that those dispensaries can also begin selling recreational pot after state regulations are finalized in January.

RELATED: San Diego legalizes recreational pot dispensaries

Marijuana proponents say it only makes economic sense to allow a local supply chain to develop for the 16 dispensaries the city has approved.

A summary of the regulations proposed by city staff for cultivation, manufacturing and testing has been posted on the citys website since July, but details havent been made available to the public.

RELATED: San Diego unveils rules for marijuana cultivation, manufacturing

The summary prompted complaints from the local marijuana industry that some of the regulations were too strict, particularly a plan to limit the number of cultivation and manufacturing businesses to two per City Council district  or 18 maximum in the city.

Since then, industry and city officials have been discussing possibly replacing that with a citywide cap instead of a maximum number per district.

That could disproportionately affect Cates north central district, because Kearny Mesa and Mira Mesa have a significant amount of industrially zoned acreage where many marijuana cultivation and manufacturing businesses could locate.

Cate, chairman of the councils public safety committee, said on Thursday that his proposals aim to keep the public safe if a new industry is allowed to operate in the city.

My top priority during these deliberations is to ensure that marijuana-related businesses are well regulated in order to guarantee that they are operating safely and in a manner that promotes public safety, Cate said.

He sent a seven-page memo on Thursday to Mayor Kevin Faulconer summarizing his proposed regulations.

Two local marijuana industry attorneys said the proposals seem like mostly positive steps and well-meaning ideas.

But they also raised some concerns, and said it would probably make more sense for the city to simply have rules that mirror state regulations.

I think a lot of these ideas are very positive in the abstract, but not detailed enough at this point to determine if they are actually feasible, Gina Austin said.

In addition, Cates proposal to single out marijuana businesses as the only ones in the city not allowed to have signs could violate the First Amendment, she said.

Austin also questioned a rule against exhaust and ventilation from the businesses if there is housing nearby, contending that could prevent some manufacturing and cultivation businesses from opening.

You have a lot of residential non-conforming uses in industrial zones, she said.

Cates proposals would also give the citys fire marshal the authority to approve permits for marijuana businesses based on the ingredients they use and their manufacturing protocol, which Austin said goes beyond the marshals knowledge.

It just doesnt make any sense to me, she said. It opens the door to a level of discretion that I dont think the local fire marshal should have, because they could simply deny every single one of them.

Kimberly Simms, another marijuana attorney, objected to Cates proposal to bar from the local industry anyone with a felony conviction in the last five years.

She said that could disproportionately affect minorities who are more frequently charged with drug crimes, suggesting Cate should only bar people with felony convictions involving violence or business-related conduct.

Simms also raised concerns about Cate proposing marijuana businesses conduct aggressive public outreach and submit plans detailing how they would have a positive impact on the community.

Its super subjective and it opens up the city to a level of review that I dont think they want to wade into, Simms said.

Austin, however, said she was fine with those elements of the proposal.

They dont seem crazy over the top to me, she said. Most of the clients I work with in San Diego and other cities already do that, because its such a controversial topic that you want community buy-in.

But Austin said the proposal also has a fundamental problem.

Cate proposes businesses get a state license before they receive one from the city, but she said its almost certain that state regulations will flip that by requiring city approval first.

The United Medical Marijuana Coalition, a group of local dispensary owners, also raised concerns.

Of significant concern are items in this proposal which appear to introduce subjectivity into a process that has always operated effectively because of its objectivity, the group said in a statement. Were concerned this approach may make the permit-approval process subject to manipulation and undue influence by disreputable cannabis businesses. That should concern San Diego taxpayers who value a fair, open and transparent process.

The councils Sept. 11 hearing was initially scheduled for July 31, but a request was delayed by local cannabis consultant Lani Lutar and Mickey Kasparian, head of a new umbrella labor group known as the Working Families Council.

Lutar said in July that the goal of the delay was ensuring new regulations help San Diego maximize tax revenue and the economic boost of marijuana legalization, and that the regulations prioritize working families, the environment and the safety of residents.

david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick
A former high school teacher who downloaded thousands of online images of child pornography was sentenced to more than eight years in prison Wednesday, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

Robert Antonio Sandoval, 43, previously pleaded guilty to one count of receiving child porn.

Prosecutors said some of the explicit photos depicted children under the age of 12. The images were downloaded from a commercial file-sharing program for more than five years.

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On Monday, U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino ordered Sandoval to be on supervised release for 10 years after he serves eight years and a month in prison.

Sandoval taught at several schools in the Sweetwater High School District since 2000. He was a teacher at a Chula Vista High School learning center when he was arrested in January of last year.

District spokesman Manny Rubio said at the time that the case was not tied to any students at the learning center, which serves students who need additional help to meet graduation requirements.

Sandoval became the focus on an investigation after an FBI agent downloaded child porn images from him in August 2015, authorities said. Agents served a search warrant at his home in San Diego, where he lived with his mother and daughter on Jan. 21, 2015. His daughter was 7 at the time.

Photos on his computers and external hard drive were identified as those downloaded by the FBI agent five months earlier, according to a federal complaint.

Agents interviewed Sandovals mother, who said the computers in the home were owned and solely used by Sandoval, according to the complaint.

Child pornography has a devastating effect on its innocent victims, who can never rest assured that inappropriate images are off the internet, Acting U.S. Attorney Alana Robinson said in a statement. When someone viewed as a trusted adult, such as a former teacher, possesses child pornography it is especially egregious.

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Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com

Phone: (619) 293-1876

Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez
One man was fatally shot by law enforcement officers in Lemon Grove, one man was in custody and one on the loose after a pursuit from La Mesa early Thursday, authorities said.

Four officers  two from La Mesa, one from San Diego, and one sheriffs sergeant  opened fire on the man after he shot several rounds at them, sheriffs homicide Lt. Kenneth Nelson said.

Dozens of officers and deputies extensively searched the Lemon Grove neighborhood for hours, looking for the man who escaped them.

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A La Mesa police officer saw some odd activity in a gray Ford sedan stopped at a green light at Fletcher Parkway and Baltimore Drive about 1:20 a.m., Nelson said. One car door was open. When the officer approached the car, he heard screams coming from the car, then saw the door slam shut. The car sped away.

The officer pursued the sedan into Spring Valley, where a sheriffs sergeant joined the chase.

It ended on Rebecca Way, a cul-de-sac near Ildica Street in Lemon Grove, not far from Mount Miguel High School. A San Diego police officer with a patrol dog got there right after the car stopped. Three men ran from the gray sedan, Nelson said.

Nelson said the officers and sheriffs sergeant saw one of the men jump over a fence, then heard what sounded like gunshots. The law officers then saw the suspect run up a hill, and the police dog was released.

As the dog bit the suspect, he started firing at the law officers, and four of them returned fire, killing the man. His gun was recovered.

No information about him was released. The shooting occurred at 1:32 a.m., just 12 minutes after the pursuit started, Nelson said.

A second man was taken into custody about a block away. He was questioned at a sheriffs station. Nelson said investigators dont yet know if he was involved in any crime in connection with the pursuit and shooting.

Deputies and officers went house-to-house and yard-to-yard looking for the third man, described only as black or Middle Eastern and wearing a white shirt.

He had not been found by sunrise and Nelson said he most likely was no longer in the neighborhood

Rebecca Way was to remain cordoned off for several hours as the investigation continued.
Almost 10 years after wildfires ravaged San Diegos backcountry, killing three people and destroying more than 2,500 homes and outbuildings, two judges have recommended rejection of San Diego Gas & Electrics request to bill customers $379 million for the costs of three fires sparked by utility lines.

The recommendation was handed down by California Public Utilities Commission administrative judges six months after two public hearings in San Diego into SDG&Es cost-recovery plan.

A special committee may consider the finding in closed session later this year, and any binding decision must be approved by the full commission.

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SDG&E on Wednesday strongly disagreed with the proposed judgment, a setback in the companys years-long effort to recoup costs from the wildfires that were not covered by insurance and other payments.

SDG&E said in a statement that despite having a safe system the wildfires that occurred were due to circumstances beyond SDG&Es control.

This is a preliminary decision and is not supported by the evidence, the utility added. It also is not consistent with the determination made by federal regulators who reviewed the same facts. We plan to vigorously challenge it.

The judges, S. Pat Tsen and Sasha Goldberg, said the utility failed to show that it acted reasonably in managing its equipment in the run-up to the Witch, Rice and Guejito fires. All three conflagrations were started when power lines ignited nearby brush, investigations showed.

Two state investigations also found SDG&E failed to properly maintain its equipment. Specifically, the company did not adequately trim tree branches and other vegetation within close reach of electrified wires.

The utility disputed that in its response Wednesday.

We design, operate and maintain our system at or above standards, the company said.

Utility lawyers argued that the hot, dry temperatures and gusty winds could not be predicted  a claim the judges did not embrace.

In their 68-page opinion issued late Tuesday evening, the judges said SDG&E fails to show how the wind and weather conditions impacted its operation and management of its facilities involved in the 2007 Wildfires. We find SDG&Es management and control of its facilities prior to the 2007 Wildfires imprudent.

Don Kelly of the nonprofit Utility Consumers Action Network, a San Diego nonprofit that presented testimony in opposition to the SDG&E rate request, praised the initial decision from the regulatory judges.

UCAN believes the proposed decisions findings are strongly supported by the evidence produced, including the testimony from UCANs weather experts, Kelly said. We support the (judges) conclusions and will be urging the commission to adopt the proposed decision.

The Witch, Guejito and Rice fires were among a rash of wildfires that erupted in San Diego County  and across California  in October 2007.

As many as 500,000 local residents were forced to evacuate, with thousands of those seeking temporary shelter at Qualcomm Stadium. The Witch Fire, which started near Santa Ysabel on Oct. 21, was the most devastating of the blazes, burning nearly 200,000 acres, killing two people and destroying 1,650 structures.

In their ruling, the judges countered SDG&Es arguments for passing along the wildfire-related costs to its customer base. The judges noted that utility officials waited more than six hours to de-energize the transmission line blamed for starting the Witch Fire.

The commission is not persuaded that SDG&E utilized good utility practice when it allowed 3 faults to occur within a span of 3.5 hours, on a line with a history of 9 faults in a 24-year period, the decision said. Multiple faults on (Transmission Line) 637 on a single day during a Red Flag Warning should have been more concerning to SDG&E.

The judges also said SDG&E did not do enough to prevent the Guejito Fire, which broke out in San Pasqual Valley on the same day and then merged with the Witch Fire. The combined wildfire jumped Interstate 15 and continued west.

SDG&E cannot just point to its Corrective Maintenance Program to show it fulfilled its duty to be a reasonable and prudent manager, the ruling said. SDG&E did not utilize good utility practice when it failed to discover the (Rule) 3.3 clearance violation after conducting what it purported to be thorough patrol and visual inspections before the fire.

The Rice Fire started near Fallbrook on the same day when power lines contacted extremely dry brush. Investigators found a tree had not been properly trimmed even though the utility knew the trimming was overdue. The Rice Fire eventually destroyed 200-plus homes.

SDG&E fails to explain why it ignored its own contractors recommendation to trim (the area) within 0 to 3 months of the inspection, the judges wrote. Furthermore, SDG&Es utilization of its Vegetation Management Program does not absolve SDG&E of its responsibility to act reasonably in light of specific information. Because SDG&E had labeled (the tree) as a fast grower, SDG&E should have trimmed (it) before October 22, 2007.

The utility paid more than $2 billion in settlements and other costs in the aftermath of the wildfires, although it never admitted any liability.

Insurance covered approximately $1.1 billion of that amount and SDG&E accepted a $444 million settlement from Cox Communications, which operated equipment found to have contributed to the emergency.

SDG&E also received some payments from the Davey tree-trimming company and an electrical contractor.

The insurance and settlements left SDG&E with about $379 million in outstanding costs it said it should be allowed to collect from ratepayers. It was the only company that sought to charge customers for wildfire-related expenses.

The costs for liabilities, including losses not covered by insurance or settlement claims, are ordinarily approved for inclusion in utility rates, the company argued in commission filings.

But testimony also showed that SDG&E responded differently to the 2007 wildfire threat than it had in 2003, when the Cedar Fire headlined an earlier spree of wildfires that ripped across the region under the same kind of weather conditions that were present in 2007.

According to SDG&E executive Lee Schavrien, the company did not set up an emergency operations center in 2007 as it had four years earlier, even though they knew about the wildfire threat posed by triple-digit temperatures and Santa Ana winds.

He also acknowledged that SDG&E never conducted an internal investigation into what specifically started the Witch, Guejito and Rice fires. Instead, Schavrien cited weather conditions and said the city and county of San Diego could have maintained better-funded and better-performing fire agencies.

Five years after the fires, SDG&E agreed to pay $27 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the city of San Diego and $24.5 million to San Diego County to resolve a similar complaint.

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jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1708 @sdutMcDonald
A tiger cub was confiscated and a teenager was arrested after officials said he tried to smuggle the exotic cat into the United States from Mexico.

The 18-year-old U.S. citizen, who was driving a 2017 Chevy Camaro and was accompanied by a 21-year-old man, was stopped at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday when agents inspecting the vehicle discovered the feline. It was lying on the front passenger-side floor, said agency spokeswoman Jackie Wasiluk in a press release.

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The cat was removed from the car and placed in an animal crate until it was picked up by U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials, Wasiluk said.

The driver was taken into custody and taken to a federal facility where he is awaiting arraignment. His name was not released.

Tigers are listed on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora as animals that are illegal to purchase and own without a permit.

The cub is being cared for at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, zoo officials said.

Earlier this month, a Bengal tiger was seized after it fell from a third-floor balcony in a residential neighborhood in Tijuana. The 9-month-old female feline was taken to a zoo in Baja.

That seizure comes months after a 4-month-old male Bengal tiger was also confiscated after it was seen being walked on a leash by its owner.

That cub was taken to the Tijuana Zoo.

619-293-1710

debbi.baker@sduniontribune.com

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In the Trump era, California Democrats are more likely than ever to depict themselves as valiant crusaders for social justice  protecting the disadvantaged against powerful forces who are indifferent or actively hostile to their fate. When it comes to public education, however, theres fresh evidence that state Democratic leaders are the ones siding with the powerful forces over the disadvantaged.

This evidence comes in an analysis of how the Golden State is responding to the Every Student Succeeds Act, the 2015 federal law replacing the No Child Left Behind Act. The new law requires every state to submit a plan explaining how it will comply with the laws mandates. While the law sharply reduced the strings attached to federal funding  California is expected to get $2.6 billion in the next budget cycle  it still requires states to track student and school performance and to help the most troubled schools with improvement strategies.

The State Board of Education must submit its plan by next month and appears satisfied with a version released Aug. 8. On Thursday, Bellwether Education Partners  a national nonprofit think tank  released its evaluation of Californias proposal. While praising the plans vision of a first-rate education of all, the analysis is sharply critical of the plans most crucial components. The biggest complaints:

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--The plan wouldnt even manage to capture individual students improvement over time.

--The plan is vague about how the state would identify the worst-performing schools, how it would intervene to improve their results and how it would measure progress in targeted schools. Under the current language, these schools could be found to have complied with state guidelines without making any improvements.

--It is unclear how the plans dashboard concept of using several factors to evaluate school quality would actually work, in particular how much value it would place on the performance of ethnic groups.

In other words, the State Board of Education has come up with an anti-accountability accountability plan  one that would make it difficult for Californians to figure out which students and what schools are improving; to know whether schools deemed as improving have actually improved; and to assess how well districts are doing with the states neediest students, its 1.4 million English-language learners.

This is scandalous. It is the latest confirmation that the interests of the powerful California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers  which oppose meaningful attempts to evaluate the performance of teachers, schools and districts  are paramount in Sacramento.

The state boards junk standards feel like the culmination of a plan that began in 2011, when Gov. Jerry Brown trashed the siren song of data-based education reform  even as schools in Massachusetts continue to lead the nation thanks to such reform and schools in Florida make dramatic improvements with this approach. In 2013, the state moved to scrap its STAR school accountability testing program, drawing a sharp rebuke from the Obama administration. In 2016, Brown vetoed a bill by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-San Diego, to make it easy to determine school progress.

If the Trump administration accepts the states Every Student Succeeds framework, victory in this craven campaign will be complete. Californians  at least those who want schools to improve, who want struggling students to get the help they badly need  should hope that doesnt happen.

So please come to the rescue, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Stick up for school accountability by standing up to a state which rejects it. Stick up for needy kids. Stick up for, yes, social justice.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion
Regarding Trump threatens government shutdown over border wall funding. Worth it? (Aug. 23): During his presidential campaign, President Trump issued a call for a border wall that he promised Mexico would pay for.

For all his ballyhooing, once he was elected, and Mexico flatly refused to even consider the idea, Trump is now demanding Congress fund the wall out of the American taxpayers wallet.

If it fails to do so he threatens to shut down the government.The question is, which one?

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Steve Newberg

Carlsbad

A border wall that Mexico will pay for just became a wall Americans better pay for if they dont want a shutdown of the federal government.

In his Phoenix rally on Tuesday our president said If we have to close down our government, were building that wall. What is this wall protecting us from that shutting down the federal government wont immediately deliver? What could possibly walk across the border from Mexico that could instantly cause every agency of the national government to cease functioning, send disruptions throughout economic and financial markets, sabotage commercial endeavors, and derail the jobs of every federal employee and every one of us who depend on their work?

The way Trump wins here is for everyone else to lose.

Barbara Crawford

Rancho Penasquitos

I just watched Donald Trumps speech in Phoenix Tuesday night.

The president of the United States is unhinged.

Ima a veteran, 36 years military and civilian service, USN and USCG.

Gilbert E. Field

San Diego

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By Dev Ankur Wadhawan: The Congress took potshots at the BJP today for not declaring its chief ministerial candidate as yet for next year's Assembly elections in Rajasthan.

"States where the BJP where is in power, like in Madhya Pradesh, the party has cleared that Shivraj Singh Chouhan will be the face of the party in the elections next year and where party is in Opposition, like in Karnataka, there also they declared that Yeddyurappa will be their face for elections next year. That raises the question that why the hesitation in naming the face of the party in Rajasthan? See, unlike the Congress, we do not do this as a convention. You know, the Congress party does not name its face or CM candidate before the polls, barring one or two exceptions, like in Punjab. But generally, the Congress party has not done this as a convention. But the BJP, I think, goes out of its way to announce its CM candidate and the face of the party in the election. So, in the last two months they have done it in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh," Sachin Pilot, the Rajasthan PCC Chief said to India Today.

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BJP Chief Amit Shah had visited Rajasthan and had several discussions with party office bearers and MLAs in the state. In several quarters, it was being expected that the party chief may name its chief ministerial candidate during the visit.

However, that did not happen. The Congress has sensed an opportunity to take potshots, claiming if the party can do so in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, why has it not done the same as yet in Rajasthan.

"So, why the same yardstick is not being applied in Rajasthan? You know, Amit Shah ji was here for three days. He didn't say that Vasundhara ji... would lead the campaign or will be the face of the BJP for next elections. So, there is some problem that I am sensing and I think I have the right to ask that question. They will ask in return, "When will the Congress do?" We do not do it. It's not as if we have ever done it. ConSI agent Sajid Munir who was lodged in Bhopal Jail was sent back to Pakistan by MP Police via Wagah border after he completed his jail term. Congress party does not do with announcing CM candidates. So, I think its important. It's (Modi's) a political visit because elections are scheduled next year. I think all of us will be looking at what is the political angle," Pilot said.

Also Read:

Amit Shah's Jaipur visit galvanises BJP's Rajasthan unit

Ahead of 2018 Assembly elections, pre poll survey predict Congress' victory

As BJP suffers setback in MP local polls, Amit Shah to visit state to take stock of situation

--- ENDS ---
Earlier this month, my husband and I stopped in Charlottesville, Virginia, on our road trip through the South. We toured the beautiful campus of the University of Virginia and walked through Charlottesville's historic downtown mall, appreciating the architecture and the slower pace of the South.

Last week, I looked at the headlines and found it hard to believe what took place two weekends ago in the town we found so charming and relaxed.

Amy Roost

Hard to believe, but not impossible to believe, because of what else we learned on our tour of the South.

In Memphis - a city known as the black business capital during Reconstruction - we drove through neighborhoods of abject poverty. Black neighborhoods. We also visited the National Civil Rights Museum located on the site of the hotel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968. We spent three hours in this museum, but could easily have spent eight. We went to the museum to learn not only about civil rights history, but also to inform ourselves about our nation's present troubles.

For starters, we learned about the transatlantic slave trade and the millions of human beings who died during this forced migration. We learned that on the cusp of the Civil War, the U.S. had nearly 4 million slaves, human property worth more than $3 billion - roughly $10 trillion today. The work of slaves created wealth - not to mention tobacco and rum - for the white man, and made possible America's economic success and ascendancy on the world stage.

We were reminded that in 1896, the Supreme Court ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson that separate but equal - they never were - accommodations for blacks were constitutional, allowing Jim Crow laws to flourish.

We learned that while the Fifteenth Amendment guaranteed blacks the right to vote, southern states amended their state constitutions with requirements that African Americans and many poor whites could not meet: literacy tests, poll taxes and grandfather clauses (If this doesnt sound familiar, it should.) When these measures failed to keep Americans away from the ballot box, Southern whites turned to violence. By 1940, only 3 percent of the Souths eligible blacks were registered to vote. And because registrars chose jurors from voter rolls, African Americans could not serve on juries, making the scales of justice weighted totally against black citizens.

We learned about racial terrorism and lynching mobs in the South. We learned about church bombings and arson. Cross burnings and hate speech. We learned how the perpetrators of these crimes were rarely charged, let alone convicted.

We learned that African Americans did not accept second-class treatment and they fought back, and kept at it until Jim Crow laws were off the books.

We learned that the history of the civil rights movement is populated with the stories of strong, intelligent, outspoken women including Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Septima Clark, Ida Wells, Rosa Parks, Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, Marian Wright Edelma and the domestic workers in Montgomery, Alabama, who boycotted the segregated public transportation system and for months walked several miles to and from their jobs at the risk of being arrested for supporting an illegal boycott. Without their resolve, the boycott would have failed.

We learned of the sit-ins in Greensboro, North Carolina, and other cities throughout the South, and how more than 3,000 protesters were beaten in the process by angry whites.

We learned more than we were ever taught in school about the Congress of Racial Equality, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Freedom Riders, the Nation of Islam and the Black Power movements. In the process, we received lessons in unspeakable courage, resilience, persistence, desperation, betrayal, and love for ones fellow human being.

So is Charlottesville a surprise? Not entirely. Not when we have a president who stokes the bigotry and hatred that has permeated the South for centuries. A president who offered to pay legal fees for those who attacked protesters at his rallies. A president who wont disavow an endorsement of the former leader of the KKK, David Duke. A president who wont call white supremacist terrorists our enemy, however, will call the free press our enemy and the intelligence community Nazis.

The sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, author, writer and editor W.E.B. DuBois wrote in 1903, The problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color line. It would appear the problem of the 21st century is that same problem, for until we learn from our history, we are destined to repeat it.

Roost is a former Poway resident who now lives in Encinitas.
A Rancho Bernardo 10-year-old author will be sharing a message on the importance of believing in oneself when she reads her award-winning book at the RB Library on Saturday.

Trisha Rao, who started fifth grade at Westwood Elementary School this week, will read the childrens book Believe in Yourself. It features a poem she wrote at age 8, with the main character, a puppy named Sunshine, based upon her English cocker spaniel with the same name.

My mom felt the poem was so nice she wanted people to know about it, (which became) the idea for the book, Trisha said.

Trisha will be reading her book, answering questions and signing purchased copies at 1 p.m. this Saturday in the Rancho Bernardo Librarys community room, 17110 Bernardo Center Drive. The paperback book is $14.99, available at the event and through online booksellers, such as Amazon.

For every copy sold, another copy is being donated to a refugee child in order to provide the displaced youngsters an inspirational message on perseverance.

The book, which also features illustrations based on Trishas abstract paintings, was edited by Anjali Kariappa, designed by Pranati Khanna and published by Trishas parents in 2015. Since then, more than 1,000 copies (featuring an Arabic translation) have been donated to Syrian refugee children in Turkey.

Sumana Rao said her daughter was born in San Diego and for the first six years of her life they lived here. But when her husband, Rajesh, got a job transfer with IBM to India for three years, the family relocated because they have relatives there, including Trishas grandparents. The Rao family returned to the U.S. late last year.

While in India, when Trisha was a third grader, she wrote the poem. The inspiration came while Trisha was studying for exams. Around that time her father had been reading the newspaper to her, which included articles about Syrian children losing their homes and being relocated to Turkey as refugees.

After the book was published, the family went to Istanbul for a vacation in December 2015. During the trip Trisha met Syrian children and read the book to them, with a translators assistance. Due to the childrens receptiveness to the books message, Rao said they decided to donate a copy of her daughters book for each copy sold. They worked with officials at the refugee center to get it translated from English into Arabic  the language spoken by the Syrian refugees  and arranged for copies to be printed in Turkey to save on shipping costs.

Because the Syrian refugee center has enough copies, the family is looking for another refugee organization to partner with, perhaps the one in Kenya where Trisha read the book to children during their vacation to Africa last month, Rao said.

The English version quickly gained publicity and accolades, including a 2016 Gold Medal at the Independent Publishers (IPPY) Book Awards competition in the category of Best Childrens eBook. The United Nations bookstore agreed to sell the book because of its message, Rao said.

Trisha, who started painting at age 2, said she enjoys writing and painting equally.

I like writing because it kind of makes me happy to express my feelings, she said, adding she enjoys abstract painting with acrylics because the image can be anything and not a copy of something else.

As for her future literary plans, Trisha said she is writing another story about Sunshine, who becomes friends with other dogs and together they save the world.

Email: rbnews@pomeradonews.com
By PTI: Punjab, Haryana

New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) More than 15,000 paramilitary personnel have been deployed in Punjab and Haryana ahead tomorrows verdict by a Panchkula court verdict in a sexual exploitation case against Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, a Union home Mministry official said today.

As many as 150 companies of paramilitary forces have been deployed in the two states to assist the police forces in maintaining law and order, he said.

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One paramilitary company comprises over 100 personnel.

Punjab and Haryana police forces are on high alert to deal with any law and order situation, the official said, referring to the courts verdict tomorrow in a sexual exploitation case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Gurmeet Singh.

The case was registered in 2012 on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court after anonymous letters were circulated about the alleged sexual exploitation of two sadhvis (female followers) by the Dera chief.

The central government has assured all possible help to the two state governments to deal with any situation as a large number of followers of the Dera chief have started arriving in Panchkula, Chandigarh and nearby areas, another the official, privy to the development, said.

"We are in constant touch with the governments of Punjab and Haryana. We have given them adequate forces," the official, who did not want to be identified, saiD.

He said flag marches have been carried out by security forces in Panchkula, Sirsa, Hissar and some other places while several hospitals are also put on alert as a precautionary measure.

The police forces are keeping a close watch on social media, particularly WhatsApp groups, Facebook and Twitter, and have asked people not to spread rumours, the official said.

The special court in Panchkula has been hearing the case against Singh for the last few years and is scheduled to deliver the verdict tomorrow.

While the alleged incident occurred in 1999, the FIR was lodged in 2002. The CBI investigated the matter against the sect head.

The Dera chief and the sect management have refuted all charges against him.

He has large followers in Haryana and Punjab. PTI ACB SC

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Punjab, Haryana

(Eds: Repeating with changes in the intro)

New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) More than 15,000 paramilitary personnel have been deployed in Punjab and Haryana ahead of tomorrows verdict by a Panchkula court in a sexual exploitation case against Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

As many as 150 companies of paramilitary forces have been deployed in the two states to assist the police forces in maintaining law and order, a Union Home Ministry official said.

advertisement

One paramilitary company comprises over 100 personnel.

Punjab and Haryana police forces are on high alert to deal with any law and order situation, the official said, referring to the courts verdict tomorrow in a sexual exploitation case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Gurmeet Singh.

The case was registered in 2012 on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court after anonymous letters were circulated about alleged sexual exploitation of two sadhvis (female followers) by the Dera chief.

The central government has assured all possible help to the two state governments to deal with any situation as a large number of followers of Singh have started arriving in Panchkula, Chandigarh and nearby areas, another the official, privy to the developments, said.

"We are in constant touch with the governments of Punjab and Haryana. We have given them adequate forces," the official, who did not want to be identified, said.

He said flag marches have been conducted by security forces in Panchkula, Sirsa, Hissar and some other places while several hospitals were also put on alert as a precautionary measure.

The police forces are keeping a close watch on social media, particularly WhatsApp groups, Facebook and Twitter, and have asked people not to spread rumours, the official said.

The special court in Panchkula has been hearing the case against Singh for the last few years and is scheduled to deliver the verdict tomorrow.

While the alleged incident occurred in 1999, the FIR was lodged in 2002. The CBI investigated the matter against the sect head.

The Dera chief and the sect management have refuted all charges against him.

He has a large number of followers in Haryana and Punjab. PTI ACB SC

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) Home Minister Rajnath Singh today assured Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar of all help to deal with any situation which may arise after a court delivers its verdict in a sexual exploitation case against Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, an official said.

In a telephonic conversation, the home minister, who is in Cholpon-Ata in Kyrgyzstan, took stock of the law and order situation in Haryana in view of a large number of followers of the Dera chief arriving in Panchkula, Chandigarh and nearby areas ahead of tomorrows court verdict.

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The chief minister briefed the home minister about the steps taken by the state government to maintain peace in the state, and Singh assured Khattar of help, the official said.

The home minister also spoke to Union home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and instructed him to provide all necessary assistance to the Haryana government.

The Centre has already rushed more than 15,000 paramilitary personnel to Punjab and Haryana for deployment in the two states.

Punjab and Haryana police forces are on high alert to deal with any law and order situation, the official said, referring to the courts verdict tomorrow in a sexual exploitation case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Gurmeet Singh.

The case was registered in 2012 on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court after anonymous letters were circulated about alleged sexual exploitation of two sadhvis (female followers) by the Dera chief.

The home minister is in Kyrgyzstan to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. PTI ACB SMN

--- ENDS ---
Philadelphia, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/24/2017 -- The truck accident lawyers serving Philadelphia and other areas across the United StatesGregory E. Fellerman and Edward J. Ciarimboliare representing members and crew of the band "Adrenaline Mob" after their RV and van were struck by a tractor-trailer on July 14, 2017. Both of the band's vehicles were pulled over to the side of the road on Interstate 75 in Micanopy, Florida, when they were hit.



Tragically, the accident killed the band's bassist, David Zablidowsky, while Janet Rains (also known by her stage name "Jane Train") of Pittston, PA, was critically injured. Robert Dressler of Plains Township, PA, and Jason McCloe of Wilkes-Barre, PA, also suffered severe injuries. As of today, Rains and McCloe remain in Florida where they are still recovering from their injuries, and Dressler has been sent home.



When it comes to all types of vehicle accidents, it is vital to begin work immediately to acquire the most accurate accounts and details of what transpired, including police records, medical reports, eyewitness testimonies, and more. Upon learning about this horrific incident, Attorney Ciarimboli flew to Florida as soon as possible to meet with his clients and their families as well as to mobilize and direct the accident investigation.



Regarding the accident, Ciarimboli had this to say, "Typically, what we can tell you is that when tractor-trailer drivers and tractor-trailer companies are following the rules, tractor-trailers don't just leave the roadway and strike vehicles that are well off the roadway and not moving." While researching, he has even discovered that the trucking company involved in this fatal wreck has a checkered safety record, at best. Police have not yet finished investigating and they are still awaiting the results of the truck driver's toxicology report.



Ed Ciarimboli, Greg Fellerman, and the rest of the Fellerman & Ciarimboli team will be there throughout the entire process to ensure no stone goes unturned, in order to effectively represent their clients as well as recover the compensation they deserve because of this tragic, life-changing ordeal.



Those in need of truck accident lawyers in NJ or anywhere throughout the country are highly encouraged to contact Fellerman & Ciarimboli as they actively seek to help victims involved in these types of cases and much more. To schedule a consultation, please call the firm immediately at 800-648-7058.



About Fellerman & Ciarimboli

Fellerman & Ciarimboli is a law firm with three offices located in Pennsylvania: Philadelphia, Wilkes-Barre, and Dunmore. They provide legal representation for personal injury victims and their loved ones. They handle car, truck, motorcycle, bus, medical malpractice, elder abuse, wrongful death, product liability, personal injury and workers' compensation cases.



To learn more about the law firm and the types of cases they handle, please visit http://fellermanlaw.com/.
San Francisco, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/24/2017 -- Global Free Space Optics and Visible Light Communication Market: Overview



Free space optical (SFO) communication is a technology that uses light traveling in free space such as outer space, air, and vacuum to communicate. This technology is highly useful in cases were physical optical fiber cable connection is impractical owing to high costs or other factors. On the other hand, visible light communication (VLC) is a subset of optical wireless communications technology, which uses visible light in the range of 400 to 800 THz to send signals between one to two kilometers. Together, SFO and VLC are primed to revolutionize nearly all sectors that require communication and consequently, the demand in the global free space optics and visible light communication is projected to rise at a significant growth rate during the forecast period of 2017 to 2025.



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Global Free Space Optics and Visible Light Communication Market: Key Trends



Globally, with rapid urbanization and ubiquity of smartphones, the demand for secure and faster mediums of data transfer has escalated rapidly in the past decade. This factor is the primary driver of the market for free space optics and visible light communication. Moreover, the advent of two-way communication is expected to increase the adoption of VLC software as it aids in controlling several applications at a time and allows them to be connected with mobile phones, tablets, and other electronic products. Free space optics and visible light communication are greener and cleaner technology, consumer significantly less energy, and there is no bandwidth limitation or RF spectrum bandwidth crunch. These are some of the other factors favoring the global market for the same.



Additionally, free licensing of free space optics and assurance of faster and secured data transfer via visible light communication is expected to fuel the demand in this market. Conversely, high installation costs and degradation of signal due to environmental interference are two factors hindering the market from achieving its full potential.



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Global Free Space Optics and Visible Light Communication Market: Market Potential



Growing application of free space optics and visible light communication in the healthcare industry as well as for the detection and communication in hazardous environment is opening new opportunities for the players in this market. FSO is particularly useful in the healthcare industry wherein radio waves of wireless communication poses potential health hazards, whereas faster and secured data transfer via VLC makes it highly useful for environments that are prone to hazards and quick and accurate response is paramount. Unavailability of any alternative communication method in such volatile environments makes visible light communication the only viable option.



Global Free Space Optics and Visible Light Communication Market: Regional Outlook



With heavy investments to build a robust telecom infrastructure, the developed economies of the U.S. and Canada make North America the most lucrative regional market for FSO and VLC. Encouraged by government funding with which the deployment of VLC systems in the commercial and public places is expected to maintain North America as the most profitable region in this market during the forecast period. On the other hand, Asia Pacific is projected to expand at the most prominent growth rate, owing to vast population base and rapid urbanization in the emerging economies such as India, South Korea, China, and Japan. Increasing number of manufacturing outlets and the growth of the computer-aided design (CAD) industry are some of the factor propelling the market in APAC.



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Global Free Space Optics and Visible Light Communication Market: Competitive Analysis



Trimble Hungary Kft, fSONA Networks Corp., LightPointe Communications, Inc., Plaintree Systems Inc., and Wireless Excellence Ltd. are some of the leading companies in the global free space optics market whereas Koninklijke Philips N.V., General Electric Co., Panasonic Corp., Oledcomm, LVX System, and IBSENtelecom are the major vendors in the visible light communication market.



About TMR Research

TMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in today's 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.
New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/24/2017 -- WiseGuyReports published new report, titled "Life Insurance in Lebanon Key Trends and Opportunities".



Synopsis



'Life Insurance in Lebanon Key Trends and Opportunities to 2020' report provides a detailed outlook by product category for the Lebanese life insurance segment, and a comparison of the Lebanese insurance industry with its regional counterparts.



It provides key performance indicators such as written premium, incurred loss, loss ratio, commissions and expenses, total assets, total investment income and retentions during the review period (20112015) and forecast period (20152020).



The report also analyzes distribution channels operating in the segment, gives a comprehensive overview of the Lebanese 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.



GET SAMPLE REPORT @ https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/1673911-life-insurance-in-lebanon-key-trends-and-opportunities-to-2020



Summary



'Life Insurance in Lebanon Key Trends and Opportunities to 2020' report provides in-depth market analysis, information and insights into the Lebanese life insurance segment, including:

- An overview of the Lebanese life insurance segment

- The Lebanese life insurance segment's growth prospects by category

- A comprehensive overview of the Lebanese economy and demographics

- A comparison of the Lebanese life insurance segment with its regional counterparts

- The various distribution channels in the Lebanese life insurance segment

- Details of the competitive landscape in the life insurance segment in Lebanon

- Details of regulatory policy applicable to the Lebanese insurance industry



Scope



This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the life insurance segment in Lebanon:



- It provides historical values for the Lebanese life insurance segment for the report's 20112015 review period, and projected figures for the 20152020 forecast period.



- It offers a detailed analysis of the key categories in the Lebanese life insurance segment, and market forecasts to 2020.



- It provides a comparison of the Lebanese life insurance segment with its regional counterparts



- It analyzes the various distribution channels for life insurance products in Lebanon.



- It profiles the top life insurance companies in Lebanon and outlines the key regulations affecting them.



Key points to buy



- Make strategic business decisions using in-depth historic and forecast market data related to the Lebanese life insurance segment, and each category within it.



- Understand the demand-side dynamics, key market trends and growth opportunities in the Lebanese life insurance segment.



- Assess the competitive dynamics in the life insurance segment.



- Identify growth opportunities and market dynamics in key product categories.



- Gain insights into key regulations governing the Lebanese insurance industry, and their impact on companies and the industry's future.



Key Highlights



- In 2016, Bancassurance SAL launched a new retirement plan to target the aging population.



- Allianz SNA SAL provides the Jana retirement saving plan, in collaboration with BBAC Bank.



- In 2016, Arope Insurance announced a strategic partnership with BoB Finance, in collaboration with Beirut Brokers.



- As of 2015, life insurers must have a minimum paid-up capital of LBP2.3 billion (US$1.5 million) to operate in Lebanon.



- The civil war in Syria negatively affected the Lebanese economy and insurance industry during the review period.



- In 2015, the Insurance Control Commission (ICC) initiated the provision of soft loans as incentives to encourage mergers and acquisitions.



Table of Contents



1 KEY FACTS AND HIGHLIGHTS

2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

3 ECONOMY AND DEMOGRAPHICS

4 SEGMENT OUTLOOK

5 OUTLOOK

6 DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL OUTLOOK

7 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

8 GOVERNANCE, RISK AND COMPLIANCE

9 DATABOOK

10 DEFINITIONS AND METHODOLOGY

11 ABOUT TIMETRIC



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New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/24/2017 -- WiseGuyReports published new report, titled "The Cards and Payments Industry in Saudi Arabia".



Synopsis



'The Cards and Payments Industry in Saudi Arabia: Emerging Trends and Opportunities to 2019' report provides detailed analysis of market trends in Saudi Arabia cards and payments industry. It provides values and volumes for a number of key performance indicators in the industry, including check payments, credit transfers, direct debits, payment cards and cash transactions during the review period (20102014).



The report also analyzes various payment cards market operating in the industry and provides detailed information on the number of cards in circulation, and transaction values and volumes during the review period and over the forecast period (20152019). It also offers information on the country's competitive landscape, including market shares of issuers and schemes.



The report brings together research, modeling, and analysis expertise to allow banks and card issuers to identify segment dynamics and competitive advantages. The report also covers detailed regulatory policies, recent changes in regulatory structure and profiles of card issuers operating in the country.



GET SAMPLE REPORT @ https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/353686-the-cards-and-payments-industry-in-saudi-arabia-emerging-trends-and-opportunities-to-2019">https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/353686-the-cards-and-payments-industry-in-saudi-arabia-emerging-trends-and-opportunities-to-2019



Summary



'The Cards and Payments Industry in Saudi Arabia: Emerging Trends and Opportunities to 2019' report provides top-level market analysis, information and insights into Saudi Arabia cards and payments industry, including:



- Current and forecast values for each market in Saudi Arabia cards and payments industry, including debit card, credit and charge cards. It also includes detailed analysis of the prepaid card market.



- Detailed insights into payment instruments including credit transfers, cash transactions, checks, direct debits and payment cards. It also, includes an overview of the country's key alternative payment instruments.



- E-commerce market analysis and online payment types.



- Analysis of various market drivers and regulations governing Saudi Arabia cards and payments industry.



- Detailed analysis of strategies adopted by banks and other institutions to market debit, credit and charge cards.



- Comprehensive analysis of consumer attitudes and buying preferences for cards.



- The competitive landscape of Saudi Arabia cards and payments industry.



Scope



- This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Saudi Arabia cards and payments industry.



- It provides current values for Saudi Arabia cards and payments industry for 2014, and forecast figures to 2019.



- It details the different demographic, economic, infrastructural and business drivers affecting Saudi Arabia cards and payments industry.



- It outlines the current regulatory framework in the industry.



- It details marketing strategies used by various banks and other institutions.



- It profiles major banks in Saudi Arabia cards and payments industry.



Key points to buy



- Make strategic business decisions, using top-level historic and forecast market data, related to Saudi Arabia cards and payments industry and each market within it.



- Understand the key market trends and growth opportunities in Saudi Arabia cards and payments industry.



- Assess the competitive dynamics in Saudi Arabia cards and payments industry.



- Gain insights into marketing strategies used for various card types in Saudi Arabia.



- Gain insights into key regulations governing Saudi Arabia cards and payments industry.



Key Highlights



- To encourage the use of electronic payments, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) undertook a number of initiatives, including the establishment of its new electronic payment system 'mada', and mandatory wage payment into bank accounts. It launched its modified Saudi Payment Network (SPAN) as 'mada' in September 2015. SPAN links all the ATMs and point-of-sale (POS) terminals to a central payment switch across the country. The regulator expects that the new system will increase the use of POS terminals. To encourage the use of the POS terminals, the daily purchase limit was increased from US$5,333.3 (SAR20,000) to US$16,000 (SAR60,000).



- SAMA, in collaboration with the Ministry of Labor, launched the Wage Protection System (WPS) in June 2013. Under the law, employees' salaries were paid directly into bank accounts, from which they can withdraw with debit cards. WPS was implemented in phases depending on the number of employees an organization had. Initially, it was mandatory for companies with an employee base of more than 3,000, which was further reduced in phases to companies with 100 or more employees from November 2015.



- Technology adoption in the cards and payments industry achieved a new level in Saudi Arabia, when Riyad Bank issued the country's first contactless debit card  Riyad Bank Debit MasterCard  in May 2015. The card provides enhanced security and convenience, and is accepted across 35 million merchants globally. The card can be used for small value transactions of less than US$20 (SAR75) without the need to enter a PIN. With payment cards gaining in popularity among consumers, the introduction of contactless cards is likely to encourage card based payments even for low value transactions.



Table of Contents



1 Definitions and Methodology

2 Key Facts and Events

3 Executive Summary

4 Payment Instruments

5 E-Commerce

6 Alternative Payments

7 Regulations in the Cards and Payments Industry

8 Analysis of Cards and Payments Industry Drivers

9 Market Segmentation and New Product Launches

10 Payment Cards

11 Debit Cards

12 Credit Cards



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San Francisco, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/23/2017 -- Global Small Scale LNG Terminals Market: Overview



The clean burning nature of natural is driving initiatives encouraging its increased usage across a number of industrial applications and across the transportation industry. The transportation industry, which largely relies on petrochemicals-based fuels with high emission levels to power engines, making it one of the most significant contributor to the rising levels of air pollution across the globe.



In a bid to lower down the levels of environment-degrading emissions and pollutants, government bodies are increasing their participation in initiatives aimed at the increased the usage of natural gas and are focusing on the development of LNG infrastructure at a rapid pace. These initiatives are expected to pace up the rate of deployment and development of LNG terminal infrastructures. Although large LNG terminals have been conventionally the more preferred type of LNG supply centers, the rising demand for LNG from remote-located consumers is rapidly making small-scale LNG terminals the norm for the supply of natural gas across small geographies.



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Global Small Scale LNG Terminals Market: Trends and Opportunities



Over the past few years, the global commoditization of LNG has led to a significant rise in the number of new applications and market of LNG. Technological solutions enabling small scale LNG terminals have become mature and modularization, standardization, and the rate of competitiveness have increased.



Relatively lower entry-level challenges as compared to large LNG projects have opened up vast stores of opportunity for the rapid development of creative and new technologies and have increased the number of new entrants in the market over the years. The increased adoption of LNG as a fuel in the automotive industry, especially for powering heavy-duty vehicles, is also a key factor to have increased the adoption of small-scale LNG terminals across several regional markets.



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Global Small Scale LNG Terminals Market: Regional Overview



From a regional perspective, the small scale LNG terminals market is highly attractive across environment-conscious regions such as North America and Europe. Strict regulations in the marine sector have increased the scope of usage of LNG as a bunker fuel in Europe, stimulating the development of strategically located small scale terminals. In the next few years also, North America and Europe will continue to contribute significantly to the global small-scale LNG terminals market in terms of new installations and capacity expansions.



Asia Pacific is also a highly promising market owing to its mammoth transportation industry. In China, several efforts in place to educate masses about the need to switch to clean fuels to lower down the levels of air pollution in cities, easy availability of natural gas, and substantial price difference between diesel and natural gas are driving the increased deployment of small scale LNG terminals.



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Global Small Scale LNG Terminals Market: Market Potential



The field of LNG bunkering is increasingly becoming one of the key end-use segments of the global small scale LNG terminals market and companies operating in the field are registering large-scale expansion of operations and capacities at a rapid pace. In a recent development, the privately-owned company LNG Gorskaya has received funding worth $20.04 mn, which the company will use to develop its LNG bunkering plants in Estonia. With further funding, the company is planning to finance its LNG bunkering centers in Finland, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, and Sweden, establishing a series of small-scale terminals to be able to provide LNG to ships at around 320 km from its LNG bunkering stations.



Global Small Scale LNG Terminals Market: Competitive Landscape



The highly competitive vendor landscape of the global small scale LNG terminals market is expected to witness the introduction of several new business models in the next few years. The market is expected to witness a rise in mergers and acquisitions as companies focus on leveraging their project management competence and technological expertise to stay ahead of competition.



Some of the leading companies operating in the global small scale LNG terminals market are Nippon Gas Co., Ltd., EcoElectrica Inc., Plum Energy, LLC, Linde AG, Santos Ltd, PT Donggi Senoro LNG, Prometheus Energy Company, Emirates Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) LLC, Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS), and Skangass AS.



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ARRI

Sony

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Grass Valley

Hitachi

Red.com

Canon

JVC

Blackmagic Design Pty

Aaton Digital SA

Silicon Imaging



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Cinematography

Live Production

News & Broadcast Production



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2K

4K

8K



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Chapter VIII, to show the United States Digital Broadcast and Cinematography Cameras market by regions, with sales, market share and revenue of Digital Broadcast and Cinematography Cameras, for each region, from 2017 to 2022;



Chapter IX, covers the United States Digital Broadcast and Cinematography Cameras market key regions, with sales, market share and revenue by key countries in these regions, from 2012 to 2017;



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-Comprehensive Study of the United States Digital Broadcast and Cinematography Cameras industry.



-Evaluation of United States Digital Broadcast and Cinematography Cameras industry progress.



-Important revolution in United States Digital Broadcast and Cinematography Cameras industry.



-Share study of United States Digital Broadcast and Cinematography Cameras industry.



-United States Digital Broadcast and Cinematography Cameras market primary strategies of dominant manufacturers.



-Full data regarding Segmentation details of the United States Digital Broadcast and Cinematography Cameras industry.



-Rising United States Digital Broadcast and Cinematography Cameras industry segments and local markets.



GlobeMetrix



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Army has been put on standby in Haryana and Punjab even as authorities ordered imposition of curfew in Sirsa town from 10 pm onwards on Thursday, a day before a CBI special court verdict in a rape case against Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

By Indo-Asian News Service: The Army was on Thursday evening put on standby in Haryana and Punjab even as authorities ordered imposition of curfew in Sirsa town from 10 pm onwards, a day before a CBI special court verdict in a rape case against controversial self-styled godman Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

Sirsa Deputy Commissioner Prabhjot Singh said that the curfew would remain imposed till further orders.

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Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh told the media in Chandigarh on Thursday evening that the Punjab government and police were fully prepared to deal with any situation emerging after the court verdict.

"We have deployed adequate police personnel and para-military forces. The Army is on standby (if the situation demands). We are in touch with the Western Command and the South Western Command," Singh said.

Ram Niwas, Haryana Additional Chief Secretary, Home, said that the Army had been alerted and would be requisitioned if the situation demanded.

He said that senior Haryana Police officers had been deputed along with civil administration officers to deal with any situation.

The tri-city area of Panchkula, Chandigarh and Mohali (in Punjab) has virtually become a fortress, ahead of Friday's judgment by CBI special court judge Jagdeep Singh.

The situation in Sirsa and Panchkula towns, both in Haryana, was tense on Thursday with thousands of sect followers converging at both places in support of the sect chief and announcing that they were ready for a "do-or-die" battle for their leader, and security personnel being stationed in large numbers to maintain law and order.

Photo: Prabhot Gill.

MOBILE INTERNET SERVICES SUSPENDED

Curfew-like restrictions have been imposed in Panchkula, Sirsa, Chandigarh and some other places, with educational institutions shut for two days (Thursday and Friday), trains cancelled and bus services disrupted. Authorities have suspended mobile internet services (including 2G, 3G, 4G, CDMA and GPRS) and all SMS services and all dongle services provided on mobile networks, except voice calls for the next three days, while shops in Panchkula and Sirsa have been shut and stadiums converted into temporary jail complexes.

Photo: Prabhot Gill.

A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court in Panchkula town in Haryana is to announce on Friday its verdict in the alleged rape and sexual exploitation of a 'sadhvi' (female religious follower) by the sect chief.

Haryana and Punjab, where the sect has millions of followers, were put on high alert on Thursday with thousands of security personnel stationed in sensitive areas in both the states.

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The alleged rape and sexual exploitation, first reported through an anonymous letter in 2002 to the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court here, has taken nearly 15 years to reach the verdict stage. The High Court had ordered a CBI probe into the matter.

The sect followers regard their chief, who has a controversial personality and has acted in and directed three movies, as a "messenger of god".

Thousands of security personnel, including paramilitary forces, have been deployed to control the "premis" or sect followers at Panchkula, as they have converged from across the region.

ALSO READ |

Ram Rahim verdict today: Punjab, Haryana on high alert, Dera followers asked to leave by 3 am

Baba Ram Rahim verdict: Over 29 Punjab, Haryana bound trains cancelled

Ram Rahim rape case verdict: Dera chief appeals for peace, will appear in court

ALSO WATCH VIDEO | Gurmeet Ram Rahim supporter's open dare: Will wipe out India if anything happens to Pitaji

--- ENDS ---
FLORENCE, S.C.  A routine Wednesday afternoon staff meeting at Southside Middle School turned into a celebration when science teacher Stacy Magee received a free cruise.

A student nominated Magee for the award, which was presented by South Carolina Future Minds and Bojangles'.

It makes me feel really good that I know that the kids are learning things in my class, enjoy being in my class and that they thought enough to write in, Magee said.

During Teacher Appreciation Month in May, students, parents and community members honored teachers with online tributes through SC Future Minds, a nonprofit organization that connects private support to public schools in the state. At the end of the month, Magee was selected at random to win the cruise.

She taught me well, and she makes things easy, said Magees student nomination tribute.

Magee said she is overwhelmed and plans to go on the cruise during the summer so that she doesnt miss class. The cruise is a four-day, five-night Caribbean cruise. Magee said as soon as she can find a babysitter, she will be ready to enjoy sunny adventures ahead.

Magee has taught at Southside Middle School for 14 years. She said she sees science as a platform for teaching students how to think critically about themselves and the world around them.

In addition to teaching seventh-grade science, Magee also works as the schools webmaster.

Bojangles' gave Magee books to use in her classroom and served tea and sweet biscuits to all employees at the staff meeting.

We have all experienced the positive impact of a caring and committed teacher, so were honored to play even a small part in supporting their efforts, said Bojangles President and CEO Clifton Rutledge.

Starting in September, the company will raise money for SC Future Minds early childhood literacy program, My First Library, at its stores across the state.
New Delhi has tasked the Indian Navy to silently spread its influence and further strengthen its grip over the Indian Ocean Region.

By Sudhi Ranjan Sen: As countries like Bangladesh, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand keenly watch the outcome of the standoff at the Doklam in Bhutan between the Indian and Chinese armies; New Delhi has tasked the Indian Navy to silently spread its influence and further strengthen its grip over the Indian Ocean Region.

Besides, the immediate security concern, India's stand on Doklam is also influenced by the message the outcome of stand-off will send to these neighbouring countries.

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For the last two and half months Indian and Chinese troops are engaged in face-off at the Doklam plateau in Bhutan. China wants to construct a road through the plateau. India objects to the road and has deployed army.

A LARGE-MULTI-LATERAL EXERCISE OF INDIAN OCEAN LITTORAL COUNTRIES

For the first time ever Bangladesh - which now heads the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) - with the help of India will be organising a large Naval exercise involving over a dozen countries.

The IONS is an India initiative to increase maritime cooperation among navies of the littoral states of the Indian Ocean Region. The IONS was conceived by the UPA government to get "friendly" navies of the region together to counter the increased aggressiveness of China in the Indian Ocean region.

The exercise - likely to see participation from over a dozen countries - is likely to be held in the Bay of Bengal. The IONS platform had become dormant in the past-few years, "we have decided to revitalize the platform," a senior Ministry of Defence official told India Today and added "a large exercise with the participation of several littoral countries sends a tacit but a clear message."

REACHING OUT TO THE NEIGHBOURS

While China has been reaching out with big bucks, India has decided to take a more benign approach. Indian Navy is launching the Sambandh initiative - Naval officers and cadets from smaller countries that do not have big navies will now be welcome aboard INS Vikramaditya -India's aircraft carrier- Kolkatta class destroyer- the state of the art stealth guided missile destroyer - INS Kalvari - Scorpene Class diesel- electric submarine etc.

"Cadets and officers of smaller navies will get flavour of blue-water navy and how big navies are organised," a senior officer said. Cadets and officers from countries like Bangladesh, Kenya, Oman, Tanzania, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam etc will soon be on these platforms. South Block has already given its clearance to the initiative.

MOBILE TRAINING TEAM

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Apart from the Sambandh initiate the Indian Navy is reaching out to the neighbourhood extending his training out-reach programme. Training teams of the Indian Navy will now be going to neighbouring countries.

"Many countries aren't able to send their officers, cadets to a foreign country for training, this initiative will be plug that gap," a senior officer said.

Each Mobile Training Team (MTT) will comprise 8 to 10 officers and can train more of officers at their home bases the officer added. Bangladesh has already asked India to set-up its submarine naval training school.

Earlier, India had trained a group of its submarine cadets at the Visakhapatnam based INS Satavahana. The Navy has been approached by the countries Thailand, Sri Lanka, Myanmar for MTT.

MORE PERMANENT DEPLOYMENT OF INDIAN WARSHIPS

Indian Naval warships will now be permanently deployed at the Malacca Straits -the crucial strait connecting the Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean linking major Asian economies such as India, China, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea- and Indian warships will be more visible at Sunda Straits - a crucial passage that connects Indian Ocean to Eastern Asia.

About 70 per cent of the global trade by value passes through the Malacca and Sunda Straits.

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Also Read:

As Doklam standoff drags on, China says India slapping its own face by building Ladakh road

After Pangong clashes with Chinese troops, Army officers hold exercises near Chang La Pass

'Extremely dissatisfied' China blames India for Ladakh scuffle



WATCH | After Ladakh skirmish, China troops likely to target other border locations, warn Intel inputs

--- ENDS ---
Trump has slammed Pakistan and has warned that the US will no longer be silent about Pakistan's double-dealings.

By Santosh Chaubey: Pakistan's National Security Committee, headed by its prime minister and its president, leader of the opposition, state chief ministers and three services chiefs as other members, has outrightly rejected US President Donald Trump's South Asia policy which criticised Pakistan heavily for not doing enough and promoting terrorism in Afghanistan in spite of taking US aid money in the name of cracking down on Afghan terror groups like the Haqqani Network and the Taliban operating from Pakistan.

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The Pakistan NSC meeting was held in Islamabad today to discuss Trump's revamped South Asia policy focusing on Afghanistan. After the meeting, Nafees Zakaria, spokesperson of Pakistan's foreign ministry, in a series of tweets, said that the NSC outrightly rejected allegations against Pakistan adding that making Pakistan a scapegoat would not help in stabilizing Afghanistan.

NEW US POLICY ON AFGHANISTAN

Under his government's Afghanistan Policy, Trump has announced several departures from his established stand to withdraw the US from the war-torn South Asian nation. The new US policy on Afghanistan pushes for increasing the number of US troops in Afghanistan and gives the forces free hand to handle insurgents instead of micro-managing them from the Washington. Also, developing a strategic partnership with India is going to be a critical part of new US' strategy for South Asia in future as per the revamped policy.

Trump has also slammed Pakistan and has warned that the US will no longer be silent about Pakistan's double-dealings. He has demanded that this Pakistan attitude of doublespeak has to change immediately.

Pakistan is naturally more pained at the prospect of a larger Indian role in Afghanistan which it sees inimical to its interests and the Pak NSC observed that India cannot be a net security provider in the South Asia region it has conflictual relationships with all its neighbours and is pursuing a policy of destabilizing Pakistan from the east and the west, a Radio Pakistan release on the meeting said.

PAKISTAN REPEATS ANTI-INDIA RANT

Repeating the anti-India rant, the Pak committee expressed deep concern at Indian policies inimical to peace in the region including interference in the internal affairs of neighbouring countries and using terrorism as an instrument of state policy.

Pakistan, it seems, is also pained at Trump's charges of taking the US money while not being accountable for it. While unveiling his new South Asia Policy, Trump had said that "the US has been paying Pakistan billions and billions of dollars at the same time they are housing the very terrorists that US is fighting."

The NSC of Pakistan rejected this terming it misleading and instead projected Pakistan as a victim, "The claims of billions of dollars in aid to Pakistan are misleading to the extent that the reimbursements to Pakistan since 2001 only account for part of the cost of ground facilities and air corridors used by the United States for its operations in Afghanistan, rather than any financial aid or assistance."

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Well, that is a plain lie. According to a Reuters report, since 2011, Pakistan has received over $15 Billion in US aid including over $5 Billion in economic assistance.

Then contradicting itself, it went on to say that instead of any financial or material assistance, there should be understanding and recognition of Pakistan's efforts, contributions and sacrifice of thousands of Pakistanis and claimed that Pakistan has suffered over 120 billion US dollars of economic losses due to terrorism.

Pakistan also refuted Trump's allegations of Pakistan being a safe haven for terrorists and instead blamed Afghanistan for having safe terror havens and demanded effective and immediate US military efforts to eliminate sanctuaries harbouring terrorists and miscreants on the Afghan soil including those responsible for fomenting terror in Pakistan.

Also Read:

Donald Trump corners Pakistan, says can no longer be silent over its safe havens to terrorists

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US keeps Pakistan on list of countries providing safe haven to terrorists

Also Watch:

Trump slams Pakistan for harbouring terrorists, seeks bigger role for India in Afghanistan

--- ENDS ---
By India Today Web Desk: Bhatt camp's blue-eyed boy and one of the earliest serial kissers of Bollywood, Emraan Hashmi had quite an image on screen. But not many know that Hashmi, who played a lover boy to a married woman (Mallika Sherawat) in the 2004 film Murder, had a similar experience in real life too.

Before tying the knot with now wife Parveen Shahani, Hashmi was in a relationship with a married woman. And the actor made this revelation during one of his interviews in 2005. Emraan, who was then enjoying the tag of Bollywood's serial kisser, did not mince words when asked if has ever been in a relationship with a married woman.

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In an interview to a website, he had said, "Yes I did have an affair with a married woman. But all along I wasn't aware that she was married."

The Murder actor said that as soon as he got to know about the woman's marital status, he wanted to back out, but somehow he couldn't. "Yes, I know it doesn't make sense but when in a relationship, logic goes for a toss. So I went along without knowing where this wild journey was headed for," he added.

Love is blind, and so was Hashmi. He still kept on continuing with the relationship, despite his "conscience started to hurt."

"I asked myself several times as to what was I doing? Had I been the husband, I would have killed the guy who had tried to rustle an affair with my woman. Must tell you, all these thoughts were troubling me for quite some time. But I till kept going at it for some strange reason," said the actor.

And it was only that the two were caught red-handed that the relationship came to an end. The actor said the woman's husband got to know and a showdown was inevitable. "We had even come to fisticuffs. But common friends intervened and the issue was sorted out before things took an ugly turn. So for all the adventurism that is associated with a one night stand, I am not a big fan of it any longer!," said Emraan.

In 2006, he went onto marry Parveen, and has a son with her.

ALSO READ: Did you know John Abraham wanted to marry Riya Sen?

ALSO READ: When Saif Ali Khan accused ex-wife Amrita Singh of being abusive

ALSO WATCH: Emraan Hashmi turns drag queen

--- ENDS ---
By India Today Web Desk: Esha Deol, who is expecting her first child with husband Bharat Takhtani, stole the show at her baby shower today. Esha, who chose to wear a rani pink ensemble designed by Neeta Lulla for her big day, looked radiant as she posed with Bharat outside the ISKCON Temple. Not just a 'godh bharai' ceremony, the actor is also set to re-take the pheras with her husband today.

Photo: Yogen Shah

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Esha had told Pune Mirror that she will take three pheras with Bharat, according to Sindhi rituals. There will also be a special 'chappan bhog' for Lord Krishna, post which the guests will be served lunch.

Esha's sister Ahana Deol was also clicked at the ceremony with her husband Vaibhav Vohra and son Darien.

Ahana Deol with husband Vaibhav Vohra and son Darien (Photo: Yogen Shah)

Her best friend Shilarna Vaze aka Chinu, who is also pregnant, shared a snap from the ceremony.

Esha Deol and Shilarna Vaze

Esha is currently in her third trimester and is due to deliver later this year.

ALSO SEE: First photo of pregnant Esha Deol flaunting her baby bump

ALSO READ: Esha Deol is expecting her first child with husband Bharat Takhtani

ALSO READ: LOL! Sulking Esha forced to watch as Priyanka hog the limelight in this throwback video

ALSO WATCH: Esha Deol gets married to Bharat Takhtani

--- ENDS ---
If you want to be a part of the Ganesh Chaturthi fever, head to these cities.

By Mail Today Bureau: Ganesh Chaturthi, also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi or Vinayaka Chavithi, the popular Hindu festival celebrated in honour of the elephant-headed God, Ganesha falls on the fourth day of the Hindu month Bhadrapada, usually in August or September. As it is around the corner, here is a list of a few places to head to by ixigo, for those who want to soak in the happiness of festivities.

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Swayambhu

Ganesh Chaturthi is a five-day celebration in the Swayambhu Ganapati Temple, where villagers and pilgrims join actively in a procession honouring Lord Ganesha. It is called 'swayambhu' as it is believed that the idol self-manifested from white sand. A taller idol of Lord Ganesha is placed in an ornate palanquin and is carried on the shoulders of the devotees through the village accompanied by a priest and a drummer.

Major Highlight: The celebrations are incomplete without a circumambulation around the hill behind the temple shaped like Ganapati's face.

Mumbai

Mumbai is a spectacle during the days of Ganesh Chaturthi - it is alive with devotional songs, dances and drum beats. Visit Goud Saraswat Brahmin (GSB) Samiti Mandal at Wadala to enjoy a darshan of the richest Ganesha in Mumbai. Also, visit Lalbaugcha Raja which is not a shrine but a community organised festival. A huge crowd come to visit Lord Ganesha and at times it takes over 20 hours to reach the idol.

Major Highlight: The festival ends with the 'Ganesh Visarjan' where the idols are immersed in the water. The most prominent of immersions occurs on Chowpatty Beach and festivities last till early in the morning.

Also Read: 5 things you must do when you travel to Kolkata during the Durga Puja

Pune

The festival is celebrated with much fervour for ten days - it starts with the establishment of idols of Lord Ganesha on the first day to immersion of the Lord's idols on the tenth day. Kasba Ganpati, Tambdi Jogeshwari Ganpati, Guruji Talim, Tulsi Baug Ganpati and the Kesariwada Ganpati are some of most unmissable Ganesh idols in the city.

Major Highlight: Pune festival is also held during Ganesh Chaturthi and emphasises on the celebration of art and culture, song and dance, custom and tradition.

Lord Ganesha is placed in an ornate palanquin and is carried on the shoulders of the devotees in Ganapatipule. Photo: Mail Today

Bengaluru

Most popular celebrations happen in Panchamukha Heramba Ganapati Temple, Shri Jambu Ganapati Temple and Ananth Nagar Ganapati Temple. Do not forget to catch the immersion spectacle at Sankey Tank and Ulsoor Lake.

Major Highlight: Bengaluru Ganesh Utsava upholds the rich tradition of India's culture and heritage, through magnificent presentations of music, dance, drama and art by some of the finest artists of the country every year.

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Hyderabad

One of the most famous festivals in Hyderabad, Ganapathi Navaratri festivities starts on Vinayaka Chavithi (Ganesh Chaturthi) and ends on Ananta Chaturdashi day with idol immersion. The famous places where Ganesha idols are established and decorated fascinatingly are Khairatabad, Balapur, Kamalanagar Chaitanyapuri, Durgam Cheruvu, Old City (Gowlipura) and New Nagole.

Major Highlight: Devotees immerse the idols of Lord Ganesh on the last day of the festival in the Hussain Sagar Lake in Hyderabad. Thousands of people join the procession and fill the whole atmosphere with Lord Ganesha chants.

--- ENDS ---
Mumbai is a spectacle during the days of Ganesh Chaturthi - it is alive with devotional songs, dances and drum beats.

The festival ends with the 'Ganesh Visarjan' where the idols are immersed in the water.

By Mayuresh Ganapatye: Ganesh Chaturthi, also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi or Vinayaka Chavithi, the popular Hindu festival celebrated in honour of the elephant-headed God, Ganesh falls on the fourth day of the Hindu month Bhadrapada, usually in August or September. As it is around the corner, here are a list of a few mandals which are going to be carring social messages this year.

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SWACCH BHARAT ABHIYAN

Dilai-road's Hukmin Lane Ganesh Mandal is known for its huge Ganesh idols. However, this time they have kept their idol very simple and have instead chosen to spread awareness about the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Here you can see Ganesh's mouse cleaning India.

PLASTIC FREE MUMBAI

South Mumbai's Chanda wadi Ganapati Mandal is carrying the legacy of Lokmanya Tilak forward who started the Saravajanik Ganesh Utsav in this part of Mumbai.

This Mandal is going to play a five-minute long audio clip to spread awareness about a plastic free Mumbai. Paper bags will be distributed as prasad among devotees who come to seek blessings.

"We have kept two big donation boxes here in the mandal. The amount that will be collected within these ten days will be used to educate the sons and daughters of the farmers who have committed suicide," said Tejas Sapkal of Chandan wadi Ganesh Mandal.

DISNEY LAND AT GANESH MANDAL

The Kala Chowki Ganesh pandal has made arrangements for the kids to have some fun. A small Disney Land with miniatures of Micky Mouse, Mini Mouse, Donald Duck and other disney characters has been created.

A small light show will also be organised for the visitors.

"It's our 3rd year when we are creating something for children. We want them to come out of their houses and their mobile phones and see something different. So that while they seek blessings of Lord Ganesha who is also the lord of art and education, they can also have fun with the cartoons," said Aman Dalvi of Kala Chowiki Ganesh Mandal.

Mumbai is a spectacle during the days of Ganesh Chaturthi - it is alive with devotional songs, dances and drum beats. The festival ends with the 'Ganesh Visarjan' where the idols are immersed in the water. The most prominent of immersions occurs on Chowpatty Beach and festivities last till early in the morning.

Also Read:

Ganesh Chaturthi: Artists make Lord Ganesh sculpture from 500 kg spare parts of cars

5 cities where you can immerse yourself in the festivities of Ganesh Chaturthi

--- ENDS ---
"Today's transit of the Theodore Roosevelt not only highlights the growing success and acceptance of the maritime industry for the expanded Canal, but also its impact on redesigning world trade," said Panama Canal Administrator Jorge Quijano.

The CMA CGM Theodore Roosevelt is deployed on the new OCEAN Alliances weekly South Atlantic Express (SAX) service, which connects Asia and US East Coast ports via the Panama Canal. The SAX service is composed of 11 vessels ranging in size from 11,000 to 14,000 teu, including vessels which also transited the expanded Canal earlier in May becoming the largest capacity ships to do so at time.

CMA CGM Theodore Roosevelt began his voyage in Shanghai and will arrive at ports on the east coast of the United States, including Norfolk, Savannah, and Charleston. These terminals have registered growth and reached new tonnage marks after the investments they made to accommodate the ships that can now transit the enlarged Canal.

For this trip, Theodore Roosevelt will also arrive in the Port of New York and New Jersey, which completed a $1.6bn project to raise the Bayonne Bridge to 215ft. The investment will allow the third largest port in the United States to receive for the first time more than 9,500 teu in three of its four terminals.

In addition to the new capacity record, the vessel took advantage of the environmental efficiencies of the expanded Canal by saving 29,561 tonnes of CO2, compared to those it would have emitted if it had followed the alternate route from the Cape of Good Hope. The reduction of emissions has been one of the keys of the expanded Canal, which from its first year of operations until last June, contributed to reduce 17m tonnes of CO2 as it facilitates the transport of greater maritime cargo in a shorter route.

The average number of daily neo-panamax transits is 5.5 and the waterway has registered 1,782 neo-panamax transits and another 220 panamaxes in the new locks as of 15 August. Overall canal traffic has increased by 354 transits this fiscal year, amounting to a 3.2% surge.
The agreement was signed by Panama's minister of maritime affairs and administrator of the AMP Jorge Barakat and by Jens Meier, the Port of Hamburg Authority executive president.

The document will allow both institutions to cooperate on issues such as "planning, management and port legislation, environmental protection, sustainability and IT solutions," said the Panamanian entity.

The port of Hamburg is one of the most important container terminals in Europe. Panama, on the other hand, is a strategic logistic enclave thanks to the interoceanic canal, which connects more than 140 maritime routes and 1,700 ports in 160 different countries and accounts for about 6% of world trade.

The port of Hamburg will assist the AMP in the development of its first cruise port on the Panama Pacific entrance of the canal which it will administrate as a public cruise terminal. The $167m project was awarded recently to a consortium formed by Belgiums Jan de Nul and China Harbour Engineering Corp [CHEC]. The construction of the cruise terminal is expected to conclude early 2019.
A Flogas road tanker supplied the 110-metre long cement carrier Ireland, operated by Norwegian shipping firm KGJ Cement.

Mark Frith, port manager for ABP Immingham and Grimsby, described it as a flagship operation, which has really put the UK on the map as the latest European hub for more climate-friendly bunkering. We look forward to welcoming increasing numbers of ships to Immingham as a result of our new and unique offering in partnership with Flogas.

Flogas says it will deliver LNG supplies by road tanker for the time being, as this provides the versatility of supply that the current LNG marine market requires. However, as that market grows, it says it will look at investing in storage and bunkering facilities at UK ports belonging to ABP and other port operators.
By PTI: Darjeeling, Aug 24 (PTI) Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) chief Bimal Gurung today requested West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to initiate a "political dialogue" to end the over two months old impasse in the hills but stuck to his demand for a separate Gorkhaland.

His request came two days after the state governments announcement of holding talks with the agitating parties on August 29.

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Banerjee had said on Tuesday that the state government has accepted the proposal of Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), a constituent of the Gorkhaland Movement Coordination Committee (GMCC), for a dialogue and fixed August 29 for the discussion here.

Gurung expressed his willingness to hold talks in a letter, a copy of which was made available to the media today. "No other alternative or modified bodies will do justice to our plight ... other than creation of a separate state of Gorkhaland", it said.

"Under the situation, we request your honour to initiate a political dialogue on the long pending demand of the Gorkhas which is Gorkhaland to help resolve the present crisis in Darjeeling," the letter said.

Gurung said that the two "failed councils in Darjeeling hills like Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) and Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) should pave ways for us to learn from previous mistakes that experimental models to temporarily curb the peoples aspiration for separation from West Bengal has not worked in the past nor in the present."

Gurung further said that the tripartite MoU had stated that GTA was only to be an interim arrangement and that "We have not dropped our demand for Gorkhaland".

The GJM chief also demanded judicial probe into the deaths due to police action during the ongoing agitation and compensation for the families of the victims besdies restoration of food and essential commodities supplies.

He also demanded withdrawal of all cases -- both old and new -- against the agitators and release of those detained during the agitation, restoration of internet, cable TV and local TV channels in the hills.

He said that despite the shortage of food, vegetables and essential commodities in the hills "Our people are willing to continue the bandh till Gorkhaland demand is fulfilled."

Describing the request of the GNLF to hold dialogue as a "good and constructive gesture", Banerjee had on Tuesday said "Major political parties and the development boards which have been involved in development works in the hills will be invited to be part of the meeting."

The state government, she said, is for development and is always open to holding talks to restore peace in the hills.

"A stalemate is continuing in the hills. Any other major political party apart from GNLF, which is in favour of peace and is willing to participate in talks is welcome. My overnment is always ready for talks," she had said. PTI PNT SUN KK MD JM

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The new Dearborn dog park is located behind the Henry Ford Centennial Library and features an area for large dogs and an area for small dogs. Photo by Jessica Strachan.

City leaders and sponsors stood in for the ceremonial ribbon cutting at the new Dearborn dog park Aug. 19. Photo by Jessica Strachan.

It was truly the dog days of summer in Dearborn over the weekend as the community celebrated the grand opening of the new dog park behind the Henry Ford Centennial Library.

The project came together thanks to a host of community sponsors and volunteers, all who joined in with city officials, sponsors, community members and dozens of barking dogs Aug. 19 at the ribbon cutting event.

earborn resident Olivia Andrade poses with her three-year-old mix Mister at the grand opening of the Dearborn dog park. Photo by Jessica Strachan.Mayor Jack OReilly, Jr. said the dog park is strategically located near all the city facilities.



Its a great central place to have a dog park, he says. We really put a lot into this to make sure its right.

The lush dog oasis is divided into two areas: one for larger animals and one for dogs under 30 pounds. Each area is enclosed with a fence and equipped with benches, dog waste bags and disposal stations, water stations and dog agility equipment, including adjustable jump bars, elevated agility walk platforms, ramps, hurdles, teeter totters and barrels.



The playground was made possible by a $15,000 donation from the Oakwood Group -- a Dearborn-based company founded in 1945.

Sponsors and volunteers at the event talked about the facility being a place where community members can come together, share their love of animals and enjoy the Cedar Point for dogs and another shining jewel in the crown of a community that Dearborn is.

Resident Olivia Andrade was one of the attendees at the grand opening, with her three-year-old dog Mister. She said she was excited to meet other doggy moms and dads and have a place for her pup to run and play.

Hes very active, she says. Im excited to finally have somewhere to take him and be around other dogs.

Christie Morgan, a resident of six years, was also glad to have somewhere to bring her eight-year-old Lab Caly.

We raised our dog in Tennessee where there was a huge dog park and she just thrived, Morgan says. Its great to have a place to let her be run and let her be her.

Morgan said it was also nice to have a place to socialize with her one-year-old son.

It helps me feel like I have people with things in common, she says.



OReilly says there are plans to have dog training and other community events at the dog park in coming months.

This is for all of us, he adds. This is a community always looking out and addressing the needs of our community.

The dog park season will run from April to November of each year. Dogs must be registered with the city of Dearborn. For more information, visit www.cityofdearborn.org.
By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) India has good prospects of achieving over 8 per cent growth within 2-3 years, Niti Aayog said today, while suggesting a host of reforms to ensure prosperity for all the 125 crore citizens.

The government think tank has come out with a detailed plan for reforms in the economy, judiciary, regulatory structure and social sectors, in its Three Year Action Agenda, 2017-18 to 2019-20.

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"Indeed, there are good prospects that we will return to 8 per cent plus growth trajectory in another 2-3 years if not sooner. Therefore, the chances of massive cut in the poverty rate in the upcoming decade are excellent," it said.

Indias economic growth slowed to 7.1 per cent in 2016- 17. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) is scheduled to release the growth number for the April-June quarter of the current fiscal on August 31.

The Action agenda proposes linking central government expenditure to future priorities, shifting additional allocations to high-priority sectors which are more likely to promote development.

"The proposals imply substantial expansion in expenditures by 2019-20 on education, health, agriculture, rural development, defence, railways, roads and other categories of capital expenditure," the agenda said.

It suggested ways to facilitate urbanisation in the country and deal with key challenges like affordable housing, infrastructure development, pubic transport and promotion of Swachh Bharat.

It also suggested host of actions to eliminate corruption and black money, and increase tax base besides recommending reforms in civil services and electoral process.

The suggestions for reforming the judicial system revolve around streamlining human resource availability and performance, increasing and strengthening avenues for dispute resolution and extensive use of ICT to improve efficiency.

On the social sector, it talked of changes in segments like education, skill development, health and issues facing specific groups, such as scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and women.

The 211-page document also calls for strengthening and streamlining regulatory structure governing sustainability of environment. PTI BKS NKD CS SA

--- ENDS ---
Bam to DepEd: No to student drug list!

Sen. Bam Aquino wants the Department of Education (DepEd) to ensure that the Philippine National Police (PNP) will not get hold of the results of the random drug testing of students in private and public schools so as to avoid abuses and deaths of students.

"The DepEd, as the lead agency in the random drug testing of students, must fulfill its promise to keep confidential its results. Hindi nila dapat hayaang mapunta ito sa kamay ng PNP upang hindi magamit laban sa ating mga kabataan," said Sen. Bam.

"Kung makukuha ng PNP ang listahang ito, maaari itong maabuso ng mga tiwaling pulis at gamitin sa panggigipit. Ayaw nating magkaroon ng isa pang kaso na may mamamatay na estudyante sa ating bayan," he added.

During the hearing for DepEd 2018 budget, Sec. Leonor Briones assured lawmakers that the results of the random drug testing will remain confidential and will not result in the filing of charges against minors who will be found positive for illegal drugs.

"Panghahawakan natin ang pangakong ito ng DepEd upang matiyak ang kaligtasan ng ating mga kabataan laban sa anumang pang-aabuso ng awtoridad," said Sen. Bam.

During his time as chairman of the Committee on Education, Sen. Bam got the assurance from concerned government agencies, such as the DepEd, Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), that the random drug testing will not tread on rights of students but merely to determine the prevalence of illegal drugs in schools.

The DepEd and other government agencies also assured that they will extend help to students who will be tested positive through a rehabilitation program and peer counseling.

Aside from mandatory random drug testing, the DDB has institutionalized the "Barkada Kontra Droga" program to help keep the youth away from illegal drugs.
Drilon calls for full-blown investigation into Lacson's revelation

Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon said that the explosive revelation of Senator Panfilo Lacson about the corrupt practices in the Bureau of Customs (BoC) warrants a full-blown investigation, as he urged resigned Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon to come forward to reveal the truth.

"Now is the time for former Comm. Faeldon to speak up. It is time to spill the beans," Drilon said in a statement on Thursday.

"The people behind this massive corruption in the customs have already been exposed. Commissioner Faeldon is the most qualified person to corroborate these claims of corruption under his watch," Drilon stressed.

The senator said he was shocked upon hearing his fellow senator's revelation but said "it should give the Congress more resolve to address the top-down corruption in the agency."

"It's a shocking, disheartening revelation, but it behooves Congress to act swiftly to solve this issue of corruption in the bureau once and for all," Drilon said.

At the same time, the former justice secretary urged Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre to consider placing Faeldon under the DoJ's witness protection program (WPP).

"Should Faeldon decide to cooperate by revealing what he knew of this massive corruption in the customs, it is proper that he be placed under the WPP," Drilon said.

Drilon also called on the department to review the testimonies made at the Senate Blue Ribbon's investigation into the P640-billion shabu shipment from China, as well as he revelations made by Lacson.

"The DoJ should seriously consider the revelations made by Lacson and start its own investigation into the matter," he concluded.
By PTI: (Eds: Incorporating FIR against nine persons)

Lucknow, Aug 24 (PTI) An FIR has been registered against nine persons, including the former principal of Gorakhpur- based BRD Medical College, in connection with the deaths of over 60 children there due to alleged lack of oxygen supply, police said today.

The proprietors of M/s Pushpa Sales, the company responsible for the supply of liquid oxygen, have also been named in the FIR.

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Besides, the state government has transferred Additional Chief Secretary (Medical Education) Anita Bhatnagar Jain in connection with the tragedy, an official spokesperson said.

A probe committee, headed by the state chief secretary, had yesterday submitted its report on the deaths to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

"An FIR has been filed against nine persons including former principal Dr Rajiv Mishra, his wife Dr Purnima Shukla, Dr Kafeel Khan and the proprietors of M/s Pushpa Sales," Additional Director General (Lucknow Zone) Abhay Prasad told PTI.

The FIR was filed under various IPC sections relating to criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide and relevant provisions of the Anti Corruption Act by Director General, Medical Education, KK Gupta at the Hazratganj police sation here, the ADG said.

The case has been transferred to Gorakhpur, he said.

The probe committee had recommended initiating criminal action against the then principal of the medical college, HoD Anaesthesia Paediatric department Dr Satish, in-charge of 100 -bed AES ward Dr Kafeel Khan and M/s Pushpa Sales.

The committee had also recommended action under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Dr Rajiv Mishra, Dr Poornima Shukla, staff of accounts department of the medical college and chief pharmacist Gajanan Jaiswal.

It had also called for a special CAG audit of the medicines and chemicals purchased by the medical college in the past three years.

Recommendations were also made to initiate criminal action against Dr Khan for concealing facts and filing false affidavit and working against the rules of the Indian Medical Council.

The chief minister, while accepting the report, had ordered immediate action against all the guilty officials and staff.

Adityanath had formed the committee on August 12, a day after the deaths of children were reported at the hospital.

The state government has also shunted out additional chief secretary medical education Anita Bhatnagar Jain.

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Rajneesh Dubey, who is presently principal secretary revenue, would be holding the additional charge of the medical education department. PTI ABN NAV SMI GVS

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Peoples budget: A discussion of progressive, alternative budget priorities on the state and federal levels from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the Unitarian Universalist center, 1187 Franklin St., San Francisco. Information: www.facebook.com/pdasanfrancisco

Abortion rights: Rally outside San Francisco Hall of Justice to oppose David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, who are charged with felony invasion of privacy for allegedly secretly recording conversations with abortion providers. 8 a.m. Thursday at 850 Bryant St. in San Francisco. Information: https://www.facebook.com/events/334516040331105

Antiracism vigil: Program and candlelight vigil in solidarity with those who protested against white supremacist rallies in Charlottesville, Va. The event is from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Chinese Culture Center, 750 Kearny St., San Francisco. Information: http://nomoreexclusion.org/

Freedom rally: A day of freedom, spirituality, unity, peace and patriotism, sponsored by Patriot Prayer. 2 p.m. Saturday at Crissy Field in San Francisco. Information: http://bit.ly/2w5rOLn

No Hatred in S.F.: Antiracist rally at Crissy Field, sponsored by Brown Lives Matter. Event is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. Information: https://www.facebook.com/events/822986844534064

Equality rally: March and rally in reaction to events in Charlottesville, Va., and to promote diversity and inclusivity. Event starts at noon Saturday at Harvey Milk Plaza, Castro and Market streets in San Francisco. Information: https://www.facebook.com/events/1461327617288267/

Diversity rally: Counterprotest to Patriot Prayer rally, featuring music performers including Michael Franti and Spearhead. Noon to 5 p.m. Saturday at Civic Center Plaza in San Francisco.

Pride Parade: Rise Up contingent invites people to march with it in the Silicon Valley Pride Parade. Assemble at 8:30 a.m. Sunday at southwest corner of St. James Park, St. John and First streets, San Jose. Information: www.facebook.com/groups/riseupforjustice

No Marxism in Berkeley: Protest to expose the plan of purging our nation from a free nation to a communist nation. Event is from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday at Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park in Berkeley. Information: www.facebook.com/events/1356598631088305

Counterprotests to anti-Marxism rally: Counterprotesters plan to gather at 11 a.m. Sunday at Ohlone Park, corner of Hearst Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Way, and march to site of anti-Marxism rally. Information: www.facebook.com/events/1456134894478324

Climate change: Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, hosts a conversation on climate change with UC Berkeley Professor Daniel Kammen and Impossible Foods CEO Pat Brown. The event is from 7 to 8 p.m. Aug. 30 at the San Francisco Zoo, Sloat Boulevard and Great Highway. Tickets required; event will also be streamed on Speiers Facebook page. Information and tickets: http://bit.ly/2uZ9ELJ

Virginia candidate: The Sister District Project is raising funds for Kathy Tran, a candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates, by hosting a discussion with Rita Bosworth, the Sister District Project founder, and former Assemblyman Ted Lempert. 7 to 9 p.m. Aug. 31 at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Co., 390 Capistrano Road, Half Moon Bay. Information: www.goo.gl/d2KVLu

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.

Town hall: Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, hosts a town hall meeting at the Crockett Community Center, 850 Pomona St., from 10 to 11 a.m. Sept. 1. Information: www.facebook.com/events/336289353489096

Town hall: Town hall for students in West Contra Costa middle and high schools and Contra Costa College. Speakers include members of the Richmond and El Cerrito city councils and other government panels. The event, hosted by Contra Costa Young Democrats, is at 5 p.m. Sept. 7 at John F. Kennedy High School, 4300 Cutting Blvd., Richmond. Information: www.youngdems.org.

Picnic in the park: Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, hosts a picnic in Golden Gate Parks Marx Meadow picnic area. RSVP at http://chiuassembly.ngpvanhost.com/form/-1081566039410473216

Town hall: Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, holds a town hall at 7 p.m. Sept. 15 at Dance Palace, 503 B St., Point Reyes Station. Information: http://bit.ly/2vpinSI

To list an event, email Trapper Byrne at tbyrne@sfchronicle.com.
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The start of the Bay Areas newest transit system on Friday is sure to draw a crowd eager to celebrate the return of passenger train service to the North Bay for the first time in 59 years.

Officials for Sonoma-Marin Area Transit, or SMART, will host opening-day festivities at 9 a.m. at Santa Rosas Railroad Square station. There will be speeches and a traditional ribbon cutting.

Anyone hoping to be among the systems first passengers will have to get to Sonoma County Airport station by 12:49 p.m., when the first train departs as part of the regular afternoon schedule. SMART officials anticipate a big crowd for that run, and all others that run afterward through the rest of the day.

Friday marks the first time since 1958 that the North Bay will have passenger train service, and rides will be free. Starting Saturday, and continuing through Sept. 4  Labor Day  fares will be half off. After that, regular fares will kick in  $3.50 to $11.50, depending on distance traveled.

Here are some other things readers may want to know about SMART:

When can I ride?

SMART will operate seven days a week.

On weekdays, the first southbound train will depart the Sonoma County Airport station at 4:19 a.m. followed by seven more until 9:49 a.m. Southbound afternoon trains will start at 12:49 p.m. and continue until 6:49 p.m.

Morning service for northbound trains will begin their runs at 5:59 a.m. from downtown San Rafael and end at 11:29 a.m. In the afternoon, the first northbound train will depart the downtown San Rafael Station at 2:29 p.m., with the last leaving at 8:35 p.m.

Weekend trains will run southbound between 10:13 a.m. and 7:23 p.m. and northbound from 11:52 a.m. to 8:50 p.m.

Full schedules can be viewed online at www.sonomamarintrain.org/schedules-fares.

Where does the service go?

For now, SMART has 10 stations. Starting at the north, and heading south, they are: Sonoma County Airport, Santa Rosa North, Santa Rosa Downtown, Rohnert Park, Cotati, Petaluma Downtown, Novato San Marin, Novato Hamilton, Marin Civic Center and San Rafael. Two more stations are under construction: Petaluma North and Novato Downtown.

Are we there yet?

That depends on where youre going, of course. From end to end (Sonoma County airport to downtown San Rafael), the 43-mile trip is scheduled to take 1 hour and 7 minutes. Downtown Santa Rosa to Marin Civic Center should take 49 minutes. Downtown San Rafael to downtown Petaluma? 31 minutes.

How do I pay my fare?

In most cases, SMART will require payment with a Clipper card. Riders must tap their card against a reader on the platform before entering and after exiting a train. One-time riders without Clipper cards, or those who want to buy multiple tickets, can download an app and purchase electronic tickets. More information is available at www.sonomamarintrain.org/node/91.

Can I eat and drink on the train?

Food and drink will be allowed. Food and beverages, ranging from coffee and pastries to beer and wine, will be sold at an on-board cafe. Much of the cafe fare will be from local sources, SMART officials say. Riders will be prohibited from bringing booze on the train.

What about bikes?

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.

Bikes are permitted aboard trains as long as theres room. Each two-car train, SMARTs standard length, has room for 24 two-wheelers, though opening day crowds may make it hard to squeeze that many, if any, aboard. Each SMART station will have electronic bike lockers.

Do stations offer parking?

Some of SMARTs stations have limited parking available while others are close to public parking facilities. More information: www.sonomamarintrain.org/stations

Can I take the train to and from the ferry?

Not yet, but starting Sept. 2, Golden Gate Transit will run the Wave shuttle between SMARTs San Rafael Station and the Larkspur ferry terminal. The service is free for SMART passengers, and shuttles, timed to make the trip as seamless as possible, will meet most but not all of the trains. Plans are in the works to bring the trains closer to the ferry. See the next item.

Are there plans to expand?

Yes. SMARTs original plan, approved by voters in 2008, called for trains to run between Cloverdale and Larkspur but the quarter-cent sales tax that went along with it wasnt enough to cover the costs. So, SMART officials decided to build the system in phases.

Next up, and already funded, is an extension to within walking distance of the Larkspur ferry terminal. Its supposed to open by 2019. After that, SMART plans to extend north to Windsor, and officials are seeking funding for that plan. Cloverdale and Healdsburg are still in SMARTs sights but no timelines have been set.

Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan
The warning signs began popping up a year ago.

Michaela Azzopardi, a graduate student and part-time babysitter, noticed that the direct deposit payments for babysitting jobs she completed in early 2016  which she booked through San Francisco online child care agency Wondersitter  were landing in her bank account two weeks later than usual.

As the months went on, the payments arrived even later, delayed by a month initially, then longer. In May, they stopped altogether. Azzopardi says she has yet to be paid more than $3,000 she earned between February and June.

I was patient and understanding in the beginning, said Azzopardi, 23, who is studying speech therapy at San Francisco State University and relied on Wondersitter jobs for the bulk of her income. Then they stopped responding to me. Work started getting depressing. I wasnt happy going to work, and I loved working with these kids.

Azzopardis concerns are echoed by more than 100 sitters in a dozen cities. Their complaints are almost identical: They have not been paid for jobs going back several months, and their calls and emails to the companys representatives have gone unanswered. The sitters are collectively owed about $85,000, according to tabulations compiled by the sitters, who participate in a Facebook group. Frustrated and angry, many are seeking recourse in small claims court, and a dozen have filed unpaid wage claims with the state Labor Commissioners office.

On the other end of the equation are parents who say they paid Wondersitter in advance for sitting jobs that were never completed. As the broker, Wondersitter would take a percentage of the parents payments before then paying the sitters, who worked as independent contractors.

This month, Wondersitter co-founder Rose Titcomb sought to place the company in involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy, around the time the companys website went dark. Calls and emails to Titcomb, her attorney and co-founder Chris Franklin were not returned. The San Francisco District Attorneys office is investigating the company but declined to provide details other than to confirm the inquiry is being conducted.

It is unclear who backed Wondersitter financially. The company, founded in 1998 under the name Core Group, is not on Crunchbase, which compiles information on private companies that have significant venture capital funding. Nor does it appear in the Securities and Exchange Commission database of private companies that have sought outside investment through securities offerings.

Wondersitter is hardly unique in relying on a vast network of contractors. Babysitters, construction workers and many other occupations  Uber drivers and TaskRabbit helpers are among the most recent  have long been classified as independent contractors, a designation that makes it harder but not impossible to recoup unpaid wages if a company goes bankrupt.

But with the proliferation of the gig economy, the collapse of Wondersitter  and the questions it raises about who is left holding its debt  can be viewed through a new lens, experts said. As more workers turn to part-time contract jobs to piece together a living, they are more removed from the central operations of their employer, making abrupt financial insolvency more unexpected.

If you work for a company, you often have some idea how things are going, said Jared Ellias, a UC Hastings law professor who teaches bankruptcy and corporate law. You may not know everything, but you have a clue. If you work in the gig economy, you have no idea whats going on in your employer. Youre not even an employee in the meaning of the law. This does feel like something that could afflict people in the gig economy in a unique way because its going to hit them by surprise.

Up to 30 percent of the working-age population in the United States and Europe engage in some form of independent work, according to a 2016 report by the McKinsey Global Institute.

If the sitters were employees, they would have priority as secured creditors in recovering money in bankruptcy proceedings. Instead, the sitters and the parents are both unsecured creditors, and will see money only if there are any assets left over, Ellias said.

However, contractors do have some rights under bankruptcy law to assert wage claims. The sitters may be able to recover payments of up to $12,850 per person if the sitting jobs were performed during the 180 days before the bankruptcy petition was filed, said Lynn LoPucki, a UCLA law professor who specializes in bankruptcy.

The bankruptcy petition was filed Aug. 2.

There is scant precedent for how contractors can seek payment when gig economy companies go out of business, said Arun Sundararajan, a professor at NYU Stern School of Business who has written a book on the sharing economy.

We havent had these platforms around a very long time, he said. Im not aware of any overarching law or protection that says, This is what happens to independent contractors in every case of bankruptcy.

The most high-profile examples of gig economy firms that have folded are Homejoy, a San Francisco online agency for home cleaning services, and Sidecar, an early pioneer of the on-demand ride services that most people now associate with Uber and Lyft.

Homejoy shut down in 2015 and entered bankruptcy proceedings, after which portions of the companys assets, employees and operations were acquired by other firms. Sidecar assets and some of its employees were acquired by General Motors.

Gig economy companies sometimes run into problems over the classification of the people who work for them. Prior to Homejoys bankruptcy, six home cleaners filed class-action lawsuits against the company that sought unpaid wages, benefits, payroll taxes and WARN Act claims on the basis that they should have been classified as employees instead of contractors. As a result, more than 6,600 contract home cleaners are expected to receive $60 each  with the six named plaintiffs getting $250 each, according to a proposed plan filed in Bankruptcy Court in June. Each of the law firms representing the home cleaners will get about $13,000 under the terms of the agreement.

Some of Wondersitters competitors are taking notice of the situation. UrbanSitter, a San Francisco child care service, has been offering a $75 credit for parents who paid for Wondersitter packages but did not get to use them. The packages, known as Wonderdollars, offered parents a discount if they paid ahead of time for sitting services. About 100 parents have received the credit with UrbanSitter  some were out as much as $750  and 13 parents have redeemed it, said UrbanSitter CEO Lynn Perkins. Unlike Wondersitter, UrbanSitter does not take a percentage of sitters earnings, but rather charges parents a subscription fee to use the service.

Nicole Conway, 37, of San Francisco said she bought a $1,000 Wondersitter package this year for her son, Oliver. She has at least $600 worth of child care services left on it, and may try to recover the money from her credit card company.

The worst part is that it was a really good service that we used a lot, Conway said. We met a lot of good sitters through it, it was a really convenient service. Its more of a bummer to not have the service than the money.

Catherine Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Cat_Ho
The state Supreme Court appears to have moved up the calendar for resuming executions in California, even as it struck down a voter-approved mandate to decide all capital cases within five years.

The justices ruled Thursday that the timetable set out in the November initiative, Proposition 66, would be unconstitutional interference with judicial authority if taken literally  the ballot language said the court shall resolve death penalty appeals within five years of sentencing, more than twice as fast as its current pace  so it should be reinterpreted as merely a recommendation to work faster.

But the court, virtually without dissent, upheld the rest of Prop. 66, which limits appeals by condemned prisoners, requires an additional group of defense lawyers to accept capital cases, and removes a barrier to the states proposed rules for single-drug executions. Lawyers on opposing sides of the case said the ruling was likely to lead to executions being carried out sooner and more often in a state that last put a prisoner to death in January 2006.

Prop. 66 will go into effect very nearly in its entirety, said Kent Scheidegger, legal director of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in Sacramento and an author of the ballot measure. Although federal courts must still review the states lethal-injection procedures, Scheidegger said he expects executions to resume within a year.

Christina Von der Ahe Rayburn, who represented opponents of Prop. 66, agreed that the measure is likely to speed up executions despite the invalidation of the five-year deadline. She said the ruling wasnt the last word, because condemned prisoners can still argue that the new rules are invalid in their individual cases.

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But a statewide defense lawyers organization, California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, said the measure the court upheld prioritizes express-lane decisions over robust judicial review.

Voters approved Prop. 66 by a 51 percent majority while rejecting, for the second time in four years, a competing measure to repeal the states death penalty law.

California has the nations largest Death Row, with nearly 750 inmates, about half of whom have been there for at least 20 years. Appeals of death verdicts now take more than two decades to resolve, on average. Prosecutors and crime-victims groups who backed Prop. 66 told voters the measure would cut that period in half by requiring faster court action, limiting some types of appeals, and requiring more lawyers to accept capital cases.

Opponents argued that the measure would cause even longer delays, because of court challenges and legal uncertainties about its provisions, and said it would coerce unwilling and unqualified lawyers to handle capital appeals and swamp the states high court with death cases.

The provisions that the court unanimously upheld Thursday included:

A requirement that lawyers who now accept court appointments to represent impoverished defendants in noncapital cases agree to handle death penalty appeals, where attorneys are in short supply and inmates wait an average of three years for legal representation.

Restrictions on the second-stage appeals known as habeas corpus, which usually involve claims of incompetent legal representation or prosecutor misconduct and are a frequent source of federal court rulings overturning state death sentences. Inmates often file habeas corpus claims on their own and additional claims once they have a lawyer, but Prop. 66 limits them to a single filing unless they offer new evidence that they were innocent of a capital crime.

Repeal of a requirement that state prison officials consider public comments, already submitted in large numbers, before adopting new rules for a switch from three-drug executions, in use since 1996, to a lethal dose of a single barbiturate.

The rules would still have to pass muster with the federal courts, which intervened after the last San Quentin execution in 2006 and found flaws in execution procedures and staff training that created an undue risk of an agonizing death. But Scheidegger said U.S. Supreme Court rulings since then have made it harder for condemned prisoners to challenge procedures for lethal injections.

The states justices were divided Thursday on the five-year timetable set by Prop. 66  but only over whether it should be recast as a goal or taken literally and declared unconstitutional.

Justice Carol Corrigan, writing for a 5-2 majority, said a mandatory five-year deadline for resolving capital cases would undermine the courts authority as a separate branch of government and its ability to handle the rest of its workload.

She noted that Prop. 66 did not say how the deadline would be enforced, and that lawyers defending the measure at a June hearing  Scheidegger and a representative of Attorney General Xavier Becerra  had acknowledged that it could be read as a goal rather than a duty. That would be the more prudent course, said Corrigan, who gave a similar interpretation to a Prop. 66 directive that trial judges rule within two years on condemned inmates habeas corpus claims.

Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuellar, in a dissenting opinion, called the initiatives five-year deadline a bait-and-switch and a sham that was presented to the voters as a mandate before the initiatives defenders recast it to the court as only a suggestion. He noted that one section of Prop. 66 allows victims families to ask the court to enforce the deadline.

But Cuellar argued only that the court should have declared the deadline unconstitutional, along with another provision shifting habeas corpus appeals to state appellate courts, and agreed that the rest of Prop. 66 should be allowed to take effect.

Under the courts timetable, it will take effect in 30 days unless opponents seek a rehearing, which would postpone the date by an additional two months. Rayburn said the plaintiffs might also seek federal court review of the restrictions on habeas corpus claims.

The justices should have invalidated the entire ballot measure, Rayburn said, because without the mandatory deadlines, this is not the Prop. 66 that was billed to the voters.

Franklin Zimring, a UC Berkeley law professor, said the court had managed to kick the can down the road by leaving disputes over the workings of Prop. 66 to future cases by individual prisoners.

He noted that the new rules would not affect the hundreds of cases already filed under previous standards, and said the resumption of executions in California would be up to the states political leaders  notably Gov. Jerry Brown, a self-described death penalty opponent who has the power to commute capital sentences.

The lawsuit challenging Prop. 66 was filed by the late John Van de Kamp, a former state attorney general, and Ron Briggs, a former El Dorado County supervisor whose father, state Sen. John Briggs, R-Fullerton (Orange County), sponsored the 1978 ballot measure that established the current death penalty law.

The case is Briggs vs. Brown, S230039.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko

The ruling can be viewed at http://bit.ly/2wCbRNJ
KABUL -- The two top U.S. diplomatic and military officials here sought Thursday to allay confusion and concern among Afghans over President Donald Trump's strategy for Afghanistan, stressing American support for possible peace talks with Taliban insurgents alongside a new, open-ended military commitment.

Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr., commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, and the senior U.S. embassy official, special charge' d'affairs Hugo Llorens, spoke at a joint news conference about the importance of reaching a settlement with the Taliban in attempt to end the nearly 16-year war.

Trump's address Monday dwelled on "winning" the war and depicted an accord as a remote possibility. Both U.S. officials were careful to avoid contradicting the president, framing their comments as additional "details" and reinforcement of his message.

"We are determined to pursue the goal of a political settlement. As these terrorist groups realize that they cannot win, they will see that their best option is to pursue peace," Nicholson said. He invited the Taliban to "lay down your arms and join Afghan society. Help build a better future for this country and your own children."

Although Afghan officials embraced Trump's message, many Afghan commentators expressed concern this week that it focused too narrowly on fighting the Taliban and terrorists. Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai called it a formula based on "killing, killing, killing."

Afghans also voiced worries about Trump's declaration that the U.S. government would no longer pursue "nation-building" in Afghanistan and elsewhere. The United States has invested billions of dollars in efforts to rebuild Afghanistan since 2001, yet the country is still struggling with political divisions and a moribund economy.

Nicholson and Llorens - following similar reassurances made by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Washington after Trump's speech - emphasized that the new policy would be much more than a battle plan. Llorens said it would "integrate all the instruments of American power," including diplomacy and economic support.

But Nicholson also emphasized the U.S. military commitment to the war effort, vowing to pursue and "annihilate" Islamic State forces in Afghanistan and to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for international terrorists.

Like Trump, the general declined to say how many additional U.S. troops would be sent. But he rejected criticism that the new military strategy would echo previous U.S. policies that failed to make significant headway, even with more than 100,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan at one time.

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.

One difference Nicholson cited was the current Afghan government, which he called a "trusted" partner that seeks to "reform and professionalize" the security forces. He also praised the Afghan special operations forces, which will be doubled in size and trained by U.S. and NATO advisers.

"These brave soldiers have never lost a battle," Nicholson said. "With the additional support we will provide them, they will become larger and more lethal."

Nicholson also expressed concern for the high level of war casualties suffered by Afghans, saying, "The United States deeply appreciates and respects the sacrifice and strength of the Afghan people." Rising casualty rates have become a source of growing concern here, with more than 11,000 Afghan civilians killed or injured last year.

Nicholson also touted the shift from an American strategy of support based on "arbitrary timelines" to one "guided by conditions" on the ground. "You can believe it will be different because we removed the calendar from the equation," he said.
By PTI: principal of BRD college

Lucknow, Aug 23 (PTI) The high-power committee probing the Gorakhpur hospital tragedy has recommended initiating criminal action against the then principal of BRD Medical College and several other doctors of the hospital, an official spokesman said today.

"The committee, chaired by the chief secretary has recommended initiating criminal action against then principal of the BRD Medical College Dr Rajiv Mishra, HoD Anaesthesia Paediatric department Dr Satish, in-charge of 100-bed AES ward Dr Kafeel Khan and Pushpa Sales," the spokesperson of the UP government said.

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"The committee also recommended action under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Dr Rajiv Mishra, Dr Poornima Shukla, staff of accounts department of the medical college and chief pharmacist Gajanan Jaiswal," the official spokesperson said.

The committee also recommended a special audit of the medicines and chemicals purchased by the medical college in the past three years by the CAG.

Recommendations have also been made to initiate criminal action against Dr Kafeel Khan for allegedly "concealing facts and filing affidavit, and working against the rules of the Indian Medical Council".

Disciplinary action has been recommended against the then principal of the medical college, HoD Anaesthesia, nodal 100-bed AES ward and chief pharamacist.

"Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath while accepting the report of the chief secretary, has ordered for immediate action against all the guilty officials and workers.

"The chief minister also said that the short-term, medium-term and long-term suggestions be immediately acted upon," the spokesperson said.

Instructions have also been issued to see that there is no disruption in the proper functioning of equipments and other necessary resources (medicines and chemicals) in all the medical colleges and hospitals of the state.

The high-power committee probing the Gorakhpur hospital tragedy yesterday submitted its report to the Uttar Pradesh government.

The chief minister had formed the committee on August 12 to probe the incident, a day after deaths of scores of children in the state-run BRD Medical College was reported. PTI NAV IKA

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For progressives looking to take the long view against white nationalists, Oakland organizer Aimee Allison has an idea: help her new organization elect more African American women to office.

Even though African American women are the Democratic Partys most loyal voters  upward of 90 percent regularly back the partys presidential candidate  none has ever served as a governor and only two have served in the U.S. Senate. Thirty-five states have never had a black woman serve in Congress.

Heres one sign of disrespect from party leaders and elders: African American and other women of color face primary challengers more often than other candidates in Democratic primaries, according to a study from the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.

When you pull back the covers on the business of politics, its structurally stacked against women of color, said Allison, president of Democracy in Color, a media and advocacy group that focuses on race and politics. From the gatekeepers who decide which candidates get a partys blessing to the political donors who decide where to direct their cash, the system is rigged against women of color, she said.

Need a recent example? Allison suggests checking out the backlash against freshman California Sen. Kamala Harris, just as her national profile has started to rise.

It started this summer when a New York tabloid reported that Harris was spotted at a fundraiser in the Hamptons this summer. The swells there mused that she should run for president. The next thing you know, Harris  seven months into her Senate gig and getting buzz as a 2020 presidential candidate  was being tainted as a tool of Wall Street.

Wearing that mantle would make her potentially toxic in a Democratic primary, especially with the wing of the party that reveres Sen. Bernie Sanders and loathes the millionaires and billionaires.

It would be a good story if it were accurate. But campaign finance records tell a different tale.

Only 5 percent of the contributions Harris received for her 2016 Senate campaign came from what nonpartisan campaign finance watchdogs calls the securities and investment and commercial banks categories, according to figures compiled for The Chronicle by Maplight, the Berkeley nonpartisan organization that tracks money in politics.

Thats roughly what that other famous tool of Wall Street, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.,  raked in (3 percent) from those same sectors during her first Senate run in 2012. And its far less than what another 2020 potential candidate, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., pulled in (13 percent) from the Street during his first Senate run in 2013. Then again, Booker represents New Jersey, where a lot of Wall Street types live, so he gets a minor pass for representing some of his constituency.

Harris Wall Street donations were about the same as California Sen. Dianne Feinstein (5 percent) and former Sen. Barbara Boxer (3 percent) during their most recent campaigns. Of course, Harris haul was far greater than what Sanders pulled from the finance sector: Less than 1 percent.

Yet the tabloid story inspired a river of commentary that focused on Harris  not Warren or the others  as being beholden to Wall Street.

Theres a reason that shes only the second black woman in the Senate, Allison said. Systematically, the political world is against women of color.

Instead, Allison said African American women should be the center of the Democratic Partys strategy. To criticize someone like Kamala Harris, who has done nothing but be the consummate professional  her stands are solidly on the left  is a another insidious way to try to invalidate considering her for the highest office in the land.

That leads Allison to the conclusion that, Race has been and continues to be the unfinished business of the Democratic Party and the unfinished business of the progressive movement.

Thats why last month Allison launched Get in Formation (www.getinformation.us), the name inspired by Beyonces politically charged anthem of female empowerment, Formation. The group is already focused on its first campaign, the gubernatorial candidacy of Stacey Abrams, the minority leader of the Georgia Legislature who is running to be the first female African American governor of any state.

Abrams has spent years building a political network in Georgia, focused on uniting African American voters  the largest chunk of the states Democrats  with white progressives. Her path to victory is banking on Georgias changing demographics. She talks about how 80 percent of the 1.5 million people who moved to Georgia between 2000 and 2010 were people of color.

As she told the audience at this months Netroots Nation conference, the annual gathering of progressive bloggers and grassroots activists, We can win the highest office in Georgia without changing my hair, my gender, my race or my beliefs.

To Allison, that was a Get in Formation moment. If her organization is successful in helping Abrams, she envisions building a nationwide network of black female donors, activists and organizers. And it could teach the party to spend more on grassroots outreach to its new majority  people of color and young people  than on wooing working class whites with TV commercials.

What would it be like to have a national network of Democrats with high turnout who are organized to direct money to black women, Allison said. What would that mean for a presidential candidate in the primary? What would it mean for the Democratic Party?

And what would it say to the white nationalists like the kind headed to the Bay Area for rallies at San Franciscos Crissy Field and Berkeley this weekend?

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli
SACRAMENTO  Assembly Republican Leader Chad Mayes of Yucca Valley (San Bernardino County) stepped down from his leadership post Thursday after weeks of challenges stemming from his support of climate change legislation.

Assemblyman Brian Dahle of Bieber (Lassen County) will replace Mayes as the GOP Assembly leader after the legislative session ends Sept. 15. Mayes announced the shakeup during Thursdays Assembly floor session, saying he supported Dahle as his replacement.

Brian Dahle will be an effective leader for the caucus and will continue our work to move the Republican Party toward greater relevance and viability in California, Mayes said in a statement. I am proud to support him.

Mayes was elected to the Assembly in 2014 at 38 years old and was tapped last year to take over the Republican caucus from then-Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen, R-Modesto.

Mayes came under fire last month after he helped Democrats extend the states cap-and-trade program, which is loathed by many Republicans. Cap and trade is a market-based approach to curbing greenhouse gas emissions, where companies are forced to buy permits, called allowances, for every metric ton of gas they emit. Critics argue that the system is a regulatory burden that drives up costs that are passed on to consumers.

Mayes was one of eight Republicans to support the legislation to extend the program through 2030. The legislation required support from two-thirds of the Senate and Assembly, which Democrats have in both houses, but after intense lobbying it became clear that some Assembly Democrats, particularly those in swing districts, would not support the bill.

With a handful of Republican votes, the bill passed with one vote to spare. Mayes said he supported the states cap-and-trade program because the changes he helped negotiate added flexibility and transparency. He said it would be irresponsible to do nothing.

Dahle voted against the bill that prompted conservative activists to target Mayes. Among those putting pressure on Mayes to step aside was Republican National Committeewoman Harmeet Dhillon, who said the issues went beyond Mayes supporting climate change legislation. Dhillon said Mayes betrayed the partys core principles of reducing regulatory and tax burdens in the state in what she called a poorly negotiated deal.

Dhillon said in addition to that, with so many Republicans signing onto the bill, several Democrats in swing districts were able to vote against or abstain from the vote, giving them political cover.

Because of this, I no longer had confidence in him to protect conservative voters, she said.

Mayes was able to hold on to his position after a vote this week to force him out came up short. Another vote had been scheduled for next week.

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood (Los Angeles County), called Mayes a good man who worked hard to balance doing what was right for California and meeting the needs of his caucus. Rendon and Mayes talked about their strong working relationship, often joking about their bromance.

Personally, I will miss working with Chad as Republican Leader, Rendon said in a statement. But make no mistake, the bromance will endure.

The Assembly Republican caucus described Dahle as having a reputation as a conservative who knows how to work with both parties to stand up and deliver for his rural constituents. Dahle, a farmer by trade, was first elected to the Assembly in 2012.

We have to stay focused on building a relevant party that can win more elections so that Republicans have more influence on public policy, Dahle said in a statement.

Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez
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The largest painting ever to be hung at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art arrived Wednesday in the Haas Jr. Atrium, where it was unrolled by 10 installers on the granite floor as if they were a field crew rolling out the tarp for a rain delay.

The monumental piece by New York abstract painter Julie Mehretu is in two pieces, each 27 feet by 32 feet, and flanks the staircase inside the Third Street entrance. Commissioned by SFMOMA, it is free public art in the lobby and will be on view in its unframed and unlighted form starting Thursday and for years thereafter.

I cant think of a larger painting made by a woman for a public space in the history of art, said SFMOMA Director Neal Benezra, as he tried to stay out of the way of two hydraulic lifts zooming around the atrium floor.

Titled Howl eon (I,II) it took Mehretu more than a year to paint, and once it is officially on view on Sept. 2, it will complete the Third Street entrance. Since the dramatically enlarged SFMOMA reopened in May 2016, the new Howard Street approach has been the focus of a great deal of attention by the museum.

This was the one space that felt unfinished, Benezra said. Weve been trying for years to find the right painter.

Mehretu, 47, was born in Ethiopia and raised in Michigan. Her largest work to date is an 80-foot-long, 20-foot-high mural at Goldman Sachs headquarters in Manhattan.

When Benezra walked by it, he had his atrium artist. We were confident she could rise to the occasion, he said. To do so, Mehretu had to rent a decommissioned church in Harlem to fit her canvases.

To offer audio inspiration, a friend, jazz composer Jason Moran, would wheel an electronic piano into the church balcony and serenade her.

There is a lot of paint involved because Mehretu paints layers upon layers of paint, painting over much of what shes already painting.

Eighty percent of the marks I put down, I wipe or sand away, she told the New York Times this month.

Somewhere beneath all these coats is Albert Bierstadts landscape painting Lake Tahoe, along with landscape paintings by Frederic Edwin Church. Mehretu reduced these to digital form and had it all printed on the canvas by Inkjet as a foundation. To add tension, she added blurred images by Photoshop of modern race riots and protests.

Then she started painting. She works the surface; she erases and adds, said Benezra, who watched her work in the church. Its a long process.

Mehretu couldnt make it to Wednesdays installation, so she sent two assistants to work alongside SFMOMAs team of in-house installers. They started at 7 a.m. and did not get the first canvas up until after noon.

The museum is closed Wednesdays, so the public could not be there to watch the drama or hear the occasional epithet from someone who had been kneeling on the granite floor for too long.

Among those who came by to see it was Bob Fisher, president of the museums board of trustees.

With half of the full work still on the floor, the piece has changed the atrium in immeasurable ways, he said. The artists soul is laid bare in front of us.

Each canvas weighs about 300 pounds, and while still rolled up was lifted into place by a chain hoist hand-cranked from two floors above. Once there, it was stapled at the top and ever so slowly unrolled by six crew members on three scissor lifts that drop in synchronized time.

Later, once acclimated, it will be stretched and stapled, then fitted with a wooden frame that comes in eight pieces and weighs more than the canvas. Mehretu will then fly out to oversee the lighting.

As the installation ballet unfolded, Benezra watched from a chair he had set up across the atrium. That formed a picture in itself, and Fisher sneaked up with his iPhone and got it.

When the second canvas finally dropped at 4:30 p.m. it took about 30 seconds. Then the small crowd of museum staffers broke into spontaneous applause.

First the eclipse, and now this, said Fisher.

Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com Instagram: @sfchronicle_art

Exhibit: Julie Mehretus massive painting is in the free public atrium at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 151 Third St. Closed Wednesdays. www.sfmoma.org.

To see Gabrielle Luries time-lapse video of the installation: www.SFChronicle.com.
Eight people were injured after a pepper spray incident at a Burger King restaurant at 2978 16th St. (and Mission), police officials told Hoodline.

According to SFPD spokesperson Sgt. Michael Andraychak, 911 responded to a call at 10:05am. The caller stated that numerous people at the Burger King were coughing for an unknown reason.
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The fog, which comes on little cat feet, is moving on. So says the poet and so says the National Weather Service.

This weekend, the same fog that traditionally swathes San Francisco in August like a security blanket and which made a mess of Mondays partial eclipse will be departing the premises ahead of schedule. Skies should be clearer than usual and temperatures higher than usual into next week.

A substantial warming trend will start over the weekend as a ridge of high pressure to the east expands into our region, said meteorologist Charles Bell.

Inland temperatures in parts of Alameda, Contra Costa and Napa counties  in towns such as Livermore, Concord and Napa  could reach 90 degrees on Saturday and perhaps as high as the low 100s by Sunday.

Well have definitely less fog than weve had recently and it will burn off really fast, said Bell, who added that the usual San Francisco summer fog will be coming back before it departs for good come autumn.

This particular batch of weather is coming to the Bay Area courtesy of the Four Corners area of the Southwest  the region of the United States where Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona all come together at the same spot and predictors say the unpredictable can happen.

In San Francisco, folks who had bundled up for the usual morning fog were pleased to know that change was in the air.

Ive lived here 30 years and this fog sucks, said Michael Gregory, who was playing fetch with his Labrador retriever, Zoe, in Justin Herman Plaza. Gregory was dressed in a thick blue jacket, and Zoe was wearing an equally handsome yellow coat.

You cant really complain to anybody about it, Gregory added. Its just August in San Francisco.

Mike Hanley, who makes his living selling coins he cuts into keychains with a jewelers saw at the foot of Market Street, said too foggy weather and too sunny weather are equally bad for the street artist business.

When people are too cold, they just want to keep moving and walk right by, he said. Then, when they get too hot, they just want to keep moving and walk right by. About 75 degrees is just right.

When youre in the business of selling a half dollar  even an artistically cut one  for $30, you dont want a foggy morning like Thursday. Passersby kept their hands in their pockets, where their wallets were, and they didnt pull them out. By noon, Hanley hadnt sold a single one.

On a westbound California Street cable car, visitors Mike Thompson and Bill Ohde from Palm Springs were wearing heavy jackets, which is something they wouldnt have to do in if they had stayed in Palm Springs, where the temperature on Thursday was 107.

But they werent in Palm Springs, thank goodness, they said. They were spending their summer morning in good old foggy San Francisco, where it was much more comfortable.

You can just see a little bit of blue sky over there, said Thompson, as the cable car climbed Nob Hill. You better look fast.

As a matter of fact, said Thompson, if the weather does hit triple digits this weekend, they might just have to go back to Palm Springs.

Meteorologist Bell said the Bay Area can look forward to warm, clear and dry weather for at least a week. After that, meteorologists are as much in the dark about the weather as anyone else.

Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com
An India Today investigation has unearthed the shocking facts that led to the deaths of over 60 infants at the BRD Medical College and Hospital in Gorakhpur earlier this month.

By Ashish Ranjan, Amit Kumar Chaudhary: Gorakhpur's main state-run hospital withheld every bit of information from parents of infants who died due to shortage of oxygen earlier this month, an India Today investigation has found.

There was a total lack of transparency, no accountability and miscommunication at the city's BRD Medical College and Hospital where 34 infants died one after another on the intervening night of August 10-11, the investigation has discovered.

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Overall, a total of 64 babies, many of them encephalitis patients, died at the hospital in Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's hometown from August 7 to the noon of August 11.

Most deaths - 34 - were reported in a matter of hours between August 10 and 11. "It's a heinous crime if deaths happen because of oxygen shortage," Adityanath had remarked in the aftermath of the tragedy. "It will be a service to humanity, if we present the right facts."

India Today's undercover investigation has unearthed shocking facts.

The probe found how parents were kept in the dark as the infants died at the BRD hospital on the killer night.

NURSES GAVE PARENTS MANUAL AIR BAGS TO PUMP OXYGEN

The parents had little clue about the imminent disaster when nurses unhooked the ventilators and handed manual air bags to the parents to pump oxygen into their children.

India Today's investigative team reached out to Balwant Gupta, the man in-charge of oxygen supplies at BRD on the fateful night on August 10 and 11.

Gupta said, "We had 52 oxygen cylinders. When piped air supplies dropped at 7.30 pm, some other staff replaced them with back-up cylinders. "When I took over (the shift), the entire stock was exhausted by 11.30 pm."

Gupta informed all the staff on duty that the hospital would run out of all oxygen cylinders in a couple of hours. They were told to prepare self-inflating bags for emergency.

But no one shared information about the crisis with the parents. "I don't know what would have happened, if I had disclosed this to the patients (attendants/parents)," he admitted.

Anxious parents, Gupta said, pumped air from the hand-operated device for the next two hours till a new lot of oxygen cylinders arrived.

"The vehicle carrying the oxygen cylinders was running late. It came in at 1.22 am (August 11) and the supply of oxygen resumed at 1.30 am," he recounted.

'INADEQUATE OXYGEN SUPPLY CAUSED DEATHS'

When our reported asked what caused the deaths, Gupta replied, "Inadequate oxygen supply. What else? Supplies should have been adequate. They weren't and that's why patients suffered."

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A government inquiry has indicted the then BRD principal Rajeev Mishra, chief anaesthetist Satish Kumar and chief pharmacist Gajanan Jaiswal for the crisis.

Liquid-oxygen vendor Pushpa Sales has also been held responsible for disrupting deliveries over payment issues since August 4.

Top hospital doctors not only sat over oxygen shortage for almost a week, they didn't even respond to SOS calls for hours when the situation demanded, the investigation found.

"The Superintendent-in-Chief called back only in the morning, asking what happened. He said he would come in at 9 am and would hold a meeting with the people concerned," Gupta disclosed.

When our reporter asked Gupta when did he call the superintendent-in-chief, he said, "I called him in the night itself. The call went unanswered. He called back at 7 am."

According to V.K. Chaurasia, spokesman of the BRD Medical College and Hospital, duty staff hustled parents away from the wards when children began to die that night.

"All the parents were moved out so that they didn't come to know their children had died," he confessed. "Parents were moved out. When Dr Kafeel (Khan) arrived, some other doctors were called in to discuss the next course of action. Only then did they start releasing the bodies of (the dead) babies."

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But that's not all.

VARIOUS PROTOCOLS ALSO VIOLATED

India Today's investigation found out gross violation of various protocols - from tendering to the procurement of oxygen supplies.

Documents accessed by India Today show the hospital outsourced cylinders from a plant as far as 350 km away - from Imperial Gases Limited in Allahabad.

What is worse, the investigation found that the company could instead have delivered industrial oxygen to the Gorakhpur hospital.

"The deal was signed by the principal himself. He instructed me to carry out his orders. I did inform him (about industrial supplies). But he ignored," insisted Gajanan, the hospital's head pharmacist, who is now under investigation.

Dr A.K. Srivastava, the then chief medical superintendent, directed India Today's team to the exact location of the unit that supplied oxygen cylinders to BRD.

"It (Imperial Gases) has a depot in Faizabad, from where it was delivering supplies to many hospitals", he said.

At Faizabad, the plant's manager confirmed that the unit only produced factory oxygen and not medical.

"See, we cannot produce medical oxygen here. We are not licensed to produce medical oxygen. It involves a lot of formalities", said S.K. Verma, Manager of Imperial Gases' factory in Faizabad. "We keep no stock of it either. We only store industrial (oxygen) for supplies," he added.

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ALSO READ |

Gorakhpur deaths: Adityanth govt orders FIR against BRD Hospital employees

Gorakhpur tragedy: Inquiry report blames oxygen supplying firm, 2 doctors

Gorakhpur tragedy effect: Delhi hospitals asked to ensure proper supply of medicines, equipment

WATCH VIDEO: Operation Gorakhpur: Truth behind deaths of infants in BRD hospital

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The Rev. Cecil Williams, the San Francisco legend who has retired before, must be serious about cutting back this time because he and the rest of the congregation are welcoming a new president at Glide Memorial United Methodist Church.

Karen Hanrahan, a 46-year-old former deputy assistant secretary of state in the Obama administration, has been picked to succeed the 87-year-old Williams, a fixture at the Tenderloin church since 1963.

Its an exciting time to join Glide, Hanrahan said Wednesday. Particularly at this historic time, when we see more signs of hate and discrimination.

As president and CEO, Hanrahan will do more of her work from her office than from the church pulpit, where Williams could bring a room full of congregants to their feet, shouting and stomping and singing. Those duties will be assumed by new senior minister Jay Williams.

Hanrahan will oversee Glides health, education and welfare programs, including the church dining room that serves 750,000 free meals a year.

Following Williams is the tallest of orders, she said.

I get it, Cecil Williams is the real deal, she said. Im not going to step into the shoes of Cecil Williams, because thats impossible. But Ill try to carry on his work. Its scary, but its exciting.

The right-wing rallies scheduled for this weekend, she said, challenge advocates of tolerance and understanding. Glide will not participate in counter-rallies in San Francisco and Berkeley.

We dont meet hate with hate, Hanrahan said. The alt-right hate groups are trying to define the agenda and get people to respond violently. Were not going to do it.

Hanrahan, a native of Indianapolis and a graduate of Indiana University and of the University of Washington law school, spent nearly three years in President Barack Obamas State Department, leaving in 2015. She has also been a U.N. human rights worker in Africa and Asia and chief program officer for a womens rights nonprofit group, and has lived in Iraq, Afghanistan and Morocco.

She is an triathlete, a linguist, a hiker and  most challenging of all, she said  the mother of a 6-year-old girl and 3-year-old boy.

Williams and his wife and church co-founder, Janice Mirikitani, are moving to what a church announcement called part-time positions. Williams had retired in 2000, at the mandatory retirement age of 70 for United Methodist Church pastors, only to be rehired as Minister of Liberation by a Glide congregation unwilling to let him go. He has been largely responsible for putting rear ends into the seats at the church at 330 Ellis St. for half a century.

Womens leadership is the future of our world, Williams said in a statement announcing Hanrahans appointment. Glide remains on the forefront of history by continuing to hire the best women leaders in the world. Welcome, Karen!

Glide will introduce Hanrahan to the congregation at its Sunday celebrations at 9 and 11 a.m.

Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com
California Highway Patrol /

A search was on for a motorcyclist who fled after striking and critically injuring a runner near Tilden Regional Park in the Berkeley hills on Wednesday evening, according to the California Highway Patrol.

CHP officers responded to calls about 6:30 p.m. that a man who had been running on westbound Wildcat Canyon Road near Inspiration Point was badly hurt in the hit-and-run crash.
Whole Foods shareholders and federal regulators approved Amazons $13.7 billion acquisition of the organic grocer, a deal that could bring big changes to the supermarket industry and how people order groceries online.

By buying Whole Foods, Amazon is taking a bold step into brick-and-mortar, with more than 460 stores and potentially very lucrative data about how shoppers behave offline.

Two moves forward came Wednesday. Whole Foods shareholders gave their blessing to a union that its CEO had called love at first sight. And the Federal Trade Commission said in a brief statement that it had looked into competition concerns and would not block the deal.

The FTC investigated whether the takeover substantially lessened competition or constituted an unfair method of competition, said Bruce Hoffman, the acting director of the agencys Bureau of Competition. Based on our investigation, we have decided not to pursue this matter further.

A union that represents food-industry workers had asked the FTC to scrutinize the deal closely, saying it could hurt competition and lead to job cuts. Regulators tend to block deals when two direct competitors are combining, and Amazon  despite its dominance in the online marketplace  doesnt currently have a big grocery business.

Amazon and Whole Foods have not given many details about what might change for customers, though Whole Foods CEO John Mackey gave some general clues at a town hall with employees after the deal was announced. He said he thinks Amazon will help with efforts on cost-cutting and a loyalty program. He noted Amazon is known for its innovation and said that company could turn Whole Foods from the class dunce to valedictorian.

Delivery

Instacart

expanding

After starting with same-day grocery delivery in San Francisco in 2013, Instacart said it will start serving another 500,000 households in Wine Country and parts of the East Bay and North Bay as of Thursday. The expansion includes service to Napa, Sonoma, Antioch, Vallejo, Brentwood, Union City, Hayward, Castro Valley, Fairfield, San Leandro, Pittsburg, Oakley and Benicia.

The company is also opening up in Boise, Idaho, and Jackson, Miss., and areas of New York and Atlanta are also getting increased service.

Energy

Was Exxon

deceptive?

As Exxon Mobil responded to news reports in 2015 that said that the company had spread doubt about the risks of climate change despite its own extensive research in the field, it urged the public to read the documents for themselves.

Now two Harvard researchers have done just that, reviewing nearly 200 documents representing Exxons research and its public statements and concluding that the company misled the public about climate change even as its own scientists were recognizing greenhouse-gas emissions as a risk to the planet.

The researchers  Naomi Oreskes, a professor of the history of science whose work has focused on the energy and tobacco industries, and Geoffrey Supran, a postdoctoral fellow  published their peer-reviewed paper in the journal Environmental Research Letters on Wednesday.

They found that Exxons climate change studies, published from 1977 to 2014, were in line with the scientific thinking of the time. Some 80 percent of the companys research and internal communications acknowledged that climate change was real and was caused by humans. But 80 percent of Exxons statements to the broader public, which reached a much larger audience, expressed doubt about climate change.

We stress that the question is not whether Exxon Mobil suppressed climate change research, but rather how they communicated about it, Oreskes and Supran wrote. Exxon Mobil contributed quietly to the science and loudly to raising doubts about it.

A spokesman for Exxon Mobil, Scott Silvestri, dismissed the new study as part of a long activist campaign against the company, calling the paper inaccurate and preposterous. He cited two examples of so-called advertorial essays that Exxon had placed in newspapers stating that climate change may pose legitimate, long-term risks.

Courts

Backpage.com

case broadens

California prosecutors can bring money laundering charges against the creators of a website that prosecutors label an online brothel, a judge ruled Wednesday. But he dismissed other charges months after another judge threw out the entire case as violating free speech and federal protections.

Prosecutors filed new and expanded charges against Backpage.com CEO Carl Ferrer and website founders Michael Lacey and James Larkin this spring. The three pleaded not guilty after the judge allowed the money laundering charges.

Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Larry Brown also dismissed 15 pimping conspiracy and other charges against Backpage.coms operators.

He ruled that those charges relate to their publishing of sex-related advertisements and cannot be filed because of a federal law protecting free speech that grants immunity to websites that post content created by others.

Chronicle News Services
Former undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson is looking to crowdfund enough money to buy Twitter so that President Trump cant use it. Wilson launched the fundraiser last week, tweeting: If @Twitter executives wont shut down Trumps violence and hate, then its up to us. #BuyTwitter #BanTrump. As of Wednesday morning, her GoFundMe page had raised less than $6,000 of her billion-dollar goal. In May, a separate plan to turn Twitter into a user-run cooperative was overwhelmingly rejected by shareholders.

Apple scales back

auto ambitions

Apple had already made it clear that it is putting off any notion of an Apple-branded autonomous vehicle, working instead on the underlying technology. Part of the companys early efforts will be a self-driving shuttle service that ferries employees from one Apple building to another. It will likely use a commercial vehicle from an automaker, with Apple testing the autonomous driving technology that it develops.

Top tweet

How do you feel about using # (pound) for groups. As in #barcamp [msg]?

Seeing what we now call a hashtag qualifies as a well, duh today, but it was a bit of a surprise when Chris Messina tweeted his idea 10 years ago this week. Now a 36-year-old product designer from San Francisco, Messina said he hoped adding the sign to a term would help people participate in social media. A decade later, an average of 125 million hashtags are shared every day around the world on Twitter, the company said.

Daily Briefing is compiled from San Francisco Chronicle staff and news services. See more items and links at www.sfgate.com. Twitter: @techchronicle
The engineer who was fired by Google after he criticized the companys diversity policies for ignoring differences between the sexes has hired civil rights lawyer Harmeet Dhillon, who was widely reported months ago to be a contender for a top job in the U.S. Justice Department.

Dhillon confirmed Wednesday that she is representing James Damore, who has said he plans to sue his ex-employer over his firing. He set off a firestorm this month with a 10-page memo blasting Googles left bias for creating a politically correct monoculture.
One of the countrys largest servicers of federal student loans has badly mismanaged debt forgiveness programs for public service workers, significantly raising repayment costs for hundreds of thousands of borrowers, according to a lawsuit filed on Wednesday by the attorney general of Massachusetts.

The loan servicer, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, which operates under the name FedLoan, has made copious errors, potentially miring many students in debt far longer than they expected, according to Maura Healey, the Massachusetts attorney general.

This companys actions have jeopardized the financial futures of teachers and public servants across the country, Healey said.

The Pennsylvania company holds an exclusive contract with the Education Department to service all loans enrolled in the public service loan forgiveness program and the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant program, which offers assistance to those who teach in high-need areas.

A growing number of consumer watchdogs and government officials have sounded alarms this year about a raft of apparent problems with the governments public service loan forgiveness program, which promises qualifying workers  including teachers, librarians, police officers and doctors and nurses  a break on their federal student loans in return for a decade of full-time service.

Congress created the program in 2007, and the first wave of applicants will be eligible to have their remaining student debt eliminated in October.

To qualify for the forgiveness program, workers must make 120 monthly payments on their federal student loans through one of several designated payment plans. When they finish, any remaining balance will be forgiven.

Because the program is not yet a decade old, no debts have yet been wiped away, but the government encourages those who plan to use it to submit certification forms that help track their progress.

So far, the process has been a mess, according to the lawsuit Healey filed in the Massachusetts Superior Court in Suffolk.

Every year, borrowers using an income-based plan must recertify and document their earnings. The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, which guides borrowers through the complex process and collects their monthly payments, is unreasonably slow in processing those applications, according to the lawsuit.

To accommodate its delays, the company puts many borrowers into forbearance, which suspends their monthly payments. But months in which loans are in forbearance do not count toward the 120 payments borrowers must make, which puts many borrowers further behind than they expected, Healey said.

The companys mistakes go beyond slow processing, according to the Massachusetts complaint. A technical error affecting about 1 percent of its accounts led to overcharges for tens of thousands of borrowers, the complaint said.

Despite being aware of its billing system logic error for nearly a year, PHEAA has failed to refund the overcharges, or even to notify borrowers of the overcharges, the attorney generals office wrote in its filing.

Keith New, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania agency, said the company does not agree with the allegations made in the complaint.

PHEAA will continue working with the U.S. Department of Educations Office of Federal Student Aid to help resolve any issue identified by the Massachusetts attorney general, he said.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also raised the issue of servicer delays and errors in a scathing report in June on extensive problems in the public service loan forgiveness program.

Borrowers complain that when their servicer reports a qualified payment count that borrowers believe to be inaccurate, borrowers struggle to get their servicer to correct the error or explain why payments were not qualified, the consumer bureau wrote.

About 612,000 people have signed up so far in the loan forgiveness program and submitted at least one approved certification, according to Education Department data. Many of those people, though, are concerned about how many of their monthly payments will be counted  or even if the certification itself will be revoked.

In legal filings this year, the Education Department said that the approval notices that the company sends to borrowers seeking certification are not binding and can be rescinded by the department at any time. Four borrowers whose approvals were withdrawn  they were granted in error, the Education Department said  are in continuing litigation with the department.

Karen Bauer, a lawyer with the nonprofit Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, said she had been fighting for months to get the Pennsylvania agency to correct problems in the way her monthly payments were tallied. When she sent in a certification covering five years of work and monthly payments  about 60 of them, by her calculation  only half were counted.

I contacted PHEAA about the problem, and they dragged their feet about correcting it, Bauer said. After she complained to government regulators, including the consumer bureau and the Education Departments ombudsman, the servicer corrected its count and restored most of her payments, but one is still in dispute, she said.

The Massachusetts attorney generals complaint accuses the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency of violating Massachusetts laws that prohibit unfair or deceptive acts. It asks the court to levy penalties and award restitution to affected borrowers.

Stacy Cowley is a New York Times writer.
Venture-capital firm Benchmark asked a Delaware judge to temporarily block Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick from filling two vacant company board seats, claiming his interference hampers the search for his successor as chief executive officer.

Kalanick, who resigned as CEO in June but remains a board member, continues to interfere with critical decisions at Uber, including the executive search, Benchmark said Thursday in court papers filed in Delaware Chancery Court. Benchmark sued Kalanick this month, accusing him of duping the firm to gain access to three board seats.

In its filing, the firm asked the judge to bar Kalanick from filling the seats while the lawsuit is pending. Benchmark says the block is needed so that he doesnt cast a decisive vote on any matter involving Ubers board, including the CEO search.

It has been widely reported that Mr. Kalanicks behavior has caused potential CEO candidates to withdraw from consideration, Benchmark said in the filing. Mr. Kalanicks actions are chilling the search process and threatening harm to Uber (and Benchmarks investment) by keeping Uber a leaderless, and therefore foundering, corporation.

The suit is the latest development in an escalating battle between Kalanick and Benchmark, one of Ubers early investors, which has a 13 percent stake. One of the firms partners, Bill Gurley, led the effort to oust Kalanick as CEO. Kalanick resigned after a series of controversies, including allegations of sexual harassment by his employees and the use of software designed to bypass regulators.

Kalanick has called the lawsuit a fabrication and accused the firm of using threats and intimidation to remove him from the company. He said Benchmark was aware of all the events on which its claims are based. The two parties are scheduled to appear in court in Georgetown, Del., on Wednesday.

Benchmarks suit relies on meritless personal attacks against Travis Kalanick that have no basis in law or fact, Jimmy Asci, a spokesman for Kalanick, said in response to Thursdays filings. Benchmarks shameful tactics and unfounded claims punish Uber, its employees and its investors at a critical time when the company most needs stability and leadership.

Benchmark also countered Kalanicks contention that the firm picked the most shameful of times  less than two weeks after his mothers funeral  to force him to sign his resignation letter. During that time, the firm said, he continued to give directions and remained extensively involved with the company  including helping determine strategy on a report concerning alleged sexual harassment and gender discrimination.

Indeed, Mr. Kalanick was in Chicago to interview candidates for the chief operating officer position when he was presented with the letter signed by Benchmark and four other major investors representing approximately 40 percent of Ubers voting power, Benchmark said in the filing.

Chris Dolmetsch is a Bloomberg writer. Email: cdolmetsch@bloomberg.net
Even as Ubers investors mounted a revolt against its then-chief executive officer over a string of self-inflicted scandals, the San Francisco ride-hailing companys financial performance continued to improve in the second quarter, based on financial results provided by the company. Still, Ubers losses, which totaled $645 million, remained significant.

Uber generated $1.75 billion in adjusted net revenue in the second quarter, up 17 percent from the prior quarter. The companys gross bookings, the total money taken in fares, reached $8.7 billion, also up 17 percent from the prior quarter.

Travis Kalanick, Ubers co-founder, resigned as CEO on June 20, only days before the end of the second quarter. The results show that Uber continued to make progress on cutting its losses while growing its business, even as the company responded to a relentless cascade of scandals.

Kalanick stepped down after a group of investors led by venture capital firm Benchmark demanded his resignation. Kalanick has since tried to hang on to the three board seats he controls even as Benchmark sues him for fraud.

At the end of the second quarter, Uber had $6.6 billion cash on hand.

Ubers many crises have emboldened competitors. Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing raised $5 billion this year, while Lyft has attempted to seize on Ubers many stumbles, donating $1 million to the American Civil Liberties Union after Uber was criticized for its ties to the Trump administration, for instance.

An executive committee is steering Uber as it searches for a CEO. The group has been taking steps to fend off rivals and rehabilitate the companys image. It bent to mounting pressure from drivers in June by adding the option for customers to tip within the app. Uber said it has paid out more than $50 million in gratuities since then.

Among Ubers biggest costs: India, Southeast Asia, discounts for passengers and bonuses for drivers, insurance payments, employee salaries and self-driving car research. Uber does not include the cost of stock compensation in its losses.

Uber, which remains a private company, has been doling out its financial results to news outlets every quarter after years of periodic leaks.

Uber has been searching for a chief financial officer. Its head of finance, Gautam Gupta, left Uber this year for the startup OpenDoor. He was replaced temporarily by Prabir Adarkar, whose promotion to vice president was announced to the company on Tuesday.

Eric Newcomer is a Bloomberg writer. Email: enewcomer@bloomberg.net
An employee of a homeless shelter was attacked on a Monday afternoon bus ride by a man he'd once had to remove from the shelter for disorderly conduct, police said.

The attack occurred about 4 p.m. on the 100 block of Albatross Court in the Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco as the 54-year-old victim rode home from his job at a homeless shelter, according to the San Francisco Police Department.
FIR has been lodged at the Hazratganj Police Station in Lucknow against nine people including the oxygen supplier.

By India Today Web Desk: After over 60 children died in the Gorakhpur tragedy, the Uttar Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today ordered an FIR to be registered in the case.

Following the order an FIR has been lodged at the Hazratganj Police Station in Lucknow. Nine people from the BRD Medical College and Pushpa Sales, the firm which supplied oxygen, have been named in the FIR.

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Those named have been identified as Manish Bhandari (Pushpa Sales), Uday Pratap (Audit department), Sanjay (clerk BRD medical college), Sudheer (clerk BRD medical college), Dr Rajeev Mishra (suspended principal), Dr Purnima Shukla, Dr Kafeel Khan (head of Encephalitis ward), Gajanan Jaiswal (chief pharmacist) and Dr Sateesh (head of anesthesia and oxygen supply department).

All the persons named have been booked under sections 420, 308, 120b of IPC and Section 15 of Indian Medical Council.

The FIR comes a day after a high-power committee investigating the deaths recommended criminal action against the former principal of BRD college and several other medical professionals.

The high-power committee probing the Gorakhpur hospital tragedy yesterday submitted its report to the Uttar Pradesh government.

The chief minister had formed the committee on August 12 to probe the incident, a day after deaths of scores of children in the state-run BRD Medical College was reported.

Also Read:

Gorakhpur hospital tragedy: What killed those 70 children?

Gorakhpur tragedy effect: Delhi hospitals asked to ensure proper supply of medicines, equipment

Gorakhpur tragedy latest updates: Supreme Court refuses special probe

WATCH | Gorakhpur tragedy: As death toll mounts to 68, CM Yogi Adityanath visits BRD Hospital

--- ENDS ---
About 300 people attended an Oakland birthday party where two men were fatally shot and a third was critically injured, but a year later, not a single witness has come forward to describe what they saw.

Oakland police detectives held a news conference Wednesday to ask the public for help in solving the cold-case killings of Terrence McCrary Jr., 22, and Craig Fletcher-Cooks, 20.

There were hundreds of people there, said homicide Detective Sgt. Michael Cardoza. Im asking that someone come forward. I know that someone saw something.

McCrary, of Berkeley, and Fletcher-Cooks, of Oakland, were shot and killed around 1 a.m. on Aug. 14 during a block party held at a venue in the 300 block of 15th Street.

ALSO SF woman found slain in rural Contra Costa County

Cardoza said gunfire erupted after four men in their 20s grabbed Fletcher-Cooks girlfriend to dance. When Fletcher-Cooks stepped in to tell the men she was with him, a fight broke out, Cardoza said.

Fletcher-Cook was shot multiple times before the assailants ran outside the party into a crowd, still firing weapons. A stray bullet hit and killed McCrary, who was not involved with the initial argument, Cardoza said.

A third victim, a 24-year-old man, was shot and critically injured but later recovered, Cardoza said.

Friends and relatives of the victims attended Wednesdays news conference and called for anyone with information about the shootings to come forward.

Its really sad, but for the friends and family and the community as a whole, its real, said Stacey Flowers, a cousin of Fletcher-Cooks. Lets allow some type of closure. Somebody knows something. All we ask is that you just come forward.

With a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, police hope to overcome the neighborhoods antisnitching culture to get tips on the suspects.

This is a tragic, tragic incident where two young men were shot and killed. And for what? Cardoza said.

Police have recovered weapons linked to the shooting, but they would not describe them or say if they yielded fingerprints.

Terrence was a thoughtful, warm, loving son, brother and friend, the McCrary family said in a statement. He was a talented skateboarder and aspiring artist. His death leaves a void in the lives of his family, friends and artist community.

A skate jam and contest will be held on Sept. 16 at Berkeley Skatepark on Harrison Street in honor of McCrary.

Detectives asked anyone with information on the killings to call them at (510) 238-3821 or leave a message on their tip line at (510) 238-7950. Callers can remain anonymous.

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno
A motorcyclist was killed in Rohnert Park on Wednesday evening when he crashed into a pickup truck that police say was driven by a 63-year-old man whose blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit.

The crash occurred just before 6 p.m. on Snyder Lane near the University Square shopping center. A green Ford pickup truck operated by Robert Bosch collided with a 2008 Honda CBR 600 motorcycle driven by Fabian Carreras-Hermosillo, authorities said.
Evan Sernoffsky

A 19-year-old man shot to death in Fairfield when occupants of a car opened fired on a vehicle he was riding in was identified Wednesday by police, who also announced the arrests of two suspects in the slaying.

Gary Dejuanta Cromwell, Jr., of Vacaville, was killed on Sunday around 9:30 p.m. near the intersection of Madison and Broadway streets, police said.
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Philanthropist Gordon Getty will give the University of San Francisco $15 million to establish a college for top students to study the arts, sciences and humanities, USF announced Wednesday.

The gift is the schools largest from an individual donor and is meant to inspire others to help the university meet its $35 million goal for the new program, to be called the Honors College, that is expected to open in fall 2018.
Dunkirk: Christopher Nolans career-best film tells the story of World War IIs harrowing Dunkirk evacuation as experienced on land, sea and air. Its inspired filmmaking from the first frame. Rated PG-13. 107 minutes.

 Mick LaSalle

Escapes: Hampton Fanchers most famous credit is as writer of Blade Runner, but thats just one brief stop in the raconteurs prodigious career and life. Escapes director-editor Michael Almereyda matches filmmaking style with his subject. The result is a small but layered portrait of a complicated talent. Not rated. 89 minutes.

 Peter Hartlaub

The Hitmans Bodyguard: This is a pleasing action comedy, starring Samuel L. Jackson, as a hit man who needs to be escorted to the Hague (to testify in court) and the bodyguard assigned to protect him (Ryan Reynolds). Jackson and Reynolds make a good pair, and they get strong comic support by Salma Hayek, as Jacksons impossibly profane, assertive wife. Rated R. 118 minutes.

 Mick LaSalle

The Trip to Spain: This is the third installment in the series of foodie travelogues with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon  who play lightly fictionalized versions of themselves  and its a return to form after its predecessor, The Trip to Italy. The men indulge in the usual banter and celeb impersonations, but more somber notes are sounded, especially regarding the Coogan figure. Not rated. 108 minutes.

 Walter Addiego
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The world of classical music is always a search for the delicate balance between old and new, between the familiar masterpieces that continue to reward repeat visits and the fresh creations that expand our artistic horizons. This fall in the Bay Area brings a bounty of both. There are premieres and recent works from Alan Fletcher, Sally Beamish, Jefferson Friedman and Hans Abrahamsen, alongside golden oldies by everyone from Henry Purcell to Richard Strauss.

Sept. 9

Elektra: Richard Strauss fervid operatic tale of intrafamilial vengeance  as close as the composer ever came to bursting outside the bounds of the tonal system he had mastered so fluently  makes an overdue return to the San Francisco Opera, with soprano Christine Goerke in the title role. Sept. 9-27. War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave., S.F. (415) 864-3330. www.sfopera.com

Fall Arts 2017 Bay Area arts and entertainment venues fall lineup

Sept. 21

New Century Chamber Orchestra: After the departure of former Music Director Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, this premier string ensemble begins a new artistic chapter under the temporary leadership of violinist Daniel Hope. The opening program includes the world premiere of a new violin concerto by Alan Fletcher. Sept. 21-24. Various locations. (415) 392-4400. www.ncco.org

If you like: Among Hopes voluminous discography is a poignant music tribute to his mentor, violinist Yehudi Menuhin (Deutsche Grammophon).

Sept. 22

Michael Tilson Thomas conducts Bernstein: The centennial tributes to Leonard Bernstein will be coming thick and fast this season, and its no surprise that one of his closest associates leads the way. Thomas conducts the San Francisco Symphony in a full evening of Bernsteins music, including Chichester Psalms and Arias and Barcarolles with mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard and bass-baritone Ryan McKinny. Sept. 22-24. Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Ave., S.F. (415) 864-6000. www.sfsymphony.org

Oct. 1

Isabel Leonard: If the wondrous American mezzo-sopranos brief solo turn with the San Francisco Symphony wasnt enough, she returns almost immediately with more contributions to the Bernstein festivities. Shell sing a wide-ranging program that includes excerpts from West Side Story, Trouble in Tahiti, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and more. Oct. 1. Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave., S.F. (415) 392-2545. www.performances.org

Oct. 4

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra: When your primary focus is on music of the 18th and 19th centuries, you dont often get to unveil new works. But Philharmonias season opener is a rare exception, as Nicholas McGegan conducts the U.S. premiere of The Judas Passion by Scottish composer Sally Beamish. Oct. 4-8. Various locations. (415) 295-1900. www.philharmonia.org

Oct. 5

Berkeley Symphony Orchestra: Music director Joana Carneiro was nowhere in evidence last season, for an excellent reason  shes the new mother of triplets. Now shes back on the podium, leading the orchestra and soloist Tessa Seymour in the world premiere of a cello concerto by Australian composer William Gardiner. Oct. 5. Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley. (510) 841-2800. www.berkeleysymphony.org

Oct. 6

Krzysztof Urbanski and Sol Gabetta at the San Francisco Symphony: Two of the most exciting musical debuts of 2016 were Urbanskis suave, kinetic bow with the Symphony and the Argentine cellists first local recital. Urbanski is returning for two weeks (the first with violinist Augustin Hadelich), after which Gabetta makes her Symphony debut in the Dvorak concerto. Oct. 6-8 and Oct. 19-21. Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Ave., S.F. (415) 864-6000. www.sfsymphony.org

Oct. 13

Chicago Symphony Orchestra: The parade of American orchestras that came through Davies Symphony Hall during the San Francisco Symphonys centennial festivities a few years back left little doubt that the Windy City is home to the nations most exciting and accomplished ensemble. The orchestras weekend-long residency with Cal Performances features music by Rossini, Brahms, Elizabeth Ogonek and more. Oct. 13-15. Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley. (510) 642-9988. www.calperformances.org

Oct. 13

Jack Quartet and Joshua Roman: The dynamic young string quartet is joined by the terrifyingly gifted cellist for a promising and far-ranging program of contemporary music by Jefferson Friedman, Amy Williams, John Zorn and Roman himself. Oct. 13. Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave., S.F. (415) 392-2545. www.performances.org

Oct. 21

San Francisco Contemporary Music Players: Were still waiting for the first local performance of Let Me Tell You, the exquisite orchestral song cycle by the Danish composer Hans Abrahamsen. But in the meantime, his chamber work Schnee (Snow)  an hours worth of sumptuous, white-hued musical canons  will tide us over nicely. Taube Atrium Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave., S.F. Oct. 21. (415) 278-9566. www.sfcmp.org

Oct. 30

Daniil Trifonov: Its been a while since the world of the piano has witnessed the sort of excitement aroused by this young Russian virtuoso. In a solo recital presented by the San Francisco Symphony, Trifonov will tear his way through music by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Chopin and more. Oct. 30. Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Ave., S.F. (415) 864-6000. www.sfsymphony.org

If you like: Trifonov can be heard in peak form on a double-disc set of Liszt piano works, titled Transcendental (Deutsche Grammophon).

Nov. 5

Anthony de Mare: For his commissioning project Liaisons, the pianist had the brilliant plan of inviting a whos who of contemporary composers to honor Stephen Sondheim by selecting one of his songs and creating a short piano treatment of it. The results are by turns beautiful, challenging and evocative, and de Mare will play a representative sampling of them. Nov. 5. Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley. (510) 642-9988. www.calperformances.org

If you like: De Mare has issued a complete recording of Liaisons (complete, at least, as of the issue date) on a superb three-disc set for ECM New Series.

Nov. 9

Les Arts Florissants: William Christies Paris-based Baroque ensemble represents the aristocracy  perhaps even the royalty  of the early music world. In a pair of Bay Area appearances, it will perform two landmarks of 17th century opera, Purcells Dido and Aeneas and Marc-Antoine Charpentiers Acteon. Nov. 9. Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley. (510) 642-9988. www.calperformances.org. Nov. 10. Weill Concert Hall, Green Music Center, Sonoma State University. (866) 955-6040. www.gmc.sonoma.edu

Joshua Kosman is The San Francisco Chronicles music critic. Email: jkosman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JoshuaKosman
GAINESVILLE, Fla.  For the first time in state history, Florida is expecting to execute a white man Thursday for killing a black person  and it plans to do so with the help of a drug that has never been used before in any U.S. execution.

Barring a stay, Mark Asay, 53, is scheduled to die by lethal injection after 6 p.m. Asay was convicted by a jury of two racially motivated, premeditated murders in Jacksonville in 1987.

The planned execution  Floridas first since the U.S. Supreme Court halted the practice in the state more than 18 months ago  is expected to be carried out using etomidate, an anesthetic that has been approved by the Florida Supreme Court. Two other drugs also will be used.

Asay, who is white, fatally shot Robert Lee Booker, 34, a black man, after making multiple racist comments, prosecutors said. Asays second victim was Robert McDowell, 26, who was mixed race, white and Hispanic. Prosecutors say Asay had hired McDowell, who was dressed as a woman, for sex and shot him six times after discovering his gender.

While Asay would be the states first white man to be executed in Florida for killing a black man, at least 20 black men have been executed for killing white victims since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1976, according to data from the Death Penalty Information Center. A total of 92 Florida inmates have been executed in that time period.

Opponents of capital punishment said much more needs to be done to make Floridas criminal justice system more equitable.

This does nothing to change the 170-year-long history of Florida not executing whites for killing blacks, said Mark Elliott, executive director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

Etomidate is the first of three drugs administered in Floridas new execution cocktail. It is replacing midazolam, which has been harder to acquire after many drug companies began refusing to provide it for executions. The etomidate is followed by rocuronium bromide, a paralytic, and finally, potassium acetate, which stops the heart. It is Floridas first time using potassium acetate too, which was used in a 2015 execution in Oklahoma by mistake, but has not been used elsewhere, a death penalty expert said.

While the states high court has approved the use of etomidate, some experts have criticized the drug as being unproven.

Its never been used in an execution before, said Jen Moreno, a lethal injection expert who works as a staff attorney at the UC Berkeley Law Schools death penalty clinic. There are outstanding questions about whether its going to do what it needs to do during an execution. The state hasnt provided any information about why it has selected this drug.

State corrections officials defended the choice, saying it has been reviewed.

The Florida Department of Corrections follows the law and carries out the sentence of the court, Michelle Glady, the Florida Department of Corrections spokeswoman, said in a statement. This is the Departments most solemn duty and the foremost objective with the lethal injection procedure is a humane and dignified process.

Doctors hired by Asays attorneys raised questions about etomidate in court declarations, saying there are cases where it had caused pain along with involuntary writhing in patients.

But in its opinion allowing the drug to be used, the states high court said earlier this month that four expert witnesses demonstrated that Asay is at small risk of mild to moderate pain.

Jason Dearen is an Associated Press writer.
CHARLESTON, S.C.  A fired dishwasher shot and killed a chef and held a small number of people hostage for about three hours before he was shot by police at a crowded restaurant in a tourist-heavy area of downtown Charleston, S.C., on Thursday, authorities and one of the restaurants owners said.

The hostages were freed with no injuries, Mayor John Tecklenburg said. The shooting took place at Virginias restaurant on the usually crowded King Street, a line of shops and nice dining that caters to both tourists and residents in South Carolinas largest and most historic city.

Tecklenburg quickly said the shooting was the act of a disgruntled employee and not a terrorist attack or a hate crime in a city where nine black church members were killed by a white man two years ago.

This was a tragic case of a disturbed individual, I think, with a history of some mental health challenges, Tecklenburg said at a news conference.

Authorities did not release the names of the gunman or the employee he killed, and would not specify the number of hostages who had been held.

The shooting was reported shortly after noon Thursday.

Peter Siegert, 73, and his son Peter Siegert IV, 45, told reporters that just after several waitresses and kitchen workers walked out the door without saying a word, a man in an apron with a gun came out of the kitchen and locked the front door.

I am the new king of Charleston, the Siegerts quoted the man as saying.

The man told diners to get on the floor and move to the back of the restaurant. The Siegerts said they escaped out a back door and didnt know how many people were left behind.

One of the restaurants owners, John Aquino, told WCSC-TV that a dishwasher who had been fired came back to the restaurant and shot a chef to get revenge.

The restaurant was packed with a lunchtime crowd and the first officers to arrive were able to get the man who was shot and a number of diners out safely, interim Charleston Police Chief Jerome Taylor said.

The site is a few blocks away from Emanuel AME Church, where nine black members of a church were killed by a white man during a June 2015 Bible study. Dylann Roof was sentenced to death in the case.

Mic Smith is an Associated Press writer.
Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim is accused of raping two women at his ashram in Sirsa 15 years ago.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a still from his first film

By India Today Web Desk: Massive security arrangements have been put in place in Chandigarh and Panchkula as largescale violence feared by followers of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim who will be appearing in court on Friday for hearing in a rape case against him.

The Dera Sacha Sauda chief is accused of raping two women at his ashram in Sirsa 15 years ago.

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The Punjab and Haryana High Court has pulled up both the Centre and Haryana government warning them against repeat of Jat agitation-like violence by Dera followers. Thousands of Ram Rahim supporters are already camping in Panchkula, where a special court is scheduled to pronounce its verdict on Friday (August 25).

LATEST UPDATES:

We will take strict legal action against Ram Rahim's supporters if they try to enter the city, says Chandigarh Police.

Chandigarh Police is apprehensive Ram Rahim's supporters may try to enter the city from adjoining Panchkula and adversely affect the law and order situation there.

We have appealed to the people to go back home, but we cannot do anything if they do not want to, says Dera spokesperson Dr Aditya Insan.

There is a heavy deployment of police personnel around the Dera headquarters. Swat commandoes are accompanying the police team to Dera.

All vehicles entering Haryana from Delhi are being searched and commuters questioned about their purpose behind entering the state. Police are keeping a tight vigil on Dera supporters in Delhi. Security has been tightened in areas of Delhi bordering Gurgaon and Faridabad.

Later on in the night, Gurmeet Ram Rahim sent out a video message asking his supporters, who have been camping in Panchkula, to go back home. He said they should respect the law and maintain peace.

Dera spokesperson Dilawar Insan said they are in favour of peace but fear that some anti-social element may take some advantage to "defame the sect"."Five lakh followers have arrived in Dera. The sect has contributed in various fields to serve humanity," Dera's another spokersperson Aditya Insan claimed.

Dera sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is likely to appear in a special CBI court in Panchkula at 2.30 PM.

20 columns of Army will be deployed in Panchkula late on Thursday night along with the paramilitary and state police forces to handle any exigency.

Director General of Police BS Sandhu said as per the directive of the High Court, police started an eviction drive out Dera followers out of Panchkula.

All schools and offices to remain open in Gurugram tomorrow. Internet and cellular services to run normal in Gurugram.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today authorised the state DGP to impose curfew, if necessary, to maintain law and order.

Operation to evacuate Dera supporters from Panchkula begins by police.

The Army was today called in the highly sensitive Panchkula and Sirsa districts to deal with any law and order situation that may arise in the wake of tomorrow's court verdict.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today spoke to Union Home minister Rajnath Singh and Defence minister Arun Jaitley and apprised them of the emerging law and order situation.

Indefinite curfew would be imposed in Sirsa town and three nearby villages from 10 pm tonight as a "precautionary measure" to maintain law and order.

Sirsa's Dalbir Singh Indoor Stadium and Panchkula's Chaudhary Tau Devi Lal Stadium Complex to be designated as a special jail.

At least 22 trains heading to Haryana on Friday have been cancelled in view of the law and order situation in the state.

The Punjab Government has declared holiday on Friday for government offices situated at Chandigarh.

The Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) has suspended 150 bus routes to neighbouring states from today midnight till tomorrow.

22 trains cancelled in Haryana ahead of court verdict in a rape case against Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

Haryana government suspends mobile internet services for the next 72 hours.

Will direct army if you won't do the needful: HC to Centre. All necessary steps have been taken, assures Centre.

Dera Sacha Sauda supporters camping in Panchkula (Photo/India Today/Prabhjot Gill)

We have been watching what has been happening since three days. The Intelligence Bureau should share information with the state government, says Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Have deployed 53 companies of central paramilitary forces apart from around 50,000 personnel of #Haryana Police: Haryana Addtnl Chief Secy pic.twitter.com/yNj13l4pQX- ANI (@ANI) August 24, 2017 "I have always respected the law. Despite suffering from backache, I will be present in the court. I believe in God, appeal to all to maintain peace," Ram Rahim said in a Facebook post.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim appeals his supporters to maintain peace. The Dera chief says he will appear before the court 'despite bad health'.



State-owned Punjab Roadways will not ply its buses towards Sirsa, the Haryana town where Dera headquarters is located.

Schools, colleges have been asked to remain close on Thursday and Friday (August 24, 25). Our Guru can never do wrong, we support him. We will remain calm until the verdict comes: Ram Rahim Singh's follower in Panchkula pic.twitter.com/PrdMWdH5DM- ANI (@ANI) August 24, 2017

A complete ban has been issued on carrying of firearms, with orders to shut down private gun houses selling arms and ammunition to license holders, a spokesperson said after a meeting convened by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to review the state's security arrangements.

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Gurmeet Ram Rahim appeals for peace ahead of rape case verdict as Dera followers plan unrest

Gurmeet Ram Rahim rape case verdict: Army on standby, schools, colleges shut

Sex, scandals and spirituality: How self-styled godmen like Gurmeet

WATCH: Chandigarh braces for verdict in Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh case

--- ENDS ---
NEW YORK  American rabbis critical of President Trump will not try to organize a conference call with him for the Jewish High Holy Days in protest of his response to a white nationalist rally in Virginia.

The conference call for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur was a tradition under President Barack Obama, but was never planned under Trump. Rabbis representing the liberal and centrist branches of American Judaism said they would not attempt to plan any such call ahead of the holidays next month.

Trump denounced bigotry at the march in Charlottesville, Va., but also said very fine people were on both sides of the demonstrations, which drew neo-Nazis, white nationalists, members of the Ku Klux Klan and counterprotesters. One woman was killed when an alleged white nationalist drove his car into a group of counterprotesters.

The presidents words have given succor to those who advocate anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia, the rabbis said Wednesday in announcing their decision.

The announcement came from the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, which represent the liberal Reform movement; the Rabbinical Assembly, which represents the centrist Conservative movement; and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association.

Rabbi Jonah Pesner, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, said he did not know whether the Trump administration had been considering participating in such a conference call this year.

The Rabbinical Council of America, which represents modern Orthodox rabbis, had joined the presidential holiday call in the past but did not sign this weeks announcement.

Rabbi Mark Dratch, executive vice president of the group, said, We respect the office of the presidency and believe it is more effective to address questions and concerns directly with the White House.

The council had issued a statement soon after the violence in Charlottesville criticizing Trumps remarks as a failing of moral leadership that fans the flames of intolerance.

Rachel Zoll is an Associated Press writer.
This story originally appeared on KCRA.

UPDATE: Two South Lake Tahoe sisters who were reported missing Wednesday after their parents had not heard from the girls for several days have been found safe, according to the girls' father.

Melissa Lea, 18, and Kalila Lea, 7, were found when people at a grocery store in Prineville, Oregon recognized the sisters, the girls' father, Darryl Lea, told KCRA 3.

There is no cell phone coverage up there, and the sisters told their father they stayed longer than they thought they would after attending the Symbiosis Event in nearby Big Summit Prairie, Oregon.

ORIGINAL STORY: Two South Lake Tahoe sisters were reported missing Wednesday after their parents had not heard from the girls for several days.

Melissa Lea, 18, and 7-year-old Kalila Lea are believed to have attended the Symbiosis Event in Big Summit Prairie, Oregon, for the eclipse, according to the Crook County Sheriff's Office.

Their parents didn't know about the festival and last heard from the girls on Sunday when they were in nearby Bend, Oregon.

Melissa called her mom about 10 p.m. and said they stopped in Bend to spend the night after getting tired from the drive. Her parents are unsure where they stayed.

Courtesy of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Melissa's father, Darryl Lea, said that is the last time AT&T logged any activity on Melissa's phone. When her family tries to call, it goes straight to voicemail and iMessages are undelivered.

But according to the family's bank, Melissa's debit card was used twice since Melissa's mom spoke with the girls: on Monday in Oregon and on Wednesday at a grocery store in Petaluma, California. The bank sent Darryl Lea a fraud alert for attempted charges at a grocery store in Petaluma.

The South Lake Tahoe family is fearing the worst.

"Something happened," Darryl Lea said. "I'm worried I'm not going to see them again. I just want to protect my family and I'm torn up."

The parents said Melissa is not a danger to Kalila. They filed a missing persons report and requested a welfare check with the sheriff's office because they had not heard from their daughters.

The girls may be in a 2006 black Toyota Sequoia, with California license plate 5SWB598.

Melissa has brown hair and brown eyes. She is 5 feet and 7 inches tall and weighs 115 pounds.

Kalila has with brown hair and hazel eyes, is 4 feet tall and weighs 45 pounds.

Anyone with information about the girls is urged to call the South Lake Tahoe Police Department 530-542-6110 or the Crook County Sheriff's Office at 541-447-6398.
City Attorney Dennis Herrera on Wednesday sued a licensed real estate broker, accusing him of defrauding the San Franciscos affordable housing program.

The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, alleges that Gregory Garver spent more than four years illegally renting out the below-market-rate condominium he purchased at 1160 Mission Street and at one point attempted to sell it on the open market.

Garver allegedly rented the unit to the same tenant between November 2012 and l July 2016 for $2,400 per month. The city claims Garver moved back into the condo last August after informing his tenant the rent would be raised to $18,000 per month.

Designated affordable units like this one are a key part of the citys efforts to keep longtime residents and working-class people in San Francisco, Herrera said in a statement. Those who game the system are taking away housing from people who desperately need it. We will not tolerate that.

The rules governing the below-market-rate program require developers to set aside units that can be sold to qualifying buyers at below-market rate-prices as a way to provide housing options for low- and moderate-income residents. The rules also mandate that owners must occupy the units, and that theyre never used as investments or rental properties.

Would-be below-market-rate buyers are selected by lottery and must meet income requirements.

The lawsuit against Garver, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday, marks the third legal action Herreras office has taken since May to crack down on alleged fraud within the below-market-rate program.

The city is seeking a court order that would require Garver to sell the unit to a qualifying low-income household, as well as financial penalties that could total hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Email: cityinsider@sfchronicle.com, dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfcityinsider @dominicfracassa
Software piracy to cost firm, Aug. 23, Business, C1

A story about a ruling against a Chinese textile maker misidentified the court that heard the case. It is the Los Angeles Superior Court.

New year, old puzzle of where schools funds go, Aug. 20, Bay Area, C3

Two statistics were mischaracterized in Heather Knights column on San Francisco schools that started on Page C1. Public schools had filled 88 percent of their classroom vacancies by early August and 96 percent of their classroom vacancies by the week before school started.
The head of Dera Sacha Sauda - Gurmeet Ram Rahim - has confirmed that he will be present in the court for hearing in the rape case against him in which verdict will be announced.

By India Today Web Desk: Self-styled godman and Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim has appealed his followers to maintain peace a day ahead of the crucial verdict in a rape case in which he has been named.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim took to social media to announce that he will be present in the special Panchkula court tomorrow for the hearing in the 15-year-old case.

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"I have always respected the law. Despite suffering from backache, I will be present in the court. I believe in God, appeal to all to maintain peace," Ram Rahim posted on his Facebook page.

Meanwhile, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the state administration to maintain law and order and asked for a detailed report over arrangements made.

The court made it clear that it will not tolerate a repeat of Jat agitation-like scenario. The court also asked the Dera chief to help the administration maintain peace.

Massive security deployment in Panchkula ahead of verdict in rape case against Gurmeet Ram Rahim. (Photo/ANI)

HERE'S ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW:

The Haryana government said it will seek the Army's help to maintain and order in the region. Schools and colleges have asked to remain shut on Thursday and Friday. Leaves of all policemen have been cancelled. The Centre has also assured all possible help to the Punjab and Haryana governments to deal with any situation as thousands of Dera followers have already reached Panchkula. Chandigarh DGP Tejinder Singh Luthra said elaborate security arrangements have been made with over 5,000 security personnel being deployed at sensitive and vulnerable points to maintain peace. "One lakh 'premis' (dear followers) have already arrived in Panchkula," Chandigarh DGP Tejinder Singh Luthra said and asserted that nobody will be allowed to disturb law and order. State-owned Punjab Roadways will not ply its buses towards Sirsa, the Haryana town where Dera headquarters is located. A complete ban has been issued on carrying of firearms, with orders to shut down private gun houses selling arms and ammunition to license holders, a spokesperson said after a meeting convened by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to review the state's security arrangements. The chief minister also ordered withdrawal of 1,000 police personnel from VVIP security for deployment on field duty to strengthen the security blanket in the state. Some reports say Gurmeet Ram Rahim may be flown directly to Panchkula to avoid any trouble by his followers. The Dera Sacha Sauda chief is accused of raping two women 15 at his ashram in Sirsa 15 years ago.

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ALSO READ:

Gurmeet Ram Rahim rape case verdict: Army on standby, schools, colleges shut

Sex, scandals and spirituality: How self-styled godmen like Gurmeet Ram Rahim have courted controversies

Ram Rahim lands in soup over Vishnu avatar

Guru Ram Rahim sexual harassment case: Hundreds of followers reach Panchkula ahead of verdict

WATCH: Chandigarh braces for verdict in Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh case

--- ENDS ---
Massive security arrangements have been put in place in Chandigarh and Panchkula as thousands of followers of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim reach the twin towns ahead of court's verdict.

Massive security arrangements have been made in Chandigarh and Panchkula ahead of court verdict in a rape case involving Gurmeet Ram Rahim. (Photo/PTI)

By India Today Web Desk: The Haryana government is bracing for possible violence in following court's verdict in a rape case involving self-styled godman Gurumeet Ram Rahim. The Dera Sacha Sauda chief is accused of raping two women 15 at his ashram in Sirsa 15 years ago.

The verdict is likely to be pronounced on Friday (August 25) and the Haryana government said it will seek the Army's help to maintain and order in the region.

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The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the state administration to maintain law and order and asked for a detailed report over arrangements made.

The court made it clear that it will not tolerate a repeat of Jat agitation-like scenario. The court also asked the Dera chief to help the administration maintain peace.

In Punjab, 11,000 police personnel have been deployed in different parts of the state. 85 companies of paramilitary forces have been deployed, and more companies will join them overnight.

HERE'S ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW:

The Centre has also assured all possible help to the Punjab and Haryana governments to deal with any situation as thousands of Dera followers have already reached Panchkula. Schools and colleges have asked to remain shut on today and tomorrow. Leaves of all policemen have been cancelled. Chandigarh DGP Tejinder Singh Luthra said elaborate security arrangements have been made with over 5,000 security personnel being deployed at sensitive and vulnerable points to maintain peace. "One lakh 'premis' (dear followers) have already arrived in Panchkula," Chandigarh DGP Tejinder Singh Luthra said and asserted that nobody will be allowed to disturb law and order. State-owned Punjab Roadways will not ply its buses towards Sirsa, the Haryana town where Dera headquarters is located. A complete ban has been issued on carrying of firearms, with orders to shut down private gun houses selling arms and ammunition to license holders, a spokesperson said after a meeting convened by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to review the state's security arrangements. The chief minister also ordered withdrawal of 1,000 police personnel from VVIP security for deployment on field duty to strengthen the security blanket in the state. Some reports say Gurmeet Ram Rahim may be flown directly to Panchkula to avoid any trouble by his followers. Interestingly, Gurmeet Ram Rahim is yet to speak on the issue. He instead took to Twitter to give a message of "selfless service and meditation" to his followers. "Selfless service, meditation and firm belief are the ornaments in spirituality," he said in a tweet and also shared a link to a Facebook video of one of his discourses.

ALSO READ:

Sex, scandals and spirituality: How self-styled godmen like Gurmeet Ram Rahim have courted controversies

Ram Rahim lands in soup over Vishnu avatar

Guru Ram Rahim sexual harassment case: Hundreds of followers reach Panchkula ahead of verdict

WATCH| Gurmeet Ram Rahim rape case verdict: Tight security in place, schools, colleges shut

--- ENDS ---
Leah Millis / The Chronicle Amy Osborne / Special To The Chronicle Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle

The Chronicle photo staff traveled to Yolo County to photograph locals enjoying Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, captured moments from the annual Chinatown Ping-Pong Festival in San Francisco and documented an emotional immigration story on the Sanchez family of Oakland.
If you are planning on attending Saturday's Patriot Prayer rally in San Francisco, you're going to have to leave both your firearms and your selfie sticks at home.

The Golden Gate National Recreation Area has released a list of items banned from the event and while some of items seem pretty reasonable, others seem a little bit trivial.
By PTI: Cholpon-Ata (Kyrgyz Republic), Aug 24 (PTI) Home Minister Rajnath Singh today held separate bilateral meetings with the Russian and Kyrgyz ministers for emergency situations here on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting and discussed issues of mutual interest.

Singh, who is here to attend the 9th meeting of the heads of government of the SCO dealing with the prevention and elimination of emergency situation, met Russias minister for emergency situations Vladimir Puchkov and Kyrgyz minister for emergency situations Kubatbek Boronov.

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However, there was no bilateral engagement today between Singh and the representative of China as well as Pakistan.

"There was no request from either side. So, there is no question of having any bilateral meeting with China," an official, accompanying the Indian delegation, said.

The official said the leader of the Chinese delegation attending the SCO meeting is not equivalent to the rank of the home minister.

Singh also did not have bilateral meeting with the leader of the Pakistani delegation, the official said.

Founded in 2001, the SCO member countries are: China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, and Pakistan, and the bloc is headquartered in Beijing.

India and Pakistan had joined the SCO, the China- dominated security grouping, in June in Kazakhstan capital Astana in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On Monday, the home minister had said a solution to the ongoing stand-off between India and China at Doklam would be found soon and hoped that Beijing would make a positive move in this regard.

China, however, said the only way to end the standoff was for India to unconditionally withdraw its troops from the area. PTI ACB ZH AKJ ZH

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By PTI: Mumbai, Aug 24 (PTI) The Indian Farmer Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) today said it has signed an agreement with CSC e-Governance Services India CSC?SPV) to provide e-commerce services to villages.

This will be done through digital initiative of IFFCO, Indian Cooperative Digital Platform (ICDP), the fertiliser cooperative said in a release here.

As part of the agreement, all products and service offerings of IFFCO and group companies will be displayed on CSC e?Commerce web portal.

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Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) will accept the orders from farmers for agri-inputs and other services.

Once significant quantity (truckload or certain minimum amount) of orders are aggregated, VLEs will place order on CSC Portal and remit payment, the release said.

"This will further simplify the process of providing agriculture inputs to farmers. This platform will encourage the farmers to effectively use digital technology," IFFCO Managing Director U S Awasthi said. PTI SM RSY RDS

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By PTI: along in implementation of Constitution

New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) India today pitched for forging of the "broadest possible consensus" by Nepal in implementing its new Constitution and appreciated the Sher Bahadur Deuba Governments efforts to take every section along.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in talks with his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba, stressed that Nepals success in overcoming obstacles will lead to growth and stability in the Himalayan nation, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said.

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Deuba arrived here yesterday on a four-day visit.

Jaishankar said India would like to see stability, democracy and economic prosperity in Nepal and the prime minister shared the same with Deuba, who had an unscheduled meeting with Modi within hours of his arrival yesterday.

"The PM of Nepal shared with us that he has been making efforts in this direction in bringing consensus.... The two prime ministers were of the view that democratic institutions are indispensable," Jaishankar said.

On August 21, Nepals parliament had failed to endorse the much-awaited Constitution amendment bill to address the grievances of Madhesis as the ruling coalition could not garner a two-thirds majority required for its passage.

Madhesis, who are of Indian descent, want more representation in Parliament and redrawing of provincial boundaries.

On post-earthquake reconstruction efforts, Jaishankar said India has committed to help Nepal build around 50,000 houses and that 167 projects in health sector and 20 projects in the cultural sphere have been identified for the purpose of assistance.

India also expressed concern over floods in Nepal and announced an assistance of Rs 25 crore.

On the open border that the two countries share, there was a recognition that it should not create security problems and that vigilance needs to be maintained to prevent its misuse.

The Indian side also reaffirmed its commitment to train and ensure capability building of security forces in Nepal, Jaishankar said.

"The PM also welcomed the successful conduct of local polls in Nepal and appreciated efforts of the Nepalese government to take all communities on board in implementation of the Constitution saying these are important for making Nepal a federal democratic republic," Jaishankar said.

Apart from the issues relating to the Constitution and security, the two sides also reviewed the implementation of a number of railway projects, he said.

The development of a dry port and the possibility of setting up a Special Economic Zone at the Indo-Nepal border also came up during the meeting.

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"The petro pipeline project between Motihari and Amlekhganj was discussed. The PM assured that India will move fast on the project," he said. PTI MPB SBR RT

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: along in implementation of Constitution

New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) India today pitched for forging of the "broadest possible consensus" by Nepal in implementing its new Constitution and appreciated the Sher Bahadur Deuba governments efforts to take every section along in making the Himalayan country a federal democratic nation in real sense.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in talks with his Nepalese counterpart Deuba, stressed that Nepals success in overcoming obstacles will lead to growth and stability in the Himalayan nation, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said.

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"Our position as you know has been that its important to have the broadest possible consensus in carrying all sections of the society on the constitution making and its implementation process," he told reporters.

He said Indias thinks success of Nepal will lead to the progress and growth of the country. "So it is good wishes of a very well meaning neighbour."

The Nepal prime minister shared with India his governments efforts to making political consensus to fulfil aspirations of all sections in implementing the Constitution.

Deuba arrived here yesterday on a four-day visit.

Jaishankar said India would like to see stability, democracy and economic prosperity in Nepal and the prime minister shared the same with Deuba, who had an unscheduled meeting with Modi within hours of his arrival yesterday.

"The PM of Nepal shared with us that he has been making efforts in this direction in bringing consensus... The two prime ministers were of the view that democratic institutions are indispensable," Jaishankar said.

On August 21, Nepals Parliament had failed to endorse the much-awaited Constitution amendment bill to address the grievances of Madhesis as the ruling coalition could not garner a two-thirds majority required for its passage.

Madhesis, who are of Indian descent, want more representation in Parliament and redrawing of provincial boundaries.

On post-earthquake reconstruction efforts, Jaishankar said India has committed to help Nepal build around 50,000 houses and that 167 projects in health sector and 20 projects in the cultural sphere have been identified for the purpose of assistance.

India also expressed concern over floods in Nepal and announced an assistance of Rs 25 crore.

On the open border that the two countries share, there was a recognition that it should not create security problems and that vigilance needs to be maintained to prevent its misuse.

The Indian side also reaffirmed its commitment to train and ensure capability building of security forces in Nepal, Jaishankar said.

"The PM also welcomed the successful conduct of local polls in Nepal and appreciated efforts of the Nepalese government to take all communities on board in implementation of the Constitution saying these are important for making Nepal a federal democratic republic," Jaishankar said.

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Apart from the issues relating to the Constitution and security, the two sides also reviewed the implementation of a number of railway projects, he said.

The development of a dry port and the possibility of setting up a Special Economic Zone at the Indo-Nepal border also came up during the meeting.

An array of possible infrastructure projects were also discussed during talks between the two sides. The Pancheswar project which aims to generate around 5,000 MW of power also figured in talks.

"It is a mammoth project," said Jaishankar.

Both sides discussed speedy implementation of a raft of connectivity projects with India assuring the Nepalese side of its full cooperation in their early roll out.

"The petro pipeline project between Motihari and Amlekhganj was discussed. The PM assured that India will move fast on the project," he said.

Jaishankar said India has speeded up implementation of the road project in Terai region and contract for "12 packages" has been already awarded. PTI MPB SBR ZMN

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By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) India has requested Uzbekistan to cut import duties on leather goods, engineering products and some textile items to promote trade between the countries, the commerce ministry said today.

The issue was raised by Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her meeting with Uzbekistans Foreign Affairs Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov and Foreign Trade Minister Elyor Ganiev here yesterday.

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Sitharaman requested "for reduction of import duty on leather goods and footwear in Uzbekistan from current 30 per cent to 10 per cent, which is the current most favoured nation rate in India," the ministry said in a statement.

She mentioned that India could source finished leather from Uzbekistan.

The minister also urged the Uzbek ministers to consider reducing import duty on Indian engineering exports to the central Asian nation.

Besides, Uzbekistan was asked to look at reducing import tariff on fabrics and made-ups.

Sitharaman stated that existence of non-tariff barriers such as import quotas, licensing, price and foreign exchange control, complex customs and administrative procedures and harsh sanitary norms have been limiting inter-regional trade between the countries.

The Foreign Trade Minister of Uzbekistan said his government was "seriously" working to liberalise and simplify various procedures, systems and norms.

He expressed hope that most of the difficulties faced by Indian exporters would get resolved shortly.

Further, Sitharaman pitched for simplify procedure for granting visa to Indian businessmen and tourists.

The Indian minister also suggested setting up and activation of a private industry led Joint Business Council to develop and enhance business relations at all levels.

Uzbek India Trading House has been formed here with a view to promote trade and investments.

The bilateral trade between the countries stood at USD 155.76 million in 2016-17. Both the sides have aimed at taking this figure to USD 1 billion in the next three years. PTI RR ABM

--- ENDS ---
Reports said the Ministry of Home Affairs had given the go-ahead for building a road around 20 km near Pangong lake along the Line of Actual Control - the site of a recent scuffle between Indian and Chinese troops.

By Ananth Krishnan: China on Thursday said India was "slapping its own face" by going ahead with a road project near the Pangong lake on the India-China border, amid the on-going two-month-long stand-off in Doklam.

Reports said the Ministry of Home Affairs had given the go-ahead for building a road around 20 km near Pangong lake along the Line of Actual Control, which was the site of a recent scuffle between Indian and Chinese troops.

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WATCH | After Ladakh skirmish, China troops likely to target other border locations, warn Intel inputs

'COMPLETE CONTRADICTION'

"It seems according to the reports the Indian side is slapping its own face. The Indian side is closely following China's road-building recently but India's actions themselves have proven that the Indian side says something and does another. It's words are in complete contradiction to its deeds in terms of border issues," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told Chinese media on Thursday

Hua added that the "western section of the India-China boundary has not been delimited".

"The two sides have agreed to uphold border areas' peace and tranquility before disputes are settled. The current road construction by the Indian side is not conducive to peace and stability in that area."

Hua also said the project "will not help with settlement of the current situation".

The skirmish between Indian and Chinese troops near Pangong Lake hasn't deterred tourists. Here, Pooja, drawing inspiration from the Aamir Khan-starrer 3 Idiots, poses on a yellow scooter in a bridal wear.

The stand-off in Doklam on June 16 was triggered by China building and extending a road deep inside what India and Bhutan see as Bhutanese territory near the India-China-Bhutan trijunction.

Bhutan has pointed out that the road project violated bilateral agreements that neither side will disturb the status quo pending a settlement of their territorial disputes.

ALSO READ

After Pangong clashes with Chinese troops, Army officers hold exercises near Chang La Pass

'Extremely dissatisfied' China blames India for Ladakh scuffle

Tourism on Pangong Lake on a high despite August 15 Ladakh scuffle

WATCH VIDEO

China warns of 'utter chaos' if it enters India

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) Describing their bilateral ties as "deep, comprehensive and multi-faceted", India and Nepal today decided to expedite various joint infrastructure projects such as laying of rail links and building of roads.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held comprehensive talks with his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba and later in a joint statement the two leaders expressed satisfaction over the excellent state of India-Nepal relations.

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Modi appreciated the efforts being made by the government of Nepal to take all sections of the society on board in the constitution implementation process and in establishing Nepal as a federal, democratic republic, the statement said.

"Both sides recognised the need for early completion of two ongoing cross-border rail-link projects: (a) Jayanagar- Bijalpur-Bardibas and (b) Jogbani-Biratnagar rail-links.

"The two prime ministers noted with satisfaction that the railway line from Jayanagar to Janakpur and from Jogbani to Biratnagar Custom Yard will be completed by 2018. The Nepali side committed to resolve all issues for expeditious completion of both the projects," it said.

As per the bus services, it was agreed that the Joint Working Group on Cross-Border Transport Facilitation will meet early to address operational issues for existing and additional routes.

"The two prime ministers noted with satisfaction the utilisation of the two Lines of Credit of USD 100 million and USD 250 million for development of roads and power infrastructure in Nepal," it added.

They welcomed the allocation of USD 200 million for irrigation projects, and USD 330 million for development of roads from Lines of Credit of USD 550 million.

The two leaders pledged to pursue new opportunities to further deepen bilateral relations for the benefit of the peoples of both countries, while committing to further reinvigorate the existing mechanisms.

"The two prime ministers welcomed the visits of members of Legislature-Parliament of Nepal to India and expressed hope to see increased frequency of such engagements between the two parliaments," the statement said.

They also expressed satisfaction at the excellent cooperation on security-related matters.

It was also agreed to identify at the earliest projects under the USD 750 million Line of Credit for post-earthquake reconstruction.

Both Prime Ministers directed their respective officials to finalise the MoU between the Pashupati Area Development Trust and the Archaeological Survey of India for reconstruction and renovation work.

Deuba "expressed concern" over Nepals growing trade deficit with India. Noting the current level of bilateral trade, the two prime ministers underscored that there is a considerable potential to enhance the bilateral trade, which could be harnessed by addressing infrastructural deficiencies and trade restricting measures, it said.

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The two prime ministers urged a constructive pursuit of a forward-looking development agenda wherein each country could learn from and contribute to the social and economic initiatives of a transformative nature.

"Towards this objective, it was agreed to initiate an annual policy dialogue between the NITI Aayog of India and the National Planning Commission of Nepal," it added.

The Prime Minister of Nepal extended an invitation to the Prime Minister of India to pay a visit to Nepal. Modi accepted the invitation and it was agreed that the visit would take place at mutually convenient dates. PTI KND DIP

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: defence ties

New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) Nepal today assured India that it would not allow any activity against its "friendly neighbour", as the two sides signed eight pacts, including on cooperation in countering drug trafficking and post-earthquake reconstruction in the Himalayan nation.

After comprehensive talks with his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid emphasis on closer cooperation between the security and defence forces of the two countries in order to avoid misuse of the open border between India and Nepal.

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"Defence ties and assistance in security is an important aspect of our partnership. Our defence interests are also dependent and connected to each other," Modi said at a joint press briefing after the talks.

Deuba gave an assurance of "every support, every help and cooperation".

"As you (Modi) mentioned that Nepal has an open border... I would like to assure you that Nepal will never allow any activity against friendly neighbour India and there will be every support, every help and cooperation from our side," Deuba said.

Acknowledging that there were "issues" in the implementation of the Constitution, he expressed confidence that a Constitution "encompassing" the views of the people from all sections and ethnicities would be a reality.

Modi, too, exuded confidence that Nepal would take into consideration the aspirations of all its citizens during the implementation of the Constitution.

On August 21, the Nepalese parliament failed to endorse the much-awaited Constitution amendment bill to address the issues of Madhesis as the ruling coalition could not garner the two-thirds majority required for its passage.

Deuba said both sides also exchanged views on regional and sub-regional cooperation using BIMSTEC (The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) and BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal Initiative) and create a "win-win" situation in various areas.

The Nepalese prime minister said regular engagement at the highest political level would greatly contribute to sustaining and cementing trust between the two countries and his current visit was an effort towards it.

The two leaders jointly inaugurated the Kataiya- Kusaha and Raxaul-Parwanipur cross border power transmission lines. Modi said this would give an additional 100 MW of power to Nepal, apart from the existing 350 MW.

The two sides, he added, had also agreed on development of the Ramayana and Buddhist tourism circuits through better connectivity.

Flood management and irrigation projects was a point of focus in the talks between the two countries.

Modi stressed on greater coordination and consultation between the agencies of India and Nepal on flood management and said the two sides must work towards a long term solution, taking into consideration each others interests.

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While he expressed the hope that the Detailed Project Report for the Pancheshwar project on the Uttarkhand border of the Indian side would be finalised soon, Deuba stressed that it would help in flood control and crop irrigation.

Modi said Deuba had informed him that the land acquisition issues for Arun III irrigation project had been addressed and the Nepalese prime minister had invited him for the ground-breaking ceremony. PTI PR PYK MPB MIN

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: defence ties

(Eds: Adding quotes)

New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) Nepal today assured India it would not allow any activity against its "friendly neighbour", as the two sides signed eight pacts, including on cooperation in countering drug trafficking and post-earthquake reconstruction in the Himalayan nation.

After comprehensive talks with his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid emphasis on closer cooperation between the two countries security and defence forces to prevent the misuse of the open border between India and Nepal.

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"Defence ties and assistance in security is an important aspect of our partnership. Our defence interests are also dependent on and connected to each other," Modi said at a joint press briefing after the talks.

Deuba assured India of "every support, every help and cooperation".

"As you (Modi) mentioned that Nepal has an open border... I would like to assure you that Nepal will never allow any activity against friendly neighbour India and there will be every support, every help and cooperation from our side," Deuba said.

Acknowledging that there were "issues" in the implementation of Nepals Constitution, he expressed confidence that it would encompass views of the people from all sections and ethnicities.

Modi, too, exuded confidence that Nepal would take into consideration the aspirations of all its citizens during the implementation of the Constitution.

On August 21, the Nepalese parliament failed to endorse the much-awaited Constitution amendment bill to address the issues of the Madhesi people as the ruling coalition could not garner the two-thirds majority required for its passage.

Deuba said both sides also exchanged views on regional and sub-regional cooperation using BIMSTEC (The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) and BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal Initiative) and create a "win-win" situation in various areas.

Modi hoped the consensus on various issues during the talks between the two sides would add "new energy" to bilateral relations.

The Nepalese prime minister said regular engagement at the highest political level would greatly contribute to sustaining and cementing trust between the two countries and his current visit was an effort towards it.

Holding that Nepal was "not only a neighbour, but also a good friend of India", Deuba said its relation with India stood on a solid foundation.

"On the one hand, it is the rich civilisation, socio- cultural and economic linkages, and, on the other hand, it is commitment by the two countries to a time-tested principle of sovereign equality, peaceful co-existence and respect for each others sensitivity and aspirations," Deuba said.

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He further stated he appreciated Prime Minister Modis Neighbourhood First Policy and the approach of Sabka Saath and Sabka Vikas. "We are eager to see that this policy is translated into concrete and development activities," he said.

The two sides, Deuba said, expressed satisfaction on the working of the Eminent Persons Group on Nepal-India Relations (EPG-NIR).

He added both the countries were hopeful the EPG would complete the work within the defined time frame and submit practical recommendation, including a review of past treaties.

The EPG-NIR, a joint mechanism of Nepal and India, was set up in February last year to give necessary suggestions to update all existing bilateral treaties and agreements.

The two leaders jointly inaugurated the Kataiya-Kusaha and Raxaul-Parwanipur cross border power transmission lines. Modi said this would give an additional 100 MW of power to Nepal, apart from the existing 350 MW.

The two sides, Modi added, also agreed on development of the Ramayana and Buddhist tourism circuits through better connectivity.

Modi emphasised on cooperation with Nepal in economic relations, energy, water resources and connectivity projects.

The talks also focused on flood management and irrigation projects.

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Modi stressed the need for greater coordination and consultation between the agencies of India and Nepal on flood management and said the two sides had to work towards a long term solution, taking into consideration each others interests.

He also reiterated Indias help in every possible way to flood-hit Nepal and said New Delhi was "committed" to partnering in Nepals development.

Deuba expressed the hope the Detailed Project Report for the Pancheshwar project on the Uttarkhand border would be finalised soon, stressing that it would help in flood control and crop irrigation.

Modi said Deuba had informed him that land acquisition issues for Arun III irrigation project on the Arun river had been addressed and the Nepalese prime minister had invited him for the groundbreaking ceremony.

"Hydropower is a priority and has huge potential of cooperation. Both government would facilitate the early start of work on the two hydro-power projects," Deuba said.

The Nepalese prime minister also expressed satisfaction on an MoU related to the construction of a wider Mechi bridge.

"We have likewise agreed to expedite work on the bridge on river Mahakali, integrated check posts and other developmental projects," Deuba added. PTI PR PYK MPB BDS

--- ENDS ---

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When British Airways passenger Andrew Wilkinson went to take his seat for the long flight from London's Heathrow airport to Cape Town, South Africa, he discovered it was sopping wet.

The seat cushion was stained yellow and reeking of a smell "so discreet, it could only have been urine."

Someone apparently had had an accident.

According to the Sun and other online publications, Wikinson said he alerted a flight attendant to the mess, only to receive a handful of wet wipes to clean it himself.

"I was left to sit in a urine-soaked seat for over 11 hours when I paid 1,242 [$1,589] for a return flight with BA," the 39-year-old IT consultant told the Sun.

"It was awful. By the end of the flight, I could feel it seeping into my jeans."

Even sitting on a blanket didn't help, as it soaked up the pee.

Airlive Net tweeted a photo of the disgusting seat.

Wilkinson told the Sun that while economy was full, there were empty seats in business class that he could have been moved to.

However, a British Airways spokesperson told the Independent.ie that no other seats were available for the customer.

"We were very concerned to hear about this and have been in touch with our customer to apologize and make amends," the spokesperson said.

"The cleanliness of our aircraft is of the utmost importance to us and our planes are cleaned thoroughly after every flight. We also perform frequent spot checks to make sure our cleaners are maintaining our high standards."

Those high standards don't seem high enough to Wilkinson.

He angrily told the Sun: "I was given 5,000 Avios points and I just do not think that is a good enough compensation for sitting in someone else's wee for over 11 hours."
JOHANNESBURG  Angolans voted Wednesday in an election in which the defense minister is the front-runner to succeed President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who will step down after 38 years in power in an oil-rich country beset by widespread poverty and corruption.

About 9.3 million Angolans were registered to vote for the 220-member National Assembly; the winning party will then select the president. Dos Santos chosen successor is Joao Lourenco, the defense minister and a former governor who fought in the war against Portuguese colonial rule as well as the long civil war that ended in 2002.

Dos Santos, accompanied by wife Ana Paula dos Santos, and Lourenco voted separately in Luanda, the capital, reported the state-run Agencia Angola Press. The main opposition leader, Isaias Samakuva of the UNITA party, cast his ballot at a university in a Luanda suburb.

Minor flaws in the voting process included delays in the opening of some polling stations, especially in remote areas, said Andre da Silva Neto, president of the election commission.

The peaceful election, however, could serve as an example to follow in those countries where, especially here in Africa, we constantly find that electoral processes are transformed into battlefields. Unnecessary deaths and unnecessary damage, said the election chief, according to the Portuguese news agency Lusa.

Angolan rights activists have alleged that the ruling MPLA party unfairly used state machinery ahead of the election, noting that most media coverage focused on the MPLA campaign. Opposition parties have said there were irregularities ahead of the voting.

Election observers from other African countries monitored the vote, but the European Union did not send a full-fledged observer mission because it said the Angolan government wanted to impose restrictions, including limited access to polling stations around the country.

Some voters said they were satisfied with the voting process. It was very fast, Luanda voter Francisco Joao Lopes told Lusa.

Another voter, 20-year-old Solange Moangongo, proudly showed an index finger marked with indelible ink, a measure designed to prevent people from trying to vote more than once.

I feel like I am an adult because for the first time I was able to exercise my right to vote, said Moangongo, according to Lusa. I hope that my vote will make a difference in these elections.

The MPLA party, whose Portuguese acronym means Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, won the 2012 election with 72 percent of votes amid allegations of irregularities. UNITA, or the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, a former rebel force that fought the MPLA in Angolas civil war, is the main opposition challenger.

Angola is beset by graft and human rights concerns, though some analysts believe new leadership could open the way to more accountability.

Lourenco, 63, has pledged to fight graft and is seen as a symbol of stability and even incremental change. Critics, however, point to entrenched patronage networks benefiting an elite that includes Isabel dos Santos, the presidents daughter and head of the state oil company Sonangol, and Jose Filomeno dos Santos, a son in charge of the countrys sovereign wealth fund.

Christopher Torchia is an Associated Press writer.
CAIRO  Egypt reacted angrily Wednesday to the Trump administrations decision to cut or delay nearly $300 million in military and economic aid over human rights concerns, a surprise move given the increasingly close ties that have bound the two allies since President Trump took office in January.

Hours after the U.S. announcement, Trumps Middle East envoy, son-in-law Jared Kushner, arrived in Egypt as part of a Middle East tour to try to revive Arab-Israeli peace talks. He met with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and later conferred with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry before leaving for Israel.

In a statement, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said Cairo regretted the U.S. decision, calling it a misjudgment of the nature of the strategic relations that have bound the two countries for decades. The move, it said, reflects a lack of careful understanding of the importance of supporting the stability and success of Egypt, as well as the size and nature of the security and economic challenges faced by the Egyptian people.

It warned that the cuts may have negative consequences for the realization of common U.S.-Egyptian interests.

However, an Egyptian presidential statement on Kushners meeting with el-Sissi made no mention of the aid cuts and delays, which totaled $290.7 million. El-Sissi, a general-turned-president who has repeatedly stated his admiration for Trump, showed none of the frustration expressed by the Foreign Ministry as he smiled while posing for a ceremonial photo with Kushner in the Egyptian leaders opulent Cairo palace.

El-Sissi spoke to Kushner and his delegation about Egypts keenness to continue to work on strengthening the multifaceted relations that bind the two countries in various fields, the statement said.

Of the $290.7 million, $195 million was military aid that the State Department said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was not able to certify that Egypt had met the human rights criteria set by Congress in order to receive it. But because Tillerson signed a so-called national interest waiver, those funds will remain available to Egypt as long as it makes human rights improvements.

The remainder  $95.7 million in economic and military assistance was cut from the Egypt account. Most of it had been held in escrow since 2014 as a result of the new aid conditions Congress set after el-Sissis 2013 ouster of Mohammed Morsi, Egypts first freely elected president. Of that, $65.7 million was foreign military financing and $30 million so-called economic support funds, basically a cash payment to the government. These funds will now go instead to key security partners, without undermining Egypts security, according to the State Department.

Menna Zaki and Matthewe lee are Associated Press writers.
RAMALLAH, West Bank  Presidential adviser Jared Kushner met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Thursday to try to jump-start moribund peace talks, but after months without progress the Mideast envoy faces growing skepticism on the Palestinian side.

With no clear vision for peace outlined by the administration and domestic issues distracting President Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, expectations for the new peace push are low.

The Palestinians initially welcomed Trumps election, but they have since grown impatient with what they say is a failure by the U.S. president to present a road map for peace. Specifically, they are seeking a halt to Israeli settlement construction on occupied lands, and an American commitment to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state as part of a peace deal with Israel.

If the U.S. team doesnt bring answers to our questions this time, we are going to look into our options because the status quo is not working for our interests, said Ahmad Majdalani, an aide to Abbas.

It was not clear whether Kushner offered any clarity during his three-hour meeting with Abbas. Nabil Abu Rdeneh, Abbas spokesman, called the meeting positive, without discussing details, and said the Palestinian leader had reiterated his desire for an American commitment to a Palestinian state.

We greatly appreciate the efforts of U.S. President Donald Trump who pledged from the beginning that he is going to work for the ultimate deal, Abbas said ahead of the meeting. We know things are difficult and complicated, but nothing is impossible with good intentions.

Trump took office with hopes of striking what he calls the ultimate deal between Israelis and Palestinians  a goal that has eluded administrations before his dogged by the same intractable issues. But he has since given few details of his vision for peace, managing to frustrate both sides.

Kushner, Trumps chief Middle East adviser and his son-in-law, met Netanyahu in Tel Aviv earlier Thursday before traveling to Ramallah later in the day to meet with Abbas. Kushner is expected to return to the U.S. on Friday.

Before his meeting with Kushner, Netanyahu spoke optimistically of the road ahead.

We have a lot of things to talk about, how to advance peace, stability and security in our region, prosperity too, Netanyahu said, standing alongside Kushner. I think that all of them are within our reach.

On the campaign trail, Trump took a staunchly pro-Israel line, energizing Netanyahu and hard-liners in his coalition. He promised to relocate the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem  a move welcomed by Israel and opposed by the Palestinians  and refused to endorse the Palestinian goal of independence. His platform played down the significance of Israeli settlements and he surrounded himself with a group of advisers with deep ties to the settlement movement, including Kushner and the U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman.

But since taking office, Trump decided not to move the embassy and has urged Israel to restrain settlement construction.

He has not come out in support of the two-state solution, a position backed by most of the international community and also his Republican and Democratic predecessors, indicating vaguely that he supports whichever solution the sides agree to.

Disappointed Palestinian officials privately gripe that Trumps team has begun to support Israeli positions and ignore their concerns.

Mohammed Daraghmeh is an Associated Press writer.
PATNA, India  Devastating floods triggered by seasonal monsoon rains have killed more than 950 people and affected close to 40 million across northern India, southern Nepal and northern Bangladesh, officials said Thursday.

The rains have led to wide-scale flooding in a broad arc stretching across the Himalayan foothills in the three countries, causing landslides, damaging roads and electric towers and washing away tens of thousands of homes and crops.

The northern Indian states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Assam in the remote northeast are the worst hit, accounting for 680 deaths, most of them from drowning, snake bites or landslides.

South Asias monsoon rains run from June to September.

Disaster management authorities in Bihar said the states death toll of 367 could go up further as floodwaters recede and bodies are recovered from submerged houses.

Army soldiers and volunteers have evacuated around 770,000 people from inundated areas. Of these, some 425,000 were living in 1,360 relief camps set up in school and government buildings, said Avinash Kumar, a Bihar state official.

In neighboring Uttar Pradesh, the state government said around 2.3 million people in 25 districts have been affected by the floods when at least three major rivers overflowed their banks, entering fields and homes.

Army troops have been helping to evacuate people marooned on rooftops or trees, while air force helicopters dropped packets of food, drinking water and medicines to those camping on higher ground, mostly along highways.

In neighboring Bangladesh, the death toll climbed to 132 while some 7.5 million people have been affected in this years floods, according to the Disaster Management Ministry.

The death toll from the floods in Nepal stood at 146, with about 30 missing.

Also Thursday, a powerful typhoon killed at least 16 dead in southern China, submerging streets and stranding residents.

Officials in the gambling mecca of Macau said eight people were killed in the former Portuguese colony, including two men found overnight in a submerged parking garage. Another 153 were injured amid extensive flooding, power outages, and the smashing of doors and windows by high winds and driving rain.

Chinas official Xinhua News Agency said eight more people were killed in Guangdong and one person remained missing.

Indrajit Singh and Nirmala George are Associated Press writers.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands  Dutch police said Thursday that they had prevented a terrorist attack at a rock concert in the city of Rotterdam after receiving concrete information from authorities in Spain, where a night of assaults last week left 15 people dead.

Few details about the conspiracy in the Netherlands were released, but police said they arrested a 22-year-old man at 2 a.m. Thursday in the Brabant region, southeast of Rotterdam, in connection with the investigation into plans for an attack at the Maassilo events venue, where Allah-Las, a band from Los Angeles, were to play.

Rotterdam police called off the concert after receiving the information from Spain about the venue and time of the potential attack, and they said that tip had led them to the suspect. The man arrested, who has not been identified, can be held for 72 hours. Police added that there was no longer an imminent terrorist threat.

The arrest of the suspect, whose house was searched by authorities, came about five hours after a Spanish citizen driving a van with Spanish license plates was taken into custody in Rotterdam after gas canisters were found in his vehicle.

The driver was detained for questioning after the concert had been called off, but he appeared to have posed little danger despite the discovery of the canisters: Authorities said he was drunk and have found nothing to link him to the terrorist threat.

The discovery of the canisters was an immediate source of concern in light of the attacks in Spain by a terrorist cell that had similar canisters at a bomb-making factory in a house in the coastal town of Alcanar. The cell also used a van in its attack in Barcelona.

A blast on the evening of Aug. 16 that destroyed the house in Alcanar was initially attributed to a gas explosion, but investigators later determined that the cell had stored more than 100 canisters in the house and had been planning to use them for an even deadlier attack that had to be abandoned.

Unlike its neighbors, Belgium and Germany, the Netherlands has been spared direct terrorist attacks on its soil in recent years, although its citizens have been victims of attacks elsewhere.

Security has been visibly ramped up in recent months across Europe, but on prominent public squares in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, the police presence tends to be subdued, and it is still unusual to see an automatic rifle in the hands of Dutch authorities. At the seat of government in The Hague, parliament buildings are protected by well-armed national police officers, but government buildings are not.

Christopher F. Schuetze is a New York Times writer.
The Supreme Court's verdict today takes India way ahead of many countries in terms of identifying privacy as a fundamental right.

By India Today Web Desk: The Supreme Court today in a landmark verdict upheld privacy as a fundamental right under the Constitution.

The nine-judge Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar, ruled that privacy is a guaranteed fundamental right, and is protected under Article 21 (Right to Life and Liberty).

With this, India has taken a lead in recognising privacy as a fundamental right at a time when issues of surveillance and data breach are being increasingly debated across the world.

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HOW UNITED STATES VIEWS PRIVACY

The word privacy is not mentioned in the Constitution of the United States of America. It is however the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution which is seen as protecting a citizen's right to privacy.

It states that the "right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized".

In addition to this, the Privacy Act of 1974 governs collection, maintenance, use and dissemination of information about US individuals maintained in records by federal agencies.

PROTECTION OF PERSONAL DATA IN EU

The member countries of the European Union follow the EU Data Protection Directive which deals with protection of personal data and regulates data movement.

The EU member nations are also signatories to the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) whose Article 8 guarantees right to respect for private and family life.

The Article 8 Article states that "there shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others".

The European Commission is also bringing in new rules on data protection to be enforced by EU nations by May 2018. The new rules are aimed at providing individuals greater control over their personal data while also simplifying the regulatory environment for business.

WHEN KAPIL SIBAL GAVE GLOBAL EXAMPLES

In Australia, the Privacy Act, 1988, which includes 13 Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), regulates the use and access of personal data.

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Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, while arguing for right to privacy in the Supreme Court, said that while privacy is not mentioned in the constitutions of US and Australia, it is treated at par with a fundamental right.

The Supreme Court's verdict today takes India way ahead of many countries in terms of identifying privacy as a fundamental right.

READ THE SUPREME COURT JUDGMENT ON PRIVACY: FULL TEXT

ALSO READ:

Privacy a fundamental right, says Supreme Court: Historic verdict explained

Hope Modi govt stops snooping, says Congress after Supreme Court holds privacy as fundamental right

ALSO WATCH: Privacy a fundamental right, declares Supreme Court

--- ENDS ---
BANGKOK  Friends and foes alike of former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra are anxiously awaiting a verdict Friday by the Supreme Court on charges she was criminally negligent in implementing a rice subsidy program that is estimated to have cost the government as much as $17 billion and could send her to prison for 10 years.

Thousands of supporters had been expected to appear outside the courthouse to demonstrate their solidarity with Yingluck, but on Thursday she posted a message on her Facebook page urging them not to come. Yingluck said she was worried about their safety in case there is chaos that could be instigated by a third party, as security officials have always said.
KIEV, UKRAINE  Defense Secretary James Mattis vowed Thursday to help Ukraine stand up to Russian violations of its sovereignty and signaled that the Trump administration was considering providing defensive weapons to the Ukrainian military.

President Barack Obama had resisted such a step, fearing it would be seen as a provocation by Russia. In the first visit to Ukraine by a U.S. defense secretary in nearly a decade, Mattis seemed to be anticipating that argument.

Defensive weapons are not provocative unless you are an aggressor, and clearly Ukraine is not an aggressor since it is their territory where the fighting is happening, Mattis said at a joint news conference with Ukraines president, Petro Poroshenko.

State and Defense department officials have recommended that the United States provide Javelin antitank missiles and other defensive weapons to Ukraine to strengthen its forces and raise the potential cost to the Kremlin of a Russian attack.

But President Trump, who has consistently taken a more conciliatory position toward Russia than have his top national security advisers, has yet to take up the matter.

Mattis declined to disclose what he planned to recommend to Trump. Nor did he indicate any timetable for deciding the matter. But his comments suggested that he was sympathetic to supplying defensive weapons  long a topic of enormous interest in Ukraine.

On the defensive lethal weapons, we are actively reviewing it, he said. I will go back now having seen the current situation and be able to inform the secretary of state and the president in very specific terms what I recommend for the direction ahead.

While the Obama administration had rejected providing the Javelin antitank system to Ukraine, the context has shifted in recent years.

The failure of the Minsk peace agreement, which was negotiated by Russia, Ukraine and European nations in 2015, and Russias active military posture in the region, have combined to bring the issue to the fore, as has the change of administrations in Washington.

Poroshenko sought to buttress Ukraines case by saying that it had responsibly used the nonlethal systems it had already received from the United States, and asserting that the antitank weapon would be used to deter further Russian aggression.

Any defensive weapons would be just to increase the price if Russia makes a decision to attack my troops and my territory, he said.

Not all European nations necessarily agree. The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, strongly opposed the provision of such weapons when it was considered by Obama in 2015, saying that they would merely inflame the military situation.

Mattis met with Poroshenko after participating in the commemoration of Ukraines 1991 declaration of independence from the Soviet Union. The American also held separate talks with Ukraines defense minister, Stepan Poltorak.

Michael R. Gordon is a New York Times writer.
"ALL LIVES SPLATTER" the meme proclaimed, the block letters outlined in red. Below that: an SUV running over stick figures.

"Nobody cares about your protest," the caption continued. "Moral of the story ... stay off the road!"

That was a big deal when SFR reported that it appeared on Santa Fe Police Department Sgt. Troy Bakers Facebook page. It became a bigger deal when an Ohio man ran over protesters at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville this month.

When that happened, nearly six months after the city began an internal affairs investigation into Bakers social media posts, SFPD Chief Patrick Gallagher placed Baker on desk duty. Gallagher told the citys Public Safety Committee hed fielded questions about why the investigation was taking so long.

Tomorrow, Baker will retire. The internal affairs investigation into the 22-year veteran is not yet complete.

The police chief didnt tell the committee how he answered questions about the departments lengthy inquiry. As a matter of SFPD and city policy, though, he couldnt have said anything other than whether the investigation was finished. No findings, no recommendations, no outcome. Its fair to wonder whether that would have satisfied any of Gallaghers inquisitors, let alone the public.

Bakers decision to retire throws into question what, if anything, the public will ever learn about how the Police Department and the city view his actions (you can read many of Bakers Facebook memes in the SFR story linked above). Gallagher is already on record saying Bakers personal social media accounts dont reflect his departments feelings. Emphatically, no, he told SFR in February, Posts such as this have the potential to make officers jobs more difficult by eroding police-community relationships.

Whether the department will ever tell the public if it felt Baker crossed the line of conduct unbecoming of an officer is unclear.

Last week, a department spokesman told SFR via text message that the chief would share the departments final determination on Baker. Greg Gurule, the spokesman, says the department never intended to provide any other details related to the inquiry, only whether the department kept Baker on the force or fired him.

Attorneys for the city have repeatedly said they dont believe the states open records law allows them to release disciplinary recordsincluding internal affairs investigationsbecause they are protected personnel matters. Other law enforcement agencies, including the Santa Fe County Sheriffs Office, have a different interpretation of the law and allow the public to see how and whether they discipline officers after investigations and complaints. The mayor has asked city attorneys to draft a formal request for an opinion on the matter from the state attorney general.

City spokesman Matt Ross says Bakers retirement doesnt stop the internal affairs investigation.

I do want to stressand this applies to any situationif theres an IA investigation happening, that moves forward, Ross tells SFR. So, the end of employment doesnt mean the end of accountability.

While the city still doesnt plan to release anything to the public, Ross says the results of the investigation would be reported to the states Law Enforcement Academy Board, which monitors officer misconduct investigations and has the power to strip cops of their law enforcement certification.

New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas chairs that board. At each public meeting, a packet is provided that is supposed to include the names of each officer who faces a possible disciplinary action, as well as the details of the allegations against her or him. Thats far more than the city of Santa Fe says it would ever release to the public, yet the city knows its disciplinary findings must be submitted to the LEA Board.

Ross couldnt find someone to respond to a request this afternoon to clarify whether the legally mandated LEA Board process would offer enough guidance to the city to change its policy on releasing disciplinary records to the public.

Baker submitted his letter of resignation on Monday. Because the citys contract with the police officers unionwhich Baker led as president for several yearsallows officers to buy early retirement with accrued sick and vacation leave, Bakers last day at whats now a desk job will be Thursday. However, hell keep getting paid until his official retirement date at the end of May 2018.

Baker remains on the payroll, but statements by both the city manager and the mayor indicate the city is anxious to move past Bakers controversial departure.

While we cant comment on the specifics of personnel matters, I can say that we are eager to put these issues behind us and focus on providing trustworthy, top-notch public service to every Santa Fean, says city manager Brian Snyder.

The memes were offensive and hurtful, Mayor Javier Gonzales says, and they dont represent the police department I know, full of officers who are committed to serving all of our citizens. Now its time to close this chapter and move forward with policing this community in a way thats focused on safety, people, and trust.

That trust will have to be built without the city ever telling the public whether Baker was the kind of cop it would have kept on the force.

Santa Fe Reporter
Last Day

Today is Santa Fe Police Sergeant Troy Baker's last day on the job. The 22-year veteran is using vacation and sick time to buy out his retirement, which officially begins at the end of May 2018. While the city says its investigation of offensive memes Baker posted on his Facebook page won't go away, it's not clear if the publicor other officerswill ever learn if the city would have disciplined him. City leaders are anxious to see the problem go away.

Pistol Garrey

Speaking of retirements next year, NMSU Chancellor Garrey Carruthers finally let on to what's really behind his. The former New Mexico governor says regents appointed by the current New Mexico governor told him they weren't renewing his contract. Gov. Martinez' office says she never talked to regents about the matter.



No access

Religious cult leaders in western New Mexico have stopped letting authorities into their compound to see how children there are being treated, according to Cibola County Sheriff Tony Mace. One of the Aggressive Christianity Mission Training Corps leaders was arrested over the weekend and other cult members were charged with crimes including child sex abuse.



Rank and file

Common Cause New Mexico is out with its grades of legislators' response to transparency in campaign finance, efforts to monitor government ethics and drives to expand voter registration. The group says it gave lawmakers a heads-up as the legislative session got underway on the issues it would grade.

FedEx opens

A new distribution center for FedEx Ground is open in Southern New Mexico. The governor's office says the facility will bring 80 jobs to the area as the state struggles to diversify its economy away from reliance on government jobs and oil and gas.



Zinke's decision

New Mexico communities should learn today whether US Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke plans to close or downsize two new national monuments in New Mexico. The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument is in Las Cruces, the Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument is up near Taos and Questa.



Sign the code or hit the road

The State Investment Council has voted to ban four members from participating in closed-door sessions because they haven't signed a new ethics code. But State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn says the new ethics code is a sham meant to muzzle council members and keep deals out of the public eye. The governor, who appoints some members to the council, says that's silly. Dunn says the Gov's political consultants are working for one of his opponents in the upcoming race for the Republican nomination in New Mexico's 2nd Congressional District.

Power failure

Well, that's a bit strong, but nobody in New Mexico sold the winning ticket for the $700-something million Powerball lottery. Our state did show up in the also-rans, where people matched multiple numbers to win $2 million and $1 million prizes.



Thanks for reading! The Word wonders if all that money would change who we are ... you know, besides the menagerie of exotic animals wearing bespoke silk outfits.



Subscribe to the Morning Word at sfreporter.com/santafe/signup.

Santa Fe Reporter
New Zealand shares fell, with Metro Performance Glass and Trade Me Group dropping sharply after disappointing earnings while A2 Milk Co reached yet another record.

The S&P/NZX50 Index dropped 11.05 points, or 0.1 percent, to 7,868.41. Within the index, 21 stocks fell, 20 rose and nine were unchanged. Turnover was $178 million.

Metro Performance Glass led the index lower, falling 10.8 percent to $1.24. The company said it expects its first half results to be largely flat despite the contribution from recently acquired Australian Glass Group. Intraday, the shares fell as low as $1.19, the lowest it's been since listing in mid-2014.

Metro Glass delivered a $19.4 million net profit for the year to March 31, down from $21.3 million a year earlier, as it absorbed the costs of the major acquisition in the Australian market and the impact of declining building activity in Canterbury and a dip in Wellington activity after the Kaikoura earthquake last November.

"It's certainly well below expectations, it's quite an irony in this market where we're having a building boom but the likes of Metro Glass, Fletcher Building, Steel & Tube have all had tremendous issues," Matt Goodson, managing director at Salt Funds Management said. "The share price was down at these levels in April and ground up, people weren't expecting quite that outlook. It's also a very volatile time in the market - quite outsize responses then reversing themselves the next day, or intra-day in some cases. It's a very whippy time indeed."

Trade Me declined 6.6 percent to $4.52. New Zealand's largest online auction site posted a 26 percent jump in annual profit to $94.4 million, but it warned earnings growth will slow in the coming year as it ramps up investment.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 11 percent to $155.7 million and net operating profit was up 12 percent to $93 million, though chief executive Jon Macdonald warned that the pace of growth wouldn't be sustained this year as the company ramps up investment.

"The result itself was there or thereabouts, it's really more the outlook - the continuing need for TradeMe to invest - that has seen the reaction," Goodson said. "Particularly some of the Australian analysts who followed the stock had extremely aggressive expectations out there. Today has been a bit of a reality check on the investment TradeMe needs to make on the go-forward competition as things like Facebook starts to make a small impact into New Zealand, and if and when Amazon Prime gets offered into New Zealand it could have quite some impact as well. Trade Me will need to keep investing to protect its position."

Sky Network Television dropped a further 4.4 percent to $2.80. Selling began on Tuesday when it posted a 21 percent decline in annual profit to $116 million as content costs increased while revenue and subscriber numbers fell. The stock has dropped 12 percent since then.

"This is a market which is willing to pay very aggressive multiples for companies which can deliver on growth expectations, but conversely for companies perceived to be in decline, market reaction across Australasia has been savage," Goodson said. "Even though the result yesterday was fairly on the money, weaker subscriber numbers are weighing on that as people trace it forward."

Scales Corp dropped 4.4 percent after it said its first half profit fell 14 percent to $29 million after its apple orchards were hit by heavy rain and winds and needed more expensive care. Revenue was $216.7 million, up 3 percent on the year, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation dropped 11 percent to $48.4 million.

"Several of the analyst estimates have been too aggressive and will need to be pulled back slightly," Goodson said. "Scales have done remarkably well in what was a very difficult apple season, it's an interesting reaction because once you get through this year obviously next year's a new year."

A2 Milk Co gained 5.2 percent to $5.47, another record. Yesterday, the milk marketer announced it had tripled its annual profit to $90.6 million and would use some of its accumulated cash to buy back shares, and may pay a special dividend. Revenue rose 56 percent to $549.5 million, ahead of the $545 million it forecast in June, which was its second lift in sales guidance.

"It's remarkable, a number of analyst upgrades overnight although the share price is well and truly up there where people are valuing it," Goodson said. "It's a stock that had tremendous short interest in it, which was clearly the wrong call, so there's an awful lot of pain there from people covering and the price responding accordingly."

"They've done a fantastic job but there does remain utterly unforecastable regulatory risk, and when you're making something as fragile as infant formula there's always product risk. It's not riskless by any means but to date they've done an extraordinarily good job."

Among the other companies who reported today, Ebos Group gained 2.2 percent to $17.99, Vista Group International was unchanged at $5.50, Meridian Energy dipped 0.5 percent to $2.93, Vector dropped 1.2 percent to $3.42, New Zealand Refining gained 0.4 percent, CBL Corp rose 1.6 percent to $3.28.

Fletcher Building dropped 1.2 percent to $8.35. Retiring Meridian Energy chief executive Mark Binns has definitively ruled himself out of interest in either taking over the leadership of Fletcher Building or of becoming a director of the troubled construction company.

Other companies which held annual meetings today included Infratil, which gained 0.2 percent to $3.16, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, which gained 0.3 percent to $11.68, and Pacific Edge, which rose 1 percent to 48.5 cents.

Outside the benchmark index, NZME dropped 9.5 percent to 86 cents. It increased first half trading earnings 1 percent as audience numbers ticked up but warned that headwinds remain and said completing the merger with Fairfax Media remains a priority.

(BusinessDesk)

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Mainfreight Half Year Financial Results 30 September 2022


New Zealand King Salmon Investments, the world's largest aquaculture producer of king salmon, beat its forecast for annual earnings as demand for its premium product exceeded supply, underpinning values. The stock jumped to a record.

Net profit soared to $22.8 million, or 16 cents per share, in the year ended June 30, from $2.6 million, or 2 cents, a year earlier, which is up 125 percent on its prospectus forecast ahead of listing last October, the Nelson-based company said in a statement.

Pro-forma operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $21.6 million is ahead of its earnings upgrade in June of between $20.5 million and $21 million, the $19.2 million predicted in its October offer documents, and $16 million a year earlier.

The company reiterated guidance for the 2018 financial year for net profit of $14.1 million and pro-forma operating ebitda of $22.4 million, and noted that some of its capital expenditure projects which had been delayed in the 2017 year would be caught up by the end of the 2018 year.

King Salmon said today that its premium branded strategy continues to drive demand in excess of available supply, underpinning improved value. Sales of its branded ultra-premium salmon, Ora King, jumped 27 percent in the latest year and is now on the menu of more than 850 restaurants globally.

"Strong branding delivers improved value to our business," the company said, noting that average selling prices had increased in all its significant markets due to branded premiums and product mix. "Demand greater than supply creates opportunity for gradual and ongoing price increases."

The company said it had had good initial results from its new farms and volumes would continue to increase over coming years.

King Salmon will pay a final dividend of 3 cents per share on Sept. 18, including a 2 cent ordinary dividend and a 1 cent special dividend. That's ahead of its forecast for a final dividend of 1.8 cents.

The company's shares jumped 9.5 percent to $1.85, their highest level since they were sold at $1.12 in an initial public offering last October.

Revenue in the past year increased 20 percent to $136.4 million, and it sold 7,223 metric tonnes of gilled and gutted salmon, up 18 percent on the year earlier.

In the domestic New Zealand market, revenue rose 15 percent to $73.8 million, as the volume lifted 11 percent to 4,047 MT. The company said it aims to increase per capita consumption, and it recorded 24 percent growth in domestic retail volume sold, outpacing a 4.4 percent growth in total New Zealand grocery sale volumes, increasing its market share. Sales of New Zealand salmon were also supported by reduced volumes of imported salmon, it said.

Its domestic pet food range Omega Plus which was launched in September last year is now stocked in 85 supermarkets across the country and paves the way for improving returns for the whole fish by converting by-products into premium pet food, it said.

"Omega Plus is delivering good sales growth but remains in the early stages of its development," the company said.

In North America, sales jumped 31 percent to $36 million as volumes increased 38 percent to 1,718 MT. The company said North America is a key focus with its Ora King range on the menu of 800 restaurants in the US, with a high proportion branded on the menu. It has now started retail sales to the region.

In Australia, revenue rose 25 percent to $12 million as volumes increased 18 percent to 703 MT, with the company noting sales were stronger than expected due to internal market supply constraints.

"Historically, Australia has been a lower returning market which we are addressing through ongoing price rebalancing," it said. "By focusing on value, volumes to Australia may flatten or decline in future periods."

Elsewhere, the Asian market outside of Japan showed good growth through the Asian continent including China, albeit off a very low base. In Japan, sales were in line with recent periods and slightly ahead of expectations, while in Europe sales growth was impacted by a slight delay in implementing its single harvest method, the company said.

The company said its rate of fish mortality fell to 8.5 percent from its year earlier rate of 13.7 percent and its forecast of 11 percent. It attributed the change to improvements in hatchery practices and feed composition, better results from higher flow sites and a more benign summer.

King Salmon noted that the Minister for Primary Industries began consultation in January to relocate up to six of the company's salmon farms from their historic locations to higher water flow sites more suitable for fish and the environment. Should the farms be relocated, the first harvest from the new farms would be unlikely before the 2020 or 2021 financial years, it said.

"We would expect to have our farms relocated to higher flow sites which would permit an overall increase in the volume of salmon harvested in addition to improved environmental outcomes," it said.

The company expects an additional $6 million of capital expenditure would be required for each farm for new pens and barges suitable for high flow sites, with the spending supported by expected increases in production.

Should none of the farms be relocated, the 'worst case scenario' would see harvest volumes reduced by about 700-to-750 MT per annum, the company said. It said this assessment was based on an inability to renew one of its seawater consents, although historically it had successfully renewed all consents at their expiry.

(BusinessDesk)

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Metro Performance Glass shares fell 10 percent after the company said it expects its first half results to be largely flat despite the contribution from recently acquired Australian Glass Group.

"Given the current conditions we are seeing in the market, we expect the groups first half results to be similar to those achieved in the first half last year, which was a particularly strong half," chairman John Goulter said in notes for the annual general meeting.

The stock dropped as low as $1.19, the lowest it's been since listing in mid-2014, and was recently trading at $1.25. The shares were sold at $1.70 apiece in an initial public offering to raise $244.2 million, the bulk of which went to its former private equity owners Cresent Capital and Anchorage Capital.

"Activity levels to date have been below our expectations and as we had resourced the business accordingly there will be a need to adapt and pursue efficiency initiatives through the second half of the year," he said.

The flat result comes despite the contribution from Australian Glass Group, an A$43.1 million acquisition it made in September last year. At the time of the deal, Metro Glass said it expected the Australian firm to boost earnings from the first year.

"The problem is that they have the acquisition in there ... so to be flat on last year is disappointing," said David Price, broker at Forsyth Barr.

Goulter said the Auckland-based company continues to anticipate improved results in the 2018 year "but this will be dependent on any adverse changes in market conditions. We will further update investors with our expectations for the full year when we release our half year results in November," he said.

Metro Glass delivered a $19.4 million net profit for the year to March 31, down from $21.3 million a year earlier, as it absorbed the costs of the major acquisition in the Australian market and the impact of declining building activity in Canterbury and a dip in Wellington activity after the Kaikoura earthquake last November.

Earlier this week, Metro Glass said it will reduce annual non-executive directors' fees rather than seek a mandate to increase the available fee pool at today's annual general meeting in Auckland. The company had sought approval to increase the total annual remuneration available to all non-executive directors by $36,000 per annum to $650,000 to provide headroom for additional fees if needed. No changes were proposed to the current annual directors' fees for any director. It opted to pull the resolution after feedback from shareholders indicated it was not warranted.

(BusinessDesk)

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Zespri, New Zealand's statutory kiwifruit exporter, is optimistic about the 2018 season after some growers saw weakness in 2017, with plans to continue global expansion.

In the 2017 season, the Te Puke-based company achieved distributable profit for its grower shareholders of $34.8 million in the year to March 31 on a 19 percent increase in turnover of $2.26 billion. Payments to New Zealand growers per tray supplied fell 1 percent to $9.46, although total payments were up 21 percent at $1.39 billion because of a steep increase in total supply.

Domestic and international production of gold kiwifruit rose 48 percent to 53.2 million trays, 47.9 million of which were grown in New Zealand. Returns per tray of New Zealand-grown gold fruit rose 39 percent to $98,838 per hectare, whereas the value of a hectare of the green variety fell 6 percent to $53,555. Organic green fruit returns rose 3 percent to $54,427 per hectare.

At the company's annual meeting in Mount Maunganui today, chair Peter McBride said he recognised the 2017 season had been difficult, with some growers facing lower average yields for green and organic green varieties.

"However, market conditions are positive and our August forecast reflects a good demand position," McBride said. "It is supported by strong investment to build product and brand awareness, earn shelf space and support sales through retail channels.

"The August forecast shows average OGR (orchard gate return) returns per hectare for green and green organic that reflect lower yields and higher per tray returns. Gold continues to perform strongly across all markets, reflected in good returns. Green 14 returns are off this year, impacted by a very narrow market mix for this small category. I note these are averages and recognise that the result may be difficult for orchardists with lower yields."

McBride said the company was focused on improving returns on green kiwifruit crops, growth from its SunGold variety, developing its organic category and commercialising new varieties.

"I am confident that successful implementation of this strategy supported by 12 month supply will see continued growth in grower and shareholder returns," he said.

Zespri has now licensed 3,720 hectares for SunGold production in Europe, which it expects to produce around 40 million trays a year once fully mature.

Outgoing chief executive Lain Jager said it was essential for Zespri to have year-round supply in order to compete on the global stage.

"Twelve-month supply is critical to our ability to optimise SunGold growth and Zespris brand strength globally," Jager said. "If we do not supply our competitors will, and ... our offshore production of SunGold is significantly lagging demand. The challenge should rightly be about whether we should go faster with offshore supply rather than slower."

Jager announced he was leaving the company last September, having been in the role since 2008. Today, McBride said the company is near to finalising the appointment of a new CEO and an announcement will be made "in the near future."

(BusinessDesk)

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(Recasts, adds comment from CEO Davies, updates shares)

Ebos Group posted a 4.9 percent gain in annual profit and raised its final dividend saying it has room to make further acquisitions despite an increase in gearing that followed the debt-funded purchase of pharmacy outsourcing firm HPS.

Net debt climbed to $435 million in 2017 from $248 million in the previous year while gearing rose to 27.4 percent from 18.5 percent, according to Christchurch-based Ebos's annual accounts. Net debt to ebitda widened to 1.79 times from 1.14 times, which chief executive Patrick Davies said is "well within our tolerances."

"We've enough wiggle room to pursue further acquisitions," he said.

Ebos announced the acquisition of HPS, Australias largest provider of outsourced pharmacy services to hospitals, for A$154 million, adding to the Terry White Group (TWG) deal last October, when Ebos poured its Chemmart and VIM Health investment into TWG and gave the target company $19 million in cash in return for a controlling stake of just over 50 percent in the enlarged business. The latest deals round out a four-year, $470 million acquisition spree since Ebos transformed itself in 2013 with the purchase of Australian pharmaceutical wholesaler and distributor Symbion.

In that time the shares have gained 82 percent and underlying earnings per share have jumped 45 percent to 91.3 cents. The shares were unchanged at $17.61 today. Ebos said it is "confident of further profit growth into FY18 on an underlying, constant currency basis," and will update guidance at its annual meeting on Oct. 17.

In the latest year, capital expenditure rose to $37.6 million from $17.6 million in 2016. Ebos said it expects to incur "significant additional capex" in 2018 on new warehouses in Brisbane and Sydney, which will cost about $40 million on their own. Davies said the company currently has 4-5 logistics facilities under construction across Australia and New Zealand.

"We're right in the jaws of a major capex programme. When they are done we will pull capex down to more traditional levels" of $20 million to $30 million, he said.

Profit rose to $133 million in the 12 months ended June 30, from $127 million a year earlier, Ebos said. Revenue climbed to $7.6 billion from $7.1 billion.

Commenting on the HPS purchase, he said Ebos sees an ongoing trend of both government agencies and the private sector outsourcing pharmacy services and as an "existing and trusted partner of government" the company expected to pick up more of that market. "HPS is clearly the vehicle we will use to soak up more of that," he said.

Ebos's healthcare revenue rose 7.7 percent to $7.2 billion in the year and ebitda gained7.1 percent to $208.8 million. Of that Australian earnings rose 6.1 percent to $165 million and New Zealand contributed $44 million, up about 11 percent on the year.

Pharmacy revenue in Australia rose 11 percent, reflecting a full 12-month contribution from sales of hepatitis C medicines. Institutional healthcare sales gained 13 percent on a constant currency basis to $2.5 billion and consumer product sales rose 24 percent to $105 million. Contract logistics sales fell 1.4 percent to $485 million.

Animal care sales rose 2 percent to $423 million and ebitda climbed 5.7 percent to $44.7 million. Sales of Black Hawk pet food jumped 48 percent and the company recently rolled out the products in the New Zealand market, replacing the IAMS and Eukanuba ranges it used to distribute from Mars Inc.

"In the animal care market the competition is global giants - Mars and Nestle - and we need to compete against them," Davies said.

Ebos will pay a final dividend of 33 cents a share imputed to 25 percent and franked to 100 percent for Australian shareholders. That brings payments for the year to 63 cents, up from 58.5 cents in the previous year.

(BusinessDesk)

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GMT - Customer demand supports strong first-half operating result

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Mainfreight Half Year Financial Results 30 September 2022


ASX-listed Flight Centre Travel Group bought two local travel firms for a combined A$19.5 million as it seeks to expand its footprint in New Zealand, making it one of the country's biggest travel management groups.

In its annual earnings published to the ASX this morning, the Brisbane-based company said it has agreed to buy Travel Managers Group (TMG) for an initial A$8.37 million and Executive Travel Group (ETG) for an initial A$11.17 million, each with working capital adjustments to be made.

TMG provides systems and support to a network of 180 travel brokers and operates a 22-shop franchise network including 12 TravelSmart shops and 10 other non-branded stores, while ETG is New Zealand's biggest independent corporate travel manager.

The Australian travel agent's New Zealand business generated total transaction value of A$1.1 billion in the year ended June 30, 2017, up 10 percent from a year earlier. Over the whole group, TTV rose to A$20.1 billion, from $19.3 billion in 2016, with net profit dropping to A$230.8 million from A$244.6 million.

Chief operating officer Melanie Waters-Ryan said the business was "successfully executing its key global strategies which include enhancing productivity in the short-term."

"The company has also strengthened its presence in the home-based/independent contractor sector, a rapidly growing part of the travel industry, by recently agreeing to buy established networks in both New Zealand (Travel Managers) and Australia," she said. "The business has now entered 12 new equity invested countries in the past three years, more than doubling its geographic footprint."

When it announced the deals at the beginning of August, Flight Centre said the purchases made New Zealand its fifth biggest business globally. It also said the two businesses would add $3 million of annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, and would boost the New Zealand business to almost $1.5 billion in annual sales in the 2018 financial year.

In the year and subsequent to its June 30 balance date Flight Centre also bought travel businesses based in India, Germany, Sweden, China, Quebec, Mexico and Sydney, and increased its shareholding in businesses in Singapore and Hong Kong.

The ASX-listed company's shares last traded at A$44.37 and have jumped 42 percent so far this year.

(BusinessDesk)

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Mainfreight Half Year Financial Results 30 September 2022


44-year-old Ravin Gandhi's opinion piece was titled, "I tried to give Trump a chance. But after Charlottesville, it's over."

By India Today Web Desk: An Indian-American businessman received an expletive-laden voicemail telling him to "get his f****** garbage and go back to India," after he criticised Donald Trump for his "tacit support of white supremacists and Nazis" in an CNBC op-ed.

44-year-old Ravin Gandhi's opinion piece was titled, "I tried to give Trump a chance. But after Charlottesville, it's over."

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In writing it, GMM Nonstick Coatings's founder-CEO joined a growing chorus of denunciation targeted at the US president, who has failed to explicitly condemn white supremacists in the wake of a deadly outbreak of racist violence in the US state of Virginia.

Ravin posted a recording of the abusive voicemail he received on his YouTube channel. "Go clean up your own f****** country. It's a filthy mess," the woman in the video rants.

TORRENT OF ABUSE

But it wasn't just one voicemail. A Chicago Tribune report on the backlash Ravin faced said "bigoted tweets and emails rolled in by the dozens."

Ravin posted screenshots of such messages on his Twitter handle.

"Hey Gandhi, you ignorant little anti-Trump Hindu d***head. You want to side with your leftist, progressive, anti-American, antifa, blm (Black Lives Matter), club-carrying, bottle-throwing, socialist f*****ts and thugs, so be it," one Robert Gumpper wrote to an official email address used by GMM Nonstick Coatings.

There was more.

"You are now the Globalist enemy. You want a war, you got one. Go back to f****** Calcutta where you came from and worship a f*****g cow, you f******g f***," Gumpper added.

"You are angry for having been born with 50% n*g** blood in your veins. Embrace your heritage, quit mouthing off - we don't care. Feel us?" Lisa Maria Anderson wrote in a Facebook message.

Here's another example.

No wonder your a Hindo.- Robert Goudreau (@stockey63) August 16, 2017

But messages of support poured in for Ravin Gandhi after he spoke to MSNBC's Chris Hayes about his ordeal.

Thank you for speaking out so eloquently in expressing how so many of us that have a different last name feel about our country America.- SLPatriot (@AbdullaGina) August 23, 2017

I am still stunned by the message you received. I don't know you, but sending you????????????- Alyss Carroll (@AlyssCG) August 23, 2017

What a juxtaposition between this man of outstanding character and the deplorable female caller, a woman beyond redemption.- CathyO (@cathyob1) August 23, 2017

"Thanks! It's humbling that my experience has resonated with many, and I promise to keep speaking out," Ravin tweeted on Tuesday, in response to one Twitter user's praise.

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That response is sure to hearten Ameya Pawar, a member of Chicago's city council who wrote this to Ravin earlier this week.

. @RavinGandhi1 I am told on a daily basis to go back to India. Like you, I was born here and proud of my roots. Thanks for speaking out.- Ameya Pawar (@Ameya_Pawar_IL) August 22, 2017

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US President Donald Trump defends initial remark on Virginia rally that ended in violence

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: By Gurdip Singh

Singapore, Aug 23 (PTI) A 30-year-old Indian-origin Malaysian man has been jailed for life in Singapore along with 24 strokes of cane-lashing for smuggling drugs.

Saravanan Chandaram, 30, who pleaded guilty to two charges of importing the controlled drugs, also received the maximum 24 strokes of the cane, the Straits Times reported.

The prosecution submitted a certificate to the court stating that Saravanan was only a drug courier and had substantively helped the authorities to disrupt drug trafficking.

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This gave the judge the discretion to impose a life sentence instead of the mandatory death penalty.

Saravanan was found with 10 bundles containing at least 1.38 kilogrammes of cannabis, and at least 3.29 kilogrammes of cannabinol and cannabinol derivative.

On November 5, 2014, he rented a car and met a drug syndicate leader, known only as Aya, in Skudai in the southern Malaysian state of Johor, where he collected the 10 bundles of drugs.

Saravanan, who worked for Aya as his bodyguard and personal driver, hid the bundles under the armrest of the rear passenger seat.

Defence lawyer Singa Retnam, in his closing submissions to the court last month, said that Saravanan had borrowed Malaysian Ringgit 4,000 (Singapore dollars 1,270) from Aya as he did not have enough savings for his sons operation.

When Saravanan returned to Johor on November 5, 2014, he was asked by Aya to repay the money, but he could not do so immediately, the Strait Times report said.

He had no choice but to adhere to his bosss demands and agreed to deliver 10 packets of tobacco, for Malaysian Ringgit 2,000, according to the defences submissions.

The defence said that Saravanan believed he was delivering 10 packets of tobacco, instead of cannabis.

However, the prosecution said that Saravanans belief was unfounded when there were clearly suspicious circumstances surrounding the delivery of the drugs.

There were also inconsistencies in his account as he had initially said he was promised Singapore dollars 5,000 for the delivery, but later claimed he was promised Malaysian Ringgit 2,000.

The prosecution noted that Saravanan was being paid a disproportionately high amount of Singapore dollars 5,000 for a relatively simple task of delivery. PTI GS AJR DK

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By PTI: (Eds: With additional inputs)

New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) Union ministers Arun Jaitley and Prakash Javadekar were today appointed the BJPs election in-charge for the high-stakes Gujarat and Karnataka assembly polls respectively.

BJP chief Amit Shah also appointed four Union ministers -- Narendra Singh Tomar, Nirmala Sitharaman, Jitendra Singh and P P Choudhary -- co-incharge for the Gujarat polls, scheduled to be held later this year, a party statement said.

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Union minister Piyush Goyal will be co-incharge for the Karnataka polls, slated for early next year, it said.

Union minister Thawar Chand Gehlot has been appointed the election in-charge for the Himachal Pradesh assembly polls, also scheduled for later this year.

Jaitley and Javadekar have been the partys in-charge for various state polls in the past. Gehlot is also a veteran organisation man.

The last assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat were held in November and December, 2012, respectively. The results were announced on December 20, 2012.

The last Karnataka assembly polls were held in May, 2013.

The BJP is in a direct contest with the Congress in all the three states. While the saffron party is in power in Gujarat, its bastion for over two decades, the opposition party rules in the other two states.

Since it stormed to power at the Centre in 2014, the BJP has edged past the Congress in the polls in states where the latter was its main challenger. The Congress defeated the SAD-BJP alliance in Punjab, but the BJP was a junior partner in the state.

In Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is leading the Congress charge against the BJP, which has made it clear that its state president and former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa will be its chief ministerial face. Siddaramaiah has expressed confidence that he will retain power.

The BJP is confident of retaining power in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah.

In the hilly state of Himachal Pradesh where the BJP has not projected any chief ministerial candidate yet, a keen battle is expected between the two parties, with Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh leading the Congress campaign. PTI KR SMN BDS SMN

--- ENDS ---
Editor's note: In honor of #NationalWaffle Day 2017 (yes this is a very real and very serious thing) we revisit the West Brighton hot spot that regularly has social media salivating.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- You know what smells better than thick, rich Belgian batter scooped in balls onto a red-hot waffle iron?

Not a damn thing, that's what.

The intoxicating culinary incense emanating from a tiny kitchen in West Brighton is the exact opposite of what one finds at "greasy spoons." Only warm, sweet/savory/sensual goodness is wafting into Beans and Leaves Cafe dining area. (No small feat considering there's no exhaust system in the cooking area in which owner Megan Coppola's stellar staff busts its collective butt to serve you.)

But let's get back to those waffles that have people salivating on social media.

B&L's hyper-indulgent vessels are scrumptiously tender and cakey -- without being too crumbly. In other words, they can hold up to the chocolate sauce, blueberries, marshmallow fluff, fresh whipped cream and baked apples heaped upon them.

B&L General Manager Vincent Tortora said the "S'mores Waffle" is a consistent customer favorite, but fresh fruit options also get their due. In fact, the Port Richmond native Tortora declared his "best waffle guy," Rob Schroeder, said they can serve up to 130 waffles on a given day.

Oh, and for the uninitiated: There's a churro version, a red velvet take and, for nostalgic breakfast cereal nuts, there are popular Cap n' Crunch and Fruity Pebbles incarnations.

Oh, there also is a new "Hungry Man" waffle option for people who prefer savory options like potato, cheese and chives. And don't get us started on the recently introduced croissant french toast (catch a glimpse of that in the video above, too.)

For more info, call 718-448-0276 or check out BeansAndLeavesCafe.com.

Oh, and here are five quick reasons this cozy joint deserves your attention:

1. THE COFFEE OF COURSE: With more than 30 different varieties, the selection for java-guzzlers of all tastes is wide and inclusive. Iced coffee is an increasingly hot seller, as are B&L's frappe blended drinks.

2. YEAH, THOSE WAFFLES: Ever since the B&L introduced these heaping piles of batter, Nutella, fruit and whipped cream, customers have arrived in droves to scarf them down. The batter ingredients are secret, but whatever's in them is working for B&L. (Yes, they also have hummus and carrot/pita chip platters, but get over yourself already.)

3. THE TEA SELECTION: Perhaps it should change its moniker to "Beans and Leaves and Leaves and Leaves," considering how many different types of tea sits on shelves and behind the counter. For those having a hard time deciding, there's usually a featured tea written on the cafe's chalk board. Or, for the fun-lovers, try the iced and frozen bubble teas, another customer favorite.

4. THE STELLAR SERVICE: "The people here take care of us," longtime customer and former Borough President Ralph Lamberti told SILive a while back. Baristas know the regulars by name and drink, and typically serve up orders with a smile.

5. THAT NEIGHBORHOOD VIBE: B&L is located in the heart of West Brighton, and shares foot traffic with the other restaurants like Ho'Brah Tacos and Better Gourmet. But walking into this cafe offers a chance to slow down. From high schoolers getting breakfast before school, to neighbors catching up to the senior community coming together for a morning social, everyone unites at 422 Forest Ave. "It reminds me of growing up here," Lamberti said.

6. YOU CAN EXPERIENCE IT ON A SPECIAL OCCASION: Want to try a waffle for yourself? B&L is one of the dozens of local eateries lined up for the Forest Avenue Restaurant Crawl and Street Festival from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 7.

The hungry masses can enjoy samples from local food joints, as well as musical performances, rides and attractions for the entire family. Tickets are $15 per person and available at EventBrite.com/e/the-forest-avenue-restaurant-crawl-and-street-festival-tickets-32562813251.
By PTI: to avoid triple talaq

New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, a religious organisation representing Muslim clerics, has expressed "deep concern" over the Supreme Court judgement striking down triple talaq, saying it is "against" the Shariat.

The outfit, which claims to have 10,000 clerics as members, has also appealed to Muslims to avoid practice of instant triple talaq. It asked members of the community not to go for divorce unless there are "unavoidable circumstances".

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The Jamiat office bearers met yesterday to discuss the situation arising out of the Supreme Court order. Maulana Mahmood Madani, general secretary of the organisation, tabled a resolution that was unanimously adopted in the meeting, the outfit said.

"We express our deep concern over this verdict as it is against the Islamic Shariat," it said.

The Supreme Court in its judgement on Tuesday set aside the practice of divorce through triple talaq among Muslims saying it was "void", "illegal" and "unconstitutional".

The Jamiat said it will not compromise on religious rights of Muslims guaranteed as fundamental rights in the Constitution and will continue to fight any attempts to trample them.

"In view of apprehensions arising out... of this verdict, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind seeks to make it clear that we will never compromise on religious rights guaranteed in the Constitution as fundamental ones. We will continue to fight against any attempt to trample them, at every level," its statement said.

The organisation also expressed apprehension that in the light of the present judgement by the Supreme Court, other Muslim practices like polygamy and Halala may also be affected.

"The Supreme Court has observed that issues like halala and polygamy etc will be separately taken up for consideration. In this case, the effects of this verdict on these issues cant be overruled," it said.

The Jamiat has appealed to Muslims to "specially" avoid triple talaq, and divorce in general.

"Jamiat appeals all Muslims to not give talaq without any unavoidable circumstances because it is not a desirable thing in the eye of the Shariat. Especially, Muslims must avoid practice of the instant triple talaq so that others cannot find ways to interfere in our religious matters," it added. PTI VIT RT

--- ENDS ---
CITY HALL -- Mayor Bill de Blasio played defense as Staten Islander Sal Albanese mocked his management style and record during the first Democratic primary debate on Wednesday night.

"I want to be a full-time mayor," Albanese said at the end of the debate. "I'm not a slacker, not a napper."

"This is your city," de Blasio said into the camera in his own closing statement. "We have to protect New York City."

De Blasio and Albanese were the only two Democratic primary candidates who raised and spent enough in campaign funds to qualify for the debate. A second primary debate will be held on Sept. 6.

The two sparred over transportation, affordable housing, homelessness and more.

"Homelessness is at a record level," Albanese said, noting he doesn't support de Blasio's plan to open 90 shelters across the five boroughs in the next five years. "It's incredible how it's been mismanaged by this administration," he said.

De Blasio said Albanese was "factually inaccurate" and told him, "Try to actually look at the plan."

'WE NEED A HIGHER STANDARD'

The mayor said he doesn't support congestion pricing to fund mass transit yet, while Albanese said he does. De Blasio wouldn't rule out removing a statue of Christopher Columbus as part of a 90-day review of "symbols of hate" and Albanese called that a "slippery slope."

Albanese nudged de Blasio about numerous pay-to-play investigations into his political fundraising that ultimately concluded in March with no charges against the mayor or his staff.

"I think we need a higher standard than the mayor not being indicted," Albanese said when the debate turned to the probes and City Hall transparency, or lack thereof.

"We were exonerated," de Blasio countered, explaining the political nonprofit he created was used to push universal pre-K and affordable housing. "We have to serve everyday New Yorkers," he said.

'YOUR FACTS ARE WRONG'

Most of the debate followed the same formula: Albanese attacked and de Blasio questioned his facts.

"If Bill de Blasio gets reelected the best job in the city will be to be his travel agent," Albanese said, referencing the mayor's regular out-of-town travel.

"The people of this city don't care about the things you're talking about," de Blasio said in defense.

When asked about decreases in crime under de Blasio, Albanese replied sarcastically, "If Mickey Mouse was the mayor, we'd still have crime going down."

On the issue of homelessness, de Blasio told Albanese, "Your slogans are beautiful but your facts are wrong."

At another point, de Blasio quipped, "I'm looking forward to the sentence where you get your facts right."

'LIAR! LIAR!'

Albanese represented neighborhoods in southern Brooklyn from 1983 to 1988 and is now a practicing lawyer. He moved from Bay Ridge to Staten Island about a year and a half ago.

Staten Island only came up once -- when de Blasio said he didn't plan to open a jail in the borough as part of a 10-year plan to close Rikers Island.

The debate was sponsored by NY1 News, NY1 Noticias, WNYC, Politico New York, Citizens Union, Civic Hall, Intelligence Squared US, Latino Leadership Institute and held at Symphony Space on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

Most of the debate audience was there for Albanese -- or his supporters were the loudest.

"It's a lie!" one shouted when de Blasio spoke about his affordable housing plans. "Liar! Liar!" others screamed.

The crowd also guffawed when de Blasio was asked if he'll run for president in 2020. De Blasio committed to staying on for the full, four-year second term.

MALLIOTAKIS REACTS

While the pair debated, Republican nominee Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis looked ahead to the November general election and attacked de Blasio on Twitter.

"de Blasio passing the buck again on transit mess," she tweeted at one point. In another, "Our ethically-challenged mayor pivoting on question of ethics & transparency...no surprise there."

This is Albanese's third run for mayor and he faces an uphill battle. Close to 4 percent of registered voters polled in a NY1/Baruch College survey from July said they would vote for Albanese, compared to 43 percent who were for de Blasio.

Asked by a debate panelist if he has enough clout to be mayor of New York City, Albanese replied with contempt.

"Whenever you become the mayor, you automatically become prominent," he said. "Even Bill's prominent now."
Samsung unveiled the much awaited Galaxy Note 8 today, which promises top-of-the-line features like water resistance, Samsung's A.I. assistant Bixby and a battery that won't catch fire as you sleep at night. Industry experts warn Samsung has an uphill battle to win back consumer trust after its mangled launch and recall of the Galaxy Note 7 last year. But Samsung's Note line is wildly popular with consumers thanks to its reputation of being able to do everything. What do you think?

PERSPECTIVES

Here's everything you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy Note 8. Would you buy it after the Note 7 battery fiasco?

The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Digital, Inc. property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt or on Facebook, we'd love to hear what you have to say.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A grassroots effort is underway to gain landmark status for St. Mary's R.C. Church in Rosebank.

The 165-year-old church on Bay Street -- the second-oldest Catholic church in the borough -- has sat idle, its doors padlocked, since 2015, when it was closed by the New York Archdiocese under its "Making All Things New" initiative. Church property also includes the vacant rectory next door.

Former parishioners and neighborhood residents -- many of whom were involved in the unsuccessful efforts to save the former Mount Manresa property in Fort Wadsworth from being sold to a developer -- have started an online peition seeking to grant the church landmark status.

Landmark status, they believe, could prevent the church from being demolished for development.

Community resident Barbara Sanchez noted that St. Mary's is zoned R4, which means that the property could be sold to developers for any type of housing.

She believes the church should be landmarked, as it is an architectural focal point in Rosebank, with its prominent bell tower visible for miles around. It also has special meaning to many residents, who have had baptisms, weddings and funerals there, she said.

"We learned lessons from Mount Manresa ... it could get bought and torn down in a second," she said. "We know we're in for an uphill battle for landmark status, but we're trying to be proactive."

City Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore) and Community Board 1 are also on-board with landmarking the church.

Community Board 1 members voted unanimously to support landmark status, and followed with a letter to the city's Landmark Preservation Commission. Rose also wrote the commission in support of landmark status.

Given the changes coming to the North Shore, with the New York Wheel and Empire Outlet Mall, and the development of the Bay Street corridor, she said she's not surprised by community efforts to landmark the church.

"With that backdrop, it is not at all surprising that there is such a strong groundswell in the area to hold on to the best of what has been.

"These residents believe landmarking would preserve this structure in its current stature in this place on Bay Street in the heart of a community that holds it dear. I share their values and I support their entreaty to the Landmarks Preservation Commission," Rose said.

A spokesman for the New York Archdiocese, Joseph Zwilling, said there are no immediate plans to sell the church and property. "It remains a church; it remains a sacred place," he said.

Zwilling said the church and property are owned by the new parish entity created by the merger of St. Mary's with St. Joseph's in Rosebank, and Immaculate Conception Church, Stapleton, and that any decision to sell the property in the future would have to be made by the parish, not the archdiocese.
CITY HALL -- Decrying "racism" and "revisionist history," Italian Americans, lawmakers and cultural groups rallied in support of the Christoper Columbus statue in Columbus Circle on the steps of City Hall Thursday.

Councilman Joseph Borelli (R-South Shore) organized the rally after Mayor Bill de Blasio refused to pardon the 15th Century explorer from a review of "all symbols of hate on city property" this week.

Some argued Columbus is an important symbol for Italian Americans, while others said Native Americans "were not welcoming to him" and that Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito was a "terrorist" for suggesting the statue should be considered for removal.

"Christopher Columbus is someone who means a great deal for Italian Americans of New York City," Borelli said. "We are concerned about preserving his legacy -- we acknowledge the faults he may have had."

COLUMBUS AS A SYMBOL

Located on the southwestern corner of Central Park, the 76-foot Columbus structure was given to the city by Italian Americans in 1892 after a newspaper organized a fundraiser. Those at the rally said the statue was gifted to thank the city for providing opportunities to Italian immigrants even though many were persecuted here.

"That statue in Columbus Circle does not represent the explorer, it represents the experience of the Italian American immigrant population," said Sen. Diane Savino (D-North Shore/Brooklyn), the former president of the state's Conference of Italian-American State Legislators. "History has many complicated people in it."

Since his death over 500 years ago, Columbus has been both praised as a navigator and explorer, and condemned for his contributions to the

decimation

of Native American populations.

"He was the first European explorer to come this way, to chart this course, to defy the science of his day," Assemblyman Ronald Castorina Jr. said. "And the Italian Americans have always held him in a place of honor." Columbus actually wasn't the first European to come to America, which Castorina acknowledged later in the rally.

Council Minority Leader Steven Matteo (R-Mid-Island) said that historical statues are meant to be educational.

"We're starting down a very dangerous, slippery slope here," Matteo said. "Who's next, what's next?"

90-DAY REVIEW

De Blasio announced the 90-day review of "symbols of hate" last week after deadly violence erupted in Charlottesville, Va. when white supremacist groups protested the removal of a statue of Confederate Army general Robert E. Lee.

The commission, which will be named next week, will assess statues and monuments symbolizing racism or anti-Semitism. They will evaluate each figure and make recommendations before de Blasio makes final decisions.

Borelli and others at the rally said de Blasio should make the panel and list of symbols that could be removed public.

De Blasio said he wouldn't "get into the name game" when he asked if Columbus should go during Wednesday's Democratic primary debate.

"There are no plans to remove the Columbus statue," de Blasio spokeswoman Natalie Grybauskas said on Thursday. "The statue, along with many other pieces, will likely be considered by the committee, who will offer recommendations on specific items as they create guidelines and criteria for amendment or removal of controversial structures."

Assemblyman Matthew Titone (D-North Shore) couldn't be at the rally but said in a text that some are trying to "influence and thus taint any objective review of city monuments."

"You can not single out Christopher Columbus and accuse him of 'offensive oppression' of the indigenous Caribbean peoples without fully coming to terms with and addressing the fact that these early settlements were fully financed and done under the consent and order of Spanish royalty and its government," Titone said. "To do so carries an unfortunate air of anti-Italian sentiment and naivety."

'WE'RE ALL FLAWED'

Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, the Republican nominee for mayor, also defended the Columbus statue on Wednesday.

Staten Island artist Scott LoBaido and comedian Joe Piscopo attended the rally.

"He's flawed -- we're all flawed," Piscopo said. "Hey, I'm flawed. Does that mean I'm not going to get a rest stop named after me on the Jersey Turnpike?"

Brooklyn Councilman Vincent Gentile, who served the East Shore in the state senate and ran against Daniel Donovan for Staten Island's congressional seat, said Columbus "discovered the New World."

"Were there dangers along the way? Yes, there were." Gentile said. "There were Native Americans that were not welcoming to him, so he had to be not only an explorer, but a warrior, too." Gentile would not respond to a follow-up question about this remark.

'THEY WILL DESTROY ETHNIC GROUPS'

Joseph Guagliardo of the National Council Of Columbia Associations said that discussing the statue's removal is "disturbing" and that Mark-Viverito "decided to act as a terrorist" by bringing up it up.

Mark-Viverito's office didn't comment on the "terrorist" remark. At an unrelated press conference on Thursday, the speaker said people should try to understand concerns raised over figures without jumping to conclusions. On Monday, she had pushed for a statue of Dr. J. Marion Sims, who experimented on slaves without anesthesia, to be taken down.

"I want every statue and every historical figure to be reviewed by the commission," she said.

Joseph Sciame, the former president of the Sons of Italy in America, noted at the rally that Columbus didn't even come to North America.

"He didn't harm the people here. This is all nonsense. It's historical revisionist," he said. "And they will destroy America. And they will destroy ethnic groups one by one."
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 22-year-old man has been arrested and charged in connection with the early Monday morning shooting of a man in West Brighton.

Isaiah Young, of West Brighton, and another man, were allegedly involved in a dispute with the 26-year-old male victim on Campbell Avenue in West Brighton at around 1:30 a.m. when Young shot the man at least three times, authorities said.

Emergency responders were initially called to the scene of the incident following an alert from the NYPD's recently-instituted ShotSpotter technology.

The victim was transported to Richmond University Medical Center in critical, but stable condition.

Young has two prior arrests for drug charges and attempting to steal a locked bicycle, police said. He was awaiting sentences on those drug charges when he was arrested for the shooting, according to court documents.

He is facing several charges, including attempted murder. He is next scheduled to appear in court Thursday.

Click here to add your comments to the conversation about this report.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- An Arden Heights teen was busted for recklessly riding his bike into oncoming traffic on the South Shore, police said.

Vincent Barrile, 17, of Ashton Drive, allegedly swerved his bike in front of an MTA bus near Huguenot Avenue and Arthur Kill Road at around 8 a.m. June 1, according to an NYPD spokeswoman.

Barrile was arrested Wednesday and charged with reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct and harassment, police said.

In a separate case, the teen was charged Wednesday with petit larceny after allegedly stealing bike pads near Arden Avenue at around 5:15 p.m. on May 17, said an NYPD spokeswoman.

According to a law enforcement source, Barrile is the biker who was caught on dash cam popping a wheelie inches from a car in Arden Heights on Aug. 6.

A motorist was traveling on a busy stretch of Arden Avenue, near Arthur Kill Road, when she said a youth on a bike rode popped a wheelie in front of her car while she was stopped at a red light.

"I can't believe how close he was," said the driver, who shared the photos with the Advance. "It was frightening."

In one photo, the biker is seen popping a wheelie just above the car's hood while another rider in a blue shirt is seen recording the stunt in the background.

In another image, a passenger in a white vehicle appears to wave their arm at a couple of bikers in red shirts.

"They're punks," said the driver. "I can't deal with people saying they're kids being kids. My kid would be in so much trouble."

In a separate incident Monday evening, a Great Kills resident encountered a large group of riders causing cars to maneuver around them during rush-hour traffic on Hylan Boulevard, near Buffalo Street.

"The kids in front of the pack were doing wheelies," she said. "They were weaving in and out of traffic. When you see these kids, you get nervous because you can hit them."

The Advance reader provided video that shows about 25 kids riding -- sometimes five or six abreast -- in the two right lanes of Hylan Boulevard without helmets.

At the end of the clip, a large number of them run a red light.

According to New York traffic law, bikers are allowed to ride two abreast.

In April, the Advance reported that the street riding craze is exploding on Staten Island with bikers, ranging in age from 12-16, riding against traffic; confronting buses in the bus lane; trying to touch moving vehicles while doing wheelies; passing red lights on major roads, including Hylan Boulevard, Amboy Road and Page Avenue, and daring motorists to hit them.

Some riders even post their daredevil stunts on YouTube.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Police apprehended a 19-year-old man in the shooting of an Italian tourist who apparently was caught in the crossfire near a playground on Staten Island.

Henry Degroat, 19, of Ely Street in New Brighton, was arrested on Wednesday at 11:50 a.m., according to a spokesman for the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner of Public Information.

Police charged the suspect with assault, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment.

Degroat allegedly discharged a loaded firearm, striking the victim in his shoulder. The assault caused injury near a playground with children, according to police.

The suspect has a prior criminal record, including three other arrests in July and August on charges that include criminal possession of a weapon, trespass and menacing, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.

The victim heard shots fired and also observed several people running from the location, according to police.

Stocco, who has been staying in Queens since July 25, told the Advance he was hoping to tour the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum on 420 Tompkins Ave. in Rosebank when he got lost in St. George and began to explore the streets of Staten Island.
Page Content

With the new academic school year well on it is way, students in their last two years of school or those who recently completed secondary school will no doubt be thinking What is next? They may also be wondering what approach to take.

Student Support Services Division (SSSD) of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Affairs is here to help. On August 24, 2017, SSSD is organizing an interactive workshop entitled, Choosing a Career or Study. This workshop is geared primarily for the abovementioned students.. This free of charge workshop will be held at the University of St. Martin from 5:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M.

This workshop will address choosing a career path, overcoming being undecided about a major or study at college/university, exploring various career options, and not overlooking other career options.

According to SSSD officials, by attending this workshop, students will explore what their interest may be, what skills they may enjoy using, and how these interests and skills (amongst other factors) can tie into choosing a career or study. They also stress that exploration is very essential.

Students are encouraged to be on time. Students are also encouraged to contact the career guidance counselors, Ms. Lambert or Mr. Chance, at 543-1235 for more information on the Choosing a Career or Study workshop. Persons interested in attending are also encouraged to register early for this workshop.

The SSSD office is located in the Amigo Building across from the Police Station and next to the WIB. SSSD provides many services to students. Some services include: psychological services, counseling services, social work services, educational diagnostic services, career services, and parent education.
By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) JNU has reinstated whistleblower former IIT Kharagpur professor Rajeev Kumar, whose penalty of compulsory retirement was quashed by Pranab Mukherjee days before he demitted office as President.

"In continuation of Ministry of HRD Ministrys letter and Delhi High Courts order, Rajeev Kumar is requested to resume his duties in School of Computer and Systems Sciences immediately," an official order issued by JNU said.

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IIT Kharagpur had suspended Kumar for "misconduct" in May 2011, the same year the Supreme Court had lauded him as an "unsung hero" for his efforts to reform the IIT Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) which has since been re-christened as JEE Advanced.

The institute had set up a probe panel that found him guilty.

Kumar was accused of "damaging the reputation of the institute" by levelling allegations on issues ranging from irregularities in the purchase of laptops to rampant copying by students during examinations.

In 2014, the IIT decided to compulsorily retire him.

Kumar, who alleged that the panel was biased, had moved the Delhi High Court and obtained a stay on the IITs decision. He had also appealed to the then president requesting that the order be quashed.

Following the high courts stay order, Kumar had taken lien for two years and joined Jawaharlal Nehru University in 2015. However, he was relieved from JNU in June to allow him to re-join IIT Kharagpur.

The IIT had last week accepted his resignation following communication of the Presidential order, and the professor had appealed to the JNU vice chancellor to reinstate him.

"Kumar will also be entitled to benefits from the date he was relieved from JNU," the official order said.

Days before he demitted office last month, Mukherjee had ordered setting aside of the penalty imposed on Kumar. PTI GJS RCJ

--- ENDS ---
India Today learned that as many as 35 newborn deaths took place at the hospital between June 1 and August 22.

By Nolan Pinto: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah received a report that says as many as 90 infant deaths have been recorded at Kolar's Sri Narasimha Raja Hospital, after three infants died at its newborn care unit this week. Following which, opposition leaders have demanded that chief minister Siddaramaiah step down immediately.

At a press conference held at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office in Malleswaram, state BJP president and former Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa lambasted the government. He seeks a response on the issue from the chief minister, health minister and AICC Vice-President Rahul Gandhi. BJP has sent a team headed by MLA Suresh Kumar on a fact finding mission to the district hospital in Kolar and other places. Further course of action will be decided once a report is submitted to the state president.

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Incidentally, the district hospital in Kolar is in the constituency of Health minister KR Ramesh Kumar.

MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar tells India Today that children in the state have always been vulnerable, whether in school or while playing because the overall safety network for children is weak.

In this case, he says the need of the hour is to find out if, "It is the negligence of the doctors or parents or even infrastructure". He believes there is a need to look at the way the public health system is working in the state. According to him, Kolar is not a remote area but very much close to Bengaluru and if things are in such a bad condition here, he said, "I shudder to think what is happening in remote primary health centres and other health centres run by the government of Karnataka in different parts of the state".

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has sought a detailed report on the issue from the Health Department.

Also Read:

Karnataka: 90 infant deaths in Kolar hospital since January; CM Siddaramaiah seeks Health Dept report

Gorakhpur deaths: Adityanth govt orders FIR against BRD Hospital employees, oxygen supplier

Also Watch:

Gorakhpur tragedy: As death toll mounts to 68, CM Yogi Adityanath visits BRD Hospital

--- ENDS ---
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Hospital authorities have informed the Deputy Commissioner that they've set up a team of experts to look into the deaths that occurred this week.

By Nolan Pinto: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah received a report that says as many as 90 infant deaths have been recorded at Kolar's Sri Narasimha Raja Hospital, after three infants died at its newborn care unit this week.

India Today learned that as many as 35 newborn deaths took place at the hospital between June 1 and August 22.

The chiefs of a number of panels dealing with human and child rights visited the Sri Narasimha Raja Hospital to take stock of the situation. Hospital authorities have informed the Deputy Commissioner that they've set up a team of experts to look into the deaths that occurred this week.

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Siddaramaiah has asked for a report from the Heath Department.

All this comes at a time when the deaths of over a 100 children at the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's hometown, has thrown the spotlight on inadequate healthcare facilities in that state. A shortage of oxygen, caused because a supplier wasn't paid on time, has been blamed for the tragedy.

As the death toll in Gorakhpur rose, a report said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal would review the state of medicines and equipment in public hospitals, quoting sources.

And now, the Uttar Pradesh government has ordered that an FIR be registered in the Gorakhpur case.

SO, WHAT ABOUT THE DEATHS IN KOLAR?

Hospital authorities have pointed out that the number of deliveries had risen - from 150 a month in 2015 to 350 now - and that the increase in deaths was proportionate to that change.

Out of the three infants who died this week, one died due to a congenital anomaly and the other two due to low birth weight, Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) Shalini Rajneesh said.

"We have sufficient staff in the hospital. We have four pediatricians and there is no dearth of drugs and equipment. Children born with congenital anomaly and low birth weight carry the risk of mortality. Those cannot be attributed to any negligence without any enquiry," she said.

ALSO READ

Gorakhpur deaths: Adityanth govt orders FIR against BRD Hospital employees, oxygen supplier

Gorakhpur hospital tragedy: What killed those children?

ALSO WATCH

Gorakhpur school mourns its student Vandana's death at BRD hospital on Independence Day

--- ENDS ---
During the clashes three persons suffered pellet injuries including a girl, locals said.

The district administration along with the village heads agreed to file an FIR against the Army. (Picture for representation)

By Ashraf Wani: Protests against the killing of a local youth in an alleged fake encounter took a violent turn as protesters torched an official vehicle of the district administration of Kupwara in Kashmir.

Shahid Bashir Mir of Daril Tarathpora who according to his family had gone missing was killed in an alleged fake encounter in Hafrada forests.

His killing sparked violence in Handwara and surrounding areas, while people staged a massive protest demanding a registration of FIR against the army troops involved in the incident.

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Protesters according to eyewitnesses torched an official vehicle besides damaging two other vehicles of deputy commissioner Kupwara's escort.

Reports said that police fired tear-smoke shells to disperse the agitated crowd. Reports also said that a number of protesters suffered injuries during clashes with security forces.

During the clashes three persons suffered pellet injuries including a girl, locals said.

To pacify the protesters, government issued a No Objection Certificate in favour of the slain youth. "It is certified that Shahid Bashir Mir of Daril Payeen was not involved in any kind of subversive/criminal activities as per the available records of this Police Station," the NOC issued by SHO Police Station Vilgam and signed by District Magistrate Kupwara reads.

Soon after the district administration assured the protesting civilians that an FIR under section 302 CrPc would be filed against army, locals offered the funeral prayers of the slain youth.

Meanwhile, the district administration after an hour long meeting with the village heads agreed to file an FIR against the army under section 302 CrPc.

Also Read:

Kashmir: Encounter between militants and security forces in Handwara forest

Kashmir: Students injured after clashing with police near Handwara College

--- ENDS ---
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Great news, Canberra. We made it! Happy Friday.

The capital is heading for a top of 15 for the last day of the working week, after a chilly low of minus 4. Conditions will be sunny, with light winds and a touch of morning front.

Saturday will be sunny with a top of 16 and Sunday will have late showers with a top of 15.

Here's the news you need to start the day:

Airservices class action grows to up to $40 million
Liberal politician Elizabeth Kikkert has accused teachers of "asking 13-year-old girls to fantasise about sexual intercourse" with another woman as part of the Safe Schools program.

Opposition education spokesman Andrew Wall tabled a petition in the ACT Legislative Assembly on Thursday with close to 1000 signatures calling on the ACT government to withdraw all current and future support of the program, which is designed to stop bullying of LGBTIQ students.

A supporter of the Safe Schools program at a protest against it at Civic Square in August. Credit:Rohan Thomson

An ACT-specific program is being developed by Sexual Health and Family Planning ACT and will be rolled out over the next 18 months after a split from the national program following federal government changes.

Education minister Yvette Berry said Mr Wall should be "ashamed of himself" for bringing the petition forward.
"Will the cancellation of the rally lessen the flood fury in Bihar? Will floods get over if I cancel my rally?" Lalu Prasad asked.

By Rohit Kumar Singh: Eighteen Bihar districts have been ravaged by floods, but Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has refused to cancel his 'Desh Bachao, Bhajpa Bhagao' rally, drawing strong criticism from the BJP

"Will the cancellation of the rally lessen the flood fury in Bihar? Will floods get over if I cancel my rally?" Lalu Prasad asked.

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Road Construction Minister Nand Kishore Yadav didn't mince words in his response. "The Opposition should be ashamed of itself. The voters of RJD in the flood affected districts are suffering and the party is preparing for its rally on 27th Aug," he said.

"If they have even a little shame, they should cancel their proposed rally and visit flood affected areas.

LALU ATTACKS NITISH

Lalu Prasad Yadav has been critical of the way in which his former ally, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has dealt with the floods, which have claimed over 300 lives and affected 140 lakh people.

He took a jibe at Nitish for conducting an aerial survey of flood-affected areas, rather than working on the ground.

The chief minister had been "insensitive" in dealing with the flood crisis, he said.

Only weeks ago, Nitish snapped ties with the RJD over corruption allegations against Tejashwi Yadav (Lalu Prasad's son), his then-deputy CM. He resigned, but after a night of gripping drama, he was sworn in with the BJP's support.

ALSO READ

BJP bhagao, desh bachao rally: Lalu isolated as Sonia, Mayawati, Left skip event

Srijan Scam: Over 500 crore worth of Bihar government funds transferred to NGO

ALSO WATCH

Bihar flood: Death toll touches 304, over 140 lakh affected

--- ENDS ---
The mother of two severely beaten Aboriginal inmates found out via a friend, not from ACT Corrections, that her sons had been hospitalised, it can be revealed.

Mystery surrounds the bashing after a court appearance for one of the men on Thursday was ordered to be held in private.

The Alexander Maconochie Centre in Canberra. Credit:Jay Cronan

The man was due in the ACT Magistrates Court to be sentenced for driving offences.

But at the beginning of the hearing the man's Legal Aid defence solicitor said he would be making submissions that were relevant to a police investigation, and asked the proceedings be held in private.
The Yass Valley Council has unanimously backed a five-kilometre buffer zone on the ACT's northern border where housing development will be banned.

The buffer, if endorsed by the NSW planning department, will put an end to a series of housing developments planned by NSW farmers on the border. The landowners are upset, saying the buffer devalues their land, which is already marginal for farming given the proximity of Gungahlin.

Steve Evans on his NSW property near the border: One of many landowners opposing a new buffer zone. Credit:Rohan Thomson

They have also complained about the exemption for the new suburb of Ginninderry, a joint venture between the ACT government and the Corkhill brothers to develop land on both sides of the border west of Belconnen, beside the Murrumbidgee River and Ginninderra Falls.

The Yass council argues that the Corkhill brothers' land is landlocked, cut off from NSW by the rivers, and accessible only through the ACT, so should be exempted.
The so-called golden era of cheap airfares has ended, and Flight Centre founder, Graeme Turner, could not be happier.

The news sent shares in the travel services group soaring as much as 11 per cent, adding more than $74 million to the value of his stake in Flight Centre.

This is on top of the $21 million worth of franked dividends Turner will receive from the company this year, including $14.3 million he will receive in October.

The biggest factor in Turner's good fortune is his prediction at last year's results that "there's no way fares could go any lower".
Two ambulance-chasing firms are inviting CBA shareholders to punch themselves in the head and pay the firms for the privilege.

A narrower version of the story is that lawyers Maurice Blackburn and litigation funder IMF Bentham are out to profiteer by provoking one group of innocent CBA shareholders to rip money off another group of innocent CBA shareholders and further damage the share price in the process.

It's a prime example of how the often-noble class action vehicle can be used primarily to benefit lawyers and litigation funders gaming the legal system.

The MB/IMF class action is not necessary to "teach the CBA a lesson"  the regulators' actions and market reaction are doing that. It won't punish the people most responsible for the CBA's money laundering failure  they are mainly gone or going. It's about generating fees and profits for MB and IMF.
Energy companies should look to source gas on international markets to fulfil their commitments to international customers - or be forced to do so - to help solve the national supply crisis, says the head of one of Australia's biggest manufacturers.

In the latest plea from a senior manufacturing leader to address spiralling gas prices, Orica chief executive Alberto Calderon said on Thursday the current "ridiculous" situation represented a "crisis point".

Mr Calderon said Orica was an energy-intensive business and had faced exponential increases in energy costs that meant prices in Australia were more than double of what was being paid in China or Japan.

"What is happening today is myopic and unsustainable, cornering domestic markets with prices so much higher than the international prices will eventually lead to a bad outcome, price ceilings or other non-market measures," said Mr Calderon, a former chief commercial officer at BHP.
With a week to go, it's already the heaviest month ever for trading aluminium in China.

The metal has typically been one of the quieter contracts on Chinas mercurial futures markets, but supply reforms in the top producer and consumer have caught the attention of the nations speculators and sent prices to the highest in almost six years. Trading in August has already surpassed the previous monthly record set in November.

While the frenzy is raising concern that aluminium is just the latest Chinese commodity bubble that will eventually be deflated by regulators before it bursts, there's also optimism that investors are tapping into a real shift in the fundamental outlook for the metal. The Shanghai Futures Exchange has already stepped in to calm trading in steel and zinc this month as a surge in volume propelled prices to multi-year highs.

There's a danger that market expectations for the supply side are being overpriced at this point. Yi Zhu, Bloomberg analyst

"In steel I think it's more about speculation and momentum trading, but in aluminium I really think there is more of a fundamental story there," Mark Pervan, chief economist at consultancy AME Mineral Economics Pty Ltd, said in a phone interview from Melbourne. "China contributes about 55 per cent of global aluminium capacity, and when you have such concentrated supply, any major changes in that market matter big time."
Ten and Sky News' poor ratings and SmoothFM's classics have helped owner Lachlan Murdoch secure competition approval for his proposed joint takeover of Network Ten.

Mr Murdoch and Bruce Gordon, who owns regional broadcaster WIN, are a step closer to buying Network Ten out of administration after the competition watchdog said the move would not lessen competition.

The deal still relies on federal parliament passing new media ownership laws and, in particular, retracting the two-out-of-three rule, which prevents one person controlling newspapers, radio and television in a single market. While Pauline Hanson's One Nation party will support the new laws in exchange for closer scrutiny of the ABC, the government is yet to secure enough votes.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims said in considering the takeover, it focused on Mr Murdoch's assets because it did not detect any problems with Mr Gordon merging WIN with half of Ten.
Analysts and shareholders have reacted favourably to Perpetual's overall net profit of $137.3 million, up 4 per cent on the previous financial year.

Revenue also lifted 4 per cent, to $515.4 million.

Perpetual CEO Geoff Lloyd said the profit hike was the result of adding clients. Credit:Pat Scala

Perpetual's share price has lifted by about 5 per cent from yesterday's close to more than $52 in afternoon trading.

James Carlisle, research director at Intelligent Investor, said it was a good result with resilience in the fee margin of its funds management business.
Following two valuable windfalls, JTX International has flipped an Ivanhoe development site for a speculated $25 million  three times the price it paid mid-last year.

It is selling the site to local apartment developer Blue Earth Group, directed by Michael Dib.

93-97 Webb Street in Fitzroy is mooted for a medium-density apartment complex.

JTX bought the former Courtney and Patterson car yard at 37-67 Bell Street when it was zoned Heidelberg  a suburb where the median two-bedroom unit price is $583,000, according to Domain Group Data.

It was recently reclassified Ivanhoe, where property values are higher (two-bedroom apartments here have been averaging $615,000, according to Domain).
Supermarket giant Woolworths has conceded some of its workers could be paid less than the minimum wage of the award as it said it wanted to strike a new agreement with the shop assistants union.

Executives at Woolworths were quizzed at length at a Senate inquiry on Thursday if they faced similar problems to Coles, which had its union agreement thrown out by the workplace tribunal. The two supermarket giants have similar workplace deals.

In 2016, the Fair Work Commission quashed an agreement between Coles and the SDA as it failed the "better off overall test". Credit:Louise Kennerley

In 2016, the full bench of the Fair Work Commission, in a landmark decision quashed an agreement between Coles and the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) as it failed the "better off overall test".

Evidence in that Coles case showed 56 per cent of workers were paid less than the minimum rates of the award, the basic wages safety net.
After a day's gap, Lt Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit, who was granted bail earlier this week, was back at Mumbai sessions court where the case against him is being heard in the special NIA court.

By Vidya : After a day's gap, Lt Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit, who was granted bail earlier this week, was back at Mumbai sessions court where the case against him is being heard in the special NIA court. Purohit has been given an accommodation with his family in Mumbai, however, his wife Aparna Purohit travelled back to Pune for the Ganpati festivities.

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Purohit told the media that he would not be able to speak as he has been ordered not to by the army.

However, Aparna did address a press conference right outside the court. She said that since Purohit's arrival in the cantonment area, when he was brought out of the Taloja jail on bail, he had been an emotionally charged.

"We have been talking emotionally for the last many hours since we met. He hugged us when we all met. He was happy to see the children. It's still to sink in that he is out of jail after nine years," she said.

Purohit had alleged that he had been physically tortured by the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) after his arrest.

Aparna said that the family wanted to put all those memories of torture behind and start afresh.

Purohit was arrested by the ATS after a bomb went off in Malegaon in 2008 killing six and injuring 101 people. The bomb was kept in a bike that belonged to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur from Bhind and on her interrogation ATS has stumbled upon the name of Military Intelligence officer Purohit. The case had been a sensation with a serving army officer being arrested by ATS.

Aparna was asked if after all these years of torment and running from pillar to post to get her husband out of jail would she still be willing to send her children in army as her husband wished, she said, "We would love it if our children join army, it's a matter of faith that we have on army. But, it's up to the children to decide what they want to do."

Purohit was seen praying before the Ganpati idol in the sessions court premises and he will not be able to go home for the festivities. He has to complete a few procedures and formalities before he can be allowed to go on leave.

Purohit also intends to keep coming to court for the hearing of his discharge plea so that he can assist his lawyer Shrikant Shivde in arguing his case before the special NIA court.

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Aparna said, "Till now, I was alone fighting the legal battle. Now, he will also join me in looking after the case. The case is still going on and he will be coming to court for his hearing almost everyday."

With inputs from Mustafa Shaikh, Kamlesh Sutar

ALSO READ:

Want to go back to serving nation, Lt Col Purohit says as he walks out of jail after 9 years

Malegaon blast accused Lt Col Purohit to be attached to Army unit, remains suspended

--- ENDS ---
However, his career plans changed when World War II broke out. Charles was called up and joined the Royal Air Force where he became a radar operator. He was stationed at various locations around England and Scotland until he was sent to France with his unit as part of the D-Day landings.

He worked hard and studied part-time to improve his prospects. While at the firm, he met Ellen, who also worked there. Before long romance blossomed and they were married.

Charles William Dickeson was born on December 18, 1922 near London. After leaving school he worked as an office boy, eventually becoming a junior with a firm of solicitors. No doubt that role went a long way to shaping his future career.

Charles Dickeson was a person who those who met him would describe as honest, kind and a true gentleman. But he had many characteristics that friends, colleagues and family admired, especially his perseverance and ability to work tirelessly for what he believed in.

After the war he returned to civilian life and obtained a job as a law clerk for a firm of solicitors in London. At that time he and Ellen were living in Edgware. His first child, David, was born and a few years later Ruth came along and the family moved to Ilford.

It was around this time that Charles joined what is now known as the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives and became a managing clerk, a respected position within the legal profession. The Institute can be traced back to the 19th century and the first managing clerks were established in 1892. It is a little known fact that Charles Dickens was a solicitor's clerk.

In 1928 the managing clerks formed their own regulatory body, the Managing Clerks' Association, and in 1963, after consultation between the association and the Law Society, it was agreed that a new type of profession, a legal executive, would be created. This led to the formation of the Institute of Legal Executives.

The economy of postwar England was difficult and career prospects were limited. Charles and Ellen dreamed of migrating to Australia but family ties delayed the dream. However, with typical persistence, Charles kept reading job advertisements in Australia and eventually found a job as a law clerk for a firm of solicitors in Melbourne. He and Ellen then applied through Australia House in London to emigrate. They were fortunate in also having family members who had previously emigrated to Australia.

The family sailed over on the P & O liner Iberia and arrived in Melbourne in October 1959 to start their new adventure. As he had done previously, Charles threw himself into his job and studied part-time to improve his prospects.
John excelled academically, attending Kings School and later Wanganui Collegiate School. He undertook medical studies at the University of Otago in Dunedin, then continued his postgraduate surgical studies at St Mary's Hospital, London.

John Ludbrook was born in Auckland, New Zealand on August 30, 1929, to Ailsa Burns and Dr Samuel Ludbrook, who was at the time the first full-time paediatric physician in New Zealand.

John was also a highly respected teacher and mentor. Many former students and colleagues have paid tribute to the important contributions he made to medical teaching and surgical training in Australia.

He returned to New Zealand in 1959 as an assistant in the Department of Surgery, University of Otago in Dunedin. In 1964 he became the Professor of Surgery at the University of New South Wales, and in 1968 he was appointed Dorothy Mortlock Professor of Surgery at the University of Adelaide.

He introduced a strong appreciation of basic medical research to that department in his chosen specialty of vascular surgery. His enthusiasm for medical sciences led to a one-year sabbatical in Italy in 1975, at the University of Milan. In 1981 he moved into full-time research by becoming the associate director of the Baker Medical Research Institute, and then a senior principal research fellow in the Department of Surgery at the University of Melbourne.

In the late 1950s John showed that both the heart and the brain can recover if the body is cooled to below 10 degrees so that the heart stops. These findings paved the way for what is known as deep hypothermic circulatory arrest.

This technique allows surgery of the heart and major vessels even when it is not possible to use a heart-lung machine during parts of the operation. It has a particularly important role in procedures to mend congenital cardiac abnormalities in children.

In the 1960s he discovered what causes varicose veins, developed improved methods for measuring blood flow in humans, and clarified the mechanisms leading to Raynaud's Syndrome, a condition characterised by poor circulation in the fingers.
The picture of the meeting between the head of ASIS, Nick Warner, and President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines looks so odd that it is hard to know where to begin.

Why is our chief spy meeting Mr Duterte at all? Why is he photographed doing so, when he is rarely photographed? Why is he engaged so publicly in a fist-bump with Mr Duterte? Does his organisation approve of the Philippine leader, as this gesture implies, where the Australian government  for good reason  has serious reservations about him? Does this imply some form of double-dealing with the government of the Philippines? Or was it all just a ghastly mistake?

Australia's spy chief Nick Warner with Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte in Manila.

The Defence Minister, Marise Payne, suggested what might be involved when she told the Herald it was important for Australia and the Philippines to help each other out lest Islamist extremists establish bases in the region.

So it is. Jihadists linked to Islamic State are still resisting Philippine armed forces in Marawi after a three-month siege. Although their control of much of the city has weakened, they are still holding hostages near the city's mosque. Marawi is a largely Muslim city on Mindanao, the island which since the 1960s has been a focus for Muslim separatist agitation. The rebels' strength has been shown by the length of the Marawi siege.
Outside there's always a carnival atmosphere - the so-called Bikers for Trump revving in the car park, merchandisers still selling "Killary Rotten Clinton" posters with her face in the crosshairs, groups of jubilant women dolled up in co-ordinated "Adorable Deplorables" shirts or young men in InfoWars garb.

The last rally I attended - in Pennsylvania in April - a member of a local skinhead crew, built like a mountain, proudly wore a T-shirt proclaiming his affiliation with the notorious white nationalist group called Keystone United. Its goal is "uniting all racially aware skinheads" in Pennsylvania.

When Trump enters these arenas, conveniently, his favourite punching bag is always right there. The press serves as a handy prop, clustered at the opposite end of the floor. It's a confronting thing to be sitting at your laptop doing your job, while 5000 people scream "CNN sucks!" and other anti-media slogans right at you. I know no one feels too sorry for journalists, and well, in many ways, CNN does suck, but the frothing anger of the crowd can be truly unnerving. One reporter has already been decked by a GOP candidate this year, it feels almost inevitable that a journalist will be attacked at a rally. Protesters are already treated roughly.

On Tuesday, Trump spent more time laying into the media and its coverage of his Charlottesville response than anything else in his 80-minute diatribe. He was there to settle a score.

He kept telling the audience the cowardly media were switching off their cameras in protest. They weren't. He read out his initial post-Charlottesville speech to prove he'd done a good job, conveniently leaving out his statement that the violence was "on many sides".
London: Months after firefighters rescued a litter of piglets from a burning barn, a farm has thanked them for their work by sending them the same pigs - in the form of sausages.

Although the gift may have seemed like an appropriate gesture, it has been criticised by animal rights campaigners who have forced the firefighters to delete a post thanking the farmer and praising her sausages.

Firefighters battle a barn fire in Milton Lilbourne, England, in February 2017, rescuing 18 piglets and two sows, which the farmer later killed and fed to the rescuers as sausages. Credit:Facebook Pewsey Fire Station

The fire crew had battled a blaze at the farm, in Milton Lilbourne, Wiltshire, six months ago, and they managed to save 18 two-week-old piglets and two sows from the flames, which destroyed 60 tonnes of hay.

Rachel Rivers, from organic Lawn Farm, repaid their bravery with the gift of sausages, which the crew barbecued on Monday.
Nationals senator Matt Canavan and One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts have changed their tune on key details of their citizenship status, as the High Court began hearings on the case that has rocked Federal Parliament and placed the future of seven MPs under a cloud.

Senator Canavan has conceded he has been an Italian citizen since he was 2 - when he previously blamed a 2006 application by his mother - while Senator Roberts appeared to admit that he had not filled in his British citizenship renunciation documents until after he was elected.

The Turnbull government now faces months of political uncertainty as the High Court, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns, knocked back a request by Attorney-General George Brandis for a September hearing into the validity of the MPs.

The case will be heard in Canberra over three days from October 10.
Pauline Hanson has vowed to build a strong foundation for her new One Nation Party, saying it is her final opportunity to have a lasting impact on Australian politics.

Senator Hanson addressed party members and supporters at One Nation's annual general meeting in Brisbane on Thursday, reassuring them she was in control of the party and its future direction.

Pauline Hanson said she wanted her party to build a solid foundation for the future of One Nation. Credit:AAP/Regi Varghese

She distanced herself from previous incarnations of the party, which she admitted were controlled by others, saying she wanted to build a foundation for the future.

"I can assure you my knowledge, my experience and what has happened to me in the past, I would never ever allow it to happen to me again," Senator Hanson told the meeting.
If the '90s was the decade of the stellar "supers," then there were three names to know (and never forget): Cindy Crawford, now 51, Claudia Schiffer, 46, and Naomi Campbell, 47.

There's a reason why two decades later they still have cachet, both in front of the camera and in the various projects they've taken on since stepping off the catwalk.

Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell pose for Balmain. Credit:Olivier Rousteing

In 2016 Steven Klein captured the trio's essence in a series of mesmerising black and white shots for Balmain's spring/summer 2016 campaign. Yep, the supers have still got it.

Balmain's creative director, Olivier Rousteing, said at the time: "You realise working with them, it's another way than working with the models of today. They know so much about themselves. Their career is so strong. They know their bodies so well. They move at the same time that the camera is moving."
Startling details emerged amid news the Commonwealth Bank was being pursued by financial intelligence agency Austrac for "serious and systemic non-compliance" with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism laws.

There were stories of how millions of dollars was brazenly fed, via the bank's ATMs, into accounts created with false names by criminal syndicates and whisked offshore.

All up it is alleged $70 million was laundered by criminal groups. The allegations provide a rare glimpse into the otherwise covert world of how criminals go about washing their money from illegal drug trafficking and other ventures.

Austrac's action against the Commonwealth came to light in the first week of August.
The man accused of murdering Karlie Pearce-Stevenson and her daughter Khandalyce Pearce allegedly photographed the young mother's body after "stepping on her throat and crushing her windpipe".

Daniel James Holdom then allegedly picked up two-year-old Khandalyce and checked into a motel near Wagga Wagga in south-west NSW, buying duct tape and dishcloths along the way in December 2008.

Karlie Pearce-Stevenson and her daughter Khandalyce Pearce. Credit:NSW Police

Seven years later, Khandalyce's skeletal remains were found stuffed in a tattered suitcase at the side of a desolate highway near Wynarka in South Australia.

Details of the "overwhelming" police case against Mr Holdom, 42, were revealed for the first time on Thursday as he was committed to stand trial for murder.
Bhopal collector Sudam Khade confirmed that both agencies were found responsible for the lapse.

India Today on August 4 had reported how onions worth over Rs 20 crore had gone missing from government records.

By Hemender Sharma: An enquiry into the freshly procured missing onions of Bhopal has held the procurement agency --MARKFED--and the selling agency--civil supplies corporation-- responsible for not accounting for 18000 quintal of onion.

Bhopal collector Sudam Khade had appointed an enquiry committee headed by Additional District Magistrate GP Mali after reports of the missing onions first came in.

While talking to India Today, Bhopal collector Sudam Khade confirmed that both agencies were found responsible for the lapse. "Both the procurement and selling agencies were found responsible and now we are sending the report to the state government to take the required action against the erring officials of the two agencies," he said.

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India Today on August 4 had reported how onions worth over Rs 20 crore had gone missing from government records. This included the 18000 quintals of onions that had gone missing from Bhopal.

From the remaining part of Madhya Pradesh, around 25000 metric tonnes of onions procured by the government at Rs 8 per kg had gone missing from government records. The government had announced a Minimum Support Price of Rs 8 per kg for onions after 6 agitating farmers demanding adequate price for their produce were killed in police firing in Mandsaur on June 5.

The procuring agency MARKFED procured 8.76 lakh metric tonnes from farmers while the selling agency, the Civil Supplies Corporation got 8.51 lakh metric tonnes.

While in Bhopal the district collector ordered an enquiry, at the state level the government shied away from ordering any enquiry on the pretext that the Economic Offences Wing of the state government was already investigating a related case.

The MP government's onion procurement policy has led to large scale wastage as thousands of tonnes of freshly procured onions had to be destroyed as they were allowed to waste in the open during the rains.

The government had limited storage capacity but still went ahead with procuring 8.76 lakh metric tonnes as a politically weak Shivraj Singh Chouhan tried to placate the agitating farmers.

Also Read:

Madhya Pradesh: Freshly procured onions worth Rs 20 crore go missing

Madhya Pradesh: Documents show 2 districts procured much more onion than amount produced by farmers

Also Watch:

India Today impact: MP govt seeks criminal case against accused in onion auction scam

--- ENDS ---
One of four men detained over an alleged plot to blow up a passenger flight was allegedly found with a Taser in his Surry Hills terrace.

Khaled Merhi, 40, was arrested at his family's home on Cleveland Street on July 29 in one of five raids across Sydney relating to an alleged plot to bring down a plane with a bomb concealed in a meat mincer.

Bomb squad officers combed the terrace for several days.

Mr Merhi was detained for seven days then released without any charges relating to the alleged plot.
Seoul: Public school students will be able to study Korean or Japanese for the Higher School Certificate through a "virtual classroom", overcoming a teacher shortage in regional areas.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian spoke to students at Chatswood Public School from Seoul on Thursday, as she joined a class of year three students who sang songs for their Sydney counterparts via an online video link.

Students from Chatswood Public School's year one Korean bilingual class wave for the video link to their counterparts in Seoul. Credit:Janie Barrett

The Chatswood students study Korean every day, and have been exchanging emails with the Seoul National University Elementary School students.

"I'm so proud of your Korean," said Ms Berejiklian, who is also their local MP.
Hot on the heels of Brisbane's great flu outbreak of 2017, gastro is striking the city hard with more than 200 children in childcare centres affected.

Fifty-one childcare centres across Brisbane have reported gastroenteritis outbreaks in the last eight weeks.

Gastro is transmitted contact with infected faeces or vomit, person-to-person, through contaminated food or water, or touching a contaminated surface.

There were 35 childcare centres in Brisbane's north with reported outbreaks and 16 in Brisbane's south.

Almost 200 children and 22 staff from childcare centres in the Metro South Public Health Unit area alone were struck down with the stomach bug, a Queensland Health spokesman said.
A pregnant woman is among 17 people who have been taken hospital after a minibus crash in the Gold Coast hinterland on Thursday.

Emergency services were called to Nerang Murwillumbah Road, near Advancetown, after a four-wheel-drive and a minibus carrying a group of Japanese tourists collided about 9.25am.

Emergeny services are at the scene of a minibus and 4WD at Advancetown, in the Gold Coast hinterland. Credit:Nine News Gold Coast/Twitter

Paramedics assessed a pregnant woman and three others who were travelling in the four-wheel-drive as well as 15 Japanese passengers from the minibus for minor injuries, including neck pain and seatbelt injuries, a Queensland Ambulance Service spokesman said.

Seventeen of those patients, including the pregnant woman, were transported to hospital.
A proposed 33-storey tower at South Brisbane, with a waterfall running down its side, has been criticised by residents as being excessive and likely to create water spray in the area.

Aria Property Group submitted a development application to Brisbane City Council for the 33-storey residential tower, with ground floor tenancies suitable for food and drink outlets, offices and shops, on April 5.

Aria's proposed development at South Brisbane.

That DA described the proposed development as a striking and innovative display of architectural design within South Brisbane.

The design calls on a central waterfall feature, sculpted tower form, prominent timber-look screening and expansive podium, tower and green wall landscaping to create an unprecedented urban landmark, the application said.
A Melbourne GP facing suspension by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency has vowed to continue helping anti-vax parents sidestep "no jab, no play" laws until he is deregistered.

Dr John Piesse was advised by the regulator on Thursday afternoon that it was proposing to suspend his medical registration. He was given four days to provide a written response in his defence.

The GP, who has previously been reprimanded by the regulator, is unrepentant, saying he has been "deluged" by parents wanting to avoid getting their children immunised.

Dr Piesse, who works from the Natural Healing Centre in Mitcham and the Natural Institute of Integrative Medicine in Hawthorn, said he had seen about 450 children since late 2015 but did not provide a letter of exemption for every one.
Victorian MPs across the political spectrum have united in grief as Parliament stopped to pay tribute to Fiona Richardson who died after a battle with cancer.

Ms Richardson, 50, died on Wednesday night only a day after announcing she would not recontest the next election.

Many Labor ministers wore suffragette purple as a mark of respect for Ms Richardson, as both sides of Parliament gathered for a special session on Thursday to honour the woman who was Australia's first minister for the Prevention of Family Violence.

A single yellow rose was placed on Ms Richardson's seat in Parliament, while the Australian flag outside flew at half mast.
A sombre hush fell upon Victorian Parliament's lower house as a yellow flower lay on the seat that belonged to Labor MP Fiona Richardson.

Hostilities were set aside in the chamber as MPs from across the political divide came together to grieve for their colleague.

It was only on Tuesday that Ms Richardson released a statement saying she would take extended leave due to serious illness and would not recontest her seat of Northcote at next year's election.

Yet the suddenness of her passing, aged only 50, shocked many of her parliamentary colleagues.
Shireen Francis says she has a good quality of life in Roxburgh Park. Credit:Chris Hopkins "I left (Iraq) because we lived in a war zone for years  I grew up with war," she said. "We were all looking for a peaceful place to live because we didn't enjoy peace in our lives for years. "For 20 years we didn't enjoy one day of peace." Ms Francis said she chose to settle in Roxburgh Park because one of her brothers lived nearby, and has grown to like the area.

"The area is nice, with a lot of amenities  shops, train stations, a church," she said. Access to public transport also made it easy for newly arrived migrants to find their feet, she said. Bao Phan lives about 25 kilometres away in Sunshine North, where almost 30 per cent of residents are from Vietnam. Mr Phan, who owns three takeaway food stores in the Sunshine area, fled South Vietnam aged 16. He was settled in Hobart, but moved to Sunshine North in 2005 because of its affordability. "Most of my life I have spent in Australia," he said. "I think Melbourne has been the number one city to live ... and I think Sunshine is a great suburb for Vietnamese people."

He said the region boasted some good schools, and the fact the teachers were Vietnamese made it easier for new migrants from his birthplace to adjust to life in Australia. Bao Phan at one of his takeaway food stores in Sunshine West. Credit:Simon Schluter Let's take a closer look at the map The large blue zone in the eastern suburbs are areas where China is the most common country of birth after Australia. In Box Hill, near the centre of that blue zone, almost 30 per cent of the population was born in China. The suburbs of Melbourne (in blue) where China is the second most common country of birth. Credit:Craig Butt

The large green areas in Melbourne's northeast and snaking down the eastern coast of Port Phillip Bay are places where people from England have settled. However, these are areas are largely home to British expats who moved to Australia a long time ago, and they don't tend to constitute more than 5 per cent of the population in these places. The English expat hotspot of Melbourne is Mt Eliza, on the Mornington Peninsula, where one in 10 residents was born in England. Credit:Craig Butt North of the city, there are some pockets where Italy or Greece are the most likely birthplace after Australia. But only a handful of these areas remain, as older post-war migrants move or pass away, outnumbered by their Australian-born children and more recent migrants. Census data certainly shows that the number of Italian-born people in Carlton, which is considered the centre of Italian culture in Melbourne, has dwindled. There are now more people from China, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, New Zealand, England, Hong Kong, Singapore or South Korea living there than people from Italy. But there is still a swathe of suburbs in the city's north where Italy is the most common country of birth after Australia, and in Keilor Park, Avondale Heights and Fawkner, more than 10 per cent of the population were born in Italy.

The suburbs with the highest proportion of people born in Greece or Italy. Credit:Craig Butt What the map data tells us But keep in mind that the colours on the map only show the most common country of birth after Australia, and do not say anything about the proportion of the area's population from that country. For example, both Box Hill and Rowville show up as blue on the map, but in Box Hill 30 per cent of the population were born in China, while in Rowville 4 per cent of the population were born in China. Also, while the most common country of birth after Australia for Spotswood residents is New Zealand, that doesn't mean the area has the highest concentration of Kiwis in the state. While 3 per cent of Spotswood hails from across the Tasman Sea, a higher proportion of Tarneit's residents (5 per cent) are New Zealanders. However, Tarneit shows up as pink on the map because 20 per cent of its residents were born in India.

Finally, we have chosen to display the second most common country of birth because the map of the most common country of birth is not very interesting. Here's what that map looks like: Australia is the most common country of birth for all but two Melbourne suburbs. Credit:Craig Butt Those two red spots on the map are the CBD and Clayton, incredibly diverse suburbs that are home to a large number of international students. Loading
It took Uniting Church Reverend Ric Holland only about two minutes to place a rainbow-coloured marriage equality sign out the front of St Michael's Church in Melbourne's CBD.

By the time he had finished, a crowd of more than a dozen people had gathered at the gates of the Collins Street church.

Standing in the middle of the crowd was a young gay man who asked the reverend: "So, do you reckon you could marry me?"

"I couldn't help myself, I told him 'Of course, it would mean a tremendous amount to me to marry you'," Reverend Holland said.
By PTI: (Eds: Updating with ordering of probe)

Srinagar, Aug 24 (PTI) A magisterial probe was ordered tonight into an incident in Kashmirs Kupwara district in which security forces claimed to have killed a "militant" in an encounter which the locals said was "fake".

The inquiry was ordered after protests in Vilgam village, two days after Shahid Bashir Mir was killed.

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"A magisterial probe has been ordered into the killing of Shahid Bashir Mir," Deputy Commissioner, Kupwara, Khalid Jehangir said.

The Deputy Commissioner said Mir was not involved in any subversive activity.

Two days back, Army had said that a "militant" was killed in an encounter in Hongnikote in Haphruda forest area, 85 kms from here.

The slain youth was yesterday identified as Mir, a 21- year-old resident of Dariel Tarathpora Vilgam, and his body was handed over to his family.

Local people today staged protests, saying Mir was not a militant but a Degree College student who was missing since August 21 and a missing report had been lodged on August 22 in police station Vilgam.

"When we came to know about the body yesterday, we asked the police for information. They told us that Shahid Bashir Mir was not involved in any subversive or criminal activity. So, further action will take place on this basis only. We will investigate it and the inquiry will be fast-paced," the Deputy Commissioner said.

Jehangir said a magisterial probe has been ordered and the inquiry will be completed within a week.

"I have ordered a magisterial probe and the report will be submitted within a week. Then what further action is to be taken, will be taken," he said.

This morning, about 400-500 people, including Mirs family members, assembled at the Tarathpora Chowk with his body and started protesting, a police official said.

"Reportedly, Mir was not mentally fit for the last one- two months," the official said.

He added that the protesters pelted stones at the security forces.

"The violent mob also set ablaze a vehicle of the Deputy Commissioner, Kupwara," the official said. PTI SSB MIJ AKK

--- ENDS ---
The last year the black-footed tree-rat was spotted in WA's Kimberley the West Coast Eagles were in their debut AFL season, the America's Cup defence came to Fremantle and Kylie Minogue was dominating the music charts.

The large native mammal was caught on camera at Bachsten Creek by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, confirming its existence to researchers who have been searching for the elusive critter since 1987.

Hugh Davies with a black-footed tree rat. Credit:Twitter/@Hugh_Davies2015

DBCA Parks and Wildlife Service ecologist Ben Corey said remote field cameras were set up over the wet season, and after eight months in field their footage was reviewed, revealing the large tree dwelling rodent with its distinctive black feet and long black and white tail.

"Many species, such as the endangered northern quoll and golden-backed tree-rat, as well as sugar gliders and scaly-tailed possums were recorded," Mr Corey said.
His most recent Facebook posts show him "checking in" at Cafe Luna in Oistins, Barbados on Wednesday AEST saying "dinner time I'm starving".

Davidson, or someone purporting to be him, has again taken to social media to taunt police and suggest he could have fled as far afield as the Caribbean.

Bali escapee Shaun Davidson insists he's "safe" from authorities as an international manhunt continues for the West Australian.

A separate post about an "afternoon training session" was from the city's First Fitness Gym.

Bali police on Tuesday said they were focusing their search for Davidson along the border between Indonesia and East Timor.

"They're searching a few 1000 k's I think I safe," he told his 4800 Facebook friends.

But some of Davidson's Facebook followers have pointed out how easy it is to appear to be anywhere in the world simply by updating Facebook status settings and using location changer apps.

In a message sent to News Corp via Facebook, Davidson said he would have been shot if he had been caught on the run in Indonesia, and that he had no faith in the Australian justice system.
Labor leader Mark McGowan has staunchly defended his party's Leaders' Forum, which allows company bosses a private meeting with himself and other ministers for $25,000, despite continually attacking the former Barnett government for doing the same thing.

The West Australian reported on Thursday business people could have access to the ear of the Premier and his cabinet at behind-the-door lunches at least four times a year.

Labor's each way bet on Leaders' Forums.Tourism Minister Paul Papalia, Premier Mark McGowan, Perth Racing managing director John Yovich and jockey William Pike. Credit:Brendan Foster

It came after the ABC revealed the party had handed out exclusive invites to its $6000 per head Business Engagement Program on Friday, a day before its weekend party love-in.

In 2012, when then Premier Colin Barnett claimed businessmen and developers only got a "good lunch" for their $25,000 donations - Mr McGowan - who was opposition leader at the time - slammed the Liberal party.
Bangkok: Imagine this, children as young three described as "collateral damage".

More than 12,000 people killed in just 14 months, most of them urban slum dwellers.

If bodies continue to pile up at this rate the death toll of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's "war on drugs" could top 60,000 in six years.

Where is the outrage from Australia?
White nationalist demonstrators use shields as they guard the entrance to Emancipation Park in Charlottesville on August 12. Credit:AP Who were they? What in their relatively short lives had so aggrieved them that they felt compelled to drive across the country for a rally? How does this happen? The answer is complicated and unique to each person, but there are nonetheless similarities, according to lengthy interviews with six young men, aged 21 to 35, who travelled hundreds of kilometres to Charlottesville to the rally. Matthew Parrott, 35, who calls himself "the first alt-righter" drove 870 kilometres from Indiana to participate in the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Credit:Washington Post 'Whose grandson are you?'

The road to Charlottesville, 870 kilometres away from his home in Paoli, Indiana, began decades ago for Matthew Parrott, who at 35 calls himself "the first alt-righter", referring to a small and decentralised movement of extreme conservatives, many of whom profess white-supremacist and anti-Semitic beliefs and seek a whites-only ethno-state. Parrott was socially awkward and had been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome at 15. So his family pooled their money and got him a computer with access to the internet - a rarity in his neighbourhood of mobile homes - which he came to see as his "secret portal in my bedroom". In chatrooms, he developed a taste for intellectual combat, always taking the contrarian side, obsessing over how to dismantle progressive arguments until, as he puts it, he "ended up self-radicalising". James Alex Fields jnr, left, holds a black shield at the rally in Charlottesville. Credit:AP That radicalisation was rooted, he said, in his own feelings of alienation, which intensified when he went to Indiana University and confronted an elite he soon came to disdain. "They made fun of my accent and overbite and they called me white trash and hillbilly," Parrott said. "I was never able to identify with a single person." He dropped out after his first semester, and his disillusionment festered until, at age 23, he went to the national conference of the Council of Conservative Citizens, a white-nationalist organisation based in St Louis.

Responders in Charlottesville work with victims at the scene where James Alex Fields jnr allegedly ploughed a car into a crowd. Credit:AP "I was the youngest one in the room," he said. Old men, "asked me, 'Whose grandson are you?' They were baffled  And now those guys are too frail to understand what's going on." What was going on: an economy capsized, a job market contracted, a student-loan crisis erupted, and feelings of resentment and victimisation took hold among some members of Parrott's generation. Matthew Parrott takes issue with the media after a court hearing for James Alex Fields jnr in Charlottesville on August 14. To his right is Matthew Heimbach, who leads the white nationalist Traditionalist Worker Party. Credit:AP "This is not some hypothetical thing," said Parrott, who soon established the white nationalist Traditionalist Youth Network and started recruiting. "This is, 'I'm stuck working at McDonald's where there are no factory jobs and the boomer economy is gone and we have got this humiliating degrading service economy  They feel the ladder has been kicked away from them."

And who was to blame for all of this? Those who joined the alt-right did not view impersonal economic factors or their own failings as culprits. "In some respects, it's not that different from Islamist extremists," Ryan Lenz of the Southern Poverty Law Center said. A similar set of conditions - disaffected young men, few jobs for them and a radical ideology promising answers - have fuelled recruitment for the alt-right movement. These young men, Lenz said, were told "they were sold a raw bill of goods. The government is working against them and doesn't give a s--- about white people, and they were told this during a period when the first African-American president was in the White House." There came a moment for every young man interviewed when they felt whites, and particularly white men, had become subject to discrimination, a perception that formed the foundation of their new identities. Peyton Oubre, 21, of Metairie, Louisiana, perceived it after graduating from high school when he was looking for a job. "Where I live, go to any McDonalds or Walmart, and most of the employees are black," said Oubre, who is unemployed. "And I could put in 500 applications and receive one call. Every time I walked into Walmart, there were no white people, and how come they are getting hired and I can't?

"White privilege," he said. "I'm still waiting on my privilege." For Tony Hovater, 29, of Dayton, Ohio, it came after he had dropped out of college and was touring with his metal band, for which he played drums, and he passed through the small towns of the Rust Belt and Appalachia. He started thinking that so much of the national narrative focuses on the plight of poor, urban minorities, but here was poverty as desperate as any he had seen, and yet no one was talking about poor whites. "You see how a complete system failed a group of people and didn't take any responsibility for it and has done nothing to help," he said. For Connor Perrin, 29, of Austin, Texas, who grew up upper-middle class, it was during college when he felt campus liberals were ostracising his fraternity because it was white. "If only people would stop attacking us," he said."I can't say anything just because I'm white. I can't talk about race, and I can't talk about the Jews because I'll be called an anti-Semite, and I can't say I want to date my own race." For Eric Starr, 31, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, who has been convicted of disorderly conduct for fighting, it was growing up white in a poor black neighbourhood. "I got bullied and I got made fun of and I got beat up," he said. "Cracker, whitey, white boy."

And for William Fears, who has been convicted of criminal trespass, aggravated kidnapping and possession of a controlled substance, it happened while he was incarcerated. "I don't think any race experiences racism in the modern world the way that white people do in a jail," he said. From these disparate geographies, social classes and upbringings - rich and poor, rural and urban, educated and not - they converged on a single place, Charlottesville, with a shared belief that they, white men, are the true victims of today's America. 'Things are life and death now' "I wanted to be in the fight," Perrin said. "I need to be more aggressive," Parrott said.

"We never fight for anything," Fears said. The alt-right has always been a diffuse movement, but it has also been intensely communal. People make and share memes that glorify President Trump and make jokes of Hitler and the Holocaust. They discuss events on 4chan, Reddit and Discord. They get to know one another despite a distance of hundreds of kilometres. They learned not to fear being called a racist or a Nazi, and in fact, some found those descriptions liberating, even "addicting", as Parrott described it. But Charlottesville represented an opportunity to further transcend what they called confining social taboos. Many came prepared for violence, like Fears, who was wearing a blue business suit, a helmet, gas mask and goggles. He rode a van with a group of other alt-right members, and described it as "being transported into a war zone". Bottles burst against the van's windows, he recalled. People hit the van. It stopped before Emancipation Park, and everyone started yelling to get out. Gripping a flag like a weapon, Fears strode to the front. He threw punches. He took punches. "Someone hit me in the head with a stick," he said, "and it split my goggles off." "Little savages," Starr said of the counter-protesters.

"Subhuman," Perrin said. Neither the day's events leading to the car crash that killed Heather Heyer and injured 19 others in Charlottesville, nor the condemnation from politicians and people across the country that followed, has persuaded those interviewed that their beliefs are wrong. For some, it only confirmed their sense of victimhood. "It was like a war, and some people died, and it was an eerie feeling," Fears said. "Things are life and death now, and if you're involved in this movement, you have to be willing to die for it now, and that was the first time that had happened." Soon after the rally, Fears started the long trip home to Houston, where he is a construction worker. He talked to his family, who "pretty much agree with me". He tried to calm down his little brother, who was "shaken up by it". He thought about what would happen if he died. "If I'm killed, that's fine," he said. "Maybe I'll be a martyr or something, or remembered."
At a number of political rallies over the last two years, a character calling himself "Michael the Black Man" has appeared in the crowd directly behind President Donald Trump, impossible to miss and possibly planted.

He holds signs that scream "BLACKS FOR TRUMP" and wears a T-shirt proclaiming with equal conviction that "TRUMP & Republicans Are Not Racist".

Almost always, he plugs his wild website, Gods2.com, across his chest.

And so it was in Phoenix on Tuesday night, before a crowd of Trump supporters who had come to watch another show. There was the President, whipping up the wildly cheering crowd, and then there was Michael the Black Man, chanting just beyond Trump's right shoulder in that trademark T-shirt.
The US state of Texas is bracing for potentially catastrophic flooding and winds as Hurricane Harvey intensified on Thursday and cruised toward a late Friday impact near the coastal city of Corpus Christi.

The National Hurricane Centre described Harvey's sudden strengthening as "astounding." The storm is expected to strike as a Category 3 hurricane - meaning with winds greater than 178 km/h per hour - making it the most powerful storm to make landfall in the United States since Hurricane Wilma in 2005.

Despite the increasingly alarming forecasts, officials in Corpus Christi as of Thursday evening had held off on ordering mandatory evacuations of the city, which includes a great deal of low-lying land and a barrier island. "I'm not going to risk our police and fire people trying to drag somebody out of the house if they don't want to go," Mayor Joe McComb said at an afternoon news conference.

The surprise hurricane is poised to be the first major test of disaster response for the Trump administration, whose appointee to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency - William "Brock" Long - was confirmed in June.
Sochi: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told Russian President Vladimir Putin that Israel was prepared to act unilaterally to prevent an expanded Iranian military presence in Syria.

Israel fears an eventual Assad regime victory could leave Iran with a permanent garrison in Syria, extending a threat posed by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon to its north.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands in Sochi, Russia. Credit:AP

Russia intervened in the civil war on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2015, joining a de facto alliance with Iranian forces, Lebanese Hezbollah and other Shiite Muslim militias helping Damascus beat back Islamic State and other Sunni Muslim insurgent groups.

Meeting Mr Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Mr Netanyahu said Iran was fighting to cement an arc of influence from the Gulf to the Mediterranean.
A federal judge struck down Texas's restrictive photo voter-identification law and Republican lawmakers' most recent attempt at fixing it, finding neither version corrects provisions that intentionally make it harder for poor and minority citizens to vote.

"Not one of the discriminatory features" of Texas's original photo ID law "is fully ameliorated by the terms" of the measure Texas lawmakers passed earlier this year, US District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos of Corpus Christi said in the ruling Wednesday.

US District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos previously found a Texas voter ID law disenfranchised as many as 600,000 registered black, Hispanic and low-income voters. Credit:AP

Furthermore, the 2017 version of the voter ID law "trades one obstacle to voting with another - replacing the lack of qualified photo ID with an overreaching affidavit threatening severe penalties for perjury," Ramos said.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton vowed to ask the US Court of Appeals in New Orleans to reinstate the law, calling the ruling "outrageous." He noted that the US Justice Department, under President Donald Trump, doesn't oppose Texas's law, although the Obama administration fought against it.
People stand on the rubble of houses destroyed by Saudi-led airstrikes in Sanaa. Three siblings and their grandmother were killed in that attack. Credit:AP A nation split in two Yemen has long been the Arab world's poorest country and suffered from frequent local armed conflicts. The most recent trouble started in 2014, when the Houthis, rebels from the north, allied with parts of the Yemeni military and stormed the capital, forcing the internationally recognised government into exile. In March 2015, Saudi Arabia and a coalition of Arab nations, with help from the United States, launched a military campaign aimed at pushing back the Houthis and restoring the government. The campaign has so far failed to do so, and the country remains split between Houthi-controlled territory in the west and land controlled by the government and its Arab backers in the south and east.

The body of a victim is carried from the site of an airstrike on a hotel in Arhab, Yemen on WEdnesday. Credit:AP We are almost in the third year of the war and nothing is getting better. Meritxell Relano, UNICEF A collapsed state Many coalition airstrikes have killed and wounded civilians, including strikes on Wednesday around the capital when at least 35 people were killed when a hotel near a Houthi-controlled outpost was hit. The bombings have also heavily damaged Yemen's infrastructure, including a crucial seaport and important bridges as well as hospitals, sewage facilities and civilian factories. Services that Yemenis have depended on are gone, and the destruction has undermined the country's already weak economy. It has also made it harder for humanitarian organisations to bring in and distribute aid.

The Saudi-led coalition has also kept Sanaa's international airport closed to civilian air traffic for more than a year, meaning that merchants cannot fly goods in, and sick and wounded Yemenis cannot fly abroad for treatment. Many of them have died. Neither of Yemen's two competing administrations has paid regular salaries to many civil servants in over a year, impoverishing their families as there is little other work to be found. Among those affected are professionals whose work is essential to dealing with the crisis, like doctors, nurses and sewage system technicians, leading to the near collapse of their sectors. A girl drinks water from a well believed contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholera, on the outskirts of Sanaa. Credit:AP The devastation of cholera Damage from the war has turned Yemen into a fertile environment for cholera, a bacterial infection spread by water contaminated with faeces. As garbage has piled up and sewage systems have failed, more Yemenis are relying on easily polluted wells for drinking water. Heavy rains since April accelerated the wells' contamination.

In developed countries, cholera is not life-threatening and can be easily treated, with antibiotics if severe. But in Yemen, rampant malnutrition has made many people, particularly children, especially vulnerable to the disease. "With the malnutrition we have among children, if they get diarrhoea, they are not going to get better," said Meritxell Relano, the United Nations Children's Fund representative in Yemen. Outside a cholera clinic in Sanaa, Muhammad Nasir was waiting for news about his six-month-old son, Waleed, who had the disease. A poor agricultural labourer, Nasir had borrowed money to take his son to the hospital but did not have enough to return home even if the baby recovered. "My situation is bad," he said. Five tents had been erected in the backyard of the cholera ward to cope with the sudden increase in patients. All day, families brought sick relatives. Most were elderly, or children carried on their parents' backs. If infection numbers continue to rise, researchers fear that the cases could ultimately rival the largest outbreak, in Haiti, which infected at least 750,000 people after a devastating earthquake in 2010.

Aid organisations say they cannot replace the services that the government is supposed to provide. That means there is little chance for significant improvements unless the war ends. "We are almost in the third year of the war and nothing is getting better," said Relano of UNICEF. "There are limits to what we can do in such a collapsed state." The United Nations has called the situation the world's largest humanitarian crisis, with more than 10 million people who require immediate assistance. And the situation could become even worse. Peter Salama, the executive director of the World Health Organisation's health emergencies program, warned that as the state fails, "the manifestation of that now is cholera, but there could be in the future other epidemics that Yemen could be at the centre of." International Involvement

There appears to be no end in sight for the conflict. Peace talks brokered by the United Nations have stalled, and none of the warring parties have indicated much willingness to back down. The Houthis and their allies firmly control the capital, and Saudi leaders have said they will keep fighting until the other side gives in. The United Nations says that Yemen needs $US2.3 billion in humanitarian aid this year, but that only 41 per cent of that amount has been received. The warring parties are among the greatest aid donors, with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates both giving significant sums. The United States is also a major donor, as well as a primary supplier of arms to the members of the Saudi-led coalition. Although the United States is not directly involved in the conflict, it has provided military support to the Saudi-led coalition, and Yemenis have often found the remnants of American-made munitions in the ruins left by deadly airstrikes. None of this bodes well for civilians. "The war still haunts us from all directions," said Saleh al-Khawlani, who fled his home in northern Yemen with his wife and six children after the the bombings began. They then fled again, to Sanaa, after an airstrike hit the camp where they had sought shelter, and killed a number of his relatives.
Purohit, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, was released on bail by the Supreme Court after being on prison for eight years and eight months without trial.

By Gaurav C Sawant: As the six-car convoy flanked by armed military personnel escorted Lt Col Prasad Srikant Purohit from Tiloja prison to Colaba Military station he kept saluting and shouting Jai Hind.

It was his first morning of travelling in an air conditioned car and not a stuffy prison van in eight years and eight months.

Purohit, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, was released on bail by the Supreme Court after being on prison for eight years and eight months without trial.

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As soon as the cavalcade stopped inside the heavily guarded Colaba Military station, Lt Col Purohit received a warm salute from the guards. He saluted back. This was a departure from the assault and torture the military intelligence officer allegedly underwent at the hands of the Maharashtra Police anti-terror squad during his illegal detention in Khandala.

"I am very proud to belong to the army. This is the only institution that has withstood the ripples of time. I want my younger son to join the army," he is learnt to have told the assembled officers and men. Purohit insists he has full faith in the army.

Purohit has now been posted to the southern command headquarters liaison unit and is currently with the detachment in Colaba, Mumbai. "'He remains under discipline and vigilance ban. This means he can neither be promoted nor be sent for career advancement courses till the time he is exonerated from all charges levelled against him," army sources told Mail Today in Mumbai.

Purohit underwent a Medical examination and will join the ongoing case in the Mumbai sessions court seeking to be discharged from all case against him. His legal team insists he has been fixed in a politically motivated case of alleged saffron terror.SUPPORT SYSTEM

Purohit takes heart from the fact that several of his superiors stood by him and vouched for his operations and credentials.

"He was carrying out a counter-intelligence operation and had kept his superiors in the loop. This was borne out by facts that emerged in the military court of inquiry and this too enabled him to get bail," Neela Gokhale, his lawyer added.

Purohit's wife Aparna and son have also joined him after nine long years at the Colaba military station. "I am very excited. It was a very emotional moment for us. He is spending his time with our son. He has missed out on nine years of his growing up," says Aparna Purohit.

The family is very excited about Purohit getting bail but realise it is a long war ahead to get him exonerated and discharged from what the family describes as false, fabricated and politically motivated cases of alleged saffron terror.

Already there is a raging debate over escort of armed military personnel given to Purohit. The army explained saying there was a threat to Purohit's life prompting them to take precautionary action.

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Also Read

2008 Malegaon blast case: Accused Purohit walks out of Mumbai jail amid tight security Lt Col Purohit, main accused in 2008 Malegaon blast case, granted bail after 9 years in jail

--- ENDS ---
Attention on Foreign Investment also on tap

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Economic Affairs Mellissa Arrindell-Doncher and the team of the Department of Economy, Transportation & Telecommunication (ETT) is preparing a major roll-out of the Qredits Microfinancing program to support small business development through small business loans. Qredits is the one of two initiatives that the Minister will launch to stimulate Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Attention to increasing Foreign Direct Invest (FDI) is also being planned.

The Minister stressed that the empowerment of Sint Maartens SMEs, especially considering that these enterprises account for 80% of all businesses on the island, is extremely important for the future of the country. The access to microfinancing, she added, is an issue that young entrepreneurs have called for and that government has recognized that it must facilitate.

Small businesses maybe a little under appreciated by the general population and they may not generate as much money as large companies, but they are a critical component of and major contributor to the strength of our economy. Small businesses present new employment opportunities and serve as our building blocks, the Minister said.

Most importantly, small businesses also help stimulate economic growth by providing employment opportunities and attract talent who invent new products or implement new solutions for existing challenges, she added.

Qredits, a foundation in Holland in existence since 2009, offers unsecured micro and small business loans to qualified individuals while the risk is carried by Qredits. An amount of about  250 million has been made available for SMEs on Sint Maarten. According to Lucy Gibbes Department Head of ETT, Qredits has the advantage of creating employment through job creation and increase revenue collection by government.

The necessary preparations for Qredits, which includes the set-up of a front office with two local loan officers, is already underway. The project will run as a 2-year pilot. Further discussions will also take place on how to implement the aspects of entrepreneurship in the school curriculums.

As for the other two initiatives, primarily focused on FDI and MSMEs, the Minister said we are all looking forward to the official opening of a planned establishment that can drive economic sustainability by assisting businesses to form, grow and thrive. We envision this entity as a vehicle to provide professional business advice, research and training to business owners and new entrepreneurs to promote growth, innovation, productivity, and management improvement, she said, adding that more information will be released shortly.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The M.A.C. Comprehensive Secondary Education has submitted an application to become a member of the UNESCO Associated School Project Network. When accepted, this will be the first school on St. Maarten to become a UNESCO Associated School. The northern side of the island already has a UNESCO Associated school, which is the Aline Hanson Elementary school in Sandy Ground.

The UNESCO Associated Schools Project (ASPnet) is a network of schools throughout the world committed to the ideals of UNESCO, by conducting pilot projects in favor of better preparing children and strengthening the role of education of education in promoting a culture of peace and tolerance.

UNESCO Associated Schools conduct pilot projects, undertake innovative approaches and test educational materials, making significant contributions to improving the quality of education, learning and content.

The ASPnet provides a strong basis to promote global citizenship, through overarching flagships projects, school partnerships and the sharing of good practices and ideas.

ASPnet is a key promoter of UNESCO values and the integration of international perspectives into schools. Education for Sustainable Development is one of ASPnets embedded themes and approaches, along with peace and human rights education, intercultural learning and other UN priorities. The concept of Global Citizenship is in line with these main concerns and strengthens the commitment of the Network members to raising awareness and acting upon the challenges of todays and tomorrows world.

The Ministry ECYS would like to encourage other schools to submit such an application to become members of the UNESCO Association School Project Network. Schools interested in becoming a UNESCO Associated School can contact SG-UNESCO, Marcellia Henry at +1 7215424594.
PHILIPSBURG:--- On Tuesday, August 22nd a total of 27 members of the KPSM attended a training session on Domestic Violence given by representatives of Safe Haven at no cost. The training started at 09.00 a.m. and ended at 03.30 p.m. The subjects that were discussed during this training session were:



- Understanding personalities and self.

- Understanding and practicing emotional Intelligence

- Understanding and conducting a domestic violence intervention

- Understanding emotions and managing differences and emotions

- Understanding and managing the issues regarding paramilitary v/s civilian life

- Exploring the importance of character quality

This training was given to the members of the KPSM as a tool, mainly with regard to conversation techniques they can use when they encounter a situation involving Domestic Violence. The Police management expresses its gratitude to Safe Have for providing this training to its personnel. The training will definitely contribute to the improvement in the level of professionalism of these officers.

KPSM Press Release
PHILIPSBURG:--- The St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association, Ministry of Health, Social Development and Labor will be hosting for the third year in a row an all-encompassing Job fair hosted on October 7th, 2017 by NIPA from 10 am to 3 pm.

This was decided in a meeting of the three organizing parties. With this initiative, the organizers once again attempt to bring together job-seekers and employers to find a suitable match. Job Seekers will have the opportunity to meet with various possible employers on St. Maarten. Representatives from hospitality organizations, businesses as well as government and not-for-profit organizations will provide information about their organizations, vacancies, and recruitment.

Job-seekers are encouraged to register online on the SHTA website. Registration only takes a few minutes and the possibility of uploading a resume will be available online as well. Participating businesses can pre-select candidates based on their resumes for interviews that can be conducted prior to or on the day of the fair.

Traditionally, as part of preparation and to encourage job-seekers to be properly honed for the application and interview process, The Job Fair will also include free educational sessions. This way all visitors  finding a job or not  will always leave the event wiser than before.

Businesses who would like to participate are encouraged to register for space at the fair. Space has become quite limited. Any interested establishments are requested to register on the associations website. Registration fee is set for $100 for SHTA members and $200 for non-SHTA members.

In order to get as much job seekers to work as possible, the organizing parties try to reinforce the event every year by adding new elements. Last year, SHTA reached out to their fellow labor organizations on the Union side to be present to share their opportunities and services in improving the Sint Maarten labor market, as well as all the labor agencies on island. Next, to this, SHTA deliberately looked abroad this time to fill vacancies requiring higher education with students finishing their studies in for example the United States or the Netherlands. This search will be further intensified this year.

Another novelty last year was further diversification of types of participants. Next, to the labor unions and labor agency LinQ, the Coast Guard was represented by a full patrol, while Dreams Art Gallery was a popular employer-to-be for the more creative job seeker. Amongst last years representatives was La Vista, Westin, Sonesta Hotels, Divi Little Bay resort, Oyster Bay Beach Resort, WIFOL, WITU, Windward Roads, Prime, NIPA, Dominos, and various other organizations assisting either on location or behind the scenes or sending in vacancies.

Registration for both job seekers and businesses can be done via the website www.shta.com/Events. You will be directed to the Job fair where you can select the appropriate form.

The SHTA is dedicated to bringing quality to all aspects of life on St. Maarten by promoting sustainable economic development for its members in cooperation with the social partners and the creation of a fair marketplace. For more information please contact our offices at 542-0108 by email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit our website at www.shta.com.
PHILIPSBURG:--- On August 21st, 2017, the Compliance Team of the Tax Administration has started going door to door visiting businesses. All businesses in the Philipsburg area can expect a visit in the coming weeks. The purpose of the compliance team is to ensure that businesses are complying with their tax obligation as well as to update the database of the Tax Administration.

The team of 8 will request copies of business licenses, shareholder registration as well excerpts from the Chamber of Commerce. A questionnaire will be filled in and signed off by the interviewed business which indicates that the questions were answered truthfully. Business found non-compliant can be audited by the audit dept.

Businesses are reminded that based on art. 40 - 48 of the General ordinance on National taxes (Algemene landsverordening landsbelastingen (ALL) they are obliged to provide information and access to buildings and grounds when requested to do so by the Tax Inspector, the Receiver or the foundation SBAB.
New book by distinguished Barbadian poet/scholar published in St. Martin

PHILIPSBURG:--- Liviticus by Kamau Brathwaite was the first book launched by the Symposium of CARIFESTA XIII, at the Walcott Warner Theatre, UWI, Barbados, on August 19, according to organizers.

Liviticus is one of four new titles by noted authors such as Edwidge Danticat and Mervyn Morris launched last weekend and this week by the prestigious Symposium for the regions unique festival of arts and culture, said Jacqueline Sample of House of Nehesi (HNP)  Brathwaites St. Martin publisher.

The introduction of Liviticus at the launch by guest speaker Dr. Viola Davis included her reading from Mr. Kamaus seer-like poetry, said Sample.

In the address by Dr. ChenziRa Kahina the pan-Caribbean and pan-African aspects of the Liviticus celebration were pointed out. She also commended CARIFESTA for honoring Brathwaite as one of our great ones while theyre still amongst us. Dr. Kahina, who spoke on behalf of HNP at the launch, is the director of the Virgin Islands Caribbean Cultural Center at UVI, said Sample.

Brathwaite, at age 87, was kept in the loop about the launch program by the Symposium and HNP. However, wrote the Nation News this week, It was a bittersweet moment for his wife of 19 years, Beverley, who was happy with the recognition being accorded her husband but was sad that Brathwaite could not be there due to his health.

The Sunday edition of Barbados Today called Liviticus a masterpiece.

Im also happy that Clara Reyes was the guest artist who recited poems from the new book, said Sample. The audience members appeared happy too as they collected all of the Liviticus copies from the University Bookshop. Reyes is a director of the National Institute of the Arts in St. Martin and attended CARIFESTA as an observer.

Liviticus is available at UWI Bookshop, Barbados; Van Dorp, St. Martin; A Different Booklist, Toronto; and SPDbooks.org https://goo.gl/XsmxjP.

CARIFESTA ends on August 27, 2017.
Black Snake is what some of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe members call the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Not since Wounded Knee in 1973, has there been such a great gathering of indigenous tribes as there were in

Standing Rock. The first camps were set up in

August, 2016, along the Missouri and Cannonball rivers.

A year later, 2017, the tribe has achieved a significant victory over an environmental justice analysis. The case is Standing Rock v U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

What began as the protests aimed to protect and defend the water, sacred burial sites, and wildlife habitat in danger from a potential oil spill due to the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, has become a national movement, attracting international attention.

The protestors fight has come to be known as the water protectors who stand in the path of DAPL.

June, 2017, Standing Rocks battle with US Army Corps of Engineers resulted in a pending case over environmental justice. The nonprofit environmental law firm Earthjustice represents the tribe.

According to attorney Jan Hasselman of Earthjustice, who represents the tribe, until now, the right of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe have been disregarded by the builders of the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Trump Administration-prompting a well-deserved global outcry.

The federal court has protected our laws and regulations from undue political influence. as David Archembault 11, Standing Rock Sioux Chairman said.

In the June 14th significant victory, Federal Judge James Boasberg said that the United State Army Corps of Engineers did not satisfactorily perform a study of the pipelines environmental justice analysis as it did not adequately consider the impacts of an oil spill on fishing rights, hunting rights or environmental justice. The court did not determine whether the pipeline operations should be shut off and requested additional briefing on the subject.

June 1, 2017, Dakota Access Pipeline began transporting crude oil from Bakkan/Three Forks, North Dakota to storage outside of Pakota, Illinois. The point of contention between Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and Energy Transfer Partners(parent company of DAPL), is Lake Oahe.

According to DAPL,  999.98 % of the pipeline is installed on privately owned property in North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois, and it is does not enter Standing Rock Sioux reservation at any point. 

The Dakota Access Pipeline does not cross the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, even at the portion of the pipeline that is the subject of dispute at Lake Oahe.

https://daplpipelinefacts.com/

The controversy surrounding DAPL has been the potential impacts of an oil spill on the fishing rights of the Sioux Tribe in Lake Oahe, a sprawling Missouri River Reservoir under which the reservation sits, which is home to a variety of fish, including walleye, that serve as a significant food source for the tribe.

The $3.8 billion pipeline project, also known as Bakken Oil Pipeline, extends 1,168 miles across North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois, crossing through communities, farms, tribal land, sensitive natural areas and wildlife habitat. The pipeline would carry up to 570,000 barrels a day of crude oil from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota to Illinois where it links with another pipeline that will transport the oil to terminals and refineries along the Gulf of Mexico.http://standwithstandingrock.net/victory-standing-rock-sioux-tribe-court-finds-approval-dakota-access-pipeline-violated-law/

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe will not be backing down. Chairman of the tribe, Dave Archambault ll, has said, this is a major victory for the Tribe and we commend the courts for upholding the law and doing the right thing.

According to Earthjustice Law firm, the Standing Rock Tribe will be making their best arguments to the court that the pipeline should be shut down pending the completion of a lawful environmental review. A decision is expected in September.

The Corps EJ analysis defined the geographic unit as a half-mile radius around the Lake Oahe crossing which excluded Standing Rock Reservation. In the Corps EA it concluded that there is no concern regarding environmental justice to minority populations at the Proposed Action Area atLake Oahe. The court found that such a narrowly focused EJ inquiry was insufficient to discharge the Corps EJ responsibilities under National Environmental Policy Act https://www.law360.com/articles/939129/dapl-opinion-highlights-pipeline-project-nepa-challenges

Standing Rock fight has also inspired indigenous activists in other parts of the country. Camps have been set up in the Texas desert last January to fight a pipeline project there. This demonstrates that the water or planet protector movement has inspired other Native American protests across the nation, against pipelines, otherwise known as Black Snake, by indigenous people.

In Bismark, which is about 70 miles from Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, Christina, a white local bartender has a different take on the water protectors, as she observed them as trouble makers. She said that this is her home and that after the winter snow thawed out last April, the campgrounds in standing Rock were littered with refuse. According to Christina, this was hypocritical. There were also setting tires on fires which was hypocritical because theyre polluting the air, yet they are claiming to protect the water.

A member of the Standing Rock Tribe, Chase, who works at the Prairie Knights Casino, saw the water protectors as both good and bad. Bringing new voices to the situation was the positive side of the movement for Chase. The drawback Chase noted was how there were conflicts at the camp, and tires were slashed. He was not able to comment on who slashed the tires, but it was not a local member of the tribe. Chase also noted that back in July, 2016, protestors set vehicles on fire on the bridge over the Cannon Ball River, which separates Standing Rock from Mandan County, ND.

Professor Gary Helverson, Science instructor at Sitting Bull College in Fort Yates said that although the protests did build relationships with lots of tribes, and many voices were heard, there were also trouble makers who were primarily people from the outside.

Fort Yates. Distance, activist, archivist and assistant to Ladonna Brave Bull, a Standing Rock Tribe member, http://www.standingrockclassaction.org/?page_id=317

was concerned that Governor of North Dakota did not do more diplomacy to advocate natives legal right or concerns about burial rights. Distance also mentioned that pipeline was illegally approved.

Stand by and wait till September when Standing Rock will find out the Courts decision as to whether the pipelines operations will be shut down.

According to Earthjustice, The Obama administration made a carefully considered decision that these Treaty rights needed to be respected in connection with an oil pipeline immediately upstream of the reservation. The Trump administration ignored that advice, and acted as if the Tribe does not exist.

http://earthjustice.org/features/faq-standing-rock-litigation

The case between Standing Rock Tribe and USACE is not over yet.
As the BJP plays up its poll campaign harping on Modi's governance and with national party president Amit Shah at the centre of the electioneering, a hapless Congress maintains the polls should be about local issues only.

By Sweta dutta: For Gujarat Congress, the upcoming Assembly polls will be anything but a faceoff between Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi. Even as its own house crumbles in Gujarat, the Congress launched a caustic attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani ahead of elections, but maintains the polls are going to be fought on 'local issues'.

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As the BJP plays up its poll campaign harping on Modi's governance and with national party president Amit Shah at the centre of the electioneering, a hapless Congress maintains the polls should be about local issues only.

"CM Rupani and state BJP chief Jitubhai Vaghani are such weak personalities and feel so intimidated here by the Congress that instead of taking us on directly, they are bringing in Modi and Amit Shah to rescue them. But the Congress will fight only on local issues and it will be me versus Vaghani. We will not contest this election pitting our national leaders with theirs," state Congress president Bharatsinh Solanki told Mail Today.

With several Congress MLAs shifting to BJP, the party is relying on its campaign and not so much on its candidates any longer. "There is strong anti-incumbency; corruption is on the rise; farmers, women and traders are disillusioned. This state needs change," Solanki added. "While the judgment on triple talaq is a progressive move by the Supreme Court, there is no electoral impact on the minority. Modi is giving so much advice to others, but why doesn't he talk about his own wife and his educational qualification degree?"

Grappling with internal turmoil and facing crisis with respect to pre-poll alliances, the party is preparing to disqualify and take legal action against the 14 MLAs who left the party for BJP. "We will take legal recourse against the 14 MLAs who left the party for BJP and make sure that they are disqualified from contesting elections for six years. According to our reports, these MLAs are meeting much resentment from voters, who feel cheated because they had voted for them on Congress tickets," Solanki added.

Solanki claimed that while JD(U) MLA Chhotubhai Vasava, who is close to rebel JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav continues to stand by the Congress, an alliance with the NCP is off the table. "Since NCP MLAs did not vote for us in the Rajya Sabha polls and have not reached out to us, any alliance with it is unlikely. As for the JD(U), the Sharad Yadav faction backs us strongly," he said.

Also Read

2017 Gujarat Assembly elections: PM Modi likely to visit home state for fifth time this year to galvanise BJP workers

Revealed! Amit Shah's Gujarat Assembly election strategy to win 150 seats

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Mumbai, Aug 24 (PTI) The Mumbai Police are on an alert and are maintaining a strict vigil in view of the 12-day Ganesh festival beginning tomorrow.

Besides notching up security to prevent any untoward incident during the boisterous festival, marked by devotion as well as enthusiasm, the police have undertaken various measures to ensure that the festival passes off peacefully, an official said today.

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Idols will be installed at nearly 7,610 Ganeshotsav Mandals (pandals) in the city and in 1.25 lakh households tomorrow, said DCP Rashmi Karandikar, the spokesperson of the Mumbai Police.

Without mentioning any specific threat perception and nature of Intelligence inputs during the festival, Karandikar only said that police are on alert.

"We are putting nakabandis and are conducting combing operations. We are checking hotels and lodges in the jurisdiction of every police station," she said.

On the preparation for maintaining law and order during the festival, the officer said policemen in plainclothes will be deployed in crowd to protect women and children.

"We have activated Anti Terror Cells and Bomb Disposal and Detection Squads (BDDS), dog squads etc. The Riot Control Police and the State Reserve Police Force will also be deployed in the city to avoid any untoward incident," the DCP said.

She said though the government has installed 5,000 CCTVs across the city, the police have asked Ganesh mandals to put up CCTVs to cover the areas surrounding their respective pandals.

Karandikar said that leaves of all police personnel will be cancelled on the last day of the festival, which ends on September 5.

She said the police will keep a hawk eye on crowd through drones during immersion processions.

"Idols will be immersed at 119 places in the city. A total of 3,500 traffic police personnel and 500 traffic wardens will regulate traffic of the city," the officer said.

Karandikar said the police have decided to close 53 roads in the city to regulate traffic. "Around 54 roads will be one-way while parking at 99 places will be restricted during the festival," she said.

Speaking on the permission to use loudspeakers, the officer said the police will follow the orders of the Bombay High Court and state Home department. PTI DC NSK

--- ENDS ---
James Krauseneck maintained his innocence at the sentencing Monday and was supported by his daughter, Sarah, who was 3 at the time and saw her deceased mother, Cathleen Cathy Krausneck, 29, a Macomb County native.
Claudettes release new album with show at The Acorn in Three Oaks

entertainment
Infosys co-founder and former CEO Nandan Nilekani is back as the chairman of the company.

By India Today Web Desk: Infosys co-founder and former CEO Nandan Nilekani is back as the chairman of the company. The board of directors of Infosys Limited held a meeting today and decided to appoint him their chairman. The board also accepted the resignation of R Seshasayee as the chairman and Vishal Sikka as the executive vice chairman.

Nilekani's return to Infosys comes after exit of Infosys CEO and Managing Director Vishal Sikka, who alongwith chairman R Seshasayee and co-chair Ravi Venkatesan, put in their papers on August 17.

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Here are six reasons why the Infosys co-founder and former chairman Nilekani is back at the helm of India's second-largest software services firm.

1. CO-FOUNDER

Nilekani is the co-founder of the company and is an Infosys veteran. He knows the company inside out. In 1981, Nilekani alongwith Narayana Murthy, and five others, had started the company. He was the CEO between 2002 and 2007. In July 2009, Nilekani left Infosys to serve as the chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India on the invitation of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.

2. PROVEN PERFORMER

Yesterday, Infosys ex-CFO V Balakrishnan had backed the return of Nandan Nilekani as the chairman of the company, saying his experience and understanding of clients made him a "good face" to lead the organisation in the current situation. Also, Infosys revenues grew six-fold to nearly $3 billion under Nilekani as the CEO in the period 2002-07.

3. INVESTOR FRIENDLY

The government of India is the largest institutional shareholder in Infosys through the Life Insurance Corporation, and Nilekani has good rapport with the Modi government. Nilekani had backed demonetisation, and is a big supporter of Digital India.

Meanwhile, for the third straight day today the Infosys stock rose amid reports of Nilekani's likely return at the top of the infotech behemoth. A group of 12 major institutional investors in Infosys had asked the company to bring former CEO Nandan Nilekani back on to its board to try to resolve a feud with the company's founders. Nilekani's reinstatement will surely gladden them.

4. INFOTECH STALWART

Despite his stint as the chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India, Nilekani has remained connected with the information technology sector. Especially in the past three years, Nilekani has been a prolific investor in the Indian start-up ecosystem and has backed over a dozen early-stage ventures such as The Fundamentum partnership, Sedemac Mechatronics, publishing start-up Juggernaut, media venture The Print and e-commerce start-up 10i Commerce Services.

5. NEGOTIATOR AND EXECUTOR

Nilekani is considered a good negotiator, which adds to his record of an able executor. His role as the first chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which implemented the Aadhaar project, has constantly been under scrutiny. His credibility lies in the way he negotiated and implemented a project as massive and crucial as Aadhaar, which was rated as the biggest data-crunching project in the world.

6. OLD GUARD VICTORY

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The latest set of events, including Sikka's exit from Infosys, had once again put the spotlight on how boardroom battles in Corporate India can be ugly and intense. Nilekani's reinstatement also indicates how the two co-founders, Murthy and his close confidante Nilekani, have come back successfully against the board of directors, especially Sikka's departure.

INFOSYS BOARDROOM BATTLE

CEO Sikka's resignation from the post on August 17 brought the boardroom battle out in the open while reports of a rift between him and founder N R Narayana Murthy were doing the rounds since the last few months. Sikka's exit also exposed the deepening divide between the founders and the Board of the country's second largest IT services firm.

ALSO READ |

Nandan Nilekani returns to Infosys after chairman, co-chairman resign

Vishal Sikka resigns as CEO and MD of Infosys: 10 key things to know

Vishal Sikka quits: Narayana Murthy says below dignity to respond to baseless claims

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ALSO WATCH PROGRAMME | Supreme Court judgement on privacy; Nilekani back as Infosys chairman; more

--- ENDS ---
Deuba arrived in New Delhi yesterday for a five-day state visit. This is his first official trip abroad since he assumed office in June.

By India Today Web Desk: Nepal's Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba today said he appreciated Narendra Modi's Neighbourhood First policy and his Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas approach to development, the news agency ANI reported.

His remarks came during a joint statement he delivered with Modi, which followed the exchange of eight MoUs.

Deuba arrived in New Delhi yesterday for a five-day state visit, and was given a ceremonial welcome.

Happy to welcome Rt Hon Shri Sher Bahadur Deuba ji, PM of close & friendly neighbour Nepal. Look forward to more extensive talks tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/jgqpmLRGbC- Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 23, 2017

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This is his first official trip abroad since he assumed office in June.

Narendra Modi and Sher Bahadur Deuba at the ceremonial reception hosted for the visiting PM (Photo: Narendra Modi/Twitter)

"Had a long, detailed and fruitful discussion with Nepal PM Sher Bahadur Deuba over the countless opportunities of collaboration between the two nations," Prime Minister Modi's office tweeted. "We are working together on various projects concerning energy, water resources and connectivity projects."

"India is committed to enhancing its role as far as Nepal's development is concerned," the PM added.

Deuba's visit comes at a time when two of his country's neighbours, India and China, have been locked in a standoff at the Doklam plateau.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj receives Sher Bahadur Deuba upon his arrival in New Delhi. (Photo: @PM_Nepal/Twitter)

A fortnight ago, Nepal's Deputy Prime Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara said his country wouldn't "get dragged into this or that side in the border dispute."

Nepal wants India and China to use "peaceful diplomatic means" to resolve the dispute, he added.

Deuba's Nepali Congress government is considered to have a more pro-India approach than some previous regimes.

ALSO READ

As Doklam dispute continues, whose line will Nepal toe--China or India?

Happy over development of sound India-Nepal ties: China

--- ENDS ---
Georgetown, SC (29440)

Today

Mainly sunny to start, then a few afternoon clouds. Much cooler. High 61F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Clear skies. Low 39F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
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With Bhutan siding with India, Beijing is in race with New Delhi to win over Kathmandu. Nepali PM Deuba is in India while China is preparing for Xi Jinping's Kathmandu visit in October.

By Prabhash K Dutta: Doklam standoff is well into its third month and there are no signs to suggest that India or China is ready to withdraw troops from the disputed site. China is apparently losing support from big international players like the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan but it is aggressively campaigning to win over Nepal.

Bhutan and Nepal are the two countries that have formed a buffer between India and China (ever since Tibet was annexed by China in 1949). While Bhutan continues to be on the Indian side of the diplomatic divide separating New Delhi and Beijing, Nepal has always looked for better bargain from its both big neighbours.

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Nepal's Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is in New Delhi on a five-day state visit. India and Nepal today signed eight bilateral pacts after comprehensive talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba.

Deuba said that Nepal would "never allow any anti-India activities from its soil." But, he has not said anything on Doklam standoff to suggest that Nepal has reconsidered its neutral stand on the matter.

Earlier this month, Nepal's Foreign Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara said, "We do not support any of our neighbours in this case" while referring to the Doklam standoff between India and China. Mahara also said, "Nepal does not want to be dragged into the boundary dispute between India and China."

This statement signals China's growing strategic depth in Nepal.

CHINA'S GROWING INFLUENCE IN NEPAL

It was in 1961 when Nepal's King Mahendra toured China on a 15-day state visit which raised an alarm in New Delhi with the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru expressing his unhappiness over the development. It was seen as an attempt by Nepal to use China as a bargaining tool while dealing with India.

This became the standard policy of Nepal, which in return benefitted a lot from India. But, things have changed in the past few years when India-Nepal relations have been less than friendly. This provided China with an opportunity to get a foothold in Nepal.

Even though Nepal's trade with China remains a small percentage of that with India, Beijing has developed close relations with Kathmandu. Despite India's objection, Nepal participated in the OBOR (One Belt One Road) initiative of China, which has proposed to build USD 8 billion-rail line connecting Lhasa in Tibet with Kathmandu.

China has opened more than 30 crossing points for trade and transport along the border with Nepal. China has provided broadband access to Nepal after a similar attempt with India ran into rough weather.

China has also promised to reconstruct the old trade route - now called the Rasuwagadhi highway and is now under-construction - for better connectivity between Nepal and Tibet. China provided petroleum to Nepal during 2015-16 when India-Nepal border was blocked.

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NEPAL'S IRRITATION WITH INDIA

Differences between India and Nepal have worsened in recent years. Sher Bahadur Deuba's predecessor KP Sharma Oli was openly pro-China and repeatedly asked India not to over-assert itself on the Himalayan nation.

During September 2015-February 2016, India's border with Nepal remained closed. The protesting Madhesis were squatting on the border. They had taken to the streets in Nepal after the new Constitution came into being, alleging that they had been discriminated against. Nepal alleged that the blockade had tacit support from India.

The blockade caused severe crisis in Nepal, which had just been devastated by a massive earthquake. India had taken a leading role in rescue and rehabilitation of earthquake victims. But, the blockade led to anger among large sections of the Nepali population against India. In the wake of this, Nepal witnessed skyrocketing prices of petrol, diesel and all essential commodities.

RECENT FLOOD AND INDIAN DAMS

Like Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Nepal is also facing massive floods in which more than 150 people have lost their lives. Nepal has blamed India for the same.

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Nepal accused India of constructing at least 15 dams and embankments along the 12-km stretch of the international boundary. It also said that India had not provided compensation to the affected Nepali people whose lands were submerged due to the Koshi Barrage. The Laxmanpur Barrage over the Rapti is another sore point for Nepal, which faces floods in the catchment area of the river.

Nepal is also unhappy about the tardy pace of progress on the hydel power projects promised by India - Arun III, Upper Karnali and Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project.

INDIA, CHINA IN DIPLOMATIC RACE FOR NEPAL

As the Doklam standoff continues, there seems to be a diplomatic race between India and China for Nepal. China made the first move with its ambassador in New Delhi making a "courtesy call" on his Nepali counterpart earlier this month.

The meeting between the ambassadors of China and Nepal in New Delhi was followed by a visit of Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Yang to Nepal. Wang Yang announced a Chinese assistance of USD 1 million to the flood victims of Nepal. China has already pledged USD 8.3 billion towards building roads and hydel power projects in Nepal against India's commitment of USD 337 million.

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On India's part, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj went to Nepal to attend BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) ministerial meeting. She met the top leadership of the country and is understood to have discussed Doklam.

But, the statement from Nepal after two high-profile visits from both its neighbours proclaimed neutrality on the matter. But, the matter does not end there.

Nepal's Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba arrived in New Delhi yesterday when reports from Beijing suggested that Chinese President Xi Jinping would be visiting Kathmandu in October. Xi Jinping's visit to Nepal seems to have been planned by Beijing to shift the tilt of the diplomatic balance.

WHAT MORE CHINA EYES IN NEPAL

China is also actively supporting the anti-India groups in Nepal asking for a greater Nepal by the re-integration of Indian territories of Kumaon and Garhwal (in Uttarakhand), parts of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. These regions were ceded by Nepal to British India in 1816 by the Treaty of Sugauli.

The diplomatic race between India and China becomes significant as there are two Doklam-like tri-junctions in Nepal - one at Kalapani-Lipulekh in western Nepal and the other at Jhinsang Chuli in eastern Nepal.

Jhinsang Chuli remains snow-capped throughout the year and has been less contentious. The Lipulekh tri-junction made headlines in 2015 as India and China signed a bilateral agreement to increase trade through the route attracting criticism from Nepal. While the chorus of voices is growing in Nepal to go out of India's "sphere of influence", China has come forward as a willing partner for the landlocked country.

ALSO READ |

As Doklam standoff drags on, China says India slapping its own face by building Ladakh road

As Doklam dispute continues, whose line will Nepal toe--China or India?

Why Doklam standoff is not good for Chinese President Xi Jinping

Why Japan lent support to India against China over Doklam standoff

ALSO WATCH | India commitment towards growth of Nepal: PM Modi

--- ENDS ---
Boumerdes, August 23, 2017 (SPS) - The Saharawi human rights activist Aminatou Haidar hailed on Wednesday in Boumerdes the "unwavering" support of the Algerian people and government for the Saharawi people's struggle for self-determination, saying that this support stems from the principles of the Algerian Revolution, which inspired many colonized peoples.

Expressing her happiness for being in Algeria, Haidar said that the heroic struggle of the Algerian people for their freedom "is a model to follow", recalling the position of Algeria vis-a-vis the Saharawi refugees for more than 40 years.

"We have a great respect for Algeria for its positions of principle and the reception of refugees. This is a historical position that participates in a human will that take into account the crimes committed against the Saharawi people," stated Haidar at the closing ceremony of the Summer School of the executives of the Frente POLISARIO and the Saharawi State held on 10-23 August in Boumerdes.

She stressed that Algeria's support to the Saharawi people "has never ceased and has been shown in particular through the reception of pupils and students in Algerian schools and academies so that they contribute to the" development of Saharawi institutions."

She also said that "the oppression in which Morocco is engaged will not dissuade the Saharawi people who are determined to continue their struggle for independence and freedom", denouncing at the same time the unjust sentences pronounced against the prisoners of Gdeim Izik group.SPS

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STAMFORD  Turn of River and Newfield residents are hoping to take their backyards back from a gang of wild turkeys.

After some neighbors started feeding the hefty ground birds over the summer, humans have lost their spot at the top of the animal kingdom hierarchy.

When turkeys are fed by people, they become habituated to them and start to see them on the same level as other turkeys, said Michael Gregonis, a Department of Energy and Environmental Protection wild turkey program biologist. Theres a hierarchy in turkey flocks and each turkey has its place and they fight among themselves.

For weeks, City Rep. Steven Kolenberg, whose district includes the Turn of River and Newfield neighborhoods, has received complaints from residents who say theyve been chased or attacked by these aggressive turkeys.

This is one of the stranger constituent complaints or issues Ive gotten, but that doesnt make it any less serious, Kolenberg said. These birds may come across as silly-looking, but they are very territorial, and if you feed them, they become aggressive.

He says the problem birds are the two Tom turkeys who roam around the Pepper Ridge Road area, occasionally accompanied by a female bird or two.

I have been getting several complaints, mostly from older people afraid to leave their houses, and a few joggers who have been chased, Kolenberg said. But my biggest concern is for Newfield Elementary School, which is in the middle of these turkeys territory.

Kolenberg enlisted the help of Stamford Animal Control on Thursday to attempt to capture and remove the wild turkeys from his district.

Its a public safety issue at this point, he said. We need the community to come together, stop feeding the turkeys, and if they still continue to come around, we need to harass them and push them out and make it uncomfortable for these turkeys to be in our neighborhood.

Gregonis said once the birds lose their fear of people, they tend to target the elderly, children and, surprisingly, mail carriers.

Its likely they target mail carriers because they come every day  its a routine thats set up, he said.

Its gotten so bad for Stamford mail carriers that the post office sent a letter to Turn of River residents, requesting they stop feeding the turkeys.

From what Ive been told, this has been happening to carriers all summer, and its just the mail carriers theyre chasing, said Kevin Stewart, a postal service supervisor in Stamford. Sometimes theyve said people in the area have to come out and chase (the turkeys) out with a broom.

This isnt the first time turkeys have ruled the roost in a Stamford neighborhood. In 2014, a mother with her daughter and a friend were surrounded by a rafter of turkeys that used to guard the entrance of Doral Farm on Roxbury Road.

Coming face-to-face with a wild turkey can be quite intimidating. The birds can grow to be up to 24 pounds, with a wingspan of close to 5 feet.

Gregonis said the best way to avoid a turkey attack is to slowly walk away  dont back away or run  and put as much distance as possible between yourself and the bird. Its also helpful to appear larger and aggressive.

Generally, if youre aggressive toward the turkey, they will back down, Gregonis said.

Its a common misconception that a turkey will use its beak as a weapon, Gregonis said, but they will take swipes with their large, heavy wings. Males also have spurs that they use in defense, Gregonis said.

Gregonis says the easiest way to rid the neighborhood of the gobbling terrors is to immediately stop feeding and leaving out food.

The first thing you need to do is get all the food out," he said. Thats enough to move them back into woods.

nnaughton@stamfordadvocate.com; @noranaughton
India and Nepal signed eight memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on the second day of the neighbouring country's visiting Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba in New Delhi today.

By India Today Web Desk: India and Nepal signed eight memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on the second day of the neighbouring country's visiting Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba here today.

According to an official statement, the eight MoUs signed are:

1. Modalities for utilization of India's housing grant component to support reconstruction of 50,000 houses.

2. Implementation of the grant component of India's post-earthquake reconstruction package in the education sector in Nepal.

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3. Implementation of the grant component of India's post-earthquake reconstruction package in the cultural heritage sector in Nepal.

4. Implementation of the grant component of India's post-earthquake reconstruction package in the health sector in Nepal. All the above four MoUs were signed by Nepalese Finance Secretary Shanta Raj Subedi and Indian External Affairs Secretary S Jaishankar.

5. Implementation arrangement on cost sharing, schedules and safeguard issues for construction of Mechi Bridge under ADB's SASEC Road Connectivity Programme (Tranche 2), funded by India. It was signed by Nepalese Physical Infrastructure and Transport Secretary Devendra Karki and Indian Road Transport and Highways Secretary Yudhvir Singh Malik.

6. Drug demand reduction and prevention of illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursor chemical and related matters. The signatories to this MoU were Nepalese Home Secretary Lok Darshan Regmi and Indian Revenue Secretary Hasmuck Adhia.

7. Agreement on cooperation in the field of standardisation and conformity assessment. DG, Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology, Bishwo Babu Pudasaini; and DG, Bureau of Indian Standards, Sanjay Singh signed this MoU.

8. An MoU was signed between the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal. Prakash J Thapa, president of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal, and Nilesh S Vikamsey, president of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, signed this MoU.

ALSO READ |

Modi-Deuba meet: How India, China are wooing Nepal as Doklam standoff continues

Nepal PM: Appreciate Modi's Neighbourhood First policy, Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas

As Doklam dispute continues, whose line will Nepal toe--China or India?

ALSO WATCH VIDEO | India committed towards growth of Nepal, says PM Modi

--- ENDS ---
If you've been meaning to clean out your garage since, like, forever, there's no time like the present. And here's some extra incentive to start clearing things out: Your garage could become the birthplace of a billion-dollar company. In fact, the likes of Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, and other beyond-famous entrepreneurs all got their start in this humblest of home offices.

Even if you aren't the entrepreneurial type, you could profit in a big way from that unassuming space currently occupied by your Nissan Leaf (or your leaf blower). There's no reason why you can't just post an ad on Craigslist (which also started in a garage, by the way), offering up your reasonably priced "start-up facilities" for a modest rent ... plus a percentage of the profits from anything created on your premises.

Hey, it sure beats housing a bunch of bikes your kids have outgrown and boxes of junk, right? For further inspiration, just check out these inspiring true-life tales about huge companies that got their start in tiny spaces.

Disney

The wee Los Angeles garage where the Disney empire began organizingla.com

In the summer of 1923, 22-year-old Walt Disney moved from Kansas City to Los Angeles, paying $5 per week to rent a room in his uncle Robert Disney's cottageplus an extra $1 per week for a garage where he would realize his dream. The place had a pesky mouse that, according to legend, gave the younger Disney the idea for a little cartoon character he would eventually call Mickey. In that windowless space, located at 4406 Kingswell Ave., Disney cobbled together a crude camera stand and filmed a series of 30-second joke reels with stick figures.

Interior of the Disney garage, at the Stanley Ranch Museum City of Garden Grove, California

The reels soon got sidelined once Disney was tapped by a film distributor to do a series of "Alice in Wonderland" skits. This required bigger offices, so Disney didn't stick around in his uncle's garage for long. Nonetheless, you can still visit this garage, which has since been transported to the Stanley Ranch Museum. Although the Disney Company doesn't consider it Disney's first "studio," it does deign to call it his first "workshop." That's something!

Hewlett-Packard

The Silicon Valley garage where Hewlett-Packard was born The Museum of HP Calculators

In 1939, Stanford grads Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard moved into 367 Addison Ave. in Palo Alto, CA. They chose the two-story house for its 12-by-18-foot garage, where they'd set up shop. Flipping a coin to see whose name would come first, they founded Hewlett-Packard with an initial investment of $538, and started developing a line of electronics. Their first big break? They built an audio oscillator that they sold to none other than Disney to improve its sound system for the movie "Fantasia."

Today, that garage in Palo Alto is known as the birthplace of the entire Silicon Valley tech industry. Although Hewlett-Packard legally ceased to exist in 2015 and split into two companies, HP Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, the garage still exists, and has become a tourist attraction.

Amazon

Jeff Bezos started Amazon in his garage. BusinessPundit.com

Long before he launched Amazon, Jeff Bezos was busy in his parents' garage.

"As a young boy, I'd been a garage inventor," Bezos said in an interview with CNBC. "I'd invented an automatic gate closer out of cement-filled tires, a solar cooker that didn't work very well out of an umbrella and tinfoil, baking-pan alarms to entrap my siblings. I'd always wanted to be an inventor."

Bezos eventually went to work on Wall Street, but left at the age of 30 and moved to Bellevue, WA. With $40,000 of his own money and holed up in his garage at 10704 NE 28th St., he started sellingyou guessed itbooks on the internet. At the time, he drove his shipments to the post office in his 1987 Chevy Blazer.

"I thought maybe one day we would be able to afford a forklift," Bezos told Charlie Rose in 2016. Yeah, they can afford a few forklifts these days.

Apple

The Los Altos, CA, garage where the first Apple seeds were planted Google Maps

Apple, now worth more than $750 billion, was started in 1976 by three guys: Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. And, famously, the magic started in the garage of Jobs' parents' home.

The garage at 2066 Crist Drive in Los Altos, CA, is where these budding tech titans put together their first computer and sold it to a local store for $500. They went on to hand-build 50 computers in 30 days in that garage, and those were the seeds for the Apple and Macintosh lines of products that have since evolved into i-everythings.

Google

In 1998, Susan Wojcicki rented out her garage at 232 Santa Margarita Ave. in Menlo Park, CA, to a couple of Stanford grads named Larry Page and Sergey Brin. And she's probably so glad she did, because that's where Page and Brin developed Google, the world's largest search engine, which became one of the most valuable companies on the planet.

Microsoft

Paul Allen and Bill Gates in 1975, before they were billionaires Blog Spot

In 1975, Harvard dropout Bill Gates moved in with his buddy Paul Allen, who was living at 115 California St. NE in Albuquerque, NM. Allen was working at a tech company at the time, but soon got wrapped up with Gates in his garage to start their own enterprise: Microsoft (a name made by merging the words "microcomputer" and "software," by the way).

In 1976, revenue from their little garage-based company totaled all of $16,005. Soon after that, an $80,000 contract with IBM helped launch the $500 billion behemoth of today.

A plaque on a rock now sits in front of the home where Gates and Allen got their start, although it's been stolen repeatedly. Perhaps Microsoft could afford to, um, make that plaque a bit bigger and heavier so people can't cart it off.

The post 6 Garages That Gave Birth to Billion-Dollar Companies appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.
Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu today said that India is partnering with Nepal to create physical infrastructure and establish social institutions with its neighbour.

By India Today Web Desk: Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu today said that India is partnering with Nepal to create physical infrastructure and establish social institutions with its neighbour.

While interacting with the visiting Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Naidu said that enhanced connectivity between the two countries would boost economic growth and added that renewed focus should be given to projects like Terai roads, rail links, integrated checkposts as well as the Raxaual-Amlekhgunj oil pipeline.

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Deuba called on Naidu in New Delhi today on the second day of his visit.

According to an official release, the vice-president further said that there was immense potential for bilateral cooperation between India and China in the hydro-power sector and that both countries should work for expeditious implementation of the Pancheshwar Project that was signed in 1996. "We need to expand our cooperation in the water resources sector for the benefit of the people of our two nations," he added.

NEPAL ENGAGED IN IMPLEMENTING THE CONSTITUTION: NAIDU

Naidu said that Nepal was engaged in the important task of implementing the Constitution and establishing progressive and inclusive political agenda and that it was important to establish a political system that accommodated the aspirations of every section of Nepal's society. He congratulated Deuba and the Nepal government for successfully conducting two phases of local body elections. "India would be happy to extend any election-related assistance for the upcoming elections in Nepal", he said.

The vice-president said, "The open border between our two nations lends uniqueness to our relationship and brings enormous benefits to people of both the nations. We must be vigilant against the misuse of the open border by the miscreants. India has been rendering help to Nepal in strengthening Nepal Police and the Armed Force Police by way of providing equipment, vehicles and training".

Naidu said that India wished to carry along all its neighbour countries with it and the endeavour of the Narendra Modi government's 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' applied to both to people within India and those outside. He further said, "We desire to achieve inclusive development of India with all the other neighbouring countries. India is eager to provide developmental assistance for generation of jobs and growth of domestic sectors of all neighboring countries."

ALSO READ |

Modi-Deuba meet: How India, China are wooing Nepal as Doklam standoff continues

8 MoUs signed with India on second day of Nepalese PM Deuba's visit

Nepal PM: Appreciate Modi's Neighbourhood First policy, Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas

WATCH VIDEO | India committed towards growth of Nepal, says PM Modi

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After Events in Charlottesville, Virginia, College & Universities Must Address Issues of Diversity

Contact: Seth Shaver, 325-674-4978



ABILENE, Texas, Aug. 24, 2017 /Standard Newswire/ -- In the wake of the white supremacist demonstration and the subsequent tragic events in Charlottesville, Virginia, racial tensions in the United States stand as palpable as ever. As the fall semester quickly approaches for colleges and universities around the country, no institution can ignore the need for deep conversations about race and ethnicity. But colleges and universities face a unique set of challenges as they explore these topics.



A new book titled "Diversity Matters: Race, Ethnicity, and the Future of Christian Higher Education," edited by Dr. Karen A. Longman of Azusa Pacific University in California, offers perspectives of more than twenty experts from across the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities on how campuses can be hospitable environments for all students.



"We are at a critical moment in Christian education in regard to diversity. With the demographics of our nation changing dramatically every year, it is imperative that the church and Christian institutions of higher learning keep pace with this changing reality. To that end, 'Diversity Matters' offers sound advice to all who wish to join in this necessary progress."  NOEL CASTELLANOS, President, Christian Community Development Association



"Diversity Matters" is comprised of five key sections:

Campus Case Studies: Transforming Institutions with a Commitment to Diversity

Why We Stayed: Lessons in Resiliency and Leadership from Long-Term CCCU Diversity Professionals

Voices of Our Friends: Speaking for Themselves

Curricular/Cocurricular Initiatives to Enhance Diversity Awareness and Action

Autoethnographies: Emerging Leaders and Career Stages

Each chapter in "Diversity Matters" includes important discussion questions for administration, faculty, and staff.



To purchase a copy, visit the "Diversity Matters" page on ACU Press' website.



ABOUT KAREN A. LONGMAN AND CONTRIBUTORS

Karen A. Longman serves as PhD Program Director and Professor of Doctoral Higher Education at Azusa Pacific University. She also coedits a peer-reviewed journal titled "Christian Higher Education: An International Journal of Research, Theory, and Practice." Karen has coordinated annual leadership development institutes for the past twenty years, with more than sixty participants advancing into cabinet-level leadership roles and presidencies.



The myriad of experienced voices brought together for this project include well-respected scholars such as Pete Menjares, Senior Director of the Institute for Faculty Development at Vanguard University of Southern California; Kimberly Battle-Walters Denu, Vice-President and Chief Diversity Officer at Azusa Pacific University; Rebecca Hernandez, Associate Vice-President of Intercultural Engagement and Faculty Development at George Fox University; and David L. Parkyn, former President at North Park University in Chicago. Other campuses represented in this important work include Biola University, Calvin College, Messiah College, Nyack College, Wheaton College, Whitworth University, and many more.



ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

ACU Press, the university press of Abilene Christian University, has published titles exploring questions of Christian higher education, Scripture, spiritual formation, and theology for over 30 years. The press is delighted to be adding "Diversity Matters" to its list of books that further discussions on Christian leadership and social issues. For more details, please visit the ACU Press website.


By PTI: Hyderabad, Aug 24 (PTI) Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, currently in India on five-day visit, will be arriving here tomorrow.

He will visit the Infosys campus and T-Hub, a start-up incubator set up by the Telangana Government in the city, an official release said. He will leave the day after tomorrow.

Governor ESL Narasimhan will host dinner for the Nepal PM at Hotel Taj Falaknuma Palace. PTI GDK KRK

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The second season of India's first News Quiz Show - NEWS WIZ - will be aired on India Today every Saturday at 8 pm starting August 26.

By India Today Web Desk: The second season of India's first News Quiz Show - NEWS WIZ - will be aired on India Today every Saturday at 8 pm starting August 26.

There will be a repeat telecast of the show at 10 am and 10 pm on Sunday.

Veteran journalist Rajdeep Sardesai will host the show which will feature 13 episodes. This season is conceptualised by Siddharth Basu's Tree of Knowledge and Big Synergy.

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The outreach of the programme in the second season has doubled since season one, as over 500 schools will take part in the event. There will be interactions on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter too.

In its first season, News Wiz reached out to thousands of students across mediums from all over the country from Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir to Kavaratti in Lakshwadeep. Top teams consisting of ninth to twelfth standard students from across India, who have passed several levels of tests, will be competing in the quiz.

Click here to know more about News Wiz

News Wiz is going to schools with buzzers and with the theme "If your knowledge is sound, make the noise". This will give in totality a real feel of News Wiz 2017.

High-energy ground activations across schools will be under the main theme "If your knowledge is Sound, Make the Noise". News Wiz is going to the schools with buzzers in place giving it in totality, a real feel of News Wiz 2017.

Commenting on the second season of News Wiz, Kalli Purie, Group Editorial Director (Broadcast and New Media), India Today Group, said, "Post the huge success of Season 1 of News Wiz, we are excited and thrilled to announce the launch of another season with greater action and zeal. Young minds of the nation will be encouraged to learn more about news and connect with it on a much larger scale with the return of News Wiz 2017."

Siddhartha Basu, Director of Tree of Knowledge.com Pvt. Ltd, said, "News Wiz is not only the first and only news quiz in the country, it is also at this time the only nationwide inter-school quiz on TV. Over the next quarter, viewers can look forward to watching keen competition among the brightest minds from schools across India."

This season of News Wiz will have exciting prizes for runner-ups, including laptops, printers and a special bumper prize for those who will become this year's News Wiz 2017. So what are you waiting for! Get quiz-ready and cheer for your favourite school at www.newswiz.in

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ALSO READ |

Do you have the News Quotient? News Wiz takes off on your TV screens from 11 am today

WATCH VIDEO | News Wiz 2017: New season, new look, new challenges

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By PTI: Washington, Aug 24 (PTI) Reducing nicotine content in cigarettes may decrease their addiction potential in vulnerable populations, a study suggests.

Researchers at University of Vermont in the US examined the addiction potential of cigarettes with reduced nicotine content in two vulnerable populations of smokers - individuals with psychiatric disorders and socioeconomically disadvantaged women.

"Evidence in relatively healthy and socially stable smokers indicates that reducing the nicotine content of cigarettes reduces their addictiveness," said Stephen Higgins, Professor at University of Vermont in the US.

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"Whether that same effect would be seen in populations highly vulnerable to tobacco addiction was unknown," Higgins added.

The team studied 169 daily smokers, including 120 women and 49 men. A total of 56 of the participants were diagnosed with affective disorders, 60 with opioid dependence, and 53 were socioeconomically disadvantaged women.

Each study participant completed 14 two to four hour sessions, abstaining from smoking for six to eight hours before each of the sessions, which were organised in three phases.

Phase 1 included sampling of the research cigarettes in double-blind conditions, beginning with the smoking of the participants regular brand cigarette and then smoking one research cigarette of identical appearance, but varying doses of nicotine in sessions two to five.

A Cigarette Purchase Task (CPR) was completed after each smoking session to measure the effects of cost on the participants rate of smoking. Additional questionnaires assessed research cigarette evaluation, nicotine withdrawal, smoking urges, and nicotine dependence.

Phase 2 sessions asked participants to select which cigarette they preferred to smoke among six different dose combinations and used a computer programme, which recorded which of the two cigarettes participants preferred for that session and whether they wanted to continue to smoke after two puffs or abstain.

The final phase 3 followed the same protocol, but measured only the highest and lowest doses of nicotine.

While participants tended to prefer the higher nicotine dose content research cigarettes, the team found that the low-nicotine dose cigarettes could serve as economic substitutes for higher-dose commercial-level nicotine cigarettes when the cost of the latter was greater.

"This study provides a very encouraging indication that reducing the nicotine content of cigarettes would help vulnerable populations," Higgins said.

The study was published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry. PTI APA SAR SAR

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By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) Niti Aayog today backed use of genetically modified (GM) seeds in India saying concerns of the technology being monopolised by MNCs can be addressed through allowing only locally developed varieties. In its three-year agenda document, the government think- tank also outlined various measures like MSP reform and better marketing infrastructure to be adopted for doubling of farmers income.

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"Genetically modified (GM) seeds have emerged as a powerful new technology promising high productivity, improved quality and lower use of fertilisers, weedicides and pesticides in the last one to two decades," Niti Aayog said.

Indian farmers have adopted the GM seeds by growing BT cotton, the only crop allowed for commercial cultivation.

"There is some concern that GM seeds can be monopolised by multinationals, which may then exploit our farmers. But this concern is readily addressed by limiting GM seeds to those varieties discovered by our own institutions and companies," the document said.

On the minimum support price (MSP) system, Niti Aayog said the MSP has distorted cropping patterns, with excessive focus on the cultivation of wheat, rice and sugarcane in the procurement states and neglect of other crops such as pulses, oilseed and coarse grains.

The MSP has led to depletion of water resources, soil degradation and deterioration in water quality in some states, especially in the north-western region. It has discriminated against eastern states where procurement at the MSP is minimal or non-existent.

"One measure that can help remove distortion in the MSP system to some degree is the system of Price Deficiency Payment," it said

While MSP should be continued for need-based procurement, Niti Aayog said that under the deficiency payments system, a subsidy would be provided on other targeted crop if rates fall below an MSP-linked threshold.

"This approach would not require procurement and thereby preventing the accumulation of unwanted stocks. More importantly, it would spread price incentives to producers in all the regions and all the crops considered important for providing price support," the document said.

Each farmer would have to register crop and acreage sown with the nearest APMC mandi.

If the market price then falls below the floor price, the farmer would be entitled to the difference up to a maximum of, say, 10 per cent of the MSP-linked price that could be paid via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) into an Aadhaar-linked bank account, Niti Aayog said.

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"This system would keep the quantum of the subsidy in some check and also meet the restrictions on the subsidy imposed by the World Trade Organization (WTO). The system can initially be piloted in one or two crops in a few districts," it said. PTI LUX NKD MJH ANZ MR

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BRAINTREE, Mass.The Massachusetts woman who won the massive $758.7 million Powerball jackpot has quit her job at the hospital where she worked for three decades, and says she wants to relax.

Fifty-three-year-old Mavis L. Wanczyk (WON-zick), of Chicopee, worked at Mercy Medical Center for 32 years.

She says she used birthdays to choose some of the numbers when she bought the winning Powerball ticket on Wednesday at a store in Chicopee. The winning numbers were 6, 7, 16, 23 and 26, and the Powerball number was 4.Lottery officials say Wanczyk chose to take a lump sum payment of $480 million, or $336 million after taxes. About $120 million of the tax revenue will go to the federal government, and $20 million will go to Massachusetts.

Wanczyk said she always thought winning the lottery was a pipe dream. She was leaving work at night with a Chicopee firefighter, and they were discussing Powerball. Thats when she realized she won. She says he followed her home to make sure she got there safely.

Wanczyk says the first thing she wants to do is sit back and relax. She says she has called work to let them know she wont be back.

Wanczyk has two adult children, a daughter and a son. She won the largest grand prize by a single lottery ticket in U.S. history.
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SCOTTSBLUFF The Coen brothers, well-known filmmakers, are coming to Nebraska to film their next movie and crews were in town Wednesday, working with extras in the film.

Though film crews were not allowed to give any information on the plot of the film, Brett Hughson, owner of the ranch land where the brothers are filming, shared a little about how he got involved with the movie.

The Coen brothers actually came and knocked on my door, Hughson said. They were shooting at the FX Ranch and they passed by my ranch to get there.

Hughson said the brothers saw his ranch, said it was beautiful and wanted to film there.

So they came up to me and asked if I would be interested in doing something like that, Hughson said. I will have a small speaking part.

Hughsons ranch, Wild Springs, is located in Sioux County. He said he is not worried about this activity bringing any unwanted visitors to his ranch due to the extra security brought by the Coen brothers.

Many people have come from across the state to audition for the movie. On Wednesday, those who were called back met to have their costumes fitted and to sign legal forms avowing them not to speak about the plot of the movie.

Stefan Franssen and his brother Skylar are two of those people.

Stefan said he and his brother heard about the opportunity from a friend. He said he isnt expecting his role to really spark a career for him in the movie industry; hes just looking for something to do.

Im here for the experience, Franssen said. Its something different.

Another man, Michael Wright from Scottsbluff, came to get fitted for the film as well. He briefly told about why he was participating in the movie.

It just sounded like something that could be really fun, Wright said. Its certainly something Ive never done before so I wanted to try out.

Several others showed up intermittently to sign their legal forms and be fitted for their costumes. However, none were able to shed any more light on the details of the film.
SCOTTSBLUFF  The City of Scottsbluff awarded a $310,000 LB 840 economic development assistance loan Monday to Millennium Resilient (MR) International Inc., to assist with the companys equipment purchases and working capital.

City of Scottsbluff Economic Development Director Starr Lehl told the council the business had received a recommendation for approval from the citys LB 840 committee and the loan is based on 31 full-time equivalents employees.

Headquartered in the former Nebraskaland Tire building on the Scottsbluff/Gering Highway, Rod Russell of MR International, developed a method for building precast concrete structures using a Hybrid I-post and Panel System (HIPS for short), which combines a concrete core that ties into vertical I-posts. The panels are then slid into the posts and configured depending on the intended use of the structure.

Lehl said MR Housing has also applied for a $57,000 business and innovation grant from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, and is working with the University of Nebraska and the Peter Kiewit Foundation to develop the material that is not only strong and lightweight, but also FEMA and NEMA approved for housing and agricultural buildings.

Its both stronger and less expensive, and the lightweight part is only part of it, Russell said.

Russell said the hybrid components of basalt and lightweight cellular concrete will make the construction easier, and the full-strength concrete columns make the structure tornado and wind-resistant. He said the lightweight concrete material has thermal resistance, meaning it doesnt transfer heat and cold like regular concrete.

We can be less expensive than conventional building because were producing our own building materials, Russell said. Thats one of the pluses for the city, is that we take raw materials that are produced right here. We order sand and gravel here. Cement, of course, we bring in, and some of the basalt we bring in at this point.

But were producing a product that competes with wood and OSB and the different building components that are traditionally used, and were producing it right here locally.

Russell said the business is more competitive because they can control the process from start to finish. The longevity of the product is right in the name.

Thats why we call our company Millennium Resilient International, he said. We actually believe we can build houses that last for thousands of years.

Russell said while Roman concrete has lasted for thousands of years, the modern practice of including steel reinforcement in concrete, while a structural necessity, expands at a different rate than the concrete. Rust and expansion lead to the eventual decay of the structure. His method, however, uses basalt spun into a fiber that has the same expansion coefficient as the concrete. Using the mixture of high tensile-strength re-bar, mesh, and fiber, Russell said the product is a tenth of the weight, but three times as strong.

In other news, the city council voted 4 to 1 to approve a Class D liquor license application for Carol Singh of AMSI LLC, (Cheemas Gas & Liquor), and forward a positive recommendation to the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission.

The council had previously forwarded a negative recommendation with Singhs application back in May, citing concerns about the business past compliance violations and the timing with which the application was submitted.

Attorney John Sorenson represented Singh before the city council and said that Singh withdrew her previous application to correct deficiencies, and resubmitted the application for council approval. He said that Singh now has a redundant ID scanner system installed at the business that automatically flags alcohol and tobacco purchases at the register and requires the clerk at Cheemas to scan the customers drivers license before the transaction can be completed. The system, according to Sorenson, solves past issues the business has had with violations.

The council had also previously expressed concerns about the optics and timing of Singhs previous application, given that the previous application was filed with the city only a few weeks after the business was cited for its most recent violation in March.

Sorenson clarified that it is a continuation of the license from the previous owner, Cheema Capital LLC, to AMSI LLC, and also submitted certified tax-documents for the council to inspect, stating that Carol Singh and her former husband, Kuldip Singh, were in the process of separating and dividing their business assets, including the store. Sorenson said concerns that her application was an attempt to circumvent the sanctions from a previous violation were patently untrue, and that since the time council had heard the previous application, the current owner of the license has since admitted to the violation, which was accepted by the State of the Nebraska.

They are simply awaiting the disposition of that charge, Sorenson said.

The previous violations will follow Carol Singh from Cheema Capital to AMSI, and if the business receives a fourth violation within a three-year period, the liquor license will automatically be canceled.
SCOTTSBLUFF People from around the world visited Riverside Discovery Center on Sunday and Monday after arriving in town for the total solar eclipse.

Sunday and Monday were better than average days and Zoo Curator Anthony Mason said he was sure it was one of the better Mondays of the year.

It wasnt the craziness we expected based on the hype around town about the eclipse, but it was still pretty busy, he said.

Mason said many people who visited the zoo came because they wanted to have things to do with their children before the eclipse.

We were able to offer a lot of family-friendly stuff to do while they were waiting, he said.

Many visitors were from Denver, Colorado. Some came from Wyoming. They even had visitors from Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Though staff did monitor the animals to see how they reacted, there wasnt too much of a difference. The black leopard ran around her enclosure as if she was interested in what was going on. The swift fox normally spend most of their day in burrows, but they began to come out when it got dark.

But then they saw people, they turned around and went back in, Mason said. A couple of them came out just a little bit.

Staff used a Go Pro to record the chimpanzees, but havent yet had a chance to review it. Mason was looking forward to having some time to see how Scooter and Sarah reacted to the eclipse.

The zoo was busy early on and visitors continued to come in after the eclipse was over.

We had people coming in from out of town looking for something to do the rest of the afternoon with their kids, he said. We were able to provide that for them.

Some visitors were unexpected. Mason said he noticed people driving around looking for a place to park.

When I explained what we do, they said, Cool. Well go there, he said.

One visitor was a gentleman from Kansas City. After realizing the weather wasnt going to cooperate there, he drove to Scottsbluff.

He slept in our parking lot overnight, Mason said. When I told him what was going on, he came in the zoo.

The gentleman had a large telescope several feet long. He took video of the eclipse from start to finish.

One positive note for Mason was the reactions from people who visited the zoo.

We got a lot of really good feedback from people who came from out of town, he said.

It was a good day for the zoo.

It wasnt as crazy a day as we thought it would be, but it was a really good day, Mason said.
Record numbers of seniors are lining up at Omahas National Park Service visitor center to buy $10 lifetime passes to national parks.

Nearly 400 people purchased permits Tuesday. Wednesdays line at the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail headquarters was likely to match or exceed that total, said Julie Blanchard, a park ranger who manages the visitor center.

The pass has cost $10 since 1994. Congress in December voted to increase the price to $80 as part of the National Park Centennial Act. The Park Service announced in July the new price would start Monday.

The passes are for anyone 62 years of age or older and a citizen or permanent resident of the United States.

Among those buying passes Wednesday were Jerry and Pam Bothwell of Omaha. The couple have a daughter they visit in California.

We want to be able to go to the national parks when we go out, Pam said.

They have several parks on their wish list. Jerry has never been to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and Pam wants to visit Yosemite National Park in California.

Well more than be able to get our money back, Jerry said.

They each bought a pass to ensure always having one between them.

We thought that one of us will probably lose it, Pam said.

The passes also are valid for entry into other public lands, plus discounts on campgrounds and other amenities.

The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail visitor center is in the National Park Service building that houses the Midwest Regional Office at 601 Riverfront Drive, near the Bob Kerrey Bridge. Visitor center hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends. The $10 price ends Sunday.

Purchasers must have a photo ID to verify age. Purchases can be made with credit or debit cards only, no checks or cash.

Passes also can be ordered online at https://store.usgs.gov/senior-pass. There is an additional $10 processing fee for ordering online. Internet purchasers also will need to upload a photo or scanned copy of their drivers license or passport.
Ten-buck fever tightened its grip on senior citizens across America this week.

Record numbers of people age 62 and older streamed to National Park Service and other federal sites to purchase $10 lifetime passes to Americas national parks before the price jumps to $80 Monday.

In Omaha, a supply of 900 passes at the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail headquarters  which was expected to last through Sunday  was wiped out Thursday by purchasers who flocked to the riverfront site after reading about the deadline in The World-Herald, said Neal Bedlan, chief of interpretation. Buyers waited in a line that stretched out the door.

Although the inventory of plastic passes in Omaha is depleted, the $10 deal remains available at the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail visitor center through Sunday. The Park Service will provide vouchers to buyers, indicating proof of purchase, and will mail passes to buyers in the near future, Bedlan said.

Itll be crazy for us the next couple of days, but its really good that so many people want to get out and visit their national parks and other federal lands, Bedlan said.

Rangers at the visitor center expedited the process late Wednesday by accepting cash, in addition to credit or debit cards, for the passes. No checks are accepted.

The Park Service also has simplified its online option in the crush of orders at store.usgs.gov/senior-pass. Buyers provide their name, date of birth and the last four digits of their Social Security number to demonstrate eligibility. An initial requirement, now waived, called for scanning a copy of their drivers license or passport. There is an additional $10 processing fee for ordering online.

About 480 people purchased passes Wednesday in Omaha, breaking Tuesdays record of roughly 400 passes.

The passes provide access to more than 2,000 recreation sites managed by the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Forest Service and Army Corps of Engineers. Most federal sites where passes are accepted sell the pass.

The Lewis and Clark Visitor Center is in the National Park Service building at 601 Riverfront Drive, near the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. Its hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends.
By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) Niti Aayogs Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), the governments flagship programme to promote innovation and entrepreneurship, is inviting applications for Mentor India initiative.

Mentor India is as a strategic nation building initiative to engage leaders who can guide and mentor schools students in 900+ Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) established by AIM in schools across India.

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Through Mentor India, AIM is looking to engage leaders who can dedicate 1?2 hours every week in one or more such labs and enable school students to experience, learn and practice future skills such as design and computational thinking.

Commenting on the Mentor India initiative, Founder & CEO of Practo Shashank ND said he is thrilled to support Atal Tinkering Labs and Mentor India initiatives and he is looking forward to spending time with the participants and imbibing their enthusiasm and fresh thinking as well.

The deadline for submission of applications to join Mentor India is September 30, 2017. PTI BKS BAL

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Airbus Helicopters and IAR Brasov have decided to extend their exclusive cooperation as regards the H215M Multi-Role helicopter, by sealing a 15-year agreement (from 5 years currently). "According to this general agreement, IAR will become the main contractor for H215M for any future order by the Romanian Defence Ministry to replace its ageing fleet. Originally signed on a 5-year period, the agreement was extended to 15 years, further stressing the commitment of the Airbus Helicopters and IAR Brasov companies to contribute together to upgrading the Multi Role helicopters fleet of the Romanian forces in the long term," a joint release by the two companies reads.

The announcement on the new agreement was made in the presence of the visiting French President Emmanuel Macron and his Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis. "We are proud of having extended this agreement as a result of the confidence between IAR and Airbus Helicopters. IAR has built over 360 helicopters under Airbus Helicopters licence in the past decades, which makes us confident in the future success of the H215M," the IAR managing director Neculai Banea said.

Airbus Helicopters has been present in Romania for over 15 years now through its Client Support Airbus Helicopters Romania centre, the turnover of which is 75 percent derived from export contracts. The plant, Airbus Helicopters Industries, covering 10,000 sqm in central Brasov County, was inaugurated in 2016 and will host the manufacturing of the H215 helicopters in Romania. IAR Brasov, a majority state-run company, is one of the national leaders in aeronautics in Romania, specialising in helicopters' manufacturing and maintenance. In 2016, it generated EUR 34 million in revenue and had rd 316 employees. IAR Brasov offers a wide range of services for both the Romanian army and for its international customers. These services consist mainly of maintenance, repair and upgrading of the military helicopters and spares' supply.

Agerpres...
Romania is perfectly entitled to ask to join the Schengen Area, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday at the Cotroceni presidential palace at the end of his meeting with President of Romania Klaus Iohannis.

Our desire is for Europe to march forward. For several years now you have been perfectly entitled to ask to join the Schengen Area (...) and I know how important this is for you. (...) I am totally open to this subject, Macron said.In his opinion, Europe of the Schengen Area does not work well.

Europe of the Schengen Area does not work well and of course we cannot rejoice in it, and it's my wish that in the coming months we speed up the reform of the common rules in this area, clarify them, have a more solidary attitude, better border control, increased convergence as regards common regulations on asylum and the reception of foreign people, and have you join this discussion, Macron said.

Agerpres.
Romania is a mature member of the European Union, that wishes to be a re-founding member of the EU, President Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday at the end of his meeting with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron.

"We have decided to support a strengthened cooperation between Romania and France in the field of European affairs, mainly to support and even re-define the European project we both - President Macron and I - hold very dear. I've assured Mr. President that he can find an authentic partner, deeply attached to the European idea and fully involved in the efforts of re-boosting the EU. Romania is today, ten years since accession, a mature member state, with a very strong European profile, that wishes to be a re-founding member of the EU. In this respect, I've stressed the importance of advancing in the integration process at European level in an inclusive formula, open to all member states, by focusing our joint efforts on consensual initiatives, with concrete, positive results for our citizens. (...) Social Europe must be in the first place a Europe of cohesion, based on a unitary vision wherein the social progress of every member state is a priority goal," Iohannis told the joint conference delivered with French President Macron.

He also specified that Romania wishes to participate from the beginning in the "Europe of Defence" project.

Agerpres..
President Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday that the directive on posted workers needs improvement, underscoring that certain simplifications and confusions must be avoided. "There is great discontent in France over the workers who apparently are trying to bypass the system rather than fit into it, but we can see a lot of people from Eastern Europe, for instance from Romania, who want to work in France, Germany, Spain. If this is the case, it is very clear that we need to improve this directive. It is inadmissible to see this discontent in Western Europe on the one hand - over incoming workers, and on the other hand to have the desire of the people from the East to live better. They are both legitimate and the fact that this directive has produced such disagreements and divergences does not mean that the people of France are not right or that those from Romania are not right, it means that the directive is not sufficiently clear and good enough," Iohannis told a joint press conference with his visiting French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.

Iohannis also underscored that it is very important to avoid certain simplifications and confusions.

Agerpres..
By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) Government think tank NITI Aayog has pitched for 24x7 electricity for all, bringing reforms in diesel and petrol pricing, and city gas distribution in 100 smart cities in its Three-Year Action Agenda released today. The document, unveiled by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, also calls for steps to promote electric cooking and adoption of electric vehicles.

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Besides, the Aayog has also suggested the government to ensure availability of electricity, petrol, diesel and gas at competitive prices to households, in the document to be implemented by 2019-20.

According to the document, the energy sector is fundamental to growth and development. Being a large sector, energy also contributes directly to the growth of the economy in a major way. The Aayog expressed concerns that at present, 304 million Indians do not have access to electricity and around 500 million Indians are dependent on solid biomass for cooking. Besides it said that Indias per capita electricity consumption remains a fraction of major economies. Average transmission and distribution (T&D) power losses stand at 23 per cent.

It pointed out that as India fulfils its ambition of 8 per cent plus growth in the coming 15 years, its energy needs will multiply manifold even taking into account enhanced energy efficiency.

The government has already committed to bring electricity to every village by May 2018 and to every household by 2022.

The Aayog said that an even more ambitious goal would be to provide electricity to all households on 24x7 basis.

Within the existing LPG network, the Aayog said that India must launch a campaign to bring LPG connections down to one per family and target 100 smart cities for the provision of gas via the City Gas Distribution (CGD).

It said that for expanding the penetration of natural gas, the CGD network should be extended to 326 cities by 2022 through suitable changes in bidding/regulatory practices

of Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB).

It further said that the work should also be resumed in about 10,258 km gas pipelines bid out by the PNGRB, by suitably incentivising pipeline companies with better tariff mechanism, assured throughput and Viability Gap Funding (VGF) support, as per the specific situation. It also suggested that for streamlining the demand in the industrial sector, the cross-subsidy in the power sector must be substantially reduced so that industry may receive electricity at competitive prices.

It made a case for continuing reform to reduce the price differential between diesel and petrol.

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On the agricultural front, it said that solar irrigation pump distribution target must be stepped up and financed through credit support from NABARD and government subsidy.

The option to connect irrigation pumps to feeder level small solar plants must be explored and, if found cost effective, should be exercised.

It suggested that the government should explore the prospects for switching over to electric cooking in areas where reliable supply of electricity already exists and must evaluate adoption of electric vehicles in the coming years.

It said that the efficiency of existing thermal plants should be raised through Renovation and Modernization (R&M).

The document provides for phasing out the old plants with high station heat rate, especially when located in or near heavily populated regions..

It was also suggested that the new power projects to be initiated during the Action Agenda period, especially if located in or near heavily populated areas, should be on ultra- super critical technology which uses 20 per cent less coal per unit of electricity as compared to subcritical plant.

On lower utilisation of plant capacity it said that in view of the currently declining Plant Load Factor (PLF) (60% in 2016-17), the government must ensure that fresh capacity augmentation beyond 2019-20 is scheduled as per demand for power and operational viability.

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It called for expediting the JV Hydel projects in Bhutan and asked to complete the transmission corridor on the Indian side for evacuation of electricity.

It was suggested that the Small Hydro Power (SHP) target of 5000 MW by 2022 should be advanced to 2019-20 through VGF and tariff support, which will also aid balancing of variable solar energy in de-centralised locations. PTI KKS MR

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: (Eds: Updating with fresh inputs)

Patna, Aug 24 (PTI) Opposition RJD, Congress and CPI-ML in Bihar Assembly today protested in both Houses of the Bihar legislature accusing the state government of failing to provide proper relief to flood victims and staged a walkout from the Assembly following multiple adjournments.

As the state Assembly met for the day, RJDs Abdul Bari Siddiqui drew Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudharys attention to an adjournment notice given by party members on floods and urged him to suspend all business and take up the issue.

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The speaker, citing rules, said adjournment notice could be taken up only at an appropriate time.

Chaudhary said he was ready to call a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee of the House to fix a time for a special debate on floods.

But, RJD, Congress and CPI-ML members raise anti- government slogans from the Well of the House.

Reacting to the charge, BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi lambasted the RJD for "mobilising people" for its August 27 rally at Gandhi Maidan, but being "insensitive" towards the flood victims.

He said he had appealed to RJD president Lalu Prasad to postpone the rally and render services in the inundated areas.

Siddiqui, however, turned down the appeal.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shrawan Kumar said the government was prepared for any debate as per rules.

With the din refusing to subside, the Speaker adjourned the Assembly till 2 PM.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was not present when opposition and treasury bench members indulged in verbal spat.

When the House reassembled at 2 pm, Lalit Yadav of the RJD again drew the Speakers attention to the adjournment notice.

The RJD, Congress and CPI-ML members rushed to the well of the House raising slogans over governments "inability" to provide relief to flood victims.

Siddiqui again demanded that the adjournment motion be taken up and the speaker rejected it afresh citing rules.

Amid sloganeering, CPI(ML) member Mehboob Alam stood up on the reporters table.

The speaker then adjourned the house till 4.55 pm barely 10 minutes after it met at 2 pm.

When the House met again at 4:55, the din continued.

Leader of opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav raised the issue of the adjournment motion, although his voice could not be properly heard amid the din in the House.

The opposition later staged a walk out.

Meanwhile, Sushil Modi said in the Assembly that he had requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit flood hit areas in the capacity of the deputy chief minister and not in his individual capacity.

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Seeking to create a wedge between the JD(U) and BJP, RJD chief Lalu Prasad yesterday said that Sushil Modi has claimed that the PM is coming to Bihar on his request.

In the state Legislative Council too, Congress and RJD members registered protests over "inadequate" flood relief arrangements and over the Srijan NGO scam at Bhagalpur forcing Deputy Chairman Harun Rashid to adjourn the House till 2.30 pm. PTI SNS AR SUN RG NN DIP

--- ENDS ---
Trump chastised Pakistan for harbouring "agents of chaos" and providing safe havens to militant groups waging an insurgency against a US-backed government in Afghanistan.

By Reuters: Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will meet with powerful Pakistani generals on Thursday to formulate a response to the new US policy on Afghanistan that includes greater pressure on Islamabad to do more to rein in militants.

President Donald Trump has chastised Pakistan for harbouring "agents of chaos" and providing safe havens to militant groups waging an insurgency against a US-backed government in Kabul, saying Islamabad must promptly change tack.

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White House officials have gone further and threatened aid and military cuts, as well as other measures to force nuclear-armed Pakistan's hand and bring about an end to the 16-year-war.

Abbasi has not responded yet to Trump's remarks but Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said Washington should not use Pakistan as a "scapegoat" for its failures in America's longest running war. Pakistan denies harbouring militants.

READ | India welcomes US President Donald Trump's new Afghanistan strategy and tough stand on Pakistan

MILITARY CALLS THE SHOTS

As is often the case with Pakistan, the final decision about how to proceed with rest with the military, which has ruled the country for nearly half its 70-year history. It calls the shots on key parts of Pakistan's foreign policy, including ties with the United States, Afghanistan and arch-foe India.

Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who will be part of the National Security Council meeting on Thursday, a day earlier met with US Ambassador David Hale and said Islamabad wanted trust and understanding rather than US aid money.

Pakistani officials bristle at what they say is a lack of respect by Washington for the country's sacrifices in the war against militancy and its successes against groups like al Qaeda, Islamic State or the Pakistani Taliban.

READ | What Donald Trump said on Afghanistan, Pakistan, India: Full text of speech

Pakistan Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Qamar Javed Bajwa met with US Ambassador David Hale and said Islamabad wanted trust and understanding rather than aid. (File Photo: Reuters)

TRUMP 'TOTALLY ONE-SIDED, UNFAIR TO PAKISTAN'

Pakistan estimates there have been 70,000 casualties in militant attacks since it joined the US "war on terrorism" after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

"We feel the American administration led by Mr Trump has been totally one sided, unfair to Pakistan and does not appreciate and recognise Pakistan has been a pivotal player...in the campaign against terrorism," Senator Mushahid Hussain, chairman of the senate defence committee, told Reuters on Thursday.

Pakistani officials have also been angered by Trump imploring old rival India to play a greater role in reconstructing Afghanistan, warning a greater Indian role in Kabul could be a threat to regional peace.

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Pakistan fears New Delhi's greater influence in Afghanistan would leave it sandwiched by India, its bigger neighbour against whom it has fought three wars since independence in 1947.

THE CHINA FACTOR

Analysts have also warned putting greater pressure on Pakistan risks driving Islamabad deeper into the arms of China, its northern neighbour which is investing nearly $60 billion in infrastructure projects as part of its Belt and Road initiative.

China's top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, told US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a phone call the United States must value Pakistan's role in Afghanistan and respect its security concerns, according to Chinese state media.

READ | China defends ally Pakistan after Donald Trump says US can't be silent on safe havens for terrorists

US President Donald Trump chastised Pakistan for providing safe havens to militant groups waging an insurgency against a US-backed government in Kabul (Photo: Reuters)

'DIMINISHED CLOUT'

"Things have changed since 9/11," added Mushahid Hussain.

"The US today has far more diminished clout and leverage in the region and we have far more strategic space and options in our foreign policy."

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The relationship between the two countries has endured periods of extreme strain in recent years, especially after al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was found and killed by US special forces in Pakistan in a 2011 raid.

ALSO READ

Donald Trump commits to more US troops in Afghanistan, vows to win

Why US policy change on Afghanistan matters for India

ALSO WATCH

Trump slams Pakistan for harbouring terrorists, seeks bigger role for India in Afghanistan

--- ENDS ---
My mother told me that as a child, in the 1920s, she could see from her house into a wooded hollow along LaSalle Street in Collinsville where Ku Klux Klan members on horseback sometimes burned torches in the night.

That proximity left me with a lifelong presumption that the organized hate once literally in her backyard was probably always present, at least figuratively, in mine.

But I was an experienced reporter, in 1982, before I got a firsthand look at the magnitude. It was a visit to the Freedom Festival about 100 miles east, at Louisville, Ill.

A somber guard at the gate, wearing camouflage and toting an AR-15 rifle, listened through my open car window as I explained in gentler words that I was an invited guest of the racist nut who lived up the lane.

In silent horror, I recognized that the song playing softly on my radio was Ebony and Ivory, a duet by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder urging racial harmony. I tried to act casual as I hastily spun the volume down.

My mission was to see if the semi-annual event really drew several thousand radicals for paramilitary maneuvers and a fresh infusion of hate. The unequivocal answer was yes.

The organizer, Johnny Bob Harrell, accepted my visit because I worked for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, a beacon of conservatism.

The best newspaper in America, he declared to his minions as we sat for an interview. I wanted to retch. Globe editorials were right-wing but hardly to his extreme. I wondered if he realized how many of its news reporters held more enlightened views.

Harrell was unashamed of vendors selling Ku Klux Klan robes and Nazi uniforms on the 55-acre tract used by his self-styled Christian church. Communism was overtaking America, he warned, and promoting the heresy of mixing races. His followers appeared to be training to do something about it.

I saw the kind of anti-government fervor that had flared in the same spot in 1961. He and followers had refused to hand over a Marine Corps deserter who took refuge there to escape what Harrell described as rampant sin in the military.

It ended when 24 FBI agents and 84 state troopers, using an armored truck, broke down the gate. Had the dozen or so defenders resorted to using the 100 rifles and 10,000 rounds of ammunition at their disposal, it would have been a Waco-liked massacre, even Harrell later acknowledged.

He served four years in federal prison and then emerged as a mildly prominent white supremacist who appeared to be flying high when I showed up almost two decades later.

It was a lot different when we met there one more time, in 1995. The last of the onetime millionaires money had been spent on his cause and on the consequences of unpaid taxes. His army of intolerance had moved on. The land was overgrown and its buildings dilapidated.

The man who scorned big government told me with no recognition of irony that he subsisted on Social Security checks.

He had finally repudiated the militancy of the KKK and Nazis, and cooled his fiery oratory if not its root feelings. Where once he might have raged against betrayal by an estranged daughter whose husband was black, he quietly told me, I hear hes a nice man. But I still think its a mistake.

Harrell faded away and would be about 95 now if hes still alive. His brand of politics, like his life, seems to follow a cycle of aggressive and passive periods that may be dictated by how much open hatred the public will tolerate at a particular moment.

I watched from the periphery about 20 years ago when neo-Nazis rallied, with a permit, outside the Madison County Courthouse in Edwardsville. A modest crowd that seemed more curious than faithful listened as an array of angry speakers droned on, using a scratchy PA system even more defective than themselves. Then everybody peacefully went home.

It was not Charlottesville, Va., although with the right spark at the right time it could have been. In these days of supercharged nationalism and buzzing bigots emerging like cicadas, there is plenty of kindling in my backyard of Southern Illinois, as most everywhere.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit national legal activist organization, currently tracks 917 U.S. hate groups. Those include the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, in Clay County, Ill., which  I doubt coincidentally  had been Harrells base.

The list includes two black separatist organizations: the New Black Panther Party, in Springfield, Ill., and the Nation of Islam, in East St. Louis. Also cited are the Aryan Nations Sadistic Souls, which are neo-Nazi motorcycle clubs in Taylorville, Ill., and Wood River.

It is, of course, constitutional to espouse your own superiority, unless you also break the law. Metro East harbored a dandy example in the 1990s, when the feds infiltrated and prosecuted an anti-government conspiracy. The nascent plot was to rob armored cars to finance terror, including bombings and poisoning water supplies.

There also was a plan to shoot down Morris Dees, the Southern Poverty Law Centers co-founder, at a speech at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Officials determined that the would-be killer took a gun there but turned back upon seeing metal detectors at the entrance.

I heard no public support for those conspirators when they went to prison. Im not so sure of what Id hear if it happened again today.
By PTI: dam oustees

Dhar (MP), Aug 24 (PTI) Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar, released from the district jail today after granted bail by the High Court, alleged that Narendra Modi government was doing "injustice" to the Narmada dam oustees in Madhya Pradesh with an eye on votes in Gujarat, which is going to polls later this year.

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Patkar said the Madhya Pradesh government is bent on "suppressing" the voice of those who oppose illegal works as well as the corrupt.

The activist, arrested on August 9 on the charge of holding government officials captive during her indefinite fast for full rehabilitation of those displaced by the Sardar Sarovar Dam project, was granted bail by the Indore bench of the HC yesterday.

"The state government wants to keep those who stop illegal works and put a check on corrupt people, in jails. It is very painful that the state government is doing injustice by concocting charges in courts," Patkar told reporters.

The activist (62) said she would return to the Narmada valley for the cause of the oustees who are displaced due to closure of the gates of the Sardar Sarovar Dam (SSD) in neighbouring Gujarat.

"Narmada valley is my home. I will go there. What is happening in the name of rehabilitation of the SSD oustees will not be tolerated. Several of the rehabilitation works, which the government claimed to have completed in its reply to the high court, are in fact yet to be carried out on the ground," she added.

Patkar said Modi government was responsible for the problems being faced by the displaced people.

"Modi government should stop doing injustice to the displaced people, which is being done to reap electoral gains in the Gujarat Assembly polls this year," she alleged.

She said the gates of the SSD have been closed with an eye on the Gujarat polls.

Patkar alleged the Madhya Pradesh government had failed to rehabilitate the people in the submergence area of the dam by July 31.

Patkar, who was on indefinite hunger strike at village Chikhalda in Dhar district, was shifted to hospital after her condition deteriorated, and subsequently arrested on August 9. PTI COR ADU LAL NSK

--- ENDS ---
ST. LOUIS  New details are emerging from police about the neighbor dispute that brought police Tuesday to the home of Kenny Kiwi Herring, who was then killed in a confrontation with officers.

In court documents filed in St. Louis Circuit Court, police say Herring had accused a downstairs neighbor that morning of starting a fire on a back deck. Herring then stabbed that neighbor after Herrings partner provided the kitchen knife, police say.

Herring was fatally shot by police after Herring, in a scuffle with officers, cut an officer on the arm. Herrings partner, Kristy Lynn Thompson, is jailed on assault charges for handing the knife to Herring. And the neighbor who was stabbed was hospitalized with stab wounds. The victim suffered a collapsed lung in the attack, police say.

The two officers who fired the shots are on administrative leave, as is protocol, while the case is being reviewed.

Here is an account of that morning, based on court records and an affidavit from St. Louis Police Detective Jamie Simpher:

The victim, 30, was living with his girlfriend in a downstairs apartment of a two-family flat at 5246 Ridge Avenue. Herring, a transgender woman, lived upstairs with Thompson and their three young sons.

About 2 a.m. Tuesday, a fire broke out on the upper balcony of the flat. The St. Louis Fire Department determined that charcoal from a barbecue pit on a second floor balcony fell out of the pit, caught fire and caused minor damage to both the second- and first-floor porches.

Police werent notified. There was no indication of any type of disturbance, Fire Capt. Garon Mosby said.

However, Herring apparently was suspicious. Herring told a next-door neighbor, Brooke Jones, that an arsonist might be at work, and Herring had suspicions about who it might be. Jones told the Post-Dispatch that Herring planned to confront the person early Tuesday.

Simpher, the detective, said Herring and Thompson later came to the neighbors first-floor apartment and accused him of starting the fire. The neighbor denied doing it, Simpher said.

The victim told police that the argument turned physical, and during the struggle, Thompson handed what looked like a butcher knife to Herring and Herring started stabbing the neighbor.

The neighbor was stabbed several times, and he was able to push Herring and Thompson out of his apartment and lock the door. He had been on the telephone with his girlfriend during at least part of the attack, police say. His girlfriend called 911.

He suffered cuts to his face, hands and body. His left lung was also punctured.

Officers who arrived at the residence on Ridge found the stabbing victim, bleeding from stab wounds; he told police the name of the person who stabbed him, police say.

Herring was still at the apartment building when officers arrived. When officers tried to arrest Herring, Herring used the knife to cut an officers arm, police say. Thats when the injured officer and another officer fired their weapons at Herring.

Police have not released the names of the officers involved. The shooting happened inside the flat and no other witnesses have come forward. The victim of the initial stabbing could not be reached Thursday for comment.

Herring, 30, died at the scene. In the wake of Herrings death, some members of the LGBT community have held candlelight vigils for Herring and protests questioning the police response. During a march Wednesday night, a driver tried to push through a group of protesters, injuring three. Accounts of how that happened differ.

Thompson, 28, was charged Tuesday with first-degree assault and armed criminal action. A judge set bail at $80,000 cash only. Thompson remained jailed on Thursday. No attorney for Thompson is listed in court records. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Sept. 25.

Police identified Herring as a man, but friends and family members say she was a transgender woman. Similarly, police identified Thompson as a woman, but a relative, Crevonda Nance, said Thompson is a transgender man who was married to Herring. Nance said Thompson is the biological mother of the sons she and Herring were raising.

Until the detectives sworn statement filed in court records, police had only said that Thompson had some involvement in the assault but didnt elaborate on Thompsons role.
ST. LOUIS  A St. Louis man on Thursday admitted fatally shooting a Centralia, Ill., man in 2012 during a drug-related robbery, prosecutors said.

Jessie Lil Jessie Hampton, 26, pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, resulting in murder, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

Malcolm Lil Mac Johnson, 26, pleaded guilty to the same charge on Aug. 11.

Johnson, Hampton and Kevin Jeezy Granderson, 34, planned the armed robbery of three other men who had come to St. Louis to buy 27 ounces of cocaine for $27,000, prosecutors have said.

They met just after midnight on July 15, 2012, in the 1200 block of North 15th Street. During the robbery, Hampton shot Scipio A. Vaughn, 33, twice in the back when he tried to run away, prosecutors said.

The men then changed clothes in University City, split up the stolen money and spent a substantial amount at a Brooklyn strip club, the Pink Slip, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Bird said during Johnsons plea hearing.

Granderson pleaded guilty to a cocaine charge and a gun charge in connection with Vaughns death and was sentenced in July 2016 to 21 years and 10 months in prison.

Prosecutors have also claimed in court documents that Hampton fatally shot Ralph Hill, 26, of the 3900 block of Compton Avenue on July 12, 2010, in the St. Louis Place Neighborhood after Hill slapped Hampton at a Metro East club.
CHICAGO  Illinois' top legislative leaders announced Thursday that they've tentatively reached a bipartisan agreement to fund public schools, but said details were still being worked out.

The four leaders have been meeting privately to resolve a funding fight that has held up state money for K-12 this year, a spinoff of Illinois' unprecedented two-year budget impasse which just ended last month. While all schools expect to open on time, districts have missed initial payments and aren't sure how long they can stay open.

Republicans and Democrats issued cautious statements after a meeting in Chicago. Democratic leaders Senate President John Cullerton and House Speaker Michael Madigan said there was "agreement in concept," while Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady and House Republican Leader Jim Durkin characterized it as "agreement in principle."

"Language will be drafted and details of the agreement released once the drafts have been reviewed," the statement from Brady and Durkin read.

The four planned to meet again Sunday at the state Capitol, a day before the Illinois House was expected to convene. Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner applauded the efforts.

The schools issue has come up now because the spending plan legislators approved last month, ending the long stalemate, requires a new funding formula. There's wide agreement that Illinois' 20-year-old calculation is unfair. But Democrats and Republicans have been at odds over fixes.

The Democrat-run Legislature approved a new formula aimed at reducing disparities in per-student funding that existed between wealthy and poor districts under the previous funding formula. But Rauner removed hundreds of millions of dollars for Chicago Public Schools, saying the plan was overly generous to the nation's third-largest district.

The Illinois Senate overrode Rauner's veto, and the House had planned a similar vote. But legislative leaders said they'd seek a compromise instead.

School superintendents across the state, particularly in central and southern Illinois, have been on edge with schools opening this fall. Many have cut back spending and say they'll have to borrow or dip into reserves to stay open.
ST. LOUIS  A man who drove his car into a group of protesters in St. Louis on Wednesday night has been charged with a felony.

Mark Colao, 59, was charged Thursday with a felony count of resisting arrest by fleeing and two misdemeanor charges of leaving the scene of an accident and operating a vehicle in a careless and imprudent manner.

Police say Colao, of the 2900 block of St. Vincent Avenue, drove his car through protesters who were blocking Manchester Avenue and Sarah Street in the Grove neighborhood Wednesday night.

After Colao pushed his car through the protesters, he gave the middle finger to a police officer who pulled alongside his car, and accelerated aggressively as he left the scene, according to charging documents.

He initially refused to stop for officers, police say. They caught up to him after he violently applied his brakes to avoid striking traffic several blocks away, at Chouteau Avenue and Grand Boulevard, where he was arrested, according to police.

Police released a surveillance video Thursday that officers say shows an aerial view of protesters surrounding and striking the vehicle. The car then slowly moves through the crowd before accelerating around the corner, according to court documents. Court documents name one woman who said she tried to get the protesters to move out of the cars way, then saw it come toward the group and felt it bump her in the leg.

Three people had minor injuries.

The protesters were marching in the street Wednesday after a nearby vigil to honor Kenny Kiwi Herring, who was fatally shot by St. Louis police officers a day earlier after police say Herring stabbed a man and attacked an officer with a knife.

After the encounter between the protesters and the car, protesters hit the car and chased it as the man drove off.

Before Colao was charged, his name circulated on social media, along with a photo protesters found that appears to show Colao posing with St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson.

Krewson denied knowing him in a post on social media Thursday. City staff said they believe the photograph was taken at a campaign event where the mayor posed with many people she did not know personally.

She condemned his actions in a tweet. Driving into people is totally wrong, Krewson posted. People have a right to protest, he should have used common sense and turned around.
UPDATED at 10 a.m. Thursday with comments from additional witness at the vigil

ST. LOUIS  Police and a witness gave differing versions of how protesters were injured when a driver pulled into a group that had blocked an intersection on Wednesday night.

The witness, Keith Rose, said the driver had his middle fingers raised before he accelerated through the group of people who were blocking Manchester Avenue and Sarah Street in the Grove neighborhood.

But St. Louis police said the driver stopped, honked and attempted to drive around the protesters before some of them surrounded his car and began hitting it with their hands and a flag pole.

The police statement, from spokeswoman Schron Jackson, said that three protesters were injured after they jumped onto the car and fell off when the driver pulled away.

Jackson said the driver was taken into custody about a block from the intersection after initially refusing to stop for officers. She said the incident was captured on video.

A video taken by Heather De Mian, a vigil attendee at the scene, also captured the incident.

Both police and Rose characterized the injuries as minor.

Rose, who was among the protesters, said he could see the driver of the car as it made its way down Manchester Avenue.

He said the driver at one point stopped the car for a few seconds before accelerating gradually and driving into the group. Rose said that a protester was thrown over the hood of the car by the impact and others were hit by the car.

The people in the street had begun a march after a vigil that had been held nearby. They were holding candles in the intersection when the car approached.

Rose said other drivers had turned off onto side streets rather than driving through the group.

Police later closed off the intersection. The march ended shortly after the incident.

The vigil that preceded the march was set up to honor Kenny Kiwi Herring, who was fatally shot by St. Louis police officers a day earlier after police say Herring stabbed two people.

Police said Herring stabbed a man, then used the knife to attack officers who had responded to a report of a stabbing. One officer was wounded. The officers fatally shot Herring in a two-family flat on Ridge Avenue after the officer was cut.

Friends and family say Herring was a transgender woman who, along with her partner, felt threatened by neighbors.

Elizabeth Gombos, 30, of Pocahontas, called the Post-Dispatch on Thursday, claiming to be among those who saw the car hit people at the vigil Wednesday night. Gombos was in the intersection for about seven minutes, holding a candle as part of the vigil; "we were marching down the street peacefully, stopping in front of some gay bars," Gombos said.

As they stood in front of Attitudes bar, Gombos saw headlights coming down the middle of the road toward the vigil participants. Gombos identified the driver as a man.

"When he came at us really fast we kind of stood our ground," Gombos said. "He was blaring the horn ... a half a block back. The first time that he stopped he didn't hit anybody. But there were people in front of his car only. He still had the opportunity to back up and leave.

"Then, I'll be completely honest with you, I can't tell you if he flipped us off before or after he hit people," Gombos said.

"After we were already in front of the car, he made a point to stop, flip us off with both hands and then he accelerated," Gombos said. "Once he hit people, that's when people lost it. Once people realized he was going to hurt people, they started to hit his car. I'm not going to deny they hit his car. They hit it with whatever they had ... fist, feet. They were trying to make him stop.

"With the bumper of his car, he hit the shins of the people in front of me," Gombos added. "I had about two seconds to take two steps to the right. I stepped to the side and I was going to his driver's door to tell him he needed to turn around, but ... his car was already going past me. I had a candle in my hand and a sign, and the candle was knocked out of my hand by a body."

Kim Bell of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
With assembly elections in Rajasthan scheduled for next year, the upcoming Udaipur visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is being considered significant in several ways.

By Dev Ankur Wadhawan: With assembly elections in Rajasthan scheduled for next year, the upcoming Udaipur visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is being considered significant in several ways.

Preparations are afoot in BJP-ruled desert state to welcome PM Modi during his Udaipur visit on August 29.

Modi is slated to inaugurate/lay foundation stone for several big-ticket projects in Rajasthan.

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Here is what is scheduled to happen during PM Modi's upcoming visit:

# PM Modi to lay foundation stone for national highways projects worth around Rs 15000 crore.

# He will dedicate eleven completed National Highways projects with a total length of around 873-km, which include a 6-lane Cable Stayed Bridge across Chambal river at Kota.

# The PM is also scheduled to perform bhoomi poojan for six NH projects of approximately 556 km.

The list of completed projects to be inaugurated include 4-laning of Gomati Chauraha-Udaipur section of NH-8 at total capital cost of more than Rs 1120 crore; 4-laning of Rajsamand-Bhilwara section of NH-758 with total capital cost of more than Rs 1350 crore whereas the list of projects for which PM Modi will perform bhoomi poojan include 6-laning of Chittorgarh to Udaipur section of NH-76 at a total capital cost of more than Rs 1220 crore and 6- laning of new Udaipur bypass on NH-8.

The completed projects involve 11 districts of Rajasthan including Kota, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Bhilwara, Pali, Nagaur, Barmer, Sikar, Churu, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer whereas the awarded projects for which the PM will perform bhoomi poojan are expected to benefit people in Jodhpur, Pali, Ajmer, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Dungarpur.

Congress, meanwhile, has been prodding the Rajasthan government to ensure farm loan waiver during the Prime Minister's visit. There have been several farmer deaths in Rajasthan in the last few months.

"I think this is his only second visit ever since Vasundhara ji became the Chief Minister. And I think, whatever may be the BJP's agenda for his visit, he cannot ignore the demand of the farmers and the Congress party for a farm loan waiver and also, he cannot, you know, cover up the immense corruption that has taken place in Vasundhara Raje ji's tenure in the last 3.5-4 years," Sachin Pilot, the Rajasthan PCC chief, told India Today.

There have been several farmer deaths in Rajasthan in the last few months. The Congress demanded that the BJP must ensure farm loan waiver on August 29.

"Yes, of course. If the BJP can waive off the farm loans in Maharashtra and UP and you know, 75 farmers had committed suicide in Rajasthan in the last eighteen months. So, I think the BJP must also explain this thing and Vasundhara ji must ensure that farm loan waiver is something that happens on the 29th," Pilot said.

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The incident came to light after the toll plaza authorities filed a complaint against six policemen for allegedly manhandling staff at the plaza.

By India Today Web Desk: In what can be called as a role reversal of sorts, policemen turned savage and attacked a toll plaza on Agra-Delhi NH 2.

The incident came to light after the toll plaza authorities filed a complaint against six policemen for allegedly manhandling staff at the plaza.

The toll plaza authorities alleged that the policemen not only thrashed the staff but also looted cash amounting to Rs 40,000 from them.

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The incident happened on the intervening night of August 22 and August 23. The entire incident took place sometime between 11.45 pm to 1 am.

The toll plaza authorities along with their complaint also submitted CCTV footage of the entire incident.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The policemen arrived in a jeep at around 11.30 pm and entered lane 13 which is meant for fast vehicles.

The authorities said that since the jeep did not have fast vehicle tag, the barrier blocked their transit.

Angered over this the circle officer and other policemen who were in the vehicle alighted and began threatening the staff.

The policemen got into a heated argument following which they manhandled the plaza staff.

The plaza staff also accused the police of opening barriers of other two lanes and letting of vehicles without paying the toll.

Sources said that the police, when contacted, outrightly denied the allegations and went on to state that the toll plaza staff misbehaved with them and were charging more for transit.

Regardless of the police's denial, the CCTV footage clearly showed the transgression by cops.

Also Read:

WATCH: GRP constable flings injured man into train, leaves him to die

Delhi Police busts casino-cum-bar operating in Fatehpur Beri farmhouse, 30 arrested

WATCH VIDEO | Navi Mumbai shocker: Injured man left to die by railway police

--- ENDS ---
Who is more moral?

Person 1: Speaks out in order to further an immoral cause.

Person 2: Uses violence in order to further a moral cause.

There are too many people who think that the answer to this question is a matter of debate. But it seems to me that the difference between speech and violence is about as clear a moral distinction as one can make.

Punch a Nazi? That sounds like a great way to get out that suppressed aggression, come off like a bad-ass, and feel morally justified all in one fell swoop. Someone should make shirts.

What transpired in Charlottesville, Va., wasnt a public lynching, nor was it an armed rebellion, nor was it the sudden resurgence of the Third Reich. It was a march. It is imperative to note that white supremacist marchers had the tool of real violence available to them, and they didnt use it. Nevertheless, this exchange culminated with one white supremacist driving a car into a crowd of counterprotesters. What is one to make of this?

Right-wing pundits were eager to define Black Lives Matter by the few who were burning down buildings after the death of Michael Brown. By this reasoning, the police would have been justified in treating all of those protesters like violent criminals. Should a few jihadists render all American Muslims violent by the same belief in the Quran? Obviously not. The Sean Hannitys of the world will be quick to exploit such hypocrisy on the left. Unless we remain logically consistent on this point, we grant white supremacists credence and triumphantly reinforce the narrative that Fox News has been spoon-feeding their millions of viewers each day.

If we grant that the murderous driver doesnt throw a blanket of violence over the entire white supremacist group, then the perceived moral justification for punching Nazis must come from the notion that the act of carrying a flag with a swastika itself is the same as committing an act of violence. This would validate Nazi-punching as an act of defense. The Supreme Court already deliberated the legality of Nazis marching publicly in National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie 40 years ago, ruling that carrying the swastika does not constitute fighting words, and is not considered violence. Which means punching them is an act of aggression, not defense.

Perhaps some of us are beginning to feel that the First Amendment is not all its cracked up to be. At this point, the belabored defense of freedom of speech as an essential pillar of democracy is starting to sound like a right-wing trope that takes on the same droning character as the voice of your high school civics teacher. After all, in this situation, it seems to be doing more harm than good. Right?

But what is the alternative to speech? There is truly no alternative. When we are done talking, violence is the only thing we have left to resolve our disputes. The First Amendment is not about giving a platform to deplorable ideas; its about coming to an agreement as a society that were not going to hurt each other when we inevitably disagree. It would be enormously helpful if we saw fewer people asserting Punch a Nazi into the ether on Facebook as though this were the moral insight of the century, and more people defending our most fundamental and most flouted value, even when its not fashionable.

Alex Nezam is an Indian-American writer who lives in St. Louis.
Forget for a moment Steve Bannon, fire and fury, Charlottesvilles both sides and even the Russia investigation. President Donald Trumps outrages du jour serve to obscure much of the behind-the-scenes damage that his administration is daily inflicting on America. Some recent examples:

 Last Friday, the Interior Departments Office of Surface Mining sent a letter to the National Academy of Sciences canceling a study into the possible health risks of living near surface coal mining sites in Appalachia. Scientists suspect that strip mining and mountaintop-removal mining release pollutants into air and water that increase rates of cancer, birth defects and cardiovascular disease. The state of West Virginia had asked for a detailed study. Now Trumps Interior Department has decided it doesnt want to know the answer.

 On Thursday, the Interior Department recommended shrinking an unspecified number of national monument sites as part of a plan to open up more land to mining, ranching and oil exploration. President Theodore Roosevelt created the national monuments program in 1906 for places so special they deserve protection. Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama used Roosevelts Antiquities Act to set aside some 27 national monuments. Trumps people are heeding local interests who want to exploit these public lands.

 Trumps Health and Human Services Department is moving to formalize a long-standing practice allowing nursing homes to require patients to submit complaints of shoddy care to arbitration rather than filing lawsuits. The Obama administration tried to bar the practice, which generally limits how much patients can recover, even for egregious mistakes.

 Finally, Carl Icahn, who 30 years ago doomed St. Louis-based TWA by stripping it of its assets, stepped down last week as Trumps special adviser on regulatory reform. He did so two days before The New Yorker magazine revealed ways that Icahn had leveraged his position to benefit his own holdings. He could face a criminal investigation.

These stories embody the Trump administrations relentless approach to using government to help the well-connected. They defy what Trump said during his campaign about draining the swamp of special interests. None of these actions will restore middle-class jobs.

Mining companies dont want a bunch of scientists poking around their operations. Energy companies and ranchers want continued access to government land. Nursing homes want to protect their profits. Lobbyists are thriving. The swamp endures.

And Icahn didnt want an oil refinery he owns to have to pay to make sure that ethanol is blended into his gasoline. Hed rather pass that expense on to corn growers, many of whom voted for Trump. The New Yorker says his mere appointment as regulatory adviser increased the value of his refinery holdings by $500 million.

Under President Trump, its not only the big stuff that America has to sweat.
Young actor Malvika Raaj who played the young Kareena Kapoor in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham is all grown up and ready to romance Emraan Hashmi now.

By India Today Web Desk: "Chandu ke chacha ne chandu ki chachi ko Chandni Chowk mein chaandi ki chammach se chatni chackaee."

Poo AKA Pooja from 2001's Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham was single-handedly responsible for making the entire country chant this Hindi tongue-twister for several months. Now Poo - the younger Kareena Kapoor Khan from the film - is all grown up and ready to dive into Bollywood.

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Here's a clip from Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham to help you better recall the young Poo 'from Chandni Chowk':

Malvika Raaj is 23 years old now and will soon be seen romancing Bollywood's quintessential Serial Kisser Emraan Hashmi in his upcoming film Captain Nawab.

A report in Mumbai Mirror says that a month and a half after the auditions, Malvika has bagged the role in this Tony D'Souza film.

Malvika Raaj as the young Kareena Kapoor Khan in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham

The actor told the daily, "It's a performance-oriented role. I liked the script. As part of my prep, I will be learning Urdu and Punjabi and have already begun workshop."

Emraan Hashmi is supposed to join the workshop after September 1, which marks the release of his next release, Baadshaho.

Malvika said she is looking forward to meeting the 38-year-old Hashmi.

She said, "His 2008 film Jannat is one of my favourites. I start shooting in mid-October in Mumbai, Emraan starts before me."

Malvika was only 8 or 9 when she starred in Karan Johar's Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, but she had apparently made up her mind even before that film that she wanted to be an actor. The decade-and-a-half long wait to enter films properly is because Malvika's father wanted her to complete her education before pursuing a career in films.

"I graduated in commerce but continued training in dance and martial arts and also learnt acting from Anupam Kher's institute. I was not the best in studies but remained at the forefront in extra-curriculars like dramatics and dance," she said.

After Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Malvika shot to fame among her friends, and she "loved every bit of the attention."

ALSO READ: Did you know Emraan was in a relationship with a married woman?

ALSO WATCH: Emraan and Sunny Leone raise temperatures with their sultry moves in Baadshaho song Piya More

ALSO WATCH: Sunny Leone's sexy moves

--- ENDS ---
According to the itinerary of the Prime Minister, he will be landing in Purnea on August 26 after which he will be carrying out aerial survey of the flood affected Seemanchal region.

By Rohit Kumar Singh: Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled visit to flood affected areas in Bihar on August 26, huge political war has erupted in the state with Opposition RJD on Thursday not allowing the House to function demanding adjournment motion to be brought to discuss and debate the flood situation in the state. However, the Opposition's demand was rejected leading to them creating a din inside the House. Witnessing massive furore inside the House, Speaker Vijay Kumar Chowdhary adjourned the proceedings of the House for the fourth consecutive day.

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"We wanted to bring a work adjournment motion so that the House debates the flood situation in the state in which more than 500 lives have been lost and more than 1.5 crore people affected. We will keep pressurizing the govt for a debate on the massive flood tragedy", said Abdul Bari Siddiqui, former Finance Minister and RJD leader.

The Opposition asserted that the state government had failed on all fronts to provide relief and carry out rescue operations in the flood ravaged 18 districts, an allegation which was refuted by the government.

"The government is carrying out its duty of providing relief to the flood victims in the state. PM will be visiting flood affected areas and Centre will also come forward to help the flood victims. Opposition is doing politics over PM's visit and this is shameful", said Nand Kishore Yadav, Road Construction Minister.

According to the itinerary of the Prime Minister, he will be landing in Purnea at 11 am on August 26 after which he will be carrying out aerial survey of the flood affected Seemanchal region including districts of Kishanganj, Purnea, Araria and Katihar. After the survey, he will be reaching Patna and hold a meeting with the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his cabinet colleagues on the flood situation. Soon after the meeting PM will be going to 1, Anne Marg, residence of Chief Minister for lunch after which he will return to Delhi. PM will be in Bihar for 4 hours, between 11AM and 3PM.

ALSO READ

Flood water enter Bihar's Motihari town, creates panic among residents

ALSO WATCH

Bihar: Viral video shows how 3 of a family get washed away with a bridge in Araria

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Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has reaffirmed Pakistans continued and steadfast support to Saudi Arabia's sovereignty.

Talking to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman in Jeddah, he assured the Crown Prince of continued cooperation and collaboration to the benefit of both countries.

The Prime Minister recounted the huge sacrifices and extraordinary efforts made by Pakistan to root out terrorism and bring peace and stability in the region.

The Saudi Crown Prince acknowledged Pakistans efforts and sacrifices in fight against terrorism and hoped that fraternal ties between the two countries will further prosper in future.

He hoped that Pakistan would overcome all challenges and continue its journey towards progress and prosperity.

The two leaders also exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual concern and the issues faced by Muslim Ummah.

They agreed to continue dialogue and cooperation towards their shared goal of peace, security and development in the region and beyond.

During the visit, the Prime Minister was also briefed about arrangements for Pakistani pilgrims for this years Hajj.
Days before the late princess' death anniversary, Prince Harry opens up about his feelings for the paparazzi.

By India Today Web Desk: Days before the 20th death anniversary of Princess Diana, her younger son, Prince Harry, has come out to condemn the paparazzi for their actions that led to his mother's death.

Princess Diana, who died at the very young age of 36 on 31 August 1997, was trying to escape the paparazzi when her car met with a severe accident in a Paris tunnel--killing her friend, Dodi Fayed, instantly.

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Also Read: Princes William and Harry recall their final call with Princess Diana

"I think one of the hardest things to come to terms with is the fact that the people that chased her into the tunnel were the same people that were taking photographs of her while she was still dying on the back seat of the car," Prince Harry said during an interview with BBC for their documentary, Diana, 7 Days.

Princess Diana with her sons, Princes William and Harry. Picture courtesy: Instagram/theprincessdianafans

Harry claims that though both him and his brother, Prince William, were spared the details of their mother's untimely and tragic death, they were later told about the circumstances by people who did know about them.

Also Read: Princess Diana's secret tapes prove just how strong she was during her marriage

"She'd had quite a severe head injury but she was very much still alive on the back seat," he added. The paparazzi, following the death of Princess Diana, had been severely condemned by world leaders--and even Diana's brother, Earl Charles Spencer, had blamed them directly for her death.

Princes William and Harry have recently come out to talk about their mother, Princess Diana. Picture courtesy: Instagram/princewilliamcambridge

"And those people that caused the accident, instead of helping, were taking photographs of her dying on the back seat," said Harry. Both the princes have recently come out to talk about their life with their mother, and how her untimely death affected their lives.

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Minister Arun Jaitley said the Supreme Court has accepted that privacy is a fundamental right but not an absolute one.

By India Today Web Desk: After the Supreme Court's landmark verdict declaring right to privacy as a fundamental right, the Modi government today stressed that it is not an absolute right.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said they always had a clear stand on privacy but the previous UPA regime introduced Aadhaar without legal framework.

"The government always had a clear stand on privacy," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said. He tried to blame the UPA government by saying that the preceding government brought Aadhaar and collected data without any legal backing and therefore the privacy issue went to Supreme Court.

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"We framed Aadhaar law ensuring privacy as fundamental right will be protected," he said.

"UPA brought about Aadhaar without a law, without safeguards for data, therefore the challenge was there," Jaitley said adding that even the Supreme Court has accepted that privacy is a fundamental right, but its not an absolute right.

"Its positive development, as evolution of constitutional law goes on there is always an effort to strengthen fundamental rights," Jaitley said.

Sharing my blog on the Honorable Supreme Courts judgement on Right to Privacy.https://t.co/LO5I2PDx2e; Amit Shah (@AmitShah) August 24, 2017

A nine-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar today ruled that "right to privacy is an intrinsic part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty under Article 21 and entire Part III of the Constitution".

The ruling on the highly contentious issue was to deal with a batch of petitions challenging the Centre's move to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing the benefits of various social welfare schemes.

While the Centre had argued that right to privacy is not a Fundamental right, the petitioners had contended that when a citizen gives his biometrics and personal details to the government and when in turn it is used by commercial organisations, it is a breach of privacy.

ALSO READ |

How Right to Privacy impacts Aadhaar, freedom of expression, sexuality

Despite big push, only 30 per cent of PAN card holders link their Aadhaar

Worried over Aadhaar privacy breach? Lock your biometrics now, unlock when you need it

ALSO WATCH | Right to Privacy is a fundamental right: Supreme Court in landmark verdict

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: was student

(Eds: Updating with more details)

Srinagar, Aug 24 (PTI) Violent stone-pelting protests broke out in a village in north Kashmirs Kupwara district today as the villagers alleged that a "militant" killed in an encounter with the security forces on Tuesday was a student, who had gone missing the day before.

"Heavy stone-pelting protests broke out at Dariel Tarathpora Vilgam after 400-500 people assembled there, alleging that the militant killed in the encounter at the Hangnikote forest area in Vilgam on Tuesday was a student," a police official said here.

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He added that the slain "militant" was yesterday identified as Shahid Bashir Mir (21), a resident of Dariel Tarathpora Vilgam, and his body was handed over to his family.

The official said this morning, about 400-500 people, including the slain "militants" family members, assembled at the Tarathpora Chowk with his body and started protesting.

"They claimed that he (Mir) was not a militant, but a Degree College student, who had gone missing on August 21 (Monday) and a complaint in this regard had also been lodged on August 22 at the Vilgam police station. Reportedly, he was not mentally fit for the last one-two months," the official said.

He added that the protesters pelted stones at the security forces.

"The violent mob also set ablaze a vehicle of the deputy commissioner, Kupwara," the official said.

The Army on Tuesday had said that security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation at Hangnikote in the Haphruda forest area of Handwara, 85 km from here, following information about the presence of militants there.

An Army official had said that during the searches,the militants opened fire on the security forces, who retaliated,triggering a gunbattle.

He had said an unidentified militant was killed in the gunbattle. PTI SSB MIJ RC

--- ENDS ---
The restrictions on the privacy will depend upon which article it emanates from.

By Anusha Soni: The Supreme court of India has upheld privacy as a fundamental right under Article 21 and part III of the Constitution.

This means privacy will have no definition - it's scope and definition will be decided on a case to case basis. The restrictions on the privacy will depend upon which article it emanates from.

Part III of the Constitution has all the fundamental rights. As details are awaited, what we know is that privacy has a broad ambit.

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The Aadhar case in all likelihood will be heard by a five-judge bench.

The Center will have to defend its scheme as reasonable and proportionate. It will have to establish that it is essential to collect the biometric details of the citizens and that they are well protected.

Centre will also have to defend various provisions of the Aadhar Act that have been challenged. Data protection and not sharing it with third parties will continue to be the key points of debate.

IMPACT ON OTHER CASES:

THE IMPACT GOES MUCH BEYOND AADHAAR

In a digital age where people share all of their life on Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and over emails, the need for data protection is very intrinsic to every aspect of one's life. In legal terms it is as basic as the fundamental right to life.

Currently text messaging application WhatsApp is facing a legal challenge at the Supreme Court for allegedly sharing chats with Facebook.

Its new privacy policy has been much criticised for not giving people real choices.

Facebook India has also come forward before the Supreme Court to clarify how it satisfies all legal requirements in India.

The case pertaining to WhatsApp raises broader concerns for most internet companies like Yahoo, Google etc.

In the last hearing of the WhatsApp case, it was even argued that all these companies should be made a party.

The privacy judgment will impact all of these companies in India.

The judgement raises pertinent questions such as can your chat history be saved? can your browsing history be shared?

Extent to which people can be prosecuted for bank frauds, email hacking etc.

PRIVACY AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

The IT laws in India are yet to catch up with the dynamic digital space. Interestingly, Supreme Court had struck down the 66A of the IT act under which many people were arrested for criticising politicians, government or for their satirical overtones.

The court said that liberty is affected when governments prosecute people for expressing their opinions.

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Then to what extent can someone else post my personal details on Facebook without my permission? What if someone uses my private details to troll me on social media or send me hate messages? Can one claim that privacy is affected.

In the coming time, Parliament and the IT Department will take this judgment as the basis for many of its pending legislations.

Defamation is another interesting aspect. What if someone makes defamatory statements using my private details which may be true but are yet invasive? How will courts balance defamation, privacy and public policy?

SEXUALITY AND PRIVACY

The much criticised judgment of the Supreme Court on homosexuality where they asked Parliament to legislate and uphold section 377.

This section criminalises consensual homosexual activity between two consenting adults.

If privacy is a fundamental right, how can state interfere in my bedroom? The Supreme Court has agreed to take a fresh look at homosexuality in the curative petition.

The scope of privacy will directly impact the cause of decriminalising homosexuality in India.

Also Read:

Privacy a fundamental right, says Supreme Court: Historic verdict explained

As India debates privacy as a right, a look at how the world views it

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WATCH | Privacy a fundamental right, declares Supreme Court

--- ENDS ---
New Talisman Gold chief executive Matthew Hill has criticised protesters over the way they conducted themselves earlier this morning.

Protesters blocked the entrance to the mine in the Karangahake Gorge, and were physically removed by police.

Its the largest response from this minority group to date, says Matt.

We waited for the police to arrive. As I understand it, the protesters refused to get out of the way, so arrests were made.

Nine protesters were arrested, before being released immediately. An additional protester was also arrested and released, but was promptly rearrested after returning to block the gate at the mines entrance once more.

Were very grateful to the assistance of police. Unlike previous demonstrations, these guys were predominantly troublemakers.

Matt says earlier in the week, some protesters attempted to climb down a near-vertical 15 metre embankment near the mine, while some of his staff were in the area.

My staff tried to warn whoever was there to be careful, and next thing you know an old lady fell down the vertical embankment.

Our mine staff attended to the lady who had fallen, and offered to give the protesters a ride out, but they declined and climbed back up the hill. They could have really hurt themselves.

Matt says the mine has no problem with peaceful demonstrations, but he accuses the protesters of verging on criminal behaviour, particularly after this mornings protest, in which he alleges a protester jumped in front of a contractors vehicle and smashed the bonnet.

The ideal resolution is for them to follow the normal democratic ways to protest, and to do it lawfully.

He says the protests have thus far had no impact on the mines work.

It hasnt disrupted operations at all. Our prospecting work continues, and we are well ahead on both budgets and successful developments.

Protect Karangahake spokesperson Holly Dove refutes some of the claims made by Matt about the protests. In particular she says no one jumped in front of the contractors vehicle  it was the driver who was at fault.

We have footage of a worker ramming a person, and hes been given a warning by police over his manner of driving.

She says she was also present at the incident involving the embankment, but maintains she and her colleague safely climbed down to take photos of the mine site.

Were adamantly peaceful in our protests. We use our bodies, not aggressively, but to stand our ground.

Criticism has also been levelled at the way the group has gathered signatures for their petitions. In a statement they claim tens of thousands of people have made submissions and signed petitions in opposition to the mining of conservation land in New Zealand.

One of these is a petition hosted by Avaaz, a website that allows anyone sign a petition with their name and email address.

Although it possible to sign the petition with a nonsensical name and email address, Holly says there are procedures in place to ensure all signatories are authentic.

Avaaz have assured us the cross-check all the signatures. We suspect some people have been trying to sabotage our petition by putting in fake email addresses, although we cant confirm that.

She says a rally is planned next month to hep galvanise support for the groups cause.

The next step is showing the mining company and rest of New Zealand that we wont stand for mining on conservation land. Weve got a big rally coming up on September 2, so we want as many people from around the country come to support us at Karangahake Hall.

She says people can find the details on the Protect Karangahake Facebook page.

The Green Party has also criticised the government for allowing the mining operation to ahead.

People are being forced to take a stand and put themselves in harms way to protect this beautiful conservation area at Mount Karangahake because the government wont, said Coromandel-based Green Party MP Catherine Delahunty.

The National government has got its priorities totally wrong when it actively encourages mining on conservation land and people have to protest peacefully and risk arrest to defend the natural and recreational values of precious conservation land.
Zespri reported to around 500 grower-shareholders today at its Annual Meeting on a record 2016/17 season, with global sales up 19 percent from last season to $2.26 billion on the back of exceptionally high yields.

Zespri chairman Peter McBride says the high yields and late start to the New Zealand season meant lower per-tray returns for Zespri Green, but continued strong per-hectare returns for the Green business.

A particular highlight was the performance of SunGold which saw a sharp increase in both volume and per-tray returns  up 39 percent to $98,838 per hectare and five percent per tray to $8.64, says Peter.

He also outlined to shareholders the growth in Zespri Global Supply, Zespris 12-month business.

Volumes in this business grew from 14.5 million trays to 16.6 million trays for the reported season, with sales in this business growing from $183.6 million in 2015/16 to $215.6 million in the reported period with contributing operating profit growing from $10.4 million to $11.9 million.

A highlight was the strong gold growth of 46 per cent from the previous season (from 3.6 million trays in 2015/16 to 5.3 million trays) and the extra 1800 hectares of SunGold licence to be allocated in Europe over the next five years will see European volumes quadruple, says Peter.

Net profit after tax more than doubled from $35.8 million to $73.7 million, due mainly to the $67.2 million in licence revenue from the New Zealand SunGold tender in 2016.

Official resolutions from the meeting including elections for the Zespri Board and the Director Remuneration Board, along with approving the annual accounts and appointing the auditor.

More significantly, Peter spoke about an upcoming Special General Meeting planned for March next year, in which Zespri will seek shareholder approval for constitutional changes to align shareholding more closely with production following the recently announced changes to the Kiwifruit Export Regulations.

Zespri chief executive Lain Jager says the industry is in good heart.

Strong returns and confidence are underpinning high orchard values in the sector and Zespri is focused on delivering value for growers by investing to grow demand around the world.

Zespri chief operating officer Simon Limmer says the recent theft of some of their gold varieties, which have been found growing in China, continues to be investigated.

Its a significant breach of our intellectual property, says Simon. But we have identified the person responsible and refused their crop.

He says police are investigating, and Zespri is working with the New Zealand and Chinese governments over the matter.

In regards to politics, Peter would not be drawn into speculation over Labours proposed water tax, and how it might affect the kiwifruit industry, due to an absence of details over what such a tax might look like.

The efficient use of water is really important, but how you achieve it is a different matter.

He says todays AGM was one of the companys briefest, reflecting an audience of interested but satisfied growers.

Its a vote of confidence.
While Opposition parties have welcomed the landmark decision, the verdict is being seen as a huge blow to the NDA government.

By India Today Web Desk: Supreme Court judgment today upholding the fundamental Right to Privacy has triggered a barrage of reactions across the political spectrum.

While Opposition parties have welcomed the landmark decision, the verdict is being seen as a huge blow to the NDA government.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi welcomed the verdict saying that Right to Privacy was an intrinsic part of an individual's liberty, freedom and dignity. He called it a victory for every Indian.

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Gandhi in his tweets said that the Supreme Court decision marked a major blow to the fascist forces. Gandhi added that it was a rejection of the BJP's ideology of suppression through surveillance.

Congress was the first to react on the judgement with Randeep Surjewala calling it a seminal and path-breaking decision.

"We welcome this decision, we are the only party that went to the Supreme Court stating that it has to declare privacy as a fundamental right," said Surjewala.

Surjewala added that the move was a great setback for the Modi government. He said that every attempt to convert India into a fascist state will be tested now and that it was the victory of the 108 crore Indians.

VERDICT HAS FAR-REACHING CONSEQUENCES

Meanwhile CPIM leader Sitaram Yechury said that the ruling will have far-reaching consequences in various domains.

Read: SC judgment on Right to Privacy

"Congratulations to all lawyers, activists, and others who fought the government's sinister designs to deny Indians their fundamental right to privacy," tweeted Yechury.

He also said that the Communist Party of India-Marxist have opposed to a mandatory Aadhaar and data misuse by foreign technology firms.

"This judgement will pave the way for securing our rights," he added.

KEJRIWAL WELCOMES VERDICT

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal too welcomed the Supreme Court verdict on right to privacy as a fundamental right.

"Thank you Supreme Court for this very important judgement," the Chief Minister tweeted, minutes after the landmark decision by the apex court.

The ruling by a nine-judge bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar held that the right to privacy is a fundamental right and is an integral part of the right to life and liberty.

The judgment would have a bearing on the challenge to the validity of the Aadhaar scheme on the grounds of its violating the right to privacy.

Also Read:

With Supreme Court's landmark verdict, India takes lead in recognising privacy as a fundamental right

Privacy a fundamental right, says Supreme Court: Historic verdict explained

Hope Modi govt stops snooping, says Congress after Supreme Court holds privacy as fundamental right

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ALSO WATCH: Privacy a fundamental right, declares Supreme Court

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LENOX, N.Y. -- The name of the Wisconsin kayaker found dead Thursday morning in Oneida Lake has been released.

The body of Steven J. Cullen, of Milton, Wisconsin, was found floating in the lake around 7:30 a.m. near Verona Beach State Park. Cullen was 63 years old.

The Madison County Sheriff's Office and other agencies started searching for Cullen after his kayak washed up on shore near Lewis Point in Lenox around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. Cullen was trying to cross Oneida Lake to meet his family when he disappeared, deputies said.

Teaming up with other agencies, deputies spent 13 hours searching for Cullen. The U.S. Coast Guard braved 4-foot waves as they combed 396 miles of the lake for the missing kayaker.

Investigators said Cullen's boat was likely knocked over during a severe storm. An autopsy will determine how he died.
Syracuse, NY -- A Mattydale man will spend 15 years in prison after admitting to stabbing his cousin in the neck and hand before driving to Canada.

Todd Corron II, 26, had been awaiting a mental health report before deciding how to proceed. But today, he admitted to stabbing the 26-year-old woman, causing non-life-threatening injuries, before leaving the country, prosecutor Kerry Buske said.

Corron was caught returning to the United States in Buffalo, his lawyer, Ted Stenuf, has said. Corron was not trying to flee, but going for medical treatment, his lawyer has said.

After reading Corron's mental health report, Buske asked today for a sentence of 20 to 25 years in prison on a felony assault charge.

County Court Judge Stephen Dougherty told Corron he'd get 15 years in prison if Corron pleaded today, Buske said.

Corron agreed.

That's the same sentence that Buske had previously offered before asking for a harsher one after reading the mental health report, the judge has said.

Corron will be sentenced Sept. 21.
LENOX, N.Y. -- Several Central New York counties have boats out on Oneida Lake searching for a missing kayaker, officials said.

The search will continue for about an hour, and will pick up in the morning when it becomes light out, said Undersheriff John Ball, a spokesman for the Madison County Sheriff's Office.

A kayak washed up on shore near Lewis Point in Lenox around 5:30 p.m., Ball said. Officials found personal belongings -- a wallet, ID card, food, etc. -- inside, but no person, he said.

The boat belongs to a Wisconsin man in his mid-60s, Ball said. Family told local law enforcement he was traveling across the state via the Erie Canal and was supposed to meet up with his sister in Lake Champlain around Labor Day.

He started near Lockport in Western New York and was near Baldwinsville Tuesday, Ball said family reported.

"We think the storm may have put him in the water," Ball said. Most of Central New York was under a tornado watch and warning Tuesday afternoon, with high winds and lightning.

The Madison County Sheriff's Office, Bridgeport Fire Department, Sylvan Beach Fire Department, Brewerton Fire Department, and South Bay Fire Departments all responded near 9251 Old Orchard Rd., according to the county 911 dispatch service.



The U.S. Coast Guard officials from Michigan, New York State Police, and deputies from the surrounding counties were all responding, Ball said.

Helicopters are currently using infrared technology to search Oneida Lake, though with darkness approaching officials won't be able to stay out much longer, Ball said.

They'll search the shoreline until about 11 p.m., then continue the search at 6 a.m. Thursday morning, Ball said.
Gardiner, N.Y. -- The discovery of an empty parachute near an Upstate New York skydiving business caused some alarm for local authorities.

The Times Herald-Record reports that someone reported seeing an empty parachute early Wednesday afternoon in the Ulster County town of Gardiner.

State police and local emergency crews responded to the rural area where the parachute was spotted, but it turned out there was no accident.

Joseph Richards, a co-owner of the Skydive the Ranch complex in Gardiner, said a skydiver had jettisoned his main parachute at about 4,000 feet and landed safely with his emergency chute.

He says skydivers at his business have to switch to a backup chute about "once or twice a week."
At least five bills by private members were tabled in Parliament over the years seeking protection of privacy of an individual. But, no specific privacy law is in place. The latest bill was introduced by Baijayant Panda of the BJD earlier this year.

By Prabhash K Dutta: Despite several private member bills, Parliament has not yet enacted any specific law defining privacy and providing protection against breach of privacy of individuals in India. The Privacy Bill, 2011 was drafted by the UPA-II government but it is hanging fire since then.

Some reports suggest that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shown interest in the Privacy Bill. PM Modi is said to have held a few rounds of discussion with his cabinet colleagues on the matter.

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PM Modi apparently last discussed the Privacy Bill in March, 2015. The Privacy Bill is understood to have been put on hold after objections from intelligence agencies.

PRIVACY BILLS IN PARLIAMENT

Recently a Bill was introduced in Parliament by BJD's Baijayant Panda proposing to bring privacy under the ambit of legislation. This was not the first Bill on privacy introduced in Parliament. Panda himself had introduced a Bill in 2009 before the UPA-II drafted its Privacy Bill.

Panda's latest attempt through the Data (Privacy and Protection) Bill, 2017 is pending before the Lok Sabha. His previous private member bill was titled the Prevention of Unsolicited Telephonic Calls and Protection of Privacy Bill. It aimed at protecting individuals from receiving unsolicited telephone calls by tele-callers on behalf of business promoters.

The 2009-private member bill tried to define privacy stating that "every person shall have the right to privacy and freedom to lead and enjoy his life without any unwarranted infringement."

Apart from Panda, Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar had tabled a privacy bill in 2010. Two more bills seeking to secure citizen's private data were introduced in 2016 by Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Gupta and BJP Lok Sabha MP Om Prakash Yadav. But, none of the privacy bills have secured the nod of Parliament.

Panda's Bill is different from the rest in the sense that it seeks to make the consent of an individual for collection and processing of personal data mandatory. The Bill states that the individual will have the sole right and the final right to modify or remove personal data from any database, public or private. Panda's Bill seeks to deal the "exceptions" to the right to privacy to be considered on case-by-case basis.

EXISTING LAW ON PRIVACY

In the absence of a specific law on privacy, this right is legally viewed under the Information Technology Act, 2000. The Act has some express provision guarding individuals against breach of privacy by corporate entities.

The Act was amended in 2008 by the previous UPA government to insert Section 43A which made the companies compromising sensitive personal data liable to pay compensation.

Exercising its powers under Section 43A of the IT Act, 2000, the government framed eight rules to protect privacy of an individual. These all relate to seeking permission by a company before accessing privacy data of individuals and fixing liabilities for violation of the same.

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Beyond this, the right to privacy is dealt with under Article 21 of the Constitution. The Supreme Court today declared the right to privacy as part of the right to life and personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21.

PRIVACY BEFORE SUPREME COURT JUDGMENT

Two years after referring the right to privacy question to the Constitution Bench, the Supreme Court today declared privacy as a fundamental right. In August 2015, while hearing the Aadhaar case, the Supreme Court had decided to settle the question that had been popping up before it since 1954.

An India Today report earlier said that in 1954, an eight-judge bench in MP Sharma vs Satish Chandra case and in 1962 a six-judge bench of the Supreme Court in Kharak Singh vs State of Uttar Pradesh case had equated the right to privacy with right to personal liberty but rejected its status as fundamental or constitutional right.

The Supreme Court followed the same principle while overruling the Delhi High Court judgment that decriminalised homosexuality. The Delhi High Court had ruled reading down of a provision in the IPC Section 377 that makes the act a crime upholding the right to privacy. But, the apex court upheld the Section 377 of the IPC stating that framing laws did not come under the jurisdiction of courts.

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But, now the Supreme Court has settled the principle declaring privacy as the fundamental right. (Read full judgment here) Parliament will now have to make a law on Right to Privacy.

CHALLENGES BEFORE PARLIAMENT

After the Supreme Court declared privacy a fundamental right, it is left to Parliament to define what constitutes privacy under the ambit of right to life and personal liberty.

Parliament will also have to define reasonable restrictions in the case of right to privacy as it involves, already pointed out by intelligence agencies, the issues of national security.

With these restrictions, defining privacy is going to be big challenge for the parliamentarians. "You cannot define right to privacy in absolute terms. Codification of right to privacy right will be a big problem. It will be a challenge for Parliament to accurately define what constitutes privacy," said Supreme Court lawyer Atul Kumar.

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"The Supreme Court has just set the principle that privacy is a fundamental right. There is a long way to go and legislators have a tough job on their hands. This can be compared with the Supreme Court verdict wherein it defined legal aid as fundamental right. The court had held that right to life means having a dignified life and stated that legal aid is essential to achieve this in certain cases," Atul Kumar said.

"Privacy is a matter of illustration and interpretation. It is not a close ended right rather an open ended right. It will take time before the nature of the right to privacy settles down. It will have to pass the test of reasonable restrictions when it is codified," Atul Kumar added.

Under the existing provisions of the Constitution, the fundamental rights are subject to following reasonable restrictions:

Security of State

Friendly relations with foreign states

Public order

Decency or morality

In relation to Contempt of Court

Defamation

Incitement to an offence

Sovereignty and integrity of India

ALSO READ |Privacy a fundamental right, says Supreme Court: Historic verdict explained

How Right to Privacy impacts Aadhaar, freedom of expression, sexuality

ALSO WATCH | Privacy a fundamental right, declares Supreme Court

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In a landmark judgment, a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court declared right to privacy a fundamental right. Meet the nine judges who unanimously passed this judgement.

By India Today Web Desk:

A nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court unanimously declared right to privacy a fundamental right today under Article 21 of the Constitution.

While the verdict would have a bearing on the challenge to the validity of the Aadhaar scheme on the grounds of it being violative of the right to privacy, the verdict will also effect challenge to other cases such as Section 377 and judgment on marital rape.

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The nine-judge bench has ruled that "right to privacy is an intrinsic part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty under Article 21 and entire Part III of the Constitution".

As the government declared that 'citizens don't have absolute rights over their bodies', meet these nine judges who told Indians the exact opposite.

Jagdish Singh Khehar

Khehar is the first Sikh Chief Justice of India and has been a judge in the Supreme Court since September 2011. He was one of the judges on the bench that heard the recent triple talaq case. In his judgement, he upheld the practice of validity of triple talaq. However, by the 3:2 majority, the bench asked the Central government to bring legislation on this in six months.

Jasti Chelameswar

The 64-year-old judge was formerly the Chief Justice of the High Court of Kerala and Gauhati High Court.

During the Jallikattu agitation in Tamil Nadu, Justice Jasti Chelameswar had spoken about the intention of the judgment when widespread protest were conducted against the SC verdict.

He said that the intention of the judgment to prevent cruelty against animals did not reach the messes and hence instead of understanding the spirit of the verdict, people are agitated.

SA Bobde

Sharad Arvind Bobde is a judge of the Supreme Court of India and was a former Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court. He was a part of the three judge bench along with Jasti Jasti Chelameswar, and Chokkalingam Nagappan that clarieid that no Indian citizen without an Aadhaar card can be deprived of basic services and government subsidies.

Bobde was also a part of bench that permitted a 26-year-old woman to abort a 25-weeks-old fetus after it was diagnosed with a neurological disorder that causes absence of major portion of the skull and scalp. "it is reported that the continuation of pregnancy can pose severe mental injury to the petitioner and no addition risk to the petitioner's life is involved if she is allowed to undergo termination of her pregnancy. In the circumstances, we consider it appropriate in the interests of justice and particularly, to permit the petitioner to undergo medical termination of her pregnancy under the provisions of Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971", the bench said.

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Rajesh Kumar Agarwal

The 64-year-old was appointed to the Supreme Court on 17 February, 2014 and was previously the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court.

RF Nariman

Rohinton Fali Nariman was designated as a Senior Advocate by then Chief Justice of India Venkatachaliah in 1993 at the age of 37. In fact, while appointing him then CJI amended the rules because the minimum age for being a senior in the Supreme Court was 45 and Nariman was 37 at that time.

Nariman was also appointed as the Solicitor General of India in 2011 but resigned after 18 months. Some say that he did not share a good rapport with the then Law Minister Ashwani Kumar.

AM Sapre

Abhay Manohar Sapre has served as the first chief justice of Manipur High Court. He is currently a sitting judge of the Supreme Court and in a judgment has directed the government to extend the reservation for 'persons with disability' in all identified posts.

DY Chandrachud

Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud, 57, was formerly the chief justice of the Allahabad High Court and is few years away from becoming the Chief Justice of India. Justice YV Chandrachud, his father, has the record of being the CJI for the longest time.

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In the history of the SC, it will be the first time that a father-son duo had taken the position of CJIs.

SK Kaul

Before becoming a judge of the Supreme Court, Sanjay Kishan Kaul was the Chief Justice of Madras High Court. He has also held the position of Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court before.

In 2008, as a Delhi High Court judge, he had dismissed the charges levied against MF Hussain for his painting of a lady later termed as 'Bharat Mata'. He upheld free speech and expression and said that there was no deliberate intention to hurt anybody's religious feeling.

S Abdul Nazeer

The 59-year-old Justice is apparently the third judge to be directly elevated to Supreme Court without becoming the Chief Justice of a high court.

He was the lone Muslim judge on the bench that heard the recent triple talaq case. Although, he was one of the two judges that upheld the practice of validity of Triple Talaq based on evidence provided from Sharia Law.

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Separated by 41 years, the two judgments penned down by father and son as Supreme Court judges tell the contrasting story of evolving times and interpretation of the Constitution.

By Prabhash K Dutta: The Supreme Court today over-ruled its previous judgments notably in the cases of MP Sharma of 1954 and Kharak Singh of 1962 when the apex court rejected the argument that right to privacy was a fundamental right or a constitutional right. The 1954 judgment was delivered by an eight-judge bench while today's verdict was pronounced by nine-judge bench.

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But, the right to privacy case today saw another rather interesting over-ruling by Justice DY Chandrachud, who wrote a separate judgment for himself and on the behalf of three other judges of the Constitution Bench. These judges are Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justices RK Agrawal, SA Nazeer.

The father of Justice DY Chandrachud was also a Supreme Court judge during Emergency years. His name was YV Chandrachud, who wrote the much-debated ADM Jabalpur versus Shivakant Shukla judgment in 1976.

In that case, the five-judge bench of the Supreme Court had held that the personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution could not go against an executive order.

Writing 266 of 547 pages of the Supreme Court order on the right to privacy, Justice DY Chandrachud overruled this view while mentioning the name of the case and quoting from his father Justice YV Chandrachud's judgment.

ADM JABALPUR CASE

The ADM Jabalpur versus Shivakant Shukla case came before the Supreme Court after proclamation of national Emergency via Presidential Order, which had suspended all fundamental rights including those guaranteed under Article 21 - Right to Life and Liberty, which was today extended by the Supreme Court judgment to include the right to privacy as a fundamental right.

Opposition leaders, political activists and protesters were being arrested under various clauses. Several cases were being filed in various high courts as habeas corpus writs under Article 32. This is why this case is also known as the habeas corpus case.

Nine High Courts pronounced that the right to life and liberty could not be suspended and individuals had right to approach high courts seeking remedy against the state action. The Indira Gandhi government challenged the rulings of the high courts in the Supreme Court.

A five-judge bench comprising the then Chief Justice AN Ray and Justices MH Beg, YV Chandrachud, PN Bhagwati and HR Khanna. In a 4:1 verdict with Justice Khanna dissenting, the Supreme Court over-ruled the rulings of the nine high courts.

Writing his judgment, Justice Chandrachud senior had then observed, "The right to personal liberty has no hallmark" stating that it could be suspended.

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WHAT JUSTICE DY CHANDRACHUD SAID

Writing the landmark judgment, Justice DY Chandrachud today observed, "Privacy is a constitutionally protected right which emerges primarily from the guarantee of life and personal liberty in Article 21 of the Constitution."

"Life and personal liberty are not creations of the Constitution. These rights are recognised by the Constitution as inhering in each individual as an intrinsic and inseparable part of the human element which dwells within," Justice DY Chandrachud further elaborated.

Justice DY Chandrachud stated, privacy safeguards an individual's autonomy and recognises the ability of the individual to control vital aspects of life.

Separated by 41 years, the two judgments penned down by father and son as Supreme Court judges tell the contrasting story of evolving times and interpretation of the Constitution.

Also read:

Privacy is a fundamental right, but not an absolute one, says Arun Jaitley on Supreme Court verdict

How Right to Privacy impacts Aadhaar, freedom of expression, sexuality

Despite big push, only 30 per cent of PAN card holders link their Aadhaar

Worried over Aadhaar privacy breach? Lock your biometrics now, unlock when you need it

ALSO WATCH | Right to Privacy is a fundamental right: Supreme Court in landmark verdict

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed that six people were killed and 53 injured in the blast. | Read More
By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) The strike called by the resident doctors at the Safdarjung Hospital over an alleged assault on a woman doctor was called off this evening after a decision to deploy 100 security guards was taken by the administration.

The resident doctors at the hospital had gone on strike last evening alleging that one of their colleagues was assaulted by a woman patient in antenatal clinic in the OPD.

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Emergency services were affected at the hospital as the doctors stayed away from work demanding enhanced security on the premises and parity in the doctor-patient ratio.

The hospital medical superintendent along with the members of resident doctors association met the additional health secretary, Sanjeeva Kumar, at the health ministry following a decision to employ 100 guards with immediate effect was taken.

"Consideration for Risk Hardship allowance and NPA allowance will be examined by the Ministry.

"A proposal for consideration to increase the number of senior residents and junior residents to meet the present needs of patient care may be submitted by the medical superintendent to the Ministry keeping in mind the current doctor-patient ratio (last evaluated in 2007-08)," the minutes of the meeting read.

Further it was decided that monthly meeting of the RDA with local hospital administrative authorities and quarterly meeting of RDA with the ministry will be held regularly.

Also, it was decided that no penal action in any form will be taken against any resident for participating in this strike.

"Yesterday, around 2.30 pm, a 30-year-old patient assaulted a woman doctor in the antenatal clinic in the OPD alleging that her treatment was being delayed," Resident Doctors Association President Dheer Singh had claimed.

"Such incidents have become a routine here," he alleged.

An FIR has also been filed at the Safdarjung Enclave police station in connection with the incident. PTI PLB RT

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By India Today Web Desk: Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh met for the first time on the sets of Rahul Rawail's Bekhudi, which was supposed to be the launch vehicle of the "chhote nawab". Saif was smitten, and wasted no time in asking her out to dinner. He thought she turned him down when she said no, but to his surprise, Amrita asked him to come to her house for dinner. One thing led to another and they kissed at the end of the night. As Saif told Simi Garewal on her show, "I never left the house after that."

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In 1991, Saif tied the knot with Amrita, 12 years his senior, after a whirlwind romance. They had two beautiful kids - Sara and Ibrahim. However, 13 years later, Saif and Amrita's marriage came to a bitter end, and they got divorced in 2004.

Saif bared his heart out in an interview with The Telegraph in 2005. "My wife and I have gone our separate ways. I respect my wife's space. But why am I being constantly reminded of how terrible a husband I was, and how awful a father I am. I've my son Ibrahim's photograph in my wallet. Each time I look at it, I feel like crying. I miss my daughter Sara all the time. I'm not allowed to meet my children. They aren't allowed to come to visit me, let alone stay with me. Why? Because there's a new woman in my life who'd influence my children against their mother. That's so much hogwash and Amrita knows it," he said.

The Race actor said that he was tormented by the constant guilt trips that Amrita was trying to send him on. "I really want my kids. But I don't want to put up a constant fight over them. If they are to be taken away from me, then let Amrita call them Sara Singh and Ibrahim Singh. Let my daughter become 18 and ask me, 'Where were you Dad when my brother and I needed you?' Let me die of shame. But please don't kill me with a feeling of constant guilt just because I've had the courage to finally walk away from an impossible relationship to find some solace."

Not only did Amrita not allow Saif to meet their children, she would constantly abuse him, he claimed. "It isn't nice to be constantly reminded of how worthless you are and to have taunts, jeers, insults and abuses thrown at your mother and sister all the time. I've gone through all of it," he said.

Back then, Saif was not as successful as he would be in later years. But that did not stop Amrita from demanding crores of rupees in alimony. "I'm supposed to give Amrita INR 5 crore, of which I've already given her approximately INR 2.5 crore. Also, I'm paying INR 1 lakh per month until my son becomes 18. I'm not Shah Rukh Khan. I don't have that kind of money. I've promised her I'll pay up the rest of the money, and I will, even if I've to slog till I drop dead. Whatever I've earned from doing ads, stage shows and films is being given for my children. I've no money. Our bungalow is for Amrita and the kids, and never mind the relatives who've joined her after my departure," he said.

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However, Saif's woes are in the past. Today, he is happily married to Kareena Kapoor Khan, and they welcomed their first child, Taimur Ali Khan, on December 20 last year.

ALSO READ: Did Amrita Singh blast ex-husband Saif Ali Khan over his opinion on Sara's career choice?

ALSO WATCH: Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan become proud parents to a baby boy, Taimur

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Terming "sexual orientation an essential attribute of privacy", four judges in the bench, including Chief Justice JS Khehar, dealt a telling blow to the December 2013 verdict of a two-judge bench of the apex court that made homosexual acts even in private between consenting adults an offence punishable by up to ten years in jail.

SC order said discrimination against an individual on the basis of sexual orientation is offensive to oneas dignity.

By Harish V Nair: Thursday's landmark judgment by the Supreme Court declaring privacy a fundamental right has brought cheer to India's gay community that is fighting for scrapping section 377 of the penal code, a 149-year-old archaic law which criminalises homosexual acts.

Terming "sexual orientation an essential attribute of privacy", four judges in the bench, including Chief Justice JS Khehar, dealt a telling blow to the December 2013 verdict of a two-judge bench of the apex court that made homosexual acts even in private between consenting adults an offence punishable by up to ten years in jail.

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"The right to privacy and the protection of sexual orientation lie at the core of the fundamental rights guaranteed by Articles 14 (right to equality), 15 (discrimination on grounds of sex) and 21 ( right to life and personal liberty) of the Constitution," the CJI and justices RK Agrawal, S Abdul Nazeer and DY Chandrachud said.

"Discrimination against an individual on the basis of sexual orientation is deeply offensive to the dignity and self-worth of the individual. Equality demands that the sexual orientation of each individual in society must be protected on an even platform," said the judges.OVERTURNING OF THE JUDGEMENT

Activists had cheered in 2009 when the Delhi High Court declared section 377 unconstitutional. But the judgment was overturned four years later when the SC decided that amending or repealing the law should be left to Parliament, not the judiciary.

LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) and human rights activists sharply criticised the judgment, saying it was a violation of the "right to privacy, and "would turn the clock back by centuries". The SC judgment was being viewed in India and globally as a retrograde step.

"That only a miniscule fraction of the country's population constitutes lesbians, gays, bisexuals or transgenders and that there have been only two hundred prosecutions for violating Section 377 as observed in the judgment of this court is not a sustainable basis to deny the right to privacy," the court said on Thursday.

"In a democratic Constitution founded on the rule of law, their rights are as sacred as those conferred on other citizens to protect their freedoms and liberties. The rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population cannot also be construed to be so-called rights. They are real rights," the judges said adding, "Since the challenge to criminalisation is pending consideration before a larger bench of this court, we would leave the constitutional validity to be decided in an appropriate proceeding."

The observation is significant as curative petitions - the last legal remedy - filed by gay rights activists seeking review of the decision to criminalise homosexual acts is pending before a constitution bench of the top court.

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Elated at the comments from the SC bench, senior advocate Anand Grover, who represents the Naz Foundation spearheading the battle for the LGBT community, said, "The remarks are going to have a huge impact on the hearing of our petitions which will come up soon. Yes we are winning."

Naz claims that since the recriminalisation of gay sex, blackmail to extort money - in many cases threatening to complain to police or parents after filming a sex act -, intimidation, and harassment of gay and lesbian community members by organised gangs and the police have increased manifold, as have rapes and other kinds of torture.

"The observations have in a sense concluded the debate on section 377. The court has clearly said sexual orientation is part of your fundamental right to privacy," said senior advocate Kapil Sibal.

Observers say over the past decade, LGBT people have gained a degree of acceptance in parts of conservative India, especially in big cities. But, being gay remains deeply taboo in most of the country. "The verdict declaring right to privacy as a fundamental right is definitely going to have a huge impact on private consensual sexual activity between two consenting adults," said advocate Namit Saxena.

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Also Read

Thanks to Supreme Court, Right to Privacy is now a fundamental right. Do you know your other fundamental rights? Right to Privacy: 5 bills yet no law, how Parliament has dealt with personal data protection

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By PTI: Patna, Aug 24 (PTI) JD(U) president Nitish Kumar today removed party General Secretary Javed Raza and Secretary Virendra Kumar Bidhuri, loyalists of rebel leader Sharad Yadav, from their posts on the charge of "anti-party activities".

Announcing this, JD(U) Principal General Secretary K C Tyagi said they were removed with immediate effect.

Raza and Bidhuri are close associates of Sharad Yadav who has been charting a different path after JD(U) walked out of Grand Alliance and formed government with BJP in Bihar.

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Nitish Kumar, also Bihar chief minister, has already removed another Sharad Yadav loyalist Arun Kumar Shrivastav as General Secretary for "unauthorisedly" writing to the Returning Officer of Gujarat Assembly for appointing an election agent for the crucial Rajya Sabha election there.

Rajya Sabha member Ali Anwar, who is working in tandem with Sharad Yadav, has been suspended.

Sharad Yadav himself has been removed from the post of JD(U) Parliamentary Party leader and Nitish Kumars close aide RCP Singh made new Parliamentary party chief.

Kumar and Tyagi have already hinted big action against Sharad Yadav that includes ending his Rajya Sabha membership if he attends RJD August 27 rally at Patna. PTI SNS NN

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A man in this country illegally when he allegedly shot and killed a 16-year-old Baton Rouge boy on the teen's birthday in March pleaded not guilty Thursday to a negligent homicide charge.

Octavio Bringas-Posadas, 50, a Mexican national, was indicted on that charge last month by an East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury.

Bringas-Posadas, told a relative he was playing with a gun inside his Southpark Drive apartment off Airline Highway when it fired by accident, striking Darius Plummer, authorities have said.

Plummer was the best friend of Bringas-Posadas' son.

State District Judge Lou Daniel on Thursday appointed the East Baton Rouge Parish Public Defenders Office to represent Bringas-Posadas, who said he had no money to hire a lawyer.

Bringas-Posadas, who pleaded guilty in June to federal gun and immigration charges stemming from the fatal March 13 shooting, has not been sentenced and remains in federal custody.

He was deported to Mexico in 2012 after a Baton Rouge drug arrest but later found his way back into the U.S.

Bringas-Posadas faces up to 12 years in federal prison on the charges he pleaded guilty to June 7  illegal re-entry into the United States, and possession of firearms and ammunition by a person illegally in this country.

U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick has told Bringas-Posadas he will likely be deported as a result of his guilty pleas in federal court.

He faces up to five years in prison if convicted of negligent homicide. His next court date in state court is Sept. 26.
A bipartisan coalition of nine council members co-sponsored a measure Wednesday urging the Louisiana Attorney General's office to swiftly conclude its investigation into the death of Alton Sterling, who was fatally shot during an encounter with city police last summer.

The move follows what had been a string of contentious meetings that saw several people thrown out of the Metro Council's chambers in recent weeks. The discussion of the ongoing Alton Sterling investigation was comparatively tame on Wednesday.

Federal prosecutors decided not to pursue a civil rights case against the officers involved. Now, the AG's office must determine whether police broke any state laws. When the state case concludes, the city will then complete its own internal affairs review to decide whether the officers involved did not follow department policy.

For months, some members of the public have spoken out urging the Council to use its sway to push the state to complete its investigation and present its findings.

"It shouldn't take six months just to review the facts. ... Give the community an answer so we can begin the healing process," The Rouge Collection publisher Gary Chambers said during Wednesday's meetings.

The council has met 27 times since Sterling died, noted Jennifer Harding, president of the Progressive Social Network of Baton Rouge. She was unimpressed by Wednesday's call to conclude the investigation, calling it a "hollow statement."

As they have in the past, speakers criticized the Council for postponing previous opportunities to discuss the case. Meetings have run over time of late, and on several occasions, time expired before the issue came up.

In response, members of the public found other opportunities they sought to use to bring their concerns before elected officials. At a recent council meeting, they demanded the shooting be addressed during a discussion of a proposed television show featuring city police.

Discussions have been heated, and Mayor Pro Tem Scott Wilson has responded by tossing speakers out of chambers, including the head of the local chapter of the NAACP and outspoken local activist Arthur "Silky Slim" Reed.

Only three members of the public spoke on the issue at Wednesday's meeting, and the council did not discuss the matter. The 12-member council voted unanimously to forward a letter to the Attorney General's office urging them to conclude their investigation "as expeditiously as possible."

Llorens: Search for new Baton Rouge police chief likely to take 3-6 months The search for a new Baton Rouge police chief likely will take about three to six months and

The Council did not take up Chambers' suggestion to attach a time frame to the request. He urged the Council to get tough with state prosecutors and demand they rule on the matter within the next 30 days.

Harding said she's been let down by leaders' response to the shooting.

"Too much time has passed. ... It's disappointing," she said.

"I've been embarrassed."
During his final state of the city address last month, Mayor Mitch Landrieu unveiled a bold initiative to cut New Orleans carbon emissions in half by 2030. The mayor rated climate change as an existential threat to New Orleans.

A two-decade long climate change initiative from the lame-duck mayor of a midsize city probably wont alter the fate of the planet. But it will play well with the national Democratic audiences the mayor is increasingly trying to impress.

Less than a month later, New Orleans voters learned of a more immediate threat that could flood their city: Years of mismanagement of the Sewerage & Water Board pumping stations, which are designed to whisk away the summer rains that plague southeast Louisiana.

After a drenching rainfall Aug. 5, S&WB officials said that the citys pumps operated at full capacity. But within days, their lies were exposed and the city admitted that pumps were poorly maintained and unstaffed.

The mayor has taken responsibility for the S&WB mess, as he should.

Landrieu had eliminated city council appointments to the board. The city imposed a residency requirement that made jobs harder to fill, and the mayor had installed his aide, Cedric Grant to run the agency. When the city council called a hearing and S&WB officials admitted they had lied, Grant announced he would retire at the end of hurricane season. Now, even that wasnt soon enough, and he left this week. Other senior officials have also been ousted. The agency's internal emails show that Grant was out of the loop regarding how pumps performed after earlier rainstorms. On Tuesday, Landrieu named a group of six emergency managers to help run the agency through November.

The mayor was in Aspen when the flooding assaulted New Orleans, and while he was slow to return, he has since focused his energy on the crisis, and the city has done a better job conveying truthful information to citizens.

As part of that effort, his administration this week admitted it may have to evacuate the city for heavy rain events that fall short of a hurricane. It's a particularly grim prospect as Tropical Storm Harvey looms in the Gulf of Mexico, threatening south Louisiana with lots of precipitation in the coming week.

The state is still trying to get more federal dollars to help recover from a massive flood last summer that ravaged the Baton Rouge area. A nationally publicized scandal about the recent pump failures in New Orleans  and the management failures of those charged with keeping them running  won't boost Louisiana's image on Capitol Hill as it makes the case for additional help.

It can rain every day in New Orleans this time of year and predicting which storms might mandate an evacuation seems nearly impossible.

But take heart. Evacuating New Orleans for a rainstorm would not be as painful as fleeing for a hurricane, with endless backups on the freeways to Baton Rouge or Biloxi or Birmingham.

New Orleanians can find safe haven right next door in Jefferson Parish, where voters learned 12 years ago how much can go wrong when an inattentive politician ignores the nuts-and-bolts details of keeping the pumps working.
Two years ago next week, after New Orleans had survived a gut-wrenching stretch of tenth anniversary commemorations and status checks, it occurred to me: One day, August 29, the date Hurricane Katrina made landfall, won't be circled on the region's collective calendar. One day the date will come and go without much notice, let alone fanfare.

Nope, not yet.

This time last year, Baton Rouge and surrounding other areas were still reeling from catastrophic flooding that had very different origins, but too many tragic similarities to ignore. That was particularly true for the former New Orleanians who'd moved to higher ground after 2005, only to find themselves under water a second time.

And now that the twelfth anniversary is bearing down on us, so is a tropical system named Harvey, which is aiming for Texas but is likely to soak the area with its outer bands. The storm is expected to make landfall over the weekend, but it could stall out and produce days of heavy rain all over south Louisiana.

This is happening, of course, against the backdrop of the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board's belatedly disclosed drainage deficiencies, which Mayor Mitch Landrieu and other officials are scrambling to fix. After two big Saturday afternoon floods, residents were already on edge before Harvey headed toward the Gulf of Mexico.

Particular circumstances aside, it's probably never a good idea to get complacent around the end of August, which is when the height of hurricane season really starts.

Maybe we could do with fewer explicit reminders, though.
A man lost his life while a woman was seriously injured when heavy stones fell on them from an overhead balcony at the SN Medical College.

By Siraj Qureshi: The Gorakhpur Medical College incident had not yet cooled down, when heavy stones falling from an overhead balcony at the SN Medical College claimed the life of a man, while a woman was seriously injured. The injured woman has been admitted in the ICU where she remains critical.

According to the Madan Mohan Gate Police Station sources, Pradeep Kumar (40), who had a friend's son admitted in the pediatric ward of the SN Medical College for treatment, was badly injured by the stones of a balcony that broke off from the newly constructed building and fell on his head while he was sleeping under it last night.

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Rushed inside the hospital, he was declared dead on arrival by the doctors, while Shakuntala Devi, another woman sleeping nearby, was seriously injured and is now undergoing treatment in the ICU of the Medical College.

The deceased Pradeep alias Pappu was a resident of Basua village under Police Station Malpura area, whose friend Sher Khan's son had been admitted in the SN Medical College. Having arrived to see his friend's son, Pradeep could not bear the smell inside the hospital, so he came out of the building and lay down on the ground under the balcony to catch some sleep. The injured woman Shakuntala Devi had her grand daughter admitted in the same pediatric ward and was resting outside. Both got hit by the falling stones. Pappu got hit in the head and died on the spot while Shakuntala Devi was knocked unconscious. Pappu has left three kids and a wife behind him.

Coming to know about the incident, Samajwadi Party District President Ram Sahay Yadav reached the medical college and raised a ruckus. He filed a complaint against the medical college administration in the M M Gate Police Station, demanding the arrest of those involved in this incident.

Shakuntala Devi's son Arvind told India Today that his mother had come to the medical college from Firozabad to get her grand-daughter admitted in the SN Medical College after being referred here. However, baby was not admitted in the hospital for five hours and consequently, his mother could not return home on the same day and had to spend the night at the hospital. His daughter had serious difficulty in breathing and needed a ventilator, but the medical college doctors did not provide that. He was inside with his daughter, trying to take care of her when his mother met with this accident.

Meanwhile, talking to India Today, a civil engineer said that the building had been constructed at the cost of Rs 22 crore, but the stones had not been bolted into the walls, which caused them to lose grip on the cement and fell.

SN Medical College Principal Dr. Saroj Singh and Superintendant Dr. Ajay Agrawal said that this building had been constructed by 'Jal Nigam' and a notice will be served to them soon, although they could not explain why the building was not inspected for substandard construction by the college authorities while it was being built. They claimed that the building was yet to be handed over by the Jal Nigam to the hospital administration.

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The building had been inaugurated last year by the former UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and even the then District Magistrate Agra Pankaj Kumar had praised the quality of construction in this building. This building had also been inspected by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Dy. CM Dr. Dinesh Sharma recently and they had found several flaws in the construction, but they were not rectified.

At present, the SN Medical College has 15 departments and 9 departments are still running in buildings that are in a highly dilapidated condition. Over 2500 patients come to the medical college every day for treatment. In January 2017 too, several people were injured in the Psychiatry Department due to stones falling from the roof. In July, the same incident happened in the Out Patients Department, one room of the medical college's blood bank has completely fallen, but no action has been taken to improve the state of affairs in this medical college.

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Dy. CM Dr. Dinesh Sharma had recently complained of mosquito infestation in the medical college and had instructed the medical college authorities to start fogging of the campus, but nothing was done. The Pediatrics department smells so bad that Pradeep had to come out of the building for fresh air and that became the reason for his death. Had he been inside the building, he would not have been hit by the falling stones.

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UP: Two killed in road accident in Sambhal

24-year-old Delhi businessman killed in bike race, accident caught on camera

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The ACT government has introduced new laws to criminalise drink and food spiking, with offenders liable for a fine of up to $75,000 or five years in jail.

The law makes it an offence to give someone food or drink that contains an intoxicating substance that they're not aware is there, or more of an intoxicating substance than the person expects. The offender must also intend to cause harm - although the harm doesn't have to have actually occurred for an offence to be committed.

Drink spiking: New laws in the ACT propose a $75,000 fine or five years in jail for food and drink spiking. Credit: Louise Cooper

It covers situations where a sleeping tablet is added to someone's food or drink without consent.

The government says 2004 research by the Australian Institute for Criminology found between 3000 and 4000 incidents of drinking spiking nationally in 2002-03, of which one-third had been linked to sexual assaults. In 2004, a national meeting of attorneys-general recommended food and drink spiking be criminalised.
The Woden Tradies Union Club has been sold for $16 million to local developer Geocon.

Staff at the cash strapped southside club were told of the sale on Thursday morning.

The Woden Tradies Union Club has been sold for $16 million to local developer Geocon. Photo: Sitthixay Ditthavong Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong

The club is expected to close its doors in January next year.

Woden Tradies chief executive Rob Docker said the club had struggled to break even for the past five years due to increasing competition from nearby clubs.
The Canberra Writers Festival kicked off on Thursday, our appetites whetted by chef Matthew Evans in an opening literary dinner.

But there's something for everyone to nibble on over the next few days, from workshops, to conversations, to silent reading time.

Anna Snoekstra will speak at Millennials Strike Back. Credit:Elesa Kurtz

Given the theme is Power, Politics, Passion we thought we'd pick up on that, throw in something to keep the kids amused and something we thought crime fans might love.
An examination of the gaps in oversight arrangements for the ACT's detention facilities cannot be completed until a final federal decision is made on Convention Against Torture protocols.

ACT Justice Minister Shane Rattenbury said on Thursday the justice directorate is examining the territory's potential 'places of detention' that could come under the United Nations Optional Protocols under the Convention Against Torture.

ACT justice minister Shane Rattenbury said an investigation of gaps in oversight of places of detention was awaiting a federal decision. Credit:Rohan Thomson

The ACT Human Rights Commission has called for such an audit to be publicly undertaken, citing numerous gaps in the ACT's oversight of facilities ranging from police and court cells to mental health units.

While the federal government has pledged to ratify the protocol by years' end, as part of the ratification, the Commonwealth must decide on the scope of facilities that would come under the UN's gaze.
Canberra man Harley Stott was jailed on Thursday for his part in a drive-by shooting in Gowrie and for later torching the car.

He was also jailed for his role in trying to traffic drugs into the Alexander Maconochie Centre while on remand.

Shots were fired at the front of a Gowrie house in February 2015. Credit:Jay Cronan

Early in the morning on February 2, 2015, Stott, 24, was riding in the back seat of gold Subaru WRX when someone in the front seat unloaded five rounds into a house in Gowrie, the court heard.
Qantas has delivered its second-highest profit ever as its continues to enjoy earnings growth from domestic flights and in its loyalty business.

Underlying profit before tax for financial year 2017 was $1.4 billion, down 8.6 per cent from 2016, when it reported a record profit $1.53 billion.

The result was just above the airline's guidance provided in May, which Qantas said was due to strength in its domestic arm, and beat market consensus of $1.38 billion.

Qantas said the result showed its three-year turnaround program had made it a more efficient business, with an operating profit margin of 9.9 per cent compared with the airline industry average of 4.4 per cent.
The recently departed head of Australia Post, Ahmed Fahour, will take home pay of $10.8 million this year as more than $8.7 million in bonus payments bolsters his base pay of over $2 million.

This would rank him among the highest paid chief executives in the country when compared with the reported salaries of executives of our largest listed companies - and ahead of the likes of the heads of Telstra and BHP.

There is almost certain to be a public outcry about the largesse of the remuneration package.

But it has been defended by Australia Post chairman John Stanhope, who on Friday morning released the company's profit results showing revenue grew 3.7 per cent in the 2017 financial year and pre-tax profit increased from $41 million last year to $126 million.
By PTI: Jammu, Aug 24 (PTI) The police in Jammu and Kashmir was investigating the case of an engineering student who left his studies to become a militant and his photograph holding an AK assault rifle was doing rounds on social media.

Mohammad Eisa Fazli, a resident of Shadab colony near Soura in the outskirts of Srinagar, went missing from his hostel room in Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University (BGSBU) in Rajouri on August 17.

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Two days later a picture of him holding the rifle was uploaded on Facebook announcing that he had joined "jihad" (holy war).

He had joined B Tech (IT) course in the university in 2014.

According to the Facebook post, he joined Al-Qaeda cell, Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, headed by engineering dropout Zakir Rashid Bhat alias Zakir Musa.

The police was trying to ascertain how the student got radicalised and left his studies after completing his sixth semester to join the militant group.

"The boy had gone to his home for a two-month holiday and is believed to have come in contact with militants there. Srinagar Police is investigating the matter," Senior Superintendent of Police, Rajouri, Yougal Manhas told PTI.

"As part of our investigation, we visited the university, conducted a search of his room and questioned his close friends and roommates. But nothing incriminating was found from his room," the SSP said.

He said the questioning of his friends and roommates also yielded nothing as they were also shocked by his decision.

"We came to know that he had talked about Azadi (freedom) of Kashmir on several occasions but never expressed his desire to join militants," the officer said.

He said there are two types ofradicalisation--expressed radicalisation and internal radicalisation--and his case was an example of internal radicalisation.

Manhassaid police has not come across any case of expressed radicalisation in the ongoing investigation so far.

Training and placement officer Sameer Raina said the university had been holding counselling sessions with the students from a long time to keep them away from militancy.

"We have been doing it and have not taken any further measure since the district administration is yet to confirm about the authenticity of the Facebook post," Raina said.

He said the report of his joining militant ranks was on social media and they could not be sure that the news was "authentic but at the same time we cannot ignore such a development".

The case had shocked the entire university and the matter was brought to the notice of police and civil administration, he said.

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"The student was gentle and not a talkative one. He was good in academics and above average. He cleared his sixth semester exam on July 18 but did not join the seventh semester even after returning from holiday on time," Raina said.

He said the university would take all necessary steps for the benefit of students.

In a statement, the university said the parents of the student were informed about his leaving the hostel without permission and asked to know his whereabouts and safety.

However, no information was received from the parents, the statement read. PTI TAS AB AAR

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Investa Office Fund has shrugged off constant takeover speculation by posting a solid result, boosted by what are considered to be the best leasing market conditions ever experienced along the eastern seaboard.

Demand from new tech tenants for core locations in capital cities and the spread of co-working space users has absorbed excess office vacancies, putting landlords in a "golden period".

347 Kent Street, Sydney, where ANZ currently leases, could be refurbished to drive future performance, Investa Office's fund manager, Penny Ransom, said. Credit:Louie Douvis

Investa Office's fund manager, Penny Ransom, said the spread of rents and asset prices between premium and secondary office properties in Sydney and Melbourne were tightening to the point that "we are entering unchartered waters".

"When you see an asset sale at 4.5 per cent yield, it can be seen as toppy, but with leasing demand so strong, the market seems to be absorbing these prices," Ms Ransom said.
There is an evidence-based consensus among health experts that drugs, illicit and licit, pose a far greater threat to young people than they do to adults, because brains are still developing core functionality in the teenage years. It's a reality parents, carers and educators are well advised to calmly and carefully underscore. It is undisputed, for example, that should a young person have a pre-disposition to mental illness, drug use can be catastrophic.

Precocious use of substances can trigger life-long difficulties. It can cut young lives tragically short. Adolescents often feel invincible and all-knowing, so it's not necessarily a message to which they are immediately receptive, but it is vital they are given the information to allow them to conclude for themselves that recreational use of substances, including alcohol, can do irreparable damage. Copious documentation is online. A good source is the National Drugs Campaign, which also produces an excellent app.



Hallucinogens like LSD are particularly dangerous to young brains. It is quite right that a Melbourne school recently expelled a 15-year-old student arrested on campus by police who later charged him with 22 offences, including possession and trafficking LSD. He was sentenced in the Children's Court and received an 18-month probation order, which was reduced on appeal to a good behaviour bond and no conviction, so he may still study in the US as he hopes to do.

He, of course, should not have his entire life undermined by youthful folly. But he recklessly risked the very lives of a number of friends. He and two friends (who were judged less culpable and were neither expelled nor charged) pooled almost $700, converted it to a digital currency and bought as many as 100 doses of LSD. He claims they mistakenly bought too much and so just gave it to their friends. One of them had an adverse reaction and ended up in hospital, after hallucinating and running naked through the streets. He could have died.
The federal government has "lost the plot" for suggesting Labor is pursuing socialist policies that rely on the politics of envy, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says.

But the accuracy of Finance Minister Mathias Cormann's claim that Labor would impose more than $150 billion in extra taxes over a decade largely hinges on one big decision - whether a Labor government would reverse the Turnbull government's cuts to company taxes for small and medium businesses.

Labor has not stated whether it would reverse the Coalition's company tax cut, a policy that would cost the budget an estimated $60 billion over 10 years in forgone revenue.

That $150 billion claim was contained in an extraordinary speech from Senator Cormann criticising Mr Shorten on Wednesday night, in which he also accused him of wanting to tax the life out of the economy, take Labor back to its "failed socialist roots" and pursue policies that would drive successful people out of the country.
Linton is a regular presence at Mnuchin's side, and not just at major events such as the inauguration, when she was still his fiancee, but also at hearings and commissioning ceremonies. She is always camera-ready. And she appears to have multiple Birkins and an affection for the work of designer Roland Mouret.

To be clear, Linton's Instagram post was not obnoxious because of the designer shout-outs. Those were ill-considered, but fashion folks do that all the time as they delight in some splendid new bauble. Everyone should be free to chirp with glee. And it's not as though anything she was wearing was startling or exceptional in the great scheme of fashion. (Sorry, Louise.) Indeed, those Valentino rock-stud strappy sandals have been around so long and had such commercial success that they are practically the iPhone of designer footwear.

Instead, it was Linton's impulse to lash out at JenniMiller29, who had all of 379 followers, with an extensive commentary about Linton and Mnuchin's financial contribution to the economy that set people's teeth on edge. "Have you given more to the economy than me and my husband? Either as an individual earner in taxes OR in self-sacrifice to your country? ... Pretty sure that the amount we sacrifice per year is a lot more than you'd be willing to sacrifice if the choice was yours," Linton wrote.

She made the sneering suggestion that a person's income is the best measure of their value and stature, which is to suggest that the millions of dollars Mnuchin made in banking and hedge-funding reflect his actual cultural and societal value rather than the nature of a capitalist economy - an economy that typically undervalues teachers, mothers, home health-care aides, day-care providers, etc. Linton implied that becoming treasury secretary for the world's largest economy was a breathtaking sacrifice in service to his country. (And I guess she took a blow for the nation by marrying one.) Surely it has its challenges, but part of sacrificing in the name of patriotism is not talking about how much you're sacrificing in the name of patriotism.

In a single Instagram post, Linton managed to tap into elitism, narcissism, self-righteousness, incivility, apathy and blonde privilege - all wrapped up in a designer package. Linton was so pleased with how chic she looked deplaning that she wanted to share that image on social media. The whole running-the-country thing was straight out of central casting. The couple looked the part. But even the best actors will tell you that beautiful costumes can't compensate for a lousy narrative.
Shop the sale online. Specialising in bridesmaid and formal ready-to-wear gowns, Sydney based-brand White Runway is having a two-day warehouse sale with up to 75 per cent off selected past season stock, discontinued styles and samples. Expect versatile lengths, cuts and hues from designers including Alex Perry, Shona Joy, Elle Zeitoune, Pasduchas, Pia Gladys Perey and Jadore. Suite 22, 21 Collins Street, Alexandria. Thursday 24 12pm-8pm, Friday 25 10am-6pm. The two-day sale will feature designs at 75 per cent off. Streetwear and denim specialist General Pants Co. is holding an "End of Lease Sale" before the brand moves their Sydney CBD presence from Mid City Centre to George Street. The sale will feature both men's and women's pieces from brands including Wrangler, One Teaspoon, Ksubi, Insight, Zanerobe, RVCA and more. Sale prices start from $10, with nothing over $50.

Just Launched Parlour X is renowned for its expertly-curated selection of luxury ready-to-wear and accessories. So it is no surprise that the boutique will house Raf Simons' debut collection CALVIN KLEIN 205W39NYC exclusively in Australia. The 2017 ready-to-wear collection focuses on the brand's cinematic and romantic traditions. "The acquisition of Raf Simons' debut CALVIN KLEIN collection within our brand portfolio at Parlour X reflects our commitment to delivering the finest luxury multi-brand edit, tailored to the Australian client." says Parlour X Director, Eva Galambos. Featuring multiple runway pieces, the Parade collection, which includes structured outerwear, signature denim and layered knitwear, will continue to be introduced into the store throughout September and October. As Raf Simons puts it on the Calvin Klein site, "It reflects the environment. All of these different people with different styles and dress codes. It's the future, the past, Art Deco, the city, the American Westall of these things and none of these things. Not one era, not one thing, not one look."

All the designs will be available in the Parlour X Paddington boutique, as well as online for all Australian customers. The Church' - 261 Oxford St, Paddington NSW 2021 and Online. Parlour X will house Simon's debut collection exclusively in Australia. Local brand Gorman is one of the many brand's lending support to the same sex marriage campaign in the form of white message tees. In collaboration with illustrator Monika Forsberg, Gorman will be distributing 5000 Love is Love tees, incorporating the brand's signature quirky design flair to show "all people are created equal" With limited quantities available in every Gorman store nationwide, customers can get their hands on one of the tees by showing a screenshot of their updated Australian Electoral Commission details on their movbile, with enrolment closing on Thursday, August 24.

"I strongly believe that our country must accept that love between two people who want to marry, no matter the gender, should be acknowledged legally," said Founder and Creative Director, Lisa Gorman. "As a brand, it's about using our voice to promote something we stand up for." All Gorman Stores nationwide. Friday 25. Founder Lisa Gorman with the brand's Love is Love t-shirt, available in-store for free on Friday. The twice-yearly department store launches may be over for another six months, but the news keeps coming from Myer, with accessories label From St Xavier joining the company. From St Xavier is one of the country's emerging accessories labels, with a commitment to handcrafted pieces with a social and ethical focus.

Its pieces blend glass beads, semi-precious stones, resin, natural metals and other premium materials. The range will launch in Myer Melbourne, Sydney and Chadstone, and online from September. --Melissa Singer Accessories brand From St Xavier is joining Myer this spring. #inthecart
A mounting class action against Airservices Australia could represent "the largest underpayment of workers by a Commonwealth body corporate in Australian history".

Centred on alleged shortfalls in superannuation and redundancy entitlements, the lawsuit is believed to affect as many as 600 former government employees and 150 current managers.

Stuart Allman is one of the claimants in a class action against Airservices Australia. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong

Rory Markham, the director of employment and risk management at Chamberlains Law, said the total value of the claim could be between $25 and $40 million.

"If we are correct in this position, this claim will be the largest underpayment of workers by a Commonwealth body corporate in Australian history," he said.
A witness crucial to the last-ditch freedom bid of convicted killer Susan Neill-Fraser has denied she gave false evidence and corrupted another to do the same.

Neill-Fraser is serving 23 years behind bars for the murder of partner Bob Chappell, who disappeared from the couple's yacht moored off Hobart in 2009.

Sue Neill-Fraser has spent the past seven years in jail. Credit:'Sue Neill-Fraser Is Innocent' page/ Facebook

The 62-year-old has maintained her innocence, with her latest appeal against the conviction set to be heard in October.

But the case has been rocked by a police investigation which in August charged three people with interfering in the case.
A former University of Queensland employee and another Brisbane man have been charged with fraud and uttering by the Crime and Corruption Commission.

The 53-year-old former UQ employee from Moggill was charged with two counts of fraud to dishonestly gain benefit or advantage, one count of forgery and one count of uttering.

The CCC says the fraud charges relate to the misuse of a university travel card. Credit:Glenn Hunt

A second 53-year-old man, from Eatons Hill, was charged with one count of forgery and one of uttering.

The CCC alleged the fraud charges related to the misuse of a university travel card, and the forge and utter charges related to the issuing of a fake invoice.
A sub-inspector was today killed in an encounter with dacoits in Chitrakoot district of Uttar Pradesh.

By Press Trust of India: A sub-inspector was today killed in an encounter with dacoits of the Babli Kol gang in the Manikpur area in Chitrakoot district, police said.

"Sub-Inspector Jai Prakash Singh lost his life in an encounter with the Babli Kol gang in the Nihi Chirayaa jungle in the Manikpur area of Chitrakoot district," said Additional Director General (Law and Order) Anand Kumar.

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Singh hailed from Jaunpur district, he said.

"The gunfight is underway. The members of the gang have also been hit. Senior officers have been rushed to the spot," he said.

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Pakistan Army kills 2 jawans in firing from across LoC in Kupwara

5 Pakistan jawans killed, 6 others injured in retaliatory firing by Indian Army at LoC

MP minister denies police fired on farmers, says no state-wide protests taking place

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"Trusts are used in common law countries. Civil law countries haven't even heard of them," he said. Small Business Minister Michael McCormack says Labor's plan to tax trusts are "a short-sighted tax grab on trusts". Credit:Andrew Meares While the United States and United Kingdom also use trusts, Mr Jordan said trusts in those countries were limited to holding assets in a passive way. "We are really the only country that operates businesses actively through trusts," he said. "There's a whole lot of reasons, to pass through capital gains discounts and to be able to have a discretion as to income and to protect assets. It's a hard one. It is a real difficult nut that one. I think there have been a few goes at it over the decades."

Complex arrangements Mr Jordan said many small businesses and farmers were using quite complex arrangements set up for them which they didn't understand. There is all this self created complexity in a way that we have got ourselves into and gee it's going to be hard to unwind. Chris Jordan "I was involved in chairing a board called the new tax system advisory board back in 1999 to advise the government on implementation issues for GST," he said. "It really struck me, particularly with farmers and some small business owners, they said: 'This is outrageous  we have these things and they are so complex.'"

Mr Jordan said just one small business could be operating using a trust, partnership, company and self-managed super funds. "There is all this self-created complexity in a way that we have got ourselves into and, gee, it's going to be hard to unwind," he said. "A lot of people have had their accountants putting in pretty complex things that they just don't understand." ATO to 'recalibrate' its focus Mr Jordan denied the Australian Tax Office focused on small businesses rather than the top end of town.

"We have had an unashamed focus on large corporates and multinationals," he said. "We have been funded through the tax avoidance taskforce, there has been a lot of information." Mr Jordan pointed to the ATO's appearance before the Senate committee on corporate tax avoidance. "We have an assailable problem there because of the concentration ... we are across it and we feel sure of the settlements and all that. We are going to recalibrate a bit, we are not going to let go of that, but we are going to focus on the black economy and the cash economy which people expect us to do now. "The only problem with the tax system is not with large corporates  there is a problem with the cash economy and there is a problem with work related expenses." 'A tax grab'
"The incident reported in The Age involved criminal conduct that put students at real risk of physical and psychological harm, leading to a student being admitted to hospital after an overdose," Ms Green said.

The teenager's former school has acted "entirely appropriately", according to Independent Schools Victoria chief executive Michelle Green.

Jamie, who wants to be a doctor, is now at a state school. Credit:Chris Hopkins

The story of 15-year-old Jamie , who was expelled from his private school after buying 100 tabs of LSD, has unleashed debate about how schools respond to students involved with drugs.

Everyone agrees on one thing  expelling a student is always complex.

She said most schools had codes of conduct that detailed acceptable and unacceptable behaviour, and the consequences of breaking these rules.

"Students and their parents accept theses policies when they enrol."

Schools are not immune from the drug issues in our society. New figures from the Crime Statistics Agency show that 258 drug offences were recorded at Victorian state and private schools, during school hours, over the past three years. Expulsion for drug use was "prevalent", according to a recent report by Victoria's Ombudsman.

While Jamie (not his real name) acknowledged he deserved to be expelled, he did not like the way his school went about it.

He was critical of the fact he was expelled before he had a chance to sit down with the principal and tell his side of the story.
The answer to today's nine letter word is UPBRAIDED.

Amanda C was first to guess the answer.

One of the people who emailed me the answer was a former Age chief editorial writer. She solved it very quickly, given she upbraided governments of left, right and centre almost every day of the week.

Sarah H was halfway through her first cup of tea for the day when she solved it, while for Alice G it is evening at the moment: "I'm in France though, so no coffee since last night's affogato a few hours ago. I'm awake feeding my baby and checking in on my hometown traffic woes". (of which there were a lot this morning)

Chris D said he got it in 10 seconds. "One of those lucky ones where it doesn't take long. I'm not always that quick," he wrote.
Bangkok: Thousands of police and soldiers are set to be deployed across the Thai capital ahead of a verdict on Friday in the trial of former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra likely to inflame tensions in the military-run country.

For days security forces have manned check-points outside Bangkok where they've been turning away supporters from of Ms Yingluck's rural heartland who wanted to mass outside the court.

Former Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra waves to supporters as she arrives at the Supreme Court for her final statements on August 1. Credit:AP

But thousands are still expected to defy a ban on public gatherings of more than five people and turn up to learn the fate of Thailand's first female prime minister who has been accused of negligence in her handling of a failed rice subsidy scheme that cost Thailand $US8 billion $10 billion) in losses.

Police said they are "100 per cent prepared" to confront troublemakers.
The blast took place in the wee hours of morning and comes after two earlier blasts in Darjeeling and Kalimpong.

By Manogya Loiwal : A blast today rocked Darjeeling district of West Bengal. The blast took place near Sukhia Pokhri Police Station, located at a distance of twenty kilometers from the India - Nepal Border.

The blast took place in the wee hours of morning and comes after two earlier blasts in Darjeeling and Kalimpong.

Sukhia Pokhri is one of the important police stations because of its demography and location. Damage to the police station was reduced because of a fencing around it. The cars and police vans parked outside, however, were almost blown up in the blast.

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Police is trying to ascertain if there is any similarity in the earlier two blasts and the possible motive in this case.

The blast comes at a time when Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is expected to hold an All Party meeting on the Gorkhaland issue.

No causalities have been reported.

With inputs from Kayes Ansari

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NOTICE OF LIEN SALE Extra Space Storage will hold a public auction to sell personal property described below belonging to those individuals listed below at the location indicated: Store # ...

NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF ESTATES All persons having claims against the following estates are required to deliver or mail their claims to the indicated Personal Representatives, appointed to administer these...
As a citizen of India, here are the fundamental rights you're entitled to.

By India Today Web Desk: The Supreme Court of India, in a landmark judgement, pronounced Right To Privacy as an absolute right under Article 21. Fundamental rights are granted to all the citizens of India, regardless of sex, age, caste, creed etc..

These rights are fundamental because of two reasons: first, they are mentioned in the Constitution of India. Secondly, these rights are justiciable, that is, they are enforceable by law and can be contested in a court of law.

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The Constitution offers us six fundamental rights that are listed in Part III of the constitution under Article 12-35.

Here are the fundamental rights as listed in the Constitution of India:

Right to Equality: Article 14-18

Right to Equality is the first of fundamental rights to be listed in the Indian Constitution. The right is meant to provide equality to all citizens before law and also equal protection of law. Furthermore, Right to Equality also prohibits discrimination of any kind. There are five provisions under the Right to Equality:

(i) Equality before law: This states that all citizens are equal before law and are equally protected by the laws of the State. Also, this states that no person is above the law of the country.

(ii) No Discrimination on the basis of Religion, Race, Caste, Sex or Place of Birth

(iii) Equality of Opportunity to all Citizens in matter of Public Employment

(iv) Abolition of Untouchability: It was made a punishable offence by the constitution makers of the country.

(v) Abolition of Titles: Titles awarded by the British like Sir and Madam were abolished by the constitution of India.

Right to Freedom : Article 19-22

Right to Freedom is one of the most important and widely contested fundamental right of the Indian Constitution. Right to Freedom is further divided into the following parts:

I. Article 19 of the Indian constitution mentions six freedoms that are available to the citizens of India: (a) Freedom of speech and expression (b) Freedom to assemble peacefully and without arms (c) Freedom to form Associations and Unions (d) Freedom to move freely throughout the territory of India (e) Freedom to reside and settle in any part of India (f) Freedom to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business.

However, Article 19(2) of the Constitution imposes reasonable restrictions on freedoms mentioned above. According to the constitution:

1. Restrictions may be imposed on the Right to Freedom of speech and expression in the interests of the sovereignty, integrity and security of India, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offense.

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2. Right to assemble peacefully and without arms may be restricted in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India or public order.

3. Right to form associations or unions may have restrictions in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, public order or morality.

4. Right to move freely throughout the territory of India and to reside and settle in any part of India may also be restricted in the interest of the general public or for the protection of the interests of any Scheduled Tribe.

5. Right to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business may have restrictions in the interests of the general public. The State is also permitted to lay down the professional or technical qualifications necessary for practicing any profession or carrying on any occupation, trade or business.

II. Protection in respect of conviction for offences: Under this no citizen of India can be convicted for an act that was not an offence at the time of its commission. Moreover, no citizen can be given a punishment greater than the punishment provided by law.

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III. Protection of life and personal liberty: Article 21 of the Indian constitution states that no individual can be deprived of his/her personal life or liberty except according to procedures laid down by the law. This is an absolute right and cannot be suspended during the time of emergency.

IV. Protection against arrest and detention in certain cases: A person has the right to know the cause of his/her arrest or detention at the time of arrest. Moreover, the person should be produced in front of district judge within 24 hours of the arrest. Under this right, every citizen has the right to consult a lawyer on his/her arrest.

Right Against Exploitation : Article 23-24

Right Against Exploitation offers two main provisions:

(i) Abolition of trafficking and the practice of begar in human beings: Trafficking and begar and other forms of forced labour is prohibited by law and any violation would result in punishment as stated in the law.

(ii) Prohibition of employment of children in factories: Employment of children below the age of 14 to work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment is prohibited by law.

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Right to Freedom of Religion : Article 25-28

Right to Freedom of Religion is covered in Article 25-28 and provides religious freedom to all citizens of India and has four main aspects.

(a) Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion.

(b) Freedom to manage religious affairs : Under this provision, every religion has the right to (i) establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable purposes, (ii) manage its own affairs in matters of religion, (iii) own and acquire movable and immovable property and (iv) administer such property in accordance with law.

(c) Freedom as to the payment of taxes for promotion of any particular religion.

(d)Freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religious worship in certain educational institutions.

Cultural and Educational Rights : Article 29-30

Article 29-30 talk about the cultural and educational rights that were administered mainly to protect the interests of minorities (religious or otherwise) in the country. Two major provisions have been made under these rights:

(i) Protection of interests of minorities: Minorities having a distinct language, culture or practices have the right to conserve their culture. No citizen shall be denied admission into any educational institution maintained by the State or receiving aid out of State funds on grounds only of religion, race, caste, language or any of them.

(ii) Right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions: Under this law, minorities have the right to establish and administer their own educational institutions.

Right to Constitutional Remedies : Article 32-35

Article 32 of the Indian Constitution has provisions for legal enforcement of the fundamental rights. According to the constitution, the state is the biggest violator of fundamental rights thus the right to constitutional remedies protects the rights of the citizens by giving them provisions to approach the court in case of violation.

Right to Education : Article 21(A)

This right was added to the constitution in 2002 but was only enforced in 2009 after the Right to Education bill was passed. Under this right, every child from the age of 6-14 has the right to receive education.

Also read :

Supreme Court verdict on privacy major blow to fascist forces, says Rahul Gandhi

With Supreme Court's landmark verdict, India takes lead in calling privacy as a fundamental right Privacy a fundamental right, says Supreme Court: Historic verdict explained

Hope Modi govt stops snooping, says Congress after Supreme Court holds privacy as fundamental right

As India debates privacy as a right, a look at how the world views it

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A nine-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court today ruled that privacy is a fundamental right guaranteed under the Constitution of India. Here is the full text of the operative part of the landmark judgement.

By India Today Web Desk: Nine judges of the Supreme Court in a historic and unanimous verdict today held that privacy is a fundamental right that is guaranteed under the Constitution of India. The nine-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court ruled that the Right To Privacy is an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty that is protected under Article 21 and Part III of the Constitution.

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The actual judgement of the nine justices is more than 500 pages long (Read full judgement). The judgement offers a broad survey of topics including the origins of the concept of privacy, the evolution of the privacy doctrine in India, comparative laws on privacy in other countries and criticisms of the privacy doctrine.

The operative part of the judgement on Right to Privacy boiled down to around a page. The judgement was signed by all the nine judges and unanimously held privacy to be a fundamental right. Here is the full text of the operative part of the Supreme Court judgement:

ORDER OF THE COURT

The judgment on behalf of the Hon'ble Chief Justice Shri Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, Shri Justice R K Agrawal, Shri Justice S Abdul Nazeer and Dr Justice D Y Chandrachud was delivered by Dr Justice D Y Chandrachud. Shri Justice J Chelameswar, Shri Justice S A Bobde, Shri Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre, Shri Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman and Shri Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul delivered separate judgments.

The reference is disposed of in the following terms:

(i) The decision in M P Sharma which holds that the right to privacy is not protected by the Constitution stands over-ruled;

(ii) The decision in Kharak Singh to the extent that it holds that the right to privacy is not protected by the Constitution stands over-ruled;

(iii) The right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and as a part of the freedoms guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution.

(iv) Decisions subsequent to Kharak Singh which have enunciated the position in (iii) above lay down the correct position in law.

ALSO READ | With Supreme Court's landmark verdict, India takes lead in recognising privacy as a fundamental right

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Hours after the Supreme Court ruled that privacy is a fundamental right, the government said it welcomed the judgment and that it was impartial on the issue.

By India Today Web Desk: The government today said it welcomes the landmark Supreme Court verdict that declared right to privacy a fundamental right under the Constitution. "The government welcomes the judgment," Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who also handles telecom, said in a press conference in New Delhi.

Prasad said the court has said that right to privacy is not absolute and is subject to reasonable restrictions. "The Supreme Court has affirmed what the government had said in Parliament while moving the Aadhaar Bill. Privacy should be a fundamental right subject to reasonable restrictions," he said.

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Prasad blamed the Congress for bringing in Aadhaar without any debate on the matter. "The idea of Aadhaar card was brought by the UPA government without any debate. That is how they worked," he said.

Reacting to the assertion of the Congress that the verdict was a rejection of the BJP's ideology of "suppression through surveillance", Prasad tweeted: "What has been the record of the #Congress in protecting individual liberties was seen during Emergency."

Defending the Aadhaar scheme, Prasad said the government has formed a high-powered committee for data protection, which the Supreme Court has noted.

Earlier today, in a landmark verdict, Supreme Court's nine-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar unanimously declared that right to privacy was a fundamental right under the Constitution.

The ruling on the highly contentious issue was to deal with a batch of petitions challenging the Centre's move to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing the benefits of various social welfare schemes.

PRIVACY NOT FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT: CENTRE'S EARLIER STAND

But, despite the government welcoming the verdict, Prasad was being economical with the truth. During the long hearing on privacy in Supreme Court, the Centre had explicitly argued that right to privacy is not a fundamental right.

The Centre had also contended that right to privacy cannot fall in the bracket of fundamental rights as there were binding decisions of larger benches that it was only a common law right evolved through judicial decisions.

The Centre had termed privacy as a "vague and amorphous" right which cannot be granted primacy to deprive poor people of their rights to life, food and shelter.

CONGRESS ATTACKS CENTRE

Meanwhile, Congress President Sonia Gandhi today said the Supreme Court verdict on right to privacy heralds a new era for individual rights and human dignity and strikes a blow on "unbridled encroachment and surveillance" by the state and its agencies in the common man's life.

Welcoming the judgement, she said the Congress party and its governments along with opposition parties stood together in court and in Parliament in speaking out for the right and against, what she called, the "arrogant attempts" of the Centre to curtail them.

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"The Supreme Court judgement on 'Fundamental Right to privacy' heralds a new era for individual rights, personal liberty and human dignity. It strikes a blow on the unbridled encroachment and surveillance by the state and its agencies in the life of the common man," she said in a statement.

Sonia's son and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi called the Supreme Court verdict a major blow to "fascist forces" and a rejection of the BJP's ideology of "suppression through surveillance".

The judgement was a "victory for every Indian", Gandhi said on Twitter. "Welcome the SC verdict upholding Right to Privacy as an intrinsic part of individual's liberty, freedom and dignity. The SC decision marks a major blow to fascist forces," he tweeted.

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ALSO WATCH VIDEO | Right to Privacy is a fundamental right: Supreme Court in landmark verdict

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According to Bryan police, officers were called to an apartment on West Carson Street around 8:30 p.m. by a man who said a woman was assaulting him. When police arrived, the man told officers Mariela Castillo, 33, had hit him several times. According to a police report, the man showed authorities a video he had taken, in which police could see Castillo smashing a hard plastic bottle on the floor, punching the man several times, and then picking up a shard of plastic. The video shows Castillo holding the shard to the man's throat and telling him in Spanish she wanted to kill him, the report notes.
Former Rockdale Volunteer Fire Department chief Earl Whitmore, 83, died early Tuesday, and the firefighting community will be gathering with his family this week to celebrate his life and legacy.

Earl Whitmore was born in McLennan County and raised in the Central Texas town of McGregor. His father was the chief for a McLennan-area volunteer fire department, and Whitmore joined on as a firefighter in 1960. Ten years later, he moved to Rockdale to work for Alcoa. He joined Rockdale VFD in 1970, and according to his family, he remained loyal to the department for decades. He was promoted to fire chief in the mid-1980s and retired in the 1990s after nine years.

Current Rockdale VFD Chief Ward Roddam fondly remembers Whitmore's mentorship when Roddam was a teenager who had just joined the department. Roddam said Whitmore's dedication as a firefighter, EMT and CPR instructor for the community coupled well with his innate ability to lead.

"He was a fine man for sure," Roddam said. "...I have a firm belief that people like him are the ones who formed a solid foundation for an outstanding volunteer department."

Visitation will be from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. today at the Phillips & Lucky Funeral Home in Rockdale. Services will be at 10 a.m. Friday at the First Baptist Church of Rockdale. Firefighters who attend are asked to be in dress uniform. Roddam said a firefighter's service will be given to Whitmore with the traditional ringing of the bell and last call at the graveside.
The Salvation Army of Bryan-College Station is hosting a block party to celebrate the new school year.

The Sept. 2 event will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 2506 Cavitt Ave. in Bryan.

There will be food, games and fellowship, as well as free haircuts for students in the first through 12th grades provided by Great Clips.

For more information about the event, call Tilly Mowad at 823-6137 or email otilia.mowad@uss.salvationarmy.org.
In a scenario uniquely familiar to the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets, university president Michael Young explained Wednesday to alumni why the shiny, newly unveiled multi-million-dollar renovations to the Corps of Cadets' corner of campus were not something to be upset over.

"You'll see at as we walk through -- you'll be enormously disappointed as we walk through, because you'll think they [cadets] aren't going to be tough enough and that all of the important things about 'Old Army' are dead," Young said before launching into an explanation of how the cadets in the dining hall with him were living proof of the program's success.

The short speech came at the ceremonial grand opening of the Quad, the area of Texas A&M that houses the Corps of Cadets, after what officials say was the largest renovation since it was first built in 1939.

Over the course of six years, four study spaces dubbed Leadership Learning Centers popped up; a Starbucks opened; dorm interiors and exteriors were redone; and the grassy exterior was replaced with pavement, benches, better lighting and landscaping.

For the A&M leadership, formally introducing these changes Wednesday was equal parts about affirming the value of the program at the university, thanking everyone involved in the design and teasingly assuring those in attendance that the new facilities do not mean cadets will have a less rigorous experience.

In introducing it, Chancellor John Sharp quipped that "Old Army," or the concept of how the Corps was run in the past, "died every five years anyway" and shared a few of his personal experiences with the program.

He said joining the Corps was the best thing he ever did, and he only joined on accident after a his family picked up a hitchhiker who turned out to be a sophomore in the Corps. Sharp said he remembers as a high school student that the sophomore assured him it would be just like his sister's sorority.

He said he was disappointed when the Corps dissolved Squadron 6, the unit both he and United States Secretary of Energy Rick Perry were in together, and recited the reason the commandant of the Corps gave him at the time.

"He said, 'John, their grade point average and blood alcohol level are the same number,' " Sharp joked. "We bought them a few kegs, Perry and I, took them down to the Brazos River, and that was the end of that."

Jokes aside, Sharp said Texas A&M has a certain reputation for producing graduates companies want to hire, which he traces back to the Corps.

"Not that everyone is in it, but the Corps of Cadets is the keeper of the spirit, and all the other kids, they see that and they love it," he said, adding more succinctly later that, "the Corps mixes the Kool-Aid, and everybody drinks it."

Ret. Brig. Gen. Joe Ramirez, commandant of the Corps, said the renovations were overdue and will benefit generations of cadets to come.

"When I came back after 31 years, walking around campus, seeing all of the new developments, the new facilities, it was pretty impressive how my university had grown," he said. "Then I walked to the Quad -- it was like taking [a step] back in time."

Though the newly renovated dorms are still cramped and sparsely adorned, a cadet later leading a tour of the Quad recounted how his father, who attended Texas A&M in the 1990s, was shocked by the quality of the room.

Benjamin Knox, a local artist and business owner who started his business as a cadet in a dorm room in the 1990s, told the cadet that the room was what he "envisioned the Corps was going to be like."

Both Young and Ramirez emphasized the idea of creating a "21st-century learning environment."

Ramirez attributed the construction of each of the four leadership learning centers has contributed to the steady rise in the Corps' average GPA from 2.6 to 3.05.

He said the renovated Quad was fitting for the caliber of students at Texas A&M.

"Oh and by the way, yes, there is a Starbucks at the end. ... Old Army has died and gone to hell -- and we're pretty proud of it," he joked.
In what they described as a vote of confidence, members of the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents voted Wednesday to move forward with a three-year contract extension for Chancellor John Sharp.

The 7-0 vote -- Regents Tony Buzbee and Morris Foster did not attend Wednesday's board meeting -- authorizes Chairman Charles Schwartz to negotiate and formally execute the agreement. Once finalized, it will extend Sharp's contract into 2023. His salary will remain at $900,000.

Sharp was given a standing ovation after the motion was approved, with Regent Bill Mahomes calling the extension "well earned and well deserved" and Schwartz saying it was a statement "recognizing the stability of our system." Vice Chairman Elaine Mendoza and Regent Phil Adams also praised Sharp's vision.

"From day one he has been a bold, innovative, visionary leader, and he has really made a difference for the A&M System," Adams said. "We're fortunate to have who I think is the best chancellor in the country, and there are others that think that, too."

The move by the regents Wednesday puts Sharp on track to becoming the longest-serving chancellor in the history of the A&M System with 12 years of service, should he remain through the end of his contract. After taking on the role in September 2011, Sharp received his first extension in September 2015 along with a $393,000 increase to his base pay.

The regents originally were set to consider the contract extension in April but moved back the vote at Sharp's request so that the newest regent, Tim Leach, could participate. Leach's confirmation was still pending in the Texas Senate during the spring.

After the vote, Sharp thanked the "incredible staff" who come up with "the most amazing ideas."

"I hope I live long enough to fulfill your contract," he joked.

The regents made their way through a packed agenda Wednesday, approving several major items, including the $4.55 billion fiscal year 2018 budget for the A&M System. The flagship campus' $1.66 billion operating budget is a 5 percent increase of $79.58 million over the previous fiscal year. The 6 percent increase in revenue projected for next fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1, is largely thanks to growth from a combination of increased enrollment and the 1.8 percent bump in tuition beginning with the fall 2017 semester for incoming freshmen.

Tuition and fees are the university's primary revenue source and are expected to account for nearly $697 million of A&M's funding for fiscal year 2018. The additional revenue from tuition and fees accounts for more than $60.85 million of the projected $109.07 million increase, bringing the university's expected income to a total of $1.88 billion.

Also approved Wednesday is a set of what a system press release calls one of the most restrictive conflict-of-interest rules in Texas higher education, extending state law to hundreds of senior administrators and their close family members.

The state already prohibits Texas agencies -- including the System and its members -- from contracting for goods and services from vendors if chancellors, presidents, CEOs, general counsels, chief procurement officers and procurement directors or their close family members have a financial interest in the vendor. The board's unanimous vote extends the prohibition to chief financial officers, vice chancellors, chief auditors, chief compliance officers, provosts, vice presidents, deans, deputy or associate agency directors, and other employees with equivalent job duties.

The last time the system looked at those titles, they were held by about 650 employees across the 11 universities and seven state agencies, a system spokesman said.

The expansion of the conflict-of-interest rules come after former Texas A&M Provost and Executive Vice President Karan Watson was removed from her position in July after an internal audit found issues tied to business dealings her spouse had with the university. Over the seven years Watson served in the position, payments made by the university or a system agency to the Center for Change and Conflict Resolution -- a company owned by her wife, Nancy Watson -- increased significantly, averaging more than $60,000 per year.

The audit found that since Watson took over as provost in 2011, the Center for Change and Conflict Resolution had been paid $9,838 by the provost's office and $105,767 from the Office for Diversity, which reports to the provost. Altogether, the business received $438,733 from the university for training services. The report did not, however, find any evidence that she pressured or tried to influence staff to hire her spouse.

The new rules consider it a financial interest if employees or their spouses, parents, children, siblings, grandparents or grandchildren own or control, directly or indirectly, have an ownership interest of at least 1 percent in the private vendor, or could foresee that a contract with a vendor could result in a financial benefit to the employee. The rules also extend to the close relatives of employees' spouses and the spouses of children, parents, grandparents and grandchildren.

Regents with a "substantial interest" -- similar to the 1 percent ownership interest standard for employees -- in contracts pending before the board will also have to announce the conflict and refrain from voting on the contract. The provision incorporates recent legislative changes to state ethics laws, according to the press release.

Employees covered by the conflict-of-interest rules will be required to file a financial disclosure with the System's Office of General Counsel by the end of January each year.

The regents unanimously approved several other items Wednesday, including:

 The creation of the Gateway Education Center at the upcoming RELLIS Campus in Bryan. The center will allow students to obtain bachelor degrees from the system's regional universities from around the state without leaving the campus. Several other centers were also approved: The Center for Grand Strategy to be housed in the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M, the Mays Innovation Research Center within the Mays Business School at A&M, the Texas A&M Transportation Institute's Center for Advancing Research in Transportation Emissions, Energy and Health and the Texas A&M Institute of Data Science, a joint institute between Texas A&M, the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station and Texas A&M AgriLife Research.

 Construction on Agriculture Building No. 5 on the flagship campus to be located near the Rosenthal Meat Sciences and Technology Center. An additional $44.5 million will be allocated for the project, bringing the total to $49 million. Construction is scheduled to start in September with a completion in March 2019.

 Construction on the $42.5 million Music Activities Center, which will be located at the current site of the Duncan Drill Field. The project will include a 100-year artificial turf practice field for the Aggie Band, soundproof practice rooms, new rehearsal halls and locker space for the storage of instruments. Construction will begin in September with a completion date of May 2019.

 An increase of 180 full-time employees -- 130 faculty and 50 staff members -- bringing the current capped level to 5,145.5.
Lost in coverage of the eclipse and the day-to-day deluge of politics and partisanship was a remarkable discovery, one that should, at the very least, offer some perspective.

On Saturday, naval researchers announced that wreckage from the USS Indianapolis  a World War II cruiser sunk by a Japanese submarine in 1945  had been found more than three miles deep in the Philippine Sea.

Near the end of the war, the Indianapolis ran a top secret mission to Tinian, an island in the Pacific Ocean, delivering parts that would be used in the atomic bomb that eventually was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.

Returning to the Philippines, the ship was torpedoed and sank. There were 1,196 sailors and Marines on board. About 800 survived the initial strikes and sinking, but after four days adrift in shark-infested waters, some on rafts, some floating with life preservers, only 317 survived. It was and has remained the Navys worst disaster at sea.

There have been searches for the wreckage off and on since the Indianapolis went down, to no avail. But finally, a team led by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen found her, including a piece of the hull with a white 35 still visible, after scouring a 600-square-mile area of open sea.

Allens website quotes Capt. William Toti, spokesman for the survivors of the Indianapolis: For more than two decades Ive been working with the survivors. To a man, they have longed for the day when their ship would be found, solving their final mystery. He said the site is now a war memorial and called it one of the most tangible manifestations of the pain and sacrifice of our World War II veterans.

I spoke with Edgar Harrell, a 92-year-old survivor of the Indianapolis who now lives in Tennessee, and he said he got a call from Toti not long after the discovery was made: I said, Praise the lord. And then from there Ive been inundated with calls and emails.

Harrell is one of only 19 living survivors, and like many of them, he has worked hard to keep the story of the Indianapolis and its crew alive, even authoring a book about the tragedy titled Out of the Depths.

I think thats how the mission continued for many of these sailors and Marines. They survived unimaginable conditions at sea, watched their brothers in arms pulled under by sharks or die of dehydration, and finally were rescued after a bomber pilot on patrol spotted them.

The war ended soon after, and the sinking of the Indianapolis was somewhat lost in all the stories of World War II. But people such as Harrell never gave up hope that the ship would be found.

Its great news, just to know that it has been located, Harrell said. And yes, it brings some closure to the saga.

He added this: But it fails to change any outcome of the disaster and the trauma of that experience.

And thats where I think we get some perspective.

The sailors and Marines aboard the Indianapolis, like all who fought in World War II and all who have worn a uniform and served since, were willing to die for this country. And more than 800 of them did, while the rest survived conditions I cant begin to imagine.

Thats bravery. And sacrifice. And true patriotism.

Matt Bierzychudek is a project strategist with U.S. Bank in Chicago and the grandson of a late Indianapolis survivor. He has a sleeve tattoo covering most of his left arm, all dedicated to the Indianapolis  to the ship, and the sea and the men on board.

He recalls hearing stories about the tragedy and seeing how the Indianapolis was such a huge part of his grandfathers life.

I think he was proud, Bierzychudek said. He was proud to have served his country. My grandparents were both extremely patriotic. That was their lives, talking about the Indianapolis.

He continued: These are guys as young as 17  some had even lied about their age to serve their country. My grandfather was from Chicago, went to San Francisco and saw the ship; it was the biggest thing he had ever seen. It wasnt about politics at that time; it wasnt about hating the enemy. It was about protecting and serving your country. And a lot of them made the ultimate sacrifice. And he just never gave up. They were in the water and never knew if the rescue would come, and he just never gave up hope.

Bierzychudeks mother hadnt been born yet when the Indianapolis went down: Had he not survived, I wouldnt have been here.

We all owe something to people such as Bierzychudeks grandfather, and to Harrell and to the men of the Indianapolis who didnt survive.

Theyre a reminder of what binds this country together, and of the things that make it worth fighting for in the first place.

I hope the discovery of the wreckage of that ship raises interest in that tragic moment and in the sacrifices that were made.

But I also hope Americans can pause a moment, as we wade through our troubles and divisions and daily dramas, to gain some perspective on life, on honor and on who we decide to call our heroes.

Rex Huppke is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune. Email him at rhuppke@chicagotribune.com.
The apex court threw out Swami Om's plea describing it as frivolous and slapped Rs 10 lakh fine each on him and one Mukesh Jain.

By India Today Web Desk: The Supreme Court today slapped a fine of Rs 10 lakh on self-proclaimed godman Swami Om for challenging the appointment of Dipak Misra as the next Chief Justice of India.

The apex court threw out Swami Om's plea describing it as frivolous and slapped Rs 10 lakh fine each on him and one Mukesh Jain.

Swami Om was recently arrested by inter-state cell of crime branch from Delhi's Bhajanpura area.

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A few months ago, Om Swami, who was kicked out of the popular TV reality show Bigg Boss for misbehaving with fellow woman contestant in January, was thrashed by locals in Delhi when he tried to misbehave with a woman during a cultural event.

In February, a woman accused the former Bigg Boss contestant and his associate of allegedly outraging her modesty by ripping off her clothes.

A case in this regard was registered at IP Estate police station.

According to the complaint filed by the victim, Om Swami and his associate Santosh Anand allegedly ripped off her clothes on February 7.

The victim alleged that the duo attacked her and ripped off her clothes in an attempt to humiliate her in full public view at Rajghat area in New Delhi.

ALSO READ:

Om Swami, self-proclaimed godman, arrested by Delhi crime branch

Former Bigg Boss contestant Om Swami attacked by public

5 times BB10 contestant Om Swami courted controversy with his outrageous acts

WATCH: BB 10 troublemaker Om Swami's nautanki continues off screen

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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
The Dinakaran faction has hit back and threatened to go to court against the recommendations of the Palaniswami government's chief whip.

By India Today Web Desk: Two days after 19 MLAs supporting TTV Dinakaran told Tamil Nadu Governor C Vidyasagar Rao that they have no confidence in Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami, the government's chief whip in the Assembly S Rajendran has called for their disqualification.

"Request Tamil Nadu Speaker P Dhanapal to disqualify all the 19 MLAs who acted without consulting me," said Palaniswami government's chief whip Rajendran.

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Based on the chief whip's recommendation, the Speaker has sent a notice to the 19 AIADMK legislators seeking an explanation within a week.

The Dinakaran faction has hit back and threatened to go to court against the recommendations of the Palaniswami government's chief whip.

"We will go to court against this recommendation of the whip to Speaker. We only want change of chief minister," said MLA Thanga Tamil Selvan, a supporter of Dinakaran.

MLA Vetrivel, another member of the TTV Dinakaran faction, said, "The whip did not give us any order and so how would we counter his order. The whip has not removed the people who voted against the government."

"We never said that we don't want the government, just the change of the chief minister. Our Chinnamalai only gave us a proposal to make Edappadi the CM and we gave the support letter to the Governor. If that letter is valid, so would this one be," said Vetrivel.

He said during the MLAs' meeting with the Governor the legislators presented him a letter withdrawing support to Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami. He said the current move by the chief whip is a way to "threaten innocent MLAs".

(With inputs from Pramod Madhav)

ALSO READ:

PM Modi hails AIADMK merger, assures all help to Tamil Nadu government

Not AIADMK merger, but expulsion of Sasikala led TTV Dinakaran on revolt path

Numbers game after AIADMK merger: Why Tamil Nadu CM E Palaniswami can't sit back and relax even now

ALSO WATCH: Why Tamil Nadu is in turmoil after the AIADMK merger

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As a new season begins, it's time to purge some favorites from streaming services.

If you're looking to get scared, you've only got until September 1 to stream "A Nightmare on Elm Street," "Scream" and "American Psycho."
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NORWALK  A medical marijuana dispensary could be coming to Norwalk after the citys Zoning Commission this month gave the green light to the idea, albeit with restrictions.

Such dispensaries will be permitted in Business No. 1 zones with the issuance of a special permit by the commission.

No production facilities but dispensaries are allowed in the B-1 Zone only  just on Connecticut Avenue, the south side, and then theres a little pocket off New Canaan Avenue, Norwalk Director of Planning and Zoning Steve Kleppin said Thursday.

Lengthy review

Zoning commissioners on Aug. 16 amended the citys zoning regulations to permit medical marijuana dispensaries by special permit in Business No. 1 zones. The decision came after months of discussion about the pros and cons of allowing such facilities.

Ive had mixed feelings about this from the start. Because its an illegal substance, there really have not been adequate studies of the effects and impacts of marijuana, said Zoning Commissioner Louis Schulman before the vote. Nonetheless, it seems to help people with some fairly significant medical conditions, so I will vote in favor of dispensaries.

Schulman added, however, he saw no value in allowing marijuana-growing facilities in Norwalk.

Any prospective medical marijuana dispensary will not be considered before Oct. 30. The Zoning Commission imposed the moratorium date as it reviewed information from the medical community and elsewhere, and zoning staff put forward recommendations.

The decision to permit dispensaries but not growing facilities  and then only in limited areas  came at the direction of the Norwalk Planning Commission.

Public input

Before the Zoning Commission approval, more than a half-dozen people weighed in during a public hearing.

Norwalk residents Larry and Ginger Katz, who founded the Courage to Speak Foundation after their son died of a drug overdose, urged the commission not to allow medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.

Our mission is to encourage and empower youth to be drug-free, said Ginger Katz. If we legalize marijuana in any way, including marijuana dispensaries, we will have a difficult challenge to convince children that marijuana is unsafe.

Fellow resident Bill Dunne asked the commission to consider the effect of such dispensaries on Norwalks reputation, educational system and property values.

Why would a family move into Norwalk? Dunne asked.

Others asked why persons holding prescriptions for medical marijuana could not instead drive to Stamford or Westport, where dispensaries have been approved.

Angela DAmico, owner of the Compassionate Care Center, a medical marijuana dispensary in Bethel, said there are more than 19,000 medical marijuana patients in Connecticut and that 500 of her patients come from Norwalk.

We have many cancer patients that have tumor reductions that were given months to live. Three years later, theyre still alive, theyre thriving and theyre not on chemotherapy, DAmico said. There is a need for this product. In Fairfield County, we have patients that travel an hour from Greenwich and sometimes an hour from Norwalk (with) traffic on Route 7.

DAmico, who expressed interest in relocating her business to lower Fairfield County, presented medical marijuana as a safe alternative to opiates.

We have over 400 patients that weve gotten off opiates. Every 11 minutes, someone dies in this country of an opiate overdose, DAmico said. And its 7,000 years and no one has died from cannabis.

Diana Lauricella, who lives in Norwalk, described medical marijuana facilities as controversial, but added the industry is well regulated in Connecticut. She did not recall similar debate about big-box liquor stores coming to Norwalk.

I didnt hear one word from anybody about the dangers of that, Lauricella said.
Contributed photo

NORWALK  The Person-to-Person Campership Program, through which hundreds of Stamford elementary school children are able to attend summer camp, expanded to Norwalk this summer with the help of funders such as Norwalk-based Datto and hundreds of individual donors who supported the 2017 Campership Appeal.

One of the core programs at Person-to-Person, The Campership Program provides the type of enrichment that translates into better academic performance for children when they return to school in the fall. And it helps to preserve the familys financial stability because parents can continue working during the summer months.
It is stories like Toilet Ek Prem Katha and Babumoshai Bandookbaaz with a small-town or village connect that are becoming popular in Bollywood.

By Samrudhi Ghosh: Unless you have been living under a rock, you would know that Bollywood is going through a dry spell economically, and hits are few and far between. Most films which made the cut this year have something in common, from Jolly LLB 2 to Badrinath Ki Dulhania - they have a hinterland connect.

Two weeks ago, Akshay Kumar and Bhumi Pednekar-starrer Toilet Ek Prem Katha brought to life the lesser explored lanes of Mathura on the big screen. The Shree Narayan Singh-directed film is one of the biggest success stories this year - made on a shoestring budget of Rs 18 crore, it has already earned over Rs 120 crore, and continues to have the cash registers ringing.

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Last week, it was Ashwini Iyer Tiwari's Bareilly Ki Barfi, starring Kriti Sanon, Ayushmann Khurrana and Rajkummar Rao, that showed there was more to Bareilly than the famous jhumka that we all know it for.

This week's release, Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer Babumoshai Bandookbaaz, is the latest to join the bandwagon. The film will explore the heartland of Uttar Pradesh, and we already know from Gangs of Wasseypur that Muzaffarnagar-born Nawazuddin is a natural at playing the small-town guy.

For the longest time, our cinema has been aspirational. From the snow-capped peaks of Switzerland to the swanky skyscrapers of New York, Bollywood films provided a form of escapism to the majority of our billion-plus population, a fantasy world for the middle-class audience.

But with globalisation and the advent of the internet, exotic foreign locales are perhaps no longer as big a draw for the people as they used to be. Even the NRI (Non-resident Indian) audience is increasingly looking to connect with their roots. The audience is increasingly looking inward, into the country, for stories from the dusty by-lanes with a rustic appeal to them.

And filmmakers have not missed the cue.

Directors and producers are now looking to explore the bustling small towns for fresh content, since the bigger cities like Mumbai and Delhi have been done to death on 70mm.

If box-office trends are anything to go by, the audience wants to see 'real' people and their stories, rather than candyfloss films set in breathtaking locales. Just ask the makers of Jab Harry Met Sejal, which was rejected by the audiences for being a tourism advertisement for Europe in the guise of a film.

Gone are the days when the presence of a star was enough to bring audiences to theatres. The failure of Salman Khan's Tubelight, Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif's Jagga Jasoos and Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma's Jab Harry Met Sejal is proof that content is king.

In fact, Bollywood A-listers are experimenting with this formula. Whether it is Aamir Khan's Dangal (set in Haryana's Balali village), Salman Khan's Sultan (set in Rewari, Haryana) and Bajrangi Bhaijaan (set in Kurukshetra) or Shah Rukh Khan's Raees (set in Ahmedabad), there has been a marked departure from the glamour of big-city life.

Many films based in the hinterland have hit the jackpot in the last few years, be it the Tanu Weds Manu films (Kanpur), NH10 (off the highway in Haryana), Udaan (Jamshedpur), Dum Laga Ke Haisha (Haridwar), Lootera (Manikpur, West Bengal and Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh), Masaan (Varanasi), Ishaqzaade (based in a small town in Uttar Pradesh) or Aligarh (set in Aligarh).

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Even this year, there has been a large number of films exploring the roads less travelled. It is the small towns and their hidden stories which are attracting filmmakers - whether it is a Lipstick Under My Burkha set in Bhopal or an Anarkali of Aarah from Aarah or a Masaan set in Varanasi.

With upcoming films like Sanjay Dutt's Bhoomi (in Agra) and Padman (story from Coimbatore, but Akshay Kumar is shooting in Maheshwar in Madhya Pradesh) continuing on the same path, it is safe to say that this trend is not dying any time soon.

MOVIE REVIEW: Toilet Ek Prem Katha

MOVIE REVIEW: Bareilly Ki Barfi

ALSO WATCH: Toilet Ek Prem Katha Movie Review

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A man was stabbed multiple times in Hamilton County early morning last Thursday, August 17, according to the Hamilton County Sheriffs Office.

The Hamilton County Sheriffs Office posted to its Facebook page seeking the publics help. The Sheriffs office and the Nebraska State Patrol are investigating the stabbing which happened around 2:30 a.m. Aug. 17 near Highway 34 and G Road in rural Hamilton County. A male in his early 20s was stabbed multiple times by an unknown assailant, according to the Sheriffs Office Facebook post. The victim drove himself to Aurora Memorial Hospital where he was treated and released. He is expected to make a full recovery.

The Hamilton County Sheriffs Office is requesting any information anyone may have about this stabbing. The suspect is a male, about 45 years old and is described as having short brown hair, a tall slender build and was possibly wearing a black crew neck sweatshirt at the time of the incident. The male suspect may have been accompanied by another unknown individual. The male suspects vehicle is described as a flat black early 2000s Pontiac Grand Am.

Contact the Hamilton County Sheriffs Office at (402) 694-6936 with any information.
Hall County residents will be paying roughly the same amount of property taxes as they did last year.

The total county levy for fiscal 2018 is 43.24 cents per $100 of valuation. This means property owners will pay $432.44 in property taxes on a $100,000 home. In comparison, the levy for fiscal 2017 is 43.25 cents per $100 valuation, which means property owners pay $432.55 on a $100,000 home.

The total county valuation for fiscal 2018 is $5,518,251,518 for a total growth of $61,787,303 compared to last years county valuation.

In order to keep the fiscal 2018 levy the same as this years, the county board needed to make $132,841 in cuts. The board was told there would not be any additional cuts that needed to be made when it got the preliminary evaluation numbers, but the final valuation numbers showed the board needed to make additional cuts to keep the levy at last years level.

At a special budget meeting Wednesday afternoon, Supervisor Karen Bredthauer motioned to take $133,000 out of the inheritance fund in the operating expenses total to transfer to the general fund. The motion was approved by the county board on a 6-1 vote. Supervisor Doug Lanfear voted no.

Its been good policy that we dont use the inheritance fund to balance our budget, Lanfear said. If we do it this year, it is going to become a habit. We are going to do it next year and the next year. Right now, looking ahead, youre going to eventually use all this money.

Supervisor Steve Schuppan disagreed with Lanfear.

What is going to kill us worse is if we dont use this money and it keeps accumulating, Schuppan said. I dont think that this is a particularly easy way out. But I think it is a solution to a really bad year. It is not like we havent asked everybody to give something.

With the cuts made by the board and revenue increases, the total changes equal $866,573.19. Of this amount, $300,000 was previously cut to the Roads Department, $100,000 to the justice budget, $20,000 to the building inspector and $20,000 to Stuhr Museum.

The total revenue changes totaled $200,450 including $200,000 for prisoner reimbursement.

The county board also voted 7-0 to approve a resolution for final levy allocation to all political subdivisions subject to Hall County Levy Authority. The approved levies included:

 Grand Island Rural Fire: .0294 (compared to last years levy of .0295)

 Hall County Ag Society: .0028 (compared to last years levy of .00284)

 Airport-General: .00956 (compared to last years levy of .00961)

Brad Fegley, an accountant with Lutz who is assisting Hall County with its budget, said the tax asking for other entities  Grand Island Rural Fire, Hall County Ag Society and airport-general  was the same as last year. However, since the valuation went up, he said, their levies went down.

The tax askings are $292,311 for Grand Island Rural Fire, $156,040 for the Hall County Ag Society, and $527,668 for airport-general.

The levies and tax askings for the fire districts are:

 Doniphan Fire: .0228 (compared to last years levy of .0227) and a tax asking of $91,873, which was the same as last years tax asking.

 Cairo Fire: .012 (which was about the same as last years levy) and a tax asking of $54,678 (compared to last years tax asking of $52,821).

 Wood River Fire: .01 (which is up from last years levy of .009) and a tax asking of $52,684 (compared to last years tax asking of $50,184).

 Shelton Fire: .004 (which was about the same as last years levy) and a tax asking of $26,225, which was the same as last years tax asking.

The jail bond levy is the same as last year at .039 cents. The tax asking is $2,152,100, which is up from last years tax asking of $2,139,690.

Fegley also told the board they could vote to approve a 1 percent growth provision. There is a lid on property taxes imposed by the legislature that states property tax receipts can only go up 2.5 percent a year. However, Hall County can vote to go up an additional 1 percent if a super majority of elected officials vote yes. The super majority vote means only one supervisor can vote no, Fegley said.

After being asked by Fegley of their thoughts on approving the 1 percent growth provision, it was determined the board did not have a super majority to approve it. Bredthauer and Quandt said they would vote no to approving an increase, meaning the increase would not pass if put to a board vote.

Quandt said he would not vote for the 1 percent growth provision because he does not want additional expense.

Supervisor Scott Arnold said the board is not spending one dime more by approving the 1 percent growth provision and that it simply gives Hall County the authority to spend more if it needs to.

We would still have to vote to raise the levy if we wanted to spend more and we are not doing that, he said. This doesnt affect us as far as how much we tax. What this does is protect us for future events that we may have in the next year. It gives us more spending authority if it is really bad next year. Why would you not vote for it? If we never use it, it never costs.

Stacey Ruzicka, Hall County Board administrative assistant, echoed Arnolds comments, saying this amount would not affect the levy, or change what people pay in property taxes.

But down the road, it could increase taxes, Quandt said.

The county board will vote to approve the final fiscal 2018 budget at its Sept. 5 meeting.
Former State Senator Arlene Nelson died Tuesday at Good Samaritan Society-Grand Island Village.

Nelson served in the Nebraska Legislature for two terms, after beating incumbent District 35 State Senator Howard Peterson in 1984 and then successfully running for re-election against Gary Quandt, who is now a member of the Hall County Board of Supervisors.

Nelson served on the Judiciary, Education and Retirement committees in the Nebraska unicameral while she was a state senator.

Nelson was a Democrat, but she described herself as very conservative. In fact, she said fellow state senators told her that they have trouble telling her party affiliation. Her philosophy was that Nebraskans want state government to provide services, but without spending excessive money.

People want a very conservative state government, she said.

Grand Island attorney Glen Murray, who is active in Democratic politics, said that as a state senator, Nelson took her job seriously in trying to represent the people of her district. She also was active in attending local Democratic Party events. If we had a dinner or a fundraiser, she would usually come and attend that and lend her support.

Murray said that Nelson was always very deliberate in her decision-making, never rushing to decide how she would vote on an important decision.

Nelson and her husband, Milford, operated Nelsons family farm near Doniphan until they moved to Grand Island in 1982. Their son, Dennis, took over the farming operations.

Nelson was active in the Nebraska Farmers Union and served as Nebraska representative at national conventions. Although she was very familiar with rural and farm issues, Nelson said she did not consider herself to be a strictly rural senator. She once noted that she supported many bills that benefited institutions in Grand Island, such as Central Community College and Fonner Park.

One of Nelsons more difficult votes was supporting LB775, a multimillion tax break bill that supporters such as Gov. Kay Orr said would help spur business development and job creation in Nebraska. That law was passed in 1987.

I didnt want people to say Nebraska is not competitive, Nelson said.

At the time, some Nebraska lawmakers said the bill was tailored to suit ConAgra, which was then based in Omaha. At the time, ConAgra had just merged with Monfort, the meat packing plant in Grand Island that is now the JBS meat packing plant. Nelson said that she did not want to vote against LB775 and possibly give ConAgra an excuse not to expand the Monfort plant in Grand Island. When Orr signed the bill, ConAgra made a public announcement it was staying in Omaha and would not ask other states to propose locations for a new laboratory or for its company headquarters

While she voted for the bill, Nelson said she was worried that LB775 would narrow Nebraskas tax base, leaving it without adequate revenue to pay for state services.

Nelson was defeated in her bid for a third term in office by Dan Fisher.

During her career, Nelson also was employed by the Hall County ASC office until she campaigned for the Legislature. Her other public service included being a district representative for AARP and volunteering with the American Cancer Society.

Nelson served in the Nebraska Legislature during the 1980s farm crisis, which meant she and other state senators were often dealing with ways to balance the state budget.
It has been threatened for years, and it has finally come about. The ACLU filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of Nebraska inmates in U.S. District Court, alleging that overcrowding in the states prisons has led to unsafe conditions and that many prisoners arent having medical conditions treated.

The state has known such a lawsuit could happen and has tried to take measures to lessen crowding, but they have had little impact.

The ACLUs 87-page lawsuit says extreme overcrowding is causing needless suffering and death of inmates. Staff also are facing unsafe conditions, it alleges.

The numbers seem to back the lawsuits claims. Last week, Nebraskas prisons held 5,217 inmates. That is 160 percent of their capacity of 3,275.

The Omaha World-Herald reported that one state prison in Lincoln holds three times its capacity. It said dozens of inmates are forced to sleep on temporary plastic cots.

So the ACLUs concerns are valid. However, since 2015 Gov. Pete Ricketts and the Legislature have been trying to address the issue. This comes after Gov. Dave Heineman and his administration ignored the problem for the 10 years he was in office.

State officials have worked to reduce overcrowding through sentencing and parole reforms, but no significant reductions have been seen.

The Legislature authorized spending $26 million for an expansion of the Community Corrections Center in Lincoln. A new 100-bed modular dormitory will soon open there. Also, $75 million has been set aside for an addition for elderly and mentally ill inmates.

In addition, the state has been sending some inmates to county jails, such as the one in Hall County, through contracted arrangements.

So Ricketts and state senators have been making strides, just not enough to satisfy the ACLU.

It is hoped that the state and the ACLU can continue discussions on ways to reduce Nebraskas prison population. State government taking measures is much better than having a federal court force specific actions.

A court decision could result in the early release of some prisoners to relieve overcrowding. This, though, could put public safety at risk if some dangerous prisoners are released before serving out their sentences.

Ricketts has called the lawsuit a threat to public safety. Dangerous criminals could be released, he said. Also, the courts could limit steps that the state could take to manage inmates.

Over the past few years, all three branches of state government have made justice reinvestment and corrections reform a top priority, he said in a statement. Together, we have invested millions of taxpayer dollars to protect public safety and expand state prisons.

While the ACLUs frustration is understandable, the best approach would be to give state officials, who are now taking the problem seriously, more time to find solutions.
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
In a major action against illegal sand mining, Madhya Pradesh officials during the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday seized 200 trucks and two excavating machines.

By Hemender Sharma: In a major action against illegal sand mining on the banks of Rihand river in Singrauli district, Madhya Pradesh officials during the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday seized 200 trucks and two excavating machines.

All the 200 trucks had come from Varanasi border in the Uttar Pradesh and bore registration numbers of UP.

According Sub Divisional Magistrate Vikas Singh, the drivers of the trucks had parked their vehicles in such a manner that it was impossible for any other vehicle to reach the spot.

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"Our team comprising of police officers and officers from the mining department in fact had to walk for over five km to reach the spot. Their informers were guarding the entire route, but we managed to reach the exact spot and seized all the trucks," he said.

The 200 seized trucks are now being brought to the police lines where they can be kept safe. Police on Thursday had problems finding drivers for the vehicles as the drivers of the seized vehicles fled the spot last night.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan before embarking upon his Narmada Seva Yatra, earlier this year, had banned all kinds of mining from Narmada river and had also banned use of all kinds of machines in all the rivers across the state.

The chief minister himself has faced flack on the issue as members of his family have been found to be active in the mining business. A young mining officer had in fact recently seized two dumpers of the chief minister's nephew after they were found carrying illegally mined sand.

ALSO READ:

Tamil Nadu: Alert villagers catch illegal sand miners, but officials leave them bemused

Illegal sand mining detected along Yamuna in Noida

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By PTI: Panaji, Aug 24 (PTI) The amphibious dock landing ship USS Pearl Harbor (LSD 52) and the embarked 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) arrived in Goa today for a scheduled port visit.

The ships Commanding Officer Theodore Essenfeld said their mission in Goa is to conduct the professional subject matter expert exchanges with the Indian Navy, Marine Commandos, and Army.

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He said during their stay in Goa, they will meet their Indian Navy and Army counterparts "in a rare opportunity for joint and combined exchanges, honing our interoperability in amphibious skills, medical care, visit, board, search and seizure procedures, and helicopter operations".

He interacted with media persons on board the ship at Vasco, 35 kms away from here.

The commanding officer said the crew wanted to participate in Ganesh festival beginning tomorrow.

USS Pearl Harbor is an amphibious dock landing ship, designed to support U.S. Marine Corps operations from the sea. The ship can operate the full range of landing craft and helicopters in the U.S. inventory in support of combat or humanitarian missions.

"The purpose is to enhance our interoperability and establish a stronger esprit de corps between our militaries. Our countries have a long history of military cooperation, based on our shared ideals of democracy, international rules and norms, and our desires for peace, security and prosperity across the region," he said.

Lieutenant Colonel James Stover, Commander of Troops, leading embarked elements of the 15th MEU, said no single nation can combat regional threats alone.

"We must work together to share best practices, each nations unique experiences, and encourage interoperability and teamwork to enhance readiness and regional stability.

"Both the US and India recognise that the Indian Ocean is vital to the security of the region and the global economy. Positive mil-to-mil relationships are based on common interests related to maritime security, counter-terrorism, defence trade and security of the global commons, and this is why we have invested in making time to exchange ideas with the Indian Armed Forces while here," he said.

Lt. Colonel Stover said the primary objective of the visit was to build relationships with navies in this region and to help them develop effective and legitimate security institutions that can provide for their countries security while contributing to regional and multi-lateral responses to shared threats.

He said the US is now Indias leading military training partner and the relationship between the navies of both the countries is "deep, multi-faceted, and includes interactions both at the institutional and individual levels".

Meanwhile, the commanding officer said, "In addition to our stated mission, the sailors and marines of USS Pearl Harbor look forward to experiencing the history and culture of India. Goa is renowned as one of Indias most beautiful regions".

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He said the crew was looking forward to participate in Ganesh festival. PTI RPS NSK

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Linkedin EDITORIAL (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 24, 2017 07:58 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97adbb2aa 4 Editorial #Editorial,diaspora,#diaspora,Indonesian-diaspora,#IndonesianDiaspora,citizenship Free

The Indonesian community living abroad has had its hopes raised, particularly that those among them with foreign citizenship will be able to visit their original homeland anytime they please, without the hassle of visa arrangements. But so far the rights of our diaspora remain unclear despite the launch of the so-called Diaspora Card on Monday.

The card only acknowledges the existence of Indonesian citizens living abroad for over two years, foreigners who were formerly Indonesian citizens and foreigners with parents who are or were Indonesian citizens. As to what rights millions of diaspora members will be entitled to, other ministries will issue regulations on what facilities will be given to cardholders, said an official with the Foreign Ministry.

Therefore it is not yet clear whether Indonesians abroad will be entitled to invest here, for instance, or have their visas waived for a lifetime, as enjoyed by members of the Indian diaspora scattered across the continents, let alone hope for dual citizenship, as several have urged.

The Foreign Ministry has stepped up efforts to prevent exploitation and increase protection of the people who make up the bulk of the diaspora; poorly educated, largely female migrants working as domestic servants. Indonesian expatriates would now expect more from our diplomats in regard to their protection.

Following a number of annual gatherings, either of the Congress of the Indonesian Diaspora or the latest Global Summit, diaspora members have reminded fellow Indonesians that they love their motherland, the tanah air (literally land and waters), just as much as those residing in the country. Like diaspora members of other countries, Indonesians abroad have reiterated that they do not want to be merely seen as remittance senders, though their contributions are often a much needed lifeline for their families at home.

Were now seeing the rise of the new diaspora generation, the first adults who must choose Indonesian or foreign nationality under the revised Citizenship Law when they reach 21 years old. Even if they choose foreign citizenship, clear entitlements as diaspora members would help them retain their ties to Indonesia.

Each diaspora gathering has included extraordinary sharing by members of their experiences, aspirations and ideas for the country according to their varied interests and professions. The latest summit included a presentation from the Indonesian American Society of Academics, aiming to improve medical and educational facilities across West Papua and Papua  areas that few other Indonesians care about, except for being exotic travel destinations.

We risk losing out if ministries fail to follow up clearly on how far we welcome our sons and daughters abroad, who with their young generation have formed a rich diversity of cultures and exposure to positive traits. Even a short vacation at home exposes local families to their diaspora members shock, for instance, at wasteful habits and laziness.

Our people abroad may not yet be demanding to share the voting rights of Filipinos, which would certainly benefit aspirants for political positions. But easy access to their country is vital to prevent overseas Indonesians feeling like unwanted aliens in their own homeland.
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Linkedin Tri Harso Karyono and Tasya Nabila (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 24, 2017 17:15 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97adddd87 3 Opinion renewable-energy,environment,#environment,#RenewableEnergyProjects,oil-and-gas,energy-and-mineral-resources-ministry,energy-assets Free

The life of human population on earth is under threat by two things: huge emission of carbon dioxide and huge consumption of earth resources. The huge emission of carbon dioxide, the principal "greenhouse gas", causing the globe temperature increase. Before the Industrial Revolution, when carbon-based fossil fuels began to be consumed on a large scale, the level of CO 2 was around 280ppm (part per million).

In 2013, NASA reported that the level of CO2 in the atmosphere had reached 400ppm, while in 2015, the UK Meteorological Office stated that the global average temperature was already 1 degree Celsius above the pre-industrial figure. Some reports stated that the increase in global average temperature should not exceed 2oC as its unsafe and would create unsustainable earth planet. So, the more increase on CO 2 in the atmosphere would catastrophe the life of the whole human population.

On the other hand, the next threat for human population is related to ecological footprint (EF). EF, defined by Mathis Wackernagel and William in 1992 is measured in global hectares (gha), is a calculation of human demand on the earths resources, standardized by land and sea areas that can regenerate resources being consumed by the population and mitigate associated waste

The human consumption on earth resources is related to the value of EF, The more consumption would increase the EF levels and would threat human beings since the availability of the earths resources is limited. In this case, people may not be survived as they are unable to feed themselves .

As one of the developing countries, Indonesia is currently still struggling to develop its nation. The development of this country is still far behind some other former third world countries, such as Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and even Malaysia as well as China, as its indicated by a lower GDP (gross domestic product) and HDI (Human Development Index).

Countrys development, measured by its GDP and HDI levels, tends to be associated with the countrys CO 2 emissions. The more the country is developed, with having higher GDP or HDI, would create a higher CO 2 .emissions. Examining more than a hundred countries in the world with the available data on their GDPs, HDIs and CO 2 emissions, it was found that these figures are correlated each other. The rise of either the GDP or HDI, will increase the countrys CO 2 emissions. Strickly speaking, the development of a country would rise countrys CO 2 emissions and this would threat the earths sustainability as more CO 2 is emitted, warming the earth.

Prominent researchers have shown that the amount of CO 2 emitted by any electrical generator is depended on the type of energy sources used by the generator. Renewable energy tends to emit a very small amount of CO 2 to generate electricity compared to fossil fuels-based energy. To generate 1 kWh electricity, wind turbine emits 9 g CO 2 , while for the hydroelectric 10-13 g, solar PV 32 g and geothermal 38 g, compared to natural gas 443 g, oil 778 g and coal 1050 g. In order to minimize CO 2 emissions, thus, sustaining the earth, renewable energy is more preferable to be used than fossil fuels, in generating the electricity.

In the very near future, Swedia would be the first country in the world that uses all renewable energy in their country. Currently, Iceland has all its electricity generated by renewable energy, mainly from geothermal and hydroelectric. Denmark, Nicaragua, Scotland, Norwegia, Paraguay and German are expecting to reach 90 percent of their electricity are generated by renewable energy. With a small number of population and fairly rich fossil fuels, New Zealand consumes 40 percent of its energy from renewable sources, about 23 percent from geothermal. The Kiwi currently generates about 80 percent of its electricity from renewable energy and is expected to reach 90 percent in 2025.

The diversification of energy being used in the country from fossil  based energy to renewable is a matter of human effort to anticipate and mitigate climate change. The high CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere has triggered global warming and climate change, which might be reduced by diversifying fossil fuels to renewable sources.

While many countries have moved forward to replace their fossil fuels-based energy to renewable energy in order to minimize the CO 2 emission, Indonesia is still largely depended on fossil fuels to develop its nation. Since 2004 Indonesia has been a net oil importer country when its oil production was declined and the demand escalated, however, this nation is still neglected its abundant renewable energy sources and still trying very hard to suck any drop of the remain oil left. With more than 120 active volcanoes, Indonesia has the biggest geothermal energy potential in the world.

Unfortunately, with a huge potential of renewable energy, this country still largely depends on fossil fuels. Only about 5 percent of the total potential of its renewable energy is currently used, while 95 percent is still supplied by fossil fuels, with 47 percent is from oil, 24 percent is from gas and 24 percent from coal. Not only emit low CO 2 , renewable energy, such wind power, hydroelectric, solar PV, biogas and biomass, is mostly available in every country, so that it reduces the country dependency on fossil energy from other countries.

Unfortunately, the Indonesian government doesnt see the carbon threat nor the abundant potential of renewable sources that can reduce the country dependency on oil. The appointment of the new Vice Energy Minister last year, who is an expert on oil drilling rather than on renewable energy has indicated that the government is still keeping its eye on oil, not renewable energy. When will we start to develop a sustainable country with sustainable sources of energy?

***

Tri Harso Karyono is a professor of Architecture at Tanri Abeng University, Jakarta.

Tasya Nabila is a Student of International Class, School of Architecture, Tanri Abeng University, Jakarta.

---------------

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.
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Jerusalem, Undefined  Thu, August 24, 2017 18:05 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97ade2385 2 Art & Culture archaeology,#archaeology,Israel,Byzantine,Jerusalem Free

Israeli archaeologists on Wednesday unveiled a 1,500-year-old portion of mosaic floor bearing the names of Byzantine Emperor Justinian and a senior Orthodox priest.

David Gellman, director of the excavation in east Jerusalem's walled Old City, said that while the area was rich in archaeological finds, few such inscriptions had been found.

"Direct text and letters from people back then are relatively rare," he told AFP.

The Greek inscription, dated at 550 or 551 AD, commemorates the founding of a building thought to be a hostel for pilgrims near the city's Damascus Gate.

Constantine, the Orthodox priest who founded it, was abbot of the Nea Church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary and the largest church in Jerusalem when it was built in 543 AD.

Gellman said the rectangular section of mosaic, 1.14 metres (3 foot 7 inches) on its longest side, "tells us about the way churches and monasteries worked back then. It makes this piece very unique".

Read also: Holy water: Jerusalem aquarium set to open

The Greek declaration, dated at 550 or 551 AD, commemorates the founding by the Orthodox abbot Constantine of a building thought to be a hostel for pilgrims, near the city's Damascus Gate. (AFP/Ahmad Gharabli)

"It tells us that the abbot, the head of the big church in Jerusalem, was not only the head of that specific church," he said.

It was discovered intact about a metre (three feet) below street level as Gellman and his team made a routine exploratory dig ahead of the arrival of workers to lay communications cables.

"We were very close to closing the excavation when I noticed that a few of the mosaic stones, which were otherwise plain white, were at a different angle and seemed to be a little darker," he said.

"I cleaned up that small corner... and found that it was the bottom left corner of the inscription itself," he added.

"At that moment I realised that we have a very unique find here."

The Old City lies in east Jerusalem, seized by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed in a move never recognised by the international community.
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Linkedin Diane Desobeau and Glenn Chapman (Agence France-Presse) New York, United States  Thu, August 24, 2017 10:23 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97adbfb30 2 Science & Tech Samsung,samsung-galaxy-note-8 Free

Samsung on Wednesday unveiled a new model of its Galaxy Note as it seeks to leave behind the debacle over exploding batteries in the previous generation of the device, and mount a renewed challenge to Apple and its soon-to-come iPhone 8.

Introducing the Note 8 "phablet" at an event in New York City, executives repeatedly thanked fans who had remained loyal to the device.

"None of us will ever forget what happened last year," said Samsung president of mobile communications business DJ Koh.

"But, I will never forget how millions of dedicated Note loyalists stayed with us; so let me express my deepest gratitude."

The South Korean giant laid claim to being the first smartphone maker to field a "phablet" device -- combining features of smartphones and tablets -- when it introduced the first Note five years ago.

Members of the media get a look at the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 after it was unveiled at the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2017 event on August 23, 2017 in New York. Samsung unveiled the new generation of its flagship Galaxy Note smartphone, seeking to put behind it an embarrassing recall over exploding batteries and mount a renewed challenge to key market rival Apple and its soon-to-come iPhone 8. (AFP/Don Emmert)

Samsung did not disclose the price of the Note 8, which will hit shops on September 15 but will be available for pre-orders starting Thursday.

Note 8 features include dual cameras on the back, with improved image capabilities, and a signature "S Pen" for drawing or writing on touch screens.

"All in all, it was a good day for Samsung," Moore Insights and Strategy analyst Patrick Moorhead said at the event.

"The Note 7 is clearly behind them and now it's onto the future with the Note 8."

The analyst depicted the Note 8 as Samsung's best opportunity in years to gain market share in the fiercely competitive premium smartphone market.

iPhone turns 10

The Note 8 debut comes on the heels of Samsung launching new Galaxy 8 smartphones, and as the South Korean consumer electronics giant and fellow market leader Apple seek wow factors that can help them fend off challenges from rising Chinese-based manufacturers.

Apple is under particular pressure to dazzle as the culture-changing California iPhone maker looks for a way to maintain its image as an innovation leader in a global market showing signs of slowing.

Apple is expected to unveil a 10th anniversary version of the iPhone in September.

"Clearly, Apple wants to do something different," NPD Group analyst Stephen Baker told AFP.

Reports say the new iPhone will include a high-quality, edge-to-edge screen with a notch in the top for an extra camera supporting 3D facial recognition.

Read also: Whats new in the iPhone 8

Some speculate that the back of the new handset will be glass and will offer wireless charging.

Meanwhile, Google-made Pixel smartphones that debuted last year will likely get a second generation in the months ahead.

Global smartphone sales saw a modest decline of 0.8 percent in the second quarter of 2017, an IDC survey showed.

Samsung maintained top spot in the crowded field with a 23.3 percent market share, while Apple held onto second place with 12 percent, according to IDC.

"Samsung had the Note 7 debacle, but it appears their troubles are behind them," GlobalData analyst Avi Greengart told AFP. "Samsung is doing some amazing things with its display and design."

'Infinity' and beyond

Note 8 handsets boasted "infinity" screens that span edge-to-edge on handsets, to enhance the viewing of video or help to juggle multiple tasks.

Samsung said it also built its Bixby virtual assistant smarts into Note 8 as it battles to compete with artificial intelligence being meshed into handsets powered by Apple or Google-backed Android software.

Note 8 also boasted water and dust resistance, along with wireless charging capability.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is unveiled at the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2017 event on August 23, 2017 in New York. Samsung executives introduced the Note 8 (AFP/Don Emmert)

"We appreciate the relentless passion of the Note community," Koh said during a presentation focused almost as much on Note fans as it was on the new handset.

"They've been a constant inspiration to us, and we designed the new Note for them."

In an interview with CNBC, Koh confirmed that Samsung is working on a smart speaker infused with Bixby smarts that will take on home assistant devices fielded by Amazon, Google and Apple.
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Linkedin Dylan Amirio (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 24, 2017 09:31 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97adbe82a 4 People jakarta,Painter,Srihadi-Soedarsono,Ali-Sadikin,infrastructure-development Free

At 86 years of age, veteran painter Srihadi Soedarsono shows no signs of slowing down, even after amassing decades of experience and global recognition for his quintessentially Indonesian subjects that warmly grace his canvases.



Spending most of his creative time at his studio in Bandung, Srihadi is preparing for his latest exhibition where he will showcase three of his most socially significant works: two of which hold background stories that indirectly helped change Jakartas skyline.



Ja(YA)Karta will be the veteran painters newest exhibition.



Held at the Jakarta Fine Arts and Ceramics Museum in West Jakarta from Aug. 24 onwards, the main centerpiece of this exhibition will be Jayakarta, the six glorious panels measuring 275x1,200 cm oil on canvas painting, which Srihadi painted in 1975 and which was once on display at City Hall on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan in Central Jakarta.



The exhibitions curator, Maya Sujatmiko, described the piece as a kind of social commentary on a period in Jakartas history where infrastructure development had started to take off following the liberalization of the countrys economy in the 1970s.



The origin of Jayakarta, as explained by Srihadi himself, came about from an emotional reaction from Jakartas top authorities in the 1970s toward a previous painting of his.

Air Mancar (1973) (Srihadi Soedarsono/File)

The year was 1975 and a painting by Srihadi made in 1973 entitled Air Mancar, a slightly wavy and impressionistic take on the Thamrin skyline from the perspective of the fountain roundabout nearby Monas, was prepared for display at the opening of the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII)s main pavilion.



The painting was noted for its grey sky nestled above Jakartas obscured buildings, most of which were lit mainly by neon billboards bearing the names of major Japanese companies.



For Srihadi, the myriad of bright neon lights bearing the names of Japanese companies such as National, Toyota and Hitachi were eyesores dotting an otherwise adequate Thamrin skyline, but nonetheless he painted the skyline as it was because he wanted to show the skyline in its reality.



The presentation of bleakness in his painting caught the attention of then Jakarta governor Ali Sadikin.



When Ali saw that painting for the first time at the opening of the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah [TMII] pavilion, he seemed offended by it. He took a marker to write what he thought about the painting directly on the canvas [] and signed it! Srihadi recalled.

Present time: Srihadis new painting From Jayakarta to the Glorious Maritime Nation ( 2017 ) will be on display in the upcoming exhibition at the Jakarta Fine Arts and Ceramics Museum in West Jakarta. (Srihadi Soedarsono/File)

Ali wrote: Sontoloyo!!! Apa ini reklame barang2 Jepang?? (Silly! Is this an ad for Japanese companies?)



Ali would later apologize to the painter after taking a spontaneous drive around Thamrin that same night with literary figure Ajip Rosidi and cultural commentator Ilen Surianegara to gain an artistic viewpoint on the situation. He changed his mind after reportedly asking one of the experts, Is my city really as ugly as Srihadis painting?



Srihadi understood that Alis perception of the city lights was different to his.



He might have thought that the bright lights were a good thing for Jakartans; like a symbol of modernity. But he also understood that art is all a matter of perspective, he said.



Spurred mainly by the Malari demonstrations of 1974, which opposed the grip of Japanese companies on the Indonesian economy, Jakarta gradually cut down the number of Japanese billboards along the citys main thoroughfares over the succeeding years.



Afterwards, Ali commissioned Srihadi to paint a less bleak, but grander vision of Jakarta for display at City Hall: a painting that should define the citys beauty. And thus was born Jayakarta.



Meanwhile, Srihadi said the Air Mancar painting vanished not long after its premiere, and he did not get his hands back on it until 2002 when he tracked down one of Alis subordinates, who took the painting from a storage area in City Hall in order to protect it from further harm.

Jayakarta (1975) (Srihadi Soedarsono/File)

I received the painting in its pristine, unscathed condition. I cannot tell you how glad I was when that painting fell again into my hands. It was a relief knowing that it was still alive and safe, he said.



Air Mancar will be one of the three paintings to be displayed at the Ja(YA)karta exhibition.



When asked about the state of the Thamrin skyline today, Srihadi chuckles. Despite giving no comment, he expressed his optimism that the countrys younger generation of artists would offer some social commentary.



I cant do and feel things as a 20-year-old does anymore, the artist said as he laughed.



Commentary on the current generation should be done by the young, because theyre the ones who understand [this era] the most.
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Linkedin Agnes Anya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 24, 2017 07:00 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97adb9d44 1 City luxury-car,tax Free

In an attempt to net trillions of rupiah, the Jakarta Tax and Levy Board has called on associations and dealers of luxury cars to help them collect tax arrears from car owners.

The board on Wednesday met with several associations and dealers, like the Indonesian Ferrari Owners Club and BMW Indonesia.

"In the meeting, we asked the associations and dealers to advise their members and buyers to pay their tax arrears," board head Edi Sumantri said on Wednesday.

Those who fail to pay their arrears by Aug. 31 can expect tax officers to go to their houses to collect the arrears and fine them 2 percent of the arrears per month, he added.

Responding to the meeting, Tami Nuhutomo, product planning manager of BMW Indonesia, suggested an online system be introduced to ease payment.

Currently, motorists have to pay their taxes at the nearest police vehicle document registration center (Samsat).

Meanwhile, Jos Parengkuan from the Ferrari Owners Club said luxury car owners usually forgot to pay their taxes because they were busy.

"In my opinion, owners [fail to pay tax] because of their busy activities. [...] They often go abroad and hence miss the payment deadline," he said, adding that the Tax and Levy Board's data was not up to date.

"Some cars may have been sold years ago but are still registered under the previous owners names," he added.
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Linkedin Ni Komang Erviani (The Jakarta Post) Denpasar, Bali  Thu, August 24, 2017 17:28 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97ade001d 1 National bali,Bali-meeting,maritime-security,Ade-Supandi,Wiranto,security,terrorism,sea-piracy Free

Navy personnel from 43 countries are currently discussing ways to strengthen cooperation on maritime security among their respective countries during a two-day meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali.

Officially opened on Thursday, the 3rd International Maritime Security Symposium (IMSS) 2017 aims to tackle various global and regional maritime security issues.

Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Ade Supandi said the symposium was important because many maritime security issues needed to be discussed. They included the rise of a new maritime power, the discovery of new oil fields, transnational maritime crime, maritime environmental destruction, maritime terrorism and sea piracy.

Therefore, by walking collectively and having mutual understanding, any challenge to good order at sea will be solved and our parties will achieve their goals. It is hoped this cooperation will solve such problems in the area, said Ade.

Eleven countries are being represented by their Navy chiefs, including Australian Navy Chief Vice Adm. Timothy William Barrett and Philippine Navy Chief Vice Adm. Ronald Joseph S. Mercado.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto delivered his keynote speech, in which he emphasized the increased complexity of maritime security issues.

All of these situations demand stronger cooperation among states and Navies to maintain good order at sea and maritime security, he said.

Barrett expressed his enthusiasm about the organizing of the symposium. I think its extremely important that we meet on a regular basis through things like this symposium. I hope I can meet my Indonesian counterparts and meet the countrys Navy Chief of Staff on a very regular basis, he emphasized. (ebf)
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Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 24, 2017 10:57 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97adc62b2 1 Business CPO,exports,increase,first-half Free

Exports of crude palm oil (CPO) and its derivative products increased by 25 percent to 16.6 million tons despite sober demand amid competition against a rapeseed and soybean oil global glut in the first six months, Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (GAPKI) data shows.

Palm oil production increased by 18.6 percent to 18.5 million tons in the first half, with stocks of 2.3 million tons as of June. This includes an adjusted figure of 1.5 million tons obtained from a field survey.

CPO price in the same period ranged between US$650 and $827.5 per ton, with a high start at $805.7 per ton in January, before softening due to slowing global demand amid other vegetable oil gluts.

A global glut of rapeseed and soybean oil has made prices drop, consequently making palm oil  which is not a main vegetable oil source in Europe, America and China  less competitive, and its export slowed in June, GAPKI executive director Fadhil Hasan said in a statement released on Wednesday along with the data.

Aggregately, in the first six months, CPO and derivatives export to main markets were all up except to Pakistan, where sales declined by 5 percent to 1.05 million tons due to competition with Malaysia. Export to the Middle East fell by 12 percent.

On the contrary, export to India and Europe increased by 43 percent and 42 percent to 3.8 million tons and 2.7 million tons, respectively.

Export to Africa, Bangladesh, the United States and China were up by 36.5 percent, 29 percent, 27 percent and 18 percent, respectively. (bbn)
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Linkedin Rizal Harahap (The Jakarta Post) Pekanbaru, Riau  Thu, August 24, 2017 21:49 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97ade7441 1 National smuggling,customs-and-excise,CustomsOfficials,Bengkalis,Pekanbaru,Riau Free

Suspected charcoal smugglers operating in Bengkalis regency, Riau, attacked a Customs and Excise patrol officer in an attempt to resist arrest.

Bengkalis Police chief Adj.Sr.Comr. Abas Basuni said Eko Wigiyanto, the commander of the 15048 Patrol vessel belonging to the Bengkalis Customs and Excise Office, suffered the attack while he was conducting a routine patrol in Tanjung Parit waters in Bantan district, Bengkalis, recently.

The perpetrators [of the attack] were the captain of the smuggling vessel and its three crew members, said Abas on Thursday.

He said the incident began when Eko and his four patrol vessel members intercepted two unnamed motorized vessels carrying charcoal suspected to be from illegally harvested mangrove trees. Each vessel was manned by one captain and three crew members.

Abas said the patrol team spotted the two vessels as they were leaving Lancar Bay and were suspected to be sailing to Malaysia. The team chased the vessels and managed to stop them in the middle of Malacca Strait, near Indonesias border with Malaysia.

Holding a firearm in his hand, Eko inspected one of the boats to investigate its cargo. His four colleagues were waiting for him on their patrol vessel, said Abas.

Four crew members on board the boat suddenly attacked Eko. He suffered quite serious wounds to his head and was bleeding. His 32-milimeter-calibre P3 pistol, loaded with 12 rubber bullets and 12 bullets was dropped on the deck of the boat."

The two vessels managed to escape arrest and entered Malaysian waters. The Bengkalis Police are investigating the incident. (ebf)
Mayor instructed Venice Police to shoot anyone who yells Allahu Akbar in St Mark's Square. Recently he also said that he will send the terrorists "straight to Allah without having to throw them off the bridge".

By India Today Web Desk: Police in Venice have been instructed by the mayor to shoot anyone who yells "Allahu Akbar" in St Mark's Square.

"If anyone runs into St Mark's Square shouting 'Allahu akbar', we will take him down", right-winger mayor Luigi Brugnaro said. "We keep our guard up", he added.

After 13 people were killed in Barcelona when a terrorist drove a van into pedestrians, Brugnaro said that Venice was safer than Barcelona. When the mayor announced this at a summer think tank, he was applauded by delegates. "Anyone who shouts Allahu Akbar in St Mark's Square can expect to be gunned down by snipers within four paces", he said.

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Also read: Donald Trump corners Pakistan, says can no longer be silent over its safe havens to terrorists

While talking about how four suspected jihadists, who allegedly planned to kill hundreds of tourists by blowing up the Rialto bridge, were arrested in Venice in March, he made a controversial statement.

He said that he will send the terrorists "straight to Allah without having to throw them off the bridge, we will just shoot them".

The self-proclaimed politically incorrect mayor gave his speech at a conference in Rimini. After the speech, the centre-left mayor of Florence went to Brugnaro and laughed after shouting 'Allahu Akbar'. However, he later apologised on Facebook.

Also read: Safe haven for terrorists: Pakistan PM, army meet to respond to Donald Trump's criticism

--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin Sophie Mignon and Charlotte van Ouwerkerk (AFP) Rotterdam, Netherlands  Thu, August 24, 2017 07:00 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97adba4b4 2 World #Terrorism,#Spain,#Barcelona,#attack,#Dutch Free

Dutch police are investigating possible terror links after arresting a Spaniard driving a van containing gas canisters close to a rock concert which was abruptly cancelled over fears of an attack.

The man "was arrested and taken to the police station," Rotterdam police said in a Tweet, following a tip-off from Spanish authorities.

The arrest came little under a week after twin car-bomb attacks in Spain killed 15 people, in attacks claimed by the Islamic State group.

Dutch bomb squad officials "were investigating the van" which was found just two streets away from the Maassilo concert hall where an American rock band was due to play, they added.

Earlier in the evening Dutch authorities decided to cancel the concert by Californian group Allah-Las in Europe's largest port city after a tip-off from Spanish police around 5:30pm (1530 GMT) about a possible terror attack.

"In the early evening I was warned by telephone that we had received a threat which had implications for an American concert at the Maassilo in Rotterdam," the city's mayor, Ahmed Aboutaleb, told a hastily-called press conference.

"This signal came from the Spanish police to the Dutch police," he added.

But Aboutaleb, the country's first Muslim and immigrant-born mayor who has spoken out against Islamic terror groups, added an investigation was under way and "we cannot say now if the van with the canisters was linked to the threat".

The four-piece band, from Los Angeles, had been escorted from the concert hall by police wearing bullet-proof vests.

In a statement sent to AFP, they said they were "unharmed and are very grateful to the Rotterdam police and other responsible agencies for detecting the potential threat before anyone was hurt."

Rotterdam police said that afterwards an officer "stationed close to the venue decided to stop a van that he saw driving at around 21:30 hrs".

"The van had Spanish plates and was driven by a Spanish national. Inside the van were a couple of gas bottles. Whether there is a link with the terror threat is being looked into," the statement in English said, adding "the driver was taken into custody".
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Linkedin News Desk (AFP) Washington  Thu, August 24, 2017 08:30 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97adbc377 2 World #DonaldTrump,#Twitter Free

Valerie Plame Wilson, a media savvy former undercover CIA agent, has launched an improbable crowdfunding campaign to buy Twitter, in order to take away Donald Trump's favorite communications tool.

"It's time to shut him down," Plame declared in her pitch for donations on gofundme.com.

"From emboldening white supremacists to promoting violence against journalists, his tweets damage the country and put people in harm's way. But threatening actual nuclear war with North Korea takes it to a dangerous new level."

Plame's plan is simple, if unlikely to succeed: raise a billion dollars to buy a controlling interest in Twitter, and use that to pressure the social network to ban Trump.

"That's a small price to pay to take away Trump's most powerful megaphone and prevent a horrific nuclear war," she wrote.

Launched last week, Plame's campaign had raised $6,000 as of Wednesday, with individual donations of up to $100.

Trump's use of Twitter has been a near daily source of controversy. His intemperate tweets have threatened war, scalded allies and opponents alike, and at times abruptly changed the course of US policy, like one last month proclaiming a ban on transgender people serving in the US military.

The billionaire prefers to express himself on his personal account, @realDonaldTrump, over his formal presidential account @POTUS.

He has sometimes removed tweets from his own account, usually because they contain typos. Exasperated critics note that under US law all the president's public utterances must be preserved for the record.

The White House account also has blocked certain Twitter users. Several have tried to file suit against Trump, accusing him of restricting their freedom of expression by denying them access to his account.

Plame's career as an undercover CIA officer was upended in 2003 after her husband, diplomat Joe Wilson, accused the administration of George W. Bush of lying about the threat posed by Iraq.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 24, 2017 14:27 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97add2f42 1 City tax,celebrity Free

Celebrity couple Raffi Ahmad and Nagita Slavina ensured fans that they were not evading taxes and planned to pay them as soon as possible.

As a good citizen, we must dutifully pay taxes, Raffi Ahmad said in a video posted on his official Instagram account @raffinagita1717 on Wednesday, a day after Jakarta officials visited the couples house to collect tax arrears on 11 of their vehicles.

If there are any taxes we havent paid until today, we will be processing the payment.

(Read also: Luxury car owners too busy to pay taxes: Club)

Raffi and Nagita reportedly own several luxury vehicles, including a BMW, Ducati motorcycles and a Maserati GranTurismo.

The Jakarta administration has adopted an aggressive approach to taxes as they are targeting to collect Rp 35.2 trillion (US$2.63 billion) in tax revenue this year. However, the city has so far collected only Rp 20.6 trillion.

Tax officials have gone door-to-door to admonish rich residents, including celebrities, who have yet to pay various taxes. (hol)

Topics : tax celebrity
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Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 24, 2017 10:44 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97adc1a74 1 Business Indonesia,USA,biodiesel,Enggartiasto-Lukita,dumping-allegation Free

The government will ask the United States to review its latest anti-dumping measure against Indonesian biodiesel, according to Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita.

Such allegations [that Indonesian biodiesel production is subsidized] have been raised before and we can prove that theres no subsidy involved. Well pass the request to the US for a review immediately after talking to producers, he told reporters on Wednesday.

The US Department of Commerce (DOC) announced Tuesday its preliminary anti-dumping determination on biodiesel from Indonesia and Argentina.

Its preliminary investigation claims that Wilmar International Ltd. has benefitted from a 41.06 percent subsidy from the government, while PT Musim Mas received a 44.92 percent subsidy and all other local producers 44.92 percent.

Indonesian producers would, therefore, be required to pay a fee to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) based on those preliminary rates.

Petitions against Indonesian and Argentinian biodiesel were filed last March and the US government has been investigating the case.

Should the claims be proven correct, an order for anti-dumping measures will be issued on Dec. 29 this year. (bbn)
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Linkedin Jon Afrizal (The Jakarta Post) Jambi  Thu, August 24, 2017 19:12 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97ade4aa6 1 National Idul-Adha,Jambi,cattle,livestock Free

Authorities in Jambi say livestock available for slaughtering on the upcoming Islamic Day of Sacrifice  Idul Adha  in 11 regencies and municipalities across the province amounts to 11,766 animals.

They comprise 4,812 heads of cattle, 1,240 buffaloes, 2,224 goats and 20 sheep.

This is our preliminary estimate. It is likely that there will be more livestock for slaughtering on the day, Jambi Food Crops, Horticulture and Animal Husbandry Agency head Akhmad Mausul said on Thursday.

The public holiday of Idul Adha falls on Sept. 1 this year.

Akhmad said the total livestock available for sale for this years Idul Adha was projected to be adequate to meet demand. The agency was ready to bring in livestock from areas outside Jambi, such as from Lampung, Padang (West Sumatra) and Palembang (South Sumatra), if it found that livestock supply was insufficient, he added.

The livestock provided are all in healthy condition; they have passed various processes, from health checks to vaccinations. These measures were taken to prevent the spread of anthrax, which can directly infect humans, said Akhmad.

He predicted that in Jambi city alone 1,685 heads of cattle, 85 buffaloes and 800 goats would be slaughtered for this years Idul Adha celebration. (ebf)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 24, 2017 18:29 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97ade3158 1 Politics social-media,YouTube,hoax,fake-news,Jokowi Free

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo held a meeting on Thursday with a number of popular figures on social media during which he urged them to step up the fight against hoaxes and fake news.

Some of the social media influencers included journalist Ulin Yusron, social media activists Chico Hakim and Nita Kartika Sari as well as popular YouTube star Arief Muhammad.

Presidential spokesman Johan Budi SP said that during the meeting, which was followed by lunch, Jokowi urged the social media influencers to properly use the medium.

"Jokowi calls on users of social media to promote the country's unity," Johan said.

YouTube star Arief said that in the meeting Jokowi urged social media influencers to counter hoaxes and fake news.

"The point is that we should join our efforts to fight hoaxes. By engaging in positive behaviors online, we can quash negative contents," Arief said as quoted by kompas.com.

The President has repeatedly expressed in recent months his concerns over the growing intensity of disinformation on social media.

Jokowi has ordered an investigation into the fake news and ordered the prosecution of individuals responsible for spreading online rumors.
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Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 24, 2017 21:54 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97ade8274 1 Business rice-ceiling-price-regulation,revision,Enggartiasto-Lukita,statement Free

The Trade Ministry announced on Thursday that the government will start enforcing a new regulation on rice price ceilings on Sept. 1.

Unlike an-already-revoked regulation that only classified rice into one type as medium, the new regulation classifies rice into three types: medium, premium and specialty. The price ceilings apply to the first two categories only.

The price ceiling for medium rice or bulk rice usually white in color and found in traditional markets with 14 percent maximum water rate and 25 percent broken rice rate is Rp 9,450 (70 US Cents) per kg in all provinces of Java, Lampung and South Sumatra in Sumatra, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara and Sulawesi; Rp 9,950 per kg in the rest of Sumatras provinces, East Nusa Tenggara and Kalimantan; and Rp 10,250 in Maluku and Papua.

The price ceiling for premium rice or those usually semi-transparent in color found in bulk or packaged with 14 percent maximum water rate and 15 percent broken rice rate is Rp 12,800 per kg in all provinces in Java, Lampung, South Sumatra, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara and Sulawesi; Rp 13,300 per kg in the rest of Sumatra, East Nusa Tenggara and Kalimantan; and Rp 13,600 in Maluku and Papua.

Specialty rice includes organic, Thai, basmati, Japonica and others.

The regulation for this will be out today and will be applied as of Sept. 1, Minister Enggartiasto Enggar Lukita told a press conference after meeting with businesspeople and governmental institutions.

Previously, Enggar revoked the old regulation after it was protested by rice traders and distributors. (bbn)
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Linkedin Ganug Nugroho Adi (The Jakarta Post) Surakarta, Central Java  Thu, August 24, 2017 20:02 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97ade650c 1 National Full-Day-School,NU,Education-and-Culture-Ministry,surakarta,#FullDaySchool,Central-Java Free

Thousands of members of mass organizations affiliated with Indonesias largest Islamic organization Nahdlatul Ulama and students of madrasah diniyah (Islamic elementary schools) and Quran reading classes staged a rally to protest the implementation of the Education and Culture Ministrys full-day school policy in Surakarta, Central Java, on Thursday.

Seven NU branch offices (PCNU) from Boyolali, Karanganyar, Klaten, Sragen, Sukoharjo and Wonogiri participated in the rally, during which they called for the revocation of Education and Culture Minister Regulation (Permendikbud) No.23/2017 on the implementation of the controversial policy.

Rally participants gathered at Sriwedari at around 1 p.m. before they held a four kilometer march along Jl. Slamet Riyadi to the Bundaran Gladag traffic circle in Surakarta.

Protesters displayed hundreds of banners and posters emblazoned with messages showing their rejection of the full-day school policy. They sang a song entitled Syubbanul Wathon (Love of the Homeland), which was composed by notable ulema KH Abdul Wahab Chasbullah, as they waved Red-and-White and NU flags.

We reject the forceful implementation of the full-day school system. After this rally, we will hold an istighosah [mass prayer] for the good of all, said rally coordinator Muhammad Mahbub.

PCNU Karanganyar head Khusaini Hasan said the full-day school policy would negatively affect madrasah diniyah and other religious schools, whose activities were mostly held in the afternoon.

Madrasah will die. Children will lose their chance to get an education on noble characters, good morals and religious values. Their time will be totally taken up learning academics, said Khusaini. (ebf)
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Linkedin Nethy Dharma Somba (The Jakarta Post) Jayapura, Papua  Thu, August 24, 2017 14:50 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97add3646 1 National Papua,Jokowi,Joko-Widodo,joko-widodo,development,development-outside-Java,infrastructure,infrastructure-development Free

Prioritizing only infrastructure will not be enough in developing Papua and must be balanced with the empowerment of its human resources, a Papuan community leader has said.

Papua Peace Network (JDP) coordinator and Catholic priest Neles Tebay said that without skilled human resources, the Papuan people would only become spectators of various economic achievements happening in their own home.

We appreciate the infrastructure development initiated by the President [Joko Jokowi Widodo]. We also feel he has given a lot of attention to Papua. It is only President Jokowi who has visited Papua twice a year, something that was never done by our previous presidents, Neles said in Jayapura meeting with Jokowi along with 12 other Papuan leaders.

Neles said infrastructure development had connected several areas that had long been isolated, making it much easier for residents to carry out their daily activities and visit each other.

The improved connectivity has also attracted visitors to Papua, filling job opportunities available in the region as they have more skills and expertise.

In some areas, locals can only watch economic activities happening in [other] villages, because they dont have access to ongoing development or cannot get involved because they dont have skills. They are alienated from activities in their kampung, Neles said.

If this continues, the governments efforts to develop Papua will be fruitless [] This is what President Jokowi must pay attention to, he added. (ebf)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 24, 2017 11:58 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97adc829c 1 National #culture,#WestJava,#LandDispute Free

The Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) have criticized a plan by the Kuningan District Court to confiscate customary land belonging to the traditional Adat Karuhan Urang (AKUR) Sunda Wiwitan faith in Cigugur district, West Java, which was slated for Thursday.

PGI noted that the seizure was too rash and would destroy cultural values of customary land.

"It is against the principles of justice. It will only hurt and disadvantage the indigenous people who have stayed, protected and preserved the site," PGI spokesman Jeirry Sumampow said in a statement on Thursday.

"Preserving cultural heritage is a concrete way to protect our identity as a civilized state. It's our effort to protect cultural values and original customs of our society.

He further claimed that irregularities and signs of discrimination had been found in the court's decision.

The site was home to the Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal building, which has been listed as a National Cultural Heritage site at the Cultural and Education Ministry since 1976. It has become a center of activities for the people of Sunda Wiwitan since the late 18th century.

Dispossession of the indigenous groups customary land started when a resident named R. Djaka Rumantaka sued Kunadi and Mimin, members of the Sunda Wiwitan faith.

Djaka claimed that the land on which Kusnadi and Mimin were staying belonged to his parent. A court later ruled in favor of Djaka. (yon)
By PTI: Srinagar, Aug 24 (PTI) Protests broke out at a village in north Kashmirs Kupwara district this morning as locals claimed that a youth killed in an encounter with security forces on Tuesday was not a militant but a student who had gone missing a day before.

"The militant killed in the encounter at Hangnikote forest area in Vilgam(village on Tuesday) was identified yesterday as Shahid Bashir Mir (21), a resident of Dariel Tarathpora Vilgam and his body was handed over to his family," a police official said.

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He said about 400-500 people including Mirs family, assembled at Tarathpora Chowk with his body and started protesting today.

"They are alleging that he (Mir) was not a militant, but a Degree College student who was missing since August 21, 2017 anda missing report has also been lodged on 22 August in police station Vilgam," the official said.

Reportedly, he was not keeping "mentally fit" for the past one-two months, he said.

On Tuesday, the Army had saidsecurity forces launched a cordon and search operation at Hangnikote in Haphruda forest area of Handwara, 85 kms from here, following information about presence of militants there.

An army official had said that during the searches,militants opened fire on security forces who retaliated,triggering a gun-battle.

He had said one unidentified militant was killed in the exchange of fire. PTI SSB MIJ TIR

--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Klaten, Central Java  Thu, August 24, 2017 13:36 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97add0683 1 Business Ponggok-Village,Klaten,Central-Jakarta,Sri-Mulyani-Indrawati Free

Amid rampant reports of alleged corruption involving the Village Fund, Ponggok in Klaten, Central Java, is an example of a financially independent village, even before it was slated to receive funds from the government program aimed at improving the welfare of Indonesias rural residents.

Ponggok, with a total population of 2,300 people, has its own village-owned enterprise (BUMDes) that earned a net income of Rp 10.3 billion (US$771,478) last year from various businesses, including tourism.

Village head Junaedi Mulyono said Ponggok used its share of the Village Fund, which became available in 2015, to turn Umbul Ponggok swimming pool into a modern water park, which has become an icon of the village, and to repair roads and the drainage system.

"The BUMDes also allowed villagers to open shops at Umbul Ponggok. Rented life jackets and other swimming equipment are also provided by villagers," Junaedi told Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who visited Ponggok on Wednesday.

Junaedi said he had targeted to increase the BUMDes net income to Rp 15 billion this year and planned to distribute its dividends among the villagers.

"All of our people have bank accounts and ATM [cards], so we can disburse the dividends through bank transfers," Junaedi added.

When the BUMDes was established, its main business was selling fishery equipment. In 2012, the firm constructed the Umbul Ponggok swimming facility by converting an old water spring into a large pool.

Sri Mulyani was impressed by Ponggoks achievements, saying that the village served as a success story in managing village funds. (bbn)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 24, 2017 21:51 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97ade7640 1 Business gross-split-sliding-scale,Regulations,revision,ArcandraTahar,statement Free

The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry has said it will issue a revised version of the ministerial regulation on the gross split scheme for oil and gas projects this week.

The revision is the governments initiative to boost investment, said Deputy Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arcandra Tahar, as reported by tribunnews.com on Thursday, referring to the revision of Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry Regulation No. 8/2017.

Under the old cost recovery scheme, a contractors costs were reimbursed by the government, while under the gross split scheme, constructors will shoulder all costs themselves.

Arcandra said the revision was urgent because of tough competition for oil and gas investment due to the low oil price.

Arcandra expressed his hope that, after the revision, investors would soon make decisions on their investment. He said known Indonesian oil reserves could only fulfill the countrys demand for 12 years.

Currently, the government is auctioning seven oil and gas blocks, but none of the seven firms that have taken the auction documents have returned them to action organizers, although the government hopes the process would finish in September.

Arcandra explained that revised points included oil and gas progressive prices, cumulative production, stages of production and infrastructure development.

With this revision the government is giving investors business certainty, he added. (bbn)
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Linkedin Aaron Tam, Laura Mannering and Elaine Yu (AFP) Hong Kong  Thu, August 24, 2017 08:00 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97adbb852 2 World #HongKong,#Macau,#China,#typhoon Free

The death toll from Severe Typhoon Hato rose to at least 12 Thursday after a storm that left a trail of destruction across southern China and battered Hong Kong's skyscrapers.

Eight died in the worst-hit gambling hub of Macau, where local media showed cars underwater and people swimming along what are normally streets. The enclave's famed mega-casinos were running on backup generators.

One man was killed after being injured by a wall that blew down, another fell from a fourth floor terrace and another was hit by a truck.

The Macau government said a body was found in an indoor carpark early Thursday, but details on the other victims there were not immediately available.

The enclave's sprawling Venetian casino resort had been on back-up power Wednesday and without air conditioning or proper lighting, according to one source, while residents took to social media to complain about city-wide power and mobile phone network outages.

A member of staff at the Grand Lisboa Hotel in central Macau told AFP Thursday that it was still without electricity following the typhoon.

"There is no water and no electricity," the person said, adding that both the restaurant and casino were closed.

Footage showed people holding plastic buckets queuing on the sidewalks to collect drinking water.

Firefighters in the former Portuguese territory have been carrying out rescue work, while a cleanup operation is under way with government departments clearing falling trees and reopening major roads.

Ferry services between Macau and neighbouring Hong Kong resumed Thursday morning but passengers said they experienced delays.

In Hong Kong, Hato -- whose name is Japanese for "pigeon" -- sparked the most severe Typhoon 10 warning, only the third time a storm of this power has pounded the financial hub in the past 20 years.

More than 120 were injured as the city was lashed with hurricane winds and pounding rain. One 83-year-old man earlier thought to be a victim of the weather had committed suicide during the typhoon.

In the neighbouring southern Chinese province of Guangdong, at least four people died and around 27,000 were evacuated to temporary shelters, the official Xinhua news agency said. Nearly two million households were briefly without power.

In Zhuhai, which borders Macau, some 275 homes had collapsed, with the typhoon causing an estimated 5.5 billion yuan ($826 million) in damage, according to the state-run Beijing News.

Hong Kong and the surrounding region is regularly battered by typhoons between July and October.

The city saw its strongest storm in 1962 when the eye of Typhoon Wanda passed over and gusts of 284 kilometres per hour were recorded.

It killed 130 and left 72,000 people homeless in Hong Kong alone.
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Phuket, Thailand  Thu, August 24, 2017 13:37 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97add06bd 2 World bbc,Thailand,defamation,lawsuit Free

A Thai lawyer has dropped a criminal defamation suit against a BBC journalist over his investigation into foreigners being scammed out of retirement homes in the country, the broadcaster said Thursday.

Jonathan Head, the BBC's Southeast Asia correspondent, faced up to five years in jail after his report exposed how two foreign retirees had properties on Phuket island stolen from them by a network of criminals and corrupt officials.

Rights groups said the case highlighted how Thailand's broad defamation and computer crime laws impede investigative journalism and make it difficult to uncover wrongdoing in an endemically corrupt country.

The lawyer who brought the suit -- Pratuan Thanarak -- decided to drop the charges against Head on the first day of the trial on Wednesday.

"The plaintiff has withdrawn his case against BBC journalist Jonathan Head," the BBC said in a short statement.

Foreigners cannot own land in Thailand but they often get around the prohibition by putting assets in the name of Thais, or by setting up majority Thai-owned shell companies.

The 2015 BBC report detailed how a network of Phuket criminals, aided by corrupt officials, stole properties from foreigners by forging land title transfers or company ownership records.

One of the victims who featured in the report, British national Ian Rance, was named as a co-defendant in the defamation suit. Charges against him were dropped on Thursday.

Rance said he lost $1.2 million worth of properties after his then-wife and a gang of moneylenders forged property paperwork.

According to the report, Pratuan admitted on tape to certifying Rance's signature without him being present, a move which helped the wife transfer his properties out of his name.

She was later convicted and jailed for the scam.

Topics : bbc Thailand defamation lawsuit
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Linkedin Sam Jahan (AFP) Dhaka, Bangladesh  Thu, August 24, 2017 07:30 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97adba636 2 World #ASEAN,#MyanmarRohingya,#refugees Free

Thousands of Rohingya have crossed into Bangladesh since Myanmar announced a military build-up in Rakhine state earlier this month, community leaders said Wednesday.

Rakhine in northern Myanmar has been gripped by violence since October, when militants attacked police posts.

That sparked a bloody military crackdown that the UN believes may amount to ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya, a mainly Muslim minority living in Buddhist Myanmar.

On August 12 authorities in Myanmar said hundreds of troops had moved into Rakhine as it ramps up counterinsurgency efforts there.

Rohingya leaders in Bangladesh told AFP that at least 3,500 had arrived since then, piling pressure onto already overcrowded refugee camps in the Cox's Bazaar area near the Naf river that divides the two countries.

That is despite stepped-up patrols by Bangladeshi border and coast guards, who said this week they had pushed back a boat carrying 31 Rohingya, including children.

"In the Balukhali camp alone, some 3,000 Rohingya arrived from their villages in Rakhine," said Abdul Khaleq, referring to the camp nearest the river, where most of the migrants stay when they first arrive.

Kamal Hossain, a Rohingya elder in another, camp, said nearly 700 families had arrived in Bangladesh in the past 11 days.

Many were sleeping in the open because there was no more space in the camps, he said.

Mohammad Omar, a 28-year-old Rohingya who had just arrived along with 40 relatives, said he had been attacked by local Buddhists who looted Rohingya homes in Rakhine.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar has long faced criticism for its treatment of the more than one million Rohingya who live in Rakhine, who are seen as interlopers from Bangladesh, denied citizenship and access to basic rights.
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Linkedin Elaine Yu (AFP) Macau  Thu, August 24, 2017 13:49 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97add213c 2 World #China,#Macau,#typhoon Free

The death toll from Severe Typhoon Hato rose to at least 16 Thursday after the storm left a trail of destruction across southern China, blacking out Macau's mega-casinos and battering Hong Kong's skyscrapers.

Eight died in the gambling hub of Macau, where local media showed cars underwater and people swimming along what are normally streets. The enclave's famed mega-casinos were running on backup generators.

A man was killed after being injured by a wall that blew down, another fell from a fourth floor terrace and one was hit by a truck.

The Macau government said two bodies were found in a flooded carpark early Thursday, but details on the remaining victims were not immediately available.

Footage published Thursday on the website of Apple Daily showed water gushing into an underground carpark, with people wading through neck-deep water littered with debris as one man shouted in panic. It was not clear if it was the same carpark where the bodies had been found.

"I have never seen Macau like this since I came here in the 70s," a taxi driver aged in his 50s who gave his name as Lao told AFP.

He added he thought authorities had reacted too slowly and did not do enough to alert residents of the coming storm.

"It's like they were trying to gamble with their luck... because Macau had been lucky before," he added, saying there was not enough time for residents to prepare or buy groceries.

The enclave's sprawling Venetian casino resort had been on back-up power Wednesday and without air conditioning or proper lighting, according to one source.

A member of staff at the Grand Lisboa Hotel in central Macau told AFP Thursday that it was still without electricity and water and that its casino and restaurants were closed following the typhoon.

The city's gambling industry generated over 220 billion patacas ($27.29 billion) in revenue in 2016, over half of its annual GDP, as it hosted more than 30 million visitors.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 24, 2017 18:03 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97ade19f2 1 City Idul-Adha,livestock Free

The Agriculture Ministry has deployed 129 veterinarians to monitor the health and safety of livestock in Greater Jakarta ahead of Idul Adha, the Islamic day of sacrifice, which will fall on Sep. 1.

The team is in charge of supervising the animals documentation, holding antemortem and post mortem examinations on the livestock, monitoring the slaughter and the processing of the animals innards.

During the mentoring session on Monday, an expert of veterinary public health from the Bogor Agricultural Ministry, Hadri Latief, said the team should pay attention to Islamic rules while monitoring the livestock.

The teams cautiousness in monitoring the livestock is important. The livestock shall be monitored from delivery to the slaughter process, Handri said in statement on Thursday.

The veterinarians were told to check the temperatures of the livestock because ailing animals usually had higher temperatures.

Should the team and the residents find unhealthy animals, they should immediately report it to the related agency or submit the report online, he said.

Acting director of the veterinarian public heath division of the ministry, Fadjar Sumping Tjatur Rasa, said the team should disseminate information about the proper way to slaughter livestock to the residents.

The animals should be comfortable and not be tortured during the slaughter. The method to prepare the animals beforehand is also important to prevent them from becoming stressed, he said.

Fadjar added that the process of the slaughter would affect the quality of the meat. (cal)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 24, 2017 13:30 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97adccdab 1 City Depok,robbery,rape Free

A woman, identified as DPR, was robbed and raped early Thursday morning in her home in Jati Residence, Cilodong, Depok, West Java.

An unidentified man reportedly broke into her room at 1 a.m. and threatened to kill her.

"At that time, the lights were out, and suddenly the man appeared in her room and threatened to kill her," Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono said as quoted by kompas.com on Thursday.

The perpetrator tied her up and raped her, then stole two cell phones and Rp 1 million (US$74.9) in cash before leaving the house through the front door, which showed signs of forced entry.

"The case is now being investigated by the Sukmajaya Police [in West Java]," Argo added. (agn)

Topics : Depok robbery rape
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Linkedin Tama Salim and Veeramalla Anjaiah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, August 25 2017

ASEAN, which is celebrating its golden jubilee this year, must strive to uphold the groups unity and solidarity, the leader of Vietnams ruling party says.

The history of ASEAN has proven that whenever we stand united on the basis of harmonizing our common interests, the role and voice of the association would be respected and upheld, Nguyen Phu Trong, secretary-general of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), said while delivering a public lecture entitled ASEAN in the Next 50: For our Bright Future in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Maintaining ASEAN solidarity is a core value, shaped throughout ASEANs history, and it is also its future.

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Linkedin Duncan Graham (The Jakarta Post) Wlingi, East Java  Thu, August 24, 2017 08:54 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97adbce74 4 News Kawisari-plantation,Tugu-hotel-Malang,coffee,coffee-plantation,Malang,East-Java Free

When the Tugu Hotel in Malang changed hands around 20 years ago, the manager suddenly died and the new owner had to take over.

I didnt know anything, said Wedya Julianti.



I had been trained as a doctor. I had to learn management very fast. It was a stressful time.



Whizz ahead to present time and the boutique hotel is now one of the most prestigious in the East Java city.



The Tugu Group led by Wedyas husband, Anhar Setjadibrata, has expanded into hotels in other cities and a restaurant-art gallery in Menteng, Jakartas Embassy Row.



Recently added to the company portfolio is a coffee plantation. History then recycled; the manager died and Wedya was again tossed into a business she knew little about.



I questioned the people whove been working here for years but whose opinions were never sought, she said.



They were politely waiting to be told what to do though theyre experienced. They became my teachers.



The 850-hectare estate was started in 1870 as the Babah Coffee Plantation. Now known as Kawisari, its in wild country west of Malang, above Wlingi and close to Mount Kawi.



This is the mysterious mountain famed as an alternative route to happiness, a weird mix of gravesites and temples, theme parks and crass commercialism. It is the Lotto Land where good fortune comes  so they say  to the pious and patient.



The location seems to have been propitious for Wedya, who claims she has the only estate in the area not making a loss. That did not come from passive prayer because the boss lady is no absentee landlord, but a hands-on innovator and inquirer.



Neighbor plantations have been abandoned or bankrupted by high costs and low returns, the bushes unfertilized, the ground untilled.



Her bleak observation was endorsed by Zaenudin, former director of the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Center based in Jember, and now an independent consultant.

Wedya Julianti (JP/Erlinawati Graham)

Sadly most government-funded research goes into crops like rice and corn, Zaenudin said.



Yet coffee is still an important part of the economy.



Indonesia produces just over half a billion tons of beans a year. A third is consumed in the archipelago.



Coffee in all its forms is a staple of lifestyle magazines featuring photos of designer cups topped by decorated froth, the fashion for sophisticates with time and money in abundance.



The idea is to link coffee with elites and so ramp prices, but in reality most is drunk at roadside stalls by everyday workers sipping kopi tubruk (instant coffee) in chipped glasses; the first part of the ritual isnt debating aroma but scraping grounds off the lip. The cost is usually around Rp 5,000 (US$0.40).



Even the nations thirst cant keep the industry blooming for this labor-intensive business resists mechanization  though Wedya has introduced powered string-trimmers to replace sickles for weed control.



Inventors seeking a challenge more complex than driverless cars should consider a bean harvester able to stride up and down slopes that would defy goats while carrying 35 kilograms of crop. That is largely done by skilled pickers who can feel which berries are ripe; the womens strength and cheerful resilience has impressed Wedya, who like most urbanites had little idea of the back pains involved in getting their daily heart-jolters.

Local produce: A well maintained bush at the Kawisari plantation. (JP/Erlinawati Graham)

She is a one cup woman with no time for the heavily advertised pre-mix sachets  only 8 percent coffee in some brands  plus sugar, milk powder, thickeners and even salt.



Wedya no longer practices medicine. Once she worked in public neurology wards where every patients needs were different and watchfulness vital.



It is an approach useful in handling coffee bushes which are also susceptible to stress and disease, particularly leaf rot. The fungus attacks Arabica favored for high-end coffees so the more resistant  but less desired  Robusta has been widely planted. Now Arabica, originally from Ethiopia, is being reintroduced.



Kawisari is no place for picnickers. Though the views are a visual knockout, physical concussion is a risk along the tortuous tracks shredded by artillery barrages of rain. The old buildings are plain Dutch functional. This is a work zone selling between 800 and 1,500 tons of beans a year, depending on the weather.



Japfa, the giant Singapore-based food conglomerate is building a monster dairy farm above the plantation, beheading hills and re-shaping the topography with scores of diggers and bulldozers. Clearly the investors see future profits in white drinks, not black.

Checking things out: Wedya Julianti in the plant nursery at the Kawisari plantation. (JP/Erlinawati Graham)

The company plans to start milking 4,000 cows in March 2018  generating 200 tons of waste daily, much of it liquid. Wedya said the developers have assured her water quality downstream will not be affected but she still worries.

Apart from the environment and economics her main concern is management.



Change has to come slowly, she said.



I now know that handling human relations is the most complicated part of business. We have to work together. If you look after your workers theyll look after you.



In the past the manager here was king. The staff were just told what to do; all the under managers were men,



Im gradually changing that hierarchy. Now we are quietly promoting competent women and paying wages twice monthly to help with home budgeting,



Fortunately I like learning. I want to know so I ask. And I get told because women find it easier to talk to a woman. Im very blessed.
By Srivatsan: Vivegam starring Ajith Kumar is the big Tamil release this week. Will it live up to the expectations? Here is our Vivegam movie review.

Vivegam Cast: Ajith Kumar, Kajal Aggarwal, Vivek Oberoi and Akshara Haasan

Vivegam Director: Siva

Vivegam Rating: (2.5/ 5)

When you're in a mass-hero film, two important aspects are prerequisite. One: Whether it has a panoply of mass scenes to make your theatre experience... deafening. And two, whether it caters to the star's fans. Barring these two, anything that remotely sets off the mood of fans has to be overlooked. After all, it's a star vehicle, right? In that sense, Vivegam is satisfying Ajith Kumar film (both on and off screen).

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Consider Ajith's introduction scene. An army officer locks a weapons deal with a terrorist organisation. When he's cautioned about the Counter Terrorist Squad, the general says, "Even the wind needs my permission to enter into my territory." Ideally, you would expect Ajith Kumar to show up. But the wind gently ruffles Ajith's salt-and-pepper hair. If you're fan of these strange bits, this is a superb mass moment. The scene doesn't end there. The army officers round up Ajith Kumar and take him square one. You expect something to happen. Before the actor, it's the star who addresses his fans. He begins with "Indha ullagame unna edhirthalum" and the crowd goes berserk. This is what fans have been waiting for for nearly two years.

Vivegam follows the story of Ajay Kumar and his friends Aryan Singh (Vivek Oberoi), Rachel and Mike. In short, they're The A (K) Team, which is responsible for thwarting global terrorism. The much-hyped Surviva song has been intelligently used a plot device. Especially the war sequences involving the tanks are shot very well.

On the surface, Vivegam is essentially a Vikram (Kamal Haasan's film) that has been re-written to work with the masses in 2017. An Interpol officer Ajay Kumar (Ajith Kumar), who has a pregnant wife Yazhini (beautiful Kajal Aggarwal). A dirty bomb that is ready to explode. Akshara Haasan plays a hacker Natasha, who has a far better part than Shruti Haasan from Vedalam. Karunakaran in place of Janagaraj in Vikram, as the translator, whose comic timing is mostly cringe-worthy. But all these are interestingly done in Vivegam. Interesting, in the sense that it doesn't bore you for the most part. And there's something that keeps happening. All the time.

Take the first scene between Ajay Kumar and his wife Yazhini. She runs an Indian music academy in Serbia. They aren't a normal couple who communicate in simple language. They use the Morse code, backed by Anirudh Ravichander's soulful Kadhalaada song. One of the most satisfying parts, for me, is where Yazhini becomes psychic and mocks the goons with this Morse code in the latter half. In Siva's earlier films, the scene would have ended with Yazhini reuniting with Ajay. But that has been calculatedly avoided in this one.

And surprisingly, Siva's writing has some consequential relevance to the plot --a fact that was obsolete in his Vedalam. In an early scene, we see Ajay and Aryan playing a game of chess before narrowing in on Natasha. Thereon, it's about who says checkmate to whom.

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Some of these superstars' films are easy to judge (not the quality) based on the decibel level inside the theatres. Most of Ajith's dialogues were inaudible in the first half hour or so. It gets better right before the interval. And in the climax, the silence is so crystal-clear that one can practically hear the audience exhaling. Because it's stretched to an extent that you let out a chuckle.

The problem with Vivegam is that the writing does less to the script than to the star, Ajith Kumar. Siva seems to be a hardcore Ajith fan and that's too evident on the screen. Take the scene, where Yazhini talks about her marriage with Ajay, for example. For a moment, it looked as if Shalini (Ajith's wife) was on screen in a cameo. In Thalai Viduthalai song; the lyrics, the picturisation glorifies Ajith's on-screen charisma and his mind-blowing physical transformation for the film.

Siva knows the pulse of the audience, or rather, Ajith's fans. Which is why when Arumai Prakasam (Karunakaran) asks Ajay if they should celebrate the success, the latter candidly says, "Jeikarthuku munadi aadavum pudikathu...mudichapprom kondavum pudikathu." There's also a scene where Ajith can be seen cooking for his guests. Despite a generic screenplay, Siva gives a fairly entertaining first half. The second half is where the film lacks the punch it had in Veeram and Vedalam. With Vivegam, one hopes that Siva's trilogy aimed at making Ajith Kumar a larger-than-life character comes to an end.

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That said, when the most-loved star goes shirtless in the climax scene, flaunting his chiselled torso, it raises an important question: Do critics and their reviews even matter?

( The writer tweets as @LoneWolf_7126 )

ALSO READ Vivegam: Kamal Haasan is watching Ajith Kumar's film with Akshara

WATCH Vivegam first show: Fans go crazy for Ajith Kumar's film

ALSO READ: Vivegam | 5 reasons to watch Ajith Kumar's film

ALSO READ: Vivegam | Why Ajith-Siva are a deadly combination

WATCH HERE: Vivegam Trailer

--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin (Pesona Indonesia) Jakarta  Thu, August 24, 2017 13:09 1907 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97adcade5 2 News Riau-Islands,Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,festival,#Riau Free

Up to 193 teams or around 12,000 people have participated in the elimination round of Pacu Jalur Festival, a rowing competition held at Tepian Narosa Teluk Kuantan in Kuantan regency, Riau Islands.

The elimination round was conducted on the first day of the festival on Aug. 23. The event itself will last until Aug. 26.

Officiated by Riau Governor Arsyadjuliandi Rachman, the event's opening ceremony was held in Limuna Field, 50 meters away from the Pacu Jalur arena.

The participants are competing to win the total prize of Rp 65 million (US$4,867)

Read also: Cirebon to host festival of palaces across Indonesia

The 193 teams are representing 15 districts across Riau province. This competition adopts the knockout system, meaning that losing teams are not allowed to compete again, said Kuantan Singingi Tourism and Cultural Agency head Marwan.

Last year the event attracted around 350,00 visitors. This year we expect to welcome up to 500,000 visitors, added Marwan.

The Pacu Jalur tradition has a long history and been held for years. The Batang Kuantan River, which is situated between the upstream part of Hulu Kuantan district and the downstream part of Cerenti district, has been used as a shipping line since the 17th century. (kes)
By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu today laid stress on the need to have enhanced connectivity between India and Nepal, saying it would boost economic growth of the two countries.

At an interaction with Nepals Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who called on him here today, the vice- president said enhanced connectivity between the two countries would boost economic growth and that renewed focus should be given to projects such as Terai region roads, rail links, integrated check posts, as well as Raxaual-Amlekhgunj oil pipeline.

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He said that there was an immense potential for bilateral cooperation in the hydro-power sector and both countries should work for expeditious implementation of the Pancheshwar project signed in 1996.

"We need to expand our cooperation in water resources sector for the benefit of people of our two nations," Naidu added.

With Nepal engaged in implementing its Constitution, he congratulated the prime minister and his government for successfully conducting two phases of local body elections.

India would be happy to extend any election-related assistance for the upcoming elections in Nepal, he said, according to an official statement.

Naidu said the open borders between the two nations lend uniqueness to the relationship and bring enormous benefits to the people on both the sides.

But he cautioned that there was a need to be vigilant against misuse of the open border by miscreants.

The vice-president said India was eager to provide developmental assistance for generation of jobs and growth of domestic sectors of all neighbouring countries. PTI NAB SMN SMN

--- ENDS ---
In 2006, former Vice-President Al Gore appeared on our screens with An Inconvenient Truth, a documentary warning us about the dangers of the climate crisis.

He urged every one of us to mobilise against this growing threat, to make changes in our daily lives and to spread the word about climate change, before the crisis spiralled out of our control.

Best known for his position as Vice-President to Bill Clinton (and perhaps his controversial, narrow loss to President Bush in the 2000 US election), Gore has made a name for himself in the global environmental movement, becoming one of the leading advocates of climate action.

Since this first film, Gore has travelled the world to investigate the impact of climate change and has kick-started his own Climate Reality Leadership Corps, to inspire young people to join his mission.

Now, 11 years after the first release, Gore returns with An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, a heartbreaking progress report on the results of our slow actions. Scenes include the increasingly frequent wildfires across Australia, the devastating flooding in the Philippines, and the unprecedented drought in Syria, which fuelled tensions before the country's conflict began.

Yet peppered amongst these hard-hitting clips are stories of progress, providing viewers with hope and a fresh sense of urgency and determination.

Check out our review of the film here.

We sat down with Al Gore to discuss this new film, directed by Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk, and to ask how he remains hopeful in a world where progress is still too slow, and whether he thinks President Trump will see the movie.

An Inconvenient Sequel is in cinemas now.
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President Donald Trump

President Trumps new strategy that would presumably win the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan is doomed to fail, just like Bushs and Obamas before him. At best, the reported dispatch of an additional 4,000 American troops as recommended by his security chiefs will prevent the total collapse of Afghanistan and thwart the Taliban from winning. Given the complex nature of the conflict, however, the status quo will not change in any significant way.



One might think that after 16 years, the US should have learned that the Taliban will not be defeated. The only solution rests on a negotiated agreement with the Taliban while inviting the Afghan tribes to do the heavy lifting, as they are the only party who can effectively work with the Taliban to reach an enduring agreement. Together, they can fight against the various terrorist groups that have converged on Afghanistan, because they want to end foreign interventions that have done nothing but cause socio-political havoc and instability since the Soviet invasion in 1979.



The only pointed and correct statement Trump made in his new strategy is that the US should not undertake the practice of nation-building, and certainly not dictate how the Afghan people live their lives and govern themselves. The US, with the support of the tribes, should focus on combating terrorism, especially from al-Qaeda, ISIS, and other radical extremist groups.



The Taliban should receive a clear signal that they are an important part of the new strategy to reach a peace accord, provided they demonstrate their willingness to negotiate in earnest, knowing that otherwise they will have to continue to be engaged in an intractable fight against US forces without any chance of succeeding.



It is true and necessary for the US to develop strategic partnerships, especially with India and Pakistan, to help in the fight against terrorism, and use its political, economic, and military assets to that end. However, whereas India would be willing to partner with the US, it is not a given that the besieged Pakistani government will be able to fully commit itself even if it chooses to, because a) the ongoing political turmoil in Islamabad prevents the development of a cohesive policy to combat the plethora of terrorist groups, which makes the task extremely difficult; and b) Pakistan does not want to fight the Taliban knowing that they will sooner or later be a part of the Afghan government (if not in control of it), with which they have to coexist.



For these reasons, it is naive to think that after 16 years of fighting, dispatching an additional military force of 4,000 soldiers will change anything. In fact, at its peak over 100,000 American soldiers were unable to dramatically change the dynamic of the conflict and create a sustainable political and security structure that would allow US troops to leave.



No one in the Trump administration, including the Pentagon, is offering any convincing argument that additional forces would win the war. At best, they can arrest the continuing advances of the Taliban, which is now in control of nearly half the country.



Although Trump correctly shifted away from a time-based approach and instead linked it to progress made on the ground, this effort will succeed only if the US immediately embraces peace talks while fighting foreign terrorist groups.



To be sure, there will not be a military solution to the Afghan war. Trump has now the opportunity to change the dynamic of the conflict by looking at the Taliban not as the enemy, but as the partner in the search for a sustainable solution.



The sooner the US accepts this reality the better, so that the US can focus on a practical outcome that can emerge only through negotiations with moderate elements of the Taliban and with full participation of the tribal leaders.



In a conversation I had with Ajmal Khan Zazai, tribal leader and Paramount Chief of Paktia province in Afghanistan (which I discussed in a previous articlein July), he noted that previous American military approaches have never had a chance of succeeding, due to their [obsession] with their version of democracy and human rights They dont believe in homegrown or Afghan local solutions led by the tribes He emphasized the fact that Afghanistan is a tribal country, the tribes are the past, present, and the future. I fully agree that excluding the tribes from this battle against violent extremism, including al-Qaeda and ISIS, will simply not work.



To prevent repeating past mistakes, the Trump administration must now reach out to the tribal chiefs and together develop a strategy that would allow the Taliban to fully participate in peace talks with the objective of reaching a long-term solution.



The chiefs would require US financial assistance to the tune of four to five hundred million dollars a year, over a few years (which is a fraction of what we spend today). The purpose of this would be to recruit and train their own militia to fight their own battles against the assortment of terrorists.



Under such a scenario, the Taliban will have to commit themselves to fight, alongside the Afghan military, against all extremist and terror groups, particularly al-Qaeda and ISIS. Once the Taliban becomes a part of the government, they would develop a vested interest in the stability of Afghanistan, and will have every reason to prevent Pakistan and Iran, in particular, from meddling in the internal affairs of their country.



To be sure, the Taliban are Afghan nationals and will not be dislodged from their own land; likewise, the support of the tribes is essential as they want to take matters into their hands. They know that time is on their side because no foreign power has ever been able to conquer Afghanistan, dominate the country, and change the Afghans way of life.



Every foreign power was forced to eventually leave because they could not sustain their conquest or domination. If the US wants to end this debilitating war, it must focus on local forces for a permanent solution and leave Afghanistan sooner than later with some dignity.

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He teaches courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies.

alon@alonben-meir.com Web: www.alonben-meir.com
Introduction

According to Front Page (Front Page, August 18, 2017), the House of Representatives has passed a law (The Land Rights Act) that gives citizens more power to manage their land. The Republic of Liberia, the prevailing 17-Tribe Nation-State, was a country of 16-Tribe Nation-State founded by two groups of peoples.

The founding Fathers

Liberian History tell us that there were two groups of people with different historical experience - socio-political and economic  who founded the new nation. One group was the African-Americans, emancipated, freed people of color from the North, South Americas and other slave-holding states. They came and settled on this land of their ancestors, a flight from slavery, race, socio-cultural, political discrimination-segregation, servitude and human bondage, in search of human freedom, justice and equality, on a land of their own.

The other group was the African-Africans, though on their own land, but also a flight, metaphorically, from autocratic, despotic rule by African tribal chiefs, monarchs and slave merchants, who sold their own people to western slave traders. Theirs, also, was in search of human freedom, justice and equality.

Government of the New Nation-State

Reasonably, as expected, the African-Americans or the immigrant Settlers, as they came to be known, formed the government of the new Nation as the ruling group, simply, because of their modern education gained from western experience in politics and economics.

Traditional Towns and Villages in Liberia

In the new Republic of Liberia, indigenous citizens constituted an estimated 97% of the population. Having kinship relationships and socio-cultural values in common, all, almost, indigenous citizens live in traditional, rural/urban Towns and Villages. These inhabitants are, basically, fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters and cousins, etc., descendants of the Male-Female Founders of the towns and villages.



The town & village founder, usually Male-Elder had been, and is, the Town/Village Chief, responsible for the safety, order and law enforcement of the town/village, inaugurates the traditional farming cycles and custodian of town or village properties, mainly, farmland held in common by the kinship community.



Traditional Customary Land Tenure

Traditionally, land is held in common by inhabitants of rural towns and villages. There is no private ownership of land because farming has been, and is today, the historical economic activity and the major source of economic subsistence. In the past, there was no monetized trade and commerce in the towns and villages, with very limited system of barter and no industry to speak of. Historically, rural town/village dwellers depended on subsistence agriculture for their economic livelihood. Thus, communal land ownership or Traditional, Customary Land Tenure had been, and is today, the critical, socio-economic factor within rural town/village communities.

In all of the Nations rural, political/administrative sub-divisions, as in the past, land and the forests thereon are held in common and form the primary, major sources of economic livelihood, because the people are subsistence farmers with other lands and places held for socio-cultural practices.

The Immigrant-Settlers and Indigenous governments - Tribal Chiefs/Kings

When the African-American Settlers arrived on this land now known as the Republic of Liberia, they met, recognized and accepted the indigenous population with organized governments of Tribal Chiefs and Kings, having legal systems of Customary Laws. They (indigenous people) lived in accordance with traditional practices, Customs and Laws, which, if and when violated, punitive action was bound to be taken against the violator(s). The new Government of the Republic found and acknowledged these traditions at several Executive Councils and Conferences held with Tribal Chiefs, Kings and indigenous leaders.

The Hinterland Laws

First, An Act of Legislature passed in 1905 for the governance of districts within the Republic inhabited by Aborigines provided that . . . each territory inhabited, exclusively, by aborigines would be regarded as townships with native courts in such areas with appeals to the District Commissioner.

Second, The Revised Law & Administrative Regulations of the Hinterland entitled, Building on What Existed or Hinterland Law of 1949, Article 29, also provided that It is the policy government (of Liberia) to administer tribal affairs through tribal chiefs who shall govern freely and according to tribal customs and traditions. TheHinterland Law of 1949wasenacted, mainly, for the governance/administration of rural Liberia based on what was known and accepted as Building on what existed.Rural Towns and Villages were operated, and operate today, under the socio-cultural traditions of the political authority of the inhabitants under the leadership of the senior elder, kinsman-founder of the Town and Village who was usually the town chief. Thus, communal land ownership or Traditional, Customary Land Tenure had been agreed and established.

Land Ownership Conflicts/Contradictions

Despite these understandings and agreements, the Government of Liberia, led by the immigrant Settlers embarked upon unlawful confiscation of indigenous land. For example, it was discovered, later, that out of the eighty-three (83) Articles that grew out of conferences with the President of Liberia and the Tribal Chiefs and Kings, prepared by and originated from the Immigrant-Settlers, only two (2) Articles addressed the issue of Traditional Customary Land Tenure.

This was an apparent attempt by the Immigrant-Settlers to order their own colonial relationship with indigenous citizens lands, but the prescriptions agreed upon by the Indigenous Tribal Chiefs and Kings on the one hand and the Immigrant-Settlers on the other, were based upon Traditional Customary Land Tenure. The deceptive attempt violated, clearly, the Immigrant-Settlers own suggestion of building on what existed, an expressed recognition of the existing tribal customs and traditions, as expressed by the Hinterland Law of 1949.

Although the Hinterland Law of 1949 provides rights and title to tribal lands and, thus, absolute ownership rights to indigenous citizens, the Aborigine Law of 1956, an apparent revision of 1949, made fundamental changes by providing only Right of use and possession, rather than ownership, without consultation of or input by the indigenous land owners.

Thus, the legal status of rural, indigenous Liberians and their communities was, and is, that of landless tenants of the Liberian State or squatters on land that had been held and owned the indigenous peoples and their communities for more than the 109-year history of the Republic of Liberia.This condition/contradiction was an apparent design to introduce and apply the notion of Territorial Sovereignty held by European Colonial-master States over Collective Ownership of land owned by African, indigenous peoples and their communities.

The negative impact of these laws, particularly, the Aborigine Act of 1956, continues to affect rural and some urban communities today. Unfortunately, the reform policy of the Land Commission Legislative Act failed to address this negative impact.

Meanwhile, land in Liberia is a naturally-given, constant quantity, while the nations population, a dynamic quantity, increases exponentially, placing objective demand on land for personal habitation, private or public purpose. Moreover, this demand has been, and is, the major source of nationwide confusions conflicts and violence between farmers, businesspersons, local communities and County Sub-divisions for land, in total disregard of national traditional, Customary Land Tenure.

The Land Rights Act

The Proposed Land Rights Act is a Legislation designed, hopefully, to introduce modern management/administration to acquisition of land fairly, freely, peacefully and lawfully for private or public purpose, with observation and protection of traditional, customary Land Tenure, including and others. Passage of this Act is expected to put an end to nationwide confusions, conflicts . . .

But the Land Rights Act is Pregnant with Shortcomings



Firstly, This Act that defines/describes Land Rights, mode of acquisition and the management/administration thereof and the functions of individuals and institutions entrusted with such management/administration should have been debated and passed into Law prior to (1), the Legislative Act that created the Land Commission (LC); and (2), the Legislative Act that created the Liberia Land Authority (LLA). But this was not done; as things now stand:

a. This action puts the cart before the horse or is tantamount to hiring an applicant for a position without job description.

b. Article 5(3) of the Land Rights Act is in support of the Liberian Constitution of 1986 Article 22(b) which provides that Private property rights, however, shall not extend to any mineral resources on or beneath any land or to any lands under seas and waterways of the Republic and that all mineral resources in and under the seas and other waterways shall belong to the Republic and be used by and for the entire Republic.

c. But this provision and Article 22(b) of the Constitution are patent violations of the doctrine ofTraditional, Customary Land Tenure which, also, provides that Lawful land ownership includes the forests, waterways (seas, rivers, creeks and streams) on the land and the inseparable, naturally-endowed mineral resources and assets on and beneath the land.Ownership and possession of these assets, therefore, are integral to customary, community-based, traditional land tenure. Therefore, Article 22(b) of our Constitution is a unilateral abrogation and/or a clear violation of the solemn, binding agreement duly made and entered into by and between the immigrant Settlers and the-then Governments and People of this land. In specific terms, Article 22(b) of the Liberian Constitution denies as well as violates rights of lawful possession and ownership and, therefore, must be repealed.

d. Article 7(2) of the Land Rights Act provides, also, four (4) categories of Land Ownerships, the fourth being Public Land Ownership, defined by this Article to be land which is not presently used by government or its facilities and operations and is also neither Private Land nor customary Land. But government is public and that there is no public land in Liberia, because all land is held in common by the people; therefore, this category is, reasonably, unnecessary and, must be eliminated.

Citations:

Act of Legislature of 1905, Aborigine Law Act of Legislature of Revised Rules & Regulations, the Hinterland Law, 1949 Act Legislature of 1956 intended to repeal 1949 Our Letter to Land Commission, dated May 6, 2013

References:

Hartman, Alexanddra, Comparative Analysis of Land Conflicts in Liberia: Grand Gedeh, Bong and Nimba Counties, Liberia; NRC, Peace Education & Community Empowerment/Conflict Risk Evaluation, Peace Corps Report, 2009.

Kaba, Ali D, Community Mapping: Land & Resource Security, Sustainable Development Institute (SDI), River Cess County, Liberia, Report, 2010.

Lomax, Tom, Forest Governance in Liberia, NGO Perspective, 2008.

Wiley, Liz Alden, So Who Owns the Forest, Liberia; Fern & SDI Report, 2007

What is your take? Please post your comments below:


Major investors in Infosys are in discussion with co-founder N R Narayanana Murthy on ways to manage the company in the future, said T V Mohandas Pai, a former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the software giant.

Pai also said all the co-founders would collectively take a decision on the return of Nandan Nilekani, a co-founder and former CEO, to the Bengaluru-headquartered IT firm.

The major investors are talking to Murthy to come to a conclusion on how the company has to be managed in the future, he told PTI.

The former CFO said he expects Infosys Chairman and Co-Chairman to step down in the next few days and a new Chairman and Board to be appointed.

Many investors are asking for Nilekani to come back great demand for him to come back; the founders have to meet and decide; right now Murthy is not well, Pai said.

He said all the founders are together.

On other co-founders not speaking in public on the developments at Infosys, he said, They dont want to increase the public spectacle; no need for every body to speak. Murthy is their spokesperson. Everybody is together.

Nilekani coming back (to Infosys) is good, he knows every body, he is approachable, Pai said.

He said because of the abuse of Murthy by the Board, all the employees are angry and upset.

They (Infosys employees) have gone and met the Co-Chairman and told him that it is not acceptable to abuse Murthy like that. Employees have been very strong in supporting Murthy and have been saying this abuse of Murthy by the Board should stop, Pai said.

Its a sad thing that a great company is being torn apart by an ineffective Board, he said.

Pai said more and more people  whether they are employees, or investors or others  are coming to the conclusion that this Board has to go and a new one has to come.

Nandan coming back as Chairman will be a good thing for the company and settle the issue once and for all, he added.

In a sudden move, Infosys first non-founder CEO, Vishal Sikka, resigned last week citing slander by founders.

The Infosys board issued a stinging statement blaming Murthy for the CEOs resignation. Infosys has said it will find a CEO replacement latest by March 31, 2018 .

On August 18, the day Sikka announced his resignation, investor advisory firm Institutional Investor Advisory Services (IiAS) said it favoured Nilekani being brought back on the board as its non-executive chairman.

Nilekani, who was CEO of the company between 2002 and 2007, has so far refused to comment on the crisis Infosys is facing.
It is interesting to note that through the interspersing of colour ~ a welcome relief made possible through some creative endeavours ~ a rather dull concrete Metro pillar dons a cape of meticulously placed tiles, resulting in a cheerful depiction of Mother Nature. Similarly, weathered walls encourage racing passers-by to pause, breathe and appreciate.

Expression is natural, concrete is not, What did you do to make the world a better place today?, You may paint over me, but I will still be there, Change is around the corner and many more such quotes serve the dual purpose of food-for-thought and creativity ~yet another attribute of street art. And that is not all, their contribution towards expressions, or the freedom thereof, has emerged as a powerful statement and tool.

Sakshi Bhutani, a street art artist, explains, I think there is an individual in each one of us. For me, it took the right flight when I met Yogesh Saini,founder of Delhi Street Art. In a democratic country like India, I feel street art plays a vital role as it not only conveys an artistic impression but voices an expression. Challenges manifest themselves in numerous ways, which have helped me discover myself, actually. Team work, extreme working conditions, unlearning and relearning, adaption and acceptance and so much more is what I learnt and still continue to learn. There are times when people passed by, commenting and even spitting on the works, but our motivation remained high.

Bhutani still remembers her first encounter with street art while painting the walls in Nehru Place market, conveying the strong social message of a Clean India. She added, I do not consider street art just as street art. It is an art and craft, even a science, with different types of painting materials and paints being used to give the piece energy and life. For me, street art, graffiti or calligraphy are all breathers, which make me feel alive and help me serve the cause of awareness generation.

Capital art

Bicicleta Sem Braco, a design and illustration studio, formed by Douglas de Castro and Renato Reno, both natives of Brazil, contributes designs to famous brands like Nike and Absolut, among others. Both artists recall their experience as street artists in Delhi ~ an endeavour which was unplanned.

Through our piece of work, which was in Lodhi Colony, we tried to portray the colours of Brazil through the flora and fauna. Though it was challenging in terms of weather conditions, trying-out different palettes of colours and setting these in the design patterns was an enriching experience, said de Castro.

Reno added Brazil and India share a number of similarities, especially in terms of vibrancy. Our work was not only a journey of art but served as a portrayal of our country too. For us, the people we interacted with, the passers-by and the responses ~ all served as an inherent part of our experience and journey.

Needless to say, bonds are built over street art ~ connections that change lives for the better. The concept of street art was taken a step further, when renowned Mexican street-artist Senkoe, gave the Embassy of Mexico in Delhi a splash of colour through the ajolote ~ a beautiful, whimsical creature of Mexican fauna, and that too on the driveway wall of the Embassy ~ visible to all, and encouraging curiosity.

The word ajolote comes from the Nahuatl, and is a type of salamander found in Mexico. The word is associated with movement, life and transformation. Not only does it stand for something very Mexican, but the colours and patterns are inspired by the textiles of different Mexican regions, explained Senkoe, who has also contributed to the rejuvenation of the Arjan Garh Metro station in Gurgaon as well as public spaces in villages of Himachal Pradesh and Nepal. To him is also attributed the makeover of the official vehicle of the Ambassador of Mexico, Melba Pria. What inspires him? It is a passion, he s a i d.

Besides this, he thanked the people for their m o t i v a t i n g f e e d b a c k s received for beautifying public spaces and conveying social messages. He added, The ajolote is an e n d a n g e re d s p e c i e s. Respect for each other, including all forms of life, is the message I want to communicate through this work of mine.

Message on the walls

Pablo Ramirez Arnol, an artist from Argentina, cites another very important advantage that street art contributes.

My work is community-centric. I work with people who live in the area where the mural will be set-up. This leads to involvement of one and all, as well as a feeling of oneness and ownership due to the team work involved. Also, I do not use cans or sprays. It is a traditional style which I adopt.

So, how has his endeavour in India shaped-up? I have been working in Mumbai: Bombay Central Station and Byculla Zoo. I have some projects coming-up in Delhi too. It makes it also interesting for me to explore different cities and techniques, thereby for example, one can experiment with different material like ceramics and direct coloured cement, among many others.

As Arnol rightfully said, There is famous quote by an Argentinian writer which goes Walls are the printing press of the people. This is a clear indication that art is a central expression in modern life, almost anywhere.

Imagine a city where graffiti and street art was not illegal, a city where everybody could draw wherever they liked; where every street was awash with a million colours and little phrases. Imagine a city like thatand stop leaning against the wall ~ its wet.

These words by Banksy couldnt hold more truth in a world that could be free to express and a world that learns to appreciate.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh is heading a delegation to the Kyrgyz Republic to attend a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting, on the sidelines of which he is likely to hold bilateral meetings with ministers of some member countries, which include China and Pakistan.

During the two-day meeting at Choplon Ata on August 24-25 the SCO member states will consider and approve the draft Action Plan for 2018-2019 for the implementation of the agreement on cooperation in providing assistance in the elimination of emergency situations, a Home Ministry statement said on Wednesday.

Leaving for Cholpon-Ata in Kyrgyzstan to attend the meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation member states on Emergency situations.  Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) August 23, 2017

The Indian delegation comprises of senior officers from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the Ministry of External Affairs.

India got full membership of SCO earlier this year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the SCO annual Summit meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan, in June.

India became the permanent member of SCO this year which was the outcome of our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's diplomatic skills.  Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) August 23, 2017

The participation of India as SCO Member will open additional opportunities for giving new impetus to the development of international cooperation in the field of protecting the people and territories from emergency situations within the framework of the SCO and bring it qualitatively new positions in regional and global formats, the statement said.

Our government attaches great importance to the SCO. This forum gives India an opportunity to strengthen its ties with all the member states  Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) August 23, 2017

The SCO member countries are: China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan. Pakistan and India were inducted as full members this year.
Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday rejected suggestions that the Supreme Court verdict on privacy was a setback and said the Modi government has viewed the right to privacy as a fundamental right.

Addressing a press conference here after the Supreme Court held that the right to privacy is a fundamental right and an integral part of the right to life and liberty, Prasad said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had articulated the governments view on the right to privacy while moving the Aadhaar bill for passage in Parliament in 2016.

He attacked the Congress for accusing the government of curbing individual rights and said the opposition party had not enacted any legislation regarding getting information under the Aadhaar framework.

The government clearly saw the right of privacy as a fundamental right, Prasad said.

Asked if it was a setback, Prasad said Not the least.

Whether it was Arun Jaitleys observation or Attorney Generals arguments, both have been upheld by the court, he said.

The government welcomes the view of the Supreme Court, which is consistent with all the necessary safeguards that the government has been ensuring in its legislative proposals which had been approved by Parliament, Prasad said.

He said Jaitley while moving the Aadhaar Bill had clearly stated Is privacy a fundamental right or not? The present Bill pre-supposes and is based on the premise and that it is too late in date to contend that privacy is not a fundamental right.

So, I do accept that probably privacy is a fundamental right. Now, where do you fit privacy as a fundamental right? It is contended and broadly it is now accepted that privacy is a part of the individual liberty. So when Article 21 says, no person shall be deprived of his Right to Life and Liberty without procedure established by law, then let us assume that privacy is a part of liberty and no person shall be deprived of his privacy without procedure as established by law, Prasad said quoting Jaitley.

He said the right to privacy was not an absolute right and was subject to reasonable restrictions as applicable to the right to liberty, freedom and free speech.

The Minister said the essence of the apex court judgment is a wider affirmation of the remarks made by Jaitley.

Prasad, who is also IT and Communications Minister, said the government was keen on robust data protection laws and has appointed an expert committee to suggest a draft Data Protection Bill and to identify key data protection issues.

Robust data protection regime is needed to balance individual interests and state interests, he said.

Attacking the Congress, Prasad said the previous UPA government was seeking data under Aadhaar without formulating a law and the National Democratic Alliance government had brought the legislation after coming to power.

Prasad said the government cannot give permission for release of data except in compelling circumstances for which there is a strict laid down procedure.

The Congress has been attacking us from morning. The Left has also joined it. What has been the Congress record in protection of individual liberty, Prasad asked.

He said individual liberty and media freedom had been severely curtailed during the internal Emergency imposed by the Congress in 1975.

Prasad also referred to Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhis remarks that the apex court decision marks a major blow to fascist forces and said the Congress leader does not do his homework properly.

He said about 30 crore Jan Dhan accounts have been opened which have been linked to Aadhaar and also mobile numbers.

Prasad said the poor were getting subsidies directly in their account and a saving of about Rs 57,000 crore had been made over the last three years. He said the amount used to be pocketed by middle men. The poor are very happy with this as the (subsidy) amount is directly going to their account.

Asked about the impact of the judgment on section 377 of IPC, which criminalises gay sex, Prasad said he will speak on the issue in due course.
Given that Barcelona is among the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, it is hardly surprising that almost all victims of last Thursdays terrorist rampage came from different parts of the world.

The murderous intent, as is usual in such cases, was indiscriminate. Precisely what motivated the young Muslims, several of them still in their teens, to participate in the gory plot is open to conjecture, although it is probably safe to assume that a profoundly misguided view of religious obligations was a part of the mix.

News reports suggest they were radicalised by a Salafist imam  who, like the terrorists, was of Moroccan origin, and died in the massive explosion in Alcanar when gas canisters stored for the purpose of staging a more explosive attack thankfully blew up prematurely.

Apparently, the intended target was the Sagrada Familia church, the most prominent example of Antonio Gaudis quirky architecture in a city delightfully peppered with examples of his unorthodox designs. The resort to a vehicle as an instrument of terrorism  along the lines of attacks in France, Germany and Britain  seems to have been Plan B. And although even a single life lost in such horrifying instances is one too many, the toll, dreadful as it was, could have been much worse.

Much the same could be said about the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia the previous weekend, where a radicalised young man targeted anti-fascist protesters by driving a car into them and killing Heather Heyer, a legal assistant. She was among those who rallied to oppose the Unite the Right demonstration organised by a panoply of racist groups, ostensibly to oppose the local governments decision to remove a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee that had been put up in 1924, almost 60 years after the South had lost its right to perpetuate slavery.

The American Civil War ended in 1865, but the struggle to clarify its legacy goes on. The period known as Reconstruction was relatively short-lived. It wasnt until a century after Abraham Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation that voting rights and other constitutional guarantees of equality for African Americans were ensconced in law.

Even so, the white supremacists have sporadically resurfaced. They were suitably impressed by Donald Trumps efforts, long before he became a presidential candidate, to insinuate that anyone called Barack Hussein Obama could hardly be American.

They were even more enthused when candidate Trump articulated slurs against Mexicans and declared he would institute a ban on Muslims entering the US. After Charlottesville, he was quiet for a while, then announced he saw little difference between the neo-Nazis and their opponents. He was subsequently persuaded to be more clear-cut in his denunciation of racists, but thereafter returned to his original formulation, declaring that there were many fine people on both sides.

The president may have felt flattered because some of the far-right demonstrators wore Make America Great Again caps, never mind that many of them were echoing the blood and soil slogans of the German Nazis amid considerable evidence of distinctly anti- Semitic vibes. His ambiguity spurred a backlash from leading lights of the Republican Party as well as the captains of industry, which flowed into the West Wing disarray that has crippled the White House.

The announcement of a new strategy for Afghanistan (and Pakistan) was at least partially an attempt to restore presidential authority, presaging increased participation in an essentially unwinnable war. But the darkness that simultaneously crept across the continental US, courtesy of a complete solar eclipse, was perhaps a better metaphor for its current woes at home and abroad.

Writing recently in The Guardian, Jason Burke drew appropriate parallels between the Islamist and American nationalist varieties of the far right, with- out claiming equivalence. It is perfectly true that those determined to spread hatred prey on vulnerable young minds and channel their grievances towards antagonism against the other, invariably those of a different religion, race or ethnicity. Wherever this attempt succeeds, the consequences tend to be horrendous.

At the most basic level, such tendencies derive from a refusal to recognise the common humanity we all share. In the narrative of the Islamists, anyone not fundamentally wedded to a heinous interpretation of the faith is fair game. Among American nationalists, the enemies range from people of colour to Jews and communists, a list that has not changed a great deal since the resurgence in far-right tendencies after the Second World War, amid open references to finishing Hitlers work.

Back then, Harry Truman, who ushered in the American security state, baulked from taking action against African American lynchings. But neither he nor his successors in the White House, regardless of how far to the right they leaned or how shamelessly they dog-whistled, publicly declared neo- Nazis to be very fine people. The shift is both telling and ominous.
It has been customary to label political forces in a country as being of the left and the right. The more nuanced division between left-of-centre and right-of-centre forces has also been in vogue to cover the growing diversity of political parties. In the specific context of India, the balance of power has clearly shifted from a little left of centre to right of centre in recent times.

For democracy to function with ease and grace, the relationship between the two sides of the political divide should not be unduly antagonistic. There should be room to work together on issues of common national interest; there should be space for understanding the viewpoints of each other. In the context of India, the possibilities of this have been diminishing in recent times and this should be a cause for concern.

One reason for this is that the BJP, by far the strongest and best organised cadre-based political party in the country, is widely seen as part of a larger Sangh Parivar, a combination of several organisations with diverse roles but closely linked to each other by a broader shared ideology. Some of these organisations are perceived to be against religious minorities, specifically against two important minorities. This opposition has sometimes taken a violent turn, as documented in several inquiry reports. This is seen to be at odds with the principle of secularism and equal rights of people of all religions firmly enshrined in the Constitution. It is this factor more than anything else which explains the reluctance of many well-intentioned people, who believe in secularism and social harmony, to have any dialogue with what they call communal rightist forces.

However, one factor they can and should consider is whether the imperative or need of democratic politics could gradually push and prod the ruling party towards a path of more accommodation and adjustment rather than hostility towards the minorities. Leaders of a ruling party also have to be accountable at international fora. If they are far-sighted, they will start thinking beyond winning elections about the needs of longer- term, broad-based peace and stability in the country. To facilitate this, others may have to play the role of building bridges and breaking the ice.

However sometimes critics of the BJP appear to be oblivious of such possibilities. They time and again repeat the same statements of some early leaders of the Sangh Parivar which were directed against minorities or against Gandhiji and which appeared to be in admiration of Hitler or his ideology. These statements were objectionable, but trying to constantly trap the BJP in these old statements may prove to be counter-productive if this closes the new spaces that some elements in the BJP or the Sangh Parivar may be trying to open up for their organisations.

The evidence so far is that not enough such efforts are actually being made by the BJP and the wider Sangh Parivar, despite the high potential that exists for such efforts now because of the increasing might of the party. While the proper course would be to base actions on grace, generosity and the willingness to correct past mistakes, there is not much evidence of this.

So clearly both sides need to change if the increasing gulf between leading political forces is to be reduced adequately to enable greater cooperation whenever required by larger national and ecological interests. Some leaders in the BJP some time ago gave a slogan of Congress-mukt Bharat or an India in which the Indian National Congress does not survive as a political force. This is an anti-democracy slogan as the ruling party is saying that it does not want its main political opponent to survive as a political party. This is wrong.

Similarly, any effort of other par- ties to try to make opposition to BJP the main plank of their politics would not be a very democratic option. This will merely strengthen the hands within the BJP of those who propagate religious polarisation as a means of increasing support.

Very hostile, even abusive language has been used in recent times against political opponents; entire families have been attacked and maligned. Respected national leaders who are admired all over the world have been criticised long after their death just because they were associated with political opponents. All this is easily avoidable and should be avoided. Top leaders should set the example and clear, strong instructions should go down the line.

Our world is passing through very troubled times due to socio-economic, religious and political reasons. But ecological factors are likely to bring greater distress and bigger problems in the near future than others. South Asia is likely to be one of the main centres of these fast-emerging problems. Anyone with a comprehension of these emerging problems will also see the need for more accommodative and less confrontationist politics in the country. Left and right, the divide should not be too rigid.

(The writer is a freelance journalist who has been involved with several social movements and initiatives.)
Muslim women, nay women of all communities, have cause to be overjoyed at the Supreme Courts three-two verdict abolishing the archaic practice of instant divorce, or triple talaq as it was commonly known. It has been an arduous struggle for the women of the generally conservative community who displayed exemplary fortitude in taking the matter to the highest level of the judiciary.

If the clerics, or their representatives, feel that the judiciary has meddled in religious affairs they have only themselves to blame ~ had the All India Muslim Personal Law Board not adhered to obsolete thinking and given due recognition to gender parity, the judiciary might never have entered the picture.

Legal and religious experts will scrutinise both the majority and minority verdicts for they touch upon issues that are basic to a society that must move with the times and cast away concepts rooted in fundamentalism. To rush to conclusions and draw inferences in the absence of the requisite depth of scrutiny would be rash.

The reaction of the conservative section of the Muslim leadership is awaited: judicial orders and laws, alas, do not automatically impact the systems of traditional society ~ as proven by dowry continuing to be an issue. It is now for the progressive Muslim leadership to enlighten the conservatives that outdated practices need to be voluntarily abandoned. This is a lesson that holds across the religious spectrum.

Yesteryears thought-processes have limited relevance in contemporary society ~ that is the verdicts larger message. That all political parties have welcomed the ruling is welcome. Yet a special responsibility now devolves on the government and the ruling party. For to interpret the verdict as affirming its agenda would do the apex court great disservice.

The BJP is entitled to believe the strong position the government took in court played its part in convincing their Lordships, but there is no room for gloating in a sensitive issue like religion. There can, however, be no limit to the shame and embarrassment the Congress must suffer because of the Rajiv Gandhi governments undoing the verdict in the infamous Shah Bano case.

Political expediency is immoral, takes its toll someday. Yet it would be dangerous for elements in the Parivar to conclude that the court has accorded blanket vindication of every element of what some call a Hindu Rashtra. The judgments read together are nuanced and these must be understood. Mr Narendra Modi has done well to hail the verdict as historic, now he has a duty to ensure that others desist from reading more into it. As the verdict is analysed further no doubt some negatives will surface. An instant disgrace has been the attempt by some, including All India Radio, to hail the ver- dict because the five members of the Bench hailed from different religions. That equates with divorcing the court of intellectual independence, a tendency that must be eschewed for it colours honest dissent.
Dutch police are investigating possible terror links after arresting a Spaniard driving a van containing gas canisters close to a rock concert which was abruptly cancelled over fears of an attack.

The man was arrested and taken to the police station, Rotterdam police said in a Tweet, following a tip-off from Spanish authorities.

The arrest came little under a week after twin vehicle attacks in Spain killed 15 people, which were claimed by the Islamic State group.

Dutch bomb squad officials were investigating the van which was found just two streets away from the Maassilo concert hall where an American rock band was due to play, they added.

Earlier in the evening Dutch authorities decided to cancel the concert by Californian group Allah-Las in Europes largest port city after a tip-off from Spanish police around 5:30pm about a possible terror attack.

In the early evening I was warned by telephone that we had received a threat which had implications for an American concert at the Maassilo in Rotterdam, the citys mayor, Ahmed Aboutaleb, told a hastily-called press conference.

This signal came from the Spanish police to the Dutch police, he added.

But Aboutaleb, the countrys first Muslim and immigrant- born mayor who has spoken out against Islamic terror groups, added an investigation was under way and we cannot say now if the van with the canisters was linked to the threat.

The four-piece band, from Los Angeles, had been escorted from the concert hall by police wearing bullet-proof vests.

In a statement sent to AFP, they said they were unharmed and are very grateful to the Rotterdam police and other responsible agencies for detecting the potential threat before anyone was hurt.

Rotterdam police said that afterwards an officer stationed close to the venue decided to stop a van that he saw driving at around 21.30 hrs.

The van had Spanish plates and was driven by a Spanish national. Inside the van were a couple of gas bottles. Whether there is a link with the terror threat is being looked into, the statement in English said, adding the driver was taken into custody.

The international connections of the cell of mostly Moroccan nationals behind the Spanish attacks are being probed as investigators retrace their movements to France and Belgium.

Spanish police carried out new raids overnight Tuesday to Wednesday after vehicles ploughed into pedestrians on Barcelonas busy Las Ramblas boulevard and a seaside promenade in the resort town of Cambrils.

Fifteen people were killed and more than 120 others were wounded.

Spanish court documents have shown that at least 500 litres of acetone, large quantities of nails and detonators as well as gas canisters were found in raids on a house in the town of Alcanar, south of Barcelona.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will discuss with Russian President Vladimir Putin what he calls Irans aggression and attempts to expand its military presence in neighbouring Syria.

Iran is Israels arch-enemy, and Netanyahu along with Israeli security officials have repeatedly expressed concern over what they see as the country moving to expand its presence in the Middle East.

Netanyahu will meet Putin at the Black Sea resort city of Sochi on Wednesday. Both Russia and Iran back Syrian President Bashar al-Assads regime in the war.

I will raise the problem of Iran trying to establish a military presence in Syria, Netanyahu said in a statement on Tuesday.

This proves that Irans aggression has not diminished since the nuclear agreement, which has become a problem not only for Israel, but for all the countries of the Middle East and the entire world.

The head of Israeli spy agency Mossad, Yossi Cohen, and Netanyahus newly named head of his national security council, Meir Ben-Shabbat, will join him on the trip.

Netanyahu opposes a southwest Syria ceasefire recently agreed by Russia and the United States because he believes it would enable Iran to solidify its presence in the country, an Israeli official has said.

An Israeli intelligence official said in April his country fears an Iranian crescent may be forming in the Middle East because of Tehrans influence in Syria and its connections with regional Shiite groups.

Beyond concerns over Iran, Netanyahus talks with Putin are also likely to involve coordination in Syria.

Russia and Israel have established a hotline to avoid accidental clashes in the country.

Israel has sought to avoid being dragged into the six- year Syrian conflict, but has acknowledged carrying out strikes to stop advanced weapons deliveries to Hezbollah, the Lebanese group with which it fought a devastating war in 2006.

Hezbollah also backs Assads regime in the Syrian war.
The Islamic State (IS) has threatened to carry out more attacks in Spain if the country does not withdraw from an international coalition battling the terror group in the Middle East

The extremists made the announcement in a video entitled The Conquest of Barcelona released on Wednesday. It featured two men speaking in Spanish, reports Efe news.

One appeared in military uniform with his face visible while the other wore a ski-mask.

The recording, which is nearly three minutes long, includes numerous images of Spains King Felipe VI and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy taking part in a ceremony to honour the victims of last weeks attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils.

Fifteen people were killed and more than 100 others wounded when terrorists used vehicles to run down pedestrians in the two separate attacks.

Against a backdrop of television footage of the aftermath of the Barcelona tragedy, the men praise the brothers who carried out the attack.

Spaniards, you forget the Muslim blood spilled in the Spanish Inquisition. We will avenge the massacrethat is being committed now against the IS, one of the speakers says.

With Gods permission, Al Andalus (the Arabic name for Spain) will become again what it was, the territory of the caliphate.

Addressing Muslims in the West, the speaker says: If you cant emigrate to the IS, make jihad where you are.

An off-screen voice speaking in Arabic says that unless Spain abandons the US-led coalition against the IS, we will never leave you in peace.cc
The US has urged India and Pakistan to have a bilateral dialogue over Kashmir to reduce tensions between them.

State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said in her daily briefing on Wednesday that the US encourages India and Pakistan to engage in a direct dialogue that will help reduce tensions between the two neighbours.

Nauert was commenting on a question over remarks by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that New Delhi could take some steps of rapprochement vis-a-vis Islamabad.

Nauert was asked if Tillerson was linking a solution on Kashmir with the Pakistan-Afghanistan issue.

She said: We view the whole strategy and handling Afghanistan as being a regional strategy, and that incorporates India as well as Pakistan who can help assist and make Afghanistan a stable place.

The spokesperson said the US policy on Kashmir had not changed and urged India and Pakistan to have a dialogue.

In terms of Kashmir, our policy has not changed. We continue to encourage the sides to sit down and talk.

India accuses Pakistan of arming and financing separatists in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan denies the charge and says it only provides moral and diplomatic support. The state is divided between the two countries.


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The last days of the Newfie Pride

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As per media reports, many of the Infosys board members have offered to resign in order to bring Nandan Nilekani back to the company. Apparently it is being said that it has been Nilekani's condition to start again and bring new members in case he comes back.

However, likely changes in the Infosys board was expected, experts with whom THE WEEK spoke have said. They say that it was expected that a few board members may resign soon and some new members are likely to be added in the Infosys board. Many experts had earlier blamed the Infosys board for not trying to maintain a proper balance between its CEO Vishal Sikka and the Infosys founders such as N.R. Murthy. They had also said that many of the board members such as R. Seshasayee did not have a technology background and did not get along well with Murthy.

Experts such as Alok Shende of Ascentius Consulting feel that the Infosys board is to be blamed for this complete debacle and could have been handled it very sensitively. I feel that the Infosys board had not been transparent enough to deal with different situations especially in answering the queries from Murthy properly. Why were the queries not answered properly? I also feel that the intention of Sikka to stay till March next year is to vest the Infosys stock options which will mature by the end of the financial year. I feel that except for a few members, most of the board members will leave the Infosys board, said Shende.

Another expert Amit Chandra the IT analyst from HDFC Securities feels that the whole Infosys episode has highlighted the incompetency of the Infosys board and has shown its incapability to handle the situation. I feel that many of the Infosys board members are not very capable and some are not from a technical background. Infosys is a large organisation with a very high market cap and around 2 lakh employees and it needs matured board members and people who understand their technology business and handle critical situations for the company, Chandra told THE WEEK.

Experts such as Kris Lakshmikanth feel that Sikka may leave the company even before March next year. Sikka will have to wait till March next year to get his Infosys stocks vested but the company can accelerate that vesting and he can leave before that, said Lakshmikanth.
A group of 12 major institutional investors in Infosys Ltd has asked the Indian IT services company to bring former CEO Nandan Nilekani back on to its board to try to resolve a feud with the company's founders.

The Infosys board has been locked in a public dispute since February with the founders, led by former chair Narayana Murthy, who have accused the directors of governance lapses.

The differences prompted its Chief Executive Vishal Sikka to resign on Friday, sparking a sell-off that has wiped over $4.5 billion from Infosys' market capitalisation over the last four trading sessions.

"The recent developments are very concerning to each one of us," the investors, comprising large mutual funds and insurance companies, said in their letter, adding Infosys should consider inviting Nilekani to the board in a "suitable capacity."

Nilekani, one of the company's co-founders, who served as its CEO from 2002 to 2007, could not be reached for comment.

The investors, which include HDFC Asset Management, ICICI Prudential Asset Management and Birla SunLife Asset Management, among others, added that Nilekani's return would be welcomed as he enjoys the confidence of clients, shareholders and employees.

"Given his credentials, we feel, that his joining the board at this stage, will restore confidence of stakeholders in the company and also facilitate resolution of the contentious issues that Infosys is facing presently," said the funds in a letter, the contents of which were reviewed by Reuters.

The group of institutions, who have signed the letter to the Infosys board, together own roughly 10 percent of the company's shares, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Separately, local business news channel CNBC TV18 citing unnamed sources, reported on Wednesday that Nilekani was set to return to Infosys, without providing specific details.

Shares in Infosys which had fallen nearly 15 per cent in the first two days following Sikka's exit rallied 2 per cent on Wednesday following news that Nilekani may returna move that could well bring the acrimonious dispute to a close.

The retired founder executives and their families together own about 12.75 per cent of Infosys' shares.

On an investor call last week, Infosys repeatedly assured shareholders and analysts that it would work to end the dispute soon and ensure that its new permanent CEO, when named, would not be distracted by the issue.

"It cannot continue in this fashion. I'm always an optimist, and I believe that in the coming weeks we'll have to find ways to put this decisively to bed," said Infosys co-chairman Ravi Venkatesan on Friday's call.
The character of Iron Man a.k.a. Tony Stark, essayed by actor Robert Downey Jr in The Avengers franchise, might be engaged to his secretary girlfriend Pepper Potts, essayed by Gwyneth Paltrow in Avengers 4.

In the film Spider-Man: Homecoming, Tony Stark was about to propose to her in front of reporters at the end of the film. Her answer was not revealed in the film, but she might have said yes since recent on-set photograph showed Paltrow, wearing a large ring on her finger, reported people.com.

The actress was dressed in white high-waisted pants and black tank top as she was rehearsing her line with Downey Jr. They were joined by actor Mark Ruffalo, who is reprising his role as Hulk.

In real life, Paltrow is dating TV producer Brad Falchuk. They were romantically linked after she parted ways with husband Chris Martin. They sparked engagement rumours earlier this year.

Gwyneth Paltrow made her debut as Pepper Potts in the first Iron Man movie in 2008.

She reprised her role in the next two sequels and was back for the Spider-Man reboot. When Tony Stark revealed his proposal plan, his assistant, played by Jon Favreau, joked that he had been carrying around the ring since 2008.

Favreau is expected to return to the fourth Avengers film while Brie Larson is rumored to join the cast as Captain Marvel, Tom Holland as Spider-Man and Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange.

Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, the film is scheduled for release in theaters worldwide in 2019.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami said unity was the need of the hour to take the party and the AIADMK government forward, amid a threat to his government's stability posed by 18 MLAs loyal to sidelined party deputy chief T.T.V. Dhinakaran.

Senior AIADMK leader and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M. Thambidurai, however, dismissed any threat to the government in the wake of revolt by the 18 MLAs, who have expressed lack of confidence in Palaniswami's leadership.

He said the state government was strong and there was no division in the party.

On yet another day of hectic political developments in the state, Dhinakaran, nephew of jailed AIADMK chief V.K. Sasikala, sought to assert his authority by stripping four ministers of party posts while MLAs loyal to him continued to stay put in a resort in Puducherry.

DMK's ally Congress pitched for a floor test in the assembly, a day after the Dravidian party made a similar demand claiming 22 AIADMK MLAs had submitted letters to Governor C. Vidayasagar Rao expressing lack of confidence in the chief minister.

In the 234-member assembly, the AIADMK has 134 MLAs.

Sasikala's brother V. Divakaran, meanwhile, claimed the Palaniswami ministry had "lost majority" and sought his resignation.

"Such a government cannot continue. Palaniswami has to resign," he told reporters at Kumbakonam.

Thambidurai told reporters in Chennai that the "Tamil Nadu government under the leadership of Palaniswami is strong. There are no divisions," he added.

Palaniswami later made the comments on unity at a government function in Ariyalur where he shared the dais with his deputy O. Panneerselvam for the first time after the merger of two AIADMK factions led by them.

Addressing the centenary celebrations of AIADMK founder and late chief minister M.G. Ramachandran, the two leaders heaped praises on him and late chief minister J. Jayalalithaa.

Palaniswami said the recent merger of the two factions was done with the aim of fulfilling the dreams of Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa and expressed joy over today's meeting.

The chief minister, facing an attack from the Dhinakaran camp over the merger, stressed on unity to take the party and government forward.

"We should strengthen the party and the government like siblings. That unity is the offering (apparently meaning gratitude) we make to Amma (Jayalalithaa)," he said.

He also invoked the legacy of MGR and Jayalalithaa and said they had surmounted various challenges during their tenures and provided good governance, earning a place in the hearts of the people of the state.

"None can ever separate the present government and AIADMK from the people's hearts as long as it is guided by the spirit of the two great leaders and as long as spirit of Amma stood as a source of strength," he said.

Like Jayalalitha, he also narrated a short story of a godman making the residents of a village realise the value of unity.

"People will not accept those as leaders who had not done any public service. MGR (Ramachandran) won hearts by public service. Amma later gave shape to his ideas," he said.

In his address at the function, Panneerselvam said Jayalalithaa had turned the AIADMK into "an iron fortress which cannot be shaken by anyone".

The "sacrifices" of Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa should be kept in mind to ensure the well-being of the people of the state and its growth, he added.
The Supreme Court on Thursday held that the right to privacy is a fundamental right and is an integral part of the right to life and liberty.

The Supreme Court overruled the M.P. Sharma (1962) and Kharak Singh (1954) judgment and held that the Right to Privacy is a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, in an unanimous decision (of the nine-judge bench).



The ruling by a nine-judge bench headed by Chief Justice J.S. Khehar will have a bearing on the challenge to the validity of the Aadhaar scheme on the grounds of its violating the right to privacy.

The nine-judge Constitution bench comprising Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, Justice J. Chelameswar, Justice S.A. Bobde, Justice R.K. Agrawal, Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, and Justice S. Abdul Nazeer had reserved the verdict on August 2 after hearing the matter for two weeks.

The entire issue was rooted in a reference by a three-judge bench that was hearing a challenge to the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar Scheme on the grounds of it being violative of the fundamental right to privacy.

The petitioners included former Karnataka High Court Judge K.S. Puttaswamy, first chairperson of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and Magsaysay awardee Shanta Sinha, feminist researcher Kalyani Sen Menon, and others.

However, the Centre contested their position citing two judgments of 1954 (by eight judges) and 1962 (by six judges) which had held that the right to privacy was not a fundamental right.

The Centre had contended that though after the mid-seventies several judgments by the benches of strength of two or three judges had held that right to privacy was fundamental but it was the judgment of 1954 and 1962 by the larger benches that holds the ground.

It was in this background that the nine-judges constitution bench heard the matter to examine the correctness or otherwise of the 1954 and 1962 judgments and the nature of the right to privacy, whether fundamental or not.

The hearing saw a partisan divide with the Centre and BJP-ruled Maharashtra and Gujarat contending that right to privacy was not a fundamental right and those ruled by the CongressKarnataka, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry and TMC in West Bengal asserting that privacy was a fundamental right.

The Unique Identification Authority of India, too, said that privacy was not a fundamental right and there were sufficient safeguards to protect data collected from the peopletheir iris scan and fingerprints.












Swine flu cases are on the rise in Madhya Pradesh, with the disease claiming 13 lives so far in the state, officials said.

According to the state health department, the number of patients suffering from the H1NI virus has been increasing at an alarming rate over the last few days.

Of the 391 suspected cases of swine flu in the state, between July 1 and August 22, so far 72 cases were confirmed for the disease.

While 18 patients are being treated in state government hospitals, 14 are undergoing treatment in private hospitals. Thirteen patients died of the disease in this period.

One patient also died of dengue.

According to the health department, isolation wards have been set up for swine flu and dengue patients in most of the state's district hospitals.

Madhya Pradesh Health Minister Rustam Singh has appealed to the people to remain alert.
The United States is determined to ensure the International Atomic Energy Agency has the resources it needs for robust verification of nuclear-related activities in Iran, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said Wednesday.

Ambassador Nikki Haley said in a statement after meeting in Vienna, Austria with the U.N. nuclear agencys director that she also discussed American concerns about ensuring Iran strictly adheres to its obligations.

Haleys meeting with IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano was private and no further details were immediately available.

The IAEA is charged with verifying compliance with the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and six major powers, including the United States. The pact outlined what Tehran had to do to pull back its nuclear program from the brink of weapons-making capacity in return for the West ending many of the financial, trade and oil sanctions that had battered Irans economy.

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the deal, but has yet to pull out of it.

Before the meeting, Irans Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a letter to Amano and European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini that Haleys visit was another step by the .S. that flies in the face of the nuclear agreement.

While U.S. officials are free to travel and meet IAEA officials, Zarif said the publicly stated purpose of Haleys visit to discuss U.S. concerns raises several serious concerns over further violations of the letter and spirit of the nuclear deal and the U.N. Security Council resolution endorsing it.

Regrettably, this visit, with the stated purpose to press the agency, is widely perceived by the international community as a manifest and blatant attemptto put pressure on the agency and adversely affect the professional and impartial nature of the work of the IAEA in carrying out the job entrusted to it, he said.

The foreign minister complained that the way the U.S. planned and publicized Haleys visit created further uncertainty and ambiguity among other countries and the private sector over the sustainability of the nuclear agreement. He said this was another example of U.S. mala fide  or bad faith  aimed at limiting Irans benefits from the deal.

Zarif said in the letter, dated Saturday and obtained by The Associated Press, that Haleys visit could also undermine the credibility of the IAEA, which is vital to global nuclear nonproliferation and is charged by the U.N. Security Council to play an independent role in verifying compliance with the Iran nuclear deal.

Haleys statement after meeting Amano praised the IAEAs credibility, professionalism and seriousness in conducting its monitoring and verification work in Iran, but noted that the agencys reports can only be as good as the access Iran grants.

Zarif said he was confident that Amano will deal with this visit and other similar attempts with absolute professionalism and integrity.

(AP)
Russia and the United States arent in a new Cold War despite spiraling tensions, a senior Russian diplomat said in remarks released Wednesday.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov denounced U.S. sanctions against Russia, but emphasized that the current tension isnt equivalent to confrontation that may spill into open conflict. He added, however, that Russia and the U.S. need to refresh their agreements on preventing incidents at sea and in the air.

Speaking to Japanese and Chinese media in remarks released by his ministry, Ryabkov said: I dont think that such confrontation is possible. He added that decades of experience have taught Moscow and Washington caution.

I dont think that we are in a state of a new Cold War because there are no grounds for a Cold War in the old meaning of the word, meaning a confrontation between systems and ideologies, ideological rivalry, Ryabkov said.

Russia-U.S. relations have plunged to post-Cold War lows over the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and the accusations of Russian meddling in last years U.S. presidential vote.

Ryabkov said that about 400 Russian entities and some 200 Russian citizens have been targeted by the U.S. sanctions. He reaffirmed Moscows denial of interference in the U.S. election, dismissing the accusations as collective madness.

He argued that Russias response to the U.S. sanctions has been quite restrained and modest, adding that Moscow doesnt view relations with Washington as a zero-sum game.

Ryabkov emphasized that Russia refrained from any steps that if asymmetrical, not tit-for-tat, could harm regional and global stability.

Russia is fully aware of its measure of responsibility in this field, he said, noting that Russia and the U.S. have reached a significant progress in their efforts to settle the Syrian crisis.

The Kremlin has responded to sanctions approved by the U.S. Congress by ordering sharp cuts of U.S. diplomatic personnel in Russia.

Ryabkov scathingly criticized the U.S. decision to indefinitely suspend issuing visas at its consulates in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok in response to the Russian decision to cap embassy staff.

By depriving Russian citizens of the possibility to receive visas freely and easily, the United States is turning itself into its own opposite, he said.

Some would think its time to open a bottle of champagne because the U.S. is destroying itself, while others would see it as a sad moment because it would be more difficult to get access to the American values and benefits.

(AP)
White House adviser Jared Kushner arrived in Cairo on Wednesday only to learn that one of his top-level meetings with Egyptian officials had apparently been cancelled, as Egypt voiced its displeasure at the Trump administrations decision to slash aid to the country over human rights concerns.

Kushner, who is also the son-in-law of President Donald Trump, is heading a U.S. delegation that includes Jason Greenblatt, envoy for international negotiations, and Dina Powell, deputy national security adviser. The visit to Egypt is part of a Middle East tour to try to revive Arab-Israeli peace talks.

They had been scheduled to meet Egypts Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, though the meeting was removed from the Egyptian foreign ministrys schedule on Wednesday. The delegation met with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and later did confer briefly with Shoukry, before leaving for Israel.

The Trump administrations decision to cut or delay nearly $300 million in military and economic aid was seen as a surprise move, given the increasingly close ties that have bound the two allies since President Donald Trump took office in January.

In a statement, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said Cairo regretted the U.S. decision, calling it a misjudgment of the nature of the strategic relations that have bound the two countries for decades. The move, it said, reflects a lack of careful understanding of the importance of supporting the stability and success of Egypt, as well as the size and nature of the security and economic challenges faced by the Egyptian people.

It warned that the cuts may have negative consequences for the realization of common U.S.-Egyptian interests. It did not elaborate.

However, an Egyptian presidential statement on Kushners meeting with el-Sissi made no mention of the aid cuts and delays, which totaled $290.7 million. El-Sissi, a general-turned-president who has repeatedly stated his admiration for Trump, showed none of the frustration expressed by the Foreign Ministry as he smiled while posing for a ceremonial photo with Kushner in the Egyptian leaders opulent Cairo palace.

El-Sissi spoke to Kushner and his delegation about Egypts keenness to continue to work on strengthening the multi-faceted relations that bind the two countries in various fields, the statement said.

Of the $290.7 million, $195 million was military aid that the State Department said Tillerson was not able to certify that Egypt had met the human rights criteria set by Congress in order to receive it. But because Tillerson signed a so-called national interest waiver, those funds will remain available to Egypt as long as it makes human rights improvements. Had Tillerson not signed the waiver, the money would have been returned to the Treasury by Sept. 30  the end of the current fiscal year.

The remainder  $95.7 million in economic and military assistance was cut from the Egypt account. Most of it had been held in escrow since 2014 as a result of the new aid conditions Congress set after el-Sissis 2013 ouster of Mohammed Morsi, Egypts first freely elected president. Of that, $65.7 million was foreign military financing and $30 million so-called economic support funds, basically a cash payment to the government. These funds will now go instead to key security partners, without undermining Egypts security, according to the State Department.

In announcing the changes, the Trump administration cited Egypts poor human rights record and its crackdown on civic and other non-governmental groups.

Prominent rights lawyer Gamal Eid said U.S. demands for Egypt to improve its rights record were legitimate given what he said was a surge in violations.

The government must now convince its American friends that what its doing in the field of human rights serves democracy and stability, Eid said. Its in a bind and anything it does now will be seen as a means to secure U.S. aid.

Egypt is among the top recipients of U.S. military and economic assistance, receiving nearly $1.5 billion annually. The $1.3 billion in military aid and $250 million in economic aid is linked to Egypts 1979 peace treaty with Israel, and underpins a U.S.-Egyptian security relationship that is now mostly aimed at fighting terrorism.

As defense minister, el-Sissi led the militarys 2013 ouster of Morsi, an Islamist whose year in office proved divisive. El-Sissi won a presidential election a year later, and has overseen a crackdown on civil society, particularly rights and pro-democracy groups. These groups were instrumental in the uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011, but are presented by the media now as part of a foreign conspiracy against Egypt.

As part of the crackdown, authorities have detained tens of thousands, most of them Islamist supporters of Morsi, but a number of prominent liberal and secular activists have also been jailed. Critics say the government is trampling on the countrys 2014 constitution, possibly the most progressive in Egypts history.

Egypt maintains that reviving an ailing economy, fighting Islamic militants and creating jobs top its priorities.

Trump made no public mention of human rights when he warmly welcomed el-Sissi to the White House in April, an omission that many took as a sign that the issue was not a priority for the administration. But two months later, two Republican senators slammed as draconian a new Egyptian law that effectively bans the work of non-governmental organizations and urged its repeal.

The law, fiercely defended by Egypt, sparked an international backlash and is believed to be the main cause for Washingtons move to cut and delay aid.

I believe the American decision was expected after Egypt adopted the NGO law, said rights campaigner Khaled el-Balshy. Its an important but symbolic move, which will likely not lead to positive actions from the Egyptian government.

(AP)
Aside from a synagogue building now used as an industrial bakery, about the only evidence that a thriving Jewish community once existed in Svaliava, Ukraine, is the towns Jewish cemetery, where 20 headstones were recently overturned and smashed.

After the desecration went unnoticed by local officials in the scenic Carpathian village of 17,000, where Jews once numbered more than 20 percent of the population, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Wilhelm, rabbi of the Carpathian region and director of Chabad of Uzhgorod, appealed to authorities to acknowledge the vandalism, and do everything possible to catch the criminals and bring them to justice. He also urged Jewish leaders nationally to publicize and influence officials to do more to combat anti-Semitism.

In May 1944, the entire Jewish community of Svaliava, including its children, was rounded up by Hungarian forces, who then claimed the region. They deported all of the towns Jewish residents to Auschwitz, where they were murdered. The cemetery has continued to serve as a resting place for area Jewish residents.

(Source: Chabad.org)
For years, the hilltop boys and the Israel Police were two opposites and there were few at best who believed they could cooperate with one another. However, as in many areas, the unbelievable here has happened, and in recent years a trend has been created to recruit hilltop youth from Gush Etzion to the Israel Police.

According to the report in Yisrael Hayom, the recruitment of youths will be made possible by means of an innovative project that operates in the Ministry of Public Security known as the good eye, whose goal is to change the image of the police in the eyes of the hard-core communities. The plan recently made an achievement when one of the youth centers, which is located in a community from which former activists were involved in nationalist crime, joined the ranks of the police. These are settlements such as Karmei Tzur, Tekoa, Bat Ayin and Alon Shvut.

One of the projects activists came to the youth coordinators in these communities and made them meet with the policemen and officers in a pleasant atmosphere. The police spoke with the youth about crime and the ways to avoid falling into violence. To date, some 60 youths have participated in the program, some of whom have expressed their desire to join the Civil Guard in their community.

I am proud of our project because I strongly believe in the need to invest in preventing violence, no less than in enforcement, said Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, when the activity is done with youth, it is even more important that the activity helps them build their future and directs them to a success track Erdan said.

The residents feeling was that the police were looking for these youths to harm them, mainly because of drug-related incidents and nationalistic crime, Avi Unger, director of prevention in the Gush Etzion Regional Council, told Israel Hayom.

As mentioned above, everything changed with the beginning of the implementation of the Good Eye program, in which the projects staff managed to recruit the youth coordinators in the settlements and to help them meet for the first time with policemen in a non-hostile environment. And ways to avoid a deterioration into delinquency.

We found youths, male and female, who were not aware of the dangers lurking in social networks, who were not aware of abuse and the effects of drugs and alcohol, physical and verbal violence, said Unger, only to understand the complexity of recruiting youths from Gush Etzion to the police. Unger said that during the meetings with the youth a serious nationalistic case exploded in Yehuda and Shomron, which was indirectly related to the settlements of Gush Etzion and caused a shake-up that threatened the continuation of the program.

Fortunately, the affair created a platform for the first time an open dialogue between the youth and the police on the matter, and not only was the program continued, it was even expanded.

I am proud of our project because I strongly believe in the need to invest in the prevention of violence, no less than in enforcement. When it comes to youth, it is even more important that the activity helps them build their future And directs them to a path of success. 

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Shore Capital has hired Amber Wood from rival brokers Cenkos to be its new head of compliance.

A glance at Wood's LinkedIn account reveals she previously worked as a compliance officer for something call MSIL.

What's that? It stands for Madoff Securities International Ltd, and was famous Ponzi scheme fraudster Bernie Madoff's London business until his 2008 arrest.

Small wonder Amber prefers to keep it abbreviated.

Is Provident Financial chief Peter Crook regretting a 2011 interview in which he said he was 'smiling' after a bump in his company's share price caused short-selling hedge funds to lose 100million?

Fast forward six years, and Provident Financial's share collapse has bagged the short sellers 150million while Crook's out of a job. Porky Peter's not smiling now.

Female barristers at Southwark Crown Court, which handles the City of London's most serious financial crime trials, were this week granted access to the courthouse's all-male 'robing room', where lawyers change into their robes and wigs.

Up until now, women had to change into their ceremonial garb in a much pokier side room. Still, not all of them are celebrating.

Sarah Forshaw QC, a fiery blonde who often pops up on the BBC, comments: 'Without wishing to be ungrateful, I once saw an old male Silk in there strip to his vest and grey underpants. I'm happy in the small room.'

Oily US hedge fund wally Anthony Scaramucci, 53, whose comically short-lived period as media adviser to Donald Trump coincided with his wife Deidre high-tailing it from the marital home, gamely tweets a picture of a T-shirt emblazoned with the message: 'I was communications director for 10 days and all I got was this lousy shirt.'

A fellow Twitterer replies: 'And a divorce.' So unnecessary.

Ludicrous job title of the week goes to Vance Crowe, of agrochemical giant Monsanto, who answers to the title of 'director of millennial engagement'.

Aptly-named Crowe, 35, breezily describes his working day as 'hanging out online with different tribes.' Twerp alert!
Sir Martins millions: WPP boss Sorrell with his wife Cristiana

Media tycoon Sir Martin Sorrell suffered a 37million loss after shares in his company WPP had their biggest one-day fall since 1998.

The advertising guru warned economic and political turmoil was harming global growth, raised doubts over fraud and fake news and said there was ever-greater pressure on clients to cut costs.

It came as WPP slashed sales growth forecasts for this year from 2 per cent to between 1 per cent and 0 per cent.

The announcement wiped 2.2billion off its value as shares crashed 10.9 per cent, or 174p, to 1420p.

Sorrell himself owns 21.3m shares, meaning his personal fortune dropped 37.1million.

However, the boss has benefited from years of vast pay packets which have made him a lightning rod for accusations about corporate greed in the City  Sorrell has survived years of investor anger at his fat cat pay and took home 48.1million last year alone.

The boss's painful losses yesterday are also likely to have been eased by a new expenses scheme which entitles him to 200,000 a year in cash to support his 'wellbeing and security'.

Major City shareholders such as Royal London Asset Management have described his bonus package as 'exceptionally high'.

Stefan Stern of the High Pay Centre said: 'Given the size of Sir Martin's overall pay packet already, I wouldn't have thought any further funding for his wellbeing was required.'

The new allowance is less than the 228,000 of benefits Sorrell took last year  but he had to explain how this was spent, including on car costs, healthcare and an accommodation allowance. No such scrutiny is needed under the new regime.

WPP turned over 7.4billion in the first half of this year, up 1.9 per cent on the same period in 2016.

Profits jumped 52.4 per cent to 779million, although this performance was boosted because the firm took a 122million one-off accounting hit in the previous period.

Bosses said there were growing concerns about revenues, with a pronounced slowdown in the second quarter.

Things got even worse in July, when revenues shrank 4.1 per cent.

Sorrell warned of a darkening global outlook and concerns the internet is becoming a hotbed of criminality and misinformation.

Sorrell said: 'In the last year or so, growth has become even more difficult to find, perhaps due to increasing social, political and economic volatility.

'Even the growth of the digital marketplace has been dogged by issues such as measurability, viewability, fraud, and fake news, let alone the duopoly of Google and Facebook and the growing dominance of Amazon.'

With growing pressure on companies' marketing budgets, Sorrell added that fierce competition within the media industry was spurring WPP's rivals to offer deep discounts or longer payments terms.
Decades of top-quality stock picking have led Neil Woodford to become one of the most well-known and highly respected fund managers in the UK.

But with Provident Financial this week becoming the latest disaster to hit Woodford's investments, is it now time to ask whether the golden boy has lost his Midas touch?

Indeed, over the last year, Woodford's popular Equity Income fund has lost 2.6 per cent of savers' money, which makes it the worst performing fund among all of its peers.

It is also the worst performing Equity Income fund over the last six months and three months.

Tough week: Star fund manager Neil Woodford lost 326m when shares in doorstep lender Provident  in which he owns a 19 per cent stake  plummeted 66 per cent

This has led some experts to worry whether Woodford bit off more than he could chew when he left Invesco to set up shop on his own in 2014.

The manager saw a whopping 326million slip through his fingers in just one day when shares in doorstep lender Provident  in which he owns a 19 per cent stake  plummeted 66 per cent.

The firm issued its second profit warning in two months, axed its dividend and announced the departure of chief executive Peter Crook.

Woodford staunchly defended the firm, shifting the blame back to the market, saying: 'I believe Provident Financial shares started the day undervalued, and have become even more so as a result of the market's reaction.'

He added: 'I am hugely disappointed by what has happened to the consumer credit division but I continue to believe that it will get back on track.'

Several of his investments have also gone south in recent months.

Last month, drug pioneer AstraZeneca  the biggest holding in Woodford's Equity Income fund  suffered its largest-ever one-day fall, plummeting by 15 per cent, which followed the failure of a highly-anticipated lung cancer drug trial called Mystic.

Inventions firm Allied Minds, in which Woodford is the largest shareholder with a 27.8 per cent stake  also suffered its largest ever one-day fall in April after cutting funding for seven subsidiaries.

The firm is down by 74 per cent so far this year.

This month shares in roadside assistance firm AA  13.1 per cent-backed by Woodford  tanked after its chief executive was sacked after an alleged bar brawl.

Imperial Brands is down 9.9 per cent this year after regulatory changes by the US health watchdog.

And on the same day as Provident fell, monitoring device maker Sphere Medical Holding  a smaller Woodford bet  fell more than 80 per cent after saying it could run out of cash by next month.

When assessing the performance of fund managers it is important to remember they usually invest for the long-term. Savers are usually advised to leave money in a fund for at least three years.

And despite acknowledging his funds could be rocked by market volatility in the coming months, this very much remains the message from the Woodford camp, which released a bullish update to investors earlier this week.

'Our long-term approach to investment management is encapsulated in a patient capital investment style,' Woodford said. 'We look beyond market volatility and focus on the long-term fundamentals of businesses.'

Although it may have had a shocker over the last year, the Woodford Equity Income fund has grown savers' cash by 27.6 per cent since opening in June 2014.

This compares to an average return of 24 per cent among his peers. However, the manager's Patient Capital trust has made just 3.1 per cent for investors over the last year, compared to its peers' average return of 15.8 per cent.

Since launching in April 2014, it has lost 3.2 per cent, while peers have made 20.8 per cent.

Ben Yearsley, director at Shore Financial Planning, said Woodford could be focusing too much on small companies.

He added: 'Maybe he should spend more time on the large cap stocks as it is these that have been causing all the recent problems.

'Prior to these recent falls in performance we had made the decision to reduce the exposure to the Woodford Equity Income fund.'

Darius McDermott, managing director at Chelsea Financial Services, said Woodford's preference for big investments puts him at greater risk of big losses.

He said: 'If you look at his top ten holdings he really takes large positions in the stocks he favours compared to other managers.

For example, he has 8 per cent in AstraZeneca. Woodford's approach is driven by the courage he has in his convictions.'

With Woodford launching a third fund  called the Income Focus fund  in April this year, Tom Becket, investment director at Psigma Investment Management, said some may feel he has attracted too much money and launched too many products.

However, Becket believes Woodford's extremely strong record  a saver who invested 10,000 with Woodford in 1988 would now have more than 300,000  means he could easily bounce back.

Woodford's eye for gems can still be seen. He is the largest investor in estate agent Purplebricks, which is up more than 300 per cent since December 2015.

According to Jason Hollands, managing director at Tilney Investment Management, Woodford is a victim of his own high profile, which towers above that of most UK fund managers.

'When he hits a bad patch, he is firmly in the limelight,' said Hollands.

'The truth is that even the very best fund managers will periodically go through periods of poor performance  legendary American investor Warren Buffett has had a few setbacks this year.'

Likewise, Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said Woodford has always been able to reward long-term investors despite rough patches throughout his career.

He said: 'People tend to focus on the poor performers because they make headlines, rather than looking at the portfolio as a whole.

'In the short term, luck can play a large role in the outperformance or underperformance of an active manager.

'But in the long term it is skill that shines through, and Neil Woodford has amply demonstrated that in a fund management career spanning 30 years.'
A Honda Civic on the production line at the company's plant in Swindon

CAR TALLY A total of 136,397 new cars rolled off British production lines last month  a 7.8 per cent rise on July last year, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

TESCO COMPENSATION Supermarket Tesco has opened its 85million compensation scheme for shareholders affected by its misleading trading statement in August 2014, which overstated expected half-yearly profits by more than 300million.

BHP DEPARTURE A former Shell executive, Malcolm Brinded, is standing down from the board of BHP due to his 'involvement in ongoing legal proceedings in Italy relating to his prior employment,' BHP said yesterday.

ZINC BOOST Profit at miner Vedanta Resources has risen to 606million, up from 411million the year before, boosted by higher zinc production, with renewed demand for the metal due to higher steel production in China.

REVENUE RISE Mining royalty fund Anglo Pacific Group saw a 295 per cent boost in first-half revenue, to 16.1million, up from 4.1million in 2016, boosted by higher commodity prices and the fall of the pound.

REVENUES HIT Profits have slumped 20 per cent at Independent News and Media, the Irish media group whose publications include the Irish Independent and Belfast Telegraph.

Profits for the six months ending June 30 fell from 17million to 13.7million, with revenues down 8 per cent to 136million.

SHELL START Production has started at a key Shell oil and gas project in Nigeria, which is expected to produce around 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2019.

PROFITS WOE Profits at plastic packaging manufacturer Robinson have slumped to 2,000 for the six months to the end of June, compared with 284,000 during the same period last year, partly due to a rise in resin costs.

RENTAL RISK Landlords are switching from long-term rentals to holiday lets because of a tax squeeze, the Residential Landlords Association claims.

It said there was a 75 per cent rise in the number of people advertising more than one property on the holiday website Airbnb in London.

It said this hurt tenants by creating a shortage of properties.
Whole Foods shareholders have given their backing to Amazon's 10.7bn all cash offer

Internet goliath Amazon is on the brink of a dramatic shake-up of the grocery market after shareholders waved through its 10.7billion take-over of Whole Foods.

The US supermarket chains investors gave their backing to the all-cash offer in a vote last night.

It paves the way for a merger which will give Amazon a bricks and mortar presence for the first time, as it looks to extend its domination to food as well as consumer goods and books.

The deal was unveiled in June, sending supermarket shares plummeting.

In Britain  where Whole Foods has just nine stores  1.5billion was wiped from the value of Tesco, Sainsburys and Marks & Spencer in a single day.

The deal is still waiting for approval from regulators, although insiders expect it to go through by the end of the year.

 US consumers will be able to buy Walmart products using Googles voice-activated assistant software from next month onwards.

Walmart also owns cut-price British grocer Asda, although the scheme is not yet being introduced in the UK.
Brazil expects to generate US$130 million at ACLE

Brazil

Brazilian tanners will be showcasing a Leather Preview space for summer 2019, alongside the participation of 18 companies at the upcoming edition of the All China Leather Fair (ACLE) taking place August 30  September 1 in Shanghai.

The Brazilian tanneries participating at ACLE hope to generate around US$130 million in business, according to the CICB, the Centre for the Brazilian Tanning Industry, which says the first half of the year showed growth of 2.6% in exports to China/Hong Kong compared with 2016. "It's an important moment for the leather sector, which can support the strategies for the remainder of the year and the beginning of 2018," says Jose Fernando Bello, Executive President, CICB.

In addition to the 18 companies showcasing products at their stands, leathers will also be presented in an exclusive CICB and Brazilian Leather project space, where the Leather Preview for Summer 2019 will be exhibited. "This collection was first seen at the Inspiramais event in July. They are an interesting showcase of our creative potential, which also help generate business", said Leticia Luft, Manager, Brazilian Leather. The space presents innovative articles from different tanneries, some of which are not present at the fair.

On the eve of ACLE, the Brazilian Leather project will also participate at the third World Leather Congress, which it has supported since its launch. Under the theme The Leather Revolution: how the industry will respond, the congress will comprise of panels and talks where leading global industry experts will discuss trends and prospects for leather in the world, including growth in the automotive segment, e-commerce, the leather industry in China, global marketing, and raw materials.
EZULWINI  He was recently honoured with the MTN SWAMA Awards Lifetime Award and now he has been given a top post in the Mbaqhanga music industry.

Mshikishi Mdzebele has been appointed as one of the three people who will be in charge of Mbaqhanga music in the country.



Mshikishi who happens to be one of the countrys oldest musicians was unveiled yesterday morning during a breakfast meeting held at Timbali Lodge. Mshikishi was appointed with the Swaziland Broadcasting and Information Services (SBIS) radio personality Bongani Ra-Bumbum Dlamini and Bongani Mtsefwa.



The three have a responsibility of bringing all Mbaghanga musicians together and also create a platform where the artists will get an opportunity of being on the stage together.

Unveiling the three was Stanley Dlamini, the Swaziland National Council of Arts and Culture (SNCAC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Stanley Dlamini.



Dlamini said in the past it has always been known that Mbaqhanga music was the best but of late they had noted that the standard of music was dropping and it was the reason why they decided to form the committee.

Dlamini said the three including Mshikishi were experienced musicians and they have the capability of improving the genre.



If the musicians fail, it will be because this committee has failed. As SNCAC we have the trust and we believe this committee will do things accordingly as they work towards improving the industry, he said.

Mdzebele thanked the SNCAC for believing in them adding that they will try their best to see to it that the genre becomes of the best.

Mbaqhanga music has been known to be the best and indeed it will remain being the best, he said.




















MSUNDUZA  Two gate crashing police officers were yesterday chucked out of a meeting by pensioners.



A very rare scene transpired when the Mbabane Branch of the Pensioners Association met at the Mbabane Roman Catholic Church Hall where two plain- clothes police officers being kicked out. One of the officers, a male, took a back seat on arrival and followed proceedings with his head faced to the ground for the better part of the meeting. He was identified after a while by the Branch Chairman Osvart Sukati who was seated at the stage facing the members.

Sukati walked from the stage to the back of the hall, asked to have a word with the officers and instructed them to leave. In their defence, the officers are said to have said they were sent by someone they identified as commissioner to attend the meeting.



That did not sway the chairman from his order as he told the officers to tell the Commissioner that they were not invited to the meeting and their presence was not wanted.

The other officer, a female, when asked about what she was doing at the meeting, is said to have claimed that she was there on behalf of her pensioned mother. Like her colleague, she was also sent packing.

Ngibacoshe ngesibindzi ngobe ngeSiSwati, nakukhuluma bantfu labadzala bantfwana abadzingeki, (I bravely kicked them out because even culturally, children are not supposed to sit among elders when they have a meeting), Sukati said.



Upon announcement of the news of police invasion in the meeting, pensioners took turns relating their disgust at the police intrusion.

Former District Commissioner Elliot Mkhatshwa bluntly stated that the police had sent spies to illegally solicit information from them. Mkhatshwa added that the commissioner should be charged or find the officers who had used his name to justify their presence in the meeting.



To ensure that it never happens again, Mkhatshwa proposed that the next intruder be held and instructed to tell them why they were in attendance at the meeting without getting an invitation. He suspected that some of their members had tipped the police about their meeting.

Letincutsi letilana kitsi atiphele nebakitsi ngobe sitatibamba, he said.



Former Chief Government Motor Vehicle Inspector Bhantjana Gwebu suggested that members carry their personal identity cards, which would serve as an entry requirement.
MANZINI  Fast spreading flames, which quickly engulfed a forest in Mankayane, killed a five-year-old girl who had left home to collect firewood with her mother.



Information gathered is that the mother of the child, Mgcashiyo Hlophe (44), left her homestead situated at Etjebovu, near Mankayane to gather firewood with her daughter, Siphiwe Masimula, when suddenly strong flames from a wild fire engulfed them.

Apparently, the minor had drifted towards the fire while the mother was busy collecting the firewood. She only noticed quite late that her child was no longer around, only to find that the minor had drifted towards the direction of the fire.



She had not noticed that her child had been trapped in the raging flames and when she tried to rescue her, she was also engulfed in the flames and decided to flee. It is a sad story because she watched her child burn but could not be of assistance as she feared for her life too.

She only managed to call the police later. However, it was too late as upon arrival at the place, the child was already burnt beyond recognition, a relative who preferred not to be named said.

When interviewed, an emotional Hlophe said she was still traumatised by the incident.



She stated that upon realising that the flames were spreading with great force, she tried grabbing her burning daughter from the flames, however, she also got burnt in the process.

Hlophe, who has three other children, said she had no choice but to escape and head to the main road, leaving her child crying hysterically in the flames.



I ran to the main road, where I raised the alarm, calling upon neighbours to help me. Unfortunately, I had left my cellphone at home but the people who had gathered there managed to assist and gave me a phone to call the police.

When they eventually put out the fire where my child was, she was already unrecognisable. I have lost my last-born child in this tragedy and I am saddened. Her father passed away three years ago and I have no one to turn to, Hlophe added.



Doctors



Siphiwes body was taken to the Mankayane Government Mortuary by officers where medical doctors certified her dead. Meanwhile, Hlophe was also treated at the same hospital as she had sustained injuries to her neck and both hands.

Hlophe added that she did not have financial means to cater for her childs funeral arrangements as she was unemployed.
MBABANE  Who is threatening who? This question arose during the matter of well- known businessman Mfanukhona Kakona Dlamini yesterday.



The businessmans lawyer, Linda Dlamini, yesterday informed Judge Nkululeko Hlophe that he had been threatened by Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Israel Magagula, who is representing the Crown. Magagula confronted Dlamini after the parties went to see the judge in his chambers.

The alteration between Dlamini and Magagula, which happened outside the courtroom, was witnessed by reporters and others who had come to court. Magagula was overheard telling Dlamini to stop digging into his personal life.

Stop digging into my personal life and involving my parent who is late, said Magagula.



While Magagula went on a rant, Dlamini remained calm and insisted that there was nothing more he could say other than what was discussed in the judges chambers.

It was after Judge Hlophe had ordered that the matter be postponed that Dlamini stood up and informed the court that he was receiving threats from Magagula.

My Lord, I have a problem, I am being threatened by my counterpart for doing my job and I no longer feel safe, said Dlamini.



It was after Dlamini had finished addressing the court that the deputy DPP also stood up and made similar allegations. Magagula also claimed that he was on several times threatened by the accuseds friends.

I have said it before that I am receiving threats My Lord. I never threatened the defence counsel, said Magagula.



Judge Hlophe said he did not want to open any enquiry about the allegations, whether they were true or not but instead told the parties to deal with the matter according to the law and professionally.



Professionals



I am not going to entertain that for now. You are both senior counsels and professionals. Let us deal with the matter according to law, Judge Hlophe said.

The judge further reminded the parties that threatening someone was a serious offence.



The court also expressed its concern about the unavailability of Advocate Mduduzi Mabila who is reportedly indisposed.

Kakona has been recently sent back to jail. This came after Judge Hlophe cancelled his bail.


MBABANE  Power cuts are normally a nightmare to many but for Gugu Hlatjwako, a maid, an electricity blackout was a life saver.



This was after she allegedly endured five hours of torture under the hands of her employers, who used a live electric cable while interrogating her for alleged theft. Her employers are a married couple who work for government parastatal, the Swaziland Revenue Authority (SRA).



Narrating her ordeal from her hospital bed at the Mbabane Government Hospital, Hlatjwako, whose body is covered with ghastly marks, bruises and burns, said she was accused of stealing, among other things, a lipstick and make-up foundation belonging to her female boss.

Just like in the movies, Hlatjwako was first splashed with water in preparation for the imminent electric shock.

The 24-year-old woman, originally from Nhlangano, said she was employed as a stay-out maid by the couple to look after their 15-month-old baby.



Relaying her ordeal, Hlatjwako alleged that she was not only accused of stealing make-up, but also helping herself to six cellphones.

She alleged that after being questioned by the wife *Seni, all seemed to be well until she discovered that clothing items were also missing.

Again, Hlatjwako said her employers questioned her and she maintained her innocence.



I could not tell whether there were further suspicions after the questioning because most of the time I would not be in the same room as them, she said. However, she said since she had also been questioned by the police, she mentioned to them that she was contemplating quitting her job since she was the prime suspect in the theft of the missing items.

The police advised me not to quit because it would create an impression that I was indeed the one who stole the things. I heeded the advice, she said.



Things escalated to another level on Monday when she reported for duty in the morning. When she arrived, she alleged that *Seni told her she was relieved of her duties with immediate effect, and that a new maid was already on her way.

She said *Seni told her to return the following day to get her payment for the period she had worked this month.
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By Bill Parry

A philanthropist from Manhattans Upper East Side was watching the news Saturday morning and saw surveillance video of a thief breaking into a Corona church. The suspect was stealing musical instruments valued at $2,300 by the NYPD. It was then that Boo Grace, 64, began planning a trip to Queens.

I was so touched by the story and it hurt my heart that it happened, Grace said. When I saw the story, I was devastated. A church is where young people go when they want to stay out of trouble. I felt so bad I knew I had to do something.

In the early 80s, Grace and her husband hired three young men from Brooklyn, through the Youth Employment Service, to paint their apartment. During a conversation with one of them she learned he was always under pressure from kids in his neighborhood to do drugs or steal cars, and so he sought refuge at his churchs after-school programs.

I guess thats why the story touched my heart so much, she said. If kids are looking to the church to stay out of trouble, they should be able to have music. I knew the church needed its stolen instruments replaced.

Grace and her husband started a positive role model program to reward kids for doing good things at a middle school in Yorktown Heights where she was teaching.

The kids actually ran the thing for years, we gave the financial rewards, she said. We ran the program for 10 years before moving to New York City.

Grace lost her husband five years ago and endures significant health issues, but she was determined. She contacted TimesLedger Newspapers Sunday to learn more about the case and the name of the church.

Grace called a car service Monday afternoon and set off on her trip to Corona.

I didnt know how to get there by subway, so I figured Id be better off letting a driver find it, she said.

The car pulled up to Canaan Baptist Church, located at 35-24 108th St.. Grace met with Pastor Juan Carlos Suero, 52, and presented him with a check in the amount of $2,300, enough to cover the expense for new instruments.

It was great, man. She helped us so much, Suero said. God touched her heart and now we have the money to buy new equipment. Shes a lovely person. Just wonderful.

Boo Grace was happy to help.

It was really nice to meet the pastor and his wife, she said. It was time well spent.

Police were still looking for the suspect, described as a black male between 30 and 40 years old. He was last seen wearing a yellow jacket and blue jeans. Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPDs Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.
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By Gina Martinez

After elected officials expressed outrage, the Queens Museum has decided not to cancel a re-enactment of the 1947 United Nations vote on Israel independence scheduled for November.

The main gallery of the Queens Museum was the site of the original U.N. General Assembly vote on Nov. 29, 1947, establishing Israel as an independent state. According to City Councilman Rory Lancman (D-Hillcrest), the re-enactment was being organized by the Israeli government, which reserved the space for November 2017.

On Monday, the Queens Jewish Link organized a rally addressing anti-Semitism and the Queens Museums previous decision to cancel the re-enactment. State Assembly members Nily Rozic (D-Flushing) and David Weprin (D-Fresh Meadows) attended the rally. The issue was important to Rozic, who is the first and only state legislator born in Israel.

I am pleased that the Queens Museum reversed their decision so that the Jewish community in Queens and across NYC could be given the opportunity to commemorate this historic occasion that is deeply woven into the celebration of our heritage, she said.

Lancman cited a Jerusalem Post article that said the museum decided against hosting the event after plans were made public, citing opposition from Palestinian friends of the museum.

He and Assemblyman Michael Simanowitz (D-Flushing) blasted the anti-Semitic decision by the museum Aug. 22 and called for a NYC Human Rights Commission investigation to have the re-enactment reinstated.

A few hours later Queens Museum said the event was back on.

After a productive conversation with Israels ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, the Queens Museum will work with the Israeli mission on the proposed commemoration of the 1947 vote, the museum said in a statement. We are deeply committed to all the communities we serve through our meaningful arts programming and we are looking forward to making this a successful event.

Despite the museums reversal, Lancman and Simanowitz are still demanding the board of the Queens Museum immediately remove the institutions executive director from her position. They are also calling on the citys Human Rights Commission to investigate the decision as a violation of Title 8 of the city Administrative Code, also known as the city Human Rights Law.

According to Lancman, the decision by the museum, a public accommodation, represented a discriminatory refusal to provide full and equal enjoyment of its services based on religion and national origin, both protected classes under the law, as well as an unlawful boycott.

We are deeply troubled that the museums executive director and president, Laura Raicovich, let her own personal support for the The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement infect her decision making in this matter, Lancman and Simanowitz said in a joint statement. The celebration of the vote establishing the state of Israel is a recognition of a historic turning point at the site of the Queens Museum, and is profoundly meaningful to New Yorks Jewish community. She has abused the trust placed in her by the people of the City of New York, who fund the museum as a cultural representation of Queens, the most diverse county in the United States.

BDS is a Palestinian-led movement that believes that Israel is occupying and colonizing Palestinian land and discriminating against Palestinian citizens of Israel. The movement is inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement, according to the groups website.

The museum statement did not address the accusations surrounding Raicovich.

Lancman also claimed that Raicovich previously edited a book of essays, Assuming Boycott: Resistance, Agency and Cultural Production, which included an essay praising a movement to boycott Israel.

U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Flushing) also chimed in, calling the decision by the museum bizarre and said that the project is a celebration of a key piece of Queens history.

Personally I do not see how this project is political,  Meng said. How is commemorating a major world event that took place in Queens and the U.N.s establishment of one of Americas closest allies political? The museum and Israeli Mission already agreed to this re-enactment of the U.N. vote, and planning for it was well underway before the museum backtracked.

Lancman said he plans on continuing to press for the Human Rights Commission investigation, he tweeted Glad to see Queens Museum came to its senses. Next up: getting to the bottom of how this terrible decision was made in the first place.
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By Gina Martinez

City Councilman Peter Koo (D-Flushing) and his Democratic challenger Alison Tan had a heated debate Sunday, taking personal jabs at one another while answering questions from the community.

The candidates forum, held at the Sheraton Laguardia East Hotel, was hosted by APA VOICE and 20 partner organizations. Nearly 300 people attended the forum, where the two candidates running to represent District 20 in the City Council answered questions regarding downtown Flushing, Murray Hill and Queensboro Hill. Residents asked the candidates what their plans were to relieve congestion in Flushing.

Koo, CEO and president of the Starside Pharmacy chain, was elected to the New York City Council in November 2009 and is running for his third term. Tan, wife of Assemblyman Ron Kim (D-Flushing), is the managing director of Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group and a CB 7 board member.

Koo began by saying he supported Mayor Bill de Blasios proposal to fund the MTA by taxing the top earners in the city.

I think this plan is good, he said. We have the money to fix the problem. In the meantime, the MTA should increase the frequency of trains and increase the amount of express trains. I also urge the city to add more express buses to Downtown New York.

Tan said it should be up to the constituents to decide what the tax funds should be used to fix since they are the ones who deal with the trains on a daily basis.

Certainly anyone can come up with solutions, Tan said. But at the core of it, its all about funding. Funding is actually available at the MTA level, but that funding is being fought over between our governor and our mayor. For residents, the 7 train is the lifeline to get to work. We need to allocate a significant amount of funding to the discretion of people in the district to have a say on where the money should go.

Koo then went on to say that Tans husband, Ron Kim (D-Flushing), has been an assemblyman for four years and has done nothing to fix the subway issues. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is a state agency which oversees the subways, buses, LIRR, MetroNorth, bridges and tunnels in the city.

Tan said she thought it was quite pathetic that Koo would attack her husband and that she would rather discuss policy.

They then were asked about the lack of affordable housing in Flushing.

Tan said the Flushing West project, a project that would create 1,600 affordable apartments and retail space between Flushing Creek and the 7 train terminal, was voted down by Koo but would have increased the amount of affordable housing significantly in the community. She said if she were elected she would negotiate with developers to ensure that at least 30 percent of the units in the luxury condos were affordable.

While we have massive luxury condo development, developers arent held accountable to deliver the units that are affordable, she said. We havent had a Council member that has held these developers accountable. I have background experience in real estate finance and I understand the business aspects of negotiations.

Koo responded by pointing out that Tans husband opposed Flushing West, and as a Community Board 7 member, she voted down the project as well.

I voted no because there is no infrastructure to support it, Koo said. She voted it down three months ago at a CB 7 meeting. She flip flops all the time to her political convenience. In order for the project to happen, there would need to be rezoning, the Flushing river would need to be cleaned, and the sewage system as well, which is overflowing. There is also the issue of transportation on the 7 train that is overcrowded.

At one point, when asked to say something nice about the other opponents, both candidates decided to use it as an opportunity to attack one another. Tan began by complimenting Koos shrewd ability to pretend to be a Democrat when, she said, he really is a Republican (Koo originally ran as a Republican for his first term before switching parties). Koo retaliated by saying he respected Tans ability to navigate the financial industry in order to make money to help billionaires, calling her an expert in gaming the system.
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Residents of a Sunnyside condominium have been terrorized in their own homes, subjected daily to Nazi and Confederate posters, racist images and tributes to President Donald Trump festooning the buildings lobby, according the City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside).

Dozens of community leaders and elected officials joined tenants of the building Wednesday for a rally at 47-55 39th Place, protesting against the property manager. Neal Milano, who Van Bramer said has been harassing residents for years.

Today we rallied against a property manager who has created a house of horrors for the owners and renters in this Sunnyside condominium. These tenants are living in terror, Van Bramer said. After seeing this lobby firsthand and spending several days with these tenants, I can say without a doubt that they are rightfully terrified of a property manager who posts images of hate and racism, boasts of guns in his apartment while hanging posters celebrating guns and the NRA, and who retaliates against anyone who speaks out.

Milanos attorney said he was out of the country on an extended vacation and was only displaying a spirit of patriotism, according to Van Bramer, who froze and became terrified when he discovered the names of Nazis Josef Mengela and Rudolph Hess on the buildings directory.

There is nothing patriotic about having the names of infamous Nazis in the building directory or having a large swastika above an apartment door, he said. There are clear illegalities and violations inside this building that extend far beyond the offensive and hate-filled messages posted in the lobby and throughout the condominium common areas. I have asked the de Blasio administration, the NYPD, and the attorney general of New York to investigate this property manager and condominium board member and deliver justice for the tenants of this condominium who are living in terror. Hate has no home in Sunnyside, in Queens, or in our city.

Throughout the rally, residents came and went from the building quickly and without comment fearing they would be caught on one of many surveillance cameras and retaliated against with threats of outrageous fines, eviction and even physical violence, Van Bramer said.

There are more cameras in this building than in Fort Knox, he said. And they are not necessarily to guard against someone breaking into the building. They are to watch and monitor the people who live in this building. That is chilling.

Attorney Lynn Calvacca owns two units in the building but doesnt live there. She filed a lawsuit against Milano and the condo board.

Hes a bully, Calvacca said. Hes a terrorist in this country, in this Sunnyside area. Everybody is so afraid.

Michael Miller, the executive vice president and CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, was disgusted by the flagrant public display of racist, anti-Semitic imagery in the lobby.

The Jewish community, together with its diverse allies, will not tolerate the offensive and frightening glorification of Nazism and Nazi war criminals, especially as our nation faces threats from white supremacists.

State Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) agreed.

The news is littered with stories of racism and bigotry on the rise throughout our nation, Gianaris said. We like to think were in a safe haven here in New York. But, unfortunately, these things are happening right here in our very own community, as well.
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Yes, Taylor Swift fans, Wednesday was a lucky one for you.

The pop star who whipped her army of Swifties into a frenzy with video snippets of slithery snake parts on social media posted the title of her new album, "Reputation," and announced online it will be out Nov. 10.

The first single, she said in a series of posts, will drop Thursday night. And she threw in the album's cover art for good measure: a black-and-white photo of herself  head and shoulders, in slouchy sweatshirt, hair swept back  against a backdrop of newsprint reading, simply, "Taylor Swift" over and over again.

Swift, who is followed by millions on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, wiped her feeds clean Friday and replaced the void Monday with the first of three reptilian videos, each offering just a tad more of a snake, from tail to squirmy middle and finally its beady red eyes and ominous fangs lunging briefly at the camera.

The teasers put fans on high alert, and the snake imagery evoked snake emojis used against her in various dis-fests last year, including one with Kim Kardashian West after West claimed Swift knew about hubby Kanye's reference to Swift in his song "Famous."

The album would be Swift's sixth studio effort and the first since the 2014 release of "1989," which is the last time she teased fans online, that round with mysterious Polaroid photographs. She scrubbed her feeds Friday of everything from profile pictures to followers. It was three years to the date she dropped the song "Shake It Off" and announced "1989"  and just a few days after her courtroom assault trial victory against a former radio DJ in Denver.

Word of a new album lifted Swift to a top trending topic around the world Wednesday on Twitter ahead of Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards, to be hosted by Katy Perry, a former friend.

 Associated Press

ESPN radio host arrested in Wyoming

ESPN Radio host Ryen Russillo has been arrested on criminal trespass charges after entering a condo in Jackson.

The 42-year-old host of "The Ryen Russillo Show" was booked into the Teton County Jail on Wednesday on a misdemeanor criminal trespassing charge.

The Jackson Hole News & Guide reports that officers were called around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday to a condo for a report of a "highly intoxicated male" who was refusing to leave.

Police Lt. Roger Schultz says police found the man in a bedroom.

Schultz says the man had slurred speech and was incoherent. He says there was no evidence of forced entry.

Russillo, of West Hartford, Conn., remained in jail on Wednesday afternoon. His case will be handled by the Jackson Municipal Court.

ESPN spokeswoman Diane Lamb says the company is looking into the matter.

 Associated Press

Noah nominated for Thurber prize

Trevor Noah is upholding a "Daily Show" tradition: He's a nominee for the Thurber Prize for American Humor.

The Comedy Central host's memoir "Born a Crime" was among three finalists prize officials announced Wednesday. The other nominees for the $5,000 honor are playwright-screenwriter Ken Pisani's novel "Amp'd" and Aaron Thier's time traveling novel "Mr. Eternity."

Previous winners include Noah's "Daily Show" predecessor Jon Stewart, and David Sedaris.

Because all three nominees this year are men, the winner will uphold another tradition: Only once since the award was established in 1997 has a woman received it. Julie Schumacher won in 2015 for "Dear Committee Members."

 Associated Press

Stewart to perform remotely on VMA's

Rod Stewart will perform a reworked version of his hit "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" remotely from Las Vegas at the MTV Video Music Awards, to be held in California.

MTV announced Wednesday that Stewart will perform the 1978 song with pop band DNCE on Sunday. The network said Demi Lovato will also perform from Vegas.

The 2017 VMAs will take place at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif. Performers include Kendrick Lamar, Ed Sheeran, Pink, Miley Cyrus, the Weeknd, Lorde, Shawn Mendes, Fifth Harmony and host Katy Perry.

MTV announced an additional award  song of summer. Luis Fonsi's "Despacito" earned a nomination in the late-added category. The video wasn't included in other VMA categories. It hasn't been played on MTV.

 Associated Press

'Hellboy' casting prompts backlash

A Hollywood film yet again finds itself responding to outcry over the casting of a Caucasian actor in a role originally for an Asian-American.

British actor Ed Skrein earlier this week joined the cast of the "Hellboy" reboot "Rise of the Blood Queen." His character Ben Daimio is Japanese-American.

 Associated Press
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.

More Information ** Movie review "Good Time" Rated: R. Contains crude language throughout, violence, drug use and sexuality Running time: 100 minutes **** 1/2 Review **** Excellent *** Good ** Fair * Poor See More Collapse

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, aka 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 longtime collaborator Ronald Bronstein.)

A climax set in a hellish after-hours amusement park pushes the film'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.
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The Saratoga County Showcase of Homes is next month. The event promotes local builders while displaying interior designers' work and raising money for charity.

There will be 18 houses on the tour this year, by 14 different builders. The 22nd annual showcase includes homes priced in the $300,000 range and homes priced at more than $1 million.

The homes fall into three categories: classic: under $500,000; executive: $500,000-$750,000; luxury: over $750,000.

Proceeds from the tour go to Rebuilding Together Saratoga and Habitat for Humanity of Northern Saratoga, Warren and Washington Counties. The event raised $70,000 for the two charities last year, pushing the amount raised for the history of the tour to more than $1 million.-Single-family homes, condos and townhouses are on the tour, which this year includes a rare rental property. Showcase regular John Witt of Witt Construction is renovating the carriage house behind his office building at 563 North Broadway.

More Information If you go The Showcase of Homes runs over three weekends: 11 to 5 p.m. Sept. 16-17, 23-24, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. Tickets are $20, available online at http://www.saratogashowcaseofhomes.com/ and at the door of any showcase home. For a peek at each house and a map of the homes, go to the website. See More Collapse

It will be a 1,600-square-foot apartment with three garage bays underneath  one space each for the tenant of the carriage house and the tenants who already live in the units above Witt's office. The carriage house, a bit of a specialty for Witt, who has built homes in the style in the past, is tucked into the corner created by Van Dam Street and North Broadway. The living space has a pretty view down Broadway to the south, Witt said. The unit will rent for $3,500 per month.

Also in downtown Saratoga Springs, Belmonte Builders is constructing a combination of townhouses and condos on the site of the former Ellsworth Ice Cream Dairy at 108A Division St. City Square will have 25 townhouses and 14 condos when complete.

The model on display during the showcase tour is 3,356 square feet and has a host of options: home theater and game room; a brick wall in the dining space and library; and a sitting area in the master suite.

The entries in the showcase have changed over time, said Barry Potoker, executive director of the Saratoga Builders Association, which hosts the showcase.

"Inventory is down among resale houses, which is driving people to new construction," Potoker said. "Formerly, there were spec houses on the tour; now many of them are sold or under contract."

More than 3,500 people bought tickets to the showcase last year, but many of them were shopping for decorating ideas, not because they were in the market for a house, he said. (Each house is decorated by professionals.)

Andrea Chenier and Kaitlynn Johnson, the design team from Bennington Furniture, decorated two homes on the tour this year: 11 Conklin Court, Wilton, the model for Craw Farm by McPadden Builders, and 7 Cedar Bluff Court, Stillwater, by Bella Home Builders. The Bella home overlooks Saratoga Lake and has a rustic style.

"We kept it simple and clean, so the beams and ceiling features could speak for themselves," Johnson said.

At the McPadden house, Chenier and Johnson incorporated more modern touches, like chrome and other metals.

lhornbeck@timesunio-n.com  518-454-5352  @leighhornbeck
Biographer Roxana Robinson guided me through Georgia O'Keeffe's life. But her book ended up being my summer road map.

I finished reading the tome, "Georgia O'Keeffe: A Life" on the coast of Maine, near where my favorite artist fell in love with the sweeping expanse of horizon.

"Each day a different soft color," O'Keeffe wrote in one of the many letters Robinson mined for details. "Yesterday a brilliant dark blue  a wild west wind blowing the top of the high surf that had rolled in from the day before."

Robinson's excellent 1989 book was as much about the artist as it was about the places she visited and lived, which included Lake George, New York City and a few miles south of where I finished reading the book. In November, after a conference in Texas, I'm hoping to make a little trip to her home in New Mexico, where she spent early years teaching.

"Standing at the end of the Atlantic Ocean, she felt again the bliss of a wide flat horizon, the sense of boundlessness and solitude that she had valued in Texas," wrote Robinson.

Looking out at the ocean, you can imagine her standing on the beach. I thumbed through a coffee table book of her paintings to find Maine's horizon and what Robinson called her "haunting shell series." When I stared out at the horizon and the sea after finishing the book, I saw it differently. I saw strips of colors. I saw an abstracted ocean. I tried to identify the colors. And I did something I'd been meaning to do again for a very long time  I painted. Badly, but still.

I'd been prompted to read the book because of an exhibition I was going to see at the Brooklyn Museum titled "Living Modern." That museum, in 1927, was the first to offer O'Keeffe a retrospective. My first in-person encounter with O'Keeffe's art was at a special exhibit of her work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art when I was a teenager during the late 1980s. I was thrilled when the Hyde Collection presented her Lake George work four years ago.

I had this delusional idea that I would read the O'Keeffe biography and some other artist bios  one about Henri Matisse, another about Willem de Kooning  this summer. Instead, it took me almost three months to read the 639-page O'Keeffe biography. I originally borrowed it from the library, but after my second renewal and some overdue fines piling up, I found a used copy online. Robinson's use of letters  especially those between O'Keeffe and husband Alfred Stieglitz  is seamless. It's a challenge to weave archival material into a narrative and Robinson, perhaps because she's also a novelist, really mastered it.

The book strengthened my appreciation of O'Keeffe's homes and some of the places that I love: New York City, Lake George, Maine.

When I saw the Brooklyn museum exhibit, I had a deeper appreciation about her life, due to the book. The paintings juxtaposed with her simple hand-made clothing told a story of an independent woman who lived life on her own terms.

When I was at Lake George in July, I could feel her in the trees and the lake, and I looked at the night sky to see how she may have envisioned "Starlight Night." On the way home, I pulled over where the Stieglitz house used to be and snapped a picture of the historical marker as tourists gave me the eye. Later, I regretted not driving to the top of the hill where the house once stood, to see her view of the lake. But I'm sure I'll be back, perhaps carrying another O'Keeffe book and my paints.

Donna Liquori is a freelance writer.
Washington

In his first month on the job, White House chief of staff John Kelly has made significant progress toward imposing discipline on a chaotic operation, even as it's clear he still struggles to have the same effect on the president himself.

The White House is a less contentious place and decision-making is becoming more orderly under Kelly's thumb, according to more than a dozen people interviewed by The Associated Press, including White House officials, outside advisers and others who work regularly with the administration. They say a group of more experienced advisers  including a trio of generals  is increasingly holding sway. And they describe a process in which Kelly has successfully limited dissenting voices, restricted access to the president and "stacked the deck" on major decisions to guide him toward an outcome. This new Afghanistan war strategy announced this week was a chief example of the process.

But President Donald Trump also made clear this week there's no steering him toward less incendiary rhetoric.

At a rally in Phoenix on Tuesday night, Trump alluded to the advice he's getting  and then proceeded to work his way around it.

"You know, they all said, Mr. President, your speech was so good last night. Please, please Mr. President, don't mention any names. So I won't," Trump said. He went on to insult a pair of Republican senators without mentioning their names and then threatened to shut down the government if Congress doesn't give him money for his border wall.

The remarks pointed to Kelly's biggest challenge: piloting Trump though a hectic fall filled with high-stakes deadlines for funding the government, raising the debt ceiling and making progress on tax reform. It remains unclear whether Kelly's new grip on the decision-making process will be a check on Trump's impulses on domestic priorities that were central in his candidacy.

"Believe me, if we have to close down our government, we're building that wall," Trump said in Phoenix.

Kelly's consolidation of power is a direct result of the dramatic shakeup of Trump's inner circle. Since taking the reins from former chief of staff Reince Priebus, Kelly has begun to reorganize the process by which Trump receives information and push back against the open-door policy that gave White House officials constant access to their boss.

"General Kelly demands of the White House staff those same qualities he has exemplified in his 45 years of public service: integrity, humility, team cohesion, focus, discipline, performance and results," said White House counselor Kellyanne Conway. "He commands respect and shows respect, empowers us to succeed and expects us to help promote the president's agenda and not a personal agenda."

While Kelly has made clear that he sees his role as managing White House staff and not the president, he also helped persuade Trump to part ways with adviser Steve Bannon. The populist firebrand often goaded Trump toward some of his more nationalist policies and sharp-elbowed rhetoric and was often blamed for White House infighting.

In addition, Trump is increasingly relying on Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, an active-duty lieutenant general, on matters extending beyond foreign policy. Mattis and Kelly are retired generals.

The group of generals was particularly critical to the Afghanistan decision. After seven months of debate, during which the president repeatedly questioned Pentagon plans, the dynamic changed significantly in the final four days before Trump's Monday address to the nation, according to an official who like some of the others interviewed spoke on condition of anonymity. With Trump ensconced at the Camp David retreat, Kelly ensured that he heard directly from Vice President Mike Pence, Mattis and McMaster, who had warned of the consequences of withdrawal. Trump was not in contact with Bannon or Blackwater Worldwide founder Erik Prince, who had advocated for the use of more military contractors, the official said.

Bannon, who opposed a troop increase, did speak with Trump twice on Saturday and also with Pence during the day, according to a person familiar with the calls. By then the major decisions on Afghanistan had been reached.

On Monday evening, Trump announced the U.S. would move additional troops to Afghanistan despite his "original instinct" to retreat from the 16-year-long war.

Kelly's approach acknowledges that Trump is prone to soliciting advice from unusual corners and being persuaded by the last person who has his ear.

That applied to Bannon, in particular, who helped propel Trump to the White House with his unique blend of nationalist fervor, economic populism and love for bare-knuckles political brawling. He successfully pushed the president to abandon the Paris climate agreement, was hawkish on both China and Iran, and had urged Trump to refuse to sign a budget bill unless it contained money for his wall.
HUDSON - City police are on alert for more bloodshed in the wake of a deadly shooting on Tuesday  the most recent in a string of violent incidents since May that investigators believe are connected.

Kevin L. Whitening, 31, of North Front Street was fatally shot once on North 3rd Street sometime before 8:41: p.m., city Police Chief Edward Moore said. He said police arrested three people Wednesday who were being interviewed.

Later Wednesday, police raided a State Street house and made several arrests, but no charges or their possible connection to recent cases were specified in the press release.

Asked earlier in the day if there was fear of more shootings, Moore answered without hesitation: "Yes, I do. I do believe that there is a high probability of violence."

The chief said he invoked his powers under the police contract in the city charter to expand all officers' shifts to 12 hours so the Columbia County city of some 6,404 residents would have overlapping coverage. State Police, Columbia County sheriff's deputies and federal authorities were assisting, he said.

The chief said police believe the shooting of Whitening was connected to a string of incidents that began May 1 when a man was shot on State Street. On May 30, a shootout unfolded at a bar on South Front Street. On Aug. 12, a 28-year-old woman was shot in the shoulder. The next night, a woman was shot in the leg in a shooting that injured a 2-year-old girl and 3-year-old boy.

"We believe this is targeted violence as opposed to random acts involving our citizens," Moore said. "These are acts of violence that are targeted specifically for certain people and locations."

The chief said the violence involves "two factions that haven't gotten along for a long time." Moore stopped short of calling the incidents gang-related, but said police were investigating possible outside gang influences.

In the press release issued after the arrest, city officials said, "these incidents have affected the entire community, and we hope that after today's actions everyone will have a better sense of the progress that's being made behind the scenes to end this senseless violence in Hudson."

Hudson, a former whaling city, has undergone a revival in recent decades to welcome art galleries, trendy eateries and antique shops and stylish inns.

Moore said he has, since arriving in his position four-and-a-half years ago, reported a steady decrease in crime. Statistics from the state Division of Criminal Justice Services show the number of violent crimes (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault) reported by city police dropped from 32 in 2012 to 20 last year and that property crimes (burglary, larceny, car theft) dropped from 333 to 144.

"It's a very unusual and unique situation for sure," Moore said. "When people see this stuff, they get an image of the city and what's going on, but I will say that this violence is targeted and so far has been limited to the different factions. Of course, we've had children shot too and they don't belong to any gang. So innocent people have been shot here."
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SARATOGA SPRINGS  Firefighters from across the state returned Thursday from fighting a Montana wildfire.

The crew, which included 20 Forest Rangers, state Department of Environmental Conservation employees from various fields and volunteers, gathered at the Saratoga Tree Nursery for their return.

The group helped battle and contain the Gibralter Ridge Fire in the Kootenai National Forest near Eureka, Mont. This is the second New York firefighting crew dispatched to fight wildfires in western states this summer, according to a press release from the state.

When the New York team arrived in Montana, approximately 80 firefighters and support personnel were assigned to the fire, but that number rose to 378 as the wildfire continued to spread. The fire is now only 19 percent contained and is expected to burn until late September.

The returning crew is:

Daniel Gaidasz, Senior Forester, Saratoga County

Mark Solan, Pesticide Control Specialist, Saratoga County

Tyler Briggs, DEC Volunteer Firefighter, Albany County

Jeremy Oldroyd, Forest Ranger, Crew Boss, Broome County

Chris DiCintio, Forest Ranger, Columbia County

Joseph Pries, Forest Ranger, Nassau County

Aimee Bills, Forest Ranger, Herkimer County

Russell Martin, Forest Ranger, Ulster County

Robert Stratton, Forest Ranger, Sullivan County

Jason Scott, Forest Ranger, Hamilton County

Arthur Perryman, Forest Ranger, Warren County

Donald Nelson, Pesticide Control Specialist 2, Onondaga County

Christopher Sprague, Senior Forester, Chenango County

Harry McDaniel, DEC Volunteer Firefighter, Chenango County

Lawrence Day, DEC Volunteer Firefighter, Steuben County

John Wernet, DEC Volunteer Firefighter, Suffolk County

Matthew Vincent, DEC Volunteer Firefighter, Essex County

Jonathan Cleveland, Forestry Technician, Allegany County

Stephanie Larkin, Marine Biologist, Jefferson County

Frederick Hamilton, Wildlife Biologist, Suffolk County

The earlier team of firefighters began a 14-day assignment in Montana on July 24 and arrived back in the Capital Region on Aug. 8.

All personnel and travel expenses for the New York crews are either paid directly by the U.S. Forest Service or reimbursed to the state based on a mutual aid agreement between states and federal land agencies.
ALBANY - St. Peter's Health Partners, located on a stretch of New Scotland Avenue in Albany, will provide $100,000 to fund a traffic study to address traffic concerns in the Buckingham Pond neighborhood.

Hospital CEO Virginia Golden announced its partnership with the city to address concerns by area residents and motorists in the New Scotland, Buckingham, Krumkill corridor and connected side streets at a news conference with Mayor Kathy Sheehan on Wednesday along New Scotland Avenue near the access point to Route 85.

This is an interesting, thriving and diverse area of Albany because it is home to thousands of city residents as well as numerous businesses, human services, educational and healthcare facilities, Golden said. It is also a corridor for key access from state and interstate highways to other parts of our city that also house numerous institutions and governmental centers, and the thousands of employees that operate them.

Sheehan and hospital officials have been in discussion over the last few months on how the institution might be able to assist the city in moving forward.

St. Peters Hospital has always sought to be a great neighbor, Sheehan said. When we reach out, particularly to the large employers in our city what we hear from them is a willingness to step up and be part of the solution, and that is exactly what we heard from St. Peters.

Traffic experts would evaluate traffic counts, speed and class of vehicles and the existing system of ramps and signals, address resident and commuter concerns and offer possible solutions with cost estimates and opportunities for funding.

A timeline as to when the city would put out a request for proposal hasnt been determined. City officials said public meetings will be held to get residents input.
[August 24, 2017] Students Return to Insight Schools of California for 2017-18 School Year

Students at Insight Schools of California (ISCA) will begin their 2017-18 school year on August 28, simply by turning on their computers. This marks the fourth year of operation for the accredited online public charter schools, which help high school students who have struggled to find success in a traditional brick-and-mortar school setting get back on track. ISCA serves students in grades 9-12 who reside in Alameda, Amador, Calaveras, Contra Costa, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Orange (News - Alert), Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Stanislaus, Tulare and Ventura counties. As a public school option, there is no tuition. Experienced California-credentialed teachers and professional school counselors at ISCA assess where students are academically deficient, then work closely with them and their parents to create individualized learning plans that map to each student's unique needs, personal interests and college and career goals. ISCA teachers provide the assistance, guidance and personalized support to help each student succeed. "At Insight Schools of California, we offer our students a place where they fel like they belong and can be successful," said Kimberly Odom, head of school at ISCA. "We may be the only option left for these students, but we welcome them and we believe in them and know that they can succeed."



ISCA also offers a social and emotional learning (SEL) program, which helps students increase their self-confidence and interpersonal skills. During the school year, students meet twice a week in online advisory sessions to discuss topics that are relevant to their lives. The goal is to build confidence, create a sense of belonging and equip students with skills to make responsible decisions. Students can also take advantage of ISCA's quarter-system model. This program enables students to concentrate on just three courses each quarter (typically a nine-week period) and often helps students get back on track and graduate from high school on time.

ISCA is still accepting enrollments for this fall. For more information, please visit http://ca.insightschools.net. About Insight Schools of California Insight Schools of California (ISCA) are full-time online public charter schools for students in grades 9-12 who are behind in their education or need additional support to graduate from high school. The schools are available for students in Alameda, Amador, Calaveras, Contra Costa, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Stanislaus, Tulare and Ventura counties. ISCA uses the curriculum provided by K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN), the nation's leading provider of K-12 proprietary curriculum and online education programs. Families do not pay tuition for a student to attend an online public school. Common household items and office supplies like printer ink and paper are not provided. Our enrollment consultants can help address your technological and computer questions and needs. Learn more at http://ca.insightschools.net. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170824006306/en/

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[August 23, 2017] Air and Missile Defence System Market Forecast 2017-2027



LONDON, Aug. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Report Details Are you looking for a definitive report on the $12.4bn AMDS Market?



You will receive a highly granular market analysis segmented by submarket, by region and by national market, providing you with that complete industry outlook, essential for your business strategy.



Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4891718/



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 Discover where the AMDS market business opportunities are

 275+ tables, charts, and graphs reveal market data allowing you to target your strategy more effectively



 Understand how the AMDS market will develop

 Global, regional, national and AMDS submarket forecasts and analysis from 2017-2027 illustrate the market progression



 See which AMDS submarkets will expand from 2017-2027

 Individual forecasts and analysis demonstrate the prospects of the following submarkets:

 By Application:

- Ballistic Missile Defence 2017-2027

- Conventional 2017-2027

 By Range:

- Long Range 2017-2027

- Medium Range 2017-2027

- Short Range 2017-2027

 By Platform:

- Land Based 2017-2027

- Airborne 2017-2027

- Sea Based 2017-2027



 Locate the regional AMDS market opportunities fom 2017-2027







 North America :

 US 2017-2027

 Canada 2017-2027

 Europe :

 Germany 2017-2027

 France 2017-2027

 UK 2017-2027

 Russia 2017-2027

 Rest of Europe 2017-2027

 Asia-Pacific :

 Japan 2017-2027

 China 2017-2027

 India 2017-2027

 RoAPAC 2017-2027

 Rest of World 2017-2027



 View the major AMDS trends through tables and charts

 detailed tables and figures illustrate market trends





 Evaluate the factors influencing AMDS market dynamics through analysis

 Porter's Five Forces analysis explores the market.

 Drivers and restraints analysis of the market

 Analysis of national markets

 Discussion of key factors affecting the market

 SWOT analysis of leading companies



Discover who the leading 10 AMDS sector companies are

 Examine sales figures and analysis of leading companies:

 Airbus Group

 BAE Systems, PLC

 General Dynamics Corporation

 Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd.

 Lockheed Martin Corporation

 Northrop Grumman Corporation

 Raytheon Company

 SAAB AB

 Thales Group

 MBDA



This report contains detailed market data on the AMDS market, and features useful information.



visiongain is a trading partner with the US Federal Government Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4891718/



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 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/air-and-missile-defence-system-market-forecast-2017-2027-300508818.html SOURCE ReportBuyer

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[August 23, 2017] McorpCX, Inc. Announces Director Resignation

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 23, 2017 /CNW/ - McorpCX, Inc. (TSXV: MCX, OTCBB: MCCX) (the "Company") announces that Chris Beltgens has resigned from the Company's board of directors, effective as of August 25, 2017 for personal reasons. The Company has initiated the process of identifying a new director to replace Mr. Beltgens. For more information, please contact: General Information: 1-866-526-2655 toll free in the U.S., or +1-415-526-2655

Investors: [email protected]

Website: http://mcorp.cx

Twitter: @McorpCX (https://twitter.com/mcorpcx) Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States securities laws and applicable Canadian securities legislation. These statements are, in effect, management's attempt to predict future events, and thus are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect managemet's views only as of the date hereof. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, regarding our financial position, business strategy and management's plans and objectives for future operations are forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," and "intend" and words or phrases of similar meaning, as they relate to the Company and its management are intended to help identify forward-looking statements. Although we believe that management's expectations as reflected in forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot assure readers that those expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements include statements relating to the Company's business and operations as well as the anticipated growth Global Customer Experience Management (CEM) market. Such statements involve assumptions relating to the Company's business, the ability of the Company to execute on its business plan, the competitive environment of the Company's products and services and the future development and pricing of the Company's products and services. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company's actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by these statements. Such factors include the following: general economic and business conditions, changes in demand for the Company's products and services, changes in the competitive environment and the introduction of competing software solutions by competitors, the Company's ability to complete any future required financing and the Company's dependence upon and availability of qualified personnel. Investors should refer to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for a more comprehensive discussion of the risks that are material to the Company and its business. In light of these and other uncertainties, the forward-looking statements included in this press release should not be regarded as a representation by the Company that its plans and objectives will be achieved. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise the statements.



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 NEWS RELEASE SOURCE McorpCX, Inc.



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[August 23, 2017] Bob Bailey Named CEO for Blue Willow Systems

MENLO PARK, Calif., Aug. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Menlo Park-based Blue Willow Systems (www.bluewillowsystems.com), producers of a revolutionary SaaS resident safety platform that automatically detects falls and provides analytics to manage senior living facilities, has named longtime tech industry insider Bob Bailey as their new CEO. Bob has been Blue Willow's Chairman of the Board. "The founders of Blue Willow have a mission to enhance the quality of care and safety for our seniors as they enter into senior care facilities," said Blue Willow founder Vikram Devdas. "Bob Bailey is one of the mot successful CEOs around. He lead PMC-Sierra from a small private company into a significant public company that transformed the communications industry with broadband and enterprise storage technologies. As a private company we are very fortunate to have such a seasoned executive to lead our company to the next stage of our growth."



"The Blue Willow system is a transformative technology," said Bailey widely known around Silicon Valley for stints at PMC-Sierra, Micron (on the Board of Directors), AT&T, and Texas Instruments among others. "It's a unique opportunity to lead a company with the best technology addressing the growing need to better care for our seniors within the Senior Housing industry. Blue Willow is leveraging wireless, Cloud-based computing, and solid state-based wearable technologies to facilitate better safety, quality of care, and advanced analytics for residents and operators. Marrying cutting-edge networking technologies with a growing senior housing industry is going to result in the transformation of that industry. Its already happening!" Blue Willow Systems is a next generation SaaS resident safety platform that automatically detects falls with a patented algorithm, manages wander with indoor location, analyzes real-time resident and staff activity, and distributes event notifications. Blue Willow Systems provides sophisticated incident and trend reports allowing operators to deliver better care, reduce overhead, and manage staff workflow resulting in increased revenue, staff effectiveness, and resident and family satisfaction.

Media contact:

David Perry / (415) 767-1067/ [email protected] SOURCE Blue Willow Systems

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[August 23, 2017] Civitas Solutions Announces Agreement To Acquire Minnesota Provider of Services To Individuals With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Civitas Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: CIVI) today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the stock of Habilitative Services, Inc. and two related companies ("HSI"), providers of services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the state of Minnesota. The agreement is subject to a number of closing conditions, including the expiration of a regulatory notice period. The parties expect to close the transaction within 30-45 days. Operating in 22 counties in Minnesota, HSI provides a continuum of residential and periodic services. HSI supports approximately 360 adults in 86 residential sites and another 180 individuals in periodic programs. With more than 1,100 employees, HSI generated revenues of approximately $32.8 million for the 12-month period up to and including May 2017. "It is rare that we have the opportunity to welcome to our network a provider of the quality and scale of HSI," said Bruce Nardella, president and CEO of Civitas Solutions. "I look forward to welcoming the HSI team and the individuals they support to Civitas." "HSI has more than 30 years of experience serving Minnesotans with disabilities and helping them reach their full potential in communities of their choice," said Nardella, noting that Civitas has eep roots in Minnesota through its REM operations. "I am confident that each organization can learn and gain strength from the other, and, in the process, expand our reach and impact in Minnesota."



Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains statements about future events and expectations that constitute forward-looking statements, including statements about the expected timing of the closing of the transaction and the expected benefits of the transaction. Forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions and expectations, taking into account the information currently available to us. These statements are not statements of historical fact. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results to differ materially from our expectations, and you should not place undue reliance on such statements. Factors that could contribute to these differences include, but are not limited to: the failure or inability of the parties to satisfy closing conditions, the regulatory notice period and any related regulatory approvals failing to occur or be obtained; unanticipated transaction costs; unexpected delays in closing the transaction; our inability to successfully integrate the HSI business with our business; and the other factors described in "Risk Factors" in Civitas Solutions, Inc.'s Form 10-K. We qualify any forward-looking statements entirely by these cautionary factors. We assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

About Civitas Civitas Solutions, Inc. is the leading national provider of home- and community-based health and human services to must-serve individuals with intellectual, developmental, physical or behavioral disabilities and other special needs. Since our founding in 1980, we have evolved from a single residential program to a diversified national network offering an array of quality services in 36 states. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170823006087/en/

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[August 23, 2017] Ford Names New Chairman and CEO for Ford China; New Vice President of Powertrain Engineering

Ford (News - Alert) Motor Company today announced a new chairman and CEO of Ford China and head of Powertrain Engineering as it continues to strengthen its global leadership team. Jason Luo is named chairman and CEO Ford China. In his new role, Luo will lead all of the company's operations in Greater China including its import business, Lincoln, its passenger car joint venture Changan Ford, commercial vehicle investment in Jiangling Motors Corporation, and our operations in Taiwan. Luo, 51, joins Ford from Key Safety Systems, the fastest growing company in the automotive safety market, where he was global president and CEO for the past 10 years. While at Key Safety Systems, he led the business transformation and global expansion of the company and achieved significant revenue growth in China. Luo will be based in Shanghai, reporting to Peter Fleet, Ford group vice president and president, Ford Asia Pacific. "Jason's leadership and track record of business growth and transformation in China make him the ideal person to lead Ford in the world's largest vehicle market," said Peter Fleet, Ford group vice president and president, Ford Asia Pacific. "He will help us raise our vision in China as we become more nimble and operationally fit, expand vehicle electrification and begin to localize Lincoln vehicle assembly." Ford also is announcing that David Filipe is appointed vice president, Powertrain Engineering. Filipe succeeds Bob Fascetti, who has elected to retire Oct. 1. Fascetti served nearly 30 years in Powertrain and Product Development improving Ford fuel economy and performance of Ford vehicles around the globe. David Filipe, 50, is a 25-year Ford veteran who will be responsible for all powertrain engineering around the world. He will report to Hau Thai-Tang, executive vice president, Product Development and Purchasing. Joining Ford in 1992, Filipe has held various positions within Product Development nd several global leadership roles. Most recently, he served as the vehicle line director, North America trucks, large SUVs and commercial vehicles, which included responsibility for overseeing the development and launch of the 2017 Super Duty pickup truck, the 2018 Ford F-150, and the all-new 2018 Expedition.



"Dave's broad experience in product around the world makes him an ideal successor to Bob Fascetti, who has made significant contributions to Ford, including leading the development of the entire Ford EcoBoost lineup," said Hau Thai-Tang, executive vice president, Product Development and Purchasing. "We are grateful for his nearly 30 years of service and wish him well in the future." Both appointments are effective September 1.

Related Information For biographical information and a photo of Jason Luo, click here.

For biographical information and a photo of Bob Fascetti, click here.

For biographical information and a photo of David Filipe, click here. About Ford Motor Company (News - Alert) Ford Motor Company is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan. The company designs, manufactures, markets and services a full line of Ford cars, trucks, SUVs, electrified vehicles and Lincoln luxury vehicles, provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company and is pursuing leadership positions in electrification, autonomous vehicles and mobility solutions. Ford employs approximately 203,000 people worldwide. For more information regarding Ford, its products and Ford Motor Credit Company, please visit www.corporate.ford.com. For news releases, related materials and high-resolution photos and video, visit www.media.ford.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170823006083/en/

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[August 23, 2017] INVESTOR ALERT: Law Offices of Howard G. Smith Commences Investigation on Behalf of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Ltd. Investors

Law Offices of Howard G. Smith announces an investigation on behalf of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Ltd. ("Dr. Reddy's" or the "Company") (NYSE: RDY) investors concerning the Company and its officers' possible violations of federal securities laws. On November 6, 2015, Dr. Reddy's reported that the Company received a "warning letter" from the United States Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") over inadequate quality controls at three manufacturing plants producing drugs for cancer and other diseases. The Company further disclosed that it was undertaking an initiative to revamp the Company's quality controls. On this news shares of Dr. Reddy's sharply fell over several days, thereby damaging investors.



On August 10, 2017, the Company disclosed that Betapharm Arzneimittel GmbH, Germany, Dr Reddy's wholly owned subsidiary, received a communication from the Regulatory Authority of Germany (Regierung von Oberbayern) stating that the good manufacturing practices compliance certificate for the Company's formulations manufacturing Unit-2 plant was not renewed due to a recent inspection of the facility. On this news, the Company's share price fell $1.92 per share, or 5.95%, to close at $30.33 per share on August 10, 2017.

If you purchased Dr. Reddy's securities, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Howard G. Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020 by telephone at (215) 638-4847, toll-free at (888) 638-4847, or by email to [email protected], or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170823006101/en/

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[August 24, 2017] HD and Full HD Naked Eye 3D Lion Phone set to launch in Gambia West Africa

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- TPT Global Tech (OTCBB:TPTW) announced today that its Smartphone division, Lion Universe signed an exclusive distribution deal with ACMM Investments LTD. Gambia to distribute their Full HD and Full HD Naked Eye 3D (no eye wear) Smart phones in the country of Gambia, Africa. This transaction marks Lion Universe's first expansion into the African market. ACMM Investments LTD. will also market the LION Smart Phone(s) in other West African countries on a non-exclusive basis. TPT Global Tech recently completed the purchase of Lion Universe Technologies www.lionuniverse.com assets, a Los Angeles Base Mobile Technology think tank. The LION smart phone is the first Full HD Naked Eye 3D technology smart phone ever launched in the United States. Lion Universe mobile 3D technology is Patent pending. The Lion phone will be distributed through TPT Global Tech's wholly owned subsidiary K-TEL's existing brick and mortar distribution channel in the Northwest. With a business model built on innovation and progress starting with the Lion phone, the company produces high-quality and easy-to-use cellular phones with wide appeal. The Lion phone was designed for consumers looking for portable and affordable cutting edge technology. Lion Universe's first generation phones come equipped with full high definition resolution screen for better viewing. The Full HD Naked Eye 3D Lion smart phone is perfect for watching movies, playing games, even editing photos or videos. Performance and Portability

Whether it's looking at photos, playing music, emailing or surfing the web, consumers want more from their smart phones. The Lion phone raises the bar for cellular smart phones. For the first time ever, cellular users can enjoy quality 3D viewing with the naked eye. No glasses are required to enjoy full high definition video with smooth playback.



"We are very excited and look forward to working with ACMM Investments LTD. as our first distribution partner in West Africa, to launch the LION phone brand and products into the West African telecommunication markets," said CEO TPT Global Tech Stephen Thomas. This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of various provisions of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, commonly identified by such terms as "believes," "looking ahead," "anticipates," "estimates" and other terms with similar meaning. Specifically, statements about the Company's plans for accelerated growth, improved profitability, future business partners, M&A activity, new service offerings and pursuit of new markets are forward looking statements. Although the company believes that the assumptions upon which its forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these assumptions will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking statements should not be construed as fact. The information contained in such statements is beyond the ability of the Company to control, and in many cases the Company cannot predict what factors would cause results to differ materially from those indicated in such statements. All forward-looking statements in the press release are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements and by reference to the underlying assumptions.??

About TPT Global Tech TPT Global Tech Inc. (OTC:TPTW) based in San Diego, California, is a Technology/Telecommunications Media Content Hub for Domestic and International syndication and also provides Technology solutions to businesses domestically and worldwide. TPT Global offers Software as a Service (SaaS), Technology Platform as a Service (PAAS), Cloud-based Unified Communication as a Service (UCaaS) and carrier-grade performance and support for businesses over its private IP MPLS fiber and wireless network in the United States. TPT's cloud-based UCaaS services allow businesses of any size to enjoy all the latest voice, data, media and collaboration features in today's global technology markets. TPT's also operates as a Master Distributor for Nationwide Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) and Independent Sales Organization (ISO) as a Master Distributor for Pre-Paid Cellphone services, Mobile phones Cellphone Accessories and Global Roaming Cellphones. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hd-and-full-hd-naked-eye-3d-lion-phone-set-to-launch-in-gambia-west-africa-300509013.html SOURCE TPT Global Tech Inc.

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[August 24, 2017] The Credit Coalition to Receive $22K Grant from CommunityBank of Texas & FHLB Dallas

The Credit Coalition, a nonprofit organization providing free homebuyer and financial education to the greater Houston and Beaumont/Port Arthur areas, will be awarded a total of $22,000 in Partnership Grant Program (PGP (News - Alert)) funds from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) with additional contributions from CommunityBank of Texas. The Credit Coalition will use the funding to continue providing its services at no cost to qualified consumers. The media is invited to the check presentation at 11:00 a.m., Friday, August 25, 2017, at the CommunityBank of Texas, located at 9 Greenway Plaza, Suite 110 in Houston, Texas. PGP awards provide grants to community-based organizations (CBOs) of up to $12,000. The funds may be used for research, organizational capacity-building, grant- and funding-application assistance, or contractual services. Through the PGP, FHLB Dallas matches a member's contribution to a CBO of $500 up to $4,000 at a 3:1 ratio for a maximum $12,000 contribution from FHLB Dallas. Members may contribute more than the $4,000 amount required to maximize the FHLB Dallas contribution, increasing the total amount to the organization. The grants are offered via a lottery system once a year through FHLB Dallas members. In 2017, FHLB Dallas awarded $300,000 in PGP funds through 31 member institutions to assist 30 CBOs. Combined with the $104,550 contributed by FHLB Dallas members, a total of $404,550 was awarded to the organizations. For more information, visit fhlb.com.







WHAT: Check Presentation WHEN: 11:00 a.m., Friday, August 25, 2017 WHO: Travis Jaggers, President, CommunityBank of Texas Brandi Gregg, Executive Vice President & Chief Compliance Officer, CommunityBank of Texas Ashley Warren, Marketing & Events Director, CommunityBank of Texas Catherine Hardy, District Director, Office of State Representative Sarah Davis (District 134) Sherrie Young, Executive Director & Housing Counselor, Credit Coalition Denise Schmitt, Community Investment Operations Manager, FHLB Dallas WHERE: CommunityBank of Texas 9 Greenway Plaza, Suite 110 Houston, Texas 77046

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170824005035/en/

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[August 24, 2017] Symphony Ventures Expands its Robotic Process Automation Services into Latin America

On the heels of its $4.5 million (3.5 million) Series A investment from Livingbridge earlier this month, Symphony Ventures, the global services firm specialized in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Intelligent Automation, announced today its expansion into Latin America. Opening its first Latin American office in Argentina, the firm appointed business process outsourcing (BPO) and consulting industry veteran Felix Massun as regional CEO. This expansion serves to meet increasing regional demand for RPA consulting and implementation services from enterprise clients looking to automate operational processes. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170824005645/en/ Felix Massun appointed as regional CEO for Latin America. (Photo: Business Wire) With numerous world-class enterprises and more than 500 shared service centers, the Latin American market is set to transform thanks to the proven benefits of RPA. In addition to speed, accuracy, quality and compliance improvements to front, middle and back office functions, automation technologies also yield significant cost savings while freeing up employees to focus on more dynamic work and enhancing customer interactions and satisfaction. "The Latin American market is ripe for digital disruption," said Ian Barki, chief strategy officer, Symphony Ventures. "As the world's largest and leading RPA pureplay, we have been helping firms globally for several years and now have a strong and experienced leader in Felix Massun. With him at the helm, I'm confident we are the perfect digital transformation partner in this dynamic and exciting geography."



Symphony is seeing tremendous demand for its automation services in Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, Chile, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru, within industries such as banking, telecom, manufacturing, agriculture, food processing and chemicals. To meet this growing demand, Symphony plans to add more offices in Mexico and Brazil by early 2018. Spearheading Symphony's growth in Latin America is Massun, who brings 25 years of experience working in BPO and consulting at Andersen, Ernst & Young and Capgemini (News - Alert). Massun is an expert at helping organizations leverage disruptive solutions to best compete in the market. He brings an impressive regional network and a proven track record of leading and growing Latin American business units. At Capgemini he increased the Latin American business unit from less than 100 to more than 3,000 professionals, and grew revenues to more than $200 million. Massun has also led transformation strategies for more than 50 clients including Avon, Bimbo, Johnson & Johnson, McDonalds, Monsanto, Telefonica (News - Alert) and Nokia.

"My career has been focused on driving high-impact transformation strategies for clients," said Massun. "Today, transformation is undoubtedly influenced by the rise of automation. I'm excited and honored to join the incredible team at Symphony and bring its leading capabilities to Latin America." Symphony is a sponsor, speaker and exhibitor at this week's Shared Services Outsourcing Week LATAM conference August 23 - 25 at the Ritz Carlton Coconut Grove in Miami, FL. For more information on the conference visit https://ssowlatam.iqpc.com/. About Symphony Ventures

Symphony Ventures is a global consulting, implementation and managed services firm passionate about helping clients harness the "Future of Work." Symphony specializes in robotic process automation (RPA), intelligent automation and other inspired delivery models to help organizational leadership reduce costs, increase customer experience, repatriate work and unleash resources to fund growth and shareholder value. Symphony has headquarters in the U.K. and offices in the U.S., Poland and Latin America. Founded in 2014, Symphony has been ranked an RPA Service leader by HfS Research, a leading service delivery automation (SDA) provider by Everest Group, a Cool Vendor by Gartner (News - Alert) and received the 2017 Blue Prism Partner Award for Best Practice and Implementation. For more information, visit http://www.symphonyhq.com and follow the company on Twitter (News - Alert) at @SymphonyVenture or LinkedIn (News - Alert) as Symphony Ventures. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170824005645/en/

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[August 24, 2017] SpyCloud Chosen to Demo Cutting-Edge Account Takeover Prevention at FinovateFall 2017

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SpyCloud, pioneers in breach discovery and credential recovery, will showcase its solution at this year's FinovateFall conference. Executives from SpyCloud's world-class team of cybersecurity experts will use their deep-seated industry knowledge to demonstrate how to keep employee and customer financial information secure from cyber criminals. "Our tradecraft gives our clients access to data that is actively being traded in the underground," said Ted Ross, Co-Founder and CEO of SpyCloud. "This new level of exposed credential visibility enables our partners to save millions of dollars in annual fraud losses from compromised employee and customer accounts." Finovate brings together leaders in the financial sector to discuss breakthrough banking, financial and payments technology in a four-day event series. "There was a very competitiv application pool for this year's show, and those chosen to present on stage represent the cutting edge of fintech technology," said Greg Palmer, VP of Finovate. "SpyCloud's offering is a strong example of the type of exciting cyber security technology and fintech solutions that solve a real issue for financial institutions and their customers."



SpyCloud's presence at FinovateFall 2017 marks the second time this year SpyCloud was selected to present at a conference for its account takeover (ATO) prevention service after winning the 2017 NATO Defense Innovation Challenge in April. "FinovateFall has established itself as a premier event in the financial services industry and we are honored to have been selected to participate in this Fall's event," said Ross. "Our offering is a seamless complement to fintech enterprise security teams to help stop account takeover attacks from happening to their employees and customers."

About SpyCloud

Powered by a world-class team of researchers and industry veterans, SpyCloud helps businesses of all sizes proactively stop account takeover. Currently millions of customers and employees around the globe are being protected by SpyCloud through their clients whose security staff are proactively alerted when their employee, company and consumer assets are being traded in the underground. For more information, please visit spycloud.com. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/spycloud-chosen-to-demo-cutting-edge-account-takeover-prevention-at-finovatefall-2017-300508522.html SOURCE SpyCloud

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[August 24, 2017] SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Goldberg Law PC Announces an Investigation of Stryker Corporation

Goldberg Law PC, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces that it is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Stryker Corporation ("Stryker" or the "Company") (NYSE: SYK). If you purchased or otherwise acquired Stryker shares, and would like more information about the investigation, we encourage you to contact Michael Goldberg or Brian Schall, of Goldberg Law PC, 1999 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 1100, Los Angeles, CA (News - Alert) 90067, at 800-977-7401, to discuss your rights without cost to you. You can also reach us through the firm's website at , or by email at [email protected].



The investigation focuses on whether Stryker and certain of its officers and/or directors violated federal securities laws. On August 23, 2017, the Company announced that it informed the U.S. Food & Drug Administration ("FDA") of a voluntary product recall involving specific lots of its Oral Care products distributed between July 2015 and August 2017. Stryker's recall followed a warning letter from the FDA received on July 17, 2017, which described a potential for cross-contamination of Oral Care products manufactured by a third party on equipment shared with non-pharmaceutical products. After receiving reports of minor irritation and allergic reaction, the Company discontinued its business relationship with the third-party supplier. Based on the estimated impact of the foregoing issues on sales and operating income, Stryker advised investors that the Company now expects full-year organic sales growth and adjusted net earnings per diluted share to be at the lower end of its previously stated ranges of 6.5% to 7.0% and $6.45 to $6.55, respectively. Following this news, Stryker's stock price dropped. If you have any questions concerning your legal rights, please immediately contact Goldberg Law PC at 800-977-7401, or visit our website at http://www.Goldberglawpc.com, or email us at [email protected].

Goldberg Law PC represents investors around the world, and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170824006112/en/

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[August 24, 2017] Pitzer College Art Galleries and LACE Present Juan Downey: Radiant Nature

Juan Downey: Radiant Nature, a new joint exhibition by Pitzer College Art Galleries and Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE), brings to life interactive works by the Chilean-born artist Juan Downey (1940-93) that haven't been witnessed for generations. Drawing on groundbreaking research, Radiant Nature features recreations of Downey's electronic sculptures and installations from the late '60s and documentation of his early, innovative performance pieces. Part of the Getty-led Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA initiative, this two-part exhibition opens at Pitzer College in Claremont, CA (News - Alert), on September 9, and at LACE in Los Angeles on September 13, and runs through early December 2017. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170824006156/en/ Juan Downey: Radiant Nature, a new joint exhibition by Pitzer College Art Galleries and Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE), is part of the 2017 Getty-led Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA initiative. (Photo: Business Wire) "Juan Downey is known primarily for his pioneering video work; Radiant Nature instead highlights his early experiments with cybernetics and interactivity as played out in these three early bodies of work-electronic sculptures, happenings and performance, and progressive environmental installations," said co-curators Ciara Ennis, director of Pitzer College Art Galleries, and Robert Crouch, executive and artistic director of Pasadena Arts Council. Downey's interactive art responds to the viewer or performers, whether human or non-human. At Pitzer, the Life Cycle: Electric Light + Water + Soil -> Flowers -> Bees->Honey environmental installation will video record more than 20,000 live bees housed in a portion of the gallery while a monitor simultaneously plays back footage of the bees at work. Converted from Portapak videos, LACE's documentation of the performance piece Three Way Communication by Light shows performers filming and projecting images of their own faces onto each other. These works were intended to be played with, turning passive onlookers into active participants, said Ennis and Crouch. "Downey was especially interested in the potential of technology to facilitate viewer participation, transform social relatons and forge new modes of communication between organic elements or environments and machines or machine systems," Ennis and Crouch write in the show's introduction.



Born in Chile in 1940, Downey eventually settled in New York City, where he developed a practice that included sculpture, performance, installation and video. In the '70s, he became known for his multi-channel video works such as Video Trans Americas (1973-76) and The Thinking Eye (1976-77), which critique Eurocentric views of Latin American identity. With support from the Getty Foundation, Ennis and Crouch spent three years researching his earlier, often ephemeral works that pre-date Video Trans Americas. In conjunction with the exhibition, a symposium exploring the relationship between cybernetics and aesthetics will illuminate how Downey's progressive ideas played out in his electronic sculptures, performances and installations while reflecting on their continued resonance to contemporary practice.

Pitzer College Art Galleries and LACE join more than 70 cultural institutions taking part in the Getty's Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, a far-reaching and ambitious exploration of Latin American and Latino art in dialogue with Los Angeles. The Getty Foundation awarded more than $16 million in Pacific Standard Time grants to arts institutions of all sizes and types throughout Southern California. At the Claremont Colleges, Pitzer College Art Galleries, the Pomona College Museum of Art and the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery at Scripps College are mounting PST: LA/LA exhibits. Major support for Juan Downey: Radiant Nature is provided through grants from the Getty Foundation. Additional support is generously provided by Direccion de Asuntos Culturales, DIRAC, Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Embassy of Chile; Pasadena Art Alliance; Estrellita B. Brodsky; and Consulate of Chile in Los Angeles. In-kind support is provided by Human Resources of Los Angeles. Juan Downey: Radiant Nature Opening Receptions

Pitzer College Art Galleries

Saturday, September 9, 3-5 p.m.

Nichols Gallery, Pitzer College

1050 N. Mills Ave., Claremont LACE

Wednesday, September 13, 7-10 p.m.

6522 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles Juan Downey: Radiant Nature Related Events

Exhibition Publication Launch

Wednesday, November 1, 7-9 p.m.

LACE

6522 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles Symposium on Cybernetics

Saturday, November 18, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Benson Auditorium, Pitzer College

1050 N. Mills Ave., Claremont About Pitzer College Art Galleries Pitzer College Art Galleries mounts visually arresting and memorable exhibitions that promote the value and understanding of contemporary art within a local, national and international context. Through curatorial creativity and visionary programming, Pitzer College Art Galleries provides context, support and a critical framework for artists and curators. The galleries are part of Pitzer College, a nationally top-ranked undergraduate liberal arts and sciences institution. About Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions LACE both champions and challenges the art of our time by fostering artists who innovate, explore and risk. The nonprofit moves within and beyond its four walls to provide opportunities for diverse publics to engage deeply with contemporary art. In doing so, LACE furthers dialogue and participation between and among artists and those audiences. About Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA is a far-reaching and ambitious exploration of Latin American and Latino art in dialogue with Los Angeles. Supported by grants from the Getty Foundation, Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA takes place from September 2017 through January 2018 at more than 70 cultural institutions across Southern California, from Los Angeles to Palm Springs, and from San Diego to Santa Barbara. Pacific Standard Time is an initiative of the Getty. The presenting sponsor is Bank of America. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170824006156/en/

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Massachusetts eHealth Institute Awards Netsmart and Three Netsmart Clients a Grant to Electronically Submit Behavioral Health Data

Netsmart received a grant from MeHI, the Massachusetts eHealth Institute at MassTech, to develop, test and implement an automated interface to record children's behavioral health data across state and health provider systems and electronically share that data with the Commonwealth's Children's Behavioral Health Initiative (CBHI). Through the collaboration of Netsmart, Netsmart clients: The Edinburg Center, Gosnold on Cape Cod, and The Home for Little Wanderers, and MeHI, the team has achieved the first milestone under the grant requirements and is live and exchanging data with the CBHI through the interface.

At a time of increased need for clinical services and intense funding pressure, this integration is expected to eliminate more than 400 hours of duplicative manual reporting each month for these three Netsmart clients. The pilot is slated to expand to include additional Netsmart clients across the state, with an anticipated annual savings of more than 20,000 hours. This is expected to translate into increased efficiency for these organizations, which will allow them to provide more services without increased staff.

All Massachusetts behavioral health clinicians serving MassHealth's children and youth are required to use a standardized Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) reporting tool that is designed to record issues and strengths that should be considered during treatment. This makes the clinical process more efficient, which in turn results in lower overhead costs. Historically, clinicians must enter CANS information into their own electronic health record (EHR) system and reenter it into the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) Virtual Gateway (News - Alert) System, Massachusetts' EHR platform that brings information together to comply with state regulations.

"With this grant, we anticipated our staff would be able to eliminate the repetitive work of reentering duplicative information into different databases to save time and money, and more importantly, allow them extra time to deliver essential care to their clients," said Michael Pearis, executive vice president & CFO of The Home for Little Wanderers. "Nearly all of our programs conduct CANS assessments and in achieving the first milestone of the grant project, our clinical teams are already beginning to see the benefits this connectivity brings to our organization."

Netsmart's work was made possible through MeHI's grant solicitation for the development of CBHI interfaces for CANS reporting, which will allow these Massachusetts providers to upload reportable data from the Netsmart EHR platforms directly into the CBHI system overseen by EOHHS.

"We're taking a step forward by removing this time-straining, duplicative task so our clients can focus on their mission to better serve their communities," said Netsmart CEO Mike Valentine. "his isn't our destination, rather a milestone in our journey to true integration. We look forward to working with MeHI and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to create efficiencies for their providers and a connected care network."







About Netsmart

Netsmart is an innovative healthcare technology provider that provides electronic health records (EHRs), health information exchange, data analytics, mobile clinical and consumer engagement solutions for behavioral health, social services and post-acute communities. Our common platform, the CareFabric, integrates seamlessly with the industry's first-of-its-kind population management platform that uniquely focuses on community-based providers and supports transitions of care, bundles and value-based payment models.

We are passionate about integrating care across all aspects of a community, which is why the Netsmart ecosystem provides more than an EHR by offering the largest national HIE in the post-acute community to connect post-acute, social services and behavioral health organizations with their health systems and community provider partners.

Our more than 560,000 users in more than 25,000 organizations across the U.S. work together with our more than 1,350 Netsmart associates to connect communities and information across the care spectrum. Our technology ensures comprehensive data flows between behavioral health; addiction treatment; intellectual and developmental disabilities; child and family services; public health; long-term/post-acute care; home health; hospice; palliative care; private duty and vital records, to ensure providers have consistent and reliable information at their fingertips when it is needed.

The only thing constant in healthcare is change. Netsmart brings significant expertise working with behavioral health, social services and post-acute care communities, as well as the complex state and federal billing requirements unique to these communities. More importantly, we understand the importance of clinical adoption; training and support; regulatory compliance; and the need to connect to the rest of healthcare.

Our solutions and services are built with these challenges in mind and are designed to solve them so our clients can focus on what they do best: provide quality care to their communities. Our clients are strong advocates for those who don't always have a voice, which is why Netsmart is dedicated to leading change within the industry by breaking down barriers to provide a person-centric and holistic view of each individual.

Learn more about how Netsmart is changing the face of healthcare today. Visit www.ntst.com, call 1-800-472-5509, follow us on our CareThreads Blog, LinkedIn and Twitter, like us on Facebook or visit us on YouTube.

Netsmart is pleased to support the EveryDayMatters Foundation, which was established for behavioral health, social services and post-acute organizations to learn from each other and share their causes and stories.

About The Edinburg Center:

For 40 years, the Edinburg Center has provided a wide array of services which promote personal growth and independence, foster hope and enhance the quality of life of people with mental health conditions, co-occurring substance use conditions and/or developmental disabilities or brain injuries. The Center's mission is distinguished by our longstanding belief that all individuals have the potential to learn, the capacity for change and the right to live a meaningful life in the community of his or her choice. The Center maintains a specific commitment to providing services to individuals whose complex and challenging needs have typically been barriers to successful community living. Please visit www.edinburgcenter.org to learn more.

About Gosnold on Cape Cod:

Gosnold on Cape Cod is a nationally recognized addiction and mental health treatment provider dedicated to developing innovative programs that meet the needs of patients and families, sine 1972. As a non-profit Gosnold focuses on the full continuum of care from education and prevention to treatment, and recovery management. For more information, visit http://gosnold.org/.

About The Home for Little Wanderers:

The Home for Little Wanderers is the nation's oldest and one of New England's largest non-profit child and family service agencies. The mission of The Home is to ensure the healthy behavioral, emotional, social and educational development and physical well-being of children and families living in at-risk circumstances. The Home for Little Wanderers does this through a series of integrated programs that include early childhood services, special education, therapeutic residential treatment, adoption, intensive foster care, clinical and family support in homes, schools, hospitals and clinics, and college and independent living preparation for youth who have aged out of state care. For more information, visit www.thehome.org.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170824006159/en/
[August 24, 2017] Nevada Passport Academy Begins 2017-18 School Year

Nevada Passport Academy (NVPA), an online public high school for under-credited students, kicks off the 2017-18 school year on Aug. 28. NVPA is designed to help students under the age of 21 who haven't finished their high school education get back on track and earn a diploma. NVPA combines online coursework with classroom work taught by state-certified teachers to provide a unique, personalized learning experience for each student. Flexible hours mean that school can be adapted to the student's schedule, situation and life, allowing greater opportunities for the future. "No matter what's gotten in your way, at Nevada Passport Academy, we will work with you to create a plan for both high school and post-high school success - to college, to a vocational program, or straight to a career that fits who you are," said Danny Diamond, head of school at Nevada Passport Academy. NVPA offers classes in core academicsubjects, including English, math, science and history. Students also have access to a comprehensive catalog of elective courses that include physical education, health, personal finance and world languages.



Class sizes are small and will vary based on student needs, as determined by regular assessments. Students who need more support in mastering a subject will receive that support, while more advanced students are challenged to take their learning further. While the pace of the program is flexible, important benchmarks must be reached within certain timeframes, including state/school-required assessments every year and demonstration of academic gains each semester. NVPA is still accepting enrollments for this fall. For more information, please visit http://nvpa.k12.com.

About Nevada Passport Academy Nevada Passport Academy (NVPA) is an online public high school for under-credited students authorized by the White Pine County School District. NVPA is designed to help Nevada students who are under the age of 21 on Sept. 30 of the year they enroll and who will graduate before they turn 21 get back on track and earn their high school diploma. As part of the Nevada public school system, NVPA is tuition-free. NVPA utilizes the curriculum provided by K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN), the nation's leading provider of K-12 proprietary curriculum and online education programs. For more information about NVPA, visit http://nvpa.k12.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170824006302/en/

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BNL girls thump Mitchell at The Hive

Bedford North Lawrence defeated Mitchell 78-20 at the Hive on Saturday evening. The win moved the Stars to 3-0 on the season.
OLATHE, Kan. - Olathe Police are investigating after a person was shot and killed by a law enforcement officer Wednesday evening. Police said officers were serving a search warrant at a home at 112 South Keeler before the shooting. Initial reports indicated that there was a stand-off but an Overland Park police spokesman could not confirm that.
Check a very dedicated reporter offering an exceptionally kind historical perspective on an enthusiastic slave owner and Native-American killer . . .The parallel to Truman was a nice touch given that history seems to look back on the Prez from Independence, MO as a war criminal, too.And so we can only hope that Kansas City will one day quickly rename this enclave Samuel Jackson County . . .The world famous actor's work seems to be more representative of the current epoch . . .Double bonus . . .Real talk . . . Exec Frank White should personally thank all the protesters in Charlottesville for drawing attention away from anhuman rights crisis at the jail.Developing . . .
COMPETITORS ARE MAKING SUBTLE LEGAL THREATS AGAINST KANSAS CITY OVER NON-COMPETITIVE PRACTICES IN FAVOR OF AN EXCEPTIONALLY SLOPPY BURNS & MAC BID!!!

Either way . . . This town's civic elite still hope to hand this thing over to the "hometown team" despite the threat of a crooked process that could scare voters away from the monstrosity that would be built out of all this corruption.









The mood of Burns & Mac Execs, Mayor Sly and City Manager's office has been exceptionally sullen this week and Burns & Mac bungled a bid on what is the biggest municipal project Kansas City has undertaken in the modern era.To wit . . .Behind the scenes, their B&M cost comparison financial deets were so sloppy that they're basically being thrown out . . . Which makes their bid pretty much incomplete and a lot more amateur than what their competitors have put together.The rigged bid attempt that started this nightmare was really as far as they throught this thing through and they were easily outmaneuvered by a Council coalition that didn't take the Mayor's marching orders.And so, this brings us to the sordid subject of a vote . . .At this point it's clear Burns & Mac and George Brett haven't created any political momentum . . .So this thing can go a variety of ways . . .Calling off the vote is the only real option to give Burns & Mac another legitimate chance.The vague ballot language preview gives City Hall insiders more time to help B&M get back on its feet in a far more suspect manner.And once again, the bidding on the airport has crashed and burned and might have drawn KC into another crisis that erodes the public's trust in local Democracy.Check the links:Developing . . .
TODAY WESTPORT BAKERY ICE CREAM WAS FORCED TO CONFRONT ONLINE RAGE AGAINST ALLEGEDLY INSENSITIVE REMARKS!!!

"To Our Westport Ice Cream Bakery Family: Weve seen the post(s) circulating FB, and were appalled by them. Were not sure why this poster and a few others whove commented are trying to incite some type of racial situation, and it is beyond troubling, to say the least. With only two people present for this interaction, and the author of the post not being one of them, the information presented is factually inaccurate.





First of all, we are a biracial family, and to be clear, no, my brother did not refer to black men as apes as alleged.





Upset from the previous nights events where his wife, niece, and customers including toddlers and small children were put in grave danger, he asked a freelance reporter that was parked illegally in front of our store to move so we could conduct our business. The reporter refused to move at first, and during that exchange, he referred to the murderers of Police Officer Thomas Orr as apes and animals with the connotation of describing them as troglodytes, Neanderthals, or other uncivilized in-humans. His comment in no way referred to black men or any other specific race for that matter . . ."

THE REALITY IS THAT CONVERSATIONS WITH WESTPORT DENIZENS HAVE REVEALED THE OWNERSHIP IS SYMPATHETIC TO PREZ TRUMP AND LEANS CONSERVATIVE . . . THEREFORE SOME MIDTOWN LOCAL PROGRESSIVES HAVE BEEN CONSISTENTLY ATTACKING THE BIZ IN RETALIATION!!!





The bottom line is that quite a few Westport denizens are angry at the Conservative leanings of this biz and have consistently expressed their outrage by making allegations of racism, misogyny & more . . .

ARE SOCIAL JUSTICE WARRIORS CORRECT TO TAKE ON WESTPORT ICE CREAM BAKERY OVER STUPIDLY SHARED CONSERVATIVE TENDENCIES?!?! OR IS THE DIVISIVE MIDTOWN KANSAS CITY DISCOURSE UNFAIRLY HURTING SMALL BIZ?!!?

Once again social justice warriors have descended upon a small biz Westport and fostered a wave of criticism because of political disagreements with the owner.To wit . . .However . . .The management didn't see this coming and their reactions have been defensive and dumb. Attacks aren't just political and they delve into a court case the owner confronted that was subsequently settled . . .And all of this is both funny and sad given that ice cream isn't supposed to make people angry or inspire much political discourse.And so we ask our blog community . . .You decide . . .
TKC TIPSTER: Oops! No Room For Justus On KCMO Council

THE TIPSTER ALSO OFFERS DOCUMENTATION OF DOZENS OF CONTRIBUTIONS DOCUMENTED AND THEN DELETED . . .

(TKC NOTE: THIS TIPSTER REVEALS COUNCIL LADY JOLIE JUSTUS AIDE AND A CAMPAIGN WORKER OF THE SAME NAME ALSO EARNING CAMPAIGN PAYMENTS . . . THIS IS ALLOWED AND COMMON PRACTICE BUT THE SEPARATION OF DUTIES MUST BE CLEAR CUT.)

It seems preposterous that she would currently be serving as a member of the KCI terminal proposal selection committee. If a Councilmember can't be trusted on something as basic as the filing of accurate campaign finance reports, why in the world are they playing a significant role in awarding KCMO's largest ever municipal construction project? We ask the entire KCMO City Council to immediately intervene in this process before an irrevocable mistake has been set in stone. Jolie Justus must recuse herself from all Council deliberations/votes until an ethics investigation has concluded.

KCMO Councilmember Jolie Justus is very bad with money and financial reporting. In fact, I can't recall ever seeing so many amended campaign finance reports from a single candidate. Seemingly none of her campaign finance reporting can be trusted to accurately reflect reality.In reviewing her campaign reporting for the KCMO Council (and now KCMO Mayor) we find questionable campaign contributions, questionable campaign expenditures, issues relating to possible violations/conflicts of interest between her role as a Councilmember and as a campaign candidate.Here's a sample of Jolie Justus amending her campaign finance reports after the initial filing:"Two monetary contributions were incorrectly reported and one monetary contribution was not previously reported. Additionally, two expenditures under $100 were reported incorrectly and a spelling correction was needed for a miscellaneous receipt."Then, almost 3 years after the original filing, Jolie Justus revised history and changed the report yet again!"Adjustments to prior report totals, contributions, expenditures, miscellaneous receipts and disbursements to correct and reconcile all activity to bank statements."########## is paid by the City of KCMO to serve as Councilmember Justus' aide.According to the KCMO City Council Handbook:"The salaries, benefits and payroll taxes for City Council aides are budgeted separately from each individual office budget.""The annual city wide budget will set out guidelines for raises for all exempt employees, which include City Council aides. Changes to a City Council aides salary shall be processed through the Mayor Pro Tems office.""No outside funds may be accepted by a City council office to supplement its budget.""Employees of the City Council are members of the unclassified service, unless otherwise designated as a classified employee by the hiring authority.""City Council staff must adhere to City policies and procedures.""City staff shall not undertake personal errands for the members of the City Council, or any other staff member. City staff shall not perform political tasks during work hours unless on vacation or other appropriate leave. Political tasks will never be performed using City property."TIPSTER Conclusion . . .###########You decide . . .
Total arrivals from Turkey on the eastern Aegean islands of Chios, Lesvos and Samos in the first six months of the year were up 50 percent

Tourists from Turkey have been arriving on Greek islands and mainland in record numbers this summer, giving the local economy a welcome boost.

According to the latest numbers, total arrivals from Turkey on the eastern Aegean islands of Chios, Lesvos and Samos in the first six months of the year were up 50 percent compared to the same period last year  28,000 in Chios, 13,624 in Lesvos and 13,558 in Samos.

In June alone, 10,000 Turks visited Chios  up 53 percent compared to the same month in 2016. June was also a record-breaking month on Lesvos, which welcomed 6,315 visitors from Turkey  a 214 percent increase compared to last year. Samos also recorded a 217 percent increase with 7,000 Turkish tourists.

Tourists from Turkey are usually families. They come for three days and live it up. They arent stingy. They spend a lot, up to 200-250 euros per person a day, because they eat out and go shopping, noted Aris Lazaris, a travel agent in Mytilene.

Their only complaint, Lazaris told Kathimerini, is that their visas are only for three days. If this changes, he added, then the presence of Turkish tourists in Greece will be impressive.

Read more here.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Lfdder License: CC-BY-SA

Source: ekathimerini.com
Expatriates in Oman will be offered more than 5,000 homes across the sultanate under an ambitious RO4 billion ($10.39 billion) programme as part of the five integrated tourism complex (ITC) projects.



Each of the complexes offers hundreds of homes for all nationalities, said a Times of Oman report.



Currently, non-Omanis can only buy property within integrated tourism complexes but the government is pushing to create more such projects, as part of its move away from dependence on oil and gas, the report said.



Mubarak bin Hamad Al Alawi, advisor of legal affairs at Ministry of Tourism (MoT), told Times of Oman that these projects include Diyar Ras Al Hadd Resort, Omagine Project, Quriyat Integrated Project, Naseem A'Sabah Project and Al Nakheel Project.



Oman has taken a positive step by opening up the real estate market to Omanis, GCC citizens and other nationalities. The government has received a number of applications," he said.



Al Alawi said a royal decree has allowed non-Omanis to own lands and units in the integrated tourism complexes that are certified by the related entities in the sultanate. The ownership is granted for two purposes: residence and investment, by any free ownership means, as long as it doesnt violate the countrys regulations on the subject.



Diyar Ras Al Hadd Project will have 700 residential properties, while Omagine Project in Seeb will have more than 2,000 homes available. Naseem ASabah in Seeb will have more than 1,200 residential units, five-star hotels, retail zones and a yacht club, as well as leisure zones and restaurants.



Al Nakheel Project in Barka will include hotels and hotel apartments, 1,436 residential apartments, villas and houses which will be available for ownership for all nationalities and citizens, the report said.
InfoWatch Group, a Russian vendor of end-to-end enterprise cybersecurity solution, has announced the opening of its subsidiary InfoWatch Gulf, registered at the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) in Dubai, UAE.



The group has appointed Kristina Tantsyura, business development director for Middle East at InfoWatch Group, as director of InfoWatch Gulf.



Tantsyura is joined by Russian implementation engineers and local technical specialists including the executive technical director, sales specialists, and administrative staff at the InfoWatch Gulf team. The company will develop Middle Eastern direct sales, provide technical support for InfoWatch customers, strengthen partner relations, and conduct InfoWatch product trainings for customers and partners.



InfoWatch enterprise cybersecurity products and solutions are becoming more and more popular worldwide, and, in order to move forward in increasing our export opportunities, we decided to enter the key sales markets at our full capacity, said Tantsyura.



The Middle Eastern branch will ensure our full-fledged presence in the region and directly communicate with customers and partners, while focusing on government agencies, finance companies, and large integrated holdings.



InfoWatch Gulf has launched operations at the service of its current customers in the UAE and Bahrain and is implementing InfoWatch pilot projects with new potential clients in the public sector and large businesses in the region.



The company has recently upgraded InfoWatch Traffic Monitor DLP solution to v. 6.5 for some of its customers, including Central Bank of Bahrain, Kuwait Finance House, and First Energy Bank of Bahrain.  TradeArabia News Service
Saudi Arabia and China plan to establish and operate jointly a $20 billion investment fund, Saudi Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al-Falih has been quoted as saying by Reuters.



Al-Falih was speaking on the sidelines of an economic conference of senior officials and businessmen from the two countries, the report said.

On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia's Cabinet authorised the minister, or his deputy, to discuss with the Chinese side a draft memorandum of understanding between the kingdom and China on the establishment of a joint investment fund.



The two countries will share the costs and profits of the fund on a 50:50 basis, Al-Falih said in the report.

Al-Falih said in addition to the fund, he expected 11 business agreements worth about $20 billion to be signed between the two sides on Thursday.



The Cabinet also approved the authorisation of the Minister of Justice or his deputy to discuss with the Chinese side a draft judicial cooperation agreement between Saudi Arabia and China, a Saudi Press Agency report said.




Flyadeal, the newly established low fare airline in Saudi Arabia, has taken delivery of its first aircraft and the first of eight Airbus A320ceo aircraft, becoming the newest operator of the Airbus A320 Family.



Announced in 2016, flyadeal will commence operations on September 23, on the national day of Saudi Arabia, serving domestic markets initially before expanding into regional markets.



Powered by CFM engines, the fleet will perfectly match the operational objectives and demands of the new airline. With 186 seats in a single-class configuration, flyadeals A320 features the latest Recaro 18-inch wide economy class seats providing unmatched comfort, and equipped with USB power outlets and personal device holders.



Chairman of flyadeal, Saleh Al Jasser said: Saudi Arabia has launched its Vision 2030; a strategic platform for the future development of the Kingdom where transportation and tourism are key pillars. The launch of flyadeal is core to the strategy to mobilize further the country and the region.



CEO of flyadeal, Con Korfiatis said: flyadeal will be Saudi Arabias newest airline, providing a unique experience with an optimal fleet to serve our domestic and regional markets. The Airbus A320 has been distinctly selected for the needs of our operation, and we look forward to passengers experiencing flyadeals onboard service.



Saudi Arabia and the region have a very young and digitally savvy population that has an increasing thirst for low fare travel domestically and across the region. flyadeal plans to serve and grow this significant segment of air travel.



Flyadeal has acquired the first eight Airbus A320ceo aircraft for its fleet from Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE).



Commenting on the deal, DAE chief executive officer, Firoz Tarapore said, DAE is pleased to welcome flyadeal on-board as a new customer. We are delighted to be able to support flyadeals fleet strategy as it begins operations, and we look forward to working with the airline to fulfil its fleet ambitions, going forward.



Tarapore continued, Having listened to our customers, we feel that the acquisition of these popular and efficient single aisle aircraft reflect continuing market demand for this type of plane.



It is a pleasure to expand our partnership with Dubai Aerospace Enterprises and be part of flyadeals official operational launch, said John Leahy, chief operating officer Customers, Airbus Commercial Aircraft. Airbus is committed to play a major role in supporting flyadeal in its exciting journey, enabling more people to fly at affordable cost.



flyadeals decision to launch its operations with an A320ceo fleet is a clear affirmation of the continuing appeal of a product that provides an exceptionally comfortable cabin, low operating costs and excellent fuel consumption. These factors will provide a framework from which the airline can build and sustain its future successes and market growth, in both KSA and the region.



The A320 Family is the worlds best-selling single aisle product line and the preferred choice among legacy carriers, traditional airlines, representing the aircraft of choice within the LCC market. To date, the Family has won over 13,200 orders and more than 7,700 aircraft have been delivered to some 400 customers and operators worldwide. With one aircraft in four sizes (A318, A319, A320 and A321), the A320 Family seats from 100 to 240 passengers. The Family features the widest cabin in the single aisle market with 18-inch wide seats in Economy as standard.  TradeArabia News Service
Muriya Tourism Development Company, a leading integrated tourism project developer in Oman, continues to boost capacity in Hawana Salalah and Jebel Sifah with plans to invest an additional $30 million to $70 million in the development of hotel rooms and other facilities, said a report.



We are adding close to 300 rooms in Salalah in the next few years. We are talking about $60-$70 million (additional investment in both resorts), Times of Oman reported citing Ahmed Dabbous, chief executive officer of Muriya Tourism Development Company.



Currently, Muriya has some 900 hotel rooms  around 800 rooms in Hawana Salalah and close to 100 rooms in Jebel Sifah.



The number of hotel rooms at Muriya properties in four- and five-star categories will reach 1,000 by the end of the year, as the company adds 100 rooms in Fanar Hotel and Residences and 20 rooms in Rotana by the end of 2017, the report said.



There has been a strong demand for hotel rooms in Salalah during the Khareef season and winter with hotels even offering furnished villas outside of its property as serviced apartments for guests during the Khareef season, it said.
More than 1.22 million Middle East travellers landed in Turkey in the first half of the year, according to data released by the Turkish Consulate General Cultural and Information Office in Dubai, UAE.



During the same period, travel to Turkey has grown by 10 per cent, and an estimated annual growth of 20.5 per cent by the end of the year.



Tourist traffic to Turkey from the GCC resident and nationals GCC continued to show strength, rising 26.29 per cent as compared to 2016, or an estimated 360,000 travellers.



The number of United Arab Emirates citizens and residents travelling to Turkish destinations increased by 9.86 per cent. While Kuwaiti traveller numbers increased by 41.04 per cent and 31.86 per cent from Bahrain.



We expect GCC traveller traffic to Turkey to continue its strong growth over the coming six months, said Salih Ozer, Attache of Culture and Information, Turkey to the UAE. Turkey continues to be a leading destination for GCC travellers due to our close cultural, religious and diplomatic ties with the region.



The first six months of last year saw a decrease of 20.99 per cent in traveller traffic from the UAE to Turkey, and this year recovered to increase by 10 per cent, or over 18,000 travellers. Ramadan played a big part where UAE travel into Turkey increased by 330.33 per cent.



Travellers from Saudi Arabia lead the way however, with over 205,000 holidaymakers, followed by Kuwait and Bahrain with 94,000 and 23,000 respectively. Tourists from the UAE showed continued interest in Turkey with over 18 thousand travellers landing in the country between January and June.



As Turkeys temperate summer continues to attract GCC travellers looking to get away from the desert heat, we found that business travel has also picked over the past few years, continued Ozer. This increased intensity in travel illustrates the substantial bridge of commercial and trade links between Turkey and the region.



Kuwait, which is the Gulf country that sends the most tourists to Turkey after Saudi Arabia every year, closed this year with an increase of 41.04 per cent, over 94 thousand people over the same time period.



Flights from Kuwait did not only head towards the traditional destinations such as Istanbul and Antalya, but to alternative ones such as Bursa and Izmir. We organized a tourism workshop in Kuwait this year to develop tourism relations between our country and Kuwait. We met with local tourism sector representatives to discuss the challenges and opportunities, said Ozer.



Similar to last year, Bahrain so far this year saw traveller traffic grow by 31.86 per cent, or about 24,000 people. We see serious demand for Turkey in Bahrain and we are working to reinforce our cultural and tourism ties by organising activities like workshops and Turkish Food festivals, he concluded.



The most visited site in Istanbul was the Hagia Sophia, the Orthodox basilica turned imperial mosque, which graces the city's amazing skyline. That was followed by the Sultan Ahmed Mosque or Blue Mosque as it's popularly known, and finally, the Topkap Palace that served as the Ottman Empire's administrative headquarters in the 15th century.  TradeArabia News Service
UBS and BAML Are Greenwich Associates 2017 Euro Share and Quality Leaders

Equity trading is alive and well across the Pond as market consultancy Greenwich Associates has crowned its 2017 European Equity market share and quality leaders. It has also announced total commission levels for Europe.

In its most recent report, the consultancy said the list of 2017 Greenwich Share and Quality Leaders in European Equity Research/Advisory and European Equity Trading reveal no signs of MiFID-induced upheaval. Rather, the list of Greenwich Leaders is generally consistent with that from 2016, with the few notable changes in position attributable to the performance of individual brokers, as opposed to any shifts in strategy in advance of MiFID II.

2017 Greenwich Share Leaders in European Equity

The 2017 Greenwich Share Leaders in European Equity Trading roster is virtually identical to that from last year, with first-place UBS, second-place Bank of America Merrill Lynch and third-place co-winners J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse all retaining their positions from 2016.

While there was a bit more shuffling of position year-to-year among the Greenwich Share Leaders in European Equity Research/Advisory, all the brokers on the 2017 list also made an appearance in 2016, including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which are currently tied at the top of the market, and J.P. Morgan, UBS and Exane BNP Paribas, which are statistically tied in terms of the institutional Advisory Vote Share.

The shake-up will likely come at the beginning of 2018, says Greenwich Associates Managing Director Jay Bennett. People are holding off strategic decisions until they get better idea of how this will play out. Right now, there is a scramble among brokers for insight and data about how investor behavior will change under the new rulesand vice versa.

2017 Greenwich Quality Leaders in European Equity

As MiFID II forces the market closer to an unbundled structure, research providers will be forced to compete for customers more directly based on the quality of the research and advisory services they deliver. Firms that achieve the title of Greenwich Quality Leader in this business should be well positioned to compete under that new model. The 2017 Quality Leaders in European Equity Research and Analyst Service are Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Exane BNP Paribas, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and UBS.

In looking further into the topic of MiFID II, Greenwich added that European equity brokers and institutional investors are holding fast to their wait-and-see approach to what could be revolutionary change to their business. The result is an industry beset with uncertainty, and one that could face significant disruption when new rules on payments for investment research take effect at the start of 2018.

High Stakes for Global, Regional and Specialist Brokers

To put the European equities market into context, the Greenwich Associates universe of 340 European institutional equity investors generated an estimated $2.9 billion in cash equity commissions for the 12 months ended Q2 2017. Of that amount, 46% was used to compensate brokers and other providers for equity research and advisory services.

Those numbers suggest the market for European equity research and advisory services is worth at least an annual $1.35 billion to the Street. Capturing a share of that revenue is more important than ever for brokers, since both the total amount of commissions generated on European equity trades and the proportion of that total used for research are shrinking, says Greenwich Associates consultant Satnam Sohal.

Despite this, the industry is remarkably stable as brokers wait to see how large institutional investors will alter their research consumption and payment practices, and investors are sounding out brokers on how they will price their research and advisory services under the new regime.

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Moving Across Borders

This is Part Two of a Four Part Series Sponsored by Ullink

Electronification.

While the equities market has long been regarded as the most electronically sophisticated trading ecosystem utilizing the most advanced technologies, other asset classes are also beginning to narrow the gap. With trading in other asset classes migrating from telephony and voice trading to the digital realm, there is an increasing need for secure, reliable and efficient connectivity.

Enter the FIX Protocol. It isnt just for U.S. equities any more.

Fixed-income and foreign exchange trading markets have become increasingly electronic as broker-dealers and exchanges evolve to meet the institutional investors demands for transparency, liquidity, efficiency and security, making the need for universal, uniform and reliable connectivity system readily apparent.

Jason Radzik, Managing Director, Head of Americas Derivatives Execution & Clearing at BNP Paribas told Traders Magazine that connectivity is equally important in trading operations as it is in clearing. And the sell-side is going to need access to the best connectivity solutions if it wants to keep its buyside clients.

Connectivity is critically important to electronic trading, not only in speed and availability, but also for product delivery and client customization, Radzik began. The sell-side will need to employ the most reliable, flexible and efficient connectivity solutions if it wants to keep its buy-side clients happy. At BNP Paribas, we take pride in the ability to offer a state of the art connectivity solution that supports our clients multi asset trading needs with a single, global platform.

Radzik, who also spent time on the buyside at SAC Capital before joining BNP, added that institutional traders, who are trading program trading baskets across several asset classes or complex multi-leg orders, are ripe for a more efficient means to conduct their business. It is here where connectivity providers such as Ullink and others can assist the buy-side in becoming more efficient.

Vendors recognize this trend and know that to be a one stop shop they need to offer multiple solutions for multiple products and bring them all under one umbrella, Radzik said.

Ullink, for example, provides its user with several services all under one roof  or system in this case. One service the firm offers is NYFIX MONITORING,which provides traders, compliance and support people with a comprehensive view of orders, and offers filtering and navigation features. There is also NYFIX MATCHING, which is a post-trade allocation and matching service using FIX and NYFIX TCA, a post-trade cost analysis system featuring reports produced by LiquidMetrix.

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The internationally popular social media platforms Twitter and Facebook have both been officially blocked in the country since they were used as organizational tools in the midst of protests against the disputed presidential elections in 2009. But many Iranians use virtual proxy networks and other technical workarounds to access them anyway. This raises some questions regarding what incentives Twitter might have to work with the Iranian government for the sake of ending a block that is not effectively enforced.

The official ban is not even enforced among Iranian officials, many of whom are active on Twitter or at least maintain infrequently used accounts. Last week, IranWire published an extensive list of some of the most influential Iranian figures who utilize the platform, and it includes various categories including hardline politicians, independent journalists, and exiled activists who are able to reach a domestic Iranian audience thanks to the frequent violations of the ban.

The IranWire report begins by saying, Twitter is banned in Iran but anybody who is anybody uses it. Though preceding Jahromis announcement about Twitters supposed intentions to discuss the sites future in Iran, the report preemptively cast doubt upon the notion that the ban would be lifted. Specifically, it quoted multiple hardline officials as saying that the ban is here to stay, and it also indicated that the judiciary had gone as far as to suggest that it would continue to enforce the ban even if the Supreme Council of Cyberspace decided that it should be lifted.

That council, which is headed by the supposedly moderate President Hassan Rouhani and the Communications Ministry but also overseen by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has reportedly directed a working group to devise a plan for filtering the platform instead of blocking it outright. The internet as a whole is heavily filtered in Iran to exclude content considered morally objectionable or threatening to national security, and officials have variously announced plans to essentially wall off the global internet and create a halalnet that consists only of regime-approved content.

Such plans are generally understood to be well beyond the countrys technical capabilities, but public statements have suggested that restrictions are becoming more extensive and effective. Of course, such statements are contradicted by the widespread popularity of Twitter and other platforms, including the instant messaging app Telegram. Although dozens of administrators of Telegram user groups were jailed in the run up to Mays national elections, the regime has apparently struggled to block content or to monitor the comparatively anonymous app.

In a possible indication of frustration over this situation, Tehran has claimed that Telegram conceded to Iranian demands that local communications be housed on local servers. Telegram has vigorously denied these claims, however, and no evidence has been presented to contradict those denials. This makes it quite likely that the claims are part of a broader attempt by the Iranian regime to make internet communications within its borders seem more vulnerable than they are. As such, Jahromis announcement regarding Twitter may be another example of the same.

As Iran Human Rights Monitor has pointed out, that announcement was preceded, on August 16, by a letter written to the Iranian parliament by the head of the Ministry of Intelligence. In it, Mahmoud Alawi promised to intensify the crackdown on internet communications. But if the Twitter announcement is indeed false, it may be an indication that the Communications Ministry is struggling to determine how to do this effectively.

To be sure, free expression on the internet does indeed expose Iranian citizens to the possibility of punishment, which can be quite severe in many cases. The Intelligence Ministry and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps actively monitor public online commentary and have made numerous arrests in the past. But this has not stopped social media platforms from being used to express dissent or organize protests, of which there have been hundreds throughout the country over the past year.

In an interview with IranWire, the expatriate Iranian activist Masih Alinejad explained that social media has had a profound impact on the nature and extent of public dissent in the Islamic Republic:

In the past, if a member of a family was a political prisoner, or if a family member had been executed, the family would move a few villages away to isolate themselves. They would hide in the closet so that they would not have to talk about it because society was not understanding. But now we can see that the citizens are gaining power through social networks. They now feel that if they have a political prisoner in the family or if a family member has been sentenced to death, they have not been dishonored and must not feel shame. Instead, they point the finger back at the government.

It is not clear that the Iranian regime has a clear strategy for countering this trend, at least within cyberspace itself. However, one could easily conclude that the challenges posed by social media are part of the reason for the crackdown by security forces that has reportedly been ongoing since before the conclusion of nuclear negotiations in 2015. In this sense, direct attacks on known civil and political activists may be seen as a way of discouraging online communications, especially when arrests and other enforcement measures can be linked directly to online activities.

The Center for Human Rights in Iran provided an example on Monday when it reported that the reformist journalist Sasan Aghaei had been arrested without a warrant on August 12 and detained in Evin Prison on suspicion of collaborating with Amad News, one of the most popular Iranian channels on Telegram. The report notes that the previous Communications Minister, Mahmoud Vaezi, attempted to block the channel but was stymied by Telegrams refusal to cooperate.

CHRI also reports that Aghaeis family has had no contact with him in the two weeks since his arrest  a fact that apparently speaks to the regimes intention to silence him not only online, but completely.
That compliance has been an open question virtually since the JCPOA was implemented at the beginning of last year. And that question has been repeated more insistently since Donald Trump assumed the American presidency at the start of the current year. Interestingly, Haleys visit was immediately preceded by her claim that the Trump administration had not yet made a determination about whether it would certify Irans compliance in October, when the president is next required to provide such certification to Congress, which is due every 90 days.

Voice of America News reported upon the content of Haleys meetings shortly after they took place, and the report arguably supported both sides characterizations of her trip. On one hand, the ambassadors communications with the nuclear authority did indeed seek specific clarifications, particularly about the extent of IAEA inspectors access to known or suspected Iranian nuclear facilities. But on the other hand, Haley reportedly took her visit as an opportunity to warn the IAEA about the possibility of Tehran exploiting vague language in the nuclear agreement to push the boundaries of compliance.

The White Houses certifications have been based in large part upon IAEA reports establishing general Iranian compliance. But these reports have acknowledged minor violations, such as brief excesses of materials that are limited under the JCPOA. This has arguably fueled Western suspicions about the possibility that further violations are ongoing either in between planned inspections or at sites to which the IAEA does not have access. Furthermore, the Trump administration and especially the president himself have maintained that Iran is not complying with the spirit of the JCPOA, as evidenced in part by ballistic missile tests that violate a parallel UN Security Council resolution.

In her comments prior to the Vienna visit, Haley tempered her claim of a still-pending certification decision by reiterating the administrations view that Iran has proven itself to be generally untrustworthy, especially by virtue of its repeated violations of other directives. Previously, President Trump predicted that Iran would be judged noncompliant in October, and he added that if not for the intervention of his foreign policy team, he would have passed this judgement before Congress the first time he came up against a certification deadline.

In light of this general context, it seems fair to say that Tehrans suspicions of Haleys visit are not unfounded, but neither are the White Houses suspicions of Tehran. And following recent US enforcement measures on other matters, including Irans ballistic missile tests and terrorist sponsorship, the Iranian government exacerbated those suspicions by repeatedly claiming that it could quickly resume full-scale nuclear activities in a very short period of time. A day ahead of Haleys trip to Vienna, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran asserted that the nuclear program would be reach 20 percent enrichment in less than five days if the US pushed the nuclear deal toward cancellation.

Stronger Pushback Elsewhere

Nevertheless, Haleys warnings to the IAEA appeared to be far from unequivocal, and did leave room for the IAEA to convince the US government that it would be worthwhile to certify Irans compliance once again. But other warnings about different Iranian activities have been far more definitive; and not all of these are coming from the United States.

The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss what he called Irans escalated effort to base itself militarily in Syria. Netanyahu called attention to the fact that Iran already exerts much control over Lebanon, and is gradually expanding its control over Iraq and Yemen to match. He added that it would be unacceptable if the defeat of the Islamic State in Syria led to that terrorist group being replaced by Iran-backed entities. The Israeli leader described this potential outcome as a danger to Israel, the Middle East and in my estimation, the entire world.

Fox News adds that in the meeting  the sixth of its kind since Russia became directly involved in the Syrian Civil War at Irans behest  Netanyahu hinted at the possibility of unilateral Israeli action to keep Iran from developing a deeper foothold in Syria. But by communicating this warning to the Russian government, Netanyahu seemed to also be hinting that the possibility that Moscow could still adjust its regional policies to help rein in Tehran. The Russian government has shown various signs of being increasingly closely aligned with the Islamic Republic at a time when both are facing pressures from the US and its allies. But Russia has also maintained close ties with Irans sworn enemy, Israel, making the future dividing lines in regional conflicts somewhat less clear.

At the height of the Syrian Civil War, various international analysts suggested that divergent Russian and Iranian interests in the region might eventually harm the alliance. This evidently has not yet come to pass, but Netanyahu expressed sustained optimism on Wednesday, saying that his past interactions with Putin had served both Israeli and Russian interests, and that the same thing appeared to be true of the latest meeting.

Tensions Getting Better or Worse?

Another report on Wednesday cast a different sort of doubt upon the nature and extent of the tensions and alliances in the region. Al Jazeera reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had announced plans for mutual diplomatic visits between Iran and regional rival Saudi Arabia. Zarif suggested that these visits could take place as soon as the first week of September, immediately after the end of the hajj pilgrimage. This claim is sure to be regarded with surprise by many observers who had been following the dramatic expansion in tensions between the two states.

Tehran has clearly contributed to these tensions, as when it accused the Saudis of being behind a pair of Islamic State attacks in the Iranian capital in June. But the Iranian government has also periodically tried to downplay the tensions, or at least Tehrans part in them, perhaps in the interest of making Iran seem like a more stable target for investors in the wake of the nuclear agreement. These facts may put Zarifs claims of diplomatic exchange in a different light, especially as Saudi Arabia continues to act along the same lines as Israel in pushing back against Tehrans regional influence.

This pushback was the subject of an AFP report on Wednesday, which affirmed that the Saudis and their established allies are still pursuing closer ties with Iraqi power players in the hopes of preventing Iran from establishing a long-term presence there after the defeat of Islamic State militants. The report notes that border openings between Iraq and Saudi Arabia challenge Iranian dominance over Iraqs imports at a crucial time for Irans efforts to spur its own economic recovery.

Furthermore, the AFP report indicates that the Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has expanded his push for the dismantling of Iran-backed paramilitary forces in Iraq, following his visits to both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. This situation also shows the regional divisions to be more complicated that they might appear at a glance, because Sadr led Shiite militias in fighting the US forces during their occupation of Iraq.

Nevertheless, this seems to indicate that between suspicions about Irans nuclear ambitions and its pursuit of regional hegemony, there are various opportunities for parties with otherwise divergent interests to find common cause in putting pressure on the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Mukesh Ranjan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 24

The NITI Aayog in its three-year Action Agenda, which was released here today jointly by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and think tanks outgoing Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya, insisted that the Centre should work towards bringing a large number of citizens into the direct tax net even if their tax liability is minimal.

In the document, the NITI Aayog said, The current income tax exemption threshold is Rs 2,50,000 for an individual. A total of 1.12 crore individuals filed returns declaring their an annual income between Rs 1,50,000 and Rs 2,50,000 and thus were exempted. It also added that many individuals might not have filed returns since their income was below the threshold. So the document suggested that the exemption threshold should be minimal, which will ensure inclusion of a greater proportion of individuals in the tax net over time.

The agenda at the same time also argued that the tax slabs corresponding to the lowest tax rate should be expanded to ensure that the tax liability of lower income individuals doesnt increase with the growth in their nominal income.

Incidentally, the unveiling and adoption of the action agenda after almost five months of the 12th Five Year Plan becoming history appeared a warm farewell to Dr Panagariya, who will be leaving office on August 31, as his successor Rajiv Kumar takes over from September 1.

Earlier, while taking part in a panel discussion, Dr Panagariya lamented that its not in the entrepreneurs intellectual apparatus to invest in the labour-intensive industries by giving the example of Gujarat. The state has a number of zones where maximum relaxations in the labour laws along with best of the infrastructure and good governance existed. Yet, the state hasnt seen big investment in the labour-intensive industries, he added.

However, the agenda document projected 8% plus growth in next 2-3 years, while suggesting a host of reforms to ensure prosperity for all. It has come out with a detailed plan for reforms in the economy, judiciary, regulatory structure and social sectors.
Chandigarh, August 23

Around 5,000 cops will stand guard in Chandigarh on August 25, when the special CBI court in Panchkula will pronounce its verdict in the rape case against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. The UT police will also seal its borders with Panchkula and Mohali to restrict dera followers from entering the city.

UT DGP TS Luthra said intelligence was being gathered about the arrival of the dera followers in the city. He said the police was in constant touch with the followers, who had been asked to maintain peace in the city.

The DGP said while 5,000 police personnel would be deployed across the city, there would be a standby reserve force, which will act if required. All important roads, entry points, bus stands and the railway station are under surveillance. Those arriving in the city are being checked, the DGP said.

The leave of all police personnel has been cancelled to ensure that there are enough cops on duty to maintain law and order. A flag march was also carried out by the Chandigarh Police at the Industrial Area and near the railway station in the morning and near the Sector 38 gurdwara in the evening.

Buses entering the city from Mohali, Zirakpur and Panchkula were stopped and checked. The DGP said videographers would be deployed at all sensitive places on August 25.  TNS
Mohit Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 23

The city railway station has turned into a fortress ahead of the verdict in the rape case against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on August 25.

Forty Government Railway Police officials led by GRP (Ambala) SP Kamaldeep and 20 Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel today launched a massive search operation at the station.

Bags of passengers coming by the Ferozepur-Chandigarh Express were checked. As many 100 personnel of the Chandigarh Police were deployed outside the railway station to check vehicles.

Apart from putting up a naka, the police also stationed a fire tender and a riot control vehicle at the railway station.

Sources said the GRP had demanded 50 more security personnel while 100 RPF men would arrive tomorrow to man the station.

A GRP official said over 5,000 men, women and children had come to the city by the Kalka-Barmer Express, Intercity Express and Ferozepur-Chandigarh Express.

Whats worrying us is the aftermath of the verdict. Imagine the sight when such a huge number of followers will flock to the railway station to go back, said the RPF officer.

The police have closed all alternative routes, including escalators. Only one door at the entrance remains open for the entry and exit of passengers, he said.

But the restrictions caused inconvenience to the passengers, especially women and the elderly.

People had to carry patients to reach platforms 1 and 2. Surinder Singh, who was with his wife, said: We were not allowed to take the escalators. My wife is not well and I had to carry her till platform number 2.

Two passersby helped one Gurdeep Singh, who had come to see a doctor at the PGI, climb the stairs. Gurdeep had come by train from Jagraon.

Umbrellas seized

The police were seen stopping people carrying umbrellas. Sources said in the morning, they seized umbrellas made of iron, aluminium and steel from passengers coming by the Barmer Express.

Docs leave cancelled

Rakesh Kashyap, Director, UT Health Services, said an alert had been sounded in all hospitals. Leave of all doctors had been cancelled till the verdict, he added.

Counselling at PGI cancelled

The counselling for BSc paramedical was cancelled after the PGI authorities received several calls from aspirants who expressed their inability to make it to the counselling, which has been rescheduled for August 28, 2017. Bur the date is clashing with the mop-up round of counselling of MBBS/ BDS courses of different states scheduled from August 27 to 30.

Peace panels hold meetings

Peace committees have been holding meetings with religious leaders, politicians and prominent personalities of the area in various parts of the district. Members have been urging the people to maintain peace and harmony.

PRTC buses stop plying

PRTC buses have stopped plying on the Patiala-Mohali route. As many as 2,000 police personnel have been deployed to maintain the law and order situation in Mohali. In Dera Bassi too, security has been stepped up. In sensitive areas, 800 personnel have been deployed. Dera followers are not staying here. The next two days are crucial and officials are on toes, said SSP Kuldeep Singh Chahal. He said nakas had been put up at all entry points.

Security up at airport

Security has been tightened at the Chandigarh airport. Inspector HS Ball said the number of personnel deployed there had been doubled. Every vehicle is being checked, he said.

No escalators

The police have closed all alternative routes, including escalators, at the railway station. Only one door at the entrance remains open for the entry and exit of passengers.
Madabhushi Sridhar

Madabhushi Sridhar

THE basic concept and definition of privacy rendered by Justice BP Jeevan Reddy in the Rajgopal case (1994) and the emphatic dissent of Justice Subbarao in the MP Sharma case formed the solid basis of the nine-judge bench recognising and declaring that the right to privacy is the intrinsic part of life under Article 21 and a part of the freedoms guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution. Now the Aadhaar link has to be decided on the Aadhaar of this unanimous order of the Supreme Court.

Justice Chandrachud referred to the landmark order of Justice Jeevan Reddy, who said: The right to privacy is implicit in the right to life and liberty guaranteed to the citizens of this country by Article 21. It is a 'right to be let alone'. A citizen has a right to safeguard the privacy of his home, his family, marriage, procreation, motherhood, child-bearing and education among other matters. None can publish anything concerning the above matters without his consent  whether truthful or otherwise and whether laudatory or critical. If he does so, he would be violating the right to privacy of the person concerned and would be liable in an action for damages. The position may, however, be different, if a person voluntarily thrusts himself into controversy or voluntarily invites or raises a controversy.

Recently, in the Ram Jethmalani case, the Supreme Court held the revelation of the details of the bank accounts of individuals without the establishing wrongdoing would be a violation of the right to privacy. The judges cited catena of orders from India and abroad to explain how privacy assumed fundamental importance as a basic right. This judgment will have a significant impact on the Government's Aadhaar scheme, under which the state is collecting huge personal details and biometrics to identify beneficiaries for accessing social benefits under various welfare schemes.

The question that another five-judge bench of Supreme Court is going to decide is: Whether the Aadhaar programme is a breach of privacy, informational autonomy and bodily integrity?

The Union contended that the right to privacy was not fundamental, while four state governments  Karnataka, West Bengal, Punjab and Puducherry where non-BJP political parties are ruling, opposed the Centre's contention and pleaded for the right of privacy. The Maharastra government said that it is a concept and not a stand-alone right.

This landmark declaration that it is a fundamental like the right to life will impact national and global jurisprudence on privacy vis-a-vis information-based economy and governance.

The Supreme Court overruled its earlier verdicts in MP Sharma and Kharak Singh. As an eight-member bench in MP Sharma decided against the fundamental right status of privacy, this nine-member bench was necessitated. The Supreme Court prepositions subsequent to the Kharak Singh case were held to be correct position in law. The Attorney General's argument of doubtful status of privacy based on the Supreme Court orders in the MP Sharma and Kharak Singh cases was rejected emphatically.

In MP Singh, the Supreme Court held that a power of search and seizure is in any system of jurisprudence an overriding power of the State for the protection of social security and that power is necessarily regulated by law. The Court felt that the Constitution makers did not subject the regulation by law of the power of search and seizure to a fundamental right of privacy. The decision in the Kharak Singh case held that clause (b) of Regulation 236, which provided for domiciliary visits at night, was violative of Article 21.

The bench observed that Kharak Singh regards the sanctity of the home and the protection against unauthorised intrusion an integral element of ordered liberty. The Supreme Court agreed with the dissent of Justice Subbarao in Kharak Singh. He held that the rights conferred by Part III have overlapping areas. Where a law is challenged as infringing the right to freedom of movement under Article 19(1) (d) and the liberty of the individual under Article 21, it must satisfy the tests laid down in Article 19 (2) as well as the requirements of Article 21. Justice Subba Rao recognised a constitutionally protected right to privacy, considering it as an ingredient of personal liberty.

Justice Chandrachud' draft was signed by Chief Justice Khehar, Justices RK Agrawal, Abdul Nazeer, and approved by Justices Chalameshwar, S A Bobde, R F Nariman, Abhay Manohar Sapre, Sanjay Kishan Kaul, by separate judgments. Referring to the informational privacy, he says: In aggregation, they disclose the nature of the personality: food habits, language, health, hobbies, sexual preferences, friendships, ways of dress and political affiliation. In aggregation, information provides a picture of the being: of things which matter and those that don't, of things to be disclosed and those best hidden.

The bench finally cautioned that the judicial recognition of the existence of a constitutional right of privacy is not an exercise in the nature of amending the Constitution nor is the Court embarking on a constitutional function of that nature which is entrusted to Parliament.

The Parliament has to perform its constitutional obligation of making a law on this vital point. Such a law if made should not encroach upon privacy, and if it does it has to withstand the touchstone of permissible restrictions on fundamental rights. Such a law shall stipulate a procedure which is fair, just and reasonable. Thus, a law of privacy with reasonable restrictions to advance security and public interest is the need of the hour.

The writer, a Central Information Commissioner, is a former Professor of Law at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad.
Harish Khare

Harish Khare

A socially useful litigation, insisted upon by those intrepid women of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, has produced a Supreme Court ruling, invalidating the practice of instant triple talaq. Lest it be suggested that the court had adjusted itself to the political expediencies of the day, we were curiously but repeatedly told that the judgment was delivered by a Bench that represented five different religious faiths. That was somehow meant to reassure us all. Still, that did not prevent the assorted politicians, from the Prime Minister downward, from overloading the verdict with their political calculations. Some wise and clever RSS functionary was even reported to have pronounced the death of old secularism.

Consequently, we are forced to examine the political context of this consequential judgment. It needs to be noted that the talaq ruling has come soon after we recently courted an elaborate controversy over the Hamid Ansari proposition that the minorities in India had been given reason to feel insecure. Authoritative and angry voices were raised: how dare anyone bring up this disagreeable subject of the minorities' welfare and insecurity? The rebuff was laced with a be-grateful-for-what-you-are-allowed-to-have smugness.

Legal scholars will keep chewing on the jurisprudential nuances of three sets of opinion, the larger question that needs to concern us is: how will the triple talaq ruling add to  or subtract from  the minorities sense of insecurity? True, the honourable judges were not addressing themselves to the minorities' (in)security but there can be no doubt that this ruling will have complications and consequences in the larger political landscape.

To begin with, there may be cases of stray Muslim men being criminalised for being in violation of the Supreme Court. The very lumpen elements who had inflicted violence in the name of cow protection would feel emboldened to rework their gruesome energy. The use of violence and aggression against the minorities can now be explained away as sanctioned by the highest court.

Some voices are already asserting that the ruling is the beginning of the end of what they see as the jumped-up insolence of the Muslims. Others are insisting that the politics of appeasement that began with the Shah Bano case three decades ago stands rolled back. This assertion of appeasement has been central to the ideological concoction served up by the Hindutva forces; it was meant to denigrate the non-BJP forces and to create certain visceral resentment, inducing a grievance that the majority remains at a clear disadvantage in our own land. So, unsurprisingly, the talaq judgment is deemed to be a political statement.

It needs to be noted that the Supreme Court ruling is a very limited intervention in the Muslim religion  limited only to a very obnoxious practice; the practice was held unacceptable by the court because it is in violation of the Islamic laws. In any case, progressive, liberal and sensitive voices within the Muslim community have consistently voiced themselves against the obnoxiousness of this practice of instant triple talaq. So, why this dismay or jubilation?

Arguably, the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion does not constitute a blanket protection; nor are the minorities entitled to feel totally beyond the reach of the courts jurisdiction. Religious practices and customs can be challenged; and, in each case a determination is to be made by the court whether a practice is essential to the religion. In this limited context, the Muslim community need not allow itself to feel particularly cornered. Yet it is easier said than done.

Because, on the other hand, there is a sense of satisfaction, even triumphalism, that the Muslims can no longer claim to be beyond the interventionist reach of the State; just as the majority has been repeatedly subjected to remember the Hindu Marriage Act, the sati, dowry, etc.  the progressive gaze of the law, now the same light of reasoned enlightenment would be focused on the minorities. The hardcore constituency can permit itself a smirk that the Muslims have lost an ill-deserved immunity. A beachhead has been established.

Indeed, the Hindutva forces have not lost any time in asserting that the triple talaq ruling is only the beginning; and that its old demand for a uniform civil code remains unabandoned. That demand itself is part of an unfinished agenda on what terms of co-existence are to be offered to the Muslims/minorities in India  parity, equality, or subordination.

That will be the stuff of politics in the months and years to come. Make no mistake about it. Given the BJPs current political ascendency, the minorities may well be within reason to feel that the ruling party is out to question every single assurance or commitment, even overturn constitutional guarantees. Indeed, the orthodox leadership of the Muslim community may feel besieged but it would be a pity if the maulanas were to spurn the opportunity to raise their game.

Perhaps the most beneficial side-effect of the triple talaq ruling is that the Supreme Court has reclaimed its status and aura as the principal and only institutional interpreter of the constitutional rights and wrongs. The privacy case verdict on Thursday should be seen as a natural follow-up of the triple talaq verdict. A robust judiciary is central to the restoration of liberal sanity to our polity.

Those who swear by progressive and liberal values and profess a commitment to secularism and pluralism have an obligation, post-Talaq ruling, to devise new political tactics. It needs to be recognised that the old-fashioned identity politics is becoming increasingly counter productive. If the orthodox Muslim leadership were to insist on wallowing in its entrenched ill-liberalism of the status quo, it will only enhance the potency of ill-liberalism of the right wing. It is no rocket science that the BJPs politics is predicated on creating hostility among groups and suspicion in society at large.

Secular political parties and leaders have to give the Muslim community the confidence to grow out of the maulanas sway. The apex court has anchored its verdict on universal moral values; and, the same values can be invoked to insist a fair deal for the minorities in a fair constitutional order, creating a good society.

Before he went rogue in Vietnam, President Lyndon Johnson had defined a good society as one in which all citizens and groups expect justice for themselves and are willing to grant it to others. Liberal, democratic and secular voices need to seize the talaq judgment to insist on a renewal of the constitutional core guarantees.
The deteriorating socio-political environment necessitates reiteration of obvious truths. A criminal is what a criminal does, no matter what his political affiliation. What the Congress asserted earlier, the Shiromani Akali Dal is crying about now  political workers being harassed by the police at the behest of the government of the day. The Congress government set up the Mehtab Singh Gill Commission to examine allegations by Congress supporters of false cases registered against them during the tenure of the SAD-led government. It has found that the allegations were correct in 130 cases out of the 178 it has examined so far. The commission has also recommended compensation for the victims and punishment to erring police officials. Rampant misuse of the police is suggested in 4,200 complaints received by the panel.

Gangsterism raised its ugly head in the state during that time, and it is still a challenge. SAD allegations about the mistreatment of their workers, and some politically charged incidents of murder, all are visible reminders that little has changed on the ground... the good criminals of yesteryear became bad criminals of today and vice versa. Propriety, fairness, and impartiality were given a short shrift in the interest of political expediency.

Even as the Chief Minister pursues the findings of the commission to the logical end, he must dwell on the need to change the culture of policing that allowed his party men to be harassed. The saying, Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, has a particular importance in a scenario where governance is determined by the natural ebb and flow of political fortunes. The commissions findings must have a resonance beyond documenting the past and providing relief to victims. They highlight the propensity of the police to use extra-legal means to deliver results that please political masters. A professional force would not act in this manner. The right manner of honouring the findings of Justice Mehtab Singh Gill would be to restore professionalism to the police and insulate the force from political operatives.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 24

The Army was late tonight called out in Panchkula, where a CBI court is set to deliver its verdict in a rape case against Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh tomorrow at 2.30 pm, even as large parts of Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh remained in a virtual lockdown mode.

In Sirsa too, the Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters, the Army was called out to ensure peace.

Northern Railway has cancelled 29 trains bound for Punjab and Haryana.

Meanwhile, thousands of Premis, as Dera followers are known, continued to flock to Panchkula for a glimpse of their pitaji (father), posing a challenge for the security agencies. Estimated at 1.5 lakh, they camped in parks and sat along roads to show solidarity with their icon.

Late in the night, senior police officials, including DGP BS Sandhu, appealed to the dera followers to vacate the area. The DGP said they were determined to carry out the evacuation process with success.

Earlier in the day, the inability of the Khattar government in Haryana to stop the massive build-up earned it a rap from the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The state police were pulled up too. To check misinformation, mobile Internet services, including 2G, 3G, 4G, CDMA and GPRS, SMS and dongle services, except voice calls, have been suspended for 72 hours.

Panchkulas Sector 1, which houses the CBI special court where the verdict is to be delivered by Judge Jagdeep Singh, has been fortified with a four-tier security. As many as 6,000 personnel are keeping a watch over law and order in the city. Drones have been pressed into service to keep a watch on dera followers and Chaudhary Tau Devi Lal Stadium Complex in Panchkula and Dalbir Singh Indoor Stadium in Sirsa have been turned into special jails. Sources said senior police officer KK Sharma had been made overall security in-charge. He would be assisted by 10 officers, including two ADGPs. Ten duty magistrates have been stationed in Panchkula, among the 10 districts identified as sensitive.

The verdict assumes significance in the age of social media, as individuals can claim constitutional protection for their data. It will also impact the outcome of petitions challenging the WhatsApp privacy policy pending before a five-judge Constitution Bench.

The Bench said life and personal liberty were inalienable rights. Privacy with its attendant values assures dignity to the individual and it is only when life can be enjoyed with dignity can liberty be of true substance. Privacy ensures the fulfilment of dignity and is a core value which the protection of life and liberty is intended to achieve, the Bench said.

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The all-important ruling came on petitions filed by former Karnataka High Court Judge KS Puttaswamy, child rights activist Shanta Sinha, former bureaucrat and activist Aruna Roy, former Major General Dr Sudhir G Vombatkere and others who contended that right to privacy was a fundamental right and the Aadhaar scheme violated it.

The nine-judge Constitution Bench specifically overruled two earlier verdicts that said right to privacy was not a fundamental right under the Constitution.

In MP Sharma and others versus Satish Chandra, an eight-judge Constitution Bench had held in 1954 that right to privacy was not a fundamental right. A similar view was taken by a six-judge Bench in 1962 in Kharak Singh versus the State of UP.

It was on the basis of these two judgments that the then Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi had asserted before the top court in 2015 that citizens didnt have a fundamental right to privacy, inviting criticism from civil society and rights activists.

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But during the hearing, Rohatgis successor KK Venugopal had conceded that right to privacy was a fundamental right. He, however, had asserted that it was a qualified right and the government had a right to regulate it through a law.

In all there were six separate but concurring verdicts. The CJI, who didnt write one, pronounced the operative part of the verdict signed by all nine judges in a jam-packed courtroom at 10.39 am. Other judges on the Bench were Justices DY Chandrachud, J Chelameswar, SK Kaul, SA Bobde, RF Nariman, AM Sapre, RK Agarwal and Abdul Nazeer.
Geetanjali Gayatri

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, August 24

Convinced that they have an infallible god in Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, his followers, having laid siege to the city and occupying open spaces in swarms for the last three days, are all set for the CBI verdict in the rape case against the dera head.

We will dance right back to where we came from because truth will prevail and Pitaji will be acquitted. If the verdict does not uphold the truth of his innocence, we should not be blamed for how the situation will pan out. The verdict will decide our next step, says a charged Kamlesh from Mandhar village in Punjabs Malout.

Women far outnumber men among the followers who have captured the shade of every tree in sight and every inch of pavement and open space around the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Sector 3. Lying stretched out on plastic sheets covered with bedsheets, using their bags as pillows, the dera followers are all over the place and the three days of sleeping in the open spaces or pavements has not fatigued them a wee bit

We have locked our houses, left our young children behind and have come for Pitajis darshan. We will not tolerate an adverse order of the CBI court. These breaths we take are his alone and we will willingly give these up for him. He can do no wrong. If they want to take him, it will have to be over our bodies, say Sushma and Kiran Bala of Yamunanagar who reached the city two days back.

As other women nod in unison, a saner group among them says that Pitaji has not taught them to respond to injustice with violence. We dont even want to hear that the judgment can be adverse. Pitaji will be absolved in the case and the lies will be exposed. If the unexpected happens, we will quietly go back, maintains Rekha from Indrapuri in Ghaziabad, adding that there is no iota of truth in information of followers reaching the city armed with sticks and swords and stones.

As she and her group of women open their bags to show they are carrying only two sets of clothes and some snacks since langar is served, a group of women from Noida, camping under the shade of a tree for the last three days, chip in to express their devotion.

Guruji does not preach violence. This entire police bandobast is meaningless. We mean no harm to anybody. If our worst fears come true, we will immolate ourselves to free ourselves from the suffering of seeing our god suffer. We have not come here with the intention of creating a ruckus, says Meera who is indebted to the dera chief for curing her husband and giving him a new life.

Accompanied by her 15-year-old daughter, Simlesh, also from Noida, says her drunkard husband recovered after she started going to the dera in Sirsa. This is our chance to show our gratitude and we will do so by being his armour, she emphasises.

Kamlesh Insaan from Ghaziabad, associated with the dera for 20 years, sums up the sentiment among the followers when she says that the judgment will be favourable because when god wills, all winds bring rain. Each follower staunchly believes that his faith will create a verdict of his asking when it is announced tomorrow. Till then, they will wait patiently. Tomorrow is a new day holding untold secrets, she says.

After Rampal, advocate Narwana now bats for Ram Rahim

Chandigarh: When advocate SK Garg Narwana shifted to the Punjab and Haryana High Court more than two decades ago after 12 years of practice in Narwana and Jind, there was no way anyone could tell that high profile controversial cases would soon land up on his desk. A 1982 law graduate from Kurukshetra University, Narwana hit the limelight as he held the brief for Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim, former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Justice Nirmal Yadav, and also for self-styled godman Rampal. He also represented Haryanas independent MLAs before the Speaker in the anti-defection matter. Narwana also made a name for himself for contesting election petitions. He was appointed Haryana Additional Advocate-General in 2005 and senior standing counsel for the income tax department the next year. He was designated senior advocate in 2012.TNS

CBI counsel not new to controversial cases

Chandigarh: Harinder Pal Singh Verma (50), CBI counsel in the rape case against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim, is not handling a controversial case for the first time. In past, he had appeared for the CBI in cases like Jaswant Singh Khalra murder in Patiala court, Haryanas Sarita rape case in Panchkula court etc. Verma, who was appointed a CBI counsel in 2001, did law from Lucknow University in 1991. He says the CBI has submitted all legal evidence available with it against the Dera head in the Special CBI Court in Panchkula.TNS
Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 24

Coming down heavily on the Haryana government for its apparent inability to maintain law and order in the state ahead of the Dera verdict, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday asked the Centre to forthwith provide forces, including paramilitary force.

Asserting that it could initiate action against the Director General of Police in case of the states failure to ensure security, the Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Surinder Singh Saron and Justice Avneesh Jhingan said it did not want a situation similar to the Jat reservation stir.

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The Bench said it also expected full cooperation from the Dera. Taking into consideration the sensitivity of the situation, the Bench posted the matter for post-lunch session.

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In its detailed order, the Bench directed the Centre through the Home Secretary to provide forces keeping in view the gravity of the situation.

The Bench asked the Centre to make its own assessment in the matter, while asking Haryana to afford its own estimation and requirement as might be necessary from time to time.

Taking a note of CBI standing counsel Sumeet Goels submission that its investigating officer, witnesses in the case, and public prosecutor in trial and the High Court were facing threats, the Bench directed Advocate General BR Mahajan to make arrangements to provide protection to them.

The Bench also asked Dera counsel SK Garg Narwana and Virat Amarnath to submit in the post-lunch session the steps being taken to defuse the situation. The Bench made the Centre through Home Secretary, the CBI and the Dera parties to a PIL in the matter before calling to the Court Additional Solicitor General Satya Pal Jain.

The Bench asked Haryana Additional Advocate General Pawan Girdhar, Satya Pal Jain and advocate Dheeraj Jain to intervene in the matter. Punjab Additional Advocate General PPS Thethi was also requested to assist the court.

The Centre will provide adequate security and force to the state government for maintaining peace and law and order in Panchkula and its surrounding areas forthwith, the Bench added.

A lawyer on Wednesday had moved the High Court for directions to Haryana and its officials to make adequate security arrangements, especially in Panchkula district and surrounding areas, for the expected pronouncement of verdict in the criminal trial against Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh on August 25.

Petitioner-advocate Ravinder Singh Dhull had also prayed that the security arrangements might be monitored by the High Court. He claimed that more than 1.5 lakh people had already entered Panchkula district despite prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC.
Premis from Rthan sent back

Panipat, August 24

The police today sent back six buses carrying followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda from Rajasthan from the Dahar toll plaza in the district. Sources said the dera followers were coming from Kota and adjoining districts of Rajasthan and were heading towards Panchkula.

The administration has beefed up security at the railway station, bus stand and at the Sanoli border.

Senior CISF officials reviewed the security arrangements at Indian Oil Refinery, National Fertilizer Limited and thermal power plant in the district.

Ashwani Dogra, General Manager, Haryana Roadways Depot, Panipat, said no bus would ply between 8 pm tonight and 3pm tomorrow.TNS
Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 24

The traffic movement, including public transport from Himachal to Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, today came to a standstill after the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) stopped all 200 buses to the states following a high alert sounded in Punjab and Haryana in view of the massive gathering of Dera Sacha Sauda followers taking shelter on the highways near Panchkula in support of their head Ram Rahim, who faces a CBI court verdict in a rape case tomorrow.

It has spelt doom for the tourism industry and its aftershocks will impact the business for the week. The tourist towns of Shimla, Manali, Dalhousie and other places wore a near-deserted look as the tourist traffic had come to a standstill since yesterday, said hoteliers.

To avoid any inconvenience to passengers and damage to the buses, we have stopped all 200 buses plying from Shimla, Manali, Dharamsala and other places to Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi today till Friday evening, said Transport Minister GS Bali here.

Bali told The Tribune that he would review the situation tomorrow. If the situation eases out, then we will run the buses on the routes, otherwise the buses will not ply until things become normal. We will lose Rs 1 crore per day, he added.

In Shimla, the room occupancy in hotels had dipped to 20 per cent as the tourists had cancelled their plans to visit Himachal, said Harnam Kukreja, president of the Shimla Hoteliers and Restaurant Owners Association.

The Kullu-Manali tourist circuit has been reeling under the lean tourist season and the dera episode has worsened the situation. The tourist towns of Manali and Kullu wore a deserted look. The hotels and guest houses are vacant while the room occupancy has gone between 5 per cent and 10 per cent, said Gajender Thakur, president of the Manali Hoteliers Association.

He said the tourist inflow had decreased drastically since mid-August soon after the Kotrupi landslide blocked the Pathankot-Mandi highway and the rockslide near Hanogi temple blocked the Chandigarh-Manali highway, Thakur said.
Dinesh Manhotra

Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 24

Amid the debate on Article 35A, the Centre today announced to expedite the process of issuing identity certificates to the West Pakistan refugees.

Union Minister of State (MoS) for Home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, who was in Jammu today to review the progress of the implementation of the rehabilitation package announced for the refugees of J&K, said the West Pakistan refugees were facing the worst instability in their lives since 1947.

The Union Home Ministry had decided to issue identity certificates to the refugees but the progress of issuing such documents is not up to the mark, the minister admitted. He said he had given directions to issue identify certificates to the refugees.

The opposition National Conference and separatist groups raked up the issue last year when the decision was taken to issue the certificates to the refugees.

On August 17, 2016, the then Deputy Commissioner, Jammu, had issued an order, directing all tehsildars of Jammu district to issue identify certificates to the West Pakistani Refugees in the state so that their children could get jobs in the Indian Armed Forces.

Despite passing of one year, the local administration has failed to issue the certificates to the refugees living in the Jammu province.

Ahir also expressed concern over the illegal settlement of Rohingyas in Jammu. The illegal settlement of Rohingyas in Jammu is a matter of concern. We had a detailed discussion during a review meeting here with the authorities, he said.

He said: We have asked the officials concerned to identify the number of families of Rohingyas living in Jammu for further action. Ahir said. Their activities should be watched and what businesses they are running and their source of income must be noticed.
Amit Khajuria

Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 24

Even as separatists as well as mainstream parties of the Kashmir valley have announced mass movement to safeguard Article 35A at any cost, Jammu is silently waiting for the apex courts verdict on this provision of the Constitution. A Delhi-based NGO along with some individuals have challenged the constitutional validity of this Article in the Supreme Court.

Although a majority of the population in Jammu is against what they called discriminatory Article, people in the region prefer remaining calm to repose their faith in the court. Locals are confident that this Article will not stand a chance during the legal scrutiny.

Article 35A, which imposes some restrictions on the people from other parts of the country as well as wards of the daughters of the state who married a non-state subject to have ownership rights on property in the state  has become a hot topic of debate in the country and particularly in the state.

The Kashmir valley and Jammu region once again are at loggerheads over the debate on Article 35A as the Valley is in its support while Jammu finds it to be a violation of the fundamental rights.

Yes, Jammu is silent over Article 35A because we have full faith in the countrys legal system and when some issue is in the Supreme Court then there is no need to come on to roads in support of it or in opposition, said Subash Khajuria, a retired government employee.

Jammu has always been against Article 370 and the main reason behind it is that our daughters who get married outside the state cannot claim the property rights for their wards in J&K while if our sons get married outside the state, their wives as well as children get all rights in the state, he added.

Meanwhile, as the constitutional validity of Article 35A has been challenged in the Supreme Court, different political parties have come up with different views, which suit their political aspirations.

Jammu parties are in favour of the debate under the court of law, however, the Kashmiri leadership has flared up the issue in the Valley by attaching religion with it.

It is a debatable issue under the court of law, but not a religious issue. Kashmiri leaders are misguiding people for their political benefits. The issue is in the Supreme Court, so let the court decide after hearing both the sides, said Pankaj Saroch, an IT engineer.

I personally feel that if Article 35A gets abolished, it will be a boon for the state industry. Moreover, it will end discrimination being faced by the women of the state, he argued
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 23

In a surprise raid, an official of a Delhi-based company a nd the police recovered over 1.5 lakh fake tags of branded garments from a business premises located in Sukhram Nagar on Jail Road.

The raid was conducted by the police along with Rajesh Kumar Varma, an official designated for the purpose by Anand and Anand Company.

Rajesh said he received a tip off that Ramit Malik and Love Malhotra of Malhotra Collections were illegally manufacturing tags of branded garment companies, including CK, LV, Chanel, Tommy and Superdry, which was an illegal practice.

During the raid conducted along with policemen of the Kotwali police station, huge quantity of fake tags was recovered.

These include 51,204 tags of CK brand, 66,649 of LV, 39,441 of Chanel, 1,304 of Tommy and 3,958 of Superdry, said Rajesh.

The company official added that after manufacturing tags, the accused used to sell these to companies manufacturing garments. This practice caused huge losses to the real company, which was paying tax to the government and had the legal authority to manufacture tags.

Later, the police registered a case under Sections 63 and 65 of the Copy Right Act against Ramit of Field Ganj and Love of Durga Puri.
Aditi Tandon



Tribune News Service



New Delhi, August 24



The Congress on Thursday hailed the Supreme Court order declaring privacy a fundamental right and said India can again celebrate freedom.

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Since the Constitution of India was born, this judgment will go down as a landmark judgment guaranteeing right to privacy as a fundamental right. From the time of Independence, our freedoms have been enlarged by the collective wisdom of Parliament and the sagacity of the Supreme Court. This is a landmark judgment, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said.

Read: Right to privacy is a fundamental right: SC

The Congress took the occasion to urge the Apex Court to review its stand on Section 377 IPC after the right to privacy judgment, adding that criminalisation of consensual relationships between same-sex people must end.

On Aadhar, Chidambaram said there was no fault with the concept as such and there was fault only in the way the BJP government sought to use or misuse Aadhar.

Weve heard the most wild statements that Aadhar will be necessary for buying railway tickets and for school admissions. Why? Theres a case to go back to the original Aadhar decision taken by the Congress-led UPA which conceived the tool as consistent with right to privacy. Idea was to block leakages in distribution of government benefits to the poor. This governments approach to Aadhar is inconsistent with the UPA governments approach, said the former Home Minister.

He also described todays court verdict as a setback to the government whose top law officers argued in SC that privacy was not a fundamental right.

This is of course a setback to the government. Today we can again celebrate freedom. Tomorrow other attempts will be made to invade our privacy. We will overcome those also, he said, congratulating all counsels to make persuasive arguments in court to make right to privacy a reality.
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 24

Infrastructure development, measures to improve connectivity, earthquake reconstruction and a concerted effort to tackle the perennial problem of floods on both sides figured prominently during the comprehensive talks between India and Nepal here today.

A range of bilateral issues came up for discussion during talks between PM Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba on his first overseas visit after assuming office in June.

Nepal also reassured India that it would never allow any anti-India activity from its soil as both sides discussed defence and security matters. Modi identified defence and security as important aspects of bilateral ties.

At the joint media meet, Modi said both sides had a positive meeting that reviewed the gamut of the partnership and that he had assured Deuba about Indias commitment towards Nepals development.

The two leaders jointly inaugurated the Kataiya-Kusaha and Raxaul-Parwanipur cross-border power transmission lines. Eight MoUs were signed  four pertaining to earthquake reconstruction; and one each for narcotics control; cooperation in field of standardisation; construction of Mechi bridge; and Chartered Accountants institutes.

Deubas visit comes amid the standoff between India and China at Doklam, a development on which Nepal has preferred to remain neutral. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said Doklam did not figure in any of the PMs talks.

India also walked the extra mile to welcome Deuba whose predecessor KP Sharma Oli had tilted towards Beijing much to the discomfort of New Delhi. Deuba also called on President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu.

On Madhesis, India reiterated its stand that the broadest possible consensus of people and society should be considered while making the Constitution. Deuba said Nepal was making efforts in that direction and it was a work in progress.
New Delhi, August 23

A new policy for cadre allocation has been finalised by the Central government for IAS, IPS and other officers, aimed at ensuring national integration in the top bureaucracy.

Officers of all-India services  the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFoS)  will have to choose cadres from a set of zones instead of states.

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The officers of the three services are currently allocated a cadre state or a set of states to work in. They may be posted on Central deputation during the course of their service after fulfilling certain eligibility conditions.

The existing 26 cadres have been divided into five zones in the new policy proposed by the personnel ministry.

Zone-I has seven cadres AGMUT (also known as Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territories), Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana. Zone-II consists of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha, while Zone-III comprises Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam-Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura and Nagaland will constitute Zone-IV, while Zone-V will have Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Under the new policy, candidates can only select one state/cadre from a zone as their first choice. Their second, third, fourth and fifth choices have to be from the different zones.

Usually candidates choose their home state as their first choice and neighbouring states as their subsequent preferences.

The new policy will seek to ensure that officers from Bihar, for instance, will get to work in southern and north-eastern states, which may not be their preferred cadres, a personnel ministry official said.

This policy will ensure national integration of the bureaucracy as officers will get a chance to work in a state which is not their place of domicile, the official said.

He said the new policy would help in upholding the rationale behind the all-India services.

Candidates appearing for the civil services examination will have to first give their choices in a descending order of preference from among the various zones, as per the new policy. The preference for the zones will remain in the same order and no change will be permitted there, it said.

If a candidate does not give any preference for any of the zones/cadres, it will be presumed that he has no specific preference for those zones/cadres, the policy said.

If candidates are not allocated any one of the cadres for which they have indicated a preference, they shall be allotted along with other candidates any of the remaining cadres, arranged in an alphabetical order, where there are vacancies, it said.

Candidates will be allotted their home cadre on the basis of merit, preference and vacancy in the category, it said. The official said the policy is likely to be put into effect from this year.  PTI
Girja Shankar Kaura

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 23

The Union Cabinet today approved a proposal for setting up a commission under Article 340 of the Constitution to examine the issue of sub-categorisation of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

The Commission to Examine the Sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes will submit its report within 12 weeks from the date of appointment of chairperson.

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It will examine the extent of inequitable distribution of reservation benefits among the castes/communities included in the broad category of OBCs, with reference to OBCs in the Central list.

The commission will also work out the mechanism, criteria, norms and parameters for sub-categorisation within such OBCs, take up the exercise of identifying the respective castes/communities/sub-castes/synonyms in the Central list of OBCs and classify them into sub-categories.

The Supreme Court in its 1992 order had observed that there was no constitutional or legal bar to a state categorising Backward Classes as backward or more backward and that if a state chooses to do it (sub-categorisation), it is not impermissible in law.

Haryana, Andhra, Telangana, Puducherry, Karnataka, Jharkhand, WB, Bihar, Maharashtra and TN have already carried out sub-categorisation.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, also chaired by the PM, approved the renaming of the new Central sector scheme SAMPADA (Scheme for Agro-Marine Processing and Development of Agro-Processing Clusters) as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana.
Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 24

BJP chief Amit Shah today appointed eight top-ranking ministers looking after more than 15 key departments in the Narendra Modi government as in charge of three states - Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka, due for elections this year and early next year.

While senior leader and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who has also held the responsibility in the past, has been given charge of the PM and Shah's home state Gujarat, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar and Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot will take care of the BJP's fortunes in Congress-ruled Karnataka and Himachal, respectively.

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In Gujarat, Jaitley will be assisted by an array of senior Central ministers, including Narendra Singh Tomar, Nirmala Sitharaman, Jitendra Singh and PP Choudhary. While the move is indicative of the importance Gujarat holds for the BJP, the fact that in addition to the PM and Shah (who will obviously be actively campaigning in their state) five top ministers have been positioned to oversee Gujarat polls perhaps also shows that all may not be well for the saffron party in the state.

Even as the BJP juggernaut rolls on with Shah in the driving seat, events in Karnataka and Gujarat show the party may not be in as comfortable position as he would like it to be.

Congress leader Ahmed Patel's win in the Rajya Sabha polls, despite Shah's best efforts, proved what appears on the surface could be different from ground reality. Ever since Modi moved to the Centre, Gujarat has been a hot spot of major anti-BJP agitations, including the Patidar protests led by Hardik Patel and the Dalit revolt after the Una episode.

In Gujarat, the BJP is not just facing anti-incumbency of 17 years but also a build-up over the PM's economic moves like demonetisation and switchover to the GST.

In Karnataka, where Union Minister Piyush Goyal will assist Javadekar, the Congress appears to be on a roll after the launch of 'Indira Canteen' - a new programme of the Siddaramaiah government to provide food at subsidised rates.

In Himachal, Gehlot will rely on state leaders for help, say BJP leaders. Seven key states - Gujarat, Himachal (November-December), Meghalaya (February), Karnataka (April-May next year), Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan (September-October 2018) - will go to the polls before the 2019 General Election.
Shahira Naim

Tribune News Service

Lucknow, August 24

The Chief Secretary-headed four-member committee that submitted its report on the Baba Ram Das (BRD) Medical College deaths to the Chief Minister on Tuesday reportedly does not mention the shortage of oxygen as the cause of 30 deaths within 36 hours earlier this month.

While the report has not been released, an ATR was shared by the state government late on Wednesday.

A criminal case has been filed against Pushpa Sales representative Manish Bhandari at the Hazratganj police station, indicting him in the case even though the report is silent on the disruption of oxygen supply as being the cause of deaths.

According to the state government press release, CM Yogi Adityanath had accepted all recommendations of the probe committee and ordered immediate action.

A criminal case was lodged against nine accused at the Hazratganj police station late last night which has been transferred to the Gulriha police station in Gorakhpur.

Criminal cases under IPC sections 429, 308 and 120 b has been filed against Pushpa Sales representative Manish Bhandari, BRD ex-principal Dr RK Misra, head of the anesthesia ward Dr Satish who was in charge of oxygen supply, and nodal officer of the AES ward number 100 Dr Kafeel Khan.

Dr Rajiv Misra will also face charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act along with his wife Dr Purnima Shukla, pharmacist Gajanan Jaiswal and Uday Pratap from the accounts department.

Dr Khan is also facing charges under seven sections of the Indian Medical Council Act for allegedly hiding facts in an affidavit submitted to the Gorakhpur CMO and indulging in private practice.

The panel has made a number of short, medium and long-term recommendations. A special audit by CAG for the last three years into the supply of medicines and chemicals at the BRD medical college is one such recommendation. The report, however, does not admit anything unusual in the death rates of the hospital.

It says till August 18, 2017, there were 1,325 Acute Encephalitis Syndrome cases of which 169 (12.77%) patients died, while in 2016 the rate was 16.39%. It adds that 111 cases this year were found to be of Japanese Encephalitis of which three patients (2.7%) succumbed to the disease while in 2016 of the 442 JE cases reported 74 patients (16.74%) had died.
Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 23

The Supreme Court will tomorrow decide if right to privacy can be declared as a fundamental right.

A nine-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India JS Kheharwhich had on August 2 reserved its verdict on the questionis likely to deliver its verdict at 10.30 am.

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Other judges on the Bench are Justices DY Chandrachud, J Chelameswar, SK Kaul, SA Bobde, RF Nariman, AM Sapre, RK Agarwal and Abdul Nazeer.

The issue of right to privacy was referred to the nine-judge Bench by a five-judge Bench after it was pointed out that two earlier decisions of eight-judge and six-judge Benches had ruled that right to privacy was not a fundamental right under the Constitution.

The Bench, which assembled on July 19, had heard several senior advocates, including Attorney General KK Venugopal, for six days in its endeavour to reach a conclusion on the contentious issue.

During the hearing, the Attorney General had conceded that right to privacy was a fundamental right but a qualified one. He, however, had asserted the government had a right to regulate it through a law.

Some states, including Maharashtra, had told the Bench that courts could not introduce right to privacy as a fundamental right under the Constitution. "This is not the case of interpretation of the Constitution or the law. This is the case of introduction of a right as a fundamental right. This can be done only by Parliament," senior counsel CA Sundaram had told the Bench on behalf of the Maharashtra Government.

On behalf of Gujarat Government, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi had told the Bench that some aspects of privacy may be traced to various fundamental rights but providing basic personal information to authorities was needed to bring more transparency in the present technological era.

Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, who represented the Centre for Civil Society, had contended fundamental rights could not be waived and, therefore, if privacy was given the status of a fundamental right, it would make every contract which involves waiving of fundamental rights void.

"When we use an app, it asks us whether it can access the contact list, pictures etc and we invariably say yes. Thus, we are waiving our privacy. But if we raise privacy to the status of a fundamental right, it cannot be waived. If waived, it would make that contract void", Sankaranarayanan had argued.
Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 24

The Supreme Courts nine-Judge Constitution Bench verdict declaring right to privacy a fundamental right under the Constitution was historic for a unique reason as Justice DY Chandrachud overruled a verdict authored by his father YV Chandrachud in the infamous ADM Jabalpur case during Emergency.

On April 28, 1976, Justice YV Chandrachud, who was part of a five-judge Constitution Bench, had ruled by 4:1 majority that all fundamental rights get suspended during Emergency and individuals did not have a right to approach constitutional courts for protection.

Forty-one years on, his son Justice DY Chandrachud overruled the verdict, saying: The judgments rendered by all four judges constituting the majority in ADM Jabalpur are seriously flawed. Justice Chandrachud was supported by two other Judges  Justice RF Nariman and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul  who also overruled ADM Jabalpur verdict.

Much of the problems created by the ADM Jabalpur verdict was corrected by the 44th Constitutional Amendment but the formal overruling can be seen as an attempt by the judiciary to counter criticism for its failure to protect citizens fundamental rights during the Emergency.

Justice DY Chandrachud went on to justify the minority verdict delivered by Justice Khanna in the case, saying: The view taken by Justice Khanna must be accepted, and accepted in reverence for the strength of its thoughts and the courage of its convictions.

Justice Chandrachud said: Justice Khanna was clearly right in holding that the recognition of the right to life and personal liberty under the Constitution does not denude the existence of that right, apart from it nor can there be a fatuous assumption that in adopting the Constitution the people of India surrendered the most precious aspect of the human persona, namely, life, liberty and freedom to the state on whose mercy these rights would depend.

Such a construct is contrary to the basic foundation of the rule of law which imposes restraints upon the powers vested in the modern state when it deals with the liberties of the individual. The power of the court to issue a Writ of Habeas Corpus is a precious and undeniable feature of the rule of law, said Justice DY Chandrachud.

Emergency-era case judgment

Justice YV Chandrachud, who was part of a five-judge Constitution Bench, had on April 28, 1976, ruled by 4:1 majority that all fundamental rights get suspended during Emergency
Akash Ghai

Tribune News Service

Mohali, August 24

A local court today returned the Vigilance Bureaus (VB) cancellation report in the Amritsar Improvement Trust land scam, in which Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh is among the accused.

Special Court Judge Jaswinder Singh directed the VB to further investigate the allegations of tampering with the record of the Vidhan Sabha proceedings dated March 1, 2006, and the allegedly illegal exemption granted for 32.1 acres of the Trusts land.

The VB had filed the report in October last year. Last week, the bureau had given the clean chit to Capt Amarinder and other accused in the Ludhiana City Centre scam.

Director, prosecution, Punjab, Vijay Singla, public prosecutor Gurdeep Singh and defence counsel Ramdeep Partap Singh appeared before the court. Capt Amarinder also made an appearance.

The court observed that the allegation of record tampering was based on conjectures and surmises. For the proper disposal of this cancellation report, it is necessary that the whole material pertaining to the matter be presented before the court. In the absence of this material, the court cant form any opinion regarding the allegations against the accused, read the court order.

The order stated: A perusal of the record shows that when the Vidhan Sabha proceedings (dated March 1, 2006) were returned by the then Speaker on March 28, 2006, the words if House agrees were not added. The same were added between March 28 and April 21, 2006. Hence, the assertion in the cancellation report is not based on record.

As per the VB report, a corrigendum was issued on April 21, 2006, on the basis of corrections made by the then Speaker.

The VB mentioned in its cancellation report that the government was competent to exempt the land from acquisition as M/s Veer Colonisers had submitted an application on July 1, 2003, seeking a licence under the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act to develop a colony. The notification pertaining to the land was issued on December 5, 2003. The court observed that as per the record, the policy/notification dated December 17, 2004, was withdrawn by the government on July 26, 2005.

The investigating agency was required to produce on record relevant policy/notification under which land in question was exempted, but no such document is attached with the cancellation report, the court observed.

Whistleblower hails move

Welcoming the courts decision to return the cancellation report, former Deputy Speaker Bir Devinder Singh, the whistleblower in the case, claimed that he volunteered to depose before the trial court if it appointed an amicus curiae to help him in presenting the evidence. Bir Devinder said he had raised the issue in the Vidhan Sabha on February 22, 2006. The VB had recorded his statement, but it was never presented before the court.

Capt Amarinder Among accused

September 11, 2008

The Vigilance Bureau files FIR under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC and Sections 7, 8(1)(C) (D) read with Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act against 18 persons, including Capt Amarinder Singh, regarding a scam in granting exemption for transferring 32.1 acres of prime land of the Amritsar Improvement Trust to a private developer. Three of the accused  former ministers Chaudhary Jagjit Singh and Raghunath Sahai Puri, and former Speaker Dr Kewal Krishan  have died over the past decade

February 10, 2009 : Challan filed

December 22, 2014 : The HC orders fresh probe

October 7, 2016 : The VB files cancellation report, giving the clean chit to all accused
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 24

Ahead of the CBI Special Courts verdict, the Punjab Police today fine-tuned deployment of its men and material in the state, even as Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh authorised the state DGP to impose curfew, if required, to ensure the safety of the people.

The police force is keeping a tight vigil to maintain peace in the state, the Chief Minister said.

HS Dhillon, DGP (Law and Order), said: Our fingers are crossed. The men and material are in position. The police are in touch with local leaders of the Dera Sacha Sauda across the state. We deployed additional paramilitary companies today.

The situation remained tense in Malwa, but no untoward incident was reported. Police officials said the Army was put on standby.

In Moga, DC Dilraj Singh Sandhawalia held a meeting with Army and police officers, taking stock of the situation. He asked officials to keep an eye on anti-social elements.

He said Army officials had started visiting sub-divisional headquarters to learn about the area. Officials of the local civil administration and the police have been deputed with them.

All arms dealers in Moga district have been asked to shut their shops for three days.

In Muktsar, the security forces today sealed the Punjab-Haryana border by placing barricades on the Fazilka-Delhi National Highway. The highway connects Mandi Killianwali and Dabwali towns.

The inter-state bus service from Muktsar to Dabwali (Sirsa district) has been suspended as the road is closed for traffic.

The district administration has appointed 45 Duty Magistrates to deal with the situation. A control room number  01633-260341  has been launched. People can get or share information related to the situation on this number.

Muktsar DC Sumeet Jarangal today banned the sale, purchase and use of crackers in the district. The order issued under Section 144 of the CrPC will remain in force till August 31.

Labourer struggles to get taxis for sons wedding

Muktsar: The buildup of tension ahead of the verdict has impacted weddings slated for Friday. Jarnail Singh, a labourer from Kothe Surgapuri village in Gidderbaha, tried to hire vehicles to take the baraat of his two sons to Abohars Sappanwali village, but the cab owners refused. They told me that the police would stop them as the District Magistrate has banned the assembly of five or more persons. I decided to get the nod from the authorities. I first visited the SDMs office and later the DCs office. Now, I have got permission and hired two vehicles, said Jarnail. He said it was impossible to postpone the wedding as he had spent Rs 25,000. TNS

Police remove construction material from dera units

Bathinda: Security forces checked the Naam Charcha Ghar of the Dera Sacha Sauda in Malwa and removed construction material from some of them as work on making rooms was going on there. The police have been regularly checking Naam Charcha Ghar for three-four days as there were reports that Premis had stocked petrol, diesel, bricks and sticks there. The police found nothing from any ghar. Heavy police force has been deployed outside Naam Charcha Ghar. Two more companies of the police reached Bathinda on Thursday. Deputy Commissioner Diparava Lakra said 39 officers had been made duty magistrates. TNS

Holiday in state

Chandigarh: The Punjab Government has declared a holiday on August 25 for its offices in Chandigarh vide a notification. A spokesperson said all offices, boards, corporations, agencies and public sector organisations of the state will be closed on August 25.TNS

Job fair put off

Chandigarh: The job fair scheduled for Friday across the state has been postponed. A spokesperson said the event at Government Industrial Training Institute, Ludhiana, will be held as planned. Candidates are advised to check www.ggnpunjab.com for the new schedule. TNS

Badal stays put at his village

Muktsar: Former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has preferred to stay put at his mansion in Badal village here for the next few days. Badal is having Z-plus security as he faces threat from militants. Sources close to the Badal family said today the former CM was staying at his Badal village residence and visit the constituency only after the situation normalised. He (Badal) did not tour the constituency in the last three days as the situation is tense. The routine will remain same for a few days. During this period, he will stay at his residence, they informed. TNS
Our Correspondent

Abohar, August 23

The Rajasthan Sikh Advisory Committee has flayed the state police for linking Sikhs with the situation arising out of court case hearing against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

At a meeting called at the city police station in Sriganganagar today Sikh leaders Gurbachan Singh Wasan, Satnam Singh Lada, Harbans Singh Chawla, Baljinder Singh Behl and Santveer Singh Mohanpura resented the deployment of security forces around gurdwaras in rural and urban segments across the border district. They also decried attempts to bring them face to face with dera followers at such meetings.

Later, Rajasthan Sikh Advisory Committee convener Tejinderpal Singh Timma said in a statement that Sikhs had nothing to do with the court proceedings or judgments concerning the dera chief. He appealed to the Sikhs not to react to the court judgment, whatever it may be.
THERE is one mistake that is made in connection with the future constitution of India-that is the Home Government should make certain concessions to India in view of the part taken by this country in the war and the demands made by her people. This presumes that the British democracy has no duty to change the form of government in pursuance of its democratic aims apart from rewarding India for war-services and doling out concessions to a discontented people. But we are afraid that this is not the object of the political reformer, either in India or in England, who is urging constitutional changes at present. The great outstanding fact is that, even if there were no agitation in India and no demands necessitated by the war, the aims of the British democracy are to establish self-government in this country.
Dehradun, August 24

Uttarakhand Forest and Ayush Minister Harak Singh Rawat brought to fore the disquiet prevailing in the TS Rawat Cabinet by abstaining from the Cabinet meeting yesterday. Instead, Harak Singh Rawat visited Kotdwar, his Assembly segment. On being contacted, Harak Singh Rawat said he wanted to be with the people of his constituency. Flash floods took place here and my people need me, he clarified.

He joined the BJP in 2016 and was included in the Cabinet after the Assembly polls. Sources said he said he was disenchanted over not being able to get a free hand in the government. Once a powerful minister in the previous Congress government, Rawat was hoping for a similar treatment in the BJP, but it has not happened.

He has failed to get a free hand in the transfers of IFS officers or the appointment of Ayush doctors, quipped, a senior BJP leader.

The friction between him and Satpal Maharaj became visible after a heated argument during a Cabinet meeting. He said there were no doctors in hospital but he was unable to do anything about it.  TNS
Jotirmay Thapliyal

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 24

Vulture conservationists have stressed on the need to form state Vulture Conservation Action Plan to protect the species as electrocution continues to be a major threat to them in Uttarakhand.

A study conducted by researchers of Doon University and Himalayan Institute for sustainable Environment and Research Society during January 2015 to August 2017 states that more than 100 vultures, including Himalayan and Egyptian vultures were electrocuted in Dehradun and Haridwar districts during last winter.

The state provides suitable habitat for eight vulture species out of nine found

in India. Of these eight species, three have been categorised as critically endangered, one endangered, three near threatened and one as least concern.

The survey managed to record 7 vulture species except the critically endangered, slender-billed vulture. Among these seven recorded species, the numbers of white-backed vulture population were found to be low while the near-threatened Himalayan vulture, a winter migrant, had the maximum population. The Egyptian vulture was also found in good numbers from Kalsi to Tanakpur.

Khima Nand Balodi, who led the study, attributed carcass dumping near high voltage power transmission lines as the major reason behind vulture electrocution.

Dead livestock are dumped by contractors and farmers near high voltage power transmission lines. Also, the municipal solid waste dumping sites are in the vicinity of the powerlines. This makes vultures vulnerable to electrocution, argued Balodi.

The study stressed on need to draft a comprehensive planUttarakhand State Vulture Conservation Action Planfor long term conservation of the specie. It also suggested initiation of awareness and outreach programmes in the state.

The study was supported by Conservation Leadership Programme and Oriental Bird Club, UK, among others.

FACING THREAT
Tulsa is a hot spot for national franchise restaurants seeking a growing, younger market.

One of the newest additions to the 71st Street landscape is Native Grill & Wings.

The Arizona-based chain with a menu including more than 20 flavors of wings as well as pizzas, burgers and salads, has more than 30 locations in seven states.

The recently opened location at 10804 E. 71st St. is the companys first in Oklahoma.

We like growing areas with lots of families, said Adriana Espinosa, a company spokeswoman. We chose Tulsa because it is a growing area.

She said Tulsa was a perfect fit for the company as it looks to grow in the Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas area.

The company hopes to expand in the next couple of years with three to five additional locations in the state.

Coolgreens, a healthy lifestyle eatery that features build-your-own salads, wraps, bowls, flatbreads and more is ready to franchise.

The Oklahoma Citybased restaurant has six locations in Oklahoma City, Edmond and Norman and a seventh is set to open soon inside the Will Rogers World Airport.

The company would eventually like to enter the Dallas/Fort Worth area, as well as Kansas City, Wichita, Omaha and Denver.

The first step in that plan is moving into the Tulsa market, said Clay Carson, vice president of franchise development at Coolgreens.

The company is working with Buxton Analytics in Fort Worth to create its customer profile and help identify markets that will bring the best results.

Theres a science to it, Carson said. We know our core customer  and youve got pockets within bigger markets where you have groups that tend to have a bit of a healthier lifestyle.

As far as Tulsa as a market, Carson said he sees a lot of similarities between it and Oklahoma City.

Theres a lot of rejuvenation and a lot of kids who graduate that maybe 10 years ago would have left for Dallas or Chicago because the markets didnt offer things they are looking for culturally, he said.

A lot of good jobs are being created, so a lot of kids are staying home and creating a very cool community.

Other chains planning to come to Tulsa include Austin-based Torchys Taco. It is moving into the Brookside neighborhood in a location that previously held HopBunz. Dunkin Donuts has also announced a location in Broken Arrow, as well as plans to bring up to 10 restaurants to the area.

Salata, a Houston-based chain restaurant that features salads and wraps composed of made-from-scratch ingredients, opened one location at Kingspointe Village earlier this year and is in the process of opening two others.

The chain has more than 60 locations in four states.

I think Tulsa is going to be absolutely a great market for us, said franchisee Mark Brooker in an earlier Tulsa World story. Great food and very trendy.
Residential solar panels are the Oklahoma energy sectors version of Bigfoot: slowly gaining a larger following among urban dwellers but still elusive.

According to data from the Solar Energy Industries Association, a national solar energy advocacy organization, residential solar photovoltaic system installations were up 20 percent in 2016 from the previous year.

Closer to home, however, the numbers are smaller. AEP-PSO spokesman Ed Bettinger said about 150 residential and small-business customers participate in a net metering arrangement with the energy company, with most in the Tulsa metro.

Self-generating AEP-PSO customers have a special meter installed that measures both the amount of kilowatt hours generated by their solar panels that makes it back to the meter, as well as the amount of PSO-provided energy used at that particular address. Consumers can offset the amount of PSO-provided energy received but do not get compensation if their panels produce more energy than they use in any given month.

Statewide, SEIA estimates put the number of residential photovoltaic systems at less than 400 homes as of late 2016.

Part of the increased national interest in solar energy is due to a federal tax credit that allows both residential and commercial solar consumers to deduct 30 percent of the system installation costs off of their federal income taxes. Originally established as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the investment tax credit was renewed in December 2015 through December 2021 as part of an effort to further encourage the growth of the solar industry.

Under the terms of the renewal, the tax credit drops to 26 percent in 2020 and down to 22 percent in 2021. Starting in 2022 and moving forward, only commercial users will be able to claim a 10 percent federal tax deduction.

Solar energy is popular in California, but last month city officials in South Miami, Florida, became the first city outside California to require new residential construction to be equipped with solar panels.

Oklahoma averages more than five hours of peak solar energy generating capacity per day and ranks among the top 10 states for solar energy potential.

However, less than 1 percent of the states electricity is generated by solar power. Solar panels across the state are generating an estimated 2.9 megawatts of energy, thus ranking Oklahoma 47th nationally for solar use.

Part of that stems from economics. Although federal enticements are available for residential consumers, they are few and far locally. Oklahoma offers a $0.0050 per kilowatt hour tax credit for solar power generated by zero-emission facilities, but it does not have any credits or rebates available to help lower the cost of installing solar panels.

Additionally, Oklahoma is one of a handful of states that prohibits consumers  both residential and commercial  from leasing solar panels. Instead, the panels have to be purchased with cash or a loan.

Local residential solar growth is further stunted by the relatively low cost of local conventional electricity. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, customers with the states two largest electric companies, AEP-PSO and OG&E, paid an average of $0.0907 and $0.0997 per kilowatt hour respectively, more than 3 cents per kilowatt hour less than the national average for residential customers.

Montelle Clark is the energy policy director for the Oklahoma Sustainability Network, a nonprofit that works to promote the use of long-term cleaner options for the states environment and economy.

Although his organization deals more with commercial entities, he noted that OSN is starting to see more inquiries across the board about solar energy as a fiscally viable option.

Were definitely seeing more interest in solar energy, he said. Part of the challenge though is that with our electricity prices so low, the payback period for solar panels can easily last 10 to 15 years, depending on how much power you use.
Inhofes re-election campaign in previous years has hosted annual pigeon shoots to raise funds. Those shoots have drawn the ire of SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness, or SHARK, an Illinois-based group that considers them cruel.

I am happy to let you know that this year, and going forward, we are going to halt the old world pigeon shoot in favor of wild dove hunts on both Friday and Saturday, he said. I know this event has caused some tension in the past, so I hope this move will allow us to rebuild those relationships.
A federal grant announced Wednesday will dramatically accelerate the citys plan to hire dozens of firefighters who were to be funded in the first three years of Vision Tulsa.

City officials announced Wednesday that 60 firefighters can be hired with a $9.5 million Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response  or SAFER  grant administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency through the Department of Homeland Security.

The infusion of funding means 60 firefighters the city planned to hire across the first three years of Vision Tulsa funding will be able to come on board in the next 12 months, according to a city press release.

The addition of 60 firefighters to the Tulsa Fire Department means the lives of Tulsans will be better protected, property will be more secure and our firefighters themselves will be safer due to proper staffing levels, Mayor G.T. Bynum said in a statement. This is a big deal for our city.

Bynum credited Tulsas congressional delegation with securing the grant.

The role of our local firefighters is expanding to include everything from protecting critical infrastructure like inland ports and energy producers to being on the front line of the battle against opioid abuse and addressing mental health issues, U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe said. Partnering with our local emergency response agencies is fundamental to our national security efforts.

According to the release, grant costs will be divided between FEMA and the city over three years, with the agencys share at $5.9 million and the citys at $3.6 million.
Part wildlife spectacle, part fireworks show, a clash between civilization and nature underway nightly at the entrance to Tulsa International Airport is an unfortunate yet fascinating sight to see.

Each evening at sunset, about 20,000 to 30,000 purple martins, swallow-like birds, come to roost in trees that line the airport entrance road near the sign that tells visitors to bear right for departing flights or go left to catch arrivals.

Bird lovers have lamented that the martin numbers are low this year  Tulsa typically sees migration gatherings of up to 150,000 to 250,000  but that may be one sliver of good news for airport officials this migration season.

Airplanes and birds are generally a bad mix.

The US Airways miracle on the Hudson landing in New York in 2009 stemmed from a jet colliding with geese. In 1960, 62 passengers died when an Eastern Airlines jet hit a flock of starlings at Bostons Logan Airport.

The Federal Aviation Administration requires airports to take immediate action to attempt to mitigate any wildlife threat to aircraft, said Chuck Hannum, deputy director of operations and law enforcement at Tulsa International. He said he is simply trying to make sure no aircraft accidents occur due to birds.

So airport employees are tasked with firing pyrotechnics at the purple martins in what is an admittedly futile attempt to stem an immovable tide of nature, he said. They wont go away. All the workers can hope to do is keep them away from the airfield.

Generally speaking, one bird is not a problem; airplanes are built to sustain some bird strikes, Hannum said. A purple martin weighs about 2 ounces, and that isnt a problem. Are 30,000 a problem? Absolutely.

While some minor bird strikes have occurred at the airport recently, air travelers should not be concerned about the martins, he said.

Daily, as sunset nears, hundreds of martins begin to circle above trees that line the entrance road to the terminal. Workers fire rocket loads from a hand-held launcher similar to a starter pistol. The birds scatter from the whizzing whistle loads and exploding cracker shells.

However, as the mass of birds grows, the whiz-bang defense becomes less and less effective until, eventually, the birds swarm the area and the fireworks become little more than pebbles tossed at an ocean wave.

I can completely understand the airports mandate to attempt to do something, said Joe Siegrist, president of the national Purple Martin Conservation Association. Its pretty hopeless, though. Once the birds decide on a place to roost, thats pretty much the way its going to be.  Its a force of nature. Theyre flocking together so they dont feel as threatened. They avoid predators that way. The more birds you have, the more resistant they become to efforts to disperse them.

The birds at Tulsa International are not only an aircraft threat, but 30,000 birds leave a pretty big mess nightly between the terminal and the employee parking lot, Hannum said.

The sidewalks are washed daily, but it is inevitable that some employees will arrive at times when they must walk through bird droppings on their way into the building.

Unfortunately, there is nothing that will move them except cutting down the trees, and even then the birds will probably just move to the next line of trees, Siegrist said.

He added that he would rather the airport simply leave the birds alone.

What theyre doing now is probably just keeping them up in the air longer, which is probably counterproductive to their end goal, he said.

Siegrist has been in touch with Hannum and said he has heard from several members of the Tulsa Audubon Society who called him with concerns that some birds were injured by the pyrotechnics.

Hannum said he was unaware of any birds hurt or killed by the explosives.

Were not mad at the birds, not at all; we just wish they would go somewhere else, he said. Were not trying to hurt or injure any birds. Its only meant to be harassment.

The migratory birds are a protected species, but the airport holds a depredation permit issued annually by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that allows it to harass and, if necessary, kill wildlife that poses a threat to aircraft.

That is always a last, last-resort measure, Hannum said.

The airport has no plans to turn to lethal control, and the birds should move away on their own in a couple more weeks, Hannum said.

Our goal is to keep them off the airfield and simply keep them on the public side of the road, if you will, he said.

In the meantime, the airport will have people with pyrotechnics posted near the entry every evening to harass the unwanted arrivals until the birds decide to move south to their next stop.

Were hoping that this year is just an oddity, Hannum said. For some reason they came out here this year; we hope that next year they go back downtown.
A young man with family ties to the creator of Rhema Bible Training College will enter a plea next month instead of going to trial in a drive-by shooting case in which he has received assistance from a former Tulsa County district attorney.

Blake Kenneth Hagin, 19, was arraigned Wednesday on one count of using a vehicle during the discharge of a weapon on March 10, and he waived his right to a jury trial.

Hagins attorney, Ron Fraley, told District Judge William Musseman that his client is still deciding whether to accept the District Attorneys Offices recommendation of eight years incarceration or enter a blind plea so Musseman can decide an appropriate sentence.

The judge agreed to have Hagin appear in court to enter his plea Sept. 26; he also ordered Hagins 19-year-old co-defendants, Gordon McAuliff and Sevey Price, to return the same day after pushing back their scheduled trial court arraignments on the same charge. All three defendants waived their right to preliminary hearings earlier this summer.

Fraley said he anticipates asking the court to hold a sentencing hearing at a later date after Hagin enters a plea to the charge. McAuliffs attorney, Allen Smallwood, and Prices attorney, Scott Anderson, said they wanted the Sept. 26 court date so their clients could continue to weigh whether to waive their rights to a jury trial.

Former Tulsa County District Attorney Tim Harris told the Tulsa World in July that he received a request to consult with lead attorney Mike King . He confirmed that he was present at a meeting about the case with prosecutors in the office he formerly led, despite not being listed as an attorney of record for Hagin, McAuliff or Price.

Harris was a longtime acquaintance of Hagins grandfather, the Rev. Kenneth Hagin, who created Rhema Bible Training College in 1974, and Harris went to law school with King. In an interview, Harris said his goal in the case was to help Blake Hagins team seek appropriate justice for both the community and for Hagin.

Musseman ordered McAuliff and Price back into custody during a July 25 appearance because they had been arrested in Broken Arrow on drug-related complaints earlier that month. The judge decided in an Aug. 3 hearing to keep them jailed without bond but on Aug. 14 granted their attorneys request to release them with GPS monitors.

Harris is one of five Republicans running for U.S. Rep. Jim Bridenstines seat in Congress, as Bridenstine has announced he will not seek re-election. Multiple reports within the past week indicate that President Donald Trump plans to name Bridenstine as his pick for NASA administrator.
Sheriff Vic Regalado has swapped out all but one of the appraisers he inherited from the political patronage era of former Sheriff Stanley Glanz, choosing to retain the only one who held relevant credentials.

The 12 appraisers signed off on by Regalado hold current real estate or appraisal licenses, according to public database searches. None of the 12 have donated to Regalados campaign, according to finance report filings.

The sheriff emphasized the dozen he chose were selected on merit for their abilities and qualifications but also contribute diversity.

I think there is a good representation of Tulsa County as a whole, and I think more diverse than it has been in the past, Regalado said. Its comprised of Hispanic as well as African-American people, too.

Regalado retained Howard Kelsey, the only one of the 11 appraisers inherited from Glanz who had any current real estate or appraisal licenses. He called Kelsey extremely qualified and very helpful to him during the transition.

The sheriff also appointed his friend Chris Streich, who spoke with the Tulsa World in May 2016 at Regalados request to better explain the sheriffs office appraisal process. Streich, a certified appraiser, at the time said he didnt want one of the sheriffs appraisal positions.

Regalado said he called Streich and asked him to accept a position because he believes Streich is one of the best professionals in the field.

I reached out to him, Regalado said. He didnt want to be at first, but he was the one who taught me the process and was instrumental in helping me understand what appraisers do and what qualifications I should look for.

The other new appraisers are Thomas Allen, Mike Craddock, John Dellavedova, Brian Guthrie, Dennis Hall, Marsha Lassetter, Louviena Lewis, Sarah Sally Perez, Arely Sanchez and Tom Wenrick, according to information provided by the Sheriffs Office.

Wenrick noted in his application that he served as a Sheriffs Office appraiser for eight years under Glanz in the 1990s.

Craddock, Guthrie and Lassetter were the first new appraisers, beginning their monthly rotation May 25.

Allen, Hall and Perez began July 27. Dellavedova, Sanchez and Streich will begin Aug. 31.

Lewis and Wenrick are scheduled for their first rotation on Oct. 5 with Kelsey.

The Tulsa World reported in May 2015 that friends and relatives of Glanzs had earned up to $51,000 per year for the equivalent of one day of work per week appraising foreclosed property in what Glanz termed political patronage positions and a hell of a job.

Regalado told the Tulsa World in the May 6, 2016, interview that each of the appraisers would have to reapply, which he hoped to accomplish after a month or two of developing and implementing a revamped application process.

Regalado, who was first sworn in as sheriff on April 11, 2016, also told the newspaper that he wouldnt appoint anyone within two degrees of separation of his campaign donors or family.

However, the same political patronage appraisers he inherited a year later continued to earn thousands of dollars doing appraisals, including three connected to Regalados campaign donations.

In an interview with the Tulsa World on April 7, Regalado said he paused the turnover process because he became aware of a software program that can perform accurate appraisals. He said he wanted to explore that opportunity and support state law reform  a bill that later failed in the Legislature  that would have allowed its use in lieu of people.

I didnt want to make the changes then and turn around and tell (new appointees) were potentially going with this software and they have to leave, Regalado said at the time.

Three of the former holdovers from Glanzs administration have ties to Regalados campaign funds  Cassie Barkett, Deborah Brewster and Reuben Davis.

Davis donated $2,000 to Regalados campaign. He is a longtime friend of Glanzs and a former reserve sheriffs deputy.

Deborah Brewster is the wife of Clark Brewster, an attorney the Sheriffs Office uses to defend itself in jail-related lawsuits. Barkett is their daughter. Clark Brewster donated $500 to Regalados campaign.
 

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Three years ago, Kasey Hughart was part of the team launching a model program new to Tulsa schools aimed at preventing teenage parents from becoming dropouts.

Instead of sending expectant and parenting teens off campus for services, she would be their on-site case manager. Her primary goal has been getting them to graduation, but Hughart is also focused on helping students with accessing child care and health care and with career planning.

The Strong Tomorrows program, which had been operating at Hale and East Central high schools, has expanded this year to also serve students at Central and McLain high schools, and it has a presence in the junior high schools feeding into those schools.

Funding for this growth comes from $327,000 provided by the United Way of Tulsa and the George Kaiser Family Foundation.

Were confronted by all kinds of situations, and each student has their own unique struggles, Hughart said.

We do our best to connect them with as many resources in the community (as possible).

Its validating when students after graduation come back and share with us what their lives are like, because graduating high school has so many more opportunities for socioeconomic options.

Traditionally, girls who were pregnant or had children received social service case management away from their home schools  a model similar to the Margaret Hudson program, which recently announced its closure after operating for nearly 50 years. It had served about 170 girls each year in Tulsa and Broken Arrow.

Those off-site programs were created in times when pregnant girls often were not allowed to stay in school.

But Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibited gender discrimination, including pregnancy and parental status. But societal norms and school structures didnt accommodate the needs of parenting teens for decades. It took court cases starting in the 1980s to assert equal treatment.

Oklahoma is No. 2 in the nation in teen pregnancy, behind Arkansas but just ahead of Mississippi.

Teen pregnancy is a leading cause of high school dropout, according to the Tulsa Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. About 51 percent of teen mothers get their high school degrees by age 22, compared to 89 percent who are not young mothers.

In Tulsa, the Strong Tomorrows program began after the George Kaiser Family Foundation commissioned a study examining the services available to parenting youths in the city. Researchers found that the New Heights program in Washington, D.C., schools was a good fit for Tulsa. An evaluation of New Heights released in June found that it increased school attendance by 28 percent, credits earned by 99 percent and the graduation rate by 50 percent.

An initial obstacle with developing a local program is knowing where teen parents attend school. School districts dont track that information, and the Health Department has only ZIP code data.

Omare Jimmerson, coordinator of Strong Tomorrows, said GKFF committed to a pilot of the program at Hale High School, then at East Central, because of some largely anecdotal information about students there needing services.

With the launch, officials reached out to the existing off-site programs, including Margaret Hudson, to work together and avoid service duplication.

We were never competitors. I like the idea of having options, Jimmerson said. Gone are days where we are pushing students away. We need to meet students where they are. (But) the option to go off site should be an option for those who choose to do that.

Children of Strong Tomorrows students get priority enrollment for Educare and Head Start programs, which are nationally accredited early childhood programs. The students also receive referrals for health care and have parenting classes at school.

Among Strong Tomorrows partners is a program called JAMES  Just About Mothers Excelling in School  operated by Alisa Davis-Bell, which helps the students transition into school or work after graduation.

The average Strong Tomorrows caseload at the high schools has been 20, but Jimmerson predicts that it will be closer to 25 this year. The junior high schools have had one or two students in need of services.

Last year, 15 of the programs 16 seniors graduated on time.

The goal is for a case manager to be in every Tulsa high school. Implementation depends on the need, so Jimmerson is depending on school counselors to contact her when a student may need services.

By knowing where the students are in the schools, we can prioritize where to place case managers, she said.

An interesting side effect of Strong Tomorrows has been pregnancy prevention among the friends of teen parents, who get to observe the unglamorous reality of parenthood. Jimmerson said the notion that seeing teen mothers will encourage other teenagers to become young parents doesnt pan out.

Our students do a great job of sharing their own life experiences and what it really looks like, she said. Students are smart enough to know parenting is more than a one-time baby shower. We tend to underestimate students. They see what their friends are going through.

The Strong Tomorrows program is adding a fatherhood coordinator with an evidence-based curriculum to guide boys who are fathers into understanding their responsibilities to the child.

Hughart has a busy room each day with a revolving door of students coming to talk to her about their struggles. Shes part social worker and part counselor.

Students are working so hard, and the school staff does their best to advocate for them and be respectful and responsive to them, as well, Hughart said. Its been a team effort.
By Jarrel Wade  Tulsa World

Jordan Winn, designer of the proposed Tulsa flag, gets why many residents didnt immediately take to it, but that didnt stop him from getting his winning design tattooed on his arm Wednesday.

They do have a right to be upset about it, Winn said. Its a symbol, and they think people are saying, This represents you now.  Some people dont like it. Some of thats disheartening. The first couple of days, I was a little upset about it.

Since then, Winn said the support has slowly grown, and its now just been fun to see more and more people get used to it and support it.

Its a gift to the city, Winn said. If they want it, cool. If they dont, thats cool, too.

The flag, tattooed on his right arm by Robbie Reel at Black Gold Tattoo and Piercings, isnt his first tattoo, and it isnt even the first Tulsa tattoo to come out of this project.

His design was chosen as a finalist out of hundreds by a blind committee, but he actually works as a graphic designer in the studio owned by one of the Tulsa flag campaign leaders, Tulsas Gitwit.

As part of the campaign, he helped design a Tulsa logo, which he had tattooed about six months ago opposite of Wednesdays fresh ink.

For Winn, the entire project is about pride in Tulsa  not just his own artwork.

I was born and raised here, Winn said.

Another tattoo, hidden by a short shirt sleeve on his shoulder, is of the Oklahoma state flags Osage shield.

He started doing graphic design in middle school and went from Tulsa to Stillwater to work on a psychology degree before starting his own design studio there. He later left school to do graphic design full time, he said.

One of the things about his design that people probably dont know is that he submitted about 10 designs for the blind committees review.

Beyond that, he said, he sketched out 60 or more ideas before whittling them down to the 10 and tweaking those designs.

The final flag stood out as a simple, straightforward design, Winn said. Its a nod to the Oklahoma flag, which I thought was cool.

The Tulsa City Council hasnt been as accepting of the design, leaving the project of officially adopting the flag on hiatus in response to public backlash from residents who either dont like Winns design or prefer the current flag, which features the Tulsa city seal.

Winn said he hasnt experienced that level of negative feedback before on a design and was fairly wounded at first.

Ive read thousands of comments of people saying it was a communist flag, Winn said. After a couple of days, I got over it.  When we started seeing how many people were talking (positively) about it, that was a great thing for us. The last few weeks weve been having fun with it.
The Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma is hosting a new fundraising event in September, which is known as national Hunger Action Month, and is encouraging others to participate.

In an ongoing effort to fight hunger in the Tulsa communities, former Mayor Kathy Taylor is the honorary chair for the first Take A Seat campaign in support of the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, according to a news release. The goal is to bring the community together and raise awareness about the issue of hunger in our community. In Oklahoma, 632,000 people struggle with hunger, and one in four children is at risk of going to bed hungry.

We all have a role to fill in helping hungry children, parents and grandparents in Oklahoma, said Taylor in the release. Hunger is not something we can ignore. Here is an opportunity to have a great time with family and friends and make a significant difference in our community as well. Every dollar raised will provide the equivalent of four meals to those in our community struggling with hunger. I hope everyone will join me in this community effort and Take a Seat with our fellow Oklahomans.

Take A Seat is a 10-day campaign, with fundraising events scheduled Sept. 22-Oct. 1.

The idea behind the initiative is simple: Get together with friends, family or co-workers and experience the gratifying feeling of helping our many neighbors who struggle with hunger.

During the 10 days of Take A Seat, supporters will host a variety of food- or drink-related events to benefit the food bank. Event hosts can establish a set fee to attend or ask for donations with all proceeds benefiting the food bank.

Take A Seat events can be simple or elaborate and may feature catered spreads, food prepared by the host or presented as a potluck. Hosts can choose to focus on one particular meal  breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner  or choose a specific focus, such as cocktails, dessert, cookouts, etc.

Food has the power to bring many together, and together, we have the power to bring food to many, said Eileen Bradshaw, executive director of the food bank, in the news release. We are so grateful to Mayor Taylor for taking the lead on this new initiative. We hope to see and hear about many fun and creative gatherings all over eastern Oklahoma.

The food bank serves a variety of hunger relief programs in cities and towns throughout all 24 counties of eastern Oklahoma. Through its network of 450 partner programs, the food bank provides 475,000 meals each week to people struggling with hunger.

For more information about Take A Seat or to register to host an event, contact Rochelle Dowdell at 918-936-4508 or rdowdell@okfoodbank.org.
Who's in Group C?

Chelsea (ENG)

 UEFA coefficient ranking: 10

 How they qualified: first in English Premier League

 Previous group stage campaigns: 14 (last appearance: 2015/16)

 Last season: not in UEFA competition

 Best European Cup performance: winners x 1 (2011/12)

Atletico Madrid (ESP)

 UEFA coefficient ranking: 4

 How they qualified: third in Spanish Liga

 Previous group stage campaigns: 7 (last appearance: 2016/17)

 Last season: UEFA Champions League semi-finals

 Best European Cup performance: runners-up (1973/74, 2013/14, 2015/16)

Francesco Totti has retired Getty Images for UEFA

Roma (ITA)

 UEFA coefficient ranking: 37

 How they qualified: second in Serie A

 Previous group stage campaigns: 9 (last appearance: 2015/16)

 Last season: UEFA Champions League play-offs/UEFA Europa League round of 16

 Best European Cup performance: runners-up (1983/84)

Qarabag (AZE)

 UEFA coefficient ranking: 106

 How they qualified: first in Azerbaijani Premier League, play-off winners

 Previous group stage campaigns: debut (first Azerbaijani qualifiers)

 Last season: UEFA Europa League group stage

 Best European Cup performance: group stage (2017/18)

Matchday one fixtures (Tuesday 12 September)

Chelsea v Qarabag

Roma v Atletico Madrid

Key facts

Willian and ex-Chelsea man Filipe Luis AFP/Getty Images

 Atletico reached the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League final by beating Chelsea in the semi-finals, following up a goalless home leg with a 3-1 victory at Stamford Bridge.

 The Spanish club also beat Chelsea in the 2012 UEFA Super Cup, coming out on top 4-1 thanks mainly to a Radamel Falcao hat-trick.

 Chelsea and Roma met in the 2008/09 group stage, Chelsea winning 1-0 in London but going down 3-1 in Italy.

 Group stage debutants Qarabag have never played Chelsea, Atletico or Roma before.

 Atletico's only previous tie with Roma came in the 1998/99 UEFA Cup quarter-finals, the Spanish side winning 2-1 home and away.
A new analysis of Texas political boundaries by the University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs found the states Congressional redistricting plan would likely be found unconstitutional if partisan gerrymandering were considered, while the state Senate and House redistricting plans appear to fall within constitutional guidelines if solely considering partisanship.

The current court challenge to Texas redistricting plans for Congressional and state House seats is based on racial gerrymandering, not whether the lines were drawn to provide a partisan advantage.

The analysis of the Texas redistricting plans relied on a new statistical measure of partisan gerrymandering used by the Democratic plaintiffs in a Wisconsin case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. That case is focused on whether there is a threshold for partisan gerrymandering that, once crossed, makes a redistricting plan unconstitutional.

For the analysis, Hobby School researchers considered Texas Legislative and Congressional races in 2012, 2014 and 2016, calculating the efficiency gap, a measure of the systemic advantage to one party or the other. The efficiency gap includes the number of votes wasted on a particular candidate because of efforts to pack a district with either Democratic or Republican voters.

Jim Granato, executive director of the Hobby School, said its not a surprise for the party in power to benefit from redrawing political boundaries.

It is well accepted that the party in power benefits from redistricting, Granato said.

Mark P. Jones, political scientist at Rice University and a research associate at the Hobby School, said the analysis found the Texas redistricting plan provided Republicans with 3.2 more seats in Congress than they would have earned under a neutral redistricting plan. According to the efficiency gap measure, anything above 2 seats is unconstitutional.

This is 1.2 seats more than the Republicans would have received under a plan that did not rely on extreme partisan gerrymandering, he said.

In the Texas House districts, Renee Cross, associate director of the Hobby School, said the efficiency threshold is anything above 12 seats, and the analysis found that state House districts averaged 6.9 seats during the period of 2012-2016. A smaller gap was found in the Texas Senate with a varying threshold determined by the number of senators elected in a given year.

While partisan gerrymandering is a common practice, the question is when does it become extreme? Cross said.

This fall the Hobby School will release a report on partisan gerrymandering in Texas, which will contain a series of sensitivity tests of the efficiency gap measure, with a particular focus on different methods for imputing the electoral support for Democrats and Republicans in uncontested seats.

Preliminary analysis indicates the efficiency gap measure is sensitive to the assumptions made in the models used to impute Democratic and Republican support in uncontested legislative contests, as well as to the frequency of contested seats where the losing party is represented by a gadfly candidate. As a consequence, the efficiency gap values in a given election can vary depending on the imputation methods employed.

Read more about the analysis here.

Cover photo: Getty images
[August 23, 2017] Timothy Ngui joins AdvanIDe as COO

Combined Role of CIO and COO to strengthen operational and digital capabilities to deliver into growth markets. SINGAPORE, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- AdvanIDe, Advanced ID Electronics, the leading independent provider of semiconductors for the smart card, IoT, M2M and RFID industry, today announced the new addition to the Executive Management Team. The role combines the strategic functions of a Chief Information Officer (CIO) with that one of a Chief Operating Officer (COO). Singapore-based Timothy Ngui was chosen to take on this leadership position and joins the AdvanIDe Executive Management team as COO with immediate effect. "Being the leader for the delivery of secure semiconductors and value-added products and services into identification and security markets, we experience the need to improve our operational capabilities by making them faster, more efficient, more scalable and to move them to the digital domain," said Holger Roessner, CEO of AdvanIDe Holdings Pte Ltd. Mr. Timothy Ngui is a certified Productivity and Innovation Manager and LEAN Six igma and Business Process Re-engineering Implementer. He has a depth of experience in Information Technology, Human Talent Management, Strategic Planning, Corporate Restructuring, Risk Management, Real Estate Management, Corporate Secretariat and Financial Analytics, Compliance and Audit. In his past career, Mr. Ngui was recently the Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President of GLG CORP LTD, an Australian Listed Company (GLE.AX) providing global textile and apparel solutions to customers from Fortune 500 companies. In 2017, Mr. Ngui provided consultancy services to an arm of the Boston Consulting Group for Corporate Finance matters for a regional bank. Timothy holds a Degree in Professional Communication from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.



"In this digital age, the demand for accurate, strategic analytics is crucial to the success of a business. AdvanIDe will enhance client and supplier engagement by leveraging on rapidly scalable solutions according to business needs. We will achieve this through connected communications across an intelligent operations eco-system," said Mr. Ngui. AdvanIDe is going to embark on a total digital transformation moving out of the current legacy systems that were used under the prior ownership and will integrate digitally with key suppliers and clients alike.

About AdvanIDe AdvanIDe - Advanced ID Electronics - is one of the leading semiconductor providers, focused on components for RFID transponders, chip cards and RFID readers and terminals. The company's products are used in the secure access market for applications including access management and control, automated fare collection and object identification, and secure ID and transactions for eGovernment, M2M, secure authentication, IoT and related uses. The company expects revenues in excess of USD 150M in 2017 and operates from 11 offices in key international markets and three representative offices in Korea, Japan and Taiwan. Additional information can be found by visiting www.advanide.com. AdvanIDe Media Contact:

Ms. Sharon Gng

+65-6738-0030

[email protected] Logo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170824/1926025-1logo SOURCE AdvanIDe

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Renewed commitment is needed to ensure protection and solutions.  MOAS

A newly compiled report by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, shows a decline in the number of refugees and migrants arriving in Europe in the first half of 2017. However, without legal means available to them many are still resorting to being transported by ruthless people-smuggling and trafficking networks, risking death, serious abuses, or both.

The report says that overall Mediterranean crossings fell sharply in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2016, due mainly to a 94% decline in people using the sea route from Turkey into Greece. Meanwhile, crossings from North Africa to Italy have remained at around the same level as last year (83,752 people as of end June, and lower arrivals rates since).

Despite the fall in arrivals, the likelihood of dying among people seeking to reach Europe is still alarmingly high. The report says an estimated 2,253 people died or went missing at sea, and at least 40 died on land routes at or near European borders. As most people travel clandestinely, such information is hard to confirm and these estimates are considered conservative. Violence and abuse along the journey, most notably in Libya, are rife.

Taking measures to reduce the number of refugees and migrants arriving in Europe, without at the same time stepping up peace-making, development, and safe pathways is morally unacceptable, said High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. We cant afford to ignore abuses clearly taking place simply because they happen out of our sight.

The report says that many of the migrants and refugees who have reached Italy from Libya have survived dangerous desert crossings and abuses that include sexual violence, torture, and abductions for ransom. At sea, the risk of dying en route to Italy is one in 39.

And while many who make the journey do so in search of livelihoods, thousands of others are fleeing violence in their home countries or persecution. Some 11,400 of those who reached Italy in the first half of the year were children unaccompanied or separated from their families. Many arrivals, amongst them children, were victims of sexual violence or trafficking. In all, over 40 percent of asylum applicants in Italy between January and June qualified for protection of some kind.

UNHCRs report also shows a rise in the number of arrivals to Spain, with 9,500 people reaching the country since the start of January, mainly by sea, compared to the 4,936 who arrived during the first six months of 2016.

On land, movements across Europe continued in the first half of 2017, although at a much reduced level compared to the same period last year. People moving onwards irregularly from Greece and Bulgaria reported abuses at the hands of smugglers, as well as being beaten, and set upon by police dogs. In addition there were reports of robberies, and kidnappings by smugglers for extortion.

During the period of the report UNHCR and partners continued to receive allegations of push-backs by State authorities, including in Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Spain and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. There were also reports of access to asylum procedures being denied and allegations of violence in some instances. While some States have taken steps to address such actions, for example through investigating allegations of human rights abuses at borders, the report notes that further measures are required.

The report notes that renewed commitment is needed to ensure protection and solutions, including for those on the move before they reach Libya and concrete steps to address smuggling and trafficking. These measures must be combined with more safe and legal pathways, including increasing resettlement and facilitating family reunification. This is crucial if we want to protect refugees and migrants from criminal networks, reduce reliance on smugglers, and reduce further abuse and deaths.

ENDS

*The report is available here.
UNHCR officers assess a family's needs upon their return to their home in Timbuktu. Their house had been pillaged and damaged while they were in exile.  UNHCR/Ibrahim Idrissa

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi expressed shock and outrage after unknown attackers fired shots at a UNHCR vehicle in Timbuktu, Mali on Tuesday  injuring two staff members. The vehicle came under fire despite being clearly identified with the UN Refugee Agencys logo. Both of the injured are currently receiving medical care.

I am deeply shocked by such an attack on our colleagues in Timbuktu, who are providing assistance and protection to those fleeing violence, High Commissioner Grandi said.

Our colleagues are working tirelessly in Mali, under some of the most challenging conditions, he said, and for such an act to happen just as we observed World Humanitarian Day is a painful reminder of the risks to those who put their lives on the line every day to save the lives of others.

Grandi repeated his call for the protection of humanitarian workers saying, such an attack does not diminish our resolve to continue working to provide protection to those displaced by conflict. All our thoughts are with our colleagues and to their families, with hopes for a swift recovery.

In 2016, there were 158 major attacks against humanitarian aid operations globally, with a total of 288 aid workers killed, injured or kidnapped  including three UNHCR staff who endured 23 days in captivity in Darfur.

Media contacts:
Solomon* was just 10 years old when he was forced to flee his home in Eritrea. Now 14, he has been living alone in a transit reception facility for months.

He is one of some 33,000 unaccompanied children who arrived in Italy by sea between January 2016 to June 2017. Many have experienced a wide range of abuses on the way, including sexual and gender-based violence, and been forced to deal with psychological and physical issues alone.

Solomon was exploited by smugglers as he travelled through Sudan and Libya in the hope of reaching Europe. We got sold in the Sahara then again in Libya where we stayed for seven months, he says. It was very difficult, very difficult. You give up on your life. They made us pay a lot of money. One buys you then sells you, then another one sells you.

It was very difficult, very difficult. You give up on your life."

In Libya, he was held by smugglers for a month. He lived in a room with hundreds of other refugees and migrants, where he was given little food and beatings occurred every day. When Solomon and the rest of the group were finally taken to board a boat bound for Italy, they were crammed onto it along with hundreds of other people.

There were 900 people on the boat, Solomon recalls. We took off at night at about six or seven. It was difficult  the sea was rough, people were fighting, people died, some from anxiety and some from the fighting. Many people died. It was scary but what can you do when you dont have a choice? You cannot be scared because sooner or later you have to cross.

After two days at sea, Solomons boat was rescued and taken to Italy, where he was placed in a community centre for unaccompanied children.

Although he was finally safe, Solomon still hoped to be reunited with his aunt in the Netherlands. Like countless others separated from loved ones, long waiting times soon compelled him to take matters into his own hands once more, risking abuse, violence and exploitation.

"Children should not expose themselves to such risks," says Stephane Jaquemet, UNHCR Regional Representative for Southern Europe. "Family reunion across borders needs to improve, not only to avoid these dangers, but also to restore the hope and the trust of children like Solomon."

"It was very difficult," says Solomon. "You give up on your life."  UNHCR/Alessandro Penso

With a group of teenagers, Solomon set out at night with only a backpack and a flashlight, following the train tracks. When the tracks entered tunnels in the mountainside, he and his friends would start running and praying that a train would not come at that moment  if it had, there would have been no way for them to escape being run over.

Their journey came to an end when border police detained them and returned them to Italy. Today, Solomon is still waiting to be reunited with his beloved aunt.

A report published by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, illustrates that many people like Solomon make such desperate and dangerous journeys partly due to the lack of safe and legal pathways.

The study found that while the overall number of Mediterranean crossings fell sharply in the first half of this year, compared to the same period in 2016, the likelihood of dying among people seeking to reach Europe is still alarmingly high.

The report says an estimated 2,253 people died or went missing at sea during the period, and at least 40 died on land routes at or near European borders. As most people travel clandestinely, such information is hard to confirm and these estimates are considered conservative. Violence and abuse along the journey, most notably in Libya, are rife.

UNHCR has urged states to simplify incredibly lengthy and cumbersome procedures for people willing to reunite with their family members. It is also encouraging states to increase the speed of relocation for eligible asylum-seekers in Italy, including unaccompanied children, as a gesture of solidarity towards Italy.

Despite the high number of eligible applicants, like Solomon, only a few isolated cases of relocation of minors from Italy have succeeded. To address this, specific measures for unaccompanied children and more effective responsibility sharing and solidarity amongst EU member states are needed.

Taking measures to reduce the number of refugees and migrants arriving in Europe, without at the same time stepping up peace-making, development, and safe pathways is morally unacceptable, said High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in a statement.

* Name has been changed for protection reasons

This story is one of a series highlighting desperate journeys. You can read about the deadly human smuggling trade through Niger.
[August 24, 2017] Nominum and CIRA Create "Cyber-Secure Schools" Initiative to Bring Powerful Cyber Protections to Schools Throughout Canada

Nominum, an innovator of internet security solutions and services, and the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), announced today that they have joined forces to deliver a powerful, cost-effective cloud security solution to K-12 schools, school boards and higher education institutions across Canada through a collaborative "Cyber-Secure Schools" initiative. The Cyber-Secure Schools program aims to reduce malware risk, improve network performance and create safe online learning environments for teachers, students and administrators - as well as every device connected to the school network - through CIRA's D-Zone DNS firewall powered by Nominum (News - Alert) N2 Secure Business. Nominum and CIRA are already seeing rapid adoption of D-Zone by school boards across Canada, given the significant costs associated with cyberattacks, budget constraints, and the need for solutions that are easy to implement and manage. For example, the Wild Rose School Division in Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, has deployed the solution to protect its users from increasing incidents of ransomware and phishing attacks they see on their networks. "Our district has a mobile-first strategy, driven by technology and learning strategies that are moving education beyond the classroom. Because of this, it's critical that our network blocks malware and malicious content so students and teachers remain protected, no matter where they are," said Jaymon Lefebvre, Director, IT Services for Wild Rose School Division. "This requires effective security that dynamically scales to meet growing demands and policy changes. The Nominum-CIRA Cyber-Secure Schools initiative and cloud security solution they provide ensures that the entire Wild Rose community is safeguarded from today's dangerous threats." "Less than half of zero-day malware is detected by traditional anti-virus solutions, and since most malware uses DNS for command and control, our combined solution is an ideal first line of defense that complements any company's security solution against emerging threats," said Dave Chiswell, Vice President of Product Development for CIRA. "Through our partnership with Nominum we are delivering a better, more secure internet to schools and businesses throughout Canada, giving students, eachers and administrative staff assurances that educational activities taking place online are safe."



Education Sector Hit Hardest by Ransomware, Driving the Need for Better Cybersecurity U.S. government statistics show that the rate of ransomware attacks tripled in 2016 over 2015.1 Specifically, research conducted by the security ratings firm BitSight showed that ransomware strikes the education sector more than any other, with one in 10 schools having been hit with malware on their networks.2

"With cybercrime on the rise and schools facing budget and resource limitations, they are particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks that could cause long-term financial and operational damage," said Arlen Frew, General Manager, Security Solutions for Nominum. "In today's Digital Age, with more instruction and learning taking place online, it's critical that schools have a powerful security infrastructure to keep students, teachers and other users protected. CIRA and Nominum are delivering enterprise-class security in a cost-effective solution that requires little hands-on maintenance - a combination that is missing from the education security marketplace." N2 Secure Business: Protecting SMBs in an Easily Managed Cloud Solution Nominum N2 Secure Business is a ground-breaking cloud-based security solution that enables managed services providers like CIRA, as well as ISPs and telecom operators, to deliver a white-label security-as-a-service (SECaaS) solution to schools, government agencies and small and medium-sized business (SMB) customers. N2 Secure Business is quickly creating new revenue streams for these providers, which are now able to offer enterprise-class security in a solution that is ideally suited for the education sector from a cost and ease of management perspective. The solution utilizes Nominum's global DNS footprint and near real-time threat intelligence stream to discover and automatically block users from connecting to malicious domains and fills a critical market need for protection from ransomware, phishing and other malware in an easily managed solution that is suited to a small business budget. The technology also allows for simple management of content blocking, a requirement to ensure students in the K-12 environment are offered a safe and secure online experience. N2-powered D-Zone DNS Firewall: The Ideal Hands-off Solution for K-12 and Higher Education Schools The D-Zone DNS Firewall locates the technology in Canadian Internet Exchange Points to deliver a very high-performance recursive service, keep query data in Canada, help move more traffic onto low-cost, or free education and research networks and provide higher security. The Cyber-Secure Schools program further benefits schools by providing licensing models that recognizes the different user in a school board environment. And finally, schools (and businesses) can create, modify and grant different levels of access to content for students based on age-appropriate safe browsing polices. About CIRA The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) manages the .CA (News - Alert) top-level domain on behalf of all Canadians. CIRA also develops technologies and services that help support its goal of building a better online Canada. CIRA's D-Zone Anycast DNS provides is the most comprehensive Canadian DNS solution available on the market, helping to improve security and performance for Canadian organizations. The CIRA team operates one of the fastest growing ccTLDs, a high-performance global DNS network, and one of the world's most advanced back-end registry solutions. CIRA helps to support the Canadian Internet community through investments in Internet Exchange Points, the Canada Internet Forum, and the CIRA Community Investment Program. About Nominum Nominum is a pioneer and global leader in internet security and services innovation. The Silicon Valley company provides an integrated suite of carrier-grade DNS-based solutions that enable fixed and mobile operators, and managed services and web application providers to protect and enhance their networks, strengthen security for business and residential subscribers and offer innovative value-added services that can be monetized. The result is improved service agility, higher ARPU, increased brand loyalty and a strong competitive advantage. More than 130 service providers in over 40 countries trust Nominum to deliver a safe, customizable internet and promote greater value to over half a billion users. Nominum DNS software resolves 1.7 trillion queries around the globe every day-roughly 100 times more transactions than the combined daily volume of tweets, likes, and searches taking place on major web properties. For more information visit nominum.com. Follow us on Twitter (News - Alert): @nominum https://twitter.com/nominum Follow us on LinkedIn (News - Alert): https://www.linkedin.com/company/nominum See us on YouTube (News - Alert): https://www.youtube.com/nominum Read our latest Nominum blogs: http://nominum.com/blog/ | http://nominum.com/tech-blog/ 1 https://malware.news/t/ransomware-attacks-increase-300-in-2016/10347 2 http://www.darkreading.com/attacks-breaches/education-now-suffers-the-most-ransomware-attacks-/d/d-id/1326960 View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170824005442/en/

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A man wades through floodwaters away from his car after heavy rains brought on by Typhoon Hato in Hong Kong. (Anthony WALLACE/AFP)

The storm had raised Hong Kong's most severe Typhoon 10 warning, only the third time a storm of this power has pounded the financial hub in the past 20 years.

Five people were killed in the gambling mecca of Macau, where local media showed cars underwater and people swimming along what are normally streets. The enclave's famed mega-casinos were running on backup generators.

One man died after being injured by a wall that blew down, another fell from a fourth floor terrace and another was a Chinese tourist hit by a truck, the Macau government said. Details on the two other victims there were not immediately available.

The powerful storm earlier swept through neighbouring Hong Kong, where an 83-year-old man died after he fell into the sea, police said. More than 120 were injured as the territory was lashed with hurricane winds and pounding rain.

In the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, at least four people died and 26,817 people evacuated to temporary shelters, the official Xinhua news agency said. Nearly two million households were briefly without power.

Authorities issued alerts over possible landslides and flooding as the typhoon continued on a path inland.

In Macau, people swam through muddy water on what are normally roads, as others were swept off their feet by winds, footage from Apple Daily showed.

The sprawling Venetian casino resort was on back-up power and without air conditioning or proper lighting, according to one source.

An employee of Sands, which owns the Venetian and the Parisian, said power had been out across the whole of Macau but was beginning to return.

"Because many guests come in the summer, a lot of them have been stuck in the major resorts and casinos," the employee said.

"All transportations - air, ground, sea - have halted, so customers who have checked out cannot leave yet."

Residents took to social media to complain about city-wide power and mobile phone network outages.

Brian Chan, 31, said authorities had failed to give enough notice of the impending storm and were not properly prepared, describing the territory as "totally lost" in the typhoon.

Water supply was also limited, authorities said, and 50 flights cancelled from its international airport.

By evening, parts of Macau were still without power.

"Some have no tap water supply. The city looks like after an attack," Harald Bruning, editor of the Macau Post Daily, told AFP, describing it as the worst typhoon he had experienced in 30 years.

'FLYING TREES'

The typhoon passed as close as 60 kilometres from Hong Kong and made landfall at noon (0400 GMT) in the southern mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai.

The typhoon shut down the stock market in the territory of 7.3 million people, and forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights.

Hato sent metres-high waves crashing into Hong Kong's shorelines with flooding knee deep in some areas.

Swathes of marine rubbish washed up on beaches and in coastal residential areas, including white globs of palm oil which have been coming ashore since a massive spillage at sea earlier this month.

Gusts of up to 207 kilometres per hour brought flying debris, tearing down trees and scaffolding and smashing skyscraper windows. Fallen trees cut off roads to parts of the territory.

More than 400 flights were cancelled, with Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific axing most of its departures until 5.00pm (0900 GMT).

The airline said it had begun to reschedule the flights with some taking off on Wednesday evening.

Hong Kong is regularly besieged by typhoons between July and October, but direct hits are rare.

The city saw its strongest storm in 1962 when the eye of typhoon Wanda passed over and gusts of 284 kilometres per hour were recorded. It killed 130 people and left 72,000 people homeless.
The signing ceremony marking the first steps of Apax Franklin Academy in Vietnam

The signing ceremony of a cooperation agreement took place on August 23, 2017 and marks the official launching of Apax Franklin Co., Ltd. with its Apax Franklin Academy system in Vietnam. This is a joint venture between Franklin Virtual Schools/Franklin Learning Centres (Franklin) from the US and Apax Holding JSC (Apax Holdings), a subsidiary of Vietnamese Egroup JSC.

Apax Franklin is the first academic system in Vietnam to provide students from grade nine to grade twelve with high school and pre-university courses based on the blended-learning modelthe combination of online teaching and direct support from Apax Franklins branches located in Vietnam.

Distinguished guests attending the ceremony

By attending Apax Franklin Academy, high school students can get US-standard degrees while living in Vietnam, with flexible learning schedules and at a reasonable cost. It is estimated that these courses are about 30 per cent cheaper than studying abroad. These degrees are recognised in the US as they were appraised by trusted educational organisations like SACS or AdvancED.

In addition, Apax Franklin Academy also focuses on pre-university students, offering numerous programmes of English as Second Language (ESL), English Language Enrichment (ELE), and preparation for SAT/ACT/GED. Furthermore, the academy brings about opportunities to study in the US for high school and pre-university students via short-term and long-term cultural exchange programmes and counselling services for studying and looking for scholarships in the US.

Egroup's chairman Nguyen Ngoc Thuy

At the ceremony, Nguyen Ngoc Thuy, Egroups chairman, said, In the context of international integration, we have more chances to approach and learn new knowledge, as well as to build international relationships. We believe that technology will be the basic foundation to develop an efficient learning method to keep up with new trends in the era of globalisation. Thus, by developing the Apax Franklin Academy system, we expect that this learning programme will equip students with the necessary knowledge and skills for their studies in the US and Europe in the future, as well as help them familiarise themselves with the new environment, while still in Vietnam at the most reasonable cost.

Franklin's chairman cum CEO David Hooser

At the same time, David Hooser, chairman cum CEO of Franklin, also talked about the two companies shared goals. We and Egroup share a vision, one world and our kids learning together, that will bring this world to a place in the future it could never reach otherwise.

With the degrees recognised by trusted educational organisations in the US and the whole world, the education programmes offered by Apax Franklin will help Vietnamese students to break into reputed universities in the US, the UK, Australia, as well as other countries with innovative education systems all around the world.

Established in 2009, Franklins education programmes have attracted more than four billion students from over 100 countries. Most of these students come from countries with strict education standards, such as the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, and Japan.

Nguyen Ngoc Thuy presenting David Hooser with a gift to celebrate the cooperation

Franklin supplies various education programmes mainly for high school and pre-university students between the ages of 15 and 18. Franklins programmes and the related degrees are recognised by the US government and AdvancED, a reputed appraisal organisation.

Regarding Apax Holdings, this Egroup subsidiary works in the field of education with the chain of Apax English, Apax Igarten, and, recently, Apax Franklin. Apax Holdings was listed on the UPCoM with the ticker IBC. It is expected that Apax Holdings will be listed on HoSE in the third quarter of 2017.

During the period of 2017-2018, Apax Holdings plans to continue developing its chains of Apax English and Apax Igarten. Meanwhile, it will continue the cooperation with its parent company Egroup to finish Education Park, a popular academy model of training and ecological education in the world.
The proposals outlined also left open the possibility of the ECJ having jurisdiction during any transition periods agreed for after Britain leaves the bloc and before a new UK-EU partnership comes into force.

Opposition lawmakers said the negotiating position was a reversal from the complete break previously advocated by Prime Minister Theresa May, who had said she would "bring an end to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in Britain".

The influence of the ECJ in Britain was a major bone of contention in last year's EU referendum campaign in which supporters of a "Leave" vote had argued in favour of complete judicial sovereignty for Britain.

The government paper published on Wednesday said that only the ECJ's "direct jurisdiction" would end.

"It is not necessary or appropriate for the CJEU (Court of Justice of the European Union) to have direct jurisdiction over a non-member state ... Such an arrangement would be unprecedented," the Department for Exiting the EU said.

Britain said there were "existing ways of resolving disputes in international agreements, without the CJEU having direct jurisdiction".

It outlined several precedents such as joint political committees and arbitration courts already used by the EU to enforce international agreements with third countries and said similar mechanisms could be used for Britain after Brexit.

'PIE IN THE SKY'

Even the modified proposals are likely to prove a bone of contention with the EU, which has argued for direct ECJ jurisdiction for example in cases involving European citizens living in Britain.

But the perception among government critics in Britain was of a softening of its position.

Pro-EU opposition Labour MP Chuka Umunna said the "sudden shifting of the goalposts to ending only the 'direct' jurisdiction of the ECJ suggests they are paving the way for some sort of climbdown".

Vince Cable, leader of the Liberal Democrats, the most vocal pro-EU opposition party in parliament, said the proposals were a "sensible and long overdue climbdown".

"The government seems to have belatedly accepted it won't be possible to end the EU court's influence in the UK without damaging our free trade and security cooperation," he said in a statement.

Junior justice minister Dominic Raab defended the government's position saying it was "absolutely and wholesale wrong" to suggest that Britain would still have to respect the rulings of the ECJ.

But he added: "It makes sense for the UK to keep half an eye on the case law of the EU and for the EU to keep half an eye on the case law of the UK," he told BBC Radio.

Former attorney general Dominic Grieve told the BBC: "The idea that we are somehow going to wholly escape the influence of the European Court of Justice on our lives in this country is, I'm afraid, pie in the sky".

"It's going to continue in many areas to have a very profound influence, but of course the difference is going to be that we will no longer have any direct influence into the formation of that EU jurisprudence because we ourselves will no longer be appearing in front of the ECJ as an EU member," he said.
USAID's V-LEEP will provide much-needed momentum for energy efficiency in the sector

The loan was introduced in the framework of the workshop themed Technical assistance to apply low-emission energy technologies in Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises organised by US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas) in Hanoi on August 23.

Through supplying loans for Vietnamese enterprises to invest in modern technologies, the World Bank aims to help Vietnamese enterprises in general and textile and garment enterprises in particular to use energy effectively and safely.

The project, which will be implemented in the 2017-2022 period, combines four components. The first component is energy efficiency investment lending. Accordingly, the World Bank will provide a loan amount of $312.5 million over five years. The money will be divided among commercial banks to disburse among enterprises through loans.

The second component is technical assistance and capacity enhancement for enterprises and related authorities, while the third component is setting up a risk-sharing fund. The last step will be a $10-million carbon financing programme.

Vietnamese enterprises in general and textile and garment enterprises in particular will benefit from this project because they will be permitted to receive long-term low-interest loans for up to 80 per cent of the investment capital of low-emission energy technologies, said Chu Ba Thi, co-leader of VEEIE.

Thi added that it will be easy for Vietnamese enterprises to approach these loans because when they register at commercial banks, their applications will be forwarded directly to the World Bank for approval. There will be no any intermediaries between commercial banks and the World Bank as previously.

After conducting the programme, the World Bank will target major annual results, including saving 3.7 billion kWh of power, 2.15 million tonnes of coal, and decreasing CO 2 emissions by 9.67 million tonnes.

A representative of Viet Thai Garment Export JSC said that the company has equipped a lighting system and a boiler and steam distribution system imported from Japan and Europe to decrease emissions and save energy, because the company's board of directors are aware of the importance of investing in modern, energy efficient technologies and meeting foreign partners' rigorous standards.

"I think that with the favourable conditions to approach it, the loan will be useful for Vietnamese enterprises, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises as Viet Thai. I will propose applying for the loan to the board of directors," added the representative of Viet Thai.

In the framework of the event, USAID launched Vietnam Low Emission Energy Program (V-LEEP) to help Vietnamese enterprises in general and textile and garment enterprises in particular to deal with energy problems

V-LEEP is a USAID-funded project designed to assist public and private stakeholders in Vietnam in establishing an effective policy, regulatory, and incentive environment for low-emission growth in the energy sector, while simultaneously attracting investment in renewable energy development and industrial energy efficiency.

The programme will promote the development of critical building blocks to scale up clean energy, including access to technology, access to financing, the development of bankable projects, and the development of a sustainable renewable energy supply for Vietnam.

Vietnam currently has more than 6,000 textile and garment enterprises in operation, almost all of which employ simple manufacturing processes with low value, while the textile and garment industry ranks second on the list of industries using energies having the largest CO 2 emission.

According to a USAID report, the textile and garment industry spends $3 billion on energy every year. Equipment using the largest energy include boiler and steam distribution systems, air compressors, and lighting systems, while the most frequently used energy sources are coal, electricity, and oil.

Large energy expenses contribute to increasing manufacturing costs, indirectly pushing up product prices and reducing Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises competitive capacity.

According to Vu Duc Giang, chairman of Vitas, Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises are facing numerous difficulties, including the decreasing value of contracts, foreign partners requirements to shorten delivery time, and setting prices comparable to those in China, India, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar, among others. Besides, the free trade agreements that Vietnam signed have yet to bear fruits for Vietnamese enterprises.

Thereby, the programmes of USAID and the World Bank are expected to help Vietnamese enterprises in general and textile and garment enterprises in particular to apply low-emission energy technologies, aiming to reduce production costs and enhance competitiveness.
Workers at PV Oils Dung Quat Refinery. - VNA/VNS Photo Huy Hung

SOE equitisation is seen as an effective solution for increasing productivity, promoting economic restructuring, attracting investment and encouraging private sector growth.

As such, accurate evaluation of the firms financial value before the equitisation process is crucial because they form the foundation for later actions including the issuance of shares and dividends.

For the time being, appraisal and auditing by the State Audit Office of Vietnam (SAV) are considered the main tools of assessment in deciding the SOEs equity and asset values.

This means the SAV is charged with finding the true worth of SOEs and dealing with any problems that arise during their equitisation process in a timely and accurate manner.

Based on the SAVs 2016 findings, there are still limits on the accuracy of evaluating an SOE, especially involving brand name and value, business competitiveness, financial investment, land use and assets pricing.

The office found some incongruence between different Government departments and agencies in charge of SOE equitisation that appropriate authorities should look into, State Auditor General Ho Duc Phoc said at a workshop on Monday.

Additional policies and regulations are needed to prevent undervaluation of SOEs, Phoc said.

Millions in difference

Some experts believe a few SOEs have been underpriced, and with proper auditing, millions of US dollars worth of corporate value can be raised for better evaluation and pricing before these are officially listed on the stock exchange.

At Mondays workshop, Nguyen Anh Tuan, Sector VI Auditor General at the SAV, said that in investigating eight SOEs, they found a difference of VND8.45 trillion (US$376 million) in capital between the SAVs result and the companies own figures.

One such company, the Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited (BSR), had VND4.58 trillion ($204 million) in State capital added by the SAV to make a total of VND44.9 trillion ($2 billion).

Several other big names including PetroVietnam Power Corp (PV Power), PetroVietnam Oil Corporation (PV Oil) and Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG), have also been assigned new values by the SAV, with the difference amounting to VND2 trillion ($89 million), VND512 billion ($22.8 million) and VND440 billion ($19.5 million), respectively.

Tuan explained the discrepancies as results of inadequate information, different time periods within the financial year, and an overall misunderstanding between appraiser and auditor.

Proposing a solution, Nguyen Ngoc Tuan, Chairman of the Vietnam Valuation Association (VVA), said there should be at least two methods of appraising and auditing SOEs, with one produces the main results while the other produces comparative figures.

For example, by using two auditing methods simultaneously, the SAV generated completely different results for the Saigontourist Cable Television Company Limited and the Vienam Television Cable Corporation, two out of the eight SOEs mentioned earlier.

In particular, the SAV applied an evaluation method based on discounted cash flows instead of corporate assets, and found a difference of VND400 billion ($17.8 million) across both companies, which means the old method would yielded an undervalued assessment of the companies capital.

Nonetheless, the SAV has not asked authorities to make this a compulsory step, but rather that companies undergo more detailed scrutiny before they are approved for equitisation.

The office explained that should SOEs be forced to alter existing records immediately after the new audited results are released, they would face immense pressures of assets depreciation and increased production costs, ultimately leading to revenue deficits, as the value of their equity increases while other quantitative assets remain the same.

It said that in the coming time, the number of re-examined SOEs will increase to around 80, as a new Decree 59/2017/ND-CP decreases the value of a companys equity that would subject it to State audit from VND5 trillion ($222.2 million) down to VND1.8 trillion ($80.1 million).

No magic cure

Brian McEnery, Global President of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), said that based on experiences from other countries, equitisation and public listing of companies should not be considered a magic cure for unproductive SOEs.

He said that in theory, the process of equitisation itself may help with the companies decision making, leading to a more practical business model and a stronger, diversified capital flow. But all such possibilities can only happen with a solid strategy, business management solutions and effective support from the government.
Even as local farmers contend with falling prices and struggle to sell their produce, the country is spending millions of dollars buying imported agricultural products. Photo cafef.vn

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developments recent statistics shows that Viet Nam imported US$852 million worth of vegetables and fruits in the first seven months of 2017, nearly double that of the same period last year. The import revenue is estimated to exceed $1 billion this year.

The vegetables and fruits were imported from Thailand, which holds 57 per cent of the market share in the first half of 2017, followed by China (16.8 per cent).

Viet Nam mainly imported apples, oranges, kiwis and cherries (from New Zealand and Australia), mangoes, custard apples, and tamarind (from Thailand), green apples (from France and the United States), pomegranates (from South Korea) and vegetables from China.

The nation also spends billions of dollars importing other agricultural products such as maize and soy bean every year.

A market research survey published on Vibiz.vn recently revealed that 53 per cent of Vietnamese citizens surveyed preferred buying rice from Thailand and Japan, which have gained huge popularity though Viet Nam is among the worlds top rice exporters.

Dao Anh Tuan, director of a company that imports fruits in Ha Noi, said many kinds of fruits that can be grown in Viet Nam are now imported, such as mangoes, grapes and coconuts.

As market opens up more and more, many fruits are being imported in huge quantities, which lowers their cost, Tuan added. In addition, there are many players in the fruit import market and the competition is fierce, so the price of imported fruits has dropped, and some are even cheaper than locally grown fruits, Tuan said.

Imported fruits are increasingly favoured by consumers who believe that they are of better quality, Tuan said.

According to Dang Kim Son, former director of Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development, consumers choose products based on quality, safety and price.

Vietnamese producers must focus on improving quality, ensure hygiene and safety standards are met, and lower prices in order to compete effectively with imported products, he said.

It will also be tough for Vietnamese agricultural products to compete amid rapid international integration, if products continue to be exported in raw form and have inconsistent quality and unclear origins, Son said.

The decisive factor is product quality, said expert Vo Tong Xuan, adding that products sold in the domestic market must be of the same quality as those exported.

Pham S, deputy chairman of Lam Dong Provinces Peoples Committee, said the management of agricultural production must be improved to ensure product quality and food hygiene and safety.
Out of the frying pan - piglets were rescued from a barn blaze, only to be served up as sausages for their firefighter saviours. (AFP/CHARLY TRIBALLEAU)

Firefighters in the village of Pewsey, south-west England, were delighted to "sample the fruits of our labours" when a farmer delivered sausages made from piglets the crew had rescued from a barn fire.

"Highly recommended by Pewsey fire station crew and if any one of our followers is having a bank holiday BBQ this weekend then check out these sausages, they are fantastic," the crew said in a Facebook post which has since been removed.

Two sows and 18 piglets were saved in February when a barn owned by farmer Rachel Rivers went up in flames.

Rivers thanked the rescuers with the promise of sausages when the animals were slaughtered, but the celebratory BBQ was met with anger from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta).

"These poor piglets were no better off for escaping the fire only to be put back into it six months later after being subjected to the horrifying experience of the abattoir.

"What if these firefighters had 'saved' a human child or a dog?" said Mimi Bekhechi from Peta.

The campaigner said Peta would send the fire service vegan sausages, "so that they can see how easy it is to truly be heroes for pigs".

Speaking to the BBC, Rivers accepted that "vegetarians will hate this" but had no regrets about her gift. "We farm and this is what we do. You can't keep them as pets," she said.

Pewsey fire station later apologised for their original Facebook post, prompting a mixed reaction from social media users.

"The very fact that you were served the exact piglets you 'rescued' is an intentional disrespectful and perverse act," wrote Facebook user Hannah Turnbull.

But local resident Ben Cremin added: "No need to apologise, you guys and girls are local heroes! The gift of the sausages was a really nice gesture by the farmer. Maybe only the local people understand where meat comes from?"
SEPTEMBER

9/5

Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History

By Kurt Andersen

Random House

From the counterculture to fake news: how the hell we got here.

A Legacy of Spies

By John le Carre

Viking

In his first George Smiley novel in over 25 years, le Carre revives his retired spies, who argue for the Cold Wars  and their own  continued relevance.

Dinner at the Center of the Earth

By Nathan Englander

Knopf

A secret prisoner and his longtime guard anchor this meditation on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a political thriller that zooms between Gaza, Berlin, and the Negev Desert, from the onetime Pulitzer-prize finalist.

Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process

By John McPhee

FSG

If youre sifting through the deluge of writing advice, look to McPhee, a veteran New Yorker writer whose essays marry obsessive detail with narrative heft.

The Golden House

By Salman Rushdie

Random House

On the day of Obamas inauguration, a mysterious billionaire and his three adult sons move into a tony cloister of Manhattan and forever change the life of their neighbor, a naive young filmmaker.

9/12

What Happened

By Hillary Clinton

Simon & Schuster

In what began as a meditation on her favorite quotes, the woman who was almost president offers up a postmortem to end all postmortems.

The Naughty Nineties: The Triumph of the American Libido

By David Friend

Twelve

These days, sex seems to ooze from every nook and cranny of American cultureand Friend, a Vanity Fair editor, traces this trend to the 90s, with its roiling cesspool of cable news and political scandals that spawned Viagra, internet porn, and celebrity culture as we know it.

Forest Dark

By Nicole Krauss

Harper

In her first novel in seven years, Krauss tells a tale of two transformations: that of a high-powered lawyer and a young novelist whose respective journeys lead them both to the Israeli desert.

Solar Bones

By Mike McCormack

Soho Press

Hailed as a masterpiece when it was published in Ireland last year, McCormacks Man Booker Prizenominated novel takes a basic premise  on All Souls Day, souls return from the dead  and spins it into a lyrical rumination. Oh, and its all one sentence.

An Odyssey: A Father, a Son, and an Epic

By Daniel Mendelsohn

Knopf

In a last attempt to better understand both his son and the classics he never read, Mendelsohns 81-year-old mathematician father enrolls in his sons undergraduate seminar on Homer.

Little Fires Everywhere

By Celeste Ng

Penguin

Ngs taut class drama is calibrated for fireworks: Theres the affluent suburb of Shaker Heights and its poster child, Elena Richardson, and the battle that ensues when the Richardsons friends try to adopt a Chinese-American baby.

9/19

Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century

By Jessica Bruder

W.W. Norton

The many devastations of the Great Recession no longer come as any great surprise, but one of them  the nearly invisible, transient workforce of older Americans unable to subsist on Social Security and retirement savings  might still shock. Bruder reports from the makeshift RV camps of Amazon workers in Texas, the beet fields of North Dakota, and the campgrounds of Northern California.

Making Sense of the Alt-Right

By George Hawley

Columbia University Press

Suddenly, everyone claims to be an expert on the white-nationalist reboot, but Hawley actually is. His deep knowledge makes this the most thorough guide to the movement yet.

The Origin of Others

By Toni Morrison

Harvard University Press

In this collection of her Harvard lectures, the Nobel Prize winner considers the origins of race and its role in American literature.

Sun in Days

Meghan ORourke

W.W. Norton

The former New Yorker editor and Guggenheim winner is no stranger to loss (her 2011 memoir, The Long Goodbye, chronicled her grief after her mothers death), and her third collection of poetry, on the slow catastrophe of her autoimmune disease, furthers the exploration.

9/26

Bunny Mellon: The Life of an American Style Legend

By Meryl Gordon

Grand Central Publishing

Mellon was that old species of true American aristocrat, avoiding press coverage during her 103 years on Earth. After her death in 2014, her family granted Gordon access to her extensive diaries and letters for this biography of a very full life.

Five-Carat Soul

By James McBride

Riverhead

An orphan wanders Civil War battlefields looking for his father, Abraham Lincoln; teenage funk musicians fight for survival in a Pittsburgh suburb; and a menagerie of zoo animals talk to each other with Thought Speak in McBrides first collection of stories.

OCTOBER

10/3

We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy

By Ta-Nehisi Coates

One World

New and collected essays in which the National Book Award winner considers the promise and struggle of the Obama years.

Manhattan Beach

By Jennifer Egan

Scribner

Anna Kerrigan has become the Brooklyn Navy Yards first female diver during the Second World War when she again meets Dexter Styles, the only man who might know the secret to her fathers disappearance.

Fresh Complaint

By Jeffrey Eugenides

FSG

The acclaimed novelist turns his eye to less-fortunate artists with a collection of stories on aesthetic and romantic failure, from an embezzling poet to a depressed clavichordist.

Her Body and Other Parties

By Carmen Maria Machado

Graywolf

Ever wondered what havoc psychedelics could wreak on a Law & Order: SVU episode? In her debut, Machado crafts fantastical stories that plumb the depths of societys violence against women.

Dunbar

By Edward St. Aubyn

Hogarth

The British author most renowned for his bleak portrait of family life in the Patrick Melrose novels reimagines the Urfamily drama King Lear.

10/10

The Secret Life

By Andrew OHagan

FSG

With three thoughtful and reported case studies on Julian Assange, bitcoin, and digital personas, the Scottish writer aims to create the near impossible: an actually insightful book about the internet.

The Apparitionists: A Tale of Phantoms, Fraud, Photography, and the Man Who Captured Lincolns Ghost

By Peter Manseau

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Enabled by mass grief and the rise of photography, postCivil War fraudsters ensnared desperate mourners, including Abraham Lincolns widow, with seances and ghost portraits.

10/17

Uncommon Type

By Tom Hanks

Knopf

Yes, that Tom Hanks somehow found the time between shooting Captain Phillips and Sully to whip up some short stories on wholesome bowlers, sad immigrants, and joyless corporate types.

Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell

By David Yaffe

Sarah Crichton Books

Given unfettered access to the bohemian queen, Yaffe covers Mitchells childhood on the Canadian prairie, her early marriage, and her explosion onto the folk scene.

The Letters of Sylvia Plath, Vol. 1: 19401956

By Sylvia Plath

Harper

Excitement for Plaths collected correspondence hit a fever pitch after the discovery of letters alleging physical and emotional abuse by her husband, Ted Hughes. But those only looking for clues to the writers suicide shouldnt expect much: Hughes long ago burned her final diary.

10/24

Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine

By Joe Hagan

Knopf

A blow-by-blow account of two intertwined lives: Wenners and that of the magazine he launched 50 years ago. With appearances by Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Annie Leibovitz, Hunter S. Thompson, and virtually every baby-boom icon you can name.

Vacationland

By John Hodgman

Viking

Comedian Hodgman skews sincere with this collection of essays on middle age, fatherhood, and the natural attractions of New England.

The River of Consciousness

By Oliver Sacks

Knopf

This posthumous collection of essays from the late neurologist ranges from the problem of misheard words to the overlooked importance of Darwins botany.

10/31

The King Is Always Above the People: Stories

By Daniel Alarcon

Riverhead

Riding high on the success of his 2013 novel, At Night We Walk in Circles, Alarcon returns with stories of life-or-death struggles, losses, and redemption.

NOVEMBER

11/1

Houses of Ravicka

By Renee Gladman

Dorothy, a Publishing Project

The fourth volume in a series set in Ravicka, an imaginary city-state with its own laws of physics and language, from a writer who has won praise from Eileen Myles and Lyn Hejinian.

11/7

Keeping On Keeping On

By Alan Bennett

FSG

The erudite playwright and screenwriter best known in the U.S. for The History Boys and The Madness of King George may have a reputation for reticence and shyness, but this collection of essays, screenplays, and ten years of diaries is far from cautious.

The Wine Lovers Daughter

By Anne Fadiman

FSG

If in wine there is truth, the award-winning reporter and essayist will surely find it in this portrait of her late father, a critic, radio host, and lifelong vino appreciator.

Kids These Days: Human Capital and the Making of Millennials

By Malcolm Harris

Little, Brown

From crippling student debt to increasingly precarious employment, millennials face a stark economic reality.

Radio Free Vermont

By Bill McKibben

Blue Rider Press

In this debut comic novel about a gaggle of Vermont hippies and guerrilla environmentalists, McKibben wonders what it might take for Vermont to secede from the United States.

Heather, the Totality

By Matthew Weiner

Little, Brown

The creator of Mad Men goes literary with this slim, brutal thriller about a threatening construction worker, a wealthy teen girl, and the lengths her parents will go to protect her.

11/14

Future Home of the Living God

By Louise Erdrich

Harper

The National Book Award winner puts her own spin on the reproductive dystopia novel in this story about Cedar Hawk Songmaker, a pregnant young woman who must find her Ojibwe birth mother before society collapses around her.

Mean

By Myriam Gurba

Coffee House Press

Gurbas memoir on growing up mixed-race and queer addresses subjects like homophobia and sexual assault while maintaining a light, funny tone.

Breaking Free: How I Escaped Polygamy, the FLDS Cult, and My Father, Warren Jeffs

By Rachel Jeffs

Harper

In her harrowing memoir, Jeffs recounts escaping the polygamous sect of Mormonism led by her father, Warren Jeffs, who is currently serving a life sentence for child sexual assault.

Debriefing: Collected Stories

By Susan Sontag

FSG

A collection of autobiographical and idea-driven stories for fans of the towering intellectual and essayist who nonetheless wanted to be known for her fiction.

11/28

Mrs. Caliban

By Rachel Ingalls

New Directions

A lonely housewife named Dorothy falls in love with a monster on the loose from a government research facility in this Lynchian spin on King Kong first published in 1982.

DECEMBER

12/5

The Vanishing Princess

By Jenny Diski

Ecco

The late British novelist and essayist may be best known in the U.S. for the cancer diaries that chronicled her last years. Expect tales of domestic strife, institutionalization, and fairy-tale allegories in her only story collection.

No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters

By Ursula K. Le Guin

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

The science-fiction master shifts focus from imaginary worlds to all-too-real ones with this collection of wisdom on literature, aging, and our national consciousness in the age of Trump.

*This article appears in the August 21, 2017, issue of New York Magazine.
The Lift Photo: Vestron/Courtesy Everett Collection

Thirty years ago, as of this week, Dirty Dancing premiered in theaters; ever since, no one has legally been allowed to put Baby in a corner. However, what they were allowed to put was Dirty Dancings famous lift into movies and TV. The court never stipulated this, but based on the evidence of so many scenes, it appears the justice system, at minimum, has agreed to look the other way. So go for it!

The Lift is a useful reference because everyone knows it (even if they never saw the movie), so its an easy shorthand, a good way to say, This scene is over. That said, if youre going to employ The Lift, its important to know that there are certain categories into which your Lift usage must fall. [To the tune of the part of (Ive Had) the Time of My Life where they sing, Its the truth.] Its the truth! Below, weve examined the ways that the Lift has been used  or rather, reused  over the past three decades.

The Nostalgic Lift

Sometimes, there isnt really a joke to be had at the expense of The Lift. You just do it, earnestly. People will like it, because they also remember that The Lift happened, and want to feel like theyre not alone in the world.

The Nostalgic Lift, But With Famous People

Stars: Theyre just like us, except they get paid to be like us, and we get paid to work at The Body Shop. This Lift demands famous people, but once youve got those, its pretty easy.

The Nostalgia Lift, But Homoerotic/Homophobic

Here, youre essentially just doing The Lift again, like above, but this time the part of Baby is played by a man dressed like a woman and isnt that funny.

The Reboot Lift

Could be considered an example of the Nostalgic But With Famous People Lift, depending on whether you think Abigail Breslin is famous. You might be asking yourself, Why would I reboot an entire movie just to do one dance move? until you realize thats exactly what ABC did.

Related Stories The Highs and Lows of Dirty Dancing

The Postmodern Lift

The characters in the Postmodern Lift know theyre doing The Lift, and thats why theyre doing The Lift. I imagine the first draft of Crazy, Stupid, Love had Ryan Goslings character say, Come on, lets do the famous dance move from that romantic movie in this romantic movie that deliberately plays with romantic film tropes. (It should be noted that when Gosling then did The Lift with Al Roker on the Today Show, it was actually a variant of Nostalgic Lift But With Famous People, with a few others thrown in the stew as well.)

The Fat-Joke Lift

See, because The Lift involves lifting, its very useful and nice to use it to point out how certain people (usually women) are heavy. This is funny because how dare these people aspire to feel love/support/like they are flying?

The Oh-Hell-No Lift

A subcategory of the fat joke, the Oh-Hell-No Lift, named after what Kevin Hart says in this Wedding Ringer promo, is when the lifter assesses the fatness of the liftee ahead of time and is like, Oh hell no, and leaves them to injure themselves. In Spain, this is called the Lift a la Pelicula Baile Sucio, Toro y Torero.

The Oops Lift

You know how in Dirty Dancing, The Lift works and is nice and people love it, but, now hear me out: What if, instead, it didnt work, and it was bad and people were like [pulls shirt collar]? As the saying goes, Comedy is good dance plus doing it poorly.

A more elaborate version of this is Jon Rudnitskys solo lift bit that got him on SNL, which he eventually did on SNL.

The Wait Wait Wait Wait Lift

The Lift is the relay race of dance moves, but instead of a baton, one partner passes their body to the other person to finish the race (the dance). Wait, no, its like trapeze! With one person flying in the air, hoping the person on the other side is ready to catch them, but wait wait wait wait wait  theyre not ready, and its time for a big fall. Epic fail.

(Some have suggested that this one is also a fat joke variant. Structurally, it isnt necessarily, as the dance fails primarily because of miscommunication, not body type. However, its also fair to assume that Hollywood basically never uses not-skinny people unless the point is how theyre fat and its bad.)

The Huh? Lift

The Lift for people who dont know what youre freaking even talking about, mom. What, were these people born in a barn or Asgard or another place equally far from the Catskills, like Australia? The Huh? Lift is a subversion of the Nostalgic Lift. It is what they call, in the business, a misdirection. See, usually when someone does The Lift, the direction is up, but here the direction is the opposite (down).

The Umm, Bobs Burgers Lift

This is The Lift that is done on Bobs Burgers. Its defined by featuring Bobs Burgers characters and, in this case, the names of Bobs Burgers cast and crew. Its perfect for when youre working on a project that is Bobs Burgers.
Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. Photo: Clay Enos/Warner Bros. Pictures

Just in case youre at all interested in stanning Wonder Woman with James Cameron, your praise will fall on deaf ears. The Titanic director  currently at work on the four Avatar sequels hes been promising since the beginning of time, plus that Titanic TV special  didnt think the success of Wonder Woman was a watershed moment for the movie industry. 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, ostensibly a member of male Hollywood, told the Guardian.

Im not saying I didnt like the movie but, to me, its a step backwards, he continued. 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!

The director said hes not sure why the movie biz lacks strong and nuanced female characters, but hes tired of having to continually point this out to all of us. There are many women in power in Hollywood and they do get to guide and shape what films get made. I think  no, I cant account for it, he said. Because how many times do I have to demonstrate the same thing over again? I feel like Im shouting in a wind tunnel! Uh, yeah, same.
How do you explain Jax Taylor, reality televisions greatest anti-hero? Here is a brief list of things the bartender slash model slash reluctant wearer of shirts slash probable sociopath has accomplished to date over five seasons of Vanderpump Rules, a show about attractive and unstable young people who (in theory) work in dining establishments owned by Lisa Vanderpump:

(1) Lied about most things;

(2) Slept with his best friends girlfriend;

(3) Got a tattoo of his ex-girlfriend Stassis signature (to be clear: not just his now ex-girlfriend, his then ex-girlfriend);

(4) Got a tattoo of a womans face that bore a suspicious resemblance to still-ex-girlfriend Stassi;

(5) Drunkenly stole a pair of sunglasses, leading him to be charged with felony theft in Hawaii.

This is far from a comprehensive list, but you get the picture. Jaxs girlfriend, Brittany, meanwhile, is a sweet, seemingly sane woman originally from the Bible Belt. But though my beloved Jax may be the human embodiment of great reality TV, Im sorry to say that, so far, their fish-out-of-water spinoff Jax and Brittany Take Kentucky feels a little contrived. Its too bad, because Vanderpump Rules itself is anything but formulaic, since the very existence of a formula would imply that the cast members are behaving according to logic and not a near-lethal cocktail of Pumptinis, horniness, and spite.

As the new Bravo series begins, Jax and Brittany are working their last shifts at Sur in L.A. before heading to stay with Brittanys family on their farm for two weeks. (Its not the very first time hes meeting them, though. They crossed that bridge at Christmas.) Her family is religious, and her dad in particular is strict, so Jax has his work cut out for him. How are you going to pull the wool over their eyes for two weeks? asks Lisa Vanderpump, who technically qualifies as a farmer, based solely on the number of animals who reside at Villa Rosa. (Also: Wool. Sheep. Farm. I see what you did there, LVP.)

They fly into Blue Grass Airport, which, if it werent the real Lexington airport, would be an algorithmically perfect fictional name for the Lexington airport. Theyre headed to the small town of Winchester, where Brittanys family operates a 400-acre farm thats also home to her mother, Sherri, her aunts, and her beloved Mamaw, an algorithmically perfect name for a down-home Kentucky grandmother. Mamaw, whom I immediately adore, intends to put Jax to work. In her house, she has two fireplaces, an oversize crucifix on the mantle, and a mounted deer head that made direct eye contact with me through my television screen. She (Mamaw, not the deer) asks Jax to say the benediction, but he manages to pass off the duty of saying grace to Brittanys brother Wes instead.

Mamaw has one very important rule for them to follow: no alcohol on the farm. Papaw, her late husband and Brittanys grandfather (he passed away less than a year ago), didnt believe in it. Jax, unsurprisingly, is a terrible house guest, and has no intention of teetotaling to honor a dead mans memory. Mamaw produces a pair of overalls for Jax (who, with any luck, will be called Jajaw by the end of the series) and demands to know when, after a year and a half of dating so far, he plans on marrying Brittany. To call this question a recurring theme on Jax and Brittany Take Kentucky feels like an understatement. The couple moves into Sherris house, where Brittanys dog welcomes them by immediately peeing on one of the bunk beds theyve been assigned to share.

The next day, Jax dresses for a hard day of farm work in his new overalls (one strap on, one strap off), a straw cowboy hat, and a pair of American-flag cowboy boots, all of which give me a great idea for a theme for next years Sur float at L.A. Pride. Hes got a full slate of chicken-feeding, poop-shoveling dirty work ahead of him. Lets be honest, the only chore I have is to walk the dog, Jax says in an interview. And usually Brittany does that.

As she and Sherri make breakfast, Brittany, who is 27, tells her mom that she wants to be engaged by 30, and that shes prepared to give Jax an ultimatum if that doesnt happen. We just want to make sure that hes not wasting Brittanys time, because she would just be crushed, Sherri tells the camera. The kids get cleaned up and head off to Brittanys father Dons place, just a mile and a half away. Jax goes in for a hug; Don goes in for a handshake. Don is a really nice guy. He also has a really large gun collection, Jax explains. (Discussion question for the class: Do you think Brittanys family voted for Trump?) Intrigued by the prospect of a gym-free workout, Jax volunteers to chop wood for an upcoming welcome-home bonfire at Mamaws farm, to Dons surprise. Of Jax, Don observes, he looks like Tarzan and plays like Jane. For at least 30 minutes, he hacks randomly at a tree with an ax. (Honestly, this is not a terrible idea for a boutique group-fitness class.) Does this turn you on? Jax asks Brittany. It doesnt do a thing for me, Don answers, before whipping out a chainsaw and felling the tree instantly.

They join Brittanys stepmother, Linda, her brother Austin, and her two young nephews for dinner. Jax gives the entree, frogs legs, his tastes-like-chicken approval. Its gonna be epic, he tells one of the children of the bonfire, and I found myself wondering how many times Jax has spoken to a child. Don, too, wants to know where his could-be son-in-law stands as to this marriage deal. When Jax demurs, the former childrens minister segues into reciting scripture. Out of curiosity, has anyone tried dousing Jax with holy water?

At the bonfire, the young people in attendance (Brittanys friends? Extras bused in from Los Angeles?) totally unsuspiciously head over to a parked truck en masse, mixing vodka and cranberry juice into red Solo cups in the backseat by iPhone flashlight. At 37 years old, if I want a drink, I want to have a drink. Sorry, Papaw, Jax tells the camera. (Rest in peace, Papaw.) Mamaw, of course, is conscious, and therefore notices all this commotion, but Jax & Co. narrowly manage to keep their secret.

Despite being divorced, Sherri and Don demonstrate they can still peacefully roast marshmallows side by side. Thats nice! Sherri remains inexplicably pro-Jax  despite the fact that, lest we forget, he and Brittany had a truly unpleasant, all-his-fault fight in front of her back in L.A.  but Don isnt so sure. Hes gotta work on me some more, he says.

With Jaxs thirst for booze momentarily quenched, he takes Sherri and Mamaw aside. They wont need to grill him so much about the wedding anymore: He has a ring designer (he pulls up a photo of a massive rock on his phone) and the makings of a plan to propose. He now has their blessing, and a big old group hug to boot. Sherri in particular is thrilled: Jax Taylor is going to be my son-in-law! she says aloud, with greater enthusiasm than that sentence has ever been or will ever be uttered again.
This feud is far from over. Photo: Getty Images

Tonight Taylor Swift will return from a year of dormancy with her fangs sharpened and a new single to unleash. And it appears her presumed latest prey, Kim Kardashian, already wants nothing to do with it. As BuzzFeed points out, Kardashian has pulled a Taylor and is blocking people from leaving the snake emoji in the comments on her Instagram. Last year, in the wake of Kim exposing Taylors recorded conversation with Kanye West in which Taylor is heard approving his lyric about her on Famous despite previous statements saying otherwise, many of Kims fans flooded Taylors Instagram with the snake emoji, insinuating that she had devious intentions. Then Kim subtweeted Taylor on National Snake Day. Around that time, Instagram introduced a new filter allowing users to block certain content from being visible in their comment section; Taylor was one of the first to take advantage of it in its test run, ridding her account of all snake emoji. She had previously released a statement saying she would very much like to be excluded from this narrative.

Wait it's legit National Snake Day?!?!?They have holidays for everybody, I mean everything these days!   Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) July 17, 2016

However, in the runup to the announcement of her new album Reputation, Taylor turned the tables on Kim, using a threatening image of a snake in several teasers, prompting her fans to now spam Kims socials with snake emoji. Now, it seems Kim is enforcing the same Instagram filter Taylor used. Vulture attempted to leave a snake emoji under Kims latest post (forgive us), and while you can send the comment and it will appear to you if youre logged in, it wont be visible to anyone else. But as other commenters have figured out  and Kim surely will  you can comment the word snake and also the dragon emoji, which sort of looks like a snake if you squint. Something tells us neither subject of this narrative is done spitting venom just yet.
Thirty years after they served in Vietnam, three old friends are reconvening: Its 2003, and old buddies Doc, Sal, and Richard (Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston, and Laurence Fishburne, respectively) are reuniting to help Doc bury his son, a Marine killed in Iraq. Instead of Arlington, the guys opt for a road trip up to New Hampshire. Richard Linklater directed the movie, which will premiere at opening night of the New York Film Festival. See it in theaters this November.
Photo-Illustration: Vulture

Were not going to sugarcoat this, dear readers: If 2017 were a contest, Nicole Kidman would come out on top against Naomi Watts. Despite both of the Aussie darlings having a jam-packed slate of work rolling out over the past year, Kidman has proven to be the most fortuitous with her choices, from starring in some of the years most acclaimed dramas  Big Little Lies and The Beguiled  to the upcoming return of Top of the Lake. While Watts has been a delight to watch on Twin Peaks, The Book of Henry and Gypsy were two of the years biggest flops. But who cares! Because these ladies have now been best friends for over a quarter-century, and thats an accomplishment in and of itself. To celebrate their friendship, weve tracked the highlights of this Hollywood power duo, right from day one.

Early 1991: The two get acquainted on the set of Flirting  an Australian coming-of-age dramedy  although they both attended the same high school and theater company in Australia. We already knew each other but thats when our friendship forged, Watts explained in a recent interview.

November 2001: Kidman presents Watts with a Movieline award for her breakthrough performance in David Lynchs Mulholland Drive. She came to my premieres or shed come to Tom [Cruise]s premieres and supported me, Kidman said behind the scenes. Finally to be able to give back to her on the same level is really lovely. I was inspired by Nicole, Watts responded. The fact that weve come from the same place gave me hope for myself.

October 2002: Watts brings Kidman as her date to the premiere of The Ring, in addition to her then-boyfriend at the time, Heath Ledger. The trio loved holding hands!

July 2005: Kidman famously demurs about her personal life in interviews, but not when it comes to Watts. Naomi and I are very, very good friends and have maintained that through so many things, she said in a Telegraph chat. I think thats really rare, particularly for actresses, and I take a lot of pride in that.

February 2007: The duo are each others dates to the Oscars, where they also served as presenters. More hand-holding!

December 2007: Kidman rattles off a bunch of lovely adjectives to describe the tenacious and determined Watts while appearing on The Early Show. She also divulges that Watts used to date her sisters ex-boyfriend. Small world!

February 2013: In a candid interview with CBS Sunday Morning, Watts reveals that if it wasnt for Kidmans support, she wouldve abandoned her then-failing film career to return to Australia in the late 90s. She kept saying, Its just going to take one thing, one thing, Nay, and you know, if youre in a hit film  then everything changes, Watts explained. Soon enough, she was offered the lead in Mulholland Drive.

January 2015: Watts surprises Kidman while she is hosting the annual GDay USA Gala, presenting her with a flute of champagne on stage. Later that month, they share that theyve been looking for a long time for a film to star in together, but its proved to be difficult with their picky taste.

June 2015: Kidman is awarded the Excellence in Film honors at the Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards, which is presented to her by Watts. After Kidman notes in her acceptance speech that she rejected an early role after refusing to wear a shower cap and kiss a girl, Watts comes onstage and the two smooch a few times while wearing shower caps.

Photo: Getty Images

January 2016: Their friendship moves to Instagram. Watts and Nic show off their lip-lining skills with a #fbf gram.

September 2016: This time, its a black-and-white reflective gram.

June 2016: Watts revisits those iconic shower-cap smooches by posting a birthday Instagram dedicated to Kidman.

June 2017: Watts elaborates in an interview on how the friendship shared between her and Kidman boils down to mutual respect. Weve gone through a lot together over a significant amount of time. That history binds you, she said. We have a strong respect and love for one another.

June 2017: Another birthday Insta dedicated to this beautiful woman!

July 2017: Watts reveals that Kidman initially gauged her interest about starring in HBOs critically acclaimed miniseries Big Little Lies, but, as we now know, that never came to fruition. We talked about doing that together, she said about Kidman. I might have been in it. A few days later, Watts posted a cute Instagram of how her bestie means everything to her.

August 2017: Watts appears on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon, where she teases the host about missing his infamous opportunity to date Kidman, and jokingly offers to turn back time to serve as his wingwoman so he could try again.

August 2017: Kidman tells Australian talk show Today that the duo officially celebrated their 25-year-friendship anniversary in grand fashion earlier in the summer. We had a big party that night, Kidman said. We were wild that night! Were proud of that. Thats a really important thing to emphasize the friendships that have sustained decades and decades.
Bookseller One Grand Books has asked literary celebrities to name the ten titles theyd take to a desert island, and theyve shared the results with Vulture. Below is the list from author Tom Perrotta.

Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes

I first read this in college, expecting a dusty 500-year-old classic. The joke was on me, literally. This book, one of the first true novels, remains fresh and hilarious to this day, an earthy and poignant delight.

The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne

I hated this in high school, because I was young and couldnt see myself or my world in the story of Hester Prynne. But then I reread it a few years ago, and realized that it contained a blueprint for the sexual revolution, the eternal clash between unruly desire and oppressive social convention. Its all right here.

Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton

Only a few works of fiction can reasonably be called perfect, and this is one of them. Theres a crystalline purity to the prose, and a wintry sadness in the story. It gets deep in your bones.

Winesburg, Ohio, by Sherwood Anderson

A strange and beautiful book about the lonely souls and thwarted dreamers who inhabit a small Ohio town. Theres no sentimentality in Andersons vision, no nostalgia for Middle America in a simpler time. Winesburg is a place where people are doomed to remain a mystery to their neighbors, and even to themselves.

The Complete Stories of Flannery OConnor, by Flannery OConnor

A friend of mine turned me on to OConnor in high school, and Ive been reading her ever since, constantly amazed at her bold vision and wicked sense of humor. Shes one of the few writers I know who make religion seem like a radical challenge, rather than a source of comfort.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X, as told to Alex Haley

Is there a more American book than this bitter indictment of America? Its a kind of Horatio Alger story, a small-time pimp and hustler educating himself in prison, undergoing a religious conversion, and reinventing himself as a fearless truth-teller and political firebrand. Malcolms voice is alive on the page from the very first sentence.

Last Train to Memphis, by Peter Guralnick

Forget rock and roll, this is one of the greatest biographies Ive ever read on any subject. Guralnick makes us feel Elvis Presleys dizzying rise to superstardom as the unprecedented cultural phenomenon it was  Elvis didnt know what he was trying to be, because nothing like Elvis had ever existed before.

The Periodic Table, by Primo Levi

Levi is best known for his unflinching Holocaust memoirs, but this is a sunnier work, the autobiography of a chemist, narrated in a humane and sometimes lighthearted voice. Theres a deep love for the physical world in these pages, and an infectious sense of wonder.

Behind the Beautiful Forevers, by Katherine Boo

This harrowing account of life in a slum near the Mumbai airport is a kind of literary miracle. Boo captures the texture of the place, and the hopes and struggles of its residents, with an intimacy that a novelist can only envy.

Cant We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast

Roz Chast is always funny, but this graphic memoir about caring for her aging parents is also raw, brutally honest, and heartbreaking. Its an unsparing portrait of decline, but also a loving act of witness; it tells the truth without sugar-coating or looking away.
Ali versus Frazier. Tyson versus Holyfield. Josh versus Charles. In The Incident at Pound Ridge, Younger gives us a matchup for the ages. Its one weve all been waiting for since Josh caught Liza and Charles kissing in the Hamptons and called off his big romantic marriage proposal. Thanks to the annual Empirical Press company picnic, we finally get to see what happens when Lizas two guys are put in a room together. Or, like, a gorgeous, sprawling backyard. Either way, there is some major tension and it is begging to be released.

Lets get ready to rumble  in a super-handsome sort of way.

Ah yes, its that time of year when all the Empirical employees and authors gather at Charless gorgeous mansion for some grub (this year, therell be Asian slaw!), beverages on the boss, and potato-sack races. Most people look forward to a little time away from the office, but our dear Liza probably just wants to survive it and move on. There are two major reasons this picnic will provide a most-awkward Saturday for our heroine, and their names are Pauline and Josh.

Pauline is still treating Liza as more of a gossipy girlfriend than an editor. Charles lets slip to his friend Bob (remember Bob? His daughter is Caitlins roommate, so you know that connection is going to blow up soon) that theres a new woman in his life. You guys, Charles is so smitten with Liza I can barely stand it (except I can, because #TeamCharles). Of course, Bob immediately tells his wife, who tells Pauline, who vents to Liza that the idea of Charles moving on is making her crazy. Liza tries to draw some boundaries as an editor, but its getting increasingly difficult.

The hardest part of the entire Pauline situation is that, aside from the fact that shes legitimately trying to win her husband back with a book, she seems great! If they had met under different circumstances, Pauline and Liza would be friends. Instead, Liza has to repeatedly lie to Paulines face. While at the company picnic, its Pauline who gives Liza a tour of Charless house, the house that Pauline spent two years helping to build. Liza has to stand there and listen to Pauline wistfully recall mornings out on the veranda with Charles, and how upsetting it is to find that he has removed all of her photos. Its only a matter of time before Pauline figures out that its Liza who Charles has fallen for, and when she does, you can bet Pauline will be wishing she had been right about Charles dating a hot, young yoga instructor. A hot, young yoga instructor would make things much simpler for everyone.

Yet, as awkward as it is to hang out with Pauline as she desperately tries to cling to whatever is left of her family, the more problematic picnic guest is Josh.

Josh is having a wild few days. First, he finally gets to take Clare, his Irish dream girl (doesnt every guy in Brooklyn want to date a bartender slash video-game designer?) on their first proper date for some of Brooklyns finest Mexican cuisine. Its a choice he will sorely regret. The date starts off great  but ends with Josh having to submerge his entire penis in a carton of yogurt. Bad things happen when your girlfriends hands have recently been around a bowl of extra-hot jalapenos.

One case of jalapeno dick aside, Josh gets some good news from Kelsey: Millennial wants to sign him to design an adult coloring book featuring his tattoos. The $10,000 advance sounds awesome (is this the fastest book deal in the history of book deals?), but the glad-handing with Charles at the company picnic  not so much. Unfortunately, Kelsey practically mandates it. Clare, who is apparently not worried AT ALL about the fact that Josh was going to propose to his last girlfriend (whom he still occasionally sees), encourages Josh to attend the party to help him move on.

And so, Josh does. Everything seems like its going just fine  Josh even shakes Charless hand  until we get to the potato-sack race. Its always the damned potato-sack race. When Charles accidentally knocks Josh over as they near the finish line, Josh gets up and punches Charles in the face. This is alarming for many reasons, but mainly because Charless jawline is a piece of artwork that should never be harmed. Do you hear me, Josh? DO. NOT. TOUCH. THE. FACE.

Kelsey cant believe what she just witnessed. That punch cost Josh $10,000! According to him, though, it was worth every penny. He and his jalapeno dick are feeling much, much better.

Liza runs after Charles to check on his face, er, his well-being. Charles realizes that Josh must have seen that Hamptons kiss, and he cant be mad about Joshs reaction. The man even takes getting punched in the face like a gentleman. Liza tends to his wound, which obviously means they start ferociously making out. Charles wants Liza to spend the night (!!), but she turns him down. Even though Charless feelings are the same as they were before Pauline walked back into his life, Liza knows this isnt right (because of Pauline, but also because of, you know, the mountain of lies on which she sits). She leaves that handsome injured tree of a man just standing there like a dummy.

Kelsey, like any normal human being, wants to know what the hell is going on with Josh. Liza fills her friend in on the real reason Josh put the brakes on his proposal and the two broke up. Kelsey is not amused. She warns Liza that sleeping with the boss would be trouble for all of them. Well, except for the audience who deserves to see Liza and Charles sleep together after all of the longing weve been put through. Seriously, guys, this back-and-forth with Charles is getting infuriating.

Its Trout Season

 Dianas idea to spice things up for the company picnic is to introduce Asian slaw to the spread. Never change, Trout.

 On Liza helping out Josh: You set him up with a girl and a job? Later, we have to have a talk about how not to be a doormat.

 Diana spends the entire picnic trying to assure Pauline that nothing has or will ever happen between her and Charles (I mean, theres tension, naturally.). The thought has obviously never once crossed Paulines mind.

 Diana Trout eating a corn dog is my everything.
Occasionally, I get casting calls for films being shot in our area. Casting directors usually look for appearance: extras or actors of a certain gender, age or body type.

This one, however, is a bit different: Boys with a Texas accent.

The film is "First Man," a Damien Chazelle-directed feature about astronaut Neil Armstrong, and casting directors are looking for boys ages 6 to 10 "with distinct Texan accents" to play his two sons. No acting experience is needed.

The film won't be shot in Texas, however, but in Atlanta, Georgia, beginning in November. The open call takes place this Saturday, Aug. 26, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Hotel Indigo, 211 Clay Ave. All children must be accompanied by an adult. Children will be given a short scene to read on camera with the casting director. Anyone with questions about the casting call can email rpmcasting@gmail.com.

I'm curious how they'll define "distinct Texan accents" as Hollywood is notorious for slapping molasses-slow drawls on any character south of the Mason-Dixon Line or east of southern California. Will they give auditioners a card with the words "pecan," "oil" or "Dairy Queen" and listen to the results?
At first glance, John McClanahans 67 landscapes in the latest exhibit at Baylor Universitys Martin Museum of Art look vaguely similar.

Most of the watercolor and guache paintings feature sky and land separated by horizon. Most have similar palettes, with skies washed by blues and grays and terrain of browns, yellows and greens.

A closer look reveals differences. The ratio of sky and ground differs. Some landscapes are impressionist while others are close to abstract. Storm clouds, tornadoes and lightning appear in some.

Paper is torn on a few, adding jagged lines and texture. Charcoal lines in some are subtle shadings, others bold, dynamic lines. The artists signature appears in different locations. And every painting has a touch, large or tiny, of the color Cadmium Red Light  whats up with that?

Its my favorite color, explained the painter, the longtime chairman of Baylors art department, who retired to Dallas seven years ago after 34 years with Baylor.

For those who remember McClanahans McClanahans, his last Martin Museum show of small, almost miniature paintings, The Velasco Paintings surprise with their larger scale.

McClanahan thanks retirement for that: more time to paint means larger canvases to work with. Its also a chance to explore what hes always taught his students: to pay attention to details, to tell stories with a beginning, middle and end in their work.

The landscapes captured in The Velasco Paintings come from trips McClanahan made throughout his career to Kansas, Colorado and other sites in the Midwest. Most of the exhibits works, painted within the last three years, were done from memories, notes and photographs.

McClanahan doesnt travel as much  he and his wife retired to the Dallas area to be close to their son  and the most familiar landscape he sees in retirement is captured in the exhibition title: Velasco Drive is the street where his studio is located.

John McClanahan: The Velasco Paintings will run through Sept. 24 at the museum. The artist will talk about his work  and renew his art department friendships  in an opening reception from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday.
I cant decide if Im surprised by the news from late last week that all the members of the presidential Committee on the Arts and Humanities had resigned. They cited as their reason the presidents comments following the events in Charlottesville, Virginia, along with a host of other administration policy positions of which they disapproved.

In all, 16 members of the committee signed the statement and a 17th later said he was out as well. All of them were Obama appointees; Trump had yet to put anyone on the committee. In response, the White House said the president had already decided that he wasnt going to renew the Executive Order authorizing the committee, so it would expire later this year anyway.

This committee, by the way, is not the group that steers the more familiar National Endowment for the Arts (that ones the National Council on the Arts) nor does it have much to do with the NEA. The PCAH was created in 1982 by president Ronald Reagan to survey the efficacy of government arts policies and explore ways to increase private sector support for the arts around the country. Now barring some dramatic change, by the end of the year it will cease to exist.

And this isnt the only group of artists currently on the outs with the president. The Kennedy Center Honors is a program designed to highlight individual or group contributions to the arts in the United States. Each year since 1978 the Board of Trustees of the Kennedy Center has chosen a handful of artists to receive the distinction and theyre feted with a formal dinner hosted by the State Department, a lavish reception at the White House, and a gala all-star performance at the Kennedy Center that airs on national television, usually a few weeks later.

The first group of honorees included Marian Anderson, Richard Rogers, George Balanchine, Arthur Rubenstein and Fred Astaire. Since then, recipients have ranged from mainstream entertainers like Sammy Davis, Jr. and Billy Joel to lesser-known artistic superstars like Martha Argerich and Twyla Tharp.

In the past couple of weeks, two of this years honorees  dancer/choreographer Carmen de Lavallade and television writer/producer Norman Lear  said they were boycotting both the ceremony and the White House reception because of the presidents words and policies. In response, the president announced that he and the first lady would be skipping this years festivities.

Until now a president has missed the event only three times: Jimmy Carter didnt attend the gala in 1979 due to the ongoing Iranian hostage crisis; George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton each missed one because they had to attend meetings overseas. In addition, for the first time the White House portion of the program has been cancelled entirely.

Such open confrontation between the president and the arts world is hardly unprecedented. Back in the days of the Vietnam War, Lyndon Johnson hosted a large gathering of artists at the White House. Several of those invited loudly refused to attend, many doing so via major newspapers. Art critic Dwight MacDonald showed up, but tried to gather signatures for a petition condemning the president. (He and Charlton Heston almost wound up in a fistfight, by some accounts.) A sour Lyndon Johnson said, Some of them insult me by staying away and some of them insult me by coming.

Theres no real way to prevent it, but its never welcome when the nations chief executive quarrels openly with the arts community. Theyre both important elements in the nations life, and while differences are inevitable, open warfare does no one any good.
CHARLESTON -- In Girl Scouts, shes earning badges, gaining new skills, exploring the great outdoors and building a better world alongside her sisters, according to a press release.

Every step of the way, shes learning by doing and she has plenty of opportunities to jump in and make amazing things happen. Girls in grades K-12 and their parents are invited to discover more about Girl Scouting. Adult volunteers and leaders are also needed to assist newly formed girl troops.

Volunteer opportunities are diverse, flexible and can be tailored to meet personal availability and interests. To learn more, visit Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois website, www.gsofsi.org.

The cost to join Girl Scouts is $25 and financial assistance is available for girls and volunteers who qualify.

Upcoming Registration Events:

Tuesday, Aug. 29, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., County Market (551 W. Lincoln Ave.), Charleston. For more information contact customercare@gsofsi.org

Wednesday, Aug. 30, from 6-7 p.m., Neoga Municipal Building (533 Chestnut Ave.). For more information contact Elaine Brandenburg at 217-294-2270 or su521gs@gmail.com.

Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois actively develops Girl Scout leadership programs for 12,400 girls while engaging 5,000 adult volunteers in more than 40 counties in Southern Illinois. Here in Illinois, Girl Scouts support and provide financial assistance to underserved girls, maintain and improve GSSI camps, and much more.

Girl Scouting has inspired more than 50 million girls and women since its founding in 1912. Girl Scouting focuses on providing a premier Girl Scout leadership experience for girls in the 21st century, while ensuring the traditions and values that have been core to Girl Scouting since its beginning remain strong and relevant.

Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois is a not-for-profit organization supported by various United Ways throughout the region. Girl Scouts is a proud partner of United Way.

Visit the GSSI Website www.gsofsi.org and follow them on Facebook for more information.
The small lake at Legends Crossing is continuing to attract high-profile restaurants, this time luring a P.F. Changs China Bistro to a waterfront lot with an assist from Waco real estate agent Jimmy Banks.

Banks said Wednesday he has closed a deal with the Arizona-based chain that dotes on wok-based entree preparation for a menu that includes Chicken Lettuce Wraps, BBQ Spare Ribs, Kung Pao Chicken, Crispy Honey Chicken, Korean Chicken Stir-Fry and more, according to its website.

Waco and Daytona, Florida, are the first to get one of their new prototype stores, Banks said. It will cover about 7,000 square feet and offer indoor dining and a patio overlooking the lake.

P.F. Changs has grown to more than 200 locations.

Banks, who markets Legends Crossing at Interstate 35 and West Loop 340, has almost achieved his prediction that at least six dining establishments would build in the 75-acre, mixed-use development that now includes Saltgrass Steak House, Chuys Tex-Mex restaurant and Heitmiller Steakhouse.

Louisiana-based Walk-Ons Bistreaux and Bar announced in May it would build on a 2.8-acre lakefront lot, and it has taken the next step by submitting plans to the city of Waco, Banks said.

Walk-Ons now operates 12 locations, including four in its hometown of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and is expanding into Texas and elsewhere in the Southeast.

Menu items include gumbo, burgers, salads and specialties that include VooDoo Shrimp, Cajun Ribeye and Cajundillas.

Banks and business partner Lisa Monroe own and operate a local real estate firm called Triliji Group. They will move their headquarters to Legends Crossing, where they also plan a two-phase retail development that includes a 10,400-square-foot center and a 5,475-square-foot center.

Ive been pursuing P.F. Changs for more than 10 years, really, since 2005 or 2006, Banks said. Youve got to be persistent. If youre not, they will go somewhere else. This really is a sweet deal.

He said P.F. Changs should open for business by summer of 2018.

We now have one lot left and we do have prospects, Banks said.

Legends Crossing originally covered 158 acres, but developers sold 74 acres to Baylor Scott & White Hillcrest Medical Center for construction of the new hospital complex and medical offices.

We began marketing the balance of the site more than 10 years ago, worked through the slowdown in the economy and yet were able to stay true to our vision of a quality, high-end development, Banks said.

A Hilton Garden Inn is under construction.
A former McLennan County probation officer pleaded guilty Thursday to using his position to sexually exploit women.

Michael Lee Gutierrez, 28, pleaded guilty to two counts of official oppression, a Class A misdemeanor, in exchange for a recommendation from prosecutors that he be sentenced to two years probation and a $1,000 fine.

Judge Matt Johnson of Wacos 54th State District Court placed Gutierrez on misdemeanor probation, sentenced him to 30 days in the county jail as a term of his supervised release and ordered him to perform 40 hours of community service.

Gutierrez, 28, was arrested last year after two women reported he used the power of his office for inappropriate sexual reasons.

According to court records, Gutierrez asked one probationer during an October 2016 office visit to show him her breasts.

Gutierrez told this offender, Youre going to make me want to pay your probation fees,  court documents state.

The woman refused and later requested to be assigned to a different probation officer, according to records filed in the case.

That same month, Gutierrez became aware of another female offender who violated her probation by smoking marijuana. Gutierrez told the woman that if she was going to fail her drug test to let him know and he would not drug test her, court records show.

This offender would send Gutierrez text messages and photographs that exploited her in a sexual manner, an arrest affidavit states. She feared if she stopped sending this type of material to Gutierrez he would drug test her.

Gutierrez, who was fired in November, confessed to the allegations during interviews with the Texas Rangers, an arrest affidavit says.

Gutierrezs lawyer, J.R. Vicha, said his client was satisfied with the outcome.

He made a mistake, he realizes it and he is paying for it, Vicha said. But at least we kept it to a misdemeanor. He doesnt have a felony conviction, so when he gets done with all of this hell still be able to have a future.
Marlin ISD Superintendent Michael Seabolt has publicly accused the Tribune-Herald of fabricating facts about the districts future, but emails from a Texas Education Agency official state otherwise.

In a video interview with the online news outlet Marlin Pride, Seabolt, referring to an article published in the Aug. 17 Tribune-Herald, alleged the newspaper made up the fact that the districts future remains unclear after the district failed state accountability ratings for the sixth year in a row despite making its most improvements since 2013.

But TEA spokeswoman DeEtta Culbertson, who was cited in the Aug. 17 article, stated again Wednesday the districts future was unclear.

The ratings, released by the Texas Education Agency last week, made Marlin ISD the lone district on the states improvement required list for six consecutive years. The district has fought closure, with guidance from the TEA, since 2015 when it hit four consecutive years on the list.

By law, the state can close the district after four consecutive years on the list. Seabolt made the allegation five days before the districts new school year.

(TEA Commissioner Mike Morath) did an interview with the Waco Tribune about a month ago, where he said closing Marlin is highly unlikely, Seabolt told Marlin Pride about five minutes into his interview on Tuesday. I was a little disappointed to see the article last week where (it said) Marlins future (was) uncertain.

In fact, I was talking to a very senior TEA official again Friday afternoon, and they said, Nobody told them that. They just made that up. That was a sound bite just drug out of pure air just so you could put it on there and somebody will read it and maybe sell a paper. I didnt tell them that. I can tell you Commissioner Mike Morath didnt tell them that. I can tell you no other senior official with the TEA told them that. Thats just made up. What Mike Morath, the commissioner, said a month ago remains true.

Seabolt referred to a June 17 Tribune-Herald article, when Morath said he didnt see the districts closure as a likely possibility.

But asked in an email to the TEAs communications division Aug. 15 what the newly released ratings meant, Culbertson referred to an abatement agreement between the district and the state.

She stated at the time no decision would be made about the districts future until the spring, following the expected release of accreditation statuses, financial and academic accountability ratings.

The agreement is the second one signed by the district to keep it open. The first allowed the TEA to appoint a board of managers to replace the elected school board in February after again failing to meet state standards last year.

Only Morath has authority over the districts fate, but he cant decide that until those other ratings and statuses come in, Culbertson said.

The Society of Professional Journalists has experienced more journalists than ever before being verbally attacked or trolled online after publishing articles, often involving someone calling something biased or fake news, SPJ National President Lynn Walsh said Thursday.

And its not just happening to journalists reporting on politics, she said. Its important for journalists to hold public officials accountable and point out when officials resort to fake news rhetoric when theyre not happy with the facts, she said.

We encourage (journalists to hold officials accountable) and think its a good idea to show what theyre seeing to the public, Walsh said. The public is interested in seeing these original source documents, and how a public official responded to a journalists questions.

She also said the public should be cautious of public officials who deny facts, and encouraged readers to ask their own questions, especially if an official isnt specific about the claim or doesnt have evidence.

The reality is there are media outlets that purposefully push false information, said attorney Alicia Calzada, whose firm represents the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. But doing so also has real-world consequences, she said, referencing an an extreme case at a pizzaria in Washington, D.C., last winter when a man fired a rifle in the restaurant after reading a fake story online stating the place was home to a child-abuse ring allegedly led by Hillary Clinton.

Journalists have to jealously guard their integrity and the reliability of their sources, Calzada said.

The trust that develops between an audience and a reader and a news organization is something that develops over time, she said. People need to invest in their news sources, subscribe to their newspaper or their public radio  They need to support their news source, but you dont wake up and say, This is a reliable source I can believe. Theres obviously a million places to get information now, and if youre going to turn to nontraditional places to get information, they have to work to build your trust.

That news organization has to honor that trust and be worthy of it and maintain that trust. Its nothing new for a politician to say that something stated in the news media isnt true even when theyre confronted with evidence.

Asked via email Wednesday afternoon to identify the senior TEA official who Seabolt claimed told him the Tribune-Herald just made that up, Seabolt chose not to answer the question.

He was also asked, based on the abatement agreement, whether it was true the future of the district couldnt be decided by Morath until those ratings came in and, if true, what prompted him to allege the Tribune-Herald made up the TEA statement. Seabolt did not answer the questions.

Seabolt also would not answer what role he plays in assisting the publics understanding of the struggling district by declaring facts as fabricated.

Instead, he responded later Wednesday afternoon in an email, For the record, I refuse to answer your questions so that you can defend your obviously biased article. No one in the State of Texas told you the future of Marlin ISD was uncertain. That is your opinion, not news. You made it up. There were tremendous gains made in Marlin ISD this year, and the Tribune chose to mention those briefly after reporting some factual information and drawing conclusions for the reader.

The districts gains were mentioned throughout the original article.

Two days after the original article, Seabolt sent an email at 1:11 a.m. to the Tribune-Herald. The email was copied to the districts assistant superintendent and high school principal, the middle school and elementary school principals, the districts chief financial officer and the teaching and learning director.

I am terribly disappointed with the article concerning Marlin ISD and the incredible gains we made, he wrote. You made a negative story out of something that was largely positive. We are done. You can, of course, attend any meeting you wish and report any fake or slanted news you wish. Do not contact me or any person in Marlin ISD for any comment on any issue. Goodbye.

Seabolt never replied after the Tribune-Herald responded by stating its correction policy, an industry standard that if factual errors existed within the original story, the issue would be corrected or clarified immediately.

Seabolt was hired more than two years ago specifically to help turn the district around. The district had more than 800 students during the last school year, according to TEA enrollment reports. Almost 100 percent of the students are economically disadvantaged.

Questions asked Wednesday afternoon were to provide Seabolt a fair chance to address the accusation before an article was published. In his initial response, he only wrote publish away.
Texas A&M University officials said Monday the statue of Lawrence Sullivan "Sul" Ross will remain after the University of Texas at Austin performed a late-night removal of Confederate statues on its campus Sunday.

Texas A&M President Michael K. Young said the iconic statue of Ross -- who rose to the rank of general during the Civil War and later served as governor of Texas before coming to A&M -- located on the College Station campus' Academic Plaza is meant to honor the man specifically in his role as president of the university, not for his time in the Confederate Army.

"Without Sul Ross, neither Texas A&M University nor Prairie View A&M University would likely exist today," Young said in a statement. "He saved our school and Prairie View through his consistent advocacy in the face of those who persistently wanted to close us down."

Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp echoed Young's stance and in a statement said plainly "it will not be removed."

"Anyone who knows the true history of Lawrence Sullivan Ross would never ask his statue to be removed," Sharp said.

Young and Sharp said historical items at A&M and at universities across the A&M System will be reviewed to ensure they are consistent with the university and the System's values.

The University of Texas' decision to remove the three Confederate statues on its campus followed a violent rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month that left dozens injured and one counterprotester dead after a driver crashed into the crowd.

UT wasn't the first prominent school to take down such monuments -- Duke University removed a damaged statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee statue -- but its stature as one of the country's largest public universities could influence others. And in a state that has the most Confederate symbols except for Virginia, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a movement to get similar symbols removed could gain momentum.

University of Texas President Greg Fenves, who said such monuments have become "symbols of modern white supremacy and neo-Nazism," cited the Charlottesville violence as a catalyst for his Sunday night order to move statues of Lee, Confederate Gen. Albert Sydney Johnston and Confederate Postmaster John H. Reagan from a main area of the Austin campus to a history museum. Crews had them down in just a few hours and also removed a statue of former Gov. James Stephen Hogg, whose likeness will be placed in another spot on campus.

"The historical and cultural significance of the Confederate statues on our campus -- and the connections that individuals have with them -- are severely compromised by what they symbolize," Fenves said. "Erected during the period of Jim Crow laws and segregation, the statues represent the subjugation of African-Americans. That remains true today for white supremacists who use them to symbolize hatred and bigotry."

Bill McRaven, chancellor of the 14-campus University of Texas System and Fenves' boss, supported moving the statues and said they are better suited for a history museum. He also noted the potential for violence as the national debate over Confederate memorials intensifies.

"The safety of our students and a higher learning environment that promotes civility, unity and diversity must prevail, and the removal and relocation of the statues is an important step forward," McRaven said.

Gary Bledsoe, president of the NAACP's Texas chapter, praised the move by the University of Texas.

"I hope others in the state can see fit to recognize the humanity of other citizens," Bledsoe said. "It's a tough thing politically but it's the right thing."

Texas' biggest cities had already started exploring what to do with their Confederate memorials. Even before the violence in Virginia, two San Antonio City Council members had asked that a 118-year-old monument be removed. Mayors in Dallas, Houston and Austin have announced their cities will study what to do with Confederate memorials, statues and street names.

The Texas Capitol has been a focus of the debate. The Capitol grounds have about a dozen statues and plaques dedicated to the Confederacy. State Rep. Eric Johnson, a Democrat from Dallas who is black, has called for the removal of a 60-year-old plaque outside his office door that rejects slavery as an underlying cause of the Civil War.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican who graduated from the university in 1981, did not immediately comment Monday. In a statement last week he condemned racism but said tearing down Confederate monuments "won't erase our nation's past."

Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick echoed that stance Monday in an interview with Dallas conservative talk-radio host Mark Davis. Patrick said he was given no advance notice the University of Texas was removing the statues.

"Tearing it down in the middle of the night, under the cover of darkness, for whatever excuse they want to give -- 'Well, we didn't want any rallies, we didn't want any violence, we didn't want any hatred,'" Patrick said. "Guys, our universities are supposed to be where we learn about history and not repeat those moments of the past. And there was no discussion here."

The Confederate statues at the University of Texas had been targeted by vandalism in the past. In 2015, Fenves ordered a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis removed from a prominent place on campus and put in the Briscoe Center for American History, where the other Confederate statues will now go.

The Davis statue didn't come down without a legal fight. And a lawyer who represented the Sons of Confederate Veterans in its unsuccessful lawsuit against the school promised he'll sue again.

"We will never surrender," the attorney, Kirk Lyons, who is employed by the North Carolina-based Southern Legal Resource Center, said Monday after hearing about the latest statue removals. "They are morally wrong and bordering on evil. It ain't over."
Betty was born October 5, 1938, to Horace and Olga Kennedy. She graduated from Waco High School, and married Dan Bryant, her high school sweetheart. Together they had four boys: Dan, Carl, Brad, and Mike. After his death, she married Ronnie Evans and they enjoyed 26 years together before his passing in 2009. She began working as an administrative officer for the Department of Veterans Affairs in 1979, and excelled in her career, until illness forced an early retirement in 2017. She loved the gym, referring to it as her social hour, and went as much as possible, even making sure to get in proper forms of exercises during her final days. She was strong in her religious faith and you could catch her reading her Bible every morning. Shopping was second nature and the skill was quickly passed down to any child or grandchild who was willing to learn. It is no wonder that Black Friday became a yearly family reunion.
Velma Schuetz, age 98, of Abbott, passed away on Tuesday, August 22, 2017 at West Rest Haven in West. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 1 p.m., Friday, August 25, at St. Mary's Catholic Church of the Assumption, with the Rev. Darrell Kostiha as Celebrant. Burial will follow at St. Mary's Cemetery.

Velma was born March 27, 1919 in West, the daughter of Jerome and Albina (Janek) Janak. She attended St. Mary's School. On January 3, 1949 she was united in marriage to Eddie Schuetz in West. Velma was a seamstress working for several area manufactures including: J.M Woods in Waco and Lorch's in West. Following her retirement, Velma volunteered at the West Senior Center. She was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church of the Assumption. Velma was also a member of the Central Texas Bass Club and several Over 50 Dance Clubs. She enjoyed fishing, sewing and was an avid West Trojan fan. She loved spending time with her family, especially her dog, Oscar.
Whos in control?

A quotation comes to mind, roughly quoted: To know who controls you, find out who you cant criticize.

A bill recently introduced has been sponsored by Texas Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn along with many others. This bill (HR 1697, SB 720) is a direct assault on the First Amendment to the Constitution  Congress shall make no law ... abridging freedom of speech  and this bill was written by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

The bill proposes to criminalize support of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, which works to end international support for Israels oppression of Palestinians. The right of any citizen of this country to express his opinion, including disapproval of the methods and aims of Israel, is protected under the First Amendment.

Cruz and Cornyn are apparently playing to their audience and financial backers with their stand to limit rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Maybe its a show of support, a Kabuki theater sort of thing. However, any move to limit freedom of speech must be stopped. This is a critical time in our country and no time for playing games.

A short reading of penalties proposed, should this bill become law, should send a shudder down the spine of any citizen. Sen. Ben Cardin, a lead supporter of the bill, states he didnt know what was in it but that there were no criminal penalties. Wrong. The bill would provide for a minimum civil penalty of $250,000 and a maximum criminal penalty of $1 million and 20 years in jail.

Cruz and Cornyn should reconsider their support for this monstrous bill.

B.R. Haney, Waco

White supremacy

Charlottesville is indicative of how pervasive racism is in the United States. This racism explains why there is so much anger at those who receive social welfare instead of being angry at corporate welfare that costs us trillions of dollars. Many who receive social welfare are people of color. This racism, so subtle for decades, is now conspicuous and vocal. This racism seems to go hand in hand with fundamentalist Christianity, which spews a large amount of hate toward gays.

Many who are white supremacists attend these fundamentalist churches. Most of these people can never be reached in terms of enlightenment and acceptance of those who are different. They have a wealth of propaganda to make them feel secure in their beliefs, no matter how ignorant these beliefs are. What is needed is a progressive movement that will take back our government from these right-wingers.

We as progressives must vote in 2018. Grassroots movements must begin too. We have to take back our country from this destructive right-wing establishment before we reach the point of no return.

John Vickrey, Norman, Oklahoma
MATTOON -- When the call goes out for blood donations, the citizens of Mattoon and Charleston step up, roll up their sleeves, and freely give the gift of life. According to a press release, surprisingly few of us, however, are aware of where blood donations go.

Ashley Morgan, donor relations consultant for Community Blood Services of Illinois, brought to the members of the Mattoon Rotary Club at their July 19 meeting a new awareness of the importance of blood donations in our community and how blood collected here is sometimes not available locally.

Mattoon and Charleston are the home of Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center (SBLHS), a regional hospital and medical clinics. A facility like SBLHS has a continuous demand for blood products for their emergency room and for their surgical centers. Community Blood Services of Illinois has been the exclusive supplier of blood products to SBLHC since 2012 and to other hospitals in the region, as well.

A total of 86 hospitals in the region receive all of their blood products exclusively from Community Blood Services of Illinois. Other organizations, such as the Red Cross, also conduct blood drives in the area, but the blood they collect is taken to Chicago or St. Louis for distribution to the hospitals they serve.

Ashley expressed great respect for the good work these other organizations do and would not discourage anyone from donating blood in the support of a much larger community. However, if individuals in Mattoon or Charleston wants their blood donation to go to the local hospital, they must donate through Community Blood Services of Illinois.

About 38 percent of the general population is eligible to donate blood. Eligible donors must be over 17 years old, weigh at least 110 pounds, appear healthy, and have a photo I.D. Screeners at the donation site will check the donors blood pressure and hemoglobin levels, and review the donors medical history before proceeding with the donation.

All information provided to the screeners is confidential and covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPPA) to guarantee the donors privacy.

The complete whole blood donation process usually takes about 45 minutes to an hour including the time it takes to register, pass the donor screening, make the actual donation, and have a light snack. Donors may give one pint of whole blood every 56 days.

When whole blood is donated, it is typically processed into three transfusable components: red blood cells (oxygen carriers), platelets (clotting agents), and plasma (the watery solution making up the bulk of the blood volume). Components from a single donation may go to three different patients.

Currently, about 17 percent of donated blood is used by cancer patients, 11 percent is used in general surgery, 8 percent is used in the treatment of heart disease, and 8 percent is used to treat trauma patients. The remaining 56 percent is used for a wide variety of medical procedures including treatment of bleeding disorders and sickle cell anemia, for post-surgery recovery and dialysis, and for many other treatments.

Some donors may give only platelets through a process called apheresis. In apheresis, whole blood is extracted, processed in a machine that collects the platelets and then returns the filtered plasma back into the donor. The process requires more time for the donor, about 1  to 2 hours, but produces four to six times the amount of usable platelets as would be produced from a single whole blood donation. Platelets are especially important for cancer and organ transplant treatments, and help prevent blood loss for many surgical procedures. Platelets can be donated every seven days up to a total of twenty-four times per year.

Community Blood Services of Illinois conducts regular blood drives every 56 days at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center. To schedule a visit, donors may email Leann Brackney at LBrackney@sblhs.org. or they may visit www.bloodcenterimpact.org to search for a blood drive at any location and sign-up.

Blood drives are frequently initiated at other locations by service organizations and businesses interested in community service. Any group wanting to schedule a blood drive may contact Ashley Morgan at Community Blood Services of Illinois by calling 217-367-2202 or by visiting the Community Blood Services of Illinois web site at www.bloodservices.org.
WAHOO  Saunders County may not have been in the path for totality, but Mondays eclipse still drew quite a bit of excitement.

At about 1 p.m., just as the moons shadow was almost directly in between the sun and the earth, the street lights in downtown Wahoo came on. A handful of city employees applauded, as they gathered outside of city hall to view the solar eclipse.

The moon began its eclipse of the sun at about 11:30 a.m. Wahoo was not in the path of totality, but at about 98 percent daylight was muted by the time the path was at maximum alignment an hour and a half later.

Across town from city hall, more than 200 people gathered in the Wahoo State Bank parking to view the event.

Wahoo State Bank President Greg Hohl said he had looked to see if there were other viewing activities in town and didnt find any.

We figured we would be here working anyway, so we thought why not, Hohl said about why the bank hosted Mondays viewing party.

The bank provided Eclipse Joes seasoned with moon dust, Moon Pies and Sun Chips for lunch. There were also sun and moon themed music and eclipse viewing glasses for patrons that stopped by for the event.

Lake Wanahoo State Recreation Area was also the place to be for some people wanting to take in the eclipse. A park representative reported less activity than anticipated, but still more campers than on a normal Monday. Boats were afloat in the water too.

Some area residents braved the busy roadways for a special experience.

Hohl reported that Bishop Neumann High School juniors and seniors spent the day at a seminary in Seward for the eclipse.

Yutan High School science students took a trip to Hampton for an event that included a Native American sun dance, fireworks and visit from an astronaut, said Yutan Superintendent Stan Hendricks.

Hendricks said the district also purchased approximately 500 pair of eclipse glasses for students to view the eclipse during school hours.

Wahoo Public Schools took a different approach and decided against eclipse activity.

After discussion with legal counsel, it was determined that there was too significant a liability concern, said Wahoo Superintendent Brandon Lavaley.

However, the district did allow parents to pull students out of school for the day for family activities, he said.

Rachelle Gervais of Wahoo home-schools her five children and brought them to Wahoo State Bank on Monday. Her oldest, Pierre-Daniel Gervais, 8, was the most excited about it, she said.

But all of her children donned the eclipse eyewear as the moon began to move across the sun.

Gervais said she used the eclipse as subject matter for teaching before the eclipse, but planned to do more afterward.

The Nebraska Department of Transportation spent Monday tweeting out advisements for travelers. Increased traffic had been predicted because of the eclipse and the prediction did not fall short.

Saunders County roads saw higher volumes of traffic, as eclipse enthusiasts traveled just to the south and to the west to be in the zone of totality.

Yutan City Council President JC Long said he called Police Chief Tim Hannan for extra duty for the safety of drivers.

Long said traffic was backed up after the eclipse from Yutan to Wahoo on Highway 92.

Rescue personnel were dispatched to several accidents throughout the day. It was unknown as of press time how many of these were related to the increase in traffic due to the eclipse.

While partially cloudy skies made it hard to get a perfectly clear view of the eclipse, those who gazed up with the appropriate eclipse glasses didnt seem to be disappointed.

Homestead National Monument near Beatrice was one of the places in the path of total eclipse.

The crowd at the Homestead National Monument, estimated at 7,000 people, chanted go away clouds as the eclipse ducked behind thick clouds.

But, about halfway through totality, thinner clouds moved in, allowing people a glimpse at an event some came from as far away as Connecticut and Texas to view.

Bill Nye the Science Guy was on hand for the event at the national monument. When asked how hed rate the eclipse, he said, It was a 10.

Cheers and applause were heard in Lincoln too.

Thats pretty spectacular, said Brad Shadwick, an associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

He watched from outside Lincolns Haymarket Stadium, where a big telescope set up by the UNL physics and astronomy department was the highlight of pre-eclipse science activities.

Not far away, more than 300 people gathered on the lawn and around the entrances of the State Capitol as totality approached.

Many had spread out blankets, set up folding chairs and pulled out picnic lunches for the event. SunChips, Moonpies and eclipse cookies were common fare.

Marcia Stone of Hunt, Texas and Rebecca Rodriguez of Santa Fe, N.M. picked a spot on the grass to try out their $50 eclipse-rated binoculars. The sisters said the eclipse brought them back to the city of their birth for the first time in more than 50 years.

(BH Media News Service contributed to this report.)
General information

The Coles County Council on Aging offices are located at the LifeSpan Center, located at 11021 E. County Road 800 N., Charleston (northeast of Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center). The telephone number for the Coles County Council on Aging and LifeSpan Center is 217-639-5150. The telephone numbers for the programs are: Coles County LSVP, 217-639-5155; Telecare, 217-639-5166; Family Care Giver Resource Center, 217-639-5168; and Dial-A-Ride, 217-639-5169 or 1-800-500-5505. Peace Meal Lunch at LifeSpan is served at noon.

Aug. 28-Sept. 1

Suggested donation for lunches is $3.50 for those over 60, and $6 for those under 60.

Monday  Fish sandwich w/tartar sauce, baked beans, herbed peas, bun, pears.

Tuesday  Fried chicken, mashed potatoes w/gravy, broccoli salad, whole grain wheat (1), warm fruit crisp.

Wednesday  Stuffed peppers in tomato sauce, buttered corn, whole grain dinner roll, tropical fruit.

Thursday  Shepherds pie, cucumber and onion salad, biscuit, graham crackers (1), hot cinnamon buttered apples.

Friday  Pork chop in gravy, mini potato bakers, tomatoes and zucchini, Texas toast, melon salad w/grapes.

Calendar of events

Aug. 28-Sept. 1

Bingo: If you are interested in playing Bingo at your LifeSpan Center on our newly scheduled Bingo days, please call your LifeSpan Center Welcome Desk and register in advance 217-639-5150. Registration is required in order to secure a spot for bingo games.

Monday 11-11:45 a.m., Zumba, $5 per class; noon-12:30 p.m., Peace Meal Lunch at LSC.

Tuesday  9-10 a.m., mens coffee group  Mattoon Health Care; 9-10 a.m., Arthritis Foundation exercise class, $1 per class; 10-10:45 a.m., chair yoga, $5 per class; 10-11 a.m., Wheel of Fortune with Mason Point; 11-11:45 a.m., Zumba Gold Toning Class, $5 per class; noon-12:30 p.m., Peace Meal Lunch at LSC; 1 p.m., Movie  LifeSpan Family Theater; 1-3 p.m., Mattoon/Charleston Art Guild  new members welcome; 1:30 p.m., Parkinsons Support Group.

Wednesday  10:30-11:30 a.m., Bible study; 11-11:45 a.m., Zumba Gold, $5 per class; noon-12:30 p.m., Peace Meal Lunch at LSC; 12:30-3:30 p.m., card games with Lifes Journey Senior Living; 1-3 p.m., ladies game of pool for all ages; 1 p.m., movie  LifeSpan Family Theater; 3-3:30 p.m., New LSVP Balance Class, call 217-639-5150 to register.

Thursday  9-10 a.m., Arthritis Foundation exercise class, $1 per class; 10-10:45 a.m., chair yoga, $5 per class; 11-11:45 a.m., Zumba Gold Toning Class, $5 per class, $35 for 12 classes; noon-12:30 p.m., Peace Meal Lunch at LSC; 1 p.m., movie  LifeSpan Family Theater.

Friday 11-11:45 a.m., Zumba, $5 per class; noon-12:30 p.m., Peace Meal Lunch at LSC; 1 p.m., Movie  LifeSpan Family Theater.

Dial-A-Ride
Police use water cannon against evicted migrants near Rome's Termini station.

A major clean-up is underway in Rome's Piazza dell'Indipendenza on 24 August after six hours of clashes between riot police and around 100 migrants evicted recently from a building on nearby Via Curtatone.

Clashes continued into the afternoon with police baton charging migrants in the bus terminal outside Rome's central Termini station.

The violent scenes followed the recent eviction of 800 migrants, mainly refugees or asylum seekers from Eritrea - many of them women and children - who had occupied a former office building illegally for several years.

Police used water cannon against the protesters, some of whom retaliated by throwing rocks, petrol bombs and open gas canisters.

Describing it as a "very sad situation", Unicef Italia said the 800 people evicted have been "thrown into the street in inhumane conditions without a real sustainable alternative."

However police claim the migrants have turned down alternative accommodation in the city's Torre Maura and Boccea suburbs.
By Margaret Stenhouse.

Italy is working to salvage its cultural heritage after recent devastating earthquakes.

The doors of the vast hanger adjoining the Italian state forestry corps barracks at Cittaducale in northern Lazio swing open to reveal rows of steel tube shelving, reaching from floor to ceiling. They contain, to date, 2,855 paintings, statues, antiquities, altar pieces, embroidered copes, chalices, bells, relics, ex-votos and other objects recovered from the churches and museums of Lazio that were devastated in the recent earthquakes.

We estimate that there are another 600 works of art still buried under rubble, in Lazio alone, said prefect Fabio Carapezza Guttuso, head of the emergency task force operating in the earthquake zone. In the four regions that have suffered damage, a total of 16,111 art works have been recovered so far, as well as thousands of antique books and archive material.

Churches and shrines

The contents of 92 Lazio churches and shrines are gathered in Cittaducale, inanimate patients passively awaiting treatment.

We classify them according to the extent of damage they have suffered. The set-up is a bit like a hospital. The difference is that the patients that arrive first need the least attention, because their salvage has been easy and they haven't suffered much harm. The badly damaged frescoes and sculptures that were buried under stones and rubble arrive last and need the most care, he went on.

A Madonna and Child await restoration at Cittaducale in northern Lazio.

However, rather than a hospital, the storehouse seems more like a church with its high ceiling and long naves lined with shelves, where rows upon rows of plaster and wooden saints and Madonnas gaze out from their sheets of protective wrappings with sorrowful, painted eyes.

Each item is scrupulously labelled with its description and place of provenance. Every single piece is catalogued, says Guttuso. Years ago, in an emergency like this you would have many eager volunteers coming to help recover works of art, but no-one bothered to note where they had come from, so it was often impossible to place them afterwards. Now we aim to return them to the sites where they belong.

A lot of the works are by local artists, he continued. Their value is not so much material or artistic, but in what they mean to their local community.

Sense of identity

The restorers from the Italian ministry of culture involved in the operation all understand the profound sense of identity and belonging that these objects evoke in the inhabitants of villages and hamlets wiped out by the series of earth tremors that tore areas of central Italy apart between 24 August 2016 and the following January.

Cristina Collatini, in charge of the stockage operation, recounted how villagers, who had lost everything, begged rescue workers not to take their treasures away to a museum, but to promise to return them once they had been repaired.

Cristina Collatini is in charge of storage operations at Cittaducale.

Italy's recovery squad took the plea seriously. Ensuring that none of the articles saved actually left the territory was one of the reasons that influenced the choice of storage deposits, all located in close proximity to the earthquake zone. The Cittaducale unit, in fact, is only one of the five collection points in the regions involved, with the others at Spoleto (for Umbria), Celano (for Abruzzo) and two at Ancona and Ascoli Piceno (Marche).

The extent of the devastation, coupled with the difficulties inherent in the mountainous terrain of north-east Lazio, populated with numerous scattered little communities, posed enormous problems. In addition to towns like Amatrice and Norcia, many villages and hamlets were almost totally wiped out. Considered to be the worst earthquake since Messina in 1908, which claimed some 250,000 victims, life loss this time was mercifully small. Of the total 299 victims, 237 were from Amatrice alone and this comparatively high number was due to ill luck. The resident population was swelled with visitors for the annual festa.

Blue Helmets for Culture

Priority was given, of course, to saving lives. But as soon as possible Italy's special Caschi Blu per la Cultura (Blue Helmets for Culture) corps was on the scene, salvaging as much as possible of the area's cultural heritage from the ruins. Many of the feats they achieved verged on the miraculous. Last November, television viewers watched with bated breath as firemen winched the colossal Incoronation of the Virgin by Jacopo Siculo from the ruins of the church of St Francis in Norcia. The altar piece had remained attached to the one wall left standing when the building crumbled. The entire operation took two days of preparation.

The altar piece was removed from the ruins of the church in Norcia.

In an emergency, if a tower or a wall is hindering rescue operations, it gets knocked down. But this time we were able to coordinate with the army and the fire brigade to avoid unnecessary destruction, commented Carapezza Guttuso.

The Blue Helmets task force, which also operates under the aegis of UNESCO, is made up of a select group of carabinieri and experts from the Italian culture ministry including restorers, art historians, architects and archaeologists. Established in February 2016, the unit cut its teeth among the ravaged monuments of Palmyra in Syria, little realising how soon its special skills would be needed at home.

The area to the right of the entrance at the Cittaducale depot is occupied by a collection of church bells of all sizes, many of them still attached to their headstock.

Even if a bell tower is still standing after an earthquake, it wouldn't be able to support the weight of bells in its weakened condition. So we take them down till the towers can be rebuilt or reinforced, explained Collatini. But we know that the ringing of bells has always been an important part of the life of the community, so this Easter we set up little bell towers made of steel tubes as temporary substitutes.

The opposite side of the depot is dominated by a large photographic reproduction of the Passatore icon altar piece from the sanctuary of St Mary of Grace, a 15th-century shrine on the ancient shepherds' transhumance route near Amatrice. Restorer Federica Di Napoli Rampolla points out the areas where the frescoes have been damaged. Nearby, Silvia Borghini is sorting out a box of rubble collected at the foot of the altar, setting the painted fragments aside. Later, they will be reset in their former position, recomposing the original fresco as nearly as possible to how it was before. Borghini was one of the 80 restorers who pieced together the jigsaw pieces of the vault in the basilica of St Francis of Assisi, which collapsed in the 1997 earthquake.

The Cittaducale depot contains a horde of bells rescued from church towers.

Sometimes you have to work with the back of the fragments, rather than the front, explained Federica Di Napoli Rampolla. Often it's easier to fit the pieces together that way, because chips of colour often flake off. School children are very good at that. They have a quicker eye for shapes. Unfortunately, we can't use them here.

Photographic archives help restorers' task. Some 20 years ago, Italy's heritage defence police, a special branch of the carabinieri, began documenting and cataloguing the country's immense artistic patrimony in order to clamp down on art smuggling and illegal sales. This work continues, with the result that now over five million works of art from all parts of the country are listed and described in detail.

Italy is the acknowledged world leader in the restoration field. Restorers follow the principles laid down by 20th-century art historian Cesare Brandi in his landmark treatise Teoria di Restauro, translated and studied all over the world. Brandi introduced the concept of using the combined skills of many experts, such as archaeologists, chemists, physicists, architects and manuscript and book pathologists.

Expertise is not lacking; the problem will be funding. Approximate time required for rebuilding is set (optimistically) at ten years and the estimated costs are astronomical.

The cash-strapped Italian government is at present bearing the brunt of construction work but a new EU proposal could mean that Brussels will meet 95 per cent of reconstruction costs  instead of the present 50 per cent  for natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods in some regions. But other sources of funding will also be needed to cover many restoration costs.

Restorers hope that the Art Bonus concession, introduced by Italian minister of culture Dario Francheschini, which gives private sponsors a 65 per cent tax rebate, will incentivise donors interested in preserving a unique historic landscape and giving communities back their spiritual and artistic soul.

This article was published in the July 2017 edition of Wanted in Rome magazine.
This is the first arrival of a new AZCAF-assigned warbird in over three years and brings the total number of combat-related aircraft at the museum to over 30. Volunteers are ready to employ on a mission of restoring the aircraft to join its fleet that includes seven flying warbirds that provide living history rides to the public. After the Avenger is reassembled, it will be on display at the museum and the public can see the progress of the restoration efforts first-hand. We are thrilled to welcome this warbird to our fold, comments Dennis Fennessey, Airbase Leader, Arizona Commemorative Air Force Museum. Its an impressive addition to our fleet of rare WWII bombers and combat airplanes and were honored and excited to begin restoring it.

The TBM-3E Avenger is a rare aircraft. Approximately 40 are currently airworthy in the world, 27 are on display, and 14 are in storage or undergoing restoration from a total of 9,389 manufactured for WWII. Avengers participated in all major engagements of the U.S. Navy starting with the Battle of Midway. It was utilized in anti-submarine patrol, search and rescue, and airborne early warning. A large, heavy but versatile and easy-to-fly aircraft, it can attain 267 mph and 1900 horsepower. While primarily designed as a torpedo bomber, its large weapons bay and capability to handle ordnance on its wings allowed it to perform level bombing, dive bombing, and rocket attacks.

The Arizona Commemorative Air Force Museum, a top-rated Trip Advisor attraction, has 55,000 sq. ft. of historical airplanes, relics, and educational exhibits, in addition to a working mechanics hangar. Its mission is to restore and preserve airplanes that have served throughout the history of combat aviation and to educate visitors about the sacrifices of our veterans. Knowledgeable docents are available to guide people through the exhibits or patrons may explore unguided. A museum store is onsite (and available online) with military aviation-related art, books, clothing, toys and collectibles. The organization is 99% run by dedicated volunteers and is a non-profit 501(c)3.
CHARLESTON (JG-TC) -- A local activist group has scheduled another demonstration to express opinions on familiar topics addressed at an earlier gathering following the Charlottesville, Va., incidents.

Charleston Women's Huddle Actions members will be organizing for United Against Hate at what has become a popular spot for their gatherings. The rally is scheduled from 5-6 p.m. Saturday at Morton Park, according to Facebook event information.

This rally for solidarity will be a peaceful display of support in the community against hatred in all its forms, the event description reads.

We want to let people of color, people of different religions, people of various abilities, and people of all genders and sexualities know that they are not alone in our community, that they have allies in us, and that we will not tolerate hatred, the post continued.

Those planning to participate are asked to bring appropriate signage, according to the event details. At the event a couple of weeks ago, attendees had signs calling out President Donald Trump, as well as neo-Nazis and other hate groups, after the incident in the Virginia college town where a man plowed a car into a crowd of people objecting to the white nationalist rally being held there. One woman was killed in that incident.

Black Lives Matter and other popular activist statements have also been seen at previous rallies organized by the group.

The Facebook post asks that demonstrators stay out of the street. Participants will be standing along the sidewalk next to Lincoln Avenue. At the earlier event, a few participants made their way into the middle of Lincoln Avenue before being asked to move by local police.
I am a 30-year-old woman of liberal upbringing and no particular religious affiliation. Among my peers it is a foregone conclusion that I will be voting "yes" in the upcoming postal plebiscite on same-sex marriage. To admit otherwise would be akin to confessing that I am secretly a homophobe or hate preacher.

The fact is: I will be voting "no".

I do not believe I am homophobic. And I am certainly not a hate preacher. Of course my heart goes out to the Penny Wongs of the world. Sexual orientation has nothing to do with whether one loves their children or is a good parent, and such accusations are intolerable. But my peers seem to believe that my two beliefs are incompatible  to vote "no" to same sex marriage is to hate Penny Wong

In my experience, the debate in the lead up to this postal plebiscite has been characterised by this sort of prejudice by the "yes" voters and their intolerance of genuine discussion around the issues. Legitimate debate is being drowned out; anyone who whispers a doubt to voting "yes" is immediately shunned.
A $5 billion infrastructure loan scheme derided as a secretive Turnbull government slush fund has attracted further criticism  this time from a major bank.

National Australia Bank - whose own industry is plagued by claims it is opaque and untrustworthy - has raised concerns that the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, a controversial government loan scheme designed to kickstart private sector investment in the north, lacks transparency.

NAB also warned that the fund was taking a "lender of last resort" approach that may not provide the economic shot-in-the-arm that Northern Australia requires.

The bank's concern adds to a chorus of complaint that the much-vaunted infrastructure fund, which headlined the 2015 federal budget, is cloaked in secrecy, lacks governance and exposes taxpayers to a high risk of losing their money.
Even the most beautiful women in the world are made to feel faulty. The body-shaming that is common to Hollywood and reflective of a big issue we all face, is a sure-fire way to make our weight issues worse.

In a podcast titled "It's a Man's World", British actor Gemma Arterton revealed the "traumatic" time a producer deemed her weight an "emergency" during a film shoot.

British actor Gemma Arterton has described the body-shaming she experienced in Hollywood.

"There was one film that I was on and we were out in Morocco and a couple of weeks went past and they literally were like, 'We need a personal trainer  stat.'

"And they flew someone out overnight that gave up their whole life to be with me and be my personal trainer," the 31-year-old told Guilty Feminist.
Heavy machinery used to clear land for a controversial housing development south of Perth has been destroyed by fire as a protest rages against the project.

Police were called to the construction site on Dampier Drive Golden Bay around 9.45pm on Wednesday night after a security guard spotted the cabin of a bulldozer on fire.

Firefighters at the blaze that destroyed machinery in Perth's south. Credit:Kate Hedley, Mandurah Mail

Department of Fire and Emergency crews quickly put out the blaze and estimate the damage to the machinery at around $400,000.

The machinery was being used to level dunes for the housing development which nearby residents claim are unique and are also home to local wildlife.
Police have seized nearly three kilos of MDMA, cocaine, methamphetamine, cash and a firearm following a series of search warrants in Perth's eastern suburbs on Wednesday.

Kensington Detectives and Organised Crime Squad officers seized the vast array of drugs on Wednesday morning.

Some of the drugs which were seized by police Credit:WA Police

Police searched two locations as part of the operation.

One location was a hire car near Great Eastern Highway in Belmont.
SHELBYVILLE -- Anticipation is building for a $1.4 million downtown enhancement plan funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Main Street, which is also Illinois Route 16, would see improvements that include new lighting, flowers, seating and handicapped accessible sidewalks. The work would also fill in old coal chutes leading to basements of many of the buildings on Main Street that can make the street level unstable.

Shelby County Economic Development Director Anna Kiley and City Engineer Alan Spesard presented IDOT's plan during a special public meeting at city hall Monday. Spesard said Shelbyville began working on the grant proposal in 2011, but the funding wasnt released until this year. Another public meeting is planned for Nov. 6.

We have been working on this for a long time, said Spesard.

More than 40 people attended the meeting, which, while geared primarily toward downtown business owners, also had several farmers and agribusiness owners who raised concerns about Main Street access for their large equipment.

The two-block project will begin at the Shelby County Courthouse at East Main and Washington and go west to Broadway. Construction is expected to start in June.

Shelbyville is an old and historic city, Kiley said. The streetscape will help us enhance the beauty and usability of our downtown and pay tribute to its heritage.

Business owners were told to expect up to 10 business days of limited access to their storefronts while the work is being done. Spesard said one side of one block would be done at a time.

"Without allowing for delays due to weather, I think this will take every bit of the summer construction season," Spesard said.

Jodi Allen, owner of bakery/restaurant Iced, said Tuesday the short-term interference would be worth it for the long-term result.

I expect Ill have to be closed a few days, she said of her business at 118 E. Main St. I also have a lot of elderly customers that might have a hard time making it in, but Im looking forward to the finished product.

This is going to improve our downtown, and Im excited for it, Allen said. But well all be glad when its done.

Kiley said property owners are also eligible for up to $25,000 in matching tax increment financing, or TIF, grants for improvements they make to their buildings, and that the city has a facade improvement plan that will provide owners with architectural consultations.

We can give you a consultation on facade improvement that can merge your vision for your property and what we are trying to accomplish to improve the downtown area and make it more appealing, she said.

Shelbyville farmer Keith Hennings said he is concerned that large farm equipment only has "a few inches to spare" when traveling Main Street now.

If you make it any smaller, Im afraid there could be accidents and someone could get hurt," he said.

Spesard said the final design would not significantly change lane widths or eliminate turn lanes that must meet IDOT standards. Parking spaces on both sides of the street will also remain, he said.

The two times were most concerned with are of course spring and fall, said Shelby County Farm Bureau Board member Troy Uphoff. While this is a great opportunity for Shelbyville to improve their downtown, Illinois 16 is an important route for agribusiness.
Rome: The mayor of Florence has apologised for yelling "Allahu akbar" (God is great) at his Venetian counterpart after a debate on terrorism.

The two mayors were at a conference in Rimini, on Italy's Adriatic coast, when the bizarre encounter happened.

The Cathedral at St Marks Square in Venice. Credit:iStock

They had just left a debate in which Luigi Brugnaro, the mayor of Venice, said that if any terrorist was thinking of attacking his city, he would be shot by security forces within seconds.

"If someone shouts 'Allahu akbar' while running through St Mark's Square, we'll shoot them," Mr Brugnaro said. "A year ago, I said [they'd be shot] after four steps. Now I'm saying it would happen after three."
MATTOON (JG-TC) -- Police officers have arrested two Mattoon men on charges of motor vehicle theft and burglary.

A Mattoon Police Department press release reported that Marco A. West, 21, and Dashawn A. Hanton, 23, were arrested at approximately 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the police station. Both suspects were charged with four counts of theft of a motor vehicle and one count of burglary from a motor vehicle.

The charges allege that the pair stole items from a car during the early morning hours of June 29, and that they subsequently stole a total of four cars on that morning as well. Two of the cars were crashed near the intersection of Old State and Lerna roads. Two other cars were later abandoned.

Parole violation charges for West are also being sought by Mattoon police. Those charges allege that West was on parole from the Illinois Department of Corrections, for theft of a motor vehicle, at the time of the new alleged offenses. Both suspects were taken to the Coles County jail.
As a follow-up of the national workshop that took place in December 2016 in the field of Human Resources Management (HRM), the chairman of Sudan customs Authority requested the World Customs Organization (WCO) to conduct a national workshop in Sudan, from 20 to 24 August 2017 in order to evaluate the work that was initiated early this year and make proposals to improve the HRM tools which have already been developed. The workshop was funded by HMRC and received support from WACAM project.

As a direct consequence of the first workshop, a working group has been set up and initiated the first steps towards the development of HRM strategy and policy as well as competency based HRM tools. A road map of next steps was established by the working group, along with a set of expected outcomes to achieve the HRM reform and modernization objectives.

The workshop was an excellent opportunity for the improvement and refreshment of knowledge and skills required in the fields of staff planning, job descriptions, competency framework, performance assessment and staff motivation and development. The event also focused on how to formulate well-drafted job descriptions as a critical recruitment, training and performance management tool. At the end of the workshop, a new road map was formulated in consultation with the working group with the aim at fine-tuning the existing HRM tools.

By the close of the workshop, participants were upbeat about the positive, productive atmosphere that characterized the five days. This was confirmed by the Chairman of Sudan Customs Authority, during the closing ceremony, who expressed his gratitude to the WCO for the valuable support provided to his Administration in all customs areas and particularly in the field of Human Resources Management.
Maybe I'm exactly what's wrong with this country -- I don't care enough.

Or, some might say I don't care about the "right" things.

I don't really care about statues. On my own, walking by this or that monument to whomever, I mostly don't even pay attention. If someone stopped me and asked me if I thought a statue to Robert E. Lee ought to be removed from public property, I'd probably say "yes," just because I had to choose an answer.

But if it were up to me, I'd say just leave them alone.

The problem is that I see both sides. Lee was a skilled general, and had many admirable qualities I'm sure, but he fought to tear apart the United States. I wouldn't think we'd want a monument to that kind of guy in our country.

Then again, he's part of history. He was on the wrong side of history -- the side that wanted to keep black people enslaved -- on that I do have an opinion. But instead of removing the statue, use it as a teaching tool -- about our past, current events and looking toward our future.

Ah, but statues are just a distraction.

It's not about statues.

The latest racial unrest popping up here and there across the country -- obviously, most notably in Charlottesville, Va., a couple of weeks ago -- isn't really about statues.

That's like saying everyone goes to a wiener roast for the fire. Sure, it's part of the event -- and vital if you want sustenance -- but it's the people who are the attraction.

And it's the people in the Charlottesville incidents that matter.

There's absolutely no excuse for President Donald Trump not swiftly and directly condemning the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and the violent actions and beliefs of their ilk -- including the death of one counter protestor.

There certainly should be no comparison between white supremacists, and their hateful agenda of racism, and the peaceful agenda of counter protestors.

But come on. Who was surprised here by the president's reaction?

Yet, that's what I do care about -- not statues, but the racism from white supremacists who've rallied around them.

"There's violence on both sides!" exclaim conservatives, or right-wing folks, or whatever label you want to give them.

I think that's true. Some groups who oppose the KKK and their pals do incite or bring violence to the table to counter white supremacy. That's just as wrong as the racists among us using violence for their cause.

But let's be clear: The racists are the original bad guys.

That shouldn't be hard for the president, of all people, to articulate. But since he didn't -- oh, until he got in hot water and read a different statement regarding Charlottesville -- it's obvious he doesn't believe that. It's the off-the-cuff remarks that show who a person is ... anyone can read from a teleprompter something written by someone else.

Speaking from the heart is pretty recognizable.

So no, I don't care about statues. But I do care about racism.

A nurse would care about a broken ankle on a patient who's just come into the emergency room, but not in comparison to addressing the problem of his heart if it's stopped.

What we need to care about are the important things -- the disease, not the peripheral issues. We need to stop allowing ourselves to be distracted by ridiculous memes on Facebook, for example, about statues, and instead have honest and respectful dialogue about what we're going to do about the racial divide in America.

That, I care about.

I find that most of my stances put me in the liberal category. Yet many put me in the conservative realm.

In these times of "you have to choose!", that makes me the odd woman out.

I watch CNN, MSNBC and Fox. I'm pro-life but also against the government intruding on decisions that should be between a patient and a doctor. I think the government spends too much but taxes some people too little.

Maybe I'm just plain fickle.

A friend on Facebook posted about ESPN removing an announcer by the name of Robert Lee from broadcasting during a recent game because they feared the coincidence of his name might offend some people.

If I'm a liberal, I'm not supposed to say this -- but that is utterly and completely ridiculous.

I withheld judgment until I verified the news, via a Google search or two and a video posted from Fox, because you can't believe a lot of what's on Facebook or online in general. But that one is actually true.

Sheesh.

I'm repeatedly amazed -- and yet not surprised -- that Trump's supporters continue to back him no matter what he says or does. I watched the fans behind him as he spoke in Arizona on Tuesday night and wondered what they were thinking.

Then again, how could I ever guess what's on their minds? I've never known a politician yet for whom I'd attend a rally. I generally supported President Barack Obama, but if he held a rally here in Mattoon, I wouldn't go. There are plenty of things on which I disagreed with him, yet I see many people -- Obama/left-leaning folks and Trump/right-leaning supporters -- wholeheartedly and without question backing their candidate.

Maybe I ask too many questions.

Maybe I'm just grumpy in general.

Some of my friends seemed distressed that I wasn't excited about Monday's eclipse. Sure, I thought it was neat. It looked cool. And, I love nature, so I appreciate the wonder of it.

But travel a couple of hours to see it? Not me.

I don't feel grumpy. I just feel, well, sensible. Boring. Middle-of-the-road. I know that racists are more prevalent than we'd like to think, and I know the Civil War was fought not purely about slavery but also about states' rights, unless my lessons in school and/or my memory are faulty.

I know that in the South, the war isn't over yet.

I know that for folks who won an election, Trump and his supporters sure are sore winners -- the president constantly berating the media and talking as if he's still campaigning.

And I know that all that this means, most likely, is that I just don't fit anywhere among the extremes of today's politics, social outlooks and, yes, even magnificent natural displays like an eclipse.

Eh. I don't care.
State liquor regulators slapped Barry's with an $8,000 fine after the Lincoln bar's owners pleaded guilty to selling a drunk 19-year-old a bottle of Captain Morgan in April.

The bar and restaurant at Ninth and Q streets entered the pleas at a hearing before the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission on Wednesday.

In exchange, the Nebraska Attorney General's Office dismissed two other cases against the bar.

Lincoln police noticed the minor during a tavern check at Barry's, then took him to detox, commission executive director Hobert Rupe said.

The commission gave Barry's a 40-day suspension for serving an intoxicated person and 40 more days for serving a minor.

Bars commonly opt to pay the $100-per-day fine rather than close down for their suspensions.

The pleas put Barry's on "thin ice," Rupe said.

Barry's now has had three violations for selling to an intoxicated person in the last four years, Rupe said.

Should the owners get in trouble for that same offense, they could face cancellation  the punishment outlined in the commission's guidelines for a fourth offense, he said.

Commission Chairman Bob Batt of Omaha said Thursday that Barry's owners have taken responsibility for what happened and have taken steps to address the problem.

The owners, from Richmond Rollins LLC in Mission Hills, Kansas, told the commission they have increased training and added security, Batt said.

The 19-year-old man's identification needed more scrutiny than bar staff gave it on April 20, Batt said.

But it wasn't counterfeit.

This fine should bring the busy bar, which caters to a college crowd, into compliance, Batt said.

And the case should serve as a warning to drinkers who like Barry's, he said.

Underage drinkers threaten the livelihood of establishments such as Barry's and the bar staff that works there, Batt said.

"Its really not a nice thing to do to a bar, besides the fact that its dangerous, he said.
Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson said Thursday his office doesn't have the legal authority to appoint a special assistant attorney general to investigate the State Patrol, as 17 state senators requested.

In a letter to Omaha Sen. Burke Harr, Peterson said his office "should not proceed" as the senators' letter demanded. A lack of action would neither hinder nor prevent a thorough investigation or proper prosecution of any offense by former State Patrol Superintendent Brad Rice or others in the state law enforcement organization, he said.

An investigation initiated by Gov. Pete Ricketts found Rice interfered with internal affairs investigations and violated the agency's workplace harassment and equal opportunity policy. Ricketts said the findings were turned over to federal law enforcement.

Harr's letter was signed by 16 other senators. The letter told Peterson that failure to request an appointment carries an appearance of impropriety and raises ethical issues.

Peterson disagreed, saying neither Nebraska case law nor state statutes enable him to request that any court appoint a special assistant attorney general. In fact, he said, state law expressly limits the power of the office in the matter, saying any attorneys in the office or appointed by the office shall defend all civil and criminal charges against the State Patrol superintendent or others in the agency.

"I simply cannot use my office to initiate a process that has no sound legal basis, particularly when the process you suggest is unnecessary," Peterson wrote in the letter.

Harr said he thinks it is necessary that Peterson act, as the head of the Department of Justice in the state, in a case that could involve the head of the state's law enforcement agency operating what appears to be an orchestrated malfeasance.

Any investigation of wrongdoing by the superintendent or others in the office has been turned over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but could also be handled by a county attorney, Peterson said.

"Nothing prevents the appropriate county attorney from carrying forward, as usual, with their 'affirmative duty' by reviewing any investigative record referred to the county attorney" or initiated by a law enforcement agency for potential violations of state law, he said.

But county attorneys are limited to what occurs in their counties, Harr said. It would be more judicious and tax efficient to have one entity conducting the investigation, as opposed to multiple counties.

If he were attorney general, Harr said, he would do everything in his power to make sure that those who appear to have violated the law, based on state Chief Human Resources Officer Jason Jackson's review, are held accountable.

"And so, I would petition the court. And the worst thing the court says is, 'We don't have the authority to do this,'" Harr said.

Harr said he'll continue to work with Peterson's office to find a way forward. It's important that there is an investigation, he said.

"This is too important to get bogged down in politics," he said. "If he doesn't think he has a way to cure it, we'll keep working together to find a way so we can cure it."
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By The Associated Press Aug. 21, 2017 | 09:00 PM | WASHINGTON, DC

A leader of the GOP's non-interventionist wing says it's a "terrible idea" to send any more American troops to Afghanistan.

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky issued a statement ahead of a prime-time address by President Donald Trump to unveil his updated Afghanistan policy. It is expected to include a few thousand more U.S. forces.

Paul says the mission in Afghanistan "has lost its purpose."

He also wants Congress to more aggressively assert its war-making powers. Paul is planning to propose an amendment next month to the annual defense policy bill that would repeal the war authorizations that Congress granted after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Paul says if the White House and Congress "want to continue the war in Afghanistan, then at the very least Congress should vote on it."
New Nebraska laws to accommodate nuns, breastfeeding students, telehealth services and the Libertarian Party took hold Thursday, along with more than 100 other statutes approved this year.

The 116 laws went into effect three months after the end of this year's legislative session, the normal grace period for measures approved by lawmakers.

Here are some of the more high-profile measures:

BREASTFEEDING STUDENTS (LB427): Nebraska schools will have to give students a place to express and store breast milk, and adopt written policies for how to handle absences and classwork for pregnant students. Supporters say the requirements are necessary to ensure teen parents have the flexibility they need to raise children and finish high school.

The Nebraska Department of Education is working on a model policy for pregnant and breastfeeding students that school districts can use at their discretion, said David Jespersen, a department spokesman. Jespersen said the Nebraska State Board of Education may review the proposal at its September meeting, but probably won't vote on it until later.

Many districts already have such policies in place. Westside Community Schools in Omaha works with students individually to find them a private space during the day to express breastmilk, said district spokeswoman Brandi Petersen.

"We really try to personalize it to whatever the student needs," Petersen said.

HABITS IN CLASSROOMS (LB62): Public school teachers in Nebraska can now wear habits, hijabs and other religious clothing in their classrooms.

The new law ends a 98-year-old ban on religious garb, enacted under pressure from the Ku Klux Klan during a time of intense anti-Catholic sentiment. The ban came to lawmakers' attention after a nun in Norfolk was rejected for a substitute teaching job because her faith calls for her to wear a habit.

TELEHEALTH SERVICES (LB92): Health insurance companies must now offer doctors the same reimbursement for telehealth services that they would for an identical service provided in-person. Many doctors have already embraced telehealth services as a way to reach far-off patients, but some have been reluctant because it wasn't clear whether insurers would pay them at the same rate.

Telehealth services allow doctors and patients to connect by phone or the internet.

PARTY BALLOT ACCESS (LB34): Third-party political candidates could have an easier time getting on the Nebraska ballot. A new law allows parties to automatically appear on the ballot if they register at least 10,000 eligible voters in Nebraska. The Libertarian Party of Nebraska crossed that threshold last year.

Supporters of the law say it creates a new way for parties to maintain ballot access, allowing them to divert more of their limited resources into local races and fundraising. The law's Republican-turned-Libertarian sponsor, Sen. Laura Ebke of Crete, has said it will promote competition and force parties to hone their messages.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING (LB289): Human traffickers, and johns who solicit prostitutes, will face harsher penalties under a law backed by victim advocates and the state attorney general's office. The law applies to both sex trafficking and labor trafficking, a form of modern-day slavery.

NEW LICENSE PLATES: Nebraska will come one step closer to creating two new license plates: a "Choose Life" plate endorsed by groups that oppose abortion and a "Native American Cultural Awareness and History" plate.

The law that authorizes the plates went into effect Thursday, but the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles won't start offering them until around mid-December, said Betty Johnson, a department administrator.

Johnson said the department still needs to design the plates. Under the new law, the department must make them available by Jan. 1, 2018.

Lawmakers have traditionally resisted efforts to create new license plates, but more have won approval in recent years as groups lobbied for them. A mountain lion conservation plate created in 2016 proved popular with motorists; at least 5,000 were sold during the first four months they were available.

The "Choose Life" license plate law is LB46. The Native American cultural awareness license plates law is LB263 (originally LB355).

UNPAID FINES FOR CANDIDATES (LB85): Political candidates can no longer run for office or get appointed if they owe fines for violating Nebraska's accountability and disclosure laws.

The law was introduced after Bellevue businessman Pat Shannon won an at-large seat on the Bellevue City Council, despite owing $16,000 plus interest for a campaign-disclosure violation from his previous campaign for the Legislature in 2004. Shannon has refused to pay the fine. Candidates can still file for election if they're appealing their fines in court.

FAMILY VISITS (LB122): Family members can sue for the right to visit a relative in a nursing home, mental health center and other facilities if their loved one's caregiver denies their request. The new law is designed to prevent caregivers from isolating and exploiting vulnerable people they're supposed to help.
WNC NATIONAL FORESTS THANK THE PUBLIC FOR CONSIDERATION DURING THIS WEEK'S SOLAR ECLIPSE

RECORD CROWDS IN THE FORESTS, RESPECTFUL OF EACH OTHER AND THE FORESTS

U.S. Forest Service officials thank the public for the consideration they showed for one another and forest resources after thousands of people visited the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests to view Monday's solar eclipse.

The photo on this page shows the crowd Monday on US 64 overlooking Franlyn, N.C.

"We also thank our partners including county sheriffs and emergency management offices, NC Department of Transportation, NC Wildlife Resources Commission, and the National Park Service," said Allen Nicholas, Forest Supervisor of the National Forests in North Carolina. "There were months of planning and coordination meetings and on the day of the eclipse we saw the benefits of that investment in the smooth operations among multiple agencies across western North Carolina."

The Pisgah Ranger District partnered with Blue Ridge Parkway staff to assist visitors who covered mountain balds in the Black Balsam/Graveyard Fields area. "Our work with partners allowed us to provide a safe and enjoyable experience to both Parkway and National Forest visitors," said District Ranger Dave Casey. "We were privileged to serve so many gracious members of the public for such a rare event."

Other popular sites included the Cherohala Skyway, the granitic domes in Panthertown, the Appalachian Trail, mountain top balds such as Siler Bald, and Wesser, Albert Mountain, and Panther Top fire towers.

Nantahala District Ranger Mike Wilkins explained that his entire staff was out serving the public by keeping roads open for emergency and incoming traffic and providing visitor information and directions. "Parking lots at Whiteside Mountain and the road leading to Wayah Bald were closed by noon. Forest staff had never seen cars parked for such long distances. At multiple site folks were parking and walking 1-3 miles just to access a trail head," said Wilkins. "While the crowds were huge in some very small places, the public was incredibly courteous and seemed to be having a great time in their National Forest. Afterwards, we noticed that people had practiced a 'leave no trace' land ethic leaving virtually no trash in recreation areas or campsites."

Cheoah and Tusquitee District Ranger Angela Gee agreed. "I would like to give a shout out to all the campers and forest visitors during the eclipse. We had a record crowd and everyone was very respectful of one another and the forest. Campsites were the cleanest I have ever seen them! I'm very impressed with the crowd of people we had on the districts." She added, "I hope everyone enjoyed their stay and had an amazing solar eclipse experience."
Cindy Lange-Kubick Columnist Cindy Lange-Kubick has loved writing columns about life in her hometown since 1994. She had hoped to become a people person by now, nonetheless she would love to hear your tales of fascinating neighbors and interesting places. Follow Cindy Lange-Kubick Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

He didnt talk those first few days.

Those big eyes, filled with questions, thats what Linda Miers remembers.

A little boy from Pennsylvania in a Nebraska hospital bed searching for the faces of his parents whenever someone walked in the door.

Everything was a startled look  Who are you? Why are you here? Miers said Tuesday. I remember thinking, if I could adopt this little boy, I would.

She was 16 in the summer of 1965.

Ron Rissel was almost 3. The accident that left him with a badly broken leg had happened June 29 just west of town.

His parents and his 5-year-old sister Deborah sat in the front seat of the station wagon. Ron and another sister rode in back, a camper hitched behind them. Their grandparents and an uncle completed the caravan as they returned from a trip out west.

Five people died when the camper hit a concrete lip on the edge of U.S. 34 and his parents' station wagon veered into an oncoming car, his mother behind the wheel.

And Ron Rissel returned to Seward on Sunday, 52 years after he left.

It was absolutely moving, he said. All those people who took care of me.

The girls who read to him. The women who visited, feeding him lunch and loving on him.

The nurses aide who spent every hour of her shift those first days in the orphaned boys room.

Rissel lives in Pennsylvania and works in IT. He and his wife, Marcia Slater, are on an impromptu, middle-of-the-country trip to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary after a planned celebration in Hawaii didn't materialize.

We decided to take in the four states we havent seen, Rissel said. Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.

Technically, hes been to Nebraska, Rissel explains. He just doesnt remember it.

And he doesnt remember his parents  Theodore, 27, who owned a TV repair shop back home in Williamsport; Joyce, 25, a dark-haired mother of three.

He doesnt remember Deborah.

He doesnt remember the airplane ride home to Pennsylvania, accompanied by a nurse and a physical therapist from Seward Memorial Hospital.

Or Miers, the nurses aide who read him stories and sang to him and played Matchbox cars with him on the mattress, his legs in traction.

He doesnt remember any of the women who came to the Civic Center on Sunday to see the man who was once the toddler they doted on so long ago.

But they remembered him. Seward remembered him. The patient featured in a newspaper story when Lyndon B. Johnson was president.

Orphan? Never! Not in Seward, The Lincoln Star story began. Little Ronald Rissel ... left an adopted family that roughly equals the 4,200 population of the town.

A cute little lad, soon to be 3, the story said.

The reporter quoted hospital bookkeeper Mrs. Elsa Munk: He had no one at all, but the kind people of Seward came around and wanted to help.

Members of the Rainbow Girls local chapter read donated books. A resident brought a TV set to the hospital room. Another contributed a satin-lined quilt. Gifts and toys threatened to bury young Ronald in his bed.

Some of those missing memories came to life at the Seward Civic Center on Sunday afternoon, when Rissel was met by a host of those Rainbow Girls, most of them now Eastern Star members, nearing retirement.

I only expected to talk to two or three, he said. But there were probably 20 or more.

When Rissel and Slater had planned their vacation, they included Omaha and Lincoln and a stop in Beatrice to see the solar eclipse.

They knew they wanted to see the Seward hospital and visit the accident scene, where most of Rissels family and two women from Council Bluffs, Iowa, had died.

But then he Googled his name and a newspaper story showed up: Tot Captures Hearts of Seward Residents.

There he was, clutching a teddy bear in his hospital bed with two doting women  known only as Mrs. Lloyd Keller and Mrs. Dale Hall in the caption  at his side.

He was captivated by the story, Rissel said, and reached out to the Nebraska Rainbow Girls organization, an arm of the Masons and Eastern Star.

Betty Garwood put out the word and Charleen Gausman contacted Rissel to set up the gathering, recruiting more members. Pam Haas-Lam, who started a Facebook thread. Linda Kolterman, who gave him that teddy bear; Shirley Keller and Ann Hall, the nurses from the newspaper photo.

All of them, happy to be there.

I thought about him a lot over the years, said Kolterman, a former Rainbow Girl. It was a good feeling to know he had a good life.

Those gathered told stories of those six weeks and they took pictures of their own and later, Rissels wife said: Maybe this is the reason we couldnt book the trip to Hawaii.

And maybe it was.

Someone asked me, Does this help close a chapter? Rissel said. And I think it does.

Rissel and his sister were raised by an aunt and uncle in Pennsylvania. His aunt died in the '70s. Uncle John raised Ron and Pam alongside his three biological children. He died in 2010.

He was an absolute saint, Rissel said. He is the only dad I knew.

Rissel brought family photos to the reunion. Theodore and Joyce standing in front of the station wagon at dusk. Ron and his siblings lined up on a couch. A postcard his mom had mailed home  arriving from Las Vegas after she died.

He missed them growing up, in a way he cant quite explain, Rissel said. Somewhere in the back of my mind.

Fifty-two years later, Linda Miers remembers that little boys silence, and those confused eyes. As if whenever the door opened he expected to see his mom.

The retired nurse and college professor looks back on that era and how much thought the hospital gave to his care in the days before music therapists and therapy dogs and advances in pediatric counseling.

By the time Ronnie Rissel went home, he was talking again. He smiled when a Rainbow Girl he recognized walked in his room.

What I think was really special about what they did is they incorporated the community into it, Miers said. The people in the community were those other therapists.

And Sunday, they were something more.

We were his memories, Miers said. Because he didnt have any.
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During the darkest moments of Monday's mid-day eclipse, Christel Essay appeared to have the sun in her eyes.

But she didn't know it until 10 hours later, when she checked her phone.

She had gathered with co-workers at 9 South CharGrill in Hickman to watch the total eclipse, but their brush with totality was obscured by a bank of inconsiderate clouds. Still, when the parking lot darkened, she put her phone on selfie mode, turned her back to the sun and snapped three self-portraits in rapid succession.

It was like: click, click, click, she said.

Nothing unusual about the first two photos: Essay in the foreground, other eclipse-viewers and the dim, cloudy sky in the background.

But the third photo caught her eyes, because of what was in them. Two tiny eclipse-looking images, each to the left of her own irises in the whites of her eyes.

Its crazy. I have three pictures and theyre exactly the same. But the last one, I was like, OK, I have four eyes.

Shes not sure what created the other pair. She doubts its a reflection of the sun, for two reasons. First, the sky was so cloud-covered during totality she couldnt see any part of the eclipse. And she would expect the reflections to be perfectly round, and these images seemed to conform to the contours of her eyes.

She found eclipse experts online, and sent them questions, but hadnt yet heard back.

She asked an eye doctor, who blamed camera movement when the picture was taken. That type of error occurs more often in panoramic photos, but they can show up in a regular snapshot, the doctor told her.

I know what hes saying, she said. But it just doesnt quite fit the bill here.

Rebecca Harbison, an astronomer at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, took a look at the photo and didnt immediately know what to make of it. It could be a reflection, she suggested. Or it could be a confused phone.

When too much light falls on a camera's chip, you can get some weird effects, she said. If the camera was trying to photograph a dark setting (like near totality), the bright reflections might have overloaded the chip.

Essay said the photo wasnt doctored. She hopes it's related to the eclipse.

Its either that or some alien spirit, which I dont want.
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A proposed $73,000 project bid on Cedar Street in Alma was tabled by the city council.

Recent storm water damages to Badland Road, estimated at $70,000, became a factor in prompting delay of Cedar Street until 2018 or later due to tightness of money budgeted for city streets.

Alma has applied for government disaster assistance to help pay for Badland Road repairs, but information about aid and related project unknowns were reason enough for the council to hold off spending for now.

Oium Asphalt Paving Inc. of Eleva gave the city council a price of $72,885 for street work on Cedar Street east of Hwy. 35 and through the intersection with Second Street.

Alma also was working on an agreement with Alma Area Schools to define width dimensions in a deed for shared responsibility of maintenance on High School Road.

Alderman Dave Earney, chairman of the citys Utilities Committee, said drafting of a proposed deed agreement was in progress for later action by the council and school board.

Repair of High School Road might be done in 2018, pending budgeting actions for next year and outcome of street and road repairs elsewhere.

In other utility actions, Lane Tank was hired for $2,700 to drain, clean, disinfect and inspect the citys public water reservoir.

Some $6,500 was spent on a vehicle for the city water department, and Linda Torgerson, city clerk/treasurer, said a public hearing on a request for a city water rate increase was still pending with the Wisconsin Public Service Commission.

The council approved buying a heavy-duty Woods rotary mower from Lindstrom Equipment of Modena, Wis., for $14,175.

The city has an older mower with unknown trade-in value. Purchase of a new mower was authorized with trade-in.

The rotary mower attaches to a tractor and is used for mowing along roadsides. Earney said there was money in Almas utility fund to pay for the mower attachment.

The council opted for a new mower attachment rather than buy a used one that was priced at $10,500.

Plans were underway to post a second storm warning siren on law office property located along 2nd Street. Alma also has a siren by Alma Beach Park and boat marina.

Operator licenses for sale or serving of alcoholic beverages were issued to Jelani Smit, Hunter Schultz and Darlene Pickering.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is seeking federal relief for people affected by Julys storms and flooding in Buffalo, Trempealeau and nine other western Wisconsin counties.

Walker sent a letter Wednesday to President Donald Trump requesting a federal disaster declaration for the 11 counties that sustained more than $10 million in damage to roads and public infrastructure from torrential rains and flash floods. The request is for federal assistance to help local governments recover from the disaster in Buffalo, Crawford, Grant, Iowa, Jackson, La Crosse, Lafayette, Monroe, Richland, Trempealeau and Vernon counties.

Many roads were damaged and numerous culverts washed out when flash floods hit the region last month, Walker said. Im hopeful the Federal Emergency Management Agency will approve much-needed disaster assistance to help these communities recover.

Last week, FEMA, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and Wisconsin Emergency Management conducted damage assessments across the affected areas with local officials. If approved, FEMAs Public Assistance Program would help communities recover some of the costs incurred through responding to the floods, protecting citizens, removing debris, and repairing roads and other infrastructure.

FEMA covers 75 percent of eligible costs while state agencies, and the affected communities share the remaining 25 percent. The program will not be available to private property owners, a release from the governors office stated, as requirements for federal relief of such expenses have not been met.

Walker declared a state of emergency in 16 southwestern Wisconsin counties July 21 after storms brought high winds and rainfalls of up to 8 inches across the region.

There were no reported casualties from the storms, but homes and businesses were flooded, and extensive damage was reported across the region.

Im hopeful the Federal Emergency Management Agency will approve much-needed disaster assistance to help these communities recover. Gov. Scott Walker
Plenty of new college students head off to their freshman year anxious about making friends and finding their way around an unfamiliar campus.

International students often have the same worries  plus the challenges of reading books and writing papers in what is typically not their native language, and adjusting to life in the United States when many of their families are a continent away.

As UW-Madison attracts more students from overseas, the university is offering a new summer course that officials say can help ease the transition to college. Called the International Student Summer Institute, the program aims to bolster English skills, introduce new Badgers to the city around their campus and generally get them ready for the rigors of American higher education.

For many of its 25 participants, who come from nine countries, the four-week program that wraps up Friday is a way to prepare for school with a group of peers facing the same exciting but daunting prospect.

Were all international students, so we communicate better, said Lindsey Tang, a chemical engineering student from China. We all have problems to solve together.

International students made up about 9 percent of UW-Madisons freshman class during the 2016-17 school year. The university has also sought to offer more courses and programs during the summer term in an effort to generate new revenue.

Participants in the institute take a three-credit English-as-a-second-language course led by UW-Madison instructors. The program costs about $5,800 for the course, housing in a campus dorm, meals and other expenses.

Faculty associate Gail Ibele said her class puts an emphasis on the reading and writing skills students need in college, such as the ability to critically and efficiently read large amounts of material, and how to present arguments in research papers.

It doesnt matter what your major is  you have to be a good writer, Ibele said.

Although Tang and several other students said they have been learning English for a decade or longer, many arent completely confident taking courses and writing papers in the language.

Asked what she was most anxious about before her freshman year, Lynette Gao, another Chinese student, said, Im afraid I cannot express myself or understand others.

Ibele said the education systems in some countries dont involve much writing by students nor the group discussions that are a big part of many college courses. American universities also have comparatively strict definitions of plagiarism, she said, so the course tells students about expectations for citing the work of others.

For this group, its a real advantage, Ibele said. They are going to start the semester knowing the campus and being comfortable with the library system  and having an idea of whats expected of them in the classroom.

During a recent class session at UW-Madisons Education Building, students were split into small groups to read and review drafts of research papers they had written about the Wisconsin Idea.

The students asked their instructors and one another questions typical of people learning college writing  how to improve transitions between ideas, where to find reliable sources online, whether papers need to be double-spaced and if an essays title needs to be capitalized. The conversations were colored by accents from around the world: Indonesia, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia.

Outside of class, the program includes tours of UW-Madisons Babcock Dairy Plant and trips to Concerts on the Square and the Dane County Farmers Market.

Ali Aldayel, who came to UW from Saudi Arabia, enjoyed learning about the dairy industry in Wisconsin, saying its importance to the state reminds him of his home countrys relationship with oil.

Aldayel said he appreciated the opportunity to get to know Madison before classes start.

When you know the place where youre studying, its going to be a lot more comfortable studying, he said.
Baraboo is joining communities statewide in asking the state Legislature to close a tax loophole exploited by big-box retailers.

On Tuesday, the City Council voted unanimously to support a resolution asking for legislation to eliminate the dark stores loophole. National retail chains looking to reduce their property tax burden are suing municipalities over their assessments, claiming their stores should be valued the same as vacant buildings of comparable size.

In February, the city refunded the local Menards store more than $15,000 to resolve a property tax dispute.

Indiana has closed the dark stores loophole, and dozens of communities like Baraboo are pushing the Wisconsin Legislature to follow suit. I think its important to keep the momentum going, City Attorney Emily Truman said.

The resolution states homeowners pay 70 percent of the statewide property tax levy, a burden that will grow heavier if chains such as Walgreens and Target dont pay their fair share. When their properties are assessed like a vacant store, rather than a thriving business, chains cut their tax bill in half.

The resolution accuses retailers of orchestrating a wave of hundreds of lawsuits statewide that have forced assessors to slash the market value of their stores. These suits argue the assessed value of big-box stores should be based on comparisons to sales of abandoned stores, rather than the price an operating store might fetch. Home Depot and Lowes argue the large buildings their stores occupy are difficult to sell because theyre customized to a particular retailer.

In Indiana, the loophole affected more than 17,000 parcels and saved retailers an estimated $120 million in one year. Thats money for schools and government services that started coming from the pockets of taxpayers who cant afford legal teams.

The League of Wisconsin Municipalities says that based on 2015 tax rates, the dark stores loophole could cost property owners in communities such as La Crosse and Pleasant Prairie anywhere from nearly $200 to nearly $900 per year.

Statewide, more than 200 lawsuits have been filed by big-box retailers over the past decade. We expect all big-box retail to be challenging their assessments very soon, League of Wisconsin Municipalities executive director Jerry Deschane said last year during a visit to Baraboo.

Menards filed suits against the city over its 2015 and 2016 tax bills. The city assessor set the propertys value at more than $8 million. Menards claimed it should be assessed at $6.1 million. The parties compromised at an assessed value of $7.7 million.

The city agreed to refund Menards $15,644 in property taxes paid the past two years to reflect the difference between the old assessed amount and the compromise figure.
Aug. 9, 1:07 p.m. The Columbus Fire Department responded to a camper on fire on Greenview Drive in the city of Columbus.

Aug. 11, 12:02 p.m. The Columbus Fire Department responded to assist EMS on County Highway A in the Town of Hampden.

Aug. 12, 9:45 a.m. The Columbus Fire Department responded to a motor vehicle accident with injuries on Highway 16/60 and TT in the town of Elba. The Jaws of Life was used.

Aug. 15, 9:30 a.m. The Columbus Fire Department responded to an odor investigation on South Ludington Street in the city of Columbus.

Aug. 16, 6:08 p.m. The Columbus Fire Department responded to a motor vehicle accident with no injuries on Duborg Road and Highway 16 in the town of Columbus.

Aug. 21, 7:33 a.m. The Columbus Fire Department responded to a carbon monoxide alarm due to malfunction on Parkview Circle in the city of Columbus.

Aug. 22, 4:52 a.m. The Columbus Fire Department responded to a motor vehicle accident with no injuries on Highway 151 in the town of Columbus.

Total fire calls for 2017: 106
Twenty-five Boy Scouts and family members recently ventured on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Fort Collins, Colorado. The trip was part of Troop 70s annual program, which includes a week-long adventure in August.

While the trip was highlighted by hikes on Horsetooth Mountain and Rocky Mountain National Park, Scouts, leaders and family members also explored Devonian Fossil Gorge, Ash Hollow State Historical Park, Terry Bison Ranch, Pawnee Buttes National Grasslands and more.

The trip, which lasted eight days and seven nights, was led by 14-year-old Assistant Senior Patrol Leader Karson Radewan.

While the Scouts see these trips as eight days of jaw-dropping experiences, they take home lessons in leadership, teamwork and independence, Scoutmaster Justin ORourke said. There is no better setting to help young people develop their character than the outdoors.

Something unique about Troop 70s outing is that the trip roster included as many adults as it did Scouts. Scouting is a family event, ORourke said. Throughout the next few years, we will see Scouting put more emphasis on the family. In that sense, our unit is a bit ahead of the curve.

Under the leadership of Senior Patrol Leader Alex Schlinkert, the Scouts have begun planning a 2018 Niagara Falls outdoor experience with a twist  a detour to Boston Comic Con.

To learn more about becoming a Scout, visit portagescouts.com.
Paul Ryan is in a tight spot. So is Mitch McConnell. So, perhaps, even Scott Walker.

These traditional conservatives need something from President Donald Trump or his supporters. Ryan, the House speaker, and McConnell, the Senate majority leader, want tax reform (read: a tax cut). Walker, the governor, wants to close a deal to land the manufacturing giant Foxconn, a deal Trump helped broker. He also wants to get re-elected next year.

As a result, instead of calling out the president by name for his moral failure to condemn white supremacists after the tragedy in Charlottesville, Virginia, they tended to issue anodyne statements of reproach.

It hasnt been enough  not by a long shot. And it illustrates how thoroughly Trump has corrupted the Republican Party.

Ryan got closer to the mark at a CNN town hall event in Racine on Monday night when for the first time he made it clear that Trump had been wrong. I do believe he messed up in his comments, Ryan told CNNs Jake Tapper. It was equivocating and that was wrong.

Ryan could take a cue from his freshman Republican colleague, U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, who saw the issue with the moral clarity that it demanded. Gallagher, a Marine veteran, wrote in a statement:

Those who took part in the shameful display of hatred, bigotry and violence in Charlottesville could learn from the young Marines of all races and creeds with whom I served in Iraq. 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.

Trump is failing at it, and so are Republican leaders who seem to believe they have to go along to get along with the president. After all that has happened, they still seem to think they can ride the Trump train to legislative victories. How is that working so far?

A few hours after Trumps angry press conference last week in which the president insisted yet again that both sides were to blame for the unrest in Charlottesville, Ryan wrote in a tweet:

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) Aug. 15, 2017

Except, of course, there was moral ambiguity in this White House  and it took Ryan a week to acknowledge that fact.

Perhaps Ryan has found his voice. Perhaps other Republicans have as well. Lets hope so. And lets hope they are not so timid the next time Trump crosses the line, which with this president is not a question of if, but when.
The federal agency charged with stopping workplace discrimination declined to investigate a complaint alleging female Nebraska State Patrol officers were forced to undergo sexually invasive medical exams that were unnecessary.

According to a June letter sent to attorneys representing trooper Brienne Splittgerber, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that she waited past a 300-day deadline to file a complaint alleging she was forced to expose her vagina to a doctor during mandatory pre-employment physicals. The commission said it had no authority to look into the exams, which prompted criticism of the patrol when they were detailed in a lawsuit filed by Splittgerber this month.

Splittgerber didn't complain sooner because she was told the patrol was investigating concerns she first raised in 2014 after going through the exam. She filed the federal complaint in May after learning patrol leaders closed the inquiry without clear findings and she feared nothing would change. She argued that the patrol's response created a hostile work environment for female troopers, who make up 6 percent of the patrol's 455 sworn officers.

Then-patrol superintendent Col. Brad Rice didn't explain the medical purpose of the exams conducted by Lincoln physician Stephen Haudrich, but told Splittgerber in April the patrol would contract with a different doctor going forward, her complaint said.

The patrol now says the exams were hernia checks required for all troopers, but other doctors say the procedure, as described, isn't standard. Splittgerber alleges male candidates weren't required to take off their pants, with one possible exception.

In a May 26 response to her lawyers, commission intake supervisor Khalifah Graff in Kansas City said the agency could not investigate the complaint because the alleged discrimination occurred too long ago. Graff also claimed the patrol "has already remedied the conditions which you allege were discriminatory."

"As such, it does not appear we will take any further action in your complaint," Graff wrote in recommending the case be dismissed, which was adopted by a regional director in June. The letters in May and June were provided to The Associated Press by Splittgerber's lawyers.

Splittgerber's attorney, Tom White, said he wasn't surprised the commission dismissed the complaint but took issue with the claim that the problems had been fixed.

"If they see a chance to sweep a file off quickly, they'll do that. The problem is this one then blew up," he said.

White said he has since filed federal complaints on behalf of two other female troopers who went through the exams in 2016. He said that while those exams also occurred more than 300 days ago, he expects the commission to investigate this time based on his argument that the hostile work environment was more recent.

A spokeswoman for the commission declined comment.

Legal experts with no involvement in the case said the commission often strictly interprets a rule requiring complaints to be filed within 300 days of the last discriminatory act, partly to reduce its caseload.

"They look at the rules and say, 'We don't have the authority to investigate it, as outrageous as that conduct may be,'" said St. Louis civil rights lawyer Jon Berns.

The use of the 300-day deadline is an "easy out" for the commission on complaints that might take more effort to understand, said Des Moines attorney Tom Newkirk, an expert in employment discrimination.
A remarkable thing happened last week.

You might have missed it, because while it happened in plain sight, it also happened in increments. You had to put the pieces together to appreciate the magnitude of it.

Last week, you see, America repudiated its president.

This, of course, was in response to that pathetic performance in the wake of the tragedy in Charlottesville, Virginia, when he suggested moral equivalence between white supremacists and those who protest them. In response, America -- a pretty broad swath of it, at least -- has condemned him.

The reference is not to the shellacking he took from pundits or the reprovals of GOP leaders Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan. These things were to be expected.

But you did not expect the chairman and CEO of Merck to quit the president's American Manufacturing Council. And Ken Frazier's departure, which he framed as "a matter of personal conscience," was just the opening salvo.

He was followed through the door by members of that panel and others. By week's end, two presidential business advisory groups had ceased to exist and plans for a third had been scrapped. Members of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities also resigned en masse.

Meantime, Mar-a-Lago, Trump's club and de facto presidential getaway in Florida, saw a rash of charities canceling their fundraising events. The Washington Post listed the Salvation Army, the American Red Cross, Susan G. Komen and the American Cancer Society among those who have chosen to hold their galas elsewhere.

And there is yet more.

Bob Corker, a respected Republican senator who has heretofore sought to engage with the president, raised sharp questions not just about Trump's competence, but also his "stability," and called for "radical changes" in the White House. Five military chiefs also spoke out against the bigotry in Charlottesville, in a striking reproach of their commander.

Graduates of Liberty University called on fellow alumni to return their diplomas to protest university president Jerry Falwell Jr.'s support for Trump. And, on Saturday, it was announced that the president would not be attending the Kennedy Center Honors in December, nor host the traditional White House reception for the five honorees after three of them had spoken of boycotting the event. And really: How toxic are you when Lionel Richie doesn't want to shake your hand?

It seems that a great many Americans reached a moment of decision last week and reacted as you would have hoped. Trump and his apologists and enablers should take note, because this does not bode well for them.

For all its powers of lawmaking, war making, budget drafting and diplomacy, the presidency also embodies the power of moral suasion. A president uses what Theodore Roosevelt called "the bully pulpit" -- the honor and prestige of his office -- to stand for what is right and remind us to do likewise.

Problematically, that office is occupied now by a man with no moral compass, a man whose only true north is self. So what happened last week was sadly predictable.

What was not predictable was this chorus of castigation from such a wide spectrum of American life. The stunning rebuke offers heartening evidence that we have not yet completely abandoned who and what we are supposed to be.

Again, this is a moment of decision. Those who chose to separate themselves from Trump last week declared their values -- and character.

Those who supported him did, too.
Counselor Education Program wins national recognition

Award winners Faculty members in the William & Mary School of Education's doctoral program in counselor education were honored with one of the highest honors for a program of its kind, The Robert Frank Outstanding Counselor Education Program Award, given by the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision. Photo by Julie Tucker Photo - of - Hide Caption

William & Marys doctoral program in counselor education is small, but has made a big name for itself in recent years.

Enrolling just five students per year, the program prepares faculty, researchers and leaders for the counseling profession.

We often say the W&M School of Education is the small school that thinks big, said Spencer Niles, dean of the school of education. Our counselor education program is a perfect example  its a powerhouse in terms of leadership and scholarship within the field and it offers students an unparalleled and highly personalized experience.

The program has now received one of the highest honors for a program of its kind  The Robert Frank Outstanding Counselor Education Program Award, given by the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision. The award is given annually to a program that places a premium on excellence through faculty members commitment to the field, continuous program improvement and development, a strong relationship with the students and surrounding community and innovation in practice.

Despite its small size, the program has made a significant impact in the counselor education world, with alumni working in highly-ranked counselor education programs around the country and serving as leaders within the many counseling professional organizations. Faculty members are contributing to scholarship in the field at a high rate; over the past five years, the seven core faculty members have published an average of 14 journal articles per year and have served on numerous counseling editorial boards.

W&M graduates, as was modeled to them by the faculty, are committed to service and leadership in the counseling profession, said Angela McDonald Ph. D. 06, associate dean of the UNC-Pembroke School of Education. As a counselor education student, I was also asked to examine myself as a person in order to be a better scholar and counselor.

Students and faculty frequently collaborate on scholarship and teaching projects, which allows for in-depth mentoring and relationship-building. Students also cite the support and flexibility offered by faculty, allowing them to follow their own interests and customize their studies. Looking back on my three years at William & Mary, I recognize that my faculty members allowed me to thrive in my own, personalized way, said Clare Merlin Ph.D. 15, assistant professor of counseling at UNC-Charlotte. They were present with resources and encouragement as needed, but they allowed me to explore my own interests in counselor education.

Service to the community is a hallmark of the counselor education program. Over the years, faculty members have created several programs that provide clinical services to the community while offering school of education students a venue for training and research.

The New Horizons Family Counseling Center is a counseling and teaching center established in 1979 to meet the needs of students and families in area school districts. These services are offered free of charge to local families and are supported through funding both from participating school districts and private sources. Since 2011, the center has provided the community approximately $1.65 million worth of services on a budget of just $390,000. Through the center, doctoral students have the opportunity to supervise masters-level counselors, manage the clinics operations, maintain partnerships and conduct research.

Doctoral students also serve the community through the New Leaf Clinic, a substance abuse counseling center offering services both to W&M students struggling with substance abuse and the wider community, and Project Empower, which places graduate students in local high schools as counselors.

Thanks to the presence of these training clinics, doctoral students have opportunities to serve as clinical directors, supervisors, and counselors throughout their doctoral training, said Amy Williams M.Ed. 13, Ph.D. 16, associate professor at Youngstown State University. Just as important, these training clinics provide important services to clients and families who may not otherwise seek or have financial access to counseling.

The award will be presented at the ACES national conference in Chicago this fall.

Were thrilled to receive this award, as it recognizes the tremendous work our students, faculty and alumni are doing in the field, said Victoria Foster, professor and director of the counselor education program. Their commitment to excellence and to the counseling profession is unmatched, and inspires us all to make even bigger strides in the future.




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Make sure your child has their most successful school year and register them for John XXIII Educational Center.

John XXIII Educational Center is a local nonprofit that offers all students in sixth through 12th grades, regardless of religion or race, academic and social support. Supportive staff, math specialist, mentors and tutors work with students on understanding key concepts in their school work, identifying and handling social barriers, prepares students for high school graduation and builds necessary skills to be successful in college and the workforce.

The Afterschool Program offers students a supervised study hall with mentoring and tutoring, Monday through Thursday from 4-5:30 p.m. and 6:30-8 p.m. Students work at their own pace to understand their school work and prepare for exams.

On Thursdays middle school students have Thursday Theme Nights, activities that build upon social and life skills. The high school department has Breakthrough Thursdays which invite a community speaker to discuss college and other opportunities after graduation, tours of college campuses and workforce sites and various other career and college readiness themes.

The Afterschool Program also hosts social groups throughout the year. Some examples are Sister to Sister and Brother to Brother, supervised peer groups that discuss social barriers students are facing. Another example is Biggest Loser, an exercise group promoting living a healthy lifestyle for the whole family.

John XXIII Educational Center also assists parents in continuing their own learning with parent workshops and English as a Second Language courses. The workshops cover a variety of topics that parents encounter. Previous examples include: Juntos, Making Education a Family Goal, financial literacy, basic computer skills etc. These workshops are often collaborated with local organizations such as, UW-Extension, Gateway Technical College, Wisconsin Womens Business Initiative Corp., and the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. English as a Second Language courses are offered Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6-7:15 p.m.

John XXIII Educational Center also attends area middle schools during school hours to hold six-week outreach groups. The group members and course topic are selected by school counselors. Topics range on a variety of topics and social issues faced by students. Examples of topics are bullying, healthy relationships, coping with grief, transitioning from middle school to high school etc.

To register your student for John XXIII Educational Center and help them have their most successful school year yet, attend open registration on Monday, Aug. 28, and Tuesday, Aug. 29, from 9 a.m.-noon and 5-7 p.m. at John XXIII Educational Center located at 1101 Douglas Ave., or call staff at 262-898-7250 to schedule an appointment.

Those interested in mentoring or tutoring should call staff and attend the volunteer orientation Wednesday, Aug. 30, from 6:30-7 p.m. John XXIII Educational Center will resume services and the Afterschool Program on Tuesday, Sept. 5.
The EU countries are popular destinations for immigrants from different parts of the world. The immigration has grown to become a significant matter in many EU nations to the point that it is a central theme in most elections. Different governments have opted to restrict immigrants entering their respective countries and have laws and regulations that limit such immigration. One such country is Sweden. Britain's decision to say goodbye to the EU was in part fueled by the need to control the influx of people immigrating. In most cases, governments deport illegal foreigners who attempt to enter the country or who are already in the country. The European Union has identified the countries which issued the most deportation orders in 2015. They are as follows:

Greece

Greece ordered 104,576 non-EU citizens to leave the country in 2015. Thousands of immigrants brave the risk of drowning on board smuggler boats along the coast of Turkey. Most of the immigrants who arrive in Greece are returned to Turkey in accordance with a deal struck by both the EU and Turkey. Most of these immigrants originate from Pakistan, Syria, Morocco, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Iran.

France

96,950 immigrants were served with deportation orders in France in 2015. The European immigration crisis saw the French National Assembly adopt legislation on immigration matters on July 23, 2015. The legislation describes the various strategies the country has to use in mitigating illegal immigration. Asylum seekers have 15 days to appeal any denied asylum applications. France has been contending with a growing population of immigrants, some of whom live on its streets. In 2016, the country cleared an immigrant camp in Calais which hosted refugees waiting for their asylum applications to be accepted in various EU countries.

UK

The UK is one of the EU countries which have had to contend with high rates of illegal immigration. A large population of this number is those who do not leave the country once their visas expire such as students and even rejected asylum seekers. In 2015, the UK issued deportation orders to 70,020 of such immigrants. The Home Office is mandated to deal with deportation and immigration concerns in the UK. Once an individual receives a deportation order, he/she can opt to appeal by writing to the Home Office. Should the Home Office reject an application without appeal, it will begin arranging documents for the concerned individual.

Germany

The number of illegal immigrants in Germany has been increasing in the recent years. In 2014 for example, German police apprehended 57,000 of illegal immigrants which represent a 75% increase from those caught in 2013. The high numbers have encouraged an immigration debate across the nation. In 2013, the police reported the arrest of 2,100 illegal traffickers. Most of the detained immigrants in Germany originate from Syria, Somalia, Eritrea, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Serbia. The nation has also witnessed a rise in asylum applications. In 2014, Germany received 173,072 of such applications compared to 109,580 in 2013. Germany issued 54,080 deportation orders in 2015.

Spain

Spain issued 33,495 deportation orders in 2015. The Spanish enclaves of Melilla, as well as Ceuta, are popular with illegal immigrants from North African coast who intend to gain entry to Europe. Spain has reported increasing number of migrants apprehended for trying to enter the nation's territory illegally. In 2014 alone, 12,549 such migrants were caught compared to 7,472 caught in 2013. Syrians are among the largest illegal immigrants detained at Spain's borders.

Belgium

Belgium has devised different methods to deal with the immigration crisis including forced deportation flights. The nation forcibly deported 4,245 illegal migrants and arranged 25 return flights for unauthorized immigrants mainly to the DRC, Serbia, and Albania in 2015. Most of the asylum applications that Belgium receives are from Afghan, Syrian, and Iraqi nationals. Belgium issued 31,045 deportation orders in 2015.

Italy

Italy has been one of the favored entry points for migrants wishing to enter Europe. Pressure from its neighbors, however, has caused Italy to quit issuing waivers to migrants going to other countries and has left the country grappling with large immigrant populations. Italy's government has resorted to increasing forced deportations to those migrants who have received deportation orders. The country issued 27,306 deportation orders in 2015.

Netherlands

The Dutch immigration policies have received their fair share of criticism as the nation has approved regulations to tighten its borders. The Netherlands has been wary of the economic and social effects of large-scale immigration. Illegal immigrants in the country have limited access to stable work and housing. The country served 23,765 immigrants with deportation orders in 2015.

Bulgaria

Bulgaria's geographical location makes it a gateway to Europe. The country adopted a computerized system to deal with visa policy and tightened border controls in 1995 which has helped Bulgaria deal with illegal immigration. Human trafficking, however, is one of the problems Bulgaria is yet to eradicate. The largest number of immigrants in Bulgaria intends to move to Western Europe, but many of them end up settling in the country. The bulk of Bulgaria's immigrants originate from the Middle East, India, and Iran. Bulgaria has resorted to deportation as a way of easing the immigration burden. It issued 20,810 deportation orders in 2015.

Sweden

Sweden has been one of the EU nations which have adopted a tough stance on unauthorized persons. The country's police have repeatedly staged crackdowns especially in workplaces such as construction sites. More often than not, illegal immigrants in Sweden choose to go underground and work in institutions such as restaurants, hotels, construction, and transport rather than be deported. Sweden has traditionally established itself as a migrant haven, but it has been reviewing its immigration policies. The Sweden Democrats, who have opted for an anti-immigration stance, have grown to become the second largest party in Swedish polls. The country issued 18,150 deportation orders in 2015.

Trends

The EU in the attempt to stem illegal immigration has sought to strike deals with the countries where the immigrants are either coming from or passing through. The deal struck with Turkey has set precedence, and the EU is looking to cut similar agreements with countries such as Ethiopia, Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, and Ethiopia. The EU has also added more pressure on Italy and Greece which act as the entry points for illegal immigrants.
In spite of progressive air transport technologies and new ones like the magnet balanced tube tunnels recently presented by Elon Musk's company, the rail transport remains the most efficient and relatively cheap way to transport passengers and cargo over long distances. The cost-effectiveness becomes even more evident when cargo volume increases and requires to be carried over the longer distance.

The World's Longest Railways

The United States

The railway roads of the USA are considered to be the largest and most extensive network in the world, totaling 228,000 km of railroad paths. However, railway lines for freight transportation account for about 80% of the network, which leaves passenger routes at 35,000 km, which is less than in many countries down the list. While Amtrak is mostly for passengers needs, the US freight rail network, mostly operated by private companies, is shared between giants such as the Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway.

Russia

Russia comes in second places in terms of the length of railroad paths. In Russia, 95% of railways are operated by the state monopoly - The Russian Railways. Russian Railways embraces the huge country with a railroad network of more than 85,200 km. The Russian railway network comprises ten major destinations most of which take the source from Moscow, the capital. The western and northwestern routes are interconnected with railways of Finland, France, Germany, and Poland. On the east and southeast, the iron branches stretch as far as to national railway systems of China, Mongolia, and North Korea. The Trans-Siberian Railway, connecting Moscow and Vladivostok, is the longest and one of the busiest railway lines in the world as it covers a length of 9,280 km.

China

China surely catches up with its neighbors with an extensive network of railways controlled by the state China Railway Corporation. The outstanding capacity to provide service for about 2 billion passengers and more than 3 billion tons of cargo per year makes the Chinese railroads the most intensively loaded in the whole of Asia. The railway network consists of more than 55,000 km of conventional railway lines, about 10,000 km of high-speed routes and the railroad segment of 2,298km between Beijing and Guangzhou which is the longest high-speed rail line in the world.

India

About eight billion passengers use the Indian Railways every year, the number no other railroad company in the world ever dares to imagine. The Indian railway network is state-owned, with all management and maintenance functions done by the governmental agency supervising the working route of more than 65,000 km.

The Indian national rail network is currently undergoing upgrades aiming by 2017 to add about 5,000 km of new lines and increase the transportation capacity up to 22,000 trains a day. Currently, the country's rail system is divided into 17 zones with the daily circulation of 12,000 passenger trains and 7,000 freight carriers. India is just entering an era of high-speed transits and has invested more than $10 bn in the construction of high-speed corridors. The first segment of this new project, a 530 km passage between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, is expected to come into operation by 2018.

Canada

Unlike India, Canada deals with much greater distances between cities. To address this challenge there are few companies providing services from Atlantic coast to Pacific. The Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway, along with Algoma, Ontario Northland passenger, and Via Rail sum up 52,131 km of Canadian railroad system. Three Canadian cities - Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver have an extensive and highly efficient system of suburban trains. In some areas of the country, the railway companies offer refined tourist train routes to get acquainted with picturesque remote corners of the country.

Honorable Mentions

Germany

The German Deutsche Bahn is the most famous railroad brand in Europe with an extensive network of railways across Germany and abroad. The share of DB accounts for 90% of passenger transportation over long distances within Germany as well as from Germany to Austria, Switzerland, Poland and France. In addition to Deutsche Bahn network, another 130 private companies perform railroad operational activity, providing most of the regional passenger transits and freight transportation. The S-Bahn serves mostly in suburban areas of large cities. The Hamburg-Cologne Express (HKX) is the next to the DB for long-haul passenger transport. By 2017, Germany will have more than 3,000 km of high-speed roads connecting major German cities with other European capitals and international airports.

France

The neighboring French railway system has got two specific features. Paris and its suburbs are the most densely populated areas and accounting for 47% of county's passenger traffic performed at the regional level. In view of popularity as a cultural center of Europe - such cities as Paris, Strasbourg and Leon attracted a huge passenger flow. This affects the increase of railway infrastructure in the vicinity of large cities and the development of high-speed highways connecting these centers with other European destinations.

Another unique specificity of the French network is the tunnel between France and the Great Britain which concentrates the enormous flow of freights from all across the Europe and encourages private and national railroad companies to build and develop a truly gigantic network to access the main railroad connecting continental Europe with Great Britain.
The state of South Carolina is is bordered by Georgia, North Carolina and the Atlantic Ocean. South Carolina's state capital is Columbia. The University of South Carolina is in Columbia, as well as some historical sites, museums, and parks. Like many places and things bearing the name, Columbia is named for Christopher Columbus.

History

Columbia is known to have been a home for Congaree people before the Europeans settled in the area. The earliest records of Europeans to cross the area were the Spanish in 1540. In 1754 the colonial government established a ferry in the area. In 1786, State Senator, John Lewis, proposed a bill to create a state capital, and Columbia became the capital of South Carolina. Columbia experienced growth in the years that followed, particularly because of the Congaree River. Population growth in the city increased because of the railroad that facilitated transport. Santee Canal provided a direct route to Charleston. The Canal is 22 miles long and connected Cooper and Santee Rivers, and it was first built in 1786 coming to completion in 1800, becoming one of the earliest canals in the US. In 1805 Columbia was incorporated as a town and in 1854 as a city. The University of Southern Carolina (formally the South Carolina College), located in Columbia, was founded in 1801. The population began to increase in the early 1850s as more slaves were brought to work in Columbia.

Geography and Climate

Columbia is located in a flat terrain where Congaree River flows. Columbia is 134.9 square miles in area, and it has an elevation reaching 293 feet above sea level. The climate of Columbia is hot and characterized by cold winters and hot summers. The rains start from May to July with receiving approximately 44.6 inches annually. June is the hottest month of the year in Columbia as it records a temperature of 109 F and February the coldest with a temperature of up to -2 F.

Population

As of 2010, the population of Columbia was 129,272, an 18.8% increase from 2000. Columbia is estimated to have a population of 134,309 as of 2016. The majority of the population in Columbia is female and from the statistics from the Columbia metropolitan statistical, 29 years is the median age in the city.

Economy

The location of Columbia facilitated its growth making the city center for trading and the river, Congaree River, made transportation easy and convenient. South Carolina's state government is one of the employers for the labor force in City. Columbia is home to many large companies that provide employment opportunities to the people of Columbia. Some of the employers in Columbia include Fortune 1000 company, the University of South Carolina, Fort Jackson, Track Tech and United Parcel Service. The gross domestic product (GDP) of Columbia in 2010 was approximately $31.90 billion.

Government

The government of Columbia is run by a council-manager type of government, and Stephen K. Benjamin is the current mayor. The council acts as the main body that governs the city by making rules and laws to run the city. The council is elected after every four years.
The capital of the state of Virginia is Richmond, which was founded in 1737 by "The Father of Richmond" also known as William Byrd II. Richmond is the third city to be the state capital of the Virginia Commonwealth; it was preceded by Jamestown and Williamsburg. Like many cities in Virginia, Richmond is a free city, meaning it is not politically part of any county, even though it is located within a county. Richmond gained its status as a free city in 1871; it became the capital of Virginia in 1780. The city is located at an altitude of 167 feet above sea level, and it has an estimated population of 233,170 and covers an area of 62.5 square miles in size.

History of Richmond

In April 1607, the first English speakers settled in Jamestown in Virginia who were explorers led by Captain Christopher Newport and later moved up the James River to a new settlement in the area which is the present day Richmond.In 1737, William Byrd II requested Major William Mayo to design the town grid, and he named the city Richmond after the Richmond town in England near London. The reason was that the view of James River was similar to the view of River Thames on Richmond Hill in the UK. Byrd had spent time in England when he was a youth. The settlement that was laid down was later incorporated as a town in 1742.

Demography

The population in Richmond is predominantly African American who constitutes about 44% of the population, Caucasians form 44% of the population while those reporting a mixed origin form 3.46%, and Asians make up 2.25% of the population. The population in Richmond is relatively young with the median age being approximately 33 years, and 55% of the males and 49% of the females in the area have never been married.

Cuisine

The racial diversity is reflected in the cuisine in Richmond. The food is a mix of African-American, Asian and South American cuisines. Richmond and other parts of Virginia have its own tradition, which includes Smithfield ham, which is called Virginian ham. It is a unique country ham which receives protection from the law of the state. Barbecue Richmond and the while of Virginia is the same as the North Carolinas barbecue. The barbecue is primarily made from pork and vinegar based sauce. There is the famous marble cake, the shoofly pie, fried peaches, which is simmered in butter with brown sugar and served with vanilla ice. Richmond was voted one of the places to travel for food by the National Geographic Traveler in 2016. The city has an array of spots to have a bite that ranges from casual for the usual fast food such as cookout, Chick A Fil, Fire Gus among others. The Italian specialties are served at Sub Rosa, Mama Zu, and Edo Squid. Sub Rosa also serves French pastry as well.

Economy

The population in Metro Richmond stands at 1,272,600, and the major industries include technology, Bio-sciences, and financial services. The median household income is $62,898, and the gross GDP is $77.8 billion, and the unemployment rate is 3.9%. According to Forbes, Richmond has ranked the 49th best places for business and careers. The economy of Richmond is driven by government, finance, and Law including banking, and legal firms in the downtown region. Richmond is home to the great Turning Basin for boats, the only triple crossing rail lines in the world and the intersection of two main interstates. Richmond is a strong manufacturing hub boasting of having Philip Morris, the tobacco manufacturing firm. There is also an influx of semiconductor firms in the area that has boosted the economy of Richmond.
Cheyenne is a moderate-sized city situated in Laramie County, in the southeastern corner of the US State of Wyoming. Cheyenne serves as Wyoming's capital and is considered one of the country's least centrally located state capitals. Cheyenne is also Wyoming's most populous city and the chief city of the Cheyenne Metropolitan Statistical Area. Cheyenne is a sprawling metropolis known for its rugged Wild West feel on the semiarid High Plains. On locale, many attractions draw many to Cheyenne, with favorites such as the Frontier Days Old West Museum, Cheyenne Botanical Gardens, Wyoming State Museum, sights of the Wyoming State Capital building, and green Street Railway Trolleys.

Geography And Climate Of Cheyenne

Aerial view of Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Cheyenne is nestled on the Crow and Dry Creeks, at the northern end of the Southern Rocky Mountain Front, a megalopolis that constitutes the entire Front Range Urban Corridor with Albuquerque, and Santa Fe as additions. Of other substantial cities, Laramie is 50 miles west-northwest, Casper is about 175 miles northwest, and Rock Spring is about 250 miles west. With proximity to Colorado and Nebraska, there are interstate day trips to take. Colorado Springs is about 170 miles south; Pikes Peak is about 200 miles south; Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forest Pawnee National Grassland is about 45 miles south-southwest, and Ogallala is about 170 miles east. Cheyenne also serves as a leaping-off point to Bamforth National Wildlife Refuge and Abraham Lincoln Memorial, which are 30 minutes away.

According to the Koppen Climate Classification, Cheyenne has a cold semi-arid climate. It experiences warm and pleasant summers but long, snowy and windy winters. Throughout the year, there is a recorded annual temperature of 46.6 F. July is the warmest month that sees an average high of 84.2 F, and January is the coldest month that sees an average low of 16.4 F. Of the 91.9 days that produce precipitation, there is an annual rainfall of 16.5 inches and snowfall of 58.3 inches. On average, 236 days of sunshine constitute a median UV Index of 6.4.

History Of Cheyenne

Exterior of the Union Pacific Railroad Depot in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Editorial credit: Paul Brady Photography / Shutterstock.com

As July 4th celebrations commenced in 1867, the Union Pacific Railroad declared that a location had been determined along Crow Creek in the Territory of Dakota for a headquarters. However, to protect the new train establishment, a fort was also announced that was to be armed by the US Army. Hence, on July 5th, 1867, the location was plotted out for future sight. The name Cheyenne was selected as a nod to the Cheyenne Native American people, with the town becoming incorporated on August 8th, 1867.

Fort D. A. Russell was erected and completed in September 1867 but would be renamed in the 1930s before becoming a US Air Force Base in 1949. As for the railroad, on November 1867, the first Union Pacific train arrived, and some even coined the little town "Magic City on the Plains." The following year, the area became the territory of Wyoming, with Cheynne acting as the temporary territorial capital. In December 1869, with the convening of the State Legislature, women's right to vote was one of the first bills to pass. In 1890, Wyoming officially became a state when it became a part of the Union.

The Population And Economy Of Cheyenne

The Wrangler western apparel shop and two 8ft tall Cheyenne Big Boots, featuring local art work depicting Cheyenne's history. Editorial credit: duckeesue / Shutterstock.com

The latest US Census reported that Cheyenne had a population of 65,132 residents. Expanding over 83.84 sq. km, there is a population density of 768.82 people per sq. km. Of the population, there is a median household income of $81,623, with 9.09% living below the poverty line. As for cultural or racial breakdown: 87.35% identified as White, 6.68% were of two races or more, 1.95% were of another race, 1.68% were African American, 1.53% were Asian, 0.59% were Native American, and 0.23% were Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.

The unemployment rate of Cheyenne, as of July 2022, was 2.9%. Of the 31,600 people employed, 5,150 worked in healthcare and social assistance, 4,986 worked in retail trade, and 3,400 worked in public administration. The top-earning job comes from the following sectors: utilities made $80,260, mining, quarrying oil, and gas extraction made $68,500, and professional, scientific services made $64,297.

Attractions In And Around Cheyenne

Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum

Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum, store sign and building at Cheyenne, Wyoming. Editorial credit: MLambousis / Shutterstock.com

Consider visiting the Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum to keep the entire family engaged. Here, one can learn all things American West and rodeo, with notable exhibits that highlight Miss Frontier from 1931 to the present, rodeo pennants, folk art, and the local history of Cheyenne. The museum is revered for containing the World's Largest Outdoor Rodeo and Western Rodeo. Before leaving, browse through some historical artifacts, including horse-drawn carriages or the Cheyenne Frontier Days Hall of Fame.

Cheyenne Botanical Gardens

Shot of the front of the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens solar conservatory. Image Credit: Shane Smith, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Undeniably one of the best-kept secrets in Cheyenne, this award-winning conservatory will leave one in awe. Come and walk through the themed gardens of roses, cacti, wetland, or woodland galleries. Or take some time to ogle at the Discovery Pond or navigate the Garden Labyrinth. One must not forget to visit the Rotary Century Plazas and discover the way of life of Wyomings first settlers.

State Capitol Building

State Capitol of Wyoming in Cheyenne.

Constructed in 1886, this State Capitol building is the icon of the Cheyenne. This building is an example of Renaissance Revival, and a walk amidst the grounds certainly piques any history buff's interest. The dome that overlooks the city skyline is a bit unusual. In the early 1900s, it rotted so severely that a 24-carat gold leaf was used to replace the copper and give the building its odd color. Don't forget to ride on the other icon of the community downtown, the green Street Railway Trolleys!

Cheyenne is a moderate-sized capital city that offers both locals and visitors glimpses of the American West. It could be said that it's a modern-day city set in the backdrop of the Wild West. Aside from all the natural highlights, there is plenty to do here for all ages and tastes, including many museums, parks and gardens, buzz-worthy restaurants, lakes, and family-friendly attractions. Plan a trip today, and do not miss out on an opportunity to visit charming Cheyenne!
GALLERY OFFERS PAINTING CLASS

KENOSHA  Lemon Street Gallery & ArtSpace, 4601 Sheridan Road, will offer a four-week "Painting: Beginner & Beyond" class from 9:30 a.m. to noon Saturdays, Sept. 9-30.

The class is for beginner or accomplished painters and is led by Kathleen Laybourn, an artist. Oil painters should bring oil paints, no-odor turpentine and Liquin gel medium. Acrylic painters should bring acrylic paints and acrylic gel medium. All students should bring brushes, pallet knife and a canvas, board or whatever surface they wish to paint on, and images for reference (if necessary).

The cost to attend the class is $75 and those interested should register early, as the class size is limited to eight. For more information, go to www.lemonstreetgallery.org or call 262-605-4745.

WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS WORKSHOPS

RACINE  Racine County Workforce Solutions, 1717 Taylor Ave., is offering these free workshops Aug. 28-Sept.1:

ProTech, 9:3011:30 a.m. Monday.

Beginner Computer Skills Lab, 13 p.m. Monday.

Ultimate Job Search 2 Day Series  Day 1, 13:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Ultimate Job Search 2 Day Series  Day 2, 13:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Walk-In Resume Lab, 9 a.m. Thursday.

This free workshop will be offered at Burlington Workforce Solutions, 209 N. Main St., Burlington:

Walk-In Resume Lab, 1 p.m. Tuesday.

For more information or to register for any of the above workshops please call Racine County Workforce Solutions, Workshop Instruction at 262-638-6551 or 262-638-6550.

NOSTALGIC GROCERIES, BAKERIES PROGRAM

RACINE  A free community interest program called "How Sweet it Is: Remember Racine's Neighborhood Groceries and Bakeries" will be held from 1 to 3, or 6 to 8, p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 12, at the Golden Rondelle Theatre, 1525 Howe St.

Racine natives Carol Burow Gianforte and Jim Mercier will lead a nostalgic program remembering Racines former bakeries and neighborhood grocery stores.

This is an updated version of a popular nostalgic program about Racines neighborhood grocery stores. Bakeries of the past are included as an addition to the former program. Memories will be shared by a variety of speakers and more than 100 scenes of the stores, products sold and ads will be featured.

Gianforte is a frequent contributor to the The Journal Times Lifestyles issues. She is also the author of My Heart Leads Me Home-A Daughters Memoir, a description of her life growing up in Racine more than 50 years ago. Mercier is widely recognized as an area historian and noted collector of local memorabilia. He is also a recurrent contributor to the Belle City Magazine.

Both afternoon and evening programs are offered. Due to the popularity of this program, advance reservations are encouraged. To register for a program, call 262-260-2154 or go to www.scjohnson.com/CIPreservations.

PROGRAMS OFFERED AT BONG

BRIGHTON  These programs will be held at Bong State Recreation Area, 26313 Burlington Road:

"Friday Froggers," 6:30-7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 1. Participants can prepare to get their feet wet catching, observing, releasing and learning about amphibians and other water creatures. All ages welcome. Meet at the beach, Shelter No. 3.

"Migrating Monarchs," 10-11:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 2. Discover how tagging monarch butterflies unlocked the mystery of their migration, then hike in search of migrants to catch and tag.

Concert in the Park, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 2. Brett Hall is back to perform his eclectic mix of campfire music. There will be a free-will offering, snacks for sale and a short live auction to help raise funds for the Nature Explore Classroom. Meet at the amphitheater. In case of bad weather, meet at the visitor center.

"Homestead Days," 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Drop in to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the arrival of the Rhodes  the parks first European settlers. Get a taste of 1840s food, games, farm and home life. Try your hand at weaving, wood craft, hatchet throwing and enjoy tours to the original homestead site and more. Meet at the Visitor Center.

County Crossings Live in Concert, 3-4 p.m. End the day with a concert by County Crossings. Strings, old-time and Irish music, and lots of fun. Meet at the amphitheater. In case of bad weather, meet at the visitor center. Check out their Facebook page.

All programs meet at the visitor center, unless otherwise listed.

Bongs entrance is on Highway 142, one mile west of Highway 75. A Wisconsin State Park Admission Sticker is required for each vehicle. For Wisconsin vehicles the fees are $8 a day or $28 a year, or $13 and $3 for seniors. The annual sticker is good in all Wisconsin state parks. The sticker may be purchased at time of arrival.

More information can be obtained by calling Bong at 262-878-5600.
A family gave an immigrant a chance to make a good living by hiring her as a nanny for their three children.

Sadly, their actions backfired when the nanny tortured their children.

The family of Danbury, Connecticut, set up a hidden camera, which recorded the nannys actions.

The video showed 32-year-old Lidia Quilligana, severely abusing the couples children.

According to court documents, Quilligana, who has three children of her own, was left to care for her employers 3-year-old girl and 1-year-old twin siblings for about one year.

The kids mother began suspecting that they were being abused when her 3-year-old daughter suffered burns to her hands and she a bruise on her head.

The nanny lied and told the mother that she placed a chair next to the stove for the child to watch as she was cooking. She claimed that the child accidentally burned her hands before falling and injuring her head on one of the stoves knobs.

However, surveillance videos that were set up after that incident, showed Quilligana dragging the toddler to the hot stove and placing her hands and legs against the burners.

She also locked the young child inside a toy box for some time, before finally freeing her. She also abused the 1-year-old twins.

In court, Quilliganaas attorney called her actions unfathomable, but he explained that as a child, the nanny was abused at the hands of her alcoholic father and that she was using the only discipline she knew.

In a plea deal with prosecutors, Quilligana pleaded guilty to second-degree assault.

She was sentenced to 15 years in prison despite the fact that the judge said that 15 years adoesnat even come close to fitting the crime.a

Quilligana apologized to the family and said through an interpreter: Believe me, I loved those children with all my heart. Iam sorry a thousand times.

However, The victims parents did not accept her apology. They said in a statement that there was no excuse for her behavior.
MOUNT PLEASANT  A backpack and school supply giveaway will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 24, at MH Imaging LLC, 6800 Washington Ave. Attendees should park in the parking lot to the rear (north) of the building.

A total of 250 backpacks filled with supplies, including pencils, notebooks, folders and other essential supplies, will be handed out at the event. Children at the event will also be provided a healthy granola bar snack and bottle of water.

Racine Mayor Dennis Wiser, Mount Pleasant Village President Dave DeGroot, Racine Unified School District Superintendent of Schools Dr. Lolli Haws and Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave are slated to attend the event.

The event is being sponsored my MH Imaging, a medical imaging center with facilities in Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha.
Two dozen Wrangell residents gather for a moment of prayer and reflection the evening of August 19, opposing the violence seen in Charlottesville, Virginia, the previous weekend. On August 12 protester Heather Heyer was killed after a car was driven into the crowd. Nineteen others were injured in the attack.

A group of Wrangell residents joined together for peace and solidarity near Front Street last Saturday.

A community peace vigil was organized in response to violence a week earlier during a rally and counter-protest in Charlottesville, Virginia. A gathering of white supremacists, members of the "alt-right" movement and neo-Nazis in the college town was planned for August 12, called "Unite the Right." The rally was intended to protest the planned removal of a statue commemorating Confederate general Robert E. Lee from a downtown park.

As it included members of the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis,...
TOWN OF BURLINGTON  The 4-year-old Racine boy who drowned Monday afternoon in Browns Lake has been identified as Tyrice B. Creed.

The Racine County Sheriffs Office released the boys name Wednesday morning and stated, The Racine County Sheriffs Office wants to extend our deepest sympathies to the family of Tyrice Creed during this tragic and difficult time.

Creed, son of Razelle and Nichole Creed, went missing at about 5:10 p.m. Monday, according to emergency radio transmissions, and was located at about 5:40 p.m.

The boy was rushed by Burlington Rescue crews to Aurora Memorial Hospital of Burlington. Flight for Life helicopter was called to the hospital to be ready to transport the child to Childrens Hospital of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa if necessary, but ultimately was not used.

A group of teenagers and younger children gathered around a picnic table at Fischer Park Monday said the victim had been spending the day with them and their aunt. They said their aunt, who works at the child care facility Moes Learning Academy in Racine, had offered to take the victim and two other young children from the day care with her family to Browns Lake, because the day care was closed for remodeling on Monday.

He went in the water once, and then was playing in the sand. We turned back and he was gone. It happened so fast, said Odalys Tinoco, 15, of Racine.

His aunt Briana Diaz remembers Creed fondly.

The kid was such a goofy kid and could be the biggest sweetheart and had a smile bigger than Earth, Diaz said.

Creeds obituary describes him as full of energy and love and says he enjoyed playing with cars and watching his favorite cartoon show, Paw Patrol.

Funeral services are set for noon Friday at Maresh-Meredith & Acklam Funeral Home, 803 Main St., Racine. Relatives and friends may meet with the family Friday at the funeral home from 10 a.m. until the time of the service. Interment will follow at Holy Cross Cemetery, 5600 Holy Cross Road, Caledonia.
The World Socialist Web Site has launched a campaign against state-corporate censorship of the Internet after a change in search algorithms announced by Google in April, in the guise of combating "fake news", resulted in a major drop in readership for leading progressive, anti-war and socialist websites. The WSWS itself was hardest hit, losing more than two-thirds of its traffic coming from Google search results.

However, Internet censorship extends far beyond Google. Recent announcements by Facebook and others indicate that virtually all the worlds largest tech firms, in close collaboration with governments around the world, are engaged in a coordinated effort to clamp down on Internet speech.

Following on the heels of the April 25 announcement by Google Vice President Ben Gomes (titled Our latest quality improvements for Search), Facebook Vice President Adam Mosseri announced an equivalent program on June 30 in the form of an update to Facebooks own News Feed algorithm.

The Orwellian language of these two statements is remarkably similar. Mosseris memo, titled Showing More Informative Links in News Feed, states that a tiny group of people on Facebook are sharing low quality content, sensationalism, and misinformation. The updated algorithm will "deprioritize these problematic, low quality posts in order to surface better content. (By comparison, Gomes wrote that a small set of queries are returning unsubstantiated conspiracy theories, and that Googles new algorithm will demote low-quality content, fake news and misleading content, in order to surface more high-quality content.)

In other words, like Google, Facebook will no longer serve as an ostensibly unbiased platform to connect people and information, but will openly take on the role of gatekeeper, judging the quality of information and deciding what ideas will and will not be available to its users.

But even these measures are apparently too little. August 1 saw the first meeting of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT), comprised of Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, YouTube (which is owned by Google) and Snapchat. This time, the companies set out to vanquish not the bogeyman of fake news, but rather terrorists and violent extremists. UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd and US Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke attended the meeting.

The June 26 memo announcing the formation of the GIFCT makes no bones about the programs ties to imperialist governments, citing the participation of the European Union, the UK and other governments, the G7, the United Nations Security Council, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (a Washington think-tank connected to intelligence agencies), the Anti-Defamation League, as well as unnamed counter-terrorism experts, academics and other companies.

A major project of the GIFCT is its Shared Industry Hash Database. Using this tool, content that is flagged by one firm as terrorist or violent extremist, etc., is automatically censored on all the others. For its part, YouTube has deployed artificial intelligence to automatically flag extremist content on behalf of the group, with no need for human intervention. YouTube boasts in an August 1 blog post that over 75 percent of the videos weve removed for violent extremism over the past month were taken down before receiving a single human flag, and in many cases our systems have proven more accurate than humans at flagging videos that need to be removed.

The premise of this program is that terrorism spreads not because of imperialist war, and in particular the active funding and arming of backward groups by imperialist governments, but rather because people can be dazzled by mind-altering extremist propaganda on the Internet faster than it can be taken down.

Given that Googles assault on fake news has resulted in the blacklisting of anti-war and socialist websites, there can be little doubt as to the real target of such extremist censorship. Indeed, the results so far of Youtubes AI dragnet give some indication of what is to come.

Chris Woods, the director of the organization Airwars, which documents the effects of international airstrikes, told the New York Times that YouTube removed around a dozen of its videos earlier this month and threatened to remove its YouTube channel entirely. Middle East Eye (MEE) reports that several of its own YouTube videos have likewise been removed. These include drone footage of fighting in Mosul, where Airwars documented the deaths of more than 5,000 civilians as a result of US-led attacks between February and June of this year.

Journalist Alexa O'Brien, who covered the 2013 court-martial of whistleblower Chelsea Manning, told MEE that videos used as evidence in that trial have also been removed. (Some of the above-listed videos have since been reinstated.)

As private entities, firms like Facebook and Google are subject to zero public oversight, and in any case they can make no claim to be a neutral arbiters of information. They are connected by a thousand threads to the oligarchy and the military-state-intelligence apparatus. According to Opensecrets.org, Facebook Inc. has spent more than $8 million each year since 2014 lobbying the US federal government, and $5 million so far in 2017. Among Internet firms, only Googles parent company Alphabet, and sometimes Amazon, have spent more. The $70 billion net worth of Facebook's 33-year-old founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg places him among the very richest individuals on the planet, alongside Microsofts Bill Gates ($84 billion) and Amazons Jeff Bezos ($81 billion).

It should also be recalled that Facebook, Google, and Microsoft, as well as Apple, Yahoo!, and others, were implicated in the massive state spying operation revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

And yet, like Google, Facebook has taken on the character of a global public utility. The social media platform is the worlds third most-visited Internet site (after Google and YouTube) and it is linked to by more sites than any other. As of June, it has more than 2 billion monthly active users, despite being banned in China. It is a main gateway to news and information for a large percentage of the planet.

The roll out of these worldwide corporate-state censorship programs takes place under conditions of intensifying social, geo-political and economic crisis throughout the globe. Billions of people are searching for answers to the life-and-death questions of war, inequality and dictatorship. The suppression of oppositional viewpoints is an ever more crucial prop for a moribund social ordercapitalismwhich offers no progressive way forward.

Join the WSWS's fight against online censorship! Sign the petition!
For the first time, the pseudo-left party Podemos has joined a regional coalition government with the Socialist Party (PSOE). The agreement in Castilla-La Mancha is a template for other regional agreements and a possible precursor to a national government of progress involving the two parties.

The decision to join a coalition in Castilla-La Mancha comes less than a year after Podemos was forced to withdraw its support from the minority regional PSOE administration led by Emiliano Garcia-Page, after it abandoned promised social measures, in the process throwing Podemos orientation to the PSOE nationally into crisis.

Garcia-Page was a key figure in the coup to topple Pedro Sanchez as PSOE party leader in order to allow the Popular Party (PP) to form a minority government in Madrid. Sanchez represented sections of the PSOE who considered that a vague turn to the left and closer relations with Podemos would control rising social discontent and halt the PSOEs electoral collapse. Garcia-Page bitterly opposed this, accusing Sanchez of wanting to Podemosise the PSOE.

With Sanchezs re-election as PSOE general secretary earlier this year the hopes of Podemos leaders rose again for new discussions on a left alliance. On July 17, Sanchez and Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias met to set up a liaison committee to discuss areas in which they can cooperate.

Garcia-Pages offer to Podemos in Castilla-La Mancha must be seen in this context. He needs Podemos to pass the budget, blocked by the PP in the regional Congress.

The PP has 16 deputies to the PSOEs 15 and Podemos holds the balance of power with its two deputiesregional secretary Jose Garcia Molina, a close ally of Iglesias, and David Llorente, a prominent member of the Pabloite group Anticapitalistas.

On July 25, Iglesias co-authored an article for the online newspaper 20 Minutos with his former deputy, Inigo Errejonthe first for many months. The two had fallen out over how best to suppress opposition in the working class, whether through token protests in alliance with the trade unions (Iglesias) or by preventing social mobilisations in favour of purely electoral and parliamentary manoeuvres oriented to the PSOE (Errejon).

Referring to the re-election of Sanchez as PSOE leader Iglesias and Errejon declared, If it is possible to begin to build a greater collaboration with the PSOE at the state level today, it is precisely because of the victory in this party of those who are favourable to approach the pole of change because they assume that they cannot rule alone and that it is not convenient for them to do so with the PP and Citizens.

They concluded, In Podemos we mark the regional governments as our main strategic objective in this political cycle  We know we cannot do this alone; we need our sister political forces that accompany us and civil society, and we also need the Socialist Party to continue to take steps that are closer to being an ally of the bloc of change than of the bloc of restoration.

Iglesias and Errejons line prevailed. No one on the regional Podemos Citizens Council, including its eight Pabloite members, voted against going into government. It was passed by 26-0 with nine abstentions. Podemos 15,000 supporters in Castilla-La Mancha were asked, Do you to think Podemos Castilla-La Mancha should vote in favour of the budget if on the basis of a government agreement there is a guarantee that its own policies of a guaranteed income will be launched and be under its control? They voted 78 percent in favour.

Molina declared that a new stage opens in Castilla-La Mancha. In answer to accusations that the budget is the same one Podemos rejected earlier this year, he replied, We do not have to stay entangled in what happened, but in what has to happen.

As part of the deal, the PSOE conjured up two new posts that reek of the byzantine caste relationships Iglesias rails against. Molina has been slotted into a second vice-president post and his partner Inmaculada Herranz will become the Head of the Council for Coordinating the Plan of Citizen Income Guarantees.

Llorente and the Pabloites campaigned against joining the regional government, saying that pressure on the Government of Page must be made with social movements, popular organisations and trade unions. However, Llorente has now reassured everyone he accepts the decision while attempting to absolve himself of any personal responsibility for the political consequences of Podemos betrayalissuing the saintly riposte, I will not take up a post in Garcia-Pages government.

Podemos is now indistinguishable from the PSOE in its pursuit of power in bourgeois institutions on a pro-capitalist programme and an imperialist foreign policy.

In an opinion piece for El Confidencial, journalist Ignacio Varela declared, Podemos has been tamed and its part of the system like everyone else  Iglesias party is rapidly becoming a force that represents a stable sector of society, containing it within the walls of the institutions, and, from its lateral spaces [the Pabloites], it helps maintain the ecological balance of the political system

Such remarks from conservative figures such as Varela, who only a year ago were railing against Iglesias and Podemos as enemies of the state, are a devastating exposure of Anticapitalistas and the United Secretariat (USec). They bear responsibility for the political monster they helped create in 2014.

A leaked internal bulletin at the time explained how Anticapitalistas would not be too explicit in their new project, but would be in charge of promoting it organisationally and politically. They courted the rising media celebrity and former Communist Party apparatchik Iglesias as the public face of Podemos.

Llorente makes clear his own role on the Podemos web site, explaining in his biography how we helped to promote Podemos. Im in Podemos from the beginning and I believe in the potential of this project.

At each point when Podemos junked another element of its vaguely radical founding manifesto, Anticapitalistas made the obligatory protests, before moving on to next business. The integration of Anticapitalistas leadership into high-profile positions in Podemos local, city and regional organisations continued apace.

To deflect criticism away from the role of the Anticapitalistas in Castilla-La Mancha, Isidro Lopez and Raul Camargo, leading Pabloites of Podemos in the Madrid region, penned a piece in Publico that was reproduced in International Viewpoint on August 8, calling the deal an historic error.

Making just one fleeting reference to their man Llorente, who now has the deciding vote on legislation in the regional Congress, Lopez and Camargo complain that joining the government for some posts in the state apparatus provides the first experimental test of a profound turn by the Podemos political leadership, towards a dynamic of governmental agreements with the PSOE and prefigures the formation of an alternative government nationally.

The re-invention of Sanchez as an oppositional figure smacks of a manoeuvre of political marketing, they add. They warn that Podemos is being transformed into a left-wing flank for the regeneration of the regime, condemning it to political irrelevance, and in the worst case, its implosion 

Their sole concern is to prevent the working class and youth from turning to a revolutionary alternative, so that they focus on developing the counterweight of a sufficiently strong political movement as a supposed check on the Podemos leadership. In addition, they make clear they are in favour of continued collusion with the PSOEas long as this is not so naked as forming coalitions. They declare, It is not about simply maintaining a passive positionother paths can be explored with other political forces, including the PSOE, which do not involve entry into government, on the basis of punctual agreements up to partial accords on matters which correspond to the programmatic principles of Podemos.

Such pathetic gyrations cannot conceal how the Pabloites deliberately set out to create a Spanish version of the left-talking but pro-capitalist Syriza party in Greecewith the aim of disarming workers in the face of mass unemployment, cuts in wages and services, growing poverty and stepped up militarism.
Australias highest court last week brushed aside a challenge to the Australian governments prolonged detention of refugees on Papua New Guineas (PNG) impoverished Manus Island in defiance of PNG law.

In a dismissive and unanimous judgment, the full bench of seven judges rejected a law suit by Benham Satah, an Iranian asylum seeker, against his continued incarceration on Manus Island despite the PNG Supreme Court last year ruling that the detention regime was an unconstitutional deprivation of liberty.

The High Court has not only rubber-stamped the continued confinement of refugees in appalling conditions on Manus. Its ruling has far wider implications. It effectively gives a constitutional green light to Australian governments to flout both international law and the law of any other country.

In 2013, the previous Australian Labor government pressured the government of PNG, a former Australian colony, into allowing Australia to set up the Manus detention camp, under the guise of a regional resettlement arrangement. Like the Labor government and its Liberal-National successors, the High Court displayed neo-colonial contempt for PNG and its law.

Last years PNG Supreme Court decision, known as the Namah case, ordered the Australian and PNG governments to close the Australian-funded and operated detention centre on Manus, a remote island near the equator. After months of defying the ruling, the two governments ultimately ordered the closure of the camp by October 31, but with the more than 800 men detained there being coerced into an insecure transit centre near Lorangau, the islands main town.

Unlike in Australia, where the constitution contains no bill of rights or other protection of key legal and democratic rights, PNG has constitutional human rights provisions. These forbid the deprivation of personal liberty in most cases where a person has not committed a crime.

The PNG Supreme Court found it was unconstitutional for Australia and PNG to bring in and detain asylum seekers on Manus. Satahs lawyers therefore argued that Australia was exercising its powers for an illegal purpose. They said the Australian Constitution prevented the Australian government from undertaking business with another country that was unlawful in that country.

In dismissing the claim, the High Court declared it to be a novel and sweeping proposition that had no basis in law. The judges also ordered the plaintiff, the Iranian refugee, to pay the court costs, which will run into many thousands of dollars.

The judges insisted there was nothing in the text or structure of the Australian Constitution to support the plaintiffs case. Citing previous High Court rulings, they declared: The course of authority in this court leaves no room for doubt that neither the legislative nor the executive power of the Commonwealth is constitutionally limited by any need to conform to international law.

Equally there should be no doubt that neither the legislative nor the executive power of the Commonwealth is constitutionally limited by any need to conform to the domestic law of another country.

This ruling underscores the readiness of the Australian ruling establishment, including the courts, to trample over the law of any other country as well as international law, including the 1951 Refugees Convention, which recognises a right to flee persecution and seek protection.

Through its military and political might the Australian government can legally coerce, through various arrangements, smaller and impoverished countries to carry out actions that are contrary to their laws and constitution. This sets a precedent by which the Australian government could also set up torture or rendition centres in other countries.

Moreover, numerous reports have shown that detention on Manus subjects detainees to psychological and physical trauma. It has already led to five preventable deaths, including that of Hamid Shamshiripour, another Iranian refugee, who died this month under suspicious circumstances.

Satah, the High Court plaintiff, has been languishing on Manus Island since August 2013 after being detained by the Australian Navy on board a refugee boat. In February 2014, he witnessed the murder of 23-year-old Reza Barati, a fellow detainee, who suffered a severe brain injury during a protest by prisoners at the Manus Island camp.

That incident had all the characteristics of a calculated provocation orchestrated by the Australian government. Security and police personnel were reinforced before an announcement was made to all the detainees that they would never be settled in Australia, triggering outrage.

Satah was later compelled to give evidence against two of the local men charged over Baratis murder. The Australian government prevented the return of expatriate officers to stand trial, effectively covering up the Australian governments responsibility for his death.

Fearing reprisal over the testimony he gave in court, which named local police, Satah refused to participate in the PNGs assessment of his refugee claim. This resulted in his claim being rejected last December. As Iran does not accept the involuntary return of its citizens, Satah remains in custody indefinitely.

The High Court ruling directly affects all the 803 men imprisoned on Manus Island, underscoring the refusal of successive governments to allow them into Australia. The Australian government is currently shutting down the detention centre around them, threatening police violence if they do not move to a transit centre designed to house only 280 people.

In February last year, by a six-to-one majority, the High Court also upheld the indefinite detention of men, women and children on the tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru. In that case the judges largely relied on the fiction that Nauru, another impoverished former Australian colony, is the sovereign power detaining the refugees, not the Australian government, which orchestrates, finances and polices the detention centre.

Now the court has given constitutional carte blanche for the Australian government to conduct such illegal activities. This is a warning. A precedent has been set that goes beyond refugees, validating powers that can and will be used against the working class more broadly as the economic, social and political situation worsens.
President Donald Trump delivered a right-wing tirade to supporters in Phoenix, Arizona on Tuesday night. The speech followed last weeks firing of chief strategist Stephen Bannon and a Monday night address in which Trump bowed to pressure from the military to announce an open-ended escalation in Afghanistan.

Trump once again attacked the Republican as well as the Democratic Party establishments and defended his pro-fascist statements following the neo-Nazi rampage in Charlottesville, Virginia. The rambling 77-minute speech made clear that the removal of Bannon and consolidation of Pentagon and Wall Street control over the administration will not halt Trumps efforts to build an extra-parliamentary, fascistic base of support.

Trump went ahead with the rally, which attracted thousands to the Phoenix Convention Center as well as thousands of anti-Trump demonstrators, despite pleas from the Democratic mayor to postpone the event. The rally was boycotted by Republican Governor Doug Ducey as well as the states two Republican senators, John McCain and Jeff Flake.

Trump spent nearly half of his remarks defending his response to the August 12 fascist riot in Charlottesville and attacking the media, which he accused of misrepresenting his statements regarding those events. The rest of the speech was a compendium of the ultra-nationalist, militarist and far-right themes, combined with demagogic appeals to social anger over the destruction of jobs and living standards, which were at the center of his election campaign and have dominated his period in office.

He set the tone at the beginning of his remarks, declaring: We love our country. We celebrate our troops. We embrace our freedom. We respect our flag. We are proud of our history. We cherish our Constitution, including, by the way, the Second Amendment. We fully protect religious liberty. We believe in law and order. And we support the incredible men of law enforcement. And we pledge our allegiance to one nation under God.

On immigration, Trump praised former Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted last month of criminal contempt for ignoring a federal judges order to stop detaining people on mere suspicion of their being undocumented immigrants. The White House press office had announced earlier on Tuesday that Trump would not, as he had threatened, announce a pardon for Arpaio, who is awaiting sentencing. Instead, Trump made clear that Arpaio had nothing to fear and that he was prepared to pardon the fascistic ex-sheriff, even though he was holding off from an official announcement.

The president declared, We are cracking down on these sanctuary cities that shield criminal aliens, and reiterated his plans to build a border wall separating the US from Mexico. He threatened to veto a federal funding bill for the new fiscal year, which begins October 1, shutting down the government, if the Democrats blocked money for construction of the wall.

On economic protectionism, Trump hailed his pullout from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and cited the opening of negotiations with Canada and Mexico on revising the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), saying he expected the talks would fail and he would scrap the treaty altogether.

He repeated the previous nights paean to the military as the model of American patriotism and the central force for holding the country together, and boasted of passing a major increase in military spending.

Without naming names, he once again attacked senators McCain and Flake, both of whom have criticized Trump for his response to Charlottesville and his reluctance to escalate the confrontation with Russia. Trump blamed McCain for blocking the repeal of Obamacare and broadly hinted that he might support a challenge to Flakes re-election next year from ultra-right former state lawmaker Kelli Ward.

As for the Democrats, who have largely attacked Trump from the right for his supposed softness toward Russia and led the praise for the generals who have virtually taken over the administration, Trump made the absurd charge that they were promoting socialism and maybe, frankly, a step beyond socialism

This was combined with empty claims that he was heading up a revival of American manufacturing and restoring the jobs and wages of workers, supposedly ravaged by foreign countries and foreign workers.

Media criticism of the speech centered on its divisiveness, which was counterposed to the unifying tone Trump was said to have struck in his Afghanistan policy speech the previous night. Reflecting fears within the ruling class of the potential for social and political upheavals, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told CNN after the Phoenix event that Trumps speech was downright scary and disturbing. He questioned Trumps fitness to rule.

The counter-protests continued throughout the day without incident, until police carried out unprovoked gas canister attacks on demonstrators after the Trump rally had ended. Four anti-Trump protesters were arrested, and two have been charged with assaulting a police officer.
Jerry White, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Party in the United States, brought greetings to the August 19 public meeting of the Socialist Equality Party (UK) in London on the Grenfell Tower fire. Published below are Whites remarks, which found a strong response.

Im from the Socialist Equality Party in the United States, the sister party of the SEP in the UK. I want first of all to bring my sympathyand, above all, solidarity to the survivors of Grenfell and the entire British working class.

When we saw this in the United States, images of the burning tower, we discussed the issue and workers in Flint, Michigan and in other parts of the US immediately recognised the same process. This was a crime. The lives of workers and their families were sacrificed as a result of financial and political decisions which benefited the tiny minority at the top.

Whether youre in the US or Pakistan, or whether youre in Grenfell Tower, the capitalist system subordinates every aspect of life, including life itself, to private profit.

This is a unique gathering. This meeting is about discussing strategy for the working class. Our energy and our determination must not be diverted into some bogus inquiry or an appeal to Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party. We must base ourselves on an understanding of the lessons of history and a class analysis.

As the reports made absolutely clear, Grenfell isnt the product of something that just happened yesterday. It was decades in the making. And it was carried out by Tories and Labourites in Britain.

If I can just for a moment review the situation in Flint that comrade Chris Marsden referred to. In April 2014, the citys emergency manager switched Flints water supply from the Detroit systemwhich had supplied the city for half a centuryto the polluted Flint River. This was part of scheme to build a new pipeline that would be a source of profit for financial speculators and private contractors. The decision was made to allow the river water to go into Flint even though the city did not have the capacity to treat the polluted water.

As the water flowed through the old lead pipes, toxins were leached into the water that ran into peoples homes. For more than a year the working class residents complained about the poisoned water. They showed bottles of brown water, they showed their childrens rashes. But their complaints and protests were ignored by officials who said nothing was wrong.

Flint residents appealed to and won the support of scientists and medical professionals who proved the lead levels in the water and in the bloodstreams of the citys children were a dire threat to public health. They were still ignored.

Then finally, after twelve people died from Legionnaires Disease, the crisis in Flint became national and international news. All of a sudden everybody feigned sympathy for the people of Flint. Everybody flooded in! The national news media, celebrities like Michael Moore and President Barack Obama, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton. They all said: Were gonna take care of you. Were gonna do whatever it takes.

And you know what, three years laternothing has been resolved. Children continue to be poisoned. The lead pipes remain. They are even threatening to evict workers if they dont pay for the poisoned water. Workers have been made ill and have lost their life savings while the speculators and financial criminals have not only gotten away scot-free, but have been paid off in full.

All of those who tried to patronise the workers, telling them Weve heard your voices, represent a different class. Just like Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn in the UK.

That is why the discussion here on the character of the Labour Party and the character of the trade unions is so important. A strategy for the working class must be based on the clearest understanding of the class forces arrayed against us. The most effective use of our energy and determination is to mobilise our class, independently of the ruling class and its political representatives, not to expend our energy in fruitless appeals to the powers that be.

These are the issues that confront the working class everywhere. Do any of you have any question about the fact that the ruling elites have universities and think tanks that work out their strategy against us? Why shouldnt we use science and historical knowledge to work out a strategy for our class?
RACINE  In a closed session meeting Tuesday, city staff and aldermen discussed a possible ethics violation by certain officials.

Tuesday nights meeting was a special meeting of the citys Executive Committee, which consists of Mayor Dennis Wiser, Council President Q.A. Shakoor II, and aldermen Terry McCarthy, Jeff Coe and Jason Meekma. The meetings lone agenda item was an unspecified communication from City Attorney Scott Letteney.

A local blog post published on Aug. 18 claimed that the topic of the meeting was ethics charges to be filed by the City Attorneys Office against 6th District Alderman Sandy Weidner. Weidner said she couldnt comment on what happened at Tuesdays meeting because it took place in closed session.

The agenda item in full stated, Communication from the City Attorney requesting to meet with the Executive Committee, in Closed Session, pursuant to Wisconsin Statues section 19.85(1)(h), to consider whether to request confidential written advice from the City of Racine Board of Ethics regarding the applicability of Racine Ordinance Section 2-581(a) to the disclosure of certain confidential information and privileged information, by certain officials, which information was gained in the course of, or by reason of, the officials official position or official activities.

Since all of the discussion took place in closed session and the committee did not reconvene in open session, Letteney declined to comment in an email Tuesday.

I have nothing to say about this, Letteney wrote.

Section 2-581 is the city code of ordinances section on prohibited conduct, while paragraph (a) discusses violation of work rules. The final sentence of that paragraph is cited as the alleged violation in the Executive Committee agendas communication.

They shall not disclose confidential information or privileged information gained in the course of, or by reason of his/her official position or official activities, the ordinance states.

Other violations of section 2-581(a) include exceeding authority, breaching the law or asking others to breach the law.

The City Attorneys Office did not respond to a Wednesday inquiry about whether any public or open session action would take place as a result of Tuesdays meeting.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Florida A&M University has released a statement regarding move-in delays at the Palmetto North dorm.

The university released the statement on Thursday, saying that the "student experience" is of great importance to them.

They say that for that reason, they told students and parents scheduled to move into the dorms that move-in would be postponed until Friday.

According to the university, students who planned to move in on Aug. 22-24 were given the opportunity to temporarily relocate to hotel accommodations until the facilities are reopened.

In response to multiple reports from and to the media about displaced students, FAMU's Student Affairs released this statement:

"Approximately 45 students are being accommodated in hotels as they await the reopening of Palmetto North. While approximately 120 spaces are being prepared, the University requested students and parents on Tuesday to delay their move-in until Friday afternoon.

This has helped to ensure students are not without a place to stay during this time. Students are also being provided with options to explore off-campus housing today and tomorrow at the Universitys annual off-campus housing fair."

They say that they are also offering amenities including meals for students, transportation via shuttle service, air-conditioned storage units for student belongings, and moving assistance.

FAMU says a call-in line has been established to provide students and parents with updates throughout the week. They say that they will remain committed making the transition as smooth as possible for incoming students.

Students and parents assigned to Palmetto North may email famuhousing@famu.edu for additional information.
VALDOSTA, Ga. (WTXL) - Five people are facing charges in multiple states after being accused of going on a car break-in spree.

The Valdosta Police Department says that on Aug. 15, officers responded to the Drury Inn located at 1327 North Saint Augustine Road. When they arrived, multiple victims reported that their cars had been entered illegally and property had been stolen.

The next day, VPD was contacted by authorities in Coffee County, Tennessee about the arrest of five people. They said that they were arrested after fleeing from law enforcement in a stolen vehicle out Miami, Fla.

Inside the car, several guns were found as well as ammunition, laptop computers and clothing, some of the items coming back as stolen out of Valdosta.

According to VPD, authorities also found a duty weapon and detective duty holster belonging to a Brunswick, Ga. police officer.

The Coffee County Investigators interviewed the offenders and 3 out of the 5 confessed to having left the Ft. Lauderdale area all together on the evening of August 14, in the stolen vehicle.

They then traveled up I-95 to Brunswick, where they broke into a police officers vehicle and stole his duty weapon and badge.

They say the men confessed to traveling down 84 to Valdosta and breaking into the vehicles in the city of Valdosta and then advised that they traveled up I-75 to Byron, Ga. where they sold some items to the pawn shop, continued to Augusta, Ga., and visited family.

They were then arrested in Tennessee.

The Ft. Lauderdale Police Department also contacted the Valdosta Police Department about the case because they were investigating the offenders in connection with a homicide and a rape.

Police say arrest warrants were issued for the rape on two of the offenders where they had live streamed a gang rape on Facebook.

The following people were arrested:

Dontavius Jamar Butler, 17:

Charged with Rape in Florida.

(Multiple counts) Theft from Vehicle (Felony)

(Multiple counts) Criminal Trespass (Misdemeanor).

Maurice Rodrea Thomas Jr., 17:

Charged with Rape in Florida.

Person of Interest in the Fort Lauderdale Homicide

(Multiple counts) Theft from Vehicle (Felony)

(Multiple counts) Criminal Trespass (Misdemeanor).

Karvis Christian David, 20:

(Multiple counts) Theft from Vehicle (Felony)

(Multiple counts) Criminal Trespass (Misdemeanor).

Byron PD will be seeking further warrants.

Miguel James Harvey, 18:

(Multiple counts) Theft from Vehicle (Felony)

(Multiple counts) Criminal Trespass (Misdemeanor).

Dean Hyatt, 18:

(Multiple counts) Theft from Vehicle (Felony)

(Multiple counts) Criminal Trespass Vandalism (Misdemeanor).

Detectives were able to recover a total of $10,468.00 of stolen property from the Valdosta area.

A total of 50 arrest warrants were signed on the five individuals (45 Felony Theft from Vehicle & 5 Criminal Trespass Misdemeanor).

VPD says multiple outside agencies also have charges pending.
QUINCY, Fla. (WTXL) - The Gadsden County School District is two weeks into the new school year -- the first one after reconfiguration.

Now, parents have taken to social media, complaining about transportation and the safety of their children on school buses.

Every day, more than 50 school buses travel around Gadsden County, picking up hundreds of students.

The district says more than 70 percent of its students ride the bus.

"We are still tweaking and making some adjustments," said superintendent Roger Milton, "but we are very pleased with the progress with which we're making when it comes to transportation."

But not everyone is on board with how things are rolling this year. Parents and students have posted concerns on Facebook.

One parent claimed more than 100 students were on a bus and "numerous children" were getting home after 8 p.m.

Another parent said her son told her there are "too many kids on the bus," with some sitting on the floor. One student admits she's been one of them, saying it's not going to work.

A standard school bus usually has 22 to 24 seats. If each seat can fit three elementary school students (or two middle school/high school students), then a school bus shouldn't seat more than 72 students (or 48 middle school/high school students). The school district says it's working to address overcrowding.

"As we become aware of issues and concerns, we are working on those immediately," Milton said.

That includes re-routing buses to even out how many kids are on each bus. As for when they get home, that's based on time adjustments the district made during consolidation.

"No student has been picked up prior to 6 o'clock," Milton said. "Elementary schools are starting later, which means that they dismiss later and the students will be arriving later in the afternoons."

The district says the buses travel to the high school and back first since it starts the earliest. Milton says high school students travel separately from elementary and middle school students.
WATERFORD  After more than a decade in the top staff position at the Village of Waterford, Village Administrator Rebecca Ewald is moving on.

Ewald, who served in the role for 11 years, told The Journal Times Wednesday that she has accepted the position of village manager with the Village of Shorewood. Ewald grew up in Whitefish Bay, which borders Shorewood, and said the move to the Milwaukee suburbs made sense for her family.

Im from the east side (of Milwaukee) and my parents live in Whitefish Bay, the community next door, she said. Its a good step for me and my family right now.

The role is similar to the one she held in Waterford, in that both are the top administrative positions at their respective village halls. That said, Ewald said there are a few differences, including Shorewoods population, which is roughly 2 times larger than Waterfords population of 5,378.

Its a little different, she said. Id be executing more leadership and direction in accordance with state statutes. Its a large community. They have a lot of redevelopment opportunities.

Ewald said shes grateful for the opportunity shes had to work in Waterford for more than a decade.

I am honored to have served such a wonderful community, she said. It really has been a wonderful experience. Im the villages biggest fan.

Ewalds resignation comes just a week after Village President Jim Schneider stepped down for health reasons. The village also has two other openings on its board.

According to a village agenda, replacing Ewald was discussed at Tuesdays Village Board meeting, but it is unclear whether action was taken. Acting Village President Don Houston could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Ewald said that shes confident that Waterford remains in capable hands.

Waterford has an incredibly talented staff in place right now thats going to do a phenomenal job executing their plans in the next few years, Ewald said. Im humbled and extremely grateful for everyone in Racine County whom Ive gotten to know and who have done a phenomenal job.
MOUNT PLEASANT  With a unanimous vote and thunderous applause from the spectators present, Rons Custom Cabinets on Wednesday received permission to continue to operate as a legal business as it has for nearly 50 years.

At a meeting Wednesday night of the Village of Mount Pleasant Zoning Board of Appeals, the board members agreed that the business located at 8312 Gittings Road is a lawful non-conforming business.

The business had been facing the prospect of closing, leaving three full-time employees and one part-time employee without work, based on a complaint filed by village resident Kelly Gallaher claiming the business has operated illegally since 2005.

Testimony and evidence

The village meeting room transformed Wednesday night into a makeshift courtroom, with Rons attorney John Bjelajac laying out a documented timeline that established that the business was founded in 1971, before the village existed, and should have been grandfathered in to the village ordinances.

Bjelajac presented nearly 20 exhibits, which included old phone books, maps and photos, along with sworn testimony to argue that Rons Custom Cabinets, owned by Ron Primuth, is a legal and lawful business.

Primuth testified that he set up business on Gittings Road with a building permit from the former Town of Mount Pleasant in 1971.

In 1992, Primuth testified, he went to a Zoning Board of Appeals meeting when the zoning board attempted to stop him from operating his business.

Bjelajac asked Primuth if he had an attorney present at that meeting, to which Primuth responded no.

Did anybody explain to you that you had a lawful non-conforming use in existence at that time in your life? Bjelajac asked.

No, they did not, Primuth responded.

No one from the town told you that? Bjelajac asked. Primuth said, No.

Primuth also testified that at the time, in 1992, he expected to operate the business until he retired at age 65, which was in 2005, but was not told he had to stop the business at that time. He continues to operate the business and is now 77.

No live objections

Nearly 50 residents attended Wednesday nights meeting to show support for keeping Rons Custom Cabinets open. No one was present to advocate for its closure; however, Gallaher did send an email to Sam Schultz, community development director.

There was some discussion about whether to include Gallahers email in the record, but Bjelajac objected, saying shes not under oath. She can say anything she wants in a document that she doesnt swear to. Thats not fair to the proceeding. The people here in favor of Mr. Primuth were put under oath to say nice things about him. Now we have somebody who will say bad things about him and shes not under oath.

The Zoning Board of Appeals voted unanimously against reading the email into the record.

After 90 minutes of hearing the timeline and testimony of residents, including from neighbors of Primuth, various board members voiced their support for the business.

Michael Langendorf, board chairman, said all the exhibits presented, along with the clear timeline, convinced him Rons is a lawful business.

Village Attorney Chris Geary said he agreed with Bjelajac that if it was a lawfully acting business prior to the adoption of the zoning code, then it is, in fact, grandfathered and did not need a variance.

Board member Nancy Washburn said its clear Primuth was operating the business lawfully before the zoning code was adopted.

As long as the village attorney agrees that it is a lawful property, I see no reason for it to have a variance, Washburn said. In 1992, who knows how they were guided, who knows what counsel they got, maybe they thought that was the best decision to make at the time  The deadline of age (65) I think is discriminatory. I see no reason for that to be applicable to this situation.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates  Qatar has restored full diplomatic relations with Iran, ignoring the demands of Arab nations now trying to isolate the energy-rich country to downgrade its ties.

Qatar's Foreign Ministry announced early Thursday the country's ambassador would return to Tehran. Qatar pulled its ambassador in early 2016 after Saudi Arabia's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric sparked attacks on two Saudi diplomatic posts in Iran.

Qatar said in a statement the move "expressed its aspiration to strengthen bilateral relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran in all fields." Iranian state media acknowledged the development, without elaborating.
US President Donald Trump's delegation to the Middle East arrived in Israel on Wednesday night and is expected to also travel to Ramallah to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

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The delegation is comprised of Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner, Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt and Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy Dina Powell.

The visit's goal, a White House source told Politico, is to "focus on the path to substantive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, combating extremism, the situation in Gaza, including how to ease the humanitarian crisis there."

Greenblatt, Friedman and Kushner meet with Netanyahu (File photo: Amos Ben-Gershom, GPO)

Trump, the source added, "believes that the restoration of calm and the stabilized situation in Jerusalem after the recent crisis on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif has created an opportunity to continue discussions and the pursuit of peace."

Before coming to Israel, the American met with leaders from the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. On Wednesday, they sat down with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. This marks Kushner's third visit to the Middle East since assuming his role as Trump's advisor.

After eight months of Greenblatt taking on the lion's share of responsibilities, he met with National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster last month to discuss giving the National Security Council a bigger role in the effort to revive Middle East peace talks, Politico reported.

The two decided to bring National Security Council official Victoria Coates, a former advisor to Senator Ted Cruz, into the fold.

In an interview with Politico, Coates said that despite being "criticized all the time for not being a career diplomat," Greenblatt was able to successfully help prevent the escalation of an already tense situation following the Temple Mount attack and the metal detector crisis. "I dont know if a career diplomat could have handled that situation as ably as he did. We are no longer in a crisis mode," she said.

In addition, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy Dina Powell, who was born in Egypt and is fluent in Arabic, joined Kushner and Greenblatt on their current trip to the region.

The American delegation arrived in the Middle East amid harsh disappointment on the Palestinian side with the Trump administration's approach. Ramallah is furious with the White House's attempts at corralling both sides back to the negotiations table without meeting Palestinian demands firstdeclaring the starting point for the talks to be the two-state solution based on the 1967 borders and freezing Israeli construction in West Bank settlements during the negotiations.

The Palestinians also want a specific and clearly delineated timeframe for reaching an agreement to prevent holding negotiations purely for the sake of negotiating. "The remaining question revolves around the American willingness to make the ultimate deal, as President Trump called it," said Fatah chief Nabil Shaath Wednesday.

Kushner meets with Abbas in Ramallah (File photo: Gettyimages)

In private conversations, however, Palestinian leadership sounds less optimistic, severely criticizing the Americans and their ability to serve as honest mediator between the two sides while acceding to Israeli demands by categorically refusing to publically support the two-state solution.

While the Palestinians expect to get some answers for these two issues in their coming meetings with the American representatives, their hopes of a breakthrough are slim to none.

The PA is also furious with Washington's objections to the sanctions Abbas wishes to place on Hamas in Gaza, which harm the entire Palestinian populace there. The fact Israeli-Palestinian security relations are near the low-water mark after Abbas's declaration security coordination will cease also hasn't improved the already muddy waters between the parties.

In fact, security relations between Israel and the Palestinians today are limited to talks with Hussein al-Sheikhthe PA's man for security coordination with Israeland with the commander of military liaisons for the Palestinian security organizations. All other ties have been suspended for more than a month.

In light of these frustrations, the Palestinian leadership has started dropping vague hints it is considering returning to unilateral moves such as attempting to accede to full UN membership, a return to filing suits with the International Criminal Court in The Hague and even threateningnot for the first timeto dismantle the Palestinian Authority and move its powers to the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

While these threats are neither new nor have they ever been realized, they are now coming up after a period in which the Palestinians have suspended their operations on the international diplomatic stage in favor of giving the Trump administration the chance to jumpstart serious talks with the Israelis.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet with the top American officials on Thursday, just a day after his short visit to Sochi, where he cautioned Russian President Vladimir Putin that Israel intends to prevent Iran from further cementing its hold over Syria.
Highway 4 was blocked on Thursday morning from the Geha Interchange towards Givat Shmuel by disabled protesters seeking to compare disability benefits to minimum wage.

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Several hours after blocking Highway 4, disabled protester blocked the Highway 1 entrance to Jerusalem.

The protesters asked drivers to film the demonstration and send the footage to members of Knesset. They also asked drivers to write about it to Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and Coalition Chairman MK David Bitan.

Highway 4 protest on Thursday morning (:  ,  ,  )

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They called out "The people demand justice for the disabled," and "Where's Kahlon? Wicked Bitan, today you're healthy. Tomorrow you might be a poor disabled man."

After requesting from the High Court of Justice (HCJ) that the disability benefits in Israel be raised to NIS 4,000, the Knesset responded by telling the HCJ that handicap must first "prove that they cannot live off of NIS 2,342."

Many disabled people and their supporters found the Knesset's response outrageous, prompting them to demonstrate at Tel Aviv's Rokach-Namir junction during rush hour earlier this month.

"The entire Israeli society is on the verge of collapse. It is time for the prime minister to hear the disabled and stop the abuse," said Alex Friedman, who heads an organization called 'Disabled, Not Half a Person.'





Photo: Yariv Katz

"We argue that you can't live off NIS 2,342, we're suffocating. To the prime minister and finance minister I say: We sat down with you, discussed this with you, and told you we can't live off this sum," said Naor Levi, the organization's spokesperson.

Ultra-Orthodox residents living nearby confronted the protesters, complaining about the blocking of the road.

"What happened to solidarity? You shut down the country for yeshivot budgets," one protester told the ultra-Orthodox.

The disabled protesters have blocked roads before, but mostly during evening rush hour.

Photo: Yariv Katz

The police said this protest did not receive their authorization. "The Israel Police respects and will allow the freedom of protest, but will not permit a violation of the law and the disruption of everyday life for the area's residents," the police said in a statement.

Hannan Tal, also of 'Disabled, Not Half a Person,' explained why their campaign focuses on road blocking. "The disabled are not part of the workforce; the Histadrut Labor Federation doesn't support them. They have no other way to express their protest except blocking roads. The police are facing issues with evacuating a person with disabilities from the road," he said.

He added that organizing large-scale protests is also a complex operation they have a hard time pulling off. "For the protest we did at Rabin Square in January 2015, three days before the elections, some 3,000 disabled persons showed up. We had to organize shuttles, places for them to lie down, portable toilets for the disabled, special parking," Tal said.

The disabled are protesting a plan presented by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to raise disability benefits to NIS 4,000 a month starting January, demanding instead the benefits equal minimum wagecurrently at NIS 5,000 a month.

According to the Prime Minister's Office and the chairman of the coalition, MK David Bitan, in January 2018 the pension for disabled people with a medical disability of 90 percent or more will be increased to NIS 4,000.

Meanwhile, people with a medical disability considered less than 90 percent, who are deemed unfit for work by the government and are living under the poverty line, will see their pensions increased to NIS 3,200.

Finally, in an effort to raise disability pensions for the remaining disabled individuals over the next four years to NIS 4,000 per month, the government will raise pensions for those with a medical disability below 90 percent over several stages to ensure the plan stays within budget. Nevertheless, it has yet to be determined whether or not this will apply to all people suffering various disabilities.

But the protesters rejected the plan soon after it was made public. "We reject completely the prime minister's plan. In reality, this plan will leave us at exactly the same place we are now," she said.

She maintained that "there are false pretences here, because only about 30 percent of disabled people have a medical disability of 90 percent or more, meaning 70 percent will get nothing besides an increase to NIS 3,200. We object completely to this discrimination and the creation of first and second class disabled."
ISLAMABAD  Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will meet with powerful Pakistani generals on Thursday to formulate a response to the new US policy on Afghanistan that includes greater pressure on Islamabad to do more to rein in militants.

President Donald Trump has chastised Pakistan for harboring "agents of chaos" and providing safe havens to militant groups waging an insurgency against a US-backed government in Kabul, saying Islamabad must promptly change tack.

White House officials have gone further and threatened aid and military cuts, as well as other measures to force nuclear-armed Pakistan's hand and bring about an end to the 16-year-war.
The High Court of Justice issued a temporary injunction on Thursday allowing weekly demonstrations to continue outside the home of Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit in protest of what they say is his hesitant and slow conduct in the investigations of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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The court order allows up to 500 protesters to continue demonstrating at Goren Square in Petah Tikva without needing special police authorization until a decision is made on a petition by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, which appeals police decision to bar them from the square.

"The neighbors' right for quiet doesn't come close to the right for the freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate," Judge Yoram Danziger said during Thursday's hearing, noting that on a grander scheme, the right for quiet is lower on the scale than the freedom of expression.

Protest in Goren Square (Photo: Yair Sagi)

A resident of the Kfar Ganim neighborhood in Petah Tikva recently filed a petition to the High Court against the police over the noise caused by the thousands of people who arrive to Goren Square in the neighborhood every Saturday night to protest.

In response to the petition, the police informed protest organizers they would no longer allow demonstrations to be held without a permit, and then refused to give a permit for more than 50 people to demonstrate at Goren Square.

Protestors tried arriving at the square despite police blockages and closures, later congregating in the alterative location the police had approved. Two of the protesters' organizers, attorney Eldad Yaniv and former PMO chief caretaker Meni Naftali, were detained for questioning on the night of the protest.

One of the protester's organizers, Meni Naftali (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

The two were then arrested this weekend for calling on demonstrators to arrive at Goren Square despite police decision not to allow it. Yaniv and Naftali were released from police custody on Sunday after reaching an agreement with the police: The two agreed not call on demonstrators to attend an illegal protest until the following Sunday, and in return they were released without bail or restrictions.

Responding to the petition in court, the police said the initial demonstrations were attended by about 50 people, with about 12 policemen sent to the square to keep the peace, while the last demonstrationthe 38thwas attended by about 2,500 people, with about 130 policemen needed to keep the peace.

Demonstrators were also faced with a counter-protest of some 400-300 Likud supporters, who did have a permit from police.

One of the protester's organizers, Eldad Yaniv (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)

The police suggested Petah Tikva's park as an alternative place for the protest and counter-protest. "The park can accommodate thousands of people, it is not located in the heart of a residential neighborhood, and there is a parking lot next to it with many parking spaces," the police said.

The High Court decided to strike the resident's petition because the police accepted his claims.
Amjad Jabarin, 35, from Umm al-Fahm was indicted on Thursday for aiding three Israeli Arabs to carry out a shooting attack on the Temple Mount in July that claimed the lives of two Israeli police officers.

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He was charged with being an accessory to murder, being an accessory for battery, use of weapons, obstruction of justice, and conspiring to commit a crime.

The terrorists Muhammad Ahmad Muhammad Jabarin, 29, Muhammad Hamed Abed al-Atif Jabarin, 19, and Muhammad Ahmad Mafdel Jabarin, 19, murdered officer Ha'il Satawi and officer Kamil Shnaan at the Temple Mount compound on July 14, 2017.

Two of the terrorists, left, and Amjad Jabarin in court, right (Photo: Gil Nechushtan)

A collaborator brought the weaponstwo Carl Gustav weapons, a pistol and knivesinto the Al-Aqsa Mosque for them. On the day of the attack, they came from the direction of the Lions' Gate and shot dead the two policemen, who had their backs to them. Forces in the area shot and killed the terrorists.

The Shin Bet investigation revealed the terror cell was formed at the Al-Malsa Mosque in Umm al-Fahm, where one of the terrorists, Mohammed Ahmad Muhammad Jabarin, worked as a caretaker and muezzin. The mosque, which is affiliated with the outlawed northern branch of the Islamic Movement, is also where the terrorists hid the weapons before the attack.

The indictment describes the three terrorists' preparations for the attack and their meeting during Ramadan to choose their target. Amjad Jabarin was then shown the weapons and ammo later used in the attack, which they hid in the mosque.

Starting late June, Jabarin drove the terrorists to target practices and Al-Aqsa itself, where they surveyed the area in anticipation of their attackoriginally planned for July 14 but aborted in the last minute.

On the day of the attack, the weapons were brought into the mosque. The three debated whether Muhammad Ahmad Mafdel Jabarin should join them, eventually deciding in the affirmative. Amjad was offered to join as well, but declined.

They then hid the weapons on their person, as well as magazines and bullets in their socks and pockets, and left the mosque for Jerusalem.

Amjad then transported the three and the weaponry to the pick-up point in the Al-Batan neighborhood of Umm al-Fahm where they boarded a shuttle to Al-Aqsa.

The bus left the meeting point at 1:30 pm heading towards Jerusalem with the armed terrorists onboard. It reached the city at 3 pm, at which point the three disembarked and entered the Temple Mount complex with their weapons in tow.

After prayer concluded at 4 pm, the three told a passenger they had arrived with they planned to stay at Al-Aqsa for the Friday prayer. They received their weapons from another accomplice and near 7:10 pm, on the Temple Mount's northern grounds, the three carried out their attack, shooting a large number of bullets towards cops stationed there. Two officers were killedKamil Shnaan and Ha'il Satawiand two others injured.

The terrorists entrusted the accomplice Jabarin with their cellphones, messages to their families and the keys to the mosque, which he hid following the attack. One of the terrorists also gave him NIS 500, telling Jabarin he would no longer need money, while another gave him his car keys asking Amjad to give them to the former's father. Jabarin later deleted their contact details from his phone to obscure the fact he knew them.

Several days after the attack, when he was in the mourners' home of Hamed Jabarin's family, he conspired with Sliman JabarinMuhammad Jabarin's friendto remove the mosque's DVR housing its security cameras to eliminate evidence of his collusion with the three terrorists.

The Shin Bet's investigation also found the terrorists had ties to the Islamic Movement. Muhammad Ahmad Muhammad Jabarin was also active in the Mourabitoun, an outlawed Islamist movement operating on the Temple Mount that has ties to both the Islamic Movement and terror organization Hamas.
Terrorist Omar al-Abed, who was indicted on Thursday for the murder of three members of the Salomon family in Halamish, initially planned to carry out an attack with a suicide belt or firearms, but eventually settled for a stabbing attack in the settlement near his village.

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In addition to the murder of Yosef, 70, Haya, 46, and Elad, 35, al-Abed was charged with the attempted murder of Tova, Michal and Michal and Elad's five children, as well as conspiring to commit a crime and additional offences.

According to the indictment, Al-Abed decided to carry out the attack on July 14 after three Israeli Arab terrorists killed two Israeli police officers in a shooting attack on the Temple Mount.

Omar al-Abed (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

On July 18, he told a Gaza woman with whom he was in contact on Whataspp about his intentions to carry out a stabbing attack. Among other things, he wrote to her that "We must wage jihad for the Al-Aqsa Mosque."

He also gave her the login details for his Facebook account, asking her to post his last will and testament on his page on July 20 at 8:20pm.

The woman tried to talk him out of carrying out the attack, but he insisted he wanted to die as a martyr for the al-Aqsa Mosque. He later told other Gazans about his intentions.

On Friday July 21, the terrorist packed a 22-centimeters-long knife, which he took from his father's store the day before, in his backpack, along with scissors that can cut through fences and a Quran.

When he arrived in Halamish, he stopped outside the settlement to pray and read from the Quran, while his Gazan friend posted his will on his Facebook page.

He managed to crawl under the settlement's first fence and cut through an additional fence with his scissors. He got over a third fence by climbing a nearby tree. After crossing the road that goes around the settlement, he reached a fourth, electric fence, which he jumped over by climbing a nearby tree.





One of Halamish's security fences (Photo: Yariv Katz)

When he entered the Salomon home, Michal Salomon noticed him and quickly rushed her children upstairs to hide in the second floor bedroom.

Michal and Elad Salomon with their five children.

The terrorist encountered Haya Salomon first and asked her "What about al-Aqsa?" He then stabbed her, pushing the blade deep into her chest.

Haya Salomon

Tova Salomon, Haya's mother, started shouting at the terrorist to leave her home and ducked to the floor. The terrorist stabbed Tova in the back, and she started shouting "Terrorist" and fled to the second floor.

Tova Salomon

The terrorist then moved further inside the house, where he encountered Yosef Salomon and stabbed him in the stomach.

Yosef Salomon

Elad Salomon, Yosef and Tova's son, tackled the terrorist and tried to disarm him of the knife. The terrorist stabbed Elad three times, but Elad was still able to snatch the knife from al-Abed and defend himself. The terrorist then grabbed onto Elad's arm and kicked him in the back, making Elad fall to his knees.

The terrorist then stepped on the hand Elad was holding the knife with, took a cutting board and hit his victim in the head twice until the board broke. The terrorist then took a knife that was next to the cutting board and stabbed Elad twice more with it.

This led Elad to drop the terrorist's original weapon, which al-Abed then picked up, using it to stab Elad 12 more times in different places in his body, until his victim stopped moving.

Al-Abed after being neutralized

Al-Abed then returned to Yosef Salomon, noticed he was still breathing despite being seriously wounded, and stabbed him 15 more times in different places in his body until he too stopped moving.

A.M., a soldier on leave who lives near the Salomon home, heard the screams, got his weapon, and shot and neutralized the terrorist.
The Haifa District Attorney's Office indicted Sheikh Raed Salah in the city's Magistrates' Court Thursday.

Salah is accused of three counts of inciting terror and one count of supporting an illegal association.

The indictment was made following utterances made after the Temple Mount attack, some during the funeral of the three terrorists from that attack.
US President Donald Trump is committed to achieving peace in the Middle East, his son-in-law and chief adviser Jared Kushner told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when the two met in Jerusalem on Thursday.

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"The president is very committed to achieving a solution here that will be able to bring prosperity and peace to all people in this area," Kushner said.

Kushner, a 36-year-old real estate developer with little experience of international diplomacy or political negotiation, was accompanied by Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt and Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy Dina Powell, as well as US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.

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"We really appreciate the commitment of the prime minister and his team to engaging very thoughtfully and respectfully in the way the president has asked them to," Kushner added ahead of his meeting with Netanyahu to discuss Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.

Netanyahu, on his part, noted optimistically that peace, prosperity, security and stability in the area "are within our reach," thanking Kushner and his team for leading the effort on behalf of the American president.

Netanyahu meets with Kushner, Greenblatt and the rest of the American delegation (Photo: Amos Ben-Gershom, GPO)

But there was little to suggest any breakthrough or significant progress towards ending a decades-old conflict is imminent as Kushner began a day of separate meetings with Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Palestinians were still seeking a pledge of support from the Trump administration for the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israelthe foundation of US Middle East policy for the past two decades. The last round of peace talks between the two sides collapsed in 2014.

Trump has described peace between Israelis and Palestinians as "the ultimate deal," but added a new wrinkle last February by saying he was not fixed on two states co-existing side by side as a solution to their dispute.

For his part, Netanyahu faces pressure from right-wing coalition partners not to give ground on Jewish settlement building in territory the Palestinians seek for a independent state. The settlement issue contributed to the breakdown of negotiations three years ago.



Pessimism in Ramallah

In Ramallah, dozens of Palestinians protested against the American delegation's visit. The demonstrators marched from Al-Manara Square in the city center toward the government building, protesting against the pro-Israel leaning of the American administration.

One protester held up a sign with a caricature of Kusher tied with a leash that is held by a woman that appears to be his wife Ivanka Trump, the president's daughter.

Painting a pessimistic picture, Mahmoud al-Aloul, the second-ranking official in Abbas' Fatah movement, accused US negotiators of focusing in their talks with the president on "Israeli lies" about Palestinian incitement to violence and ignoring what he described as fundamental statehood issues.

"I do not think the American envoys are coming carrying anythingnothing at all," he told reporters.

Meanwhile, PA presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said ahead of the visit Thursday that Abbas's meeting with the American delegation was "important and crucial."

"This may create a new chance to reach a settlement based on the two-state solution and the Arab initiative and stop the current deterioration of the peace process," he said in a statement on the Palestinian state news agency Wafa.

Abu Rdainah was referring to a 2002 Arab League initiative that offers Israel diplomatic recognition from Arab countries in return for a statehood deal with the Palestinians and a full Israeli withdrawal from territory captured in the 1967 Six-Day War.

Netanyahu has expressed tentative support for parts of the blueprint, but there are many caveats on the Israeli side, including how to resolve the complex Palestinian refugee issue.

Abu Rudeineh also said Abbas held consultations with Jordan's King Abdullah and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after their meeting with the American delegation.
The leader of the outlawed northern branch of the Islamic Movement, Sheikh Raed Salah, was charged Thursday afternoon with three counts of inciting terror and supporting an illegal association.

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The indictment refers to remarks he made after the Temple Mount terror attack, some of which were part of a speech he'd given during the funerals of the three Israeli Arab terrorists who murdered two Israeli police officers.

The indictment details the comments Salah made that according to the state constitute incitement to terrorism.

Sheikh Salah in court (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

On December 27, 2015, Salah made a speech in Baqa al-Gharbiyye in which he said the book The King's Torah allows the killing of Palestinian children in accordance with the "Israeli occupation that has declared war on Palestinian girls."

Salah then wrote a post on his Facebook page, which got over 1,700 views, 31 shares and 224 likes: "I tell our children, you are heroes... we will be happy to die as martyrs for you. Our children, for you we will be happy to go to prison. We were the generation of sacrifice and you, our children, are the general of control, Allah willing. We said al-Aqsa was in danger, and you, the children, will say al-Aqsa is victorious."

In another instance, on July 21, 2017, Salah delivered a sermon during Friday prayers in Umm al-Fahm to a crowd of hundreds of people. He praised the Murabitat, an outlawed Islamist movement funded by the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, for standing up to Israeli security forces at the Lions' Gate in Jerusalem.

"Until those moments, the Israeli occupation wounded 79 members of al-Aqsa's Mourabitoun (male members) and Mourabitat (female members), some in dangerous condition with head and chest wounds, whose pure blood was spilled," Salah said. "I ask Allah to welcome all of the martyrs from the al-Aqsa mosque today, including (the three terrorists who carried out the Temple Mount attack)."

Salah's sermon was uploaded to Facebook and got 574 views and 32 likes.

Arab MKs Hanin Zoabi and Jamal Zahalka attend the court hearing (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

According to the indictment, "the accused made remarks of praise, sympathy or encouragement for a terrorist act, support of terrorism or identification with the terrorists. The content of the (sermon) and the circumstances in which it was made raise a real possibility it will prompt an act of terrorism."

On July 27, 2017, during the funeral of the three Temple Mount terrorists, Salah spoke in front of thousands of people: "Don't think those killed in the name of God are dead. No, they are alive and work for God. In these moments we shall pray to God to raise their status in paradise, and in moments like this we can only ask God, may He be praised, to forgive all in this prayer from the bottom of our hearts. In this high status in paradise, God honor them with drinking of water along with Prophet Muhammad, may He be praised, after which they will never be thirsty again."

A video of the sermon was posted online, getting 257 views and three likes.

A large police force arrived at the Mahajina neighborhood of Umm al-Fahm last week and arrested Salah following a joint investigation of the Israel Police and the Shin Bet, which was conducted at the behest of Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit.

Police reported that "on several different occasionsall of them taking place after the (Islamic Movement's) northern branch was outlawedthe inciter made public comments relating to the movement's worldviews, and some of his statements were published in the media as well. An examination of all the material raises suspicion (security) offenses were carried out and, as a result, an investigation was authorized."

Sheikh Salah conferring with his attorneys in court (:  )

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"I told the investigators I teach at mosques, and I told them (my remarks) were Islamic insights we got from the Sunni Quran," Salah said after being remanded for the first time.

"You are not prosecuting me, you are prosecuting the Quran. What you're doing is an expression to the continued persecution of our public by the Israeli government. This is political persecution. This is an attempt to get the media to talk about my arrest," he added.

In January 2017 Raed Salah was released from prison after serving nine months following his conviction for inciting violence and racism in a sermon he delivered in east Jerusalem in 2007. Hundreds of Umm al-Fahm residents greeted him with celebrations and fireworks.

In November 2015, the Security Cabinet declared the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel an illegal organization, particularly due to its connections to Hamas. This meant that the movementled by Sheikh Raed Salahwas outlawed, any property belonging to the organization may be confiscated and anybody or person that either belongs to this organization, provides it with a service or operates on its behalf is committing a criminal offense and is subject to imprisonment.
Minister of Defense Avigdor Lieberman spoke Thursday morning at a conference organized by the Israel Institute of Energy and Environment, assuring Israel will not stand idly by as Iran entrenches its position in Syria.

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"Iran, via its Revolutionary Guard, is trying to create a new reality in the region with Iranian airforce and naval bases in Syria, with Shiite militias numbering thousands of mercenaries and by manufacturing precise weaponry in Lebanon," he said. "Israel does not intend to resign itself to these attempts and will not act as onlooker from the sidelines."

Ministers Bennett and Lieberman take strong position on growing Iranian foothold in Syria (Photo: GPO, Yair Sagi)

Minister of Education Naftali Bennett also spoke on the matter, saying that "we'll do everything in our power to ensure no Iranians will stand at our borders," he asserted.

Bennett also commented on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "At the end of the day, whether we're turning to the US or to Russia, we'll try to harness them but won't rely solely on them," he stated. "Israel reserves the right to defend itself by itself, including against the Iranians near our borders. We're always keeping up-to-date on the processes in play here, it's one of the more vital and sensitive issues on our plate. At the moment, as we speak, Iran is funneling Shiite and Iranian militias into Syria."

Bennett wished to send a message to Israeli citizens. "We'll look after ourselves," he promised. "Menachem Begin didn't allow the threat then posed by the reactor in Iraq to build and grow, but acted to nip it in the bud."

"We're always together and always alone. That is, we always have partners and allies, we have a political plan of action, but we've never and will never outsource Israeli national security. All options are absolutely on the table."

Bennett went on to speak about ISIS, calling it a "tactical problem."

"It's a meaningful one, but tactical nonetheless," he said, "and you don't sacrifice a strategic interest of preventing the creation of a Persian empire from Tehran to the Mediterranean to solve a tactical problem."

Former Major General Yaakov Amidror, who served as the national security advisor, also spoke about Netanyahu's meeting with Putin and the growing Iranian threat. "Russia is one of the more important forces in determining Syria's fate, making their meeting crucial," he said.

Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Putin discussed Iran, Syria (Photo: AFP)

Amidror further commented on the Netanyahu-Putin meeting, saying, "Israel has a lot of strength and it needs to decide whether to put it to use. If it does, it should consider the reaction. The talk with Putin is important in order to make the Russians understand exactly what the Israeli interest is and what we plan to do, so they're not caught off-guard."

Amidror also weighed in on the land corridor to the Mediterranean Iran is trying to construct by taking over Syria. "That's without a doubt a seismic shift in the Middle East. It may actually be too big for Israel's britches. Israel can do nothing to stop a corridor starting in Tehran, passing through Baghdad and terminating in Damascus, but it can draw red lines in Syria and say that if they're crossed, it will retaliate."

Amidror then added Israel should set the aforementioned red line when it comes to Iranian presence in Syria. "We're not asking the Russians for permission," he said, "but we have to make it clear to them where that line passes and should decide whether we act once it's crossedthat is, the point beyond which Israel will forcefully respond to Iranian provocations."

"In any event, it's best to keep the Russians in the picture," Amidror continued. "It's been working rather well up until now, at least. According to foreign publications, we've been quite active in Syria with the Russians already present there. It should be very careful and precise, but it needs to be done."

Syrian rebels holding the ISIS flag (Photo: AFP)

"World media has taken Iran's words out of context"

In the past few days, Iran has threatened that in a matter of days, it will be capable of producing enriched uranium at a level sufficient for the production of nuclear weapons. According to Dr. Tamar Eilam Gindin , a specialist on Iran from the Shalem Academic College and the Azari Center, the western media distorted the Iranians' true intentions in this case.

"The media took what they said out of context," she said. "What they meant was they're loyal to the agreement and have no intention of breaking it, but should the US place the sanctions back on them, within five days they can have the Fordo reactor up and running and reach twenty percent enrichment."

"And even that is a long ways off from an actual bomb," he explains, "it's simply their previous pre-agreement ability."

"The Iranians want the nuclear agreement maintained," she assures. "The head of the Iranian atomic agency said, 'We were able to reach this agreement with so much effort and won't give it up so easily. But Trump is threatening to place the sanctions back on us. You can't expect that if you threaten us with sanctions we'll stick to our side of the agreement.'"
Two years ago Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement as the a strategic threat to the state. Stepping up efforts to fight back against the organization, which was officially established in 2005, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan was appointed by Director-General of the Strategic Affairs Ministry Sima Vaknin-Gil to lead the offensive.

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Unlike previous years, the ministry received a significant budget and extensive tools to enable it to launch a rigorous counter assault against the BDS.

BDS protestors disrupt Israeli envoy Danon's speech

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The ideology of the movement stands in absolute opposition to the existence of the Jewish state in the Land of Israel, said Tzachi Gavrieli, the ministrys deputy director-general who leads the campaign against the delegitimization of Israel.

After serving in several governmental positions, including a personal assistant to former prime minister Ehud Olmert and as an advisor to Netanyahu during his tenure as prime minister, Gavrieli took a break from political life and made his entry into the start-up world. It wasnt long, however, before he was called back and tasked with establishing a body within the Ministry of Strategic Affairs under the simple name: The Campaign.

The entrepreneurial group consists of individuals from a wide range of fields, including legal experts, economists, strategists, and new media specialists.

BDS rally in Australia (Photo: citizenside.com)

We have nicknamed it governmental start-up. It is a body that speaks in everyday language and our goal is to wake up, go about our day, and go to sleep with delegitimization and the BDS on our minds, Gavrieli explained.

We are developing a research infrastructure, we follow the patterns of the boycott movement and conduct a series of activities, some of which are covert and some overt.

Among the projects that have been launched as part of the ministrys initiative is Campaign 4IL, which saw the distribution of starter kits for youths wanting to join the campaign and advocate for Israel. Another initiative, known as Act.il, a joint venture undertaken by the Jewish American organization, Israeli-American Council (IAC) and the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, has already led to the creation of a concentrated pro-Israel community comprising tens of thousands of registered users.

Our approach is no longer one of defense, but rather offense and we are not ashamed to say so, Gavrieli proudly stated, adding that the BDS movement, which he says operates as an organization of delegitimization under the guise of human rights, is like a washing machine.

No one in the BDS movement is talking about peace or about a bi-national state. They dont accept the notion of the Land of Israel as a Jewish state. Since it isnt possible garner support from the liberal youth in the year 2017 with this attitude, they have employed a new, sophisticated message. They dont speak about destroying Israel in public, but rather about Palestinian rights. The only way to achieve these rights, so they claim, is by boycotting Israel, divestment and placing economic sanctions on it and the like.

The movement is, in effect, based on the boycott movement against apartheid South Africa, which, from their point of view, was successful.

This comparison is fundamentally false. Even officials from South Africa are insulted by the analogy by using the term apartheid which is so rooted in their culture, Gavrieli insists. They know what happens in Israel and say it isnt even close. They dont understand why they use the term which, for them, has significant meaning.

BDS poster on bus in California

In addition to the calls for cultural, economic and academic boycotts, the BDS movement operates on another worrisome, and arguably more insidious level in that it seeks to tarnish Israels name among Jews worldwide.

They tell them that Israel isnt the Israel they know. They tell them it isnt the Jewish home of your grandparents who used to put a coin in the Tzedakah (charity) box. They tell them that Israel has changed its ways and that they can no longer identify with, either emotionally morally, Gavrieli noted.

This notwithstanding, it seems that in the last two years, BDSs standing is on the decline and is now facing an ever-increasing barrage of obstacles preventing the execution of its mission. In the United States, this trend of weakening is evinced in legislation. So far, 22 states in the US have ratified draconian laws which prohibit discrimination against Israel.

In Europe too, the voices of opposition to BDS of numerous politicians and prime ministers are coming to the fore. Chancellor Angela Merkel, for instance, has described BDS as being anti-Semitic, while The UKs Prime Minister Theresa May declared the BDS to be little more than a campaign of anti-Semitism directed against Israel. Moreover, May went a step further, announcing her intention to adopt the new definition of anti-Semitism that was recently approved by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).

Anti-BDS rally in Sweden

Cracks in the BDSs armor and weaponry have also started to form in the cultural arena. Last month, Radiohead came to perform in Israel despite numerous, determined and concerted efforts to convince them not to.

A magnificent cadre of artists came here this year. Every one of them received a personal letter from one of the cultural heads of the BDS: Roger Waters, Ken Loach, Alice Walker and they were all rejected, Gavrieli pointed out.

But despite Israel seemingly gaining the upper hand in the battle, Gavrieli emphasized that there is more work to be done against the delegitimization campaign, which he says are more complex than mere boycotts.

Gavrieli also called upon Israelis to join the campaign and be proactive in the struggle. Israelis should respond not only to the physical missiles but also to the missiles of hate. I call on the Israelis who feel obligated to play their part, he concluded.
Israeli authorities have reportedly allocated 5.5 millions of shekels to build a wall around part of the West Bank Jewish settlement of Beit El, where 6,500 residents live side-by-side the Palestinian refugee camp Jalazone.

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Yaacov Havakook, who heads the International Media Department at Israel's Defense Ministry, stated the plan to build a wall in the western part of Beit El and stressed that the move "is based on security circumstances and needs."

Palestinian rioters near Beit El (Photo: AFP)

gunfire has been directed towards the Jewish community , and therefore "work (on the wall) will begin in several weeks, after the completion of its planning and the receipt of permits."

When asked whether there are plans to build similar structures around other West Bank Jewish settlements, Havakook did not respond.

According to Beit El Spokeswoman Yael Ben-Yashar, the request to build a wall came after "Palestinians attacked the community several times over the last year, including shootings at houses and using explosive devices and Molotov cocktails, which have started fires."

"Just one month ago," she continued, "there was a huge fire in the middle of the day, which caused injuries from smoke inhalation and damages of around 500,000 shekels (about $139,000).

The Jewish settlement of Beit El (Photo: AFP)

In June, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved a project to expand Beit El by 300 housing units , a request first put forward in 2012. A statement from Netanyahu's office confirmed that the prime minister told Beit El Mayor Shai Alon that "the units would be approved for the next stage in September."

Abu Al-Abed Ibrees, a leader of the Jalazone camp, slammed the proposed building of a wall around Beit El as a land grab. "They (the Israelised) came here in the 1970s, but we are here since forever and the nearby villages also," he stated. "They stole our lands, to which we have full rights."

Jalazone, established in the 1940s on sixty-two acres of land, was originally home to 2,500 residents; today, however, it numbers 16,000. While the population has grown, Ibrees said that the refugee camp's land area has not. "People from the refugee camp are tired, unsafe and poor. There is no space in the campthe situation is really sad."

Ibrees further claimed that residents of Beit El attack the residents in Jalazone on a daily basis. "The main road was closed for 15 years, and on the first day after it reopened, the settlers attacked us and burned five cars," he said. "They always attack our kids by throwing rocks, destroying houses and threatening us."

Israeli policeman fires tear gas at Palestinian rioters near Beit El (Photo: AFP)

Ben-Yashar called these accusations "a huge liewhatever they say we are doing to them, they are in fact doing to us." She further stated that "it is propaganda. The government would not allocate 5.5 million shekels to build a wall unless there was a reason for constructing it."

The closest Palestinian facility to Beit El is a school run by the United Nations Relief & Works Agency, which is located in the northern area of the camp. Ibrees voiced concern over the safety of the students, whom he said are prevented from leaving at any time during the day, "as the Israeli army would shoot at them."

"We were asked to transfer the school to another area, but we refused."

Ben-Yashar, however, claimed that "just last Friday, the children (in Jalazone) left school and started throwing rocks at us, while tires were set on fire."

Palestinian rioter from Jalazone (Photo: AFP)

For many Palestinians, the Beit El barrier building project will be viewed as "another brick in the wall," an extension of the hundreds of kilometers-long barrier built by Israel at the height of the Second Intifada. While the Israeli government said it views its construction as a security necessitystating that, in fact, it sharply reduced if not altogether eliminated the incidence of suicide bombings in Israelmany Palestinians refer to it as an "apartheid wall" wthat greatly inhibits their freedom of movement.

Currently, there is no direct communication between the Beit El and Jalazone communities, with all messages relayed through IDF liaisons. Soon there will be another physical barrier of separation between the peoples thereby, further diminishing any chance at reconciliation.
American rabbis critical of US President Donald Trump will not try to organize a conference call with him for the Jewish High Holy Days in protest of his response to a white nationalist rally in Virginia.

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Trump (Photo: AFP)

The conference call for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur was a tradition under former president Barack Obama, but was never planned under Trump. Rabbis representing the liberal and centrist branches of American Judaism said they would not attempt to plan any such call ahead of the holidays next month.

After initially criticizing the general "hatred" displayed during Charotteville, Virginia Nazi rally earlier this month that devolved into a violent brawl, Trump then denounced those who took part in the Charlotteville rally, including those who chanted "Jews will not replace us." However, Trump followed this up by saying that "very fine people" were on "both sides" of the demonstrations, which drew neo-Nazis, white nationalists and members of the Ku Klux Klan. One woman was killed when an alleged white nationalist drove his car into a group of counterprotesters.

"The president's words have given succor to those who advocate anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia," the rabbis said Wednesday in announcing their decision.

The announcement came from the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, which represent the liberal Reform movement; the Rabbinical Assembly, which represents the centrist Conservative movement; and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association.

Rabbi Jonah Pesner, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, said he did not know whether the Trump administration had been considering participating in such a conference call this year.

Photo: AFP

The Rabbinical Council of America, which represents modern Orthodox rabbis, had joined the presidential holiday call in the past but did not sign this week's announcement.

Rabbi Mark Dratch, executive vice president of the group, said, "We respect the office of the presidency and believe it is more effective to address questions and concerns directly with the White House."

The council had issued a statement soon after the violence in Charlottesville criticizing Trump's remarks as a "failing of moral leadership" that "fans the flames of intolerance."
Deja vu. In the 1950s, my parents, who never drove a car, got John (da margarine guy) who would drive to the Illinois border and purchase cases of illegal white margarine with the yellow coloring button and bring it back to our family. This was done because Wisconsin banned this unholy non-butter product.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Moscow visit on Wednesday can be seen to signal a change for the worse and a significant, national security risk in the making. The civil war in Syria is nearing an end, and it appears that the coalition of President Bashar al-Assad, Hezbollah, Iran and Russia has won. If this victory would lead solely to the stability of Assad's regime, Israel should have been able to accept this. The problem is that Iran demands compensation for the many resources it invested in the war: already the de facto ruler in Lebanon through its control over Hezbollah, Iran is now looking to recreate a similar power dynamic for itself in Syria.

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In concrete terms, the Iranians want to establish a second Hezbollah, a force of Shiite militias that will be deployed on the Golan Heights along the border with Israel, and which will get its instructions from Tehran. When such a situation occurs, any confrontation with Hezbollah will lead to a wider confrontation that will include the Syrian arena. Moreover, Assad, who, weakened, finds himself grateful to Iran, will be committed to helping in this endeavor. As such, a confrontation with Hezbollah could quickly lead to a full-scale war between Israel and Syria.

Looking toward Syria from the Israeli Golan Heights (Photo: Reuters)

Israel's response to this dangerous possibility is limited. Countries act according to self-interests. It will not help us explain to the American administration or to the Russians why Iran's expansion all the way to the Mediterranean is bad for us. Nor will it necessarily help if we explain to Putin that strengthening of Iran's presence in Syria contradicts Russia's interests in the long term. Communicating to all the Sunni states, and namely Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, that Iran's establishment in Syria interferes with their own prerogatives, won't be enough to block Iran's advancement, as these states are too weak to manage such a feat.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Photo: EPA)

The way Iran is for Israel to push a four-pronged approach. First, it needs to convince the US to agree to a deal with Putin that would have the US cancel the economic sanctions it has placed on Russia, while also recognizing Russia's presence in eastern Ukraine, in return for Russia's preventing the Iran's continued presence in Syria.

Hezbollah tanks fire on Syria-Lebanon border (Photo: AP)

Second, Israel must make it clear to Russia that the IDF will take action to prevent Iran from building any kind of military force of its own near the Golan Heights border. In the past two years, Israel and Russia have managed to reach a quiet understanding that apparently enabled the Israeli Air Force to attack inside Syria while Russia turned a blind eye. After Russia has achieved what it wants in Syria and has no interest in another military escalation that would jeopardize its achievements. A firm and credible Israeli message on this issue will oblige Putin to take it into account.

Satellite shots of Syrian and Iranian missile warehouses (Photo: Reuters)

Third, Israel will have to explain to both its allies and its enemies that if Hezbollah starts a military campaign against us, it will not be fought only against Hezbollah alone, but as an all-out war between the countries of Israel and Lebanon. This approach is both just and wise: it is just because the Lebanese president has openly claimed that Hezbollah is part of Lebanon's defensive force. And it is wise because no one, certainly not Saudi Arabia, Europe and the US, but even Syria or Iran, would want Lebanon to be destroyed.

IDF forces practice near Syrian border (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

Fourth, it would benefit Israel to exploit the hatred of those living in the Syrian Golan against Iran and Hezbollah. Israel can and should discreetly strengthen its ties with these people far beyond the aid it gives to Syrians wounded it the country's civil war. Israel has so far refrained from becoming too involved in Syria's internal conflict, but in light of the changing reality, the need to cultivate true allies who are close to the Golan Heights border is growing fast.

Israeli Golan Heights hit by Syrian spillover (Photo: Avihu Shapira)

For the first time in many years, Israel is in danger of facing a detrimental regional development, and it is therefore warranted to dedicate all the attention and efforts required to properly address this situation.
US President Donald Trump remains committed and optimistic about achieving Israeli-Palestinian peace, his son-in-law and senior adviser told the sides on Thursday during his first visit to the region since last month's surge of violence. After first meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier Thursday, Kushner and the rest of the US delegation met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

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Kushner, a 36-year-old real estate developer with little experience of international diplomacy or political negotiation, arrived in Israel with US Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt on Wednesday after meeting Arab leaders in the Gulf, Egypt and Jordan.

Kushner (L) and Abbas

Jared Kushner meets with Mahmoud Abbas (Credit Reuters) (: )

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'The Ultimate Deal'

While meeting Abbas later in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Kushner said Trump sought "peaceful relations between the countries in the whole region" and was "very optimistic and hopeful for a better future for all Palestinian people and Israeli people", according to a statement from Abbas's office.

Trump has described peace between Israelis and Palestinians as "the ultimate deal," adding a new wrinkle last February by saying he was not fixed on two states co-existing side by side as a solution to their dispute.

US delegation meets with Abbas (Photo: Getty Images)

Kushner last traveled to Israel and the Palestnian territories in June. A month later, he was involved in telephone diplomacy to stem Palestinian and Jordanian unrest over Israel's handling of a contested Jerusalem holy site. Four Palestinians, three Israelis and two Jordanians were killed during the crisis.

Protest in Ramallah over Kushner's visit to Israel

Palestinian protestors staged a rally criticizing Kushner's visit to Israel and his meeting with Netanyahu. Trump's US administration is largely considered to foster strong pro-Israel sentiments.

Protest against Kushner's visit, Ramallah, Aug. 24

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Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah said Kushner's visit could prove significant, particularly because of the envoy's consultations with regional allies this week:

"This may create a new chance to reach a settlement based on the two-state solution and the Arab initiative and stop the current deterioration of the peace process."

Abu Rdainah was referring to a 2002 Arab League initiative that offers Israel diplomatic recognition from Arab countries in return for a statehood deal with the Palestinians and a full Israeli withdrawal from territory it captured during the Six Day War.

Netanyahu expresses concern over issue of Palestinian refugees

For his part, Netanyahu faces pressure from right-wing coalition partners not to give ground on Jewish settlement building in territory that Palestinians seek for a independent state. The settlement issue contributed to the breakdown of negotiations three years ago.

"We have things to talk abouthow to advance peace, stability and security in our region, prosperity too. And I think that all of them are within our reach," Netanyahu, welcoming Kushner to his Tel Aviv offices, said in a video clip released by the US Embassy.

"The president is very committed to achieving a solution here that will be able to bring prosperity and peace to all people in this area," Kushner, who was tasked by Trump to help broker a peace deal, said in his response to Netanyahu.

Netanyahu, for his part, expressed tentative support for parts of the blueprint, but there are many caveats on the Israeli side, including how to resolve the complex Palestinian refugee issue.
According to Egyptian media, sources in Cairo claim that Israel's ambassador to Cairo, David Govrin, who was forced to leave the city for security reasons in February, arrived Wednesday for the first time with eight members of the embassy.

The visit lasted one day.
Residents of At-Tur neighborhood in East Jerusalem fired fireworks at police and Border Police forces near Makassed Hospital.

The forces arrested one of the law-breakers. In response, residents gathered in the area and threw chairs and rocks at the forces.

The police dispersed the crowd using riot control.
POWs and MIAs coordinator Colonel (res.) Lior Lotan asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign from his position after three years of volunteering.

"The deep acquaintance with the families of the POWs and MIAs and the right to serve their fateful missionbringing their sons homehas left me with a deep impression and commitment to them," Lotan wrote in his resignation letter.

The prime minister thanked Lotan and instructed his military secretary, Brigadier General Eliezer Toledano, to coordinate the matter.
- Heritage of Kings Rama V and Rama VI -

Toshiaki Hasegawa

Professor, Faculty of Economics, Chuo University

Areas of Specialization: International Economic Policy, Interindustry-based Macro Econometric Modelling

Read in Japanese

How the oldest university in the Kingdom of Siam came to be

Statue of the two kings who founded Chulalongkorn University

Located in central Bangkok, capital of the Kingdom of Thailand, Chulalongkorn University is renowned as the oldest institute of higher education in the country. The name Chulalongkorn comes from the childhood name of King Rama V (18531910), known for modernizing the Kingdom of Siam. In 1899, the king founded the Civil Service Training School as part of his efforts to establish a modern political structure. Three years later, it was renamed the Royal Pages School. When Rama Vs son Vajiravudh became king (Rama VI) in 1910, he founded the Civil Service College of King Chulalongkorn in order to train civil servants. Not long after, in 1917, Chulalongkorn University was created as a way to preserve the former organizations while providing a comprehensive educational institution made up of four departments: the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Faculty of Public Administration, the Faculty of Engineering, and the Faculty of Medicine. The founding of the university took place on March 26, exactly one hundred years ago.

Rama V ruled the Kingdom of Siam at a time when the entire Indochina region was under the thumb of colonialism from the great European powers. By ceding a part of the Malay Peninsula to England, which had colonized Burma and Malaysia, and Laos and Cambodia to France, Siam only narrowly managed to maintain its independence.

Japan officially opened diplomatic relations with Siam on September 26, 1887, with the Declaration of Amity and Commerce between Japan and Siam. This was the first time that Japan had been able to establish diplomatic relations with a Southeast Asian country, and this year marks the 130th anniversary of that achievement.

Its fledging beginnings having taken place with the Indochina Peninsula in turmoil, Chulalongkorn University would manage to survive for a hundred years. The institution developed alongside a royal line committed to building a modern state, and today is a fully-fledged university organization complete with nineteen departments and twenty-three colleges and research institutes. In 2016, it was home to 38,941 students and 2,842 faculty members.

A solemn centennial ceremony, performed according to Buddhist rites

Left to right: Chayodom Sabhasri (former Dean of the Faculty of Economics), Bundhit Eua-arporn (President of Chulalongkorn University), Toshiaki Hasegawa (professor of the Chuo University Faculty of Economics), Worawet Suwanrada (Dean of the Faculty of Economics). Taken in the Mahachulalongkorn Building formal reception room at Chulalongkorn University on March 25, 2017.

On October 13 of last year, just before the university could celebrate its centennial, Rama IX passed. The official mourning period for King Bhumibol was to last a year, so the University Council (Chulalongkorns supreme decision-making body) deliberated until the very last moment as to how the centennial ceremony should be held, avoiding extravagance. I heard that many alumni of Chula (as the university is commonly called), who have since made their mark around the world, had been hoping that the ceremony be a massive party.

Attendees at the Chulalongkorn University Centennial Ceremony.

Im seated second from the left in the front row, between the current and former deans of the Faculty of Economics

Final scheduling decisions on the two-day centennial ceremony to be held on March 25 and 26 apparently were not made until that month. I got a message requesting my participation in the event just a couple of weeks in advance. Ive been interacting with Chulalongkorn University since 2012more than five years nowin part because of an academic symposium between the faculties of economics at Chulalongkorn and Chuo University that involves my seminar. Every year, thanks to unwavering support from the former dean of the Chulalongkorn Faculty of Economics Chayodom Sabhasri and his staff, I have been involved in a project where I provide guidance to students in my lab who are writing papers in English, leading the twenty-plus students in exchange activities with Chula. This past academic year, the new dean of the Chulalongkorn Faculty of Economics, Worawet Suwanrada, assured me to take over the student exchange. The exchange project is backed by an institutional academic agreement established between our two departments. Starting two years ago, Chulalongkorn also sent a dozen or so students to visit the Chuo University Tama Campus and participate in a similar research symposium. The professors at the Chulalongkorn Faculty of Economics and I spent a great deal of time putting together this exchange framework.

Centennial ceremony attendees with the statues of the two founders (Im third from the left in the back row)

Id naturally assumed that the centennial ceremony would be attended by numerous overseas guests. Prior to my visit, it was decided that Chuo Universitys Chancellor and President, Shozaburo Sakai would prepare a personal letter of congratulations for me to deliver to the president of Chulalongkorn University, Bundhit Eua-arporn. On the early morning of March 25, the first day of the two-day centennial ceremony and related events, an event of the century was about to start. The university has a formal reception room on the first floor of its Mahachulalongkorn Building that is used to host members of the royal family when they make a visit, and this formal reception room was used for my meeting with the university president just as the centenary events were scheduled to begin. The current and former deans of the Faculty of Economics, Worawet Suwanrada and Chayodom Sabhasri, were also present.



Burning incense on an altar to Rama V and VI Attendees line up to burn incense following the president of the university With Chayodom Sabhasri, former Dean of the Faculty of Economics and member of the University Council On this early morning when all of Chulalongkorn University was rife with anticipation, the leaders of this grand institution were gathered on a balcony surrounding this grand formal reception room, chatting over coffee and simple sandwiches. In addition to the current president, vice president, and numerous deans, the group included distinguished elderly gentlemen that had made key contributions in the history of the university, including its former president. I, the overseas guest, was introduced to one great leader after another to exchange greetings. At half past six, we walked the 200 meters or so to an area in front of the statue of King Chulalongkorn and his son (Rama V and Rama VI). The look of this familiar square at Chulalongkorn University had been completely transformed, decorated with an altar for the occasion, a special table overflowing with offerings. It was the moment when the solemn ceremony would begin under the direction of the officiating Buddhist priest. The people of Thailand practice a form of Theravada Buddhism that came to them via Sri Lanka. Its quite different from the Mahayana Buddhism practiced in Japan and elsewhere.

There were probably about 120 people in attendance, and all of them played a role in university operations. There were even twenty or so schoolchildren from the elementary school affiliated with the university watching over the proceedings from the rear. The altar was covered in classic Thai Buddhist offeringseverything from fruit and confectionaries to pigs heads and crab piled high on platters and bowls. The university president started things off by offering flowers and incense, followed by the remaining participants. Each person lit incense and put it on one of the offerings of his or her choice before returning to their seats. I followed along with the rest, sprinkling holy water on my head and face in a ritual called hosshosui, known in Japan as shasui-kancho, before placing incense in offerings of pork and banana.

This small ceremony held in a symbolic corner of the university was the official start of the Chulalongkorn University centennial celebration. The venue for an event held separately from the official event, where some two thousand alumni would gather on the evening of the second day, was fanning out behind a partition surrounding this altar and ceremony. Preparationsincluding setting up food stalls and a thousand chairswere nearly complete. Just past eight oclock at the morning ceremony, the temperature having risen to 30C, the sun shone directly on the statues of Rama V and Rama VI as they looked over the attendees. It was an impressive sight in the glimmering light.

A university centennial ceremony officiated by Buddhist priests





Congratulations and a sermon were offered by the Supreme Patriarch of the Kingdom of Thailand, accompanied by 108 Buddhist monks. This was followed by a meal.

Following the university leaders had formally paid their respects to Rama V and Rama VI, a centennial ceremony was held according Buddhist rites. It took place in an auditorium not far from the Faculty of Economics. The hall was lined with separate red and black seats. The dean of the Faculty of Economics led me to my seat, and 108 Buddhist monks sat in the black seats that had been laid out on the right half of the hall. Finally, the head monk appeared at the venue in order to take his seat at the front, and all of the participants got down on their knees to greet him. The head monk is a great monk holding a position comparable to that of prime minister for life in Thailand. The sound of sutra chants led by the great monk reverberated throughout the hall. When these lengthy incantations were complete, Chulalongkorn University held a banquet to show their gratitude to the monks.

The black seats laid out for the 108 monks in front of where I was seated were Chulalongkorn University seats assigned to the banquet participants, who were to serve trays to the monks tables three times. They presented food the first time, followed by dessert, and then a thank-you gift. On this day, I couldnt tell whether I was meant to be a guest or one of the banquet participants. The honor that had been bestowed upon me in being asked to participate in this ceremony as a friend of the universitys Faculty of Economics finally hit me as I sat in this auditorium. Once the monks had finished their meals, the chairman of the University Council presented each monk with two giftsfirst a large fan-shaped Buddhist altar object, and finally a clerical robe.

Although I had presided over Buddhist memorial services for my family back home, I was amazed at this kind of banquet where people sat one-to-one with the monks for service. The participants simply waited in the venue as the monks ate their meals. That meant that the first day of the centennial ceremony when the Buddhist rites were held would finish at lunchtime. In the past, I had heard that Buddhist-style events were mostly held in the mornings in Thailand. The reason turned out to be that the monks were forbidden from eating after noon. One of the Chula professors told me that it was extremely unhealthy for the monks to just sit and keep eating from the beginning to the end of one of these events. The meal was no different than one you would receive in a restaurant. When I told them about the humble meals of white rice, miso soup, and a single side dish that Japanese monks ate, my Thai friends were shocked at the difference. Of course, that can also be a cause of health problems due to poor nutrition.

Day two of the ceremony, held in the presence of Princess Sirindhorn



I had an audience with the princess as she approached the Faculty of Economics booth in front of the Mahachulalongkorn Building

Early on the morning of March 26, at six-thirty, preparations had already been made to receive the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn along with numerous monks in the area around the Mahachulalongkorn Building. As a member of the Chulalongkorn University Council , Faculty of Economics professor Chayodom Sabhasri took charge of overseeing this important ceremony. He would later move to the University Council booth. I heard that this was for the sake of planning for the assembly that would greet Princess Sirindhorn. The Permanent Secretary of Finance, Somchai Sujjaponges, who is also a key university advisor, would accompany the princess.





Each university department had its own table, on which it had prepared gifts to present to the monks as alms. The gifts were presented as the monks walked by. A student attended each monk in order to carry the offerings, and they struggled with giant bags so full of gifts that they reminded one of Santa Claus. I stood alongside the corner that had been assigned to the Faculty of Economics as their guest. Professor Somboon, the facultys associate dean, took special care of me throughout the eventmaking sure, as did the current and former deans, that their friend visiting from Japan would know what to do.

As the time neared seven, a large umbrella appeared about 200 meters in the distance, heralding the presence of a noble personage underneath. Princess Sirindhorn, a widely beloved figure among the Thai people, had arrived. Shortly thereafter, she began to draw near to the Faculty of Economics area. It seemed that she sensed the presence of someone a bit out of place as a bowed. She paid a condolence call to the statue of King Chulalongkorn and his son, as the universitys key people did the day before.

Once the greeting of the princess had concluded, we were to move to the ceremony in which the new Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park would be officially dedicated. The park had been constructed on the outskirts of campus for the purpose of this ceremony. Nearly a hundred members of the university leadership gathered at 9:20 AM, and the princess proceeded to observe every corner of the park and numerous tree plantings for an hour in 33C weather under the blazing sun in order to commemorate the opening of the park. Even those of us who had taken shelter in the tent were suffering from the heat. The Chulalongkorn University centennial ceremony was thus entering its final phase.

Centenary Park The universitys royal connections are preserved in its museum

With Dean Worawet Suwanrada at a commemorative exhibition by an artist alumnus

Commemorative lecture in the Faculty of Fine Arts and Culture Building Music Hall The last event on the second day was a commemorative lecture titled University in a Challenging Century, held in the Faculty of Fine Arts and Culture Building Music Hall. Lectures were given by Dr. Mark Wrighton, Chancellor of Washington University in the United States, and by Vitit Muntarbhorn, professor of law at Chulalongkorn University and famed even within the school for his impressive intellect. I was deeply impressed by the commemorative centennial lectures delivered by these two illustrious scholars, and they provided a fitting end to two days of memorable centenary events. Many graduates had been looking forward to participating in a massive event at the university, so separate plans were made to hold a party for two thousand alumni on the night of the second day, using a campus field overlooked by the kings who had founded the school. Princess Sirindhorn made an appearance on the stage that evening, conspicuously fitted out in a black polo shirt, and the family-like feelings of camaraderie among the Chulalongkorn alumni and volunteer students who participated made it a historic and unforgettable night. My experiences at the centennial celebration for Chulalongkorn University, in institution whose history dates back to the Kingdom of Siam, were incredibly precious. Though I originally set out to participate as a guest, the university faculty on campus allowed me to be involved in their deeply significant celebration as a friendand for me, there could have been no greater honor. The events Ive shared may not seem out of the ordinary for Japanese universities built around departments of Buddhist studies, but I suspect that for many Japanese, these happenings in a country with which we share a friendship stretching back to the Meiji era may seem both interesting and impressive. Note: Most of the photos in this article were shown with permission by Chulalongkorn University photographer Ms. Pimluck Siriwatcharatorn.
YORK  York City Administrator Joe Frei reported to the city council this past week that he has hired a consultant from Texas to assist with the process of hiring a new police chief.

The cost will be $11,500, but we want to hire the right police chief, Frei said. I asked other police chiefs from other area communities to assist me, but we have applications from people in those other communities, so they couldnt help because of a conflict of interest.

I know it is rather expensive, but we have one chance to do this, we want to do this right and thats why I hired him, Frei said.

Hes been a consultant in the past? asked Councilman Barry Redfern.

Yes, he has, Frei said. We are starting interviews soon.

Who is part of that process? Redfern asked.

Three civil service commissioners, the consultant and myself, Frei responded.

Yes we have only one shot at this and we want to do this right, said Mayor Orval Stahr.

In all of my career, Ive never hired a police chief, Frei said. This is a different type of personnel and the person needs to really fit with this position and with this community.

The position of police chief was vacated upon the retirement of Don Klug in April.

Since Chief Klugs retirement, Sgt. Mike Rathje has been the interim police chief.
YORK  The York County Commissioners have tabled the proposed hiring of a bailiff to work with District Judge James Stecker, saying they wanted to see if Seward County officials would be agreeing to the same.

And they want to determine if the county is statutorily required to pay for such a position.

A few months ago, Judge Stecker explained the need for the hiring, as the bailiff would be an administrative role and would be funded by both counties through an interlocal agreement.

Kurt (Bulgrin) and I have been emailing with the Seward County chairman and he indicated they werent financially ready to go ahead with this, Commissioner Bill Bamesberger said. And we havent seen an interlocal agreement or a budget request. Weve been getting by without it, we dont need to spend these funds. And as far as Im concerned, a formal request hasnt been made.

It was made verbally, Commissioner Bulgrin reminded him.

Yes, it was, Bamesberger noted. The amount was about $50,000, to be split with Seward County, but we havent had a formal, written request.

Folks on the Seward County Board dont feel its needed, Bulgrin said. I dont know how their court people feel. I dont think we are being forced to do something here and I dont know that its something we are required to do. Maybe the judge needs to talk to the Nebraska justices to make a request for funds for what he needs.

Seward County looked into this, in depth, and said there is no statute that requires this, Bulgrin said.

Commissioner Randy Obermier said he felt it should be reviewed by the county attorneys office, as to whether this is a statutory requirement placed on counties.

Also, the Seward County Commissioners are meeting this morning as well and it sounded like they werent going to approve it, Bulgrin said. Now, that said, I have no idea how the other members of that board feel about this, but in my previous conversations, the indication is that they will not approve it.

Well, today, theres not much we have to take action on because we dont have an interlocal agreement before us, Obermier said.

We will need to put this back on the agenda, for our next meeting, Bulgrin said.

And by then, we will also know what Seward County wants to do, Bamesberger added.
This has been a long time in the making, but in our continuing pursuit to bring only the best of firearms, 2nd Amendment and defence related news to our readers, we are very excited to announce the next step in our evolution as a company.

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Following the downturn in building activity that started in March, the Housing Industry Association (HIA) said the nations housing sector has already stepped back in its role as a major driver of the Australian economy.

Now is not the time for governments to hit the industry with punitive charges, said Tim Reardon, the HIAs principal economist.

Government interventions into the market so far include: state governments imposing punitive stamp duty charges on foreign investors, federal charges for foreign investors, a new set of visa rules that could slow overseas migration, restricting lending to domestic investors and new regulations limiting interest-only lending, he added.

Reardon also highlighted the Chinese governments new exit clamps on yuan leaving the country, acknowledging it would have a significant impact on the Australian home building industry.

Foreign investors have been attracted to the Australian housing market and they have been investing billions annually in the construction of new residential dwellings, he said. These investors have contributed to activity and employment in metropolitan areas, building the supply of new housing stock and easing pressure on rental markets.

Last week, the State Council of the PRC issued the first set of rules that restrict Chinese investment into overseas property development. These new restrictions are forecast to reduce the supply of new housing stock entering the market, and could push house prices further up in the east coast capitals.

In light of these developments, Reardon warns governments of all jurisdictions to proceed with caution when imposing new punitive measures on this segment of the market.

Foreign capital is highly mobile and if it is forced from the market rapidly it could accelerate the downturn in the sector unnecessarily, he said. There is a risk  if uncoordinated and poorly considered policies are introduced to curb foreign investment  that the decline in activity in the sector will be accelerated.

Related Stories:

Tax Hikes Are Driving Chinese Investors Away

Whats In Store Once Sydney Prices Hit Their Peak?
News

Yuma, Arizona - On Tuesday, August 22, 2017 President Trump arrived in Yuma, Arizona. Air Force 1 landed at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, shortly before 2:00 p.m. and flew off to Phoenix around 3:00 p.m.

Well over one-thousand Yuma area citizens lined streets and parking areas near MCAS Yuma to watch President Trumps arrival and departure. The main areas affected were 32nd Street, between Avenue 2  E and Avenue 3E, and Pico Avenue by 40th Street.

The Yuma Police Department had officers roving the areas and many on standby to ensure the safety of all individuals during this event. We are pleased to report we only had one incident that resulted in one person being cited and released. There were a few heat related issues also and the Yuma Fire Department provided medical assistance to these individuals in a timely manner. There were a few times our officers had to remind some who gathered to back up away from the roadway for their safety and they did so without hesitation. Some of our roving officers said they were thanked for their service and for being there to keep our community safe.

On behalf of the Yuma Police Department, we would like to extend our appreciation to the Yuma community and all those citizens that gathered for this event for their cooperation, and peaceful display of their right to free speech. Chief John Lekan added, Even though different political viewpoints were present, the Yuma community once again adhered to a model of expressing their opinions and views in a non-violent and respectful manner.. we thank you.
Reuters: President Donald Trump picked a new fight on Thursday with fellow Republicans whose support he needs to advance his policy agenda, saying congressional leaders could have avoided a "mess" over raising the U.S. debt ceiling if they had heeded his advice.

In the latest in what have become regular criticisms of party leaders, Trump sought to assign blame if Congress fails to reach agreement on raising the cap on the amount the federal government may borrow, with a deadline to do so just weeks away.

Trump said he had advised Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan to link passage of legislation raising the debt ceiling to a measure on veterans affairs that he signed on Aug. 12.

"They ... didn`t do it so now we have a big deal with Dems holding them up (as usual) on Debt Ceiling approval. Could have been so easy-now a mess!" he said in Twitter posts.

The Treasury Department, already using "extraordinary measures" to remain current on its obligations, has said the debt ceiling must be raised by Sept. 29. If it is not, the government would not be able to borrow more money or pay its bills, including payments on its debts, which could hurt the U.S. credit rating.

A spokesman for McConnell noted the Senate majority leader had said earlier this week, in an appearance with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, that the debt ceiling would be raised.

McConnell was "unequivocal" about it, said spokesman Don Stewart. He said McConnell also mentioned it again on Wednesday in a statement the Senate leader issued about his "shared goals" with Trump.

Ryan, speaking at a town hall meeting on tax reform at a Boeing plant in Washington state, also said Congress would pass legislation to raise the ceiling in time to ensure debt payment. He said many options were available for increasing the limit.

There were some media reports in mid-July that congressional Republicans were considering tying a debt limit increase to funding for veterans medical care, but the veterans bill passed the House in late July and the Senate on Aug. 1 without the additional language attached.

DEADLINES LOOM

The debt ceiling raise is one of the must-pass measures Congress will take up when it returns on Sept. 5 from recess. Congress also will have about 12 working days from when it returns to approve spending measures to keep the government open.

While the budget and debt cap are separate, they are likely to become entangled, with Republican opponents of a debt ceiling increase likely demanding federal spending cuts.

Trump threatened on Tuesday to shut down the government if Congress failed to secure funding for his long-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexican border. His threat added a new complication to Republicans` months-long struggle to reach a budget deal, rattled markets and drew rebukes from some Republicans.

Democrats, solidly opposed to funding the wall, have slammed Trump over his comments.

On the debt ceiling, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday that with Republicans controlling the White House, the House and Senate, "the American people expect and deserve a plan from Republicans to avert a catastrophic default and ensure the full faith and credit of the United States."

Both the spending and debt ceiling bills could pass the Republican-led House by a simple majority vote, but will need 60 votes to pass the Senate, where Republicans hold 52 of 100 seats, meaning they will need some Democratic support.

A respected think tank said in a report on Thursday the government might not have enough money to pay all its bills on Oct. 2 if Washington does not raise the debt cap. The Treasury might not have enough money on that day to make a roughly $80 billion payment that will be due to a military retirement fund, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.

INVESTORS LOOK TO JACKSON HOLE

On Thursday, investors were more broadly waiting for speeches on Friday by central bank governors at a conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for any new indications on monetary policy. U.S. stocks opened higher but then turned negative while U.S. Treasury yields edged higher.

Yields on Treasury bills due in early October rose on concerns that debt payments could be delayed if lawmakers fail to raise the debt ceiling in time.

"Theres disjointedness because of the debt ceiling, said Lou Brien, a market strategist at DRW Trading in Chicago.

Trump has often expressed frustration over the fact Congress has not passed significant legislation since he took office in January.

His renewed criticism of Republican leaders came just a day after the White House and McConnell issued separate statements saying they were continuing to work together on shared priorities, seeking to counter news reports that their relationship was disintegrating.

Trump also reiterated his criticism of McConnell on Thursday over the Senate`s failure in July to pass a bill to replace Democratic former President Barack Obama`s healthcare law.

"The only problem I have with Mitch McConnell is that, after hearing Repeal & Replace for 7 years, he failed! That should NEVER have happened!" Trump said in a tweet.

McConnell offered muted criticism of Trump on Thursday, saying he was "a little concerned about some of the trade rhetoric" by the president and others.

"Trade is a winner for America," McConnell told a gathering of Kentucky farmers and lawmakers. "The assumption that every free-trade agreement is a loser for America is largely untrue."

Trump has repeatedly condemned trade deals he believes are bad for the United States. On Tuesday he cast doubt on any deal emerging to improve the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada.
Washington: The top US military official in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson and US Ambassador Hugo Llorens on Thursday urged the Taliban to lay down arms and end the war.

The rebels were unlikely to win against America's new strategy on Afghanistan and should join the peace process, commander of US Forces and NATO Gen. Nicholson said in Kabul at a joint press conference with Llorens after President Donald Trump late on Monday committed to an open-ended involvement of the US in the Afghan conflict, including sending more troops to the conflict-torn country, Efe news agency reported.

Nicholson called the Taliban "a criminal organisation", who were more "interested in profits from drugs and kidnappings", for which "90 per cent of the people of Afghanistan believe a return to the Taliban rule would be bad for the country."

"The Taliban have a simple choice: stop fighting against your countrymen. Stop killing innocent civilians. Stop bringing hardship and misery," said Nicholson.

"We must maintain pressure on the Taliban to join a peace process with the Afghan government to end the war in Afghanistan," Llorens said.

Following Trump's announcement, the Taliban warned the US that if it did not withdraw from the country, Afghanistan will become "the 21st-century graveyard for the American empire".

The deployment of new troops, which could be around 4,000 soldiers, although Trump was yet to specify the exact number, would add to the 8,400 US soldiers already stationed in the country.

Trump's decision marks a complete shift from the policy of former President Barack Obama's administration (2009-2017), which after having deployed around 100,000 soldiers in Afghanistan in 2010, had opted for a phased withdrawal of troops.

Both Nicholson and Llorens also urged Pakistan to stop sheltering the Taliban on its territory.

"The dialogue with Pakistan will be done in private and has already started," Nicholson said, adding that elimination of Taliban safe havens was key to the success of the new policy.

According to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction report released this month, the war in Afghanistan was stagnant with insurgents controlling 40 per cent of the country.
New Delhi: Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani on Thursday returned to the global software major as non-Executive Chairman of the Board with immediate effect.

"The Board of Directors has appointed Nandan Nilekani as a non-executive, non-independent Director and as the Chairman of the Board of Directors," said the IT major in a regulatory filing on the BSE.

Here's a timeline of events at Infosys

June 2014: Infosys in a major shake-up brings in for the first time an outsider --Vishal Sikka, as CEO.

June 2014: Mentor N R Narayana Murthy and his son Rohan step down four years ahead of their tenure.

February 2016: Infosys extends the tenure of its chief Vishal Sikka till March 2021.

February 2017: Anonymous whistleblower allege that its executives had personal interests in buying the US-based Panaya firm for $200 million in February 2015.

February 2017: Pay hike to top level employees involving U B Pravin Rao, Vishal Sikka plagues Infosys.

April 2017: Dispute between the founder and Infosys board over corporate governance issues.

August 18, 2017: In a dramatic development, Vishal Sikka resigns as CEO and Managing Director of Infosys blaming "unrelenting" and "malicious" attacks.

August 2017: Board acceps Sikka`s resignation, appoint him as Executive Vice-Chairman till the new Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director takes over by March 2018.

August 2017: Board elevates Chief Operating Officer U.B. Pravin Rao as the interim CEO and MD, reporting to Sikka under its overall supervision and control.

August 24, 2017: Succumbing to pressure from co- founders and a clutch of investors, Infosys names former CEO and Aadhaar-architect Nandan Nilekani as its new chairman, replacing R Seshasayee.

August 24, 2017: The Board accepts resignation of R Seshsayee as its Chairman and as a Director on the Board with immediate effect.

August 24, 2017: It also accepts resignation of Co-Chairman Ravi Venkatesan with immediate effect though he continues as an Independent Director.

August 24, 2017: The Board accepted the resignation of Executive Vice-Chairman Vishal Sikka and as a Director on the Board with immediate effect.

August 24, 2017: Resignations of Directors Jeffery S. Lehman and John Etchemendy were also accepted with immediate effect.
New Delhi: Succumbing to pressure from co-founders and a clutch of investors, Infosys on Thursday named former CEO and Aadhaar-architect Nandan Nilekani as its new chairman, replacing R Seshasayee.

Here's a look at Nandan Nilekani's profile

- Nilekani started his career at Patni Computer Systems in Mumbai in 1978.

- Nilekani was one of the seven engineers who founded Infosys in 1981.

- He was Infosys CEO from 2002 to 2007.

- Nilekani has held various posts in Infosys including those of Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, President, and Chief Operating Officer.

- He left Infosys in July 2009 to serve as the chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

- Nilekani resigned from this post in March 2014 to contest the 16th Lok Sabha election from the South Bangalore constituency.

- Nilekani co-founded India's National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) as well as the Bengaluru chapter of The IndUS Entrepreneurs (TiE).

- He is the president of the governing body of the National Council of Applied Economic Research, Indias oldest and largest premier, independent economic research institute.

- He is a member of the board of governors of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).

- Nilekani is also on the board of the Indian Institute of Human Settlements (IIHS).

- The Fortune Magazine conferred on him the Asias Businessman of the Year honour in 2003.

- He was named Corporate Citizen of the Year at the Asia Business Leaders Award, 2004.

- In 2005, he received the prestigious Joseph Schumpeter prize for innovative services in economy, economic sciences, and politics.

- In 2006, he was awarded one of India's highest civilian honours, the Padma Bhushan.

- In the same year, Nilekani was named Businessman of the Year by Forbes Asia.

- The Time magazine listed him as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2006 and 2009.

- He is the author of 'Imagining India' that discusses his ideas for Indias future.

- The book was one of the finalists in the FT-Goldman Sachs Book Award for 2009.

- The Foreign Policy magazine listed him as one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers in 2010.

- He also won The Economist Social & Economic Innovation Award in 2014 for leading UIDAI (Aadhaar).

- A prolific investor, Nilekani has invested in over a dozen startup ventures like Sedemac Mechatronics, publishing start-up Juggernaut, media venture The Print and e-commerce start-up 10i Commerce Services.

- Most recently, he launched a USD 100 million start-up fund in partnership with venture capitalist Sanjeev Aggarwal.

- Nilekani received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from IIT Bombay (now Mumbai).
New Delhi: Infosys on Thursday named former CEO and Aadhaar-architect Nandan Nilekani as its new chairman, replacing R Seshasayee.

Nilekani was one of the seven founders that set up Infosys more than three decades ago and served as its CEO between March 2002 to April 2007.

In a late evening announcement, Infosys said its board of directors has "unanimously" approved Nilekani's appointment, terming him an "iconic leader."

Seshasayee, whose resignation along with those of other key executives including Sikka has been accepted by Board, said, "Nandan is an ideal leader for Infosys at this stage in company's development."

"His appointment will allow Infosys to focus on strategic changes it needs to make, in order to capitalise on the attractive opportunities in the years ahead," he said.

Ravi Venkatesan also resigned as co-chairman, but will continue as an independent director.

Vishal Sikka, who quit last week as CEO but was made vice-chairman till his successor was appointed, also quit the board with immediate effect, the company said in a statement after its board meeting.

The board shake-up meets a key demand of the founder group led by N R Narayana Murthy, who had demanded a clean-up at the country's second largest software services firm.

Two independent directors -- Jeffery S Lehman and John Etchemendy -- also resigned from the Infosys board with immediate effect.

In a sudden move, Infosys' first non-founder CEO, Vishal Sikka, resigned last week citing slander by founders.

The Infosys board issued a stinging statement blaming Murthy for the CEO's resignation. Infosys has said it will find a CEO replacement latest by March 31, 2018.

On August 18, the day Sikka announced his resignation, investor advisory firm Institutional Investor Advisory Services (IiAS) said it favoured Nilekani being brought back on the board as its non-executive chairman.
New Delhi: A nine-year-old girl was repeatedly raped by a minor friend, who was later apprehended from his residence in south Delhi, police said on Thursday.

The incident came to light on Wednesday afternoon when the girl complained of pain in her abdomen. She later told her parents that she was being raped by her 13 year-old friend, who lives in the same neighbourhood, for many days.

"The juvenile stays with his parents in a rented apartment in Govind Puri and studies in Class 7 in a government school. He was caught from his residence soon after the victim`s parents filed a complaint against him," a police officer said.

During investigation, it was found that the boy would enter the girl`s house on the pretext of playing with her after her parents would leave for work and then rape her, the officer said.

"She has been admitted to Safdarjung Hospital and her statement will be recorded on Friday."

The girl`s father (name withheld to protect the victim`s identity) told IANS, "I work in a hotel and my wife works in a factory. We both go for work leaving our two daughters and a son under the observation of their ailing grandfather who cannot walk properly.

"The grandfather used to take rest on a cot outside the house. The boy entered our house on the pretext of playing and raped her whenever he found her alone," he said.

The boy has been sent to a juvenile home, police said.
New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday blamed the previous UPA government for bringing the biometric ID card programme Aadhaar without a law or safeguards, because of which individual privacy being a fundamental right had to be settled by the Supreme Court.

The BJP-led NDA government, he said, while framing the law for use of the biometric identifier, ensured all safeguards and that "privacy as a fundamental right is respected".

Welcoming the Supreme Court's ruling that individual privacy is a fundamental right as a "positive development", he said the apex court has accepted the government's "argument that privacy is a fundamental right, but it's not an absolute right".

The ruling "is positive because as the evolution of constitutional law goes on, there is always an effort to strengthen fundamental rights," he said.

Jaitley said the privacy matter went to the Supreme Court "because the (previous) UPA government brought about Aadhaar without a law".

"No safeguards were put by the UPA as to how data would be protected or the data could be used. So people challenged it saying, you are collecting the data and what will you do with it, which are the privacy clauses in it and therefore the challenge was there," he said.

When the BJP-led government last year brought the Aadhaar law, the finance minister said he was clear that "it is too late for anybody to contend that privacy will not be a fundamental right".

And so special provisions with regard to privacy and punishment in case of violations were put in.

Jaitley said he had while replying to the debate on the Aadhaar bill in Parliament on March 16, 2016 stated that the law with all safeguards is being framed "to make sure and ensure that privacy as a fundamental right will be respected".

Elaborating on the restrictions to privacy, Jaitley, an eminent lawyer, said in a room an individual would have absolute right of privacy.

"But if somebody says I will spend large amounts only of cash money and nobody has a right to find this out because I have a right to privacy, that will be subjected to restrictions which will be fair, just and reasonable," he noted.

Stating that restrictions will have to be just, fair and reasonable, he said the Supreme Court has also stated that restrictions can be for national security, crime detection or dissipation of social welfare benefits.

Jaitley said the restrictions would depend on "case to case" but those will have to meet the test of being fair, just and reasonable.

"And, I am sure Aadhaar legislation restrictions are fair, just and reasonable and government is only interested in those fair, just and reasonable restrictions which further the object of dissipation of social welfare benefits so that they are not cornered by undeserving people and only go to deserving. To that extent I think it is a positive development," he added.
Chandigarh: Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, accused of allegedly raping two 'sadhvis', will appear before a special CBI court in Panchkula on August 25 (Friday).

The Dera sect chief confirmed on Thursday that despite suffering from a severe backache, he will appear in person before the court.

A Special CBI court in adjoining Panchkula in Haryana will pronounce its verdict in a rape case against Dera Sacha Sauda chief on August 25 (Friday).

Meanwhile, fearing law and order problem, the Haryana and Punjab government have deployed hundreds of police personnel and paramilitary forces.

Schools and colleges have been asked to stay close for two days ie August 24 and 25.

The case was registered in 2002 by the CBI on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court after anonymous letters were circulated about the alleged sexual exploitation of two 'sadhvis' (female followers) by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

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.
Delhi: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was made in-charge of the Gujarat Assembly polls by BJP chief Amit Shah on Thursday.

On the other hand, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar was given the responsibility of Karnataka.

Power Minister Piyush Goyal had been appointed co-incharge for Karnataka elections.

The term of the Gujarat Assembly comes to an end on January 22, 2018. The Karnataka assembly term ends on May 28, 2018.

On August 09, Shah had asked the party workers in the state to work towards achieving the target of winning 150 of the total 182 seats in Gujarat in the upcoming polls.

The BJPs best performance was in 2002. It had won 127 seats.

The Congress has been out of power in Gujarat since 1995.

Meanwhile, on July 15, PTI had reported that Karnataka's ruling Congress was conducting a survey to collect data to help it select candidates and decide strategy for the Assembly polls.

"The party is conducting divisional surveys and after these are complete, it will organise conferences in all the districts to inform people about the government's achievements," state party chief G Parameshwara, had said.

Karnataka BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa had said in June that a survey would be conducted by an external agency for distribution of tickets for the 2018 Assembly polls.

On May 26, Shah had said that former Karnataka CM would be BJP's chief ministerial face in the Assembly polls.

"It (Karnataka election) will be fought under Yeddyurappa," the BJP chief had said.

Asked if it meant that Yeddyurappa will be the CM face, he had said, "He will be."

The Karnataka unit of the saffron has been facing factional fight with a group headed by former deputy CM KS Eshwarappa targeting Yeddyurappa's leadership.

Yeddyurappa (74), an influential Lingayat leader, had led the saffron party to its maiden victory in the southern state in 2008, but was forced to resign following charges of corruption against him.

He floated his own outfit in 2011. Though his party performed poorly in the 2013 Assembly polls, it managed to wean away a substantial chunk of the BJP votes, leading to a rout of the saffron party.

He returned to the BJP fold ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

(With PTI inputs)
Beijing: China on Thursday accused India of contradicting its words with actions after New Delhi decided to build a road around 20 km near Pangong Lake in Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

At the same time, it warned that such a development would only worsen the on-going two-month-long stand-off in Doklam.

"It seems according to the reports the Indian side is slapping its own face. The Indian side is closely following China's road-building recently but India's actions themselves have proven that the Indian side says something and does another. Its words are in complete contradiction to its deeds in terms of border issues," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told Chinese media.

Stating that India's move was not "conducive" to peace in the region, Hua said the western sector of the boundary, where India plans to build a road, is not delimited", as per ANI.

Union Home Ministry has approved the building of a road from Marsimik La to Hot Spring in Ladakh near Pangong Lake along the LAC.

This was where the a recent scuffle between Indian and Chinese troops took place.

On the Doklam standoff, Hua reiterated "the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all the trespassing personnel and equipment serves as the prerequisite and basis for the settlement of this incident. The two sides have agreed to uphold border areas' peace and tranquility before disputes are settled. The current road construction by the Indian side is not conducive to peace and stability in that area."

Hua also said the project "will not help with settlement of the current situation".

India and China have been locked in a standoff for more than two months in Doklam near the Sikkim sector.

The face-off began after Indian troops stopped Chinese military from building a road India believes would allow Beijing to cut its access to the Northeastern states.

Bhutan says Doklam belongs to it but China claims sovereignty over the area.

On August 21, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had said that a solution to the 'deadlock' at Dokalam would be found soon.

He had added that the country was well equipped to protect its sovereignty.

The minister, while speaking at an event of the Sino-India border guarding force ITBP in the natiional capital had said that he hoped China would make a positive move to resolve the issue.

"There is a deadlock going on at Dokalam between India and China. I believe there will be a solution soon. I hope China will undertake a positive initiative (to resolve the stand-off)," he had said.

The minister had further said that the world knew that India had never cast an evil eye on any country, had never attacked a nation nor did it harbour any expansionist attitude.

"We never want to expand our borders. But I can say that our security forces and defence forces possess all the might to protect our borders," Singh had maintained.

However, a day after, China had said that the only way to end the stand-off in Doklam was for India to unconditionally withdraw its troops from the area.

Hua had said that India's reasons to stop the Chinese road building activity in Doklam area was 'ridiculous'.

"So the only prerequisite and condition of this incident is unconditional withdrawal of the Indian troops and equipment," Hua had told reporters.

In a separate incident on August 15, Indian and Chinese troops engaged in stone pelting in Ladakh region that resulted in minor injuries to soldiers on both the sides.

(With Agency inputs)
New Delhi: Resident doctors of Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital went on indefinite strike on Wednesday after a patient allegedly manhandled a colleague. The doctors are demanding increased security to check such incidents.

On Wednesday afternoon, a patient assaulted a doctor alleging the resident was deliberately delaying treatment.

A patient assaulted a doctor alleging his treatment was being delayed by the doctor. Such incidents aren't new to us, said Dheer Singh, President, Resident Doctors Association of Safdarjung Hospital.

Our security should be increased to check such attacks. Strike is indefinite and we have lodged an institutional FIR, he added.

The strike has effected emergency and other medical services.



I came here for my daughter-in-law's delivery. But strike is going on here. Where do we go now?: said the mother-in-law Ramvati.

With ANI inputs
New Delhi: The issue of standoff between Chinese and Indian troops at Dokalam did not figure during the meetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said on Thursday.

Deuba, who arrived here yesterday on a four-day visit, has held two rounds of talks with PM Modi.

Asked if the two leaders discussed the Dokalam faceoff, Jaishankar replied in the negative. "No," he said.

He also maintained that there was no discussion on SAARC and China when asked if the two sides talked about growing Chinese influence in the region.

The Chinese and Indian troops are in a standoff position since June 16 when the Indians stopped the PLA soldiers from constructing a road in the Dokalam in the Sikkim sector.

According to sources, later at an event while responding to comments on Nepal-China ties, Deuba maintained that Kathmandu and Beijing share a good equation but maintained that Nepal will not allow its soil to be used for anti-India activities.

On the open border that the two countries share, there was a recognition during the meetings that it should not create security problems and that vigilance needs to be maintained to prevent its misuse, Jaishankar said.

The Indian side also reaffirmed its commitment to train and ensure capability building of security forces in Nepal, he said.
New Delhi: Saying the Modi government was getting into a deeper strategic embrace with the US, the CPI-M has alleged that this will prove to be a serious threat to India's sovereignty and independence.



"The subordination of India's military and strategic resources to the US is a serious threat to the country's sovereignty and independence," an editorial in the CPI-M journal People's Democracy said.



"It appears (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi will do his utmost to endear himself to the Trump establishment," the editorial said.



The editorial said it was reported that US Defence Secretary General James Mattis was expected to visit India later this year.



"The plan is to inaugurate the logistics exchange agreement (LEMOA) by refuelling and servicing the air force plane which will bring him to India. LEMOA is an agreement which facilitates the use of Indian bases by American war planes and naval ships.



"The growing military entanglement with the US comes in the background of the continuing stand-off with China on the Doklam Plateau. The US realises that this is an opportune time to further draw in India into its strategic net.



"The US is pressing India to broaden the annual Malabar exercises by including Australia. This would make it a quadrilateral exercise involving the two closest allies of the US - Japan and Australia - apart from India.



"The Modi government has also taken steps to open up defence production in India to the US arms companies with its decision to open up all key sectors of weapons production to Indian corporate and foreign multinational companies," it said.
New Delhi: The government on Thursday hailed the Supreme Court verdict that declared the right to privacy is a fundamental right under the Constitution.

Addressing a press conference in the national capital today, Law and Justice, Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "The government was of the view that the Right to Privacy should be a fundamental right and we welcome the Supreme Court verdict."

"Before the Supreme Court formed its nine-judge bench on privacy, Arun Jaitley had said that there is right to privacy with reasonable restrictions," he said.

"The government has formed a high-powered committee for data protection, which the Supreme Court has noted. The Supreme Court clearly acknowledged the need for a robust data regime to balance sensitive concerns between individual interest and the state interest," he said.

"On behalf of the Government of India, Attorney General also argued that right to privacy is a part of fundamental rights with reasonable restrictions," the minister said during the conference.

Training his guns on the Congress for bringing in Aadhar without any debate on the matter, Prasad said, "The idea of Aadhaar card was brought by the UPA government without any debate. That is how they worked."

"Aadhaar during UPA regime had no protection of the law. We made Aadhaar law and provided a legal framework for protecting its data," he added.

"Since morning Congress is targeting us and Left has also joined them.What is the Congress' record of protecting individual liberty?" Prasad said while launching a further attack on the previous government.

"In the last 3 years, we have saved close to 57,000 crore rupees that earlier used to go to middlemen," he added.

Defending the Aadhaar scheme, Prasad said the government has formed a high-powered committee for data protection, which the Supreme Court has noted.

Earlier today, in a landmark verdict, a nine-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar held that the right to privacy is a fundamental right and is an integral part of the right to life and liberty.

The bench was looking into a batch of petitions challenging the Centre's move to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing benefits of various social welfare schemes.
New Delhi: For the second time in a fortnight, the National Investigation Agency on Thursday questioned two sons of pro-Pakistan separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani in connectionw with a terror funding probe allegedly involving Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, officials said.

Geelani's sons Nayeem and Naseem were questioned earlier on August 8. The elder son Nayeem is a surgeon by profession, while Naseem is an employee of the Jammu and Kashmir government.

According to officials, who are not authorised to speak to media, the two were asked to bring certain documents related to financial transactions that have come under the scanner of the NIA.

Nayeem is tipped as the natural successor to lead the Tehrek-e-Hurriyat, a separatist conglomerate comprising pro-Pakistan hardline groups, after his 87-year-old ailing father.

The NIA had registered the case of terror funding and named Saeed, leader of the Pakistan-based Jamaat-ud-Dawa and banned terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, as an accused.

It had 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.

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 Agency inputs)
New Delhi: India and Nepal on Thursday signed eight pacts, including deals on countering drug trafficking. Prime Ministers of the both the nations  Narendra Modi and Sher Bahadur Deuba held delegation-level talks at the Hyderabad House in the national capital. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj was also present in the meet.

Later, addressing the media, PM Modi said, India is privileged to be a part of Nepal's development and economic progress. Both the countries discussed. Prime Minister Deuba and I held talks over the limitless possibilities between the two nations.

Both the countries also held talks on economic partnership, energy, water resources and connectivity.

PM Modi also tweeted:

      ,  energy, water resources, connectivity projects         : PM  PMO India (@PMOIndia) August 24, 2017

PM Modi also assured to provide all forms of assistance to the flood-hit nation.

Earlier today, a ceremonial reception was organised in the honour of PM Deuba.

Pictures from the ceremonial reception in the honour of Rt Hon Shri Sher Bahadur Deuba ji, PM of Nepal. Will hold talks with him today. pic.twitter.com/FlQtXLh8pZ  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 24, 2017

Nepal's Prime Minister also asked India to support Nepal for development plans and to build more trust and understanding to expand the relations between two nations.

"India has played an important part in our development efforts and we request Prime Minister Modi to support us more for development plans and first to build trust and understanding to expand our relations," Deuba said.

The Nepal Prime Minister is on a five-day visit to India.
New Delhi: A day after he had arrived in India on a 4-day visit, Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Thursday was accorded ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

"A close neighbor, India helped Nepal in our development efforts, would request PM to support more," ANI quoted Deuba as saying.

Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi received his counterpart at his New Delhi's official residence in an unscheduled meeting.

After a brief meeting with his Nepalese counterpart, PM Modi tweeted, ''Happy to welcome Rt Hon Shri Sher Bahadur Deuba ji, PM of close & friendly neighbour Nepal Look forward to more extensive talks tomorrow.''

The Nepal PM attended a programme in the Nepali Embassy where he addressed the Nepali community in India and business event organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

On his arrival, Deuba was received by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj at the Indira Gandhi International airport.

This is his first foreign trip after assuming office amid the Indo-China standoff at the tri-junction Doklam near Sikkim border.

"A special welcome for a close neighbour! EAM @SushmaSwaraj receives @PM_Nepal Sher Bahadur Deuba on his arrival on a State Visit to India," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted along with a photo of Swaraj greeting Deuba.

Deuba took over as prime minister in June. During his four-day visit, he will also travel to Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Bodh Gaya, Hyderabad and Telangana.

In a tweet, Deuba said, "I am delighted to be in New Delhi. Thank you @SushmaSwaraj for your warm welcome."

Following the day's ceremonial reception, Nepal PM along his wife Arzu Rana Deuba paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat.

Modi and Deuba in their meeting scheduled later in the day, will review the entire gamut of bilateral ties and are likely to deliberate on ways to further deepen the Indo-Nepal relationship in a range of areas including trade and investment.

The Nepalese PM is expected to apprise Modi of the political situation in his country, particularly on the steps being taken by his government to fulfil aspirations of the Indian-origin Madheshi community.

He will also call on the president and the vice president.

"The upcoming visit will provide an opportunity to both the sides for holding wide-ranging discussions on the issues of mutual interest and advancing age-old special ties of friendship between our two countries," the external affairs ministry had said on Monday.

Nepal has been facing a political crisis since the adoption of a new Constitution in September 2015. Madhesis, mostly of Indian origin, have been opposing the new statute as they fear it would marginalise them by dividing the country into seven provinces.
Chennai: Actor Kamal Haasan on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court declaring privacy as a fundamental right, saying "these are the moments that make India."

In a tweet, he said there was "nothing vague or amorphous about" the apex court's verdict on the matter.

"People thank the Honourable Judges. These are moments that make India," he added.

Earlier in the day, in a landmark decision that will affect the lives of all Indians, Supreme court had unanimously declared that right to privacy was a Fundamental right under the Constitution.

A nine-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar had ruled that "right to privacy is an intrinsic part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty under Article 21 and entire Part III of the Constitution".

The bench was looking into a batch of petitions challenging the Centre's move to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing benefits of various social welfare schemes.
Lucknow: In a major set back to Lalu Prasad Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Thursday announced that her party will not participate in anti-BJP rally 'Desh Bachao, Bhajpa Bhagao' on August 27 in Patna.

In an apparent reference to Samajwadi Party, Mayawati said, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has been told that BSP will share the stage with a party only if it's decided in advance, as to which party will contest on how many seats.

At the time of announcing the 'oust BJP rally' at the Gandhi Maidan, the RJD chief had said that he would bring Mayawati and Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav together on one platform, which would mean the "end of the match for the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls".

Interestingly, Mayawati's statement comes a day after Lalu claimed that BSP MP Satish Chandra would be representing his party at the much-talked about rally.

While it's confirmed that Congress president Sonia Gandhi will not attend Lalu's rally, there are slim chances of party vice president Rahul Gandhi's attendance at the event.

The RJD chief said on Wednesday that senior Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and CP Joshi would attend the rally with a message from Sonia.

On the other hand, he claimed that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and rebel JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav would attend the RJD rally.

The RJD chief is criss-crossing the state to mobilise people for the August 27 rally, which he has claimed would be a major occasion to bring together the secular forces on one platform against the BJP ahead of the 2019 polls.
Indore: The Supreme Court's verdict on triple talaq will help the poor and illiterate women, but a stringent law is needed for the financial security of the community's divorced women, says Siddiqua Begum, the daughter of Shah Bano whose case for maintenance was a legal landmark.

Siddiqua Begum (70), who witnessed her mother's struggle in the corridors of courts and in the society, says divorced women from the community face financial problems.

"The Supreme Court's decision to set aside the practice that allows men to leave their wives immediately by stating 'talaq' three times, would benefit the poor and illiterate women," she told PTI in an interview.

However, she was of the view that such women would continue to face financial problems, which her mother too witnessed about 40 years ago.

"This problem can be dealt with a strict legislation enacted by the government," she said.

She said the struggle of her mother, who died in 1992, was not against the practice of triple talaq, but for getting the maintenance allowance from her father.

The septuagenarian recalled the difficult period her mother went through.

"My father divorced my mother when she was 60. Afterwards, we faced many problems in earning a living. My mother had to face all kinds of pressures after filing the suit for maintenance allowance, but she continued her fight," she said.

She said a man who has decided to abandon his wife may adopt other ways to do so, other than pronouncing 'triple talaq'.

"But, the basic question is what are the legal remedies to safeguard the social and economic interests of the divorced woman so that they can move on in their life," she said.

The controversy around triple talaq, was in many ways, reminiscent of the Shah Bano case, which was a landmark step in Muslim women's fight for social justice and equality - but with a disappointing end.

In 1985, the Supreme Court had decisively ruled in favour of Bano, who had sought maintenance from her husband Mohammad Ahmed Khan, an Indore-based lawyer, who had divorced her. But following a backlash from orthodox Muslim groups, the then Rajiv Gandhi government diluted the order through an Act.

On Tuesday, in a path-breaking verdict, the Supreme Court banned the 1,400-year-old practice of instant 'triple talaq' among Sunni Muslims and set it aside on several grounds including that it was against the basic tenets of the Holy Quran and violated the Islamic law Shariat.
New Delhi: The Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has opposed the path-breaking Supreme Court verdict striking down the 1,400-year-old practice of instant 'triple talaq' among Sunni Muslims.

Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind described the apex court decision as violative of the "Shariah" and a matter of "grave concern" for the Muslim community.

Taking a defiant stand, Jamiat general secretary Maulana Mahmood Madani said instant triple talaq was still valid as per the Islamic code notwithstanding the Supreme Court declaring it as unconstitutional and void in law.

"Even now, if a man administers instant talaq, it will come into effect as per Shariah for those who believe in it," he told reporters here.

A five-judge Constitution bench, by a majority of 3:2 in which the Chief Justice JS Khehar found himself in a minority, said in a one line order: "In view of the different opinions recorded by a majority of 3:2, the practice of 'talaq-e-biddat' or triple talaq is set aside."

With triple talaq being set aside, now Sunni Muslims, among whom the practice was prevalent, will not be able to take recourse to this mode as it would be "void ab initio" (illegal at the outset).

They are now left with two other modes of securing divorce - 'talaq hasan' and 'talaq ahsan' after the apex court today set aside the triple talaq.

Under 'talaq ahsan', a Muslim man can divorce his spouse by pronouncing 'talaq' once every month in three consecutive months, which would be signified by menstruation cycles.

As per 'talaq hasan', divorce can be given by pronouncing talaq "during successive tuhrs (menstruation cycles)" with no intercourse during any of the three tuhrs.

Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justice S Abdul Nazeer constituting the minority in the five-bench Constitutional bench ordered an injunction on triple talaq at least for six months -- by when the government should consider steps to initiate legislation on the issue.

The other three judges disagreed.

"In view of the different opinions recorded, by a majority of 3:2 the practice of talaq-e-biddat - triple talaq - is set aside," the bench comprising Justices Khehar, Kurian Joseph, Rohinton F Nariman, UU Lalit and Abdul Nazeer said in the concluding para of the 395-page ruling.

The apex court gave its judgment on a petition filed by Muslim woman Shayara Bano, joined by a Muslim group and four other women.
London: The number of skilled work visa applications from Indian nationals to live and work in the UK has dropped by four per cent this year, Home Office said on Thursday, amid the government's tightening of the visa regime.

The UK Home Office found that Indians accounted for 29,800 sponsored visa application in the year ending June 2017.

The trend is being attributed to the UK government's tightening of visa regime in an attempt to meet its goal of cutting migrant figures in the country.

"Indian nationals account for 29,800 (54 per cent) of skilled work sponsored visa applications in year ending June 2017, with US nationals the next largest group (5,686 or 10 per cent of the total)," the Home Office said.

"The number of sponsored visa applications for Indian nationals was 4 per cent lower in year ending June 2017 and applications for US nationals were 9 per cent lower," it said.

However, the data based on the UK's Office of National Statistics (ONS) analysis also disclosed that Indians continue to account for the largest number of skilled work visas granted by the UK government 53,366 of a total of 92,805 or 58 per cent of all work visas granted.

Of these, the Indian information technology sector sponsored 42 per cent of all skilled work visa applications made by Indians.

The latest ONS figures released today also indicate a so-called "Brexodus" a significant drop in EU nationals migrating to?live and work in the UK in the wake of the June 2016 Brexit referendum.

Net migration the difference between those entering and leaving the UK fell by 81,000 to 246,000 in the year to March 2017 and more than half that change is due to a decrease in net migration of EU citizens, which is down 51,000.

The ONS figures show a sharp rise of 17,000 in departures of citizens from the so-called EU8 countries - Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Also, far fewer EU migrants came to the UK looking for work than before down 29,000 to 47,000 during the year ending June 2017.

"The net migration change was driven by an increase in emigration, mainly for EU citizens and in particular EU8 citizens, and a decrease in immigration across all groups," said Nicola White, head of international migration statistics at the ONS.

"These results are similar to 2016 estimates and indicate that the EU referendum result may be influencing people's decision to migrate into and out of the UK, particularly EU and EU8 citizens. It is too early to tell if this is an indication of a long-term trend," White said.

Business leaders have warned that this fall, combined with a fall in skilled migrants from outside the EU, could make it difficult for companies to find the right people for jobs.
San Francisco: Photo-sharing platform Snapchat is likely to move into scripted content through its shows by the end of year.

A report in the Variety on Wednesday quoted Snapchat`s head of content Nick Bell as saying that the company was not helping to drive a stake into the heart of traditional broadcasters.

"Instead, it can help bolster them," Bell said.

He added that mobile was the most complementary thing to TV that has been around. He clarified that Snapchat was not a "TV killer."

"We`re really capturing the audience who are not probably consuming TV at the same rate and pace of engagement that they once were," Bell was quoted as saying.

According to Bell, the Snapchat Show offshoot to "The Voice" helped boost the NBC programme`s viewer numbers.

He claimed that his goal was to turn a smartphone into "the remote control for your TV consumption."

"The scripted fare will conform to Snapchat`s view that long-form content isn`t suited to mobile, which Bell sees as fundamentally a new medium. The optimum length for Snapchat videos remains three to five minutes," the report explained.

Currently, Snapchat is relying on its partners to finance video content rather than commissioning on its own.

"We`re still in early stages, and that certainly bodes well for the future," Bell said.

"Beyond complementing television, Snapchat could also fit into the movie ecosystem, particularly with regard to studio tentpoles and franchises," he added.

Earlier in June, Snap and cable television company Time Warner announced to produce shows for the social media platform as part of a two-year deal valued at $100 million.

Aiming to connect with young audiences who consume data on-the-go, Snapchat in July launched headline news show "Stay Tuned" that are broadcast twice a day.

The broadcast features four or five segments focused on the top national and international stories of the day.
Bengaluru: Karnataka BJP president B S Yeddyurappa on Thursday demanded a CBI probe into the alleged suicide of DySP M K Ganapathy last year and resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah taking moral responsibility for "destruction of evidence" in connection with the case.

DySP Ganapathy (51) was found hanging from a ceiling fan in a room at a lodge in Madikeri on July 7 last year.

Prior to this, he gave an interview to a local TV channel, saying the then Home Minister K J George and two senior police officers AM Prasad and Pranab Mohanty would be responsible "if anything happens to me."

CID which investigated the case subsequently gave a clean chit to George and the two officers in its 'B'(closure) report filed before a court in Madikeri.

Stating that according to forensic reports in the media, documents that were in the mobile phone and computer of Ganapathy have been destroyed, Yeddyurappa said "it is clear that somebody who is very powerful is behind this. In this background, this matter should be referred to the CBI."

Yeddyurappa demanded Siddaramaiah's resignation taking moral responsibility for "destruction of evidence" in connection with the case.

He said George must resign from the cabinet or he should be dismissed from the ministry.

George had resigned soon after a court directed police to register an FIR against him and the two police officers in connection with the matter. After his name was cleared by CID, George was re-inducted into the cabinet.

Seeking a thorough probe, Yeddyurappa said a BJP delegation will call on Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on August 26 and apprise him of the need for a CBI inquiry into the issue.

"If our demands are not met, BJP will launch a state-wide agitation," he said.
New Delhi: Shares of Infosys rose 2 per cent on Thursday amid reports that co-founder and former CEO Nandan Nilekani may return to the board of the crisis-hit IT major.

The stock rose 2.01 per cent to settle at Rs 912.50 on the BSE. During the trading session, it had spurted by 2.71 per cent to touch the day's high of Rs 918.80.

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the stock closed 2.09 per cent higher at Rs 911.50. During the day, the scrip had touched a high of Rs 918.25 and a low of Rs 902.35.

Following an uptick in the share price, the IT giant's market capitalisation rose by Rs 4,134.65 crore to Rs 2,09,598.35 crore on the BSE.

A total of 13.04 lakh shares changed hands on the BSE, while 2.12 crore scrips were traded on the NSE.

The rise comes a day after as many as 12 fund managers, representing institutional investors at Infosys, suggested bringing Nilekani back on the board of the IT major to restore confidence of stakeholders and help resolve the leadership crisis.

This is the second major pitch for Nilekani after investor advisory firm IiAS said the co-founder, who had served as CEO between March 2002 to April 2007 and later went on to head the UIDAI, should be brought back on to the Infosys board as its non-executive chairman.

Sources said the 12 fund mangers, in a joint letter written to Infosys chairman, among others, said Nilekani enjoys confidence of various stakeholders, including customers, shareholders and employees.

"Given his credentials, we feel that his joining the board at this stage will restore confidence of stakeholders in the company and also facilitate resolution of the contentious issues that Infosys is facing presently. We do hope that you will consider the above and do the needful," said the signatories of the letter.

The stock had crashed 10 per cent last Friday after the sudden exit of the company's first non-founder CEO Vishal Sikka and 5 per cent more on Monday despite a share buyback announcement on Saturday.
Mumbai: Shares in Infosys rose for a third straight day on Thursday, following reports that former Chief Executive Nandan Nilekani could return to the board to help the software services exporter ride out its latest controversy.

The board has been locked in a dispute for months with the company`s founders, led by former chairman Narayana Murthy, who have accused the directors of governance lapses. Vishal Sikka resigned as CEO last week amid what he said were "baseless/malicious and increasingly personal attacks" - sparking a sell-off and wiping billions of dollars off the firm`s market value.

Nilekani is set to become Infosys` non-executive chairman in the next few days, the Times of India newspaper reported, adding he would come for a predetermined period with the aim to achieve a series of goals including hiring a new CEO.

This follows a request this week from a group of 12 major institutional investors in Infosys to bring Nilekani back to the board to try to quell the feud with the founders.

Television station CNBC-TV18 also said Nilekani was likely to return as the head of the company, which was once the poster child of India`s showpiece IT sector.

Nilekani, one of the company`s co-founders who served as its CEO from 2002 to 2007, could not be reached for comment.

By 0530 GMT, Infosys shares were trading 2.2 percent higher in a Mumbai market that was little changed.
Mumbai: Bollywood actress Ileana D'Cruz, who is known for her no-nonsense attitude, says she has got all her films on merit and she does not want to impress people to get work.

"People could take (attitude) as arrogance but actually it is not! I could be very nice to people, go out for coffee and dinner or socialize to become their favourite, but I choose not to do that. I cannot sweet-talk to people to get a film," Ileana, who will soon be seen in Milan Luthria's upcoming film "Baadshaho", told IANS here.



"Rather I want to be chosen for a film when the director would think that I can do justice to the role and that I am talented. So far, all the films that I have got are based on my merit," she added.



After a successful journey in the South Indian film industry, Ileana debuted in Bollywood with the film "Barfi!" in 2012, and acted in various films like "Phata Poster Nikhla Hero", "Main Tera Hero", "Happy Ending", "Rustom" and "Mubarakan" before the upcoming "Baadshaho".



Coming from a non-filmy background, asked if she manages to make friends in the industry, the actress said: "I am not rude to anyone. As a professional I want all my co-stars, director, producer and colleagues to feel easy and comfortable working with me, but I am not walking into a film set to make friends."



"I am here to work, this is my professional world and I want to do good work here. I do not take some extra steps to become a friend or develop a relationship with other co-stars. End of the film, if we become friends that is a bonus," said Ileana.



So, how does Ileana spend her leisure time?



"I like going out with close friends. I watch a lot of animated films and TV as stress busters, I love shopping! I can shop from anywhere in the world whether it is from footpath or shopping mall, I shop from everywhere," shared the actress.



Scheduled to release on September 1, "Baadshaho" has been directed by Milan Luthria and produced by T-Series.


New Delhi: Self-styled godman and former 'Bigg Boss' contestant Swami Om has once again hogged the limelight for all the wrong reasons. The Supreme Court has imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on Swami for filing a 'motivated' petition challenging the appointment of Dipak Misra as the next Chief Justice of India.

According to PTI, the SC charged fine of Rs 10 lakh on Swami Om and Mukesh Jain for filing a 'motivated' petition challenging the practice of recommending to the President, the name of a successor by the incumbent Chief Justice of India.

A bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud said that imposition of exemplary cost on Swami Om and Mukesh Jain was needed to send across a message to similarly placed people to deter them from filing such pleas.

The petitioners, who did not allege anything in their plea against the CJI designate, referred to the constitutional scheme on the appointment of CJI and the Chief Justices of the High Courts and said that the process of recommending the name of a successor by the incumbent CJI is against the spirit of Constitution.

The bench in its order noted that Article 124A, amended by the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, has already been set aside by a constitution bench.

Article 124 of the Constitution deals with the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court, while Article 124A provides for the composition of the National Judicial Appointments Commission.

The apex court asked the petitioners to deposit the fine within a period of one month from today and said that the amount should be sent to the Prime Minister Relief Fund.

The bench ordered re-listing of the matter after a month if the petitioners fail to deposit the cost imposed.

Meanwhile, Swami Om recently bore the brunt of the angry mob after he made some controversial statement on triple talaq reportedly.

(With PTI inputs)
Mumbai: Actor Ileana D'Cruz says it would be wrong on her part to say that she cannot be a "prop" in a movie as she has enjoyed playing a glamorous diva on screen.

Recently, actor Taapsee Pannu had spoken out against the way women were portrayed in films, recalling a shot from her debut Telugu film, in which a coconut was thrown at her navel. "They threw a coconut at me. I don't know what is so sensuous about a coconut hitting my midriff," Pannu had said at the time.

However, Ileana, who has worked extensively in down South, believes that objectifying women is not an issue of only South Indian films as it happens everywhere.

"I don't want to put a finger and say it only happens in South Indian films, it happens everywhere. There could be films in Bollywood as well, where the women sometimes are just a prop...

"It would be prudish to say 'I don't want to be a prop in a film' because there are certain films I've loved doing as I have looked very glamorous in them. At the end of the day, it's your choice if you want to do it," Ileana tells PTI.

The actor says she had been in such situations when she was shot in a "certain" way but couldn't object as she was a newcomer in the world of films back then.

"I have been parts of some films in the South where I didn't expect certain shots to be shot in a certain way. I wasn't experienced enough, I was very naive, I didn't have the standing of an actor to say that 'I don't want to do this shot.'

"So it really depends. Some people are ok with it, some are not. At the end of the day, you are doing the film for the audience. May be some section of people actually like watching this," she adds.

Recalling the experience while shooting her very first film, Ileana, who will next be seen in "Baadshaho", says, "They threw a fairly big shell on my belly. I didn't understand it. I asked the director, 'Why did you throw a shell on me?' and he was like, 'it looks beautiful'. I said but it was really heavy.

"There was also a shot with flowers around my waist. I asked why are you taking shot of my waist, he said because it looks beautiful, lovely. It is supposed to be a mark of a woman's beauty, it's the perception there, they believe that the waist line is the most attractive part."

"Baadshaho", also featuring Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi and Esha Gupta, is scheduled to release on September 1.
Mumbai: Its that time of the year again when Lord Ganesha visits our homes to bless us with his divine powers. And as he arrives on his date of birth, we gear up to welcome him with much love and enthusiasm. Ganesha Chaturthi is just around the corner and devotees are already relishing the festive spirit.

Ganesha Chaturthi is actually the celebration of the birth of Lord Ganapati on the fourth day during the Shukla Paksha in the Bhadrapada month according to the Hindu calendar. This date coincides with a day either in the English month of August or September.

The festival, often referred to as Ganeshotsav is spread over 10 days in the state of Maharashtra. A number of Pandals are set up to house idols of the mighty God and devotees visit these temporary temples in large numbers to pay their respects.

However, not just the states of Maharashtra, other regions in the country too celebrate this joyous festival. Ganesha Chaturthi is celebrated at homes in the state of Goa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala too.

Devotees in different parts of the country too offer their prayers by conducting a Puja at their homes.

Heres taking a look at the Ganesha Chaturthi 2017 Tithi:

According to Drikpanchang, the Tithi begins at 20:27 PM August 24 and end at 20:31 PM on August 25.

Ganesha Chaturthi 2017 Timings:

It is believed that Lord Ganesha was born during the Madhyana period (noon) and hence, the recommended Puja timing is in the afternoon.

According to Drikpanchang, you can conduct the Puja between 11:25 AM to 13:55 PM on August 25.

Simple Ganesha Puja Vidhi:

Click here to read about the elaborate Puja Vidhi
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Speaker P Dhanapal on Friday issued a notice to 19 AIADMK MLAs seeking explanation on a plea for their disqualification within a week, according to PTI sources.

The 19 MLAs, currently lodged at a resort at Puducherry, are part of the faction led by the now jailed AIADMK General Secretary VK Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran.

Earlier today, the chief whip of the ruling AIADMK urged Speaker Dhanapal to disqualify the 19 MLAs who have rebelled against Chief Minister K Palaniswami.

The 19 legislators had submitted a memorandum to Tamil Nadu Governor C Vidyasagar Rao withdrawing their support to the Chief Minister, reportedly upset over the coming together of the two major factions of the AIADMK led by Palaniswamy and ex-CM O Panneerselvam.

"We will go to court against this recommendation of the whip to Speaker. We only want the change of Chief Minister," said MLA Thanga Tamil Selvan, a supporter of Dhinakaran.

"This is an attempt to threaten our supporters who are in the government as if they join us then the government will fall," Thanga Tamil Selvam added further. "Our intention is not to topple this Government, our only demand is to change the Chief Minister," he said.

Speaking to the media here, Chief Whip S. Rajendran said that by withdrawing support to the Chief Minister, the dissenting MLAs had attracted the provision of the anti-defection law.

The Dhinakaran faction, whose MLAs are now holed up in Puducherry, reacted sharply. A spokesman for the group said,"this was aimed at preventing more legislators from joining them".

The move comes as the opposition parties have been demanding the Chief Minister to prove his majority in the assembly.

The AIADMK had 134 members in the Assembly (excluding the Speaker) and this has fallen to 115 without the support of the Dhinakaran faction.

The Tamil Nadu Assembly has 234 seats. One seat is vacant due to the death of AIADMK leader J. Jayalalithaa.

Of the 233 members, the DMK has 89 members, the Congress 8 and the IUML 1. Speaker P. Dhanapal has only a casting vote in a tie. The DMK, Congress and IUML are in an alliance.
Vellore: G Perarivalan, convict in the assassination of former PM Rajiv Gandhi was granted a parole on Thursday for the treatment of his father.

It is the first time he has been given parole since his arrest in 1991.

Perarivalan is expected to be released by tomorrow from Vellore jail.

He is currently serving a life sentence along with Murugan and Santhan who were other two convicts of the same case.

Another life convict in the case, Nalini Sriharan, wife of Murugan, is lodged in the women's prison at Vellore.

The mother of the convict, Arputham Ammal had requested the Central Prison in Vellore to grant 30 days leave to Perarivalan, for the treatment of his father Gnanasekaran.

The request was earlier rejected by the DIG of prison, Vellor range, stating that he is not eligible for 'ordinary leave' under Rule 22.

However, the Additional Director General of police had remarked among other thing that an 'ordinary leave' can be granted on the condition that Perarivalan should be provided with strong police escort during the period of leave, as per ANI.

Meanwhile, DMK leader Stalin said, "I welcome parole granted to Perarivalan, urge Centre and State to pursue his permanent release from jail."

PMK founder S Ramadoss too in a tweet expressed happiness at the development.

Earlier, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami had told the Assembly that the matter is under the government's consideration.



He had said the government would take into consideration the feelings of all concerned and take a decision.

A woman Tamil Tiger suicide bomber blew herself up and killed Rajiv Gandhi at an election rally near Chennai.

Perarivalan was arrested on 11 June 1991 at Periyar Thidal and was charged with providing a 9-volt battery for the explosive device to assassination conspirator Sivarasan.

His death penalty was commuted to life term imprisonment by the Supreme Court on 18 February 2014.

(With ANI inputs)
New Delhi: It's that time of the year again when each devotee seeks out Lord Ganesha's blessing and prays for health and happiness. Visiting a Lord Ganesha temple during this time is highly preferred by people and the Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai is one of the most famous temples people want to visit.

The temple, dedicated to Lord Ganesha is situated in Prabhadevi, near Dadar in Mumbai.

The shrine is visited by thousands of devotees every day, with Tuesday being the most important day. Those who dwell in the city of Mumbai and the suburban towns, pay a visit to this temple often. And many, who arrive as tourists to Indias financial capital, too wish to pay obeisance to the God of wisdom.

If you intend to tour the city of Mumbai and wish to seek Siddhivinayaks blessings, heres how you can reach him:

If you are put up in a Mumbai suburb, then you may pre-book a cab or take a regular taxi to reach Prabhadevi. But this may prove to be expensive.

If you are in South Mumbai region, then too you can opt for either cabs or buses.

A number of B.E.S.T buses too are available from the Western and Central Suburbs or Harbour route to reach Dadar/Prabhadevi.

One can also commute by a local train (Central, Western, Harbour) to reach Dadar. If you are lodging in any of Western or the Central suburbs, then you will have to de-train at Dadar. Western Rail ply between Virar and Churchgate, while Central Rail ply between Karjat and CST or Kasara and CST. If you are in the harbour route, then de-board at Kurla (on the Panvel CST route). From Kurla, take a train from the central route to Dadar. From Dadar share cab and regular cab services to Prabhadevi are easily available.
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath deemed the efforts of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central Government as a welcome move after it raised the creamy layer ceiling for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) for central government jobs and also for setting up of a Commission to examine sub-categorisation of the OBCs.

"We are thankful to the Prime Minister and the Central Government for further categorising the OBC and other castes as some of them weren`t able to avail the policies of reservations earlier," he said, while speaking to ANI.

He also lauded the decision of the government to increase the ceiling of the creamy layer by Rs 2 lakh.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday increased the creamy layer ceiling for the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category to Rs 8 lakh per annum from the existing six lakh for central government jobs.

The cabinet also announced setting up of a commission to examine sub-categorisation within the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) for a "more equitable distribution of reservation benefits".

The Commission will take up the exercise of identifying the respective castes, sub-castes, communities and synonyms in the central list of the OBCs and classifying them into their respective sub-categories.

The Commission will submit its report within 12 weeks from the date of appointment of the chairperson.

Briefing the media in New Delhi yesterday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the decision is based on the recommendation of the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC).

The `creamy layer` is a ceiling which bars members of the Other Backward Classes from availing reservations in employment.

Presently, if an OBC family`s income is up to Rs 6 lakh then it is entitled for 27 per cent reservation in government jobs and seats in educational institutes.

There had been three revisions of the creamy layer bar which was fixed at Rs 1 lakh in 1993 and hiked to Rs 2.5 lakh in 2004 and Rs 4.5 lakh in 2008.

The present ceiling of Rs 6 lakh came into being in 2013.
Kolkata: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) President Bimal Gurung has written to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and requested her to "initiate political dialogue" to resolve the crisis in Darjeeling, a party leader said on Thursday.

He also appealed to the state to "take appropriate measures" to bring normalcy to the region.

"Our President has sent a letter to Chief Minister and appealed that state government must take appropriate measures to address all the issues including the present crisis on a permanent basis and ensure that normalcy returns to Darjeeling," GJM leader Swaraj Thapa said.

The Darjeeling hills have been on the boil for over two months with an indefinite shutdown called by the GJM continuing since June 12 to press for a separate state of Gorkhaland.

He said that Gurung reminded that the GTA (Gorkhaland Territorial Administration) was only to be an interim arrangement as per the tripartite MoU and the party has not dropped its demand for Gorkhaland.

"...We request your honour to initiate political dialogue on the long pending demand of the Gorkhas, which is Gorkhaland, to help resolve the present crisis of Darjeeling," Gurung said in the letter.

Banerjee had on Tuesday announced that the state government would hold talks with "all major political parties" on August 29.

At the State Secretariat Nabanna, Banerjee, on Thursday, however denied having received any such letter from Gurung, but said GJM leader Binay Tamang would participate in the meeting of all political parties.

Gurung has also demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation or judicial inquiry into deaths caused due to police action, withdrawal of all the cases against agitators and that those detained during the agitation be released.

He also demanded compensation for the kin of those who have been "killed in police firing" and the injured.

Gurung said the creation of autonomous bodies in Darjeeling, first as the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council in 1988 and then as the GTA in 2011, has "failed miserably".

"The two failed councils in the Darjeeling hills today should pave way for us to learn from our previous mistakes that experimental models to temporarily curb people`s aspiration for separation from West Bengal has not worked in the past, nor the present," he said.
Borno: The Nigerian Army on Thursday said that 68 Boko Haram terrorists have surrendered in Borno in last three weeks.

This comes in the wake of an intense and sustained bombardment of Boko Haram hideouts and enclaves as well as foiling of logistics supply activities by the Nigerian Army in the region.

"So far, a total of 68 insurgents have denounced terrorists` activities within the last 3 weeks. These surrendered terrorists also reported that many of the enclaves have become untenable and life has become unbearable for the Boko Haram Terrorists owing to the blockade emplaced by troops and the sustained bombardments," said a senior army official.

Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, the Deputy Director Public Relations, Theatre Command, assured other terrorists willing to surrender of their safety and well-being and added that they can surrender to any military location nearest to them.

"The sustained operations against the remnants of the terrorist group have further pushed them to the brink of defeat with many of its foot soldiers willing to surrender to troops of Operation Lafiya Dole," Local media quoted the Theater Command as saying in a statement.

The Nigerian Army has urged Boko Haram insurgents to renounce their heinous acts and surrender.

Boko Haram, a Nigerian militant group, has continued to attack soft targets in the country's northeast region. The Boko Haram insurgency has caused about 100,000 deaths since 2009 despite the insurgents losing most of their occupied territory they once controlled.
Sao Paulo: At least 10 people have been confirmed dead and dozens were feared missing in northern Brazil after a boat sank overnight in the Amazon basin, the local government said on Wednesday.

Rescuers rushed to the wreck on the Xingu river in northern Para state, which borders a long section of the Amazon river and contains several large tributaries.

As of Wednesday evening, only 19 people had been rescued alive, according to the G1 news site.

There was no accurate passenger manifest, authorities said, but there were believed to be about 70 people aboard when the boat went down near Ponta Negra.

There was no immediate information about the cause of the sinking, although newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo said the theory that it got caught in a storm was being considered.

"Searches are continuing above and below water. It`s a hard-to-access area and of the three aircraft we sent, one is there just to act as a communications base," Colonel Augusto Lima, from the Para firefighters` service, told Folha.

The victims who were rescued got out by swimming, Globo news organization reported, saying the boat went down about 500 meters (1,640 feet) from the riverbank.

Ferries, fishing vessels and large commercial ships ply the Amazon waterways as one of the main forms of transport in a region with relatively few roads. The vessel in the fatal incident had left the port of Santarem bound for Vitoria de Xingu.

On August 2, nine people were listed missing in Para state when a group of rafts and a container ship collided on the Amazon river.
Sydney: Australia on Thursday defended its most senior intelligence chief after he was pictured posing with a clenched fist alongside Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, an image rights groups said undermines criticism of Duterte`s war on drugs.

Director-General of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service Nick Warner met Duterte in Manila on Tuesday, where he was photographed mirroring Duterte`s clenched fist pose.

The President`s clenched pose was used throughout his 2016 Presidential campaign during which he promised to use deadly force to wipe out crime and drugs.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Warner was complying with a request from Duterte and the image did not weaken Canberra`s criticism of Duterte`s war on drugs.

Duterte`s ferocious 14-month-old war on drugs has seen thousands of Filipinos killed, many in what critics say are suspicious circumstances.

"On both occasions that I`ve met with President Duterte I`ve raised the issue of human rights and the extrajudicial killings," Bishop told reporters in the city of Perth.

Amnesty International said Australia must do more to try to curtail the firebrand Philippine leader.

"Australia is sending mixed messages amid an incredible spike in killings of the Philippines poorest people," said Michael Hayworth, a human rights campaigner at Amnesty International.

"Australia must condemn in the strongest terms the killings by Philippines police of people without trial."

Since Duterte took office, more than 3,500 people have been killed in what the Philippine National Police (PNP) says were gunfights with drug suspects who had resisted arrests.

The PNP says some 2,000 more people were killed in other, drug-related violence that it denies involvement in. Human rights advocates, however, say the death toll could be far higher than police say.

Philippine presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said the clenched-fist photo reflected the friendly nature of the meeting and the warm relationship between the two countries.

"It was done in a light-hearted manner," Abella told reporters. "It wasn`t meant to be in any way political."
APF Constable found dead in Kanchanpur

An Armed Police Force (APF) Constable was found dead near Aithpur in Bhimdutta Municipality-6 of Kanchanpur district on Thursday morning.
Beijing: Defending Pakistan's role in Afghanistan, China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi made a phone call to United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and reminded him to "respect Pakistan's sovereignty and security concerns."

Jiechi reiterated that his government was committed to bringing peace to Afghanistan, but also called on the Trump administration to recognise the role of Pakistan in the process.

According to a chinese foreign ministry statement, Jiechi told Tillerson, "We should attach importance to the important role that Pakistan plays in the Afghanistan issue, respect Pakistan's sovereignty and legitimate security concerns."

The call assumes much significance as US President Donald Trump unveiled his new strategy for Afghanistan and South Asia in which Pakistan has been highly criticised ,a key Chinese ally for providing safe havens to terrorist organisations.

Jiechi said Beijing was committed to "advancing the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan" and that political dialogue was "the only way to solve the Afghanistan problem".

Trump alleged that Pakistan was playing a double game by accepting American aid while giving safe haven to militants who kill Afghan and Nato troops. Islamabad strongly denied the allegations.

China praised Islamabad for making "great sacrifices and contributions to fightingterrorism".

State Councillor Yang said China stand ready to keep communication open with the U.S on Afghanistan and to help the nation's peace and reconciliation process, the state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

"We need to give attention to the important role Pakistan plays in the Afghanistan issue and respect Pakistan's sovereignty and security concerns," Xinhua quoted Yang as saying.

US State Department spokesman Heather Nauert said in a press briefing that Tillerson provided an overview of Trump's South Asia policy in the phone call and focused on Afghanistan and Pakistan policy.
Beijing: China on Thursday issued a second safety advisory within two months to its nationals travelling to India, highlighting train accidents, natural disasters and frequent infectious disease cases in the country.

The notification issued by the Chinese Embassy in India comes amid the shrill campaign being carried out against India by the official media here over the Doklam standoff.

The advisory asks Chinese nationals to pay attention to their personal safety and the local security situation and to avoid unnecessary travel within the country, state-run People's Daily Online reported.

Travellers are told to carry personal identification information with them, obey religious customs, and keep their family, colleagues, and friends posted about their travel.

The advisory highlights the "weekend train derailment, natural disasters, and frequent infectious disease cases" in India.

The warning is valid till the end of the year.

The first safety advisory was issued by China on July 7 and was valid for one month.

India and China have been locked in a standoff for over two months in the Doklam area of the Sikkim sector. The face- off began after Indian troops stopped Chinese military from building a road in the area.
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak will visit the US in September to meet President Donald Trump, the Malaysian government said on Thursday.



The Malaysian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Razak would undertake a working visit to Washington on September 12, Xinhua news agency reported.



"The two leaders are expected to discuss areas of mutually beneficial cooperation, including national security, the global fight against terrorism and extremism, and trade and investment that will benefit our nations and our peoples," the statement said.



Both the Malaysian government and the White House said the two countries were looking forward to celebrating the 60th anniversary of bilateral ties.


Rome: NATO accused Russia on Thursday of "undermining stability and security in Europe" through its "aggressive behaviour".

"We have worked actively to forge a strategic partnership with Russia" since the Cold War, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told a defence and peace meeting in Italy.

"However, the aggressive behaviour of Russia has undermined stability and security in Europe," he added.

The 2014 incursion of pro-Russian forces into eastern Ukraine and Russia's annexation of Crimea have strained ties with the west to the limit.

In response, NATO has bolstered its presence in eastern European countries that are now allies but were once ruled from Moscow.

Stoltenberg described Russia's "illegal annexation of Crimea" as "the first time since World War II that a European nation had taken the territory of another country by force.

"Russia continues to destabilise Eastern Ukraine. It is a conflict in which nearly 10,000 Ukrainians have been killed and this has changed the security context enormously," he said.

But the NATO chief said he was not looking for a confrontation with Russia and that he strongly believed in dialogue.

The alliance has deployed multinational battalions to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland as NATO seeks to reassure them they will not be abandoned in any fresh crisis.
New York: A 49-year-old Nepali woman had a narrow escape after a stranger pushed her onto the train tracks at a subway station here but she was pulled to safety just minutes before a train approached the platform.

Kamala Shrestha, was returning home from work at a nail salon on Tuesday night and was standing at the subway platform when a black man approached her and pushed her onto the tracks.

"(The) train was almost coming," she was quoted as saying by the New York Daily News.

"At that same time the guy came and said, I'm going to kill you. He was very strong and he just pushed me," she said.

Shrestha hit the subway tracks, her head struck the metal and split open, leaving a large gash. As she shouted for help, two persons rushed to pull her back onto the platform just before a train approached the station.

"I tell someone, 'Help me! Help me!' I was scared. The two guys, they give me (their) hands, saying 'Come on! Come on!"

"They pulled me out," she added. "I feel so good because they helped me," she said.

She was immediately rushed to a local hospital and treated for injuries.

"I got a new life today," Shrestha told the Daily News from the hospital. "I feel good, actually. I almost died today."

Police is looking for the man who pushed her and then walked out of the station.

Shrestha said she hopes the police will find the man as he could try and push other people too, putting their lives in danger. "I want to find the guy," she said.

"My kids, my family, everybody uses the subway. I want him arrested. I don't want him to do this to anyone else."

Her husband, Nam Shrestha, too said the attacker should be punished. "He tried to kill her. He pushed her to die on the train tracks," he said.
Seoul: With photographs obliquely showing a new rocket design, North Korea has sent a message that it is working on an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) more powerful than any it has previously tested, weapons experts said on Thursday.

If developed, such a missile could possibly reach any place on the U.S. mainland, including Washington and New York, they said.

North Korea`s state media published photographs late on Wednesday of leader Kim Jong Un standing next to a diagram of a three-stage rocket it called the Hwasong-13.

Missile experts, who carefully examine such pictures for clues about North Korea`s weapons programmes, said there is no indication that the rocket has been fully developed. In any case, it had not been flight tested and it was impossible to calculate its potential range, they said.

However, a three-stage rocket would be more powerful than the two-stage Hwasong-14 ICBM tested on two occasions in July, they said. South Korean and U.S. officials and experts have said the Hwasong-14 possibly had a range of about 10,000 km (6,200 miles) and could strike many parts of the United States, but not the East Coast.

"We should be looking at Hwasong-13 as a 12,000-km class ICBM that can strike all of the mainland United States," said Kim Dong-yub, a military expert at Kyungnam University`s Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul.

A distance in excess of 11,000 km (6,800 miles) will put Washington and New York within range from anywhere in North Korea.

"It`s likely meant to show that they are working on a three-stage design with greater boost and range," said retired Brigadier General Moon Sung-muk, an arms control expert who has represented South Korea in military talks with the North.

"They tested the Hwasong-14 which has an estimated range of 9,000 km, 10,000 km. This one can go further, is the message," he said.

TENSIONS EASE

Pyongyang`s intentions in showing plans for the new missile were clear, the experts said. The photographs were accompanied by a report of Kim issuing instructions for the production of more rocket engines and warheads during a visit to the Academy of Defense Sciences, an agency he has set up to develop ballistic missiles.

"We`re getting a look at it to emphasise domestic production of missiles, and to advertise what`s coming next," said Joshua Pollack, a nuclear weapon and missile systems expert who edits the U.S.-based Nonproliferation Review.

The photographs were published as tensions between North Korea and the United States appeared to have eased slightly after the isolated nation tested the Hwasong-14 and later threatened to fire missiles toward the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam.

Wednesday`s report carried by the KCNA news agency lacked the traditionally robust threats against the United States, and U.S. President Donald Trump expressed optimism about a possible improvement in relations.

Kim, the expert at Kyungnam University, said from the design standpoint, Hwasong-13 was similar to the KN-08, a three-stage missile of which only a mockup has previously been seen at military parades. But the new images show a modified design for the main booster stage that clusters two engines.

Another picture published by North Korean state media showed Kim Jong Un standing next to a rocket casing that appeared to be made of a material that could include plastic. Experts said if such material were used in the missile, it would be intended to reduce weight and boost range.

The photographs also showed the design for the Pukguksong-3, likely a new solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile being developed for submarine launches.

Moon, the former South Korean general, said the pictures were intended to show that the North was refusing to bow to international pressure to call off its weapons programmes.
London: A 43-year-old Pakistan-born man with an Italian passport has been sentenced to 18 years in prison in the UK for trying to smuggle a pipe bomb onto a plane at Manchester Airport.

Nadeem Muhammad had been convicted of possessing explosives with intent to endanger life at Manchester Crown Court earlier this month.

Judge Patrick Field, sentencing at the court yesterday, concluded there was no obvious motivation for Muhammad's actions.

During his trial, prosecutors had presented evidence that Muhammad intended to detonate the device on a Boeing 737 flight to Bergamo, Italy.

The jury did not believe Muhammad's claim in court that he had never seen the device before.

"Despite extensive investigation, Nadeem Muhammad's motive for attempting to take this device onto a plane remains unknown. However it is clear that the consequences, had he been successful, could have been disastrous,"?said Sue Hemmings from the UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

The court was told that Muhammad was planning to board a Ryanair flight to Italy?on January 30?this year when security officers uncovered the device, made of masking tape, batteries, the tube of a marker pen, pins and wires, in the zip lining of his small green suitcase.

Security officers at the airport had not initially believed the bomb was viable and, after being questioned by counter-terrorism police, Muhammad was released and allowed to board another flight to Bergamo, near Milan, five days later.

The device was later passed on to counter terrorism experts for examination, who found it to be a "potentially viable" bomb containing nitroglycerin and nitrocellulose.

Muhammad was eventually arrested when he returned to the UK from Italy on February 12.

After sentencing, the judge said he was "alarmed" about some of the evidence in the case and about "the lack of concern" expressed by both airport officials and police.

"Airport security staff reached a wholly erroneous and potentially dangerous conclusion - as a result one member of staff even put the device in her pocket and tested it in the shoe X-ray machine," he said.

He said that had "put herself and fellow employees and members of public at risk".

"The situation was compounded when the police became involved because they too readily accepted it wasn't dangerous and an early opportunity to arrest him was missed."

Judge Field said there was "a risk he (Muhammad) could have escaped justice altogether" and it was "good luck rather than good judgement" that "this matter came to a satisfactory conclusion".

He noted: "In these dangerous times there is no room for complacency and I hope security at Manchester Airport will be subject to a review at the highest level."

A Manchester Airport spokesperson said: "Security is our number one priority and we work closely with (the) government, police and other agencies to provide passengers with a safe and secure environment.

"In this instance, our security team successfully detected a device hidden inside the lining of a suitcase. It was deemed to be a suspicious item and passed to police to investigate further.

"These actions prevented a potentially dangerous item being taken on board an aircraft and, ultimately, to a successful prosecution," the spokesperson said.

Greater Manchester Police Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson said the airport and police have reviewed their security procedure.
Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will meet with powerful Pakistani generals on Thursday to formulate a response to the new US policy on Afghanistan that includes greater pressure on Islamabad to do more to rein in militants.

President Donald Trump has chastised Pakistan for harbouring "agents of chaos" and providing safe havens to militant groups waging an insurgency against a US-backed government in Kabul, saying Islamabad must promptly change tack.

White House officials have gone further and threatened aid and military cuts, as well as other measures to force nuclear-armed Pakistan`s hand and bring about an end to the 16-year-war.

Abbasi has not responded yet to Trump`s remarks but Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said Washington should not use Pakistan as a "scapegoat" for its failures in America`s longest running war. Pakistan denies harbouring militants.

As is often the case with Pakistan, the final decision about how to proceed rests with the military, which has ruled the country for nearly half its 70-year history. It calls the shots on key parts of Pakistan`s foreign policy, including ties with the United States, Afghanistan and arch-foe India.

Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who will be part of the National Security Council meeting on Thursday, a day earlier met with US Ambassador David Hale and said Islamabad wanted trust and understanding rather than US aid money.

Pakistani officials bristle at what they say is a lack of respect by Washington for the country`s sacrifices in the war against militancy and its successes against groups like al Qaeda, Islamic State or the Pakistani Taliban.

Pakistan estimates there have been 70,000 casualties in militant attacks since it joined the US "war on terrorism" after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

"We feel the American administration led by Mr Trump has been totally one sided, unfair to Pakistan and does not appreciate and recognise Pakistan has been a pivotal player...in the campaign against terrorism," Senator Mushahid Hussain, chairman of the senate defence committee, told Reuters on Thursday.

Pakistani officials have also been angered by Trump imploring old rival India to play a greater role in reconstructing Afghanistan, warning a greater Indian role in Kabul could be a threat to regional peace.

Pakistan fears New Delhi`s greater influence in Afghanistan would leave it sandwiched by India, its bigger neighbour against whom it has fought three wars since independence in 1947.

Analysts have also warned putting greater pressure on Pakistan risks driving Islamabad deeper into the arms of China, its northern neighbour which is investing nearly $60 billion in infrastructure projects as part of its Belt and Road initiative.

China`s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, told US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a phone call the United States must value Pakistan`s role in Afghanistan and respect its security concerns, according to Chinese state media.

"Things have changed since 9/11," added Hussain.

"The US today has far more diminished clout and leverage in the region and we have far more strategic space and options in our foreign policy."

The relationship between the two countries has endured periods of extreme strain in recent years, especially after al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was found and killed by US special forces in Pakistan in a 2011 raid.
Sanaa: At least 48 people were killed in a Saudi-led coalition airstrike on a hotel near a Houthi-run checkpoint north of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, officials in Yemen said on Wednesday.

A senior security official in Sanaa, Ali Al-Asimi, said that the coalition conducted the attack. Most of the dead at the hotel were merchants.

The Saudi officials were not immediately available to comment.

According to the Health Ministry, the strike was one of two dozens in the country. At least 26 people were injured, CNN reported.Saudi Arabia has been leading an alliance of Arab states against Iran-backed Houthi militants, who toppled the globally recognized leadership in Yemen. As the coalition and rebel groups attack one another, terror groups operate unhindered and civilians were trapped in the crossfire.

A farmer Mohammed al-Sarhi, told CNN, "most of those killed at the hotel were buried under rubble and died while sleeping.

"Meanwhile, Yemen`s Interior Ministry said that seven Houthi fighters were died in coalition airstrikes at other locations in the capital.

Houthi Shia movement is also known as Ansar Allah, which is backed by army units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.Since March 2015, the Saudi-led coalition of mostly Persian Gulf countries has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi`s request.
United Nations: A UN panel has strongly criticised the US government for its "failure at the highest political level" to unequivocally reject racist violent events in Charlottesville and throughout the country.

On August 12, a car rammed into a crowd marching against a white supremacist rally in Virginia's Charlottesville, killing a woman and injuring 19 others.

There were clashes between far-right nationalists and people who had come to protest against the occupation of a park housing a statue of Confederate general Robert E Lee.

Following the clashes, a state of emergency was declared, and police and security forces were deployed in riot gears.

Without naming President Donald Trump, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) said its members were "disturbed by the failure at the highest political level of the United States of America to unequivocally reject and condemn the racist violent events" in Charlottesville and suggested that this lack of action fuelled a "proliferation of racist discourse and incidents".

The committee called on the US government, high-level politicians and public officials to unequivocally and unconditionally reject and condemn racist hate speech and crimes in Charlottesville and throughout the country.

In a decision issued under its 'early warning and urgent action' procedure, the Committee, which monitors implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, said that "there should be no place in the world for racist white supremacist ideas or any similar ideologies that reject the core human rights principles of human dignity and equality".

"We are alarmed by the racist demonstrations with overtly racist slogans, chants and salutes by white nationalists, neo- Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan, promoting white supremacy and inciting racial discrimination and hatred," said CERD Chairperson Anastasia Crickley.

In addition to the criminal investigation of the individual who ploughed his car into a crowd of peaceful protesters and killed a woman, Heather Heyer, the UN experts asked the US authorities to undertake concrete measures "to address the root causes of the proliferation of such racist manifestations".

"We call on the US government to investigate thoroughly the phenomenon of racial discrimination targeting in particular people of African descent, ethnic or ethno- religious minorities and migrants," Crickley said.

The CERD also called on the US to ensure that the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly are not exercised with the aim of destroying or denying the rights and freedoms of others.

It also asked the US to provide necessary guarantees so that such rights are not misused to promote racist hate speech and racist crimes.
Deuba, Modi hold joint press meet

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Nepal for successfully holding the two phases of local level elections and hoped that the step would improve democracy and stability in Nepal.
Bogota: Venezuelan authorities took a major Colombian television channel off air on their territory, the broadcaster said Thursday, amid diplomatic tensions between the two countries over Venezuela`s deadly political crisis.

Caracol Television became the latest of several foreign broadcasters ordered off air by President Nicolas Maduro, who accuses hostile media of joining in a conspiracy against him.

"We deeply regret this decision by the government of Venezuela to take Caracol Television off the air. They have taken us off the two cable operators," Caracol`s head of news, Juan Roberto Vargas, said on BLU radio in Colombia.

Maduro faces international pressure including from Colombia and the United States over his handling of an economic and political crisis as he resists opposition calls for elections.

Last weekend tension between Venezuela and its neighbor Colombia mounted after Santos offered protection to a fugitive prosecutor critical of Maduro.

Vargas insisted that Caracol was always "objective and truthful" in its coverage.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow arrived in Armenia on official visit in the evening of August 23 at the invitation of President Serzh Sargsyan, press service of the Presidents Office told Armenpress.

The official welcoming ceremony of Turkmenistans President was held in the Presidential Palace on August 24 which was followed by a private meeting of the two Presidents.

President Sargsyan welcomed the guest in Armenia and said the Armenian-Turkmen relations are friendly and multilayer.

I am very happy that today you are in Armenia. Your visit is a significant event, and it takes place on the eve of the 25th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries. This is a very good chance to somehow summarize the results and outline our further work. Turkmenistan is a reliable partner, and we are interested in to actively develop the relations between our states, and all opportunities exist for that. We hold active ties, and I am very happy that today we have a chance to talk about our future plans. Welcome to Armenia. I am very happy to see you, and of course, my friendly greetings to the people of Turkmenistan, President Serzh Sargsyan said.

The President of Turkmenistan thanked the Armenian President for the warm words and the invitation to arrive in Armenia on official visit.

On behalf of the delegation of Turkmenistan I would like to thank you for the warm reception, and as you said, this year, and more precisely on October 9, marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. I would like to state that over these years many works have been carried out between Turkmenistan and Armenia in terms of developing political, commercial and cultural-humanitarian ties. The most important, which you mentioned, is that this visit gives new impetus to our mutual partnership and reveals new opportunities and prospect for the development of mutual ties.

Of course, all these are for the welfare of our peoples. I would like to highlight also foreign policy affairs over which we are always grateful to you. You always assist on issues relating to out status of neutrality. The issues proposed by us at international platforms which are, of course, general issues, for instance, the establishment of stability and security in the world, issues of energy security, stable transportations and transportation corridors development, particularly when UN respective resolutions have been adopted over them, we will transform to other famous international structures  OSCE, CIS and etc. Thats why we act correctly by constantly holding consultations between our foreign ministries over these issues. Its necessary to continue them.

Today Turkmenistan has a great potential in trade-economic field. You also have similar potential. I think we can utilize it at various directions. Of course, those are first of all issues relating to trade, energy, agriculture, textile industry, healthcare, as well as a number of other fields. Of course, here the main burden lies on our Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation which must be the main coordinator between our countries. In terms of humanitarian ties, a lot unites us. Our relations come from the Middle Ages. Its welcoming that today we continue them and serve as example for future generations of our countries. Once again I would like to express my gratitude for your invitation and by using this chance I wish success to your state activity, prosperity and good luck to the entire people of Armenia, the President of Turkmenistan said.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. Sergey Avetisyan  head of the General Department of Civil Aviation, will visit China in autumn. During the visit the agreement on Air communications between the Governments of Armenia and China may be signed and the details on conducting possible direct flights to Armenia from China and vice versa will be discussed.

Satenik Hovhannisyan, spokeswoman of the General Department of Civil Aviation, told Armenpress, the Chinese delegation led by deputy head of the Civil Aviation Department visited Armenia at the invitation of Sergey Avetisyan.

Within the frames of the visit the agreement on Air communications between the Governments of Armenia and China has been initialed and a memorandum of understanding between the aviation authorities of the two countries has been signed.

The Armenian delegation led by Sergey Avetisyan received an invitation to visit China to meet with the representatives of Chinese airlines.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. On August 25-29 a high risk of fire is predicted in Armenia.

On August 25 the index of ultraviolet rays is predicted to reach 6, so its recommended to avoid direct sunrays from 11:00 to 15:00, the emergency situations ministry told Armenpress.

Long-lasting physical work under the direct sunrays can cause sunstroke.

On August 25-29 no precipitation is expected in Armenia.

Southwest wind speed is 3-8 m/s.

The air temperature will not change considerably.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. Foreign minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian commented on the provisions released by OSCE Minsk Group acting American Co-Chair Richard Hoagland over the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, reports Armenpress.

In a meeting with reporters at the Presidential Palace, the Armenian FM said the US acting Co-Chair didnt say anything new. Look at all the previous statements, you will see the same, he said.

As for Armenias stance on those provisions, Edward Nalbandian said: We have expressed our stance when respective statement has been made: look at the 5 statements at the presidents level of the three co-chairing countries, and Armenia has repeatedly expressed its stance over them. Its another issue that Azerbaijan avoids somehow expressing its stance, and it not only avoids, but also pretends that there are no such proposals, principles.

The FM assured that there is nothing dangerous for the Armenian side in the American Co-Chairs statement.

Asked what is the goal of the Co-Chairs statement, Edward Nalbandian said the Co-Chair completes his mission and before leaving the post he just gave an interview and talked about some issues again.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. The statements made before and after the meeting of Armenian and Russian Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Vladimir Putin show that the Armenian-Russian relations are at a rather high level, political scientist Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan told Armenpress.

The talk concerns the economic, military cooperation and issues of forming a policy in the region in general. I think yesterdays meeting is one of the best proofs of that close relationship, he said, adding that the statements of the heads of the two countries give optimistic moods.

Commenting on the Presidents discussion over the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, the political scientist said that issue could not be missed from the meeting agenda. According to him, this is the major issue in South Caucasus.

This issue concerns not only Armenia, Artsakh and Azerbaijan, but also the regional security in general. It somehow affects also the ongoing regional developments. The stability in South Caucasus enables Russia to feel more confident in its actions in the Middle East and act with a safer back there, he said.

Melik-Shahnazaryan added that the discussions didnt focus on solutions, rather, at the moment its necessary to ensure calm situation and predictability of stability.

The discussions, most probably, were focused on this direction so that situation in the border will be calm and this dangerous situation will be somehow overcome, he added.

Within the frames of the working visit to Russia, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan met with President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on August 23. The Presidents discussed a number of issues, including the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement.




YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. During a meeting in Yerevan the Presidents of Armenia and Turkmenistan reaffirmed the mutual desire to strengthen partnership to contribute to global peace, Turkmenistans President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow told reporters after the meeting with President Serzh Sargsyan on August 24, reports Armenpress.

We have expressed readiness to develop the cooperation on that path both within the frames of bilateral format and the UN, OSCE, CIS and other international structures, he said.

President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow said the sides agreed to unite efforts in addressing international security challenges and threats, including in fight against terrorism and drug trafficking.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. During the Armenian-Turkmen high-level talks in Yerevan, the issue of launching possible direct flight between the capitals of the two countries was discussed, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan told reporters at the Presidential Palace after the meeting with President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, reports Armenpress.

In this sense we are ready to provide a complete package of privileges to our Turkmen friends within the frames of open sky policy that is being carried out in Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan said.

The sides focused on the development prospects of trade-economic partnership. President Sargsyan noted with pain that the unfavorable situation in global markets affected also the trade turnover of the two countries. In this context the two Presidents discussed all possible ways and existing measures to boost bilateral economic cooperation, outline new horizons for mutual partnership.

We agree that the economic cooperation must be enriched by joint projects with a special emphasis on innovation and high technologies. We think the existing Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation will effectively boost the entire complex of bilateral trade ties, will assist their further diversification and launch of new and interesting programs, Serzh Sargsyan said.

The two Presidents also touched upon the traditional cooperation directions, including the energy field. They agreed to develop the productive partnership in this field in the future. President Sargsyan stated that certain prospects are revealed in agriculture field, expressing hope that the Turkmen partners will take part in the activity of the free economic zone to be created in Armenia. I am convinced that we can with joint efforts move forward large-scale projects behind which are the modern production and new jobs, the development of national economies in general. During our talks Mr. President said he is already thinking about projects worth billions rather than millions. This encourages us, and we will definitely work on this path, Serzh Sargsyan stated, adding that like previously both countries will develop the mutual partnership in education field.

The talks also focused on the topic of foreign policy. Armenia and Turkmenistan successfully cooperate at international platforms, they have really close or coherent stances on key international affairs. In this context we agreed to deepen the cooperation at various multilateral formats, the Armenian President concluded.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. 76-year-old resident of Kurdish Hazzo village of Turkeys Diyarbakir province told that she has been subjected to pressures by the Turkish special forces who suspected her of being an Armenian, Agos reports.

Saniye Etkin told her granddaughter that the Turkish special forces with civilian clothes entered their house and spoke in Armenian. When they saw the Bible at the womans house, they said in Armenian: If you are an Armenian, you do not need to be concealed, tell us frankly.

The Hazzo village of Diyarbakir is mainly lived by Kurds who assist the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and for that reason the village is always under the control of Turkish special forces.

Saniye Etkins granddaughter told Agos that her grandmother is a Kurdish Muslim and took part in the Kurdish movements when she was young.

The existence of the Bible in the houses library mostly caused doubt among the Turkish police officers.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. The final farewell ceremony of famous writer Perch Zeytuntsyan was held in the Chamber Music House, reports Armenpress.

President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan attended the ceremony and extended condolences to Zeytuntsyans family members.

The ceremony was also attended by his relatives, artists, writers.

I note with deep regret the loss of Perch Zeytuntsyan. During his literary activity he managed to revive our history, turn it into a play, a film. I am convinced that his works will give us and the future generation a chance to live truthfully. His works reflected the image of an honest citizen, the core of our history, culture minister Armen Amiryan said, who was accompanying the President.

Perch Zeytuntsyan has died on August 21 after a long, serious illness.
Dr KC demands annulment of Kathmandu National affiliation

A day before leaving for Saptari to provide medical treatment to the flood-affected people in Saptari, Dr Govinda KC on Wednesday said he will be forced to begin another round of hunger strike if the government fails to annul the affiliation granted to Kathmandu National Medical College.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev continues exerting pressure on media representatives through tough and illegal measures, the Azerbaijani media report.

On August 24 director of Turan independent news agency Mehman Aliyev has been arrested.

According to media reports, he has been arrested on suspicion of avoiding taxes.

The tax crimes investigation department of the Azerbaijani ministry of taxes launched a large-scale inspection in the Turan news agency in the morning of August 16. Earlier, tax audit was launched in the agency. Based on the audit results, the department presented debt worth 37 thousand manats which must be paid by the Turan news agency. According to the departments explanation, the agency showed little revenues so to pay less taxes. In its turn Turan announced that the agency didnt do anything illegal, and these actions are directed against eliminating its activity. The tax crimes investigation department on August 7 launched a criminal case against the news agency and investigation was underway.
YEREVAN, 24 AUGUST, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 24 August, USD exchange rate is up by 0.22 drams to 478.77 drams. EUR exchange rate is up by 0.79 drams to 564.52 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate stood at 8.10 drams. GBP exchange rate is up by 1.09 drams to 613.54 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price is up by 46.80 drams to 19805.16 drams. Silver price is up by 0.73 drams to 262.6 drams. Platinum price is up by 83.85 drams to 15069.56 drams.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan had a working dinner with the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov who is in Armenia on a state visit. As Armenpress was informed from the press service of the Government of Armenia, the sides highly assessed the level of the relations between the two friendly states and highlighted the future continuation of mutually beneficial cooperation.

Noting that there is huge potential in economic relations, Karen Karapetyan and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov exchanged ideas over deepening partnership in the spheres of energy, tourism, agriculture, transport and other sectors.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenian-Russian relations have been dynamically developing in all directions in the recent years, Vice President of the National Assembly of Armenia Eduard Sharmazanov told ARMENPRESS, commenting on the meeting of the Armenian and Russian President in Sochi on August 23.

The meeting of Presidents Sargsyan and Putin in Sochi was a meeting of the presidents of two allied states, the agenda of which included key issues of bilateral interest  military, military-political, economic, political and humanitarian cooperation, as well as cooperation in other spheres. Russia is our key ally and we have to mention that Armenian-Russian relations are dynamically developing in all directions, Sharmazanov stressed.

The parliament Vice President assesses it natural that the two Presidents touched upon Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement and regional security issues in general at the meeting. Its natural for two simple reasons. The first is that Russia is our ally and we are both CSTO member states, and second, Russia is one of the three Co-chair states and has a very crucial role in Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, Eduard Sharmazanov concluded.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. There is no need to look for any sensation in the announcement made by the OSCE American Co-chair Richard Hogland over the main principles of Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, since its an announcement of outgoing Co-chair who has said nothing new, Vice President of the National Assembly of Armenia Eduard Sharmazanov told ARMENPRESS. He stated that the American Co-chairs have a tradition of commenting on the stage of the negotiation process or what they were based on after their departure. I do not agree with the unnecessary stir that has emerged in our media. First, Hogland has said nothing new. The numerous statements issued by the Presidents of the OSCE Co-chair states have touched upon all the principles, Sharmazanov said.

He added that there has been no statement at least in the recent years where France, the RF and the USA do not share the same opinion. All the statements are the statements of the three Co-chair states. We saw Hogland making another announcement a little before on withdrawing snipers from the front line, enhancing confidence-building mechanisms, which previously had been said by the official representative of the Russian MFA. There was nothing new in Hoglands announcement. May be this was conditioned by the fact that he was leaving and wanted to once again talk about the issue, the parliament Vice President stressed, clarifying that the points presented by Hogland are the basis of the Madrid principles and the Kazan document that came a little later.

Eduard Sharmazanov emphasized that the key point of Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement must be the free expression of will of the people of Artsakh. Artsakh will never be part of Azerbaijan and the international recognition of Artsakh is a matter of time. Do we need mutual concessions? Of course, it will be impossible to achieve any success without mutual concessions, but before we talk about that, Azerbaijan should show us which the concession it can make is. While it was not Armenia that denied the Madrid principles and its renewed version, the Kazan document, but Azerbaijan, and usually human logic suggests that it is the side not interested in something that denies something. And in this context it is not Armenia that denies the negotiation process, but Azerbaijan. That is why I call on my colleges not to make any sensation from this announcement, Sharmazanov said.

In conclusion, the Vice President of the National Assembly of Armenia noted that the negotiation process is based on three prominent principles  peaceful settlement, right to self-determination and territorial integrity, from which Azerbaijan denies the first two ones.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian has commented on the statement of the OSCE Minsk Group American Co-chair Richard Hoglands announcement on Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement. As Armenpress was informed from the press service of the MFA, Edward Nalbandian talked to news.am on the issue.

Question: How would you comment on the elements of the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict presented by the US Co-Chair Hoagland?

Answer: I already had an opportunity earlier today to answer to that question. I emphasized that the presented elements in general repeat the provisions of the well-known five statements on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement issued by the Presidents of the Minsk Group Co-Chair countries.

Question: In other words, did Hoagland literally repeat those provisions?

Answer: In his comment he tried to remain faithful to those provisions, however, he made some inaccuracies and omissions. I would like to repeat once again, that the position on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement is expressed not via separate comments, but via joint proposals and statements of the Co-Chair countries. In particular, the position of the Co-Chair countries was expressed in five statements issued on the level of presidents, and has been reaffirmed by the Co-Chairs on numerous occasions; for example, in the statement of the Foreign Ministers of the Co-Chair countries adopted in Hamburg last December.

By the way, alongside the six elements of the conflict settlement, the statements of the Presidents and Foreign Ministers of the Co-Chair countries refer also to the three principles of international law as the basis for the conflict resolution, namely: non-use of force or threat of use of force, equal rights and self-determination of peoples and territorial integrity.

Armenia has repeatedly expressed its position on the statements of the Co-Chair countries. That has not been the case with Azerbaijan, which ignores these statements and pretends as if that they do not exist at all. Thus, Baku blatantly opposes to the approaches of the Co-Chair countries.

The consistent statements by the Co-Chairs once again demonstrate that the fictions scenarios on the conflict resolution and distorted elements of settlement recently fabricated by Azerbaijan have nothing to do with the reality.

Ambassador Hoagland in his comment opens the list of elements of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement from the determination of the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh through expression of will, which should have a legally binding character, including for Azerbaijan.

It has become endemic for Baku to backtrack from the prior agreements. This refers not only to the settlement process of the conflict, but to the confidence building measures, as well. Particularly, the statement of the Foreign Ministers of the Co-Chair countries in Hamburg once again urged to implement the agreements reached at the Vienna and St. Petersburg Summits. It is well known, that Armenia and Artsakh have continuously reiterated their readiness to implement those agreements, while Azerbaijan has backtracked from its commitments.

Armenia will consistently continue to exert joint efforts together with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries aimed at exclusively peaceful settlement of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).


SYDNEY, AustraliaFiona Patten has a storied history in Australian politics. In 1992, she and partner Robbie Swan established the Eros Association, an activist group whose avowed mission was to fight rampant censorship Down Under and to make available to Australians a greater diversity of products, including sex toys and XXX videos. It also worked towards legalizing prostitution, which had varying degrees of legality in different Australian states, and campaigned to make stores that sell tobacco products "adults only."

But operating as an association was limiting to what Patten felt she could accomplish, so in 2009, she formed the eye-catchingly named Sex Party, which at its height had more than 7,500 members and managed to get representatives, including herself, elected to Parliament in the state of Victoria.

But despite its successes, Patten has decided that being the head of a "sex party" was itself a barrier to getting done all the things she wanted"It got peoples attention so people could look at what we were doing, but some people couldnt look past the name," Patten told The New York Timesand so she has now recast the Sex Party as the "Reason Party," and has officially deregistered the Sex Party from all official rolls.

"Australian politics is brokenthe major parties are incapable of reform," she wrote on the Reason Party's new website. "The minor parties are being squeezed out and trust is all but lost, with corruption, factional in-fighting and inaction the norm. Australian politics has become cruel, self-centred and small-minded and right now extremists hold the balance of power ... Its time for REASON."

"Our approach is inclusive," reads the party's Mission Statement. "REASON aims to deliver new methods of engagement and consultation, to improve access to the political process, especially for young Australians and minorities. REASON seeks to democratise government institutions and electoral processes. REASON will be future-focused and evidence-based," adding that "REASON fights for real change for the better on important issues such as inequality, a post-carbon economy, housing affordability, asylum seeker treatment, job security and accessibility and quality of education, health and infrastructure."

Joining Patten in the new venture is Dr. Meredith Doig, a former military officer, governance specialist and president of the Rationalist Society of Australia, whose members believe that "all significant beliefs and actions should be based on reason and evidence, that the natural world is the only world there is, and that answers to the key questions of human existence are to be found only in that natural world."

The new party does not appear to have any connection to America's Libertarian Party, whose main publication in the U.S. is Reason magazine, but both seem to support many of the same civil liberties objectives, including church/state separation, opposition to censorship of any kind, "right to die with dignity" laws and similar "rational" policies.

"Because there are so many people disengaged with politics, there are so many people who have been part of the major parties that have just lost faith in them, that is where were going to see our growth," Patten told The Times. "Its going to be people steering away from the traditional parties and moving to Reason."

Sounds like something the U.S. could stand a big dose of!
LOS ANGELESLike each annual event, this years Female Empowerment lounge at Webmaster Access Amsterdam will provide a private space with an open atmosphere for the women in our industry to come together to socialize, conduct business and celebrate one anothers achievements. Held September 9th and 10th from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Doubletree by Hilton, we invite all industry women to stop by and refuel with champagne, wine and hors doeuvres.

This year, special guest speaker and author of On High Heels in Africa, Chantal Heutink, also known as Lady Redpower," will be delivering her motivational real-life experiences as a businesswoman in the 21st century. She will share her journey from the Netherlands to Kenya fueled by a passion to follow her dreams and squash her fears. After a career of more than 15 years in management, training, recruitment, and business ownership, Chantal decided to step out of her comfort zone and follow her biggest childhood dream. In 2006 she left the fast-paced Amsterdam lifestyle behind for a new reality in the laid back culture of Kenya.

Chantal successfully set up a social business in Kenya, founded I-Care pads and started running her own factory. With a relentless ambition, Chantal led her crusade to educate and supply materials necessary for more than 55,000 women in Kenya to live a full life, every single day of the month. Breaking cultural barriers and misconceptions, Chantal provided the women of Kenya with sanitary means to attend work and school, even on their Red Days." After closing her business in 2016, she wrote the book, On High Heels in Africa, to share her personal and business lessons while giving the women of Africa a voice.

The Female Empowerment Lounge and motivational speaker are sponsored by Chaturbate both days during the show. Learn more about Chaturbate at Chaturbate.com. Both Chaturbate and Webmaster Access invite women from every sector of the Industry to join us to listen to Chantals story on September 9th at 3 p.m. to be inspired, educated and united with your fellow female colleagues.

To register for Webmaster Access, visit webmasteraccess.com.
Walls owner Addo Food Group has donated 100,000 meals-worth of pies, slices and quiches to redistribution charity FareShare.

Addos Riverside Bakery first partnered with FareShare in April 2016, followed by the manufacturers Poole Bakery at the end of the year. The latter was through an initiative with logistics company Fowler Welch, which uses spare capacity on its vehicles to deliver food to one of FareShares 20 regional centres across the UK.

FareShare redistributes the food, which would otherwise go to waste, to charities and community groups that support those in need.

Addo Food Group is setting a great example to the manufacturing sector and should be proud of having supplied so many meals of surplus stock to FareShare, said FareShare CEO Lindsay Boswell. Thanks to our partnership, we are able to provide charities and community groups across the UK with the kinds of chilled product they are always in real need of.

With a third site, Addos Dorset Foods, linking with the charity in July 2017, the amount donated is set to grow further with cocktail sausages and savoury eggs added to donations.

Addo has also helped local charity Hope Nottingham in setting up its community cafe, which aims to help low-income families and out-of-work individuals, as well as offering services such as addiction counselling, housing support and homeless mental health support.

As one of the UKs largest food manufacturers we believe its important to be supporting local communities and good causes where possible, said Deborah Bolton, site MD at Riverside Bakery.
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.
Floods leave 8pc of paddy fields unplanted

Farmers have been forced to leave 8 percent of the countrys paddy fields unplanted due to floods which hit the southern Tarai plains in mid-August.
New director of Kinston facility is enthusiastic about the future



Allen Thomas, the new executive director of the Global TransPark, says he's eager to make the 2,500-acre, state-owned industrial park live up to its initial promise. (CJ photo by Don Carrington)

A quarter-century after its launch, the Global TransPark continues searching for a strategic plan that works.The General Assembly in June ordered the North Carolina Global TransPark Authority to develop another strategic plan for its underperforming industrial park and deliver the plan to a transportation oversight committee by January 15. The GTP - a 2,500-acre, state-owned industrial park in Kinston - officially launched in 1992. It has failed to meet the forecast it would create 47,756 direct jobs and 101,242 total jobs by 2010. The project has consumed between $200 million and $300 million in public funds since its inception.The job estimates were part of a 1992 study commissioned by the North Carolina Department of Transportation that was used to generate public support for the project. Carolina Journal has followed the GTP from the beginning and published several news stories and commentaries on the project.GTP Executive Director Allen Thomas told CJ there are currently about 1,000 private sector jobs at the facility and another 400 public sector jobs. A businessman and former N.C. Department of Commerce industry recruiter, Thomas started the job in June, resigning from his part-time job as mayor of Greenville. He is enthusiastic about the challenges ahead of him.he said.State officials envisioned the project as an air cargo airport surrounded by just-in-time manufacturing facilities, but the park has failed to attract any just-in-time manufacturers.In March, GTP Interim Executive Director Richard Barkes made a presentation to the General Assembly's Joint Appropriations Committee on Transportation that described the GTP strategic plan as follows:But the General Assembly apparently wanted a new strategic plan. Through the state budget passed in June, it ordered the GTP to develop another strategic plan and hire a marketing firm. This follows GTP strategic plans that were released in 2002 and 2010. The GTP currently receives $700,000 a year in direct taxpayer support from the state budget. The General Assembly included an additional $400,000 a year for the next two years for the planning and marketing efforts.UNC-Chapel Hill business professor John Kasarda developed the concept for the facility in 1990 and convinced Gov. Jim Martin that it would be a wonderful opportunity for the state to pursue. In 1991, the General Assembly embraced the project and established an independent North Carolina Air Cargo Airport Authority under NCDOT.At press time Kasarda had not responded to CJ's questions asking why the project has not attracted the just-in-time manufacturing facilities he envisioned.In a 1994 CJ piece by John Hood and Michael Lowrey the authors said,They also noted that CJ contributing editor Mike Walden, an N.C. State University economist,In 2002, CJ reported NCDOT officials significantly reduced a detailed version of a report to the General Assembly to exclude information that the Global TransPark "is perceived as a major financial liability" and that abandonment of the "less-than satisfactory" project could spell disaster for state leaders.the long version of the report says.In 2008, the GTP finally landed a major tenant when Spirit AeroSystems, a spinoff of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, announced it selected the GTP to produce composite fuselage structures for a new aircraft model, the Airbus A350 that would be assembled in France. CJ stories noted that the project came at a high cost because state officials committed subsidies in excess of $200 million to attract the company.Then-NCDOT Secretary Gene Conti, was excited about the Spirit project.he wrote in a commentary for The Charlotte Observer.he said.CJ reported in 2010 that the GTP had no plan to repay $25 million in unpaid principal plus accrued interest that it borrowed from a fund controlled by the state treasurer. Realizing the repayment was not practical, in 2013 the General Assembly appropriated funds to retire the debt.In 2015, CJ reported that a six-mile-long railroad spur line connecting the Spirit plant to the main rail line - completed in 2012 at a cost to taxpayers of $24 million - was not being used by Spirit. State officials said the rail line was necessary to close the deal with Spirit, but Spirit found it more cost-effective to ship components by truck. It is now moving components by truck and by air on the massive Russian-built Antonov AN225. Executive Director Thomas told CJ that Spirit is using the rail spur on a limited trial basis.
Tom Campbell

My Methodist pastor wife, Lib Campbell, delivered a sermon last week that deserves our attention right now. As her text she used the familiar Old Testament story about Joseph being reunited with his brothers, siblings who had thrown him into a pit and sold him into slavery. Joseph had become Pharaoh's number two in command when his brothers, suffering from the drought in Canaan, came begging food. How easy it would have been for Joseph to turn them away empty-handed, sweet revenge for how they had wronged him. But Joseph chose another path.Sourcing Desmond Tutu in "The Book of Forgiving," Lib acknowledged that revenge is a natural impulse, hurting someone who has hurt you. We believe we must pay back in kind someone who has wronged us, an "eye of an eye" way of thinking. She stated, "Retaliation leads to more hate, more harm, more loss. Rhetoric amps up to angry hate." Tutu terms this the "Cycle of Revenge."Stoked by others, sometimes outside agitators, this anger can often lead to violence, vandalism and ugly mobs unable or unwilling to consider more peaceful solutions. Lib's sermon went on to say we need not look very far to see the damage done by the lack of forgiveness, notions of supremacy, and hate filled words that fan the flames that threaten to rip us apart.she asked,Joseph was a powerful man who set an example we could do well to follow today. Joseph chose to break the cycle of revenge and look toward a greater good, not just for his brothers, but also for all. We need leaders today who will look beyond political gain, corporate profits or power and call us to our better selves. And while it would be ideal if that leadership came from those in powerful positions, you and I can stand and raise our voices. If enough of us do others will surely follow.Crossing the bridge to reconciliation and peace does not require that one side take all the steps. Author Robert Benson says that if all will only walk halfway across and meet in the middle we can find common ground.What will happen if we cannot find this place where we can talk and listen together, where we look beyond our political persuasions, where race, religious beliefs, status, gender or place of birth are not our primary focus? If we continue on our current course the future looks frightening and might reach a place where there is no turning back.In the frontispiece of Desmond Tutu's book he asks pertinent questions for these times.For the sake of our nation, our state, for our families and ourselves let us pledge to choose the path for forgiveness and reconciliation.
WTAS: More Praise for President Trump's Commitment to Border Security

News Release:



House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte: "President Trump has demonstrated his commitment to restoring the rule of law by directing his Administration to enforce our nation's immigration laws. The President's strong action has caused illegal immigration to drop significantly at the U.S.-Mexico border. In addition to this progress, we also need to improve our nation's immigration laws and provide more tools to further reduce illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and human smuggling. The House of Representatives recently passed the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act and Kate's Law. These bills combat dangerous sanctuary policies that allow criminals to remain on our streets and punish felons who repeatedly enter the U.S. illegally, respectively. Both of these bills would dramatically improve public safety and I call on the Senate again to pass them without delay. The House Judiciary Committee has also approved a number of bills to strengthen the enforcement of our immigration laws within the interior of the United States, reform the refugee and asylum programs, and ensure unaccompanied minors who make the dangerous journey to the U.S. are safely returned home. The House must pass all these bills to provide the Trump Administration the tools needed to secure the border and enforce our immigration laws, and to ensure that future administrations do not ignore immigration enforcement laws."



Rep. Kevin Cramer: "Actions speak louder than words. Due to President Trump's commitment to renewing border security, apprehensions are down 46% in the short time since he took office. Indeed, we are a nation of immigrants, but unlike our previous commander and chief, President Trump is setting the record straight that all immigrants must come here legally - the way our ancestors did. But, the President can't do this alone. We in the House of Representatives passed Kate's law, the No Sanctuary Cities for Criminals Act, and provided the full White House requested amount of $1.6 billion towards building the border wall. It's up to the Senate now to act and fulfill our promise to the American people."



Rep. David Rouzer: "Strengthening our national security begins right here at home. Under the leadership of President Trump and with a Republican majority in the House and Senate, a $1.5 billion boost for our border security is now law. This will also enable the federal government to hire more agents, enhance technology, update infrastructure, help deter and prevent illegal aliens from crossing our borders, and stem the flow of illegal activities, such as the smuggling of drugs, into our country. I've also voted for measures, such as Kate's Law and the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act, to increase the penalty for deported criminals who re-enter the United States, protect law-abiding citizens and withhold federal grants from cities that do not comply with federal immigration laws. I applaud President Trump's efforts to fulfill his campaign promise to make the security at our southern borders a top priority, and I look forward to continuing to work with him to implement his comprehensive strategy to secure our nation - both at home and abroad."



Rep. Bruce Westerman: "Our nation's southern border has lacked necessary security and control for too long. I have toured the border first hand and will be making additional trips. While the brave men and women of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection do an outstanding job with the resources at their disposal, they are unable to prevent the immense flow of illegal immigrants, deadly narcotics, and illicit contraband from pouring into our country. President Trump today proved he is serious about securing our borders and protecting American citizens at home. I applaud his efforts and pledge to continue working with him in the months and years to come as we bring real security and control to our southern border."



Rep. Doug Collins: "Sanctuary cities and illegal criminals have been put on notice. From 2016 to 2017, illegal border crossings fell 52% for the period covering February to March. A human smuggler based at our southwest border reports that his business is at an all-time low. He's considering a career change. At the same time, the House continues to work with President Trump to strengthen immigration enforcement policy through legislation like Kate's Law and the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act, and it's clear that 2017 has brought new perspective to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. As President Trump visits our southern border and we consider the status of illegal immigration into our country today, we realize that the safety of Americans and the rule of law are once again non-negotiables."



Rep. Pete Olson: "Texas like Arizona is on the front lines of our nation's border security crisis. For too long, our border patrol was hamstrung by policies of the Obama Administration that emboldened illegal border crossings by drug cartels and criminal aliens seeking to harm our communities. Through executive action and working with a Republican Congress, President Trump has taken important steps to turn the tide and these steps are working. This year, the Immigration Customs and Enforcement Agency has already removed over 2,700 criminal gang members, compared to 2,057 in all of 2016. The House has passed Kate's Law to expand penalties for returning deported, illegal immigrants who commit more crimes, and a bill to block funds for sanctuary cities. We also passed a spending bill that funds President Trump's border wall. I urge my Senate colleagues to stand with our President and pass these bills as well. I thank President Trump for taking a strong stand to secure our borders and protect the American people."



Contact: White House  whitehouse.gov/the-press-office


WTAS: Praise for President Trump signing The Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017

News Release:



Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. David Shulkin: "Today's appeals legislation was last updated in the 1930s. The President's signature today will help thousands of Veterans receive timely action on their appeals. We have to do better and get faster decisions for our Veterans."



Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA): "For far too long, our veterans have faced unacceptable delays in their claims appeals. With this legislation, we're going to reduce the time it takes for our veterans to get a decision and increase the opportunity for them to receive their just benefits. I am pleased that this legislation moved quickly to reach the president's desk and to be signed into law."



Chairman of the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Mike Bost (R-IL): "This new law is vitally important for America's heroes and their families. Too many veterans are faced with intolerable delays during the VA's benefits claims appeal process. By modernizing the system, we can now ensure they get the help they need in a more efficient and effective manner. I thank my colleagues in Congress - both Republican and Democrat - for working together across the aisle to help our nation's heroes. I also want to thank President Trump for signing this legislation into law and prioritizing veterans' issues."



Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Phil Roe (R-TN): "For far too long, veterans with pending appeals on their disability claims have been stuck in an outdated and cumbersome process. In the last two fiscal years, the number of pending appeals increased almost 20 percent, meaning nearly half a million veterans are in limbo waiting for a decision on their appeal. This is absolutely unacceptable, which is why the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, led by Subcommittee Chairman Bost, came together to move legislation that will modernize the appeals process. In keeping with the committee's tradition of bipartisanship, the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017 was cosponsored by every single member of the committee. This new law will create three lanes for appeals claims which will undoubtedly speed up the appeals process and give veterans the certainty they deserve. I thank President Trump for signing this important legislation into law and commend my colleagues on the committee for their leadership on this bill, especially DAMA Subcommittee Chairman Bost and Subcommittee Ranking Member Esty."



The American Legion: "Today's signing is a major victory for America's veterans. I can think of no better place for the president to sign this bill than at the national convention of America's largest and most influential veterans service organization. The legislation is a simple, fair and appropriate way to ensure that our nation's veterans - and their families - receive their earned benefits in a timely and efficient manner."



Paralyzed Veterans of America: "The Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Law represents a major step toward ensuring justice for the veterans, dependents and survivors who believe in their entitlement to a denied benefit. These people aren't asking for a handout; they simply want fairness and timely review when they file appeals. Paralyzed Veterans of America fights on behalf of the most catastrophically disabled veterans with the most complex claims in the system. Our unrivaled expertise is often challenged by a labyrinthine, protracted review process where a growing backlog, coupled with inconsistent and arbitrary decisions, hurt those who rate the benefits they're pursuing. For those appellants who choose to file without an accredited representative, it's nearly impossible to get a fair decision. We commend the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for hearing our concerns and working with us to preserve due process and develop new and improved standards. This new law is a culmination of those efforts. It is also a significant win for President Trump and VA Secretary Shulkin, both of whom are keeping their promise to veterans with the passage of this law."



Veterans of Foreign Wars: "Today's signing is the culmination of more than a year's work by the VFW and other partner organizations with Congress and the VA to build consensus on how to better help veterans access their benefits. Under the old system, appeals could take up to five years or longer to adjudicate, and veterans had no way out. Maintaining the status quo was unacceptable, so the VFW and our partners acted with a unified voice. As a former veterans' service officer myself, I know first-hand that many of the veterans the VFW helps every day to access their earned benefits will be better served under this new framework. We look forward to working with the Department of Veterans Affairs to make sure this new framework results in timely, understandable and accurate benefits decisions for veterans. Ending sequestration and fixing the VA are the VFW's top two legislative initiatives. The passage of all three bills are great leaps toward fixing the VA and restoring the faith of veterans in their VA - all thanks to a united Congress and a new president who vowed during the campaign trail that he would take care of veterans, service members and their families, and who has so far been true in both word and deed."



Disabled American Veterans: "For far too long, veterans have faced unnecessary and unacceptable delays within the current VA disability appeals system, on average taking between three to five years-sometimes longer-to complete. Passage of the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017 into law today marks an important step forward in creating a more timely and accurate system for processing veterans' appeals."



Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America: "Today, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the leading voice of the Post-9/11 generation of veterans, applauded the President's signing of the VA Appeals Modernization Act of 2017 (H.R. 2288) into law. This long awaited improvement to the appeals system will make the process more efficient and help prevent a VA claims backlog, which for years forced veterans to delay critical health care or pay for care themselves, causing financial distress."



House Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rogers (R-WA): "The VA has one mission: to serve our veterans. Part of rolling out the red carpet for our heroes is ensuring that they don't get caught in a benefits claims backlog. With thousands of veterans waiting for decisions, the reforms in Rep. Bost and Sen. Isakson's bill are long overdue and much-needed. Thanks to their hard work and President Trump's continued commitment to our veterans, the VA will soon be one step closer to being reconnected with its mission."



Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV): "Having led the effort to reform the VA appeals process for more than four years, I am pleased that this legislation I introduced last year will finally become law. To develop this new system, I held hearings and convened a working group consisting of the VA, VSOs, and other experts to modernize a process that has not been updated since the 1980s. What the president signed today is a result of hard work, collaboration, cooperation, and creativity to fix a snarled system that will improve the lives of veterans. Now we must work to ensure that it is quickly and carefully implemented by the VA and the VSOs."



Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND): "Our veterans deserve the same access and quality of care that everyone else receives in this country. Unfortunately, with the massive backlog of appeals at the VA, they are not receiving the care we promised them. With President Trump's signing the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act today, the half million veterans who are still waiting for a resolution regarding their VA benefits will finally get a response in a timely manner. I applaud the President for making this a priority."



Contact: White House  whitehouse.gov/the-press-office


Women are often at least partially guilty if they are raped says a highly regarded Czech police textbook of criminology

24. 8. 2017

cas cteni 2 minuty



Did you know what the formulation "low level sexual violence" covers up? And how important it is for the prevention of rape that women should be properly covered up? The fourth edition of the Czech police textbook Criminology will explain all this to you. Did you know what the formulation "low level sexual violence" covers up? And how important it is for the prevention of rape that women should be properly covered up? The fourth edition of the Czech police textbookwill explain all this to you.





The publisher's blurb says the following about the textbook: "This is a textbook written by a team of top Czech criminologists and university professors primarily for students of law and students studying at the Police Academy of the Czech Republic."



Referring to Jan Chmelik, a revered Czech criminologist theorist, the chapter entitled Crimes against morality lists several "typical situations" which constitute "an important part" of most cases of rape. Apparently, it is typical that the victim of rape often "exaggerates the impact" of rape. In many cases, the "damage done to the victim is minimal, the victim has suffered no physical damage to her body". This, according to the textbook, usually means that the victim is "reporting a crime of rape only in order to justify herself in front of her husband, her boyfriend, her parents".



The textbook says that if a rapist acts under the influence of alcohol or drugs, this means that his criminal responsibility for the act is "low".



The textbook continues:



"Masochism of the victim. Some women are masochistic and they demand that the man should behave violently towards them because it sexually arouses them. This is why forced sexual intercourse, physical violence such as beatings, using whips or other instruments to make the woman to consent to intercourse cannot be regarded as a crime.



"The guilt of the victim. Many victims, i.e. women, often behave provocatively. By using coquetry, intrusive and provocative behaviour, by baring their bodies etc. they provoke in the man, often deliberately, desire for sex. They fire up his sexual imagination. Rape and sexual violence happens because the man is then unable to control his sexual instinct and demands sex by violent means. There are also the cases when the female victim first basically agrees to sexual intercourse, but later, during intercourse or shortly before it she says no because she starts fearing the consequences."



It is obviously no joke for victims of rape in the Czech Republic who find the courage to report the crime to the police.



Source in Czech HERE





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He's considered Canada's founding father, but many Ontario teachers want his name stripped from public schools

As U.S. legislators mull the removal of statues seen by many as painful reminders of the darker moments in American history, a similar debate is playing out in Ontario over whether public schools should bear the names of Canadian figures associated with this country's legacy around the treatment of Indigenous communities.

That debate hit the floor of a meeting by the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario days ago, ending with a resolution to urge school boards across the province to consider removing the name of Canada's first prime minister  Sir John A. Macdonald  from public schools.

Felipe Pareja, a French teacher in Peel region just west of Toronto, is behind the motion.

Pareja says the decision was by no means unanimous, but that it passed by a substantial margin.

No opportunity for asterisks

Widely lauded as the father of Confederation, Macdonald is credited with having joined the eastern and western parts of Canada together through the creation of a transcontinental railway.

Pareja says he acknowledges Macdonald's foundational role in the country's Confederation, but that having public schools bearing his name leaves out his role in the starvation of Indigenous people along the railway to facilitate its construction  along with Macdonald's "central role as the architect of, really, what was genocide of Indigenous peoples on Turtle Island."

"At no point when it came time to learn about the Confederation of Canada, the Fathers of Confederation, was any of this part our history," he said, recalling his own time in the elementary school system.

David Mastin, president of the ETFO's Durham local, agrees.

"When you name a school after someone, there's an honour that's bestowed," Mastin told CBC News. "If there was a full opportunity to have alongside the name of Sir John A. Macdonald a little asterisk that said, 'Oh yes, he did so and so...' But that doesn't happen."

Story continues

Tori Cress, an activist with Idle No More, sees the vote as a positive step.

"I like to see school teachers and educators following this kind of move to being inclusive with their students and be proud to be Canadian in a way that's not honouring people that destroyed other races," Cress said.

"There is a place for these people  maybe not in monuments or statues and school place names, but the history books, museums."

Union 'needs a lesson on how to teach history'

But the move isn't without pushback.

Former foreign affairs minister John Baird called it "political correctness on steroids."

"It's one of the most crazy and ridiculous things I've ever heard  just simply trying to erase Canadian history in the guise of an extreme and radical political correctness. I can't believe the average teacher in Ontario would support this type of ridiculous idea," said Baird, who was also a supporter of renaming the Ottawa River Parkway the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway.

Baird says he also didn't support Justin Trudeau's recent decision to rename the Langevin Block, the building that houses the Prime Minister's Office and was named after Hector-Louis Langevin, a strong proponent of the residential school system.

"In Ottawa, we honour our former leaders, whether it's John A. Macdonald or Wilfrid Laurier  great Canadians who helped build a fantastic and prosperous country," he said.

Earlier this month, CBC News obtained an internal federal government briefing note raising doubts about Hector-Louis Langevin's role as architect of the residential school system.

Baird says he sees no parallel behind the debate in this country with the one swirling around the removal of Confederate statues in the United States.

For his part, Conservative MP Erin O'Toole, who represents Durham, called the decision "embarrassing."

But Pareja responded that it's precisely because teachers are cognizant of Canada's history that they voted in favour of the motion. "It's the furthest thing from embarrassing."

Asked if a similar decision should apply to Sir Wilfrid Laurier, associated with boosting the Chinese head tax, Pareja said he wasn't sure.

"This is a part of a broader conversation about what kinds of things we can do as a society to truly reconcile ourselves as settlers to this land with the Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island."

The teachers union has no power to remove Macdonald's name from the schools, but says it hopes school boards will be open to the idea.

"It's a long road that we need to travel, but it's one that we need to travel," said Pareja. "I would hope that school boards would join us along this path."

The ETFO's decision comes just over a month after a student-led campaign sprang up at Toronto's Ryerson University calling on the school to change its name out of respect for residential school survivors.





The university is named after Egerton Ryerson, an education advocate who believed in a separate education systems for Indigenous and non-Indigenous children. In a 2010 document, the university says it is "proud of our history and of the contribution our namesake" but also notes that Ryerson's beliefs on separate education played a part in the creation of what would become the residential school system.

Sarah Dennis-Kooji speaks for the group pushing for Ryerson's name to be changed. She says removing Macdonald's name from public schools is a step in the right direction.



"Arguably he did not bring this country together. It was Indigenous people who brought this country together... We're the reason why settlers were able to survive in this country in the first place."

Kooji suggests trying to "create balance" by naming institutions for foundational Indigenous figures.
Former police constable dies as jeep hits bike in Sindhuli

A former Nepal Police Constable died after a jeep hit a bike he was riding on at Ramtar in Sunkoshi Rural Municipality-5 of Sindhuli along the BP Highway on Thursday.
Judy Foote will announce her resignation from duties as a cabinet minister on Thursday.

The longtime Newfoundland and Labrador politician has been on leave from her post as public services minister since April, when she stepped away for personal reasons.

Sources tell CBC News Foote will announce her permanent departure at a news conference on Thursday in St. John's. She will also announce she will step away from her duties as a Member of Parliament later this year.

The announcement is expected to come at 12:30 p.m. NT at the Signal Hill information centre.

Foote began telling political supporters and close associates of her decision on Wednesday.

A senior government official tells CBC News there will be a Newfoundland and Labrador minister in place before the federal cabinet meets in St. John's in September.

Foote was first elected to the House of Commons in 2008 and was re-elected in 2011 and 2015 for the riding of Bonavista-Burin-Trinity.

Term marked by popularity, power and Phoenix

She took the last election with 82 per cent of the vote  the highest total of any candidate in the country.

But her popularity in her home district did not protect her from taking a hit when her department rolled out the Phoenix payroll system to 120,000 federal employees when it was not ready.

After its launch in February 2016, more than 80,000 public servants found themselves with pay problems  most were underpaid, while some were overpaid or not paid at all.

At home, however, Foote was known for her power and influence within the province.

"Without her we'd be screwed," a provincial Liberal delegate told a CBC News reporter at a party meeting last fall.

Foote was seen as being clutch in extending the federal loan guarantee to the Muskrat Falls project, saving the province millions in interest payments.

Foote said she hated the word "minister," and said she and Premier Dwight Ball worked as a team.

"The only minister I know is the one at my church," she once said.

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Throughout her time as minister, Foote spoke with Ball on the phone every Sunday.

Foote's influence in Ottawa was no doubt seen most visibly by her position in Parliament  literally at the right hand of Justin Trudeau in the House of Commons. The two were deskmates.

In her role as public services minister, she helped lock down $100 million in federal funding for Memorial University's new core sciences building. She also announced a break on a federal loan, allowing the province to reduce its deficit reduction levy for low-income earners.

At the provincial Liberal meeting in November, Foote made an effort to affirm herself as a fighter for the province.

"We don't just want our fair share," she told the delegates. "We want more than our fair share, we've been in the wilderness for 10 years, so bring it on."
Jang Song-thaek (l) was reportedly executed after attempting a coup against Kim Jong Un (Reuters)

Kim Jong-un is reported to have ordered the execution of his uncle after finding out about a plan to topple him as leader of North Korea.

Jang Song-thaek secretly enlisted the help of China in 2012 to overthrow Kim and replace him with his half-brother Kim Jong-nam, according to Japanese newspaper Nikkei Asian Review.

Sources told the newspaper that the then-Chinese president Hu Jintao did not immediately give an answer to whether Beijing would help to oust the leader.

Jang Song-thaek shortly before his execution over the alleged plot (Rex)

The alleged coup was discovered by Zhou Yongkang, a former member of Chinas Politburo Standing Committee who had close ties to North Korea, before it could be acted on.

After hearing of the plot, Kim reportedly flew into a rage and ordered the arrest and execution of his uncle in December 2013.

Following Jangs arrest, a statement from North Korean state media described him as human scum, who was worse than a dog, claiming that he perpetrated thrice-cursed acts of treachery in betrayal of such profound trust and warmest paternal love shown by the party and the leader.

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Bradley Martin, author of Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader: North Korea and the Kim Dynasty, said that Jang was a North Korean who was doing things differently, appreciated the advances that were clear in the way China had modernised its economy and probably wanted the same for North Korea.

Kim Jong-nam was assassinated in Kuala Lumpur airport in February with VX gas, in an execution that is speculated to have been carried out by the North Korean regime.
By Idrees Ali and Pavel Polityuk KIEV (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on a visit to Ukraine on Thursday said Washington would keep up pressure on Russia over what he called its aggressive behavior and signaled his personal support for providing weapons to Kiev. Mattis said Russia had not abided by the Minsk ceasefire agreement meant to end the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine and that the United States would maintain sanctions on Moscow. "Despite Russia's denials, we know they are seeking to redraw international borders by force, undermining the sovereign and free nations of Europe," Mattis told reporters, alongside Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Mattis's visit, timed for Ukrainian Independence Day, is the second high-profile show of U.S. support in as many months, after U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson came to Kiev in July. Ukraine has counted on U.S. support against Russia since a pro-Western government took power following street protests in 2014 when the Kremlin-backed president fled the country. But some of President Donald Trump's comments during the election campaign last year, such as appearing to recognize Crimea as part of Russia, stoked fears in Kiev that Trump might mend ties with Moscow at Ukraine's expense. While emphasizing Trump had yet to take a decision on the issue, Mattis signaled his personal support for a longstanding Ukrainian request for defensive weapons, which could include anti-tank Javelin missiles and anti-aircaft systems. Mattis also played down fears, voiced by the previous White House administration under Barack Obama, that supplying weapons could escalate the situation. "On the defensive lethal weapons, we are actively reviewing it, I will go back now having seen the current situation and be able to inform the secretary of state and the president in very specific terms what I recommend for the direction ahead," Mattis said. "Defensive weapons are not provocative unless you are an aggressor and clearly Ukraine is not an aggressor since it is their own territory where the fighting is happening," Mattis said. Poroshenko said he was "satisfied" with the progress on discussions about weapons, and also said he and Mattis had discussed the possibility of a U.N.-backed armed force being sent to eastern Ukraine. Relations between Ukraine and Russia went into freefall after Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the subsequent outbreak of a Kremlin-backed separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine that has killed more than 10,000 people. Russia denies sending troops and weapons to eastern Ukraine. HUGE BOOST According to U.S. officials, a plan to provide defensive weapons to Ukraine has made its way to the White House but has not been signed. Thus far the Pentagon says it has provided $750 million in non-lethal aid to Ukraine since 2015, which includes radars and uniforms. Supplying weapons "will be a huge boost of support to Ukraine," said Michael Carpenter, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the region. Carpenter said the weapons under discussion cannot effectively be used to take territory, which means providing them would help stabilize the situation. U.S. Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Service Committee, also pressed the Trump administration to act. "Secretary Mattis' visit to Kiev provides yet another opportunity for the United States to correct its policy toward Ukraine and provide the lethal defensive assistance the country needs to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity," McCain said in a statement on Wednesday. Mattis' strong words against Moscow on Thursday are likely to reassure eastern European allies who are concerned about Russia's military activity in region, including planned war games in September. Russia and Belarus aim to hold joint exercises that some North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies believe could number more than 100,000 troops and involve nuclear weapons training, the biggest such exercise since 2013. Earlier this year, Estonia's defense minister said Russia may use the exercises to move thousands of troops permanently into Belarus in a warning to NATO. Russia has dismissed Western worries about the war games as "buffoonery". (Reporting by Idrees Ali and Pavel Polityuk; editing by Matthias Williams and Richard Balmforth)
Research

As Rural Participation in AP Courses Climbs, Average Passing Scores Hold Steady

A new assessment has found that students in rural areas are rapidly catching up on Advanced Placement (AP) testing compared to their urban and suburban peers. A report by the Education Commission of the States and College Board also found that while rural student participation on AP exams has increased over the last 15 years, performance has remained steady.

"Rural" is defined in this case as areas with fewer than 2,500 residents that are not part of more populated communities. According to "Advanced Placement Access and Success: How do rural schools stack up?" nearly 30 percent of public schools in the United States are rural, serving about a fifth of all public school students.

AP access and exam-taking. Green bars show the percentage of high school seniors in all types of urbanicity with access to at least one AP courses; orange bars show participation. Source: Advanced Placement Access and Success: How do rural schools stack up?

A data check has found that students graduating from rural high schools don't attend college at the same rate as students in other types of "urbanicity." While 52 percent of suburban students and 49 percent of urban graduates go immediately into a four-year college from high school, for rural-ites, it's only 45 percent. Part of this gap could be explained by the dearth of programs such as AP, International Baccalaureate (IB) and dual and concurrent enrollment, the report noted, all of which are associated with higher college enrollment as well as completion.

As the report explained, students in urban and suburban schools "have nearly universal access to at least one AP course," with school rates near or exceeding 90 percent over the last 15 years. The same is true for "STEM AP," courses focused on science, technology, engineering and math. For rural schools, the share that provide access to these courses has shifted from 56 percent in 2001 to 73 percent in 2015 across all AP courses and from 42 percent to 64 percent for STEM AP courses.

As the report stated, "If this rate of progress continues, rural students will soon have access to AP at the same rate as their urban and suburban peers."

During those same years AP exam participation has nearly doubled across the board for all students. Among rural students, in particular, the number of seniors who took at least one AP test during high school increased from 10 percent in 2000-2001 to 23 percent in 2014-2015.

STEM-oriented AP access and exam-taking. Green bars show the percentage of high school seniors in all types of urbanicity with access to at least one STEM AP courses; orange bars show participation. Source: Advanced Placement Access and Success: How do rural schools stack up?

Even as the numbers have risen, exam performance has stayed about the same. The percentage of rural students who received a passing AP score (at least three on a scale of five) in 2001 was 54 percent; by 2015, it was 53 percent. Yet, the overall achievement rate was lower than urban exam-takers, 58 percent of whom passed, and suburban test-takers, 67 percent of whom passed.

However, once they were in college, rural students with AP pass scores maintained a retention rate nearly equal to that of students from cities or suburbs  between 90 percent and 92 percent across the board.

The report urged state leaders to take specific actions to increase access to AP courses and exams, such as mandating that every high school offer at least one AP course (the law of the land in Arkansas, Indiana and South Carolina).

"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," said Trevor Packer, head of the AP program, in a prepared statement. "This report shows that many educators are steadily removing barriers to access in rural communities, yet more work can be done. State education leaders can take action to further close the rural AP opportunity gap."

The report is openly available on Education Commission of the States website here.
Textbooks

Pay-as-You-Go Textbook Service Adds McGraw-Hill Education Titles

Students looking to save money on textbooks can now rent select McGraw-Hill Education titles through a pay-as-you-go service from iFlipd. The textbooks are available in both print and e-book formats for $15 a week; after eight weeks, students can opt to own the print copy or receive a $50 rebate. Or, students can simply pay for the weeks when a textbook is needed and return it when they are done.

The own/rebate option works as follows, according to the news annoucement:

If students rent an e-book for at least eight weeks and don't order the print book, they receive continued access to the e-book and a $50 rebate.

If students rent both the e-book and the print book for at least eight weeks, they receive continued access to the e-book and own the print book.

If students return a print book to McGraw-Hill Education, they receive a $50 rebate.

While select McGraw-Hill Education textbooks are available for the $15 per week rental, all other print titles from the publisher are also available for regular weekly rental through iFlipd. For more information, visit the iFlipd site.
Casa de Montecristo, the retail operation under Tabacalera USA, has announced it is adding premium cigar and retail stores in the Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area and Boca Raton, Florida. Today it was announced it has entered into a naming rights agreement with the four stores of Churchills Fine Cigars located in the Phoenix area. Casa de Montecristo also announced it has acquired ownership of Prime Cigar and Wine Bar in Boca Raton, Florida. The agreement with Churchills Fine Cigars puts the Casa de Montecristo name on Churchill Fine Cigars two lounges in Phoenix as well as its lounges in Glendale and Tempe.

Im excited to have Churchills Fine Cigars join with Casa de Montecristo to elevate my customers cigar lounge experience in the Phoenix area, commented Bart Gerber, Owner of Churchills Fine Cigars in a press release.

Meanwhile, Prime Cigar & Wine Bar located in Boca Raton, Florida, will be rebranded Casa de Montecristo by Prime Cigar. There is also a Casa de Montecristo by Prime Cigar & Whiskey Bar located in Miami, which will still be owned and operated by the founders of Prime Cigar through a license agreement.

Casa de Montecristos acquisition of our Boca Raton location will take Prime Cigar & Wine Bar to a new level of superior service, selection, and value for the enjoyment of our members and local adult consumers, says Ryan Leeds, Co-Owner of Prime Cigar & Wine Bar.

The move gives Casa de Montecristo a footprint in the Phoenix market, considered to be one of the best in the U.S., and a second location in Floridas lucrative Palm Beach County.

This strategic acquisition in Florida and naming rights agreement in Arizona continue to catapult us to our overall mission to be the premium cigar lounge destination, delivering the highest quality selection, service and experiences for all adult cigar smokers, explained Steve Lochan, Chief Executive Officer of Casa de Montecristo.

The complete list of Casa De Montecristo lounges and retail locations include:

There are also JR Cigar retail locations owned by Tabacalera USA in Detroit, Michigan; Selma, NC, and Burlington, NC
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New York, August 24, 2017The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Azerbaijani authorities today to immediately release Mehman Aliyev, head of the countrys only independent news agency, Turan. Azerbaijans Tax Ministry today ordered Aliyev to be detained as part of an investigation launched against Turan last week into allegations of tax evasion, according to media reports.

Azerbaijan must stop this politically motivated persecution of Mehman Aliyev and the Turan news agency, said CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova. Authorities have systematically jailed journalists and squeezed out independent media outlets by abusing the criminal code.

The lawyer representing Turan was quoted in reports as saying that Aliyev was summoned to give testimony as a witness in the case, but was then detained. He is due to appear before a court in the capital, Baku, within 48 hours, according to reports.
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Bangkok, August 24, 2017Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen should revoke his threat to forcibly close The Cambodia Daily newspaper and stop using unproven tax evasion allegations to pressure and threaten the media, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On August 5, the Cambodian Finance Ministrys tax department sent a letter to The Cambodia Daily claiming that it owed US$6.3 million in unpaid taxes dating back to 2007, according to media reports. The letter said that the English-language publication had 30 days to pay or face closure and seizure of its assets, the reports said. The Ministry of Information today refused to renew the newspapers license until the tax issue was resolved, according to reports.

On August 22, Hun Sen referred to the newspaper as a thief and said that its American owners should either pay the tax bill or pack up and go, the paper reported. The Prime Ministers comments came in response to a written appeal from the papers owner asking Hun Sen to meet with deputy publisher, Deborah Krisher-Steele, to prevent the papers shutdown, the reports said.

The paper has disputed that it owes the amount claimed by tax authorities and said that it would agree to a full audit, according to reports.

The Cambodia Daily editor-in-chief Jodie Dejonge told CPJ that at a World Economic Forum meeting in May, Hun Sen singled out the newspaper for its critical coverage and referred to its reporters as servants of foreigners. She told CPJ the paper expected to be raided and closed by authorities on September 4, the tax departments deadline for payment.

Cambodian authorities should stop threatening to close The Cambodia Daily for alleged tax evasion and allow it to continue publishing without fear of reprisal, said Shawn Crispin, CPJs Southeast Asia representative. Hun Sens government is using the tax department to silence one of Cambodias most prominent independent newspapers. The threat of forced closure is a clear danger to press freedom.

The Cambodia Daily was founded in 1993 by its long-time American publisher Bernard Krisher. The paper was incorporated as a non-profit organization that the paper says has made over US$39 million in charitable donations over the years that should be counted as deductions in any back taxes it may owe.

Other foreign media outlets, including the U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Asia and Voice of America, have received letters in recent weeks inquiring about their tax standing and registration status, according to press reports.

RFA spokesman Rohit Mahajan told CPJ by email that the governments sudden unilateral demand for documentation was in line with an increasing and worrisome pattern of intimidation of RFA and other international broadcasters.

On August 21, the Ministry of Information revoked the license and ordered the closure of all relay stations of Mohanokor Radio station, a local broadcaster which sells air time to both RFA and VOA, according to news reports. The ministry did not give a reason for the order, the reports said.
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New York, August 24, 2017The Committee to Protect Journalists today called for the immediate release of freelance journalist Abdel-Raheem Mohsin who was abducted on August 22 in southwestern Yemen near the city of Taiz.

Mohsin had been covering the two-year long civil war between Houthi rebels and government forces in his native Yemen. A critic of both sides in the countrys conflict, Mohsin regularly contributed to a range of media outlets.

Journalists covering Yemens conflict and humanitarian situation are playing a more critical role than ever, yet regularly find themselves targeted for the work they do, CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour said. The party responsible for Abdel-Raheem Mohsins detention should release him immediately, and all sides to Yemens conflict must ensure that journalists can work freely and safely.

Mohsins family said gunmen in civilian clothes first searched the journalist at a checkpoint in the Al-Rahida district before taking the journalist to an unknown location, according to the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate and news reports. The family also said gunmen searched Mohsins home in the al-Silo district south of Taiz.

In a tweet, Yemeni Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdul Malik al-Mekhlafi blamed the Houthi rebel movement for Mohsins abduction, saying that the kidnapping was one of many crimes the militia had committed against journalists.

CPJ could not determine whether the gunmen were affiliated with the Houthi rebels. Armed groups linked to the Houthis have been responsible for similar kidnappings in the past, according to CPJ research.

Two journalists were killed and two more injured in May when covering fighting in the Taiz region, which has become a flashpoint between government and rebel forces, according to a CPJ report from that time.

The broader breakdown of state institutions in Yemen has greatly has imperiled the countrys few remaining independent journalists.
Gorkhaland movement: Govt invites agitating side for talks

The West Bengal government has invited the agitating Nepali-speaking people residing in Darjeeling for talks, 70 days after the protests intensified in the hill town. The various groups including Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) have been spearheading the protest in Darjeeling demanding a separate Gorkhaland state.
Mark Asay

A man who is set to become the first white Florida convict to be executed for killing a black man has said he is ready to die.





Mark Asay, 53, was convicted in 1987 of killing black man Robert Lee Booker and Hispanic cross-dresser Robert McDowell and has spent the years since waiting to be executed.





And on the eve of Thursday's execution, a tearful Asay opened up about the killings, his newfound religion, and why he feels he should either go free or be executed immediately to News4Jax





Asay was convicted in 1987 of the racially charged murders of Robert Lee Booker, a black man, and Robert 'Rene' McDowell, a Hispanic crossdresser.





The then-23-year-old Asay was hauled in by police in July of that year after Booker's body was found under the porch of an abandoned house in Jacksonville.





McDowell's body was found at a crossroads nearby. Both men had been shot, and a candy-apple-red truck with a missing bumper was spotted leaving the scene of McDowell's killing.





That truck was traced to Asay, who has admitted to killing McDowell, a former friend of his, but denies murdering Booker, who was linked to him with ballistic evidence.





When asked if he had anything he wanted to say, Booker tearfully told the channel: 'Well, really, just that I'm sorry and things just got out of control.'





Saying that McDowell's death came as he was 'having a meltdown,' Asay said they had been friendly until the man took money from him.





'I knew Robert McDowell as Rene,' he said. 'I had previous encounters with him, and we were sociable, and he did take money from me one time.





'I had said, in my mind, "When I see him, I'm going to kick his a**." But I never intended to murder him. It just happened.'





Asay claims he was drunk to the point of unconsciousness when he shot McDowell six times, and that he doesn't 'know what happened.'





'I can only look at it in hindsight,' he said, as he began to choke up again. 'But I know that anybody that says I'm not concerned, don't know me.'





Prosecutors, who mistakenly identified the Hispanic victim as a light-skinned black man, painted the killing - and that of Booker - as a hate crime. Authorities have only recently acknowledged that mistake.





They also said that his white supremacist tattoos, including one that read 'supreme white power,' proved his prejudice.





However, he denies that he's a white supremacist and says he only got the ink done because it was the only way to survive 'in a hostile prison environment', when he was locked up for a burglary and auto theft, aged 19.





'They are not representative at all of who I am, but they are tattoos, and they're not easily removed,' he said.





'I have covered them up. I had a swastika on my elbow; I covered that up. I had an SWP on my arm; I burned it off. I've removed every racial tattoo I had, except for the ones that I can't reach.'





Florida's death chamber I've had African-American friends all my life,' he added. 'But I've had to live in very hostile environments, and I've had to manage the best I could. I've had African-American friends all my life,' he added. 'But I've had to live in very hostile environments, and I've had to manage the best I could.





'While it's a poor choice, it's a choice I made, and I can't undo it.'





Killing McDowell is another choice; but Asay claims that the punishment he has received for that decision is far greater than it should have been.





He says that he never killed Booker - whom he admitted had cheated him in a drug deal - and that the ballistic evidence that connected him to the death has been proven to be wrong.





And, he says, the death penalty was imposed because it was painted as a racially motivated killing - even though the only victim he will admit to killing was Hispanic, not black, as prosecutors claimed.





He says the government was acting in 'good faith' at the time of the prosecution, but in the wake of those revelations, he wants to get his conviction changed to second-degree murder and be released for time served.





If that's not an option, however, he says he'd rather die.





'No, I don't want life in prison [even] if they had an institution that had Ramada Inn-style housing. Prison is prison. I have served 36 years of my life in prison.





'If the purpose of prison is not accomplished now, it's never going to be accomplished.





If the purpose is just to protect me from society and protect society from me, OK, I accept that, but I'm saying I'm not a violent person or a threat to society.





'But if the government is like, "Well, we can't be sure," then I'm prepared to submit to the execution Thursday and go on and be at peace with my Lord.'





Asay, who is a born again Christian, says that his faith is giving him comfort in the hours before his death, and that he is ready to die.





'I'm loved by the Lord. I'm 100 per cent confident that if I'm going to get relief here, it's because of the truth,' he said.





'And if I'm not going to get relief here, it's because the Lord knows that my life here on Earth will not be productive.





'Because I pray, and I say, "I've had all of the prison I want. So I want out of prison - through the front door or the back."'





Unfortunately for Asay, there looks to be no way out alive now. He was scheduled to die last year, until his execution was postponed at the last minute.





But last month Governor Rick Scott signed Asay's new death warrant.





And that means he'll be killed by lethal injection at 6pm on Thursday.





That will make him the first white man to be executed for killing a black person in the history of Florida.





His pending execution will be carried out for the first time with the help of a drug that has never been used previously in any US execution.





It is expected to be carried out using etomidate, an anesthetic that has been approved by the Florida Supreme Court.





Death penalty experts say the drug is unproven, while state corrections officials say the choice has been reviewed. Two other drugs also will be used.





The execution is Florida's first since the US Supreme Court halted the practice in the state more than 18 months ago.

Florida to resume executions with 1st use of triple-drug injection

TALLAHASSEE -- Floridas death penalty hiatus is slated to end Thursday, when the state plans to execute the first Death Row prisoner in more than 19 months.





But the execution of Mark James Asay  a white supremacist accused of targeting black victims  wont just be the first lethal injection since early 2016 in a state that was killing Death Row prisoners at a record-breaking pace until a U.S. Supreme Court ruling put Floridas death penalty on hold.





It will also be the first execution anywhere in the country using an untested triple-drug lethal injection procedure.





Asay has spent nearly three decades on Death Row after being convicted in the 1987 shooting deaths of two men in downtown Jacksonville.





Gov. Rick Scott initially signed a death warrant for Asay in January 2016.





But not long afterward, in a case known as Hurst v. Florida, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the states death-penalty sentencing system as unconstitutional because it gave too much power to judges, instead of juries.





Lawmakers revamped the law, but a series of court rulings kept the death penalty in limbo until this spring, when the Florida Supreme Court lifted a hold on Asays execution, more than a year after it was supposed to take place.





Its not unusual for Death Row prisoners, especially those with pending death warrants, to launch myriad appeals in one of the judicial systems most complicated arenas.





But Asays case is more tangled than most:





Asay, now 53, spent a decade on Death Row without legal representation, a violation of state law.

Dozens of boxes of records related to his case were destroyed after being left in a rat- and roach-infested shed.

One of his previous defense lawyers was the subject of an investigation by the Florida Supreme Court, after a federal judge chided her for shoddy work.

Asays current lawyer maintains that Attorney General Pam Bondis office hoodwinked him into agreeing to a delay by the U.S. Supreme Court, which could ultimately make it more difficult for the condemned killer to have a review by the high court.

The Florida Supreme Court recently issued a rare mea culpa, acknowledging that it had for more than 20 years mistakenly believed that one of the convicted murderers victims was black.

Florida Department of Corrections officials changed the three-drug lethal injection protocol a year after Scott signed Asays death warrant, adopting the use of a drug never before used in Florida or in any other state for executions.





Asay was convicted in 1988 of the murders of Robert Booker and Robert McDowell. Asay allegedly shot Booker, who was black, after calling him a racial epithet. He then killed McDowell, who was dressed as a woman, after agreeing to pay him for oral sex. According to court documents, Asay  who bears white supremacist and swastika tattoos  later told a friend that McDowell, who was not black, had previously cheated him out of money in a drug deal.





A jury found Asay guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and recommended the death penalty with a 9-3 vote.





The Florida Supreme Court last week rejected a major appeal by Asay, including a challenge to the new lethal-injection procedure. This week, the court rejected another attempt at a reprieve, after justices acknowledged the court had been mistaken for more than two decades about McDowells race.





McDowell was known to friends and neighbors as Renee Torres, the court wrote.





Torres was identified at trial by everyone who testified as white and Hispanic. Renee Torres nee Robert McDowell may have been either white or mixed-race, Hispanic but was not a black man, the Supreme Court wrote. We regret our previous error.





But the Supreme Court summarily dismissed Asays request for a new hearing because of the error.





While this court may have mislabeled the racial identity of the victim in its prior opinions, this fact does not negatively affect this courts final determination, justices unanimously decided Monday afternoon.





Thursdays execution would make Asay the 24th Death Row prisoner put to death since Scott  who has ordered more executions than any Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976  took office in 2011.





The number of death warrants signed by Scott, during a shorter period of time than other governors, was steadily growing until the Hurst decision put executions on hold.





While death penalty lawyers dont wish for any complications Thursday, they worry that an uneventful lethal injection could prompt Scott to issue a flurry of new death warrants.





The attention focused on this execution happens as a result of the lack of state sponsored killings in the last year and a half. I suspect the execution machine will start up again, these judicially approved medical homicides will become the norm again, and news about them will move to the back pages, if they make the paper at all, Pete Mills, an assistant public defender in the 10th Judicial Circuit who also serves as chairman of the Florida Public Defenders Association Death Penalty Steering Committee, said in an interview.





Ocala-area State Attorney Brad King, a veteran prosecutor and outspoken defender of the death penalty, wouldnt predict what the impact of Thursdays execution would be in terms of Scott.





But if this execution is carried out without any problems, without any stays by any appellate courts, then I think the road would be clear for executions to begin on a regular basis again, King told The News Service of Florida in a telephone interview Tuesday.





Florida Supreme Court Justice Barbara Pariente, who dissented in last weeks ruling on Asays appeal, raised concerns that the execution is being rushed. She wrote, in part, that the state had thwarted attempts by Asays lawyers, led by Marty McClain, to obtain public records regarding the change in the lethal injection protocol.





In its rush to execute Asay, the state has jeopardized Asays fundamental constitutional rights and treated him as the proverbial guinea pig of its newest lethal injection protocol, she wrote in a lengthy dissent on Aug. 14.





Mills raised similar concerns.





If the state is going to kill someone on behalf of the people of that state, I would hope they would take the time to get things done right, Mills said.





But Asay has had multiple trips through the appellate system, the veteran prosecutor King said.





Theres nothing rushed about it, King said.

For the 1st time in Florida's history, a white man who killed black person to be executed

For the 1st time in state history, Florida is expecting to execute a white man Thursday for killing a black person - and it plans to do so with the help of a drug that has never been used before in any U.S. execution.





Barring a stay, Mark Asay, 53, is scheduled to die by lethal injection after 6 p.m. Asay was convicted by a jury of 2 racially motivated, premeditated murders in Jacksonville in 1987.





The planned execution - Florida's 1st since the U.S. Supreme Court halted the practice in the state more than 18 months ago - is expected to be carried out using etomidate, an anesthetic that has been approved by the Florida Supreme Court. 2 other drugs also will be used.





Asay, who is white, fatally shot Robert Lee Booker, 34, a black man, after making multiple racist comments, prosecutors said. Asay's 2nd victim was Robert McDowell, 26, who was mixed race, white and Hispanic. Prosecutors say Asay had hired McDowell, who was dressed as a woman, for sex and shot him 6 times after discovering his gender.





While Asay would be the state's 1st white man to be executed in Florida for killing a black man, at least 20 black men have been executed for killing white victims since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1976, according to data from the Death Penalty Information Center. A total of 92 Florida inmates have been executed in that time period.





Opponents of capital punishment said much more needs to be done to make Florida's criminal justice system more equitable.





"This does nothing to change the 170-year-long history of Florida not executing whites for killing blacks," said Mark Elliott, executive director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.





Etomidate is the 1st of 3 drugs administered in Florida's new execution cocktail. It is replacing midazolam, which has been harder to acquire after many drug companies began refusing to provide it for executions. The etomidate is followed by rocuronium bromide, a paralytic, and finally, potassium acetate, which stops the heart. It is Florida's 1st time using potassium acetate too, which was used in a 2015 execution in Oklahoma by mistake, but has not been used elsewhere, a death penalty expert said.





While the state's high court has approved the use of etomidate, some experts have criticized the drug as being unproven.





"It's never been used in an execution before," said Jen Moreno, a lethal injection expert who works as a staff attorney at the University of California, Berkeley Law School's death penalty clinic. "There are outstanding questions about whether it's going to do what it needs to do during an execution. The state hasn't provided any information about why it has selected this drug."





State corrections officials defended the choice, saying it has been reviewed. The corrections department refused to answer questions from The Associated Press about how it chose etomidate.





"The Florida Department of Corrections follows the law and carries out the sentence of the court," Michelle Glady, the Florida Department of Corrections' spokeswoman, said in a statement. "This is the Department's most solemn duty and the foremost objective with the lethal injection procedure is a humane and dignified process."





Doctors hired by Asay's attorneys raised questions about etomidate in court declarations, saying there are cases where it had caused pain along with involuntary writhing in patients.





But in its opinion allowing the drug to be used, the state's high court said earlier this month that 4 expert witnesses demonstrated that Asay "is at small risk of mild to moderate pain."





Asay would be the 1st Florida inmate executed since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling found the state's method of sentencing people to death to be unconstitutional. The court ruled that the old system was illegal because it gave judges, not juries, the power to decide.





Since then, Florida's Legislature passed a law requiring a unanimous jury for death penalty recommendations.





In Asay's case, jurors recommended death for both murder counts by 9-3 votes. Even though the new law requires unanimity, Florida's high court ruled that the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling did not apply to older cases.





Asay will be the 24th inmate executed since Gov. Rick Scott has taken office, the most under any governor in Florida history.





Booker's son, Vittorio Robinson, who was 15 when his father was killed, told the Florida Times-Union newspaper in Jacksonville that his father's death helped him realize that racism was still alive.





"I just couldn't believe it," he said, describing when he learned of his father's death. "And then it dawned on me, there are actually still people out there that thought that way."

Here's Another Example of Why the "Death Penalty System In Florida Is in Absolute Chaos": When life or death depends on date.





Mark Asay is scheduled to be executed in Florida on August 24 for the 1987 murders of Robert Booker and Renee Torres (who was originally identified in court documents as Robert McDowell). It will be the 1st execution carried out in the Sunshine State since Oscar Bolin was put to death in January 2016, and the 1st time ever that Florida will execute a white person for the murder of a black person.





But the case is also significant because the US Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that Florida's death sentencing protocol, which did not require unanimous juries before a judge imposes a sentence, was unconstitutional. Now, dozens of inmates on Florida's death row are eligible to be re-sentenced - but only if they were sentenced before 2002, so Asay does not qualify.





"The death penalty system in Florida is in absolute chaos," says Mark Elliott, the executive director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, an anti capital-punishment advocacy group. The state leads the country in wrongful death penalty convictions: Since 1973, 27 people have been freed from death row after new DNA evidence was discovered, prosecutorial misconduct was found, eyewitness misidentification had occurred, or other variables freed them. In 2013, Republican Gov. Rick Scott signed a law that would hasten executions by requiring the governor to sign a death warrant 30 days after the clemency review is completed, and the execution to occur within 180 days. Scott is currently being sued by Aramis Ayala, a state attorney, after he removed her from capital murder cases because she refused to seek the death penalty. In his seven years of office, Gov. Scott has signed 23 death warrants - more than any Florida governor in the modern era.





In his 7 years of office, Gov. Scott has signed 23 death warrants - more than any Florida governor in the modern era.





Since March, state law has required a unanimous jury to sentence an inmate to death, and the policy is retroactive to 2002. That means means dozens of inmates who have been on death row after 2002 are eligible to have their sentences reviewed and possibly commuted to life in prison. But some anti-death penalty advocates consider portions of the new law to be unfair, because it does not include all prisoners and is therefore not not fully retroactive.





The law came about from a 1998 case. Timothy Hurst gagged and murdered his co-worker, Cynthia Harrison at a Popeye's in Pensacola, Fla. He was sentenced to death 2 years later, in 2000, after a jury voted 11 to 1 for execution. During appeal, he was granted a new sentencing trial because his counsel did not present evidence of his possible brain damage and borderline intelligence. At his new sentencing trial in 2012, he presented those factors as mitigating evidence, but the jury sentenced him to death again, this time 7-5. Hurst appealed once more, and his case made it to the US Supreme Court in 2015. In Hurst v. Florida, the court ruled in an 8-1 decision that the state had violated the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial and forced Florida to change its sentencing laws.





In March 2016, the Florida legislature permitted the death penalty as long as 10 jurors recommended it. The law was struck down by the Florida Supreme Court and, in March 2017, Gov. Rick Scott signed a law requiring a unanimous jury for all capital defendants. The new law was consistent with Ring v. Arizona, the 2002 Supreme Court ruling that first required a jury, and not a judge, to decide if a defendant is eligible for the death penalty, The Florida Supreme Court decided that the unanimous jury requirement would be retroactive to the year of the Supreme Court case.





In December 2016, the Florida Supreme Court ruled, 6-1, that the 2002 line would stand. In his dissent, the now retired Justice James Perry wrote that "the line drawn by the majority is arbitrary and cannot withstand scrutiny under the Eighth Amendment."





There are more than 350 inmates awaiting execution on Florida's death row. Of them, more than 150 were sentenced to death after 2002, which means their sentences are eligible to be commuted. Approximately 200 inmates have no chance of getting their sentences changed, including Mark Asay.





His case is not one that invites sympathy. During a night of drinking and searching for prostitutes with his brother Robbie and friend "Bubba" McQuinn, Asay murdered 2 people in Jacksonville. His 1st victim was a black man named Robert Booker, whom he saw having a conversation with McQuinn. According to court documents, Asay yelled at Booker and called him racial slurs. McQuinn tried to intervene but Asay got his gun and shot Booker in the stomach. When his friend asked him why he shot Booker, according to court documents Asay replied, "You got to show a nigger who is boss."





Asay and his friends drove away and continued to look for women when they met Renee Torres, who court documents identified as Robert McDowell, "a black man dressed as a woman." Asay acted as a lookout while Torres and McQuinn engaged in a sexual act, court documents say. Asay then returned, dragged Torres from the car and shot the victim 6 times. When McQuinn asked why he shot Torres, Asay said that the "the bitch had beat him out of 10 dollars." The trial was fraught with racial tension, as witnesses testified about Asay's usage of racial slurs and alleged white supremacist tattoos. In 1988, jurors voted 9 to 3 to put Asay to death.





Asay has tried to halt his execution for several different reasons including the 2002 cut off date, but he's been repeatedly denied. Last week, the Florida Supreme Court denied his application for a stay of execution saying that Hurst cannot be retroactively applied. Justice Barbara Pariente dissented saying executing Asay despite the 9 to 3 jury vote "violates the foundational principles of both the Florida and United States Constitutions."





On August 14, just days before Asay's scheduled execution, the Florida Supreme Court announced that it had erroneously identified Torres as a black man, decades earlier. According to the Court, the victim was either Latino or white. In a petition to the state high court, Asay's lawyers say this error should entitle Asay to relief, writing that "the state's case against Mr. Asay was premised upon its claim that the 2 homicides at issue were motivated by [his] alleged racial animus."





For Mark Elliott, Asay's case demonstrates the injustice at the root of the partial retroactivity. "If a sentencing law is declared unconstitutional," he says, "it should be unconstitutional for everyone."

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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
Vietnam has eased its drug laws but smugglers still face capital punishment.





A court in Hanoi sentenced four men to death on Monday for smuggling more than 20 kilograms of heroin in less than a year, Vietnam News Agency reported.





The men, aged between 20 and 32 years, were arrested in April last year after 2 of them were caught driving a motorbike carrying 8 kilograms of heroin.





The smugglers, from the central province of Khanh Hoa and the nearby Dak Lak, had flown to Hanoi before driving to the neighboring Hoa Binh Province to take delivery of the drugs from "strange masked men", the indictment said.





Police discovered the group had successfully smuggled a total of 12 kilograms of heroin on 9 different occasions from late 2015.





The scale of the operation remains unknown.





Vietnam has some of the world's toughest drug laws, but those convicted of possession or appropriation will no longer face the death penalty following revisions to the Penal Code.





However, the production or smuggling of 100 grams of heroin, cocaine or methamphetamine still carries the death penalty, according to the amended law which will take effect in January 2018.

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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

vnexpress.net, August 24, 2017
The State of Oklahoma will not execute any inmates in 2017.





As KOKH reports, this year marks the third straight year that the death chamber has remained quiet in the state.





The death penalty was halted in Oklahoma in 2015 after the botched execution of inmate Clayton Lockett.





Due to mistakes made in the administration of the drug IV during Locketts 2014 execution, it took Lockett 43 minutes to die.





As of this year, new procedures have not been adopted and there are still no pending changes to execution procedures in Oklahoma, according to a spokesperson for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.





A 2016 grand jury reports issued a scathing indictment into the Department of Correctionss protocols for executing criminals, finding the system to be riddled with failures and errors.

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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
The Supreme Court has corrected the death sentence imposed on Yusman Telaumbanua when he was still underage. A grave mistake.





Death row convict Yusman Telaumbanua, who was aged 16 when he was tried, was released last week. The sentence handed down to the youth from Hilionozega village, Idanogawo subdistrict, Nias regency was revised by the Supreme Court following an appeal.





Now, it is time for the police officers, prosecutors, and judges involved in Yusmans initial trial to be investigated, and when proven guilty, be severely punished.





Law enforcement officials were clearly negligent when determining the age of Yusman, who was sentenced to death by the Gunungsitoli District Court in May 2013. The youth, who was charged with involvement in a case of premeditated murder, was declared to have been 19 years old when the offense took place a year beforehand. This meant he was an adult, and no longer covered by the Child Court Law, which stipulates that children are aged up to 18 years and cannot be sentenced by capital punishment. At the court, the age of Yusman, who failed to graduate from elementary school, was determined only based on witness testimony, not official nor scientific documentation.





This serious error changed Yusmans life forever. An underage suspect cannot face the death penalty. Even if proven guilty, he would face a maximum sentence half that of an adult. That is why, the case of Yusman, who was accused of murdering his boss, Kolimarinus Zega, and 2 other people, was very strange. Of the 6 people accused of involvement, only Yusman and his brother-in-law were tried.





The Yusman tragedy was revealed by a priest and the Commission for Missing People and Victims of Violence (Kontras). This commission helped Yusman lodge an appeal. The Supreme Court eventually granted the appeal and changed the verdict to 5 years in jail. Because he had served enough of his sentence, Yusman was released from Gunungsitoli Jail on August 17.





The error with Yusmans age came to light from, among other things, the church baptism records showing that he was born on December 30, 1996, meaning he was under 16 in April 2012, the time of the murders. A medical examination at the Padjadjaran University Faculty of Dentistry showed that Yusman was under 18 when the murders took place.





The Yusman case was also strange because he was not the person who actually carried out the murders of Kolimarinus and the two other victims, who had initially planned to buy a gecko for a considerable sum of money. Yusman merely told his boss that his brother-in-law, Rusula Hia, had a gecko. Kolimarinus and the 2 other victims were then picked up by 4 of Rusulas neighbors on motorbikes. These 4 bike riders are thought to have sadistically killed the three prospective gecko buyers for their money. They are still on the run. Only Yusman and Rusula were arrested and subsequently sentenced to death.





The police must solve this case and find the 4 fugitives. This is important for justice. Although he has been freed, Yusman needs rehabilitation if he really was not involved in the murders. And the sentence of his brother-in-law should also be corrected if he was not guilty, or did not play a major part.





Law enforcement officers involved in the arbitrary trial must be questioned and appropriately punished. Yusman is thought to have been ill-treated during questioning, and his attorney sided with the police. It is not only police officers and prosecutors who should be investigated, but also the judges who sentenced Yusman, who should be questioned by the Judicial Commission. A trial should not be conducted in such an arbitrary fashion, especially if it results in death sentences for those on trial.





Source: tempo.co, August 24, 2017





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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
Indonesias drug war is still far from Philippines President Rodrigo Dutertes in terms of the extrajudicial killings of drug traffickers, but some people in Indonesia, such as National Narcotics Agency (BNN) Chief Budi Waseso, seem to want to push the country towards that direction (Waseso having often voiced his admiration for Dutertes violent approach to eradicating narcotics).





Yesterday, Waseso reiterated his tough stance on drugs by saying that his officers would have no problems shooting drug traffickers if they resist arrest, and no one is exempt from this  not even celebrities.





We will act sternly. We dont want a celeb to become an example because we have to shoot them for resisting arrest, Waseso said, as quoted by CNN Indonesia.





Dying (from drug trafficking) is a risk and consequence. I will not treat (celebrities) differently.





Wasesos warning comes amid an increase in the arrests of celebrities for drug possession or use in Indonesia. So far in 2017, at least 7 high profile celebrities, including actor Tora Sudiro and musician Ello, have been arrested for possession of illegal narcotics.





Indonesia does not condone extrajudicial killings of drug traffickers, but President Joko Widodo in July said that authorities should shoot drug traffickers, including foreigners, if they resist even the slightest in order to combat a drug emergency in the country.





There has been an upswing in the number of fatal shootings of drug traffickers in Indonesia in 2017, at least in terms of media coverage. In the first 7 months of this year, 49 drug traffickers were reportedly shot dead by authorities, compared to 14 and 10 in 2016 and 2015 respectively.





The death penalty for drug trafficking saw increasing use during the early part of President Joko Widodos administration. Although the countrys execution of local and foreign drug traffickers drew strong criticism from other countries and rights groups, Jokowis administration seems intent on reasserting its violent stance against drug trafficking despite it, statistically, not reducing the amount of illegal narcotics being trafficked in the country.













Malaysia Turns Blind Eye to Smuggling of Narcotics Into Indonesia: BNN Chief

Jakarta. The chief of the National Narcotics Agency, or BNN, Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso said on Wednesday (23/08) in Jakarta that Malaysia is deliberately letting drug traffickers smuggle narcotics into Indonesia.





Budi said approximately 100 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, locally known as sabu, come into Indonesia each month from Malaysia.





"There are two drug syndicates from Malaysia that are involved. I can say that Malaysia is making it easier for drug smugglers to send narcotics into our country," Budi said.





BNN seized 17.54 kilograms of sabu in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, on Aug. 6 and killed two suspects who resisted arrest.





According to officials from the Customs and Excise Office, the suspected drug traffickers shot in Pontianak are linked to another group that was raided with a ton of sabu in Serang, West Java, in July.





On Aug. 18, the agency also seized 40 kilograms of sabu on a ship in waters off Aceh. One of the suspected drug traffickers was a member of the Indonesian Military (TNI).





Budi said these recent incidents prove there is a Malaysian drug trafficking network that repeatedly smuggles narcotics into Indonesia.





According to him, the Malaysian suspects who were arrested in Pontianak, Luh aka Ape and CKH aka Ahoe also tried to bribe BNN officials with Rp 10 billion ($750,000) in cash.





Budi stressed he will not hesitate to punish BNN staff if they are caught getting involved with drug dealers.





"If necessary, we will shoot them on site, if we are sure that they are assisting the drug dealers. In 2016, we seized 3.5 tons of sabu, but this year the number has dramatically increased," he said, adding that he had begun investigating Malaysian drug traffickers when he was still chief of the National Police's Criminal Investigation Unit (Bareskrim) in 2015.





"Malaysia is deliberately letting their drug dealers to take advantage of our border areas. They do not distribute the drugs in large quantity at once, a ton can be split over several areas in Indonesia," Budi added.





Meanwhile, the director general of the Customs and Excise Office, Heru Pambudi, said the Malaysian drug dealers are targeting small ports to deliver their drugs into Indonesia.





"We are working with other agencies to monitor these ports closely and stop the drugs from coming into Indonesia," Heru said.

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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
Iranian Resistance calls on international community to condemn the execution of political prisoners in Iran, and urges all governments to make their relations with the religious dictatorship in Iran contingent on an end to executions and torture.





The Iranian regime hanged Seyed Jamal Mousavi, a Sunni Kurdish political prisoner from city of Sanadaj on Wednesday August 23 after spending 9 years in prison on the so-called charge of Moharebeh (waging war on God). This is while the new cabinet of Hassan Rouhani has not been through its 1st week in the office.





The authorities in in Gohardasht prison (west of Tehran) transferred Mr. Mousavi from Hall 21 of Section 7 of the prison to solitary confinement on the pretext of sending him to hospital on 16 August. He was held enchained in solitary confinement for a week. They threatened Mr. Moussavi that his death sentence would be implemented if he leaks any information from inside the prison.





In order to intimidate and terrorize other prisoners, the authorities returned Mr. Mousavi to the general ward in prison hours before his execution while his arms and legs were bloody and injured. Subsequently he was once again transferred to solitary confinement to await execution and finally was hanged at dawn on Wednesday 23 August 2017.





Meanwhile in Hall 10 Section 4 of Gohardasht prison 21 other political prisoners continue their hunger strike for 4th week to protest their forcible transfer to the hall, increasing pressures and constraints imposed on them, and destruction and confiscation of their property.





The Iranian Resistance offers its condolences to the family and friends of Seyed Jamal Mousavi and the people of city Sanandaj and Kurdistan, and calls on the youth to protest against the execution and support of political prisoners and the families of those executed.





The Iranian Resistance also urges the international community in particular the United Nations Secretary-General, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Human Rights Council and the United Nations Security Council to condemn the execution of political prisoners by the clerical regime in Iran.





It urges all governments to to make their relations and trade with the religious dictatorship in Iran contingent on an end to executions and torture.





The brutal violation of human rights is the other side of the coin of the Iranian regime's export of terrorism, warmongering policies in the region, and its efforts to acquire nuclear weapon.

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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

NCRI, August 24, 2017
Indias position on Nepals constitution amendment is still same: Indian Foreign Secy

Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar has said that Indias position regarding Nepals constitution amendment and demands of Madhes-centric parties is same and clear.
Thousands of documents that could throw some light on one of the shadiest figures in the entourage of the former Spanish dictator Francisco Franco have been salvaged from a builders skip on Madrids upmarket Serrano street.

Letter from Nazi Christoph Fiessler sent to Luis Gomez Sanz.

The archives belonging to Luis Gomez Sanz, a lawyer born in 1913 in the western city of Salamanca, were discovered on July 20 by Jose Maria Uria Fernandez with the socially progressive Anastasio de Gracia Foundation (Agfitel).

I was out walking when I came across a container filled with papers, he says. The caretaker of the building told me they were from an apartment that was being refurbished. There were other papers, but they had already been taken by junk men.

When Uria Fernandez began to sift through the material, he could hardly believe his eyes. There are around 20,000 documents and 74 books, he says, adding that they are to be handed over to researchers.

About 20,000 historic documents and 74 books were found in the trash

Among the literature is a 1749 edition of Dialogues from Spanish humanist and philosopher Juan Luis Vives.

Gomez Sanz was both a state attorney and prosecutor as well as secretary to the board of directors for Spains national heritage during the prime-ministership of Luis Carrero Blanco in 1973, according to Agfitel.

As noted in Spains ABC daily newspaper on the first anniversary of his death, Gomez Sanz was just 58 when he died on July 23, 1972. The news item alluded to masses in Madrid, Bizkaia [Biscay] and Gipuzkoa for the eternal rest of his soul.

The journalist and writer Mariano Sanchez Soler, who focused some of his work on the oligarchy during Francos dictatorship, says that Gomez Sanz had close ties with Francos personal secretary, Jose Maria Sanchiz Sancho.

A draft of the document by the Viennese Prince Pablo Metternich in which he asks Franco for Spanish nationality. FUNDACION AGFITEL

Sanchiz Sancho was married to Enriqueta Bordiu, the aunt of the Marquis of Villaverde, who was married to Francos daughter. According to Sanchez Soler, Sanchiz Sancho and Gomez Sanz created front companies that would ostensibly own properties purchased by the Franco family, such as the Valdefuentes estate in Arroyomolinos, Madrid. Gomez Sanz was close to the dictators family at an important time, he says.

He was a legal fixer, a figure of great importance to the ruling families during Franco years, says the historian Maria Jose Turrion. His influence is evident in all the corruption going on around Franco, but he stayed in the background, she says. Not much is known about him because there is scarcely any documentation on him in the Royal Palace or with the Franco Foundation.

The Agfitel Foundation has divided the material into five sections. The first Office Clients, includes documents on companies revealing how they were established and went on to thrive as well as characters such as the Nazi Christoph Fiessler, a notable spy who took refuge in Spain after the Second World War.

Gomez Sanz was a legal fixer of great importance to the ruling families during the Franco years

In a letter dated June 6, 1957, Fiessler writes to his dear friend because he wont be able to turn up to a court hearing, and apologizes for sending other people in his place. The documents also include a request from the Viennese Prince Pablo Metternich y Silva to Franco for Spanish nationality in 1947.

Then there is a section dubbed Recommendations which includes documentation relating to the many favors asked of Gomez Sanz due to his close ties to Francos oligarchs, such as the pulling of strings for a candidate sitting solicitor exams, or fast-tracking paperwork for companies like Dodge automobiles. Another request was from a woman in the western Spanish town of Caceres who wanted the lawyer to sort out a teaching post she hadnt got despite paying 25,000 pesetas.

There is also a section labeled State Business and another called Judicial Procedures. A fifth, labeled Particular contains two pictures of Gomez Sanzs parents wedding, taken by the prestigious photographer Venancio Gombau as well as evidence of Gomez Sanzs wife Maria Aurelia Mugicas revision for exams leading to a teachers position, dated 1928. Mugicas death on May 20, 1997 was also reported by ABC. Finally, there are documents relating to Gomez Sanzs bid to refashion his library using the model of the library of the Spanish King Felipe II at El Escorial.

English version by Heather Galloway.
The father of Younes Abouyaaqoub in the Catalan town of Ripoll. Toni Ferragut

The parents of Younes Abouyaaqoub spend the morning outdoors in an out-of-the-way street in Ripoll, avoiding the dozens of journalists that have flooded into the hometown of the terrorists who staged the attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils last week.

Nobody noticed anything strange. What would we see?

Younes is the 22-year-old, the exemplary student and great guy, who killed 13 people on August 17 on Barcelonas famous La Rambla promenade by accelerating into them with a Renault van. He was shot dead by police on Monday after a huge four-day manhunt.

At his parents side now, their two youngest children are busy coloring in. They are the siblings of Younes and of Houssaine, 20, killed by police after a second terrorist attack in Cambrils just hours after the Barcelona attack, and also of Hicham, 28, who has not been linked to the attacks.

The fathers voice is scarcely audible: He is being described as a normal boy, he says, referring to Younes and shaking his head. I would go further and say he was a studious boy who worked and earned a living and didnt get into trouble. Nobody noticed anything strange. What would we see? Of course he talked to the imam. But so did the other kids. What we didnt know is that they met in secret in a van or in houses. We had no idea about that. You know they have to pretend. Its part of what they do  pretend and hide what they think.

Security camera image of Younes Abouyaaqoub shortly after the attack in Barcelona. AP

Wearing a green veil, Younes mother is unable to speak. Every time she tries, she is choked by tears. Shes devastated, the father explains. This is the first day she has got out of bed.

Younes mother returned from Morocco on Wednesday evening, just hours before the attacks. Both she and Younes father found out about the attacks on the TV. They called Younes minutes later, but he wouldnt answer his phone. But did they call him because they suspected he was involved or to tell him what had happened?

Why would we suspect anything? says Younes father. We called the same way any parent calls their child to tell them something, but he didnt pick up.

Did they suspect something then? Nothing nothing, says the man, shaking his head.

The fault lies with the police. How is such an imam allowed? Why didnt they realize he was a dangerous man?

When we found out, thats when we started to go back over things, but still nothing seemed odd. They [the terrorists] pretend [everything is normal] he insists.

The fault lies with the police. How is such an imam allowed here? Why didnt they realize he was a dangerous man? asks Younes father, referring to the imam Abdelbaki Es Satty who headed the cell behind the recent Catalonia terror attacks.

They knew he was dangerous in Belgium and they threw him out. Why didnt they do the same thing here? We are not to blame. How can anyone blame us?

At this point, the parents ask politely to end the interview. They are shaken and Younes fathers voice is cracking. They are still waiting for the bodies of their two sons. They want to bury them in Morocco.

English version by Heather Galloway.
Chris Froome. Javier Lizon (EFE)

Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) won stage 5 of the Vuelta a Espana on Thursday after leaving behind the last of his breakaway companions on the short, steep haul to the finish at Alcossebre, while Chris Froome (Sky) strengthened his lead in the overall standings with a sprint in the final moments of the 175.7 kilometer run from Benicassim to Alcossebre that saw him finish 14th.

The Kazakh attacked the five mountain passes, leaving Marco Haller behind at the start of the stages final climb, a short but steep haul up to the Ermita de Santa Lucia church and its views of the Mediterranean Sea.

Lutsenko was followed by the Eritrean Merhawi Kudus and the Spaniard Marc Soler, while Austrian Marco Hailer came in sixth.

With his eye on his pulsometer, Froome sped up on the last two kilometers, shadowed by Canadian Michael Woods and Colombian Johan Chaves while Bardet dropped 49 seconds with respect to Froome, Nibali 26, De la Cruz 21, Aru and Adam Yates 11.

Alberto Contador continued to show steady improvement. The Spaniard's final Vuelta looked set to be a disappointing one when he conceded more than two minutes in Andorra. But on Thursday he showed signs of a revival, though he remains 3:10 behind Froome in the overall standings.

"My sensations were better than they have been for the past few days, and I'm pretty happy with how it went. We still have quite a bit of work to do. I'm reasonably happy with how it is going," Contador said after the stage. "The crowd was really impressive, and I'm happy that I could do something for them."

The race finishes in Madrid on September 10 after another 16 stages.

General standings after stage five NAME DIFFERENCE 1 GBR Chris Froome 18h 07:10 2 USA Tejay Van Garderen + 00:10 3 COL Johan Esteban Chaves + 00:11 4 IRL Nicolas Roche + 00:13 5 ESP David de la Cruz + 00:23 6 ITA Vincenzo Nibali + 00:36 7 ITA Fabio Aru + 00:49 8 GBR Adam Yates + 00:50 9 GBR Simon Yates + 01:09 10 CAN Michael Woods + 01:13

English version by Heather Galloway.
Large planters are placed in the tourist areas of Seville. PACO PUENTES

Some of the largest cities in Spain have begun taking preventive security measures to protect their main pedestrian walkways by installing bollards, planters and concrete blocks, to avoid attacks like those in Catalonia last week. Although the Ministry of the Interior did not detail its recommendations so as to not give clues to terrorists, it has agreed with law enforcement agencies to increase security devices in highly attended places or events.

Three regional police officers block the entrance to a street near the La Rambla boulevard. JOAN SANCHEZ

Large cities are taking similar measures to those taken at the end of 2016 following the attack in Berlin when a truck drove into a crowd at a Christmas market. Local authorities followed the recommendations and installed bollards and increased surveillance in areas where crowds were expected over the holiday season. Now, following the attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils, once again they are beefing up security measures.

Barcelona. The citys security council met with Mayor Ada Colau, regional Minister of the Interior Joaquim Forn and the central government delegate for Catalonia Enric Millo, deciding to increase the number of officers on the streets at airports, train stations and other busy areas of the city. It was also decided to install obstacles to prevent pedestrian and vehicle collisions. Police will also be intensifying surveillance at major events, demonstrations, and concerts by expanding the security perimeter and requiring people entering to identify themselves. The city council will continue to study the restriction of roads to pedestrians, the installation of fixed obstacles or specific actions.

Planters are placed in Madrid's central Puerta del Sol. MARISCAL (EFE)

Madrid. Officials in Spains capital city have followed instructions from the interior ministry and implemented planters and physical barriers in main streets and plazas that are currently unprotected, such as the central Puerta del Sol, Preciados street, and Carmen street. We have done everything the police has told us and we will maintain these measures, said a City Hall official. The measures were adopted the day after the attacks in Catalonia.

Valencia. Following the attacks, the city has installed obstacles to prevent vehicles from entering pedestrian spaces. Until these are fully installed, police vehicles will close off vulnerable areas of the city. The security measures must also take into account access for emergency vehicles, as well as resident access to garages, shops, and hotels.

Police place planters on Montera and Carmen streets in Madrid. KIKE PARA

Seville. The largest city in the southern region of Andalusia will begin to install planters along the Real Alcazar, a major monument that attracts 1.6 million visitors a year. This is just the first step for City Hall and the central government delegation, which have set up a committee to plan the lay out of further bollards. The redesigned security plan involves both permanent and temporary obstacles, which can be used for events, along with an increased police presence and security cameras.

Armed police monitor the area around Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium. SANTI PALACIOS (AP)

Zaragoza. City Hall is preparing a study on how to improve security measures for the capital city of the Aragon region in northeastern Spain. The plan will include installing bollards in the main points of interest.

Bilbao. The Basque city has decided that fixed obstacles are not the right solution for the citys safety needs. A study concluded that the use of barriers would further restrict roads used by the public bus system, cargo vans, and residents. Instead, City Hall will establish local police checks and use police vehicles to regulate traffic and protect pedestrians.

Planters installed on the boardwalk in Santiago de la Ribera. BELEN FLORIT

Santiago de Compostela. Increased security obstacles are already a reality for the city in northwestern Spain that is the final destination of the Saint James Way pilgrimage route. Bollards have been placed in the Obradoira Plaza and in front of the main cathedral. These are a temporary measure to be replaced once the city finds a more modern and aesthetically pleasing bollard. This plan was in the works before the attacks in Catalonia, but, since then, sensitive points in the city have been identified for additional protection.

English version by Debora Almeida.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

By Seba Aghayeva  Trend:

Azerbaijan is ready to continue close cooperation with the newly appointed US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group on settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministrys Spokesman Hikmat Hajiyev told Trend, Aug. 24.

In general, Azerbaijans expectations from the OSCE Minsk Group carry institutional, not an individual character, noted Hajiyev.

Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, in line with their mandate and on the basis of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, should ensure the withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories, contribute to the restoration of Azerbaijans territorial integrity and return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their native lands, added the Azerbaijani official.

Nonetheless, in 25 years of its existence, the Minsk Group has not been able to ensure the achievement of these aims, said Hajiyev.

OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, who also are the permanent members of the UN Security Council, had directly participated in the adoption of the Councils resolutions on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, he noted. These resolutions reconfirm the sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan and demand the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories, added the official.

We are grateful to the interim US co-chair Richard Hoagland for his activity, particularly, for demonstration of the principled position of the US (co-chairing the Minsk Group) in the question of ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories, and wish him success in his future professional activity, said Hajiyev.

It should be noted that, Andrew Schofer has been appointed as the new permanent US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group. Schofer is a very experienced senior US diplomat, who most recently served as charge daffaires at the US Mission to International Organizations in Vienna.

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. 24

Trend:

President of Azerbaijan, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev has viewed a newly-built Tufan type border guard ship at the Shipyard of the Coast Guard of the State Border Service, and laid the foundations of another Tufan type border guard ship.

Chief of Azerbaijans State Border Service, Commander of Border Troops Elchin Guliyev informed the head of state of the works carried out at the Shipyard of the Coast Guard of the State Border Service. He said that six Shahdagh and four Tufan type border guard ships have been built by the shipyard so far.

The head of state laid the foundations of another Tufan type border guard ship.

The president was informed of the State Border Services new special military hardware, weapons and ammunition.

The head of state viewed the Tufan type border guard ship.
Baku, Azerbaijan, August 24

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

Kestutis Jankauskas has been appointed as Head of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan, said the message posted on the website of the EU External Action Service.

Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, has announced the appointment.

Jankauskas replaced Malena Mard on this post.

He is currently serving as Head of the EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM) in Georgia.

Currently, over 1,300 European companies operate in Azerbaijan.

To date, Azerbaijan has signed double taxation avoidance agreements with 23 EU countries and agreements on the promotion and protection of investments with 17 EU countries. Moreover, Azerbaijan has intergovernmental commissions with 13 countries and has signed strategic partnership agreements with seven EU countries.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn
Details added (first version posted on 10:44)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

Trend:

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received credentials of newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Italy Augusto Massari.

Ambassador Augusto Massari reviewed a guard of honor.

Augusto Massari presented his credentials to President Ilham Aliyev.

President Ilham Aliyev then spoke with the ambassador.

The head of state hailed successful development of Azerbaijan-Italy bilateral relations, underlining the two countries partnership in a number of areas, including in political, economic and energy ones.

President Ilham Aliyev noted that the Joint Declaration on strategic partnership between the two countries adopted in Rome in 2014 reflects the level of bilateral relations, describing this as indicative of the excellent level of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Italy.

The head of state also hailed a large number of opportunities for expanding Azerbaijan-Italy partnership in various fields.

Describing the political relations between the two countries as excellent, President Ilham Aliyev noted that the work on the Southern Gas Corridor project successfully continues.

The head of state noted the importance of diversifying economic cooperation in order to keep balance in bilateral cooperation and increase trade. President Ilham Aliyev emphasized the significance of achieving this not only by increasing oil supplies, but also by further developing trade relations.

Saying a large number of Italian companies are operating in a variety of areas in Azerbaijan, the head of state hailed good opportunities for increasing the number of investment companies in the country, which would contribute to increasing the volume of export products in both directions.

President Ilham Aliyev wished the ambassador success during his diplomatic tenure in Azerbaijan.

Describing Azerbaijan-Italy bilateral relations as excellent, Ambassador Massari noted that he felt this within a few days of his visit to Azerbaijan where he saw a great number of Italians and Italian brands. Augusto Massari noted that stability, religious tolerance and multiculturalism in Azerbaijan create good opportunities for cooperation between the two countries.

The Italian ambassador said that development of relations with Azerbaijan on the basis of the Joint Declaration on strategic partnership between the two countries adopted in Rome in 2014 is of pivotal importance to the Italian government. He emphasized that he will spare no efforts to further strengthen Azerbaijan-Italy bilateral cooperation in a variety of areas.

They underlined the importance of the Italian sides support for the negotiations on the Partnership Agreement between Azerbaijan and the European Union.

The sides also hailed high potential for developing cooperation between the two countries in the fields of economy, space industry, infrastructure, agriculture, trade, education, culture and healthcare.
Baku, Azerbaijan, August 23

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

The White House will face a huge pressure to stay in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Richard G. Miles, Director, US-Mexico Futures Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told Trend.

"An exit from NAFTA would be damaging to the United States. Canada and Mexico are the countrys number 1 and 2 trading partners. More importantly, NAFTA has effectively created a system of shared rules and expectations in North America, making it more competitive as a continent versus the rest of the world," he added.

Miles said he believes that the odds are very much in favor of the US remaining in NAFTA.

"States that are large exporters, for example Texas, will exert enormous pressure on the White House and Congress to remain part of the agreement," said the expert.

He noted that the Mexican economy is heavily dependent on exports to the US and most likely will suffer the most if the US withdraws.

"However, if it were to retaliate with punitive tariffs, US industries, especially the automotive industry and agriculture sector, would be hit hard. In a total withdrawal scenario followed by high tariff barriers, the automotive industry (including parts), the agriculture sector, and the energy sector could all see significant declines in sales," Miles believes.

US President Donald Trump has revived a threat to pull the US out of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico just days after officials from the three countries began the process of renegotiating the deal.

"Personally, I dont think we can make a deal. I think well end up probably terminating NAFTA at some point," he told supporters in Arizona.

The United States commenced bilateral trade negotiations with Canada more than 30 years ago, resulting in the US-Canada Free Trade Agreement, which entered into force on January 1, 1989. In 1991, bilateral talks began with Mexico, which Canada joined. The NAFTA followed, entering into force on January 1, 1994. Tariffs were eliminated progressively and all duties and quantitative restrictions, with the exception of those on a limited number of agricultural products traded with Canada, were eliminated by 2008.

NAFTA also includes chapters covering rules of origin, customs procedures, agriculture and sanitary and phytosanitary measures, government procurement, investment, trade in services, protection of intellectual property rights, and dispute settlement procedures.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

By Anvar Mammadov  Trend:

VTB Bank Azerbaijan, a subsidiary of Russias VTB Bank, has no plans to finance construction of housing, which is to be rented to young families in Azerbaijan, a source in the bank told Trend.

Such program wasnt even discussed in the banks management, so its too early to talk about it, according to the source.

Earlier, Russias VTB Bank announced its intention to allocate 25 billion rubles (over $422 million as of Aug. 24) to finance construction of housing, which will be further rented to young families in Russia.

The source noted that VTB Bank Azerbaijan currently plans to continue active participation in issuing mortgage loans through the Azerbaijan Mortgage Fund (AMF).

Azerbaijans state mortgage program helps many middle-income families to improve their living conditions, the source noted. VTB Bank Azerbaijan successfully cooperates with the state mortgage program, and as of July 1, 2017, the bank issued loans worth over 1.19 million manats (about $705,000 as of Aug. 24) through the AMF.

VTB Bank Azerbaijan has been operating in the country since 1993 (at that time it was called the Kontinent Bank).
Japan offers flood relief

Japan has provided emergency relief goods worth Rs23.4 millions to the government as support to the victims of the recent floods in the southern plains.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

By Seba Aghayeva  Trend:

The governments of Azerbaijan and Austria are working on a package of concrete proposals for economic cooperation, to be submitted for consideration to the bilateral intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation, a source in the Azerbaijani government told Trend.

Submission of proposals will take place in early October in Vienna, according to the source.

During the Vienna visit, Azerbaijani government delegation will be accompanied by business community representatives, who are expected to meet with their counterparts as part of a business forum.

Currently, Austrian companies may be interested in investing in Azerbaijans transport sector, in particular the Baku International Sea Trade Port, to be included in the free trade zone. There are also ample opportunities for cooperation in the agricultural sector that includes production, processing and packaging of finished products.

To date, the two countries have signed about 40 bilateral documents in economy, education, culture, science, agriculture, etc.

According to Azerbaijans State Customs Committee, the trade turnover with Austria in January-July 2017 amounted to $126.3 million.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

By Maksim Tsurkov  Trend:

Azerbaijans external debt stood at $7,172.6 million (12,208.5 million manats) as of July 1, 2017, which accounts for 18.9 percent of the countrys GDP, said Azerbaijani Ministry of Finance.

The statistics on borrowings include direct liabilities of the Azerbaijani government and contingent liabilities for loans attracted under state guarantee.

Azerbaijans external debt consists mainly of funds raised from international financial institutions within credit programs and infrastructure projects, as well as securities placed in international financial markets.

As of April 1, 2017, Azerbaijans external debt reached $7 billion, or 18.1 percent of the GDP.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

By Maksim Tsurkov  Trend:

Azerbaijan has provided satellite imagery of the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park to the Emergency Management Agency of Georgias Ministry of Internal Affairs to help Tbilisi tackle forest fires in the national parks territory.

AzerCosmos, a satellite operator in Azerbaijan, has said the imagery, taken by its AzerSky satellite, was provided in line with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyevs order to render assistance to the Georgian side.

The high-resolution imagery helped precisely assess the amount of damage caused by the forest fires. Monitoring of the fires from the space continues, said AzerCosmos.

Earlier, under the order of President Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijans Ministry of Emergency Situations sent a special rescue team, rigged with fire-fighting equipment, to Georgia to help put out the forest fires in Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

By Kamila Aliyeva  Trend:

Turkmenistan-China gas relationship may be viewed as one country's over-dependence on another, Sean Roberts, an expert on Central Asia and Associate Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, told Trend commenting on the construction of Tajik section of the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Tajikistan-Kyrgyzstan-China gas pipeline launched last month.

One one hand, it is easy to understand why Central Asia states are increasingly attracted to trade deals and investment from China. For Turkmenistan and other Central Asian states, China offers economic relationships that are not overtly tied to political issues, he said.

On the other hand, China is extremely adept at maximizing its own benefits from economic ties with other countries, according to the expert.

In the case of its gas deals with Turkmenistan, it has largely sought to provide loans to the country in exchange for preferable access and pricing for the country's gas, he said.

The expert also stressed that it would be in Turkmenistan's interest to cultivate diverse markets for its gas, which would provide the state more leverage internationally.

Chinas CNPC started construction of Tajik section or Line D of the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Tajikistan-Kyrgyzstan-China gas pipeline on July 26.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Aug. 24

By Demir Azizov  Trend:

Uzbekistans President Shavkat Mirziyoyev received Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, who arrived in Tashkent for a working visit, the Uzbek national news agency (UzA) reported.

Mirziyoyev congratulated Shuvalov on his appointment as a co-chair of the joint Russia-Uzbekistan intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation.

During the meeting, the parties discussed the issues on developing practical cooperation between the two countries, as well as accelerating investment projects and implementing new promising programs in high-tech industries.

The two sides also stressed the dynamic developments in bilateral relations. The volumes of mutual trade are steadily growing: in the first seven months of 2017, trade turnover increased by 14 percent and exceeded $2.6 billion.

Currently, joint work is underway to implement priority investment projects with the involvement of leading Russian companies and banks.

Two sides are cooperating on major projects, such as the conduction of geological exploration and the development of promising fields, by increasing hydrocarbon production, in the oil and gas complex, the construction of the Kandym gas processing plant and Jizzakh oil refinery, the modernization of the industrys enterprises, as well as the projects in the sphere of oil and gas supply.

In total, nearly 1,000 enterprises, with the participation of Russian capital, operate in Uzbekistan. Representative offices of 60 Russian companies have been accredited in the country.

Shuvalov, for his part, expressed Russias readiness to develop and strengthen the full-scale cooperation with Uzbekistan in the spirit of strategic partnership.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Aug. 24

By Demir Azizov  Trend:

11th session of Uzbekistans Senate (upper house of the parliament) has kicked off in Tashkent, Trends correspondent reported, Aug. 24.

The sessions agenda includes consideration of several laws, including the law On the dissemination of legal information and access to it, On protecting children from information that is harmful to their health and others.

Meanwhile, the issues of attributing the Toitep, Yangiyul and Okhangaron towns of the Tashkent region to the category of cities of regional subordination will be discussed at the session.

Other issues related to the competences of the Senate will also be discussed at the plenary session.

Uzbekistans bicameral parliament  the Supreme Assembly  was created in 2005. Its legislative chamber has 150 permanent members of the parliament (MPs).

The upper house - Senate has 100 MPs, elected in equal numbers, i.e. six MPs from the Karakalpakstan Republic, provinces and the city of Tashkent. Sixteen more members of the Senate are appointed by the Uzbek president from among the most distinguished citizens.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Aug. 24

By Demir Azizov Trend:

The Senate (upper house) of the Uzbek Parliament has approved a draft law On dissemination of legal information and ensuring access to it at a meeting on Aug. 24, Trends correspondent reported from the senate floor.

Tolibjon Madumarov, deputy chairman of the Senate Committee on Legislation, Judicial and Legal Issues, said that the draft law was developed as a part of the implementation of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyevs February, 2017 decree On measures for radical improvement of system of dissemination of legislative acts and is aimed at ensuring the rights of citizens to access to legal information.

Hitherto, the procedure for dissemination of legal information has been regulated by more than 20 legal acts. Nevertheless, they didnt specify the competence of Uzbek state bodies and other organizations in the dissemination of legal information and access to it; furthermore, the ways of dissemination of legal information werent systematized, either.

As a result, serious shortcomings were experienced, when it came to the practical implementation.

The Uzbek national database of legislative and legal acts includes more than 30,000 documents.

The developed law ensures timeliness, accessibility and transparency of dissemination of the legal information, establishes the procedure and mechanism for its dissemination, clearly defines the powers of state bodies and organizations in dissemination of the legislative documents, Madumarov said.

The law was developed on the research, based on the experience of a number of developed countries.

In accordance with the established procedures, the law approved by the senators will be sent to the Uzbek president for signing.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Aug. 24

By Demir Azizov  Trend:

Uzbekistans former Deputy Prime Minister Ulugbek Rozukulov has been appointed the director general of the countrys national airline Uzbekistan Airways, a source in the airlines management told Trend Aug. 24.

Uzbekistan Airways was earlier headed by Valeriy Tyan.

Uzbekistan Airways is a flag carrier airline in Uzbekistan and is wholly owned by the state. It carries out flights to 22 cities in the US, Europe, Middle East, Asia, 24 cities in the CIS, as well as to 11 local destinations.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

By Kamila Aliyeva  Trend:

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed decree On improvement of the procedure for material, technical and financial support of activities of courts and justice bodies.

The decree aims at further ensuring the independence of judiciary system, strengthening material, technical and financial support of courts, justice bodies and institutions as well as creating proper conditions for their activities.

The Development Fund of the Judiciary and Off-budget Foundation for the Development of Justice Bodies and Institutions will be created, according to the decree.

The sources of income for Development Fund of the Judiciary will be deductions in the amount of 16 percent, coming from payment of fines and state duties for cases, as well as deductions in the amount of 24 percent from money collected from enforcement proceedings, with the exception of collection of tax debts due to sale of the debtor's property.

The incomes of the Off-budget Foundation for the Development of Justice Bodies and Institutions will be formed by deductions from the sums of state duties levied by the registry offices in the amount of 16 percent, and by notaries - 8 percent.

Some 80 percent of the funds levied by the justice bodies for the state registration of non-state non-profit organizations, lawyers' bureaus, firms, colleges, symbols of a non-governmental non-profit organization, accreditation of employees of non-governmental non-profit organizations that are foreign citizens will also be used as a source of income.
Tehran, Iran, August 23

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

For the upcoming four years the incoming administration would need investments as well as new technologies for Irans oil sector to grow as it should, more than anything else, Narsi Qorban, an expert told Trend, Aug 23.

Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh recently said that, during his upcoming four year tenure, he will prioritize "important contracts", which will bring Iran financial investments and new technologies.

Qorban noted that, Irans recently developed oil contracts (IPC) are flexible enough to attract foreign companies to the negotiations table.

"Nevertheless, it will be entirely up to the Iranian negotiators, to push the talks into successful deals," he underlined.

"Attracting foreign investments and technologies is a priority for us in the oil industry, whether in shared fields or for increasing the production of oil at the fields that are already operational," Zanganeh said during a live television interview on state TV, Aug 20.

Zanganeh, who won the parliamentary approval to stay on as oil minister on Sunday, has been credited with the increase in Iran's crude oil output, since many global sanctions were lifted last year, following the international deal on Iran's nuclear program.

He has also won praise for a multi-billion-dollar deal with France's Total to develop world's largest gas field  South Pars.

Iran needs approximately $200 billion investment in oil and gas production and development, as well as refineries upgrade. Roughly 65 to 75 percent of that investment needs to come from the foreign sources, according to the minister.
Joining polls: RJP-N set to announce today

Following a majority voice in the party to join the election process despite the failure of amendment proposal, the Rastriya Janata Party Nepal is set to make a formal announcement on Thursday to join the local level elections in Province 2 scheduled for September 18.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 23

By Fatih Karimov Trend:

At least 1.148 million tourists visited Iran during the first three months of current fiscal year (March 20-June 21), Abdolreza Mohajerinejad, an official at Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization said.

The figure indicates a fall of 9.6 percent, compared to the same period of preceding year, said Mohajerinejad, the director of the Tourism Development and Planning Office of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, ISNA news agency reported, Aug. 23.

The fall is mostly related to the decreasing number of tourists from Iraq and Persian Gulf states, he said.

Nonetheless, the number of tourists from the EU and US visiting Iran is increasing, Mohajerinejad added.

Without unveiling the exact number of Western tourists, who visited Iran in the period, Mohajerinejad stated that, during the 15-month period from March 2016 to June 2017, their numbers rose by 56.6 percent, year-on-year.

Over 4.911 million tourists had visited Iran during the last fiscal year (ended March 20, 2017), indicating a fall by 2.5 percent year-on-year, he said.

The number of tourists from Iraq and Persian Gulf states registered a fall of 9.9 percent in the one-year period, according to Mohajerinejad.

Meanwhile, Iranian officials had announced earlier that, the number of tourists in-flow over the last year had surged by 33 percent, to reach six million visitors.

Irans annual income from tourism, over the last fiscal year, has increased by 11 percent to $8.3 billion.

The figure for the preceding year stood at $7.5 billion.
Mobarakeh Steel Company (MSC), a target of regulatory measures by the EU, is shifting its focus to Arab markets, which received the bulk of the companys exports in the four months since March 20, Press TV reported.

MSC exported 476,000 tonnes of steel worth $200 million in the period, mostly to Oman, the UAE, Jordan and Egypt, the companys managing Director Ahmad Sadeqi said.

The company also exported to Thailand and some European countries which he did not identify. The figure compared with overall exports of 700,000 tonnes by the company last year.

Sadeqi foresaw a bright prospect for the company which, he said, has boosted production, reduced debt and expanded exports and cut its prices.

His company is the largest steel maker in the Middle East and Northern Africa. Steel was Iran's largest export item after oil, gas and petrochemicals last year.

European media reports have said the EU was targeting MSCs hot-rolled steel, planning to hit imports from the country with punitive trade tariffs. According to a document cited in the media, the European Commission is proposing duties of up to 23 percent for steel from Mobarakeh Steel Company.

European steel lobby group Eurofer is at the center of the campaign and has forced Europes trade policy oversight European Commission to intervene and check imports.

The group has said Iranian exports to Europe had leapt to more than 1 million tonnes annually, accusing Mobarakeh of "trade distorting measures."

Iran enjoys an advantage because production costs at the majority of its steelworks are internationally competitive due to low energy prices in the country.

Sadeqi said the prices of Iranian steel products are still lower than those in the international market, adding the rates in Iran are controlled through various measures to avoid pressure on the consumer.

He also said current import tariffs in the country are appropriate given the current steel market which is flat around the world, but a number of brokers with a long history in imports of low-quality ingots, were pushing for the removal of duties.

Iran exported 4 million tonnes of steel last year, according to director of the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) Mehdi Karbasian.

Currently, the nation produces 16 million tonnes, which is one percent of the world total. A statement on IMIDROs website says exports are expected to hit 20-25 million tonnes by 2025.
Rosneft has undertaken to settle over 2 billion euros ($2.4 billion) owed to Iran for past oil purchases by Essar Group after the biggest Russian oil producer bought the Indian refiner on Monday, Press TV reported.

Irans crude sales to India more than doubled in 2016 after the lifting of sanctions, but New Delhi plans to cut purchases from Tehran by 3 million tonnes during the financial year that started April 1.

Essars debt to the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) is mostly related to the time when Iran was under sanctions and the country had problems for repatriation of its money.

The top Indian buyer of Iranian oil, which operates a 400,000 barrels per day oil refinery at Vadinar in Gujarat, carried out its first repayment of a $500 million debt owed to Tehran in June 2016.

While Indian refiners continued to lift Iranian oil under the sanctions, they did not do it without special incentives, including a credit period of 90 days granted by Tehran.

NIOC has cut this period to 60 days after the lifting of the sanctions, much to the chagrin of the Indians who want the arrangement to remain intact.

Under the sanctions regime, the Indians had agreed to pay oil dues in dollars, but they finally forced Iran to agree to a settlement half in dollar and half in rupee.

According to Iranian MP Asadollah Gharekhani, the rapporteur of Majlis Energy Commission, Iran's revenues shrank 30% after the rupee depreciated. Ultimately, instead of cash payments, India sold cheap commodities for Iran's crude, the lawmaker said.

Future Iran dealings

On Monday, Rosneft completed its $12.9 billion purchase of Essar Oil in the biggest foreign acquisition ever in India.

It is not immediately clear how the acquisition will affect dealings with Iran, but Rosneft has already held negotiations to develop Iranian oil fields.

Key Italian oil refiner Saras which is partly owned by Rosneft resumed purchases of Iranian oil in 2016.

Rosnefts other partner in the acquisition, Trafigura, is also a client of Irans crude oil. Trafigura loaded 2 million barrels of Iranian heavy crude for the first time in June 2016 and was reportedly in talks to supply Irans heavy crude grade to independent processors in China.

Reuters, however, reported last year that Rosneft planned to supply Venezuelan oil to the Vadinar refinery. The biggest Russian oil producer has a stake in Venezuelan upstream assets and oil purchase contracts with state-owned PDVSA.

Russias Gazprom and Zarubezhneft have signed agreements to develop a number of Iranian oil fields but Rosneft has yet to firm up its involvement in the country.

In June, Rosneft was one of the new entries along with Russias Gazprom Neft and Tatneft which NIOC added to its list of international companies named as eligible to bid for projects in Irans massive oil and gas.

The Essar deal includes a 98.26 percent acquisition of the refiner by Rosneft, Trafigura and Russian fund UCP, with the rest of the stakes to be held by retail investors.

Rosnefts Chief Executive Officer Igor Sechin was quoted as saying that the deal would enable Rosneft to improve the efficiency of fuel supplies to other nations in Asia.
Qatar said on Wednesday it decided to return its ambassador to Tehran, more than 20 months after he was recalled in protest over the ransacking of Saudi Arabia's missions in Iran by demonstrators angry at Riyadh's execution of a Shi'ite Muslim cleric, Reuters reported.

The Qatari decision comes amidst a row between Doha and fellow Gulf Cooperation Council members Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, which together with Egypt accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism, a charge it denies.

"Qatar announced that its ambassador to Tehran will return to resume his diplomatic duties," the Qatari foreign ministry's information office said in a statement in Arabic on its website. It added that Doha wanted to strengthen ties in all fields with the Islamic republic.

The information office also said that Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani discussed "bilateral relations and means of boosting and developing them" in a telephone call with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif.

Qatar recalled its ambassador to Tehran in January last year after Saudi Arabia cut ties with the Islamic republic, accusing it of failing to protect its embassy in Tehran and consulate in Mashahd against demonstrators who had ransacked them.

The demonstrators were protesting Saudi Arabia's execution of a prominent Shi'ite Muslim cleric convicted on terrorism charges.

The Qatari foreign ministry did not say when the ambassador will return to Tehran.

Iran has allowed Qatar's national carrier to use its airspace and sent fresh food supplies to Doha after Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed ties and cut transport and trade ties with Doha in June.

In the dispute with Qatar, the four countries have also accused Doha of cozying up to arch-foe Iran, a charge it denies, saying other Gulf countries had even warmer ties with Tehran.
A child bomber killed four members of a local self-defense group late Tuesday in northern Cameroon, an area often targeted by Boko Haram extremists in their long-running insurgency, PressTV reported.

The attack in the village of Amchide, near the Nigerian border, was confirmed on Wednesday by a member of the self-defense force who requested anonymity, as well as by a security source in the capital, Yaounde.

"I was in my sector when I heard a large explosion in another part of the town," the self-defense source said.

"We saw that a boy had blown himself up in the middle of a group from the security committee," he said.

Two people were killed immediately, while two others died from their wounds later, he added.

Attacks attributed to Boko Haram terrorists have flared in northern Cameroon in recent weeks after months of relative calm, often targeting self-defense groups set up to respond to the extremist threat.

Boko Haram's bloody eight-year armed insurgency, initially focused on northeast Nigeria, has killed at least 20,000 people and displaced more than 2.6 million.

Since the beginning of the year, 83 children have been used to carry out bomb attacks in northeast Nigeria, UNICEF said, four times as many attacks as in all of 2016.
A UK court has sentenced Nadeem Muhammad to 18 years in jail convicting him of plotting a terror attack on board of a Ryanair flight departing from Manchester Airport, Sputnik reported citing local media.

According to The Telegraph, Muhammad, an Italian citizen of Pakistani descent, was trying to smuggle a pipe bomb on his flight to Italy inside a suitcase in January. Initially, Manchester Airport security officers and police failed to arrest the suspect on the spot, deciding that the explosive was not viable.

The perpetrator was arrested later, in February, after UK counterterrorism agents found that the device could be potentially dangerous. At this point, he had visited Italy and returned back to Manchester.

Announcing the verdict, the judge condemned the complacency of security officers and expressed his hope that the airport employees involved would see disciplinary punishment for their professional negligence, the news outlet reported.

The convicted claimed he had never seen the bomb and denied all terrorism charges.

The United Kingdom has suffered a number of terror attacks over the recent months. The country is currently on a "severe" threat level for international terrorism, meaning that an attack is highly likely. The UK media reported in late May that the UK intelligence services had investigated some 23,000 individuals with extremist views considered to pose a potential terrorist threat.
01:31 (GMT+4) A disgruntled employee who fatally shot one person and held another hostage on Thursday at a restaurant in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, was shot by police, the city's mayor said, Reuters reported.

Witnesses said the gunman brandished a pistol and said "There's a new boss in town" as he entered Virginia's On King in the heart of the city's commercial district, while about 15 to 20 people were having lunch. Many of them fled.

The gunman was transported to a local hospital in critical condition and the hostage was rescued, said Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg.

"A disgruntled employee came back to his place of employment... with a gun and killed an individual in the restaurant, held another hostage for some time," Tecklenburg told reporters at the scene.

"This was not a terrorist act. This was not a hate crime. This was a tragic case of a disgruntled individual, I think with a history of some mental health challenges, who took his anger into his own hands," he said.

Police had earlier said one shooting victim was transported to a hospital. It was not immediately clear whether that was the person who later died.

22:48 (GMT+4) Authorities say a disgruntled employee shot one person and is holding hostages in a restaurant in an area of Charleston, South Carolina, that is popular with tourists, AP reported.

Mayor John Tecklenburg said at a news conference that the shooting Thursday at Virginias in downtown Charleston was not an act of terrorism or racism.

Charleston Police spokesman Charles Francis told reporters the shooter was holding a couple of hostages. He did not immediately respond to follow-up telephone calls asking whether there were more than two.

Witnesses said a man emerged from the kitchen of the restaurant, told diners there was a new boss in Charleston and ordered them to leave.

Charleston Police sent SWAT teams and a bomb disposal unit to the area and warned people nearby to stay inside buildings or leave.

The site is a few blocks away from Emanuel AME church, where nine black members of a church were killed by a white man during a June 2015 Bible study. Dylann Roof was sentenced to death in the case.

Dozens of police officers are rushing to downtown Charleston, South Carolina, after police reported a possible active shooter situation near a stretch of restaurants and shops popular with tourists.

The shooting was reported just after noon on King Street, Police spokesman Charles Francis said in a statement. He did not say whether they were any injuries or give any description of a suspect.

Tom and Patsy Plant told The Post and Courier of Charleston they were eating at Virginias restaurant and saw a man come out of the kitchen with a gun in his hand who said, Theres a new boss in town.

The man looked like an ordinary grandpa, but he had a crazy look, the couple said. They were able to escape out a back door.

Charleston Police sent SWAT teams and a bomb disposal unit to the area and warned people nearby to stay inside buildings or leave.

The site is a few blocks away from Emanuel AME church, where nine black members of a church were killed by a white man during a June 2015 Bible study. Dylann Roof was sentenced to death in the case.
Turkish Air Force carried out a counterterrorism operation in northern Iraq, killing at least seven PKK terrorists, military announced Wednesday, Anadolu reported.

Turkish fighter jets targeted PKK terrorists during an air-supported, counter-terrorism operation in Hakurk region, the Turkish General Staff said in a statement.

The airstrike also destroyed an anti-aircraft weapons pit along with an ammunition depot.

Turkeys military carries out frequent air operations in northern Iraq against the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization also by the United States, and the European Union.

More than 1,200 people, including security personnel and civilians, have been killed since the PKK resumed its armed campaign against Turkey in July 2015.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

One person was killed in the explosion on the Turkish-Syrian border in Kilis province, Turkish media reported, Aug. 24.

According to the report, as a result of a car bomb explosion, one of the civil engineers responsible for the wall construction on the border with Syria was killed.

It should be noted that, Turkey has been building a 239-kilometer wall on the border with Syria since August of 2016.

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 Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) are the most active terrorist groups in Syria.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

If necessary, Turkey should use holding of the independence referendum in Iraqs Kurdish Autonomous Region as a pretext for war, said Devlet Bahceli, leader of Turkeys opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Turkish media reported Aug. 24.

Bahceli noted that Turkey must confront the holding of the referendum until the end.

He noted that the holding of the independence referendum in Iraqs Kurdish Autonomous Region seriously damages the interests of Turkey.

Iraqs Kurdish Autonomous Region plans to hold an independence referendum on September 25.

Previously, Masoud Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq, threatened with "war", if the central government in Baghdad tries to prevent holding of the referendum.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said that the Kurdish administration of Iraq will regret holding that 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.
Lack of fries hurting fish farming prospects

Farmers of Kanchanpur, who wish to engage themselves in fish farming, are disappointed these days, as they have not been able to gain access to fries.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Germany has not replied to the note of Turkey regarding Adil Oksuz, who is considered to be the main coordinator of the rebels during the 2016 military coup attempt in Turkey, Turkish media outlets quoted Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul as saying Aug. 24.

On Aug. 16, Turkey sent a note of protest to Germany demanding extradition of Adil Oksuz.

Abdulhamit Gul said Turkey expects Germany to respond within international law.

Turkey demands an immediate extradition of Adil Oksuz from Germany, he noted.

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 250 people were killed during the attempted coup.

Turkish authorities accuse Fethullah Gulen of being involved in the military coup attempt.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
KYODO NEWS - Aug 23, 2017 - 16:47 | World, All

South Korean President Moon Jae In on Wednesday ordered the nation's military and government officials to make "thorough preparations" to counter any possible North Korean provocations.

Moon made the remarks during a visit to a wartime command headquarters for Ulchi-Freedom Guardian, an annual joint exercise with the United States, his spokesman Park Soo Hyun said during a press briefing.

"Through the exercise, the central government and local governments should closely cooperate to provide support in ensuring South Korea-U.S. combined forces can focus just on (military) operations," Moon was quoted as saying.

During his visit, Moon was briefed on the current military situation on the Korean Peninsula and he thanked the troops for their efforts to maintain defense preparedness, Park said.

This year's 10-day joint military exercise with the United States began on Monday. On the same day, South Korea also launched a four-day defense exercise involving 480,000 officials from 4,000 cities, counties and regional districts to prepare for contingencies and protect the public.

Meanwhile, an annual nationwide air-raid drill was held Wednesday in South Korea, aimed at training people to take shelter during a possible air raid by North Korea.

When the sirens rang at 2 p.m. for the 20-minute drill, pedestrians were asked to find the nearest underground shelter or passage at basement level.

Tension on the Korean Peninsula remains high after North Korea warned the United States that it could face "merciless revenge" for ignoring Pyongyang's warnings not to go ahead with the annual joint military exercise with South Korea.

North Korea was responding to the start Monday of the computer-simulation command post exercise, which involves tens of thousands of U.S. and South Korean troops and comes after the North successfully tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles last month.

While the United States and South Korea claim the joint exercise is entirely defensive, Pyongyang views it as a rehearsal for an invasion of the North.

South Korea and the United States technically remain still at war with North Korea, as the 1950-1953 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a permanent peace treaty.
By Ko Shu-ling, KYODO NEWS - Aug 24, 2017 - 18:11 | World, Feature, All

Taipei Zoo said on Thursday it has succeeded in breeding yet another species of poison dart frog, with expertise from a Japanese zoo, and expects the first batch of hatched tadpoles to transform into froglets in the coming days.

Tai Wei-yu, a section chief of the zoo's Amphibian and Reptile House, told Kyodo News that the latest species to be bred using knowledge and techniques gleaned from Sapporo Maruyama Zoo is the blue poison dart frog, a South American species.

(Taipei Zoo)

The zoo had already bred three other species from adults provided by Maruyama Zoo three years ago -- green-and-black poison dart frogs in 2015, yellow-banded poison dart frogs in 2016 and golden poison dart frogs earlier this year.

(Taipei Zoo)

Tai said Taipei Zoo has long been impressed by Maruyama Zoo's breeding programs.

The two zoos signed a partnership agreement in 2013 to assist each other through sharing of knowledge and expertise.

Tai said he expects the blue poison dart frog tadpoles to metamorphose into terrestrial juveniles -- developing their back legs first, then their front legs -- as early as next week.

Poison dart frogs are popular in the exotic pet trade and illegal collection from the wild in Central and South America poses a serious threat to some species, as does the shrinking of rainforest habitat, the zookeeper said.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature, on its Red List of endangered species, designated the blue poison dart frog as a species of least concern, while the golden poison dart frog, one of the most poisonous animals in the world, has endangered status.

The powerful skin toxins that poison dart frogs secrete is traditionally used by some indigenous peoples in South America to coat the tips of blow-gun darts for hunting, earning these frogs their common name.
KYODO NEWS - Aug 24, 2017 - 21:28 | Feature, All

A new species of salamander has been identified in central Japan, the first of its kind in over three decades, researchers say.

The biologists from Kyoto University and two other institutions said the new species, named as the Mikawa Salamander, was found in a highland area of eastern Aichi Prefecture.

(Yasuchika Misawa / Kyodo)

The range of the species is so small that urgent conservation measures are necessary, they said in a newly published report in the scholarly journal Current Herpetology.

The new species, which belongs to the genus Hynobius, has been given the scientific name Hynobius mikawaensis. The second part of the name, as well the common name, refers to Mikawa, the old name of the region where it was found.

It is the first new salamander species that breeds in standing or slowly flowing waters to be identified in Japan since 1987, though several species of stream-breeding salamanders have been described as new to science since then.

The abundance of endemic salamander species is an important characteristic of the Japanese fauna. Scientists attribute this to the country's complicated landscape in which mountain chains isolate the populations of these slow-moving animals, causing speciation to occur.

The new species brings to 29 the number of small, smooth-skinned salamander species of the family Hynobiidae found throughout the Japanese archipelago. All but one found in Hokkaido are endemic.

Japan is also home to the iconic Japanese giant salamander, one of the world's largest amphibians and a national treasure, and three endemic species of newts, or rough-skinned salamanders.

On the significance of the discovery, Kyoto University emeritus professor Masafumi Matsui, the report's lead author, said it contributes greatly to the understanding of Japanese geo-history.

The area of central Japan where it is found has long been of interest from a zoo-geographical perspective, because the fauna of mainland Japan is roughly divided into eastern and western elements that meet in the area.

Matsui said the new species from Pacific side of Japan appears to have been isolated from closely related species from the Japan Sea side by the formation of high mountains between them, "that is the northern/southern division in contrast to the eastern/western division."

The Aichi prefectural government has already listed the Mikawa Salamander as critically endangered on its Red List of species.

But Matsui called on local authorities to immediately take further measures to protect it, such as by prohibiting collection and preventing development of its habitats.

"The species is known from very limited range, and would be easily extinguished by environmental modification and overhunting by pet dealers," he said.
KYODO NEWS - Aug 23, 2017 - 22:40 | World, All

Japan's Fukushima Prefecture is aiming to have exported 100 tons of rice and 15 tons of peaches to Malaysia in the year ending next March, its governor said Wednesday, evidence of fading concern over the safety of food products from the site of the 2011 nuclear disaster.

"In the aftermath of the earthquake and the nuclear plant incident, the agriculture sector suffered very much. We have to deal with negative rumor. But things are slowly recovering," Gov. Masao Uchibori said at a press conference in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

"We inspect 100 percent of the rice and are working hard to bridge the gap between perception and reality."



(NNA/Kyodo)

Malaysia began importing rice from Fukushima in May, and has brought in 29 tons so far, Ajwad Abu Hassan, the managing director of Malaysia rice importer Edaran Komachi Sdn., said at the same press conference.

Ajwad said his company aims to import another 48 tons by year-end, and even greater amounts eventually.

"Fukushima produces the best quality rice in Japan. We are proud to sell this rice," said Ajwad. "We are targeting 100 metric tons a year hopefully. In fact, we are trying to increase from not only 100 metric tons but a container full every month."

A full shipping container holds about 12 tons.

Akumul Abu Hassan, the managing director of another rice trading company, MHC Co. Ltd, said Malaysia currently consumes about 350 tons of Japonica rice a month imported from various parts of the world including South Korea, Vietnam and China. Only 20 to 30 tons comes from Japan, and that from other prefectures such as Akita, Niigata, Hokkaido and Hiroshima.

But Akumul said when it comes to quality, nothing beats rice from Japan.

"Compare to rice from Japan, that from Vietnam, 5 percent will contain broken grains. You don't find that in rice from Japan," Akumul said.

Malaysia began importing Fukushima peaches a year after the disaster, and Takashi Kanno, appearing at the same press conference as a representative of the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives, said "Malaysia was one of the first countries to accept and give us an opportunity."

From almost zero in 2012, Fukushima exported 1.2 tons of peaches to Malaysia in 2013, increasing to 7.3 tons last year and 9.5 tons so far this year.

Fukushima is the second-largest peach producing prefecture in Japan after Yamanashi.

Uchibori said after meeting with trading companies involved in exporting peaches, the federation has set a goal of selling 15 tons a year to Malaysia, as peaches are now being sent by ship instead of by air, which will lower the cost.

Fukushima Prefecture also exports broccoli, shiitake mushrooms and persimmons to Malaysia.
KYODO NEWS - Aug 24, 2017 - 13:37 | All, World

At least two Japanese high schools have canceled trips to the U.S. territory of Guam due to North Korea's recent threat to fire missiles into waters near the Pacific island.

The two schools are Oita Hofu High School in Oita Prefecture and Shimodate Daiichi High School in Ibaraki Prefecture.

They were among 12 schools across Japan with trips planned to Guam between September and November. The ministry did not identify the other 10 schools, saying only they were either high schools or vocational schools located in Tokyo, Hokkaido and seven other prefectures.

Guam makes pitch for Japanese tourists despite N. Korea missile threat

Oita Hofu High School officials said the decision to cancel was made Monday to "secure the safety of students and eliminate their parents' concerns."

The school run by the Oita prefectural government had planned to send 280 second-year students to Guam in late October for cultural exchanges with university students there.

Shimodate Daiichi High School also planned to send second-year students to Guam in October on a four-day trip. But it decided to change the destination to somewhere in Japan after parents voiced concerns in a school questionnaire, the Ibaraki prefectural education board said.

While the Foreign Ministry has not issued any warning against traveling to the island, the school said it had made the decision after taking the tense geopolitical situation involving Guam into account.

An education ministry official said no general edicts on school trips abroad have been issued, and that the matter is left up to each school.

As part of a war of words with U.S. President Donald Trump, North Korea said earlier this month that it is contemplating launching ballistic missiles into waters near Guam.

With the announcement raising fears that tourists may be wary of traveling to Guam, the territory's lieutenant governor held a press conference in Tokyo on Wednesday to implore Japanese to continue to visit.

"All the defenses are already in place" including the Aegis missile defense system, Raymond Tenorio said.

In another sign of concerns among the Japanese public about North Korean missiles, about 860 people took part in an evacuation drill Thursday in the southwestern Japanese city of Kamiamakusa, Kumamoto Prefecture, under the premise that a ballistic missile had been launched toward Japan.

The drill was part of a series of similar activities held across the nation since March in the wake of repeated missile launches by North Korea. The Cabinet Secretariat, which organized the latest drill, said 860 participants is the largest number involved in a single drill so far.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 22, 2017 -- Imagine you're on your way to Mars, and you lose a crucial tool during a spacewalk. Not to worry, you'll simply re-enter your spacecraft and use some microorganisms to convert your urine and exhaled carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) into chemicals to make a new one. That's one of the ultimate goals of scientists who are developing ways to make long space trips feasible.

The researchers are presenting their results today at the 254th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS, the world's largest scientific society, is holding the meeting here through Thursday. It features nearly 9,400 presentations on a wide range of science topics.

A brand-new video on the research is available at http://bit.ly/acsmars.

Astronauts can't take a lot of spare parts into space because every extra ounce adds to the cost of fuel needed to escape Earth's gravity. "If astronauts are going to make journeys that span several years, we'll need to find a way to reuse and recycle everything they bring with them," Mark A. Blenner, Ph.D., says. "Atom economy will become really important."

The solution lies in part with the astronauts themselves, who will constantly generate waste from breathing, eating and using materials. Unlike their friends on Earth, Blenner says, these spacefarers won't want to throw any waste molecules away. So he and his team are studying how to repurpose these molecules and convert them into products the astronauts need, such as polyesters and nutrients.

Some essential nutrients, such as omega-3 fatty acids, have a shelf life of just a couple of years, says Blenner, who is at Clemson University. They'll need to be made en route, beginning a few years after launch, or at the destination. "Having a biological system that astronauts can awaken from a dormant state to start producing what they need, when they need it, is the motivation for our project," he says.

Blenner's biological system includes a variety of strains of the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica. These organisms require both nitrogen and carbon to grow. Blenner's team discovered that the yeast can obtain their nitrogen from urea in untreated urine. Meanwhile, the yeast obtain their carbon from CO 2 , which could come from astronauts' exhaled breath, or from the Martian atmosphere. But to use CO 2 , the yeast require a middleman to "fix" the carbon into a form they can ingest. For this purpose, the yeast rely on photosynthetic cyanobacteria or algae provided by the researchers.

One of the yeast strains produces omega-3 fatty acids, which contribute to heart, eye and brain health. Another strain has been engineered to churn out monomers and link them to make polyester polymers. Those polymers could then be used in a 3-D printer to generate new plastic parts. Blenner's team is continuing to engineer this yeast strain to produce a variety of monomers that can be polymerized into different types of polyesters with a range of properties.

For now, the engineered yeast strains can produce only small amounts of polyesters or nutrients, but the scientists are working on boosting output. They're also looking into applications here on Earth, in fish farming and human nutrition. For example, fish raised via aquaculture need to be given omega-3 fatty acid supplements, which could be produced by Blenner's yeast strains.

Although other research groups are also putting yeast to work, they aren't taking the same approach. For example, a team from DuPont is already using yeast to make omega-3 fatty acids for aquaculture, but its yeast feed on refined sugar instead of waste products, Blenner says. Meanwhile, two other teams are engineering yeast to make polyesters. However, unlike Blenner's group, they aren't engineering the organisms to optimize the type of polyester produced, he says.

Whatever their approach, these researchers are all adding to the body of knowledge about Y. lipolytica, which has been studied much less than, say, the yeast used in beer production. "We're learning that Y. lipolytica is quite a bit different than other yeast in their genetics and biochemical nature," Blenner says. "Every new organism has some amount of quirkiness that you have to focus on and understand better."

###

A press conference on this topic will be held Tuesday, Aug. 22, at 2 p.m. Eastern time in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Reporters may check-in at the press center, Room 154A, or watch live on YouTube http://bit.ly/ACSLive_DC. To ask questions online, sign in with a Google account.

Blenner's work was supported by an Early Career Faculty grant from NASA's Space Technology Research Grants Program.

The American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society, is a not-for-profit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS is a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. ACS does not conduct research, but publishes and publicizes peer-reviewed scientific studies. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive press releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

Note to journalists: Please report that this research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.

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Title

Biosynthesis of materials and nutraceuticals from astronaut waste: Towards closing the loop

Abstract

The journey to Mars will be longer than any mission before. Astronaut needs for materials, nutraceuticals, and life support systems will critical. However, future missions may benefit from flexible, programmable, low power, and sustainable manufacturing processes driven by resources available during the mission. These resources include in situ minerals and feedstocks, solar energy, and waste generated by crew and space shuttle operation. Microbiological systems are well suited for utilizing such ill-defined resources and reliably manufacturing both specific and complex molecules. Our work is focused on using synthetic biology and metabolic engineering to develop Y. lipolytica as a platform organism to produce omega-3 fatty acids and polyhydroxyalkonoates (PHAs) from autotrophic cell waste and human urine. Our work demonstrates that Y. lipolytica is not only capable of using urine as a nitrogen source but it also grows more efficiently and produces higher lipid concentrations. Benefits and challenges of using waste substrates will be discussed and compared to defined media. Together, our work moves us closer to biomanufacturing for astronaut needs.
The latest roadmap to a 100% renewable energy future from Stanford's Mark Z. Jacobson and 26 colleagues is the most specific global vision yet, outlining infrastructure changes that 139 countries can make to be entirely powered by wind, water, and sunlight by 2050 after electrification of all energy sectors. Such a transition could mean less worldwide energy consumption due to the efficiency of clean, renewable electricity; a net increase of over 24 million long-term jobs; an annual decrease in 4-7 million air pollution deaths per year; stabilization of energy prices; and annual savings of over $20 trillion in health and climate costs. The work appears August 23 in the journal Joule, Cell Press's new publication focused on sustainable energy.

The challenge of moving the world toward a low-carbon future in time to avoid exacerbating global warming and to create energy self-sufficient countries is one of the greatest of our time. The roadmaps developed by Jacobson's group provide one possible endpoint. For each of the 139 nations, they assess the raw renewable energy resources available to each country, the number of wind, water, and solar energy generators needed to be 80% renewable by 2030 and 100% by 2050, how much land and rooftop area these power sources would require (only around 1% of total available, with most of this open space between wind turbines that can be used for multiple purposes), and how this approach would reduce energy demand and cost compared with a business-as-usual scenario.

"Both individuals and governments can lead this change. Policymakers don't usually want to commit to doing something unless there is some reasonable science that can show it is possible, and that is what we are trying to do," says Jacobson, director of Stanford University's Atmosphere and Energy Program and co-founder of the Solutions Project, a U.S. non-profit educating the public and policymakers about a transition to 100% clean, renewable energy. "There are other scenarios. We are not saying that there is only one way we can do this, but having a scenario gives people direction."

The analyses specifically examined each country's electricity, transportation, heating/cooling, industrial, and agriculture/forestry/fishing sectors. Of the 139 countries--selected because they were countries for which data were publically available from the International Energy Agency and collectively emit over 99% of all carbon dioxide worldwide--the places the study showed that had a greater share of land per population (e.g., the United States, China, the European Union) are projected to have the easiest time making the transition to 100% wind, water, and solar. Another learning was that the most difficult places to transition may be highly populated, very small countries surrounded by lots of ocean, such as Singapore, which may require an investment in offshore solar to convert fully.

As a result of a transition, the roadmaps predict a number of collateral benefits. For example, by eliminating oil, gas, and uranium use, the energy associated with mining, transporting and refining these fuels is also eliminated, reducing international power demand by around 13%. Because electricity is more efficient than burning fossil fuels, demand should go down another 23%. The changes in infrastructure would also mean that countries wouldn't need to depend on one another for fossil fuels, reducing the frequency of international conflict over energy. Finally, communities currently living in energy deserts would have access to abundant clean, renewable power.

"Aside from eliminating emissions and avoiding 1.5 degrees Celsius global warming and beginning the process of letting carbon dioxide drain from the Earth's atmosphere, transitioning eliminates 4-7 million air pollution deaths each year and creates over 24 million long-term, full-time jobs by these plans," Jacobson says. "What is different between this study and other studies that have proposed solutions is that we are trying to examine not only the climate benefits of reducing carbon but also the air pollution benefits, job benefits, and cost benefits"

The Joule paper is an expansion of 2015 roadmaps to transition each of the 50 United States to 100% clean, renewable energy (doi:10.1039/C5EE01283J) and an analysis of whether the electric grid can stay stable upon such a transition (doi: 10.1073/pnas.1510028112). Not only does this new study cover nearly the entire world, there are also improved calculations on the availability of rooftop solar energy, renewable energy resources, and jobs created versus lost.

The 100% clean, renewable energy goal has been criticized by some for focusing only on wind, water, and solar energy and excluding nuclear power, "clean coal," and biofuels. However, the researchers intentionally exclude nuclear power because of its 10-19 years between planning and operation, its high cost, and the acknowledged meltdown, weapons proliferation, and waste risks. "Clean coal" and biofuels are neglected because they both cause heavy air pollution, which Jacobson and coworkers are trying to eliminate, and emit over 50 times more carbon per unit of energy than wind, water, or solar power.

The 100% wind, water, solar studies have also been questioned for depending on some technologies such as underground heat storage in rocks, which exists only in a few places, and the proposed use of electric and hydrogen fuel cell aircraft, which exist only in small planes at this time. Jacobson counters that underground heat storage is not required but certainly a viable option since it is similar to district heating, which provides 60% of Denmark's heat. He also says that space shuttles and rockets have been propelled with hydrogen, and aircraft companies are now investing in electric airplanes. Wind, water, and solar can also face daily and seasonal fluctuation, making it possible that they could miss large demands for energy, but the new study refers to a new paper that suggests these stability concerns can be addressed in several ways.

These analyses have also been criticized for the massive investment it would take to move a country to the desired goal. Jacobson says that the overall cost to society (the energy, health, and climate cost) of the proposed system is one-fourth of that of the current fossil fuel system. In terms of upfront costs, most of these would be needed in any case to replace existing energy, and the rest is an investment that far more than pays itself off over time by nearly eliminating health and climate costs.

"It appears we can achieve the enormous social benefits of a zero-emission energy system at essentially no extra cost," says co-author Mark Delucchi, a research scientist at the Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Berkeley. "Our findings suggest that the benefits are so great that we should accelerate the transition to wind, water, and solar, as fast as possible, by retiring fossil-fuel systems early wherever we can."

"This paper helps push forward a conversation within and between the scientific, policy, and business communities about how to envision and plan for a decarbonized economy," writes Mark Dyson of Rocky Mountain Institute, in an accompanying preview of the paper. "The scientific community's growing body of work on global low-carbon energy transition pathways provides robust evidence that such a transition can be accomplished, and a growing understanding of the specific levers that need to be pulled to do so. Jacobson et al.'s present study provides sharper focus on one scenario, and refines a set of priorities for near-term action to enable it."

###

Joule, Jacobson et al.: "100% Clean and Renewable Wind, Water, and Sunlight (WWS) All-Sector Energy Roadmaps for 139 Countries of the World" http://www.cell.com/joule/fulltext/S2542-4351(17)30012-0

Joule (@Joule_CP) published monthly by Cell Press, is a new home for outstanding and insightful research, analysis, and ideas addressing the need for more sustainable energy. A sister journal to Cell, Joule spans all scales of energy research, from fundamental laboratory research into energy conversion and storage up to impactful analysis at the global level. Visit: http://www.cell.com/joule. To receive Cell Press media alerts, contact press@cell.com.
LIVERMORE, Calif.--You might not cook with this sugar, but from a biofuels standpoint, it's pretty sweet. A Bay Area company has patented a group of three single-celled, algae-like organisms that, when grown together, can produce high quantities of sugar just right for making biofuels. Sandia National Laboratories is helping HelioBioSys Inc. learn whether farming them on a large scale would be successful.

The demand for clean, domestically produced, renewable energy has resulted in a lot of research on algae. Algae is a desirable biofuel source because it doesn't compete with food crops for land, water or other resources. The water used to grow algae is not usually suitable for agriculture. Typically, algae farms aim to produce large quantities of biomass, so they can then be harvested and converted into fuels, chemicals or other bio-based products.

By contrast, HelioBioSys is working with organisms called cyanobacteria. Until the early 1900s, they were mistaken for algae. Like algae, colonies of cyanobacteria grow in water and have incorrectly been referred to as "blue-green algae." But unlike algae, these marine cyanobacteria excrete sugars directly into the water where they grow. A lot of it.

According to Sandia biochemist Ryan Davis, a typical algae operation might grow 1 gram of biomass per liter (0.04 ounces per quarter gallon). Small-scale testing on these cyanobacteria shows they can produce 4 to 7 grams of sugar per liter of biomass (up to 0.25 ounces per quarter gallon) -- an improvement in concentration of up to 700 percent. Therefore, growing cyanobacteria for sugars is more efficient than growing biomass.

Filtering sugar from water is a much simpler and therefore less expensive process than extracting lipids from large quantities of algae mass. Sugar is easy, compared to biomass, to convert into a wide variety of chemicals and fuels. Furthermore, cyanobacteria do not require additional fertilizer to make their sugars. These cost savings could make biofuels competitive with petroleum.

But first, this group of cyanobacteria's phenomenal sugar production needs to be better understood so it can be maximized. "In other words," Davis explains, "we're trying to deconstruct the magic sauce in this cyanobacteria consortium and learn what conditions are optimal for large-scale growth."

From the lab to large-scale farming in Sandia's open raceway test beds

HelioBioSys founders Rocco Mancinelli and David Smernoff say they chose to grow a community of three cyanobacteria rather than focus on a single organism (which is common in algae cultivation) because communal systems more closely resemble nature. Mancinelli and Smernoff say cyanobacteria in communities are stronger and more likely to survive changes in the environment, contamination and predation. Sandia is helping them test this idea.

The cyanobacteria have already proved successful in closed, controlled, sterile laboratories. Sandia researchers are now growing the cyanobacteria in large raceway systems that resemble long bath tubs. Though the raceways are indoors they are open to the air, so predation could prove a much bigger challenge.

Davis explains, "Giant bowls of sugar water generally don't last long in nature." However, this is where Sandia's expertise in algae cultivation could be helpful, he said. "We can understand where we can prevent bacterial overload, and stop the sugars from being consumed by things we don't want to grow."

Unlike true algae, cyanobacteria have the remarkable ability to "fix" nitrogen from the atmosphere, which helps support their growth. This means cyanobacteria can literally pull their own fertilizer out of the air, eliminating the need for costly additional fertilizers.

Davis and his team are trying to understand whether each of the three cyanobacteria primarily performs a specific function for the consortium, such as fixing the nitrogen or producing most of the sugars. Even though the cyanobacteria require sunlight for growth, Davis thinks one of the cyanobacteria could be primarily responsible for acting like a sunscreen, protecting the group against light levels that get too high.

Sandia also is evaluating other attributes, such as micronutrient requirements or whether there are certain triggers for sugar production that could be controlled.

If the work at Sandia is successful, the next step is to test the cyanobacteria outdoors in larger ponds. After proving the technology outdoors, HelioBioSys hopes to license or sell the technology.

Special Department of Energy program makes collaboration possible

Mancinelli and Smernoff are both microbiologists with unusual backgrounds. They were colleagues at NASA, where they worked on systems that could support human life extraterrestrially. With HelioBioSys, they're now working on clean energy systems that could have positive environmental impacts that support human life here on Earth.

Despite their impressive history and mission, they say that without the Department of Energy's Small Business Vouchers program, getting cyanobacteria-based sugars to market would be unlikely. "Raising the funds for us to do the research that Sandia can do, with their equipment and facilities and expertise, would otherwise be impossible," Smernoff said. "So to have this program and let a small company like ours access those resources is invaluable."

As a result of the program, HelioBioSys has also partnered with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The laboratory has agreed to deploy their tangential flow filtration unit in Sandia's test beds. The unit is essentially a box with a porous membrane that only allows molecules of a certain size to pass through it. This will allow Sandia to quickly separate and extract sugars from the marine water.

Additionally, the Berkeley laboratory is studying the viability of these sugars for conversion to biofuels. In addition to biofuels, sugars produced by marine cyanobacteria have the potential to be used as the source material for a long list of products that are currently derived from petroleum. These include plastics, pharmaceuticals, fabrics, nylon, adhesives, shoe polish, asphalt, roof shingles and more.

As this project draws to a close by year's end, the country could be closer to a sweet future powered by the oldest of microorganisms.

###

Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration. Sandia Labs has major research and development responsibilities in nuclear deterrence, global security, defense, energy technologies and economic competitiveness, with main facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Livermore, California.
Medicine shortage in 67 health posts

Sixty-seven health posts in Dailekh are reeling under an acute shortage of essential medicines.
Anil Giri is a reporter covering diplomacy, international relations and national politics for The Kathmandu Post. Giri has been working as a journalist for a decade-and-a-half, contributing to numerous national and international media outlets.
It's not all on Mitch McConnell to get tax reform done, anti-tax activist Grover Norquist says

It's completely irrelevant whether or not Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell works hard on getting tax reform passed, anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist told CNBC Wednesday.

"You have three players around the table: The White House, (Steven) Mnuchin, and (Gary) Cohn. They want 15 percent, they want a pro-growth deal, they want a Republican landslide," Norquist said on " Squawk Box ."

"You have the House and the Senate that wants the same thing because they're all running for election in the House in 2018 and a third of them in the Senate. This is the centerpiece, here's what we did."

President Donald Trump has suggested that McConnell should resign if he can't successfully push through the White House's agenda, including tax reform and a "great" infrastructure bill.

On Tuesday, The New York Times reported that Trump and McConnell haven't spoken to each other in weeks , and that their relationship has been conspicuously tense after Trump blamed McConnell for the GOP's health-care failure.

Stocks surged Tuesday after a Politico article said Trump's top aides and Republican congressional leaders have made strides in shaping a major tax overhaul and have "broad consensus" on ways to cut corporate and individual tax rates.

Trump has said the bill could be the "biggest tax cut" in American history.

Norquist, founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform, said the Trump administration's goal of a 15 percent corporate tax rate is possible. He said the White House could run into a few obstacles with the bill.

"There are some limits on how much you can cut taxes for what period," he said. "Some of these tax cuts would be temporary. You can have any tax cuts you want for 10 years under the Senate rules. ... But then in year 11, some or much of it would disappear."

WATCH: Investors should continue to be cautious about tax reform: Tax Foundation's Scott Greenberg





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Investors aren't taking President Donald Trump 's threat to pull out of a trade agreement with Canada and Mexico "fully to heart," closely followed trader Art Cashin said Wednesday.

Speaking Tuesday evening at a rally in Arizona, the president said he doubts the United States can reach a deal to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. The three nations started formal negotiations to tweak the trade pact this month.

"Don't forget, he's not in the room negotiating. He will obviously have to put all of his stuff together when it comes out and OK it. For now, they see it as the possibility that negotiations will lengthen and become more difficult," UBS' director of floor operations at the New York Stock Exchange said on " Squawk on the Street. "

"If they truly believed no more NAFTA, it would be far more significant," Cashin added.

Instead, stocks were lower Wednesday after Trump said he would be willing to let the government shut down without appropriations for a border wall.

"If we have to close down our government, we're building that wall," Trump said at the rally Tuesday.

Cashin said the markets are also readjusting to the idea that things may not be going too well in Washington. Despite a Politico report that the White House is making strides on tax reform, Trump has taken swipes at senators , Cashin said.

"Here's the president saying we're not getting along as well as everybody thought and the market's readjusting for that," Cashin said.

"As good as yesterday's rally looked, it was in many ways a retracement rally," he said. "The real winners yesterday were the casualties of the preceding two weeks."

Cashin also spoke about the monetary policy symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, later this week. He said the market may be in for a few surprises but much of it hinges on Fed Chair Janet Yellen 's remarks scheduled for Friday.

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European Central Bank President Mario Draghi is also set to speak Friday.





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FILE PHOTO: Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett visits the BNSF booth before the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. May 6, 2017. REUTERS/Rick Wilking/File Photo (Reuters)

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) - Warren Buffett's failure to clinch a $9 billion takeover of the Texas utility Oncor prompted S&P Global Ratings on Tuesday to say the billionaire's Berkshire Hathaway Inc <BRKa.N> is no longer at risk of a credit rating downgrade.

S&P affirmed Berkshire's "AA" rating, its third-highest grade, with a "stable" outlook after Sempra Energy <SRE.N> struck an agreement with Oncor's bankrupt parent Energy Future Holdings Corp on a $9.45 billion purchase.

The rating agency had put Berkshire on review for a possible downgrade on July 7, reflecting concern about how adding Oncor would affect leverage.

It said the stable outlook reflects Berkshire's solid profitability and significant cash flow, the strong competitive position of many business units, and Buffett's focus on boosting operating profit, which totaled $17.58 billion last year.

Few U.S. companies have credit ratings as high as Berkshire's, which itself carried a "triple-A" rating from S&P as recently as February 2010. Moody's Investors Service rates Berkshire "Aa2," equivalent to S&P's rating.

Barclays Capital analyst Jay Gelb said in a research report that the loss of Oncor leaves Berkshire with about $80 billion of cash for acquisitions, while leaving Buffett the cushion he wants for such things as payouts by Berkshire insurance units.

At Berkshire's annual meeting in May, Vice Chairman Charlie Munger suggested that the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate might be capable of a $150 billion acquisition.

Buffett responded that he was more "conservative," though he has long expressed a preference for buying whole businesses over making smaller investments. He turns 87 on August 30.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
Bitcoin's time has come. Or, at least, it's getting closer.

Brokerage firm Goldman Sachs Group Inc. published a report this week showing that the value of bitcoin and other so-called cryptocurrencies has reached nearly $120 billion. That's twice the size of Costa Rica's entire economy, based on World Bank data. As recently as last year, the total market value was below $20 billion.

In other words, the growth in the virtual currencies has been so rapid that an established Wall Street titan like Goldman Sachs is now trying to demystify the market for big portfolio managers at mutual funds, hedge funds, pension funds and insurance companies. That's despite the fact that the U.S. Internal Revenue Service has denied them legal-tender status in any jurisdiction, treating them as property for tax purposes.

"It's getting harder for institutional investors to ignore cryptocurrencies," the Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in the report.

The New York-based firm is turning its attention to the nascent market as Bitcoin prices have quintupled in the past year to $3,473, according to news and data provider CoinDesk. The dramatic climb -- albeit noticeably pocked by major price crashes even in the past month -- has attracted the attention of true-believing traders as well as timely opportunists.

And Goldman Sachs isn't the only big U.S. bank weighing in on bitcoin's meteoric rise. Wells Fargo & Co. , based in San Francisco, published a "special report" on the virtual currency on Thursday, Aug. 10. Wells Fargo Investment Institute's Bobby Zheng noted that bitcoin is increasingly accepted as a form of payment by companies including Microsoft Corp. , Expedia Inc. and Intuit Inc. .

Bitcoin.

Still, the cautionary language in Zheng's report shows the delicate balance big banks are keeping between embracing bitcoin and holding it at a distance. In early 2017, the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. declared that neither the Federal Reserve nor U.S. Treasury are unlikely to start accepting bitcoin anytime soon, according to Zheng.

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Bitcoin is vulnerable to hacking due to its decentralized nature as well as operational glitches, malware and cyberattacks, Zheng wrote.

"This cryptocurrency's usage may be subject to sudden regulatory changes due to involvement of the currency in some black-market transactions, money laundering and illegal activities," Zheng wrote. "While we don't offer guidance on these new types of virtual currencies, we believe that it is important for investors to understand this new technology."

Although there are more than 800 cryptocurrencies in existence, Bitcoin represents about $55 billion of value, or almost 50% of the total market, according to the Goldman Sachs report. The second-biggest, Ethereum, is worth about $25 billion. Most of the others are tiny, with only seven of them having a market value in excess of $1 billion.

There's been a related uptick in "initial coin offerings," or ICOs, in which companies raise money through token sales, according to Goldman Sachs. Just this year, ICOs have raised $1.25 billion. One firm, Gnosis, raised more than $12 million in less than 15 minutes.

"The speed at which money is raised via a white paper and internet browser has sounded the alarm bells from parties including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the People's Bank of China," the Goldman Sachs analysts wrote.

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By Pei Li

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese court has ordered three domestic shoemakers to pay more than 10 million yuan ($1.5 million) to New Balance in damages for infringing the U.S. sportswear company's signature slanting logo.

The amount of compensation, though small by international standards, is according to lawyers one of the highest to be awarded to foreign companies in trademark disputes in China.

The ruling follows a speech by President Xi Jinping last month in which he vowed to punish intellectual property (IP) infringers. U.S. President Donald Trump recently authorized an inquiry into China's IP practices amid estimates that IP theft by the country could be as high as $600 billion.

An intermediate court in coastal industrial town Suzhou said in its ruling last week that three defendants - including an individual who registered a company in Colorado as New Bai Lun -should stop infringing the American company's iconic trademark and their deceiving promotion of products.

"Although this sort of decision is still rare, it sends a strong and powerful message that should make it easier for foreign brands doing business here," said Carol Wang, a lawyer at Lusheng Law Firm, which represented New Balance.

The court ruling document first appeared on social media on Tuesday and was later confirmed by the law firm to Reuters.

"The winning of this case has given us confidence to continue our proactive brand protection strategy in China," Angela Shi, brand protection manager of New Balance, said in a statement to Reuters.

The three Chinese defendants - Zheng Chaozhong, Xin Ping Heng Sporting Goods Limited Company and Bo Si Da Ke Trading Limited - could not be reached for comment.

New Balance, which entered China in 2003 and has more than 2,000 stores in the country, has been dragged into protracted litigation battle in the mainland where hundreds of trademarks in variations identical to its "N" logo are registered.

Last year, it was dealt a blow when a Chinese court ruled against it for trademark infringements and ordered it to pay 5 million yuan in compensation to a local company.

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In the past, local courts were hesitant to rule in favour of foreign companies in similar cases as they had to take multiple factors into account, including local stability and employment, said Wang Xiang, a Beijing-based lawyer at Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, who has no connection to the latest trademark case.

"It's about time for the government to enhance intellectual property protection enforcement, as many IPs now will be owned by Chinese companies," he said.

(Reporting by Pei Li; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
If a crisis slams the South China Sea, here are the losers  and a few winners

Several industries are trying to assess what open confrontation in the South China Sea would cost them, and a lot of them don't like what they're finding.

The world's second-largest economy is getting more wary  and more vocal in its opposition  about increased U.S. naval patrols along the vast body of water, which holds some of the world's busiest trade routes.

The U.S. Navy has sailed close to South China Sea reefs, atolls and other areas claimed by Beijing several times in recent months, under the pretext of freedom of navigation operations. In late May, the USS Dewey sailed within 12 miles of the Chinese artificial island Mischief Reef. In July, the USS Stethem passed by the Chinese-administered Triton Island. Then last week, the USS John S. McCain traveled close to Mischief Reef .

Then this week, that same vessel collided with a tanker near Singapore , initially leaving 10 American sailors missing, though remains of some of were located Tuesday night. Beijing jumped on the Navy's accident  its fourth in Asia this year  with state media claiming that the incident drew "applause" from Chinese citizens .

"U.S. warships patrol too frequently in the Asia-Pacific," said a Tuesday editorial in the Chinese state-run Global Times newspaper . "The U.S. Navy conducts many risky military activities without full preparation."

Aside from Beijing, several Southeast Asian countries also asset sovereign rights over parts of the resource-rich South China Sea. The massive section claimed by China extends roughly 1,000 miles from its southern shores but despite a 2016 court ruling from The Hague, Beijing continues to expand its presence in the strategic waterway.



Watch out for these companies

With more than $5 trillion of trade flowing through the area every year, any hostility between would hit numerous business sectors, including commodities, logistics, and insurance.

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"Conflict between the U.S. and China in the South China Sea would be less about the physical things that can be produced, but more about controlling physical access and the key choke-points around it," Stratfor analyst Matthew Bey told CNBC earlier this year.

Almost every major container shipping company sends vessels through the South China Sea, making all of them vulnerable if Washington and Beijing butt heads, said Bey. "The ports that would be adversely impacted are the Straits of Malacca, East China straits, straits of Sunda and Lombok."

Should Trump increase patrols by China's artificial islands as part of his new policy, that could particularly hurt the China National Offshore Oil (Hong Kong Stock Exchange: 883-HK), one of the the mainland's biggest crude producers, Bey added.

Also known as CNOOC, the firm has commercial drilling platforms in the South China Sea and drew international attention in 2014 after placing an oil rig near the Paracel Islands that triggered a major spat between Beijing and Hanoi .

CNOOC offered no comment on the matter.

Paying a premium for protection

Maritime insurance rates may spike if insurers identify parts of the South China Sea as a war risk.

That means vessels would have to pay a premium to transit the area  or avoid the area completely, explained Andrew Booker, founding partner of marine specialist Latitude Brokers. However, that scenario remains highly unlikely at present, he added.

It's impossible to estimate how high rates could rise but because there is no premium for transiting the area at present, anything would be an increase, he said.



If that were the case, trade routes would change and freight costs for each voyage would rise, which could be good news for ship-owners but bad for charterers who pay freight, Booker continued.

Currencies will depreciate

Geopolitical strains could also weaken the Korean won (Exchange: KRW=) and the Taiwan dollar (Exchange: TWD=).

Financial markets in those countries have a large number of foreign equity investors, and those traders tend to sell shares in the wake of political tensions, explained Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at Australian bank ANZ.

When those stock markets take a beating, so do their currencies. If that's the case, Goh predicts the won will fall to 1180 per dollar from 1130 presently, and the Taiwan dollar to hit 31.6 from current levels of 30.2.

But the safe-haven Japanese yen (CME:Index and Options Market: ZJP*) would likely benefit amid the overall risk-averse mood, Goh added.

Oil climbs

The South China Sea holds around seven billion barrels of oil and 900 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, but in the event of hostilities, those reserves won't be first in the firing line.

The more immediate impact may be a rally in global crude prices. Any conflict could disrupt the movement of energy resources, thus curbing overall supply and pushing Brent crude to around $65 per barrel, said Jonathan Chan, investment analyst at Phillip Futures. Oil futures trade hands at about $52 currently.

Air freight is considerably more expensive than maritime shipping, and even within countries, overland networks are often not as well-developed. Maritime routes remain the most popular for the transportation of resources, he said.

Metals and minerals to bounce

Beijing imports massive quantities of copper and iron ore , so any blockage or disturbance to transport routes would cause prices of both commodities to spike, according to Chan.

"Iron ore on the SGX Asia Clear could hit $95 per metric ton in the event of escalation," Chan said, "while copper may soar to $6,480 per ton."

Gold , may rally to $1,450 per ounce, Chan added. That would mark a sharp bounce from its present level of near $1,285.

Happier fish and fishermen

An estimated 12 percent of the world's fish harvest comes from the South China Sea, where more than 3,000 known species dwell. But fish stocks have been rapidly declining amid Beijing's island-building activities.

If Washington can stop Chinese construction and protect the rights of regional fishermen  especially Vietnamese, Indonesians and Filipinos  that would be welcomed, said Greg Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The sand and silt plumes created by dredging sand and gravel can kill fish or drive them from the reefs  a major problem for Southeast Asian fishermen who rely on the creatures for their livelihood.

The problem is further exacerbated by China's annual fishing ban, typically between mid-May to early August, in parts of the sea that it administers. "Chinese dominance has been bad news for Southeast Asian fishermen, as evidenced by the way the Chinese authorities treat Vietnamese fishermen during the 3-month ban," Poling said.

WATCH: Why Trump's foreign policy is on a collision course in the South China Sea





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The engineer who was fired by after he criticized the company's diversity policies for ignoring differences between the sexes has hired civil rights lawyer Harmeet Dhillon, who was widely reported months ago to be a contender for a top job in the U.S. Justice Department.

Dhillon confirmed Wednesday that she's representing James Damore, who has said he plans to sue his ex-employer over his firing. He set off a firestorm this month with a 10-page memo blasting Google's "left bias" for creating a politically correct monoculture."

Dhillon was on President Donald Trump's shortlist to lead the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division in March, according to press reports. The president ended up nominating employment-management attorney Eric Dreiband in June.

Her firm is also seeking other potential plaintiffs who feel they've been discriminated against at Google based on their political views or their opinions about the company's hiring practices.

Dhillon has taken on other cases that push back against the Bay Area's progressive tendencies. In one, she represents the California Bail Agents Association fighting a class-action lawsuit alleging that San Francisco's bail system discriminates against poor people who can't afford to post bond while awaiting trial in criminal cases.

In another, she filed a complaint against the city of San Jose, California, on behalf of Trump supporters who claim police officers didn't protect them from being beaten by anti-Trump protesters at a 2016 rally.

She also represented Republican student groups at the University of California at Berkeley who fought to prevent the cancellation of a campus speech by conservative commentator Ann Coulter in April, according to press reports.

Damore has said that Google executives had shamed him for the views expressed in the memo. Google has denied Damore's allegation that its hiring practices are illegal. The company said it fired him for violating the company's code of conduct and advancing "harmful gender stereotypes in our workplace."

Story continues

See original article on Fortune.com

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NC lawmaker Thapa demands annulment of affiliation to Natl Medical College

Nepali Congress lawmaker Gagan Thapa has tabled a proposal of immediate public importance at the Parliament Secretariat on Thursday demanding annulment of affiliation granted to the National Medical College by the Tribhuvan University.
The logo of General Electric Co. is pictured at the Global Operations Center in San Pedro Garza Garcia, neighbouring Monterrey, Mexico, on May 12, 2017. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril

By Greg Roumeliotis and Alwyn Scott

(Reuters) - General Electric Co (GE.N) has resumed negotiations to sell its industrial solutions business to Swiss engineering company ABB Ltd (ABBN.S), after the U.S. industrial conglomerate moderated its price expectations, people familiar with the matter said.

The move underscores the determination of John Flannery, who took over from Jeffrey Immelt as GE's chief executive on Aug. 1, to continue to divest non-core assets, as he carries out a review of the company's portfolio.

GE is entertaining the possibility of selling its industrial solutions business for a little over $2 billion after initially hoping for more than $3 billion, four sources said this week. The talks with ABB had ended last month over price disagreements.

There is no certainty of a deal and another bidder could still emerge, the sources said. However, French electrical component and energy management group Schneider Electric SA (SCHN.PA), which Reuters reported in April was vying for the GE unit, has since lost interest, the sources added.

The sources asked not to be identified because the negotiations are confidential. GE and ABB declined to comment, while Schneider Electric did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

GE's industrial solutions business offers circuit breakers, relays, panel boards and other industrial electrical equipment for several markets, including the healthcare, mining, renewable energy, telecommunication, construction and data centre sectors.

GE, which makes everything from power plants and jet engines to medical scanners and locomotives, has been reviewing its portfolio after divesting its finance, appliances and NBCUniversal units in recent years. Nelson Peltz's activist hedge fund Trian Fund Management LP has also been pressuring GE to cut costs and focus on its core industrial businesses.

Earlier this year, GE agreed to sell its industrial water treatment business to French waste and water group Suez SA (SEVI.PA) and Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec for 3.2 billion euros ($3.4 billion).

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Last month, Schneider Electric said it would acquire automatic transfer switch maker Asco Power Technologies for $1.25 billion from Vertiv, the former network power business of Emerson Electric Co (EMR.N) that is now owned by private equity firm Platinum Equity LLC.

That deal eliminated Schneider Electric as a potential buyer for GE's industrial solutions business, because such a deal would face significant antitrust hurdles, according to the sources.

ABB Chief Executive Ulrich Spiesshofer has been under pressure to tackle lower profitability at the Swiss engineering company, after higher raw material prices and overcapacity issues dented its latest quarterly earnings.

(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis and Alwyn Scott in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
Germany's central bank has successfully moved $27.9 billion worth of gold bars from New York and Paris to Frankfurt in a Hollywood-style transfer.

The Bundesbank announced Wednesday that it had shipped the last of the gold it had been storing at France's central bank, Banque de France, in Paris, completing the final stage of a four-year operation ahead of schedule.

The procedure, one of the largest of its kind, was expected to complete in 2020. Cold War fears that the gold could fall into Soviet hands was just one of the reasons the precious metal was stored overseas. The gold stored in Paris was held to be converted into francs in the case of an emergency but now both countries share the same currency.

Germany's Bundesbank had been storing 674 tonnes of gold bars at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Banque de France but initiated a plan in 2013 to return the bars to Frankfurt.

The lot of 53,780 bars, each weighing 27.5lbs and worth $519,000, will now reside in vaults beneath the bank's headquarters.

When contacted by CNBC the Bundesbank would not provide any details on the means of transfer for security reasons.

However, the central bank praised the success of the operation.

It said each of the bars had been "thoroughly and exhaustively" tested on arrival in Frankfurt and "no irregularities came to light with regard to the authenticity."

Germany is one of the biggest gold holders in the world. Following the transfers, just over 50 percent of its reserves are stored in Frankfurt. The remainder is split between the U.S. and Britain, with 36.6 percent at the Federal Reserve and 12.8 percent at the Bank of England in London. Should Germany face an economic emergency, the gold can be converted into pounds or dollars.

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WATCH: Gold rally won't last: Commerzbank





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FILE PHOTO - An Uber sign is seen in a car in New York, U.S. June 30, 2015. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo

By Trevor Hunnicutt

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Four mutual fund companies have marked down their investments in Uber Technologies Inc by as much as 15 percent following a scandal-ridden year for the ride-hailing company.

Uber has suffered a series of setbacks in recent months, including a federal probe into its use of technology to evade regulators in certain cities and a trade secrets lawsuit filed by Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) self-driving unit, Waymo.

Chief Executive Travis Kalanick also resigned in June, pressured by accounts of a corporate culture of sexism and bullying.

Vanguard Group, Principal Funds and Hartford Funds marked down their shares in Uber, which is not listed, by 15 percent to $41.46 a share in June, filings from the companies showed.

T. Rowe Price Group Inc (TROW.O) cut the estimated price of Uber shares by more than 12 percent to $42.73 during the second quarter ended June 30.

Another investor, Fidelity Investments, appeared to have maintained its estimate of $48.77 as of June 30.

Vanguard spokeswoman Arianna Stefanoni Sherlock declined to comment on the reasons for the reduced valuation. Representatives for the other mutual fund companies and Uber could not be reached immediately for comment.

Uber was most recently valued last year at $68 billion. Amid non-stop controversy, it has upended the tightly regulated taxi industry in many countries and changed the transportation landscape.

The new estimates for Uber shares were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Laharee Chatterjee; Editing by Sunil Nair and Edwina Gibbs)
Oil bounces back from Monday's losses

Investing.com - Oil prices were higher on Tuesday, bouncing back from the prior session's more than 2% drop as investors looked ahead to weekly data from the U.S. on stockpiles of crude and refined products.

Industry group the American Petroleum Institute is due to release its weekly report at 4:30PM ET (2030GMT).

Official data from the Energy Information Administration will be released Wednesday, amid forecasts for an oil-stock drop of around 3.4 million barrels, which would mark an eighth weekly decline in a row

The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude October contract was at $47.92 a barrel by 3:25AM ET (0725GMT), up 41 cents, or around 0.9%.

Elsewhere, Brent oil for October delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange in London tacked on 42 cents, or about 0.8%, to $52.09 a barrel.

Oil prices settled lower for the first time in three sessions on Monday as lingering concerns over a global supply glut weighed on sentiment.

OPEC and 10 producers outside the cartel, including Russia, agreed since the start of the year to slash 1.8 million barrels per day in supply until March 2018 in order to reduce a global supply glut and rebalance the market.

However, so far, the deal has had little impact on global inventory levels due to rising supply from producers not participating in the accord, such as Libya and Nigeria, as well as a relentless increase in U.S. shale output.

OPEC will discuss at a meeting in November whether to extend or end production cuts, Kuwait's oil minister Essam al-Marzouq said Monday.

Elsewhere on Nymex, gasoline futures for September inched up 0.9 cents, or nearly 0.6%, to $1.596 a gallon, while September heating oil added 1.2 cents, or 0.8%, to $1.583 a gallon.

Natural gas futures for September delivery was little changed at $2.965 per million British thermal units.

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Only one county in US remains without an Obamacare insurer for 2018

And there was just one.

The entire United States, with the exception of a single small county in Ohio, is now on track to have at least one insurer offering Obamacare health coverage next year.

That's a big change from earlier this summer when at different times a total of 82 counties lacked commitments from insurers who sell individual health plans for 2018.

And the continued decline in "bare counties" provides more ammunition for Obamacare advocates arguing against Trump administration claims that the health-care program is failing and needs to be replaced immediately.

The latest potential bare area to get coverage offered for next year was Menominee County in Wisconsin, where just 47 people buy Obamacare plans on the federal marketplace HealthCare.gov.

Elizabeth Hizmi, a spokeswoman for Wisconsin's insurance commissioner, would not identify the insurer that in recent days agreed to sell plans in Menominee, saying "at this time, service areas are not public."

Insurance regulators in Ohio are trying to get an insurer to step in and offer individual health plans in that lone "bare" area, Paulding County.

"The director is still working on it," said David Hopcraft, spokesman for Ohio Insurance Director Jillian Froment.

Paulding County has only 334 people currently covered by an individual health plan sold on HealthCare.gov. Froment has several weeks left to line up an insurer to cover the county.

Hopcraft, when asked what provisions Froment was considering for Paulding's existing Obamacare customers if an insurer does not step in, said, "You know what, we're not there yet."

"The director said in a recent interview that she was just hopeful," Hopcraft said.

Ohio had been at risk of having 20 bare counties next year after the big insurer Anthem (NYSE: ANTM) said in June it was effectively pulling out of the entire state in 2018.

Story continues

But Froment in late July announced that she had obtained commitments from five insurers that would guarantee coverage from at least one insurer in 19 of those counties.

Since then, however, Froment has not been able to convince an insurer to cover Paulding County, which sits on the western edge of Ohio, bordering Indiana.

"That's a little bit discouraging," said Cynthia Cox, associate director for Kaiser Family Foundation's Program for the Study of Health Reform and Private Insurance.

"You would think one insurer would step in from a neighboring county to offer plans," Cox said, noting that such an insurer would be guaranteed a monopoly for Obamacare plans.

But nationally, Cox said, "the general trend has been a positive one" as a steady stream of insurers stepped in to cover Obamacare customers.

Cox said that over the course of the last several months 82 counties were at risk of not having an Obamacare insurer selling plans next year. Those counties contained 92,000 current Obamacare customers.

The insurer Centene (NYSE: CNC) has been, by itself, responsible for offering coverage in more than 40 previously bare counties in 2018, including 25 counties in Missouri. Last week, Centene said it would cover the remaining 14 bare counties in Nevada next year.

Despite that current positive trend in covering bare counties, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has continued to push out a negative message about Obamacare overall.

HHS's pessimistic tone about the Affordable Care Act began after President Donald Trump took office. Previously, HHS had been Obamacare's biggest cheerleader.

Earlier this year, HHS's Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services began issuing updated maps showing counties that lacked Obamacare insurers for 2018.

On Monday, HHS spokesman Matt Lloyd issued a statement that noted the end of a federal Obamacare enrollment assistance program, and said, "Obamacare failed to create a thriving, competitive market that offers the kind of coverage people want to buy at prices they can afford."

"On Obamacare's exchanges premiums continue to surge, insurers continue to abandon wide swaths of the country, and choices continue to vanish  an unfortunate reality for the American people who are required to buy Washington-approved health insurance or pay a fine," Lloyd said.

Lloyd also highlighted an article in the Washington Free Beacon that noted that "Obamacare's Enrollment Assistance Program spent more than $1,500 for each person it helped enroll last year."

"By ending this program, which only managed to help 14,500 people sign up for Obamacare  0.1 percent of total plan selections  CMS is saving taxpayers more than $22 million next year," Lloyd wrote.

But Protect Our Care, a leading Obamacare advocacy group, on Tuesday cited the news that there remains only one bare county for 2018 to argue against HHS's messaging.

"Republicans keep saying that many people will not have access to health care plans and make discredited claims about a non-existent death spiral," Protect Our Care said in a statement.

"The claims have been debunked by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and now by the facts in the 2018 coverage map from Kaiser Family Foundation."

Anthem and other insurers that have pulled out of Obamacare markets have cited difficulties in selling individual plans at a profit, as well as uncertainty about the markets because of concern over Trump administration policies, for their decisions. Insurers have expressed fears the administration will not enforce Obamacare's individual mandate, which requires most Americans to have insurance, as well as worries that the administration will not fund key federal payments to insurers to compensate them for discounts offered to a majority of Obamacare customers.

WATCH: Key Obamacare subsidies will continue





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Gold futures rallied on Monday as investors reacted to renewed tensions over North Korea. The market was also supported by doubts about U.S. President Trumps ability to enact pro-business policies.

December Comex Gold futures settled the session at $1296.70, up $5.10 or +0.39%.

Investors flocked into the safe-haven gold market as they braced for North Koreas response to computer-simulated military exercises begun by South Korean and U.S. forces on Monday that will continue into the end of the month.

The market remained underpinned by last weeks activity in Washington. Gold has become a more attractive asset since it looks as if Trump will not be able to push forward with his plan for tax reform and increased infrastructure spending.

Daily December Comex Gold

Forecast

Gold prices are trading lower early Tuesday, mostly in reaction to stronger U.S. equity markets. Traders seem to be reacting positively to President Trumps speech on Afghanistan.

Trump outlined a comprehensive new strategy on Monday night for achieving a lasting peace in Afghanistan  rejecting what he called arbitrary timetables for the U.S. troop presence, ratcheting up pressure on Pakistan to stop harboring militants and vowing to refocus the mission on killing terrorists, not nation-building.

From now on, victory will have a clear definition: attacking out enemies, obliterating ISIS, crushing Al Qaeda, preventing the Taliban from taking over Afghanistan, and stopping mass terror attacks against America, Trump said in a primetime address to the nation.

In the absence of major economic reports, gold investors are likely to be more sensitive to political and geopolitical events particular Trumps tax reform plan and rising tensions over North Korea.

Gold traders will also be focused on the direction of U.S. Treasury yields, the U.S. Dollar and risk sentiment. Bullish factors supporting gold will be lower Treasury yields, a weaker U.S. Dollar and lower demand for higher-risk assets. Bearish factors will be higher yields, a firmer dollar and risk-on investor sentiment.

Story continues

Minor U.S. reports today include the Home Price Index and the Richmond Manufacturing Index. Traders are also preparing for key speeches by Fed Chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on Friday at the Jackson Hole central bankers symposium.

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

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As U.S. retailers race to adjust to an increasingly online shopping environment, PVH (NYSE: PVH) President and CEO Manny Chirico told CNBC that the e-commerce pain isn't affecting much overseas.

"The department store channel there continues to be fairly strong, and our own stores and our own direct e-commerce business is very strong," Chirico told " Mad Money " host Jim Cramer on Wednesday. "I have to be honest, we're clearly taking market share in Europe, and same thing in China."

Sitting down with Cramer after the Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger parent reported earnings, Chirico touted the brands' mid-to-high single-digit same-store sales growth, a key measure of success for retailers.

Particularly in Europe, Chirico said Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein were both growing at double-digit rates, with Calvin seeing a 25 percent boost in the company's latest quarter.

Stateside, Chirico said that Macy's (NYSE: M), JC Penney (NYSE: JCP) and Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) are key department store customers that are helping the fashion house take market in the United States as well.

"You're hearing a lot of people saying, 'We're reducing our exposure to some department stores.' Well, we're not," Chirico said. "We are getting sell-throughs, we're getting full-priced selling at our key partners like Macy's, and we're continuing to support them and grow that business."

But PVH is no stranger to the industry-wide rise of e-commerce, particularly considering the growth its brands have seen on Chinese online marketplace Alibaba (NYSE: BABA).

"My job is to create demand and to create demand with our brands." the CEO said. "Our brands, both Calvin and Tommy, got to China early, and being first movers, we had that advantage. Being known to that consumer in that marketplace is a big advantage for us. And then being a desired brand, you go where the consumer is, and the consumer is shopping in brick-and-mortar, but they're also obviously shopping on e-commerce and we're taking advantage of that."

Story continues

Watch Manny Chirico's full interview here:





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Heres some of the stocks the Yahoo Finance team will be tracking for you today. Retail and food stocks are in focus this morning.

Sears Holdings (SHLD) shares soared after the struggling retailer reported a smaller-than-expected loss for the second quarter. However, same-store sales fell 11.5% and the company plans to close 28 more Kmart stores.

Tiffany (TIF) shares were higher early Thursday. The high-end jewelry retailer posted better than expected earnings and revenue for last quarter driven in part by strong sales in Japan.

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) soared this morning after the teen retailer delivered a smaller-than-expected loss for second quarter thanks to strong demand for its Hollister brand.

Dollar Tree (DLTR) shares jumped after the biggest US dollar-store chain came in with a beat on both its top and bottom lines. Dollar Tree credited its success to lowering costs and 1% rise in same-store sales at its Family Dollar stores.

J.M. Smucker (SJM) stock was sharply lower in early trading. The company reported a miss on both EPS and revenue for the second quarter. CEO Mark Smucker said earnings were hurt by lower-than-expected demand for Folgers roast and ground coffees.

Hormel Foods (HRL) shares fell. after the maker of Spam and other food products delivered earnings and revenue that fell short of Wall Street views. The company also cut its outlook for the year citing increased volatility in commodity prices. Separately, Hormel announced its buying Brazils Cerrati brand in a deal worth over $100 million dollars. This as it looks for ways to grow its brand.
Pipeline and energy infrastructure companies face operational challenges in the coming years even as U.S. oil drilling recovers and a natural gas export boom gets underway, consulting firm Bain & Co. says in a new report.

While there is demand for new infrastructure, three trends in the industry could trip up pipeline companies, Bain said in a report released Wednesday. Oil and gas drilling is subdued in some areas, contract renewals may lead to lower rates, and private equity competition is eating into profit margins.

This will make it harder for so-called midstream companies, which transport, store and process oil and gas, to squeeze profit out of their projects, according to Bain.

This matters to investors because investing in midstream companies became a source of reliable dividends as pipeline construction ramped up during the U.S. shale oil and gas boom. Pipelines and other infrastructure produce steady income, allowing midstream companies to ratchet up payouts to investors.

The 10-year average annual distribution growth for master limited partnerships, a common structure for energy infrastructure companies, was 6.8 percent through 2015, according to Alerian, which operates funds linked to MLPs.

Alerian MLP Index distribution growth

"There's a starvation for yield right now because the 10-year [U.S. Treasury] is barely over 2 [percent]. Utility and REIT yields are really, really low. You can go buy energy infrastructure stocks that have 5.5, 6.5 percent yields that are growing," Rob Thummel, portfolio manager at Tortoise Capital, told CNBC's "Power Lunch" on Tuesday.

Stranded assets

Oil and gas from some regions that would have moved through pipes are now stranded in the ground because they're too expensive to extract, pipeline executives told Bain.

Some low-cost regions like Texas' Permian basin have rebounded quickly. But sharp production declines in other basins, like North Dakota's Bakken, have not yet reversed significantly. The focus on sweet spots could reduce production in places like the Rockies, lowering the need for pipelines and other infrastructure.

Story continues

Portfolio managers say they're keenly focused on this issue.

"It's kind of like real estate. It's all about location, location, location when investing in some of these MLPs," Thummel told CNBC in a separate interview Wednesday.

"The way we mitigate that is making sure our companies have diversified assets. You've got to be careful investing in just concentrated positions in concentrated areas," he added.

Two of Thummel's top diversified picks are Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD) and EQT Midstream Partners (NYSE: EQM), which yield 6.7 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively.

Tougher contracts

Another worry that Bain flags is the coming expiration of favorable contracts that pipeline companies signed with their customers during a construction boom. Contract provisions that guaranteed a minimum payment no matter how much product flowed through their lines have protected their revenue.

Pipeline operators will likely have to agree to lower volumes and rates when they negotiate new contracts, Bain says. That's a problem, especially for companies that pipe oil and gas out of basins where production is falling, according to Bain.

While this midstream sector hasn't entirely resolved this issue, concerns about contracts have already been priced into midstream stocks and MLP units, said Jay Hatfield, a portfolio manager for InfraCap's AMZA exchange-traded fund (NYSE Arca: AMZA), which tracks midstream companies.

He notes that companies began tackling the issue over the last two to three years, altering the terms of contracts when those terms became uneconomical due to low oil and gas prices.

"It's good for everyone because transport companies can invest more in pipelines and gathering and processing, and probably more gas is going to flow," Hatfield said.

MLPs are now one of the cheapest assets classes in the yield sector, according to Hatfield.

Private equity problems

The flood of private equity money into the space also raises concerns, according to Bain. Private equity-backed firms are agreeing to more aggressive contract terms than traditional midstream companies typically accept.

Bain sees this happening particularly in the processing and gathering parts of the midstream chain. Companies in the processing segment transport oil and gas short distances from the wellhead to long-haul lines and processing facilities. Companies in the gathering operations prepare natural gas to be shipped through lines by stripping out impurities and natural gas liquids.

Processing and gathering are becoming less profitable not only because of the influence of private equity, but because of the concentration of drilling in a few places. Long-haul lines that move oil and gas out of low-cost basins like the Permian are still attractive, but Bain cautions that growing competition in these regions could push down pipeline companies' profit margins.

Thummel says rates for long-haul pipelines are not a major concern because they are supported by five- to 10-year contracts, but the short-distance operations are more exposed to commodity price fluctuations and subject to rate negotiations.

Again, he notes that firms with a diverse portfolio of projects like Energy Transfer Partners (: SXL) are best positioned to deal with challenges in different parts of the chain.

Bain said midstream companies need to set realistic cost reduction goals to make their portfolios more resilient, focus on becoming more efficient and plan for growth beyond the typical three-year horizon.

"Doing so will allow them to gain a clear understanding of the cost structures they will need to adopt in order to thrive even amid industry turbulence," Bain partner Riccardo Bertocco said in a statement.

Disclosure: Tortoise Capital owns shares of Enterprise Products Partners, EQT Midstream Partners and Energy Transfer Partners. Rob Thummel does not personally hold shares of the companies.



Disclaimer





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Yahoo Finance is tracking Starbucks, HP, PVH Corp and Fiat Chrysler in intraday trading on Wednesday.

Starbucks gets slapped with a downgrade

Cleveland Research downgraded Starbucks (SBUX) to neutral from buy, triggering a move lower for shares of the coffee giant. The downgrade comes on the heels of Morgan Stanleys comments on Starbucks Tuesday. In a note to clients, Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Hayes said Starbucks could be poised for a rebound, arguing that the market has already accounted for Starbucks more moderate rate of growth. Shares of the coffee giant are down 12% over the past three months.

Wall Street braces for HP earnings after the bell

HP (HPQ) is scheduled to report fiscal third-quarter earnings after the bell Wednesday amid a healthier PC market. Analysts are expecting earnings of 42 cents a share on revenue of $12.31 billion, a 3% increase from a year ago. Mizuho said it sees potential upside to the computer makers estimates, driven by improving fundamentals and performance in its printing business. HP shares have jumped nearly 28% since the start of the year.

Fiat Chrysler shares jump on report of Maserati spinoff

Shares of Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) jumped in early trading on Wednesday following a Bloomberg report that its considering slimming down its operations to focus on mass-market cars. The report discusses the potential for Fiat to spin off its Maserati and Alfa Romeo brands in an effort to boost value. According to Bloomberg, a decision may not be final until early 2018.

Retail back in focus with PVH Corp earnings on tap

The parent company of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger is scheduled to report earnings after the market close on Wednesday. Analysts are expecting a profit of $1.64 a share on revenue of $2.04 billion. Shares of PVH Corp (PVH) have soared so far this year, driven by strong results overseas. The stock is up 32% since January 1.

For more on Wednesdays big stock movers and breaking earnings after the bell, check out The Final Round, starting at 3:55 p.m. ET, right here on Yahoo Finance.
NEA signs PPA with Upper Trishuli hydel project

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the state-owned power utility has signed the power purchase agreement (PPA) with 37 MW Upper Trishuli 3B Hydropower Project to purchase the hydroelectricity generated by the project.
FILE PHOTO: A logo of Toshiba Corp is seen outside an electronics retail store in Tokyo, Japan, January 19, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo (Reuters)

By Taro Fuse

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Toshiba Corp is prioritizing negotiations with Western Digital to sell its memory chip business after talks stalled with a previously preferred bidder, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

The conglomerate is scrambling to sell its flash memory unit to cover losses from its bankrupt U.S. nuclear business Westinghouse.

In June, it picked a consortium including Japanese government-backed funds, private equity firm Bain Capital and South Korean chip maker SK Hynix as the preferred bidder for the prized unit.

But the talks stalled after Western Digital, a partner in Toshiba's main chip plant, took Toshiba to court, arguing it needs to consent to a sale. A subsequent legal battle between the two companies unnerved the state-backed funds, which demanded Toshiba resolve the conflict before a sale.

Western Digital was offering around 2 trillion yen ($18 billion) and plans to form an alliance with U.S. private equity firm KKR & Co as well as the two Japanese state-backed funds that were part of the preferred bidder group, sources said, adding Western Digital was likely to take a stake of around 15 percent in the chip business.

The other consortium including Bain and SK Hynix lost its preferred status at the end of July, the sources added, requesting anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with media.

A Toshiba spokesman declined to comment on details of the negotiations.

Toshiba wants to close the sale by the end of the fiscal year in March to ensure it does not report negative net worth, or liabilities exceeding assets, for a second year running. This could result in a delisting from the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Given regulatory approvals could take more than six months, the company has been hoping to reach a deal by the end of the month to ensure it can close the sale in time.

Sources have also said a deal with Western Digital could be difficult, however, as Toshiba's chip business executives were wary of a deal with the U.S. company given previous animosity between the two sides.

Story continues

Ties between the two companies soured quickly after Western Digital bought SanDisk, Toshiba's memory chip business partner for 17 years, in May last year as they failed to agree on terms of a new joint venture contract.

($1 = 109.6700 yen)

(Additional reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Writing by Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and David Holmes)
White nationalist demonstrators walk into Lee park surrounded by counter demonstrators in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency and police dressed in riot gear ordered people to disperse after chaotic violent clashes between white nationalists and counter protestors. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

A United Nations committee has issued a formal warning to the United States and its president, Donald Trump, over recent racial violence in the country, indicating serious concern that conflicts like the recent one in Charlottesville, Virginia, will spread.

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has issued an early warning, the first step in its system of measures to prevent tensions from escalating and inform member states of the urgent need to address problems. It criticized the US for failure at the highest political level to unequivocally reject racist violent events.

The statement, though it doesnt say so explicitly, appears to refer to Trumps widely criticized response to the violent clashes on Aug. 12 between white-supremacist groups and counter-protesters in Charlottesville. Trump called the fighting an egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, suggesting that the counter-protesters were as much to blame as the white supremacists.

One woman, Heather Heyer, was killed that day, when a man with neo-Nazi sympathies drove a car into a crowd of counter-protesters. Shortly after, a group of UN experts voiced its concern over the rise of racism and xenophobia in the US, which critics of Trump say he emboldened through his tepid response to Charlottesville.

The UNs new warning calls on US authorities to take concrete measures to address the spread of hate groups. We are alarmed by the racist demonstrations, with overtly racist slogans, chants and salutes by white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and the Ku Klux Klan, promoting white supremacy and inciting racial discrimination and hatred, CERD Chairperson Anastasia Crickley said in a statement.

CERD has officially warned the US before, in 2006 when it raised the issue of US land conflicts with the Western Shoshone indigenous peoples. Its criticism of the countrys efforts to end racial discrimination havent always met with favorable responses from the political right in the US. In 2008, a researcher at the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank, called for the US to seriously reconsider the level of its future engagement with the committee, claiming it was biased.

Story continues

The committees new statement, however, is an alarm bell about specific events and the path the US appears to be headed down, harming its often sanitized global image (paywall). Other countries it has raised the alarm about in recent years include Burundi and Iraq.

Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief, our free daily newsletter with the worlds most important and interesting news.

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Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) CEO Timothy Sloan said Tuesday that forthcoming results from the bank's review of its consumer sales scandal could cause more negative attention.

"The results of our reviews will generate news headlines, but even as we face this renewed coverage, the best thing we can do is stay focused on fixing problems, making things right for customers, and building a better, stronger Wells Fargo," Sloan said in a company-wide message that was shared in a press release.

Sloan also said that "within a few weeks" the bank will announce the completion of an expanded review by a third party of the fake consumer accounts workers had opened. They were pressured by aggressive sales goals, a practice Wells Fargo has since ended.

In an Aug. 4 quarterly 10-Q filing required by the SEC for public firms, Wells Fargo said it expanded the review period to 2009 through 2016 and that could reveal a "significant increase" in unauthorized accounts.

"This analysis examined account usage patterns and is constructed to err on the side of the customer in determining which accounts are included as potentially unauthorized," Sloan said Tuesday.

The bank will also send notices about the process for customers to make claims against the bank and is compiling a list of additional customers who complained an account was opened without their consent, Sloan said in the memo.

The bank has now paid more than $5 million in total customer refunds or payments, the release said.

Sloan took over Wells Fargo last fall after it was discovered the bank's workers had opened about 2 million consumer deposit and credit card accounts without customers' authorization since 2011. Wells Fargo paid $185 million in penalties.

This year, the bank also reached a preliminary class-action settlement of $142 million over concerns about retail sales practices and unauthorized accounts from 2002.

Wells Fargo shares were little changed in after-hours trade but are down 5 percent so far in 2017, trailing the Financial Select Sector SPDR (NYSE Arca: XLF), which is up nearly 7 percent year to date.

Story continues

In a statement to CNBC, Wells Fargo spokeswoman Mary Eshet referred to the Aug. 4 10-Q filing.

"The team news [press release] shared the things we have done and are doing to make things right for customers," she said, "and reminded team members that if the results of the review result in news stories, the best thing for team members to do is stay focused on customers."

WATCH: WFC announces changes to board





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The new U.S. "strategy in Afghanistan and South Asia" is being debated in the country and around the globe after President Donald Trump laid it out late on August 21.

The strategy commits to an open-ended counterterrorism effort by declaring, We are not nation-building again. We are killing terrorists while skirting any details on deadlines, tactics, and troop numbers.

The strategy singles out Pakistan for housing the very terrorists that we are fighting. It also calls on its archrival India to help with assistance and development in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan has welcomed the strategy, which links Washingtons assistance to real reforms, real progress, and real results.

To discuss this issue, we turned to Omar Samad, a former Afghan ambassador to France and Canada. Shahmahmood Miakhel, the country director of the United States Institute of Peace for Afghanistan, joined our discussion from Kabul. I contributed from Prague while my colleague Muhammad Tahir, RFE/RLs media relations manager, moderated our discussion from Washington.

Listen to or download the Gandhara Podcast:

The views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL.
The top U.S. Army commander in Afghanistan has said that the new U.S. strategy for the war-wracked country shows the country's commitment to a stable Afghanistan.

"We will not fail in Afghanistan, our national security depends on that as well," General John Nicholson told reporters in Kabul on August 24.

Nicholson called on the resurgent Taliban to agree to peace talks, saying they "cannot win on the battlefield, it's time for them to join the peace process."

In reaction, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the groups militants will fight until the last U.S. soldier is no longer here in Afghanistan."

Nicholson also vowed to "crush" the Islamic State group affiliate in the country, saying that "we will pursue them wherever else they choose to make their stand."

The U.S. general said the United States and its NATO allies will expand training for Afghan security forces as part of the Resolute Support mission, and spoke of expanding the Afghan air force and special forces.

Nicholson's press conference comes two days after U.S. President Donald Trump backtracked from his campaign pledge to end the United States' longest war.

Outlining a new strategy for Afghanistan, he appeared to commit the country to an open-ended conflict in Afghanistan, without providing any specifics about troop numbers or timelines.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference on August 24 that Moscow believes that the new U.S. strategy is based mainly on military force and has "no prospects" for success.

Based on reporting by AP, dpa, Reuters, and TASS
ROCKLEDGE, Fla., Aug. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kona Gold Solutions, Inc. (OTC Pink:KGKG), a hemp lifestyle brand of exclusivity and status, has announced the company has expanded its product reach to South Florida by way of two new Luckys Market Grocery stores located in Coral Springs and Plantation Florida. Kona Golds popular hemp infused energy drinks are now available in six Luckys Markets around the state of Florida. These Florida locations include the new Coral Springs and Plantation locations along with West Melbourne, Orlando, Gainesville, and Neptune Beach stores.



The company recently took park in a successful three-day back-to-school event at the Luckys Market in Orlando and another event this week in South Florida at the Plantation location. They will be taking part in another event this coming weekend at the Luckys Market in West Melbourne and several other up-coming events in efforts to drive sales and continue their product awareness of their hemp energy drinks.

Im excited to announce that we are now in the South Florida market with our products on the shelves of two new Luckys Market locations, stated Robert Clark, CEO of Kona Gold Solutions, Inc. South Florida is an exciting market with so many opportunities and we are right in the middle of it. Feedback from samplings has been outstanding and we are looking forward to doing more events down there with the wonderful teams they have at the Coral Springs and Plantation locations.

For more information regarding Luckys Market, please visit:

http://www.luckysmarket.com/

For more information regarding Kona Gold Solutions, please visit:

https://www.facebook.com/konagoldhemp

https://twitter.com/konagoldhemp

https://www.instagram.com/konagoldhemp/

http://www.konagoldhemp.com



Kona Gold Solutions, Inc.:

Kona Gold Solutions, Inc. has created Kona Gold LLC, a Delaware Corporation, which has developed a premium Hemp Infused Energy Drink line, Energy shots, and Apparel; please visit the Companys new website at www.konagoldhemp.com. The Company is located on the east coast of Florida in Rockledge, FL.

Safe Harbor Statement:

The information posted in this release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify these statements by use of the words "may," "will," "should," "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "continue," "estimate," "project," "intend," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, general economic and business conditions, effects of continued geopolitical unrest and regional conflicts, competition, changes in technology and methods of marketing, delays in completing various engineering and manufacturing programs, changes in customer order patterns, changes in product mix, continued success in technological advances and delivering technological innovations, shortages in components, production delays due to performance quality issues with outsourced components, and various other factors beyond the Company's control.
Dear Kellogg MBA Applicants,here, representing our favorite city of Chicago, while also throwing down some MBA knowledge for y'all. Behold: our 2017-2018 Kellogg MBA Essay Analysis! The Kellogg essays (like all MBA essays, really!) present some challenges for applicants. We hate to see people struggle so we got the crew together to analyze the Kellogg essay prompts and provide you a helpful little road map to follow as you dive in. Just think of us as the Waze of MBA Admissions.

Northwestern Kellogg School of Management MBA Essay 1

Kelloggs purpose is to educate, equip & inspire brave leaders who create lasting value. Tell us about a time you have demonstrated leadership and created lasting value. What challenges did you face, and what did you learn? (450 words)

Analysis

This is a tricky one. Created lasting value? First of all, thats some serious sh*t. Second, how would you know if you actually created lasting value? Its one thing to think that thats the case. Its another thing for it to be true, persistently. First things first, we need to identify our story before we do anything elseCreating lasting value implies bringing something new to the table. You changed a companys algorithm for hiring: previously theyd focused on X, you inspired them instead to focus on Y. Or, you pursued a growth opportunity no one had ever considered before. It worked, and now its a stable and NEW source of revenue. There are a million versions. Whatever it is that you did  it cant have been in the job description. It cant have been something that was expected of you. It has to be something YOU brought to the table in a somehow surprising way. Think of your best few examples of that. Thats a good starting point.Now, lets talk about how you LED the thing. This particular leadership example requires proactively doing something that otherwise wouldnt have happened. What were the stakes? What obstacles stood in your way? Why was it difficult? What were your personal risks? What propelled your forward in SPITE of those challenges? What were you hoping to achieve? Take us through your actions, bringing us into your thought process along the way. Lets see how your gears work.Finally, what did you learn during all of this? Did everything work out as expected? Congrats you didnt learn anything. There must have been twists. An instance when you were WRONG. An instance when you made a bad call. An instance when a certain challenge was HARDER than you expected it would be. An aspect of yourself that you had rated too highly, or not highly enough. Something that bumped along the way. Take us through the before and after here. Somewhere inside that delta of where you landed AFTER this experience should have POSITIVE implications for your NEXT leadership adventure. If you have an example, even better. If not, throw it into the future regardless, forecasting how youll APPLY some of the lessons learned here.Organization:Part I  Setup the Situation. Explain the status quo you were hoping to disrupt. Or the bosss directive. Whatever it was that led to your stepping into a leadership role and ultimately delivering something cool and NEW to the table. Set it up by explaining what the goal was, what the challenges were, why it was important, and what you stood to gain or lose. End this section laying out what would be required for someone to step in and lead this thing to success. (100 words)Part II  Explain the leadership stuff. Take us through the what you did piece, step by step, decision by decision. Conflict to conflict. Inner debate, weighing options, eventual decisions. All of it. Lay it all out. (125 words)Part III  How did this create lasting value? Now comes the tricky part. Wheres the evidence that this was bigger than you, and actually fundamentally changed things? First we need to learn of this in some verifiable way other than you think it created value. How did you come to learn of it? Walk us through that, and then explain in plain terms what that value actually means. Its important to do this in the simplest of terms we can understand. (100-125 words)Part IV  Whad Ya Learn? This is reflection time. Time to expose some of those bumps, bad calls, or incorrect assumptions. It doesnt have to be bad but something that convincingly outs you as a REFLECTIVE individual. Put yourself on trial here, throw yourself under the microscope. Make a case for why the version of you at the END of this experience is better than the person at its BEGINNING. Try to wrap your mind around that Something shifted along the way to IMPROVE you. What was it? Take your time to identify what those things might have been, and try to articulate it all as simply and clearly as you possibly can here. (100-125 words)

Northwestern Kellogg School of Management MBA Essay 2

Pursuing an MBA is a catalyst for personal and professional growth. How have you grown in the past? How do you intend to grow at Kellogg? (450 words)

Analysis

Lets talk about two key elements of Kelloggs growth essay:What is growth?How should you relate this to Kellogg?Growth. Growth is all about change from X to Y. Consider a plant. If a plant is in a certain environment, subjected to certain external pressures and conditions, it will experience a fundamental change we call growth. It may lengthen. It may produce flowers. Whatever it is, theres some kind of DELTA between the before and after. Easy enough to understand right?Okay, but lets dig into it a bit more. What actually caused that growth? Was it the DNA of the plant? Or was it the conditions it was exposed to? Well, it cant JUST be the DNA. If that were true, you could plant evergreen trees in the middle of the Sahara desert and theyd do just fine right? Wrong. The DNA is a terrible match for the harsh, arid environment of the desert. So, DNA alone doesnt ensure growth. Likewise, conditions are only as effective as the DNA of the thing theyre influencing. Reverse it. Apply rain to coniferous trees and they love it. Apply the same rain to succulents, and its lights out. Weve just applied the wrong environment to the DNA.Conclusion: it has to be a match of:The inherent characteristics of the element.The conditions of its environment.This is a key concept as you consider your own growth stories. First, you have to talk about growth in terms of a clear before and after. But also, you must address what the environment was, and how it influenced your DNA. In order to do this well, you need show a clear understanding of what youre made of, and how that particular environment helped to shape it.Now, you need to airlift that formula and apply it to something you detect about Kellogg. What is it about the Kellogg environment that holds promise for you that you will grow in a similar way? What is it about their culture, or a specific aspect of their curriculum, or some other Kellogg-specific thing that is going to exert a force on you that encourages personal growth? The only way you can predict this is if you have a story in your past that shows how you respond to certain stimuli, that you can then connect to something at Kellogg that therefore holds the same promise for you.Structure:First, walk us through a growth story. Paint a clear before and a clear after, and explain how the ENVIRONMENT acted to help SHAPE that transformation from A to B. Hover on the environmental aspect, focus on the stuff that helped bring about that change. What were those external influences? How did they inspire you to grow?Now, identify specific aspects of Kellogg that resemble those conditions. Be careful, the stuff you pick cant apply equally well to other schools, or else your point wont weigh anything. It has to be Kellogg-specific. Now explain the parallel to how these conditions are the exact conditions that promote personal growth in you. Well believe you because youve already PROVEN this in section 1.

Northwestern Kellogg School of Management Dual-Degree Applicant MBA Essay

Dual-degree applicants: For applicants to the MMM or JD-MBA dual degree programs, please explain why that program is right for you. (250 words)

Analysis

Not much to analyze here, but heres a neat little trick.Explain your goals. Then, in general terms, explain what SOMEONE (anyone) might need in order to achieve those goals. Then explain what it is you already have, which should get you to about 60-70% of the way there on this essay.Now explain how either the MMM or JD-MBA program specifically allows YOU to shore up YOUR specific gaps to meet your established goals. Its two paragraphs, and its pretty straightforward:Paragraph 1  These are my goals. This is what someone needs in order to succeed at these goals. This is what I have, and more interestingly, everything I dont have  and therefore need.Paragraph 2  This specific dual degree is ideal because unlike THIS OTHER path, and THIS OTHER path, this combines XYZ and solves ABC in this and that amazingly efficient and effective way. Check out these three specific examples of how this program specifically shores up gaps in MY SPECIFIC profile and helps me get to my SPECIFIC goals perfectly.

Northwestern Kellogg School of Management MBA Optional Essay

All applicants have the opportunity to provide explanations or clarification in Additional Information:



If needed, use this section to briefly describe any extenuating circumstances (e.g. unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance, etc.) (no word count)

Analysis

Northwestern Kellogg School of Management MBA Video Essay

he Video Essay is one component of the application and provides you with an additional opportunity to demonstrate what you will bring to our vibrant Kellogg community  in an interactive way. You will respond to several short video essay questions. The questions are designed to bring to life the person we have learned about on paper.



After submitting an application and payment, you will be able to access the video essay through the your application status page. One question will be a get to know you icebreaker type of question. The second question will be an opportunity to describe your plans for the future and how Kellogg will help you on that journey. The other questions will be randomly generated questions that will be similar to interview questions.

There are practice questions that you may complete as many times as you like to get comfortable with the format and technology. The practice questions and experience will simulate the actual video essay experience, so this is meant to be a useful tool to help you feel prepared.

We encourage you to practice so you are comfortable with the format once it is time to complete the official questions. There is not an opportunity to re-do the answer to the official video essay questions.

You will have 20 seconds to think about the question and up to one minute to give your response.

We estimate the video essays will take 20-25 minutes to complete  which includes time for set-up and answering all the practice questions. You will need an internet connected computer with a webcam, microphone and an updated version of Adobe Flash in order to complete the video essay.

Read our teams complete take on the idea of optional essay, including a brief (recent) history of b-schools relationship with it, and how our recommendations have evolved over the years, right here

Analysis

Weve written in detail about the video essay, and no matter what school youre applying to, the same general principles apply. Read our 7 Tips for Preparing the Dreaded Live Video MBA Essay And that's that. Helpful, eh? If you have any questions on it or Kellogg or anything, just reply here or shoot us a PM. And if you want more Essay Analysis Goodness, check out more schools here . We're updating 'em daily as new prompts are released, so keep checking back.
NOC paid three times the going rate in Jhapa: MPs

A subcommittee of the parliamentary Industry, Commerce and Consumer Rights Relation Committee has asserted that the state-owned Nepal Oil Corporation paid thrice the market price while purchasing the land here in Jhapa district.
Hey stebbinn Thanks for getting in touch and for all the detail! Now firstly, good luck on the GMAT! I'd love to see you break 700 to give yourself your best shot. Also, to your point, your Quant is low. You may want to consider targeted private tutoring to get this up. Right now, I think that might put UNC and Ross in the reach group for you because your background is also a little non-traditional. (There's nothing to do to change that at this stage so with your dealership work, just make sure you are very clear about the size/scale of the team you manage and what your business impact is. I bet you are dealing with big dollar amounts!)In terms of weaknesses, not having a clear vision for your career could slow you down. Schools like to know you've given this some thought and that they can help you. Take a look at the employment reports for all the programs you are targeting. See who is hiring. See who you get excited about. That will help you decide what you want to do.I like Notre Dame for you and think you might have a shot. Average GMAT 683 and 40+% admit rate...it could work for you. I still want you to try to nail that GMAT to make the process easier, but I think you have a decent shot. (I'm guessing your previous work for ND can help you explain "Why ND" too.) Owen might be a bit tougher if you can't break 700.Once you have your real GMAT score, follow up on this post and we can chat more!Hope that helps and all the best for your applications!Krista_________________
Fri, 11/18 (10:30am ET): How to Write the Best M7 MBA Essays
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
Political pantomimes

Constitutional proscription on cabinet size will be problematic if coalition governments are to be the norm in Nepal
Project suffers setback as DPR talks falter

The Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project, a mega hydroelectric-cum-irrigation project prioritised by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, is not likely to move ahead anytime soon as talks between Nepal and India to finalise a detailed project report (DPR) ended inconclusively on Wednesday.
RJP-N officially decides to take part in all elections

The Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal (RJP-N) has decided to take part in all the elections including the third phase of local level elections slated for September 18 in Province 2.
Jessi Calzado-Esponda lives in the United States but spent her early years in Cuba.

Her family lived in Havana. Electric power was undependable. The 29-year-old woman says her family would turn to music when the neighborhood lost power.

Music was always part of my life even from a very young age. I remember that sometimes when the lights would go out in Cuba, all my family would come out with guitars and there would be singing and there would be some dancing.

This memory is one of few Calzado-Esponda has from her childhood on the island nation.

She left at age seven  but not by choice. Her aunt had decided to flee from Cuba on a small raft. The young Calzado-Esponda and her grandmother stopped just to say goodbye. But disorder broke out and the little girl and her grandmother were on the raft when it launched. Neither could swim.

So, Calzado-Esponda became an accidental refugee, floating away from her home.

Literally in the blink of an eye, I lost my mom, my immediate family and my beloved Cuba, Calzado-Esponda said. She would not see her family again for almost 20 years.

The United States Coast Guard found the raft at sea and took the child and her relatives to the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They lived there for several months before they were moved to Tampa, Florida.

That is when Calzado-Espondas American life began; it is a story almost as unusual as the one that got her to the United States. At one time homeless, she later launched a travel agency which specializes in group trips to Cuba.

Homeless in America

Calzado-Esponda remembers her first years in the U.S. as happy ones, but she missed her parents and brother.

Several years after their arrival in Tampa, Calzado-Espondas aunt killed herself.

It was like losing a second mother all over again, Calzado-Esponda said. The severe financial loss made the situation more complex. Her aunt had worked in a good-paying job.

Calzado-Esponda and her grandmother had little money and moved into a homeless shelter.

It was just really, really, really hard, Calzado-Esponda told VOA. Sharing a bedroom with strangers and having to eat meals at set times were not things she was used to.

But something wonderful happened when she was about 12 years old. A music teacher and shelter volunteer took an interest in Calzado-Esponda. The teacher urged her to play the piano and other musical instruments.

This led to a six-year study program with what was then the Gulf Coast Youth Choirs. She received financial aid to pay for her training.

Traveling with the choir, Calzado-Esponda developed a love of traveling, which would be important later in her life.

During that period, the homeless shelter helped her grandmother find a job. Calzado-Esponda says her grandmother never learned to speak English or drive a car. But she was able to earn enough to move out of the shelter and into an apartment.

Little by little, of course we struggled here and there, but we made it. And, again, it was a lot to do with the community and the support that we got from our community.

Cuba Inspires

Calzado-Esponda moved in her twenties to Washington, D.C. She found a job in the office of a U.S. congressman. But at 27, she suddenly faced another major challenge. A car accident left her with a severe brain injury.

The injury forced her to leave her job. The young woman suffered some memory loss. She could not remember peoples names or what she said to others. She was often sick to her stomach and her back hurt.

Calzado-Esponda says the injury was one of the most heartbreaking things she had experienced. But, slowly she recovered.

She says she still has some really hard days but that she chooses to get up the next day and try again.

Calzado-Esponda got a visa to return to Cuba when she learned her mother was sick. It had been twenty years since she left the island accidentally. She had never returned.

Sadly, the day before Calzado-Esponda arrived in Cuba, her mother died.

So, the very first time I ever met my whole family was at my moms funeral. And its one of those things thats very surreal and its also very bittersweet.

She says she was amazed at the love and support she received.

Just after the visit, then-President Barack Obama announced an easing of relations between the U.S. and Cuba. That is when Calzado-Esponda started her travel agency. She named it Cuba Inspires.

After more than a year of operation, her business is off to a good start. Among her first clients were the reality television stars, the Kardashians.

Calzado-Esponda hopes to build on her success with events, such as the U.S./Cuban youth choir competition, for which she recently won permission. She sees herself as an unofficial ambassador.



"Ive always considered the United States and Cuba kind of like two divorced parents and, like, the United States being my father, Cuba being my mother. And it is my job to kind of bridge the differences between both of them, because I love both of them."

Im Dan Friedell. And Im Caty Weaver.

June Soh reported this story for VOANews.com. George Grow adapted her report for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

aunt  n. the sister of ones father or mother; the wife of ones uncle or aunt

raft  n. a flat structure for transportation on water

blink of an eye  expression  very quickly

choir  n. a singing group

apartment  n. a room or several rooms that is used as a place to live

client  n. someone who uses the professional services or advice of another

divorce  v. to legally end ones marriage; to make or keep separate

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.


This is Whats Trending Today

While many people were busy looking at the solar eclipse on Monday, something else happened at Harvard University in the state of Massachusetts.

Malia Obama, the eldest daughter of former U.S. president Barack Obama, moved into her room at Harvard University.

Harvard is one of the most famous universities in the United States. Both Barack and Michelle Obama attended law school at Harvard.

Malia graduated from high school in Washington, D.C. last year. She spent what is known as a gap year doing an internship with a film producer in New York City.

Many people used social media to post messages saying they saw Malia or her famous parents on campus.

One Twitter user, Kyle, wrote: Malia Obama is moving into her dorm like 30 yards from mine as Im typing this

The Boston Globe newspaper sent a reporter to the campus to ask Malia questions. The reporter saw her standing outside an old brick building, talking with other students. She looked like any other freshman, the reporter wrote. The word freshman refers to a first-year college student.

Malia told the reporter she could not speak with him, but politely returned a handshake.

The reporter spoke with the parents of another student who lives in the same building, known as a dormitory, as Malia Obama. The parent said she was glad her son would be living in a building that probably would be a little safer than the others.

Another daughter of a president is starting at a new school this week, too. That is Tiffany Trump. She is going to law school at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Malia and Tiffany are the latest in a long line of famous young people going to colleges.

Chelsea Clinton went to Stanford University in the 1990s when her father was president. Actress Emma Watson, from the Harry Potter movies, recently went to Brown University. She followed the footsteps of actresses Jodie Foster at Yale and Brooke Shields at Princeton University in the 1980s.

Ellis Cashmore is a sociology professor. He told The Washington Post that college campuses are filled with smart, experienced young people. In many cases, they have done just as many interesting things as the celebrities. He said other students would look pathetic if they were caught taking photos of Malia Obama.

Malia Obama has one big advantage compared to Chelsea Clinton or Tiffany Trump. Her father is no longer president.

Chelsea came to California with her parents aboard Air Force One, the presidents airplane. She drove to campus along with a number of other cars, known as a motorcade, that protect the president. She was protected by the U.S. Secret Service.

The Secret Service will still keep an eye on Malia, too. But probably not in the same way it will watch over Tiffany Trump.

And thats Whats Trending Today.

Im Anna Mateo.

Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English based on reports by the Boston Globe and Washington Post. Hai Do was the editor.

How do you think Malia Obama will do at Harvard? We want to know. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

internship  n. the time a student or recent graduate spends working at a job in order to get experience

politely  adv. showing good manners or respect

pathetic  adj. very bad, poor, weak

sociology n. the study of society, social institutions and social relationships

advantage n. something (such as a good position or condition) that helps to make someone or something better or more likely to succeed than others

keep an eye on v. to keep watch over, observe
Sony is holding a press event on August 31st, when the company is expected to launch its latest smartphones. Rumor (and leak) has it that we can expect a Sony Xperia XZ1 smartphone with premium specs an Xperia XZ1 Compact with similar specs, but a smaller display.

Now we have an idea of what those new phones will look like.

Roland Quandt has published pricing details and some pictures of the XZ1 and XZ1 Compact, with the smaller phone expected to sell for 499 GBP ($640) and the larger model going for 599 GBP ($770).

The design of the phones isnt a dramatic departure from earlier models: the top and bottom bezels are still pretty large (by 2017 standards). And despite earlier indications that the fingerprint sensor might have been moved to the back of the phone, it looks like Sony is keeping the combined fingerprint/power button on the side of the phone.

Sonys new phones are expected to feature Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processors, 4GB of RAM, and 1920 x 1080 pixel displays. The Xperia XZ1 should have a 5.2 inch display, while the Compact model will likely have a 4.6 inch screen if earlier leaks are accurate (which they might not be).

Sony may also be working on a 5 inch Xperia X1 smartphone with mid-range specs including Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor.
The Australian whistle-blower and founder of Wikileaks has attacked Saudi-owned media al-Arabiya for what he called absurd fabrications after an article published by the media accused him of allegedly entering into agreement with Qatar to withhold the release of some sensitive information on Qatari officials for some huge sums of money.

The article in question made claims about Qatars role in a number of scandals. It described an alleged Qatari conspiracy to undermine Bahrain; accuse Abu Dhabi of financial support for terrorists; alleged secret relations with Israel and a mutual agreement with WikiLeaks to block the publication of cables about Qatari support for three terrorists wanted by the US, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) reports.

Assange was cited by Sawsan Al-Shaer; a Bahraini journalist and writer, for the conspiracy under which Assange would refrain from publishing two sensitive cables out of seven on Qatari officials.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said he has seven cables about Qatar, she said.

Only five were published while the other two were not after Qatar negotiated with the websites administrator, who requested huge sums of money in order not to publish them as they contained dangerous information about meetings with Israeli and American officials and incitements against Egypt and its people.

Assange took to tweeter to denounce the machinery aiming at involving him into the diplomatic row between Qatar and its neighbors, namely Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain plus Egypt.

The Al Arabiya network (HQ in UAE) has been publishing increasingly absurd fabrications as the UAE v Qatar dispute continues. One from today, he tweeted.

Qatars neighors and Egypt have severed ties with the tiny gas-rich country over its alleged support for terrorism and incitement for revolt in their territories. Qatar has rejected the accusations.

The UAE-based Saudi media denied accusing the Wikileaks founder.

In its defense, Al-Arabiya distanced itself from the article, saying that it was an opinion piece that originally appeared in Arabic in a separate Arabic-language newspaper, MEMO notes.
Emergency room staff call it a "pop drop" - when a disabled older person comes in for medical attention, but it seems like the person who takes care of them at home is also seeking a break from the demands of caregiving.

It's been hard to actually study the phenomenon. A new University of Michigan study suggests that tired family caregivers are associated with greater ER visits and higher overall health care costs for the person they care for.

In a paper in the new issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, the team reports their findings from a study of 3,101 couples over the age of 65, each with one spouse acting as caregiver for their disabled partner.

The researchers looked at the Medicare payments and emergency department visits for the disabled spouses in the six months after the caregiver spouses took standard tests to measure their fatigue, mood, sleep habits, health and happiness.

Even after they took into account many factors, the researchers found that in just those six months, emergency department visits were 23 percent higher among patients whose caregivers had scored high for fatigue or low on their own health status.

Patients with fatigued or sad caregivers also had higher Medicare costs in that same time period: $1,900 more if the caregiver scored high for fatigue, and $1,300 more if the caregiver scored high for sadness, even after all other factors were taken into account.

The cost of unpaid help

"Many of us who work in clinical settings feel that patients with high home caregiving needs, such as dementia, often rely on the medical system as a source of respite for their spouses or other caregivers, because other respite isn't paid for," says lead author Claire Ankuda, M.D., M.P.H. "But there hasn't been a lot of data about it, and only recently has our society been talking about caregivers and potential ways to incentivize and support them as a way of keeping patients living at home."

Ankuda, who led the study during her time at in the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars program at U-M's Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, is now training in palliative care at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

"Informal caregivers, including spouses, enable older adults with functional disability to stay out of the nursing home and live at home where they'd prefer to be," says senior author Deborah Levine, M.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor of internal medicine and neurology at U-M. "Our findings suggest that we need to do a better job of identifying and supporting caregivers experiencing distress, in order to help caregivers feel better and hopefully improve outcomes in older adults with disability."

Long-term data gives key insights

The couples in the study were all taking part in the long-term Health and Retirement Study, conducted by the U-M Institute for Social Research on behalf of the National Institutes of Health. Ankuda, Levine and their colleagues probed HRS data because it allowed them to correct for factors that other, short-term studies can'tsuch as the baseline level of Medicare costs, demographic differences including income and education, and even whether the couples have adult children living nearby.

The findings add hard new data about the link between caregivers' own experiences and the amount the Medicare system pays to take care of those the caregivers take care of at home.

Nearly 15 million older adults get help with everyday activities from spouses and other family or friend caregivers. In the new study, the researchers included couples where one spouse got help from the other with activities such as bathing, dressing, walking, getting into or out of bed, shopping, cooking, and taking medications.

Helping with these tasks on a daily basis, without pay or respite, can take a toll on the caregiver's own health, wellness and mental statewhich can lead to burnout. Medicare does not offer payment or formal respite coverage for family or friends who take regular care of older adultsand only covers home care by certified agencies under certain circumstances.

More research & services needed

Ankuda notes that studies on the impact of supporting family caregivers more formally are just beginning to produce results.

Meanwhile, health policy researchers are beginning to suggest that it may make fiscal sense to incentivize home caregiving, to keep seniors from needing more expensive nursing home care.

"I definitely think there are specific services that could help caregivers, if we can identify those people who are highest risk and provide a basic level of support such as an around-the-clock geriatric care call line that could help caregivers feel less isolated and talk to a nurse about whether, for example, to go to the emergency department," Ankuda says. "This is a high-cost, vulnerable population."

Formal respite care, peer support groups and other options could also help stave off fatigue and sadness - and the hospital staff who notice "pop drop" practices could help steer caregivers to such options. So could the primary care clinicians who take care of both the disabled spouse and the caregiver.

Because the new study takes into account the level of Medicare spending for the disabled spouse in the six months before their caregiver was interviewed, it may actually underestimate the impact of caregiver fatigue, she notes.

Indeed, before the authors corrected for the full range of factors, they documented that Medicare costs were lower for patients whose spouse-caregivers who reported being happy or rested. They also saw higher costs among patients whose caregivers had higher depression scores on a standard mood questionnaire.

One factor that wasn't associated with higher costs in the new study was the caregiver's score on a standard measure of sleep habits. Sleep disruption is harder to quantify in older people, Ankuda notes. But the measurement of fatigue, which can result from both the strain of caregiving and poor sleep, was clearly associated with both higher rates of emergency department visits and higher overall costs.
(HealthDay)Web search giant Google is partnering with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) to make depression screening a part of a search for 'depression' on the site.

In a Google blog post, the company said: "Now when you search for 'clinical depression' on Google on mobile, you'll see a Knowledge Panel that will give you the option to tap 'check if you're clinically depressed,' which will bring you to the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), a clinically validated screening questionnaire to test what your likely level of depression may be." The results in themselves are not a diagnosis, but can be taken to a doctor for a more proper assessment.

Google is partnering with NAMI to help ensure that the questionnaire "is accurate and useful," the company added. In their own news release, NAMI noted that about one in every five Americans will experience an episode of depression in their lifetime, but only half actually get treated. "To help raise awareness of this condition, we've teamed up with Google to help provide more direct access to tools and information to people who may be suffering," NAMI said.

The Knowledge Panel that pops up on the Google search provides information on the signs and potential treatments for depression. And, "by tapping 'Check if you're clinically depressed,' you can take this private self-assessment to help determine your level of depression and the need for an in-person evaluation. The results of the PHQ-9 can help you have a more informed conversation with your doctor," NAMI said. According to the group, people with depression commonly wait an average of six to eight years before they get treatment. "We hope that by making this information available on Google, more people will become aware of depression and seek treatment to recover and improve their quality of life," NAMI said.

More information: More Information

Copyright  2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Seated at a kitchen table in a cramped apartment, Rosendo Gil asked the young parents sitting across from him what they should do if their daughter caught a cold.

Blas Lopez, 29, and his fiancee, Lluvia Padilla, 28, quickly answered: Check her temperature and call the doctor if she has a fever they can't control.

"I'm very proud of both of you knowing what to do," Gil said, as 3-year-old Leilanie Lopez played with a pretend kitchen nearby.

Padilla recalled that when Leilanie was born, they would not have known the answer. "We were asking question after question after question," she said.

Gil, a family support worker with the Imperial County Home Visiting Program, has visited the family dozens of times since Leilanie's birth. Each time, Gil teaches them a little more about child development and helps them cope with the stresses of work, school, relationships and parenting.

Home visitors around the nation, like Gil, have a daunting task: to help new parents raise healthy children and overcome poverty, substance abuse, depression and domestic violence.

Home visiting organizations operated under the radar for decades, until the Affordable Care Act created a nationwide program in 2010 to support them. The federal Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting program awards $400 million in annual grants for services to new families with young children or couples who are expecting.

Nationwide, the federal home visiting program provided guidance to 160,000 parents and children in 2016, according to the Health Resources & Services Administration.

Funding for the program is set to expire at the end of September unless Congress acts to reauthorize it. With the deadline looming, advocates and providers are urging federal lawmakers to reauthorize it for five more years at double the current amount. Two bills are pending in the House to continue federal funding of home visits, one of which would eventually double the money earmarked for them.

"Expiration is just not an option," said Diedra Henry-Spires, chief executive officer of the nonprofit advocacy organization Dalton Daley Group and co-leader of a nationwide coalition of home visiting organizations. "Too many families are relying on these services across the country."

Organizations that provide home visits worry some programs may have to reduce the number of families they serve and others may have to close altogether if the funding is not renewed in time.

"As we get down to the wire ... we become more fearful about it not being reauthorized," said Andre Eaton, the New York state director of the Parent-Child Home Program. "We only have a certain amount of time to get this done."

California's Home Visiting Program serves about 2,300 vulnerable families each year. The $19.4 million budget comes from the federal home visiting program, but the need exceeds the resources provided, according to the state Department of Public Health. First 5 California, which funds programs for young children and their families, pays for additional home visiting programs throughout the state.

Studies have shown that home visiting programs help reduce child abuse and neglect, improve child and maternal health and promote school readiness. Home visiting also saves money that would be spent later on the child welfare system, special education, medical care and other services, research shows.

"These kids are going to be very costly if we can't get to them early," said Darcy Lowell, chief executive officer of Child First, a Connecticut-based home visiting program that targets the most vulnerable families. "Home visiting is a preventive strategy. The place we are really going to see the effects is longer-term."

Chicago-based Healthy Families America sends social workers, nurses and others into homes in 35 states to promote constructive parent-child relationships and to support mothers and fathers as they go back to school or search for jobs.

Its national director, Cydney Wessel, said many participants want to avoid the mistakes their own parents made, and strive to raise their children in homes without violence or substance abuse. "Under stressful situations, parents often revert to how they were parented" if they don't have somebody to help guide them along a different path, Wessel said.

Lopez and Padilla, for example, were determined to discipline Leilanie without spanking her. "I don't want to follow that same pattern," Padilla said.

The couple said that over the past three years, Gil has taught them much about babies - including that holding them a lot doesn't make them clingy. Gil recently brought Leilanie a book, "Mommy's Best Kisses," and he reiterated the importance of reading to her every day.

"He's like a friend," said Lopez, a former migrant worker who is trying to get his high school diploma. "We have counted on him."

Gil has also helped the couple live on their own and communicate better with each other, Lopez said. He helped them find services when Leilanie's speech was delayed and he encouraged Lopez, who has Crohn's disease, to take his medicine.

Gil said it is crucial to gain the trust of his clients, which he sometimes does by telling them about his own alcoholic father or the challenges he faced raising his daughters. "It opens the door," said Gil, who was a nurse in his native Mexico. Over time, Gil said, he sees the changes: parents keeping their children's immunizations up-to-date, praising their kids or seeking care for their mental health.

Lopez and Padilla are among the roughly 100 families served by Imperial County's Healthy Families home visiting program, which draws its entire annual budget of $630,000 from the federal government.

In Butte County, in Northern California, home visits are critical: The area is rural and women lack easy access to medical and social services, said Diana Sanchez, program manager of Butte Baby Steps. Her program, part of Healthy Families America, works with at-risk moms 29 and younger who are either pregnant or have had a baby within the past three months.

More than 80 families depend on the federal funding for Butte Baby Steps, and Sanchez said she isn't confident Congress will renew it. "At this point in time, I don't feel secure or stable at all," she said.

Heather Julander, a home visitor for Butte Baby Steps, said many of the women she sees are facing major challenges, including homelessness, unemployment and mental health problems.

She helps women get the social services they need and gives them information about breastfeeding, swaddling and coping with screaming infants. "If they don't have basic knowledge ... they are just floundering," Julander said. "It can be very dangerous for their babies."

Julander said she also plays with the families so the moms can forget about "those huge life stressors, even if just for 30 minutes each day."

One of her clients, 22-year-old Jordan Lenhardt, said she struggles with depression and has a rocky relationship with the baby's father. Lenhardt said she was scared she wouldn't be a good enough mom and wouldn't have enough money to support her daughter, Harley Carter-Lenhardt, who is now 9 months old. She said Julander has made her a more confident and calm parent.

"I am always doubting myself," said Lenhardt, who lives in Chico, Calif. "Heather is always there to say, 'You can do it.' She is that reassuring voice that makes things a little less stressful."

2017 Kaiser Health News

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
One in four patients in a university hospital suffers from diabetes (22 percent), and again as many suffer from prediabetes (24 percent). Credit: IDM /DZM

One in four patients in a university hospital suffers from diabetes (22 percent), and again as many suffer from prediabetes (24 percent). These were the findings of a current study by researchers in Tubingen of the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) and Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen. Further results of the study: Patients with diabetes have prolonged hospital stays and a higher risk of complications.

The prevalence of diabetes is increasing in Germany: At present, the metabolic disease affects almost one in ten individuals. It is known that people with diabetes are found more often among hospitalized or ICU patients than among the general population. So far, however, hardly any data are available on the prevalence of diabetes in hospitals. Therefore, in the present study, DZD researchers screened 3733 adult patients in Tubingen University Hospital for diabetes and prediabetes over a period of four weeks.

The result of the screening was that almost every fourth hospital patient suffered from diabetes (22 percent), i.e. had a long-term blood glucose level (HbA1c value) of 6.5 % or higher. 24 percent of the patients in the study had a long-term blood glucose value between 5.7 and 6.4 percent. These values indicate an early stage of diabetes (prediabetes). Nearly 4 percent of the investigated patients had undiagnosed diabetes. "Extrapolated to the number of patients who are treated in our hospital each year, there are at least 13,000 diabetes patients who would require therapy," said Professor Andreas Fritsche, diabetologist and one of the authors of the study. "Laboratory medicine is of particular importance when it comes to the implementation of such projects because, as a cross-section discipline, it has contact with patients from all areas of the hospital," said Professor Andreas Peter, head of the central laboratory in Tubingen and of the central study laboratory of the DZD, in which the study was conducted.

Patients with diabetes stay longer in the hospital

The study also showed that patients with diabetes required treatment in the hospital approximately 1.47 days longer than patients with the same diagnosis without diabetes or prediabetes. The affected patients also had a higher risk of complications: 24% of the patients with diabetes experienced complications. In comparison: Only 15% of the patients without diabetes were affected by complications.

"In view of the high prevalence of diabetes and the negative effects of the metabolic disease, we consider it useful to screen hospitalized patients older than 50 years of age for diabetes. The metabolic disorder can then be treated at the same time and thus complications or extended hospital stays can be avoided," said Professor Fritsche and Professor Peter.

The results of the study of Tubingen University Hospital and the Institute for Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases (IDM) of Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen at the University of Tubingen, a member of the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), have now been published in the journal Experimental and Clinical Endocrinology & Diabetes.

More information: Kufeldt, J.et al. (2017): Prevalence and Distribution of Diabetes Mellitus in a Maximum Care Hospital: Urgent Need for HbA1c-Screening. Exp Clin Endocrinol Diabetes, DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-11265 Kufeldt, J.et al. (2017): Prevalence and Distribution of Diabetes Mellitus in a Maximum Care Hospital: Urgent Need for HbA1c-Screening.

Provided by Deutsches Zentrum fuer Diabetesforschung DZD
Hindu women mark Teej festival 2017 (in pictures)

The 'Teej' festival, also called 'Haritalika', is being observed by Nepali Hindu women throughout the country on Thursday.
(HealthDay)By 1 p.m. Thursday, the Gulf of Mexico storm dubbed Harvey had officially gained hurricane statusand forecasters say it could deliver a devastating blow to East Texas by late Friday.

In fact, high storm surges and winds up to 115 miles per hour could make Harvey the first Category 3 or higher storm to make landfall in the United States in 12 years, says the U.S. National Hurricane Center. The last such storm was Hurricane Wilma back in 2005.

"Trying not to be dramatic, but I fear epic flood catastrophe," Marshall Shepherd, a former president of the American Meteorological Society, said in a tweet.

Computer model predictions from the hurricane center have Harvey making landfall in Texas Friday night, somewhere between Port Mansfield and San Luis Pass, with the major city of Corpus Christi very nearby.

Rainfall could exceed 20 inches, experts say, in a storm that might take four to six days to expend itself. Storm surges could be 6 to 10 feet high in coastal areas.

"Somebody is going to get a rainstorm to tell their grandkids about," Bill Read, a former director of the National Hurricane Center, told the Washington Post.

And Houston, America's fourth-largest city, may also be in peril.

Houston could see anywhere from 10 to 20 inches of rainespecially on Saturday and Sundayin an inundation that could prove "devastating" for the city, according to local meteorologist Matt Lanza.

A sudden onrush of this amount of rain falling northwest of Houston would mean that "all that water has to push through the Bayou networks across the city into Galveston Bay," he explained to the Post.

Winds clocked at 80 mph were already being recorded by 1 p.m. Thursday. On Wednesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had declared a state of emergency for 30 counties in the southeast portion of the state.

"Harvey has intensified quickly this morning, and is now forecast to be a major hurricane at landfall, bringing life-threatening storm surge, rainfall, and wind hazards to portions of the Texas coast," the hurricane center said in its 11 a.m. discussion.

Get prepared

So what can average Texans do to protect themselves? On its Ready.gov homepage, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security offers up this guidance:



Find out where to go. Determine now from your local emergency management agency where the hurricane evacuation center(s) in your area are located, and the routes to get there. Information for many communities can be located by searching on the internet under keywords "[your town] alerts."

Keep your car in good running order, with a full tank of gas. Cars should contain emergency supplies and extra clothes.

Organize your "go-bag." This is your disaster supply kit: Things like a flashlight, batteries, cash, first-aid supplies, medications, and copies of your critical information in case evacuation is needed.

Gather home supplies. In case you're not told to evacuate, make sure you stock up at home in the event of many days of power outagethings like water, food and lighting.

When the storm is only a few hours away, listen to storm reports every 30 minutes via radio, TV or the internet.

Make a family communications plan. This includes discussing beforehand with family members details on how you plan to receive official emergency alerts and warnings, what your plan is for shelter, evacuation routes and other issues specific to your household. As the hurricane approaches, stay in touch via text or social mediaphone lines are often overloaded. Make sure your phones are fully charged before the storm hits.

Bolster your home against the hurricane's onslaught

You can do this by:

Trimming damaged trees and their branches to minimize the odds they'll break off and damage your home.

Clearing and secure rain gutters.

Strengthening vulnerable areas such as windows and doors, including garage doors. Cover all windows, ideally with shutters or 5/8-inch grade plywood.

Trying to obtain a portable generator in case of power outages. Keep these devices at least 20 feet away from windows and doors and protect them from moisture. NEVER try and power the house by plugging a portable generator into a household wall socket.

Bringing in loose objects that could fly around and damage your home or people nearby thingssuch as garbage cans, propane tanks, patio furniture.

As the storm approaches turn your fridge to the coldest setting. If you lose power, food will last longer.

More information: Find out more about Hurricane Harvey, and how to prepare, at the Find out more about Hurricane Harvey, and how to prepare, at the U.S. National Hurricane Center

Copyright  2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
All students deserve a healthy lunch when they go to school. Credit: Africa Studio / Shutterstock.com

For the past several years, reports have surfaced about the "shaming" of students for outstanding school meal debts. These students, often from low-income families, are being publicly humiliated because they have unpaid debt in their school meal accounts.Policies that shame students can include stamping on children's hands or arms, taking their food away and dumping it in the trash or giving them stigmatized cold, partial meals in lieu of the regular hot lunch.

As an education researcher who studies food in schools, I believe it's our duty in schools to treat students with dignity and compassion. Moreover, access to food is a basic human need and should be considered a right  regardless of income. The best way to combat meal debt shame in U.S. public schools is to provide every student with free meals.

Addressing the problem

Public outcry about school meal shaming has sparked the creation of at least 30 GoFundMe campaigns organized by parents and teachers to pay remaining balances on student accounts. One school volunteer has even created a nonprofit to help pay for kids' meals.

New Mexico, California and Texas have begun crafting legislation to prohibit withholding food from students or to ban meal debt shaming altogether.

All of this has led to the USDA issuing a memorandum for school districts to clearly communicate their policies for meal fees to parents and guardians. However, the policy only suggests guidelines and provides no solid prohibitions against the shaming of students.

In a more extensive attempt to address the issue, the Anti-Lunch Shaming Act of 2017 has been introduced in the House and Senate by a bipartisan group of lawmakers. This bill would ban the shaming of students, prohibit the throwing away of food after it's been served, and require districts to communicate directly with parents and guardians about school food debts.

Schools' ethical responsibility

While these measures are steps in the right direction, addressing lunch shaming is treating a symptom rather than the underlying disease. All students need to eat every day, regardless of the funds available to them.

Given that we provide free schooling for all students in the country  regardless of family income  perhaps we should reexamine our societal norms around feeding them as well. Sociologist Janet Poppendieck suggests in her 2010 book "Free for All" that we can and should provide free food to all students in our schools.

This move is not unprecedented: Sweden, Finland and Estonia provide free food to all students in public schools, regardless of income. (Finland's education system is considered by many to be the best in the world, and Estonia has been rated in the top 10.)

Why are we so reluctant to feed all students in the U.S.?

Prior to the 20th century, schools did not provide any kind of food for students: Students typically went home for lunch or brought their own food. This separation between eating and learning may have been a relic of the mind-body duality from Descartes, which assumes that schools are for disembodied minds. In fact, school meals did not begin until the early 20th century Progressive Era, when charities, women's groups and PTAs provided supplemental lunches to children in need. American schools began offering meals to students on a wide-scale basis as part of the New Deal program, partly (or perhaps mostly) to help provide markets for agricultural surpluses.

The need

Today there's unprecedented need for students in the U.S. to be fed. For the first time in our history, the majority of students in U.S. schools are living in poverty. Many of these students are food-insecure and dependent on the food provided in schools, sometimes as the only meals they eat daily.

Over 31 million students in the U.S. rely on free or reduced-price meals through the National School Lunch Program. Through the program, free meals are available to families who make under US$31,500 for a household of four, while reduced-price lunches are available to families who make just below $45,000 for a family of four.

However, the income cutoffs for these programs don't take into account the wide variation in cost of living across the country. Moreover, Poppendieck has reflected that a family making just enough to be ineligible for free lunches may struggle as much as a family who qualifies.

The application for free/reduced lunches itself can be a barrier for students who might otherwise be eligible. Families may be worried about bringing attention to undocumented status through filling out an application, or they may simply be unclear about the process.

Families may also be ashamed to ask for help. For example, a teacher with whom I partnered in my research shared that though she experienced hunger as a child, her mother forbade her from accepting free meals at school. As a child, she didn't understand why, but was nonetheless subject to her mother's decisions.

In short, there are complicated nuances and challenges in understanding individual students' food security. Shame is already a part of this picture. We shouldn't be compounding it.

Addressing the need

The Summer Food Service Program, a partnership between the USDA, nonprofits and government agencies (including libraries), provides free meals for kids ages 2-18 during the summer months when public schools are not in session. In this program, all a child needs to do to be eligible for the food is to show up at the designated place and time. I believe that this model of providing free food to children and teens with no need for proof of eligibility should be used in our schools, too.

There have been some strides toward making free food for all students a reality. Thanks to the Community Eligibility Provision of the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010, districts where at least 40 percent of students are served by benefit programs can choose to provide free food for all students. The federal government reimburses participating schools based on the percentages of students qualifying for benefit programs.

But this promising policy can lead to problems. For example, in the Portland, Oregon public schools, 12 schools lost their community eligibility status over the summer of 2017 because their qualifying student percentages declined.

What's more, while the Community Eligibility Provision serves broadly low-income areas, it doesn't address the increasing and perplexing nature of suburban poverty, where children from low-income backgrounds may be overlooked because of the affluence around them.

It's simply not enough to provide free meals to some students, or to all students in some schools. While providing free meals to all public school students would be costly, given that we provide textbooks, facilities, teachers, special education services and other essentials required for schooling, how can we continue to omit food as an educational essential?

Meal debt shaming is a serious problem, but student hunger is even more so. It's time to move aggressively to make free food available to all students, in all U.S. public schools. It's the least we can do.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
(HealthDay)Myricetin protects cells from photodamage via the IB/NFB signaling pathway, according to a study published online Aug. 17 in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology.

Jing Xie, M.D., from Shangdong University in Jinan, and Yanyan Zheng, M.D., from the Wenzhou People's Hospitalboth in China, examined the effect of myricetin on human keratinocyte cell line (HaCaT) cells. The authors performed a cell viability assay and measured reactive oxygen species (ROS).

The researchers found that, as determined by the cell viability assay, ultraviolet (UV)-induced keratinocyte death was attenuated by myricetin in a dose-dependent manner. Myricetin pretreatment also reduced the UV-induced ROS levels. Real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot showed that myricetin suppressed the upregulation of COX2 induced by UV in keratinocyte. In signal transduction studies, myricetin was confirmed to attenuate COX2 upregulation induced by UV via suppression of IB/NFB pathways.

"These results showed that antioxidant property of myricetin can effectively attenuate UV-caused cell damage and suppress the expression of COX2 through the IB/NFB signaling pathways," the authors write.

Copyright  2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
(HealthDay)Subjective norms and attitudes toward medicine consumption predict the intention and expectation to consume medicines, according to a study published online Aug. 19 in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics.

Apostolos Kamekis, from the University of Crete in Greece, and colleagues designed a multicenter study in well-defined primary health care settings in Cyprus, the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Malta, and Turkey to report on possible determinants of patient behavior regarding consumption of medications, particularly over-the-counter medicines. A questionnaire constructed on the basis of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) was administered to patients via face-to-face interviews.

The researchers found that over a six-month period, the percentage of patients who had consumed prescribed medications was consistently high (79, 82, 97, and 100 percent in the Czech Republic, Turkey, Malta, and Cyprus, respectively). Nonprescribed medicine consumption varied from 33 to 92 and 97 percent in Turkey, the Czech Republic, and Cyprus, respectively. Forty-three percent of the variability in patients' intention to consume medicines in Malta and 24 percent in Greece was explained by TPB behavioral antecedents, compared with only 3 percent in Turkey. A significant predictor of the intention to consume medicines in all three countries was subjective norm; attitude toward consumption significantly predicted the expectation to consume medicines, if needed.

"Parameters such as patients' beliefs and influence from family and friends could be determining factors in explaining the high rates of medicine consumption," the authors write.

Copyright  2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
The French healthcare network build from general patient transfer between hospitals. It is composed of more than 2000 hospitals, and 1 million patient transfers defining around 50,000 connections. Colors stand for topological clusters identified within the network. Credit: Nekkab et al.

A new study shows that the networks formed by patterns of patient transfers between hospitals in France are very similar among three patient populations: those diagnosed with hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), those with suspected HAIs, and the general patient population. The research, published in PLOS Computational Biology, could help inform efforts to reduce the spread of HAIs.

Previous research has revealed the importance of studying HAIs not just in individual hospitals but also in the context of larger networks formed by transfers of the general patient population among healthcare institutions. Such networks can help predict HAI spread. However, it was unclear whether more focused networks formed by transfers of patients diagnosed with HAIs could provide new information.

In the new study, researchers from Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers and from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sante Publique addressed this question. The scientists assembled data on all patient discharges from hospitals in France for the year 2014. They used social network analysis methods to analyze the structure of the networks formed by transfers of patients with HAIs, those with suspected HAIs, and the general patient population.

The team found that the only major difference between the three types of networks was their size; about 1 million transfers occurred in 2014, with about 130,000 involving patients suspected to have HAIs and 14,000 diagnosed with HAIs. Otherwise, the team was surprised to find, all three networks showed similar patient transfer patterns and similar underlying structure, often centered around university hospitals.

The analysis echoed the findings of previous studies showing that most transfers occur in regional clusters, with a small percentage of inter-regional transfers. The researchers identified key transfer patterns within regions; these insights could potentially help detect and control outbreaks in their early stages before they reach highly centralized university hospitalsincreasing the risk of accelerated spread of multi-drug resistant bacteria throughout the network.

"Researchers should consider our work along with the growing literature that describes the specific nature of healthcare networks in which patient transfers are centralized toward hub healthcare centers," says study corresponding author Narimane Nekkab. Such work should "consider directionality of patient movement to construct sub-regional communities to better understand patient transfer patterns at the local level."
(HealthDay)Many seniors may not hear everything their doctors tell them, new research suggests, and that could raise the risk of medical errors.

"In our study of 100 patients 60 and older, 43 reported mishearing a doctor or nurse in an inpatient or community health care setting, lending vulnerability to unintended error," said researcher Simon Smith, from the University College Cork School of Medicine, in Ireland.

Earlier research has found that improved communication between doctors, nurses and families could prevent 36 percent of medical errors, Smith added.

The problem is not just a matter of doctors speaking louder. "The ability to separate speech from background noise is more intricate than volume alone," he explained.

Often hearing tests don't capture the complexity of how patients process medical information, and hearing aids may not be the answer, Smith said.

The process that leads to miscommunication that starts with hearing loss needs more study to help patients better understand what's being told to them and to help find ways for doctors to better communicate, he said.

The report was published online Aug. 24 in the journal JAMA OtolaryngologyHead & Neck Surgery.

According to Dr. Darius Kohan, director of otology/neurotology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, "This article brings into focus a major problem that patients and families and health care providers share in common: the flow of communication among the parties involved."

After 60, a significant number of men and women start to have hearing problems, which can hamper communication, he said.

"This is even more of a problem in the medical field," Kohan pointed out.

"Often in the medical care setting there is background noise impeding hearing, the content is often technical and unfamiliar to patients and families, and the setting is stressful on patients who may already be in distress due to their medical condition," he explained.

In addition, doctors and other health care providers may also suffer from hearing loss and not always hear patients' concerns.

Part of the solution could be quiet rooms in hospitals and clinics "where the flow of medical information between health care providers and patients and families can occur in private," Kohan suggested.

"The hard-of-hearing must have means available to facilitate hearing and communication among clinicians and patients," he said.

"Although this study is on a very small patient population, one can extrapolate their results to the rest of the medical community," he added.

In the study, Smith and his colleagues found that 57 of the 100 seniors had some degree of hearing loss and 26 used a hearing aid. Moreover, 43 participants said they had misheard a doctor, nurse or both in a primary care office or hospital.

The main types of mishearing included misunderstanding what was said to them, not correctly hearing a doctor's diagnosis or advice, and general breakdown in doctor-to-patient communication, Smith said.

One geriatric specialist said loss of hearing among older adults is a problem she encounters every day.

"It's important that we assess hearing and treat hearing loss, because hearing loss also affects our memory and our brain stimulation. So when we lose that sensation of hearing we also lose information access and that can cause slowing of our mental function," said Dr. Maria Torroella Carney. She is chief of the division of geriatric and palliative medicine at Northwell Health, in New Hyde Park, N.Y.

Many people have hearing loss, but don't get a hearing aid. Hearing aids are often not covered by insurance, Carney noted.

"Hearing aids cost thousands of dollars, so patients don't pursue it until absolutely necessary," she said.

With some patients, Carney uses a hearing amplifier, which is a simple device that can help some patients hear better by increasing the volume of sound directly in their ear.

"That's a tool we use regularly with our patients," she said. "It's remarkable when we bypass the hearing deficit. You don't really appreciate how much they were missing until you use a device like that. It helps [you] communicate much better, especially when you have to communicate important information."

For example, Carney recently used the amplifier with a patient who was then able to describe pain in detail, when before the patient did not understand the questions she was asking.

The device also helps patients understand medication instructions, she said. "If patients aren't hearing everything, they don't understand and they are not going to ask clarifying questions," she said.

Carney added that hearing loss can make patients feel isolated and affect their quality of life.

It's important to test older patients' hearing and find the best ways to help, because restoring hearing can keep patients mentally alert, she said.

More information: Simon Smith, BSc, MSc, School of Medicine, University College Cork, Ireland; Maria Torroella Carney, M.D., chief, division of geriatric and palliative medicine, Northwell Health, New Hyde Park, N.Y.; Darius Kohan, M.D., director, otology/neurotology, Lenox Hill Hospital, and Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital, New York City; Aug. 24, 2017, JAMA OtolaryngologyHead & Neck Surgery, online. Simon Smith, BSc, MSc, School of Medicine, University College Cork, Ireland; Maria Torroella Carney, M.D., chief, division of geriatric and palliative medicine, Northwell Health, New Hyde Park, N.Y.; Darius Kohan, M.D., director, otology/neurotology, Lenox Hill Hospital, and Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital, New York City; Aug. 24, 2017,, online. For more on age-related hearing loss, visit the U.S. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.

Copyright  2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Esther Choo, M.D. '01, wrote a Twitter thread that has brought national attention to racism in medicine.

Every so oftena few times a yeara patient at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) hospital in Portland refuses treatment in the emergency department from Esther Choo, M.D. '01, M.P.H. It's not because they consider her 15 years' medical practice too paltry, or her School of Medicine degree insufficientbut because she is not white.

"It's one of those things that you're never prepared for," said Choo, whose parents emigrated from Korea in the 1960s. "Nobody, at any point, has said, 'Oh, by the way: you're a woman and you're a physician of color; you probably will have experiences like this.'" So Choo began that conversation with a Twitter thread the Sunday after the white supremacist rally on August 12 in Charlottesville, Va., that ended in violence and with the death of Heather Heyer when a car allegedly driven by a neo-Nazi plowed into a crowd of counter-protesters. In a matter of days, the thread had been retweeted more than 25,000 times (including by Chelsea Clinton and the physician-writer Atul Gawande, M.D.) and garnered more than 2,000 comments. The attention led to Choo's appearance on CNN, where she discussed the issue of racism when it comes to patient care. Those patients who refused her capable care, Choo said, either chose to be treated by a white intern over the experienced doctor or walked, untreated, out of the emergency room.

"Breathtaking, isn't it?" Choo tweeted, "To be so wedded to your theory of white superiority, that you will bet your life on it, even in the face of clear evidence to the contrary?" That evidence could hardly be clearer: in addition to her 12 years of post-residency practice, Choo has her degree from the School of Medicine, her residency at Boston Medical Center, and work as an associate professor and attending physician at Brown University under her belt. She's now an associate professor at OHSU, where, in addition to her clinical duties, she studies health disparities, substance abuse disorders, and gender bias. She also writes and serves on the advisory board for FeminEM, a resource for women working in emergency medicine.

Her family's story is a classic immigrant tale. Her parents came to the United States so her father could study engineering at Michigan State University. After receiving his doctorate, he went to work as an aerospace engineer for NASA in Cleveland, while her mother owned a home cleaning service. They became citizens and raised three childrenEsther's two brothers are a biology teacher and a management consultant. Before coming to the school of medicine, Choo graduated from Yale College with a degree in English language and literature.

"It took me a long time to get to where I am now, where I don't internalize it at all," Choo said of her efforts to deal with racism at work. "But when you're a younger physician and you're still developing your knowledge base, there are so many doubts that you have. So when you encounter someone who looks at you and finds something wrong that's so personal to youthat cannot be separated from youit just creeps into any available areas of insecurity. And somehow you walk away feeling less confident as a physician, because this person is questioning your legitimacy to be there."

Choo's experience is not unique. Many of the thousands of replies to her thread related similar experiences, an outpouring that raises concerns. An article last year in the New England Journal of Medicine discussed how physicians might deal with racist patients, and in December OHSU released what Choo called a prescient statement advising patients that hate speech and bigotry will not be toleratedand that requests for a specific physician based solely on race will not be honored.

"How do we improve the multiculturalism and the diversity of our physician workforce?" Choo said. "It's really hard if you're presenting some subsets of the physician work force with a harder road to travel."

Nancy R. Angoff, M.P.H. '81 M.D. '90, HS '93, associate dean for student affairs, who recalled seeing the qualities of compassionate care and calm leadership in Choo as a medical student, noted that the issue is a pressing one. "More and more, we're looking at that as a form of mistreatment that our medical students face, that our trainees face, that we as an institution need to take seriously," she said. "We need to foster an environment in which we respect each other."

"Hospitals are not selective institutionswe treat everybody who walks in the door," Choo said. "We are really thrown togetherpretty intimatelywith our patients, so we're going to encounter a wide variety of opinions, and some of them will be extreme intolerance. It's one thing to view it from across the country or on TV, and it's another thing to have it in your workplace and up in your face."

Some refuse to believe that Choo's experience is genuine. To the doubters, Choo is gracious: "It's a hard reality to acceptit shows the darker side of human nature," she said. Injecting a positive note into that darker reality, Choo revealed in her Twitter thread what gives her hope: "A few get uncomfortable and apologize in the same breath they refuse to let me treat them," she wrote. "You see, it's a hell of a hard thing to maintain that level of hate face to face."
This photomicrograph reveals Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria using acid-fast Ziehl-Neelsen stain; Magnified 1000 X. The acid-fast stains depend on the ability of mycobacteria to retain dye when treated with mineral acid or an acid-alcohol solution such as the Ziehl-Neelsen, or the Kinyoun stains that are carbolfuchsin methods specific for M. tuberculosis. Credit: public domain

Scientists have unlocked a key element in understanding how human lungs fight tuberculosis (TB). They hope their research findings, which were published today in the international peer reviewed journal Immunity, will help pave the way towards new treatment approaches for TB, particularly in an era of increasing antibiotic resistance to TB.

Multi drug resistant TB is a global problem. These strains are resistant to several or most of the antibiotics used to treat TB. The need to find new strategies for treating TB, beyond antibiotics, is therefore critical and urgent.

Scientists at Trinity College Dublin and St James's Hospital in Ireland, working in a team with the University of Cambridge and University of Seattle, have identified a way that TB hijacks our immune cells in the early stages of infection to allow it to establish an infection in the lung.

Tuberculosis is the world's number one infectious killer, but half of infected persons clear the invading TB bacteria (known as mycobacteria) after inhaling it into their lungs. To date, it has not been understood how the immune system in the lungs manages to do this.

The lung contains a population of specialised immune cells, known as alveolar macrophages, which are the first responders to bacterial infections. These alveolar macrophages patrol the lung engulfing and destroying any bacteria they encounter along the way.

Using transparent zebra fish, the University of Cambridge and University of Seattle researchers tracked the mycobacteria in real time and identified which cells they infected at different stages of the disease. They found that the more virulent strains of mycobacteria are able to hijack the macrophage immune cells in the lung causing them to produce a protein that attracts white blood cells from the circulation. These white blood cells fuse with the macrophages and in turn become infected.

The Trinity team of Dr Seonadh O'Leary, Senior Research Fellow, Professor Joseph Keane, Professor in Medicine at Trinity and Consultant Respiratory Physician at St James's Hospital, and Dr Mary O'Sullivan, Associate Research Lecturer, used donated lung macrophage samples from patients in St James's Hospital to study the response of the human immune system to TB in the early stages of infection. They found that human alveolar macrophages behave similarly to zebrafish macrophages producing the same protein that attracts white blood cells to the lung. Unlike the resident alveolar macrophages these white blood cells lack the ability to curb the growth of mycobacteria which results in uncontrolled bacterial growth and inflammation and in the spread of the infection.

Dr Seonadh O' Leary said: "We are fascinated how TB bacteria virulence factors can corrupt this human lung immune cell which is ordinarily exceptionally good at clearing infection. It's very exciting to work with our Cambridge colleagues on this research which improves our understanding of how TB infection compromises immunity. We are in a unique position to address the important challenges for TB treatment as we work with the human lung model. This allows us to continue in our research to design novel ways to support the effective lung cell and prevent infections in exposed people."

The Trinity/St. James's team is funded by the Health Research Board and the Royal City of Dublin Hospital Trust, and are now hoping to identify drugs that will enable these immune cells to stop the infection in its tracksby killing the mycobacteria before they attract white blood cells to the lung.

Mairead O Driscoll, Interim Chief Executive at the Health Research Board congratulated the team: "Antidrug resistant TB is a global problem. We're delighted to be able to facilitate international collaboration to tackle this challenge. These findings represent a significant breakthrough in our understanding of how the bacteria avoids our immune system."

"Ireland is lucky to have such brilliant researchers, who are genuine world leaders in their fields. The Health Research Board is determined to continue to develop Ireland's health research capacity, so that we have the people, the facilities, and the support structures to produce more results like this."
Study participant wearing a robotic exoskeleton. Credit: Northern Arizona University

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cerebral palsy (CP)caused by neurological damage before, during or after birthis the most common movement disorder in children, limiting mobility and independence throughout their lives. An estimated 500,000 children in the U.S. have CP.

Although nearly 60 percent of children with the disorder can walk independently, many have crouch gait, a pathological walking pattern characterized by excessive knee bending, which can cause an abnormally high level of stress on the knee. Crouch gait can lead to knee pain and progressive loss of function and is often treated through invasive orthopedic surgery.

Assistant professor of mechanical engineering Zach Lerner, who joined Northern Arizona University's Center for Bioengineering Innovation in 2017, recently published a study in the journal Science Translational Medicine investigating whether wearing a robotic exoskeletona leg brace powered by small motorscould alleviate crouch gait in children with cerebral palsy.

"We evaluated a novel exoskeleton for the treatment of crouch gait, one of the most debilitating pathologies in CP," Lerner said. "In our exploratory, multi-week trial, we fitted seven participants between the ages of five and 19 with robotic exoskeletons designed to increase their ability to extend their knees at specific phases in the walking cycle."

After being fitted with the assistive devices, the children participated in several practice sessions. At the end of the trial, six of the seven participants exhibited improvements in walking posture equivalent to outcomes reported from invasive orthopedic surgery. The researchers also demonstrated that improvements in crouch increased over the course of the exploratory trial, which was conducted at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

"Together, these results provide evidence supporting the use of wearable exoskeletons as a treatment strategy to improve walking in children with CP," Lerner said.

The exoskeleton was safe and well-tolerated, and all the children were able to walk independently with the device. Rather than guiding the lower limbs, the exoskeleton dynamically changed their posture by introducing bursts of knee extension assistance during discrete portions of the walking cycle, which resulted in maintained or increased knee extensor muscle activity during exoskeleton use.

"Our results suggest powered knee exoskeletons should be investigated as an alternative to or in conjunction with existing treatments for crouch gait, including orthopedic surgery, muscle injections and physical therapy," Lerner said.

Lerner leads NAU's Biomechatronics Lab, where his goal is to improve mobility and function in individuals with neuromuscular and musculoskeletal disabilities through innovations in mechanical and biomedical engineering. Building on the encouraging results of this study, his team is working toward conducting longer-term exoskeleton interventions to take place at home and in the community.

More information: Zachary F. Lerner et al. A lower-extremity exoskeleton improves knee extension in children with crouch gait from cerebral palsy, Science Translational Medicine (2017). Journal information: Science Translational Medicine Zachary F. Lerner et al. A lower-extremity exoskeleton improves knee extension in children with crouch gait from cerebral palsy,(2017). DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aam9145
Credit: Quinn Dombrowski

A recent study from North Carolina State University finds that 21 percent of recent mothers experiencing postpartum mood disorders (PPMDs), such as anxiety and depression, do not disclose their symptoms to healthcare providers.

"Our study finds that many women who would benefit from treatment are not receiving it, because they don't tell anyone that they're dealing with any challenges," says Betty-Shannon Prevatt, a practicing clinical psychologist and Ph.D. student at NC State who was lead author of a paper on the work.

"We know that 10-20 percent of women experience significant mood disorders after childbirth, and those disorders can adversely affect the physical and emotional well-being of both mothers and children," Prevatt says. "Our goal with this study was to see how many women are not disclosing these problems, since that's a threshold issue for helping women access treatment."

To address this question, researchers conducted an anonymous survey of 211 women who had given birth within the previous three years. The survey asked women whether they'd experienced PPMD symptoms; whether they had disclosed PPMD symptoms to healthcare providers  from doulas and lactation consultants to nurses and doctors; and a range of questions related to their mental health and obstacles to seeking care.

Survey responses showed that 51 percent of study participants met the criteria for a PPMD. However, just more than one in five of those who experienced PPMDs did not disclose their problems to healthcare providers.

"To place this in context, there are national guidelines in place telling healthcare providers to ask women about PPMD symptoms after childbirth," says Sarah Desmarais, an associate professor of psychology at NC State and co-author of the paper. "With so many women in our study not disclosing PPMDs to their providers, it strongly suggests that a significant percentage of these women did not disclose their symptoms even when asked."

The study found that women experiencing the highest levels of stress, and women with the strongest social support networks, were most likely to report their PPMD symptoms to healthcare providers.

The study did not identify any specific barriers to disclosing PPMD symptoms. However, the study did find that women who were unemployed, had a history of mental health problems or were experiencing severe symptoms were more likely to report barriers to treatment  though the specific barriers to treatment varied significantly.

"This work highlights the importance of support networks and the need to normalize the wide variety of reactions women have after childbirth," Prevatt says. "We need to make it OK for women to talk about their mental health, so that they can have better access to care. Working with the people around new mothers may be key."

"We don't just need to teach women how to develop a birth plan, we need to teach them how to develop a social support plan," Desmarais says.

The paper, "Facilitators and Barriers to Disclosure of Postpartum Mood Disorder Symptoms to a Healthcare Provider," is published in the Maternal and Child Health Journal.

The researchers are currently recruiting participants for a follow-up study aimed at addressing similar questions in Spanish-language communities.

More information: Betty-Shannon Prevatt et al. Facilitators and Barriers to Disclosure of Postpartum Mood Disorder Symptoms to a Healthcare Provider, Maternal and Child Health Journal (2017). Betty-Shannon Prevatt et al. Facilitators and Barriers to Disclosure of Postpartum Mood Disorder Symptoms to a Healthcare Provider,(2017). DOI: 10.1007/s10995-017-2361-5
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To hold elections in a single phase, govt should prioritise crucial electoral legislation
(HealthDay)For patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have significantly more impaired left ventricular (LV) global longitudinal strain (GLS), according to a study published in the Sept. 1 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology.

Laurien Goedemans, M.D., from the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, and colleagues used advanced two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography to compare STEMI patients with versus without COPD in terms of infarct size and LV systolic function. A total of 1,750 patients with STEMI were enrolled, of whom 7.6 percent had COPD. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and wall motion score index were measured; biomarkers were used to assess infarct size. LV GLS was measured with two-dimensional speckle tracking.

The researchers found that based on peak levels of creatine kinase (1,315 versus 1,477 U/L; P = 0.106) and troponin T (3.3 versus 3.9 g/L; P = 0.489), there were no differences in infarct size. Comparable LVEF (46 versus 47 percent; P = 0.591) and wall motion score index (1.38 versus 1.38; P = 0.690) were observed. Compared to patients without COPD, patients with COPD had significantly more impaired LV GLS (13.9  3.0 percent versus 14.7  3.9 percent; P = 0.034).

"Patients with COPD exhibit more impaired LV GLS on advanced echocardiography than patients without COPD, suggesting a greater functional impairment at an early stage after STEMI," the authors write.

One author and the Department of Cardiology at the Leiden University Medical Center disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.

Copyright  2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
A court in Finland has ordered founders of The Pirate Bay, Fredrik Neij and Gottfrid Svartholm, to pay 405,000 in compensation to music labels, TorrentFreak reported.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry filed the lawsuit in November 2011 with the support of anti-piracy group Copyright Information and Anti-Piracy Center.

Neij and Svartholm did not appear in court, and the court said it was unable to reach them.

The court handed down a similar verdict to The Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde in 2016, after Sony Music, Universal Music, Warner Music, and EMI Finland sued him, claiming music of their artists was shared illegally through The Pirate Bay.

Sunde was ordered to pay 350,000 in damages and 55,000 in costs, but he plans to sue the labels for defamation, as he said he is no longer involved in The Pirate Bay.

Im a public person in Finland and theyre calling me a criminal when they know Im not involved in what theyre suing me for, said Sunde.

Now read: The Pirate Bay cracks top 100 popular websites
Paul McCartney sells guitar for $77,000 to support Ukraine

Erdogan says preliminary findings after Istanbul bombing point to terrorist attack

Erdogan says number of victims of Istanbul bombing rises to six

Authorities forbid TV channels to broadcast from Istanbul bombing site

Istanbul blast: Governor reports 4 dead and 38 wounded

Media: Terrorist attack considered as one of versions of bombing in Istanbul

Blast in Istanbul: victims reported

Reuters: National Bank of Ukraine prepares banking system for power outages

Explosion hits pedestrian street in Istanbul

Former Pentagon official Michael Rubin calls for Turkey to be recognized as sponsor of terrorism

Bloomberg columnist says Japan may be preparing for war with China

Reuters: U.S. to demand EU colleagues to continue aid to Kyiv at G20

Washington Post: U.S. intelligence believes UAE tried to interfere in U.S. politics

Yeni Safak: Turkey increases sales of winter products, blankets in EU by almost third since beginning of year

Fox News: Trump has been silent on social media for over 24 hours amid Republican failures

Lebanon extradites to Iraq relative of Saddam Hussein

Financial Times: Kyiv plans to nationalize more private companies

U.S. Senate declares 'death' of Republican Party after congressional elections

Head of U.S. Customs resigned

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)
Visiting PM Deuba attends ceremonial reception, meets Indian EAM Swaraj (In photos)

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who is on a five-day state visit to India, attended the ceremonial reception organised in his honour and received a 'Guard of Honour' at the Rastrapati Bhawan in New Delhi.
YEREVAN.  The recent statement by OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair Ricahrd Hoagland contained some inaccuracies and omissions, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian told Armenian News-NEWS.am in response to a request to comment on six points voiced by Hoagland.

I have already had an opportunity to answer that question today and mentioned that they [points] generally express the provisions of the five well-known statements on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict made by the presidents of the Minsk Group Co-Chairing countries, Nalbandian said.

Asked whether Co-Chair Hoagland repeats the provisions presented earlier, Nalbandian said the American diplomat tried to adhere to the provisions, but his statement contained some inaccuracies and omissions.

But, I do repeat that position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement is expressed not by an individual statement, but joint proposals and declarations of the co-chairing countries, in particular the five statements adopted at the presidential level, which have been repeatedly reaffirmed by the Co-Chairs, such as the Hamburg statement adopted by the foreign ministers of the co-chairing countries. This is the position of the Minsk Group Co-Chair countries, Nalbandian said.

According to the Foreign Minister, besides the six points of the conflict settlement, the statements by the presidents and foreign ministers of the co-chairing countries refer to the three principles of international law: non-use of force or threat of force, equality and self-determination of peoples and territorial integrity.

Armenia has repeatedly expressed its position on the statements voiced by the Co-Chairs, unlike Azerbaijan, which ignores these statements by pretending that they do not exist at all. Thus, Baku is clearly opposed to the approaches of the co-chairing countries.

Azerbaijani side has recently been engaged in making up scenarios on the settlement of the issue, inventing some elements of the settlement, while the statements of the Co-Chairs come to reaffirm that these experiences have nothing to do with the reality. In his latest statement, Hoagland begins the list of points from the determination of the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh through expression of will, which must have a legal force, including for Azerbaijan, Armenian official emphasized.

It has become a common practice for Baku to withdraw from previous which also refers to confidence-building measures, he explained.

In particular, the statement of the foreign ministers of the co-chairing countries adopted in Hamburg also urged for the implementation of agreements reached at the Vienna and St. Petersburg Summit. As we know, Armenia and Artsakh have repeatedly expressed readiness to do so, while Azerbaijan refuses to back its commitments. Armenia will continue to take joint efforts with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries aimed at finding exclusively peaceful solution to the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict, Nalbandian concluded.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) - Get Free Report may have gotten a bit too ambitious in its haste to not miss out on the self-driving car race, and now the tech giant has scaled back its efforts to break into the market.

The company had first hoped to build an Apple-branded autonomous vehicle on its own, but due to a series of disagreements between executives and confusion about the project's goals, Apple ultimately decided it would focus on the underlying technology used to power self-driving cars, The New York Times reported on Tuesday, Aug. 22, citing sources close to the situation. Apple plans to test the autonomous vehicle technology in a self-driving shuttle service that will ferry employees around the company's Palo Alto, Calif., campus -- an effort called PAIL, for Palo Alto Infinite Loop, according to the Times.

The moves echo comments made by Apple CEO Tim Cook earlier this month and in June, when he said the company was working on a "large project" focused around autonomous systems. Cook has called autonomous vehicles the "mother of all" artificial intelligence projects, which suggested Apple might be building its own car, but on the company's latest earnings call, he made it seem like Apple is reconsidering that idea.

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"The autonomous systems can be used in a variety of ways, and a vehicle is only one," Cook said on the call with investors. "There are many different areas of it, and I don't want to go any further with that."

Apple is joining an already crowded market populated by rivals including Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOGL) - Get Free Report Waymo, Tesla Inc. (TSLA) - Get Free Report and Uber Technologies Inc. Waymo is widely considered to be the front-runner among companies developing autonomous technology. Apple's technology is said to be at the stage where Google's self-driving car efforts were three years ago, Business Insider reported, citing sources familiar with the situation. The tech giant plans to target the ride-hailing industry with its autonomous systems but isn't trying to overtake Uber, Business Insider noted.

Project Titan, the internal code name given to Apple's car project, has been in the works since 2014. Apple staffed up the project heavily, primarily with veteran engineers who had expertise in constructing cars, the Times noted.

The team hoped to disrupt the traditional automobile experience, not just with autonomous technology but by introducing things such as motorized doors that open and close silently and the possibility of building spherical, globelike steering wheels. Engineers also thought about ways to redesign Lidar sensors, the core technology that basically acts as the eyes for a self-driving car, by using lasers that scan and analyze the car's surroundings. Apple reportedly wanted to redesign the Lidar sensors, which typically protrude in a cone shape from the top of a car. Other ideas involved adding augmented reality features to a car's dashboard.

A few years into the project, however, it began to hit some speed bumps. Steve Zadesky, a 16-year Apple veteran who oversaw Project Titan, quit the project in January 2016, after a series of disagreements with Apple design chief Jony Ive. Zadesky wanted to focus on a semi-autonomous car that would have self-driving capabilities but would allow the driver to resume control of the car, while Ive pushed for a fully autonomous car that would let Apple control the entire end-to-end experience.



The project is now overseen by longtime Apple executive Bob Mansfield and has reshifted its focus toward building autonomous technology. Apple has been spotted testing its self-driving technology on a fleet of Lexus RX450h SUVs in California, not long after it was granted a test permit by the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

Analysts and experts have said it would make more sense for Apple to scale back its ambitions, lest it risk tapping into the self-driving car race too late. Building an entire car comes with its own challenges, not limited to forming relationships with dealerships, which can be complicated, said Bob O'Donnell, chief analyst at TECHnalysis Research LLC.

"All of those kinds of things are what they probably started to realize would be more challenging," O'Donnell said. "Whereas actual software and tech they were probably making good progress on and said, 'Look, we've got all this work and how should we leverage it?' It's not at all hard to draw the story where that's the case."

Apple shares rose 0.13%, to $159.98 Wednesday. The company did not immediately return a request for comment.

Apple and Alphabet are holdings in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer and the AAP team buy or sell AAPL and GOOGL? Learn more now.

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ANSI Launches Unmanned Aircraft Systems Standardization Collaborative

The collaborative also will focus on international coordination and adaptability in order to encourage the growth of the drone market, but it will not develop standards -- it instead will work to develop a standardization road map for the next year.

The American National Standards Institute this week launched an Unmanned Aircraft Systems Standardization Collaborative and has set its first meeting for Sept. 28 in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to coordinate and accelerate the development of the standards and conformity assessment programs needed to facilitate the safe, mass integration of drones into the U.S. national airspace system.

The collaborative also will focus on international coordination and adaptability in order to encourage the growth of the drone market, but it will not develop standards -- it instead will work to develop a standardization road map for the next year, identifying existing standards and standards in development, defining where gaps exist, and recommending additional work that is needed.

Quite a few standards are in development or already have been published that are relevant, according to a list on the UASSC website.

ANSI had announced the establishment of the UASSC in May 2017 after a meeting with drone stakeholders.

The first meeting will be from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EDT at the National Housing Center, 1201 15th St. NW in Washington, followed by a networking reception at the same location. Participation is open to UAS stakeholders that have operations in the United States. There is no fee to participate, but advance registration is required. The draft agenda also is available on the UASSC website.
New Orleans Sewer & Water Agency Gets Interim Emergency Management Team

The team is in place to provide administrative, financial, and technical guidance to the Sewerage & Water Board through Nov. 30 -- the end of the Atlantic hurricane season.

Following significant flooding in the city Aug. 5, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu and the Sewerage & Water Board on Aug. 22 announced an interim emergency management team is in place to provide administrative, financial, and technical guidance to the S&WB through Nov. 30 -- the end of the Atlantic hurricane season. Additionally, S&WB Executive Director Cedric Grant announced his retirement effective Aug. 22, and Landrieu announced the U.S. Small Business Administration will offer low-interest federal disaster loans to Louisiana businesses and residents affected by the flooding.

Loans are available in Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, and St. Tammany parishes to businesses of all sizes, most private nonprofit organizations, homeowners, and renters whose property was damaged or destroyed by the flooding.

The emergency management and support team's members are Paul Rainwater, who played a key role in helping Louisiana recover from hurricanes under multiple governors and is a colonel with the Louisiana Army National Guard in the Joint Director of Military Support for Disaster Response Unit; Terrence Ginn, deputy commissioner for Finance & Administration with the Louisiana Board of Regents; Renee Lapeyrolerie, a client service leader at the engineering firm CDM Smith; Ehab Meselhe, Ph.D., PE, vice president for Science and Engineering at the Water Institute; Owen Monconduit, who retired as a brigadier general from the Louisiana National Guard and currently serves in the Louisiana Military Department as the deputy director for contracting and purchasing; and Robert Turner, PE, director of engineering and operations at the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East.

"I want to thank Cedric Grant for his four decades of service and dedication to the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana," Landrieu said. "He has played a pivotal role in our city's post-Katrina recovery. His service has been invaluable throughout the years.

"The new Interim Emergency Management and Support team will supplement the leadership already at Sewerage & Water Board as we fix the infrastructure and stabilize the organization," he added. "Our administration has worked aggressively to recruit a team that consists of the top professionals in their respective industries who understand the issues currently facing Sewerage & Water Board and have a proven track record for success. They will work closely with Sewerage & Water Board's executive leadership team to add support and capacity during this transitional period."

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, who submitted a disaster aid request Aug. 17 to the Small Business Administration, said the state "stands ready to further assist the City of New Orleans as this interim emergency management and support team comes online to fix the serious issues with sewerage and water management facing the city."
In a perfect world we would all know what to do with our hair. We'd have the ability to trim, chop and style with flair and distinction, rendering the phrase "bad hair day" completely nonexistent.

In the real world, a decent daily shampooing is the best some of us can hope for. Luckily, it's become someone else's job to trim our bangs, manage our split ends and figure out where the layers go.

This is where Freya Salon, 2318 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., comes in. Seven senior stylists in Milwaukee have joined creative forces to form the co-op style, employee-owned, full-service place of beauty in Bay View. So far, says stylist / color guru / co-owner Emma Laehn, the response has been uncanny.

"The first week we were open we were so busy that we ran out of towels," she says. "Our credit card machine hadn't shown up yet and we were sending customers across the street to the ATM."

Now open for just over three months, the new business kinks have been flat-ironed and the salon's truly unique style is highlighted.

All but one of the seven owners / stylists previously worked together at Beauty before discovering each other's common interest in creating what Laehn describes as "an environment that we really enjoyed working in, which would inevitably spill over onto our clients."

To Laehn and her talent team, this means "providing a really good, high-end service by well-educated people without the intimidating environment. We wanted it to be really comfortable and laid back -- a place where people don't feel like they have to get dressed up to come get their hair cut."

The results reveal a beautifully and artistically designed interior complemented by cream city brick walls and a vintage-inspired waiting area that doubles as an art gallery. Right now, works on loan from the JW Lawson Fine Art Gallery, 2925 S. Delaware Ave., splash vibrant color across Earth-toned walls.

Freya offers the full spectrum of beauty services, save for nails, extensions and massage. Cuts start at $40, coloring at $70 and styling at $40. The salon has one employee, esthetician / make-up artist Paulina, who has made a name for herself in Milwaukee for her skills and creativity with waxing -- especially her signature shapely and colorful Brazilian wax.

The others -- the seven owners -- are all masters of their trade, possessing a minimum of five years' experience in the industry. Many of them do double duty as educators for various product lines -- Goldwell, GHD and Bumble & Bumble, to name a few.

"We all do a lot of continuing education and are always learning new things," says Laehn, who attended Vici Beauty School and has been styling for eight years. "Most of us are also interested in the artistic aspect of hair, so we do a lot of photo shoots and creative work for fashion editorials and style shows."

Look for beautification by Freya at the Saturday, Jan. 12 "Art, Architecture and Music" concert experience at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Freya's grand opening is set for the Friday before, Jan. 11. The party starts at 6 p.m. with drinks, appetizers by Comet Cafe, and music by Evan Christian at 6:30 p.m. and Lotus Land and Chalice in the Palace DJs at 8 p.m.
This morning, the Milwaukee Film Festival added its full collection of Spotlight Presentations  including the festival's opening- and closing-night picks  to its ever-expanding lineup. The selections range from inspirational documentaries to critically acclaimed comedies, roaring concert movie classics to mesmerizing silent film standouts. And, of course, booze.

Here are the Spotlight Presentations (sponsored by OnMilwaukee, as well as 88Nine Radio Milwaukee) for the 2017 Milwaukee Film Festival:

Opening night: "Stumped"

Serving as the Milwaukee Film Festival's opening-night pick, "Stumped" tells the incredible true story of Will Lautzenheiser, a film teacher at Montana State University whose pulled muscle suddenly turns into a bacterial infection, leaving him limbless. But not without hope and humor, however, as he turns to stand-up comedy to share his story and cope with it himself. However, his story takes a turn as an experimental double-arm transplant comes on his radar  and with it the possibility of returning to his previous pre-surgery life. It's half medical drama, half comedy, half inspirational story (OK, that's three halves; we're not mathematicians) but all awe-inspiring.

Centerpiece: "The Blood Is at The Doorstep"

A follow-up to his probing 2015 short film "Mothers For Justice," "The Blood is at the Doorstep" is Milwaukee director Erik Ljung's feature-length look into the aftermath of the 2014 police shooting of Dontre Hamilton, intimately spending time with the family and the surrounding community, as well as branching out into the greater national conversation about police violence.

Closing night: "Landline"

Gillian Robespierre's follow-up to the critically-acclaimed dramedy "Obvious Child" reunites the up-and-coming writer-director with star Jenny Slate for a trip back in time  to 1995, where two Manhattanite sisters struggle to get along as one copes with her new engagement and one rages her way through high school. However, when the two discovery their father (John Turturro) is having an affair behind their mother's (Edie Falco) back, the two team up to expose their duplicitous dad while keeping the news from mom.

"AlphaGo"

Get ready for the ultimate battle between man and machine, taking place on the battlefield of ... an ancient board game? The documentary "AlphaGo" tells the story of one of the world's best Go players facing off against AlphaGo, a Google-developed artificial intelligence created to outplay and outsmart any human mind. Who will win  and does anyone else think this sounds like a real-life prequel to "The Terminator"?

"The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman's Portrait Photography"

The latest work from essential documentarian Errol Morris ("The Thin Blue Line," "The Fog of War") turns the lens on Elsa Dorfman, a lifelong friend of the filmmaker as well as a spectacular artist in her own right, working as a photographer who's captured generations of cultural icons with her own camera.

"I, Daniel Blake"

The latest film from English director Ken Loach ("The Wind That Shakes The Barley," "Kes"), "I, Daniel Blake" chronicles its title character fighting through British bureaucracy after he's denied his welfare benefits while recovering from a heart attack. It's more than just a class-centric tearjerker, however, as the drama won the coveted Palme d'Or at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.

"The Lost World" (feat. Alloy Orchestra)

The incredible Alloy Orchestra returns to Milwaukee's Oriental Theatre to provide yet another mesmerizing live score to yet another mesmerizing silent era classic, this year in the form of "The Lost World," the groundbreaking 1925 adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's adventure into a land of prehistoric monsters and cinematic magic (thanks to innovative stop-motion work for the time). Head back into both movie history and the planet's history in one swoop.

"Schumanns Bar Talks"

In this U.S. premiere  perfect for a state with more bars than grocery stores, and damn proud of it  author and bartender extraordinaire Charles Schumann takes viewers through a tour of some of the best bars in the world, hopping from continent to continent to find the world's best libations and the history behind the booze.

And, in case watching all those tasty beverages has made you thirsty, immediately following the film's Sept. 30 premiere, the festival will host "The Craft of the Cocktail," featuring creative concoctions from Boone & Crockett, Goodkind, Dock 18 and Bryant's. So maybe take an Uber to this one.

"Stop Making Sense"

One of the Milwaukee Film Festival's traditions returns for yet another year. In the rare case you've somehow forgotten, director Jonathan Demme's 1984 iconic concert film follows the Talking Heads through their deliriously energetic performances. It's an essential music film  and speaking of essential, you best bring your dancing shoes for this celebration of cinema, song and  in particular this year  the life and work of its late, great director, who passed away in April.

The Milwaukee Film Festival runs from Sept. 28 until Oct. 12. For more updates and info, stay tuned to OnMilwaukee.
In this Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017 photo, Riley Starks of Lummi Island Wild shows three of the farm raised Atlantic salmon that were caught alongside four healthy Kings in Point Williams, Wash. A marine net pen holding 305,000 farmed Atlantic salmon collapsed recently, releasing thousands of fish into Puget Sound and renewing concerns that a new proposed salmon farm could harm wild salmon stock and cause other environmental damage. (Dean Rutz/The Seattle Times via AP)

A marine net pen holding 305,000 farmed Atlantic salmon collapsed recently, releasing thousands of fish into Puget Sound and renewing concerns that a new proposed salmon farm could harm wild salmon stock and cause other environmental damage.

The release at Cooke Aquaculture's facility comes as the company is proposing new expanded commercial facility in the Strait of Juan de Fuca in Washington state.

Canada-based Cooke, which operates five salmon farms in Washington that it acquired last year, would build 14 floating circular net pens about 1  miles (1.61 kilometers) offshore. It would move current operations from Port Angeles Harbor and increase production by 20 percent. The project is in the permitting phase.

Critics say the recent fish escape highlights potential risks of open-sea fish farming. They worry about water pollution from fish feed and the potential for farmed fish to spread of diseases and parasites to wild fish.

"These are open net pens. They're not isolated from surrounding environment," said Chris Wilke, executive director of the Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, which opposes the project.

Ron Warren, who heads the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's fish program, said there's no evidence the escaped fish pose a threat to native fish populations, either through disease or crossbreeding with Pacific salmon.

Still, he said the state wants to protect native fish species and have urged anglers to catch as many escaped salmon, some up to 10 pounds, as possible.

Washington has the largest marine finfish aquaculture industry in the U.S. with farms producing about 17 million pounds of Atlantic salmon each year, according to the state.

While salmon farms have operated for more than 30 years in Washington, they still remain controversial in the Pacific Northwest where wild salmon reigns supreme. Alaska has banned commercial finfish aquaculture. Several counties in the state such as Whatcom County have moved to limit commercial finfish aquaculture.

Allen Cooke, left, and Nathan Cultee emerge from the hold of the Marathon after having separated out the 16 farm-raised Atlantic salmon they caught fishing off Point Williams, Wash., on Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017. Two boats sailed into Home Port Seafoods in Bellingham with several of the farm-raised Atlantic salmon that escaped from their nets Monday. (Dean Rutz /The Seattle Times via AP)

Cooke blamed high tides and currents coinciding with Monday's solar eclipse for the failure over the weekend at its farm off Cypress Island in Skagit County.

"The ongoing tides were a huge challenge," said Nell Halse, a Cooke spokeswoman. She said the company called in experts last month to stabilize the salmon farm during high tides, though no fish escaped then. "We put our best expertise to stabilizing this farm and we had no reason to believe that it would have collapsed on Sunday."

Critics weren't buying that reasoning, noting that tides weren't higher than unusual over the weekend.

"They're trying to imply that this was some unnatural natural event. This was absolute negligence on their part," said Kurt Beardslee, executive director of the Wild Conservancy. Fish farms "are polluting every single day a massive amount of phosphorous and nitrogen into the waters that we're trying to clean up."

Halse said Cooke had applied for permits to upgrade the net pens at the Cypress Island to its level of standards. It also plans to make investments in operations across the state.

The Lummi Nation has been so concerned about the fish escapes that tribal anglers have been trying to catch the Atlantic salmon before they enter local rivers. The tribe declared a state of emergency Thursday, saying the fish spill needs to be addressed immediately. Tribal officials are worried that farmed salmon will eat native fish or disturb its spawning grounds.

Michael Rust, science adviser with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's aquaculture office, said farmed salmon tend to be domesticated, raised on feed and not used to catching fish or escaping predators. Farmed salmon are more likely to be prey than predator, he said.

He and others note that science and technology advances have improved fish farming practices in the U.S. over the decades and aquaculture operations must meet strict regulations.

Jill Rolland, who directs the U.S. Geological Survey's Western Fisheries Research Center in Seattle, said she's not concerned that the escaped fish have any pathogens that will spread to wild fish. "We have a very strong regulatory environment to ensure that these fish are under veterinary care," she said.

 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Diagram showing the skeletal elements of the new species of dinosaur with its many bird-like features. Credit: Gregory Funston

The Mongolian Desert has been known for decades for its amazing array of dinosaurs, immaculately preserved in incredible detail and in associations that give exceedingly rare glimpses at behavior in the fossil record. New remains from this region suggest an entirely unknown behavior for bird-like dinosaurs about 70 million years ago. At least some dinosaurs likely roosted together to sleep, quite possibly as a family, much like many modern birds do today. Gregory Funston, Ph.D. Candidate at the University ofAlberta, will present the team's research findings at the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, held this year in Calgary, Alberta (Canada) on Friday, Aug.25th.

This new evidence for dinosaur roosting stems from a confiscated fossil block that was illegally exported from Mongolia, which preserved the amazing remains of three juvenile dinosaurs known as oviraptorids (part of the bird line of dinosaur evolution). These three dinosaurs represent the same species that were roughly the same age, preserved in a sleeping posture, so close to each other that they would have been touching in life. Known as "communal roosting", this behavior is seen in many birds today including chickens and pigeons. The specimen luckily made its way into the hands of researchers currently led by Gregory Funston of the University of Alberta, along with his advisor Dr. Philip Currie (also of the University of Alberta) and the Institute of Paleontology and Geology of Mongolia (based in Ulaanbaatar). Regarding the finding, Funston said, "It's a fantastic specimen. It's rare to find a skeleton preserved in life position, so having two complete individuals and parts of a third is really incredible".

The three juvenile oviraptors had several features that indicated they belonged to a whole new species. Other fossils found in Mongolia also seem to belong to this newspecies, and further flesh out the life history of these animals. The notable head crest is present even at a young age, but the dinosaurs would have had gradually shorter tails as they aged, and some of their bones fused across their lifetime. Their head crests and tails have been argued to represent sexual display features used in mating, somewhat similar to modern peacocks or turkeys. Funston added "The origins of communal roosting in birds are still debated, so this specimen will provide valuable information on roosting habits in bird-line theropods".

Photo and sketch of the confiscated specimen showing three differentjuveniles of the same species of dinosaur preserved in roosting posture, immediatelynext to each other. Credit: Gregory Funston
A pair of endangered lemurs has been imported to the U.S. from Madagascar for the first time in two decades.

The Duke Lemur Center announced Thursday that it transferred the 5-year-old male and 3-year-old female 9,000 miles from Madagascar to their new home in North Carolina. They were born in a conservation center in Madagascar.

The center says there could be fewer than 1,000 blue-eyed black lemurs in the wild.

The center says it took three years of planning and 60 hours of travel to get them to the U.S. Duke says it's the first time lemurs have been imported to the U.S. from Madagascar in 24 years because of strict regulations on the primates.

Duke says there are about 30 blue-eyed black lemurs in the U.S. Overall, 238 lemurs of different species live at the center at Duke University.

 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Possible spectroscopy results from one of Europa's water plumes. This is an example of the data the Webb telescope could return. Credit: NASA-GSFC/SVS, Hubble Space Telescope, Stefanie Milam, Geronimo Villanueva

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope will use its infrared capabilities to study the "ocean worlds" of Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's moon Enceladus, adding to observations previously made by NASA's Galileo and Cassini orbiters. The Webb telescope's observations could also help guide future missions to the icy moons.

Europa and Enceladus are on the Webb telescope's list of targets chosen by guaranteed time observers, scientists who helped develop the telescope and thus get to be among the first to use it to observe the universe. One of the telescope's science goals is to study planets that could help shed light on the origins of life, but this does not just mean exoplanets; Webb will also help unravel the mysteries still held by objects in our own solar system (from Mars outward).

Geronimo Villanueva, a planetary scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is the lead scientist on the Webb telescope's observation of Europa and Enceladus. His team is part of a larger effort to study our solar system with the telescope, spearheaded by astronomer Heidi Hammel, the executive vice president of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA). NASA selected Hammel as an interdisciplinary scientist for Webb in 2002.

Of particular interest to the scientists are the plumes of water that breach the surface of Enceladus and Europa, and that contain a mixture of water vapor and simple organic chemicals. NASA's Cassini-Huygens and Galileo missions, and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, previously gathered evidence that these jets are the result of geologic processes heating large subsurface oceans. "We chose these two moons because of their potential to exhibit chemical signatures of astrobiological interest," said Hammel.

This simulation shows possible spectroscopy results of Europa's water plumes, obtained using the Webb telescope's NIRSpec instrument. Credit: NASA-GSFC/SVS, Hubble Space Telescope, Stefanie Milam, Geronimo Villanueva

Villanueva and his team plan to use Webb's near-infrared camera (NIRCam) to take high-resolution imagery of Europa, which they will use to study its surface and to search for hot surface regions indicative of plume activity and active geologic processes. Once they locate a plume, they will use Webb's near-infrared spectrograph (NIRSpec) and mid-infrared instrument (MIRI) to spectroscopically analyze the plume's composition.

Webb telescope's observations might be particularly telling for the plumes on Europa, the composition of which largely remains a mystery. "Are they made of water ice? Is hot water vapor being released? What is the temperature of the active regions and the emitted water?" questioned Villanueva. "Webb telescope's measurements will allow us to address these questions with unprecedented accuracy and precision."

For Enceladus, Villanueva explained that because that moon is nearly 10 times smaller than Europa as seen from the Webb telescope, high-resolution imagery of its surface will not be possible. However, the telescope can still analyze the molecular composition of Enceladus' plumes and perform a broad analysis of its surface features. Much of the moon's terrain has already been mapped by NASA's Cassini orbiter, which has spent about 13 years studying Saturn and its satellites.

Villanueva cautioned that while he and his team plan to use NIRSpec to search for organic signatures (such as methane, methanol, and ethane) in the plumes of both moons, there is no guarantee the team will be able to time the Webb telescope's observations to catch one of the intermittent emissions, nor that the emissions will have a significant organic composition. "We only expect detections if the plumes are particularly active and if they are organic-rich," said Villanueva.

Artist rendering showing an interior cross-section of the crust of Enceladus, which shows how hydrothermal activity may be causing the plumes of water at the moon's surface. Credit: NASA-GSFC/SVS, NASA/JPL-Caltech/Southwest Research Institute

Evidence of life in the plumes could prove even more elusive. Villanueva explained that while chemical disequilibrium in the plumes (an unexpected abundance or scarcity of certain chemicals) could be a sign of the natural processes of microbial life, it could also be caused by natural geologic processes.

While the Webb telescope may be unable to concretely answer whether the subsurface oceans of the moons contain life, Villanueva said it will be able to pinpoint and better characterize active regions of the moons that could merit further study. Future missions, such as NASA's Europa Clipper, the primary objective of which is to determine if Europa is habitable, could use Webb's data to hone in on prime locations for observation.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the scientific complement to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. It will be the most powerful space telescope ever built. Webb is an international project led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.
A new AI tool created to help identify certain kinds of substance abuse based on a homeless youth's Facebook posts could provide homeless shelters with vital information to incorporate into each individual's case management plan. Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Facebook "friends" aren't always real friends - at least legally.

That was the finding Wednesday of an appeals court on a specific Facebook-related legal question: whether a Miami judge needed to recuse herself because one of the attorneys involved in a case in her court is a Facebook "friend."

The answer, in a 10-page opinion that takes a remarkably nuanced look at social media, is: No.

The ruling notes that Facebook data mining and algorithms lead to people accepting friend requests from people they barely know, or are acquainted with purely from professional circles.

"Electronic social media is evolving at an exponential rate," 3rd District Court of Appeals Judge Thomas Logue wrote in the unanimous opinion. "Acceptance as a Facebook 'friend' may well once have given the impression of close friendship and affiliation. Currently, however, the degree of intimacy among Facebook 'friends' varies greatly."

The legal fight over Facebook friendship isn't over. An appeals court in Palm Beach earlier ruled to the contrary - meaning the Florida Supreme Court could very well decide the true legal meaning of social-media friendship.

But for now, social-media savvy judges in Miami can breathe a little easier.

"This decision brings much needed fresh air to an issue that has led some lawyers and judges greatly to overreact. The word "friend" has many meanings," said New York University law professor Stephen Gillers, an expert in legal ethics. "Recusal is justified only when the friendship is so close that the public would reasonably question whether the judge would be able to rule against the lawyer.

The law has long allowed judges with a "mere friendship" with attorneys in real life to remain on a case. But in recent years, social media has further complicated the ethics of a profession that strives for impartiality amid the messy nature of real-life relationships.

Many legal ethics expert advise judges to get off social media all together to avoid any questions of inappropriate relationships. "My own feeling is that it's something that can only cause trouble for a judge," said Bob Jarvis, an ethics law professor at Nova Southeastern University. "I don't see any upside in a judge having a social-media presence."

But there is no hard-and-fast rule barring judges from having fellow lawyers as connections on social-media.

In 2009, Florida's Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee said judges should be prohibited from having lawyers who may appear before them as Facebook friends - but later acknowledged it is OK for candidates to do so if the judges are using social media to campaign for the elected office.

The Palm Beach appeals court, in 2012, ruled a judge had to disqualify himself because he was Facebook friends with the prosecutor on a criminal case.

In Miami, the state attorney's office has cautioned prosecutors "to be mindful" about their Facebook relationships with judges they have cases in front of.

In the case decided Wednesday, the legal row began with a lawsuit over unpaid legal bills.

The Miami law firm Herssein and Herssein sued its former client, the United Services Automobile Association. The case was assigned to Circuit Judge Beatrice Butchko. Former Miami-Dade circuit judge Israel Reyes was hired to represent one of the association's executives.

Lawyers Reuven and Iris Herssein asked Butchko to recuse herself because she is Facebook friends with Reyes, saying they had a "well-grounded fear of not receiving a fair and impartial trial." Butchko, however, declined and the Hersseins appealed.

The appeals court disagreed that the Facebook relationship was enough to warrant recusal, pointing out that some Facebook users have hundreds of "friends," some of whom they may not even remember accepting as "friends."

"An assumption that all Facebook 'friends' rise to the level of close relationship that warrants disqualification simply does not reflect the current nature of this type of electronic social networking," Logue wrote.

Whether Herssein appeals the decision remains to be seen.

Some legal experts hailed Wednesday's opinion.

But ultimately, the Florida Supreme Court will have to establish a rule or guidelines on social-media use by judges, said Jarvis, the Nova Southeastern ethics expert.

"I don't expect a 60-year-old judge to be on social media, but as you get younger judges who grew up with this stuff, the issue can only become more intense," Jarvis said.

2017 Miami Herald

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Aye-aye. Credit: nomis-simon

Beliefs in magical creatures can impact the protection of biodiversity, and the field of conservation needs to consider them seriously, researchers have warned.

According to a new study, by academics at the University of Leeds and Cardiff University, the conservation of threatened species has much to gain from acknowledging people's spiritual, magical and cultural beliefs.

The study, published today in the journal Oryx, draws on examples from countries including Madagascar, Iceland, Scotland, Ethiopia and Tanzania. It provides a picture of the positive and negative impacts mythical creatures have had on conservation.

Lead author Dr George Holmes, from the School of Earth and Environment at Leeds, said: "It is difficult to predict how magical creatures can affect conservation goals. There are examples of myths and superstitions seriously harming the survival of certain species, and examples where they actually help species to survive."

"Current views of magical animals within the field of conservation are inadequate, as they are unable to deal with what many would see as irrational beliefs and behaviours."

"What we need is a more interdisciplinary approach to conservation that helps us to understand the interactions between humans and both living and magical biodiversity."

Magical Madagascar

Co-author Caroline Ward, postgraduate researcher at the University of Leeds, said: "Madagascar really exemplifies the need to understand people's magical beliefs, as there are examples where oversimplification of these beliefs has led to unexpected conservation outcomes."

The critically endangered radiated tortoise. Credit: Frank Vassen

The study highlights Madagascar, where spiritual beliefs surrounding magical and mythical animals are often interlinked with local taboos  called fadys  which form a strong part of Malagasy culture.

These taboos can result in protection for species, and have been encouraged by conservation projects seeking to strengthen these local beliefs. The taboos are often promoted as demonstrating how conservation can align with tradition, and have even been linked to the historically low prevalence of bushmeat hunting in Madagascar.

One such fady has been promoted to prevent extinction of the critically endangered radiated tortoise, which local Malagasy people refuse to harm, and in some cases even touch, for fear of spiritual retribution.

However, the locals would not stop 'outsiders' from harming or removing the tortoises as they were not seen to be bound by the local rules. This illustrates the challenges of fully understanding the impact that magical beliefs can have on species conservation.

The study also describes instances in Madagascar where fadys result in the persecution of certain animals. The aye-aye (pictured in main image) is believed to be the harbinger of evil, with its appearance predicting the death or sickness of someone in the village.

Some believe that aye-ayes sneak into houses and murder the sleeping occupants using their long middle fingers to puncture the victim's aorta. In order to prevent bad luck, the local taboo says that aye-ayes must be killed and displayed on roadside poles.

The fady-related killing of aye-ayes is listed as a key threat to their survival on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List, which classifies the species as endangered.

Dr George Holmes, Associate Professor at Leeds, said: "We are currently ill-prepared to conserve species which attract irrational human beliefs. Our research suggests that conservationists should look to new, broader approaches such as multi-species ethnography if they want to better understand how magical creatures might impact conservation."

Spotted hyenas being fed by hand in the city of Harar, Ethiopia. Credit: Rod Waddington

Mythical creatures aiding conservation

The paper refers to mythical creatures that can act as 'invisible umbrella' species, protecting non-magical creatures occupying shared habitats.

In 2013, a court case fought against a proposed new highway in Iceland because it would cross the habitat of a valued species  the Icelandic elves, or Huldufolk.

In 2015, 350,000 people visited a thriving ecotourist site in Scotland because it is allegedly inhabited by a rare, endemic animal  the Loch Ness Monster. This mythical creature thus helped draw in revenue for the conservation and management of the area, as well as providing substantial economic value to the region.

In Ethiopia, spotted hyenas are tolerated and even fed by hand in some areas, as they are believed to consume evil spirits with their cackles, in addition to their role predating upon crop-raiding herbivores. #

Featured in the BBC's Planet Earth II, spotted hyena numbers have declined in some locations, particularly near growing urban areas, so these beliefs have helped to support their populations.

Co-author Dr Thomas Smith, from Cardiff University, said: "We really need to open up a discussion about how fantastic beasts can affect our ability to conserve the natural world, because there are no simple cases. Conservationists ignore mythical creatures at the peril of both biodiversity and the local people that live near or within significant conservation sites."

"Further research into the impact of magical creatures on conservation and local people is required if we are to effectively conserve the world's endangered species."

'Fantastic beasts and why to conserve them: animals, magic and biodiversity conservation' was published today in the conservation journal Oryx.

More information: George Holmes et al. Fantastic beasts and why to conserve them: animals, magic and biodiversity conservation, Oryx (2017). DOI: 10.1017/S003060531700059X Journal information: Oryx
UCR researchers have shown that the highest concentrations of manganese (Mn), which can be harmful to human health, are found at shallower depths than Arsenic (As) in underground drinking water wells. The study suggests that these contaminants should be evaluated separately to ensure the water is fit for consumption. Credit: UC Riverside

Underground drinking water sources in parts of the U.S. and three Asian countries may not be as safe as previously thought due to high levels of manganese, especially at shallow depths, according to a study led by a researcher at the University of California, Riverside. Manganese, a metal that is required by the body in tiny amounts, can be toxic at elevated levels, particularly in children.

Samantha Ying, an assistant professor of environmental sciences in UCR's College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, led the study, which was published recently in Environmental Science & Technology. The paper describes manganese levels that exceed World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines in groundwater wells in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, and the Glacial Aquifer, which spans 26 states in the northern U.S. and provides drinking water to more than 41 million Americans. Of the four regions, the Glacial Aquifer had the fewest contaminated wells.

While groundwater can be contaminated with a number of heavy metals, more emphasis has been placed on assessing the levels of arsenic than manganese, although the latter also poses a threat to human health. Levels of arsenic, a known carcinogen above the WHO's guideline of 10 parts per billion (ppb), are enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. and similar agencies in other countries. Although the WHO suggests a health-based limit of 400 ppb, manganese is not listed as a contaminant on the EPA's National Primary Drinking Water Regulations, and therefore the levels are not monitored or enforced.

A growing number of studies have linked abnormal manganese concentrations in the brain to neurological disorders similar to Parkinson's disease, and elevated levels in children may negatively impact neurodevelopment and cognitive performance.

In the current study, the researchers collected and analyzed chemical data from 16,000 wells in the Glacial Aquifer, the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Mehta Basin in Bangladesh, the Mekong Delta in Cambodia, and the Yangtze River Basin of China. The researchers studied the levels of arsenic and manganese at a range of depths, showing that, in general, arsenic levels increased with depth, while manganese levels decreased with depth.

When accounting for both metals at levels suggested by the WHO, the percentage of contaminated wells across all depths increased as follows:

-Glacial Aquifer (U.S): 9.3 percent contaminated when considering arsenic only; increased to 16.4 percent when considering arsenic and manganese.

-Ganges-Brahmaputra-Mehta Basin (Bangladesh): 44.5 percent contaminated when considering arsenic only; increased to 70 percent when considering arsenic and manganese.

-Mekong Delta (Cambodia): 10 percent contaminated when considering arsenic only; increased to 32 percent when considering arsenic and manganese.

-Yangtze River Basin (China): 19 percent contaminated when considering arsenic only; increased to 88 percent when considering arsenic and manganese.

Ying said omitting manganese from water monitoring protocols means public health officials are dramatically overestimating the number of safe wells in some regions.

However, while arsenic contaminated wells should be avoided completely, manganese contaminated wells can be treated inexpensively or be used for agriculture rather than drinking water.

"Providing access to safe drinking water is a global challenge that is increasing the demand for drinking water from underground sources," Ying said. "However, due to increasing knowledge on the detrimental impact of manganese on human health, particularly on children, manganese levels in these sources should be monitored more closely and governments should consider introducing manganese drinking water standards.

Ying said since the highest manganese concentrations were not found at the same depths as the highest arsenic concentrations, these contaminants can and should be evaluated separately to ensure groundwater is fit for human consumption or agricultural use.

More information: Samantha C. Ying et al, Depth Stratification Leads to Distinct Zones of Manganese and Arsenic Contaminated Groundwater, Environmental Science & Technology (2017). DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b01121 Journal information: Environmental Science & Technology
The 3,700-year-old Babylonian tablet Plimpton 322 at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University in New York. Credit: UNSW/Andrew Kelly

UNSW Sydney scientists have discovered the purpose of a famous 3700-year old Babylonian clay tablet, revealing it is the world's oldest and most accurate trigonometric table, possibly used by ancient mathematical scribes to calculate how to construct palaces and temples and build canals.

The new research shows the Babylonians beat the Greeks to the invention of trigonometry - the study of triangles - by more than 1000 years, and reveals an ancient mathematical sophistication that had been hidden until now.

Known as Plimpton 322, the small tablet was discovered in the early 1900s in what is now southern Iraq by archaeologist, academic, diplomat and antiquities dealer Edgar Banks, the person on whom the fictional character Indiana Jones was based.

It has four columns and 15 rows of numbers written on it in the cuneiform script of the time using a base 60, or sexagesimal, system.

"Plimpton 322 has puzzled mathematicians for more than 70 years, since it was realised it contains a special pattern of numbers called Pythagorean triples," says Dr Daniel Mansfield of the School of Mathematics and Statistics in the UNSW Faculty of Science.

"The huge mystery, until now, was its purpose - why the ancient scribes carried out the complex task of generating and sorting the numbers on the tablet.

"Our research reveals that Plimpton 322 describes the shapes of right-angle triangles using a novel kind of trigonometry based on ratios, not angles and circles. It is a fascinating mathematical work that demonstrates undoubted genius.

"The tablet not only contains the world's oldest trigonometric table; it is also the only completely accurate trigonometric table, because of the very different Babylonian approach to arithmetic and geometry.

"This means it has great relevance for our modern world. Babylonian mathematics may have been out of fashion for more than 3000 years, but it has possible practical applications in surveying, computer graphics and education.

"This is a rare example of the ancient world teaching us something new," he says.

The new study by Dr Mansfield and UNSW Associate Professor Norman Wildberger is published in Historia Mathematica, the official journal of the International Commission on the History of Mathematics.

A trigonometric table allows you to use one known ratio of the sides of a right-angle triangle to determine the other two unknown ratios.

The Greek astronomer Hipparchus, who lived about 120 years BC, has long been regarded as the father of trigonometry, with his "table of chords" on a circle considered the oldest trigonometric table.

"Plimpton 322 predates Hipparchus by more than 1000 years," says Dr Wildberger. "It opens up new possibilities not just for modern mathematics research, but also for mathematics education. With Plimpton 322 we see a simpler, more accurate trigonometry that has clear advantages over our own."

"A treasure-trove of Babylonian tablets exists, but only a fraction of them have been studied yet. The mathematical world is only waking up to the fact that this ancient but very sophisticated mathematical culture has much to teach us."

Dr Mansfield read about Plimpton 322 by chance when preparing material for first year mathematics students at UNSW. He and Dr Wildberger decided to study Babylonian mathematics and examine the different historical interpretations of the tablet's meaning after realizing that it had parallels with the rational trigonometry of Dr Wildberger's book Divine Proportions: Rational Trigonometry to Universal Geometry.

The 15 rows on the tablet describe a sequence of 15 right-angle triangles, which are steadily decreasing in inclination.

The left-hand edge of the tablet is broken and the UNSW researchers build on previous research to present new mathematical evidence that there were originally 6 columns and that the tablet was meant to be completed with 38 rows.

They also demonstrate how the ancient scribes, who used a base 60 numerical arithmetic similar to our time clock, rather than the base 10 number system we use, could have generated the numbers on the tablet using their mathematical techniques.

The UNSW Science mathematicians also provide evidence that discounts the widely-accepted view that the tablet was simply a teacher's aid for checking students' solutions of quadratic problems.

"Plimpton 322 was a powerful tool that could have been used for surveying fields or making architectural calculations to build palaces, temples or step pyramids," says Dr Mansfield.

The tablet, which is thought to have come from the ancient Sumerian city of Larsa, has been dated to between 1822 and 1762 BC. It is now in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University in New York.

A Pythagorean triple consists of three, positive whole numbers a, b and c such that a2 + b2 = c2. The integers 3, 4 and 5 are a well-known example of a Pythagorean triple, but the values on Plimpton 322 are often considerably larger with, for example, the first row referencing the triple 119, 120 and 169.

The name is derived from Pythagoras' theorem of right-angle triangles which states that the square of the hypotenuse (the diagonal side opposite the right angle) is the sum of the squares of the other two sides.
In this Jan. 10, 2017, file photo from left, Backpage.com CEO Carl Ferrer, former owner James Larkin, COO Andrew Padilla, and former owner Michael Lacey, are sworn-in on Capitol Hill in Washington, prior to testifying before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee hearing into Backpage.com's alleged facilitation of online sex trafficking. California prosecutors can bring money laundering charges against the creators of the website that prosecutors label an online brothel, a judge ruled Wednesday, Aug. 23, but dismissed other charges months after another judge threw out the entire case as violating free speech and federal protections. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

California prosecutors can bring money laundering charges against the creators of a website that prosecutors label an online brothel, a judge ruled Wednesday. But he dismissed other charges months after another judge threw out the entire case as violating free speech and federal protections.

Prosecutors filed new and expanded charges against Backpage.com chief executive Carl Ferrer and website founders Michael Lacey and James Larkin this spring. The three pleaded not guilty after the judge allowed the money laundering charges.

Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Larry Brown also dismissed 15 pimping conspiracy and other charges against Backpage.com's operators.

He ruled that those charges relate to their publishing of sex-related advertisements and cannot be filed because of a federal law protecting free speech that grants immunity to websites that post content created by others.

Brown sided with California's state attorney general that 25 of the original 27 money laundering charges alleging illegal bank fraud can proceed.

Prosecutors have said that Backpage's operators illegally funneled money through multiple companies and created various websites to get around banks that refused to process transactions.

Backpage.com is a classified advertising webpage that prosecutors say gets more than 90 percent of its revenuemillions of dollars each monthfrom thinly disguised ads for prostitution.

The website shuttered its adult services section in January, but officials have said much of the same advertising has migrated to the site's dating and massage sections with similar provocative photographs and wording.

California prosecutors and U.S. Senate investigators contend that Backpage leads the market in commercial sex advertising and has been linked to hundreds of reported cases of sex trafficking, including the trafficking of children.

But federal and state officials have been struggling with how to deal with the website without violating free speech protections. The U.S. Supreme Court in January left in place a different lower-court ruling that said Backpage's ads are protected by the federal Communications Decency Act, which is designed to protect internet publishers.

Congress is considering amending the act to omit sites that aid sex trafficking and to specifically allow states to file criminal charges.

Brown said Congress would have to act to allow criminal charges related to internet publishing.

Brown said in court that federal law provides broad immunity but added that "immunity afforded to internet service providers is not without limit. Even the most ardent defenders of a vigorous world wide web would have to concede that if a provider engaged in their own criminal acts, versus those of their customers, immunity must fail."

Prosecutors and defense attorneys each praised their partial victories.

"We're pleased that all of the charges that have to do with pimping or prostitution or content of the website have all been thrown out, and we think that's the right ruling in support of internet free speech and the First Amendment," said defense attorney Jim Grant.

Defense attorney Cristina Claypoole Arguedas labeled the remaining charges "technical financial crimes" and predicted they would be dismissed later.

Supervising Deputy Attorney General Maggy Krell prosecutors look forward to proving their case and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra in a statement said the ruling brings prosecutors closer to convicting "those who would prey on vulnerable young women and men."

The company has claimed it merely publishes advertising created by third parties and is not responsible for the content.

But documents recently seized from a Backpage contractor in the Philippines seem to show it soliciting and creating sex-related ads for Backpage. Senators including California U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein are now asking the U.S. Justice Department to consider fresh criminal charges.

Lawyers representing Backpage and the California attorney general have not commented on the new documents. The site and its operators also face civil lawsuits in several states filed on behalf of victims, many of whom allege they were under age 18 when they were sold for sex using the site's classified ads.

The original charges were filed when Kamala Harris was attorney general, before she took her seat in the U.S. Senate in January. Her successor, Xavier Becerra, amended the charges after he took office.

Arizona residents Lacey and Larkin, both age 68, once owned a chain of alternative newspapers, including the Village Voice in New York City. The site also offers non-prostitution related classified ads.

A U.S. Senate subcommittee said that far from merely publishing advertisements created by others, Backpage edited up to 80 percent of the adult ads to conceal that they are for sexual transactions.

 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Samsung wants to give customers another reason to love the Note.

On Wednesday, the South Korean electronics giant introduced the Galaxy Note 8, its latest flagship Note device and the successor to last year's ill-fated and combustible Galaxy Note 7.

And yes, Samsung says that this year's version will not blow up. Beyond putting the device through its own eight-point safety check process, the company is also partnering with UL, an independent safety science company, to ensure all its batteries are safe.

With that said, the Note 8 is beautifully designed, comes with the now standard premium Galaxy features, such as water resistance, and throws in some new ones, such as two rear cameras.

But whereas past Note devices heralded futuristic ideas not otherwise common in the smartphone marketplacefrom larger phablet displays and curved screens to iris and facial scanningthe Note 8 seems to be a slight refinement on what has worked for Samsung in the past with the S8 line.

Samsung will start taking pre-orders Thursday, with the phone on sale Sept. 15 via Samsung's website and at all four of the major wireless carriers. It will cost $930 at T-Mobile, $960 at Verizon, and $950 at AT&T.

What you get

The phone's sharp 6.3-inch Super AMOLED Quad HD edge-to-edge display looks vivid and crisp, an improved S-Pen stylus offers greater pressure sensitivity while a new set of dual, optical image-stabilized 12-megapixel rear cameras allow for sharper pictures and greater close-ups (including a souped-up portrait mode that will allow you to control how blurred you want background subjects to appear, even after you take the picture).

It also comes packed with high-end Galaxy features including fast wireless charging, water and dust resistance, fingerprint, iris and facial recognition, 64GB of storage plus a speedy Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor with 6GB of RAM.

The Note 8 keeps the regular 3.5mm headphone jack so you're not tied to only using Bluetooth headphones.

Support for Samsung's Gear VR virtual reality system is also here, though you will need to buy a new headset designed for the Note 8 to take advantage of this feature (the Galaxy S8's headset will not work with the Note 8).

The company has made four colors for the Note 8black, blue, gold and graybut only the black (called "Midnight Black") and gray (or "Orchid Gray") will be available for those in the U.S..

All told, the Note 8 is a nicer, sharper and slightly bigger version of the company's 6.2-inch Galaxy S8+ that was released earlier this year.

This becomes clear after spending a few minutes with the device. The screen looks great, apps open quickly and pouring water onto the phone did nothing to hamper its abilities.

The rear cameras took fine looking shots in the closed, well-lit demo area I tested it in, though it was hard to truly try out the new dual lens system in that environment. An 8-megapixel auto focus camera sits on the front for selfies.

Bringing back the Note brand after a $5.3 billion recall over burning batteries is a gambit that relies on the strength of Samsung's brand. Launches of S8 and S8+ worked wonders in restoring its name as a premium seller after the Note 7 debacle.

"We've had some stumbles. And a year ago was very clear on that," says Tim Baxter, president of Samsung Electronics America, when referring to the Note 7 recalls that plagued the company late last year.

"Our view of it is we've learned from it, we've applied those learnings to our new products and we dusted ourselves off... The best testament of dusting ourselves off was the launch of the Galaxy S8."

Baxter is hoping that the Note 8 can help continue to turn the page, allowing it to maximize the over "50 million upgrade eligible consumers" it estimates are looking to buy new phones this fall.

Some of that pent-up demand is from people waiting to see what Apple does with its new iPhones. Three new modelsincluding a radically redesigned "iPhone 8"are rumored to be released this fall, and Apple usually announces its new iPhones right around the time the Note 8 will hit store shelves.

But can Samsung tap into that buildup with the Note 8? While it's hard to make such predictions until more concrete details about Apple's new devices are known, the opportunity is there.

"The Note 8 is Samsung's best opportunity to gain market share from Apple as this is the first super-premium phone they've had for years," writes Patrick Moorhead, president of Moor Insights & Strategy, in an email.

"I do believe Samsung can grow their base by capturing some of the sales for pent-up iPhone demand as long as Samsung can keep up with their backlog."

2017 USA Today

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Solar cycle: Solar irradiance is not constant. The brightness of our sun varies over an approx. eleven-year period, in which the number of sunspots also varies. The image on the left is from 2001 (solar maximum), the one on the right from 2009 (solar minimum). Credit: NASA/ESA/SOHO

It's becoming warmer on Earth. Temperatures during the period spanning 2001 to 2010, for example, were around 0.2 degrees Celsius higher than the previous decade. No serious scientist doubts that humans play a decisive role here. Nevertheless, other factors also influence the global climate, for example the geometry of Earth's orbit and volcanic eruptions. But what role does the sun play?

When the red, glowing orb of the sun sinks into the sea in the evening, it may provide peaceful and relaxed holiday moments. And even in the twilight we can still feel the cosy warmth delivered by the sun during the day. Yet, our star is anything but harmless. Not only does its UV radiation give some of our more careless contemporaries a serious sunburn. It is intrinsically extremely active, and parcels of hot plasma seethe constantly on the surface, injecting fountains of gas into space. Moreover, a wind of energetic particles constantly blows, occasionally freshening up to a storm, presenting a hazard to the sensitive electronics in satellites.

In addition to these routine phenomena, the radiant power of the sun is also subject to long-term fluctuations. These are caused by the solar magnetic field, the field lines of which are, as it were, "fused into" the electrically conductive gas. The strong turbulence rotates and twists the plasma tubes like rubber bands  which occasionally "snap" and then churn up the magnetic field.

These activities lead to phenomena such as dark spots or bright flares; the former are cooler regions, the latter regions with fibrous-looking bright spots and are hotter than their surroundings. The number of spots or flares is not always constant, but varies in an approximately eleven-year cycle. The total solar radiation intensity therefore also fluctuates in this period. These fluctuations average around 0.1 percent. However, the variations can also fluctuate  depending on wavelength, because the sun shines in numerous different bands of the spectrum. The ultraviolet radiation mentioned above, for example, which is particularly relevant with regard to the climate, varies by several tens of percents in the short wavelengths.

By way of its energy input, the sun can directly influence the climate of our planet. However, the atmosphere only allows radiation to pass through in specific wavelengths, predominantly in visible light; the remainder is, in a manner of speaking, absorbed by molecules. Only part of the radiation therefore reaches Earth's surface and can heat it up. The irradiated surface, in turn, emits infra-red light, which is then held back by clouds or aerosols. This effect, without which the Earth would be around 32 degrees Celsius colder, warms the atmosphere. These processes resemble the conditions in a greenhouse.

Fluctuating solar radiation: This illustration shows variations within the eleven-year solar cycle as well as short-term variations caused by individual sunspot groups and solar flares. The average total brightness is represented by the grey curve. The different colours depict measurements with different instruments. Credit: PMOD

This is where the ultraviolet radiation plays its part. It is involved in a range of different chemical reactions  whereby UV is not just UV! For example, radiation at wavelengths less than 240 nanometres promotes the formation of ozone, longer wavelength UV, in contrast, destroys the same molecule. And together with the radiation at different wavelengths, different amounts of energy enter the troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere, extending to around 15 kilometres above the ground.

The sun, however, not only emits radiation, but also a permanent flow of electrically charged particles, the aforementioned solar. If these particles penetrate the upper layers of Earth's atmosphere, they eject electrons from nitrogen or oxygen atoms, that is, they ionize them. This process influences atmospheric chemistry  whether, and if so, how this impacts the climate, is currently a matter of debate.

To investigate the influence of the sun on the climate, researchers look to the past. Here, they focus on the star's magnetic activity, from which the radiation intensity can be reconstructed. It is then apparent that the sun produces more intense radiation during active periods  apparent thanks to numerous spots and flares  than during its quiescent phases.

The sun had just such a break in activity during the second half of the 17th century, for example: between 1645 and 1715 its engine began to falter. During this period, referred to as the Maunder Minimum, Europe, North America and China recorded much colder winters. And even the summer was substantially cooler in some regions during this "Little Ice Age." Paintings were made at the time, showing ice skaters on the frozen Thames, for example.

When looking back at the past the scientists work with both old records of observational sunspot data (beginning in 1610) and using the C14 method, which can be particularly well applied to wood, as Carbon-14 input at the ground (trees) is not constant, but also changes with solar activity. This radioactive isotope is created when what are known as cosmic rays meet an air molecule in the upper layers of Earth's atmosphere.

Factoring in the human influence: Models can only reproduce the observational data if anthropogenic influences are included in the calculations. Credit: IPCC Report 5

The solar magnetic field extends throughout the entire solar system and partially screens off cosmic rays. If the magnetic field fluctuates, so does C14 production. In this manner, the deviation between tree ring age and C14 age represents a measure of magnetic activity and consequently for the radiant power of the sun.

So, how strongly does the sun currently influence the climate? What is known is that Earth has become warmer by around one degree Celsius over the past 100 years. In the last 30 years alone, temperatures have increased at a rate not seen during the last 1000 years. It is another fact that the carbon dioxide concentration has increased by 30 percent since industrialization began in the mid-18th century.

During this entire period, the sun has been subject to periodic fluctuations in activity. And there has certainly been no increase in the brightness of the sun over the past 30 or 40 years, rather a slight decrease. This means that the sun cannot have contributed to global warming. In fact, the temperature increase noted in recent decades cannot be reproduced in models if only the influence of the sun or other natural sources are taken into account (for example volcanic eruptions). Only when anthropogenic, that is human-driven, factors are incorporated in the climate data, do they agree with the observational and measured data.

The researchers thus arrive at the conclusion that the increase in global temperatures since the 1970s cannot be explained by the sun. The observed temperature trend over the past three decades is linear  if it is a result of the increasing greenhouse gas concentration. In brief: the human influence on the climate is orders of magnitude greater than that of the sun.

On the other hand, the opinion of some scientists that the current decrease in solar activity will counteract global warming, does not stand up to a close examination, as global warming is a factand continues to advance. In contrast, it does appear possible that the sun influences the climate in the long term. The exact extent and precise mechanisms remain unclear, however.
Fuller et al. propose a model for the synthesis of heavy elements in which a rapidly rotating neutron star is swallowed from the inside by a tiny black hole. The centrifugally deformed star, shown in cross-section, sheds considerable mass at its equator as it spins up and angular momentum is transferred outward. Heavy atomic nuclei, including gold and platinum, can form via the r-process in the neutron-rich matter thats expelled from the imploding star. Credit: APS/Alan Stonebraker, via Physics

(Phys.org)A team of researchers at the University of California has come up with a new theory to explain how heavy elements such as metals came to exist. The group explains their theory in a paper published in the journal Physical Review Lettersit involves the idea of primordial black holes (PBHs) infesting the centers of neutron stars and eating them from the inside out.

Space scientists are confident that they have found explanations for the origins of light and medium elements, but are still puzzling over how the heavier elements came to exist. Current theories suggest they most likely emerged during what researchers call an r-processas in rapid. As part of the process, large numbers of neutrons would come under high densities, resulting in capture by atomic nucleiclearly, an extreme environment. The most likely candidate for creating such an environment is a supernova, but there seem to be too few of them to account for the amounts of heavy elements that exist. In this new effort, the researchers offer a new idea. They believe it is possible that PBHs occasionally collide with neutron stars, and when that happens, the PBH becomes stuck in the center of the star. Once there, it begins pulling in material from the star's center.

PBHs are still just theory, of course. They are believed to have developed shortly after the Big Bang. They are also believed to roam through the galaxies and might be tied to dark matter. In this new theory, if a PBH happened to bump into a neutron star, it would take up residence in its center and commence pulling in neutrons and other material. That would cause the star to spin rapidly, which in turn would fling material from its outermost layer into space. The hurled material, the researchers suggest, would be subjected to an environment that would meet the requirements for an r-process, leading to the creation of heavy metals.

The theory assumes a certain number of such collisions could and did occur, and also that at least some small amount of dark matter is made up of black holes, as well. But it also offers a means for gathering real-world evidence that it is correctby analyzing mysterious bursts of radio waves that could be neutron stars imploding after internal consumption by a PBH.

More information: George M. Fuller et al. Primordial Black Holes and r-Process Nucleosynthesis, Physical Review Letters (2017). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.061101 ABSTRACT

We show that some or all of the inventory of r-process nucleosynthesis can be produced in interactions of primordial black holes (PBHs) with neutron stars (NSs) if PBHs with masses 1014 M < M PBH < 108 M make up a few percent or more of dark matter. A PBH captured by a NS sinks to the center of the NS and consumes it from the inside. When this occurs in a rotating millisecond-period NS, the resulting spin-up ejects 0.1 M0.5 M of relatively cold neutron-rich material. This ejection process and the accompanying decompression and decay of nuclear matter can produce electromagnetic transients, such as a kilonova-type afterglow and fast radio bursts. These transients are not accompanied by significant gravitational radiation or neutrinos, allowing such events to be differentiated from compact object mergers occurring within the distance sensitivity limits of gravitational-wave observatories. The PBH-NS destruction scenario is consistent with pulsar and NS statistics, the dark-matter content, and spatial distributions in the Galaxy and ultrafaint dwarfs, as well as with the r-process content and evolution histories in these sites. Ejected matter is heated by beta decay, which leads to emission of positrons in an amount consistent with the observed 511-keV line from the Galactic center. Journal information: Physical Review Letters

 2017 Phys.org
Germany Rethinks Cologne Cathedral Security Following Barcelona Attack

German police have placed concrete barriers around the cathedral in order to boost security.

In an effort to boost security around soft targets, police in Germany have placed concrete barriers in front of Cologne's world famous gothic cathedral after reports that Islamist terrorists sought to target Barcelona's La Sagrada Familia last week.

The move comes after several attacks throughout Europe drove cities to begin rethinking their security plans. Many did not make a move to bolster security due to high costs and belief that the security measures would become obsolete one day, but since the terror attack in Barcelona that killed 13 and injured dozens more, major cities are making moves to protect critical infrastructure and their citizens.

"We took the decision to act as quickly as possible after looking at attacks in Europe," a police spokesperson told Reuters. "Our job is to protect sensitive points, and the cathedral is a symbol of Cologne, known around the world."

Cologne boosted the presence of police in the time after the Paris Attack in 2015, but were reluctant to place any permanent security measures because city officials did not want to disrupt the flow of every day life. Since that attack in Paris that killed 130 people, many more terror cells have targeted crowded spaces and used vehicles as weapons of mass destruction. It has become glaringly apparent that something has to be done to protect these historic cities.

In the country's capital, Berlin, barriers still remain in place around the site of a Christmas market where a militant drove a stolen truck into crowds and killed 12 people last year, but very few other visible measures have been implemented.

"We don't want to wall up the city," Andreas Geisel, Berlin's senator for interior affairs said in an interview with a local newspaper. "That would achieve the opposite of what we want to do: to send out an image of calm and relaxedness."
In a report by the Straits Times, two Singaporeans have been arrested and convicted for crossdressing in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates last August 9, 2017.

According to the report, the two Singaporeans are Muhammad Fadli Bin Abdul Rahman, a 26-year-old freelance fashion photographer and Nur Qistina Fitriah Ibrahim, 37 years old and friend to the former.

Nur is considered a transgender woman, but had failed to change her legal documents to reflect her status. Without the gender reassignment surgery, the UAE considers Nur a male, and was convicted of crossdressing.

Muhammad was also sentenced to one year in prison for the same charges which also included indecent acts. The two Singapore nationals were arrested in a shopping mall one day after their arrival in Abu Dhabi.

Not the first time in the UAE

What is surprising about this case, according to Nurs family, was that the latter had been to Abu Dhabi four times before and were able to return home safely each time. Madam Rozy, who is Nurs 34-year-old younger sister confirmed that her elder brother had not undergone gender reassignmnet surgery and that the family is worried about her.

Fadlis brother, Muhammad Saiful Bahri Bin Abdul Rahman, on the other hand, said that his brother was wearing a white shirt as seen in a photo sent before the arrest.

How did the families find out?

According to Madam Rozy, Nur had become silent in the family chat room on WhatsApp, which prompted the Ibrahims to worry. A few days later, the family received a voice message that notified them that Nur had been arrested.

Fadlis family, on the other hand, received information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or MFA that he had been arrested a week before. The MFA then followed up and said that Fadli had been sentenced to a year in jail.

No court representation

According to the same report, the MFA said that the two Singapore nationals were not represented nor were they present at their own hearing. Mr. Saiful, Fadlis brother told the Straits Times that no one from the Singaporean Embassy was present at their hearing as well.

Story continues

After this sentencing, Nur and Fadli are allowed to appeal on September 4 or 15 days after. The MFA has mentioned that they are extending consular assistance and helping the families get legal advice.

Dangerous situation

According to Detained in Dubai, a non-profit organization who helps individuals in conflict with UAE law, the situation is particularly dangerous for Nur.

Since Nur self-identifies as a transgender woman but has not undergone gender reassignment surgery or uses legal documents that idenfities her as female, she will be put in a male prison.

UAEs strict but inconsistent laws

The nature of Nur and Fadlis case shows that while crossdressing, homosexuality and queer acts are prohibited in UAE thanks to Sharia law, the enforcement is so inconsistent that Nur was able to visit the country four times before without any problems.

According to Detained in Dubai, there is a flourishing gay and queer scene in the UAE, where bars and clubs catering to the LGBTQ community are out in the open, operating freely.

The laws are in place

Still, the laws are in place, where lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer individuals may find themselves in jail. According to the UAE Penal Code, Whoever commits rape on a female or sodomy with a male, will be penalized. All extra-martial relations are also punishable by law, which means pre-marital sex act are also penalized.

Before, hanging and caning were the punishments in place for violations of LGBTQ and sodomy provisions, but Muslim civil court has replaced these punishments with the following:

up to 10 years imprisonment

fines

chemical castration

deportation (for foreigners)

death

Copies of the law translated into English are notoriously hard to come by, according to several human rights organizations, so the interpretation is hard to ascertain. Still, members of the LGBTQ community are warned to be careful in the UAE.

Bookmark this article for further updates. We will be updating this story as more details emerge.

Header image from Muhammad Fadlis Facebook

The post 2 Singaporeans jailed for one year in Abu Dhabi for alleged crossdressing and indecent behaviour appeared first on Alvinology.
By Julien Toyer MADRID (Reuters) - A Belgian policeman told a Catalan colleague in 2016 that an imam thought to have instigated last week's Barcelona attack was a suspicious person but no information was found then to tie him to Islamist militancy, a Catalan government source said. Police in the northeast Spanish region of Catalonia are coming under growing criticism over the van attack that killed 13 people. Two others were killed during the van driver's getaway and in a separate attack further down the coast. Some Spanish media accused Catalan police on Thursday of failing to properly investigate the Moroccan imam, Abdelbaki Es Satty. Meanwhile a wider blame game is being played out between central authorities in Madrid and officials in Catalonia, whose leaders are pushing for independence from Spain. Spanish High Court Judge Fernando Andreu on Thursday released - on certain conditions including a ban on leaving Spain and handover of passport - another of the four suspects arrested over the attacks, Salh El Karib, a court order said. El Karib ran an internet cafe in the Catalan town of Ripoll where most of the members of the Islamist cell, who were mostly young men of Moroccan descent, lived. El Karib bought a plane ticket for Es Satty to fly on Oct. 15, 2017 and two tickets for another suspect, Driss Oukabir, to fly on Aug. 12 and 13, a few days before the attacks, the court order said. The flights were all with Air Arabia. The order did not specify the destinations but Spanish press reports have said Oukabir, who rented the van used in the Barcelona attack, flew back to Spain from Morocco on Aug. 13. Air Arabia flies from Barcelona to a number of Moroccan cities. Judge Andreu accepted El Karib's statement that he bought the tickets on behalf of Oukabir's 17-year-old brother, who did not have a credit card, and that he was reimbursed in cash. Andreu on Tuesday ordered Driss Oukabir and Mohamed Houli Chemlal remanded on charges of murder and membership of a terrorist organisation, while another man was freed under the same conditions as El Karib. The other eight known members of the group, including Es Satty and the younger Oukabir, were killed by police or died in an explosion in a house that appeared to be a bomb factory. Andreu met high-ranking security officials on Wednesday to set out a common strategy for the investigation, a judicial source said. The source said the meeting was a first step towards integrating the two Spanish police forces - the Civil Guard and the National Police - in the investigation, which had until now been managed by the Catalan police. The objective was to better coordinate various police forces in countering security threats. TIP-OFF The tip-off about Es Satty, the Muslim cleric, was made informally between two police officials from Belgium and Catalonia who knew each other, a source in Catalonia's regional government told Reuters. "The communication between the two policemen was not official. They knew each other because they had met in a police seminar," the source said on condition of anonymity. Catalan police records, however, had turned up nothing on Es Satty. "The documents show that we had no information about the imam," the source said, and the only official communication channels of the Catalan police, the Mossos d'Esquadra, with police in other nations were through Spain's central government. The Catalan regional government and the Madrid central government declined to comment. It remains unclear whether Catalan police made their own attempts to follow up the lead. The top home affairs official in the Catalan regional government, Joaquim Forn, said on Thursday that Catalan authorities had been unaware of any investigation of the imam or that he could pose a threat, Spanish news agency EFE said. Es Satty spent around three months in the Belgian town of Vilvoorde, a known centre of Islamist radicalism, between January and March last year. He later went to Catalonia to be the imam of Ripoll, where he is suspected of having recruited and radicalised most of the group which carried out last week's attacks. CHANCE MISSED? Vilvoorde Mayor Hans Bonte said last week Es Satty had been "intensely screened" by Belgian police at the request of the local Muslim community when he was looking for a job there, and he had told Spanish police by email of Es Satty's whereabouts. El Pais newspaper quoted Bonte on Thursday as saying he had received a reply from police in Barcelona on March 8 last year. "They said the imam had no links to radical groups," he said. Sources close to the investigation told Reuters earlier this week the regional Catalan force might have missed an opportunity to uncover the plot because of procedural errors and a lack of communication among investigators. The errors and miscommunication centred around a major explosion on Aug. 16, the eve of the attack, at a house where it was later discovered that members of the Islamist group had been assembling bombs, the sources said. Catalan police say Es Satty, 44, and another man died in that blast. Spain ordered Es Satty's expulsion from the country after he served a four-year jail term for drug trafficking but this was annulled by a court in 2015 after Es Satty appealed, court officials have said. The judge at the time overturned the expulsion order partly because Es Satty had employment roots in Spain, which he said "shows his efforts to integrate in Spanish society". There was no information before the court at the time to link Es Satty to Islamist militancy, the officials said. Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said on Thursday he did not expect the attacks to have any significant short-term impact on tourism, which accounts for about 11 percent of the Spain's economy. (Additional reporting by Jesus Aguado, Adrian Croft and Sarah White; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's President Xi Jinping pledged to make concerted efforts with South Korea's President Moon Jae-in to address differences between the two countries properly, the official Xinhua news agency said on Thursday. Xi made the remarks in a congratulatory message sent to Moon on the 25th anniversary of the establishment of China-South Korea diplomatic relations, Xinhua said. Development of China-South Korea relations made a positive contribution to regional peace and development, Xinhua cited Xi as saying. The news agency did not provide further details. South Korea and the United States agreed to deploy the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system in response to the growing missile threat from North Korea. However, the installation of the missile system has angered China, which says its powerful radar will be able to look deep into its territory and undermine regional security. China has pressed South Korean businesses through boycotts and bans, such as ending Chinese group tours to South Korea and closing most of South Korean conglomerate Lotte Group's Lotte Mart retail stores in China. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the exchange congratulatory messages was consistent with usual practice. Many tangible and mutual benefits had been delivered to people of both countries since the establishment of diplomatic ties, she told a daily news briefing. "We hope the South Korean side can summarise and look back on the experiences and lessons from the 25 years of diplomatic relations and take constructive actions to appropriately address relevant sensitive issues and differences to improve relations between China and South Korea," Hua said. "On the issue of THAAD, China's position is very clear, resolute and there is no change." Moon has also pushed China, North Korea's most important ally and trading partner, to do more to rein in Pyongyang's missile and nuclear weapons programmes. North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests and dozens of missile tests since the beginning of last year, significantly raising tension on the heavily militarised Korean peninsula and in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions. Two intercontinental ballistic missile tests in July resulted in a new round of tougher global sanctions. (Reporting by Michael Martina; Additional reporting by Philip Wen; Editing by Michael Perry and Paul Tait)
The chaotic, impenetrable streets of Tehran have left Navid, a multiple sclerosis sufferer, feeling like a prisoner in his home. Even for the able-bodied, the uncontrolled building spree of recent years means the Iranian capital can often seem like an assault course of narrow broken pathways, gutters full of rushing water, and cars shoved into every available inch of space. For the thousands of disabled people in Tehran, the hilly streets are effectively a no-go zone. "My companions are the four walls around me. I'm so tired of staring at the ceiling," said Navid Salahi, a 30-year-old who is confined to a wheelchair after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis as a child. "I'm afraid to go outside on my own. It's horrible. Even at my front door, trying to get in a cab, I've fallen over twice because the street is so uneven. My mother does all my errands," he told AFP. The city council offers a disability bus service, which must be booked two days in advance, and which gets him to work at a disabled rehabilitation centre every day. "Of course, once you make the reservation, it may or may not show up," said Navid. With a new reformist administration taking power in Tehran, disability activists are hoping for change. "Our disabled people are mostly housebound and depressed," said Fatemeh Nikbakht, who runs the Spinal Cord Injury Association with around 1,000 members. "Even an elderly person or a lady with a child cannot move easily in our urban spaces," she said. - 'Just not accessible' - Official figures show there are 94,000 disabled people in Tehran, though advocates say the real figure could be far higher. Few are ever seen on its busy streets, nor on the city's bus and metro system because reaching the stations is near impossible. The government is well aware of the problem. "A disabled person cannot go even 1,000 metres on Tehran's pavements or roads without facing obstacles," Transport Minister Abbas Akhoundi told the Etamad daily earlier this year. "The streets have so many puddles, bumps, differences in ground level and widening or narrowing that even a healthy person cannot deal with them," he added. A building binge -- fuelled by cheap credit and the hunt for secure assets amid sanctions and recession -- means it is almost impossible to stand anywhere in Tehran without seeing cranes and the skeleton of a new apartment block or mall. But little care has been given to accessing the buildings or designing them for disabled users, activists say. "Many parks, cinemas, shopping centres or public spaces are just not accessible," said Behnam Soleimani, a 34-year-old computer teacher who uses a wheelchair. He has been waiting several years for the council to respond to his request for a ramp at his building's entrance. "A broken cobblestone on the sidewalk may not even be seen by a healthy pedestrian but it's a crisis for someone in a wheelchair," he said. - Minimum wage - Bollards erected on pavements and in pedestrian alleyways to block motorbikes from using them to escape the traffic also inadvertently cause problems for the disabled. Some well-meaning measures have been ineffective. Social media users have ridiculed new lanes for blind people with pictures showing them heading directly into trees and gutters. The outgoing conservative mayor of Tehran, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, promised last month that 60 disabled-friendly buses would soon join the public transport fleet, and that accessibility improvements would form part of future transport budgets. But disability advocates say they have been hearing these promises for a long time. A handful of pilot projects have done little for the disabled population as a whole. "Sadly, these are like dispersed islands and do not form a unified puzzle to allow disabled people to leave the house, move freely or use public transport," said Soheil Moeini, a blind journalist who runs a non-governmental organisation called the Bavar ("Belief") Association. "Accessibility is not only a right for all citizens, but also a precondition for any participation of disabled people in society," he added. Bavar wants to go beyond accessibility issues. It has been working for years with lawmakers to finalise a bill that would, among other changes, force the government either to find work for the disabled or pay them the minimum wage. There are positive signs, with Labour Minister Ali Rabii saying in July that the government wanted to pass the bill quickly so they could build it into next year's budget. "We no longer accept sympathy or favours. These are our rights," said Moeini.
By Idrees Ali and Pavel Polityuk KIEV (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on a visit to Ukraine on Thursday said Washington would keep up pressure on Russia over what he called its aggressive behaviour and signalled his personal support for providing weapons to Kiev. Mattis said Russia had not abided by the Minsk ceasefire agreement meant to end the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine and that the United States would maintain sanctions on Moscow. "Despite Russia's denials, we know they are seeking to redraw international borders by force, undermining the sovereign and free nations of Europe," Mattis told reporters, alongside Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Mattis's visit, timed for Ukrainian Independence Day, is the second high-profile show of U.S. support in as many months, after U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson came to Kiev in July. Ukraine has counted on U.S. support against Russia since a pro-Western government took power following street protests in 2014 when the Kremlin-backed president fled the country. But some of President Donald Trump's comments during the election campaign last year, such as appearing to recognise Crimea as part of Russia, stoked fears in Kiev that Trump might mend ties with Moscow at Ukraine's expense. While emphasising Trump had yet to take a decision on the issue, Mattis signalled his personal support for a longstanding Ukrainian request for defensive weapons, which could include anti-tank Javelin missiles and anti-aircaft systems. Mattis also played down fears, voiced by the previous White House administration under Barack Obama, that supplying weapons could escalate the situation. "On the defensive lethal weapons, we are actively reviewing it, I will go back now having seen the current situation and be able to inform the secretary of state and the president in very specific terms what I recommend for the direction ahead," Mattis said. "Defensive weapons are not provocative unless you are an aggressor and clearly Ukraine is not an aggressor since it is their own territory where the fighting is happening," Mattis said. Poroshenko said he was "satisfied" with the progress on discussions about weapons, and also said he and Mattis had discussed the possibility of a U.N.-backed armed force being sent to eastern Ukraine. Relations between Ukraine and Russia went into freefall after Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the subsequent outbreak of a Kremlin-backed separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine that has killed more than 10,000 people. Russia denies sending troops and weapons to eastern Ukraine. HUGE BOOST According to U.S. officials, a plan to provide defensive weapons to Ukraine has made its way to the White House but has not been signed. Thus far the Pentagon says it has provided $750 million in non-lethal aid to Ukraine since 2015, which includes radars and uniforms. Supplying weapons "will be a huge boost of support to Ukraine," said Michael Carpenter, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the region. Carpenter said the weapons under discussion cannot effectively be used to take territory, which means providing them would help stabilize the situation. U.S. Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Service Committee, also pressed the Trump administration to act. "Secretary Mattis' visit to Kiev provides yet another opportunity for the United States to correct its policy toward Ukraine and provide the lethal defensive assistance the country needs to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity," McCain said in a statement on Wednesday. Mattis' strong words against Moscow on Thursday are likely to reassure eastern European allies who are concerned about Russia's military activity in region, including planned war games in September. Russia and Belarus aim to hold joint exercises that some North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies believe could number more than 100,000 troops and involve nuclear weapons training, the biggest such exercise since 2013. Earlier this year, Estonia's defense minister said Russia may use the exercises to move thousands of troops permanently into Belarus in a warning to NATO. Russia has dismissed Western worries about the war games as "buffoonery". (Reporting by Idrees Ali and Pavel Polityuk; editing by Matthias Williams and Richard Balmforth)
Small businesses need to be continually watching out for scams and fraudsters. The latest scam is similar to a famous fraud from years ago, but with added technology. John Canfield is the Vice President of Risk Management at WePay. He spoke with Small Business Trends about what small businesses need to look out for.

Updated 419 Fraud

The latest advance fee fraud is an updated version of the 419 fraud common years ago. The name comes from the crimes spot in the Nigerian Criminal Code. Back then, Fraudsters tried to convince would-be victims to make payments to be released from a bank in Nigeria.

But gone are the days of those typo-ridden letters we all know  fraudsters today have evolved and perpetrate much more sophisticated and plausible stories, Canfield says.

In this latest version, email automation software is used to lure small businesses. The intended victim receives an email that initially appears to be personalized even though the fraudster can target hundreds of potential victims at once.

Examples of Advance Fee Fraud

Heres an example. You own a small website design company. The fraudsters approaches you saying they noticed your work and want you to build a website for them. They mention they have a specific photographer in mind. They ask that you pay the photographer up front and then add the cost to your final bill to simplify the invoice process. After you make the payment, the fraudster disappears.

Referred by a Customer

They might also tell the intended victims they were referred by a customer they got off a website or online search. Small business owners can even find the subcontractors mentioned by the fraudsters online.

The fraudsters tell the business owners they are looking to work with them. After making a payment with a stolen credit card, they ask that a portion of this initial payment be sent to a subcontractor via wire transfer.

Non-refundable Wire Transfer

The subcontractor and the fraudster are often one and the same. The non refundable wire transfer vanishes. Even the credit card payment gets charged back as fraudulent. The effects can be devastating.

Impact on a Small Business

These scams, when successful for the fraudster, can have great impact on a small business. They can wipe out profits, Canfield says. They can also undermine your confidence or sap your energy when, as a small business owner, you need to bring it every day.

Advice for Small Businesses

Canfield has the following advice for small businesses.

First, if a new customer emerges out of nowhere and wants to pay you a large sum of money without ever having spoken with you before  it probably is too good to be true.

He says you should meet with a prospective client in person or on the phone before working with them. Canfield also says you should be wary of people from great distances that want to work with you when they can just as easily pick someone closer to home. Business management software and payment tools should also be considered. Finally, he suggests small business should be cautious of requests for money or personal information.

You should also train your employees to be equally wary of such requests, he says.
Small businesses are among the biggest employers of website services including designers and developers. At least half (50 percent) of small businesses now hire these web pros to build or maintain their websites each year. Thats what a recent survey by research firm Evans Data, commissioned by GoDaddy (NYSE: GDDY), has found.

Small Businesses Biggest Employers of Website Services and Professionals

According to the GoDaddy Developer Survey 2017 (PDF), the web designer and developer industry is a leading indicator of small business health, growth globally. This website services industry has continued to boom two decades after the emergence of the Internet, indicating healthy small business growth as well.

As more small businesses are growing their digital presence and understanding the importance of reaching customers online, they have been investing more significantly in the web professionals  designers and developers  who help them build and maintain their sites, Raghu Murthi, Senior Vice President of Hosting and WebPro at GoDaddy, told Small Business Trends.

Murthi noted small businesses, particularly in the retail, travel, and health sectors, were a major contributor to the growth of the web pro industry globally.

Fifty percent of small businesses now hire a web professional each year, making SMBs, particularly in the retail, travel, and health sectors we found, a major contributor to the growth of the web pro industry. The close, interconnected relationship between web pros and small businesses means that the status of one industry is a good indicator of the health of the other, and our study found 79% web developer and designers are seeing client growth of at least 25 percent in the last year, Murthi said.

Small Businesses, Web Pros Enjoying Increased Client Growth

Of the 79 percent of web developers and designers that reported client growth of 25 percent or more a year, more than 1 in 3 said growth was 50 percent or more. Nearly half reported they were relatively new to the industry having been in business less than 5 years, but revenue was still high. A majority of web pros surveyed had revenue of $250,000 or more, and 1 in 3 had revenues of over $500,000.

This research indicates that the Golden Era of web development and design shows no sign of slowing down, Murthi added in a statement.

Meanwhile, almost 75 percent of web developers and web designers are working from home. And over 50 percent of these web pros are using email and video messaging apps such as Skype to communicate with their customer base. Twenty-eight percent mainly use email to talk to clients.

The Evans Data research was conducted online in May 2017. It examined the working habits, pain points, revenue growth, and skills of 1,500 web designers and developers who specifically target SMBs in the US, Germany, UK, India, Brazil, and Mexico.
When top ranking is not a reason to celebrate.

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The OECD report about Slovakia issued in June of this year is a sweet-and-sour and gloomy read. It does give the same numbers Finance Minister Peter Kazimir and Prime Minister Robert Fico cite, and confirms that they are right about the success of the country. Those numbers show a fast-growing and not too indebted country, which thanks to its open economy, uses the advantages of the EU open market and is gradually consolidating public finances.

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But it also shows numbers the ministers are more reluctant to boast about. Those numbers say that we have been only shamefully consuming our current success. Slovakia is making poor use of the relatively stable performance of its economy to brace itself for future hardships. We are not only failing to deal with possible threats, but also ignoring the very apparent ones today. Not all the problems can be measured with exact data, but the report shows many symptoms that make the illness quite easy to identify.

When reading the following graphs, you should bear in mind two things.

At times the data is several years old, because it is statistically hard to create comparisons between OECD countries. Sometimes we might be looking at data that have improved or worsened in the meantime, but there is no reason to suppose this is a frequent issue. If you want to contemplate the political responsibility for these numbers, it is good to remember that the country has been practically ruled by the Smer party in the past decade (with the exception of a very brief interval).

Another factor to be considered is that Slovakia is dealing with the legacy of decades of socialism. Even a quarter a century of sincere efforts cannot erase that from several indicators. We cannot compare ourselves to Germany, but if you take a look at Estonia or Slovenia, for example, you can often see how far a post-communist country can make it.

1.Desperate effectiveness in the administration of public affairs
Forget sheep cheese and liquor. Slovaks can also earn recognition in the chocolate industry.

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Being located far from cocoa beans-growing area does not mean Slovaks cannot produce chocolate with genuine origins that respects the area where it is grown.

At Nitra-based Lyra Chocolate, maintaining a relationship with the place the cocoa beans are grown and the people who grow them is an essential part of the chocolate production process.

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We dont get our beans from the internet, Katarina Jaklovska of Lyra Chocolate told The Slovak Spectator. We get them from real people.

The company maps the designs for its new products and coordinates business and social partnerships from its original plant in Ivanka pri Nitre, located near the Western Slovakia city of Nitra.

Lyra Chocolates cocoa beans come to Slovakia through partnerships with cocoa bean-growing experts CasaLuker and farmers in Ecuador and Colombia, where the chocolate companys direct interaction with the farmers has led to social projects in harvesting regions.

We say we know the farmers. Jaklovska said. They are producing the cocoa beans for us. We have to know them, and they have to know us as well.

Jaklovska said that one program Lyra supports in Colombia provides local kids with breakfast to help motivate them stay in school, while another program underway has recently formed a joint venture with an indigenous community in Ecuador.

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When we get the cocoa beans from them, we are going to pay a bit more, Jaklovska said of the farmers. We are going to be fair to them.

The company is currently in the testing phase to create a functional chocolate containing active probiotics, to be introduced in a line of original Slovak chocolates that use raisins, sunflower seeds or poppy seeds as toppings.

The chocolates earth-toned paper packaging  created by a Slovak designer  has also earned recognition within the chocolate industry, and Jaklovska said that there are plans to collaborate with the designer to market some chocolates with locally-produced apple cider.

These chocolate-makers say they look at the quality of their product with a holistic health view and adhere to high safety standards to protect their customers. In June, the factory was awarded one of the most well-respected global certificates for food and production safety.

Jaklovska said that said that Lyras production and roasting equipment and techniques are used in place of additives to give the chocolate its taste and appearance.

While Lyra Chocolate has plans to open a store in the new Vienna train station and is working to sell its chocolate on airlines in Asia, the company is continuing to base its production and sales in the home country of the companys founders.

We are going to do more stuff for Slovakia, Jaklovska said.
Maria Patakyova explains her support for the recent Rainbow Pride in Bratislava, following the criticism of a junior coalition partner.

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A vulgar gesture is how Jaroslav Paska, deputy chair of the Slovak National Party (SNS), called the decision of Ombudswoman Maria Patakyova to attend the August 19 Rainbow Pride in Bratislava. In his opinion, her behaviour even initiated a new ideological conflict in the coalition.

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A lady whom we supported in the run for the post of ombudswoman is obviously planning to discredit not only our coalition government, but also the years-long civilisational, cultural and social values of our society, Paska said about Patakyova, a nominee of its coalition partner Most-Hid, as quoted by the TASR newswire.

He even claimed they would probably not support any other Most-Hid candidate for a public post.

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It is not the first time the nationalists have criticised support for the rights of the LGBTI community. When Slovak Ambassador to Hungary Rastislav Kacer raised the rainbow flag at the embassy building last year, his gesture was opposed not only by SNS, but also the senior coalition party Smer. SNS chair Andrej Danko even asked Foreign Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak to recall Kacer from his post.

The Slovak Spectator spoke to Patakyova, who expressed the need to support the human rights of all people, including those living in non-heterosexual partnerships.

The Slovak Spectator (TSS): Did you expect such a negative reaction to your support for Rainbow Pride in Bratislava from SNS?

Maria Patakyova (MP): No.

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TSS: The party claims that according to the coalition agreement, the coalition partners should not openly discussion controversial topics. Is this the case? Is the topic of protecting the fundamental rights of the LGBTI community really such a controversial issue?

MP: I deal exclusively with the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms, so I cant and wont comment on political statements and coalition relations. My duty is to point out the threats and violations of fundamental human rights and freedoms caused by ignoring the rights of same-sex couples in the context of the consensus of the Council of Europes member states on recognising and protecting the rights of people living in life partnerships.

TSS: SNS even sent you a letter in which it criticised your decision to raise the rainbow flag at your office, claiming that you are abusing your powers. Are such statements legitimate?

MP: By raising the flag at the window I respected the state symbols situated at the front facade of the building. At the same time, I pointed out the rights violation of this community when it comes to recognising their life partnerships.

TSS: How do you perceive current public opinion about the LGBTI community?

MP: I consider the distance and misunderstanding of the basis of relationships between non-heterosexual couples the main problem. The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg explained its rulings, via which it included these relationships under the protection of the family life and privacy, with the existence of long-term partnerships based on devotion and trust.

TSS: How do you plan to continue supporting the rights of the LGBTI community in Slovakia?

MP: Similarly to other Slovakias citizens. If I receive a motion Im entitled to deal with, I will look into the case and use all legal possibilities to protect their rights. In the near future I will focus on the protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms of older people in senior homes, for example. I will also continue in auditing the measures public administration bodies did not approve in the past or measures that are insufficient.
Slovak government approves of the Posting of Workers EU directive prior to the Salzburg meeting.

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While Hungary and Poland criticised the proposed EU directive about workers posted abroad, labelling it protectionist, Slovakia is in agreement with France that the EU needs a rule that workers posted abroad should earn salaries equal to those in the country they are working in.

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All Slovak ministers gave their approval for the rule prior to the meeting between Prime Minister Robert Fico and his counterparts Bohuslav Sobotka from the Czech Republic, Christian Kern from Austria and French President Emmanuel Macron in Salzburg on August 23.

The meeting was centred around the principle that people posted abroad should receive the same salary for carrying out the same job as local people. Macron is very active in promoting the rule, the Sme daily reported.

Our talks represent a real step forward, real progress towards achieving a compromise in October, and I am glad for that, Macron told journalists following the meeting, as quoted by the Sme daily.

The directive will be on the programme of the meeting of EU labour ministers in October. The EU Council can pass it with a qualified majority of two thirds of the ministers. If it is given a green light, the directive will be a subject of debate in the European Parliament.

It is a top priority for the Commission not to hinder the process and instead make sure that we make headway with the aim of bridging divides between standards of workers in central and eastern Europe and those in place in western Europe, said Slovak EU Commissioner Maros Sefcovic as quoted by the TASR newswire.

Slovakia had certain objections to the directive, showing it a 'yellow card' along with another ten countries last year. Slovakia didn't reject the directive as such, but objected to the timing, demanding that EU-member states and the European Commission should be given more time to evaluate the effects of the norm. Meanwhile, the concept of 'the same salary for the same work in the same location' is now deemed acceptable by Slovakia, TASR wrote.

While Macron did meet Fico and Sobotka on his trip to Central Europe, he is not scheduled to meet the leaders of Hungary and Poland, which is a political message, the daily noted. Macron has criticised the two countries repeatedly for harming the unity of the EU.
This does not mean that Slovakia is exposed to immediate terrorist attack.

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Slovakia raised the terrorist threat level to the second degree on August 22 at 14:00. It means that although there is little possibility of a terrorist attack in Slovakia, one cannot be ruled out entirely.

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Several large-scale events are due to be organised in Slovakia in the next few days, including an air show at Sliac (Banska Bystrica Region) on August 26 and 27, commemorations of the Slovak National Uprising on August 29 and celebrations of Constitution Day on September 1, said Police Corps President Tibor Gaspar.

Were coming into a period that we view as requiring vigilance beyond ordinary measures, said Gaspar, as quoted by the TASR newswire.

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He also pointed to a series of terror attacks in several other countries.

With the second-degree terror alert in place, the police will increase its presence on the streets, with special focus on places with large movements of people, including shopping centres and railway stations.

Moreover, the National and Analytical Centre, whose main task is to collect and analyse the security information of all security and intelligence services in Slovakia will work 24 hours a day over the following two weeks at least, Gaspar said, as reported by the SITA newswire.

Security analyst Milan Zitny said that the increased terrorist threat level does not mean a real threat. People will not be immediately affected by it, though they will notice an increased number of police patrols at the places where there are bigger crowds, he told TASR.

Intelligence agency also responds

Meanwhile, the Slovak Information Service (SIS) has adopted several security measures, particularly in connection with upcoming events.

After the first information about terrorist attacks in Barcelona, Finland, Russia, and also in Egypt where a Czech citizen became a victim, and after discussions between Slovakias prime minister, interior minister and SIS head, the intelligence service and other security forces adopted standard security measures responding to similar critical situations, the SIS informed in a statement, as quoted by SITA.

It refused however to specify what those measures are.

The SIS is particularly concerned by the attacks of the so-called lone wolves, small local groups of radical fanatics or Jihad returnees, whose actions are hard to predict and dangerous.

These new types of attacks confirm the trend for a terrorist campaign,the SIS continued, as quoted by SITA, adding that the events in Barcelona brought a completely new form of attack. The attackers focus has become mostly the so-called soft targets and places with crowds.
She had to wait for someone to deliver her passport before she could continue her holiday

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After two days of waiting, a Slovak woman living near Kosice was allowed to leave the airport in Burgas, Bulgaria, were she was stuck after losing her passport.

She arrived in Burgas on August 20, but had to wait to leave the transit zone until the evening of August 22 when she received her passport as a replacement for her ID card that she lost on the way, the Sme daily reported.

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Originally, the woman used her ID card to pass through the controls. It is possible that she lost it somewhere between Kosice and Burgas.

She decided to carry on with the holiday, said Jozef Oros, the owner of a travel agency which the woman used, as quoted by Sme, adding she will leave as planned.

The case is quite unique. Oros says he has not witnessed anything similar during the 28 seasons he has been running these trips.

The local embassy can only issue the temporary documents necessary for the return home, not to enter the country.

Thus it was not technically possible to issue a replacement travel document for her, spokesperson for the Foreign Affairs Ministry Peter Susko explained to Sme.

Though the woman had her driving licence, the customs officers did not consider it a valid travel document. Since she was travelling with her daughter, who did not have a problem entering Bulgaria, the woman had to rely on her other family members. They found her passport and sent it on the next flight with nearly 190 other holidaymakers.

The passport was carried by a woman who learned about the case from the media, Sme wrote.

If the woman from Kosice was not able to get her passport, she could still have returned home. Her return would have been paid by the travel agency or the airline, the ministry explained.

The decision is up to a person and it depends on communications with a travel agency, Susko said, as quoted by Sme.

Lost documents

If somebody loses their documents on holiday or somebody steals them, they should contact the embassy which will issue a replacement travel document for the journey back.

It is important to say that by issuing the replacement travel documents the original one becomes invalid, so even if the lost or stolen passport is found later, it cannot be used for travelling anymore, Susko said, as quoted by Sme.

He also warned that ID cards cannot replace the passport, though in the Schengen area people can travel without a passport. The ministry however recommends that people carry their passport when travelling abroad.

People can avoid the troubles that occur during car accidents, road controls or other events, Susko told Sme.
Tension between the ruling parties has increased, the SNS reporting many of its members wanting to leave coalition.

Andrej Danko has not said yet if he will stay in politics. (Source: SITA)

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Two weeks after Andrej Danko withdrawing from the coalition agreement, the relationships between coalition partners remain tense and early election remains an option, albeit a distant and extreme one.

The leader of the nationalist Slovak National Party (SNS) has lost against Prime Minister Robert Fico of Smer in a game he himself began, agree political scene obervers. Dankos defeat materialised in Ficos call on Education Minister and SNS nominee Peter Plavcan to resign due to suspicions over the distribution of almost 600 million in EU funds allocated for science and research.

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None of the ruling coalition parties can afford to gamble with the public trust like this, Fico told journalists in his three-minute speech on August 16.

Ficos decision to oust Plavcan came as a surprise to Danko, at the moment he was giving an interview to a Tyzden weekly reporter. In his first reaction, he said it was a trap the prime minister has been setting up for SNS for a long time. A few hours later however, he gave a long speech in front of the cameras, in which he admitted that Plavcan would step down and he himself would go away for four days with his sons and think about his future in politics.

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Per rollam meeting as a compromise

Danko returned after the four-day break he announced he would take in order to contemplate if and how he would stay in politics.

Yet he did not speak to his coalition partners immediately. First, SNS advised its ministers not to attend the August 23 cabinet meeting the prime minister convened despite coalition issues remaining unresolved. Danko communicated this to his coalition partners through a text message.

Ficos spokesperson Beatrice Szaboova argued that Fico needed the cabinet to convene due to one point on the sessions programme, passing the stance Fico was to carry to his meeting with the government heads of Austria, the Czech Republic, and French President Emmanuel Macron on the same day.

The SNS insisted that their ministers would not attend the meeting and Danko threatened to create more problems in the coalition if the session took place. In the end the cabinet passed the stance for Fico per rollam  the ministers, including those nominated by the SNS, sent their approval in writing. Observers see this as a compromise solution.

The crisis reached yet another peak due to the cabinet session. The SNS is expected to hold a leadership session on August 24, ahead of the coalition council meeting on Friday, August 25. But the atmosphere in the SNS seemed to be divided, based on the statements of its politicians.

Many of our members want to leave this government, Danko told the Plus7dni weekly, and added that it is his duty to talk to the party structures and act according to the will of the members.

SNS MP Dusan Tittel told the Sme daily on August 24 that the party is divided half-half into those who want to leave and those who want to stay.

Read also:

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Early elections not preferred

While the parties of the ruling coalition are officially sticking to their statements that there is no alternative to their government triad and they must continue, the tension in the political scene has also prompted Smer and Most-Hid politicians to question the governments stability.

In the situation that has arisen we cannot fulfill our priorities from the governments programme statement and so it becomes questionable whether it makes sense to continue this way, the three ministers of Most-Hid stated in their August 24 joint statement.

The fall of the government would most likely lead to early elections in Slovakia. But the standing of the nationalists is not as good as it was a year ago. In the most recent poll from the Focus polling agency from July 2017, the SNS received 10.3 percent of support, compared to August 2016 when it stood at around 14 percent.

Neither do people seem to be inclined towards early elections as a solution to the crisis. Based on the results of a Polis poll for the SITA newswire, on August 18-23, only 24.8 percent of those polled would welcome early elections, while over 54 percent of voters desire the coalition to continue and the three ruling parties to find an agreement.

Plavcan resigns, gives a date

While the future of the SNS in the government remains unclear, it is certain that Education Minister Plavcan will leave the cabinet. Public opinion is positive about this step, with 73.6 percent of those polled by Polis saying that they agree with Ficos decision to recall Plavcan.

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Quite unusually, in his resignation letter to President Andrej Kiska, Plavcan set the date for his resignation for the end of August. This is not common practice. Ministers in Slovakia usually submit their resignation to the president, and as soon as the president accepts the resignation it becomes effective and they cease to be ministers, Sme noted.

SNS has not come up with Plavcans replacement yet. The SNS and its leader Danko are currently preoccupied with the coalition crisis and they are planning to present their demands at the coalition meeting scheduled for August 25.

The most frequently mentioned person for the post is Eva Smolikova, currently an SMS MP. She has not confirmed this.

SNS demands

The SNS is still insisting on the original reason as to why Danko declared his withdrawal from the coalition agreement  to redefine the rules in the coalition and adjust priorities towards the improved economic situation in the country.

The SNS has made public some of the demands they were planning to present at the coalition meeting. They will insist on new rules for the 13th and 14th salary, which should not be taxed based on their demands.

Fico has suggested he is not opposed to the new rules, and even representatives for employers admitted that they could support the proposal. They only expressed concerns that it might turn into a political issue.

Another one of the SNS proclaimed demands is stricter rules on publishing the property returns of public officials.

If the government really has such interest in fighting corruption, it must act as an example, Danko stated.

Smer is expected to present its own demands to the coalition council.
But is still third most trustworthy politician.

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The top three constitutional representatives enjoy the biggest trust from the public. People have the biggest confidence in President Andrej Kiska, supported by 27.3 percent of respondents in the recent Focus poll carried out between August 1 and 6 on 1,003 people.

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Second came Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer) with 26.5-percent support, followed by Speaker of Parliament and chair of the Slovak National Party (SNS), Andrej Danko, with 14.4 percent.

While Ficos support is stable and oscillates around 26 percent, both Kiska and Danko have lost compared with the previous poll. Last year, more than 31 percent of respondents said that they trust the president, while Danko was supported by 20 percent of respondents. This means that the support of the latter dropped by one-quarter, the Dennik N daily reported.

Last years poll was carried out in June, when Danko had ambitions of becoming the new prime minister and wanted to compete with Fico. His image, however, worsened after his controversial promotion to captains rank as well as the EU funds distribution scandal at the Education Ministry. The SNS chair is now questioning his stay in politics, according to Dennik N.

As for other popular politicians, the list of the top five is closed by Richard Sulik, leader of the opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), with 13.6 percent and Most-Hid chair Bela Bugar with 12.8 percent.
Slovak laws do not allow convicts to run in regional elections.

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Extremist Marian Magat will not be able to run for the post of governor in Zilina Region.

The reason is that an appellate court confirmed the previous verdict of the district court in Cadca conditionally sentencing him to three years in prison for illegal arms, the public-service broadcaster RTVS reported.

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Even if he tries to appeal the verdict, he can forget about the November regional elections since Slovak legislation bans convicted people from running.

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The police found a revolver in Magats possession in December 2015, which he claimed he had found. The court in Cadca then sentenced him this February.

A leader of the Vzdor Kysuce extremist group, Magat also faces charges for spreading extremist materials, defaming the nation, race, and supporting groups that suppress fundamental rights and freedoms. Most recently, he has also been charged with Holocaust denial, RTVS informed.

Magat also ran in the last general election, on the slate of the far-right Peoples Party  Our Slovakia.
Slovak military policemen are part of a team under the German navys leadership.

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Slovak military policemen who left at the beginning of August to serve in the military operation, EUNAVFOR MED Sophia, are involved in a team under the leadership of the German navy.

They will intervene, together with their German colleagues, in a crisis area after learning the techniques used in a marine environment, as Defence Ministry spokesperson Danka Capakova informed.

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Their first stop, after joining the operation in the German port of Wilhelmshaven was the Italian port of Augusta. There they got materials and food supplies and continued out to sea, she said for the TASR newswire.

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Slovakia sent the military policemen to join the operation as its contribution to the common defence of the southern borders of the EU. It is the first navy operation in which Slovakia has participated.

The military policemen will serve on the boats of the German navy for six months as two 5-member groups in the so-called Boarding Team. Other military policemen will replace them at the end of January 2018.

They will fulfil the tasks of an intervention team for which they have been training for more than year. The aim of the operation is to stop or decrease human smuggling from Africa to Europe, an element of the current migration crisis and the spread of global terrorism.
Andrej Danko, the head of the SNS party, after four days of thinking, has decided to stay in politics.

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After two week of coalition crisis created by the Slovak National Party (SNS), the partys chair, Andrej Danko, stood in front of the media and stated that the SNS wants to stay in the coalition with Smer and Most-Hid .

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The SNS is interested in remaining in the coalition but it needs to be a genuine coalition and not slavery, Danko told the press. If the government collapses, the only alternative is a caretaker government that wouldn't be able to acquire support in Parliament.

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The coalition crisis is related to the eurofunds distribution scandal at the Education Ministry which was led by SNS nominee Peter Plavcan and culminated when Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer) asked the SNS to replace Plavcan. The Education Minister then resigned and Danko took a four-day-long vacation to think about his political future.

In 18 months spent in politics, I've experienced criminialisation and ridicule, Danko said. I can imagine a life outside of politics but I refuse to give up at this stage.

Danko further stated that he respects Robert Fico as a prime minister. However, I want to make decisions about my ministers myself, he said.

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Read also: SNS chair loses support Read more

Danko, claims that the SNS chose to withdraw from the coalition agreement unilaterally in order to command more attention from its coalition partners but will remain in the coalition because it perceives no alternative to its governing role.

We don't want to traumatise people with an [early] election, but I ask all SNS voters to understand that some processes within the coalition can't be tolerated any longer, Danko said.
STEM

4-H Attempts to Break World Record for Largest Electrical Engineering Lesson

In the same week that 4-H received a major grant from Google to advance computer science education, the youth development organization today has set even bigger sights for STEM education: For the 10th anniversary of National Youth Science Day (NYSD), 4-H plans to break the Guinness World Record for the Worlds Largest Electrical Engineering Lesson.

NYSD attracts thousands of youth every year to participate in science experiments that surround a central challenge. Last year, more than 100,000 K12 students nationwide engaged in engineering through coding and experimenting with drones for NYSDs Drone Discovery Challenge.

After building a wearable fitness tracker, students can monitor their heart rate. Image: 4-H.

On Oct. 3, 4-H expects to draw in thousands of youth to address NYSDs newest challenge: Incredible Wearables.

4-H, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, created an Incredible Wearables kit for the event that will enable youth to build their own wearable fitness trackers. Through completing the 70- to 90-minute hands-on project, students program a computer sensor to act like a fitness tracker, learning about electrical engineering and healthy eating in the process, according to a statement from 4-H. The kit is priced at $24.95; it is geared toward students in grades 4-12 and supports about 4-8 individuals.

Interested teachers and students can purchase kits and register to participate in their classrooms; the Worlds Largest Electrical Engineering Lesson will happen at an event in Brooklyn, NY, according to information from 4-H.

Event details can be found on the 4-H site.
By Luiza Ilie BUCHAREST (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron got lukewarm support from Romania on Thursday for his push to tighten EU rules over the employment abroad of workers from low-pay countries, but enough for him to express confidence of a deal by year-end. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said the concerns of countries in the east needed addressing, as well as those of the west, but gave no details on what he would deem acceptable after meeting Macron. Macron wants to overhaul a system which allows "posted" workers to work in other European Union countries on contracts that need only guarantee the host country's minimum wage, and allow taxes and social charges to be paid in the home nation. He says the system creates unfair competition in wealthier nations like France and Germany. "I'm convinced we can reach an agreement before the end of the year," Macron told a joint news conference. Although "posted" workers make up only 1 percent of the EU workforce, the politically sensitive issue, which in recent years has deepened the divide between the rich west and poor east, is a first step in the French leader's drive to re-shape Europe. "It is very important to avoid useless simplification," Iohannis said. "On the one hand, there is discontent in France over undeclared workers, on the other hand there are many people in Eastern Europe, in Romania, who want to work in France, Germany, Spain. "It is clear the directive needs to be improved." On Wednesday, Macron won the backing of Slovakia and the Czech Republic, scoring a symbolic victory over the eurosceptic governments of Poland and Hungary which have led efforts in the region to block reform of the labour directive. [nL8N1L945J] Macron told Iohannis he was open to Romania joining Europe's open-borders Schengen group and said it was in the eastern European country's interest to be a part of a more deeply integrated Europe. Failure to reform the EU would threaten the bloc's future, he said. "Part of Britain's Brexit vote was down to the poor functioning of the single market on posted worker rules, and the rules we have on social rights," Macron said. CENTRAL EUROPE DIVIDE Macron's election win revived the EU's Franco-German axis but in central and eastern Europe it fanned fears of a "multi-speed" Europe that could mean reduced influence, financial support and economic competitiveness. Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said on Thursday that Poland would not change its position regarding the EU's directive on posted workers. The Poland-based think-tank Labour Mobility Initiative estimates that by 2020, over 1 million people would lose their current jobs in CEE companies because of the changes in the posted workers directive currently proposed by the European Commission. ""We will defend our position to the very end, because it is a position that is in the interests of Polish workers," said Szydlo. Macron signalled on Wednesday that those countries which rallied behind his push for deeper integration would have their place at the negotiation table. Some leaders have made clear they don't want to be left out. "In Salzburg, I declared the strong interest of the Czech Republic to be present at the discussion about the future of Europe and also to influence it," Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said on Twitter after meeting Macron. Sobotka's government has floated a plan to gain euro zone observer status, a further sign it does not want to be sidelined. Meanwhile Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico, who once said Brussels bureaucrats were "detached from reality", has warmed towards the EU after Britain's Brexit vote and Macron's election. He now says he wants Slovakia's future to lie "close to the (EU) core, close to France, close to Germany." Slovakia and Czech Republic's re-positioning closer to the heart of Europe leaves Poland and Hungary -- both of which Macron is shunning on his trip -- appearing increasingly isolated. The four countries make up the Visegrad 4 group. Polish and Hungarian officials sought to downplay any divide. "The Visegrad members differ on some issues and present diverse positions," said Ryszard Czarnecki, a deputy speaker in the European Parliament from Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party: "Let's not fall into hysterics. The Visegrad group works together on the most important cases." An eventual new directive on posted workers will be decided by a majority vote, rather than unanimity. Even if the Visegrad 4, Romania and Bulgaria joined forces, they could not block it on their own, according to Reuters calculations. (Additional reporting by Richard Lough and Michel Rose in Paris; Pawel Sobczak and Lidia Kelly in Warsaw; Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg)
Russia's ambassador to Sudan has been found dead in the swimming pool of his home.

Mirgayas Shirinskiy, 62, died from an acute heart attack, the Russian foreign ministry said.

The veteran ambassador is the fourth senior Russian diplomat to die this year.

His body was found in his pool in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, about 6pm on Wednesday, according to Russian foreign office spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

Sudanese officials said a preliminary investigation pointed to natural causes.

On its website, the Russian embassy said Mr Shirinsky had been a diplomat since 1977 and was a fluent Arabic and English speaker.

He studied at Moscow Institute of International Relations and had been appointed as ambassador to Khartoum in 2013.

He previously served as ambassador to Rwanda, and had diplomatic postings in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

A foreign ministry spokeswoman called him a "great professional".

She added: "He dedicated his life to diplomacy. We express sincere condolences to his family and loved ones."

Six months ago, Russia's ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin died after collapsing in his office in New York .

Mr Churkin, 64, reportedly became unwell and was taken to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital where he died on 20 February.

In January Alexander Kadakin, Russia's ambassador to India, died aged 68 from heart failure.

And in December, Russia's ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov was shot dead at an art exhibit in Ankara by a police officer.

Mr Karlov, 62, was giving a speech when off-duty officer Mevlut Mert Altintas entered the building and opened fire, before shouting: "Don't forget Aleppo, don't forget Syria!"
Energizer Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes household batteries, specialty batteries, and lighting products worldwide. It offers lithium, alkaline, carbon zinc, nickel metal hydride, zinc air, and silver oxide batteries under the Energizer and Eveready brands, as well as primary, rechargeable, specialty, and hearing aid batteries. The company also provides headlights, lanterns, and children's and area lights, as well as flash lights under the Energizer, Eveready, Rayovac, Hard Case, Dolphin, Varta, and WeatherReady brands. In addition, it licenses the Energizer and Eveready brands to companies developing consumer solutions in gaming, automotive batteries, portable power for critical devices, LED light bulbs, generators, power tools, household light bulbs, and other lighting products. Further, the company designs and markets automotive fragrance and appearance products, including protectants, wipes, tire and wheel care products, glass cleaners, leather care products, air fresheners, and washes to clean, shine, refresh, and protect interior and exterior automobile surfaces under the brand names of Armor All, Nu Finish, Refresh Your Car!, LEXOL, Eagle One, California Scents, Driven, and Bahama & Co; STP branded fuel and oil additives, functional fluids, and other performance chemical products; and do-it-yourself automotive air conditioning recharge products under the A/C PRO brand name, as well as other refrigerant and recharge kits, sealants, and accessories. It sells its products through direct sales force, distributors, and wholesalers; and through various retail and business-to-business channels, including mass merchandisers, club, electronics, food, home improvement, dollar store, auto, drug, hardware, e-commerce, convenience, sporting goods, hobby/craft, office, industrial, medical, and catalog. Energizer Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri.
The following companies are subsidiares of Tenet Healthcare: 45th Street MOB LLC, 601 N 30th Street I L.L.C., 601 N 30th Street II L.L.C., 601 N 30th Street III Inc., AHM Acquisition Co. Inc., AIG Holdings LLC, AIGB Global LLC, AIGB Group Inc., AIGB Holdings Inc., AIGB Management Services LLC, AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #1 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #2 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #3 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #4 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #5 L.L.C., AMI Information Systems Group Inc., AMI/HTI Tarzana Encino Joint Venture, APN, ARC Worcester Center L.P., ASC Old Co. LP, ASC of New Jersey LLC, ASJH Joint Venture LLC, Abrazo Health Network EP Clinical Services LLC, Abrazo Surgical Outpatient Center LLC, Advanced Ambulatory Surgical Care L.P., Advanced Center for Surgery  Vero Beach LLC, Advanced Regional Surgery Center LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Bethesda LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Metairie LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Northern Louisiana LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Sarasota LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Tampa LLC, Advanced Surgical Care of Lutz LLC, Advanced Surgical Care of St Louis LLC, Advanced Surgical Concepts LLC, Advantage Health Care Management Company LLC, Advantage Health Network Inc., AdventHealth Surgery Center Celebration LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Center Mills Park LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Center Wellswood LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Center Winter Garden LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Centers Central Florida LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Centers West Florida LLC, Alabama Cardiovascular Associates L.L.C., Alabama Digestive Health 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L.L.C., Atlanta Medical Center Physician Group L.L.C., Atlantic Coast Surgical Suites LLC, Atlantic Health-USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Audubon Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Avita/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., BBH BMC LLC, BBH CBMC LLC, BBH DevelopmentCo LLC, BBH NP Clinicians Inc., BBH PBMC LLC, BBH SBMC LLC, BBH WBMC LLC, BCDC EmployeeCO LLC, BHC-Talladega Pediatrics LLC, BHS Accountable Care LLC, BHS Affinity LLC, BHS Integrated Physician Partners LLC, BHS Physician Performance Network LLC, BHS Physicians Alliance for ACE LLC, BHS Physicians Network Inc., BHS Specialty Network Inc., BT East Dallas JV LLP, BW Cardiology LLC, BW Cyberknife LLC, BW Hand Practice LLC, BW Office Buildings LLC, BW Parking Decks LLC, BW Physician Practices LLC, BW Retail Pharmacy LLC, BW Sports Practice LLC, Baptist Accountable Care LLC, Baptist Diagnostics LLC, Baptist Health Centers LLC, Baptist Physician Alliance ACO LLC, Baptist Physician Alliance LLC, Baptist Plaza Surgicare L.P., Baptist Surgery Center L.P., Baptist Womens Health Center LLC, Baptist/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Bartlett ASC LLC, Beaumont Surgical Affiliates Ltd., Berkshire Eye LLC, Bloomington ASC LLC, Blue Ridge/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Bluffton Okatie Primary Care L.L.C., Bluffton Okatie Surgery Center L.L.C., Braselton Endoscopy Center LLC, Briarcliff Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Bristol Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Broad River Primary Care L.L.C., Brookwood Ancillary Holdings Inc., Brookwood Baptist Health 1 LLC, Brookwood Baptist Health 2 LLC, Brookwood Baptist Health 3 LLC, Brookwood Baptist Imaging LLC, Brookwood Center Development Corporation, Brookwood Development Inc., Brookwood Diagnostic Imaging Center LLC, Brookwood Garages L.L.C., Brookwood Health Services Inc., Brookwood Home Health LLC, Brookwood Occupational Health Clinic L.L.C., Brookwood Parking Associates Ltd., Brookwood Primary Care Cahaba Heights L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care Hoover L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care The Narrows L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care  Homewood L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care  Inverness L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care  Mountain Brook L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care  Oak Mountain L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care  Vestavia L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Network Care Inc., Brookwood Specialty Care  Endocrinology L.L.C., Brookwood Sports and Orthopedics L.L.C., Brookwood Womens Care L.L.C., Brookwood Womens Diagnostic Center LLC, Brookwood  Maternal Fetal Medicine L.L.C., Brownsville Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, C7 Technologies LLC, CGH GP Inc., CGH Hospital Ltd., CHIC/USP Surgery Centers LLC, CHN Holdings LLC, CHVI Tucson Holdings LLC, CML-Chicago Market Labs Inc., CRNAs of Michigan, CS/USP General Partner LLC, CS/USP Surgery Centers LP, Camp Creek Urgent Care L.L.C., Camp Lowell Surgery Center L.L.C., Cardiology Physicians Associates L.L.C., Cardiology Physicians Corporation L.L.C., Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery Associates L.L.C., Cardiovascular Clinical Excellence at Sierra Providence LLC, CareSpot of Austin LLC, CareSpot of Memphis LLC, Carmel Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Castle Rock Surgery Center LLC, Catawba-Piedmont Cardiothoracic Surgery L.L.C., Cedar Hill Primary Care L.L.C., Cedar Park Surgery Center L.L.P., Center for Advanced Research Excellence L.L.C., Center for the Urban Child Inc., Central Carolina Physicians  Sandhills L.L.C., Central Carolina-IMA L.L.C., Central Jersey Surgery Center LLC, Central Texas Corridor Hospital Company LLC, Central Valley Quality Alliance LLC, Central Virginia Surgi-Center L.P., Centura Ventures Surgery Centers LLC, Centura/USP Colorado Springs Surgery Centers L.L.C., Chalon Living Inc., Chandler Endoscopy Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Charlotte Endoscopic Surgery Center LLC, Chattanooga Pain Management Center LLC, Chesterfield Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Chico Surgery Center L.P., Clarksville Surgery Center LLC, Coast Healthcare Management LLC, Coast Surgery Center L.P., Coastal Carolina Medical Center, Coastal Carolina Medical Center Inc., Coastal Carolina Physician Practices LLC, Coastal Carolina Pro Fee Billing L.L.C., Colorado GI Centers LLC, Commonwealth Continental Health Care Inc., Community Connection Health Plan Inc., Community Hospital of Los Gatos Inc., Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of Asheville LLC, Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of Odessa LLC, Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of Raleigh LLC, Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of St. Petersburg LLC, Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of Tampa LLC, Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of Waco LLC, Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of Winston-Salem LLC, Conifer Care Continuum Solutions LLC, Conifer Ethics and Compliance Inc., Conifer Global Business Center Inc., Conifer Global Holdings Inc., Conifer Health Solutions LLC, Conifer Holdings Inc., Conifer Patient Communications LLC, Conifer Physician Services Holdings Inc., Conifer Physician Services Inc., Conifer Revenue Cycle Solutions LLC, Conifer Value-Based Care LLC, Conroe Surgery Center 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Medical Center Neurosciences Clinical Co-Management LLC, Doctors Medical Center Orthopedics Clinical Co-Management LLC, Doctors Medical Center of Modesto Inc., Doctors Outpatient Surgery Center of Jupiter L.L.C., EPHC Inc., EPIC ASC LLC, East Atlanta Endoscopy Centers LLC, East Cobb Urgent Care LLC, East Cooper Coastal Family Physicians L.L.C., East Cooper Community Hospital Inc., East Cooper Hyperbarics L.L.C., East Cooper OB/GYN L.L.C., East Cooper Physician Network LLC, East Cooper Primary Care Physicians L.L.C., East West Surgery Center L.P., Eastgate Building Center L.L.C., El Mirador Surgery Center L.L.C., El Paso Center for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy LLC, El Paso Day Surgery LLC, El Paso Urology Surgery Center Curie LLC, Emanate/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Emanuel Medical Center, Emerus BHS/SA NW Military LLC, Emerus BHS/SA Southside LLC, Emerus/BHS SA Hausman LLC, Emerus/BHS SA Kelly LLC, Emerus/BHS SA LLC, Emerus/BHS SA Overlook Parkway LLC, Emerus/BHS SA Schertz LLC, Emerus/BHS 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LLC, HCN EP Horizon City LLC, HCN EP Lee Trevino LLC, HCN EP Northeast LLC, HCN EP Sunland Park LLC, HCN Emerus El Paso LLC, HCN Emerus Management Sub LLC, HCN Emerus Texas LLC, HCN Laboratories Inc., HCN Physicians Inc., HCN Surgery Center Holdings Inc., HDMC Holdings L.L.C., HKRI Holdings LLC, HMHP/USP Surgery Centers LLC, HNMC Inc., HNW GP Inc., HNW LP Inc., HSRM International Inc., HSS Palm Beach Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, HSS/USP Surgery Center LLC, Hagerstown Surgery Center LLC, Harbor Heights Surgery Center LLC, Hardeeville Medical Group L.L.C., Hardeeville Primary Care L.L.C., Harlingen Physician Network Inc., Harper-Hutzel AHP Services Inc., Harvard Park Surgery Center LLC, Haymarket Surgery Center LLC, Health & Wellness Surgery Center L.P., Health Horizons of Kansas City Inc., Health Horizons of Murfreesboro Inc., Health Horizons/Piedmont Joint Venture LLC, Health Services CFMC Inc., Health Services HNMC Inc., Health Services Network Care Inc., Health Services Network 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L.L.C., Hilton Head Regional Physician Network LLC, Hilton Head Regional Physician Network  Georgia L.L.C., Hitchcock State Street Real Estate Inc., Holston Valley Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Holy Cross Hospital Inc., Home Health Partners of San Antonio LLC, Hoover Doctors Group Inc., Hoover Land LLC, Hospital Development of West Phoenix Inc., Hospital RCM Services LLC, Houston Northwest Partners Ltd., Houston PSC L.P., Houston Specialty Hospital Inc., Houston Sunrise Investors Inc., Hyde Park Surgery Center LLC, Imaging Center at Baxter Village L.L.C., InforMed Insurance Services LLC, International Health and Wellness Inc., Intracoastal Surgery Center LLC, JFK Memorial Hospital Inc., Jacksonville Endoscopy Centers LLC, Journey Home Healthcare of San Antonio LLC, KHS Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, KHS/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Kingsport Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Laguna Medical Systems Inc., Lake Endoscopy Center LLC, Lake Health Care Facilities Inc., LakeFront Medical Associates 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Endoscopy Center LLC, Memorial Hermann West Houston Surgery Center LLC, Memorial Hermann/USP Surgery Centers II L.P., Memorial Hermann/USP Surgery Centers IV LLP, Memorial Surgery Center LLC, Memphis Urgent Care #1 L.L.C., Memphis Urgent Care #2 L.L.C., Metro Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Metro Surgery Center LLC, MetroWest HomeCare & Hospice LLC, Metropolitan Medical Partners LLC, Miami Surgical Suites LLC, Michigan Pioneer ACO LLC, Michigan Regional Imaging LLC, Mid Rivers Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Mid State Endo UAP LLC, Mid-State Endoscopy Center LLC, Middle Tennessee Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Midland Memorial/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Midland Texas Surgical Center LLC, Midwest Digestive Health Center LLC, Midwest Pharmacies Inc., Midwest Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Millennium Surgical Center LLC, Minimally Invasive Surgicenter LLC, Minimally Invasive Surgicenter of Delray LLC, Mobile Imaging Management LLC, Mobile Technology Management LLC, Modesto Radiology Imaging Inc., Monocacy Surgery Center LLC, Mountain Empire Surgery Center L.P., Munster Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Murdock Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, NICH GP Holdings LLC, NKCH/USP Briarcliff GP LLC, NKCH/USP Liberty GP LLC, NKCH/USP Surgery Centers II L.L.C., NMC Lessor L.P., NMC Surgery Center L.P., NME Headquarters Inc., NME Properties Corp., NME Properties Inc., NME Property Holding Co. Inc., NME Psychiatric Hospitals Inc., NME Rehabilitation Properties Inc., NS Medical Billing Center L.L.C., NSCH GP Holdings LLC, NSCH/USP Desert Surgery Centers L.L.C., NSMC Holdings Inc., NSN Revenue Resources LLC, NUCH of Georgia L.L.C., NUCH of Massachusetts LLC, NUCH of Michigan Inc., Nacogdoches ASC-LP Inc., National ASC Inc., National Ancillary Inc., National Diagnostic Imaging Centers Inc., National HHC Inc., National Home Health Holdings Inc., National ICN Inc., National Imaging Center Holdings Inc., National Medical Services II Inc., National Outpatient Services Holdings Inc., National Surgery Center Holdings Inc., National Urgent Care Inc., Network Management Associates Inc., New Dimensions LLC, New England Physician Performance Network LLC, New H Acute Inc., New Horizons Surgery Center LLC, New Medical Horizons II Ltd., Newhope Imaging Center Inc., North Anaheim Surgery Center LLC, North Atlantic Surgical Suites LLC, North Campus Surgery Center LLC, North Carolina Community Family Medicine L.L.C., North Denver Musculoskeletal Surgical Partners LLC, North Fulton Cardiovascular Medicine L.L.C., North Fulton Hospitalist Group L.L.C., North Fulton Medical Center Inc., North Fulton Primary Care - Willeo Rd. 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El Paso Inc., RE Plano Med Inc., RHC Parkway Inc., RLC LLC, Reading Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Reading Endoscopy Center LLC, Reagan Street Surgery Center LLC, Red Cedar Surgery Center LLC, Redmond Surgery Center LLC, Republic Health Corporation of Rockwall County, Resolute Health Physicians Network Inc., Resolute Hospital Company LLC, Resurgens Surgery Center LLC, Rheumatology Associates of Atlanta Medical Center L.L.C., Rio Grande Valley Indigent Health Care Corporation, Riva Road Surgery Center LLC, River North Same Day Surgery L.L.C., Riverside Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Rock Bridge Surgical Institute L.L.C., Rock Hill Surgery Center LLC, Rockville Surgical Suites LLC, Rocky Mountain Endoscopy Centers LLC, Roswell Surgery Center L.L.C., SCNRE LLC, SFMP Inc., SFMPE - Crittenden L.L.C., SL-HLC Inc., SLH Physicians L.L.C., SLH Vista Inc., SLPA ACO LLC, SLUH Anesthesia Physicians L.L.C., SMSJ Imaging Company LLC, SMSJ Tucson Holdings LLC, SRRMC Management Inc., SSI Holdings Inc., Safety Harbor ASC Company LLC, Saint Francis Cardiology Associates L.L.C., Saint Francis Cardiovascular Surgery L.L.C., Saint Francis Center for Surgical Weight Loss L.L.C., Saint Francis Hospital Billing Center L.L.C., Saint Francis Hospital Medicare ACO LLC, Saint Francis Hospital Pro Fee Billing L.L.C., Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett Inc., Saint Francis Medical Partners East L.L.C., Saint Francis Medical Partners General Surgery L.L.C., Saint Francis Physician Network LLC, Saint Francis Quality Alliance LLC, Saint Francis Surgery Center L.L.C., Saint Francis Surgical Associates L.L.C., Saint Francis-Arkansas Physician Network LLC, Saint Francis-Bartlett Physician Network LLC, Saint Thomas Campus Surgicare L.P., Saint Thomas Surgery Center New Salem LLC, Saint Thomas/USP Surgery Centers II L.L.C., Saint Thomas/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Saint Thomas/USP  Baptist Plaza L.L.C., Saint Vincent Physician Services Inc., Salmon Surgery Center LLC, Same Day Management L.L.C., Same Day Surgery L.L.C., San Antonio Endoscopy L.P., San Fernando Valley Surgery Center L.P., San Gabriel Valley Surgical Center L.P., San Ramon ASC L. P., San Ramon Ambulatory Care LLC, San Ramon Network Joint Venture LLC, San Ramon Regional Medical Center LLC, Santa Barbara Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Santa Clarita Surgery Center L.P., Savannah Endoscopy Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Schertz Surgery Center LLC, Scottsdale Endoscopy ASC LLC, Scripps/USP Surgery Centers 2 LLC, Seaside Surgery Center LLC, Shelby Baptist Affinity LLC, Shelby Baptist Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Shore Outpatient Surgicenter L.L.C., Shoreline Real Estate Partnership LLP, Shoreline Surgery Center LLP, Sierra Providence Health Network Inc., Sierra Providence Healthcare Enterprises, Sierra Vista Hospital Inc., Sierra Vista Surgery Center LLC, Silver Cross Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Silver Cross/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Sinai-Grace Premier Clinical Management Services LLC, Solantic Development LLC, Solantic Holdings Corporation, South Carolina East Cooper Surgical Specialists L.L.C., South Carolina Health Services LLC, South Carolina SeWee Family Medicine L.L.C., South County Outpatient Endoscopy Services L.P., South Denver Musculoskeletal Surgical Partners LLC, South Florida Ambulatory Surgical Center LLC, South Fulton Health Care Centers Inc., South Plains Endoscopy Associates LLC, SouthCare Physicians Group Neurology L.L.C., SouthCare Physicians Group Obstetrics & Gynecology L.L.C., Southeast Ohio Surgical Suites LLC, Southern Orthopedics and Sports Medicine L.L.C., Southern States Physician Operations Inc., Southwest Childrens Hospital LLC, Southwest Endoscopy LLC, Southwestern Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Spalding Regional Medical Center Inc., Spalding Regional OB/GYN L.L.C., Spalding Regional Physician Services L.L.C., Specialty Surgicenters Inc., Springfield Service Holding Corporation, St. Augustine Endoscopy Center LLC, St. Christophers Pediatric Urgent Care Center - Allentown L.L.C, St. Josephs Hospital Surgical Co-Management LLC, St. Josephs Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, St. Louis Physician Alliance LLC, St. Louis Surgical Center LC, St. Louis Urology Center LLC, St. Lukes/USP Surgery Centers LLC, St. Marys Hospital Cardiovascular Co-Management LLC, St. Marys Hospital Surgical Co-Management LLC, St. Marys Levee Company LLC, St. Marys Medical Center Inc., St. Vincent Health/USP LLC, St. Vincent/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Suburban Endoscopy Center LLC, Summit View Surgery Center LLC, Sun View Imaging L.L.C., SurgCenter Camelback LLC, SurgCenter Clearwater LLC, SurgCenter Development, SurgCenter Northeast LLC, SurgCenter Pinellas LLC, SurgCenter Tucson LLC, SurgCenter at Paradise Valley LLC, SurgCenter of Deer Valley LLC, SurgCenter of Glen Burnie LLC, SurgCenter of Greater Dallas LLC, SurgCenter of Greater Jacksonville LLC, SurgCenter of Northern Baltimore LLC, SurgCenter of Palm Beach Gardens LLC, SurgCenter of Pine Ridge LLC, SurgCenter of Silver Spring LLC, SurgCenter of Southern Maryland LLC, SurgCenter of St. Lucie LLC, SurgCenter of White Marsh LLC, SurgCenter of the Potomac LLC, Surgery Affiliate of El Paso LLC, Surgery Center at Mount Pleasant LLC, Surgery Center at University Park LLC, Surgery Center of Columbia L.P., Surgery Center of Coral Gables LLC, Surgery Center of Okeechobee LLC, Surgery Center of Pembroke Pines L.L.C., Surgery Center of Peoria L.L.C., Surgery Center of Santa Barbara LLC, Surgery Center of Scottsdale LLC, Surgery Centers of America II L.L.C., Surgery Centre of SW Florida LLC, Surgical & Bariatric Associates of Atlanta Medical Center L.L.C., Surgical Center Development #3 LLC, Surgical Center Development #4 LLC, Surgical Clinical Excellence at Desert Regional LLC, Surgical Elite of Avondale L.L.C., Surgical Health Partners LLC, Surgical Institute Management LLC, Surgical Institute of Reading LLC, Surgicare of Miramar L.L.C., Surginet Inc., Surgis Inc., Surgis Management Services Inc., Surgis of Chico Inc., Surgis of Phoenix Inc., Surgis of Redding Inc., Surgis of Victoria Inc., Sutton Road Pediatrics L.L.C., Sylvan Grove Hospital Inc., T1 Security LLC, TENN SM LLC, TFPS IV L.L.C., TH Healthcare Ltd., TH International Services Florida LLC, TLC ASC LLC, TOPS Specialty Hospital Ltd., TOSCA ASC Holdings LLC, TPR Practice Management LLC, TPS VI of PA L.L.C., TSPE LLC, Tamarac Surgery Center LLC, Tampa Bay Joint and Spine LLC, Tempe New Day Surgery Center LP, Templeton Imaging Inc., Tenet Business Services Corporation, Tenet California Inc., Tenet Central Carolina Physicians Inc., Tenet EKG Inc., Tenet El Paso Ltd., Tenet Employment Inc., Tenet Finance Corp., Tenet Florida Inc., Tenet Florida Physician Services II L.L.C., Tenet Florida Physician Services III L.L.C., Tenet Florida Physician Services L.L.C., Tenet Fort Mill Inc., Tenet Global Business Center Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Bucks County L.L.C., Tenet HealthSystem Graduate L.L.C., Tenet HealthSystem Hahnemann L.L.C., Tenet HealthSystem Medical Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Nacogdoches ASC GP Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Philadelphia Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Roxborough LLC, Tenet HealthSystem St. Christophers Hospital for Children L.L.C., Tenet Hilton Head Heart L.L.C., Tenet Hospitals Limited, Tenet Network Management Inc., Tenet Patient Safety Organization LLC, Tenet Physician Resources LLC, Tenet Physician Services - Hilton Head Inc., Tenet Rehab Piedmont Inc., Tenet Relocation Services L.L.C., Tenet SC East Cooper Hospitalists L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Gastrointestinal Surgical Specialists L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Island Medical L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Lowcountry OB/GYN L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Mt. Pleasant OB/GYN L.L.C., Tenet Unifour Urgent Care Center L.L.C., Tenet Ventures Inc., TenetCare Frisco Inc., Terre Haute Surgical Center LLC, Teton Outpatient Services LLC, Texan Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Texas Orthopedics Surgery Center LLC, Texas Regional Medical in Sunnyvale, The 6300 West Roosevelt Partnership, The Healthcare Insurance Corporation, The Healthcare Underwriting Company a Risk Retention Group, The Huron Corporation, The Old Bridge Surgery Center LLC, The Outpatient Center LLC, The Southeastern Spine Institute Ambulatory Surgery Center L.L.C., The Surgery Center at Jensen Beach LLC, The Tresanti Surgical Center LLC, Theda Oaks Gastroenterology & Endoscopy Center LLC, Three Springs ASC LLC, Timonium Surgery Center LLC, Titan Health Corporation, Titan Health of Chattanooga Inc., Titan Health of Hershey Inc., Titan Health of Mount Laurel LLC, Titan Health of North Haven Inc., Titan Health of Pittsburgh Inc., Titan Health of Pleasant Hills Inc., Titan Health of Princeton Inc., Titan Health of Sacramento Inc., Titan Health of Saginaw Inc., Titan Health of Titusville Inc., Titan Health of West Penn Inc., Titan Health of Westminster Inc., Titan Management Corporation, Titusville Center for Surgical Excellence LLC, Treasure Coast ASC LLC, Trinity Health of New England/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., True Medical Weight Loss L.P., True Medical Wellness LP, True Results Georgia Inc., True Results HoldCo LLC, True Results Missouri LLC, Tucson Digestive Institute LLC, Tucson Hospital Holdings Inc., Tucson Physician Group Holdings LLC, Turlock Imaging Services LLC, Turlock Land Company LLC, Twin Cities Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Twin Cities Community Hospital Inc., UAP Lebanon Endo LLC, UAP Nashville Endoscopy LLC, UAP Scopes LLC, UAP of Arizona Inc., UAP of California Inc., UAP of Missouri Inc., UAP of New Jersey Inc., UAP of Oklahoma Inc., UAP of Tennessee Inc., UAP of Texas Inc., UCC Tucson Holdings LLC, UMC Surgery Center Lubbock LLC, UMC-USP Surgery Centers LLC, USC/Norris Cancer Hospital, USP 12th Ave Real Estate Inc., USP Acquisition Corporation, USP Alexandria Inc., USP Assurance Company, USP Athens Inc., USP Atlanta Inc., USP Austin Inc., USP Bariatric LLC, USP Beaumont Inc., USP Bergen Inc., USP Bloomington Inc., USP Bridgeton Inc., USP Cedar Park Inc., USP Chesterfield Inc., USP Chicago Inc., USP Cincinnati Inc., USP Coast Inc., USP Columbia Inc., USP Connecticut Inc., USP Corpus Christi Inc., USP Creve Coeur Inc., USP Denver Inc., USP Des Peres Inc., USP Destin Inc., USP Domestic Holdings Inc., USP Effingham Inc., USP Encinitas Endoscopy Inc., USP Fenton Inc., USP Festus Inc., USP Florissant Inc., USP Fort Lauderdale Inc., USP Fort Worth Hospital Real Estate Inc., USP Fredericksburg Inc., USP Fresno Inc., USP Frontenac Inc., USP Gateway Inc., USP HMH Surgery Center at Shore LLC, USP Harbour View Inc., USP Houston Inc., USP Indiana Inc., USP International Holdings Inc., USP Jacksonville Inc., USP Jersey City Inc., USP Kansas City Inc., USP Knoxville Inc., USP Little Rock Inc., USP Long Island Inc., USP Louisiana Inc., USP Lubbock Inc., USP Maryland Inc., USP Mason Ridge Inc., USP Mattis Inc., USP Michigan Inc., USP Midland Inc., USP Midland Real Estate Inc., USP Midwest Inc., USP Mission Hills Inc., USP Montana Inc., USP Morris Inc., USP Mt. Vernon Inc., USP Nevada Holdings LLC, USP Nevada Inc., USP New Hampshire Inc., USP New Jersey Inc., USP Newport News Inc., USP North Carolina Inc., USP North Kansas City Inc., USP North Texas Inc., USP Northwest Arkansas Inc., USP OKC Inc., USP OKC Manager Inc., USP Office Parkway Inc., USP Ohio RE Inc., USP Oklahoma Inc., USP Olive Inc., USP Orlando Inc., USP Philadelphia Inc., USP Phoenix Inc., USP Portland Inc., USP Reading Inc., USP Richmond II Inc., USP Richmond Inc., USP Sacramento Inc., USP San Antonio Inc., USP Santa Barbara Surgery Centers Inc., USP Securities Corporation , USP Silver Cross Inc., USP Siouxland Inc., USP Somerset Inc., USP South Carolina Inc., USP Southlake RE Inc., USP St. Louis Inc., USP St. Louis Urology Inc., USP St. Peters Inc., USP Sunset Hills Inc., USP TJ STL Inc., USP Tennessee Inc., USP Texas Air L.L.C., USP Texas L.P., USP Torrance Inc., USP Tucson Inc., USP Turnersville Inc., USP Virginia Beach Inc., USP Washington Inc., USP Waxahachie Management L.L.C., USP Webster Groves Inc., USP West Covina Inc., USP Westwood Inc., USP Winter Park Inc., USP Wisconsin Inc., USP-HMH Surgery Center at Central Jersey LLC, USP/Carondelet Tucson Surgery Centers LLC, USP/SOS Joint Venture LLC, USPI Group Holdings Inc., USPI Holding Company Inc.1, USPI Holdings Inc., USPI Physician Strategy Group LLC, USPI San Diego Inc., USPI Stockton Inc., USPI Surgical Services Inc., Underwood Surgery Center LLC, United Anesthesia Partners Inc., United Real Estate Development Inc., United Real Estate Holdings Inc., United Surgical Partners Holdings Inc., United Surgical Partners International, United Surgical Partners International Inc., Universal Medical Care Center L.L.C., University Surgery Center Ltd., Upper Bay Surgery Center LLC, Utica/USP Tulsa L.L.C., VB Brownsville LTACH LLC, VBOA ASC GP LLC, VBOA ASC Partners L.L.C., VHM Services Inc., VHS Acquisition Corporation, VHS Acquisition Partnership Number 1 L.P, VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 1 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 11 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 12 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 3 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 4 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 5 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 6 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 7 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 8 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 9 Inc., VHS Arizona Heart Institute Inc., VHS Brownsville Hospital Company LLC, VHS Chicago Market Procurement LLC, VHS Childrens Hospital of Michigan Inc., VHS Detroit Businesses Inc., VHS Detroit Receiving Hospital Inc., VHS Detroit Ventures Inc., VHS Harlingen Hospital Company LLC, VHS Harper-Hutzel Hospital Inc., VHS Holding Company Inc., VHS Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital Inc., VHS Imaging Centers Inc., VHS New England Holding Company I Inc., VHS Outpatient Clinics Inc., VHS Phoenix Health Plan Inc., VHS Physicians of Michigan, VHS Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan Inc., VHS San Antonio Imaging Partners L.P., VHS San Antonio Partners LLC, VHS Sinai-Grace Hospital Inc., VHS University Laboratories Inc., VHS Valley Health System LLC, VHS Valley Holdings LLC, VHS Valley Management Company Inc., VHS West Suburban Medical Center Inc., VHS Westlake Hospital Inc., VHS of Anaheim Inc., VHS of Arrowhead Inc., VHS of Huntington Beach Inc., VHS of Illinois Inc., VHS of Michigan Inc., VHS of Michigan Staffing Inc., VHS of Orange County Inc., VHS of Phoenix Inc., VHS of South Phoenix Inc., Valley Baptist Lab Services LLC, Valley Baptist Physician Performance Network, Valley Baptist Realty Company LLC, Valley Baptist Surgery Center LLC, Valley Baptist Surgery Center Real Estate LLC, Valley Baptist Wellness Center LLC, Valley Health Care Network, Vanguard Health Financial Company LLC, Vanguard Health Holding Company I LLC, Vanguard Health Holding Company II LLC, Vanguard Health Management Inc., Vanguard Health Systems, Vanguard Health Systems Inc., Vanguard Holding Company I Inc., Vanguard Holding Company II Inc., Vanguard Medical Specialists LLC, Vanguard Physician Services LLC, Ventana Surgical Center LLC, Veroscan Inc., Victoria Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., WHASA L.C., Walker Baptist Affinity LLC, Walker Street Imaging Care Inc., Warner Park Surgery Center LLC, Watermark Physician Services Inc., Webster Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Wellington Endo LLC, Wellstar/USP Joint Venture I LLC, Wellstar/USP Joint Venture II LLC, West Boca Health Services L.L.C., West Boca Medical Center Inc., West Bozeman Surgery Center LLC, West Palm Healthcare Real Estate Inc., West Suburban Radiation Therapy Center LLC, Westgate Surgery Center LLC, Westlake Hospital LLC, Westlawn Surgery Center LLC, Westminster Surgery Center LLC, Westminster Surgery Centers LLC, White Fence Surgical Suites LLC, Wilmington Endoscopy Center LLC, Wilshire Rental Corp., Windsor Mill Surgery Center LLC, Winter Haven Ambulatory Surgical Center L.L.C., Wisconsin Specialty Surgery Center LLC, and Wymark Surgery Center LLC.

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Hillary Clinton said her skin crawled as Donald Trump loomed behind her at a presidential debate in St. Louis, and added that she wished she could have pressed pause and asked America, Well, what would you do?

The words, Clintons most detailed public comments about what happened during one of the campaigns more memorable moments, are included in her new book, What Happened, which she called an attempt to pull back the curtain on her losing bid for the presidency.

Some of the moments during the campaign, she said, baffled her. Others seemingly repulsed her: In recounting the October incident, she referred to Trump as a creep.

The book comes out Sept. 12, but audio excerpts, read by Clinton, were played Wednesday morning on MSNBCs Morning Joe.

In the recording, Clinton noted that she wrote about moments from the campaign that she wanted to remember forever  as well as others she wished she could go back and do over.

The moment from the debate appeared to fall into the latter category.

This is not okay, I thought, Clinton said, reading from her book. It was the second presidential debate and Donald Trump was looming behind me. Two days before, the world heard him brag about groping women. Now we were on a small stage and no matter where I walked, he followed me closely, staring at me, making faces.

It was incredibly uncomfortable. He was literally breathing down my neck. My skin crawled. It was one of those moments where you wish you could hit pause and ask everyone watching, Well, what would you do? Do you stay calm, keep smiling and carry on as if he werent repeatedly invading your space? Or do you turn, look him in the eye and say loudly and clearly, Back up, you creep. Get away from me. I know you love to intimidate women, but you cant intimidate me, so back up.'

The debate took place two days after Trump was heard bragging about groping, kissing and trying to have sex with women on the Access Hollywood tape  comments made in 2005 on an apparent hot mic.

Afterward, some Republican critics said Trump should drop out of the race. But he ended a video response to the years-old tapes release by saying: See you at the debate on Sunday.

Trumps actions during the debate were viewed as bullying even before the moment that Clinton recounted.

As The Posts Sarah L. Kaufman wrote, Trump paced and rocked and grimaced as spoke; he broke into her time by shouting over her. When she protested that she had not done the same to him, he shot back with all the finesse youd hear in a middle school gym: Thats cause you got nothin to say.

When it was his turn to speak, Trump got angry, pointed at her, swung his arms around with alarming force.

His actions were widely mocked and criticized after the debate, and even featured in a Saturday Night Live skit that showed him zooming toward an unsuspecting Clinton.

If a man did that to me on the street  Id call 911, political commentator and former Republican strategist Nicolle Wallace said, according to NBC News.

The New York Daily News headline the day after the debate read: Grab a seat, loser.

In the post-debate spin room, Clinton surrogates accused Trump of menacingly stalking the Democratic nominee. Two body language experts analyzed the debate and concluded Trump was trying to assert his power by roaming the stage while Clinton spoke.

Trumps constant pacing and restless movements around the stage attracted attention from Hillarys words, and visually disrespected her physical presence on the stage, as in I am big, you are small,  David Givens, director of the Center for Nonverbal Studies, a nonprofit research center in Spokane, Wash., told The Post then.

Clinton said in the audio clip played on MSNBC that What Happened is not a comprehensive account of the 2016 race  and that it was difficult to write.

Every day that I was a candidate for president, I knew that millions of people were counting on me, and I couldnt bear the idea of letting them down  but I did, she said. I couldnt get the job done, and Ill have to live with that for the rest of my life.

Simon & Schuster, the books publisher, says What Happened is Clintons most personal memoir yet.

In the past, for reasons I try to explain, Ive often felt I had to be careful in public, like I was up on a wire without a net, she writes in the introduction. Now Im letting my guard down.

Immediately after the election, Clinton kept a low profile, though she was occasionally spotted hiking in the woods by her Chappaqua, N.Y., neighbors; SNL even poked fun at the hubbub surrounding her sylvan whereabouts in a sketch called The Hunt for Hil.

In recent months, Clinton has slowly reemerged in the public eye, making speeches and giving interviews in which she addressed the historic election.

Its unclear how much Clinton was paid for writing What Happened. Simon & Schuster representatives did not immediately respond to questions sent by email early Wednesday.

The publisher never publicly disclosed how much Clinton received for her 2014 book, Hard Choices, though in 2000, Clinton reportedly was paid about $8 million in advance to write a memoir (eventually titled Living History) about her years as first lady, according to the New York Times.



Video: Clinton calls Trump a creep in her new book, What Happened

URL: http://wapo.st/2g4Vf9W
Detectives have arrested the second suspect in the rape of two young girls who said they were given an Uber ride to a northeast Albuquerque apartment last week.

Deputy Felicia Maggard, a spokeswoman for the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office, said Leon Harker, 19, was booked into jail Wednesday evening on two counts of criminal sexual penetration of a minor and other charges.

She said the two girls, ages 12 and 16, told detectives Harkers friend, Shane Sandoval, 21, had called an Uber driver to pick up them up at a runaway shelter and give them a ride to his apartment.

Thats where the girls said Sandoval and Leon Harker, 19, both raped each of them, Maggard said.

Detectives arrested Sandoval Friday on the same charges.

Maggard said the detectives investigating the case wanted to emphasize that the young girls should not be blamed for being in a situation where they were raped.

In most cases a victim is promised one thing and then violently attacked or coerced and sexually assaulted, she wrote. The people being charged in this crime deserve 100 percent of the blame.
WASHINGTON  More people are fleeing poverty-stricken El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala for the southern border of the United States because of hunger and a lack of food than over fears of crime and gang violence.

According to a new report from a coalition of international aid agencies, almost half of the families interviewed in the study were food insecure, meaning they dont regularly have enough to eat.

The reports authors argued that their findings show if the United States wants to stop illegal immigration across its shared border with Mexico, it should help Latin America grapple with its food crisis.

This is not as complicated as it seems, said David Beasley, the executive director for the World Food Program. If you want to solve the migration problem, solve the food security problem.

The report was a joint effort by the WFP, the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Organization of American States and the International Organization for Migration. It examined what the authors called food insecurity in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala  an area known as the Northern Triangle. Frequent droughts there make agriculture a challenge.

Human nature is the same everywhere in the world. If people cant get food, they will move, Beasley said. Weve been reducing malnutrition and hunger, but weve hit a wall and we now seem to be going the wrong direction.

Of households interviewed, 72 percent were already taking emergency steps to feed their families, including selling land, livestock or other possessions such as tools to earn enough money to buy food. While this helps people meet their immediate need, it imperils their future economic opportunities because it eliminates assets that could have been used in the future to sustain a family economically.

Emigration becomes the ultimate coping strategy, the report finds; an option people turn to when they have no other choice.

Young people were particularly susceptible to migration driven by lack of food. The number of unaccompanied minors is down slightly from the nearly 70,000 that arrived on Americas southern border in 2014, but the flow of young people remains a pressing issue. In fiscal year 2016, nearly 60,000 of the 400,000 undocumented people detained there were under age 16. Most were from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

Those countries credited the Alliance for Prosperity, a program created by the Obama administration to respond to the 2014 surge in migration north, with providing funds that are helping improve conditions in the Northern Triangle. The money, some of which also comes from the IDB, is targeted at programs to help reduce poverty and violence and to create stable communities that people feel no need to leave. The strategy was modeled after Plan Colombia.

Officials from the three countries said Wednesday that the efforts must continue.

We want to make sure its not just something temporary, said El Salvadors foreign minister, Hugo Martinez. What we cannot allow is factors to incubate in our region that could lead to social unrest in the future. We have to be working now.

Congress allocated $750 million in the 2016 budget to fund the Alliance for Prosperity, but for 2017 the amount was reduced to $655 million. And President Donald Trumps 2018 budget request would reduce funding further, to $460 million, even as his administration said it supported the strategy.

In Honduras, violence used to be the number one cause for migration north. But the countrys vice minister for foreign affairs, Maria Andrea Matamoros, said thanks to the regional efforts in conjunction with the Alliance for Prosperity, it is now third in the list of reasons driving people out of Honduras. Homicides have also reduced substantially, she said.

Climate change, including impacts of El Nino, is a major cause of disruption to agriculture in the region. This contributes heavily to food shortages.

The impact of climate change is very drastic in the Dry Corridor and particularly in El Salvador, Martinez said. In 2015 alone we lost 470,000 tons of maize, and about 6,000 tons of beans.

Guatemalas minister of food security and nutrition, German Gonzalez, said his country experienced long dry spells in 2014 and 2015, which dramatically reduced grain output for subsistence farmers. He said some families still havent been able to recover their livelihoods.

You cant leave us on our own yet, Martinez said. We still need the support of the international community.
1. What is the biggest issue facing the city, and how would you address it?

Crime, but crime is a symptom of economics, health, and opportunity. Well address mental health and homelessness to decrease crime. In turn, well create a larger and more invigorated workforce and business climate to bring jobs and opportunity to Albuquerque.

2. What would you do to tackle Albuquerques crime problem?

Finish the Department of Justice mandate, fully staff police and legal departments, and overhaul emergency service delivery. Through non-officer, service-based response to homelessness and addiction, we save money, reduce strain on officers, and provide better outcomes and services for all residents.

3. What do you believe is the optimum number of officers for APD and what, if anything, would you do reach that number?

With our current emergency services system, 1,300 police officers is optimal. To make this happen I will reinstate the incentivization plans the city unfairly revoked to reduce officer attrition and budget for new officers in each annual budget.

4. Would you keep Police Chief Gorden Eden if you are elected mayor? If not, how would you go about selecting a new police chief? What would your time frame be? Do you have anyone in mind?

No. A national search will be conducted and the best candidate will be selected as soon as possible. Hiring a special master ensures the police force meets its goals and gives civilian oversight teeth, helping expedite the reform process.

5. APD is currently operating under a U.S. Department of Justice settlement agreement that outlines reforms, policy changes and mandatory training that police need to complete over several years. Should the city continue with that settlement agreement or go back to DOJ and the courts and attempt to get out of or modify it? If modify, how so?

These reforms, policy changes, and training overhauls are essential to increasing policing efficacy and reestablishing community trust. We need to steadfastly continue with the stipulations set forth in the DOJ settlement and finish reforms in compliance with the mandate.

6. In what circumstances, if any, would you support raising taxes? Which taxes would you be receptive to increasing?

I support taxes when they are transparently proposed and voted on to address specific needs within our city. Taxing unnecessary, wasteful, hard-to-process goods that have clear supplemental market items, like polystyrene or single-use grocery bags, are taxes Im receptive to.

7. The current administration has made technology and entrepreneurial innovation the centerpiece of its economic development efforts. Would you continue that focus or switch gears? Why?

I will continue with and expand that focus to include new, locally owned biotech initiatives. Albuquerque has a unique foothold in the global healthcare industry that we must capitalize on through cooperating with Innovate ABQ, UNM, start-ups, and international business.

8. What would be your approach to boosting the economy in Albuquerque?

Biotech and solar are large industries that we will immediately invest in. Making our city energy self-sufficient through an aggressive solar energy plan will drive our local economy in short-run growth, while biotech bolsters our long-run future.

9. In recent years, the city has been issuing revenue bonds to pay for major capital projects. Would you support the continued use of revenue bonds to fund capital projects?

I would. By integrating revenue bonds with strategic planning, we can accomplish more as a city and stay accountable to voting citizens. An open-access city means informed processes ensuring people decide where their tax dollars go.

10. Whats your take on the Albuquerque Rapid Transit project?

ART is a gentrification project, rather than a public transit improvement project. It is an unfortunate example of how our city can never again neglect open-access and citizen cooperation, and it is not how I would spend $119 million.

11. What plans do you have to raise the quality of life for Albuquerque residents?

I will reduce crime by restructuring emergency services to deliver more effective, efficient, and specialized care, connect new industry to education to create increased access and opportunity, and aggressively tackle green energy to ensure Albuquerque has one less utility bill.

12. Albuquerques educational system is viewed by many as being in a crisis situation  its graduation rate is below 70 percent, and far too many students are below grade level in competency. In addition, its often cited as being a deterrent for attracting new businesses and employers. As mayor, do you believe there is anything you can do to improve the situation? If so, what would you do?

Yes. I will bring back incentives for teachers to have after-school clubs, as well as cooperate with nonprofits and community groups to bring resources and opportunity directly into the public school system. Such cooperatives also help fill in the academic calendar.

13. The Healthy Workforce Ordinance has garnered both praise and criticism. If approved by voters on Oct. 3, the ballot initiative will require any business with a physical presence in Albuquerque to provide paid sick time off to full-time, part-time and temporary workers. Supporters argue that the ordinance would ensure that workers dont have to choose between their paychecks and caring for themselves or a loved one. Opponents argue that it would hurt businesses because of higher costs and record-keeping requirements. Whats your position on the ordinance?

I support the ordinance. While some changes could be made to clean up the writing, it is an important initiative that provides a higher bottom-line to our community, which means better outcomes for all of us.

14. Whats your position on the 2 cent per gallon gasoline tax increase that has been proposed? Under the measure, revenue generated would be used for roadway and other transportation projects. Voter approval would be required to enact the tax.

With current infrastructure, this tax would disproportionately affect the poor. A quarterly stabilizing market range that self-subsidizes or taxes depending on trends could be more effective for independent economics.

15. What differentiates you from your opponents?

Im 22. I am not a career politician or beholden to special interests; Im running for mayor with ideas that put our neighbors experience and expertise first. Electing me will be electing a future that requires community growth and empowerment.

16. Name one issue not mentioned in the questions above that you would plan to tackle as mayor.

A real vision for the future. As mayor, I will steer our technologies, arts, sciences, and intersectionality onto an interactive world stage. Protecting, preserving, and celebrating our resources, natural and otherwise, creates a better future for all of us.

17. Have you or your business, if you are a business owner, ever been the subject of any state or federal tax liens?

No.

18. Have you ever been involved in a personal or business bankruptcy proceeding?

No.

19. Have you ever been arrested for, charged with, or convicted of drunken driving, any misdemeanor or any felony in New Mexico or any other state? If yes, explain.

No.
WASHINGTON  The conflict between President Donald Trump and Congress escalated a day after he threatened to shut down the federal government over funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall and targeted opponents in Congress, aggravating tensions as a difficult legislative agenda looms.

Trump is now at odds not only with Democrats, who cemented their objections to funding the wall Wednesday, but also with Republicans, who must reconcile his brash rhetoric with the governing realities of Congress.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., played down the prospect of a shutdown, telling reporters Wednesday that even if the wall debate remains unresolved, Congress probably would pass a stopgap extension of funding to prevent a lapse when the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30.

Other lawmakers chided the president for the attacks he fired off during a campaign-style rally in Phoenix on Tuesday evening  including indirect references to Arizonas two senators, Jeff Flake and John McCain.

Its entirely counterproductive for the president to be picking fights with Republican senators who he will need for important agenda items that they both agree on, said Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa. Does he think that Democratic senators will be more cooperative than John McCain and Jeff Flake and Susan Collins? It doesnt seem to make any sense.

Republicans face a litany of high-stakes deadlines when they return to Washington after Labor Day: to extend funding for government agencies, raise the nations borrowing limit, and reauthorize programs for flood insurance and childrens health. GOP leaders also hope to kick off an ambitious effort to rewrite the federal tax code in a bid to rescue their foundering legislative agenda.

So I dont think anyone is interested in having a shutdown, Ryan said at a tax policy event in Oregon. I dont think its in our interest to do so.

Both Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell moved to dispel reports of a relationship that has frayed through mutual frustrations  McConnells exasperation with Trumps response to deadly violence at a white-nationalist rally in Virginia, and Trumps frustration with a stalled congressional agenda.

Both men issued statements Wednesday saying they remained committed to working together on Republican priorities.

We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we are committed to advancing our shared agenda together, and anyone who suggests otherwise is clearly not part of the conversation, McConnell said.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the two men remain united on many shared priorities, including middle class tax relief, strengthening the military, constructing a southern border wall, and other important issues and plan to meet when the congressional recess ends after Labor Day.

The gesture of detente came after a New York Times report highlighted their rocky relationship and after Trumps salvo in Phoenix  an ultimatum aimed squarely at Capitol Hill.

Build that wall, he said. Now, the obstructionist Democrats would like us not to do it. But believe me, if we have to close down our government, were building that wall.

At other points in the rally, Trump urged McConnell to ditch the long-standing Senate rules that give the minority party the ability to block major bills. He hinted that he would pardon former Arizona county sheriff Joe Arpaio, a divisive figure who has been found in criminal contempt by a federal judge. And without naming them, he referred to the opposition he has faced from Flake and McCain.

I will not mention any names  very presidential, isnt it? he said, only to take aim at Flake as weak on crime & border in a tweet hours later.

The shutdown threat is a response to the leverage granted to the minority party in the Senate. While Republicans control the House, Senate and White House, Democrats have enough votes in the Senate to filibuster any spending bill  giving them the power to make demands on what is or isnt included in a funding package.

Democratic leaders reiterated their opposition to Trumps proposal Wednesday. Both Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Trump would be responsible if the government shuts down over the impasse.

If the President pursues this path, against the wishes of both Republicans and Democrats, as well as the majority of the American people, he will be heading toward a government shutdown which nobody will like and which wont accomplish anything, Schumer said in a statement.

Public opinion leans against the border wall, though most Republicans support it. Rasmussen Reports, a conservative-leaning firm, conducted an automated poll of likely U.S. voters late last month and found that a solid majority of Americans oppose building a border wall to help stop illegal immigration, with 37 percent supporting Trumps proposal versus 56 percent against. That is similar to a poll conducted in February by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center that found Americans opposed the wall 62 percent to 35 percent.

Ryan said the border wall should ultimately be funded, reflecting the wishes of most congressional Republicans, including key conservatives who have rallied to Trumps side. But he has refrained from engaging in Trumps red-meat build the wall rhetoric, in what GOP aides described as an effort to avoid poisoning upcoming negotiations with Democrats.

We do agree that we need to have the physical barrier on the border. We do need to have border control. We do need to enforce our borders, Ryan said. We completely agree on that.

McConnell has avoided direct calls for a wall while supporting tougher border security generally. While Trump claimed Wednesday that the two men share that goal, McConnell did not mention the wall in his statement.

Aides also took note on Tuesday that while Trump threatened to close down our government over the border wall issue, he stopped short of an explicit threat to veto any spending bill that did not include wall funding.

A veto threat could box in GOP leaders as they prepare to negotiate with Democratic leaders who have pledged never to support wall funding. Trump clearly placed the border wall at the center of those negotiations, increasing pressure on congressional Republicans to deliver.

Conservatives, however, already smarting from the GOPs failure to pass health-care legislation, say the party is rightly under pressure.

Obviously no one wants a government shutdown, but if Charles Schumer thinks its more important to hold up a bill that does what the American people elected their government to do, then lets have that debate, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a leader of the conservative bloc in the House, said on Wednesday.

In recent years, when Democrat Barack Obama was in the White House and Republicans held one or both chambers of Congress, partisan demands over federal spending were hashed out among top leaders in closed-door negotiations. While leaders on both sides set out aggressive positions, they typically refrained from issuing hard ultimatums to preserve space to bargain.

The White House hasnt reached a decision about whether Trump would agree to a stopgap spending bill, a senior administration official said, as he still needs to see details from lawmakers. Trump could choose to block such a measure or agree to a short-term extension in the hopes that it gives lawmakers more time to agree on funding for a new wall.

Jordan said Wednesday that conservatives would be inclined to support an extension but are wary of any attempt to set up a high-stakes deadline ahead of the year-end holidays.

Is this going to come due at Dec. 23 at midnight? Usually when you do those things you sometimes get some things that arent the best for the taxpayer, he said. I think the timings important.

During the presidential campaign last year, Trump vowed to force Mexico to fund construction of a wall along the U.S. border that he said could be up to 50 feet tall. Since the election, he has changed course, saying that Congress instead needs to spend taxpayer funds to begin construction on new segments of the wall. There is already a wall or fence along parts of the U.S. border with Mexico.

On Wednesday, a committee that raises money for Trumps campaign and the Republican National Committee sent an email to supporters calling on them to pressure Senate lawmakers that the American VOTERS want this beautiful, impenetrable wall constructed and asked them to digitally sign an Official Build The Wall Petition.

House Republicans voted last month to provide $1.6 billion in seed funding for the wall as part of a larger spending package. That bill is not expected to be taken up in the Senate.

Spending legislation that passed into law earlier this year did not include wall funding after Democrats refused to accept it. That impasse increased pressure on Republicans to deliver wall funding in future spending battles.

Dent, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, accused Democrats of being unreasonable in drawing a hard line against any wall funding  particularly, he said, because many of them supported a 2005 law mandating an expanded border fence. But he said he was concerned about the lack of specifics about what the Trump administration is planning for the border.

It would be nice to know exactly what we were talking about and how much money, he said. If youre asking me if its worth shutting the government over $1.6 billion, I think that would be a mistake. It would be very bad for the country, terrible politically, and completely counterproductive.
On Wednesday afternoon, Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., visited the Girl Scouts of New Mexico to participate in a robotics project with scouts and to talk about the importance of girls in STEM.

Last month, the Girl Scouts of the USA announced the introduction of 23 new merit badges for the outdoors and STEM, which stands for science, technology, engineering and math. On Wednesday, older girls assisted younger scouts building a mechanical arm for a robot, which is one of the steps required for earning a Brownie level Designing Robots badge, said Allie Burnquist, the STEM program manager for the New Mexico Girl Scouts.

Last month, the Girl Scouts of the USA announced the introduction of 23 new merit badges for the outdoors and STEM, which stands for science, technology, engineering and math. On Wednesday, older girls assisted younger scouts building a mechanical arm for a robot, which is one of the steps required for earning a Brownie level Designing Robots badge, said Allie Burnquist, the STEM program manager for the New Mexico Girl Scouts.

Heinrich emphasized to the girls the importance of staying involved in STEM.

When I got my engineering degree, for every woman who was in one of my classes there were about eight men in those same classes, he said. We can't do that as a country because we need women scientists and we need women who are advocates. And that's where all of you come in.

The two girls leading the project were 14-year-old Alejandra Zerrate and 13-year-old Cora Cummins. Younger scouts, some 5 years old, watched with rapt attention as the older girls demonstrated how to build the arm by drilling holes into Popsicle sticks and connecting them using toothpicks.

Both Cora and Alejandra were excited to pass on their knowledge to the younger girls.

It feels cool because just imagine what they're going to grow up to be, said Cora.

The girls also said that even before the new badges were introduced, Girl Scouts offered and encouraged participation in STEM programs. For example, high school juniors Catherine Rousculp and Summer Bronson from Los Alamos said their involvement in Girl Scouts lead to their participation in a science fair at the White House in 2013, where they demonstrated their project  a cooling headband meant to treat insomnia in senior citizens  to former President Barack Obama.

Going into the future, Alejandra said she hopes that young scouts who are passionate about STEM will stick with it.

Be involved, she said. If you want to do something, do it, because if it's a passion of yours, why stop?

We welcome suggestions for the daily Bright Spot. Send to newsroom@abqjournal.com.
While results have been mixed in studies on whether N.M.s tax rebates to the film industry deliver a positive return on investment, its hard to argue with the number of jobs they create.

Really hard.

Because New Mexico hosted 52 million-dollar-plus productions last year, up from 30 in fiscal 2016. That translated to 448,304 worker days  a 72 percent increase from the year before.

Last fiscal year the industrys direct spending in the state hit just under $506 million  the third straight year of increased direct spending and $119 million higher than the previous year.

While its undeniable that N.M. taxpayers, through tax rebates, subsidize the industry, its also evident that a lot more New Mexicans would not be working steadily without those subsidies.

The states film incentives  a 25 percent to 30 percent tax rebate on all New Mexico goods and services (capped at $50 million per year) remain among the most stable in the country.

Although Gov. Susana Martinez was skeptical of the tax breaks when campaigning for office, she has lent her support in recent years and announced the record direct spending earlier this month from the set of NBCs drama The Brave, being filmed at ABQ Studios in the Mesa del Sol area. It shows positive economic impact is the quickest way to win fans.

And the film industrys increasing economic impact on New Mexico should have everyone clamoring for more sequels to this trilogy.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
Consumers will have to wait another month to find out whether the water utility will resume supplemental fluoridation of Albuquerques drinking water.

After hearing passionate appeals from 32 speakers both for and against fluoridation, members of the utility board on Wednesday voted against taking up a funding measure for immediate action, postponing the decision until Sept. 20.

The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility board considered a proposed $260,000 capital appropriation that would pay for equipment needed to allow the city to resume supplemental fluoridation, which ended in 2011.

Under board rules, a new measure cant be considered for immediate action unless five of the seven voting members agree. Only three members  Bernalillo County Commissioners Wayne Johnson and Maggie Hart Stebbins and City Councilor Pat Davis  voted to consider the measure Wednesday.

I dont believe we need to add more chemicals to our water, board member and City Councilor Trudy Jones said after the meeting. Thats medical engineering and thats something we dont have a right to do.

Hart Stebbins said she doubts waiting another month will change anyones mind about the issue.

It seems we have had a great deal of public comment over the last two years, particularly the last two months, she said. Hart Stebbins said she supports fluoridation because her district includes the International District, where many low income people lack dental care.

Fluoride is a mineral found naturally in Albuquerques water supply at levels of about 0.5 milligram per liter, according to a report prepared by the utility staff.

The city began supplemental fluoridation in 1972, but ended the practice in 2011 while federal officials considered new recommendations about fluoridation levels.

In 2015, the U.S. Public Health Service updated the federal drinking water standards, recommending that community water systems add fluoride to 0.7 milligrams per liter to prevent tooth decay. That recommendation prompted the utility to reconsider fluoridation during budget discussions earlier this year.

The boards anticlimactic vote Wednesday followed more than an hour of public comment that recalled many of the passionate opinions expressed at a June 21 meeting on the same issue. At least 70 people turned out Wednesday, and 32 signed up to speak.

Many who expressed support for fluoridation were dentists, dental hygienists and public health officials.

Community water fluoridation is not dangerous, but rotten teeth are, said H. Lynn

Carroll, public health director for the New Mexico Department of Health. Fluoridation has been shown to reduce the incidence of tooth decay by 25 percent in adults and children, he said.

I can assure you that community water fluoridation is safe and effective in preventing tooth decay, he said.

Opponents implicated fluoride in a wide variety of diseases, including diabetes, bone disease and cancer.

Im asking you not to medicate my water, said Christopher Oglesby, a fluoridation opponent. Let me take personal responsibility for my own health.

Dr. Tom Schripsema, executive director of the New Mexico Dental Association, told board members that fluoridation is an inexpensive way of promoting public health.

Preventing disease is the best way to solve our health care crisis that we have, he said. Fluoride is safe and effective at preventing disease.
Copyright  2017 Albuquerque Journal

Editors Note: This is the second in a series of profiles the Journal will publish over the next few weeks on Albuquerques mayoral candidates.

Gus Pedrotty knows hes bad at short answers.

At 22, Pedrotty is the youngest candidate in Albuquerques mayoral race, and he isnt a politician whos spent years crafting the perfect sound bites.

But the recent graduate of the University of New Mexico  with degrees in chemistry and psychology  is clearly excited about the ideas he would bring to City Hall.

They range from supporting biotechnology and solar power to legalizing marijuana and harnessing the new tax revenue.

I wish I was more concise, but theyre big ideas, Pedrotty said in a recent interview over coffee.

He began seriously considering a run for mayor about 2 years ago, he said, after going to some public protests in the wake of the James Boyd shooting that rocked the city.

Albuquerque police shot and killed Boyd, a homeless camper, in 2014. Two officers faced a murder trial, which ended in a hung jury.

The shooting ignited protests all over the city, including at UNM where Pedrotty was a freshman. The militarized police response with armored vehicles and officers in riot gear, he said, made him think hard about the city he grew up in and how to address its problems.

I was asking consistently, What is a citys responsibility to its citizenry? and What is a citizenrys responsibility to its city?  Pedrotty said.

Eight candidates

Pedrotty is one of eight mayoral candidates on the ballot. Incumbent Richard Berry, a Republican, is stepping down after eight years in office.

Voters will head to the polls Oct. 3 for the first round of voting. If no one gets a majority of votes in October, the top two candidates will compete in a runoff election in November.

The new mayor takes office Dec. 1.

On the ballot are:

 Democrats Pedrotty; Brian Colon, an attorney and former state Democratic Party chairman; and Tim Keller, the state auditor and a former state senator.

 Republicans Ricardo Chaves, founder of Parking Co. of America; County Commissioner Wayne Johnson; and City Councilor Dan Lewis.

 Independents Susan Wheeler-Deichsel, co-founder of the civic group Urban ABQ; and Michelle Garcia Holmes, a former chief of staff for the state attorney general and a retired Albuquerque police detective.

Age may be a hurdle

Pedrotty lives in the UNM area. He graduated in May and has not yet launched his career, though he says hes interested in continuing his undergraduate research on music and the brain.

He managed a residence hall at UNM and worked as a resident adviser, he said. He also started a UNM program that gathers and recycles solid waste, with the revenue generated going into a scholarship program.

Pedrotty also served as an intern for Project ECHO at UNM  an effort that uses telemedicine to help make specialized health care treatment available to people in rural areas.

Pedrotty says he knows he faces skepticism because of his age but that he hopes people will consider his practical skills and experience.

Theres nothing I can say thats going to pull the switch in peoples minds and say this 22-year-old is going to be the clear choice for this office, he said.

Still, Pedrotty said, hes the right candidate for mayor  a job that would put him in charge of Albuquerques roughly 6,000 municipal employees.

This isnt a position where you want the expert on one single topic, he said. Its an office where you want somebody who understands a community, has a vision for it and is willing to steer vehemently for that outcome. Theres no magic wand.

A nonpartisan approach

Pedrotty is registered as a Democrat but says he would bring a nonpartisan approach to the job. He describes his political philosophy as utilitarian and pragmatic.

Pedrotty says he likes that local government is a place where things can move fast and there isnt much need for party politics.

He said he shares the goals repeated by many candidates in the race  that Albuquerque needs a new police chief and that it must grow the size of its police force. He said the department must also fulfill its reform obligations outlined in a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and move toward de-escalation and community policing strategies.

Pedrotty said he also wants the city to do a better job of helping people before theyre in crisis, perhaps with a network of clinics that provide treatment for people struggling with addiction or other behavioral health problems.

Thats far more cost effective than treating them in jails or hospital emergency rooms, he said.

On economic development, Pedrotty said Albuquerque has tremendous potential for growth in biotechnology. He cites two new vaccines that have developed out of research at UNM.

And the city, he said, should take advantage of the EB-5 visa program that encourages foreign investment, making it easier for local companies to get the capital they need to grow.

He also favors legalizing and taxing marijuana in Albuquerque, a move he says would draw tourists and generate revenue that could be used to build solar-power infrastructure that would benefit the community for years to come.

By mid-August, Pedrottys campaign had about $3,100 in cash on hand, according to finance reports filed with the city. He ranked seventh out of eight candidates in cash on hand.

But Pedrotty says hes a viable candidate who can win the race.

Its a local election, he said. All people have to do is choose the future theyre most interested in.
The sudden, unexpected death of a 23-year-old Albuquerque woman after she began a third-trimester abortion procedure at a Downtown abortion clinic was attributed to large blood clots in her lungs due to her pregnancy.

But anti-abortion activists here and nationwide contend the womans autopsy report by the state Office of Medical Investigator in February was a whitewash and that her death Feb. 4 was due to her abortion treatment.

They blame Southwestern Womens Options and the University of New Mexico, which oversees the OMI, and have called for state Attorney General Hector Balderas to investigate.

UNM is a biased promoter of abortion that is attempting to shift blame onto (the womans) pregnancy, instead of the abortion, Troy Newman, president of the Kansas-based Operation Rescue, said in a news release. (She) and her family deserve the truth, not a cover-up.

New Mexico Chief Medical Investigator Dr. Kurt Nolte told the Journal on Wednesday, Theres no whitewash here. This is a very complex medical history and a complex array of autopsy findings, he said. This is rare and a tragic case for the family.

Southwest Womens Options, which has been operating for 40 years, said in a statement, All of us  are heartbroken by (her) death. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family.

The statement added, For those who oppose womens reproductive justice to exploit this sad event by putting forward lies about abortion and the patients care is sickening. We trust the citizens of New Mexico to be compassionate and understanding of the needs of women and to see through this inflammatory attack on womens reproductive rights and on us.

News of the womans death was published Wednesday by national conservative media websites, including Breitbart and The Daily Caller.

The OMI autopsy report says the woman was preparing for the final portion of a termination of pregnancy  a process that can take several days, when she became short of breath. Southwestern Womens Options is one of the few clinics in the U.S. that perform late-term abortions, which are legal in New Mexico. She was in her third trimester.

The woman was placed on oxygen at the clinic, with some improvement of her symptoms, the autopsy report says. But due to the concerning symptoms, she transferred to UNM Hospital.

She also had an infection, which was discovered in her uterus and blood, Nolte said. Due to her rapid decline and the concern for a significant infection, the woman was taken to an operating room to complete the abortion procedure, the report says. During the operation, she sustained a cardiac arrest, it says.

(She) did have a significant blood clot in her lungs at the time of autopsy that caused her sudden and unexpected death, the report says.

While she likely did have an infection from the abortion process, the blockage of her pulmonary arteries by blood clots would have caused the rapid clinical symptoms leading to death, even without infectious or inflammatory complications, the autopsy says.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified two abortion-related deaths nationwide for 2011, the most recent year for which data are available.

The CDC also reported that from 2011 to 2013, 2,009 women died of pregnancy-related causes. The percentage of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. attributed to pulmonary embolism was about 9.2 percent. The percentage of deaths involving infections was 12.7 percent.

The state AGs Office more than a year ago was asked by a GOP-led congressional committee to investigate whether UNM and Southwestern Womens Options broke a state law when they transferred aborted fetuses for medical research. A spokesman from the agency told the Journal on Wednesday the investigation is ongoing.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.  Charlottesville officials met privately Thursday to discuss personnel matters in the wake of a deadly white nationalist rally, the citys mayor said in a statement in which he also asserted hed been largely shut out of security preparations for the event.

In a lengthy statement on Facebook posted ahead of the meeting, Mayor Mike Signer wrote that under Charlottesvilles form of government, the city manager has total operational authority over events like the Aug. 12 rally.

Signer, who has a spot on the five-person City Council, said the group was not given the security plan for the rally. He also wrote that when he asked during a briefing days before the event what he could do to be helpful, Police Chief Al Thomas responded, Stay out of my way.

The statement comes as city leaders are facing scrutiny over their response to the event, believed to be the largest gathering of white nationalists in at least a decade. Crowds fought violently in the streets, one woman was killed when a car plowed into a group of counter-protesters, and two state troopers died when their helicopter crashed.

Charlottesville residents, rally organizers and law enforcement experts are among those who have criticized the citys handling of the lead-up to the rally and the chaos that ensued. Anger boiled over at a city council meeting earlier this week, where scores of people screamed and cursed at councilors. Some called for the leaders to resign.

Signer said the events on Aug. 12 raised serious questions about the citys handling of security, communications, and governance.

Those are questions that the city council should ask as the ultimate authority over the city manager, he wrote.

The council met behind closed doors Thursday morning. Signer and Vice Mayor Wes Bellamy told reporters as they exited that Thomas and City Manager Maurice Jones were still employed.

Councilors discussed an array of different things that transpired and how we can improve, Bellamy told The Associated Press, declining to elaborate further because the meeting was a closed session.

The council has called for an independent review of all decisions related not only to Aug. 12, but also a July KKK rally and a prior torch-lit rally of white nationalists at Emancipation Park, Signer said in his statement. He said he expects details to be announced shortly.

The rally was sparked by the citys decision to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Emancipation Park, a decision thats on hold while a lawsuit plays out. On Wednesday, workers draped the statue of Lee and another of Gen. Thomas Stonewall Jackson in black fabric meant to symbolize the citys mourning.

City officials had been expected to host a community recovery town hall Thursday evening in collaboration with the Community Relations Services of the Department of Justice. But they announced Thursday morning that it had been rescheduled for Sunday due to conflicts with a local high schools student activities.

Officials will provide an update on recovery efforts at that meeting and offer opportunities for public comment, according to a news release.

In other developments Thursday, Christopher Cantwell, a white nationalist from Keene, New Hampshire, made an initial appearance in Albemarle County General District Court.

He faces two counts of the illegal use of tear gas or other gases and one count of malicious bodily injury with a caustic substance, explosive or fire in connection with a torch-lit rally on the University of Virginia campus the night before the white nationalist rally.

Contacted by The Associated Press on Tuesday, Cantwell acknowledged he had pepper-sprayed a counter-demonstrator. But he insisted he was defending himself, saying he did it because my only other option was knocking out his teeth. He also said he was looking forward to his day in court.

UVA police said late Wednesday night that he had turned himself in.

Cantwell told a judge Thursday that he planned to hire his own attorney, The Daily Progress reported . The judge did not set bond, but told Cantwell his attorney could request a bond hearing later.

Also Thursday, a judge waived a hearing for James Alex Fields Jr., the man accused of killing Heather Heyer by driving into the crowd. Fields had a hearing scheduled for Friday, but the judge agreed to a request from prosecutors and Fields attorney to continue the case until Dec. 14.
Copyright  2017 Albuquerque Journal

WASHINGTON  U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke sent his review of 27 national monuments, including two in New Mexico, to the White House on Thursday, but the summary released to the public offered no specifics about his recommendations.

Zinkes report to President Donald Trump had been anticipated for weeks by anxious conservationists, environmentalists and those advocating for monument reductions or elimination.

I am disappointed that the summary of Secretary Zinkes recommendations to the president does not provide any real information to the public, Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., said. This summary is not transparent and this is not how our government should do business.

In an interview with the Associated Press in Montana on Thursday, Zinke said he suggested that Trump make changes to a handful of monuments but declined to say which ones he targeted for likely reductions in size. New Mexicos Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks and Rio Grande del Norte National Monuments are among those under review.

The White House told the Journal on Thursday that the report is a draft and that presidential aides are continuing to work with the Interior Department to determine final recommendations for Trump.

Once we have a final report, in the coming weeks, we will make it public, the official said.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported that multiple individuals briefed on the decision claim the secretary recommended reducing the size of Utahs Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, as well as Oregons Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.

Trump directed Zinke in April to review national monuments of more than 100,000 acres designated since 1996, saying some of them amounted to a massive federal land grab. At the time, Trump also said the review would end another egregious abuse of federal power and to give that power back to the states and to the people where it belongs.

Zinke told the AP on Thursday that he did not recommend eliminating any of the national monuments under review, which was a worst-case fear of conservationists and environmentalists. Final decisions about the 27 monuments are up to Trump.

No President should use the authority under the Antiquities Act to restrict public access, prevent hunting and fishing, burden private land, or eliminate traditional land uses, unless such action is needed to protect the object, Zinke said in the report summary. The recommendations I sent to the president on national monuments will maintain federal ownership of all federal land and protect the land under federal environmental regulations, and also provide a much needed change for the local communities who border and rely on these lands for hunting and fishing, economic development, traditional uses, and recreation.

The debate ahead is likely to center on the 111-year-old Antiquities Act. The law signed by President Theodore Roosevelt was created in part to help protect the theft of ancient treasures and to preserve cherished public lands. It gives presidents power to create monuments that contain historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest.

Udall and Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., contend that, under the Antiquities Act, a president can create a monument but that the law does not provide a mechanism to rescind or change a designation.

The Center for American Progress in Washington, which opposes reducing any of the monuments, says that, while presidents have altered monuments, the action has never been challenged or upheld in court.

The group notes that the last one changed was by President John F. Kennedy in 1962: He added about 5,000 (acres) containing Native American archaeological sites to the Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah, while also removing 320 acres.

In the past, only Congress has abolished monuments, and it has done so 11 times.

The Center for Western Priorities, which has been leading a public awareness campaign to fight changes to the monuments, said that if Trump alters the monuments, the matter will end up in court.

If President Trump takes any action to erase national monument acreage, he will trigger a court battle that will drag on for years, said Jennifer Rokola, the centers executive director.

Zinke visited New Mexico in July and met with public officials and others about his pending decision in the state.

Rep. Steve Pearce, a New Mexico Republican who represents the region that includes Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, has urged the Trump administration to reduce the nearly 500,000-acre monument by as much as 88 percent, arguing that antiquities, Native American artifacts and recreation can be protected and provided while still allowing for economic activity and more stringent border patrols that he says the existing monument hampers.

I look forward to reviewing the full report, Pearce said. I hope the secretary addressed the concerns of local New Mexico farmers, ranchers, small businesses, sportsmen, and outdoorsmen who have been negatively impacted by the monuments footprint.

Zinke told the Associated Press in Montana on Thursday that there would be no sell-offs of public lands, a scenario presented by conservationists and environmentalists.

Ive heard this narrative that somehow the land is going to be sold or transferred, Zinke told the AP. That narrative is patently false and shameful. The land was public before, and it will be public after.
HOUSTON  Harvey intensified into a hurricane Thursday and steered for the Texas coast with the potential for up to 3 feet of rain, 125 mph winds and 12-foot storm surges in what could be the fiercest hurricane to hit the United States in almost a dozen years.

Forecasters labeled Harvey a life-threatening storm that posed a grave risk. Millions of people braced for a prolonged battering that could swamp dozens of counties more than 100 miles inland.

Landfall was predicted for late Friday or early Saturday between Port OConnor and Matagorda Bay, a 30-mile (48-kilometer) stretch of coastline about 70 miles (110 kilometers) northeast of Corpus Christi

Harvey grew quickly Thursday from a tropical depression into a Category 1 hurricane. Fueled by warm Gulf of Mexico waters, it was projected to become a major Category 3 hurricane. The last storm of that category to hit the U.S. was Hurricane Wilma in October 2005 in Florida.

Superstorm Sandy, which pummeled New York and New Jersey in 2012, never had the high winds and had lost tropical status by the time it struck. But it was devastating without formally being called a major hurricane.

Were forecasting continuing intensification right up until landfall, National Hurricane Center spokesman Dennis Feltgen said.

All seven Texas counties on the coast from Corpus Christi to the western end of Galveston Island have ordered mandatory evacuations of tens of thousands of residents from all low-lying areas. In four of those counties, officials ordered their entire county evacuated and warned those who stayed behind that no one could be guaranteed rescue. Voluntary evacuations have been urged for Corpus Christi itself and for the Bolivar Peninsula, a sand spit near Galveston where many homes were washed away by the storm surge of Hurricane Ike in 2008.

Texas officials expressed concern that not as many people are evacuating compared with previous storms.

A lot of people are taking this storm for granted thinking it may not pose much of a danger to them, Gov. Greg Abbott told Houston television station KPRC. Please heed warnings and evacuate as soon as possible.

Abbott has activated about 700 members of the state National Guard ahead of Hurricane Harvey making landfall.

As of late Thursday afternoon, Harvey was about 305 miles (490 kilometers) southeast of Corpus Christi, moving to the north-northwest at about 10 mph (17 kph). Sustained winds were clocked at 85 mph.

Harveys effect would be broad. The hurricane center said storm surges as much as 3 feet could be expected as far north as Morgan City, Louisiana, some 400 miles away from the anticipated landfall.

And once it comes ashore, the storm is expected to stall, dumping copious amounts of rain for days in areas like flood-prone Houston, the nations fourth most-populous city, and San Antonio.

State transportation officials were considering when to turn all evacuation routes from coastal areas into one-way traffic arteries headed inland. John Barton, a former deputy executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation, predicted state officials will do this before the storm hits, but said timing and determining where to use it are the key factors. Storms change paths and if contraflow starts too early, supplies such as extra gasoline needed to support impacted areas cant get in, he noted.

We are closing down, said Bethany Martinez, a front desk clerk at a Holiday Inn Express at Port Aransas. The 74-room hotel a couple of blocks from the Gulf of Mexico was about two-thirds full before all guests were cleared out.

This would be the first hurricane for Martinez, who is pregnant and has two boys, 5 and 6. They were with grandparents in Austin.

Asked about her demeanor, she replied: Afraid.

Driscoll Childrens Hospital in Corpus Christi was airlifting at least 10 critically ill, mostly premature infants from its neonatal intensive care unit to Cook Childrens Hospital in Fort Worth. They were expected to arrive by early Friday. Cook transport director Debbie Boudreaux said Driscoll was moving the infants inland for fear that power outages might disable their ventilators.

Harvey would be the first significant hurricane to hit Texas since Ike in September 2008 brought winds of 110 mph (177 kph) to the Galveston and Houston areas and inflicted $22 billion in damage. It would be the first big storm along the middle Texas coast since Hurricane Claudette in 2003 caused $180 million in damage.

Its taking aim at the same vicinity as Hurricane Carla, the largest Texas hurricane on record. Carla came ashore in 1961 with wind gusts estimated at 175 mph and inflicted more than $300 million in damage. The storm killed 34 people and forced about 250,000 people to evacuate.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said President Donald Trump was briefed and will continue to be updated as the storm progresses.

In Houston, one of the nations most flood-prone cities, Bill Pennington was philosophical as he prepared his one-story home for what he expected would be its third invasion of floodwaters in as many years and the fifth since 1983.

We know how to handle it. Well handle it again, Pennington said he told his nervous 9-year-old son.

Dozens were in lines early Thursday at a Corpus Christi Sams Club, at home improvement stores and supermarkets. The city also was passing out sandbags.

Alex Garcia bought bottled water, bread and other basics in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land after dropping his daughter off at college. He said grocery items were likely more available in Houston than back home in Corpus Christi, where Garcia, a beer distributor salesman, said stores were crazy.

Well be selling lots of beer, he laughed.

Kim Fraleigh, of Sugar Land, stocked up with five cases of water, three bags of ice and other supplies at a supermarket.

Weve got chips, tuna, dry salami, anything that does not require refrigeration, she said.

Joey Garcia, director of the HEB store, said more than a semitrailer load of water was sold Wednesday, and he expected two more trailers on Thursday.

In Galveston, where a 1900 hurricane went down as the worst in U.S. history, City Manager Brian Maxwell said he was anticipating street flooding and higher-than-normal tides.

Obviously being on an island, everybody around here is kind of used to it.

___

Associated Press writers Frank Bajak in Houston; Seth Borenstein and Catherine Lucey in Washington; Diana Heidgerd, Jamie Stengle and David Warren in Dallas; and videographer John Mone in Sugar Land contributed to this story.
TUCSON, Ariz.  The University of Arizona is getting a $4.8 million National Institutes of Health grant for research work aimed at developing a Valley fever vaccine for dogs and later possibly humans.

The universitys announcement Thursday says its Valley Fever Center for Excellence is working on the project with Colorado State University and Anivive Lifesciences Inc., a Long Beach, California-based biotechnology company.

Valley fever is a sometimes deadly respiratory illness caused by spores found in soil. Most cases occur in California and Arizona.

Dr. John Gagliani is the projects principal investigator and the University of Arizona centers director. He says the projects goal is to test and possibly license a candidate vaccine to protect dogs from contracting Valley fever.
BILLINGS, Mont.  Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced Thursday he wont seek to rescind any national monuments carved from the wilderness and oceans by past presidents. But he said he will press for some boundary changes and left open the possibility of allowing drilling, mining or other industries on the sites.

Twenty-seven monuments were put under review in April by President Donald Trump, who has charged that the millions of acres designated for protection by President Barack Obama were part of a massive federal land grab.

If Trump adopts Zinkes recommendations, it could ease some of the worst fears of the presidents opponents, who warned that vast public lands and marine areas could be stripped of federal protection.

But significant reductions in the size of the monuments or changes in what activities are allowed on them could trigger fierce resistance, too, including lawsuits.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Zinke said he is recommending changes to a handful of sites, including unspecified boundary adjustments, and suggested some monuments are too large. He would not reveal his recommendations for specific sites but previously said Utahs Bears Ears National Monument needs to be reduced in size.

The White House said only that it received Zinkes recommendations and is reviewing them.

Conservationists and tribal leaders responded with alarm and distrust, demanding the full release of Zinkes recommendations and vowing to challenge attempts to shrink any monuments.

Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters, called Zinkes review a pretext for selling out our public lands and waters to the oil industry and others.

Jacqueline Savitz, senior vice president of Oceana, which has been pushing for preservation of five marine monuments included in the review, said that simply saying changes are coming doesnt reveal any real information.

A change can be a small tweak or near annihilation, Savitz said. The public has a right to know.

A tribal coalition that pushed for the creation of the 2,100-square-mile (5,400-sqaure kilometer) Bears Ears monument on sacred tribal land said it is prepared to launch a legal fight against even a slight reduction in its size.

Republican Utah state Rep. Mike Noel, who has pushed to rescind the designation of Bears Ears as a monument, said he could live with a rollback of its boundaries.

He called that a good compromise that would enable continued tourism while still allowing activities that locals have pursued for generations  logging, livestock grazing and oil and gas drilling.

The eco-tourists basically say, Throw out all the rubes and the locals and get rid of that mentality of grazing and utilizing these public lands for any kind of renewable resource such as timber harvesting and even some mineral production,' Noel said. Thats a very selfish attitude.

Other sites that might see changes include the Grand Staircase-Escalante monument in the Utah desert, consisting of cliffs, canyons, natural arches and archaeological sites, including rock paintings; Katahdin Woods and Waters, 136 square miles (352 square kilometers) of forest of northern Maine; and Cascade Siskiyou, a 156-square-mile (404-square kilometer) region where three mountain ranges converge in Oregon.

The marine monuments encompass more than 340,000 square miles (880,000 square kilometers) and include four sites in the Pacific Ocean and an array of underwater canyons and mountains off New England.

Zinke did not directly answer whether any monuments would be newly opened to energy development, mining and other industries Trump has championed.

But the former Montana congressman said public access for uses such as hunting, fishing or grazing would be maintained or restored. He also spoke of protecting tribal interests.

Theres an expectation we need to look out 100 years from now to keep the public land experience alive in this country, Zinke said. You can protect the monument by keeping public access to traditional uses.

The recommendations cap an unprecedented four-month review based on a belief that the 1906 Antiquities Act had been misused by presidents to create oversized monuments that hinder energy development, grazing and other uses. The review looked at whether the protected areas should be eliminated, downsized or otherwise altered.

The review raised alarm among conservationists who said protections could be lost for ancient cliff dwellings, towering sequoia trees, deep canyons and ocean habitats.

Zinke previously announced that no changes would be made at six of the 27 monuments under review  in Montana, Colorado, Idaho, California, Arizona and Washington.

In the interview, Zinke struck back against conservationists who had warned of impending mass sell-offs of public lands by the Trump administration.

Ive heard this narrative that somehow the land is going to be sold or transferred, he said. That narrative is patently false and shameful. The land was public before and it will be public after.

National monument designations are used to protect land revered for its natural beauty and historical significance. The restrictions arent as stringent as those at national parks but can include limits on mining, timber-cutting and recreational activities such as riding off-road vehicles.

The monuments under review were designated by four presidents over the past two decades.

Zinke suggested that the same presidential proclamation process used to create the monuments could be used to enact changes.

Environmental groups contend the Antiquities Act allows presidents to create national monuments but gives only Congress the power to modify them. Mark Squillace, a law professor at the University of Colorado, said he agrees with that view but noted the dispute has never gone before the courts.

Conservative legal scholars have come down on the side of the administration.

No president has tried to eliminate a monument, but some have reduced or redrawn the boundaries on 18 occasions, according to the National Park Service.

___

McCombs reported from Salt Lake City. Associated Press writer Michael Biesecker contributed from Washington.

___

Follow Matthew Brown on Twitter at www.twitter.com/matthewbrownap
Government agencies in New Mexico have the potential to boost the local economy and create thousands of jobs by hiring in-state companies to do more of their work, state auditors say.

Over a recent two-year period, auditors say in a new report, about 23 percent of the money spent on government contracts in New Mexico went to out-of-state vendors, or about $1.5 billion out of the total $6.5 billion in contracts. And the figure climbs even higher  to about 32 percent  when national companies that have a local presence are included.

State Auditor Tim Keller said there are good reasons in many cases to hire out-of-state companies. But there are some industries  information technology is one  where local vendors appear to be capable of handling more of the work, he said.

Whether we like it or not, Keller said, government spending is a huge chunk of our economy.

He briefed procurement officers from around the state about the findings on Thursday.

The share of work handled locally varies by industry, he said. In construction, for example, almost all of the contracts go to local companies.

But in-state vendors tend to lose out when government agencies bypass the competitive bidding process and issue emergency or sole source contracts, Keller said.

And some industries seem ripe for more local involvement, he said. Local companies can build websites and handle plenty of short-term information technology tasks, he said, but 83 percent of information technology work goes to national and out-of-state companies.

Pushing that figure down about 20 percentage points could create 150 to 241 local jobs, according to his offices estimates.

Other changes like that could help transform New Mexicos economy, Keller said.

The report, he said, also points to some business opportunities for local entrepreneurs. Outside companies dominate the contracts to run private prisons and provide certain information-technology work for schools because there arent local vendors who do that particular work, auditors said Thursday.

The State Auditors Office offered a variety of suggestions for boosting the number of local companies handling contract work for state and local governments in New Mexico. Limiting the use of no-bid contracts and allowing local vendors to apply would help, the report said.

Some cities in other parts of the country  San Diego and Phoenix, for example  solicit heavily from local companies and sometimes direct a minimum percentage of contracts to local vendors.
Four members of a New Mexico paramilitary religious sect rocked by child sexual abuse allegations were arrested while trying to flee the state in two vans full of children, authorities said Thursday.

Cibola County Sheriff Tony Mace confirmed to The Associated Press that the four members of the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps were arrested late Wednesday as deputies tried to execute a court order to pick up the children from the group's isolated compound in western New Mexico in order to interview them. Arrest warrants had been issued for the four taken into custody.

Amos River, Victoria River, Ruth River and Timothy River were arrested after deputies stopped the two vans leaving the compound, according to the Gallup Independent, which first reported the arrests.

Sect leaders previously told authorities they didn't have transportation to take the children to meet with an FBI forensic interviewer.

Inside the vans were seven children, around $1,000 in cash, luggage and road maps, Mace said.

Basically, you could tell they were getting ready to bug out and leave the area, Mace said. I believe that's in an effort to try to conceal the kids from us.

Mace said the children, believed to be ages 4 to 17, were turned over to the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department.

Investigators believe the vans may have been headed to a location in Colorado.

The group's attorney, Robert Lohbeck, said the claim the group was trying to flee was false and deputies knew the group was coming to meet with them.

The arrests followed failed negotiations between the Sheriff's Office and James Green, co-leader of the sect. The two sides reached an agreement to let the children be transported in a borrowed school bus to be interviewed Wednesday by an FBI forensic expert, but James Green told the Gallup Independent the agreement fell apart when Lohbeck told them to cancel.

Lohbeck confirmed he advised the parents to cancel the deal until he could review the case since he only had been hired on Wednesday.

The arrests came four days after authorities raided the group's Fence Lake compound and arrested sect co-leader Deborah Green and two other group members in connection with a child abuse investigation. Another person was arrested in Truth or Consequences.

This week, a judge ordered Deborah Green held on a $500,000 secured bond on charges that included failure to report the birth, child abuse and sexual penetration of a minor.

Sect member Peter Green, also known as Mike Brandon, also was being held on a $5 million secured bond and faces 100 counts of sexual penetration of a child after being accused of raping a girl at least four times a week from the time she was 7, according to court documents.

In a prepared statement, the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps called the criminal allegations from Sunday's arrest totally false.

The Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps, founded in Sacramento, Calif., describes itself as a group that is revolutionary for Jesus and provides a free spiritual ammo pack to anyone who submits a written request.

Its website is laced with anti-Semitic language and anti-gay tirades about same-sex marriage. The Southern Poverty Law Center lists the sect as a hate group.

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.  A jury concluded a man who moved to Colorado Springs in search of a relationship with a 4-year-old son he didnt know ended up beating the boy to death within a month of his arrival.

The Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/2wsiS34 ) Jeremy Deonte Ralph was convicted Wednesday of murder by one in a position of trust in the December 2016 death of Montana Glynn.

Ralph and the childs mother, Jonte Glynn, had a brief relationship at Offut Air Force Base in Nebraska in 2011 before Glynn was transferred to a different base.

She notified Ralph in 2014 he was the childs father, and two years later Ralph wrote Glynn asking if he could move in to form a relationship with his son.

Ralph will be sentenced Nov. 6.
WASHINGTON  Defense Secretary James N. Mattis condemned Russias attempts to redraw international borders by force and pledged support for Ukraine on Thursday but stopped short of promising U.S. weapons for Ukraines fight against pro-Russian separatists.

Mattis is the first Pentagon chief in a decade to visit Ukraine, which has been on the front lines of Russian aggression since Moscows annexed Crimea in 2014 and began supporting armed insurgents in eastern Ukraine.

Deliberations in the Trump administration have heated up in recent months over whether to provide lethal defensive weapons, such as Javelin anti-tank missiles, to Ukrainian forces that are battling the separatist insurgency.

The debate has been awkward for President Donald Trump, who continues to face multiple investigations into whether his 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Moscow to interfere in the election.

Washington has no treaty obligations with Ukraine and the Obama administration gave nonlethal military aid to the government in Kiev. It also shared intelligence and posted U.S. troops to the Lviv region in western Ukraine, far from the conflict zone, to train Ukrainian soldiers.

Critics fear sending sophisticated U.S. arms to a low-level conflict on Russias border would worsen Washingtons already perilous relations with Moscow. Advocates argue that the war has been prolonged because the U.S. has not provided stronger support.

Senior Defense and State Department officials have privately supported proposals to supply more lethal weapons, according to U.S. officials, but the White House has yet to make a decision.

Standing beside Ukranian President Petro Poroshenko at the presidential building in Kiev, Mattis indicated he was in favor of stepping up military aid, but he stopped short of committing to it.

Mattis said he doesnt consider providing defensive weapons as controversial because Ukraine is fighting a foreign enemy in defense of its sovereign borders.

Defensive weapons are not provocative unless youre an aggressor, and clearly Ukraine is not an aggressor since its their territory where the fighting is happening, he said.

Mattis declined to reveal his advice to Trump on the issue, saying, I owe him some confidentiality on that.

Washington has provided Ukrainian forces with about $750 million in nonlethal materiel since November 2015, including small reconnaissance drones, Humvees, and night-vision goggles, according to the Pentagon.

The aid includes mobile radars that can be used to warn against incoming mortar and artillery attacks and to pinpoint their source.

Poroshenko said Thursday he was grateful for the U.S. contributions, but that further aid would apply greater pressure on Moscow and deter Russian forces from further incursions.

Having discussions about lethal weapons would increase the price if Russia made the decision to attack my troops and my territory, he said. And that would be a strong motivation to stop them.

Poroshenko met with Trump at the White House in June. The administration subsequently announced additional financial sanctions on Russians involved in supporting the secessionists in Ukraine.

The fighting has continued despite several cease-fires negotiated by international leaders. The efforts include the 2015 accord known as the Minsk Agreement, an accord that calls for Russia to end its occupation of Crimea.

Russia has funneled heavy weapons and deployed some 3,000 Russian troops into eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian officials say.

Ukraine aspires to join Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and other former Soviet bloc nations in NATO. But Russian President Vladimir Putin is strongly opposed to further expansion of the military alliance that originally was created to counter the Soviet Union.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson already has visited Kiev to show support. On Thursday, the 26th anniversary of Ukraines independence from the former Soviet Union, he voiced backing for the beleaguered country

We remain steadfast in our support for your sovereignty, territorial integrity and democracy, Tillerson said.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and other Republican hawks in Congress have urged Trump to break with the Obama-era limits on sending lethal weapons to Ukraine.

It is long past time for the United States to provide Ukraine the defensive lethal assistance it needs to deter and defend against further Russian aggression. McCain said in a statement.

Doing so was part of the Republican Partys platform at its convention last year until it was cut by the Trump campaign. Since then, the administration has declined to commit one way or the other.

Were not going to rule that out right now, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Wednesday. No decisions have been made.

During Mattis visit to Kiev, Ukraine celebrated its independence day with a massive military parade that featured hulking tanks, ballistic missiles and thousands of Ukrainian troops goose-stepping in formation.

For the first time, U.S. Army soldiers and a color guard participated in the annual parade. The two dozen troops are part of a multinational training group in Ukraine.

Mattis looked on from Maidan Square, a historic public plaza famous for large protest rallies against Russia. He also laid roses at a memorial to Ukraines Heavenly Hundred, protesters killed in the square by pro-Russian forces in late 2013 and 2014.

Have no doubt, the United States stands with Ukraine, Mattis said. We support you in the face of threats to sovereignty and territorial integrity to international law and to the international order.  And despite Russias denials, we know they are seeking to redraw international borders by force.
WASHINGTON  The White House refused to concede Thursday that President Donald Trump has given up, even temporarily, on a promise to make Mexico pay for a border wall.

Yet the tactical retreat seemed apparent as Trump pressured Congress for wall funds, threatening a government shutdown next month if lawmakers dont deliver  with no mention of any Mexican contribution.

He campaigned on the wall. He won on talking about building the wall, and hes going to make sure that gets done and hell continue to fight for that funding, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday, as she ducked repeated questions about her bosss commitment to following through on the promise to make Mexico pay.

Believe me, he told crowds throughout his campaign.

Aides offered no explanation for when, how, or even whether hell try to wrest money from Mexico.

At a rally in Phoenix on Tuesday night, Trump aimed all of his pressure at Congress, Democrats in particular. He made no mention of his long-stated aim of making Mexico pay  a remarkable pivot away from a central campaign vow. In the last few months aides have tried to finesse Trumps pledge by promising that Mexico would eventually pay back whatever the U.S. taxpayer spends upfront.

Build that wall, Trump said in Phoenix, echoing chants from the crowd after hed broached the topic. The obstructionist Democrats would like us not to do it. But believe me, if we have to close down our government, were building that wall. Let me be very clear to Democrats in Congress who oppose a border wall and stand in the way of border security: You are putting all of Americas safety at risk.

The project could cost $20 billion to $30 billion or more. Exact estimates are impossible to come by, in part because Trump hasnt specified exactly how much barrier he wants. The 2,000-mile frontier already has 700 miles of fencing.

Trump has insisted that only a wall, not fencing, would be adequate, however. Walls cost far more than fences. If he wants to replace hundreds of miles of existing barrier, that would add billions to the price tag.

Mexican leaders have flatly rejected the idea that their nation will contribute anything toward construction of a wall they view as an affront to a friendly neighbor, trading partner and ally in the war on drugs and human smuggling.

A transcript of Trumps phone call with President Enrique Pena Nieto a week after taking office, leaked earlier this month, showed Trump pleading with his counterpart to stop embarrassing him by publicly pushing back against his signature campaign promise.

Trump suggested in that call that he would quietly drop demands for payment in return for Pena Nieto giving him political cover.

In the last six months there have been few outward signs that Trump has any plan for wresting the payment he so often and enthusiastically promised voters, as part of his anti-immigrant, America first posture.

But he and aides have never conceded that hes given up on that goal.

The threat of a government shutdown provided a new wrinkle.

Trump tried to put the onus on Democrats, who view the wall as a boondoggle. But Republicans control both the House and Senate. Theres never been a shutdown with Congress and the White House in the hands of one party, and such an outcome would be a huge embarrassment for Trump and fellow Republicans.

On top of that, despite Trumps efforts to pressure Democrats, the Republicans who run Congress  House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell  have flatly ruled out a shutdown. Both call it a bad idea and are clearly averse to using the tactic to deliver wall funding.

The House has approved $1.6 billion through the end of 2018 for construction  enough for 60 miles of new barrier in Texas and 14 miles of replacement secondary fencing in Southern California. The measure is stuck in the Senate, where Republicans hold a narrow 52-48 majority, and need 60 votes to approve most spending.

I certainly dont think the efforts (to make Mexico pay) have been abandoned, Sanders insisted at the White House, though she declined repeatedly to explain what efforts, if any, are being made.

By inference, Trump puts a higher priority on getting the wall built than on forcing Mexico to pay.

The presidents committed to making sure this gets done. We know that the wall and other security measures at the border work. Weve seen that take place over the last decade and were committed to making sure the America people are protected, she said.

Urban areas along the border are already fenced, meaning that unfenced areas tend to be more remote and rugged.

Access roads would be required for construction equipment and crews, though once such roads are cut, Border Patrol agents and local authorities would have an easier time responding to incursions detected remotely.
Christopher Ruszkowski, acting secretary of education since June, now has the job permanently.

Gov. Susana Martinez announced the appointment Thursday afternoon in a news release posted on her website.

Im confident that Christopher will bring the energy, enthusiasm and leadership needed to help New Mexicos students succeed in the classroom, Martinez said. It wont be easy. There are entrenched special interest groups in New Mexico that are dedicated to maintaining the status quo in education.

Ruszkowski became acting secretary June 20 when Hanna Skandera unexpectedly stepped down.

He is now technically the secretary-designate  the New Mexico Senate will have to confirm his appointment before he can be considered secretary of education, though the designate has all the same powers.

The Legislature may take up Ruszkowskis confirmation during its next session, or decide to skip it and allow Ruszkowski to finish out Martinezs last year and a half in office as the secretary-designate.

A former middle school social studies teacher, Ruszkowski arrived in New Mexico in April 2016 to oversee the Public Education Departments research agenda, policies and academic priorities, including PARCC testing, school grades and pre-kindergarten.

He previously worked for the Delaware Department of Education under a Democratic governor.

As a classroom teacher, I understand and have seen that every child can learn  period  and we will remain committed to helping every single student succeed, Ruszkowski said in a statement. We will also continue fighting for key reforms  like making sure that kids who cant read are provided additional help  expanding our teacher leader networks, putting our families in the drivers seat of their childs education and giving our students the tools they need to go on and compete in college and the workforce.

Ruszkowski and the governor believe that state reforms like PARCC, school grades and teacher evaluations are driving improvement, such as a record high 71 percent graduation rate and increasing numbers of A and B schools.

But the states teachers unions oppose these policies, claiming they are invalid and unfair to teachers and students.

Stephanie Ly, president of the American Federation of Teachers New Mexico, said the state deserves better than the lazy reformist sound bites of Christopher Ruszkowski.

In his short tenure as interim secretary, we have seen he is just more of the same, choosing to simply parrot the failed policies of Hanna Skandera, and other so-called educational reformers, she said in a statement.

Ruszkowski has criticized unions as long on problems and short on solutions. He has also taken Albuquerque Public Schools to task for not embracing data-driven instruction and state reforms.

APS Superintendent Raquel Reedy said she recently met with Ruszkowski and shared the districts new academic master plan.

Id like to congratulate Secretary Ruszkowski on his appointment and look forward to continuing the constructive dialogue we have started, she said in a statement.

Born in Chicago, Ruszkowski spent three years teaching in Miami and Boston schools through Teach for America, then received a masters degree in education policy from Stanford University.
A.M. Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of a of Oman Insurance Company P.S.C. (OIC) (United Arab Emirates). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) remains stable.

The ratings reflect OICs strong risk-adjusted capitalisation and leading market position within the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A partially offsetting rating factor is the volatility observed in the companys operating performance in recent years.

OICs risk-adjusted capitalisation remained strong in 2016. The company has a diversified risk profile, which is supported adequately by a strong capital base of AED 1.9 billion. OIC actively manages its capital requirements as evidenced by its track record of de-risking its investment portfolio to focus on its core underwriting strategies. A.M. Best expects OICs risk-adjusted capitalisation to remain strong, and supportive of the companys future strategic initiatives. OICs balance sheet strength is further supported by low debt leverage and excellent liquidity.

OIC has a leading market position in the UAE as the largest listed insurance company by gross written premium (GWP), which reached AED 3.6 billion in 2016, representing growth of 11.5% (2015: AED 3.2 billion). Whilst OICs business continues to be concentrated in the UAE, it has a diversified underwriting portfolio across life and non-life segments, and has achieved some geographical diversification, particularly through its Turkish subsidiary, Dubai Starr Sigorta A.S., as well as through its branch operations in Oman and Qatar, and its inward facultative reinsurance business.

A partially offsetting rating factor is the volatility observed in OICs operating performance in recent years, with profit before tax standing at AED 85.4 million in 2016, compared with AED 224.8 million in 2014. However, A.M. Best notes that OICs technical performance improved notably in 2016, driven by management actions taken to turn around underperforming business segments through rate increases and enhanced risk selection. In 2016, the companys non-life combined ratio, as calculated by A.M. Best, improved to 87% from 96% in 2015. In the first half of 2017, OIC has demonstrated continued good underwriting performance, in line with A.M. Bests expectations.

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on A.M. Bests website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see A.M. Bests Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Understanding Bests Credit Ratings. For information on the proper media use of Bests Credit Ratings and A.M. Best press releases, please view Guide for Media - Proper Use of Bests Credit Ratings and A.M. Best Rating Action Press Releases.

A.M. Best is the worlds oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright  2017 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170824005790/en/

A.M. Best

Alex Rafferty, ACA, +44 20 7397 0285

Financial Analyst

alex.rafferty@ambest.com

or

Mahesh Mistry, +44 20 7397 0325

Senior Director, Analytics

mahesh.mistry@ambest.com

or

Christopher Sharkey, +1 908-439-2200, ext. 5159

Manager, Public Relations

christopher.sharkey@ambest.com

or

Jim Peavy, +1 908-439-2200, ext. 5644

Director, Public Relations

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PHOENIX, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Lightstone Solutions, LLC (www.LightstoneSolutions.com) announced today that its CEO, Bill Papazian, will be making educational presentations on Best Practices in Vendor Licensing, and also on Conducting Effective Witness Interviews, at the New Mexico Tribal Gaming Symposium being held at Isleta Resort and Casino in Albuquerque, NM on November 7 - 8, 2017. The New Mexico Tribal Gaming Symposium is sponsored by the New Mexico Indian Gaming Commissions Training Chapter (NMIGCTC) in partnership with Tribal Gaming Protection Network (TGPN).

"The New Mexico Indian Gaming Commissions Training Chapter is proud to provide this important training event featuring foremost experts from the gaming regulatory field. We are excited to have William Papazian present at the Symposium," said Scott Riley, its Chairman.

"William Papazian has been a key presenter at many of our events and a great supporter of the New Mexico Association of Indian Gaming Commissions," added Mr. Riley.

"It's an honor and a pleasure to present at the New Mexico Tribal Gaming Symposium. Lightstone Solutions and myself have worked with Native American tribal governments for over 25 years and are staunch supporters of tribal sovereignty and self-determination. Contributing to the knowledge base of tribal gaming regulators is an important 'give-back' for us," said Mr. Papazian.

Information about the New Mexico Tribal Gaming Symposium can be obtained by contacting Scott Riley by email at nmigctc@gmail.com.

ABOUT LIGHTSTONE SOLUTIONS, LLC

Lightstone Solutions, LLC is a boutique firm specializing in gaming regulatory compliance, programmatic audits of gaming commissions, international due diligence and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act compliance, investigative consulting, background checks, computer forensics and electronic discovery. The firm serves public companies, Tribal Gaming Commissions and Tribal Governments, international companies, public pension funds, and other regulated business interests.The Company was founded by William S. Papazian in 2001.

Contact:

Lightstone Solutions, LLC

William Papazian, CEO

602-206-3800

bpapazian@lightstonesolutions.com

Photo(s):

https://www.prlog.org/12660493

Press release distributed by PRLog

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lightstone-solutions-announces-presentations-by-ceo-william-papazian-at-new-mexico-tribal-gaming-symposium-300509214.html

SOURCE Lightstone Solutions, LLC
We can help you make sense of the agribusiness industry, extending from chemicals and fertilizers used as inputs into agriculture, to the commodities, food and by-products that are an output to farming, with policy and regulation applied at every step of the value chain.
The Google Assistant artificial intelligence (AI) companion and Google Express service now support shopping from Walmart, the Alphabet-owned company said on Wednesday. The team running Googles online shopping platform already announced that Walmart support is coming earlier this week, and the company now delivered on that promise, allowing users to easily order goods from the largest retail chain in the United States. According to the Mountain View, Califronia-based firm, its new partnership with Walmart encompasses hundreds of thousands of products that consumers are now able to purchase by simply telling their AI assistant to do so or by using the Google Express mobile app.

The wording of Googles announcement indicates that the vanilla version of the newly revealed service is only compatible with the Google Assistant running on the Google Home smart speaker and its currently unclear whether and when will the Walmart integration become available on smartphones. Regardless, existing Walmart customers are able to link their Walmart accounts with their Google profiles in just a few taps within the Google Home mobile app, which will consequently allow them to have a personalized shopping experience spanning both search results and recommendations. The Google Assistant will remember your previous purchases and remind you of the types and sizes of products you bought when ordering them again, which Google hopes will make repeated purchases significantly easier to make. The Google Express support for Walmarts offerings will be officially rolled out in late September and if your order is above the store minimum, youll be eligible for a free delivery within one to three days, Google said, adding how this offer now also extends to all other stores supported by its shopping service.

The announcement of the new partnership with Walmart is understood to be Googles latest attempt to compete with Amazon whose robust online retail network is currently one of the main selling points of Alexa-enabled devices like the firms Echo lineup of smart speakers. Recent reports indicate that the Internet giant is also working on a smaller version of the Google Home which will presumably compete with the Echo Dot, with the device itself being expected to be unveiled in early October, simultaneously with the Pixel 2 smartphone series.
Incipio is launching a wide range of Galaxy Note 8 cases all of which will be available in select stores and on Incipios website on September 15th, the date of the official launch for the Galaxy Note 8. That said, the availability will be for pre-order only at this point as there is no mention of when the cases will actually be available for purchase normally. Since the cases will be available on Incipios website though you wont have to try and hunt them down in a retail store.

The case styles range from slim and stylish to more rugged and protective depending on what it is the consumer is looking for, and along with the range of different styles and functions that each case is providing, they will be priced differently as well starting from as low as $19.99 and going as high as $49.99. So far there will be a total of 12 different case types coming from the company, though there could always be more down the road.

Of the ones that Incipio is already showing on its website, included are the Reprieve Sport case, the DualPro, the Octane, the NGP Pure, the Octane Pure, the NGP Folio, the Holographic Prisms case, the Beaded Floral case, the Midnight Chrome Multi-Glitter case, the standard NGP case, and the Carnaby and Carnaby Folio. Some of the cases, though not all, will offer multiple colors so the consumer has not only the choice to pick a case that best fits their style, but also a color to further that personalization. In addition to the big selection of case options Incipio will also have two different protection options for the display of the Galaxy Note 8, and these include the Plex-RX, a self-healing screen protector that is meant to heal scratches and scrapes, and the Plex Plus Shield Edge, which is a tempered glass screen protector designed to be a little tougher than the RX offering. These will go for $19.99 and $49.99 respectively once they go on sale, though Incipio doesnt offer a time frame for these accessories, merely stating that they would be available in the months ahead, so they could still be a ways out before customers are able to get their hands on them.
LG Electronics and Google are currently in the process of deepening their business collaboration in many industry segments, sources with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday, adding that the two have just agreed to have the Google Assistant pre-installed on the LG V30, the upcoming high-end smartphone that the South Korean original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is scheduled to officially announce next Thursday, August 31. While the device was already expected to feature Googles artificial intelligence (AI) companion seeing how the LG G6 also supported it out of the box, the V30 will supposedly debut the Korean version of the thereof which Google is still actively developing. The Mountain View, California-based Internet giant previously meant to release the Korean variant of the Google Assistant in late 2017 but is now aiming to have it ready by the end of September at LGs request, sources said.

With Samsungs Bixby and Apples Siri already supporting Korean, LG is hoping that it will be able to more effectively compete with its two largest rivals in the Far Eastern country by having a localized version of the Google Assistant available on the V30. Its currently unclear whether this particular variant of the service will be a timed exclusive for the LG V30, though that seems like a probable scenario and both iOS and other Android devices are likely to receive Google Assistants Korean integration in the future. The move is said to be the latest step in LG and Googles partnership which has been strengthening in recent times, with the Seoul-based consumer electronics manufacturer being the first to adopt Android Wear 2.0 earlier this year and implementing Google Home support into a number of its new Internet of Things (IoT) offerings, in addition to supporting Googles self-driving endeavors, insiders said, without clarifying on the matter.

The two are also collaborating on other smartphone fronts, with LG reportedly being the designated manufacturer of the upcoming Pixel 2 XL which the Alphabet-owned company is expected to launch in early October. The handset is said to feature a nearly bezel-less 18:9 display panel similar to the one found on the LG G6 and V30 which Google indirectly funded by investing a trillion won ($886 million) into LG Displays OLED operations this spring.
Chinese Android and telecommunications manufacturer ZTE seems to be on a roll this year, following the announcement of some its financial results from the first half of 2017. Thats because the company reportedly managed to meet at least two of its own projections for H1 2017, in terms of both profits and revenues, which may be attributable to the rapid expansion of 4G LTE within ZTEs home region. However, the company appears to have done well in meeting its expectations across most of the board, proving that it is a real contender in the world communications market.

With regard to the numbers themselves, ZTE reported a 30 percent rise in net profit for the years first half with profits landing at around $344 million. Overall revenue was up by 13 percent to just over $8.1 billion. Breaking that down further, ZTE says that the bulk of revenue  around 60 percent or $4.8 billion  was a result of growth in the telecom equipment sector of its business. On the other hand, revenue from its consumer-side smartphone business grew by 24 percent to just over $2.6 billion. That follows a trend the company has set in the U.S., in particular, where it accounted for 11.5 percent of devices sold within the country during the second quarter of 2017  up from 10.1 percent from the first quarter of the year. However, its not all great news for ZTE either, as the company was forced to save its stake in the U.S. market by paying a fine of close to $900 million to regulators.The handset maker saw a decline in revenue from government entities and on the enterprise side of its business of 18 percent  around $570 million. Meanwhile, ZTE also recently sold off a portion of its holdings in Nubia, effectively giving up its status as that companys parent-company along with its majority ownership. The company did hold on to 49.9 percent of that subsidiary, however, meaning it still plays a big role on that companys board.

Looking to the second half of the year, ZTE says that it will be taking advantage of new opportunities in both 4G and 5G. According to statements made by the company, it expects 4G traffic to enter its peak period and pre-5G products to have substantially more impact as a result. Meanwhile, ZTE says, 5G standardization, along with the associated technology and tests, will also experience a breakthrough. Following up on that prediction, ZTE will continue through the rest of the year by investing more and internationally into technologies on both the mobile and 5G fronts, which matches well with earlier reports that the company would be doubling down on 5G.
1. Yes. The ordinance goes against state law and is not in the best interest of the cities.

2. Yes. At the very least, it should be amended to give police officers some discretion.

3. No. Voters approved the ordinance by large majorities; the councils cant ignore that fact.

4. No. The petition process has to be given a chance to work. Leave the ordinance alone.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say how the cities should move forward regarding the ordinance.

Vote

View Results
A global law firm has advised a US-based hedge fund in its takeover bid of one of Australias largest apparel retailers. The targets independent board committee, which was advised by another major law firm, urged shareholders to reject the offer. DLA Piper advised Coliseum Capital Management on its $67.9m on-market takeover bid of The PAS Group. MinterEllison advised PAS, which said that the offer undervalued the company.Prior to the offer, Coliseum already owned 48.6% of PAS, which owns brands including JETS, Review, Black Pepper, and Yarra Trail. In 2015 when it already owned 19.2% of PAS, Coliseum made another move on the company with an $86m offer.James Philips, DLA Pipers head of corporate, led the firms team. He was assisted by senior associate Elliott Cheung and solicitor Jeffrey Chen.Philips said the firm is delighted to have supported the achievement of its clients objectives, after a late surge.Our client quickly acquired control in the early stages of the bid  it sat at about 54% of the target from 22 June until 10 August, when it surged to 65% on the last day of the bid, he said.
Viper spotted... #nordschleife #nring #bridgetogantry #teambtg #viperacrextreme #viperacr #viper #hisstory A post shared by Dale Lomas (@dalomas) on Aug 24, 2017 at 4:39am PDT

The Viper crew is just warming up and those of us keeping an eye on this V10 matter were surprised to see another kind of velocity monster lapping the Nordschleife while we were waiting for the slab of America to show up.We're talking about the Bugatti Chiron - while the first piece of footage below shows you a Viper flying on the Green Hell, the second video allows you to check out Molsheim's 1,500 hp machine doing the same thing.Truth be told, we're not really sure why Bugatti has brought its beast to the infamous German track, though.Returning to the Viper, last time we talked about the former Dodge halo car jumping from one rumble-strip to the other, we saw the GTS-R lapping the Ring in 7:03.4.That feat was achieved almost one month ago, with Dominik Farnbacher, the pro driver behind the wheel, explaining that there's more performance to be extracted.The enthusiasts behind the efforts went back to their crowdfunding and sponsor-seeking campaign, raised some extra funds and are now ready to show what the Viper is really capable of.Meanwhile, the final example of the Gen V Dodge Viper has rolled off the production line (here's a photo of the sad moment), with rumors talking about the automaker planning a successor.We'll remind you that the GTS-R is a special edition that can be regarded as an ACR-E (Extreme Aero Package), with this machine sporting Kumho Ecsta V720 rubber (295/25 up front and 355/30 at the back).And while we're waiting for the fresh lap time to arrive, here's a reminder of the one-hand adventure that was the 7:03.4 lap. Heck, all this one-hand madness might just be a unofficial record...
We're dealing with a machine that tips the scales at 5,500 lbs and yet this Grand Cherokee is able to play the 0 to 60 mph run in 3.5 seconds, while requiring 11.6 seconds when given a quarter-mile task.Then there's the towing capacity of the thing, which sits at a generous 7,200 lbs.The Trackhawk comes with matching stopping power, which is provided by the generous Brembo brakes. The stopping hardware can bring the vehicle to a halt from 60 mph in 114 feet.Now, the numbers above are just some details on the screen, which is why we've brought along a video that shows what this thing is capable of in real life. To be more precise, the video at the bottom of the page shows the Jeep halo car pulling a 0 to 60 mph sprint. Of course, the Jeep uses its Launch Control feature for this stunt.We can't discuss the Trackhawk incarnation of the Jeep Grand Cherokee without mentioning the price tag of the thing. And that's because we're talking the most expensive product to have ever worn the Jeep badge.The 2018 Grand Cherokee Trackhawk comes with an MSRP of $85,900, but since you're going to pay this much for one, you will want some options, right?Well, you should be prepared to pay north of $100,000 for a fully-gifted example of the machine. Then again, after checking out the action in the piece of footage below, that might not sound like an issue.P.S.: The supercharged aural delights that come with this clip are on the house, so all you have to do is make sure the volume is all the way up.
Trump's stability has been called into question in recent weeks, most notably by GOP Sen. Bob Corker and former Director of Intelligence James Clapper. But now, California Dems are seizing on the opportunity to magnify an issue that until recently has received little pickup: the notion that Trump may not be mentally fit for office, per Politico.

"[Trump] has demonstrated that his mental capacity and his erratic behavior are issues we need to be concerned about for our national security," Rep. Jackie Speier told Politico. "And I think I'm not the first person that's talked about it. I'm just the first person that's been public about it."

What they're saying: Rep. Ted Lieu has called for new legislation requiring a psychiatrist to be present at the WH. And last week, Rep. Zoe Lofgren introduced a congressional resolution urging Trump to undergo medical and psychiatric evaluations. Rep. Jackie Speier has also called for invoking the 25th Amendment, which enables the vice president and Cabinet to remove a president who is unable to fulfill his duties.

Some Democrats are concerned their moves could backfire, and fear that igniting the mental health debate could alienate them. Veteran strategist Roger Salazar, former spokesman for Bill Clinton and Al Gore said, "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out Trump is out of his mind. There's no question he is unfit for office. But I'd rather Democrats focus our energies on beating him and his allies at the ballot box."
Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville is covered to symbolize mourning for Heather Heyer, who was killed while protesting a white nationalist rally (AP's Steve Helber)
The Trump administration will soon issue guidance to the Pentagon for how to enforce President Trump's military transgender ban, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Secretary Mattis will have 6 months to implement the ban, according to the 2.5 page memo.

Transgender recruits will not be admitted, and removal of currently serving transgender troops will be at Mattis' discretion.

"Deployability," described by WSJ as "the ability to serve in a war zone, participate in exercises or live for months on a ship," is the legal justification Mattis will use to determine who can and can't serve. The idea that transgender troops are less "deployable" has met with fierce resistance.

Flashback: Trump tweeted on July 26, "The United States Government will not accept or allow....Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military," but didn't follow up with a direct order so the ban has not been enforced.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the White House would continue to support Ukraine against Russian aggression during a Thursday trip to Kiev, per Reuters. "Despite Russia's denials, we know they are seeking to redraw international borders by force, undermining the sovereign and free nations of Europe," Mattis said.

Mattis also made clear his personal support for outfitting Ukraine with weapons, a move that President Obama's White House feared would escalate the situation. He added that Trump has not yet decided on the issue of providing weapons.

Why it matters: Ukraine has long relied on the U.S. as backup against Russia, but Trump's comments on the campaign trail  when he told ABC, "...you know, the people of Crimea, from what I've heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were. And you have to look at that."  have sowed doubts for Kiev.
24 August 2017 11:05 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

UNICEF, the United Nations Childrens Fund continues to make efforts for peaceful settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and hopes that it is able to ensure the protection of children affected by the conflict.

This was stated in the reply of UNICEFs executive director to the appeal of the Azerbaijani Ombudsman on murder of 2-year-old Zahra Guliyeva and her grandmother following the shelling Alkhanli village of Azerbaijans Fuzuli region by the Armenian armed forces on July 4, 2017, Trend reports.

Azerbaijani Ombudsman Elmira Suleymanovas appeal was sent to the UN Secretary General, UN Security Council and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UNESCO, Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), European Commission, Council of Europe, OSCE, International Ombudsman Institute (IOI), European Ombudsman Institute (EOI), Asian Ombudsman Association, International Peace Bureau, ombudsmen of various countries, embassies of Azerbaijan in foreign countries and embassies of foreign countries in Azerbaijan, as well as Azerbaijans diaspora organizations.

As it was previously noted in March by the UN Secretary General, the UNICEF supports the appeal to the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to refrain from any actions that could violate the ceasefire and demonstrate resoluteness in its peaceful settlement, the letter reads.

No community, no family has to suffer from the loss of children as a result of armed conflicts, says the letter.

UNICEF further added that its Baku office will continue to provide assistance in the protection of children and youth.

Armenia constantly resorts to vile military provocations with the aim to kill Azerbaijani citizens who live their quiet life in frontline settlements. However, the international community turns a blind eye to these terrible crimes, as Armenia still remains unpunished for them.

The indifference of the international community to these provocations is one of the main reasons why the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is still unresolved.

Azerbaijan and Armenia for over two decades have been locked in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which emerged over Armenian territorial claims. Since the 1990s war, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions. The UN Security Council adopted four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal, but they have not been enforced to this day.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 August 2017 10:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Sara Israfilbayova

Baku Senaye Tikinti company, engaged in manufacture of corners, frames and strips, pipes and pipe-profiles of various sizes, seeks to expand the production and boost exports.

The production process, based on the up-to-date technologies, allows to manufacture corrosion-resistant metal goods that can be used in construction of onshore and offshore, gas and water pipelines.

Company head Ramiz Ahmadov noted that the factory located in the Keshla settlement employs over 200 people, stressing that it has enough capacity and potential to enter free competitive market.

Ahmadov, talking to Azertac, said that the company, producing high-quality and cheap goods, occupies a leading position in the Georgian market.

Similar products of Russia, Ukraine and Armenia on that market can not compete with the products of our company, Ahmadov said, adding that installation of modern technology at the factory is a requirement of the day. The acquisition of innovative technologies will enable the production of high quality and competitive steel products.

He noted that the company seeks to decrease the local markets dependence on steels products imported from Russia in the next 3-4 years, adding that the company's products will also be exported to neighboring countries.

Ahmadov mentioned that in the future it is planned to increase the number of production areas, create new workplaces and thus contribute to the state budget. If the enterprise sells 500 tons of products abroad it will mean additional $250,000 to the state budget.

He went on to say that the companys products also enjoy great demand in Georgia and Iran because they are not expensive and at the same time qualitative. Moreover, if goods from Russia and Ukraine are delivered within 40-50 days, the company is able to deliver goods in 3-5 days, he added.

To ensure uninterrupted metal casting, the company ordered equipment from abroad, mainly from China and Turkey, since the two are among the leading countries in the world in the field of heavy metallurgy.

The new equipments will allow to manufacture standard parts of any size from the molten metal uninterruptedly, he explained.

The profitability of the new equipment is great, he said. Soon, in 5-6 months, it will be possible to manufacture high pressure armatures for construction, oil and gas and defense industries. Experts from Turkish and Chinese companies visited the enterprise to get acquainted with our products and highly appreciated our activities. Then we signed agreements on joint cooperation. "

He added that a modern laboratory of the factory analyzes the composition of any metal and shows the amount of chemicals contained therein. The chemical composition of the products is strictly controlled. The cost of the Swiss lab equipment is $ 125,000, Ahmadov said.

The company management has presented a business plan for the expansion of the existing production areas, purchase of new and up-to-date equipment. The plan was submitted to the Economy Ministry for proper consideration.

Ahmadov further stressed that taking into account the benefits created for entrepreneurs, in accordance with the presidential decree, dated January 10, 2016 "On additional measures to stimulate investment", Baku Senaye Tikinti company intends to start investment activities to create metallurgical products in the country.

The total cost of the investment project is 5.6 million manats ($3.3 million), and the project will be implemented within 7 years.

Under another decree of the head of state, the minimum amount of the investment project was determined at the level of 5 million manats ($2.94 million).

Within the framework of the investment project, the company will create a continuous molding, which will have an annual melting capacity of 60,000 tons. At the same time, 170 workers will be employed within the framework of the project to create metal products.

So, the new investment project will be one of the significant contributions of the company to the national economy, which will help to create new workplaces and increase employment, Ahmadov assured.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 August 2017 12:50 (UTC+04:00)

By Sara Israfilbayova

Azerbaijans Digital Trade Hub will make it possible for entrepreneurs to use the services of Escrow, a trusted third-party that holds funds in a secure Escrow Account.

Escrow services allow both exporters and importers to protect a transaction by placing funds in the hands of a trusted third party that collects, holds and disburses funds until a specified set of conditions is met by the instructions of the exporter or importer.

Shipments are tracked to ensure the seller shipped, and the buyer received the merchandise. This can be a mutually beneficial method of payment on international trade transactions.

The Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communications announced that the service also allows to reduce the potential risk of fraud.

How escrow works. The importer (buyer) sends the agreed purchase amount to the escrow service.

After payment is verified, the exporter is instructed to ship the goods. Upon delivery, the importer (buyer) has a predetermined amount of time to inspect and accept the goods. Once accepted, the funds are released by the escrow service to the exporter. The escrow fee can either be paid in full by one party or split evenly between the exporter and the importer.

While traditional escrow service is quite difficult and must be obtained through banks and lawyers, escrow.azexport.az provides online escrow services at affordable rates. While the payment is 'In Escrow' the transaction can be safely carried out without risk of losing money or merchandise due to fraud. This eliminates all legal jargon and allows for secure transactions and confident buyers and sellers.

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24 August 2017 18:22 (UTC+04:00)

By Sara Israfilbayova

A meeting of the International Coordination Council of Banking Associations of the CIS, Central and Eastern Europe will be held in Baku on October 26.

Bankers of the CIS states, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and other countries plan to exchange experience in the field of the activities of the Institute of Banking Ombudsman, as well as discuss other pressing issues of the financial sphere, Trend reported.

Earlier, the Association of Banks of Azerbaijan (ABA) reported that the Institute of Banking Ombudsman will start functioning in Azerbaijan from September.

Its activities are designed to provide practical assistance in overcoming differences, as well as to simplify, speed up the procedure for considering the issues that have arisen on mortgages between the bank and the borrower.

The ombudsman is expected to handle disputes with the amount of a claim up to $2,000. In addition, the ombudsman activity will cover only those banks that signed the Declaration on the transfer of disputes involving individuals - clients of the financial institution to the Banking Ombudsman.

The Banking Ombudsman is not entitled to take decisions on making amendments and additions to mortgage loan agreements, including termination of (full or partial) obligations of the parties to the contract. The competence of the banking ombudsman includes holding meetings and providing banks with recommendations on the borrowers' appeals concerning changes in mortgage conditions.

The International Coordination Council of Banking Associations of the CIS, Central and Eastern Europe, also called the International Banking Council, includes banking associations of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Montenegro, as well as the Central and Eastern European Banking Association (BACEE), the CIS Financial and Banking Council and the Eurasian Economic and Financial Association (FBA EAS).

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24 August 2017 10:26 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

The interim U.S. co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Richard Hoagland has named his successor.

Andrew Schofer will be the new permanent co-chair at the OSCE MG established to broker a peace to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Trend reports.

Im very pleased to tell you that starting Monday, the U.S. co-chair will be Andrew Schofer. Very experienced senior U.S. diplomat, who most recently served as our charge daffaires at the U.S. Mission for International Organizations in Vienna, Hoagland said during the round-table in Washington.

The Minsk Group, the activities of which have become known as the Minsk Process, spearheads the OSCE's efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It is co-chaired by France, the Russian Federation, and the United States.

Territorial integrity is an important part of the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, added Hoagland at the round-table.

There can be no settlement without respect for Azerbaijans sovereignty and the recognition that sovereignty over these territories must be restored, he said.

Currently, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs are working on preparing the next meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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24 August 2017 12:30 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Azerbaijan is ready to continue close cooperation with the newly appointed U.S. co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group on settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Foreign Ministrys Spokesman Hikmat Hajiyev told Trend, on August 24.

Hajiyev noted that in general Azerbaijans expectations from the OSCE Minsk Group carry institutional, not an individual character, noted Hajiyev.

Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, in line with their mandate and on the basis of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, should ensure the withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories, contribute to the restoration of Azerbaijans territorial integrity and return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their native lands, added the Azerbaijani official.

Nonetheless, in 25 years of its existence, the Minsk Group has not been able to ensure the achievement of these aims, said Hajiyev.

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, who also are the permanent members of the UN Security Council, had directly participated in the adoption of the Councils resolutions on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, he noted. These resolutions reconfirm the sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan and demand the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories.

We are grateful to the interim US co-chair Richard Hoagland for his activity, particularly, for demonstration of the principled position of the US (co-chairing the Minsk Group) in the question of ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories, and wish him success in his future professional activity, said Hajiyev.

Andrew Schofer has been appointed as the new permanent US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group. Schofer is a very experienced senior US diplomat, who most recently served as charge daffaires at the US Mission to International Organizations in Vienna.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988, when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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24 August 2017 18:09 (UTC+04:00)

By Sara Israfilbayova

Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the State Committee for Refugees and IDPs, Ali Hasanov visited the Jojug Marjanli village, liberated from the Armenian occupation in April 2016, and met with local residents.

Hasanov said that the construction work, in which 30 types of equipment and more than 350 workers are involved, is planned to be completed within a month.

The current stage stipulates of construction of 100 private houses, a kindergarten for 50 children, medical center, administrative building, post office and other social and infrastructure objects.

Jojug Marjanli village was fully liberated from the Armenian occupation in April 2016, when Azerbaijani Armed Forces prevented an Armenian provocation on the contact line. To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani army launched counter attacks and as a result, the Azerbaijani troops retook hills around the village of Talish, as well as Seysulan settlement, and also took over Leletepe hill located in the direction of Fizuli region.

President Ilham Aliyev ordered to restore Jojug Marjanli in late January 2017. Under the order, 4 million manats ($2.35 million) were allocated for the construction of 50 private houses, a school building and relevant infrastructure at the first stage.

Moreover, President signed an order on additional measures to construct the road leading to the village and allocated 4.3 million manats ($2.53 million) from the state budget for the construction of a 9-km long highway.

On June 15, President signed a decree that envisages the beginning of the next phase of construction and restoration work and work on improvement and creation in Jojug Marjanli.

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24 August 2017 10:19 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on August 23 approving the structure of Office of the Cabinet of Ministers.

The decree sets a limit on the number of employees of the Cabinet of Ministers Office (excluding the Department for Affairs) at 200 established posts.

The limit on the number of employees of the Department for Affairs of the Cabinet of Ministers Office is to be approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

If necessary, the Cabinet of Ministers can create sectors in the departments that make up the structure of its Office (or departments and sectors in the Department for Affairs).

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24 August 2017 10:47 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

The Global Young Leaders Forum has wrapped up in Baku.

The Global Young Leaders Forum is a new platform connecting young leaders with former and current heads of states and exploring many criteria of leadership.

The forum was organized by Azerbaijan State Committee for Work with the Diaspora and the Nizami Ganjavi International Center.

Co-chair of Nizami Ganjavi International Center, former vice-president of the World Bank Ismail Serageldin, addressing the closing ceremony, thanked the Azerbaijan government for the excellent organization of the forum, Azertac reported.

He stressed the importance of the forum from the point of view of engaging young leaders in addressing problems facing humanity.

The forum was attended by about 80 young leaders and researchers from around the world, as well as representatives of prestigious higher education institutions such as Harvard, Oxford, California, Montpellier, London School of Economics and Political Science, Paris School of Economics, Sorbonne, Sapienza, John Hopkins, Beijing, Princeton, Cornell, Yale, Stanford, Brown, Colombia, Liverpool, Chicago, Notre Dame, Michigan, Rotterdam, Barcelona, Leipzig, Georgetown, and George Washington universities.

Nearly 20 former heads of government, influential public figures as well as heads of major corporations also joined the forum.

Topics related to individual assessment of leadership, forms of leadership that are necessary in modern times, differences between male and female leadership were discussed during the forum.

The Nizami Ganjavi International Center was created with the multiple aims of preserving the reach cultural heritage of the past as well as encouraging and fostering current scholarship, research, cultural activity, and social outreach.

The Center moves forward to build, an institution worthy of bearing the great name of Nizami Ganjavi with a hope it will become a source of pride for Azerbaijan and the world.

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24 August 2017 10:29 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with Sudanese Ambassador Mohamed Elias Mohamed al-Haq, who is completing his diplomatic mission in Azerbaijan, on August 23.

The ambassador thanked the Azerbaijani government for support during his diplomatic tenure, and noted that he spared no efforts to develop bilateral friendly relations between the two countries, Azertac reported.

They emphasized that this year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Sudan.

Mammadyarov expressed his gratitude to Ambassador Mohammad Elias Mohamed al-Haq for his contributions to the development of bilateral cooperation between Azerbaijan and Sudan, including the cooperation within various international organizations, particularly within the UN, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Non-Aligned Movement, and wished the ambassador success in his future activities.

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24 August 2017 11:27 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijans President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev viewed a newly-built Tufan type border guard ship at the Shipyard and Repair Center of the Coast Guard of the State Border Service in Baku on August 24, Azertac reported.

Chief of Azerbaijan's State Border Service, Commander of Border Troops Elchin Guliyev informed the head of state of the works carried out at the Shipyard of the Coast Guard of the State Border Service. He said that six Shahdagh and four Tufan type border guard ships have been built by the shipyard so far.

The head of state laid the foundations of another Tufan type border guard ship.

The President was informed of the State Border Service`s new special military hardware, weapons and ammunition.

The head of state viewed the Tufan type border guard ship.

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24 August 2017 15:06 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

With the development of cities, stray animals have become one of the most serious public management problems, and a widespread concern by the public.

Stray animals have many negative impacts on city environment and human health: they are carriers of various infectious diseases, including rabies; individual packs of dogs regularly attack passers-by, frighten children and sometimes cause traffic accident.

Main options to deal with stray dogs mainly include: sheltering, vaccinating and neutering, non-governmental rescue actions and programs. Although, there were created several shelters for homeless animals, including IDEA Animal Care Center, the danger of such incidents remains acute.

Most recently the attack of stray dog resulted in death of a five-year-old Zeynab Mikailzade in Sumgayit city. The girl was playing in the yard when she was knocked down, and then bitten by the sick animal. The girl was taken to the hospital, but her life could not be saved.

Following the rising concern and frequent cases with stray animal attacks, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to take matters into its own hands.

The issue of combating stray animals and forthcoming preventive measures were the main topic of a meeting held at the Cabinet on August 23 with participation of relevant authorities.

Deputy Prime Minister Ali Ahmadov, addressing the event, noted that a problem of homeless animals exists in many countries around the world.

UIrging the relevant structures to take serious steps to protect public health and isolate stray animals that are carriers of viruses, Ahmadov also stressed the necessity to learn simliar experience of leading countries.

"Azerbaijan has joined the European Convention for the Protection of Pets. It is necessary to create shelters for stray animals, vaccinate them, take appropriate measures to prevent diseases that they can spread," Ahmadov said.

The meeting stressed the importance of conducting educational work among the population for a radical solution of the problem, as well as wide involvement of the press in this issue.

Referring to the death of little Zeynab in Sumgayit, the deputy prime minister noted that this issue should be seriously investigated.

Participants at the meeting agreed to develop a package of proposals to take this issue under control and take preventive measures.

--

Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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24 August 2017 12:57 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Kestutis Jankauskas has been appointed as the Head of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan, the EU External Action Service reported.

Jankauskas replaced Malena Mard on this post.

The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini, has announced the appointment.

Jankauskas is currently serving as the Head of the EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM) in Georgia.

The EU with a total population of more than 500 million people is Azerbaijan's biggest economic partner accounting for the countrys 38 percent of foreign trade share.

Currently, over 1,300 European companies operate in Azerbaijan.

To date, Azerbaijan has signed double taxation avoidance agreements with 23 EU countries and agreements on the promotion and protection of investments with 17 EU countries. Moreover, Azerbaijan has intergovernmental commissions with 13 countries and has signed strategic partnership agreements with seven EU countries.

Currently, the talks are underway between Azerbaijan and the European Union on the new strategic partnership agreement.

The new agreement should replace the 1996 partnership and cooperation agreement and should better take account of the shared objectives and challenges the EU and Azerbaijan face today.

The agreement will follow the principles endorsed in the 2015 review of the European Neighborhood Policy and offer a renewed basis for political dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan

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24 August 2017 17:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

The "Heart of Asia - Istanbul Process" conference to be held in Baku this year will offer another chance at reconciliation and development in Afghanistan.

The conference will discuss the situation in the war-torn country with a particular focus on Afghan economy, while the security-related issues will surely be among key topics, a source told Trend.

The Heart of Asia Conference is an intergovernmental organization founded in Istanbul, Turkey. The aim is to provide a platform to discuss regional issues, particularly encouraging security, political, and economic cooperation among Afghanistan and its neighbors.

Azerbaijan joined this process in 2012. The country assumed the co-chairmanship of the Heart of Asia  Istanbul process for 2017 in early December 2016.

The process encompasses 14 participating countries, as well as 17 countries and 12 regional and international organizations supporting its agenda.

The conference, which will be held at the level of the foreign ministers of the participating countries, will also consider issue of developing concrete measures to combat terrorism, responding to emergencies, counter-terrorism measures, combating drug trafficking, promoting trade and investment, regional infrastructure and education.

A meeting of high-ranking officials of the countries participating in the "Heart of Asia - Istanbul Process" took place in Baku on March 17. Azerbaijan has accepted the responsibilities of holding this event as a co-chair of the process this year.

The first meeting of the FMs of the Istanbul process was held in Istanbul 2011, then in Kabul, Almaty, Beijing, and in Islamabad. The last ministerial meeting was held in Amritsar, India.

Azerbaijan supports the Afghan way of reforms by its assistance in the areas of education, infrastructure and transport development, investments and enhancing the role of women in the society.

The country has several times made substantial donations to the Afghan National Army (ANA) Trust Fund.

The peacekeeping contingent of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces has been serving in Afghanistan since November 20, 2002. Azerbaijan, as a reliable partner of NATO and friend of brotherly Afghanistan, is committed to continue its significant contribution to the Resolute Support Mission by providing troops, multi-modal transit, training and financial assistance.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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24 August 2017 10:36 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

National Energy-Saving Company (NEC) is being created in Uzbekistan in accordance with the presidential decree On measures for further introduction of modern energy-efficient and energy-saving technologies.

Local media reported that the NEC is being created for introduction of modern energy-efficient and energy-saving technologies in the state bodies and organizations, as well as for ensuring rational consumption of the energy resources.

The companys tasks will include monitoring the efficiency of the energy consumption in Uzbek government agencies and organizations, preparation of proposals and introduction of the modern energy-efficient and energy-saving technologies, execution of the technical, technological, economic and other measures aimed at the reduction of the consumed energy resources volume.

The company has been defined as a exclusive supplier of goods, works and services for the introduction of energy-efficient and energy-saving technologies in government agencies and organizations.

NEC is being created in the form of a joint-stock company (JSC) by the Uzbek Ministry of Housing and Communal Services, the National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity of Uzbekistan, Asaka Bank JSCB and Turonbank JSCB.

Funds of foreign and international financial institutions, loans from commercial banks and other sources not prohibited by the Uzbek law have been defined as sources of financing the activity of the NEC JSC.

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24 August 2017 10:43 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

One person was killed in the explosion on the Turkish-Syrian border in Kilis province, Turkish media reported, on August 24.

According to the report, as a result of a car bomb explosion, one of the civil engineers responsible for the wall construction on the border with Syria was killed.

It should be noted that, Turkey has been building a 239-kilometer wall on the border with Syria since August of 2016.

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 Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) are the most active terrorist groups in Syria.

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24 August 2017 13:22 (UTC+04:00)

By Ali Mustafayev

Qatar, which found itself at the centre of the Gulf diplomatic crisis in early June, has restored full diplomatic relations with Iran.

Doha, disregarding the demands of Arab nations to lessen its ties to Tehran, announced that its ambassador will return to Iran about 2 years after he was recalled in protest over the conflict between Riyadh and Tehran.

Qatar recalled its ambassador to Tehran in January 2016 after Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran, accusing it of failing to protect its embassy in the capital and consulate in Mashahd against protesters who had ransacked them.

The Qatari foreign ministry announced on August 24 its ambassador would "return to resume his diplomatic duties", as Doha wanted to strengthen ties in all fields with the Islamic Republic, according to Aljazeera.

Although the exact date of ambassadors return and his name remain unknown, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani discussed "bilateral relations and means of boosting and developing them" in a phone call with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif.

The decision to restore ties with Iran comes on the backdrop of the diplomatic dispute between Qatar and several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain.

The four nations accuse Doha of meddling in the internal affairs of other countries and financing terrorism. Doha refused the claims dismissing them as "baseless".

Despite some brief glimmers of hope, the conflict still remains an important issue not only for the Middle-East, but for the whole world.

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24 August 2017 14:35 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Devlet Bahceli, leader of Turkeys opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), has welcomed the expected joint Iranian-Turkish military operation in the north of Iraq, directed against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) terrorist group, Turkish media reported.

Bahceli said that, both, Tehran and Ankara, understand the danger of the PKK for the security of the region.

Bahceli noted that, all positions of the PKK in the north of Iraq should be completely destroyed.

Activities of terrorist organizations in the region are aimed at splitting the countries of the region, he added.

The conflict between Turkey and the PKK, which demands the creation of an independent Kurdish state, has continued for more than 30 years and has claimed more than 40,000 lives.

The UN and the European Union list the PKK as a terrorist organization.

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24 August 2017 14:52 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Uzbekistans former Deputy Prime Minister Ulugbek Rozukulov has been appointed the director general of the countrys national airline Uzbekistan Airways, a source in the airlines management told Trend on August 24.

Uzbekistan Airways was earlier headed by Valeriy Tyan.

Uzbekistan Airways is a flag carrier airline in Uzbekistan and is wholly owned by the state. It carries out flights to 22 cities in the US, Europe, Middle East, Asia, 24 cities in the CIS, as well as to 11 local destinations.

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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
Why A Bump On Your Wrist Is A Cause For Concern Wellness oi-Sravia

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Have you noticed these lesions or bumps that appear on the palms, wrists or fingers? We usually tend to blame it on an injury, an insect bite or work-related blisters.

But did you know that this bump can actually indicate a serious health problem?

You need to treat this issue with the utmost seriousness at the earliest!

According to medical science, this cyst is called hygroma or ganglion cyst on the wrist. This is a benign formation that takes the shape of a capsule or a cyst.

These bumps are not just a blemish for your appearance and can sometimes pose a real threat for your well-being.

Most often, the bump appears on the wrist and can either feel taut or soft to touch. It can also develop in spots on the surface of the palm, in the centre or close to the thumb; Also on the inner surface of the fingers, in the region of the phalanx or the knuckle.

In this article we have listed some of the symptoms of having a cyst on the wrist. Read further to know about the symptoms of ganglion on the wrist.

Symptoms Of Ganglion On Wrist

1. Movement Difficulties: You will experience joint movement difficulties when flexing the fingers or the wrist. This is one of the causes for bumps on the wrist. 2. Skin Peel: The skin on the bump turns red and begins to peel off. This is another symptom of ganglion on the wrist. 3. Aching Pain: You will also experience a dull aching pain due to irritation in the surrounding tissues. 4. Skin Sensitivity: There will be a feeling of increased or decreased skin sensitivity. This is caused as the growing cyst puts pressure on the blood vessels and nerve endings. This is one of the top symptoms of having a cyst on the wrist. Diagnostics: You must never postpone a visit to the doctor when you get a cyst on the wrist, although, there is no risk of this cyst developing into a malignant tumour. While diagnosing hygroma, it does not present any difficulties but it depends on the nature of the symptoms. You need to consult a surgeon or podiatrist, who can determine the cause of the disease, and take steps towards receiving treatment.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 22/08/2017 (1909 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TheAfricanChildrens Choir will perform in Brandon next month, marking their first Canadian stop on the groups North American tour.

Nineteen Ugandan children, between the ages of 8-10, will bring their talents to Richmond Park Mennonite Brethren Church on Sept. 6 at 7 p.m.

Its a combination of contemporary Christian, gospel inspirational favourites, and African worship music, said choir manager Tina Sipp. The 80-minute musical program also features traditional dance, bright costumes and a 17-piece drum ensemble.

Photo courtesy of Sarah Wanyana The African Childrens Choir will perform at the Richmond Park Mennonite Brethren Church in Brandon on Sept. 6. This year marks Choir 47 for the organization, which began in 1984.

In addition to a vibrant performance, the group brings a humanitarian message. The non-profit humanitarian and relief organization raises funds to help Africas most vulnerable children. Music for Life, which is the parent organization for theAfricanChildrens Choir, works in sevenAfricancountries: Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Nigeria, Ghana and SouthAfrica.

The choir began in 1984, in the midst of Ugandas civil war. Human rights activist Ray Barnett was called on to help children who were orphaned due to the conflict.

On one of those trips he gave a ride to a little boy, who had actually lost both of his parents in the civil war, Sipp said. The little boy sang praise songs  and Ray was so moved by this little boys resiliency and hope, even in spite of dire tragedy.

Sipp explained the view Ray had at the time: If the West could just see the beauty, potential and dignity of the African child, theyd want to help.

In the early years of the project, the focus was on building orphanages and keeping the children safe. It has since morphed to focus on providing education to African children.

Were not in a war-torn country anymore, but were in very impoverished countries, and education is very, very difficult, Sipp said.

Music for Life now has 35 educational programs across seven countries.

Allyson Neufeld, office administrater at Richmond Park Mennonite Brethren Church, said the local church is thrilled to welcome the young performers.

Our childrens ministry here is thriving and we want to pour into that, she said. To see these children that just come from nothing, and they have so much joy and positivity  its just important for us to be able to minister to them as well.

She encourages the public to come out to the event, to learn about the group and listen to the gifted performers. There is no fee to attend the concert, but donations are welcome.

This North American tour started in the United States on April 18. The group will make stops in South Dakota, Minnesota and North Dakota this month before crossing the border into Canada. After Brandons show, they will head to Portage la Prairie (Sept. 8), Winnipeg (Sept.10), Niverville (Sept.10) and Thunder Bay, Ont. (Sept. 17).

They will continue in Quebec and Ontario before heading back to the U.S. The tour wraps up in Texas on Dec. 24.

 jaustin@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @jillianaustin
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/08/2017 (1907 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

United in stopping racism in its tracks, every one of the more than 50 people who attended Wednesdays anti-racism demonstration outside Brandon University carried their own reason to be there.

Pointing to the Appareil familys sign, which read Multiculturalism is Good, Brandon-Westman Council of Canadians chapter president Scott Blyth said they had best distilled the days overarching message.

You see our family, patriarch Nicolas Appareil said, motioning to his wife and two children. My family shows you everything.

Anti-racism demonstrators make their way down 18th Street in front of Brandon University on Wednesday.

Originally from Mauritius, the family came to Canada approximately nine years ago, where he said the people have offered a mixed bag of acceptance.

However, he said that by preserving their culture and demonstrating their own acceptance of diversity, things would get better.

We should be bringing people together, not apart, daughter Gwen said, to which family matriarch Marie Lenza added, respect is everything.

Anglican Church of Canada Diocese of Brandon Bishop William Cliff joined clergy from throughout the city in attending the demonstration, and said that standing up against racism is central to their mission.

He relayed what St. Paul said in Galatians 3:28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

Nancy McLennan drove from Minnedosa to take part in Wednesdays anti-racism demonstration outside Brandon University, where she reminded passersby as to the prevalent of white privilege.

Nancy McLennan came out from Minnedosa to remind people about the prevalence of white privilege, whose slowly diminishing prevalence she believes to have fuelled recent white supremacist activity.

Unfortunately, theyre mistakenly blaming people of other-coloured skin when they should be blaming their parents and their grandparents and the institutions that have perpetuated the privilege idea, she said, adding. Its a very damaging construct in our society.

After flipping the bird at a motorist whod done the same to her, it became apparent early on in Wednesdays demonstration that not everyone is willing to accept the premise of white privilege that McLennan came out to share.

It has become ingrained in our society, she said, adding that lighter-skinned people experience forms of privilege every day, such as the ease at which they secure rental accommodations or employment when compared to other people.

Children need to be taught what it is and that its not a valid way to look at the world, McLennan said.

The Appareil family shares their message that multiculturalism is good, during Wednesdays anti-racism demonstration outside Brandon University. From left is Gwen, Marie Lenza, Nicolas and Guyann in front.

Wednesdays anti-racism demonstration was organized by the Brandon-Westman Council of Canadians chapter in reaction to recent racist demonstrations in Charlottesville, Va.

As Blyth pointed out earlier this week, although these large-scale racist demonstrations took place south of the border, it doesnt mean we are free from racism closer to home.

Brandon pipefitter Jesse Wielenga, 30, who denies that hes racist, serves as vice-president of the Worldwide Coalition Against Islam Canada and is planning an anti-immigration rally in Winnipeg for Sept. 9.

 tclarke@brandonsun.com

 Twitter@TylerClarkeMB
Next year will see Icelandic airline, WOW air, launch four new routes from Ireland to the United

From April Irish customers will be able to fly from Dublin to Detroit, St. Louis, Cleveland and Cincinnati, with prices starting at 129.99, including taxes and charges, for one-way flights.

Flights to Detroit will commence on April 25 2018, to Cleveland on May 3, to Cincinnati on May 9 and St. Louis on May 17, with all routes operating up to four times a week.

All routes include a stop off in Iceland, and passengers can avail of a stopover option and explore the country on either leg of their transatlantic journey for an unlimited time.

Discussing the new routes, CEO and founder of WOW air, Skuli Mogensen, said: At WOW air, we are committed to our mission of offering our Irish passengers more affordable travel options to North America at the lowest fares.

He added, Our new US destinations, starting in 2018, will give our passengers even more ways to explore the cities and landscapes of Americas rich and diverse Midwest region.

Source: www.businessworld.ie
The BSEB Class 10 compartmental results have been by the Bihar board. Candidates who have written the exam can now check it out online by entering their credentials and submitting it.

Where to find the BSEB Class 10 compartmental results?

The BSEB Class 10 compartmental results are available on the Bihar Board website, biharboard.ac.in. BSEB results for class 12 or intermediate compartmental exam 2017 was declared on August 12.

BSEB Class 12 Results Declared: Check Now!

Why is the BSEB Class 10 Compartmental exam held?

The Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) has held the class 10 compartmental exams for those candidates who have failed in the regular examination. The BSEB conducted compartmental and special exams for the students who were not able to qualify for higher studies after the Matric exam between July 27 to 31 across more than 300 centres in the state.

When was the BSEB Class 10 compartmental exam held?

The matric compartmental exam was conducted on July this year while the regular exam was held from March 1 to March 8.

How to check the BSEB Class 10 compartmental results 2017?

In order to check the BSEB Class 10 compartmental results 2017, follow the steps given here:

Log on to the official website of BSEB, Biharboard.ac.in

Click on the indiaresults.com link from the homepage

Click on the link "Class 10th (Matric) Compartmental Exam Result 2017" from the next page

Fill in your details such as roll code, enter roll number or enter name

Click find results

The results will be displayed on the screen

Save it to your computer and take a print out of it for future

Also Read: SEBA HSLC Class 10 Compartment Result 2017 Declared
Photo: Google Maps

UPDATE: 5:30 p.m.

RCMP say a man pulled from Wood Lake Wednesday afternoon has died.

Emergency crews were called to the scene about 2:30 p.m. after the victim failed to resurface while swimming to a floating swimming platform.

Lake Country firefighters launched their rescue boat and were aided in their search by civilian boaters and two divers from the fire department, says RCMP spokesman Cpl. Jesse ODonaghey.

The mans body was located below the waters surface, in approximately eight feet of water. Rescuers quickly pulled the man from the lake and immediately began CPR."

The 31-year-old Alberta man could not be resuscitated and was pronounced dead at Kelowna General Hospital.

ODonaghey thanked members of the public who helped in the search and in pulling the man from the lake.

The BC Coroners Service is investigating.

UPDATE: 5:15 p.m.

Lake Country Fire Rescue confirms a man was pulled from the waters of Wood Lake.

Assistant fire chief Brent Penner says the man was located and retrieved near the north shore of the lake, offshore from Oyama and Trask roads.

The body was found in about 10 feet of weedy water after reports of a swimmer in trouble sparked a grid search of the lake.

CPR was performed on the man en route to a waiting ambulance at the shore, but Penner could not comment on his condition.

The victim was taken to Kelowna General Hospital.

UPDATE: 3:30 p.m.

A body has been pulled from the water.

More details to come.

ORIGINAL: 3 p.m.

Marine rescue units are conducting a grid search on Wood Lake after finding an abandoned boat.

While there is no indication there may be a drowning, crews are searching the lake to be sure.

Multiple crews are on scene, on both land and water.

Send your news, photos and video to [email protected]
Have you heard about the Hawaiian Island thats so secret it earned the nickname The Forbidden Island? Anyone with a basic familiarity of Hawaii knows that the tropical tourist destination, renowned for having some of the most stunning beaches in the entire world, is actually a system of islands made up of unique and distinctive landscapes. The six major islands to visit include Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Maui, and the island of Hawaii (also called The Big Island).

Each of these islands is known for something a little different. Lovers and honeymooners typically favor Maui. Surfers strap on their boards and head straight to Oahu. Photographers looking for natural beauty hit up Kauai, while adventurers seeking rugged terrain book their tickets to Lanai.

Chances are, someone in your circle of friends has visited at least one of the six major Hawaiian islands. But its highly unlikely that anyone you know has stepped a sandy foot onto the shores of the Forbidden Island of Niihau (pronounced NEE-EE-HOW).

It may sound like a fairytale, but this super-secret island spot is actually a real-life mystery, shrouded in secrecy, tradition, and legend. Read on to uncover some of the rumors that make Niihau so intriguing.

1. Niihau is the island that time forgot

Located a scant 17 miles off the coast of Kauai, Niihau may be geographically near, but its a world apart. Despite having a number of permanent residents, the island has no roads, no cars, no stores, no restaurants, no internet, no electricity, and no indoor plumbing. Even though people do live there year round, they have very little contact with the outside world.

2. Its privately owned by one family

Niihau is currently owned by the Robinson family, descendants of the Sinclairs who originally obtained ownership from King Kamehameha V in 1864 for $10,000 worth of gold (a huge sum of money for the time). The king requested that the family protect the island and its residents from outside influences  and that promise is still being upheld to this day.

3. The owners are just following the orders of a king

Notoriously secretive and private, Bruce and Keith Robinson, the current owners, closely guard the residents of Niihau and shelter them from the outside world. Weve tried to maintain the request of the King when it was turned over, Bruce Robinson told ABC News in 2010. We maintain the island for the people and continue to work it as he had. In other words, not much has changed in terms of customs and procedures since 1864, thanks to the requests of a former king.

4. Living on Niihau is like living in a time capsule

Thanks to its lack of technological advancement, the island is like a real-life social experiment into what life would be like without all the advancements of modern times. The permanent residents live the same as they did hundreds of years ago, hunting and fishing using age-old methods that their ancestors passed down.

5. An ancient way of life is preserved on the island of Niihau

On Niihau, residents speak the Hawaiian language almost exclusively. Their lives are relaxed and slow-paced, and there is a huge emphasis on living a simple life without the rush of city life. This is, of course, all fulfilling the original wishes of King Kamehameha V, who was very concerned with the future of Niihau and its people when he sold it to the Sinclairs all that time ago.

6. No one knows how many people actually live there

According to a 2010 census, the island has 170 permanent residents, but this number is really just an estimate. The Robinson family does not have to report population numbers, and because a number of residents come and go from the island, the true population is a huge mystery. However, one source estimates that the real number of permanent Niihauans is closer to 70.

7. There are a lot of rules

The Robinson family rules Niihau with a firm hand. Residents are not allowed to have alcohol (ever) or guns. One former resident, who wished to remain anonymous, claims that men are not allowed to have long hair or earrings, and the entire village must attend church on Sundays.

Anyone caught breaking the rules faces possible eviction  and some say they can never return to their home.

8. No one can agree on what its really like to live there

Some sources equate Niihau to a Puritan paradise, where residents must maintain a strict rule of law and culture. Others claim this theory is a bunch of hype, and describe the residents of Niihau as modern and well-traveled.

Peter T. Young, Hawaiis former Department of Land and Natural Resources director, described it this way to HuffPost: [Niihau] is isolated for the rest of us, but its not an isolated island for them. They dont look any different, they dont act any different; they just have the opportunity to live in a place that the rest of us have a very limited opportunity to see.

So are the people of Niihau pleasantly sheltered or basically average? It seems like no one really knows for sure.

9. The island is highly guarded against outsiders

One thing the residents and owners agree on is keeping their little island paradise well-protected from prying eyes. Unauthorized entry by non-residents is strictly forbidden. This is meant to preserve Niihaus way of life and to keep the island as untouched as possible. However, that doesnt mean you cant go there.

10. Despite the aggressive secrecy, there are some limited tours available

Is curiosity killing you? Luckily, you can sign up for a limited guided tour, which will at least let you breach the shores of this forbidden island. For a fee, its possible to take a private chartered helicopter for a half-day guided tour of Niihau. Youll get an aerial view of the entire island along with lunch and snorkeling on the shore. A day-long guided hunting safari costs $1,700 per person, but offers even more access to the island (though it still wont go near the residential dwellings of the inhabitants).

11. Taking a tour of Niihau wont get you a front-row seat to the culture

The tours are solely for people to come see an unspoiled Hawaiian Island, says island owner Bruce Robinson. We will not take them [tourists] to the village or put the residents into a fishbowl-type of situation. We dont even fly over the village. That is not what were about. We respect their privacy, we respect their desire to live untouched by the outside world and we intend to preserve that.

In other words, you can sign up for a tour of the physical island but not the villagers who live there.

12. Wildlife is abundant on Niihau

Thanks to a limited human population and abundant natural resources, Niihau is a safe haven for a lot of different types of animals, including some endangered species.

For example, the Hawaiian monk seal population has grown every year thanks to the help of successful breeding on Niihau. Today there are about 35 seals, and 10 to 12 pups are born per year.

13. The Japanese accidentally invaded Niihau during WWII

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, one Japanese pilot crashed his plane on Niihau and proceeded to take the entire village hostage. Luckily, two of the men living there were able to disarm and eventually kill the invader. One of them even received a Purple Heart for his heroic efforts.

14. Lack of employment is one reason people leave

Residents of Niihau collect rare shells and fashion leis to sell, but, for the most part, work is scarce and hard to come by on the island. However, many island inhabitants are employed on the Robinson ranch, and they can earn salaries, free housing, food, and education for their families that way.

Still, many people of Niihau struggle to make ends meet, leading some to leave the island for better financial opportunities in the more populated areas of Hawaii.

15. Niihau is a sanctuary from perils of the modern world

Island owner Bruce Robinson claims that Niihaus way of life is meant to preserve a feeling of inner peace and renewal that we dont understand in the outside world. The Western culture has lost it and the rest of the islands have lost it. The only place its left is on Niihau.
Christian leaders in the US denounce Congressman who called on people to 'hunt' and 'kill' suspected radical Muslims

Christian leaders in America have denounced a Republican congressman's suggestion that people 'hunt' and 'kill' anyone they suspect of being a radicalised Muslim.

In the wake of the London Bridge attack that left seven people dead and 48 injured, Clay Higgins, representing Louisiana, wrote on his Facebook page: 'Hunt them, identity [sic] them, and kill them. Kill them all. For the sake of all that is good and righteous. Kill them all.'

Higgins, a former police captain who says he is a Christian, wrote: 'The free world... all of Christendom... is at war with Islamic horror. Not one penny of American treasure should be granted to any nation who harbours these heathen animals. Not a single radicalised Islamic suspect should be granted any measure of quarter. Their intended entry to the American homeland should be summarily denied. Every conceivable measure should be engaged to hunt them down. Hunt them, identify them, and kill them. Kill them all. For the sake of all that is good and righteous. Kill them all.'

The Huffington Post approached Christian leaders and others who rebuked the statement. 'It would be hard to find a statement more antithetical to Christianity, or more lacking in the most elementary understanding of Jesus,' said James Martin, Jesuit priest and author of Building a Bridge.

'Jesus didn't say, "Hate your enemies." He said, "Love your enemies." He didn't say, "Hunt down your persecutors." He said, "Pray for your persecutors,"' Martin continued. 'And what did Jesus do to those who nailed him to the Cross? He forgave them. Mercy and forgiveness are hard teachings, but they are clear ones.'

Dr. Katharine R. Henderson, a minister and president of the Auburn Seminary, said: 'No one who calls himself a Christian can utter the words that...Clay Higgins wrote about Muslims. As a Christian minister, I denounce his words in the strongest terms. Jesus, Himself, would never have condoned such a statement. What we need from our leaders  political, religious, and otherwise  is maturity and forbearance, not hateful rhetoric that stokes fear, hatred, and violence.'

Jacqueline Lewis, senior minister at Middle Collegiate Church in New York City, said that the congressman's message could be summed up with one word: hatred. She said: 'Here is the thing about hatred. It hides in plain sight. It comes dressed in all hues. It masquerades in all of our religions. This horrible violence is no more Islam than the enslavement of Africans was Christian. ISIL is no more Muslim than the KKK is Christian... Any person who claims faith in God as motivation for the kind of hatred and violence exhibited by ISIL and in this irresponsible rant by Congressman Clay is not being honest about God as their motivation. This is about fear, retribution, disregard for human life, and violence.'

Heidi Beirich, the head of the Intelligence Project at Southern Poverty Law Center, branded Higgins's comments 'outrageous' and 'the height of irresponsibility'.

Beirich added: 'He's treating every single Muslim as though they're a terrorist. This kind of talk opens wide the possibility for hate crimes. It's racist. It's wrong. And it could lead to violence.'

Catherine Orsborn, campaign director for the pro-Muslim campaign group Shoulder To Shoulder, said that Higgins's declaration 'demonstrates an alarming misunderstanding of the issue' and 'betrays American values'.

She added: 'For politicians to try to turn us against one another is counter-productive and dangerous. This is not a battle between Christians and Muslims, or between "Christendom" and "Islamic horror". All humans who value dignity and equality should and do stand against horrific acts of violence like this one, just like all humans who value dignity and equality should stand against acts of violence coming from white supremacists or anti-Muslim extremists (like the recent horrific incident in Portland).'

The Huffington Post obtained a further statement from Higgins that did not clarify how he thinks people should identify radicalised Islamic suspects in order to kill them.

The additional statement read: 'We are a world at war. The enemy is radicalised Islamic jihadists. The terrorists certainly take advantage of the politically correct madness that consumes the West. They revel, that many in the western world are frightened to speak freely. I've never been accused of being politically correct. I call things the way I see them. The meaning of candid speech is frequently mischaracterised or misunderstood. This is about prioritizing national security and protecting American lives. Every measure must be taken to eliminate radical Islamic terrorism and the threat it poses to the free world. My only concern is protecting the people that live in my district, my state, and my country. We must stand strong against radical Islamic terror. The fate of the free world will be determined by the courageous, not by the intimidated.'

Last year, The Huffington Post tracked 385 anti-Muslim acts in the US, ranging from verbal harassment to physical abuse.

'As a Christian, I want my American Muslim neighbors to know that I stand with them against violence and extremism in all its forms, and I will continue to work alongside so many others to live into our national ideals,' Orsborn added. 'We all want a country where no one is afraid to walk down the streets.'

Henderson concluded: 'We reach out to Muslim neighbours in this country and around the world, as well as to the people of London, with compassion and in solidarity, as together we seek to create the world of inclusivity and human flourishing that God intends.'
Couple terrorised by KKK wizard-turned-priest refuse to meet unless he names accomplices

An African-American couple who were once terrorised by a KKK leader  and since turned Catholic priest  have said the man's actions were 'almost unforgivable' and will not meet with the priest unless he names more KKK associates.

Father William Aitcheson, a 62-year-old Roman Catholic priest in the diocese of Arlington, Virginia made headlines this week when he revealed his past as an enthusiastic member of the Ku Klux Klan.

In 1977 he burned a cross on the lawn of Philip and Barbara Butler, according to News 4. Aitcheson was convicted for the crime, but according to the Butlers never apologised nor paid the court-ordered compensation of $23,000.

The African-American couple were invited by the Arlington diocese to meet with Aitcheson, but they refused.

'There's not much to say to him because he was [in the] Ku Klux Klan,' said Philip Butler. 'He had said he was coming back to put a pipe bomb in our door. So, he was a mean person at that time.'

Barbara Butler said she was still scarred by the burning of a large cross, more than six feet tall, on their lawn.

'I will never, ever forget that. We didn't deserve this,' she said. They arere demanding that the priest name his accomplices in the Klan.

'He needed help to put that cross up,' said Phillip Butler.

Aitcheson opened up about his past on Tuesday in the light of the white supremacist violent protest at Charlottesville, Virginia.

He wrote in the Arlington Catholic Herald: 'As an impressionable young man, I was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. My actions were despicable. When I think back on burning crosses, a threatening letter, and so on, I feel as though I am speaking of somebody else. It's hard to believe that was me.'

He added: 'The irony that I left an anti-Catholic hate group to rejoin the Catholic Church is not lost on me,' he wrote. 'It is a reminder of the radical transformation possible through Jesus Christ in his mercy.'

The priest has taken a leave of absence following the news.
How the Catholic Church in the US is confronting America's 'original sin'

Building on a centuries-long and almost entirely distinguished anti-racist record, the Catholic Church in the US has created a new committee against racism following the violent clashes amid white supremacist rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The committee is the latest in a long line of anti-racist initiatives that have intensified after Charlottesville.

'Recent events have exposed the extent to which the sin of racism continues to inflict our nation,' said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the US bishops' conference, yesterday.

'Marches by hate groups such as the KKK and Neo-Nazis are outrageous to the sensible mind and directly challenge the dignity of human life. It is time for us to recommit ourselves to eradicating racism,' he said in the statement announcing the new committee, entitled 'In His Image'.

The committee will be chaired by Bishop George V Murry, of Youngstown, Ohio. 'Through Jesus' example of love and mercy, we are called to be a better people than what we have witnessed over the past weeks and months as a nation,' said Bishop Murry, according to the Catholic News Agency (CNA).

The establishment of the new committee comes after white nationalist 'Unite the Right' rallies in Charlottesville on August 11-12 which drew members of neo-Nazi and Ku Klux Klan groups, as well as other white supremacists.

The rally's organisers claimed that they were aimed at protesting against the removal of a statue of the Confederate general Robert E Lee, but participants also chanted racist messages. The night of Friday, August 11 featured a torch-lit rally reminiscent of Klan and Nazi rallies. On Saturday, August 12, a 20-year-old man from Ohio drove a car into the counter-protest which featured a diverse array of groups including religious leaders.

One woman, Heather Heyer, was killed and 19 people were injured in the incident. The driver was charged with second-degree murder.

Cardinal DiNardo immediately released a statement condemning the violence and calling for peace. The following day he released a joint statement with Bishop Frank Dewane, the chair of the US bishops' domestic justice and human development committee, specifically condemning racism, white nationalism, and neo-Nazi ideologies.

The US bishops' conference is already planning a new letter on racism to be released in 2018.

It will be the latest in the Church's increasingly strong record of opposing racism in the US and elsewhere around the world.

Early in the history of the Church, according to the CNA, distinctions were initially made between people on basis of religion, not race, as the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace explained in its 1988 document on racism, 'The Church and Racism: Towards a More Fraternal Society'.

The letter said that this began to change with the discovery of the 'New World,' as nations colonising the Americas sought to 'justify' the killing and enslavement of indigenous peoples with a 'racist theory'.

For example, the Dominican priest Bartolome de las Casas actively tried to stop the slave trade that he had once backed. He initially helped start it in the Spanish colonies in order to relieve the mistreatment of the Indians there in the 1500s, but later decried what he called the 'spine-chilling barbarity' directed at indigenous people by Spanish Conquistadors in his 1542 letter A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies.

Pope Paul III in a 1535 encyclical issued a strong condemnation of theories that the indigenous peoples of the Americas were sub-human. He added that 'we consider' that 'the Indians are truly men and that they are not only capable of understanding the Catholic Faith but, according to our information, they desire exceedingly to receive it'.

Then in 1839  when slavery in the US was widespread in the Southern United States  Pope Gregory XVI condemned the slave trade once again and explicitly forbade Christians from partaking in it, writing that 'we warn and adjure earnestly in the Lord faithful Christians of every condition that no one in the future dare to vex anyone, despoil him of his possessions, reduce to servitude, or lend aid and favour to those who give themselves up to these practices, or exercise that inhuman traffic by which the Blacks, as if they were not men but rather animals, having been brought into servitude, in no matter what way, are, without any distinction, in contempt of the rights of justice and humanity, bought, sold, and devoted sometimes to the hardest labour'.

Elsewhere, in a 1937 encyclical, Pope Pius XI condemned the Nazi government and its 'so-called myth of race and blood'.

His controversial successor Pius XII, who has been accused by some critics of colluding with Hitler, nonetheless in 1939 decried racial ideologies as one of the 'errors which derive from the poisoned source of religious and moral agnosticism'.

Later Popes have all decried racism, with the current one, Francis, gaining a reputation for prioritising the plight of migrants and refugees.

Meanwhile, the US bishops have consistently issued statements against racism in America, such as their 1979 document, Brothers and Sisters to Us, in which they decried racism not only as the sin 'that says some human beings are inherently superior and others essentially inferior because of race,' but also as a sin that denies 'the truth of the dignity of each human being revealed by the mystery of the Incarnation'.

Following the recent events in Charlottesville, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia summed up the Church's response: 'Racism is a poison of the soul. It's the ugly, original sin of our country, an illness that has never fully healed.'
In today's world, people need to understand religion. So why is Religious Studies GCSE in decline?

Many teenage boys and girls will be resigned to doing retakes of their GCSEs after pass rates fell and the number of high grades plummeted in the biggest exam shake-up in decades.

In addition, the number of pupils in England and Wales taking GCSE Religious Studies full course fell for the first time in more than a decade, down 4.6 per cent against 2016, to 269,839.

More than 500,000 teens, most aged 16 but thousands also doing retakes from last year, received their results today with the number passing the exams with a C grade or above falling to 66.3 per cent, the lowest it has been since 2008.

With harder exams and a new grading system in English and maths that will run across all subjects next year, the passes and top grades in those subjects also fell. Nearly a third of 16-year-olds did not get the '4' grade in maths that is equivalent to a C under the old system. Pupils who achieved an A  or a 7 in English and maths under the new system  fell to 20 per cent.

According to National Numeracy, the system is 'failing far too many' and is fundamentally flawed because it fails to teach children the practical skills they need in real life.

All schools, including Academies, have a legal requirement to offer Religious Education at all key stages. But Religious Education is not among the subjects featured in the EBacc which in England is a performance indicator, affecting entries to RS exams.

RE teachers are warning today that at a time when greater religious literacy is ever more necessary, the decline across England in pupils taking GCSE Religious Studies is troubling.

Daniel Hugill, chair of the National Association of Teachers of RE, said: 'I wish to extend my congratulations to the many students receiving their Religious Studies GCSE results today. It is encouraging to see the number of students taking full course GCSE.

'We must also celebrate the work of their teachers who have worked tirelessly to ensure that their students can reach their full potential. Teachers, parents, employers, and students themselves, all recognise that GCSE study in Religious Studies makes a key contribution to preparing young people for adult life in our modern pluralistic society and global community.

'It is clear though that not all students receiving their results today were offered the chance to study this important subject, which is reflected in the decline in entries. It is difficult to see how these schools are ensuring a suitable degree of religious literacy in their students or indeed meeting their legal responsibilities in terms of Religious Education in Key Stage 4.'

Rudolf Eliott Lockhart, chief executive of the Religious Education Council of England and Wales, said: 'It is troubling that there is a decline in the number of pupils receiving a solid grounding in Religious Education at Key Stage 4. It would be dangerous should increasing numbers of young people miss the opportunity to develop their understanding of the full diversity of faiths and beliefs.

'Where schools and Academies are not offering Religious Studies, GCSE pupils are being denied the opportunity to study an important and valuable subject, and there are serious concerns that the school is struggling to meet its legal obligations.

'More than ever, as our society becomes increasingly multicultural and religious extremism continues to dominate the news agenda, we need young people to be religiously literate. We need them to become skilled intercultural navigators, and good Religious Education is a key part of that.'

Religious Studies GCSE student Max Hallmark, of the Harrodian School in South West London, explained why he took RE: 'I've always been interested in the big questions, such as where we came from, ethics, and why people have different beliefs or don't have a religion at all. I chose RS as one of my GCSE options so I could learn more about those topics and develop my analytical skills. I think the understanding of the world and of different cultures and religions I've gained will be useful in later life, will help me broaden my horizons, and will give me the edge in the job market. Next year I'm doing Philosophy, alongside Maths and Physics, at A Level because I particularly liked that aspect of the RS course and I want to explore the deeper meaning of life.'

RS GCSE student Nat Haley, of Bushey Meads School, Bushey, Hertfordshire, said: 'I've really enjoyed the last two years studying RS, for not only the deeper understanding of life it intends, but the analytical mind it encourages, the classroom debates and the time to look into and try to deeply understand other people's ways of life. And I cannot wait to delve further into it at AS.'
Justin Bieber dances at Hillsong: 'Nothing more cool than praising God'

Christian pop star Justin Bieber has posted a live video of himself dancing to worship music at Australia's Hillsong church.

And Bieber, who recently cancelled his Purpose tour amid speculation that he wishes to deepend his relationship with Jesus, captioned the Instagram post: 'Nothing more fun/cool than praising our God.'

Bieber looks exceptionally happy in the video, and many of the comments reflect delight by his fans that he has clearly found peace through faith in Christ.

Nothing more fun/cool than praising our God A post shared by Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) on Aug 21, 2017 at 9:48am PDT

Bieber, who recently took part in the Hillsong convention in Australia, is dancing to the Hillsong band Young & Free to the popular worship song, Wake.

Bieber is currently regularly seen with US Hillsong pastor Carl Lentz, who is believed to be helping the former child star deepen his faith. However, Hillsong has denied that there was any influence from the church in Bieber's decision to step back from the sold-out Purpose tour.

A spokesman said: 'The recent announcement by Justin Bieber about his tour does not involve Hillsong Church.'

Bieber himself said he was merely suffering burnout.

He told fans at Santa Monica beach in California: 'Sorry for anyone who feels disappointed or betrayed, it's not in my heart or anything, and have a blessed day.'

A spokesman for the star said: 'Justin loves his fans and hates to disappoint them. He thanks his fans for the incredible experience of the Purpose World Tour over last 18 months.'
Kabul goes into 'lock-down' after protest clashes

Streets in the centre of the Afghan capital Kabul were closed on Saturday as authorities tried to prevent a repeat of a demonstration that degenerated into clashes between protesters and police and left four people dead.

A rally against the government yesterday following this week's devastating truck bomb attack in Kabul saw hours of angry confrontation between protesters and police, who fired into the air to drive back crowds trying to cross security cordons and reach the presidential palace.

At least four people were killed and 15 wounded in the gunfire, drawing condemnation from human rights group Amnesty International and leading the United Nations envoy in Afghanistan to appeal for calm.

A small group of protesters remained near the blast site in the centre of town, sheltering from the sun in open tents.

But otherwise security authorities in Kabul banned protests and demonstrations, citing the risk of attacks on large gatherings of people.

Although Saturday is a normal working day in Afghanistan, large parts of the city were blocked off, with armed checkpoints set up and armoured vehicles patrolling the streets.

The unrest has heaped pressure on the government of President Ashraf Ghani which has faced increasing public anger over its inability to ensure security in the capital following a string of high profile suicide attacks.

Wednesday's truck bomb, which killed more than 80 people and wounded some 460, was one of the worst since the US-led campaign to oust the Taliban in 2001 but in other respects it scarcely differed from a long series of previous attacks.

In the first three months of the year at least 715 civilians were killed, after almost 3,500 in 2016, the deadliest year on record for Afghan civilians.
Leading UK musicians join outcry over HTB-linked church's concert ban

Dozens of Britain's most distinguished musicians are urging a central London church that recently became part of the evangelical Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) network to reverse its controversial ban on non-religious music.

St Sepulchre Without Newgate Church in Holborn, which is known as the 'National Musicians' Church' and is where the Proms founder Sir Henry Wood is buried, last week became embroiled in a row after stopping taking bookings from classical musicians who have relied on it as a rehearsal and concert venue for many years.

Now, the Guardian has reported that Aled Jones, Julian Lloyd Webber and Judith Weir, the first female Master of the Queen's music, are among more than 50 signatories to a letter urging a reversal of the ban, saying they cannot understand why the church is willing to abandon its 'unique national cultural remit'.

The protest comes after David Ingall, the priest-in-charge who moved to St Sepulchre's four years ago from HTB, wrote to professional and amateur musicians and ensembles to say they could no longer make bookings from the end of this year.

Ingal wrote that 'we have been conscious of the challenges of using a space dedicated to worship for non-religious hiring. Our ministry as the National Musicians' Church continues to be a core part of our church's identity and vision ... While its expression may be changing, that underlying vision remains unchanged.'

The musicians' letter, which was sent to St Sepulchre's parochial church council (PCC) and the acting bishop of London, Pete Broadbent, said that the 'abrupt move ... was made without consultation'.

The letter comes as more than 5,800 people have signed a petition demanding the decision be reversed.

According to the Guardian, in 2013 the PCC raised concerns about Ingall's appointment as priest-in-charge, asking for written assurances that St Sepulchre's role as National Musicians' church and as a centre for traditional music and liturgy was maintained.

Such an assurance was provided by the then Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, who retired this year and whose successor has not yet been appointed.

Ingall wrote to PCC members at the time saying that he recognised the importance of music at St Sepulchre's and that concerts and rehearsals provided 'a welcome stream of income'.

He added: 'There will be some re-balancing, as some times that were previously allocated to concerts and rehearsals will now be used for worship and ministry. However, I believe the two streams are fundamentally compatible.'

In his 2013 letter to then-PCC members outlining the 'church plant' from HTB, Ingall wrote: 'I will be bringing a team of people with me from HTB and St George's, Holborn. They will form the core of a new Sunday congregation ... I very much hope that over time there will be growing friendship and integration between these new members and the existing St Sepulchre's community.'

The signatories to the musicians' letter, sent yesterday to the PCC and Broadbent, include eminent names from the British music world, such as the cellist Steven Isserlis and composers John Rutter, Weir, Howard Goodall and James MacMillan, along with Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, the principal of the Royal Academy of Music, Colin Lawson, the director of the Royal College of Music and Julian Lloyd Webber, the principal of Birmingham Conservatoire, and Rachel Staunton, the artistic director of the London Youth Choir.

Andrew Carwood of St Paul's Cathedral, Scott Farrell of Rochester Cathedral and Peter Wright of Southwark Cathedral are among more than a dozen directors of music from churches and Oxbridge colleges who have also signed the letter.

Richard Robbins, a chorister at St Sepulchre's who is the founder of Save the National Musicians' church campaign, said the exclusion of musicians from the National Musicians' church was 'the bitterest irony'.

He said: 'Priests are caretakers of the church they are responsible for and should feel that the heritage of a church can continue to be part of its identity, especially in a church like St Sepulchre's, where since the burial of the ashes of Sir Henry Wood [in 1944], has been a place of thriving musical excellence. I understand that churches are foremost places of worship. However, there is a historic role of the Anglican church to act as a community hub; a place for those who have faith and those who have none. To have musicians as part of regular worship is something must churches would welcome and want to preserve.'

St Sepulchre's did not respond to a request for further comment. However, it previoiusly said in a statement: 'An increasingly busy programme of worship and church activities has led to ever higher demands on the church space, and the hire space is also shared with the church administration office.'

The church added that it had been 'greatly moved by the concern expressed for the musical life of the church. We do wish to reiterate that we remain committed to our ministry as the National Musicians' Church. In the coming weeks we will reflect and pray, and consult with members of the musicians' community about how best to fulfil that ministry moving forward.'
Mythbusting integration: Muslims who attend mosques feel more British not less, study finds

Contrary to conventional wisdom, the more British Muslims practise their religion and attend mosques, the more engaged and integrated they are with society.

That is the surprising conclusion of a new academic paper entitled Mosques and political engagement in Britain: participation or segregation? by Dr Siobhan McAndrew and Maria Sobolewska, lecturers at the Universities of Bristol and Manchester respectively.

The academics found that while there is no evidence that higher levels of mosque attendance and religious observance results in less integration, there is some evidence that they mean that British Muslims are in fact more integrated.

At the same time, lower mosque attendance correlates with 'a sense of social distance' from society, according to the research.

The authors write that 'we find no evidence that more frequent mosque attendance hinders the political integration of British Muslims, and some that it promotes it. To the extent that mosque attendance encourages or at least does not prevent social contact with other ethnic groups and a sense belonging, lower attendance correlates with a sense of disengagement, perceived Islamophobia, and a sense of social distance'.

They conclude that 'those Muslims who attend mosques do not live separate lives away from mainstream society'.

And they state that 'frequent attenders are as likely as those who do not attend to feel that they have something in common with other British people; more likely to have friends outside their ethnic or religious group; and overall more likely to engage in mainstream British politics given rates of engagement among British Muslims which are already high. In sum, our results support an optimistic interpretation of Muslim civic and political integration in Britain, and the pro-social benefits of religious involvement.'

Instead, 'it is the non-religious predictors, such as the perception of prejudice and the feeling of social distance from whites, that are a more solid predictor of political disengagement and oppositional engagement than religious involvement'.

The paper points out that there are popular myths about mosques in the UK.

'Media portrayals have depicted some mosques as fostering traditionalism, radicalisation, and cultural divides between British Muslims and others,' it says.

'With the belief that Islam constitutes a threat to British values so widespread, the possibility that mosques may play an important role in the integration of Muslims into British society and politics may appear counterintuitive.'

As the academics point out, a small number of mosques have been associated with radical Islamism, most notably the former Finsbury Park mosque with Abu Qatada and Abu Hamza in the 1990s and early 2000s, and which a number of terrorists attended, including the 'shoebomber' Richard Reid and Zacarias Moussaoui, the 'twentieth hijacker' from the attacks of September 11, 2001.

The police, Home Office and Charity Commission monitor mosques' links and political ideologies closely, and the 2011 version of the Prevent Strategy also suggested that 'radicalising locations' include mosques.

Yet as the researchers point out, 'a good deal of academic research shows that religious participation is generally pro-social: people who participate in communal religious events tend to be more active in civic and political associations, and have more social and political capital'.

Nonetheless, distrust of religious Muslims remains high in a country whose politicians and media often portray mosque-attendance as linked to 'radical Islam'.

The authors write: 'When discussing radical Islam, integration and the role of mosques, politicians are often careful to emphasise that most Muslims in Britain are peace-loving and loyal Britons. Evidence regarding public distrust of Muslims...by non-Muslims, however, suggests that these caveats are empty in effect.'

Dr McAndrew told Christian Today: 'Regular attendance at a place of worship is good for fostering trust and civic activity, regardless of the faith community in question. We also know from previous research that religious people are known to show higher support for existing political arrangements - in that sense, regular attendance is a force for integration. We accordingly were unsurprised to find these effects for British Muslims, just as they have been found for Christians and others.

'A good deal of American research has shown that places of worship host friendship groups, and in turn, being active in the community. In historically black churches, for example, regular attendance has been found to promote a sense of agency and the capacity for civic engagement.

'Despite media and political discourse that Muslim religiosity promotes separateness, in our research we found no evidence for this, and some that it actually promotes civic involvement and political integration. Moreover, the factors predicting disengagement are similar to those for people who are not Muslim: for example, there are strong generational differences. Although we looked specifically at the effect of mosque attendance, rather than measures of secular involvement more broadly, we suspect that disengagement and active opposition may relate rather more to isolation from social life, or perhaps to have more of an online character.'
Religious robots: Now you can hire a Buddhist bot for funerals

A Japanese humanoid robot has found a new role  as a Buddhist priest for hire at funerals.

Though it has not yet been booked for a service, Softbank's 'Pepper' robot was on display yesterday at a funeral industry fair in Tokyo.

The robot chants sutras or prayers while tapping a drum.

The funeral software was written by Nissei Eco Co. Its spokesman Michio Inamura said that with Japan's population ageing and shrinking, many Buddhist priests receive less financial support from their communities, prompting some to find part-time work outside their temple duties.

The funeral robot could step in when a priest was not available, he said. It also cost less at 50,000 yen (350) per funeral compared to more than 240,000 yen (1,700) for a human priest.

Buddhist priest Tetsugi Matsuo said he came to the expo to see if Pepper could 'impart the 'heart' aspect to a machine because I believe that the 'heart' is the foundation of religion'.

The initiative follows the introduction of another religious robot named BlessU-2, developed as part of the Reformation 500 celebrations in Germany. It greets those who approach it and delivers blessings in up to five different languages, in addition to their choice for a male or female voice. BlessU-2 then offers 31 blessings to choose from its four categories. Once a blessing has been requested, the prayer begins.
'Slay the mad dogs': How Luther betrayed the peasants' revolt that he inspired

On this day in 1524 a gathering of radical evangelical Germans united, determined to liberate the nation's peasants from the oppression of the ruling classes. This was a key moment in the ill-fated Peasants' Revolt of 1524-25, a movement inspired by the reforms of Martin Luther  but Luther utterly opposed the serfs' rebellion.

Though they saw him as their hero, Luther condemned the peasants' revolt and called for its brutal suppression, arguably enabling the bloody demise of more than 100,000 peasants.

The peasant leader Hans Muller united with peasants from the town of Stuhlingen on August 24, 1524. The group named itself the 'Evangelical Brotherhood', with a vision to free the peasants.

It set out its ambitions in a document titled the Twelve Articles, which outlined reforms, in the style of Luther and inspired by Ulrich Zwingli, for the social realities facing Germany's poor. It included in its demands the right for congregations to elect and dismiss their pastors at will (instead of princes chosing pastors), while tithes would be directed toward supporting pastors, with the remainder given to the poor. It called for an end to serfdom and for the full and equal rights of individuals irrespective of class.

It won wide circulation; 25,000 copies were printed across the country. The peasants were emboldened by Luther, who had stood up to the 'system', challenged the mighty Catholic Church and its systemic corruption, and preached on the 'priesthood of all believers' and mankind's equality before God.

But Luther was not the passionate advocate the peasants hoped him to be. He wanted theological reform and spiritual renewal but not political revolution. At first attempting to broker peace in the Peasants War, Luther addressed the 'disastrous rebellion' in a tract to both peasants and princes titled Admonition to Peace. He didn't despise the Twelve Articles, but he was furious at the idea that he had started the rebellion.

He wrote: 'You...must bear witness that I have taught with all quietness, have striven earnestly against rebellion, and have energetically encouraged and exhorted people to obey and respect even you wild and dictatorial tyrants. This rebellion cannot be coming from me.'

Luther had sympathies with the oppressed, but vehemently discouraged violence and urged them to prioritise spiritual consolation over seeking earthly reform. He feared the chaos of rebellion could destroy the country. As Luther biographer Peter Stanford wrote, the monk was conflicted: wealthy princes like Elector Friedrich of Saxony had given him refuge when he had faced the fury of the Catholic Church. He could hardly turn on the ruling class that had saved his life. And his 'two kingdoms' theology prioritised spiritual hope to come over earthly, political transformation.

He made things worse with his even more incendiary tract: Against the Murderous and Thieving Hordes of Peasants, published in May 1525. Baptism made men free, Luther said, but in soul not body  so peasants could not violently revolt in God's name. The rulers were justified according to the teaching of St Paul in Romans 13, 'bearing the sword' to punish, as Luther put it, 'faithless, perjured, disobedient, rebellious murderers, robbers, and blasphemers'. The peasants needed to submit to authorities and 'give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar', as Christ put it.

Luther then got violent, writing: 'Therefore, let everyone who can, smite, slay, and stab, secretly or openly, remembering that nothing can be more poisonous, hurtful, or devilish than a rebel. It is just as when one must kill a mad dog; if you do not strike him, he will strike you, and a whole land with you'.

The peasants' revolt was ultimately crushed, more than 100,000 were killed in the conflict, and life for the socially oppressed got worse.

The tragedy is that so many of the peasants had been inspired by the seismic reforms of Luther  he was their icon, but refused to back their cause, apparently in bed with the ruling class.

You can follow @JosephHartropp on Twitter
Tensions ease between Coptic Christians and Muslims after clashes in Upper Egypt village

Tensions between Coptic Christians and Muslims in an Upper Egyptian village eased this week following weekend clashes after the Christians were prevented from holding a Mass at a private home because they had no permit.

According to World Watch Monitor (WWM), local Muslims in the village of Ezbat Al-Forn, part of the Minya governorate, complained to the authorities over plans by the Copts to meet in the home on Sunday, leading to the clashes.

But on Monday, the Copts processed peacefully through the streets of the village to celebrate the feast of the Assumption of Mary and calm prevailed, the Egypt Independent reported.

According to the newspaper, the local bishop, Anba Macarius, 'said that Muslims in the village have never objected to the prayers of the Coptic Christians in any place in Ezbat al-Forn...He added that the relations between the people are kind and neighbourly, contrary to media reports that say Muslims object to Christian prayers ... [And] that prayers were held in the streets in peace and security, with no protest.'

Now, the local authorities are reportedly 'considering' the Christians' request for a licence to hold religious services at the residential property, while also searching for suspects involved in Sunday's clashes.

The Egypt Independent added that the governor of Minya, Essam Bedawey, acknowledged that 'there are tensions between Muslims and Coptic Christians in some areas of the governorate, and there is a comprehensive plan to address these spots'.

WWM reported that Bishop Macarius had previously highlighted that his parish alone, which includes only Minya city and its immediate surroundings, is home to 15 churches that have been closed on security grounds.

In a statement last week, the bishop expressed his disillusionment 'at the failure of negotiations with security authorities in Minya to reopen churches closed by security order' because churches either lacked security approval or were considered offensive to Muslims and therefore a threat to social harmony.

WWM has previously reported that Copts have experienced similar challenges in the villages of Kom El-Loufy, El-Galaa, and also in Saft el-Khirsa  a town of around 12,000, including approximately 70 Christian families, which has ten mosques but no church.

Meanwhile, Watani reported in June that since 2005, Copts have not been able to meet in their church in the village of Dabbous in Samalout, near Kom El-Loufy.

The governorate of Minya, south of Cairo, is home to 5 million people, of whom, according to WWM, 35-40 per cent are Copts.

The governate has reportedly faced the largest number of sectarian attacks, 75 of which were on local Christians, in the past six years.
Theologian NT Wright Says Schools Should Teach Christianity In History Lessons

The story of Jesus and Christianity should be taught as history and not just in religious studies, a leading Christian academic has stated.

Former Bishop of Durham Tom Wright, currently New Testament professor at St Andrews University in Scotland, told Herald Scotland that the life of Jesus should be part of the mainstream history syllabus.

The Gospels were critically important to western civilisaton but were being "sidelined" he warned.

He said: "If a pupil wanted to study Jesus in his historical context this would not be seen as part of the general history syllabus, but would be seen as something that was the preserve of religious studies.

"Religious studies staff would then say to that pupil that they had Judaism, Buddhism and Confucius, as well as Christianity, and maybe there would be some stuff on the Gospels in the corner.

"It seems to me, in terms of the history of the western world, the narrative of how Christianity got going and who Jesus was are huge questions which ought to be in a more general syllabus."

The Humanist Society Scotland (HSS) agreed pupils should understand the role Christianity had played in history but said religion was already too prominent in Scottish education.

Gordon MacRae, chief executive of HSS, said: "I'm sure most people in Scotland can agree Christianity had a profound effect on shaping modern Scottish culture, but we are now at a tipping-point where a majority of people in Scotland for the first time are not religious."

He said the children of Scotland are not lacking religion in their education.

"Quite the oppose in fact."

Larry Flanagan of the Educational Institute of Scotland told the Herald that schools were already struggling with the competing demands for inclusion in the syllabus and teachers must be allowed professional autonomy.
Trump ally Mark Burns denies breaching visa terms in India campaign

Pastor Mark Burns, an ally of Donald Trump, has denied to Christian Today that he has experienced any visa problems while in India to preach despite a report implying that he was in violation of rules against the promotion of religion.

Pastor Burns is in Bangalore, the capital of the southern Karnataka state, for the next four days. He is preaching at the SMPC International Worship Centre.

A report on the One India website said that the event 'may be in violation of Indian visa norms that stop a foreigner from indulging in any kind of religious promotion or propaganda'. It added that a 'complaint in this regard has been filed with the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer' in Bangalore.

One India cited a document from the Ministry of Home affairs 'that clearly states that no foreigner is allowed to propagate or campaign for a particular religion in the country'.

However, a spokesperson travelling with Burns confirmed by telephone that the event was going ahead, from today onwards, and denied any knowledge of any visa issues.

In April, the American evangelist Donna Schambach was forced to cancel her own event in Bangalore after the right-wing Hindu nationalist VHP leader Girish Bhardwaj lodged a complaint alleging that she had violated visa rules.

Schambach had been due to host a gathering called the Power and Reality of the Kingdom.

The controversies over US preachers in India come after a spate of anti-conversion laws, in force in some six states.

The persecution watchdog Open Doors has monitored the steady rise of mistreatment of Christians India in its annual World Watch List. Now ranked the 15th worst country in the world to be a Christian, India is the highest it has ever been on the influential scale.

Meanwhile Compassion, a major Christian charity was forced to leave the country accused of proselytism, abandoning more than 50 projects and around 145,000 children.

As Christian Today reported yesterday, David Robin, a lawyer with the religious freedom charity ADF International, said that the conversion laws, as well as the government's laissez-faire attitude to mob violence, have fuelled a steady rise in attacks on Christians.

'The anti-conversion laws regulate religious conversions and require that every religious conversion be investigated by the state to ascertain if there is any force, fraud or allurement. The state becomes the final arbiter of whether my faith is genuine,' Robin told Christian Today.

'Furthermore, as these terms are poorly defined, they often lead to unnecessary harassment of Christians who are practising and propagating their faith.'

Open Doors CEO Lisa Pearce said: 'There is a clear pattern of rising religious intolerance across the Indian sub-continent, which affects many millions of Christians.

'Religious nationalists attempt to forcibly convert people to the dominant faith of their nation, often turning to violence when community discrimination and non-violent oppression do not succeed in imposing their religious beliefs on minority Christians.'
Trump has shown 'long-term commitment' to Afghan war, says top US general

The top US military commander in Afghanistan said on Thursday President Donald Trump's new strategy is a sign of a long-term commitment to what is already America's longest war and called on Taliban insurgents to agree to peace talks.

'The Taliban cannot win on the battlefield, it's time for them to join the peace process,' General John Nicholson told reporters in the Afghan capital, Kabul. 'We will not fail in Afghanistan, our national security depends on that as well.'

Critics, including Trump himself during the 2016 campaign for the US presidency, have argued that Afghanistan is no closer to peace despite billions of dollars spent on aid and nearly 16 years of US and allied military operations.

In February, Nicholson told the US Congress he needed 'a few thousand' more troops in Afghanistan, mostly to help advise Afghan security forces that are battling Taliban, Islamic State and other Islamist insurgents.

Trump has now approved an extended American presence in Afghanistan, although neither he nor his military leaders have provided any specifics about troop numbers or timelines.

The current US force for the predominantly advise-and-assist mission in Afghanistan stands at around 8,400, well down from around 100,000 during the 'surge' decided on by Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama.

Several thousand more troops are often in the country on 'temporary' or other uncounted missions.

Nicholson said new advisers from the United States and NATO coalition allies would increase the training missions, including at specialised military schools and expanding the Afghan air force and special forces.

He also praised Trump's decision not to impose 'arbitrary' deadlines on the American mission in Afghanistan.

'This policy announcement...is proof of our continued commitment,' he said.

The Taliban government was overthrown by US-backed Afghan forces in late 2001 but US forces have been bogged down there ever since. About 2,400 US troops have been killed in Afghanistan.

US military and intelligence officials are concerned that a new Taliban victory would allow al- Qaeda and Islamic State's regional affiliate to establish bases in Afghanistan.

That could allow them to plot attacks against the United States and its allies, they fear, just as Osama bin Laden had done with the September 11, 2001, strikes that triggered the war in Afghanistan.
White Supremacist Dylann Roof Is Guilty Of Charleston Murders

White supremacist Dylann Roof was found guilty yesterday of shooting dead nine black worshippers at a church in South Carolina last year.

The jurors took just two hours to convict the 22-year-old on all 33 counts he faced.

Roof took part in a Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston before drawing his weapon and opening fire. He told police he wanted to start a race war and that he hated black people.

Among his victims was state senator Rev Clementa Pinckney.

Roof's crimes shocked the nation and led to one of President Barack Obama's most significant speeches on race. He sang Amazing Grace at a memorial service to the victims.

Survivor Felicia Sanders said after the verdict that Roof was a coward because he had refused to look at her as she gave evidence.

She said she would always remember her murdered friends: "I wear a smile, because if you look at the pictures of all nine, they're smiling."

Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Centre, said: "Dylann Roof represents the modern face of domestic terrorism: the extremist who acts alone after being radicalized online.

"When Roof searched 'black on white crime,' he found a flood of white supremacist propaganda. Once hard to access, that propaganda is now just a few keystrokes away from anyone, anywhere, who has access to the internet. Counter-narratives that expose the lies behind the propaganda often don't make the first page of search results. It's a problem we must address.

"Charleston is still healing from Roof's horrific, racially motivated crime, as is our nation. Our hearts go out to the victims' families who will forever mourn the loss of their loved ones."

Charleston mayor John Tecklenberg said: "Today, Dylann Storm Roof was held accountable for the horrific acts of evil he committed last June in the hallowed walls of Mother Emanuel church. We can only hope that this verdict brings some measure of comfort to the survivors and families, who remain in our prayers and whose extraordinary faith and grace have so moved us all."

Roof will find out next month whether he will receive the death penalty.
Why are young evangelicals seeking out traditional worship?

I was maybe 13 or 14 and in a Religious Studies class. At my (Church of England) state school, church attendance was compulsory to be admitted. In the class we were asked to draw a picture of our church. It was the prelude to a discussion about our different churches, the buildings, the worship style and our experience of them.

While many people in the class had already stopped attending church once they'd got a place at the school, some still were regular worshippers. They mostly drew church buildings that looked nothing like what I drew.

They sketched out a classic 'churchy' looking building. There were spires and old stone structures, surrounded by graveyards - generally places that looked like churches. I sketched out a 1960s concrete and glass structure. At the time, the church we attended was meeting in a Further Education College so that was the building I drew. I was secretly feeling pretty pleased with myself. As the discussion in the class moved forward and some others described the worship in their services as boring, I was able proudly to proclaim that we had electric guitars, and doughnuts before the service (meeting as we called it).

This small incident was a microcosm of the relationship I had to tradition when I was growing up. I saw it as pretty irrelevant to the practice of faith. What could those old, cold buildings possibly have to offer? By extension, what could the kind of Christianity that happened in these places ever offer me? In my mind it was stale, repetitive and irrelevant to the late 20th Century world in which I was growing up.

Fast forward to 2016 and while I haven't lost my love for electric guitars in worship (and I'm always happy to be offered a doughnut) I realise that my youthful view was far too reductive. The tradition of the Church, liturgy, the creeds, apostolic succession, the Eucharist and much more all play an important role in my expression of faith. It seems many others are on a similar journey  especially younger people.

Across the US and the UK there is a movement of younger people from an evangelical background who are reconnecting with the heritage and tradition of the Church.

This takes many forms, but it caught my eye this week that the Prayer Book Society  a group dedicated to promoting the Book of Common Prayer  is proclaiming a "National resurgence" in its use. The Book, which forms the basis of Anglican liturgy and theology was first written in the mid 16th Century and revised in 1662. Although some parishes have continued to use it since then, many have moved away from it, either using Common Worship  the more contemporary liturgical style, or doing away with liturgical worship altogether.

However, the Society now says that many younger people are expressing an interest in the Prayer Book. "Many young people... are coming across The Book of Common Prayer for the first time," said spokeperson John Service. "They are struck by the beauty and relevance of the language which has inspired writers like Shakespeare as well as churchgoers down the ages."

24-year-old Fergus Butler-Gallie who's training to be an Anglican priest says he's noticed a pattern with younger people who are keen to have more substantive expressions of worship. "The words... found in The Book of Common Prayer satisfy that hunger as they rediscover past patterns of worship and understand their significance," he said.

It isn't just the Prayer Book, though. Younger people seem to be rediscovering more traditional, liturgical expressions of worship across the board.

Rev Erik Parker has blogged about the phenomenon of being a 'high church millenial'  in the Lutheran tradition. Rachel Held Evans has written a book about her journey from evangelicalism to Episcopalianism. It isn't just Protestant denominations either. Some young evangelicals are becoming Roman Catholics, with one writer suggesting, "college [is] a ripe breeding ground for interest in Roman Catholicism. Among the traits of the Catholic Church that attract... students - and indeed many young evangelicals at large - are its history, emphasis on liturgy, and tradition of intellectualism."

Indeed, there seems to be a thirst for Orthodox Christian faith as well. The most popular piece I've ever written for Christian Today was about the Jesus Prayer  an ancient prayer of the Orthodox Church.

Lambeth Palace, the home of the Archbishop of Canterbury, itself now plays host to a community of young people from around the world, who live under a rule of regular prayer, meditation and worship.

This trend towards tradition may tell us many things. The sociological, historical and political factors in all of this can't be ignored, but there isn't space to examine them here  in fact whole doctorates could be written on the phenomenon. One thing is for sure though  embracing a more traditional, liturgical style of worship doesn't mean abandoning more informal, evangelical practices.

The old can (and probably should) be held in positive tension with the new. If we as believers and our churches were open to embracing a broader range of styles, it would surely deepen our spiritual experience.

Pastor Brian Zahnd describes his journey as a charismatic evangelical like this: "As far as I was concerned, most Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans, and mainline Protestants needed to 'get saved'  which is to say, they needed to become my 'style' of Christian... [But now] This much I'm sure of: Orthodox mystery, Catholic beauty, Anglican liturgy, Protestant audacity, Evangelical energy, Charismatic reality  I need it all!"

So what does the future hold? It's hard to say, but the search for tradition and structure alongside the energy and dynamism of evangelicalism is a potent mix. Some churches are investigating a 'cross-tradition' approach which seeks to blend these different elements. In an article entitled, 'Why Millennials Long for Liturgy', Gracy Olmstead writes, "The millennial generation is seeking a holistic, honest, yet mysterious truth... Protestant churches that want to preserve their youth membership may have to develop a greater openness toward the treasures of the past. One thing seems certain: this 'sacramental yearning' will not go away."

Follow Andy Walton on Twitter @waltonandy
Yes, Britain is a Christian country, says Department for Education

Schools will not be forced to teach atheist worldviews on an equal footing with Christianity, according to the Department for Education.

The department issued guidance today following a recent Judicial Review of the religious studies GCSE. The court found that a particular paragraph in the introduction to the RS GCSE implied that the content of the syllabus was broad enough for schools to fulfil all their responsibilities for teaching religious education at key stage 4. The judge said that RS courses might not include non-religious views and that the introduction was therefore incorrect.

In a statement, the department said: "Some campaign groups have subsequently tried to claim that this means that non-religious beliefs such as humanism must be taught on a par with study of religion. However the guidance issued by Education Secretary Nicky Morgan today makes clear that schools can continue to prioritise the teaching of major faiths over non-religious world views such as humanism."

The statement continued: "In addition, the guidance reiterates requirements that non-faith schools must reflect the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are, in the main, Christian while taking account of the teaching and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain."

Morgan said: "This government is determined to protect schools' freedom to set their own religious studies curriculum, in line with the wishes of parents and the local community.

"The guidance I have issued today makes absolutely clear that the recent judicial review will have no impact on what is currently being taught in religious education.

"I am clear that both faith and non-faith schools are completely entitled to prioritise the teaching of religion and faith over non-religious world views if they wish."

The statement was welcomed by religious groups. Rev Nigel Genders, Chief Education Officer for the Church of England, said: "There has been confusion about the implications of the High Court judgment [with respect to the GCSE religious studies subject content] and we welcome the publication of this guidance note which clarifies the situation and provides assurance that the judgement does not impact on the content of the new RS GCSE."

Sheila Gewolb, Vice President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said:

The Board of Deputies of British Jews welcomes the Department for Education's guidance, which supports the religious studies GCSE as it stands.

"The Board believes that the RS GCSE must continue to support education about the traditional world religions. Other beliefs and world views can  and should  be taught through other subject areas."

Paul Barber, Director of the Catholic Education Service, said: "The CES welcomes this additional guidance which clarifies the position ofRE in light of the judicial review outcome.

"We are pleased to read that the judgment will not impact upon the content of the new GCSE in religious studies, nor the autonomy of the Catholic Church in determining the content of the RE curriculum in Catholic schools."
Earlier this week the Village Voicethe weekly paper that gave me my start in the writing businessannounced the end of its print edition. The paper that invented the counterculture will now live on the Internet alone.

Over the last half-century, digital technology has driven many publications into bankruptcy, or deported them to the cloud. But the sad fate of the Voices print edition has special irony: early computers played an accidental role in transforming a struggling neighborhood paper into what author Kevin McAuliffe called the Great American Newspaper.

On December 8, 1962, Local 6 of the International Typographical Union (ITU) called a strike against four New York City dailies; three others shut down in solidarity, effectively leaving New York without daily papers. Because it was the Christmas season, advertisers were desperate to find other outlets. Some of them discovered a thin Greenwich Village weekly called the Voice.

At first it looked like the strike would be resolved quickly and the Voices advertising gold rush would be temporary. But insiders knew the main issue was not salary or hours, or even job security. The real issue was automation.

Throughout the 1950s, Bert Powers, head of Local 6, had been following the steady development of automated typesetting. It was still a feeble technology, a whisper of things to come, but Powers could already see that automation was faster, cheaper, and easier to use. His unions lumbering hot-type machines were direct descendants of Gutenbergs fifteenth century printing press. If the new system was allowed into newsrooms and printing plants, ITU typesetters would lose their jobs. And so, in a kamikaze attack that wrecked the newspaper business in New York City, Powers kept the Local 6 picket lines up.

As the newspaper strike stretched into weeks, and the weeks to months, competitors grew fat on diverted ads. Radio and TV coverage expanded rapidly. New publications, such as the New York Review of Books, sprang to life. For the Village Voice, which had been balanced on the edge of insolvency for years, the long strike was a godsend to ad revenue and newsstand sales.

That the Voice had made it to 1963 was already something of a miracle. When they started the weekly in 1955, the papers three foundersEd Fancher, Dan Wolf, and Norman Mailerknew that Greenwich Village was an international symbol of cool. Since the early 1900s the neighborhood had been famous for creative oddballs, free thinkers, and sex: a reputation like that should be easy to market.

Trouble is, they had no idea how to publish a 12-page paper. Fortunately, their friend Jerry Tallmer had worked on the student paper at Dartmouth and knew the ropes. Tallmer came on board as associate editor and, along with writers like John Wilcock and photographer Fred McDarrah, helped the Voice build a small but loyal readership, at an attractive pricean annual subscription (52 issues) cost $3.00.

Still, it was far from certain the paper would stay afloat. One night at 2 am, Howard Smith, who wrote the Scenes column, noticed a light in the two-room Greenwich Avenue apartment that served as the first Voice office. Curious, he went upstairs and found the publisher, Ed Fancher, pasting mailing labels on the latest issue. Theres no one else to do it, Fancher explained. We have no money.

Thanks to postdated checks and a couple of timely loans, however, the Voice kept its lights on. By the time I got my first byline in 1966, the paper had become an integral part of the downtown scene. If you were looking for an apartment, you had to get to the Voice real estate listings first, which meant joining the Wednesday morning crowd at the Sheridan Square newsstand, the first place in Manhattan the Voice was delivered.

The Voice was required reading for anyone searching for an alternative to Walter Cronkite or the New York Times. And while you were reading Voice stories about civil rights, the underground cinema, anti-war protests, off-Broadway theater, oppressed poets, radical artists, hip music, and the hidden truth about Karl Marx, you would be treated to a close look at neighborhood intrigues. No matter how far afield front-page headlines might roam, the Voice never abandoned its role as a chronicler and protector of Village life. Community board meetings were reported in detail. Malevolent developers were spotlighted long before they could carry out secret plans for that empty lot on Charles Street. Ed Koch began his climb to City Hall by beating Carmine DeSapio in a race for Democratic district leader of the Village, a victory that would not have been possible without support from the Village Voice. Much of whats gone wrong in crowded, overbuilt Greenwich Village today can be explained by the fact that the community no longer has an outspoken and influential paper like the Voice defending it.

Fancher and Wolf shook off challenges from competing weeklies like the East Village Other and the Soho News but lost control of the paper to Clay Felker in 1974. It was bought and sold several times in subsequent years. I stopped reading the Voice in 1996 when it became a free paper, distributed in sidewalk vending boxes.

Still, Im sorry to see the print edition go. My memories of the Voice belong to a world of paper and ink. However, the current owner, Peter Barbey, is probably making the right move. When Barbey bought the Voice a couple of years ago, I told him I admired his courage. Buying a print paper was a chancy move. The tide of technology cannot be reversed.

The ITUs 114-day strike that helped elevate the tiny Village Voice to the best-known weekly in the country destroyed three daily newspapers and delivered a devastating blow to bigtime journalism. But in the end, none of it mattered: union chief Bert Powers couldnt stop automated typesetting or the advance of word-processing programs. In 2017, nothing can save print editions from their own inevitable fate, even though typing online is like writing on air. What can be created and saved with the click of a mouse can be deleted just as quickly.

For the time being, none of these concerns matter, either, for digital technology is the undisputed champ of the communications world. Paper is going the way of papyrus, parchment, and linotype machines. Now its the Voices turn to yield.

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The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics, by Mark Lilla (Harper, 160 pp., $24.99)

In his new book, Columbia University humanities professor Mark Lilla laments the phrase speaking as an X. Ubiquitous in academia for years, but now increasingly prevalent in general discourse, it is an introductory clause that

sets up a wall against questions, which by definition come from a non-X perspective. And it turns the encounter into a power relation: the winner of the argument will be whoever has invoked the morally superior identity and expressed the most outrage at being questioned. So classroom conversations that once might have begun, I think A, and here is my argument, now take the form, Speaking as an X, I am offended that you claim B. This makes perfect sense if you believe that identity determines everything. It means there is no impartial space for dialogue.

The passage makes plain what Lilla is up toand up against. He wants the Democratic Party to abandon identity politics for the sake of its electoral viability. Effecting beneficial changes requires wielding power, he argues, and in democracies, securing power requires winning elections. In Americavast, diverse, and unrulysuch victories can be secured only through the hard and unglamorous task of persuading people very different from [oneself] to join a common effort. Lilla thus finds it necessary to instruct fellow Democrats that elections are neither prayer meetings nor therapy sessions nor seminars nor teaching moments.

What is identity politics? As a chapter epigraph, Lilla cites a statement from the Combahee River Collective, a 1970s group whose raison detreblack lesbians issues and perspectives were getting short shrift from existing civil rights, gay rights, and feminist organizationssounds like a parody of the problem Lilla describes. This focusing upon our own oppression is embodied in the concept of identity politics, the statement said. We believe that the most profound and potentially most radical politics come directly out of our own identity, as opposed to working to end somebody elses oppression.

This rejection of the very idea of an impartial dialogue is, Lilla believes, how the noble legacy of large classes of peopleAfrican-Americans, womenseeking to redress major historical wrongs by mobilizing and then working through our political institutions gave way, by the 1980s, to a pseudo-politics of self-regard and increasingly narrow and exclusionary self-definition. Inherent in it is identitarians disdain for the ordinary democratic politics of engaging with and persuading people unlike themselves in favor of delivering sermons to the unwashed from a raised pulpit.

Rather than gratefully accept this enlightenment and path to redemption, however, the unwashed are likely to demand an identity politics of their own. As soon as you cast an issue exclusively in terms of identity, Lilla warns, you invite your adversary to do the same. Thus, Donald Trumps victory and Lillas book, which grew out of a New York Times op-ed he wrote the week after the 2016 election. He was sick and tired of noble defeats, Lilla told interviewers then. Lillas article prompted many denunciations, the most venomous coming from a Columbia law professor who compared him, unfavorably, with David Duke.

Such reactions give strong reason to doubt that we will soon see a post- or anti-identity politics emerging the Democratic Party. And yet, an even stronger reason exists. The feasibility of Lillas project depends on the plausibility of his analysis. If identity politics is an affliction that happened to liberalism, as he sees it, then its realistic to activate Democratic antibodies to reject the pathogen. If, however, identity politics is a condition to which liberalism is inherently susceptible, or even disposed, then identity politics is not the Democrats problem but their destiny. Unfortunately for Lilla, the evidence points in this direction.

Something came between the New Deal Democratic Party, summoned to pride and patriotism by Franklin Roosevelts Four Freedoms, and todays Democratic Party, micro-targeting so many distinct constituencies that, to Lilla, it seems better prepared to govern Lebanon than America. In between came McGovernismnot just George McGoverns 1972 campaign but also the whole style and substance of 1960s and 1970s liberalism: from John F. Kennedys cool to Robert Kennedys zeal; from civil rights to Black Power; from the counterculture, New Left, and antiwar movements to feminism and environmentalism. The result, says Lilla, turned Joe Sixpacks Democratic Party into Jessica Yogamats. Democrats uncritically embraced the constituencies and passions brought to the fore in the 1960soften at the expense of common sense, political and governmental. In these years, Lilla writes, liberals, fearful of blaming the victim, refused to speak about the new culture of dependency, or about the tremendous rise in violent crime in the 1960s.

As a result, identity politics determined the Democratic reaction in 1988 when George H. W. Bushs presidential campaign raised the Willie Horton issue against his opponent, Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts. It was intolerable, liberal activists and journalists declared, to bring to public attention an incident where a black man had brutalized a white couple. What was tolerable, by implication, was a policy (unique to Massachusetts) that gave violent felons, serving life sentences and ineligible for parole, unsupervised furloughs. Little wonder that Joe Sixpack voters tuned into Reagan Democrats as they came to associate liberalism with profligacy, spinelessness, malevolence, masochism, elitism, fantasy, anarchy, idealism, softness, irresponsibility, and sanctimoniousness, as sociologist Jonathan Rieder put it in Canarsie (1985). To this day, Democrats think that what Bush said about Willie Horton was outrageous but that what Dukakis did was, at worst, unfortunate.

Seen in this light, identity politics is not a problem for Democrats but a solution to the deeper problem that liberalism doesnt believe in itself. The evidence, once subtle, is now explicit. The final word belongs to no man, FDR said in a 1932 speech to the Commonwealth Club, addressing the question of whether government existed to serve individuals or vice versa. All we can do is believe in change and in progress, the never-ending quest for better things. Three-quarters of a century later, in Barack Obamas Audacity of Hope, it becomes clear that the author, and liberalism generally, suffers from what political scientist Charles Kesler calls certainty envy. Obama dislikes absolute truths but admires unbending idealists, up to and including murderous ones like abolitionist John Brown. Obamas solution is to encourage us to pursue our own absolute truths, while warning that there may be a terrible price to pay.

Pursuing our own absolute truths is an excellent summary of identity politics. On no other basis can modern liberals combine moral fervor with moral flexibility. Because my truths are subjective, they become unassailablebut at the same time, Im under no obligation to base my truth on any proposition about the nature of things, because we accept that the final word on such realities belongs to no one. Speaking as an X, I possess a truth borne of my experience that no non-X critic can fully appreciate or fairly challenge. As a Yale undergraduate wrote during that schools identity-politics convulsions in 2015: I dont want to debate. I want to talk about my pain.

Consequently, Lillas hope for a future liberalism that will forge ahead and surmount identity politics seems naive. His previous book, The Shipwrecked Mind (2016), assessed the reactionary longing to return to a mythical, irretrievable past. But his new quest, for the liberalism of a Golden Age too well grounded to succumb to identity politics, proves no less quixotic.

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NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION/ART RESOURCE, NY

On March 24, 1859, a leading statesman who would soon find himself fighting in the Civil War gave a speech titled State Rights. In it, he warned of federal usurpation of state sovereignty on the issue of slavery, and he urged states to nullify national laws that threatened their autonomy. Urging his listeners to stand firm against an overbearing Washington, he declared: Here is the battlefield, every man to his gun!

The speaker was not Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, or some other Confederate statesman, but Carl Schurz, a leading abolitionist of the nineteenth century. Schurz would go on to serve as a Union officer during the Civil War, after which he enjoyed a distinguished career as a journalist, U.S. senator, and secretary of the interior. Manhattans Upper East Side is home to a park named after him.

The fact that Schurz was passionately devoted to both abolition and states rights flies in the face of most everything were taught about the causes of the Civil War. According to the standard version of history, states rights was a doctrine invented by Southern politicians to perpetuate slavery. One high school textbook, for example, describes the term states rights as an antebellum euphemism for the right of the states to maintain slavery and the right of individuals to hold property in slaves. In a 2011 interview on NPR, Adam Goodhart, author of 1861: The Civil War Awakening, asserted that the only significant state right that people were arguing about in 1860 was the right to own what was known as slave property. A 2013 New York Times op-ed declared that since the nations founding, states rights has been a rallying cry for those who wished to systematically disenfranchise and exploit large segments of their population. A plaque at the Smithsonians National Portrait Gallery describes states rights as a doctrine that protected the institution of slavery.

This conventional history provides a handy rhetorical weapon for liberal commentators, who accuse states rights conservatives of embracing a doctrine historically identified with pro-slavery ideologies and . . . the disenfranchisement of African-Americans, as the Nation puts it. Now that the 2016 presidential campaign is getting under waywith some GOP hopefuls advocating a return to states rightsexpect many in the media to warn us that the Tea Party is forgetting the lessons of history.

But what if the lessons of history are wrong, and the doctrine of states rights was actually an antislavery ideology?

Consider the logic. If states rights was a doctrine that protected slaveryas the Smithsonian assertsthen its fair to ask: Protected it against what? Presumably, against a threatened federal law that would impose abolition upon unwilling Southern states. But the federal government never came close to enacting such a law before the Civil War; the Emancipation Proclamation would not come until the middle of the war (1863), and even then, it applied only to the states in rebellion. Before that, few federal proposals would have interfered with the autonomy of existing slave states, and those proposals went nowhere. Constitutional amendments to abolish slavery had been introduced in the House in 1818 and 1839; neither made it to the floor for a vote.

During the first half of the nineteenth century, pro-slavery politicians were much more likely to rely on federal power than on states rights. The United States Constitution implicitly permitted slavery, while the three-fifths clause boosted the congressional delegations and Electoral College votes of the slave states. Federal law guaranteed the return of fugitive slaves to their masters. In the District of Columbiaover which the federal Congress had total authorityslavery remained legal until 1850, when it was finally abolished, but only in return for an expansion of slavery elsewhere. Congress did prohibit international slave trade in 1808; but by that time, every Southern state except South Carolina had already passed laws banning or restricting the slave trade.

In 1882, Henry AdamsHarvard historian, descendant of Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams, and Boston Brahmin if ever there was onedefended states rights as a sound and true doctrine . . . as dear to New England as to Virginia. Between slavery and states rights, there was, he wrote, no necessary connection. To the contrary, whenever a question arose of extending or protecting slavery, the slaveholders became friends of centralized power, and used that dangerous weapon with a kind of frenzy. In the 1830s, for example, pro-slavery politicians called on the federal government to use its postal powers to keep abolitionist pamphlets out of the mail. In 1835, President Andrew Jackson obliged by proposing to Congress legislation to prohibit the postal service from delivering incendiary literature that could provoke slave insurrection.

The postal-suppression legislation was referred to a committee chaired by John Calhoun, the most renowned states rights advocate of the antebellum South. Calhoun objected to the proposal on the basis of state sovereignty: he could not abide federal meddling in a state-level debate. Calhoun watered down the administrations legislation, giving postmasters authority only to enforce state preferences: if South Carolina wanted to block abolitionist tracts, the post office would comply, but other states would be free to allow such materials. Calhouns version was not exactly an enlightened piece of legislation, but it was considerably less oppressive than Jacksons original proposal. The bill, in any event, was defeated.

The major states rights issue leading up to the war concerned the right of free states and territories to exclude slavery within their borders. The Constitutions Fugitive Slave Clause provides that a slave who escapes into another state shall be delivered up on Claim of [the owner]. Though the clause gave slaveholders a federal right to repossess their property, it provided no particular machinery for them to vindicate that right. In 1793, Congress filled in the details with the Fugitive Slave Act, which imposed an affirmative duty on federal and state judges to enforce the claims of slaveholders demanding the return of runaway slaves.

Notwithstanding the 1793 Act, various Northern states adopted personal liberty laws that restricted the rendition of fugitive slaves and protected free blacks from being kidnapped. Pennsylvania, for example, created a presumption of freedom for black residents that could not be surmounted unless a slaveholder had registered his slave with state authorities within a certain time frame. Even if a slaveholder seized an escaped slave pursuant to federal law, therefore, he might be engaged in kidnapping, as far as Pennsylvania law was concerned.

The conflicts between federal and state fugitive slave laws eventually reached the Supreme Court in an 1842 case involving Edward Prigg, a Maryland slave catcher, who had been convicted in Pennsylvania state court for removing a black woman and her children from the commonwealth in violation of local law. Prigg appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court on grounds that he had complied with the federal Fugitive Slave Act, which, he argued, trumped Pennsylvania law. The Supreme Court agreed, upholding the constitutionality of the federal act and striking down the conflicting provisions of Pennsylvanias law. Moreover, Prigg v. Pennsylvania laid down the broad dictum that states could not interfere with federal officials charged with implementing federal law, including the Fugitive Slave Act.

The Prigg decision did advance states rights in one respect: the Court said that Pennsylvania itself had no obligation to assist the central government in carrying out the Fugitive Slave Act. Thus, though a state could not stop federal agents from enforcing the act, it could stop its own officials from doing so. In essence, the Court had endorsed the concept of state interposition: the right of a state to refuse to participate in implementing federal law. This doctrine has its roots in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, written by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, respectively, and has been upheld in modern times by the Supreme Court as the anti-commandeering rule (Printz v. United States, 1997).

In response to Prigg, Pennsylvania adopted a new personal liberty law, withdrawing all state support for the Fugitive Slave Act. Under this law, state judges could not lift a finger to enforce the federal law, and state jails could not hold runaway slaves. Other states followed with stronger personal liberty laws, greatly complicating the ability of slaveholders to recapture fugitive slaves.

The Southern states didnt celebrate these assertions of states rights. To the contrary: they called on the federal government to crack down on the wayward states. The Georgia legislature, in a typical example, passed a resolution declaring it the imperative duty of Congress to enforce slaveholders rights. The fugitive slave issue soon became part of the broader question of slaverys expansion into new states and territories. Under the Compromise of 1850, California gained admission as a free state, while New Mexico and Utah were organized as slave territories. The District of Columbia abolished slavery, while Congress passed a new Fugitive Slave Act.

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 called for the appointment of federal commissioners in every state with authority to issue and execute warrants for the capture of runaway slaves. The act empowered the commissioners to summon a posse comitatus (in English: a lynch mob), and all good citizens were hereby commanded to join the posse. Captured blacks were denied the benefit of jury trialscommissioners and judges were ordered to try any fugitive slave case in a summary manner. Commissioners were paid ten dollars if they ruled in favor of the slaveholder but only five dollars if they ruled against him. All in all, it was one of the most brutal laws of the antebellum periodenacted by the federal government at the behest of slave states to quash the rights of free states.

Once its provisions began to bite, the Fugitive Slave Act led to greater calls for Northern states rights. In 1854, a federal marshal seized Anthony Burns, a runaway slave working in Boston, and brought him before the fugitive slave commissioner. Though Burns was represented by noted lawyer Richard Henry Dana, Jr.author of the seafaring classic Two Years Before the Masthe was returned to slavery. Amid protests in the streets of Boston, abolitionist preacher Theodore Parker called for calm, deliberate, systematic action . . . for the defense of personal liberty and the State Rights of the North (emphasis added).

After the Burns case and the Kansas-Nebraska bill of 1854, which reopened the slavery issue in areas where it had been closed for years, at least seven Northern states enacted new personal liberty laws aimed at negating the new Fugitive Slave Act. One of those states was Wisconsin, where a local antislavery editor, Sherman Booth, had been arrested in 1854 for interfering with federal marshals attempting to capture an escaped slave named Joshua Glover. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ordered Booth released on grounds that the Fugitive Slave Act was unconstitutional. The marshal appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and had Booth rearrested. Again, the Wisconsin Supreme Court released Booth. State and federal courts rendered conflicting decisions until the Supreme Court had the last word in its Ableman v. Booth decision: on March 7, 1859, the Court unanimously held that states had no power to object to the conditions under which their citizens are imprisoned by federal authorities. This strongly pro-national decision was written by Chief Justice Roger Taney, the principal author of the Dred Scott decision.

Speaking in Milwaukee, Carl Schurz gave his State Rights speech in response to the Ableman decision. The Wisconsin legislature responded to the Booth case by adopting a set of resolutions nullifying the Fugitive Slave Act. In words borrowed from the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, the Wisconsin legislature declared that each state had a sovereign right to judge for itself whether a federal law transgressed the Constitution. And when Congress did pass an unconstitutional law, the legislature called for positive defiance.

A related issue was slave transitthat is, the ability of slaveholders to visit or travel through free states and territories with their slaves without fear of their slaves being emancipated. This was a critical issue because even temporary slavery was abhorrent to free states. Many Northern jurists cited the policy laid down by British courts in the eighteenth century: that a slave is emancipated the moment he or she sets foot on free soil. And they cited the danger of a slippery slope: If a master could bring one slave into a free state, why not 100 slaves? If the slave could stay for one week, why not one year?

Beginning in the 1840s, most Northern states adopted increasingly restrictive rules on slave transit, some barring masters from bringing slaves into their territory for any length of time. The Northern states had every right to adopt such policies, but pro-slavery forces showed little regard for states rights in this area. Instead, many slaveholders asserted a federal right to travel with their slaves that would supersede conflicting state laws.

The alleged federal right of slave transit was a stretch. Southerners invoked various constitutional provisions, including Article IVs command to grant full faith and credit to each states official acts, as well as its guarantee of privileges and immunities, but nothing in the text directly addresses the issue. Slaveholders exploited a sympathetic federal judiciary to establish a right to export slavery temporarily to other states. In 1841, Supreme Court Justice Henry Baldwin asserted that state laws restricting slave transit violated the Constitution by usurping federal supremacy over interstate commerce. Baldwin was speaking only for himselfthe Courts majority did not concur with himbut his views anticipated and probably influenced later federal court decisions pushing back against pro-freedom laws in Northern states.

The federal judiciarys campaign against state emancipation laws reached its zenith in Chief Justice Taneys infamous opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857). Dred Scott had been a slave of John Emerson, an army surgeon. Over the years, Scott had lived with Emerson in Illinois, a free state, and in the territory of Upper Louisiana (now Minnesota), in which slavery had been forever prohibited under the 1820 Missouri Compromise. After Emersons death, Scott sued the administrator of Emersons estate, John Sandford, to gain his freedom, based on his prolonged residence on free soil. Having been legally free in those places, the argument went, Scott could not be forced back to his former status.

After losing in the Missouri Supreme Court and a lower federal court, Scott appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court with the help of an antislavery lawyer who agreed to take the case pro bono. Despite good representation, Scott lost. Writing for a 7-2 majority, Taney held that Scott, as a black man, had no legal right to bring a suitany suitin federal court. The right to sue in federal court belongs to citizens, Taney ruled, and it was legally impossible for blacks to become citizens. Even if some misguided states thought that they could confer citizenship on emancipated slaves, not even free blacks could become citizens of the United States.

Before Dred Scott, few people thought of federal citizenship as a distinct category. Rather, the accepted view was that if a person was a citizen under state law, he would also be a citizen under federal law. Taneys decision imposed a national rule of white-only citizenship, undercutting the long-standing Northern tradition of free black citizens. While a black might technically be entitled to freedom under state law, after Dred Scott, he could not assert that right in federal court. Nor could he vote in federal elections or exercise any other federal right.

With Taneys new definition of federal citizenship established, the case should have been over. But the Court went on to declare that even if Scott had a right to bring his suit, he would lose anyway. Notably, Taney rejected Scotts claim that he had gained his freedom in the Louisiana Territory under the terms of the Missouri Compromise. To reach that result, Taney held that the Missouri Compromise was an unconstitutional deprivation of property without due process.

Strictly speaking, Taney was opining only on the validity of a federal law, but the Courts rationalethat the emancipation of a sojourning slave amounted to an unconstitutional invasion of property rightscould be equally applied to state laws purporting to liberate slaves in transit. Such laws were proliferating in the North. In New York, for example, the highest court had recently ruled that, under state law, slaves became free the minute they entered the state.

THE GRANGER COLLECTION, NYC

Northern politicians feared that Dred Scott spelled the end of their efforts to emancipate blacksnot nationally but within their own states and territories. It is this fear that lies at the heart of Abraham Lincolns House Divided speech, which launched his 1858 bid for election to the U.S. Senate. Lincoln blasted the Courts decision as a dangerous interference with states rights. The Supreme Courts next logical step, Lincoln warned, would be to hold that the Constitution does not permit a state to exclude slavery from its limits.

We shall lie down pleasantly dreaming that the people of Missouri are on the verge of making their state free, said Lincoln, and we shall awake to the reality, instead, that the Supreme Court has made Illinois a slave state. Lincoln was not alone in his defense of state sovereignty against encroachments by the central government. The Republican Party itself had been organized to protest against the invasion of State rights, as journalist Edward Payson Powell wrote in 1897. Specifically, the party was galvanized by the outrage caused by the use of federal troops in the new state of Kansas to enforce a pro-slavery constitution against the wishes of many Kansans. In light of Dred Scott, Republicans feared a federal government conspiracy to allow the slaveocracy to extend slavery into the states and territories.

Lincoln lost his Senate bid to Stephen Douglas, after which he launched a national speaking tour. Lincoln stayed on messagebut the message was not a call for the federal government to abolish slavery. Rather, it was a warning against the use of federal power to nationalize slavery. In at least 16 public addresses, Lincoln predicted the eventual nationalization of slavery if Chief Justice Taney and his coconspirators were not checked by the Republican Party. In the wake of Dred Scott, the New York Daily Times warned that slavery is no longer local, it is national. Law professor Paul Finkelman notes in An Imperfect Union that, in the years before the Civil War, the philosophy of states rights or state sovereignty was adopted by many northerners seeking to arrest the spread of slavery.

Contrary to all these historical facts, Dred Scott is often portrayed as a states rights decision. In an essay for PBS, law professor Jeffrey Rosen describes the case as a victory for the most radical states rights Democrats. Meanwhile, the Exploring Constitutional Law website run by the law school of the University of MissouriKansas City, for example, describes Dred Scott as an extreme example of a conservative court promoting states rights. Thats a little like calling Roe v. Wade an extreme example of pro-life jurisprudence.

Threats of secession were bandied about in the decades running up to the warbut they were as likely to come from Northern abolitionists as Southern slaveholders. Many Americans shared Lincolns view that the Union could not endure, permanently, half slave and half free. Lincoln did not seek to break up the Union, but some in the North did. Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, for example, used his position as editor of The Liberator to call for the repeal of the Union between North and South, as he wrote in 1842. Two years later, the American Anti-Slavery Society passed a resolution at its annual meeting that secession from the present United States Government is the duty of every Abolitionist. The logic of Northern secession was twofold. First, the free North could disassociate itself from an immoral institution; second, a hypothetical Northern republic would have no Fugitive Slave Clause, and thus, it could be a haven for escaped slaves.

Meanwhile, in the South, those who wanted to break up the Union, known as fire-eaters, numbered a distinct minority. In 1850, the fire-eaters pushed for popularly elected state conventions to consider secession, only to retreat after the Georgia and Mississippi conventions voted overwhelmingly to stay in the Union. Mississippi (Jefferson Daviss home state) declared that secession is utterly unsanctioned by the Federal Constitution.

Up until the first shots were fired at Fort Sumter, slaverys defenders were not known for resisting federal power. To the contrary, they had been exploiting federal power: to expand the reach of slavery, to enforce alleged federal rights to travel with (or capture) slaves, and to silence abolitionists. For decades, the slave interests had dominated Congress and the Supreme Court. The last thing they wanted was states rightsthey owned Washington. When the South did embrace secession, it was not because the federal government had done anything to abolish slavery; rather, the election of Abraham Lincoln and the rise of the Republicans meant that the Northern states would be permitted to get away with what the South considered illegal nullification.

Consider Mississippis declaration of secession, which argues that Mississippi was forced to leave the Union because the Northern states had nullified the Fugitive Slave Law (emphasis added). Likewise, South Carolinas declaration complains that Northern states have enacted laws which either nullify the Acts of Congress [such as the Fugitive Slave Act] or render useless any attempt to execute them (emphasis added). Georgias declaration rebuked Congress for failing to suppress antislavery speechthough freedom of speech was thought to be a matter of state jurisdictionbecause abolitionists were committing offenses against the laws of nations.

Even in the Confederacy itself, states rights were seen as a potential threat to slavery. The Confederate Constitution was a nearly verbatim copy of the U.S. Constitutionexcept that, when it came to slavery, it gave more power to the central government and less to the states. On the issue of slave transit, for example, the Southern document severely limited state power in an explicit attempt to create a more unified Confederacy, according to Finkelman. Slaveholders were given an absolute right to bring their slaves into other states for indefinite periods, even if the host state wanted to abolish or limit slavery. The Confederate Constitution also included an expanded Fugitive Slave Clause that gave masters additional rights to capture slaves, including those who had become free under the laws of a sister state.

No sane African-American would support the Tea Party, MSNBC host Chris Matthews said in 2013, because it is a group that is basically pro-states rights. Yet contrary to many such arguments you hear today, the Civil War was not sparked by federal efforts to abolish slavery: there were no such efforts before the South seceded. The war arose from Northern assertions of states rights and from the Souths frustration at the federal governments failure to rein in those assertions. After the war, however, it became irresistible for federal politicianseager to justify an expanded role for the national governmentto associate states rights with the Confederacy and, therefore, slavery. By 1909, progressive journalist Herbert Croly could assertwith little fear of contradictionthat the growth of federal power since Reconstruction had been necessary to slay the double-headed problem of slavery and states rights. The rest is historysort of.
Journalists, scientists, historians, and judges all share one key attribute: the need to work with information and evidence to find and test facts. Talking to all of the above about their process is the premise of a new podcast, Methods, from science journalist Brooke Borel. Borel has worked as a fact-checker, research editor, science reporter, and is author of The Chicago Guide to Fact-Checking.

In its three-episode pilot season in early August, Borel talks to a marine biologist who talks to dolphins, a journalist covering an international climate-change lawsuit, and an author about how journalists should cover conspiracy theorists.

In an interview with CJR, Borel reveals the inspiration for Methods and the importance of putting a spotlight on the behind-the-scenes processes of those who work with facts. In an era of fake news, she hopes fact-checking will become as an integral part of all forms of journalism.

The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

You studied engineering as an undergrad at Boston University. So what eventually led you to journalism?

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I ended up in a grad program at NYU. It wasnt a journalism program, more of a build your own curriculum thing. I was mainly focused on the history of science and science studies, which looks at science from a cultural and social perspective. I really enjoyed writing about science, so I fell into journalism, specifically science journalism. One of my first jobs was as a fact-checker. I worked as a fact-checker for this magazine called Science Illustrated (which doesnt exist anymore in English, as far as I know) and ultimately got promoted as research editor there. Ive been a journalist for about nine and a half years now.

You a wrote book about fact-checking. How did that come about?

In addition to reporting on science early in my career, I wrote this book on bedbugs called Infested. As I was working on the book, through a chance conversation with my editor, I learned that they were seeking someone to write a fact-checking guide for their writing guide series. We got into this big conversation about fact-checking because I was talking about fact-checking Infested. I ended up submitting a book proposal and writing the guide.

The way I approached that book was I was pulling from my own work as a fact-checker and a researcher, but I also interviewed I think 90 people from different publicationsThe New Yorker, Vanity Fair, GQ, people who fact-check books for a living, reporters, etc. So I pulled all that information together. Its intended really for anyone doing non-fiction writing, and for early career journalists who are dealing with facts, but maybe dont have a certain expertise in the beat they are covering, or dont have fact-checkers readily available. The guide helps them be able to do these things themselves.

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How did the Methods podcast come about?

The guide got published a month before the 2016 election, in this really interesting swirl of fake news and alternative facts and all the things weve been talking about since. Because of that, Ive been writing about these things much more than I expected to. I wrote an essay for FiveThirtyEight about how fact-checking is not going to save us from fake news. And as I was doing all of this stuff, a friend of mine, Ben Lillie, was launching an event space and publishing company called Caveat [that] would be producing live shows and podcasts.

He and I had been friends for a long time, and we talked in the past about wanting to do a podcast together, and Methods sort of came from those conversations. The goal is to have each episode where we are talking to people who are professional fact-finderswhether thats a scientist, journalist, historian, and maybe as we go further into the show, Id like to talk to, for example, a jury foreman or a psychologist helping patients understand themselves, or any person who is using some form or reasoning and fact-checking to understand the world around them. I want to really get into their process and see how they do what they do.

The 2016 election really exposed a counter-intuitive problem in journalismthe conflict between truth and balance. On one hand, if journalists tell the truth, or at least the best version of the available facts in context, they still are accused of bias (not showing opposing views or both sides). But on the other hand, if we show too much balance, we run the risk of giving inaccurate or misleading information the same platform as facts. Where do you see the podcast being able to help address this conflict?

Look, Im very excited about this podcast, but I dont think one podcast or piece of writing will solve everything. Just because a person is an expert or a journalist doesnt mean we get everything right. Scientists and journalists see themselves as these very objective people, but as human beings, we have biases and theres no way around that. I think that bias is something journalists need to be aware of, acknowledge, and [work] to curb.

But Im hoping that the podcast will do a few things. I hope it shows the behind-the-scenes processes of an article or a scientific study. That stuff doesnt always end up in the final piece, and as we have many people in the public questioning the media, questioning science, questioning expertise, I think talking about the process is important. Its not like a scientist just sits there and says, Hey, climate change is a thing. Its based on a rigorous scientific process that led them to that conclusion. Same thing as a journalist: Theres a rigorous process that we go through to put an article out, but we dont talk about the methodology that goes into it. I think talking to people about these processes will show others how to apply these steps, too.

Theres a rigorous process that we go through to put an article out, but we dont talk about the methodology that goes into it.

In Episode 1, you interviewed author and filmmaker Jon Ronson, a screenwriter on the critically acclaimed film Okja, about how journalists should cover conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones. Ronsons stories were captivating, but I also felt conflicted about some of his points, for example, where he addressed mainstream medias failure to understand its own biases. As journalists, how do you think we should have this discourse when our viewpoints on news media come into conflict?

I hear what youre saying. There were some things that Jon said during our interview that also made me uncomfortable. But this is going to come up. Truth and facts are different things, right? You can have different reporters [with] the same facts, but the things they write in the story [can] be totally different. There is no totally objective human being who is going to have the perfect answer to everything. And theres always some other bit of information we need for more context, and its impossible to build out that context at every single moment. Figuring out the type of people and perspectives we bring to the show is an ongoing process. And there will be many times when we have guests where some people will be like, that guest was great, and others will be like, well, actually

But thats kind of the nature of getting these different perspectives. Its so much more complicated than this is right and this is wrong. So that is going to be one of my biggest challenges on the show, trying to navigate that, to show these nuances in creative ways and ask the right questions to lay all that out for the audience in an honest way.

Do you think news organizations need to invest more in fact-checking?

As far as fact-checking goes, there has been research on how when publications issue corrections, theres only a tiny number of readers who read the original article who actually read the correction. So does it reach the people its suppose to reach? Nightly news shows dont always have the luxury of live fact-checking, since they operate at a much faster pace. But also, since they operate at such a fast pace, hypothetically, they can correct themselves more quickly than a print magazine. But I would love to see at these outlets, someone whos almost like an ombudsmansomeone to do quality control, run corrections, and provide more context.

Journalists are seen as jacks of all tradespeople with working knowledge about many things. As someone who has a specific expertise in science, do you think there needs to be more journalists who have worked or studied in the field they cover?

I can speak mostly about that in the context of science journalism. Long before I got here, theres been this conversation about whether people should have a science background when they are writing on science. I do think there should be people with that level of scientific knowledge and formal training; they have deep understanding of a scientific field they have a PhD in. They can pick out someones bullshit, right?

On the other hand, there are many science journalists who dont have a science background and are at the top of their field. I think that any journalist who is a good journalist is going to have that ability to ask questions and get to the bottom of something. In fact, not having that in-depth knowledge can also be helpful, because if you have it, you may not think of the questions that actually the audience may be interested in understanding, because they seem too obvious to you.

That said, I do think journalists dont interview historians enough. You dont need to have a degree in history to know that history is important, and to seek out historians for historical context in your pieces. Its just a matter of training journalists how to identify and reach out to the right experts.

Journalists dont interview historians enough.

One of the questions you ask at the end of each episode is, If you could tell your listeners one fact that you want everyone to know, what would it be? How would you answer that question?

The fact that I would want everyone to know is, whatever news youre consuming, know that each piece of information does not exist in a vacuum. Just reading something and saying, Okay, now I know that, and moving on, is not the way it works. Every little bit of information in every article you read, every documentary you see, anything you consume when it comes to media, is part of a much larger context. No single form of media provides the definitive answer on anything. Continuing to be open minded and curious is important. I would tell them to always ask questions.

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Joshua Adams is a writer, journalist, and adjunct instructor at DePaul University. He holds a B.A. in African American Studies from the University of Virginia and a Journalism M.A. from the University of Southern California.
Police in Copenhagen confirmed yesterday that remains washed ashore near the city belonged to Kim Wall, an independent journalist who was a graduate of the Columbia Journalism School. Wall, 30, disappeared two weeks ago after boarding Danish inventor Peter Madsens submarine.

Wall, who was Swedish, built a successful career as a globe-trotting journalist, reporting from Haiti, Uganda, Sri Lanka, and North Korea. She covered eclectic topics ranging from Haitian vodou to Idi Amins torture chambers to staged fairytale weddings, and saw her stories published in major outlets like Harpers, The New York Times, and The Guardian.

ICYMI: Former New York Times employees are angry

Though the circumstances of her death have elicited international attentionBirgitte Borup, a reporter for Danish TV, told me it was the most spectacular murder case in Denmarks recent historyWalls former professors at Columbia chose to focus on the woman at the center of the story, writing for CJR about a passionate young journalist committed to pursuing her innate curiosity. Karen Stabiner praised Walls professionalism and hunger for reporting, writing that she had the ability to find outlier stories and to treat them with respect.

She was alive in ways that most of us can only dream of being alive. She sparkled with a delightful enthusiasm about everything she undertook, with such a ready, beaming smile, wrote Howard W. French. She dreamed big dreams and she was unafraid of pursuing them. Kims life merits celebration. She was very, very special, and will be missed.

ICYMI: A potentially seismic change comes to Facebook

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At a candlelight vigil on the steps of Pulitzer Hall, former classmates gathered to pay tribute in a somber ceremony punctuated by moments of levity in celebration of Walls life. I know everyone says this in these situations, but with Kim its true, former classmate and current BuzzFeed food writer Marie Telling said. She was full of light. She was a real presence that was unforgettable.

Walls story highlights the dangers that journalists, especially freelancers, face around the world. Coverage of Madsens trial will no doubt raise those issues again. In the meantime, its worth remembering a talented journalist gone too soon.

Family tribute: Walls mother issued a statement praising her daughters work: She has found and told stories from different parts of the globe, stories that must be writtenShe gave voice to the weak, vulnerable and marginalised people.

A dangerous profession: For The Guardian , Walls friend Sruthi Gottipati wrote about her death and the dangers freelancers face , even in a country as safe as Denmark.

Not just a crime-novel tale: Quartzs Hanna Kozlowska writes about a person who deserves more coverage than the the gruesome details of her apparent murder.

Thoughts from friends: BuzzFeeds Amber Jamieson compiled responses from Walls friends , who remembered her as a reporter who could give her subjects incredible humanity, to write their stories in a vivid and most of the time, a humorous way, and to put individuals stories into a bigger social and historical context.



She is more than what happened to her: CNNs Nicole Chavez also attended last nights vigil, and gathered comments from friends to go along with an overview of the case.

Other notable stories

 Sorry. This is commentary dressed up as news reporting , Wall Street Journal Editor in Chief Gerard Baker wrote to reporters and editors in response to a first draft of their story on President Trumps Wednesday rally in Arizona. Baker has faced criticismat times from within his own newsroomfor not taking a more critical approach to coverage of the president. The New York Times s Michael M. Grynbaum has the details.

NBC News s Steve Kornacki argues that we shouldnt put too much stock in polls showing a lack of approval for the job Trump has been doing.

Sports Illustrated s Richard Deitsch says ESPNs decision to remove broadcaster Robert Lee from calling a University of Virginia football game was  a self-inflicted wound and a decision made out of fear of negative press. 



For CJR, Jessica Huseman argues that when media members focus on Trumps attacks with outrage,  The losers in this game are not journalists , but their readers, listeners, and viewers, who are subjected to endless replays of Trumps zingers instead of actual assessments of his policies.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel s Raquel Rutledge, who looks into a series of dangerous and sometimes deadly experiences for Americans visiting Mexican resorts .

Great investigative reporting from the

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Pete Vernon is a former CJR staff writer. Follow him on Twitter @ByPeteVernon.
Venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya is about to try his hand at being Warren Buffett. Or something like him.

Palihapitiya, the founder of Social Capital and former member of the senior executive team at Facebook, is listed as CEO of a new "blank check company" called Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday.

The holding company is aiming to raise $500 million in an IPO to then go out and acquire emerging private businesses that have little incentive to go public themselves  because of the hassle of quarterly earnings, gyrating stock prices and the constant questions over how they'll compete with Amazon and Facebook .

For reference, just check out the stock charts of Snap and Blue Apron.

"Our mission is to create an alternative path to a traditional IPO for disruptive and agile technology companies to achieve their long-term objectives and overcome key deterrents to becoming public," the filing said.

Palihapitiya has long criticized the traditional venture model and expressed his admiration for Buffett, who has spent more than 50 years building Berkshire Hathaway into a giant publicly-traded holding company, filled with food businesses, insurers and industrial brands.

At a StrictlyVC event in 2015, Palihapitiya said that Social Capital is going to be more like a "bastard stepchild of Berkshire Hathaway and Blackstone and BlackRock" than a traditional venture firm.

One big difference, though, is that Buffett has largely avoided tech companies because he's struggled to figure out how to value them. Palihapitiya's endeavor is all about uniting "technologists, entrepreneurs, and technology-oriented investors," the filing said.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier, citing people familiar with the matter, that Palihapitiya's team is planning to meet with investors early next month and launch the offering by mid-month on the New York Stock Exchange.

Hedosophia is a venture firm with offices in Hong Kong and London. Ian Osborne, CEO of Hedosophia, will be president of the new holding company. The rest of the management team comes from Social Capital and the board includes former Skype CEO Tony Bates and former Twitter executive Adam Bain.
Waiting to win the lottery, find the perfect job opportunity or come up with a genius idea to launch a startup will, more often than not, fail to produce the results you want. If you're trying to earn more money or get ahead in your career, take a look at how you could improve the way you manage your money, handle your career and present yourself. Here are five lifestyle changes that could help you become more successful, from some of the biggest names in business:

1. Pick up a book, not your phone

Warren Buffett's business partner graduated from Harvard Law School without ever having received an undergraduate degree. The investing guru and vice chairman of credits much of his success to a habit he and Buffett share  reading. He says young people should and more time buried in books.

Charlie Munger, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffett Lacy O'Toole | CNBC

"In my whole life, I have known no wise people who didn't read all the time  none, zero," says Munger, according to David Clark, author of "The Tao of Charlie Munger." Scientific research supports Munger's advice to read more. Several studies have found that people who read show higher levels of empathy and emotional intelligence and are more likely to stay mentally sharp.

2. Start investing more

Saving will only get you so far, according to billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban. The co-host of ABC's "Shark Tank" says that becoming a millionaire involves taking . Investing in a mutual fund can be a great way to start building wealth, Cuban tells Money, because they're relatively low-risk compared, to other investments.

You'll also begin to your wealth, and investors agree that compounding  when money grows with "interest on interest"  is crucial to growing your portfolio.

3. Follow your "hunger"

Boxed CEO , who co-founded a startup that now brings in more than $100 million in annual revenue, says that the most successful people have an incredible "hunger" for success. Huang, who grew up poor, says that an extreme determination to better himself is what made the difference in his career. He worked hard to graduate from John Hopkins University and Fordham Law School and, eventually, to start his retail company.

In job interviews, he asks candidates to describe their life's story in an effort to see if the job seeker is truly determined. How you describe yourself, he says, reveals a lot about your work ethic and personality. "Without that hunger," the CEO says, "intelligence alone gets you nowhere."

4. Live within your means

According to Cuban, if you want to become rich, you need to . The entrepreneur once went to extreme measures to save money, but he says they paid off. "I did things like and living off of macaroni and cheese, and I was very, very frugal," Cuban told Money. Living well below his means enabled him to save money and pursue a rewarding career. Many other successful people suggest the same strategy, including Cherie and Brian Low, a who paid off $127,000 in just four years.

"Every time you check out at the grocery store, you need to look in your cart and find three to five items that you don't need," Cherie says. "You will save $5 to $10 every time you shop without cutting a single coupon." Cherie and Brian say that exercising self-control made all the difference to their financial health. With less debt and more in savings, they are happier and much less stressed.

5. Think like an entrepreneur

At Facebook, there's a saying "Move fast and break things"  a nod to the company's software engineers who "break" and then improve its code.
As Amazon takes its first steps into the health sector, many established players say they have little to fear.

As Walgreens CEO Stefano Pessina with investors, Amazon has "opportunities around the world and in other categories, which are much, much simpler than health care, which is a very regulated business."

In other words, it's too complicated for an e-commerce company like Amazon.

But former Amazon leaders who now work in health care say this view is misguided.

Curtis Kopf worked as a director at Amazon back in the early 2000s, a job that required liaising with the publishing industry. Among his many seemingly crazy tasks at the time: digitizing every book in print. He now views that project as a precursor to Kindle.

"At this point, I don't think there's anything they (Amazon) would be afraid to do," he said, over lunch in Seattle, a stone's throw from the company's headquarters.

After a stint at Microsoft and Alaska Airlines, Kopf now works in the health insurance sector as a senior vice president at Premera Blue Cross. For his first presentation to fellow senior leaders on his team, he detailed a strategy for customer experience inspired by his time at Amazon. Out of that came a program to gather feedback from customers called "Premera Listens."

Kopf is frequently asked about Amazon's strategy for health  to which he responds that he's not ruling anything out.

"Every industry has thought that Amazon wouldn't disrupt them," said Kopf.

As CNBC has reported in recent months, . It also , and it scooped up a colleague of Kopf's at Premera named Mark Lyons to run its internal pharmacy benefits program.
Amazon announced on Thursday that its $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods will close on Monday.

As the two companies work to integrate their business, all customers will immediately see "lower prices on a selection of best-selling staples across [Whole Foods] stores."

And Amazon promises "more to come," as the internet giant begins to integrate Prime into the Whole Foods ecosystem. Eventually, Prime members will receive "special savings and in-store benefits."

Amazon didn't disclose how long that would take, but said it would first need to integrate Amazon Prime into the Whole Foods point-of-sale system. Once complete, the offers will begin and eventually Prime will become Whole Foods' customer rewards program.

Grocery stocks immediately tumbled Thursday afternoon on the news. Shares of Kroger , Costco , Sprouts Farmers and Supervalu were all seen trading at session lows. Big-box retailers Target and Wal-Mart also watched their stocks fall.

Amazon promising immediate price cuts puts pressure on traditional grocers that are already operating in a thin-margin business. Meal-kit businesses, like Blue Apron , have also taken a beating after Amazon announced it would be creating a similar service.

On Wednesday, Whole Foods shareholders voted to advance Amazon's acquisition of the grocery chain, moving the proposal one step closer to reality. Amazon shareholders didn't need to sign off on the deal.

The two parties were saying they expected to finalize their merger during the second half of 2017. Though, a source familiar with the matter told CNBC the deal could happen "sooner rather than later."

Just hours after Wednesday's shareholders vote, the Federal Trade Commission said it would allow the Amazon-Whole Foods deal to proceed. The FTC had been conducting an investigation to gauge whether the merger would decrease competition under federal regulations.

A spokesperson from Amazon told CNBC on Thursday that it has no plans for layoffs or to use automation to replace Whole Foods' cashiers. This was a widely held concern that sparked debate when the acquisition was first announced.

Looking at the future of Whole Foods stores, Amazon said that soon Amazon Lockers will be available in select locations. Using these, shoppers can either have products shipped from Amazon.com to their local Whole Foods, or return items back to Amazon during a trip to the grocer.

Whole Foods' private-label products will also now be available through Amazon.com, AmazonFresh, Prime Pantry and Prime Now. A move like this could put more pressure on competitors on the low-price end of the supermarket spectrum, like Wal-Mart, and German-based Aldi and Lidl.

And this is particularly concerning for those companies, like Sprouts, that operate neck and neck with Whole Foods in organic. Here, prices have tended to be higher than with conventional and nonperishable items.

"The bottom line is that this isn't theory any more," GlobalData Retail Managing Director Neil Saunders told CNBC. "The deal is happening and it will drive change in the grocery sector. Competitors will need to think about what that means for them and respond accordingly."

Among many things, this deal will provide Amazon a much more extensive real estate footprint. However, Amazon is entering the brick-and-mortar world at a time when many are saying the supermarket space is overcrowded.

Some of the bigger names in grocery are already trimming plans for expansion. Kroger, for example, has said it will cut its store openings in 2017 to 55 from 100, opting to invest less in its physical retail and more in digital initiatives. Even Whole Foods had scaled back its own expansion plans prior to Amazon arriving on the scene.

In its press release on Thursday, Amazon didn't mention exactly how it would use Whole Foods' portfolio of more than 450 stores  whether it would keep all locations open, or transform them over time.
Amazon said Thursday that its $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods would be complete on Monday. The news comes just a day after Whole Foods' shareholders gave the green light to the tech giant to acquire the grocer.

While much attention has been paid to how much retailers and grocery stores have to fear from the alliance between these two industry giants, restaurants won't see many aftershocks  at least in the near term.

"In the short term, there's probably not a major impact on restaurants," David Henkes, principal at Technomic, told CNBC via email. "Certainly Amazon is focused on building supply chain solutions for restaurants, including fresh items, grocery and nonfoods, but that's been going on for a while."

But over the long term, Amazon poses a bigger threat. The tech giant has expansive consumer data collection abilities and its online convenience has been a drain on retail locations, leading to a drag on restaurant sales.

In particular, Amazon's commitment to data gathering has helped the company learn more about its customers and at a faster pace. This has allowed it to adapt to changing customer shopping habits and provide its shoppers with a better online ordering experience.

Amazon "measures everything" and uses that information to optimize every aspect of its business, Eli Portnoy, CEO of Sense360 and a former Amazon employee, told CNBC.

"I think restaurants have been immune to this because they never had a competitor who could do this," Portnoy said. "Now they do. Now they have Amazon that is going to come in and measure every single transaction and measure the impact of it and really think holistically, the same way they do on Amazon.com and across their other businesses."

He said Amazon is "going to make very smart decisions because they are all going to be backed by data."

Restaurants have attempted to better collect data from customers by using loyalty programs. When customers use these apps or online delivery systems, restaurants can capture data about spending habits, but it's "not enough" because so many of the transactions occur offline or with cash, Portnoy said.

Loyalty program data also tend to be biased, he said. It only tells companies how to optimize for a very specific and very loyal base of customers  not customers who are new to the brand or not subscribed to its rewards program.

Restaurants also will have to worry about Amazon's impact on brick-and-mortar retailers, as many rely on customers heading out to shop to drive customers to their chains.

"We have hypothesized that one of the factors that explains the weaker-than-anticipated trends [in the restaurant industry] has been the changes in retail traffic patterns, with the shift to online retailing (i.e., "Amazon Effect") weighing on 'pop-in' restaurant occasions tied to brick-and-mortar retail activity," David Tarantino, analyst at Baird, wrote in a research note Wednesday.

In the most recent quarter, Starbucks blamed slowing mall traffic for its decision to close all of its Teavana stores. The coffee giant said during the first quarter that many of its Teavana mall stores were a drag on results, with as many as 350 of these stores hurt by reduced foot traffic.

While Amazon will have a long-term drag on restaurant chains, most analysts and investors worry that the tech giant's deal with Whole Foods will largely upend the landscape for grocers, food delivery services and meal-kit companies.

"Do I think it's competitive? Do I think restaurants need to think about it and care about it? Absolutely," Portnoy said. "It's just another competitive threat in a very long list, but at the same time I do not think it is nearly as existential as I would feel if I were a Target , a Best Buy , a Wal-Mart and, specifically, with Whole Foods, a Kroger or a Safeway."

Amazon has long been pushing to expand its online grocery business, seeing it as an emerging opportunity. With the planned acquisition of Whole Foods, Amazon quickly gains a network of physical stores, which can aid it in distributing products to customers. While few people buy their groceries online right now, more shoppers are switching to purchase goods that way.

"With supermarket food service accounting for more than $32 billion in consumer spending, there will be a big impact here," Henkes said. "Right now, most of these items are picked up by consumers in-store, but Amazon delivery of fresh-prepared meals can add a new level of convenience for consumers."

About 12 percent of U.S. grocery shoppers bought their groceries online at some point in 2016, according to Cowen and Co.

Younger generations have been adopting online shopping at a greater pace as they seek convenience over value. Millennials, in particular, are leaning toward ordering their groceries online. This generation is starting to get married and have children and will be spending more on groceries over the next decade.

"This deal also has a huge impact on the meal-kit business," Henkes said. "Companies like Blue Apron have relied heavily on couriers like FedEx to deliver meal kits and other at-home meal offerings to consumers over the last several years. This deal opens up doors for Whole Foods to compete against players in the direct-to-consumer delivery space."

Amazon is already testing food delivery through AmazonFresh and selling its own brand of meal kits in select metropolitan areas, but having the largest organic retailer in its pocket could help the tech company spread it footprint quicker.

Blue Apron's stock has been pummeled by investors worried about Amazon's impact on the meal kit industry. In June, the company lowered its expected IPO range to $10 to $11 a share, down from the $15 to $17 range it had initially forecast, a few weeks after Amazon said it would purchase Whole Foods.

Since its first day of trading, Blue Apron's stock has fallen more than 44 percent, a combination of growing fears about competition from companies like Amazon and a series of missteps centered around the meal-kit brand's new fulfillment center in Linden, New Jersey.

"Just because of how incredibly efficient, innovative and well-run [Amazon] is, it's a threat to everyone," Portnoy said.
Apple will invest at least $1.3 billion in the first phase of an Iowa data center project, CEO said Thursday, in a speech in that state that emphasized Apple's push to "build a future for everyone."

Apple, like fellow technology companies Facebook, Microsoft and Google, will build a data center near Waukee, Iowa, creating 50 permanent jobs, Iowa Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg said in an event broadcast by the Des Moines Register. More than 550 jobs will also be supported by construction, Apple said in a statement.

"Apple is going to continue to invest in that future, for Waukee, for Iowa and for America," Cook said.

It will get $208 million in state and local tax benefits, according to .

"Apple has been searching for the perfect location and I am so proud to say that they found it right here in Iowa," Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said, noting the state's educated workforce, stable climate and low-cost, renewable energy. "Iowa workers give companies a leg up at the start ... it is just a blessing to be in the heartland of America."

Silicon Valley CEOs have publicly prioritized creating tech jobs in America over the past year, with many trying to walk a delicate line to appease both supporters of President Donald Trump and Silicon Valley's more liberal workforce.

Facebook 's Mark Zuckerberg has tasked himself with visiting new parts of the country this year, and companies like Intel have to announced a renewed focus on domestic facilities.

Apple told CNBC " " host Jim Cramer earlier this year that the company would create a to promote advanced manufacturing jobs in the United States. Cook reiterated that commitment on Thursday, noting that almost every Apple product includes parts made in America.

The 400,000-square-foot data center will "strengthen the relationships" in Iowa, where 30 Apple suppliers, including 3M and Qorvo, already operate, Cook said.

Reynolds on Thursday cited research that shows economic benefits from data centers. But a New York Times report last year chronicled the disappointment that many small towns felt when the construction boom faded.

The data center also ties in handily with Apple's plan to Apple already supports 10,000 jobs in Iowa, many of whom are developers, Cook said.

Apple said the new data center will support services like Siri, iMessage and Apple Music in North America. The facility will come online in 2020, Apple said.

"As the App Store grows, we look forward to growing in Iowa," Cook said, adding Apple wanted to "build a future for everyone."
Audi is set to work with a subsidiary of Chinese solar cell business Hanergy with the aim of producing solar energy to boost the range of electric vehicles.

In an announcement on Wednesday, Audi said that "the first step" of the collaboration would be the integration of California-based Alta Devices' thin film solar cells into a panoramic glass roof. Audi added that, in the future, almost the whole roof would be covered in solar cells.

The idea is that the electricity produced will "flow" into the electrical system of the car, helping to supply its seat heaters or air conditioning system. This would provide a gain in efficiency which would positively impact the vehicle's range, Audi said.

"The range of electric cars plays a decisive role for our customers," Audi Board of Management member for procurement, Bernd Martens, said in a statement. "Together with Hanergy, we plan to install innovative solar technology in our electric cars that will extend their range and is also sustainable," Martens added.

Audi said that, in the future, solar energy could directly charge a car's traction battery. "That would be a milestone along the way to achieving sustainable, emission-free mobility," Martens added.

The solar energy would be produced by thin, flexible solar cells with an efficiency of over 25 percent. Audi said that the cells performed well in high temperature and low light.

The idea of using solar cells on cars is not new. In 2014, Ford unveiled its C-Max Solar Energi Concept vehicle, while later this year the World Solar Challenge will see teams from across the world race solar powered cars 3,000 kilometers across Australia. The Challenge is celebrating its 30th anniversary.
The 46,450 square kilometre reserve is more than twice the size of New Jersey State and is thought to be rich in minerals such as copper and gold.

However, following public outrage, the federal court of Brasilia said Thursday that it had "partially granted an injunction to immediately suspend any administrative act" aimed at opening up the three-decades-old reserve.

A decree from President Michel Temer published last week planned to abolish the protected status of the National Reserve of Copper and Associates (Renca), which is split between the Northern Brazilian states of Amapa and Para.

A Brazilian court has suspended plans to dismantle an Amazonian national reserve twice the size of New Jersey, which would have opened the area up to mining.

Just under a third of the area (30 percent) was expected to be opened up to mining, which the government said will help create jobs, generate income and combat illegal mining. But activists argued that the move could damage the world's largest and most diverse tropical rainforest.

In a statement released last Wednesday, the government said permission to conduct mining would only be granted in areas not currently used for vegetation or homes.

"Permission to develop research and mining applies only to areas where there are no other restrictions, such as protection of native vegetation, conservation units, indigenous lands and areas in border strips."

However, Brazilian public policy coordinator of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Michel de Souza, said at the time that the announcement was a "catastrophe", which failed to consult the public and could leave the region vulnerable to corruption and conflict, O Globo reported.

The plans later prompted widespread campaigning by activists, celebrities, and Brazil's influential Catholic hierarchy, who criticized the plans.

Judge Ronaldo Spanholo, who ordered the suspension, said Wednesday that the government's plans were unconstitutional as they had failed to consult Congress, and added that the decree would "put at risk the environmental protection (of Renca) and the protection of local indigenous communities."

The government has said it will appeal the decision.

A report released by the WWF earlier this month warned that mining in the area would cause "demographic explosion, deforestation, the destruction of water resources, the loss of biodiversity and the creation of land conflict".

Renca has been protected from private mining since it was established as a national reserve in 1984.

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"If you're worried about slow growth today, get used to it. It's probably going to be slower five years from now and slower yet five years after that," David Carbon, chief economist at DBS, said in the note.

The persistent belief that global economic growth is "dangerously slow" and fragile is just a myth, DBS said in a note on Thursday.

New recruits listen to speeches during the welcome ceremony for new employees of All Nippon Airways Holdings (ANA) at ANA hanger on April 1, 2015 in Tokyo, Japan.

In the July update of its World Economic Outlook, the International Monetary Fund forecast global economic growth of 3.5 percent for 2017 and 3.6 percent for 2018, unchanged from its April outlook.

The IMF report urged countries to pursue structural reforms, such as commodity exporters diversifying their economies, amid concerns about "shocks" upsetting the apple cart.

But Carbon said economic growth wasn't in the danger zone when it's "looked at the way it should be: in per-capita terms," with slower gross domestic product growth due mainly to slower working-age population growth.

"Per person of working age, growth doesn't appear to have slowed at all since 1980," he said. "To the extent that slower growth results from slower population growth, the response should be: who cares? It's growth per person that matters  your income, my wage  not growth in the aggregate."

Carbon noted that the working-age population growth was falling much more rapidly than population growth overall.

He pointed to Japan, where the population as a whole fell by 0.2 percent in 2016, while the working age population fell five times more rapidly, by 1 percent each year.

Europe and the U.S. changes weren't quite as stark, but still showed the same pattern, Carbon said, noting a 0.1 to 0.2 percent decline in Europe's working-age population, while in the U.S. that group was growing at 0.4 percent a year, down from 1.2 percent a year a decade ago.
Chinese vendors sell North Korea and China flags on the boardwalk in the border city of Dandong, China.

China has come out strongly against new U.S. moves to pressure North Korea with its foreign ministry opposing the "long-arm jurisdiction" of President Donald Trump's administration, arguing that Beijing has always met international obligations in containing its reclusive neighbor.

The Treasury Department on Tuesday announced new penalties against 10 entities and six individuals, mostly Chinese and Russian, for providing support to North Korea in ways that aided the rogue state's missile and nuclear weapons programs. The Treasury characterized the targets of its new sanctions as "third-country companies and individuals."

The decision came just a few weeks after Beijing and Moscow agreed to fresh United Nations sanctions on the North. It also came less than two months after the Treasury imposed sanctions on a bank, a shipping company and two individuals from China.

"The Chinese side opposes the unilateral sanctions outside the framework of the UN Security Council, especially the 'long-arm jurisdiction' imposed by any other country on the Chinese entities and individuals based on its own domestic laws," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a press conference on Wednesday.

"Long-arm jurisdiction" is a term for when authorities exercise jurisdiction over foreign entities. There has been considerable debate over the U.S. use of that practice.

China, Hua said, "always" implements North Korea-related resolutions of the United Nations Security Council "in their entirety" and fulfills its international obligation.

"Our efforts are there for all to see. We will investigate and deal with the Chinese enterprises and individuals in accordance with our own domestic laws and regulations provided that they are suspected of violating the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council," she said.

State media joined the fray with, China Daily on Thursday saying the sanctions are "not a silver bullet."

"The US has long believed that sanctions are a silver bullet. But the majority of sanctions have not only failed but also caused humanitarian disasters in other countries," the newspaper said, adding that such "secondary sanctions" will have "little effect" in persuading North Korea.

Nationalistic Global Times was more aggressive, saying the U.S. will "pay for unjust ban on Chinese firms," which it claimed "severely violates international law."

"So far the U.S. sanctions have exerted little impact on China, but it breaks the rules and offends China," it added.



"The U.S. has acted beyond its authority and its unilateral sanctions are unreasonable. For one thing, how could Washington be confident about the illegal trade between China and North Korea? For another, who grants Washington the right to make judgments on which companies violate UN Security Council resolutions?" asked the paper.

International trade scholar Alex Capri said the Global Times claim of U.S. violating the law is complicated to assess.

"Any country, technically, can impose sanctions against another state as a form of 'coercive diplomacy', however, there is a considerable body of scholarly work that argues convincingly that this is a violation of international law," said Capri, who is a visiting senior fellow at the National University of Singapore's business school.

However, "only the U.S. and a handful of other states can effectively resort to this sort of realpolitik without real consequences," Capri added.

However, he noted, China has chosen to ignore The Hague Tribunal's ruling on its claims in the South China Sea, illustrating Beijing's "selective" interpretation of international law.

In its editorial on Thursday, the Global Times said that with new the sanctions, the U.S. aims to "tarnish the international image of China" and is not acknowledging its own responsibility in the North Korean issue.

"China has made the most efforts in sanctioning North Korea, while the U.S. has never shown appreciation to Chinese companies which suffered losses from the sanctions," it added.

Washington, Global Times warned, "had better restrain itself" as China "can choose whether and how to retaliate against the U.S. given how Chinese companies are hurt. The Chinese government has the obligation to speak for the country's legitimate companies."

While there may be contention about the fresh U.S. sanctions, IHS Markit's Asia-Pacific chief economist Rajiv Biswas said the superpower "can argue that it is acting to uphold sanctions on North Korea approved by UN Security Council Resolutions in its recent rounds of secondary sanctions announced in June and August."

This is as the third-country entities and persons targeted were assessed by the U.S. government to have breached the UN Security Council sanctions, which have to be implemented by all member states.

Meanwhile, China's strong response came as data pointed to a sharp slowing of trade between the two allies.

China imported and exported goods worth $456 million in July, down from $489 million in June.

The data, released by China's General Administration of Customs and analyzed by Reuters, showed that just 120 tonnes of gasoline were shipped from China to North Korea in July, 97 percent lower than a year ago. By comparison, the June figure was 8,262 tonnes.

Capital Economics said in a Monday note, however, that "China does not have a good record of maintaining sanctions on North Korea."

"China's 'carrot-and-stick' approach to North Korea is well documented," Capital Economics chief commodities analyst Caroline Bain wrote, citing a drop in petroleum product exports after missile tests.

"China has also banned imports at times to register its displeasure at North Korea's military aggression, only for trade to quietly resume after a cooling-off period," she added.

Nyshka Chandran contributed to this article.
China has pitched its mammoth, pan-Eurasian "Belt and Road" infrastructure initiative as a means of promoting economic prosperity and fostering diplomatic ties on a global scale. That rhetoric may win plaudits at a time when other global powers are voicing increasingly protectionist agendas, but it also comes with risks, and increasing levels of state-backed funding have raised concerns about just how safe of a gamble it is. related investing news JPMorgan says FTX collapse fallout could cut the value of cryptocurrencies in half before it's over

China President Xi Jinping attends a news conference at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation on May 15, 2017 in Beijing, China. Jason Lee | Pool | Getty Images

Reports on Tuesday claimed that some of China's biggest state-owned commercial banks will begin raising capital to fund investments into the initiative, also known as "One Belt, One Road," which aims to connect more than 60 countries across Asia, Europe and Africa with physical and digital infrastructure. China Construction Bank , the country's second-largest bank by assets, has been conducting roadshows to raise at least 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) from on- and offshore investors, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Bank of China , Industrial and Commercial Bank of China , and Agricultural Bank of China are also said to be raising tens of billions of dollars, though none of the banks responded to Reuters' request for comment. The news highlights the risk that the state could amass hundreds of billions of dollars in nonperforming loans if the projects fail. For Xu Chenggang, professor of economics at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in Beijing, it was not a surprise.

A risk to China's banking system is, by default, a risk to the global banking system Bjorn Conrad vice president at the Mercator Institute for China Studies

"It supports my concerns," Xu told CNBC over the phone. "The impact could be damaging not just for China, but for the global financial system." "These loans are being extended to governments in risky countries to fund risky infrastructure projects. If the projects were launched by private firms we wouldn't have to worry because they would know they had to bear the consequences. But here we are talking about government-to-government lending and, ultimately, intergovernmental relations." Xu attributed that issue to a phenomenon known as soft budget constraints. Soft budget constraints refer to the idea that state-owned firms will not be allowed to go bankrupt if they go insolvent because the state has vested interests in keeping them afloat. A country with high soft budget constraints and a large number of insolvent firms may then struggle for financing, which could have global financial implications. For a country like China, where state-ownership has historically been high, this is a matter of particular concern. It took decades of economic reforms and loss-making firms before it succeeded in what Xu termed a process of "quiet privatization" at the turn of the 21st century. However, the process has lost momentum over the past 10 years, and the state remains burdened with issues of overcapacity and myriad "zombie firms," especially within the metals and construction and materials sectors.

CNBC

Xu said that has partially been the motivation for the "Belt and Road" initiative: "Instead of solving the overcapacity problems, they are expanding the problem to projects overseas." "They (China) are proposing lending money to foreign governments, who will then use the Chinese funds to pay the Chinese companies," he explained. China's debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio surpassed 300 percent in June, according to the Institute for International Finance. And that's before the extension of further loans. "Expansion of these soft budget constraints at such an unprecedented rate and in such a large scale is going to generate unprecedented consequences," Xu noted. Crucially, the countries tied to the "Belt and Road" initiative are some of the riskiest developing countries in the world. A number of research bodies are now risk assessing the political, economic and business landscapes of the involved nations. "There is no doubt in my mind that there will be a large number of projects that will have unforeseen problems," Bjorn Conrad, vice president at the Mercator Institute for China Studies, told CNBC. "There are considerable risks of nonperforming credit in many of these projects and high risks of default." "A risk to China's banking system is, by default, a risk to the global banking system," he continued. However, he noted that the government would be working hard to assess risks after it was badly burned by lending to volatile countries such as Venezuela. China's National Development and Reform Commission announced last week that it would strengthen regulation to reduce risk for domestic firms investing overseas and prevent "irrational" investment in the "Belt and Road" initiative. "There will be an enormous amount of loans to give out, on a different scale to ever before, but also an awareness that they (the Chinese government) have to keep these at a manageable scale," Conrad said. "There will still be risks, but an understanding that they have to be managed with more scrutiny."
Where: CNBC's "Power Lunch" - Live from The Boeing Company in Everett, Washington

When: Today, Thursday, August 24, 20917

Following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC EXCLUSIVE interview with Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Paul Ryan on "Power Lunch" (M-F, 1-3pm ET) today, Thursday, August 24, 2017. CNBC's Ylan Mui joined Speaker Ryan live from The Boeing Company in Everett, Washington as part of Ryan's ongoing business tour to discuss tax reform. Following is a link to the interview on CNBC.com: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2017/08/24/paul-ryan-we-will-pass-a-debt-limit-increase-in-time.html.

All references must be sourced to CNBC.

MICHELLE CARUSO-CABRERA: WELCOME BACK TO "POWER LUNCH. LET'S GET STRAIGHT TO YLAN MUI WHO IS STANDING BY LIVE WITH HOUSE SPEAKER PAUL RYAN. YLAN.

YLAN MUI: THANKS SO MUCH. SPEAKER RYAN THANK SO MUCH FOR JOINING US TODAY ON "POWER LUNCH".

PAUL RYAN: THANKS FOR HAVING ME YLAN. GOOD TO BE HERE.

MUI: THE PRESIDENT WENT AFTER YOU TODAY ON TWITTER AND SAID HE HAD ASKED YOU AND MITCH MCCONNELL TO ATTACH A DEBT CEILING INCREASE TO THE VA BILL AND YOU DIDNT DO IT AND NOW EVERYTHING IS A BIG MESS. WHAT HAPPENED?

RYAN: I DONT REALLY TAKE IT AS GOING AFTER ME THATS AN OPTION WE WERE LOOKING AT BUT THE VA DEADLINE CAME UP AND WE WERENT ABLE TO DO THAT THEN IM REALLY NOT THAT WORRIED ABOUT THIS. WE HAVE PLENTY OF OPTIONS AHEAD OF US. WE WILL PAY OUR DEBTS AND WE WILL MAKE THE DEBT LIMIT, WE'LL HIT THE INCREASE BEFORE THIS IS PENETRATED, MEANING WE WILL PASS A DEBT LIMIT INCREASE BEFORE WE HIT THE DEBT LIMIT, PLENTY OF OPTIONS IN FRONT OF US. THAT ONE JUST WASNT AVAILABLE FOR US.

MUI: DO THOSE OPTIONS INCLUDE A CLEAN HIKE IN THE DEBT CEILING?

RYAN: THERE'S A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT OPTIONS IN FRONT OF US. IM NOT GOING TO NEGOTIATE TO THE MEDIA BUT WE HAVE A LOT OF OPTIONS IN FRONT OF US I'M REALLY NOT WORRIED ABOUT GETTING THIS DONE, BECAUSE I KNOW WE WILL GET THIS DONE AND WE WILL PASS THE INCREASE BEFORE WE HIT THE DEBT LIMIT.

MUI: THAT DEADLINE FOR THE DEBT COMES A DAY BEFORE THE GOVERNMENT FUNDING DEADLINE COMES YOU SAID YESTERDAY YOURE LOOKING AT PERHAPS SHORT TERM SOLUTION THAT WILL GET YOU THROUGH DECEMBER

RYAN: YES ONLY BECAUSE THE SENATE HAS DOUBLE DUTY THEY HAVE TO PASS PERSONNEL, MEANING JUDGES AND APPOINTMENTS AND AMBASSADORS AND SUBCABINET OFFICIALS AND CABINET OFFICIALS SO THE SENATE IS A LITTLE SLOWER IN THE FIRST YEAR OF A PRESIDENCY BECAUSE THEY HAVE ALL OF THESE PEOPLE THEY HAVE TO PROCESS. WERE GOING TO FINISH OUR APPROPRIATIONS IN ABOUT A WEEK OR SO. IT WILL TAKE MORE TIME FOR THE SENATE TO PROCESS THESE BILLS. I WOULD ABSOLUTELY ANTICIPATE WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO HAVE AN EXTENSION SO WE CAN PROCESS ALL OF THESE BILLS WITH RESPECT TO THE BORDER SECURITY, I THINK WHATS THAT YOURE GETTING AT WITH THE PRESIDENT. WE PASSED THAT ALREADY IN THE HOUSE SO WE PASSED THE FUNDING FOR THE BORDER SECURITY. THATS SOMETHING WE FEEL VERY STRONGLY ABOUT AND WE FEEL THINK ITS VERY NECESSARY. BUT JIST TO MAKE CONGRESS WORK WE'LL HAVE TO HAVE AN EXTENSION BECAUSE THE SENATE IS ALSO DOING DOUBLE DUTY ON MAKING SURE THE PRESIDENT GETS THE PEOPLE HE NEEDS IN HIS ADMINISTRATION SO THAT TAKES THEM SOME TIME AS WELL.

MUI: ALL THE TIME THAT IS SPENT ON THIS FUNDING FIGHT, ON THE DEBT CEILING NEGOTIATIONS, THATS LESS TIME AVAILABLE FOR TALKING ABOUT TAX REFORM --

RYAN: NOT REALLY.

MUI: IS THERE TIME TO GET THIS DONE IN 2017

RYAN: YES THERE IS

MUI: YOU KEEP SAYING THAT. THE MARKETS ARE SKEPTICAL

RYAN: WE CAN WALK AND CHEW GUM AT THE SAME TIME. HERES WHAT IM DOING ON TAX REFORM I'M CRISS-CROSSING THE COUNTRY THIS MONTH TALKING ABOUT TAX REFORM LAST MONTH I WAS AT NEW BALANCE IN MASSACHUSETTS I WAS AT MILLER BREWING IN MILWAUKEE. NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MANUFACTURERS IN D.C., YESTERDAY IN PORTLAND WITH INTEL, TODAY HERE AT BOEING TALKING WITH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ABOUT THE NEED TO REFORM OUR TAX SYSTEM WE HAVENT DONE IT SINCE 1986. IT IS A BIG DRAG ON GROWTH IN AMERICA. WE ALL KNOW THIS IVE BEEN WORKING ON THIS LITERALLY PRETTY MUCH MY ADULT LIFE, TAX REFORM THIS IS SOMETHING WERE ALL IN ON, WERE SOLELY FOCUSED ON IT AND OUR TAX WRITER, WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE THE FINANCE COMMITTEE ARE DEEP INTO THE DETAILS PRODUCING THE BILL AND YES THOSE OF US WHO ARE LEADERS CAN MULTITASK AND WORK ON FUNDING AND DEBT LIMIT WHILE THE COMMITTEE OF JURISDICTION WORKS ON GETTING THIS TAX BILL READY. ITS THE WAY CONGRESS WORKS. LOTS OF COMMITTEES AND LOTS OF POTS ON THE STOVE AND WE CAN GET THESE THINGS DONE AND WE CAN STICK THE LANDING, NO PUN INTENDED ON TAX REFORM THIS CALANDER YEAR.

MUI: YOU HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THIS YOUR WHOLE ADULT LIFE. YOU HAVE BEEN PUTTING IN THE SHOE LEATHER TO SELL TAX REFORM TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. THE PRESIDENT SEEMS TO HAVE OTHER PRIORITIES AT THIS MOMENT. DO YOU NEED HIM TO BE ACTIVELY OUT THERE STUMPING FOR TAX REFORM IN ORDER TO GET IT DONE?

RYAN: HE IS LOOK WE HAVE A SHARED AGENDA THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS WE ARE EYE TO EYE ON THIS AGENDA AND ON THESE PRIORITIES. IVE SPOKEN TO THE PRESIDENT MORE TIMES THAN I CAN REMEMBER ABOUT HOW WE AGREE ON GETTING TAX REFORM DONE. THIS ISNT ONE OF THESE ISSUES WHERE YOU HAVE A DIFFERENCE IN PRIORITIES BETWEEN THE HOUSE AND SENATE AND WHITE HOUSE WERE TOTALLY ON THE SAME PAGE ON THIS. I THINK THERES KIND OF A MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING THERE ON THAT POINT. WHICH IS WE ALL AGREE WEVE GOT TO REFORM THE TAX SYSTEM, RAISE WAGES AND INCREASE ECONOMIC GROWTH, MORE TAKE HOME PAY, MORE PRODUCTIVITY, BETTER COMPETITION FOR AMERICAN BUSINESSES WHO ARE REALLY HAVE THEIR HANDS TIED BEHIND THEIR BACKS WHEN IT COMES TO COMPETITION IN THE TAX CODE WE ALL AGREE WITH THAT S SO NOW WE ARE ACTUALLY GETTING ON COMMON GROUND ON HOW TO MOVE FORWARD ON TAX REFORM TO GET THIS DONE THIS FALL. YES, WE HAVE A LOT ON OUR PLATE THIS FALL AND WEVE GOT TO PROCESS ALL OF THESE THINGS AND THATS WHAT YOU DO IN CONGRESS, YOU MULTITASK.

MUI: TREASURY SECRETARY STEVEN MNUCHIN HAS SAID WHEN IT COMES TO TAX REFORM, PERMANENT IS BETTER THAN TEMPORARY BUT TEMPORARY IS BETTER THAN NOTHING, DO YOU AGREE WITH THAT?

RYAN: SURE. FIRST OF ALL, PERMANENT GETS YOU THE KIND OF PLANNING YOU NEED. A COMPANY WILL NOT MAKE A MULTI YEAR MULTIBILLION DOLLAR INVESTMENT DECISION IF THEY ARE UNCLEAR WHAT THEIR TAX RATE WILL BE IN THE FUTURE. WE VERY PASSIONATELY BELIEVE PERMANENCE IS VERY, VERY IMPORTANT THE BIG DECISION MAKING PROVISIONS IN THE TAX CODE THOSE HAVE TO BE PERMANENT. THERE ARE OTHER THINGS YOU CAN DO THAT CAN TIME DATES ON IT TO MAKE SURE THE NUMBERS WORK BUT THE BIG MACRO-ECONOMIC POLICIES THAT RATES AND THINGS LIKE THAT THAT STUFF HAS TO BE MADE PERMANENT THE OTHER POINT IS THERE ARE SOME WHO HAVE SAID BECAUSE OF OUR BUDGET PROCESS WE MIGHT WANT TO GO TEMPORARY. IT DOESNT WORK THAT WAY WE DO BELIEVE ITS GOT TO BE PERMANENT AND SOMETHING THE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE AND THE FINANCE COMMITTEE IS PASSIONATE ABOUT, I AS WELL IS PASSIONATE ABOUT IT PERMANENCE WORKS, PERMANENCE IS NECESSARY AND PERMANENCE IS ABSOLUTELY DOABLE.

MUI: IF ITS PERMANENT, IT MEANS YOU HAVE TO WORK WITH DEMOCRATS TO GET IT PASSED OR PAY FOR IT. SO WHICH ONE IS IT GOING TO BE?

RYAN: SO RECONCILIATION, WE THINK, IS THE BETTER WAY TO GO. BUT WE'VE ALREADY SHOWN AND DEMONSTRATED WE CAN SHOW RECONCILIATION. SOME PEOPLE SAY, "WELL GOSH  HEALTH CARE WAS TOUGH. WON'T TAX REFORM BE TOUGHER?" IT'S THE OTHER WAY AROUND. THE PROBLEM WE RAN INTO ON RECONCILIATION WITH HEALTH CARE IS RECONCILIATION IS BASICALLY A FISCAL TOOL BUT HEALTH CARE IS REGULATORY AND FISCAL. WE CAN ONLY REALLY PUT OUR FISCAL POLICY IN THAT BILL AND ALL OF THE OTHER THINGS WE WANT TO DO IN HEALTH CARE, WE COULDN'T REALLY PUT IN THIS PIECE OF LEGISLATION. THE POINT I'M TRYING TO MAKE, WITH TAX REFORM, THE ENTIRE BILL  THE ENTIRE TAX REFORM GOES INTO ONE BILL, ONE RECONCILIATION, 50 VOTES IN THE SENATE. SO MAKES THIS SO MUCH EASIER AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, WE AS REPUBLICANS WE'RE REALLY ON COMMONGROUND AND I DO BELIEVE THERE ARE DEMOCRATS THAT AGREE WITH THIS - GET OUR RATES DOWN, GO TO A TERRITORIAL SYSTEM, BE IN FAVOR OF EXPENSING. EVERYONE, GENERALLY SPEAKING WHO IS IN THE MIDDLE AND RIGHT OF CENTER IS FOR THIS. AND SO THAT'S WHY I REALLY AM CONFIDENT WE'RE GOING TO GET THIS DONE.

MUI: BUT IF YOU USE RECONCILIATION, THAT MEANS A TAX REFORM BILL WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO ADD TO THE DEFICIT. WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE PAY FORCE, THAT'S THE HARD QUESTION. WE'RE HERE AT BOEING, MANY BUSINESSES WANT TO BRING THE RATES DOWN, BUT THEY DON'T WANT TO GIVE UP THE GOODIES THAT THEY WOULD NEED TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN.

RYAN: YOU HAVE TO GET RID OF THE GOODIES, YOU'VE GOT TO GET RID OF LOOPHOLES, YOU'VE GOT TO GET RID OF REDUNDANT REDUCTIONS. YOU HAVE TO BROADEN THE BASE TO LOWER THE RATES. EVERY TAX REFORM EXERCISE IS LIKE THAT. THIS WILL BE NO DIFFERENT THAN THAT. AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, WE HAVE A TAX SYSTEM WRITTEN IN 1986 FOR THE 20th CENTURY AND WELL INTO THE 21st CENTURY AND REST OF THE WORLD IS PASSING US BY. WE ARE REALLY -- WE HAVE SUCH AN ANTIQUATED, ANTI-COMPETITIVE TAX SYSTEM THAT DROPPING RATES WITHOUT FIXING THE ACTUAL SYSTEM WOULD NOT BE NEARLY AS GROWTH PRODUCING AS A PERMANENT REFORM WHICH ALSO CUTS TAXES AND LOWERS RATES FOR WORKERS AND FAMILIES AND BUSINESSES. SO YOU DO NEED TO CLEAN OUT THE OLD GARBAGE OF THE TAX CODE TO GET US A TAX CODE THAT IS WIRED FOR GROWTH, THAT PRIMES US FOR THE 21STCENTURY SO WE CAN BE IN GOOD COMPETITION. LOOK, LOOK AT THESE PLANES. THIS COMPANY IS TAXED AT 35%. THEIR COMPETITOR IN EUROPE IS TAXED AT 25%. THEIR COMPETITOR IN CHINA IS TAXED AT 15%. AND WE'RE HITTING THESE GUYS AT 35% TAX RATES.

MUI: BUT I'M SURE BOEING WOULD LIKE TO HOLD ON IT THE R AND D TAX CREDIT -- AS WELL. ARE THERE ANY DEDUCTIONS ON THE CORPORATE SIDE THAT ARE COMPLETELY OFF THE TABLE?

RYAN: LOOK, WE'RE GONNA LET THE TAX WRITERS DO THIS. WE DON'T LIKE TO NEGOTIATE THESE THINGS IN THE MEDIA, WITH ALL DUE RESPECT YLAN. THE TAX WRITERS ARE GOING TO MAKE THIS WORK AND WE ARE CONFIDENT, CONFIDENT, THAT WE CAN HAVE A VERY GOOD PRO-GROWTH TAX SYSTEM THAT IS ENDURING AND PERMANENT SO THAT BIG BUSINESSES, SMALL BUSINESSES CAN MAKE GOOD LONG-TERM DECISIONS AND THAT'S WHY PERMANENCE MATTERS.

MUI: YOU ALSO MENTIONED THAT YOU WANT TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO OWN A HOME, SAVE FOR RETIREMENT AND DONATE TO CHARITIES. ON THE PERSONAL SIDE ARE THOSE THINGS NOT GOING TO BE TOUCHED AT ALL?

RYAN: YEAH. THOSE ARE THREE THAT WE'VE SAID WE WANT TO EMPHASIZE. I THINK YOU CAN ACTUALLY IMPROVE THOSE POLICIES BY CLEANING SOME OF THESE UP. WE HAVE A LOT OF REDUNDANT DEDUCTIONS THAT CAN BE CONSOLIDATED

MUI: -- MORTGAGE INTEREST DEDUCATIONS 

RYAN: -- AND SO WE'VE ALREADY SAID IN THE HOUSE AND I THINK THE SENATE AGREED WITH THIS, WHICH IS WE DO WANT TO HAVE PREFERENCES FOR THINGS LIKE CHARITY AND HOMEOWNERSHIP AND RETIREMENT SAVINGS. HOW EXACTLY YOU STRUCTURE THAT? THAT'S GONNA BE LEFT UP TO THE WAYS AND MEANS AND THE FINANCE COMMITTEE AND THE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, AS PART OF THE BOTTOM UP PROCESS THAT WE HAVE. BUT THE POINT WE'RE TRYING TO MAKE IS, THOSE ARE IMPORTANT THINGS THAT ARE BROAD BASED FOR ALL AMERICAN FAMILIES AND WORKERS. WHEN YOU RAISE THE STANDARD DEDUCTION LIKE WE'RE PROPOSING, THAT DRAMATICALLY SIMPLIFIES THE WHOLE CODE SO MUCH THAT EVEN WITH THE THREE PREFERENCES I MENTIONED, YOU COULD HAVE A POSTCARD SIZED TAX FORM. WE THINK THAT BRINGS US TREMENDOUS FAIRNESS AND SIMPLICITY. MORE IMPORTANTLY BY CONSOLIDATING THE BRACKETS FROM 7 TO 3, WE'RE CUTTING PEOPLE'S TAXES, WE'RE CUTTING PEOPLE'S TAX RATES. WE'RE LETTING PEOPLE KEEP THEIR OWN HARD EARNED MONEY SO THEY CAN DECIDE WHAT THEY WANT TO DO WITH IT. WE THINK IT'S REALLY GOOD FOR FAMILIES, FOR WORKERS AND FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH.

MUI: IT'S SOMETIMES COMPLICATED FOR PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND WHEN THEY LOOK AT THE TAX RETURNS AT THE END OF THE YEAR. WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THE MORTAGE DEDUCATION, IT'S SOMETHING THAT IS SO POPULAR AND SO ESSENTIAL TO SO MANY PEOPLE, HOW MIGHT THAT BE CHANGED? YOU'RE WILLING TO LET THAT BE CHANGED? --

RYAN: I WON'T GET INTO DIFFERENCES ON THAT. ONLY THAT WE RECOGNIZE AND ACKNOWLEDGE AND BELIEVE YOU NEED TO MAINTAIN THE MORTGAGE INTEREST DEDUCTION. WHETHER IT CAN BE IMPROVED IN HOW IT WORKS THAT'S THE DECISION AND DISCUSSION WE'LL HAVE IN AN ONGOING BASIS. AND THAT'S WHAT THE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE HAS ALL THEIR HEARINGS AND THEIR PROCESS FOR. THE POINT BEING, WE'RE GONNA MAINTAIN SOME OF THOSE CRITICAL THINGS BECAUSE WE THINK THEY ARE REALLY IMPORTANT. HOMEOWNERSHIP, CHARITABLE GIVING, SAVING FOR RETIREMENT. THESE ARE THINGS EVERYBODY NEEDS TO DO, EVERYBODY WANTS TO DO IN CONJUNCTION WITH DRAMATICALLY SIMPLIFIED TAX CODE, LOWER TAX RATES AND CLEANED UP IRS. THAT IS WHAT PEOPLE WANT TO SEE AND THAT IS WHAT WE RAN ON AND WHAT WE'LL DELIVER ON.

MUI: -- YOU TALKED A COUPLE OF TIMES ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF A TERRITORIAL TAX SYSTEM. HOW DO WE GET THERE IF BORDER ADJUSTMENT IS DEAD?

RYAN: YEAH  NO THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION. YOU CAN DO IT. I MEAN, WHEN I WAS WAYS AND MEANS CHAIR, WE WERE TALKING ON INCOME TAX TERRITORIAL THEN WENT TO THE BOARDER ADJUSTMENT. WE AGREED IN THE HOUSE, THAT THE BORDER ADJUSTMENT JUST WASN'T READY FOR PRIME TIME. WE DONT HAVE THE NECESSARY POLITICAL CONSENSUS WE NEED TO DO THAT. SO WE'VE ALREADY AGREED WELL GO BACK TO INCOME TAX REFORM. YOU CAN GO TO A TERRITORIAL SYSTEM WITH INCOME TAX, AND MANY OTHER COUNTRIES DO THAT. SO WE KNOW EXACTLY HOW TO DO THAT AND THE BEST WAY TO DO IT IS A ONE TIME DEEMED TAX ON OVERSEAS PROFITS, WHERE YOU TAX IT ONCE AT A LOW RATE.

MUI: MANDATORY.

RYAN: MANDATORY ACROSS THE BOARD. THAT MEANS YOU RESET THE SYSTEM AND PAY FOR THE CONVERSION FROM A WORLDWIDE TO TERRITORIAL SYSTEM. THAT IS BASICALLY WHAT WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT FOR MANY, MANY YEARS. WE'VE REFINED THIS PROPOSAL THAT WAYS AND MEANS FINANCE COMMITTEE, MICROREFINANCING THIS PROPOSAL. BASICALLY THE DEAL IS YOU TAX OVERSEAS PROFITS ONCE AND ITS DONE, AND ALL OF THAT MONEY IS DEEMED REPATRIATED AND FROM THERE OUT YOU HAVE A TERRITORIAL SYSTEM WHICH WE THINK IS CRITICAL. WE HAVE $3 TRILLION IN TRAPPED CASH OVERSEAS THAT CAN'T COME BACK BECAUSE OF CRAZY TAX LAWS. WE'VE GOTTA FIX THAT. THAT MONEY WILL COME BACK AND THAT WILL HELP ECONOMIC GROWTH.

MUI: FINAL QUESTION FOR YOU, KEVIN BRADY YESTERDAY SAID IF YOU DON'T GET TAX REFORM DONE IN 2017, IT WOULDNLT BE THE END OF THE WORLD BUT COULD IT MEAN THE END OF GOP CONTROL OF CONGRESS?

RYAN: LOOK WE MADE A PROMISE AND RAN ON THIS SAID THIS IS NECESSARY I THINK WE HAVE A WORD TO KEEP AND WE HAVE TO KEEP OUR WORD AND I FEEL AS STRONGLY AS KEVIN DOES ABOUT THAT.

MUI: ANY CHANCE DEMOCRATS ARE GONNAL COME ON BOARD WITH YOU

RYAN: I THINK SOME WILL. I ACTUALLY THINK SOME WILL. I MEAN THOSE WHO ARE IDOLOGICAL

MUI: IN THE SENATOR OR HOUSE?

RYAN: I I THINK SORT OF THE BERNIE SANDERS, ELIZABETH WARREN WING OF THE PARTY, THE LIBERAL PROGRESSIVE WING - THEY WON'T TOUCH THIS. BUT I THINK THERE ARE GOING TO BE MORE MODERATES COMING FROM STATES THAT ARE MANUFACTURING STATES LIKE NORTH DAKOTA AND MISSOURI OR INDIAN. I THINK SOME OF THEM WILL COME ON BOARD AND SUPPORT THIS BECAUSE THIS IS COMMON SENSE. WE ARE SHOOTING OURSELVES IN THE FOOT AS AMERICANS WITH OUR TAX SYSTEM. IT'S HIGH TIME WE LIBERATE OURSELVES AND GET A TAX CODE BUILT FOR GROWTH AND COMPETITION. I DO BELIEVE THERE WILL BE DEMOCRATS WHO WILL COME ON BOARD AT THE END OF THE DAY OF THIS.

MUI: SPEAKER RYAN, THANKS SO MUCH FOR JOINING US.

RYAN: THANKS YLAN. I APPRECIATE IT.

MUI: BACK TO YOU GUYS OVER AT "POWER LUNCH."

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Hurricane Harvey is barreling down on Texas, and commodity traders are looking to figure out how to protect themselves and profit.

The man these traders and hedge-fund managers turn to has become known as Wall Street's weatherman: Dan Leonard of Weather.com. He advises commodity traders from all over the country and warns Harvey is intensifying and speeding up. Leonard's updated prediction this morning calls for record-breaking flooding to occur in the southern third of Texas.

"Historic flooding from Houston to San Antonio is very possible," the forecaster told CNBC.

Harvey will become a Category 2 hurricane late today, according to Leonard, that's faster and stronger than many meteorologists had been forecasting.
The chance of a government shutdown in the fall, should Congress fail to reach an agreement around the debt ceiling, may cause a surge in market volatility ahead.

While strategists and economists largely argue that the government is likely to avoid a shutdown, as the debt limit is a perennial issue, such a shutdown would cause a spike in the CBOE volatility index and depress the value of the yield on the 10-year Treasury note, according to Gina Sanchez, CEO of Chantico Global.

Her working assumption is that Congress will, in fact, raise the debt limit in time to avoid defaulting, Sanchez said Thursday on CNBC's "Trading Nation." However, she added, "If recent Washington drama is the new normal, then we might see heightened volatility in early October." Such market volatility would likely be short-lived, as much of it has been this year.

Sanchez said a look at Federal Open Market Committee transcripts from August 2011, around the time that the U.S. government narrowly avoided a shutdown by agreeing to raise the debt limit, gives clues as to how the government would prioritize cash in the event of a shutdown.

"The Treasury would likely prioritize interest payments over other federal obligations. However, even a brief interruption in government payments could be very disruptive," she said.

For example, she said, as many as 800,000 nonessential government workers would be put on leave, and other services such as national parks would close; in turn, growth would take a "significant hit." Furthermore, if the government does freeze, earnings could see a meaningful downward revision for next year.

In 2011, a highly dramatic debt-ceiling "crisis," in which Congress failed to raise the debt ceiling until it seemed to become immediately necessary, led Standard & Poor's to downgrade the credit rating of the United States and generated considerable market volatility.

However, that year as well as in a similar situation in 2013, Congress eventually agreed that the government could indeed borrow more money.

This time around, some say the impact of debt-ceiling jitters has already appeared evident in equity and currency markets.

In a Thursday interview with CNBC, hours after President Donald Trump tweeted about the debt-ceiling situation being a "mess," House Speaker Paul Ryan said the debt ceiling would be raised.

Some say the prospect of a federal shutdown would likely mean naught for stocks.

Most shutdowns "don't last long and equities rarely see a large sell-off," wrote Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist at LPL Financial in a report on Thursday.

According to his analysis, the longest shutdown since 1976 lasted 21 days, between late 1995 and early 1996, and the S&P 500's return was 0.1 percent.
Live sperm samples displayed on a monitor. Sumit Dayal Bloomberg | Getty Images

Sujoy Guha, biomedical engineer and inventor of the reversible inhibition of sperm under guidance (RISUG) male contraceptive treatment Sumit Dayal Bloomberg | Getty Images

Another compound, called gendarussa, which is derived from an Indonesian shrub, interrupts the way sperm enter an egg to fertilize it. Clinical trials in Indonesia have found that the compound is highly effective, with few side effects, though larger studies would be needed before the drug could be submitted for approval by the FDA.

Decades of development

Where's Big Pharma?

Despite decades of development, few techniques have moved past initial phases of testing. Pharmaceutical companies have not been interested in developing a male contraceptive beyond what is already on the market. Efforts in the early 2000s from small pharmaceutical companies, such as Organon and Schering, have stalled. A spokesperson from Merck , which acquired Organon's parent company in 2009, says this is not an active area of research or interest. Bayer, which acquired Schering in 2007, reached a similar conclusion: "Ultimately, the decision was made to halt male contraceptive research, and we currently do not have plans to pursue in the future," a spokesperson said via email. Experts have some ideas as to why big pharmaceutical companies might not be interested. According to Kenneth Kaitin, professor and director of the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development, marketing a male contraceptive might be harder than some might think  it would only appeal to men in long-term heterosexual relationships with partners of reproductive age. And since the drug wouldn't be combating a rare, life-threatening illness but would rather serve patients who are already well, pharmaceutical companies would have to make it affordable to the average consumer. All in all, Kaitin says, they probably don't think they would make much money off this kind of drug. "Getting women to stop taking her drug for a man to start taking his drug, that would take a lot of selling," Kaitin says.

Getting women to stop taking her drug for a man to start taking his drug, that would take a lot of selling. Kenneth Kaitin professor and director of the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development

"Ultimately, it comes down to capitalism," says Allan Pacey, a fertility expert at the University of Sheffield. And so far that has meant that male contraceptives don't make financial sense. It's also risky. A male contraceptive would serve a population that's already healthy with the goal of preventing pregnancy, for which men don't carry the physical risk. That would mean that regulators would have a very low bar for side effects. And for the intervention to work, it couldn't let even one viable sperm throughit just takes one to get a woman pregnant. But the argument that there's no market for male birth control is deeply flawed. Research has discovered that men, in fact, want more contraceptive options. "A key aspect is that it gives men the opportunity to be involved in family planning. At the moment, they are excluded from being able to shoulder the burden," says Richard Anderson, a professor of clinical reproductive science at the University of Edinburgh. That especially makes sense for heterosexual couples in which the woman can't take birth control for medical reasons, such as a high risk of blood clots.

Market demand
Dubai has seen a surge of interest from fintech startups and banking assets over the last three years, according to the emirate's financial center's management body.

It's fast becoming a destination for financial technology startups because of its location, private investment and innovation.

"Dubai has its own unique attributes that the likes of San Francisco and Singapore do not have," Moussa Beidas CEO and Co-Founder of smartphone payment platform Bridg told CNBC on Thursday.

"I think there are very few places in the world where you can get so much in such a small place and yet with so much potential," he said.

The patented platform that takes digital payments offline is based at the Dubai International Financial Centre Authority (DIFCA)  a special economic area that aims to support businesses to tap into the emerging markets.
Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell:

Tiffany  The luxury goods retailer earned 92 cents per share for the second quarter, six cents a share above estimates. Revenue also beat forecasts, but comparable-store sales fell one percent compared to forecasts for a 0.2 percent drop.

Dollar Tree  The discount retailer reported quarterly profit of 98 cents per share, 11 cents above estimates. Revenue was also above forecasts, and the company also raised its sales forecast. Dollar Tree was helped by lower costs and fewer promotions. ons.

Abercrombie & Fitch  The apparel retailer lost an adjusted 16 cents per share for its latest quarter, less than half the 33-cent-a-share consensus estimate. Revenue beat forecasts, and comparable-store sales fell a less-than-expected one percent. Abercrombie said it expects the retail apparel market to remain "challenging" and "promotional" during the remainder of the year.

Sears Holdings  The retailer lost $1.16 per share for the second quarter, better than the $2.48-per-share loss expected by the single analyst who covers Sears. Revenue beat forecasts, but a comparable-store sales drop of 11.5 percent was larger than the Thomson Reuters consensus for a 7.1 percent drop. Sears said the last month of the quarter was the best of that three-month period for comparable sales.

Hormel  The maker of Spam, Dinty Moore, and other food brands fell three cents a share short of estimates, with quarterly profit of 34 cents per share. Revenue also missed forecasts and the company cut its full-year forecast due to high commodity price volatility.

Signet Jewelers  The jewelry retailer earned $1.33 per share for its latest quarter, well above estimates of $1.04 a share. Revenue was above forecasts, and comparable-store sales increased by 1.4 percent. Analysts had been forecasting a 3.8 percent decline in same-store sales.

Chipotle Mexican Grill  The restaurant chain's stock was upgraded to "equal weight" from "underweight" at Stephens, which points to current valuation and low expectations. Stephens believes moves to boost soft sales could be successful and give a positive bounce to the stock.

J.M. Smucker  Smucker fell 11 cents a share shy of estimates, with adjusted quarterly profit of $1.51 per share. Revenue fell short of expectations, as well. The company points to softness in the retail consumer foods and coffee segments. Smucker also cut its full-year forecast due to weakness in the coffee segment.

Dick's Sporting Goods  Cowen downgraded the sporting goods retailer to "market perform" from "outperform," saying it had overestimated the company's ability to achieve its prior guidance and maintain its profitability. Cowen points to a number of headwinds for Dick's, including increasing digital competition and the negative side of industry cyclical trends.

Teva Pharmaceutical  Credit Suisse downgraded the drugmaker's stock to "underperform" from "neutral," saying pricing pressure and more intense U.S. generic competition would continue to be headwinds for the foreseeable future.

HP Inc. - The computer and printer maker beat estimates by a penny a share, with adjusted quarterly profit of 43 cents a share. Revenue also beat forecasts, although HP's current-quarter earnings outlook falls slightly below consensus estimates. HP's most recent results were driven by improved sales of personal computers.

Williams-Sonoma  Williams-Sonoma reported quarterly earnings of 61 cents per share, two cents a share above estimates. The housewares retailer's revenue matched forecasts, and the company gave upbeat guidance for the current quarter.

PVH  PVH beat Street forecasts by five cents a share, with adjusted quarterly profit of $1.69 per share. The parent of Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, and other apparel brands also saw revenue beat estimates and the company raised its full-year guidance.

Guess  Guess nearly doubled analyst estimates with adjusted quarterly profit of 19 cents per share. The Street had forecast the clothing retailer's profit to come in at 10 cents per share. Guess also saw revenue easily surpass expectations, although it did give mixed current-quarter guidance. The company said cost reductions and stronger Europe and Asian sales are helping its bottom line.

Beacon Roofing Supply  Beacon is buying the U.S. distribution business of Irish building materials maker CRH for $2.63 billion in cash. Beacon is North America's largest publicly traded roofing and building products distributor, while CRH is the world's third largest building materials supplier.

AstraZeneca  The company's blood-thinning drug Brilinta saw positive results in a trial aimed at winning approval for extended use of the drug. The trial saw the drug reduce the risk of heart disease-related death by 29 percent in patients who had suffered heart attacks in the past.

Ford  Ford appointed Jason Luo as the new head of its China operations. Luo had been Chief Executive Officer of auto parts maker Key Safety Systems.

Amazon.com  Amazon's deal to buy Whole Foods Market won Federal Trade Commission clearance, just a few hours after Whole Foods shareholders approved the deal.

General Electric  GE has resumed talks to sell its industrial solutions unit to Switzerland engineering company ABB, according to a Reuters report. Reuters said the talks resumed after GE scaled back its expectations of the unit's value in a deal.

Raytheon , Lockheed Martin  The defense contractors won separate $900 million contracts from the Air Force to continue their work on next generation nuclear cruise missiles.

Hershey  Some 4.5 million Hershey shares will be sold by the Hershey Trust, which controls the chocolate maker. Three million of the shares will be sold to Morgan Stanley, the rest to Hershey itself. The company will pay $106 per share, compared to yesterday's close of $107.44.
Europeans stocks closed higher on Thursday as investors awaited comments on monetary policy from the Jackson Hole meeting.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended the day up 0.3 percent, with all major bourses in positive territory. Markets in the U.S., meanwhile, turned negative ahead of central bank policy announcements.

Construction and material stocks were one of the better performing sectors Thursday after CRH sold its U.S. business for $2.63 billion in cash to Beacon Roofing , Reuters reported. CRH shares closed the day up 3.8 percent.

However, household goods stocks outperformed their peers as investors bet on cyclicals. Hugo Boss ended 2.4 percent higher, while BAT was up 2.3 percent and Persimmon was 1.9 percent higher.

Provident ended the day at the top of the European benchmark, up 13 percent, after suffering losses of more than 66 percent earlier in the week on the news of its chief executive Peter Crook's departure. Sunrise, the Swiss telecom firm, was also up by more than 7 percent after reporting strong second-quarter results.

On the other end, Simcorp, a software provider, dropped more than 9 percent after its earnings report disappointed investors.

Retail stocks closed in negative territory after a difficult morning of trade. Dixons Carphone remained at the bottom of the European benchmark, down more than 23 percent, after lowering its full-year profit on tougher market conditions. The firm forecast its headline pretax profit for the current year to come between 360 million and 440 million ($460-562 million) - lower than the 495 million that Reuters analysts were expecting. Meanwhile, data from the Confederation of the British Industry showed U.K. retail sales declining in the year to August.

"Despite the warmer weather at the start of the month, retail sales have cooled as higher inflation continues to squeeze consumers' pockets. Meanwhile, deteriorating sentiment regarding the business situation has combined with falling headcount among retailers," Anna Leach, CBI head of economic intelligence, said in a statement.
Facebook turns off more than 1 million accounts a day as it struggles to keep spam, fraud and hate speech off its platform, its chief security officer says.

Still, the sheer number of interactions among its 2 billion global users means it can't catch all "threat actors," and it sometimes removes text posts and videos that it later finds didn't break Facebook rules, says Alex Stamos.

"When you're dealing with millions and millions of interactions, you can't create these rules and enforce them without (getting some) false positives," Stamos said during an onstage discussion at an event in San Francisco on Wednesday evening.

Stamos blames the pure technical challenges in enforcing the company's rules  rather than the rules themselves  for the threatening and unsafe behavior that sometimes finds its way on to the site.

Facebook has faced critics who say its rules for removing content are too arbitrary and make it difficult to know what types of activity it will and won't allow.

Political leaders in Europe this year have accused it of being too lax in allowing terrorists to use Facebook to recruit and plan attacks, while a U.S. Senate committee last year demanded to know its policies for removing fake news stories, after accusations it was arbitrarily removing posts by political conservatives.

Free speech advocates have also criticized its work.

"The work of (Facebook) take-down teams is not transparent," said Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which advocates for free speech online.

"The rules are not enforced across the board. They reflect biases," says Galperin, who shared the stage with Stamos at a public event that was part of Enigma Interviews, a series of cybersecurity discussions sponsored by the Advanced Computing Systems Association, better known as USENIX.

Stamos pushed back during the discussion, saying "it's not just a bunch of white guys" who make decisions about what posts to remove.

"When you turn up the volume on hate speech, you'll get more false positives, (and) catch people who are just talking about it," rather than promoting it, Stamos said.

The company also must operate within the laws of more than 100 countries, some of which use speech laws to suppress political dissent, he said.

"The definition of hate speech in some countries is problematic," Stamos said.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said the company will hire 3,000 extra workers to monitor and remove offensive content.

That effort continues apace, according to Stamos, who said the company is "massively expanding our team to track threat actors."

Still, "you can't do all that with humans," he said, which is why Facebook also relies on artificial intelligence software to judge whether someone trying to log in is a legitimate user.

"The number of accounts turned off every day is (in the) seven figures or eight figures," Stamos said from the stage, with some fraudsters attempting to create thousands of accounts at once.

After the event, Stamos confirmed to CNBC that the number of accounts it closes is in excess of 1 million every day.
The Food and Drug Administration has provided options for companies to offer safer alternatives to cigarettes, so people can still enjoy "satisfying levels of nicotine" without the risks of tobacco smoke, the agency's commissioner told CNBC on Thursday.

"We've set out a plan to try to reduce nicotine levels to nonaddictive or minimally addictive levels to transition people off combustible cigarettes," said Dr. Scott Gottlieb, FDA commissioner.

"And at the same time, we've opened up a pathway to new product innovations that we think can potentially provide nicotine to people who still want to enjoy satisfying levels of nicotine without the risk of lighting tobacco on fire," he added in an interview on "Squawk Box."

Late last month, the FDA announced a plan for tobacco and nicotine regulation, to the surprise of some tobacco companies, with the goal of encouraging the development of new products that are less dangerous than cigarettes.



Tobacco stocks fell on the agency's announcement but in response to the news, tobacco company Altria said it plans to be "fully engaged throughout the process." A British American Tobacco spokesperson told CNBC then that the company's Reynolds American unit was "encouraged" by Gottlieb's comments.

In order to prod innovation, the FDA said in August of this year that it has "extended timelines to submit tobacco product review applications for newly regulated products that were on the market as of August 8, 2016."

The agency also said it planned to begin a "public dialogue" surrounding lowering nicotine levels by way of "achievable product standards."

"It's not the nicotine that kills you, it's all the other carcinogens in lighting tobacco on fire," Gottlieb said Thursday.

Gottlieb said smoking rates continue to decline in the U.S. but slowly. About 480,000 people in the U.S. die per year from smoking-related illnesses, he said, and cigarettes will kill half of all long-term users.

The FDA has said it would consider an exemption for what it calls premium cigars, and will consider a delay in implementing new rules for reduced-risk offerings like e-cigarettes.

Vaping devices and e-cigarettes that were on the market in August 2016 won't be subject to review until 2021 or 2022, depending on the type of product, the agency said.

The FDA must put e-cigarettes and vapes through an appropriate series of regulatory gates, Gottlieb said Thursday, but the products have the potential to be safer than combustible cigarettes. Still, the use of e-cigarettes by youth is concerning, Gottlieb said. He said it is "unclear" if e-cigarettes are a gateway to other forms of smoking.

Gottlieb said the FDA would consider regulating "kid-appealing flavors" in e-cigarettes and cigars, and possibly banning menthol in all tobacco products.

But there are also a number of other alternatives hitting the market, Gottlieb said.

"Heat not burn. ... Also medicinal nicotine products," he said. "There could be product innovation around those as well to deliver the nicotine in better ways," he said.

 CNBC's Lauren Thomas and Reuters contributed to this report.
Hurricane Harvey is seen approaching the Texas Gulf Coast, in this NOAA GOES East satellite image taken at 7:07 ET (11:37 GMT) August 25, 2017.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is sending thousands of meals, tarps and liters of water to Randolph Air Force Base near San Antonio ahead of Hurricane Harvey's arrival on the Texas Gulf Coast, NBC Dallas-Fort Worth reported Thursday.

The military base will have about 250,000 meals, 77,000 liters of water and 4,000 tarps, the station reported. The supplies will be sent from FEMA's warehouse in Fort Worth, Texas.

The agency is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in preparation for the hurricane, according to NBC Dallas-Fort Worth. The two organizations held a joint training exercise at Fort Worth Federal Center, and the Army Corps of Engineers will use FEMA-provided generators to help restore power to critical facilities if they are disabled by the storm.

The storm was upgraded to a hurricane with 80-mph winds on Thursday by the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC).

A FEMA spokesperson confirmed NBC Dallas-Fort Worth's reporting.

The agency's public affairs director, William Booher, provided the following statement to CNBC:

"FEMA, through its Regional Response Coordination Center (RRCC) in Denton, Texas, staff at FEMA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and liaisons to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, is monitoring the tropical weather as it moves toward Texas and Louisiana. We are in communication with our state, local and tribal partners along the Gulf Coast, and stand ready to support them as they prepare for the tropical system. We have pre-positioned staff and supplies in Louisiana and Texas in advance of the storm. The supplies include about 250,000 meals, 77,000 liters of water and 4,000 tarps. These supplies are being moved from FEMA's warehouse/distribution center in Fort Worth, Texas to an Incident Support Base in Seguin, Texas, should those supplies be needed. FEMA personnel are on the ground at emergency operations centers in Texas and Louisiana to support any requests for federal assistance. Additionally, we recommend that people listen to their local media outlets to stay informed about the tropical weather and follow the instructions of their state and local officials. They can also download the FEMA mobile app for disaster resources, weather alerts, and safety tips. The app (available in English and Spanish) provides a customizable checklist of emergency supplies, maps of open shelters and recovery centers, disaster survival tips, and weather alerts from the National Weather Service. The app also enables users to receive push notifications reminding them to take important steps to prepare their homes and families for disasters."

Read more about the preparation for Hurricane Harvey in the report from NBC Dallas-Fort Worth.
Members of the media examine Google's Pixel phone during an event to introduce Google hardware products on October 4, 2016 in San Francisco, California.

A blogger with an accurate record, Evan Blass, said this week that Google will unveil its new smartphone on Oct. 5.

The Google Pixel 2 is expected to succeed the original Pixel and will be among the first new smartphones that will run Google's new Android Oreo operating system, which was officially launched this week.

Read the Tweet here

The Pixel 2 will reportedly operate on Qualcomm 's brand new Snapdragon 836 processor, which would make it among the most powerful smartphones on the market. The device is expected to look like last year's model instead of packing an edge-to-edge screen, which has become a trend among new smartphones.

This is probably the fall event that other rumors have referenced, which means Google may also take time to unveil its new and a set of headphones that may .

While Blass has an accurate track record, it's common for these events to shift to another date at the last minute. CNBC reached out to Google for comment but a spokesperson was not immediately available.
Google's partnership with Wal-Mart won't affect Amazon's ascent because similar deals between the search engine and other large retailers have had "little to no impact" on the growth of Amazon's shopping services, according to Cowen research.

The partnership between Wal-Mart and Google, announced Wednesday, will give shoppers the ability to order hundreds of thousands of products from Wal-Mart by voice through Google Express, its online shopping service.

The deal is another strategic step by Wal-Mart to advance its e-commerce operations to compete with Amazon 's powerful voice-enabled network Alexa.

Google Express came about in 2013 and has deals with Costco and Target, which offer similar goods as Wal-Mart, Cowen analyst John Blackledge said, but those partnerships have "had little to no impact on Amazon's retail business or the growth of Amazon Prime households."

"While we are encouraged to see Google continue to enhance its eCommerce/Shopping offering, we believe the attention the announcement received was overblown," Blackledge wrote in a note to clients on Thursday.

As of Wednesday, Google also began offering free delivery on Google Express orders so long as the order is above each retailer's minimum threshold.

Amazon said Thursday that its acquisition of Whole Foods will close Monday, promising "more to come," as the internet giant begins to integrate its Prime membership offerings into the Whole Foods network. Prime members will eventually receive "special savings and in-store benefits."

Shares of Amazon pared earlier losses Thursday afternoon and sat down 0.33 percent at 3:09 p.m. ET. Shares of Wal-Mart fell after the announcement of the Amazon-Whole Foods deal closure, now down 1.92 percent.

While attention has largely been focused on Wal-Mart's new opportunities from the deal, Cowen research also noted that Google could see a meaningful uptick in its Express service.

"Of the United States households purchasing groceries online each month (about 12 percent of U.S. households on average), only about 4 percent bought groceries via Google Express in July '17," added Blackledge.

That stands in stark comparison to the 46 percent of online grocery shoppers who said they bought goods on Amazon Prime, according to the Cowen report.

Still, the analyst said he isn't persuaded that the Google-Wal-Mart agreement means much for Amazon.

"Amazon's end to end voice-enabled shopping solution is a significant advantage versus the Wal-Mart/Google pairing in our view. Overall, we do not see the partnership impacting Amazon's US retail biz and/or Prime Sub penetration."
Ahead of a looming intraparty fight, House Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday insisted the United States will raise the debt ceiling to avoid a default.

"We will pay our debts and we will make the debt limit," the Wisconsin Republican told CNBC from a Boeing factory in Washington state, where he was promoting tax reform.

"I'm really not worried about getting this done because I know we will get this done and we will pass the increase before we hit the debt limit," he added.

The U.S. government needs to increase its borrowing limit before the end of September or risk defaulting on its debt. Ryan's comments echoed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who on Monday said "there is zero chance" that the U.S. will fail to raise the debt ceiling.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has called for a "clean" debt ceiling increase, meaning the vote is not attached to other provisions. Some conservatives have opposed a clean hike, particularly during the Obama administration, seeking spending cuts, as well.

Asked specifically about a clean hike, Ryan said there are "a bunch of different options in front of us." Later Thursday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said it falls on Congress to raise the debt ceiling and that the administration supports a clean increase.

President Donald Trump on Thursday appeared to partly blame Ryan and McConnell for what he called a "mess" in reaching a debt ceiling deal. Trump said he wanted to tie the debt ceiling to a bill related to the Department of Veterans Affairs that easily passed.

Trump: I requested that Mitch M & Paul R tie the Debt Ceiling legislation into the popular V.A. Bill (which just passed) for easy approval. They...

Trump: ...didn't do it so now we have a big deal with Dems holding them up (as usual) on Debt Ceiling approval. Could have been so easy-now a mess!

Ryan said GOP leaders "were looking at" that option but decided against it. He added that he did not feel targeted by Trump's tweet.

"I don't really take it as going after me," he said.

Ryan is making a series of appearances to support a tax overhaul, which he believes Congress can pass this year. Congressional leaders want to start moving legislation next month, but they also face deadlines for raising the debt ceiling and funding the government when they return from recess.

Trump's recent actions  hitting Ryan, McConnell and GOP senators and threatening a government shutdown over funding for his proposed border wall  potentially complicate the Republican agenda when lawmakers return to Washington.

Ryan anticipates that Congress will have to pass a short-term funding measure before the Sept. 30 deadline, partly because the Senate faces obligations to confirm federal officials when it returns.

The House speaker insisted that Republicans have enough time to pass a tax reform package in 2017.

"We're totally on the same page on this," he said of the two chambers of Congress and the White House.

Ryan did not go into much more detail on the tax plan than he has previously. He said he wants to keep, but potentially modernize, the mortgage interest deduction.

He added that he feels that Senate can get some Democrats behind the tax reform plan, specifically citing the states of North Dakota, Indiana and Missouri. Sens. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., are all up for re-election next year in states that Trump won in 2016.
Hurricane Harvey is expected to hit the Texas Gulf Coast by Friday, with nearly one-third of U.S. refining capacity possibly in its path on the Texas and western Louisiana coastlines.



Winds of up to 75 mph and as much as 15 inches of rain were forecast, the National Weather Service said Thursday. That does not include the storm surge, which could bring even more water.

It could take 18 to 36 months for refineries to return to full production capacity if they sustain 2 feet of flooding, Bob Mitchell, president of the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership, told CNBC's "Power Lunch" on Thursday.

However, the jury is out on whether oil refineries will sustain any flooding. That depends on the pace of the rain. Refineries could likely cope with 20 inches of rain over five days. They would have a tougher time keeping up if it rained 20 inches over 12 hours.

Refineries are already preparing for Harvey.

Houston-area refineries are responsible for significant portions of the nation's gas, military grade fuel and jet aviation fuel, Mitchell said. Any decrease in production could have ripple effects on manufacturing.

"Oh I will tell you it's worse than (a slowdown)," Mitchell said. "It's a shutdown, not a slowdown. I can assure you of that."

The issue is not local, it's national, Mitchell said.

 Reuters contributed to this story.
Many companies rely on unlimited vacation as a perk to encourage employees to unplug from the workplace, but SimpliFlying CEO Shashank Nigam is taking his team's vacation policy one step further. Americans racked up 206 million unused vacation days in 2016, and the CEO of the airline strategy consulting firm noticed his employees' anxiety about time away from the office. To fix this problem, he implemented a mandatory vacation policy in April 2016. "We had staff who took more vacation than usual and some who didn't take it at all," Nigam tells CNBC Make It. "So having an unlimited vacation policy was almost like having no vacation policy at all. People were feeling guilty, and I didn't see anyone utilizing it to the fullest."

SimpliFlying CEO Shashank Nigam with his team. Photo courtesy of SimpliFlying

The policy, which initially consisted of employees taking a mandatory one week vacation every seven weeks, was sparked by a TED Talk Nigam heard by New York-based designer Stefan Sagmeister. In the talk, Sagmeister discussed the power of time off and explained how he personally takes one year off every seven years. While a one year vacation isn't suitable for SimpliFlying's business model, Nigam reworked Sagmeister's arrangement as a more frequent one week vacation, and implemented consequences for any employee who did not comply. "Given the distraction in our workplace like Slack, emails and messages coming in, to ensure our staff wasn't working during that week off, I put in a clause that said if I see any Slack activity or response to any messages, you will not be paid that week," says Nigam, who also authored the airline marketing book SOAR.

Threatening employees' pay may sound harsh, but Nigam says that he's received positive feedback from his staff. Since the implementation of the vacation policy, he says his team's productivity has increased by 17 percent. "One of the biggest problems with previous holiday systems was that you could never really forget about work," says Marco Serusi, who is a senior consultant at SimpliFlying. "With ours you are forced to disconnect. It literally is forced peace of mind." Since the introduction of the company's mandatory vacation policy, Nigam has made a few adjustments, including changing the frequency from every seven weeks to every eight weeks and making sure that no employee leave interferes with overall business operations.
The verdict, which overturns a 55-year-old ruling stating that privacy was not a human right, has been heralded as a victory for human rights but it deals a major blow to Modi's wide-reaching biometric ID program.

The highest court in the country voted unanimously Thursday that privacy is an "intrinsic" part of Article 21 of the Indian constitution, which governs the life and liberties of Indian citizens.

The Indian government has suffered a huge setback after a landmark Supreme Court ruling found that citizens have a fundamental right to privacy, posing a risk for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's biometric payment scheme.

The Aadhaar database was initially launched in 2016 as a voluntary scheme aimed at weeding out corruption and easing payments by allowing users to make transactions using their fingerprint.

Access to benefits, bank accounts and tax payments could now be at risk as the government's national Aadhaar database, which contains biometric and demographic information on all Indian residents, comes into question.

Biometric data refers to any distinguishing biological information, such as fingerprints, retina and iris patterns, voice waves and DNA.

However, it has faced scrutiny over recent years as enrolment has been made mandatory for the filing of tax returns, opening of bank accounts and any purchases above 50,000 rupees ($780). It is estimated that over 99 percent of Indians aged 18 and above are now enrolled in the scheme.

The Indian government's lawyers said during the hearing of the case that citizens did not have an absolute right over their bodies, meaning that citizens could be forced to give their biometric data to the state.

The nine-judge bench unanimously opposed this argument. A smaller bench will now look at the specific implications of the ruling on the validity of the Aadhaar scheme.

Firat Unlu, leading India analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said that the privacy and data protection concerns raised over Aadhaar were "justified", but said that the review should also consider the "large economic and social benefits" the program brings in combating inefficiencies and corruption.

He added that the ruling is likely to have implications for private companies, too.

"The ruling will set the backdrop for changes going well beyond just Aadhaar. For instance, we may see an impact on data collection in the private sector or India's libel laws. In the longer term, private companies may be impacted by this ruling just as much as the government," Unlu told CNBC via email.

The fundamental right of citizens to privacy was previously voted against in India by an eight-judge bench in 1954 and again in 1962 by a six-judge bench.

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During that visit, the former Goldman Sachs partner Mnuchin, Linton and a group of other civilians that included Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-Ky., visited the gold depository and watched the solar eclipse.

Now CREW is asking the Treasury Department for records about the "authorization for and the costs" of the couple's use of a government plane to travel to Lexington, Kentucky .

A watchdog group suspects Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin 's trip to see the government gold in Fort Knox on the taxpayers' dime with his wife, Louise Linton, was actually spurred by a desire to be in the prime viewing area for Monday's total solar eclipse.

CREW also wants "all records" about Mnuchin's "use of a government plane for any purpose since his appointment as Treasury Secretary."

"The requested records would shed light on the justification for Secretary Mnuchin's use of a government plane, rather than a commercial flight, for a trip that seems to have been planned around the solar eclipse and to enable the Secretary to secure a viewpoint in the path of the eclipse's totality," CREW said.

A Treasury spokeswoman provided the following statement to CNBC:

"The Secretary was on official government travel to Kentucky where he and Leader McConnell met with members of the business community to discuss tax reform. Later in the day, the Secretary, Leader McConnell, Governor Bevin, Congressman Guthrie and U.S. Treasurer Carranza visited the United States Bullion Depository at Fort Knox. Secretary Mnuchin is reimbursing the government for Mrs. Linton's travel, as is longstanding policy regarding civilians on military aircraft. The trip was originally planned for earlier in August but was postponed to accommodate the Congressional calendar."

CREW spokesman Jordan Libowitz said concern that Mnuchin was using taxpayer funds for a trip to see the eclipse "would not have been on our radar if it had not gotten the press from the Instagram rant" by his wife, Linton.

"That picture was clearly of a government plane, so that raised questions of what the relationship was of her to the trip, and what she was doing there," Libowitz said. "And it's a little bit out of the ordinary for a secretary of the Treasury to visit Fort Knox."

"I think it's quite possible that" the solar eclipse was "why he and his wife were there," Libowitz said.

Mnuchin is the first Treasury secretary in seven decades to visit Fort Knox, which holds gold bullion owned by the federal government.

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And civilians had not visited the vault in Fort Knox in more than 40 years.

The Washington Post reported that Mnuchin "told a group of Louisville business leaders earlier in the day [Monday] it was important for him to see the gold to attest that 'it is part of our national assets.'"

Linton, a Scottish actress who married Mnuchin earlier this year, ignited an epic social media backlash Monday when she responded to a comment on an Instagram photo that showed her and the Treasury secretary disembarking from a government plane during the Kentucky trip.

Linton had captioned that photo with hashtags highlighting the high-end designers who created the clothes and accessories she was wearing: Tom Ford, Hermes and Valentino.

When Instagram user Jenni Miller commented on the post: "Glad we could pay for your little getaway. #deplorable"  Linton went ballistic with a snarky and scathing post.

"Aw!!! Did you think this was a personal trip?! Adorable! Do you think the US govt paid for our honeymoon or personal travel?! Lololol," Linton wrote.

"Have you given more to the economy than me and my husband? Either as an individual earner in taxes OR in self sacrifice to your country?" Linton wrote. "I'm pretty sure we paid more taxes toward our day 'trip' than you did. Pretty sure the amount we sacrifice per year is a lot more than you'd be willing to sacrifice if the choice was yours."

She added: "You're adorably out of touch."

A day after that tirade, Linton apologized through a publicist for both her initial post and her fulmination against Miller, according to a report on CNN.

"I apologize for my post on social media yesterday as well as my response. It was inappropriate and highly insensitive," Linton reportedly said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a joint press conference with US President Donald Trump in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, February 13, 2017. Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images

Canada is ready for this renegotiation

According to Alexander Panetta of the Canadian Press, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau "has created an election-style nerve center to handle White House-related challenges" during the NAFTA renegotiation process. The team features eight staffers, including "two former trade officials, two senior PMO officials, an ambassador, a writer, a cabinet minister." The goal is to be able to push back on both a strategic and tactical level to presidential negotiating ploys, including social media threats to pull out of NAFTA altogether in order to gain leverage. One of the goals of the team in the prime minister's office is to coordinate follow-up, if necessary, with the broad and deep range of American stakeholders beyond Trump whom Trudeau has spent months cultivating. As Max Fisher reported in June, "Canadian officials have fanned out across the United States, meeting with mayors, governors, members of Congress and business leaders on matters from trade to the environment." At meetings with local officials, Canadian ministers "travel armed with data on the precise dollar amount and number of jobs supported by Canadian firms and trade in that area," cultivating current and potential allies to push back against Trump's demands. Canada also has a clear list of negotiating objectives, including both key NAFTA provisions that Trudeau's government is committed to keeping and aspirations to win more access for Canadian companies to state and local government contracts and more access for Canadian professionals like computer programmers to jobs in the United States. The US negotiating posture, by contrast, heavily emphasizes a couple of demands that appear to be symbolic, meaningless, or unworkable.

America is sending lower-level officials with symbolic demands

Binyamin Appelbaum of the New York Times, reporting on the somewhat contentious formal opening of talks, noted that during the opening back and forth "the overarching issue" of disagreement was "the importance of trade deficits." The United States buys more goods made in Canada and Mexico than they buy from us, and US Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer, the highest-ranking American official at the talks, said such deficits "can't continue." Canada sent Freeland, a senior cabinet minister, to attend the talks and say that "Canada doesn't view trade surpluses or deficits as a primary measure of whether trade works," thus aligning her country with the view of the vast majority of experts who've looked at the issue. Even if America's trade were perfectly balanced (and there's no particular reason to think that it should be) there's no reason to think that trade between any two countries in particular should be balanced. Indeed, even as Canada runs a trade surplus with the United States (primarily because America, being adjacent to Canada, is a good export market for Canadian natural resources) it runs an overall trade deficit with the world (primarily because its population growth rate, like America's, is above-average for a rich country). But more importantly, as Phil Levy of the Chicago Council told my colleague Zeeshan Aleem, "there is no mechanism" for a trade deal to guarantee a bilateral trade balance. If Trump wants to brag that he got Canada and Mexico to agree to incorporate reducing trade deficits as a stated objective into the treaty, then this is something they can give him essentially for free. Lighthizer's opening statement also demanded "effective provisions to guard against currency manipulation." This was hotly debated in the context of the Trans Pacific Partnership but is totally meaningless in terms of a trade deal with Canada and Mexico  both of whom (like the United States) float their currencies on international markets and don't do any manipulation.

What's really on the table

The United States and Canada both say that they want to modify NAFTA to include more robust labor rights and environmental standards. Since the US, Canada, and Mexico were all parties to the TPP, which would have superseded NAFTA and imposed more robust labor rights and environmental standards, it stands to reason that the three countries can and probably will agree to simply copy that language from the now-dead TPP over to NAFTA. Indeed, Todd Tucker, a trade specialist and fellow with the left-wing Roosevelt Institute, thinks that overall Trump's stated negotiating objects look like "TPP with fewer countries" rather than the comprehensive rethinking of trade policy that Trump promised and Tucker favors. There are, however, a few real points of contention. The Trump administration favors stricter rules on how much NAFTA content auto parts need to have to qualify for duty-free treatment  a desire the auto workers' union embraces and the car industry dislikes. This seems like a potentially winnable concession, as does Canada's desire to add a gender rights chapter to the treaty. NAFTA also contains two different kinds of dispute mechanism tribunals that are in the mix. Trump wants to alter the Chapter 19 process through which anti-dumping complaints are adjudicated, while the Canadians want to alter the Chapter 11 process through which companies can challenge government action.

Does Trump even care anymore?
Before co-founding medical billing start-up Eligible in 2011, Katelyn Gleason was waiting tables in New York City while trying to break into the theater scene. It was around that time when she first read "The Way to Wealth," an essay by Benjamin Franklin that first appeared in his yearly publication, "Poor Richard's Almanack," which the Founding Father wrote and published for 25 years under the pseudonym of Richard Saunders. The proverb-filled essay about wealth and success was originally published as the preface to his 1758 almanack and eventually reprinted in more than 100 languages and titled "The Way to Wealth."

Gleason, now 32, says the single best piece of money advice she's ever heard comes from this 259-year-old text: "Necessity never made a good bargain," Franklin wrote. "These words were a real wakeup call," says Gleason, who was living paycheck-to-paycheck while pursuing her acting career. "I realized that until I paid off my debt, necessity would continue to limit my current and future career options. So I buckled down and focused all of my energy on saving until I was finally debt-free." "Today, this quote informs the way we approach Eligible's finances as well," the CEO continues. "It's why we decided to wait until Eligible became profitable before raising venture capital. Approaching potential investors from a position of power, not necessity, allowed us to be more selective, raise money more quickly and grow the company without compromising our vision."
Despite the divisions within the Republican Party, GOP strategist Ron Christie told CNBC on Thursday he is "somewhat confident" that Congress will find a way to compromise on tax reform legislation.

"We have the largest governing majority right now since 1929, and if Republicans can't work with the president to find something to put on his desk, it really does not look good for the Republican leadership," he said in an interview with "Power Lunch" on Thursday.

"I'm optimistically cautious in my assessment that we will get something done in September," Christie added.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., told CNBC on Thursday that Congress can get tax reform done this year, despite also having to tackle government funding and the debt ceiling in September.

He also said he thinks Republicans can get some Democrats on board with the tax reform plan.

Christie said he wouldn't be surprised if that happens.

Ryan "has many solid relationships on the other side of the aisle. People who trust him, people who believe in him," said Christie, who served as a special assistant to President George W. Bush.

Democrat Patrick Murphy, a former congressman from Florida, isn't convinced tax reform will happen.

"There's going to be more and more distractions from this president," he told "Power Lunch."

While Murphy believes comprehensive tax reform is important, he said, "I just don't think it's realistic."

And he doesn't think Republicans are going to get Democrats on board to support the plan they ultimately come up with, he said.

"What we're going to see, realistically speaking, after they raise the debt ceiling, after they pass the budget, is a small version of tax cuts for very few people. That's something I don't see many Democrats getting behind," Murphy said.
Robots are going to replace human workers and when they do, the companies that employ them should be taxed. So says billionaire Bill Gates. And now, San Francisco lawmaker Jane Kim thinks so too. In February, in an interview with Quartz, the Microsoft co-founder broached the idea of a "robot tax." "Right now, the human worker who does, say, $50,000 worth of work in a factory, that income is taxed and you get income tax, social security tax, all those things. If a robot comes in to do the same thing, you'd think that we'd tax the robot at a similar level," he says.

Bill Gates Alex Wong | Getty Images

"An unemployment rate of 38 percent or 47 percent would be a national crisis like we have never seen and would certainly result in spikes in evictions, homelessness and crime. We must act now because the price will be too great if we wait," according to the site. Money collected with Kim's proposed robot tax would be used to educate and train out-of-work employees for new jobs. It would also be invested into new industries, the Jobs of the Future Fund website says. Another increasingly popular response to impending job loss has been the idea of universal basic income. A handful of billionaires and tech titans including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Branson and Stewart Butterfield have all talked recently about cash handouts as a plausible solution.
A man walks past a television screen showing file footage of a North Korean missile launch, at a railway station in Seoul on April 5, 2017. Jung Yeon-Je | AFP | Getty Images

North Korea has nuclear weapons  and a majority of South Koreans support getting them too, but the consequences of doing so could be far reaching. U.S. battlefield nuclear weapons in South Korea were removed in 1991, but since then North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests and achieved alarming success in its ballistic missile program. Based on reports, the North has the capability to produce several dozen nuclear bombs. "It's not really a good solution for a country like South Korea to remain non-nuclear when its neighbors are becoming nuclear and becoming quite aggressive," said Anders Corr, a former government analyst and principal at consulting firm Corr Analytics. Polling done by Gallup Korea has shown nearly 60 percent of South Koreans would support nuclear armament, according to Yonhap news agency. The largest support is found among residents age 60 and above. Some suggest that the opinion surveys reflect the anxiety level of some South Korean residents about what the true aims are of North Korea's Kim Jong Un, an unpredictable and brutal leader known for taking risks. The 33-year-old dictator has become more forceful in threats and stepped up the regime's missile testing program even as the communist country struggles against increasing sanctions. "Given the situation we're now facing a nuclear-armed North Korea, maybe it is time for the United States to really take a look at this option," said In-Bum Chun, a retired lieutenant general in the Republic of Korea Army and now is a visiting scholar at the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Reintroducing tactical US nukes

"We've been saying that 'all options are on the table,' and maybe we should take a look at this in more detail," the general said. "Maybe the United States might think that this is another situation where Korea having nuclear weapons, or reintroducing tactical U.S. nuclear weapons to South Korea becomes an option." However, the retired South Korean military officer said that any discussion about Seoul getting its own nuclear weapons arsenal should first be done in Washington and should be started if it hasn't already. Also, he said the assumption must be that if the North Koreans were to get rid of their nuclear weapons, so would the South Koreans (if they had them). "The goal is denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Chun said. "There is still hope for sanctions and other means to persuade North Korea to give up their nuclear weapons. So we need more time on this." The U.S. currently protects the security of South Korea with nuclear weapons that can be delivered via bombers and submarines. Some have suggested that with South Korea having its own nukes it could perhaps respond faster than the U.S. In recent months, the U.S. has demonstrated its capability to strike the North by flying B-1B Lancer bombers over the Korean Peninsula. "The U.S. could back South Korea up with nuclear weapons but that could be a very dangerous proposition, especially if China (its closest ally) were in the war," said Corr, who has experience in military intelligence.

North Korea orders more ICBMs

On Wednesday, North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency said its leader had ordered more intercontinental ballistic missiles. The regime test-fired two ICBMs last month, and data from the July 28 launch of a Hwasong-14 missile showed the weapon can reach half, if not most, of the continental U.S. China's semiofficial Global Times newspaper said in an op-ed this week that Pyongyang's ongoing nuclear and missile programs "posed security threats to the Asia-Pacific region. However, a hard-line attitude or military strikes against Pyongyang would only provoke the country to take retaliatory measures." If South Korea were to arm itself with nuclear weapons, China would likely protest and probably take the matter to the United Nations as a violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, of which South Korea is a signatory but not North Korea. Yet there also are concerns South Korea getting its own nukes could trigger a wider U.S.-China war because if Seoul were to use the weapons against North Korea, the regime's longtime ally Beijing might respond with an attack of its own that might include targeting U.S. military bases in South Korea or the Asia-Pacific region. Perhaps a hint of Beijing's anger is its economic boycott against South Korea for allowing the deployment of the U.S.-supplied THAAD anti-missile shield, which China claims allows the U.S. and South Korea to look deep into China to monitor military activities. "I think South Korea acquiring nuclear weapons is possible, but unlikely," said James Acton, co-director of the nuclear policy program and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Seoul could face sanctions

Acton said it's understandable there's uneasiness from South Koreans watching their neighbor to the north develop nuclear weapons, but added that there's still not been a serious debate about the costs of acquiring nuclear weapons. "If there was a very serious discussion of the costs, I think you would find much less support for nuclear weapons," he said. For instance, Acton said if South Korea were to arm itself with nuclear weapons it would a violation of the country's international commitments, which means Seoul "would be very likely to have serious sanctions imposed on it." Also, he said the U.S. might decide to no longer offer its own security commitments to South Korea. "The costs to South Korea of acquiring nuclear weapons are actually very, very high," said Acton. "For South Korea, a country that's become successful through international trade and engagement, the sanctions would be incredibly painful and damaging." Back in the 1970s, South Korean President Park Chung-hee secretly began a nuclear weapons development program. Once the U.S. learned about it, the U.S. pressured Seoul to halt the program. As was the case then, it remains U.S. policy to oppose the spread of nuclear explosives in the region. At the same time, another option is the U.S. could redeploy tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea. But doing so would violate the 1992 Seoul-Pyongyang joint agreement on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang violated its end of the agreement in 2006 when it exploded its first nuclear device under Kim Jong Il, father of the regime's current young leader. Also, bringing back tactical weapons to South Korea could make the U.S. perhaps an even bigger target of North Korea and its communist neighbor, China. Pyongyang recently threatened to lob ballistic missiles toward U.S. military bases on the Pacific territory of Guam, which hosts the Air Force's B-1B bombers and a Navy submarine base.

Reliability of security guarantees
The disruptive force of technology is killing off older companies earlier and at a much faster rate than decades ago, squeezing employees, investors and other stakeholders, according to a new report.

"The average age of a company listed on the has fallen from almost 60 years old in the 1950s to less than 20 years currently," a team of Credit Suisse analysts led by Eugene Klerk wrote in a note to investors Thursday.

Average lifespan of an S&P 500 company

Source: Credit Suisse

Increased buyout activity beginning in the 1980s certainly had a hand in shortening that life span, but the increased pace of the disruption by companies like Amazon , Alphabet and Apple today is causing the trend to accelerate even more.

"We argue that disruption is nothing new but that the speed, complexity and global nature of it is," the report says. "In fact, it is clear that a number of sectors are currently impacted by multiple disruptive forces simultaneously."

This sea change is playing out in the stock market this year with shares of Apple, Alphabet and Amazon all doubling, and in some cases tripling, the 9 percent return of the S&P 500 in 2017. The Global X Robotics and Artificial Intelligence ETF , which tracks companies leading the automation of older industries, is up more than 30 percent this year.

Automation is the No. 1 "disruptive force," the report said.

"Sectors our analysts see as being at the epicentre of disruption include Autos, Oil & Gas, Utilities, Financials and Food Retail," the report says.

Credit Suisse also highlighted companies in major sectors that the firm views as the most likely to survive any coming disruption.

Aerospace behemoth Boeing ranks among those companies Credit Suisse says will survive a "substantial transformation of the relationship" between manufacturers and suppliers.

Multitrillion dollar financial services firm Allianz is one of the most resilient in the insurance group, according to Klerk and his team. The analysts expect the insurance industry to see automotive premiums revenue cut in half as "automated cars lead to fewer accidents."

In technology, STMicroelectronics on the hardware side and SAP on the software side are two of Credit Suisse's picks for companies that will survive disruption. STMicroelectronics should see accelerating growth from "semiconductor content growth" in automobiles, Credit Suisse says. The deepening influence of the cloud puts SAP in position to capitalize from what Credit Suisse said is "one of the most disruptive technologies."

Not all companies will go bankrupt because of disruption. Rather, the report said, there will be an increase in M&A as more of them team up to compete with the disruptors.

This slow killing of corporate America won't happen without some big social consequences, the Wall Street firm said.

"Personal wealth creation is likely to become ever more challenging, resulting in more polarised societies. The potential fallout raises uncertainty over economic and corporate profit growth," it said.
At a research facility in the south of France, 35 countries, including the U.S., China and Russia, are working together on a project that could transform the way we think about energy.

Known as ITER  an acronym for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor as well as Latin for 'the way'  the collaboration is constructing a magnetic fusion device known as a tokamak.

The ambition for the project is big. The tokamak has been designed to prove that fusion is a feasible large scale, carbon-free source of energy based on the same  and slightly mind boggling  principle which powers our Sun.

The difference between fission, which is used to produce nuclear energy today, and fusion is significant.

"Fission is taking a very large atom like uranium, you hit it and it splits it apart into two pieces," Mark Henderson, a physicist at ITER, told CNBC's Sustainable Energy. "Fusion takes two (very) small particles, it fuses together and give(s) off energy," he added.

The potential of fusion is huge. According to the World Nuclear Association, fusion power "offers the prospect of an almost inexhaustible source of energy for future generations."

Henderson said that the Sun was around 15 million degrees Celsius, and that the aim at ITER's tokamak was to generate 150 million degrees Celsius.

"The objective there is (that) you need it to be really hot to take two charged particles and slam them together to fuse," he said. "The two charged particles are both positive. Normally they don't want to touch and you have to give them the energy so that they can actually combine and fuse together."

The ITER facility is currently under construction. European Union countries are responsible for the largest portion of costs, with the remainder shared by China, India, Japan, South Korea, the U.S. and Russia.



When it is up and running, those behind the project say that it will be the first fusion device to generate "net energy". This term, according to ITER, refers to what happens when the total energy produced during a fusion plasma pulse exceeds the amount of energy needed to power the machine's systems.

This concept of "net energy" is an exciting, tantalizing one. Is fusion, though, just a pipe dream?

"ITER is our countries coming together to answer that question once and for all: can fusion play a role in the future," William D. Magwood IV, director general of the OECD's Nuclear Energy Agency, said.

Magwood IV added that once it was operating, the tests performed at ITER would help to answer that question.
People in the U.S. who type "clinical depression" in Google search via a mobile device will now be invited to check if they are clinically depressed via a screening questionnaire.

Google has teamed up with a mental illness group to provide Americans with a test to check if you are depressed or mentally ill.

The partnership, announced Wednesday, has been developed by Google and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

In a blog post on Google, the CEO of NAMI Mary Giliberti, said she wanted to use Google to increase the proportion of U.S. citizens who actually seek help for depression.

"Clinical depression is a very common condition, in fact, approximately one in five Americans experience an episode in their lifetime.

"However, despite its prevalence, only about 50 percent of people who suffer from depression actually receive treatment," Gilberti said.

Google said those who click through from the search suggestion will see a "Knowledge Panel" which will give you an option to "check if you are clinically depressed".

The test, called a PHQ-9, is described by the search engine as a clinically validated screening questionnaire and is designed to test what level of depression a person may be suffering.

Giliberti said the results can help people then have a more informed conversation with their doctor.

"Clinical depression is a treatable condition which can impact many aspects of a person's life. The PHQ-9 can be the first step to getting a proper diagnosis," Giliberti added.

The NAMI CEO said people who have symptoms of depression experience an average of a 6 to 8-year delay in getting treatment following the onset of symptoms.
U.S. Army General John Nicholson, Commander of Resolute Support forces and U.S. forces in Afghanistan, speaks about the U.S. new strategy for Afghanistan during a news conference in Kabul, Afghanistan August 24, 2017.

The top U.S. general in Afghanistan on Thursday vowed to annihilate the Islamic State and crush what remains of al-Qaeda after President Trump announced a renewed effort in the war that has dragged on for nearly 16 years.

Gen. John Nicholson said the new strategy is a sign of a long-term commitment.

He told reporters in the country's capital, Kabul, that additional troops will further train Afghan forces and promised more air support. Nicholson also urged the Taliban to pursue diplomacy and said that Afghan commandos and special forces were strong.

More from USA Today:



Pakistan's ambassador: We want to work with Trump to end war in Afghanistan

Afghanistan endorses Trump's revised strategy; Taliban warns of 'graveyard'

Cautioning against 'hasty' pullout from Afghanistan, Trump clears path for more U.S. troops

President Trump said Monday that he was lifting restrictions on commanders in the field imposed by the Obama administration and increasing pressure on Afghanistan's neighbor Pakistan to stop providing a safe haven to militant groups along its border.

The U.S. will send up to 3,900 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan as part of the strategy, according to media reports.

"The Taliban cannot win on the battlefield; it's time for them to join the peace process," Nicholson said, according to Reuters.

"We will not fail in Afghanistan, our national security depends on that as well."

Russia on Thursday warned that military force will not resolve the conflict.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the U.S. strategy "puts emphasis on force" and that "we believe that this path offers no prospects."

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow is ready to cooperate with the U.S. and others to help end the war.

Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have vowed to step up pressure on Pakistan to work harder with its neighbor to end the conflict.

Aizaz Chaudhry, Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, pledged Wednesday that his country's government is willing to work closely with the Trump administration to find a political solution to end the war.

Chaudhry told USA TODAY that the government will help promote peace talks between the U.S.-backed Afghan government and the Taliban "in whatever manner it can."

He said Pakistan would use its considerable influence over the Taliban to prod the insurgent group to the negotiation table.

Pakistan has its own struggle against the Taliban, but some agencies, such as the Intelligence services, have been accused by the U.S. and other governments of supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid dismissed Trump's strategy earlier this week.

"If America doesn't withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, soon Afghanistan will become another graveyard for this superpower in the 21st century," he said, according to Al Jazeera.

Contributing: Waseem Abbasi, Associated Press
So much for a "united" front.

Hours after the White House and Senate Majority Leader threw cold water on reports that the leaders had a tense relationship, President again criticized the Kentucky Republican on Twitter. On Thursday morning, he twice hit McConnell, and criticized House Speaker .

Trump accused them of a reluctance to make it easier to raise the debt ceiling. He contended that raising the United States' borrowing limit "could have been so easy" but is "now a mess!"

Trump: I requested that Mitch M & Paul R tie the Debt Ceiling legislation into the popular V.A. Bill (which just passed) for easy approval. They...

Trump: ...didn't do it so now we have a big deal with Dems holding them up (as usual) on Debt Ceiling approval. Could have been so easy-now a mess!

An hour later, he slammed McConnell again, this time on the Senate's failure to repeal Obamacare.

The only problem I have with Mitch McConnell is that, after hearing Repeal & Replace for 7 years, he failed!That should NEVER have happened!

McConnell on Monday said The U.S. needs to do so before the end of September to avoid defaulting on its debt.

Trump's tweets came a day after the White House and McConnell played down concerns about a reportedly deteriorating relationship between the president and the Senate's top Republican. In a statement Wednesday, the White House said they "remain united on many shared priorities."

McConnell said in a Wednesday statement that he, Trump and both of their teams "have been and continue to be in regular contact about our shared goals."

"We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we are committed to advancing our shared agenda together and anyone who suggests otherwise is clearly not part of the conversation," the senator said.

Trump has repeatedly attacked Republican senators like Jeff Flake of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. He has also urged the Senate to change its rules and chided McConnell for failing to pass an Obamacare repeal bill.

Those .

A New York Times report Tuesday described the president's deteriorating relationship with the GOP Senate leader in great detail. Trump and McConnell have not spoken in weeks, and the senator privately has been skeptical about whether Trump "will be able to salvage his administration," the Times reported.
President Donald Trump on Thursday lashed out at former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who questioned the president's "fitness" for office this week.

"James Clapper, who famously got caught lying to Congress, is now an authority on Donald Trump. Will he show you his beautiful letter to me?" Trump tweeted on Thursday morning.

Trump referred to 2013 testimony in which Clapper denied that U.S. intelligence officials "wittingly" collected data on Americans. Some lawmakers have said he misled them about data collection.

The president also suggests that the ex-intelligence director wrote him a "beautiful letter," but did not say more about when it might've been written or what it says.

After Trump's Phoenix rally Tuesday night in which the president berated media outlets, criticized Republican senators and threatened a government shutdown, Clapper questioned Trump's ability to serve in the office.

"I really question his ability to be  his fitness to be  in this office, and I also am beginning to wonder about his motivation for it," Clapper told CNN on Wednesday.

The president has a history of using Twitter to lash out on public figures who criticize him.
Thursday's round of tweets by President Trump perfectly encapsulate his frustrations with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Paul Ryan and the Republican establishment. Based on their failures to pass a health insurance bill or get much of anything done, President Trump simply believes they aren't good or effective negotiators.

And he's got a point.

Perhaps the best example is how McConnell and Ryan continue to yank their strongest negotiating weapons off the table: the debt ceiling and a government shutdown.

President Trump probably doesn't actually want the U.S. to default or the government to close, even though he threatened a shutdown fight to get the new border wall with Mexico built and paid for Tuesday night. He just wants the GOP leaders to get some compromises hammered out first. That's how this game is played in Washington, and it's actually worked well on the past.

The establishment, including many members of the Republican establishment, insist that government shutdowns are a political disaster that spells certain doom for those deemed responsible for them.

But history says that's dead wrong. The last government shutdown in late 2013 was resoundingly blamed on the Republicans who then controlled only the House of Representatives. And a year later those Republicans were resoundingly slapped with... a major midterm election victory and control of the Senate and the House for the first time in eight years. So much for "punishment."

That's not the only example of how shutdowns cause ephemeral outrage at best. In 1995, then-House Speaker and the new Republican Congress shutdown the government for 21 days in a budget spat with President Bill Clinton. Republicans took the blame for that one too in most polls but they not only retained their control of Congress in 1996, they held onto it until 2006, aside from a brief period in 2001-2 when Republican Jim Jeffords of Vermont became an independent and Democrats controlled the Senate until they lost the 2002 midterms.

That shutdown actually produced some more responsible government in the end, as President Clinton gave in partly to GOP demands and submitted a more balanced budget, according the Congressional Budget Office.

There were several government shutdowns during the Reagan years as well, many of which produced some productive compromises and none that damaged either party all that much in midterm or general elections in the 1980s. The holy hell predicted at the ballot box because of shutdowns just hasn't shown up in recent history and likely won't again if matters are resolved in a handful of days like most shutdowns.

That said, the right issues must be chosen to play this kind of still politically dangerous game of chicken. President Trump's claim in his tweet Thursday morning that a debt ceiling compromise was built into the Veteran's Administration bill deal signed this week was an example of the right kind of fight. Supporting our veterans, especially when it comes to giving them the right to appeal denial of benefits like the new law does, is popular across bipartisan lines across the country.

But shutting down the government or risking a downgrade over funding a new border wall would be dicier to say the least. Lucky for President Trump and the Republicans in Congress, there are several other issues worth forcing the Democrats to move on while using these more extreme threats. Cutting taxes for the middle class and simplifying the tax code for all would be two of them.

It may seem crazy that the Republicans need to use hardball negotiation tactics like threatening shutdowns when the GOP has control of both houses of Congress and the White House. But with only a slim 52-48 majority in the Senate, the Democrats have the power of the filibuster to hold up almost any bill. That's why President Trump has also been urging McConnell to eliminate the filibuster to strengthen his legislative hand. But that too is seen as some kind of sacrilege by the Washington establishment. Sure it works as a legislative tool for the minority party leaders, but polls over the years show Americans are not too wild about the filibuster either way.

Threatening default is trickier, but that's because default is incorrectly seen as the definite outcome of not extending the debt ceiling. It's simply not true that the U.S. will default on its bonds if the debt ceiling is not raised. When then-Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner mapped out what would happen without a debt ceiling raise in 2011, he showed how it would take another two months before the U.S. would actually be in danger of defaulting on its debt obligations. Geithner, who was arguing for a debt ceiling increase, showed how other less essential bills would be put off to make the more important payments first. It's hard to believe a more hawkish Treasury Secretary couldn't make those delays last longer.

But again, no government shutdown has lasted more than 21 days, so it's also hard to believe the more serious effects of a debt ceiling stalemate would last as long as two months or more. And those who say the possible debt downgrade the ratings agencies would slap the U.S. with makes raising the debt ceiling an imperative are forgetting that after the S&P downgraded the U.S. debt in 2011, the stock markets quickly recovered and finished the year basically right where they started. The prolonged stock rally that began in 2009 just briefly paused after the downgrade and then kept going.

That aside, no one should be rooting for a shutdown, a debt ceiling crisis, or credit downgrades. There are innocent victims in each scenario. But if congressional leaders refuse to wield their constitutional power of the purse, the results will be much worse. Those worse results being our $20 trillion debt and still-rising deficits, or the complicated and economically stifling tax code, or overall congressional gridlock on dozens of other issues.

We shouldn't be heartless and ignore the hardships shutdowns and deferred payments would cause many Americans. But with no shutdown ever lasting more than three weeks, and federal employees basically getting paid for the days they miss from work anyway, (as they were after the 2013 shutdown), are we really talking about disaster here?

Of course, if we keep just raising the debt ceiling almost automatically, and promising not to shut down the government for any reason, then the debt ceiling and government self-funding limits essentially mean nothing. And that's just how the spendthrifts and crony capitalists in both parties in Congress want it.

But the key lesson to remember is that President Trump was essentially the sledge hammer the voters in the general election sent to Washington to shake things up. And that was after GOP voters chose him to smash up the Republican establishment in the primaries.

McConnell and Ryan are still responding to that Trump sledgehammer with an insistence on the status quo. One look at the Trump rallies during the election and even nine months later should tell everyone that a big chunk of the nation's voters aren't going to wilt from a temporary shutdown or a debt downgrade. But for Ryan, McConnell and so many other establishment figures in Washington, it's as if they have simply refused to read the election results. Speaking of results, the latest polls show Mitch McConnell has just an 18 percent approval rating in his own home state. President Trump is at 60 percent approval in Kentucky.

And politicians who don't listen to election results and learn from polls like the new one in Kentucky are much more likely to end up on the endangered species list than those who threaten or even take the blame for a government shutdown or a debt downgrade or two.

Commentary by Jake Novak, CNBC.com senior columnist. Follow him on Twitter @jakejakeny.

For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter.
While Luskin is handing out psychological diagnoses, he might do well to look up the definition of dissociation. Yes, Trump got himself into hot water by declining to condemn avowed racists and anti-Semites without caveat following a murderous terrorist attack (only to backtrack amid pressure and then to backtrack from the backtrack). In doing so, he wasn't rejecting identity politics but embracing it.

Don Luskin, the CIO of Trend Macrolytics, speculated that Americans succumbed last week to a "clinical case of mass hysteria." He suggested the consternation over Donald Trump's devouring 96 hours of news by issuing three distinct and occasionally contradictory pronouncements about the relative virtue of white supremacist marchers versus violent socialist counter protesters was a media fabrication. "His sin is that he has failed to express his outrage at the event in a particular way," Luskin wrote, "or, more precisely, that he has expressed it in a way that doesn't kowtow to the identity politics lobby."

Freeman's desire to check in with a few "contrarian observers" is a noble one. The individuals he chose are a testament either to the paucity of contrarianism or the absurdity of contrarian arguments.

In the name of challenging the conventional wisdom, the Wall Street Journal's James Freeman took a peek at this emerging trend. "Could Trump possibly be winning this week?" his article's subhead asked. The premise sounds absurd on its face, but it's really only phrased inelegantly. Trump most assuredly did not "win" the week that followed the traumatic events in Virginia. Nor, though, did the president's Democratic opponents.

For die-hard Trump supporters, there is no reprieve. The president's achievements are eclipsed by the consistency of his bad judgment. For those Trump fans that have not tuned out the news entirely, a cottage industry of reassuring hot takes has taken the place of dispassionate analysis.

Trump has persuaded himself right into history as the most unpopular president at this point in his presidency in the history of modern polling.

In Trump's estimation, a variety of foreign forces was responsible for the lot of the silent but angry majority: illegal immigrant labor, Chinese trade practices, America's allies who should be expected to pay for the privileges of the U.S.-led world order, Europeans that sacrifice Western culture upon the altar of multiculturalism, etc. Trump wasn't abandoning this white identity politics last week; he was reaffirming fealty to it.

Freeman's second contrarian is a predictable one. The cartoonist Scott Adams has found a second career in reflexively ascribing brilliance and foresight to every presidential synapse. On Thursday of last week, Trump reacted on Twitter to an ongoing terrorist attack in Spain by alluding to the utterly apocryphal story of General John Pershing's crimes of war. The storyone Trump knows is false because it was attacked as false when he used to tell it on the campaign trailalleges that the American war hero discouraged Islamist terrorism in the Philippines by burying Muslims with the bodies of pigs so they might find no peace in the afterlife.

You might not be surprised to learn that Adams thinks this is yet anothermasterful example of public persuasion. You see, Trump is communicating his toughness on terrorism. By lying, he will compel media to fact-check him, amplifying his persuasive persuasion.

Trump has persuaded himself right into history as the most unpopular president at this point in his presidency in the history of modern polling. There's no honest way to claim a week that resulted in the broadest critical reaction among Trump's Republican allies since the release of the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape was a great week for the president. Even if Trump spent a week skipping through a minefield, though, that doesn't mean his opponents' fortunes were advanced.

An online poll commissioned by Axios found that a "remarkable" 40 percent of adults signed on to Trump's assertion that both demonstrators on the left and the right were responsible for the violence in events in Charlottesville. They see members of the academy defend political violence, even as liberals pen hallucinatory love letters to themselves congratulating their movement on its restraint. They've watched with apprehension as an agitated mob tears down a statue of a nondescript Confederate soldier in North Carolina as though it were a likeness of Felix Dzerzhinsky.

They watch as liberal commentators call for an end to the veneration of figures like Washington and Jefferson, just as Trump said they would and (have been doing for years), even as coastal elites insist that no one advocates such things. On Monday, Baltimore awoke to see a 200-year-old monument to Christopher Columbus destroyed by a vandal with a sledgehammer. They know that this is not some isolated event but an extension of the madness they've seen take hold of the country, even amid lectures about how connecting these dots is woefully unenlightened.

"The people asking these questions (over and over and over) are not racist," wrote Senator Ben Sasse. "Rather they're perplexed by the elite indifference to their fair questions." Liberals dismiss these sentiments at their peril. Despite a Republican president's unpopularity and the dysfunction of his party in Congress, Democrats have so far been unable to capitalize on the environment. Even by its own modest standards for success, the Democratic National Committee's fundraising has been bleak. On Thursday, Cook Political Report shifted the race for Senate in four Democrat-held states in the GOP's direction.

Attributing Donald Trump's wink and nod in the direction of white supremacy last week to strategic genius is simply deluded. That does not, however, suggest that Democrats are benefiting from Trump's recklessness. Liberals have given the public no assurances that they can govern from the center, or that they even see that as a desirable enterprise. And yet, Democrats still appear convinced they are the default beneficiaries when Trump falls on his face, all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding.

Commentary by Noah Rothman, associate editor at Commentary Magazine. Follow him on Twitter @NoahCRothman.

For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter
As Congress' debate on tax reform continues and the risk of a government shutdown grows, Intuit CEO Brad Smith told CNBC that his tax-handling giant would do its part in the meantime.

"We're excited about tax simplification. We've been working really hard for years to try to make it happen, but in the absence of that, we'll do the job for Congress," Smith told "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer on Thursday. "We will simplify the taxes so people can get them done without having to worry about making a mistake."

The chief of the TurboTax parent said the notion that Intuit's business would somehow be jeopardized if the tax code were simplified was a misconception.

Smith said that instead, it would help steer the 85 million U.S. residents who hire people to do their taxes for them to do-it-yourself tax applications like Intuit develops.

"If there is a simplification of the tax code, which we are all for, those 85 million people that still go to somebody to do their taxes will have the self-confidence to do it on their own. They'll use a piece of software like TurboTax or they'll use a smartphone, and we think that will be a huge stimulus for growing the do-it-yourself category," Smith told Cramer.

Using machine learning and artificial intelligence in partnership with Salesforce , Intuit recently released a product called SOS Inventory, an addition to its QuickBooks offerings for small businesses.

A technology called SmartLook helps customers navigate the app by letting them connect with experts, who then draw on the app's interface to point users in the right direction.

"We've been able to bring the best of a human-assisted experience into a do-it-yourself software, and it is absolutely killing it in the market," Smith said.

He added that the rise of the cloud, mobile and artificial intelligence was helping accelerate growth for Intuit, which topped its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings estimates.

Smith also said that one of Intuit's growth drivers has been the gig economy.

"The research suggests about 34 percent of people are working in this gig economy as a freelancer. They're driving for Uber or Lyft, they're running tasks for TaskRabbit, they're delivering for DoorDash. And today, they have to separate their personal from their business expense[s], then they have to be able to file using the right tax form, and the government considers them a small business," Smith said.

Upon noticing the rise of this "shift economy," Intuit developed a product called QuickBook Self-Employed, which uses TurboTax Self-Employed to help freelancers file their taxes.

"This year, we were able to generate 170,000 additional subscribers by simply having them swipe left or right, push a button and their taxes were done," Smith told Cramer. "We're just now at, basically, the entry-level point of this. There are 3 million people filing with TurboTax that are self-employed. This year, 170,000 discovered the magic. We're going to see how high we can go next year."
A consortium that includes Western Digital is offering 1.9 trillion yen ($17.4 billion) for Toshiba's memory chip business, which the Japanese conglomerate is trying to sell to cover losses from its U.S. nuclear business, sources said on Thursday.

Western Digital is set to offer 150 billion yen through convertible bonds and will not seek voting rights in the business, the sources who were familiar with the deal said.

The consortium also includes U.S. private equity firm KKR , as well as the state-backed Innovation Network Corp. of Japan and Development Bank of Japan, all of which will offer 300 billion yen each for the chip business, the sources said.

Under the proposal, Toshiba's lenders including Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and Mizuho Bank would also extend around 700 billion yen in loans, they said.

Other Japanese companies will also invest around 50 billion yen to ensure domestic firms hold a combined 60 percent stake, the sources said, adding that Toshiba itself would keep a 100 billion yen stake in the business.

Toshiba said it could not comment on discussions with potential suitors for the chips business. Western Digital said it could not comment immediately, while KKR declined to comment. The sources requested anonymity because the talks were confidential.

Reuters has reported earlier that the group was offering around 2 trillion yen but it was unclear how much each party in the group was prepared to offer and whether Western Digital would insist on obtaining voting rights.

Sources have said that Toshiba wants to reach a deal by the end of the month and close the sale by the end of the fiscal year in March to ensure it does not report negative net worth, or liabilities exceeding assets, for a second year running. This could result in a delisting from the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Given regulatory approvals could take more than six months, the company has been hoping to reach a deal by the end of the month to ensure it can close the sale in time.
Visitors to New York City's famed Serendipity 3 typically opt for its popular frozen hot chocolate.

But the ultra-rich can afford a much more indulgent menu item: The "Golden Opulence Sundae," which goes for $1,000 a pop and was featured on an episode of CNBC's "Secret Lives of the Super Rich."

The treat, which must be ordered at least 48 hours in advance, comes complete with three scoops of Tahitian vanilla ice cream covered in 23-karat gold leaf, as well as almonds, caviar and a sugar-forged orchid that takes eight hours to build. The dish is served in a $350 Baccarat crystal goblet (lined with more 23-karat gold leaf), with an 18-karat gold spoon on the side.

The sundae features only the highest quality ingredients, including expensive chocolate from Tuscany and vanilla beans imported from Madagascar. Even the candied fruit on top provides a thrill of luxury  it comes from Paris.
The White House still won't rule out Mexico paying for President Donald Trump's proposed border wall, even as the president threatens to shut down the government over federal funding for the project.

On Tuesday, Trump said, "If we have to close down our government, we're building that wall." Democrats are insisting that funding for the controversial barrier is not included in a bill to keep the government running past the Sept. 30 deadline.

During a briefing Thursday, reporters repeatedly pushed press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders about why Trump would threaten a shutdown after he promised as a candidate that Mexico would fund the wall. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has insisted that Mexico will not pay for the project, and Trump himself appeared resigned to that during a private call with his counterpart.

Asked multiple questions about the pledge to make Mexico pay, Sanders first responded that Trump would make sure the wall gets completed and that he would fight for the funding.

"The president's committed to making sure this gets done," she said, without addressing how the United States' southern neighbor would fit in.

Pressed again about the project, she said, "I certainly don't think any efforts have been abandoned" to force Mexico to pay for the barrier.

Later, when a reporter noted that Trump has stopped saying Mexico would fund the wall, Sanders responded: "He hasn't said they're not, either."

There is currently no indication that funding for the wall would come from anywhere other than the U.S. government.

As a candidate, the president pledged to build a physical barrier along the entire U.S.-Mexico border as part of his push to crack down on illegal immigration. Lawmakers whose districts sit along the border, including Republicans, have questioned the effectiveness of a physical wall.
Amazon's tumble during the last four weeks has some investors worried that more downside is ahead for the admittedly still-hot stock.

Since peaking at $1,083.31 on the morning ahead of an earnings report that proved to be disappointing, Amazon shares have tumbled 11.5 percent through Wednesday's close of $958. Rich Ross, technical analyst at Evercore ISI, warns that "this stock is in a vulnerable technical position."

Ross told CNBC's "Power Lunch" on Wednesday that the stock has shown "classic signs of exhaustion," and is now "sitting on key support at $950 in the short term  below which could test that 200-day [moving average] down around the big round number at $900."

Even worse, the technical analyst said the stock's action is "very un-FANG like," referring to the much-discussed group of surging tech stocks Facebook , Amazon, Netflix and Google parent Alphabet .

"In three of the last five years, the stock has had 30 percent pullbacks. That's not the base case here, but with the stock just 10 percent off an all-time high going into the worst month for stocks historically, I would not be a buyer," Ross said. "I would be a buyer lower  down around $900, $870."

Taking a fundamental tact, S&P Global portfolio manager Erin Gibbs noted that the company's July earnings report was a big blow to the bulls.

"Not only did they massively miss expectations for their profit on second quarter, but the expectations of what they're going to make over the next 12 months has been almost cut in half," Gibbs said Wednesday on "Power Lunch."

"It's not that they're not making revenues  they're still taking over the world  it's just way more expensive than they originally thought. And so technology costs and marketing costs are both significantly higher," Gibbs said. "I'd say we could see more of a decline until we see some stabilization of those costs."

To be sure, no one should feel particularly bad for Amazon shareholders just yet. The stock remains 28 percent higher this year.
From being dismissed as illegal vandalism to selling for millions of dollars in galleries  street art is going mainstream, and it's appealing to investors for a simple reason: It's cheap at the start.

Steve Lazarides, the man credited with bringing well-known street artist Banksy into the commercial art industry told CNBC that street art boasts a strong return on investment.

"Going back a decade, if you take one of those artworks that I sold for 149.99 pounds ($192.10), something of that value at that time would be worth upwards of 300,000 to 400,000 pounds ($384,000 to $512,000). So that's a pretty good return in your investment in a 10-year period," said Lazarides, who now owns Lazarides Rathbone, a gallery in London dedicated to selling street art.

From 149.99 to 400,000 would be a more than 266,584 percent increase.

The art movement has origins in graffiti on walls and public transport, but art investors found a way to buy into those works. Most famously, the piece of the wall where British artist Banksy painted "Girl With a Balloon," was removed and auctioned for over 73,000 pounds. Property prices for buildings in London's Shoreditch, which feature such iconic artwork, have soared.

Within the gallery space, artists are selling canvases, screen prints and even photographs in what is now a multi-million dollar market.
Self-management and self-discipline are the keys to controlling exorbitant drug-pricing practices, veteran pharmaceutical executive Fred Hassan told CNBC on Thursday.

That, along with leadership like Allergan CEO Brent Saunders starting his social contract with patients, is the way to ensure prices remain low while maintaining the free-price environment that fosters innovation, he said in an interview on "Power Lunch."

In the last year, most companies have stayed in the single-digit price increase range, he said, meaning things are more in control than they were a year ago.

"Unfortunately, these newer drugs are expensive because innovation is still very expensive. It still costs about $2 million to $3 million on average to bring a new drug to market, and that is still about a million too high," the former Schering-Plough CEO said.

Hassan said the best way to solve the problem is to increase the supply of new drugs, which allows competition in the market to bring the price down.

About one-third of products don't have generics, he said, and "problems occur where a drug stays exclusive for too long."

"When that happens, I think society has every right to push back. ... [T]hat kind of pushback has occurred quite a bit in the past year, and I'm glad to see that pushback occur," said Hassan, who is currently managing director at private equity firm Warburg Pincus.

Despite talk from President Donald Trump on the campaign trail about reducing pricing and several mentions of potential policies, such as allowing consumers to import drugs from other countries with lower prices, the administration has not yet taken concrete steps to address the industry practice.

Hassan prefers it that way.

"The worst solution to all this is to let politicians and bureaucrats get involved with pricing because they really don't know the subject very well and it is a very complex subject," he said.
There's a glut in venture capital money chasing tech start-ups these days, as investors search for the next Uber or Airbnb.

One sign: the sheer number of investors who turned up for investors' demo days hosted this week by Y Combinator (YC), Silicon Valley's premiere start-up factory.

Investors far outnumbered start-ups at the YC event held Wednesday at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. Some lesser-known funds and angel investors failed to score any meetings with companies that piqued their interest. That's despite the fact there were plenty of tech start-ups to choose from: 124 graduated from the YC Spring 2017 batch.

Several investors, who declined to be named for this story, lamented the competition for meetings with the most intriguing tech ventures there, and for great deals in general. Valuations, they said, can spike over the course of 48 hours as start-ups realize the extent of investors' demand and raise their prices accordingly.

Certainly, YC is exceptional. Its pioneering accelerator and venture fund gave rise to Airbnb, Dropbox, Reddit and Stripe, all companies valued over $1 billion at this point.

YC invites press, investors and other select partners to its general purpose demo days. But first, they have to score an invite. YC even controls who is allowed to watch demo days on a livestream online.

But in the last couple of years, YC began hosting separate demo days for investors only, which are generally closed to press. (CNBC was invited to attend this year under the condition of keeping certain companies' information off the record.)

The investor demo days feel something like a speed dating session. During preceding demo days, investors are asked to watch companies' pitches, and indicate which ones they liked through an app.

At the end of those demo days, investors' "likes" are collected into a list. The YC app then asks them to rank their liked startups, and check a box for each founding team they want to meet, with room to leave a personal note. A note could be something like: "I worked in retail for 25 years before starting my fund. So I want to meet this e-commerce company because I think I can help the company navigate and even compete with Amazon."

YC then matches start-up founders with investors if there's mutual interest. It schedules meetings of about a half-hour each at the closed, investor demo days.

This year, investors traveled in from New York, Seattle and other U.S. venture capital hubs, as well as from far away locales like Mexico City and London, trying to score intros to and face-time with entrepreneurs they hope will become the next generation's Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk.

Those who failed to score meetings only have themselves to blame, said Romulus Capital founder Krishna K. Gupta. His Boston-based venture firm has invested in about 10 Y Combinator companies in the past, including an equipment rentals platform for contractors, EquipmentShare, and a E La Carte which provides pay-at-the-table systems to restaurants.

Gupta explained, "You know that Y Combinator has really optimized the investor-to-company interactions. Even if you feel like an unknown quantity in Silicon Valley, let's say because you're a young fund or an overseas fund or anything else, it's up to you to find a company that fits your fund, and convey that with an effective message."
For nearly five years, Sam Altman, a self-made multimillionaire and president of top Silicon Valley start-up incubator Y Combinator, had to live with his three siblings as roommates thanks to San Francisco's astronomical housing prices. "All of my siblings were living in my house in San Francisco because they couldn't afford rent otherwise," Altman tells CNBC Make It. The tech boom has pushed real estate costs in Silicon Valley through the roof. The median home value in San Francisco is $1,204,700 and the median rent is $4,350, according to real estate data company Zillow. In the larger Bay Area, it's $3,500. The surge is making it hard for even the most well-paid professionals to cover their expenses. Others, unable to afford the astronomical real estate prices, resort to living with untenable commutes. But housing prices are a problem across California. The median home value in the United States is $200,400, according to Zillow. The median home value in California is $503,100. The corresponding median rent prices are $1,600 and $2,675, also according to Zillow. Altman says he has an idea to fix this issue plaguing his state.

The "Painted Ladies," a row of historical Victorian homes, are shown with the San Francisco skyline in the background. Margarethe Wichert | Getty Images

One option he has publicly proposed is shutting down the construction of the $64 billion bullet train, which is expected to run from San Francisco to Los Angeles by 2029 (two extensions, one to San Diego and one to Sacramento do not have projected completion dates). Instead of building a super-fast regional train, Altman suggests redirecting those resources to build up more robust local train systems, enabling people to commute more efficiently. "If we make it easier to quickly travel longer distances in/out of work hubs, the intense demand for housing can be diffused to communities that can handle it," says Altman, in a blog post published in August, on what he terms the "big housing problem in California." He gives Stockton, Calif. as an example of such a suburb  according to Google Maps, it's about 80 miles and, with traffic, over a two-hour drive from San Francisco. According to Altman, California traffic is some of the worst in the country, and local public transit systems "are not very good." Los Angeles and San Francisco cinch the first and second top spots respectively on a ranking of the worst traffic congestion in the United States compiled by navigation company TomTom.

The portion of the bullet train that will run from Silicon Valley to Central Calif. is already under construction. Photo courtesy California High-Speed Rail Authority

"When we went around the state and talked to people about what they really need, just regular middle class people, what they really would like is better local transit systems," Altman tells CNBC Make It of the state-wide focus groups Y Combinator conducted in March through June of this year. "So they'd like the ability to live an hour outside of San Francisco in a much cheaper area but be able to get into the city to work. So there's a lot of enthusiasm for a much better Bay Area transit system." Altman also argues the bullet train will be outdated before it is even built. "By the time it's completed, we will have new and much better technology, like high-speed self-driving cars, electric airplanes, and maybe even Hyperloops," he writes. The Hyperloop is a transport system that Elon Musk's SpaceX is working to develop, where pods would whisk people through tubes at speeds over 700 miles per hour. Altman knows there is not a pot of $64 billion sitting ready to be redirected from the bullet train. Although the first phase, running from Silicon Valley to Central California, is expected to begin passenger service in 2025, according to the 2016 business plan, much of the future construction is still unfunded. The California High-Speed Rail Authority, the state agency in charge, says it will seek additional money when the first phase is finished. According to the Authority, some of the money will be used to improve smaller, local train systems so that they can connect to the high-speed rail system, but it will not be used for more widespread local transit system improvements. Altman says the system is not yet fully funded because many investors aren't on board with the project. "There are people that would be willing to invest in a transit system they felt more confident about," like his local idea, he tells CNBC Make It. Altman is asking for digital signatures on his petition to redirect bullet train funding of those who support the idea as a way to measure its popularity.

Sam Altman, president of Y Combinator Photo by Bloomberg
Since the United Nation established its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there has never been greater drive for "doing well by doing good."

But when it comes to private investment, what does this really mean? Can private investors effect genuine change through sustainable or "impact investing"? And if so, can investors still expect solid returns?

Sergio Ermotti, UBS chief executive, leads the interrogation of this challenge and his response is an emphatic "yes".

"Today's investors want to see a positive impact on society and the environment as well as solid financial returns" says Ermotti, "And the SDGs present a critical opportunity to promote sustainable growth for all."

UBS has committed to directing $5 billion of client money over the next five years into impact investments related to the UN SDGs. Impact investing aims to generate an additive, measurable social or environmental impact in addition to a compelling return. This "double bottom line" approach is particularly attractive to clients.

Global research supports UBS' position: Super-wealthy millennials are putting more than 60 percent of their income into impact investing, according to the Global Family Office Report, Campden Wealth, in association with UBS.
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
Ben Roback is a Senior Account Executive at Cicero Group and a member of the US Embassys Young Leaders UK programme.

President Trump continues to isolate himself, causing self-inflicted problems that are getting more attention than his policy agenda, and in turn reducing the chances of passing key legislation. No president should be an island, and having seen his healthcare reforms fail, Trump should by now realise that he needs a wide range of support to get things done.

Some maintain that isolating his party, vast parts of America and the media is a political strategy: Hes appealing to the base! But hes the President of the United States  his base is now the whole country, not just the portion of the nation that voted for him.

The self-defeating presidency?

There should be absolutely no doubt that President Trump is a force to be reckoned with on the stump. In campaigns and at rallies, he feels politically at home when surrounded by those who clearly adore him. Unsurprisingly, a Trump rally is not a representative group of the country, in the same way that not all Trump opponents protest as viciously as those who border his public events. But the President has continued his habit of flexing his muscles by distancing himself from those who can widen his support base and appeal beyond his core support. That self-defeating habit has gone into overdrive.

The White Houses main business and advisory councils have all folded since his response to events in Charlottesville. They have all been pushed to the Presidents periphery in a rocky fortnight for a White House that is supposed to have been reined in by a new Chief of Staff, General John Kelly. Renewed activism in corporate America reflects another crossroads for the President. The Breitbart-reading, Fox News-watching Trump supporters will cheer on his rejection of Wall Street and the establishment, as the president blasted the fleeing CEOs as grandstanders. But less enthusiastic Trump supporters who voted for Americas first CEO president may wonder why the billionaire businessman was almost instantly deserted by the countrys biggest companies.

Meanwhile, rank and file members of the GOP find it harder and harder to offer their lukewarm support for him. Trumps first Charlottesville remarks drew scorn from corners of the party he can usually rely on for firm backing, and not just frequent critics like Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain. A Politico/Morning Consult poll of Republican voters reflected similar displeasure. The poll showed the presidents approval slipping to 73 per cent among Republican voters from 81 per cent the week before. Take note of the 58 per cent of Republican respondents who also said that they would prefer to see Vice President Mike Pence take over as the Commander-in-Chief, in the same week that an adviser to the Department for International Trade said, the vice-president is effectively acting as the president.

Broadening the base of support

Rifts between the President and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are reportedly widening; this seems unlikely to be fake news. Having jointly failed to pass healthcare reform, the two will need to work together to broaden the political appeal of the Republican legislative agenda, starting with tax reform. Undeterred, Trump is trying less hard to make friends but succeeding in alienating people. At a rally in Arizona, he attacked the states two Republican senators and the obstructionist Democrats. To pass legislation, he will need Republican support and a handful of opposition votes. The incentives to vote for the Presidents agenda are disappearing far quicker than new incentives are appearing.

Before then, a major hurdle is approaching the administration head-on  the deadline to raise the debt ceiling. The President looks to be spoiling for a fight. His most extreme political instincts could kick in and decide that its worth shutting the government down to promote one of his pet projects, like the US-Mexico border wall. At his rally in Arizona, President Trump dropped a clear hint: If we have to close down our government, were building that wall. A red White House and Congress failed to pass healthcare reform, but shutting down the government would be even worse, creating desperate political optics ahead of mid-term elections in November 2018.

A shifting power base in the White House

The President promised to act like a CEO, and he has certainly hired and fired like one. Steve Bannons exit from the West Wing could serve to increase his influence, as he returns to Breitbart fully unchained. Moments after Trump concluded his Afghanistan policy speech, Breitbart took a heavily critical approach to the address, likening him to President Obama and condemning the flip-flop that reverses course. Influential Conservatives that remain in the White House like Stephen Miller could be guided by a fear of condemnation by ardent right-wing news outlets, in their persistent defence of the Trump doctrine. Combined, that all spells bad news for Jared Kushner and the globalists.

The Presidents political calculations still appear to be made along the lines of a candidate and not the Commander-in-Chief. Unless he reverses his strategy, the rest of his term looks set to be desperately unproductive. He still enjoys the support of 80 per cent of those voted for him, but he is not just beholden to them now. Trump keeps isolating himself. No president should be an island.
08/24/2017

Photo (c) kikkerdirk - Fotolia For years, doctors have encouraged consumers to lower their levels of bad cholesterol -- low-density lipoprotein (LDL). But they have counseled them that high levels of good cholesterol  high-density lipoprotein (HDL). -- are OK.

Now a new study shows that high levels of HDL can also be harmful.

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen say that people with extremely high levels of good cholesterol are still at higher risk of mortality than those with normal levels. The finding challenges many preconceptions that the medical community has had about HDL up to this point.

"These results radically change the way we understand 'good' cholesterol. Doctors like myself have been used to congratulating patients who had a very high level of HDL in their blood. But we should no longer do so, as this study shows a dramatically higher mortality rate," says study author Brge Nordestgaard.

Greater mortality rates

Nordestgaard and his colleagues analyzed health information on 116,000 patients who took part in two extensive medical studies, as well as mortality data from the Danish Civil Registration System. Their overall findings were based on six years of tracking on nearly 11,000 deaths.

Results from the analysis indicated that men with extremely high HDL levels in their blood had a mortality rate that was 106% higher than men with normal HDL levels. For women with extremely high HDL levels, the mortality rate was 68% higher.

However, the researchers say that having low levels of HDL was also found to be dangerous, while those with medium levels had the lowest mortality among all patients. Nordestgaard hopes that the findings will help change doctors perspective of HDL so that they can give patients more relevant information and improve health outcomes.

"It appears that we need to remove the focus from HDL as an important health indicator in research, at hospitals and at the general practitioner. These are the smallest lipoproteins in the blood, and perhaps we ought to examine some of the larger ones instead. For example, looking at blood levels of triglyceride and LDL, the 'bad' cholesterol, are probably better health indicators," he said.

The full study has been published in the European Heart Journal.
The Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) projects that Jamaica will host 4.2 million visitors by the end of 2017, surpassing last years 3.84 million visitors, setting a new record.

According to preliminary arrival statistics, Jamaicas tourism industry earned US $1.46 billion in the first half of this year, a 5.8% increase over the same period in 2016. In July, Jamaica welcomed over 234,051 stopover visitors, a 10.8% increase over last year for the same time period.

Its cruise sector is also shaping up to host the highest number of cruise passengers on record: from January 1 to the end of July 2017, Jamaica received 1,088,718 cruise passengers, up by 4.9 percent over the same period last year. That growth trajectory is expected to continue, especially as Jamaica evolves into a leading cruise destination in the Caribbean with the support of its newly launched Cruise Jamaica initiative.

Jamaica is on to a very good path, says Jamaicas Minister of Tourism, the Hon. Edmund Bartlett. We are getting more rooms, we are getting more airlifts, we are getting more visitors, and we are earning more.

Due to Jamaicas tourism boom, the island is seeing both an expansion of existing hotels and new developments across the island, resulting in a significant increase in room stock. The destination is poised to obtain the 15,000 additional rooms projected by 2021 which will continue to propel growth for the sector with an increase in both arrivals and earnings.

With this tourism boom and influx of visitors, the JTB maintains that its utmost goal is to ensure the destination continues to be a safe haven for visitors. The destination is heavily investing in both existing programs and critical new initiatives to further enforce a safe, secure and enjoyable experience including the District Constables Training Programme and the Destination Assurance Councils.

The District Constables Training Programme was introduced last year by the Ministry through its agencies, the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) and the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF). It provides an added layer of security in resort areas to ensure the strict enforcement of the rule of law and to help effectively tackle tourist harassment.

The Destination Assurance Councils (DACs) were launched in June 2017 for six resort areas, which are tasked with ensuring that the quality, standards and integrity of Jamaicas tourism product are maintained. The councils are expected to identify the needs of the industry and monitor the progress of developmental initiatives in resort areas.

The JTB said that these initiatives and efforts all aim to ensure that Jamaica continues to provide an attractive, secure and enjoyable experience for all travelers.
CUNA said Wednesday it will move into a new office during the spring of 2018 at the 99M building currently under construction at Washington D.C.s Riverfront neighborhood.

The national trade organization plans to lease 22,000-square-feet on the third floor in a building that has been designed to meet the LEED (leadership in energy and environmental design) gold standard, which reduces water and energy usage, carbon dioxide emissions and improved indoor environmental quality.

The vibrant neighborhood were moving to maintains our close connection to Capitol Hill, and I know our membership will appreciate the long-term savings well realize in this new space, CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle, said in a prepared statement.
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings operates as a global life sciences company that provides vital information to help doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, researchers, and patients make clear and confident decisions. It operates in two segments, Labcorp Diagnostics (Dx) and Labcorp Drug Development (DD). It offers various tests, such as blood chemistry analyses, urinalyses, blood cell counts, thyroid tests, PAP tests, hemoglobin A1C and vitamin D, prostate-specific antigens, tests for sexually transmitted diseases, hepatitis C tests, microbiology cultures and procedures, and alcohol and other substance-abuse tests. The company also provides specialty testing services comprising gene-based and esoteric testing; advanced tests target specific diseases, including anatomic pathology/oncology, cardiovascular disease, coagulation, diagnostic genetics, endocrinology, infectious disease, women's health, pharmacogenetics, and parentage and donor testing; and occupational testing services, medical drug monitoring services, chronic disease programs, and kidney stone prevention tests. It provides online and mobile applications to enable patients to check test results; and online applications for managed care organizations and accountable care organizations. It offers end-to-end drug development, medical device, and companion diagnostic development solutions from early-stage research to clinical development and commercial market access. It serves managed care organizations, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and diagnostics companies, governmental agencies, physicians and other healthcare providers, hospitals and health systems, employers, patients and consumers, contract research organizations, and independent clinical laboratories. Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings has a collaboration agreement with Tigerlily Foundation to increase clinical trial diversity for women of color. The company was incorporated in 1994 and is headquartered in Burlington, North Carolina.
WestRock Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides fiber-based paper and packaging solutions in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. It operates through two segments, Corrugated Packaging and Consumer Packaging. The Corrugated Packaging segment produces containerboards, corrugated sheets, corrugated packaging, and preprinted linerboards to consumer and industrial products manufacturers, and corrugated box manufacturers. It also provides structural and graphic design, engineering services and custom, and proprietary and standard automated packaging machines, as well as turn-key installation, automation, line integration, and packaging solutions; distributes corrugated packaging materials and other specialty packaging products, including stretch films, void fills, carton sealing tapes, and other specialty tapes; operates recycling facilities that collect, sort, grade, and bale recovered paper; and provides lithographic laminated packaging products, as well as contract packing services. The Consumer Packaging segment manufactures and sells folding cartons that are used to package food, paper, beverages, dairy products, tobacco, confectionery, health and beauty, other household consumer, and commercial and industrial products; and express mail packages for the overnight courier industry. It also offers inserts and labels, as well as rigid packaging and other printed packaging products, such as transaction cards, brochures, product literature, marketing materials, and grower tags and plant stakes for the horticultural market; and secondary packages and paperboard packaging for over-the-counter and prescription drugs. In addition, this segment manufactures and sells solid fiber and corrugated partitions, and die-cut paperboard components principally to glass container manufacturers and the automotive industry, as well as producers of beer, food, wine, spirits, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. WestRock Company is based in Atlanta, Georgia.
BAE Systems plc provides defense, aerospace, and security solutions worldwide. The company operates through five segments: Electronic Systems, Cyber & Intelligence, Platforms & Services (US), Air, and Maritime. The Electronic Systems segment offers electronic warfare systems, navigation systems, electro-optical sensors, military and commercial digital engine and flight controls, precision guidance and seeker solutions, military communication systems and data links, persistent surveillance systems, space electronics, and electric drive propulsion systems. The Cyber & Intelligence segment provides solutions to modernize, maintain, and test cyber-harden aircraft, radars, missile systems, and mission applications that detect and deter threats to national security; systems engineering, integration, and sustainment services for critical weapons systems, C5ISR, and cyber security; and solutions and services to intelligence and federal/civilian agencies. It also offers data intelligence solutions to defend against national-scale threats, protect their networks, and data against attacks; security and intelligence solutions to the United Kingdom government and allied international governments; anti-fraud and regulatory compliance solutions; and enterprise-level data and digital services. The Platforms & Services (US) segment manufactures combat vehicles, weapons, and munitions, as well as provides ship repair services and the management of government-owned munitions facilities. The Air segment develops, manufactures, upgrades, and supports combat and jet trainer aircraft. The Maritime segment designs, manufactures, and supports surface ships, submarines, torpedoes, radars, and command and combat systems; and supplies naval gun systems. It also supplies naval weapon systems, missile launchers, and precision munitions. The company was founded in 1970 and is based in Farnborough, the United Kingdom.
ResMed Inc. develops, manufactures, distributes, and markets medical devices and cloud-based software applications for the healthcare markets. The company operates in two segments, Sleep and Respiratory Care, and Software as a Service. It offers various products and solutions for a range of respiratory disorders, including technologies to be applied in medical and consumer products, ventilation devices, diagnostic products, mask systems for use in the hospital and home, headgear and other accessories, dental devices, and cloud-based software informatics solutions to manage patient outcomes, as well as provides customer and business processes. The company also provides AirView, a cloud-based system that enables remote monitoring and changing of patients' device settings; myAir, a personalized therapy management application for patients with sleep apnea that provides support, education, and troubleshooting tools for increased patient engagement and improved compliance; U-Sleep, a compliance monitoring solution that enables home medical equipment (HME)to streamline their sleep programs; connectivity module and propeller solutions; and Propeller portal. It offers out-of-hospital software solution, such as Brightree business management software and service solutions to providers of HME, pharmacy, home infusion, orthotics, and prosthetics services; MatrixCare care management and related ancillary solutions to senior living, skilled nursing, life plan communities, home health, home care, and hospice organizations, as well as related accountable care organizations; and HEALTHCAREfirst that offers electronic health record, software, billing and coding services, and analytics for home health and hospice agencies. The company markets its products primarily to sleep clinics, home healthcare dealers, and hospitals through a network of distributors and direct sales force in approximately 140 countries. ResMed Inc. was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.
Carter's, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, sources, and markets branded childrenswear under the Carter's, OshKosh, Skip Hop, Child of Mine, Just One You, Simple Joys, Carter's My First Love, little planet, and other brands in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: U.S. Retail, U.S. Wholesale, and International. Its Carter's products include babies and young children products, such as bodysuits, pants, dresses, knit sets, blankets, layette essentials, bibs, booties, sleep and play products, rompers, and jumpers; and OshKosh brand products comprise playclothes, such as denim apparel products with multiple wash treatments and coordinating garments, overalls, woven bottoms, knit tops, and bodysuits. The company also provides products for playtime, travel, mealtime, bathtime, and homegear, as well as kid's bags and diaper bags under the Skip Hop brand. In addition, it offers bedding, cribs, diaper bags, footwear, gift sets, hair accessories, jewelry, outerwear, paper goods, socks, shoes, swimwear, and toys. The company operates 18,800 wholesale locations, including department stores, national chain stores, and specialty stores. As of December 31, 2021, it operated 980 retail stores. The company also sells its products through its eCommerce websites, such as carters.com, oshkoshbgosh.com, oshkosh.com, and skiphop.com, as well as other international wholesale accounts and licensees. Carter's, Inc. was founded in 1865 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
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.

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General Mills, Inc. manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates in five segments: North America Retail; Convenience Stores & Foodservice; Europe & Australia; Asia & Latin America; and Pet. It offers ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and salty snacks, ice cream, nutrition bars, wellness beverages, and savory and grain snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables. It also supplies branded and unbranded food products to the North American foodservice and commercial baking industries; and manufactures and markets pet food products, including dog and cat food. The company markets its products under the Annie's, Betty Crocker, Bisquick, Blue Buffalo, Blue Basics, Blue Freedom, Bugles, Cascadian Farm, Cheerios, Chex, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Cookie Crisp, EPIC, Fiber One, Food Should Taste Good, Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Gushers, Fruit Roll-Ups, Gardetto's, Go-Gurt, Gold Medal, Golden Grahams, Haagen-Dazs, Helpers, Jus-Rol, Kitano, Kix, Larabar, Latina, Liberte, Lucky Charms, Muir Glen, Nature Valley, Oatmeal Crisp, Old El Paso, Oui, Pillsbury, Progresso, Raisin Nut Bran, Total, Totino's, Trix, Wanchai Ferry, Wheaties, Wilderness, Yoki, and Yoplait trademarks. It sells its products directly, as well as through broker and distribution arrangements to grocery stores, mass merchandisers, membership stores, natural food chains, e-commerce retailers, commercial and noncommercial foodservice distributors and operators, restaurants, convenience stores, and pet specialty stores, as well as drug, dollar, and discount chains. The company operates 466 leased and 392 franchise ice cream parlors. General Mills, Inc. was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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.
Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE), an S&P 500<sup></sup> urban office real estate investment trust ("REIT"), is the first, longest-tenured, and pioneering owner, operator, and developer uniquely focused on collaborative life science, technology, and agtech campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations, with a total market capitalization of $31.9 billion as of December 31, 2020, and an asset base in North America of 49.7 million square feet ("SF"). The asset base in North America includes 31.9 million RSF of operating properties and 3.3 million RSF of Class A properties undergoing construction, 7.1 million RSF of near-term and intermediate-term development and redevelopment projects, and 7.4 million SF of future development projects. Founded in 1994, Alexandria pioneered this niche and has since established a significant market presence in key locations, including Greater Boston, San Francisco, New York City, San Diego, Seattle, Maryland, and Research Triangle. Alexandria has a longstanding and proven track record of developing Class A properties clustered in urban life science, technology, and agtech campuses that provide our innovative tenants with highly dynamic and collaborative environments that enhance their ability to successfully recruit and retain world-class talent and inspire productivity, efficiency, creativity, and success. Alexandria also provides strategic capital to transformative life science, technology, and agtech companies through our venture capital platform. We believe our unique business model and diligent underwriting ensure a high-quality and diverse tenant base that results in higher occupancy levels, longer lease terms, higher rental income, higher returns, and greater long-term asset value.